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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1828-0.txt b/1828-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd4ec03 --- /dev/null +++ b/1828-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8962 @@ +Project Gutenberg’s Chronicles of the Canongate, 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: Chronicles of the Canongate + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Release Date: July, 1999 [Etext #1828] +Posting Date: November 18, 2009 +Last Updated: August 31, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + +CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + + + +Transcriber’s Note: Footnotes and references to the notes at the end of +the printed book have been inserted in the etext in square brackets +(“[]”) close to the place where they were indicated by a suffix in the +original text. The notes at the end are now numbered instead of using +pages to identify them as was done in the printed text. + +Text in italics has been written in capital letters. + +The Pound Sterling symbol has been written as “L”. + + + +CONTENTS. + + Introduction to Chronicles of the Canongate. + Appendix to Introduction--The Theatrical Fund Dinner. + Introductory--Mr. Chrystal Croftangry. + The Highland Widow. + The Two Drovers. + Notes. + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +The preceding volume of this Collection concluded the last of the pieces +originally published under the NOMINIS UMBRA of The Author of Waverley; +and the circumstances which rendered it impossible for the writer to +continue longer in the possession of his incognito were communicated +in 1827, in the Introduction to the first series of Chronicles of the +Canongate, consisting (besides a biographical sketch of the imaginary +chronicler) of three tales, entitled “The Highland Widow,” “The Two +Drovers,” and “The Surgeon’s Daughter.” In the present volume the two +first named of these pieces are included, together with three detached +stories which appeared the year after, in the elegant compilation called +“The Keepsake.” “The Surgeon’s Daughter” it is thought better to defer +until a succeeding volume, than to + + “Begin, and break off in the middle.” + +I have, perhaps, said enough on former occasions of the misfortunes +which led to the dropping of that mask under which I had, for a long +series of years, enjoyed so large a portion of public favour. Through +the success of those literary efforts, I had been enabled to indulge +most of the tastes which a retired person of my station might be +supposed to entertain. In the pen of this nameless romancer, I seemed +to possess something like the secret fountain of coined gold and pearls +vouchsafed to the traveller of the Eastern Tale; and no doubt believed +that I might venture, without silly imprudence, to extend my personal +expenditure considerably beyond what I should have thought of, had my +means been limited to the competence which I derived from inheritance, +with the moderate income of a professional situation. I bought, and +built, and planted, and was considered by myself, as by the rest of the +world, in the safe possession of an easy fortune. My riches, however, +like the other riches of this world, were liable to accidents, under +which they were ultimately destined to make unto themselves wings, and +fly away. The year 1825, so disastrous to many branches of industry and +commerce, did not spare the market of literature; and the sudden +ruin that fell on so many of the booksellers could scarcely have been +expected to leave unscathed one whose career had of necessity connected +him deeply and extensively with the pecuniary transactions of that +profession. In a word, almost without one note of premonition, I found +myself involved in the sweeping catastrophe of the unhappy time, +and called on to meet the demands of creditors upon commercial +establishments with which my fortunes had long been bound up, to the +extent of no less a sum than one hundred and twenty thousand pounds. + +The author having, however rashly, committed his pledges thus largely +to the hazards of trading companies, it behoved him, of course, to +abide the consequences of his conduct, and, with whatever feelings, he +surrendered on the instant every shred of property which he had been +accustomed to call his own. It became vested in the hands of gentlemen +whose integrity, prudence, and intelligence were combined with all +possible liberality and kindness of disposition, and who readily +afforded every assistance towards the execution of plans, in the +success of which the author contemplated the possibility of his ultimate +extrication, and which were of such a nature that, had assistance of +this sort been withheld, he could have had little prospect of carrying +them into effect. Among other resources which occurred was the project +of that complete and corrected edition of his Novels and Romances (whose +real parentage had of necessity been disclosed at the moment of +the commercial convulsions alluded to), which has now advanced with +unprecedented favour nearly to its close; but as he purposed also to +continue, for the behoof of those to whom he was indebted, the exercise +of his pen in the same path of literature, so long as the taste of his +countrymen should seem to approve of his efforts, it appeared to him +that it would have been an idle piece of affectation to attempt getting +up a new incognito, after his original visor had been thus dashed from +his brow. Hence the personal narrative prefixed to the first work of +fiction which he put forth after the paternity of the “Waverley Novels” + had come to be publicly ascertained; and though many of the particulars +originally avowed in that Notice have been unavoidably adverted to in +the Prefaces and Notes to some of the preceding volumes of the present +collection, it is now reprinted as it stood at the time, because some +interest is generally attached to a coin or medal struck on a special +occasion, as expressing, perhaps, more faithfully than the same artist +could have afterwards conveyed, the feelings of the moment that gave +it birth. The Introduction to the first series of Chronicles of the +Canongate ran, then, in these words:-- + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +All who are acquainted with the early history of the Italian stage are +aware that Arlecchino is not, in his original conception, a mere worker +of marvels with his wooden sword, a jumper in and out of windows, as +upon our theatre, but, as his party-coloured jacket implies, a buffoon +or clown, whose mouth, far from being eternally closed, as amongst us, +is filled, like that of Touchstone, with quips, and cranks, and witty +devices, very often delivered extempore. It is not easy to trace how he +became possessed of his black vizard, which was anciently made in +the resemblance of the face of a cat; but it seems that the mask was +essential to the performance of the character, as will appear from the +following theatrical anecdote:-- + +An actor on the Italian stage permitted at the Foire du St. Germain, in +Paris, was renowned for the wild, venturous, and extravagant wit, the +brilliant sallies and fortunate repartees, with which he prodigally +seasoned the character of the party-coloured jester. Some critics, +whose good-will towards a favourite performer was stronger than their +judgment, took occasion to remonstrate with the successful actor on +the subject of the grotesque vizard. They went wilily to their purpose, +observing that his classical and Attic wit, his delicate vein of humour, +his happy turn for dialogue, were rendered burlesque and ludicrous by +this unmeaning and bizarre disguise, and that those attributes would +become far more impressive if aided by the spirit of his eye and the +expression of his natural features. The actor’s vanity was easily so +far engaged as to induce him to make the experiment. He played Harlequin +barefaced, but was considered on all hands as having made a total +failure. He had lost the audacity which a sense of incognito bestowed, +and with it all the reckless play of raillery which gave vivacity to +his original acting. He cursed his advisers, and resumed his grotesque +vizard, but, it is said, without ever being able to regain the careless +and successful levity which the consciousness of the disguise had +formerly bestowed. + +Perhaps the Author of Waverley is now about to incur a risk of the same +kind, and endanger his popularity by having laid aside his incognito. It +is certainly not a voluntary experiment, like that of Harlequin; for +it was my original intention never to have avowed these works during my +lifetime, and the original manuscripts were carefully preserved (though +by the care of others rather than mine), with the purpose of supplying +the necessary evidence of the truth when the period of announcing +it should arrive. [These manuscripts are at present (August 1831) +advertised for public sale, which is an addition, though a small one, +to other annoyances.] But the affairs of my publishers having, +unfortunately, passed into a management different from their own, I had +no right any longer to rely upon secrecy in that quarter; and thus my +mask, like my Aunt Dinah’s in “Tristram Shandy,” having begun to wax a +little threadbare about the chin, it became time to lay it aside with +a good grace, unless I desired it should fall in pieces from my face, +which was now become likely. + +Yet I had not the slightest intention of selecting the time and place in +which the disclosure was finally made; nor was there any concert betwixt +my learned and respected friend LORD MEADOWBANK and myself upon that +occasion. It was, as the reader is probably aware, upon the 23rd +February last, at a public meeting, called for establishing a +professional Theatrical Fund in Edinburgh, that the communication took +place. Just before we sat down to table, Lord Meadowbank [One of the +Supreme Judges of Scotland, termed Lords of Council and Session.] asked +me privately whether I was still anxious to preserve my incognito on the +subject of what were called the Waverley Novels? I did not immediately +see the purpose of his lordship’s question, although I certainly might +have been led to infer it, and replied that the secret had now of +necessity become known to so many people that I was indifferent on the +subject. Lord Meadowbank was thus induced, while doing me the great +honour of proposing my health to the meeting, to say something on the +subject of these Novels so strongly connecting them with me as the +author, that by remaining silent I must have stood convicted, either of +the actual paternity, or of the still greater crime of being supposed +willing to receive indirectly praise to which I had no just title. I +thus found myself suddenly and unexpectedly placed in the confessional, +and had only time to recollect that I had been guided thither by a most +friendly hand, and could not, perhaps, find a better public opportunity +to lay down a disguise which began to resemble that of a detected +masquerader. + +I had therefore the task of avowing myself, to the numerous and +respectable company assembled, as the sole and unaided author of these +Novels of Waverley, the paternity of which was likely at one time to +have formed a controversy of some celebrity, for the ingenuity with +which some instructors of the public gave their assurance on the subject +was extremely persevering. I now think it further necessary to say +that, while I take on myself all the merits and demerits attending these +compositions, I am bound to acknowledge with gratitude hints of subjects +and legends which I have received from various quarters, and have +occasionally used as a foundation of my fictitious compositions, or +woven up with them in the shape of episodes. I am bound, in particular, +to acknowledge the unremitting kindness of Mr. Joseph Train, supervisor +of excise at Dumfries, to whose unwearied industry I have been indebted +for many curious traditions and points of antiquarian interest. It was +Mr. Train who brought to my recollection the history of Old Mortality, +although I myself had had a personal interview with that celebrated +wanderer so far back as about 1792, when I found him on his usual task. +He was then engaged in repairing the Gravestones of the Covenanters who +had died while imprisoned in the Castle of Dunnottar, to which many of +them were committed prisoners at the period of Argyle’s rising. Their +place of confinement is still called the Whigs’ Vault. Mr. Train, +however, procured for me far more extensive information concerning +this singular person, whose name was Patterson, than I had been able +to acquire during my own short conversation with him. [See, for +some further particulars, the notes to Old Mortality, in the present +collective edition.] He was (as I think I have somewhere already +stated) a native of the parish of Closeburn, in Dumfriesshire; and it +is believed that domestic affliction, as well as devotional feeling, +induced him to commence the wandering mode of life which he pursued +for a very long period. It is more than twenty years since Robert +Patterson’s death, which took place on the highroad near Lockerby, where +he was found exhausted and expiring. The white pony, the companion of +his pilgrimage, was standing by the side of its dying master the whole +furnishing a scene not unfitted for the pencil. These particulars I had +from Mr. Train. + +Another debt, which I pay most willingly, I owe to an unknown +correspondent (a lady), [The late Mrs. Goldie.] who favoured me with the +history of the upright and high-principled female, whom, in the Heart +of Mid-Lothian, I have termed Jeanie Deans. The circumstance of her +refusing to save her sister’s life by an act of perjury, and undertaking +a pilgrimage to London to obtain her pardon, are both represented as +true by my fair and obliging correspondent; and they led me to consider +the possibility of rendering a fictitious personage interesting by mere +dignity of mind and rectitude of principle, assisted by unpretending +good sense and temper, without any of the beauty, grace, talent, +accomplishment, and wit to which a heroine of romance is supposed to +have a prescriptive right. If the portrait was received with interest by +the public, I am conscious how much it was owing to the truth and force +of the original sketch, which I regret that I am unable to present to +the public, as it was written with much feeling and spirit. + +Old and odd books, and a considerable collection of family legends, +formed another quarry, so ample that it was much more likely that the +strength of the labourer should be exhausted than that materials should +fail. I may mention, for example’s sake, that the terrible catastrophe +of the Bride of Lammermoor actually occurred in a Scottish family of +rank. The female relative, by whom the melancholy tale was communicated +to me many years since, was a near connection of the family in which +the event happened, and always told it with an appearance of melancholy +mystery which enhanced the interest. She had known in her youth the +brother who rode before the unhappy victim to the fatal altar, who, +though then a mere boy, and occupied almost entirely with the gaiety of +his own appearance in the bridal procession, could not but remark that +the hand of his sister was moist, and cold as that of a statue. It +is unnecessary further to withdraw the veil from this scene of family +distress, nor, although it occurred more than a hundred years since, +might it be altogether agreeable to the representatives of the families +concerned in the narrative. It may be proper to say that the events +alone are imitated; but I had neither the means nor intention of copying +the manners, or tracing the characters, of the persons concerned in the +real story. Indeed, I may here state generally that, although I have +deemed historical personages free subjects of delineation, I have never +on any occasion violated the respect due to private life. It was indeed +impossible that traits proper to persons, both living and dead, with +whom I have had intercourse in society, should not have risen to my +pen in such works as Waverley, and those which followed it. But I have +always studied to generalize the portraits, so that they should still +seem, on the whole, the productions of fancy, though possessing some +resemblance to real individuals. Yet I must own my attempts have not +in this last particular been uniformly successful. There are men whose +characters are so peculiarly marked, that the delineation of some +leading and principal feature inevitably places the whole person before +you in his individuality. Thus, the character of Jonathan Oldbuck, in +the Antiquary, was partly founded on that of an old friend of my youth, +to whom I am indebted for introducing me to Shakespeare, and other +invaluable favours; but I thought I had so completely disguised the +likeness that his features could not be recognized by any one now alive. +I was mistaken, however, and indeed had endangered what I desired +should be considered as a secret; for I afterwards learned that a +highly-respectable gentleman, one of the few surviving friends of my +father, and an acute critic, [James Chalmers, Esq., Solicitor at Law, +London, who (died during the publication of the present edition of these +Novels. Aug. 1831.)] had said, upon the appearance of the work, that +he was now convinced who was the author of it, as he recognized in the +Antiquary of Monkbarns traces of the character of a very intimate friend +of my father’s family. + +I may here also notice that the sort of exchange of gallantry which is +represented as taking place betwixt the Baron of Bradwardine and Colonel +Talbot, is a literal fact. The real circumstances of the anecdote, alike +honourable to Whig and Tory, are these:-- + +Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle--a name which I cannot write without +the warmest recollections of gratitude to the friend of my childhood, +who first introduced me to the Highlands, their traditions, and their +manners--had been engaged actively in the troubles of 1745. As he +charged at the battle of Preston with his clan, the Stewarts of Appin, +he saw an officer of the opposite army standing alone by a battery of +four cannon, of which he discharged three on the advancing Highlanders, +and then drew his sword. Invernahyle rushed on him, and required him to +surrender. “Never to rebels!” was the undaunted reply, accompanied with +a lunge, which the Highlander received on his target, but instead of +using his sword in cutting down his now defenceless antagonist, he +employed it in parrying the blow of a Lochaber axe aimed at the officer +by the Miller, one of his own followers, a grim-looking old Highlander, +whom I remember to have seen. Thus overpowered, Lieutenant-Colonel Allan +Whitefoord, a gentleman of rank and consequence, as well as a brave +officer, gave up his sword, and with it his purse and watch, which +Invernahyle accepted, to save them from his followers. After the affair +was over, Mr. Stewart sought out his prisoner, and they were introduced +to each other by the celebrated John Roy Stewart, who acquainted Colonel +Whitefoord with the quality of his captor, and made him aware of the +necessity of receiving back his property, which he was inclined to leave +in the hands into which it had fallen. So great became the confidence +established betwixt them, that Invernahyle obtained from the Chevalier +his prisoner’s freedom upon parole; and soon afterwards, having been +sent back to the Highlands to raise men, he visited Colonel Whitefoord +at his own house, and spent two happy days with him and his Whig +friends, without thinking on either side of the civil war which was then +raging. + +When the battle of Culloden put an end to the hopes of Charles Edward, +Invernahyle, wounded and unable to move, was borne from the field by +the faithful zeal of his retainers. But as he had been a distinguished +Jacobite, his family and property were exposed to the system of +vindictive destruction too generally carried into execution through the +country of the insurgents. It was now Colonel Whitefoord’s turn to exert +himself, and he wearied all the authorities, civil and military, with +his solicitations for pardon to the saver of his life, or at least for +a protection for his wife and family. His applications were for a long +time unsuccessful. “I was found with the mark of the Beast upon me in +every list,” was Invernahyle’s expression. At length Colonel Whitefoord +applied to the Duke of Cumberland, and urged his suit with every +argument which he could think of, being still repulsed, he took his +commission from his bosom, and having said something of his own and +his family’s exertions in the cause of the House of Hanover, begged to +resign his situation in their service, since he could not be permitted +to show his gratitude to the person to whom he owed his life. The duke, +struck with his earnestness, desired him to take up his commission, and +granted the protection required for the family of Invernahyle. + +The chieftain himself lay concealed in a cave near his own house, before +which a small body of regular soldiers were encamped. He could hear +their muster-roll called every morning, and their drums beat to quarters +at night, and not a change of the sentinels escaped him. As it was +suspected that he was lurking somewhere on the property, his family were +closely watched, and compelled to use the utmost precaution in supplying +him with food. One of his daughters, a child of eight or ten years +old, was employed as the agent least likely to be suspected. She was an +instance, among others, that a time of danger and difficulty creates a +premature sharpness of intellect. She made herself acquainted among the +soldiers, till she became so familiar to them that her motions escaped +their notice; and her practice was to stroll away into the neighbourhood +of the cave, and leave what slender supply of food she carried for that +purpose under some remarkable stone, or the root of some tree, where her +father might find it as he crept by night from his lurking-place. Times +became milder, and my excellent friend was relieved from proscription by +the Act of Indemnity. Such is the interesting story which I have rather +injured than improved by the manner in which it is told in Waverley. + +This incident, with several other circumstances illustrating the Tales +in question, was communicated by me to my late lamented friend, +William Erskine (a Scottish judge, by the title of Lord Kinedder), +who afterwards reviewed with far too much partiality the Tales of my +Landlord, for the Quarterly Review of January 1817. [Lord Kinedder died +in August 1822. EHEU! (Aug. 1831.)] In the same article are contained +other illustrations of the Novels, with which I supplied my accomplished +friend, who took the trouble to write the review. The reader who is +desirous of such information will find the original of Meg Merrilies, +and, I believe, of one or two other personages of the same cast of +character, in the article referred to. + +I may also mention that the tragic and savage circumstances which are +represented as preceding the birth of Allan MacAulay in the Legend of +Montrose, really happened in the family of Stewart of Ardvoirlich. +The wager about the candlesticks, whose place was supplied by Highland +torch-bearers, was laid and won by one of the MacDonalds of Keppoch. + +There can be but little amusement in winnowing out the few grains of +truth which are contained in this mass of empty fiction. I may, however, +before dismissing the subject, allude to the various localities which +have been affixed to some of the scenery introduced into these Novels, +by which, for example, Wolf’s Hope is identified with Fast Castle in +Berwickshire, Tillietudlem with Draphane in Clydesdale, and the valley +in the Monastery, called Glendearg, with the dale of the river Allan, +above Lord Somerville’s villa, near Melrose. I can only say that, in +these and other instances, I had no purpose of describing any particular +local spot; and the resemblance must therefore be of that general kind +which necessarily exists between scenes of the same character. The +iron-bound coast of Scotland affords upon its headlands and promontories +fifty such castles as Wolf’s Hope; every county has a valley more or +less resembling Glendearg; and if castles like Tillietudlem, or mansions +like the Baron of Bradwardine’s, are now less frequently to be met with, +it is owing to the rage of indiscriminate destruction, which has removed +or ruined so many monuments of antiquity, when they were not protected +by their inaccessible situation. [I would particularly intimate the Kaim +of Uric, on the eastern coast of Scotland, as having suggested an +idea for the tower called Wolf’s Crag, which the public more generally +identified with the ancient tower of Fast Castle.] + +The scraps of poetry which have been in most cases tacked to the +beginning of chapters in these Novels are sometimes quoted either from +reading or from memory, but, in the general case, are pure invention. I +found it too troublesome to turn to the collection of the British Poets +to discover apposite mottoes, and, in the situation of the theatrical +mechanist, who, when the white paper which represented his shower of +snow was exhausted, continued the storm by snowing brown, I drew on +my memory as long as I could, and when that failed, eked it out with +invention. I believe that in some cases, where actual names are affixed +to the supposed quotations, it would be to little purpose to seek them +in the works of the authors referred to. In some cases I have been +entertained when Dr. Watts and other graver authors have been ransacked +in vain for stanzas for which the novelist alone was responsible. + +And now the reader may expect me, while in the confessional, to explain +the motives why I have so long persisted in disclaiming the works of +which I am now writing. To this it would be difficult to give any other +reply, save that of Corporal Nym--it was the author’s humour or caprice +for the time. I hope it will not be construed into ingratitude to the +public, to whose indulgence I have owed my SANG-FROID much more than +to any merit of my own, if I confess that I am, and have been, more +indifferent to success or to failure as an author, than may be the +case with others, who feel more strongly the passion for literary fame, +probably because they are justly conscious of a better title to it. It +was not until I had attained the age of thirty years that I made any +serious attempt at distinguishing myself as an author; and at that +period men’s hopes, desires, and wishes have usually acquired something +of a decisive character, and are not eagerly and easily diverted into +a new channel. When I made the discovery--for to me it was one--that by +amusing myself with composition, which I felt a delightful occupation, +I could also give pleasure to others, and became aware that literary +pursuits were likely to engage in future a considerable portion of my +time, I felt some alarm that I might acquire those habits of jealousy +and fretfulness which have lessened, and even degraded, the character +even of great authors, and rendered them, by their petty squabbles and +mutual irritability, the laughing-stock of the people of the world. +I resolved, therefore, in this respect to guard my breast--perhaps an +unfriendly critic may add, my brow--with triple brass, [Not altogether +impossible, when it is considered that I have been at the bar since +1792. (Aug. 1831.)] and as much as possible to avoid resting my thoughts +and wishes upon literary success, lest I should endanger my own peace of +mind and tranquillity by literary failure. It would argue either stupid +apathy or ridiculous affectation to say that I have been insensible to +the public applause, when I have been honoured with its testimonies; +and still more highly do I prize the invaluable friendships which +some temporary popularity has enabled me to form among those of my +contemporaries most distinguished by talents and genius, and which I +venture to hope now rest upon a basis more firm than the circumstances +which gave rise to them. Yet, feeling all these advantages as a man +ought to do, and must do, I may say, with truth and confidence, that I +have, I think, tasted of the intoxicating cup with moderation, and +that I have never, either in conversation or correspondence, encouraged +discussions respecting my own literary pursuits. On the contrary, I +have usually found such topics, even when introduced from motives most +flattering to myself, Rather embarrassing and disagreeable. + +I have now frankly told my motives for concealment, so far as I am +conscious of having any, and the public will forgive the egotism of the +detail, as what is necessarily connected with it. The author, so long +and loudly called for, has appeared on the stage, and made his obeisance +to the audience. Thus far his conduct is a mark of respect. To linger in +their presence would be intrusion. + +I have only to repeat that I avow myself in print, as formerly in words, +the sole and unassisted author of all the Novels published as works of +“The Author of Waverley.” I do this without shame, for I am unconscious +that there is any thing in their composition which deserves reproach, +either on the score of religion or morality; and without any feeling of +exultation, because, whatever may have been their temporary success, +I am well aware how much their reputation depends upon the caprice of +fashion; and I have already mentioned the precarious tenure by which it +is held, as a reason for displaying no great avidity in grasping at the +possession. + +I ought to mention, before concluding, that twenty persons, at least, +were, either from intimacy, or from the confidence which circumstances +rendered necessary, participant of this secret; and as there was no +instance, to my knowledge, of any one of the number breaking faith, I +am the more obliged to them, because the slight and trivial character of +the mystery was not qualified to inspire much respect in those entrusted +with it. Nevertheless, like Jack the Giant-Killer, I was fully confident +in the advantage of my “Coat of Darkness;” and had it not been from +compulsory circumstances, I would have, indeed, been very cautious how I +parted with it. + +As for the work which follows, it was meditated, and in part printed, +long before the avowal of the novels took place, and originally +commenced with a declaration that it was neither to have introduction +nor preface of any kind. This long proem, prefixed to a work intended +not to have any, may, however, serve to show how human purposes in the +most trifling, as well as the most important affairs, are liable to +be controlled by the course of events. Thus we begin to cross a strong +river with our eyes and our resolution fixed on that point of the +opposite shore on which we purpose to land; but gradually giving way +to the torrent, are glad, by the aid perhaps of branch or bush, to +extricate ourselves at some distant and perhaps dangerous landing-place, +much farther down the stream than that on which we had fixed our +intentions. + +Hoping that the Courteous Reader will afford to a known and familiar +acquaintance some portion of the favour which he extended to a disguised +candidate for his applause, I beg leave to subscribe myself his obliged +humble servant, + +WALTER SCOTT. + +ABBOTSFORD, OCTOBER 1, 1827. + +***** + +Such was the little narrative which I thought proper to put forth in +October 1827; nor have I much to add to it now. About to appear for the +first time in my own name in this department of letters, it occurred to +me that something in the shape of a periodical publication might carry +with it a certain air of novelty, and I was willing to break, if I may +so express it, the abruptness of my personal forthcoming, by investing +an imaginary coadjutor with at least as much distinctness of individual +existence as I had ever previously thought it worth while to bestow on +shadows of the same convenient tribe. Of course, it had never been in +my contemplation to invite the assistance of any real person in the +sustaining of my quasi-editorial character and labours. It had long been +my opinion, that any thing like a literary PICNIC is likely to end +in suggesting comparisons, justly termed odious, and therefore to +be avoided; and, indeed, I had also had some occasion to know, that +promises of assistance, in efforts of that order, are apt to be more +magnificent than the subsequent performance. I therefore planned a +Miscellany, to be dependent, after the old fashion, on my own resources +alone, and although conscious enough that the moment which assigned to +the Author of Waverley “a local habitation and a name,” had seriously +endangered his spell, I felt inclined to adopt the sentiment of my old +hero Montrose, and to say to myself, that in literature, as in war,-- + + “He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch, + To win or lose it all.” + +To the particulars explanatory of the plan of these Chronicles, which +the reader is presented with in Chapter II. by the imaginary Editor, Mr. +Croftangry, I have now to add, that the lady, termed in his narrative, +Mrs. Bethune Balliol, was designed to shadow out in its leading points +the interesting character of a dear friend of mine, Mrs. Murray Keith, +whose death occurring shortly before, had saddened a wide circle, much +attached to her, as well for her genuine virtue and amiable qualities of +disposition, as for the extent of information which she possessed, and +the delightful manner in which she was used to communicate it. In truth, +the author had, on many occasions, been indebted to her vivid memory for +the SUBSTRATUM of his Scottish fictions, and she accordingly had been, +from an early period, at no loss to fix the Waverley Novels on the right +culprit. + +[The Keiths of Craig, in Kincardineshire, descended from John Keith, +fourth son of William, second Earl Marischal, who got from his father, +about 1480, the lands of Craig, and part of Garvock, in that county. In +Douglas’s Baronage, 443 to 445, is a pedigree of that family. Colonel +Robert Keith of Craig (the seventh in descent from John) by his wife, +Agnes, daughter of Robert Murray of Murrayshall, of the family of +Blackbarony, widow of Colonel Stirling, of the family of Keir, had one +son--namely Robert Keith of Craig, ambassador to the court of Vienna, +afterwards to St. Petersburgh, which latter situation he held at the +accession of King George III.--who died at Edinburgh in 1774. He married +Margaret, second daughter of Sir William Cunningham of Caprington, by +Janet, only child and heiress of Sir James Dick of Prestonfield; +and, among other children of this marriage were the late well-known +diplomatist, Sir Robert Murray Keith, K.B., a general in the army, and +for some time ambassador at Vienna; Sir Basil Keith, Knight, captain in +the navy, who died Governor of Jamaica; and my excellent friend, Anne +Murray Keith, who ultimately came into possession of the family estates, +and died not long before the date of this Introduction (1831).] + +In the sketch of Chrystal Croftangry’s own history, the author has been +accused of introducing some not polite allusions to respectable +living individuals; but he may safely, he presumes, pass over such an +insinuation. The first of the narratives which Mr. Croftangry proceeds +to lay before the public, “The Highland Widow,” was derived from Mrs. +Murray Keith, and is given, with the exception of a few additional +circumstances--the introduction of which I am rather inclined to +regret--very much as the excellent old lady used to tell the story. +Neither the Highland cicerone Macturk nor the demure washingwoman, were +drawn from imagination; and on re-reading my tale, after the lapse of +a few years, and comparing its effect with my remembrance of my worthy +friend’s oral narration, which was certainly extremely affecting, I +cannot but suspect myself of having marred its simplicity by some of +those interpolations, which, at the time when I penned them, no doubt +passed with myself for embellishments. + +The next tale, entitled “The Two Drovers,” I learned from another old +friend, the late George Constable, Esq. of Wallace-Craigie, near Dundee, +whom I have already introduced to my reader as the original Antiquary of +Monkbarns. He had been present, I think, at the trial at Carlisle, +and seldom mentioned the venerable judges charge to the jury, without +shedding tears,--which had peculiar pathos, as flowing down features, +carrying rather a sarcastic or almost a cynical expression. + +This worthy gentleman’s reputation for shrewd Scottish sense, knowledge +of our national antiquities, and a racy humour peculiar to himself, must +be still remembered. For myself, I have pride in recording that for many +years we were, in Wordsworth’s language,-- + + “A pair of friends, though I was young, + And ‘George’ was seventy-two.” + +W. S. + +ABBOTSFORD, AUG. 15, 1831. + + +***** + + + + +APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION. + +[It has been suggested to the Author that it might be well to reprint +here a detailed account of the public dinner alluded to in the foregoing +Introduction, as given in the newspapers of the time; and the reader +is accordingly presented with the following extract from the EDINBURGH +WEEKLY JOURNAL for Wednesday, 28th February, 1827.] + + +THE THEATRICAL FUND DINNER. + +Before proceeding with our account of this very interesting +festival--for so it may be termed--it is our duty to present to +our readers the following letter, which we have received from the +President:-- + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE “EDINBURGH WEEKLY JOURNAL.” + +Sir,--I am extremely sorry I have not leisure to correct the copy +you sent me of what I am stated to have said at the dinner for the +Theatrical Fund. I am no orator, and upon such occasions as are alluded +to, I say as well as I can what the time requires. + +However, I hope your reporter has been more accurate in other instances +than in mine. I have corrected one passage, in which I am made to speak +with great impropriety and petulance, respecting the opinions of those +who do not approve of dramatic entertainments. I have restored what I +said, which was meant to be respectful, as every objection founded in +conscience is, in my opinion, entitled to be so treated. Other errors +I left as I found them, it being of little consequence whether I spoke +sense or nonsense in what was merely intended for the purpose of the +hour. + +I am, sir, + +Your obedient servant, + +EDINBURGH, MONDAY. WALTER SCOTT. + +***** + +The Theatrical Fund Dinner, which took place on Friday, in the Assembly +Rooms, was conducted with admirable spirit. The Chairman, Sir WALTER +SCOTT, among his other great qualifications, is well fitted to enliven +such an entertainment. His manners are extremely easy, and his style of +speaking simple and natural, yet full of vivacity and point; and he has +the art, if it be art, of relaxing into a certain homeliness of manner, +without losing one particle of his dignity. He thus takes off some of +that solemn formality which belongs to such meetings, and, by his easy, +and graceful familiarity, imparts to them somewhat of the pleasing +character of a private entertainment. Near Sir W. Scott sat the Earl +of Fife, Lord Meadowbank, Sir John Hope of Pinkie, Bart., Admiral Adam, +Baron Clerk Rattray, Gilbert Innes, Esq., James Walker, Esq., Robert +Dundas, Esq., Alexander Smith, Esq., etc. + +The cloth being removed, “Non nobis, Domine,” was sung by Messrs. +Thorne, Swift, Collier, and Hartley, after which the following toasts +were given from the chair:-- + +“The King”--all the honours. + +“The Duke of Clarence and the Royal Family.” + +The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the next toast, which he wished to be drunk +in solemn silence, said it was to the memory of a regretted-prince, whom +we had lately lost. Every individual would at once conjecture to whom he +alluded. He had no intention to dwell on his military merits. They had +been told in the senate; they had been repeated in the cottage; and +whenever a soldier was the theme, his name was never far distant. But it +was chiefly in connection with the business of this meeting, which +his late Royal Highness had condescended in a particular manner to +patronize, that they were called on to drink his health. To that charity +he had often sacrificed his time, and had given up the little leisure +which he had from important business. He was always ready to attend on +every occasion of this kind, and it was in that view that he proposed to +drink to the memory of his late Royal Highness the Duke of York.--Drunk +in solemn silence. + +The CHAIRMAN then requested that gentlemen would fill a bumper as full +as it would hold, while he would say only a few words. He was in the +habit of hearing speeches, and he knew the feeling with which long ones +were regarded. He was sure that it was perfectly unnecessary for him to +enter into any vindication of the dramatic art, which they had come +here to support. This, however, he considered to be the proper time +and proper occasion for him to say a few words on that love of +representation which was an innate feeling in human nature. It was the +first amusement that the child had. It grew greater as he grew up; and +even in the decline of life nothing amuses so much as when a common tale +is told with appropriate personification. The first thing a child does +is to ape his schoolmaster by flogging a chair. The assuming a character +ourselves, or the seeing others assume an imaginary character, is an +enjoyment natural to humanity. It was implanted in our very nature to +take pleasure from such representations, at proper times and on proper +occasions. In all ages the theatrical art had kept pace with the +improvement of mankind, and with the progress of letters and the fine +arts. As man has advanced from the ruder stages of society, the love +of dramatic representations has increased, and all works of this nature +have keen improved in character and in structure. They had only to turn +their eyes to the history of ancient Greece, although he did not pretend +to be very deeply versed in its ancient drama. Its first tragic poet +commanded a body of troops at the battle of Marathon. Sophocles and +Euripides were men of rank in Athens when Athens was in its highest +renown. They shook Athens with their discourses, as their theatrical +works shook the theatre itself. If they turned to France in the time of +Louis the Fourteenth--that era which is the classical history of that +country--they would find that it was referred to by all Frenchmen as the +golden age of the drama there. And also in England in the time of Queen +Elizabeth the drama was at its highest pitch, when the nation began to +mingle deeply and wisely in the general politics of Europe, not only +not receiving laws from others, but giving laws to the world, and +vindicating the rights of mankind. (Cheers.) There have been various +times when the dramatic art subsequently fell into disrepute. Its +professors have been stigmatized, and laws have been passed against +them, less dishonourable to them than to the statesmen by whom they were +proposed, and to the legislators by whom they were adopted. What were +the times in which these laws were passed? Was it not when virtue was +seldom inculcated as a moral duty that we were required to relinquish +the most rational of all our amusements, when the clergy were enjoined +celibacy, and when the laity were denied the right to read their Bibles? +He thought that it must have been from a notion of penance that they +erected the drama into an ideal place of profaneness, and spoke of the +theatre as of the tents of sin. He did not mean to dispute that there +were many excellent persons who thought differently from him, and he +disclaimed the slightest idea of charging them with bigotry or hypocrisy +on that account. He gave them full credit for their tender consciences, +in making these objections, although they did not appear relevant to +him. But to these persons, being, as he believed them, men of worth +and piety, he was sure the purpose of this meeting would furnish some +apology for an error, if there be any, in the opinions of those who +attend. They would approve the gift, although they might differ in other +points. Such might not approve of going to the theatre, but at least +could not deny that they might give away from their superfluity what was +required for the relief of the sick, the support of the aged, and the +comfort of the afflicted. These were duties enjoined by our religion +itself. (Loud cheers.) + +The performers are in a particular manner entitled to the support or +regard, when in old age or distress, of those who have partaken of the +amusements of those places which they render an ornament to society. +Their art was of a peculiarly delicate and precarious nature. They +had to serve a long apprenticeship. It was very long before even the +first-rate geniuses could acquire the mechanical knowledge of the stage +business. They must languish long in obscurity before they can avail +themselves of their natural talents; and after that they have but a +short space of time, during which they are fortunate if they can provide +the means of comfort in the decline of life. That comes late, and lasts +but a short time; after which they are left dependent. Their limbs +fail--their teeth are loosened--their voice is lost and they are left, +after giving happiness to others, in a most disconsolate state. The +public were liberal and generous to those deserving their protection. +It was a sad thing to be dependent on the favour, or, he might say, in +plain terms, on the caprice, of the public; and this more particularly +for a class of persons of whom extreme prudence is not the character. +There might be instances of opportunities being neglected. But let +each gentleman tax himself, and consider the opportunities THEY had +neglected, and the sums of money THEY had wasted; let every gentleman +look into his own bosom, and say whether these were circumstances which +would soften his own feelings, were he to be plunged into distress. He +put it to every generous bosom--to every better feeling--to say what +consolation was it to old age to be told that you might have made +provision at a time which had been neglected--(loud cheers)--and to find +it objected, that if you had pleased you might have been wealthy. He +had hitherto been speaking of what, in theatrical language, was called +STARS; but they were sometimes falling ones. There was another class of +sufferers naturally and necessarily connected with the theatre, without +whom it was impossible to go on. The sailors have a saying, Every man +cannot be a boatswain. If there must be a great actor to act Hamlet, +there must also be people to act Laertes, the King, Rosencrantz, and +Guildenstern, otherwise a drama cannot go on. If even Garrick himself +were to rise from the dead, he could not act Hamlet alone. There must +be generals, colonels, commanding-officers, subalterns. But what are the +private soldiers to do? Many have mistaken their own talents, and have +been driven in early youth to try the stage, to which they are not +competent. He would know what to say to the indifferent poet and to the +bad artist. He would say that it was foolish, and he would recommend to +the poet to become a scribe, and the artist to paint sign-posts. (Loud +laughter.) But you could not send the player adrift; for if he cannot +play Hamlet, he must play Guildenstern. Where there are many labourers, +wages must be low and no man in such a situation can decently support a +wife and family, and save something off his income for old age. What is +this man to do in later life? Are you to cast him off like an old hinge, +or a piece of useless machinery, which has done its work? To a person +who had contributed to our amusement, this would be unkind, ungrateful, +and unchristian. His wants are not of his own making, but arise from the +natural sources of sickness and old age. It cannot be denied that there +is one class of sufferers to whom no imprudence can be ascribed, except +on first entering on the profession. After putting his hand to the +dramatic plough, he cannot draw back, but must continue at it, and toil, +till death release him from want, or charity, by its milder influence, +steps in to render that want more tolerable. He had little more to say, +except that he sincerely hoped that the collection to-day, from +the number of respectable gentlemen present, would meet the views +entertained by the patrons. He hoped it would do so. They should not +be disheartened. Though they could not do a great deal, they might do +something. They had this consolation, that everything they parted with +from their superfluity would do some good. They would sleep the better +themselves when they had been the means of giving sleep to others. It +was ungrateful and unkind that those who had sacrificed their youth to +our amusement should not receive the reward due to them, but should be +reduced to hard fare in their old age. We cannot think of poor Falstaff +going to bed without his cup of sack, or Macbeth fed on bones as +marrowless as those of Banquo. (Loud cheers and laughter.) As he +believed that they were all as fond of the dramatic art as he was in his +younger days, he would propose that they should drink “The Theatrical +Fund,” with three times three. + +Mr. MACKAY rose, on behalf of his brethren, to return their thanks +for the toast just drunk. Many of the gentlemen present, he said, +were perhaps not fully acquainted with the nature and intention of the +institution, and it might not be amiss to enter into some explanation +on the subject. With whomsoever the idea of a Theatrical Fund might have +originated (and it had been disputed by the surviving relatives of two +or three individuals), certain it was that the first legally constituted +Theatrical Fund owed its origin to one of the brightest ornaments of the +profession, the late David Garrick. That eminent actor conceived that, +by a weekly subscription in the theatre, a fund might be raised among +its members, from which a portion might be given to those of his +less fortunate brethren, and thus an opportunity would be offered for +prudence to provide what fortune had denied--a comfortable provision +for the winter of life. With the welfare of his profession constantly at +heart, the zeal with which he laboured to uphold its respectability, and +to impress upon the minds or his brethren, not only the necessity, but +the blessing of independence, the Fund became his peculiar care. He drew +up a form of laws for its government, procured at his own expense the +passing of an Act of Parliament for its confirmation, bequeathed to it +a handsome legacy, and thus became the father of the Drury Lane Fund. So +constant was his attachment to this infant establishment, that he chose +to grace the close of the brightest theatrical life on record by the +last display of his transcendent talent on the occasion of a benefit for +this child of his adoption, which ever since has gone by the name of +the Garrick Fund. In imitation of his noble example, funds had been +established in several provincial theatres in England; but it remained +for Mrs. Henry Siddons and Mr. William Murray to become the founders +of the first Theatrical Fund in Scotland. (Cheers.) This Fund commenced +under the most favourable auspices. It was liberally supported by the +management, and highly patronized by the public. Notwithstanding, +it fell short in the accomplishment of its intentions. What those +intentions were, he (Mr. Mackay) need not recapitulate, but they failed; +and he did not hesitate to confess that a want of energy on the part +of the performers was the probable cause. A new set of Rules and +Regulations were lately drawn up, submitted to and approved of at a +general meeting of the members of the Theatre, and accordingly the Fund +was remodelled on the 1st of January last. And here he thought he did +but echo the feelings of his brethren, by publicly acknowledging the +obligations they were under to the management for the aid given and +the warm interest they had all along taken in the welfare of the Fund. +(Cheers.) The nature and object of the profession had been so well +treated of by the President that he would say nothing; but of the +numerous offspring of science and genius that court precarious fame, +the actor boasts the slenderest claim of all--the sport of fortune, the +creatures of fashion, and the victims of caprice, they are seen, heard, +and admired, but to be forgot. They leave no trace, no memorial of their +existence--they “come like shadows, so depart.” (Cheers.) Yet humble +though their pretensions be, there was no profession, trade, or +calling where such a combination of requisites, mental and bodily, were +indispensable. In all others the principal may practise after he has +been visited by the afflicting hand of Providence--some by the loss of +limb, some of voice, and many, when the faculty of the mind is on the +wane, may be assisted by dutiful children or devoted servants. Not so +the actor, He must retain all he ever did possess, or sink dejected to +a mournful home. (Applause.) Yet while they are toiling for ephemeral +theatric fame, how very few ever possess the means of hoarding in +their youth that which would give bread in old age! But now a brighter +prospect dawned upon them, and to the success of this their infant +establishment they looked with hope, as to a comfortable and peaceful +home in their declining years. He concluded by tendering to the meeting, +in the name of his brethren and sisters, their unfeigned thanks for +their liberal support, and begged to propose “The Health of the Patrons +of the Edinburgh Theatrical Fund.” (Cheers.) + +Lord MEADOWBANK said that, by desire of his Hon. Friend in the chair, +and of his Noble Friend at his right hand, he begged leave to return +thanks for the honour which had been conferred on the Patrons of this +excellent institution. He could answer for himself--he could answer for +them all--that they were deeply impressed with the meritorious +objects which it has in view, and of their anxious wish to promote its +interests. For himself, he hoped he might be permitted to say that he +was rather surprised at finding his own name as one of the Patrons, +associated with so many individuals of high rank and powerful influence. +But it was an excuse for those who had placed him in a situation so +honourable and so distinguished, that when this charity was instituted +he happened to hold a high and responsible station under the Crown, when +he might have been of use in assisting and promoting its objects. His +Lordship much feared that he could have little expectation, situated as +he now was, of doing either; but he could confidently assert that +few things would give him greater gratification than being able +to contribute to its prosperity and support. And indeed, when one +recollects the pleasure which at all periods of life he has received +from the exhibitions of the stage, and the exertions of the meritorious +individuals for whose aid this Fund has been established, he must be +divested both of gratitude and feeling who would not give his best +endeavours to promote its welfare. And now, that he might in some +measure repay the gratification which had been afforded himself, he +would beg leave to propose a toast, the health of one of the Patrons, +a great and distinguished individual, whose name must always stand by +itself, and which, in an assembly such as this, or in any other assembly +of Scotsmen, can never be received, not, he would say, with ordinary +feelings of pleasure or of delight, but with those of rapture and +enthusiasm. In doing so he felt that he stood in a somewhat new +situation. Whoever had been called upon to propose the health of his +Hon. Friend to whom he alluded, some time ago, would have found himself +enabled, from the mystery in which certain matters were involved, to +gratify himself and his auditors by allusions which found a responding +chord in their own feelings, and to deal in the language, the sincere +language, of panegyric, without intruding on the modesty of the +great individual to whom he referred. But it was no longer possible, +consistently with the respect to one’s auditors, to use upon this +subject terms either of mystification or of obscure or indirect +allusion. The clouds have been dispelled; the DARKNESS VISIBLE has +been cleared away; and the Great Unknown--the minstrel of our native +land--the mighty magician who has rolled back the current of time, and +conjured up before our living senses the men and the manners of days +which have long passed away--stands revealed to the hearts and the eyes +of his affectionate and admiring countrymen. If he himself were capable +of imagining all that belonged to this mighty subject--were he even able +to give utterance to all that, as a friend, as a man, and as a Scotsman, +he must feel regarding it--yet knowing, as he well did, that this +illustrious individual was not more distinguished for his towering +talents than for those feelings which rendered such allusions ungrateful +to himself, however sparingly introduced, he would, on that account, +still refrain from doing that which would otherwise be no less pleasing +to him than to his audience. But this his Lordship, hoped he would be +allowed to say (his auditors would not pardon him were he to say less), +we owe to him, as a people, a large and heavy debt of gratitude. He it +is who has opened to foreigners the grand and characteristic beauties of +our country. It is to him that we owe that our gallant ancestors and the +struggles of our illustrious patriots--who fought and bled in order to +obtain and secure that independence and that liberty we now enjoy--have +obtained a fame no longer confined to the boundaries of a remote +and comparatively obscure nation, and who has called down upon their +struggles for glory and freedom the admiration of foreign countries. He +it is who has conferred a new reputation on our national character, and +bestowed on Scotland an imperishable name, were it only by her having +given birth to himself. (Loud and rapturous applause.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT certainly did not think that, in coming here to-day, he +would have the task of acknowledging, before three hundred gentlemen, a +secret which, considering that it was communicated to more than twenty +people, had been remarkably well kept. He was now before the bar of his +country, and might be understood to be on trial before Lord Meadowbank +as an offender; yet he was sure that every impartial jury would bring in +a verdict of Not Proven. He did not now think it necessary to enter into +the reasons of his long silence. Perhaps caprice might have a consider +able share in it. He had now to say, however, that the merits of these +works, if they had any, and their faults, were entirely imputable to +himself. (Long and loud cheering.) He was afraid to think on what he had +done. “Look on’t again I dare not.” He had thus far unbosomed himself +and he knew that it would be reported to the public. He meant, then, +seriously to state, that when he said he was the author, he was the +total and undivided author. With the exception of quotations, there was +not a single word that was not derived from himself, or suggested in the +course of his reading. The wand was now broken, and the book buried. You +will allow me further to say, with Prospero, it is your breath that has +filled my sails, and to crave one single toast in the capacity of the +author of these novels; and he would dedicate a bumper to the health +of one who has represented some of those characters, of which he had +endeavoured to give the skeleton, with a degree of liveliness which +rendered him grateful. He would propose “The Health of his friend Bailie +Nicol Jarvie”--(loud applause)--and he was sure that when the author of +Waverley and Rob Roy drinks to Nicol Jarvie, it would be received +with that degree of applause to which that gentleman has always been +accustomed, and that they would take care that on the present occasion +it should be PRODIGIOUS! (Long and vehement applause.) + +Mr. MACKAY, who here spoke with great humour in the character of Bailie +Jarvie.--My conscience! My worthy father the deacon could not have +believed that his son could hae had sic a compliment paid to him by the +Great Unknown! + +Sir WALTER SCOTT.--The Small Known now, Mr. Bailie. + +Mr. MACKAY.--He had been long identified with the Bailie, and he was +vain of the cognomen which he had now worn for eight years; and +he questioned if any of his brethren in the Council had given such +universal satisfaction. (Loud laughter and applause.) Before he sat +down, he begged to propose “The Lord Provost and the City of Edinburgh.” + +Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for the absence of the Lord Provost, who had +gone to London on public business. + +Tune--“Within a mile of Edinburgh town.” + +Sir WALTER SCOTT gave “The Duke of Wellington and the army.” + +Glee--“How merrily we live.” + +“Lord Melville and the Navy, that fought till they left nobody to fight +with, like an arch sportsman who clears all and goes after the game.” + +Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON.--They had heard this evening a toast, which had +been received with intense delight, which will be published in every +newspaper, and will be hailed with joy by all Europe. He had one toast +assigned him which he had great pleasure in giving. He was sure that the +stage had in all ages a great effect on the morals and manners of the +people. It was very desirable that the stage should be well regulated; +and there was no criterion by which its regulation could be better +determined than by the moral character and personal respectability of +the performers. He was not one of those stern moralists who objected to +the theatre. The most fastidious moralist could not possibly apprehend +any injury from the stage of Edinburgh, as it was presently managed, +and so long as it was adorned by that illustrious individual, Mrs. Henry +Siddons, whose public exhibitions were not more remarkable for feminine +grace and delicacy than was her private character for every virtue which +could be admired in domestic life. He would conclude with reciting a few +words from Shakespeare, in a spirit not of contradiction to those stern +moralists who disliked the theatre, but of meekness: “Good, my lord, +will you see the players well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well +used, for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time.” + He then gave “Mrs. Henry Siddons, and success to the Theatre Royal of +Edinburgh.” + +Mr. MURRAY.--Gentlemen, I rise to return thanks for the honour you have +done Mrs. Siddons, in doing which I am somewhat difficulted, from the +extreme delicacy which attends a brother’s expatiating upon a sister’s +claims to honours publicly paid--(hear, hear)--yet, gentlemen, your +kindness emboldens me to say that, were I to give utterance to all +a brother’s feelings, I should not exaggerate those claims. (Loud +applause.) I therefore, gentlemen, thank you most cordially for the +honour you have done her, and shall now request permission to make an +observation on the establishment of the Edinburgh Theatrical Fund. Mr. +Mackay has done Mrs. Henry Siddons and myself the honour to ascribe the +establishment to us. But no, gentlemen, it owes its origin to a higher +source--the publication of the novel of Rob Roy--the unprecedented +success of the opera adapted from that popular production. (Hear, +hear.) It was that success which relieved the Edinburgh Theatre from +its difficulties, and enabled Mrs. Siddons to carry into effect the +establishment of a fund she had long desired, but was prevented from +effecting from the unsettled state of her theatrical concerns. I +therefore hope that in future years, when the aged and infirm actor +derives relief from this fund, he will, in the language of the gallant +Highlander, “Cast his eye to good old Scotland, and not forget Rob Roy.” + (Loud applause.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT here stated that Mrs. Siddons wanted the means but not +the will of beginning the Theatrical Fund. He here alluded to the great +merits of Mr. Murray’s management, and to his merits as an actor, which +were of the first order, and of which every person who attends the +Theatre must be sensible; and after alluding to the embarrassments with +which the Theatre had been at one period threatened, he concluded by +giving “The Health of Mr. Murray,” which was drunk with three times +three. + +Mr. MURRAY.--Gentlemen, I wish I could believe that in any degree I +merited the compliments with which it has pleased Sir Walter Scott to +preface the proposal of my health, or the very flattering manner in +which you have done me the honour to receive it. The approbation of such +an assembly is most gratifying to me, and might encourage feelings of +vanity, were not such feelings crushed by my conviction that no man +holding the situation I have so long held in Edinburgh could have +failed, placed in the peculiar circumstances in which I have been +placed. Gentlemen, I shall not insult your good taste by eulogiums +upon your judgment or kindly feeling, though to the first I owe any +improvement I may have made as an actor, and certainly my success as +a manager to the second. (Applause.) When, upon the death of my dear +brother, the late Mr. Siddons, it was proposed that I should undertake +the management of the Edinburgh Theatre, I confess I drew back, doubting +my capability to free it from the load of debt and difficulty with which +it was surrounded. In this state of anxiety, I solicited the advice of +one who had ever honoured me with his kindest regard, and whose name no +member of my profession can pronounce without feelings of the deepest +respect and gratitude. I allude to the late Mr. John Kemble. (Great +applause.) To him I applied, and with the repetition of his advice I +shall cease to trespass upon your time--(hear, hear)--“My dear William, +fear not. Integrity and assiduity must prove an overmatch for all +difficulty; and though I approve your not indulging a vain confidence in +your own ability, and viewing with respectful apprehension the judgment +of the audience you have to act before, yet be assured that judgment +will ever be tempered by the feeling that you are acting for the widow +and the fatherless.” (Loud applause.) Gentlemen, those words have never +passed from my mind; and I feel convinced that you have pardoned my +many errors, from the feeling that I was striving for the widow and +the fatherless. (Long and enthusiastic applause followed Mr. Murray’s +address.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT gave “The Health of the Stewards.” + +Mr. VANDENHOFF.---Mr. President and Gentlemen, the honour conferred upon +the Stewards, in the very flattering compliment you have just paid us, +calls forth our warmest acknowledgments. In tendering you our thanks +for the approbation you have been pleased to express of our humble +exertions, I would beg leave to advert to the cause in which we have +been engaged. Yet, surrounded as I am by the genius--the eloquence--of +this enlightened city, I cannot but feel the presumption which ventures +to address you on so interesting a subject. Accustomed to speak in the +language of others, I feel quite at a loss for terms wherein to clothe +the sentiments excited by the present occasion. (Applause.) The nature +of the institution which has sought your fostering patronage, and the +objects which it contemplates, have been fully explained to you. But, +gentlemen, the relief which it proposes is not a gratuitous relief, but +to be purchased by the individual contribution of its members towards +the general good. This Fund lends no encouragement to idleness or +improvidence, but it offers an opportunity to prudence in vigour and +youth to make provision against the evening of life and its attendant +infirmity. A period is fixed at which we admit the plea of age as an +exemption from professional labour. It is painful to behold the veteran +on the stage (compelled by necessity) contending against physical decay, +mocking the joyousness of mirth with the feebleness of age, when the +energies decline, when the memory fails! and “the big, manly voice, +turning again towards childish treble, pipes and whistles in the sound.” + We would remove him from the mimic scene, where fiction constitutes the +charm; we would not view old age caricaturing itself. (Applause.) But as +our means may be found, in time of need, inadequate to the fulfilment +of our wishes--fearful of raising expectations which we may be unable to +gratify--desirous not “to keep the word of promise to the ear, and break +it to the hope”--we have presumed to court the assistance of the friends +of the drama to strengthen our infant institution. Our appeal has been +successful beyond our most sanguine expectations. The distinguished +patronage conferred on us by your presence on this occasion, and the +substantial support which your benevolence has so liberally afforded +to our institution, must impress every member of the Fund with the most +grateful sentiments--sentiments which no language can express, no time +obliterate. (Applause.) I will not trespass longer on your attention. +I would the task of acknowledging our obligation had fallen into abler +hands. (Hear, hear.) In the name of the Stewards, I most respectfully +and cordially thank you for the honour you have done us, which greatly +overpays our poor endeavours. (Applause.) + +[This speech, though rather inadequately reported, was one of the best +delivered on this occasion. That it was creditable to Mr. Vandenhoff’s +taste and feelings, the preceding sketch will show; but how much it was +so, it does not show.] + +Mr. J. CAY gave “Professor Wilson and the University of Edinburgh, of +which he was one of the brightest ornaments.” + +Lord MEADOWBANK, after a suitable eulogium, gave “The Earl of Fife,” + which was drunk with three times three. + +Earl FIFE expressed his high gratification at the honour conferred on +him. He intimated his approbation of the institution, and his readiness +to promote its success by every means in his power. He concluded with +giving “The Health of the Company of Edinburgh.” + +Mr. JONES, on rising to return thanks, being received with considerable +applause, said he was truly grateful for the kind encouragement he +had experienced, but the novelty of the situation in which he now +was renewed all the feelings he experienced when he first saw himself +announced in the bills as a young gentleman, being his first appearance +on any stage. (Laughter and applause.) Although in the presence of those +whose indulgence had, in another sphere, so often shielded him from the +penalties of inability, he was unable to execute the task which had so +unexpectedly devolved upon him in behalf of his brethren and himself. He +therefore begged the company to imagine all that grateful hearts could +prompt the most eloquent to utter, and that would be a copy of their +feelings. (Applause.) He begged to trespass another moment on their +attention, for the purpose of expressing the thanks of the members +of the Fund to the Gentlemen of the Edinburgh Professional Society of +Musicians, who, finding that this meeting was appointed to take place +on the same evening with their concert, had, in the handsomest manner, +agreed to postpone it. Although it was his duty thus to preface the +toast he had to propose, he was certain the meeting required no further +inducement than the recollection of the pleasure the exertions of those +gentlemen had often afforded them within those walls, to join heartily +in drinking “Health and Prosperity to the Edinburgh Professional Society +of Musicians.” (Applause.) + +Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON Proposed “The Health of Mr. Jeffrey,” whose absence +was owing to indisposition. The public was well aware that he was the +most distinguished advocate at the bar. He was likewise distinguished +for the kindness, frankness, and cordial manner in which he communicated +with the junior members of the profession, to the esteem of whom his +splendid talents would always entitle him. + +Mr. J. MACONOCHIE gave “The Health of Mrs. Siddons, senior, the most +distinguished ornament of the stage.” + +Sir W. SCOTT said that if anything could reconcile him to old age, it +was the reflection that he had seen the rising as well as the setting +sun of Mrs. Siddons. He remembered well their breakfasting near to +the Theatre--waiting the whole day--the crushing at the doors at six +o’clock--and their going in and counting their fingers till seven +o’clock. But the very first step--the very first word which she +uttered--was sufficient to overpay him for all his labours. The house +was literally electrified; and it was only from witnessing the effects +of her genius that he could guess to what a pitch theatrical excellence +could be carried. Those young gentlemen who have only seen the setting +sun of this distinguished performer, beautiful and serene as that was, +must give us old fellows, who have seen its rise and its meridian, leave +to hold our heads a little higher. + +Mr. DUNDAS gave “The Memory of Home, the author of Douglas.” + +Mr. MACKAY here announced that the subscriptions for the night amounted +to L280, and he expressed gratitude for this substantial proof of their +kindness. [We are happy to state that subscriptions have since flowed in +very liberally.] + +Mr. MACKAY here entertained the company with a pathetic song. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for having so long forgotten their native +land. He would now give “Scotland, the land of Cakes.” He would give +every river, every loch, every hill, from Tweed to Johnnie Groat’s +house--every lass in her cottage and countess in her castle--and may her +sons stand by her, as their fathers did before them; and he who would +not drink a bumper to his toast, may he never drink whisky more! + +Sir WALTER SCOTT here gave “Lord Meadowbank,” who returned thanks. + +Mr. H. G. BELL said that he should not have ventured to intrude himself +upon the attention of the assembly, did he not feel confident that the +toast he begged to have the honour to propose would make amends for the +very imperfect manner in which he might express his sentiments regarding +it. It had been said that, notwithstanding the mental supremacy of the +present age--notwithstanding that the page of our history was studded +with names destined also for the page of immortality--that the genius of +Shakespeare was extinct, and the fountain of his inspiration dried up. +It might be that these observations were unfortunately correct, or it +might be that we were bewildered with a name, not disappointed of the +reality; for though Shakespeare had brought a Hamlet, an Othello, and a +Macbeth, an Ariel, a Juliet, and a Rosalind, upon the stage, were there +not authors living who had brought as varied, as exquisitely painted, +and as undying a range of characters into our hearts? The shape of the +mere mould into which genius poured its golden treasures was surely +a matter of little moment, let it be called a Tragedy, a Comedy, or a +Waverley Novel. But even among the dramatic authors of the present day, +he was unwilling to allow that there was a great and palpable decline +from the glory of preceding ages, and his toast alone would bear him out +in denying the truth of the proposition. After eulogizing the names of +Baillie, Byron, Coleridge, Maturin, and others, he begged to have the +honour of proposing “The Health of James Sheridan Knowles.” + +Sir WALTER SCOTT. Gentlemen, I crave a bumper all over. The last toast +reminds me of a neglect of duty. Unaccustomed to a public duty of this +kind, errors in conducting the ceremonial of it may be excused, and +omissions pardoned. Perhaps I have made one or two omissions in the +course of the evening for which I trust you will grant me your pardon +and indulgence. One thing in particular I have omitted, and I would now +wish to make amends for it by a libation of reverence and respect to +the memory of SHAKESPEARE. He was a man of universal genius, and from a +period soon after his own era to the present day he has been universally +idolized. When I come to his honoured name, I am like the sick man who +hung up his crutches at the shrine, and was obliged to confess that he +did not walk better than before. It is indeed difficult, gentlemen, to +compare him to any other individual. The only one to whom I call at all +compare him is the wonderful Arabian dervise, who dived into the body of +each, and in this way became familiar with the thoughts and secrets of +their hearts. He was a man of obscure origin, and, as a player, limited +in his acquirements; but he was born evidently with a universal genius. +His eyes glanced at all the varied aspects of life, and his fancy +portrayed with equal talents the king on the throne and the clown who +crackles his chestnuts at a Christmas fire. Whatever note he takes, he +strikes it just and true, and awakens a corresponding chord in our own +bosoms, Gentlemen, I propose “The Memory of William Shakespeare.” + +Glee--“Lightly tread, ‘tis hallowed ground.” + +After the glee, Sir WALTER rose and begged to propose as a toast the +health of a lady, whose living merit is not a little honourable to +Scotland. The toast (said he) is also flattering to the national vanity +of a Scotchman, as the lady whom I intend to propose is a native of this +country. From the public her works have met with the most favourable +reception. One piece of hers, in particular, was often acted here of +late years, and gave pleasure of no mean kind to many brilliant and +fashionable audiences. In her private character she (he begged leave +to say) is as remarkable as in a public sense she is for her genius. In +short, he would in one word name--“Joanna Baillie.” + +This health being drunk, Mr. THORNE was called on for a song, and sung, +with great taste and feeling, “The Anchor’s Weighed.” + +W. MENZIES, Esq., Advocate, rose to propose the health of a gentleman +for many years connected at intervals with the dramatic art in Scotland. +Whether we look at the range of characters he performs, or at the +capacity which he evinces in executing those which he undertakes, he is +equally to be admired. In all his parts he is unrivalled. The individual +to whom he alluded is (said he) well known to the gentlemen present, +in the characters of Malvolio, Lord Ogleby, and the Green Man; and in +addition to his other qualities, he merits, for his perfection in these +characters, the grateful sense of this meeting. He would wish, in +the first place, to drink his health as an actor. But he was not less +estimable in domestic life, and as a private gentleman; and when he +announced him as one whom the chairman had honoured with his friendship, +he was sure that all present would cordially join him in drinking “The +Health of Mr. Terry.” + +Mr. WILLIAM ALLAN, banker, said that he did not rise with the intention +of making a speech. He merely wished to contribute in a few words to +the mirth of the evening--an evening which certainly had not passed off +without some blunders. It had been understood--at least he had learnt +or supposed from the expressions of Mr. Pritchard--that it would be +sufficient to put a paper, with the name of the contributor, into the +box, and that the gentleman thus contributing would be called on for +the money next morning. He, for his part, had committed a blunder but +it might serve as a caution to those who may be present at the dinner +of next year. He had merely put in his name, written on a slip of paper, +without the money. But he would recommend that, as some of the gentlemen +might be in the same situation, the box should be again sent round, and +he was confident that they, as well as he, would redeem their error. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT said that the meeting was somewhat in the situation +of Mrs. Anne Page, who had L300 and possibilities. We have already got, +said he, L280, but I should like, I confess, to have the L300. He would +gratify himself by proposing the health of an honourable person, the +Lord Chief Baron, whom England has sent to us, and connecting with it +that of his “yokefellow on the bench,” as Shakespeare says, Mr. Baron +Clerk--The Court of Exchequer. + +Mr. Baron CLERK regretted the absence of his learned brother. None, he +was sure, could be more generous in his nature, or more ready to help a +Scottish purpose. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT,--There is one who ought to be remembered on +this occasion. He is, indeed, well entitled to our grateful +recollection--one, in short, to whom the drama in this city owes much. +He succeeded, not without trouble, and perhaps at some considerable +sacrifice, in establishing a theatre. The younger part of the company +may not recollect the theatre to which I allude, but there are some who +with me may remember by name a place called Carrubber’s Close. There +Allan Ramsay established his little theatre. His own pastoral was not +fit for the stage, but it has its admirers in those who love the Doric +language in which it is written; and it is not without merits of a +very peculiar kind. But laying aside all considerations of his literary +merit, Allan was a good, jovial, honest fellow, who could crack a bottle +with the best. “The Memory of Allan Ramsay.” + +Mr. MURRAY, on being requested, sung “‘Twas merry in the hall,” and at +the conclusion was greeted with repeated rounds of applause. + +Mr. JONES.--One omission I conceive has been made. The cause of the Fund +has been ably advocated, but it is still susceptible, in my opinion, of +an additional charm-- + + “Without the smile from partial beauty won, + Oh, what were man?--a world without a sun!” + +And there would not be a darker spot in poetry than would be the corner +in Shakespeare Square, if, like its fellow, the Register Office, +the Theatre were deserted by the ladies. They are, in fact, our most +attractive stars. “The Patronesses of the Theatre, the Ladies of the +City of Edinburgh.” This toast I ask leave to drink with all the honours +which conviviality can confer. + +Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON would be the last man willingly to introduce any +topic calculated to interrupt the harmony of the evening; yet he felt +himself treading upon ticklish ground when he approached the region of +the Nor’ Loch. He assured the company, however, that he was not about to +enter on the subject of the Improvement Bill. They all knew that if the +public were unanimous--if the consent of all parties were obtained--if +the rights and interests of everybody were therein attended to, saved, +reserved, respected, and excepted--if everybody agreed to it--and, +finally, a most essential point, if nobody opposed it--then, and in +that case, and provided also that due intimation were given, the bill +in question might pass--would pass--or might, could, would, or should +pass--all expenses being defrayed. (Laughter.) He was the advocate of +neither champion, and would neither avail himself of the absence of the +Right Hon. the Lord Provost, nor take advantage of the non-appearance +of his friend, Mr. Cockburn. (Laughter.) But in the midst of these +civic broils there had been elicited a ray of hope that, at some future +period, in Bereford Park, or some other place, if all parties were +consulted and satisfied, and if intimation were duly made at the kirk +doors of all the parishes in Scotland, in terms of the statute in that +behalf provided--the people of Edinburgh might by possibility get a +new Theatre. (Cheers and laughter.) But wherever the belligerent powers +might be pleased to set down this new Theatre, he was sure they all +hoped to meet the Old Company in it. He should therefore propose “Better +Accommodation to the Old Company in the new Theatre, site unknown.”--Mr. +Robertson’s speech was most humorously given, and he sat down amidst +loud cheers and laughter. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT.--Wherever the new Theatre is built, I hope it will not +be large. There are two errors which we commonly commit--the one arising +from our pride, the other from our poverty. If there are twelve plans, +it is odds but the largest, without any regard to comfort, or an eye +to the probable expense, is adopted. There was the College projected on +this scale, and undertaken in the same manner, and who shall see the end +of it? It has been building all my life, and may probably last during +the lives of my children, and my children’s children. Let not the +same prophetic hymn be sung when we commence a new Theatre, which was +performed on the occasion of laying the foundation-stone of a certain +edifice, “Behold the endless work begun.” Playgoing folks should attend +somewhat to convenience. The new Theatre should, in the first place, +be such as may be finished in eighteen months or two years; and, in the +second place, it should be one in which we can hear our old friends with +comfort. It is better that a moderate-sized house should be crowded now +and then, than to have a large theatre with benches continually +empty, to the discouragement of the actors and the discomfort of the +spectators. (Applause.) He then commented in flattering terms on the +genius of Mackenzie and his private worth, and concluded by proposing +“The Health of Henry Mackenzie, Esq.” + +Immediately afterwards he said:--Gentlemen, it is now wearing late, and +I shall request permission to retire. Like Partridge, I may say, “NON +SUM QUALIS ERAM.” At my time of day I can agree with Lord Ogilvie as to +his rheumatism, and say, “There’s a twinge.” I hope, therefore, you will +excuse me for leaving the chair.--The worthy Baronet then retired amidst +long, loud, and rapturous cheering. + +Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON was then called to the chair by common +acclamation. + +Gentlemen, said Mr. Robertson, I take the liberty of asking you to fill +a bumper to the very brim. There is not one of us who will not +remember, while he lives, being present at this day’s festival, and +the declaration made this night by the gentleman who has just left the +chair. That declaration has rent the veil from the features of the Great +Unknown--a name which must now merge in the name of the Great Known. +It will be henceforth coupled with the name of SCOTT, which will become +familiar like a household word. We have heard the confession from his +own immortal lips--(cheering)--and we cannot dwell with too much or +too fervent praise on the merits of the greatest man whom Scotland has +produced. + +After which several other toasts were given, and Mr. Robertson left +the room about half-past eleven. A few choice spirits, however, rallied +round Captain Broadhead of the 7th Hussars, who was called to the chair, +and the festivity was prolonged till an early hour on Saturday morning. + +The band of the Theatre occupied the gallery, and that of the 7th +Hussars the end of the room, opposite the chair, whose performances were +greatly admired. It is but justice to Mr. Gibb to state that the dinner +was very handsome (though slowly served in), and the wines good. The +attention of the stewards was exemplary. Mr. Murray and Mr. Vandenhoff, +with great good taste, attended on Sir Walter Scott’s right and left, +and we know that he has expressed himself much gratified by their +anxious politeness and sedulity. + + +***** + + + + +CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE--INTRODUCTORY. + + + +CHAPTER I. MR. CHRYSTAL CROFTANGRY’S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. + +Sic itur ad astra. + +“This is the path to heaven.” Such is the ancient motto attached to the +armorial bearings of the Canongate, and which is inscribed, with greater +or less propriety, upon all the public buildings, from the church to the +pillory, in the ancient quarter of Edinburgh which bears, or rather +once bore, the same relation to the Good Town that Westminster does +to London, being still possessed of the palace of the sovereign, as it +formerly was dignified by the residence of the principal nobility and +gentry. I may therefore, with some propriety, put the same motto at +the head of the literary undertaking by which I hope to illustrate the +hitherto undistinguished name of Chrystal Croftangry. + +The public may desire to know something of an author who pitches at such +height his ambitious expectations. The gentle reader, therefore--for I +am much of Captain Bobadil’s humour, and could to no other extend myself +so far--the GENTLE reader, then, will be pleased to understand that I +am a a Scottish gentleman of the old school, with a fortune, temper, +and person, rather the worse for wear. I have known the world for these +forty years, having written myself man nearly since that period--and I +do not think it is much mended. But this is an opinion which I keep +to myself when I am among younger folk, for I recollect, in my youth, +quizzing the Sexagenarians who carried back their ideas of a perfect +state of society to the days of laced coats and triple ruffles, and +some of them to the blood and blows of the Forty-five. Therefore I am +cautious in exercising the right of censorship, which is supposed to +be acquired by men arrived at, or approaching, the mysterious period +of life, when the numbers of seven and nine multiplied into each other, +form what sages have termed the Grand Climacteric. + +Of the earlier part of my life it is only necessary to say, that I swept +the boards of the Parliament-House with the skirts of my gown for the +usual number of years during which young Lairds were in my time expected +to keep term--got no fees--laughed, and made others laugh--drank claret +at Bayle’s, Fortune’s, and Walker’s--and ate oysters in the Covenant +Close. + +Becoming my own master, I flung my gown at the bar-keeper, and commenced +gay man on my own account. In Edinburgh, I ran into all the expensive +society which the place then afforded. When I went to my house in the +shire of Lanark, I emulated to the utmost the expenses of men of large +fortune, and had my hunters, my first-rate pointers, my game-cocks, and +feeders. I can more easily forgive myself for these follies, than for +others of a still more blamable kind, so indifferently cloaked over, +that my poor mother thought herself obliged to leave my habitation, +and betake herself to a small inconvenient jointure-house, which she +occupied till her death. I think, however, I was not exclusively to +blame in this separation, and I believe my mother afterwards condemned +herself for being too hasty. Thank God, the adversity which destroyed +the means of continuing my dissipation, restored me to the affections of +my surviving parent. + +My course of life could not last. I ran too fast to run long; and when +I would have checked my career, I was perhaps too near the brink of the +precipice. Some mishaps I prepared by my own folly, others came upon +me unawares. I put my estate out to nurse to a fat man of business, +who smothered the babe he should have brought back to me in health and +strength, and, in dispute with this honest gentleman, I found, like a +skilful general, that my position would be most judiciously assumed by +taking it up near the Abbey of Holyrood. [See Note 1.--Holyrood.] It was +then I first became acquainted with the quarter, which my little work +will, I hope, render immortal, and grew familiar with those magnificent +wilds, through which the Kings of Scotland once chased the dark-brown +deer, but which were chiefly recommended to me in those days, by their +being inaccessible to those metaphysical persons, whom the law of the +neighbouring country terms John Doe and Richard Roe. In short, the +precincts of the palace are now best known as being a place of refuge at +any time from all pursuit for civil debt. + +Dire was the strife betwixt my quondam doer and myself; during which my +motions were circumscribed, like those of some conjured demon, within +a circle, which, “beginning at the northern gate of the King’s +Park, thence running northways, is bounded on the left by the King’s +garden-wall, and the gutter, or kennel, in a line wherewith it crosses +the High Street to the Watergate, and passing through the sewer, is +bounded by the walls of the Tennis Court and Physic Gardens, etc. It +then follows the wall of the churchyard, joins the north west wall of St +Ann’s Yards, and going east to the clackmill-house, turns southward to +the turnstile in the King’s Park wall, and includes the whole King’s +Park within the Sanctuary.” + +These limits, which I abridge from the accurate Maitland, once marked +the Girth, or Asylum, belonging to the Abbey of Holyrood, and which, +being still an appendage to the royal palace, has retained the privilege +of an asylum for civil debt. One would think the space sufficiently +extensive for a man to stretch his limbs in, as, besides a reasonable +proportion of level ground (considering that the scene lies in +Scotland), it includes within its precincts the mountain of Arthur’s +Seat and the rocks and pasture land called Salisbury Crags. But yet it +is inexpressible how, after a certain time had elapsed, I used to long +for Sunday, which permitted me to extend my walk without limitation. +During the other six days of the week I felt a sickness of heart, which, +but for the speedy approach of the hebdomadal day of liberty, I could +hardly have endured. I experienced the impatience of a mastiff who tugs +in vain to extend the limits which his chain permits. + +Day after day I walked by the side of the kennel which divides the +Sanctuary from the unprivileged part of the Canongate; and though the +month was July, and the scene the old town of Edinburgh, I preferred +it to the fresh air and verdant turf which I might have enjoyed in +the King’s Park, or to the cool and solemn gloom of the portico which +surrounds the palace. To an indifferent person either side of the gutter +would have seemed much the same, the houses equally mean, the children +as ragged and dirty, the carmen as brutal--the whole forming the same +picture of low life in a deserted and impoverished quarter of a large +city. But to me the gutter or kennel was what the brook Kidron was to +Shimei: death was denounced against him should he cross it, doubtless +because it was known to his wisdom who pronounced the doom that, from +the time the crossing the stream was debarred, the devoted man’s desire +to transgress the precept would become irresistible, and he would be +sure to draw down on his head the penalty which he had already justly +incurred by cursing the anointed of God. For my part, all Elysium +seemed opening on the other side of the kennel; and I envied the little +blackguards, who, stopping the current with their little dam-dykes of +mud, had a right to stand on either side of the nasty puddle which best +pleased them. I was so childish as even to make an occasional excursion +across, were it only for a few yards, and felt the triumph of a +schoolboy, who, trespassing in an orchard, hurries back again with a +fluttering sensation of joy and terror, betwixt the pleasure of having +executed his purpose and the fear of being taken or discovered. + +I have sometimes asked myself what I should have done in case of actual +imprisonment, since I could not bear without impatience a restriction +which is comparatively a mere trifle; but I really could never answer +the question to my own satisfaction. I have all my life hated those +treacherous expedients called MEZZO-TERMINI, and it is possible with +this disposition I might have endured more patiently an absolute +privation of liberty than the more modified restrictions to which my +residence in the Sanctuary at this period subjected me. If, however, the +feelings I then experienced were to increase in intensity according +to the difference between a jail and my actual condition, I must +have hanged myself, or pined to death--there could have been no other +alternative. + +Amongst many companions who forgot and neglected me, of course, when my +difficulties seemed to be inextricable, I had one true friend; and +that friend was a barrister, who knew the laws of his country well, +and tracing them up to the spirit of equity and justice in which +they originate, had repeatedly prevented, by his benevolent and manly +exertions, the triumphs of selfish cunning over simplicity and folly. +He undertook my cause, with the assistance of a solicitor of a character +similar to his own. My quondam doer had ensconced himself chin-deep +among legal trenches, hornworks, and covered ways; but my two protectors +shelled him out of his defences, and I was at length a free man, at +liberty to go or stay wheresoever my mind listed. + +I left my lodgings as hastily as if it had been a pest-house. I did not +even stop to receive some change that was due to me on settling with my +landlady, and I saw the poor woman stand at her door looking after my +precipitate flight, and shaking her head as she wrapped the silver which +she was counting for me in a separate piece of paper, apart from the +store in her own moleskin purse. An honest Highlandwoman was Janet +MacEvoy, and deserved a greater remuneration, had I possessed the power +of bestowing it. But my eagerness of delight was too extreme to pause +for explanation with Janet. On I pushed through the groups of children, +of whose sports I had been so often a lazy, lounging spectator. I sprung +over the gutter as if it had been the fatal Styx, and I a ghost, which, +eluding Pluto’s authority, was making its escape from Limbo lake. My +friend had difficulty to restrain me from running like a madman up the +street; and in spite of his kindness and hospitality, which soothed me +for a day or two, I was not quite happy until I found myself aboard of +a Leith smack, and, standing down the Firth with a fair wind, might snap +my fingers at the retreating outline of Arthur’s Seat, to the vicinity +of which I had been so long confined. + +It is not my purpose to trace my future progress through life. I had +extricated myself, or rather had been freed by my friends, from the +brambles and thickets of the law; but, as befell the sheep in the +fable, a great part of my fleece was left behind me. Something remained, +however: I was in the season for exertion, and, as my good mother used +to say, there was always life for living folk. Stern necessity gave my +manhood that prudence which my youth was a stranger to. I faced danger, +I endured fatigue, I sought foreign climates, and proved that I belonged +to the nation which is proverbially patient of labour and prodigal of +life. Independence, like liberty to Virgil’s shepherd, came late, but +came at last, with no great affluence in its train, but bringing enough +to support a decent appearance for the rest of my life, and to induce +cousins to be civil, and gossips to say, “I wonder whom old Croft will +make his heir? He must have picked up something, and I should not be +surprised if it prove more than folk think of.” + +My first impulse when I returned home was to rush to the house of my +benefactor, the only man who had in my distress interested himself in my +behalf. He was a snuff-taker, and it had been the pride of my heart to +save the IPSA CORPORA of the first score of guineas I could hoard, +and to have them converted into as tasteful a snuff-box as Rundell and +Bridge could devise. This I had thrust for security into the breast of +my waistcoat, while, impatient to transfer it to the person for whom it +was destined, I hastened to his house in Brown Square. When the front of +the house became visible a feeling of alarm checked me. I had been long +absent from Scotland; my friend was some years older than I; he might +have been called to the congregation of the just. I paused, and gazed +on the house as if I had hoped to form some conjecture from the outward +appearance concerning the state of the family within. I know not how +it was, but the lower windows being all closed, and no one stirring, my +sinister forebodings were rather strengthened. I regretted now that I +had not made inquiry before I left the inn where I alighted from the +mail-coach. But it was too late; so I hurried on, eager to know the best +or the worst which I could learn. + +The brass-plate bearing my friend’s name and designation was still on +the door, and when it was opened the old domestic appeared a good deal +older, I thought, than he ought naturally to have looked, considering +the period of my absence. “Is Mr. Sommerville at home?” said I, pressing +forward. + +“Yes, sir,” said John, placing himself in opposition to my entrance, “he +is at home, but--” + +“But he is not in,” said I. “I remember your phrase of old, John. Come, +I will step into his room, and leave a line for him.” + +John was obviously embarrassed by my familiarity. I was some one, he +saw, whom he ought to recollect. At the same time it was evident he +remembered nothing about me. + +“Ay, sir, my master is in, and in his own room, but--” + +I would not hear him out, but passed before him towards the well-known +apartment. A young lady came out of the room a little disturbed, as it +seemed, and said, “John, what is the matter?” + +“A gentleman, Miss Nelly, that insists on seeing my master.” + +“A very old and deeply-indebted friend,” said I, “that ventures to press +myself on my much-respected benefactor on my return from abroad.” + +“Alas, sir,” replied she, “my uncle would be happy to see you, but--” + +At this moment something was heard within the apartment like the falling +of a plate, or glass, and immediately after my friend’s voice called +angrily and eagerly for his niece. She entered the room hastily, and +so did I. But it was to see a spectacle, compared with which that of my +benefactor stretched on his bier would have been a happy one. + +The easy-chair filled with cushions, the extended limbs swathed in +flannel, the wide wrapping-gown and nightcap, showed illness; but the +dimmed eye, once so replete with living fire--the blabber lip, whose +dilation and compression used to give such character to his animated +countenance--the stammering tongue, that once poured forth such floods +of masculine eloquence, and had often swayed the opinion of the sages +whom he addressed,--all these sad symptoms evinced that my friend was in +the melancholy condition of those in whom the principle of animal life +has unfortunately survived that of mental intelligence. He gazed a +moment at me, but then seemed insensible of my presence, and went +on--he, once the most courteous and well-bred--to babble unintelligible +but violent reproaches against his niece and servant, because he himself +had dropped a teacup in attempting to place it on a table at his elbow. +His eyes caught a momentary fire from his irritation; but he struggled +in vain for words to express himself adequately, as, looking from his +servant to his niece, and then to the table, he laboured to explain that +they had placed it (though it touched his chair) at too great a distance +from him. + +The young person, who had naturally a resigned Madonna-like expression +of countenance, listened to his impatient chiding with the most humble +submission, checked the servant, whose less delicate feelings would have +entered on his justification, and gradually, by the sweet and soft tone +of her voice, soothed to rest the spirit of causeless irritation. + +She then cast a look towards me, which expressed, “You see all that +remains of him whom you call friend.” It seemed also to say, “Your +longer presence here can only be distressing to us all.” + +“Forgive me, young lady,” I said, as well as tears would permit; “I am a +person deeply obliged to your uncle. My name is Croftangry.” + +“Lord! and that I should not hae minded ye, Maister Croftangry,” said +the servant. “Ay, I mind my master had muckle fash about your job. I hae +heard him order in fresh candles as midnight chappit, and till’t again. +Indeed, ye had aye his gude word, Mr. Croftangry, for a’ that folks said +about you.” + +“Hold your tongue, John,” said the lady, somewhat angrily; and then +continued, addressing herself to me, “I am sure, sir, you must be sorry +to see my uncle in this state. I know you are his friend. I have heard +him mention your name, and wonder he never heard from you.” A new cut +this, and it went to my heart. But she continued, “I really do not know +if it is right that any should--If my uncle should know you, which I +scarce think possible, he would be much affected, and the doctor says +that any agitation--But here comes Dr. -- to give his own opinion.” + +Dr. -- entered. I had left him a middle-aged man. He was now an elderly +one; but still the same benevolent Samaritan, who went about doing +good, and thought the blessings of the poor as good a recompense of his +professional skill as the gold of the rich. + +He looked at me with surprise, but the young lady said a word of +introduction, and I, who was known to the doctor formerly, hastened to +complete it. He recollected me perfectly, and intimated that he was well +acquainted with the reasons I had for being deeply interested in the +fate of his patient. He gave me a very melancholy account of my poor +friend, drawing me for that purpose a little apart from the lady. “The +light of life,” he said, “was trembling in the socket; he scarcely +expected it would ever leap up even into a momentary flash, but more +was impossible.” He then stepped towards his patient, and put some +questions, to which the poor invalid, though he seemed to recognize the +friendly and familiar voice, answered only in a faltering and uncertain +manner. + +The young lady, in her turn, had drawn back when the doctor approached +his patient. “You see how it is with him,” said the doctor, addressing +me. “I have heard our poor friend, in one of the most eloquent of his +pleadings, give a description of this very disease, which he compared +to the tortures inflicted by Mezentius when he chained the dead to the +living. The soul, he said, is imprisoned in its dungeon of flesh, and +though retaining its natural and unalienable properties, can no more +exert them than the captive enclosed within a prison-house can act as +a free agent. Alas! to see HIM, who could so well describe what this +malady was in others, a prey himself to its infirmities! I shall +never forget the solemn tone of expression with which he summed up the +incapacities of the paralytic--the deafened ear, the dimmed eye, the +crippled limbs--in the noble words of Juvenal,-- + + “‘Omni + Membrorum damno major, dementia, quae nec + Nomina servorum, nec vultum agnoscit amici.’” + +As the physician repeated these lines, a flash of intelligence seemed to +revive in the invalid’s eye--sunk again--again struggled, and he spoke +more intelligibly than before, and in the tone of one eager to say +something which he felt would escape him unless said instantly. “A +question of death-bed, a question of death-bed, doctor--a reduction EX +CAPITE LECTI--Withering against Wilibus--about the MORBUS SONTICUS. I +pleaded the cause for the pursuer--I, and--and--why, I shall forget my +own name--I, and--he that was the wittiest and the best-humoured man +living--” + +The description enabled the doctor to fill up the blank, and the +patient joyfully repeated the name suggested. “Ay, ay,” he said, “just +he--Harry--poor Harry--” The light in his eye died away, and he sunk +back in his easy-chair. + +“You have now seen more of our poor friend, Mr. Croftangry,” said the +physician, “than I dared venture to promise you; and now I must take my +professional authority on me, and ask you to retire. Miss Sommerville +will, I am sure, let you know if a moment should by any chance occur +when her uncle can see you.” + +What could I do? I gave my card to the young lady, and taking my +offering from my bosom--“if my poor friend,” I said, with accents as +broken almost as his own, “should ask where this came from, name me, and +say from the most obliged and most grateful man alive. Say, the gold of +which it is composed was saved by grains at a time, and was hoarded with +as much avarice as ever was a miser’s. To bring it here I have come a +thousand miles; and now, alas, I find him thus!” + +I laid the box on the table, and was retiring with a lingering step. The +eye of the invalid was caught by it, as that of a child by a glittering +toy, and with infantine impatience he faltered out inquiries of his +niece. With gentle mildness she repeated again and again who I was, +and why I came, etc. I was about to turn, and hasten from a scene so +painful, when the physician laid his hand on my sleeve. “Stop,” he said, +“there is a change.” + +There was, indeed, and a marked one. A faint glow spread over his pallid +features--they seemed to gain the look of intelligence which belongs +to vitality--his eye once more kindled--his lip coloured--and drawing +himself up out of the listless posture he had hitherto maintained, he +rose without assistance. The doctor and the servant ran to give him +their support. He waved them aside, and they were contented to place +themselves in such a position behind as might ensure against accident, +should his newly-acquired strength decay as suddenly as it had revived. + +“My dear Croftangry,” he said, in the tone of kindness of other days, “I +am glad to see you returned. You find me but poorly; but my little niece +here and Dr. -- are very kind. God bless you, my dear friend! We shall +not meet again till we meet in a better world.” + +I pressed his extended hand to my lips--I pressed it to my bosom--I +would fain have flung myself on my knees; but the doctor, leaving the +patient to the young lady and the servant, who wheeled forward his +chair, and were replacing him in it, hurried me out of the room. “My +dear sir,” he said, “you ought to be satisfied; you have seen our poor +invalid more like his former self than he has been for months, or than +he may be perhaps again until all is over. The whole Faculty could +not have assured such an interval. I must see whether anything can be +derived from it to improve the general health. Pray, begone.” The last +argument hurried me from the spot, agitated by a crowd of feelings, all +of them painful. + +When I had overcome the shock of this great disappointment, I renewed +gradually my acquaintance with one or two old companions, who, though +of infinitely less interest to my feelings than my unfortunate friend, +served to relieve the pressure of actual solitude, and who were not +perhaps the less open to my advances that I was a bachelor somewhat +stricken in years, newly arrived from foreign parts, and certainly +independent, if not wealthy. + +I was considered as a tolerable subject of speculation by some, and +I could not be burdensome to any. I was therefore, according to the +ordinary rule of Edinburgh hospitality, a welcome guest in several +respectable families. But I found no one who could replace the loss I +had sustained in my best friend and benefactor. I wanted something more +than mere companionship could give me, and where was I to look for it? +Among the scattered remnants of those that had been my gay friends of +yore? Alas! + + “Many a lad I loved was dead, + And many a lass grown old.” + +Besides, all community of ties between us had ceased to exist, and +such of former friends as were still in the world held their life in a +different tenor from what I did. + +Some had become misers, and were as eager in saving sixpence as ever +they had been in spending a guinea. Some had turned agriculturists; +their talk was of oxen, and they were only fit companions for graziers. +Some stuck to cards, and though no longer deep gamblers, rather played +small game than sat out. This I particularly despised. The strong +impulse of gaming, alas! I had felt in my time. It is as intense as it +is criminal; but it produces excitation and interest, and I can conceive +how it should become a passion with strong and powerful minds. But to +dribble away life in exchanging bits of painted pasteboard round a green +table for the piddling concern of a few shillings, can only be excused +in folly or superannuation. It is like riding on a rocking-horse, where +your utmost exertion never carries you a foot forward; it is a kind of +mental treadmill, where you are perpetually climbing, but can never rise +an inch. From these hints, my readers will perceive I am incapacitated +for one of the pleasures of old age, which, though not mentioned by +Cicero, is not the least frequent resource in the present day--the +club-room, and the snug hand at whist. + +To return to my old companions. Some frequented public assemblies, like +the ghost of Beau Nash, or any other beau of half a century back, thrust +aside by tittering youth, and pitied by those of their own age. In fine, +some went into devotion, as the French term it, and others, I fear, went +to the devil; a few found resources in science and letters; one or two +turned philosophers in a small way, peeped into microscopes, and became +familiar with the fashionable experiments of the day; some took to +reading, and I was one of them. + +Some grains of repulsion towards the society around me--some painful +recollections of early faults and follies--some touch of displeasure +with living mankind--inclined me rather to a study of antiquities, and +particularly those of my own country. The reader, if I can prevail on +myself to continue the present work, will probably be able to judge in +the course of it whether I have made any useful progress in the study of +the olden times. + +I owed this turn of study, in part, to the conversation of my kind man +of business, Mr. Fairscribe, whom I mentioned as having seconded the +efforts of my invaluable friend in bringing the cause on which my +liberty and the remnant of my property depended to a favourable +decision. He had given me a most kind reception on my return. He was +too much engaged in his profession for me to intrude on him often, and +perhaps his mind was too much trammelled with its details to permit his +being willingly withdrawn from them. In short, he was not a person of +my poor friend Sommerville’s expanded spirit, and rather a lawyer of the +ordinary class of formalists; but a most able and excellent man. When +my estate was sold! he retained some of the older title-deeds, arguing, +from his own feelings, that they would be of more consequence to the +heir of the old family than to the new purchaser. And when I returned +to Edinburgh, and found him still in the exercise of the profession to +which he was an honour, he sent to my lodgings the old family Bible, +which lay always on my father’s table, two or three other mouldy +volumes, and a couple of sheepskin bags full of parchments and papers, +whose appearance was by no means inviting. + +The next time I shared Mr. Fairscribe’s hospitable dinner, I failed not +to return him due thanks for his kindness, which acknowledgment, indeed, +I proportioned rather to the idea which I knew he entertained of the +value of such things, than to the interest with which I myself +regarded them. But the conversation turning on my family, who were old +proprietors in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale, gradually excited some +interest in my mind and when I retired to my solitary parlour, the first +thing I did was to look for a pedigree or sort of history of the family +or House of Croftangry, once of that Ilk, latterly of Glentanner. The +discoveries which I made shall enrich the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER II. IN WHICH MR. CROFTANGRY CONTINUES HIS STORY. + + “What’s property, dear Swift? I see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter.” + +“Croftangry--Croftandrew--Croftanridge--Croftandgrey for sa mony wise +hath the name been spellit--is weel known to be ane house of grit +antiquity; and it is said that King Milcolumb, or Malcolm, being the +first of our Scottish princes quha removit across the Firth of Forth, +did reside and occupy ane palace at Edinburgh, and had there ane +valziant man, who did him man-service by keeping the croft, or +corn-land, which was tilled for the convenience of the King’s household, +and was thence callit Croft-an-ri, that is to say, the King his croft; +quhilk place, though now coverit with biggings, is to this day called +Croftangry, and lyeth near to the royal palace. And whereas that some +of those who bear this auld and honourable name may take scorn that it +ariseth from the tilling of the ground, quhilk men account a slavish +occupation, yet we ought to honour the pleugh and spade, seeing we all +derive our being from our father Adam, whose lot it became to cultivate +the earth, in respect of his fall and transgression. + +“Also we have witness, as weel in holy writt as in profane history, of +the honour in quhilk husbandrie was held of old, and how prophets have +been taken from the pleugh, and great captains raised up to defend their +ain countries, sic as Cincinnatus, and the like, who fought not the +common enemy with the less valiancy that their alms had been exercised +in halding the stilts of the pleugh, and their bellicose skill in +driving of yauds and owsen. + +“Likewise there are sindry honorable families, quhilk are now of +our native Scottish nobility, and have clombe higher up the brae of +preferment than what this house of Croftangry hath done, quhilk shame +not to carry in their warlike shield and insignia of dignity the tools +and implements the quhilk their first forefathers exercised in labouring +the croft-rig, or, as the poet Virgilius calleth it eloquently, in +subduing the soil, and no doubt this ancient house of Croftangry, while +it continued to be called of that Ilk, produced many worshipful and +famous patriots, of quhom I now praetermit the names; it being my +purpose, if God shall spare me life for sic ane pious officium, or +duty, to resume the first part of my narrative touching the house of +Croftangry, when I can set down at length the evidents and historical +witness anent the facts which I shall allege, seeing that words, when +they are unsupported by proofs, are like seed sown on the naked rocks, +or like an house biggit on the flitting and faithless sands.” + +Here I stopped to draw breath; for the style of my grandsire, the +inditer of this goodly matter, was rather lengthy, as our American +friends say. Indeed, I reserve the rest of the piece until I can obtain +admission to the Bannatine Club, [This Club, of which the Author of +Waverley has the honour to be President, was instituted in February +1823, for the purpose of printing and publishing works illustrative of +the history, literature, and antiquities of Scotland. It continues to +prosper, and has already rescued from oblivion many curious materials +of Scottish history.] when I propose to throw off an edition, limited +according to the rules of that erudite Society, with a facsimile of +the manuscript, emblazonry of the family arms surrounded by their +quartering, and a handsome disclamation of family pride, with HAEC NOS +NOVIMUS ESSE NIHIL, or VIX EA NOSTRA VOCO. + +In the meantime, to speak truth, I cannot but suspect that, though my +worthy ancestor puffed vigorously to swell up the dignity of his family, +we had never, in fact, risen above the rank of middling proprietors. The +estate of Glentanner came to us by the intermarriage of my ancestor with +Tib Sommeril, termed by the southrons Sommerville, a daughter of that +noble house, but, I fear, on what my great-grandsire calls “the wrong +side of the blanket.” [The ancient Norman family of the Sommervilles +came into this island with William the Conqueror, and established one +branch in Gloucestershire, another in Scotland. After the lapse of seven +hundred years, the remaining possessions of these two branches were +united in the person of the late Lord Sommerville, on the death of his +English kinsman, the well-known author of “The Chase.”] Her husband, +Gilbert, was killed fighting, as the INQUISITIO POST MORTEM has it, “SUB +VEXILLO REGIS, APUD PRAELIUM JUXTA BRANXTON, LIE FLODDDEN-FIELD.” + +We had our share in other national misfortunes--were forfeited, like +Sir John Colville of the Dale, for following our betters to the field +of Langside; and in the contentious times of the last Stewarts we were +severely fined for harbouring and resetting intercommuned ministers, and +narrowly escaped giving a martyr to the Calendar of the Covenant, in the +person of the father of our family historian. He “took the sheaf from +the mare,” however, as the MS. expresses it, and agreed to accept of the +terms of pardon offered by Government, and sign the bond in evidence he +would give no further ground of offence. My grandsire glosses over his +father’s backsliding as smoothly as he can, and comforts himself with +ascribing his want of resolution to his unwillingness to wreck the +ancient name and family, and to permit his lands and lineage to fall +under a doom of forfeiture. + +“And indeed,” said the venerable compiler, “as, praised be God, we +seldom meet in Scotland with these belly-gods and voluptuaries, whilk +are unnatural enough to devour their patrimony bequeathed to them by +their forbears in chambering and wantonness, so that they come, with the +prodigal son, to the husks and the swine-trough; and as I have the less +to dreid the existence of such unnatural Neroes in mine own family to +devour the substance of their own house like brute beasts out of mere +gluttonie and Epicurishnesse, so I need only warn mine descendants +against over-hastily meddling with the mutations in state and in +religion, which have been near-hand to the bringing this poor house of +Croftangry to perdition, as we have shown more than once. And albeit +I would not that my successors sat still altogether when called on by +their duty to Kirk and King, yet I would have them wait till stronger +and walthier men than themselves were up, so that either they may have +the better chance of getting through the day, or, failing of that, +the conquering party having some fatter quarry to live upon, may, like +gorged hawks, spare the smaller game.” + +There was something in this conclusion which at first reading piqued +me extremely, and I was so unnatural as to curse the whole concern, as +poor, bald, pitiful trash, in which a silly old man was saying a great +deal about nothing at all. Nay, my first impression was to thrust it +into the fire, the rather that it reminded me, in no very flattering +manner, of the loss of the family property, to which the compiler of the +history was so much attached, in the very manner which he most severely +reprobated. It even seemed to my aggrieved feelings that his unprescient +gaze on futurity, in which he could not anticipate the folly of one of +his descendants, who should throw away the whole inheritance in a few +years of idle expense and folly, was meant as a personal incivility to +myself, though written fifty or sixty years before I was born. + +A little reflection made me ashamed or this feeling of impatience, +and as I looked at the even, concise, yet tremulous hand in which the +manuscript was written, I could not help thinking, according to an +opinion I have heard seriously maintained, that something of a man’s +character may be conjectured from his handwriting. That neat but +crowded and constrained small-hand argued a man of a good conscience, +well-regulated passions, and, to use his own phrase, an upright walk in +life; but it also indicated narrowness of spirit, inveterate prejudice, +and hinted at some degree of intolerance, which, though not natural to +the disposition, had arisen out of a limited education. The passages +from Scripture and the classics, rather profusely than happily +introduced, and written in a half-text character to mark their +importance, illustrated that peculiar sort of pedantry which always +considers the argument as gained if secured by a quotation. Then the +flourished capital letters, which ornamented the commencement of each +paragraph, and the names of his family and of his ancestors whenever +these occurred in the page, do they not express forcibly the pride and +sense of importance with which the author undertook and accomplished +his task? I persuaded myself the whole was so complete a portrait of the +man, that it would not have been a more undutiful act to have defaced +his picture, or even to have disturbed his bones in his coffin, than to +destroy his manuscript. I thought, for a moment, of presenting it to +Mr. Fairscribe; but that confounded passage about the prodigal and +swine-trough--I settled at last it was as well to lock it up in my own +bureau, with the intention to look at it no more. + +But I do not know how it was, that the subject began to sit nearer my +heart than I was aware of, and I found myself repeatedly engaged in +reading descriptions of farms which were no longer mine, and boundaries +which marked the property of others. A love of the NATALE SOLUM, if +Swift be right in translating these words, “family estate,” began to +awaken in my bosom--the recollections of my own youth adding little to +it, save what was connected with field-sports. A career of pleasure is +unfavourable for acquiring a taste for natural beauty, and still more so +for forming associations of a sentimental kind, connecting us with the +inanimate objects around us. + +I had thought little about my estate while I possessed and was wasting +it, unless as affording the rude materials out of which a certain +inferior race of creatures, called tenants, were bound to produce (in a +greater quantity than they actually did) a certain return called rent, +which was destined to supply my expenses. This was my general view of +the matter. Of particular places, I recollected that Garval Hill was +a famous piece of rough upland pasture for rearing young colts, and +teaching them to throw their feet; that Minion Burn had the finest +yellow trout in the country; that Seggy-cleugh was unequalled for +woodcocks; that Bengibbert Moors afforded excellent moorfowl-shooting; +and that the clear, bubbling fountain called the Harper’s Well was +the best recipe in the world on the morning after a HARD-GO with my +neighbour fox-hunters. Still, these ideas recalled, by degrees, pictures +of which I had since learned to appreciate the merit--scenes of silent +loneliness, where extensive moors, undulating into wild hills, were only +disturbed by the whistle of the plover or the crow of the heathcock; +wild ravines creeping up into mountains, filled with natural wood, and +which, when traced downwards along the path formed by shepherds and +nutters, were found gradually to enlarge and deepen, as each formed a +channel to its own brook, sometimes bordered by steep banks of earth, +often with the more romantic boundary of naked rocks or cliffs crested +with oak, mountain ash, and hazel--all gratifying the eye the more that +the scenery was, from the bare nature of the country around, totally +unexpected. + +I had recollections, too, of fair and fertile holms, or level plains, +extending between the wooded banks and the bold stream of the Clyde, +which, coloured like pure amber, or rather having the hue of the +pebbles called Cairngorm, rushes over sheets of rock and beds of gravel, +inspiring a species of awe from the few and faithless fords which it +presents, and the frequency of fatal accidents, now diminished by the +number of bridges. These alluvial holms were frequently bordered by +triple and quadruple rows of large trees, which gracefully marked their +boundary, and dipped their long arms into the foaming stream of the +river. Other places I remembered, which had been described by the +old huntsman as the lodge of tremendous wild-cats, or the spot where +tradition stated the mighty stag to have been brought to bay, or where +heroes, whose might was now as much forgotten, were said to have been +slain by surprise, or in battle. + +It is not to be supposed that these finished landscapes became visible +before the eyes of my imagination, as the scenery of the stage is +disclosed by the rising of the curtain. I have said that I had looked +upon the country around me, during the hurried and dissipated period +of my life, with the eyes, indeed, of my body, but without those of my +understanding. It was piece by piece, as a child picks out its lesson, +that I began to recollect the beauties of nature which had once +surrounded me in the home of my forefathers. A natural taste for them +must have lurked at the bottom of my heart, which awakened when I was +in foreign countries, and becoming by degrees a favourite passion, +gradually turned its eyes inwards, and ransacked the neglected stores +which my memory had involuntarily recorded, and, when excited, exerted +herself to collect and to complete. + +I began now to regret more bitterly than ever the having fooled away +my family property, the care and improvement of which I saw might have +afforded an agreeable employment for my leisure, which only went to +brood on past misfortunes, and increase useless repining. “Had but +a single farm been reserved, however small,” said I one day to Mr. +Fairscribe, “I should have had a place I could call my home, and +something that I could call business.” + +“It might have been managed,” answered Fairscribe; “and for my part, I +inclined to keep the mansion house, mains, and some of the old family +acres together; but both Mr. -- and you were of opinion that the money +would be more useful.” + +“True, true, my good friend,” said I; “I was a fool then, and did not +think I could incline to be Glentanner with L200 or L300 a year, instead +of Glentanner with as many thousands. I was then a haughty, pettish, +ignorant, dissipated, broken-down Scottish laird; and thinking my +imaginary consequence altogether ruined, I cared not how soon, or how +absolutely, I was rid of everything that recalled it to my own memory, +or that of others.” + +“And now it is like you have changed your mind?” said Fairscribe. “Well, +fortune is apt to circumduce the term upon us; but I think she may allow +you to revise your condescendence.” + +“How do you mean, my good friend?” + +“Nay,” said Fairscribe, “there is ill luck in averring till one is sure +of his facts. I will look back on a file of newspapers, and to-morrow +you shall hear from me. Come, help yourself--I have seen you fill your +glass higher.” + +“And shall see it again,” said I, pouring out what remained of our +bottle of claret; “the wine is capital, and so shall our toast be--‘To +your fireside, my good friend.’ And now we shall go beg a Scots song +without foreign graces from my little siren, Miss Katie.” + +The next day, accordingly, I received a parcel from Mr. Fairscribe with +a newspaper enclosed, among the advertisements of which one was marked +with a cross as requiring my attention. I read, to my surprise:-- + + “DESIRABLE ESTATE FOR SALE. + +“By order of the Lords of Council and Session, will be exposed to sale +in the New Sessions House of Edinburgh, on Wednesday, the 25th November, +18--, all and whole the lands and barony of Glentanner, now called +Castle Treddles, lying in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale, and shire of +Lanark, with the teinds, parsonage and vicarage, fishings in the Clyde, +woods, mosses, moors, and pasturages,” etc., etc. + +The advertisement went on to set forth the advantages of the soil, +situation, natural beauties, and capabilities of improvement, not +forgetting its being a freehold estate, with the particular polypus +capacity of being sliced up into two, three, or, with a little +assistance, four freehold qualifications, and a hint that the county +was likely to be eagerly contested between two great families. The upset +price at which “the said lands and barony and others” were to be exposed +was thirty years’ purchase of the proven rental, which was about a +fourth more than the property had fetched at the last sale. This, which +was mentioned, I suppose, to show the improvable character of the land, +would have given another some pain. But let me speak truth of myself in +good as in evil--it pained not me. I was only angry that Fairscribe, +who knew something generally of the extent of my funds, should have +tantalized me by sending me information that my family property was in +the market, since he must have known that the price was far out of my +reach. + +But a letter dropped from the parcel on the floor, which attracted my +eye, and explained the riddle. A client of Mr. Fairscribe’s, a moneyed +man, thought of buying Glentanner, merely as an investment of money--it +was even unlikely he would ever see it; and so the price of the whole +being some thousand pounds beyond what cash he had on hand, this +accommodating Dives would gladly take a partner in the sale for any +detached farm, and would make no objection to its including the most +desirable part of the estate in point of beauty, provided the price was +made adequate. Mr. Fairscribe would take care I was not imposed on in +the matter, and said in his card he believed, if I really wished to make +such a purchase, I had better go out and look at the premises, advising +me, at the same time, to keep a strict incognito--an advice somewhat +superfluous, since I am naturally of a retired and reserved disposition. + + + +CHAPTER III. MR. CROFTANGRY, INTER ALIA, REVISITS GLENTANNER. + + Then sing of stage-coaches, + And fear no reproaches + For riding in one; + But daily be jogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + The coachman drives on. FARQUHAR. + +Disguised in a grey surtout which had seen service, a white castor on +my head, and a stout Indian cane in my hand, the next week saw me on the +top of a mail-coach driving to the westward. + +I like mail-coaches, and I hate them. I like them for my convenience; +but I detest them for setting the whole world a-gadding, instead of +sitting quietly still minding their own business, and preserving the +stamp of originality of character which nature or education may have +impressed on them. Off they go, jingling against each other in the +rattling vehicle till they have no more variety of stamp in them than so +many smooth shillings--the same even in their Welsh wigs and greatcoats, +each without more individuality than belongs to a partner of the +company, as the waiter calls them, of the North Coach. + +Worthy Mr. Piper, best of contractors who ever furnished four frampal +jades for public use, I bless you when I set out on a journey myself; +the neat coaches under your contract render the intercourse, from +Johnnie Groat’s House to Ladykirk and Cornhill Bridge, safe, pleasant, +and cheap. But, Mr. Piper, you who are a shrewd arithmetician, did it +never occur to you to calculate how many fools’ heads, which might have +produced an idea or two in the year, if suffered to remain in quiet, +get effectually addled by jolting to and fro in these flying chariots +of yours; how many decent countrymen become conceited bumpkins after a +cattle-show dinner in the capital, which they could not have attended +save for your means; how many decent country parsons return critics and +spouters, by way of importing the newest taste from Edinburgh? And how +will your conscience answer one day for carrying so many bonny lasses to +barter modesty for conceit and levity at the metropolitan Vanity Fair? + +Consider, too, the low rate to which you reduce human intellect. I do +not believe your habitual customers have their ideas more enlarged +than one of your coach-horses. They KNOWS the road, like the English +postilion, and they know nothing besides. They date, like the carriers +at Gadshill, from the death of Robin Ostler; [See Act II. Scene 1 of the +First Part of Shakespeare’s Henry IV.] the succession of guards forms +a dynasty in their eyes; coachmen are their ministers of state; and an +upset is to them a greater incident than a change of administration. +Their only point of interest on the road is to save the time, and see +whether the coach keeps the hour. This is surely a miserable degradation +of human intellect. Take my advice, my good sir, and disinterestedly +contrive that once or twice a quarter your most dexterous whip shall +overturn a coachful of these superfluous travellers, IN TERROREM +to those who, as Horace says, “delight in the dust raised by your +chariots.” + +Your current and customary mail-coach passenger, too, gets abominably +selfish, schemes successfully for the best seat, the freshest egg, the +right cut of the sirloin. The mode of travelling is death to all the +courtesies and kindnesses of life, and goes a great way to demoralize +the character, and cause it to retrograde to barbarism. You allow us +excellent dinners, but only twenty minutes to eat them. And what is the +consequence? Bashful beauty sits on the one side of us, timid childhood +on the other; respectable, yet somewhat feeble, old age is placed on our +front; and all require those acts of politeness which ought to put every +degree upon a level at the convivial board. But have we time--we the +strong and active of the party--to perform the duties of the table to +the more retired and bashful, to whom these little attentions are due? +The lady should be pressed to her chicken, the old man helped to his +favourite and tender slice, the child to his tart. But not a fraction of +a minute have we to bestow on any other person than ourselves; and the +PRUT-PRUT--TUT-TUT of the guard’s discordant note summons us to the +coach, the weaker party having gone without their dinner, and the +able-bodied and active threatened with indigestion, from having +swallowed victuals like a Lei’stershire clown bolting bacon. + +On the memorable occasion I am speaking of I lost my breakfast, sheerly +from obeying the commands of a respectable-looking old lady, who once +required me to ring the bell, and another time to help the tea-kettle. +I have some reason to think she was literally an OLD-STAGER, who laughed +in her sleeve at my complaisance; so that I have sworn in my secret soul +revenge upon her sex, and all such errant damsels of whatever age and +degree whom I may encounter in my travels. I mean all this without the +least ill-will to my friend the contractor, who, I think, has approached +as near as any one is like to do towards accomplishing the modest wish +cf the Amatus and Amata of the Peri Bathous,-- + + “Ye gods, annihilate but time and space, + And make two lovers happy.” + +I intend to give Mr. P. his full revenge when I come to discuss the more +recent enormity of steamboats; meanwhile, I shall only say of both these +modes of conveyance, that-- + + “There is no living with them or without them.” + +I am, perhaps, more critical on the--mail-coach on this particular +occasion, that I did not meet all the respect from the worshipful +company in his Majesty’s carriage that I think I was entitled to. I must +say it for myself that I bear, in my own opinion at least, not a vulgar +point about me. My face has seen service, but there is still a good set +of teeth, an aquiline nose, and a quick, grey eye, set a little too deep +under the eyebrow; and a cue of the kind once called military may serve +to show that my civil occupations have been sometimes mixed with those +of war. Nevertheless, two idle young fellows in the vehicle, or rather +on the top of it, were so much amused with the deliberation which I used +in ascending to the same place of eminence, that I thought I should have +been obliged to pull them up a little. And I was in no good-humour at +an unsuppressed laugh following my descent when set down at the angle, +where a cross road, striking off from the main one, led me towards +Glentanner, from which I was still nearly five miles distant. + +It was an old-fashioned road, which, preferring ascents to sloughs, was +led in a straight line over height and hollow, through moor and dale. +Every object around me; as I passed them in succession, reminded me of +old days, and at the same time formed the strongest contrast with them +possible. Unattended, on foot, with a small bundle in my hand, deemed +scarce sufficient good company for the two shabby-genteels with whom I +had been lately perched on the top of a mail-coach, I did not seem to be +the same person with the young prodigal, who lived with the noblest and +gayest in the land, and who, thirty years before, would, in the same +country, have, been on the back of a horse that had been victor for a +plate, or smoking aloof in his travelling chaise-and-four. My sentiments +were not less changed than my condition. I could quite well remember +that my ruling sensation in the days of heady youth was a mere +schoolboy’s eagerness to get farthest forward in the race in which I had +engaged; to drink as many bottles as --; to be thought as good a judge +of a horse as --; to have the knowing cut of --‘s jacket. These were thy +gods, O Israel! + +Now I was a mere looker-on; seldom an unmoved, and sometimes an angry +spectator, but still a spectator only, of the pursuits of mankind. +I felt how little my opinion was valued by those engaged in the busy +turmoil, yet I exercised it with the profusion of an old lawyer retired +from his profession, who thrusts himself into his neighbour’s affairs, +and gives advice where it is not wanted, merely under pretence of loving +the crack of the whip. + +I came amid these reflections to the brow of a hill, from which I +expected to see Glentanner, a modest-looking yet comfortable house, its +walls covered with the most productive fruit-trees in that part of the +country, and screened from the most stormy quarters of the horizon by a +deep and ancient wood, which overhung the neighbouring hill. The house +was gone; a great part of the wood was felled; and instead of the +gentlemanlike mansion, shrouded and embosomed among its old hereditary +trees, stood Castle Treddles, a huge lumping four-square pile of +freestone, as bare as my nail, except for a paltry edging of decayed and +lingering exotics, with an impoverished lawn stretched before it, which, +instead of boasting deep green tapestry, enamelled with daisies and with +crowsfoot and cowslips, showed an extent of nakedness, raked, indeed, +and levelled, but where the sown grasses had failed with drought, and +the earth, retaining its natural complexion, seemed nearly as brown and +bare as when it was newly dug up. + +The house was a large fabric, which pretended to its name of Castle only +from the front windows being finished in acute Gothic arches (being, +by the way, the very reverse of the castellated style), and each angle +graced with a turret about the size of a pepper-box. In every other +respect it resembled a large town-house, which, like a fat burgess, had +taken a walk to the country on a holiday, and climbed to the top of all +eminence to look around it. The bright red colour of the freestone, the +size of the building, the formality of its shape, and awkwardness of its +position, harmonized as ill with the sweeping Clyde in front, and the +bubbling brook which danced down on the right, as the fat civic form, +with bushy wig, gold-headed cane, maroon-coloured coat, and mottled silk +stockings, would have accorded with the wild and magnificent scenery of +Corehouse Linn. + +I went up to the house. It was in that state of desertion which is +perhaps the most unpleasant to look on, for the place was going to decay +without having been inhabited. There were about the mansion, though +deserted, none of the slow mouldering touches of time, which communicate +to buildings, as to the human frame, a sort of reverence, while +depriving them of beauty and of strength. The disconcerted schemes of +the Laird of Castle Treddles had resembled fruit that becomes decayed +without ever having ripened. Some windows broken, others patched, others +blocked up with deals, gave a disconsolate air to all around, and seemed +to say, “There Vanity had purposed to fix her seat, but was anticipated +by Poverty.” + +To the inside, after many a vain summons, I was at length admitted by +an old labourer. The house contained every contrivance for luxury and +accommodation. The kitchens were a model; and there were hot closets on +the office staircase, that the dishes might not cool, as our Scottish +phrase goes, between the kitchen and the hall. But instead of the genial +smell of good cheer, these temples of Comus emitted the damp odour of +sepulchral vaults, and the large cabinets of cast-iron looked like the +cages of some feudal Bastille. The eating room and drawing-room, with an +interior boudoir, were magnificent apartments, the ceiling was fretted +and adorned with stucco-work, which already was broken in many places, +and looked in others damp and mouldering; the wood panelling was shrunk +and warped, and cracked; the doors, which had not been hung for more +than two years, were, nevertheless, already swinging loose from their +hinges. Desolation, in short, was where enjoyment had never been; and +the want of all the usual means to preserve was fast performing the work +of decay. + +The story was a common one, and told in a few words. Mr. Treddles, +senior, who bought the estate, was a cautious, money-making person. His +son, still embarked in commercial speculations, desired at the same time +to enjoy his opulence and to increase it. He incurred great expenses, +amongst which this edifice was to benumbered. To support these he +speculated boldly, and unfortunately; and thus the whole history is +told, which may serve for more places than Glentanner. + +Strange and various feelings ran through my bosom as I loitered in these +deserted apartments, scarce hearing what my guide said to me about the +size and destination of each room. The first sentiment, I am ashamed to +say, was one of gratified spite. My patrician pride was pleased that the +mechanic, who had not thought the house of the Croftangrys sufficiently +good for him, had now experienced a fall in his turn. My next thought +was as mean, though not so malicious. “I have had the better of this +fellow,” thought I. “If I lost the estate, I at least spent the price; +and Mr. Treddles has lost his among paltry commercial engagements.” + +“Wretch!” said the secret voice within, “darest thou exult in thy shame? +Recollect how thy youth and fortune was wasted in those years, and +triumph not in the enjoyment of an existence which levelled thee with +the beasts that perish. Bethink thee how this poor man’s vanity gave +at least bread to the labourer, peasant, and citizen; and his profuse +expenditure, like water spilt on the ground, refreshed the lowly herbs +and plants where it fell. But thou! Whom hast thou enriched during +thy career of extravagance, save those brokers of the devil--vintners, +panders, gamblers, and horse-jockeys?” The anguish produced by this +self-reproof was so strong that I put my hand suddenly to my forehead, +and was obliged to allege a sudden megrim to my attendant, in apology +for the action, and a slight groan with which it was accompanied. + +I then made an effort to turn my thoughts into a more philosophical +current, and muttered half aloud, as a charm to lull any more painful +thoughts to rest,-- + + “NUNC AGER UMBRENI SUB NOMINE, NUPER OFELLI + DICTUS ERIT NULLI PROPRIUS; SED CEDIT IN USUM + NUNC MIHI, NUNC ALII. QUOCIRCA VIVITE FORTES, + FORTIAQUE ADVERSIS OPPONITE PECTORA REBUS.” + +[Horace Sat.II Lib.2. The meaning will be best conveyed to the English +reader in Pope’s imitation:-- + + “What’s property, dear Swift? You see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter; + Or in a mortgage prove a lawyer’s share; + Or in a jointure vanish from the heir. + + ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** + + “Shades, that to Bacon could retreat afford, + Become the portion of a booby lord; + And Helmsley, once proud Buckingham’s delight, + Slides to a scrivener and city knight. + Let lands and houses have what lords they will, + Let us be fix’d, and our own masters still.”] + +In my anxiety to fix the philosophical precept in my mind, I recited the +last line aloud, which, joined to my previous agitation, I afterwards +found became the cause of a report that a mad schoolmaster had come from +Edinburgh, with the idea in his head of buying Castle Treddles. + +As I saw my companion was desirous of getting rid of me, I asked where +I was to find the person in whose hands were left the map of the estate, +and other particulars connected with the sale. The agent who had this in +possession, I was told, lived at the town of --, which I was informed, +and indeed knew well, was distant five miles and a bittock, which may +pass in a country where they are less lavish of their land for two or +three more. Being somewhat afraid of the fatigue of walking so far, +I inquired if a horse or any sort of carriage was to be had, and was +answered in the negative. + +“But,” said my cicerone, “you may halt a blink till next morning at the +Treddles Arms, a very decent house, scarce a mile off.” + +“A new house, I suppose?” replied I. + +“No, it’s a new public, but it’s an auld house; it was aye the Leddy’s +jointure-house in the Croftangry folk’s time. But Mr. Treddles has +fitted it up for the convenience of the country, poor man, he was a +public-spirited man when he had the means.” + +“Duntarkin a public-house!” I exclaimed. + +“Ay!” said the fellow, surprised at my naming the place by its former +title; “ye’ll hae been in this country before, I’m thinking?” + +“Long since,” I replied. “And there is good accommodation at the +what-d’ye-call-’em arms, and a civil landlord?” This I said by way of +saying something, for the man stared very hard at me. + +“Very decent accommodation. Ye’ll no be for fashing wi’ wine, I’m +thinking; and there’s walth o’ porter, ale, and a drap gude whisky” + (in an undertone)--“Fairntosh--if you call get on the lee-side of the +gudewife--for there is nae gudeman. They ca’ her Christie Steele.” + +I almost started at the sound. Christie Steele! Christie Steele was +my mother’s body-servant, her very right hand, and, between ourselves, +something like a viceroy over her. I recollected her perfectly; and +though she had in former times been no favourite of mine, her name now +sounded in my ear like that of a friend, and was the first word I had +heard somewhat in unison with the associations around me. I sallied from +Castle Treddles, determined to make the best of my way to Duntarkin, +and my cicerone hung by me for a little way, giving loose to his love +of talking--an opportunity which, situated as he was, the seneschal of a +deserted castle, was not likely to occur frequently. + +“Some folk think,” said my companion, “that Mr. Treddles might as weel +have put my wife as Christie Steele into the Treddles Arms; for Christie +had been aye in service, and never in the public line, and so it’s like +she is ganging back in the world, as I hear. Now, my wife had keepit a +victualling office.” + +“That would have been an advantage, certainly,” I replied. + +“But I am no sure that I wad ha’ looten Eppie take it, if they had put +it in her offer.” + +“That’s a different consideration.” + +“Ony way, I wadna ha’ liked to have offended Mr. Treddles. He was a wee +toustie when you rubbed him again the hair; but a kind, weel-meaning +man.” + +I wanted to get rid of this species of chat, and finding myself near the +entrance of a footpath which made a short cut to Duntarkin, I put half a +crown into my guide’s hand, bade him good-evening, and plunged into the +woods. + +“Hout, sir--fie, sir--no from the like of you. Stay, sir, ye wunna find +the way that gate.--Odd’s mercy, he maun ken the gate as weel as I do +mysel’. Weel, I wad like to ken wha the chield is.” + +Such were the last words of my guide’s drowsy, uninteresting tone of +voice and glad to be rid of him, I strode out stoutly, in despite of +large stones, briers, and BAD STEPS, which abounded in the road I had +chosen. In the interim, I tried as much as I could, with verses from +Horace and Prior, and all who have lauded the mixture of literary with +rural life, to call back the visions of last night and this morning, +imagining myself settled in same detached farm of the estate of +Glentanner,-- + + “Which sloping hills around enclose-- + Where many a birch and brown oak grows,” + +when I should have a cottage with a small library, a small cellar, a +spare bed for a friend, and live more happy and more honoured than when +I had the whole barony. But the sight of Castle Treddles had disturbed +all my own castles in the air. The realities of the matter, like a stone +plashed into a limpid fountain, had destroyed the reflection of the +objects around, which, till this act of violence, lay slumbering on the +crystal surface, and I tried in vain to re-establish the picture which +had been so rudely broken. Well, then, I would try it another way. I +would try to get Christie Steele out of her PUBLIC, since she was not +striving in it, and she who had been my mother’s governante should be +mine. I knew all her faults, and I told her history over to myself. + +She was grand-daughter, I believe--at least some relative--of the famous +Covenanter of the name, whom Dean Swift’s friend, Captain Creichton, +shot on his own staircase in the times of the persecutions; [See Note +2.--Steele a Covenanter, shot by Captain Creichton.] and had perhaps +derived from her native stock much both of its good and evil properties. +No one could say of her that she was the life and spirit of the family, +though in my mother’s time she directed all family affairs. Her look was +austere and gloomy, and when she was not displeased with you, you could +only find it out by her silence. If there was cause for complaint, real +or imaginary, Christie was loud enough. She loved my mother with the +devoted attachment of a younger sister; but she was as jealous of +her favour to any one else as if she had been the aged husband of a +coquettish wife, and as severe in her reprehensions as an abbess over +her nuns. The command which she exercised over her was that, I fear, of +a strong and determined over a feeble and more nervous disposition and +though it was used with rigour, yet, to the best of Christie Steele’s +belief, she was urging her mistress to her best and most becoming +course, and would have died rather than have recommended any other. The +attachment of this woman was limited to the family of Croftangry; for +she had few relations, and a dissolute cousin, whom late in life she had +taken as a husband, had long left her a widow. + +To me she had ever a strong dislike. Even from my early childhood she +was jealous, strange as it may seem, of my interest in my mother’s +affections. She saw my foibles and vices with abhorrence, and without +a grain of allowance; nor did she pardon the weakness of maternal +affection even when, by the death of two brothers, I came to be the only +child of a widowed parent. At the time my disorderly conduct induced my +mother to leave Glentanner, and retreat to her jointure-house, I +always blamed Christie Steele for having influenced her resentment and +prevented her from listening to my vows of amendment, which at times +were real and serious, and might, perhaps, have accelerated that change +of disposition which has since, I trust, taken place. But Christie +regarded me as altogether a doomed and predestinated child of perdition, +who was sure to hold on my course, and drag downwards whosoever might +attempt to afford me support. + +Still, though I knew such had been Christie’s prejudices against me +in other days, yet I thought enough of time had since passed away +to destroy all of them. I knew that when, through the disorder of my +affairs, my mother underwent some temporary inconvenience about money +matters, Christie, as a thing of course, stood in the gap, and having +sold a small inheritance which had descended to her, brought the +purchase money to her mistress, with a sense of devotion as deep as that +which inspired the Christians of the first age, when they sold all they +had, and followed the apostles of the church. I therefore thought that +we might, in old Scottish phrase, “let byganes be byganes,” and +begin upon a new account. Yet I resolved, like a skilful general, +to reconnoitre a little before laying down any precise scheme of +proceeding, and in the interim I determined to preserve my incognito. + + + +CHAPTER IV. MR. CROFTANGRY BIDS ADIEU TO CLYDESDALE. + + Alas, how changed from what it once had been! + ‘Twas now degraded to a common inn. GAY. + +An hour’s brisk walking, or thereabouts, placed me in front of +Duntarkin, which had also, I found, undergone considerable alterations, +though it had not been altogether demolished like the principal +mansion. An inn-yard extended before the door of the decent little +jointure-house, even amidst the remnants of the holly hedges which had +screened the lady’s garden. Then a broad, raw-looking, new-made road +intruded itself up the little glen, instead of the old horseway, so +seldom used that it was almost entirely covered with grass. It is +a great enormity, of which gentlemen trustees on the highways are +sometimes guilty, in adopting the breadth necessary for an avenue to the +metropolis, where all that is required is an access to some sequestered +and unpopulous district. I do not say anything of the expense--that +the trustees and their constituents may settle as they please. But the +destruction of silvan beauty is great when the breadth of the road is +more than proportioned to the vale through which it runs, and lowers, of +course, the consequence of any objects of wood or water, or broken and +varied ground, which might otherwise attract notice and give pleasure. +A bubbling runnel by the side of one of those modern Appian or Flaminian +highways is but like a kennel; the little hill is diminished to a +hillock--the romantic hillock to a molehill, almost too small for sight. + +Such an enormity, however, had destroyed the quiet loneliness of +Duntarkin, and intruded its breadth of dust and gravel, and its +associations of pochays and mail-coaches, upon one of the most +sequestered spots in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale. The house was +old and dilapidated, and looked sorry for itself, as if sensible of +a derogation; but the sign was strong and new, and brightly painted, +displaying a heraldic shield (three shuttles in a field diapre), a web +partly unfolded for crest, and two stout giants for supporters, each one +holding a weaver’s beam proper. To have displayed this monstrous emblem +on the front of the house might have hazarded bringing down the wall, +but for certain would have blocked up one or two windows. It was +therefore established independent of the mansion, being displayed in an +iron framework, and suspended upon two posts, with as much wood and +iron about it as would have builded a brig; and there it hung, creaking, +groaning, and screaming in every blast of wind, and frightening for five +miles’ distance, for aught I know, the nests of thrushes and linnets, +the ancient denizens of the little glen. + +When I entered the place I was received by Christie Steele herself, who +seemed uncertain whether to drop me in the kitchen, or usher me into +a separate apartment, as I called for tea, with something rather more +substantial than bread and butter, and spoke of supping and sleeping, +Christie at last inducted me into the room where she herself had been +sitting, probably the only one which had a fire, though the month was +October. This answered my plan; and as she was about to remove her +spinning-wheel, I begged she would have the goodness to remain and make +my tea, adding that I liked the sound of the wheel, and desired not to +disturb her housewife thrift in the least. + +“I dinna ken, sir,” she replied, in a dry, REVECHE tone, which carried +me back twenty years, “I am nane of thae heartsome landleddies that can +tell country cracks, and make themsel’s agreeable, and I was ganging to +put on a fire for you in the Red Room; but if it is your will to stay +here, he that pays the lawing maun choose the lodging.” + +I endeavoured to engage her in conversation; but though she answered, +with a kind of stiff civility, I could get her into no freedom of +discourse, and she began to look at her wheel and at the door more +than once, as if she meditated a retreat. I was obliged, therefore, to +proceed to some special questions; that might have interest for a person +whose ideas were probably of a very bounded description. + +I looked round the apartment, being the same in which I had last seen my +poor mother. The author of the family history, formerly mentioned, had +taken great credit to himself for the improvements he had made in this +same jointure-house of Duntarkin, and how, upon his marriage, when his +mother took possession of the same as her jointure-house, “to his great +charges and expenses he caused box the walls of the great parlour” + (in which I was now sitting), “empanel the same, and plaster the roof, +finishing the apartment with ane concave chimney, and decorating the +same with pictures, and a barometer and thermometer.” And in particular, +which his good mother used to say she prized above all the rest, he had +caused his own portraiture be limned over the mantlepiece by a skilful +hand. And, in good faith, there he remained still, having much the +visage which I was disposed to ascribe to him on the evidence of his +handwriting,--grim and austere, yet not without a cast of shrewdness and +determination; in armour, though he never wore it, I fancy; one hand on +an open book, and one resting on the hilt of his sword, though I dare +say his head never ached with reading, nor his limbs with fencing. + +“That picture is painted on the wood, madam,” said I. + +“Ay, sir, or it’s like it would not have been left there; they look a’ +they could.” + +“Mr. Treddles’s creditors, you mean?” said I. + +“Na,” replied she dryly, “the creditors of another family, that sweepit +cleaner than this poor man’s, because I fancy there was less to gather.” + +“An older family, perhaps, and probably more remembered and regretted +than later possessors?” + +Christie here settled herself in her seat, and pulled her wheel towards +her. I had given her something interesting for her thoughts to dwell +upon, and her wheel was a mechanical accompaniment on such occasions, +the revolutions of which assisted her in the explanation of her ideas. + +“Mair regretted--mair missed? I liked ane of the auld family very weel, +but I winna say that for them a’. How should they be mair missed than +the Treddleses? The cotton mill was such a thing for the country! The +mair bairns a cottar body had the better; they would make their awn keep +frae the time they were five years auld, and a widow wi’ three or four +bairns was a wealthy woman in the time of the Treddleses.” + +“But the health of these poor children, my good friend--their education +and religious instruction--” + +“For health,” said Christie, looking gloomily at me, “ye maun ken little +of the warld, sir, if ye dinna ken that the health of the poor man’s +body, as well as his youth and his strength, are all at the command of +the rich man’s purse. There never was a trade so unhealthy yet but men +would fight to get wark at it for twa pennies a day aboon the common +wage. But the bairns were reasonably weel cared for in the way of air +and exercise, and a very responsible youth heard them their Carritch, +and gied them lessons in Reediemadeasy [“Reading made Easy,” usually so +pronounced in Scotland.] Now, what did they ever get before? Maybe on a +winter day they wad be called out to beat the wood for cocks or siclike; +and then the starving weans would maybe get a bite of broken bread, and +maybe no, just as the butler was in humour--that was a’ they got.” + +“They were not, then, a very kind family to the poor, these old +possessors?” said I, somewhat bitterly; for I had expected to hear +my ancestors’ praises recorded, though I certainly despaired of being +regaled with my own. + +“They werena ill to them, sir, and that is aye something. They were +just decent bien bodies; ony poor creature that had face to beg got an +awmous, and welcome--they that were shamefaced gaed by, and twice +as welcome. But they keepit an honest walk before God and man, the +Croftangrys, and, as I said before, if they did little good, they did +as little ill. They lifted their rents, and spent them; called in their +kain and ate them; gaed to the kirk of a Sunday; bowed civilly if folk +took aff their bannets as they gaed by, and lookit as black as sin at +them that keepit them on.” + +“These are their arms that you have on the sign?” + +“What! on the painted board that is skirling and groaning at the door? +Na, these are Mr. Treddles’s arms though they look as like legs as arms. +Ill pleased I was at the fule thing, that cost as muckle as would hae +repaired the house from the wa’ stane to the rigging-tree. But if I am +to bide here, I’ll hae a decent board wi’ a punch bowl on it.” + +“Is there a doubt of your staying here, Mrs. Steele?” + +“Dinna Mistress me,” said the cross old woman, whose fingers were now +plying their thrift in a manner which indicated nervous irritation; +“there was nae luck in the land since Luckie turned Mistress, and +Mistress my Leddy. And as for staying here, if it concerns you to ken, +I may stay if I can pay a hundred pund sterling for the lease, and I may +flit if I canna, and so gude e’en to you, Christie,”--and round went the +wheel with much activity. + +“And you like the trade of keeping a public-house?” + +“I can scarce say that,” she replied. “But worthy Mr. Prendergast is +clear of its lawfulness; and I hae gotten used to it, and made a decent +living, though I never make out a fause reckoning, or give ony ane the +means to disorder reason in my house.” + +“Indeed!” said I; “in that case, there is no wonder you have not made up +the hundred pounds to purchase the lease.” + +“How do you ken,” said she sharply, “that I might not have had a hundred +punds of my ain fee? If I have it not, I am sure it is my ain faut. And +I wunna ca’ it faut neither, for it gaed to her wha was weel entitled to +a’ my service.” Again she pulled stoutly at the flax, and the wheel went +smartly round. + +“This old gentleman,” said I, fixing my eye on the painted panel, “seems +to have had HIS arms painted as well as Mr. Treddles--that is, if that +painting in the corner be a scutcheon.” + +“Ay, ay--cushion, just sae. They maun a’ hae their cushions--there’s +sma’ gentry without that--and so the arms, as they ca’ them, of the +house of Glentanner may be seen on an auld stane in the west end of the +house. But to do them justice; they didna propale sae muckle about them +as poor Mr. Treddles did--it’s like they were better used to them.” + +“Very likely. Are there any of the old family in life, goodwife?” + +“No,” she replied; then added; after a moment’s hesitation, “Not that I +know of”--and the wheel, which had intermitted, began again to revolve. + +“Gone abroad, perhaps?” I suggested. + +She now looked up, and faced me. “No, sir. There were three sons of the +last laird of Glentanner, as he was then called. John and William were +hopeful young gentlemen, but they died early--one of a decline brought +on by the mizzles, the other lost his life in a fever. It would hae been +lucky for mony ane that Chrystal had gane the same gate.” + +“Oh, he must have been the young spendthrift that sold the property? +Well, but you should you have such an ill-will against him; remember +necessity has no law. And then, goodwife, he was not more culpable than +Mr. Treddles, whom you are so sorry for.” + +“I wish I could think sae, sir, for his mother’s sake. But Mr. Treddles +was in trade, and though he had no preceese right to do so, yet there +was some warrant for a man being expensive that imagined he was making +a mint of money. But this unhappy lad devoured his patrimony, when +he kenned that he was living like a ratten in a Dunlap cheese, and +diminishing his means at a’ hands. I canna bide to think on’t.” With +this she broke out into a snatch of a ballad, but little of mirth was +there either in the tone or the expression:-- + + “For he did spend, and make an end + Of gear that his forefathers wan; + Of land and ware he made him bare, + So speak nae mair of the auld gudeman.” + +“Come, dame,” said I, “it is a long lane that has no turning. I will not +keep from you that I have heard something of this poor fellow, Chrystal +Croftangry. He has sown his wild oats, as they say, and has settled into +a steady, respectable man.” + +“And wha tell’d ye that tidings?” said she, looking sharply at me. + +“Not, perhaps, the best judge in the world of his character, for it was +himself, dame.” + +“And if he tell’d you truth, it was a virtue he did not aye use to +practise,” said Christie. + +“The devil!” said I, considerably nettled; “all the world held him to be +a man of honour.” + +“Ay, ay! he would hae shot onybody wi’ his pistols and his guns that had +evened him to be a liar. But if he promised to pay an honest tradesman +the next term-day, did he keep his word then? And if he promised a puir, +silly lass to make gude her shame, did he speak truth then? And what is +that but being a liar, and a black-hearted, deceitful liar to boot?” + +My indignation was rising, but I strove to suppress it; indeed, I should +only have afforded my tormentor a triumph by an angry reply. I partly +suspected she began to recognize me, yet she testified so little emotion +that I could not think my suspicion well founded. I went on, therefore, +to say, in a tone as indifferent as I could command, “Well, goodwife, +I see you will believe no good of this Chrystal of yours, till he comes +back and buys a good farm on the estate, and makes you his housekeeper.” + +The old woman dropped her thread, folded her hands, as she looked up to +heaven with a face of apprehension. “The Lord,” she exclaimed, “forbid! +The Lord in His mercy forbid! O sir! if you really know this unlucky +man, persuade him to settle where folk ken the good that you say he has +come to, and dinna ken the evil of his former days. He used to be proud +enough--O dinna let him come here, even for his own sake. He used once +to have some pride.” + +Here she once more drew the wheel close to her, and began to pull at the +flax with both hands. “Dinna let him come here, to be looked down upon +by ony that may be left of his auld reiving companions, and to see the +decent folk that he looked over his nose at look over their noses at +him, baith at kirk and market. Dinna let him come to his ain country, to +be made a tale about when ony neighbour points him out to another, and +tells what he is, and what he was, and how he wrecked a dainty estate, +and brought harlots to the door-cheek of his father’s house, till he +made it nae residence for his mother; and how it had been foretauld by +a servant of his ain house that he was a ne’er-do-weel and a child of +perdition, and how her words were made good, and--” + +“Stop there, goodwife, if you please,” said I; “you have said as much as +I can well remember, and more than it may be safe to repeat. I can use a +great deal of freedom with the gentleman we speak of; but I think, +were any other person to carry him half of your message, I would scarce +ensure his personal safety. And now, as I see the night is settled to be +a fine one, I will walk on to --, where I must meet a coach to-morrow as +it passes to Edinburgh.” + +So saying, I paid my moderate reckoning, and took my leave, without +being able to discover whether the prejudiced and hard-hearted old woman +did, or did not, suspect the identity of her guest with the Chrystal +Croftangry against whom she harboured so much dislike. + +The night was fine and frosty, though, when I pretended to see what its +character was, it might have rained like the deluge. I only made the +excuse to escape from old Christie Steele. The horses which run races +in the Corso at Rome without any riders, in order to stimulate their +exertion, carry each his own spurs namely, small balls of steel, with +sharp, projecting spikes, which are attached to loose straps of leather, +and, flying about in the violence of the agitation, keep the horse to +his speed by pricking him as they strike against his flanks. The old +woman’s reproaches had the same effect on me, and urged me to a rapid +pace, as if it had been possible to escape from my own recollections. In +the best days of my life, when I won one or two hard walking matches, +I doubt if I ever walked so fast as I did betwixt the Treddles Arms and +the borough town for which I was bound. Though the night was cold, I was +warm enough by the time I got to my inn; and it required a refreshing +draught of porter, with half an hour’s repose, ere I could determine to +give no further thought to Christie and her opinions than those of any +other vulgar, prejudiced old woman. I resolved at last to treat the +thing EN BAGATELLE, and calling for writing materials, I folded up a +cheque for L100, with these lines on the envelope:-- + + “Chrystal, the ne’er-do-weel, + Child destined to the deil, + Sends this to Christie Steele.” + +And I was so much pleased with this new mode of viewing the subject, +that I regretted the lateness of the hour prevented my finding a person +to carry the letter express to its destination. + + “But with the morning cool reflection came.” + +I considered that the money, and probably more, was actually due by me +on my mother’s account to Christie, who had lent it in a moment of great +necessity, and that the returning it in a light or ludicrous manner +was not unlikely to prevent so touchy and punctilious a person from +accepting a debt which was most justly her due, and which it became me +particularly to see satisfied. Sacrificing, then, my triad with little +regret (for it looked better by candlelight, and through the medium of a +pot of porter, than it did by daylight, and with bohea for a menstruum), +I determined to employ Mr. Fairscribe’s mediation in buying up the lease +of the little inn, and conferring it upon Christie in the way which +should make it most acceptable to her feelings. It is only necessary +to add that my plan succeeded, and that Widow Steele even yet keeps the +Treddles Arms. Do not say, therefore, that I have been disingenuous with +you, reader; since, if I have not told all the ill of myself I might +have done, I have indicated to you a person able and willing to supply +the blank, by relating all my delinquencies as well as my misfortunes. + +In the meantime I totally abandoned the idea of redeeming any part of +my paternal property, and resolved to take Christie Steele’s advice, as +young Norval does Glenalvon’s, “although it sounded harshly.” + + + +CHAPTER V. MR. CROFTANGRY SETTLES IN THE CANONGATE. + + If you will know my house, + ‘Tis at the tuft of olives here hard by. AS YOU LIKE IT. + +By a revolution of humour which I am unable to account for, I changed my +mind entirely on my plans of life, in consequence of the disappointment, +the history of which fills the last chapter. I began to discover +that the country would not at all suit me; for I had relinquished +field-sports, and felt no inclination whatever to farming, the ordinary +vocation of country gentlemen. Besides that, I had no talent for +assisting either candidate in case of an expected election, and saw no +amusement in the duties of a road trustee, a commissioner of supply, or +even in the magisterial functions of the bench. I had begun to take some +taste for reading; and a domiciliation in the country must remove me +from the use of books, excepting the small subscription library, in +which the very book which you want is uniformly sure to be engaged. + +I resolved, therefore, to make the Scottish metropolis my regular +resting-place, reserving to myself to take occasionally those excursions +which, spite of all I have said against mail-coaches, Mr. Piper has +rendered so easy. Friend of our life and of our leisure, he secures by +dispatch against loss of time, and by the best of coaches, cattle, and +steadiest of drivers, against hazard of limb, and wafts us, as well as +our letters, from Edinburgh to Cape Wrath in the penning of a paragraph. + +When my mind was quite made up to make Auld Reekie my headquarters, +reserving the privilege of EXPLORING in all directions, I began to +explore in good earnest for the purpose of discovering a suitable +habitation. “And whare trew ye I gaed?” as Sir Pertinax says. Not to +George’s Square--nor to Charlotte Square--nor to the old New Town--nor +to the new New Town--nor to the Calton Hill. I went to the Canongate, +and to the very portion of the Canongate in which I had formerly been +immured, like the errant knight, prisoner in some enchanted castle, +where spells have made the ambient air impervious to the unhappy +captive, although the organs of sight encountered no obstacle to his +free passage. + +Why I should have thought of pitching my tent here I cannot tell. +Perhaps it was to enjoy the pleasures of freedom where I had so long +endured the bitterness of restraint, on the principle of the officer +who, after he had retired from the army, ordered his servant to continue +to call him at the hour or parade, simply that he might have the +pleasure of saying, “D--n the parade!” and turning to the other side to +enjoy his slumbers. Or perhaps I expected to find in the vicinity some +little old-fashioned house, having somewhat of the RUS IN URBE which +I was ambitious of enjoying. Enough: I went, as aforesaid, to the +Canongate. + +I stood by the kennel, of which I have formerly spoken, and, my mind +being at ease, my bodily organs were more delicate. I was more +sensible than heretofore, that, like the trade of Pompey in MEASURE FOR +MEASURE,--it did in some sort--pah an ounce of civet, good apothecary! +Turning from thence, my steps naturally directed themselves to my own +humble apartment, where my little Highland landlady, as dapper and +as tight as ever, (for old women wear a hundred times better than the +hard-wrought seniors of the masculine sex), stood at the door, TEEDLING +to herself a Highland song as she shook a table napkin over the +fore-stair, and then proceeded to fold it up neatly for future service. + +“How do you, Janet?” + +“Thank ye, good sir,” answered my old friend, without looking at +me; “but ye might as weel say Mrs. MacEvoy, for she is na a’body’s +Shanet--umph.” + +“You must be MY Janet, though, for all that. Have you forgot me? Do you +not remember Chrystal Croftangry?” + +The light, kind-hearted creature threw her napkin into the open door, +skipped down the stair like a fairy, three steps at once, seized me by +the hands--both hands--jumped up, and actually kissed me. I was a little +ashamed; but what swain, of somewhere inclining to sixty could resist +the advances of a fair contemporary? So we allowed the full degree +of kindness to the meeting--HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE--and then Janet +entered instantly upon business. “An ye’ll gae in, man, and see your +auld lodgings, nae doubt and Shanet will pay ye the fifteen shillings +of change that ye ran away without, and without bidding Shanet good day. +But never mind” (nodding good-humouredly), “Shanet saw you were carried +for the time.” + +By this time we were in my old quarters, and Janet, with her bottle of +cordial in one hand and the glass in the other, had forced on me a +dram of usquebaugh, distilled with saffron and other herbs, after some +old-fashioned Highland receipt. Then was unfolded, out of many a little +scrap of paper, the reserved sum of fifteen shillings, which Janet had +treasured for twenty years and upwards. + +“Here they are,” she said, in honest triumph, “just the same I was +holding out to ye when ye ran as if ye had been fey. Shanet has had +siller, and Shanet has wanted siller, mony a time since that. And the +gauger has come, and the factor has come, and the butcher and baker--Cot +bless us just like to tear poor auld Shanet to pieces; but she took good +care of Mr. Croftangry’s fifteen shillings.” + +“But what if I had never come back, Janet?” + +“Och, if Shanet had heard you were dead, she would hae gien it to the +poor of the chapel, to pray for Mr. Croftangry,” said Janet, crossing +herself, for she was a Catholic, “You maybe do not think it would do you +cood, but the blessing of the poor can never do no harm.” + +I agreed heartily in Janet’s conclusion; and as to have desired her to +consider the hoard as her own property would have been an indelicate +return to her for the uprightness of her conduct, I requested her to +dispose of it as she had proposed to do in the event of my death--that +is, if she knew any poor people of merit to whom it might be useful. + +“Ower mony of them,” raising the corner of her checked apron to her +eyes--“e’en ower mony of them, Mr. Croftangry. Och, ay. ‘There is the +puir Highland creatures frae Glenshee, that cam down for the harvest, +and are lying wi’ the fever--five shillings to them; and half a crown to +Bessie MacEvoy, whose coodman, puir creature, died of the frost, being +a shairman, for a’ the whisky he could drink to keep it out o’ his +stamoch; and--” + +But she suddenly interrupted the bead-roll of her proposed charities, +and assuming a very sage look, and primming up her little chattering +mouth, she went on in a different tone--“But och, Mr. Croftangry, +bethink ye whether ye will not need a’ this siller yoursel’, and maybe +look back and think lang for ha’en kiven it away, whilk is a creat sin +to forthink a wark o’ charity, and also is unlucky, and moreover is not +the thought of a shentleman’s son like yoursel’, dear. And I say this, +that ye may think a bit, for your mother’s son kens that ye are no so +careful as you should be of the gear, and I hae tauld ye of it before, +jewel.” + +I assured her I could easily spare the money, without risk of future +repentance; and she went on to infer that in such a case “Mr. Croftangry +had grown a rich man in foreign parts, and was free of his troubles +with messengers and sheriff-officers, and siclike scum of the earth, and +Shanet MacEvoy’s mother’s daughter be a blithe woman to hear it. But +if Mr. Croftangry was in trouble, there was his room, and his ped, and +Shanet to wait on him, and tak payment when it was quite convenient.” + +I explained to Janet my situation, in which she expressed unqualified +delight. I then proceeded to inquire into her own circumstances, and +though she spoke cheerfully and contentedly, I could see they were +precarious. I had paid more than was due; other lodgers fell into +an opposite error, and forgot to pay Janet at all. Then, Janet being +ignorant of all indirect modes of screwing money out of her lodgers, +others in the same line of life, who were sharper than the poor, +simple Highland woman, were enabled to let their apartments cheaper in +appearance, though the inmates usually found them twice as dear in the +long run. + +As I had already destined my old landlady to be my house-keeper +and governante, knowing her honesty, good-nature, and, although a +Scotchwoman, her cleanliness and excellent temper (saving the short +and hasty expressions of anger which Highlanders call a FUFF), I now +proposed the plan to her in such a way as was likely to make it most +acceptable. Very acceptable as the proposal was, as I could plainly +see, Janet, however, took a day to consider upon it; and her reflections +against our next meeting had suggested only one objection, which was +singular enough. + +“My honour,” so she now termed me, “would pe for biding in some fine +street apout the town. Now Shanet wad ill like to live in a place where +polish, and sheriffs, and bailiffs, and sie thieves and trash of the +world, could tak puir shentlemen by the throat, just because they wanted +a wheen dollars in the sporran. She had lived in the bonny glen of +Tomanthoulick. Cot, an ony of the vermint had come there, her father +wad hae wared a shot on them, and he could hit a buck within as mony +measured yards as e’er a man of his clan, And the place here was so +quiet frae them, they durst na put their nose ower the gutter. Shanet +owed nobody a bodle, but she couldna pide to see honest folk and pretty +shentlemen forced away to prison whether they would or no; and then, if +Shanet was to lay her tangs ower ane of the ragamuffins’ heads, it would +be, maybe, that the law would gi’ed a hard name.” + +One thing I have learned in life--never to speak sense when nonsense +will answer the purpose as well. I should have had great difficulty +to convince this practical and disinterested admirer and vindicator of +liberty, that arrests seldom or never were to be seen in the streets of +Edinburgh; and to satisfy her of their justice and necessity would have +been as difficult as to convert her to the Protestant faith. I therefore +assured her my intention, if I could get a suitable habitation, was to +remain in the quarter where she at present dwelt. Janet gave three skips +on the floor, and uttered as many short, shrill yells of joy. Yet doubt +almost instantly returned, and she insisted on knowing what possible +reason I could have for making my residence where few lived, save those +whose misfortunes drove them thither. It occurred to me to answer her by +recounting the legend of the rise of my family, and of our deriving our +name from a particular place near Holyrood Palace. This, which would +have appeared to most people a very absurd reason for choosing a +residence, was entirely satisfactory to Janet MacEvoy. + +“Och, nae doubt! if it was the land of her fathers, there was nae mair +to be said. Put it was queer that her family estate should just lie at +the town tail, and covered with houses, where the King’s cows--Cot bless +them, hide and horn--used to craze upon. It was strange changes.” + She mused a little, and then added: “Put it is something better wi’ +Croftangry when the changes is frae the field to the habited place, +and not from the place of habitation to the desert; for Shanet, her +nainsell, kent a glen where there were men as weel as there may be in +Croftangry, and if there werena altogether sae mony of them, they were +as good men in their tartan as the others in their broadcloth. And there +were houses, too; and if they were not biggit with stane and lime, and +lofted like the houses at Croftangry, yet they served the purpose of +them that lived there, and mony a braw bonnet, and mony a silk snood +and comely white curch, would come out to gang to kirk or chapel on +the Lord’s day, and little bairns toddling after. And now--Och, Och, +Ohellany, Ohonari! the glen is desolate, and the braw snoods and bonnets +are gane, and the Saxon’s house stands dull and lonely, like the single +bare-breasted rock that the falcon builds on--the falcon that drives the +heath-bird frae the glen.” + +Janet, like many Highlanders, was full of imagination, and, when +melancholy themes came upon her, expressed herself almost poetically, +owing to the genius of the Celtic language in which she thought, and in +which, doubtless, she would have spoken, had I understood Gaelic. In two +minutes the shade of gloom and regret had passed from her good-humoured +features, and she was again the little, busy, prating, important old +woman, undisputed owner of one flat of a small tenement in the Abbey +Yard, and about to be promoted to be housekeeper to an elderly bachelor +gentleman, Chrystal Croftangry, Esq. + +It was not long before Janet’s local researches found out exactly the +sort of place I wanted, and there we settled. Janet was afraid I would +not be satisfied, because it is not exactly part of Croftangry; but I +stopped her doubts by assuring her it had been part and pendicle thereof +in my forefather’ time, which passed very well. + +I do not intend to possess any one with an exact knowledge of my +lodging; though, as Bobadil says, “I care not who knows it, since the +cabin is convenient.” But I may state in general, that it is a house +“within itself,” or, according to a newer phraseology in advertisements, +SELF-CONTAINED, has a garden of near half an acre, and a patch of +ground with trees in front. It boasts five rooms and servants’ +apartments--looks in front upon the palace, and from behind towards the +hill and crags of the King’s Park. Fortunately, the place had a name, +which, with a little improvement, served to countenance the legend which +I had imposed on Janet, and would not, perhaps have been sorry if I had +been able to impose on myself. It was called Littlecroft; we have dubbed +it Little Croftangry, and the men of letters belonging to the Post +Office have sanctioned the change, and deliver letters so addressed. +Thus I am to all intents and purposes Chrystal Croftangry of that Ilk. + +My establishment consists of Janet, an under maid-servant, and a +Highland wench for Janet to exercise her Gaelic upon, with a handy lad +who can lay the cloth, and take care, besides, of a pony, on which I +find my way to Portobello sands, especially when the cavalry have a +drill; for, like an old fool as I am, I have not altogether become +indifferent to the tramp of horses and the flash of weapons, of which, +though no professional soldier, it has been my fate to see something in +my youth. For wet mornings I have my book; is it fine weather? I visit, +or I wander on the Crags, as the humour dictates. My dinner is indeed +solitary, yet not quite so neither; for though Andrew waits, Janet--or, +as she is to all the world but her master and certain old Highland +gossips, Mrs. MacEvoy--attends, bustles about, and desires to see +everything is in first-rate order, and to tell me, Cot pless us, the +wonderful news of the palace for the day. When the cloth is removed, and +I light my cigar, and begin to husband a pint of port, or a glass of old +whisky and water, it is the rule of the house that Janet takes a +chair at some distance, and nods or works her stocking, as she may be +disposed--ready to speak, if I am in the talking humour, and sitting +quiet as a mouse if I am rather inclined to study a book or the +newspaper. At six precisely she makes my tea, and leaves me to drink it; +and then occurs an interval of time which most old bachelors find heavy +on their hands. The theatre is a good occasional resource, especially if +Will Murray acts, or a bright star of eminence shines forth; but it +is distant, and so are one or two public societies to which I belong. +Besides, these evening walks are all incompatible with the elbow-chair +feeling, which desires some employment that may divert the mind without +fatiguing the body. + +Under the influence of these impressions, I have sometimes thought of +this literary undertaking. I must have been the Bonassus himself to have +mistaken myself for a genius; yet I have leisure and reflections like +my neighbours. I am a borderer, also, between two generations, and can +point out more, perhaps, than others of those fading traces of antiquity +which are daily vanishing; and I know many a modern instance and many an +old tradition, and therefore I ask-- + + “What ails me, I may not as well as they + Rake up some threadbare tales, that mouldering lay + In chimney corners, wont by Christmas fires + To read and rock to sleep our ancient sires? + No man his threshold better knows, than I + Brute’s first arrival and first victory, + Saint George’s sorrel and his cross of blood, + Arthur’s round board and Caledonian wood.” + +No shop is so easily set up as an antiquary’s. Like those of the +lowest order of pawnbrokers, a commodity of rusty iron, a bay or two of +hobnails, a few odd shoe-buckles, cashiered kail-pots, and fire-irons +declared incapable of service, are quite sufficient to set him up. If +he add a sheaf or two of penny ballads and broadsides, he is a great +man--an extensive trader. And then, like the pawnbrokers aforesaid, if +the author understands a little legerdemain, he may, by dint of a little +picking and stealing, make the inside of his shop a great deal richer +than the out, and be able to show you things which cause those who do +not understand the antiquarian trick of clean conveyance to wonder how +the devil he came by them. + +It may be said that antiquarian articles interest but few customers, and +that we may bawl ourselves as rusty as the wares we deal in without any +one asking; the price of our merchandise. But I do not rest my hopes +upon this department of my labours only. I propose also to have a +corresponding shop for Sentiment, and Dialogues, and Disquisition, which +may captivate the fancy of those who have no relish, as the established +phrase goes, for pure antiquity--a sort of greengrocer’s stall erected +in front of my ironmongery wares, garlanding the rusty memorials of +ancient times with cresses, cabbages, leeks, and water purpy. + +As I have some idea that I am writing too well to be understood, I +humble myself to ordinary language, and aver, with becoming modesty, +that I do think myself capable of sustaining a publication of a +miscellaneous nature, as like to the Spectator or the Guardian, the +Mirror or the Lounger, as my poor abilities may be able to accomplish. +Not that I have any purpose of imitating Johnson, whose general learning +and power of expression I do not deny, but many of whose Ramblers are +little better than a sort of pageant, where trite and obvious maxims are +made to swagger in lofty and mystic language, and get some credit only +because they are not easily understood. There are some of the +great moralist’s papers which I cannot peruse without thinking on +a second-rate masquerade, where the best-known and least-esteemed +characters in town march in as heroes, and sultans, and so forth, and, +by dint of tawdry dresses, get some consideration until they are found +out. It is not, however, prudent to commence with throwing stones, just +when I am striking out windows of my own. + +I think even the local situation of Little Croftangry may be considered +as favourable to my undertaking. A nobler contrast there can hardly +exist than that of the huge city, dark with the smoke of ages, and +groaning with the various sounds of active industry or idle revel, +and the lofty and craggy hill, silent and solitary as the grave--one +exhibiting the full tide of existence, pressing and precipitating itself +forward with the force of an inundation; the other resembling some +time-worn anchorite, whose life passes as silent and unobserved as the +slender rill which escapes unheard, and scarce seen, from the fountain +of his patron saint. The city resembles the busy temple, where the +modern Comus and Mammon hold their court, and thousands sacrifice ease, +independence, and virtue itself at their shrine; the misty and lonely +mountain seems as a throne to the majestic but terrible Genius of feudal +times, when the same divinities dispensed coronets and domains to those +who had heads to devise and arms to execute bold enterprises. + +I have, as it were, the two extremities of the moral world at my +threshold. From the front door a few minutes’ walk brings me into the +heart of a wealthy and populous city; as many paces from my opposite +entrance place me in a solitude as complete as Zimmerman could have +desired. Surely, with such aids to my imagination, I may write better +than if I were in a lodging in the New Town or a garret in the old. As +the Spaniard says, “VIAMOS--CARACCO!” + +I have not chosen to publish periodically, my reason for which was +twofold. In the first place, I don’t like to be hurried, and have had +enough of duns in an early part of my life to make me reluctant to hear +of or see one, even in the less awful shape of a printer’s devil. But, +secondly, a periodical paper is not easily extended in circulation +beyond the quarter in which it is published. This work, if published in +fugitive numbers, would scarce, without a high pressure on the part +of the bookseller, be raised above the Netherbow, and never could be +expected to ascend to the level of Princes Street. Now, I am ambitious +that my compositions, though having their origin in this Valley of +Holyrood, should not only be extended into those exalted regions I have +mentioned, but also that they should cross the Forth, astonish the long +town of Kirkcaldy, enchant the skippers and colliers of the East of +Fife, venture even into the classic arcades of St. Andrews, and travel +as much farther to the north as the breath of applause will carry their +sails. As for a southward direction, it is not to be hoped for in my +fondest dreams. I am informed that Scottish literature, like Scottish +whisky, will be presently laid under a prohibitory duty. But enough +of this. If any reader is dull enough not to comprehend the advantages +which, in point of circulation, a compact book has over a collection of +fugitive numbers, let him try the range of a gun loaded with hail-shot +against that of the same piece charged with an equal weight of lead +consolidated in a single bullet. + +Besides, it was of less consequence that I should have published +periodically, since I did not mean to solicit or accept of the +contributions of friends, or the criticisms of those who may be less +kindly disposed. Notwithstanding the excellent examples which might +be quoted, I will establish no begging-box, either under the name of a +lion’s head or an ass’s. What is good or ill shall be mine own, or the +contribution of friends to whom I may have private access. Many of my +voluntary assistants might be cleverer than myself, and then I should +have a brilliant article appear among my chiller effusions, like a patch +of lace on a Scottish cloak of Galashiels grey. Some might be worse, and +then I must reject them, to the injury of the feelings of the writer, or +else insert them, to make my own darkness yet more opaque and palpable. +“Let every herring,” says our old-fashioned proverb, “hang by his own +head.” + +One person, however, I may distinguish, as she is now no more, who, +living to the utmost term of human life, honoured me with a great share +of her friendship--as, indeed, we were blood-relatives in the Scottish +sense--Heaven knows how many degrees removed--and friends in the sense +of Old England. I mean the late excellent and regretted Mrs. Bethune +Baliol. But as I design this admirable picture of the olden time for a +principal character in my work, I will only say here that she knew and +approved of my present purpose; and though she declined to contribute +to it while she lived, from a sense of dignified retirement, which she +thought became her age, sex, and condition in life, she left me some +materials for carrying on my proposed work which I coveted when I +heard her detail them in conversation, and which now, when I have their +substance in her own handwriting, I account far more valuable than +anything I have myself to offer. I hope the mentioning her name in +conjunction with my own will give no offence to any of her numerous +friends, as it was her own express pleasure that I should employ the +manuscripts which she did me the honour to bequeath me in the manner +in which I have now used them. It must be added, however, that in +most cases I have disguised names, and in some have added shading and +colouring to bring out the narrative. + +Much of my materials, besides these, are derived from friends, living +or dead. The accuracy of some of these may be doubtful, in which case I +shall be happy to receive, from sufficient authority, the correction of +the errors which must creep into traditional documents. The object of +the whole publication is to throw some light on the manners of Scotland +as they were, and to contrast them occasionally with those of the +present day. My own opinions are in favour of our own times in many +respects, but not in so far as affords means for exercising the +imagination or exciting the interest which attaches to other times. I am +glad to be a writer or a reader in 1826, but I would be most interested +in reading or relating what happened from half a century to a century +before. We have the best of it. Scenes in which our ancestors thought +deeply, acted fiercely, and died desperately, are to us tales to divert +the tedium of a winter’s evening, when we are engaged to no party, or +beguile a summer’s morning, when it is too scorching to ride or walk. + +Yet I do not mean that my essays and narratives should be limited to +Scotland. I pledge myself to no particular line of subjects, but, on the +contrary, say with Burns-- + + “Perhaps it may turn out a sang, + Perhaps turn out a sermon.” + +I have only to add, by way of postscript to these preliminary chapters, +that I have had recourse to Moliere’s recipe, and read my manuscript +over to my old woman, Janet MacEvoy. + +The dignity of being consulted delighted Janet; and Wilkie, or Allan, +would have made a capital sketch of her, as she sat upright in her +chair, instead of her ordinary lounging posture, knitting her +stocking systematically, as if she meant every twist of her thread and +inclination of the wires to bear burden to the cadence of my voice. I am +afraid, too, that I myself felt more delight than I ought to have done +in my own composition, and read a little more oratorically than I should +have ventured to do before an auditor of whose applause I was not so +secure. And the result did not entirely encourage my plan of censorship. +Janet did indeed seriously incline to the account of my previous life, +and bestowed some Highland maledictions, more emphatic than courteous, +on Christie Steele’s reception of a “shentlemans in distress,” and of +her own mistress’s house too. I omitted for certain reasons, or greatly +abridged, what related to her-self. But when I came to treat of my +general views in publication, I saw poor Janet was entirely thrown out, +though, like a jaded hunter, panting, puffing, and short of wind, +she endeavoured at least to keep up with the chase. Or, rather, her +perplexity made her look all the while like a deaf person ashamed of his +infirmity, who does not understand a word you are saying, yet desires +you to believe that he does understand you, and who is extremely jealous +that you suspect his incapacity. When she saw that some remark was +necessary, she resembled exactly in her criticism the devotee who +pitched on the “sweet word Mesopotamia” as the most edifying note +which she could bring away from a sermon. She indeed hastened to bestow +general praise on what she said was all “very fine;” but chiefly dwelt +on what I, had said about Mr. Timmerman, as she was pleased to call the +German philosopher, and supposed he must be of the same descent with the +Highland clan of M’Intyre, which signifies Son of the Carpenter. “And a +fery honourable name too--Shanet’s own mither was a M’Intyre.” + +In short, it was plain the latter part of my introduction was altogether +lost on poor Janet; and so, to have acted up to Moliere’s system, I +should have cancelled the whole, and written it anew. But I do not +know how it is. I retained, I suppose, some tolerable opinion of my +own composition, though Janet did not comprehend it, and felt loath to +retrench those Delilahs of the imagination, as Dryden calls them, the +tropes and figures of which are caviar to the multitude. Besides, I hate +rewriting as much as Falstaff did paying back--it is a double labour. +So I determined with myself to consult Janet, in future, only on such +things as were within the limits of her comprehension, and hazard my +arguments and my rhetoric on the public without her imprimatur. I am +pretty sure she will “applaud it done.” and in such narratives as come +within her range of thought and feeling I shall, as I first intended, +take the benefit of her unsophisticated judgment, and attend to it +deferentially--that is, when it happens not to be in peculiar opposition +to my own; for, after all, I say with Almanzor,-- + + “Know that I alone am king of me.” + +The reader has now my who and my whereabout, the purpose of the work, +and the circumstances under which it is undertaken. He has also a +specimen of the author’s talents, and may judge for himself, and +proceed, or send back the volume to the bookseller, as his own taste +shall determine. + + + +CHAPTER VI. MR. CROFTANGRY’S ACCOUNT OF MRS. BETHUNE BALIOL. + + The moon, were she earthly, no nobler. CORIOLANUS. + +When we set out on the jolly voyage of life, what a brave fleet there +is around us, as, stretching our finest canvas to the breeze, all +“shipshape and Bristol fashion,” pennons flying, music playing, cheering +each other as we pass, we are rather amused than alarmed when some +awkward comrade goes right ashore for want of pilotage! Alas! when the +voyage is well spent, and we look about us, toil-worn mariners, how few +of our ancient consorts still remain in sight; and they, how torn and +wasted, and, like ourselves, struggling to keep as long as possible off +the fatal shore, against which we are all finally drifting! + +I felt this very trite but melancholy truth in all its force the other +day, when a packet with a black seal arrived, containing a letter +addressed to me by my late excellent friend Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol, +and marked with the fatal indorsation, “To be delivered according +to address, after I shall be no more.” A letter from her executors +accompanied the packet, mentioning that they had found in her will a +bequest to me of a painting of some value, which she stated would just +fit the space above my cupboard, and fifty guineas to buy a ring. And +thus I separated, with all the kindness which we had maintained for many +years, from a friend, who, though old enough to have been the companion +of my mother, was yet, in gaiety of spirits and admirable sweetness +of temper, capable of being agreeable, and even animating society, for +those who write themselves in the vaward of youth, an advantage which I +have lost for these five-and-thirty years. The contents of the packet +I had no difficulty in guessing, and have partly hinted at them in the +last chapter. But to instruct the reader in the particulars, and at the +same time to indulge myself with recalling the virtues and agreeable +qualities of my late friend, I will give a short sketch of her manners +and habits. + +Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol was a person of quality and fortune, as these +are esteemed in Scotland. Her family was ancient, and her connections +honourable. She was not fond of specially indicating her exact age, but +her juvenile recollections stretched backwards till before the eventful +year 1745, and she remembered the Highland clans being in possession of +the Scottish capital, though probably only as an indistinct vision. Her +fortune, independent by her father’s bequest, was rendered opulent by +the death of more than one brave brother, who fell successively in the +service of their country, so that the family estates became vested in +the only surviving child of the ancient house of Bethune Baliol. My +intimacy was formed with the excellent lady after this event, and when +she was already something advanced in age. + +She inhabited, when in Edinburgh, where she regularly spent the winter +season, one of those old hotels which, till of late, were to be found in +the neighbourhood of the Canongate and of the Palace of Holyrood House, +and which, separated from the street, now dirty and vulgar, by paved +courts and gardens of some extent, made amends for an indifferent +access, by showing something of aristocratic state and seclusion when +you were once admitted within their precincts. They have pulled her +house down; for, indeed, betwixt building and burning, every ancient +monument of the Scottish capital is now likely to be utterly demolished. +I pause on the recollections of the place, however; and since nature has +denied a pencil when she placed a pen in my hand, I will endeavour to +make words answer the purpose of delineation. + +Baliol’s Lodging, so was the mansion named, reared its high stack of +chimneys, among which were seen a turret or two, and one of those +small projecting platforms called bartizans, above the mean and modern +buildings which line the south side of the Canongate, towards the lower +end of that street, and not distant from the Palace. A PORTE COCHERE, +having a wicket for foot passengers, was, upon due occasion, unfolded by +a lame old man, tall, grave, and thin, who tenanted a hovel beside the +gate, and acted as porter. To this office he had been promoted by my +friend’s charitable feelings for an old soldier, and partly by an idea +that his head, which was a very fine one, bore some resemblance to that +of Garrick in the character of Lusignan. He was a man saturnine, silent, +and slow in his proceedings, and would never open the PORTE COCHERE to +a hackney coach, indicating the wicket with his finger as the proper +passage for all who came in that obscure vehicle, which was not +permitted to degrade with its ticketed presence the dignity of Baliol’s +Lodging. I do not think this peculiarity would have met with his lady’s +approbation, any more than the occasional partiality of Lusignan, or, as +mortals called him, Archie Macready, to a dram. But Mrs. Martha Bethune +Baliol, conscious that, in case of conviction, she could never have +prevailed upon herself to dethrone the King of Palestine from the stone +bench on which he sat for hours knitting his stocking, refused, by +accrediting the intelligence, even to put him upon his trial, well +judging that he would observe more wholesome caution if he conceived his +character unsuspected, than if he were detected, and suffered to pass +unpunished. For after all, she said, it would be cruel to dismiss an +old Highland soldier for a peccadillo so appropriate to his country and +profession. + +The stately gate for carriages, or the humble accommodation for +foot-passengers, admitted into a narrow and short passage running +between two rows of lime-trees, whose green foliage during the spring +contrasted strangely with the swart complexion of the two walls by the +side of which they grew. This access led to the front of the house, +which was formed by two gable ends, notched, and having their windows +adorned with heavy architectural ornaments. They joined each other at +right angles; and a half circular tower, which contained the entrance +and the staircase, occupied the point of junction, and rounded the acute +angle. One of other two sides of the little court, in which there +was just sufficient room to turn a carriage, was occupied by some low +buildings answering the purpose of offices; the other, by a parapet +surrounded by a highly-ornamented iron railing, twined round with +honeysuckle and other parasitical shrubs, which permitted the eye to +peep into a pretty suburban garden, extending down to the road called +the South Back of the Canongate, and boasting a number of old trees, +many flowers, and even some fruit. We must not forget to state that the +extreme cleanliness of the courtyard was such as intimated that mop +and pail had done their utmost in that favoured spot to atone for +the general dirt and dinginess of the quarter where the premises were +situated. + +Over the doorway were the arms of Bethune and Baliol, with various other +devices, carved in stone. The door itself was studded with iron nails, +and formed of black oak; an iron rasp, as it was called, was placed on +it, instead of a knocker, for the purpose of summoning the attendants. +[See Note 3.--Iron Rasp.] He who usually appeared at the summons was a +smart lad, in a handsome livery, the son of Mrs. Martha’s gardener at +Mount Baliol. Now and then a servant girl, nicely but plainly dressed, +and fully accoutred with stockings and shoes, would perform this duty; +and twice or thrice I remember being admitted by Beauffet himself, whose +exterior looked as much like that of a clergyman of rank as the butler +of a gentleman’s family. He had been valet-de-chambre to the last Sir +Richard Bethune Baliol, and was, a person highly trusted by the present +lady. A full stand, as it is called in Scotland, of garments of a dark +colour, gold buckles in his shoes and at the knees of his breeches, with +his hair regularly dressed and powdered, announced him to be a domestic +of trust and importance. His mistress used to say of him,-- + + “He is sad and civil, + And suits well for a servant with my fortunes.” + +As no one can escape scandal, some said that Beauffet made a rather +better thing of the place than the modesty of his old-fashioned wages +would, unassisted, have amounted to. But the man was always very civil +to me. He had been long in the family, had enjoyed legacies, and lain by +a something of his own, upon which he now enjoys ease with dignity, in +as far as his newly-married wife, Tibbie Shortacres, will permit him. + +The Lodging--dearest reader, if you are tired, pray pass over the +next four or five pages--was not by any means so large as its external +appearance led people to conjecture. The interior accommodation was much +cut up by cross walls and long passages, and that neglect of economizing +space which characterizes old Scottish architecture. But there was far +more room than my old friend required, even when she had, as was often +the case, four or five young cousins under her protection; and I believe +much of the house was unoccupied. Mrs. Bethune Baliol never, in my +presence, showed herself so much offended as once with a meddling person +who advised her to have the windows of these supernumerary apartments +built up to save the tax. She said in ire that, while she lived, the +light of God should visit the house of her fathers; and while she had +a penny, king and country should have their due. Indeed, she was +punctiliously loyal, even in that most staggering test of loyalty, the +payment of imposts. Mr. Beauffet told me he was ordered to offer a glass +of wine to the person who collected the income tax, and that the poor +man was so overcome by a reception so unwontedly generous, that he had +well-nigh fainted on the spot. + +You entered by a matted anteroom into the eating-parlour, filled +with old-fashioned furniture, and hung with family portraits, which, +excepting one of Sir Bernard Bethune, in James the Sixth’s time, said to +be by Jameson, were exceedingly frightful. A saloon, as it was called, +a long, narrow chamber, led out of the dining-parlour, and served for +a drawing-room. It was a pleasant apartment, looking out upon the south +flank of Holyrood House, the gigantic slope of Arthur’s Seat, and the +girdle of lofty rocks called Salisbury Crags; objects so rudely wild, +that the mind can hardly conceive them to exist in the vicinage of a +populous metropolis. [The Rev. Mr. Bowles derives the name of these +crags, as of the Episcopal city in the west of England, from the same +root, both, in his opinion, which he very ably defends and illustrates, +having been the sites of Druidical temples.] The paintings of the saloon +came from abroad, and had some of them much merit. To see the best of +them, however, you must be admitted into the very PENETRALIA of the +temple, and allowed to draw the tapestry at the upper end of the saloon, +and enter Mrs. Martha’s own special dressing-room. This was a charming +apartment, of which it would be difficult to describe the form, it had +so many recesses which were filled up with shelves of ebony and cabinets +of japan and ormolu--some for holding books, of which Mrs. Martha had an +admirable collection, some for a display of ornamental china, others for +shells and similar curiosities. In a little niche, half screened by a +curtain of crimson silk, was disposed a suit of tilting armour of bright +steel inlaid with silver, which had been worn on some memorable occasion +by Sir Bernard Bethune, already mentioned; while over the canopy of the +niche hung the broadsword with which her father had attempted to change +the fortunes of Britain in 1715, and the spontoon which her elder +brother bore when he was leading on a company of the Black Watch at +Fontenoy. [The well-known original designation of the gallant 42nd +Regiment. Being the first corps raised for the royal service in the +Highlands, and allowed to retain their national garb, they were thus +named from the contrast which their dark tartans furnished to the +scarlet and white of the other regiments.] + +There were some Italian and Flemish pictures of admitted authenticity, a +few genuine bronzes, and other objects of curiosity, which her brothers +or herself had picked up while abroad. In short, it was a place where +the idle were tempted to become studious, the studious to grow idle +where the grave might find matter to make them gay, and the gay subjects +for gravity. + +That it might maintain some title to its name, I must not forget to +say that the lady’s dressing-room exhibited a superb mirror, framed in +silver filigree work; a beautiful toilette, the cover of which was of +Flanders lace; and a set of boxes corresponding in materials and work to +the frame of the mirror. + +This dressing apparatus, however, was mere matter of parade. Mrs. Martha +Bethune Baliol always went through the actual duties of the toilette in +an inner apartment, which corresponded with her sleeping-room by a +small detached staircase. There were, I believe, more than one of those +TURNPIKE STAIRS, as they were called, about the house, by which the +public rooms, all of which entered through each other, were accommodated +with separate and independent modes of access. In the little boudoir we +have described, Mrs. Martha Baliol had her choicest meetings. She kept +early hours; and if you went in the morning, you must not reckon that +space of day as extending beyond three o’clock, or four at the utmost. +These vigilant habits were attended with some restraint on her visitors, +but they were indemnified by your always finding the best society and +the best information which were to be had for the day in the Scottish +capital. Without at all affecting the blue stocking, she liked books. +They amused her; and if the authors were persons of character, she +thought she owed them a debt of civility, which she loved to discharge +by personal kindness. When she gave a dinner to a small party, which she +did now and then, she had the good nature to look for, and the good luck +to discover, what sort of people suited each other best, and chose her +company as Duke Theseus did his hounds,-- + + “Matched in mouth like bells, + Each under each,” + [Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act IV. Sc. I.] + +so that every guest could take his part in the cry, instead of one +mighty Tom of a fellow, like Dr. Johnson, silencing all besides by the +tremendous depth of his diapason. On such occasions she afforded CHERE +EXQUISE; and every now and then there was some dish of French, or even +Scottish derivation, which, as well as the numerous assortment of VINS +EXTRAORDINAIRES produced by Mr. Beauffet, gave a sort of antique and +foreign air to the entertainment, which rendered it more interesting. + +It was a great thing to be asked to such parties; and not less so to be +invited to the early CONVERSAZIONE, which, in spite of fashion, by dint +of the best coffee, the finest tea, and CHASSE CAFE that would have +called the dead to life, she contrived now and then to assemble in her +saloon already mentioned, at the unnatural hour of eight in the evening. +At such time the cheerful old lady seemed to enjoy herself so much in +the happiness of her guests that they exerted themselves in turn to +prolong her amusement and their own; and a certain charm was excited +around, seldom to be met with in parties of pleasure, and which was +founded on the general desire of every one present to contribute +something to the common amusement. + +But although it was a great privilege to be admitted to wait on my +excellent friend in the morning, or be invited to her dinner or evening +parties, I prized still higher the right which I had acquired, by old +acquaintance, of visiting Baliol’s Lodging upon the chance of finding +its venerable inhabitant preparing for tea, just about six o’clock in +the evening. It was only to two or three old friends that she permitted +this freedom; nor was this sort of chance-party ever allowed to extend +itself beyond five in number. The answer to those who came later +announced that the company was filled up for the evening, which had the +double effect of making those who waited on Mrs. Bethune Baliol in this +unceremonious manner punctual in observing her hour, and of adding the +zest of a little difficulty to the enjoyment of the party. + +It more frequently happened that only one or two persons partook of +this refreshment on the same evening; or, supposing the case of a single +gentleman, Mrs. Martha, though she did not hesitate to admit him to her +boudoir, after the privilege of the French and the old Scottish school, +took care, as she used to say, to prescribe all possible propriety, by +commanding the attendance of her principal female attendant, Mrs. Alice +Lambskin, who might, from the gravity and dignity of her appearance, +have sufficed to matronize a whole boarding-school, instead of one +maiden lady of eighty and upwards. As the weather permitted, Mrs. Alice +sat duly remote from the company in a FAUTEUIL behind the projecting +chimney-piece, or in the embrasure of a window, and prosecuted in +Carthusian silence, with indefatigable zeal, a piece of embroidery, +which seemed no bad emblem of eternity. + +But I have neglected all this while to introduce my friend herself to +the reader--at least so far as words can convey the peculiarities by +which her appearance and conversation were distinguished. + +A little woman, with ordinary features and an ordinary form, and hair +which in youth had no decided colour, we may believe Mrs. Martha when +she said of herself that she was never remarkable for personal charms; a +modest admission, which was readily confirmed by certain old ladies, her +contemporaries, who, whatever might have been the youthful advantages +which they more than hinted had been formerly their own share, were now +in personal appearance, as well as in everything else, far inferior to +my accomplished friend. Mrs. Martha’s features had been of a kind +which might be said to wear well; their irregularity was now of +little consequence, animated, as they were, by the vivacity of her +conversation. Her teeth were excellent, and her eyes, although inclining +to grey, were lively, laughing, and undimmed by time. A slight shade of +complexion, more brilliant than her years promised, subjected my friend +amongst strangers to the suspicion of having stretched her foreign +habits as far as the prudent touch of the rouge. But it was a calumny; +for when telling or listening to an interesting and affecting story, +I have seen her colour come and go as if it played on the cheek of +eighteen. + +Her hair, whatever its former deficiencies was now the most beautiful +white that time could bleach, and was disposed with some degree of +pretension, though in the simplest manner possible, so as to appear +neatly smoothed under a cap of Flanders lace, of an old-fashioned but, +as I thought, of a very handsome form, which undoubtedly has a name, +and I would endeavour to recur to it, if I thought it would make my +description a bit more intelligible. I think I have heard her say these +favourite caps had been her mother’s, and had come in fashion with a +peculiar kind of wig used by the gentlemen about the time of the +battle of Ramillies. The rest of her dress was always rather costly and +distinguished, especially in the evening. A silk or satin gown of some +colour becoming her age, and of a form which, though complying to a +certain degree with the present fashion, had always a reference to some +more distant period, was garnished with triple ruffles. Her shoes had +diamond buckles, and were raised a little at heel, an advantage which, +possessed in her youth, she alleged her size would not permit her to +forego in her old age. She always wore rings, bracelets, and other +ornaments of value, either for the materials or the workmanship; nay, +perhaps she was a little profuse in this species of display. But +she wore them as subordinate matters, to which the habits of being +constantly in high life rendered her indifferent; she wore them because +her rank required it, and thought no more of them as articles of finery +than a gentleman dressed for dinner thinks of his clean linen and +well-brushed coat, the consciousness of which embarrasses the rustic +beau on a Sunday. + +Now and then, however, if a gem or ornament chanced to be noticed for +its beauty or singularity, the observation usually led the way to an +entertaining account of the manner in which it had been acquired, or the +person from whom it had descended to its present possessor. On such and +similar occasions my old friend spoke willingly, which is not uncommon; +but she also, which is more rare, spoke remarkably well, and had in her +little narratives concerning foreign parts or former days, which formed +an interesting part of her conversation, the singular art of dismissing +all the usual protracted tautology respecting time, place, and +circumstances which is apt to settle like a mist upon the cold and +languid tales of age, and at the same time of bringing forward, dwelling +upon, and illustrating those incidents and characters which give point +and interest to the story. + +She had, as we have hinted, travelled a good deal in foreign countries; +for a brother, to whom she was much attached, had been sent upon various +missions of national importance to the Continent, and she had more than +once embraced the opportunity of accompanying him. This furnished a +great addition to the information which she could supply, especially +during the last war, when the Continent was for so many years +hermetically sealed against the English nation. But, besides, Mrs. +Bethune Baliol visited different countries, not in the modern fashion, +when English travel in caravans together, and see in France and Italy +little besides the same society which they might have enjoyed at home. +On the contrary, she mingled when abroad with the natives of those +countries she visited, and enjoyed at once the advantage of their +society, and the pleasure of comparing it with that of Britain. + +In the course of her becoming habituated with foreign manners, Mrs. +Bethune Baliol had, perhaps, acquired some slight tincture of them +herself. Yet I was always persuaded that the peculiar vivacity of +look and manner--the pointed and appropriate action with which she +accompanied what she said--the use of the gold and gemmed TABATIERE, or +rather, I should say, BONBONNIERE (for she took no snuff, and the +little box contained only a few pieces of candled angelica, or some such +ladylike sweetmeat), were of real old-fashioned Scottish growth, +and such as might have graced the tea-table of Susannah, Countess +of Eglinton, the patroness of Allan Ramsay [See Note 4.--Countess of +Eglinton.], or of the Hon. Mrs. Colonel Ogilvy, who was another mirror +by whom the Maidens of Auld Reekie were required to dress themselves. +Although well acquainted with the customs of other countries, her +manners had been chiefly formed in her own, at a time when great folk +lived within little space and when the distinguished names of the +highest society gave to Edinburgh the ECLAT which we now endeavour to +derive from the unbounded expense and extended circle of our pleasures. + +I was more confirmed in this opinion by the peculiarity of the dialect +which Mrs. Baliol used. It was Scottish--decidedly Scottish--often +containing phrases and words little used in the present day. But then +her tone and mode of pronunciation were as different from the usual +accent of the ordinary Scotch PATOIS, as the accent of St. James’s is +from that of Billingsgate. The vowels were not pronounced much broader +than in the Italian language, and there was none of the disagreeable +drawl which is so offensive to southern ears. In short, it seemed to +be the Scottish as spoken by the ancient Court of Scotland, to which no +idea of vulgarity could be attached; and the lively manners and gestures +with which it was accompanied were so completely in accord with the +sound of the voice and the style of talking, that I cannot assign them a +different origin. In long derivation, perhaps the manner of the Scottish +court might have been originally formed on that of France, to which it +had certainly some affinity; but I will live and die in the belief that +those of Mrs. Baliol, as pleasing as they were peculiar, came to her +by direct descent from the high dames who anciently adorned with their +presence the royal halls of Holyrood. + + + +CHAPTER VII. MRS. BALIOL ASSISTS MR. CROFTANGRY IN HIS LITERARY +SPECULATIONS. + +Such as I have described Mrs. Bethune Baliol, the reader will easily +believe that, when I thought of the miscellaneous nature of my work, +I rested upon the information she possessed, and her communicative +disposition, as one of the principal supports of my enterprise. +Indeed, she by no means disapproved of my proposed publication, though +expressing herself very doubtful how far she could personally assist +it--a doubt which might be, perhaps, set down to a little ladylike +coquetry, which required to be sued for the boon she was not unwilling +to grant. Or, perhaps, the good old lady, conscious that her unusual +term of years must soon draw to a close, preferred bequeathing the +materials in the shape of a legacy, to subjecting them to the judgment +of a critical public during her lifetime. + +Many a time I used, in our conversations of the Canongate, to resume my +request of assistance, from a sense that my friend was the most valuable +depository of Scottish traditions that was probably now to be found. +This was a subject on which my mind was so much made up that, when I +heard her carry her description of manners so far back beyond her +own time, and describe how Fletcher of Salton spoke, how Graham of +Claverhouse danced, what were the jewels worn by the famous Duchess of +Lauderdale, and how she came by them, I could not help telling her I +thought her some fairy, who cheated us by retaining the appearance of a +mortal of our own day, when, in fact, she had witnessed the revolutions +of centuries. She was much diverted when I required her to take some +solemn oath that she had not danced at the balls given by Mary of Este, +when her unhappy husband occupied Holyrood in a species of honourable +banishment; [The Duke of York afterwards James II., frequently resided +in Holyrood House when his religion rendered him an object of suspicion +to the English Parliament.] or asked whether she could not recollect +Charles the Second when he came to Scotland in 1650, and did not possess +some slight recollections of the bold usurper who drove him beyond the +Forth. + +“BEAU COUSIN,” she said, laughing, “none of these do I remember +personally, but you must know there has been wonderfully little change +on my natural temper from youth to age. From which it follows, cousin, +that, being even now something too young in spirit for the years which +Time has marked me in his calendar, I was, when a girl, a little too +old for those of my own standing, and as much inclined at that period +to keep the society of elder persons, as I am now disposed to admit the +company of gay young fellows of fifty or sixty like yourself, rather +than collect about me all the octogenarians. Now, although I do not +actually come from Elfland, and therefore cannot boast any personal +knowledge of the great personages you enquire about, yet I have seen +and heard those who knew them well, and who have given me as distinct +an account of them as I could give you myself of the Empress Queen, or +Frederick of Prussia; and I will frankly add,” said she, laughing and +offering her BONBONNIERE, “that I HAVE heard so much of the years which +immediately succeeded the Revolution, that I sometimes am apt to confuse +the vivid descriptions fixed on my memory by the frequent and animated +recitation of others, for things which I myself have actually witnessed. +I caught myself but yesterday describing to Lord M--the riding of the +last Scottish Parliament, with as much minuteness as if I had seen it, +as my mother did, from the balcony in front of Lord Moray’s Lodging in +the Canongate.” + +“I am sure you must have given Lord M-- a high treat.” + +“I treated him to a hearty laugh, I believe,” she replied; “but it is +you, you vile seducer of youth, who lead me into such follies. But I +will be on my guard against my own weakness. I do not well know if the +Wandering Jew is supposed to have a wife, but I should be sorry a decent +middle-aged Scottish gentlewoman should be suspected of identity with +such a supernatural person.” + +“For all that, I must torture you a little more, MA BELLE COUSINE, +with my interrogatories; for how shall I ever turn author unless on the +strength of the information which you have so often procured me on the +ancient state of manners?” + +“Stay, I cannot allow you to give your points of enquiry a name so +very venerable, if I am expected to answer them. Ancient is a term for +antediluvians. You may catechise me about the battle of Flodden, or ask +particulars about Bruce and Wallace, under pretext of curiosity after +ancient manners; and that last subject would wake my Baliol blood, you +know.” + +“Well, but, Mrs. Baliol, suppose we settle our era: you do not call the +accession of James the Sixth to the kingdom of Britain very ancient?” + +“Umph! no, cousin; I think I could tell you more of that than folk +nowadays remember. For instance, that as James was trooping towards +England, bag and baggage, his journey was stopped near Cockenzie by +meeting the funeral of the Earl of Winton, the old and faithful servant +and follower of his ill-fated mother, poor Mary! It was an ill omen +for the INFARE, and so was seen of it, cousin.” [See Note 5.--Earl of +Winton.] + +I did not choose to prosecute this subject, well knowing Mrs. Bethune +Baliol did not like to be much pressed on the subject of the Stewarts, +whose misfortunes she pitied, the rather that her father had espoused +their cause. And yet her attachment to the present dynasty being very +sincere, and even ardent, more especially as her family had served +his late Majesty both in peace and war, she experienced a little +embarrassment in reconciling her opinions respecting the exiled family +with those she entertained for the present. In fact, like many an old +Jacobite, she was contented to be somewhat inconsistent on the subject, +comforting herself that NOW everything stood as it ought to do, and that +there was no use in looking back narrowly on the right or wrong of the +matter half a century ago. + +“The Highlands,” I suggested, “should furnish you with ample subjects +of recollection. You have witnessed the complete change of that primeval +country, and have seen a race not far removed from the earliest period +of society melted down into the great mass of civilization; and that +could not happen without incidents striking in themselves, and curious +as chapters in the history of the human race.” + +“It is very true,” said Mrs. Baliol; “one would think it should have +struck the observers greatly, and yet it scarcely did so. For me, I +was no Highlander myself, and the Highland chiefs of old, of whom I +certainly knew several, had little in their manners to distinguish them +from the Lowland gentry, when they mixed in society in Edinburgh, and +assumed the Lowland dress. Their peculiar character was for the clansmen +at home; and you must not imagine that they swaggered about in plaids +and broadswords at the Cross, or came to the Assembly Rooms in bonnets +and kilts.” + +“I remember,” said I, “that Swift, in his Journal, tells Stella he had +dined in the house of a Scots nobleman, with two Highland chiefs, whom +he had found as well-bred men as he had ever met with.” [Extract +of Journal to Stella.--“I dined to-day (12th March 1712) with Lord +Treasurer and two gentlemen of the Highlands of Scotland, yet very +polite men.” SWIFT’S WORKS, VOL. III. p.7. EDIN. 1824.] + +“Very likely,” said my friend. “The extremes of society approach much +more closely to each other than perhaps the Dean of Saint Patrick’s +expected. The savage is always to a certain degree polite. Besides, +going always armed, and having a very punctilious idea of their own +gentility and consequence, they usually behaved to each other and to the +Lowlanders with a good deal of formal politeness, which sometimes even +procured them the character of insincerity.” + +“Falsehood belongs to an early period of society, as well as the +deferential forms which we style politeness,” I replied. “A child does +not see the least moral beauty in truth until he has been flogged half a +dozen times. It is so easy, and apparently so natural, to deny what you +cannot be easily convicted of, that a savage as well as a child lies to +excuse himself almost as instinctively as he raises his hand to protect +his head. The old saying, ‘Confess and be hanged,’ carries much argument +in it. I observed a remark the other day in old Birrel. He mentions that +M’Gregor of Glenstrae and some of his people had surrendered themselves +to one of the Earls of Argyle, upon the express condition that they +should be conveyed safe into England. The Maccallum Mhor of the day +kept the word of promise, but it was only to the ear. He indeed sent his +captives to Berwick, where they had an airing on the other side of the +Tweed; but it was under the custody of a strong guard, by whom they +were brought back to Edinburgh, and delivered to the executioner. This, +Birrel calls keeping a Highlandman’s promise.” [See Note 6.--M’Gregor of +Glenstrae.] + +“Well,” replied Mrs. Baliol, “I might add that many of the Highland +chiefs whom I knew in former days had been brought up in France, which +might improve their politeness, though perhaps it did not amend their +sincerity. But considering that, belonging to the depressed and +defeated faction in the state, they were compelled sometimes to use +dissimulation, you must set their uniform fidelity to their friends; +against their occasional falsehood to their enemies, and then you will +not judge poor John Highlandman too severely. They were in a state of +society where bright lights are strongly contrasted with deep shadows.” + +“It is to that point I would bring you, MA BELLE COUSINE; and therefore +they are most proper subjects for composition.” + +“And you want to turn composer, my good friend, and set my old tales to +some popular tune? But there have been too many composers, if that be +the word, in the field before. The Highlands WERE indeed a rich mine; +but they have, I think, been fairly wrought out, as a good tune is +grinded into vulgarity when it descends to the hurdy-gurdy and the +barrel-organ.” + +“If it be really tune,” I replied, “it will recover its better qualities +when it gets into the hands of better artists.” + +“Umph!” said Mrs. Baliol, tapping her box, “we are happy in our own good +opinion this evening, Mr. Croftangry. And so you think you can restore +the gloss to the tartan which it has lost by being dragged through so +many fingers?” + +“With your assistance to procure materials, my dear lady, much, I think, +may be done.” + +“Well, I must do my best, I suppose, though all I know about the Gael +is but of little consequence. Indeed, I gathered it chiefly from Donald +MacLeish.” + +“And who might Donald MacLeish be?” + +“Neither bard nor sennachie, I assure you, nor monk nor hermit, the +approved authorities for old traditions. Donald was as good a postilion +as ever drove a chaise and pair between Glencroe and Inverary. I assure +you, when I give you my Highland anecdotes, you will hear much of Donald +MacLeish. He was Alice Lambskin’s beau and mine through a long Highland +tour.” + +“But when am I to possess these anecdotes? you answer me as Harley did +poor Prior-- + + ‘Let that be done which Mat doth say-- + Yea, quoth the Earl, but not to-day.’” + +“Well, MON BEAU COUSIN, if you begin to remind me of my cruelty, I must +remind you it has struck nine on the Abbey clock, and it is time you +were going home to Little Croftangry. For my promise to assist your +antiquarian researches, be assured I will one day keep it to the utmost +extent. It shall not be a Highlandman’s promise, as your old citizen +calls it.” + +I by this time suspected the purpose of my friend’s procrastination; and +it saddened my heart to reflect that I was not to get the information +which I desired, excepting in the shape of a legacy. I found +accordingly, in the packet transmitted to me after the excellent lady’s +death, several anecdotes respecting the Highlands, from which I have +selected that which follows, chiefly on account of its possessing great +power over the feelings of my critical housekeeper, Janet M’Evoy, who +wept most bitterly when I read it to her. + +It is, however, but a very simple tale, and may have no interest for +persons beyond Janet’s rank of life or understanding. + + +***** + + + + +THE HIGHLAND WIDOW + + + +CHAPTER I. + + It wound as near as near could be, + But what it is she cannot tell; + On the other side it seemed to be + Of the huge broad-breasted old oak-tree. COLERIDGE. + +Mrs. Bethune Baliol’s memorandum begins thus:-- + +It is five-and-thirty, or perhaps nearer forty years ago, since, to +relieve the dejection of spirits occasioned by a great family loss +sustained two or three months before, I undertook what was called the +short Highland tour. This had become in some degree fashionable; but +though the military roads were excellent, yet the accommodation was so +indifferent that it was reckoned a little adventure to accomplish it. +Besides, the Highlands, though now as peaceable as any part of King +George’s dominions, was a sound which still carried terror, while so +many survived who had witnessed the insurrection of 1745; and a vague +idea of fear was impressed on many as they looked from the towers of +Stirling northward to the huge chain of mountains, which rises like a +dusky rampart to conceal in its recesses a people whose dress, manners, +and language differed still very much from those of their Lowland +countrymen. For my part, I come of a race not greatly subject to +apprehensions arising from imagination only. I had some Highland +relatives; know several of their families of distinction; and though +only having the company of my bower-maiden, Mrs. Alice Lambskin, I went +on my journey fearless. + +But then I had a guide and cicerone, almost equal to Greatheart in +the Pilgrim’s Progress, in no less a person than Donald MacLeish, the +postilion whom I hired at Stirling, with a pair of able-bodied horses, +as steady as Donald himself, to drag my carriage, my duenna, and myself, +wheresoever it was my pleasure to go. + +Donald MacLeish was one of a race of post-boys whom, I suppose, +mail-coaches and steamboats have put out of fashion. They were to be +found chiefly at Perth, Stirling, or Glasgow, where they and their +horses were usually hired by travellers, or tourists, to accomplish such +journeys of business or pleasure as they might have to perform in the +land of the Gael. This class of persons approached to the character +of what is called abroad a CONDUCTEUR; or might be compared to the +sailing-master on board a British ship of war, who follows out after +his own manner the course which the captain commands him to observe. You +explained to your postilion the length of your tour, and the objects you +were desirous it should embrace; and you found him perfectly competent +to fix the places of rest or refreshment, with due attention that those +should be chosen with reference to your convenience, and to any points +of interest which you might desire to visit. + +The qualifications of such a person were necessarily much superior to +those of the “first ready,” who gallops thrice-a-day over the same +ten miles. Donald MacLeish, besides being quite alert at repairing all +ordinary accidents to his horses and carriage, and in making shift to +support them, where forage was scarce, with such substitutes as bannocks +and cakes, was likewise a man of intellectual resources. He had acquired +a general knowledge of the traditional stories of the country which he +had traversed so often; and if encouraged (for Donald was a man of the +most decorous reserve), he would willingly point out to you the site of +the principal clan-battles, and recount the most remarkable legends by +which the road, and the objects which occurred in travelling it, had +been distinguished. There was some originality in the man’s habits of +thinking and expressing himself, his turn for legendary lore strangely +contrasting with a portion of the knowing shrewdness belonging to +his actual occupation, which made his conversation amuse the way well +enough. + +Add to this, Donald knew all his peculiar duties in the country which +he traversed so frequently. He could tell, to a day, when they would “be +killing” lamb at Tyndrum or Glenuilt; so that the stranger would have +some chance of being fed like a Christian; and knew to a mile the last +village where it was possible to procure a wheaten loaf for the guidance +of those who were little familiar with the Land of Cakes. He was +acquainted with the road every mile, and could tell to an inch which +side of a Highland bridge was passable, which decidedly dangerous. [This +is, or was at least, a necessary accomplishment. In one of the most +beautiful districts of the Highlands was, not many years since, a bridge +bearing this startling caution, “Keep to the right side, the left +being dangerous.”] In short, Donald MacLeish was not only our faithful +attendant and steady servant, but our humble and obliging friend; and +though I have known the half-classical cicerone of Italy, the talkative +French valet-de-place, and even the muleteer of Spain, who piques +himself on being a maize-eater, and whose honour is not to be questioned +without danger, I do not think I have ever had so sensible and +intelligent a guide. + +Our motions were of course under Donald’s direction; and it frequently +happened, when the weather was serene, that we preferred halting to rest +his horses even where there was no established stage, and taking our +refreshment under a crag, from which leaped a waterfall, or beside +the verge of a fountain, enamelled with verdant turf and wild-flowers. +Donald had an eye for such spots, and though he had, I dare say, never +read Gil Blas or Don Quixote, yet he chose such halting-places as Le +Sage or Cervantes would have described. Very often, as he observed the +pleasure I took in conversing with the country people, he would manage +to fix our place of rest near a cottage, where there was some old Gael +whose broadsword had blazed at Falkirk or Preston, and who seemed the +frail yet faithful record of times which had passed away. Or he +would contrive to quarter us, as far as a cup of tea went, upon the +hospitality of some parish minister of worth and intelligence, or some +country family of the better class, who mingled with the wild simplicity +of their original manners, and their ready and hospitable welcome, +a sort of courtesy belonging to a people, the lowest of whom are +accustomed to consider themselves as being, according to the Spanish +phrase, “as good gentlemen as the king, only not quite so rich.” + +To all such persons Donald MacLeish was well known, and his introduction +passed as current as if we had brought letters from some high chief of +the country. + +Sometimes it happened that the Highland hospitality, which welcomed us +with all the variety of mountain fare, preparations of milk and eggs, +and girdle-cakes of various kinds, as well as more substantial dainties, +according to the inhabitant’s means of regaling the passenger, descended +rather too exuberantly on Donald MacLeish in the shape of mountain dew. +Poor Donald! he was on such occasions like Gideon’s fleece--moist with +the noble element, which, of course, fell not on us. But it was his only +fault, and when pressed to drink DOCH-AN-DORROCH to my ladyship’s good +health, it would have been ill taken to have refused the pledge; nor was +he willing to do such discourtesy. It was, I repeat, his only fault. Nor +had we any great right to complain; for if it rendered him a little more +talkative, it augmented his ordinary share of punctilious civility, and +he only drove slower, and talked longer and more pompously, than when he +had not come by a drop of usquebaugh. It was, we remarked, only on such +occasions that Donald talked with an air of importance of the family of +MacLeish; and we had no title to be scrupulous in censuring a foible, +the consequences of which were confined within such innocent limits. + +We became so much accustomed to Donald’s mode of managing us, that we +observed with some interest the art which he used to produce a little +agreeable surprise, by concealing from us the spot where he proposed our +halt to be made, when it was of an unusual and interesting character. +This was so much his wont that, when he made apologies at setting off +for being obliged to stop in some strange, solitary place till the +horses should eat the corn which he brought on with them for that +purpose, our imagination used to be on the stretch to guess what +romantic retreat he had secretly fixed upon for our noontide +baiting-place. + +We had spent the greater part of the morning at the delightful village +of Dalmally, and had gone upon the lake under the guidance of the +excellent clergyman who was then incumbent at Glenorquhy, [This +venerable and hospitable gentleman’s name was MacIntyre.] and had heard +a hundred legends of the stern chiefs of Loch Awe, Duncan with the thrum +bonnet, and the other lords of the now mouldering towers of Kilchurn. +[See Note 7.--Loch Awe.] Thus it was later than usual when we set out +on our journey, after a hint or two from Donald concerning the length +of the way to the next stage, as there was no good halting-place between +Dalmally and Oban. + +Having bid adieu to our venerable and kind cicerone, we proceeded on our +tour, winding round the tremendous mountain called Cruachan Ben, which +rushes down in all its majesty of rocks and wilderness on the lake, +leaving only a pass, in which, notwithstanding its extreme strength, the +warlike clan of MacDougal of Lorn were almost destroyed by the sagacious +Robert Bruce. That King, the Wellington of his day, had accomplished, +by a forced march, the unexpected manoeuvre of forcing a body of troops +round the other side of the mountain, and thus placed them in the flank +and in the rear of the men of Lorn, whom at the same time, he attacked +in front. The great number of cairns yet visible as you descend the +pass on the westward side shows the extent of the vengeance which Bruce +exhausted on his inveterate and personal enemies. I am, you know, +the sister of soldiers, and it has since struck me forcibly that the +manoeuvre which Donald described, resembled those of Wellington or of +Bonaparte. He was a great man Robert Bruce, even a Baliol must admit +that; although it begins now to be allowed that his title to the crown +was scarce so good as that of the unfortunate family with whom he +contended. But let that pass. The slaughter had been the greater, as the +deep and rapid river Awe is disgorged from the lake just in the rear +of the fugitives, and encircles the base of the tremendous mountain; so +that the retreat of the unfortunate fleers was intercepted on all +sides by the inaccessible character of the country, which had seemed to +promise them defence and protection. [See Note 8.--Battle betwixt the +armies of the Bruce and MacDougal of Lorn.] + +Musing, like the Irish lady in the song, “upon things which are long +enough a-gone,” [This is a line from a very pathetic ballad which I +heard sung by one of the young ladies of Edgeworthstown in 1825. I do +not know that it has been printed.] we felt no impatience at the slow +and almost creeping pace with which our conductor proceeded along +General Wade’s military road, which never or rarely condescends to turn +aside from the steepest ascent, but proceeds right up and down hill, +with the indifference to height and hollow, steep or level, indicated by +the old Roman engineers. Still, however, the substantial excellence +of these great works--for such are the military highways in the +Highlands--deserved the compliment of the poet, who, whether he came +from our sister kingdom, and spoke in his own dialect, or whether he +supposed those whom he addressed might have some national pretension to +the second sight, produced the celebrated couplet,-- + + “Had you but seen these roads BEFORE they were made, + You would hold up your hands and bless General Wade.” + +Nothing, indeed, can be more wonderful than to see these wildernesses +penetrated and pervious in every quarter by broad accesses of the best +possible construction, and so superior to what the country could have +demanded for many centuries for any pacific purpose of commercial +intercourse. Thus the traces of war are sometimes happily accommodated +to the purposes of peace. The victories of Bonaparte have been without +results but his road over the Simplon will long be the communication +betwixt peaceful countries, who will apply to the ends of commerce +and friendly intercourse that gigantic work, which was formed for the +ambitious purpose of warlike invasion. + +While we were thus stealing along, we gradually turned round the +shoulder of Ben Cruachan, and descending the course of the foaming and +rapid Awe, left behind us the expanse of the majestic lake which gives +birth to that impetuous river. The rocks and precipices which stooped +down perpendicularly on our path on the right hand exhibited a few +remains of the wood which once clothed them, but which had in later +times been felled to supply, Donald MacLeish informed us, the iron +foundries at the Bunawe. This made us fix our eyes with interest on one +large oak, which grew on the left hand towards the river. It seemed a +tree of extraordinary magnitude and picturesque beauty, and stood just +where there appeared to be a few roods of open ground lying among huge +stones, which had rolled down from the mountain. To add to the romance +of the situation, the spot of clear ground extended round the foot of a +proud-browed rock, from the summit of which leaped a mountain stream in +a fall of sixty feet, in which it was dissolved into foam and dew. At +the bottom of the fall the rivulet with difficulty collected, like a +routed general, its dispersed forces, and, as if tamed by its descent, +found a noiseless passage through the heath to join the Awe. + +I was much struck with the tree and waterfall, and wished myself nearer +them; not that I thought of sketch-book or portfolio--for in my younger +days misses were not accustomed to black-lead pencils, unless they +could use them to some good purpose--but merely to indulge myself with a +closer view. Donald immediately opened the chaise door, but observed it +was rough walking down the brae, and that I would see the tree better by +keeping the road for a hundred yards farther, when it passed closer to +the spot, for which he seemed, however, to have no predilection. “He +knew,” he said, “a far bigger tree than that nearer Bunawe, and it was +a place where there was flat ground for the carriage to stand, which it +could jimply do on these braes; but just as my leddyship liked.” + +My ladyship did choose rather to look at the fine tree before me than to +pass it by in hopes of a finer; so we walked beside the carriage till we +should come to a point, from which, Donald assured us, we might, without +scrambling, go as near the tree as we chose, “though he wadna advise us +to go nearer than the highroad.” + +There was something grave and mysterious in Donald’s sun-browned +countenance when he gave us this intimation, and his manner was so +different from his usual frankness, that my female curiosity was set in +motion. We walked on the whilst, and I found the tree, of which we had +now lost sight by the intervention of some rising ground, was really +more distant than I had at first supposed. “I could have sworn now,” + said I to my cicerone, “that yon tree and waterfall was the very place +where you intended to make a stop to-day.” + +“The Lord forbid!” said Donald hastily. + +“And for what, Donald? Why should you be willing to pass so pleasant a +spot?” + +“It’s ower near Dalmally, my leddy, to corn the beasts; it would bring +their dinner ower near their breakfast, poor things. An’ besides, the +place is not canny.” + +“Oh! then the mystery is out. There is a bogle or a brownie, a witch or +a gyre-carlin, a bodach or a fairy, in the case?” + +“The ne’er a bit, my leddy--ye are clean aff the road, as I may say. But +if your leddyship will just hae patience, and wait till we are by the +place and out of the glen, I’ll tell ye all about it. There is no much +luck in speaking of such things in the place they chanced in.” + +I was obliged to suspend my curiosity, observing, that if I persisted +in twisting the discourse one way while Donald was twining it another, I +should make his objection, like a hempen cord, just so much the tougher. +At length the promised turn of the road brought us within fifty paces of +the tree which I desired to admire, and I now saw to my surprise, that +there was a human habitation among the cliffs which surrounded it. It +was a hut of the least dimensions, and most miserable description that +I ever saw even in the Highlands. The walls of sod, or DIVOT, as the +Scotch call it, were not four feet high; the roof was of turf, repaired +with reeds and sedges; the chimney was composed of clay, bound round by +straw ropes; and the whole walls, roof, and chimney, were alike covered +with the vegetation of house-leek, rye-grass, and moss common to decayed +cottages formed of such materials. There was not the slightest vestige +of a kale-yard, the usual accompaniment of the very worst huts; and of +living things we saw nothing, save a kid which was browsing on the roof +of the hut, and a goat, its mother, at some distance, feeding betwixt +the oak and the river Awe. + +“What man,” I could not help exclaiming, “can have committed sin deep +enough to deserve such a miserable dwelling!” + +“Sin enough,” said Donald MacLeish, with a half-suppressed groan; “and +God he knoweth, misery enough too. And it is no man’s dwelling neither, +but a woman’s.” + +“A woman’s!” I repeated, “and in so lonely a place! What sort of a woman +can she be?” + +“Come this way, my leddy, and you may judge that for yourself,” said +Donald. And by advancing a few steps, and making a sharp turn to the +left, we gained a sight of the side of the great broad-breasted oak, in +the direction opposed to that in which we had hitherto seen it. + +“If she keeps her old wont, she will be there at this hour of the day,” + said Donald; but immediately became silent, and pointed with his finger, +as one afraid of being overheard. I looked, and beheld, not without some +sense of awe, a female form seated by the stem of the oak, with her head +drooping, her hands clasped, and a dark-coloured mantle drawn over her +head, exactly as Judah is represented in the Syrian medals as seated +under her palm-tree. I was infected with the fear and reverence which my +guide seemed to entertain towards this solitary being, nor did I think +of advancing towards her to obtain a nearer view until I had cast an +enquiring look on Donald; to which he replied in a half whisper, “She +has been a fearfu’ bad woman, my leddy.” + +“Mad woman, said you,” replied I, hearing him imperfectly; “then she is +perhaps dangerous?” + +“No--she is not mad,” replied Donald; “for then it may be she would be +happier than she is; though when she thinks on what she has done, and +caused to be done, rather than yield up a hair-breadth of her ain wicked +will, it is not likely she can be very well settled. But she neither +is mad nor mischievous; and yet, my leddy, I think you had best not go +nearer to her.” And then, in a few hurried words, he made me acquainted +with the story which I am now to tell more in detail. I heard the +narrative with a mixture of horror and sympathy, which at once impelled +me to approach the sufferer, and speak to her the words of comfort, or +rather of pity, and at the same time made me afraid to do so. + +This indeed was the feeling with which she was regarded by the +Highlanders in the neighbourhood, who looked upon Elspat MacTavish, +or the Woman of the Tree, as they called her, as the Greeks considered +those who were pursued by the Furies, and endured the mental torment +consequent on great criminal actions. They regarded such unhappy beings +as Orestes and OEdipus, as being less the voluntary perpetrators of +their crimes than as the passive instruments by which the terrible +decrees of Destiny had been accomplished; and the fear with which they +beheld them was not unmingled with veneration. + +I also learned further from Donald MacLeish, that there was some +apprehension of ill luck attending those who had the boldness to +approach too near, or disturb the awful solitude of a being so +unutterably miserable--that it was supposed that whosoever approached +her must experience in some respect the contagion of her wretchedness. + +It was therefore with some reluctance that Donald saw me prepare to +obtain a nearer view of the sufferer, and that he himself followed to +assist me in the descent down a very rough path. I believe his regard +for me conquered some ominous feelings in his own breast, which +connected his duty on this occasion with the presaging fear of lame +horses, lost linch-pins, overturns, and other perilous chances of the +postilion’s life. + +I am not sure if my own courage would have carried me so close to Elspat +had he not followed. There was in her countenance the stern abstraction +of hopeless and overpowering sorrow, mixed with the contending feelings +of remorse, and of the pride which struggled to conceal it. She guessed, +perhaps, that it was curiosity, arising out of her uncommon story, which +induced me to intrude on her solitude; and she could not be pleased that +a fate like hers had been the theme of a traveller’s amusement. Yet +the look with which she regarded me was one of scorn instead of +embarrassment. The opinion of the world and all its children could not +add or take an iota from her load of misery; and, save from the half +smile that seemed to intimate the contempt of a being rapt by the very +intensity of her affliction above the sphere of ordinary humanities, she +seemed as indifferent to my gaze, as if she had been a dead corpse or a +marble statue. + +Elspat was above the middle stature. Her hair, now grizzled, was still +profuse, and it had been of the most decided black. So were her eyes, +in which, contradicting the stern and rigid features of her countenance, +there shone the wild and troubled light that indicates an unsettled +mind. Her hair was wrapt round a silver bodkin with some attention to +neatness, and her dark mantle was disposed around her with a degree of +taste, though the materials were of the most ordinary sort. + +After gazing on this victim of guilt and calamity till I was ashamed to +remain silent, though uncertain how I ought to address her, I began +to express my surprise at her choosing such a desert and deplorable +dwelling. She cut short these expressions of sympathy, by answering in +a stern voice, without the least change of countenance or posture, +“Daughter of the stranger, he has told you my story.” I was silenced +at once, and felt how little all earthly accommodation must seem to +the mind which had such subjects as hers for rumination. Without again +attempting to open the conversation, I took a piece of gold from my +purse, (for Donald had intimated she lived on alms), expecting she would +at least stretch her hand to receive it. But she neither accepted nor +rejected the gift; she did not even seem to notice it, though twenty +times as valuable, probably, as was usually offered. I was obliged to +place it on her knee, saying involuntarily, as I did so, “May God pardon +you and relieve you!” I shall never forget the look which she cast up to +Heaven, nor the tone in which she exclaimed, in the very words of my old +friend John Home,-- + + “My beautiful--my brave!” + +It was the language of nature, and arose from the heart of the deprived +mother, as it did from that gifted imaginative poet while furnishing +with appropriate expressions the ideal grief of Lady Randolph. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Oh, I’m come to the Low Country, + Och, och, ohonochie, + Without a penny in my pouch + To buy a meal for me. + I was the proudest of my clan, + Long, long may I repine; + And Donald was the bravest man, + And Donald he was mine. OLD SONG. + +Elspat had enjoyed happy days, though her age had sunk into hopeless and +inconsolable sorrow and distress. She was once the beautiful and happy +wife of Hamish MacTavish, for whom his strength and feats of prowess +had gained the title of MacTavish Mhor. His life was turbulent and +dangerous, his habits being of the old Highland stamp which esteemed it +shame to want anything that could be had for the taking. Those in the +Lowland line who lay near him, and desired to enjoy their lives and +property in quiet, were contented to pay him a small composition, in +name of protection money, and comforted themselves with the old proverb +that it was better to “fleech the deil than fight him.” Others, who +accounted such composition dishonourable, were often surprised by +MacTavish Mhor and his associates and followers, who usually inflicted +an adequate penalty, either in person or property, or both. The creagh +is yet remembered in which he swept one hundred and fifty cows from +Monteith in one drove; and how he placed the laird of Ballybught naked +in a slough, for having threatened to send for a party of the Highland +Watch to protect his property. + +Whatever were occasionally the triumphs of this daring cateran, they +were often exchanged for reverses; and his narrow escapes, rapid +flights, and the ingenious stratagems with which he extricated himself +from imminent danger, were no less remembered and admired than the +exploits in which he had been successful. In weal or woe, through every +species of fatigue, difficulty, and danger, Elspat was his faithful +companion. She enjoyed with him the fits of occasional prosperity; and +when adversity pressed them hard, her strength of mind, readiness of +wit, and courageous endurance of danger and toil, are said often to have +stimulated the exertions of her husband. + +Their morality was of the old Highland cast--faithful friends and +fierce enemies. The Lowland herds and harvests they accounted their own, +whenever they had the means of driving off the one or of seizing upon +the other; nor did the least scruple on the right of property interfere +on such occasions. Hamish Mhor argued like the old Cretan warrior: + + “My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield, + They make me lord of all below; + For he who dreads the lance to wield, + Before my shaggy shield must bow. + His lands, his vineyards, must resign, + And all that cowards have is mine.” + +But those days of perilous, though frequently successful depredation, +began to be abridged after the failure of the expedition of Prince +Charles Edward. MacTavish Mhor had not sat still on that occasion, and +he was outlawed, both as a traitor to the state and as a robber and +cateran. Garrisons were now settled in many places where a red-coat had +never before been seen, and the Saxon war-drum resounded among the most +hidden recesses of the Highland mountains. The fate of MacTavish became +every day more inevitable; and it was the more difficult for him to make +his exertions for defence or escape, that Elspat, amid his evil days, +had increased his family with an infant child, which was a considerable +encumbrance upon the necessary rapidity of their motions. + +At length the fatal day arrived. In a strong pass on the skirts of Ben +Crunchan, the celebrated MacTavish Mhor was surprised by a detachment +of the Sidier Roy. [The Red Soldier.] His wife assisted him heroically, +charging his piece from time to time; and as they were in possession of +a post that was nearly unassailable, he might have perhaps escaped +if his ammunition had lasted. But at length his balls were expended, +although it was not until he had fired off most of the silver buttons +from his waistcoat; and the soldiers, no longer deterred by fear of the +unerring marksman, who had slain three and wounded more of their number, +approached his stronghold, and, unable to take him alive, slew him after +a most desperate resistance. + +All this Elspat witnessed and survived; for she had, in the child which +relied on her for support, a motive for strength and exertion. In what +manner she maintained herself it is not easy to say. Her only ostensible +means of support were a flock of three or four goats, which she fed +wherever she pleased on the mountain pastures, no one challenging +the intrusion. In the general distress of the country, her ancient +acquaintances had little to bestow; but what they could part with from +their own necessities, they willingly devoted to the relief of others, +From Lowlanders she sometimes demanded tribute, rather than requested +alms. She had not forgotten she was the widow of MacTavish Mhor, or that +the child who trotted by her knee might, such were her imaginations, +emulate one day the fame of his father, and command the same influence +which he had once exerted without control. She associated so little with +others, went so seldom and so unwillingly from the wildest recesses +of the mountains, where she usually dwelt with her goats, that she +was quite unconscious of the great change which had taken place in +the country around her--the substitution of civil order for military +violence, and the strength gained by the law and its adherents over +those who were called in Gaelic song, “the stormy sons of the sword.” + Her own diminished consequence and straitened circumstances she indeed +felt, but for this the death of MacTavish Mhor was, in her apprehension, +a sufficing reason; and she doubted not that she should rise to her +former state of importance when Hamish Bean (or fair-haired James) +should be able to wield the arms of his father. If, then, Elspat was +repelled, rudely when she demanded anything necessary for her wants, or +the accommodation of her little flock, by a churlish farmer, her threats +of vengeance, obscurely expressed, yet terrible in their tenor, used +frequently to extort, through fear of her maledictions, the relief which +was denied to her necessities; and the trembling goodwife, who gave meal +or money to the widow of MacTavish Mhor, wished in her heart that the +stern old carlin had been burnt on the day her husband had his due. + +Years thus ran on, and Hamish Bean grew up--not, indeed, to be of his +father’s size or strength, but to become an active, high-spirited, +fair-haired youth, with a ruddy cheek, an eye like an eagle’s, and all +the agility, if not all the strength, of his formidable father, upon +whose history and achievements his mother dwelt, in order to form her +son’s mind to a similar course of adventures. But the young see the +present state of this changeful world more keenly than the old. Much +attached to his mother, and disposed to do all in his power for her +support, Hamish yet perceived, when he mixed with the world, that the +trade of the cateran was now alike dangerous and discreditable, and that +if he were to emulate his father’s progress, it must be in some other +line of warfare more consonant to the opinions of the present day. + +As the faculties of mind and body began to expand, he became more +sensible of the precarious nature of his situation, of the erroneous +views of his mother, and her ignorance respecting the changes of the +society with which she mingled so little. In visiting friends and +neighbours, he became aware of the extremely reduced scale to which his +parent was limited, and learned that she possessed little or nothing +more than the absolute necessaries of life, and that these were +sometimes on the point of failing. At times his success in fishing and +the chase was able to add something to her subsistence; but he saw no +regular means of contributing to her support, unless by stooping to +servile labour, which, if he himself could have endured it, would, he +knew, have been like a death’s-wound to the pride of his mother. + +Elspat, meanwhile, saw with surprise that Hamish Bean, although now tall +and fit for the field, showed no disposition to enter on his father’s +scene of action. There was something of the mother at her heart, which +prevented her from urging him in plain terms to take the field as a +cateran, for the fear occurred of the perils into which the trade must +conduct him; and when she would have spoken to him on the subject, it +seemed to her heated imagination as if the ghost of her husband arose +between them in his bloody tartans, and laying his finger on his lips, +appeared to prohibit the topic. Yet she wondered at what seemed his want +of spirit, sighed as she saw him from day to day lounging about in the +long-skirted Lowland coat which the legislature had imposed upon the +Gael instead of their own romantic garb, and thought how much nearer he +would have resembled her husband had he been clad in the belted plaid +and short hose, with his polished arms gleaming at his side. + +Besides these subjects for anxiety, Elspat had others arising from the +engrossing impetuosity of her temper. Her love of MacTavish Mhor had +been qualified by respect and sometimes even by fear, for the cateran +was not the species of man who submits to female government; but over +his son she had exerted, at first during childhood, and afterwards in +early youth, an imperious authority, which gave her maternal love a +character of jealousy. She could not bear when Hamish, with advancing +life, made repeated steps towards independence, absented himself from +her cottage at such season and for such length of time as he chose, +and seemed to consider, although maintaining towards her every possible +degree of respect and kindness, that the control and responsibility +of his actions rested on himself alone. This would have been of little +consequence, could she have concealed her feelings within her own bosom; +but the ardour and impatience of her passions made her frequently show +her son that she conceived herself neglected and ill-used. When he was +absent for any length of time from her cottage without giving intimation +of his purpose, her resentment on his return used to be so unreasonable, +that it naturally suggested to a young man fond of independence, and +desirous to amend his situation in the world, to leave her, even for the +very purpose of enabling him to provide for the parent whose egotistical +demands on his filial attention tended to confine him to a desert, in +which both were starving in hopeless and helpless indigence. + +Upon one occasion, the son having been guilty of some independent +excursion, by which the mother felt herself affronted and disobliged, +she had been more than usually violent on his return, and awakened in +Hamish a sense of displeasure, which clouded his brow and cheek. At +length, as she persevered in her unreasonable resentment, his patience +became exhausted, and taking his gun from the chimney corner, and +muttering to himself the reply which his respect for his mother +prevented him from speaking aloud, he was about to leave the hut which +he had but barely entered. + +“Hamish,” said his mother, “are you again about to leave me?” But Hamish +only replied by looking at and rubbing the lock of his gun. + +“Ay, rub the lock of your gun,” said his parent bitterly. “I am glad you +have courage enough to fire it? though it be but at a roe-deer.” Hamish +started at this undeserved taunt, and cast a look of anger at her in +reply. She saw that she had found the means of giving him pain. + +“Yes,” she said, “look fierce as you will at an old woman, and your +mother; it would be long ere you bent your brow on the angry countenance +of a bearded man.” + +“Be silent, mother, or speak of what you understand,” said Hamish, much +irritated, “and that is of the distaff and the spindle.” + +“And was it of spindle and distaff that I was thinking when I bore you +away on my back through the fire of six of the Saxon soldiers, and you +a wailing child? I tell you, Hamish, I know a hundredfold more of swords +and guns than ever you will; and you will never learn so much of noble +war by yourself, as you have seen when you were wrapped up in my plaid.” + +“You are determined, at least, to allow me no peace at home, mother; +but this shall have an end,” said Hamish, as, resuming his purpose of +leaving the hut, he rose and went towards the door. + +“Stay, I command you,” said his mother--“stay! or may the gun you carry +be the means of your ruin! may the road you are going be the track of +your funeral!” + +“What makes you use such words, mother?” said the young man, turning a +little back; “they are not good, and good cannot come of them. Farewell +just now! we are too angry to speak together--farewell! It will be long +ere you see me again.” And he departed, his mother, in the first burst +of her impatience, showering after him her maledictions, and in the next +invoking them on her own head, so that they might spare her son’s. She +passed that day and the next in all the vehemence of impotent and yet +unrestrained passion, now entreating Heaven, and such powers as were +familiar to her by rude tradition, to restore her dear son, “the calf +of her heart;” now in impatient resentment, meditating with what bitter +terms she should rebuke his filial disobedience upon his return, and now +studying the most tender language to attach him to the cottage, +which, when her boy was present, she would not, in the rapture of her +affection, have exchanged for the apartments of Taymouth Castle. + +Two days passed, during which, neglecting even the slender means of +supporting nature which her situation afforded, nothing but the strength +of a frame accustomed to hardships and privations of every kind could +have kept her in existence, notwithstanding the anguish of her mind +prevented her being sensible of her personal weakness. Her dwelling at +this period was the same cottage near which I had found her, but then +more habitable by the exertions of Hamish, by whom it had been in a +great measure built and repaired. + +It was on the third day after her son had disappeared, as she sat at +the door rocking herself, after the fashion of her countrywomen when in +distress, or in pain, that the then unwonted circumstance occurred of a +passenger being seen on the highroad above the cottage. She cast but one +glance at him. He was on horseback, so that it could not be Hamish; and +Elspat cared not enough for any other being on earth to make her turn +her eyes towards him a second time. The stranger, however, paused +opposite to her cottage, and dismounting from his pony, led it down the +steep and broken path which conducted to her door. + +“God bless you, Elspat MacTavish!” She looked at the man as he addressed +her in her native language, with the displeased air of one whose reverie +is interrupted; but the traveller went on to say, “I bring you tidings +of your son Hamish.” At once, from being the most uninteresting object, +in respect to Elspat, that could exist, the form of the stranger +became awful in her eyes, as that of a messenger descended from heaven, +expressly to pronounce upon her death or life. She started from her +seat, and with hands convulsively clasped together, and held up to +Heaven, eyes fixed on the stranger’s countenance, and person stooping +forward to him, she looked those inquiries which her faltering tongue +could not articulate. “Your son sends you his dutiful remembrance, and +this,” said the messenger, putting into Elspat’s hand a small purse +containing four or five dollars. + +“He is gone! he is gone!” exclaimed Elspat; “he has sold himself to be +the servant of the Saxons, and I shall never more behold him! Tell me, +Miles MacPhadraick--for now I know you--is it the price of the son’s +blood that you have put into the mother’s hand?” + +“Now, God forbid!” answered MacPhadraick, who was a tacksman, and +had possession of a considerable tract of ground under his chief, a +proprietor who lived about twenty miles off--“God forbid I should do +wrong, or say wrong, to you, or to the son of MacTavish Mhor! I swear +to you by the hand of my chief that your son is well, and will soon see +you; and the rest he will tell you himself.” So saying, MacPhadraick +hastened back up the pathway, gained the road, mounted his pony, and +rode upon his way. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Elspat MacTavish remained gazing on the money as if the impress of the +coin could have conveyed information how it was procured. + +“I love not this MacPhadraick,” she said to herself. “It was his race +of whom the Bard hath spoken, saying, Fear them not when their words are +loud as the winter’s wind, but fear them when they fall on you like the +sound of the thrush’s song. And yet this riddle can be read but one way: +My son hath taken the sword to win that, with strength like a man, which +churls would keep him from with the words that frighten children.” This +idea, when once it occurred to her, seemed the more reasonable, that +MacPhadraick, as she well knew, himself a cautious man, had so far +encouraged her husband’s practices as occasionally to buy cattle of +MacTavish, although he must have well known how they were come by, +taking care, however, that the transaction was so made as to be +accompanied with great profit and absolute safety. Who so likely as +MacPhadraick to indicate to a young cateran the glen in which he could +commence his perilous trade with most prospect of success? Who so likely +to convert his booty into money? The feelings which another might have +experienced on believing that an only son had rushed forward on the same +path in which his father had perished, were scarce known to the Highland +mothers of that day. She thought of the death of MacTavish Mhor as that +of a hero who had fallen in his proper trade of war, and who had not +fallen unavenged. She feared less for her son’s life than for his +dishonour. She dreaded, on his account, the subjection to strangers, and +the death-sleep of the soul which is brought on by what she regarded as +slavery. + +The moral principle which so naturally and so justly occurs to the mind +of those who have been educated under a settled government of laws that +protect the property of the weak against the incursions of the strong, +was to poor Elspat a book sealed and a fountain closed. She had been +taught to consider those whom they call Saxons as a race with whom the +Gael were constantly at war; and she regarded every settlement of theirs +within the reach of Highland incursion as affording a legitimate object +of attack and plunder. Her feelings on this point had been strengthened +and confirmed, not only by the desire of revenge for the death of +her husband, but by the sense of general indignation entertained, not +unjustly, through the Highlands of Scotland, on account of the barbarous +and violent conduct of the victors after the battle of Culloden. Other +Highland clans, too, she regarded as the fair objects of plunder, when +that was possible, upon the score of ancient enmities and deadly feuds. + +The prudence that might have weighed the slender means which the times +afforded for resisting the efforts of a combined government, which had, +in its less compact and established authority, been unable to put down +the ravages of such lawless caterans as MacTavish Mhor, was unknown to +a solitary woman whose ideas still dwelt upon her own early times. +She imagined that her son had only to proclaim himself his father’s +successor in adventure and enterprise, and that a force of men, as +gallant as those who had followed his father’s banner, would crowd +around to support it when again displayed. To her Hamish was the eagle +who had only to soar aloft and resume his native place in the skies, +without her being able to comprehend how many additional eyes would have +watched his flight--how many additional bullets would have been directed +at his bosom. To be brief, Elspat was one who viewed the present state +of society with the same feelings with which she regarded the times that +had passed away. She had been indigent, neglected, oppressed since the +days that her husband had no longer been feared and powerful, and she +thought that the term of her ascendence would return when her son had +determined to play the part of his father. If she permitted her eye to +glance farther into futurity, it was but to anticipate that she must be +for many a day cold in the grave, with the coronach of her tribe cried +duly over her, before her fair-haired Hamish could, according to her +calculation, die with his hand on the basket-hilt of the red claymore. +His father’s hair was grey, ere, after a hundred dangers, he had fallen +with his arms in his hands. That she should have seen and survived the +sight was a natural consequence of the manners of that age. And better +it was--such was her proud thought--that she had seen him so die, than +to have witnessed his departure from life in a smoky hovel on a bed +of rotten straw like an over-worn hound, or a bullock which died of +disease. But the hour of her young, her brave Hamish, was yet far +distant. He must succeed--he must conquer--like his father. And when he +fell at length--for she anticipated for him no bloodless death--Elspat +would ere then have lain long in the grave, and could neither see his +death-struggle nor mourn over his grave-sod. + +With such wild notions working in her brain, the spirit of Elspat rose +to its usual pitch, or, rather, to one which seemed higher. In the +emphatic language of Scripture, which in that idiom does not greatly +differ from her own, she arose, she washed and changed her apparel, and +ate bread, and was refreshed. + +She longed eagerly for the return of her son, but she now longed not +with the bitter anxiety of doubt and apprehension. She said to herself +that much must be done ere he could in these times arise to be an +eminent and dreaded leader. Yet when she saw him again, she almost +expected him at the head of a daring band, with pipes playing and +banners flying, the noble tartans fluttering free in the wind, in +despite of the laws which had suppressed, under severe penalties, the +use of the national garb and all the appurtenances of Highland chivalry. +For all this, her eager imagination was content only to allow the +interval of some days. + +From the moment this opinion had taken deep and serious possession of +her mind, her thoughts were bent upon receiving her son at the head of +his adherents in the manner in which she used to adorn her hut for the +return of his father. + +The substantial means of subsistence she had not the power of providing, +nor did she consider that of importance. The successful caterans would +bring with them herds and flocks. But the interior of her hut was +arranged for their reception, the usquebaugh was brewed or distilled in +a larger quantity than it could have been supposed one lone woman could +have made ready. Her hut was put into such order as might, in some +degree, give it the appearance of a day of rejoicing. It was swept and +decorated, with boughs of various kinds, like the house of a Jewess upon +what is termed the Feast of the Tabernacles. The produce of the milk of +her little flock was prepared in as great variety of forms as her skill +admitted, to entertain her son and his associates whom she, expected to +receive along with him. + +But the principal decoration, which she sought with the greatest toil, +was the cloud-berry, a scarlet fruit, which is only found on very high +hills; and these only in small quantities. Her husband, or perhaps one +of his forefathers, had chosen this as the emblem of his family, because +it seemed at once to imply, by its scarcity, the smallness of their +clan, and, by the places in which it was found, the ambitious height of +their pretensions. + +For the time that these simple preparations of welcome endured, Elspat +was in a state of troubled happiness. In fact, her only anxiety was that +she might be able to complete all that she could do to welcome Hamish +and the friends who she supposed must have attached themselves to +his band, before they should arrive and find her unprovided for their +reception. + +But when such efforts as she could make had been accomplished, she once +more had nothing left to engage her save the trifling care of her goats; +and when these had been attended to, she had only to review her little +preparations, renew such as were of a transitory nature, replace decayed +branches and fading boughs, and then to sit down at her cottage-door and +watch the road as it ascended on the one side from the banks of the Awe, +and on the other wound round the heights of the mountain, with such a +degree of accommodation to hill and level as the plan of the military +engineer permitted. While so occupied, her imagination, anticipating the +future from recollections of the past, formed out of the morning mist or +the evening cloud the wild forms of an advancing band, which were then +called “Sidier Dhu” (dark soldiers), dressed in their native tartan, and +so named to distinguish them from the scarlet ranks of the British army. +In this occupation she spent many hours of each morning and evening. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +It was in vain that Elspat’s eyes surveyed the distant path by the +earliest light of the dawn and the latest glimmer of the twilight. No +rising dust awakened the expectation of nodding plumes or flashing arms. +The solitary traveller trudged listlessly along in his brown lowland +greatcoat, his tartans dyed black or purple, to comply with or evade +the law which prohibited their being worn in their variegated hues. +The spirit of the Gael, sunk and broken by the severe though perhaps +necessary laws, that proscribed the dress and arms which he considered +as his birthright, was intimated by his drooping head and dejected +appearance. Not in such depressed wanderers did Elspat recognise the +light and free step of her son, now, as she concluded, regenerated from +every sign of Saxon thraldom. Night by night, as darkness came, she +removed from her unclosed door, to throw herself on her restless pallet, +not to sleep, but to watch. The brave and the terrible, she said, walk +by night. Their steps are heard in darkness, when all is silent save the +whirlwind and the cataract. The timid deer comes only forth when the sun +is upon the mountain’s peak, but the bold wolf walks in the red light of +the harvest-moon. She reasoned in vain; her son’s expected summons +did not call her from the lowly couch where she lay dreaming of his +approach. Hamish came not. + +“Hope deferred,” saith the royal sage, “maketh the heart sick;” and +strong as was Elspat’s constitution, she began to experience that it +was unequal to the toils to which her anxious and immoderate affection +subjected her, when early one morning the appearance of a traveller on +the lonely mountain-road, revived hopes which had begun to sink into +listless despair. There was no sign of Saxon subjugation about the +stranger. At a distance she could see the flutter of the belted-plaid +that drooped in graceful folds behind him, and the plume that, placed +in the bonnet, showed rank and gentle birth. He carried a gun over +his shoulder, the claymore was swinging by his side with its usual +appendages, the dirk, the pistol, and the SPORRAN MOLLACH. [The +goat-skin pouch, worn by the Highlanders round their waist.] Ere yet her +eye had scanned all these particulars, the light step of the traveller +was hastened, his arm was waved in token of recognition--a moment more, +and Elspat held in her arms her darling son, dressed in the garb of +his ancestors, and looking, in her maternal eyes, the fairest among ten +thousand! + +The first outpouring of affection it would be impossible to describe. +Blessings mingled with the most endearing epithets which her energetic +language affords in striving to express the wild rapture of Elspat’s +joy. Her board was heaped hastily with all she had to offer, and the +mother watched the young soldier, as he partook of the refreshment, with +feelings how similar to, yet how different from, those with which she +had seen him draw his first sustenance from her bosom! + +When the tumult of joy was appeased, Elspat became anxious to know her +son’s adventures since they parted, and could not help greatly censuring +his rashness for traversing the hills in the Highland dress in the broad +sunshine, when the penalty was so heavy, and so many red soldiers were +abroad in the country. + +“Fear not for me, mother,” said Hamish, in a tone designed to relieve +her anxiety, and yet somewhat embarrassed; “I may wear the BREACAN [That +which is variegated--that is, the tartan.] at the gate of Fort-Augustus, +if I like it.” + +“Oh, be not too daring, my beloved Hamish, though it be the fault which +best becomes thy father’s son--yet be not too daring! Alas! they fight +not now as in former days, with fair weapons and on equal terms, but +take odds of numbers and of arms, so that the feeble and the strong are +alike levelled by the shot of a boy. And do not think me unworthy to be +called your father’s widow and your mother because I speak thus; for +God knoweth, that, man to man, I would peril thee against the best in +Breadalbane, and broad Lorn besides.” + +“I assure you, my dearest mother,” replied Hamish, “that I am in no +danger. But have you seen MacPhadraick, mother? and what has he said to +you on my account?” + +“Silver he left me in plenty, Hamish; but the best of his comfort was +that you were well, and would see me soon. But beware of MacPhadraick, +my son; for when he called himself the friend of your father, he better +loved the most worthless stirk in his herd than he did the life-blood of +MacTavish Mhor. Use his services, therefore, and pay him for them, for +it is thus we should deal with the unworthy; but take my counsel, and +trust him not.” + +Hamish could not suppress a sigh, which seemed to Elspat to intimate +that the caution came too late. “What have you done with him?” she +continued, eager and alarmed. “I had money of him, and he gives not that +without value; he is none of those who exchange barley for chaff. Oh, if +you repent you of your bargain, and if it be one which you may break off +without disgrace to your truth or your manhood, take back his silver, +and trust not to his fair words.” + +“It may not be, mother,” said Hamish; “I do not repent my engagement, +unless that it must make me leave you soon.” + +“Leave me! how leave me? Silly boy, think you I know not what duty +belongs to the wife or mother of a daring man? Thou art but a boy yet; +and when thy father had been the dread of the country for twenty years, +he did not despise my company and assistance, but often said my help was +worth that of two strong gillies.” + +“It is not on that score, mother, but since I must leave the country--” + +“Leave the country!” replied his mother, interrupting him. “And think +you that I am like a bush, that is rooted to the soil where it grows, +and must die if carried elsewhere? I have breathed other winds than +these of Ben Cruachan. I have followed your father to the wilds of Ross +and the impenetrable deserts of Y Mac Y Mhor. Tush, man! my limbs, old +as they are, will bear me as far as your young feet can trace the way.” + +“Alas, mother,” said the young man, with a faltering accent, “but to +cross the sea--” + +“The sea! who am I that I should fear the sea? Have I never been in +a birling in my life--never known the Sound of Mull, the Isles of +Treshornish, and the rough rocks of Harris?” + +“Alas, mother, I go far--far from all of these. I am enlisted in one of +the new regiments, and we go against the French in America.” + +“Enlisted!” uttered the astonished mother--“against MY will--without MY +consent! You could not! you would not!” Then rising up, and assuming a +posture of almost imperial command, “Hamish, you DARED not!” + +“Despair, mother, dares everything,” answered Hamish, in a tone of +melancholy resolution. “What should I do here, where I can scarce get +bread for myself and you, and when the times are growing daily worse? +Would you but sit down and listen, I would convince you I have acted for +the best.” + +With a bitter smile Elspat sat down, and the same severe ironical +expression was on her features, as, with her lips firmly closed, she +listened to his vindication. + +Hamish went on, without being disconcerted by her expected displeasure. +“When I left you, dearest mother, it was to go to MacPhadraick’s house; +for although I knew he is crafty and worldly, after the fashion of the +Sassenach, yet he is wise, and I thought how he would teach me, as it +would cost him nothing, in which way I could mend our estate in the +world.” + +“Our estate in the world!” said Elspat, losing patience at the word; +“and went you to a base fellow with a soul no better than that of a +cowherd, to ask counsel about your conduct? Your father asked none, save +of his courage and his sword.” + +“Dearest mother,” answered Hamish, “how shall I convince you that you +live in this land of our fathers as if our fathers were yet living? You +walk as it were in a dream, surrounded by the phantoms of those who +have been long with the dead. When my father lived and fought, the great +respected the man of the strong right hand, and the rich feared him. He +had protection from Macallum Mhor, and from Caberfae, and tribute from +meaner men. [Caberfae--ANGLICE, the Stag’s-head, the Celtic designation +for the arms of the family of the high Chief of Seaforth.] That is +ended, and his son would only earn a disgraceful and unpitied death by +the practices which gave his father credit and power among those +who wear the breacan. The land is conquered; its lights are +quenched--Glengarry, Lochiel, Perth, Lord Lewis, all the high chiefs are +dead or in exile. We may mourn for it, but we cannot help it. Bonnet, +broadsword, and sporran--power, strength, and wealth, were all lost on +Drummossie Muir.” + +“It is false!” said Elspat, fiercely; “you and such like dastardly +spirits are quelled by your own faint hearts, not by the strength of the +enemy; you are like the fearful waterfowl, to whom the least cloud in +the sky seems the shadow of the eagle.” + +“Mother,” said Hamish proudly, “lay not faint heart to my charge. I go +where men are wanted who have strong arms and bold hearts too. I leave a +desert, for a land where I may gather fame.” + +“And you leave your mother to perish in want, age, and solitude,” said +Elspat, essaying successively every means of moving a resolution which +she began to see was more deeply rooted than she had at first thought. + +“Not so, neither,” he answered; “I leave you to comfort and certainty, +which you have yet never known. Barcaldine’s son is made a leader, and +with him I have enrolled myself. MacPhadraick acts for him, and raises +men, and finds his own in doing it.” + +“That is the truest word of the tale, were all the rest as false as +hell,” said the old woman, bitterly. + +“But we are to find our good in it also,” continued Hamish; “for +Barcaldine is to give you a shieling in his wood of Letter-findreight, +with grass for your goats, and a cow, when you please to have one, on +the common; and my own pay, dearest mother, though I am far away, will +do more than provide you with meal, and with all else you can want. Do +not fear for me. I enter a private gentleman; but I will return, if hard +fighting and regular duty can deserve it, an officer, and with half a +dollar a day.” + +“Poor child!” replied Elspat, in a tone of pity mingled with contempt, +“and you trust MacPhadraick?” + +“I might mother,” said Hamish, the dark red colour of his race crossing +his forehead and cheeks, “for MacPhadraick knows the blood which flows +in my veins, and is aware, that should he break trust with you, he might +count the days which could bring Hamish back to Breadalbane, and number +those of his life within three suns more. I would kill him at his own +hearth, did he break his word with me--I would, by the great Being who +made us both!” + +The look and attitude of the young soldier for a moment overawed Elspat; +she was unused to see him express a deep and bitter mood, which reminded +her so strongly of his father. But she resumed her remonstrances in the +same taunting manner in which she had commenced them. + +“Poor boy!” she said; “and you think that at the distance of half the +world your threats will be heard or thought of! But, go--go--place your +neck under him of Hanover’s yoke, against whom every true Gael fought to +the death. Go, disown the royal Stewart, for whom your father, and his +fathers, and your mother’s fathers, have crimsoned many a field with +their blood. Go, put your head under the belt of one of the race of +Dermid, whose children murdered--Yes,” she added, with a wild shriek, +“murdered your mother’s fathers in their peaceful dwellings in Glencoe! +Yes,” she again exclaimed, with a wilder and shriller scream, “I was +then unborn, but my mother has told me--and I attended to the voice +of MY mother--well I remember her words! They came in peace, and were +received in friendship--and blood and fire arose, and screams and +murder!” [See Note 9.--Massacre of Glencoe.] + +“Mother,” answered Hamish, mournfully, but with a decided tone, “all +that I have thought over. There is not a drop of the blood of Glencoe +on the noble hand of Barcaldine; with the unhappy house of Glenlyon the +curse remains, and on them God hath avenged it.” + +“You speak like the Saxon priest already,” replied his mother; “will you +not better stay, and ask a kirk from Macallum Mhor, that you may preach +forgiveness to the race of Dermid?” + +“Yesterday was yesterday,” answered Hamish, “and to-day is to-day. When +the clans are crushed and confounded together, it is well and wise that +their hatreds and their feuds should not survive their independence and +their power. He that cannot execute vengeance like a man, should not +harbour useless enmity like a craven. Mother, young Barcaldine is true +and brave. I know that MacPhadraick counselled him that he should not +let me take leave of you, lest you dissuaded me from my purpose; but he +said, ‘Hamish MacTavish is the son of a brave man, and he will not break +his word.’ Mother, Barcaldine leads an hundred of the bravest of +the sons of the Gael in their native dress, and with their fathers’ +arms--heart to heart--shoulder to shoulder. I have sworn to go with him. +He has trusted me, and I will trust him.” + +At this reply, so firmly and resolvedly pronounced, Elspat remained +like one thunderstruck, and sunk in despair. The arguments which she had +considered so irresistibly conclusive, had recoiled like a wave from a +rock. After a long pause, she filled her son’s quaigh, and presented it +to him with an air of dejected deference and submission. + +“Drink,” she said, “to thy father’s roof-tree, ere you leave it for +ever; and tell me--since the chains of a new King, and of a new chief, +whom your fathers knew not save as mortal enemies, are fastened upon the +limbs of your father’s son--tell me how many links you count upon them?” + +Hamish took the cup, but looked at her as if uncertain of her meaning. +She proceeded in a raised voice. “Tell me,” she said, “for I have a +right to know, for how many days the will of those you have made your +masters permits me to look upon you? In other words, how many are the +days of my life? for when you leave me, the earth has nought besides +worth living for!” + +“Mother,” replied Hamish MacTavish, “for six days I may remain with +you; and if you will set out with me on the fifth, I will conduct you in +safety to your new dwelling. But if you remain here, then I will depart +on the seventh by daybreak--then, as at the last moment, I MUST set out +for Dunbarton, for if I appear not on the eighth day, I am subject +to punishment as a deserter, and am dishonoured as a soldier and a +gentleman.” + +“Your father’s foot,” she answered, “was free as the wind on the +heath--it were as vain to say to him, where goest thou? as to ask that +viewless driver of the clouds, wherefore blowest thou? Tell me under +what penalty thou must--since go thou must, and go thou wilt--return to +thy thraldom?” + +“Call it not thraldom, mother; it is the service of an honourable +soldier--the only service which is now open to the son of MacTavish +Mhor.” + +“Yet say what is the penalty if thou shouldst not return?” replied +Elspat. + +“Military punishment as a deserter,” answered Hamish, writhing, however, +as his mother failed not to observe, under some internal feelings, which +she resolved to probe to the uttermost. + +“And that,” she said, with assumed calmness, which her glancing eye +disowned, “is the punishment of a disobedient hound, is it not?” + +“Ask me no more, mother,” said Hamish; “the punishment is nothing to one +who will never deserve it.” + +“To me it is something,” replied Elspat, “since I know better than thou, +that where there is power to inflict, there is often the will to do so +without cause. I would pray for thee, Hamish, and I must know against +what evils I should beseech Him who leaves none unguarded, to protect +thy youth and simplicity.” + +“Mother,” said Hamish, “it signifies little to what a criminal may be +exposed, if a man is determined not to be such. Our Highland chiefs used +also to punish their vassals, and, as I have heard, severely. Was it not +Lachlan MacIan, whom we remember of old, whose head was struck off by +order of his chieftain for shooting at the stag before him?” + +“Ay,” said Elspat, “and right he had to lose it, since he dishonoured +the father of the people even in the face of the assembled clan. But the +chiefs were noble in their ire; they punished with the sharp blade, and +not with the baton. Their punishments drew blood, but they did not infer +dishonour. Canst thou say, the same for the laws under whose yoke thou +hast placed thy freeborn neck?” + +“I cannot, mother--I cannot,” said Hamish mournfully. “I saw them +punish a Sassenach for deserting as they called it, his banner. He was +scourged--I own it--scourged like a hound who has offended an imperious +master. I was sick at the sight--I confess it. But the punishment of +dogs is only for those worse than dogs, who know not how to keep their +faith.” + +“To this infamy, however, thou hast subjected thyself, Hamish,” replied +Elspat, “if thou shouldst give, or thy officers take, measure of offence +against thee. I speak no more to thee on thy purpose. Were the sixth +day from this morning’s sun my dying day, and thou wert to stay to close +mine eyes, thou wouldst run the risk of being lashed like a dog at a +post--yes! unless thou hadst the gallant heart to leave me to die alone, +and upon my desolate hearth, the last spark of thy father’s fire, and +of thy forsaken mother’s life, to be extinguished together!”--Hamish +traversed the hut with an impatient and angry pace. + +“Mother,” he said at length, “concern not yourself about such things. +I cannot be subjected to such infamy, for never will I deserve it; and +were I threatened with it, I should know how to die before I was so far +dishonoured.” + +“There spoke the son of the husband of my heart!” replied Elspat, +and she changed the discourse, and seemed to listen in melancholy +acquiescence, when her son reminded her how short the time was which +they were permitted to pass in each other’s society, and entreated +that it might be spent without useless and unpleasant recollections +respecting the circumstances under which they must soon be separated. + +Elspat was now satisfied that her son, with some of his father’s other +properties, preserved the haughty masculine spirit which rendered it +impossible to divert him from a resolution which he had deliberately +adopted. She assumed, therefore, an exterior of apparent submission +to their inevitable separation; and if she now and then broke out into +complaints and murmurs, it was either that she could not altogether +suppress the natural impetuosity of her temper, or because she had the +wit to consider that a total and unreserved acquiescence might have +seemed to her son constrained and suspicious, and induced him to watch +and defeat the means by which she still hoped to prevent his leaving +her. Her ardent though selfish affection for her son, incapable of being +qualified by a regard for the true interests of the unfortunate object +of her attachment, resembled the instinctive fondness of the animal race +for their offspring; and diving little farther into futurity than one of +the inferior creatures, she only felt that to be separated from Hamish +was to die. + +In the brief interval permitted them, Elspat exhausted every art which +affection could devise, to render agreeable to him the space which they +were apparently to spend with each other. Her memory carried her far +back into former days, and her stores of legendary history, which +furnish at all times a principal amusement of the Highlander in his +moments of repose, were augmented by an unusual acquaintance with the +songs of ancient bards, and traditions of the most approved +seannachies and tellers of tales. Her officious attentions to her son’s +accommodation, indeed, were so unremitted as almost to give him pain, +and he endeavoured quietly to prevent her from taking so much personal +toil in selecting the blooming heath for his bed, or preparing the meal +for his refreshment. “Let me alone, Hamish,” she would reply on such +occasions; “you follow your own will in departing from your mother, +let your mother have hers in doing what gives her pleasure while you +remain.” + +So much she seemed to be reconciled to the arrangements which he had +made in her behalf, that she could hear him speak to her of her removing +to the lands of Green Colin, as the gentleman was called, on whose +estate he had provided her an asylum. In truth, however, nothing could +be farther from her thoughts. From what he had said during their first +violent dispute, Elspat had gathered that, if Hamish returned not by the +appointed time permitted by his furlough, he would incur the hazard +of corporal punishment. Were he placed within the risk of being thus +dishonoured, she was well aware that he would never submit to the +disgrace by a return to the regiment where it might be inflicted. +Whether she looked to any farther probable consequences of her unhappy +scheme cannot be known; but the partner of MacTavish Mhor, in all +his perils and wanderings, was familiar with an hundred instances of +resistance or escape, by which one brave man, amidst a land of rocks, +lakes, and mountains, dangerous passes, and dark forests, might baffle +the pursuit of hundreds. For the future, therefore, she feared nothing; +her sole engrossing object was to prevent her son from keeping his word +with his commanding officer. + +With this secret purpose, she evaded the proposal which Hamish +repeatedly made, that they should set out together to take possession of +her new abode; and she resisted it upon grounds apparently so natural to +her character that her son was neither alarmed nor displeased. “Let me +not,” she said, “in the same short week, bid farewell to my only son, +and to the glen in which I have so long dwelt. Let my eye, when dimmed +with weeping for thee, still look around, for a while at least, upon +Loch Awe and on Ben Cruachan.” + +Hamish yielded the more willingly to his mother’s humour in this +particular, that one or two persons who resided in a neighbouring glen, +and had given their sons to Barcaldine’s levy, were also to be provided +for on the estate of the chieftain, and it was apparently settled that +Elspat was to take her journey along with them when they should remove +to their new residence. Thus, Hamish believed that he had at once +indulged his mother’s humour, and ensured her safety and accommodation. +But she nourished in her mind very different thoughts and projects. + +The period of Hamish’s leave of absence was fast approaching, and more +than once he proposed to depart, in such time as to ensure his gaining +easily and early Dunbarton, the town where were the head-quarters of his +regiment. But still his mother’s entreaties, his own natural disposition +to linger among scenes long dear to him, and, above all, his firm +reliance in his speed and activity, induced him to protract his +departure till the sixth day, being the very last which he could +possibly afford to spend with his mother, if indeed he meant to comply +with the conditions of his furlough. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + But for your son, believe it--oh, believe it-- + Most dangerously you have with him prevailed, + If not most mortal to him. CORIOLANUS. + +On the evening which preceded his proposed departure, Hamish walked down +to the river with his fishing-rod, to practise in the Awe, for the last +time, a sport in which he excelled, and to find, at the same time, the +means for making one social meal with his mother on something better +than their ordinary cheer. He was as successful as usual, and soon +killed a fine salmon. On his return homeward an incident befell him, +which he afterwards related as ominous, though probably his heated +imagination, joined to the universal turn of his countrymen for the +marvellous, exaggerated into superstitious importance some very ordinary +and accidental circumstance. + +In the path which he pursued homeward, he was surprised to observe a +person, who, like himself, was dressed and armed after the old Highland +fashion. The first idea that struck him was, that the passenger belonged +to his own corps, who, levied by government, and bearing arms under +royal authority, were not amenable for breach of the statutes +against the use of the Highland garb or weapons. But he was struck on +perceiving, as he mended his pace to make up to his supposed comrade, +meaning to request his company for the next day’s journey, that the +stranger wore a white cockade, the fatal badge which was proscribed in +the Highlands. The stature of the man was tall, and there was something +shadowy in the outline, which added to his size; and his mode of motion, +which rather resembled gliding than walking, impressed Hamish with +superstitious fears concerning the character of the being which thus +passed before him in the twilight. He no longer strove to make up to +the stranger, but contented himself with keeping him in view, under +the superstition common to the Highlanders, that you ought neither to +intrude yourself on such supernatural apparitions as you may witness, +nor avoid their presence, but leave it to themselves to withhold or +extend their communication, as their power may permit, or the purpose of +their commission require. + +Upon an elevated knoll by the side of the road, just where the pathway +turned down to Elspat’s hut, the stranger made a pause, and seemed to +await Hamish’s coming up. Hamish, on his part, seeing it was necessary +he should pass the object of his suspicion, mustered up his courage, +and approached the spot where the stranger had placed himself; who +first pointed to Elspat’s hut, and made, with arm and head, a gesture +prohibiting Hamish to approach it, then stretched his hand to the road +which led to the southward, with a motion which seemed to enjoin his +instant departure in that direction. In a moment afterwards the plaided +form was gone--Hamish did not exactly say vanished, because there were +rocks and stunted trees enough to have concealed him; but it was his own +opinion that he had seen the spirit of MacTavish Mhor, warning him to +commence his instant journey to Dunbarton, without waiting till morning, +or again visiting his mother’s hut. + +In fact, so many accidents might arise to delay his journey, especially +where there were many ferries, that it became his settled purpose, +though he could not depart without bidding his mother adieu, that he +neither could nor would abide longer than for that object; and that +the first glimpse of next day’s sun should see him many miles advanced +towards Dunbarton. He descended the path, therefore, and entering the +cottage, he communicated, in a hasty and troubled voice, which indicated +mental agitation, his determination to take his instant departure. +Somewhat to his surprise, Elspat appeared not to combat his purpose, but +she urged him to take some refreshment ere he left her for ever. He did +so hastily, and in silence, thinking on the approaching separation, and +scarce yet believing it would take place without a final struggle with +his mother’s fondness. To his surprise, she filled the quaigh with +liquor for his parting cup. + +“Go,” she said, “my son, since such is thy settled purpose; but first +stand once more on thy mother’s hearth, the flame on which will be +extinguished long ere thy foot shall again be placed there.” + +“To your health, mother!” said Hamish; “and may we meet again in +happiness, in spite of your ominous words.” + +“It were better not to part,” said his mother, watching him as he +quaffed the liquor, of which he would have held it ominous to have left +a drop. + +“And now,” she said, muttering the words to herself, “go--if thou canst +go.” + +“Mother,” said Hamish, as he replaced on the table the empty quaigh, +“thy drink is pleasant to the taste, but it takes away the strength +which it ought to give.” + +“Such is its first effect, my son,” replied Elspat. “But lie down upon +that soft heather couch, shut your eyes but for a moment, and, in the +sleep of an hour, you shall have more refreshment than in the ordinary +repose of three whole nights, could they be blended into one.” + +“Mother,” said Hamish, upon whose brain the potion was now taking rapid +effect, “give me my bonnet--I must kiss you and begone--yet it seems as +if my feet were nailed to the floor.” + +“Indeed,” said his mother, “you will be instantly well, if you will sit +down for half an hour--but half an hour. It is eight hours to dawn, and +dawn were time enough for your father’s son to begin such a journey.” + +“I must obey you, mother--I feel I must,” said Hamish inarticulately; +“but call me when the moon rises.” + +He sat down on the bed, reclined back, and almost instantly was fast +asleep. With the throbbing glee of one who has brought to an end a +difficult and troublesome enterprise, Elspat proceeded tenderly to +arrange the plaid of the unconscious slumberer, to whom her extravagant +affection was doomed to be so fatal, expressing, while busied in her +office, her delight, in tones of mingled tenderness and triumph. “Yes,” + she said, “calf of my heart, the moon shall arise and set to thee, and +so shall the sun; but not to light thee from the land of thy fathers, or +tempt thee to serve the foreign prince or the feudal enemy! To no son of +Dermid shall I be delivered, to be fed like a bondswoman; but he who is +my pleasure and my pride shall be my guard and my protector. They say +the Highlands are changed; but I see Ben Cruachan rear his crest as high +as ever into the evening sky; no one hath yet herded his kine on the +depths of Loch Awe; and yonder oak does not yet bend like a willow. +The children of the mountains will be such as their fathers, until the +mountains themselves shall be levelled with the strath. In these wild +forests, which used to support thousands of the brave, there is still +surely subsistence and refuge left for one aged woman, and one gallant +youth of the ancient race and the ancient manners.” + +While the misjudging mother thus exulted in the success of her +stratagem, we may mention to the reader that it was founded on the +acquaintance with drugs and simples which Elspat, accomplished in all +things belonging to the wild life which she had led, possessed in an +uncommon degree, and which she exercised for various purposes. With the +herbs, which she knew how to select as well as how to distil, she +could relieve more diseases than a regular medical person could easily +believe. She applied some to dye the bright colours of the tartan; +from others she compounded draughts of various powers, and unhappily +possessed the secret of one which was strongly soporific. Upon +the effects of this last concoction, as the reader doubtless has +anticipated, she reckoned with security on delaying Hamish beyond the +period for which his return was appointed; and she trusted to his horror +for the apprehended punishment to which he was thus rendered liable, to +prevent him from returning at all. + +Sound and deep, beyond natural rest, was the sleep of Hamish MacTavish +on that eventful evening, but not such the repose of his mother. Scarce +did she close her eyes from time to time, but she awakened again with +a start, in the terror that her son had arisen and departed; and it was +only on approaching his couch, and hearing his deep-drawn and regular +breathing, that she reassured herself of the security of the repose in +which he was plunged. + +Still, dawning, she feared, might awaken him, notwithstanding the +unusual strength of the potion with which she had drugged his cup. If +there remained a hope of mortal man accomplishing the journey, she was +aware that Hamish would attempt it, though he were to die from fatigue +upon the road. Animated by this new fear, she studied to exclude the +light, by stopping all the crannies and crevices through which, rather +than through any regular entrance, the morning beams might find access +to her miserable dwelling; and this in order to detain amid its wants +and wretchedness the being on whom, if the world itself had been at her +disposal, she would have joyfully conferred it. + +Her pains were bestowed unnecessarily. The sun rose high above the +heavens, and not the fleetest stag in Breadalbane, were the hounds at +his heels, could have sped, to save his life, so fast as would have +been necessary to keep Hamish’s appointment. Her purpose was fully +attained--her son’s return within the period assigned was impossible. +She deemed it equally impossible, that he would ever dream of returning, +standing, as he must now do, in the danger of an infamous punishment. +By degrees, and at different times, she had gained from him a full +acquaintance with the predicament in which he would be placed by +failing to appear on the day appointed, and the very small hope he could +entertain of being treated with lenity. + +It is well known, that the great and wise Earl of Chatham prided himself +on the scheme, by which he drew together for the defence of the colonies +those hardy Highlanders, who, until his time, had been the objects +of doubt, fear, and suspicion, on the part of each successive +administration. But some obstacles occurred, from the peculiar habits +and temper of this people, to the execution of his patriotic project. +By nature and habit, every Highlander was accustomed to the use of arms, +but at the same time totally unaccustomed to, and impatient of, the +restraints imposed by discipline upon regular troops. They were a +species of militia, who had no conception of a camp as their only home. +If a battle was lost, they dispersed to save themselves, and look out +for the safety of their families; if won, they went back to their glens +to hoard up their booty, and attend to their cattle and their farms. +This privilege of going and coming at pleasure, they would not be +deprived of even by their chiefs, whose authority was in most other +respects so despotic. It followed as a matter of course, that the +new-levied Highland recruits could scarce be made to comprehend the +nature of a military engagement, which compelled a man to serve in the +army longer than he pleased; and perhaps, in many instances, sufficient +care was not taken at enlisting to explain to them the permanency of the +engagement which they came under, lest such a disclosure should induce +them to change their mind. Desertions were therefore become numerous +from the newly-raised regiment, and the veteran general who commanded +at Dunbarton saw no better way of checking them than by causing an +unusually severe example to be made of a deserter from an English corps. +The young Highland regiment was obliged to attend upon the punishment, +which struck a people, peculiarly jealous of personal honour, with equal +horror and disgust, and not unnaturally indisposed some of them to the +service. The old general, however, who had been regularly bred in the +German wars, stuck to his own opinion, and gave out in orders that +the first Highlander who might either desert, or fail to appear at the +expiry of his furlough, should be brought to the halberds, and punished +like the culprit whom they had seen in that condition. No man doubted +that General -- would keep his word rigorously whenever severity was +required, and Elspat, therefore, knew that her son, when he perceived +that due compliance with his orders was impossible, must at the same +time consider the degrading punishment denounced against his defection +as inevitable, should he place himself within the general’s power. [See +Note 10.--Fidelity of the Highlanders.] + +When noon was well passed, new apprehensions came on the mind of the +lonely woman. Her son still slept under the influence of the draught; +but what if, being stronger than she had ever known it administered, his +health or his reason should be affected by its potency? For the first +time, likewise, notwithstanding her high ideas on the subject of +parental authority, she began to dread the resentment of her son, whom +her heart told her she had wronged. Of late, she had observed that his +temper was less docile, and his determinations, especially upon this +late occasion of his enlistment, independently formed, and then boldly +carried through. She remembered the stern wilfulness of his father when +he accounted himself ill-used, and began to dread that Hamish, upon +finding the deceit she had put upon him, might resent it even to the +extent of cutting her off, and pursuing his own course through the world +alone. Such were the alarming and yet the reasonable apprehensions which +began to crowd upon the unfortunate woman, after the apparent success of +her ill-advised stratagem. + +It was near evening when Hamish first awoke, and then he was far from +being in the full possession either of his mental or bodily powers. From +his vague expressions and disordered pulse, Elspat at first experienced +much apprehension; but she used such expedients as her medical knowledge +suggested, and in the course of the night she had the satisfaction to +see him sink once more into a deep sleep, which probably carried off the +greater part of the effects of the drug, for about sunrising she heard +him arise, and call to her for his bonnet. This she had purposely +removed, from a fear that he might awaken and depart in the night-time, +without her knowledge. + +“My bonnet--my bonnet,” cried Hamish; “it is time to take farewell. +Mother, your drink was too strong--the sun is up--but with the next +morning I will still see the double summit of the ancient Dun. My +bonnet--my bonnet, mother; I must be instant in my departure.” These +expressions made it plain that poor Hamish was unconscious that two +nights and a day had passed since he had drained the fatal quaigh, and +Elspat had now to venture on what she felt as the almost perilous, as +well as painful, task of explaining her machinations. + +“Forgive me, my son,” she said, approaching Hamish, and taking him +by the hand with an air of deferential awe, which perhaps she had not +always used to his father, even when in his moody fits. + +“Forgive you, mother!--for what?” said Hamish, laughing; “for giving me +a dram that was too strong, and which my head still feels this morning, +or for hiding my bonnet to keep me an instant longer? Nay, do YOU +forgive ME. Give me the bonnet, and let that be done which now must +be done. Give me my bonnet, or I go without it; surely I am not to be +delayed by so trifling a want as that--I, who have gone for years with +only a strap of deer’s hide to tie back my hair. Trifle not, but give it +me, or I must go bareheaded, since to stay is impossible.” + +“My son,” said Elspat, keeping fast hold of his hand, “what is done +cannot be recalled. Could you borrow the wings of yonder eagle, you +would arrive at the Dun too late for what you purpose--too soon for what +awaits you there. You believe you see the sun rising for the first +time since you have seen him set; but yesterday beheld him climb Ben +Cruachan, though your eyes were closed to his light.” + +Hamish cast upon his mother a wild glance of extreme terror, then +instantly recovering himself, said, “I am no child to be cheated out +of my purpose by such tricks as these. Farewell, mother! each moment is +worth a lifetime.” + +“Stay,” she said, “my dear, my deceived son, run not on infamy and ruin. +Yonder I see the priest upon the high-road on his white horse. Ask him +the day of the month and week; let him decide between us.” + +With the speed of an eagle, Hamish darted up the acclivity, and stood by +the minister of Glenorquhy, who was pacing out thus early to administer +consolation to a distressed family near Bunawe. + +The good man was somewhat startled to behold an armed Highlander, then +so unusual a sight, and apparently much agitated, stop his horse by +the bridle, and ask him with a faltering voice the day of the week and +month. “Had you been where you should have been yesterday, young man,” + replied the clergyman, “you would have known that it was God’s Sabbath; +and that this is Monday, the second day of the week, and twenty-first of +the month.” + +“And this is true?” said Hamish. + +“As true,” answered the surprised minister, “as that I yesterday +preached the word of God to this parish. What ails you, young man?--are +you sick?--are you in your right mind?” + +Hamish made no answer, only repeated to himself the first expression of +the clergyman, “Had you been where you should have been yesterday;” and +so saying, he let go the bridle, turned from the road, and descended +the path towards the hut, with the look and pace of one who was going to +execution. The minister looked after him with surprise; but although +he knew the inhabitant of the hovel, the character of Elspat had +not invited him to open any communication with her, because she was +generally reputed a Papist, or rather one indifferent to all religion, +except some superstitious observances which had been handed down from +her parents. On Hamish the Reverend Mr. Tyrie had bestowed instructions +when he was occasionally thrown in his way; and if the seed fell among +the brambles and thorns of a wild and uncultivated disposition, it +had not yet been entirely checked or destroyed. There was something so +ghastly in the present expression of the youth’s features that the +good man was tempted to go down to the hovel, and inquire whether any +distress had befallen the inhabitants, in which his presence might be +consoling and his ministry useful. Unhappily he did not persevere in +this resolution, which might have saved a great misfortune, as he would +have probably become a mediator for the unfortunate young man; but a +recollection of the wild moods of such Highlanders as had been educated +after the old fashion of the country, prevented his interesting himself +in the widow and son of the far-dreaded robber, MacTavish Mhor, and +he thus missed an opportunity, which he afterwards sorely repented, of +doing much good. + +When Hamish MacTavish entered his mother’s hut, it was only to throw +himself on the bed he had left, and exclaiming, “Undone, undone!” to +give vent, in cries of grief and anger, to his deep sense of the deceit +which had been practised on him, and of the cruel predicament to which +he was reduced. + +Elspat was prepared for the first explosion of her son’s passion, and +said to herself, “It is but the mountain torrent, swelled by the thunder +shower. Let us sit and rest us by the bank; for all its present tumult, +the time will soon come when we may pass it dryshod.” She suffered his +complaints and his reproaches, which were, even in the midst of his +agony, respectful and affectionate, to die away without returning any +answer; and when, at length, having exhausted all the exclamations of +sorrow which his language, copious in expressing the feelings of the +heart, affords to the sufferer, he sunk into a gloomy silence, she +suffered the interval to continue near an hour ere she approached her +son’s couch. + +“And now,” she said at length, with a voice in which the authority of +the mother was qualified by her tenderness, “have you exhausted your +idle sorrows, and are you able to place what you have gained against +what you have lost? Is the false son of Dermid your brother, or the +father of your tribe, that you weep because you cannot bind yourself +to his belt, and become one of those who must do his bidding? Could +you find in yonder distant country the lakes and the mountains that +you leave behind you here? Can you hunt the deer of Breadalbane in +the forests of America, or will the ocean afford you the silver-scaled +salmon of the Awe? Consider, then, what is your loss, and, like a wise +man, set it against what you have won.” + +“I have lost all, mother,” replied Hamish, “since I have broken my word, +and lost my honour. I might tell my tale, but who, oh, who would believe +me?” The unfortunate young man again clasped his hands together, and, +pressing them to his forehead, hid his face upon the bed. + +Elspat was now really alarmed, and perhaps wished the fatal deceit had +been left unattempted. She had no hope or refuge saving in the eloquence +of persuasion, of which she possessed no small share, though her total +ignorance of the world as it actually existed rendered its energy +unavailing. She urged her son, by every tender epithet which a parent +could bestow, to take care for his own safety. + +“Leave me,” she said, “to baffle your pursuers. I will save your life--I +will save your honour. I will tell them that my fair-haired Hamish fell +from the Corrie Dhu (black precipice) into the gulf, of which human eye +never beheld the bottom. I will tell them this, and I will fling your +plaid on the thorns which grow on the brink of the precipice, that they +may believe my words. They will believe, and they will return to the Dun +of the double-crest; for though the Saxon drum can call the living to +die, it cannot recall the dead to their slavish standard. Then will we +travel together far northward to the salt lakes of Kintail, and place +glens and mountains betwixt us and the sons of Dermid. We will visit the +shores of the dark lake; and my kinsmen--for was not my mother of +the children of Kenneth, and will they not remember us with the old +love?--my kinsmen will receive us with the affection of the olden time, +which lives in those distant glens, where the Gael still dwell in their +nobleness, unmingled with the churl Saxons, or with the base brood that +are their tools and their slaves.” + +The energy of the language, somewhat allied to hyperbole, even in its +most ordinary expressions, now seemed almost too weak to afford Elspat +the means of bringing out the splendid picture which she presented to +her son of the land in which she proposed to him to take refuge. Yet the +colours were few with which she could paint her Highland paradise. +“The hills,” she said, “were higher and more magnificent than those of +Breadalbane--Ben Cruachan was but a dwarf to Skooroora. The lakes +were broader and larger, and abounded not only with fish, but with the +enchanted and amphibious animal which gives oil to the lamp. [The seals +are considered by the Highlanders as enchanted princes.] The deer were +larger and more numerous; the white-tusked boar, the chase of which the +brave loved best, was yet to be roused in those western solitudes; the +men were nobler, wiser, and stronger than the degenerate brood who lived +under the Saxon banner. The daughters of the land were beautiful, with +blue eyes and fair hair, and bosoms of snow; and out of these she would +choose a wife for Hamish, of blameless descent, spotless fame, fixed +and true affection, who should be in their summer bothy as a beam of the +sun, and in their winter abode as the warmth of the needful fire.” + +Such were the topics with which Elspat strove to soothe the despair of +her son, and to determine him, if possible, to leave the fatal spot, +on which he seemed resolved to linger. The style of her rhetoric was +poetical, but in other respects resembled that which, like other fond +mothers, she had lavished on Hamish, while a child or a boy, in order +to gain his consent to do something he had no mind to; and she spoke +louder, quicker, and more earnestly, in proportion as she began to +despair of her words carrying conviction. + +On the mind of Hamish her eloquence made no impression. He knew far +better than she did the actual situation of the country, and was +sensible that, though it might be possible to hide himself as a fugitive +among more distant mountains, there was now no corner in the Highlands +in which his father’s profession could be practised, even if he had not +adopted, from the improved ideas of the time when he lived, the opinion +that the trade of the cateran was no longer the road to honour and +distinction. Her words were therefore poured into regardless ears, and +she exhausted herself in vain in the attempt to paint the regions of her +mother’s kinsmen in such terms as might tempt Hamish to accompany her +thither. She spoke for hours, but she spoke in vain. She could extort no +answer, save groans and sighs and ejaculations, expressing the extremity +of despair. + +At length, starting on her feet, and changing the monotonous tone +in which she had chanted, as it were, the praises of the province of +refuge, into the short, stern language of eager passion--“I am a fool,” + she said, “to spend my words upon an idle, poor-spirited, unintelligent +boy, who crouches like a hound to the lash. Wait here, and receive your +taskmasters, and abide your chastisement at their hands; but do not +think your mother’s eyes will behold it. I could not see it and live. My +eyes have looked often upon death, but never upon dishonour. Farewell, +Hamish! We never meet again.” + +She dashed from the hut like a lapwing, and perhaps for the moment +actually entertained the purpose which she expressed, of parting with +her son for ever. A fearful sight she would have been that evening +to any who might have met her wandering through the wilderness like a +restless spirit, and speaking to herself in language which will endure +no translation. She rambled for hours, seeking rather than shunning the +most dangerous paths. The precarious track through the morass, the dizzy +path along the edge of the precipice or by the banks of the gulfing +river, were the roads which, far from avoiding, she sought with +eagerness, and traversed with reckless haste. But the courage arising +from despair was the means of saving the life which (though deliberate +suicide was rarely practised in the Highlands) she was perhaps desirous +of terminating. Her step on the verge of the precipice was firm as that +of the wild goat. Her eye, in that state of excitation, was so keen as +to discern, even amid darkness, the perils which noon would not have +enabled a stranger to avoid. + +Elspat’s course was not directly forward, else she had soon been far +from the bothy in which she had left her son. It was circuitous, for +that hut was the centre to which her heartstrings were chained, and +though she wandered around it, she felt it impossible to leave the +vicinity. With the first beams of morning she returned to the hut. +Awhile she paused at the wattled door, as if ashamed that lingering +fondness should have brought her back to the spot which she had left +with the purpose of never returning; but there was yet more of fear +and anxiety in her hesitation--of anxiety, lest her fair-haired son had +suffered from the effects of her potion--of fear, lest his enemies had +come upon him in the night. She opened the door of the hut gently, and +entered with noiseless step. Exhausted with his sorrow and anxiety, and +not entirely relieved perhaps from the influence of the powerful opiate, +Hamish Bean again slept the stern, sound sleep by which the Indians are +said to be overcome during the interval of their torments. His mother +was scarcely sure that she actually discerned his form on the bed, +scarce certain that her ear caught the sound of his breathing. With a +throbbing heart, Elspat went to the fireplace in the centre of the hut, +where slumbered, covered with a piece of turf, the glimmering embers of +the fire, never extinguished on a Scottish hearth until the indwellers +leave the mansion for ever. + +“Feeble greishogh,” [Greishogh, a glowing ember.] she said, as she +lighted, by the help of a match, a splinter of bog pine which was to +serve the place of a candle--“weak greishogh, soon shalt thou be put out +for ever, and may Heaven grant that the life of Elspat MacTavish have no +longer duration than thine!” + +While she spoke she raised the blazing light towards the bed, on which +still lay the prostrate limbs of her son, in a posture that left it +doubtful whether he slept or swooned. As she advanced towards him, the +light flashed upon his eyes--he started up in an instant, made a stride +forward with his naked dirk in his hand, like a man armed to meet a +mortal enemy, and exclaimed, “Stand off!--on thy life, stand off!” + +“It is the word and the action of my husband,” answered Elspat; “and I +know by his speech and his step the son of MacTavish Mhor.” + +“Mother,” said Hamish, relapsing from his tone of desperate firmness +into one of melancholy expostulation--“oh, dearest mother, wherefore +have you returned hither?” + +“Ask why the hind comes back to the fawn,” said Elspat, “why the cat of +the mountain returns to her lodge and her young. Know you, Hamish, that +the heart of the mother only lives in the bosom of the child.” + +“Then will it soon cease to throb,” said Hamish, “unless it can beat +within a bosom that lies beneath the turf. Mother, do not blame me. If +I weep, it is not for myself but for you; for my sufferings will soon be +over, but yours--oh, who but Heaven shall set a boundary to them?” + +Elspat shuddered and stepped backward, but almost instantly resumed her +firm and upright position and her dauntless bearing. + +“I thought thou wert a man but even now,” she said, “and thou art again +a child. Hearken to me yet, and let us leave this place together. Have I +done thee wrong or injury? if so, yet do not avenge it so cruelly. +See, Elspat MacTavish, who never kneeled before even to a priest, falls +prostrate before her own son, and craves his forgiveness.” And at once +she threw herself on her knees before the young man, seized on his hand, +and kissing it an hundred times, repeated as often, in heart-breaking +accents, the most earnest entreaties for forgiveness. “Pardon,” she +exclaimed, “pardon, for the sake of your father’s ashes--pardon, for the +sake of the pain with which I bore thee, the care with which I nurtured +thee!--Hear it, Heaven, and behold it, Earth--the mother asks pardon of +her child, and she is refused!” + +It was in vain that Hamish endeavoured to stem this tide of passion, by +assuring his mother, with the most solemn asseverations, that he forgave +entirely the fatal deceit which she had practised upon him. + +“Empty words,” she said, “idle protestations, which are but used to hide +the obduracy of your resentment. Would you have me believe you, then +leave the hut this instant, and retire from a country which every hour +renders more dangerous. Do this, and I may think you have forgiven me; +refuse it, and again I call on moon and stars, heaven and earth, to +witness the unrelenting resentment with which you prosecute your mother +for a fault, which, if it be one, arose out of love to you.” + +“Mother,” said Hamish, “on this subject you move me not. I will fly +before no man. If Barcaldine should send every Gael that is under his +banner, here, and in this place, will I abide them; and when you bid +me fly, you may as well command yonder mountain to be loosened from +its foundations. Had I been sure of the road by which they are coming +hither, I had spared them the pains of seeking me; but I might go by the +mountain, while they perchance came by the lake. Here I will abide my +fate; nor is there in Scotland a voice of power enough to bid me stir +from hence, and be obeyed.” + +“Here, then, I also stay,” said Elspat, rising up and speaking with +assumed composure. “I have seen my husband’s death--my eyelids shall not +grieve to look on the fall of my son. But MacTavish Mhor died as became +the brave, with his good sword in his right hand; my son will perish +like the bullock that is driven to the shambles by the Saxon owner who +had bought him for a price.” + +“Mother,” said the unhappy young man, “you have taken my life. To that +you have a right, for you gave it; but touch not my honour! It came to +me from a brave train of ancestors, and should be sullied neither by +man’s deed nor woman’s speech. What I shall do, perhaps I myself yet +know not; but tempt me no farther by reproachful words--you have already +made wounds more than you can ever heal.” + +“It is well, my son,” said Elspat, in reply. “Expect neither farther +complaint nor remonstrance from me; but let us be silent, and wait the +chance which Heaven shall send us.” + +The sun arose on the next morning, and found the bothy silent as the +grave. The mother and son had arisen, and were engaged each in their +separate task--Hamish in preparing and cleaning his arms with the +greatest accuracy, but with an air of deep dejection. Elspat, more +restless in her agony of spirit, employed herself in making ready the +food which the distress of yesterday had induced them both to dispense +with for an unusual number of hours. She placed it on the board before +her son so soon as it was prepared, with the words of a Gaelic poet, +“Without daily food, the husbandman’s ploughshare stands still in the +furrow; without daily food, the sword of the warrior is too heavy for +his hand. Our bodies are our slaves, yet they must be fed if we would +have their service. So spake in ancient days the Blind Bard to the +warriors of Fion.” + +The young man made no reply, but he fed on what was placed before him, +as if to gather strength for the scene which he was to undergo. When +his mother saw that he had eaten what sufficed him, she again filled the +fatal quaigh, and proffered it as the conclusion of the repast. But he +started aside with a convulsive gesture, expressive at once of fear and +abhorrence. + +“Nay, my son,” she said, “this time surely, thou hast no cause of fear.” + +“Urge me not, mother,” answered Hamish--“or put the leprous toad into +a flagon, and I will drink; but from that accursed cup, and of that +mind-destroying potion, never will I taste more!” + +“At your pleasure, my son,” said Elspat, haughtily, and began, with +much apparent assiduity, the various domestic tasks which had been +interrupted during the preceding day. Whatever was at her heart, all +anxiety seemed banished from her looks and demeanour. It was but from an +over-activity of bustling exertion that it might have been perceived, by +a close observer, that her actions were spurred by some internal cause +of painful excitement; and such a spectator, too, might also have +observed how often she broke off the snatches of songs or tunes which +she hummed, apparently without knowing what she was doing, in order to +cast a hasty glance from the door of the hut. Whatever might be in the +mind of Hamish, his demeanour was directly the reverse of that adopted +by his mother. Having finished the task of cleaning and preparing his +arms, which he arranged within the hut, he sat himself down before +the door of the bothy, and watched the opposite hill, like the fixed +sentinel who expects the approach of an enemy. Noon found him in the +same unchanged posture, and it was an hour after that period, when his +mother, standing beside him, laid her hand on his shoulder, and said, in +a tone indifferent, as if she had been talking of some friendly visit, +“When dost thou expect them?” + +“They cannot be here till the shadows fall long to the eastward,” + replied Hamish; “that is, even supposing the nearest party, commanded by +Sergeant Allan Breack Cameron, has been commanded hither by express from +Dunbarton, as it is most likely they will.” + +“Then enter beneath your mother’s roof once more; partake the last time +of the food which she has prepared; after this, let them come, and thou +shalt see if thy mother is an useless encumbrance in the day of strife. +Thy hand, practised as it is, cannot fire these arms so fast as I can +load them; nay, if it is necessary, I do not myself fear the flash or +the report, and my aim has been held fatal.” + +“In the name of Heaven, mother, meddle not with this matter!” said +Hamish. “Allan Breack is a wise man and a kind one, and comes of a good +stem. It may be, he can promise for our officers that they will touch +me with no infamous punishment; and if they offer me confinement in the +dungeon, or death by the musket, to that I may not object.” + +“Alas, and wilt thou trust to their word, my foolish child? Remember the +race of Dermid were ever fair and false; and no sooner shall they have +gyves on thy hands, than they will strip thy shoulders for the scourge.” + +“Save your advice, mother,” said Hamish, sternly; “for me, my mind is +made up.” + +But though he spoke thus, to escape the almost persecuting urgency of +his mother, Hamish would have found it, at that moment, impossible to +say upon what course of conduct he had thus fixed. On one point alone he +was determined--namely, to abide his destiny, be what it might, and not +to add to the breach of his word, of which he had been involuntarily +rendered guilty, by attempting to escape from punishment. This act of +self-devotion he conceived to be due to his own honour and that of his +countrymen. Which of his comrades would in future be trusted, if +he should be considered as having broken his word, and betrayed the +confidence of his officers? and whom but Hamish Bean MacTavish would the +Gael accuse for having verified and confirmed the suspicions which the +Saxon General was well known to entertain against the good faith of +the Highlanders? He was, therefore, bent firmly to abide his fate. But +whether his intention was to yield himself peaceably into the bands of +the party who should come to apprehend him, or whether he purposed, by +a show of resistance, to provoke them to kill him on the spot, was a +question which he could not himself have answered. His desire to see +Barcaldine, and explain the cause of his absence at the appointed time, +urged him to the one course; his fear of the degrading punishment, and +of his mother’s bitter upbraidings, strongly instigated the latter and +the more dangerous purpose. He left it to chance to decide when the +crisis should arrive; nor did he tarry long in expectation of the +catastrophe. + +Evening approached; the gigantic shadows of the mountains streamed in +darkness towards the east, while their western peaks were still glowing +with crimson and gold. The road which winds round Ben Cruachan was +fully visible from the door of the bothy, when a party of five Highland +soldiers, whose arms glanced in the sun, wheeled suddenly into sight +from the most distant extremity, where the highway is hidden behind the +mountain. One of the party walked a little before the other four, who +marched regularly and in files, according to the rules of military +discipline. There was no dispute, from the firelocks which they carried, +and the plaids and bonnets which they wore, that they were a party of +Hamish’s regiment, under a non-commissioned officer; and there could be +as little doubt of the purpose of their appearance on the banks of Loch +Awe. + +“They come briskly forward”--said the widow of MacTavish Mhor;--“I +wonder how fast or how slow some of them will return again! But they +are five, and it is too much odds for a fair field. Step back within the +hut, my son, and shoot from the loophole beside the door. Two you may +bring down ere they quit the highroad for the footpath--there will +remain but three; and your father, with my aid, has often stood against +that number.” + +Hamish Bean took the gun which his mother offered, but did not stir from +the door of the hut. He was soon visible to the party on the highroad, +as was evident from their increasing their pace to a run--the files, +however, still keeping together like coupled greyhounds, and advancing +with great rapidity. In far less time than would have been accomplished +by men less accustomed to the mountains, they had left the highroad, +traversed the narrow path, and approached within pistol-shot of the +bothy, at the door of which stood Hamish, fixed like a statue of stone, +with his firelock in his band, while his mother, placed behind him, and +almost driven to frenzy by the violence of her passions, reproached +him in the strongest terms which despair could invent, for his want of +resolution and faintness of heart. Her words increased the bitter gall +which was arising in the young man’s own spirit, as he observed the +unfriendly speed with which his late comrades were eagerly making +towards him, like hounds towards the stag when he is at bay. The untamed +and angry passions which he inherited from father and mother, were +awakened by the supposed hostility of those who pursued him; and the +restraint under which these passions had been hitherto held by his sober +judgment began gradually to give way. The sergeant now called to him, +“Hamish Bean MacTavish, lay down your arms and surrender.” + +“Do YOU stand, Allan Breack Cameron, and command your men to stand, or +it will be the worse for us all.” + +“Halt, men,” said the sergeant, but continuing himself to advance. +“Hamish, think what you do, and give up your gun; you may spill blood, +but you cannot escape punishment.” + +“The scourge--the scourge--my son, beware the scourge!” whispered his +mother. + +“Take heed, Allan Breack,” said Hamish. “I would not hurt you willingly, +but I will not be taken unless you can assure me against the Saxon +lash.” + +“Fool!” answered Cameron, “you know I cannot. Yet I will do all I can. I +will say I met you on your return, and the punishment will be light; but +give up your musket--Come on, men.” + +Instantly he rushed forward, extending his arm as if to push aside the +young man’s levelled firelock. Elspat exclaimed, “Now, spare not your +father’s blood to defend your father’s hearth!” Hamish fired his piece, +and Cameron dropped dead. All these things happened, it might be said, +in the same moment of time. The soldiers rushed forward and seized +Hamish, who, seeming petrified with what he had done, offered not the +least resistance. Not so his mother, who, seeing the men about to put +handcuffs on her son, threw herself on the soldiers with such fury, +that it required two of them to hold her, while the rest secured the +prisoner. + +“Are you not an accursed creature,” said one of the men to Hamish, “to +have slain your best friend, who was contriving, during the whole march, +how he could find some way of getting you off without punishment for +your desertion?” + +“Do you hear THAT, mother?” said Hamish, turning himself as much towards +her as his bonds would permit; but the mother heard nothing, and saw +nothing. She had fainted on the floor of her hut. Without waiting for +her recovery, the party almost immediately began their homeward march +towards Dunbarton, leading along with them their prisoner. They thought +it necessary, however, to stay for a little space at the village of +Dalmally, from which they despatched a party of the inhabitants to +bring away the body of their unfortunate leader, while they themselves +repaired to a magistrate, to state what had happened, and require his +instructions as to the farther course to be pursued. The crime being +of a military character, they were instructed to march the prisoner to +Dunbarton without delay. + +The swoon of the mother of Hamish lasted for a length of time--the +longer perhaps that her constitution, strong as it was, must have been +much exhausted by her previous agitation of three days’ endurance. She +was roused from her stupor at length by female voices, which cried +the coronach, or lament for the dead, with clapping of hands and loud +exclamations; while the melancholy note of a lament, appropriate to the +clan Cameron, played on the bagpipe, was heard from time to time. + +Elspat started up like one awakened from the dead, and without any +accurate recollection of the scene which had passed before her eyes. +There were females in the hut who were swathing the corpse in its +bloody plaid before carrying it from the fatal spot. “Women,” she said, +starting up and interrupting their chant at once and their labour--“Tell +me, women, why sing you the dirge of MacDhonuil Dhu in the house of +MacTavish Mhor?” + +“She-wolf, be silent with thine ill-omened yell,” answered one of the +females, a relation of the deceased, “and let us do our duty to our +beloved kinsman. There shall never be coronach cried, or dirge played, +for thee or thy bloody wolf-burd. [Wolf-brood--that is, wolf-cub.] The +ravens shall eat him from the gibbet, and the foxes and wild-cats shall +tear thy corpse upon the hill. Cursed be he that would sain [Bless.] +your bones, or add a stone to your cairn!” + +“Daughter of a foolish mother,” answered the widow of MacTavish Mhor, +“know that the gibbet with which you threaten us is no portion of our +inheritance. For thirty years the Black Tree of the Law, whose apples +are dead men’s bodies, hungered after the beloved husband of my heart; +but he died like a brave man, with the sword in his hand, and defrauded +it of its hopes and its fruit.” + +“So shall it not be with thy child, bloody sorceress,” replied the +female mourner, whose passions were as violent as those of Elspat +herself. “The ravens shall tear his fair hair to line their nests, +before the sun sinks beneath the Treshornish islands.” + +These words recalled to Elspat’s mind the whole history of the last +three dreadful days. At first she stood fixed, as if the extremity of +distress had converted her into stone; but in a minute, the pride and +violence of her temper, outbraved as she thought herself on her own +threshold, enabled her to reply, “Yes, insulting hag, my fair-haired boy +may die, but it will not be with a white hand. It has been dyed in the +blood of his enemy, in the best blood of a Cameron--remember that; and +when you lay your dead in his grave, let it be his best epitaph that +he was killed by Hamish Bean for essaying to lay hands on the son of +MacTavish Mhor on his own threshold. Farewell--the shame of defeat, +loss, and slaughter remain with the clan that has endured it!” + +The relative of the slaughtered Cameron raised her voice in reply; but +Elspat, disdaining to continue the objurgation, or perhaps feeling her +grief likely to overmaster her power of expressing her resentment, had +left the hut, and was walking forth in the bright moonshine. + +The females who were arranging the corpse of the slaughtered man hurried +from their melancholy labour to look after her tall figure as it glided +away among the cliffs. “I am glad she is gone,” said one of the younger +persons who assisted. “I would as soon dress a corpse when the great +fiend himself--God sain us!--stood visibly before us, as when Elspat of +the Tree is amongst us. Ay, ay, even overmuch intercourse hath she had +with the enemy in her day.” + +“Silly woman,” answered the female who had maintained the dialogue +with the departed Elspat, “thinkest thou that there is a worse fiend on +earth, or beneath it, than the pride and fury of an offended woman, like +yonder bloody-minded hag? Know that blood has been as familiar to her as +the dew to the mountain daisy. Many and many a brave man has she caused +to breathe their last for little wrong they had done to her or theirs. +But her hough-sinews are cut, now that her wolf-burd must, like a +murderer as he is, make a murderer’s end.” + +Whilst the women thus discoursed together, as they watched the corpse of +Allan Breack Cameron, the unhappy cause of his death pursued her lonely +way across the mountain. While she remained within sight of the bothy, +she put a strong constraint on herself, that by no alteration of pace or +gesture she might afford to her enemies the triumph of calculating the +excess of her mental agitation, nay, despair. She stalked, therefore, +with a slow rather than a swift step, and, holding herself upright, +seemed at once to endure with firmness that woe which was passed, and +bid defiance to that which was about to come. But when she was beyond +the sight of those who remained in the hut, she could no longer suppress +the extremity of her agitation. Drawing her mantle wildly round her, +she stopped at the first knoll, and climbing to its summit, extended +her arms up to the bright moon, as if accusing heaven and earth for her +misfortunes, and uttered scream on scream, like those of an eagle whose +nest has been plundered of her brood. Awhile she vented her grief +in these inarticulate cries, then rushed on her way with a hasty +and unequal step, in the vain hope of overtaking the party which was +conveying her son a prisoner to Dunbarton. But her strength, superhuman +as it seemed, failed her in the trial; nor was it possible for her, with +her utmost efforts, to accomplish her purpose. + +Yet she pressed onward, with all the speed which her exhausted frame +could exert. When food became indispensable, she entered the first +cottage. “Give me to eat,” she said. “I am the widow of MacTavish +Mhor--I am the mother of Hamish MacTavish Bean,--give me to eat, that +I may once more see my fair-haired son.” Her demand was never refused, +though granted in many cases with a kind of struggle between compassion +and aversion in some of those to whom she applied, which was in others +qualified by fear. The share she had had in occasioning the death of +Allan Breack Cameron, which must probably involve that of her own son, +was not accurately known; but, from a knowledge of her violent passions +and former habits of life, no one doubted that in one way or other she +had been the cause of the catastrophe, and Hamish Bean was considered, +in the slaughter which he had committed, rather as the instrument than +as the accomplice of his mother. + +This general opinion of his countrymen was of little service to the +unfortunate Hamish. As his captain, Green Colin, understood the manners +and habits of his country, he had no difficulty in collecting from +Hamish the particulars accompanying his supposed desertion, and the +subsequent death of the non-commissioned officer. He felt the utmost +compassion for a youth, who had thus fallen a victim to the extravagant +and fatal fondness of a parent. But he had no excuse to plead which +could rescue his unhappy recruit from the doom which military discipline +and the award of a court-martial denounced against him for the crime he +had committed. + +No time had been lost in their proceedings, and as little was interposed +betwixt sentence and execution. General -- had determined to make a +severe example of the first deserter who should fall into his power, and +here was one who had defended himself by main force, and slain in the +affray the officer sent to take him into custody. A fitter subject +for punishment could not have occurred, and Hamish was sentenced to +immediate execution. All which the interference of his captain in his +favour could procure was that he should die a soldier’s death; for there +had been a purpose of executing him upon the gibbet. + +The worthy clergyman of Glenorquhy chanced to be at Dunbarton, in +attendance upon some church courts, at the time of this catastrophe. He +visited his unfortunate parishioner in his dungeon, found him ignorant +indeed, but not obstinate, and the answers which he received from him, +when conversing on religious topics, were such as induced him doubly +to regret that a mind naturally pure and noble should have remained +unhappily so wild and uncultivated. + +When he ascertained the real character and disposition of the young man, +the worthy pastor made deep and painful reflections on his own shyness +and timidity, which, arising out of the evil fame that attached to the +lineage of Hamish, had restrained him from charitably endeavouring to +bring this strayed sheep within the great fold. While the good minister +blamed his cowardice in times past, which had deterred him from risking +his person, to save, perhaps, an immortal soul, he resolved no longer to +be governed by such timid counsels, but to endeavour, by application to +his officers, to obtain a reprieve, at least, if not a pardon, for the +criminal, in whom he felt so unusually interested, at once from his +docility of temper and his generosity of disposition. + +Accordingly the divine sought out Captain Campbell at the barracks +within the garrison. There was a gloomy melancholy on the brow of Green +Colin, which was not lessened, but increased, when the clergyman stated +his name, quality, and errand. “You cannot tell me better of the young +man than I am disposed to believe,” answered the Highland officer; “you +cannot ask me to do more in his behalf than I am of myself inclined, +and have already endeavoured to do. But it is all in vain. General -- +is half a Lowlander, half an Englishman. He has no idea of the high and +enthusiastic character which in these mountains often brings exalted +virtues in contact with great crimes, which, however, are less offences +of the heart than errors of the understanding. I have gone so far as to +tell him, that in this young man he was putting to death the best and +the bravest of my company, where all, or almost all, are good and brave. +I explained to him by what strange delusion the culprit’s apparent +desertion was occasioned, and how little his heart was accessory to the +crime which his hand unhappily committed. His answer was, ‘These are +Highland visions, Captain Campbell, as unsatisfactory and vain as those +of the second sight. An act of gross desertion may, in any case, be +palliated under the plea of intoxication; the murder of an officer may +be as easily coloured over with that of temporary insanity. The example +must be made, and if it has fallen on a man otherwise a good recruit, +it will have the greater effect.’ Such being the general’s unalterable +purpose,” continued Captain Campbell, with a sigh, “be it your care, +reverend sir, that your penitent prepare by break of day tomorrow for +that great change which we shall all one day be subjected to.” + +“And for which,” said the clergyman, “may God prepare us all, as I in my +duty will not be wanting to this poor youth!” + +Next morning, as the very earliest beams of sunrise saluted the grey +towers which crown the summit of that singular and tremendous rock, the +soldiers of the new Highland regiment appeared on the parade, within +the Castle of Dunbarton, and having fallen into order, began to move +downward by steep staircases, and narrow passages towards the external +barrier-gate, which is at the very bottom of the rock. The wild wailings +of the pibroch were heard at times, interchanged with the drums and +fifes, which beat the Dead March. + +The unhappy criminal’s fate did not, at first, excite that general +sympathy in the regiment which would probably have arisen had he been +executed for desertion alone. The slaughter of the unfortunate Allan +Breack had given a different colour to Hamish’s offence; for the +deceased was much beloved, and besides belonged to a numerous and +powerful clan, of whom there were many in the ranks. The unfortunate +criminal, on the contrary, was little known to, and scarcely connected +with, any of his regimental companions. His father had been, indeed, +distinguished for his strength and manhood; but he was of a broken clan, +as those names were called who had no chief to lead them to battle. + +It would have been almost impossible in another case to have turned out +of the ranks of the regiment the party necessary for execution of +the sentence; but the six individuals selected for that purpose, +were friends of the deceased, descended, like him, from the race of +MacDhonuil Dhu; and while they prepared for the dismal task which their +duty imposed, it was not without a stern feeling of gratified revenge. +The leading company of the regiment began now to defile from the +barrier-gate, and was followed by the others, each successively moving +and halting according to the orders of the adjutant, so as to form three +sides of an oblong square, with the ranks faced inwards. The fourth, or +blank side of the square, was closed up by the huge and lofty precipice +on which the Castle rises. About the centre of the procession, +bare-headed, disarmed, and with his hands bound, came the unfortunate +victim of military law. He was deadly pale, but his step was firm and +his eye as bright as ever. The clergyman walked by his side; the coffin, +which was to receive his mortal remains, was borne before him. The looks +of his comrades were still, composed, and solemn. They felt for the +youth, whose handsome form and manly yet submissive deportment had, as +soon as he was distinctly visible to them, softened the hearts of many, +even of some who had been actuated by vindictive feelings. + +The coffin destined for the yet living body of Hamish Bean was placed at +the bottom of the hollow square, about two yards distant from the foot +of the precipice, which rises in that place as steep as a stone wall to +the height of three or four hundred feet. Thither the prisoner was +also led, the clergyman still continuing by his side, pouring forth +exhortations of courage and consolation, to which the youth appeared +to listen with respectful devotion. With slow, and, it seemed, almost +unwilling steps, the firing party entered the square, and were drawn +up facing the prisoner, about ten yards distant. The clergyman was now +about to retire. “Think, my son,” he said, “on what I have told you, and +let your hope be rested on the anchor which I have given. You will then +exchange a short and miserable existence here for a life in which you +will experience neither sorrow nor pain. Is there aught else which you +can entrust to me to execute for you?” + +The youth looked at his sleeve buttons. They were of gold, booty perhaps +which his father had taken from some English officer during the civil +wars. The clergyman disengaged them from his sleeves. + +“My mother!” he said with some effort--“give them to my poor mother! See +her, good father, and teach her what she should think of all this. Tell +her Hamish Bean is more glad to die than ever he was to rest after the +longest day’s hunting. Farewell, sir--farewell!” + +The good man could scarce retire from the fatal spot. An officer +afforded him the support of his arm. At his last look towards Hamish, +he beheld him alive and kneeling on the coffin; the few that were around +him had all withdrawn. The fatal word was given, the rock rung sharp to +the sound of the discharge, and Hamish, falling forward with a groan, +died, it may be supposed, without almost a sense of the passing agony. + +Ten or twelve of his own company then came forward, and laid with solemn +reverence the remains of their comrade in the coffin, while the Dead +March was again struck up, and the several companies, marching in single +files, passed the coffin one by one, in order that all might receive +from the awful spectacle the warning which it was peculiarly intended to +afford. The regiment was then marched off the ground, and reascended the +ancient cliff, their music, as usual on such occasions, striking lively +strains, as if sorrow, or even deep thought, should as short a while as +possible be the tenant of the soldier’s bosom. + +At the same time the small party, which we before mentioned, bore the +bier of the ill-fated Hamish to his humble grave, in a corner of the +churchyard of Dunbarton, usually assigned to criminals. Here, among the +dust of the guilty, lies a youth, whose name, had he survived the ruin +of the fatal events by which he was hurried into crime, might have +adorned the annals of the brave. + +The minister of Glenorquhy left Dunbarton immediately after he had +witnessed the last scene of this melancholy catastrophe. His reason +acquiesced in the justice of the sentence, which required blood +for blood, and he acknowledged that the vindictive character of his +countrymen required to be powerfully restrained by the strong curb of +social law. But still he mourned over the individual victim. Who may +arraign the bolt of Heaven when it bursts among the sons of the forest? +yet who can refrain from mourning when it selects for the object of +its blighting aim the fair stem of a young oak, that promised to be the +pride of the dell in which it flourished? Musing on these melancholy +events, noon found him engaged in the mountain passes, by which he was +to return to his still distant home. + +Confident in his knowledge of the country, the clergyman had left the +main road, to seek one of those shorter paths, which are only used by +pedestrians, or by men, like the minister, mounted on the small, but +sure-footed, hardy, and sagacious horses of the country. The place which +he now traversed was in itself gloomy and desolate, and tradition had +added to it the terror of superstition, by affirming it was haunted +by an evil spirit, termed CLOGHT-DEARG--that is, Redmantle--who at all +times, but especially at noon and at midnight, traversed the glen, in +enmity both to man and the inferior creation, did such evil as her power +was permitted to extend to, and afflicted with ghastly terrors those +whom she had not license otherwise to hurt. + +The minister of Glenorquhy had set his face in opposition to many of +these superstitions, which he justly thought were derived from the dark +ages of Popery, perhaps even from those of paganism, and unfit to be +entertained or believed by the Christians of an enlightened age. Some +of his more attached parishioners considered him as too rash in opposing +the ancient faith of their fathers; and though they honoured the moral +intrepidity of their pastor, they could not avoid entertaining and +expressing fears that he would one day fall a victim to his temerity, +and be torn to pieces in the glen of the Cloght-dearg, or some of +those other haunted wilds, which he appeared rather to have a pride +and pleasure in traversing alone, on the days and hours when the wicked +spirits were supposed to have especial power over man and beast. + +These legends came across the mind of the clergyman, and, solitary as +he was, a melancholy smile shaded his cheek, as he thought of the +inconsistency of human nature, and reflected how many brave men, whom +the yell of the pibroch would have sent headlong against fixed bayonets, +as the wild bull rushes on his enemy, might have yet feared to encounter +those visionary terrors, which he himself, a man of peace, and in +ordinary perils no way remarkable for the firmness of his nerves, was +now risking without hesitation. + +As he looked around the scene of desolation, he could not but +acknowledge, in his own mind, that it was not ill chosen for the haunt +of those spirits, which are said to delight in solitude and desolation. +The glen was so steep and narrow that there was but just room for the +meridian sun to dart a few scattered rays upon the gloomy and precarious +stream which stole through its recesses, for the most part in silence, +but occasionally murmuring sullenly against the rocks and large stones +which seemed determined to bar its further progress. In winter, or in +the rainy season, this small stream was a foaming torrent of the most +formidable magnitude, and it was at such periods that it had torn open +and laid bare the broad-faced and huge fragments of rock which, at +the season of which we speak, hid its course from the eye, and seemed +disposed totally to interrupt its course. “Undoubtedly,” thought the +clergyman, “this mountain rivulet, suddenly swelled by a waterspout +or thunderstorm, has often been the cause of those accidents which, +happening in the glen called by her name, have been ascribed to the +agency of the Cloght-dearg.” + +Just as this idea crossed his mind, he heard a female voice exclaim, in +a wild and thrilling accent, “Michael Tyrie! Michael Tyrie!” He looked +round in astonishment, and not without some fear. It seemed for an +instant, as if the evil being, whose existence he had disowned, was +about to appear for the punishment of his incredulity. This alarm did +not hold him more than an instant, nor did it prevent his replying in a +firm voice, “Who calls? and where are you?” + +“One who journeys in wretchedness, between life and death,” answered the +voice; and the speaker, a tall female, appeared from among the fragments +of rocks which had concealed her from view. + +As she approached more closely, her mantle of bright tartan, in which +the red colour much predominated, her stature, the long stride with +which she advanced, and the writhen features and wild eyes which +were visible from under her curch, would have made her no inadequate +representative of the spirit which gave name to the valley. But +Mr. Tyrie instantly knew her as the Woman of the Tree, the widow of +MacTavish Mhor, the now childless mother of Hamish Bean. I am not +sure whether the minister would not have endured the visitation of +the Cloght-dearg herself, rather than the shock of Elspat’s +presence, considering her crime and her misery. He drew up his horse +instinctively, and stood endeavouring to collect his ideas, while a few +paces brought her up to his horse’s head. + +“Michael Tyrie,” said she, “the foolish women of the Clachan [The +village; literally, the stones.] hold thee as a god--be one to me, and +say that my son lives. Say this, and I too will be of thy worship; I +will bend my knees on the seventh day in thy house of worship, and thy +God shall be my God.” + +“Unhappy woman,” replied the clergyman, “man forms not pactions with his +Maker as with a creature of clay like himself. Thinkest thou to chaffer +with Him, who formed the earth, and spread out the heavens, or that thou +canst offer aught of homage or devotion that can be worth acceptance +in his eyes? He hath asked obedience, not sacrifice; patience under the +trials with which He afflicts us, instead of vain bribes, such as man +offers to his changeful brother of clay, that he may be moved from his +purpose.” + +“Be silent, priest!” answered the desperate woman; “speak not to me +the words of thy white book. Elspat’s kindred were of those who crossed +themselves and knelt when the sacring bell was rung, and she knows that +atonement can be made on the altar for deeds done in the field. Elspat +had once flocks and herds, goats upon the cliffs, and cattle in the +strath. She wore gold around her neck and on her hair--thick twists, as +those worn by the heroes of old. All these would she have resigned to +the priest--all these; and if he wished for the ornaments of a gentle +lady, or the sporran of a high chief, though they had been great as +Macallum Mhor himself, MacTavish Mhor would have procured them, if +Elspat had promised them. Elspat is now poor, and has nothing to give. +But the Black Abbot of Inchaffray would have bidden her scourge her +shoulders, and macerate her feet by pilgrimage; and he would have +granted his pardon to her when he saw that her blood had flowed, and +that her flesh had been torn. These were the priests who had indeed +power even with the most powerful; they threatened the great men of +the earth with the word of their mouth, the sentence of their book, the +blaze of their torch, the sound of their sacring bell. The mighty bent +to their will, and unloosed at the word of the priests those whom they +had bound in their wrath, and set at liberty, unharmed, him whom they +had sentenced to death, and for whose blood they had thirsted. These +were a powerful race, and might well ask the poor to kneel, since their +power could humble the proud. But you!--against whom are ye strong, +but against women who have been guilty of folly, and men who never wore +sword? The priests of old were like the winter torrent which fills +this hollow valley, and rolls these massive rocks against each other +as easily as the boy plays with the ball which he casts before him. But +you!--you do but resemble the summer-stricken stream, which is turned +aside by the rushes, and stemmed by a bush of sedges. Woe worth you, for +there is no help in you!” + +The clergyman was at no loss to conceive that Elspat had lost the Roman +Catholic faith without gaining any other, and that she still retained +a vague and confused idea of the composition with the priesthood, by +confession, alms, and penance, and of their extensive power, which, +according to her notion, was adequate, if duly propitiated, even to +effecting her son’s safety. Compassionating her situation, and allowing +for her errors and ignorance, he answered her with mildness. + +“Alas, unhappy woman! Would to God I could convince thee as easily +where thou oughtest to seek, and art sure to find, consolation, as I +can assure you with a single word, that were Rome and all her priesthood +once more in the plenitude of their power, they could not, for largesse +or penance, afford to thy misery an atom of aid or comfort--Elspat +MacTavish, I grieve to tell you the news.” + +“I know them without thy speech,” said the unhappy woman. “My son is +doomed to die.” + +“Elspat,” resumed the clergyman, “he WAS doomed, and the sentence has +been executed.” + +The hapless mother threw her eyes up to heaven, and uttered a shriek so +unlike the voice of a human being, that the eagle which soared in middle +air answered it as she would have done the call of her mate. + +“It is impossible!” she exclaimed--“it is impossible! Men do not condemn +and kill on the same day! Thou art deceiving me. The people call thee +holy--hast thou the heart to tell a mother she has murdered her only +child?” + +“God knows,” said the priest, the tears falling fast from his eyes, +“that were it in my power, I would gladly tell better tidings. But these +which I bear are as certain as they are fatal. My own ears heard the +death-shot, my own eyes beheld thy son’s death--thy son’s funeral. My +tongue bears witness to what my ears heard and my eyes saw.” + +The wretched female clasped her bands close together, and held them up +towards heaven like a sibyl announcing war and desolation, while, in +impotent yet frightful rage, she poured forth a tide of the deepest +imprecations. “Base Saxon churl!” she exclaimed--“vile hypocritical +juggler! May the eyes that looked tamely on the death of my fair-haired +boy be melted in their sockets with ceaseless tears, shed for those +that are nearest and most dear to thee! May the ears that heard his +death-knell be dead hereafter to all other sounds save the screech of +the raven, and the hissing of the adder! May the tongue that tells me of +his death and of my own crime, be withered in thy mouth--or better, when +thou wouldst pray with thy people, may the Evil One guide it, and give +voice to blasphemies instead of blessings, until men shall fly in terror +from thy presence, and the thunder of heaven be launched against thy +head, and stop for ever thy cursing and accursed voice! Begone, with +this malison! Elspat will never, never again bestow so many words upon +living man.” + +She kept her word. From that day the world was to her a wilderness, in +which she remained without thought, care, or interest, absorbed in her +own grief, indifferent to every thing else. + +With her mode of life, or rather of existence, the reader is already as +far acquainted as I have the power of making him. Of her death, I can +tell him nothing. It is supposed to have happened several years after +she had attracted the attention of my excellent friend Mrs. Bethune +Baliol. Her benevolence, which was never satisfied with dropping a +sentimental tear, when there was room for the operation of effective +charity, induced her to make various attempts to alleviate the condition +of this most wretched woman. But all her exertions could only render +Elspat’s means of subsistence less precarious--a circumstance which, +though generally interesting even to the most wretched outcasts, seemed +to her a matter of total indifference. Every attempt to place any +person in her hut to take charge of her miscarried, through the extreme +resentment with which she regarded all intrusion on her solitude, or by +the timidity of those who had been pitched upon to be inmates with the +terrible Woman of the Tree. At length, when Elspat became totally unable +(in appearance at least) to turn herself on the wretched settle which +served her for a couch, the humanity of Mr. Tyrie’s successor sent two +women to attend upon the last moments of the solitary, which could not, +it was judged, be far distant, and to avert the possibility that she +might perish for want of assistance or food, before she sunk under the +effects of extreme age or mortal malady. + +It was on a November evening, that the two women appointed for this +melancholy purpose arrived at the miserable cottage which we have +already described. Its wretched inmate lay stretched upon the bed, and +seemed almost already a lifeless corpse, save for the wandering of the +fierce dark eyes, which rolled in their sockets in a manner terrible to +look upon, and seemed to watch with surprise and indignation the motions +of the strangers, as persons whose presence was alike unexpected and +unwelcome. They were frightened at her looks; but, assured in each +other’s company, they kindled a fire, lighted a candle, prepared food, +and made other arrangements for the discharge of the duty assigned them. + +The assistants agreed they should watch the bedside of the sick person +by turns; but, about midnight, overcome by fatigue, (for they had walked +far that morning), both of them fell fast asleep. When they awoke, which +was not till after the interval of some hours, the hut was empty, and +the patient gone. They rose in terror, and went to the door of the +cottage, which was latched as it had been at night. They looked out into +the darkness, and called upon their charge by her name. The night-raven +screamed from the old oak-tree, the fox howled on the hill, the hoarse +waterfall replied with its echoes; but there was no human answer. The +terrified women did not dare to make further search till morning should +appear; for the sudden disappearance of a creature so frail as Elspat, +together with the wild tenor of her history, intimidated them from +stirring from the hut. They remained, therefore, in dreadful terror, +sometimes thinking they heard her voice without, and at other times, +that sounds of a different description were mingled with the mournful +sigh of the night-breeze, or the dashing of the cascade. Sometimes, +too, the latch rattled, as if some frail and impotent hand were in vain +attempting to lift it, and ever and anon they expected the entrance of +their terrible patient, animated by supernatural strength, and in the +company, perhaps, of some being more dreadful than herself. Morning came +at length. They sought brake, rock, and thicket in vain. Two hours +after daylight, the minister himself appeared, and, on the report of +the watchers, caused the country to be alarmed, and a general and exact +search to be made through the whole neighbourhood of the cottage and +the oak-tree. But it was all in vain. Elspat MacTavish was never found, +whether dead or alive; nor could there ever be traced the slightest +circumstance to indicate her fate. + +The neighbourhood was divided concerning the cause of her disappearance. +The credulous thought that the evil spirit, under whose influence she +seemed to have acted, had carried her away in the body; and there are +many who are still unwilling, at untimely hours, to pass the oak-tree, +beneath which, as they allege, she may still be seen seated according to +her wont. Others less superstitious supposed, that had it been possible +to search the gulf of the Corri Dhu, the profound deeps of the lake, or +the whelming eddies of the river, the remains of Elspat MacTavish might +have been discovered--as nothing was more natural, considering her state +of body and mind, than that she should have fallen in by accident, or +precipitated herself intentionally, into one or other of those places +of sure destruction. The clergyman entertained an opinion of his own. +He thought that, impatient of the watch which was placed over her, this +unhappy woman’s instinct had taught her, as it directs various domestic +animals, to withdraw herself from the sight of her own race, that +the death-struggle might take place in some secret den, where, in all +probability, her mortal relics would never meet the eyes of mortals. +This species of instinctive feeling seemed to him of a tenor with the +whole course of her unhappy life, and most likely to influence her when +it drew to a conclusion. + +End of THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + + +***** + + +MR. CROFTANGRY INTRODUCES ANOTHER TALE. + + Together both on the high lawns appeared. + Under the opening eyelids of the morn + They drove afield. ELEGY ON LYCIDAS. + +I have sometimes wondered why all the favourite occupations and pastimes +of mankind go to the disturbance of that happy state of tranquillity, +that OTIUM, as Horace terms it, which he says is the object of all men’s +prayers, whether preferred from sea or land; and that the undisturbed +repose, of which we are so tenacious, when duty or necessity compels +us to abandon it, is precisely what we long to exchange for a state of +excitation, as soon as we may prolong it at our own pleasure. Briefly, +you have only to say to a man, “Remain at rest,” and you instantly +inspire the love of labour. The sportsman toils like his gamekeeper, +the master of the pack takes as severe exercise as his whipper-in, the +statesman or politician drudges more than the professional lawyer; and, +to come to my own case, the volunteer author subjects himself to the +risk of painful criticism, and the assured certainty of mental +and manual labour, just as completely as his needy brother, whose +necessities compel him to assume the pen. + +These reflections have been suggested by an annunciation on the part +of Janet, “that the little Gillie-whitefoot was come from the +printing-office.” + +“Gillie-blackfoot you should call him, Janet,” was my response, “for he +is neither more nor less than an imp of the devil, come to torment +me for COPY, for so the printers call a supply of manuscript for the +press.” + +“Now, Cot forgie your honour,” said Janet; “for it is no like your +ainsell to give such names to a faitherless bairn.” + +“I have got nothing else to give him, Janet; he must wait a little.” + +“Then I have got some breakfast to give the bit gillie,” said Janet; +“and he can wait by the fireside in the kitchen, till your honour’s +ready; and cood enough for the like of him, if he was to wait your +honour’s pleasure all day.” + +“But, Janet,” said I to my little active superintendent, on her return +to the parlour, after having made her hospitable arrangements, “I begin +to find this writing our Chronicles is rather more tiresome than I +expected, for here comes this little fellow to ask for manuscript--that +is, for something to print--and I have got none to give him.” + +“Your honour can be at nae loss. I have seen you write fast and fast +enough; and for subjects, you have the whole Highlands to write about, +and I am sure you know a hundred tales better than that about Hamish +MacTavish, for it was but about a young cateran and an auld carlin, when +all’s done; and if they had burned the rudas quean for a witch, I am +thinking, may be they would not have tyned their coals--and her to gar +her ne’er-do-weel son shoot a gentleman Cameron! I am third cousin to +the Camerons mysel’--my blood warms to them. And if you want to write +about deserters, I am sure there were deserters enough on the top of +Arthur’s Seat, when the MacRaas broke out, and on that woeful day beside +Leith Pier--ohonari!”-- + +Here Janet began to weep, and to wipe her eyes with her apron. For my +part, the idea I wanted was supplied, but I hesitated to make use of it. +Topics, like times, are apt to become common by frequent use. It is +only an ass like Justice Shallow, who would pitch upon the over-scutched +tunes, which the carmen whistled, and try to pass them off as his +FANCIES and his GOOD-NIGHTS. Now, the Highlands, though formerly a rich +mine for original matter, are, as my friend Mrs. Bethune Baliol warned +me, in some degree worn out by the incessant labour of modern romancers +and novelists, who, finding in those remote regions primitive habits and +manners, have vainly imagined that the public can never tire of them; +and so kilted Highlanders are to be found as frequently, and nearly of +as genuine descent, on the shelves of a circulating library, as at a +Caledonian ball. Much might have been made at an earlier time out of +the history of a Highland regiment, and the singular revolution of ideas +which must have taken place in the minds of those who composed it, when +exchanging their native hills for the battle-fields of the Continent, +and their simple, and sometimes indolent domestic habits for the regular +exertions demanded by modern discipline. But the market is forestalled. +There is Mrs. Grant of Laggan, has drawn the manners, customs, and +superstitions of the mountains in their natural unsophisticated state; +[Letters from the Mountains, 3 vols.--Essays on the Superstitions of +the Highlanders--The Highlanders, and other Poems, etc.] and my friend, +General Stewart of Garth, [The gallant and amiable author of the History +of the Highland Regiments, in whose glorious services his own share +had been great, went out Governor of St Lucia in 1828, and died in that +island on the 18th of December 1829,--no man more regretted, or perhaps +by a wider circle of friends and acquaintance.] in giving the real +history of the Highland regiments, has rendered any attempt to fill up +the sketch with fancy-colouring extremely rash and precarious. Yet +I, too, have still a lingering fancy to add a stone to the cairn; +and without calling in imagination to aid the impressions of +juvenile recollection, I may just attempt to embody one or two scenes +illustrative of the Highland character, and which belong peculiarly to +the Chronicles of the Canongate, to the grey-headed eld of whom they +are as familiar as to Chrystal Croftangry. Yet I will not go back to the +days of clanship and claymores. Have at you, gentle reader, with a +tale of Two Drovers. An oyster may be crossed in love, says the gentle +Tilburina--and a drover may be touched on a point of honour, says the +Chronicler of the Canongate. + + +***** + + + + +THE TWO DROVERS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +It was the day after Doune Fair when my story commences. It had been a +brisk market. Several dealers had attended from the northern and midland +counties in England, and English money had flown so merrily about as to +gladden the hearts of the Highland farmers. Many large droves were about +to set off for England, under the protection of their owners, or of the +topsmen whom they employed in the tedious, laborious, and responsible +office of driving the cattle for many hundred miles, from the market +where they had been purchased, to the fields or farmyards where they +were to be fattened for the shambles. + +The Highlanders in particular are masters of this difficult trade +of driving, which seems to suit them as well as the trade of war. It +affords exercise for all their habits of patient endurance and active +exertion. They are required to know perfectly the drove-roads, which lie +over the wildest tracts of the country, and to avoid as much as +possible the highways, which distress the feet of the bullocks, and the +turnpikes, which annoy the spirit of the drover; whereas on the broad +green or grey track which leads across the pathless moor, the herd +not only move at ease and without taxation, but, if they mind their +business, may pick up a mouthful of food by the way. At night the +drovers usually sleep along with their cattle, let the weather be what +it will; and many of these hardy men do not once rest under a roof +during a journey on foot from Lochaber to Lincolnshire. They are paid +very highly, for the trust reposed is of the last importance, as it +depends on their prudence, vigilance, and honesty whether the cattle +reach the final market in good order, and afford a profit to the +grazier. But as they maintain themselves at their own expense, they are +especially economical in that particular. At the period we speak of, a +Highland drover was victualled for his long and toilsome journey with a +few handfulls of oatmeal and two or three onions, renewed from time to +time, and a ram’s horn filled with whisky, which he used regularly, but +sparingly, every night and morning. His dirk, or SKENE-DHU, (that is, +black-knife), so worn as to be concealed beneath the arm, or by the +folds of the plaid, was his only weapon, excepting the cudgel with which +he directed the movements of the cattle. A Highlander was never so happy +as on these occasions. There was a variety in the whole journey, which +exercised the Celt’s natural curiosity and love of motion. There were +the constant change of place and scene, the petty adventures incidental +to the traffic, and the intercourse with the various farmers, graziers, +and traders, intermingled with occasional merry-makings, not the less +acceptable to Donald that they were void of expense. And there was the +consciousness of superior skill; for the Highlander, a child amongst +flocks, is a prince amongst herds, and his natural habits induce him to +disdain the shepherd’s slothful life, so that he feels himself nowhere +more at home than when following a gallant drove of his country cattle +in the character of their guardian. + +Of the number who left Doune in the morning, and with the purpose +we have described, not a GLUNAMIE of them all cocked his bonnet more +briskly, or gartered his tartan hose under knee over a pair of +more promising SPIOGS, (legs), than did Robin Oig M’Combich, called +familiarly Robin Oig, that is young, or the Lesser, Robin. Though small +of stature, as the epithet Oig implies, and not very strongly limbed, +he was as light and alert as one of the deer of his mountains. He had +an elasticity of step which, in the course of a long march, made many a +stout fellow envy him; and the manner in which he busked his plaid +and adjusted his bonnet argued a consciousness that so smart a John +Highlandman as himself would not pass unnoticed among the Lowland +lasses. The ruddy cheek, red lips, and white teeth set off a countenance +which had gained by exposure to the weather a healthful and hardy +rather than a rugged hue. If Robin Oig did not laugh, or even smile +frequently--as, indeed, is not the practice among his countrymen--his +bright eyes usually gleamed from under his bonnet with an expression of +cheerfulness ready to be turned into mirth. + +The departure of Robin Oig was an incident in the little town, in and +near which he had many friends, male and female. He was a topping person +in his way, transacted considerable business on his own behalf, and was +entrusted by the best farmers in the Highlands, in preference to any +other drover in that district. He might have increased his business to +any extent had he condescended to manage it by deputy; but except a lad +or two, sister’s sons of his own, Robin rejected the idea of assistance, +conscious, perhaps, how much his reputation depended upon his attending +in person to the practical discharge of his duty in every instance. He +remained, therefore, contented with the highest premium given to persons +of his description, and comforted himself with the hopes that a few +journeys to England might enable him to conduct business on his own +account, in a manner becoming his birth. For Robin Oig’s father, Lachlan +M’Combich (or SON OF MY FRIEND, his actual clan surname being M’Gregor), +had been so called by the celebrated Rob Roy, because of the particular +friendship which had subsisted between the grandsire of Robin and that +renowned cateran. Some people even said that Robin Oig derived his +Christian name from one as renowned in the wilds of Loch Lomond as ever +was his namesake Robin Hood in the precincts of merry Sherwood. “Of such +ancestry,” as James Boswell says, “who would not be proud?” Robin Oig +was proud accordingly; but his frequent visits to England and to the +Lowlands had given him tact enough to know that pretensions which still +gave him a little right to distinction in his own lonely glen, might +be both obnoxious and ridiculous if preferred elsewhere. The pride of +birth, therefore, was like the miser’s treasure--the secret subject +of his contemplation, but never exhibited to strangers as a subject of +boasting. + +Many were the words of gratulation and good-luck which were bestowed +on Robin Oig. The judges commended his drove, especially Robin’s own +property, which were the best of them. Some thrust out their snuff-mulls +for the parting pinch, others tendered the DOCH-AN-DORRACH, or parting +cup. All cried, “Good-luck travel out with you and come home with you. +Give you luck in the Saxon market--brave notes in the LEABHAR-DHU,” + (black pocket-book), “and plenty of English gold in the SPORRAN” (pouch +of goat-skin). + +The bonny lasses made their adieus more modestly, and more than one, +it was said, would have given her best brooch to be certain that it was +upon her that his eye last rested as he turned towards the road. + +Robin Oig had just given the preliminary “HOO-HOO!” to urge forward the +loiterers of the drove, when there was a cry behind him:-- + +“Stay, Robin--bide a blink. Here is Janet of Tomahourich--auld Janet, +your father’s sister.” + +“Plague on her, for an auld Highland witch and spaewife,” said a farmer +from the Carse of Stirling; “she’ll cast some of her cantrips on the +cattle.” + +“She canna do that,” said another sapient of the same profession. “Robin +Oig is no the lad to leave any of them without tying Saint Mungo’s knot +on their tails, and that will put to her speed the best witch that ever +flew over Dimayet upon a broomstick.” + +It may not be indifferent to the reader to know that the Highland +cattle are peculiarly liable to be TAKEN, or infected, by spells and +witchcraft, which judicious people guard against by knitting knots of +peculiar complexity on the tuft of hair which terminates the animal’s +tail. + +But the old woman who was the object of the farmer’s suspicion seemed +only busied about the drover, without paying any attention to the drove. +Robin, on the contrary, appeared rather impatient of her presence. + +“What auld-world fancy,” he said, “has brought you so early from the +ingle-side this morning, Muhme? I am sure I bid you good-even, and had +your God-speed, last night.” + +“And left me more siller than the useless old woman will use till you +come back again, bird of my bosom,” said the sibyl. “But it is little I +would care for the food that nourishes me, or the fire that warms me, +or for God’s blessed sun itself, if aught but weel should happen to the +grandson of my father. So let me walk the DEASIL round you, that you may +go safe out into the far foreign land, and come safe home.” + +Robin Oig stopped, half embarrassed, half laughing, and signing to those +around that he only complied with the old woman to soothe her humour. +In the meantime, she traced around him, with wavering steps, the +propitiation, which some have thought has been derived from the +Druidical mythology. It consists, as is well known, in the person who +makes the DEASIL walking three times round the person who is the object +of the ceremony, taking care to move according to the course of the sun. +At once, however, she stopped short, and exclaimed, in a voice of alarm +and horror, “Grandson of my father, there is blood on your hand.” + +“Hush, for God’s sake, aunt!” said Robin Oig. “You will bring more +trouble on yourself with this TAISHATARAGH” (second sight) “than you +will be able to get out of for many a day.” + +The old woman only repeated, with a ghastly look, “There is blood on +your hand, and it is English blood. The blood of the Gael is richer and +redder. Let us see--let us--” + +Ere Robin Oig could prevent her, which, indeed, could only have been by +positive violence, so hasty and peremptory were her proceedings, she had +drawn from his side the dirk which lodged in the folds of his plaid, and +held it up, exclaiming, although the weapon gleamed clear and bright in +the sun, “Blood, blood--Saxon blood again. Robin Oig M’Combich, go not +this day to England!” + +“Prutt, trutt,” answered Robin Oig, “that will never do neither--it +would be next thing to running the country. For shame, Muhme--give me +the dirk. You cannot tell by the colour the difference betwixt the blood +of a black bullock and a white one, and you speak of knowing Saxon from +Gaelic blood. All men have their blood from Adam, Muhme. Give me my +skene-dhu, and let me go on my road. I should have been half way to +Stirling brig by this time. Give me my dirk, and let me go.” + +“Never will I give it to you,” said the old woman--“Never will I quit +my hold on your plaid--unless you promise me not to wear that unhappy +weapon.” + +The women around him urged him also, saying few of his aunt’s words fell +to the ground; and as the Lowland farmers continued to look moodily on +the scene, Robin Oig determined to close it at any sacrifice. + +“Well, then,” said the young drover, giving the scabbard of the weapon +to Hugh Morrison, “you Lowlanders care nothing for these freats. Keep my +dirk for me. I cannot give it you, because it was my father’s; but your +drove follows ours, and I am content it should be in your keeping, not +in mine.--Will this do, Muhme?” + +“It must,” said the old woman--“that is, if the Lowlander is mad enough +to carry the knife.” + +The strong Westlandman laughed aloud. + +“Goodwife,” said he, “I am Hugh Morrison from Glenae, come of the Manly +Morrisons of auld lang syne, that never took short weapon against a man +in their lives. And neither needed they. They had their broadswords, and +I have this bit supple”--showing a formidable cudgel; “for dirking ower +the board, I leave that to John Highlandman.--Ye needna snort, none of +you Highlanders, and you in especial, Robin. I’ll keep the bit knife, +if you are feared for the auld spaewife’s tale, and give it back to you +whenever you want it.” + +Robin was not particularly pleased with some part of Hugh Morrison’s +speech; but he had learned in his travels more patience than belonged to +his Highland constitution originally, and he accepted the service of the +descendant of the Manly Morrisons without finding fault with the rather +depreciating manner in which it was offered. + +“If he had not had his morning in his head, and been but a Dumfriesshire +hog into the boot, he would have spoken more like a gentleman. But you +cannot have more of a sow than a grumph. It’s shame my father’s knife +should ever slash a haggis for the like of him.” + +Thus saying, (but saying it in Gaelic), Robin drove on his cattle, and +waved farewell to all behind him. He was in the greater haste, because +he expected to join at Falkirk a comrade and brother in profession, with +whom he proposed to travel in company. + +Robin Oig’s chosen friend was a young Englishman, Harry Wakefield by +name, well known at every northern market, and in his way as much famed +and honoured as our Highland driver of bullocks. He was nearly six feet +high, gallantly formed to keep the rounds at Smithfield, or maintain the +ring at a wrestling match; and although he might have been overmatched, +perhaps, among the regular professors of the Fancy, yet, as a yokel +or rustic, or a chance customer, he was able to give a bellyful to any +amateur of the pugilistic art. Doncaster races saw him in his glory, +betting his guinea, and generally successfully; nor was there a main +fought in Yorkshire, the feeders being persons of celebrity, at which he +was not to be seen if business permitted. But though a SPRACK lad, and +fond of pleasure and its haunts, Harry Wakefield was steady, and not +the cautious Robin Oig M’Combich himself was more attentive to the main +chance. His holidays were holidays indeed; but his days of work were +dedicated to steady and persevering labour. In countenance and temper, +Wakefield was the model of Old England’s merry yeomen, whose clothyard +shafts, in so many hundred battles, asserted her superiority over the +nations, and whose good sabres, in our own time, are her cheapest and +most assured defence. His mirth was readily excited; for, strong in limb +and constitution, and fortunate in circumstances, he was disposed to be +pleased with every thing about him, and such difficulties as he might +occasionally encounter were, to a man of his energy, rather matter of +amusement than serious annoyance. With all the merits of a sanguine +temper, our young English drover was not without his defects. He was +irascible, sometimes to the verge of being quarrelsome; and perhaps +not the less inclined to bring his disputes to a pugilistic decision, +because he found few antagonists able to stand up to him in the boxing +ring. + +It is difficult to say how Harry Wakefield and Robin Oig first became +intimates, but it is certain a close acquaintance had taken place +betwixt them, although they had apparently few common subjects of +conversation or of interest, so soon as their talk ceased to be +of bullocks. Robin Oig, indeed, spoke the English language rather +imperfectly upon any other topics but stots and kyloes, and Harry +Wakefield could never bring his broad Yorkshire tongue to utter a single +word of Gaelic. It was in vain Robin spent a whole morning, during a +walk over Minch Moor, in attempting to teach his companion to utter, +with true precision, the shibboleth LLHU, which is the Gaelic for a +calf. From Traquair to Murder Cairn, the hill rung with the discordant +attempts of the Saxon upon the unmanageable monosyllable, and the +heartfelt laugh which followed every failure. They had, however, better +modes of awakening the echoes; for Wakefield could sing many a ditty to +the praise of Moll, Susan, and Cicely, and Robin Oig had a particular +gift at whistling interminable pibrochs through all their involutions, +and what was more agreeable to his companion’s southern ear, knew many +of the northern airs, both lively and pathetic, to which Wakefield +learned to pipe a bass. Thus, though Robin could hardly have +comprehended his companion’s stories about horse-racing, and +cock-fighting, or fox-hunting, and although his own legends of +clan-fights and CREAGHS, varied with talk of Highland goblins and +fairy folk, would have been caviare to his companion, they contrived, +nevertheless to find a degree of pleasure in each other’s company, +which had for three years back induced them to join company and travel +together, when the direction of their journey permitted. Each, +indeed, found his advantage in this companionship; for where could the +Englishman have found a guide through the Western Highlands like Robin +Oig M’Combich? and when they were on what Harry called the RIGHT side of +the Border, his patronage, which was extensive, and his purse, which was +heavy, were at all times at the service of his Highland friend, and on +many occasions his liberality did him genuine yeoman’s service. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Were ever two such loving friends!-- + How could they disagree? + Oh, thus it was, he loved him dear, + And thought how to requite him, + And having no friend left but he, + He did resolve to fight him. DUKE UPON DUKE. + +The pair of friends had traversed with their usual cordiality the +grassy wilds of Liddesdale, and crossed the opposite part of Cumberland, +emphatically called The Waste. In these solitary regions the cattle +under the charge of our drovers derived their subsistence chiefly by +picking their food as they went along the drove-road, or sometimes by +the tempting opportunity of a START AND OWERLOUP, or invasion of the +neighbouring pasture, where an occasion presented itself. But now the +scene changed before them. They were descending towards a fertile and +enclosed country, where no such liberties could be taken with impunity, +or without a previous arrangement and bargain with the possessors of the +ground. This was more especially the case, as a great northern fair was +upon the eve of taking place, where both the Scotch and English drover +expected to dispose of a part of their cattle, which it was desirable +to produce in the market rested and in good order. Fields were therefore +difficult to be obtained, and only upon high terms. This necessity +occasioned a temporary separation betwixt the two friends, who went to +bargain, each as he could, for the separate accommodation of his herd. +Unhappily it chanced that both of them, unknown to each other, thought +of bargaining for the ground they wanted on the property of a country +gentleman of some fortune, whose estate lay in the neighbourhood. The +English drover applied to the bailiff on the property, who was known +to him. It chanced that the Cumbrian Squire, who had entertained some +suspicions of his manager’s honesty, was taking occasional measures +to ascertain how far they were well founded, and had desired that +any enquiries about his enclosures, with a view to occupy them for a +temporary purpose, should be referred to himself. As however, Mr. Ireby +had gone the day before upon a journey of some miles distance to the +northward, the bailiff chose to consider the check upon his full powers +as for the time removed, and concluded that he should best consult his +master’s interest, and perhaps his own, in making an agreement with +Harry Wakefield. Meanwhile, ignorant of what his comrade was doing, +Robin Oig, on his side, chanced to be overtaken by a good-looking smart +little man upon a pony, most knowingly hogged and cropped, as was then +the fashion, the rider wearing tight leather breeches, and long-necked +bright spurs. This cavalier asked one or two pertinent questions about +markets and the price of stock. So Robin, seeing him a well-judging +civil gentleman, took the freedom to ask him whether he could let him +know if there was any grass-land to be let in that neighbourhood, for +the temporary accommodation of his drove. He could not have put the +question to more willing ears. The gentleman of the buckskins was the +proprietor, with whose bailiff Harry Wakefield had dealt, or was in the +act of dealing. + +“Thou art in good luck, my canny Scot,” said Mr. Ireby, “to have spoken +to me, for I see thy cattle have done their day’s work, and I have at +my disposal the only field within three miles that is to be let in these +parts.” + +“The drove can pe gang two, three, four miles very pratty weel +indeed”--said the cautious Highlander; “put what would his honour pe +axing for the peasts pe the head, if she was to tak the park for twa or +three days?” + +“We won’t differ, Sawney, if you let me have six stots for winterers, in +the way of reason.” + +“And which peasts wad your honour pe for having?” + +“Why--let me see--the two black--the dun one--yon doddy--him with the +twisted horn--the brockit--How much by the head?” + +“Ah,” said Robin, “your honour is a shudge--a real shudge. I couldna +have set off the pest six peasts petter mysel’--me that ken them as if +they were my pairns, puir things.” + +“Well, how much per head, Sawney?” continued Mr. Ireby. + +“It was high markets at Doune and Falkirk,” answered Robin. + +And thus the conversation proceeded, until they had agreed on the +PRIX JUSTE for the bullocks, the Squire throwing in the temporary +accommodation of the enclosure for the cattle into the boot, and Robin +making, as he thought, a very good bargain, provided the grass was but +tolerable. The Squire walked his pony alongside of the drove, partly +to show him the way, and see him put into possession of the field, and +partly to learn the latest news of the northern markets. + +They arrived at the field, and the pasture seemed excellent. But what +was their surprise when they saw the bailiff quietly inducting the +cattle of Harry Wakefield into the grassy Goshen which had just been +assigned to those of Robin Oig M’Combich by the proprietor himself! +Squire Ireby set spurs to his horse, dashed up to his servant, and +learning what had passed between the parties, briefly informed +the English drover that his bailiff had let the ground without his +authority, and that he might seek grass for his cattle wherever he +would, since he was to get none there. At the same time he rebuked his +servant severely for having transgressed his commands, and ordered him +instantly to assist in ejecting the hungry and weary cattle of Harry +Wakefield, which were just beginning to enjoy a meal of unusual plenty, +and to introduce those of his comrade, whom the English drover now began +to consider as a rival. + +The feelings which arose in Wakefield’s mind would have induced him +to resist Mr. Ireby’s decision; but every Englishman has a tolerably +accurate sense of law and justice, and John Fleecebumpkin, the bailiff, +having acknowledged that he had exceeded his commission, Wakefield saw +nothing else for it than to collect his hungry and disappointed charge, +and drive them on to seek quarters elsewhere. Robin Oig saw what had +happened with regret, and hastened to offer to his English friend +to share with him the disputed possession. But Wakefield’s pride was +severely hurt, and he answered disdainfully, “Take it all, man--take it +all; never make two bites of a cherry. Thou canst talk over the gentry, +and blear a plain man’s eye. Out upon you, man. I would not kiss any +man’s dirty latchets for leave to bake in his oven.” + +Robin Oig, sorry but not surprised at his comrade’s displeasure, +hastened to entreat his friend to wait but an hour till he had gone to +the Squire’s house to receive payment for the cattle he had sold, and +he would come back and help him to drive the cattle into some convenient +place of rest, and explain to him the whole mistake they had both of +them fallen into. But the Englishman continued indignant: “Thou hast +been selling, hast thou? Ay, ay; thou is a cunning lad for kenning the +hours of bargaining. Go to the devil with thyself, for I will ne’er see +thy fause loon’s visage again--thou should be ashamed to look me in the +face.” + +“I am ashamed to look no man in the face,” said Robin Oig, something +moved; “and, moreover, I will look you in the face this blessed day, if +you will bide at the Clachan down yonder.” + +“Mayhap you had as well keep away,” said his comrade; and turning +his back on his former friend, he collected his unwilling associates, +assisted by the bailiff, who took some real and some affected interest +in seeing Wakefield accommodated. + +After spending some time in negotiating with more than one of +the neighbouring farmers, who could not, or would not, afford the +accommodation desired, Henry Wakefield at last, and in his necessity, +accomplished his point by means of the landlord of the alehouse at which +Robin Oig and he had agreed to pass the night, when they first separated +from each other. Mine host was content to let him turn his cattle on a +piece of barren moor, at a price little less than the bailiff had asked +for the disputed enclosure; and the wretchedness of the pasture, as well +as the price paid for it, were set down as exaggerations of the breach +of faith and friendship of his Scottish crony. This turn of Wakefield’s +passions was encouraged by the bailiff, (who had his own reasons for +being offended against poor Robin, as having been the unwitting cause of +his falling into disgrace with his master), as well as by the innkeeper, +and two or three chance guests, who stimulated the drover in his +resentment against his quondam associate--some from the ancient grudge +against the Scots, which, when it exists anywhere, is to be found +lurking in the Border counties, and some from the general love of +mischief, which characterises mankind in all ranks of life, to the +honour of Adam’s children be it spoken. Good John Barleycorn also, who +always heightens and exaggerates the prevailing passions, be they +angry or kindly, was not wanting in his offices on this occasion, and +confusion to false friends and hard masters was pledged in more than one +tankard. + +In the meanwhile Mr. Ireby found some amusement in detaining the +northern drover at his ancient hall. He caused a cold round of beef +to be placed before the Scot in the butler’s pantry, together with a +foaming tankard of home-brewed, and took pleasure in seeing the hearty +appetite with which these unwonted edibles were discussed by Robin Oig +M’Combich. The Squire himself lighting his pipe, compounded between his +patrician dignity and his love of agricultural gossip, by walking up and +down while he conversed with his guest. + +“I passed another drove,” said the Squire, “with one of your countrymen +behind them. They were something less beasts than your drove--doddies +most of them. A big man was with them. None of your kilts, though, but a +decent pair of breeches. D’ye know who he may be?” + +“Hout aye; that might, could, and would be Hughie Morrison. I didna +think he could hae peen sae weel up. He has made a day on us; but his +Argyleshires will have wearied shanks. How far was he pehind?” + +“I think about six or seven miles,” answered the Squire, “for I passed +them at the Christenbury Crag, and I overtook you at the Hollan Bush. If +his beasts be leg-weary, he will be maybe selling bargains.” + +“Na, na, Hughie Morrison is no the man for pargains--ye maun come to +some Highland body like Robin Oig hersel’ for the like of these. Put I +maun pe wishing you goot night, and twenty of them, let alane ane, and I +maun down to the Clachan to see if the lad Harry Waakfelt is out of his +humdudgeons yet.” + +The party at the alehouse were still in full talk, and the treachery +of Robin Oig still the theme of conversation, when the supposed culprit +entered the apartment. His arrival, as usually happens in such a case, +put an instant stop to the discussion of which he had furnished the +subject, and he was received by the company assembled with that chilling +silence which, more than a thousand exclamations, tells an intruder +that he is unwelcome. Surprised and offended, but not appalled by the +reception which he experienced, Robin entered with an undaunted and even +a haughty air, attempted no greeting, as he saw he was received with +none, and placed himself by the side of the fire, a little apart from +a table at which Harry Wakefield, the bailiff, and two or three other +persons, were seated. The ample Cumbrian kitchen would have afforded +plenty of room, even for a larger separation. + +Robin thus seated, proceeded to light his pipe, and call for a pint of +twopenny. + +“We have no twopence ale,” answered Ralph Heskett the landlord; “but as +thou find’st thy own tobacco, it’s like thou mayst find thy own liquor +too--it’s the wont of thy country, I wot.” + +“Shame, goodman,” said the landlady, a blithe, bustling housewife, +hastening herself to supply the guest with liquor. “Thou knowest well +enow what the strange man wants, and it’s thy trade to be civil, man. +Thou shouldst know, that if the Scot likes a small pot, he pays a sure +penny.” + +Without taking any notice of this nuptial dialogue, the Highlander took +the flagon in his hand, and addressing the company generally, drank the +interesting toast of “Good markets” to the party assembled. + +“The better that the wind blew fewer dealers from the north,” said +one of the farmers, “and fewer Highland runts to eat up the English +meadows.” + +“Saul of my pody, put you are wrang there, my friend,” answered Robin, +with composure; “it is your fat Englishmen that eat up our Scots cattle, +puir things.” + +“I wish there was a summat to eat up their drovers,” said another; “a +plain Englishman canna make bread within a kenning of them.” + +“Or an honest servant keep his master’s favour but they will come +sliding in between him and the sunshine,” said the bailiff. + +“If these pe jokes,” said Robin Oig, with the same composure, “there is +ower mony jokes upon one man.” + +“It is no joke, but downright earnest,” said the bailiff. “Harkye, Mr. +Robin Ogg, or whatever is your name, it’s right we should tell you that +we are all of one opinion, and that is, that you, Mr. Robin Ogg, have +behaved to our friend Mr. Harry Wakefield here, like a raff and a +blackguard.” + +“Nae doubt, nae doubt,” answered Robin, with great composure; “and you +are a set of very pretty judges, for whose prains or pehaviour I wad +not gie a pinch of sneeshing. If Mr. Harry Waakfelt kens where he is +wranged, he kens where he may be righted.” + +“He speaks truth,” said Wakefield, who had listened to what passed, +divided between the offence which he had taken at Robin’s late +behaviour, and the revival of his habitual feelings of regard. + +He now rose, and went towards Robin, who got up from his seat as he +approached, and held out his hand. + +“That’s right, Harry--go it--serve him out,” resounded on all +sides--“tip him the nailer--show him the mill.” + +“Hold your peace all of you, and be--,” said Wakefield; and then +addressing his comrade, he took him by the extended hand, with something +alike of respect and defiance. “Robin,” he said, “thou hast used me ill +enough this day; but if you mean, like a frank fellow, to shake hands, +and take a tussle for love on the sod, why I’ll forgie thee, man, and we +shall be better friends than ever.” + +“And would it not pe petter to pe cood friends without more of the +matter?” said Robin; “we will be much petter friendships with our panes +hale than proken.” + +Harry Wakefield dropped the hand of his friend, or rather threw it from +him. + +“I did not think I had been keeping company for three years with a +coward.” + +“Coward pelongs to none of my name,” said Robin, whose eyes began to +kindle, but keeping the command of his temper. “It was no coward’s legs +or hands, Harry Waakfelt, that drew you out of the fords of Frew, +when you was drifting ower the plack rock, and every eel in the river +expected his share of you.” + +“And that is true enough, too,” said the Englishman, struck by the +appeal. + +“Adzooks!” exclaimed the bailiff--“sure Harry Wakefield, the nattiest +lad at Whitson Tryste, Wooler Fair, Carlisle Sands, or Stagshaw Bank, is +not going to show white feather? Ah, this comes of living so long with +kilts and bonnets--men forget the use of their daddles.” + +“I may teach you, Master Fleecebumpkin, that I have not lost the use of +mine,” said Wakefield and then went on. “This will never do, Robin. We +must have a turn-up, or we shall be the talk of the country-side. I’ll +be d--d if I hurt thee--I’ll put on the gloves gin thou like. Come, +stand forward like a man.” + +“To be peaten like a dog,” said Robin; “is there any reason in that? If +you think I have done you wrong, I’ll go before your shudge, though I +neither know his law nor his language.” + +A general cry of “No, no--no law, no lawyer! a bellyful and be friends,” + was echoed by the bystanders. + +“But,” continued Robin, “if I am to fight, I have no skill to fight like +a jackanapes, with hands and nails.” + +“How would you fight then?” said his antagonist; “though I am thinking +it would be hard to bring you to the scratch anyhow.” + +“I would fight with proadswords, and sink point on the first plood +drawn--like a gentlemans.” + +A loud shout of laughter followed the proposal, which indeed had rather +escaped from poor Robin’s swelling heart, than been the dictate of his +sober judgment. + +“Gentleman, quotha!” was echoed on all sides, with a shout of +unextinguishable laughter; “a very pretty gentleman, God wot.--Canst get +two swords for the gentleman to fight with, Ralph Heskett?” + +“No, but I can send to the armoury at Carlisle, and lend them two forks, +to be making shift with in the meantime.” + +“Tush, man,” said another, “the bonny Scots come into the world with the +blue bonnet on their heads, and dirk and pistol at their belt.” + +“Best send post,” said Mr. Fleecebumpkin, “to the Squire of Corby +Castle, to come and stand second to the GENTLEMAN.” + +In the midst of this torrent of general ridicule, the Highlander +instinctively griped beneath the folds of his plaid, + +“But it’s better not,” he said in his own language. “A hundred curses on +the swine-eaters, who know neither decency nor civility!” + +“Make room, the pack of you,” he said, advancing to the door. + +But his former friend interposed his sturdy bulk, and opposed his +leaving the house; and when Robin Oig attempted to make his way by +force, he hit him down on the floor, with as much ease as a boy bowls +down a nine-pin. + +“A ring, a ring!” was now shouted, until the dark rafters, and the hams +that hung on them, trembled again, and the very platters on the BINK +clattered against each other. “Well done, Harry”--“Give it him home, +Harry”--“Take care of him now--he sees his own blood!” + +Such were the exclamations, while the Highlander, starting from the +ground, all his coldness and caution lost in frantic rage, sprung at his +antagonist with the fury, the activity, and the vindictive purpose of +an incensed tiger-cat. But when could rage encounter science and temper? +Robin Oig again went down in the unequal contest; and as the blow was +necessarily a severe one, he lay motionless on the floor of the kitchen. +The landlady ran to offer some aid, but Mr. Fleecebumpkin would not +permit her to approach. + +“Let him alone,” he said, “he will come to within time, and come up to +the scratch again. He has not got half his broth yet.” + +“He has got all I mean to give him, though,” said his antagonist, whose +heart began to relent towards his old associate; “and I would rather by +half give the rest to yourself, Mr. Fleecebumpkin, for you pretend to +know a thing or two, and Robin had not art enough even to peel before +setting to, but fought with his plaid dangling about him.--Stand up, +Robin, my man! All friends now; and let me hear the man that will speak +a word against you, or your country, for your sake.” + +Robin Oig was still under the dominion of his passion, and eager to +renew the onset; but being withheld on the one side by the peacemaking +Dame Heskett, and on the other, aware that Wakefield no longer meant to +renew the combat, his fury sunk into gloomy sullenness. + +“Come, come, never grudge so much at it, man,” said the brave-spirited +Englishman, with the placability of his country; “shake hands, and we +will be better friends than ever.” + +“Friends!” exclaimed Robin Oig with strong emphasis--“friends! Never. +Look to yourself, Harry Waakfelt.” + +“Then the curse of Cromwell on your proud Scots stomach, as the man says +in the play, and you may do your worst, and be d--d; for one man can say +nothing more to another after a tussle, than that he is sorry for it.” + +On these terms the friends parted. Robin Oig drew out, in silence, a +piece of money, threw it on the table, and then left the alehouse. But +turning at the door, he shook his hand at Wakefield, pointing with his +forefinger upwards, in a manner which might imply either a threat or a +caution. He then disappeared in the moonlight. + +Some words passed after his departure, between the bailiff, who piqued +himself on being a little of a bully, and Harry Wakefield, who, with +generous inconsistency, was now not indisposed to begin a new combat +in defence of Robin Oig’s reputation, “although he could not use his +daddles like an Englishman, as it did not come natural to him.” But +Dame Heskett prevented this second quarrel from coming to a head by +her peremptory interference. “There should be no more fighting in +her house,” she said; “there had been too much already.--And you, Mr. +Wakefield, may live to learn,” she added, “what it is to make a deadly +enemy out of a good friend.” + +“Pshaw, dame! Robin Oig is an honest fellow, and will never keep +malice.” + +“Do not trust to that; you do not know the dour temper of the Scots, +though you have dealt with them so often. I have a right to know them, +my mother being a Scot.” + +“And so is well seen on her daughter,” said Ralph Heskett. + +This nuptial sarcasm gave the discourse another turn. Fresh customers +entered the tap-room or kitchen, and others left it. The conversation +turned on the expected markets, and the report of prices from different +parts both of Scotland and England. Treaties were commenced, and Harry +Wakefield was lucky enough to find a chap for a part of his drove, +and at a very considerable profit--an event of consequence more than +sufficient to blot out all remembrances of the unpleasant scuffle in the +earlier part of the day. But there remained one party from whose mind +that recollection could not have been wiped away by the possession of +every head of cattle betwixt Esk and Eden. + +This was Robin Oig M’Combich. “That I should have had no weapon,” he +said, “and for the first time in my life! Blighted be the tongue that +bids the Highlander part with the dirk. The dirk--ha! the English blood! +My Muhme’s word! When did her word fall to the ground?” + +The recollection of the fatal prophecy confirmed the deadly intention +which instantly sprang up in his mind. + +“Ha! Morrison cannot be many miles behind; and if it were an hundred, +what then?” + +His impetuous spirit had now a fixed purpose and motive of action, and +he turned the light foot of his country towards the wilds, through which +he knew, by Mr. Ireby’s report, that Morrison was advancing. His mind +was wholly engrossed by the sense of injury--injury sustained from a +friend; and by the desire of vengeance on one whom he now accounted +his most bitter enemy. The treasured ideas of self-importance and +self-opinion--of ideal birth and quality, had become more precious to +him, (like the hoard to the miser) because he could only enjoy them in +secret. But that hoard was pillaged--the idols which he had secretly +worshipped had been desecrated and profaned. Insulted, abused, and +beaten, he was no longer worthy, in his own opinion, of the name +he bore, or the lineage which he belonged to. Nothing was left to +him--nothing but revenge; and as the reflection added a galling spur +to every step, he determined it should be as sudden and signal as the +offence. + +When Robin Oig left the door of the alehouse, seven or eight English +miles at least lay betwixt Morrison and him. The advance of the former +was slow, limited by the sluggish pace of his cattle; the latter +left behind him stubble-field and hedgerow, crag and dark heath, all +glittering with frost-rime in the broad November moonlight, at the rate +of six miles an hour. And now the distant lowing of Morrison’s cattle is +heard; and now they are seen creeping like moles in size and slowness +of motion on the broad face of the moor; and now he meets them--passes +them, and stops their conductor. + +“May good betide us,” said the Westlander. “Is this you, Robin +M’Combich, or your wraith?” + +“It is Robin Oig M’Combich,” answered the Highlander, “and it is not. +But never mind that, put pe giving me the skene-dhu.” + +“What! you are for back to the Highlands! The devil! Have you selt all +off before the fair? This beats all for quick markets!” + +“I have not sold--I am not going north--maype I will never go north +again. Give me pack my dirk, Hugh Morrison, or there will pe words +petween us.” + +“Indeed, Robin, I’ll be better advised before I gie it back to you; it +is a wanchancy weapon in a Highlandman’s hand, and I am thinking you +will be about some harns-breaking.” + +“Prutt, trutt! let me have my weapon,” said Robin Oig impatiently. + +“Hooly and fairly,” said his well-meaning friend. “I’ll tell you +what will do better than these dirking doings. Ye ken Highlander, and +Lowlander, and Border-men are a’ ae man’s bairns when you are over +the Scots dyke. See, the Eskdale callants, and fighting Charlie of +Liddesdale, and the Lockerby lads, and the four Dandies of Lustruther, +and a wheen mair grey plaids, are coming up behind; and if you are +wranged, there is the hand of a Manly Morrison, we’ll see you righted, +if Carlisle and Stanwix baith took up the feud.” + +“To tell you the truth,” said Robin Oig, desirous of eluding the +suspicions of his friend, “I have enlisted with a party of the Black +Watch, and must march off to-morrow morning.” + +“Enlisted! Were you mad or drunk? You must buy yourself off. I can lend +you twenty notes, and twenty to that, if the drove sell.” + +“I thank you--thank ye, Hughie; but I go with good-will the gate that I +am going. So the dirk, the dirk!” + +“There it is for you then, since less wunna serve. But think on what +I was saying. Waes me, it will be sair news in the braes of Balquidder +that Robin Oig M’Combich should have run an ill gate, and ta’en on.” + +“Ill news in Balquidder, indeed!” echoed poor Robin. “But Cot speed you, +Hughie, and send you good marcats. Ye winna meet with Robin Oig again, +either at tryste or fair.” + +So saying, he shook hastily the hand of his acquaintance, and set out in +the direction from which he had advanced, with the spirit of his former +pace. + +“There is something wrang with the lad,” muttered the Morrison to +himself; “but we will maybe see better into it the morn’s morning.” + +But long ere the morning dawned, the catastrophe of our tale had taken +place. It was two hours after the affray had happened, and it was +totally forgotten by almost every one, when Robin Oig returned to +Heskett’s inn. The place was filled at once by various sorts of men, and +with noises corresponding to their character. There were the grave low +sounds of men engaged in busy traffic, with the laugh, the song, and +the riotous jest of those who had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves. +Among the last was Harry Wakefield, who, amidst a grinning group of +smock-frocks, hobnailed shoes, and jolly English physiognomies, was +trolling forth the old ditty,-- + + “What though my name be Roger, + Who drives the plough and cart--” + +when he was interrupted by a well-known voice saying in a high and stern +voice, marked by the sharp Highland accent, “Harry Waakfelt--if you be a +man stand up!” + +“What is the matter?--what is it?” the guests demanded of each other. + +“It is only a d--d Scotsman,” said Fleecebumpkin, who was by this time +very drunk, “whom Harry Wakefield helped to his broth to-day, who is now +come to have HIS CAULD KAIL het again.” + +“Harry Waakfelt,” repeated the same ominous summons, “stand up, if you +be a man!” + +There is something in the tone of deep and concentrated passion, which +attracts attention and imposes awe, even by the very sound. The guests +shrunk back on every side, and gazed at the Highlander as he stood +in the middle of them, his brows bent, and his features rigid with +resolution. + +“I will stand up with all my heart, Robin, my boy, but it shall be to +shake hands with you, and drink down all unkindness. It is not the fault +of your heart, man, that you don’t know how to clench your hands.” + +By this time he stood opposite to his antagonist, his open and +unsuspecting look strangely contrasted with the stern purpose, which +gleamed wild, dark, and vindictive in the eyes of the Highlander. + +“‘Tis not thy fault, man, that, not having the luck to be an Englishman, +thou canst not fight more than a school-girl.” + +“I can fight,” answered Robin Oig sternly, but calmly, “and you shall +know it. You, Harry Waakfelt, showed me to-day how the Saxon churls +fight; I show you now how the Highland Dunnie-wassel fights.” + +He seconded the word with the action, and plunged the dagger, which he +suddenly displayed, into the broad breast of the English yeoman, with +such fatal certainty and force that the hilt made a hollow sound against +the breast-bone, and the double-edged point split the very heart of +his victim. Harry Wakefield fell and expired with a single groan. His +assassin next seized the bailiff by the collar, and offered the bloody +poniard to his throat, whilst dread and surprise rendered the man +incapable of defence. + +“It were very just to lay you peside him,” he said, “but the blood of a +pase pickthank shall never mix on my father’s dirk, with that of a brave +man.” + +As he spoke, he cast the man from him with so much force that he fell on +the floor, while Robin, with his other hand, threw the fatal weapon into +the blazing turf-fire. + +“There,” he said, “take me who likes--and let fire cleanse blood if it +can.” + +The pause of astonishment still continuing, Robin Oig asked for a +peace-officer, and a constable having stepped out, he surrendered +himself to his custody. + +“A bloody night’s work you have made of it,” said the constable. + +“Your own fault,” said the Highlander. “Had you kept his hands off me +twa hours since, he would have been now as well and merry as he was twa +minutes since.” + +“It must be sorely answered,” said the peace-officer. + +“Never you mind that--death pays all debts; it will pay that too.” + +The horror of the bystanders began now to give way to indignation, and +the sight of a favourite companion murdered in the midst of them, the +provocation being, in their opinion, so utterly inadequate to the excess +of vengeance, might have induced them to kill the perpetrator of the +deed even upon the very spot. The constable, however, did his duty on +this occasion, and with the assistance of some of the more reasonable +persons present, procured horses to guard the prisoner to Carlisle, to +abide his doom at the next assizes. While the escort was preparing, +the prisoner neither expressed the least interest, nor attempted the +slightest reply. Only, before he was carried from the fatal apartment, +he desired to look at the dead body, which, raised from the floor, +had been deposited upon the large table (at the head of which Harry +Wakefield had presided but a few minutes before, full of life, vigour, +and animation), until the surgeons should examine the mortal wound. The +face of the corpse was decently covered with a napkin. To the surprise +and horror of the bystanders, which displayed itself in a general AH! +drawn through clenched teeth and half-shut lips, Robin Oig removed the +cloth, and gazed with a mournful but steady eye on the lifeless visage, +which had been so lately animated that the smile of good-humoured +confidence in his own strength, of conciliation at once and contempt +towards his enemy, still curled his lip. While those present expected +that the wound, which had so lately flooded the apartment with gore, +would send forth fresh streams at the touch of the homicide, Robin Oig +replaced the covering with the brief exclamation, “He was a pretty man!” + +My story is nearly ended. The unfortunate Highlander stood his trial +at Carlisle. I was myself present, and as a young Scottish lawyer, or +barrister at least, and reputed a man of some quality, the politeness of +the Sheriff of Cumberland offered me a place on the bench. The facts +of the case were proved in the manner I have related them; and whatever +might be at first the prejudice of the audience against a crime so +un-English as that of assassination from revenge, yet when the rooted +national prejudices of the prisoner had been explained, which made him +consider himself as stained with indelible dishonour, when subjected to +personal violence--when his previous patience, moderation, and endurance +were considered--the generosity of the English audience was inclined +to regard his crime as the wayward aberration of a false idea of honour +rather than as flowing from a heart naturally savage, or perverted by +habitual vice. I shall never forget the charge of the venerable judge to +the jury, although not at that time liable to be much affected either by +that which was eloquent or pathetic. + +“We have had,” he said, “in the previous part of our duty” (alluding +to some former trials), “to discuss crimes which infer disgust and +abhorrence, while they call down the well-merited vengeance of the law. +It is now our still more melancholy task to apply its salutary though +severe enactments to a case of a very singular character, in which +the crime (for a crime it is, and a deep one) arose less out of the +malevolence of the heart, than the error of the understanding--less from +any idea of committing wrong, than from an unhappily perverted notion of +that which is right. Here we have two men, highly esteemed, it has been +stated, in their rank of life, and attached, it seems, to each other as +friends, one of whose lives has been already sacrificed to a punctilio, +and the other is about to prove the vengeance of the offended laws; +and yet both may claim our commiseration at least, as men acting in +ignorance of each other’s national prejudices, and unhappily misguided +rather than voluntarily erring from the path of right conduct. + +“In the original cause of the misunderstanding, we must in justice give +the right to the prisoner at the bar. He had acquired possession of the +enclosure, which was the object of competition, by a legal contract +with the proprietor, Mr. Ireby; and yet, when accosted with reproaches +undeserved in themselves, and galling, doubtless, to a temper at least +sufficiently susceptible of passion, he offered notwithstanding, +to yield up half his acquisition, for the sake of peace and good +neighbourhood, and his amicable proposal was rejected with scorn. Then +follows the scene at Mr. Heskett the publican’s, and you will observe +how the stranger was treated by the deceased, and, I am sorry to +observe, by those around, who seem to have urged him in a manner which +was aggravating in the highest degree. While he asked for peace and +for composition, and offered submission to a magistrate, or to a mutual +arbiter, the prisoner was insulted by a whole company, who seem on this +occasion to have forgotten the national maxim of ‘fair play;’ and while +attempting to escape from the place in peace, he was intercepted, struck +down, and beaten to the effusion of his blood. + +“Gentlemen of the jury, it was with some impatience that I heard my +learned brother who opened the case for the crown give an unfavourable +turn to the prisoner’s conduct on this occasion. He said the prisoner +was afraid to encounter his antagonist in fair fight, or to submit to +the laws of the ring; and that therefore, like a cowardly Italian, he +had recourse to his fatal stiletto, to murder the man whom he dared not +meet in manly encounter. I observed the prisoner shrink from this part +of the accusation with the abhorrence natural to a brave man; and as I +would wish to make my words impressive when I point his real crime, I +must secure his opinion of my impartiality by rebutting everything that +seems to me a false accusation. There can be no doubt that the prisoner +is a man of resolution--too much resolution. I wish to Heaven that he +had less--or, rather that he had had a better education to regulate it. + +“Gentlemen, as to the laws my brother talks of, they may be known in the +bull-ring, or the bear-garden, or the cock-pit, but they are not known +here. Or, if they should be so far admitted as furnishing a species of +proof that no malice was intended in this sort of combat, from which +fatal accidents do sometimes arise, it can only be so admitted when both +parties are IN PARI CASU, equally acquainted with, and equally willing +to refer themselves to, that species of arbitrament. But will it be +contended that a man of superior rank and education is to be subjected, +or is obliged to subject himself, to this coarse and brutal strife, +perhaps in opposition to a younger, stronger, or more skilful opponent? +Certainly even the pugilistic code, if founded upon the fair play of +Merry Old England, as my brother alleges it to be, can contain nothing +so preposterous. And, gentlemen of the jury, if the laws would support +an English gentleman, wearing, we will suppose, his sword, in defending +himself by force against a violent personal aggression of the nature +offered to this prisoner, they will not less protect a foreigner and a +stranger, involved in the same unpleasing circumstances. If, therefore, +gentlemen of the jury, when thus pressed by a VIS MAJOR, the object of +obloquy to a whole company, and of direct violence from one at least, +and, as he might reasonably apprehend, from more, the panel had produced +the weapon which his countrymen, as we are informed, generally carry +about their persons, and the same unhappy circumstance had ensued which +you have heard detailed in evidence, I could not in my conscience have +asked from you a verdict of murder. The prisoner’s personal defence +might indeed, even in that case, have gone more or less beyond the +MODERAMEN INCULPATAE TUTELAE, spoken of by lawyers; but the punishment +incurred would have been that of manslaughter, not of murder. I beg +leave to add that I should have thought this milder species of charge +was demanded in the case supposed, notwithstanding the statute of James +I. cap. 8, which takes the case of slaughter by stabbing with a short +weapon, even without MALICE PREPENSE, out of the benefit of clergy. +For this statute of stabbing, as it is termed, arose out of a temporary +cause; and as the real guilt is the same, whether the slaughter be +committed by the dagger, or by sword or pistol, the benignity of the +modern law places them all on the same, or nearly the same, footing. + +“But, gentlemen of the jury, the pinch of the case lies in the interval +of two hours interposed betwixt the reception of the injury and +the fatal retaliation. In the heat of affray and CHAUDE MELEE, law, +compassionating the infirmities of humanity, makes allowance for the +passions which rule such a stormy moment--for the sense of present +pain, for the apprehension of further injury, for the difficulty of +ascertaining with due accuracy the precise degree of violence which is +necessary to protect the person of the individual, without annoying or +injuring the assailant more than is absolutely necessary. But the time +necessary to walk twelve miles, however speedily performed, was an +interval sufficient for the prisoner to have recollected himself; and +the violence with which he carried his purpose into effect, with so many +circumstances of deliberate determination, could neither be induced by +the passion of anger, nor that of fear. It was the purpose and the act +of predetermined revenge, for which law neither can, will, nor ought to +have sympathy or allowance. + +“It is true, we may repeat to ourselves, in alleviation of this poor +man’s unhappy action, that his case is a very peculiar one. The country +which he inhabits was, in the days of many now alive, inaccessible +to the laws, not only of England, which have not even yet penetrated +thither, but to those to which our neighbours of Scotland are subjected, +and which must be supposed to be, and no doubt actually are, founded +upon the general principles of justice and equity which pervade every +civilized country. Amongst their mountains, as among the North American +Indians, the various tribes were wont to make war upon each other, so +that each man was obliged to go armed for his own protection. These men, +from the ideas which they entertained of their own descent and of +their own consequence, regarded themselves as so many cavaliers or +men-at-arms, rather than as the peasantry of a peaceful country. Those +laws of the ring, as my brother terms them, were unknown to the race of +warlike mountaineers; that decision of quarrels by no other weapons +than those which nature has given every man must to them have seemed as +vulgar and as preposterous as to the NOBLESSE of France. Revenge, on the +other hand, must have been as familiar to their habits of society as to +those of the Cherokees or Mohawks. It is indeed, as described by Bacon, +at bottom a kind of wild untutored justice; for the fear of retaliation +must withhold the hands of the oppressor where there is no regular law +to check daring violence. But though all this may be granted, and though +we may allow that, such having been the case of the Highlands in the +days of the prisoner’s fathers, many of the opinions and sentiments must +still continue to influence the present generation, it cannot, and ought +not, even in this most painful case, to alter the administration of the +law, either in your hands, gentlemen of the jury, or in mine. The first +object of civilisation is to place the general protection of the law, +equally administered, in the room of that wild justice which every man +cut and carved for himself, according to the length of his sword and +the strength of his arm. The law says to the subjects, with a voice only +inferior to that of the Deity, ‘Vengeance is mine.’ The instant that +there is time for passion to cool, and reason to interpose, an injured +party must become aware that the law assumes the exclusive cognisance +of the right and wrong betwixt the parties, and opposes her inviolable +buckler to every attempt of the private party to right himself. I repeat +that this unhappy man ought personally to be the object rather of our +pity than our abhorrence, for he failed in his ignorance, and from +mistaken notions of honour. But his crime is not the less that of +murder, gentlemen, and, in your high and important office, it is your +duty so to find. Englishmen have their angry passions as well as Scots; +and should this man’s action remain unpunished, you may unsheath, under +various pretences, a thousand daggers betwixt the Land’s-End and the +Orkneys.” + +The venerable Judge thus ended what, to judge by his apparent emotion, +and by the tears which filled his eyes, was really a painful task. The +jury, according to his instructions, brought in a verdict of Guilty; and +Robin Oig M’Combich, ALIAS McGregor, was sentenced to death, and left +for execution, which took place accordingly. He met his fate with great +firmness, and acknowledged the justice of his sentence. But he repelled +indignantly the observations of those who accused him of attacking an +unarmed man. “I give a life for the life I took,” he said, “and what can +I do more?” [See Note 11.--Robert Donn’s Poems.] + + +***** + + +NOTES. + + +NOTES TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +Note 1.--HOLYROOD. + +The reader may be gratified with Hector Boece’s narrative of the +original foundation of the famous abbey of Holyrood, or the Holy Cross, +as given in Bellenden’s translation:-- + +“Eftir death of Alexander the first, his brothir David come out of +Ingland, and wes crownit at Scone, the yeir of God MCXXIV yeiris, and +did gret justice, eftir his coronation, in all partis of his realme. He +had na weris during the time of King Hary; and wes so pietuous, that he +sat daylie in judgement, to caus his pure commonis to have justice; and +causit the actionis of his noblis to be decidit be his othir jugis. He +gart ilk juge redres the skaithis that come to the party be his wrang +sentence; throw quhilk, he decorit his realm with mony nobil actis, and +ejeckit the vennomus custome of riotus cheir, quhilk wes inducit afore +be Inglismen, quhen thay com with Quene Margaret; for the samin wes +noisum to al gud maneris, makand his pepil tender and effeminat. + +“In the fourt yeir of his regne, this nobill prince come to visie the +madin Castell of Edinburgh. At this time, all the boundis of Scotland +were ful of woddis, lesouris, and medois; for the countre wes more gevin +to store of bestiall, than ony productioun of cornis; and about this +castell was ane gret forest, full of haris, hindis, toddis, and siclike +maner of beistis. Now was the Rude Day cumin, called the Exaltation of +the Croce; and, becaus the samin wes ane hie solempne day, the king past +to his contemplation. Eftir the messis wer done with maist solempnitie +and reverence, comperit afore him mony young and insolent baronis of +Scotland, richt desirus to haif sum plesur and solace, be chace of +hundis in the said forest. At this time wes with the king ane man of +singulare and devoit life, namit Alkwine, channon eftir the ordour of +Sanct Augustine, quhilk well lang time confessoure, afore, to King David +in Ingland, the time that he wes Erle of Huntingtoun and Northumbirland. +This religious man dissuadit the king, be mony reasonis, to pas to this +huntis; and allegit the day wes so solempne, be reverence of the haly +croce, that he suld gif him erar, for that day, to contemplation, than +ony othir exersition. Nochtheles, his dissuasion is litill avalit; for +the king wes finallie so provokit, be inoportune solicitatioun of his +baronis, that he past, nochtwithstanding the solempnite of this day, to +his hountis. At last, quhen he wes cumin throw the vail that lyis to the +gret eist fra the said castell, quhare now lyis the Canongait, the staik +past throw the wod with sic noyis and din of rachis and bugillis, that +all the bestis were rasit fra thair dennis. Now wes the king cumin to +the fute of the crag, and all his nobilis severit, heir and thair, fra +him, at thair game and solace; quhen suddenlie apperit to his sicht the +fairist hart that evir wes sene afore with levand creature. The noyis +and din of this hart rinnand, as apperit, with awful and braid tindis, +maid the kingis hors so effrayit, that na renzeis micht hald him, bot +ran, perforce, ouir mire and mossis, away with the king. Nochtheles, the +hart followit so fast, that he dang baith the king and his hors to the +ground. Than the king kest abak his handis betwix the tindis of this +hart, to haif savit him fra the strak thairof; and the haly croce slaid, +incontinent, in his handis. The hart fled away with gret violence, and +evanist in the same place quhare now springis the Rude Well. The pepil +richt affrayitly, returnit to him out of all partis of the wod, to +comfort him efter his trubill; and fell on kneis, devotly adoring the +haly croce; for it was not cumin but sum hevinly providence, as weill +apperis; for thair is na man can schaw of quhat mater it is of, metal +or tre. Sone eftir, the king returnit to his castell; and in the nicht +following, he was admonist, be ane vision in his sleip, to big ane abbay +of channonis regular in the same place quhare he gat the croce. Als sone +as he was awalkinnit, he schew his visione to Alkwine, his confessoure; +and he na thing suspended his gud mind, bot erar inflammit him with +maist fervent devotion thairto. The king, incontinent, send his traist +servandis in France and Flanderis, and brocht richt crafty masonis to +big this abbay; syne dedicat it in the honour of this haly croce. The +croce remanit continewally in the said abbay, to the time of King David +Bruce; quhilk was unhappily tane with it at Durame, quhare it is haldin +yit in gret veneration.”--BOECE, BOOK 12, CH. 16. + +It is by no means clear what Scottish prince first built a palace, +properly so called, in the precincts of this renowned seat of sanctity. +The abbey, endowed by successive sovereigns and many powerful nobles +with munificent gifts of lands and tithes, came, in process of time, +to be one of the most important of the ecclesiastical corporations of +Scotland; and as early as the days of Robert Bruce, parliaments were +held occasionally within its buildings. We have evidence that James +IV. had a royal lodging adjoining to the cloister; but it is generally +agreed that the first considerable edifice for the accommodation of the +royal family erected here was that of James V., anno 1525, great part +of which still remains, and forms the north-western side of the existing +palace. The more modern buildings which complete the quadrangle were +erected by King Charles II. The name of the old conventual church +was used as the parish church of the Canongate from the period of the +Reformation, until James II. claimed it for his chapel royal, and had it +fitted up accordingly in a style of splendour which grievously outraged +the feelings of his Presbyterian subjects. The roof of this fragment of +a once magnificent church fell in in the year 1768, and it has remained +ever since in a state of desolation. For fuller particulars, see the +PROVINCIAL ANTIQUITIES OF SCOTLAND, or the HISTORY OF HOLYROOD, BY MR. +CHARLES MACKIE. + +The greater part of this ancient palace is now again occupied by his +Majesty Charles the Tenth of France, and the rest of that illustrious +family, which, in former ages so closely connected by marriage and +alliance with the house of Stewart, seems to have been destined to run a +similar career of misfortune. REQUIESCANT IN PACE! + + +Note 2.--STEELE, A COVENANTER, SHOT BY CAPTAIN CREICHTON. + +The following extract from Swift’s Life of Creichton gives the +particulars of the bloody scene alluded to in the text:-- + +“Having drank hard one night, I (Creichton) dreamed that I had found +Captain David Steele, a notorious rebel, in one of the five farmers’ +houses on a mountain in the shire of Clydesdale, and parish of +Lismahago, within eight miles of Hamilton, a place that I was well +acquainted with. This man was head of the rebels since the affair of +Airs-Moss, having succeeded to Hackston, who had been there taken, and +afterward hanged, as the reader has already heard; for, as to Robert +Hamilton, who was then Commander-in-chief at Bothwell Bridge, he +appeared no more among them, but fled, as it was believed, to Holland. + +“Steele, and his father before him, held a farm in the estate of +Hamilton, within two or three miles of that town. When he betook himself +to arms, the farm lay waste, and the Duke could find no other person who +would venture to take it; whereupon his Grace sent several messages to +Steele, to know the reason why he kept the farm waste. The Duke received +no other answer than that he would keep it waste, in spite of him and +the king too; whereupon his Grace, at whose table I had always the +honour to be a welcome guest, desired I would use my endeavours to +destroy that rogue, and I would oblige him for ever.” + +***** + +“I return to my story. When I awaked out of my dream, as I had done +before in the affair of Wilson (and I desire the same apology I made in +the introduction to these Memoirs may serve for both), I presently rose, +and ordered thirty-six dragoons to be at the place appointed by break +of day. When we arrived thither, I sent a party to each of the five +farmers’ houses. This villain Steele had murdered above forty of the +king’s subjects in cold blood, and, as I was informed, had often laid +snares to entrap me; but it happened that, although he usually kept a +gang to attend him, yet at this time he had none, when he stood in the +greatest need. One of the party found him in one of the farmers’ houses, +just as I happened to dream. The dragoons first searched all the rooms +below without success, till two of them hearing somebody stirring over +their heads, went up a pair of turnpike stairs. Steele had put on his +clothes while the search was making below; the chamber where he lay was +called the Chamber of Deese, [Or chamber of state; so called from the +DAIS, or canopy and elevation of floor, which distinguished the part of +old halls which was occupied by those of high rank. Hence the phrase was +obliquely used to signify state in general.] which is the name given to +a room where the laird lies when he comes to a tenant’s house. Steele +suddenly opening the door, fired a blunderbuss down at the two dragoons, +as they were coming up the stairs; but the bullets grazing against the +side of the turnpike, only wounded, and did not kill them. Then Steele +violently threw himself down the stairs among them, and made towards the +door to save his life, but lost it upon the spot; for the dragoons who +guarded the house dispatched him with their broadswords. I was not with +the party when he was killed, being at that time employed in searching +one of the other houses, but I soon found what had happened, by hearing +the noise of the shot made with the blunderbuss; from whence I returned +straight to Lanark, and immediately sent one of the dragoons express +to General Drummond at Edinburgh.”--SWIFT’S WORKS, VOL.XII. (MEMOIRS OF +CAPTAIN JOHN CREICHTON), pages 57-59, Edit. Edinb. 1824. + +Woodrow gives a different account of this exploit:--“In December this +year, (1686), David Steil, in the parish of Lismahagow, was surprised in +the fields by Lieutenant Creichton, and after his surrender of himself +on quarters, he was in a very little time most barbarously shot, and +lies buried in the churchyard there.” + + +Note 3.--IRON RASP. + +The ingenious Mr. R. CHAMBERS’S Traditions of Edinburgh give the +following account of the forgotten rasp or risp:-- + +“This house had a PIN or RISP at the door, instead of the more modern +convenience--a knocker. The pin, rendered interesting by the figure +which it makes in Scottish song, was formed of a small rod of iron, +twisted or notched, which was placed perpendicularly, starting out a +little from the door, and bore a small ring of the same metal, which an +applicant for admittance drew rapidly up and down the NICKS, so as to +produce a grating sound. Sometimes the rod was simply stretched across +the VIZZYING hole, a convenient aperture through which the porter could +take cognisance of the person applying; in which case it acted also as +a stanchion. These were almost all disused about sixty years ago, when +knockers were generally substituted as more genteel. But knockers at +that time did not long remain in repute, though they have never been +altogether superseded, even by bells, in the Old Town. The comparative +merit of knockers and pins was for a long time a subject of doubt, +and many knockers got their heads twisted off in the course of the +dispute.”--CHAMBERS’S TRADITIONS OF EDINBURGH. + + +Note 4.--COUNTESS OF EGLINTON. + +Susannah Kennedy, daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy of Cullean, Bart., +by Elizabeth Lesly, daughter of David Lord Newark, third wife of +Alexander 9th Earl of Eglinton, and mother of the 10th and 11th Earls. +She survived her husband, who died 1729, no less than fifty-seven years, +and died March 1780, in her ninety-first year. Allan Ramsay’s Gentle +Shepherd, published 1726, is dedicated to her, in verse, by Hamilton of +Bangour. + +The following account of this distinguished lady is taken from Boswell’s +Life of Johnson by Mr. Croker:-- + +“Lady Margaret Dalrymple, only daughter of John, Earl of Stair, married +in 1700, to Hugh, third Earl of Loudoun. She died in 1777, aged ONE +HUNDRED. Of this venerable lady, and of the Countess of Eglintoune, whom +Johnson visited next day, he thus speaks in his JOURNEY:--‘Length of +life is distributed impartially to very different modes of life, in very +different climates; and the mountains have no greater examples of age +than the Lowlands, where I was introduced to two ladies of high quality, +one of whom (Lady Loudoun) in her ninety-fourth year, presided at her +table with the full exercise of all her powers, and the other (Lady +Eglintoun) had attained her eighty-fourth year, without any diminution +of her vivacity, and little reason to accuse time of depredations on her +beauty.’” + +***** + +“Lady Eglintoune, though she was now in her eighty-fifth year, and had +lived in the retirement of the country for almost half a century, was +still a very agreeable woman. She was of the noble house of Kennedy, and +had all the elevation which the consciousness of such birth inspires. +Her figure was majestic, her manners high-bred, her reading extensive, +and her conversation elegant. She had been the admiration of the gay +circles of life, and the patroness of poets. Dr. Johnson was delighted +with his reception here. Her principles in church and state were +congenial with his. She knew all his merit, and had heard much of him +from her son, Earl Alexander, who loved to cultivate the acquaintance of +men of talents in every department.” + +***** + +“In the course of our conversation this day, it came out that Lady +Eglintoune was married the year before Dr. Johnson was born; upon which +she graciously said to him, that she might have been his mother, and +that she now adopted him, and when we were going away, she embraced him, +saying, ‘My dear son, farewell!’ My friend was much pleased with this +day’s entertainment, and owned that I had done well to force him out.” + +***** + +“At Sir Alexander Dick’s, from that absence of mind to which every man +is at times subject, I told, in a blundering manner, Lady Eglintoune’s +complimentary adoption of Dr. Johnson as her son; for I unfortunately +stated that her ladyship adopted him as her son, in consequence of her +having been married the year AFTER he was born. Dr. Johnson instantly +corrected me. ‘Sir, don’t you perceive that you are defaming the +Countess? For, supposing me to be her son, and that she was not married +till the year after my birth, I must have been her NATURAL son.’ A young +lady of quality who was present very handsomely said, ‘Might not the +son have justified the fault?’ My friend was much flattered by this +compliment, which he never forgot. When in more than ordinary spirits, +and talking of his journey in Scotland, he has called to me, ‘Boswell, +what was it that the young lady of quality said of me at Sir Alexander +Dick’s?’ Nobody will doubt that I was happy in repeating it.” + + +Note 5.--EARL OF WINTON. + +The incident here alluded to is thus narrated in Nichols’ Progresses of +James I., Vol.III. p.306:-- + +“The family” (of Winton) “owed its first elevation to the union of Sir +Christopher Seton with a sister of King Robert Bruce. With King James +VI. they acquired great favour, who, having created his brother Earl of +Dunfermline in 1599, made Robert, seventh Lord Seton, Earl of Winton in +1600. Before the King’s accession to the English throne, his Majesty +and the Queen were frequently at Seton, where the Earl kept a very +hospitable table, at which all foreigners of quality were entertained on +their visits to Scotland. His Lordship died in 1603, and was buried on +the 5th of April, on the very day the King left Edinburgh for England. +His Majesty, we are told, was pleased to rest himself at the south-west +round of the orchard of Seton, on the highway, till the funeral was +over, that he might not withdraw the noble company; and he said that he +had lost a good, faithful, and loyal subject.”--NICHOLS’ PROGRESSES OF +K. JAMES I., VOL.III. p.306. + + +Note 6.--MACGREGOR OF GLENSTRAE. + +“The 2 of Octr: (1603) Allaster MacGregor of Glenstrae tane be the laird +Arkynles, bot escapit againe; bot after taken be the Earle of Argyll the +4 of Januarii, and brought to Edr: the 9 of Januar: 1604, wt: 18 mae +of hes friendes MacGregors. He wes convoyit to Berwick be the gaird, +conform to the Earle’s promes; for he promesit to put him out of Scottis +grund: Sua, he keipit an Hielandman’s promes, in respect he sent the +gaird to convoy him out of Scottis grund; bot yai wer not directit to +pairt wt: him, bot to fetche him bak againe. The 18 of Januar, he came +at evin againe to Edinburghe; and upone the 20 day, he was hangit at the +crosse, and ij of his freindes and name, upon ane gallows: himself +being chieff, he was hangit his awin hight above the rest of hes +freindis.”--BIRRELL’S DIARY, (IN DALZELL’S FRAGMENTS OF SCOTTISH +HISTORY),pp.60,61. + + + +NOTES TO THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + +Note 7.--LOCH AWE. + +“Loch Awe, upon the banks of which the scene of action took place, is +thirty-four miles in length. The north side is bounded by wide muirs and +inconsiderable hills, which occupy an extent of country from twelve to +twenty miles in breadth, and the whole of this space is enclosed as +by circumvallation. Upon the north it is barred by Loch Eitive, on the +south by Loch Awe, and on the east by the dreadful pass of Brandir, +through which an arm of the latter lake opens, at about four miles from +its eastern extremity, and discharges the river Awe into the former. +The pass is about three miles in length; its east side is bounded by the +almost inaccessible steeps which form the base of the vast and +rugged mountain of Cruachan. The crags rise in some places almost +perpendicularly from the water, and for their chief extent show no space +nor level at their feet, but a rough and narrow edge of stony beach. +Upon the whole of these cliffs grows a thick and interwoven wood of +all kinds of trees, both timber, dwarf, and coppice; no track existed +through the wilderness, but a winding path, which sometimes crept along +the precipitous height, and sometimes descended in a straight pass along +the margin of the water. Near the extremity of the defile, a narrow +level opened between the water and the crag; but a great part of this, +as well as of the preceding steeps, was formerly enveloped in a thicket, +which showed little facility to the feet of any but the martens and wild +cats. Along the west side of the pass lies a wall of sheer and barren +crags. From behind they rise in rough, uneven, and heathy declivities, +out of the wide muir before mentioned, between Loch Eitive and Loch Awe; +but in front they terminate abruptly in the most frightful precipices, +which form the whole side of the pass, and descend at one fall into the +water which fills its trough. At the north end of the barrier, and at +the termination of the pass, lies that part of the cliff which is called +Craiganuni; at its foot the arm of the lake gradually contracts its +water to a very narrow space, and at length terminates at two rocks +(called the Rocks of Brandir), which form a strait channel, something +resembling the lock of a canal. From this outlet there is a continual +descent towards Loch Eitive, and from hence the river Awe pours out its +current in a furious stream, foaming over a bed broken with holes, and +cumbered with masses of granite and whinstone. + +“If ever there was a bridge near Craiganuni in ancient times, it must +have been at the Rocks of Brandir. From the days of Wallace to those of +General Wade, there were never passages of this kind but in places of +great necessity, too narrow for a boat, and too wide for a leap; even +then they were but an unsafe footway formed of the trunks of trees +placed transversely from rock to rock, unstripped of their bark, and +destitute of either plank or rail. For such a structure there is +no place in the neighbourhood of Craiganuni but at the rocks above +mentioned. In the lake and on the river the water is far too wide; but +at the strait the space is not greater than might be crossed by a tall +mountain pine, and the rocks on either side are formed by nature like a +pier. That this point was always a place of passage is rendered probable +by its facility and the use of recent times. It is not long since it was +the common gate of the country on either side the river and the pass: +the mode of crossing is yet in the memory of people living, and was +performed by a little currach moored on either side the water, and a +stout cable fixed across the stream from bank to bank, by which the +passengers drew themselves across in the manner still practised in +places of the same nature. It is no argument against the existence of +a bridge in former times that the above method only existed in ours, +rather than a passage of that kind, which would seem the more improved +expedient. The contradiction is sufficiently accounted for by the decay +of timber in the neighbourhood. Of old, both oaks and firs of an immense +size abounded within a very inconsiderable distance; but it is now many +years since the destruction of the forests of Glen Eitive and Glen Urcha +has deprived the country of all the trees of sufficient size to cross +the strait of Brandir; and it is probable that the currach was not +introduced till the want of timber had disenabled the inhabitants of the +country from maintaining a bridge. It only further remains to be noticed +that at some distance below the Rocks of Brandir there was formerly a +ford, which was used for cattle in the memory of people living; from the +narrowness of the passage, the force of the stream, and the broken +bed of the river, it was, however, a dangerous pass, and could only +be attempted with safety at leisure and by experience.”--NOTES TO THE +BRIDAL OF CAOLCHAIRN. + + +Note 8.--BATTLE BETWIXT THE ARMIES OF THE BRUCE AND MACDOUGAL OF LORN. + +“But the King, whose dear-bought experience in war had taught him +extreme caution, remained in the Braes of Balquhidder till he had +acquired by his spies and outskirries a perfect knowledge of the +disposition of the army of Lorn, and the intention of its leader. He +then divided his force into two columns, entrusting the command of the +first, in which he placed his archers and lightest armed troops, to Sir +James Douglas, whilst he himself took the leading of the other, which +consisted principally of his knights and barons. On approaching the +defile, Bruce dispatched Sir James Douglas by a pathway which the enemy +had neglected to occupy, with directions to advance silently, and gain +the heights above and in front of the hilly ground where the men of +Lorn were concealed; and having ascertained that this movement had been +executed with success, he put himself at the head of his own division, +and fearlessly led his men into the defile. Here, prepared as he was for +what was to take place, it was difficult to prevent a temporary panic +when the yell which, to this day, invariably precedes the assault of the +mountaineer, burst from the rugged bosom of Ben Cruachan; and the woods +which, the moment before, had waved in silence and solitude, gave forth +their birth of steel-clad warriors, and, in an instant, became instinct +with the dreadful vitality of war. But although appalled and checked for +a brief space by the suddenness of the assault, and the masses of rock +which the enemy rolled down from the precipices, Bruce, at the head of +his division, pressed up the side of the mountain. Whilst this party +assaulted the men of Lorn with the utmost fury, Sir James Douglas and +his party shouted suddenly upon the heights in their front, showering +down their arrows upon them; and, when these missiles were exhausted, +attacking them with their swords and battle-axes. The consequence of +such an attack, both in front and rear, was the total discomfiture +of the army of Lorn; and the circumstances to which this chief had so +confidently looked forward, as rendering the destruction of Bruce almost +inevitable, were now turned with fatal effect against himself. His great +superiority of numbers cumbered and impeded his movements. Thrust by +the double assault, and by the peculiar nature of the ground, into +such narrow room as the pass afforded, and driven to fury by finding +themselves cut to pieces in detail, without power of resistance, the men +of Lorn fled towards Loch Eitive, where a bridge thrown over the Awe, +and supported upon two immense rocks, known by the name of the Rocks of +Brandir, formed the solitary communication between the side of the river +where the battle took place and the country of Lorn. Their object was to +gain the bridge, which was composed entirely of wood, and having availed +themselves of it in their retreat, to destroy it, and thus throw the +impassable torrent of the Awe between them and their enemies. But their +intention was instantly detected by Douglas, who, rushing down from +the high grounds at the head of his archers and light-armed foresters, +attacked the body of the mountaineers, which had occupied the bridge, +and drove them from it with great slaughter, so that Bruce and his +division, on coming up, passed it without molestation; and this last +resource being taken from them, the army of Lorn were, in a few hours, +literally cut to pieces, whilst their chief, who occupied Loch Eitive +with his fleet, saw, from his ships, the discomfiture of his men, and +found it impossible to give them the least assistance.”--TYTLER’S LIFE +OF BRUCE. + + +Note 9.--MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. + +The following succinct account of this too celebrated event, may be +sufficient for this place:-- + +“In the beginning of the year 1692 an action of unexampled barbarity +disgraced the government of King William III. in Scotland. In the August +preceding, a proclamation had been issued, offering an indemnity to such +insurgents as should take the oaths to the King and Queen, on or before +the last day of December; and the chiefs of such tribes, as had been +in arms for James, soon after took advantage of the proclamation. But +Macdonald of Glencoe was prevented by accident, rather than design, from +tendering his submission within the limited time. In the end of December +he went to Colonel Hill, who commanded the garrison in Fort William, to +take the oaths of allegiance to the government; and the latter having +furnished him with a letter to Sir Colin Campbell, Sheriff of the county +of Argyll, directed him to repair immediately to Inverary, to make his +submission in a legal manner before that magistrate. But the way +to Inverary lay through almost impassable mountains, the season was +extremely rigorous, and the whole country was covered with a deep snow. +So eager, however, was Macdonald to take the oaths before the limited +time should expire, that, though the road lay within half a mile of +his own house, he stopped not to visit his family, and, after various +obstructions, arrived at Inverary. The time had elapsed, and the sheriff +hesitated to receive his submission; but Macdonald prevailed by +his importunities, and even tears, in inducing that functionary to +administer to him the oath of allegiance, and to certify the cause of +his delay. At this time Sir John Dalrymple, afterwards Earl of Stair, +being in attendance upon William as Secretary of State for Scotland, +took advantage of Macdonald’s neglecting to take the oath within the +time prescribed, and procured from the King a warrant of military +execution against that chief and his whole clan. This was done at the +instigation of the Earl of Breadalbane, whose lands the Glencoe men had +plundered, and whose treachery to government in negotiating with the +Highland clans Macdonald himself had exposed. The King was accordingly +persuaded that Glencoe was the main obstacle to the pacification of the +Highlands; and the fact of the unfortunate chief’s submission having +been concealed, the sanguinary orders for proceeding to military +execution against his clan were in consequence obtained. The warrant was +both signed and countersigned by the King’s own hand, and the Secretary +urged the officers who commanded in the Highlands to execute their +orders with the utmost rigour. Campbell of Glenlyon, a captain in +Argyll’s regiment, and two subalterns, were ordered to repair to Glencoe +on the first of February with a hundred and twenty men. Campbell being +uncle to young Macdonald’s wife, was received by the father with all +manner of friendship and hospitality. The men were lodged at free +quarters in the houses of his tenants, and received the kindest +entertainment. Till the 13th of the month the troops lived in the utmost +harmony and familiarity with the people, and on the very night of the +massacre the officers passed the evening at cards in Macdonald’s house. +In the night Lieutenant Lindsay, with a party of soldiers, called in +a friendly manner at his door, and was instantly admitted. Macdonald, +while in the act of rising to receive his guest, was shot dead through +the back with two bullets. His wife had already dressed; but she was +stripped naked by the soldiers, who tore the rings off her fingers +with their teeth. The slaughter now became general, and neither age +nor infirmity was spared. Some women, in defending their children, were +killed; boys, imploring mercy, were shot dead by officers on whose knees +they hung. In one place nine persons, as they sat enjoying themselves +at table, were butchered by the soldiers. In Inverriggon, Campbell’s own +quarters, nine men were first bound by the soldiers, and then shot +at intervals, one by one. Nearly forty persons were massacred by the +troops, and several who fled to the mountains perished by famine and +the inclemency of the season. Those who escaped owed their lives to a +tempestuous night. Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, who had received the +charge of the execution from Dalrymple, was on his march with four +hundred men, to guard all the passes from the valley of Glencoe; but +he was obliged to stop by the severity of the weather, which proved the +safety of the unfortunate clan. Next day he entered the valley, laid +the houses in ashes, and carried away the cattle and spoil, which were +divided among the officers and soldiers.”--ARTICLE “BRITAIN;” ENCYC. +BRITANNICA--NEW EDITION. + + +Note 10.--FIDELITY OF THE HIGHLANDERS. + +Of the strong, undeviating attachment of the Highlanders to the +person, and their deference to the will or commands of their chiefs +and superiors--their rigid adherence to duty and principle--and their +chivalrous acts of self-devotion to these in the face of danger and +death, there are many instances recorded in General Stewart of Garth’s +interesting Sketches of the Highlanders and Highland Regiments, +which might not inaptly supply parallels to the deeds of the Romans +themselves, at the era when Rome was in her glory. The following +instances of such are worthy of being here quoted:-- + +“In the year 1795 a serious disturbance broke out in Glasgow among the +Breadalbane Fencibles. Several men having been confined and threatened +with corporal punishment, considerable discontent and irritation were +excited among their comrades, which increased to such violence, that, +when some men were confined in the guard-house, a great proportion +of the regiment rushed out and forcibly released the prisoners. +This violation of military discipline was not to be passed over, and +accordingly measures were immediately taken to secure the ringleaders. +But so many were equally concerned, that it was difficult, if not +impossible, to fix the crime on any, as being more prominently guilty. +And here was shown a trait of character worthy of a better cause, and +which originated from a feeling alive to the disgrace of a degrading +punishment. The soldiers being made sensible of the nature of their +misconduct, and the consequent necessity of public example, SEVERAL MEN +VOLUNTARILY OFFERED THEMSELVES TO STAND TRIAL, and suffer the sentence +of the law as an atonement for the whole. These men were accordingly +marched to Edinburgh Castle, tried, and four condemned to be shot. Three +of them were afterwards reprieved, and the fourth, Alexander Sutherland, +was shot on Musselburgh Sands. + +“The following semi-official account of this unfortunate +misunderstanding was published at the time:-- + +“‘During the afternoon of Monday, when a private of the light company of +the Breadalbane Fencibles, who had been confined for a MILITARY +offence, was released by that company, and some other companies, who +had assembled in a tumultuous manner before the guard-house, no person +whatever was hurt, and no violence offered; and however unjustifiable +the proceedings, it originated not from any disrespect or ill-will to +their officers, but from a mistaken point of honour, in a particular +set of men in the battalion, who thought themselves disgraced by the +impending punishment of one of their number. The men have, in every +respect, since that period conducted themselves with the greatest +regularity, and strict subordination. The whole of the battalion seemed +extremely sensible of the improper conduct of such as were concerned, +whatever regret they might feel for the fate of the few individuals who +had so readily given themselves up as prisoners, to be tried for their +own and others’ misconduct.’ + +“On the march to Edinburgh a circumstance occurred, the more worthy of +notice, as it shows a strong principle of honour and fidelity to his +word and to his officer in a common Highland soldier. One of the men +stated to the officer commanding the party, that he knew what his fate +would be, but that he had left business of the utmost importance to a +friend in Glasgow, which he wished to transact before his death; that, +as to himself, he was fully prepared to meet his fate; but with regard +to his friend, he could not die in peace unless the business was +settled, and that, if the officer would suffer him to return to Glasgow, +a few hours there would be sufficient, and he would join him before he +reached Edinburgh, and march as a prisoner with the party. The soldier +added, ‘You have known me since I was a child; you know my country and +kindred; and you may believe I shall never bring you to any blame by +a breach of the promise I now make, to be with you in full time to +be delivered up in the Castle.’ This was a startling proposal to the +officer, who was a judicious, humane man, and knew perfectly his risk +and responsibility in yielding to such an extraordinary application. +However, his confidence was such, that he complied with the request of +the prisoner, who returned to Glasgow at night, settled his business, +and left the town before daylight to redeem his pledge. He took a long +circuit to avoid being seen, apprehended as a deserter, and sent back to +Glasgow, as probably his account of his officer’s indulgence would not +have been credited. In consequence of this caution, and the lengthened +march through woods and over hills by an unfrequented route, there +was no appearance of him at the hour appointed. The perplexity of the +officer when he reached the neighbourhood of Edinburgh may be easily +imagined. He moved forward slowly indeed, but no soldier appeared; and +unable to delay any longer, he marched up to the Castle, and as he +was delivering over the prisoners, but before any report was given in, +Macmartin, the absent soldier, rushed in among his fellow prisoners, all +pale with anxiety and fatigue, and breathless with apprehension of the +consequences in which his delay might have involved his benefactor. + +“In whatever light the conduct of the officer (my respectable friend, +Major Colin Campbell) may be considered, either by military men +or others, in this memorable exemplification of the characteristic +principle of his countrymen, fidelity to their word, it cannot but be +wished that the soldier’s magnanimous self-devotion had been taken as +an atonement for his own misconduct and that of the whole, who also had +made a high sacrifice, in the voluntary offer of their lives for the +conduct of their brother soldiers. Are these a people to be treated as +malefactors, without regard to their feelings and principles? and might +not a discipline, somewhat different from the usual mode, be, with +advantage, applied to them?”--Vol.II. pp.413-15. 3rd Edit. + + +“A soldier of this regiment, (The Argyllshire Highlanders) deserted, +and emigrated to America, where he settled. Several years after his +desertion, a letter was received from him, with a sum of money, for the +purpose of procuring one or two men to supply his place in the regiment, +as the only recompense he could make for ‘breaking his oath to his God +and his allegiance to his King, which preyed on his conscience in such a +manner, that he had no rest night nor day.’ + +“This man had had good principles early instilled into his mind, and the +disgrace which he had been originally taught to believe would attach +to a breach of faith now operated with full effect. The soldier who +deserted from the 42nd Regiment at Gibraltar, in 1797, exhibited the +same remorse of conscience after he had violated his allegiance. In +countries where such principles prevail, and regulate the character of +a people, the mass of the population may, on occasions of trial, be +reckoned on as sound and trustworthy.”--Vol.II., p.218. 3rd Edit. + + +“The late James Menzies of Culdares, having engaged in the rebellion of +1715, and been taken at Preston, in Lancashire, was carried to London, +where he was tried and condemned, but afterwards reprieved. Grateful +for this clemency, he remained at home in 1745, but, retaining a +predilection for the old cause, he sent a handsome charger as a present +to Prince Charles, when advancing through England. The servant who led +and delivered the horse was taken prisoner, and carried to Carlisle, +where he was tried and condemned. To extort a discovery of the person +who sent the horse, threats of immediate execution in case of +refusal, and offers of pardon on his giving information, were held out +ineffectually to the faithful messenger. He knew, he said, what the +consequence of a disclosure would be to his master, and his own life was +nothing in the comparison. When brought out for execution, he was +again pressed to inform on his master. He asked if they were serious in +supposing him such a villain. If he did what they desired, and forgot +his master and his trust, he could not return to his native country, for +Glenlyon would be no home or country for him, as he would be despised +and hunted out of the glen. Accordingly he kept steady to his trust, +and was executed. This trusty servant’s name was John Macnaughton, from +Glenlyon, in Perthshire. He deserves to be mentioned, both on account +of his incorruptible fidelity, and of his testimony to the honourable +principles of the people, and to their detestation of a breach of trust +to a kind and honourable master, however great might be the risk, or +however fatal the consequences, to the individual himself.”--Vol.1., pp. +52,53, 3rd Edit. + + + +NOTE TO THE TWO DROVERS. + +Note 11.--ROBERT DONN’S POEMS. + +I cannot dismiss this story without resting attention for a moment on +the light which has been thrown on the character of the Highland Drover +since the time of its first appearance, by the account of a drover poet, +by name Robert Mackay, or, as he was commonly called, Rob Donn--that +is, Brown Robert--and certain specimens of his talents, published in the +ninetieth number of the Quarterly Review. The picture which that paper +gives of the habits and feelings of a class of persons with which the +general reader would be apt to associate no ideas but those of wild +superstition and rude manners, is in the highest degree interesting, +and I cannot resist the temptation of quoting two of the songs of this +hitherto unheard-of poet of humble life. They are thus introduced by the +reviewer:-- + +“Upon one occasion, it seems, Rob’s attendance upon his master’s cattle +business detained him a whole year from home, and at his return he found +that a fair maiden to whom his troth had been plighted of yore had lost +sight of her vows, and was on the eve of being married to a rival (a +carpenter by trade), who had profited by the young drover’s absence. +The following song was composed during a sleepless night, in the +neighbourhood of Creiff, in Perthshire, and the home sickness which it +expresses appears to be almost as much that of the deer-hunter as of the +loving swain. + + ‘EASY IS MY BED, IT IS EASY, + BUT IT IS NOT TO SLEEP THAT I INCLINE; + THE WIND WHISTLES NORTHWARDS, NORTHWARDS, + AND MY THOUGHTS MOVE WITH IT. + More pleasant were it to be with thee + In the little glen of calves, + Than to be counting of droves + In the enclosures of Creiff. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Great is my esteem of the maiden + Towards whose dwelling the north wind blows; + She is ever cheerful, sportive, kindly, + Without folly, without vanity, without pride. + True is her heart--were I under hiding, + And fifty men in pursuit of my footsteps, + I should find protection, when they surrounded me most + closely, + In the secret recess of that shieling. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Oh for the day for turning my face homeward, + That I may see the maiden of beauty-- + Joyful will it be to me to be with thee, + Fair girl with the long heavy locks! + Choice of all places for deer-hunting + Are the brindled rock and the ridge! + How sweet at evening to be dragging the slain deer + Downwards along the piper’s cairn! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Great is my esteem for the maiden + Who parted from me by the west side of the enclosed field; + Late yet again will she linger in that fold, + Long after the kine are assembled. + It is I myself who have taken no dislike to thee, + Though far away from thee am I now. + It is for the thought of thee that sleep flies from me; + Great is the profit to me of thy parting kiss! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Dear to me are the boundaries of the forest; + Far from Creiff is my heart; + My remembrance is of the hillocks of sheep, + And the heath of many knolls. + Oh for the red-streaked fissures of the rock, + Where in spring time the fawns leap; + Oh for the crags towards which the wind is blowing-- + Cheap would be my bed to be there! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC.’ + +“The following describes Rob’s feelings on the first discovery of his +damsel’s infidelity. The airs of both these pieces are his own, and, the +Highland ladies say, very beautiful. + + ‘Heavy to me is the shieling, and the hum that is in it, + Since the ear that was wont to listen is now no more on the + watch. + Where is Isabel, the courteous, the conversable, a sister in + kindness? + Where is Anne, the slender-browed, the turret-breasted, whose + glossy hair pleased me when yet a boy? + HEICH! WHAT AN HOUR WAS MY RETURNING! + PAIN SUCH AS THAT SUNSET BROUGHT, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL IT? + + ‘I traversed the fold, and upward among the trees-- + Each place, far and near, wherein I was wont to salute my + love. + When I looked down from the crag, and beheld the fair-haired + stranger dallying with his bride, + I wished I had never revisited the glen of my dreams. + SUCH THINGS CAME INTO MY HEART AS THAT SUN WAS GOING DOWN, + A PAIN OF WHICH I SHALL NEVER BE RID, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL + IT? + + ‘Since it has been heard that the carpenter had persuaded thee, + My sleep is disturbed--busy is foolishness within me at + midnight. + The kindness that has been between us, I cannot shake off that + memory in visions; + Thou callest me not to thy side; but love is to me for a + messenger. + THERE IS STRIFE WITHIN ME, AND I TOSS TO BE AT LIBERTY; + AND EVER THE CLOSER IT CLINGS, AND THE DELUSION IS GROWING TO + ME AS A TREE. + + ‘Anne, yellow-haired daughter of Donald, surely thou knowest + not how it is with me-- + That it is old love, unrepaid, which has worn down from me my + strength; + That when far from thee, beyond many mountains, the wound in + my heart was throbbing, + Stirring, and searching for ever, as when I sat beside thee on + the turf. + NOW, THEN, HEAR ME THIS ONCE, IF FOR EVER I AM TO BE WITHOUT + THEE, + MY SPIRIT IS BROKEN--GIVE ME ONE KISS ERE I LEAVE THIS LAND! + + ‘Haughtily and scornfully the maid looked upon me:-- + Never will it be work for thy fingers to unloose the band from + my curls. + Thou hast been absent a twelvemonth, and six were seeking me + diligently; + Was thy superiority so high that there should be no end of + abiding for thee? + HA! HA! HA! HAST THOU AT LAST BECOME SICK? + IS IT LOVE THAT IS TO GIVE DEATH TO THEE? SURELY THE ENEMY + HAS BEEN IN NO HASTE. + + ‘But how shall I hate thee, even though towards me thou hast + become cold? + When my discourse is most angry concerning thy name in thine + absence, + Of sudden thine image, with its old dearness, comes visibly + into my mind, + And a secret voice whispers that love will yet prevail! + AND I BECOME SURETY FOR IT ANEW, DARLING, + AND IT SPRINGS UP AT THAT HOUR LOFTY AS A TOWER.’ + +“Rude and bald as these things appear in a verbal translation, and rough +as they might possibly appear, even were the originals intelligible, we +confess we are disposed to think they would of themselves justify Dr. +Mackay (their Editor) in placing this herdsman-lover among the true sons +of song.”--QUARTERLY REVIEW, NO. XC., JULY 1831. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s Chronicles of the Canongate, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE *** + +***** This file should be named 1828-0.txt or 1828-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/1828/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/1828-0.zip b/1828-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d08e613 --- /dev/null +++ b/1828-0.zip diff --git a/1828-h.zip b/1828-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d9999f --- /dev/null +++ b/1828-h.zip diff --git a/1828-h/1828-h.htm b/1828-h/1828-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f524a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/1828-h/1828-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9917 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Chronicles of the Canongate, by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's Chronicles of the Canongate, 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: Chronicles of the Canongate + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Release Date: November 18, 2009 [EBook #1828] +Last Updated: August 31, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + </h2> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + Transcriber’s Note: Footnotes and references to the notes at the end of + the printed book have been inserted in the etext in square brackets + close to the place where they were indicated by a suffix in the original + text. The notes at the end are now numbered instead of using pages to + identify them as was done in the printed text. + </p> + <p> + Text in italics has been written in capital letters. + </p> + <p> + The Pound Sterling symbol has been written as “L”. + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_INTR1"> INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_INTR2"> INTRODUCTION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPE"> APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> <b>CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE—INTRODUCTORY</b>. + </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. MR. CHRYSTAL CROFTANGRY’S ACCOUNT OF + HIMSELF. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. IN WHICH MR. CROFTANGRY CONTINUES + HIS STORY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. MR. CROFTANGRY, INTER ALIA, + REVISITS GLENTANNER. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. MR. CROFTANGRY BIDS ADIEU TO + CLYDESDALE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. MR. CROFTANGRY SETTLES IN THE + CANONGATE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. MR. CROFTANGRY’S ACCOUNT OF MRS. + BETHUNE BALIOL. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. MRS. BALIOL ASSISTS MR. CROFTANGRY + IN HIS LITERARY </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> <b>THE HIGHLAND WIDOW</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> <b>THE TWO DROVERS.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE1"> NOTES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE2"> NOTES TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE3"> NOTES TO THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR1" id="link2H_INTR1"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + </h2> + <p> + The preceding volume of this Collection concluded the last of the pieces + originally published under the NOMINIS UMBRA of The Author of Waverley; + and the circumstances which rendered it impossible for the writer to + continue longer in the possession of his incognito were communicated in + 1827, in the Introduction to the first series of Chronicles of the + Canongate, consisting (besides a biographical sketch of the imaginary + chronicler) of three tales, entitled “The Highland Widow,” “The Two + Drovers,” and “The Surgeon’s Daughter.” In the present volume the two + first named of these pieces are included, together with three detached + stories which appeared the year after, in the elegant compilation called + “The Keepsake.” “The Surgeon’s Daughter” it is thought better to defer + until a succeeding volume, than to + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Begin, and break off in the middle.” + </pre> + <p> + I have, perhaps, said enough on former occasions of the misfortunes which + led to the dropping of that mask under which I had, for a long series of + years, enjoyed so large a portion of public favour. Through the success of + those literary efforts, I had been enabled to indulge most of the tastes + which a retired person of my station might be supposed to entertain. In + the pen of this nameless romancer, I seemed to possess something like the + secret fountain of coined gold and pearls vouchsafed to the traveller of + the Eastern Tale; and no doubt believed that I might venture, without + silly imprudence, to extend my personal expenditure considerably beyond + what I should have thought of, had my means been limited to the competence + which I derived from inheritance, with the moderate income of a + professional situation. I bought, and built, and planted, and was + considered by myself, as by the rest of the world, in the safe possession + of an easy fortune. My riches, however, like the other riches of this + world, were liable to accidents, under which they were ultimately destined + to make unto themselves wings, and fly away. The year 1825, so disastrous + to many branches of industry and commerce, did not spare the market of + literature; and the sudden ruin that fell on so many of the booksellers + could scarcely have been expected to leave unscathed one whose career had + of necessity connected him deeply and extensively with the pecuniary + transactions of that profession. In a word, almost without one note of + premonition, I found myself involved in the sweeping catastrophe of the + unhappy time, and called on to meet the demands of creditors upon + commercial establishments with which my fortunes had long been bound up, + to the extent of no less a sum than one hundred and twenty thousand + pounds. + </p> + <p> + The author having, however rashly, committed his pledges thus largely to + the hazards of trading companies, it behoved him, of course, to abide the + consequences of his conduct, and, with whatever feelings, he surrendered + on the instant every shred of property which he had been accustomed to + call his own. It became vested in the hands of gentlemen whose integrity, + prudence, and intelligence were combined with all possible liberality and + kindness of disposition, and who readily afforded every assistance towards + the execution of plans, in the success of which the author contemplated + the possibility of his ultimate extrication, and which were of such a + nature that, had assistance of this sort been withheld, he could have had + little prospect of carrying them into effect. Among other resources which + occurred was the project of that complete and corrected edition of his + Novels and Romances (whose real parentage had of necessity been disclosed + at the moment of the commercial convulsions alluded to), which has now + advanced with unprecedented favour nearly to its close; but as he purposed + also to continue, for the behoof of those to whom he was indebted, the + exercise of his pen in the same path of literature, so long as the taste + of his countrymen should seem to approve of his efforts, it appeared to + him that it would have been an idle piece of affectation to attempt + getting up a new incognito, after his original visor had been thus dashed + from his brow. Hence the personal narrative prefixed to the first work of + fiction which he put forth after the paternity of the “Waverley Novels” + had come to be publicly ascertained; and though many of the particulars + originally avowed in that Notice have been unavoidably adverted to in the + Prefaces and Notes to some of the preceding volumes of the present + collection, it is now reprinted as it stood at the time, because some + interest is generally attached to a coin or medal struck on a special + occasion, as expressing, perhaps, more faithfully than the same artist + could have afterwards conveyed, the feelings of the moment that gave it + birth. The Introduction to the first series of Chronicles of the Canongate + ran, then, in these words:— + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_INTR2" id="link2H_INTR2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION. + </h2> + <p> + All who are acquainted with the early history of the Italian stage are + aware that Arlecchino is not, in his original conception, a mere worker of + marvels with his wooden sword, a jumper in and out of windows, as upon our + theatre, but, as his party-coloured jacket implies, a buffoon or clown, + whose mouth, far from being eternally closed, as amongst us, is filled, + like that of Touchstone, with quips, and cranks, and witty devices, very + often delivered extempore. It is not easy to trace how he became possessed + of his black vizard, which was anciently made in the resemblance of the + face of a cat; but it seems that the mask was essential to the performance + of the character, as will appear from the following theatrical anecdote:— + </p> + <p> + An actor on the Italian stage permitted at the Foire du St. Germain, in + Paris, was renowned for the wild, venturous, and extravagant wit, the + brilliant sallies and fortunate repartees, with which he prodigally + seasoned the character of the party-coloured jester. Some critics, whose + good-will towards a favourite performer was stronger than their judgment, + took occasion to remonstrate with the successful actor on the subject of + the grotesque vizard. They went wilily to their purpose, observing that + his classical and Attic wit, his delicate vein of humour, his happy turn + for dialogue, were rendered burlesque and ludicrous by this unmeaning and + bizarre disguise, and that those attributes would become far more + impressive if aided by the spirit of his eye and the expression of his + natural features. The actor’s vanity was easily so far engaged as to + induce him to make the experiment. He played Harlequin barefaced, but was + considered on all hands as having made a total failure. He had lost the + audacity which a sense of incognito bestowed, and with it all the reckless + play of raillery which gave vivacity to his original acting. He cursed his + advisers, and resumed his grotesque vizard, but, it is said, without ever + being able to regain the careless and successful levity which the + consciousness of the disguise had formerly bestowed. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the Author of Waverley is now about to incur a risk of the same + kind, and endanger his popularity by having laid aside his incognito. It + is certainly not a voluntary experiment, like that of Harlequin; for it + was my original intention never to have avowed these works during my + lifetime, and the original manuscripts were carefully preserved (though by + the care of others rather than mine), with the purpose of supplying the + necessary evidence of the truth when the period of announcing it should + arrive. [These manuscripts are at present (August 1831) advertised for + public sale, which is an addition, though a small one, to other + annoyances.] But the affairs of my publishers having, unfortunately, + passed into a management different from their own, I had no right any + longer to rely upon secrecy in that quarter; and thus my mask, like my + Aunt Dinah’s in “Tristram Shandy,” having begun to wax a little threadbare + about the chin, it became time to lay it aside with a good grace, unless I + desired it should fall in pieces from my face, which was now become + likely. + </p> + <p> + Yet I had not the slightest intention of selecting the time and place in + which the disclosure was finally made; nor was there any concert betwixt + my learned and respected friend LORD MEADOWBANK and myself upon that + occasion. It was, as the reader is probably aware, upon the 23rd February + last, at a public meeting, called for establishing a professional + Theatrical Fund in Edinburgh, that the communication took place. Just + before we sat down to table, Lord Meadowbank [One of the Supreme Judges of + Scotland, termed Lords of Council and Session.] asked me privately whether + I was still anxious to preserve my incognito on the subject of what were + called the Waverley Novels? I did not immediately see the purpose of his + lordship’s question, although I certainly might have been led to infer it, + and replied that the secret had now of necessity become known to so many + people that I was indifferent on the subject. Lord Meadowbank was thus + induced, while doing me the great honour of proposing my health to the + meeting, to say something on the subject of these Novels so strongly + connecting them with me as the author, that by remaining silent I must + have stood convicted, either of the actual paternity, or of the still + greater crime of being supposed willing to receive indirectly praise to + which I had no just title. I thus found myself suddenly and unexpectedly + placed in the confessional, and had only time to recollect that I had been + guided thither by a most friendly hand, and could not, perhaps, find a + better public opportunity to lay down a disguise which began to resemble + that of a detected masquerader. + </p> + <p> + I had therefore the task of avowing myself, to the numerous and + respectable company assembled, as the sole and unaided author of these + Novels of Waverley, the paternity of which was likely at one time to have + formed a controversy of some celebrity, for the ingenuity with which some + instructors of the public gave their assurance on the subject was + extremely persevering. I now think it further necessary to say that, while + I take on myself all the merits and demerits attending these compositions, + I am bound to acknowledge with gratitude hints of subjects and legends + which I have received from various quarters, and have occasionally used as + a foundation of my fictitious compositions, or woven up with them in the + shape of episodes. I am bound, in particular, to acknowledge the + unremitting kindness of Mr. Joseph Train, supervisor of excise at + Dumfries, to whose unwearied industry I have been indebted for many + curious traditions and points of antiquarian interest. It was Mr. Train + who brought to my recollection the history of Old Mortality, although I + myself had had a personal interview with that celebrated wanderer so far + back as about 1792, when I found him on his usual task. He was then + engaged in repairing the Gravestones of the Covenanters who had died while + imprisoned in the Castle of Dunnottar, to which many of them were + committed prisoners at the period of Argyle’s rising. Their place of + confinement is still called the Whigs’ Vault. Mr. Train, however, procured + for me far more extensive information concerning this singular person, + whose name was Patterson, than I had been able to acquire during my own + short conversation with him. [See, for some further particulars, the notes + to Old Mortality, in the present collective edition.] He was (as I think I + have somewhere already stated) a native of the parish of Closeburn, in + Dumfriesshire; and it is believed that domestic affliction, as well as + devotional feeling, induced him to commence the wandering mode of life + which he pursued for a very long period. It is more than twenty years + since Robert Patterson’s death, which took place on the highroad near + Lockerby, where he was found exhausted and expiring. The white pony, the + companion of his pilgrimage, was standing by the side of its dying master + the whole furnishing a scene not unfitted for the pencil. These + particulars I had from Mr. Train. + </p> + <p> + Another debt, which I pay most willingly, I owe to an unknown + correspondent (a lady), [The late Mrs. Goldie.] who favoured me with the + history of the upright and high-principled female, whom, in the Heart of + Mid-Lothian, I have termed Jeanie Deans. The circumstance of her refusing + to save her sister’s life by an act of perjury, and undertaking a + pilgrimage to London to obtain her pardon, are both represented as true by + my fair and obliging correspondent; and they led me to consider the + possibility of rendering a fictitious personage interesting by mere + dignity of mind and rectitude of principle, assisted by unpretending good + sense and temper, without any of the beauty, grace, talent, + accomplishment, and wit to which a heroine of romance is supposed to have + a prescriptive right. If the portrait was received with interest by the + public, I am conscious how much it was owing to the truth and force of the + original sketch, which I regret that I am unable to present to the public, + as it was written with much feeling and spirit. + </p> + <p> + Old and odd books, and a considerable collection of family legends, formed + another quarry, so ample that it was much more likely that the strength of + the labourer should be exhausted than that materials should fail. I may + mention, for example’s sake, that the terrible catastrophe of the Bride of + Lammermoor actually occurred in a Scottish family of rank. The female + relative, by whom the melancholy tale was communicated to me many years + since, was a near connection of the family in which the event happened, + and always told it with an appearance of melancholy mystery which enhanced + the interest. She had known in her youth the brother who rode before the + unhappy victim to the fatal altar, who, though then a mere boy, and + occupied almost entirely with the gaiety of his own appearance in the + bridal procession, could not but remark that the hand of his sister was + moist, and cold as that of a statue. It is unnecessary further to withdraw + the veil from this scene of family distress, nor, although it occurred + more than a hundred years since, might it be altogether agreeable to the + representatives of the families concerned in the narrative. It may be + proper to say that the events alone are imitated; but I had neither the + means nor intention of copying the manners, or tracing the characters, of + the persons concerned in the real story. Indeed, I may here state + generally that, although I have deemed historical personages free subjects + of delineation, I have never on any occasion violated the respect due to + private life. It was indeed impossible that traits proper to persons, both + living and dead, with whom I have had intercourse in society, should not + have risen to my pen in such works as Waverley, and those which followed + it. But I have always studied to generalize the portraits, so that they + should still seem, on the whole, the productions of fancy, though + possessing some resemblance to real individuals. Yet I must own my + attempts have not in this last particular been uniformly successful. There + are men whose characters are so peculiarly marked, that the delineation of + some leading and principal feature inevitably places the whole person + before you in his individuality. Thus, the character of Jonathan Oldbuck, + in the Antiquary, was partly founded on that of an old friend of my youth, + to whom I am indebted for introducing me to Shakespeare, and other + invaluable favours; but I thought I had so completely disguised the + likeness that his features could not be recognized by any one now alive. I + was mistaken, however, and indeed had endangered what I desired should be + considered as a secret; for I afterwards learned that a highly-respectable + gentleman, one of the few surviving friends of my father, and an acute + critic, [James Chalmers, Esq., Solicitor at Law, London, who (died during + the publication of the present edition of these Novels. Aug. 1831.)] had + said, upon the appearance of the work, that he was now convinced who was + the author of it, as he recognized in the Antiquary of Monkbarns traces of + the character of a very intimate friend of my father’s family. + </p> + <p> + I may here also notice that the sort of exchange of gallantry which is + represented as taking place betwixt the Baron of Bradwardine and Colonel + Talbot, is a literal fact. The real circumstances of the anecdote, alike + honourable to Whig and Tory, are these:— + </p> + <p> + Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle—a name which I cannot write without + the warmest recollections of gratitude to the friend of my childhood, who + first introduced me to the Highlands, their traditions, and their manners—had + been engaged actively in the troubles of 1745. As he charged at the battle + of Preston with his clan, the Stewarts of Appin, he saw an officer of the + opposite army standing alone by a battery of four cannon, of which he + discharged three on the advancing Highlanders, and then drew his sword. + Invernahyle rushed on him, and required him to surrender. “Never to + rebels!” was the undaunted reply, accompanied with a lunge, which the + Highlander received on his target, but instead of using his sword in + cutting down his now defenceless antagonist, he employed it in parrying + the blow of a Lochaber axe aimed at the officer by the Miller, one of his + own followers, a grim-looking old Highlander, whom I remember to have + seen. Thus overpowered, Lieutenant-Colonel Allan Whitefoord, a gentleman + of rank and consequence, as well as a brave officer, gave up his sword, + and with it his purse and watch, which Invernahyle accepted, to save them + from his followers. After the affair was over, Mr. Stewart sought out his + prisoner, and they were introduced to each other by the celebrated John + Roy Stewart, who acquainted Colonel Whitefoord with the quality of his + captor, and made him aware of the necessity of receiving back his + property, which he was inclined to leave in the hands into which it had + fallen. So great became the confidence established betwixt them, that + Invernahyle obtained from the Chevalier his prisoner’s freedom upon + parole; and soon afterwards, having been sent back to the Highlands to + raise men, he visited Colonel Whitefoord at his own house, and spent two + happy days with him and his Whig friends, without thinking on either side + of the civil war which was then raging. + </p> + <p> + When the battle of Culloden put an end to the hopes of Charles Edward, + Invernahyle, wounded and unable to move, was borne from the field by the + faithful zeal of his retainers. But as he had been a distinguished + Jacobite, his family and property were exposed to the system of vindictive + destruction too generally carried into execution through the country of + the insurgents. It was now Colonel Whitefoord’s turn to exert himself, and + he wearied all the authorities, civil and military, with his solicitations + for pardon to the saver of his life, or at least for a protection for his + wife and family. His applications were for a long time unsuccessful. “I + was found with the mark of the Beast upon me in every list,” was + Invernahyle’s expression. At length Colonel Whitefoord applied to the Duke + of Cumberland, and urged his suit with every argument which he could think + of, being still repulsed, he took his commission from his bosom, and + having said something of his own and his family’s exertions in the cause + of the House of Hanover, begged to resign his situation in their service, + since he could not be permitted to show his gratitude to the person to + whom he owed his life. The duke, struck with his earnestness, desired him + to take up his commission, and granted the protection required for the + family of Invernahyle. + </p> + <p> + The chieftain himself lay concealed in a cave near his own house, before + which a small body of regular soldiers were encamped. He could hear their + muster-roll called every morning, and their drums beat to quarters at + night, and not a change of the sentinels escaped him. As it was suspected + that he was lurking somewhere on the property, his family were closely + watched, and compelled to use the utmost precaution in supplying him with + food. One of his daughters, a child of eight or ten years old, was + employed as the agent least likely to be suspected. She was an instance, + among others, that a time of danger and difficulty creates a premature + sharpness of intellect. She made herself acquainted among the soldiers, + till she became so familiar to them that her motions escaped their notice; + and her practice was to stroll away into the neighbourhood of the cave, + and leave what slender supply of food she carried for that purpose under + some remarkable stone, or the root of some tree, where her father might + find it as he crept by night from his lurking-place. Times became milder, + and my excellent friend was relieved from proscription by the Act of + Indemnity. Such is the interesting story which I have rather injured than + improved by the manner in which it is told in Waverley. + </p> + <p> + This incident, with several other circumstances illustrating the Tales in + question, was communicated by me to my late lamented friend, William + Erskine (a Scottish judge, by the title of Lord Kinedder), who afterwards + reviewed with far too much partiality the Tales of my Landlord, for the + Quarterly Review of January 1817. [Lord Kinedder died in August 1822. + EHEU! (Aug. 1831.)] In the same article are contained other illustrations + of the Novels, with which I supplied my accomplished friend, who took the + trouble to write the review. The reader who is desirous of such + information will find the original of Meg Merrilies, and, I believe, of + one or two other personages of the same cast of character, in the article + referred to. + </p> + <p> + I may also mention that the tragic and savage circumstances which are + represented as preceding the birth of Allan MacAulay in the Legend of + Montrose, really happened in the family of Stewart of Ardvoirlich. The + wager about the candlesticks, whose place was supplied by Highland + torch-bearers, was laid and won by one of the MacDonalds of Keppoch. + </p> + <p> + There can be but little amusement in winnowing out the few grains of truth + which are contained in this mass of empty fiction. I may, however, before + dismissing the subject, allude to the various localities which have been + affixed to some of the scenery introduced into these Novels, by which, for + example, Wolf’s Hope is identified with Fast Castle in Berwickshire, + Tillietudlem with Draphane in Clydesdale, and the valley in the Monastery, + called Glendearg, with the dale of the river Allan, above Lord + Somerville’s villa, near Melrose. I can only say that, in these and other + instances, I had no purpose of describing any particular local spot; and + the resemblance must therefore be of that general kind which necessarily + exists between scenes of the same character. The iron-bound coast of + Scotland affords upon its headlands and promontories fifty such castles as + Wolf’s Hope; every county has a valley more or less resembling Glendearg; + and if castles like Tillietudlem, or mansions like the Baron of + Bradwardine’s, are now less frequently to be met with, it is owing to the + rage of indiscriminate destruction, which has removed or ruined so many + monuments of antiquity, when they were not protected by their inaccessible + situation. [I would particularly intimate the Kaim of Uric, on the eastern + coast of Scotland, as having suggested an idea for the tower called Wolf’s + Crag, which the public more generally identified with the ancient tower of + Fast Castle.] + </p> + <p> + The scraps of poetry which have been in most cases tacked to the beginning + of chapters in these Novels are sometimes quoted either from reading or + from memory, but, in the general case, are pure invention. I found it too + troublesome to turn to the collection of the British Poets to discover + apposite mottoes, and, in the situation of the theatrical mechanist, who, + when the white paper which represented his shower of snow was exhausted, + continued the storm by snowing brown, I drew on my memory as long as I + could, and when that failed, eked it out with invention. I believe that in + some cases, where actual names are affixed to the supposed quotations, it + would be to little purpose to seek them in the works of the authors + referred to. In some cases I have been entertained when Dr. Watts and + other graver authors have been ransacked in vain for stanzas for which the + novelist alone was responsible. + </p> + <p> + And now the reader may expect me, while in the confessional, to explain + the motives why I have so long persisted in disclaiming the works of which + I am now writing. To this it would be difficult to give any other reply, + save that of Corporal Nym—it was the author’s humour or caprice for + the time. I hope it will not be construed into ingratitude to the public, + to whose indulgence I have owed my SANG-FROID much more than to any merit + of my own, if I confess that I am, and have been, more indifferent to + success or to failure as an author, than may be the case with others, who + feel more strongly the passion for literary fame, probably because they + are justly conscious of a better title to it. It was not until I had + attained the age of thirty years that I made any serious attempt at + distinguishing myself as an author; and at that period men’s hopes, + desires, and wishes have usually acquired something of a decisive + character, and are not eagerly and easily diverted into a new channel. + When I made the discovery—for to me it was one—that by amusing + myself with composition, which I felt a delightful occupation, I could + also give pleasure to others, and became aware that literary pursuits were + likely to engage in future a considerable portion of my time, I felt some + alarm that I might acquire those habits of jealousy and fretfulness which + have lessened, and even degraded, the character even of great authors, and + rendered them, by their petty squabbles and mutual irritability, the + laughing-stock of the people of the world. I resolved, therefore, in this + respect to guard my breast—perhaps an unfriendly critic may add, my + brow—with triple brass, [Not altogether impossible, when it is + considered that I have been at the bar since 1792. (Aug. 1831.)] and as + much as possible to avoid resting my thoughts and wishes upon literary + success, lest I should endanger my own peace of mind and tranquillity by + literary failure. It would argue either stupid apathy or ridiculous + affectation to say that I have been insensible to the public applause, + when I have been honoured with its testimonies; and still more highly do I + prize the invaluable friendships which some temporary popularity has + enabled me to form among those of my contemporaries most distinguished by + talents and genius, and which I venture to hope now rest upon a basis more + firm than the circumstances which gave rise to them. Yet, feeling all + these advantages as a man ought to do, and must do, I may say, with truth + and confidence, that I have, I think, tasted of the intoxicating cup with + moderation, and that I have never, either in conversation or + correspondence, encouraged discussions respecting my own literary + pursuits. On the contrary, I have usually found such topics, even when + introduced from motives most flattering to myself, Rather embarrassing and + disagreeable. + </p> + <p> + I have now frankly told my motives for concealment, so far as I am + conscious of having any, and the public will forgive the egotism of the + detail, as what is necessarily connected with it. The author, so long and + loudly called for, has appeared on the stage, and made his obeisance to + the audience. Thus far his conduct is a mark of respect. To linger in + their presence would be intrusion. + </p> + <p> + I have only to repeat that I avow myself in print, as formerly in words, + the sole and unassisted author of all the Novels published as works of + “The Author of Waverley.” I do this without shame, for I am unconscious + that there is any thing in their composition which deserves reproach, + either on the score of religion or morality; and without any feeling of + exultation, because, whatever may have been their temporary success, I am + well aware how much their reputation depends upon the caprice of fashion; + and I have already mentioned the precarious tenure by which it is held, as + a reason for displaying no great avidity in grasping at the possession. + </p> + <p> + I ought to mention, before concluding, that twenty persons, at least, + were, either from intimacy, or from the confidence which circumstances + rendered necessary, participant of this secret; and as there was no + instance, to my knowledge, of any one of the number breaking faith, I am + the more obliged to them, because the slight and trivial character of the + mystery was not qualified to inspire much respect in those entrusted with + it. Nevertheless, like Jack the Giant-Killer, I was fully confident in the + advantage of my “Coat of Darkness;” and had it not been from compulsory + circumstances, I would have, indeed, been very cautious how I parted with + it. + </p> + <p> + As for the work which follows, it was meditated, and in part printed, long + before the avowal of the novels took place, and originally commenced with + a declaration that it was neither to have introduction nor preface of any + kind. This long proem, prefixed to a work intended not to have any, may, + however, serve to show how human purposes in the most trifling, as well as + the most important affairs, are liable to be controlled by the course of + events. Thus we begin to cross a strong river with our eyes and our + resolution fixed on that point of the opposite shore on which we purpose + to land; but gradually giving way to the torrent, are glad, by the aid + perhaps of branch or bush, to extricate ourselves at some distant and + perhaps dangerous landing-place, much farther down the stream than that on + which we had fixed our intentions. + </p> + <p> + Hoping that the Courteous Reader will afford to a known and familiar + acquaintance some portion of the favour which he extended to a disguised + candidate for his applause, I beg leave to subscribe myself his obliged + humble servant, + </p> + <p> + WALTER SCOTT. ABBOTSFORD, OCTOBER 1, 1827. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Such was the little narrative which I thought proper to put forth in + October 1827; nor have I much to add to it now. About to appear for the + first time in my own name in this department of letters, it occurred to me + that something in the shape of a periodical publication might carry with + it a certain air of novelty, and I was willing to break, if I may so + express it, the abruptness of my personal forthcoming, by investing an + imaginary coadjutor with at least as much distinctness of individual + existence as I had ever previously thought it worth while to bestow on + shadows of the same convenient tribe. Of course, it had never been in my + contemplation to invite the assistance of any real person in the + sustaining of my quasi-editorial character and labours. It had long been + my opinion, that any thing like a literary PICNIC is likely to end in + suggesting comparisons, justly termed odious, and therefore to be avoided; + and, indeed, I had also had some occasion to know, that promises of + assistance, in efforts of that order, are apt to be more magnificent than + the subsequent performance. I therefore planned a Miscellany, to be + dependent, after the old fashion, on my own resources alone, and although + conscious enough that the moment which assigned to the Author of Waverley + “a local habitation and a name,” had seriously endangered his spell, I + felt inclined to adopt the sentiment of my old hero Montrose, and to say + to myself, that in literature, as in war,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch, + To win or lose it all.” + </pre> + <p> + To the particulars explanatory of the plan of these Chronicles, which the + reader is presented with in Chapter II. by the imaginary Editor, Mr. + Croftangry, I have now to add, that the lady, termed in his narrative, + Mrs. Bethune Balliol, was designed to shadow out in its leading points the + interesting character of a dear friend of mine, Mrs. Murray Keith, whose + death occurring shortly before, had saddened a wide circle, much attached + to her, as well for her genuine virtue and amiable qualities of + disposition, as for the extent of information which she possessed, and the + delightful manner in which she was used to communicate it. In truth, the + author had, on many occasions, been indebted to her vivid memory for the + SUBSTRATUM of his Scottish fictions, and she accordingly had been, from an + early period, at no loss to fix the Waverley Novels on the right culprit. + </p> + <p> + [The Keiths of Craig, in Kincardineshire, descended from John Keith, + fourth son of William, second Earl Marischal, who got from his father, + about 1480, the lands of Craig, and part of Garvock, in that county. In + Douglas’s Baronage, 443 to 445, is a pedigree of that family. Colonel + Robert Keith of Craig (the seventh in descent from John) by his wife, + Agnes, daughter of Robert Murray of Murrayshall, of the family of + Blackbarony, widow of Colonel Stirling, of the family of Keir, had one son—namely + Robert Keith of Craig, ambassador to the court of Vienna, afterwards to + St. Petersburgh, which latter situation he held at the accession of King + George III.—who died at Edinburgh in 1774. He married Margaret, + second daughter of Sir William Cunningham of Caprington, by Janet, only + child and heiress of Sir James Dick of Prestonfield; and, among other + children of this marriage were the late well-known diplomatist, Sir Robert + Murray Keith, K.B., a general in the army, and for some time ambassador at + Vienna; Sir Basil Keith, Knight, captain in the navy, who died Governor of + Jamaica; and my excellent friend, Anne Murray Keith, who ultimately came + into possession of the family estates, and died not long before the date + of this Introduction (1831).] + </p> + <p> + In the sketch of Chrystal Croftangry’s own history, the author has been + accused of introducing some not polite allusions to respectable living + individuals; but he may safely, he presumes, pass over such an + insinuation. The first of the narratives which Mr. Croftangry proceeds to + lay before the public, “The Highland Widow,” was derived from Mrs. Murray + Keith, and is given, with the exception of a few additional circumstances—the + introduction of which I am rather inclined to regret—very much as + the excellent old lady used to tell the story. Neither the Highland + cicerone Macturk nor the demure washingwoman, were drawn from imagination; + and on re-reading my tale, after the lapse of a few years, and comparing + its effect with my remembrance of my worthy friend’s oral narration, which + was certainly extremely affecting, I cannot but suspect myself of having + marred its simplicity by some of those interpolations, which, at the time + when I penned them, no doubt passed with myself for embellishments. + </p> + <p> + The next tale, entitled “The Two Drovers,” I learned from another old + friend, the late George Constable, Esq. of Wallace-Craigie, near Dundee, + whom I have already introduced to my reader as the original Antiquary of + Monkbarns. He had been present, I think, at the trial at Carlisle, and + seldom mentioned the venerable judges charge to the jury, without shedding + tears,—which had peculiar pathos, as flowing down features, carrying + rather a sarcastic or almost a cynical expression. + </p> + <p> + This worthy gentleman’s reputation for shrewd Scottish sense, knowledge of + our national antiquities, and a racy humour peculiar to himself, must be + still remembered. For myself, I have pride in recording that for many + years we were, in Wordsworth’s language,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “A pair of friends, though I was young, + And ‘George’ was seventy-two.” + </pre> + <p> + W. S. ABBOTSFORD, AUG. 15, 1831. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPE" id="link2H_APPE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION. + </h2> + <p> + [It has been suggested to the Author that it might be well to reprint here + a detailed account of the public dinner alluded to in the foregoing + Introduction, as given in the newspapers of the time; and the reader is + accordingly presented with the following extract from the EDINBURGH WEEKLY + JOURNAL for Wednesday, 28th February, 1827.] + </p> + <p> + THE THEATRICAL FUND DINNER. + </p> + <p> + Before proceeding with our account of this very interesting festival—for + so it may be termed—it is our duty to present to our readers the + following letter, which we have received from the President:— + </p> + <p> + TO THE EDITOR OF THE “EDINBURGH WEEKLY JOURNAL.” + </p> + <p> + Sir,—I am extremely sorry I have not leisure to correct the copy you + sent me of what I am stated to have said at the dinner for the Theatrical + Fund. I am no orator, and upon such occasions as are alluded to, I say as + well as I can what the time requires. + </p> + <p> + However, I hope your reporter has been more accurate in other instances + than in mine. I have corrected one passage, in which I am made to speak + with great impropriety and petulance, respecting the opinions of those who + do not approve of dramatic entertainments. I have restored what I said, + which was meant to be respectful, as every objection founded in conscience + is, in my opinion, entitled to be so treated. Other errors I left as I + found them, it being of little consequence whether I spoke sense or + nonsense in what was merely intended for the purpose of the hour. + </p> + <p> + I am, sir, + </p> + <p> + Your obedient servant, + </p> + <p> + EDINBURGH, MONDAY. WALTER SCOTT. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The Theatrical Fund Dinner, which took place on Friday, in the Assembly + Rooms, was conducted with admirable spirit. The Chairman, Sir WALTER + SCOTT, among his other great qualifications, is well fitted to enliven + such an entertainment. His manners are extremely easy, and his style of + speaking simple and natural, yet full of vivacity and point; and he has + the art, if it be art, of relaxing into a certain homeliness of manner, + without losing one particle of his dignity. He thus takes off some of that + solemn formality which belongs to such meetings, and, by his easy, and + graceful familiarity, imparts to them somewhat of the pleasing character + of a private entertainment. Near Sir W. Scott sat the Earl of Fife, Lord + Meadowbank, Sir John Hope of Pinkie, Bart., Admiral Adam, Baron Clerk + Rattray, Gilbert Innes, Esq., James Walker, Esq., Robert Dundas, Esq., + Alexander Smith, Esq., etc. + </p> + <p> + The cloth being removed, “Non nobis, Domine,” was sung by Messrs. Thorne, + Swift, Collier, and Hartley, after which the following toasts were given + from the chair:— + </p> + <p> + “The King”—all the honours. + </p> + <p> + “The Duke of Clarence and the Royal Family.” + </p> + <p> + The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the next toast, which he wished to be drunk in + solemn silence, said it was to the memory of a regretted-prince, whom we + had lately lost. Every individual would at once conjecture to whom he + alluded. He had no intention to dwell on his military merits. They had + been told in the senate; they had been repeated in the cottage; and + whenever a soldier was the theme, his name was never far distant. But it + was chiefly in connection with the business of this meeting, which his + late Royal Highness had condescended in a particular manner to patronize, + that they were called on to drink his health. To that charity he had often + sacrificed his time, and had given up the little leisure which he had from + important business. He was always ready to attend on every occasion of + this kind, and it was in that view that he proposed to drink to the memory + of his late Royal Highness the Duke of York.—Drunk in solemn + silence. + </p> + <p> + The CHAIRMAN then requested that gentlemen would fill a bumper as full as + it would hold, while he would say only a few words. He was in the habit of + hearing speeches, and he knew the feeling with which long ones were + regarded. He was sure that it was perfectly unnecessary for him to enter + into any vindication of the dramatic art, which they had come here to + support. This, however, he considered to be the proper time and proper + occasion for him to say a few words on that love of representation which + was an innate feeling in human nature. It was the first amusement that the + child had. It grew greater as he grew up; and even in the decline of life + nothing amuses so much as when a common tale is told with appropriate + personification. The first thing a child does is to ape his schoolmaster + by flogging a chair. The assuming a character ourselves, or the seeing + others assume an imaginary character, is an enjoyment natural to humanity. + It was implanted in our very nature to take pleasure from such + representations, at proper times and on proper occasions. In all ages the + theatrical art had kept pace with the improvement of mankind, and with the + progress of letters and the fine arts. As man has advanced from the ruder + stages of society, the love of dramatic representations has increased, and + all works of this nature have keen improved in character and in structure. + They had only to turn their eyes to the history of ancient Greece, + although he did not pretend to be very deeply versed in its ancient drama. + Its first tragic poet commanded a body of troops at the battle of + Marathon. Sophocles and Euripides were men of rank in Athens when Athens + was in its highest renown. They shook Athens with their discourses, as + their theatrical works shook the theatre itself. If they turned to France + in the time of Louis the Fourteenth—that era which is the classical + history of that country—they would find that it was referred to by + all Frenchmen as the golden age of the drama there. And also in England in + the time of Queen Elizabeth the drama was at its highest pitch, when the + nation began to mingle deeply and wisely in the general politics of + Europe, not only not receiving laws from others, but giving laws to the + world, and vindicating the rights of mankind. (Cheers.) There have been + various times when the dramatic art subsequently fell into disrepute. Its + professors have been stigmatized, and laws have been passed against them, + less dishonourable to them than to the statesmen by whom they were + proposed, and to the legislators by whom they were adopted. What were the + times in which these laws were passed? Was it not when virtue was seldom + inculcated as a moral duty that we were required to relinquish the most + rational of all our amusements, when the clergy were enjoined celibacy, + and when the laity were denied the right to read their Bibles? He thought + that it must have been from a notion of penance that they erected the + drama into an ideal place of profaneness, and spoke of the theatre as of + the tents of sin. He did not mean to dispute that there were many + excellent persons who thought differently from him, and he disclaimed the + slightest idea of charging them with bigotry or hypocrisy on that account. + He gave them full credit for their tender consciences, in making these + objections, although they did not appear relevant to him. But to these + persons, being, as he believed them, men of worth and piety, he was sure + the purpose of this meeting would furnish some apology for an error, if + there be any, in the opinions of those who attend. They would approve the + gift, although they might differ in other points. Such might not approve + of going to the theatre, but at least could not deny that they might give + away from their superfluity what was required for the relief of the sick, + the support of the aged, and the comfort of the afflicted. These were + duties enjoined by our religion itself. (Loud cheers.) + </p> + <p> + The performers are in a particular manner entitled to the support or + regard, when in old age or distress, of those who have partaken of the + amusements of those places which they render an ornament to society. Their + art was of a peculiarly delicate and precarious nature. They had to serve + a long apprenticeship. It was very long before even the first-rate + geniuses could acquire the mechanical knowledge of the stage business. + They must languish long in obscurity before they can avail themselves of + their natural talents; and after that they have but a short space of time, + during which they are fortunate if they can provide the means of comfort + in the decline of life. That comes late, and lasts but a short time; after + which they are left dependent. Their limbs fail—their teeth are + loosened—their voice is lost and they are left, after giving + happiness to others, in a most disconsolate state. The public were liberal + and generous to those deserving their protection. It was a sad thing to be + dependent on the favour, or, he might say, in plain terms, on the caprice, + of the public; and this more particularly for a class of persons of whom + extreme prudence is not the character. There might be instances of + opportunities being neglected. But let each gentleman tax himself, and + consider the opportunities THEY had neglected, and the sums of money THEY + had wasted; let every gentleman look into his own bosom, and say whether + these were circumstances which would soften his own feelings, were he to + be plunged into distress. He put it to every generous bosom—to every + better feeling—to say what consolation was it to old age to be told + that you might have made provision at a time which had been neglected—(loud + cheers)—and to find it objected, that if you had pleased you might + have been wealthy. He had hitherto been speaking of what, in theatrical + language, was called STARS; but they were sometimes falling ones. There + was another class of sufferers naturally and necessarily connected with + the theatre, without whom it was impossible to go on. The sailors have a + saying, Every man cannot be a boatswain. If there must be a great actor to + act Hamlet, there must also be people to act Laertes, the King, + Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, otherwise a drama cannot go on. If even + Garrick himself were to rise from the dead, he could not act Hamlet alone. + There must be generals, colonels, commanding-officers, subalterns. But + what are the private soldiers to do? Many have mistaken their own talents, + and have been driven in early youth to try the stage, to which they are + not competent. He would know what to say to the indifferent poet and to + the bad artist. He would say that it was foolish, and he would recommend + to the poet to become a scribe, and the artist to paint sign-posts. (Loud + laughter.) But you could not send the player adrift; for if he cannot play + Hamlet, he must play Guildenstern. Where there are many labourers, wages + must be low and no man in such a situation can decently support a wife and + family, and save something off his income for old age. What is this man to + do in later life? Are you to cast him off like an old hinge, or a piece of + useless machinery, which has done its work? To a person who had + contributed to our amusement, this would be unkind, ungrateful, and + unchristian. His wants are not of his own making, but arise from the + natural sources of sickness and old age. It cannot be denied that there is + one class of sufferers to whom no imprudence can be ascribed, except on + first entering on the profession. After putting his hand to the dramatic + plough, he cannot draw back, but must continue at it, and toil, till death + release him from want, or charity, by its milder influence, steps in to + render that want more tolerable. He had little more to say, except that he + sincerely hoped that the collection to-day, from the number of respectable + gentlemen present, would meet the views entertained by the patrons. He + hoped it would do so. They should not be disheartened. Though they could + not do a great deal, they might do something. They had this consolation, + that everything they parted with from their superfluity would do some + good. They would sleep the better themselves when they had been the means + of giving sleep to others. It was ungrateful and unkind that those who had + sacrificed their youth to our amusement should not receive the reward due + to them, but should be reduced to hard fare in their old age. We cannot + think of poor Falstaff going to bed without his cup of sack, or Macbeth + fed on bones as marrowless as those of Banquo. (Loud cheers and laughter.) + As he believed that they were all as fond of the dramatic art as he was in + his younger days, he would propose that they should drink “The Theatrical + Fund,” with three times three. + </p> + <p> + Mr. MACKAY rose, on behalf of his brethren, to return their thanks for the + toast just drunk. Many of the gentlemen present, he said, were perhaps not + fully acquainted with the nature and intention of the institution, and it + might not be amiss to enter into some explanation on the subject. With + whomsoever the idea of a Theatrical Fund might have originated (and it had + been disputed by the surviving relatives of two or three individuals), + certain it was that the first legally constituted Theatrical Fund owed its + origin to one of the brightest ornaments of the profession, the late David + Garrick. That eminent actor conceived that, by a weekly subscription in + the theatre, a fund might be raised among its members, from which a + portion might be given to those of his less fortunate brethren, and thus + an opportunity would be offered for prudence to provide what fortune had + denied—a comfortable provision for the winter of life. With the + welfare of his profession constantly at heart, the zeal with which he + laboured to uphold its respectability, and to impress upon the minds or + his brethren, not only the necessity, but the blessing of independence, + the Fund became his peculiar care. He drew up a form of laws for its + government, procured at his own expense the passing of an Act of + Parliament for its confirmation, bequeathed to it a handsome legacy, and + thus became the father of the Drury Lane Fund. So constant was his + attachment to this infant establishment, that he chose to grace the close + of the brightest theatrical life on record by the last display of his + transcendent talent on the occasion of a benefit for this child of his + adoption, which ever since has gone by the name of the Garrick Fund. In + imitation of his noble example, funds had been established in several + provincial theatres in England; but it remained for Mrs. Henry Siddons and + Mr. William Murray to become the founders of the first Theatrical Fund in + Scotland. (Cheers.) This Fund commenced under the most favourable + auspices. It was liberally supported by the management, and highly + patronized by the public. Notwithstanding, it fell short in the + accomplishment of its intentions. What those intentions were, he (Mr. + Mackay) need not recapitulate, but they failed; and he did not hesitate to + confess that a want of energy on the part of the performers was the + probable cause. A new set of Rules and Regulations were lately drawn up, + submitted to and approved of at a general meeting of the members of the + Theatre, and accordingly the Fund was remodelled on the 1st of January + last. And here he thought he did but echo the feelings of his brethren, by + publicly acknowledging the obligations they were under to the management + for the aid given and the warm interest they had all along taken in the + welfare of the Fund. (Cheers.) The nature and object of the profession had + been so well treated of by the President that he would say nothing; but of + the numerous offspring of science and genius that court precarious fame, + the actor boasts the slenderest claim of all—the sport of fortune, + the creatures of fashion, and the victims of caprice, they are seen, + heard, and admired, but to be forgot. They leave no trace, no memorial of + their existence—they “come like shadows, so depart.” (Cheers.) Yet + humble though their pretensions be, there was no profession, trade, or + calling where such a combination of requisites, mental and bodily, were + indispensable. In all others the principal may practise after he has been + visited by the afflicting hand of Providence—some by the loss of + limb, some of voice, and many, when the faculty of the mind is on the + wane, may be assisted by dutiful children or devoted servants. Not so the + actor, He must retain all he ever did possess, or sink dejected to a + mournful home. (Applause.) Yet while they are toiling for ephemeral + theatric fame, how very few ever possess the means of hoarding in their + youth that which would give bread in old age! But now a brighter prospect + dawned upon them, and to the success of this their infant establishment + they looked with hope, as to a comfortable and peaceful home in their + declining years. He concluded by tendering to the meeting, in the name of + his brethren and sisters, their unfeigned thanks for their liberal + support, and begged to propose “The Health of the Patrons of the Edinburgh + Theatrical Fund.” (Cheers.) + </p> + <p> + Lord MEADOWBANK said that, by desire of his Hon. Friend in the chair, and + of his Noble Friend at his right hand, he begged leave to return thanks + for the honour which had been conferred on the Patrons of this excellent + institution. He could answer for himself—he could answer for them + all—that they were deeply impressed with the meritorious objects + which it has in view, and of their anxious wish to promote its interests. + For himself, he hoped he might be permitted to say that he was rather + surprised at finding his own name as one of the Patrons, associated with + so many individuals of high rank and powerful influence. But it was an + excuse for those who had placed him in a situation so honourable and so + distinguished, that when this charity was instituted he happened to hold a + high and responsible station under the Crown, when he might have been of + use in assisting and promoting its objects. His Lordship much feared that + he could have little expectation, situated as he now was, of doing either; + but he could confidently assert that few things would give him greater + gratification than being able to contribute to its prosperity and support. + And indeed, when one recollects the pleasure which at all periods of life + he has received from the exhibitions of the stage, and the exertions of + the meritorious individuals for whose aid this Fund has been established, + he must be divested both of gratitude and feeling who would not give his + best endeavours to promote its welfare. And now, that he might in some + measure repay the gratification which had been afforded himself, he would + beg leave to propose a toast, the health of one of the Patrons, a great + and distinguished individual, whose name must always stand by itself, and + which, in an assembly such as this, or in any other assembly of Scotsmen, + can never be received, not, he would say, with ordinary feelings of + pleasure or of delight, but with those of rapture and enthusiasm. In doing + so he felt that he stood in a somewhat new situation. Whoever had been + called upon to propose the health of his Hon. Friend to whom he alluded, + some time ago, would have found himself enabled, from the mystery in which + certain matters were involved, to gratify himself and his auditors by + allusions which found a responding chord in their own feelings, and to + deal in the language, the sincere language, of panegyric, without + intruding on the modesty of the great individual to whom he referred. But + it was no longer possible, consistently with the respect to one’s + auditors, to use upon this subject terms either of mystification or of + obscure or indirect allusion. The clouds have been dispelled; the DARKNESS + VISIBLE has been cleared away; and the Great Unknown—the minstrel of + our native land—the mighty magician who has rolled back the current + of time, and conjured up before our living senses the men and the manners + of days which have long passed away—stands revealed to the hearts + and the eyes of his affectionate and admiring countrymen. If he himself + were capable of imagining all that belonged to this mighty subject—were + he even able to give utterance to all that, as a friend, as a man, and as + a Scotsman, he must feel regarding it—yet knowing, as he well did, + that this illustrious individual was not more distinguished for his + towering talents than for those feelings which rendered such allusions + ungrateful to himself, however sparingly introduced, he would, on that + account, still refrain from doing that which would otherwise be no less + pleasing to him than to his audience. But this his Lordship, hoped he + would be allowed to say (his auditors would not pardon him were he to say + less), we owe to him, as a people, a large and heavy debt of gratitude. He + it is who has opened to foreigners the grand and characteristic beauties + of our country. It is to him that we owe that our gallant ancestors and + the struggles of our illustrious patriots—who fought and bled in + order to obtain and secure that independence and that liberty we now enjoy—have + obtained a fame no longer confined to the boundaries of a remote and + comparatively obscure nation, and who has called down upon their struggles + for glory and freedom the admiration of foreign countries. He it is who + has conferred a new reputation on our national character, and bestowed on + Scotland an imperishable name, were it only by her having given birth to + himself. (Loud and rapturous applause.) + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT certainly did not think that, in coming here to-day, he + would have the task of acknowledging, before three hundred gentlemen, a + secret which, considering that it was communicated to more than twenty + people, had been remarkably well kept. He was now before the bar of his + country, and might be understood to be on trial before Lord Meadowbank as + an offender; yet he was sure that every impartial jury would bring in a + verdict of Not Proven. He did not now think it necessary to enter into the + reasons of his long silence. Perhaps caprice might have a consider able + share in it. He had now to say, however, that the merits of these works, + if they had any, and their faults, were entirely imputable to himself. + (Long and loud cheering.) He was afraid to think on what he had done. + “Look on’t again I dare not.” He had thus far unbosomed himself and he + knew that it would be reported to the public. He meant, then, seriously to + state, that when he said he was the author, he was the total and undivided + author. With the exception of quotations, there was not a single word that + was not derived from himself, or suggested in the course of his reading. + The wand was now broken, and the book buried. You will allow me further to + say, with Prospero, it is your breath that has filled my sails, and to + crave one single toast in the capacity of the author of these novels; and + he would dedicate a bumper to the health of one who has represented some + of those characters, of which he had endeavoured to give the skeleton, + with a degree of liveliness which rendered him grateful. He would propose + “The Health of his friend Bailie Nicol Jarvie”—(loud applause)—and + he was sure that when the author of Waverley and Rob Roy drinks to Nicol + Jarvie, it would be received with that degree of applause to which that + gentleman has always been accustomed, and that they would take care that + on the present occasion it should be PRODIGIOUS! (Long and vehement + applause.) + </p> + <p> + Mr. MACKAY, who here spoke with great humour in the character of Bailie + Jarvie.—My conscience! My worthy father the deacon could not have + believed that his son could hae had sic a compliment paid to him by the + Great Unknown! + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT.—The Small Known now, Mr. Bailie. + </p> + <p> + Mr. MACKAY.—He had been long identified with the Bailie, and he was + vain of the cognomen which he had now worn for eight years; and he + questioned if any of his brethren in the Council had given such universal + satisfaction. (Loud laughter and applause.) Before he sat down, he begged + to propose “The Lord Provost and the City of Edinburgh.” + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for the absence of the Lord Provost, who had + gone to London on public business. + </p> + <p> + Tune—“Within a mile of Edinburgh town.” + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT gave “The Duke of Wellington and the army.” + </p> + <p> + Glee—“How merrily we live.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord Melville and the Navy, that fought till they left nobody to fight + with, like an arch sportsman who clears all and goes after the game.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON.—They had heard this evening a toast, which had + been received with intense delight, which will be published in every + newspaper, and will be hailed with joy by all Europe. He had one toast + assigned him which he had great pleasure in giving. He was sure that the + stage had in all ages a great effect on the morals and manners of the + people. It was very desirable that the stage should be well regulated; and + there was no criterion by which its regulation could be better determined + than by the moral character and personal respectability of the performers. + He was not one of those stern moralists who objected to the theatre. The + most fastidious moralist could not possibly apprehend any injury from the + stage of Edinburgh, as it was presently managed, and so long as it was + adorned by that illustrious individual, Mrs. Henry Siddons, whose public + exhibitions were not more remarkable for feminine grace and delicacy than + was her private character for every virtue which could be admired in + domestic life. He would conclude with reciting a few words from + Shakespeare, in a spirit not of contradiction to those stern moralists who + disliked the theatre, but of meekness: “Good, my lord, will you see the + players well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well used, for they are + the abstract and brief chronicles of the time.” He then gave “Mrs. Henry + Siddons, and success to the Theatre Royal of Edinburgh.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. MURRAY.—Gentlemen, I rise to return thanks for the honour you + have done Mrs. Siddons, in doing which I am somewhat difficulted, from the + extreme delicacy which attends a brother’s expatiating upon a sister’s + claims to honours publicly paid—(hear, hear)—yet, gentlemen, + your kindness emboldens me to say that, were I to give utterance to all a + brother’s feelings, I should not exaggerate those claims. (Loud applause.) + I therefore, gentlemen, thank you most cordially for the honour you have + done her, and shall now request permission to make an observation on the + establishment of the Edinburgh Theatrical Fund. Mr. Mackay has done Mrs. + Henry Siddons and myself the honour to ascribe the establishment to us. + But no, gentlemen, it owes its origin to a higher source—the + publication of the novel of Rob Roy—the unprecedented success of the + opera adapted from that popular production. (Hear, hear.) It was that + success which relieved the Edinburgh Theatre from its difficulties, and + enabled Mrs. Siddons to carry into effect the establishment of a fund she + had long desired, but was prevented from effecting from the unsettled + state of her theatrical concerns. I therefore hope that in future years, + when the aged and infirm actor derives relief from this fund, he will, in + the language of the gallant Highlander, “Cast his eye to good old + Scotland, and not forget Rob Roy.” (Loud applause.) + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT here stated that Mrs. Siddons wanted the means but not + the will of beginning the Theatrical Fund. He here alluded to the great + merits of Mr. Murray’s management, and to his merits as an actor, which + were of the first order, and of which every person who attends the Theatre + must be sensible; and after alluding to the embarrassments with which the + Theatre had been at one period threatened, he concluded by giving “The + Health of Mr. Murray,” which was drunk with three times three. + </p> + <p> + Mr. MURRAY.—Gentlemen, I wish I could believe that in any degree I + merited the compliments with which it has pleased Sir Walter Scott to + preface the proposal of my health, or the very flattering manner in which + you have done me the honour to receive it. The approbation of such an + assembly is most gratifying to me, and might encourage feelings of vanity, + were not such feelings crushed by my conviction that no man holding the + situation I have so long held in Edinburgh could have failed, placed in + the peculiar circumstances in which I have been placed. Gentlemen, I shall + not insult your good taste by eulogiums upon your judgment or kindly + feeling, though to the first I owe any improvement I may have made as an + actor, and certainly my success as a manager to the second. (Applause.) + When, upon the death of my dear brother, the late Mr. Siddons, it was + proposed that I should undertake the management of the Edinburgh Theatre, + I confess I drew back, doubting my capability to free it from the load of + debt and difficulty with which it was surrounded. In this state of + anxiety, I solicited the advice of one who had ever honoured me with his + kindest regard, and whose name no member of my profession can pronounce + without feelings of the deepest respect and gratitude. I allude to the + late Mr. John Kemble. (Great applause.) To him I applied, and with the + repetition of his advice I shall cease to trespass upon your time—(hear, + hear)—“My dear William, fear not. Integrity and assiduity must prove + an overmatch for all difficulty; and though I approve your not indulging a + vain confidence in your own ability, and viewing with respectful + apprehension the judgment of the audience you have to act before, yet be + assured that judgment will ever be tempered by the feeling that you are + acting for the widow and the fatherless.” (Loud applause.) Gentlemen, + those words have never passed from my mind; and I feel convinced that you + have pardoned my many errors, from the feeling that I was striving for the + widow and the fatherless. (Long and enthusiastic applause followed Mr. + Murray’s address.) + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT gave “The Health of the Stewards.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. VANDENHOFF.—-Mr. President and Gentlemen, the honour conferred + upon the Stewards, in the very flattering compliment you have just paid + us, calls forth our warmest acknowledgments. In tendering you our thanks + for the approbation you have been pleased to express of our humble + exertions, I would beg leave to advert to the cause in which we have been + engaged. Yet, surrounded as I am by the genius—the eloquence—of + this enlightened city, I cannot but feel the presumption which ventures to + address you on so interesting a subject. Accustomed to speak in the + language of others, I feel quite at a loss for terms wherein to clothe the + sentiments excited by the present occasion. (Applause.) The nature of the + institution which has sought your fostering patronage, and the objects + which it contemplates, have been fully explained to you. But, gentlemen, + the relief which it proposes is not a gratuitous relief, but to be + purchased by the individual contribution of its members towards the + general good. This Fund lends no encouragement to idleness or + improvidence, but it offers an opportunity to prudence in vigour and youth + to make provision against the evening of life and its attendant infirmity. + A period is fixed at which we admit the plea of age as an exemption from + professional labour. It is painful to behold the veteran on the stage + (compelled by necessity) contending against physical decay, mocking the + joyousness of mirth with the feebleness of age, when the energies decline, + when the memory fails! and “the big, manly voice, turning again towards + childish treble, pipes and whistles in the sound.” We would remove him + from the mimic scene, where fiction constitutes the charm; we would not + view old age caricaturing itself. (Applause.) But as our means may be + found, in time of need, inadequate to the fulfilment of our wishes—fearful + of raising expectations which we may be unable to gratify—desirous + not “to keep the word of promise to the ear, and break it to the hope”—we + have presumed to court the assistance of the friends of the drama to + strengthen our infant institution. Our appeal has been successful beyond + our most sanguine expectations. The distinguished patronage conferred on + us by your presence on this occasion, and the substantial support which + your benevolence has so liberally afforded to our institution, must + impress every member of the Fund with the most grateful sentiments—sentiments + which no language can express, no time obliterate. (Applause.) I will not + trespass longer on your attention. I would the task of acknowledging our + obligation had fallen into abler hands. (Hear, hear.) In the name of the + Stewards, I most respectfully and cordially thank you for the honour you + have done us, which greatly overpays our poor endeavours. (Applause.) + </p> + <p> + [This speech, though rather inadequately reported, was one of the best + delivered on this occasion. That it was creditable to Mr. Vandenhoff’s + taste and feelings, the preceding sketch will show; but how much it was + so, it does not show.] + </p> + <p> + Mr. J. CAY gave “Professor Wilson and the University of Edinburgh, of + which he was one of the brightest ornaments.” + </p> + <p> + Lord MEADOWBANK, after a suitable eulogium, gave “The Earl of Fife,” which + was drunk with three times three. + </p> + <p> + Earl FIFE expressed his high gratification at the honour conferred on him. + He intimated his approbation of the institution, and his readiness to + promote its success by every means in his power. He concluded with giving + “The Health of the Company of Edinburgh.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. JONES, on rising to return thanks, being received with considerable + applause, said he was truly grateful for the kind encouragement he had + experienced, but the novelty of the situation in which he now was renewed + all the feelings he experienced when he first saw himself announced in the + bills as a young gentleman, being his first appearance on any stage. + (Laughter and applause.) Although in the presence of those whose + indulgence had, in another sphere, so often shielded him from the + penalties of inability, he was unable to execute the task which had so + unexpectedly devolved upon him in behalf of his brethren and himself. He + therefore begged the company to imagine all that grateful hearts could + prompt the most eloquent to utter, and that would be a copy of their + feelings. (Applause.) He begged to trespass another moment on their + attention, for the purpose of expressing the thanks of the members of the + Fund to the Gentlemen of the Edinburgh Professional Society of Musicians, + who, finding that this meeting was appointed to take place on the same + evening with their concert, had, in the handsomest manner, agreed to + postpone it. Although it was his duty thus to preface the toast he had to + propose, he was certain the meeting required no further inducement than + the recollection of the pleasure the exertions of those gentlemen had + often afforded them within those walls, to join heartily in drinking + “Health and Prosperity to the Edinburgh Professional Society of + Musicians.” (Applause.) + </p> + <p> + Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON Proposed “The Health of Mr. Jeffrey,” whose absence was + owing to indisposition. The public was well aware that he was the most + distinguished advocate at the bar. He was likewise distinguished for the + kindness, frankness, and cordial manner in which he communicated with the + junior members of the profession, to the esteem of whom his splendid + talents would always entitle him. + </p> + <p> + Mr. J. MACONOCHIE gave “The Health of Mrs. Siddons, senior, the most + distinguished ornament of the stage.” + </p> + <p> + Sir W. SCOTT said that if anything could reconcile him to old age, it was + the reflection that he had seen the rising as well as the setting sun of + Mrs. Siddons. He remembered well their breakfasting near to the Theatre—waiting + the whole day—the crushing at the doors at six o’clock—and + their going in and counting their fingers till seven o’clock. But the very + first step—the very first word which she uttered—was + sufficient to overpay him for all his labours. The house was literally + electrified; and it was only from witnessing the effects of her genius + that he could guess to what a pitch theatrical excellence could be + carried. Those young gentlemen who have only seen the setting sun of this + distinguished performer, beautiful and serene as that was, must give us + old fellows, who have seen its rise and its meridian, leave to hold our + heads a little higher. + </p> + <p> + Mr. DUNDAS gave “The Memory of Home, the author of Douglas.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. MACKAY here announced that the subscriptions for the night amounted to + L280, and he expressed gratitude for this substantial proof of their + kindness. [We are happy to state that subscriptions have since flowed in + very liberally.] + </p> + <p> + Mr. MACKAY here entertained the company with a pathetic song. + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for having so long forgotten their native + land. He would now give “Scotland, the land of Cakes.” He would give every + river, every loch, every hill, from Tweed to Johnnie Groat’s house—every + lass in her cottage and countess in her castle—and may her sons + stand by her, as their fathers did before them; and he who would not drink + a bumper to his toast, may he never drink whisky more! + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT here gave “Lord Meadowbank,” who returned thanks. + </p> + <p> + Mr. H. G. BELL said that he should not have ventured to intrude himself + upon the attention of the assembly, did he not feel confident that the + toast he begged to have the honour to propose would make amends for the + very imperfect manner in which he might express his sentiments regarding + it. It had been said that, notwithstanding the mental supremacy of the + present age—notwithstanding that the page of our history was studded + with names destined also for the page of immortality—that the genius + of Shakespeare was extinct, and the fountain of his inspiration dried up. + It might be that these observations were unfortunately correct, or it + might be that we were bewildered with a name, not disappointed of the + reality; for though Shakespeare had brought a Hamlet, an Othello, and a + Macbeth, an Ariel, a Juliet, and a Rosalind, upon the stage, were there + not authors living who had brought as varied, as exquisitely painted, and + as undying a range of characters into our hearts? The shape of the mere + mould into which genius poured its golden treasures was surely a matter of + little moment, let it be called a Tragedy, a Comedy, or a Waverley Novel. + But even among the dramatic authors of the present day, he was unwilling + to allow that there was a great and palpable decline from the glory of + preceding ages, and his toast alone would bear him out in denying the + truth of the proposition. After eulogizing the names of Baillie, Byron, + Coleridge, Maturin, and others, he begged to have the honour of proposing + “The Health of James Sheridan Knowles.” + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT. Gentlemen, I crave a bumper all over. The last toast + reminds me of a neglect of duty. Unaccustomed to a public duty of this + kind, errors in conducting the ceremonial of it may be excused, and + omissions pardoned. Perhaps I have made one or two omissions in the course + of the evening for which I trust you will grant me your pardon and + indulgence. One thing in particular I have omitted, and I would now wish + to make amends for it by a libation of reverence and respect to the memory + of SHAKESPEARE. He was a man of universal genius, and from a period soon + after his own era to the present day he has been universally idolized. + When I come to his honoured name, I am like the sick man who hung up his + crutches at the shrine, and was obliged to confess that he did not walk + better than before. It is indeed difficult, gentlemen, to compare him to + any other individual. The only one to whom I call at all compare him is + the wonderful Arabian dervise, who dived into the body of each, and in + this way became familiar with the thoughts and secrets of their hearts. He + was a man of obscure origin, and, as a player, limited in his + acquirements; but he was born evidently with a universal genius. His eyes + glanced at all the varied aspects of life, and his fancy portrayed with + equal talents the king on the throne and the clown who crackles his + chestnuts at a Christmas fire. Whatever note he takes, he strikes it just + and true, and awakens a corresponding chord in our own bosoms, Gentlemen, + I propose “The Memory of William Shakespeare.” + </p> + <p> + Glee—“Lightly tread, ‘tis hallowed ground.” + </p> + <p> + After the glee, Sir WALTER rose and begged to propose as a toast the + health of a lady, whose living merit is not a little honourable to + Scotland. The toast (said he) is also flattering to the national vanity of + a Scotchman, as the lady whom I intend to propose is a native of this + country. From the public her works have met with the most favourable + reception. One piece of hers, in particular, was often acted here of late + years, and gave pleasure of no mean kind to many brilliant and fashionable + audiences. In her private character she (he begged leave to say) is as + remarkable as in a public sense she is for her genius. In short, he would + in one word name—“Joanna Baillie.” + </p> + <p> + This health being drunk, Mr. THORNE was called on for a song, and sung, + with great taste and feeling, “The Anchor’s Weighed.” + </p> + <p> + W. MENZIES, Esq., Advocate, rose to propose the health of a gentleman for + many years connected at intervals with the dramatic art in Scotland. + Whether we look at the range of characters he performs, or at the capacity + which he evinces in executing those which he undertakes, he is equally to + be admired. In all his parts he is unrivalled. The individual to whom he + alluded is (said he) well known to the gentlemen present, in the + characters of Malvolio, Lord Ogleby, and the Green Man; and in addition to + his other qualities, he merits, for his perfection in these characters, + the grateful sense of this meeting. He would wish, in the first place, to + drink his health as an actor. But he was not less estimable in domestic + life, and as a private gentleman; and when he announced him as one whom + the chairman had honoured with his friendship, he was sure that all + present would cordially join him in drinking “The Health of Mr. Terry.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. WILLIAM ALLAN, banker, said that he did not rise with the intention of + making a speech. He merely wished to contribute in a few words to the + mirth of the evening—an evening which certainly had not passed off + without some blunders. It had been understood—at least he had learnt + or supposed from the expressions of Mr. Pritchard—that it would be + sufficient to put a paper, with the name of the contributor, into the box, + and that the gentleman thus contributing would be called on for the money + next morning. He, for his part, had committed a blunder but it might serve + as a caution to those who may be present at the dinner of next year. He + had merely put in his name, written on a slip of paper, without the money. + But he would recommend that, as some of the gentlemen might be in the same + situation, the box should be again sent round, and he was confident that + they, as well as he, would redeem their error. + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT said that the meeting was somewhat in the situation of + Mrs. Anne Page, who had L300 and possibilities. We have already got, said + he, L280, but I should like, I confess, to have the L300. He would gratify + himself by proposing the health of an honourable person, the Lord Chief + Baron, whom England has sent to us, and connecting with it that of his + “yokefellow on the bench,” as Shakespeare says, Mr. Baron Clerk—The + Court of Exchequer. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Baron CLERK regretted the absence of his learned brother. None, he was + sure, could be more generous in his nature, or more ready to help a + Scottish purpose. + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT,—There is one who ought to be remembered on this + occasion. He is, indeed, well entitled to our grateful recollection—one, + in short, to whom the drama in this city owes much. He succeeded, not + without trouble, and perhaps at some considerable sacrifice, in + establishing a theatre. The younger part of the company may not recollect + the theatre to which I allude, but there are some who with me may remember + by name a place called Carrubber’s Close. There Allan Ramsay established + his little theatre. His own pastoral was not fit for the stage, but it has + its admirers in those who love the Doric language in which it is written; + and it is not without merits of a very peculiar kind. But laying aside all + considerations of his literary merit, Allan was a good, jovial, honest + fellow, who could crack a bottle with the best. “The Memory of Allan + Ramsay.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. MURRAY, on being requested, sung “‘Twas merry in the hall,” and at the + conclusion was greeted with repeated rounds of applause. + </p> + <p> + Mr. JONES.—One omission I conceive has been made. The cause of the + Fund has been ably advocated, but it is still susceptible, in my opinion, + of an additional charm— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Without the smile from partial beauty won, + Oh, what were man?—a world without a sun!” + </pre> + <p> + And there would not be a darker spot in poetry than would be the corner in + Shakespeare Square, if, like its fellow, the Register Office, the Theatre + were deserted by the ladies. They are, in fact, our most attractive stars. + “The Patronesses of the Theatre, the Ladies of the City of Edinburgh.” + This toast I ask leave to drink with all the honours which conviviality + can confer. + </p> + <p> + Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON would be the last man willingly to introduce any + topic calculated to interrupt the harmony of the evening; yet he felt + himself treading upon ticklish ground when he approached the region of the + Nor’ Loch. He assured the company, however, that he was not about to enter + on the subject of the Improvement Bill. They all knew that if the public + were unanimous—if the consent of all parties were obtained—if + the rights and interests of everybody were therein attended to, saved, + reserved, respected, and excepted—if everybody agreed to it—and, + finally, a most essential point, if nobody opposed it—then, and in + that case, and provided also that due intimation were given, the bill in + question might pass—would pass—or might, could, would, or + should pass—all expenses being defrayed. (Laughter.) He was the + advocate of neither champion, and would neither avail himself of the + absence of the Right Hon. the Lord Provost, nor take advantage of the + non-appearance of his friend, Mr. Cockburn. (Laughter.) But in the midst + of these civic broils there had been elicited a ray of hope that, at some + future period, in Bereford Park, or some other place, if all parties were + consulted and satisfied, and if intimation were duly made at the kirk + doors of all the parishes in Scotland, in terms of the statute in that + behalf provided—the people of Edinburgh might by possibility get a + new Theatre. (Cheers and laughter.) But wherever the belligerent powers + might be pleased to set down this new Theatre, he was sure they all hoped + to meet the Old Company in it. He should therefore propose “Better + Accommodation to the Old Company in the new Theatre, site unknown.”—Mr. + Robertson’s speech was most humorously given, and he sat down amidst loud + cheers and laughter. + </p> + <p> + Sir WALTER SCOTT.—Wherever the new Theatre is built, I hope it will + not be large. There are two errors which we commonly commit—the one + arising from our pride, the other from our poverty. If there are twelve + plans, it is odds but the largest, without any regard to comfort, or an + eye to the probable expense, is adopted. There was the College projected + on this scale, and undertaken in the same manner, and who shall see the + end of it? It has been building all my life, and may probably last during + the lives of my children, and my children’s children. Let not the same + prophetic hymn be sung when we commence a new Theatre, which was performed + on the occasion of laying the foundation-stone of a certain edifice, + “Behold the endless work begun.” Playgoing folks should attend somewhat to + convenience. The new Theatre should, in the first place, be such as may be + finished in eighteen months or two years; and, in the second place, it + should be one in which we can hear our old friends with comfort. It is + better that a moderate-sized house should be crowded now and then, than to + have a large theatre with benches continually empty, to the discouragement + of the actors and the discomfort of the spectators. (Applause.) He then + commented in flattering terms on the genius of Mackenzie and his private + worth, and concluded by proposing “The Health of Henry Mackenzie, Esq.” + </p> + <p> + Immediately afterwards he said:—Gentlemen, it is now wearing late, + and I shall request permission to retire. Like Partridge, I may say, “NON + SUM QUALIS ERAM.” At my time of day I can agree with Lord Ogilvie as to + his rheumatism, and say, “There’s a twinge.” I hope, therefore, you will + excuse me for leaving the chair.—The worthy Baronet then retired + amidst long, loud, and rapturous cheering. + </p> + <p> + Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON was then called to the chair by common acclamation. + </p> + <p> + Gentlemen, said Mr. Robertson, I take the liberty of asking you to fill a + bumper to the very brim. There is not one of us who will not remember, + while he lives, being present at this day’s festival, and the declaration + made this night by the gentleman who has just left the chair. That + declaration has rent the veil from the features of the Great Unknown—a + name which must now merge in the name of the Great Known. It will be + henceforth coupled with the name of SCOTT, which will become familiar like + a household word. We have heard the confession from his own immortal lips—(cheering)—and + we cannot dwell with too much or too fervent praise on the merits of the + greatest man whom Scotland has produced. + </p> + <p> + After which several other toasts were given, and Mr. Robertson left the + room about half-past eleven. A few choice spirits, however, rallied round + Captain Broadhead of the 7th Hussars, who was called to the chair, and the + festivity was prolonged till an early hour on Saturday morning. + </p> + <p> + The band of the Theatre occupied the gallery, and that of the 7th Hussars + the end of the room, opposite the chair, whose performances were greatly + admired. It is but justice to Mr. Gibb to state that the dinner was very + handsome (though slowly served in), and the wines good. The attention of + the stewards was exemplary. Mr. Murray and Mr. Vandenhoff, with great good + taste, attended on Sir Walter Scott’s right and left, and we know that he + has expressed himself much gratified by their anxious politeness and + sedulity. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE—INTRODUCTORY. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. MR. CHRYSTAL CROFTANGRY’S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. + </h2> + <h3> + Sic itur ad astra. + </h3> + <p> + “This is the path to heaven.” Such is the ancient motto attached to the + armorial bearings of the Canongate, and which is inscribed, with greater + or less propriety, upon all the public buildings, from the church to the + pillory, in the ancient quarter of Edinburgh which bears, or rather once + bore, the same relation to the Good Town that Westminster does to London, + being still possessed of the palace of the sovereign, as it formerly was + dignified by the residence of the principal nobility and gentry. I may + therefore, with some propriety, put the same motto at the head of the + literary undertaking by which I hope to illustrate the hitherto + undistinguished name of Chrystal Croftangry. + </p> + <p> + The public may desire to know something of an author who pitches at such + height his ambitious expectations. The gentle reader, therefore—for + I am much of Captain Bobadil’s humour, and could to no other extend myself + so far—the GENTLE reader, then, will be pleased to understand that I + am a a Scottish gentleman of the old school, with a fortune, temper, and + person, rather the worse for wear. I have known the world for these forty + years, having written myself man nearly since that period—and I do + not think it is much mended. But this is an opinion which I keep to myself + when I am among younger folk, for I recollect, in my youth, quizzing the + Sexagenarians who carried back their ideas of a perfect state of society + to the days of laced coats and triple ruffles, and some of them to the + blood and blows of the Forty-five. Therefore I am cautious in exercising + the right of censorship, which is supposed to be acquired by men arrived + at, or approaching, the mysterious period of life, when the numbers of + seven and nine multiplied into each other, form what sages have termed the + Grand Climacteric. + </p> + <p> + Of the earlier part of my life it is only necessary to say, that I swept + the boards of the Parliament-House with the skirts of my gown for the + usual number of years during which young Lairds were in my time expected + to keep term—got no fees—laughed, and made others laugh—drank + claret at Bayle’s, Fortune’s, and Walker’s—and ate oysters in the + Covenant Close. + </p> + <p> + Becoming my own master, I flung my gown at the bar-keeper, and commenced + gay man on my own account. In Edinburgh, I ran into all the expensive + society which the place then afforded. When I went to my house in the + shire of Lanark, I emulated to the utmost the expenses of men of large + fortune, and had my hunters, my first-rate pointers, my game-cocks, and + feeders. I can more easily forgive myself for these follies, than for + others of a still more blamable kind, so indifferently cloaked over, that + my poor mother thought herself obliged to leave my habitation, and betake + herself to a small inconvenient jointure-house, which she occupied till + her death. I think, however, I was not exclusively to blame in this + separation, and I believe my mother afterwards condemned herself for being + too hasty. Thank God, the adversity which destroyed the means of + continuing my dissipation, restored me to the affections of my surviving + parent. + </p> + <p> + My course of life could not last. I ran too fast to run long; and when I + would have checked my career, I was perhaps too near the brink of the + precipice. Some mishaps I prepared by my own folly, others came upon me + unawares. I put my estate out to nurse to a fat man of business, who + smothered the babe he should have brought back to me in health and + strength, and, in dispute with this honest gentleman, I found, like a + skilful general, that my position would be most judiciously assumed by + taking it up near the Abbey of Holyrood. [See Note 1.—Holyrood.] It + was then I first became acquainted with the quarter, which my little work + will, I hope, render immortal, and grew familiar with those magnificent + wilds, through which the Kings of Scotland once chased the dark-brown + deer, but which were chiefly recommended to me in those days, by their + being inaccessible to those metaphysical persons, whom the law of the + neighbouring country terms John Doe and Richard Roe. In short, the + precincts of the palace are now best known as being a place of refuge at + any time from all pursuit for civil debt. + </p> + <p> + Dire was the strife betwixt my quondam doer and myself; during which my + motions were circumscribed, like those of some conjured demon, within a + circle, which, “beginning at the northern gate of the King’s Park, thence + running northways, is bounded on the left by the King’s garden-wall, and + the gutter, or kennel, in a line wherewith it crosses the High Street to + the Watergate, and passing through the sewer, is bounded by the walls of + the Tennis Court and Physic Gardens, etc. It then follows the wall of the + churchyard, joins the north west wall of St Ann’s Yards, and going east to + the clackmill-house, turns southward to the turnstile in the King’s Park + wall, and includes the whole King’s Park within the Sanctuary.” + </p> + <p> + These limits, which I abridge from the accurate Maitland, once marked the + Girth, or Asylum, belonging to the Abbey of Holyrood, and which, being + still an appendage to the royal palace, has retained the privilege of an + asylum for civil debt. One would think the space sufficiently extensive + for a man to stretch his limbs in, as, besides a reasonable proportion of + level ground (considering that the scene lies in Scotland), it includes + within its precincts the mountain of Arthur’s Seat and the rocks and + pasture land called Salisbury Crags. But yet it is inexpressible how, + after a certain time had elapsed, I used to long for Sunday, which + permitted me to extend my walk without limitation. During the other six + days of the week I felt a sickness of heart, which, but for the speedy + approach of the hebdomadal day of liberty, I could hardly have endured. I + experienced the impatience of a mastiff who tugs in vain to extend the + limits which his chain permits. + </p> + <p> + Day after day I walked by the side of the kennel which divides the + Sanctuary from the unprivileged part of the Canongate; and though the + month was July, and the scene the old town of Edinburgh, I preferred it to + the fresh air and verdant turf which I might have enjoyed in the King’s + Park, or to the cool and solemn gloom of the portico which surrounds the + palace. To an indifferent person either side of the gutter would have + seemed much the same, the houses equally mean, the children as ragged and + dirty, the carmen as brutal—the whole forming the same picture of + low life in a deserted and impoverished quarter of a large city. But to me + the gutter or kennel was what the brook Kidron was to Shimei: death was + denounced against him should he cross it, doubtless because it was known + to his wisdom who pronounced the doom that, from the time the crossing the + stream was debarred, the devoted man’s desire to transgress the precept + would become irresistible, and he would be sure to draw down on his head + the penalty which he had already justly incurred by cursing the anointed + of God. For my part, all Elysium seemed opening on the other side of the + kennel; and I envied the little blackguards, who, stopping the current + with their little dam-dykes of mud, had a right to stand on either side of + the nasty puddle which best pleased them. I was so childish as even to + make an occasional excursion across, were it only for a few yards, and + felt the triumph of a schoolboy, who, trespassing in an orchard, hurries + back again with a fluttering sensation of joy and terror, betwixt the + pleasure of having executed his purpose and the fear of being taken or + discovered. + </p> + <p> + I have sometimes asked myself what I should have done in case of actual + imprisonment, since I could not bear without impatience a restriction + which is comparatively a mere trifle; but I really could never answer the + question to my own satisfaction. I have all my life hated those + treacherous expedients called MEZZO-TERMINI, and it is possible with this + disposition I might have endured more patiently an absolute privation of + liberty than the more modified restrictions to which my residence in the + Sanctuary at this period subjected me. If, however, the feelings I then + experienced were to increase in intensity according to the difference + between a jail and my actual condition, I must have hanged myself, or + pined to death—there could have been no other alternative. + </p> + <p> + Amongst many companions who forgot and neglected me, of course, when my + difficulties seemed to be inextricable, I had one true friend; and that + friend was a barrister, who knew the laws of his country well, and tracing + them up to the spirit of equity and justice in which they originate, had + repeatedly prevented, by his benevolent and manly exertions, the triumphs + of selfish cunning over simplicity and folly. He undertook my cause, with + the assistance of a solicitor of a character similar to his own. My + quondam doer had ensconced himself chin-deep among legal trenches, + hornworks, and covered ways; but my two protectors shelled him out of his + defences, and I was at length a free man, at liberty to go or stay + wheresoever my mind listed. + </p> + <p> + I left my lodgings as hastily as if it had been a pest-house. I did not + even stop to receive some change that was due to me on settling with my + landlady, and I saw the poor woman stand at her door looking after my + precipitate flight, and shaking her head as she wrapped the silver which + she was counting for me in a separate piece of paper, apart from the store + in her own moleskin purse. An honest Highlandwoman was Janet MacEvoy, and + deserved a greater remuneration, had I possessed the power of bestowing + it. But my eagerness of delight was too extreme to pause for explanation + with Janet. On I pushed through the groups of children, of whose sports I + had been so often a lazy, lounging spectator. I sprung over the gutter as + if it had been the fatal Styx, and I a ghost, which, eluding Pluto’s + authority, was making its escape from Limbo lake. My friend had difficulty + to restrain me from running like a madman up the street; and in spite of + his kindness and hospitality, which soothed me for a day or two, I was not + quite happy until I found myself aboard of a Leith smack, and, standing + down the Firth with a fair wind, might snap my fingers at the retreating + outline of Arthur’s Seat, to the vicinity of which I had been so long + confined. + </p> + <p> + It is not my purpose to trace my future progress through life. I had + extricated myself, or rather had been freed by my friends, from the + brambles and thickets of the law; but, as befell the sheep in the fable, a + great part of my fleece was left behind me. Something remained, however: I + was in the season for exertion, and, as my good mother used to say, there + was always life for living folk. Stern necessity gave my manhood that + prudence which my youth was a stranger to. I faced danger, I endured + fatigue, I sought foreign climates, and proved that I belonged to the + nation which is proverbially patient of labour and prodigal of life. + Independence, like liberty to Virgil’s shepherd, came late, but came at + last, with no great affluence in its train, but bringing enough to support + a decent appearance for the rest of my life, and to induce cousins to be + civil, and gossips to say, “I wonder whom old Croft will make his heir? He + must have picked up something, and I should not be surprised if it prove + more than folk think of.” + </p> + <p> + My first impulse when I returned home was to rush to the house of my + benefactor, the only man who had in my distress interested himself in my + behalf. He was a snuff-taker, and it had been the pride of my heart to + save the IPSA CORPORA of the first score of guineas I could hoard, and to + have them converted into as tasteful a snuff-box as Rundell and Bridge + could devise. This I had thrust for security into the breast of my + waistcoat, while, impatient to transfer it to the person for whom it was + destined, I hastened to his house in Brown Square. When the front of the + house became visible a feeling of alarm checked me. I had been long absent + from Scotland; my friend was some years older than I; he might have been + called to the congregation of the just. I paused, and gazed on the house + as if I had hoped to form some conjecture from the outward appearance + concerning the state of the family within. I know not how it was, but the + lower windows being all closed, and no one stirring, my sinister + forebodings were rather strengthened. I regretted now that I had not made + inquiry before I left the inn where I alighted from the mail-coach. But it + was too late; so I hurried on, eager to know the best or the worst which I + could learn. + </p> + <p> + The brass-plate bearing my friend’s name and designation was still on the + door, and when it was opened the old domestic appeared a good deal older, + I thought, than he ought naturally to have looked, considering the period + of my absence. “Is Mr. Sommerville at home?” said I, pressing forward. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” said John, placing himself in opposition to my entrance, “he + is at home, but—” + </p> + <p> + “But he is not in,” said I. “I remember your phrase of old, John. Come, I + will step into his room, and leave a line for him.” + </p> + <p> + John was obviously embarrassed by my familiarity. I was some one, he saw, + whom he ought to recollect. At the same time it was evident he remembered + nothing about me. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, sir, my master is in, and in his own room, but—” + </p> + <p> + I would not hear him out, but passed before him towards the well-known + apartment. A young lady came out of the room a little disturbed, as it + seemed, and said, “John, what is the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “A gentleman, Miss Nelly, that insists on seeing my master.” + </p> + <p> + “A very old and deeply-indebted friend,” said I, “that ventures to press + myself on my much-respected benefactor on my return from abroad.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas, sir,” replied she, “my uncle would be happy to see you, but—” + </p> + <p> + At this moment something was heard within the apartment like the falling + of a plate, or glass, and immediately after my friend’s voice called + angrily and eagerly for his niece. She entered the room hastily, and so + did I. But it was to see a spectacle, compared with which that of my + benefactor stretched on his bier would have been a happy one. + </p> + <p> + The easy-chair filled with cushions, the extended limbs swathed in + flannel, the wide wrapping-gown and nightcap, showed illness; but the + dimmed eye, once so replete with living fire—the blabber lip, whose + dilation and compression used to give such character to his animated + countenance—the stammering tongue, that once poured forth such + floods of masculine eloquence, and had often swayed the opinion of the + sages whom he addressed,—all these sad symptoms evinced that my + friend was in the melancholy condition of those in whom the principle of + animal life has unfortunately survived that of mental intelligence. He + gazed a moment at me, but then seemed insensible of my presence, and went + on—he, once the most courteous and well-bred—to babble + unintelligible but violent reproaches against his niece and servant, + because he himself had dropped a teacup in attempting to place it on a + table at his elbow. His eyes caught a momentary fire from his irritation; + but he struggled in vain for words to express himself adequately, as, + looking from his servant to his niece, and then to the table, he laboured + to explain that they had placed it (though it touched his chair) at too + great a distance from him. + </p> + <p> + The young person, who had naturally a resigned Madonna-like expression of + countenance, listened to his impatient chiding with the most humble + submission, checked the servant, whose less delicate feelings would have + entered on his justification, and gradually, by the sweet and soft tone of + her voice, soothed to rest the spirit of causeless irritation. + </p> + <p> + She then cast a look towards me, which expressed, “You see all that + remains of him whom you call friend.” It seemed also to say, “Your longer + presence here can only be distressing to us all.” + </p> + <p> + “Forgive me, young lady,” I said, as well as tears would permit; “I am a + person deeply obliged to your uncle. My name is Croftangry.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord! and that I should not hae minded ye, Maister Croftangry,” said the + servant. “Ay, I mind my master had muckle fash about your job. I hae heard + him order in fresh candles as midnight chappit, and till’t again. Indeed, + ye had aye his gude word, Mr. Croftangry, for a’ that folks said about + you.” + </p> + <p> + “Hold your tongue, John,” said the lady, somewhat angrily; and then + continued, addressing herself to me, “I am sure, sir, you must be sorry to + see my uncle in this state. I know you are his friend. I have heard him + mention your name, and wonder he never heard from you.” A new cut this, + and it went to my heart. But she continued, “I really do not know if it is + right that any should—If my uncle should know you, which I scarce + think possible, he would be much affected, and the doctor says that any + agitation—But here comes Dr. — to give his own opinion.” + </p> + <p> + Dr. — entered. I had left him a middle-aged man. He was now an + elderly one; but still the same benevolent Samaritan, who went about doing + good, and thought the blessings of the poor as good a recompense of his + professional skill as the gold of the rich. + </p> + <p> + He looked at me with surprise, but the young lady said a word of + introduction, and I, who was known to the doctor formerly, hastened to + complete it. He recollected me perfectly, and intimated that he was well + acquainted with the reasons I had for being deeply interested in the fate + of his patient. He gave me a very melancholy account of my poor friend, + drawing me for that purpose a little apart from the lady. “The light of + life,” he said, “was trembling in the socket; he scarcely expected it + would ever leap up even into a momentary flash, but more was impossible.” + He then stepped towards his patient, and put some questions, to which the + poor invalid, though he seemed to recognize the friendly and familiar + voice, answered only in a faltering and uncertain manner. + </p> + <p> + The young lady, in her turn, had drawn back when the doctor approached his + patient. “You see how it is with him,” said the doctor, addressing me. “I + have heard our poor friend, in one of the most eloquent of his pleadings, + give a description of this very disease, which he compared to the tortures + inflicted by Mezentius when he chained the dead to the living. The soul, + he said, is imprisoned in its dungeon of flesh, and though retaining its + natural and unalienable properties, can no more exert them than the + captive enclosed within a prison-house can act as a free agent. Alas! to + see HIM, who could so well describe what this malady was in others, a prey + himself to its infirmities! I shall never forget the solemn tone of + expression with which he summed up the incapacities of the paralytic—the + deafened ear, the dimmed eye, the crippled limbs—in the noble words + of Juvenal,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Omni + Membrorum damno major, dementia, quae nec + Nomina servorum, nec vultum agnoscit amici.’” + </pre> + <p> + As the physician repeated these lines, a flash of intelligence seemed to + revive in the invalid’s eye—sunk again—again struggled, and he + spoke more intelligibly than before, and in the tone of one eager to say + something which he felt would escape him unless said instantly. “A + question of death-bed, a question of death-bed, doctor—a reduction + EX CAPITE LECTI—Withering against Wilibus—about the MORBUS + SONTICUS. I pleaded the cause for the pursuer—I, and—and—why, + I shall forget my own name—I, and—he that was the wittiest and + the best-humoured man living—” + </p> + <p> + The description enabled the doctor to fill up the blank, and the patient + joyfully repeated the name suggested. “Ay, ay,” he said, “just he—Harry—poor + Harry—” The light in his eye died away, and he sunk back in his + easy-chair. + </p> + <p> + “You have now seen more of our poor friend, Mr. Croftangry,” said the + physician, “than I dared venture to promise you; and now I must take my + professional authority on me, and ask you to retire. Miss Sommerville + will, I am sure, let you know if a moment should by any chance occur when + her uncle can see you.” + </p> + <p> + What could I do? I gave my card to the young lady, and taking my offering + from my bosom—“if my poor friend,” I said, with accents as broken + almost as his own, “should ask where this came from, name me, and say from + the most obliged and most grateful man alive. Say, the gold of which it is + composed was saved by grains at a time, and was hoarded with as much + avarice as ever was a miser’s. To bring it here I have come a thousand + miles; and now, alas, I find him thus!” + </p> + <p> + I laid the box on the table, and was retiring with a lingering step. The + eye of the invalid was caught by it, as that of a child by a glittering + toy, and with infantine impatience he faltered out inquiries of his niece. + With gentle mildness she repeated again and again who I was, and why I + came, etc. I was about to turn, and hasten from a scene so painful, when + the physician laid his hand on my sleeve. “Stop,” he said, “there is a + change.” + </p> + <p> + There was, indeed, and a marked one. A faint glow spread over his pallid + features—they seemed to gain the look of intelligence which belongs + to vitality—his eye once more kindled—his lip coloured—and + drawing himself up out of the listless posture he had hitherto maintained, + he rose without assistance. The doctor and the servant ran to give him + their support. He waved them aside, and they were contented to place + themselves in such a position behind as might ensure against accident, + should his newly-acquired strength decay as suddenly as it had revived. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Croftangry,” he said, in the tone of kindness of other days, “I + am glad to see you returned. You find me but poorly; but my little niece + here and Dr. — are very kind. God bless you, my dear friend! We + shall not meet again till we meet in a better world.” + </p> + <p> + I pressed his extended hand to my lips—I pressed it to my bosom—I + would fain have flung myself on my knees; but the doctor, leaving the + patient to the young lady and the servant, who wheeled forward his chair, + and were replacing him in it, hurried me out of the room. “My dear sir,” + he said, “you ought to be satisfied; you have seen our poor invalid more + like his former self than he has been for months, or than he may be + perhaps again until all is over. The whole Faculty could not have assured + such an interval. I must see whether anything can be derived from it to + improve the general health. Pray, begone.” The last argument hurried me + from the spot, agitated by a crowd of feelings, all of them painful. + </p> + <p> + When I had overcome the shock of this great disappointment, I renewed + gradually my acquaintance with one or two old companions, who, though of + infinitely less interest to my feelings than my unfortunate friend, served + to relieve the pressure of actual solitude, and who were not perhaps the + less open to my advances that I was a bachelor somewhat stricken in years, + newly arrived from foreign parts, and certainly independent, if not + wealthy. + </p> + <p> + I was considered as a tolerable subject of speculation by some, and I + could not be burdensome to any. I was therefore, according to the ordinary + rule of Edinburgh hospitality, a welcome guest in several respectable + families. But I found no one who could replace the loss I had sustained in + my best friend and benefactor. I wanted something more than mere + companionship could give me, and where was I to look for it? Among the + scattered remnants of those that had been my gay friends of yore? Alas! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Many a lad I loved was dead, + And many a lass grown old.” + </pre> + <p> + Besides, all community of ties between us had ceased to exist, and such of + former friends as were still in the world held their life in a different + tenor from what I did. + </p> + <p> + Some had become misers, and were as eager in saving sixpence as ever they + had been in spending a guinea. Some had turned agriculturists; their talk + was of oxen, and they were only fit companions for graziers. Some stuck to + cards, and though no longer deep gamblers, rather played small game than + sat out. This I particularly despised. The strong impulse of gaming, alas! + I had felt in my time. It is as intense as it is criminal; but it produces + excitation and interest, and I can conceive how it should become a passion + with strong and powerful minds. But to dribble away life in exchanging + bits of painted pasteboard round a green table for the piddling concern of + a few shillings, can only be excused in folly or superannuation. It is + like riding on a rocking-horse, where your utmost exertion never carries + you a foot forward; it is a kind of mental treadmill, where you are + perpetually climbing, but can never rise an inch. From these hints, my + readers will perceive I am incapacitated for one of the pleasures of old + age, which, though not mentioned by Cicero, is not the least frequent + resource in the present day—the club-room, and the snug hand at + whist. + </p> + <p> + To return to my old companions. Some frequented public assemblies, like + the ghost of Beau Nash, or any other beau of half a century back, thrust + aside by tittering youth, and pitied by those of their own age. In fine, + some went into devotion, as the French term it, and others, I fear, went + to the devil; a few found resources in science and letters; one or two + turned philosophers in a small way, peeped into microscopes, and became + familiar with the fashionable experiments of the day; some took to + reading, and I was one of them. + </p> + <p> + Some grains of repulsion towards the society around me—some painful + recollections of early faults and follies—some touch of displeasure + with living mankind—inclined me rather to a study of antiquities, + and particularly those of my own country. The reader, if I can prevail on + myself to continue the present work, will probably be able to judge in the + course of it whether I have made any useful progress in the study of the + olden times. + </p> + <p> + I owed this turn of study, in part, to the conversation of my kind man of + business, Mr. Fairscribe, whom I mentioned as having seconded the efforts + of my invaluable friend in bringing the cause on which my liberty and the + remnant of my property depended to a favourable decision. He had given me + a most kind reception on my return. He was too much engaged in his + profession for me to intrude on him often, and perhaps his mind was too + much trammelled with its details to permit his being willingly withdrawn + from them. In short, he was not a person of my poor friend Sommerville’s + expanded spirit, and rather a lawyer of the ordinary class of formalists; + but a most able and excellent man. When my estate was sold! he retained + some of the older title-deeds, arguing, from his own feelings, that they + would be of more consequence to the heir of the old family than to the new + purchaser. And when I returned to Edinburgh, and found him still in the + exercise of the profession to which he was an honour, he sent to my + lodgings the old family Bible, which lay always on my father’s table, two + or three other mouldy volumes, and a couple of sheepskin bags full of + parchments and papers, whose appearance was by no means inviting. + </p> + <p> + The next time I shared Mr. Fairscribe’s hospitable dinner, I failed not to + return him due thanks for his kindness, which acknowledgment, indeed, I + proportioned rather to the idea which I knew he entertained of the value + of such things, than to the interest with which I myself regarded them. + But the conversation turning on my family, who were old proprietors in the + Upper Ward of Clydesdale, gradually excited some interest in my mind and + when I retired to my solitary parlour, the first thing I did was to look + for a pedigree or sort of history of the family or House of Croftangry, + once of that Ilk, latterly of Glentanner. The discoveries which I made + shall enrich the next chapter. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. IN WHICH MR. CROFTANGRY CONTINUES HIS STORY. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “What’s property, dear Swift? I see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter.” + </pre> + <p> + “Croftangry—Croftandrew—Croftanridge—Croftandgrey for sa + mony wise hath the name been spellit—is weel known to be ane house + of grit antiquity; and it is said that King Milcolumb, or Malcolm, being + the first of our Scottish princes quha removit across the Firth of Forth, + did reside and occupy ane palace at Edinburgh, and had there ane valziant + man, who did him man-service by keeping the croft, or corn-land, which was + tilled for the convenience of the King’s household, and was thence callit + Croft-an-ri, that is to say, the King his croft; quhilk place, though now + coverit with biggings, is to this day called Croftangry, and lyeth near to + the royal palace. And whereas that some of those who bear this auld and + honourable name may take scorn that it ariseth from the tilling of the + ground, quhilk men account a slavish occupation, yet we ought to honour + the pleugh and spade, seeing we all derive our being from our father Adam, + whose lot it became to cultivate the earth, in respect of his fall and + transgression. + </p> + <p> + “Also we have witness, as weel in holy writt as in profane history, of the + honour in quhilk husbandrie was held of old, and how prophets have been + taken from the pleugh, and great captains raised up to defend their ain + countries, sic as Cincinnatus, and the like, who fought not the common + enemy with the less valiancy that their alms had been exercised in halding + the stilts of the pleugh, and their bellicose skill in driving of yauds + and owsen. + </p> + <p> + “Likewise there are sindry honorable families, quhilk are now of our + native Scottish nobility, and have clombe higher up the brae of preferment + than what this house of Croftangry hath done, quhilk shame not to carry in + their warlike shield and insignia of dignity the tools and implements the + quhilk their first forefathers exercised in labouring the croft-rig, or, + as the poet Virgilius calleth it eloquently, in subduing the soil, and no + doubt this ancient house of Croftangry, while it continued to be called of + that Ilk, produced many worshipful and famous patriots, of quhom I now + praetermit the names; it being my purpose, if God shall spare me life for + sic ane pious officium, or duty, to resume the first part of my narrative + touching the house of Croftangry, when I can set down at length the + evidents and historical witness anent the facts which I shall allege, + seeing that words, when they are unsupported by proofs, are like seed sown + on the naked rocks, or like an house biggit on the flitting and faithless + sands.” + </p> + <p> + Here I stopped to draw breath; for the style of my grandsire, the inditer + of this goodly matter, was rather lengthy, as our American friends say. + Indeed, I reserve the rest of the piece until I can obtain admission to + the Bannatine Club, [This Club, of which the Author of Waverley has the + honour to be President, was instituted in February 1823, for the purpose + of printing and publishing works illustrative of the history, literature, + and antiquities of Scotland. It continues to prosper, and has already + rescued from oblivion many curious materials of Scottish history.] when I + propose to throw off an edition, limited according to the rules of that + erudite Society, with a facsimile of the manuscript, emblazonry of the + family arms surrounded by their quartering, and a handsome disclamation of + family pride, with HAEC NOS NOVIMUS ESSE NIHIL, or VIX EA NOSTRA VOCO. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime, to speak truth, I cannot but suspect that, though my + worthy ancestor puffed vigorously to swell up the dignity of his family, + we had never, in fact, risen above the rank of middling proprietors. The + estate of Glentanner came to us by the intermarriage of my ancestor with + Tib Sommeril, termed by the southrons Sommerville, a daughter of that + noble house, but, I fear, on what my great-grandsire calls “the wrong side + of the blanket.” [The ancient Norman family of the Sommervilles came into + this island with William the Conqueror, and established one branch in + Gloucestershire, another in Scotland. After the lapse of seven hundred + years, the remaining possessions of these two branches were united in the + person of the late Lord Sommerville, on the death of his English kinsman, + the well-known author of “The Chase.”] Her husband, Gilbert, was killed + fighting, as the INQUISITIO POST MORTEM has it, “SUB VEXILLO REGIS, APUD + PRAELIUM JUXTA BRANXTON, LIE FLODDDEN-FIELD.” + </p> + <p> + We had our share in other national misfortunes—were forfeited, like + Sir John Colville of the Dale, for following our betters to the field of + Langside; and in the contentious times of the last Stewarts we were + severely fined for harbouring and resetting intercommuned ministers, and + narrowly escaped giving a martyr to the Calendar of the Covenant, in the + person of the father of our family historian. He “took the sheaf from the + mare,” however, as the MS. expresses it, and agreed to accept of the terms + of pardon offered by Government, and sign the bond in evidence he would + give no further ground of offence. My grandsire glosses over his father’s + backsliding as smoothly as he can, and comforts himself with ascribing his + want of resolution to his unwillingness to wreck the ancient name and + family, and to permit his lands and lineage to fall under a doom of + forfeiture. + </p> + <p> + “And indeed,” said the venerable compiler, “as, praised be God, we seldom + meet in Scotland with these belly-gods and voluptuaries, whilk are + unnatural enough to devour their patrimony bequeathed to them by their + forbears in chambering and wantonness, so that they come, with the + prodigal son, to the husks and the swine-trough; and as I have the less to + dreid the existence of such unnatural Neroes in mine own family to devour + the substance of their own house like brute beasts out of mere gluttonie + and Epicurishnesse, so I need only warn mine descendants against + over-hastily meddling with the mutations in state and in religion, which + have been near-hand to the bringing this poor house of Croftangry to + perdition, as we have shown more than once. And albeit I would not that my + successors sat still altogether when called on by their duty to Kirk and + King, yet I would have them wait till stronger and walthier men than + themselves were up, so that either they may have the better chance of + getting through the day, or, failing of that, the conquering party having + some fatter quarry to live upon, may, like gorged hawks, spare the smaller + game.” + </p> + <p> + There was something in this conclusion which at first reading piqued me + extremely, and I was so unnatural as to curse the whole concern, as poor, + bald, pitiful trash, in which a silly old man was saying a great deal + about nothing at all. Nay, my first impression was to thrust it into the + fire, the rather that it reminded me, in no very flattering manner, of the + loss of the family property, to which the compiler of the history was so + much attached, in the very manner which he most severely reprobated. It + even seemed to my aggrieved feelings that his unprescient gaze on + futurity, in which he could not anticipate the folly of one of his + descendants, who should throw away the whole inheritance in a few years of + idle expense and folly, was meant as a personal incivility to myself, + though written fifty or sixty years before I was born. + </p> + <p> + A little reflection made me ashamed or this feeling of impatience, and as + I looked at the even, concise, yet tremulous hand in which the manuscript + was written, I could not help thinking, according to an opinion I have + heard seriously maintained, that something of a man’s character may be + conjectured from his handwriting. That neat but crowded and constrained + small-hand argued a man of a good conscience, well-regulated passions, + and, to use his own phrase, an upright walk in life; but it also indicated + narrowness of spirit, inveterate prejudice, and hinted at some degree of + intolerance, which, though not natural to the disposition, had arisen out + of a limited education. The passages from Scripture and the classics, + rather profusely than happily introduced, and written in a half-text + character to mark their importance, illustrated that peculiar sort of + pedantry which always considers the argument as gained if secured by a + quotation. Then the flourished capital letters, which ornamented the + commencement of each paragraph, and the names of his family and of his + ancestors whenever these occurred in the page, do they not express + forcibly the pride and sense of importance with which the author undertook + and accomplished his task? I persuaded myself the whole was so complete a + portrait of the man, that it would not have been a more undutiful act to + have defaced his picture, or even to have disturbed his bones in his + coffin, than to destroy his manuscript. I thought, for a moment, of + presenting it to Mr. Fairscribe; but that confounded passage about the + prodigal and swine-trough—I settled at last it was as well to lock + it up in my own bureau, with the intention to look at it no more. + </p> + <p> + But I do not know how it was, that the subject began to sit nearer my + heart than I was aware of, and I found myself repeatedly engaged in + reading descriptions of farms which were no longer mine, and boundaries + which marked the property of others. A love of the NATALE SOLUM, if Swift + be right in translating these words, “family estate,” began to awaken in + my bosom—the recollections of my own youth adding little to it, save + what was connected with field-sports. A career of pleasure is unfavourable + for acquiring a taste for natural beauty, and still more so for forming + associations of a sentimental kind, connecting us with the inanimate + objects around us. + </p> + <p> + I had thought little about my estate while I possessed and was wasting it, + unless as affording the rude materials out of which a certain inferior + race of creatures, called tenants, were bound to produce (in a greater + quantity than they actually did) a certain return called rent, which was + destined to supply my expenses. This was my general view of the matter. Of + particular places, I recollected that Garval Hill was a famous piece of + rough upland pasture for rearing young colts, and teaching them to throw + their feet; that Minion Burn had the finest yellow trout in the country; + that Seggy-cleugh was unequalled for woodcocks; that Bengibbert Moors + afforded excellent moorfowl-shooting; and that the clear, bubbling + fountain called the Harper’s Well was the best recipe in the world on the + morning after a HARD-GO with my neighbour fox-hunters. Still, these ideas + recalled, by degrees, pictures of which I had since learned to appreciate + the merit—scenes of silent loneliness, where extensive moors, + undulating into wild hills, were only disturbed by the whistle of the + plover or the crow of the heathcock; wild ravines creeping up into + mountains, filled with natural wood, and which, when traced downwards + along the path formed by shepherds and nutters, were found gradually to + enlarge and deepen, as each formed a channel to its own brook, sometimes + bordered by steep banks of earth, often with the more romantic boundary of + naked rocks or cliffs crested with oak, mountain ash, and hazel—all + gratifying the eye the more that the scenery was, from the bare nature of + the country around, totally unexpected. + </p> + <p> + I had recollections, too, of fair and fertile holms, or level plains, + extending between the wooded banks and the bold stream of the Clyde, + which, coloured like pure amber, or rather having the hue of the pebbles + called Cairngorm, rushes over sheets of rock and beds of gravel, inspiring + a species of awe from the few and faithless fords which it presents, and + the frequency of fatal accidents, now diminished by the number of bridges. + These alluvial holms were frequently bordered by triple and quadruple rows + of large trees, which gracefully marked their boundary, and dipped their + long arms into the foaming stream of the river. Other places I remembered, + which had been described by the old huntsman as the lodge of tremendous + wild-cats, or the spot where tradition stated the mighty stag to have been + brought to bay, or where heroes, whose might was now as much forgotten, + were said to have been slain by surprise, or in battle. + </p> + <p> + It is not to be supposed that these finished landscapes became visible + before the eyes of my imagination, as the scenery of the stage is + disclosed by the rising of the curtain. I have said that I had looked upon + the country around me, during the hurried and dissipated period of my + life, with the eyes, indeed, of my body, but without those of my + understanding. It was piece by piece, as a child picks out its lesson, + that I began to recollect the beauties of nature which had once surrounded + me in the home of my forefathers. A natural taste for them must have + lurked at the bottom of my heart, which awakened when I was in foreign + countries, and becoming by degrees a favourite passion, gradually turned + its eyes inwards, and ransacked the neglected stores which my memory had + involuntarily recorded, and, when excited, exerted herself to collect and + to complete. + </p> + <p> + I began now to regret more bitterly than ever the having fooled away my + family property, the care and improvement of which I saw might have + afforded an agreeable employment for my leisure, which only went to brood + on past misfortunes, and increase useless repining. “Had but a single farm + been reserved, however small,” said I one day to Mr. Fairscribe, “I should + have had a place I could call my home, and something that I could call + business.” + </p> + <p> + “It might have been managed,” answered Fairscribe; “and for my part, I + inclined to keep the mansion house, mains, and some of the old family + acres together; but both Mr. — and you were of opinion that the + money would be more useful.” + </p> + <p> + “True, true, my good friend,” said I; “I was a fool then, and did not + think I could incline to be Glentanner with L200 or L300 a year, instead + of Glentanner with as many thousands. I was then a haughty, pettish, + ignorant, dissipated, broken-down Scottish laird; and thinking my + imaginary consequence altogether ruined, I cared not how soon, or how + absolutely, I was rid of everything that recalled it to my own memory, or + that of others.” + </p> + <p> + “And now it is like you have changed your mind?” said Fairscribe. “Well, + fortune is apt to circumduce the term upon us; but I think she may allow + you to revise your condescendence.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean, my good friend?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” said Fairscribe, “there is ill luck in averring till one is sure of + his facts. I will look back on a file of newspapers, and to-morrow you + shall hear from me. Come, help yourself—I have seen you fill your + glass higher.” + </p> + <p> + “And shall see it again,” said I, pouring out what remained of our bottle + of claret; “the wine is capital, and so shall our toast be—‘To your + fireside, my good friend.’ And now we shall go beg a Scots song without + foreign graces from my little siren, Miss Katie.” + </p> + <p> + The next day, accordingly, I received a parcel from Mr. Fairscribe with a + newspaper enclosed, among the advertisements of which one was marked with + a cross as requiring my attention. I read, to my surprise:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “DESIRABLE ESTATE FOR SALE. +</pre> + <p> + “By order of the Lords of Council and Session, will be exposed to sale in + the New Sessions House of Edinburgh, on Wednesday, the 25th November, 18—, + all and whole the lands and barony of Glentanner, now called Castle + Treddles, lying in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale, and shire of Lanark, + with the teinds, parsonage and vicarage, fishings in the Clyde, woods, + mosses, moors, and pasturages,” etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + The advertisement went on to set forth the advantages of the soil, + situation, natural beauties, and capabilities of improvement, not + forgetting its being a freehold estate, with the particular polypus + capacity of being sliced up into two, three, or, with a little assistance, + four freehold qualifications, and a hint that the county was likely to be + eagerly contested between two great families. The upset price at which + “the said lands and barony and others” were to be exposed was thirty + years’ purchase of the proven rental, which was about a fourth more than + the property had fetched at the last sale. This, which was mentioned, I + suppose, to show the improvable character of the land, would have given + another some pain. But let me speak truth of myself in good as in evil—it + pained not me. I was only angry that Fairscribe, who knew something + generally of the extent of my funds, should have tantalized me by sending + me information that my family property was in the market, since he must + have known that the price was far out of my reach. + </p> + <p> + But a letter dropped from the parcel on the floor, which attracted my eye, + and explained the riddle. A client of Mr. Fairscribe’s, a moneyed man, + thought of buying Glentanner, merely as an investment of money—it + was even unlikely he would ever see it; and so the price of the whole + being some thousand pounds beyond what cash he had on hand, this + accommodating Dives would gladly take a partner in the sale for any + detached farm, and would make no objection to its including the most + desirable part of the estate in point of beauty, provided the price was + made adequate. Mr. Fairscribe would take care I was not imposed on in the + matter, and said in his card he believed, if I really wished to make such + a purchase, I had better go out and look at the premises, advising me, at + the same time, to keep a strict incognito—an advice somewhat + superfluous, since I am naturally of a retired and reserved disposition. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. MR. CROFTANGRY, INTER ALIA, REVISITS GLENTANNER. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Then sing of stage-coaches, + And fear no reproaches + For riding in one; + But daily be jogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + The coachman drives on. FARQUHAR. +</pre> + <p> + Disguised in a grey surtout which had seen service, a white castor on my + head, and a stout Indian cane in my hand, the next week saw me on the top + of a mail-coach driving to the westward. + </p> + <p> + I like mail-coaches, and I hate them. I like them for my convenience; but + I detest them for setting the whole world a-gadding, instead of sitting + quietly still minding their own business, and preserving the stamp of + originality of character which nature or education may have impressed on + them. Off they go, jingling against each other in the rattling vehicle + till they have no more variety of stamp in them than so many smooth + shillings—the same even in their Welsh wigs and greatcoats, each + without more individuality than belongs to a partner of the company, as + the waiter calls them, of the North Coach. + </p> + <p> + Worthy Mr. Piper, best of contractors who ever furnished four frampal + jades for public use, I bless you when I set out on a journey myself; the + neat coaches under your contract render the intercourse, from Johnnie + Groat’s House to Ladykirk and Cornhill Bridge, safe, pleasant, and cheap. + But, Mr. Piper, you who are a shrewd arithmetician, did it never occur to + you to calculate how many fools’ heads, which might have produced an idea + or two in the year, if suffered to remain in quiet, get effectually addled + by jolting to and fro in these flying chariots of yours; how many decent + countrymen become conceited bumpkins after a cattle-show dinner in the + capital, which they could not have attended save for your means; how many + decent country parsons return critics and spouters, by way of importing + the newest taste from Edinburgh? And how will your conscience answer one + day for carrying so many bonny lasses to barter modesty for conceit and + levity at the metropolitan Vanity Fair? + </p> + <p> + Consider, too, the low rate to which you reduce human intellect. I do not + believe your habitual customers have their ideas more enlarged than one of + your coach-horses. They KNOWS the road, like the English postilion, and + they know nothing besides. They date, like the carriers at Gadshill, from + the death of Robin Ostler; [See Act II. Scene 1 of the First Part of + Shakespeare’s Henry IV.] the succession of guards forms a dynasty in their + eyes; coachmen are their ministers of state; and an upset is to them a + greater incident than a change of administration. Their only point of + interest on the road is to save the time, and see whether the coach keeps + the hour. This is surely a miserable degradation of human intellect. Take + my advice, my good sir, and disinterestedly contrive that once or twice a + quarter your most dexterous whip shall overturn a coachful of these + superfluous travellers, IN TERROREM to those who, as Horace says, “delight + in the dust raised by your chariots.” + </p> + <p> + Your current and customary mail-coach passenger, too, gets abominably + selfish, schemes successfully for the best seat, the freshest egg, the + right cut of the sirloin. The mode of travelling is death to all the + courtesies and kindnesses of life, and goes a great way to demoralize the + character, and cause it to retrograde to barbarism. You allow us excellent + dinners, but only twenty minutes to eat them. And what is the consequence? + Bashful beauty sits on the one side of us, timid childhood on the other; + respectable, yet somewhat feeble, old age is placed on our front; and all + require those acts of politeness which ought to put every degree upon a + level at the convivial board. But have we time—we the strong and + active of the party—to perform the duties of the table to the more + retired and bashful, to whom these little attentions are due? The lady + should be pressed to her chicken, the old man helped to his favourite and + tender slice, the child to his tart. But not a fraction of a minute have + we to bestow on any other person than ourselves; and the PRUT-PRUT—TUT-TUT + of the guard’s discordant note summons us to the coach, the weaker party + having gone without their dinner, and the able-bodied and active + threatened with indigestion, from having swallowed victuals like a + Lei’stershire clown bolting bacon. + </p> + <p> + On the memorable occasion I am speaking of I lost my breakfast, sheerly + from obeying the commands of a respectable-looking old lady, who once + required me to ring the bell, and another time to help the tea-kettle. I + have some reason to think she was literally an OLD-STAGER, who laughed in + her sleeve at my complaisance; so that I have sworn in my secret soul + revenge upon her sex, and all such errant damsels of whatever age and + degree whom I may encounter in my travels. I mean all this without the + least ill-will to my friend the contractor, who, I think, has approached + as near as any one is like to do towards accomplishing the modest wish cf + the Amatus and Amata of the Peri Bathous,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ye gods, annihilate but time and space, + And make two lovers happy.” + </pre> + <p> + I intend to give Mr. P. his full revenge when I come to discuss the more + recent enormity of steamboats; meanwhile, I shall only say of both these + modes of conveyance, that— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “There is no living with them or without them.” + </pre> + <p> + I am, perhaps, more critical on the—mail-coach on this particular + occasion, that I did not meet all the respect from the worshipful company + in his Majesty’s carriage that I think I was entitled to. I must say it + for myself that I bear, in my own opinion at least, not a vulgar point + about me. My face has seen service, but there is still a good set of + teeth, an aquiline nose, and a quick, grey eye, set a little too deep + under the eyebrow; and a cue of the kind once called military may serve to + show that my civil occupations have been sometimes mixed with those of + war. Nevertheless, two idle young fellows in the vehicle, or rather on the + top of it, were so much amused with the deliberation which I used in + ascending to the same place of eminence, that I thought I should have been + obliged to pull them up a little. And I was in no good-humour at an + unsuppressed laugh following my descent when set down at the angle, where + a cross road, striking off from the main one, led me towards Glentanner, + from which I was still nearly five miles distant. + </p> + <p> + It was an old-fashioned road, which, preferring ascents to sloughs, was + led in a straight line over height and hollow, through moor and dale. + Every object around me; as I passed them in succession, reminded me of old + days, and at the same time formed the strongest contrast with them + possible. Unattended, on foot, with a small bundle in my hand, deemed + scarce sufficient good company for the two shabby-genteels with whom I had + been lately perched on the top of a mail-coach, I did not seem to be the + same person with the young prodigal, who lived with the noblest and gayest + in the land, and who, thirty years before, would, in the same country, + have, been on the back of a horse that had been victor for a plate, or + smoking aloof in his travelling chaise-and-four. My sentiments were not + less changed than my condition. I could quite well remember that my ruling + sensation in the days of heady youth was a mere schoolboy’s eagerness to + get farthest forward in the race in which I had engaged; to drink as many + bottles as —; to be thought as good a judge of a horse as —; + to have the knowing cut of —‘s jacket. These were thy gods, O + Israel! + </p> + <p> + Now I was a mere looker-on; seldom an unmoved, and sometimes an angry + spectator, but still a spectator only, of the pursuits of mankind. I felt + how little my opinion was valued by those engaged in the busy turmoil, yet + I exercised it with the profusion of an old lawyer retired from his + profession, who thrusts himself into his neighbour’s affairs, and gives + advice where it is not wanted, merely under pretence of loving the crack + of the whip. + </p> + <p> + I came amid these reflections to the brow of a hill, from which I expected + to see Glentanner, a modest-looking yet comfortable house, its walls + covered with the most productive fruit-trees in that part of the country, + and screened from the most stormy quarters of the horizon by a deep and + ancient wood, which overhung the neighbouring hill. The house was gone; a + great part of the wood was felled; and instead of the gentlemanlike + mansion, shrouded and embosomed among its old hereditary trees, stood + Castle Treddles, a huge lumping four-square pile of freestone, as bare as + my nail, except for a paltry edging of decayed and lingering exotics, with + an impoverished lawn stretched before it, which, instead of boasting deep + green tapestry, enamelled with daisies and with crowsfoot and cowslips, + showed an extent of nakedness, raked, indeed, and levelled, but where the + sown grasses had failed with drought, and the earth, retaining its natural + complexion, seemed nearly as brown and bare as when it was newly dug up. + </p> + <p> + The house was a large fabric, which pretended to its name of Castle only + from the front windows being finished in acute Gothic arches (being, by + the way, the very reverse of the castellated style), and each angle graced + with a turret about the size of a pepper-box. In every other respect it + resembled a large town-house, which, like a fat burgess, had taken a walk + to the country on a holiday, and climbed to the top of all eminence to + look around it. The bright red colour of the freestone, the size of the + building, the formality of its shape, and awkwardness of its position, + harmonized as ill with the sweeping Clyde in front, and the bubbling brook + which danced down on the right, as the fat civic form, with bushy wig, + gold-headed cane, maroon-coloured coat, and mottled silk stockings, would + have accorded with the wild and magnificent scenery of Corehouse Linn. + </p> + <p> + I went up to the house. It was in that state of desertion which is perhaps + the most unpleasant to look on, for the place was going to decay without + having been inhabited. There were about the mansion, though deserted, none + of the slow mouldering touches of time, which communicate to buildings, as + to the human frame, a sort of reverence, while depriving them of beauty + and of strength. The disconcerted schemes of the Laird of Castle Treddles + had resembled fruit that becomes decayed without ever having ripened. Some + windows broken, others patched, others blocked up with deals, gave a + disconsolate air to all around, and seemed to say, “There Vanity had + purposed to fix her seat, but was anticipated by Poverty.” + </p> + <p> + To the inside, after many a vain summons, I was at length admitted by an + old labourer. The house contained every contrivance for luxury and + accommodation. The kitchens were a model; and there were hot closets on + the office staircase, that the dishes might not cool, as our Scottish + phrase goes, between the kitchen and the hall. But instead of the genial + smell of good cheer, these temples of Comus emitted the damp odour of + sepulchral vaults, and the large cabinets of cast-iron looked like the + cages of some feudal Bastille. The eating room and drawing-room, with an + interior boudoir, were magnificent apartments, the ceiling was fretted and + adorned with stucco-work, which already was broken in many places, and + looked in others damp and mouldering; the wood panelling was shrunk and + warped, and cracked; the doors, which had not been hung for more than two + years, were, nevertheless, already swinging loose from their hinges. + Desolation, in short, was where enjoyment had never been; and the want of + all the usual means to preserve was fast performing the work of decay. + </p> + <p> + The story was a common one, and told in a few words. Mr. Treddles, senior, + who bought the estate, was a cautious, money-making person. His son, still + embarked in commercial speculations, desired at the same time to enjoy his + opulence and to increase it. He incurred great expenses, amongst which + this edifice was to benumbered. To support these he speculated boldly, and + unfortunately; and thus the whole history is told, which may serve for + more places than Glentanner. + </p> + <p> + Strange and various feelings ran through my bosom as I loitered in these + deserted apartments, scarce hearing what my guide said to me about the + size and destination of each room. The first sentiment, I am ashamed to + say, was one of gratified spite. My patrician pride was pleased that the + mechanic, who had not thought the house of the Croftangrys sufficiently + good for him, had now experienced a fall in his turn. My next thought was + as mean, though not so malicious. “I have had the better of this fellow,” + thought I. “If I lost the estate, I at least spent the price; and Mr. + Treddles has lost his among paltry commercial engagements.” + </p> + <p> + “Wretch!” said the secret voice within, “darest thou exult in thy shame? + Recollect how thy youth and fortune was wasted in those years, and triumph + not in the enjoyment of an existence which levelled thee with the beasts + that perish. Bethink thee how this poor man’s vanity gave at least bread + to the labourer, peasant, and citizen; and his profuse expenditure, like + water spilt on the ground, refreshed the lowly herbs and plants where it + fell. But thou! Whom hast thou enriched during thy career of extravagance, + save those brokers of the devil—vintners, panders, gamblers, and + horse-jockeys?” The anguish produced by this self-reproof was so strong + that I put my hand suddenly to my forehead, and was obliged to allege a + sudden megrim to my attendant, in apology for the action, and a slight + groan with which it was accompanied. + </p> + <p> + I then made an effort to turn my thoughts into a more philosophical + current, and muttered half aloud, as a charm to lull any more painful + thoughts to rest,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “NUNC AGER UMBRENI SUB NOMINE, NUPER OFELLI + DICTUS ERIT NULLI PROPRIUS; SED CEDIT IN USUM + NUNC MIHI, NUNC ALII. QUOCIRCA VIVITE FORTES, + FORTIAQUE ADVERSIS OPPONITE PECTORA REBUS.” + </pre> + <p> + [Horace Sat.II Lib.2. The meaning will be best conveyed to the English + reader in Pope’s imitation:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “What’s property, dear Swift? You see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter; + Or in a mortgage prove a lawyer’s share; + Or in a jointure vanish from the heir. + + ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** + + “Shades, that to Bacon could retreat afford, + Become the portion of a booby lord; + And Helmsley, once proud Buckingham’s delight, + Slides to a scrivener and city knight. + Let lands and houses have what lords they will, + Let us be fix’d, and our own masters still.”] +</pre> + <p> + In my anxiety to fix the philosophical precept in my mind, I recited the + last line aloud, which, joined to my previous agitation, I afterwards + found became the cause of a report that a mad schoolmaster had come from + Edinburgh, with the idea in his head of buying Castle Treddles. + </p> + <p> + As I saw my companion was desirous of getting rid of me, I asked where I + was to find the person in whose hands were left the map of the estate, and + other particulars connected with the sale. The agent who had this in + possession, I was told, lived at the town of —, which I was + informed, and indeed knew well, was distant five miles and a bittock, + which may pass in a country where they are less lavish of their land for + two or three more. Being somewhat afraid of the fatigue of walking so far, + I inquired if a horse or any sort of carriage was to be had, and was + answered in the negative. + </p> + <p> + “But,” said my cicerone, “you may halt a blink till next morning at the + Treddles Arms, a very decent house, scarce a mile off.” + </p> + <p> + “A new house, I suppose?” replied I. + </p> + <p> + “No, it’s a new public, but it’s an auld house; it was aye the Leddy’s + jointure-house in the Croftangry folk’s time. But Mr. Treddles has fitted + it up for the convenience of the country, poor man, he was a + public-spirited man when he had the means.” + </p> + <p> + “Duntarkin a public-house!” I exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “Ay!” said the fellow, surprised at my naming the place by its former + title; “ye’ll hae been in this country before, I’m thinking?” + </p> + <p> + “Long since,” I replied. “And there is good accommodation at the + what-d’ye-call-’em arms, and a civil landlord?” This I said by way of + saying something, for the man stared very hard at me. + </p> + <p> + “Very decent accommodation. Ye’ll no be for fashing wi’ wine, I’m + thinking; and there’s walth o’ porter, ale, and a drap gude whisky” (in an + undertone)—“Fairntosh—if you call get on the lee-side of the + gudewife—for there is nae gudeman. They ca’ her Christie Steele.” + </p> + <p> + I almost started at the sound. Christie Steele! Christie Steele was my + mother’s body-servant, her very right hand, and, between ourselves, + something like a viceroy over her. I recollected her perfectly; and though + she had in former times been no favourite of mine, her name now sounded in + my ear like that of a friend, and was the first word I had heard somewhat + in unison with the associations around me. I sallied from Castle Treddles, + determined to make the best of my way to Duntarkin, and my cicerone hung + by me for a little way, giving loose to his love of talking—an + opportunity which, situated as he was, the seneschal of a deserted castle, + was not likely to occur frequently. + </p> + <p> + “Some folk think,” said my companion, “that Mr. Treddles might as weel + have put my wife as Christie Steele into the Treddles Arms; for Christie + had been aye in service, and never in the public line, and so it’s like + she is ganging back in the world, as I hear. Now, my wife had keepit a + victualling office.” + </p> + <p> + “That would have been an advantage, certainly,” I replied. + </p> + <p> + “But I am no sure that I wad ha’ looten Eppie take it, if they had put it + in her offer.” + </p> + <p> + “That’s a different consideration.” + </p> + <p> + “Ony way, I wadna ha’ liked to have offended Mr. Treddles. He was a wee + toustie when you rubbed him again the hair; but a kind, weel-meaning man.” + </p> + <p> + I wanted to get rid of this species of chat, and finding myself near the + entrance of a footpath which made a short cut to Duntarkin, I put half a + crown into my guide’s hand, bade him good-evening, and plunged into the + woods. + </p> + <p> + “Hout, sir—fie, sir—no from the like of you. Stay, sir, ye + wunna find the way that gate.—Odd’s mercy, he maun ken the gate as + weel as I do mysel’. Weel, I wad like to ken wha the chield is.” + </p> + <p> + Such were the last words of my guide’s drowsy, uninteresting tone of voice + and glad to be rid of him, I strode out stoutly, in despite of large + stones, briers, and BAD STEPS, which abounded in the road I had chosen. In + the interim, I tried as much as I could, with verses from Horace and + Prior, and all who have lauded the mixture of literary with rural life, to + call back the visions of last night and this morning, imagining myself + settled in same detached farm of the estate of Glentanner,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Which sloping hills around enclose— + Where many a birch and brown oak grows,” + </pre> + <p> + when I should have a cottage with a small library, a small cellar, a spare + bed for a friend, and live more happy and more honoured than when I had + the whole barony. But the sight of Castle Treddles had disturbed all my + own castles in the air. The realities of the matter, like a stone plashed + into a limpid fountain, had destroyed the reflection of the objects + around, which, till this act of violence, lay slumbering on the crystal + surface, and I tried in vain to re-establish the picture which had been so + rudely broken. Well, then, I would try it another way. I would try to get + Christie Steele out of her PUBLIC, since she was not striving in it, and + she who had been my mother’s governante should be mine. I knew all her + faults, and I told her history over to myself. + </p> + <p> + She was grand-daughter, I believe—at least some relative—of + the famous Covenanter of the name, whom Dean Swift’s friend, Captain + Creichton, shot on his own staircase in the times of the persecutions; + [See Note 2.—Steele a Covenanter, shot by Captain Creichton.] and + had perhaps derived from her native stock much both of its good and evil + properties. No one could say of her that she was the life and spirit of + the family, though in my mother’s time she directed all family affairs. + Her look was austere and gloomy, and when she was not displeased with you, + you could only find it out by her silence. If there was cause for + complaint, real or imaginary, Christie was loud enough. She loved my + mother with the devoted attachment of a younger sister; but she was as + jealous of her favour to any one else as if she had been the aged husband + of a coquettish wife, and as severe in her reprehensions as an abbess over + her nuns. The command which she exercised over her was that, I fear, of a + strong and determined over a feeble and more nervous disposition and + though it was used with rigour, yet, to the best of Christie Steele’s + belief, she was urging her mistress to her best and most becoming course, + and would have died rather than have recommended any other. The attachment + of this woman was limited to the family of Croftangry; for she had few + relations, and a dissolute cousin, whom late in life she had taken as a + husband, had long left her a widow. + </p> + <p> + To me she had ever a strong dislike. Even from my early childhood she was + jealous, strange as it may seem, of my interest in my mother’s affections. + She saw my foibles and vices with abhorrence, and without a grain of + allowance; nor did she pardon the weakness of maternal affection even + when, by the death of two brothers, I came to be the only child of a + widowed parent. At the time my disorderly conduct induced my mother to + leave Glentanner, and retreat to her jointure-house, I always blamed + Christie Steele for having influenced her resentment and prevented her + from listening to my vows of amendment, which at times were real and + serious, and might, perhaps, have accelerated that change of disposition + which has since, I trust, taken place. But Christie regarded me as + altogether a doomed and predestinated child of perdition, who was sure to + hold on my course, and drag downwards whosoever might attempt to afford me + support. + </p> + <p> + Still, though I knew such had been Christie’s prejudices against me in + other days, yet I thought enough of time had since passed away to destroy + all of them. I knew that when, through the disorder of my affairs, my + mother underwent some temporary inconvenience about money matters, + Christie, as a thing of course, stood in the gap, and having sold a small + inheritance which had descended to her, brought the purchase money to her + mistress, with a sense of devotion as deep as that which inspired the + Christians of the first age, when they sold all they had, and followed the + apostles of the church. I therefore thought that we might, in old Scottish + phrase, “let byganes be byganes,” and begin upon a new account. Yet I + resolved, like a skilful general, to reconnoitre a little before laying + down any precise scheme of proceeding, and in the interim I determined to + preserve my incognito. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. MR. CROFTANGRY BIDS ADIEU TO CLYDESDALE. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Alas, how changed from what it once had been! + ‘Twas now degraded to a common inn. GAY. +</pre> + <p> + An hour’s brisk walking, or thereabouts, placed me in front of Duntarkin, + which had also, I found, undergone considerable alterations, though it had + not been altogether demolished like the principal mansion. An inn-yard + extended before the door of the decent little jointure-house, even amidst + the remnants of the holly hedges which had screened the lady’s garden. + Then a broad, raw-looking, new-made road intruded itself up the little + glen, instead of the old horseway, so seldom used that it was almost + entirely covered with grass. It is a great enormity, of which gentlemen + trustees on the highways are sometimes guilty, in adopting the breadth + necessary for an avenue to the metropolis, where all that is required is + an access to some sequestered and unpopulous district. I do not say + anything of the expense—that the trustees and their constituents may + settle as they please. But the destruction of silvan beauty is great when + the breadth of the road is more than proportioned to the vale through + which it runs, and lowers, of course, the consequence of any objects of + wood or water, or broken and varied ground, which might otherwise attract + notice and give pleasure. A bubbling runnel by the side of one of those + modern Appian or Flaminian highways is but like a kennel; the little hill + is diminished to a hillock—the romantic hillock to a molehill, + almost too small for sight. + </p> + <p> + Such an enormity, however, had destroyed the quiet loneliness of + Duntarkin, and intruded its breadth of dust and gravel, and its + associations of pochays and mail-coaches, upon one of the most sequestered + spots in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale. The house was old and dilapidated, + and looked sorry for itself, as if sensible of a derogation; but the sign + was strong and new, and brightly painted, displaying a heraldic shield + (three shuttles in a field diapre), a web partly unfolded for crest, and + two stout giants for supporters, each one holding a weaver’s beam proper. + To have displayed this monstrous emblem on the front of the house might + have hazarded bringing down the wall, but for certain would have blocked + up one or two windows. It was therefore established independent of the + mansion, being displayed in an iron framework, and suspended upon two + posts, with as much wood and iron about it as would have builded a brig; + and there it hung, creaking, groaning, and screaming in every blast of + wind, and frightening for five miles’ distance, for aught I know, the + nests of thrushes and linnets, the ancient denizens of the little glen. + </p> + <p> + When I entered the place I was received by Christie Steele herself, who + seemed uncertain whether to drop me in the kitchen, or usher me into a + separate apartment, as I called for tea, with something rather more + substantial than bread and butter, and spoke of supping and sleeping, + Christie at last inducted me into the room where she herself had been + sitting, probably the only one which had a fire, though the month was + October. This answered my plan; and as she was about to remove her + spinning-wheel, I begged she would have the goodness to remain and make my + tea, adding that I liked the sound of the wheel, and desired not to + disturb her housewife thrift in the least. + </p> + <p> + “I dinna ken, sir,” she replied, in a dry, REVECHE tone, which carried me + back twenty years, “I am nane of thae heartsome landleddies that can tell + country cracks, and make themsel’s agreeable, and I was ganging to put on + a fire for you in the Red Room; but if it is your will to stay here, he + that pays the lawing maun choose the lodging.” + </p> + <p> + I endeavoured to engage her in conversation; but though she answered, with + a kind of stiff civility, I could get her into no freedom of discourse, + and she began to look at her wheel and at the door more than once, as if + she meditated a retreat. I was obliged, therefore, to proceed to some + special questions; that might have interest for a person whose ideas were + probably of a very bounded description. + </p> + <p> + I looked round the apartment, being the same in which I had last seen my + poor mother. The author of the family history, formerly mentioned, had + taken great credit to himself for the improvements he had made in this + same jointure-house of Duntarkin, and how, upon his marriage, when his + mother took possession of the same as her jointure-house, “to his great + charges and expenses he caused box the walls of the great parlour” (in + which I was now sitting), “empanel the same, and plaster the roof, + finishing the apartment with ane concave chimney, and decorating the same + with pictures, and a barometer and thermometer.” And in particular, which + his good mother used to say she prized above all the rest, he had caused + his own portraiture be limned over the mantlepiece by a skilful hand. And, + in good faith, there he remained still, having much the visage which I was + disposed to ascribe to him on the evidence of his handwriting,—grim + and austere, yet not without a cast of shrewdness and determination; in + armour, though he never wore it, I fancy; one hand on an open book, and + one resting on the hilt of his sword, though I dare say his head never + ached with reading, nor his limbs with fencing. + </p> + <p> + “That picture is painted on the wood, madam,” said I. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, sir, or it’s like it would not have been left there; they look a’ + they could.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Treddles’s creditors, you mean?” said I. + </p> + <p> + “Na,” replied she dryly, “the creditors of another family, that sweepit + cleaner than this poor man’s, because I fancy there was less to gather.” + </p> + <p> + “An older family, perhaps, and probably more remembered and regretted than + later possessors?” + </p> + <p> + Christie here settled herself in her seat, and pulled her wheel towards + her. I had given her something interesting for her thoughts to dwell upon, + and her wheel was a mechanical accompaniment on such occasions, the + revolutions of which assisted her in the explanation of her ideas. + </p> + <p> + “Mair regretted—mair missed? I liked ane of the auld family very + weel, but I winna say that for them a’. How should they be mair missed + than the Treddleses? The cotton mill was such a thing for the country! The + mair bairns a cottar body had the better; they would make their awn keep + frae the time they were five years auld, and a widow wi’ three or four + bairns was a wealthy woman in the time of the Treddleses.” + </p> + <p> + “But the health of these poor children, my good friend—their + education and religious instruction—” + </p> + <p> + “For health,” said Christie, looking gloomily at me, “ye maun ken little + of the warld, sir, if ye dinna ken that the health of the poor man’s body, + as well as his youth and his strength, are all at the command of the rich + man’s purse. There never was a trade so unhealthy yet but men would fight + to get wark at it for twa pennies a day aboon the common wage. But the + bairns were reasonably weel cared for in the way of air and exercise, and + a very responsible youth heard them their Carritch, and gied them lessons + in Reediemadeasy [“Reading made Easy,” usually so pronounced in Scotland.] + Now, what did they ever get before? Maybe on a winter day they wad be + called out to beat the wood for cocks or siclike; and then the starving + weans would maybe get a bite of broken bread, and maybe no, just as the + butler was in humour—that was a’ they got.” + </p> + <p> + “They were not, then, a very kind family to the poor, these old + possessors?” said I, somewhat bitterly; for I had expected to hear my + ancestors’ praises recorded, though I certainly despaired of being regaled + with my own. + </p> + <p> + “They werena ill to them, sir, and that is aye something. They were just + decent bien bodies; ony poor creature that had face to beg got an awmous, + and welcome—they that were shamefaced gaed by, and twice as welcome. + But they keepit an honest walk before God and man, the Croftangrys, and, + as I said before, if they did little good, they did as little ill. They + lifted their rents, and spent them; called in their kain and ate them; + gaed to the kirk of a Sunday; bowed civilly if folk took aff their bannets + as they gaed by, and lookit as black as sin at them that keepit them on.” + </p> + <p> + “These are their arms that you have on the sign?” + </p> + <p> + “What! on the painted board that is skirling and groaning at the door? Na, + these are Mr. Treddles’s arms though they look as like legs as arms. Ill + pleased I was at the fule thing, that cost as muckle as would hae repaired + the house from the wa’ stane to the rigging-tree. But if I am to bide + here, I’ll hae a decent board wi’ a punch bowl on it.” + </p> + <p> + “Is there a doubt of your staying here, Mrs. Steele?” + </p> + <p> + “Dinna Mistress me,” said the cross old woman, whose fingers were now + plying their thrift in a manner which indicated nervous irritation; “there + was nae luck in the land since Luckie turned Mistress, and Mistress my + Leddy. And as for staying here, if it concerns you to ken, I may stay if I + can pay a hundred pund sterling for the lease, and I may flit if I canna, + and so gude e’en to you, Christie,”—and round went the wheel with + much activity. + </p> + <p> + “And you like the trade of keeping a public-house?” + </p> + <p> + “I can scarce say that,” she replied. “But worthy Mr. Prendergast is clear + of its lawfulness; and I hae gotten used to it, and made a decent living, + though I never make out a fause reckoning, or give ony ane the means to + disorder reason in my house.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” said I; “in that case, there is no wonder you have not made up + the hundred pounds to purchase the lease.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you ken,” said she sharply, “that I might not have had a hundred + punds of my ain fee? If I have it not, I am sure it is my ain faut. And I + wunna ca’ it faut neither, for it gaed to her wha was weel entitled to a’ + my service.” Again she pulled stoutly at the flax, and the wheel went + smartly round. + </p> + <p> + “This old gentleman,” said I, fixing my eye on the painted panel, “seems + to have had HIS arms painted as well as Mr. Treddles—that is, if + that painting in the corner be a scutcheon.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, ay—cushion, just sae. They maun a’ hae their cushions—there’s + sma’ gentry without that—and so the arms, as they ca’ them, of the + house of Glentanner may be seen on an auld stane in the west end of the + house. But to do them justice; they didna propale sae muckle about them as + poor Mr. Treddles did—it’s like they were better used to them.” + </p> + <p> + “Very likely. Are there any of the old family in life, goodwife?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” she replied; then added; after a moment’s hesitation, “Not that I + know of”—and the wheel, which had intermitted, began again to + revolve. + </p> + <p> + “Gone abroad, perhaps?” I suggested. + </p> + <p> + She now looked up, and faced me. “No, sir. There were three sons of the + last laird of Glentanner, as he was then called. John and William were + hopeful young gentlemen, but they died early—one of a decline + brought on by the mizzles, the other lost his life in a fever. It would + hae been lucky for mony ane that Chrystal had gane the same gate.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, he must have been the young spendthrift that sold the property? Well, + but you should you have such an ill-will against him; remember necessity + has no law. And then, goodwife, he was not more culpable than Mr. + Treddles, whom you are so sorry for.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish I could think sae, sir, for his mother’s sake. But Mr. Treddles + was in trade, and though he had no preceese right to do so, yet there was + some warrant for a man being expensive that imagined he was making a mint + of money. But this unhappy lad devoured his patrimony, when he kenned that + he was living like a ratten in a Dunlap cheese, and diminishing his means + at a’ hands. I canna bide to think on’t.” With this she broke out into a + snatch of a ballad, but little of mirth was there either in the tone or + the expression:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “For he did spend, and make an end + Of gear that his forefathers wan; + Of land and ware he made him bare, + So speak nae mair of the auld gudeman.” + </pre> + <p> + “Come, dame,” said I, “it is a long lane that has no turning. I will not + keep from you that I have heard something of this poor fellow, Chrystal + Croftangry. He has sown his wild oats, as they say, and has settled into a + steady, respectable man.” + </p> + <p> + “And wha tell’d ye that tidings?” said she, looking sharply at me. + </p> + <p> + “Not, perhaps, the best judge in the world of his character, for it was + himself, dame.” + </p> + <p> + “And if he tell’d you truth, it was a virtue he did not aye use to + practise,” said Christie. + </p> + <p> + “The devil!” said I, considerably nettled; “all the world held him to be a + man of honour.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, ay! he would hae shot onybody wi’ his pistols and his guns that had + evened him to be a liar. But if he promised to pay an honest tradesman the + next term-day, did he keep his word then? And if he promised a puir, silly + lass to make gude her shame, did he speak truth then? And what is that but + being a liar, and a black-hearted, deceitful liar to boot?” + </p> + <p> + My indignation was rising, but I strove to suppress it; indeed, I should + only have afforded my tormentor a triumph by an angry reply. I partly + suspected she began to recognize me, yet she testified so little emotion + that I could not think my suspicion well founded. I went on, therefore, to + say, in a tone as indifferent as I could command, “Well, goodwife, I see + you will believe no good of this Chrystal of yours, till he comes back and + buys a good farm on the estate, and makes you his housekeeper.” + </p> + <p> + The old woman dropped her thread, folded her hands, as she looked up to + heaven with a face of apprehension. “The Lord,” she exclaimed, “forbid! + The Lord in His mercy forbid! O sir! if you really know this unlucky man, + persuade him to settle where folk ken the good that you say he has come + to, and dinna ken the evil of his former days. He used to be proud enough—O + dinna let him come here, even for his own sake. He used once to have some + pride.” + </p> + <p> + Here she once more drew the wheel close to her, and began to pull at the + flax with both hands. “Dinna let him come here, to be looked down upon by + ony that may be left of his auld reiving companions, and to see the decent + folk that he looked over his nose at look over their noses at him, baith + at kirk and market. Dinna let him come to his ain country, to be made a + tale about when ony neighbour points him out to another, and tells what he + is, and what he was, and how he wrecked a dainty estate, and brought + harlots to the door-cheek of his father’s house, till he made it nae + residence for his mother; and how it had been foretauld by a servant of + his ain house that he was a ne’er-do-weel and a child of perdition, and + how her words were made good, and—” + </p> + <p> + “Stop there, goodwife, if you please,” said I; “you have said as much as I + can well remember, and more than it may be safe to repeat. I can use a + great deal of freedom with the gentleman we speak of; but I think, were + any other person to carry him half of your message, I would scarce ensure + his personal safety. And now, as I see the night is settled to be a fine + one, I will walk on to —, where I must meet a coach to-morrow as it + passes to Edinburgh.” + </p> + <p> + So saying, I paid my moderate reckoning, and took my leave, without being + able to discover whether the prejudiced and hard-hearted old woman did, or + did not, suspect the identity of her guest with the Chrystal Croftangry + against whom she harboured so much dislike. + </p> + <p> + The night was fine and frosty, though, when I pretended to see what its + character was, it might have rained like the deluge. I only made the + excuse to escape from old Christie Steele. The horses which run races in + the Corso at Rome without any riders, in order to stimulate their + exertion, carry each his own spurs namely, small balls of steel, with + sharp, projecting spikes, which are attached to loose straps of leather, + and, flying about in the violence of the agitation, keep the horse to his + speed by pricking him as they strike against his flanks. The old woman’s + reproaches had the same effect on me, and urged me to a rapid pace, as if + it had been possible to escape from my own recollections. In the best days + of my life, when I won one or two hard walking matches, I doubt if I ever + walked so fast as I did betwixt the Treddles Arms and the borough town for + which I was bound. Though the night was cold, I was warm enough by the + time I got to my inn; and it required a refreshing draught of porter, with + half an hour’s repose, ere I could determine to give no further thought to + Christie and her opinions than those of any other vulgar, prejudiced old + woman. I resolved at last to treat the thing EN BAGATELLE, and calling for + writing materials, I folded up a cheque for L100, with these lines on the + envelope:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Chrystal, the ne’er-do-weel, + Child destined to the deil, + Sends this to Christie Steele.” + </pre> + <p> + And I was so much pleased with this new mode of viewing the subject, that + I regretted the lateness of the hour prevented my finding a person to + carry the letter express to its destination. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “But with the morning cool reflection came.” + </pre> + <p> + I considered that the money, and probably more, was actually due by me on + my mother’s account to Christie, who had lent it in a moment of great + necessity, and that the returning it in a light or ludicrous manner was + not unlikely to prevent so touchy and punctilious a person from accepting + a debt which was most justly her due, and which it became me particularly + to see satisfied. Sacrificing, then, my triad with little regret (for it + looked better by candlelight, and through the medium of a pot of porter, + than it did by daylight, and with bohea for a menstruum), I determined to + employ Mr. Fairscribe’s mediation in buying up the lease of the little + inn, and conferring it upon Christie in the way which should make it most + acceptable to her feelings. It is only necessary to add that my plan + succeeded, and that Widow Steele even yet keeps the Treddles Arms. Do not + say, therefore, that I have been disingenuous with you, reader; since, if + I have not told all the ill of myself I might have done, I have indicated + to you a person able and willing to supply the blank, by relating all my + delinquencies as well as my misfortunes. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime I totally abandoned the idea of redeeming any part of my + paternal property, and resolved to take Christie Steele’s advice, as young + Norval does Glenalvon’s, “although it sounded harshly.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. MR. CROFTANGRY SETTLES IN THE CANONGATE. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + If you will know my house, + ‘Tis at the tuft of olives here hard by. AS YOU LIKE IT. +</pre> + <p> + By a revolution of humour which I am unable to account for, I changed my + mind entirely on my plans of life, in consequence of the disappointment, + the history of which fills the last chapter. I began to discover that the + country would not at all suit me; for I had relinquished field-sports, and + felt no inclination whatever to farming, the ordinary vocation of country + gentlemen. Besides that, I had no talent for assisting either candidate in + case of an expected election, and saw no amusement in the duties of a road + trustee, a commissioner of supply, or even in the magisterial functions of + the bench. I had begun to take some taste for reading; and a domiciliation + in the country must remove me from the use of books, excepting the small + subscription library, in which the very book which you want is uniformly + sure to be engaged. + </p> + <p> + I resolved, therefore, to make the Scottish metropolis my regular + resting-place, reserving to myself to take occasionally those excursions + which, spite of all I have said against mail-coaches, Mr. Piper has + rendered so easy. Friend of our life and of our leisure, he secures by + dispatch against loss of time, and by the best of coaches, cattle, and + steadiest of drivers, against hazard of limb, and wafts us, as well as our + letters, from Edinburgh to Cape Wrath in the penning of a paragraph. + </p> + <p> + When my mind was quite made up to make Auld Reekie my headquarters, + reserving the privilege of EXPLORING in all directions, I began to explore + in good earnest for the purpose of discovering a suitable habitation. “And + whare trew ye I gaed?” as Sir Pertinax says. Not to George’s Square—nor + to Charlotte Square—nor to the old New Town—nor to the new New + Town—nor to the Calton Hill. I went to the Canongate, and to the + very portion of the Canongate in which I had formerly been immured, like + the errant knight, prisoner in some enchanted castle, where spells have + made the ambient air impervious to the unhappy captive, although the + organs of sight encountered no obstacle to his free passage. + </p> + <p> + Why I should have thought of pitching my tent here I cannot tell. Perhaps + it was to enjoy the pleasures of freedom where I had so long endured the + bitterness of restraint, on the principle of the officer who, after he had + retired from the army, ordered his servant to continue to call him at the + hour or parade, simply that he might have the pleasure of saying, “D—n + the parade!” and turning to the other side to enjoy his slumbers. Or + perhaps I expected to find in the vicinity some little old-fashioned + house, having somewhat of the RUS IN URBE which I was ambitious of + enjoying. Enough: I went, as aforesaid, to the Canongate. + </p> + <p> + I stood by the kennel, of which I have formerly spoken, and, my mind being + at ease, my bodily organs were more delicate. I was more sensible than + heretofore, that, like the trade of Pompey in MEASURE FOR MEASURE,—it + did in some sort—pah an ounce of civet, good apothecary! Turning + from thence, my steps naturally directed themselves to my own humble + apartment, where my little Highland landlady, as dapper and as tight as + ever, (for old women wear a hundred times better than the hard-wrought + seniors of the masculine sex), stood at the door, TEEDLING to herself a + Highland song as she shook a table napkin over the fore-stair, and then + proceeded to fold it up neatly for future service. + </p> + <p> + “How do you, Janet?” + </p> + <p> + “Thank ye, good sir,” answered my old friend, without looking at me; “but + ye might as weel say Mrs. MacEvoy, for she is na a’body’s Shanet—umph.” + </p> + <p> + “You must be MY Janet, though, for all that. Have you forgot me? Do you + not remember Chrystal Croftangry?” + </p> + <p> + The light, kind-hearted creature threw her napkin into the open door, + skipped down the stair like a fairy, three steps at once, seized me by the + hands—both hands—jumped up, and actually kissed me. I was a + little ashamed; but what swain, of somewhere inclining to sixty could + resist the advances of a fair contemporary? So we allowed the full degree + of kindness to the meeting—HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE—and then + Janet entered instantly upon business. “An ye’ll gae in, man, and see your + auld lodgings, nae doubt and Shanet will pay ye the fifteen shillings of + change that ye ran away without, and without bidding Shanet good day. But + never mind” (nodding good-humouredly), “Shanet saw you were carried for + the time.” + </p> + <p> + By this time we were in my old quarters, and Janet, with her bottle of + cordial in one hand and the glass in the other, had forced on me a dram of + usquebaugh, distilled with saffron and other herbs, after some + old-fashioned Highland receipt. Then was unfolded, out of many a little + scrap of paper, the reserved sum of fifteen shillings, which Janet had + treasured for twenty years and upwards. + </p> + <p> + “Here they are,” she said, in honest triumph, “just the same I was holding + out to ye when ye ran as if ye had been fey. Shanet has had siller, and + Shanet has wanted siller, mony a time since that. And the gauger has come, + and the factor has come, and the butcher and baker—Cot bless us just + like to tear poor auld Shanet to pieces; but she took good care of Mr. + Croftangry’s fifteen shillings.” + </p> + <p> + “But what if I had never come back, Janet?” + </p> + <p> + “Och, if Shanet had heard you were dead, she would hae gien it to the poor + of the chapel, to pray for Mr. Croftangry,” said Janet, crossing herself, + for she was a Catholic, “You maybe do not think it would do you cood, but + the blessing of the poor can never do no harm.” + </p> + <p> + I agreed heartily in Janet’s conclusion; and as to have desired her to + consider the hoard as her own property would have been an indelicate + return to her for the uprightness of her conduct, I requested her to + dispose of it as she had proposed to do in the event of my death—that + is, if she knew any poor people of merit to whom it might be useful. + </p> + <p> + “Ower mony of them,” raising the corner of her checked apron to her eyes—“e’en + ower mony of them, Mr. Croftangry. Och, ay. ‘There is the puir Highland + creatures frae Glenshee, that cam down for the harvest, and are lying wi’ + the fever—five shillings to them; and half a crown to Bessie + MacEvoy, whose coodman, puir creature, died of the frost, being a + shairman, for a’ the whisky he could drink to keep it out o’ his stamoch; + and—” + </p> + <p> + But she suddenly interrupted the bead-roll of her proposed charities, and + assuming a very sage look, and primming up her little chattering mouth, + she went on in a different tone—“But och, Mr. Croftangry, bethink ye + whether ye will not need a’ this siller yoursel’, and maybe look back and + think lang for ha’en kiven it away, whilk is a creat sin to forthink a + wark o’ charity, and also is unlucky, and moreover is not the thought of a + shentleman’s son like yoursel’, dear. And I say this, that ye may think a + bit, for your mother’s son kens that ye are no so careful as you should be + of the gear, and I hae tauld ye of it before, jewel.” + </p> + <p> + I assured her I could easily spare the money, without risk of future + repentance; and she went on to infer that in such a case “Mr. Croftangry + had grown a rich man in foreign parts, and was free of his troubles with + messengers and sheriff-officers, and siclike scum of the earth, and Shanet + MacEvoy’s mother’s daughter be a blithe woman to hear it. But if Mr. + Croftangry was in trouble, there was his room, and his ped, and Shanet to + wait on him, and tak payment when it was quite convenient.” + </p> + <p> + I explained to Janet my situation, in which she expressed unqualified + delight. I then proceeded to inquire into her own circumstances, and + though she spoke cheerfully and contentedly, I could see they were + precarious. I had paid more than was due; other lodgers fell into an + opposite error, and forgot to pay Janet at all. Then, Janet being ignorant + of all indirect modes of screwing money out of her lodgers, others in the + same line of life, who were sharper than the poor, simple Highland woman, + were enabled to let their apartments cheaper in appearance, though the + inmates usually found them twice as dear in the long run. + </p> + <p> + As I had already destined my old landlady to be my house-keeper and + governante, knowing her honesty, good-nature, and, although a Scotchwoman, + her cleanliness and excellent temper (saving the short and hasty + expressions of anger which Highlanders call a FUFF), I now proposed the + plan to her in such a way as was likely to make it most acceptable. Very + acceptable as the proposal was, as I could plainly see, Janet, however, + took a day to consider upon it; and her reflections against our next + meeting had suggested only one objection, which was singular enough. + </p> + <p> + “My honour,” so she now termed me, “would pe for biding in some fine + street apout the town. Now Shanet wad ill like to live in a place where + polish, and sheriffs, and bailiffs, and sie thieves and trash of the + world, could tak puir shentlemen by the throat, just because they wanted a + wheen dollars in the sporran. She had lived in the bonny glen of + Tomanthoulick. Cot, an ony of the vermint had come there, her father wad + hae wared a shot on them, and he could hit a buck within as mony measured + yards as e’er a man of his clan, And the place here was so quiet frae + them, they durst na put their nose ower the gutter. Shanet owed nobody a + bodle, but she couldna pide to see honest folk and pretty shentlemen + forced away to prison whether they would or no; and then, if Shanet was to + lay her tangs ower ane of the ragamuffins’ heads, it would be, maybe, that + the law would gi’ed a hard name.” + </p> + <p> + One thing I have learned in life—never to speak sense when nonsense + will answer the purpose as well. I should have had great difficulty to + convince this practical and disinterested admirer and vindicator of + liberty, that arrests seldom or never were to be seen in the streets of + Edinburgh; and to satisfy her of their justice and necessity would have + been as difficult as to convert her to the Protestant faith. I therefore + assured her my intention, if I could get a suitable habitation, was to + remain in the quarter where she at present dwelt. Janet gave three skips + on the floor, and uttered as many short, shrill yells of joy. Yet doubt + almost instantly returned, and she insisted on knowing what possible + reason I could have for making my residence where few lived, save those + whose misfortunes drove them thither. It occurred to me to answer her by + recounting the legend of the rise of my family, and of our deriving our + name from a particular place near Holyrood Palace. This, which would have + appeared to most people a very absurd reason for choosing a residence, was + entirely satisfactory to Janet MacEvoy. + </p> + <p> + “Och, nae doubt! if it was the land of her fathers, there was nae mair to + be said. Put it was queer that her family estate should just lie at the + town tail, and covered with houses, where the King’s cows—Cot bless + them, hide and horn—used to craze upon. It was strange changes.” She + mused a little, and then added: “Put it is something better wi’ Croftangry + when the changes is frae the field to the habited place, and not from the + place of habitation to the desert; for Shanet, her nainsell, kent a glen + where there were men as weel as there may be in Croftangry, and if there + werena altogether sae mony of them, they were as good men in their tartan + as the others in their broadcloth. And there were houses, too; and if they + were not biggit with stane and lime, and lofted like the houses at + Croftangry, yet they served the purpose of them that lived there, and mony + a braw bonnet, and mony a silk snood and comely white curch, would come + out to gang to kirk or chapel on the Lord’s day, and little bairns + toddling after. And now—Och, Och, Ohellany, Ohonari! the glen is + desolate, and the braw snoods and bonnets are gane, and the Saxon’s house + stands dull and lonely, like the single bare-breasted rock that the falcon + builds on—the falcon that drives the heath-bird frae the glen.” + </p> + <p> + Janet, like many Highlanders, was full of imagination, and, when + melancholy themes came upon her, expressed herself almost poetically, + owing to the genius of the Celtic language in which she thought, and in + which, doubtless, she would have spoken, had I understood Gaelic. In two + minutes the shade of gloom and regret had passed from her good-humoured + features, and she was again the little, busy, prating, important old + woman, undisputed owner of one flat of a small tenement in the Abbey Yard, + and about to be promoted to be housekeeper to an elderly bachelor + gentleman, Chrystal Croftangry, Esq. + </p> + <p> + It was not long before Janet’s local researches found out exactly the sort + of place I wanted, and there we settled. Janet was afraid I would not be + satisfied, because it is not exactly part of Croftangry; but I stopped her + doubts by assuring her it had been part and pendicle thereof in my + forefather’ time, which passed very well. + </p> + <p> + I do not intend to possess any one with an exact knowledge of my lodging; + though, as Bobadil says, “I care not who knows it, since the cabin is + convenient.” But I may state in general, that it is a house “within + itself,” or, according to a newer phraseology in advertisements, + SELF-CONTAINED, has a garden of near half an acre, and a patch of ground + with trees in front. It boasts five rooms and servants’ apartments—looks + in front upon the palace, and from behind towards the hill and crags of + the King’s Park. Fortunately, the place had a name, which, with a little + improvement, served to countenance the legend which I had imposed on + Janet, and would not, perhaps have been sorry if I had been able to impose + on myself. It was called Littlecroft; we have dubbed it Little Croftangry, + and the men of letters belonging to the Post Office have sanctioned the + change, and deliver letters so addressed. Thus I am to all intents and + purposes Chrystal Croftangry of that Ilk. + </p> + <p> + My establishment consists of Janet, an under maid-servant, and a Highland + wench for Janet to exercise her Gaelic upon, with a handy lad who can lay + the cloth, and take care, besides, of a pony, on which I find my way to + Portobello sands, especially when the cavalry have a drill; for, like an + old fool as I am, I have not altogether become indifferent to the tramp of + horses and the flash of weapons, of which, though no professional soldier, + it has been my fate to see something in my youth. For wet mornings I have + my book; is it fine weather? I visit, or I wander on the Crags, as the + humour dictates. My dinner is indeed solitary, yet not quite so neither; + for though Andrew waits, Janet—or, as she is to all the world but + her master and certain old Highland gossips, Mrs. MacEvoy—attends, + bustles about, and desires to see everything is in first-rate order, and + to tell me, Cot pless us, the wonderful news of the palace for the day. + When the cloth is removed, and I light my cigar, and begin to husband a + pint of port, or a glass of old whisky and water, it is the rule of the + house that Janet takes a chair at some distance, and nods or works her + stocking, as she may be disposed—ready to speak, if I am in the + talking humour, and sitting quiet as a mouse if I am rather inclined to + study a book or the newspaper. At six precisely she makes my tea, and + leaves me to drink it; and then occurs an interval of time which most old + bachelors find heavy on their hands. The theatre is a good occasional + resource, especially if Will Murray acts, or a bright star of eminence + shines forth; but it is distant, and so are one or two public societies to + which I belong. Besides, these evening walks are all incompatible with the + elbow-chair feeling, which desires some employment that may divert the + mind without fatiguing the body. + </p> + <p> + Under the influence of these impressions, I have sometimes thought of this + literary undertaking. I must have been the Bonassus himself to have + mistaken myself for a genius; yet I have leisure and reflections like my + neighbours. I am a borderer, also, between two generations, and can point + out more, perhaps, than others of those fading traces of antiquity which + are daily vanishing; and I know many a modern instance and many an old + tradition, and therefore I ask— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “What ails me, I may not as well as they + Rake up some threadbare tales, that mouldering lay + In chimney corners, wont by Christmas fires + To read and rock to sleep our ancient sires? + No man his threshold better knows, than I + Brute’s first arrival and first victory, + Saint George’s sorrel and his cross of blood, + Arthur’s round board and Caledonian wood.” + </pre> + <p> + No shop is so easily set up as an antiquary’s. Like those of the lowest + order of pawnbrokers, a commodity of rusty iron, a bay or two of hobnails, + a few odd shoe-buckles, cashiered kail-pots, and fire-irons declared + incapable of service, are quite sufficient to set him up. If he add a + sheaf or two of penny ballads and broadsides, he is a great man—an + extensive trader. And then, like the pawnbrokers aforesaid, if the author + understands a little legerdemain, he may, by dint of a little picking and + stealing, make the inside of his shop a great deal richer than the out, + and be able to show you things which cause those who do not understand the + antiquarian trick of clean conveyance to wonder how the devil he came by + them. + </p> + <p> + It may be said that antiquarian articles interest but few customers, and + that we may bawl ourselves as rusty as the wares we deal in without any + one asking; the price of our merchandise. But I do not rest my hopes upon + this department of my labours only. I propose also to have a corresponding + shop for Sentiment, and Dialogues, and Disquisition, which may captivate + the fancy of those who have no relish, as the established phrase goes, for + pure antiquity—a sort of greengrocer’s stall erected in front of my + ironmongery wares, garlanding the rusty memorials of ancient times with + cresses, cabbages, leeks, and water purpy. + </p> + <p> + As I have some idea that I am writing too well to be understood, I humble + myself to ordinary language, and aver, with becoming modesty, that I do + think myself capable of sustaining a publication of a miscellaneous + nature, as like to the Spectator or the Guardian, the Mirror or the + Lounger, as my poor abilities may be able to accomplish. Not that I have + any purpose of imitating Johnson, whose general learning and power of + expression I do not deny, but many of whose Ramblers are little better + than a sort of pageant, where trite and obvious maxims are made to swagger + in lofty and mystic language, and get some credit only because they are + not easily understood. There are some of the great moralist’s papers which + I cannot peruse without thinking on a second-rate masquerade, where the + best-known and least-esteemed characters in town march in as heroes, and + sultans, and so forth, and, by dint of tawdry dresses, get some + consideration until they are found out. It is not, however, prudent to + commence with throwing stones, just when I am striking out windows of my + own. + </p> + <p> + I think even the local situation of Little Croftangry may be considered as + favourable to my undertaking. A nobler contrast there can hardly exist + than that of the huge city, dark with the smoke of ages, and groaning with + the various sounds of active industry or idle revel, and the lofty and + craggy hill, silent and solitary as the grave—one exhibiting the + full tide of existence, pressing and precipitating itself forward with the + force of an inundation; the other resembling some time-worn anchorite, + whose life passes as silent and unobserved as the slender rill which + escapes unheard, and scarce seen, from the fountain of his patron saint. + The city resembles the busy temple, where the modern Comus and Mammon hold + their court, and thousands sacrifice ease, independence, and virtue itself + at their shrine; the misty and lonely mountain seems as a throne to the + majestic but terrible Genius of feudal times, when the same divinities + dispensed coronets and domains to those who had heads to devise and arms + to execute bold enterprises. + </p> + <p> + I have, as it were, the two extremities of the moral world at my + threshold. From the front door a few minutes’ walk brings me into the + heart of a wealthy and populous city; as many paces from my opposite + entrance place me in a solitude as complete as Zimmerman could have + desired. Surely, with such aids to my imagination, I may write better than + if I were in a lodging in the New Town or a garret in the old. As the + Spaniard says, “VIAMOS—CARACCO!” + </p> + <p> + I have not chosen to publish periodically, my reason for which was + twofold. In the first place, I don’t like to be hurried, and have had + enough of duns in an early part of my life to make me reluctant to hear of + or see one, even in the less awful shape of a printer’s devil. But, + secondly, a periodical paper is not easily extended in circulation beyond + the quarter in which it is published. This work, if published in fugitive + numbers, would scarce, without a high pressure on the part of the + bookseller, be raised above the Netherbow, and never could be expected to + ascend to the level of Princes Street. Now, I am ambitious that my + compositions, though having their origin in this Valley of Holyrood, + should not only be extended into those exalted regions I have mentioned, + but also that they should cross the Forth, astonish the long town of + Kirkcaldy, enchant the skippers and colliers of the East of Fife, venture + even into the classic arcades of St. Andrews, and travel as much farther + to the north as the breath of applause will carry their sails. As for a + southward direction, it is not to be hoped for in my fondest dreams. I am + informed that Scottish literature, like Scottish whisky, will be presently + laid under a prohibitory duty. But enough of this. If any reader is dull + enough not to comprehend the advantages which, in point of circulation, a + compact book has over a collection of fugitive numbers, let him try the + range of a gun loaded with hail-shot against that of the same piece + charged with an equal weight of lead consolidated in a single bullet. + </p> + <p> + Besides, it was of less consequence that I should have published + periodically, since I did not mean to solicit or accept of the + contributions of friends, or the criticisms of those who may be less + kindly disposed. Notwithstanding the excellent examples which might be + quoted, I will establish no begging-box, either under the name of a lion’s + head or an ass’s. What is good or ill shall be mine own, or the + contribution of friends to whom I may have private access. Many of my + voluntary assistants might be cleverer than myself, and then I should have + a brilliant article appear among my chiller effusions, like a patch of + lace on a Scottish cloak of Galashiels grey. Some might be worse, and then + I must reject them, to the injury of the feelings of the writer, or else + insert them, to make my own darkness yet more opaque and palpable. “Let + every herring,” says our old-fashioned proverb, “hang by his own head.” + </p> + <p> + One person, however, I may distinguish, as she is now no more, who, living + to the utmost term of human life, honoured me with a great share of her + friendship—as, indeed, we were blood-relatives in the Scottish sense—Heaven + knows how many degrees removed—and friends in the sense of Old + England. I mean the late excellent and regretted Mrs. Bethune Baliol. But + as I design this admirable picture of the olden time for a principal + character in my work, I will only say here that she knew and approved of + my present purpose; and though she declined to contribute to it while she + lived, from a sense of dignified retirement, which she thought became her + age, sex, and condition in life, she left me some materials for carrying + on my proposed work which I coveted when I heard her detail them in + conversation, and which now, when I have their substance in her own + handwriting, I account far more valuable than anything I have myself to + offer. I hope the mentioning her name in conjunction with my own will give + no offence to any of her numerous friends, as it was her own express + pleasure that I should employ the manuscripts which she did me the honour + to bequeath me in the manner in which I have now used them. It must be + added, however, that in most cases I have disguised names, and in some + have added shading and colouring to bring out the narrative. + </p> + <p> + Much of my materials, besides these, are derived from friends, living or + dead. The accuracy of some of these may be doubtful, in which case I shall + be happy to receive, from sufficient authority, the correction of the + errors which must creep into traditional documents. The object of the + whole publication is to throw some light on the manners of Scotland as + they were, and to contrast them occasionally with those of the present + day. My own opinions are in favour of our own times in many respects, but + not in so far as affords means for exercising the imagination or exciting + the interest which attaches to other times. I am glad to be a writer or a + reader in 1826, but I would be most interested in reading or relating what + happened from half a century to a century before. We have the best of it. + Scenes in which our ancestors thought deeply, acted fiercely, and died + desperately, are to us tales to divert the tedium of a winter’s evening, + when we are engaged to no party, or beguile a summer’s morning, when it is + too scorching to ride or walk. + </p> + <p> + Yet I do not mean that my essays and narratives should be limited to + Scotland. I pledge myself to no particular line of subjects, but, on the + contrary, say with Burns— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Perhaps it may turn out a sang, + Perhaps turn out a sermon.” + </pre> + <p> + I have only to add, by way of postscript to these preliminary chapters, + that I have had recourse to Moliere’s recipe, and read my manuscript over + to my old woman, Janet MacEvoy. + </p> + <p> + The dignity of being consulted delighted Janet; and Wilkie, or Allan, + would have made a capital sketch of her, as she sat upright in her chair, + instead of her ordinary lounging posture, knitting her stocking + systematically, as if she meant every twist of her thread and inclination + of the wires to bear burden to the cadence of my voice. I am afraid, too, + that I myself felt more delight than I ought to have done in my own + composition, and read a little more oratorically than I should have + ventured to do before an auditor of whose applause I was not so secure. + And the result did not entirely encourage my plan of censorship. Janet did + indeed seriously incline to the account of my previous life, and bestowed + some Highland maledictions, more emphatic than courteous, on Christie + Steele’s reception of a “shentlemans in distress,” and of her own + mistress’s house too. I omitted for certain reasons, or greatly abridged, + what related to her-self. But when I came to treat of my general views in + publication, I saw poor Janet was entirely thrown out, though, like a + jaded hunter, panting, puffing, and short of wind, she endeavoured at + least to keep up with the chase. Or, rather, her perplexity made her look + all the while like a deaf person ashamed of his infirmity, who does not + understand a word you are saying, yet desires you to believe that he does + understand you, and who is extremely jealous that you suspect his + incapacity. When she saw that some remark was necessary, she resembled + exactly in her criticism the devotee who pitched on the “sweet word + Mesopotamia” as the most edifying note which she could bring away from a + sermon. She indeed hastened to bestow general praise on what she said was + all “very fine;” but chiefly dwelt on what I, had said about Mr. + Timmerman, as she was pleased to call the German philosopher, and supposed + he must be of the same descent with the Highland clan of M’Intyre, which + signifies Son of the Carpenter. “And a fery honourable name too—Shanet’s + own mither was a M’Intyre.” + </p> + <p> + In short, it was plain the latter part of my introduction was altogether + lost on poor Janet; and so, to have acted up to Moliere’s system, I should + have cancelled the whole, and written it anew. But I do not know how it + is. I retained, I suppose, some tolerable opinion of my own composition, + though Janet did not comprehend it, and felt loath to retrench those + Delilahs of the imagination, as Dryden calls them, the tropes and figures + of which are caviar to the multitude. Besides, I hate rewriting as much as + Falstaff did paying back—it is a double labour. So I determined with + myself to consult Janet, in future, only on such things as were within the + limits of her comprehension, and hazard my arguments and my rhetoric on + the public without her imprimatur. I am pretty sure she will “applaud it + done.” and in such narratives as come within her range of thought and + feeling I shall, as I first intended, take the benefit of her + unsophisticated judgment, and attend to it deferentially—that is, + when it happens not to be in peculiar opposition to my own; for, after + all, I say with Almanzor,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Know that I alone am king of me.” + </pre> + <p> + The reader has now my who and my whereabout, the purpose of the work, and + the circumstances under which it is undertaken. He has also a specimen of + the author’s talents, and may judge for himself, and proceed, or send back + the volume to the bookseller, as his own taste shall determine. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. MR. CROFTANGRY’S ACCOUNT OF MRS. BETHUNE BALIOL. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The moon, were she earthly, no nobler. CORIOLANUS. +</pre> + <p> + When we set out on the jolly voyage of life, what a brave fleet there is + around us, as, stretching our finest canvas to the breeze, all “shipshape + and Bristol fashion,” pennons flying, music playing, cheering each other + as we pass, we are rather amused than alarmed when some awkward comrade + goes right ashore for want of pilotage! Alas! when the voyage is well + spent, and we look about us, toil-worn mariners, how few of our ancient + consorts still remain in sight; and they, how torn and wasted, and, like + ourselves, struggling to keep as long as possible off the fatal shore, + against which we are all finally drifting! + </p> + <p> + I felt this very trite but melancholy truth in all its force the other + day, when a packet with a black seal arrived, containing a letter + addressed to me by my late excellent friend Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol, + and marked with the fatal indorsation, “To be delivered according to + address, after I shall be no more.” A letter from her executors + accompanied the packet, mentioning that they had found in her will a + bequest to me of a painting of some value, which she stated would just fit + the space above my cupboard, and fifty guineas to buy a ring. And thus I + separated, with all the kindness which we had maintained for many years, + from a friend, who, though old enough to have been the companion of my + mother, was yet, in gaiety of spirits and admirable sweetness of temper, + capable of being agreeable, and even animating society, for those who + write themselves in the vaward of youth, an advantage which I have lost + for these five-and-thirty years. The contents of the packet I had no + difficulty in guessing, and have partly hinted at them in the last + chapter. But to instruct the reader in the particulars, and at the same + time to indulge myself with recalling the virtues and agreeable qualities + of my late friend, I will give a short sketch of her manners and habits. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol was a person of quality and fortune, as these + are esteemed in Scotland. Her family was ancient, and her connections + honourable. She was not fond of specially indicating her exact age, but + her juvenile recollections stretched backwards till before the eventful + year 1745, and she remembered the Highland clans being in possession of + the Scottish capital, though probably only as an indistinct vision. Her + fortune, independent by her father’s bequest, was rendered opulent by the + death of more than one brave brother, who fell successively in the service + of their country, so that the family estates became vested in the only + surviving child of the ancient house of Bethune Baliol. My intimacy was + formed with the excellent lady after this event, and when she was already + something advanced in age. + </p> + <p> + She inhabited, when in Edinburgh, where she regularly spent the winter + season, one of those old hotels which, till of late, were to be found in + the neighbourhood of the Canongate and of the Palace of Holyrood House, + and which, separated from the street, now dirty and vulgar, by paved + courts and gardens of some extent, made amends for an indifferent access, + by showing something of aristocratic state and seclusion when you were + once admitted within their precincts. They have pulled her house down; + for, indeed, betwixt building and burning, every ancient monument of the + Scottish capital is now likely to be utterly demolished. I pause on the + recollections of the place, however; and since nature has denied a pencil + when she placed a pen in my hand, I will endeavour to make words answer + the purpose of delineation. + </p> + <p> + Baliol’s Lodging, so was the mansion named, reared its high stack of + chimneys, among which were seen a turret or two, and one of those small + projecting platforms called bartizans, above the mean and modern buildings + which line the south side of the Canongate, towards the lower end of that + street, and not distant from the Palace. A PORTE COCHERE, having a wicket + for foot passengers, was, upon due occasion, unfolded by a lame old man, + tall, grave, and thin, who tenanted a hovel beside the gate, and acted as + porter. To this office he had been promoted by my friend’s charitable + feelings for an old soldier, and partly by an idea that his head, which + was a very fine one, bore some resemblance to that of Garrick in the + character of Lusignan. He was a man saturnine, silent, and slow in his + proceedings, and would never open the PORTE COCHERE to a hackney coach, + indicating the wicket with his finger as the proper passage for all who + came in that obscure vehicle, which was not permitted to degrade with its + ticketed presence the dignity of Baliol’s Lodging. I do not think this + peculiarity would have met with his lady’s approbation, any more than the + occasional partiality of Lusignan, or, as mortals called him, Archie + Macready, to a dram. But Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol, conscious that, in + case of conviction, she could never have prevailed upon herself to + dethrone the King of Palestine from the stone bench on which he sat for + hours knitting his stocking, refused, by accrediting the intelligence, + even to put him upon his trial, well judging that he would observe more + wholesome caution if he conceived his character unsuspected, than if he + were detected, and suffered to pass unpunished. For after all, she said, + it would be cruel to dismiss an old Highland soldier for a peccadillo so + appropriate to his country and profession. + </p> + <p> + The stately gate for carriages, or the humble accommodation for + foot-passengers, admitted into a narrow and short passage running between + two rows of lime-trees, whose green foliage during the spring contrasted + strangely with the swart complexion of the two walls by the side of which + they grew. This access led to the front of the house, which was formed by + two gable ends, notched, and having their windows adorned with heavy + architectural ornaments. They joined each other at right angles; and a + half circular tower, which contained the entrance and the staircase, + occupied the point of junction, and rounded the acute angle. One of other + two sides of the little court, in which there was just sufficient room to + turn a carriage, was occupied by some low buildings answering the purpose + of offices; the other, by a parapet surrounded by a highly-ornamented iron + railing, twined round with honeysuckle and other parasitical shrubs, which + permitted the eye to peep into a pretty suburban garden, extending down to + the road called the South Back of the Canongate, and boasting a number of + old trees, many flowers, and even some fruit. We must not forget to state + that the extreme cleanliness of the courtyard was such as intimated that + mop and pail had done their utmost in that favoured spot to atone for the + general dirt and dinginess of the quarter where the premises were + situated. + </p> + <p> + Over the doorway were the arms of Bethune and Baliol, with various other + devices, carved in stone. The door itself was studded with iron nails, and + formed of black oak; an iron rasp, as it was called, was placed on it, + instead of a knocker, for the purpose of summoning the attendants. [See + Note 3.—Iron Rasp.] He who usually appeared at the summons was a + smart lad, in a handsome livery, the son of Mrs. Martha’s gardener at + Mount Baliol. Now and then a servant girl, nicely but plainly dressed, and + fully accoutred with stockings and shoes, would perform this duty; and + twice or thrice I remember being admitted by Beauffet himself, whose + exterior looked as much like that of a clergyman of rank as the butler of + a gentleman’s family. He had been valet-de-chambre to the last Sir Richard + Bethune Baliol, and was, a person highly trusted by the present lady. A + full stand, as it is called in Scotland, of garments of a dark colour, + gold buckles in his shoes and at the knees of his breeches, with his hair + regularly dressed and powdered, announced him to be a domestic of trust + and importance. His mistress used to say of him,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “He is sad and civil, + And suits well for a servant with my fortunes.” + </pre> + <p> + As no one can escape scandal, some said that Beauffet made a rather better + thing of the place than the modesty of his old-fashioned wages would, + unassisted, have amounted to. But the man was always very civil to me. He + had been long in the family, had enjoyed legacies, and lain by a something + of his own, upon which he now enjoys ease with dignity, in as far as his + newly-married wife, Tibbie Shortacres, will permit him. + </p> + <p> + The Lodging—dearest reader, if you are tired, pray pass over the + next four or five pages—was not by any means so large as its + external appearance led people to conjecture. The interior accommodation + was much cut up by cross walls and long passages, and that neglect of + economizing space which characterizes old Scottish architecture. But there + was far more room than my old friend required, even when she had, as was + often the case, four or five young cousins under her protection; and I + believe much of the house was unoccupied. Mrs. Bethune Baliol never, in my + presence, showed herself so much offended as once with a meddling person + who advised her to have the windows of these supernumerary apartments + built up to save the tax. She said in ire that, while she lived, the light + of God should visit the house of her fathers; and while she had a penny, + king and country should have their due. Indeed, she was punctiliously + loyal, even in that most staggering test of loyalty, the payment of + imposts. Mr. Beauffet told me he was ordered to offer a glass of wine to + the person who collected the income tax, and that the poor man was so + overcome by a reception so unwontedly generous, that he had well-nigh + fainted on the spot. + </p> + <p> + You entered by a matted anteroom into the eating-parlour, filled with + old-fashioned furniture, and hung with family portraits, which, excepting + one of Sir Bernard Bethune, in James the Sixth’s time, said to be by + Jameson, were exceedingly frightful. A saloon, as it was called, a long, + narrow chamber, led out of the dining-parlour, and served for a + drawing-room. It was a pleasant apartment, looking out upon the south + flank of Holyrood House, the gigantic slope of Arthur’s Seat, and the + girdle of lofty rocks called Salisbury Crags; objects so rudely wild, that + the mind can hardly conceive them to exist in the vicinage of a populous + metropolis. [The Rev. Mr. Bowles derives the name of these crags, as of + the Episcopal city in the west of England, from the same root, both, in + his opinion, which he very ably defends and illustrates, having been the + sites of Druidical temples.] The paintings of the saloon came from abroad, + and had some of them much merit. To see the best of them, however, you + must be admitted into the very PENETRALIA of the temple, and allowed to + draw the tapestry at the upper end of the saloon, and enter Mrs. Martha’s + own special dressing-room. This was a charming apartment, of which it + would be difficult to describe the form, it had so many recesses which + were filled up with shelves of ebony and cabinets of japan and ormolu—some + for holding books, of which Mrs. Martha had an admirable collection, some + for a display of ornamental china, others for shells and similar + curiosities. In a little niche, half screened by a curtain of crimson + silk, was disposed a suit of tilting armour of bright steel inlaid with + silver, which had been worn on some memorable occasion by Sir Bernard + Bethune, already mentioned; while over the canopy of the niche hung the + broadsword with which her father had attempted to change the fortunes of + Britain in 1715, and the spontoon which her elder brother bore when he was + leading on a company of the Black Watch at Fontenoy. [The well-known + original designation of the gallant 42nd Regiment. Being the first corps + raised for the royal service in the Highlands, and allowed to retain their + national garb, they were thus named from the contrast which their dark + tartans furnished to the scarlet and white of the other regiments.] + </p> + <p> + There were some Italian and Flemish pictures of admitted authenticity, a + few genuine bronzes, and other objects of curiosity, which her brothers or + herself had picked up while abroad. In short, it was a place where the + idle were tempted to become studious, the studious to grow idle where the + grave might find matter to make them gay, and the gay subjects for + gravity. + </p> + <p> + That it might maintain some title to its name, I must not forget to say + that the lady’s dressing-room exhibited a superb mirror, framed in silver + filigree work; a beautiful toilette, the cover of which was of Flanders + lace; and a set of boxes corresponding in materials and work to the frame + of the mirror. + </p> + <p> + This dressing apparatus, however, was mere matter of parade. Mrs. Martha + Bethune Baliol always went through the actual duties of the toilette in an + inner apartment, which corresponded with her sleeping-room by a small + detached staircase. There were, I believe, more than one of those TURNPIKE + STAIRS, as they were called, about the house, by which the public rooms, + all of which entered through each other, were accommodated with separate + and independent modes of access. In the little boudoir we have described, + Mrs. Martha Baliol had her choicest meetings. She kept early hours; and if + you went in the morning, you must not reckon that space of day as + extending beyond three o’clock, or four at the utmost. These vigilant + habits were attended with some restraint on her visitors, but they were + indemnified by your always finding the best society and the best + information which were to be had for the day in the Scottish capital. + Without at all affecting the blue stocking, she liked books. They amused + her; and if the authors were persons of character, she thought she owed + them a debt of civility, which she loved to discharge by personal + kindness. When she gave a dinner to a small party, which she did now and + then, she had the good nature to look for, and the good luck to discover, + what sort of people suited each other best, and chose her company as Duke + Theseus did his hounds,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Matched in mouth like bells, + Each under each,” + [Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act IV. Sc. I.] +</pre> + <p> + so that every guest could take his part in the cry, instead of one mighty + Tom of a fellow, like Dr. Johnson, silencing all besides by the tremendous + depth of his diapason. On such occasions she afforded CHERE EXQUISE; and + every now and then there was some dish of French, or even Scottish + derivation, which, as well as the numerous assortment of VINS + EXTRAORDINAIRES produced by Mr. Beauffet, gave a sort of antique and + foreign air to the entertainment, which rendered it more interesting. + </p> + <p> + It was a great thing to be asked to such parties; and not less so to be + invited to the early CONVERSAZIONE, which, in spite of fashion, by dint of + the best coffee, the finest tea, and CHASSE CAFE that would have called + the dead to life, she contrived now and then to assemble in her saloon + already mentioned, at the unnatural hour of eight in the evening. At such + time the cheerful old lady seemed to enjoy herself so much in the + happiness of her guests that they exerted themselves in turn to prolong + her amusement and their own; and a certain charm was excited around, + seldom to be met with in parties of pleasure, and which was founded on the + general desire of every one present to contribute something to the common + amusement. + </p> + <p> + But although it was a great privilege to be admitted to wait on my + excellent friend in the morning, or be invited to her dinner or evening + parties, I prized still higher the right which I had acquired, by old + acquaintance, of visiting Baliol’s Lodging upon the chance of finding its + venerable inhabitant preparing for tea, just about six o’clock in the + evening. It was only to two or three old friends that she permitted this + freedom; nor was this sort of chance-party ever allowed to extend itself + beyond five in number. The answer to those who came later announced that + the company was filled up for the evening, which had the double effect of + making those who waited on Mrs. Bethune Baliol in this unceremonious + manner punctual in observing her hour, and of adding the zest of a little + difficulty to the enjoyment of the party. + </p> + <p> + It more frequently happened that only one or two persons partook of this + refreshment on the same evening; or, supposing the case of a single + gentleman, Mrs. Martha, though she did not hesitate to admit him to her + boudoir, after the privilege of the French and the old Scottish school, + took care, as she used to say, to prescribe all possible propriety, by + commanding the attendance of her principal female attendant, Mrs. Alice + Lambskin, who might, from the gravity and dignity of her appearance, have + sufficed to matronize a whole boarding-school, instead of one maiden lady + of eighty and upwards. As the weather permitted, Mrs. Alice sat duly + remote from the company in a FAUTEUIL behind the projecting chimney-piece, + or in the embrasure of a window, and prosecuted in Carthusian silence, + with indefatigable zeal, a piece of embroidery, which seemed no bad emblem + of eternity. + </p> + <p> + But I have neglected all this while to introduce my friend herself to the + reader—at least so far as words can convey the peculiarities by + which her appearance and conversation were distinguished. + </p> + <p> + A little woman, with ordinary features and an ordinary form, and hair + which in youth had no decided colour, we may believe Mrs. Martha when she + said of herself that she was never remarkable for personal charms; a + modest admission, which was readily confirmed by certain old ladies, her + contemporaries, who, whatever might have been the youthful advantages + which they more than hinted had been formerly their own share, were now in + personal appearance, as well as in everything else, far inferior to my + accomplished friend. Mrs. Martha’s features had been of a kind which might + be said to wear well; their irregularity was now of little consequence, + animated, as they were, by the vivacity of her conversation. Her teeth + were excellent, and her eyes, although inclining to grey, were lively, + laughing, and undimmed by time. A slight shade of complexion, more + brilliant than her years promised, subjected my friend amongst strangers + to the suspicion of having stretched her foreign habits as far as the + prudent touch of the rouge. But it was a calumny; for when telling or + listening to an interesting and affecting story, I have seen her colour + come and go as if it played on the cheek of eighteen. + </p> + <p> + Her hair, whatever its former deficiencies was now the most beautiful + white that time could bleach, and was disposed with some degree of + pretension, though in the simplest manner possible, so as to appear neatly + smoothed under a cap of Flanders lace, of an old-fashioned but, as I + thought, of a very handsome form, which undoubtedly has a name, and I + would endeavour to recur to it, if I thought it would make my description + a bit more intelligible. I think I have heard her say these favourite caps + had been her mother’s, and had come in fashion with a peculiar kind of wig + used by the gentlemen about the time of the battle of Ramillies. The rest + of her dress was always rather costly and distinguished, especially in the + evening. A silk or satin gown of some colour becoming her age, and of a + form which, though complying to a certain degree with the present fashion, + had always a reference to some more distant period, was garnished with + triple ruffles. Her shoes had diamond buckles, and were raised a little at + heel, an advantage which, possessed in her youth, she alleged her size + would not permit her to forego in her old age. She always wore rings, + bracelets, and other ornaments of value, either for the materials or the + workmanship; nay, perhaps she was a little profuse in this species of + display. But she wore them as subordinate matters, to which the habits of + being constantly in high life rendered her indifferent; she wore them + because her rank required it, and thought no more of them as articles of + finery than a gentleman dressed for dinner thinks of his clean linen and + well-brushed coat, the consciousness of which embarrasses the rustic beau + on a Sunday. + </p> + <p> + Now and then, however, if a gem or ornament chanced to be noticed for its + beauty or singularity, the observation usually led the way to an + entertaining account of the manner in which it had been acquired, or the + person from whom it had descended to its present possessor. On such and + similar occasions my old friend spoke willingly, which is not uncommon; + but she also, which is more rare, spoke remarkably well, and had in her + little narratives concerning foreign parts or former days, which formed an + interesting part of her conversation, the singular art of dismissing all + the usual protracted tautology respecting time, place, and circumstances + which is apt to settle like a mist upon the cold and languid tales of age, + and at the same time of bringing forward, dwelling upon, and illustrating + those incidents and characters which give point and interest to the story. + </p> + <p> + She had, as we have hinted, travelled a good deal in foreign countries; + for a brother, to whom she was much attached, had been sent upon various + missions of national importance to the Continent, and she had more than + once embraced the opportunity of accompanying him. This furnished a great + addition to the information which she could supply, especially during the + last war, when the Continent was for so many years hermetically sealed + against the English nation. But, besides, Mrs. Bethune Baliol visited + different countries, not in the modern fashion, when English travel in + caravans together, and see in France and Italy little besides the same + society which they might have enjoyed at home. On the contrary, she + mingled when abroad with the natives of those countries she visited, and + enjoyed at once the advantage of their society, and the pleasure of + comparing it with that of Britain. + </p> + <p> + In the course of her becoming habituated with foreign manners, Mrs. + Bethune Baliol had, perhaps, acquired some slight tincture of them + herself. Yet I was always persuaded that the peculiar vivacity of look and + manner—the pointed and appropriate action with which she accompanied + what she said—the use of the gold and gemmed TABATIERE, or rather, I + should say, BONBONNIERE (for she took no snuff, and the little box + contained only a few pieces of candled angelica, or some such ladylike + sweetmeat), were of real old-fashioned Scottish growth, and such as might + have graced the tea-table of Susannah, Countess of Eglinton, the patroness + of Allan Ramsay [See Note 4.—Countess of Eglinton.], or of the Hon. + Mrs. Colonel Ogilvy, who was another mirror by whom the Maidens of Auld + Reekie were required to dress themselves. Although well acquainted with + the customs of other countries, her manners had been chiefly formed in her + own, at a time when great folk lived within little space and when the + distinguished names of the highest society gave to Edinburgh the ECLAT + which we now endeavour to derive from the unbounded expense and extended + circle of our pleasures. + </p> + <p> + I was more confirmed in this opinion by the peculiarity of the dialect + which Mrs. Baliol used. It was Scottish—decidedly Scottish—often + containing phrases and words little used in the present day. But then her + tone and mode of pronunciation were as different from the usual accent of + the ordinary Scotch PATOIS, as the accent of St. James’s is from that of + Billingsgate. The vowels were not pronounced much broader than in the + Italian language, and there was none of the disagreeable drawl which is so + offensive to southern ears. In short, it seemed to be the Scottish as + spoken by the ancient Court of Scotland, to which no idea of vulgarity + could be attached; and the lively manners and gestures with which it was + accompanied were so completely in accord with the sound of the voice and + the style of talking, that I cannot assign them a different origin. In + long derivation, perhaps the manner of the Scottish court might have been + originally formed on that of France, to which it had certainly some + affinity; but I will live and die in the belief that those of Mrs. Baliol, + as pleasing as they were peculiar, came to her by direct descent from the + high dames who anciently adorned with their presence the royal halls of + Holyrood. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. MRS. BALIOL ASSISTS MR. CROFTANGRY IN HIS LITERARY + </h2> + <p> + SPECULATIONS. + </p> + <p> + Such as I have described Mrs. Bethune Baliol, the reader will easily + believe that, when I thought of the miscellaneous nature of my work, I + rested upon the information she possessed, and her communicative + disposition, as one of the principal supports of my enterprise. Indeed, + she by no means disapproved of my proposed publication, though expressing + herself very doubtful how far she could personally assist it—a doubt + which might be, perhaps, set down to a little ladylike coquetry, which + required to be sued for the boon she was not unwilling to grant. Or, + perhaps, the good old lady, conscious that her unusual term of years must + soon draw to a close, preferred bequeathing the materials in the shape of + a legacy, to subjecting them to the judgment of a critical public during + her lifetime. + </p> + <p> + Many a time I used, in our conversations of the Canongate, to resume my + request of assistance, from a sense that my friend was the most valuable + depository of Scottish traditions that was probably now to be found. This + was a subject on which my mind was so much made up that, when I heard her + carry her description of manners so far back beyond her own time, and + describe how Fletcher of Salton spoke, how Graham of Claverhouse danced, + what were the jewels worn by the famous Duchess of Lauderdale, and how she + came by them, I could not help telling her I thought her some fairy, who + cheated us by retaining the appearance of a mortal of our own day, when, + in fact, she had witnessed the revolutions of centuries. She was much + diverted when I required her to take some solemn oath that she had not + danced at the balls given by Mary of Este, when her unhappy husband + occupied Holyrood in a species of honourable banishment; [The Duke of York + afterwards James II., frequently resided in Holyrood House when his + religion rendered him an object of suspicion to the English Parliament.] + or asked whether she could not recollect Charles the Second when he came + to Scotland in 1650, and did not possess some slight recollections of the + bold usurper who drove him beyond the Forth. + </p> + <p> + “BEAU COUSIN,” she said, laughing, “none of these do I remember + personally, but you must know there has been wonderfully little change on + my natural temper from youth to age. From which it follows, cousin, that, + being even now something too young in spirit for the years which Time has + marked me in his calendar, I was, when a girl, a little too old for those + of my own standing, and as much inclined at that period to keep the + society of elder persons, as I am now disposed to admit the company of gay + young fellows of fifty or sixty like yourself, rather than collect about + me all the octogenarians. Now, although I do not actually come from + Elfland, and therefore cannot boast any personal knowledge of the great + personages you enquire about, yet I have seen and heard those who knew + them well, and who have given me as distinct an account of them as I could + give you myself of the Empress Queen, or Frederick of Prussia; and I will + frankly add,” said she, laughing and offering her BONBONNIERE, “that I + HAVE heard so much of the years which immediately succeeded the + Revolution, that I sometimes am apt to confuse the vivid descriptions + fixed on my memory by the frequent and animated recitation of others, for + things which I myself have actually witnessed. I caught myself but + yesterday describing to Lord M—the riding of the last Scottish + Parliament, with as much minuteness as if I had seen it, as my mother did, + from the balcony in front of Lord Moray’s Lodging in the Canongate.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure you must have given Lord M— a high treat.” + </p> + <p> + “I treated him to a hearty laugh, I believe,” she replied; “but it is you, + you vile seducer of youth, who lead me into such follies. But I will be on + my guard against my own weakness. I do not well know if the Wandering Jew + is supposed to have a wife, but I should be sorry a decent middle-aged + Scottish gentlewoman should be suspected of identity with such a + supernatural person.” + </p> + <p> + “For all that, I must torture you a little more, MA BELLE COUSINE, with my + interrogatories; for how shall I ever turn author unless on the strength + of the information which you have so often procured me on the ancient + state of manners?” + </p> + <p> + “Stay, I cannot allow you to give your points of enquiry a name so very + venerable, if I am expected to answer them. Ancient is a term for + antediluvians. You may catechise me about the battle of Flodden, or ask + particulars about Bruce and Wallace, under pretext of curiosity after + ancient manners; and that last subject would wake my Baliol blood, you + know.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, but, Mrs. Baliol, suppose we settle our era: you do not call the + accession of James the Sixth to the kingdom of Britain very ancient?” + </p> + <p> + “Umph! no, cousin; I think I could tell you more of that than folk + nowadays remember. For instance, that as James was trooping towards + England, bag and baggage, his journey was stopped near Cockenzie by + meeting the funeral of the Earl of Winton, the old and faithful servant + and follower of his ill-fated mother, poor Mary! It was an ill omen for + the INFARE, and so was seen of it, cousin.” [See Note 5.—Earl of + Winton.] + </p> + <p> + I did not choose to prosecute this subject, well knowing Mrs. Bethune + Baliol did not like to be much pressed on the subject of the Stewarts, + whose misfortunes she pitied, the rather that her father had espoused + their cause. And yet her attachment to the present dynasty being very + sincere, and even ardent, more especially as her family had served his + late Majesty both in peace and war, she experienced a little embarrassment + in reconciling her opinions respecting the exiled family with those she + entertained for the present. In fact, like many an old Jacobite, she was + contented to be somewhat inconsistent on the subject, comforting herself + that NOW everything stood as it ought to do, and that there was no use in + looking back narrowly on the right or wrong of the matter half a century + ago. + </p> + <p> + “The Highlands,” I suggested, “should furnish you with ample subjects of + recollection. You have witnessed the complete change of that primeval + country, and have seen a race not far removed from the earliest period of + society melted down into the great mass of civilization; and that could + not happen without incidents striking in themselves, and curious as + chapters in the history of the human race.” + </p> + <p> + “It is very true,” said Mrs. Baliol; “one would think it should have + struck the observers greatly, and yet it scarcely did so. For me, I was no + Highlander myself, and the Highland chiefs of old, of whom I certainly + knew several, had little in their manners to distinguish them from the + Lowland gentry, when they mixed in society in Edinburgh, and assumed the + Lowland dress. Their peculiar character was for the clansmen at home; and + you must not imagine that they swaggered about in plaids and broadswords + at the Cross, or came to the Assembly Rooms in bonnets and kilts.” + </p> + <p> + “I remember,” said I, “that Swift, in his Journal, tells Stella he had + dined in the house of a Scots nobleman, with two Highland chiefs, whom he + had found as well-bred men as he had ever met with.” [Extract of Journal + to Stella.—“I dined to-day (12th March 1712) with Lord Treasurer and + two gentlemen of the Highlands of Scotland, yet very polite men.” SWIFT’S + WORKS, VOL. III. p.7. EDIN. 1824.] + </p> + <p> + “Very likely,” said my friend. “The extremes of society approach much more + closely to each other than perhaps the Dean of Saint Patrick’s expected. + The savage is always to a certain degree polite. Besides, going always + armed, and having a very punctilious idea of their own gentility and + consequence, they usually behaved to each other and to the Lowlanders with + a good deal of formal politeness, which sometimes even procured them the + character of insincerity.” + </p> + <p> + “Falsehood belongs to an early period of society, as well as the + deferential forms which we style politeness,” I replied. “A child does not + see the least moral beauty in truth until he has been flogged half a dozen + times. It is so easy, and apparently so natural, to deny what you cannot + be easily convicted of, that a savage as well as a child lies to excuse + himself almost as instinctively as he raises his hand to protect his head. + The old saying, ‘Confess and be hanged,’ carries much argument in it. I + observed a remark the other day in old Birrel. He mentions that M’Gregor + of Glenstrae and some of his people had surrendered themselves to one of + the Earls of Argyle, upon the express condition that they should be + conveyed safe into England. The Maccallum Mhor of the day kept the word of + promise, but it was only to the ear. He indeed sent his captives to + Berwick, where they had an airing on the other side of the Tweed; but it + was under the custody of a strong guard, by whom they were brought back to + Edinburgh, and delivered to the executioner. This, Birrel calls keeping a + Highlandman’s promise.” [See Note 6.—M’Gregor of Glenstrae.] + </p> + <p> + “Well,” replied Mrs. Baliol, “I might add that many of the Highland chiefs + whom I knew in former days had been brought up in France, which might + improve their politeness, though perhaps it did not amend their sincerity. + But considering that, belonging to the depressed and defeated faction in + the state, they were compelled sometimes to use dissimulation, you must + set their uniform fidelity to their friends; against their occasional + falsehood to their enemies, and then you will not judge poor John + Highlandman too severely. They were in a state of society where bright + lights are strongly contrasted with deep shadows.” + </p> + <p> + “It is to that point I would bring you, MA BELLE COUSINE; and therefore + they are most proper subjects for composition.” + </p> + <p> + “And you want to turn composer, my good friend, and set my old tales to + some popular tune? But there have been too many composers, if that be the + word, in the field before. The Highlands WERE indeed a rich mine; but they + have, I think, been fairly wrought out, as a good tune is grinded into + vulgarity when it descends to the hurdy-gurdy and the barrel-organ.” + </p> + <p> + “If it be really tune,” I replied, “it will recover its better qualities + when it gets into the hands of better artists.” + </p> + <p> + “Umph!” said Mrs. Baliol, tapping her box, “we are happy in our own good + opinion this evening, Mr. Croftangry. And so you think you can restore the + gloss to the tartan which it has lost by being dragged through so many + fingers?” + </p> + <p> + “With your assistance to procure materials, my dear lady, much, I think, + may be done.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I must do my best, I suppose, though all I know about the Gael is + but of little consequence. Indeed, I gathered it chiefly from Donald + MacLeish.” + </p> + <p> + “And who might Donald MacLeish be?” + </p> + <p> + “Neither bard nor sennachie, I assure you, nor monk nor hermit, the + approved authorities for old traditions. Donald was as good a postilion as + ever drove a chaise and pair between Glencroe and Inverary. I assure you, + when I give you my Highland anecdotes, you will hear much of Donald + MacLeish. He was Alice Lambskin’s beau and mine through a long Highland + tour.” + </p> + <p> + “But when am I to possess these anecdotes? you answer me as Harley did + poor Prior— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘Let that be done which Mat doth say— + Yea, quoth the Earl, but not to-day.’” + </pre> + <p> + “Well, MON BEAU COUSIN, if you begin to remind me of my cruelty, I must + remind you it has struck nine on the Abbey clock, and it is time you were + going home to Little Croftangry. For my promise to assist your antiquarian + researches, be assured I will one day keep it to the utmost extent. It + shall not be a Highlandman’s promise, as your old citizen calls it.” + </p> + <p> + I by this time suspected the purpose of my friend’s procrastination; and + it saddened my heart to reflect that I was not to get the information + which I desired, excepting in the shape of a legacy. I found accordingly, + in the packet transmitted to me after the excellent lady’s death, several + anecdotes respecting the Highlands, from which I have selected that which + follows, chiefly on account of its possessing great power over the + feelings of my critical housekeeper, Janet M’Evoy, who wept most bitterly + when I read it to her. + </p> + <p> + It is, however, but a very simple tale, and may have no interest for + persons beyond Janet’s rank of life or understanding. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE HIGHLAND WIDOW + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + It wound as near as near could be, + But what it is she cannot tell; + On the other side it seemed to be + Of the huge broad-breasted old oak-tree. COLERIDGE. +</pre> + <p> + Mrs. Bethune Baliol’s memorandum begins thus:— + </p> + <p> + It is five-and-thirty, or perhaps nearer forty years ago, since, to + relieve the dejection of spirits occasioned by a great family loss + sustained two or three months before, I undertook what was called the + short Highland tour. This had become in some degree fashionable; but + though the military roads were excellent, yet the accommodation was so + indifferent that it was reckoned a little adventure to accomplish it. + Besides, the Highlands, though now as peaceable as any part of King + George’s dominions, was a sound which still carried terror, while so many + survived who had witnessed the insurrection of 1745; and a vague idea of + fear was impressed on many as they looked from the towers of Stirling + northward to the huge chain of mountains, which rises like a dusky rampart + to conceal in its recesses a people whose dress, manners, and language + differed still very much from those of their Lowland countrymen. For my + part, I come of a race not greatly subject to apprehensions arising from + imagination only. I had some Highland relatives; know several of their + families of distinction; and though only having the company of my + bower-maiden, Mrs. Alice Lambskin, I went on my journey fearless. + </p> + <p> + But then I had a guide and cicerone, almost equal to Greatheart in the + Pilgrim’s Progress, in no less a person than Donald MacLeish, the + postilion whom I hired at Stirling, with a pair of able-bodied horses, as + steady as Donald himself, to drag my carriage, my duenna, and myself, + wheresoever it was my pleasure to go. + </p> + <p> + Donald MacLeish was one of a race of post-boys whom, I suppose, + mail-coaches and steamboats have put out of fashion. They were to be found + chiefly at Perth, Stirling, or Glasgow, where they and their horses were + usually hired by travellers, or tourists, to accomplish such journeys of + business or pleasure as they might have to perform in the land of the + Gael. This class of persons approached to the character of what is called + abroad a CONDUCTEUR; or might be compared to the sailing-master on board a + British ship of war, who follows out after his own manner the course which + the captain commands him to observe. You explained to your postilion the + length of your tour, and the objects you were desirous it should embrace; + and you found him perfectly competent to fix the places of rest or + refreshment, with due attention that those should be chosen with reference + to your convenience, and to any points of interest which you might desire + to visit. + </p> + <p> + The qualifications of such a person were necessarily much superior to + those of the “first ready,” who gallops thrice-a-day over the same ten + miles. Donald MacLeish, besides being quite alert at repairing all + ordinary accidents to his horses and carriage, and in making shift to + support them, where forage was scarce, with such substitutes as bannocks + and cakes, was likewise a man of intellectual resources. He had acquired a + general knowledge of the traditional stories of the country which he had + traversed so often; and if encouraged (for Donald was a man of the most + decorous reserve), he would willingly point out to you the site of the + principal clan-battles, and recount the most remarkable legends by which + the road, and the objects which occurred in travelling it, had been + distinguished. There was some originality in the man’s habits of thinking + and expressing himself, his turn for legendary lore strangely contrasting + with a portion of the knowing shrewdness belonging to his actual + occupation, which made his conversation amuse the way well enough. + </p> + <p> + Add to this, Donald knew all his peculiar duties in the country which he + traversed so frequently. He could tell, to a day, when they would “be + killing” lamb at Tyndrum or Glenuilt; so that the stranger would have some + chance of being fed like a Christian; and knew to a mile the last village + where it was possible to procure a wheaten loaf for the guidance of those + who were little familiar with the Land of Cakes. He was acquainted with + the road every mile, and could tell to an inch which side of a Highland + bridge was passable, which decidedly dangerous. [This is, or was at least, + a necessary accomplishment. In one of the most beautiful districts of the + Highlands was, not many years since, a bridge bearing this startling + caution, “Keep to the right side, the left being dangerous.”] In short, + Donald MacLeish was not only our faithful attendant and steady servant, + but our humble and obliging friend; and though I have known the + half-classical cicerone of Italy, the talkative French valet-de-place, and + even the muleteer of Spain, who piques himself on being a maize-eater, and + whose honour is not to be questioned without danger, I do not think I have + ever had so sensible and intelligent a guide. + </p> + <p> + Our motions were of course under Donald’s direction; and it frequently + happened, when the weather was serene, that we preferred halting to rest + his horses even where there was no established stage, and taking our + refreshment under a crag, from which leaped a waterfall, or beside the + verge of a fountain, enamelled with verdant turf and wild-flowers. Donald + had an eye for such spots, and though he had, I dare say, never read Gil + Blas or Don Quixote, yet he chose such halting-places as Le Sage or + Cervantes would have described. Very often, as he observed the pleasure I + took in conversing with the country people, he would manage to fix our + place of rest near a cottage, where there was some old Gael whose + broadsword had blazed at Falkirk or Preston, and who seemed the frail yet + faithful record of times which had passed away. Or he would contrive to + quarter us, as far as a cup of tea went, upon the hospitality of some + parish minister of worth and intelligence, or some country family of the + better class, who mingled with the wild simplicity of their original + manners, and their ready and hospitable welcome, a sort of courtesy + belonging to a people, the lowest of whom are accustomed to consider + themselves as being, according to the Spanish phrase, “as good gentlemen + as the king, only not quite so rich.” + </p> + <p> + To all such persons Donald MacLeish was well known, and his introduction + passed as current as if we had brought letters from some high chief of the + country. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes it happened that the Highland hospitality, which welcomed us + with all the variety of mountain fare, preparations of milk and eggs, and + girdle-cakes of various kinds, as well as more substantial dainties, + according to the inhabitant’s means of regaling the passenger, descended + rather too exuberantly on Donald MacLeish in the shape of mountain dew. + Poor Donald! he was on such occasions like Gideon’s fleece—moist + with the noble element, which, of course, fell not on us. But it was his + only fault, and when pressed to drink DOCH-AN-DORROCH to my ladyship’s + good health, it would have been ill taken to have refused the pledge; nor + was he willing to do such discourtesy. It was, I repeat, his only fault. + Nor had we any great right to complain; for if it rendered him a little + more talkative, it augmented his ordinary share of punctilious civility, + and he only drove slower, and talked longer and more pompously, than when + he had not come by a drop of usquebaugh. It was, we remarked, only on such + occasions that Donald talked with an air of importance of the family of + MacLeish; and we had no title to be scrupulous in censuring a foible, the + consequences of which were confined within such innocent limits. + </p> + <p> + We became so much accustomed to Donald’s mode of managing us, that we + observed with some interest the art which he used to produce a little + agreeable surprise, by concealing from us the spot where he proposed our + halt to be made, when it was of an unusual and interesting character. This + was so much his wont that, when he made apologies at setting off for being + obliged to stop in some strange, solitary place till the horses should eat + the corn which he brought on with them for that purpose, our imagination + used to be on the stretch to guess what romantic retreat he had secretly + fixed upon for our noontide baiting-place. + </p> + <p> + We had spent the greater part of the morning at the delightful village of + Dalmally, and had gone upon the lake under the guidance of the excellent + clergyman who was then incumbent at Glenorquhy, [This venerable and + hospitable gentleman’s name was MacIntyre.] and had heard a hundred + legends of the stern chiefs of Loch Awe, Duncan with the thrum bonnet, and + the other lords of the now mouldering towers of Kilchurn. [See Note 7.—Loch + Awe.] Thus it was later than usual when we set out on our journey, after a + hint or two from Donald concerning the length of the way to the next + stage, as there was no good halting-place between Dalmally and Oban. + </p> + <p> + Having bid adieu to our venerable and kind cicerone, we proceeded on our + tour, winding round the tremendous mountain called Cruachan Ben, which + rushes down in all its majesty of rocks and wilderness on the lake, + leaving only a pass, in which, notwithstanding its extreme strength, the + warlike clan of MacDougal of Lorn were almost destroyed by the sagacious + Robert Bruce. That King, the Wellington of his day, had accomplished, by a + forced march, the unexpected manoeuvre of forcing a body of troops round + the other side of the mountain, and thus placed them in the flank and in + the rear of the men of Lorn, whom at the same time, he attacked in front. + The great number of cairns yet visible as you descend the pass on the + westward side shows the extent of the vengeance which Bruce exhausted on + his inveterate and personal enemies. I am, you know, the sister of + soldiers, and it has since struck me forcibly that the manoeuvre which + Donald described, resembled those of Wellington or of Bonaparte. He was a + great man Robert Bruce, even a Baliol must admit that; although it begins + now to be allowed that his title to the crown was scarce so good as that + of the unfortunate family with whom he contended. But let that pass. The + slaughter had been the greater, as the deep and rapid river Awe is + disgorged from the lake just in the rear of the fugitives, and encircles + the base of the tremendous mountain; so that the retreat of the + unfortunate fleers was intercepted on all sides by the inaccessible + character of the country, which had seemed to promise them defence and + protection. [See Note 8.—Battle betwixt the armies of the Bruce and + MacDougal of Lorn.] + </p> + <p> + Musing, like the Irish lady in the song, “upon things which are long + enough a-gone,” [This is a line from a very pathetic ballad which I heard + sung by one of the young ladies of Edgeworthstown in 1825. I do not know + that it has been printed.] we felt no impatience at the slow and almost + creeping pace with which our conductor proceeded along General Wade’s + military road, which never or rarely condescends to turn aside from the + steepest ascent, but proceeds right up and down hill, with the + indifference to height and hollow, steep or level, indicated by the old + Roman engineers. Still, however, the substantial excellence of these great + works—for such are the military highways in the Highlands—deserved + the compliment of the poet, who, whether he came from our sister kingdom, + and spoke in his own dialect, or whether he supposed those whom he + addressed might have some national pretension to the second sight, + produced the celebrated couplet,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Had you but seen these roads BEFORE they were made, + You would hold up your hands and bless General Wade.” + </pre> + <p> + Nothing, indeed, can be more wonderful than to see these wildernesses + penetrated and pervious in every quarter by broad accesses of the best + possible construction, and so superior to what the country could have + demanded for many centuries for any pacific purpose of commercial + intercourse. Thus the traces of war are sometimes happily accommodated to + the purposes of peace. The victories of Bonaparte have been without + results but his road over the Simplon will long be the communication + betwixt peaceful countries, who will apply to the ends of commerce and + friendly intercourse that gigantic work, which was formed for the + ambitious purpose of warlike invasion. + </p> + <p> + While we were thus stealing along, we gradually turned round the shoulder + of Ben Cruachan, and descending the course of the foaming and rapid Awe, + left behind us the expanse of the majestic lake which gives birth to that + impetuous river. The rocks and precipices which stooped down + perpendicularly on our path on the right hand exhibited a few remains of + the wood which once clothed them, but which had in later times been felled + to supply, Donald MacLeish informed us, the iron foundries at the Bunawe. + This made us fix our eyes with interest on one large oak, which grew on + the left hand towards the river. It seemed a tree of extraordinary + magnitude and picturesque beauty, and stood just where there appeared to + be a few roods of open ground lying among huge stones, which had rolled + down from the mountain. To add to the romance of the situation, the spot + of clear ground extended round the foot of a proud-browed rock, from the + summit of which leaped a mountain stream in a fall of sixty feet, in which + it was dissolved into foam and dew. At the bottom of the fall the rivulet + with difficulty collected, like a routed general, its dispersed forces, + and, as if tamed by its descent, found a noiseless passage through the + heath to join the Awe. + </p> + <p> + I was much struck with the tree and waterfall, and wished myself nearer + them; not that I thought of sketch-book or portfolio—for in my + younger days misses were not accustomed to black-lead pencils, unless they + could use them to some good purpose—but merely to indulge myself + with a closer view. Donald immediately opened the chaise door, but + observed it was rough walking down the brae, and that I would see the tree + better by keeping the road for a hundred yards farther, when it passed + closer to the spot, for which he seemed, however, to have no predilection. + “He knew,” he said, “a far bigger tree than that nearer Bunawe, and it was + a place where there was flat ground for the carriage to stand, which it + could jimply do on these braes; but just as my leddyship liked.” + </p> + <p> + My ladyship did choose rather to look at the fine tree before me than to + pass it by in hopes of a finer; so we walked beside the carriage till we + should come to a point, from which, Donald assured us, we might, without + scrambling, go as near the tree as we chose, “though he wadna advise us to + go nearer than the highroad.” + </p> + <p> + There was something grave and mysterious in Donald’s sun-browned + countenance when he gave us this intimation, and his manner was so + different from his usual frankness, that my female curiosity was set in + motion. We walked on the whilst, and I found the tree, of which we had now + lost sight by the intervention of some rising ground, was really more + distant than I had at first supposed. “I could have sworn now,” said I to + my cicerone, “that yon tree and waterfall was the very place where you + intended to make a stop to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “The Lord forbid!” said Donald hastily. + </p> + <p> + “And for what, Donald? Why should you be willing to pass so pleasant a + spot?” + </p> + <p> + “It’s ower near Dalmally, my leddy, to corn the beasts; it would bring + their dinner ower near their breakfast, poor things. An’ besides, the + place is not canny.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! then the mystery is out. There is a bogle or a brownie, a witch or a + gyre-carlin, a bodach or a fairy, in the case?” + </p> + <p> + “The ne’er a bit, my leddy—ye are clean aff the road, as I may say. + But if your leddyship will just hae patience, and wait till we are by the + place and out of the glen, I’ll tell ye all about it. There is no much + luck in speaking of such things in the place they chanced in.” + </p> + <p> + I was obliged to suspend my curiosity, observing, that if I persisted in + twisting the discourse one way while Donald was twining it another, I + should make his objection, like a hempen cord, just so much the tougher. + At length the promised turn of the road brought us within fifty paces of + the tree which I desired to admire, and I now saw to my surprise, that + there was a human habitation among the cliffs which surrounded it. It was + a hut of the least dimensions, and most miserable description that I ever + saw even in the Highlands. The walls of sod, or DIVOT, as the Scotch call + it, were not four feet high; the roof was of turf, repaired with reeds and + sedges; the chimney was composed of clay, bound round by straw ropes; and + the whole walls, roof, and chimney, were alike covered with the vegetation + of house-leek, rye-grass, and moss common to decayed cottages formed of + such materials. There was not the slightest vestige of a kale-yard, the + usual accompaniment of the very worst huts; and of living things we saw + nothing, save a kid which was browsing on the roof of the hut, and a goat, + its mother, at some distance, feeding betwixt the oak and the river Awe. + </p> + <p> + “What man,” I could not help exclaiming, “can have committed sin deep + enough to deserve such a miserable dwelling!” + </p> + <p> + “Sin enough,” said Donald MacLeish, with a half-suppressed groan; “and God + he knoweth, misery enough too. And it is no man’s dwelling neither, but a + woman’s.” + </p> + <p> + “A woman’s!” I repeated, “and in so lonely a place! What sort of a woman + can she be?” + </p> + <p> + “Come this way, my leddy, and you may judge that for yourself,” said + Donald. And by advancing a few steps, and making a sharp turn to the left, + we gained a sight of the side of the great broad-breasted oak, in the + direction opposed to that in which we had hitherto seen it. + </p> + <p> + “If she keeps her old wont, she will be there at this hour of the day,” + said Donald; but immediately became silent, and pointed with his finger, + as one afraid of being overheard. I looked, and beheld, not without some + sense of awe, a female form seated by the stem of the oak, with her head + drooping, her hands clasped, and a dark-coloured mantle drawn over her + head, exactly as Judah is represented in the Syrian medals as seated under + her palm-tree. I was infected with the fear and reverence which my guide + seemed to entertain towards this solitary being, nor did I think of + advancing towards her to obtain a nearer view until I had cast an + enquiring look on Donald; to which he replied in a half whisper, “She has + been a fearfu’ bad woman, my leddy.” + </p> + <p> + “Mad woman, said you,” replied I, hearing him imperfectly; “then she is + perhaps dangerous?” + </p> + <p> + “No—she is not mad,” replied Donald; “for then it may be she would + be happier than she is; though when she thinks on what she has done, and + caused to be done, rather than yield up a hair-breadth of her ain wicked + will, it is not likely she can be very well settled. But she neither is + mad nor mischievous; and yet, my leddy, I think you had best not go nearer + to her.” And then, in a few hurried words, he made me acquainted with the + story which I am now to tell more in detail. I heard the narrative with a + mixture of horror and sympathy, which at once impelled me to approach the + sufferer, and speak to her the words of comfort, or rather of pity, and at + the same time made me afraid to do so. + </p> + <p> + This indeed was the feeling with which she was regarded by the Highlanders + in the neighbourhood, who looked upon Elspat MacTavish, or the Woman of + the Tree, as they called her, as the Greeks considered those who were + pursued by the Furies, and endured the mental torment consequent on great + criminal actions. They regarded such unhappy beings as Orestes and + OEdipus, as being less the voluntary perpetrators of their crimes than as + the passive instruments by which the terrible decrees of Destiny had been + accomplished; and the fear with which they beheld them was not unmingled + with veneration. + </p> + <p> + I also learned further from Donald MacLeish, that there was some + apprehension of ill luck attending those who had the boldness to approach + too near, or disturb the awful solitude of a being so unutterably + miserable—that it was supposed that whosoever approached her must + experience in some respect the contagion of her wretchedness. + </p> + <p> + It was therefore with some reluctance that Donald saw me prepare to obtain + a nearer view of the sufferer, and that he himself followed to assist me + in the descent down a very rough path. I believe his regard for me + conquered some ominous feelings in his own breast, which connected his + duty on this occasion with the presaging fear of lame horses, lost + linch-pins, overturns, and other perilous chances of the postilion’s life. + </p> + <p> + I am not sure if my own courage would have carried me so close to Elspat + had he not followed. There was in her countenance the stern abstraction of + hopeless and overpowering sorrow, mixed with the contending feelings of + remorse, and of the pride which struggled to conceal it. She guessed, + perhaps, that it was curiosity, arising out of her uncommon story, which + induced me to intrude on her solitude; and she could not be pleased that a + fate like hers had been the theme of a traveller’s amusement. Yet the look + with which she regarded me was one of scorn instead of embarrassment. The + opinion of the world and all its children could not add or take an iota + from her load of misery; and, save from the half smile that seemed to + intimate the contempt of a being rapt by the very intensity of her + affliction above the sphere of ordinary humanities, she seemed as + indifferent to my gaze, as if she had been a dead corpse or a marble + statue. + </p> + <p> + Elspat was above the middle stature. Her hair, now grizzled, was still + profuse, and it had been of the most decided black. So were her eyes, in + which, contradicting the stern and rigid features of her countenance, + there shone the wild and troubled light that indicates an unsettled mind. + Her hair was wrapt round a silver bodkin with some attention to neatness, + and her dark mantle was disposed around her with a degree of taste, though + the materials were of the most ordinary sort. + </p> + <p> + After gazing on this victim of guilt and calamity till I was ashamed to + remain silent, though uncertain how I ought to address her, I began to + express my surprise at her choosing such a desert and deplorable dwelling. + She cut short these expressions of sympathy, by answering in a stern + voice, without the least change of countenance or posture, “Daughter of + the stranger, he has told you my story.” I was silenced at once, and felt + how little all earthly accommodation must seem to the mind which had such + subjects as hers for rumination. Without again attempting to open the + conversation, I took a piece of gold from my purse, (for Donald had + intimated she lived on alms), expecting she would at least stretch her + hand to receive it. But she neither accepted nor rejected the gift; she + did not even seem to notice it, though twenty times as valuable, probably, + as was usually offered. I was obliged to place it on her knee, saying + involuntarily, as I did so, “May God pardon you and relieve you!” I shall + never forget the look which she cast up to Heaven, nor the tone in which + she exclaimed, in the very words of my old friend John Home,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My beautiful—my brave!” + </pre> + <p> + It was the language of nature, and arose from the heart of the deprived + mother, as it did from that gifted imaginative poet while furnishing with + appropriate expressions the ideal grief of Lady Randolph. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Oh, I’m come to the Low Country, + Och, och, ohonochie, + Without a penny in my pouch + To buy a meal for me. + I was the proudest of my clan, + Long, long may I repine; + And Donald was the bravest man, + And Donald he was mine. OLD SONG. +</pre> + <p> + Elspat had enjoyed happy days, though her age had sunk into hopeless and + inconsolable sorrow and distress. She was once the beautiful and happy + wife of Hamish MacTavish, for whom his strength and feats of prowess had + gained the title of MacTavish Mhor. His life was turbulent and dangerous, + his habits being of the old Highland stamp which esteemed it shame to want + anything that could be had for the taking. Those in the Lowland line who + lay near him, and desired to enjoy their lives and property in quiet, were + contented to pay him a small composition, in name of protection money, and + comforted themselves with the old proverb that it was better to “fleech + the deil than fight him.” Others, who accounted such composition + dishonourable, were often surprised by MacTavish Mhor and his associates + and followers, who usually inflicted an adequate penalty, either in person + or property, or both. The creagh is yet remembered in which he swept one + hundred and fifty cows from Monteith in one drove; and how he placed the + laird of Ballybught naked in a slough, for having threatened to send for a + party of the Highland Watch to protect his property. + </p> + <p> + Whatever were occasionally the triumphs of this daring cateran, they were + often exchanged for reverses; and his narrow escapes, rapid flights, and + the ingenious stratagems with which he extricated himself from imminent + danger, were no less remembered and admired than the exploits in which he + had been successful. In weal or woe, through every species of fatigue, + difficulty, and danger, Elspat was his faithful companion. She enjoyed + with him the fits of occasional prosperity; and when adversity pressed + them hard, her strength of mind, readiness of wit, and courageous + endurance of danger and toil, are said often to have stimulated the + exertions of her husband. + </p> + <p> + Their morality was of the old Highland cast—faithful friends and + fierce enemies. The Lowland herds and harvests they accounted their own, + whenever they had the means of driving off the one or of seizing upon the + other; nor did the least scruple on the right of property interfere on + such occasions. Hamish Mhor argued like the old Cretan warrior: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield, + They make me lord of all below; + For he who dreads the lance to wield, + Before my shaggy shield must bow. + His lands, his vineyards, must resign, + And all that cowards have is mine.” + </pre> + <p> + But those days of perilous, though frequently successful depredation, + began to be abridged after the failure of the expedition of Prince Charles + Edward. MacTavish Mhor had not sat still on that occasion, and he was + outlawed, both as a traitor to the state and as a robber and cateran. + Garrisons were now settled in many places where a red-coat had never + before been seen, and the Saxon war-drum resounded among the most hidden + recesses of the Highland mountains. The fate of MacTavish became every day + more inevitable; and it was the more difficult for him to make his + exertions for defence or escape, that Elspat, amid his evil days, had + increased his family with an infant child, which was a considerable + encumbrance upon the necessary rapidity of their motions. + </p> + <p> + At length the fatal day arrived. In a strong pass on the skirts of Ben + Crunchan, the celebrated MacTavish Mhor was surprised by a detachment of + the Sidier Roy. [The Red Soldier.] His wife assisted him heroically, + charging his piece from time to time; and as they were in possession of a + post that was nearly unassailable, he might have perhaps escaped if his + ammunition had lasted. But at length his balls were expended, although it + was not until he had fired off most of the silver buttons from his + waistcoat; and the soldiers, no longer deterred by fear of the unerring + marksman, who had slain three and wounded more of their number, approached + his stronghold, and, unable to take him alive, slew him after a most + desperate resistance. + </p> + <p> + All this Elspat witnessed and survived; for she had, in the child which + relied on her for support, a motive for strength and exertion. In what + manner she maintained herself it is not easy to say. Her only ostensible + means of support were a flock of three or four goats, which she fed + wherever she pleased on the mountain pastures, no one challenging the + intrusion. In the general distress of the country, her ancient + acquaintances had little to bestow; but what they could part with from + their own necessities, they willingly devoted to the relief of others, + From Lowlanders she sometimes demanded tribute, rather than requested + alms. She had not forgotten she was the widow of MacTavish Mhor, or that + the child who trotted by her knee might, such were her imaginations, + emulate one day the fame of his father, and command the same influence + which he had once exerted without control. She associated so little with + others, went so seldom and so unwillingly from the wildest recesses of the + mountains, where she usually dwelt with her goats, that she was quite + unconscious of the great change which had taken place in the country + around her—the substitution of civil order for military violence, + and the strength gained by the law and its adherents over those who were + called in Gaelic song, “the stormy sons of the sword.” Her own diminished + consequence and straitened circumstances she indeed felt, but for this the + death of MacTavish Mhor was, in her apprehension, a sufficing reason; and + she doubted not that she should rise to her former state of importance + when Hamish Bean (or fair-haired James) should be able to wield the arms + of his father. If, then, Elspat was repelled, rudely when she demanded + anything necessary for her wants, or the accommodation of her little + flock, by a churlish farmer, her threats of vengeance, obscurely + expressed, yet terrible in their tenor, used frequently to extort, through + fear of her maledictions, the relief which was denied to her necessities; + and the trembling goodwife, who gave meal or money to the widow of + MacTavish Mhor, wished in her heart that the stern old carlin had been + burnt on the day her husband had his due. + </p> + <p> + Years thus ran on, and Hamish Bean grew up—not, indeed, to be of his + father’s size or strength, but to become an active, high-spirited, + fair-haired youth, with a ruddy cheek, an eye like an eagle’s, and all the + agility, if not all the strength, of his formidable father, upon whose + history and achievements his mother dwelt, in order to form her son’s mind + to a similar course of adventures. But the young see the present state of + this changeful world more keenly than the old. Much attached to his + mother, and disposed to do all in his power for her support, Hamish yet + perceived, when he mixed with the world, that the trade of the cateran was + now alike dangerous and discreditable, and that if he were to emulate his + father’s progress, it must be in some other line of warfare more consonant + to the opinions of the present day. + </p> + <p> + As the faculties of mind and body began to expand, he became more sensible + of the precarious nature of his situation, of the erroneous views of his + mother, and her ignorance respecting the changes of the society with which + she mingled so little. In visiting friends and neighbours, he became aware + of the extremely reduced scale to which his parent was limited, and + learned that she possessed little or nothing more than the absolute + necessaries of life, and that these were sometimes on the point of + failing. At times his success in fishing and the chase was able to add + something to her subsistence; but he saw no regular means of contributing + to her support, unless by stooping to servile labour, which, if he himself + could have endured it, would, he knew, have been like a death’s-wound to + the pride of his mother. + </p> + <p> + Elspat, meanwhile, saw with surprise that Hamish Bean, although now tall + and fit for the field, showed no disposition to enter on his father’s + scene of action. There was something of the mother at her heart, which + prevented her from urging him in plain terms to take the field as a + cateran, for the fear occurred of the perils into which the trade must + conduct him; and when she would have spoken to him on the subject, it + seemed to her heated imagination as if the ghost of her husband arose + between them in his bloody tartans, and laying his finger on his lips, + appeared to prohibit the topic. Yet she wondered at what seemed his want + of spirit, sighed as she saw him from day to day lounging about in the + long-skirted Lowland coat which the legislature had imposed upon the Gael + instead of their own romantic garb, and thought how much nearer he would + have resembled her husband had he been clad in the belted plaid and short + hose, with his polished arms gleaming at his side. + </p> + <p> + Besides these subjects for anxiety, Elspat had others arising from the + engrossing impetuosity of her temper. Her love of MacTavish Mhor had been + qualified by respect and sometimes even by fear, for the cateran was not + the species of man who submits to female government; but over his son she + had exerted, at first during childhood, and afterwards in early youth, an + imperious authority, which gave her maternal love a character of jealousy. + She could not bear when Hamish, with advancing life, made repeated steps + towards independence, absented himself from her cottage at such season and + for such length of time as he chose, and seemed to consider, although + maintaining towards her every possible degree of respect and kindness, + that the control and responsibility of his actions rested on himself + alone. This would have been of little consequence, could she have + concealed her feelings within her own bosom; but the ardour and impatience + of her passions made her frequently show her son that she conceived + herself neglected and ill-used. When he was absent for any length of time + from her cottage without giving intimation of his purpose, her resentment + on his return used to be so unreasonable, that it naturally suggested to a + young man fond of independence, and desirous to amend his situation in the + world, to leave her, even for the very purpose of enabling him to provide + for the parent whose egotistical demands on his filial attention tended to + confine him to a desert, in which both were starving in hopeless and + helpless indigence. + </p> + <p> + Upon one occasion, the son having been guilty of some independent + excursion, by which the mother felt herself affronted and disobliged, she + had been more than usually violent on his return, and awakened in Hamish a + sense of displeasure, which clouded his brow and cheek. At length, as she + persevered in her unreasonable resentment, his patience became exhausted, + and taking his gun from the chimney corner, and muttering to himself the + reply which his respect for his mother prevented him from speaking aloud, + he was about to leave the hut which he had but barely entered. + </p> + <p> + “Hamish,” said his mother, “are you again about to leave me?” But Hamish + only replied by looking at and rubbing the lock of his gun. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, rub the lock of your gun,” said his parent bitterly. “I am glad you + have courage enough to fire it? though it be but at a roe-deer.” Hamish + started at this undeserved taunt, and cast a look of anger at her in + reply. She saw that she had found the means of giving him pain. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said, “look fierce as you will at an old woman, and your + mother; it would be long ere you bent your brow on the angry countenance + of a bearded man.” + </p> + <p> + “Be silent, mother, or speak of what you understand,” said Hamish, much + irritated, “and that is of the distaff and the spindle.” + </p> + <p> + “And was it of spindle and distaff that I was thinking when I bore you + away on my back through the fire of six of the Saxon soldiers, and you a + wailing child? I tell you, Hamish, I know a hundredfold more of swords and + guns than ever you will; and you will never learn so much of noble war by + yourself, as you have seen when you were wrapped up in my plaid.” + </p> + <p> + “You are determined, at least, to allow me no peace at home, mother; but + this shall have an end,” said Hamish, as, resuming his purpose of leaving + the hut, he rose and went towards the door. + </p> + <p> + “Stay, I command you,” said his mother—“stay! or may the gun you + carry be the means of your ruin! may the road you are going be the track + of your funeral!” + </p> + <p> + “What makes you use such words, mother?” said the young man, turning a + little back; “they are not good, and good cannot come of them. Farewell + just now! we are too angry to speak together—farewell! It will be + long ere you see me again.” And he departed, his mother, in the first + burst of her impatience, showering after him her maledictions, and in the + next invoking them on her own head, so that they might spare her son’s. + She passed that day and the next in all the vehemence of impotent and yet + unrestrained passion, now entreating Heaven, and such powers as were + familiar to her by rude tradition, to restore her dear son, “the calf of + her heart;” now in impatient resentment, meditating with what bitter terms + she should rebuke his filial disobedience upon his return, and now + studying the most tender language to attach him to the cottage, which, + when her boy was present, she would not, in the rapture of her affection, + have exchanged for the apartments of Taymouth Castle. + </p> + <p> + Two days passed, during which, neglecting even the slender means of + supporting nature which her situation afforded, nothing but the strength + of a frame accustomed to hardships and privations of every kind could have + kept her in existence, notwithstanding the anguish of her mind prevented + her being sensible of her personal weakness. Her dwelling at this period + was the same cottage near which I had found her, but then more habitable + by the exertions of Hamish, by whom it had been in a great measure built + and repaired. + </p> + <p> + It was on the third day after her son had disappeared, as she sat at the + door rocking herself, after the fashion of her countrywomen when in + distress, or in pain, that the then unwonted circumstance occurred of a + passenger being seen on the highroad above the cottage. She cast but one + glance at him. He was on horseback, so that it could not be Hamish; and + Elspat cared not enough for any other being on earth to make her turn her + eyes towards him a second time. The stranger, however, paused opposite to + her cottage, and dismounting from his pony, led it down the steep and + broken path which conducted to her door. + </p> + <p> + “God bless you, Elspat MacTavish!” She looked at the man as he addressed + her in her native language, with the displeased air of one whose reverie + is interrupted; but the traveller went on to say, “I bring you tidings of + your son Hamish.” At once, from being the most uninteresting object, in + respect to Elspat, that could exist, the form of the stranger became awful + in her eyes, as that of a messenger descended from heaven, expressly to + pronounce upon her death or life. She started from her seat, and with + hands convulsively clasped together, and held up to Heaven, eyes fixed on + the stranger’s countenance, and person stooping forward to him, she looked + those inquiries which her faltering tongue could not articulate. “Your son + sends you his dutiful remembrance, and this,” said the messenger, putting + into Elspat’s hand a small purse containing four or five dollars. + </p> + <p> + “He is gone! he is gone!” exclaimed Elspat; “he has sold himself to be the + servant of the Saxons, and I shall never more behold him! Tell me, Miles + MacPhadraick—for now I know you—is it the price of the son’s + blood that you have put into the mother’s hand?” + </p> + <p> + “Now, God forbid!” answered MacPhadraick, who was a tacksman, and had + possession of a considerable tract of ground under his chief, a proprietor + who lived about twenty miles off—“God forbid I should do wrong, or + say wrong, to you, or to the son of MacTavish Mhor! I swear to you by the + hand of my chief that your son is well, and will soon see you; and the + rest he will tell you himself.” So saying, MacPhadraick hastened back up + the pathway, gained the road, mounted his pony, and rode upon his way. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. + </h2> + <p> + Elspat MacTavish remained gazing on the money as if the impress of the + coin could have conveyed information how it was procured. + </p> + <p> + “I love not this MacPhadraick,” she said to herself. “It was his race of + whom the Bard hath spoken, saying, Fear them not when their words are loud + as the winter’s wind, but fear them when they fall on you like the sound + of the thrush’s song. And yet this riddle can be read but one way: My son + hath taken the sword to win that, with strength like a man, which churls + would keep him from with the words that frighten children.” This idea, + when once it occurred to her, seemed the more reasonable, that + MacPhadraick, as she well knew, himself a cautious man, had so far + encouraged her husband’s practices as occasionally to buy cattle of + MacTavish, although he must have well known how they were come by, taking + care, however, that the transaction was so made as to be accompanied with + great profit and absolute safety. Who so likely as MacPhadraick to + indicate to a young cateran the glen in which he could commence his + perilous trade with most prospect of success? Who so likely to convert his + booty into money? The feelings which another might have experienced on + believing that an only son had rushed forward on the same path in which + his father had perished, were scarce known to the Highland mothers of that + day. She thought of the death of MacTavish Mhor as that of a hero who had + fallen in his proper trade of war, and who had not fallen unavenged. She + feared less for her son’s life than for his dishonour. She dreaded, on his + account, the subjection to strangers, and the death-sleep of the soul + which is brought on by what she regarded as slavery. + </p> + <p> + The moral principle which so naturally and so justly occurs to the mind of + those who have been educated under a settled government of laws that + protect the property of the weak against the incursions of the strong, was + to poor Elspat a book sealed and a fountain closed. She had been taught to + consider those whom they call Saxons as a race with whom the Gael were + constantly at war; and she regarded every settlement of theirs within the + reach of Highland incursion as affording a legitimate object of attack and + plunder. Her feelings on this point had been strengthened and confirmed, + not only by the desire of revenge for the death of her husband, but by the + sense of general indignation entertained, not unjustly, through the + Highlands of Scotland, on account of the barbarous and violent conduct of + the victors after the battle of Culloden. Other Highland clans, too, she + regarded as the fair objects of plunder, when that was possible, upon the + score of ancient enmities and deadly feuds. + </p> + <p> + The prudence that might have weighed the slender means which the times + afforded for resisting the efforts of a combined government, which had, in + its less compact and established authority, been unable to put down the + ravages of such lawless caterans as MacTavish Mhor, was unknown to a + solitary woman whose ideas still dwelt upon her own early times. She + imagined that her son had only to proclaim himself his father’s successor + in adventure and enterprise, and that a force of men, as gallant as those + who had followed his father’s banner, would crowd around to support it + when again displayed. To her Hamish was the eagle who had only to soar + aloft and resume his native place in the skies, without her being able to + comprehend how many additional eyes would have watched his flight—how + many additional bullets would have been directed at his bosom. To be + brief, Elspat was one who viewed the present state of society with the + same feelings with which she regarded the times that had passed away. She + had been indigent, neglected, oppressed since the days that her husband + had no longer been feared and powerful, and she thought that the term of + her ascendence would return when her son had determined to play the part + of his father. If she permitted her eye to glance farther into futurity, + it was but to anticipate that she must be for many a day cold in the + grave, with the coronach of her tribe cried duly over her, before her + fair-haired Hamish could, according to her calculation, die with his hand + on the basket-hilt of the red claymore. His father’s hair was grey, ere, + after a hundred dangers, he had fallen with his arms in his hands. That + she should have seen and survived the sight was a natural consequence of + the manners of that age. And better it was—such was her proud + thought—that she had seen him so die, than to have witnessed his + departure from life in a smoky hovel on a bed of rotten straw like an + over-worn hound, or a bullock which died of disease. But the hour of her + young, her brave Hamish, was yet far distant. He must succeed—he + must conquer—like his father. And when he fell at length—for + she anticipated for him no bloodless death—Elspat would ere then + have lain long in the grave, and could neither see his death-struggle nor + mourn over his grave-sod. + </p> + <p> + With such wild notions working in her brain, the spirit of Elspat rose to + its usual pitch, or, rather, to one which seemed higher. In the emphatic + language of Scripture, which in that idiom does not greatly differ from + her own, she arose, she washed and changed her apparel, and ate bread, and + was refreshed. + </p> + <p> + She longed eagerly for the return of her son, but she now longed not with + the bitter anxiety of doubt and apprehension. She said to herself that + much must be done ere he could in these times arise to be an eminent and + dreaded leader. Yet when she saw him again, she almost expected him at the + head of a daring band, with pipes playing and banners flying, the noble + tartans fluttering free in the wind, in despite of the laws which had + suppressed, under severe penalties, the use of the national garb and all + the appurtenances of Highland chivalry. For all this, her eager + imagination was content only to allow the interval of some days. + </p> + <p> + From the moment this opinion had taken deep and serious possession of her + mind, her thoughts were bent upon receiving her son at the head of his + adherents in the manner in which she used to adorn her hut for the return + of his father. + </p> + <p> + The substantial means of subsistence she had not the power of providing, + nor did she consider that of importance. The successful caterans would + bring with them herds and flocks. But the interior of her hut was arranged + for their reception, the usquebaugh was brewed or distilled in a larger + quantity than it could have been supposed one lone woman could have made + ready. Her hut was put into such order as might, in some degree, give it + the appearance of a day of rejoicing. It was swept and decorated, with + boughs of various kinds, like the house of a Jewess upon what is termed + the Feast of the Tabernacles. The produce of the milk of her little flock + was prepared in as great variety of forms as her skill admitted, to + entertain her son and his associates whom she, expected to receive along + with him. + </p> + <p> + But the principal decoration, which she sought with the greatest toil, was + the cloud-berry, a scarlet fruit, which is only found on very high hills; + and these only in small quantities. Her husband, or perhaps one of his + forefathers, had chosen this as the emblem of his family, because it + seemed at once to imply, by its scarcity, the smallness of their clan, + and, by the places in which it was found, the ambitious height of their + pretensions. + </p> + <p> + For the time that these simple preparations of welcome endured, Elspat was + in a state of troubled happiness. In fact, her only anxiety was that she + might be able to complete all that she could do to welcome Hamish and the + friends who she supposed must have attached themselves to his band, before + they should arrive and find her unprovided for their reception. + </p> + <p> + But when such efforts as she could make had been accomplished, she once + more had nothing left to engage her save the trifling care of her goats; + and when these had been attended to, she had only to review her little + preparations, renew such as were of a transitory nature, replace decayed + branches and fading boughs, and then to sit down at her cottage-door and + watch the road as it ascended on the one side from the banks of the Awe, + and on the other wound round the heights of the mountain, with such a + degree of accommodation to hill and level as the plan of the military + engineer permitted. While so occupied, her imagination, anticipating the + future from recollections of the past, formed out of the morning mist or + the evening cloud the wild forms of an advancing band, which were then + called “Sidier Dhu” (dark soldiers), dressed in their native tartan, and + so named to distinguish them from the scarlet ranks of the British army. + In this occupation she spent many hours of each morning and evening. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. + </h2> + <p> + It was in vain that Elspat’s eyes surveyed the distant path by the + earliest light of the dawn and the latest glimmer of the twilight. No + rising dust awakened the expectation of nodding plumes or flashing arms. + The solitary traveller trudged listlessly along in his brown lowland + greatcoat, his tartans dyed black or purple, to comply with or evade the + law which prohibited their being worn in their variegated hues. The spirit + of the Gael, sunk and broken by the severe though perhaps necessary laws, + that proscribed the dress and arms which he considered as his birthright, + was intimated by his drooping head and dejected appearance. Not in such + depressed wanderers did Elspat recognise the light and free step of her + son, now, as she concluded, regenerated from every sign of Saxon thraldom. + Night by night, as darkness came, she removed from her unclosed door, to + throw herself on her restless pallet, not to sleep, but to watch. The + brave and the terrible, she said, walk by night. Their steps are heard in + darkness, when all is silent save the whirlwind and the cataract. The + timid deer comes only forth when the sun is upon the mountain’s peak, but + the bold wolf walks in the red light of the harvest-moon. She reasoned in + vain; her son’s expected summons did not call her from the lowly couch + where she lay dreaming of his approach. Hamish came not. + </p> + <p> + “Hope deferred,” saith the royal sage, “maketh the heart sick;” and strong + as was Elspat’s constitution, she began to experience that it was unequal + to the toils to which her anxious and immoderate affection subjected her, + when early one morning the appearance of a traveller on the lonely + mountain-road, revived hopes which had begun to sink into listless + despair. There was no sign of Saxon subjugation about the stranger. At a + distance she could see the flutter of the belted-plaid that drooped in + graceful folds behind him, and the plume that, placed in the bonnet, + showed rank and gentle birth. He carried a gun over his shoulder, the + claymore was swinging by his side with its usual appendages, the dirk, the + pistol, and the SPORRAN MOLLACH. [The goat-skin pouch, worn by the + Highlanders round their waist.] Ere yet her eye had scanned all these + particulars, the light step of the traveller was hastened, his arm was + waved in token of recognition—a moment more, and Elspat held in her + arms her darling son, dressed in the garb of his ancestors, and looking, + in her maternal eyes, the fairest among ten thousand! + </p> + <p> + The first outpouring of affection it would be impossible to describe. + Blessings mingled with the most endearing epithets which her energetic + language affords in striving to express the wild rapture of Elspat’s joy. + Her board was heaped hastily with all she had to offer, and the mother + watched the young soldier, as he partook of the refreshment, with feelings + how similar to, yet how different from, those with which she had seen him + draw his first sustenance from her bosom! + </p> + <p> + When the tumult of joy was appeased, Elspat became anxious to know her + son’s adventures since they parted, and could not help greatly censuring + his rashness for traversing the hills in the Highland dress in the broad + sunshine, when the penalty was so heavy, and so many red soldiers were + abroad in the country. + </p> + <p> + “Fear not for me, mother,” said Hamish, in a tone designed to relieve her + anxiety, and yet somewhat embarrassed; “I may wear the BREACAN [That which + is variegated—that is, the tartan.] at the gate of Fort-Augustus, if + I like it.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, be not too daring, my beloved Hamish, though it be the fault which + best becomes thy father’s son—yet be not too daring! Alas! they + fight not now as in former days, with fair weapons and on equal terms, but + take odds of numbers and of arms, so that the feeble and the strong are + alike levelled by the shot of a boy. And do not think me unworthy to be + called your father’s widow and your mother because I speak thus; for God + knoweth, that, man to man, I would peril thee against the best in + Breadalbane, and broad Lorn besides.” + </p> + <p> + “I assure you, my dearest mother,” replied Hamish, “that I am in no + danger. But have you seen MacPhadraick, mother? and what has he said to + you on my account?” + </p> + <p> + “Silver he left me in plenty, Hamish; but the best of his comfort was that + you were well, and would see me soon. But beware of MacPhadraick, my son; + for when he called himself the friend of your father, he better loved the + most worthless stirk in his herd than he did the life-blood of MacTavish + Mhor. Use his services, therefore, and pay him for them, for it is thus we + should deal with the unworthy; but take my counsel, and trust him not.” + </p> + <p> + Hamish could not suppress a sigh, which seemed to Elspat to intimate that + the caution came too late. “What have you done with him?” she continued, + eager and alarmed. “I had money of him, and he gives not that without + value; he is none of those who exchange barley for chaff. Oh, if you + repent you of your bargain, and if it be one which you may break off + without disgrace to your truth or your manhood, take back his silver, and + trust not to his fair words.” + </p> + <p> + “It may not be, mother,” said Hamish; “I do not repent my engagement, + unless that it must make me leave you soon.” + </p> + <p> + “Leave me! how leave me? Silly boy, think you I know not what duty belongs + to the wife or mother of a daring man? Thou art but a boy yet; and when + thy father had been the dread of the country for twenty years, he did not + despise my company and assistance, but often said my help was worth that + of two strong gillies.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not on that score, mother, but since I must leave the country—” + </p> + <p> + “Leave the country!” replied his mother, interrupting him. “And think you + that I am like a bush, that is rooted to the soil where it grows, and must + die if carried elsewhere? I have breathed other winds than these of Ben + Cruachan. I have followed your father to the wilds of Ross and the + impenetrable deserts of Y Mac Y Mhor. Tush, man! my limbs, old as they + are, will bear me as far as your young feet can trace the way.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas, mother,” said the young man, with a faltering accent, “but to cross + the sea—” + </p> + <p> + “The sea! who am I that I should fear the sea? Have I never been in a + birling in my life—never known the Sound of Mull, the Isles of + Treshornish, and the rough rocks of Harris?” + </p> + <p> + “Alas, mother, I go far—far from all of these. I am enlisted in one + of the new regiments, and we go against the French in America.” + </p> + <p> + “Enlisted!” uttered the astonished mother—“against MY will—without + MY consent! You could not! you would not!” Then rising up, and assuming a + posture of almost imperial command, “Hamish, you DARED not!” + </p> + <p> + “Despair, mother, dares everything,” answered Hamish, in a tone of + melancholy resolution. “What should I do here, where I can scarce get + bread for myself and you, and when the times are growing daily worse? + Would you but sit down and listen, I would convince you I have acted for + the best.” + </p> + <p> + With a bitter smile Elspat sat down, and the same severe ironical + expression was on her features, as, with her lips firmly closed, she + listened to his vindication. + </p> + <p> + Hamish went on, without being disconcerted by her expected displeasure. + “When I left you, dearest mother, it was to go to MacPhadraick’s house; + for although I knew he is crafty and worldly, after the fashion of the + Sassenach, yet he is wise, and I thought how he would teach me, as it + would cost him nothing, in which way I could mend our estate in the + world.” + </p> + <p> + “Our estate in the world!” said Elspat, losing patience at the word; “and + went you to a base fellow with a soul no better than that of a cowherd, to + ask counsel about your conduct? Your father asked none, save of his + courage and his sword.” + </p> + <p> + “Dearest mother,” answered Hamish, “how shall I convince you that you live + in this land of our fathers as if our fathers were yet living? You walk as + it were in a dream, surrounded by the phantoms of those who have been long + with the dead. When my father lived and fought, the great respected the + man of the strong right hand, and the rich feared him. He had protection + from Macallum Mhor, and from Caberfae, and tribute from meaner men. + [Caberfae—ANGLICE, the Stag’s-head, the Celtic designation for the + arms of the family of the high Chief of Seaforth.] That is ended, and his + son would only earn a disgraceful and unpitied death by the practices + which gave his father credit and power among those who wear the breacan. + The land is conquered; its lights are quenched—Glengarry, Lochiel, + Perth, Lord Lewis, all the high chiefs are dead or in exile. We may mourn + for it, but we cannot help it. Bonnet, broadsword, and sporran—power, + strength, and wealth, were all lost on Drummossie Muir.” + </p> + <p> + “It is false!” said Elspat, fiercely; “you and such like dastardly spirits + are quelled by your own faint hearts, not by the strength of the enemy; + you are like the fearful waterfowl, to whom the least cloud in the sky + seems the shadow of the eagle.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said Hamish proudly, “lay not faint heart to my charge. I go + where men are wanted who have strong arms and bold hearts too. I leave a + desert, for a land where I may gather fame.” + </p> + <p> + “And you leave your mother to perish in want, age, and solitude,” said + Elspat, essaying successively every means of moving a resolution which she + began to see was more deeply rooted than she had at first thought. + </p> + <p> + “Not so, neither,” he answered; “I leave you to comfort and certainty, + which you have yet never known. Barcaldine’s son is made a leader, and + with him I have enrolled myself. MacPhadraick acts for him, and raises + men, and finds his own in doing it.” + </p> + <p> + “That is the truest word of the tale, were all the rest as false as hell,” + said the old woman, bitterly. + </p> + <p> + “But we are to find our good in it also,” continued Hamish; “for + Barcaldine is to give you a shieling in his wood of Letter-findreight, + with grass for your goats, and a cow, when you please to have one, on the + common; and my own pay, dearest mother, though I am far away, will do more + than provide you with meal, and with all else you can want. Do not fear + for me. I enter a private gentleman; but I will return, if hard fighting + and regular duty can deserve it, an officer, and with half a dollar a + day.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor child!” replied Elspat, in a tone of pity mingled with contempt, + “and you trust MacPhadraick?” + </p> + <p> + “I might mother,” said Hamish, the dark red colour of his race crossing + his forehead and cheeks, “for MacPhadraick knows the blood which flows in + my veins, and is aware, that should he break trust with you, he might + count the days which could bring Hamish back to Breadalbane, and number + those of his life within three suns more. I would kill him at his own + hearth, did he break his word with me—I would, by the great Being + who made us both!” + </p> + <p> + The look and attitude of the young soldier for a moment overawed Elspat; + she was unused to see him express a deep and bitter mood, which reminded + her so strongly of his father. But she resumed her remonstrances in the + same taunting manner in which she had commenced them. + </p> + <p> + “Poor boy!” she said; “and you think that at the distance of half the + world your threats will be heard or thought of! But, go—go—place + your neck under him of Hanover’s yoke, against whom every true Gael fought + to the death. Go, disown the royal Stewart, for whom your father, and his + fathers, and your mother’s fathers, have crimsoned many a field with their + blood. Go, put your head under the belt of one of the race of Dermid, + whose children murdered—Yes,” she added, with a wild shriek, + “murdered your mother’s fathers in their peaceful dwellings in Glencoe! + Yes,” she again exclaimed, with a wilder and shriller scream, “I was then + unborn, but my mother has told me—and I attended to the voice of MY + mother—well I remember her words! They came in peace, and were + received in friendship—and blood and fire arose, and screams and + murder!” [See Note 9.—Massacre of Glencoe.] + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” answered Hamish, mournfully, but with a decided tone, “all that + I have thought over. There is not a drop of the blood of Glencoe on the + noble hand of Barcaldine; with the unhappy house of Glenlyon the curse + remains, and on them God hath avenged it.” + </p> + <p> + “You speak like the Saxon priest already,” replied his mother; “will you + not better stay, and ask a kirk from Macallum Mhor, that you may preach + forgiveness to the race of Dermid?” + </p> + <p> + “Yesterday was yesterday,” answered Hamish, “and to-day is to-day. When + the clans are crushed and confounded together, it is well and wise that + their hatreds and their feuds should not survive their independence and + their power. He that cannot execute vengeance like a man, should not + harbour useless enmity like a craven. Mother, young Barcaldine is true and + brave. I know that MacPhadraick counselled him that he should not let me + take leave of you, lest you dissuaded me from my purpose; but he said, + ‘Hamish MacTavish is the son of a brave man, and he will not break his + word.’ Mother, Barcaldine leads an hundred of the bravest of the sons of + the Gael in their native dress, and with their fathers’ arms—heart + to heart—shoulder to shoulder. I have sworn to go with him. He has + trusted me, and I will trust him.” + </p> + <p> + At this reply, so firmly and resolvedly pronounced, Elspat remained like + one thunderstruck, and sunk in despair. The arguments which she had + considered so irresistibly conclusive, had recoiled like a wave from a + rock. After a long pause, she filled her son’s quaigh, and presented it to + him with an air of dejected deference and submission. + </p> + <p> + “Drink,” she said, “to thy father’s roof-tree, ere you leave it for ever; + and tell me—since the chains of a new King, and of a new chief, whom + your fathers knew not save as mortal enemies, are fastened upon the limbs + of your father’s son—tell me how many links you count upon them?” + </p> + <p> + Hamish took the cup, but looked at her as if uncertain of her meaning. She + proceeded in a raised voice. “Tell me,” she said, “for I have a right to + know, for how many days the will of those you have made your masters + permits me to look upon you? In other words, how many are the days of my + life? for when you leave me, the earth has nought besides worth living + for!” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” replied Hamish MacTavish, “for six days I may remain with you; + and if you will set out with me on the fifth, I will conduct you in safety + to your new dwelling. But if you remain here, then I will depart on the + seventh by daybreak—then, as at the last moment, I MUST set out for + Dunbarton, for if I appear not on the eighth day, I am subject to + punishment as a deserter, and am dishonoured as a soldier and a + gentleman.” + </p> + <p> + “Your father’s foot,” she answered, “was free as the wind on the heath—it + were as vain to say to him, where goest thou? as to ask that viewless + driver of the clouds, wherefore blowest thou? Tell me under what penalty + thou must—since go thou must, and go thou wilt—return to thy + thraldom?” + </p> + <p> + “Call it not thraldom, mother; it is the service of an honourable soldier—the + only service which is now open to the son of MacTavish Mhor.” + </p> + <p> + “Yet say what is the penalty if thou shouldst not return?” replied Elspat. + </p> + <p> + “Military punishment as a deserter,” answered Hamish, writhing, however, + as his mother failed not to observe, under some internal feelings, which + she resolved to probe to the uttermost. + </p> + <p> + “And that,” she said, with assumed calmness, which her glancing eye + disowned, “is the punishment of a disobedient hound, is it not?” + </p> + <p> + “Ask me no more, mother,” said Hamish; “the punishment is nothing to one + who will never deserve it.” + </p> + <p> + “To me it is something,” replied Elspat, “since I know better than thou, + that where there is power to inflict, there is often the will to do so + without cause. I would pray for thee, Hamish, and I must know against what + evils I should beseech Him who leaves none unguarded, to protect thy youth + and simplicity.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said Hamish, “it signifies little to what a criminal may be + exposed, if a man is determined not to be such. Our Highland chiefs used + also to punish their vassals, and, as I have heard, severely. Was it not + Lachlan MacIan, whom we remember of old, whose head was struck off by + order of his chieftain for shooting at the stag before him?” + </p> + <p> + “Ay,” said Elspat, “and right he had to lose it, since he dishonoured the + father of the people even in the face of the assembled clan. But the + chiefs were noble in their ire; they punished with the sharp blade, and + not with the baton. Their punishments drew blood, but they did not infer + dishonour. Canst thou say, the same for the laws under whose yoke thou + hast placed thy freeborn neck?” + </p> + <p> + “I cannot, mother—I cannot,” said Hamish mournfully. “I saw them + punish a Sassenach for deserting as they called it, his banner. He was + scourged—I own it—scourged like a hound who has offended an + imperious master. I was sick at the sight—I confess it. But the + punishment of dogs is only for those worse than dogs, who know not how to + keep their faith.” + </p> + <p> + “To this infamy, however, thou hast subjected thyself, Hamish,” replied + Elspat, “if thou shouldst give, or thy officers take, measure of offence + against thee. I speak no more to thee on thy purpose. Were the sixth day + from this morning’s sun my dying day, and thou wert to stay to close mine + eyes, thou wouldst run the risk of being lashed like a dog at a post—yes! + unless thou hadst the gallant heart to leave me to die alone, and upon my + desolate hearth, the last spark of thy father’s fire, and of thy forsaken + mother’s life, to be extinguished together!”—Hamish traversed the + hut with an impatient and angry pace. + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” he said at length, “concern not yourself about such things. I + cannot be subjected to such infamy, for never will I deserve it; and were + I threatened with it, I should know how to die before I was so far + dishonoured.” + </p> + <p> + “There spoke the son of the husband of my heart!” replied Elspat, and she + changed the discourse, and seemed to listen in melancholy acquiescence, + when her son reminded her how short the time was which they were permitted + to pass in each other’s society, and entreated that it might be spent + without useless and unpleasant recollections respecting the circumstances + under which they must soon be separated. + </p> + <p> + Elspat was now satisfied that her son, with some of his father’s other + properties, preserved the haughty masculine spirit which rendered it + impossible to divert him from a resolution which he had deliberately + adopted. She assumed, therefore, an exterior of apparent submission to + their inevitable separation; and if she now and then broke out into + complaints and murmurs, it was either that she could not altogether + suppress the natural impetuosity of her temper, or because she had the wit + to consider that a total and unreserved acquiescence might have seemed to + her son constrained and suspicious, and induced him to watch and defeat + the means by which she still hoped to prevent his leaving her. Her ardent + though selfish affection for her son, incapable of being qualified by a + regard for the true interests of the unfortunate object of her attachment, + resembled the instinctive fondness of the animal race for their offspring; + and diving little farther into futurity than one of the inferior + creatures, she only felt that to be separated from Hamish was to die. + </p> + <p> + In the brief interval permitted them, Elspat exhausted every art which + affection could devise, to render agreeable to him the space which they + were apparently to spend with each other. Her memory carried her far back + into former days, and her stores of legendary history, which furnish at + all times a principal amusement of the Highlander in his moments of + repose, were augmented by an unusual acquaintance with the songs of + ancient bards, and traditions of the most approved seannachies and tellers + of tales. Her officious attentions to her son’s accommodation, indeed, + were so unremitted as almost to give him pain, and he endeavoured quietly + to prevent her from taking so much personal toil in selecting the blooming + heath for his bed, or preparing the meal for his refreshment. “Let me + alone, Hamish,” she would reply on such occasions; “you follow your own + will in departing from your mother, let your mother have hers in doing + what gives her pleasure while you remain.” + </p> + <p> + So much she seemed to be reconciled to the arrangements which he had made + in her behalf, that she could hear him speak to her of her removing to the + lands of Green Colin, as the gentleman was called, on whose estate he had + provided her an asylum. In truth, however, nothing could be farther from + her thoughts. From what he had said during their first violent dispute, + Elspat had gathered that, if Hamish returned not by the appointed time + permitted by his furlough, he would incur the hazard of corporal + punishment. Were he placed within the risk of being thus dishonoured, she + was well aware that he would never submit to the disgrace by a return to + the regiment where it might be inflicted. Whether she looked to any + farther probable consequences of her unhappy scheme cannot be known; but + the partner of MacTavish Mhor, in all his perils and wanderings, was + familiar with an hundred instances of resistance or escape, by which one + brave man, amidst a land of rocks, lakes, and mountains, dangerous passes, + and dark forests, might baffle the pursuit of hundreds. For the future, + therefore, she feared nothing; her sole engrossing object was to prevent + her son from keeping his word with his commanding officer. + </p> + <p> + With this secret purpose, she evaded the proposal which Hamish repeatedly + made, that they should set out together to take possession of her new + abode; and she resisted it upon grounds apparently so natural to her + character that her son was neither alarmed nor displeased. “Let me not,” + she said, “in the same short week, bid farewell to my only son, and to the + glen in which I have so long dwelt. Let my eye, when dimmed with weeping + for thee, still look around, for a while at least, upon Loch Awe and on + Ben Cruachan.” + </p> + <p> + Hamish yielded the more willingly to his mother’s humour in this + particular, that one or two persons who resided in a neighbouring glen, + and had given their sons to Barcaldine’s levy, were also to be provided + for on the estate of the chieftain, and it was apparently settled that + Elspat was to take her journey along with them when they should remove to + their new residence. Thus, Hamish believed that he had at once indulged + his mother’s humour, and ensured her safety and accommodation. But she + nourished in her mind very different thoughts and projects. + </p> + <p> + The period of Hamish’s leave of absence was fast approaching, and more + than once he proposed to depart, in such time as to ensure his gaining + easily and early Dunbarton, the town where were the head-quarters of his + regiment. But still his mother’s entreaties, his own natural disposition + to linger among scenes long dear to him, and, above all, his firm reliance + in his speed and activity, induced him to protract his departure till the + sixth day, being the very last which he could possibly afford to spend + with his mother, if indeed he meant to comply with the conditions of his + furlough. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + But for your son, believe it—oh, believe it— + Most dangerously you have with him prevailed, + If not most mortal to him. CORIOLANUS. +</pre> + <p> + On the evening which preceded his proposed departure, Hamish walked down + to the river with his fishing-rod, to practise in the Awe, for the last + time, a sport in which he excelled, and to find, at the same time, the + means for making one social meal with his mother on something better than + their ordinary cheer. He was as successful as usual, and soon killed a + fine salmon. On his return homeward an incident befell him, which he + afterwards related as ominous, though probably his heated imagination, + joined to the universal turn of his countrymen for the marvellous, + exaggerated into superstitious importance some very ordinary and + accidental circumstance. + </p> + <p> + In the path which he pursued homeward, he was surprised to observe a + person, who, like himself, was dressed and armed after the old Highland + fashion. The first idea that struck him was, that the passenger belonged + to his own corps, who, levied by government, and bearing arms under royal + authority, were not amenable for breach of the statutes against the use of + the Highland garb or weapons. But he was struck on perceiving, as he + mended his pace to make up to his supposed comrade, meaning to request his + company for the next day’s journey, that the stranger wore a white + cockade, the fatal badge which was proscribed in the Highlands. The + stature of the man was tall, and there was something shadowy in the + outline, which added to his size; and his mode of motion, which rather + resembled gliding than walking, impressed Hamish with superstitious fears + concerning the character of the being which thus passed before him in the + twilight. He no longer strove to make up to the stranger, but contented + himself with keeping him in view, under the superstition common to the + Highlanders, that you ought neither to intrude yourself on such + supernatural apparitions as you may witness, nor avoid their presence, but + leave it to themselves to withhold or extend their communication, as their + power may permit, or the purpose of their commission require. + </p> + <p> + Upon an elevated knoll by the side of the road, just where the pathway + turned down to Elspat’s hut, the stranger made a pause, and seemed to + await Hamish’s coming up. Hamish, on his part, seeing it was necessary he + should pass the object of his suspicion, mustered up his courage, and + approached the spot where the stranger had placed himself; who first + pointed to Elspat’s hut, and made, with arm and head, a gesture + prohibiting Hamish to approach it, then stretched his hand to the road + which led to the southward, with a motion which seemed to enjoin his + instant departure in that direction. In a moment afterwards the plaided + form was gone—Hamish did not exactly say vanished, because there + were rocks and stunted trees enough to have concealed him; but it was his + own opinion that he had seen the spirit of MacTavish Mhor, warning him to + commence his instant journey to Dunbarton, without waiting till morning, + or again visiting his mother’s hut. + </p> + <p> + In fact, so many accidents might arise to delay his journey, especially + where there were many ferries, that it became his settled purpose, though + he could not depart without bidding his mother adieu, that he neither + could nor would abide longer than for that object; and that the first + glimpse of next day’s sun should see him many miles advanced towards + Dunbarton. He descended the path, therefore, and entering the cottage, he + communicated, in a hasty and troubled voice, which indicated mental + agitation, his determination to take his instant departure. Somewhat to + his surprise, Elspat appeared not to combat his purpose, but she urged him + to take some refreshment ere he left her for ever. He did so hastily, and + in silence, thinking on the approaching separation, and scarce yet + believing it would take place without a final struggle with his mother’s + fondness. To his surprise, she filled the quaigh with liquor for his + parting cup. + </p> + <p> + “Go,” she said, “my son, since such is thy settled purpose; but first + stand once more on thy mother’s hearth, the flame on which will be + extinguished long ere thy foot shall again be placed there.” + </p> + <p> + “To your health, mother!” said Hamish; “and may we meet again in + happiness, in spite of your ominous words.” + </p> + <p> + “It were better not to part,” said his mother, watching him as he quaffed + the liquor, of which he would have held it ominous to have left a drop. + </p> + <p> + “And now,” she said, muttering the words to herself, “go—if thou + canst go.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said Hamish, as he replaced on the table the empty quaigh, “thy + drink is pleasant to the taste, but it takes away the strength which it + ought to give.” + </p> + <p> + “Such is its first effect, my son,” replied Elspat. “But lie down upon + that soft heather couch, shut your eyes but for a moment, and, in the + sleep of an hour, you shall have more refreshment than in the ordinary + repose of three whole nights, could they be blended into one.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said Hamish, upon whose brain the potion was now taking rapid + effect, “give me my bonnet—I must kiss you and begone—yet it + seems as if my feet were nailed to the floor.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed,” said his mother, “you will be instantly well, if you will sit + down for half an hour—but half an hour. It is eight hours to dawn, + and dawn were time enough for your father’s son to begin such a journey.” + </p> + <p> + “I must obey you, mother—I feel I must,” said Hamish inarticulately; + “but call me when the moon rises.” + </p> + <p> + He sat down on the bed, reclined back, and almost instantly was fast + asleep. With the throbbing glee of one who has brought to an end a + difficult and troublesome enterprise, Elspat proceeded tenderly to arrange + the plaid of the unconscious slumberer, to whom her extravagant affection + was doomed to be so fatal, expressing, while busied in her office, her + delight, in tones of mingled tenderness and triumph. “Yes,” she said, + “calf of my heart, the moon shall arise and set to thee, and so shall the + sun; but not to light thee from the land of thy fathers, or tempt thee to + serve the foreign prince or the feudal enemy! To no son of Dermid shall I + be delivered, to be fed like a bondswoman; but he who is my pleasure and + my pride shall be my guard and my protector. They say the Highlands are + changed; but I see Ben Cruachan rear his crest as high as ever into the + evening sky; no one hath yet herded his kine on the depths of Loch Awe; + and yonder oak does not yet bend like a willow. The children of the + mountains will be such as their fathers, until the mountains themselves + shall be levelled with the strath. In these wild forests, which used to + support thousands of the brave, there is still surely subsistence and + refuge left for one aged woman, and one gallant youth of the ancient race + and the ancient manners.” + </p> + <p> + While the misjudging mother thus exulted in the success of her stratagem, + we may mention to the reader that it was founded on the acquaintance with + drugs and simples which Elspat, accomplished in all things belonging to + the wild life which she had led, possessed in an uncommon degree, and + which she exercised for various purposes. With the herbs, which she knew + how to select as well as how to distil, she could relieve more diseases + than a regular medical person could easily believe. She applied some to + dye the bright colours of the tartan; from others she compounded draughts + of various powers, and unhappily possessed the secret of one which was + strongly soporific. Upon the effects of this last concoction, as the + reader doubtless has anticipated, she reckoned with security on delaying + Hamish beyond the period for which his return was appointed; and she + trusted to his horror for the apprehended punishment to which he was thus + rendered liable, to prevent him from returning at all. + </p> + <p> + Sound and deep, beyond natural rest, was the sleep of Hamish MacTavish on + that eventful evening, but not such the repose of his mother. Scarce did + she close her eyes from time to time, but she awakened again with a start, + in the terror that her son had arisen and departed; and it was only on + approaching his couch, and hearing his deep-drawn and regular breathing, + that she reassured herself of the security of the repose in which he was + plunged. + </p> + <p> + Still, dawning, she feared, might awaken him, notwithstanding the unusual + strength of the potion with which she had drugged his cup. If there + remained a hope of mortal man accomplishing the journey, she was aware + that Hamish would attempt it, though he were to die from fatigue upon the + road. Animated by this new fear, she studied to exclude the light, by + stopping all the crannies and crevices through which, rather than through + any regular entrance, the morning beams might find access to her miserable + dwelling; and this in order to detain amid its wants and wretchedness the + being on whom, if the world itself had been at her disposal, she would + have joyfully conferred it. + </p> + <p> + Her pains were bestowed unnecessarily. The sun rose high above the + heavens, and not the fleetest stag in Breadalbane, were the hounds at his + heels, could have sped, to save his life, so fast as would have been + necessary to keep Hamish’s appointment. Her purpose was fully attained—her + son’s return within the period assigned was impossible. She deemed it + equally impossible, that he would ever dream of returning, standing, as he + must now do, in the danger of an infamous punishment. By degrees, and at + different times, she had gained from him a full acquaintance with the + predicament in which he would be placed by failing to appear on the day + appointed, and the very small hope he could entertain of being treated + with lenity. + </p> + <p> + It is well known, that the great and wise Earl of Chatham prided himself + on the scheme, by which he drew together for the defence of the colonies + those hardy Highlanders, who, until his time, had been the objects of + doubt, fear, and suspicion, on the part of each successive administration. + But some obstacles occurred, from the peculiar habits and temper of this + people, to the execution of his patriotic project. By nature and habit, + every Highlander was accustomed to the use of arms, but at the same time + totally unaccustomed to, and impatient of, the restraints imposed by + discipline upon regular troops. They were a species of militia, who had no + conception of a camp as their only home. If a battle was lost, they + dispersed to save themselves, and look out for the safety of their + families; if won, they went back to their glens to hoard up their booty, + and attend to their cattle and their farms. This privilege of going and + coming at pleasure, they would not be deprived of even by their chiefs, + whose authority was in most other respects so despotic. It followed as a + matter of course, that the new-levied Highland recruits could scarce be + made to comprehend the nature of a military engagement, which compelled a + man to serve in the army longer than he pleased; and perhaps, in many + instances, sufficient care was not taken at enlisting to explain to them + the permanency of the engagement which they came under, lest such a + disclosure should induce them to change their mind. Desertions were + therefore become numerous from the newly-raised regiment, and the veteran + general who commanded at Dunbarton saw no better way of checking them than + by causing an unusually severe example to be made of a deserter from an + English corps. The young Highland regiment was obliged to attend upon the + punishment, which struck a people, peculiarly jealous of personal honour, + with equal horror and disgust, and not unnaturally indisposed some of them + to the service. The old general, however, who had been regularly bred in + the German wars, stuck to his own opinion, and gave out in orders that the + first Highlander who might either desert, or fail to appear at the expiry + of his furlough, should be brought to the halberds, and punished like the + culprit whom they had seen in that condition. No man doubted that General + — would keep his word rigorously whenever severity was required, and + Elspat, therefore, knew that her son, when he perceived that due + compliance with his orders was impossible, must at the same time consider + the degrading punishment denounced against his defection as inevitable, + should he place himself within the general’s power. [See Note 10.—Fidelity + of the Highlanders.] + </p> + <p> + When noon was well passed, new apprehensions came on the mind of the + lonely woman. Her son still slept under the influence of the draught; but + what if, being stronger than she had ever known it administered, his + health or his reason should be affected by its potency? For the first + time, likewise, notwithstanding her high ideas on the subject of parental + authority, she began to dread the resentment of her son, whom her heart + told her she had wronged. Of late, she had observed that his temper was + less docile, and his determinations, especially upon this late occasion of + his enlistment, independently formed, and then boldly carried through. She + remembered the stern wilfulness of his father when he accounted himself + ill-used, and began to dread that Hamish, upon finding the deceit she had + put upon him, might resent it even to the extent of cutting her off, and + pursuing his own course through the world alone. Such were the alarming + and yet the reasonable apprehensions which began to crowd upon the + unfortunate woman, after the apparent success of her ill-advised + stratagem. + </p> + <p> + It was near evening when Hamish first awoke, and then he was far from + being in the full possession either of his mental or bodily powers. From + his vague expressions and disordered pulse, Elspat at first experienced + much apprehension; but she used such expedients as her medical knowledge + suggested, and in the course of the night she had the satisfaction to see + him sink once more into a deep sleep, which probably carried off the + greater part of the effects of the drug, for about sunrising she heard him + arise, and call to her for his bonnet. This she had purposely removed, + from a fear that he might awaken and depart in the night-time, without her + knowledge. + </p> + <p> + “My bonnet—my bonnet,” cried Hamish; “it is time to take farewell. + Mother, your drink was too strong—the sun is up—but with the + next morning I will still see the double summit of the ancient Dun. My + bonnet—my bonnet, mother; I must be instant in my departure.” These + expressions made it plain that poor Hamish was unconscious that two nights + and a day had passed since he had drained the fatal quaigh, and Elspat had + now to venture on what she felt as the almost perilous, as well as + painful, task of explaining her machinations. + </p> + <p> + “Forgive me, my son,” she said, approaching Hamish, and taking him by the + hand with an air of deferential awe, which perhaps she had not always used + to his father, even when in his moody fits. + </p> + <p> + “Forgive you, mother!—for what?” said Hamish, laughing; “for giving + me a dram that was too strong, and which my head still feels this morning, + or for hiding my bonnet to keep me an instant longer? Nay, do YOU forgive + ME. Give me the bonnet, and let that be done which now must be done. Give + me my bonnet, or I go without it; surely I am not to be delayed by so + trifling a want as that—I, who have gone for years with only a strap + of deer’s hide to tie back my hair. Trifle not, but give it me, or I must + go bareheaded, since to stay is impossible.” + </p> + <p> + “My son,” said Elspat, keeping fast hold of his hand, “what is done cannot + be recalled. Could you borrow the wings of yonder eagle, you would arrive + at the Dun too late for what you purpose—too soon for what awaits + you there. You believe you see the sun rising for the first time since you + have seen him set; but yesterday beheld him climb Ben Cruachan, though + your eyes were closed to his light.” + </p> + <p> + Hamish cast upon his mother a wild glance of extreme terror, then + instantly recovering himself, said, “I am no child to be cheated out of my + purpose by such tricks as these. Farewell, mother! each moment is worth a + lifetime.” + </p> + <p> + “Stay,” she said, “my dear, my deceived son, run not on infamy and ruin. + Yonder I see the priest upon the high-road on his white horse. Ask him the + day of the month and week; let him decide between us.” + </p> + <p> + With the speed of an eagle, Hamish darted up the acclivity, and stood by + the minister of Glenorquhy, who was pacing out thus early to administer + consolation to a distressed family near Bunawe. + </p> + <p> + The good man was somewhat startled to behold an armed Highlander, then so + unusual a sight, and apparently much agitated, stop his horse by the + bridle, and ask him with a faltering voice the day of the week and month. + “Had you been where you should have been yesterday, young man,” replied + the clergyman, “you would have known that it was God’s Sabbath; and that + this is Monday, the second day of the week, and twenty-first of the + month.” + </p> + <p> + “And this is true?” said Hamish. + </p> + <p> + “As true,” answered the surprised minister, “as that I yesterday preached + the word of God to this parish. What ails you, young man?—are you + sick?—are you in your right mind?” + </p> + <p> + Hamish made no answer, only repeated to himself the first expression of + the clergyman, “Had you been where you should have been yesterday;” and so + saying, he let go the bridle, turned from the road, and descended the path + towards the hut, with the look and pace of one who was going to execution. + The minister looked after him with surprise; but although he knew the + inhabitant of the hovel, the character of Elspat had not invited him to + open any communication with her, because she was generally reputed a + Papist, or rather one indifferent to all religion, except some + superstitious observances which had been handed down from her parents. On + Hamish the Reverend Mr. Tyrie had bestowed instructions when he was + occasionally thrown in his way; and if the seed fell among the brambles + and thorns of a wild and uncultivated disposition, it had not yet been + entirely checked or destroyed. There was something so ghastly in the + present expression of the youth’s features that the good man was tempted + to go down to the hovel, and inquire whether any distress had befallen the + inhabitants, in which his presence might be consoling and his ministry + useful. Unhappily he did not persevere in this resolution, which might + have saved a great misfortune, as he would have probably become a mediator + for the unfortunate young man; but a recollection of the wild moods of + such Highlanders as had been educated after the old fashion of the + country, prevented his interesting himself in the widow and son of the + far-dreaded robber, MacTavish Mhor, and he thus missed an opportunity, + which he afterwards sorely repented, of doing much good. + </p> + <p> + When Hamish MacTavish entered his mother’s hut, it was only to throw + himself on the bed he had left, and exclaiming, “Undone, undone!” to give + vent, in cries of grief and anger, to his deep sense of the deceit which + had been practised on him, and of the cruel predicament to which he was + reduced. + </p> + <p> + Elspat was prepared for the first explosion of her son’s passion, and said + to herself, “It is but the mountain torrent, swelled by the thunder + shower. Let us sit and rest us by the bank; for all its present tumult, + the time will soon come when we may pass it dryshod.” She suffered his + complaints and his reproaches, which were, even in the midst of his agony, + respectful and affectionate, to die away without returning any answer; and + when, at length, having exhausted all the exclamations of sorrow which his + language, copious in expressing the feelings of the heart, affords to the + sufferer, he sunk into a gloomy silence, she suffered the interval to + continue near an hour ere she approached her son’s couch. + </p> + <p> + “And now,” she said at length, with a voice in which the authority of the + mother was qualified by her tenderness, “have you exhausted your idle + sorrows, and are you able to place what you have gained against what you + have lost? Is the false son of Dermid your brother, or the father of your + tribe, that you weep because you cannot bind yourself to his belt, and + become one of those who must do his bidding? Could you find in yonder + distant country the lakes and the mountains that you leave behind you + here? Can you hunt the deer of Breadalbane in the forests of America, or + will the ocean afford you the silver-scaled salmon of the Awe? Consider, + then, what is your loss, and, like a wise man, set it against what you + have won.” + </p> + <p> + “I have lost all, mother,” replied Hamish, “since I have broken my word, + and lost my honour. I might tell my tale, but who, oh, who would believe + me?” The unfortunate young man again clasped his hands together, and, + pressing them to his forehead, hid his face upon the bed. + </p> + <p> + Elspat was now really alarmed, and perhaps wished the fatal deceit had + been left unattempted. She had no hope or refuge saving in the eloquence + of persuasion, of which she possessed no small share, though her total + ignorance of the world as it actually existed rendered its energy + unavailing. She urged her son, by every tender epithet which a parent + could bestow, to take care for his own safety. + </p> + <p> + “Leave me,” she said, “to baffle your pursuers. I will save your life—I + will save your honour. I will tell them that my fair-haired Hamish fell + from the Corrie Dhu (black precipice) into the gulf, of which human eye + never beheld the bottom. I will tell them this, and I will fling your + plaid on the thorns which grow on the brink of the precipice, that they + may believe my words. They will believe, and they will return to the Dun + of the double-crest; for though the Saxon drum can call the living to die, + it cannot recall the dead to their slavish standard. Then will we travel + together far northward to the salt lakes of Kintail, and place glens and + mountains betwixt us and the sons of Dermid. We will visit the shores of + the dark lake; and my kinsmen—for was not my mother of the children + of Kenneth, and will they not remember us with the old love?—my + kinsmen will receive us with the affection of the olden time, which lives + in those distant glens, where the Gael still dwell in their nobleness, + unmingled with the churl Saxons, or with the base brood that are their + tools and their slaves.” + </p> + <p> + The energy of the language, somewhat allied to hyperbole, even in its most + ordinary expressions, now seemed almost too weak to afford Elspat the + means of bringing out the splendid picture which she presented to her son + of the land in which she proposed to him to take refuge. Yet the colours + were few with which she could paint her Highland paradise. “The hills,” + she said, “were higher and more magnificent than those of Breadalbane—Ben + Cruachan was but a dwarf to Skooroora. The lakes were broader and larger, + and abounded not only with fish, but with the enchanted and amphibious + animal which gives oil to the lamp. [The seals are considered by the + Highlanders as enchanted princes.] The deer were larger and more numerous; + the white-tusked boar, the chase of which the brave loved best, was yet to + be roused in those western solitudes; the men were nobler, wiser, and + stronger than the degenerate brood who lived under the Saxon banner. The + daughters of the land were beautiful, with blue eyes and fair hair, and + bosoms of snow; and out of these she would choose a wife for Hamish, of + blameless descent, spotless fame, fixed and true affection, who should be + in their summer bothy as a beam of the sun, and in their winter abode as + the warmth of the needful fire.” + </p> + <p> + Such were the topics with which Elspat strove to soothe the despair of her + son, and to determine him, if possible, to leave the fatal spot, on which + he seemed resolved to linger. The style of her rhetoric was poetical, but + in other respects resembled that which, like other fond mothers, she had + lavished on Hamish, while a child or a boy, in order to gain his consent + to do something he had no mind to; and she spoke louder, quicker, and more + earnestly, in proportion as she began to despair of her words carrying + conviction. + </p> + <p> + On the mind of Hamish her eloquence made no impression. He knew far better + than she did the actual situation of the country, and was sensible that, + though it might be possible to hide himself as a fugitive among more + distant mountains, there was now no corner in the Highlands in which his + father’s profession could be practised, even if he had not adopted, from + the improved ideas of the time when he lived, the opinion that the trade + of the cateran was no longer the road to honour and distinction. Her words + were therefore poured into regardless ears, and she exhausted herself in + vain in the attempt to paint the regions of her mother’s kinsmen in such + terms as might tempt Hamish to accompany her thither. She spoke for hours, + but she spoke in vain. She could extort no answer, save groans and sighs + and ejaculations, expressing the extremity of despair. + </p> + <p> + At length, starting on her feet, and changing the monotonous tone in which + she had chanted, as it were, the praises of the province of refuge, into + the short, stern language of eager passion—“I am a fool,” she said, + “to spend my words upon an idle, poor-spirited, unintelligent boy, who + crouches like a hound to the lash. Wait here, and receive your + taskmasters, and abide your chastisement at their hands; but do not think + your mother’s eyes will behold it. I could not see it and live. My eyes + have looked often upon death, but never upon dishonour. Farewell, Hamish! + We never meet again.” + </p> + <p> + She dashed from the hut like a lapwing, and perhaps for the moment + actually entertained the purpose which she expressed, of parting with her + son for ever. A fearful sight she would have been that evening to any who + might have met her wandering through the wilderness like a restless + spirit, and speaking to herself in language which will endure no + translation. She rambled for hours, seeking rather than shunning the most + dangerous paths. The precarious track through the morass, the dizzy path + along the edge of the precipice or by the banks of the gulfing river, were + the roads which, far from avoiding, she sought with eagerness, and + traversed with reckless haste. But the courage arising from despair was + the means of saving the life which (though deliberate suicide was rarely + practised in the Highlands) she was perhaps desirous of terminating. Her + step on the verge of the precipice was firm as that of the wild goat. Her + eye, in that state of excitation, was so keen as to discern, even amid + darkness, the perils which noon would not have enabled a stranger to + avoid. + </p> + <p> + Elspat’s course was not directly forward, else she had soon been far from + the bothy in which she had left her son. It was circuitous, for that hut + was the centre to which her heartstrings were chained, and though she + wandered around it, she felt it impossible to leave the vicinity. With the + first beams of morning she returned to the hut. Awhile she paused at the + wattled door, as if ashamed that lingering fondness should have brought + her back to the spot which she had left with the purpose of never + returning; but there was yet more of fear and anxiety in her hesitation—of + anxiety, lest her fair-haired son had suffered from the effects of her + potion—of fear, lest his enemies had come upon him in the night. She + opened the door of the hut gently, and entered with noiseless step. + Exhausted with his sorrow and anxiety, and not entirely relieved perhaps + from the influence of the powerful opiate, Hamish Bean again slept the + stern, sound sleep by which the Indians are said to be overcome during the + interval of their torments. His mother was scarcely sure that she actually + discerned his form on the bed, scarce certain that her ear caught the + sound of his breathing. With a throbbing heart, Elspat went to the + fireplace in the centre of the hut, where slumbered, covered with a piece + of turf, the glimmering embers of the fire, never extinguished on a + Scottish hearth until the indwellers leave the mansion for ever. + </p> + <p> + “Feeble greishogh,” [Greishogh, a glowing ember.] she said, as she + lighted, by the help of a match, a splinter of bog pine which was to serve + the place of a candle—“weak greishogh, soon shalt thou be put out + for ever, and may Heaven grant that the life of Elspat MacTavish have no + longer duration than thine!” + </p> + <p> + While she spoke she raised the blazing light towards the bed, on which + still lay the prostrate limbs of her son, in a posture that left it + doubtful whether he slept or swooned. As she advanced towards him, the + light flashed upon his eyes—he started up in an instant, made a + stride forward with his naked dirk in his hand, like a man armed to meet a + mortal enemy, and exclaimed, “Stand off!—on thy life, stand off!” + </p> + <p> + “It is the word and the action of my husband,” answered Elspat; “and I + know by his speech and his step the son of MacTavish Mhor.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said Hamish, relapsing from his tone of desperate firmness into + one of melancholy expostulation—“oh, dearest mother, wherefore have + you returned hither?” + </p> + <p> + “Ask why the hind comes back to the fawn,” said Elspat, “why the cat of + the mountain returns to her lodge and her young. Know you, Hamish, that + the heart of the mother only lives in the bosom of the child.” + </p> + <p> + “Then will it soon cease to throb,” said Hamish, “unless it can beat + within a bosom that lies beneath the turf. Mother, do not blame me. If I + weep, it is not for myself but for you; for my sufferings will soon be + over, but yours—oh, who but Heaven shall set a boundary to them?” + </p> + <p> + Elspat shuddered and stepped backward, but almost instantly resumed her + firm and upright position and her dauntless bearing. + </p> + <p> + “I thought thou wert a man but even now,” she said, “and thou art again a + child. Hearken to me yet, and let us leave this place together. Have I + done thee wrong or injury? if so, yet do not avenge it so cruelly. See, + Elspat MacTavish, who never kneeled before even to a priest, falls + prostrate before her own son, and craves his forgiveness.” And at once she + threw herself on her knees before the young man, seized on his hand, and + kissing it an hundred times, repeated as often, in heart-breaking accents, + the most earnest entreaties for forgiveness. “Pardon,” she exclaimed, + “pardon, for the sake of your father’s ashes—pardon, for the sake of + the pain with which I bore thee, the care with which I nurtured thee!—Hear + it, Heaven, and behold it, Earth—the mother asks pardon of her + child, and she is refused!” + </p> + <p> + It was in vain that Hamish endeavoured to stem this tide of passion, by + assuring his mother, with the most solemn asseverations, that he forgave + entirely the fatal deceit which she had practised upon him. + </p> + <p> + “Empty words,” she said, “idle protestations, which are but used to hide + the obduracy of your resentment. Would you have me believe you, then leave + the hut this instant, and retire from a country which every hour renders + more dangerous. Do this, and I may think you have forgiven me; refuse it, + and again I call on moon and stars, heaven and earth, to witness the + unrelenting resentment with which you prosecute your mother for a fault, + which, if it be one, arose out of love to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said Hamish, “on this subject you move me not. I will fly before + no man. If Barcaldine should send every Gael that is under his banner, + here, and in this place, will I abide them; and when you bid me fly, you + may as well command yonder mountain to be loosened from its foundations. + Had I been sure of the road by which they are coming hither, I had spared + them the pains of seeking me; but I might go by the mountain, while they + perchance came by the lake. Here I will abide my fate; nor is there in + Scotland a voice of power enough to bid me stir from hence, and be + obeyed.” + </p> + <p> + “Here, then, I also stay,” said Elspat, rising up and speaking with + assumed composure. “I have seen my husband’s death—my eyelids shall + not grieve to look on the fall of my son. But MacTavish Mhor died as + became the brave, with his good sword in his right hand; my son will + perish like the bullock that is driven to the shambles by the Saxon owner + who had bought him for a price.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said the unhappy young man, “you have taken my life. To that you + have a right, for you gave it; but touch not my honour! It came to me from + a brave train of ancestors, and should be sullied neither by man’s deed + nor woman’s speech. What I shall do, perhaps I myself yet know not; but + tempt me no farther by reproachful words—you have already made + wounds more than you can ever heal.” + </p> + <p> + “It is well, my son,” said Elspat, in reply. “Expect neither farther + complaint nor remonstrance from me; but let us be silent, and wait the + chance which Heaven shall send us.” + </p> + <p> + The sun arose on the next morning, and found the bothy silent as the + grave. The mother and son had arisen, and were engaged each in their + separate task—Hamish in preparing and cleaning his arms with the + greatest accuracy, but with an air of deep dejection. Elspat, more + restless in her agony of spirit, employed herself in making ready the food + which the distress of yesterday had induced them both to dispense with for + an unusual number of hours. She placed it on the board before her son so + soon as it was prepared, with the words of a Gaelic poet, “Without daily + food, the husbandman’s ploughshare stands still in the furrow; without + daily food, the sword of the warrior is too heavy for his hand. Our bodies + are our slaves, yet they must be fed if we would have their service. So + spake in ancient days the Blind Bard to the warriors of Fion.” + </p> + <p> + The young man made no reply, but he fed on what was placed before him, as + if to gather strength for the scene which he was to undergo. When his + mother saw that he had eaten what sufficed him, she again filled the fatal + quaigh, and proffered it as the conclusion of the repast. But he started + aside with a convulsive gesture, expressive at once of fear and + abhorrence. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, my son,” she said, “this time surely, thou hast no cause of fear.” + </p> + <p> + “Urge me not, mother,” answered Hamish—“or put the leprous toad into + a flagon, and I will drink; but from that accursed cup, and of that + mind-destroying potion, never will I taste more!” + </p> + <p> + “At your pleasure, my son,” said Elspat, haughtily, and began, with much + apparent assiduity, the various domestic tasks which had been interrupted + during the preceding day. Whatever was at her heart, all anxiety seemed + banished from her looks and demeanour. It was but from an over-activity of + bustling exertion that it might have been perceived, by a close observer, + that her actions were spurred by some internal cause of painful + excitement; and such a spectator, too, might also have observed how often + she broke off the snatches of songs or tunes which she hummed, apparently + without knowing what she was doing, in order to cast a hasty glance from + the door of the hut. Whatever might be in the mind of Hamish, his + demeanour was directly the reverse of that adopted by his mother. Having + finished the task of cleaning and preparing his arms, which he arranged + within the hut, he sat himself down before the door of the bothy, and + watched the opposite hill, like the fixed sentinel who expects the + approach of an enemy. Noon found him in the same unchanged posture, and it + was an hour after that period, when his mother, standing beside him, laid + her hand on his shoulder, and said, in a tone indifferent, as if she had + been talking of some friendly visit, “When dost thou expect them?” + </p> + <p> + “They cannot be here till the shadows fall long to the eastward,” replied + Hamish; “that is, even supposing the nearest party, commanded by Sergeant + Allan Breack Cameron, has been commanded hither by express from Dunbarton, + as it is most likely they will.” + </p> + <p> + “Then enter beneath your mother’s roof once more; partake the last time of + the food which she has prepared; after this, let them come, and thou shalt + see if thy mother is an useless encumbrance in the day of strife. Thy + hand, practised as it is, cannot fire these arms so fast as I can load + them; nay, if it is necessary, I do not myself fear the flash or the + report, and my aim has been held fatal.” + </p> + <p> + “In the name of Heaven, mother, meddle not with this matter!” said Hamish. + “Allan Breack is a wise man and a kind one, and comes of a good stem. It + may be, he can promise for our officers that they will touch me with no + infamous punishment; and if they offer me confinement in the dungeon, or + death by the musket, to that I may not object.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas, and wilt thou trust to their word, my foolish child? Remember the + race of Dermid were ever fair and false; and no sooner shall they have + gyves on thy hands, than they will strip thy shoulders for the scourge.” + </p> + <p> + “Save your advice, mother,” said Hamish, sternly; “for me, my mind is made + up.” + </p> + <p> + But though he spoke thus, to escape the almost persecuting urgency of his + mother, Hamish would have found it, at that moment, impossible to say upon + what course of conduct he had thus fixed. On one point alone he was + determined—namely, to abide his destiny, be what it might, and not + to add to the breach of his word, of which he had been involuntarily + rendered guilty, by attempting to escape from punishment. This act of + self-devotion he conceived to be due to his own honour and that of his + countrymen. Which of his comrades would in future be trusted, if he should + be considered as having broken his word, and betrayed the confidence of + his officers? and whom but Hamish Bean MacTavish would the Gael accuse for + having verified and confirmed the suspicions which the Saxon General was + well known to entertain against the good faith of the Highlanders? He was, + therefore, bent firmly to abide his fate. But whether his intention was to + yield himself peaceably into the bands of the party who should come to + apprehend him, or whether he purposed, by a show of resistance, to provoke + them to kill him on the spot, was a question which he could not himself + have answered. His desire to see Barcaldine, and explain the cause of his + absence at the appointed time, urged him to the one course; his fear of + the degrading punishment, and of his mother’s bitter upbraidings, strongly + instigated the latter and the more dangerous purpose. He left it to chance + to decide when the crisis should arrive; nor did he tarry long in + expectation of the catastrophe. + </p> + <p> + Evening approached; the gigantic shadows of the mountains streamed in + darkness towards the east, while their western peaks were still glowing + with crimson and gold. The road which winds round Ben Cruachan was fully + visible from the door of the bothy, when a party of five Highland + soldiers, whose arms glanced in the sun, wheeled suddenly into sight from + the most distant extremity, where the highway is hidden behind the + mountain. One of the party walked a little before the other four, who + marched regularly and in files, according to the rules of military + discipline. There was no dispute, from the firelocks which they carried, + and the plaids and bonnets which they wore, that they were a party of + Hamish’s regiment, under a non-commissioned officer; and there could be as + little doubt of the purpose of their appearance on the banks of Loch Awe. + </p> + <p> + “They come briskly forward”—said the widow of MacTavish Mhor;—“I + wonder how fast or how slow some of them will return again! But they are + five, and it is too much odds for a fair field. Step back within the hut, + my son, and shoot from the loophole beside the door. Two you may bring + down ere they quit the highroad for the footpath—there will remain + but three; and your father, with my aid, has often stood against that + number.” + </p> + <p> + Hamish Bean took the gun which his mother offered, but did not stir from + the door of the hut. He was soon visible to the party on the highroad, as + was evident from their increasing their pace to a run—the files, + however, still keeping together like coupled greyhounds, and advancing + with great rapidity. In far less time than would have been accomplished by + men less accustomed to the mountains, they had left the highroad, + traversed the narrow path, and approached within pistol-shot of the bothy, + at the door of which stood Hamish, fixed like a statue of stone, with his + firelock in his band, while his mother, placed behind him, and almost + driven to frenzy by the violence of her passions, reproached him in the + strongest terms which despair could invent, for his want of resolution and + faintness of heart. Her words increased the bitter gall which was arising + in the young man’s own spirit, as he observed the unfriendly speed with + which his late comrades were eagerly making towards him, like hounds + towards the stag when he is at bay. The untamed and angry passions which + he inherited from father and mother, were awakened by the supposed + hostility of those who pursued him; and the restraint under which these + passions had been hitherto held by his sober judgment began gradually to + give way. The sergeant now called to him, “Hamish Bean MacTavish, lay down + your arms and surrender.” + </p> + <p> + “Do YOU stand, Allan Breack Cameron, and command your men to stand, or it + will be the worse for us all.” + </p> + <p> + “Halt, men,” said the sergeant, but continuing himself to advance. + “Hamish, think what you do, and give up your gun; you may spill blood, but + you cannot escape punishment.” + </p> + <p> + “The scourge—the scourge—my son, beware the scourge!” + whispered his mother. + </p> + <p> + “Take heed, Allan Breack,” said Hamish. “I would not hurt you willingly, + but I will not be taken unless you can assure me against the Saxon lash.” + </p> + <p> + “Fool!” answered Cameron, “you know I cannot. Yet I will do all I can. I + will say I met you on your return, and the punishment will be light; but + give up your musket—Come on, men.” + </p> + <p> + Instantly he rushed forward, extending his arm as if to push aside the + young man’s levelled firelock. Elspat exclaimed, “Now, spare not your + father’s blood to defend your father’s hearth!” Hamish fired his piece, + and Cameron dropped dead. All these things happened, it might be said, in + the same moment of time. The soldiers rushed forward and seized Hamish, + who, seeming petrified with what he had done, offered not the least + resistance. Not so his mother, who, seeing the men about to put handcuffs + on her son, threw herself on the soldiers with such fury, that it required + two of them to hold her, while the rest secured the prisoner. + </p> + <p> + “Are you not an accursed creature,” said one of the men to Hamish, “to + have slain your best friend, who was contriving, during the whole march, + how he could find some way of getting you off without punishment for your + desertion?” + </p> + <p> + “Do you hear THAT, mother?” said Hamish, turning himself as much towards + her as his bonds would permit; but the mother heard nothing, and saw + nothing. She had fainted on the floor of her hut. Without waiting for her + recovery, the party almost immediately began their homeward march towards + Dunbarton, leading along with them their prisoner. They thought it + necessary, however, to stay for a little space at the village of Dalmally, + from which they despatched a party of the inhabitants to bring away the + body of their unfortunate leader, while they themselves repaired to a + magistrate, to state what had happened, and require his instructions as to + the farther course to be pursued. The crime being of a military character, + they were instructed to march the prisoner to Dunbarton without delay. + </p> + <p> + The swoon of the mother of Hamish lasted for a length of time—the + longer perhaps that her constitution, strong as it was, must have been + much exhausted by her previous agitation of three days’ endurance. She was + roused from her stupor at length by female voices, which cried the + coronach, or lament for the dead, with clapping of hands and loud + exclamations; while the melancholy note of a lament, appropriate to the + clan Cameron, played on the bagpipe, was heard from time to time. + </p> + <p> + Elspat started up like one awakened from the dead, and without any + accurate recollection of the scene which had passed before her eyes. There + were females in the hut who were swathing the corpse in its bloody plaid + before carrying it from the fatal spot. “Women,” she said, starting up and + interrupting their chant at once and their labour—“Tell me, women, + why sing you the dirge of MacDhonuil Dhu in the house of MacTavish Mhor?” + </p> + <p> + “She-wolf, be silent with thine ill-omened yell,” answered one of the + females, a relation of the deceased, “and let us do our duty to our + beloved kinsman. There shall never be coronach cried, or dirge played, for + thee or thy bloody wolf-burd. [Wolf-brood—that is, wolf-cub.] The + ravens shall eat him from the gibbet, and the foxes and wild-cats shall + tear thy corpse upon the hill. Cursed be he that would sain [Bless.] your + bones, or add a stone to your cairn!” + </p> + <p> + “Daughter of a foolish mother,” answered the widow of MacTavish Mhor, + “know that the gibbet with which you threaten us is no portion of our + inheritance. For thirty years the Black Tree of the Law, whose apples are + dead men’s bodies, hungered after the beloved husband of my heart; but he + died like a brave man, with the sword in his hand, and defrauded it of its + hopes and its fruit.” + </p> + <p> + “So shall it not be with thy child, bloody sorceress,” replied the female + mourner, whose passions were as violent as those of Elspat herself. “The + ravens shall tear his fair hair to line their nests, before the sun sinks + beneath the Treshornish islands.” + </p> + <p> + These words recalled to Elspat’s mind the whole history of the last three + dreadful days. At first she stood fixed, as if the extremity of distress + had converted her into stone; but in a minute, the pride and violence of + her temper, outbraved as she thought herself on her own threshold, enabled + her to reply, “Yes, insulting hag, my fair-haired boy may die, but it will + not be with a white hand. It has been dyed in the blood of his enemy, in + the best blood of a Cameron—remember that; and when you lay your + dead in his grave, let it be his best epitaph that he was killed by Hamish + Bean for essaying to lay hands on the son of MacTavish Mhor on his own + threshold. Farewell—the shame of defeat, loss, and slaughter remain + with the clan that has endured it!” + </p> + <p> + The relative of the slaughtered Cameron raised her voice in reply; but + Elspat, disdaining to continue the objurgation, or perhaps feeling her + grief likely to overmaster her power of expressing her resentment, had + left the hut, and was walking forth in the bright moonshine. + </p> + <p> + The females who were arranging the corpse of the slaughtered man hurried + from their melancholy labour to look after her tall figure as it glided + away among the cliffs. “I am glad she is gone,” said one of the younger + persons who assisted. “I would as soon dress a corpse when the great fiend + himself—God sain us!—stood visibly before us, as when Elspat + of the Tree is amongst us. Ay, ay, even overmuch intercourse hath she had + with the enemy in her day.” + </p> + <p> + “Silly woman,” answered the female who had maintained the dialogue with + the departed Elspat, “thinkest thou that there is a worse fiend on earth, + or beneath it, than the pride and fury of an offended woman, like yonder + bloody-minded hag? Know that blood has been as familiar to her as the dew + to the mountain daisy. Many and many a brave man has she caused to breathe + their last for little wrong they had done to her or theirs. But her + hough-sinews are cut, now that her wolf-burd must, like a murderer as he + is, make a murderer’s end.” + </p> + <p> + Whilst the women thus discoursed together, as they watched the corpse of + Allan Breack Cameron, the unhappy cause of his death pursued her lonely + way across the mountain. While she remained within sight of the bothy, she + put a strong constraint on herself, that by no alteration of pace or + gesture she might afford to her enemies the triumph of calculating the + excess of her mental agitation, nay, despair. She stalked, therefore, with + a slow rather than a swift step, and, holding herself upright, seemed at + once to endure with firmness that woe which was passed, and bid defiance + to that which was about to come. But when she was beyond the sight of + those who remained in the hut, she could no longer suppress the extremity + of her agitation. Drawing her mantle wildly round her, she stopped at the + first knoll, and climbing to its summit, extended her arms up to the + bright moon, as if accusing heaven and earth for her misfortunes, and + uttered scream on scream, like those of an eagle whose nest has been + plundered of her brood. Awhile she vented her grief in these inarticulate + cries, then rushed on her way with a hasty and unequal step, in the vain + hope of overtaking the party which was conveying her son a prisoner to + Dunbarton. But her strength, superhuman as it seemed, failed her in the + trial; nor was it possible for her, with her utmost efforts, to accomplish + her purpose. + </p> + <p> + Yet she pressed onward, with all the speed which her exhausted frame could + exert. When food became indispensable, she entered the first cottage. + “Give me to eat,” she said. “I am the widow of MacTavish Mhor—I am + the mother of Hamish MacTavish Bean,—give me to eat, that I may once + more see my fair-haired son.” Her demand was never refused, though granted + in many cases with a kind of struggle between compassion and aversion in + some of those to whom she applied, which was in others qualified by fear. + The share she had had in occasioning the death of Allan Breack Cameron, + which must probably involve that of her own son, was not accurately known; + but, from a knowledge of her violent passions and former habits of life, + no one doubted that in one way or other she had been the cause of the + catastrophe, and Hamish Bean was considered, in the slaughter which he had + committed, rather as the instrument than as the accomplice of his mother. + </p> + <p> + This general opinion of his countrymen was of little service to the + unfortunate Hamish. As his captain, Green Colin, understood the manners + and habits of his country, he had no difficulty in collecting from Hamish + the particulars accompanying his supposed desertion, and the subsequent + death of the non-commissioned officer. He felt the utmost compassion for a + youth, who had thus fallen a victim to the extravagant and fatal fondness + of a parent. But he had no excuse to plead which could rescue his unhappy + recruit from the doom which military discipline and the award of a + court-martial denounced against him for the crime he had committed. + </p> + <p> + No time had been lost in their proceedings, and as little was interposed + betwixt sentence and execution. General — had determined to make a + severe example of the first deserter who should fall into his power, and + here was one who had defended himself by main force, and slain in the + affray the officer sent to take him into custody. A fitter subject for + punishment could not have occurred, and Hamish was sentenced to immediate + execution. All which the interference of his captain in his favour could + procure was that he should die a soldier’s death; for there had been a + purpose of executing him upon the gibbet. + </p> + <p> + The worthy clergyman of Glenorquhy chanced to be at Dunbarton, in + attendance upon some church courts, at the time of this catastrophe. He + visited his unfortunate parishioner in his dungeon, found him ignorant + indeed, but not obstinate, and the answers which he received from him, + when conversing on religious topics, were such as induced him doubly to + regret that a mind naturally pure and noble should have remained unhappily + so wild and uncultivated. + </p> + <p> + When he ascertained the real character and disposition of the young man, + the worthy pastor made deep and painful reflections on his own shyness and + timidity, which, arising out of the evil fame that attached to the lineage + of Hamish, had restrained him from charitably endeavouring to bring this + strayed sheep within the great fold. While the good minister blamed his + cowardice in times past, which had deterred him from risking his person, + to save, perhaps, an immortal soul, he resolved no longer to be governed + by such timid counsels, but to endeavour, by application to his officers, + to obtain a reprieve, at least, if not a pardon, for the criminal, in whom + he felt so unusually interested, at once from his docility of temper and + his generosity of disposition. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly the divine sought out Captain Campbell at the barracks within + the garrison. There was a gloomy melancholy on the brow of Green Colin, + which was not lessened, but increased, when the clergyman stated his name, + quality, and errand. “You cannot tell me better of the young man than I am + disposed to believe,” answered the Highland officer; “you cannot ask me to + do more in his behalf than I am of myself inclined, and have already + endeavoured to do. But it is all in vain. General — is half a + Lowlander, half an Englishman. He has no idea of the high and enthusiastic + character which in these mountains often brings exalted virtues in contact + with great crimes, which, however, are less offences of the heart than + errors of the understanding. I have gone so far as to tell him, that in + this young man he was putting to death the best and the bravest of my + company, where all, or almost all, are good and brave. I explained to him + by what strange delusion the culprit’s apparent desertion was occasioned, + and how little his heart was accessory to the crime which his hand + unhappily committed. His answer was, ‘These are Highland visions, Captain + Campbell, as unsatisfactory and vain as those of the second sight. An act + of gross desertion may, in any case, be palliated under the plea of + intoxication; the murder of an officer may be as easily coloured over with + that of temporary insanity. The example must be made, and if it has fallen + on a man otherwise a good recruit, it will have the greater effect.’ Such + being the general’s unalterable purpose,” continued Captain Campbell, with + a sigh, “be it your care, reverend sir, that your penitent prepare by + break of day tomorrow for that great change which we shall all one day be + subjected to.” + </p> + <p> + “And for which,” said the clergyman, “may God prepare us all, as I in my + duty will not be wanting to this poor youth!” + </p> + <p> + Next morning, as the very earliest beams of sunrise saluted the grey + towers which crown the summit of that singular and tremendous rock, the + soldiers of the new Highland regiment appeared on the parade, within the + Castle of Dunbarton, and having fallen into order, began to move downward + by steep staircases, and narrow passages towards the external + barrier-gate, which is at the very bottom of the rock. The wild wailings + of the pibroch were heard at times, interchanged with the drums and fifes, + which beat the Dead March. + </p> + <p> + The unhappy criminal’s fate did not, at first, excite that general + sympathy in the regiment which would probably have arisen had he been + executed for desertion alone. The slaughter of the unfortunate Allan + Breack had given a different colour to Hamish’s offence; for the deceased + was much beloved, and besides belonged to a numerous and powerful clan, of + whom there were many in the ranks. The unfortunate criminal, on the + contrary, was little known to, and scarcely connected with, any of his + regimental companions. His father had been, indeed, distinguished for his + strength and manhood; but he was of a broken clan, as those names were + called who had no chief to lead them to battle. + </p> + <p> + It would have been almost impossible in another case to have turned out of + the ranks of the regiment the party necessary for execution of the + sentence; but the six individuals selected for that purpose, were friends + of the deceased, descended, like him, from the race of MacDhonuil Dhu; and + while they prepared for the dismal task which their duty imposed, it was + not without a stern feeling of gratified revenge. The leading company of + the regiment began now to defile from the barrier-gate, and was followed + by the others, each successively moving and halting according to the + orders of the adjutant, so as to form three sides of an oblong square, + with the ranks faced inwards. The fourth, or blank side of the square, was + closed up by the huge and lofty precipice on which the Castle rises. About + the centre of the procession, bare-headed, disarmed, and with his hands + bound, came the unfortunate victim of military law. He was deadly pale, + but his step was firm and his eye as bright as ever. The clergyman walked + by his side; the coffin, which was to receive his mortal remains, was + borne before him. The looks of his comrades were still, composed, and + solemn. They felt for the youth, whose handsome form and manly yet + submissive deportment had, as soon as he was distinctly visible to them, + softened the hearts of many, even of some who had been actuated by + vindictive feelings. + </p> + <p> + The coffin destined for the yet living body of Hamish Bean was placed at + the bottom of the hollow square, about two yards distant from the foot of + the precipice, which rises in that place as steep as a stone wall to the + height of three or four hundred feet. Thither the prisoner was also led, + the clergyman still continuing by his side, pouring forth exhortations of + courage and consolation, to which the youth appeared to listen with + respectful devotion. With slow, and, it seemed, almost unwilling steps, + the firing party entered the square, and were drawn up facing the + prisoner, about ten yards distant. The clergyman was now about to retire. + “Think, my son,” he said, “on what I have told you, and let your hope be + rested on the anchor which I have given. You will then exchange a short + and miserable existence here for a life in which you will experience + neither sorrow nor pain. Is there aught else which you can entrust to me + to execute for you?” + </p> + <p> + The youth looked at his sleeve buttons. They were of gold, booty perhaps + which his father had taken from some English officer during the civil + wars. The clergyman disengaged them from his sleeves. + </p> + <p> + “My mother!” he said with some effort—“give them to my poor mother! + See her, good father, and teach her what she should think of all this. + Tell her Hamish Bean is more glad to die than ever he was to rest after + the longest day’s hunting. Farewell, sir—farewell!” + </p> + <p> + The good man could scarce retire from the fatal spot. An officer afforded + him the support of his arm. At his last look towards Hamish, he beheld him + alive and kneeling on the coffin; the few that were around him had all + withdrawn. The fatal word was given, the rock rung sharp to the sound of + the discharge, and Hamish, falling forward with a groan, died, it may be + supposed, without almost a sense of the passing agony. + </p> + <p> + Ten or twelve of his own company then came forward, and laid with solemn + reverence the remains of their comrade in the coffin, while the Dead March + was again struck up, and the several companies, marching in single files, + passed the coffin one by one, in order that all might receive from the + awful spectacle the warning which it was peculiarly intended to afford. + The regiment was then marched off the ground, and reascended the ancient + cliff, their music, as usual on such occasions, striking lively strains, + as if sorrow, or even deep thought, should as short a while as possible be + the tenant of the soldier’s bosom. + </p> + <p> + At the same time the small party, which we before mentioned, bore the bier + of the ill-fated Hamish to his humble grave, in a corner of the churchyard + of Dunbarton, usually assigned to criminals. Here, among the dust of the + guilty, lies a youth, whose name, had he survived the ruin of the fatal + events by which he was hurried into crime, might have adorned the annals + of the brave. + </p> + <p> + The minister of Glenorquhy left Dunbarton immediately after he had + witnessed the last scene of this melancholy catastrophe. His reason + acquiesced in the justice of the sentence, which required blood for blood, + and he acknowledged that the vindictive character of his countrymen + required to be powerfully restrained by the strong curb of social law. But + still he mourned over the individual victim. Who may arraign the bolt of + Heaven when it bursts among the sons of the forest? yet who can refrain + from mourning when it selects for the object of its blighting aim the fair + stem of a young oak, that promised to be the pride of the dell in which it + flourished? Musing on these melancholy events, noon found him engaged in + the mountain passes, by which he was to return to his still distant home. + </p> + <p> + Confident in his knowledge of the country, the clergyman had left the main + road, to seek one of those shorter paths, which are only used by + pedestrians, or by men, like the minister, mounted on the small, but + sure-footed, hardy, and sagacious horses of the country. The place which + he now traversed was in itself gloomy and desolate, and tradition had + added to it the terror of superstition, by affirming it was haunted by an + evil spirit, termed CLOGHT-DEARG—that is, Redmantle—who at all + times, but especially at noon and at midnight, traversed the glen, in + enmity both to man and the inferior creation, did such evil as her power + was permitted to extend to, and afflicted with ghastly terrors those whom + she had not license otherwise to hurt. + </p> + <p> + The minister of Glenorquhy had set his face in opposition to many of these + superstitions, which he justly thought were derived from the dark ages of + Popery, perhaps even from those of paganism, and unfit to be entertained + or believed by the Christians of an enlightened age. Some of his more + attached parishioners considered him as too rash in opposing the ancient + faith of their fathers; and though they honoured the moral intrepidity of + their pastor, they could not avoid entertaining and expressing fears that + he would one day fall a victim to his temerity, and be torn to pieces in + the glen of the Cloght-dearg, or some of those other haunted wilds, which + he appeared rather to have a pride and pleasure in traversing alone, on + the days and hours when the wicked spirits were supposed to have especial + power over man and beast. + </p> + <p> + These legends came across the mind of the clergyman, and, solitary as he + was, a melancholy smile shaded his cheek, as he thought of the + inconsistency of human nature, and reflected how many brave men, whom the + yell of the pibroch would have sent headlong against fixed bayonets, as + the wild bull rushes on his enemy, might have yet feared to encounter + those visionary terrors, which he himself, a man of peace, and in ordinary + perils no way remarkable for the firmness of his nerves, was now risking + without hesitation. + </p> + <p> + As he looked around the scene of desolation, he could not but acknowledge, + in his own mind, that it was not ill chosen for the haunt of those + spirits, which are said to delight in solitude and desolation. The glen + was so steep and narrow that there was but just room for the meridian sun + to dart a few scattered rays upon the gloomy and precarious stream which + stole through its recesses, for the most part in silence, but occasionally + murmuring sullenly against the rocks and large stones which seemed + determined to bar its further progress. In winter, or in the rainy season, + this small stream was a foaming torrent of the most formidable magnitude, + and it was at such periods that it had torn open and laid bare the + broad-faced and huge fragments of rock which, at the season of which we + speak, hid its course from the eye, and seemed disposed totally to + interrupt its course. “Undoubtedly,” thought the clergyman, “this mountain + rivulet, suddenly swelled by a waterspout or thunderstorm, has often been + the cause of those accidents which, happening in the glen called by her + name, have been ascribed to the agency of the Cloght-dearg.” + </p> + <p> + Just as this idea crossed his mind, he heard a female voice exclaim, in a + wild and thrilling accent, “Michael Tyrie! Michael Tyrie!” He looked round + in astonishment, and not without some fear. It seemed for an instant, as + if the evil being, whose existence he had disowned, was about to appear + for the punishment of his incredulity. This alarm did not hold him more + than an instant, nor did it prevent his replying in a firm voice, “Who + calls? and where are you?” + </p> + <p> + “One who journeys in wretchedness, between life and death,” answered the + voice; and the speaker, a tall female, appeared from among the fragments + of rocks which had concealed her from view. + </p> + <p> + As she approached more closely, her mantle of bright tartan, in which the + red colour much predominated, her stature, the long stride with which she + advanced, and the writhen features and wild eyes which were visible from + under her curch, would have made her no inadequate representative of the + spirit which gave name to the valley. But Mr. Tyrie instantly knew her as + the Woman of the Tree, the widow of MacTavish Mhor, the now childless + mother of Hamish Bean. I am not sure whether the minister would not have + endured the visitation of the Cloght-dearg herself, rather than the shock + of Elspat’s presence, considering her crime and her misery. He drew up his + horse instinctively, and stood endeavouring to collect his ideas, while a + few paces brought her up to his horse’s head. + </p> + <p> + “Michael Tyrie,” said she, “the foolish women of the Clachan [The village; + literally, the stones.] hold thee as a god—be one to me, and say + that my son lives. Say this, and I too will be of thy worship; I will bend + my knees on the seventh day in thy house of worship, and thy God shall be + my God.” + </p> + <p> + “Unhappy woman,” replied the clergyman, “man forms not pactions with his + Maker as with a creature of clay like himself. Thinkest thou to chaffer + with Him, who formed the earth, and spread out the heavens, or that thou + canst offer aught of homage or devotion that can be worth acceptance in + his eyes? He hath asked obedience, not sacrifice; patience under the + trials with which He afflicts us, instead of vain bribes, such as man + offers to his changeful brother of clay, that he may be moved from his + purpose.” + </p> + <p> + “Be silent, priest!” answered the desperate woman; “speak not to me the + words of thy white book. Elspat’s kindred were of those who crossed + themselves and knelt when the sacring bell was rung, and she knows that + atonement can be made on the altar for deeds done in the field. Elspat had + once flocks and herds, goats upon the cliffs, and cattle in the strath. + She wore gold around her neck and on her hair—thick twists, as those + worn by the heroes of old. All these would she have resigned to the priest—all + these; and if he wished for the ornaments of a gentle lady, or the sporran + of a high chief, though they had been great as Macallum Mhor himself, + MacTavish Mhor would have procured them, if Elspat had promised them. + Elspat is now poor, and has nothing to give. But the Black Abbot of + Inchaffray would have bidden her scourge her shoulders, and macerate her + feet by pilgrimage; and he would have granted his pardon to her when he + saw that her blood had flowed, and that her flesh had been torn. These + were the priests who had indeed power even with the most powerful; they + threatened the great men of the earth with the word of their mouth, the + sentence of their book, the blaze of their torch, the sound of their + sacring bell. The mighty bent to their will, and unloosed at the word of + the priests those whom they had bound in their wrath, and set at liberty, + unharmed, him whom they had sentenced to death, and for whose blood they + had thirsted. These were a powerful race, and might well ask the poor to + kneel, since their power could humble the proud. But you!—against + whom are ye strong, but against women who have been guilty of folly, and + men who never wore sword? The priests of old were like the winter torrent + which fills this hollow valley, and rolls these massive rocks against each + other as easily as the boy plays with the ball which he casts before him. + But you!—you do but resemble the summer-stricken stream, which is + turned aside by the rushes, and stemmed by a bush of sedges. Woe worth + you, for there is no help in you!” + </p> + <p> + The clergyman was at no loss to conceive that Elspat had lost the Roman + Catholic faith without gaining any other, and that she still retained a + vague and confused idea of the composition with the priesthood, by + confession, alms, and penance, and of their extensive power, which, + according to her notion, was adequate, if duly propitiated, even to + effecting her son’s safety. Compassionating her situation, and allowing + for her errors and ignorance, he answered her with mildness. + </p> + <p> + “Alas, unhappy woman! Would to God I could convince thee as easily where + thou oughtest to seek, and art sure to find, consolation, as I can assure + you with a single word, that were Rome and all her priesthood once more in + the plenitude of their power, they could not, for largesse or penance, + afford to thy misery an atom of aid or comfort—Elspat MacTavish, I + grieve to tell you the news.” + </p> + <p> + “I know them without thy speech,” said the unhappy woman. “My son is + doomed to die.” + </p> + <p> + “Elspat,” resumed the clergyman, “he WAS doomed, and the sentence has been + executed.” + </p> + <p> + The hapless mother threw her eyes up to heaven, and uttered a shriek so + unlike the voice of a human being, that the eagle which soared in middle + air answered it as she would have done the call of her mate. + </p> + <p> + “It is impossible!” she exclaimed—“it is impossible! Men do not + condemn and kill on the same day! Thou art deceiving me. The people call + thee holy—hast thou the heart to tell a mother she has murdered her + only child?” + </p> + <p> + “God knows,” said the priest, the tears falling fast from his eyes, “that + were it in my power, I would gladly tell better tidings. But these which I + bear are as certain as they are fatal. My own ears heard the death-shot, + my own eyes beheld thy son’s death—thy son’s funeral. My tongue + bears witness to what my ears heard and my eyes saw.” + </p> + <p> + The wretched female clasped her bands close together, and held them up + towards heaven like a sibyl announcing war and desolation, while, in + impotent yet frightful rage, she poured forth a tide of the deepest + imprecations. “Base Saxon churl!” she exclaimed—“vile hypocritical + juggler! May the eyes that looked tamely on the death of my fair-haired + boy be melted in their sockets with ceaseless tears, shed for those that + are nearest and most dear to thee! May the ears that heard his death-knell + be dead hereafter to all other sounds save the screech of the raven, and + the hissing of the adder! May the tongue that tells me of his death and of + my own crime, be withered in thy mouth—or better, when thou wouldst + pray with thy people, may the Evil One guide it, and give voice to + blasphemies instead of blessings, until men shall fly in terror from thy + presence, and the thunder of heaven be launched against thy head, and stop + for ever thy cursing and accursed voice! Begone, with this malison! Elspat + will never, never again bestow so many words upon living man.” + </p> + <p> + She kept her word. From that day the world was to her a wilderness, in + which she remained without thought, care, or interest, absorbed in her own + grief, indifferent to every thing else. + </p> + <p> + With her mode of life, or rather of existence, the reader is already as + far acquainted as I have the power of making him. Of her death, I can tell + him nothing. It is supposed to have happened several years after she had + attracted the attention of my excellent friend Mrs. Bethune Baliol. Her + benevolence, which was never satisfied with dropping a sentimental tear, + when there was room for the operation of effective charity, induced her to + make various attempts to alleviate the condition of this most wretched + woman. But all her exertions could only render Elspat’s means of + subsistence less precarious—a circumstance which, though generally + interesting even to the most wretched outcasts, seemed to her a matter of + total indifference. Every attempt to place any person in her hut to take + charge of her miscarried, through the extreme resentment with which she + regarded all intrusion on her solitude, or by the timidity of those who + had been pitched upon to be inmates with the terrible Woman of the Tree. + At length, when Elspat became totally unable (in appearance at least) to + turn herself on the wretched settle which served her for a couch, the + humanity of Mr. Tyrie’s successor sent two women to attend upon the last + moments of the solitary, which could not, it was judged, be far distant, + and to avert the possibility that she might perish for want of assistance + or food, before she sunk under the effects of extreme age or mortal + malady. + </p> + <p> + It was on a November evening, that the two women appointed for this + melancholy purpose arrived at the miserable cottage which we have already + described. Its wretched inmate lay stretched upon the bed, and seemed + almost already a lifeless corpse, save for the wandering of the fierce + dark eyes, which rolled in their sockets in a manner terrible to look + upon, and seemed to watch with surprise and indignation the motions of the + strangers, as persons whose presence was alike unexpected and unwelcome. + They were frightened at her looks; but, assured in each other’s company, + they kindled a fire, lighted a candle, prepared food, and made other + arrangements for the discharge of the duty assigned them. + </p> + <p> + The assistants agreed they should watch the bedside of the sick person by + turns; but, about midnight, overcome by fatigue, (for they had walked far + that morning), both of them fell fast asleep. When they awoke, which was + not till after the interval of some hours, the hut was empty, and the + patient gone. They rose in terror, and went to the door of the cottage, + which was latched as it had been at night. They looked out into the + darkness, and called upon their charge by her name. The night-raven + screamed from the old oak-tree, the fox howled on the hill, the hoarse + waterfall replied with its echoes; but there was no human answer. The + terrified women did not dare to make further search till morning should + appear; for the sudden disappearance of a creature so frail as Elspat, + together with the wild tenor of her history, intimidated them from + stirring from the hut. They remained, therefore, in dreadful terror, + sometimes thinking they heard her voice without, and at other times, that + sounds of a different description were mingled with the mournful sigh of + the night-breeze, or the dashing of the cascade. Sometimes, too, the latch + rattled, as if some frail and impotent hand were in vain attempting to + lift it, and ever and anon they expected the entrance of their terrible + patient, animated by supernatural strength, and in the company, perhaps, + of some being more dreadful than herself. Morning came at length. They + sought brake, rock, and thicket in vain. Two hours after daylight, the + minister himself appeared, and, on the report of the watchers, caused the + country to be alarmed, and a general and exact search to be made through + the whole neighbourhood of the cottage and the oak-tree. But it was all in + vain. Elspat MacTavish was never found, whether dead or alive; nor could + there ever be traced the slightest circumstance to indicate her fate. + </p> + <p> + The neighbourhood was divided concerning the cause of her disappearance. + The credulous thought that the evil spirit, under whose influence she + seemed to have acted, had carried her away in the body; and there are many + who are still unwilling, at untimely hours, to pass the oak-tree, beneath + which, as they allege, she may still be seen seated according to her wont. + Others less superstitious supposed, that had it been possible to search + the gulf of the Corri Dhu, the profound deeps of the lake, or the whelming + eddies of the river, the remains of Elspat MacTavish might have been + discovered—as nothing was more natural, considering her state of + body and mind, than that she should have fallen in by accident, or + precipitated herself intentionally, into one or other of those places of + sure destruction. The clergyman entertained an opinion of his own. He + thought that, impatient of the watch which was placed over her, this + unhappy woman’s instinct had taught her, as it directs various domestic + animals, to withdraw herself from the sight of her own race, that the + death-struggle might take place in some secret den, where, in all + probability, her mortal relics would never meet the eyes of mortals. This + species of instinctive feeling seemed to him of a tenor with the whole + course of her unhappy life, and most likely to influence her when it drew + to a conclusion. + </p> + <p> + End of THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + MR. CROFTANGRY INTRODUCES ANOTHER TALE. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Together both on the high lawns appeared. + Under the opening eyelids of the morn + They drove afield. ELEGY ON LYCIDAS. +</pre> + <p> + I have sometimes wondered why all the favourite occupations and pastimes + of mankind go to the disturbance of that happy state of tranquillity, that + OTIUM, as Horace terms it, which he says is the object of all men’s + prayers, whether preferred from sea or land; and that the undisturbed + repose, of which we are so tenacious, when duty or necessity compels us to + abandon it, is precisely what we long to exchange for a state of + excitation, as soon as we may prolong it at our own pleasure. Briefly, you + have only to say to a man, “Remain at rest,” and you instantly inspire the + love of labour. The sportsman toils like his gamekeeper, the master of the + pack takes as severe exercise as his whipper-in, the statesman or + politician drudges more than the professional lawyer; and, to come to my + own case, the volunteer author subjects himself to the risk of painful + criticism, and the assured certainty of mental and manual labour, just as + completely as his needy brother, whose necessities compel him to assume + the pen. + </p> + <p> + These reflections have been suggested by an annunciation on the part of + Janet, “that the little Gillie-whitefoot was come from the + printing-office.” + </p> + <p> + “Gillie-blackfoot you should call him, Janet,” was my response, “for he is + neither more nor less than an imp of the devil, come to torment me for + COPY, for so the printers call a supply of manuscript for the press.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Cot forgie your honour,” said Janet; “for it is no like your ainsell + to give such names to a faitherless bairn.” + </p> + <p> + “I have got nothing else to give him, Janet; he must wait a little.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I have got some breakfast to give the bit gillie,” said Janet; “and + he can wait by the fireside in the kitchen, till your honour’s ready; and + cood enough for the like of him, if he was to wait your honour’s pleasure + all day.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Janet,” said I to my little active superintendent, on her return to + the parlour, after having made her hospitable arrangements, “I begin to + find this writing our Chronicles is rather more tiresome than I expected, + for here comes this little fellow to ask for manuscript—that is, for + something to print—and I have got none to give him.” + </p> + <p> + “Your honour can be at nae loss. I have seen you write fast and fast + enough; and for subjects, you have the whole Highlands to write about, and + I am sure you know a hundred tales better than that about Hamish + MacTavish, for it was but about a young cateran and an auld carlin, when + all’s done; and if they had burned the rudas quean for a witch, I am + thinking, may be they would not have tyned their coals—and her to + gar her ne’er-do-weel son shoot a gentleman Cameron! I am third cousin to + the Camerons mysel’—my blood warms to them. And if you want to write + about deserters, I am sure there were deserters enough on the top of + Arthur’s Seat, when the MacRaas broke out, and on that woeful day beside + Leith Pier—ohonari!”— + </p> + <p> + Here Janet began to weep, and to wipe her eyes with her apron. For my + part, the idea I wanted was supplied, but I hesitated to make use of it. + Topics, like times, are apt to become common by frequent use. It is only + an ass like Justice Shallow, who would pitch upon the over-scutched tunes, + which the carmen whistled, and try to pass them off as his FANCIES and his + GOOD-NIGHTS. Now, the Highlands, though formerly a rich mine for original + matter, are, as my friend Mrs. Bethune Baliol warned me, in some degree + worn out by the incessant labour of modern romancers and novelists, who, + finding in those remote regions primitive habits and manners, have vainly + imagined that the public can never tire of them; and so kilted Highlanders + are to be found as frequently, and nearly of as genuine descent, on the + shelves of a circulating library, as at a Caledonian ball. Much might have + been made at an earlier time out of the history of a Highland regiment, + and the singular revolution of ideas which must have taken place in the + minds of those who composed it, when exchanging their native hills for the + battle-fields of the Continent, and their simple, and sometimes indolent + domestic habits for the regular exertions demanded by modern discipline. + But the market is forestalled. There is Mrs. Grant of Laggan, has drawn + the manners, customs, and superstitions of the mountains in their natural + unsophisticated state; [Letters from the Mountains, 3 vols.—Essays + on the Superstitions of the Highlanders—The Highlanders, and other + Poems, etc.] and my friend, General Stewart of Garth, [The gallant and + amiable author of the History of the Highland Regiments, in whose glorious + services his own share had been great, went out Governor of St Lucia in + 1828, and died in that island on the 18th of December 1829,—no man + more regretted, or perhaps by a wider circle of friends and acquaintance.] + in giving the real history of the Highland regiments, has rendered any + attempt to fill up the sketch with fancy-colouring extremely rash and + precarious. Yet I, too, have still a lingering fancy to add a stone to the + cairn; and without calling in imagination to aid the impressions of + juvenile recollection, I may just attempt to embody one or two scenes + illustrative of the Highland character, and which belong peculiarly to the + Chronicles of the Canongate, to the grey-headed eld of whom they are as + familiar as to Chrystal Croftangry. Yet I will not go back to the days of + clanship and claymores. Have at you, gentle reader, with a tale of Two + Drovers. An oyster may be crossed in love, says the gentle Tilburina—and + a drover may be touched on a point of honour, says the Chronicler of the + Canongate. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE TWO DROVERS. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. + </h2> + <p> + It was the day after Doune Fair when my story commences. It had been a + brisk market. Several dealers had attended from the northern and midland + counties in England, and English money had flown so merrily about as to + gladden the hearts of the Highland farmers. Many large droves were about + to set off for England, under the protection of their owners, or of the + topsmen whom they employed in the tedious, laborious, and responsible + office of driving the cattle for many hundred miles, from the market where + they had been purchased, to the fields or farmyards where they were to be + fattened for the shambles. + </p> + <p> + The Highlanders in particular are masters of this difficult trade of + driving, which seems to suit them as well as the trade of war. It affords + exercise for all their habits of patient endurance and active exertion. + They are required to know perfectly the drove-roads, which lie over the + wildest tracts of the country, and to avoid as much as possible the + highways, which distress the feet of the bullocks, and the turnpikes, + which annoy the spirit of the drover; whereas on the broad green or grey + track which leads across the pathless moor, the herd not only move at ease + and without taxation, but, if they mind their business, may pick up a + mouthful of food by the way. At night the drovers usually sleep along with + their cattle, let the weather be what it will; and many of these hardy men + do not once rest under a roof during a journey on foot from Lochaber to + Lincolnshire. They are paid very highly, for the trust reposed is of the + last importance, as it depends on their prudence, vigilance, and honesty + whether the cattle reach the final market in good order, and afford a + profit to the grazier. But as they maintain themselves at their own + expense, they are especially economical in that particular. At the period + we speak of, a Highland drover was victualled for his long and toilsome + journey with a few handfulls of oatmeal and two or three onions, renewed + from time to time, and a ram’s horn filled with whisky, which he used + regularly, but sparingly, every night and morning. His dirk, or SKENE-DHU, + (that is, black-knife), so worn as to be concealed beneath the arm, or by + the folds of the plaid, was his only weapon, excepting the cudgel with + which he directed the movements of the cattle. A Highlander was never so + happy as on these occasions. There was a variety in the whole journey, + which exercised the Celt’s natural curiosity and love of motion. There + were the constant change of place and scene, the petty adventures + incidental to the traffic, and the intercourse with the various farmers, + graziers, and traders, intermingled with occasional merry-makings, not the + less acceptable to Donald that they were void of expense. And there was + the consciousness of superior skill; for the Highlander, a child amongst + flocks, is a prince amongst herds, and his natural habits induce him to + disdain the shepherd’s slothful life, so that he feels himself nowhere + more at home than when following a gallant drove of his country cattle in + the character of their guardian. + </p> + <p> + Of the number who left Doune in the morning, and with the purpose we have + described, not a GLUNAMIE of them all cocked his bonnet more briskly, or + gartered his tartan hose under knee over a pair of more promising SPIOGS, + (legs), than did Robin Oig M’Combich, called familiarly Robin Oig, that is + young, or the Lesser, Robin. Though small of stature, as the epithet Oig + implies, and not very strongly limbed, he was as light and alert as one of + the deer of his mountains. He had an elasticity of step which, in the + course of a long march, made many a stout fellow envy him; and the manner + in which he busked his plaid and adjusted his bonnet argued a + consciousness that so smart a John Highlandman as himself would not pass + unnoticed among the Lowland lasses. The ruddy cheek, red lips, and white + teeth set off a countenance which had gained by exposure to the weather a + healthful and hardy rather than a rugged hue. If Robin Oig did not laugh, + or even smile frequently—as, indeed, is not the practice among his + countrymen—his bright eyes usually gleamed from under his bonnet + with an expression of cheerfulness ready to be turned into mirth. + </p> + <p> + The departure of Robin Oig was an incident in the little town, in and near + which he had many friends, male and female. He was a topping person in his + way, transacted considerable business on his own behalf, and was entrusted + by the best farmers in the Highlands, in preference to any other drover in + that district. He might have increased his business to any extent had he + condescended to manage it by deputy; but except a lad or two, sister’s + sons of his own, Robin rejected the idea of assistance, conscious, + perhaps, how much his reputation depended upon his attending in person to + the practical discharge of his duty in every instance. He remained, + therefore, contented with the highest premium given to persons of his + description, and comforted himself with the hopes that a few journeys to + England might enable him to conduct business on his own account, in a + manner becoming his birth. For Robin Oig’s father, Lachlan M’Combich (or + SON OF MY FRIEND, his actual clan surname being M’Gregor), had been so + called by the celebrated Rob Roy, because of the particular friendship + which had subsisted between the grandsire of Robin and that renowned + cateran. Some people even said that Robin Oig derived his Christian name + from one as renowned in the wilds of Loch Lomond as ever was his namesake + Robin Hood in the precincts of merry Sherwood. “Of such ancestry,” as + James Boswell says, “who would not be proud?” Robin Oig was proud + accordingly; but his frequent visits to England and to the Lowlands had + given him tact enough to know that pretensions which still gave him a + little right to distinction in his own lonely glen, might be both + obnoxious and ridiculous if preferred elsewhere. The pride of birth, + therefore, was like the miser’s treasure—the secret subject of his + contemplation, but never exhibited to strangers as a subject of boasting. + </p> + <p> + Many were the words of gratulation and good-luck which were bestowed on + Robin Oig. The judges commended his drove, especially Robin’s own + property, which were the best of them. Some thrust out their snuff-mulls + for the parting pinch, others tendered the DOCH-AN-DORRACH, or parting + cup. All cried, “Good-luck travel out with you and come home with you. + Give you luck in the Saxon market—brave notes in the LEABHAR-DHU,” + (black pocket-book), “and plenty of English gold in the SPORRAN” (pouch of + goat-skin). + </p> + <p> + The bonny lasses made their adieus more modestly, and more than one, it + was said, would have given her best brooch to be certain that it was upon + her that his eye last rested as he turned towards the road. + </p> + <p> + Robin Oig had just given the preliminary “HOO-HOO!” to urge forward the + loiterers of the drove, when there was a cry behind him:— + </p> + <p> + “Stay, Robin—bide a blink. Here is Janet of Tomahourich—auld + Janet, your father’s sister.” + </p> + <p> + “Plague on her, for an auld Highland witch and spaewife,” said a farmer + from the Carse of Stirling; “she’ll cast some of her cantrips on the + cattle.” + </p> + <p> + “She canna do that,” said another sapient of the same profession. “Robin + Oig is no the lad to leave any of them without tying Saint Mungo’s knot on + their tails, and that will put to her speed the best witch that ever flew + over Dimayet upon a broomstick.” + </p> + <p> + It may not be indifferent to the reader to know that the Highland cattle + are peculiarly liable to be TAKEN, or infected, by spells and witchcraft, + which judicious people guard against by knitting knots of peculiar + complexity on the tuft of hair which terminates the animal’s tail. + </p> + <p> + But the old woman who was the object of the farmer’s suspicion seemed only + busied about the drover, without paying any attention to the drove. Robin, + on the contrary, appeared rather impatient of her presence. + </p> + <p> + “What auld-world fancy,” he said, “has brought you so early from the + ingle-side this morning, Muhme? I am sure I bid you good-even, and had + your God-speed, last night.” + </p> + <p> + “And left me more siller than the useless old woman will use till you come + back again, bird of my bosom,” said the sibyl. “But it is little I would + care for the food that nourishes me, or the fire that warms me, or for + God’s blessed sun itself, if aught but weel should happen to the grandson + of my father. So let me walk the DEASIL round you, that you may go safe + out into the far foreign land, and come safe home.” + </p> + <p> + Robin Oig stopped, half embarrassed, half laughing, and signing to those + around that he only complied with the old woman to soothe her humour. In + the meantime, she traced around him, with wavering steps, the + propitiation, which some have thought has been derived from the Druidical + mythology. It consists, as is well known, in the person who makes the + DEASIL walking three times round the person who is the object of the + ceremony, taking care to move according to the course of the sun. At once, + however, she stopped short, and exclaimed, in a voice of alarm and horror, + “Grandson of my father, there is blood on your hand.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, for God’s sake, aunt!” said Robin Oig. “You will bring more trouble + on yourself with this TAISHATARAGH” (second sight) “than you will be able + to get out of for many a day.” + </p> + <p> + The old woman only repeated, with a ghastly look, “There is blood on your + hand, and it is English blood. The blood of the Gael is richer and redder. + Let us see—let us—” + </p> + <p> + Ere Robin Oig could prevent her, which, indeed, could only have been by + positive violence, so hasty and peremptory were her proceedings, she had + drawn from his side the dirk which lodged in the folds of his plaid, and + held it up, exclaiming, although the weapon gleamed clear and bright in + the sun, “Blood, blood—Saxon blood again. Robin Oig M’Combich, go + not this day to England!” + </p> + <p> + “Prutt, trutt,” answered Robin Oig, “that will never do neither—it + would be next thing to running the country. For shame, Muhme—give me + the dirk. You cannot tell by the colour the difference betwixt the blood + of a black bullock and a white one, and you speak of knowing Saxon from + Gaelic blood. All men have their blood from Adam, Muhme. Give me my + skene-dhu, and let me go on my road. I should have been half way to + Stirling brig by this time. Give me my dirk, and let me go.” + </p> + <p> + “Never will I give it to you,” said the old woman—“Never will I quit + my hold on your plaid—unless you promise me not to wear that unhappy + weapon.” + </p> + <p> + The women around him urged him also, saying few of his aunt’s words fell + to the ground; and as the Lowland farmers continued to look moodily on the + scene, Robin Oig determined to close it at any sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then,” said the young drover, giving the scabbard of the weapon to + Hugh Morrison, “you Lowlanders care nothing for these freats. Keep my dirk + for me. I cannot give it you, because it was my father’s; but your drove + follows ours, and I am content it should be in your keeping, not in mine.—Will + this do, Muhme?” + </p> + <p> + “It must,” said the old woman—“that is, if the Lowlander is mad + enough to carry the knife.” + </p> + <p> + The strong Westlandman laughed aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Goodwife,” said he, “I am Hugh Morrison from Glenae, come of the Manly + Morrisons of auld lang syne, that never took short weapon against a man in + their lives. And neither needed they. They had their broadswords, and I + have this bit supple”—showing a formidable cudgel; “for dirking ower + the board, I leave that to John Highlandman.—Ye needna snort, none + of you Highlanders, and you in especial, Robin. I’ll keep the bit knife, + if you are feared for the auld spaewife’s tale, and give it back to you + whenever you want it.” + </p> + <p> + Robin was not particularly pleased with some part of Hugh Morrison’s + speech; but he had learned in his travels more patience than belonged to + his Highland constitution originally, and he accepted the service of the + descendant of the Manly Morrisons without finding fault with the rather + depreciating manner in which it was offered. + </p> + <p> + “If he had not had his morning in his head, and been but a Dumfriesshire + hog into the boot, he would have spoken more like a gentleman. But you + cannot have more of a sow than a grumph. It’s shame my father’s knife + should ever slash a haggis for the like of him.” + </p> + <p> + Thus saying, (but saying it in Gaelic), Robin drove on his cattle, and + waved farewell to all behind him. He was in the greater haste, because he + expected to join at Falkirk a comrade and brother in profession, with whom + he proposed to travel in company. + </p> + <p> + Robin Oig’s chosen friend was a young Englishman, Harry Wakefield by name, + well known at every northern market, and in his way as much famed and + honoured as our Highland driver of bullocks. He was nearly six feet high, + gallantly formed to keep the rounds at Smithfield, or maintain the ring at + a wrestling match; and although he might have been overmatched, perhaps, + among the regular professors of the Fancy, yet, as a yokel or rustic, or a + chance customer, he was able to give a bellyful to any amateur of the + pugilistic art. Doncaster races saw him in his glory, betting his guinea, + and generally successfully; nor was there a main fought in Yorkshire, the + feeders being persons of celebrity, at which he was not to be seen if + business permitted. But though a SPRACK lad, and fond of pleasure and its + haunts, Harry Wakefield was steady, and not the cautious Robin Oig + M’Combich himself was more attentive to the main chance. His holidays were + holidays indeed; but his days of work were dedicated to steady and + persevering labour. In countenance and temper, Wakefield was the model of + Old England’s merry yeomen, whose clothyard shafts, in so many hundred + battles, asserted her superiority over the nations, and whose good sabres, + in our own time, are her cheapest and most assured defence. His mirth was + readily excited; for, strong in limb and constitution, and fortunate in + circumstances, he was disposed to be pleased with every thing about him, + and such difficulties as he might occasionally encounter were, to a man of + his energy, rather matter of amusement than serious annoyance. With all + the merits of a sanguine temper, our young English drover was not without + his defects. He was irascible, sometimes to the verge of being + quarrelsome; and perhaps not the less inclined to bring his disputes to a + pugilistic decision, because he found few antagonists able to stand up to + him in the boxing ring. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult to say how Harry Wakefield and Robin Oig first became + intimates, but it is certain a close acquaintance had taken place betwixt + them, although they had apparently few common subjects of conversation or + of interest, so soon as their talk ceased to be of bullocks. Robin Oig, + indeed, spoke the English language rather imperfectly upon any other + topics but stots and kyloes, and Harry Wakefield could never bring his + broad Yorkshire tongue to utter a single word of Gaelic. It was in vain + Robin spent a whole morning, during a walk over Minch Moor, in attempting + to teach his companion to utter, with true precision, the shibboleth LLHU, + which is the Gaelic for a calf. From Traquair to Murder Cairn, the hill + rung with the discordant attempts of the Saxon upon the unmanageable + monosyllable, and the heartfelt laugh which followed every failure. They + had, however, better modes of awakening the echoes; for Wakefield could + sing many a ditty to the praise of Moll, Susan, and Cicely, and Robin Oig + had a particular gift at whistling interminable pibrochs through all their + involutions, and what was more agreeable to his companion’s southern ear, + knew many of the northern airs, both lively and pathetic, to which + Wakefield learned to pipe a bass. Thus, though Robin could hardly have + comprehended his companion’s stories about horse-racing, and + cock-fighting, or fox-hunting, and although his own legends of clan-fights + and CREAGHS, varied with talk of Highland goblins and fairy folk, would + have been caviare to his companion, they contrived, nevertheless to find a + degree of pleasure in each other’s company, which had for three years back + induced them to join company and travel together, when the direction of + their journey permitted. Each, indeed, found his advantage in this + companionship; for where could the Englishman have found a guide through + the Western Highlands like Robin Oig M’Combich? and when they were on what + Harry called the RIGHT side of the Border, his patronage, which was + extensive, and his purse, which was heavy, were at all times at the + service of his Highland friend, and on many occasions his liberality did + him genuine yeoman’s service. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Were ever two such loving friends!— + How could they disagree? + Oh, thus it was, he loved him dear, + And thought how to requite him, + And having no friend left but he, + He did resolve to fight him. DUKE UPON DUKE. +</pre> + <p> + The pair of friends had traversed with their usual cordiality the grassy + wilds of Liddesdale, and crossed the opposite part of Cumberland, + emphatically called The Waste. In these solitary regions the cattle under + the charge of our drovers derived their subsistence chiefly by picking + their food as they went along the drove-road, or sometimes by the tempting + opportunity of a START AND OWERLOUP, or invasion of the neighbouring + pasture, where an occasion presented itself. But now the scene changed + before them. They were descending towards a fertile and enclosed country, + where no such liberties could be taken with impunity, or without a + previous arrangement and bargain with the possessors of the ground. This + was more especially the case, as a great northern fair was upon the eve of + taking place, where both the Scotch and English drover expected to dispose + of a part of their cattle, which it was desirable to produce in the market + rested and in good order. Fields were therefore difficult to be obtained, + and only upon high terms. This necessity occasioned a temporary separation + betwixt the two friends, who went to bargain, each as he could, for the + separate accommodation of his herd. Unhappily it chanced that both of + them, unknown to each other, thought of bargaining for the ground they + wanted on the property of a country gentleman of some fortune, whose + estate lay in the neighbourhood. The English drover applied to the bailiff + on the property, who was known to him. It chanced that the Cumbrian + Squire, who had entertained some suspicions of his manager’s honesty, was + taking occasional measures to ascertain how far they were well founded, + and had desired that any enquiries about his enclosures, with a view to + occupy them for a temporary purpose, should be referred to himself. As + however, Mr. Ireby had gone the day before upon a journey of some miles + distance to the northward, the bailiff chose to consider the check upon + his full powers as for the time removed, and concluded that he should best + consult his master’s interest, and perhaps his own, in making an agreement + with Harry Wakefield. Meanwhile, ignorant of what his comrade was doing, + Robin Oig, on his side, chanced to be overtaken by a good-looking smart + little man upon a pony, most knowingly hogged and cropped, as was then the + fashion, the rider wearing tight leather breeches, and long-necked bright + spurs. This cavalier asked one or two pertinent questions about markets + and the price of stock. So Robin, seeing him a well-judging civil + gentleman, took the freedom to ask him whether he could let him know if + there was any grass-land to be let in that neighbourhood, for the + temporary accommodation of his drove. He could not have put the question + to more willing ears. The gentleman of the buckskins was the proprietor, + with whose bailiff Harry Wakefield had dealt, or was in the act of + dealing. + </p> + <p> + “Thou art in good luck, my canny Scot,” said Mr. Ireby, “to have spoken to + me, for I see thy cattle have done their day’s work, and I have at my + disposal the only field within three miles that is to be let in these + parts.” + </p> + <p> + “The drove can pe gang two, three, four miles very pratty weel indeed”—said + the cautious Highlander; “put what would his honour pe axing for the + peasts pe the head, if she was to tak the park for twa or three days?” + </p> + <p> + “We won’t differ, Sawney, if you let me have six stots for winterers, in + the way of reason.” + </p> + <p> + “And which peasts wad your honour pe for having?” + </p> + <p> + “Why—let me see—the two black—the dun one—yon + doddy—him with the twisted horn—the brockit—How much by + the head?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” said Robin, “your honour is a shudge—a real shudge. I couldna + have set off the pest six peasts petter mysel’—me that ken them as + if they were my pairns, puir things.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, how much per head, Sawney?” continued Mr. Ireby. + </p> + <p> + “It was high markets at Doune and Falkirk,” answered Robin. + </p> + <p> + And thus the conversation proceeded, until they had agreed on the PRIX + JUSTE for the bullocks, the Squire throwing in the temporary accommodation + of the enclosure for the cattle into the boot, and Robin making, as he + thought, a very good bargain, provided the grass was but tolerable. The + Squire walked his pony alongside of the drove, partly to show him the way, + and see him put into possession of the field, and partly to learn the + latest news of the northern markets. + </p> + <p> + They arrived at the field, and the pasture seemed excellent. But what was + their surprise when they saw the bailiff quietly inducting the cattle of + Harry Wakefield into the grassy Goshen which had just been assigned to + those of Robin Oig M’Combich by the proprietor himself! Squire Ireby set + spurs to his horse, dashed up to his servant, and learning what had passed + between the parties, briefly informed the English drover that his bailiff + had let the ground without his authority, and that he might seek grass for + his cattle wherever he would, since he was to get none there. At the same + time he rebuked his servant severely for having transgressed his commands, + and ordered him instantly to assist in ejecting the hungry and weary + cattle of Harry Wakefield, which were just beginning to enjoy a meal of + unusual plenty, and to introduce those of his comrade, whom the English + drover now began to consider as a rival. + </p> + <p> + The feelings which arose in Wakefield’s mind would have induced him to + resist Mr. Ireby’s decision; but every Englishman has a tolerably accurate + sense of law and justice, and John Fleecebumpkin, the bailiff, having + acknowledged that he had exceeded his commission, Wakefield saw nothing + else for it than to collect his hungry and disappointed charge, and drive + them on to seek quarters elsewhere. Robin Oig saw what had happened with + regret, and hastened to offer to his English friend to share with him the + disputed possession. But Wakefield’s pride was severely hurt, and he + answered disdainfully, “Take it all, man—take it all; never make two + bites of a cherry. Thou canst talk over the gentry, and blear a plain + man’s eye. Out upon you, man. I would not kiss any man’s dirty latchets + for leave to bake in his oven.” + </p> + <p> + Robin Oig, sorry but not surprised at his comrade’s displeasure, hastened + to entreat his friend to wait but an hour till he had gone to the Squire’s + house to receive payment for the cattle he had sold, and he would come + back and help him to drive the cattle into some convenient place of rest, + and explain to him the whole mistake they had both of them fallen into. + But the Englishman continued indignant: “Thou hast been selling, hast + thou? Ay, ay; thou is a cunning lad for kenning the hours of bargaining. + Go to the devil with thyself, for I will ne’er see thy fause loon’s visage + again—thou should be ashamed to look me in the face.” + </p> + <p> + “I am ashamed to look no man in the face,” said Robin Oig, something + moved; “and, moreover, I will look you in the face this blessed day, if + you will bide at the Clachan down yonder.” + </p> + <p> + “Mayhap you had as well keep away,” said his comrade; and turning his back + on his former friend, he collected his unwilling associates, assisted by + the bailiff, who took some real and some affected interest in seeing + Wakefield accommodated. + </p> + <p> + After spending some time in negotiating with more than one of the + neighbouring farmers, who could not, or would not, afford the + accommodation desired, Henry Wakefield at last, and in his necessity, + accomplished his point by means of the landlord of the alehouse at which + Robin Oig and he had agreed to pass the night, when they first separated + from each other. Mine host was content to let him turn his cattle on a + piece of barren moor, at a price little less than the bailiff had asked + for the disputed enclosure; and the wretchedness of the pasture, as well + as the price paid for it, were set down as exaggerations of the breach of + faith and friendship of his Scottish crony. This turn of Wakefield’s + passions was encouraged by the bailiff, (who had his own reasons for being + offended against poor Robin, as having been the unwitting cause of his + falling into disgrace with his master), as well as by the innkeeper, and + two or three chance guests, who stimulated the drover in his resentment + against his quondam associate—some from the ancient grudge against + the Scots, which, when it exists anywhere, is to be found lurking in the + Border counties, and some from the general love of mischief, which + characterises mankind in all ranks of life, to the honour of Adam’s + children be it spoken. Good John Barleycorn also, who always heightens and + exaggerates the prevailing passions, be they angry or kindly, was not + wanting in his offices on this occasion, and confusion to false friends + and hard masters was pledged in more than one tankard. + </p> + <p> + In the meanwhile Mr. Ireby found some amusement in detaining the northern + drover at his ancient hall. He caused a cold round of beef to be placed + before the Scot in the butler’s pantry, together with a foaming tankard of + home-brewed, and took pleasure in seeing the hearty appetite with which + these unwonted edibles were discussed by Robin Oig M’Combich. The Squire + himself lighting his pipe, compounded between his patrician dignity and + his love of agricultural gossip, by walking up and down while he conversed + with his guest. + </p> + <p> + “I passed another drove,” said the Squire, “with one of your countrymen + behind them. They were something less beasts than your drove—doddies + most of them. A big man was with them. None of your kilts, though, but a + decent pair of breeches. D’ye know who he may be?” + </p> + <p> + “Hout aye; that might, could, and would be Hughie Morrison. I didna think + he could hae peen sae weel up. He has made a day on us; but his + Argyleshires will have wearied shanks. How far was he pehind?” + </p> + <p> + “I think about six or seven miles,” answered the Squire, “for I passed + them at the Christenbury Crag, and I overtook you at the Hollan Bush. If + his beasts be leg-weary, he will be maybe selling bargains.” + </p> + <p> + “Na, na, Hughie Morrison is no the man for pargains—ye maun come to + some Highland body like Robin Oig hersel’ for the like of these. Put I + maun pe wishing you goot night, and twenty of them, let alane ane, and I + maun down to the Clachan to see if the lad Harry Waakfelt is out of his + humdudgeons yet.” + </p> + <p> + The party at the alehouse were still in full talk, and the treachery of + Robin Oig still the theme of conversation, when the supposed culprit + entered the apartment. His arrival, as usually happens in such a case, put + an instant stop to the discussion of which he had furnished the subject, + and he was received by the company assembled with that chilling silence + which, more than a thousand exclamations, tells an intruder that he is + unwelcome. Surprised and offended, but not appalled by the reception which + he experienced, Robin entered with an undaunted and even a haughty air, + attempted no greeting, as he saw he was received with none, and placed + himself by the side of the fire, a little apart from a table at which + Harry Wakefield, the bailiff, and two or three other persons, were seated. + The ample Cumbrian kitchen would have afforded plenty of room, even for a + larger separation. + </p> + <p> + Robin thus seated, proceeded to light his pipe, and call for a pint of + twopenny. + </p> + <p> + “We have no twopence ale,” answered Ralph Heskett the landlord; “but as + thou find’st thy own tobacco, it’s like thou mayst find thy own liquor too—it’s + the wont of thy country, I wot.” + </p> + <p> + “Shame, goodman,” said the landlady, a blithe, bustling housewife, + hastening herself to supply the guest with liquor. “Thou knowest well enow + what the strange man wants, and it’s thy trade to be civil, man. Thou + shouldst know, that if the Scot likes a small pot, he pays a sure penny.” + </p> + <p> + Without taking any notice of this nuptial dialogue, the Highlander took + the flagon in his hand, and addressing the company generally, drank the + interesting toast of “Good markets” to the party assembled. + </p> + <p> + “The better that the wind blew fewer dealers from the north,” said one of + the farmers, “and fewer Highland runts to eat up the English meadows.” + </p> + <p> + “Saul of my pody, put you are wrang there, my friend,” answered Robin, + with composure; “it is your fat Englishmen that eat up our Scots cattle, + puir things.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish there was a summat to eat up their drovers,” said another; “a + plain Englishman canna make bread within a kenning of them.” + </p> + <p> + “Or an honest servant keep his master’s favour but they will come sliding + in between him and the sunshine,” said the bailiff. + </p> + <p> + “If these pe jokes,” said Robin Oig, with the same composure, “there is + ower mony jokes upon one man.” + </p> + <p> + “It is no joke, but downright earnest,” said the bailiff. “Harkye, Mr. + Robin Ogg, or whatever is your name, it’s right we should tell you that we + are all of one opinion, and that is, that you, Mr. Robin Ogg, have behaved + to our friend Mr. Harry Wakefield here, like a raff and a blackguard.” + </p> + <p> + “Nae doubt, nae doubt,” answered Robin, with great composure; “and you are + a set of very pretty judges, for whose prains or pehaviour I wad not gie a + pinch of sneeshing. If Mr. Harry Waakfelt kens where he is wranged, he + kens where he may be righted.” + </p> + <p> + “He speaks truth,” said Wakefield, who had listened to what passed, + divided between the offence which he had taken at Robin’s late behaviour, + and the revival of his habitual feelings of regard. + </p> + <p> + He now rose, and went towards Robin, who got up from his seat as he + approached, and held out his hand. + </p> + <p> + “That’s right, Harry—go it—serve him out,” resounded on all + sides—“tip him the nailer—show him the mill.” + </p> + <p> + “Hold your peace all of you, and be—,” said Wakefield; and then + addressing his comrade, he took him by the extended hand, with something + alike of respect and defiance. “Robin,” he said, “thou hast used me ill + enough this day; but if you mean, like a frank fellow, to shake hands, and + take a tussle for love on the sod, why I’ll forgie thee, man, and we shall + be better friends than ever.” + </p> + <p> + “And would it not pe petter to pe cood friends without more of the + matter?” said Robin; “we will be much petter friendships with our panes + hale than proken.” + </p> + <p> + Harry Wakefield dropped the hand of his friend, or rather threw it from + him. + </p> + <p> + “I did not think I had been keeping company for three years with a + coward.” + </p> + <p> + “Coward pelongs to none of my name,” said Robin, whose eyes began to + kindle, but keeping the command of his temper. “It was no coward’s legs or + hands, Harry Waakfelt, that drew you out of the fords of Frew, when you + was drifting ower the plack rock, and every eel in the river expected his + share of you.” + </p> + <p> + “And that is true enough, too,” said the Englishman, struck by the appeal. + </p> + <p> + “Adzooks!” exclaimed the bailiff—“sure Harry Wakefield, the nattiest + lad at Whitson Tryste, Wooler Fair, Carlisle Sands, or Stagshaw Bank, is + not going to show white feather? Ah, this comes of living so long with + kilts and bonnets—men forget the use of their daddles.” + </p> + <p> + “I may teach you, Master Fleecebumpkin, that I have not lost the use of + mine,” said Wakefield and then went on. “This will never do, Robin. We + must have a turn-up, or we shall be the talk of the country-side. I’ll be + d—d if I hurt thee—I’ll put on the gloves gin thou like. Come, + stand forward like a man.” + </p> + <p> + “To be peaten like a dog,” said Robin; “is there any reason in that? If + you think I have done you wrong, I’ll go before your shudge, though I + neither know his law nor his language.” + </p> + <p> + A general cry of “No, no—no law, no lawyer! a bellyful and be + friends,” was echoed by the bystanders. + </p> + <p> + “But,” continued Robin, “if I am to fight, I have no skill to fight like a + jackanapes, with hands and nails.” + </p> + <p> + “How would you fight then?” said his antagonist; “though I am thinking it + would be hard to bring you to the scratch anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “I would fight with proadswords, and sink point on the first plood drawn—like + a gentlemans.” + </p> + <p> + A loud shout of laughter followed the proposal, which indeed had rather + escaped from poor Robin’s swelling heart, than been the dictate of his + sober judgment. + </p> + <p> + “Gentleman, quotha!” was echoed on all sides, with a shout of + unextinguishable laughter; “a very pretty gentleman, God wot.—Canst + get two swords for the gentleman to fight with, Ralph Heskett?” + </p> + <p> + “No, but I can send to the armoury at Carlisle, and lend them two forks, + to be making shift with in the meantime.” + </p> + <p> + “Tush, man,” said another, “the bonny Scots come into the world with the + blue bonnet on their heads, and dirk and pistol at their belt.” + </p> + <p> + “Best send post,” said Mr. Fleecebumpkin, “to the Squire of Corby Castle, + to come and stand second to the GENTLEMAN.” + </p> + <p> + In the midst of this torrent of general ridicule, the Highlander + instinctively griped beneath the folds of his plaid, + </p> + <p> + “But it’s better not,” he said in his own language. “A hundred curses on + the swine-eaters, who know neither decency nor civility!” + </p> + <p> + “Make room, the pack of you,” he said, advancing to the door. + </p> + <p> + But his former friend interposed his sturdy bulk, and opposed his leaving + the house; and when Robin Oig attempted to make his way by force, he hit + him down on the floor, with as much ease as a boy bowls down a nine-pin. + </p> + <p> + “A ring, a ring!” was now shouted, until the dark rafters, and the hams + that hung on them, trembled again, and the very platters on the BINK + clattered against each other. “Well done, Harry”—“Give it him home, + Harry”—“Take care of him now—he sees his own blood!” + </p> + <p> + Such were the exclamations, while the Highlander, starting from the + ground, all his coldness and caution lost in frantic rage, sprung at his + antagonist with the fury, the activity, and the vindictive purpose of an + incensed tiger-cat. But when could rage encounter science and temper? + Robin Oig again went down in the unequal contest; and as the blow was + necessarily a severe one, he lay motionless on the floor of the kitchen. + The landlady ran to offer some aid, but Mr. Fleecebumpkin would not permit + her to approach. + </p> + <p> + “Let him alone,” he said, “he will come to within time, and come up to the + scratch again. He has not got half his broth yet.” + </p> + <p> + “He has got all I mean to give him, though,” said his antagonist, whose + heart began to relent towards his old associate; “and I would rather by + half give the rest to yourself, Mr. Fleecebumpkin, for you pretend to know + a thing or two, and Robin had not art enough even to peel before setting + to, but fought with his plaid dangling about him.—Stand up, Robin, + my man! All friends now; and let me hear the man that will speak a word + against you, or your country, for your sake.” + </p> + <p> + Robin Oig was still under the dominion of his passion, and eager to renew + the onset; but being withheld on the one side by the peacemaking Dame + Heskett, and on the other, aware that Wakefield no longer meant to renew + the combat, his fury sunk into gloomy sullenness. + </p> + <p> + “Come, come, never grudge so much at it, man,” said the brave-spirited + Englishman, with the placability of his country; “shake hands, and we will + be better friends than ever.” + </p> + <p> + “Friends!” exclaimed Robin Oig with strong emphasis—“friends! Never. + Look to yourself, Harry Waakfelt.” + </p> + <p> + “Then the curse of Cromwell on your proud Scots stomach, as the man says + in the play, and you may do your worst, and be d—d; for one man can + say nothing more to another after a tussle, than that he is sorry for it.” + </p> + <p> + On these terms the friends parted. Robin Oig drew out, in silence, a piece + of money, threw it on the table, and then left the alehouse. But turning + at the door, he shook his hand at Wakefield, pointing with his forefinger + upwards, in a manner which might imply either a threat or a caution. He + then disappeared in the moonlight. + </p> + <p> + Some words passed after his departure, between the bailiff, who piqued + himself on being a little of a bully, and Harry Wakefield, who, with + generous inconsistency, was now not indisposed to begin a new combat in + defence of Robin Oig’s reputation, “although he could not use his daddles + like an Englishman, as it did not come natural to him.” But Dame Heskett + prevented this second quarrel from coming to a head by her peremptory + interference. “There should be no more fighting in her house,” she said; + “there had been too much already.—And you, Mr. Wakefield, may live + to learn,” she added, “what it is to make a deadly enemy out of a good + friend.” + </p> + <p> + “Pshaw, dame! Robin Oig is an honest fellow, and will never keep malice.” + </p> + <p> + “Do not trust to that; you do not know the dour temper of the Scots, + though you have dealt with them so often. I have a right to know them, my + mother being a Scot.” + </p> + <p> + “And so is well seen on her daughter,” said Ralph Heskett. + </p> + <p> + This nuptial sarcasm gave the discourse another turn. Fresh customers + entered the tap-room or kitchen, and others left it. The conversation + turned on the expected markets, and the report of prices from different + parts both of Scotland and England. Treaties were commenced, and Harry + Wakefield was lucky enough to find a chap for a part of his drove, and at + a very considerable profit—an event of consequence more than + sufficient to blot out all remembrances of the unpleasant scuffle in the + earlier part of the day. But there remained one party from whose mind that + recollection could not have been wiped away by the possession of every + head of cattle betwixt Esk and Eden. + </p> + <p> + This was Robin Oig M’Combich. “That I should have had no weapon,” he said, + “and for the first time in my life! Blighted be the tongue that bids the + Highlander part with the dirk. The dirk—ha! the English blood! My + Muhme’s word! When did her word fall to the ground?” + </p> + <p> + The recollection of the fatal prophecy confirmed the deadly intention + which instantly sprang up in his mind. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! Morrison cannot be many miles behind; and if it were an hundred, what + then?” + </p> + <p> + His impetuous spirit had now a fixed purpose and motive of action, and he + turned the light foot of his country towards the wilds, through which he + knew, by Mr. Ireby’s report, that Morrison was advancing. His mind was + wholly engrossed by the sense of injury—injury sustained from a + friend; and by the desire of vengeance on one whom he now accounted his + most bitter enemy. The treasured ideas of self-importance and self-opinion—of + ideal birth and quality, had become more precious to him, (like the hoard + to the miser) because he could only enjoy them in secret. But that hoard + was pillaged—the idols which he had secretly worshipped had been + desecrated and profaned. Insulted, abused, and beaten, he was no longer + worthy, in his own opinion, of the name he bore, or the lineage which he + belonged to. Nothing was left to him—nothing but revenge; and as the + reflection added a galling spur to every step, he determined it should be + as sudden and signal as the offence. + </p> + <p> + When Robin Oig left the door of the alehouse, seven or eight English miles + at least lay betwixt Morrison and him. The advance of the former was slow, + limited by the sluggish pace of his cattle; the latter left behind him + stubble-field and hedgerow, crag and dark heath, all glittering with + frost-rime in the broad November moonlight, at the rate of six miles an + hour. And now the distant lowing of Morrison’s cattle is heard; and now + they are seen creeping like moles in size and slowness of motion on the + broad face of the moor; and now he meets them—passes them, and stops + their conductor. + </p> + <p> + “May good betide us,” said the Westlander. “Is this you, Robin M’Combich, + or your wraith?” + </p> + <p> + “It is Robin Oig M’Combich,” answered the Highlander, “and it is not. But + never mind that, put pe giving me the skene-dhu.” + </p> + <p> + “What! you are for back to the Highlands! The devil! Have you selt all off + before the fair? This beats all for quick markets!” + </p> + <p> + “I have not sold—I am not going north—maype I will never go + north again. Give me pack my dirk, Hugh Morrison, or there will pe words + petween us.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, Robin, I’ll be better advised before I gie it back to you; it is + a wanchancy weapon in a Highlandman’s hand, and I am thinking you will be + about some harns-breaking.” + </p> + <p> + “Prutt, trutt! let me have my weapon,” said Robin Oig impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “Hooly and fairly,” said his well-meaning friend. “I’ll tell you what will + do better than these dirking doings. Ye ken Highlander, and Lowlander, and + Border-men are a’ ae man’s bairns when you are over the Scots dyke. See, + the Eskdale callants, and fighting Charlie of Liddesdale, and the Lockerby + lads, and the four Dandies of Lustruther, and a wheen mair grey plaids, + are coming up behind; and if you are wranged, there is the hand of a Manly + Morrison, we’ll see you righted, if Carlisle and Stanwix baith took up the + feud.” + </p> + <p> + “To tell you the truth,” said Robin Oig, desirous of eluding the + suspicions of his friend, “I have enlisted with a party of the Black + Watch, and must march off to-morrow morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Enlisted! Were you mad or drunk? You must buy yourself off. I can lend + you twenty notes, and twenty to that, if the drove sell.” + </p> + <p> + “I thank you—thank ye, Hughie; but I go with good-will the gate that + I am going. So the dirk, the dirk!” + </p> + <p> + “There it is for you then, since less wunna serve. But think on what I was + saying. Waes me, it will be sair news in the braes of Balquidder that + Robin Oig M’Combich should have run an ill gate, and ta’en on.” + </p> + <p> + “Ill news in Balquidder, indeed!” echoed poor Robin. “But Cot speed you, + Hughie, and send you good marcats. Ye winna meet with Robin Oig again, + either at tryste or fair.” + </p> + <p> + So saying, he shook hastily the hand of his acquaintance, and set out in + the direction from which he had advanced, with the spirit of his former + pace. + </p> + <p> + “There is something wrang with the lad,” muttered the Morrison to himself; + “but we will maybe see better into it the morn’s morning.” + </p> + <p> + But long ere the morning dawned, the catastrophe of our tale had taken + place. It was two hours after the affray had happened, and it was totally + forgotten by almost every one, when Robin Oig returned to Heskett’s inn. + The place was filled at once by various sorts of men, and with noises + corresponding to their character. There were the grave low sounds of men + engaged in busy traffic, with the laugh, the song, and the riotous jest of + those who had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves. Among the last was + Harry Wakefield, who, amidst a grinning group of smock-frocks, hobnailed + shoes, and jolly English physiognomies, was trolling forth the old ditty,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “What though my name be Roger, + Who drives the plough and cart—” + </pre> + <p> + when he was interrupted by a well-known voice saying in a high and stern + voice, marked by the sharp Highland accent, “Harry Waakfelt—if you + be a man stand up!” + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?—what is it?” the guests demanded of each other. + </p> + <p> + “It is only a d—d Scotsman,” said Fleecebumpkin, who was by this + time very drunk, “whom Harry Wakefield helped to his broth to-day, who is + now come to have HIS CAULD KAIL het again.” + </p> + <p> + “Harry Waakfelt,” repeated the same ominous summons, “stand up, if you be + a man!” + </p> + <p> + There is something in the tone of deep and concentrated passion, which + attracts attention and imposes awe, even by the very sound. The guests + shrunk back on every side, and gazed at the Highlander as he stood in the + middle of them, his brows bent, and his features rigid with resolution. + </p> + <p> + “I will stand up with all my heart, Robin, my boy, but it shall be to + shake hands with you, and drink down all unkindness. It is not the fault + of your heart, man, that you don’t know how to clench your hands.” + </p> + <p> + By this time he stood opposite to his antagonist, his open and + unsuspecting look strangely contrasted with the stern purpose, which + gleamed wild, dark, and vindictive in the eyes of the Highlander. + </p> + <p> + “‘Tis not thy fault, man, that, not having the luck to be an Englishman, + thou canst not fight more than a school-girl.” + </p> + <p> + “I can fight,” answered Robin Oig sternly, but calmly, “and you shall know + it. You, Harry Waakfelt, showed me to-day how the Saxon churls fight; I + show you now how the Highland Dunnie-wassel fights.” + </p> + <p> + He seconded the word with the action, and plunged the dagger, which he + suddenly displayed, into the broad breast of the English yeoman, with such + fatal certainty and force that the hilt made a hollow sound against the + breast-bone, and the double-edged point split the very heart of his + victim. Harry Wakefield fell and expired with a single groan. His assassin + next seized the bailiff by the collar, and offered the bloody poniard to + his throat, whilst dread and surprise rendered the man incapable of + defence. + </p> + <p> + “It were very just to lay you peside him,” he said, “but the blood of a + pase pickthank shall never mix on my father’s dirk, with that of a brave + man.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke, he cast the man from him with so much force that he fell on + the floor, while Robin, with his other hand, threw the fatal weapon into + the blazing turf-fire. + </p> + <p> + “There,” he said, “take me who likes—and let fire cleanse blood if + it can.” + </p> + <p> + The pause of astonishment still continuing, Robin Oig asked for a + peace-officer, and a constable having stepped out, he surrendered himself + to his custody. + </p> + <p> + “A bloody night’s work you have made of it,” said the constable. + </p> + <p> + “Your own fault,” said the Highlander. “Had you kept his hands off me twa + hours since, he would have been now as well and merry as he was twa + minutes since.” + </p> + <p> + “It must be sorely answered,” said the peace-officer. + </p> + <p> + “Never you mind that—death pays all debts; it will pay that too.” + </p> + <p> + The horror of the bystanders began now to give way to indignation, and the + sight of a favourite companion murdered in the midst of them, the + provocation being, in their opinion, so utterly inadequate to the excess + of vengeance, might have induced them to kill the perpetrator of the deed + even upon the very spot. The constable, however, did his duty on this + occasion, and with the assistance of some of the more reasonable persons + present, procured horses to guard the prisoner to Carlisle, to abide his + doom at the next assizes. While the escort was preparing, the prisoner + neither expressed the least interest, nor attempted the slightest reply. + Only, before he was carried from the fatal apartment, he desired to look + at the dead body, which, raised from the floor, had been deposited upon + the large table (at the head of which Harry Wakefield had presided but a + few minutes before, full of life, vigour, and animation), until the + surgeons should examine the mortal wound. The face of the corpse was + decently covered with a napkin. To the surprise and horror of the + bystanders, which displayed itself in a general AH! drawn through clenched + teeth and half-shut lips, Robin Oig removed the cloth, and gazed with a + mournful but steady eye on the lifeless visage, which had been so lately + animated that the smile of good-humoured confidence in his own strength, + of conciliation at once and contempt towards his enemy, still curled his + lip. While those present expected that the wound, which had so lately + flooded the apartment with gore, would send forth fresh streams at the + touch of the homicide, Robin Oig replaced the covering with the brief + exclamation, “He was a pretty man!” + </p> + <p> + My story is nearly ended. The unfortunate Highlander stood his trial at + Carlisle. I was myself present, and as a young Scottish lawyer, or + barrister at least, and reputed a man of some quality, the politeness of + the Sheriff of Cumberland offered me a place on the bench. The facts of + the case were proved in the manner I have related them; and whatever might + be at first the prejudice of the audience against a crime so un-English as + that of assassination from revenge, yet when the rooted national + prejudices of the prisoner had been explained, which made him consider + himself as stained with indelible dishonour, when subjected to personal + violence—when his previous patience, moderation, and endurance were + considered—the generosity of the English audience was inclined to + regard his crime as the wayward aberration of a false idea of honour + rather than as flowing from a heart naturally savage, or perverted by + habitual vice. I shall never forget the charge of the venerable judge to + the jury, although not at that time liable to be much affected either by + that which was eloquent or pathetic. + </p> + <p> + “We have had,” he said, “in the previous part of our duty” (alluding to + some former trials), “to discuss crimes which infer disgust and + abhorrence, while they call down the well-merited vengeance of the law. It + is now our still more melancholy task to apply its salutary though severe + enactments to a case of a very singular character, in which the crime (for + a crime it is, and a deep one) arose less out of the malevolence of the + heart, than the error of the understanding—less from any idea of + committing wrong, than from an unhappily perverted notion of that which is + right. Here we have two men, highly esteemed, it has been stated, in their + rank of life, and attached, it seems, to each other as friends, one of + whose lives has been already sacrificed to a punctilio, and the other is + about to prove the vengeance of the offended laws; and yet both may claim + our commiseration at least, as men acting in ignorance of each other’s + national prejudices, and unhappily misguided rather than voluntarily + erring from the path of right conduct. + </p> + <p> + “In the original cause of the misunderstanding, we must in justice give + the right to the prisoner at the bar. He had acquired possession of the + enclosure, which was the object of competition, by a legal contract with + the proprietor, Mr. Ireby; and yet, when accosted with reproaches + undeserved in themselves, and galling, doubtless, to a temper at least + sufficiently susceptible of passion, he offered notwithstanding, to yield + up half his acquisition, for the sake of peace and good neighbourhood, and + his amicable proposal was rejected with scorn. Then follows the scene at + Mr. Heskett the publican’s, and you will observe how the stranger was + treated by the deceased, and, I am sorry to observe, by those around, who + seem to have urged him in a manner which was aggravating in the highest + degree. While he asked for peace and for composition, and offered + submission to a magistrate, or to a mutual arbiter, the prisoner was + insulted by a whole company, who seem on this occasion to have forgotten + the national maxim of ‘fair play;’ and while attempting to escape from the + place in peace, he was intercepted, struck down, and beaten to the + effusion of his blood. + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen of the jury, it was with some impatience that I heard my + learned brother who opened the case for the crown give an unfavourable + turn to the prisoner’s conduct on this occasion. He said the prisoner was + afraid to encounter his antagonist in fair fight, or to submit to the laws + of the ring; and that therefore, like a cowardly Italian, he had recourse + to his fatal stiletto, to murder the man whom he dared not meet in manly + encounter. I observed the prisoner shrink from this part of the accusation + with the abhorrence natural to a brave man; and as I would wish to make my + words impressive when I point his real crime, I must secure his opinion of + my impartiality by rebutting everything that seems to me a false + accusation. There can be no doubt that the prisoner is a man of resolution—too + much resolution. I wish to Heaven that he had less—or, rather that + he had had a better education to regulate it. + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen, as to the laws my brother talks of, they may be known in the + bull-ring, or the bear-garden, or the cock-pit, but they are not known + here. Or, if they should be so far admitted as furnishing a species of + proof that no malice was intended in this sort of combat, from which fatal + accidents do sometimes arise, it can only be so admitted when both parties + are IN PARI CASU, equally acquainted with, and equally willing to refer + themselves to, that species of arbitrament. But will it be contended that + a man of superior rank and education is to be subjected, or is obliged to + subject himself, to this coarse and brutal strife, perhaps in opposition + to a younger, stronger, or more skilful opponent? Certainly even the + pugilistic code, if founded upon the fair play of Merry Old England, as my + brother alleges it to be, can contain nothing so preposterous. And, + gentlemen of the jury, if the laws would support an English gentleman, + wearing, we will suppose, his sword, in defending himself by force against + a violent personal aggression of the nature offered to this prisoner, they + will not less protect a foreigner and a stranger, involved in the same + unpleasing circumstances. If, therefore, gentlemen of the jury, when thus + pressed by a VIS MAJOR, the object of obloquy to a whole company, and of + direct violence from one at least, and, as he might reasonably apprehend, + from more, the panel had produced the weapon which his countrymen, as we + are informed, generally carry about their persons, and the same unhappy + circumstance had ensued which you have heard detailed in evidence, I could + not in my conscience have asked from you a verdict of murder. The + prisoner’s personal defence might indeed, even in that case, have gone + more or less beyond the MODERAMEN INCULPATAE TUTELAE, spoken of by + lawyers; but the punishment incurred would have been that of manslaughter, + not of murder. I beg leave to add that I should have thought this milder + species of charge was demanded in the case supposed, notwithstanding the + statute of James I. cap. 8, which takes the case of slaughter by stabbing + with a short weapon, even without MALICE PREPENSE, out of the benefit of + clergy. For this statute of stabbing, as it is termed, arose out of a + temporary cause; and as the real guilt is the same, whether the slaughter + be committed by the dagger, or by sword or pistol, the benignity of the + modern law places them all on the same, or nearly the same, footing. + </p> + <p> + “But, gentlemen of the jury, the pinch of the case lies in the interval of + two hours interposed betwixt the reception of the injury and the fatal + retaliation. In the heat of affray and CHAUDE MELEE, law, compassionating + the infirmities of humanity, makes allowance for the passions which rule + such a stormy moment—for the sense of present pain, for the + apprehension of further injury, for the difficulty of ascertaining with + due accuracy the precise degree of violence which is necessary to protect + the person of the individual, without annoying or injuring the assailant + more than is absolutely necessary. But the time necessary to walk twelve + miles, however speedily performed, was an interval sufficient for the + prisoner to have recollected himself; and the violence with which he + carried his purpose into effect, with so many circumstances of deliberate + determination, could neither be induced by the passion of anger, nor that + of fear. It was the purpose and the act of predetermined revenge, for + which law neither can, will, nor ought to have sympathy or allowance. + </p> + <p> + “It is true, we may repeat to ourselves, in alleviation of this poor man’s + unhappy action, that his case is a very peculiar one. The country which he + inhabits was, in the days of many now alive, inaccessible to the laws, not + only of England, which have not even yet penetrated thither, but to those + to which our neighbours of Scotland are subjected, and which must be + supposed to be, and no doubt actually are, founded upon the general + principles of justice and equity which pervade every civilized country. + Amongst their mountains, as among the North American Indians, the various + tribes were wont to make war upon each other, so that each man was obliged + to go armed for his own protection. These men, from the ideas which they + entertained of their own descent and of their own consequence, regarded + themselves as so many cavaliers or men-at-arms, rather than as the + peasantry of a peaceful country. Those laws of the ring, as my brother + terms them, were unknown to the race of warlike mountaineers; that + decision of quarrels by no other weapons than those which nature has given + every man must to them have seemed as vulgar and as preposterous as to the + NOBLESSE of France. Revenge, on the other hand, must have been as familiar + to their habits of society as to those of the Cherokees or Mohawks. It is + indeed, as described by Bacon, at bottom a kind of wild untutored justice; + for the fear of retaliation must withhold the hands of the oppressor where + there is no regular law to check daring violence. But though all this may + be granted, and though we may allow that, such having been the case of the + Highlands in the days of the prisoner’s fathers, many of the opinions and + sentiments must still continue to influence the present generation, it + cannot, and ought not, even in this most painful case, to alter the + administration of the law, either in your hands, gentlemen of the jury, or + in mine. The first object of civilisation is to place the general + protection of the law, equally administered, in the room of that wild + justice which every man cut and carved for himself, according to the + length of his sword and the strength of his arm. The law says to the + subjects, with a voice only inferior to that of the Deity, ‘Vengeance is + mine.’ The instant that there is time for passion to cool, and reason to + interpose, an injured party must become aware that the law assumes the + exclusive cognisance of the right and wrong betwixt the parties, and + opposes her inviolable buckler to every attempt of the private party to + right himself. I repeat that this unhappy man ought personally to be the + object rather of our pity than our abhorrence, for he failed in his + ignorance, and from mistaken notions of honour. But his crime is not the + less that of murder, gentlemen, and, in your high and important office, it + is your duty so to find. Englishmen have their angry passions as well as + Scots; and should this man’s action remain unpunished, you may unsheath, + under various pretences, a thousand daggers betwixt the Land’s-End and the + Orkneys.” + </p> + <p> + The venerable Judge thus ended what, to judge by his apparent emotion, and + by the tears which filled his eyes, was really a painful task. The jury, + according to his instructions, brought in a verdict of Guilty; and Robin + Oig M’Combich, ALIAS McGregor, was sentenced to death, and left for + execution, which took place accordingly. He met his fate with great + firmness, and acknowledged the justice of his sentence. But he repelled + indignantly the observations of those who accused him of attacking an + unarmed man. “I give a life for the life I took,” he said, “and what can I + do more?” [See Note 11.—Robert Donn’s Poems.] + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE1" id="link2H_NOTE1"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTES. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE2" id="link2H_NOTE2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTES TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + </h2> + <h3> + Note 1.—HOLYROOD. + </h3> + <p> + The reader may be gratified with Hector Boece’s narrative of the original + foundation of the famous abbey of Holyrood, or the Holy Cross, as given in + Bellenden’s translation:— + </p> + <p> + “Eftir death of Alexander the first, his brothir David come out of + Ingland, and wes crownit at Scone, the yeir of God MCXXIV yeiris, and did + gret justice, eftir his coronation, in all partis of his realme. He had na + weris during the time of King Hary; and wes so pietuous, that he sat + daylie in judgement, to caus his pure commonis to have justice; and causit + the actionis of his noblis to be decidit be his othir jugis. He gart ilk + juge redres the skaithis that come to the party be his wrang sentence; + throw quhilk, he decorit his realm with mony nobil actis, and ejeckit the + vennomus custome of riotus cheir, quhilk wes inducit afore be Inglismen, + quhen thay com with Quene Margaret; for the samin wes noisum to al gud + maneris, makand his pepil tender and effeminat. + </p> + <p> + “In the fourt yeir of his regne, this nobill prince come to visie the + madin Castell of Edinburgh. At this time, all the boundis of Scotland were + ful of woddis, lesouris, and medois; for the countre wes more gevin to + store of bestiall, than ony productioun of cornis; and about this castell + was ane gret forest, full of haris, hindis, toddis, and siclike maner of + beistis. Now was the Rude Day cumin, called the Exaltation of the Croce; + and, becaus the samin wes ane hie solempne day, the king past to his + contemplation. Eftir the messis wer done with maist solempnitie and + reverence, comperit afore him mony young and insolent baronis of Scotland, + richt desirus to haif sum plesur and solace, be chace of hundis in the + said forest. At this time wes with the king ane man of singulare and + devoit life, namit Alkwine, channon eftir the ordour of Sanct Augustine, + quhilk well lang time confessoure, afore, to King David in Ingland, the + time that he wes Erle of Huntingtoun and Northumbirland. This religious + man dissuadit the king, be mony reasonis, to pas to this huntis; and + allegit the day wes so solempne, be reverence of the haly croce, that he + suld gif him erar, for that day, to contemplation, than ony othir + exersition. Nochtheles, his dissuasion is litill avalit; for the king wes + finallie so provokit, be inoportune solicitatioun of his baronis, that he + past, nochtwithstanding the solempnite of this day, to his hountis. At + last, quhen he wes cumin throw the vail that lyis to the gret eist fra the + said castell, quhare now lyis the Canongait, the staik past throw the wod + with sic noyis and din of rachis and bugillis, that all the bestis were + rasit fra thair dennis. Now wes the king cumin to the fute of the crag, + and all his nobilis severit, heir and thair, fra him, at thair game and + solace; quhen suddenlie apperit to his sicht the fairist hart that evir + wes sene afore with levand creature. The noyis and din of this hart + rinnand, as apperit, with awful and braid tindis, maid the kingis hors so + effrayit, that na renzeis micht hald him, bot ran, perforce, ouir mire and + mossis, away with the king. Nochtheles, the hart followit so fast, that he + dang baith the king and his hors to the ground. Than the king kest abak + his handis betwix the tindis of this hart, to haif savit him fra the strak + thairof; and the haly croce slaid, incontinent, in his handis. The hart + fled away with gret violence, and evanist in the same place quhare now + springis the Rude Well. The pepil richt affrayitly, returnit to him out of + all partis of the wod, to comfort him efter his trubill; and fell on + kneis, devotly adoring the haly croce; for it was not cumin but sum + hevinly providence, as weill apperis; for thair is na man can schaw of + quhat mater it is of, metal or tre. Sone eftir, the king returnit to his + castell; and in the nicht following, he was admonist, be ane vision in his + sleip, to big ane abbay of channonis regular in the same place quhare he + gat the croce. Als sone as he was awalkinnit, he schew his visione to + Alkwine, his confessoure; and he na thing suspended his gud mind, bot erar + inflammit him with maist fervent devotion thairto. The king, incontinent, + send his traist servandis in France and Flanderis, and brocht richt crafty + masonis to big this abbay; syne dedicat it in the honour of this haly + croce. The croce remanit continewally in the said abbay, to the time of + King David Bruce; quhilk was unhappily tane with it at Durame, quhare it + is haldin yit in gret veneration.”—BOECE, BOOK 12, CH. 16. + </p> + <p> + It is by no means clear what Scottish prince first built a palace, + properly so called, in the precincts of this renowned seat of sanctity. + The abbey, endowed by successive sovereigns and many powerful nobles with + munificent gifts of lands and tithes, came, in process of time, to be one + of the most important of the ecclesiastical corporations of Scotland; and + as early as the days of Robert Bruce, parliaments were held occasionally + within its buildings. We have evidence that James IV. had a royal lodging + adjoining to the cloister; but it is generally agreed that the first + considerable edifice for the accommodation of the royal family erected + here was that of James V., anno 1525, great part of which still remains, + and forms the north-western side of the existing palace. The more modern + buildings which complete the quadrangle were erected by King Charles II. + The name of the old conventual church was used as the parish church of the + Canongate from the period of the Reformation, until James II. claimed it + for his chapel royal, and had it fitted up accordingly in a style of + splendour which grievously outraged the feelings of his Presbyterian + subjects. The roof of this fragment of a once magnificent church fell in + in the year 1768, and it has remained ever since in a state of desolation. + For fuller particulars, see the PROVINCIAL ANTIQUITIES OF SCOTLAND, or the + HISTORY OF HOLYROOD, BY MR. CHARLES MACKIE. + </p> + <p> + The greater part of this ancient palace is now again occupied by his + Majesty Charles the Tenth of France, and the rest of that illustrious + family, which, in former ages so closely connected by marriage and + alliance with the house of Stewart, seems to have been destined to run a + similar career of misfortune. REQUIESCANT IN PACE! + </p> + <p> + Note 2.—STEELE, A COVENANTER, SHOT BY CAPTAIN CREICHTON. + </p> + <p> + The following extract from Swift’s Life of Creichton gives the particulars + of the bloody scene alluded to in the text:— + </p> + <p> + “Having drank hard one night, I (Creichton) dreamed that I had found + Captain David Steele, a notorious rebel, in one of the five farmers’ + houses on a mountain in the shire of Clydesdale, and parish of Lismahago, + within eight miles of Hamilton, a place that I was well acquainted with. + This man was head of the rebels since the affair of Airs-Moss, having + succeeded to Hackston, who had been there taken, and afterward hanged, as + the reader has already heard; for, as to Robert Hamilton, who was then + Commander-in-chief at Bothwell Bridge, he appeared no more among them, but + fled, as it was believed, to Holland. + </p> + <p> + “Steele, and his father before him, held a farm in the estate of Hamilton, + within two or three miles of that town. When he betook himself to arms, + the farm lay waste, and the Duke could find no other person who would + venture to take it; whereupon his Grace sent several messages to Steele, + to know the reason why he kept the farm waste. The Duke received no other + answer than that he would keep it waste, in spite of him and the king too; + whereupon his Grace, at whose table I had always the honour to be a + welcome guest, desired I would use my endeavours to destroy that rogue, + and I would oblige him for ever.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “I return to my story. When I awaked out of my dream, as I had done before + in the affair of Wilson (and I desire the same apology I made in the + introduction to these Memoirs may serve for both), I presently rose, and + ordered thirty-six dragoons to be at the place appointed by break of day. + When we arrived thither, I sent a party to each of the five farmers’ + houses. This villain Steele had murdered above forty of the king’s + subjects in cold blood, and, as I was informed, had often laid snares to + entrap me; but it happened that, although he usually kept a gang to attend + him, yet at this time he had none, when he stood in the greatest need. One + of the party found him in one of the farmers’ houses, just as I happened + to dream. The dragoons first searched all the rooms below without success, + till two of them hearing somebody stirring over their heads, went up a + pair of turnpike stairs. Steele had put on his clothes while the search + was making below; the chamber where he lay was called the Chamber of + Deese, [Or chamber of state; so called from the DAIS, or canopy and + elevation of floor, which distinguished the part of old halls which was + occupied by those of high rank. Hence the phrase was obliquely used to + signify state in general.] which is the name given to a room where the + laird lies when he comes to a tenant’s house. Steele suddenly opening the + door, fired a blunderbuss down at the two dragoons, as they were coming up + the stairs; but the bullets grazing against the side of the turnpike, only + wounded, and did not kill them. Then Steele violently threw himself down + the stairs among them, and made towards the door to save his life, but + lost it upon the spot; for the dragoons who guarded the house dispatched + him with their broadswords. I was not with the party when he was killed, + being at that time employed in searching one of the other houses, but I + soon found what had happened, by hearing the noise of the shot made with + the blunderbuss; from whence I returned straight to Lanark, and + immediately sent one of the dragoons express to General Drummond at + Edinburgh.”—SWIFT’S WORKS, VOL.XII. (MEMOIRS OF CAPTAIN JOHN + CREICHTON), pages 57-59, Edit. Edinb. 1824. + </p> + <p> + Woodrow gives a different account of this exploit:—“In December this + year, (1686), David Steil, in the parish of Lismahagow, was surprised in + the fields by Lieutenant Creichton, and after his surrender of himself on + quarters, he was in a very little time most barbarously shot, and lies + buried in the churchyard there.” + </p> + <p> + Note 3.—IRON RASP. + </p> + <p> + The ingenious Mr. R. CHAMBERS’S Traditions of Edinburgh give the following + account of the forgotten rasp or risp:— + </p> + <p> + “This house had a PIN or RISP at the door, instead of the more modern + convenience—a knocker. The pin, rendered interesting by the figure + which it makes in Scottish song, was formed of a small rod of iron, + twisted or notched, which was placed perpendicularly, starting out a + little from the door, and bore a small ring of the same metal, which an + applicant for admittance drew rapidly up and down the NICKS, so as to + produce a grating sound. Sometimes the rod was simply stretched across the + VIZZYING hole, a convenient aperture through which the porter could take + cognisance of the person applying; in which case it acted also as a + stanchion. These were almost all disused about sixty years ago, when + knockers were generally substituted as more genteel. But knockers at that + time did not long remain in repute, though they have never been altogether + superseded, even by bells, in the Old Town. The comparative merit of + knockers and pins was for a long time a subject of doubt, and many + knockers got their heads twisted off in the course of the dispute.”—CHAMBERS’S + TRADITIONS OF EDINBURGH. + </p> + <p> + Note 4.—COUNTESS OF EGLINTON. + </p> + <p> + Susannah Kennedy, daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy of Cullean, Bart., by + Elizabeth Lesly, daughter of David Lord Newark, third wife of Alexander + 9th Earl of Eglinton, and mother of the 10th and 11th Earls. She survived + her husband, who died 1729, no less than fifty-seven years, and died March + 1780, in her ninety-first year. Allan Ramsay’s Gentle Shepherd, published + 1726, is dedicated to her, in verse, by Hamilton of Bangour. + </p> + <p> + The following account of this distinguished lady is taken from Boswell’s + Life of Johnson by Mr. Croker:— + </p> + <p> + “Lady Margaret Dalrymple, only daughter of John, Earl of Stair, married in + 1700, to Hugh, third Earl of Loudoun. She died in 1777, aged ONE HUNDRED. + Of this venerable lady, and of the Countess of Eglintoune, whom Johnson + visited next day, he thus speaks in his JOURNEY:—‘Length of life is + distributed impartially to very different modes of life, in very different + climates; and the mountains have no greater examples of age than the + Lowlands, where I was introduced to two ladies of high quality, one of + whom (Lady Loudoun) in her ninety-fourth year, presided at her table with + the full exercise of all her powers, and the other (Lady Eglintoun) had + attained her eighty-fourth year, without any diminution of her vivacity, + and little reason to accuse time of depredations on her beauty.’” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “Lady Eglintoune, though she was now in her eighty-fifth year, and had + lived in the retirement of the country for almost half a century, was + still a very agreeable woman. She was of the noble house of Kennedy, and + had all the elevation which the consciousness of such birth inspires. Her + figure was majestic, her manners high-bred, her reading extensive, and her + conversation elegant. She had been the admiration of the gay circles of + life, and the patroness of poets. Dr. Johnson was delighted with his + reception here. Her principles in church and state were congenial with + his. She knew all his merit, and had heard much of him from her son, Earl + Alexander, who loved to cultivate the acquaintance of men of talents in + every department.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “In the course of our conversation this day, it came out that Lady + Eglintoune was married the year before Dr. Johnson was born; upon which + she graciously said to him, that she might have been his mother, and that + she now adopted him, and when we were going away, she embraced him, + saying, ‘My dear son, farewell!’ My friend was much pleased with this + day’s entertainment, and owned that I had done well to force him out.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “At Sir Alexander Dick’s, from that absence of mind to which every man is + at times subject, I told, in a blundering manner, Lady Eglintoune’s + complimentary adoption of Dr. Johnson as her son; for I unfortunately + stated that her ladyship adopted him as her son, in consequence of her + having been married the year AFTER he was born. Dr. Johnson instantly + corrected me. ‘Sir, don’t you perceive that you are defaming the Countess? + For, supposing me to be her son, and that she was not married till the + year after my birth, I must have been her NATURAL son.’ A young lady of + quality who was present very handsomely said, ‘Might not the son have + justified the fault?’ My friend was much flattered by this compliment, + which he never forgot. When in more than ordinary spirits, and talking of + his journey in Scotland, he has called to me, ‘Boswell, what was it that + the young lady of quality said of me at Sir Alexander Dick’s?’ Nobody will + doubt that I was happy in repeating it.” + </p> + <p> + Note 5.—EARL OF WINTON. + </p> + <p> + The incident here alluded to is thus narrated in Nichols’ Progresses of + James I., Vol.III. p.306:— + </p> + <p> + “The family” (of Winton) “owed its first elevation to the union of Sir + Christopher Seton with a sister of King Robert Bruce. With King James VI. + they acquired great favour, who, having created his brother Earl of + Dunfermline in 1599, made Robert, seventh Lord Seton, Earl of Winton in + 1600. Before the King’s accession to the English throne, his Majesty and + the Queen were frequently at Seton, where the Earl kept a very hospitable + table, at which all foreigners of quality were entertained on their visits + to Scotland. His Lordship died in 1603, and was buried on the 5th of + April, on the very day the King left Edinburgh for England. His Majesty, + we are told, was pleased to rest himself at the south-west round of the + orchard of Seton, on the highway, till the funeral was over, that he might + not withdraw the noble company; and he said that he had lost a good, + faithful, and loyal subject.”—NICHOLS’ PROGRESSES OF K. JAMES I., + VOL.III. p.306. + </p> + <p> + Note 6.—MACGREGOR OF GLENSTRAE. + </p> + <p> + “The 2 of Octr: (1603) Allaster MacGregor of Glenstrae tane be the laird + Arkynles, bot escapit againe; bot after taken be the Earle of Argyll the 4 + of Januarii, and brought to Edr: the 9 of Januar: 1604, wt: 18 mae of hes + friendes MacGregors. He wes convoyit to Berwick be the gaird, conform to + the Earle’s promes; for he promesit to put him out of Scottis grund: Sua, + he keipit an Hielandman’s promes, in respect he sent the gaird to convoy + him out of Scottis grund; bot yai wer not directit to pairt wt: him, bot + to fetche him bak againe. The 18 of Januar, he came at evin againe to + Edinburghe; and upone the 20 day, he was hangit at the crosse, and ij of + his freindes and name, upon ane gallows: himself being chieff, he was + hangit his awin hight above the rest of hes freindis.”—BIRRELL’S + DIARY, (IN DALZELL’S FRAGMENTS OF SCOTTISH HISTORY),pp.60,61. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE3" id="link2H_NOTE3"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTES TO THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + </h2> + <h3> + Note 7.—LOCH AWE. + </h3> + <p> + “Loch Awe, upon the banks of which the scene of action took place, is + thirty-four miles in length. The north side is bounded by wide muirs and + inconsiderable hills, which occupy an extent of country from twelve to + twenty miles in breadth, and the whole of this space is enclosed as by + circumvallation. Upon the north it is barred by Loch Eitive, on the south + by Loch Awe, and on the east by the dreadful pass of Brandir, through + which an arm of the latter lake opens, at about four miles from its + eastern extremity, and discharges the river Awe into the former. The pass + is about three miles in length; its east side is bounded by the almost + inaccessible steeps which form the base of the vast and rugged mountain of + Cruachan. The crags rise in some places almost perpendicularly from the + water, and for their chief extent show no space nor level at their feet, + but a rough and narrow edge of stony beach. Upon the whole of these cliffs + grows a thick and interwoven wood of all kinds of trees, both timber, + dwarf, and coppice; no track existed through the wilderness, but a winding + path, which sometimes crept along the precipitous height, and sometimes + descended in a straight pass along the margin of the water. Near the + extremity of the defile, a narrow level opened between the water and the + crag; but a great part of this, as well as of the preceding steeps, was + formerly enveloped in a thicket, which showed little facility to the feet + of any but the martens and wild cats. Along the west side of the pass lies + a wall of sheer and barren crags. From behind they rise in rough, uneven, + and heathy declivities, out of the wide muir before mentioned, between + Loch Eitive and Loch Awe; but in front they terminate abruptly in the most + frightful precipices, which form the whole side of the pass, and descend + at one fall into the water which fills its trough. At the north end of the + barrier, and at the termination of the pass, lies that part of the cliff + which is called Craiganuni; at its foot the arm of the lake gradually + contracts its water to a very narrow space, and at length terminates at + two rocks (called the Rocks of Brandir), which form a strait channel, + something resembling the lock of a canal. From this outlet there is a + continual descent towards Loch Eitive, and from hence the river Awe pours + out its current in a furious stream, foaming over a bed broken with holes, + and cumbered with masses of granite and whinstone. + </p> + <p> + “If ever there was a bridge near Craiganuni in ancient times, it must have + been at the Rocks of Brandir. From the days of Wallace to those of General + Wade, there were never passages of this kind but in places of great + necessity, too narrow for a boat, and too wide for a leap; even then they + were but an unsafe footway formed of the trunks of trees placed + transversely from rock to rock, unstripped of their bark, and destitute of + either plank or rail. For such a structure there is no place in the + neighbourhood of Craiganuni but at the rocks above mentioned. In the lake + and on the river the water is far too wide; but at the strait the space is + not greater than might be crossed by a tall mountain pine, and the rocks + on either side are formed by nature like a pier. That this point was + always a place of passage is rendered probable by its facility and the use + of recent times. It is not long since it was the common gate of the + country on either side the river and the pass: the mode of crossing is yet + in the memory of people living, and was performed by a little currach + moored on either side the water, and a stout cable fixed across the stream + from bank to bank, by which the passengers drew themselves across in the + manner still practised in places of the same nature. It is no argument + against the existence of a bridge in former times that the above method + only existed in ours, rather than a passage of that kind, which would seem + the more improved expedient. The contradiction is sufficiently accounted + for by the decay of timber in the neighbourhood. Of old, both oaks and + firs of an immense size abounded within a very inconsiderable distance; + but it is now many years since the destruction of the forests of Glen + Eitive and Glen Urcha has deprived the country of all the trees of + sufficient size to cross the strait of Brandir; and it is probable that + the currach was not introduced till the want of timber had disenabled the + inhabitants of the country from maintaining a bridge. It only further + remains to be noticed that at some distance below the Rocks of Brandir + there was formerly a ford, which was used for cattle in the memory of + people living; from the narrowness of the passage, the force of the + stream, and the broken bed of the river, it was, however, a dangerous + pass, and could only be attempted with safety at leisure and by + experience.”— NOTES TO THE BRIDAL OF CAOLCHAIRN. + </p> + <p> + Note 8.—BATTLE BETWIXT THE ARMIES OF THE BRUCE AND MACDOUGAL OF + LORN. + </p> + <p> + “But the King, whose dear-bought experience in war had taught him extreme + caution, remained in the Braes of Balquhidder till he had acquired by his + spies and outskirries a perfect knowledge of the disposition of the army + of Lorn, and the intention of its leader. He then divided his force into + two columns, entrusting the command of the first, in which he placed his + archers and lightest armed troops, to Sir James Douglas, whilst he himself + took the leading of the other, which consisted principally of his knights + and barons. On approaching the defile, Bruce dispatched Sir James Douglas + by a pathway which the enemy had neglected to occupy, with directions to + advance silently, and gain the heights above and in front of the hilly + ground where the men of Lorn were concealed; and having ascertained that + this movement had been executed with success, he put himself at the head + of his own division, and fearlessly led his men into the defile. Here, + prepared as he was for what was to take place, it was difficult to prevent + a temporary panic when the yell which, to this day, invariably precedes + the assault of the mountaineer, burst from the rugged bosom of Ben + Cruachan; and the woods which, the moment before, had waved in silence and + solitude, gave forth their birth of steel-clad warriors, and, in an + instant, became instinct with the dreadful vitality of war. But although + appalled and checked for a brief space by the suddenness of the assault, + and the masses of rock which the enemy rolled down from the precipices, + Bruce, at the head of his division, pressed up the side of the mountain. + Whilst this party assaulted the men of Lorn with the utmost fury, Sir + James Douglas and his party shouted suddenly upon the heights in their + front, showering down their arrows upon them; and, when these missiles + were exhausted, attacking them with their swords and battle-axes. The + consequence of such an attack, both in front and rear, was the total + discomfiture of the army of Lorn; and the circumstances to which this + chief had so confidently looked forward, as rendering the destruction of + Bruce almost inevitable, were now turned with fatal effect against + himself. His great superiority of numbers cumbered and impeded his + movements. Thrust by the double assault, and by the peculiar nature of the + ground, into such narrow room as the pass afforded, and driven to fury by + finding themselves cut to pieces in detail, without power of resistance, + the men of Lorn fled towards Loch Eitive, where a bridge thrown over the + Awe, and supported upon two immense rocks, known by the name of the Rocks + of Brandir, formed the solitary communication between the side of the + river where the battle took place and the country of Lorn. Their object + was to gain the bridge, which was composed entirely of wood, and having + availed themselves of it in their retreat, to destroy it, and thus throw + the impassable torrent of the Awe between them and their enemies. But + their intention was instantly detected by Douglas, who, rushing down from + the high grounds at the head of his archers and light-armed foresters, + attacked the body of the mountaineers, which had occupied the bridge, and + drove them from it with great slaughter, so that Bruce and his division, + on coming up, passed it without molestation; and this last resource being + taken from them, the army of Lorn were, in a few hours, literally cut to + pieces, whilst their chief, who occupied Loch Eitive with his fleet, saw, + from his ships, the discomfiture of his men, and found it impossible to + give them the least assistance.”—TYTLER’S LIFE OF BRUCE. + </p> + <p> + Note 9.—MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. + </p> + <p> + The following succinct account of this too celebrated event, may be + sufficient for this place:— + </p> + <p> + “In the beginning of the year 1692 an action of unexampled barbarity + disgraced the government of King William III. in Scotland. In the August + preceding, a proclamation had been issued, offering an indemnity to such + insurgents as should take the oaths to the King and Queen, on or before + the last day of December; and the chiefs of such tribes, as had been in + arms for James, soon after took advantage of the proclamation. But + Macdonald of Glencoe was prevented by accident, rather than design, from + tendering his submission within the limited time. In the end of December + he went to Colonel Hill, who commanded the garrison in Fort William, to + take the oaths of allegiance to the government; and the latter having + furnished him with a letter to Sir Colin Campbell, Sheriff of the county + of Argyll, directed him to repair immediately to Inverary, to make his + submission in a legal manner before that magistrate. But the way to + Inverary lay through almost impassable mountains, the season was extremely + rigorous, and the whole country was covered with a deep snow. So eager, + however, was Macdonald to take the oaths before the limited time should + expire, that, though the road lay within half a mile of his own house, he + stopped not to visit his family, and, after various obstructions, arrived + at Inverary. The time had elapsed, and the sheriff hesitated to receive + his submission; but Macdonald prevailed by his importunities, and even + tears, in inducing that functionary to administer to him the oath of + allegiance, and to certify the cause of his delay. At this time Sir John + Dalrymple, afterwards Earl of Stair, being in attendance upon William as + Secretary of State for Scotland, took advantage of Macdonald’s neglecting + to take the oath within the time prescribed, and procured from the King a + warrant of military execution against that chief and his whole clan. This + was done at the instigation of the Earl of Breadalbane, whose lands the + Glencoe men had plundered, and whose treachery to government in + negotiating with the Highland clans Macdonald himself had exposed. The + King was accordingly persuaded that Glencoe was the main obstacle to the + pacification of the Highlands; and the fact of the unfortunate chief’s + submission having been concealed, the sanguinary orders for proceeding to + military execution against his clan were in consequence obtained. The + warrant was both signed and countersigned by the King’s own hand, and the + Secretary urged the officers who commanded in the Highlands to execute + their orders with the utmost rigour. Campbell of Glenlyon, a captain in + Argyll’s regiment, and two subalterns, were ordered to repair to Glencoe + on the first of February with a hundred and twenty men. Campbell being + uncle to young Macdonald’s wife, was received by the father with all + manner of friendship and hospitality. The men were lodged at free quarters + in the houses of his tenants, and received the kindest entertainment. Till + the 13th of the month the troops lived in the utmost harmony and + familiarity with the people, and on the very night of the massacre the + officers passed the evening at cards in Macdonald’s house. In the night + Lieutenant Lindsay, with a party of soldiers, called in a friendly manner + at his door, and was instantly admitted. Macdonald, while in the act of + rising to receive his guest, was shot dead through the back with two + bullets. His wife had already dressed; but she was stripped naked by the + soldiers, who tore the rings off her fingers with their teeth. The + slaughter now became general, and neither age nor infirmity was spared. + Some women, in defending their children, were killed; boys, imploring + mercy, were shot dead by officers on whose knees they hung. In one place + nine persons, as they sat enjoying themselves at table, were butchered by + the soldiers. In Inverriggon, Campbell’s own quarters, nine men were first + bound by the soldiers, and then shot at intervals, one by one. Nearly + forty persons were massacred by the troops, and several who fled to the + mountains perished by famine and the inclemency of the season. Those who + escaped owed their lives to a tempestuous night. Lieutenant-Colonel + Hamilton, who had received the charge of the execution from Dalrymple, was + on his march with four hundred men, to guard all the passes from the + valley of Glencoe; but he was obliged to stop by the severity of the + weather, which proved the safety of the unfortunate clan. Next day he + entered the valley, laid the houses in ashes, and carried away the cattle + and spoil, which were divided among the officers and soldiers.”—ARTICLE + “BRITAIN;” ENCYC. BRITANNICA—NEW EDITION. + </p> + <p> + Note 10.—FIDELITY OF THE HIGHLANDERS. + </p> + <p> + Of the strong, undeviating attachment of the Highlanders to the person, + and their deference to the will or commands of their chiefs and superiors—their + rigid adherence to duty and principle—and their chivalrous acts of + self-devotion to these in the face of danger and death, there are many + instances recorded in General Stewart of Garth’s interesting Sketches of + the Highlanders and Highland Regiments, which might not inaptly supply + parallels to the deeds of the Romans themselves, at the era when Rome was + in her glory. The following instances of such are worthy of being here + quoted:— + </p> + <p> + “In the year 1795 a serious disturbance broke out in Glasgow among the + Breadalbane Fencibles. Several men having been confined and threatened + with corporal punishment, considerable discontent and irritation were + excited among their comrades, which increased to such violence, that, when + some men were confined in the guard-house, a great proportion of the + regiment rushed out and forcibly released the prisoners. This violation of + military discipline was not to be passed over, and accordingly measures + were immediately taken to secure the ringleaders. But so many were equally + concerned, that it was difficult, if not impossible, to fix the crime on + any, as being more prominently guilty. And here was shown a trait of + character worthy of a better cause, and which originated from a feeling + alive to the disgrace of a degrading punishment. The soldiers being made + sensible of the nature of their misconduct, and the consequent necessity + of public example, SEVERAL MEN VOLUNTARILY OFFERED THEMSELVES TO STAND + TRIAL, and suffer the sentence of the law as an atonement for the whole. + These men were accordingly marched to Edinburgh Castle, tried, and four + condemned to be shot. Three of them were afterwards reprieved, and the + fourth, Alexander Sutherland, was shot on Musselburgh Sands. + </p> + <p> + “The following semi-official account of this unfortunate misunderstanding + was published at the time:— + </p> + <p> + “‘During the afternoon of Monday, when a private of the light company of + the Breadalbane Fencibles, who had been confined for a MILITARY offence, + was released by that company, and some other companies, who had assembled + in a tumultuous manner before the guard-house, no person whatever was + hurt, and no violence offered; and however unjustifiable the proceedings, + it originated not from any disrespect or ill-will to their officers, but + from a mistaken point of honour, in a particular set of men in the + battalion, who thought themselves disgraced by the impending punishment of + one of their number. The men have, in every respect, since that period + conducted themselves with the greatest regularity, and strict + subordination. The whole of the battalion seemed extremely sensible of the + improper conduct of such as were concerned, whatever regret they might + feel for the fate of the few individuals who had so readily given + themselves up as prisoners, to be tried for their own and others’ + misconduct.’ + </p> + <p> + “On the march to Edinburgh a circumstance occurred, the more worthy of + notice, as it shows a strong principle of honour and fidelity to his word + and to his officer in a common Highland soldier. One of the men stated to + the officer commanding the party, that he knew what his fate would be, but + that he had left business of the utmost importance to a friend in Glasgow, + which he wished to transact before his death; that, as to himself, he was + fully prepared to meet his fate; but with regard to his friend, he could + not die in peace unless the business was settled, and that, if the officer + would suffer him to return to Glasgow, a few hours there would be + sufficient, and he would join him before he reached Edinburgh, and march + as a prisoner with the party. The soldier added, ‘You have known me since + I was a child; you know my country and kindred; and you may believe I + shall never bring you to any blame by a breach of the promise I now make, + to be with you in full time to be delivered up in the Castle.’ This was a + startling proposal to the officer, who was a judicious, humane man, and + knew perfectly his risk and responsibility in yielding to such an + extraordinary application. However, his confidence was such, that he + complied with the request of the prisoner, who returned to Glasgow at + night, settled his business, and left the town before daylight to redeem + his pledge. He took a long circuit to avoid being seen, apprehended as a + deserter, and sent back to Glasgow, as probably his account of his + officer’s indulgence would not have been credited. In consequence of this + caution, and the lengthened march through woods and over hills by an + unfrequented route, there was no appearance of him at the hour appointed. + The perplexity of the officer when he reached the neighbourhood of + Edinburgh may be easily imagined. He moved forward slowly indeed, but no + soldier appeared; and unable to delay any longer, he marched up to the + Castle, and as he was delivering over the prisoners, but before any report + was given in, Macmartin, the absent soldier, rushed in among his fellow + prisoners, all pale with anxiety and fatigue, and breathless with + apprehension of the consequences in which his delay might have involved + his benefactor. + </p> + <p> + “In whatever light the conduct of the officer (my respectable friend, + Major Colin Campbell) may be considered, either by military men or others, + in this memorable exemplification of the characteristic principle of his + countrymen, fidelity to their word, it cannot but be wished that the + soldier’s magnanimous self-devotion had been taken as an atonement for his + own misconduct and that of the whole, who also had made a high sacrifice, + in the voluntary offer of their lives for the conduct of their brother + soldiers. Are these a people to be treated as malefactors, without regard + to their feelings and principles? and might not a discipline, somewhat + different from the usual mode, be, with advantage, applied to them?”—Vol.II. + pp.413-15. 3rd Edit. + </p> + <p> + “A soldier of this regiment, (The Argyllshire Highlanders) deserted, and + emigrated to America, where he settled. Several years after his desertion, + a letter was received from him, with a sum of money, for the purpose of + procuring one or two men to supply his place in the regiment, as the only + recompense he could make for ‘breaking his oath to his God and his + allegiance to his King, which preyed on his conscience in such a manner, + that he had no rest night nor day.’ + </p> + <p> + “This man had had good principles early instilled into his mind, and the + disgrace which he had been originally taught to believe would attach to a + breach of faith now operated with full effect. The soldier who deserted + from the 42nd Regiment at Gibraltar, in 1797, exhibited the same remorse + of conscience after he had violated his allegiance. In countries where + such principles prevail, and regulate the character of a people, the mass + of the population may, on occasions of trial, be reckoned on as sound and + trustworthy.”—Vol.II., p.218. 3rd Edit. + </p> + <p> + “The late James Menzies of Culdares, having engaged in the rebellion of + 1715, and been taken at Preston, in Lancashire, was carried to London, + where he was tried and condemned, but afterwards reprieved. Grateful for + this clemency, he remained at home in 1745, but, retaining a predilection + for the old cause, he sent a handsome charger as a present to Prince + Charles, when advancing through England. The servant who led and delivered + the horse was taken prisoner, and carried to Carlisle, where he was tried + and condemned. To extort a discovery of the person who sent the horse, + threats of immediate execution in case of refusal, and offers of pardon on + his giving information, were held out ineffectually to the faithful + messenger. He knew, he said, what the consequence of a disclosure would be + to his master, and his own life was nothing in the comparison. When + brought out for execution, he was again pressed to inform on his master. + He asked if they were serious in supposing him such a villain. If he did + what they desired, and forgot his master and his trust, he could not + return to his native country, for Glenlyon would be no home or country for + him, as he would be despised and hunted out of the glen. Accordingly he + kept steady to his trust, and was executed. This trusty servant’s name was + John Macnaughton, from Glenlyon, in Perthshire. He deserves to be + mentioned, both on account of his incorruptible fidelity, and of his + testimony to the honourable principles of the people, and to their + detestation of a breach of trust to a kind and honourable master, however + great might be the risk, or however fatal the consequences, to the + individual himself.”—Vol.1., pp. 52,53, 3rd Edit. + </p> + <p> + NOTE TO THE TWO DROVERS. + </p> + <p> + Note 11.—ROBERT DONN’S POEMS. + </p> + <p> + I cannot dismiss this story without resting attention for a moment on the + light which has been thrown on the character of the Highland Drover since + the time of its first appearance, by the account of a drover poet, by name + Robert Mackay, or, as he was commonly called, Rob Donn—that is, + Brown Robert—and certain specimens of his talents, published in the + ninetieth number of the Quarterly Review. The picture which that paper + gives of the habits and feelings of a class of persons with which the + general reader would be apt to associate no ideas but those of wild + superstition and rude manners, is in the highest degree interesting, and I + cannot resist the temptation of quoting two of the songs of this hitherto + unheard-of poet of humble life. They are thus introduced by the reviewer:— + </p> + <p> + “Upon one occasion, it seems, Rob’s attendance upon his master’s cattle + business detained him a whole year from home, and at his return he found + that a fair maiden to whom his troth had been plighted of yore had lost + sight of her vows, and was on the eve of being married to a rival (a + carpenter by trade), who had profited by the young drover’s absence. The + following song was composed during a sleepless night, in the neighbourhood + of Creiff, in Perthshire, and the home sickness which it expresses appears + to be almost as much that of the deer-hunter as of the loving swain. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘EASY IS MY BED, IT IS EASY, + BUT IT IS NOT TO SLEEP THAT I INCLINE; + THE WIND WHISTLES NORTHWARDS, NORTHWARDS, + AND MY THOUGHTS MOVE WITH IT. + More pleasant were it to be with thee + In the little glen of calves, + Than to be counting of droves + In the enclosures of Creiff. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Great is my esteem of the maiden + Towards whose dwelling the north wind blows; + She is ever cheerful, sportive, kindly, + Without folly, without vanity, without pride. + True is her heart—were I under hiding, + And fifty men in pursuit of my footsteps, + I should find protection, when they surrounded me most + closely, + In the secret recess of that shieling. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Oh for the day for turning my face homeward, + That I may see the maiden of beauty— + Joyful will it be to me to be with thee, + Fair girl with the long heavy locks! + Choice of all places for deer-hunting + Are the brindled rock and the ridge! + How sweet at evening to be dragging the slain deer + Downwards along the piper’s cairn! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Great is my esteem for the maiden + Who parted from me by the west side of the enclosed field; + Late yet again will she linger in that fold, + Long after the kine are assembled. + It is I myself who have taken no dislike to thee, + Though far away from thee am I now. + It is for the thought of thee that sleep flies from me; + Great is the profit to me of thy parting kiss! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + ‘Dear to me are the boundaries of the forest; + Far from Creiff is my heart; + My remembrance is of the hillocks of sheep, + And the heath of many knolls. + Oh for the red-streaked fissures of the rock, + Where in spring time the fawns leap; + Oh for the crags towards which the wind is blowing— + Cheap would be my bed to be there! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC.’ +</pre> + <p> + “The following describes Rob’s feelings on the first discovery of his + damsel’s infidelity. The airs of both these pieces are his own, and, the + Highland ladies say, very beautiful. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘Heavy to me is the shieling, and the hum that is in it, + Since the ear that was wont to listen is now no more on the + watch. + Where is Isabel, the courteous, the conversable, a sister in + kindness? + Where is Anne, the slender-browed, the turret-breasted, whose + glossy hair pleased me when yet a boy? + HEICH! WHAT AN HOUR WAS MY RETURNING! + PAIN SUCH AS THAT SUNSET BROUGHT, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL IT? + + ‘I traversed the fold, and upward among the trees— + Each place, far and near, wherein I was wont to salute my + love. + When I looked down from the crag, and beheld the fair-haired + stranger dallying with his bride, + I wished I had never revisited the glen of my dreams. + SUCH THINGS CAME INTO MY HEART AS THAT SUN WAS GOING DOWN, + A PAIN OF WHICH I SHALL NEVER BE RID, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL + IT? + + ‘Since it has been heard that the carpenter had persuaded thee, + My sleep is disturbed—busy is foolishness within me at + midnight. + The kindness that has been between us, I cannot shake off that + memory in visions; + Thou callest me not to thy side; but love is to me for a + messenger. + THERE IS STRIFE WITHIN ME, AND I TOSS TO BE AT LIBERTY; + AND EVER THE CLOSER IT CLINGS, AND THE DELUSION IS GROWING TO + ME AS A TREE. + + ‘Anne, yellow-haired daughter of Donald, surely thou knowest + not how it is with me— + That it is old love, unrepaid, which has worn down from me my + strength; + That when far from thee, beyond many mountains, the wound in + my heart was throbbing, + Stirring, and searching for ever, as when I sat beside thee on + the turf. + NOW, THEN, HEAR ME THIS ONCE, IF FOR EVER I AM TO BE WITHOUT + THEE, + MY SPIRIT IS BROKEN—GIVE ME ONE KISS ERE I LEAVE THIS LAND! + + ‘Haughtily and scornfully the maid looked upon me:— + Never will it be work for thy fingers to unloose the band from + my curls. + Thou hast been absent a twelvemonth, and six were seeking me + diligently; + Was thy superiority so high that there should be no end of + abiding for thee? + HA! HA! HA! HAST THOU AT LAST BECOME SICK? + IS IT LOVE THAT IS TO GIVE DEATH TO THEE? SURELY THE ENEMY + HAS BEEN IN NO HASTE. + + ‘But how shall I hate thee, even though towards me thou hast + become cold? + When my discourse is most angry concerning thy name in thine + absence, + Of sudden thine image, with its old dearness, comes visibly + into my mind, + And a secret voice whispers that love will yet prevail! + AND I BECOME SURETY FOR IT ANEW, DARLING, + AND IT SPRINGS UP AT THAT HOUR LOFTY AS A TOWER.’ +</pre> + <p> + “Rude and bald as these things appear in a verbal translation, and rough + as they might possibly appear, even were the originals intelligible, we + confess we are disposed to think they would of themselves justify Dr. + Mackay (their Editor) in placing this herdsman-lover among the true sons + of song.”—QUARTERLY REVIEW, NO. XC., JULY 1831. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s Chronicles of the Canongate, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE *** + +***** This file should be named 1828-h.htm or 1828-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/1828/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Chronicles of the Canongate + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Release Date: July, 1999 [Etext #1828] +Posting Date: November 18, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + +CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + + + +Transcriber's Note: Footnotes and references to the notes at the end of +the printed book have been inserted in the etext in square brackets +("[]") close to the place where they were indicated by a suffix in the +original text. The notes at the end are now numbered instead of using +pages to identify them as was done in the printed text. + +Text in italics has been written in capital letters. + +The Pound Sterling symbol has been written as "L". + + + +CONTENTS. + + Introduction to Chronicles of the Canongate. + Appendix to Introduction--The Theatrical Fund Dinner. + Introductory--Mr. Chrystal Croftangry. + The Highland Widow. + The Two Drovers. + Notes. + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +The preceding volume of this Collection concluded the last of the pieces +originally published under the NOMINIS UMBRA of The Author of Waverley; +and the circumstances which rendered it impossible for the writer to +continue longer in the possession of his incognito were communicated +in 1827, in the Introduction to the first series of Chronicles of the +Canongate, consisting (besides a biographical sketch of the imaginary +chronicler) of three tales, entitled "The Highland Widow," "The Two +Drovers," and "The Surgeon's Daughter." In the present volume the two +first named of these pieces are included, together with three detached +stories which appeared the year after, in the elegant compilation called +"The Keepsake." "The Surgeon's Daughter" it is thought better to defer +until a succeeding volume, than to + + "Begin, and break off in the middle." + +I have, perhaps, said enough on former occasions of the misfortunes +which led to the dropping of that mask under which I had, for a long +series of years, enjoyed so large a portion of public favour. Through +the success of those literary efforts, I had been enabled to indulge +most of the tastes which a retired person of my station might be +supposed to entertain. In the pen of this nameless romancer, I seemed +to possess something like the secret fountain of coined gold and pearls +vouchsafed to the traveller of the Eastern Tale; and no doubt believed +that I might venture, without silly imprudence, to extend my personal +expenditure considerably beyond what I should have thought of, had my +means been limited to the competence which I derived from inheritance, +with the moderate income of a professional situation. I bought, and +built, and planted, and was considered by myself, as by the rest of the +world, in the safe possession of an easy fortune. My riches, however, +like the other riches of this world, were liable to accidents, under +which they were ultimately destined to make unto themselves wings, and +fly away. The year 1825, so disastrous to many branches of industry and +commerce, did not spare the market of literature; and the sudden +ruin that fell on so many of the booksellers could scarcely have been +expected to leave unscathed one whose career had of necessity connected +him deeply and extensively with the pecuniary transactions of that +profession. In a word, almost without one note of premonition, I found +myself involved in the sweeping catastrophe of the unhappy time, +and called on to meet the demands of creditors upon commercial +establishments with which my fortunes had long been bound up, to the +extent of no less a sum than one hundred and twenty thousand pounds. + +The author having, however rashly, committed his pledges thus largely +to the hazards of trading companies, it behoved him, of course, to +abide the consequences of his conduct, and, with whatever feelings, he +surrendered on the instant every shred of property which he had been +accustomed to call his own. It became vested in the hands of gentlemen +whose integrity, prudence, and intelligence were combined with all +possible liberality and kindness of disposition, and who readily +afforded every assistance towards the execution of plans, in the +success of which the author contemplated the possibility of his ultimate +extrication, and which were of such a nature that, had assistance of +this sort been withheld, he could have had little prospect of carrying +them into effect. Among other resources which occurred was the project +of that complete and corrected edition of his Novels and Romances (whose +real parentage had of necessity been disclosed at the moment of +the commercial convulsions alluded to), which has now advanced with +unprecedented favour nearly to its close; but as he purposed also to +continue, for the behoof of those to whom he was indebted, the exercise +of his pen in the same path of literature, so long as the taste of his +countrymen should seem to approve of his efforts, it appeared to him +that it would have been an idle piece of affectation to attempt getting +up a new incognito, after his original visor had been thus dashed from +his brow. Hence the personal narrative prefixed to the first work of +fiction which he put forth after the paternity of the "Waverley Novels" +had come to be publicly ascertained; and though many of the particulars +originally avowed in that Notice have been unavoidably adverted to in +the Prefaces and Notes to some of the preceding volumes of the present +collection, it is now reprinted as it stood at the time, because some +interest is generally attached to a coin or medal struck on a special +occasion, as expressing, perhaps, more faithfully than the same artist +could have afterwards conveyed, the feelings of the moment that gave +it birth. The Introduction to the first series of Chronicles of the +Canongate ran, then, in these words:-- + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +All who are acquainted with the early history of the Italian stage are +aware that Arlecchino is not, in his original conception, a mere worker +of marvels with his wooden sword, a jumper in and out of windows, as +upon our theatre, but, as his party-coloured jacket implies, a buffoon +or clown, whose mouth, far from being eternally closed, as amongst us, +is filled, like that of Touchstone, with quips, and cranks, and witty +devices, very often delivered extempore. It is not easy to trace how he +became possessed of his black vizard, which was anciently made in +the resemblance of the face of a cat; but it seems that the mask was +essential to the performance of the character, as will appear from the +following theatrical anecdote:-- + +An actor on the Italian stage permitted at the Foire du St. Germain, in +Paris, was renowned for the wild, venturous, and extravagant wit, the +brilliant sallies and fortunate repartees, with which he prodigally +seasoned the character of the party-coloured jester. Some critics, +whose good-will towards a favourite performer was stronger than their +judgment, took occasion to remonstrate with the successful actor on +the subject of the grotesque vizard. They went wilily to their purpose, +observing that his classical and Attic wit, his delicate vein of humour, +his happy turn for dialogue, were rendered burlesque and ludicrous by +this unmeaning and bizarre disguise, and that those attributes would +become far more impressive if aided by the spirit of his eye and the +expression of his natural features. The actor's vanity was easily so +far engaged as to induce him to make the experiment. He played Harlequin +barefaced, but was considered on all hands as having made a total +failure. He had lost the audacity which a sense of incognito bestowed, +and with it all the reckless play of raillery which gave vivacity to +his original acting. He cursed his advisers, and resumed his grotesque +vizard, but, it is said, without ever being able to regain the careless +and successful levity which the consciousness of the disguise had +formerly bestowed. + +Perhaps the Author of Waverley is now about to incur a risk of the same +kind, and endanger his popularity by having laid aside his incognito. It +is certainly not a voluntary experiment, like that of Harlequin; for +it was my original intention never to have avowed these works during my +lifetime, and the original manuscripts were carefully preserved (though +by the care of others rather than mine), with the purpose of supplying +the necessary evidence of the truth when the period of announcing +it should arrive. [These manuscripts are at present (August 1831) +advertised for public sale, which is an addition, though a small one, +to other annoyances.] But the affairs of my publishers having, +unfortunately, passed into a management different from their own, I had +no right any longer to rely upon secrecy in that quarter; and thus my +mask, like my Aunt Dinah's in "Tristram Shandy," having begun to wax a +little threadbare about the chin, it became time to lay it aside with +a good grace, unless I desired it should fall in pieces from my face, +which was now become likely. + +Yet I had not the slightest intention of selecting the time and place in +which the disclosure was finally made; nor was there any concert betwixt +my learned and respected friend LORD MEADOWBANK and myself upon that +occasion. It was, as the reader is probably aware, upon the 23rd +February last, at a public meeting, called for establishing a +professional Theatrical Fund in Edinburgh, that the communication took +place. Just before we sat down to table, Lord Meadowbank [One of the +Supreme Judges of Scotland, termed Lords of Council and Session.] asked +me privately whether I was still anxious to preserve my incognito on the +subject of what were called the Waverley Novels? I did not immediately +see the purpose of his lordship's question, although I certainly might +have been led to infer it, and replied that the secret had now of +necessity become known to so many people that I was indifferent on the +subject. Lord Meadowbank was thus induced, while doing me the great +honour of proposing my health to the meeting, to say something on the +subject of these Novels so strongly connecting them with me as the +author, that by remaining silent I must have stood convicted, either of +the actual paternity, or of the still greater crime of being supposed +willing to receive indirectly praise to which I had no just title. I +thus found myself suddenly and unexpectedly placed in the confessional, +and had only time to recollect that I had been guided thither by a most +friendly hand, and could not, perhaps, find a better public opportunity +to lay down a disguise which began to resemble that of a detected +masquerader. + +I had therefore the task of avowing myself, to the numerous and +respectable company assembled, as the sole and unaided author of these +Novels of Waverley, the paternity of which was likely at one time to +have formed a controversy of some celebrity, for the ingenuity with +which some instructors of the public gave their assurance on the subject +was extremely persevering. I now think it further necessary to say +that, while I take on myself all the merits and demerits attending these +compositions, I am bound to acknowledge with gratitude hints of subjects +and legends which I have received from various quarters, and have +occasionally used as a foundation of my fictitious compositions, or +woven up with them in the shape of episodes. I am bound, in particular, +to acknowledge the unremitting kindness of Mr. Joseph Train, supervisor +of excise at Dumfries, to whose unwearied industry I have been indebted +for many curious traditions and points of antiquarian interest. It was +Mr. Train who brought to my recollection the history of Old Mortality, +although I myself had had a personal interview with that celebrated +wanderer so far back as about 1792, when I found him on his usual task. +He was then engaged in repairing the Gravestones of the Covenanters who +had died while imprisoned in the Castle of Dunnottar, to which many of +them were committed prisoners at the period of Argyle's rising. Their +place of confinement is still called the Whigs' Vault. Mr. Train, +however, procured for me far more extensive information concerning +this singular person, whose name was Patterson, than I had been able +to acquire during my own short conversation with him. [See, for +some further particulars, the notes to Old Mortality, in the present +collective edition.] He was (as I think I have somewhere already +stated) a native of the parish of Closeburn, in Dumfriesshire; and it +is believed that domestic affliction, as well as devotional feeling, +induced him to commence the wandering mode of life which he pursued +for a very long period. It is more than twenty years since Robert +Patterson's death, which took place on the highroad near Lockerby, where +he was found exhausted and expiring. The white pony, the companion of +his pilgrimage, was standing by the side of its dying master the whole +furnishing a scene not unfitted for the pencil. These particulars I had +from Mr. Train. + +Another debt, which I pay most willingly, I owe to an unknown +correspondent (a lady), [The late Mrs. Goldie.] who favoured me with the +history of the upright and high-principled female, whom, in the Heart +of Mid-Lothian, I have termed Jeanie Deans. The circumstance of her +refusing to save her sister's life by an act of perjury, and undertaking +a pilgrimage to London to obtain her pardon, are both represented as +true by my fair and obliging correspondent; and they led me to consider +the possibility of rendering a fictitious personage interesting by mere +dignity of mind and rectitude of principle, assisted by unpretending +good sense and temper, without any of the beauty, grace, talent, +accomplishment, and wit to which a heroine of romance is supposed to +have a prescriptive right. If the portrait was received with interest by +the public, I am conscious how much it was owing to the truth and force +of the original sketch, which I regret that I am unable to present to +the public, as it was written with much feeling and spirit. + +Old and odd books, and a considerable collection of family legends, +formed another quarry, so ample that it was much more likely that the +strength of the labourer should be exhausted than that materials should +fail. I may mention, for example's sake, that the terrible catastrophe +of the Bride of Lammermoor actually occurred in a Scottish family of +rank. The female relative, by whom the melancholy tale was communicated +to me many years since, was a near connection of the family in which +the event happened, and always told it with an appearance of melancholy +mystery which enhanced the interest. She had known in her youth the +brother who rode before the unhappy victim to the fatal altar, who, +though then a mere boy, and occupied almost entirely with the gaiety of +his own appearance in the bridal procession, could not but remark that +the hand of his sister was moist, and cold as that of a statue. It +is unnecessary further to withdraw the veil from this scene of family +distress, nor, although it occurred more than a hundred years since, +might it be altogether agreeable to the representatives of the families +concerned in the narrative. It may be proper to say that the events +alone are imitated; but I had neither the means nor intention of copying +the manners, or tracing the characters, of the persons concerned in the +real story. Indeed, I may here state generally that, although I have +deemed historical personages free subjects of delineation, I have never +on any occasion violated the respect due to private life. It was indeed +impossible that traits proper to persons, both living and dead, with +whom I have had intercourse in society, should not have risen to my +pen in such works as Waverley, and those which followed it. But I have +always studied to generalize the portraits, so that they should still +seem, on the whole, the productions of fancy, though possessing some +resemblance to real individuals. Yet I must own my attempts have not +in this last particular been uniformly successful. There are men whose +characters are so peculiarly marked, that the delineation of some +leading and principal feature inevitably places the whole person before +you in his individuality. Thus, the character of Jonathan Oldbuck, in +the Antiquary, was partly founded on that of an old friend of my youth, +to whom I am indebted for introducing me to Shakespeare, and other +invaluable favours; but I thought I had so completely disguised the +likeness that his features could not be recognized by any one now alive. +I was mistaken, however, and indeed had endangered what I desired +should be considered as a secret; for I afterwards learned that a +highly-respectable gentleman, one of the few surviving friends of my +father, and an acute critic, [James Chalmers, Esq., Solicitor at Law, +London, who (died during the publication of the present edition of these +Novels. Aug. 1831.)] had said, upon the appearance of the work, that +he was now convinced who was the author of it, as he recognized in the +Antiquary of Monkbarns traces of the character of a very intimate friend +of my father's family. + +I may here also notice that the sort of exchange of gallantry which is +represented as taking place betwixt the Baron of Bradwardine and Colonel +Talbot, is a literal fact. The real circumstances of the anecdote, alike +honourable to Whig and Tory, are these:-- + +Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle--a name which I cannot write without +the warmest recollections of gratitude to the friend of my childhood, +who first introduced me to the Highlands, their traditions, and their +manners--had been engaged actively in the troubles of 1745. As he +charged at the battle of Preston with his clan, the Stewarts of Appin, +he saw an officer of the opposite army standing alone by a battery of +four cannon, of which he discharged three on the advancing Highlanders, +and then drew his sword. Invernahyle rushed on him, and required him to +surrender. "Never to rebels!" was the undaunted reply, accompanied with +a lunge, which the Highlander received on his target, but instead of +using his sword in cutting down his now defenceless antagonist, he +employed it in parrying the blow of a Lochaber axe aimed at the officer +by the Miller, one of his own followers, a grim-looking old Highlander, +whom I remember to have seen. Thus overpowered, Lieutenant-Colonel Allan +Whitefoord, a gentleman of rank and consequence, as well as a brave +officer, gave up his sword, and with it his purse and watch, which +Invernahyle accepted, to save them from his followers. After the affair +was over, Mr. Stewart sought out his prisoner, and they were introduced +to each other by the celebrated John Roy Stewart, who acquainted Colonel +Whitefoord with the quality of his captor, and made him aware of the +necessity of receiving back his property, which he was inclined to leave +in the hands into which it had fallen. So great became the confidence +established betwixt them, that Invernahyle obtained from the Chevalier +his prisoner's freedom upon parole; and soon afterwards, having been +sent back to the Highlands to raise men, he visited Colonel Whitefoord +at his own house, and spent two happy days with him and his Whig +friends, without thinking on either side of the civil war which was then +raging. + +When the battle of Culloden put an end to the hopes of Charles Edward, +Invernahyle, wounded and unable to move, was borne from the field by +the faithful zeal of his retainers. But as he had been a distinguished +Jacobite, his family and property were exposed to the system of +vindictive destruction too generally carried into execution through the +country of the insurgents. It was now Colonel Whitefoord's turn to exert +himself, and he wearied all the authorities, civil and military, with +his solicitations for pardon to the saver of his life, or at least for +a protection for his wife and family. His applications were for a long +time unsuccessful. "I was found with the mark of the Beast upon me in +every list," was Invernahyle's expression. At length Colonel Whitefoord +applied to the Duke of Cumberland, and urged his suit with every +argument which he could think of, being still repulsed, he took his +commission from his bosom, and having said something of his own and +his family's exertions in the cause of the House of Hanover, begged to +resign his situation in their service, since he could not be permitted +to show his gratitude to the person to whom he owed his life. The duke, +struck with his earnestness, desired him to take up his commission, and +granted the protection required for the family of Invernahyle. + +The chieftain himself lay concealed in a cave near his own house, before +which a small body of regular soldiers were encamped. He could hear +their muster-roll called every morning, and their drums beat to quarters +at night, and not a change of the sentinels escaped him. As it was +suspected that he was lurking somewhere on the property, his family were +closely watched, and compelled to use the utmost precaution in supplying +him with food. One of his daughters, a child of eight or ten years +old, was employed as the agent least likely to be suspected. She was an +instance, among others, that a time of danger and difficulty creates a +premature sharpness of intellect. She made herself acquainted among the +soldiers, till she became so familiar to them that her motions escaped +their notice; and her practice was to stroll away into the neighbourhood +of the cave, and leave what slender supply of food she carried for that +purpose under some remarkable stone, or the root of some tree, where her +father might find it as he crept by night from his lurking-place. Times +became milder, and my excellent friend was relieved from proscription by +the Act of Indemnity. Such is the interesting story which I have rather +injured than improved by the manner in which it is told in Waverley. + +This incident, with several other circumstances illustrating the Tales +in question, was communicated by me to my late lamented friend, +William Erskine (a Scottish judge, by the title of Lord Kinedder), +who afterwards reviewed with far too much partiality the Tales of my +Landlord, for the Quarterly Review of January 1817. [Lord Kinedder died +in August 1822. EHEU! (Aug. 1831.)] In the same article are contained +other illustrations of the Novels, with which I supplied my accomplished +friend, who took the trouble to write the review. The reader who is +desirous of such information will find the original of Meg Merrilies, +and, I believe, of one or two other personages of the same cast of +character, in the article referred to. + +I may also mention that the tragic and savage circumstances which are +represented as preceding the birth of Allan MacAulay in the Legend of +Montrose, really happened in the family of Stewart of Ardvoirlich. +The wager about the candlesticks, whose place was supplied by Highland +torch-bearers, was laid and won by one of the MacDonalds of Keppoch. + +There can be but little amusement in winnowing out the few grains of +truth which are contained in this mass of empty fiction. I may, however, +before dismissing the subject, allude to the various localities which +have been affixed to some of the scenery introduced into these Novels, +by which, for example, Wolf's Hope is identified with Fast Castle in +Berwickshire, Tillietudlem with Draphane in Clydesdale, and the valley +in the Monastery, called Glendearg, with the dale of the river Allan, +above Lord Somerville's villa, near Melrose. I can only say that, in +these and other instances, I had no purpose of describing any particular +local spot; and the resemblance must therefore be of that general kind +which necessarily exists between scenes of the same character. The +iron-bound coast of Scotland affords upon its headlands and promontories +fifty such castles as Wolf's Hope; every county has a valley more or +less resembling Glendearg; and if castles like Tillietudlem, or mansions +like the Baron of Bradwardine's, are now less frequently to be met with, +it is owing to the rage of indiscriminate destruction, which has removed +or ruined so many monuments of antiquity, when they were not protected +by their inaccessible situation. [I would particularly intimate the Kaim +of Uric, on the eastern coast of Scotland, as having suggested an +idea for the tower called Wolf's Crag, which the public more generally +identified with the ancient tower of Fast Castle.] + +The scraps of poetry which have been in most cases tacked to the +beginning of chapters in these Novels are sometimes quoted either from +reading or from memory, but, in the general case, are pure invention. I +found it too troublesome to turn to the collection of the British Poets +to discover apposite mottoes, and, in the situation of the theatrical +mechanist, who, when the white paper which represented his shower of +snow was exhausted, continued the storm by snowing brown, I drew on +my memory as long as I could, and when that failed, eked it out with +invention. I believe that in some cases, where actual names are affixed +to the supposed quotations, it would be to little purpose to seek them +in the works of the authors referred to. In some cases I have been +entertained when Dr. Watts and other graver authors have been ransacked +in vain for stanzas for which the novelist alone was responsible. + +And now the reader may expect me, while in the confessional, to explain +the motives why I have so long persisted in disclaiming the works of +which I am now writing. To this it would be difficult to give any other +reply, save that of Corporal Nym--it was the author's humour or caprice +for the time. I hope it will not be construed into ingratitude to the +public, to whose indulgence I have owed my SANG-FROID much more than +to any merit of my own, if I confess that I am, and have been, more +indifferent to success or to failure as an author, than may be the +case with others, who feel more strongly the passion for literary fame, +probably because they are justly conscious of a better title to it. It +was not until I had attained the age of thirty years that I made any +serious attempt at distinguishing myself as an author; and at that +period men's hopes, desires, and wishes have usually acquired something +of a decisive character, and are not eagerly and easily diverted into +a new channel. When I made the discovery--for to me it was one--that by +amusing myself with composition, which I felt a delightful occupation, +I could also give pleasure to others, and became aware that literary +pursuits were likely to engage in future a considerable portion of my +time, I felt some alarm that I might acquire those habits of jealousy +and fretfulness which have lessened, and even degraded, the character +even of great authors, and rendered them, by their petty squabbles and +mutual irritability, the laughing-stock of the people of the world. +I resolved, therefore, in this respect to guard my breast--perhaps an +unfriendly critic may add, my brow--with triple brass, [Not altogether +impossible, when it is considered that I have been at the bar since +1792. (Aug. 1831.)] and as much as possible to avoid resting my thoughts +and wishes upon literary success, lest I should endanger my own peace of +mind and tranquillity by literary failure. It would argue either stupid +apathy or ridiculous affectation to say that I have been insensible to +the public applause, when I have been honoured with its testimonies; +and still more highly do I prize the invaluable friendships which +some temporary popularity has enabled me to form among those of my +contemporaries most distinguished by talents and genius, and which I +venture to hope now rest upon a basis more firm than the circumstances +which gave rise to them. Yet, feeling all these advantages as a man +ought to do, and must do, I may say, with truth and confidence, that I +have, I think, tasted of the intoxicating cup with moderation, and +that I have never, either in conversation or correspondence, encouraged +discussions respecting my own literary pursuits. On the contrary, I +have usually found such topics, even when introduced from motives most +flattering to myself, Rather embarrassing and disagreeable. + +I have now frankly told my motives for concealment, so far as I am +conscious of having any, and the public will forgive the egotism of the +detail, as what is necessarily connected with it. The author, so long +and loudly called for, has appeared on the stage, and made his obeisance +to the audience. Thus far his conduct is a mark of respect. To linger in +their presence would be intrusion. + +I have only to repeat that I avow myself in print, as formerly in words, +the sole and unassisted author of all the Novels published as works of +"The Author of Waverley." I do this without shame, for I am unconscious +that there is any thing in their composition which deserves reproach, +either on the score of religion or morality; and without any feeling of +exultation, because, whatever may have been their temporary success, +I am well aware how much their reputation depends upon the caprice of +fashion; and I have already mentioned the precarious tenure by which it +is held, as a reason for displaying no great avidity in grasping at the +possession. + +I ought to mention, before concluding, that twenty persons, at least, +were, either from intimacy, or from the confidence which circumstances +rendered necessary, participant of this secret; and as there was no +instance, to my knowledge, of any one of the number breaking faith, I +am the more obliged to them, because the slight and trivial character of +the mystery was not qualified to inspire much respect in those entrusted +with it. Nevertheless, like Jack the Giant-Killer, I was fully confident +in the advantage of my "Coat of Darkness;" and had it not been from +compulsory circumstances, I would have, indeed, been very cautious how I +parted with it. + +As for the work which follows, it was meditated, and in part printed, +long before the avowal of the novels took place, and originally +commenced with a declaration that it was neither to have introduction +nor preface of any kind. This long proem, prefixed to a work intended +not to have any, may, however, serve to show how human purposes in the +most trifling, as well as the most important affairs, are liable to +be controlled by the course of events. Thus we begin to cross a strong +river with our eyes and our resolution fixed on that point of the +opposite shore on which we purpose to land; but gradually giving way +to the torrent, are glad, by the aid perhaps of branch or bush, to +extricate ourselves at some distant and perhaps dangerous landing-place, +much farther down the stream than that on which we had fixed our +intentions. + +Hoping that the Courteous Reader will afford to a known and familiar +acquaintance some portion of the favour which he extended to a disguised +candidate for his applause, I beg leave to subscribe myself his obliged +humble servant, + +WALTER SCOTT. + +ABBOTSFORD, OCTOBER 1, 1827. + +***** + +Such was the little narrative which I thought proper to put forth in +October 1827; nor have I much to add to it now. About to appear for the +first time in my own name in this department of letters, it occurred to +me that something in the shape of a periodical publication might carry +with it a certain air of novelty, and I was willing to break, if I may +so express it, the abruptness of my personal forthcoming, by investing +an imaginary coadjutor with at least as much distinctness of individual +existence as I had ever previously thought it worth while to bestow on +shadows of the same convenient tribe. Of course, it had never been in +my contemplation to invite the assistance of any real person in the +sustaining of my quasi-editorial character and labours. It had long been +my opinion, that any thing like a literary PICNIC is likely to end +in suggesting comparisons, justly termed odious, and therefore to +be avoided; and, indeed, I had also had some occasion to know, that +promises of assistance, in efforts of that order, are apt to be more +magnificent than the subsequent performance. I therefore planned a +Miscellany, to be dependent, after the old fashion, on my own resources +alone, and although conscious enough that the moment which assigned to +the Author of Waverley "a local habitation and a name," had seriously +endangered his spell, I felt inclined to adopt the sentiment of my old +hero Montrose, and to say to myself, that in literature, as in war,-- + + "He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch, + To win or lose it all." + +To the particulars explanatory of the plan of these Chronicles, which +the reader is presented with in Chapter II. by the imaginary Editor, Mr. +Croftangry, I have now to add, that the lady, termed in his narrative, +Mrs. Bethune Balliol, was designed to shadow out in its leading points +the interesting character of a dear friend of mine, Mrs. Murray Keith, +whose death occurring shortly before, had saddened a wide circle, much +attached to her, as well for her genuine virtue and amiable qualities of +disposition, as for the extent of information which she possessed, and +the delightful manner in which she was used to communicate it. In truth, +the author had, on many occasions, been indebted to her vivid memory for +the SUBSTRATUM of his Scottish fictions, and she accordingly had been, +from an early period, at no loss to fix the Waverley Novels on the right +culprit. + +[The Keiths of Craig, in Kincardineshire, descended from John Keith, +fourth son of William, second Earl Marischal, who got from his father, +about 1480, the lands of Craig, and part of Garvock, in that county. In +Douglas's Baronage, 443 to 445, is a pedigree of that family. Colonel +Robert Keith of Craig (the seventh in descent from John) by his wife, +Agnes, daughter of Robert Murray of Murrayshall, of the family of +Blackbarony, widow of Colonel Stirling, of the family of Keir, had one +son--namely Robert Keith of Craig, ambassador to the court of Vienna, +afterwards to St. Petersburgh, which latter situation he held at the +accession of King George III.--who died at Edinburgh in 1774. He married +Margaret, second daughter of Sir William Cunningham of Caprington, by +Janet, only child and heiress of Sir James Dick of Prestonfield; +and, among other children of this marriage were the late well-known +diplomatist, Sir Robert Murray Keith, K.B., a general in the army, and +for some time ambassador at Vienna; Sir Basil Keith, Knight, captain in +the navy, who died Governor of Jamaica; and my excellent friend, Anne +Murray Keith, who ultimately came into possession of the family estates, +and died not long before the date of this Introduction (1831).] + +In the sketch of Chrystal Croftangry's own history, the author has been +accused of introducing some not polite allusions to respectable +living individuals; but he may safely, he presumes, pass over such an +insinuation. The first of the narratives which Mr. Croftangry proceeds +to lay before the public, "The Highland Widow," was derived from Mrs. +Murray Keith, and is given, with the exception of a few additional +circumstances--the introduction of which I am rather inclined to +regret--very much as the excellent old lady used to tell the story. +Neither the Highland cicerone Macturk nor the demure washingwoman, were +drawn from imagination; and on re-reading my tale, after the lapse of +a few years, and comparing its effect with my remembrance of my worthy +friend's oral narration, which was certainly extremely affecting, I +cannot but suspect myself of having marred its simplicity by some of +those interpolations, which, at the time when I penned them, no doubt +passed with myself for embellishments. + +The next tale, entitled "The Two Drovers," I learned from another old +friend, the late George Constable, Esq. of Wallace-Craigie, near Dundee, +whom I have already introduced to my reader as the original Antiquary of +Monkbarns. He had been present, I think, at the trial at Carlisle, +and seldom mentioned the venerable judges charge to the jury, without +shedding tears,--which had peculiar pathos, as flowing down features, +carrying rather a sarcastic or almost a cynical expression. + +This worthy gentleman's reputation for shrewd Scottish sense, knowledge +of our national antiquities, and a racy humour peculiar to himself, must +be still remembered. For myself, I have pride in recording that for many +years we were, in Wordsworth's language,-- + + "A pair of friends, though I was young, + And 'George' was seventy-two." + +W. S. + +ABBOTSFORD, AUG. 15, 1831. + + +***** + + + + +APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION. + +[It has been suggested to the Author that it might be well to reprint +here a detailed account of the public dinner alluded to in the foregoing +Introduction, as given in the newspapers of the time; and the reader +is accordingly presented with the following extract from the EDINBURGH +WEEKLY JOURNAL for Wednesday, 28th February, 1827.] + + +THE THEATRICAL FUND DINNER. + +Before proceeding with our account of this very interesting +festival--for so it may be termed--it is our duty to present to +our readers the following letter, which we have received from the +President:-- + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE "EDINBURGH WEEKLY JOURNAL." + +Sir,--I am extremely sorry I have not leisure to correct the copy +you sent me of what I am stated to have said at the dinner for the +Theatrical Fund. I am no orator, and upon such occasions as are alluded +to, I say as well as I can what the time requires. + +However, I hope your reporter has been more accurate in other instances +than in mine. I have corrected one passage, in which I am made to speak +with great impropriety and petulance, respecting the opinions of those +who do not approve of dramatic entertainments. I have restored what I +said, which was meant to be respectful, as every objection founded in +conscience is, in my opinion, entitled to be so treated. Other errors +I left as I found them, it being of little consequence whether I spoke +sense or nonsense in what was merely intended for the purpose of the +hour. + +I am, sir, + +Your obedient servant, + +EDINBURGH, MONDAY. WALTER SCOTT. + +***** + +The Theatrical Fund Dinner, which took place on Friday, in the Assembly +Rooms, was conducted with admirable spirit. The Chairman, Sir WALTER +SCOTT, among his other great qualifications, is well fitted to enliven +such an entertainment. His manners are extremely easy, and his style of +speaking simple and natural, yet full of vivacity and point; and he has +the art, if it be art, of relaxing into a certain homeliness of manner, +without losing one particle of his dignity. He thus takes off some of +that solemn formality which belongs to such meetings, and, by his easy, +and graceful familiarity, imparts to them somewhat of the pleasing +character of a private entertainment. Near Sir W. Scott sat the Earl +of Fife, Lord Meadowbank, Sir John Hope of Pinkie, Bart., Admiral Adam, +Baron Clerk Rattray, Gilbert Innes, Esq., James Walker, Esq., Robert +Dundas, Esq., Alexander Smith, Esq., etc. + +The cloth being removed, "Non nobis, Domine," was sung by Messrs. +Thorne, Swift, Collier, and Hartley, after which the following toasts +were given from the chair:-- + +"The King"--all the honours. + +"The Duke of Clarence and the Royal Family." + +The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the next toast, which he wished to be drunk +in solemn silence, said it was to the memory of a regretted-prince, whom +we had lately lost. Every individual would at once conjecture to whom he +alluded. He had no intention to dwell on his military merits. They had +been told in the senate; they had been repeated in the cottage; and +whenever a soldier was the theme, his name was never far distant. But it +was chiefly in connection with the business of this meeting, which +his late Royal Highness had condescended in a particular manner to +patronize, that they were called on to drink his health. To that charity +he had often sacrificed his time, and had given up the little leisure +which he had from important business. He was always ready to attend on +every occasion of this kind, and it was in that view that he proposed to +drink to the memory of his late Royal Highness the Duke of York.--Drunk +in solemn silence. + +The CHAIRMAN then requested that gentlemen would fill a bumper as full +as it would hold, while he would say only a few words. He was in the +habit of hearing speeches, and he knew the feeling with which long ones +were regarded. He was sure that it was perfectly unnecessary for him to +enter into any vindication of the dramatic art, which they had come +here to support. This, however, he considered to be the proper time +and proper occasion for him to say a few words on that love of +representation which was an innate feeling in human nature. It was the +first amusement that the child had. It grew greater as he grew up; and +even in the decline of life nothing amuses so much as when a common tale +is told with appropriate personification. The first thing a child does +is to ape his schoolmaster by flogging a chair. The assuming a character +ourselves, or the seeing others assume an imaginary character, is an +enjoyment natural to humanity. It was implanted in our very nature to +take pleasure from such representations, at proper times and on proper +occasions. In all ages the theatrical art had kept pace with the +improvement of mankind, and with the progress of letters and the fine +arts. As man has advanced from the ruder stages of society, the love +of dramatic representations has increased, and all works of this nature +have keen improved in character and in structure. They had only to turn +their eyes to the history of ancient Greece, although he did not pretend +to be very deeply versed in its ancient drama. Its first tragic poet +commanded a body of troops at the battle of Marathon. Sophocles and +Euripides were men of rank in Athens when Athens was in its highest +renown. They shook Athens with their discourses, as their theatrical +works shook the theatre itself. If they turned to France in the time of +Louis the Fourteenth--that era which is the classical history of that +country--they would find that it was referred to by all Frenchmen as the +golden age of the drama there. And also in England in the time of Queen +Elizabeth the drama was at its highest pitch, when the nation began to +mingle deeply and wisely in the general politics of Europe, not only +not receiving laws from others, but giving laws to the world, and +vindicating the rights of mankind. (Cheers.) There have been various +times when the dramatic art subsequently fell into disrepute. Its +professors have been stigmatized, and laws have been passed against +them, less dishonourable to them than to the statesmen by whom they were +proposed, and to the legislators by whom they were adopted. What were +the times in which these laws were passed? Was it not when virtue was +seldom inculcated as a moral duty that we were required to relinquish +the most rational of all our amusements, when the clergy were enjoined +celibacy, and when the laity were denied the right to read their Bibles? +He thought that it must have been from a notion of penance that they +erected the drama into an ideal place of profaneness, and spoke of the +theatre as of the tents of sin. He did not mean to dispute that there +were many excellent persons who thought differently from him, and he +disclaimed the slightest idea of charging them with bigotry or hypocrisy +on that account. He gave them full credit for their tender consciences, +in making these objections, although they did not appear relevant to +him. But to these persons, being, as he believed them, men of worth +and piety, he was sure the purpose of this meeting would furnish some +apology for an error, if there be any, in the opinions of those who +attend. They would approve the gift, although they might differ in other +points. Such might not approve of going to the theatre, but at least +could not deny that they might give away from their superfluity what was +required for the relief of the sick, the support of the aged, and the +comfort of the afflicted. These were duties enjoined by our religion +itself. (Loud cheers.) + +The performers are in a particular manner entitled to the support or +regard, when in old age or distress, of those who have partaken of the +amusements of those places which they render an ornament to society. +Their art was of a peculiarly delicate and precarious nature. They +had to serve a long apprenticeship. It was very long before even the +first-rate geniuses could acquire the mechanical knowledge of the stage +business. They must languish long in obscurity before they can avail +themselves of their natural talents; and after that they have but a +short space of time, during which they are fortunate if they can provide +the means of comfort in the decline of life. That comes late, and lasts +but a short time; after which they are left dependent. Their limbs +fail--their teeth are loosened--their voice is lost and they are left, +after giving happiness to others, in a most disconsolate state. The +public were liberal and generous to those deserving their protection. +It was a sad thing to be dependent on the favour, or, he might say, in +plain terms, on the caprice, of the public; and this more particularly +for a class of persons of whom extreme prudence is not the character. +There might be instances of opportunities being neglected. But let +each gentleman tax himself, and consider the opportunities THEY had +neglected, and the sums of money THEY had wasted; let every gentleman +look into his own bosom, and say whether these were circumstances which +would soften his own feelings, were he to be plunged into distress. He +put it to every generous bosom--to every better feeling--to say what +consolation was it to old age to be told that you might have made +provision at a time which had been neglected--(loud cheers)--and to find +it objected, that if you had pleased you might have been wealthy. He +had hitherto been speaking of what, in theatrical language, was called +STARS; but they were sometimes falling ones. There was another class of +sufferers naturally and necessarily connected with the theatre, without +whom it was impossible to go on. The sailors have a saying, Every man +cannot be a boatswain. If there must be a great actor to act Hamlet, +there must also be people to act Laertes, the King, Rosencrantz, and +Guildenstern, otherwise a drama cannot go on. If even Garrick himself +were to rise from the dead, he could not act Hamlet alone. There must +be generals, colonels, commanding-officers, subalterns. But what are the +private soldiers to do? Many have mistaken their own talents, and have +been driven in early youth to try the stage, to which they are not +competent. He would know what to say to the indifferent poet and to the +bad artist. He would say that it was foolish, and he would recommend to +the poet to become a scribe, and the artist to paint sign-posts. (Loud +laughter.) But you could not send the player adrift; for if he cannot +play Hamlet, he must play Guildenstern. Where there are many labourers, +wages must be low and no man in such a situation can decently support a +wife and family, and save something off his income for old age. What is +this man to do in later life? Are you to cast him off like an old hinge, +or a piece of useless machinery, which has done its work? To a person +who had contributed to our amusement, this would be unkind, ungrateful, +and unchristian. His wants are not of his own making, but arise from the +natural sources of sickness and old age. It cannot be denied that there +is one class of sufferers to whom no imprudence can be ascribed, except +on first entering on the profession. After putting his hand to the +dramatic plough, he cannot draw back, but must continue at it, and toil, +till death release him from want, or charity, by its milder influence, +steps in to render that want more tolerable. He had little more to say, +except that he sincerely hoped that the collection to-day, from +the number of respectable gentlemen present, would meet the views +entertained by the patrons. He hoped it would do so. They should not +be disheartened. Though they could not do a great deal, they might do +something. They had this consolation, that everything they parted with +from their superfluity would do some good. They would sleep the better +themselves when they had been the means of giving sleep to others. It +was ungrateful and unkind that those who had sacrificed their youth to +our amusement should not receive the reward due to them, but should be +reduced to hard fare in their old age. We cannot think of poor Falstaff +going to bed without his cup of sack, or Macbeth fed on bones as +marrowless as those of Banquo. (Loud cheers and laughter.) As he +believed that they were all as fond of the dramatic art as he was in his +younger days, he would propose that they should drink "The Theatrical +Fund," with three times three. + +Mr. MACKAY rose, on behalf of his brethren, to return their thanks +for the toast just drunk. Many of the gentlemen present, he said, +were perhaps not fully acquainted with the nature and intention of the +institution, and it might not be amiss to enter into some explanation +on the subject. With whomsoever the idea of a Theatrical Fund might have +originated (and it had been disputed by the surviving relatives of two +or three individuals), certain it was that the first legally constituted +Theatrical Fund owed its origin to one of the brightest ornaments of the +profession, the late David Garrick. That eminent actor conceived that, +by a weekly subscription in the theatre, a fund might be raised among +its members, from which a portion might be given to those of his +less fortunate brethren, and thus an opportunity would be offered for +prudence to provide what fortune had denied--a comfortable provision +for the winter of life. With the welfare of his profession constantly at +heart, the zeal with which he laboured to uphold its respectability, and +to impress upon the minds or his brethren, not only the necessity, but +the blessing of independence, the Fund became his peculiar care. He drew +up a form of laws for its government, procured at his own expense the +passing of an Act of Parliament for its confirmation, bequeathed to it +a handsome legacy, and thus became the father of the Drury Lane Fund. So +constant was his attachment to this infant establishment, that he chose +to grace the close of the brightest theatrical life on record by the +last display of his transcendent talent on the occasion of a benefit for +this child of his adoption, which ever since has gone by the name of +the Garrick Fund. In imitation of his noble example, funds had been +established in several provincial theatres in England; but it remained +for Mrs. Henry Siddons and Mr. William Murray to become the founders +of the first Theatrical Fund in Scotland. (Cheers.) This Fund commenced +under the most favourable auspices. It was liberally supported by the +management, and highly patronized by the public. Notwithstanding, +it fell short in the accomplishment of its intentions. What those +intentions were, he (Mr. Mackay) need not recapitulate, but they failed; +and he did not hesitate to confess that a want of energy on the part +of the performers was the probable cause. A new set of Rules and +Regulations were lately drawn up, submitted to and approved of at a +general meeting of the members of the Theatre, and accordingly the Fund +was remodelled on the 1st of January last. And here he thought he did +but echo the feelings of his brethren, by publicly acknowledging the +obligations they were under to the management for the aid given and +the warm interest they had all along taken in the welfare of the Fund. +(Cheers.) The nature and object of the profession had been so well +treated of by the President that he would say nothing; but of the +numerous offspring of science and genius that court precarious fame, +the actor boasts the slenderest claim of all--the sport of fortune, the +creatures of fashion, and the victims of caprice, they are seen, heard, +and admired, but to be forgot. They leave no trace, no memorial of their +existence--they "come like shadows, so depart." (Cheers.) Yet humble +though their pretensions be, there was no profession, trade, or +calling where such a combination of requisites, mental and bodily, were +indispensable. In all others the principal may practise after he has +been visited by the afflicting hand of Providence--some by the loss of +limb, some of voice, and many, when the faculty of the mind is on the +wane, may be assisted by dutiful children or devoted servants. Not so +the actor, He must retain all he ever did possess, or sink dejected to +a mournful home. (Applause.) Yet while they are toiling for ephemeral +theatric fame, how very few ever possess the means of hoarding in +their youth that which would give bread in old age! But now a brighter +prospect dawned upon them, and to the success of this their infant +establishment they looked with hope, as to a comfortable and peaceful +home in their declining years. He concluded by tendering to the meeting, +in the name of his brethren and sisters, their unfeigned thanks for +their liberal support, and begged to propose "The Health of the Patrons +of the Edinburgh Theatrical Fund." (Cheers.) + +Lord MEADOWBANK said that, by desire of his Hon. Friend in the chair, +and of his Noble Friend at his right hand, he begged leave to return +thanks for the honour which had been conferred on the Patrons of this +excellent institution. He could answer for himself--he could answer for +them all--that they were deeply impressed with the meritorious +objects which it has in view, and of their anxious wish to promote its +interests. For himself, he hoped he might be permitted to say that he +was rather surprised at finding his own name as one of the Patrons, +associated with so many individuals of high rank and powerful influence. +But it was an excuse for those who had placed him in a situation so +honourable and so distinguished, that when this charity was instituted +he happened to hold a high and responsible station under the Crown, when +he might have been of use in assisting and promoting its objects. His +Lordship much feared that he could have little expectation, situated as +he now was, of doing either; but he could confidently assert that +few things would give him greater gratification than being able +to contribute to its prosperity and support. And indeed, when one +recollects the pleasure which at all periods of life he has received +from the exhibitions of the stage, and the exertions of the meritorious +individuals for whose aid this Fund has been established, he must be +divested both of gratitude and feeling who would not give his best +endeavours to promote its welfare. And now, that he might in some +measure repay the gratification which had been afforded himself, he +would beg leave to propose a toast, the health of one of the Patrons, +a great and distinguished individual, whose name must always stand by +itself, and which, in an assembly such as this, or in any other assembly +of Scotsmen, can never be received, not, he would say, with ordinary +feelings of pleasure or of delight, but with those of rapture and +enthusiasm. In doing so he felt that he stood in a somewhat new +situation. Whoever had been called upon to propose the health of his +Hon. Friend to whom he alluded, some time ago, would have found himself +enabled, from the mystery in which certain matters were involved, to +gratify himself and his auditors by allusions which found a responding +chord in their own feelings, and to deal in the language, the sincere +language, of panegyric, without intruding on the modesty of the +great individual to whom he referred. But it was no longer possible, +consistently with the respect to one's auditors, to use upon this +subject terms either of mystification or of obscure or indirect +allusion. The clouds have been dispelled; the DARKNESS VISIBLE has +been cleared away; and the Great Unknown--the minstrel of our native +land--the mighty magician who has rolled back the current of time, and +conjured up before our living senses the men and the manners of days +which have long passed away--stands revealed to the hearts and the eyes +of his affectionate and admiring countrymen. If he himself were capable +of imagining all that belonged to this mighty subject--were he even able +to give utterance to all that, as a friend, as a man, and as a Scotsman, +he must feel regarding it--yet knowing, as he well did, that this +illustrious individual was not more distinguished for his towering +talents than for those feelings which rendered such allusions ungrateful +to himself, however sparingly introduced, he would, on that account, +still refrain from doing that which would otherwise be no less pleasing +to him than to his audience. But this his Lordship, hoped he would be +allowed to say (his auditors would not pardon him were he to say less), +we owe to him, as a people, a large and heavy debt of gratitude. He it +is who has opened to foreigners the grand and characteristic beauties of +our country. It is to him that we owe that our gallant ancestors and the +struggles of our illustrious patriots--who fought and bled in order to +obtain and secure that independence and that liberty we now enjoy--have +obtained a fame no longer confined to the boundaries of a remote +and comparatively obscure nation, and who has called down upon their +struggles for glory and freedom the admiration of foreign countries. He +it is who has conferred a new reputation on our national character, and +bestowed on Scotland an imperishable name, were it only by her having +given birth to himself. (Loud and rapturous applause.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT certainly did not think that, in coming here to-day, he +would have the task of acknowledging, before three hundred gentlemen, a +secret which, considering that it was communicated to more than twenty +people, had been remarkably well kept. He was now before the bar of his +country, and might be understood to be on trial before Lord Meadowbank +as an offender; yet he was sure that every impartial jury would bring in +a verdict of Not Proven. He did not now think it necessary to enter into +the reasons of his long silence. Perhaps caprice might have a consider +able share in it. He had now to say, however, that the merits of these +works, if they had any, and their faults, were entirely imputable to +himself. (Long and loud cheering.) He was afraid to think on what he had +done. "Look on't again I dare not." He had thus far unbosomed himself +and he knew that it would be reported to the public. He meant, then, +seriously to state, that when he said he was the author, he was the +total and undivided author. With the exception of quotations, there was +not a single word that was not derived from himself, or suggested in the +course of his reading. The wand was now broken, and the book buried. You +will allow me further to say, with Prospero, it is your breath that has +filled my sails, and to crave one single toast in the capacity of the +author of these novels; and he would dedicate a bumper to the health +of one who has represented some of those characters, of which he had +endeavoured to give the skeleton, with a degree of liveliness which +rendered him grateful. He would propose "The Health of his friend Bailie +Nicol Jarvie"--(loud applause)--and he was sure that when the author of +Waverley and Rob Roy drinks to Nicol Jarvie, it would be received +with that degree of applause to which that gentleman has always been +accustomed, and that they would take care that on the present occasion +it should be PRODIGIOUS! (Long and vehement applause.) + +Mr. MACKAY, who here spoke with great humour in the character of Bailie +Jarvie.--My conscience! My worthy father the deacon could not have +believed that his son could hae had sic a compliment paid to him by the +Great Unknown! + +Sir WALTER SCOTT.--The Small Known now, Mr. Bailie. + +Mr. MACKAY.--He had been long identified with the Bailie, and he was +vain of the cognomen which he had now worn for eight years; and +he questioned if any of his brethren in the Council had given such +universal satisfaction. (Loud laughter and applause.) Before he sat +down, he begged to propose "The Lord Provost and the City of Edinburgh." + +Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for the absence of the Lord Provost, who had +gone to London on public business. + +Tune--"Within a mile of Edinburgh town." + +Sir WALTER SCOTT gave "The Duke of Wellington and the army." + +Glee--"How merrily we live." + +"Lord Melville and the Navy, that fought till they left nobody to fight +with, like an arch sportsman who clears all and goes after the game." + +Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON.--They had heard this evening a toast, which had +been received with intense delight, which will be published in every +newspaper, and will be hailed with joy by all Europe. He had one toast +assigned him which he had great pleasure in giving. He was sure that the +stage had in all ages a great effect on the morals and manners of the +people. It was very desirable that the stage should be well regulated; +and there was no criterion by which its regulation could be better +determined than by the moral character and personal respectability of +the performers. He was not one of those stern moralists who objected to +the theatre. The most fastidious moralist could not possibly apprehend +any injury from the stage of Edinburgh, as it was presently managed, +and so long as it was adorned by that illustrious individual, Mrs. Henry +Siddons, whose public exhibitions were not more remarkable for feminine +grace and delicacy than was her private character for every virtue which +could be admired in domestic life. He would conclude with reciting a few +words from Shakespeare, in a spirit not of contradiction to those stern +moralists who disliked the theatre, but of meekness: "Good, my lord, +will you see the players well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well +used, for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time." +He then gave "Mrs. Henry Siddons, and success to the Theatre Royal of +Edinburgh." + +Mr. MURRAY.--Gentlemen, I rise to return thanks for the honour you have +done Mrs. Siddons, in doing which I am somewhat difficulted, from the +extreme delicacy which attends a brother's expatiating upon a sister's +claims to honours publicly paid--(hear, hear)--yet, gentlemen, your +kindness emboldens me to say that, were I to give utterance to all +a brother's feelings, I should not exaggerate those claims. (Loud +applause.) I therefore, gentlemen, thank you most cordially for the +honour you have done her, and shall now request permission to make an +observation on the establishment of the Edinburgh Theatrical Fund. Mr. +Mackay has done Mrs. Henry Siddons and myself the honour to ascribe the +establishment to us. But no, gentlemen, it owes its origin to a higher +source--the publication of the novel of Rob Roy--the unprecedented +success of the opera adapted from that popular production. (Hear, +hear.) It was that success which relieved the Edinburgh Theatre from +its difficulties, and enabled Mrs. Siddons to carry into effect the +establishment of a fund she had long desired, but was prevented from +effecting from the unsettled state of her theatrical concerns. I +therefore hope that in future years, when the aged and infirm actor +derives relief from this fund, he will, in the language of the gallant +Highlander, "Cast his eye to good old Scotland, and not forget Rob Roy." +(Loud applause.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT here stated that Mrs. Siddons wanted the means but not +the will of beginning the Theatrical Fund. He here alluded to the great +merits of Mr. Murray's management, and to his merits as an actor, which +were of the first order, and of which every person who attends the +Theatre must be sensible; and after alluding to the embarrassments with +which the Theatre had been at one period threatened, he concluded by +giving "The Health of Mr. Murray," which was drunk with three times +three. + +Mr. MURRAY.--Gentlemen, I wish I could believe that in any degree I +merited the compliments with which it has pleased Sir Walter Scott to +preface the proposal of my health, or the very flattering manner in +which you have done me the honour to receive it. The approbation of such +an assembly is most gratifying to me, and might encourage feelings of +vanity, were not such feelings crushed by my conviction that no man +holding the situation I have so long held in Edinburgh could have +failed, placed in the peculiar circumstances in which I have been +placed. Gentlemen, I shall not insult your good taste by eulogiums +upon your judgment or kindly feeling, though to the first I owe any +improvement I may have made as an actor, and certainly my success as +a manager to the second. (Applause.) When, upon the death of my dear +brother, the late Mr. Siddons, it was proposed that I should undertake +the management of the Edinburgh Theatre, I confess I drew back, doubting +my capability to free it from the load of debt and difficulty with which +it was surrounded. In this state of anxiety, I solicited the advice of +one who had ever honoured me with his kindest regard, and whose name no +member of my profession can pronounce without feelings of the deepest +respect and gratitude. I allude to the late Mr. John Kemble. (Great +applause.) To him I applied, and with the repetition of his advice I +shall cease to trespass upon your time--(hear, hear)--"My dear William, +fear not. Integrity and assiduity must prove an overmatch for all +difficulty; and though I approve your not indulging a vain confidence in +your own ability, and viewing with respectful apprehension the judgment +of the audience you have to act before, yet be assured that judgment +will ever be tempered by the feeling that you are acting for the widow +and the fatherless." (Loud applause.) Gentlemen, those words have never +passed from my mind; and I feel convinced that you have pardoned my +many errors, from the feeling that I was striving for the widow and +the fatherless. (Long and enthusiastic applause followed Mr. Murray's +address.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT gave "The Health of the Stewards." + +Mr. VANDENHOFF.---Mr. President and Gentlemen, the honour conferred upon +the Stewards, in the very flattering compliment you have just paid us, +calls forth our warmest acknowledgments. In tendering you our thanks +for the approbation you have been pleased to express of our humble +exertions, I would beg leave to advert to the cause in which we have +been engaged. Yet, surrounded as I am by the genius--the eloquence--of +this enlightened city, I cannot but feel the presumption which ventures +to address you on so interesting a subject. Accustomed to speak in the +language of others, I feel quite at a loss for terms wherein to clothe +the sentiments excited by the present occasion. (Applause.) The nature +of the institution which has sought your fostering patronage, and the +objects which it contemplates, have been fully explained to you. But, +gentlemen, the relief which it proposes is not a gratuitous relief, but +to be purchased by the individual contribution of its members towards +the general good. This Fund lends no encouragement to idleness or +improvidence, but it offers an opportunity to prudence in vigour and +youth to make provision against the evening of life and its attendant +infirmity. A period is fixed at which we admit the plea of age as an +exemption from professional labour. It is painful to behold the veteran +on the stage (compelled by necessity) contending against physical decay, +mocking the joyousness of mirth with the feebleness of age, when the +energies decline, when the memory fails! and "the big, manly voice, +turning again towards childish treble, pipes and whistles in the sound." +We would remove him from the mimic scene, where fiction constitutes the +charm; we would not view old age caricaturing itself. (Applause.) But as +our means may be found, in time of need, inadequate to the fulfilment +of our wishes--fearful of raising expectations which we may be unable to +gratify--desirous not "to keep the word of promise to the ear, and break +it to the hope"--we have presumed to court the assistance of the friends +of the drama to strengthen our infant institution. Our appeal has been +successful beyond our most sanguine expectations. The distinguished +patronage conferred on us by your presence on this occasion, and the +substantial support which your benevolence has so liberally afforded +to our institution, must impress every member of the Fund with the most +grateful sentiments--sentiments which no language can express, no time +obliterate. (Applause.) I will not trespass longer on your attention. +I would the task of acknowledging our obligation had fallen into abler +hands. (Hear, hear.) In the name of the Stewards, I most respectfully +and cordially thank you for the honour you have done us, which greatly +overpays our poor endeavours. (Applause.) + +[This speech, though rather inadequately reported, was one of the best +delivered on this occasion. That it was creditable to Mr. Vandenhoff's +taste and feelings, the preceding sketch will show; but how much it was +so, it does not show.] + +Mr. J. CAY gave "Professor Wilson and the University of Edinburgh, of +which he was one of the brightest ornaments." + +Lord MEADOWBANK, after a suitable eulogium, gave "The Earl of Fife," +which was drunk with three times three. + +Earl FIFE expressed his high gratification at the honour conferred on +him. He intimated his approbation of the institution, and his readiness +to promote its success by every means in his power. He concluded with +giving "The Health of the Company of Edinburgh." + +Mr. JONES, on rising to return thanks, being received with considerable +applause, said he was truly grateful for the kind encouragement he +had experienced, but the novelty of the situation in which he now +was renewed all the feelings he experienced when he first saw himself +announced in the bills as a young gentleman, being his first appearance +on any stage. (Laughter and applause.) Although in the presence of those +whose indulgence had, in another sphere, so often shielded him from the +penalties of inability, he was unable to execute the task which had so +unexpectedly devolved upon him in behalf of his brethren and himself. He +therefore begged the company to imagine all that grateful hearts could +prompt the most eloquent to utter, and that would be a copy of their +feelings. (Applause.) He begged to trespass another moment on their +attention, for the purpose of expressing the thanks of the members +of the Fund to the Gentlemen of the Edinburgh Professional Society of +Musicians, who, finding that this meeting was appointed to take place +on the same evening with their concert, had, in the handsomest manner, +agreed to postpone it. Although it was his duty thus to preface the +toast he had to propose, he was certain the meeting required no further +inducement than the recollection of the pleasure the exertions of those +gentlemen had often afforded them within those walls, to join heartily +in drinking "Health and Prosperity to the Edinburgh Professional Society +of Musicians." (Applause.) + +Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON Proposed "The Health of Mr. Jeffrey," whose absence +was owing to indisposition. The public was well aware that he was the +most distinguished advocate at the bar. He was likewise distinguished +for the kindness, frankness, and cordial manner in which he communicated +with the junior members of the profession, to the esteem of whom his +splendid talents would always entitle him. + +Mr. J. MACONOCHIE gave "The Health of Mrs. Siddons, senior, the most +distinguished ornament of the stage." + +Sir W. SCOTT said that if anything could reconcile him to old age, it +was the reflection that he had seen the rising as well as the setting +sun of Mrs. Siddons. He remembered well their breakfasting near to +the Theatre--waiting the whole day--the crushing at the doors at six +o'clock--and their going in and counting their fingers till seven +o'clock. But the very first step--the very first word which she +uttered--was sufficient to overpay him for all his labours. The house +was literally electrified; and it was only from witnessing the effects +of her genius that he could guess to what a pitch theatrical excellence +could be carried. Those young gentlemen who have only seen the setting +sun of this distinguished performer, beautiful and serene as that was, +must give us old fellows, who have seen its rise and its meridian, leave +to hold our heads a little higher. + +Mr. DUNDAS gave "The Memory of Home, the author of Douglas." + +Mr. MACKAY here announced that the subscriptions for the night amounted +to L280, and he expressed gratitude for this substantial proof of their +kindness. [We are happy to state that subscriptions have since flowed in +very liberally.] + +Mr. MACKAY here entertained the company with a pathetic song. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for having so long forgotten their native +land. He would now give "Scotland, the land of Cakes." He would give +every river, every loch, every hill, from Tweed to Johnnie Groat's +house--every lass in her cottage and countess in her castle--and may her +sons stand by her, as their fathers did before them; and he who would +not drink a bumper to his toast, may he never drink whisky more! + +Sir WALTER SCOTT here gave "Lord Meadowbank," who returned thanks. + +Mr. H. G. BELL said that he should not have ventured to intrude himself +upon the attention of the assembly, did he not feel confident that the +toast he begged to have the honour to propose would make amends for the +very imperfect manner in which he might express his sentiments regarding +it. It had been said that, notwithstanding the mental supremacy of the +present age--notwithstanding that the page of our history was studded +with names destined also for the page of immortality--that the genius of +Shakespeare was extinct, and the fountain of his inspiration dried up. +It might be that these observations were unfortunately correct, or it +might be that we were bewildered with a name, not disappointed of the +reality; for though Shakespeare had brought a Hamlet, an Othello, and a +Macbeth, an Ariel, a Juliet, and a Rosalind, upon the stage, were there +not authors living who had brought as varied, as exquisitely painted, +and as undying a range of characters into our hearts? The shape of the +mere mould into which genius poured its golden treasures was surely +a matter of little moment, let it be called a Tragedy, a Comedy, or a +Waverley Novel. But even among the dramatic authors of the present day, +he was unwilling to allow that there was a great and palpable decline +from the glory of preceding ages, and his toast alone would bear him out +in denying the truth of the proposition. After eulogizing the names of +Baillie, Byron, Coleridge, Maturin, and others, he begged to have the +honour of proposing "The Health of James Sheridan Knowles." + +Sir WALTER SCOTT. Gentlemen, I crave a bumper all over. The last toast +reminds me of a neglect of duty. Unaccustomed to a public duty of this +kind, errors in conducting the ceremonial of it may be excused, and +omissions pardoned. Perhaps I have made one or two omissions in the +course of the evening for which I trust you will grant me your pardon +and indulgence. One thing in particular I have omitted, and I would now +wish to make amends for it by a libation of reverence and respect to +the memory of SHAKESPEARE. He was a man of universal genius, and from a +period soon after his own era to the present day he has been universally +idolized. When I come to his honoured name, I am like the sick man who +hung up his crutches at the shrine, and was obliged to confess that he +did not walk better than before. It is indeed difficult, gentlemen, to +compare him to any other individual. The only one to whom I call at all +compare him is the wonderful Arabian dervise, who dived into the body of +each, and in this way became familiar with the thoughts and secrets of +their hearts. He was a man of obscure origin, and, as a player, limited +in his acquirements; but he was born evidently with a universal genius. +His eyes glanced at all the varied aspects of life, and his fancy +portrayed with equal talents the king on the throne and the clown who +crackles his chestnuts at a Christmas fire. Whatever note he takes, he +strikes it just and true, and awakens a corresponding chord in our own +bosoms, Gentlemen, I propose "The Memory of William Shakespeare." + +Glee--"Lightly tread, 'tis hallowed ground." + +After the glee, Sir WALTER rose and begged to propose as a toast the +health of a lady, whose living merit is not a little honourable to +Scotland. The toast (said he) is also flattering to the national vanity +of a Scotchman, as the lady whom I intend to propose is a native of this +country. From the public her works have met with the most favourable +reception. One piece of hers, in particular, was often acted here of +late years, and gave pleasure of no mean kind to many brilliant and +fashionable audiences. In her private character she (he begged leave +to say) is as remarkable as in a public sense she is for her genius. In +short, he would in one word name--"Joanna Baillie." + +This health being drunk, Mr. THORNE was called on for a song, and sung, +with great taste and feeling, "The Anchor's Weighed." + +W. MENZIES, Esq., Advocate, rose to propose the health of a gentleman +for many years connected at intervals with the dramatic art in Scotland. +Whether we look at the range of characters he performs, or at the +capacity which he evinces in executing those which he undertakes, he is +equally to be admired. In all his parts he is unrivalled. The individual +to whom he alluded is (said he) well known to the gentlemen present, +in the characters of Malvolio, Lord Ogleby, and the Green Man; and in +addition to his other qualities, he merits, for his perfection in these +characters, the grateful sense of this meeting. He would wish, in +the first place, to drink his health as an actor. But he was not less +estimable in domestic life, and as a private gentleman; and when he +announced him as one whom the chairman had honoured with his friendship, +he was sure that all present would cordially join him in drinking "The +Health of Mr. Terry." + +Mr. WILLIAM ALLAN, banker, said that he did not rise with the intention +of making a speech. He merely wished to contribute in a few words to +the mirth of the evening--an evening which certainly had not passed off +without some blunders. It had been understood--at least he had learnt +or supposed from the expressions of Mr. Pritchard--that it would be +sufficient to put a paper, with the name of the contributor, into the +box, and that the gentleman thus contributing would be called on for +the money next morning. He, for his part, had committed a blunder but +it might serve as a caution to those who may be present at the dinner +of next year. He had merely put in his name, written on a slip of paper, +without the money. But he would recommend that, as some of the gentlemen +might be in the same situation, the box should be again sent round, and +he was confident that they, as well as he, would redeem their error. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT said that the meeting was somewhat in the situation +of Mrs. Anne Page, who had L300 and possibilities. We have already got, +said he, L280, but I should like, I confess, to have the L300. He would +gratify himself by proposing the health of an honourable person, the +Lord Chief Baron, whom England has sent to us, and connecting with it +that of his "yokefellow on the bench," as Shakespeare says, Mr. Baron +Clerk--The Court of Exchequer. + +Mr. Baron CLERK regretted the absence of his learned brother. None, he +was sure, could be more generous in his nature, or more ready to help a +Scottish purpose. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT,--There is one who ought to be remembered on +this occasion. He is, indeed, well entitled to our grateful +recollection--one, in short, to whom the drama in this city owes much. +He succeeded, not without trouble, and perhaps at some considerable +sacrifice, in establishing a theatre. The younger part of the company +may not recollect the theatre to which I allude, but there are some who +with me may remember by name a place called Carrubber's Close. There +Allan Ramsay established his little theatre. His own pastoral was not +fit for the stage, but it has its admirers in those who love the Doric +language in which it is written; and it is not without merits of a +very peculiar kind. But laying aside all considerations of his literary +merit, Allan was a good, jovial, honest fellow, who could crack a bottle +with the best. "The Memory of Allan Ramsay." + +Mr. MURRAY, on being requested, sung "'Twas merry in the hall," and at +the conclusion was greeted with repeated rounds of applause. + +Mr. JONES.--One omission I conceive has been made. The cause of the Fund +has been ably advocated, but it is still susceptible, in my opinion, of +an additional charm-- + + "Without the smile from partial beauty won, + Oh, what were man?--a world without a sun!" + +And there would not be a darker spot in poetry than would be the corner +in Shakespeare Square, if, like its fellow, the Register Office, +the Theatre were deserted by the ladies. They are, in fact, our most +attractive stars. "The Patronesses of the Theatre, the Ladies of the +City of Edinburgh." This toast I ask leave to drink with all the honours +which conviviality can confer. + +Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON would be the last man willingly to introduce any +topic calculated to interrupt the harmony of the evening; yet he felt +himself treading upon ticklish ground when he approached the region of +the Nor' Loch. He assured the company, however, that he was not about to +enter on the subject of the Improvement Bill. They all knew that if the +public were unanimous--if the consent of all parties were obtained--if +the rights and interests of everybody were therein attended to, saved, +reserved, respected, and excepted--if everybody agreed to it--and, +finally, a most essential point, if nobody opposed it--then, and in +that case, and provided also that due intimation were given, the bill +in question might pass--would pass--or might, could, would, or should +pass--all expenses being defrayed. (Laughter.) He was the advocate of +neither champion, and would neither avail himself of the absence of the +Right Hon. the Lord Provost, nor take advantage of the non-appearance +of his friend, Mr. Cockburn. (Laughter.) But in the midst of these +civic broils there had been elicited a ray of hope that, at some future +period, in Bereford Park, or some other place, if all parties were +consulted and satisfied, and if intimation were duly made at the kirk +doors of all the parishes in Scotland, in terms of the statute in that +behalf provided--the people of Edinburgh might by possibility get a +new Theatre. (Cheers and laughter.) But wherever the belligerent powers +might be pleased to set down this new Theatre, he was sure they all +hoped to meet the Old Company in it. He should therefore propose "Better +Accommodation to the Old Company in the new Theatre, site unknown."--Mr. +Robertson's speech was most humorously given, and he sat down amidst +loud cheers and laughter. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT.--Wherever the new Theatre is built, I hope it will not +be large. There are two errors which we commonly commit--the one arising +from our pride, the other from our poverty. If there are twelve plans, +it is odds but the largest, without any regard to comfort, or an eye +to the probable expense, is adopted. There was the College projected on +this scale, and undertaken in the same manner, and who shall see the end +of it? It has been building all my life, and may probably last during +the lives of my children, and my children's children. Let not the +same prophetic hymn be sung when we commence a new Theatre, which was +performed on the occasion of laying the foundation-stone of a certain +edifice, "Behold the endless work begun." Playgoing folks should attend +somewhat to convenience. The new Theatre should, in the first place, +be such as may be finished in eighteen months or two years; and, in the +second place, it should be one in which we can hear our old friends with +comfort. It is better that a moderate-sized house should be crowded now +and then, than to have a large theatre with benches continually +empty, to the discouragement of the actors and the discomfort of the +spectators. (Applause.) He then commented in flattering terms on the +genius of Mackenzie and his private worth, and concluded by proposing +"The Health of Henry Mackenzie, Esq." + +Immediately afterwards he said:--Gentlemen, it is now wearing late, and +I shall request permission to retire. Like Partridge, I may say, "NON +SUM QUALIS ERAM." At my time of day I can agree with Lord Ogilvie as to +his rheumatism, and say, "There's a twinge." I hope, therefore, you will +excuse me for leaving the chair.--The worthy Baronet then retired amidst +long, loud, and rapturous cheering. + +Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON was then called to the chair by common +acclamation. + +Gentlemen, said Mr. Robertson, I take the liberty of asking you to fill +a bumper to the very brim. There is not one of us who will not +remember, while he lives, being present at this day's festival, and +the declaration made this night by the gentleman who has just left the +chair. That declaration has rent the veil from the features of the Great +Unknown--a name which must now merge in the name of the Great Known. +It will be henceforth coupled with the name of SCOTT, which will become +familiar like a household word. We have heard the confession from his +own immortal lips--(cheering)--and we cannot dwell with too much or +too fervent praise on the merits of the greatest man whom Scotland has +produced. + +After which several other toasts were given, and Mr. Robertson left +the room about half-past eleven. A few choice spirits, however, rallied +round Captain Broadhead of the 7th Hussars, who was called to the chair, +and the festivity was prolonged till an early hour on Saturday morning. + +The band of the Theatre occupied the gallery, and that of the 7th +Hussars the end of the room, opposite the chair, whose performances were +greatly admired. It is but justice to Mr. Gibb to state that the dinner +was very handsome (though slowly served in), and the wines good. The +attention of the stewards was exemplary. Mr. Murray and Mr. Vandenhoff, +with great good taste, attended on Sir Walter Scott's right and left, +and we know that he has expressed himself much gratified by their +anxious politeness and sedulity. + + +***** + + + + +CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE--INTRODUCTORY. + + + +CHAPTER I. MR. CHRYSTAL CROFTANGRY'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. + +Sic itur ad astra. + +"This is the path to heaven." Such is the ancient motto attached to the +armorial bearings of the Canongate, and which is inscribed, with greater +or less propriety, upon all the public buildings, from the church to the +pillory, in the ancient quarter of Edinburgh which bears, or rather +once bore, the same relation to the Good Town that Westminster does +to London, being still possessed of the palace of the sovereign, as it +formerly was dignified by the residence of the principal nobility and +gentry. I may therefore, with some propriety, put the same motto at +the head of the literary undertaking by which I hope to illustrate the +hitherto undistinguished name of Chrystal Croftangry. + +The public may desire to know something of an author who pitches at such +height his ambitious expectations. The gentle reader, therefore--for I +am much of Captain Bobadil's humour, and could to no other extend myself +so far--the GENTLE reader, then, will be pleased to understand that I +am a a Scottish gentleman of the old school, with a fortune, temper, +and person, rather the worse for wear. I have known the world for these +forty years, having written myself man nearly since that period--and I +do not think it is much mended. But this is an opinion which I keep +to myself when I am among younger folk, for I recollect, in my youth, +quizzing the Sexagenarians who carried back their ideas of a perfect +state of society to the days of laced coats and triple ruffles, and +some of them to the blood and blows of the Forty-five. Therefore I am +cautious in exercising the right of censorship, which is supposed to +be acquired by men arrived at, or approaching, the mysterious period +of life, when the numbers of seven and nine multiplied into each other, +form what sages have termed the Grand Climacteric. + +Of the earlier part of my life it is only necessary to say, that I swept +the boards of the Parliament-House with the skirts of my gown for the +usual number of years during which young Lairds were in my time expected +to keep term--got no fees--laughed, and made others laugh--drank claret +at Bayle's, Fortune's, and Walker's--and ate oysters in the Covenant +Close. + +Becoming my own master, I flung my gown at the bar-keeper, and commenced +gay man on my own account. In Edinburgh, I ran into all the expensive +society which the place then afforded. When I went to my house in the +shire of Lanark, I emulated to the utmost the expenses of men of large +fortune, and had my hunters, my first-rate pointers, my game-cocks, and +feeders. I can more easily forgive myself for these follies, than for +others of a still more blamable kind, so indifferently cloaked over, +that my poor mother thought herself obliged to leave my habitation, +and betake herself to a small inconvenient jointure-house, which she +occupied till her death. I think, however, I was not exclusively to +blame in this separation, and I believe my mother afterwards condemned +herself for being too hasty. Thank God, the adversity which destroyed +the means of continuing my dissipation, restored me to the affections of +my surviving parent. + +My course of life could not last. I ran too fast to run long; and when +I would have checked my career, I was perhaps too near the brink of the +precipice. Some mishaps I prepared by my own folly, others came upon +me unawares. I put my estate out to nurse to a fat man of business, +who smothered the babe he should have brought back to me in health and +strength, and, in dispute with this honest gentleman, I found, like a +skilful general, that my position would be most judiciously assumed by +taking it up near the Abbey of Holyrood. [See Note 1.--Holyrood.] It was +then I first became acquainted with the quarter, which my little work +will, I hope, render immortal, and grew familiar with those magnificent +wilds, through which the Kings of Scotland once chased the dark-brown +deer, but which were chiefly recommended to me in those days, by their +being inaccessible to those metaphysical persons, whom the law of the +neighbouring country terms John Doe and Richard Roe. In short, the +precincts of the palace are now best known as being a place of refuge at +any time from all pursuit for civil debt. + +Dire was the strife betwixt my quondam doer and myself; during which my +motions were circumscribed, like those of some conjured demon, within +a circle, which, "beginning at the northern gate of the King's +Park, thence running northways, is bounded on the left by the King's +garden-wall, and the gutter, or kennel, in a line wherewith it crosses +the High Street to the Watergate, and passing through the sewer, is +bounded by the walls of the Tennis Court and Physic Gardens, etc. It +then follows the wall of the churchyard, joins the north west wall of St +Ann's Yards, and going east to the clackmill-house, turns southward to +the turnstile in the King's Park wall, and includes the whole King's +Park within the Sanctuary." + +These limits, which I abridge from the accurate Maitland, once marked +the Girth, or Asylum, belonging to the Abbey of Holyrood, and which, +being still an appendage to the royal palace, has retained the privilege +of an asylum for civil debt. One would think the space sufficiently +extensive for a man to stretch his limbs in, as, besides a reasonable +proportion of level ground (considering that the scene lies in +Scotland), it includes within its precincts the mountain of Arthur's +Seat and the rocks and pasture land called Salisbury Crags. But yet it +is inexpressible how, after a certain time had elapsed, I used to long +for Sunday, which permitted me to extend my walk without limitation. +During the other six days of the week I felt a sickness of heart, which, +but for the speedy approach of the hebdomadal day of liberty, I could +hardly have endured. I experienced the impatience of a mastiff who tugs +in vain to extend the limits which his chain permits. + +Day after day I walked by the side of the kennel which divides the +Sanctuary from the unprivileged part of the Canongate; and though the +month was July, and the scene the old town of Edinburgh, I preferred +it to the fresh air and verdant turf which I might have enjoyed in +the King's Park, or to the cool and solemn gloom of the portico which +surrounds the palace. To an indifferent person either side of the gutter +would have seemed much the same, the houses equally mean, the children +as ragged and dirty, the carmen as brutal--the whole forming the same +picture of low life in a deserted and impoverished quarter of a large +city. But to me the gutter or kennel was what the brook Kidron was to +Shimei: death was denounced against him should he cross it, doubtless +because it was known to his wisdom who pronounced the doom that, from +the time the crossing the stream was debarred, the devoted man's desire +to transgress the precept would become irresistible, and he would be +sure to draw down on his head the penalty which he had already justly +incurred by cursing the anointed of God. For my part, all Elysium +seemed opening on the other side of the kennel; and I envied the little +blackguards, who, stopping the current with their little dam-dykes of +mud, had a right to stand on either side of the nasty puddle which best +pleased them. I was so childish as even to make an occasional excursion +across, were it only for a few yards, and felt the triumph of a +schoolboy, who, trespassing in an orchard, hurries back again with a +fluttering sensation of joy and terror, betwixt the pleasure of having +executed his purpose and the fear of being taken or discovered. + +I have sometimes asked myself what I should have done in case of actual +imprisonment, since I could not bear without impatience a restriction +which is comparatively a mere trifle; but I really could never answer +the question to my own satisfaction. I have all my life hated those +treacherous expedients called MEZZO-TERMINI, and it is possible with +this disposition I might have endured more patiently an absolute +privation of liberty than the more modified restrictions to which my +residence in the Sanctuary at this period subjected me. If, however, the +feelings I then experienced were to increase in intensity according +to the difference between a jail and my actual condition, I must +have hanged myself, or pined to death--there could have been no other +alternative. + +Amongst many companions who forgot and neglected me, of course, when my +difficulties seemed to be inextricable, I had one true friend; and +that friend was a barrister, who knew the laws of his country well, +and tracing them up to the spirit of equity and justice in which +they originate, had repeatedly prevented, by his benevolent and manly +exertions, the triumphs of selfish cunning over simplicity and folly. +He undertook my cause, with the assistance of a solicitor of a character +similar to his own. My quondam doer had ensconced himself chin-deep +among legal trenches, hornworks, and covered ways; but my two protectors +shelled him out of his defences, and I was at length a free man, at +liberty to go or stay wheresoever my mind listed. + +I left my lodgings as hastily as if it had been a pest-house. I did not +even stop to receive some change that was due to me on settling with my +landlady, and I saw the poor woman stand at her door looking after my +precipitate flight, and shaking her head as she wrapped the silver which +she was counting for me in a separate piece of paper, apart from the +store in her own moleskin purse. An honest Highlandwoman was Janet +MacEvoy, and deserved a greater remuneration, had I possessed the power +of bestowing it. But my eagerness of delight was too extreme to pause +for explanation with Janet. On I pushed through the groups of children, +of whose sports I had been so often a lazy, lounging spectator. I sprung +over the gutter as if it had been the fatal Styx, and I a ghost, which, +eluding Pluto's authority, was making its escape from Limbo lake. My +friend had difficulty to restrain me from running like a madman up the +street; and in spite of his kindness and hospitality, which soothed me +for a day or two, I was not quite happy until I found myself aboard of +a Leith smack, and, standing down the Firth with a fair wind, might snap +my fingers at the retreating outline of Arthur's Seat, to the vicinity +of which I had been so long confined. + +It is not my purpose to trace my future progress through life. I had +extricated myself, or rather had been freed by my friends, from the +brambles and thickets of the law; but, as befell the sheep in the +fable, a great part of my fleece was left behind me. Something remained, +however: I was in the season for exertion, and, as my good mother used +to say, there was always life for living folk. Stern necessity gave my +manhood that prudence which my youth was a stranger to. I faced danger, +I endured fatigue, I sought foreign climates, and proved that I belonged +to the nation which is proverbially patient of labour and prodigal of +life. Independence, like liberty to Virgil's shepherd, came late, but +came at last, with no great affluence in its train, but bringing enough +to support a decent appearance for the rest of my life, and to induce +cousins to be civil, and gossips to say, "I wonder whom old Croft will +make his heir? He must have picked up something, and I should not be +surprised if it prove more than folk think of." + +My first impulse when I returned home was to rush to the house of my +benefactor, the only man who had in my distress interested himself in my +behalf. He was a snuff-taker, and it had been the pride of my heart to +save the IPSA CORPORA of the first score of guineas I could hoard, +and to have them converted into as tasteful a snuff-box as Rundell and +Bridge could devise. This I had thrust for security into the breast of +my waistcoat, while, impatient to transfer it to the person for whom it +was destined, I hastened to his house in Brown Square. When the front of +the house became visible a feeling of alarm checked me. I had been long +absent from Scotland; my friend was some years older than I; he might +have been called to the congregation of the just. I paused, and gazed +on the house as if I had hoped to form some conjecture from the outward +appearance concerning the state of the family within. I know not how +it was, but the lower windows being all closed, and no one stirring, my +sinister forebodings were rather strengthened. I regretted now that I +had not made inquiry before I left the inn where I alighted from the +mail-coach. But it was too late; so I hurried on, eager to know the best +or the worst which I could learn. + +The brass-plate bearing my friend's name and designation was still on +the door, and when it was opened the old domestic appeared a good deal +older, I thought, than he ought naturally to have looked, considering +the period of my absence. "Is Mr. Sommerville at home?" said I, pressing +forward. + +"Yes, sir," said John, placing himself in opposition to my entrance, "he +is at home, but--" + +"But he is not in," said I. "I remember your phrase of old, John. Come, +I will step into his room, and leave a line for him." + +John was obviously embarrassed by my familiarity. I was some one, he +saw, whom he ought to recollect. At the same time it was evident he +remembered nothing about me. + +"Ay, sir, my master is in, and in his own room, but--" + +I would not hear him out, but passed before him towards the well-known +apartment. A young lady came out of the room a little disturbed, as it +seemed, and said, "John, what is the matter?" + +"A gentleman, Miss Nelly, that insists on seeing my master." + +"A very old and deeply-indebted friend," said I, "that ventures to press +myself on my much-respected benefactor on my return from abroad." + +"Alas, sir," replied she, "my uncle would be happy to see you, but--" + +At this moment something was heard within the apartment like the falling +of a plate, or glass, and immediately after my friend's voice called +angrily and eagerly for his niece. She entered the room hastily, and +so did I. But it was to see a spectacle, compared with which that of my +benefactor stretched on his bier would have been a happy one. + +The easy-chair filled with cushions, the extended limbs swathed in +flannel, the wide wrapping-gown and nightcap, showed illness; but the +dimmed eye, once so replete with living fire--the blabber lip, whose +dilation and compression used to give such character to his animated +countenance--the stammering tongue, that once poured forth such floods +of masculine eloquence, and had often swayed the opinion of the sages +whom he addressed,--all these sad symptoms evinced that my friend was in +the melancholy condition of those in whom the principle of animal life +has unfortunately survived that of mental intelligence. He gazed a +moment at me, but then seemed insensible of my presence, and went +on--he, once the most courteous and well-bred--to babble unintelligible +but violent reproaches against his niece and servant, because he himself +had dropped a teacup in attempting to place it on a table at his elbow. +His eyes caught a momentary fire from his irritation; but he struggled +in vain for words to express himself adequately, as, looking from his +servant to his niece, and then to the table, he laboured to explain that +they had placed it (though it touched his chair) at too great a distance +from him. + +The young person, who had naturally a resigned Madonna-like expression +of countenance, listened to his impatient chiding with the most humble +submission, checked the servant, whose less delicate feelings would have +entered on his justification, and gradually, by the sweet and soft tone +of her voice, soothed to rest the spirit of causeless irritation. + +She then cast a look towards me, which expressed, "You see all that +remains of him whom you call friend." It seemed also to say, "Your +longer presence here can only be distressing to us all." + +"Forgive me, young lady," I said, as well as tears would permit; "I am a +person deeply obliged to your uncle. My name is Croftangry." + +"Lord! and that I should not hae minded ye, Maister Croftangry," said +the servant. "Ay, I mind my master had muckle fash about your job. I hae +heard him order in fresh candles as midnight chappit, and till't again. +Indeed, ye had aye his gude word, Mr. Croftangry, for a' that folks said +about you." + +"Hold your tongue, John," said the lady, somewhat angrily; and then +continued, addressing herself to me, "I am sure, sir, you must be sorry +to see my uncle in this state. I know you are his friend. I have heard +him mention your name, and wonder he never heard from you." A new cut +this, and it went to my heart. But she continued, "I really do not know +if it is right that any should--If my uncle should know you, which I +scarce think possible, he would be much affected, and the doctor says +that any agitation--But here comes Dr. -- to give his own opinion." + +Dr. -- entered. I had left him a middle-aged man. He was now an elderly +one; but still the same benevolent Samaritan, who went about doing +good, and thought the blessings of the poor as good a recompense of his +professional skill as the gold of the rich. + +He looked at me with surprise, but the young lady said a word of +introduction, and I, who was known to the doctor formerly, hastened to +complete it. He recollected me perfectly, and intimated that he was well +acquainted with the reasons I had for being deeply interested in the +fate of his patient. He gave me a very melancholy account of my poor +friend, drawing me for that purpose a little apart from the lady. "The +light of life," he said, "was trembling in the socket; he scarcely +expected it would ever leap up even into a momentary flash, but more +was impossible." He then stepped towards his patient, and put some +questions, to which the poor invalid, though he seemed to recognize the +friendly and familiar voice, answered only in a faltering and uncertain +manner. + +The young lady, in her turn, had drawn back when the doctor approached +his patient. "You see how it is with him," said the doctor, addressing +me. "I have heard our poor friend, in one of the most eloquent of his +pleadings, give a description of this very disease, which he compared +to the tortures inflicted by Mezentius when he chained the dead to the +living. The soul, he said, is imprisoned in its dungeon of flesh, and +though retaining its natural and unalienable properties, can no more +exert them than the captive enclosed within a prison-house can act as +a free agent. Alas! to see HIM, who could so well describe what this +malady was in others, a prey himself to its infirmities! I shall +never forget the solemn tone of expression with which he summed up the +incapacities of the paralytic--the deafened ear, the dimmed eye, the +crippled limbs--in the noble words of Juvenal,-- + + "'Omni + Membrorum damno major, dementia, quae nec + Nomina servorum, nec vultum agnoscit amici.'" + +As the physician repeated these lines, a flash of intelligence seemed to +revive in the invalid's eye--sunk again--again struggled, and he spoke +more intelligibly than before, and in the tone of one eager to say +something which he felt would escape him unless said instantly. "A +question of death-bed, a question of death-bed, doctor--a reduction EX +CAPITE LECTI--Withering against Wilibus--about the MORBUS SONTICUS. I +pleaded the cause for the pursuer--I, and--and--why, I shall forget my +own name--I, and--he that was the wittiest and the best-humoured man +living--" + +The description enabled the doctor to fill up the blank, and the +patient joyfully repeated the name suggested. "Ay, ay," he said, "just +he--Harry--poor Harry--" The light in his eye died away, and he sunk +back in his easy-chair. + +"You have now seen more of our poor friend, Mr. Croftangry," said the +physician, "than I dared venture to promise you; and now I must take my +professional authority on me, and ask you to retire. Miss Sommerville +will, I am sure, let you know if a moment should by any chance occur +when her uncle can see you." + +What could I do? I gave my card to the young lady, and taking my +offering from my bosom--"if my poor friend," I said, with accents as +broken almost as his own, "should ask where this came from, name me, and +say from the most obliged and most grateful man alive. Say, the gold of +which it is composed was saved by grains at a time, and was hoarded with +as much avarice as ever was a miser's. To bring it here I have come a +thousand miles; and now, alas, I find him thus!" + +I laid the box on the table, and was retiring with a lingering step. The +eye of the invalid was caught by it, as that of a child by a glittering +toy, and with infantine impatience he faltered out inquiries of his +niece. With gentle mildness she repeated again and again who I was, +and why I came, etc. I was about to turn, and hasten from a scene so +painful, when the physician laid his hand on my sleeve. "Stop," he said, +"there is a change." + +There was, indeed, and a marked one. A faint glow spread over his pallid +features--they seemed to gain the look of intelligence which belongs +to vitality--his eye once more kindled--his lip coloured--and drawing +himself up out of the listless posture he had hitherto maintained, he +rose without assistance. The doctor and the servant ran to give him +their support. He waved them aside, and they were contented to place +themselves in such a position behind as might ensure against accident, +should his newly-acquired strength decay as suddenly as it had revived. + +"My dear Croftangry," he said, in the tone of kindness of other days, "I +am glad to see you returned. You find me but poorly; but my little niece +here and Dr. -- are very kind. God bless you, my dear friend! We shall +not meet again till we meet in a better world." + +I pressed his extended hand to my lips--I pressed it to my bosom--I +would fain have flung myself on my knees; but the doctor, leaving the +patient to the young lady and the servant, who wheeled forward his +chair, and were replacing him in it, hurried me out of the room. "My +dear sir," he said, "you ought to be satisfied; you have seen our poor +invalid more like his former self than he has been for months, or than +he may be perhaps again until all is over. The whole Faculty could +not have assured such an interval. I must see whether anything can be +derived from it to improve the general health. Pray, begone." The last +argument hurried me from the spot, agitated by a crowd of feelings, all +of them painful. + +When I had overcome the shock of this great disappointment, I renewed +gradually my acquaintance with one or two old companions, who, though +of infinitely less interest to my feelings than my unfortunate friend, +served to relieve the pressure of actual solitude, and who were not +perhaps the less open to my advances that I was a bachelor somewhat +stricken in years, newly arrived from foreign parts, and certainly +independent, if not wealthy. + +I was considered as a tolerable subject of speculation by some, and +I could not be burdensome to any. I was therefore, according to the +ordinary rule of Edinburgh hospitality, a welcome guest in several +respectable families. But I found no one who could replace the loss I +had sustained in my best friend and benefactor. I wanted something more +than mere companionship could give me, and where was I to look for it? +Among the scattered remnants of those that had been my gay friends of +yore? Alas! + + "Many a lad I loved was dead, + And many a lass grown old." + +Besides, all community of ties between us had ceased to exist, and +such of former friends as were still in the world held their life in a +different tenor from what I did. + +Some had become misers, and were as eager in saving sixpence as ever +they had been in spending a guinea. Some had turned agriculturists; +their talk was of oxen, and they were only fit companions for graziers. +Some stuck to cards, and though no longer deep gamblers, rather played +small game than sat out. This I particularly despised. The strong +impulse of gaming, alas! I had felt in my time. It is as intense as it +is criminal; but it produces excitation and interest, and I can conceive +how it should become a passion with strong and powerful minds. But to +dribble away life in exchanging bits of painted pasteboard round a green +table for the piddling concern of a few shillings, can only be excused +in folly or superannuation. It is like riding on a rocking-horse, where +your utmost exertion never carries you a foot forward; it is a kind of +mental treadmill, where you are perpetually climbing, but can never rise +an inch. From these hints, my readers will perceive I am incapacitated +for one of the pleasures of old age, which, though not mentioned by +Cicero, is not the least frequent resource in the present day--the +club-room, and the snug hand at whist. + +To return to my old companions. Some frequented public assemblies, like +the ghost of Beau Nash, or any other beau of half a century back, thrust +aside by tittering youth, and pitied by those of their own age. In fine, +some went into devotion, as the French term it, and others, I fear, went +to the devil; a few found resources in science and letters; one or two +turned philosophers in a small way, peeped into microscopes, and became +familiar with the fashionable experiments of the day; some took to +reading, and I was one of them. + +Some grains of repulsion towards the society around me--some painful +recollections of early faults and follies--some touch of displeasure +with living mankind--inclined me rather to a study of antiquities, and +particularly those of my own country. The reader, if I can prevail on +myself to continue the present work, will probably be able to judge in +the course of it whether I have made any useful progress in the study of +the olden times. + +I owed this turn of study, in part, to the conversation of my kind man +of business, Mr. Fairscribe, whom I mentioned as having seconded the +efforts of my invaluable friend in bringing the cause on which my +liberty and the remnant of my property depended to a favourable +decision. He had given me a most kind reception on my return. He was +too much engaged in his profession for me to intrude on him often, and +perhaps his mind was too much trammelled with its details to permit his +being willingly withdrawn from them. In short, he was not a person of +my poor friend Sommerville's expanded spirit, and rather a lawyer of the +ordinary class of formalists; but a most able and excellent man. When +my estate was sold! he retained some of the older title-deeds, arguing, +from his own feelings, that they would be of more consequence to the +heir of the old family than to the new purchaser. And when I returned +to Edinburgh, and found him still in the exercise of the profession to +which he was an honour, he sent to my lodgings the old family Bible, +which lay always on my father's table, two or three other mouldy +volumes, and a couple of sheepskin bags full of parchments and papers, +whose appearance was by no means inviting. + +The next time I shared Mr. Fairscribe's hospitable dinner, I failed not +to return him due thanks for his kindness, which acknowledgment, indeed, +I proportioned rather to the idea which I knew he entertained of the +value of such things, than to the interest with which I myself +regarded them. But the conversation turning on my family, who were old +proprietors in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale, gradually excited some +interest in my mind and when I retired to my solitary parlour, the first +thing I did was to look for a pedigree or sort of history of the family +or House of Croftangry, once of that Ilk, latterly of Glentanner. The +discoveries which I made shall enrich the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER II. IN WHICH MR. CROFTANGRY CONTINUES HIS STORY. + + "What's property, dear Swift? I see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter." + +"Croftangry--Croftandrew--Croftanridge--Croftandgrey for sa mony wise +hath the name been spellit--is weel known to be ane house of grit +antiquity; and it is said that King Milcolumb, or Malcolm, being the +first of our Scottish princes quha removit across the Firth of Forth, +did reside and occupy ane palace at Edinburgh, and had there ane +valziant man, who did him man-service by keeping the croft, or +corn-land, which was tilled for the convenience of the King's household, +and was thence callit Croft-an-ri, that is to say, the King his croft; +quhilk place, though now coverit with biggings, is to this day called +Croftangry, and lyeth near to the royal palace. And whereas that some +of those who bear this auld and honourable name may take scorn that it +ariseth from the tilling of the ground, quhilk men account a slavish +occupation, yet we ought to honour the pleugh and spade, seeing we all +derive our being from our father Adam, whose lot it became to cultivate +the earth, in respect of his fall and transgression. + +"Also we have witness, as weel in holy writt as in profane history, of +the honour in quhilk husbandrie was held of old, and how prophets have +been taken from the pleugh, and great captains raised up to defend their +ain countries, sic as Cincinnatus, and the like, who fought not the +common enemy with the less valiancy that their alms had been exercised +in halding the stilts of the pleugh, and their bellicose skill in +driving of yauds and owsen. + +"Likewise there are sindry honorable families, quhilk are now of +our native Scottish nobility, and have clombe higher up the brae of +preferment than what this house of Croftangry hath done, quhilk shame +not to carry in their warlike shield and insignia of dignity the tools +and implements the quhilk their first forefathers exercised in labouring +the croft-rig, or, as the poet Virgilius calleth it eloquently, in +subduing the soil, and no doubt this ancient house of Croftangry, while +it continued to be called of that Ilk, produced many worshipful and +famous patriots, of quhom I now praetermit the names; it being my +purpose, if God shall spare me life for sic ane pious officium, or +duty, to resume the first part of my narrative touching the house of +Croftangry, when I can set down at length the evidents and historical +witness anent the facts which I shall allege, seeing that words, when +they are unsupported by proofs, are like seed sown on the naked rocks, +or like an house biggit on the flitting and faithless sands." + +Here I stopped to draw breath; for the style of my grandsire, the +inditer of this goodly matter, was rather lengthy, as our American +friends say. Indeed, I reserve the rest of the piece until I can obtain +admission to the Bannatine Club, [This Club, of which the Author of +Waverley has the honour to be President, was instituted in February +1823, for the purpose of printing and publishing works illustrative of +the history, literature, and antiquities of Scotland. It continues to +prosper, and has already rescued from oblivion many curious materials +of Scottish history.] when I propose to throw off an edition, limited +according to the rules of that erudite Society, with a facsimile of +the manuscript, emblazonry of the family arms surrounded by their +quartering, and a handsome disclamation of family pride, with HAEC NOS +NOVIMUS ESSE NIHIL, or VIX EA NOSTRA VOCO. + +In the meantime, to speak truth, I cannot but suspect that, though my +worthy ancestor puffed vigorously to swell up the dignity of his family, +we had never, in fact, risen above the rank of middling proprietors. The +estate of Glentanner came to us by the intermarriage of my ancestor with +Tib Sommeril, termed by the southrons Sommerville, a daughter of that +noble house, but, I fear, on what my great-grandsire calls "the wrong +side of the blanket." [The ancient Norman family of the Sommervilles +came into this island with William the Conqueror, and established one +branch in Gloucestershire, another in Scotland. After the lapse of seven +hundred years, the remaining possessions of these two branches were +united in the person of the late Lord Sommerville, on the death of his +English kinsman, the well-known author of "The Chase."] Her husband, +Gilbert, was killed fighting, as the INQUISITIO POST MORTEM has it, "SUB +VEXILLO REGIS, APUD PRAELIUM JUXTA BRANXTON, LIE FLODDDEN-FIELD." + +We had our share in other national misfortunes--were forfeited, like +Sir John Colville of the Dale, for following our betters to the field +of Langside; and in the contentious times of the last Stewarts we were +severely fined for harbouring and resetting intercommuned ministers, and +narrowly escaped giving a martyr to the Calendar of the Covenant, in the +person of the father of our family historian. He "took the sheaf from +the mare," however, as the MS. expresses it, and agreed to accept of the +terms of pardon offered by Government, and sign the bond in evidence he +would give no further ground of offence. My grandsire glosses over his +father's backsliding as smoothly as he can, and comforts himself with +ascribing his want of resolution to his unwillingness to wreck the +ancient name and family, and to permit his lands and lineage to fall +under a doom of forfeiture. + +"And indeed," said the venerable compiler, "as, praised be God, we +seldom meet in Scotland with these belly-gods and voluptuaries, whilk +are unnatural enough to devour their patrimony bequeathed to them by +their forbears in chambering and wantonness, so that they come, with the +prodigal son, to the husks and the swine-trough; and as I have the less +to dreid the existence of such unnatural Neroes in mine own family to +devour the substance of their own house like brute beasts out of mere +gluttonie and Epicurishnesse, so I need only warn mine descendants +against over-hastily meddling with the mutations in state and in +religion, which have been near-hand to the bringing this poor house of +Croftangry to perdition, as we have shown more than once. And albeit +I would not that my successors sat still altogether when called on by +their duty to Kirk and King, yet I would have them wait till stronger +and walthier men than themselves were up, so that either they may have +the better chance of getting through the day, or, failing of that, +the conquering party having some fatter quarry to live upon, may, like +gorged hawks, spare the smaller game." + +There was something in this conclusion which at first reading piqued +me extremely, and I was so unnatural as to curse the whole concern, as +poor, bald, pitiful trash, in which a silly old man was saying a great +deal about nothing at all. Nay, my first impression was to thrust it +into the fire, the rather that it reminded me, in no very flattering +manner, of the loss of the family property, to which the compiler of the +history was so much attached, in the very manner which he most severely +reprobated. It even seemed to my aggrieved feelings that his unprescient +gaze on futurity, in which he could not anticipate the folly of one of +his descendants, who should throw away the whole inheritance in a few +years of idle expense and folly, was meant as a personal incivility to +myself, though written fifty or sixty years before I was born. + +A little reflection made me ashamed or this feeling of impatience, +and as I looked at the even, concise, yet tremulous hand in which the +manuscript was written, I could not help thinking, according to an +opinion I have heard seriously maintained, that something of a man's +character may be conjectured from his handwriting. That neat but +crowded and constrained small-hand argued a man of a good conscience, +well-regulated passions, and, to use his own phrase, an upright walk in +life; but it also indicated narrowness of spirit, inveterate prejudice, +and hinted at some degree of intolerance, which, though not natural to +the disposition, had arisen out of a limited education. The passages +from Scripture and the classics, rather profusely than happily +introduced, and written in a half-text character to mark their +importance, illustrated that peculiar sort of pedantry which always +considers the argument as gained if secured by a quotation. Then the +flourished capital letters, which ornamented the commencement of each +paragraph, and the names of his family and of his ancestors whenever +these occurred in the page, do they not express forcibly the pride and +sense of importance with which the author undertook and accomplished +his task? I persuaded myself the whole was so complete a portrait of the +man, that it would not have been a more undutiful act to have defaced +his picture, or even to have disturbed his bones in his coffin, than to +destroy his manuscript. I thought, for a moment, of presenting it to +Mr. Fairscribe; but that confounded passage about the prodigal and +swine-trough--I settled at last it was as well to lock it up in my own +bureau, with the intention to look at it no more. + +But I do not know how it was, that the subject began to sit nearer my +heart than I was aware of, and I found myself repeatedly engaged in +reading descriptions of farms which were no longer mine, and boundaries +which marked the property of others. A love of the NATALE SOLUM, if +Swift be right in translating these words, "family estate," began to +awaken in my bosom--the recollections of my own youth adding little to +it, save what was connected with field-sports. A career of pleasure is +unfavourable for acquiring a taste for natural beauty, and still more so +for forming associations of a sentimental kind, connecting us with the +inanimate objects around us. + +I had thought little about my estate while I possessed and was wasting +it, unless as affording the rude materials out of which a certain +inferior race of creatures, called tenants, were bound to produce (in a +greater quantity than they actually did) a certain return called rent, +which was destined to supply my expenses. This was my general view of +the matter. Of particular places, I recollected that Garval Hill was +a famous piece of rough upland pasture for rearing young colts, and +teaching them to throw their feet; that Minion Burn had the finest +yellow trout in the country; that Seggy-cleugh was unequalled for +woodcocks; that Bengibbert Moors afforded excellent moorfowl-shooting; +and that the clear, bubbling fountain called the Harper's Well was +the best recipe in the world on the morning after a HARD-GO with my +neighbour fox-hunters. Still, these ideas recalled, by degrees, pictures +of which I had since learned to appreciate the merit--scenes of silent +loneliness, where extensive moors, undulating into wild hills, were only +disturbed by the whistle of the plover or the crow of the heathcock; +wild ravines creeping up into mountains, filled with natural wood, and +which, when traced downwards along the path formed by shepherds and +nutters, were found gradually to enlarge and deepen, as each formed a +channel to its own brook, sometimes bordered by steep banks of earth, +often with the more romantic boundary of naked rocks or cliffs crested +with oak, mountain ash, and hazel--all gratifying the eye the more that +the scenery was, from the bare nature of the country around, totally +unexpected. + +I had recollections, too, of fair and fertile holms, or level plains, +extending between the wooded banks and the bold stream of the Clyde, +which, coloured like pure amber, or rather having the hue of the +pebbles called Cairngorm, rushes over sheets of rock and beds of gravel, +inspiring a species of awe from the few and faithless fords which it +presents, and the frequency of fatal accidents, now diminished by the +number of bridges. These alluvial holms were frequently bordered by +triple and quadruple rows of large trees, which gracefully marked their +boundary, and dipped their long arms into the foaming stream of the +river. Other places I remembered, which had been described by the +old huntsman as the lodge of tremendous wild-cats, or the spot where +tradition stated the mighty stag to have been brought to bay, or where +heroes, whose might was now as much forgotten, were said to have been +slain by surprise, or in battle. + +It is not to be supposed that these finished landscapes became visible +before the eyes of my imagination, as the scenery of the stage is +disclosed by the rising of the curtain. I have said that I had looked +upon the country around me, during the hurried and dissipated period +of my life, with the eyes, indeed, of my body, but without those of my +understanding. It was piece by piece, as a child picks out its lesson, +that I began to recollect the beauties of nature which had once +surrounded me in the home of my forefathers. A natural taste for them +must have lurked at the bottom of my heart, which awakened when I was +in foreign countries, and becoming by degrees a favourite passion, +gradually turned its eyes inwards, and ransacked the neglected stores +which my memory had involuntarily recorded, and, when excited, exerted +herself to collect and to complete. + +I began now to regret more bitterly than ever the having fooled away +my family property, the care and improvement of which I saw might have +afforded an agreeable employment for my leisure, which only went to +brood on past misfortunes, and increase useless repining. "Had but +a single farm been reserved, however small," said I one day to Mr. +Fairscribe, "I should have had a place I could call my home, and +something that I could call business." + +"It might have been managed," answered Fairscribe; "and for my part, I +inclined to keep the mansion house, mains, and some of the old family +acres together; but both Mr. -- and you were of opinion that the money +would be more useful." + +"True, true, my good friend," said I; "I was a fool then, and did not +think I could incline to be Glentanner with L200 or L300 a year, instead +of Glentanner with as many thousands. I was then a haughty, pettish, +ignorant, dissipated, broken-down Scottish laird; and thinking my +imaginary consequence altogether ruined, I cared not how soon, or how +absolutely, I was rid of everything that recalled it to my own memory, +or that of others." + +"And now it is like you have changed your mind?" said Fairscribe. "Well, +fortune is apt to circumduce the term upon us; but I think she may allow +you to revise your condescendence." + +"How do you mean, my good friend?" + +"Nay," said Fairscribe, "there is ill luck in averring till one is sure +of his facts. I will look back on a file of newspapers, and to-morrow +you shall hear from me. Come, help yourself--I have seen you fill your +glass higher." + +"And shall see it again," said I, pouring out what remained of our +bottle of claret; "the wine is capital, and so shall our toast be--'To +your fireside, my good friend.' And now we shall go beg a Scots song +without foreign graces from my little siren, Miss Katie." + +The next day, accordingly, I received a parcel from Mr. Fairscribe with +a newspaper enclosed, among the advertisements of which one was marked +with a cross as requiring my attention. I read, to my surprise:-- + + "DESIRABLE ESTATE FOR SALE. + +"By order of the Lords of Council and Session, will be exposed to sale +in the New Sessions House of Edinburgh, on Wednesday, the 25th November, +18--, all and whole the lands and barony of Glentanner, now called +Castle Treddles, lying in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale, and shire of +Lanark, with the teinds, parsonage and vicarage, fishings in the Clyde, +woods, mosses, moors, and pasturages," etc., etc. + +The advertisement went on to set forth the advantages of the soil, +situation, natural beauties, and capabilities of improvement, not +forgetting its being a freehold estate, with the particular polypus +capacity of being sliced up into two, three, or, with a little +assistance, four freehold qualifications, and a hint that the county +was likely to be eagerly contested between two great families. The upset +price at which "the said lands and barony and others" were to be exposed +was thirty years' purchase of the proven rental, which was about a +fourth more than the property had fetched at the last sale. This, which +was mentioned, I suppose, to show the improvable character of the land, +would have given another some pain. But let me speak truth of myself in +good as in evil--it pained not me. I was only angry that Fairscribe, +who knew something generally of the extent of my funds, should have +tantalized me by sending me information that my family property was in +the market, since he must have known that the price was far out of my +reach. + +But a letter dropped from the parcel on the floor, which attracted my +eye, and explained the riddle. A client of Mr. Fairscribe's, a moneyed +man, thought of buying Glentanner, merely as an investment of money--it +was even unlikely he would ever see it; and so the price of the whole +being some thousand pounds beyond what cash he had on hand, this +accommodating Dives would gladly take a partner in the sale for any +detached farm, and would make no objection to its including the most +desirable part of the estate in point of beauty, provided the price was +made adequate. Mr. Fairscribe would take care I was not imposed on in +the matter, and said in his card he believed, if I really wished to make +such a purchase, I had better go out and look at the premises, advising +me, at the same time, to keep a strict incognito--an advice somewhat +superfluous, since I am naturally of a retired and reserved disposition. + + + +CHAPTER III. MR. CROFTANGRY, INTER ALIA, REVISITS GLENTANNER. + + Then sing of stage-coaches, + And fear no reproaches + For riding in one; + But daily be jogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + The coachman drives on. FARQUHAR. + +Disguised in a grey surtout which had seen service, a white castor on +my head, and a stout Indian cane in my hand, the next week saw me on the +top of a mail-coach driving to the westward. + +I like mail-coaches, and I hate them. I like them for my convenience; +but I detest them for setting the whole world a-gadding, instead of +sitting quietly still minding their own business, and preserving the +stamp of originality of character which nature or education may have +impressed on them. Off they go, jingling against each other in the +rattling vehicle till they have no more variety of stamp in them than so +many smooth shillings--the same even in their Welsh wigs and greatcoats, +each without more individuality than belongs to a partner of the +company, as the waiter calls them, of the North Coach. + +Worthy Mr. Piper, best of contractors who ever furnished four frampal +jades for public use, I bless you when I set out on a journey myself; +the neat coaches under your contract render the intercourse, from +Johnnie Groat's House to Ladykirk and Cornhill Bridge, safe, pleasant, +and cheap. But, Mr. Piper, you who are a shrewd arithmetician, did it +never occur to you to calculate how many fools' heads, which might have +produced an idea or two in the year, if suffered to remain in quiet, +get effectually addled by jolting to and fro in these flying chariots +of yours; how many decent countrymen become conceited bumpkins after a +cattle-show dinner in the capital, which they could not have attended +save for your means; how many decent country parsons return critics and +spouters, by way of importing the newest taste from Edinburgh? And how +will your conscience answer one day for carrying so many bonny lasses to +barter modesty for conceit and levity at the metropolitan Vanity Fair? + +Consider, too, the low rate to which you reduce human intellect. I do +not believe your habitual customers have their ideas more enlarged +than one of your coach-horses. They KNOWS the road, like the English +postilion, and they know nothing besides. They date, like the carriers +at Gadshill, from the death of Robin Ostler; [See Act II. Scene 1 of the +First Part of Shakespeare's Henry IV.] the succession of guards forms +a dynasty in their eyes; coachmen are their ministers of state; and an +upset is to them a greater incident than a change of administration. +Their only point of interest on the road is to save the time, and see +whether the coach keeps the hour. This is surely a miserable degradation +of human intellect. Take my advice, my good sir, and disinterestedly +contrive that once or twice a quarter your most dexterous whip shall +overturn a coachful of these superfluous travellers, IN TERROREM +to those who, as Horace says, "delight in the dust raised by your +chariots." + +Your current and customary mail-coach passenger, too, gets abominably +selfish, schemes successfully for the best seat, the freshest egg, the +right cut of the sirloin. The mode of travelling is death to all the +courtesies and kindnesses of life, and goes a great way to demoralize +the character, and cause it to retrograde to barbarism. You allow us +excellent dinners, but only twenty minutes to eat them. And what is the +consequence? Bashful beauty sits on the one side of us, timid childhood +on the other; respectable, yet somewhat feeble, old age is placed on our +front; and all require those acts of politeness which ought to put every +degree upon a level at the convivial board. But have we time--we the +strong and active of the party--to perform the duties of the table to +the more retired and bashful, to whom these little attentions are due? +The lady should be pressed to her chicken, the old man helped to his +favourite and tender slice, the child to his tart. But not a fraction of +a minute have we to bestow on any other person than ourselves; and the +PRUT-PRUT--TUT-TUT of the guard's discordant note summons us to the +coach, the weaker party having gone without their dinner, and the +able-bodied and active threatened with indigestion, from having +swallowed victuals like a Lei'stershire clown bolting bacon. + +On the memorable occasion I am speaking of I lost my breakfast, sheerly +from obeying the commands of a respectable-looking old lady, who once +required me to ring the bell, and another time to help the tea-kettle. +I have some reason to think she was literally an OLD-STAGER, who laughed +in her sleeve at my complaisance; so that I have sworn in my secret soul +revenge upon her sex, and all such errant damsels of whatever age and +degree whom I may encounter in my travels. I mean all this without the +least ill-will to my friend the contractor, who, I think, has approached +as near as any one is like to do towards accomplishing the modest wish +cf the Amatus and Amata of the Peri Bathous,-- + + "Ye gods, annihilate but time and space, + And make two lovers happy." + +I intend to give Mr. P. his full revenge when I come to discuss the more +recent enormity of steamboats; meanwhile, I shall only say of both these +modes of conveyance, that-- + + "There is no living with them or without them." + +I am, perhaps, more critical on the--mail-coach on this particular +occasion, that I did not meet all the respect from the worshipful +company in his Majesty's carriage that I think I was entitled to. I must +say it for myself that I bear, in my own opinion at least, not a vulgar +point about me. My face has seen service, but there is still a good set +of teeth, an aquiline nose, and a quick, grey eye, set a little too deep +under the eyebrow; and a cue of the kind once called military may serve +to show that my civil occupations have been sometimes mixed with those +of war. Nevertheless, two idle young fellows in the vehicle, or rather +on the top of it, were so much amused with the deliberation which I used +in ascending to the same place of eminence, that I thought I should have +been obliged to pull them up a little. And I was in no good-humour at +an unsuppressed laugh following my descent when set down at the angle, +where a cross road, striking off from the main one, led me towards +Glentanner, from which I was still nearly five miles distant. + +It was an old-fashioned road, which, preferring ascents to sloughs, was +led in a straight line over height and hollow, through moor and dale. +Every object around me; as I passed them in succession, reminded me of +old days, and at the same time formed the strongest contrast with them +possible. Unattended, on foot, with a small bundle in my hand, deemed +scarce sufficient good company for the two shabby-genteels with whom I +had been lately perched on the top of a mail-coach, I did not seem to be +the same person with the young prodigal, who lived with the noblest and +gayest in the land, and who, thirty years before, would, in the same +country, have, been on the back of a horse that had been victor for a +plate, or smoking aloof in his travelling chaise-and-four. My sentiments +were not less changed than my condition. I could quite well remember +that my ruling sensation in the days of heady youth was a mere +schoolboy's eagerness to get farthest forward in the race in which I had +engaged; to drink as many bottles as --; to be thought as good a judge +of a horse as --; to have the knowing cut of --'s jacket. These were thy +gods, O Israel! + +Now I was a mere looker-on; seldom an unmoved, and sometimes an angry +spectator, but still a spectator only, of the pursuits of mankind. +I felt how little my opinion was valued by those engaged in the busy +turmoil, yet I exercised it with the profusion of an old lawyer retired +from his profession, who thrusts himself into his neighbour's affairs, +and gives advice where it is not wanted, merely under pretence of loving +the crack of the whip. + +I came amid these reflections to the brow of a hill, from which I +expected to see Glentanner, a modest-looking yet comfortable house, its +walls covered with the most productive fruit-trees in that part of the +country, and screened from the most stormy quarters of the horizon by a +deep and ancient wood, which overhung the neighbouring hill. The house +was gone; a great part of the wood was felled; and instead of the +gentlemanlike mansion, shrouded and embosomed among its old hereditary +trees, stood Castle Treddles, a huge lumping four-square pile of +freestone, as bare as my nail, except for a paltry edging of decayed and +lingering exotics, with an impoverished lawn stretched before it, which, +instead of boasting deep green tapestry, enamelled with daisies and with +crowsfoot and cowslips, showed an extent of nakedness, raked, indeed, +and levelled, but where the sown grasses had failed with drought, and +the earth, retaining its natural complexion, seemed nearly as brown and +bare as when it was newly dug up. + +The house was a large fabric, which pretended to its name of Castle only +from the front windows being finished in acute Gothic arches (being, +by the way, the very reverse of the castellated style), and each angle +graced with a turret about the size of a pepper-box. In every other +respect it resembled a large town-house, which, like a fat burgess, had +taken a walk to the country on a holiday, and climbed to the top of all +eminence to look around it. The bright red colour of the freestone, the +size of the building, the formality of its shape, and awkwardness of its +position, harmonized as ill with the sweeping Clyde in front, and the +bubbling brook which danced down on the right, as the fat civic form, +with bushy wig, gold-headed cane, maroon-coloured coat, and mottled silk +stockings, would have accorded with the wild and magnificent scenery of +Corehouse Linn. + +I went up to the house. It was in that state of desertion which is +perhaps the most unpleasant to look on, for the place was going to decay +without having been inhabited. There were about the mansion, though +deserted, none of the slow mouldering touches of time, which communicate +to buildings, as to the human frame, a sort of reverence, while +depriving them of beauty and of strength. The disconcerted schemes of +the Laird of Castle Treddles had resembled fruit that becomes decayed +without ever having ripened. Some windows broken, others patched, others +blocked up with deals, gave a disconsolate air to all around, and seemed +to say, "There Vanity had purposed to fix her seat, but was anticipated +by Poverty." + +To the inside, after many a vain summons, I was at length admitted by +an old labourer. The house contained every contrivance for luxury and +accommodation. The kitchens were a model; and there were hot closets on +the office staircase, that the dishes might not cool, as our Scottish +phrase goes, between the kitchen and the hall. But instead of the genial +smell of good cheer, these temples of Comus emitted the damp odour of +sepulchral vaults, and the large cabinets of cast-iron looked like the +cages of some feudal Bastille. The eating room and drawing-room, with an +interior boudoir, were magnificent apartments, the ceiling was fretted +and adorned with stucco-work, which already was broken in many places, +and looked in others damp and mouldering; the wood panelling was shrunk +and warped, and cracked; the doors, which had not been hung for more +than two years, were, nevertheless, already swinging loose from their +hinges. Desolation, in short, was where enjoyment had never been; and +the want of all the usual means to preserve was fast performing the work +of decay. + +The story was a common one, and told in a few words. Mr. Treddles, +senior, who bought the estate, was a cautious, money-making person. His +son, still embarked in commercial speculations, desired at the same time +to enjoy his opulence and to increase it. He incurred great expenses, +amongst which this edifice was to benumbered. To support these he +speculated boldly, and unfortunately; and thus the whole history is +told, which may serve for more places than Glentanner. + +Strange and various feelings ran through my bosom as I loitered in these +deserted apartments, scarce hearing what my guide said to me about the +size and destination of each room. The first sentiment, I am ashamed to +say, was one of gratified spite. My patrician pride was pleased that the +mechanic, who had not thought the house of the Croftangrys sufficiently +good for him, had now experienced a fall in his turn. My next thought +was as mean, though not so malicious. "I have had the better of this +fellow," thought I. "If I lost the estate, I at least spent the price; +and Mr. Treddles has lost his among paltry commercial engagements." + +"Wretch!" said the secret voice within, "darest thou exult in thy shame? +Recollect how thy youth and fortune was wasted in those years, and +triumph not in the enjoyment of an existence which levelled thee with +the beasts that perish. Bethink thee how this poor man's vanity gave +at least bread to the labourer, peasant, and citizen; and his profuse +expenditure, like water spilt on the ground, refreshed the lowly herbs +and plants where it fell. But thou! Whom hast thou enriched during +thy career of extravagance, save those brokers of the devil--vintners, +panders, gamblers, and horse-jockeys?" The anguish produced by this +self-reproof was so strong that I put my hand suddenly to my forehead, +and was obliged to allege a sudden megrim to my attendant, in apology +for the action, and a slight groan with which it was accompanied. + +I then made an effort to turn my thoughts into a more philosophical +current, and muttered half aloud, as a charm to lull any more painful +thoughts to rest,-- + + "NUNC AGER UMBRENI SUB NOMINE, NUPER OFELLI + DICTUS ERIT NULLI PROPRIUS; SED CEDIT IN USUM + NUNC MIHI, NUNC ALII. QUOCIRCA VIVITE FORTES, + FORTIAQUE ADVERSIS OPPONITE PECTORA REBUS." + +[Horace Sat.II Lib.2. The meaning will be best conveyed to the English +reader in Pope's imitation:-- + + "What's property, dear Swift? You see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter; + Or in a mortgage prove a lawyer's share; + Or in a jointure vanish from the heir. + + ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** + + "Shades, that to Bacon could retreat afford, + Become the portion of a booby lord; + And Helmsley, once proud Buckingham's delight, + Slides to a scrivener and city knight. + Let lands and houses have what lords they will, + Let us be fix'd, and our own masters still."] + +In my anxiety to fix the philosophical precept in my mind, I recited the +last line aloud, which, joined to my previous agitation, I afterwards +found became the cause of a report that a mad schoolmaster had come from +Edinburgh, with the idea in his head of buying Castle Treddles. + +As I saw my companion was desirous of getting rid of me, I asked where +I was to find the person in whose hands were left the map of the estate, +and other particulars connected with the sale. The agent who had this in +possession, I was told, lived at the town of --, which I was informed, +and indeed knew well, was distant five miles and a bittock, which may +pass in a country where they are less lavish of their land for two or +three more. Being somewhat afraid of the fatigue of walking so far, +I inquired if a horse or any sort of carriage was to be had, and was +answered in the negative. + +"But," said my cicerone, "you may halt a blink till next morning at the +Treddles Arms, a very decent house, scarce a mile off." + +"A new house, I suppose?" replied I. + +"No, it's a new public, but it's an auld house; it was aye the Leddy's +jointure-house in the Croftangry folk's time. But Mr. Treddles has +fitted it up for the convenience of the country, poor man, he was a +public-spirited man when he had the means." + +"Duntarkin a public-house!" I exclaimed. + +"Ay!" said the fellow, surprised at my naming the place by its former +title; "ye'll hae been in this country before, I'm thinking?" + +"Long since," I replied. "And there is good accommodation at the +what-d'ye-call-'em arms, and a civil landlord?" This I said by way of +saying something, for the man stared very hard at me. + +"Very decent accommodation. Ye'll no be for fashing wi' wine, I'm +thinking; and there's walth o' porter, ale, and a drap gude whisky" +(in an undertone)--"Fairntosh--if you call get on the lee-side of the +gudewife--for there is nae gudeman. They ca' her Christie Steele." + +I almost started at the sound. Christie Steele! Christie Steele was +my mother's body-servant, her very right hand, and, between ourselves, +something like a viceroy over her. I recollected her perfectly; and +though she had in former times been no favourite of mine, her name now +sounded in my ear like that of a friend, and was the first word I had +heard somewhat in unison with the associations around me. I sallied from +Castle Treddles, determined to make the best of my way to Duntarkin, +and my cicerone hung by me for a little way, giving loose to his love +of talking--an opportunity which, situated as he was, the seneschal of a +deserted castle, was not likely to occur frequently. + +"Some folk think," said my companion, "that Mr. Treddles might as weel +have put my wife as Christie Steele into the Treddles Arms; for Christie +had been aye in service, and never in the public line, and so it's like +she is ganging back in the world, as I hear. Now, my wife had keepit a +victualling office." + +"That would have been an advantage, certainly," I replied. + +"But I am no sure that I wad ha' looten Eppie take it, if they had put +it in her offer." + +"That's a different consideration." + +"Ony way, I wadna ha' liked to have offended Mr. Treddles. He was a wee +toustie when you rubbed him again the hair; but a kind, weel-meaning +man." + +I wanted to get rid of this species of chat, and finding myself near the +entrance of a footpath which made a short cut to Duntarkin, I put half a +crown into my guide's hand, bade him good-evening, and plunged into the +woods. + +"Hout, sir--fie, sir--no from the like of you. Stay, sir, ye wunna find +the way that gate.--Odd's mercy, he maun ken the gate as weel as I do +mysel'. Weel, I wad like to ken wha the chield is." + +Such were the last words of my guide's drowsy, uninteresting tone of +voice and glad to be rid of him, I strode out stoutly, in despite of +large stones, briers, and BAD STEPS, which abounded in the road I had +chosen. In the interim, I tried as much as I could, with verses from +Horace and Prior, and all who have lauded the mixture of literary with +rural life, to call back the visions of last night and this morning, +imagining myself settled in same detached farm of the estate of +Glentanner,-- + + "Which sloping hills around enclose-- + Where many a birch and brown oak grows," + +when I should have a cottage with a small library, a small cellar, a +spare bed for a friend, and live more happy and more honoured than when +I had the whole barony. But the sight of Castle Treddles had disturbed +all my own castles in the air. The realities of the matter, like a stone +plashed into a limpid fountain, had destroyed the reflection of the +objects around, which, till this act of violence, lay slumbering on the +crystal surface, and I tried in vain to re-establish the picture which +had been so rudely broken. Well, then, I would try it another way. I +would try to get Christie Steele out of her PUBLIC, since she was not +striving in it, and she who had been my mother's governante should be +mine. I knew all her faults, and I told her history over to myself. + +She was grand-daughter, I believe--at least some relative--of the famous +Covenanter of the name, whom Dean Swift's friend, Captain Creichton, +shot on his own staircase in the times of the persecutions; [See Note +2.--Steele a Covenanter, shot by Captain Creichton.] and had perhaps +derived from her native stock much both of its good and evil properties. +No one could say of her that she was the life and spirit of the family, +though in my mother's time she directed all family affairs. Her look was +austere and gloomy, and when she was not displeased with you, you could +only find it out by her silence. If there was cause for complaint, real +or imaginary, Christie was loud enough. She loved my mother with the +devoted attachment of a younger sister; but she was as jealous of +her favour to any one else as if she had been the aged husband of a +coquettish wife, and as severe in her reprehensions as an abbess over +her nuns. The command which she exercised over her was that, I fear, of +a strong and determined over a feeble and more nervous disposition and +though it was used with rigour, yet, to the best of Christie Steele's +belief, she was urging her mistress to her best and most becoming +course, and would have died rather than have recommended any other. The +attachment of this woman was limited to the family of Croftangry; for +she had few relations, and a dissolute cousin, whom late in life she had +taken as a husband, had long left her a widow. + +To me she had ever a strong dislike. Even from my early childhood she +was jealous, strange as it may seem, of my interest in my mother's +affections. She saw my foibles and vices with abhorrence, and without +a grain of allowance; nor did she pardon the weakness of maternal +affection even when, by the death of two brothers, I came to be the only +child of a widowed parent. At the time my disorderly conduct induced my +mother to leave Glentanner, and retreat to her jointure-house, I +always blamed Christie Steele for having influenced her resentment and +prevented her from listening to my vows of amendment, which at times +were real and serious, and might, perhaps, have accelerated that change +of disposition which has since, I trust, taken place. But Christie +regarded me as altogether a doomed and predestinated child of perdition, +who was sure to hold on my course, and drag downwards whosoever might +attempt to afford me support. + +Still, though I knew such had been Christie's prejudices against me +in other days, yet I thought enough of time had since passed away +to destroy all of them. I knew that when, through the disorder of my +affairs, my mother underwent some temporary inconvenience about money +matters, Christie, as a thing of course, stood in the gap, and having +sold a small inheritance which had descended to her, brought the +purchase money to her mistress, with a sense of devotion as deep as that +which inspired the Christians of the first age, when they sold all they +had, and followed the apostles of the church. I therefore thought that +we might, in old Scottish phrase, "let byganes be byganes," and +begin upon a new account. Yet I resolved, like a skilful general, +to reconnoitre a little before laying down any precise scheme of +proceeding, and in the interim I determined to preserve my incognito. + + + +CHAPTER IV. MR. CROFTANGRY BIDS ADIEU TO CLYDESDALE. + + Alas, how changed from what it once had been! + 'Twas now degraded to a common inn. GAY. + +An hour's brisk walking, or thereabouts, placed me in front of +Duntarkin, which had also, I found, undergone considerable alterations, +though it had not been altogether demolished like the principal +mansion. An inn-yard extended before the door of the decent little +jointure-house, even amidst the remnants of the holly hedges which had +screened the lady's garden. Then a broad, raw-looking, new-made road +intruded itself up the little glen, instead of the old horseway, so +seldom used that it was almost entirely covered with grass. It is +a great enormity, of which gentlemen trustees on the highways are +sometimes guilty, in adopting the breadth necessary for an avenue to the +metropolis, where all that is required is an access to some sequestered +and unpopulous district. I do not say anything of the expense--that +the trustees and their constituents may settle as they please. But the +destruction of silvan beauty is great when the breadth of the road is +more than proportioned to the vale through which it runs, and lowers, of +course, the consequence of any objects of wood or water, or broken and +varied ground, which might otherwise attract notice and give pleasure. +A bubbling runnel by the side of one of those modern Appian or Flaminian +highways is but like a kennel; the little hill is diminished to a +hillock--the romantic hillock to a molehill, almost too small for sight. + +Such an enormity, however, had destroyed the quiet loneliness of +Duntarkin, and intruded its breadth of dust and gravel, and its +associations of pochays and mail-coaches, upon one of the most +sequestered spots in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale. The house was +old and dilapidated, and looked sorry for itself, as if sensible of +a derogation; but the sign was strong and new, and brightly painted, +displaying a heraldic shield (three shuttles in a field diapre), a web +partly unfolded for crest, and two stout giants for supporters, each one +holding a weaver's beam proper. To have displayed this monstrous emblem +on the front of the house might have hazarded bringing down the wall, +but for certain would have blocked up one or two windows. It was +therefore established independent of the mansion, being displayed in an +iron framework, and suspended upon two posts, with as much wood and +iron about it as would have builded a brig; and there it hung, creaking, +groaning, and screaming in every blast of wind, and frightening for five +miles' distance, for aught I know, the nests of thrushes and linnets, +the ancient denizens of the little glen. + +When I entered the place I was received by Christie Steele herself, who +seemed uncertain whether to drop me in the kitchen, or usher me into +a separate apartment, as I called for tea, with something rather more +substantial than bread and butter, and spoke of supping and sleeping, +Christie at last inducted me into the room where she herself had been +sitting, probably the only one which had a fire, though the month was +October. This answered my plan; and as she was about to remove her +spinning-wheel, I begged she would have the goodness to remain and make +my tea, adding that I liked the sound of the wheel, and desired not to +disturb her housewife thrift in the least. + +"I dinna ken, sir," she replied, in a dry, REVECHE tone, which carried +me back twenty years, "I am nane of thae heartsome landleddies that can +tell country cracks, and make themsel's agreeable, and I was ganging to +put on a fire for you in the Red Room; but if it is your will to stay +here, he that pays the lawing maun choose the lodging." + +I endeavoured to engage her in conversation; but though she answered, +with a kind of stiff civility, I could get her into no freedom of +discourse, and she began to look at her wheel and at the door more +than once, as if she meditated a retreat. I was obliged, therefore, to +proceed to some special questions; that might have interest for a person +whose ideas were probably of a very bounded description. + +I looked round the apartment, being the same in which I had last seen my +poor mother. The author of the family history, formerly mentioned, had +taken great credit to himself for the improvements he had made in this +same jointure-house of Duntarkin, and how, upon his marriage, when his +mother took possession of the same as her jointure-house, "to his great +charges and expenses he caused box the walls of the great parlour" +(in which I was now sitting), "empanel the same, and plaster the roof, +finishing the apartment with ane concave chimney, and decorating the +same with pictures, and a barometer and thermometer." And in particular, +which his good mother used to say she prized above all the rest, he had +caused his own portraiture be limned over the mantlepiece by a skilful +hand. And, in good faith, there he remained still, having much the +visage which I was disposed to ascribe to him on the evidence of his +handwriting,--grim and austere, yet not without a cast of shrewdness and +determination; in armour, though he never wore it, I fancy; one hand on +an open book, and one resting on the hilt of his sword, though I dare +say his head never ached with reading, nor his limbs with fencing. + +"That picture is painted on the wood, madam," said I. + +"Ay, sir, or it's like it would not have been left there; they look a' +they could." + +"Mr. Treddles's creditors, you mean?" said I. + +"Na," replied she dryly, "the creditors of another family, that sweepit +cleaner than this poor man's, because I fancy there was less to gather." + +"An older family, perhaps, and probably more remembered and regretted +than later possessors?" + +Christie here settled herself in her seat, and pulled her wheel towards +her. I had given her something interesting for her thoughts to dwell +upon, and her wheel was a mechanical accompaniment on such occasions, +the revolutions of which assisted her in the explanation of her ideas. + +"Mair regretted--mair missed? I liked ane of the auld family very weel, +but I winna say that for them a'. How should they be mair missed than +the Treddleses? The cotton mill was such a thing for the country! The +mair bairns a cottar body had the better; they would make their awn keep +frae the time they were five years auld, and a widow wi' three or four +bairns was a wealthy woman in the time of the Treddleses." + +"But the health of these poor children, my good friend--their education +and religious instruction--" + +"For health," said Christie, looking gloomily at me, "ye maun ken little +of the warld, sir, if ye dinna ken that the health of the poor man's +body, as well as his youth and his strength, are all at the command of +the rich man's purse. There never was a trade so unhealthy yet but men +would fight to get wark at it for twa pennies a day aboon the common +wage. But the bairns were reasonably weel cared for in the way of air +and exercise, and a very responsible youth heard them their Carritch, +and gied them lessons in Reediemadeasy ["Reading made Easy," usually so +pronounced in Scotland.] Now, what did they ever get before? Maybe on a +winter day they wad be called out to beat the wood for cocks or siclike; +and then the starving weans would maybe get a bite of broken bread, and +maybe no, just as the butler was in humour--that was a' they got." + +"They were not, then, a very kind family to the poor, these old +possessors?" said I, somewhat bitterly; for I had expected to hear +my ancestors' praises recorded, though I certainly despaired of being +regaled with my own. + +"They werena ill to them, sir, and that is aye something. They were +just decent bien bodies; ony poor creature that had face to beg got an +awmous, and welcome--they that were shamefaced gaed by, and twice +as welcome. But they keepit an honest walk before God and man, the +Croftangrys, and, as I said before, if they did little good, they did +as little ill. They lifted their rents, and spent them; called in their +kain and ate them; gaed to the kirk of a Sunday; bowed civilly if folk +took aff their bannets as they gaed by, and lookit as black as sin at +them that keepit them on." + +"These are their arms that you have on the sign?" + +"What! on the painted board that is skirling and groaning at the door? +Na, these are Mr. Treddles's arms though they look as like legs as arms. +Ill pleased I was at the fule thing, that cost as muckle as would hae +repaired the house from the wa' stane to the rigging-tree. But if I am +to bide here, I'll hae a decent board wi' a punch bowl on it." + +"Is there a doubt of your staying here, Mrs. Steele?" + +"Dinna Mistress me," said the cross old woman, whose fingers were now +plying their thrift in a manner which indicated nervous irritation; +"there was nae luck in the land since Luckie turned Mistress, and +Mistress my Leddy. And as for staying here, if it concerns you to ken, +I may stay if I can pay a hundred pund sterling for the lease, and I may +flit if I canna, and so gude e'en to you, Christie,"--and round went the +wheel with much activity. + +"And you like the trade of keeping a public-house?" + +"I can scarce say that," she replied. "But worthy Mr. Prendergast is +clear of its lawfulness; and I hae gotten used to it, and made a decent +living, though I never make out a fause reckoning, or give ony ane the +means to disorder reason in my house." + +"Indeed!" said I; "in that case, there is no wonder you have not made up +the hundred pounds to purchase the lease." + +"How do you ken," said she sharply, "that I might not have had a hundred +punds of my ain fee? If I have it not, I am sure it is my ain faut. And +I wunna ca' it faut neither, for it gaed to her wha was weel entitled to +a' my service." Again she pulled stoutly at the flax, and the wheel went +smartly round. + +"This old gentleman," said I, fixing my eye on the painted panel, "seems +to have had HIS arms painted as well as Mr. Treddles--that is, if that +painting in the corner be a scutcheon." + +"Ay, ay--cushion, just sae. They maun a' hae their cushions--there's +sma' gentry without that--and so the arms, as they ca' them, of the +house of Glentanner may be seen on an auld stane in the west end of the +house. But to do them justice; they didna propale sae muckle about them +as poor Mr. Treddles did--it's like they were better used to them." + +"Very likely. Are there any of the old family in life, goodwife?" + +"No," she replied; then added; after a moment's hesitation, "Not that I +know of"--and the wheel, which had intermitted, began again to revolve. + +"Gone abroad, perhaps?" I suggested. + +She now looked up, and faced me. "No, sir. There were three sons of the +last laird of Glentanner, as he was then called. John and William were +hopeful young gentlemen, but they died early--one of a decline brought +on by the mizzles, the other lost his life in a fever. It would hae been +lucky for mony ane that Chrystal had gane the same gate." + +"Oh, he must have been the young spendthrift that sold the property? +Well, but you should you have such an ill-will against him; remember +necessity has no law. And then, goodwife, he was not more culpable than +Mr. Treddles, whom you are so sorry for." + +"I wish I could think sae, sir, for his mother's sake. But Mr. Treddles +was in trade, and though he had no preceese right to do so, yet there +was some warrant for a man being expensive that imagined he was making +a mint of money. But this unhappy lad devoured his patrimony, when +he kenned that he was living like a ratten in a Dunlap cheese, and +diminishing his means at a' hands. I canna bide to think on't." With +this she broke out into a snatch of a ballad, but little of mirth was +there either in the tone or the expression:-- + + "For he did spend, and make an end + Of gear that his forefathers wan; + Of land and ware he made him bare, + So speak nae mair of the auld gudeman." + +"Come, dame," said I, "it is a long lane that has no turning. I will not +keep from you that I have heard something of this poor fellow, Chrystal +Croftangry. He has sown his wild oats, as they say, and has settled into +a steady, respectable man." + +"And wha tell'd ye that tidings?" said she, looking sharply at me. + +"Not, perhaps, the best judge in the world of his character, for it was +himself, dame." + +"And if he tell'd you truth, it was a virtue he did not aye use to +practise," said Christie. + +"The devil!" said I, considerably nettled; "all the world held him to be +a man of honour." + +"Ay, ay! he would hae shot onybody wi' his pistols and his guns that had +evened him to be a liar. But if he promised to pay an honest tradesman +the next term-day, did he keep his word then? And if he promised a puir, +silly lass to make gude her shame, did he speak truth then? And what is +that but being a liar, and a black-hearted, deceitful liar to boot?" + +My indignation was rising, but I strove to suppress it; indeed, I should +only have afforded my tormentor a triumph by an angry reply. I partly +suspected she began to recognize me, yet she testified so little emotion +that I could not think my suspicion well founded. I went on, therefore, +to say, in a tone as indifferent as I could command, "Well, goodwife, +I see you will believe no good of this Chrystal of yours, till he comes +back and buys a good farm on the estate, and makes you his housekeeper." + +The old woman dropped her thread, folded her hands, as she looked up to +heaven with a face of apprehension. "The Lord," she exclaimed, "forbid! +The Lord in His mercy forbid! O sir! if you really know this unlucky +man, persuade him to settle where folk ken the good that you say he has +come to, and dinna ken the evil of his former days. He used to be proud +enough--O dinna let him come here, even for his own sake. He used once +to have some pride." + +Here she once more drew the wheel close to her, and began to pull at the +flax with both hands. "Dinna let him come here, to be looked down upon +by ony that may be left of his auld reiving companions, and to see the +decent folk that he looked over his nose at look over their noses at +him, baith at kirk and market. Dinna let him come to his ain country, to +be made a tale about when ony neighbour points him out to another, and +tells what he is, and what he was, and how he wrecked a dainty estate, +and brought harlots to the door-cheek of his father's house, till he +made it nae residence for his mother; and how it had been foretauld by +a servant of his ain house that he was a ne'er-do-weel and a child of +perdition, and how her words were made good, and--" + +"Stop there, goodwife, if you please," said I; "you have said as much as +I can well remember, and more than it may be safe to repeat. I can use a +great deal of freedom with the gentleman we speak of; but I think, +were any other person to carry him half of your message, I would scarce +ensure his personal safety. And now, as I see the night is settled to be +a fine one, I will walk on to --, where I must meet a coach to-morrow as +it passes to Edinburgh." + +So saying, I paid my moderate reckoning, and took my leave, without +being able to discover whether the prejudiced and hard-hearted old woman +did, or did not, suspect the identity of her guest with the Chrystal +Croftangry against whom she harboured so much dislike. + +The night was fine and frosty, though, when I pretended to see what its +character was, it might have rained like the deluge. I only made the +excuse to escape from old Christie Steele. The horses which run races +in the Corso at Rome without any riders, in order to stimulate their +exertion, carry each his own spurs namely, small balls of steel, with +sharp, projecting spikes, which are attached to loose straps of leather, +and, flying about in the violence of the agitation, keep the horse to +his speed by pricking him as they strike against his flanks. The old +woman's reproaches had the same effect on me, and urged me to a rapid +pace, as if it had been possible to escape from my own recollections. In +the best days of my life, when I won one or two hard walking matches, +I doubt if I ever walked so fast as I did betwixt the Treddles Arms and +the borough town for which I was bound. Though the night was cold, I was +warm enough by the time I got to my inn; and it required a refreshing +draught of porter, with half an hour's repose, ere I could determine to +give no further thought to Christie and her opinions than those of any +other vulgar, prejudiced old woman. I resolved at last to treat the +thing EN BAGATELLE, and calling for writing materials, I folded up a +cheque for L100, with these lines on the envelope:-- + + "Chrystal, the ne'er-do-weel, + Child destined to the deil, + Sends this to Christie Steele." + +And I was so much pleased with this new mode of viewing the subject, +that I regretted the lateness of the hour prevented my finding a person +to carry the letter express to its destination. + + "But with the morning cool reflection came." + +I considered that the money, and probably more, was actually due by me +on my mother's account to Christie, who had lent it in a moment of great +necessity, and that the returning it in a light or ludicrous manner +was not unlikely to prevent so touchy and punctilious a person from +accepting a debt which was most justly her due, and which it became me +particularly to see satisfied. Sacrificing, then, my triad with little +regret (for it looked better by candlelight, and through the medium of a +pot of porter, than it did by daylight, and with bohea for a menstruum), +I determined to employ Mr. Fairscribe's mediation in buying up the lease +of the little inn, and conferring it upon Christie in the way which +should make it most acceptable to her feelings. It is only necessary +to add that my plan succeeded, and that Widow Steele even yet keeps the +Treddles Arms. Do not say, therefore, that I have been disingenuous with +you, reader; since, if I have not told all the ill of myself I might +have done, I have indicated to you a person able and willing to supply +the blank, by relating all my delinquencies as well as my misfortunes. + +In the meantime I totally abandoned the idea of redeeming any part of +my paternal property, and resolved to take Christie Steele's advice, as +young Norval does Glenalvon's, "although it sounded harshly." + + + +CHAPTER V. MR. CROFTANGRY SETTLES IN THE CANONGATE. + + If you will know my house, + 'Tis at the tuft of olives here hard by. AS YOU LIKE IT. + +By a revolution of humour which I am unable to account for, I changed my +mind entirely on my plans of life, in consequence of the disappointment, +the history of which fills the last chapter. I began to discover +that the country would not at all suit me; for I had relinquished +field-sports, and felt no inclination whatever to farming, the ordinary +vocation of country gentlemen. Besides that, I had no talent for +assisting either candidate in case of an expected election, and saw no +amusement in the duties of a road trustee, a commissioner of supply, or +even in the magisterial functions of the bench. I had begun to take some +taste for reading; and a domiciliation in the country must remove me +from the use of books, excepting the small subscription library, in +which the very book which you want is uniformly sure to be engaged. + +I resolved, therefore, to make the Scottish metropolis my regular +resting-place, reserving to myself to take occasionally those excursions +which, spite of all I have said against mail-coaches, Mr. Piper has +rendered so easy. Friend of our life and of our leisure, he secures by +dispatch against loss of time, and by the best of coaches, cattle, and +steadiest of drivers, against hazard of limb, and wafts us, as well as +our letters, from Edinburgh to Cape Wrath in the penning of a paragraph. + +When my mind was quite made up to make Auld Reekie my headquarters, +reserving the privilege of EXPLORING in all directions, I began to +explore in good earnest for the purpose of discovering a suitable +habitation. "And whare trew ye I gaed?" as Sir Pertinax says. Not to +George's Square--nor to Charlotte Square--nor to the old New Town--nor +to the new New Town--nor to the Calton Hill. I went to the Canongate, +and to the very portion of the Canongate in which I had formerly been +immured, like the errant knight, prisoner in some enchanted castle, +where spells have made the ambient air impervious to the unhappy +captive, although the organs of sight encountered no obstacle to his +free passage. + +Why I should have thought of pitching my tent here I cannot tell. +Perhaps it was to enjoy the pleasures of freedom where I had so long +endured the bitterness of restraint, on the principle of the officer +who, after he had retired from the army, ordered his servant to continue +to call him at the hour or parade, simply that he might have the +pleasure of saying, "D--n the parade!" and turning to the other side to +enjoy his slumbers. Or perhaps I expected to find in the vicinity some +little old-fashioned house, having somewhat of the RUS IN URBE which +I was ambitious of enjoying. Enough: I went, as aforesaid, to the +Canongate. + +I stood by the kennel, of which I have formerly spoken, and, my mind +being at ease, my bodily organs were more delicate. I was more +sensible than heretofore, that, like the trade of Pompey in MEASURE FOR +MEASURE,--it did in some sort--pah an ounce of civet, good apothecary! +Turning from thence, my steps naturally directed themselves to my own +humble apartment, where my little Highland landlady, as dapper and +as tight as ever, (for old women wear a hundred times better than the +hard-wrought seniors of the masculine sex), stood at the door, TEEDLING +to herself a Highland song as she shook a table napkin over the +fore-stair, and then proceeded to fold it up neatly for future service. + +"How do you, Janet?" + +"Thank ye, good sir," answered my old friend, without looking at +me; "but ye might as weel say Mrs. MacEvoy, for she is na a'body's +Shanet--umph." + +"You must be MY Janet, though, for all that. Have you forgot me? Do you +not remember Chrystal Croftangry?" + +The light, kind-hearted creature threw her napkin into the open door, +skipped down the stair like a fairy, three steps at once, seized me by +the hands--both hands--jumped up, and actually kissed me. I was a little +ashamed; but what swain, of somewhere inclining to sixty could resist +the advances of a fair contemporary? So we allowed the full degree +of kindness to the meeting--HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE--and then Janet +entered instantly upon business. "An ye'll gae in, man, and see your +auld lodgings, nae doubt and Shanet will pay ye the fifteen shillings +of change that ye ran away without, and without bidding Shanet good day. +But never mind" (nodding good-humouredly), "Shanet saw you were carried +for the time." + +By this time we were in my old quarters, and Janet, with her bottle of +cordial in one hand and the glass in the other, had forced on me a +dram of usquebaugh, distilled with saffron and other herbs, after some +old-fashioned Highland receipt. Then was unfolded, out of many a little +scrap of paper, the reserved sum of fifteen shillings, which Janet had +treasured for twenty years and upwards. + +"Here they are," she said, in honest triumph, "just the same I was +holding out to ye when ye ran as if ye had been fey. Shanet has had +siller, and Shanet has wanted siller, mony a time since that. And the +gauger has come, and the factor has come, and the butcher and baker--Cot +bless us just like to tear poor auld Shanet to pieces; but she took good +care of Mr. Croftangry's fifteen shillings." + +"But what if I had never come back, Janet?" + +"Och, if Shanet had heard you were dead, she would hae gien it to the +poor of the chapel, to pray for Mr. Croftangry," said Janet, crossing +herself, for she was a Catholic, "You maybe do not think it would do you +cood, but the blessing of the poor can never do no harm." + +I agreed heartily in Janet's conclusion; and as to have desired her to +consider the hoard as her own property would have been an indelicate +return to her for the uprightness of her conduct, I requested her to +dispose of it as she had proposed to do in the event of my death--that +is, if she knew any poor people of merit to whom it might be useful. + +"Ower mony of them," raising the corner of her checked apron to her +eyes--"e'en ower mony of them, Mr. Croftangry. Och, ay. 'There is the +puir Highland creatures frae Glenshee, that cam down for the harvest, +and are lying wi' the fever--five shillings to them; and half a crown to +Bessie MacEvoy, whose coodman, puir creature, died of the frost, being +a shairman, for a' the whisky he could drink to keep it out o' his +stamoch; and--" + +But she suddenly interrupted the bead-roll of her proposed charities, +and assuming a very sage look, and primming up her little chattering +mouth, she went on in a different tone--"But och, Mr. Croftangry, +bethink ye whether ye will not need a' this siller yoursel', and maybe +look back and think lang for ha'en kiven it away, whilk is a creat sin +to forthink a wark o' charity, and also is unlucky, and moreover is not +the thought of a shentleman's son like yoursel', dear. And I say this, +that ye may think a bit, for your mother's son kens that ye are no so +careful as you should be of the gear, and I hae tauld ye of it before, +jewel." + +I assured her I could easily spare the money, without risk of future +repentance; and she went on to infer that in such a case "Mr. Croftangry +had grown a rich man in foreign parts, and was free of his troubles +with messengers and sheriff-officers, and siclike scum of the earth, and +Shanet MacEvoy's mother's daughter be a blithe woman to hear it. But +if Mr. Croftangry was in trouble, there was his room, and his ped, and +Shanet to wait on him, and tak payment when it was quite convenient." + +I explained to Janet my situation, in which she expressed unqualified +delight. I then proceeded to inquire into her own circumstances, and +though she spoke cheerfully and contentedly, I could see they were +precarious. I had paid more than was due; other lodgers fell into +an opposite error, and forgot to pay Janet at all. Then, Janet being +ignorant of all indirect modes of screwing money out of her lodgers, +others in the same line of life, who were sharper than the poor, +simple Highland woman, were enabled to let their apartments cheaper in +appearance, though the inmates usually found them twice as dear in the +long run. + +As I had already destined my old landlady to be my house-keeper +and governante, knowing her honesty, good-nature, and, although a +Scotchwoman, her cleanliness and excellent temper (saving the short +and hasty expressions of anger which Highlanders call a FUFF), I now +proposed the plan to her in such a way as was likely to make it most +acceptable. Very acceptable as the proposal was, as I could plainly +see, Janet, however, took a day to consider upon it; and her reflections +against our next meeting had suggested only one objection, which was +singular enough. + +"My honour," so she now termed me, "would pe for biding in some fine +street apout the town. Now Shanet wad ill like to live in a place where +polish, and sheriffs, and bailiffs, and sie thieves and trash of the +world, could tak puir shentlemen by the throat, just because they wanted +a wheen dollars in the sporran. She had lived in the bonny glen of +Tomanthoulick. Cot, an ony of the vermint had come there, her father +wad hae wared a shot on them, and he could hit a buck within as mony +measured yards as e'er a man of his clan, And the place here was so +quiet frae them, they durst na put their nose ower the gutter. Shanet +owed nobody a bodle, but she couldna pide to see honest folk and pretty +shentlemen forced away to prison whether they would or no; and then, if +Shanet was to lay her tangs ower ane of the ragamuffins' heads, it would +be, maybe, that the law would gi'ed a hard name." + +One thing I have learned in life--never to speak sense when nonsense +will answer the purpose as well. I should have had great difficulty +to convince this practical and disinterested admirer and vindicator of +liberty, that arrests seldom or never were to be seen in the streets of +Edinburgh; and to satisfy her of their justice and necessity would have +been as difficult as to convert her to the Protestant faith. I therefore +assured her my intention, if I could get a suitable habitation, was to +remain in the quarter where she at present dwelt. Janet gave three skips +on the floor, and uttered as many short, shrill yells of joy. Yet doubt +almost instantly returned, and she insisted on knowing what possible +reason I could have for making my residence where few lived, save those +whose misfortunes drove them thither. It occurred to me to answer her by +recounting the legend of the rise of my family, and of our deriving our +name from a particular place near Holyrood Palace. This, which would +have appeared to most people a very absurd reason for choosing a +residence, was entirely satisfactory to Janet MacEvoy. + +"Och, nae doubt! if it was the land of her fathers, there was nae mair +to be said. Put it was queer that her family estate should just lie at +the town tail, and covered with houses, where the King's cows--Cot bless +them, hide and horn--used to craze upon. It was strange changes." +She mused a little, and then added: "Put it is something better wi' +Croftangry when the changes is frae the field to the habited place, +and not from the place of habitation to the desert; for Shanet, her +nainsell, kent a glen where there were men as weel as there may be in +Croftangry, and if there werena altogether sae mony of them, they were +as good men in their tartan as the others in their broadcloth. And there +were houses, too; and if they were not biggit with stane and lime, and +lofted like the houses at Croftangry, yet they served the purpose of +them that lived there, and mony a braw bonnet, and mony a silk snood +and comely white curch, would come out to gang to kirk or chapel on +the Lord's day, and little bairns toddling after. And now--Och, Och, +Ohellany, Ohonari! the glen is desolate, and the braw snoods and bonnets +are gane, and the Saxon's house stands dull and lonely, like the single +bare-breasted rock that the falcon builds on--the falcon that drives the +heath-bird frae the glen." + +Janet, like many Highlanders, was full of imagination, and, when +melancholy themes came upon her, expressed herself almost poetically, +owing to the genius of the Celtic language in which she thought, and in +which, doubtless, she would have spoken, had I understood Gaelic. In two +minutes the shade of gloom and regret had passed from her good-humoured +features, and she was again the little, busy, prating, important old +woman, undisputed owner of one flat of a small tenement in the Abbey +Yard, and about to be promoted to be housekeeper to an elderly bachelor +gentleman, Chrystal Croftangry, Esq. + +It was not long before Janet's local researches found out exactly the +sort of place I wanted, and there we settled. Janet was afraid I would +not be satisfied, because it is not exactly part of Croftangry; but I +stopped her doubts by assuring her it had been part and pendicle thereof +in my forefather' time, which passed very well. + +I do not intend to possess any one with an exact knowledge of my +lodging; though, as Bobadil says, "I care not who knows it, since the +cabin is convenient." But I may state in general, that it is a house +"within itself," or, according to a newer phraseology in advertisements, +SELF-CONTAINED, has a garden of near half an acre, and a patch of +ground with trees in front. It boasts five rooms and servants' +apartments--looks in front upon the palace, and from behind towards the +hill and crags of the King's Park. Fortunately, the place had a name, +which, with a little improvement, served to countenance the legend which +I had imposed on Janet, and would not, perhaps have been sorry if I had +been able to impose on myself. It was called Littlecroft; we have dubbed +it Little Croftangry, and the men of letters belonging to the Post +Office have sanctioned the change, and deliver letters so addressed. +Thus I am to all intents and purposes Chrystal Croftangry of that Ilk. + +My establishment consists of Janet, an under maid-servant, and a +Highland wench for Janet to exercise her Gaelic upon, with a handy lad +who can lay the cloth, and take care, besides, of a pony, on which I +find my way to Portobello sands, especially when the cavalry have a +drill; for, like an old fool as I am, I have not altogether become +indifferent to the tramp of horses and the flash of weapons, of which, +though no professional soldier, it has been my fate to see something in +my youth. For wet mornings I have my book; is it fine weather? I visit, +or I wander on the Crags, as the humour dictates. My dinner is indeed +solitary, yet not quite so neither; for though Andrew waits, Janet--or, +as she is to all the world but her master and certain old Highland +gossips, Mrs. MacEvoy--attends, bustles about, and desires to see +everything is in first-rate order, and to tell me, Cot pless us, the +wonderful news of the palace for the day. When the cloth is removed, and +I light my cigar, and begin to husband a pint of port, or a glass of old +whisky and water, it is the rule of the house that Janet takes a +chair at some distance, and nods or works her stocking, as she may be +disposed--ready to speak, if I am in the talking humour, and sitting +quiet as a mouse if I am rather inclined to study a book or the +newspaper. At six precisely she makes my tea, and leaves me to drink it; +and then occurs an interval of time which most old bachelors find heavy +on their hands. The theatre is a good occasional resource, especially if +Will Murray acts, or a bright star of eminence shines forth; but it +is distant, and so are one or two public societies to which I belong. +Besides, these evening walks are all incompatible with the elbow-chair +feeling, which desires some employment that may divert the mind without +fatiguing the body. + +Under the influence of these impressions, I have sometimes thought of +this literary undertaking. I must have been the Bonassus himself to have +mistaken myself for a genius; yet I have leisure and reflections like +my neighbours. I am a borderer, also, between two generations, and can +point out more, perhaps, than others of those fading traces of antiquity +which are daily vanishing; and I know many a modern instance and many an +old tradition, and therefore I ask-- + + "What ails me, I may not as well as they + Rake up some threadbare tales, that mouldering lay + In chimney corners, wont by Christmas fires + To read and rock to sleep our ancient sires? + No man his threshold better knows, than I + Brute's first arrival and first victory, + Saint George's sorrel and his cross of blood, + Arthur's round board and Caledonian wood." + +No shop is so easily set up as an antiquary's. Like those of the +lowest order of pawnbrokers, a commodity of rusty iron, a bay or two of +hobnails, a few odd shoe-buckles, cashiered kail-pots, and fire-irons +declared incapable of service, are quite sufficient to set him up. If +he add a sheaf or two of penny ballads and broadsides, he is a great +man--an extensive trader. And then, like the pawnbrokers aforesaid, if +the author understands a little legerdemain, he may, by dint of a little +picking and stealing, make the inside of his shop a great deal richer +than the out, and be able to show you things which cause those who do +not understand the antiquarian trick of clean conveyance to wonder how +the devil he came by them. + +It may be said that antiquarian articles interest but few customers, and +that we may bawl ourselves as rusty as the wares we deal in without any +one asking; the price of our merchandise. But I do not rest my hopes +upon this department of my labours only. I propose also to have a +corresponding shop for Sentiment, and Dialogues, and Disquisition, which +may captivate the fancy of those who have no relish, as the established +phrase goes, for pure antiquity--a sort of greengrocer's stall erected +in front of my ironmongery wares, garlanding the rusty memorials of +ancient times with cresses, cabbages, leeks, and water purpy. + +As I have some idea that I am writing too well to be understood, I +humble myself to ordinary language, and aver, with becoming modesty, +that I do think myself capable of sustaining a publication of a +miscellaneous nature, as like to the Spectator or the Guardian, the +Mirror or the Lounger, as my poor abilities may be able to accomplish. +Not that I have any purpose of imitating Johnson, whose general learning +and power of expression I do not deny, but many of whose Ramblers are +little better than a sort of pageant, where trite and obvious maxims are +made to swagger in lofty and mystic language, and get some credit only +because they are not easily understood. There are some of the +great moralist's papers which I cannot peruse without thinking on +a second-rate masquerade, where the best-known and least-esteemed +characters in town march in as heroes, and sultans, and so forth, and, +by dint of tawdry dresses, get some consideration until they are found +out. It is not, however, prudent to commence with throwing stones, just +when I am striking out windows of my own. + +I think even the local situation of Little Croftangry may be considered +as favourable to my undertaking. A nobler contrast there can hardly +exist than that of the huge city, dark with the smoke of ages, and +groaning with the various sounds of active industry or idle revel, +and the lofty and craggy hill, silent and solitary as the grave--one +exhibiting the full tide of existence, pressing and precipitating itself +forward with the force of an inundation; the other resembling some +time-worn anchorite, whose life passes as silent and unobserved as the +slender rill which escapes unheard, and scarce seen, from the fountain +of his patron saint. The city resembles the busy temple, where the +modern Comus and Mammon hold their court, and thousands sacrifice ease, +independence, and virtue itself at their shrine; the misty and lonely +mountain seems as a throne to the majestic but terrible Genius of feudal +times, when the same divinities dispensed coronets and domains to those +who had heads to devise and arms to execute bold enterprises. + +I have, as it were, the two extremities of the moral world at my +threshold. From the front door a few minutes' walk brings me into the +heart of a wealthy and populous city; as many paces from my opposite +entrance place me in a solitude as complete as Zimmerman could have +desired. Surely, with such aids to my imagination, I may write better +than if I were in a lodging in the New Town or a garret in the old. As +the Spaniard says, "VIAMOS--CARACCO!" + +I have not chosen to publish periodically, my reason for which was +twofold. In the first place, I don't like to be hurried, and have had +enough of duns in an early part of my life to make me reluctant to hear +of or see one, even in the less awful shape of a printer's devil. But, +secondly, a periodical paper is not easily extended in circulation +beyond the quarter in which it is published. This work, if published in +fugitive numbers, would scarce, without a high pressure on the part +of the bookseller, be raised above the Netherbow, and never could be +expected to ascend to the level of Princes Street. Now, I am ambitious +that my compositions, though having their origin in this Valley of +Holyrood, should not only be extended into those exalted regions I have +mentioned, but also that they should cross the Forth, astonish the long +town of Kirkcaldy, enchant the skippers and colliers of the East of +Fife, venture even into the classic arcades of St. Andrews, and travel +as much farther to the north as the breath of applause will carry their +sails. As for a southward direction, it is not to be hoped for in my +fondest dreams. I am informed that Scottish literature, like Scottish +whisky, will be presently laid under a prohibitory duty. But enough +of this. If any reader is dull enough not to comprehend the advantages +which, in point of circulation, a compact book has over a collection of +fugitive numbers, let him try the range of a gun loaded with hail-shot +against that of the same piece charged with an equal weight of lead +consolidated in a single bullet. + +Besides, it was of less consequence that I should have published +periodically, since I did not mean to solicit or accept of the +contributions of friends, or the criticisms of those who may be less +kindly disposed. Notwithstanding the excellent examples which might +be quoted, I will establish no begging-box, either under the name of a +lion's head or an ass's. What is good or ill shall be mine own, or the +contribution of friends to whom I may have private access. Many of my +voluntary assistants might be cleverer than myself, and then I should +have a brilliant article appear among my chiller effusions, like a patch +of lace on a Scottish cloak of Galashiels grey. Some might be worse, and +then I must reject them, to the injury of the feelings of the writer, or +else insert them, to make my own darkness yet more opaque and palpable. +"Let every herring," says our old-fashioned proverb, "hang by his own +head." + +One person, however, I may distinguish, as she is now no more, who, +living to the utmost term of human life, honoured me with a great share +of her friendship--as, indeed, we were blood-relatives in the Scottish +sense--Heaven knows how many degrees removed--and friends in the sense +of Old England. I mean the late excellent and regretted Mrs. Bethune +Baliol. But as I design this admirable picture of the olden time for a +principal character in my work, I will only say here that she knew and +approved of my present purpose; and though she declined to contribute +to it while she lived, from a sense of dignified retirement, which she +thought became her age, sex, and condition in life, she left me some +materials for carrying on my proposed work which I coveted when I +heard her detail them in conversation, and which now, when I have their +substance in her own handwriting, I account far more valuable than +anything I have myself to offer. I hope the mentioning her name in +conjunction with my own will give no offence to any of her numerous +friends, as it was her own express pleasure that I should employ the +manuscripts which she did me the honour to bequeath me in the manner +in which I have now used them. It must be added, however, that in +most cases I have disguised names, and in some have added shading and +colouring to bring out the narrative. + +Much of my materials, besides these, are derived from friends, living +or dead. The accuracy of some of these may be doubtful, in which case I +shall be happy to receive, from sufficient authority, the correction of +the errors which must creep into traditional documents. The object of +the whole publication is to throw some light on the manners of Scotland +as they were, and to contrast them occasionally with those of the +present day. My own opinions are in favour of our own times in many +respects, but not in so far as affords means for exercising the +imagination or exciting the interest which attaches to other times. I am +glad to be a writer or a reader in 1826, but I would be most interested +in reading or relating what happened from half a century to a century +before. We have the best of it. Scenes in which our ancestors thought +deeply, acted fiercely, and died desperately, are to us tales to divert +the tedium of a winter's evening, when we are engaged to no party, or +beguile a summer's morning, when it is too scorching to ride or walk. + +Yet I do not mean that my essays and narratives should be limited to +Scotland. I pledge myself to no particular line of subjects, but, on the +contrary, say with Burns-- + + "Perhaps it may turn out a sang, + Perhaps turn out a sermon." + +I have only to add, by way of postscript to these preliminary chapters, +that I have had recourse to Moliere's recipe, and read my manuscript +over to my old woman, Janet MacEvoy. + +The dignity of being consulted delighted Janet; and Wilkie, or Allan, +would have made a capital sketch of her, as she sat upright in her +chair, instead of her ordinary lounging posture, knitting her +stocking systematically, as if she meant every twist of her thread and +inclination of the wires to bear burden to the cadence of my voice. I am +afraid, too, that I myself felt more delight than I ought to have done +in my own composition, and read a little more oratorically than I should +have ventured to do before an auditor of whose applause I was not so +secure. And the result did not entirely encourage my plan of censorship. +Janet did indeed seriously incline to the account of my previous life, +and bestowed some Highland maledictions, more emphatic than courteous, +on Christie Steele's reception of a "shentlemans in distress," and of +her own mistress's house too. I omitted for certain reasons, or greatly +abridged, what related to her-self. But when I came to treat of my +general views in publication, I saw poor Janet was entirely thrown out, +though, like a jaded hunter, panting, puffing, and short of wind, +she endeavoured at least to keep up with the chase. Or, rather, her +perplexity made her look all the while like a deaf person ashamed of his +infirmity, who does not understand a word you are saying, yet desires +you to believe that he does understand you, and who is extremely jealous +that you suspect his incapacity. When she saw that some remark was +necessary, she resembled exactly in her criticism the devotee who +pitched on the "sweet word Mesopotamia" as the most edifying note +which she could bring away from a sermon. She indeed hastened to bestow +general praise on what she said was all "very fine;" but chiefly dwelt +on what I, had said about Mr. Timmerman, as she was pleased to call the +German philosopher, and supposed he must be of the same descent with the +Highland clan of M'Intyre, which signifies Son of the Carpenter. "And a +fery honourable name too--Shanet's own mither was a M'Intyre." + +In short, it was plain the latter part of my introduction was altogether +lost on poor Janet; and so, to have acted up to Moliere's system, I +should have cancelled the whole, and written it anew. But I do not +know how it is. I retained, I suppose, some tolerable opinion of my +own composition, though Janet did not comprehend it, and felt loath to +retrench those Delilahs of the imagination, as Dryden calls them, the +tropes and figures of which are caviar to the multitude. Besides, I hate +rewriting as much as Falstaff did paying back--it is a double labour. +So I determined with myself to consult Janet, in future, only on such +things as were within the limits of her comprehension, and hazard my +arguments and my rhetoric on the public without her imprimatur. I am +pretty sure she will "applaud it done." and in such narratives as come +within her range of thought and feeling I shall, as I first intended, +take the benefit of her unsophisticated judgment, and attend to it +deferentially--that is, when it happens not to be in peculiar opposition +to my own; for, after all, I say with Almanzor,-- + + "Know that I alone am king of me." + +The reader has now my who and my whereabout, the purpose of the work, +and the circumstances under which it is undertaken. He has also a +specimen of the author's talents, and may judge for himself, and +proceed, or send back the volume to the bookseller, as his own taste +shall determine. + + + +CHAPTER VI. MR. CROFTANGRY'S ACCOUNT OF MRS. BETHUNE BALIOL. + + The moon, were she earthly, no nobler. CORIOLANUS. + +When we set out on the jolly voyage of life, what a brave fleet there +is around us, as, stretching our finest canvas to the breeze, all +"shipshape and Bristol fashion," pennons flying, music playing, cheering +each other as we pass, we are rather amused than alarmed when some +awkward comrade goes right ashore for want of pilotage! Alas! when the +voyage is well spent, and we look about us, toil-worn mariners, how few +of our ancient consorts still remain in sight; and they, how torn and +wasted, and, like ourselves, struggling to keep as long as possible off +the fatal shore, against which we are all finally drifting! + +I felt this very trite but melancholy truth in all its force the other +day, when a packet with a black seal arrived, containing a letter +addressed to me by my late excellent friend Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol, +and marked with the fatal indorsation, "To be delivered according +to address, after I shall be no more." A letter from her executors +accompanied the packet, mentioning that they had found in her will a +bequest to me of a painting of some value, which she stated would just +fit the space above my cupboard, and fifty guineas to buy a ring. And +thus I separated, with all the kindness which we had maintained for many +years, from a friend, who, though old enough to have been the companion +of my mother, was yet, in gaiety of spirits and admirable sweetness +of temper, capable of being agreeable, and even animating society, for +those who write themselves in the vaward of youth, an advantage which I +have lost for these five-and-thirty years. The contents of the packet +I had no difficulty in guessing, and have partly hinted at them in the +last chapter. But to instruct the reader in the particulars, and at the +same time to indulge myself with recalling the virtues and agreeable +qualities of my late friend, I will give a short sketch of her manners +and habits. + +Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol was a person of quality and fortune, as these +are esteemed in Scotland. Her family was ancient, and her connections +honourable. She was not fond of specially indicating her exact age, but +her juvenile recollections stretched backwards till before the eventful +year 1745, and she remembered the Highland clans being in possession of +the Scottish capital, though probably only as an indistinct vision. Her +fortune, independent by her father's bequest, was rendered opulent by +the death of more than one brave brother, who fell successively in the +service of their country, so that the family estates became vested in +the only surviving child of the ancient house of Bethune Baliol. My +intimacy was formed with the excellent lady after this event, and when +she was already something advanced in age. + +She inhabited, when in Edinburgh, where she regularly spent the winter +season, one of those old hotels which, till of late, were to be found in +the neighbourhood of the Canongate and of the Palace of Holyrood House, +and which, separated from the street, now dirty and vulgar, by paved +courts and gardens of some extent, made amends for an indifferent +access, by showing something of aristocratic state and seclusion when +you were once admitted within their precincts. They have pulled her +house down; for, indeed, betwixt building and burning, every ancient +monument of the Scottish capital is now likely to be utterly demolished. +I pause on the recollections of the place, however; and since nature has +denied a pencil when she placed a pen in my hand, I will endeavour to +make words answer the purpose of delineation. + +Baliol's Lodging, so was the mansion named, reared its high stack of +chimneys, among which were seen a turret or two, and one of those +small projecting platforms called bartizans, above the mean and modern +buildings which line the south side of the Canongate, towards the lower +end of that street, and not distant from the Palace. A PORTE COCHERE, +having a wicket for foot passengers, was, upon due occasion, unfolded by +a lame old man, tall, grave, and thin, who tenanted a hovel beside the +gate, and acted as porter. To this office he had been promoted by my +friend's charitable feelings for an old soldier, and partly by an idea +that his head, which was a very fine one, bore some resemblance to that +of Garrick in the character of Lusignan. He was a man saturnine, silent, +and slow in his proceedings, and would never open the PORTE COCHERE to +a hackney coach, indicating the wicket with his finger as the proper +passage for all who came in that obscure vehicle, which was not +permitted to degrade with its ticketed presence the dignity of Baliol's +Lodging. I do not think this peculiarity would have met with his lady's +approbation, any more than the occasional partiality of Lusignan, or, as +mortals called him, Archie Macready, to a dram. But Mrs. Martha Bethune +Baliol, conscious that, in case of conviction, she could never have +prevailed upon herself to dethrone the King of Palestine from the stone +bench on which he sat for hours knitting his stocking, refused, by +accrediting the intelligence, even to put him upon his trial, well +judging that he would observe more wholesome caution if he conceived his +character unsuspected, than if he were detected, and suffered to pass +unpunished. For after all, she said, it would be cruel to dismiss an +old Highland soldier for a peccadillo so appropriate to his country and +profession. + +The stately gate for carriages, or the humble accommodation for +foot-passengers, admitted into a narrow and short passage running +between two rows of lime-trees, whose green foliage during the spring +contrasted strangely with the swart complexion of the two walls by the +side of which they grew. This access led to the front of the house, +which was formed by two gable ends, notched, and having their windows +adorned with heavy architectural ornaments. They joined each other at +right angles; and a half circular tower, which contained the entrance +and the staircase, occupied the point of junction, and rounded the acute +angle. One of other two sides of the little court, in which there +was just sufficient room to turn a carriage, was occupied by some low +buildings answering the purpose of offices; the other, by a parapet +surrounded by a highly-ornamented iron railing, twined round with +honeysuckle and other parasitical shrubs, which permitted the eye to +peep into a pretty suburban garden, extending down to the road called +the South Back of the Canongate, and boasting a number of old trees, +many flowers, and even some fruit. We must not forget to state that the +extreme cleanliness of the courtyard was such as intimated that mop +and pail had done their utmost in that favoured spot to atone for +the general dirt and dinginess of the quarter where the premises were +situated. + +Over the doorway were the arms of Bethune and Baliol, with various other +devices, carved in stone. The door itself was studded with iron nails, +and formed of black oak; an iron rasp, as it was called, was placed on +it, instead of a knocker, for the purpose of summoning the attendants. +[See Note 3.--Iron Rasp.] He who usually appeared at the summons was a +smart lad, in a handsome livery, the son of Mrs. Martha's gardener at +Mount Baliol. Now and then a servant girl, nicely but plainly dressed, +and fully accoutred with stockings and shoes, would perform this duty; +and twice or thrice I remember being admitted by Beauffet himself, whose +exterior looked as much like that of a clergyman of rank as the butler +of a gentleman's family. He had been valet-de-chambre to the last Sir +Richard Bethune Baliol, and was, a person highly trusted by the present +lady. A full stand, as it is called in Scotland, of garments of a dark +colour, gold buckles in his shoes and at the knees of his breeches, with +his hair regularly dressed and powdered, announced him to be a domestic +of trust and importance. His mistress used to say of him,-- + + "He is sad and civil, + And suits well for a servant with my fortunes." + +As no one can escape scandal, some said that Beauffet made a rather +better thing of the place than the modesty of his old-fashioned wages +would, unassisted, have amounted to. But the man was always very civil +to me. He had been long in the family, had enjoyed legacies, and lain by +a something of his own, upon which he now enjoys ease with dignity, in +as far as his newly-married wife, Tibbie Shortacres, will permit him. + +The Lodging--dearest reader, if you are tired, pray pass over the +next four or five pages--was not by any means so large as its external +appearance led people to conjecture. The interior accommodation was much +cut up by cross walls and long passages, and that neglect of economizing +space which characterizes old Scottish architecture. But there was far +more room than my old friend required, even when she had, as was often +the case, four or five young cousins under her protection; and I believe +much of the house was unoccupied. Mrs. Bethune Baliol never, in my +presence, showed herself so much offended as once with a meddling person +who advised her to have the windows of these supernumerary apartments +built up to save the tax. She said in ire that, while she lived, the +light of God should visit the house of her fathers; and while she had +a penny, king and country should have their due. Indeed, she was +punctiliously loyal, even in that most staggering test of loyalty, the +payment of imposts. Mr. Beauffet told me he was ordered to offer a glass +of wine to the person who collected the income tax, and that the poor +man was so overcome by a reception so unwontedly generous, that he had +well-nigh fainted on the spot. + +You entered by a matted anteroom into the eating-parlour, filled +with old-fashioned furniture, and hung with family portraits, which, +excepting one of Sir Bernard Bethune, in James the Sixth's time, said to +be by Jameson, were exceedingly frightful. A saloon, as it was called, +a long, narrow chamber, led out of the dining-parlour, and served for +a drawing-room. It was a pleasant apartment, looking out upon the south +flank of Holyrood House, the gigantic slope of Arthur's Seat, and the +girdle of lofty rocks called Salisbury Crags; objects so rudely wild, +that the mind can hardly conceive them to exist in the vicinage of a +populous metropolis. [The Rev. Mr. Bowles derives the name of these +crags, as of the Episcopal city in the west of England, from the same +root, both, in his opinion, which he very ably defends and illustrates, +having been the sites of Druidical temples.] The paintings of the saloon +came from abroad, and had some of them much merit. To see the best of +them, however, you must be admitted into the very PENETRALIA of the +temple, and allowed to draw the tapestry at the upper end of the saloon, +and enter Mrs. Martha's own special dressing-room. This was a charming +apartment, of which it would be difficult to describe the form, it had +so many recesses which were filled up with shelves of ebony and cabinets +of japan and ormolu--some for holding books, of which Mrs. Martha had an +admirable collection, some for a display of ornamental china, others for +shells and similar curiosities. In a little niche, half screened by a +curtain of crimson silk, was disposed a suit of tilting armour of bright +steel inlaid with silver, which had been worn on some memorable occasion +by Sir Bernard Bethune, already mentioned; while over the canopy of the +niche hung the broadsword with which her father had attempted to change +the fortunes of Britain in 1715, and the spontoon which her elder +brother bore when he was leading on a company of the Black Watch at +Fontenoy. [The well-known original designation of the gallant 42nd +Regiment. Being the first corps raised for the royal service in the +Highlands, and allowed to retain their national garb, they were thus +named from the contrast which their dark tartans furnished to the +scarlet and white of the other regiments.] + +There were some Italian and Flemish pictures of admitted authenticity, a +few genuine bronzes, and other objects of curiosity, which her brothers +or herself had picked up while abroad. In short, it was a place where +the idle were tempted to become studious, the studious to grow idle +where the grave might find matter to make them gay, and the gay subjects +for gravity. + +That it might maintain some title to its name, I must not forget to +say that the lady's dressing-room exhibited a superb mirror, framed in +silver filigree work; a beautiful toilette, the cover of which was of +Flanders lace; and a set of boxes corresponding in materials and work to +the frame of the mirror. + +This dressing apparatus, however, was mere matter of parade. Mrs. Martha +Bethune Baliol always went through the actual duties of the toilette in +an inner apartment, which corresponded with her sleeping-room by a +small detached staircase. There were, I believe, more than one of those +TURNPIKE STAIRS, as they were called, about the house, by which the +public rooms, all of which entered through each other, were accommodated +with separate and independent modes of access. In the little boudoir we +have described, Mrs. Martha Baliol had her choicest meetings. She kept +early hours; and if you went in the morning, you must not reckon that +space of day as extending beyond three o'clock, or four at the utmost. +These vigilant habits were attended with some restraint on her visitors, +but they were indemnified by your always finding the best society and +the best information which were to be had for the day in the Scottish +capital. Without at all affecting the blue stocking, she liked books. +They amused her; and if the authors were persons of character, she +thought she owed them a debt of civility, which she loved to discharge +by personal kindness. When she gave a dinner to a small party, which she +did now and then, she had the good nature to look for, and the good luck +to discover, what sort of people suited each other best, and chose her +company as Duke Theseus did his hounds,-- + + "Matched in mouth like bells, + Each under each," + [Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Act IV. Sc. I.] + +so that every guest could take his part in the cry, instead of one +mighty Tom of a fellow, like Dr. Johnson, silencing all besides by the +tremendous depth of his diapason. On such occasions she afforded CHERE +EXQUISE; and every now and then there was some dish of French, or even +Scottish derivation, which, as well as the numerous assortment of VINS +EXTRAORDINAIRES produced by Mr. Beauffet, gave a sort of antique and +foreign air to the entertainment, which rendered it more interesting. + +It was a great thing to be asked to such parties; and not less so to be +invited to the early CONVERSAZIONE, which, in spite of fashion, by dint +of the best coffee, the finest tea, and CHASSE CAFE that would have +called the dead to life, she contrived now and then to assemble in her +saloon already mentioned, at the unnatural hour of eight in the evening. +At such time the cheerful old lady seemed to enjoy herself so much in +the happiness of her guests that they exerted themselves in turn to +prolong her amusement and their own; and a certain charm was excited +around, seldom to be met with in parties of pleasure, and which was +founded on the general desire of every one present to contribute +something to the common amusement. + +But although it was a great privilege to be admitted to wait on my +excellent friend in the morning, or be invited to her dinner or evening +parties, I prized still higher the right which I had acquired, by old +acquaintance, of visiting Baliol's Lodging upon the chance of finding +its venerable inhabitant preparing for tea, just about six o'clock in +the evening. It was only to two or three old friends that she permitted +this freedom; nor was this sort of chance-party ever allowed to extend +itself beyond five in number. The answer to those who came later +announced that the company was filled up for the evening, which had the +double effect of making those who waited on Mrs. Bethune Baliol in this +unceremonious manner punctual in observing her hour, and of adding the +zest of a little difficulty to the enjoyment of the party. + +It more frequently happened that only one or two persons partook of +this refreshment on the same evening; or, supposing the case of a single +gentleman, Mrs. Martha, though she did not hesitate to admit him to her +boudoir, after the privilege of the French and the old Scottish school, +took care, as she used to say, to prescribe all possible propriety, by +commanding the attendance of her principal female attendant, Mrs. Alice +Lambskin, who might, from the gravity and dignity of her appearance, +have sufficed to matronize a whole boarding-school, instead of one +maiden lady of eighty and upwards. As the weather permitted, Mrs. Alice +sat duly remote from the company in a FAUTEUIL behind the projecting +chimney-piece, or in the embrasure of a window, and prosecuted in +Carthusian silence, with indefatigable zeal, a piece of embroidery, +which seemed no bad emblem of eternity. + +But I have neglected all this while to introduce my friend herself to +the reader--at least so far as words can convey the peculiarities by +which her appearance and conversation were distinguished. + +A little woman, with ordinary features and an ordinary form, and hair +which in youth had no decided colour, we may believe Mrs. Martha when +she said of herself that she was never remarkable for personal charms; a +modest admission, which was readily confirmed by certain old ladies, her +contemporaries, who, whatever might have been the youthful advantages +which they more than hinted had been formerly their own share, were now +in personal appearance, as well as in everything else, far inferior to +my accomplished friend. Mrs. Martha's features had been of a kind +which might be said to wear well; their irregularity was now of +little consequence, animated, as they were, by the vivacity of her +conversation. Her teeth were excellent, and her eyes, although inclining +to grey, were lively, laughing, and undimmed by time. A slight shade of +complexion, more brilliant than her years promised, subjected my friend +amongst strangers to the suspicion of having stretched her foreign +habits as far as the prudent touch of the rouge. But it was a calumny; +for when telling or listening to an interesting and affecting story, +I have seen her colour come and go as if it played on the cheek of +eighteen. + +Her hair, whatever its former deficiencies was now the most beautiful +white that time could bleach, and was disposed with some degree of +pretension, though in the simplest manner possible, so as to appear +neatly smoothed under a cap of Flanders lace, of an old-fashioned but, +as I thought, of a very handsome form, which undoubtedly has a name, +and I would endeavour to recur to it, if I thought it would make my +description a bit more intelligible. I think I have heard her say these +favourite caps had been her mother's, and had come in fashion with a +peculiar kind of wig used by the gentlemen about the time of the +battle of Ramillies. The rest of her dress was always rather costly and +distinguished, especially in the evening. A silk or satin gown of some +colour becoming her age, and of a form which, though complying to a +certain degree with the present fashion, had always a reference to some +more distant period, was garnished with triple ruffles. Her shoes had +diamond buckles, and were raised a little at heel, an advantage which, +possessed in her youth, she alleged her size would not permit her to +forego in her old age. She always wore rings, bracelets, and other +ornaments of value, either for the materials or the workmanship; nay, +perhaps she was a little profuse in this species of display. But +she wore them as subordinate matters, to which the habits of being +constantly in high life rendered her indifferent; she wore them because +her rank required it, and thought no more of them as articles of finery +than a gentleman dressed for dinner thinks of his clean linen and +well-brushed coat, the consciousness of which embarrasses the rustic +beau on a Sunday. + +Now and then, however, if a gem or ornament chanced to be noticed for +its beauty or singularity, the observation usually led the way to an +entertaining account of the manner in which it had been acquired, or the +person from whom it had descended to its present possessor. On such and +similar occasions my old friend spoke willingly, which is not uncommon; +but she also, which is more rare, spoke remarkably well, and had in her +little narratives concerning foreign parts or former days, which formed +an interesting part of her conversation, the singular art of dismissing +all the usual protracted tautology respecting time, place, and +circumstances which is apt to settle like a mist upon the cold and +languid tales of age, and at the same time of bringing forward, dwelling +upon, and illustrating those incidents and characters which give point +and interest to the story. + +She had, as we have hinted, travelled a good deal in foreign countries; +for a brother, to whom she was much attached, had been sent upon various +missions of national importance to the Continent, and she had more than +once embraced the opportunity of accompanying him. This furnished a +great addition to the information which she could supply, especially +during the last war, when the Continent was for so many years +hermetically sealed against the English nation. But, besides, Mrs. +Bethune Baliol visited different countries, not in the modern fashion, +when English travel in caravans together, and see in France and Italy +little besides the same society which they might have enjoyed at home. +On the contrary, she mingled when abroad with the natives of those +countries she visited, and enjoyed at once the advantage of their +society, and the pleasure of comparing it with that of Britain. + +In the course of her becoming habituated with foreign manners, Mrs. +Bethune Baliol had, perhaps, acquired some slight tincture of them +herself. Yet I was always persuaded that the peculiar vivacity of +look and manner--the pointed and appropriate action with which she +accompanied what she said--the use of the gold and gemmed TABATIERE, or +rather, I should say, BONBONNIERE (for she took no snuff, and the +little box contained only a few pieces of candled angelica, or some such +ladylike sweetmeat), were of real old-fashioned Scottish growth, +and such as might have graced the tea-table of Susannah, Countess +of Eglinton, the patroness of Allan Ramsay [See Note 4.--Countess of +Eglinton.], or of the Hon. Mrs. Colonel Ogilvy, who was another mirror +by whom the Maidens of Auld Reekie were required to dress themselves. +Although well acquainted with the customs of other countries, her +manners had been chiefly formed in her own, at a time when great folk +lived within little space and when the distinguished names of the +highest society gave to Edinburgh the ECLAT which we now endeavour to +derive from the unbounded expense and extended circle of our pleasures. + +I was more confirmed in this opinion by the peculiarity of the dialect +which Mrs. Baliol used. It was Scottish--decidedly Scottish--often +containing phrases and words little used in the present day. But then +her tone and mode of pronunciation were as different from the usual +accent of the ordinary Scotch PATOIS, as the accent of St. James's is +from that of Billingsgate. The vowels were not pronounced much broader +than in the Italian language, and there was none of the disagreeable +drawl which is so offensive to southern ears. In short, it seemed to +be the Scottish as spoken by the ancient Court of Scotland, to which no +idea of vulgarity could be attached; and the lively manners and gestures +with which it was accompanied were so completely in accord with the +sound of the voice and the style of talking, that I cannot assign them a +different origin. In long derivation, perhaps the manner of the Scottish +court might have been originally formed on that of France, to which it +had certainly some affinity; but I will live and die in the belief that +those of Mrs. Baliol, as pleasing as they were peculiar, came to her +by direct descent from the high dames who anciently adorned with their +presence the royal halls of Holyrood. + + + +CHAPTER VII. MRS. BALIOL ASSISTS MR. CROFTANGRY IN HIS LITERARY +SPECULATIONS. + +Such as I have described Mrs. Bethune Baliol, the reader will easily +believe that, when I thought of the miscellaneous nature of my work, +I rested upon the information she possessed, and her communicative +disposition, as one of the principal supports of my enterprise. +Indeed, she by no means disapproved of my proposed publication, though +expressing herself very doubtful how far she could personally assist +it--a doubt which might be, perhaps, set down to a little ladylike +coquetry, which required to be sued for the boon she was not unwilling +to grant. Or, perhaps, the good old lady, conscious that her unusual +term of years must soon draw to a close, preferred bequeathing the +materials in the shape of a legacy, to subjecting them to the judgment +of a critical public during her lifetime. + +Many a time I used, in our conversations of the Canongate, to resume my +request of assistance, from a sense that my friend was the most valuable +depository of Scottish traditions that was probably now to be found. +This was a subject on which my mind was so much made up that, when I +heard her carry her description of manners so far back beyond her +own time, and describe how Fletcher of Salton spoke, how Graham of +Claverhouse danced, what were the jewels worn by the famous Duchess of +Lauderdale, and how she came by them, I could not help telling her I +thought her some fairy, who cheated us by retaining the appearance of a +mortal of our own day, when, in fact, she had witnessed the revolutions +of centuries. She was much diverted when I required her to take some +solemn oath that she had not danced at the balls given by Mary of Este, +when her unhappy husband occupied Holyrood in a species of honourable +banishment; [The Duke of York afterwards James II., frequently resided +in Holyrood House when his religion rendered him an object of suspicion +to the English Parliament.] or asked whether she could not recollect +Charles the Second when he came to Scotland in 1650, and did not possess +some slight recollections of the bold usurper who drove him beyond the +Forth. + +"BEAU COUSIN," she said, laughing, "none of these do I remember +personally, but you must know there has been wonderfully little change +on my natural temper from youth to age. From which it follows, cousin, +that, being even now something too young in spirit for the years which +Time has marked me in his calendar, I was, when a girl, a little too +old for those of my own standing, and as much inclined at that period +to keep the society of elder persons, as I am now disposed to admit the +company of gay young fellows of fifty or sixty like yourself, rather +than collect about me all the octogenarians. Now, although I do not +actually come from Elfland, and therefore cannot boast any personal +knowledge of the great personages you enquire about, yet I have seen +and heard those who knew them well, and who have given me as distinct +an account of them as I could give you myself of the Empress Queen, or +Frederick of Prussia; and I will frankly add," said she, laughing and +offering her BONBONNIERE, "that I HAVE heard so much of the years which +immediately succeeded the Revolution, that I sometimes am apt to confuse +the vivid descriptions fixed on my memory by the frequent and animated +recitation of others, for things which I myself have actually witnessed. +I caught myself but yesterday describing to Lord M--the riding of the +last Scottish Parliament, with as much minuteness as if I had seen it, +as my mother did, from the balcony in front of Lord Moray's Lodging in +the Canongate." + +"I am sure you must have given Lord M-- a high treat." + +"I treated him to a hearty laugh, I believe," she replied; "but it is +you, you vile seducer of youth, who lead me into such follies. But I +will be on my guard against my own weakness. I do not well know if the +Wandering Jew is supposed to have a wife, but I should be sorry a decent +middle-aged Scottish gentlewoman should be suspected of identity with +such a supernatural person." + +"For all that, I must torture you a little more, MA BELLE COUSINE, +with my interrogatories; for how shall I ever turn author unless on the +strength of the information which you have so often procured me on the +ancient state of manners?" + +"Stay, I cannot allow you to give your points of enquiry a name so +very venerable, if I am expected to answer them. Ancient is a term for +antediluvians. You may catechise me about the battle of Flodden, or ask +particulars about Bruce and Wallace, under pretext of curiosity after +ancient manners; and that last subject would wake my Baliol blood, you +know." + +"Well, but, Mrs. Baliol, suppose we settle our era: you do not call the +accession of James the Sixth to the kingdom of Britain very ancient?" + +"Umph! no, cousin; I think I could tell you more of that than folk +nowadays remember. For instance, that as James was trooping towards +England, bag and baggage, his journey was stopped near Cockenzie by +meeting the funeral of the Earl of Winton, the old and faithful servant +and follower of his ill-fated mother, poor Mary! It was an ill omen +for the INFARE, and so was seen of it, cousin." [See Note 5.--Earl of +Winton.] + +I did not choose to prosecute this subject, well knowing Mrs. Bethune +Baliol did not like to be much pressed on the subject of the Stewarts, +whose misfortunes she pitied, the rather that her father had espoused +their cause. And yet her attachment to the present dynasty being very +sincere, and even ardent, more especially as her family had served +his late Majesty both in peace and war, she experienced a little +embarrassment in reconciling her opinions respecting the exiled family +with those she entertained for the present. In fact, like many an old +Jacobite, she was contented to be somewhat inconsistent on the subject, +comforting herself that NOW everything stood as it ought to do, and that +there was no use in looking back narrowly on the right or wrong of the +matter half a century ago. + +"The Highlands," I suggested, "should furnish you with ample subjects +of recollection. You have witnessed the complete change of that primeval +country, and have seen a race not far removed from the earliest period +of society melted down into the great mass of civilization; and that +could not happen without incidents striking in themselves, and curious +as chapters in the history of the human race." + +"It is very true," said Mrs. Baliol; "one would think it should have +struck the observers greatly, and yet it scarcely did so. For me, I +was no Highlander myself, and the Highland chiefs of old, of whom I +certainly knew several, had little in their manners to distinguish them +from the Lowland gentry, when they mixed in society in Edinburgh, and +assumed the Lowland dress. Their peculiar character was for the clansmen +at home; and you must not imagine that they swaggered about in plaids +and broadswords at the Cross, or came to the Assembly Rooms in bonnets +and kilts." + +"I remember," said I, "that Swift, in his Journal, tells Stella he had +dined in the house of a Scots nobleman, with two Highland chiefs, whom +he had found as well-bred men as he had ever met with." [Extract +of Journal to Stella.--"I dined to-day (12th March 1712) with Lord +Treasurer and two gentlemen of the Highlands of Scotland, yet very +polite men." SWIFT'S WORKS, VOL. III. p.7. EDIN. 1824.] + +"Very likely," said my friend. "The extremes of society approach much +more closely to each other than perhaps the Dean of Saint Patrick's +expected. The savage is always to a certain degree polite. Besides, +going always armed, and having a very punctilious idea of their own +gentility and consequence, they usually behaved to each other and to the +Lowlanders with a good deal of formal politeness, which sometimes even +procured them the character of insincerity." + +"Falsehood belongs to an early period of society, as well as the +deferential forms which we style politeness," I replied. "A child does +not see the least moral beauty in truth until he has been flogged half a +dozen times. It is so easy, and apparently so natural, to deny what you +cannot be easily convicted of, that a savage as well as a child lies to +excuse himself almost as instinctively as he raises his hand to protect +his head. The old saying, 'Confess and be hanged,' carries much argument +in it. I observed a remark the other day in old Birrel. He mentions that +M'Gregor of Glenstrae and some of his people had surrendered themselves +to one of the Earls of Argyle, upon the express condition that they +should be conveyed safe into England. The Maccallum Mhor of the day +kept the word of promise, but it was only to the ear. He indeed sent his +captives to Berwick, where they had an airing on the other side of the +Tweed; but it was under the custody of a strong guard, by whom they +were brought back to Edinburgh, and delivered to the executioner. This, +Birrel calls keeping a Highlandman's promise." [See Note 6.--M'Gregor of +Glenstrae.] + +"Well," replied Mrs. Baliol, "I might add that many of the Highland +chiefs whom I knew in former days had been brought up in France, which +might improve their politeness, though perhaps it did not amend their +sincerity. But considering that, belonging to the depressed and +defeated faction in the state, they were compelled sometimes to use +dissimulation, you must set their uniform fidelity to their friends; +against their occasional falsehood to their enemies, and then you will +not judge poor John Highlandman too severely. They were in a state of +society where bright lights are strongly contrasted with deep shadows." + +"It is to that point I would bring you, MA BELLE COUSINE; and therefore +they are most proper subjects for composition." + +"And you want to turn composer, my good friend, and set my old tales to +some popular tune? But there have been too many composers, if that be +the word, in the field before. The Highlands WERE indeed a rich mine; +but they have, I think, been fairly wrought out, as a good tune is +grinded into vulgarity when it descends to the hurdy-gurdy and the +barrel-organ." + +"If it be really tune," I replied, "it will recover its better qualities +when it gets into the hands of better artists." + +"Umph!" said Mrs. Baliol, tapping her box, "we are happy in our own good +opinion this evening, Mr. Croftangry. And so you think you can restore +the gloss to the tartan which it has lost by being dragged through so +many fingers?" + +"With your assistance to procure materials, my dear lady, much, I think, +may be done." + +"Well, I must do my best, I suppose, though all I know about the Gael +is but of little consequence. Indeed, I gathered it chiefly from Donald +MacLeish." + +"And who might Donald MacLeish be?" + +"Neither bard nor sennachie, I assure you, nor monk nor hermit, the +approved authorities for old traditions. Donald was as good a postilion +as ever drove a chaise and pair between Glencroe and Inverary. I assure +you, when I give you my Highland anecdotes, you will hear much of Donald +MacLeish. He was Alice Lambskin's beau and mine through a long Highland +tour." + +"But when am I to possess these anecdotes? you answer me as Harley did +poor Prior-- + + 'Let that be done which Mat doth say-- + Yea, quoth the Earl, but not to-day.'" + +"Well, MON BEAU COUSIN, if you begin to remind me of my cruelty, I must +remind you it has struck nine on the Abbey clock, and it is time you +were going home to Little Croftangry. For my promise to assist your +antiquarian researches, be assured I will one day keep it to the utmost +extent. It shall not be a Highlandman's promise, as your old citizen +calls it." + +I by this time suspected the purpose of my friend's procrastination; and +it saddened my heart to reflect that I was not to get the information +which I desired, excepting in the shape of a legacy. I found +accordingly, in the packet transmitted to me after the excellent lady's +death, several anecdotes respecting the Highlands, from which I have +selected that which follows, chiefly on account of its possessing great +power over the feelings of my critical housekeeper, Janet M'Evoy, who +wept most bitterly when I read it to her. + +It is, however, but a very simple tale, and may have no interest for +persons beyond Janet's rank of life or understanding. + + +***** + + + + +THE HIGHLAND WIDOW + + + +CHAPTER I. + + It wound as near as near could be, + But what it is she cannot tell; + On the other side it seemed to be + Of the huge broad-breasted old oak-tree. COLERIDGE. + +Mrs. Bethune Baliol's memorandum begins thus:-- + +It is five-and-thirty, or perhaps nearer forty years ago, since, to +relieve the dejection of spirits occasioned by a great family loss +sustained two or three months before, I undertook what was called the +short Highland tour. This had become in some degree fashionable; but +though the military roads were excellent, yet the accommodation was so +indifferent that it was reckoned a little adventure to accomplish it. +Besides, the Highlands, though now as peaceable as any part of King +George's dominions, was a sound which still carried terror, while so +many survived who had witnessed the insurrection of 1745; and a vague +idea of fear was impressed on many as they looked from the towers of +Stirling northward to the huge chain of mountains, which rises like a +dusky rampart to conceal in its recesses a people whose dress, manners, +and language differed still very much from those of their Lowland +countrymen. For my part, I come of a race not greatly subject to +apprehensions arising from imagination only. I had some Highland +relatives; know several of their families of distinction; and though +only having the company of my bower-maiden, Mrs. Alice Lambskin, I went +on my journey fearless. + +But then I had a guide and cicerone, almost equal to Greatheart in +the Pilgrim's Progress, in no less a person than Donald MacLeish, the +postilion whom I hired at Stirling, with a pair of able-bodied horses, +as steady as Donald himself, to drag my carriage, my duenna, and myself, +wheresoever it was my pleasure to go. + +Donald MacLeish was one of a race of post-boys whom, I suppose, +mail-coaches and steamboats have put out of fashion. They were to be +found chiefly at Perth, Stirling, or Glasgow, where they and their +horses were usually hired by travellers, or tourists, to accomplish such +journeys of business or pleasure as they might have to perform in the +land of the Gael. This class of persons approached to the character +of what is called abroad a CONDUCTEUR; or might be compared to the +sailing-master on board a British ship of war, who follows out after +his own manner the course which the captain commands him to observe. You +explained to your postilion the length of your tour, and the objects you +were desirous it should embrace; and you found him perfectly competent +to fix the places of rest or refreshment, with due attention that those +should be chosen with reference to your convenience, and to any points +of interest which you might desire to visit. + +The qualifications of such a person were necessarily much superior to +those of the "first ready," who gallops thrice-a-day over the same +ten miles. Donald MacLeish, besides being quite alert at repairing all +ordinary accidents to his horses and carriage, and in making shift to +support them, where forage was scarce, with such substitutes as bannocks +and cakes, was likewise a man of intellectual resources. He had acquired +a general knowledge of the traditional stories of the country which he +had traversed so often; and if encouraged (for Donald was a man of the +most decorous reserve), he would willingly point out to you the site of +the principal clan-battles, and recount the most remarkable legends by +which the road, and the objects which occurred in travelling it, had +been distinguished. There was some originality in the man's habits of +thinking and expressing himself, his turn for legendary lore strangely +contrasting with a portion of the knowing shrewdness belonging to +his actual occupation, which made his conversation amuse the way well +enough. + +Add to this, Donald knew all his peculiar duties in the country which +he traversed so frequently. He could tell, to a day, when they would "be +killing" lamb at Tyndrum or Glenuilt; so that the stranger would have +some chance of being fed like a Christian; and knew to a mile the last +village where it was possible to procure a wheaten loaf for the guidance +of those who were little familiar with the Land of Cakes. He was +acquainted with the road every mile, and could tell to an inch which +side of a Highland bridge was passable, which decidedly dangerous. [This +is, or was at least, a necessary accomplishment. In one of the most +beautiful districts of the Highlands was, not many years since, a bridge +bearing this startling caution, "Keep to the right side, the left +being dangerous."] In short, Donald MacLeish was not only our faithful +attendant and steady servant, but our humble and obliging friend; and +though I have known the half-classical cicerone of Italy, the talkative +French valet-de-place, and even the muleteer of Spain, who piques +himself on being a maize-eater, and whose honour is not to be questioned +without danger, I do not think I have ever had so sensible and +intelligent a guide. + +Our motions were of course under Donald's direction; and it frequently +happened, when the weather was serene, that we preferred halting to rest +his horses even where there was no established stage, and taking our +refreshment under a crag, from which leaped a waterfall, or beside +the verge of a fountain, enamelled with verdant turf and wild-flowers. +Donald had an eye for such spots, and though he had, I dare say, never +read Gil Blas or Don Quixote, yet he chose such halting-places as Le +Sage or Cervantes would have described. Very often, as he observed the +pleasure I took in conversing with the country people, he would manage +to fix our place of rest near a cottage, where there was some old Gael +whose broadsword had blazed at Falkirk or Preston, and who seemed the +frail yet faithful record of times which had passed away. Or he +would contrive to quarter us, as far as a cup of tea went, upon the +hospitality of some parish minister of worth and intelligence, or some +country family of the better class, who mingled with the wild simplicity +of their original manners, and their ready and hospitable welcome, +a sort of courtesy belonging to a people, the lowest of whom are +accustomed to consider themselves as being, according to the Spanish +phrase, "as good gentlemen as the king, only not quite so rich." + +To all such persons Donald MacLeish was well known, and his introduction +passed as current as if we had brought letters from some high chief of +the country. + +Sometimes it happened that the Highland hospitality, which welcomed us +with all the variety of mountain fare, preparations of milk and eggs, +and girdle-cakes of various kinds, as well as more substantial dainties, +according to the inhabitant's means of regaling the passenger, descended +rather too exuberantly on Donald MacLeish in the shape of mountain dew. +Poor Donald! he was on such occasions like Gideon's fleece--moist with +the noble element, which, of course, fell not on us. But it was his only +fault, and when pressed to drink DOCH-AN-DORROCH to my ladyship's good +health, it would have been ill taken to have refused the pledge; nor was +he willing to do such discourtesy. It was, I repeat, his only fault. Nor +had we any great right to complain; for if it rendered him a little more +talkative, it augmented his ordinary share of punctilious civility, and +he only drove slower, and talked longer and more pompously, than when he +had not come by a drop of usquebaugh. It was, we remarked, only on such +occasions that Donald talked with an air of importance of the family of +MacLeish; and we had no title to be scrupulous in censuring a foible, +the consequences of which were confined within such innocent limits. + +We became so much accustomed to Donald's mode of managing us, that we +observed with some interest the art which he used to produce a little +agreeable surprise, by concealing from us the spot where he proposed our +halt to be made, when it was of an unusual and interesting character. +This was so much his wont that, when he made apologies at setting off +for being obliged to stop in some strange, solitary place till the +horses should eat the corn which he brought on with them for that +purpose, our imagination used to be on the stretch to guess what +romantic retreat he had secretly fixed upon for our noontide +baiting-place. + +We had spent the greater part of the morning at the delightful village +of Dalmally, and had gone upon the lake under the guidance of the +excellent clergyman who was then incumbent at Glenorquhy, [This +venerable and hospitable gentleman's name was MacIntyre.] and had heard +a hundred legends of the stern chiefs of Loch Awe, Duncan with the thrum +bonnet, and the other lords of the now mouldering towers of Kilchurn. +[See Note 7.--Loch Awe.] Thus it was later than usual when we set out +on our journey, after a hint or two from Donald concerning the length +of the way to the next stage, as there was no good halting-place between +Dalmally and Oban. + +Having bid adieu to our venerable and kind cicerone, we proceeded on our +tour, winding round the tremendous mountain called Cruachan Ben, which +rushes down in all its majesty of rocks and wilderness on the lake, +leaving only a pass, in which, notwithstanding its extreme strength, the +warlike clan of MacDougal of Lorn were almost destroyed by the sagacious +Robert Bruce. That King, the Wellington of his day, had accomplished, +by a forced march, the unexpected manoeuvre of forcing a body of troops +round the other side of the mountain, and thus placed them in the flank +and in the rear of the men of Lorn, whom at the same time, he attacked +in front. The great number of cairns yet visible as you descend the +pass on the westward side shows the extent of the vengeance which Bruce +exhausted on his inveterate and personal enemies. I am, you know, +the sister of soldiers, and it has since struck me forcibly that the +manoeuvre which Donald described, resembled those of Wellington or of +Bonaparte. He was a great man Robert Bruce, even a Baliol must admit +that; although it begins now to be allowed that his title to the crown +was scarce so good as that of the unfortunate family with whom he +contended. But let that pass. The slaughter had been the greater, as the +deep and rapid river Awe is disgorged from the lake just in the rear +of the fugitives, and encircles the base of the tremendous mountain; so +that the retreat of the unfortunate fleers was intercepted on all +sides by the inaccessible character of the country, which had seemed to +promise them defence and protection. [See Note 8.--Battle betwixt the +armies of the Bruce and MacDougal of Lorn.] + +Musing, like the Irish lady in the song, "upon things which are long +enough a-gone," [This is a line from a very pathetic ballad which I +heard sung by one of the young ladies of Edgeworthstown in 1825. I do +not know that it has been printed.] we felt no impatience at the slow +and almost creeping pace with which our conductor proceeded along +General Wade's military road, which never or rarely condescends to turn +aside from the steepest ascent, but proceeds right up and down hill, +with the indifference to height and hollow, steep or level, indicated by +the old Roman engineers. Still, however, the substantial excellence +of these great works--for such are the military highways in the +Highlands--deserved the compliment of the poet, who, whether he came +from our sister kingdom, and spoke in his own dialect, or whether he +supposed those whom he addressed might have some national pretension to +the second sight, produced the celebrated couplet,-- + + "Had you but seen these roads BEFORE they were made, + You would hold up your hands and bless General Wade." + +Nothing, indeed, can be more wonderful than to see these wildernesses +penetrated and pervious in every quarter by broad accesses of the best +possible construction, and so superior to what the country could have +demanded for many centuries for any pacific purpose of commercial +intercourse. Thus the traces of war are sometimes happily accommodated +to the purposes of peace. The victories of Bonaparte have been without +results but his road over the Simplon will long be the communication +betwixt peaceful countries, who will apply to the ends of commerce +and friendly intercourse that gigantic work, which was formed for the +ambitious purpose of warlike invasion. + +While we were thus stealing along, we gradually turned round the +shoulder of Ben Cruachan, and descending the course of the foaming and +rapid Awe, left behind us the expanse of the majestic lake which gives +birth to that impetuous river. The rocks and precipices which stooped +down perpendicularly on our path on the right hand exhibited a few +remains of the wood which once clothed them, but which had in later +times been felled to supply, Donald MacLeish informed us, the iron +foundries at the Bunawe. This made us fix our eyes with interest on one +large oak, which grew on the left hand towards the river. It seemed a +tree of extraordinary magnitude and picturesque beauty, and stood just +where there appeared to be a few roods of open ground lying among huge +stones, which had rolled down from the mountain. To add to the romance +of the situation, the spot of clear ground extended round the foot of a +proud-browed rock, from the summit of which leaped a mountain stream in +a fall of sixty feet, in which it was dissolved into foam and dew. At +the bottom of the fall the rivulet with difficulty collected, like a +routed general, its dispersed forces, and, as if tamed by its descent, +found a noiseless passage through the heath to join the Awe. + +I was much struck with the tree and waterfall, and wished myself nearer +them; not that I thought of sketch-book or portfolio--for in my younger +days misses were not accustomed to black-lead pencils, unless they +could use them to some good purpose--but merely to indulge myself with a +closer view. Donald immediately opened the chaise door, but observed it +was rough walking down the brae, and that I would see the tree better by +keeping the road for a hundred yards farther, when it passed closer to +the spot, for which he seemed, however, to have no predilection. "He +knew," he said, "a far bigger tree than that nearer Bunawe, and it was +a place where there was flat ground for the carriage to stand, which it +could jimply do on these braes; but just as my leddyship liked." + +My ladyship did choose rather to look at the fine tree before me than to +pass it by in hopes of a finer; so we walked beside the carriage till we +should come to a point, from which, Donald assured us, we might, without +scrambling, go as near the tree as we chose, "though he wadna advise us +to go nearer than the highroad." + +There was something grave and mysterious in Donald's sun-browned +countenance when he gave us this intimation, and his manner was so +different from his usual frankness, that my female curiosity was set in +motion. We walked on the whilst, and I found the tree, of which we had +now lost sight by the intervention of some rising ground, was really +more distant than I had at first supposed. "I could have sworn now," +said I to my cicerone, "that yon tree and waterfall was the very place +where you intended to make a stop to-day." + +"The Lord forbid!" said Donald hastily. + +"And for what, Donald? Why should you be willing to pass so pleasant a +spot?" + +"It's ower near Dalmally, my leddy, to corn the beasts; it would bring +their dinner ower near their breakfast, poor things. An' besides, the +place is not canny." + +"Oh! then the mystery is out. There is a bogle or a brownie, a witch or +a gyre-carlin, a bodach or a fairy, in the case?" + +"The ne'er a bit, my leddy--ye are clean aff the road, as I may say. But +if your leddyship will just hae patience, and wait till we are by the +place and out of the glen, I'll tell ye all about it. There is no much +luck in speaking of such things in the place they chanced in." + +I was obliged to suspend my curiosity, observing, that if I persisted +in twisting the discourse one way while Donald was twining it another, I +should make his objection, like a hempen cord, just so much the tougher. +At length the promised turn of the road brought us within fifty paces of +the tree which I desired to admire, and I now saw to my surprise, that +there was a human habitation among the cliffs which surrounded it. It +was a hut of the least dimensions, and most miserable description that +I ever saw even in the Highlands. The walls of sod, or DIVOT, as the +Scotch call it, were not four feet high; the roof was of turf, repaired +with reeds and sedges; the chimney was composed of clay, bound round by +straw ropes; and the whole walls, roof, and chimney, were alike covered +with the vegetation of house-leek, rye-grass, and moss common to decayed +cottages formed of such materials. There was not the slightest vestige +of a kale-yard, the usual accompaniment of the very worst huts; and of +living things we saw nothing, save a kid which was browsing on the roof +of the hut, and a goat, its mother, at some distance, feeding betwixt +the oak and the river Awe. + +"What man," I could not help exclaiming, "can have committed sin deep +enough to deserve such a miserable dwelling!" + +"Sin enough," said Donald MacLeish, with a half-suppressed groan; "and +God he knoweth, misery enough too. And it is no man's dwelling neither, +but a woman's." + +"A woman's!" I repeated, "and in so lonely a place! What sort of a woman +can she be?" + +"Come this way, my leddy, and you may judge that for yourself," said +Donald. And by advancing a few steps, and making a sharp turn to the +left, we gained a sight of the side of the great broad-breasted oak, in +the direction opposed to that in which we had hitherto seen it. + +"If she keeps her old wont, she will be there at this hour of the day," +said Donald; but immediately became silent, and pointed with his finger, +as one afraid of being overheard. I looked, and beheld, not without some +sense of awe, a female form seated by the stem of the oak, with her head +drooping, her hands clasped, and a dark-coloured mantle drawn over her +head, exactly as Judah is represented in the Syrian medals as seated +under her palm-tree. I was infected with the fear and reverence which my +guide seemed to entertain towards this solitary being, nor did I think +of advancing towards her to obtain a nearer view until I had cast an +enquiring look on Donald; to which he replied in a half whisper, "She +has been a fearfu' bad woman, my leddy." + +"Mad woman, said you," replied I, hearing him imperfectly; "then she is +perhaps dangerous?" + +"No--she is not mad," replied Donald; "for then it may be she would be +happier than she is; though when she thinks on what she has done, and +caused to be done, rather than yield up a hair-breadth of her ain wicked +will, it is not likely she can be very well settled. But she neither +is mad nor mischievous; and yet, my leddy, I think you had best not go +nearer to her." And then, in a few hurried words, he made me acquainted +with the story which I am now to tell more in detail. I heard the +narrative with a mixture of horror and sympathy, which at once impelled +me to approach the sufferer, and speak to her the words of comfort, or +rather of pity, and at the same time made me afraid to do so. + +This indeed was the feeling with which she was regarded by the +Highlanders in the neighbourhood, who looked upon Elspat MacTavish, +or the Woman of the Tree, as they called her, as the Greeks considered +those who were pursued by the Furies, and endured the mental torment +consequent on great criminal actions. They regarded such unhappy beings +as Orestes and OEdipus, as being less the voluntary perpetrators of +their crimes than as the passive instruments by which the terrible +decrees of Destiny had been accomplished; and the fear with which they +beheld them was not unmingled with veneration. + +I also learned further from Donald MacLeish, that there was some +apprehension of ill luck attending those who had the boldness to +approach too near, or disturb the awful solitude of a being so +unutterably miserable--that it was supposed that whosoever approached +her must experience in some respect the contagion of her wretchedness. + +It was therefore with some reluctance that Donald saw me prepare to +obtain a nearer view of the sufferer, and that he himself followed to +assist me in the descent down a very rough path. I believe his regard +for me conquered some ominous feelings in his own breast, which +connected his duty on this occasion with the presaging fear of lame +horses, lost linch-pins, overturns, and other perilous chances of the +postilion's life. + +I am not sure if my own courage would have carried me so close to Elspat +had he not followed. There was in her countenance the stern abstraction +of hopeless and overpowering sorrow, mixed with the contending feelings +of remorse, and of the pride which struggled to conceal it. She guessed, +perhaps, that it was curiosity, arising out of her uncommon story, which +induced me to intrude on her solitude; and she could not be pleased that +a fate like hers had been the theme of a traveller's amusement. Yet +the look with which she regarded me was one of scorn instead of +embarrassment. The opinion of the world and all its children could not +add or take an iota from her load of misery; and, save from the half +smile that seemed to intimate the contempt of a being rapt by the very +intensity of her affliction above the sphere of ordinary humanities, she +seemed as indifferent to my gaze, as if she had been a dead corpse or a +marble statue. + +Elspat was above the middle stature. Her hair, now grizzled, was still +profuse, and it had been of the most decided black. So were her eyes, +in which, contradicting the stern and rigid features of her countenance, +there shone the wild and troubled light that indicates an unsettled +mind. Her hair was wrapt round a silver bodkin with some attention to +neatness, and her dark mantle was disposed around her with a degree of +taste, though the materials were of the most ordinary sort. + +After gazing on this victim of guilt and calamity till I was ashamed to +remain silent, though uncertain how I ought to address her, I began +to express my surprise at her choosing such a desert and deplorable +dwelling. She cut short these expressions of sympathy, by answering in +a stern voice, without the least change of countenance or posture, +"Daughter of the stranger, he has told you my story." I was silenced +at once, and felt how little all earthly accommodation must seem to +the mind which had such subjects as hers for rumination. Without again +attempting to open the conversation, I took a piece of gold from my +purse, (for Donald had intimated she lived on alms), expecting she would +at least stretch her hand to receive it. But she neither accepted nor +rejected the gift; she did not even seem to notice it, though twenty +times as valuable, probably, as was usually offered. I was obliged to +place it on her knee, saying involuntarily, as I did so, "May God pardon +you and relieve you!" I shall never forget the look which she cast up to +Heaven, nor the tone in which she exclaimed, in the very words of my old +friend John Home,-- + + "My beautiful--my brave!" + +It was the language of nature, and arose from the heart of the deprived +mother, as it did from that gifted imaginative poet while furnishing +with appropriate expressions the ideal grief of Lady Randolph. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Oh, I'm come to the Low Country, + Och, och, ohonochie, + Without a penny in my pouch + To buy a meal for me. + I was the proudest of my clan, + Long, long may I repine; + And Donald was the bravest man, + And Donald he was mine. OLD SONG. + +Elspat had enjoyed happy days, though her age had sunk into hopeless and +inconsolable sorrow and distress. She was once the beautiful and happy +wife of Hamish MacTavish, for whom his strength and feats of prowess +had gained the title of MacTavish Mhor. His life was turbulent and +dangerous, his habits being of the old Highland stamp which esteemed it +shame to want anything that could be had for the taking. Those in the +Lowland line who lay near him, and desired to enjoy their lives and +property in quiet, were contented to pay him a small composition, in +name of protection money, and comforted themselves with the old proverb +that it was better to "fleech the deil than fight him." Others, who +accounted such composition dishonourable, were often surprised by +MacTavish Mhor and his associates and followers, who usually inflicted +an adequate penalty, either in person or property, or both. The creagh +is yet remembered in which he swept one hundred and fifty cows from +Monteith in one drove; and how he placed the laird of Ballybught naked +in a slough, for having threatened to send for a party of the Highland +Watch to protect his property. + +Whatever were occasionally the triumphs of this daring cateran, they +were often exchanged for reverses; and his narrow escapes, rapid +flights, and the ingenious stratagems with which he extricated himself +from imminent danger, were no less remembered and admired than the +exploits in which he had been successful. In weal or woe, through every +species of fatigue, difficulty, and danger, Elspat was his faithful +companion. She enjoyed with him the fits of occasional prosperity; and +when adversity pressed them hard, her strength of mind, readiness of +wit, and courageous endurance of danger and toil, are said often to have +stimulated the exertions of her husband. + +Their morality was of the old Highland cast--faithful friends and +fierce enemies. The Lowland herds and harvests they accounted their own, +whenever they had the means of driving off the one or of seizing upon +the other; nor did the least scruple on the right of property interfere +on such occasions. Hamish Mhor argued like the old Cretan warrior: + + "My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield, + They make me lord of all below; + For he who dreads the lance to wield, + Before my shaggy shield must bow. + His lands, his vineyards, must resign, + And all that cowards have is mine." + +But those days of perilous, though frequently successful depredation, +began to be abridged after the failure of the expedition of Prince +Charles Edward. MacTavish Mhor had not sat still on that occasion, and +he was outlawed, both as a traitor to the state and as a robber and +cateran. Garrisons were now settled in many places where a red-coat had +never before been seen, and the Saxon war-drum resounded among the most +hidden recesses of the Highland mountains. The fate of MacTavish became +every day more inevitable; and it was the more difficult for him to make +his exertions for defence or escape, that Elspat, amid his evil days, +had increased his family with an infant child, which was a considerable +encumbrance upon the necessary rapidity of their motions. + +At length the fatal day arrived. In a strong pass on the skirts of Ben +Crunchan, the celebrated MacTavish Mhor was surprised by a detachment +of the Sidier Roy. [The Red Soldier.] His wife assisted him heroically, +charging his piece from time to time; and as they were in possession of +a post that was nearly unassailable, he might have perhaps escaped +if his ammunition had lasted. But at length his balls were expended, +although it was not until he had fired off most of the silver buttons +from his waistcoat; and the soldiers, no longer deterred by fear of the +unerring marksman, who had slain three and wounded more of their number, +approached his stronghold, and, unable to take him alive, slew him after +a most desperate resistance. + +All this Elspat witnessed and survived; for she had, in the child which +relied on her for support, a motive for strength and exertion. In what +manner she maintained herself it is not easy to say. Her only ostensible +means of support were a flock of three or four goats, which she fed +wherever she pleased on the mountain pastures, no one challenging +the intrusion. In the general distress of the country, her ancient +acquaintances had little to bestow; but what they could part with from +their own necessities, they willingly devoted to the relief of others, +From Lowlanders she sometimes demanded tribute, rather than requested +alms. She had not forgotten she was the widow of MacTavish Mhor, or that +the child who trotted by her knee might, such were her imaginations, +emulate one day the fame of his father, and command the same influence +which he had once exerted without control. She associated so little with +others, went so seldom and so unwillingly from the wildest recesses +of the mountains, where she usually dwelt with her goats, that she +was quite unconscious of the great change which had taken place in +the country around her--the substitution of civil order for military +violence, and the strength gained by the law and its adherents over +those who were called in Gaelic song, "the stormy sons of the sword." +Her own diminished consequence and straitened circumstances she indeed +felt, but for this the death of MacTavish Mhor was, in her apprehension, +a sufficing reason; and she doubted not that she should rise to her +former state of importance when Hamish Bean (or fair-haired James) +should be able to wield the arms of his father. If, then, Elspat was +repelled, rudely when she demanded anything necessary for her wants, or +the accommodation of her little flock, by a churlish farmer, her threats +of vengeance, obscurely expressed, yet terrible in their tenor, used +frequently to extort, through fear of her maledictions, the relief which +was denied to her necessities; and the trembling goodwife, who gave meal +or money to the widow of MacTavish Mhor, wished in her heart that the +stern old carlin had been burnt on the day her husband had his due. + +Years thus ran on, and Hamish Bean grew up--not, indeed, to be of his +father's size or strength, but to become an active, high-spirited, +fair-haired youth, with a ruddy cheek, an eye like an eagle's, and all +the agility, if not all the strength, of his formidable father, upon +whose history and achievements his mother dwelt, in order to form her +son's mind to a similar course of adventures. But the young see the +present state of this changeful world more keenly than the old. Much +attached to his mother, and disposed to do all in his power for her +support, Hamish yet perceived, when he mixed with the world, that the +trade of the cateran was now alike dangerous and discreditable, and that +if he were to emulate his father's progress, it must be in some other +line of warfare more consonant to the opinions of the present day. + +As the faculties of mind and body began to expand, he became more +sensible of the precarious nature of his situation, of the erroneous +views of his mother, and her ignorance respecting the changes of the +society with which she mingled so little. In visiting friends and +neighbours, he became aware of the extremely reduced scale to which his +parent was limited, and learned that she possessed little or nothing +more than the absolute necessaries of life, and that these were +sometimes on the point of failing. At times his success in fishing and +the chase was able to add something to her subsistence; but he saw no +regular means of contributing to her support, unless by stooping to +servile labour, which, if he himself could have endured it, would, he +knew, have been like a death's-wound to the pride of his mother. + +Elspat, meanwhile, saw with surprise that Hamish Bean, although now tall +and fit for the field, showed no disposition to enter on his father's +scene of action. There was something of the mother at her heart, which +prevented her from urging him in plain terms to take the field as a +cateran, for the fear occurred of the perils into which the trade must +conduct him; and when she would have spoken to him on the subject, it +seemed to her heated imagination as if the ghost of her husband arose +between them in his bloody tartans, and laying his finger on his lips, +appeared to prohibit the topic. Yet she wondered at what seemed his want +of spirit, sighed as she saw him from day to day lounging about in the +long-skirted Lowland coat which the legislature had imposed upon the +Gael instead of their own romantic garb, and thought how much nearer he +would have resembled her husband had he been clad in the belted plaid +and short hose, with his polished arms gleaming at his side. + +Besides these subjects for anxiety, Elspat had others arising from the +engrossing impetuosity of her temper. Her love of MacTavish Mhor had +been qualified by respect and sometimes even by fear, for the cateran +was not the species of man who submits to female government; but over +his son she had exerted, at first during childhood, and afterwards in +early youth, an imperious authority, which gave her maternal love a +character of jealousy. She could not bear when Hamish, with advancing +life, made repeated steps towards independence, absented himself from +her cottage at such season and for such length of time as he chose, +and seemed to consider, although maintaining towards her every possible +degree of respect and kindness, that the control and responsibility +of his actions rested on himself alone. This would have been of little +consequence, could she have concealed her feelings within her own bosom; +but the ardour and impatience of her passions made her frequently show +her son that she conceived herself neglected and ill-used. When he was +absent for any length of time from her cottage without giving intimation +of his purpose, her resentment on his return used to be so unreasonable, +that it naturally suggested to a young man fond of independence, and +desirous to amend his situation in the world, to leave her, even for the +very purpose of enabling him to provide for the parent whose egotistical +demands on his filial attention tended to confine him to a desert, in +which both were starving in hopeless and helpless indigence. + +Upon one occasion, the son having been guilty of some independent +excursion, by which the mother felt herself affronted and disobliged, +she had been more than usually violent on his return, and awakened in +Hamish a sense of displeasure, which clouded his brow and cheek. At +length, as she persevered in her unreasonable resentment, his patience +became exhausted, and taking his gun from the chimney corner, and +muttering to himself the reply which his respect for his mother +prevented him from speaking aloud, he was about to leave the hut which +he had but barely entered. + +"Hamish," said his mother, "are you again about to leave me?" But Hamish +only replied by looking at and rubbing the lock of his gun. + +"Ay, rub the lock of your gun," said his parent bitterly. "I am glad you +have courage enough to fire it? though it be but at a roe-deer." Hamish +started at this undeserved taunt, and cast a look of anger at her in +reply. She saw that she had found the means of giving him pain. + +"Yes," she said, "look fierce as you will at an old woman, and your +mother; it would be long ere you bent your brow on the angry countenance +of a bearded man." + +"Be silent, mother, or speak of what you understand," said Hamish, much +irritated, "and that is of the distaff and the spindle." + +"And was it of spindle and distaff that I was thinking when I bore you +away on my back through the fire of six of the Saxon soldiers, and you +a wailing child? I tell you, Hamish, I know a hundredfold more of swords +and guns than ever you will; and you will never learn so much of noble +war by yourself, as you have seen when you were wrapped up in my plaid." + +"You are determined, at least, to allow me no peace at home, mother; +but this shall have an end," said Hamish, as, resuming his purpose of +leaving the hut, he rose and went towards the door. + +"Stay, I command you," said his mother--"stay! or may the gun you carry +be the means of your ruin! may the road you are going be the track of +your funeral!" + +"What makes you use such words, mother?" said the young man, turning a +little back; "they are not good, and good cannot come of them. Farewell +just now! we are too angry to speak together--farewell! It will be long +ere you see me again." And he departed, his mother, in the first burst +of her impatience, showering after him her maledictions, and in the next +invoking them on her own head, so that they might spare her son's. She +passed that day and the next in all the vehemence of impotent and yet +unrestrained passion, now entreating Heaven, and such powers as were +familiar to her by rude tradition, to restore her dear son, "the calf +of her heart;" now in impatient resentment, meditating with what bitter +terms she should rebuke his filial disobedience upon his return, and now +studying the most tender language to attach him to the cottage, +which, when her boy was present, she would not, in the rapture of her +affection, have exchanged for the apartments of Taymouth Castle. + +Two days passed, during which, neglecting even the slender means of +supporting nature which her situation afforded, nothing but the strength +of a frame accustomed to hardships and privations of every kind could +have kept her in existence, notwithstanding the anguish of her mind +prevented her being sensible of her personal weakness. Her dwelling at +this period was the same cottage near which I had found her, but then +more habitable by the exertions of Hamish, by whom it had been in a +great measure built and repaired. + +It was on the third day after her son had disappeared, as she sat at +the door rocking herself, after the fashion of her countrywomen when in +distress, or in pain, that the then unwonted circumstance occurred of a +passenger being seen on the highroad above the cottage. She cast but one +glance at him. He was on horseback, so that it could not be Hamish; and +Elspat cared not enough for any other being on earth to make her turn +her eyes towards him a second time. The stranger, however, paused +opposite to her cottage, and dismounting from his pony, led it down the +steep and broken path which conducted to her door. + +"God bless you, Elspat MacTavish!" She looked at the man as he addressed +her in her native language, with the displeased air of one whose reverie +is interrupted; but the traveller went on to say, "I bring you tidings +of your son Hamish." At once, from being the most uninteresting object, +in respect to Elspat, that could exist, the form of the stranger +became awful in her eyes, as that of a messenger descended from heaven, +expressly to pronounce upon her death or life. She started from her +seat, and with hands convulsively clasped together, and held up to +Heaven, eyes fixed on the stranger's countenance, and person stooping +forward to him, she looked those inquiries which her faltering tongue +could not articulate. "Your son sends you his dutiful remembrance, and +this," said the messenger, putting into Elspat's hand a small purse +containing four or five dollars. + +"He is gone! he is gone!" exclaimed Elspat; "he has sold himself to be +the servant of the Saxons, and I shall never more behold him! Tell me, +Miles MacPhadraick--for now I know you--is it the price of the son's +blood that you have put into the mother's hand?" + +"Now, God forbid!" answered MacPhadraick, who was a tacksman, and +had possession of a considerable tract of ground under his chief, a +proprietor who lived about twenty miles off--"God forbid I should do +wrong, or say wrong, to you, or to the son of MacTavish Mhor! I swear +to you by the hand of my chief that your son is well, and will soon see +you; and the rest he will tell you himself." So saying, MacPhadraick +hastened back up the pathway, gained the road, mounted his pony, and +rode upon his way. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Elspat MacTavish remained gazing on the money as if the impress of the +coin could have conveyed information how it was procured. + +"I love not this MacPhadraick," she said to herself. "It was his race +of whom the Bard hath spoken, saying, Fear them not when their words are +loud as the winter's wind, but fear them when they fall on you like the +sound of the thrush's song. And yet this riddle can be read but one way: +My son hath taken the sword to win that, with strength like a man, which +churls would keep him from with the words that frighten children." This +idea, when once it occurred to her, seemed the more reasonable, that +MacPhadraick, as she well knew, himself a cautious man, had so far +encouraged her husband's practices as occasionally to buy cattle of +MacTavish, although he must have well known how they were come by, +taking care, however, that the transaction was so made as to be +accompanied with great profit and absolute safety. Who so likely as +MacPhadraick to indicate to a young cateran the glen in which he could +commence his perilous trade with most prospect of success? Who so likely +to convert his booty into money? The feelings which another might have +experienced on believing that an only son had rushed forward on the same +path in which his father had perished, were scarce known to the Highland +mothers of that day. She thought of the death of MacTavish Mhor as that +of a hero who had fallen in his proper trade of war, and who had not +fallen unavenged. She feared less for her son's life than for his +dishonour. She dreaded, on his account, the subjection to strangers, and +the death-sleep of the soul which is brought on by what she regarded as +slavery. + +The moral principle which so naturally and so justly occurs to the mind +of those who have been educated under a settled government of laws that +protect the property of the weak against the incursions of the strong, +was to poor Elspat a book sealed and a fountain closed. She had been +taught to consider those whom they call Saxons as a race with whom the +Gael were constantly at war; and she regarded every settlement of theirs +within the reach of Highland incursion as affording a legitimate object +of attack and plunder. Her feelings on this point had been strengthened +and confirmed, not only by the desire of revenge for the death of +her husband, but by the sense of general indignation entertained, not +unjustly, through the Highlands of Scotland, on account of the barbarous +and violent conduct of the victors after the battle of Culloden. Other +Highland clans, too, she regarded as the fair objects of plunder, when +that was possible, upon the score of ancient enmities and deadly feuds. + +The prudence that might have weighed the slender means which the times +afforded for resisting the efforts of a combined government, which had, +in its less compact and established authority, been unable to put down +the ravages of such lawless caterans as MacTavish Mhor, was unknown to +a solitary woman whose ideas still dwelt upon her own early times. +She imagined that her son had only to proclaim himself his father's +successor in adventure and enterprise, and that a force of men, as +gallant as those who had followed his father's banner, would crowd +around to support it when again displayed. To her Hamish was the eagle +who had only to soar aloft and resume his native place in the skies, +without her being able to comprehend how many additional eyes would have +watched his flight--how many additional bullets would have been directed +at his bosom. To be brief, Elspat was one who viewed the present state +of society with the same feelings with which she regarded the times that +had passed away. She had been indigent, neglected, oppressed since the +days that her husband had no longer been feared and powerful, and she +thought that the term of her ascendence would return when her son had +determined to play the part of his father. If she permitted her eye to +glance farther into futurity, it was but to anticipate that she must be +for many a day cold in the grave, with the coronach of her tribe cried +duly over her, before her fair-haired Hamish could, according to her +calculation, die with his hand on the basket-hilt of the red claymore. +His father's hair was grey, ere, after a hundred dangers, he had fallen +with his arms in his hands. That she should have seen and survived the +sight was a natural consequence of the manners of that age. And better +it was--such was her proud thought--that she had seen him so die, than +to have witnessed his departure from life in a smoky hovel on a bed +of rotten straw like an over-worn hound, or a bullock which died of +disease. But the hour of her young, her brave Hamish, was yet far +distant. He must succeed--he must conquer--like his father. And when he +fell at length--for she anticipated for him no bloodless death--Elspat +would ere then have lain long in the grave, and could neither see his +death-struggle nor mourn over his grave-sod. + +With such wild notions working in her brain, the spirit of Elspat rose +to its usual pitch, or, rather, to one which seemed higher. In the +emphatic language of Scripture, which in that idiom does not greatly +differ from her own, she arose, she washed and changed her apparel, and +ate bread, and was refreshed. + +She longed eagerly for the return of her son, but she now longed not +with the bitter anxiety of doubt and apprehension. She said to herself +that much must be done ere he could in these times arise to be an +eminent and dreaded leader. Yet when she saw him again, she almost +expected him at the head of a daring band, with pipes playing and +banners flying, the noble tartans fluttering free in the wind, in +despite of the laws which had suppressed, under severe penalties, the +use of the national garb and all the appurtenances of Highland chivalry. +For all this, her eager imagination was content only to allow the +interval of some days. + +From the moment this opinion had taken deep and serious possession of +her mind, her thoughts were bent upon receiving her son at the head of +his adherents in the manner in which she used to adorn her hut for the +return of his father. + +The substantial means of subsistence she had not the power of providing, +nor did she consider that of importance. The successful caterans would +bring with them herds and flocks. But the interior of her hut was +arranged for their reception, the usquebaugh was brewed or distilled in +a larger quantity than it could have been supposed one lone woman could +have made ready. Her hut was put into such order as might, in some +degree, give it the appearance of a day of rejoicing. It was swept and +decorated, with boughs of various kinds, like the house of a Jewess upon +what is termed the Feast of the Tabernacles. The produce of the milk of +her little flock was prepared in as great variety of forms as her skill +admitted, to entertain her son and his associates whom she, expected to +receive along with him. + +But the principal decoration, which she sought with the greatest toil, +was the cloud-berry, a scarlet fruit, which is only found on very high +hills; and these only in small quantities. Her husband, or perhaps one +of his forefathers, had chosen this as the emblem of his family, because +it seemed at once to imply, by its scarcity, the smallness of their +clan, and, by the places in which it was found, the ambitious height of +their pretensions. + +For the time that these simple preparations of welcome endured, Elspat +was in a state of troubled happiness. In fact, her only anxiety was that +she might be able to complete all that she could do to welcome Hamish +and the friends who she supposed must have attached themselves to +his band, before they should arrive and find her unprovided for their +reception. + +But when such efforts as she could make had been accomplished, she once +more had nothing left to engage her save the trifling care of her goats; +and when these had been attended to, she had only to review her little +preparations, renew such as were of a transitory nature, replace decayed +branches and fading boughs, and then to sit down at her cottage-door and +watch the road as it ascended on the one side from the banks of the Awe, +and on the other wound round the heights of the mountain, with such a +degree of accommodation to hill and level as the plan of the military +engineer permitted. While so occupied, her imagination, anticipating the +future from recollections of the past, formed out of the morning mist or +the evening cloud the wild forms of an advancing band, which were then +called "Sidier Dhu" (dark soldiers), dressed in their native tartan, and +so named to distinguish them from the scarlet ranks of the British army. +In this occupation she spent many hours of each morning and evening. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +It was in vain that Elspat's eyes surveyed the distant path by the +earliest light of the dawn and the latest glimmer of the twilight. No +rising dust awakened the expectation of nodding plumes or flashing arms. +The solitary traveller trudged listlessly along in his brown lowland +greatcoat, his tartans dyed black or purple, to comply with or evade +the law which prohibited their being worn in their variegated hues. +The spirit of the Gael, sunk and broken by the severe though perhaps +necessary laws, that proscribed the dress and arms which he considered +as his birthright, was intimated by his drooping head and dejected +appearance. Not in such depressed wanderers did Elspat recognise the +light and free step of her son, now, as she concluded, regenerated from +every sign of Saxon thraldom. Night by night, as darkness came, she +removed from her unclosed door, to throw herself on her restless pallet, +not to sleep, but to watch. The brave and the terrible, she said, walk +by night. Their steps are heard in darkness, when all is silent save the +whirlwind and the cataract. The timid deer comes only forth when the sun +is upon the mountain's peak, but the bold wolf walks in the red light of +the harvest-moon. She reasoned in vain; her son's expected summons +did not call her from the lowly couch where she lay dreaming of his +approach. Hamish came not. + +"Hope deferred," saith the royal sage, "maketh the heart sick;" and +strong as was Elspat's constitution, she began to experience that it +was unequal to the toils to which her anxious and immoderate affection +subjected her, when early one morning the appearance of a traveller on +the lonely mountain-road, revived hopes which had begun to sink into +listless despair. There was no sign of Saxon subjugation about the +stranger. At a distance she could see the flutter of the belted-plaid +that drooped in graceful folds behind him, and the plume that, placed +in the bonnet, showed rank and gentle birth. He carried a gun over +his shoulder, the claymore was swinging by his side with its usual +appendages, the dirk, the pistol, and the SPORRAN MOLLACH. [The +goat-skin pouch, worn by the Highlanders round their waist.] Ere yet her +eye had scanned all these particulars, the light step of the traveller +was hastened, his arm was waved in token of recognition--a moment more, +and Elspat held in her arms her darling son, dressed in the garb of +his ancestors, and looking, in her maternal eyes, the fairest among ten +thousand! + +The first outpouring of affection it would be impossible to describe. +Blessings mingled with the most endearing epithets which her energetic +language affords in striving to express the wild rapture of Elspat's +joy. Her board was heaped hastily with all she had to offer, and the +mother watched the young soldier, as he partook of the refreshment, with +feelings how similar to, yet how different from, those with which she +had seen him draw his first sustenance from her bosom! + +When the tumult of joy was appeased, Elspat became anxious to know her +son's adventures since they parted, and could not help greatly censuring +his rashness for traversing the hills in the Highland dress in the broad +sunshine, when the penalty was so heavy, and so many red soldiers were +abroad in the country. + +"Fear not for me, mother," said Hamish, in a tone designed to relieve +her anxiety, and yet somewhat embarrassed; "I may wear the BREACAN [That +which is variegated--that is, the tartan.] at the gate of Fort-Augustus, +if I like it." + +"Oh, be not too daring, my beloved Hamish, though it be the fault which +best becomes thy father's son--yet be not too daring! Alas! they fight +not now as in former days, with fair weapons and on equal terms, but +take odds of numbers and of arms, so that the feeble and the strong are +alike levelled by the shot of a boy. And do not think me unworthy to be +called your father's widow and your mother because I speak thus; for +God knoweth, that, man to man, I would peril thee against the best in +Breadalbane, and broad Lorn besides." + +"I assure you, my dearest mother," replied Hamish, "that I am in no +danger. But have you seen MacPhadraick, mother? and what has he said to +you on my account?" + +"Silver he left me in plenty, Hamish; but the best of his comfort was +that you were well, and would see me soon. But beware of MacPhadraick, +my son; for when he called himself the friend of your father, he better +loved the most worthless stirk in his herd than he did the life-blood of +MacTavish Mhor. Use his services, therefore, and pay him for them, for +it is thus we should deal with the unworthy; but take my counsel, and +trust him not." + +Hamish could not suppress a sigh, which seemed to Elspat to intimate +that the caution came too late. "What have you done with him?" she +continued, eager and alarmed. "I had money of him, and he gives not that +without value; he is none of those who exchange barley for chaff. Oh, if +you repent you of your bargain, and if it be one which you may break off +without disgrace to your truth or your manhood, take back his silver, +and trust not to his fair words." + +"It may not be, mother," said Hamish; "I do not repent my engagement, +unless that it must make me leave you soon." + +"Leave me! how leave me? Silly boy, think you I know not what duty +belongs to the wife or mother of a daring man? Thou art but a boy yet; +and when thy father had been the dread of the country for twenty years, +he did not despise my company and assistance, but often said my help was +worth that of two strong gillies." + +"It is not on that score, mother, but since I must leave the country--" + +"Leave the country!" replied his mother, interrupting him. "And think +you that I am like a bush, that is rooted to the soil where it grows, +and must die if carried elsewhere? I have breathed other winds than +these of Ben Cruachan. I have followed your father to the wilds of Ross +and the impenetrable deserts of Y Mac Y Mhor. Tush, man! my limbs, old +as they are, will bear me as far as your young feet can trace the way." + +"Alas, mother," said the young man, with a faltering accent, "but to +cross the sea--" + +"The sea! who am I that I should fear the sea? Have I never been in +a birling in my life--never known the Sound of Mull, the Isles of +Treshornish, and the rough rocks of Harris?" + +"Alas, mother, I go far--far from all of these. I am enlisted in one of +the new regiments, and we go against the French in America." + +"Enlisted!" uttered the astonished mother--"against MY will--without MY +consent! You could not! you would not!" Then rising up, and assuming a +posture of almost imperial command, "Hamish, you DARED not!" + +"Despair, mother, dares everything," answered Hamish, in a tone of +melancholy resolution. "What should I do here, where I can scarce get +bread for myself and you, and when the times are growing daily worse? +Would you but sit down and listen, I would convince you I have acted for +the best." + +With a bitter smile Elspat sat down, and the same severe ironical +expression was on her features, as, with her lips firmly closed, she +listened to his vindication. + +Hamish went on, without being disconcerted by her expected displeasure. +"When I left you, dearest mother, it was to go to MacPhadraick's house; +for although I knew he is crafty and worldly, after the fashion of the +Sassenach, yet he is wise, and I thought how he would teach me, as it +would cost him nothing, in which way I could mend our estate in the +world." + +"Our estate in the world!" said Elspat, losing patience at the word; +"and went you to a base fellow with a soul no better than that of a +cowherd, to ask counsel about your conduct? Your father asked none, save +of his courage and his sword." + +"Dearest mother," answered Hamish, "how shall I convince you that you +live in this land of our fathers as if our fathers were yet living? You +walk as it were in a dream, surrounded by the phantoms of those who +have been long with the dead. When my father lived and fought, the great +respected the man of the strong right hand, and the rich feared him. He +had protection from Macallum Mhor, and from Caberfae, and tribute from +meaner men. [Caberfae--ANGLICE, the Stag's-head, the Celtic designation +for the arms of the family of the high Chief of Seaforth.] That is +ended, and his son would only earn a disgraceful and unpitied death by +the practices which gave his father credit and power among those +who wear the breacan. The land is conquered; its lights are +quenched--Glengarry, Lochiel, Perth, Lord Lewis, all the high chiefs are +dead or in exile. We may mourn for it, but we cannot help it. Bonnet, +broadsword, and sporran--power, strength, and wealth, were all lost on +Drummossie Muir." + +"It is false!" said Elspat, fiercely; "you and such like dastardly +spirits are quelled by your own faint hearts, not by the strength of the +enemy; you are like the fearful waterfowl, to whom the least cloud in +the sky seems the shadow of the eagle." + +"Mother," said Hamish proudly, "lay not faint heart to my charge. I go +where men are wanted who have strong arms and bold hearts too. I leave a +desert, for a land where I may gather fame." + +"And you leave your mother to perish in want, age, and solitude," said +Elspat, essaying successively every means of moving a resolution which +she began to see was more deeply rooted than she had at first thought. + +"Not so, neither," he answered; "I leave you to comfort and certainty, +which you have yet never known. Barcaldine's son is made a leader, and +with him I have enrolled myself. MacPhadraick acts for him, and raises +men, and finds his own in doing it." + +"That is the truest word of the tale, were all the rest as false as +hell," said the old woman, bitterly. + +"But we are to find our good in it also," continued Hamish; "for +Barcaldine is to give you a shieling in his wood of Letter-findreight, +with grass for your goats, and a cow, when you please to have one, on +the common; and my own pay, dearest mother, though I am far away, will +do more than provide you with meal, and with all else you can want. Do +not fear for me. I enter a private gentleman; but I will return, if hard +fighting and regular duty can deserve it, an officer, and with half a +dollar a day." + +"Poor child!" replied Elspat, in a tone of pity mingled with contempt, +"and you trust MacPhadraick?" + +"I might mother," said Hamish, the dark red colour of his race crossing +his forehead and cheeks, "for MacPhadraick knows the blood which flows +in my veins, and is aware, that should he break trust with you, he might +count the days which could bring Hamish back to Breadalbane, and number +those of his life within three suns more. I would kill him at his own +hearth, did he break his word with me--I would, by the great Being who +made us both!" + +The look and attitude of the young soldier for a moment overawed Elspat; +she was unused to see him express a deep and bitter mood, which reminded +her so strongly of his father. But she resumed her remonstrances in the +same taunting manner in which she had commenced them. + +"Poor boy!" she said; "and you think that at the distance of half the +world your threats will be heard or thought of! But, go--go--place your +neck under him of Hanover's yoke, against whom every true Gael fought to +the death. Go, disown the royal Stewart, for whom your father, and his +fathers, and your mother's fathers, have crimsoned many a field with +their blood. Go, put your head under the belt of one of the race of +Dermid, whose children murdered--Yes," she added, with a wild shriek, +"murdered your mother's fathers in their peaceful dwellings in Glencoe! +Yes," she again exclaimed, with a wilder and shriller scream, "I was +then unborn, but my mother has told me--and I attended to the voice +of MY mother--well I remember her words! They came in peace, and were +received in friendship--and blood and fire arose, and screams and +murder!" [See Note 9.--Massacre of Glencoe.] + +"Mother," answered Hamish, mournfully, but with a decided tone, "all +that I have thought over. There is not a drop of the blood of Glencoe +on the noble hand of Barcaldine; with the unhappy house of Glenlyon the +curse remains, and on them God hath avenged it." + +"You speak like the Saxon priest already," replied his mother; "will you +not better stay, and ask a kirk from Macallum Mhor, that you may preach +forgiveness to the race of Dermid?" + +"Yesterday was yesterday," answered Hamish, "and to-day is to-day. When +the clans are crushed and confounded together, it is well and wise that +their hatreds and their feuds should not survive their independence and +their power. He that cannot execute vengeance like a man, should not +harbour useless enmity like a craven. Mother, young Barcaldine is true +and brave. I know that MacPhadraick counselled him that he should not +let me take leave of you, lest you dissuaded me from my purpose; but he +said, 'Hamish MacTavish is the son of a brave man, and he will not break +his word.' Mother, Barcaldine leads an hundred of the bravest of +the sons of the Gael in their native dress, and with their fathers' +arms--heart to heart--shoulder to shoulder. I have sworn to go with him. +He has trusted me, and I will trust him." + +At this reply, so firmly and resolvedly pronounced, Elspat remained +like one thunderstruck, and sunk in despair. The arguments which she had +considered so irresistibly conclusive, had recoiled like a wave from a +rock. After a long pause, she filled her son's quaigh, and presented it +to him with an air of dejected deference and submission. + +"Drink," she said, "to thy father's roof-tree, ere you leave it for +ever; and tell me--since the chains of a new King, and of a new chief, +whom your fathers knew not save as mortal enemies, are fastened upon the +limbs of your father's son--tell me how many links you count upon them?" + +Hamish took the cup, but looked at her as if uncertain of her meaning. +She proceeded in a raised voice. "Tell me," she said, "for I have a +right to know, for how many days the will of those you have made your +masters permits me to look upon you? In other words, how many are the +days of my life? for when you leave me, the earth has nought besides +worth living for!" + +"Mother," replied Hamish MacTavish, "for six days I may remain with +you; and if you will set out with me on the fifth, I will conduct you in +safety to your new dwelling. But if you remain here, then I will depart +on the seventh by daybreak--then, as at the last moment, I MUST set out +for Dunbarton, for if I appear not on the eighth day, I am subject +to punishment as a deserter, and am dishonoured as a soldier and a +gentleman." + +"Your father's foot," she answered, "was free as the wind on the +heath--it were as vain to say to him, where goest thou? as to ask that +viewless driver of the clouds, wherefore blowest thou? Tell me under +what penalty thou must--since go thou must, and go thou wilt--return to +thy thraldom?" + +"Call it not thraldom, mother; it is the service of an honourable +soldier--the only service which is now open to the son of MacTavish +Mhor." + +"Yet say what is the penalty if thou shouldst not return?" replied +Elspat. + +"Military punishment as a deserter," answered Hamish, writhing, however, +as his mother failed not to observe, under some internal feelings, which +she resolved to probe to the uttermost. + +"And that," she said, with assumed calmness, which her glancing eye +disowned, "is the punishment of a disobedient hound, is it not?" + +"Ask me no more, mother," said Hamish; "the punishment is nothing to one +who will never deserve it." + +"To me it is something," replied Elspat, "since I know better than thou, +that where there is power to inflict, there is often the will to do so +without cause. I would pray for thee, Hamish, and I must know against +what evils I should beseech Him who leaves none unguarded, to protect +thy youth and simplicity." + +"Mother," said Hamish, "it signifies little to what a criminal may be +exposed, if a man is determined not to be such. Our Highland chiefs used +also to punish their vassals, and, as I have heard, severely. Was it not +Lachlan MacIan, whom we remember of old, whose head was struck off by +order of his chieftain for shooting at the stag before him?" + +"Ay," said Elspat, "and right he had to lose it, since he dishonoured +the father of the people even in the face of the assembled clan. But the +chiefs were noble in their ire; they punished with the sharp blade, and +not with the baton. Their punishments drew blood, but they did not infer +dishonour. Canst thou say, the same for the laws under whose yoke thou +hast placed thy freeborn neck?" + +"I cannot, mother--I cannot," said Hamish mournfully. "I saw them +punish a Sassenach for deserting as they called it, his banner. He was +scourged--I own it--scourged like a hound who has offended an imperious +master. I was sick at the sight--I confess it. But the punishment of +dogs is only for those worse than dogs, who know not how to keep their +faith." + +"To this infamy, however, thou hast subjected thyself, Hamish," replied +Elspat, "if thou shouldst give, or thy officers take, measure of offence +against thee. I speak no more to thee on thy purpose. Were the sixth +day from this morning's sun my dying day, and thou wert to stay to close +mine eyes, thou wouldst run the risk of being lashed like a dog at a +post--yes! unless thou hadst the gallant heart to leave me to die alone, +and upon my desolate hearth, the last spark of thy father's fire, and +of thy forsaken mother's life, to be extinguished together!"--Hamish +traversed the hut with an impatient and angry pace. + +"Mother," he said at length, "concern not yourself about such things. +I cannot be subjected to such infamy, for never will I deserve it; and +were I threatened with it, I should know how to die before I was so far +dishonoured." + +"There spoke the son of the husband of my heart!" replied Elspat, +and she changed the discourse, and seemed to listen in melancholy +acquiescence, when her son reminded her how short the time was which +they were permitted to pass in each other's society, and entreated +that it might be spent without useless and unpleasant recollections +respecting the circumstances under which they must soon be separated. + +Elspat was now satisfied that her son, with some of his father's other +properties, preserved the haughty masculine spirit which rendered it +impossible to divert him from a resolution which he had deliberately +adopted. She assumed, therefore, an exterior of apparent submission +to their inevitable separation; and if she now and then broke out into +complaints and murmurs, it was either that she could not altogether +suppress the natural impetuosity of her temper, or because she had the +wit to consider that a total and unreserved acquiescence might have +seemed to her son constrained and suspicious, and induced him to watch +and defeat the means by which she still hoped to prevent his leaving +her. Her ardent though selfish affection for her son, incapable of being +qualified by a regard for the true interests of the unfortunate object +of her attachment, resembled the instinctive fondness of the animal race +for their offspring; and diving little farther into futurity than one of +the inferior creatures, she only felt that to be separated from Hamish +was to die. + +In the brief interval permitted them, Elspat exhausted every art which +affection could devise, to render agreeable to him the space which they +were apparently to spend with each other. Her memory carried her far +back into former days, and her stores of legendary history, which +furnish at all times a principal amusement of the Highlander in his +moments of repose, were augmented by an unusual acquaintance with the +songs of ancient bards, and traditions of the most approved +seannachies and tellers of tales. Her officious attentions to her son's +accommodation, indeed, were so unremitted as almost to give him pain, +and he endeavoured quietly to prevent her from taking so much personal +toil in selecting the blooming heath for his bed, or preparing the meal +for his refreshment. "Let me alone, Hamish," she would reply on such +occasions; "you follow your own will in departing from your mother, +let your mother have hers in doing what gives her pleasure while you +remain." + +So much she seemed to be reconciled to the arrangements which he had +made in her behalf, that she could hear him speak to her of her removing +to the lands of Green Colin, as the gentleman was called, on whose +estate he had provided her an asylum. In truth, however, nothing could +be farther from her thoughts. From what he had said during their first +violent dispute, Elspat had gathered that, if Hamish returned not by the +appointed time permitted by his furlough, he would incur the hazard +of corporal punishment. Were he placed within the risk of being thus +dishonoured, she was well aware that he would never submit to the +disgrace by a return to the regiment where it might be inflicted. +Whether she looked to any farther probable consequences of her unhappy +scheme cannot be known; but the partner of MacTavish Mhor, in all +his perils and wanderings, was familiar with an hundred instances of +resistance or escape, by which one brave man, amidst a land of rocks, +lakes, and mountains, dangerous passes, and dark forests, might baffle +the pursuit of hundreds. For the future, therefore, she feared nothing; +her sole engrossing object was to prevent her son from keeping his word +with his commanding officer. + +With this secret purpose, she evaded the proposal which Hamish +repeatedly made, that they should set out together to take possession of +her new abode; and she resisted it upon grounds apparently so natural to +her character that her son was neither alarmed nor displeased. "Let me +not," she said, "in the same short week, bid farewell to my only son, +and to the glen in which I have so long dwelt. Let my eye, when dimmed +with weeping for thee, still look around, for a while at least, upon +Loch Awe and on Ben Cruachan." + +Hamish yielded the more willingly to his mother's humour in this +particular, that one or two persons who resided in a neighbouring glen, +and had given their sons to Barcaldine's levy, were also to be provided +for on the estate of the chieftain, and it was apparently settled that +Elspat was to take her journey along with them when they should remove +to their new residence. Thus, Hamish believed that he had at once +indulged his mother's humour, and ensured her safety and accommodation. +But she nourished in her mind very different thoughts and projects. + +The period of Hamish's leave of absence was fast approaching, and more +than once he proposed to depart, in such time as to ensure his gaining +easily and early Dunbarton, the town where were the head-quarters of his +regiment. But still his mother's entreaties, his own natural disposition +to linger among scenes long dear to him, and, above all, his firm +reliance in his speed and activity, induced him to protract his +departure till the sixth day, being the very last which he could +possibly afford to spend with his mother, if indeed he meant to comply +with the conditions of his furlough. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + But for your son, believe it--oh, believe it-- + Most dangerously you have with him prevailed, + If not most mortal to him. CORIOLANUS. + +On the evening which preceded his proposed departure, Hamish walked down +to the river with his fishing-rod, to practise in the Awe, for the last +time, a sport in which he excelled, and to find, at the same time, the +means for making one social meal with his mother on something better +than their ordinary cheer. He was as successful as usual, and soon +killed a fine salmon. On his return homeward an incident befell him, +which he afterwards related as ominous, though probably his heated +imagination, joined to the universal turn of his countrymen for the +marvellous, exaggerated into superstitious importance some very ordinary +and accidental circumstance. + +In the path which he pursued homeward, he was surprised to observe a +person, who, like himself, was dressed and armed after the old Highland +fashion. The first idea that struck him was, that the passenger belonged +to his own corps, who, levied by government, and bearing arms under +royal authority, were not amenable for breach of the statutes +against the use of the Highland garb or weapons. But he was struck on +perceiving, as he mended his pace to make up to his supposed comrade, +meaning to request his company for the next day's journey, that the +stranger wore a white cockade, the fatal badge which was proscribed in +the Highlands. The stature of the man was tall, and there was something +shadowy in the outline, which added to his size; and his mode of motion, +which rather resembled gliding than walking, impressed Hamish with +superstitious fears concerning the character of the being which thus +passed before him in the twilight. He no longer strove to make up to +the stranger, but contented himself with keeping him in view, under +the superstition common to the Highlanders, that you ought neither to +intrude yourself on such supernatural apparitions as you may witness, +nor avoid their presence, but leave it to themselves to withhold or +extend their communication, as their power may permit, or the purpose of +their commission require. + +Upon an elevated knoll by the side of the road, just where the pathway +turned down to Elspat's hut, the stranger made a pause, and seemed to +await Hamish's coming up. Hamish, on his part, seeing it was necessary +he should pass the object of his suspicion, mustered up his courage, +and approached the spot where the stranger had placed himself; who +first pointed to Elspat's hut, and made, with arm and head, a gesture +prohibiting Hamish to approach it, then stretched his hand to the road +which led to the southward, with a motion which seemed to enjoin his +instant departure in that direction. In a moment afterwards the plaided +form was gone--Hamish did not exactly say vanished, because there were +rocks and stunted trees enough to have concealed him; but it was his own +opinion that he had seen the spirit of MacTavish Mhor, warning him to +commence his instant journey to Dunbarton, without waiting till morning, +or again visiting his mother's hut. + +In fact, so many accidents might arise to delay his journey, especially +where there were many ferries, that it became his settled purpose, +though he could not depart without bidding his mother adieu, that he +neither could nor would abide longer than for that object; and that +the first glimpse of next day's sun should see him many miles advanced +towards Dunbarton. He descended the path, therefore, and entering the +cottage, he communicated, in a hasty and troubled voice, which indicated +mental agitation, his determination to take his instant departure. +Somewhat to his surprise, Elspat appeared not to combat his purpose, but +she urged him to take some refreshment ere he left her for ever. He did +so hastily, and in silence, thinking on the approaching separation, and +scarce yet believing it would take place without a final struggle with +his mother's fondness. To his surprise, she filled the quaigh with +liquor for his parting cup. + +"Go," she said, "my son, since such is thy settled purpose; but first +stand once more on thy mother's hearth, the flame on which will be +extinguished long ere thy foot shall again be placed there." + +"To your health, mother!" said Hamish; "and may we meet again in +happiness, in spite of your ominous words." + +"It were better not to part," said his mother, watching him as he +quaffed the liquor, of which he would have held it ominous to have left +a drop. + +"And now," she said, muttering the words to herself, "go--if thou canst +go." + +"Mother," said Hamish, as he replaced on the table the empty quaigh, +"thy drink is pleasant to the taste, but it takes away the strength +which it ought to give." + +"Such is its first effect, my son," replied Elspat. "But lie down upon +that soft heather couch, shut your eyes but for a moment, and, in the +sleep of an hour, you shall have more refreshment than in the ordinary +repose of three whole nights, could they be blended into one." + +"Mother," said Hamish, upon whose brain the potion was now taking rapid +effect, "give me my bonnet--I must kiss you and begone--yet it seems as +if my feet were nailed to the floor." + +"Indeed," said his mother, "you will be instantly well, if you will sit +down for half an hour--but half an hour. It is eight hours to dawn, and +dawn were time enough for your father's son to begin such a journey." + +"I must obey you, mother--I feel I must," said Hamish inarticulately; +"but call me when the moon rises." + +He sat down on the bed, reclined back, and almost instantly was fast +asleep. With the throbbing glee of one who has brought to an end a +difficult and troublesome enterprise, Elspat proceeded tenderly to +arrange the plaid of the unconscious slumberer, to whom her extravagant +affection was doomed to be so fatal, expressing, while busied in her +office, her delight, in tones of mingled tenderness and triumph. "Yes," +she said, "calf of my heart, the moon shall arise and set to thee, and +so shall the sun; but not to light thee from the land of thy fathers, or +tempt thee to serve the foreign prince or the feudal enemy! To no son of +Dermid shall I be delivered, to be fed like a bondswoman; but he who is +my pleasure and my pride shall be my guard and my protector. They say +the Highlands are changed; but I see Ben Cruachan rear his crest as high +as ever into the evening sky; no one hath yet herded his kine on the +depths of Loch Awe; and yonder oak does not yet bend like a willow. +The children of the mountains will be such as their fathers, until the +mountains themselves shall be levelled with the strath. In these wild +forests, which used to support thousands of the brave, there is still +surely subsistence and refuge left for one aged woman, and one gallant +youth of the ancient race and the ancient manners." + +While the misjudging mother thus exulted in the success of her +stratagem, we may mention to the reader that it was founded on the +acquaintance with drugs and simples which Elspat, accomplished in all +things belonging to the wild life which she had led, possessed in an +uncommon degree, and which she exercised for various purposes. With the +herbs, which she knew how to select as well as how to distil, she +could relieve more diseases than a regular medical person could easily +believe. She applied some to dye the bright colours of the tartan; +from others she compounded draughts of various powers, and unhappily +possessed the secret of one which was strongly soporific. Upon +the effects of this last concoction, as the reader doubtless has +anticipated, she reckoned with security on delaying Hamish beyond the +period for which his return was appointed; and she trusted to his horror +for the apprehended punishment to which he was thus rendered liable, to +prevent him from returning at all. + +Sound and deep, beyond natural rest, was the sleep of Hamish MacTavish +on that eventful evening, but not such the repose of his mother. Scarce +did she close her eyes from time to time, but she awakened again with +a start, in the terror that her son had arisen and departed; and it was +only on approaching his couch, and hearing his deep-drawn and regular +breathing, that she reassured herself of the security of the repose in +which he was plunged. + +Still, dawning, she feared, might awaken him, notwithstanding the +unusual strength of the potion with which she had drugged his cup. If +there remained a hope of mortal man accomplishing the journey, she was +aware that Hamish would attempt it, though he were to die from fatigue +upon the road. Animated by this new fear, she studied to exclude the +light, by stopping all the crannies and crevices through which, rather +than through any regular entrance, the morning beams might find access +to her miserable dwelling; and this in order to detain amid its wants +and wretchedness the being on whom, if the world itself had been at her +disposal, she would have joyfully conferred it. + +Her pains were bestowed unnecessarily. The sun rose high above the +heavens, and not the fleetest stag in Breadalbane, were the hounds at +his heels, could have sped, to save his life, so fast as would have +been necessary to keep Hamish's appointment. Her purpose was fully +attained--her son's return within the period assigned was impossible. +She deemed it equally impossible, that he would ever dream of returning, +standing, as he must now do, in the danger of an infamous punishment. +By degrees, and at different times, she had gained from him a full +acquaintance with the predicament in which he would be placed by +failing to appear on the day appointed, and the very small hope he could +entertain of being treated with lenity. + +It is well known, that the great and wise Earl of Chatham prided himself +on the scheme, by which he drew together for the defence of the colonies +those hardy Highlanders, who, until his time, had been the objects +of doubt, fear, and suspicion, on the part of each successive +administration. But some obstacles occurred, from the peculiar habits +and temper of this people, to the execution of his patriotic project. +By nature and habit, every Highlander was accustomed to the use of arms, +but at the same time totally unaccustomed to, and impatient of, the +restraints imposed by discipline upon regular troops. They were a +species of militia, who had no conception of a camp as their only home. +If a battle was lost, they dispersed to save themselves, and look out +for the safety of their families; if won, they went back to their glens +to hoard up their booty, and attend to their cattle and their farms. +This privilege of going and coming at pleasure, they would not be +deprived of even by their chiefs, whose authority was in most other +respects so despotic. It followed as a matter of course, that the +new-levied Highland recruits could scarce be made to comprehend the +nature of a military engagement, which compelled a man to serve in the +army longer than he pleased; and perhaps, in many instances, sufficient +care was not taken at enlisting to explain to them the permanency of the +engagement which they came under, lest such a disclosure should induce +them to change their mind. Desertions were therefore become numerous +from the newly-raised regiment, and the veteran general who commanded +at Dunbarton saw no better way of checking them than by causing an +unusually severe example to be made of a deserter from an English corps. +The young Highland regiment was obliged to attend upon the punishment, +which struck a people, peculiarly jealous of personal honour, with equal +horror and disgust, and not unnaturally indisposed some of them to the +service. The old general, however, who had been regularly bred in the +German wars, stuck to his own opinion, and gave out in orders that +the first Highlander who might either desert, or fail to appear at the +expiry of his furlough, should be brought to the halberds, and punished +like the culprit whom they had seen in that condition. No man doubted +that General -- would keep his word rigorously whenever severity was +required, and Elspat, therefore, knew that her son, when he perceived +that due compliance with his orders was impossible, must at the same +time consider the degrading punishment denounced against his defection +as inevitable, should he place himself within the general's power. [See +Note 10.--Fidelity of the Highlanders.] + +When noon was well passed, new apprehensions came on the mind of the +lonely woman. Her son still slept under the influence of the draught; +but what if, being stronger than she had ever known it administered, his +health or his reason should be affected by its potency? For the first +time, likewise, notwithstanding her high ideas on the subject of +parental authority, she began to dread the resentment of her son, whom +her heart told her she had wronged. Of late, she had observed that his +temper was less docile, and his determinations, especially upon this +late occasion of his enlistment, independently formed, and then boldly +carried through. She remembered the stern wilfulness of his father when +he accounted himself ill-used, and began to dread that Hamish, upon +finding the deceit she had put upon him, might resent it even to the +extent of cutting her off, and pursuing his own course through the world +alone. Such were the alarming and yet the reasonable apprehensions which +began to crowd upon the unfortunate woman, after the apparent success of +her ill-advised stratagem. + +It was near evening when Hamish first awoke, and then he was far from +being in the full possession either of his mental or bodily powers. From +his vague expressions and disordered pulse, Elspat at first experienced +much apprehension; but she used such expedients as her medical knowledge +suggested, and in the course of the night she had the satisfaction to +see him sink once more into a deep sleep, which probably carried off the +greater part of the effects of the drug, for about sunrising she heard +him arise, and call to her for his bonnet. This she had purposely +removed, from a fear that he might awaken and depart in the night-time, +without her knowledge. + +"My bonnet--my bonnet," cried Hamish; "it is time to take farewell. +Mother, your drink was too strong--the sun is up--but with the next +morning I will still see the double summit of the ancient Dun. My +bonnet--my bonnet, mother; I must be instant in my departure." These +expressions made it plain that poor Hamish was unconscious that two +nights and a day had passed since he had drained the fatal quaigh, and +Elspat had now to venture on what she felt as the almost perilous, as +well as painful, task of explaining her machinations. + +"Forgive me, my son," she said, approaching Hamish, and taking him +by the hand with an air of deferential awe, which perhaps she had not +always used to his father, even when in his moody fits. + +"Forgive you, mother!--for what?" said Hamish, laughing; "for giving me +a dram that was too strong, and which my head still feels this morning, +or for hiding my bonnet to keep me an instant longer? Nay, do YOU +forgive ME. Give me the bonnet, and let that be done which now must +be done. Give me my bonnet, or I go without it; surely I am not to be +delayed by so trifling a want as that--I, who have gone for years with +only a strap of deer's hide to tie back my hair. Trifle not, but give it +me, or I must go bareheaded, since to stay is impossible." + +"My son," said Elspat, keeping fast hold of his hand, "what is done +cannot be recalled. Could you borrow the wings of yonder eagle, you +would arrive at the Dun too late for what you purpose--too soon for what +awaits you there. You believe you see the sun rising for the first +time since you have seen him set; but yesterday beheld him climb Ben +Cruachan, though your eyes were closed to his light." + +Hamish cast upon his mother a wild glance of extreme terror, then +instantly recovering himself, said, "I am no child to be cheated out +of my purpose by such tricks as these. Farewell, mother! each moment is +worth a lifetime." + +"Stay," she said, "my dear, my deceived son, run not on infamy and ruin. +Yonder I see the priest upon the high-road on his white horse. Ask him +the day of the month and week; let him decide between us." + +With the speed of an eagle, Hamish darted up the acclivity, and stood by +the minister of Glenorquhy, who was pacing out thus early to administer +consolation to a distressed family near Bunawe. + +The good man was somewhat startled to behold an armed Highlander, then +so unusual a sight, and apparently much agitated, stop his horse by +the bridle, and ask him with a faltering voice the day of the week and +month. "Had you been where you should have been yesterday, young man," +replied the clergyman, "you would have known that it was God's Sabbath; +and that this is Monday, the second day of the week, and twenty-first of +the month." + +"And this is true?" said Hamish. + +"As true," answered the surprised minister, "as that I yesterday +preached the word of God to this parish. What ails you, young man?--are +you sick?--are you in your right mind?" + +Hamish made no answer, only repeated to himself the first expression of +the clergyman, "Had you been where you should have been yesterday;" and +so saying, he let go the bridle, turned from the road, and descended +the path towards the hut, with the look and pace of one who was going to +execution. The minister looked after him with surprise; but although +he knew the inhabitant of the hovel, the character of Elspat had +not invited him to open any communication with her, because she was +generally reputed a Papist, or rather one indifferent to all religion, +except some superstitious observances which had been handed down from +her parents. On Hamish the Reverend Mr. Tyrie had bestowed instructions +when he was occasionally thrown in his way; and if the seed fell among +the brambles and thorns of a wild and uncultivated disposition, it +had not yet been entirely checked or destroyed. There was something so +ghastly in the present expression of the youth's features that the +good man was tempted to go down to the hovel, and inquire whether any +distress had befallen the inhabitants, in which his presence might be +consoling and his ministry useful. Unhappily he did not persevere in +this resolution, which might have saved a great misfortune, as he would +have probably become a mediator for the unfortunate young man; but a +recollection of the wild moods of such Highlanders as had been educated +after the old fashion of the country, prevented his interesting himself +in the widow and son of the far-dreaded robber, MacTavish Mhor, and +he thus missed an opportunity, which he afterwards sorely repented, of +doing much good. + +When Hamish MacTavish entered his mother's hut, it was only to throw +himself on the bed he had left, and exclaiming, "Undone, undone!" to +give vent, in cries of grief and anger, to his deep sense of the deceit +which had been practised on him, and of the cruel predicament to which +he was reduced. + +Elspat was prepared for the first explosion of her son's passion, and +said to herself, "It is but the mountain torrent, swelled by the thunder +shower. Let us sit and rest us by the bank; for all its present tumult, +the time will soon come when we may pass it dryshod." She suffered his +complaints and his reproaches, which were, even in the midst of his +agony, respectful and affectionate, to die away without returning any +answer; and when, at length, having exhausted all the exclamations of +sorrow which his language, copious in expressing the feelings of the +heart, affords to the sufferer, he sunk into a gloomy silence, she +suffered the interval to continue near an hour ere she approached her +son's couch. + +"And now," she said at length, with a voice in which the authority of +the mother was qualified by her tenderness, "have you exhausted your +idle sorrows, and are you able to place what you have gained against +what you have lost? Is the false son of Dermid your brother, or the +father of your tribe, that you weep because you cannot bind yourself +to his belt, and become one of those who must do his bidding? Could +you find in yonder distant country the lakes and the mountains that +you leave behind you here? Can you hunt the deer of Breadalbane in +the forests of America, or will the ocean afford you the silver-scaled +salmon of the Awe? Consider, then, what is your loss, and, like a wise +man, set it against what you have won." + +"I have lost all, mother," replied Hamish, "since I have broken my word, +and lost my honour. I might tell my tale, but who, oh, who would believe +me?" The unfortunate young man again clasped his hands together, and, +pressing them to his forehead, hid his face upon the bed. + +Elspat was now really alarmed, and perhaps wished the fatal deceit had +been left unattempted. She had no hope or refuge saving in the eloquence +of persuasion, of which she possessed no small share, though her total +ignorance of the world as it actually existed rendered its energy +unavailing. She urged her son, by every tender epithet which a parent +could bestow, to take care for his own safety. + +"Leave me," she said, "to baffle your pursuers. I will save your life--I +will save your honour. I will tell them that my fair-haired Hamish fell +from the Corrie Dhu (black precipice) into the gulf, of which human eye +never beheld the bottom. I will tell them this, and I will fling your +plaid on the thorns which grow on the brink of the precipice, that they +may believe my words. They will believe, and they will return to the Dun +of the double-crest; for though the Saxon drum can call the living to +die, it cannot recall the dead to their slavish standard. Then will we +travel together far northward to the salt lakes of Kintail, and place +glens and mountains betwixt us and the sons of Dermid. We will visit the +shores of the dark lake; and my kinsmen--for was not my mother of +the children of Kenneth, and will they not remember us with the old +love?--my kinsmen will receive us with the affection of the olden time, +which lives in those distant glens, where the Gael still dwell in their +nobleness, unmingled with the churl Saxons, or with the base brood that +are their tools and their slaves." + +The energy of the language, somewhat allied to hyperbole, even in its +most ordinary expressions, now seemed almost too weak to afford Elspat +the means of bringing out the splendid picture which she presented to +her son of the land in which she proposed to him to take refuge. Yet the +colours were few with which she could paint her Highland paradise. +"The hills," she said, "were higher and more magnificent than those of +Breadalbane--Ben Cruachan was but a dwarf to Skooroora. The lakes +were broader and larger, and abounded not only with fish, but with the +enchanted and amphibious animal which gives oil to the lamp. [The seals +are considered by the Highlanders as enchanted princes.] The deer were +larger and more numerous; the white-tusked boar, the chase of which the +brave loved best, was yet to be roused in those western solitudes; the +men were nobler, wiser, and stronger than the degenerate brood who lived +under the Saxon banner. The daughters of the land were beautiful, with +blue eyes and fair hair, and bosoms of snow; and out of these she would +choose a wife for Hamish, of blameless descent, spotless fame, fixed +and true affection, who should be in their summer bothy as a beam of the +sun, and in their winter abode as the warmth of the needful fire." + +Such were the topics with which Elspat strove to soothe the despair of +her son, and to determine him, if possible, to leave the fatal spot, +on which he seemed resolved to linger. The style of her rhetoric was +poetical, but in other respects resembled that which, like other fond +mothers, she had lavished on Hamish, while a child or a boy, in order +to gain his consent to do something he had no mind to; and she spoke +louder, quicker, and more earnestly, in proportion as she began to +despair of her words carrying conviction. + +On the mind of Hamish her eloquence made no impression. He knew far +better than she did the actual situation of the country, and was +sensible that, though it might be possible to hide himself as a fugitive +among more distant mountains, there was now no corner in the Highlands +in which his father's profession could be practised, even if he had not +adopted, from the improved ideas of the time when he lived, the opinion +that the trade of the cateran was no longer the road to honour and +distinction. Her words were therefore poured into regardless ears, and +she exhausted herself in vain in the attempt to paint the regions of her +mother's kinsmen in such terms as might tempt Hamish to accompany her +thither. She spoke for hours, but she spoke in vain. She could extort no +answer, save groans and sighs and ejaculations, expressing the extremity +of despair. + +At length, starting on her feet, and changing the monotonous tone +in which she had chanted, as it were, the praises of the province of +refuge, into the short, stern language of eager passion--"I am a fool," +she said, "to spend my words upon an idle, poor-spirited, unintelligent +boy, who crouches like a hound to the lash. Wait here, and receive your +taskmasters, and abide your chastisement at their hands; but do not +think your mother's eyes will behold it. I could not see it and live. My +eyes have looked often upon death, but never upon dishonour. Farewell, +Hamish! We never meet again." + +She dashed from the hut like a lapwing, and perhaps for the moment +actually entertained the purpose which she expressed, of parting with +her son for ever. A fearful sight she would have been that evening +to any who might have met her wandering through the wilderness like a +restless spirit, and speaking to herself in language which will endure +no translation. She rambled for hours, seeking rather than shunning the +most dangerous paths. The precarious track through the morass, the dizzy +path along the edge of the precipice or by the banks of the gulfing +river, were the roads which, far from avoiding, she sought with +eagerness, and traversed with reckless haste. But the courage arising +from despair was the means of saving the life which (though deliberate +suicide was rarely practised in the Highlands) she was perhaps desirous +of terminating. Her step on the verge of the precipice was firm as that +of the wild goat. Her eye, in that state of excitation, was so keen as +to discern, even amid darkness, the perils which noon would not have +enabled a stranger to avoid. + +Elspat's course was not directly forward, else she had soon been far +from the bothy in which she had left her son. It was circuitous, for +that hut was the centre to which her heartstrings were chained, and +though she wandered around it, she felt it impossible to leave the +vicinity. With the first beams of morning she returned to the hut. +Awhile she paused at the wattled door, as if ashamed that lingering +fondness should have brought her back to the spot which she had left +with the purpose of never returning; but there was yet more of fear +and anxiety in her hesitation--of anxiety, lest her fair-haired son had +suffered from the effects of her potion--of fear, lest his enemies had +come upon him in the night. She opened the door of the hut gently, and +entered with noiseless step. Exhausted with his sorrow and anxiety, and +not entirely relieved perhaps from the influence of the powerful opiate, +Hamish Bean again slept the stern, sound sleep by which the Indians are +said to be overcome during the interval of their torments. His mother +was scarcely sure that she actually discerned his form on the bed, +scarce certain that her ear caught the sound of his breathing. With a +throbbing heart, Elspat went to the fireplace in the centre of the hut, +where slumbered, covered with a piece of turf, the glimmering embers of +the fire, never extinguished on a Scottish hearth until the indwellers +leave the mansion for ever. + +"Feeble greishogh," [Greishogh, a glowing ember.] she said, as she +lighted, by the help of a match, a splinter of bog pine which was to +serve the place of a candle--"weak greishogh, soon shalt thou be put out +for ever, and may Heaven grant that the life of Elspat MacTavish have no +longer duration than thine!" + +While she spoke she raised the blazing light towards the bed, on which +still lay the prostrate limbs of her son, in a posture that left it +doubtful whether he slept or swooned. As she advanced towards him, the +light flashed upon his eyes--he started up in an instant, made a stride +forward with his naked dirk in his hand, like a man armed to meet a +mortal enemy, and exclaimed, "Stand off!--on thy life, stand off!" + +"It is the word and the action of my husband," answered Elspat; "and I +know by his speech and his step the son of MacTavish Mhor." + +"Mother," said Hamish, relapsing from his tone of desperate firmness +into one of melancholy expostulation--"oh, dearest mother, wherefore +have you returned hither?" + +"Ask why the hind comes back to the fawn," said Elspat, "why the cat of +the mountain returns to her lodge and her young. Know you, Hamish, that +the heart of the mother only lives in the bosom of the child." + +"Then will it soon cease to throb," said Hamish, "unless it can beat +within a bosom that lies beneath the turf. Mother, do not blame me. If +I weep, it is not for myself but for you; for my sufferings will soon be +over, but yours--oh, who but Heaven shall set a boundary to them?" + +Elspat shuddered and stepped backward, but almost instantly resumed her +firm and upright position and her dauntless bearing. + +"I thought thou wert a man but even now," she said, "and thou art again +a child. Hearken to me yet, and let us leave this place together. Have I +done thee wrong or injury? if so, yet do not avenge it so cruelly. +See, Elspat MacTavish, who never kneeled before even to a priest, falls +prostrate before her own son, and craves his forgiveness." And at once +she threw herself on her knees before the young man, seized on his hand, +and kissing it an hundred times, repeated as often, in heart-breaking +accents, the most earnest entreaties for forgiveness. "Pardon," she +exclaimed, "pardon, for the sake of your father's ashes--pardon, for the +sake of the pain with which I bore thee, the care with which I nurtured +thee!--Hear it, Heaven, and behold it, Earth--the mother asks pardon of +her child, and she is refused!" + +It was in vain that Hamish endeavoured to stem this tide of passion, by +assuring his mother, with the most solemn asseverations, that he forgave +entirely the fatal deceit which she had practised upon him. + +"Empty words," she said, "idle protestations, which are but used to hide +the obduracy of your resentment. Would you have me believe you, then +leave the hut this instant, and retire from a country which every hour +renders more dangerous. Do this, and I may think you have forgiven me; +refuse it, and again I call on moon and stars, heaven and earth, to +witness the unrelenting resentment with which you prosecute your mother +for a fault, which, if it be one, arose out of love to you." + +"Mother," said Hamish, "on this subject you move me not. I will fly +before no man. If Barcaldine should send every Gael that is under his +banner, here, and in this place, will I abide them; and when you bid +me fly, you may as well command yonder mountain to be loosened from +its foundations. Had I been sure of the road by which they are coming +hither, I had spared them the pains of seeking me; but I might go by the +mountain, while they perchance came by the lake. Here I will abide my +fate; nor is there in Scotland a voice of power enough to bid me stir +from hence, and be obeyed." + +"Here, then, I also stay," said Elspat, rising up and speaking with +assumed composure. "I have seen my husband's death--my eyelids shall not +grieve to look on the fall of my son. But MacTavish Mhor died as became +the brave, with his good sword in his right hand; my son will perish +like the bullock that is driven to the shambles by the Saxon owner who +had bought him for a price." + +"Mother," said the unhappy young man, "you have taken my life. To that +you have a right, for you gave it; but touch not my honour! It came to +me from a brave train of ancestors, and should be sullied neither by +man's deed nor woman's speech. What I shall do, perhaps I myself yet +know not; but tempt me no farther by reproachful words--you have already +made wounds more than you can ever heal." + +"It is well, my son," said Elspat, in reply. "Expect neither farther +complaint nor remonstrance from me; but let us be silent, and wait the +chance which Heaven shall send us." + +The sun arose on the next morning, and found the bothy silent as the +grave. The mother and son had arisen, and were engaged each in their +separate task--Hamish in preparing and cleaning his arms with the +greatest accuracy, but with an air of deep dejection. Elspat, more +restless in her agony of spirit, employed herself in making ready the +food which the distress of yesterday had induced them both to dispense +with for an unusual number of hours. She placed it on the board before +her son so soon as it was prepared, with the words of a Gaelic poet, +"Without daily food, the husbandman's ploughshare stands still in the +furrow; without daily food, the sword of the warrior is too heavy for +his hand. Our bodies are our slaves, yet they must be fed if we would +have their service. So spake in ancient days the Blind Bard to the +warriors of Fion." + +The young man made no reply, but he fed on what was placed before him, +as if to gather strength for the scene which he was to undergo. When +his mother saw that he had eaten what sufficed him, she again filled the +fatal quaigh, and proffered it as the conclusion of the repast. But he +started aside with a convulsive gesture, expressive at once of fear and +abhorrence. + +"Nay, my son," she said, "this time surely, thou hast no cause of fear." + +"Urge me not, mother," answered Hamish--"or put the leprous toad into +a flagon, and I will drink; but from that accursed cup, and of that +mind-destroying potion, never will I taste more!" + +"At your pleasure, my son," said Elspat, haughtily, and began, with +much apparent assiduity, the various domestic tasks which had been +interrupted during the preceding day. Whatever was at her heart, all +anxiety seemed banished from her looks and demeanour. It was but from an +over-activity of bustling exertion that it might have been perceived, by +a close observer, that her actions were spurred by some internal cause +of painful excitement; and such a spectator, too, might also have +observed how often she broke off the snatches of songs or tunes which +she hummed, apparently without knowing what she was doing, in order to +cast a hasty glance from the door of the hut. Whatever might be in the +mind of Hamish, his demeanour was directly the reverse of that adopted +by his mother. Having finished the task of cleaning and preparing his +arms, which he arranged within the hut, he sat himself down before +the door of the bothy, and watched the opposite hill, like the fixed +sentinel who expects the approach of an enemy. Noon found him in the +same unchanged posture, and it was an hour after that period, when his +mother, standing beside him, laid her hand on his shoulder, and said, in +a tone indifferent, as if she had been talking of some friendly visit, +"When dost thou expect them?" + +"They cannot be here till the shadows fall long to the eastward," +replied Hamish; "that is, even supposing the nearest party, commanded by +Sergeant Allan Breack Cameron, has been commanded hither by express from +Dunbarton, as it is most likely they will." + +"Then enter beneath your mother's roof once more; partake the last time +of the food which she has prepared; after this, let them come, and thou +shalt see if thy mother is an useless encumbrance in the day of strife. +Thy hand, practised as it is, cannot fire these arms so fast as I can +load them; nay, if it is necessary, I do not myself fear the flash or +the report, and my aim has been held fatal." + +"In the name of Heaven, mother, meddle not with this matter!" said +Hamish. "Allan Breack is a wise man and a kind one, and comes of a good +stem. It may be, he can promise for our officers that they will touch +me with no infamous punishment; and if they offer me confinement in the +dungeon, or death by the musket, to that I may not object." + +"Alas, and wilt thou trust to their word, my foolish child? Remember the +race of Dermid were ever fair and false; and no sooner shall they have +gyves on thy hands, than they will strip thy shoulders for the scourge." + +"Save your advice, mother," said Hamish, sternly; "for me, my mind is +made up." + +But though he spoke thus, to escape the almost persecuting urgency of +his mother, Hamish would have found it, at that moment, impossible to +say upon what course of conduct he had thus fixed. On one point alone he +was determined--namely, to abide his destiny, be what it might, and not +to add to the breach of his word, of which he had been involuntarily +rendered guilty, by attempting to escape from punishment. This act of +self-devotion he conceived to be due to his own honour and that of his +countrymen. Which of his comrades would in future be trusted, if +he should be considered as having broken his word, and betrayed the +confidence of his officers? and whom but Hamish Bean MacTavish would the +Gael accuse for having verified and confirmed the suspicions which the +Saxon General was well known to entertain against the good faith of +the Highlanders? He was, therefore, bent firmly to abide his fate. But +whether his intention was to yield himself peaceably into the bands of +the party who should come to apprehend him, or whether he purposed, by +a show of resistance, to provoke them to kill him on the spot, was a +question which he could not himself have answered. His desire to see +Barcaldine, and explain the cause of his absence at the appointed time, +urged him to the one course; his fear of the degrading punishment, and +of his mother's bitter upbraidings, strongly instigated the latter and +the more dangerous purpose. He left it to chance to decide when the +crisis should arrive; nor did he tarry long in expectation of the +catastrophe. + +Evening approached; the gigantic shadows of the mountains streamed in +darkness towards the east, while their western peaks were still glowing +with crimson and gold. The road which winds round Ben Cruachan was +fully visible from the door of the bothy, when a party of five Highland +soldiers, whose arms glanced in the sun, wheeled suddenly into sight +from the most distant extremity, where the highway is hidden behind the +mountain. One of the party walked a little before the other four, who +marched regularly and in files, according to the rules of military +discipline. There was no dispute, from the firelocks which they carried, +and the plaids and bonnets which they wore, that they were a party of +Hamish's regiment, under a non-commissioned officer; and there could be +as little doubt of the purpose of their appearance on the banks of Loch +Awe. + +"They come briskly forward"--said the widow of MacTavish Mhor;--"I +wonder how fast or how slow some of them will return again! But they +are five, and it is too much odds for a fair field. Step back within the +hut, my son, and shoot from the loophole beside the door. Two you may +bring down ere they quit the highroad for the footpath--there will +remain but three; and your father, with my aid, has often stood against +that number." + +Hamish Bean took the gun which his mother offered, but did not stir from +the door of the hut. He was soon visible to the party on the highroad, +as was evident from their increasing their pace to a run--the files, +however, still keeping together like coupled greyhounds, and advancing +with great rapidity. In far less time than would have been accomplished +by men less accustomed to the mountains, they had left the highroad, +traversed the narrow path, and approached within pistol-shot of the +bothy, at the door of which stood Hamish, fixed like a statue of stone, +with his firelock in his band, while his mother, placed behind him, and +almost driven to frenzy by the violence of her passions, reproached +him in the strongest terms which despair could invent, for his want of +resolution and faintness of heart. Her words increased the bitter gall +which was arising in the young man's own spirit, as he observed the +unfriendly speed with which his late comrades were eagerly making +towards him, like hounds towards the stag when he is at bay. The untamed +and angry passions which he inherited from father and mother, were +awakened by the supposed hostility of those who pursued him; and the +restraint under which these passions had been hitherto held by his sober +judgment began gradually to give way. The sergeant now called to him, +"Hamish Bean MacTavish, lay down your arms and surrender." + +"Do YOU stand, Allan Breack Cameron, and command your men to stand, or +it will be the worse for us all." + +"Halt, men," said the sergeant, but continuing himself to advance. +"Hamish, think what you do, and give up your gun; you may spill blood, +but you cannot escape punishment." + +"The scourge--the scourge--my son, beware the scourge!" whispered his +mother. + +"Take heed, Allan Breack," said Hamish. "I would not hurt you willingly, +but I will not be taken unless you can assure me against the Saxon +lash." + +"Fool!" answered Cameron, "you know I cannot. Yet I will do all I can. I +will say I met you on your return, and the punishment will be light; but +give up your musket--Come on, men." + +Instantly he rushed forward, extending his arm as if to push aside the +young man's levelled firelock. Elspat exclaimed, "Now, spare not your +father's blood to defend your father's hearth!" Hamish fired his piece, +and Cameron dropped dead. All these things happened, it might be said, +in the same moment of time. The soldiers rushed forward and seized +Hamish, who, seeming petrified with what he had done, offered not the +least resistance. Not so his mother, who, seeing the men about to put +handcuffs on her son, threw herself on the soldiers with such fury, +that it required two of them to hold her, while the rest secured the +prisoner. + +"Are you not an accursed creature," said one of the men to Hamish, "to +have slain your best friend, who was contriving, during the whole march, +how he could find some way of getting you off without punishment for +your desertion?" + +"Do you hear THAT, mother?" said Hamish, turning himself as much towards +her as his bonds would permit; but the mother heard nothing, and saw +nothing. She had fainted on the floor of her hut. Without waiting for +her recovery, the party almost immediately began their homeward march +towards Dunbarton, leading along with them their prisoner. They thought +it necessary, however, to stay for a little space at the village of +Dalmally, from which they despatched a party of the inhabitants to +bring away the body of their unfortunate leader, while they themselves +repaired to a magistrate, to state what had happened, and require his +instructions as to the farther course to be pursued. The crime being +of a military character, they were instructed to march the prisoner to +Dunbarton without delay. + +The swoon of the mother of Hamish lasted for a length of time--the +longer perhaps that her constitution, strong as it was, must have been +much exhausted by her previous agitation of three days' endurance. She +was roused from her stupor at length by female voices, which cried +the coronach, or lament for the dead, with clapping of hands and loud +exclamations; while the melancholy note of a lament, appropriate to the +clan Cameron, played on the bagpipe, was heard from time to time. + +Elspat started up like one awakened from the dead, and without any +accurate recollection of the scene which had passed before her eyes. +There were females in the hut who were swathing the corpse in its +bloody plaid before carrying it from the fatal spot. "Women," she said, +starting up and interrupting their chant at once and their labour--"Tell +me, women, why sing you the dirge of MacDhonuil Dhu in the house of +MacTavish Mhor?" + +"She-wolf, be silent with thine ill-omened yell," answered one of the +females, a relation of the deceased, "and let us do our duty to our +beloved kinsman. There shall never be coronach cried, or dirge played, +for thee or thy bloody wolf-burd. [Wolf-brood--that is, wolf-cub.] The +ravens shall eat him from the gibbet, and the foxes and wild-cats shall +tear thy corpse upon the hill. Cursed be he that would sain [Bless.] +your bones, or add a stone to your cairn!" + +"Daughter of a foolish mother," answered the widow of MacTavish Mhor, +"know that the gibbet with which you threaten us is no portion of our +inheritance. For thirty years the Black Tree of the Law, whose apples +are dead men's bodies, hungered after the beloved husband of my heart; +but he died like a brave man, with the sword in his hand, and defrauded +it of its hopes and its fruit." + +"So shall it not be with thy child, bloody sorceress," replied the +female mourner, whose passions were as violent as those of Elspat +herself. "The ravens shall tear his fair hair to line their nests, +before the sun sinks beneath the Treshornish islands." + +These words recalled to Elspat's mind the whole history of the last +three dreadful days. At first she stood fixed, as if the extremity of +distress had converted her into stone; but in a minute, the pride and +violence of her temper, outbraved as she thought herself on her own +threshold, enabled her to reply, "Yes, insulting hag, my fair-haired boy +may die, but it will not be with a white hand. It has been dyed in the +blood of his enemy, in the best blood of a Cameron--remember that; and +when you lay your dead in his grave, let it be his best epitaph that +he was killed by Hamish Bean for essaying to lay hands on the son of +MacTavish Mhor on his own threshold. Farewell--the shame of defeat, +loss, and slaughter remain with the clan that has endured it!" + +The relative of the slaughtered Cameron raised her voice in reply; but +Elspat, disdaining to continue the objurgation, or perhaps feeling her +grief likely to overmaster her power of expressing her resentment, had +left the hut, and was walking forth in the bright moonshine. + +The females who were arranging the corpse of the slaughtered man hurried +from their melancholy labour to look after her tall figure as it glided +away among the cliffs. "I am glad she is gone," said one of the younger +persons who assisted. "I would as soon dress a corpse when the great +fiend himself--God sain us!--stood visibly before us, as when Elspat of +the Tree is amongst us. Ay, ay, even overmuch intercourse hath she had +with the enemy in her day." + +"Silly woman," answered the female who had maintained the dialogue +with the departed Elspat, "thinkest thou that there is a worse fiend on +earth, or beneath it, than the pride and fury of an offended woman, like +yonder bloody-minded hag? Know that blood has been as familiar to her as +the dew to the mountain daisy. Many and many a brave man has she caused +to breathe their last for little wrong they had done to her or theirs. +But her hough-sinews are cut, now that her wolf-burd must, like a +murderer as he is, make a murderer's end." + +Whilst the women thus discoursed together, as they watched the corpse of +Allan Breack Cameron, the unhappy cause of his death pursued her lonely +way across the mountain. While she remained within sight of the bothy, +she put a strong constraint on herself, that by no alteration of pace or +gesture she might afford to her enemies the triumph of calculating the +excess of her mental agitation, nay, despair. She stalked, therefore, +with a slow rather than a swift step, and, holding herself upright, +seemed at once to endure with firmness that woe which was passed, and +bid defiance to that which was about to come. But when she was beyond +the sight of those who remained in the hut, she could no longer suppress +the extremity of her agitation. Drawing her mantle wildly round her, +she stopped at the first knoll, and climbing to its summit, extended +her arms up to the bright moon, as if accusing heaven and earth for her +misfortunes, and uttered scream on scream, like those of an eagle whose +nest has been plundered of her brood. Awhile she vented her grief +in these inarticulate cries, then rushed on her way with a hasty +and unequal step, in the vain hope of overtaking the party which was +conveying her son a prisoner to Dunbarton. But her strength, superhuman +as it seemed, failed her in the trial; nor was it possible for her, with +her utmost efforts, to accomplish her purpose. + +Yet she pressed onward, with all the speed which her exhausted frame +could exert. When food became indispensable, she entered the first +cottage. "Give me to eat," she said. "I am the widow of MacTavish +Mhor--I am the mother of Hamish MacTavish Bean,--give me to eat, that +I may once more see my fair-haired son." Her demand was never refused, +though granted in many cases with a kind of struggle between compassion +and aversion in some of those to whom she applied, which was in others +qualified by fear. The share she had had in occasioning the death of +Allan Breack Cameron, which must probably involve that of her own son, +was not accurately known; but, from a knowledge of her violent passions +and former habits of life, no one doubted that in one way or other she +had been the cause of the catastrophe, and Hamish Bean was considered, +in the slaughter which he had committed, rather as the instrument than +as the accomplice of his mother. + +This general opinion of his countrymen was of little service to the +unfortunate Hamish. As his captain, Green Colin, understood the manners +and habits of his country, he had no difficulty in collecting from +Hamish the particulars accompanying his supposed desertion, and the +subsequent death of the non-commissioned officer. He felt the utmost +compassion for a youth, who had thus fallen a victim to the extravagant +and fatal fondness of a parent. But he had no excuse to plead which +could rescue his unhappy recruit from the doom which military discipline +and the award of a court-martial denounced against him for the crime he +had committed. + +No time had been lost in their proceedings, and as little was interposed +betwixt sentence and execution. General -- had determined to make a +severe example of the first deserter who should fall into his power, and +here was one who had defended himself by main force, and slain in the +affray the officer sent to take him into custody. A fitter subject +for punishment could not have occurred, and Hamish was sentenced to +immediate execution. All which the interference of his captain in his +favour could procure was that he should die a soldier's death; for there +had been a purpose of executing him upon the gibbet. + +The worthy clergyman of Glenorquhy chanced to be at Dunbarton, in +attendance upon some church courts, at the time of this catastrophe. He +visited his unfortunate parishioner in his dungeon, found him ignorant +indeed, but not obstinate, and the answers which he received from him, +when conversing on religious topics, were such as induced him doubly +to regret that a mind naturally pure and noble should have remained +unhappily so wild and uncultivated. + +When he ascertained the real character and disposition of the young man, +the worthy pastor made deep and painful reflections on his own shyness +and timidity, which, arising out of the evil fame that attached to the +lineage of Hamish, had restrained him from charitably endeavouring to +bring this strayed sheep within the great fold. While the good minister +blamed his cowardice in times past, which had deterred him from risking +his person, to save, perhaps, an immortal soul, he resolved no longer to +be governed by such timid counsels, but to endeavour, by application to +his officers, to obtain a reprieve, at least, if not a pardon, for the +criminal, in whom he felt so unusually interested, at once from his +docility of temper and his generosity of disposition. + +Accordingly the divine sought out Captain Campbell at the barracks +within the garrison. There was a gloomy melancholy on the brow of Green +Colin, which was not lessened, but increased, when the clergyman stated +his name, quality, and errand. "You cannot tell me better of the young +man than I am disposed to believe," answered the Highland officer; "you +cannot ask me to do more in his behalf than I am of myself inclined, +and have already endeavoured to do. But it is all in vain. General -- +is half a Lowlander, half an Englishman. He has no idea of the high and +enthusiastic character which in these mountains often brings exalted +virtues in contact with great crimes, which, however, are less offences +of the heart than errors of the understanding. I have gone so far as to +tell him, that in this young man he was putting to death the best and +the bravest of my company, where all, or almost all, are good and brave. +I explained to him by what strange delusion the culprit's apparent +desertion was occasioned, and how little his heart was accessory to the +crime which his hand unhappily committed. His answer was, 'These are +Highland visions, Captain Campbell, as unsatisfactory and vain as those +of the second sight. An act of gross desertion may, in any case, be +palliated under the plea of intoxication; the murder of an officer may +be as easily coloured over with that of temporary insanity. The example +must be made, and if it has fallen on a man otherwise a good recruit, +it will have the greater effect.' Such being the general's unalterable +purpose," continued Captain Campbell, with a sigh, "be it your care, +reverend sir, that your penitent prepare by break of day tomorrow for +that great change which we shall all one day be subjected to." + +"And for which," said the clergyman, "may God prepare us all, as I in my +duty will not be wanting to this poor youth!" + +Next morning, as the very earliest beams of sunrise saluted the grey +towers which crown the summit of that singular and tremendous rock, the +soldiers of the new Highland regiment appeared on the parade, within +the Castle of Dunbarton, and having fallen into order, began to move +downward by steep staircases, and narrow passages towards the external +barrier-gate, which is at the very bottom of the rock. The wild wailings +of the pibroch were heard at times, interchanged with the drums and +fifes, which beat the Dead March. + +The unhappy criminal's fate did not, at first, excite that general +sympathy in the regiment which would probably have arisen had he been +executed for desertion alone. The slaughter of the unfortunate Allan +Breack had given a different colour to Hamish's offence; for the +deceased was much beloved, and besides belonged to a numerous and +powerful clan, of whom there were many in the ranks. The unfortunate +criminal, on the contrary, was little known to, and scarcely connected +with, any of his regimental companions. His father had been, indeed, +distinguished for his strength and manhood; but he was of a broken clan, +as those names were called who had no chief to lead them to battle. + +It would have been almost impossible in another case to have turned out +of the ranks of the regiment the party necessary for execution of +the sentence; but the six individuals selected for that purpose, +were friends of the deceased, descended, like him, from the race of +MacDhonuil Dhu; and while they prepared for the dismal task which their +duty imposed, it was not without a stern feeling of gratified revenge. +The leading company of the regiment began now to defile from the +barrier-gate, and was followed by the others, each successively moving +and halting according to the orders of the adjutant, so as to form three +sides of an oblong square, with the ranks faced inwards. The fourth, or +blank side of the square, was closed up by the huge and lofty precipice +on which the Castle rises. About the centre of the procession, +bare-headed, disarmed, and with his hands bound, came the unfortunate +victim of military law. He was deadly pale, but his step was firm and +his eye as bright as ever. The clergyman walked by his side; the coffin, +which was to receive his mortal remains, was borne before him. The looks +of his comrades were still, composed, and solemn. They felt for the +youth, whose handsome form and manly yet submissive deportment had, as +soon as he was distinctly visible to them, softened the hearts of many, +even of some who had been actuated by vindictive feelings. + +The coffin destined for the yet living body of Hamish Bean was placed at +the bottom of the hollow square, about two yards distant from the foot +of the precipice, which rises in that place as steep as a stone wall to +the height of three or four hundred feet. Thither the prisoner was +also led, the clergyman still continuing by his side, pouring forth +exhortations of courage and consolation, to which the youth appeared +to listen with respectful devotion. With slow, and, it seemed, almost +unwilling steps, the firing party entered the square, and were drawn +up facing the prisoner, about ten yards distant. The clergyman was now +about to retire. "Think, my son," he said, "on what I have told you, and +let your hope be rested on the anchor which I have given. You will then +exchange a short and miserable existence here for a life in which you +will experience neither sorrow nor pain. Is there aught else which you +can entrust to me to execute for you?" + +The youth looked at his sleeve buttons. They were of gold, booty perhaps +which his father had taken from some English officer during the civil +wars. The clergyman disengaged them from his sleeves. + +"My mother!" he said with some effort--"give them to my poor mother! See +her, good father, and teach her what she should think of all this. Tell +her Hamish Bean is more glad to die than ever he was to rest after the +longest day's hunting. Farewell, sir--farewell!" + +The good man could scarce retire from the fatal spot. An officer +afforded him the support of his arm. At his last look towards Hamish, +he beheld him alive and kneeling on the coffin; the few that were around +him had all withdrawn. The fatal word was given, the rock rung sharp to +the sound of the discharge, and Hamish, falling forward with a groan, +died, it may be supposed, without almost a sense of the passing agony. + +Ten or twelve of his own company then came forward, and laid with solemn +reverence the remains of their comrade in the coffin, while the Dead +March was again struck up, and the several companies, marching in single +files, passed the coffin one by one, in order that all might receive +from the awful spectacle the warning which it was peculiarly intended to +afford. The regiment was then marched off the ground, and reascended the +ancient cliff, their music, as usual on such occasions, striking lively +strains, as if sorrow, or even deep thought, should as short a while as +possible be the tenant of the soldier's bosom. + +At the same time the small party, which we before mentioned, bore the +bier of the ill-fated Hamish to his humble grave, in a corner of the +churchyard of Dunbarton, usually assigned to criminals. Here, among the +dust of the guilty, lies a youth, whose name, had he survived the ruin +of the fatal events by which he was hurried into crime, might have +adorned the annals of the brave. + +The minister of Glenorquhy left Dunbarton immediately after he had +witnessed the last scene of this melancholy catastrophe. His reason +acquiesced in the justice of the sentence, which required blood +for blood, and he acknowledged that the vindictive character of his +countrymen required to be powerfully restrained by the strong curb of +social law. But still he mourned over the individual victim. Who may +arraign the bolt of Heaven when it bursts among the sons of the forest? +yet who can refrain from mourning when it selects for the object of +its blighting aim the fair stem of a young oak, that promised to be the +pride of the dell in which it flourished? Musing on these melancholy +events, noon found him engaged in the mountain passes, by which he was +to return to his still distant home. + +Confident in his knowledge of the country, the clergyman had left the +main road, to seek one of those shorter paths, which are only used by +pedestrians, or by men, like the minister, mounted on the small, but +sure-footed, hardy, and sagacious horses of the country. The place which +he now traversed was in itself gloomy and desolate, and tradition had +added to it the terror of superstition, by affirming it was haunted +by an evil spirit, termed CLOGHT-DEARG--that is, Redmantle--who at all +times, but especially at noon and at midnight, traversed the glen, in +enmity both to man and the inferior creation, did such evil as her power +was permitted to extend to, and afflicted with ghastly terrors those +whom she had not license otherwise to hurt. + +The minister of Glenorquhy had set his face in opposition to many of +these superstitions, which he justly thought were derived from the dark +ages of Popery, perhaps even from those of paganism, and unfit to be +entertained or believed by the Christians of an enlightened age. Some +of his more attached parishioners considered him as too rash in opposing +the ancient faith of their fathers; and though they honoured the moral +intrepidity of their pastor, they could not avoid entertaining and +expressing fears that he would one day fall a victim to his temerity, +and be torn to pieces in the glen of the Cloght-dearg, or some of +those other haunted wilds, which he appeared rather to have a pride +and pleasure in traversing alone, on the days and hours when the wicked +spirits were supposed to have especial power over man and beast. + +These legends came across the mind of the clergyman, and, solitary as +he was, a melancholy smile shaded his cheek, as he thought of the +inconsistency of human nature, and reflected how many brave men, whom +the yell of the pibroch would have sent headlong against fixed bayonets, +as the wild bull rushes on his enemy, might have yet feared to encounter +those visionary terrors, which he himself, a man of peace, and in +ordinary perils no way remarkable for the firmness of his nerves, was +now risking without hesitation. + +As he looked around the scene of desolation, he could not but +acknowledge, in his own mind, that it was not ill chosen for the haunt +of those spirits, which are said to delight in solitude and desolation. +The glen was so steep and narrow that there was but just room for the +meridian sun to dart a few scattered rays upon the gloomy and precarious +stream which stole through its recesses, for the most part in silence, +but occasionally murmuring sullenly against the rocks and large stones +which seemed determined to bar its further progress. In winter, or in +the rainy season, this small stream was a foaming torrent of the most +formidable magnitude, and it was at such periods that it had torn open +and laid bare the broad-faced and huge fragments of rock which, at +the season of which we speak, hid its course from the eye, and seemed +disposed totally to interrupt its course. "Undoubtedly," thought the +clergyman, "this mountain rivulet, suddenly swelled by a waterspout +or thunderstorm, has often been the cause of those accidents which, +happening in the glen called by her name, have been ascribed to the +agency of the Cloght-dearg." + +Just as this idea crossed his mind, he heard a female voice exclaim, in +a wild and thrilling accent, "Michael Tyrie! Michael Tyrie!" He looked +round in astonishment, and not without some fear. It seemed for an +instant, as if the evil being, whose existence he had disowned, was +about to appear for the punishment of his incredulity. This alarm did +not hold him more than an instant, nor did it prevent his replying in a +firm voice, "Who calls? and where are you?" + +"One who journeys in wretchedness, between life and death," answered the +voice; and the speaker, a tall female, appeared from among the fragments +of rocks which had concealed her from view. + +As she approached more closely, her mantle of bright tartan, in which +the red colour much predominated, her stature, the long stride with +which she advanced, and the writhen features and wild eyes which +were visible from under her curch, would have made her no inadequate +representative of the spirit which gave name to the valley. But +Mr. Tyrie instantly knew her as the Woman of the Tree, the widow of +MacTavish Mhor, the now childless mother of Hamish Bean. I am not +sure whether the minister would not have endured the visitation of +the Cloght-dearg herself, rather than the shock of Elspat's +presence, considering her crime and her misery. He drew up his horse +instinctively, and stood endeavouring to collect his ideas, while a few +paces brought her up to his horse's head. + +"Michael Tyrie," said she, "the foolish women of the Clachan [The +village; literally, the stones.] hold thee as a god--be one to me, and +say that my son lives. Say this, and I too will be of thy worship; I +will bend my knees on the seventh day in thy house of worship, and thy +God shall be my God." + +"Unhappy woman," replied the clergyman, "man forms not pactions with his +Maker as with a creature of clay like himself. Thinkest thou to chaffer +with Him, who formed the earth, and spread out the heavens, or that thou +canst offer aught of homage or devotion that can be worth acceptance +in his eyes? He hath asked obedience, not sacrifice; patience under the +trials with which He afflicts us, instead of vain bribes, such as man +offers to his changeful brother of clay, that he may be moved from his +purpose." + +"Be silent, priest!" answered the desperate woman; "speak not to me +the words of thy white book. Elspat's kindred were of those who crossed +themselves and knelt when the sacring bell was rung, and she knows that +atonement can be made on the altar for deeds done in the field. Elspat +had once flocks and herds, goats upon the cliffs, and cattle in the +strath. She wore gold around her neck and on her hair--thick twists, as +those worn by the heroes of old. All these would she have resigned to +the priest--all these; and if he wished for the ornaments of a gentle +lady, or the sporran of a high chief, though they had been great as +Macallum Mhor himself, MacTavish Mhor would have procured them, if +Elspat had promised them. Elspat is now poor, and has nothing to give. +But the Black Abbot of Inchaffray would have bidden her scourge her +shoulders, and macerate her feet by pilgrimage; and he would have +granted his pardon to her when he saw that her blood had flowed, and +that her flesh had been torn. These were the priests who had indeed +power even with the most powerful; they threatened the great men of +the earth with the word of their mouth, the sentence of their book, the +blaze of their torch, the sound of their sacring bell. The mighty bent +to their will, and unloosed at the word of the priests those whom they +had bound in their wrath, and set at liberty, unharmed, him whom they +had sentenced to death, and for whose blood they had thirsted. These +were a powerful race, and might well ask the poor to kneel, since their +power could humble the proud. But you!--against whom are ye strong, +but against women who have been guilty of folly, and men who never wore +sword? The priests of old were like the winter torrent which fills +this hollow valley, and rolls these massive rocks against each other +as easily as the boy plays with the ball which he casts before him. But +you!--you do but resemble the summer-stricken stream, which is turned +aside by the rushes, and stemmed by a bush of sedges. Woe worth you, for +there is no help in you!" + +The clergyman was at no loss to conceive that Elspat had lost the Roman +Catholic faith without gaining any other, and that she still retained +a vague and confused idea of the composition with the priesthood, by +confession, alms, and penance, and of their extensive power, which, +according to her notion, was adequate, if duly propitiated, even to +effecting her son's safety. Compassionating her situation, and allowing +for her errors and ignorance, he answered her with mildness. + +"Alas, unhappy woman! Would to God I could convince thee as easily +where thou oughtest to seek, and art sure to find, consolation, as I +can assure you with a single word, that were Rome and all her priesthood +once more in the plenitude of their power, they could not, for largesse +or penance, afford to thy misery an atom of aid or comfort--Elspat +MacTavish, I grieve to tell you the news." + +"I know them without thy speech," said the unhappy woman. "My son is +doomed to die." + +"Elspat," resumed the clergyman, "he WAS doomed, and the sentence has +been executed." + +The hapless mother threw her eyes up to heaven, and uttered a shriek so +unlike the voice of a human being, that the eagle which soared in middle +air answered it as she would have done the call of her mate. + +"It is impossible!" she exclaimed--"it is impossible! Men do not condemn +and kill on the same day! Thou art deceiving me. The people call thee +holy--hast thou the heart to tell a mother she has murdered her only +child?" + +"God knows," said the priest, the tears falling fast from his eyes, +"that were it in my power, I would gladly tell better tidings. But these +which I bear are as certain as they are fatal. My own ears heard the +death-shot, my own eyes beheld thy son's death--thy son's funeral. My +tongue bears witness to what my ears heard and my eyes saw." + +The wretched female clasped her bands close together, and held them up +towards heaven like a sibyl announcing war and desolation, while, in +impotent yet frightful rage, she poured forth a tide of the deepest +imprecations. "Base Saxon churl!" she exclaimed--"vile hypocritical +juggler! May the eyes that looked tamely on the death of my fair-haired +boy be melted in their sockets with ceaseless tears, shed for those +that are nearest and most dear to thee! May the ears that heard his +death-knell be dead hereafter to all other sounds save the screech of +the raven, and the hissing of the adder! May the tongue that tells me of +his death and of my own crime, be withered in thy mouth--or better, when +thou wouldst pray with thy people, may the Evil One guide it, and give +voice to blasphemies instead of blessings, until men shall fly in terror +from thy presence, and the thunder of heaven be launched against thy +head, and stop for ever thy cursing and accursed voice! Begone, with +this malison! Elspat will never, never again bestow so many words upon +living man." + +She kept her word. From that day the world was to her a wilderness, in +which she remained without thought, care, or interest, absorbed in her +own grief, indifferent to every thing else. + +With her mode of life, or rather of existence, the reader is already as +far acquainted as I have the power of making him. Of her death, I can +tell him nothing. It is supposed to have happened several years after +she had attracted the attention of my excellent friend Mrs. Bethune +Baliol. Her benevolence, which was never satisfied with dropping a +sentimental tear, when there was room for the operation of effective +charity, induced her to make various attempts to alleviate the condition +of this most wretched woman. But all her exertions could only render +Elspat's means of subsistence less precarious--a circumstance which, +though generally interesting even to the most wretched outcasts, seemed +to her a matter of total indifference. Every attempt to place any +person in her hut to take charge of her miscarried, through the extreme +resentment with which she regarded all intrusion on her solitude, or by +the timidity of those who had been pitched upon to be inmates with the +terrible Woman of the Tree. At length, when Elspat became totally unable +(in appearance at least) to turn herself on the wretched settle which +served her for a couch, the humanity of Mr. Tyrie's successor sent two +women to attend upon the last moments of the solitary, which could not, +it was judged, be far distant, and to avert the possibility that she +might perish for want of assistance or food, before she sunk under the +effects of extreme age or mortal malady. + +It was on a November evening, that the two women appointed for this +melancholy purpose arrived at the miserable cottage which we have +already described. Its wretched inmate lay stretched upon the bed, and +seemed almost already a lifeless corpse, save for the wandering of the +fierce dark eyes, which rolled in their sockets in a manner terrible to +look upon, and seemed to watch with surprise and indignation the motions +of the strangers, as persons whose presence was alike unexpected and +unwelcome. They were frightened at her looks; but, assured in each +other's company, they kindled a fire, lighted a candle, prepared food, +and made other arrangements for the discharge of the duty assigned them. + +The assistants agreed they should watch the bedside of the sick person +by turns; but, about midnight, overcome by fatigue, (for they had walked +far that morning), both of them fell fast asleep. When they awoke, which +was not till after the interval of some hours, the hut was empty, and +the patient gone. They rose in terror, and went to the door of the +cottage, which was latched as it had been at night. They looked out into +the darkness, and called upon their charge by her name. The night-raven +screamed from the old oak-tree, the fox howled on the hill, the hoarse +waterfall replied with its echoes; but there was no human answer. The +terrified women did not dare to make further search till morning should +appear; for the sudden disappearance of a creature so frail as Elspat, +together with the wild tenor of her history, intimidated them from +stirring from the hut. They remained, therefore, in dreadful terror, +sometimes thinking they heard her voice without, and at other times, +that sounds of a different description were mingled with the mournful +sigh of the night-breeze, or the dashing of the cascade. Sometimes, +too, the latch rattled, as if some frail and impotent hand were in vain +attempting to lift it, and ever and anon they expected the entrance of +their terrible patient, animated by supernatural strength, and in the +company, perhaps, of some being more dreadful than herself. Morning came +at length. They sought brake, rock, and thicket in vain. Two hours +after daylight, the minister himself appeared, and, on the report of +the watchers, caused the country to be alarmed, and a general and exact +search to be made through the whole neighbourhood of the cottage and +the oak-tree. But it was all in vain. Elspat MacTavish was never found, +whether dead or alive; nor could there ever be traced the slightest +circumstance to indicate her fate. + +The neighbourhood was divided concerning the cause of her disappearance. +The credulous thought that the evil spirit, under whose influence she +seemed to have acted, had carried her away in the body; and there are +many who are still unwilling, at untimely hours, to pass the oak-tree, +beneath which, as they allege, she may still be seen seated according to +her wont. Others less superstitious supposed, that had it been possible +to search the gulf of the Corri Dhu, the profound deeps of the lake, or +the whelming eddies of the river, the remains of Elspat MacTavish might +have been discovered--as nothing was more natural, considering her state +of body and mind, than that she should have fallen in by accident, or +precipitated herself intentionally, into one or other of those places +of sure destruction. The clergyman entertained an opinion of his own. +He thought that, impatient of the watch which was placed over her, this +unhappy woman's instinct had taught her, as it directs various domestic +animals, to withdraw herself from the sight of her own race, that +the death-struggle might take place in some secret den, where, in all +probability, her mortal relics would never meet the eyes of mortals. +This species of instinctive feeling seemed to him of a tenor with the +whole course of her unhappy life, and most likely to influence her when +it drew to a conclusion. + +End of THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + + +***** + + +MR. CROFTANGRY INTRODUCES ANOTHER TALE. + + Together both on the high lawns appeared. + Under the opening eyelids of the morn + They drove afield. ELEGY ON LYCIDAS. + +I have sometimes wondered why all the favourite occupations and pastimes +of mankind go to the disturbance of that happy state of tranquillity, +that OTIUM, as Horace terms it, which he says is the object of all men's +prayers, whether preferred from sea or land; and that the undisturbed +repose, of which we are so tenacious, when duty or necessity compels +us to abandon it, is precisely what we long to exchange for a state of +excitation, as soon as we may prolong it at our own pleasure. Briefly, +you have only to say to a man, "Remain at rest," and you instantly +inspire the love of labour. The sportsman toils like his gamekeeper, +the master of the pack takes as severe exercise as his whipper-in, the +statesman or politician drudges more than the professional lawyer; and, +to come to my own case, the volunteer author subjects himself to the +risk of painful criticism, and the assured certainty of mental +and manual labour, just as completely as his needy brother, whose +necessities compel him to assume the pen. + +These reflections have been suggested by an annunciation on the part +of Janet, "that the little Gillie-whitefoot was come from the +printing-office." + +"Gillie-blackfoot you should call him, Janet," was my response, "for he +is neither more nor less than an imp of the devil, come to torment +me for COPY, for so the printers call a supply of manuscript for the +press." + +"Now, Cot forgie your honour," said Janet; "for it is no like your +ainsell to give such names to a faitherless bairn." + +"I have got nothing else to give him, Janet; he must wait a little." + +"Then I have got some breakfast to give the bit gillie," said Janet; +"and he can wait by the fireside in the kitchen, till your honour's +ready; and cood enough for the like of him, if he was to wait your +honour's pleasure all day." + +"But, Janet," said I to my little active superintendent, on her return +to the parlour, after having made her hospitable arrangements, "I begin +to find this writing our Chronicles is rather more tiresome than I +expected, for here comes this little fellow to ask for manuscript--that +is, for something to print--and I have got none to give him." + +"Your honour can be at nae loss. I have seen you write fast and fast +enough; and for subjects, you have the whole Highlands to write about, +and I am sure you know a hundred tales better than that about Hamish +MacTavish, for it was but about a young cateran and an auld carlin, when +all's done; and if they had burned the rudas quean for a witch, I am +thinking, may be they would not have tyned their coals--and her to gar +her ne'er-do-weel son shoot a gentleman Cameron! I am third cousin to +the Camerons mysel'--my blood warms to them. And if you want to write +about deserters, I am sure there were deserters enough on the top of +Arthur's Seat, when the MacRaas broke out, and on that woeful day beside +Leith Pier--ohonari!"-- + +Here Janet began to weep, and to wipe her eyes with her apron. For my +part, the idea I wanted was supplied, but I hesitated to make use of it. +Topics, like times, are apt to become common by frequent use. It is +only an ass like Justice Shallow, who would pitch upon the over-scutched +tunes, which the carmen whistled, and try to pass them off as his +FANCIES and his GOOD-NIGHTS. Now, the Highlands, though formerly a rich +mine for original matter, are, as my friend Mrs. Bethune Baliol warned +me, in some degree worn out by the incessant labour of modern romancers +and novelists, who, finding in those remote regions primitive habits and +manners, have vainly imagined that the public can never tire of them; +and so kilted Highlanders are to be found as frequently, and nearly of +as genuine descent, on the shelves of a circulating library, as at a +Caledonian ball. Much might have been made at an earlier time out of +the history of a Highland regiment, and the singular revolution of ideas +which must have taken place in the minds of those who composed it, when +exchanging their native hills for the battle-fields of the Continent, +and their simple, and sometimes indolent domestic habits for the regular +exertions demanded by modern discipline. But the market is forestalled. +There is Mrs. Grant of Laggan, has drawn the manners, customs, and +superstitions of the mountains in their natural unsophisticated state; +[Letters from the Mountains, 3 vols.--Essays on the Superstitions of +the Highlanders--The Highlanders, and other Poems, etc.] and my friend, +General Stewart of Garth, [The gallant and amiable author of the History +of the Highland Regiments, in whose glorious services his own share +had been great, went out Governor of St Lucia in 1828, and died in that +island on the 18th of December 1829,--no man more regretted, or perhaps +by a wider circle of friends and acquaintance.] in giving the real +history of the Highland regiments, has rendered any attempt to fill up +the sketch with fancy-colouring extremely rash and precarious. Yet +I, too, have still a lingering fancy to add a stone to the cairn; +and without calling in imagination to aid the impressions of +juvenile recollection, I may just attempt to embody one or two scenes +illustrative of the Highland character, and which belong peculiarly to +the Chronicles of the Canongate, to the grey-headed eld of whom they +are as familiar as to Chrystal Croftangry. Yet I will not go back to the +days of clanship and claymores. Have at you, gentle reader, with a +tale of Two Drovers. An oyster may be crossed in love, says the gentle +Tilburina--and a drover may be touched on a point of honour, says the +Chronicler of the Canongate. + + +***** + + + + +THE TWO DROVERS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +It was the day after Doune Fair when my story commences. It had been a +brisk market. Several dealers had attended from the northern and midland +counties in England, and English money had flown so merrily about as to +gladden the hearts of the Highland farmers. Many large droves were about +to set off for England, under the protection of their owners, or of the +topsmen whom they employed in the tedious, laborious, and responsible +office of driving the cattle for many hundred miles, from the market +where they had been purchased, to the fields or farmyards where they +were to be fattened for the shambles. + +The Highlanders in particular are masters of this difficult trade +of driving, which seems to suit them as well as the trade of war. It +affords exercise for all their habits of patient endurance and active +exertion. They are required to know perfectly the drove-roads, which lie +over the wildest tracts of the country, and to avoid as much as +possible the highways, which distress the feet of the bullocks, and the +turnpikes, which annoy the spirit of the drover; whereas on the broad +green or grey track which leads across the pathless moor, the herd +not only move at ease and without taxation, but, if they mind their +business, may pick up a mouthful of food by the way. At night the +drovers usually sleep along with their cattle, let the weather be what +it will; and many of these hardy men do not once rest under a roof +during a journey on foot from Lochaber to Lincolnshire. They are paid +very highly, for the trust reposed is of the last importance, as it +depends on their prudence, vigilance, and honesty whether the cattle +reach the final market in good order, and afford a profit to the +grazier. But as they maintain themselves at their own expense, they are +especially economical in that particular. At the period we speak of, a +Highland drover was victualled for his long and toilsome journey with a +few handfulls of oatmeal and two or three onions, renewed from time to +time, and a ram's horn filled with whisky, which he used regularly, but +sparingly, every night and morning. His dirk, or SKENE-DHU, (that is, +black-knife), so worn as to be concealed beneath the arm, or by the +folds of the plaid, was his only weapon, excepting the cudgel with which +he directed the movements of the cattle. A Highlander was never so happy +as on these occasions. There was a variety in the whole journey, which +exercised the Celt's natural curiosity and love of motion. There were +the constant change of place and scene, the petty adventures incidental +to the traffic, and the intercourse with the various farmers, graziers, +and traders, intermingled with occasional merry-makings, not the less +acceptable to Donald that they were void of expense. And there was the +consciousness of superior skill; for the Highlander, a child amongst +flocks, is a prince amongst herds, and his natural habits induce him to +disdain the shepherd's slothful life, so that he feels himself nowhere +more at home than when following a gallant drove of his country cattle +in the character of their guardian. + +Of the number who left Doune in the morning, and with the purpose +we have described, not a GLUNAMIE of them all cocked his bonnet more +briskly, or gartered his tartan hose under knee over a pair of +more promising SPIOGS, (legs), than did Robin Oig M'Combich, called +familiarly Robin Oig, that is young, or the Lesser, Robin. Though small +of stature, as the epithet Oig implies, and not very strongly limbed, +he was as light and alert as one of the deer of his mountains. He had +an elasticity of step which, in the course of a long march, made many a +stout fellow envy him; and the manner in which he busked his plaid +and adjusted his bonnet argued a consciousness that so smart a John +Highlandman as himself would not pass unnoticed among the Lowland +lasses. The ruddy cheek, red lips, and white teeth set off a countenance +which had gained by exposure to the weather a healthful and hardy +rather than a rugged hue. If Robin Oig did not laugh, or even smile +frequently--as, indeed, is not the practice among his countrymen--his +bright eyes usually gleamed from under his bonnet with an expression of +cheerfulness ready to be turned into mirth. + +The departure of Robin Oig was an incident in the little town, in and +near which he had many friends, male and female. He was a topping person +in his way, transacted considerable business on his own behalf, and was +entrusted by the best farmers in the Highlands, in preference to any +other drover in that district. He might have increased his business to +any extent had he condescended to manage it by deputy; but except a lad +or two, sister's sons of his own, Robin rejected the idea of assistance, +conscious, perhaps, how much his reputation depended upon his attending +in person to the practical discharge of his duty in every instance. He +remained, therefore, contented with the highest premium given to persons +of his description, and comforted himself with the hopes that a few +journeys to England might enable him to conduct business on his own +account, in a manner becoming his birth. For Robin Oig's father, Lachlan +M'Combich (or SON OF MY FRIEND, his actual clan surname being M'Gregor), +had been so called by the celebrated Rob Roy, because of the particular +friendship which had subsisted between the grandsire of Robin and that +renowned cateran. Some people even said that Robin Oig derived his +Christian name from one as renowned in the wilds of Loch Lomond as ever +was his namesake Robin Hood in the precincts of merry Sherwood. "Of such +ancestry," as James Boswell says, "who would not be proud?" Robin Oig +was proud accordingly; but his frequent visits to England and to the +Lowlands had given him tact enough to know that pretensions which still +gave him a little right to distinction in his own lonely glen, might +be both obnoxious and ridiculous if preferred elsewhere. The pride of +birth, therefore, was like the miser's treasure--the secret subject +of his contemplation, but never exhibited to strangers as a subject of +boasting. + +Many were the words of gratulation and good-luck which were bestowed +on Robin Oig. The judges commended his drove, especially Robin's own +property, which were the best of them. Some thrust out their snuff-mulls +for the parting pinch, others tendered the DOCH-AN-DORRACH, or parting +cup. All cried, "Good-luck travel out with you and come home with you. +Give you luck in the Saxon market--brave notes in the LEABHAR-DHU," +(black pocket-book), "and plenty of English gold in the SPORRAN" (pouch +of goat-skin). + +The bonny lasses made their adieus more modestly, and more than one, +it was said, would have given her best brooch to be certain that it was +upon her that his eye last rested as he turned towards the road. + +Robin Oig had just given the preliminary "HOO-HOO!" to urge forward the +loiterers of the drove, when there was a cry behind him:-- + +"Stay, Robin--bide a blink. Here is Janet of Tomahourich--auld Janet, +your father's sister." + +"Plague on her, for an auld Highland witch and spaewife," said a farmer +from the Carse of Stirling; "she'll cast some of her cantrips on the +cattle." + +"She canna do that," said another sapient of the same profession. "Robin +Oig is no the lad to leave any of them without tying Saint Mungo's knot +on their tails, and that will put to her speed the best witch that ever +flew over Dimayet upon a broomstick." + +It may not be indifferent to the reader to know that the Highland +cattle are peculiarly liable to be TAKEN, or infected, by spells and +witchcraft, which judicious people guard against by knitting knots of +peculiar complexity on the tuft of hair which terminates the animal's +tail. + +But the old woman who was the object of the farmer's suspicion seemed +only busied about the drover, without paying any attention to the drove. +Robin, on the contrary, appeared rather impatient of her presence. + +"What auld-world fancy," he said, "has brought you so early from the +ingle-side this morning, Muhme? I am sure I bid you good-even, and had +your God-speed, last night." + +"And left me more siller than the useless old woman will use till you +come back again, bird of my bosom," said the sibyl. "But it is little I +would care for the food that nourishes me, or the fire that warms me, +or for God's blessed sun itself, if aught but weel should happen to the +grandson of my father. So let me walk the DEASIL round you, that you may +go safe out into the far foreign land, and come safe home." + +Robin Oig stopped, half embarrassed, half laughing, and signing to those +around that he only complied with the old woman to soothe her humour. +In the meantime, she traced around him, with wavering steps, the +propitiation, which some have thought has been derived from the +Druidical mythology. It consists, as is well known, in the person who +makes the DEASIL walking three times round the person who is the object +of the ceremony, taking care to move according to the course of the sun. +At once, however, she stopped short, and exclaimed, in a voice of alarm +and horror, "Grandson of my father, there is blood on your hand." + +"Hush, for God's sake, aunt!" said Robin Oig. "You will bring more +trouble on yourself with this TAISHATARAGH" (second sight) "than you +will be able to get out of for many a day." + +The old woman only repeated, with a ghastly look, "There is blood on +your hand, and it is English blood. The blood of the Gael is richer and +redder. Let us see--let us--" + +Ere Robin Oig could prevent her, which, indeed, could only have been by +positive violence, so hasty and peremptory were her proceedings, she had +drawn from his side the dirk which lodged in the folds of his plaid, and +held it up, exclaiming, although the weapon gleamed clear and bright in +the sun, "Blood, blood--Saxon blood again. Robin Oig M'Combich, go not +this day to England!" + +"Prutt, trutt," answered Robin Oig, "that will never do neither--it +would be next thing to running the country. For shame, Muhme--give me +the dirk. You cannot tell by the colour the difference betwixt the blood +of a black bullock and a white one, and you speak of knowing Saxon from +Gaelic blood. All men have their blood from Adam, Muhme. Give me my +skene-dhu, and let me go on my road. I should have been half way to +Stirling brig by this time. Give me my dirk, and let me go." + +"Never will I give it to you," said the old woman--"Never will I quit +my hold on your plaid--unless you promise me not to wear that unhappy +weapon." + +The women around him urged him also, saying few of his aunt's words fell +to the ground; and as the Lowland farmers continued to look moodily on +the scene, Robin Oig determined to close it at any sacrifice. + +"Well, then," said the young drover, giving the scabbard of the weapon +to Hugh Morrison, "you Lowlanders care nothing for these freats. Keep my +dirk for me. I cannot give it you, because it was my father's; but your +drove follows ours, and I am content it should be in your keeping, not +in mine.--Will this do, Muhme?" + +"It must," said the old woman--"that is, if the Lowlander is mad enough +to carry the knife." + +The strong Westlandman laughed aloud. + +"Goodwife," said he, "I am Hugh Morrison from Glenae, come of the Manly +Morrisons of auld lang syne, that never took short weapon against a man +in their lives. And neither needed they. They had their broadswords, and +I have this bit supple"--showing a formidable cudgel; "for dirking ower +the board, I leave that to John Highlandman.--Ye needna snort, none of +you Highlanders, and you in especial, Robin. I'll keep the bit knife, +if you are feared for the auld spaewife's tale, and give it back to you +whenever you want it." + +Robin was not particularly pleased with some part of Hugh Morrison's +speech; but he had learned in his travels more patience than belonged to +his Highland constitution originally, and he accepted the service of the +descendant of the Manly Morrisons without finding fault with the rather +depreciating manner in which it was offered. + +"If he had not had his morning in his head, and been but a Dumfriesshire +hog into the boot, he would have spoken more like a gentleman. But you +cannot have more of a sow than a grumph. It's shame my father's knife +should ever slash a haggis for the like of him." + +Thus saying, (but saying it in Gaelic), Robin drove on his cattle, and +waved farewell to all behind him. He was in the greater haste, because +he expected to join at Falkirk a comrade and brother in profession, with +whom he proposed to travel in company. + +Robin Oig's chosen friend was a young Englishman, Harry Wakefield by +name, well known at every northern market, and in his way as much famed +and honoured as our Highland driver of bullocks. He was nearly six feet +high, gallantly formed to keep the rounds at Smithfield, or maintain the +ring at a wrestling match; and although he might have been overmatched, +perhaps, among the regular professors of the Fancy, yet, as a yokel +or rustic, or a chance customer, he was able to give a bellyful to any +amateur of the pugilistic art. Doncaster races saw him in his glory, +betting his guinea, and generally successfully; nor was there a main +fought in Yorkshire, the feeders being persons of celebrity, at which he +was not to be seen if business permitted. But though a SPRACK lad, and +fond of pleasure and its haunts, Harry Wakefield was steady, and not +the cautious Robin Oig M'Combich himself was more attentive to the main +chance. His holidays were holidays indeed; but his days of work were +dedicated to steady and persevering labour. In countenance and temper, +Wakefield was the model of Old England's merry yeomen, whose clothyard +shafts, in so many hundred battles, asserted her superiority over the +nations, and whose good sabres, in our own time, are her cheapest and +most assured defence. His mirth was readily excited; for, strong in limb +and constitution, and fortunate in circumstances, he was disposed to be +pleased with every thing about him, and such difficulties as he might +occasionally encounter were, to a man of his energy, rather matter of +amusement than serious annoyance. With all the merits of a sanguine +temper, our young English drover was not without his defects. He was +irascible, sometimes to the verge of being quarrelsome; and perhaps +not the less inclined to bring his disputes to a pugilistic decision, +because he found few antagonists able to stand up to him in the boxing +ring. + +It is difficult to say how Harry Wakefield and Robin Oig first became +intimates, but it is certain a close acquaintance had taken place +betwixt them, although they had apparently few common subjects of +conversation or of interest, so soon as their talk ceased to be +of bullocks. Robin Oig, indeed, spoke the English language rather +imperfectly upon any other topics but stots and kyloes, and Harry +Wakefield could never bring his broad Yorkshire tongue to utter a single +word of Gaelic. It was in vain Robin spent a whole morning, during a +walk over Minch Moor, in attempting to teach his companion to utter, +with true precision, the shibboleth LLHU, which is the Gaelic for a +calf. From Traquair to Murder Cairn, the hill rung with the discordant +attempts of the Saxon upon the unmanageable monosyllable, and the +heartfelt laugh which followed every failure. They had, however, better +modes of awakening the echoes; for Wakefield could sing many a ditty to +the praise of Moll, Susan, and Cicely, and Robin Oig had a particular +gift at whistling interminable pibrochs through all their involutions, +and what was more agreeable to his companion's southern ear, knew many +of the northern airs, both lively and pathetic, to which Wakefield +learned to pipe a bass. Thus, though Robin could hardly have +comprehended his companion's stories about horse-racing, and +cock-fighting, or fox-hunting, and although his own legends of +clan-fights and CREAGHS, varied with talk of Highland goblins and +fairy folk, would have been caviare to his companion, they contrived, +nevertheless to find a degree of pleasure in each other's company, +which had for three years back induced them to join company and travel +together, when the direction of their journey permitted. Each, +indeed, found his advantage in this companionship; for where could the +Englishman have found a guide through the Western Highlands like Robin +Oig M'Combich? and when they were on what Harry called the RIGHT side of +the Border, his patronage, which was extensive, and his purse, which was +heavy, were at all times at the service of his Highland friend, and on +many occasions his liberality did him genuine yeoman's service. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Were ever two such loving friends!-- + How could they disagree? + Oh, thus it was, he loved him dear, + And thought how to requite him, + And having no friend left but he, + He did resolve to fight him. DUKE UPON DUKE. + +The pair of friends had traversed with their usual cordiality the +grassy wilds of Liddesdale, and crossed the opposite part of Cumberland, +emphatically called The Waste. In these solitary regions the cattle +under the charge of our drovers derived their subsistence chiefly by +picking their food as they went along the drove-road, or sometimes by +the tempting opportunity of a START AND OWERLOUP, or invasion of the +neighbouring pasture, where an occasion presented itself. But now the +scene changed before them. They were descending towards a fertile and +enclosed country, where no such liberties could be taken with impunity, +or without a previous arrangement and bargain with the possessors of the +ground. This was more especially the case, as a great northern fair was +upon the eve of taking place, where both the Scotch and English drover +expected to dispose of a part of their cattle, which it was desirable +to produce in the market rested and in good order. Fields were therefore +difficult to be obtained, and only upon high terms. This necessity +occasioned a temporary separation betwixt the two friends, who went to +bargain, each as he could, for the separate accommodation of his herd. +Unhappily it chanced that both of them, unknown to each other, thought +of bargaining for the ground they wanted on the property of a country +gentleman of some fortune, whose estate lay in the neighbourhood. The +English drover applied to the bailiff on the property, who was known +to him. It chanced that the Cumbrian Squire, who had entertained some +suspicions of his manager's honesty, was taking occasional measures +to ascertain how far they were well founded, and had desired that +any enquiries about his enclosures, with a view to occupy them for a +temporary purpose, should be referred to himself. As however, Mr. Ireby +had gone the day before upon a journey of some miles distance to the +northward, the bailiff chose to consider the check upon his full powers +as for the time removed, and concluded that he should best consult his +master's interest, and perhaps his own, in making an agreement with +Harry Wakefield. Meanwhile, ignorant of what his comrade was doing, +Robin Oig, on his side, chanced to be overtaken by a good-looking smart +little man upon a pony, most knowingly hogged and cropped, as was then +the fashion, the rider wearing tight leather breeches, and long-necked +bright spurs. This cavalier asked one or two pertinent questions about +markets and the price of stock. So Robin, seeing him a well-judging +civil gentleman, took the freedom to ask him whether he could let him +know if there was any grass-land to be let in that neighbourhood, for +the temporary accommodation of his drove. He could not have put the +question to more willing ears. The gentleman of the buckskins was the +proprietor, with whose bailiff Harry Wakefield had dealt, or was in the +act of dealing. + +"Thou art in good luck, my canny Scot," said Mr. Ireby, "to have spoken +to me, for I see thy cattle have done their day's work, and I have at +my disposal the only field within three miles that is to be let in these +parts." + +"The drove can pe gang two, three, four miles very pratty weel +indeed"--said the cautious Highlander; "put what would his honour pe +axing for the peasts pe the head, if she was to tak the park for twa or +three days?" + +"We won't differ, Sawney, if you let me have six stots for winterers, in +the way of reason." + +"And which peasts wad your honour pe for having?" + +"Why--let me see--the two black--the dun one--yon doddy--him with the +twisted horn--the brockit--How much by the head?" + +"Ah," said Robin, "your honour is a shudge--a real shudge. I couldna +have set off the pest six peasts petter mysel'--me that ken them as if +they were my pairns, puir things." + +"Well, how much per head, Sawney?" continued Mr. Ireby. + +"It was high markets at Doune and Falkirk," answered Robin. + +And thus the conversation proceeded, until they had agreed on the +PRIX JUSTE for the bullocks, the Squire throwing in the temporary +accommodation of the enclosure for the cattle into the boot, and Robin +making, as he thought, a very good bargain, provided the grass was but +tolerable. The Squire walked his pony alongside of the drove, partly +to show him the way, and see him put into possession of the field, and +partly to learn the latest news of the northern markets. + +They arrived at the field, and the pasture seemed excellent. But what +was their surprise when they saw the bailiff quietly inducting the +cattle of Harry Wakefield into the grassy Goshen which had just been +assigned to those of Robin Oig M'Combich by the proprietor himself! +Squire Ireby set spurs to his horse, dashed up to his servant, and +learning what had passed between the parties, briefly informed +the English drover that his bailiff had let the ground without his +authority, and that he might seek grass for his cattle wherever he +would, since he was to get none there. At the same time he rebuked his +servant severely for having transgressed his commands, and ordered him +instantly to assist in ejecting the hungry and weary cattle of Harry +Wakefield, which were just beginning to enjoy a meal of unusual plenty, +and to introduce those of his comrade, whom the English drover now began +to consider as a rival. + +The feelings which arose in Wakefield's mind would have induced him +to resist Mr. Ireby's decision; but every Englishman has a tolerably +accurate sense of law and justice, and John Fleecebumpkin, the bailiff, +having acknowledged that he had exceeded his commission, Wakefield saw +nothing else for it than to collect his hungry and disappointed charge, +and drive them on to seek quarters elsewhere. Robin Oig saw what had +happened with regret, and hastened to offer to his English friend +to share with him the disputed possession. But Wakefield's pride was +severely hurt, and he answered disdainfully, "Take it all, man--take it +all; never make two bites of a cherry. Thou canst talk over the gentry, +and blear a plain man's eye. Out upon you, man. I would not kiss any +man's dirty latchets for leave to bake in his oven." + +Robin Oig, sorry but not surprised at his comrade's displeasure, +hastened to entreat his friend to wait but an hour till he had gone to +the Squire's house to receive payment for the cattle he had sold, and +he would come back and help him to drive the cattle into some convenient +place of rest, and explain to him the whole mistake they had both of +them fallen into. But the Englishman continued indignant: "Thou hast +been selling, hast thou? Ay, ay; thou is a cunning lad for kenning the +hours of bargaining. Go to the devil with thyself, for I will ne'er see +thy fause loon's visage again--thou should be ashamed to look me in the +face." + +"I am ashamed to look no man in the face," said Robin Oig, something +moved; "and, moreover, I will look you in the face this blessed day, if +you will bide at the Clachan down yonder." + +"Mayhap you had as well keep away," said his comrade; and turning +his back on his former friend, he collected his unwilling associates, +assisted by the bailiff, who took some real and some affected interest +in seeing Wakefield accommodated. + +After spending some time in negotiating with more than one of +the neighbouring farmers, who could not, or would not, afford the +accommodation desired, Henry Wakefield at last, and in his necessity, +accomplished his point by means of the landlord of the alehouse at which +Robin Oig and he had agreed to pass the night, when they first separated +from each other. Mine host was content to let him turn his cattle on a +piece of barren moor, at a price little less than the bailiff had asked +for the disputed enclosure; and the wretchedness of the pasture, as well +as the price paid for it, were set down as exaggerations of the breach +of faith and friendship of his Scottish crony. This turn of Wakefield's +passions was encouraged by the bailiff, (who had his own reasons for +being offended against poor Robin, as having been the unwitting cause of +his falling into disgrace with his master), as well as by the innkeeper, +and two or three chance guests, who stimulated the drover in his +resentment against his quondam associate--some from the ancient grudge +against the Scots, which, when it exists anywhere, is to be found +lurking in the Border counties, and some from the general love of +mischief, which characterises mankind in all ranks of life, to the +honour of Adam's children be it spoken. Good John Barleycorn also, who +always heightens and exaggerates the prevailing passions, be they +angry or kindly, was not wanting in his offices on this occasion, and +confusion to false friends and hard masters was pledged in more than one +tankard. + +In the meanwhile Mr. Ireby found some amusement in detaining the +northern drover at his ancient hall. He caused a cold round of beef +to be placed before the Scot in the butler's pantry, together with a +foaming tankard of home-brewed, and took pleasure in seeing the hearty +appetite with which these unwonted edibles were discussed by Robin Oig +M'Combich. The Squire himself lighting his pipe, compounded between his +patrician dignity and his love of agricultural gossip, by walking up and +down while he conversed with his guest. + +"I passed another drove," said the Squire, "with one of your countrymen +behind them. They were something less beasts than your drove--doddies +most of them. A big man was with them. None of your kilts, though, but a +decent pair of breeches. D'ye know who he may be?" + +"Hout aye; that might, could, and would be Hughie Morrison. I didna +think he could hae peen sae weel up. He has made a day on us; but his +Argyleshires will have wearied shanks. How far was he pehind?" + +"I think about six or seven miles," answered the Squire, "for I passed +them at the Christenbury Crag, and I overtook you at the Hollan Bush. If +his beasts be leg-weary, he will be maybe selling bargains." + +"Na, na, Hughie Morrison is no the man for pargains--ye maun come to +some Highland body like Robin Oig hersel' for the like of these. Put I +maun pe wishing you goot night, and twenty of them, let alane ane, and I +maun down to the Clachan to see if the lad Harry Waakfelt is out of his +humdudgeons yet." + +The party at the alehouse were still in full talk, and the treachery +of Robin Oig still the theme of conversation, when the supposed culprit +entered the apartment. His arrival, as usually happens in such a case, +put an instant stop to the discussion of which he had furnished the +subject, and he was received by the company assembled with that chilling +silence which, more than a thousand exclamations, tells an intruder +that he is unwelcome. Surprised and offended, but not appalled by the +reception which he experienced, Robin entered with an undaunted and even +a haughty air, attempted no greeting, as he saw he was received with +none, and placed himself by the side of the fire, a little apart from +a table at which Harry Wakefield, the bailiff, and two or three other +persons, were seated. The ample Cumbrian kitchen would have afforded +plenty of room, even for a larger separation. + +Robin thus seated, proceeded to light his pipe, and call for a pint of +twopenny. + +"We have no twopence ale," answered Ralph Heskett the landlord; "but as +thou find'st thy own tobacco, it's like thou mayst find thy own liquor +too--it's the wont of thy country, I wot." + +"Shame, goodman," said the landlady, a blithe, bustling housewife, +hastening herself to supply the guest with liquor. "Thou knowest well +enow what the strange man wants, and it's thy trade to be civil, man. +Thou shouldst know, that if the Scot likes a small pot, he pays a sure +penny." + +Without taking any notice of this nuptial dialogue, the Highlander took +the flagon in his hand, and addressing the company generally, drank the +interesting toast of "Good markets" to the party assembled. + +"The better that the wind blew fewer dealers from the north," said +one of the farmers, "and fewer Highland runts to eat up the English +meadows." + +"Saul of my pody, put you are wrang there, my friend," answered Robin, +with composure; "it is your fat Englishmen that eat up our Scots cattle, +puir things." + +"I wish there was a summat to eat up their drovers," said another; "a +plain Englishman canna make bread within a kenning of them." + +"Or an honest servant keep his master's favour but they will come +sliding in between him and the sunshine," said the bailiff. + +"If these pe jokes," said Robin Oig, with the same composure, "there is +ower mony jokes upon one man." + +"It is no joke, but downright earnest," said the bailiff. "Harkye, Mr. +Robin Ogg, or whatever is your name, it's right we should tell you that +we are all of one opinion, and that is, that you, Mr. Robin Ogg, have +behaved to our friend Mr. Harry Wakefield here, like a raff and a +blackguard." + +"Nae doubt, nae doubt," answered Robin, with great composure; "and you +are a set of very pretty judges, for whose prains or pehaviour I wad +not gie a pinch of sneeshing. If Mr. Harry Waakfelt kens where he is +wranged, he kens where he may be righted." + +"He speaks truth," said Wakefield, who had listened to what passed, +divided between the offence which he had taken at Robin's late +behaviour, and the revival of his habitual feelings of regard. + +He now rose, and went towards Robin, who got up from his seat as he +approached, and held out his hand. + +"That's right, Harry--go it--serve him out," resounded on all +sides--"tip him the nailer--show him the mill." + +"Hold your peace all of you, and be--," said Wakefield; and then +addressing his comrade, he took him by the extended hand, with something +alike of respect and defiance. "Robin," he said, "thou hast used me ill +enough this day; but if you mean, like a frank fellow, to shake hands, +and take a tussle for love on the sod, why I'll forgie thee, man, and we +shall be better friends than ever." + +"And would it not pe petter to pe cood friends without more of the +matter?" said Robin; "we will be much petter friendships with our panes +hale than proken." + +Harry Wakefield dropped the hand of his friend, or rather threw it from +him. + +"I did not think I had been keeping company for three years with a +coward." + +"Coward pelongs to none of my name," said Robin, whose eyes began to +kindle, but keeping the command of his temper. "It was no coward's legs +or hands, Harry Waakfelt, that drew you out of the fords of Frew, +when you was drifting ower the plack rock, and every eel in the river +expected his share of you." + +"And that is true enough, too," said the Englishman, struck by the +appeal. + +"Adzooks!" exclaimed the bailiff--"sure Harry Wakefield, the nattiest +lad at Whitson Tryste, Wooler Fair, Carlisle Sands, or Stagshaw Bank, is +not going to show white feather? Ah, this comes of living so long with +kilts and bonnets--men forget the use of their daddles." + +"I may teach you, Master Fleecebumpkin, that I have not lost the use of +mine," said Wakefield and then went on. "This will never do, Robin. We +must have a turn-up, or we shall be the talk of the country-side. I'll +be d--d if I hurt thee--I'll put on the gloves gin thou like. Come, +stand forward like a man." + +"To be peaten like a dog," said Robin; "is there any reason in that? If +you think I have done you wrong, I'll go before your shudge, though I +neither know his law nor his language." + +A general cry of "No, no--no law, no lawyer! a bellyful and be friends," +was echoed by the bystanders. + +"But," continued Robin, "if I am to fight, I have no skill to fight like +a jackanapes, with hands and nails." + +"How would you fight then?" said his antagonist; "though I am thinking +it would be hard to bring you to the scratch anyhow." + +"I would fight with proadswords, and sink point on the first plood +drawn--like a gentlemans." + +A loud shout of laughter followed the proposal, which indeed had rather +escaped from poor Robin's swelling heart, than been the dictate of his +sober judgment. + +"Gentleman, quotha!" was echoed on all sides, with a shout of +unextinguishable laughter; "a very pretty gentleman, God wot.--Canst get +two swords for the gentleman to fight with, Ralph Heskett?" + +"No, but I can send to the armoury at Carlisle, and lend them two forks, +to be making shift with in the meantime." + +"Tush, man," said another, "the bonny Scots come into the world with the +blue bonnet on their heads, and dirk and pistol at their belt." + +"Best send post," said Mr. Fleecebumpkin, "to the Squire of Corby +Castle, to come and stand second to the GENTLEMAN." + +In the midst of this torrent of general ridicule, the Highlander +instinctively griped beneath the folds of his plaid, + +"But it's better not," he said in his own language. "A hundred curses on +the swine-eaters, who know neither decency nor civility!" + +"Make room, the pack of you," he said, advancing to the door. + +But his former friend interposed his sturdy bulk, and opposed his +leaving the house; and when Robin Oig attempted to make his way by +force, he hit him down on the floor, with as much ease as a boy bowls +down a nine-pin. + +"A ring, a ring!" was now shouted, until the dark rafters, and the hams +that hung on them, trembled again, and the very platters on the BINK +clattered against each other. "Well done, Harry"--"Give it him home, +Harry"--"Take care of him now--he sees his own blood!" + +Such were the exclamations, while the Highlander, starting from the +ground, all his coldness and caution lost in frantic rage, sprung at his +antagonist with the fury, the activity, and the vindictive purpose of +an incensed tiger-cat. But when could rage encounter science and temper? +Robin Oig again went down in the unequal contest; and as the blow was +necessarily a severe one, he lay motionless on the floor of the kitchen. +The landlady ran to offer some aid, but Mr. Fleecebumpkin would not +permit her to approach. + +"Let him alone," he said, "he will come to within time, and come up to +the scratch again. He has not got half his broth yet." + +"He has got all I mean to give him, though," said his antagonist, whose +heart began to relent towards his old associate; "and I would rather by +half give the rest to yourself, Mr. Fleecebumpkin, for you pretend to +know a thing or two, and Robin had not art enough even to peel before +setting to, but fought with his plaid dangling about him.--Stand up, +Robin, my man! All friends now; and let me hear the man that will speak +a word against you, or your country, for your sake." + +Robin Oig was still under the dominion of his passion, and eager to +renew the onset; but being withheld on the one side by the peacemaking +Dame Heskett, and on the other, aware that Wakefield no longer meant to +renew the combat, his fury sunk into gloomy sullenness. + +"Come, come, never grudge so much at it, man," said the brave-spirited +Englishman, with the placability of his country; "shake hands, and we +will be better friends than ever." + +"Friends!" exclaimed Robin Oig with strong emphasis--"friends! Never. +Look to yourself, Harry Waakfelt." + +"Then the curse of Cromwell on your proud Scots stomach, as the man says +in the play, and you may do your worst, and be d--d; for one man can say +nothing more to another after a tussle, than that he is sorry for it." + +On these terms the friends parted. Robin Oig drew out, in silence, a +piece of money, threw it on the table, and then left the alehouse. But +turning at the door, he shook his hand at Wakefield, pointing with his +forefinger upwards, in a manner which might imply either a threat or a +caution. He then disappeared in the moonlight. + +Some words passed after his departure, between the bailiff, who piqued +himself on being a little of a bully, and Harry Wakefield, who, with +generous inconsistency, was now not indisposed to begin a new combat +in defence of Robin Oig's reputation, "although he could not use his +daddles like an Englishman, as it did not come natural to him." But +Dame Heskett prevented this second quarrel from coming to a head by +her peremptory interference. "There should be no more fighting in +her house," she said; "there had been too much already.--And you, Mr. +Wakefield, may live to learn," she added, "what it is to make a deadly +enemy out of a good friend." + +"Pshaw, dame! Robin Oig is an honest fellow, and will never keep +malice." + +"Do not trust to that; you do not know the dour temper of the Scots, +though you have dealt with them so often. I have a right to know them, +my mother being a Scot." + +"And so is well seen on her daughter," said Ralph Heskett. + +This nuptial sarcasm gave the discourse another turn. Fresh customers +entered the tap-room or kitchen, and others left it. The conversation +turned on the expected markets, and the report of prices from different +parts both of Scotland and England. Treaties were commenced, and Harry +Wakefield was lucky enough to find a chap for a part of his drove, +and at a very considerable profit--an event of consequence more than +sufficient to blot out all remembrances of the unpleasant scuffle in the +earlier part of the day. But there remained one party from whose mind +that recollection could not have been wiped away by the possession of +every head of cattle betwixt Esk and Eden. + +This was Robin Oig M'Combich. "That I should have had no weapon," he +said, "and for the first time in my life! Blighted be the tongue that +bids the Highlander part with the dirk. The dirk--ha! the English blood! +My Muhme's word! When did her word fall to the ground?" + +The recollection of the fatal prophecy confirmed the deadly intention +which instantly sprang up in his mind. + +"Ha! Morrison cannot be many miles behind; and if it were an hundred, +what then?" + +His impetuous spirit had now a fixed purpose and motive of action, and +he turned the light foot of his country towards the wilds, through which +he knew, by Mr. Ireby's report, that Morrison was advancing. His mind +was wholly engrossed by the sense of injury--injury sustained from a +friend; and by the desire of vengeance on one whom he now accounted +his most bitter enemy. The treasured ideas of self-importance and +self-opinion--of ideal birth and quality, had become more precious to +him, (like the hoard to the miser) because he could only enjoy them in +secret. But that hoard was pillaged--the idols which he had secretly +worshipped had been desecrated and profaned. Insulted, abused, and +beaten, he was no longer worthy, in his own opinion, of the name +he bore, or the lineage which he belonged to. Nothing was left to +him--nothing but revenge; and as the reflection added a galling spur +to every step, he determined it should be as sudden and signal as the +offence. + +When Robin Oig left the door of the alehouse, seven or eight English +miles at least lay betwixt Morrison and him. The advance of the former +was slow, limited by the sluggish pace of his cattle; the latter +left behind him stubble-field and hedgerow, crag and dark heath, all +glittering with frost-rime in the broad November moonlight, at the rate +of six miles an hour. And now the distant lowing of Morrison's cattle is +heard; and now they are seen creeping like moles in size and slowness +of motion on the broad face of the moor; and now he meets them--passes +them, and stops their conductor. + +"May good betide us," said the Westlander. "Is this you, Robin +M'Combich, or your wraith?" + +"It is Robin Oig M'Combich," answered the Highlander, "and it is not. +But never mind that, put pe giving me the skene-dhu." + +"What! you are for back to the Highlands! The devil! Have you selt all +off before the fair? This beats all for quick markets!" + +"I have not sold--I am not going north--maype I will never go north +again. Give me pack my dirk, Hugh Morrison, or there will pe words +petween us." + +"Indeed, Robin, I'll be better advised before I gie it back to you; it +is a wanchancy weapon in a Highlandman's hand, and I am thinking you +will be about some harns-breaking." + +"Prutt, trutt! let me have my weapon," said Robin Oig impatiently. + +"Hooly and fairly," said his well-meaning friend. "I'll tell you +what will do better than these dirking doings. Ye ken Highlander, and +Lowlander, and Border-men are a' ae man's bairns when you are over +the Scots dyke. See, the Eskdale callants, and fighting Charlie of +Liddesdale, and the Lockerby lads, and the four Dandies of Lustruther, +and a wheen mair grey plaids, are coming up behind; and if you are +wranged, there is the hand of a Manly Morrison, we'll see you righted, +if Carlisle and Stanwix baith took up the feud." + +"To tell you the truth," said Robin Oig, desirous of eluding the +suspicions of his friend, "I have enlisted with a party of the Black +Watch, and must march off to-morrow morning." + +"Enlisted! Were you mad or drunk? You must buy yourself off. I can lend +you twenty notes, and twenty to that, if the drove sell." + +"I thank you--thank ye, Hughie; but I go with good-will the gate that I +am going. So the dirk, the dirk!" + +"There it is for you then, since less wunna serve. But think on what +I was saying. Waes me, it will be sair news in the braes of Balquidder +that Robin Oig M'Combich should have run an ill gate, and ta'en on." + +"Ill news in Balquidder, indeed!" echoed poor Robin. "But Cot speed you, +Hughie, and send you good marcats. Ye winna meet with Robin Oig again, +either at tryste or fair." + +So saying, he shook hastily the hand of his acquaintance, and set out in +the direction from which he had advanced, with the spirit of his former +pace. + +"There is something wrang with the lad," muttered the Morrison to +himself; "but we will maybe see better into it the morn's morning." + +But long ere the morning dawned, the catastrophe of our tale had taken +place. It was two hours after the affray had happened, and it was +totally forgotten by almost every one, when Robin Oig returned to +Heskett's inn. The place was filled at once by various sorts of men, and +with noises corresponding to their character. There were the grave low +sounds of men engaged in busy traffic, with the laugh, the song, and +the riotous jest of those who had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves. +Among the last was Harry Wakefield, who, amidst a grinning group of +smock-frocks, hobnailed shoes, and jolly English physiognomies, was +trolling forth the old ditty,-- + + "What though my name be Roger, + Who drives the plough and cart--" + +when he was interrupted by a well-known voice saying in a high and stern +voice, marked by the sharp Highland accent, "Harry Waakfelt--if you be a +man stand up!" + +"What is the matter?--what is it?" the guests demanded of each other. + +"It is only a d--d Scotsman," said Fleecebumpkin, who was by this time +very drunk, "whom Harry Wakefield helped to his broth to-day, who is now +come to have HIS CAULD KAIL het again." + +"Harry Waakfelt," repeated the same ominous summons, "stand up, if you +be a man!" + +There is something in the tone of deep and concentrated passion, which +attracts attention and imposes awe, even by the very sound. The guests +shrunk back on every side, and gazed at the Highlander as he stood +in the middle of them, his brows bent, and his features rigid with +resolution. + +"I will stand up with all my heart, Robin, my boy, but it shall be to +shake hands with you, and drink down all unkindness. It is not the fault +of your heart, man, that you don't know how to clench your hands." + +By this time he stood opposite to his antagonist, his open and +unsuspecting look strangely contrasted with the stern purpose, which +gleamed wild, dark, and vindictive in the eyes of the Highlander. + +"'Tis not thy fault, man, that, not having the luck to be an Englishman, +thou canst not fight more than a school-girl." + +"I can fight," answered Robin Oig sternly, but calmly, "and you shall +know it. You, Harry Waakfelt, showed me to-day how the Saxon churls +fight; I show you now how the Highland Dunnie-wassel fights." + +He seconded the word with the action, and plunged the dagger, which he +suddenly displayed, into the broad breast of the English yeoman, with +such fatal certainty and force that the hilt made a hollow sound against +the breast-bone, and the double-edged point split the very heart of +his victim. Harry Wakefield fell and expired with a single groan. His +assassin next seized the bailiff by the collar, and offered the bloody +poniard to his throat, whilst dread and surprise rendered the man +incapable of defence. + +"It were very just to lay you peside him," he said, "but the blood of a +pase pickthank shall never mix on my father's dirk, with that of a brave +man." + +As he spoke, he cast the man from him with so much force that he fell on +the floor, while Robin, with his other hand, threw the fatal weapon into +the blazing turf-fire. + +"There," he said, "take me who likes--and let fire cleanse blood if it +can." + +The pause of astonishment still continuing, Robin Oig asked for a +peace-officer, and a constable having stepped out, he surrendered +himself to his custody. + +"A bloody night's work you have made of it," said the constable. + +"Your own fault," said the Highlander. "Had you kept his hands off me +twa hours since, he would have been now as well and merry as he was twa +minutes since." + +"It must be sorely answered," said the peace-officer. + +"Never you mind that--death pays all debts; it will pay that too." + +The horror of the bystanders began now to give way to indignation, and +the sight of a favourite companion murdered in the midst of them, the +provocation being, in their opinion, so utterly inadequate to the excess +of vengeance, might have induced them to kill the perpetrator of the +deed even upon the very spot. The constable, however, did his duty on +this occasion, and with the assistance of some of the more reasonable +persons present, procured horses to guard the prisoner to Carlisle, to +abide his doom at the next assizes. While the escort was preparing, +the prisoner neither expressed the least interest, nor attempted the +slightest reply. Only, before he was carried from the fatal apartment, +he desired to look at the dead body, which, raised from the floor, +had been deposited upon the large table (at the head of which Harry +Wakefield had presided but a few minutes before, full of life, vigour, +and animation), until the surgeons should examine the mortal wound. The +face of the corpse was decently covered with a napkin. To the surprise +and horror of the bystanders, which displayed itself in a general AH! +drawn through clenched teeth and half-shut lips, Robin Oig removed the +cloth, and gazed with a mournful but steady eye on the lifeless visage, +which had been so lately animated that the smile of good-humoured +confidence in his own strength, of conciliation at once and contempt +towards his enemy, still curled his lip. While those present expected +that the wound, which had so lately flooded the apartment with gore, +would send forth fresh streams at the touch of the homicide, Robin Oig +replaced the covering with the brief exclamation, "He was a pretty man!" + +My story is nearly ended. The unfortunate Highlander stood his trial +at Carlisle. I was myself present, and as a young Scottish lawyer, or +barrister at least, and reputed a man of some quality, the politeness of +the Sheriff of Cumberland offered me a place on the bench. The facts +of the case were proved in the manner I have related them; and whatever +might be at first the prejudice of the audience against a crime so +un-English as that of assassination from revenge, yet when the rooted +national prejudices of the prisoner had been explained, which made him +consider himself as stained with indelible dishonour, when subjected to +personal violence--when his previous patience, moderation, and endurance +were considered--the generosity of the English audience was inclined +to regard his crime as the wayward aberration of a false idea of honour +rather than as flowing from a heart naturally savage, or perverted by +habitual vice. I shall never forget the charge of the venerable judge to +the jury, although not at that time liable to be much affected either by +that which was eloquent or pathetic. + +"We have had," he said, "in the previous part of our duty" (alluding +to some former trials), "to discuss crimes which infer disgust and +abhorrence, while they call down the well-merited vengeance of the law. +It is now our still more melancholy task to apply its salutary though +severe enactments to a case of a very singular character, in which +the crime (for a crime it is, and a deep one) arose less out of the +malevolence of the heart, than the error of the understanding--less from +any idea of committing wrong, than from an unhappily perverted notion of +that which is right. Here we have two men, highly esteemed, it has been +stated, in their rank of life, and attached, it seems, to each other as +friends, one of whose lives has been already sacrificed to a punctilio, +and the other is about to prove the vengeance of the offended laws; +and yet both may claim our commiseration at least, as men acting in +ignorance of each other's national prejudices, and unhappily misguided +rather than voluntarily erring from the path of right conduct. + +"In the original cause of the misunderstanding, we must in justice give +the right to the prisoner at the bar. He had acquired possession of the +enclosure, which was the object of competition, by a legal contract +with the proprietor, Mr. Ireby; and yet, when accosted with reproaches +undeserved in themselves, and galling, doubtless, to a temper at least +sufficiently susceptible of passion, he offered notwithstanding, +to yield up half his acquisition, for the sake of peace and good +neighbourhood, and his amicable proposal was rejected with scorn. Then +follows the scene at Mr. Heskett the publican's, and you will observe +how the stranger was treated by the deceased, and, I am sorry to +observe, by those around, who seem to have urged him in a manner which +was aggravating in the highest degree. While he asked for peace and +for composition, and offered submission to a magistrate, or to a mutual +arbiter, the prisoner was insulted by a whole company, who seem on this +occasion to have forgotten the national maxim of 'fair play;' and while +attempting to escape from the place in peace, he was intercepted, struck +down, and beaten to the effusion of his blood. + +"Gentlemen of the jury, it was with some impatience that I heard my +learned brother who opened the case for the crown give an unfavourable +turn to the prisoner's conduct on this occasion. He said the prisoner +was afraid to encounter his antagonist in fair fight, or to submit to +the laws of the ring; and that therefore, like a cowardly Italian, he +had recourse to his fatal stiletto, to murder the man whom he dared not +meet in manly encounter. I observed the prisoner shrink from this part +of the accusation with the abhorrence natural to a brave man; and as I +would wish to make my words impressive when I point his real crime, I +must secure his opinion of my impartiality by rebutting everything that +seems to me a false accusation. There can be no doubt that the prisoner +is a man of resolution--too much resolution. I wish to Heaven that he +had less--or, rather that he had had a better education to regulate it. + +"Gentlemen, as to the laws my brother talks of, they may be known in the +bull-ring, or the bear-garden, or the cock-pit, but they are not known +here. Or, if they should be so far admitted as furnishing a species of +proof that no malice was intended in this sort of combat, from which +fatal accidents do sometimes arise, it can only be so admitted when both +parties are IN PARI CASU, equally acquainted with, and equally willing +to refer themselves to, that species of arbitrament. But will it be +contended that a man of superior rank and education is to be subjected, +or is obliged to subject himself, to this coarse and brutal strife, +perhaps in opposition to a younger, stronger, or more skilful opponent? +Certainly even the pugilistic code, if founded upon the fair play of +Merry Old England, as my brother alleges it to be, can contain nothing +so preposterous. And, gentlemen of the jury, if the laws would support +an English gentleman, wearing, we will suppose, his sword, in defending +himself by force against a violent personal aggression of the nature +offered to this prisoner, they will not less protect a foreigner and a +stranger, involved in the same unpleasing circumstances. If, therefore, +gentlemen of the jury, when thus pressed by a VIS MAJOR, the object of +obloquy to a whole company, and of direct violence from one at least, +and, as he might reasonably apprehend, from more, the panel had produced +the weapon which his countrymen, as we are informed, generally carry +about their persons, and the same unhappy circumstance had ensued which +you have heard detailed in evidence, I could not in my conscience have +asked from you a verdict of murder. The prisoner's personal defence +might indeed, even in that case, have gone more or less beyond the +MODERAMEN INCULPATAE TUTELAE, spoken of by lawyers; but the punishment +incurred would have been that of manslaughter, not of murder. I beg +leave to add that I should have thought this milder species of charge +was demanded in the case supposed, notwithstanding the statute of James +I. cap. 8, which takes the case of slaughter by stabbing with a short +weapon, even without MALICE PREPENSE, out of the benefit of clergy. +For this statute of stabbing, as it is termed, arose out of a temporary +cause; and as the real guilt is the same, whether the slaughter be +committed by the dagger, or by sword or pistol, the benignity of the +modern law places them all on the same, or nearly the same, footing. + +"But, gentlemen of the jury, the pinch of the case lies in the interval +of two hours interposed betwixt the reception of the injury and +the fatal retaliation. In the heat of affray and CHAUDE MELEE, law, +compassionating the infirmities of humanity, makes allowance for the +passions which rule such a stormy moment--for the sense of present +pain, for the apprehension of further injury, for the difficulty of +ascertaining with due accuracy the precise degree of violence which is +necessary to protect the person of the individual, without annoying or +injuring the assailant more than is absolutely necessary. But the time +necessary to walk twelve miles, however speedily performed, was an +interval sufficient for the prisoner to have recollected himself; and +the violence with which he carried his purpose into effect, with so many +circumstances of deliberate determination, could neither be induced by +the passion of anger, nor that of fear. It was the purpose and the act +of predetermined revenge, for which law neither can, will, nor ought to +have sympathy or allowance. + +"It is true, we may repeat to ourselves, in alleviation of this poor +man's unhappy action, that his case is a very peculiar one. The country +which he inhabits was, in the days of many now alive, inaccessible +to the laws, not only of England, which have not even yet penetrated +thither, but to those to which our neighbours of Scotland are subjected, +and which must be supposed to be, and no doubt actually are, founded +upon the general principles of justice and equity which pervade every +civilized country. Amongst their mountains, as among the North American +Indians, the various tribes were wont to make war upon each other, so +that each man was obliged to go armed for his own protection. These men, +from the ideas which they entertained of their own descent and of +their own consequence, regarded themselves as so many cavaliers or +men-at-arms, rather than as the peasantry of a peaceful country. Those +laws of the ring, as my brother terms them, were unknown to the race of +warlike mountaineers; that decision of quarrels by no other weapons +than those which nature has given every man must to them have seemed as +vulgar and as preposterous as to the NOBLESSE of France. Revenge, on the +other hand, must have been as familiar to their habits of society as to +those of the Cherokees or Mohawks. It is indeed, as described by Bacon, +at bottom a kind of wild untutored justice; for the fear of retaliation +must withhold the hands of the oppressor where there is no regular law +to check daring violence. But though all this may be granted, and though +we may allow that, such having been the case of the Highlands in the +days of the prisoner's fathers, many of the opinions and sentiments must +still continue to influence the present generation, it cannot, and ought +not, even in this most painful case, to alter the administration of the +law, either in your hands, gentlemen of the jury, or in mine. The first +object of civilisation is to place the general protection of the law, +equally administered, in the room of that wild justice which every man +cut and carved for himself, according to the length of his sword and +the strength of his arm. The law says to the subjects, with a voice only +inferior to that of the Deity, 'Vengeance is mine.' The instant that +there is time for passion to cool, and reason to interpose, an injured +party must become aware that the law assumes the exclusive cognisance +of the right and wrong betwixt the parties, and opposes her inviolable +buckler to every attempt of the private party to right himself. I repeat +that this unhappy man ought personally to be the object rather of our +pity than our abhorrence, for he failed in his ignorance, and from +mistaken notions of honour. But his crime is not the less that of +murder, gentlemen, and, in your high and important office, it is your +duty so to find. Englishmen have their angry passions as well as Scots; +and should this man's action remain unpunished, you may unsheath, under +various pretences, a thousand daggers betwixt the Land's-End and the +Orkneys." + +The venerable Judge thus ended what, to judge by his apparent emotion, +and by the tears which filled his eyes, was really a painful task. The +jury, according to his instructions, brought in a verdict of Guilty; and +Robin Oig M'Combich, ALIAS McGregor, was sentenced to death, and left +for execution, which took place accordingly. He met his fate with great +firmness, and acknowledged the justice of his sentence. But he repelled +indignantly the observations of those who accused him of attacking an +unarmed man. "I give a life for the life I took," he said, "and what can +I do more?" [See Note 11.--Robert Donn's Poems.] + + +***** + + +NOTES. + + +NOTES TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +Note 1.--HOLYROOD. + +The reader may be gratified with Hector Boece's narrative of the +original foundation of the famous abbey of Holyrood, or the Holy Cross, +as given in Bellenden's translation:-- + +"Eftir death of Alexander the first, his brothir David come out of +Ingland, and wes crownit at Scone, the yeir of God MCXXIV yeiris, and +did gret justice, eftir his coronation, in all partis of his realme. He +had na weris during the time of King Hary; and wes so pietuous, that he +sat daylie in judgement, to caus his pure commonis to have justice; and +causit the actionis of his noblis to be decidit be his othir jugis. He +gart ilk juge redres the skaithis that come to the party be his wrang +sentence; throw quhilk, he decorit his realm with mony nobil actis, and +ejeckit the vennomus custome of riotus cheir, quhilk wes inducit afore +be Inglismen, quhen thay com with Quene Margaret; for the samin wes +noisum to al gud maneris, makand his pepil tender and effeminat. + +"In the fourt yeir of his regne, this nobill prince come to visie the +madin Castell of Edinburgh. At this time, all the boundis of Scotland +were ful of woddis, lesouris, and medois; for the countre wes more gevin +to store of bestiall, than ony productioun of cornis; and about this +castell was ane gret forest, full of haris, hindis, toddis, and siclike +maner of beistis. Now was the Rude Day cumin, called the Exaltation of +the Croce; and, becaus the samin wes ane hie solempne day, the king past +to his contemplation. Eftir the messis wer done with maist solempnitie +and reverence, comperit afore him mony young and insolent baronis of +Scotland, richt desirus to haif sum plesur and solace, be chace of +hundis in the said forest. At this time wes with the king ane man of +singulare and devoit life, namit Alkwine, channon eftir the ordour of +Sanct Augustine, quhilk well lang time confessoure, afore, to King David +in Ingland, the time that he wes Erle of Huntingtoun and Northumbirland. +This religious man dissuadit the king, be mony reasonis, to pas to this +huntis; and allegit the day wes so solempne, be reverence of the haly +croce, that he suld gif him erar, for that day, to contemplation, than +ony othir exersition. Nochtheles, his dissuasion is litill avalit; for +the king wes finallie so provokit, be inoportune solicitatioun of his +baronis, that he past, nochtwithstanding the solempnite of this day, to +his hountis. At last, quhen he wes cumin throw the vail that lyis to the +gret eist fra the said castell, quhare now lyis the Canongait, the staik +past throw the wod with sic noyis and din of rachis and bugillis, that +all the bestis were rasit fra thair dennis. Now wes the king cumin to +the fute of the crag, and all his nobilis severit, heir and thair, fra +him, at thair game and solace; quhen suddenlie apperit to his sicht the +fairist hart that evir wes sene afore with levand creature. The noyis +and din of this hart rinnand, as apperit, with awful and braid tindis, +maid the kingis hors so effrayit, that na renzeis micht hald him, bot +ran, perforce, ouir mire and mossis, away with the king. Nochtheles, the +hart followit so fast, that he dang baith the king and his hors to the +ground. Than the king kest abak his handis betwix the tindis of this +hart, to haif savit him fra the strak thairof; and the haly croce slaid, +incontinent, in his handis. The hart fled away with gret violence, and +evanist in the same place quhare now springis the Rude Well. The pepil +richt affrayitly, returnit to him out of all partis of the wod, to +comfort him efter his trubill; and fell on kneis, devotly adoring the +haly croce; for it was not cumin but sum hevinly providence, as weill +apperis; for thair is na man can schaw of quhat mater it is of, metal +or tre. Sone eftir, the king returnit to his castell; and in the nicht +following, he was admonist, be ane vision in his sleip, to big ane abbay +of channonis regular in the same place quhare he gat the croce. Als sone +as he was awalkinnit, he schew his visione to Alkwine, his confessoure; +and he na thing suspended his gud mind, bot erar inflammit him with +maist fervent devotion thairto. The king, incontinent, send his traist +servandis in France and Flanderis, and brocht richt crafty masonis to +big this abbay; syne dedicat it in the honour of this haly croce. The +croce remanit continewally in the said abbay, to the time of King David +Bruce; quhilk was unhappily tane with it at Durame, quhare it is haldin +yit in gret veneration."--BOECE, BOOK 12, CH. 16. + +It is by no means clear what Scottish prince first built a palace, +properly so called, in the precincts of this renowned seat of sanctity. +The abbey, endowed by successive sovereigns and many powerful nobles +with munificent gifts of lands and tithes, came, in process of time, +to be one of the most important of the ecclesiastical corporations of +Scotland; and as early as the days of Robert Bruce, parliaments were +held occasionally within its buildings. We have evidence that James +IV. had a royal lodging adjoining to the cloister; but it is generally +agreed that the first considerable edifice for the accommodation of the +royal family erected here was that of James V., anno 1525, great part +of which still remains, and forms the north-western side of the existing +palace. The more modern buildings which complete the quadrangle were +erected by King Charles II. The name of the old conventual church +was used as the parish church of the Canongate from the period of the +Reformation, until James II. claimed it for his chapel royal, and had it +fitted up accordingly in a style of splendour which grievously outraged +the feelings of his Presbyterian subjects. The roof of this fragment of +a once magnificent church fell in in the year 1768, and it has remained +ever since in a state of desolation. For fuller particulars, see the +PROVINCIAL ANTIQUITIES OF SCOTLAND, or the HISTORY OF HOLYROOD, BY MR. +CHARLES MACKIE. + +The greater part of this ancient palace is now again occupied by his +Majesty Charles the Tenth of France, and the rest of that illustrious +family, which, in former ages so closely connected by marriage and +alliance with the house of Stewart, seems to have been destined to run a +similar career of misfortune. REQUIESCANT IN PACE! + + +Note 2.--STEELE, A COVENANTER, SHOT BY CAPTAIN CREICHTON. + +The following extract from Swift's Life of Creichton gives the +particulars of the bloody scene alluded to in the text:-- + +"Having drank hard one night, I (Creichton) dreamed that I had found +Captain David Steele, a notorious rebel, in one of the five farmers' +houses on a mountain in the shire of Clydesdale, and parish of +Lismahago, within eight miles of Hamilton, a place that I was well +acquainted with. This man was head of the rebels since the affair of +Airs-Moss, having succeeded to Hackston, who had been there taken, and +afterward hanged, as the reader has already heard; for, as to Robert +Hamilton, who was then Commander-in-chief at Bothwell Bridge, he +appeared no more among them, but fled, as it was believed, to Holland. + +"Steele, and his father before him, held a farm in the estate of +Hamilton, within two or three miles of that town. When he betook himself +to arms, the farm lay waste, and the Duke could find no other person who +would venture to take it; whereupon his Grace sent several messages to +Steele, to know the reason why he kept the farm waste. The Duke received +no other answer than that he would keep it waste, in spite of him and +the king too; whereupon his Grace, at whose table I had always the +honour to be a welcome guest, desired I would use my endeavours to +destroy that rogue, and I would oblige him for ever." + +***** + +"I return to my story. When I awaked out of my dream, as I had done +before in the affair of Wilson (and I desire the same apology I made in +the introduction to these Memoirs may serve for both), I presently rose, +and ordered thirty-six dragoons to be at the place appointed by break +of day. When we arrived thither, I sent a party to each of the five +farmers' houses. This villain Steele had murdered above forty of the +king's subjects in cold blood, and, as I was informed, had often laid +snares to entrap me; but it happened that, although he usually kept a +gang to attend him, yet at this time he had none, when he stood in the +greatest need. One of the party found him in one of the farmers' houses, +just as I happened to dream. The dragoons first searched all the rooms +below without success, till two of them hearing somebody stirring over +their heads, went up a pair of turnpike stairs. Steele had put on his +clothes while the search was making below; the chamber where he lay was +called the Chamber of Deese, [Or chamber of state; so called from the +DAIS, or canopy and elevation of floor, which distinguished the part of +old halls which was occupied by those of high rank. Hence the phrase was +obliquely used to signify state in general.] which is the name given to +a room where the laird lies when he comes to a tenant's house. Steele +suddenly opening the door, fired a blunderbuss down at the two dragoons, +as they were coming up the stairs; but the bullets grazing against the +side of the turnpike, only wounded, and did not kill them. Then Steele +violently threw himself down the stairs among them, and made towards the +door to save his life, but lost it upon the spot; for the dragoons who +guarded the house dispatched him with their broadswords. I was not with +the party when he was killed, being at that time employed in searching +one of the other houses, but I soon found what had happened, by hearing +the noise of the shot made with the blunderbuss; from whence I returned +straight to Lanark, and immediately sent one of the dragoons express +to General Drummond at Edinburgh."--SWIFT'S WORKS, VOL.XII. (MEMOIRS OF +CAPTAIN JOHN CREICHTON), pages 57-59, Edit. Edinb. 1824. + +Woodrow gives a different account of this exploit:--"In December this +year, (1686), David Steil, in the parish of Lismahagow, was surprised in +the fields by Lieutenant Creichton, and after his surrender of himself +on quarters, he was in a very little time most barbarously shot, and +lies buried in the churchyard there." + + +Note 3.--IRON RASP. + +The ingenious Mr. R. CHAMBERS'S Traditions of Edinburgh give the +following account of the forgotten rasp or risp:-- + +"This house had a PIN or RISP at the door, instead of the more modern +convenience--a knocker. The pin, rendered interesting by the figure +which it makes in Scottish song, was formed of a small rod of iron, +twisted or notched, which was placed perpendicularly, starting out a +little from the door, and bore a small ring of the same metal, which an +applicant for admittance drew rapidly up and down the NICKS, so as to +produce a grating sound. Sometimes the rod was simply stretched across +the VIZZYING hole, a convenient aperture through which the porter could +take cognisance of the person applying; in which case it acted also as +a stanchion. These were almost all disused about sixty years ago, when +knockers were generally substituted as more genteel. But knockers at +that time did not long remain in repute, though they have never been +altogether superseded, even by bells, in the Old Town. The comparative +merit of knockers and pins was for a long time a subject of doubt, +and many knockers got their heads twisted off in the course of the +dispute."--CHAMBERS'S TRADITIONS OF EDINBURGH. + + +Note 4.--COUNTESS OF EGLINTON. + +Susannah Kennedy, daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy of Cullean, Bart., +by Elizabeth Lesly, daughter of David Lord Newark, third wife of +Alexander 9th Earl of Eglinton, and mother of the 10th and 11th Earls. +She survived her husband, who died 1729, no less than fifty-seven years, +and died March 1780, in her ninety-first year. Allan Ramsay's Gentle +Shepherd, published 1726, is dedicated to her, in verse, by Hamilton of +Bangour. + +The following account of this distinguished lady is taken from Boswell's +Life of Johnson by Mr. Croker:-- + +"Lady Margaret Dalrymple, only daughter of John, Earl of Stair, married +in 1700, to Hugh, third Earl of Loudoun. She died in 1777, aged ONE +HUNDRED. Of this venerable lady, and of the Countess of Eglintoune, whom +Johnson visited next day, he thus speaks in his JOURNEY:--'Length of +life is distributed impartially to very different modes of life, in very +different climates; and the mountains have no greater examples of age +than the Lowlands, where I was introduced to two ladies of high quality, +one of whom (Lady Loudoun) in her ninety-fourth year, presided at her +table with the full exercise of all her powers, and the other (Lady +Eglintoun) had attained her eighty-fourth year, without any diminution +of her vivacity, and little reason to accuse time of depredations on her +beauty.'" + +***** + +"Lady Eglintoune, though she was now in her eighty-fifth year, and had +lived in the retirement of the country for almost half a century, was +still a very agreeable woman. She was of the noble house of Kennedy, and +had all the elevation which the consciousness of such birth inspires. +Her figure was majestic, her manners high-bred, her reading extensive, +and her conversation elegant. She had been the admiration of the gay +circles of life, and the patroness of poets. Dr. Johnson was delighted +with his reception here. Her principles in church and state were +congenial with his. She knew all his merit, and had heard much of him +from her son, Earl Alexander, who loved to cultivate the acquaintance of +men of talents in every department." + +***** + +"In the course of our conversation this day, it came out that Lady +Eglintoune was married the year before Dr. Johnson was born; upon which +she graciously said to him, that she might have been his mother, and +that she now adopted him, and when we were going away, she embraced him, +saying, 'My dear son, farewell!' My friend was much pleased with this +day's entertainment, and owned that I had done well to force him out." + +***** + +"At Sir Alexander Dick's, from that absence of mind to which every man +is at times subject, I told, in a blundering manner, Lady Eglintoune's +complimentary adoption of Dr. Johnson as her son; for I unfortunately +stated that her ladyship adopted him as her son, in consequence of her +having been married the year AFTER he was born. Dr. Johnson instantly +corrected me. 'Sir, don't you perceive that you are defaming the +Countess? For, supposing me to be her son, and that she was not married +till the year after my birth, I must have been her NATURAL son.' A young +lady of quality who was present very handsomely said, 'Might not the +son have justified the fault?' My friend was much flattered by this +compliment, which he never forgot. When in more than ordinary spirits, +and talking of his journey in Scotland, he has called to me, 'Boswell, +what was it that the young lady of quality said of me at Sir Alexander +Dick's?' Nobody will doubt that I was happy in repeating it." + + +Note 5.--EARL OF WINTON. + +The incident here alluded to is thus narrated in Nichols' Progresses of +James I., Vol.III. p.306:-- + +"The family" (of Winton) "owed its first elevation to the union of Sir +Christopher Seton with a sister of King Robert Bruce. With King James +VI. they acquired great favour, who, having created his brother Earl of +Dunfermline in 1599, made Robert, seventh Lord Seton, Earl of Winton in +1600. Before the King's accession to the English throne, his Majesty +and the Queen were frequently at Seton, where the Earl kept a very +hospitable table, at which all foreigners of quality were entertained on +their visits to Scotland. His Lordship died in 1603, and was buried on +the 5th of April, on the very day the King left Edinburgh for England. +His Majesty, we are told, was pleased to rest himself at the south-west +round of the orchard of Seton, on the highway, till the funeral was +over, that he might not withdraw the noble company; and he said that he +had lost a good, faithful, and loyal subject."--NICHOLS' PROGRESSES OF +K. JAMES I., VOL.III. p.306. + + +Note 6.--MACGREGOR OF GLENSTRAE. + +"The 2 of Octr: (1603) Allaster MacGregor of Glenstrae tane be the laird +Arkynles, bot escapit againe; bot after taken be the Earle of Argyll the +4 of Januarii, and brought to Edr: the 9 of Januar: 1604, wt: 18 mae +of hes friendes MacGregors. He wes convoyit to Berwick be the gaird, +conform to the Earle's promes; for he promesit to put him out of Scottis +grund: Sua, he keipit an Hielandman's promes, in respect he sent the +gaird to convoy him out of Scottis grund; bot yai wer not directit to +pairt wt: him, bot to fetche him bak againe. The 18 of Januar, he came +at evin againe to Edinburghe; and upone the 20 day, he was hangit at the +crosse, and ij of his freindes and name, upon ane gallows: himself +being chieff, he was hangit his awin hight above the rest of hes +freindis."--BIRRELL'S DIARY, (IN DALZELL'S FRAGMENTS OF SCOTTISH +HISTORY),pp.60,61. + + + +NOTES TO THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + +Note 7.--LOCH AWE. + +"Loch Awe, upon the banks of which the scene of action took place, is +thirty-four miles in length. The north side is bounded by wide muirs and +inconsiderable hills, which occupy an extent of country from twelve to +twenty miles in breadth, and the whole of this space is enclosed as +by circumvallation. Upon the north it is barred by Loch Eitive, on the +south by Loch Awe, and on the east by the dreadful pass of Brandir, +through which an arm of the latter lake opens, at about four miles from +its eastern extremity, and discharges the river Awe into the former. +The pass is about three miles in length; its east side is bounded by the +almost inaccessible steeps which form the base of the vast and +rugged mountain of Cruachan. The crags rise in some places almost +perpendicularly from the water, and for their chief extent show no space +nor level at their feet, but a rough and narrow edge of stony beach. +Upon the whole of these cliffs grows a thick and interwoven wood of +all kinds of trees, both timber, dwarf, and coppice; no track existed +through the wilderness, but a winding path, which sometimes crept along +the precipitous height, and sometimes descended in a straight pass along +the margin of the water. Near the extremity of the defile, a narrow +level opened between the water and the crag; but a great part of this, +as well as of the preceding steeps, was formerly enveloped in a thicket, +which showed little facility to the feet of any but the martens and wild +cats. Along the west side of the pass lies a wall of sheer and barren +crags. From behind they rise in rough, uneven, and heathy declivities, +out of the wide muir before mentioned, between Loch Eitive and Loch Awe; +but in front they terminate abruptly in the most frightful precipices, +which form the whole side of the pass, and descend at one fall into the +water which fills its trough. At the north end of the barrier, and at +the termination of the pass, lies that part of the cliff which is called +Craiganuni; at its foot the arm of the lake gradually contracts its +water to a very narrow space, and at length terminates at two rocks +(called the Rocks of Brandir), which form a strait channel, something +resembling the lock of a canal. From this outlet there is a continual +descent towards Loch Eitive, and from hence the river Awe pours out its +current in a furious stream, foaming over a bed broken with holes, and +cumbered with masses of granite and whinstone. + +"If ever there was a bridge near Craiganuni in ancient times, it must +have been at the Rocks of Brandir. From the days of Wallace to those of +General Wade, there were never passages of this kind but in places of +great necessity, too narrow for a boat, and too wide for a leap; even +then they were but an unsafe footway formed of the trunks of trees +placed transversely from rock to rock, unstripped of their bark, and +destitute of either plank or rail. For such a structure there is +no place in the neighbourhood of Craiganuni but at the rocks above +mentioned. In the lake and on the river the water is far too wide; but +at the strait the space is not greater than might be crossed by a tall +mountain pine, and the rocks on either side are formed by nature like a +pier. That this point was always a place of passage is rendered probable +by its facility and the use of recent times. It is not long since it was +the common gate of the country on either side the river and the pass: +the mode of crossing is yet in the memory of people living, and was +performed by a little currach moored on either side the water, and a +stout cable fixed across the stream from bank to bank, by which the +passengers drew themselves across in the manner still practised in +places of the same nature. It is no argument against the existence of +a bridge in former times that the above method only existed in ours, +rather than a passage of that kind, which would seem the more improved +expedient. The contradiction is sufficiently accounted for by the decay +of timber in the neighbourhood. Of old, both oaks and firs of an immense +size abounded within a very inconsiderable distance; but it is now many +years since the destruction of the forests of Glen Eitive and Glen Urcha +has deprived the country of all the trees of sufficient size to cross +the strait of Brandir; and it is probable that the currach was not +introduced till the want of timber had disenabled the inhabitants of the +country from maintaining a bridge. It only further remains to be noticed +that at some distance below the Rocks of Brandir there was formerly a +ford, which was used for cattle in the memory of people living; from the +narrowness of the passage, the force of the stream, and the broken +bed of the river, it was, however, a dangerous pass, and could only +be attempted with safety at leisure and by experience."--NOTES TO THE +BRIDAL OF CAOLCHAIRN. + + +Note 8.--BATTLE BETWIXT THE ARMIES OF THE BRUCE AND MACDOUGAL OF LORN. + +"But the King, whose dear-bought experience in war had taught him +extreme caution, remained in the Braes of Balquhidder till he had +acquired by his spies and outskirries a perfect knowledge of the +disposition of the army of Lorn, and the intention of its leader. He +then divided his force into two columns, entrusting the command of the +first, in which he placed his archers and lightest armed troops, to Sir +James Douglas, whilst he himself took the leading of the other, which +consisted principally of his knights and barons. On approaching the +defile, Bruce dispatched Sir James Douglas by a pathway which the enemy +had neglected to occupy, with directions to advance silently, and gain +the heights above and in front of the hilly ground where the men of +Lorn were concealed; and having ascertained that this movement had been +executed with success, he put himself at the head of his own division, +and fearlessly led his men into the defile. Here, prepared as he was for +what was to take place, it was difficult to prevent a temporary panic +when the yell which, to this day, invariably precedes the assault of the +mountaineer, burst from the rugged bosom of Ben Cruachan; and the woods +which, the moment before, had waved in silence and solitude, gave forth +their birth of steel-clad warriors, and, in an instant, became instinct +with the dreadful vitality of war. But although appalled and checked for +a brief space by the suddenness of the assault, and the masses of rock +which the enemy rolled down from the precipices, Bruce, at the head of +his division, pressed up the side of the mountain. Whilst this party +assaulted the men of Lorn with the utmost fury, Sir James Douglas and +his party shouted suddenly upon the heights in their front, showering +down their arrows upon them; and, when these missiles were exhausted, +attacking them with their swords and battle-axes. The consequence of +such an attack, both in front and rear, was the total discomfiture +of the army of Lorn; and the circumstances to which this chief had so +confidently looked forward, as rendering the destruction of Bruce almost +inevitable, were now turned with fatal effect against himself. His great +superiority of numbers cumbered and impeded his movements. Thrust by +the double assault, and by the peculiar nature of the ground, into +such narrow room as the pass afforded, and driven to fury by finding +themselves cut to pieces in detail, without power of resistance, the men +of Lorn fled towards Loch Eitive, where a bridge thrown over the Awe, +and supported upon two immense rocks, known by the name of the Rocks of +Brandir, formed the solitary communication between the side of the river +where the battle took place and the country of Lorn. Their object was to +gain the bridge, which was composed entirely of wood, and having availed +themselves of it in their retreat, to destroy it, and thus throw the +impassable torrent of the Awe between them and their enemies. But their +intention was instantly detected by Douglas, who, rushing down from +the high grounds at the head of his archers and light-armed foresters, +attacked the body of the mountaineers, which had occupied the bridge, +and drove them from it with great slaughter, so that Bruce and his +division, on coming up, passed it without molestation; and this last +resource being taken from them, the army of Lorn were, in a few hours, +literally cut to pieces, whilst their chief, who occupied Loch Eitive +with his fleet, saw, from his ships, the discomfiture of his men, and +found it impossible to give them the least assistance."--TYTLER'S LIFE +OF BRUCE. + + +Note 9.--MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. + +The following succinct account of this too celebrated event, may be +sufficient for this place:-- + +"In the beginning of the year 1692 an action of unexampled barbarity +disgraced the government of King William III. in Scotland. In the August +preceding, a proclamation had been issued, offering an indemnity to such +insurgents as should take the oaths to the King and Queen, on or before +the last day of December; and the chiefs of such tribes, as had been +in arms for James, soon after took advantage of the proclamation. But +Macdonald of Glencoe was prevented by accident, rather than design, from +tendering his submission within the limited time. In the end of December +he went to Colonel Hill, who commanded the garrison in Fort William, to +take the oaths of allegiance to the government; and the latter having +furnished him with a letter to Sir Colin Campbell, Sheriff of the county +of Argyll, directed him to repair immediately to Inverary, to make his +submission in a legal manner before that magistrate. But the way +to Inverary lay through almost impassable mountains, the season was +extremely rigorous, and the whole country was covered with a deep snow. +So eager, however, was Macdonald to take the oaths before the limited +time should expire, that, though the road lay within half a mile of +his own house, he stopped not to visit his family, and, after various +obstructions, arrived at Inverary. The time had elapsed, and the sheriff +hesitated to receive his submission; but Macdonald prevailed by +his importunities, and even tears, in inducing that functionary to +administer to him the oath of allegiance, and to certify the cause of +his delay. At this time Sir John Dalrymple, afterwards Earl of Stair, +being in attendance upon William as Secretary of State for Scotland, +took advantage of Macdonald's neglecting to take the oath within the +time prescribed, and procured from the King a warrant of military +execution against that chief and his whole clan. This was done at the +instigation of the Earl of Breadalbane, whose lands the Glencoe men had +plundered, and whose treachery to government in negotiating with the +Highland clans Macdonald himself had exposed. The King was accordingly +persuaded that Glencoe was the main obstacle to the pacification of the +Highlands; and the fact of the unfortunate chief's submission having +been concealed, the sanguinary orders for proceeding to military +execution against his clan were in consequence obtained. The warrant was +both signed and countersigned by the King's own hand, and the Secretary +urged the officers who commanded in the Highlands to execute their +orders with the utmost rigour. Campbell of Glenlyon, a captain in +Argyll's regiment, and two subalterns, were ordered to repair to Glencoe +on the first of February with a hundred and twenty men. Campbell being +uncle to young Macdonald's wife, was received by the father with all +manner of friendship and hospitality. The men were lodged at free +quarters in the houses of his tenants, and received the kindest +entertainment. Till the 13th of the month the troops lived in the utmost +harmony and familiarity with the people, and on the very night of the +massacre the officers passed the evening at cards in Macdonald's house. +In the night Lieutenant Lindsay, with a party of soldiers, called in +a friendly manner at his door, and was instantly admitted. Macdonald, +while in the act of rising to receive his guest, was shot dead through +the back with two bullets. His wife had already dressed; but she was +stripped naked by the soldiers, who tore the rings off her fingers +with their teeth. The slaughter now became general, and neither age +nor infirmity was spared. Some women, in defending their children, were +killed; boys, imploring mercy, were shot dead by officers on whose knees +they hung. In one place nine persons, as they sat enjoying themselves +at table, were butchered by the soldiers. In Inverriggon, Campbell's own +quarters, nine men were first bound by the soldiers, and then shot +at intervals, one by one. Nearly forty persons were massacred by the +troops, and several who fled to the mountains perished by famine and +the inclemency of the season. Those who escaped owed their lives to a +tempestuous night. Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, who had received the +charge of the execution from Dalrymple, was on his march with four +hundred men, to guard all the passes from the valley of Glencoe; but +he was obliged to stop by the severity of the weather, which proved the +safety of the unfortunate clan. Next day he entered the valley, laid +the houses in ashes, and carried away the cattle and spoil, which were +divided among the officers and soldiers."--ARTICLE "BRITAIN;" ENCYC. +BRITANNICA--NEW EDITION. + + +Note 10.--FIDELITY OF THE HIGHLANDERS. + +Of the strong, undeviating attachment of the Highlanders to the +person, and their deference to the will or commands of their chiefs +and superiors--their rigid adherence to duty and principle--and their +chivalrous acts of self-devotion to these in the face of danger and +death, there are many instances recorded in General Stewart of Garth's +interesting Sketches of the Highlanders and Highland Regiments, +which might not inaptly supply parallels to the deeds of the Romans +themselves, at the era when Rome was in her glory. The following +instances of such are worthy of being here quoted:-- + +"In the year 1795 a serious disturbance broke out in Glasgow among the +Breadalbane Fencibles. Several men having been confined and threatened +with corporal punishment, considerable discontent and irritation were +excited among their comrades, which increased to such violence, that, +when some men were confined in the guard-house, a great proportion +of the regiment rushed out and forcibly released the prisoners. +This violation of military discipline was not to be passed over, and +accordingly measures were immediately taken to secure the ringleaders. +But so many were equally concerned, that it was difficult, if not +impossible, to fix the crime on any, as being more prominently guilty. +And here was shown a trait of character worthy of a better cause, and +which originated from a feeling alive to the disgrace of a degrading +punishment. The soldiers being made sensible of the nature of their +misconduct, and the consequent necessity of public example, SEVERAL MEN +VOLUNTARILY OFFERED THEMSELVES TO STAND TRIAL, and suffer the sentence +of the law as an atonement for the whole. These men were accordingly +marched to Edinburgh Castle, tried, and four condemned to be shot. Three +of them were afterwards reprieved, and the fourth, Alexander Sutherland, +was shot on Musselburgh Sands. + +"The following semi-official account of this unfortunate +misunderstanding was published at the time:-- + +"'During the afternoon of Monday, when a private of the light company of +the Breadalbane Fencibles, who had been confined for a MILITARY +offence, was released by that company, and some other companies, who +had assembled in a tumultuous manner before the guard-house, no person +whatever was hurt, and no violence offered; and however unjustifiable +the proceedings, it originated not from any disrespect or ill-will to +their officers, but from a mistaken point of honour, in a particular +set of men in the battalion, who thought themselves disgraced by the +impending punishment of one of their number. The men have, in every +respect, since that period conducted themselves with the greatest +regularity, and strict subordination. The whole of the battalion seemed +extremely sensible of the improper conduct of such as were concerned, +whatever regret they might feel for the fate of the few individuals who +had so readily given themselves up as prisoners, to be tried for their +own and others' misconduct.' + +"On the march to Edinburgh a circumstance occurred, the more worthy of +notice, as it shows a strong principle of honour and fidelity to his +word and to his officer in a common Highland soldier. One of the men +stated to the officer commanding the party, that he knew what his fate +would be, but that he had left business of the utmost importance to a +friend in Glasgow, which he wished to transact before his death; that, +as to himself, he was fully prepared to meet his fate; but with regard +to his friend, he could not die in peace unless the business was +settled, and that, if the officer would suffer him to return to Glasgow, +a few hours there would be sufficient, and he would join him before he +reached Edinburgh, and march as a prisoner with the party. The soldier +added, 'You have known me since I was a child; you know my country and +kindred; and you may believe I shall never bring you to any blame by +a breach of the promise I now make, to be with you in full time to +be delivered up in the Castle.' This was a startling proposal to the +officer, who was a judicious, humane man, and knew perfectly his risk +and responsibility in yielding to such an extraordinary application. +However, his confidence was such, that he complied with the request of +the prisoner, who returned to Glasgow at night, settled his business, +and left the town before daylight to redeem his pledge. He took a long +circuit to avoid being seen, apprehended as a deserter, and sent back to +Glasgow, as probably his account of his officer's indulgence would not +have been credited. In consequence of this caution, and the lengthened +march through woods and over hills by an unfrequented route, there +was no appearance of him at the hour appointed. The perplexity of the +officer when he reached the neighbourhood of Edinburgh may be easily +imagined. He moved forward slowly indeed, but no soldier appeared; and +unable to delay any longer, he marched up to the Castle, and as he +was delivering over the prisoners, but before any report was given in, +Macmartin, the absent soldier, rushed in among his fellow prisoners, all +pale with anxiety and fatigue, and breathless with apprehension of the +consequences in which his delay might have involved his benefactor. + +"In whatever light the conduct of the officer (my respectable friend, +Major Colin Campbell) may be considered, either by military men +or others, in this memorable exemplification of the characteristic +principle of his countrymen, fidelity to their word, it cannot but be +wished that the soldier's magnanimous self-devotion had been taken as +an atonement for his own misconduct and that of the whole, who also had +made a high sacrifice, in the voluntary offer of their lives for the +conduct of their brother soldiers. Are these a people to be treated as +malefactors, without regard to their feelings and principles? and might +not a discipline, somewhat different from the usual mode, be, with +advantage, applied to them?"--Vol.II. pp.413-15. 3rd Edit. + + +"A soldier of this regiment, (The Argyllshire Highlanders) deserted, +and emigrated to America, where he settled. Several years after his +desertion, a letter was received from him, with a sum of money, for the +purpose of procuring one or two men to supply his place in the regiment, +as the only recompense he could make for 'breaking his oath to his God +and his allegiance to his King, which preyed on his conscience in such a +manner, that he had no rest night nor day.' + +"This man had had good principles early instilled into his mind, and the +disgrace which he had been originally taught to believe would attach +to a breach of faith now operated with full effect. The soldier who +deserted from the 42nd Regiment at Gibraltar, in 1797, exhibited the +same remorse of conscience after he had violated his allegiance. In +countries where such principles prevail, and regulate the character of +a people, the mass of the population may, on occasions of trial, be +reckoned on as sound and trustworthy."--Vol.II., p.218. 3rd Edit. + + +"The late James Menzies of Culdares, having engaged in the rebellion of +1715, and been taken at Preston, in Lancashire, was carried to London, +where he was tried and condemned, but afterwards reprieved. Grateful +for this clemency, he remained at home in 1745, but, retaining a +predilection for the old cause, he sent a handsome charger as a present +to Prince Charles, when advancing through England. The servant who led +and delivered the horse was taken prisoner, and carried to Carlisle, +where he was tried and condemned. To extort a discovery of the person +who sent the horse, threats of immediate execution in case of +refusal, and offers of pardon on his giving information, were held out +ineffectually to the faithful messenger. He knew, he said, what the +consequence of a disclosure would be to his master, and his own life was +nothing in the comparison. When brought out for execution, he was +again pressed to inform on his master. He asked if they were serious in +supposing him such a villain. If he did what they desired, and forgot +his master and his trust, he could not return to his native country, for +Glenlyon would be no home or country for him, as he would be despised +and hunted out of the glen. Accordingly he kept steady to his trust, +and was executed. This trusty servant's name was John Macnaughton, from +Glenlyon, in Perthshire. He deserves to be mentioned, both on account +of his incorruptible fidelity, and of his testimony to the honourable +principles of the people, and to their detestation of a breach of trust +to a kind and honourable master, however great might be the risk, or +however fatal the consequences, to the individual himself."--Vol.1., pp. +52,53, 3rd Edit. + + + +NOTE TO THE TWO DROVERS. + +Note 11.--ROBERT DONN'S POEMS. + +I cannot dismiss this story without resting attention for a moment on +the light which has been thrown on the character of the Highland Drover +since the time of its first appearance, by the account of a drover poet, +by name Robert Mackay, or, as he was commonly called, Rob Donn--that +is, Brown Robert--and certain specimens of his talents, published in the +ninetieth number of the Quarterly Review. The picture which that paper +gives of the habits and feelings of a class of persons with which the +general reader would be apt to associate no ideas but those of wild +superstition and rude manners, is in the highest degree interesting, +and I cannot resist the temptation of quoting two of the songs of this +hitherto unheard-of poet of humble life. They are thus introduced by the +reviewer:-- + +"Upon one occasion, it seems, Rob's attendance upon his master's cattle +business detained him a whole year from home, and at his return he found +that a fair maiden to whom his troth had been plighted of yore had lost +sight of her vows, and was on the eve of being married to a rival (a +carpenter by trade), who had profited by the young drover's absence. +The following song was composed during a sleepless night, in the +neighbourhood of Creiff, in Perthshire, and the home sickness which it +expresses appears to be almost as much that of the deer-hunter as of the +loving swain. + + 'EASY IS MY BED, IT IS EASY, + BUT IT IS NOT TO SLEEP THAT I INCLINE; + THE WIND WHISTLES NORTHWARDS, NORTHWARDS, + AND MY THOUGHTS MOVE WITH IT. + More pleasant were it to be with thee + In the little glen of calves, + Than to be counting of droves + In the enclosures of Creiff. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Great is my esteem of the maiden + Towards whose dwelling the north wind blows; + She is ever cheerful, sportive, kindly, + Without folly, without vanity, without pride. + True is her heart--were I under hiding, + And fifty men in pursuit of my footsteps, + I should find protection, when they surrounded me most + closely, + In the secret recess of that shieling. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Oh for the day for turning my face homeward, + That I may see the maiden of beauty-- + Joyful will it be to me to be with thee, + Fair girl with the long heavy locks! + Choice of all places for deer-hunting + Are the brindled rock and the ridge! + How sweet at evening to be dragging the slain deer + Downwards along the piper's cairn! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Great is my esteem for the maiden + Who parted from me by the west side of the enclosed field; + Late yet again will she linger in that fold, + Long after the kine are assembled. + It is I myself who have taken no dislike to thee, + Though far away from thee am I now. + It is for the thought of thee that sleep flies from me; + Great is the profit to me of thy parting kiss! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Dear to me are the boundaries of the forest; + Far from Creiff is my heart; + My remembrance is of the hillocks of sheep, + And the heath of many knolls. + Oh for the red-streaked fissures of the rock, + Where in spring time the fawns leap; + Oh for the crags towards which the wind is blowing-- + Cheap would be my bed to be there! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC.' + +"The following describes Rob's feelings on the first discovery of his +damsel's infidelity. The airs of both these pieces are his own, and, the +Highland ladies say, very beautiful. + + 'Heavy to me is the shieling, and the hum that is in it, + Since the ear that was wont to listen is now no more on the + watch. + Where is Isabel, the courteous, the conversable, a sister in + kindness? + Where is Anne, the slender-browed, the turret-breasted, whose + glossy hair pleased me when yet a boy? + HEICH! WHAT AN HOUR WAS MY RETURNING! + PAIN SUCH AS THAT SUNSET BROUGHT, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL IT? + + 'I traversed the fold, and upward among the trees-- + Each place, far and near, wherein I was wont to salute my + love. + When I looked down from the crag, and beheld the fair-haired + stranger dallying with his bride, + I wished I had never revisited the glen of my dreams. + SUCH THINGS CAME INTO MY HEART AS THAT SUN WAS GOING DOWN, + A PAIN OF WHICH I SHALL NEVER BE RID, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL + IT? + + 'Since it has been heard that the carpenter had persuaded thee, + My sleep is disturbed--busy is foolishness within me at + midnight. + The kindness that has been between us, I cannot shake off that + memory in visions; + Thou callest me not to thy side; but love is to me for a + messenger. + THERE IS STRIFE WITHIN ME, AND I TOSS TO BE AT LIBERTY; + AND EVER THE CLOSER IT CLINGS, AND THE DELUSION IS GROWING TO + ME AS A TREE. + + 'Anne, yellow-haired daughter of Donald, surely thou knowest + not how it is with me-- + That it is old love, unrepaid, which has worn down from me my + strength; + That when far from thee, beyond many mountains, the wound in + my heart was throbbing, + Stirring, and searching for ever, as when I sat beside thee on + the turf. + NOW, THEN, HEAR ME THIS ONCE, IF FOR EVER I AM TO BE WITHOUT + THEE, + MY SPIRIT IS BROKEN--GIVE ME ONE KISS ERE I LEAVE THIS LAND! + + 'Haughtily and scornfully the maid looked upon me:-- + Never will it be work for thy fingers to unloose the band from + my curls. + Thou hast been absent a twelvemonth, and six were seeking me + diligently; + Was thy superiority so high that there should be no end of + abiding for thee? + HA! HA! HA! HAST THOU AT LAST BECOME SICK? + IS IT LOVE THAT IS TO GIVE DEATH TO THEE? SURELY THE ENEMY + HAS BEEN IN NO HASTE. + + 'But how shall I hate thee, even though towards me thou hast + become cold? + When my discourse is most angry concerning thy name in thine + absence, + Of sudden thine image, with its old dearness, comes visibly + into my mind, + And a secret voice whispers that love will yet prevail! + AND I BECOME SURETY FOR IT ANEW, DARLING, + AND IT SPRINGS UP AT THAT HOUR LOFTY AS A TOWER.' + +"Rude and bald as these things appear in a verbal translation, and rough +as they might possibly appear, even were the originals intelligible, we +confess we are disposed to think they would of themselves justify Dr. +Mackay (their Editor) in placing this herdsman-lover among the true sons +of song."--QUARTERLY REVIEW, NO. XC., JULY 1831. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Chronicles of the Canongate, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE *** + +***** This file should be named 1828.txt or 1828.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/1828/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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The notes +at the end are now numbered instead of using pages to +identify them as was done in the printed text. + +Text in italics has been written in capital letters. + +The Pound Sterling symbol has been written as "L". + + + + + +CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + Introduction to Chronicles of the Canongate. + Appendix to Introduction--The Theatrical Fund Dinner. + Introductory--Mr. Chrystal Croftangry. + The Highland Widow. + The Two Drovers. + Notes. + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +The preceding volume of this Collection concluded the last of the +pieces originally published under the NOMINIS UMBRA of The Author +of Waverley; and the circumstances which rendered it impossible +for the writer to continue longer in the possession of his +incognito were communicated in 1827, in the Introduction to the +first series of Chronicles of the Canongate, consisting (besides +a biographical sketch of the imaginary chronicler) of three +tales, entitled "The Highland Widow," "The Two Drovers," and "The +Surgeon's Daughter." In the present volume the two first named +of these pieces are included, together with three detached +stories which appeared the year after, in the elegant compilation +called "The Keepsake." "The Surgeon's Daughter" it is thought +better to defer until a succeeding volume, than to + + "Begin, and break off in the middle." + +I have, perhaps, said enough on former occasions of the +misfortunes which led to the dropping of that mask under which I +had, for a long series of years, enjoyed so large a portion of +public favour. Through the success of those literary efforts, I +had been enabled to indulge most of the tastes which a retired +person of my station might be supposed to entertain. In the pen +of this nameless romancer, I seemed to possess something like the +secret fountain of coined gold and pearls vouchsafed to the +traveller of the Eastern Tale; and no doubt believed that I might +venture, without silly imprudence, to extend my personal +expenditure considerably beyond what I should have thought of, +had my means been limited to the competence which I derived from +inheritance, with the moderate income of a professional +situation. I bought, and built, and planted, and was considered +by myself, as by the rest of the world, in the safe possession of +an easy fortune. My riches, however, like the other riches of +this world, were liable to accidents, under which they were +ultimately destined to make unto themselves wings, and fly away. +The year 1825, so disastrous to many branches of industry and +commerce, did not spare the market of literature; and the sudden +ruin that fell on so many of the booksellers could scarcely have +been expected to leave unscathed one whose career had of +necessity connected him deeply and extensively with the pecuniary +transactions of that profession. In a word, almost without one +note of premonition, I found myself involved in the sweeping +catastrophe of the unhappy time, and called on to meet the +demands of creditors upon commercial establishments with which +my fortunes had long been bound up, to the extent of no less a +sum than one hundred and twenty thousand pounds. + +The author having, however rashly, committed his pledges thus +largely to the hazards of trading companies, it behoved him, of +course, to abide the consequences of his conduct, and, with +whatever feelings, he surrendered on the instant every shred of +property which he had been accustomed to call his own. It became +vested in the hands of gentlemen whose integrity, prudence, and +intelligence were combined with all possible liberality and +kindness of disposition, and who readily afforded every +assistance towards the execution of plans, in the success of +which the author contemplated the possibility of his ultimate +extrication, and which were of such a nature that, had assistance +of this sort been withheld, he could have had little prospect of +carrying them into effect. Among other resources which occurred +was the project of that complete and corrected edition of his +Novels and Romances (whose real parentage had of necessity been +disclosed at the moment of the commercial convulsions alluded +to), which has now advanced with unprecedented favour nearly to +its close; but as he purposed also to continue, for the behoof of +those to whom he was indebted, the exercise of his pen in the +same path of literature, so long as the taste of his countrymen +should seem to approve of his efforts, it appeared to him that it +would have been an idle piece of affectation to attempt getting +up a new incognito, after his original visor had been thus dashed +from his brow. Hence the personal narrative prefixed to the +first work of fiction which he put forth after the paternity of +the "Waverley Novels" had come to be publicly ascertained; and +though many of the particulars originally avowed in that Notice +have been unavoidably adverted to in the Prefaces and Notes to +some of the preceding volumes of the present collection, it is +now reprinted as it stood at the time, because some interest is +generally attached to a coin or medal struck on a special +occasion, as expressing, perhaps, more faithfully than the same +artist could have afterwards conveyed, the feelings of the moment +that gave it birth. The Introduction to the first series of +Chronicles of the Canongate ran, then, in these words:-- + + +INTRODUCTION. + +All who are acquainted with the early history of the Italian +stage are aware that Arlecchino is not, in his original +conception, a mere worker of marvels with his wooden sword, a +jumper in and out of windows, as upon our theatre, but, as his +party-coloured jacket implies, a buffoon or clown, whose mouth, +far from being eternally closed, as amongst us, is filled, like +that of Touchstone, with quips, and cranks, and witty devices, +very often delivered extempore. It is not easy to trace how he +became possessed of his black vizard, which was anciently made in +the resemblance of the face of a cat; but it seems that the mask +was essential to the performance of the character, as will appear +from the following theatrical anecdote:-- + +An actor on the Italian stage permitted at the Foire du St. +Germain, in Paris, was renowned for the wild, venturous, and +extravagant wit, the brilliant sallies and fortunate repartees, +with which he prodigally seasoned the character of the party- +coloured jester. Some critics, whose good-will towards a +favourite performer was stronger than their judgment, took +occasion to remonstrate with the successful actor on the subject +of the grotesque vizard. They went wilily to their purpose, +observing that his classical and Attic wit, his delicate vein of +humour, his happy turn for dialogue, were rendered burlesque and +ludicrous by this unmeaning and bizarre disguise, and that those +attributes would become far more impressive if aided by the +spirit of his eye and the expression of his natural features. +The actor's vanity was easily so far engaged as to induce him to +make the experiment. He played Harlequin barefaced, but was +considered on all hands as having made a total failure. He had +lost the audacity which a sense of incognito bestowed, and with +it all the reckless play of raillery which gave vivacity to his +original acting. He cursed his advisers, and resumed his +grotesque vizard, but, it is said, without ever being able to +regain the careless and successful levity which the consciousness +of the disguise had formerly bestowed. + +Perhaps the Author of Waverley is now about to incur a risk of +the same kind, and endanger his popularity by having laid aside +his incognito. It is certainly not a voluntary experiment, like +that of Harlequin; for it was my original intention never to have +avowed these works during my lifetime, and the original +manuscripts were carefully preserved (though by the care of +others rather than mine), with the purpose of supplying the +necessary evidence of the truth when the period of announcing it +should arrive. [These manuscripts are at present (August 1831) +advertised for public sale, which is an addition, though a small +one, to other annoyances.] But the affairs of my publishers +having, unfortunately, passed into a management different from +their own, I had no right any longer to rely upon secrecy in that +quarter; and thus my mask, like my Aunt Dinah's in "Tristram +Shandy," having begun to wax a little threadbare about the chin, +it became time to lay it aside with a good grace, unless I +desired it should fall in pieces from my face, which was now +become likely. + +Yet I had not the slightest intention of selecting the time and +place in which the disclosure was finally made; nor was there any +concert betwixt my learned and respected friend LORD MEADOWBANK +and myself upon that occasion. It was, as the reader is probably +aware, upon the 23rd February last, at a public meeting, called +for establishing a professional Theatrical Fund in Edinburgh, +that the communication took place. Just before we sat down to +table, Lord Meadowbank [One of the Supreme Judges of Scotland, +termed Lords of Council and Session.] asked me privately whether +I was still anxious to preserve my incognito on the subject of +what were called the Waverley Novels? I did not immediately see +the purpose of his lordship's question, although I certainly +might have been led to infer it, and replied that the secret had +now of necessity become known to so many people that I was +indifferent on the subject. Lord Meadowbank was thus induced, +while doing me the great honour of proposing my health to the +meeting, to say something on the subject of these Novels so +strongly connecting them with me as the author, that by remaining +silent I must have stood convicted, either of the actual +paternity, or of the still greater crime of being supposed +willing to receive indirectly praise to which I had no just +title. I thus found myself suddenly and unexpectedly placed in +the confessional, and had only time to recollect that I had been +guided thither by a most friendly hand, and could not, perhaps, +find a better public opportunity to lay down a disguise which +began to resemble that of a detected masquerader. + +I had therefore the task of avowing myself, to the numerous and +respectable company assembled, as the sole and unaided author of +these Novels of Waverley, the paternity of which was likely at +one time to have formed a controversy of some celebrity, for the +ingenuity with which some instructors of the public gave their +assurance on the subject was extremely persevering. I now think +it further necessary to say that, while I take on myself all the +merits and demerits attending these compositions, I am bound to +acknowledge with gratitude hints of subjects and legends which I +have received from various quarters, and have occasionally used +as a foundation of my fictitious compositions, or woven up with +them in the shape of episodes. I am bound, in particular, to +acknowledge the unremitting kindness of Mr. Joseph Train, +supervisor of excise at Dumfries, to whose unwearied industry I +have been indebted for many curious traditions and points of +antiquarian interest. It was Mr. Train who brought to my +recollection the history of Old Mortality, although I myself had +had a personal interview with that celebrated wanderer so far +back as about 1792, when I found him on his usual task. He was +then engaged in repairing the Gravestones of the Covenanters who +had died while imprisoned in the Castle of Dunnottar, to which +many of them were committed prisoners at the period of Argyle's +rising. Their place of confinement is still called the Whigs' +Vault. Mr. Train, however, procured for me far more extensive +information concerning this singular person, whose name was +Patterson, than I had been able to acquire during my own short +conversation with him. [See, for some further particulars, the +notes to Old Mortality, in the present collective edition.] He +was (as I think I have somewhere already stated) a native of the +parish of Closeburn, in Dumfriesshire; and it is believed that +domestic affliction, as well as devotional feeling, induced him +to commence the wandering mode of life which he pursued for a +very long period. It is more than twenty years since Robert +Patterson's death, which took place on the highroad near +Lockerby, where he was found exhausted and expiring. The white +pony, the companion of his pilgrimage, was standing by the side +of its dying master the whole furnishing a scene not unfitted for +the pencil. These particulars I had from Mr. Train. + +Another debt, which I pay most willingly, I owe to an unknown +correspondent (a lady), [The late Mrs. Goldie.] who favoured me +with the history of the upright and high-principled female, whom, +in the Heart of Mid-Lothian, I have termed Jeanie Deans. The +circumstance of her refusing to save her sister's life by an act +of perjury, and undertaking a pilgrimage to London to obtain her +pardon, are both represented as true by my fair and obliging +correspondent; and they led me to consider the possibility of +rendering a fictitious personage interesting by mere dignity of +mind and rectitude of principle, assisted by unpretending good +sense and temper, without any of the beauty, grace, talent, +accomplishment, and wit to which a heroine of romance is supposed +to have a prescriptive right. If the portrait was received with +interest by the public, I am conscious how much it was owing to +the truth and force of the original sketch, which I regret that I +am unable to present to the public, as it was written with much +feeling and spirit. + +Old and odd books, and a considerable collection of family +legends, formed another quarry, so ample that it was much more +likely that the strength of the labourer should be exhausted than +that materials should fail. I may mention, for example's sake, +that the terrible catastrophe of the Bride of Lammermoor actually +occurred in a Scottish family of rank. The female relative, by +whom the melancholy tale was communicated to me many years since, +was a near connection of the family in which the event happened, +and always told it with an appearance of melancholy mystery which +enhanced the interest. She had known in her youth the brother +who rode before the unhappy victim to the fatal altar, who, +though then a mere boy, and occupied almost entirely with the +gaiety of his own appearance in the bridal procession, could not +but remark that the hand of his sister was moist, and cold as +that of a statue. It is unnecessary further to withdraw the veil +from this scene of family distress, nor, although it occurred +more than a hundred years since, might it be altogether agreeable +to the representatives of the families concerned in the +narrative. It may be proper to say that the events alone are +imitated; but I had neither the means nor intention of copying +the manners, or tracing the characters, of the persons concerned +in the real story. Indeed, I may here state generally that, +although I have deemed historical personages free subjects of +delineation, I have never on any occasion violated the respect +due to private life. It was indeed impossible that traits proper +to persons, both living and dead, with whom I have had +intercourse in society, should not have risen to my pen in such +works as Waverley, and those which followed it. But I have +always studied to generalize the portraits, so that they should +still seem, on the whole, the productions of fancy, though +possessing some resemblance to real individuals. Yet I must own +my attempts have not in this last particular been uniformly +successful. There are men whose characters are so peculiarly +marked, that the delineation of some leading and principal +feature inevitably places the whole person before you in his +individuality. Thus, the character of Jonathan Oldbuck, in the +Antiquary, was partly founded on that of an old friend of my +youth, to whom I am indebted for introducing me to Shakespeare, +and other invaluable favours; but I thought I had so completely +disguised the likeness that his features could not be recognized +by any one now alive. I was mistaken, however, and indeed had +endangered what I desired should be considered as a secret; for I +afterwards learned that a highly-respectable gentleman, one of +the few surviving friends of my father, and an acute critic, +[James Chalmers, Esq., Solicitor at Law, London, who (died during +the publication of the present edition of these Novels. (Aug. +1831.)] had said, upon the appearance of the work, that he was +now convinced who was the author of it, as he recognized in the +Antiquary of Monkbarns traces of the character of a very intimate +friend of my father's family. + +I may here also notice that the sort of exchange of gallantry +which is represented as taking place betwixt the Baron of +Bradwardine and Colonel Talbot, is a literal fact. The real +circumstances of the anecdote, alike honourable to Whig and Tory, +are these:-- + +Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle--a name which I cannot write +without the warmest recollections of gratitude to the friend of +my childhood, who first introduced me to the Highlands, their +traditions, and their manners--had been engaged actively in the +troubles of 1745. As he charged at the battle of Preston with +his clan, the Stewarts of Appin, he saw an officer of the +opposite army standing alone by a battery of four cannon, of +which he discharged three on the advancing Highlanders, and then +drew his sword. Invernahyle rushed on him, and required him to +surrender. "Never to rebels!" was the undaunted reply, +accompanied with a lunge, which the Highlander received on his +target, but instead of using his sword in cutting down his now +defenceless antagonist, he employed it in parrying the blow of a +Lochaber axe aimed at the officer by the Miller, one of his own +followers, a grim-looking old Highlander, whom I remember to have +seen. Thus overpowered, Lieutenant-Colonel Allan Whitefoord, a +gentleman of rank and consequence, as well as a brave officer, +gave up his sword, and with it his purse and watch, which +Invernahyle accepted, to save them from his followers. After the +affair was over, Mr. Stewart sought out his prisoner, and they +were introduced to each other by the celebrated John Roy Stewart, +who acquainted Colonel Whitefoord with the quality of his captor, +and made him aware of the necessity of receiving back his +property, which he was inclined to leave in the hands into which +it had fallen. So great became the confidence established +betwixt them, that Invernahyle obtained from the Chevalier his +prisoner's freedom upon parole; and soon afterwards, having been +sent back to the Highlands to raise men, he visited Colonel +Whitefoord at his own house, and spent two happy days with him +and his Whig friends, without thinking on either side of the +civil war which was then raging. + +When the battle of Culloden put an end to the hopes of Charles +Edward, Invernahyle, wounded and unable to move, was borne from +the field by the faithful zeal of his retainers. But as he had +been a distinguished Jacobite, his family and property were +exposed to the system of vindictive destruction too generally +carried into execution through the country of the insurgents. It +was now Colonel Whitefoord's turn to exert himself, and he +wearied all the authorities, civil and military, with his +solicitations for pardon to the saver of his life, or at least +for a protection for his wife and family. His applications were +for a long time unsuccessful. "I was found with the mark of the +Beast upon me in every list," was Invernahyle's expression. At +length Colonel Whitefoord applied to the Duke of Cumberland, and +urged his suit with every argument which he could think of, being +still repulsed, he took his commission from his bosom, and having +said something of his own and his family's exertions in the cause +of the House of Hanover, begged to resign his situation in their +service, since he could not be permitted to show his gratitude to +the person to whom he owed his life. The duke, struck with his +earnestness, desired him to take up his commission, and granted +the protection required for the family of Invernahyle. + +The chieftain himself lay concealed in a cave near his own house, +before which a small body of regular soldiers were encamped. He +could hear their muster-roll called every morning, and their +drums beat to quarters at night, and not a change of the +sentinels escaped him. As it was suspected that he was lurking +somewhere on the property, his family were closely watched, and +compelled to use the utmost precaution in supplying him with +food. One of his daughters, a child of eight or ten years old, +was employed as the agent least likely to be suspected. She was +an instance, among others, that a time of danger and difficulty +creates a premature sharpness of intellect. She made herself +acquainted among the soldiers, till she became so familiar to +them that her motions escaped their notice; and her practice was +to stroll away into the neighbourhood of the cave, and leave what +slender supply of food she carried for that purpose under some +remarkable stone, or the root of some tree, where her father +might find it as he crept by night from his lurking-place. Times +became milder, and my excellent friend was relieved from +proscription by the Act of Indemnity. Such is the interesting +story which I have rather injured than improved by the manner in +which it is told in Waverley. + +This incident, with several other circumstances illustrating the +Tales in question, was communicated by me to my late lamented +friend, William Erskine (a Scottish judge, by the title of Lord +Kinedder), who afterwards reviewed with far too much partiality +the Tales of my Landlord, for the Quarterly Review of January +1817. [Lord Kinedder died in August 1822. EHEU! (Aug. 1831.)] +In the same article are contained other illustrations of the +Novels, with which I supplied my accomplished friend, who took +the trouble to write the review. The reader who is desirous of +such information will find the original of Meg Merrilies, and, I +believe, of one or two other personages of the same cast of +character, in the article referred to. + +I may also mention that the tragic and savage circumstances which +are represented as preceding the birth of Allan MacAulay in the +Legend of Montrose, really happened in the family of Stewart of +Ardvoirlich. The wager about the candlesticks, whose place was +supplied by Highland torch-bearers, was laid and won by one of +the MacDonalds of Keppoch. + +There can be but little amusement in winnowing out the few grains +of truth which are contained in this mass of empty fiction. I +may, however, before dismissing the subject, allude to the +various localities which have been affixed to some of the scenery +introduced into these Novels, by which, for example, Wolf's Hope +is identified with Fast Castle in Berwickshire, Tillietudlem with +Draphane in Clydesdale, and the valley in the Monastery, called +Glendearg, with the dale of the river Allan, above Lord +Somerville's villa, near Melrose. I can only say that, in these +and other instances, I had no purpose of describing any +particular local spot; and the resemblance must therefore be of +that general kind which necessarily exists between scenes of the +same character. The iron-bound coast of Scotland affords upon +its headlands and promontories fifty such castles as Wolf's Hope; +every county has a valley more or less resembling Glendearg; and +if castles like Tillietudlem, or mansions like the Baron of +Bradwardine's, are now less frequently to be met with, it is +owing to the rage of indiscriminate destruction, which has +removed or ruined so many monuments of antiquity, when they were +not protected by their inaccessible situation. [I would +particularly intimate the Kaim of Uric, on the eastern coast of +Scotland, as having suggested an idea for the tower called Wolf's +Crag, which the public more generally identified with the ancient +tower of Fast Castle.] + +The scraps of poetry which have been in most cases tacked to the +beginning of chapters in these Novels are sometimes quoted either +from reading or from memory, but, in the general case, are pure +invention. I found it too troublesome to turn to the collection +of the British Poets to discover apposite mottoes, and, in the +situation of the theatrical mechanist, who, when the white paper +which represented his shower of snow was exhausted, continued the +storm by snowing brown, I drew on my memory as long as I could, +and when that failed, eked it out with invention. I believe that +in some cases, where actual names are affixed to the supposed +quotations, it would be to little purpose to seek them in the +works of the authors referred to. In some cases I have been +entertained when Dr. Watts and other graver authors have been +ransacked in vain for stanzas for which the novelist alone was +responsible. + +And now the reader may expect me, while in the confessional, to +explain the motives why I have so long persisted in disclaiming +the works of which I am now writing. To this it would be +difficult to give any other reply, save that of Corporal Nym--it +was the author's humour or caprice for the time. I hope it will +not be construed into ingratitude to the public, to whose +indulgence I have owed my SANG-FROID much more than to any merit +of my own, if I confess that I am, and have been, more +indifferent to success or to failure as an author, than may be +the case with others, who feel more strongly the passion for +literary fame, probably because they are justly conscious of a +better title to it. It was not until I had attained the age of +thirty years that I made any serious attempt at distinguishing +myself as an author; and at that period men's hopes, desires, and +wishes have usually acquired something of a decisive character, +and are not eagerly and easily diverted into a new channel. When +I made the discovery--for to me it was one--that by amusing +myself with composition, which I felt a delightful occupation, I +could also give pleasure to others, and became aware that +literary pursuits were likely to engage in future a considerable +portion of my time, I felt some alarm that I might acquire those +habits of jealousy and fretfulness which have lessened, and even +degraded, the character even of great authors, and rendered them, +by their petty squabbles and mutual irritability, the laughing- +stock of the people of the world. I resolved, therefore, in this +respect to guard my breast--perhaps an unfriendly critic may add, +my brow--with triple brass, [Not altogether impossible, when it +is considered that I have been at the bar since 1792. (Aug. +1831.)] and as much as possible to avoid resting my thoughts and +wishes upon literary success, lest I should endanger my own peace +of mind and tranquillity by literary failure. It would argue +either stupid apathy or ridiculous affectation to say that I have +been insensible to the public applause, when I have been honoured +with its testimonies; and still more highly do I prize the +invaluable friendships which some temporary popularity has +enabled me to form among those of my contemporaries most +distinguished by talents and genius, and which I venture to hope +now rest upon a basis more firm than the circumstances which gave +rise to them. Yet, feeling all these advantages as a man ought +to do, and must do, I may say, with truth and confidence, that I +have, I think, tasted of the intoxicating cup with moderation, +and that I have never, either in conversation or correspondence, +encouraged discussions respecting my own literary pursuits. On +the contrary, I have usually found such topics, even when +introduced from motives most flattering to myself, Rather +embarrassing and disagreeable. + +I have now frankly told my motives for concealment, so far as I +am conscious of having any, and the public will forgive the +egotism of the detail, as what is necessarily connected with it. +The author, so long and loudly called for, has appeared on the +stage, and made his obeisance to the audience. Thus far his +conduct is a mark of respect. To linger in their presence would +be intrusion. + +I have only to repeat that I avow myself in print, as formerly in +words, the sole and unassisted author of all the Novels published +as works of "The Author of Waverley." I do this without shame, +for I am unconscious that there is any thing in their composition +which deserves reproach, either on the score of religion or +morality; and without any feeling of exultation, because, +whatever may have been their temporary success, I am well aware +how much their reputation depends upon the caprice of fashion; +and I have already mentioned the precarious tenure by which it is +held, as a reason for displaying no great avidity in grasping at +the possession. + +I ought to mention, before concluding, that twenty persons, at +least, were, either from intimacy, or from the confidence which +circumstances rendered necessary, participant of this secret; and +as there was no instance, to my knowledge, of any one of the +number breaking faith, I am the more obliged to them, because the +slight and trivial character of the mystery was not qualified to +inspire much respect in those entrusted with it. Nevertheless, +like Jack the Giant-Killer, I was fully confident in the +advantage of my "Coat of Darkness;" and had it not been from +compulsory circumstances, I would have, indeed, been very +cautious how I parted with it. + +As for the work which follows, it was meditated, and in part +printed, long before the avowal of the novels took place, and +originally commenced with a declaration that it was neither to +have introduction nor preface of any kind. This long proem, +prefixed to a work intended not to have any, may, however, serve +to show how human purposes in the most trifling, as well as the +most important affairs, are liable to be controlled by the course +of events. Thus we begin to cross a strong river with our eyes +and our resolution fixed on that point of the opposite shore on +which we purpose to land; but gradually giving way to the +torrent, are glad, by the aid perhaps of branch or bush, to +extricate ourselves at some distant and perhaps dangerous +landing-place, much farther down the stream than that on which we +had fixed our intentions. + +Hoping that the Courteous Reader will afford to a known and +familiar acquaintance some portion of the favour which he +extended to a disguised candidate for his applause, I beg leave +to subscribe myself his obliged humble servant, + +WALTER SCOTT. + +ABBOTSFORD, OCTOBER 1, 1827. + +* + +Such was the little narrative which I thought proper to put forth +in October 1827; nor have I much to add to it now. About to +appear for the first time in my own name in this department of +letters, it occurred to me that something in the shape of a +periodical publication might carry with it a certain air of +novelty, and I was willing to break, if I may so express it, the +abruptness of my personal forthcoming, by investing an imaginary +coadjutor with at least as much distinctness of individual +existence as I had ever previously thought it worth while to +bestow on shadows of the same convenient tribe. Of course, it +had never been in my contemplation to invite the assistance of +any real person in the sustaining of my quasi-editorial character +and labours. It had long been my opinion, that any thing like a +literary PICNIC is likely to end in suggesting comparisons, +justly termed odious, and therefore to be avoided; and, indeed, I +had also had some occasion to know, that promises of assistance, +in efforts of that order, are apt to be more magnificent than the +subsequent performance. I therefore planned a Miscellany, to be +dependent, after the old fashion, on my own resources alone, and +although conscious enough that the moment which assigned to the +Author of Waverley "a local habitation and a name," had seriously +endangered his spell, I felt inclined to adopt the sentiment of +my old hero Montrose, and to say to myself, that in literature, +as in war,-- + + "He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch, + To win or lose it all." + +To the particulars explanatory of the plan of these Chronicles, +which the reader is presented with in Chapter II. by the +imaginary Editor, Mr. Croftangry, I have now to add, that the +lady, termed in his narrative, Mrs. Bethune Balliol, was designed +to shadow out in its leading points the interesting character of +a dear friend of mine, Mrs. Murray Keith, whose death occurring +shortly before, had saddened a wide circle, much attached to her, +as well for her genuine virtue and amiable qualities of +disposition, as for the extent of information which she +possessed, and the delightful manner in which she was used to +communicate it. In truth, the author had, on many occasions, +been indebted to her vivid memory for the SUBSTRATUM of his +Scottish fictions, and she accordingly had been, from an early +period, at no loss to fix the Waverley Novels on the right +culprit. + +[The Keiths of Craig, in Kincardineshire, descended from John +Keith, fourth son of William, second Earl Marischal, who got from +his father, about 1480, the lands of Craig, and part of Garvock, +in that county. In Douglas's Baronage, 443 to 445, is a pedigree +of that family. Colonel Robert Keith of Craig (the seventh in +descent from John) by his wife, Agnes, daughter of Robert Murray +of Murrayshall, of the family of Blackbarony, widow of Colonel +Stirling, of the family of Keir, had one son--namely Robert Keith +of Craig, ambassador to the court of Vienna, afterwards to St. +Petersburgh, which latter situation he held at the accession of +King George III.--who died at Edinburgh in 1774. He married +Margaret, second daughter of Sir William Cunningham of +Caprington, by Janet, only child and heiress of Sir James Dick of +Prestonfield; and, among other children of this marriage were the +late well-known diplomatist, Sir Robert Murray Keith, K.B., a +general in the army, and for some time ambassador at Vienna; Sir +Basil Keith, Knight, captain in the navy, who died Governor of +Jamaica; and my excellent friend, Anne Murray Keith, who +ultimately came into possession of the family estates, and died +not long before the date of this Introduction (1831).] + +In the sketch of Chrystal Croftangry's own history, the author +has been accused of introducing some not polite allusions to +respectable living individuals; but he may safely, he presumes, +pass over such an insinuation. The first of the narratives which +Mr. Croftangry proceeds to lay before the public, "The Highland +Widow," was derived from Mrs. Murray Keith, and is given, with +the exception of a few additional circumstances--the introduction +of which I am rather inclined to regret--very much as the +excellent old lady used to tell the story. Neither the Highland +cicerone Macturk nor the demure washingwoman, were drawn from +imagination; and on re-reading my tale, after the lapse of a few +years, and comparing its effect with my remembrance of my worthy +friend's oral narration, which was certainly extremely affecting, +I cannot but suspect myself of having marred its simplicity by +some of those interpolations, which, at the time when I penned +them, no doubt passed with myself for embellishments. + +The next tale, entitled "The Two Drovers," I learned from another +old friend, the late George Constable, Esq. of Wallace-Craigie, +near Dundee, whom I have already introduced to my reader as the +original Antiquary of Monkbarns. He had been present, I think, +at the trial at Carlisle, and seldom mentioned the venerable +judges charge to the jury, without shedding tears,--which had +peculiar pathos, as flowing down features, carrying rather a +sarcastic or almost a cynical expression. + +This worthy gentleman's reputation for shrewd Scottish sense, +knowledge of our national antiquities, and a racy humour peculiar +to himself, must be still remembered. For myself, I have pride +in recording that for many years we were, in Wordsworth's +language,-- + + "A pair of friends, though I was young, + And 'George' was seventy-two." + +W. S. + +ABBOTSFORD, AUG. 15, 1831. + + +* + + +APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION. + +[It has been suggested to the Author that it might be well to +reprint here a detailed account of the public dinner alluded to +in the foregoing Introduction, as given in the newspapers of the +time; and the reader is accordingly presented with the following +extract from the EDINBURGH WEEKLY JOURNAL for Wednesday, 28th +February, 1827.] + + +THE THEATRICAL FUND DINNER. + +Before proceeding with our account of this very interesting +festival--for so it may be termed--it is our duty to present to +our readers the following letter, which we have received from the +President:-- + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE "EDINBURGH WEEKLY JOURNAL." + +Sir,--I am extremely sorry I have not leisure to correct the copy +you sent me of what I am stated to have said at the dinner for +the Theatrical Fund. I am no orator, and upon such occasions as +are alluded to, I say as well as I can what the time requires. + +However, I hope your reporter has been more accurate in other +instances than in mine. I have corrected one passage, in which I +am made to speak with great impropriety and petulance, respecting +the opinions of those who do not approve of dramatic +entertainments. I have restored what I said, which was meant to +be respectful, as every objection founded in conscience is, in my +opinion, entitled to be so treated. Other errors I left as I +found them, it being of little consequence whether I spoke sense +or nonsense in what was merely intended for the purpose of the +hour. + +I am, sir, + +Your obedient servant, + +EDINBURGH, MONDAY. WALTER SCOTT. + +* + +The Theatrical Fund Dinner, which took place on Friday, in the +Assembly Rooms, was conducted with admirable spirit. The +Chairman, Sir WALTER SCOTT, among his other great qualifications, +is well fitted to enliven such an entertainment. His manners are +extremely easy, and his style of speaking simple and natural, yet +full of vivacity and point; and he has the art, if it be art, of +relaxing into a certain homeliness of manner, without losing one +particle of his dignity. He thus takes off some of that solemn +formality which belongs to such meetings, and, by his easy, and +graceful familiarity, imparts to them somewhat of the pleasing +character of a private entertainment. Near Sir W. Scott sat the +Earl of Fife, Lord Meadowbank, Sir John Hope of Pinkie, Bart., +Admiral Adam, Baron Clerk Rattray, Gilbert Innes, Esq., James +Walker, Esq., Robert Dundas, Esq., Alexander Smith, Esq., etc. + +The cloth being removed, "Non nobis, Domine," was sung by Messrs. +Thorne, Swift, Collier, and Hartley, after which the following +toasts were given from the chair:-- + +"The King"--all the honours. + +"The Duke of Clarence and the Royal Family." + +The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the next toast, which he wished to be +drunk in solemn silence, said it was to the memory of a +regretted-prince, whom we had lately lost. Every individual +would at once conjecture to whom he alluded. He had no intention +to dwell on his military merits. They had been told in the +senate; they had been repeated in the cottage; and whenever a +soldier was the theme, his name was never far distant. But it +was chiefly in connection with the business of this meeting, +which his late Royal Highness had condescended in a particular +manner to patronize, that they were called on to drink his +health. To that charity he had often sacrificed his time, and +had given up the little leisure which he had from important +business. He was always ready to attend on every occasion of +this kind, and it was in that view that he proposed to drink to +the memory of his late Royal Highness the Duke of York.--Drunk in +solemn silence. + +The CHAIRMAN then requested that gentlemen would fill a bumper as +full as it would hold, while he would say only a few words. He +was in the habit of hearing speeches, and he knew the feeling +with which long ones were regarded. He was sure that it was +perfectly unnecessary for him to enter into any vindication of +the dramatic art, which they had come here to support. This, +however, he considered to be the proper time and proper occasion +for him to say a few words on that love of representation which +was an innate feeling in human nature. It was the first +amusement that the child had. It grew greater as he grew up; and +even in the decline of life nothing amuses so much as when a +common tale is told with appropriate personification. The first +thing a child does is to ape his schoolmaster by flogging a +chair. The assuming a character ourselves, or the seeing others +assume an imaginary character, is an enjoyment natural to +humanity. It was implanted in our very nature to take pleasure +from such representations, at proper times and on proper +occasions. In all ages the theatrical art had kept pace with the +improvement of mankind, and with the progress of letters and the +fine arts. As man has advanced from the ruder stages of society, +the love of dramatic representations has increased, and all works +of this nature have keen improved in character and in structure. +They had only to turn their eyes to the history of ancient +Greece, although he did not pretend to be very deeply versed in +its ancient drama. Its first tragic poet commanded a body of +troops at the battle of Marathon. Sophocles and Euripides were +men of rank in Athens when Athens was in its highest renown. +They shook Athens with their discourses, as their theatrical +works shook the theatre itself. If they turned to France in the +time of Louis the Fourteenth--that era which is the classical +history of that country--they would find that it was referred to +by all Frenchmen as the golden age of the drama there. And also +in England in the time of Queen Elizabeth the drama was at its +highest pitch, when the nation began to mingle deeply and wisely +in the general politics of Europe, not only not receiving laws +from others, but giving laws to the world, and vindicating the +rights of mankind. (Cheers.) There have been various times when +the dramatic art subsequently fell into disrepute. Its +professors have been stigmatized, and laws have been passed +against them, less dishonourable to them than to the statesmen by +whom they were proposed, and to the legislators by whom they were +adopted. What were the times in which these laws were passed? +Was it not when virtue was seldom inculcated as a moral duty that +we were required to relinquish the most rational of all our +amusements, when the clergy were enjoined celibacy, and when the +laity were denied the right to read their Bibles? He thought +that it must have been from a notion of penance that they erected +the drama into an ideal place of profaneness, and spoke of the +theatre as of the tents of sin. He did not mean to dispute that +there were many excellent persons who thought differently from +him, and he disclaimed the slightest idea of charging them with +bigotry or hypocrisy on that account. He gave them full credit +for their tender consciences, in making these objections, +although they did not appear relevant to him. But to these +persons, being, as he believed them, men of worth and piety, he +was sure the purpose of this meeting would furnish some apology +for an error, if there be any, in the opinions of those who +attend. They would approve the gift, although they might differ +in other points. Such might not approve of going to the theatre, +but at least could not deny that they might give away from their +superfluity what was required for the relief of the sick, the +support of the aged, and the comfort of the afflicted. These +were duties enjoined by our religion itself. (Loud cheers.) + +The performers are in a particular manner entitled to the support +or regard, when in old age or distress, of those who have +partaken of the amusements of those places which they render an +ornament to society. Their art was of a peculiarly delicate and +precarious nature. They had to serve a long apprenticeship. It +was very long before even the first-rate geniuses could acquire +the mechanical knowledge of the stage business. They must +languish long in obscurity before they can avail themselves of +their natural talents; and after that they have but a short space +of time, during which they are fortunate if they can provide the +means of comfort in the decline of life. That comes late, and +lasts but a short time; after which they are left dependent. +Their limbs fail--their teeth are loosened--their voice is lost +and they are left, after giving happiness to others, in a most +disconsolate state. The public were liberal and generous to +those deserving their protection. It was a sad thing to be +dependent on the favour, or, he might say, in plain terms, on the +caprice, of the public; and this more particularly for a class of +persons of whom extreme prudence is not the character. There +might be instances of opportunities being neglected. But let +each gentleman tax himself, and consider the opportunities THEY +had neglected, and the sums of money THEY had wasted; let every +gentleman look into his own bosom, and say whether these were +circumstances which would soften his own feelings, were he to be +plunged into distress. He put it to every generous bosom--to +every better feeling--to say what consolation was it to old age +to be told that you might have made provision at a time which had +been neglected--(loud cheers)--and to find it objected, that if +you had pleased you might have been wealthy. He had hitherto +been speaking of what, in theatrical language, was called STARS; +but they were sometimes falling ones. There was another class of +sufferers naturally and necessarily connected with the theatre, +without whom it was impossible to go on. The sailors have a +saying, Every man cannot be a boatswain. If there must be a +great actor to act Hamlet, there must also be people to act +Laertes, the King, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, otherwise a +drama cannot go on. If even Garrick himself were to rise from +the dead, he could not act Hamlet alone. There must be generals, +colonels, commanding-officers, subalterns. But what are the +private soldiers to do? Many have mistaken their own talents, +and have been driven in early youth to try the stage, to which +they are not competent. He would know what to say to the +indifferent poet and to the bad artist. He would say that it was +foolish, and he would recommend to the poet to become a scribe, +and the artist to paint sign-posts. (Loud laughter.) But you +could not send the player adrift; for if he cannot play Hamlet, +he must play Guildenstern. Where there are many labourers, wages +must be low and no man in such a situation can decently support a +wife and family, and save something off his income for old age. +What is this man to do in later life? Are you to cast him off +like an old hinge, or a piece of useless machinery, which has +done its work? To a person who had contributed to our amusement, +this would be unkind, ungrateful, and unchristian. His wants are +not of his own making, but arise from the natural sources of +sickness and old age. It cannot be denied that there is one +class of sufferers to whom no imprudence can be ascribed, except +on first entering on the profession. After putting his hand to +the dramatic plough, he cannot draw back, but must continue at +it, and toil, till death release him from want, or charity, by +its milder influence, steps in to render that want more +tolerable. He had little more to say, except that he sincerely +hoped that the collection to-day, from the number of respectable +gentlemen present, would meet the views entertained by the +patrons. He hoped it would do so. They should not be +disheartened. Though they could not do a great deal, they might +do something. They had this consolation, that everything they +parted with from their superfluity would do some good. They +would sleep the better themselves when they had been the means of +giving sleep to others. It was ungrateful and unkind that those +who had sacrificed their youth to our amusement should not +receive the reward due to them, but should be reduced to hard +fare in their old age. We cannot think of poor Falstaff going to +bed without his cup of sack, or Macbeth fed on bones as +marrowless as those of Banquo. (Loud cheers and laughter.) As he +believed that they were all as fond of the dramatic art as he was +in his younger days, he would propose that they should drink "The +Theatrical Fund," with three times three. + +Mr. MACKAY rose, on behalf of his brethren, to return their +thanks for the toast just drunk. Many of the gentlemen present, +he said, were perhaps not fully acquainted with the nature and +intention of the institution, and it might not be amiss to enter +into some explanation on the subject. With whomsoever the idea +of a Theatrical Fund might have originated (and it had been +disputed by the surviving relatives of two or three individuals), +certain it was that the first legally constituted Theatrical Fund +owed its origin to one of the brightest ornaments of the +profession, the late David Garrick. That eminent actor conceived +that, by a weekly subscription in the theatre, a fund might be +raised among its members, from which a portion might be given to +those of his less fortunate brethren, and thus an opportunity +would be offered for prudence to provide what fortune had denied +--a comfortable provision for the winter of life. With the +welfare of his profession constantly at heart, the zeal with +which he laboured to uphold its respectability, and to impress +upon the minds or his brethren, not only the necessity, but the +blessing of independence, the Fund became his peculiar care. He +drew up a form of laws for its government, procured at his own +expense the passing of an Act of Parliament for its confirmation, +bequeathed to it a handsome legacy, and thus became the father of +the Drury Lane Fund. So constant was his attachment to this +infant establishment, that he chose to grace the close of the +brightest theatrical life on record by the last display of his +transcendent talent on the occasion of a benefit for this child +of his adoption, which ever since has gone by the name of the +Garrick Fund. In imitation of his noble example, funds had been +established in several provincial theatres in England; but it +remained for Mrs. Henry Siddons and Mr. William Murray to become +the founders of the first Theatrical Fund in Scotland. (Cheers.) +This Fund commenced under the most favourable auspices. It was +liberally supported by the management, and highly patronized by +the public. Notwithstanding, it fell short in the accomplishment +of its intentions. What those intentions were, he (Mr. Mackay) +need not recapitulate, but they failed; and he did not hesitate +to confess that a want of energy on the part of the performers +was the probable cause. A new set of Rules and Regulations were +lately drawn up, submitted to and approved of at a general +meeting of the members of the Theatre, and accordingly the Fund +was remodelled on the 1st of January last. And here he thought +he did but echo the feelings of his brethren, by publicly +acknowledging the obligations they were under to the management +for the aid given and the warm interest they had all along taken +in the welfare of the Fund. (Cheers.) The nature and object of +the profession had been so well treated of by the President that +he would say nothing; but of the numerous offspring of science +and genius that court precarious fame, the actor boasts the +slenderest claim of all--the sport of fortune, the creatures of +fashion, and the victims of caprice, they are seen, heard, and +admired, but to be forgot. They leave no trace, no memorial of +their existence--they "come like shadows, so depart." (Cheers.) +Yet humble though their pretensions be, there was no profession, +trade, or calling where such a combination of requisites, mental +and bodily, were indispensable. In all others the principal may +practise after he has been visited by the afflicting hand of +Providence--some by the loss of limb, some of voice, and many, +when the faculty of the mind is on the wane, may be assisted by +dutiful children or devoted servants. Not so the actor, He must +retain all he ever did possess, or sink dejected to a mournful +home. (Applause.) Yet while they are toiling for ephemeral +theatric fame, how very few ever possess the means of hoarding in +their youth that which would give bread in old age! But now a +brighter prospect dawned upon them, and to the success of this +their infant establishment they looked with hope, as to a +comfortable and peaceful home in their declining years. He +concluded by tendering to the meeting, in the name of his +brethren and sisters, their unfeigned thanks for their liberal +support, and begged to propose "The Health of the Patrons of the +Edinburgh Theatrical Fund." (Cheers.) + +Lord MEADOWBANK said that, by desire of his Hon. Friend in the +chair, and of his Noble Friend at his right hand, he begged leave +to return thanks for the honour which had been conferred on the +Patrons of this excellent institution. He could answer for +himself--he could answer for them all--that they were deeply +impressed with the meritorious objects which it has in view, and +of their anxious wish to promote its interests. For himself, he +hoped he might be permitted to say that he was rather surprised +at finding his own name as one of the Patrons, associated with so +many individuals of high rank and powerful influence. But it was +an excuse for those who had placed him in a situation so +honourable and so distinguished, that when this charity was +instituted he happened to hold a high and responsible station +under the Crown, when he might have been of use in assisting and +promoting its objects. His Lordship much feared that he could +have little expectation, situated as he now was, of doing either; +but he could confidently assert that few things would give him +greater gratification than being able to contribute to its +prosperity and support. And indeed, when one recollects the +pleasure which at all periods of life he has received from the +exhibitions of the stage, and the exertions of the meritorious +individuals for whose aid this Fund has been established, he must +be divested both of gratitude and feeling who would not give his +best endeavours to promote its welfare. And now, that he might +in some measure repay the gratification which had been afforded +himself, he would beg leave to propose a toast, the health of one +of the Patrons, a great and distinguished individual, whose name +must always stand by itself, and which, in an assembly such as +this, or in any other assembly of Scotsmen, can never be +received, not, he would say, with ordinary feelings of pleasure +or of delight, but with those of rapture and enthusiasm. In +doing so he felt that he stood in a somewhat new situation. +Whoever had been called upon to propose the health of his Hon. +Friend to whom he alluded, some time ago, would have found +himself enabled, from the mystery in which certain matters were +involved, to gratify himself and his auditors by allusions which +found a responding chord in their own feelings, and to deal in +the language, the sincere language, of panegyric, without +intruding on the modesty of the great individual to whom he +referred. But it was no longer possible, consistently with the +respect to one's auditors, to use upon this subject terms either +of mystification or of obscure or indirect allusion. The clouds +have been dispelled; the DARKNESS VISIBLE has been cleared away; +and the Great Unknown--the minstrel of our native land--the +mighty magician who has rolled back the current of time, and +conjured up before our living senses the men and the manners of +days which have long passed away--stands revealed to the hearts +and the eyes of his affectionate and admiring countrymen. If he +himself were capable of imagining all that belonged to this +mighty subject--were he even able to give utterance to all that, +as a friend, as a man, and as a Scotsman, he must feel regarding +it--yet knowing, as he well did, that this illustrious individual +was not more distinguished for his towering talents than for +those feelings which rendered such allusions ungrateful to +himself, however sparingly introduced, he would, on that account, +still refrain from doing that which would otherwise be no less +pleasing to him than to his audience. But this his Lordship, +hoped he would be allowed to say (his auditors would not pardon +him were he to say less), we owe to him, as a people, a large and +heavy debt of gratitude. He it is who has opened to foreigners +the grand and characteristic beauties of our country. It is to +him that we owe that our gallant ancestors and the struggles of +our illustrious patriots--who fought and bled in order to obtain +and secure that independence and that liberty we now enjoy--have +obtained a fame no longer confined to the boundaries of a remote +and comparatively obscure nation, and who has called down upon +their struggles for glory and freedom the admiration of foreign +countries. He it is who has conferred a new reputation on our +national character, and bestowed on Scotland an imperishable +name, were it only by her having given birth to himself. (Loud +and rapturous applause.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT certainly did not think that, in coming here to- +day, he would have the task of acknowledging, before three +hundred gentlemen, a secret which, considering that it was +communicated to more than twenty people, had been remarkably well +kept. He was now before the bar of his country, and might be +understood to be on trial before Lord Meadowbank as an offender; +yet he was sure that every impartial jury would bring in a +verdict of Not Proven. He did not now think it necessary to +enter into the reasons of his long silence. Perhaps caprice +might have a consider able share in it. He had now to say, +however, that the merits of these works, if they had any, and +their faults, were entirely imputable to himself. (Long and loud +cheering.) He was afraid to think on what he had done. "Look +on't again I dare not." He had thus far unbosomed himself and he +knew that it would be reported to the public. He meant, then, +seriously to state, that when he said he was the author, he was +the total and undivided author. With the exception of +quotations, there was not a single word that was not derived from +himself, or suggested in the course of his reading. The wand was +now broken, and the book buried. You will allow me further to +say, with Prospero, it is your breath that has filled my sails, +and to crave one single toast in the capacity of the author of +these novels; and he would dedicate a bumper to the health of one +who has represented some of those characters, of which he had +endeavoured to give the skeleton, with a degree of liveliness +which rendered him grateful. He would propose "The Health of +his friend Bailie Nicol Jarvie"--(loud applause)--and he was sure +that when the author of Waverley and Rob Roy drinks to Nicol +Jarvie, it would be received with that degree of applause to +which that gentleman has always been accustomed, and that they +would take care that on the present occasion it should be +PRODIGIOUS! (Long and vehement applause.) + +Mr. MACKAY, who here spoke with great humour in the character of +Bailie Jarvie.--My conscience! My worthy father the deacon could +not have believed that his son could hae had sic a compliment +paid to him by the Great Unknown! + +Sir WALTER SCOTT.--The Small Known now, Mr. Bailie. + +Mr. MACKAY.--He had been long identified with the Bailie, and he +was vain of the cognomen which he had now worn for eight years; +and he questioned if any of his brethren in the Council had given +such universal satisfaction. (Loud laughter and applause.) +Before he sat down, he begged to propose "The Lord Provost and +the City of Edinburgh." + +Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for the absence of the Lord Provost, +who had gone to London on public business. + +Tune--"Within a mile of Edinburgh town." + +Sir WALTER SCOTT gave "The Duke of Wellington and the army." + +Glee--"How merrily we live." + +Lord Melville and the Navy, that fought till they left nobody to +fight with, like an arch sportsman who clears all and goes after +the game." + +Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON.--They had heard this evening a toast, which +had been received with intense delight, which will be published +in every newspaper, and will be hailed with joy by all Europe. +He had one toast assigned him which he had great pleasure in +giving. He was sure that the stage had in all ages a great +effect on the morals and manners of the people. It was very +desirable that the stage should be well regulated; and there was +no criterion by which its regulation could be better determined +than by the moral character and personal respectability of the +performers. He was not one of those stern moralists who objected +to the theatre. The most fastidious moralist could not possibly +apprehend any injury from the stage of Edinburgh, as it was +presently managed, and so long as it was adorned by that +illustrious individual, Mrs. Henry Siddons, whose public +exhibitions were not more remarkable for feminine grace and +delicacy than was her private character for every virtue which +could be admired in domestic life. He would conclude with +reciting a few words from Shakespeare, in a spirit not of +contradiction to those stern moralists who disliked the theatre, +but of meekness: "Good, my lord, will you see the players well +bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well used, for they are the +abstract and brief chronicles of the time." He then gave "Mrs. +Henry Siddons, and success to the Theatre Royal of Edinburgh." + +Mr. MURRAY.--Gentlemen, I rise to return thanks for the honour +you have done Mrs. Siddons, in doing which I am somewhat +difficulted, from the extreme delicacy which attends a brother's +expatiating upon a sister's claims to honours publicly paid-- +(hear, hear)--yet, gentlemen, your kindness emboldens me to say +that, were I to give utterance to all a brother's feelings, I +should not exaggerate those claims. (Loud applause.) I +therefore, gentlemen, thank you most cordially for the honour you +have done her, and shall now request permission to make an +observation on the establishment of the Edinburgh Theatrical +Fund. Mr. Mackay has done Mrs. Henry Siddons and myself the +honour to ascribe the establishment to us. But no, gentlemen, it +owes its origin to a higher source--the publication of the novel +of Rob Roy--the unprecedented success of the opera adapted from +that popular production. (Hear, hear.) It was that success which +relieved the Edinburgh Theatre from its difficulties, and enabled +Mrs. Siddons to carry into effect the establishment of a fund she +had long desired, but was prevented from effecting from the +unsettled state of her theatrical concerns. I therefore hope +that in future years, when the aged and infirm actor derives +relief from this fund, he will, in the language of the gallant +Highlander, "Cast his eye to good old Scotland, and not forget +Rob Roy." (Loud applause.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT here stated that Mrs. Siddons wanted the means +but not the will of beginning the Theatrical Fund. He here +alluded to the great merits of Mr. Murray's management, and to +his merits as an actor, which were of the first order, and of +which every person who attends the Theatre must be sensible; and +after alluding to the embarrassments with which the Theatre had +been at one period threatened, he concluded by giving "The Health +of Mr. Murray," which was drunk with three times three. + +Mr. MURRAY.--Gentlemen, I wish I could believe that in any degree +I merited the compliments with which it has pleased Sir Walter +Scott to preface the proposal of my health, or the very +flattering manner in which you have done me the honour to receive +it. The approbation of such an assembly is most gratifying to +me, and might encourage feelings of vanity, were not such +feelings crushed by my conviction that no man holding the +situation I have so long held in Edinburgh could have failed, +placed in the peculiar circumstances in which I have been placed. +Gentlemen, I shall not insult your good taste by eulogiums upon +your judgment or kindly feeling, though to the first I owe any +improvement I may have made as an actor, and certainly my success +as a manager to the second. (Applause.) When, upon the death of +my dear brother, the late Mr. Siddons, it was proposed that I +should undertake the management of the Edinburgh Theatre, I +confess I drew back, doubting my capability to free it from the +load of debt and difficulty with which it was surrounded. In +this state of anxiety, I solicited the advice of one who had ever +honoured me with his kindest regard, and whose name no member of +my profession can pronounce without feelings of the deepest +respect and gratitude. I allude to the late Mr. John Kemble. +(Great applause.) To him I applied, and with the repetition of +his advice I shall cease to trespass upon your time--(hear, hear) +--"My dear William, fear not. Integrity and assiduity must prove +an overmatch for all difficulty; and though I approve your not +indulging a vain confidence in your own ability, and viewing with +respectful apprehension the judgment of the audience you have to +act before, yet be assured that judgment will ever be tempered by +the feeling that you are acting for the widow and the +fatherless." (Loud applause.) Gentlemen, those words have never +passed from my mind; and I feel convinced that you have pardoned +my many errors, from the feeling that I was striving for the +widow and the fatherless. (Long and enthusiastic applause +followed Mr. Murray's address.) + +Sir WALTER SCOTT gave "The Health of the Stewards." + +Mr. VANDENHOFF.---Mr. President and Gentlemen, the honour +conferred upon the Stewards, in the very flattering compliment +you have just paid us, calls forth our warmest acknowledgments. +In tendering you our thanks for the approbation you have been +pleased to express of our humble exertions, I would beg leave to +advert to the cause in which we have been engaged. Yet, +surrounded as I am by the genius--the eloquence--of this +enlightened city, I cannot but feel the presumption which +ventures to address you on so interesting a subject. Accustomed +to speak in the language of others, I feel quite at a loss for +terms wherein to clothe the sentiments excited by the present +occasion. (Applause.) The nature of the institution which has +sought your fostering patronage, and the objects which it +contemplates, have been fully explained to you. But, gentlemen, +the relief which it proposes is not a gratuitous relief, but to +be purchased by the individual contribution of its members +towards the general good. This Fund lends no encouragement to +idleness or improvidence, but it offers an opportunity to +prudence in vigour and youth to make provision against the +evening of life and its attendant infirmity. A period is fixed +at which we admit the plea of age as an exemption from +professional labour. It is painful to behold the veteran on the +stage (compelled by necessity) contending against physical decay, +mocking the joyousness of mirth with the feebleness of age, when +the energies decline, when the memory fails! and "the big, manly +voice, turning again towards childish treble, pipes and whistles +in the sound." We would remove him from the mimic scene, where +fiction constitutes the charm; we would not view old age +caricaturing itself. (Applause.) But as our means may be found, +in time of need, inadequate to the fulfilment of our wishes-- +fearful of raising expectations which we may be unable to +gratify--desirous not "to keep the word of promise to the ear, +and break it to the hope"--we have presumed to court the +assistance of the friends of the drama to strengthen our infant +institution. Our appeal has been successful beyond our most +sanguine expectations. The distinguished patronage conferred on +us by your presence on this occasion, and the substantial support +which your benevolence has so liberally afforded to our +institution, must impress every member of the Fund with the most +grateful sentiments--sentiments which no language can express, no +time obliterate. (Applause.) I will not trespass longer on your +attention. I would the task of acknowledging our obligation had +fallen into abler hands. (Hear, hear.) In the name of the +Stewards, I most respectfully and cordially thank you for the +honour you have done us, which greatly overpays our poor +endeavours. (Applause.) + +[This speech, though rather inadequately reported, was one of the +best delivered on this occasion. That it was creditable to Mr. +Vandenhoff's taste and feelings, the preceding sketch will show; +but how much it was so, it does not show.] + +Mr. J. CAY gave "Professor Wilson and the University of +Edinburgh, of which he was one of the brightest ornaments" + +Lord MEADOWBANK, after a suitable eulogium, gave "The Earl of +Fife," which was drunk with three times three. + +Earl FIFE expressed his high gratification at the honour +conferred on him. He intimated his approbation of the +institution, and his readiness to promote its success by every +means in his power. He concluded with giving "The Health of the +Company of Edinburgh." + +Mr. JONES, on rising to return thanks, being received with +considerable applause, said he was truly grateful for the kind +encouragement he had experienced, but the novelty of the +situation in which he now was renewed all the feelings he +experienced when he first saw himself announced in the bills as a +young gentleman, being his first appearance on any stage. +(Laughter and applause.) Although in the presence of those whose +indulgence had, in another sphere, so often shielded him from the +penalties of inability, he was unable to execute the task which +had so unexpectedly devolved upon him in behalf of his brethren +and himself. He therefore begged the company to imagine all that +grateful hearts could prompt the most eloquent to utter, and that +would be a copy of their feelings. (Applause.) He begged to +trespass another moment on their attention, for the purpose of +expressing the thanks of the members of the Fund to the Gentlemen +of the Edinburgh Professional Society of Musicians, who, finding +that this meeting was appointed to take place on the same evening +with their concert, had, in the handsomest manner, agreed to +postpone it. Although it was his duty thus to preface the toast +he had to propose, he was certain the meeting required no further +inducement than the recollection of the pleasure the exertions of +those gentlemen had often afforded them within those walls, to +join heartily in drinking "Health and Prosperity to the Edinburgh +Professional Society of Musicians." (Applause.) + +Mr. PAT. ROBERTSON Proposed "The Health of Mr. Jeffrey," whose +absence was owing to indisposition. The public was well aware +that he was the most distinguished advocate at the bar. He was +likewise distinguished for the kindness, frankness, and cordial +manner in which he communicated with the junior members of the +profession, to the esteem of whom his splendid talents would +always entitle him. + +Mr. J. MACONOCHIE gave "The Health of Mrs. Siddons, senior, the +most distinguished ornament of the stage." + +Sir W. SCOTT said that if anything could reconcile him to old +age, it was the reflection that he had seen the rising as well as +the setting sun of Mrs. Siddons. He remembered well their +breakfasting near to the Theatre--waiting the whole day--the +crushing at the doors at six o'clock--and their going in and +counting their fingers till seven o'clock. But the very first +step--the very first word which she uttered--was sufficient to +overpay him for all his labours. The house was literally +electrified; and it was only from witnessing the effects of her +genius that he could guess to what a pitch theatrical excellence +could be carried. Those young gentlemen who have only seen the +setting sun of this distinguished performer, beautiful and serene +as that was, must give us old fellows, who have seen its rise and +its meridian, leave to hold our heads a little higher. + +Mr. DUNDAS gave "The Memory of Home, the author of Douglas." + +Mr. MACKAY here announced that the subscriptions for the night +amounted to L280, and he expressed gratitude for this substantial +proof of their kindness. [We are happy to state that +subscriptions have since flowed in very liberally.] + +Mr. MACKAY here entertained the company with a pathetic song. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT apologized for having so long forgotten their +native land. He would now give "Scotland, the land of Cakes." +He would give every river, every loch, every hill, from Tweed to +Johnnie Groat's house--every lass in her cottage and countess in +her castle--and may her sons stand by her, as their fathers did +before them; and he who would not drink a bumper to his toast, +may he never drink whisky more! + +Sir WALTER SCOTT here gave "Lord Meadowbank," who returned +thanks. + +Mr. H. G. BELL said that he should not have ventured to intrude +himself upon the attention of the assembly, did he not feel +confident that the toast he begged to have the honour to propose +would make amends for the very imperfect manner in which he might +express his sentiments regarding it. It had been said that, +notwithstanding the mental supremacy of the present age-- +notwithstanding that the page of our history was studded with +names destined also for the page of immortality--that the genius +of Shakespeare was extinct, and the fountain of his inspiration +dried up. It might be that these observations were unfortunately +correct, or it might be that we were bewildered with a name, not +disappointed of the reality; for though Shakespeare had brought a +Hamlet, an Othello, and a Macbeth, an Ariel, a Juliet, and a +Rosalind, upon the stage, were there not authors living who had +brought as varied, as exquisitely painted, and as undying a range +of characters into our hearts? The shape of the mere mould into +which genius poured its golden treasures was surely a matter of +little moment, let it be called a Tragedy, a Comedy, or a +Waverley Novel. But even among the dramatic authors of the +present day, he was unwilling to allow that there was a great and +palpable decline from the glory of preceding ages, and his toast +alone would bear him out in denying the truth of the proposition. +After eulogizing the names of Baillie, Byron, Coleridge, Maturin, +and others, he begged to have the honour of proposing "The Health +of James Sheridan Knowles." + +Sir WALTER SCOTT. Gentlemen, I crave a bumper all over. The +last toast reminds me of a neglect of duty. Unaccustomed to a +public duty of this kind, errors in conducting the ceremonial of +it may be excused, and omissions pardoned. Perhaps I have made +one or two omissions in the course of the evening for which I +trust you will grant me your pardon and indulgence. One thing in +particular I have omitted, and I would now wish to make amends +for it by a libation of reverence and respect to the memory of +SHAKESPEARE. He was a man of universal genius, and from a period +soon after his own era to the present day he has been universally +idolized. When I come to his honoured name, I am like the sick +man who hung up his crutches at the shrine, and was obliged to +confess that he did not walk better than before. It is indeed +difficult, gentlemen, to compare him to any other individual. +The only one to whom I call at all compare him is the wonderful +Arabian dervise, who dived into the body of each, and in this way +became familiar with the thoughts and secrets of their hearts. +He was a man of obscure origin, and, as a player, limited in his +acquirements; but he was born evidently with a universal genius. +His eyes glanced at all the varied aspects of life, and his fancy +portrayed with equal talents the king on the throne and the clown +who crackles his chestnuts at a Christmas fire. Whatever note he +takes, he strikes it just and true, and awakens a corresponding +chord in our own bosoms, Gentlemen, I propose "The Memory of +William Shakespeare." + +Glee--"Lightly tread, 'tis hallowed ground." + +After the glee, Sir WALTER rose and begged to propose as a toast +the health of a lady, whose living merit is not a little +honourable to Scotland. The toast (said he) is also flattering +to the national vanity of a Scotchman, as the lady whom I intend +to propose is a native of this country. From the public her +works have met with the most favourable reception. One piece of +hers, in particular, was often acted here of late years, and gave +pleasure of no mean kind to many brilliant and fashionable +audiences. In her private character she (he begged leave to say) +is as remarkable as in a public sense she is for her genius. In +short, he would in one word name--"Joanna Baillie." + +This health being drunk, Mr. THORNE was called on for a song, and +sung, with great taste and feeling, "The Anchor's Weighed." + +W. MENZIES, Esq., Advocate, rose to propose the health of a +gentleman for many years connected at intervals with the dramatic +art in Scotland. Whether we look at the range of characters he +performs, or at the capacity which he evinces in executing those +which he undertakes, he is equally to he admired. In all his +parts he is unrivalled. The individual to whom he alluded is +(said he) well known to the gentlemen present, in the characters +of Malvolio, Lord Ogleby, and the Green Man; and in addition to +his other qualities, he merits, for his perfection in these +characters, the grateful sense of this meeting. He would wish, +in the first place, to drink his health as an actor. But he was +not less estimable in domestic life, and as a private gentleman; +and when he announced him as one whom the chairman had honoured +with his friendship, he was sure that all present would cordially +join him in drinking "The Health of Mr. Terry." + +Mr. WILLIAM ALLAN, banker, said that he did not rise with the +intention of making a speech. He merely wished to contribute in +a few words to the mirth of the evening--an evening which +certainly had not passed off without some blunders. It had been +understood--at least he had learnt or supposed from the +expressions of Mr. Pritchard--that it would be sufficient to put +a paper, with the name of the contributor, into the box, and that +the gentleman thus contributing would be called on for the money +next morning. He, for his part, had committed a blunder but it +might serve as a caution to those who may be present at the +dinner of next year. He had merely put in his name, written on a +slip of paper, without the money. But he would recommend that, +as some of the gentlemen might be in the same situation, the box +should be again sent round, and he was confident that they, as +well as he, would redeem their error. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT said that the meeting was somewhat in the +situation of Mrs. Anne Page, who had L300 and possibilities. We +have already got, said he, L280, but I should like, I confess, to +have the L300. He would gratify himself by proposing the health +of an honourable person, the Lord Chief Baron, whom England has +sent to us, and connecting with it that of his "yokefellow on the +bench," as Shakespeare says, Mr. Baron Clerk--The Court of +Exchequer. + +Mr. Baron CLERK regretted the absence of his learned brother. +None, he was sure, could be more generous in his nature, or more +ready to help a Scottish purpose. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT,--There is one who ought to be remembered on +this occasion. He is, indeed, well entitled to our grateful +recollection--one, in short, to whom the drama in this city owes +much. He succeeded, not without trouble, and perhaps at some +considerable sacrifice, in establishing a theatre. The younger +part of the company may not recollect the theatre to which I +allude, but there are some who with me may remember by name a +place called Carrubber's Close. There Allan Ramsay established +his little theatre. His own pastoral was not fit for the stage, +but it has its admirers in those who love the Doric language in +which it is written; and it is not without merits of a very +peculiar kind. But laying aside all considerations of his +literary merit, Allan was a good, jovial, honest fellow, who +could crack a bottle with the best. "The Memory of Allan +Ramsay." + +Mr. MURRAY, on being requested, sung "'Twas merry in the hall," +and at the conclusion was greeted with repeated rounds of +applause. + +Mr. JONES.--One omission I conceive has been made. The cause of +the Fund has been ably advocated, but it is still susceptible, in +my opinion, of an additional charm-- + + "Without the smile from partial beauty won, + Oh, what were man?--a world without a sun!" + +And there would not be a darker spot in poetry than would be the +corner in Shakespeare Square, if, like its fellow, the Register +Office, the Theatre were deserted by the ladies. They are, in +fact, our most attractive stars. "The Patronesses of the +Theatre, the Ladies of the City of Edinburgh." This toast I ask +leave to drink with all the honours which conviviality can +confer. + +Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON would be the last man willingly to +introduce any topic calculated to interrupt the harmony of the +evening; yet he felt himself treading upon ticklish ground when +he approached the region of the Nor' Loch. He assured the +company, however, that he was not about to enter on the subject +of the Improvement Bill. They all knew that if the public were +unanimous--if the consent of all parties were obtained--if the +rights and interests of everybody were therein attended to, +saved, reserved, respected, and excepted--if everybody agreed to +it--and, finally, a most essential point, if nobody opposed it +--then, and in that case, and provided also that due intimation +were given, the bill in question might pass--would pass--or +might, could, would, or should pass--all expenses being defrayed. +(Laughter.) He was the advocate of neither champion, and would +neither avail himself of the absence of the Right Hon. the Lord +Provost, nor take advantage of the non-appearance of his friend, +Mr. Cockburn. (Laughter.) But in the midst of these civic broils +there had been elicited a ray of hope that, at some future +period, in Bereford Park, or some other place, if all parties +were consulted and satisfied, and if intimation were duly made at +the kirk doors of all the parishes in Scotland, in terms of the +statute in that behalf provided--the people of Edinburgh might by +possibility get a new Theatre. (Cheers and laughter.) But +wherever the belligerent powers might be pleased to set down this +new Theatre, he was sure they all hoped to meet the Old Company +in it. He should therefore propose "Better Accommodation to the +Old Company in the new Theatre, site unknown."--Mr. Robertson's +speech was most humorously given, and he sat down amidst loud +cheers and laughter. + +Sir WALTER SCOTT.--Wherever the new Theatre is built, I hope it +will not be large. There are two errors which we commonly +commit--the one arising from our pride, the other from our +poverty. If there are twelve plans, it is odds but the largest, +without any regard to comfort, or an eye to the probable expense, +is adopted. There was the College projected on this scale, and +undertaken in the same manner, and who shall see the end of it? +It has been building all my life, and may probably last during +the lives of my children, and my children's children. Let not +the same prophetic hymn be sung when we commence a new Theatre, +which was performed on the occasion of laying the foundation- +stone of a certain edifice, "Behold the endless work begun." +Playgoing folks should attend somewhat to convenience. The new +Theatre should, in the first place, be such as may be finished in +eighteen months or two years; and, in the second place, it should +be one in which we can hear our old friends with comfort. It is +better that a moderate-sized house should be crowded now and +then, than to have a large theatre with benches continually +empty, to the discouragement of the actors and the discomfort of +the spectators. (Applause.) He then commented in flattering +terms on the genius of Mackenzie and his private worth, and +concluded by proposing "The Health of Henry Mackenzie, Esq." + +Immediately afterwards he said:--Gentlemen, it is now wearing +late, and I shall request permission to retire. Like Partridge, +I may say, "NON SUM QUALIS ERAM." At my time of day I can agree +with Lord Ogilvie as to his rheumatism, and say, "There's a +twinge." I hope, therefore, you will excuse me for leaving the +chair.--The worthy Baronet then retired amidst long, loud, and +rapturous cheering. + +Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON was then called to the chair by common +acclamation. + +Gentlemen, said Mr. Robertson, I take the liberty of asking you +to fill a bumper to the very brim. There is not one of us who +will not remember, while he lives, being present at this day's +festival, and the declaration made this night by the gentleman +who has just left the chair. That declaration has rent the veil +from the features of the Great Unknown--a name which must now +merge in the name of the Great Known. It will be henceforth +coupled with the name of SCOTT, which will become familiar like a +household word. We have heard the confession from his own +immortal lips--(cheering)--and we cannot dwell with too much or +too fervent praise on the merits of the greatest man whom +Scotland has produced. + +After which several other toasts were given, and Mr. Robertson +left the room about half-past eleven. A few choice spirits, +however, rallied round Captain Broadhead of the 7th Hussars, who +was called to the chair, and the festivity was prolonged till an +early hour on Saturday morning. + +The band of the Theatre occupied the gallery, and that of the 7th +Hussars the end of the room, opposite the chair, whose +performances were greatly admired. It is but justice to Mr. Gibb +to state that the dinner was very handsome (though slowly served +in), and the wines good. The attention of the stewards was +exemplary. Mr. Murray and Mr. Vandenhoff, with great good taste, +attended on Sir Walter Scott's right and left, and we know that +he has expressed himself much gratified by their anxious +politeness and sedulity. + + +* + + +CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE - INTRODUCTORY. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MR. CHRYSTAL CROFTANGRY'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. + +Sic itur ad astra. + +"This is the path to heaven." Such is the ancient motto attached +to the armorial bearings of the Canongate, and which is +inscribed, with greater or less propriety, upon all the public +buildings, from the church to the pillory, in the ancient quarter +of Edinburgh which bears, or rather once bore, the same relation +to the Good Town that Westminster does to London, being still +possessed of the palace of the sovereign, as it formerly was +dignified by the residence of the principal nobility and gentry. +I may therefore, with some propriety, put the same motto at the +head of the literary undertaking by which I hope to illustrate +the hitherto undistinguished name of Chrystal Croftangry. + +The public may desire to know something of an author who pitches +at such height his ambitious expectations. The gentle reader, +therefore--for I am much of Captain Bobadil's humour, and could +to no other extend myself so far--the GENTLE reader, then, will +be pleased to understand that I am a a Scottish gentleman of the +old school, with a fortune, temper, and person, rather the worse +for wear. I have known the world for these forty years, having +written myself man nearly since that period--and I do not think +it is much mended. But this is an opinion which I keep to myself +when I am among younger folk, for I recollect, in my youth, +quizzing the Sexagenarians who carried back their ideas of a +perfect state of society to the days of laced coats and triple +ruffles, and some of them to the blood and blows of the Forty- +five. Therefore I am cautious in exercising the right of +censorship, which is supposed to be acquired by men arrived at, +or approaching, the mysterious period of life, when the numbers +of seven and nine multiplied into each other, form what sages +have termed the Grand Climacteric. + +Of the earlier part of my life it is only necessary to say, that +I swept the boards of the Parliament-House with the skirts of my +gown for the usual number of years during which young Lairds were +in my time expected to keep term--got no fees--laughed, and made +others laugh--drank claret at Bayle's, Fortune's, and Walker's-- +and ate oysters in the Covenant Close. + +Becoming my own master, I flung my gown at the bar-keeper, and +commenced gay man on my own account. In Edinburgh, I ran into +all the expensive society which the place then afforded. When I +went to my house in the shire of Lanark, I emulated to the utmost +the expenses of men of large fortune, and had my hunters, my +first-rate pointers, my game-cocks, and feeders. I can more +easily forgive myself for these follies, than for others of a +still more blamable kind, so indifferently cloaked over, that my +poor mother thought herself obliged to leave my habitation, and +betake herself to a small inconvenient jointure-house, which she +occupied till her death. I think, however, I was not exclusively +to blame in this separation, and I believe my mother afterwards +condemned herself for being too hasty. Thank God, the adversity +which destroyed the means of continuing my dissipation, restored +me to the affections of my surviving parent. + +My course of life could not last. I ran too fast to run long; +and when I would have checked my career, I was perhaps too near +the brink of the precipice. Some mishaps I prepared by my own +folly, others came upon me unawares. I put my estate out to +nurse to a fat man of business, who smothered the babe he should +have brought back to me in health and strength, and, in dispute +with this honest gentleman, I found, like a skilful general, that +my position would be most judiciously assumed by taking it up +near the Abbey of Holyrood. [See Note 1.--Holyrood.] It was then +I first became acquainted with the quarter, which my little work +will, I hope, render immortal, and grew familiar with those +magnificent wilds, through which the Kings of Scotland once +chased the dark-brown deer, but which were chiefly recommended to +me in those days, by their being inaccessible to those +metaphysical persons, whom the law of the neighbouring country +terms John Doe and Richard Roe. In short, the precincts of the +palace are now best known as being a place of refuge at any time +from all pursuit for civil debt. + +Dire was the strife betwixt my quondam doer and myself; during +which my motions were circumscribed, like those of some conjured +demon, within a circle, which, "beginning at the northern gate of +the King's Park, thence running northways, is bounded on the left +by the King's garden-wall, and the gutter, or kennel, in a line +wherewith it crosses the High Street to the Watergate, and +passing through the sewer, is bounded by the walls of the Tennis +Court and Physic Gardens, etc. It then follows the wall of the +churchyard, joins the north west wall of St Ann's Yards, and +going east to the clackmill-house, turns southward to the +turnstile in the King's Park wall, and includes the whole King's +Park within the Sanctuary." + +These limits, which I abridge from the accurate Maitland, once +marked the Girth, or Asylum, belonging to the Abbey of Holyrood, +and which, being still an appendage to the royal palace, has +retained the privilege of an asylum for civil debt. One would +think the space sufficiently extensive for a man to stretch his +limbs in, as, besides a reasonable proportion of level ground +(considering that the scene lies in Scotland), it includes within +its precincts the mountain of Arthur's Seat and the rocks and +pasture land called Salisbury Crags. But yet it is inexpressible +how, after a certain time had elapsed, I used to long for Sunday, +which permitted me to extend my walk without limitation. During +the other six days of the week I felt a sickness of heart, which, +but for the speedy approach of the hebdomadal day of liberty, I +could hardly have endured. I experienced the impatience of a +mastiff who tugs in vain to extend the limits which his chain +permits. + +Day after day I walked by the side of the kennel which divides +the Sanctuary from the unprivileged part of the Canongate; and +though the month was July, and the scene the old town of +Edinburgh, I preferred it to the fresh air and verdant turf which +I might have enjoyed in the King's Park, or to the cool and +solemn gloom of the portico which surrounds the palace. To an +indifferent person either side of the gutter would have seemed +much the same, the houses equally mean, the children as ragged +and dirty, the carmen as brutal--the whole forming the same +picture of low life in a deserted and impoverished quarter of a +large city. But to me the gutter or kennel was what the brook +Kidron was to Shimei: death was denounced against him should he +cross it, doubtless because it was known to his wisdom who +pronounced the doom that, from the time the crossing the stream +was debarred, the devoted man's desire to transgress the precept +would become irresistible, and he would be sure to draw down on +his head the penalty which he had already justly incurred by +cursing the anointed of God. For my part, all Elysium seemed +opening on the other side of the kennel; and I envied the little +blackguards, who, stopping the current with their little dam- +dykes of mud, had a right to stand on either side of the nasty +puddle which best pleased them. I was so childish as even to +make an occasional excursion across, were it only for a few +yards, and felt the triumph of a schoolboy, who, trespassing in +an orchard, hurries back again with a fluttering sensation of joy +and terror, betwixt the pleasure of having executed his purpose +and the fear of being taken or discovered. + +I have sometimes asked myself what I should have done in case of +actual imprisonment, since I could not bear without impatience a +restriction which is comparatively a mere trifle; but I really +could never answer the question to my own satisfaction. I have +all my life hated those treacherous expedients called MEZZO- +TERMINI, and it is possible with this disposition I might have +endured more patiently an absolute privation of liberty than the +more modified restrictions to which my residence in the Sanctuary +at this period subjected me. If, however, the feelings I then +experienced were to increase in intensity according to the +difference between a jail and my actual condition, I must have +hanged myself, or pined to death--there could have been no other +alternative. + +Amongst many companions who forgot and neglected me, of course, +when my difficulties seemed to be inextricable, I had one true +friend; and that friend was a barrister, who knew the laws of his +country well, and tracing them up to the spirit of equity and +justice in which they originate, had repeatedly prevented, by his +benevolent and manly exertions, the triumphs of selfish cunning +over simplicity and folly. He undertook my cause, with the +assistance of a solicitor of a character similar to his own. My +quondam doer had ensconced himself chin-deep among legal +trenches, hornworks, and covered ways; but my two protectors +shelled him out of his defences, and I was at length a free man, +at liberty to go or stay wheresoever my mind listed. + +I left my lodgings as hastily as if it had been a pest-house. I +did not even stop to receive some change that was due to me on +settling with my landlady, and I saw the poor woman stand at her +door looking after my precipitate flight, and shaking her head as +she wrapped the silver which she was counting for me in a +separate piece of paper, apart from the store in her own moleskin +purse. An honest Highlandwoman was Janet MacEvoy, and deserved a +greater remuneration, had I possessed the power of bestowing it. +But my eagerness of delight was too extreme to pause for +explanation with Janet. On I pushed through the groups of +children, of whose sports I had been so often a lazy, lounging +spectator. I sprung over the gutter as if it had been the fatal +Styx, and I a ghost, which, eluding Pluto's authority, was making +its escape from Limbo lake. My friend had difficulty to restrain +me from running like a madman up the street; and in spite of his +kindness and hospitality, which soothed me for a day or two, I +was not quite happy until I found myself aboard of a Leith smack, +and, standing down the Firth with a fair wind, might snap my +fingers at the retreating outline of Arthur's Seat, to the +vicinity of which I had been so long confined. + +It is not my purpose to trace my future progress through life. I +had extricated myself, or rather had been freed by my friends, +from the brambles and thickets of the law; but, as befell the +sheep in the fable, a great part of my fleece was left behind me. +Something remained, however: I was in the season for exertion, +and, as my good mother used to say, there was always life for +living folk. Stern necessity gave my manhood that prudence which +my youth was a stranger to. I faced danger, I endured fatigue, I +sought foreign climates, and proved that I belonged to the nation +which is proverbially patient of labour and prodigal of life. +Independence, like liberty to Virgil's shepherd, came late, but +came at last, with no great affluence in its train, but bringing +enough to support a decent appearance for the rest of my life, +and to induce cousins to be civil, and gossips to say, "I wonder +whom old Croft will make his heir? He must have picked up +something, and I should not be surprised if it prove more than +folk think of." + +My first impulse when I returned home was to rush to the house of +my benefactor, the only man who had in my distress interested +himself in my behalf. He was a snuff-taker, and it had been the +pride of my heart to save the IPSA CORPORA of the first score of +guineas I could hoard, and to have them converted into as +tasteful a snuff-box as Rundell and Bridge could devise. This I +had thrust for security into the breast of my waistcoat, while, +impatient to transfer it to the person for whom it was destined, +I hastened to his house in Brown Square. When the front of the +house became visible a feeling of alarm checked me. I had been +long absent from Scotland; my friend was some years older than I; +he might have been called to the congregation of the just. I +paused, and gazed on the house as if I had hoped to form some +conjecture from the outward appearance concerning the state of +the family within. I know not how it was, but the lower windows +being all closed, and no one stirring, my sinister forebodings +were rather strengthened. I regretted now that I had not made +inquiry before I left the inn where I alighted from the mail- +coach. But it was too late; so I hurried on, eager to know the +best or the worst which I could learn. + +The brass-plate bearing my friend's name and designation was +still on the door, and when it was opened the old domestic +appeared a good deal older, I thought, than he ought naturally to +have looked, considering the period of my absence. "Is Mr. +Sommerville at home?" said I, pressing forward. + +"Yes, sir," said John, placing himself in opposition to my +entrance, "he is at home, but--" + +"But he is not in," said I. "I remember your phrase of old, +John. Come, I will step into his room, and leave a line for +him." + +John was obviously embarrassed by my familiarity. I was some +one, he saw, whom he ought to recollect. At the same time it was +evident he remembered nothing about me. + +"Ay, sir, my master is in, and in his own room, but--" + +I would not hear him out, but passed before him towards the well- +known apartment. A young lady came out of the room a little +disturbed, as it seemed, and said, "John, what is the matter?" + +"A gentleman, Miss Nelly, that insists on seeing my master." + +"A very old and deeply-indebted friend," said I, "that ventures +to press myself on my much-respected benefactor on my return from +abroad." + +"Alas, sir," replied she, "my uncle would be happy to see you, +but--" + +At this moment something was heard within the apartment like the +falling of a plate, or glass, and immediately after my friend's +voice called angrily and eagerly for his niece. She entered the +room hastily, and so did I. But it was to see a spectacle, +compared with which that of my benefactor stretched on his bier +would have been a happy one. + +The easy-chair filled with cushions, the extended limbs swathed +in flannel, the wide wrapping-gown and nightcap, showed illness; +but the dimmed eye, once so replete with living fire--the blabber +lip, whose dilation and compression used to give such character +to his animated countenance--the stammering tongue, that once +poured forth such floods of masculine eloquence, and had often +swayed the opinion of the sages whom he addressed,--all these sad +symptoms evinced that my friend was in the melancholy condition +of those in whom the principle of animal life has unfortunately +survived that of mental intelligence. He gazed a moment at me, +but then seemed insensible of my presence, and went on--he, once +the most courteous and well-bred--to babble unintelligible but +violent reproaches against his niece and servant, because he +himself had dropped a teacup in attempting to place it on a table +at his elbow. His eyes caught a momentary fire from his +irritation; but he struggled in vain for words to express himself +adequately, as, looking from his servant to his niece, and then +to the table, he laboured to explain that they had placed it +(though it touched his chair) at too great a distance from him. + +The young person, who had naturally a resigned Madonna-like +expression of countenance, listened to his impatient chiding with +the most humble submission, checked the servant, whose less +delicate feelings would have entered on his justification, and +gradually, by the sweet and soft tone of her voice, soothed to +rest the spirit of causeless irritation. + +She then cast a look towards me, which expressed, "You see all +that remains of him whom you call friend." It seemed also to +say, "Your longer presence here can only be distressing to us +all." + +"Forgive me, young lady," I said, as well as tears would permit; +"I am a person deeply obliged to your uncle. My name is +Croftangry." + +"Lord! and that I should not hae minded ye, Maister Croftangry," +said the servant. "Ay, I mind my master had muckle fash about +your job. I hae heard him order in fresh candles as midnight +chappit, and till't again. Indeed, ye had aye his gude word, Mr. +Croftangry, for a' that folks said about you." + +"Hold your tongue, John," said the lady, somewhat angrily; and +then continued, addressing herself to me, "I am sure, sir, you +must be sorry to see my uncle in this state. I know you are his +friend. I have heard him mention your name, and wonder he never +heard from you." A new cut this, and it went to my heart. But +she continued, "I really do not know if it is right that any +should--If my uncle should know you, which I scarce think +possible, he would be much affected, and the doctor says that any +agitation--But here comes Dr. -- to give his own opinion." + +Dr. -- entered. I had left him a middle-aged man. He was now an +elderly one; but still the same benevolent Samaritan, who went +about doing good, and thought the blessings of the poor as good a +recompense of his professional skill as the gold of the rich. + +He looked at me with surprise, but the young lady said a word of +introduction, and I, who was known to the doctor formerly, +hastened to complete it. He recollected me perfectly, and +intimated that he was well acquainted with the reasons I had for +being deeply interested in the fate of his patient. He gave me a +very melancholy account of my poor friend, drawing me for that +purpose a little apart from the lady. "The light of life," he +said, "was trembling in the socket; he scarcely expected it would +ever leap up even into a momentary flash, but more was +impossible." He then stepped towards his patient, and put some +questions, to which the poor invalid, though he seemed to +recognize the friendly and familiar voice, answered only in a +faltering and uncertain manner. + +The young lady, in her turn, had drawn back when the doctor +approached his patient. "You see how it is with him," said the +doctor, addressing me. "I have heard our poor friend, in one of +the most eloquent of his pleadings, give a description of this +very disease, which he compared to the tortures inflicted by +Mezentius when he chained the dead to the living. The soul, he +said, is imprisoned in its dungeon of flesh, and though retaining +its natural and unalienable properties, can no more exert them +than the captive enclosed within a prison-house can act as a free +agent. Alas! to see HIM, who could so well describe what this +malady was in others, a prey himself to its infirmities! I shall +never forget the solemn tone of expression with which he summed +up the incapacities of the paralytic--the deafened ear, the +dimmed eye, the crippled limbs--in the noble words of Juvenal,-- + "'Omni + Membrorum damno major, dementia, quae nec + Nomina servorum, nec vultum agnoscit amici.'" + +As the physician repeated these lines, a flash of intelligence +seemed to revive in the invalid's eye--sunk again--again +struggled, and he spoke more intelligibly than before, and in the +tone of one eager to say something which he felt would escape him +unless said instantly. "A question of death-bed, a question of +death-bed, doctor--a reduction EX CAPITE LECTI--Withering against +Wilibus--about the MORBUS SONTICUS. I pleaded the cause for +the pursuer--I, and--and--why, I shall forget my own name--I, +and--he that was the wittiest and the best-humoured man living--" + +The description enabled the doctor to fill up the blank, and the +patient joyfully repeated the name suggested. "Ay, ay," he said, +"just he--Harry--poor Harry--" The light in his eye died away, +and he sunk back in his easy-chair. + +"You have now seen more of our poor friend, Mr. Croftangry," said +the physician, "than I dared venture to promise you; and now I +must take my professional authority on me, and ask you to retire. +Miss Sommerville will, I am sure, let you know if a moment should +by any chance occur when her uncle can see you." + +What could I do? I gave my card to the young lady, and taking my +offering from my bosom--"if my poor friend," I said, with accents +as broken almost as his own, "should ask where this came from, +name me, and say from the most obliged and most grateful man +alive. Say, the gold of which it is composed was saved by grains +at a time, and was hoarded with as much avarice as ever was a +miser's. To bring it here I have come a thousand miles; and now, +alas, I find him thus!" + +I laid the box on the table, and was retiring with a lingering +step. The eye of the invalid was caught by it, as that of a +child by a glittering toy, and with infantine impatience he +faltered out inquiries of his niece. With gentle mildness she +repeated again and again who I was, and why I came, etc. I was +about to turn, and hasten from a scene so painful, when the +physician laid his hand on my sleeve. "Stop," he said, "there is +a change." + +There was, indeed, and a marked one. A faint glow spread over +his pallid features--they seemed to gain the look of intelligence +which belongs to vitality--his eye once more kindled--his lip +coloured--and drawing himself up out of the listless posture he +had hitherto maintained, he rose without assistance. The doctor +and the servant ran to give him their support. He waved them +aside, and they were contented to place themselves in such a +position behind as might ensure against accident, should his +newly-acquired strength decay as suddenly as it had revived. + +"My dear Croftangry," he said, in the tone of kindness of other +days, "I am glad to see you returned. You find me but poorly; +but my little niece here and Dr. -- are very kind. God bless +you, my dear friend! We shall not meet again till we meet in a +better world." + +I pressed his extended hand to my lips--I pressed it to my bosom +--I would fain have flung myself on my knees; but the doctor, +leaving the patient to the young lady and the servant, who +wheeled forward his chair, and were replacing him in it, hurried +me out of the room. "My dear sir," he said, "you ought to be +satisfied; you have seen our poor invalid more like his former +self than he has been for months, or than he may be perhaps again +until all is over. The whole Faculty could not have assured such +an interval. I must see whether anything can be derived from it +to improve the general health. Pray, begone." The last argument +hurried me from the spot, agitated by a crowd of feelings, all of +them painful. + +When I had overcome the shock of this great disappointment, I +renewed gradually my acquaintance with one or two old companions, +who, though of infinitely less interest to my feelings than my +unfortunate friend, served to relieve the pressure of actual +solitude, and who were not perhaps the less open to my advances +that I was a bachelor somewhat stricken in years, newly arrived +from foreign parts, and certainly independent, if not wealthy. + +I was considered as a tolerable subject of speculation by some, +and I could not be burdensome to any. I was therefore, according +to the ordinary rule of Edinburgh hospitality, a welcome guest in +several respectable families. But I found no one who could +replace the loss I had sustained in my best friend and +benefactor. I wanted something more than mere companionship +could give me, and where was I to look for it? Among the +scattered remnants of those that had been my gay friends of yore? +Alas! + + "Many a lad I loved was dead, + And many a lass grown old." + +Besides, all community of ties between us had ceased to exist, +and such of former friends as were still in the world held their +life in a different tenor from what I did. + +Some had become misers, and were as eager in saving sixpence as +ever they had been in spending a guinea. Some had turned +agriculturists; their talk was of oxen, and they were only fit +companions for graziers. Some stuck to cards, and though no +longer deep gamblers, rather played small game than sat out. +This I particularly despised. The strong impulse of gaming, +alas! I had felt in my time. It is as intense as it is +criminal; but it produces excitation and interest, and I can +conceive how it should become a passion with strong and powerful +minds. But to dribble away life in exchanging bits of painted +pasteboard round a green table for the piddling concern of a few +shillings, can only be excused in folly or superannuation. It is +like riding on a rocking-horse, where your utmost exertion never +carries you a foot forward; it is a kind of mental treadmill, +where you are perpetually climbing, but can never rise an inch. +From these hints, my readers will perceive I am incapacitated for +one of the pleasures of old age, which, though not mentioned by +Cicero, is not the least frequent resource in the present day-- +the club-room, and the snug hand at whist. + +To return to my old companions. Some frequented public +assemblies, like the ghost of Beau Nash, or any other beau of +half a century back, thrust aside by tittering youth, and pitied +by those of their own age. In fine, some went into devotion, as +the French term it, and others, I fear, went to the devil; a few +found resources in science and letters; one or two turned +philosophers in a small way, peeped into microscopes, and became +familiar with the fashionable experiments of the day; some took +to reading, and I was one of them. + +Some grains of repulsion towards the society around me--some +painful recollections of early faults and follies--some touch of +displeasure with living mankind--inclined me rather to a study of +antiquities, and particularly those of my own country. The +reader, if I can prevail on myself to continue the present work, +will probably be able to judge in the course of it whether I have +made any useful progress in the study of the olden times. + +I owed this turn of study, in part, to the conversation of my +kind man of business, Mr. Fairscribe, whom I mentioned as having +seconded the efforts of my invaluable friend in bringing the +cause on which my liberty and the remnant of my property depended +to a favourable decision. He had given me a most kind reception +on my return. He was too much engaged in his profession for me +to intrude on him often, and perhaps his mind was too much +trammelled with its details to permit his being willingly +withdrawn from them. In short, he was not a person of my poor +friend Sommerville's expanded spirit, and rather a lawyer of the +ordinary class of formalists; but a most able and excellent man. +When my estate was sold! he retained some of the older title- +deeds, arguing, from his own feelings, that they would be of more +consequence to the heir of the old family than to the new +purchaser. And when I returned to Edinburgh, and found him still +in the exercise of the profession to which he was an honour, he +sent to my lodgings the old family Bible, which lay always on my +father's table, two or three other mouldy volumes, and a couple +of sheepskin bags full of parchments and papers, whose appearance +was by no means inviting. + +The next time I shared Mr. Fairscribe's hospitable dinner, I +failed not to return him due thanks for his kindness, which +acknowledgment, indeed, I proportioned rather to the idea which I +knew he entertained of the value of such things, than to the +interest with which I myself regarded them. But the conversation +turning on my family, who were old proprietors in the Upper Ward +of Clydesdale, gradually excited some interest in my mind and +when I retired to my solitary parlour, the first thing I did was +to look for a pedigree or sort of history of the family or House +of Croftangry, once of that Ilk, latterly of Glentanner. The +discoveries which I made shall enrich the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +IN WHICH MR. CROFTANGRY CONTINUES HIS STORY. + + "What's property, dear Swift? I see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter." + +"Croftangry--Croftandrew--Croftanridge--Croftandgrey for sa mony +wise hath the name been spellit--is weel known to be ane house of +grit antiquity; and it is said that King Milcolumb, or Malcolm, +being the first of our Scottish princes quha removit across the +Firth of Forth, did reside and occupy ane palace at Edinburgh, +and had there ane valziant man, who did him man-service by +keeping the croft, or corn-land, which was tilled for the +convenience of the King's household, and was thence callit Croft- +an-ri, that is to say, the King his croft; quhilk place, though +now coverit with biggings, is to this day called Croftangry, and +lyeth near to the royal palace. And whereas that some of those +who bear this auld and honourable name may take scorn that it +ariseth from the tilling of the ground, quhilk men account a +slavish occupation, yet we ought to honour the pleugh and spade, +seeing we all derive our being from our father Adam, whose lot it +became to cultivate the earth, in respect of his fall and +transgression. + +"Also we have witness, as weel in holy writt as in profane +history, of the honour in quhilk husbandrie was held of old, and +how prophets have been taken from the pleugh, and great captains +raised up to defend their ain countries, sic as Cincinnatus, and +the like, who fought not the common enemy with the less valiancy +that their alms had been exercised in halding the stilts of the +pleugh, and their bellicose skill in driving of yauds and owsen. + +"Likewise there are sindry honorable families, quhilk are now of +our native Scottish nobility, and have clombe higher up the brae +of preferment than what this house of Croftangry hath done, +quhilk shame not to carry in their warlike shield and insignia of +dignity the tools and implements the quhilk their first +forefathers exercised in labouring the croft-rig, or, as the poet +Virgilius calleth it eloquently, in subduing the soil, and no +doubt this ancient house of Croftangry, while it continued to be +called of that Ilk, produced many worshipful and famous patriots, +of quhom I now praetermit the names; it being my purpose, if God +shall spare me life for sic ane pious officium, or duty, to +resume the first part of my narrative touching the house of +Croftangry, when I can set down at length the evidents and +historical witness anent the facts which I shall allege, seeing +that words, when they are unsupported by proofs, are like seed +sown on the naked rocks, or like an house biggit on the flitting +and faithless sands." + +Here I stopped to draw breath; for the style of my grandsire, the +inditer of this goodly matter, was rather lengthy, as our +American friends say. Indeed, I reserve the rest of the piece +until I can obtain admission to the Bannatine Club, [This Club, +of which the Author of Waverley has the honour to be President, +was instituted in February 1823, for the purpose of printing and +publishing works illustrative of the history, literature, and +antiquities of Scotland. It continues to prosper, and has +already rescued from oblivion many curious materials of Scottish +history.] when I propose to throw off an edition, limited +according to the rules of that erudite Society, with a facsimile +of the manuscript, emblazonry of the family arms surrounded by +their quartering, and a handsome disclamation of family pride, +with HAEC NOS NOVIMUS ESSE NIHIL, or VIX EA NOSTRA VOCO. + +In the meantime, to speak truth, I cannot but suspect that, +though my worthy ancestor puffed vigorously to swell up the +dignity of his family, we had never, in fact, risen above the +rank of middling proprietors. The estate of Glentanner came to +us by the intermarriage of my ancestor with Tib Sommeril, termed +by the southrons Sommerville, a daughter of that noble house, +but, I fear, on what my great-grandsire calls "the wrong side of +the blanket." [The ancient Norman family of the Sommervilles +came into this island with William the Conqueror, and established +one branch in Gloucestershire, another in Scotland. After the +lapse of seven hundred years, the remaining possessions of these +two branches were united in the person of the late Lord +Sommerville, on the death of his English kinsman, the well-known +author of "The Chase."] Her husband, Gilbert, was killed +fighting, as the INQUISITIO POST MORTEM has it, "SUB VEXILLO +REGIS, APUD PRAELIUM JUXTA BRANXTON, LIE FLODDDEN-FIELD." + +We had our share in other national misfortunes--were forfeited, +like Sir John Colville of the Dale, for following our betters to +the field of Langside; and in the contentious times of the last +Stewarts we were severely fined for harbouring and resetting +intercommuned ministers, and narrowly escaped giving a martyr to +the Calendar of the Covenant, in the person of the father of our +family historian. He "took the sheaf from the mare," however, as +the MS. expresses it, and agreed to accept of the terms of pardon +offered by Government, and sign the bond in evidence he would +give no further ground of offence. My grandsire glosses over his +father's backsliding as smoothly as he can, and comforts himself +with ascribing his want of resolution to his unwillingness to +wreck the ancient name and family, and to permit his lands and +lineage to fall under a doom of forfeiture. + +"And indeed," said the venerable compiler, "as, praised be God, +we seldom meet in Scotland with these belly-gods and +voluptuaries, whilk are unnatural enough to devour their +patrimony bequeathed to them by their forbears in chambering and +wantonness, so that they come, with the prodigal son, to the +husks and the swine-trough; and as I have the less to dreid the +existence of such unnatural Neroes in mine own family to devour +the substance of their own house like brute beasts out of mere +gluttonie and Epicurishnesse, so I need only warn mine +descendants against over-hastily meddling with the mutations in +state and in religion, which have been near-hand to the bringing +this poor house of Croftangry to perdition, as we have shown more +than once. And albeit I would not that my successors sat still +altogether when called on by their duty to Kirk and King, yet I +would have them wait till stronger and walthier men than +themselves were up, so that either they may have the better +chance of getting through the day, or, failing of that, the +conquering party having some fatter quarry to live upon, may, +like gorged hawks, spare the smaller game." + +There was something in this conclusion which at first reading +piqued me extremely, and I was so unnatural as to curse the whole +concern, as poor, bald, pitiful trash, in which a silly old man +was saying a great deal about nothing at all. Nay, my first +impression was to thrust it into the fire, the rather that it +reminded me, in no very flattering manner, of the loss of the +family property, to which the compiler of the history was so much +attached, in the very manner which he most severely reprobated. +It even seemed to my aggrieved feelings that his unprescient gaze +on futurity, in which he could not anticipate the folly of one of +his descendants, who should throw away the whole inheritance in a +few years of idle expense and folly, was meant as a personal +incivility to myself, though written fifty or sixty years before +I was born. + +A little reflection made me ashamed or this feeling of +impatience, and as I looked at the even, concise, yet tremulous +hand in which the manuscript was written, I could not help +thinking, according to an opinion I have heard seriously +maintained, that something of a man's character may be +conjectured from his handwriting. That neat but crowded and +constrained small-hand argued a man of a good conscience, well- +regulated passions, and, to use his own phrase, an upright walk +in life; but it also indicated narrowness of spirit, inveterate +prejudice, and hinted at some degree of intolerance, which, +though not natural to the disposition, had arisen out of a +limited education. The passages from Scripture and the classics, +rather profusely than happily introduced, and written in a half- +text character to mark their importance, illustrated that +peculiar sort of pedantry which always considers the argument as +gained if secured by a quotation. Then the flourished capital +letters, which ornamented the commencement of each paragraph, and +the names of his family and of his ancestors whenever these +occurred in the page, do they not express forcibly the pride and +sense of importance with which the author undertook and +accomplished his task? I persuaded myself the whole was so +complete a portrait of the man, that it would not have been a +more undutiful act to have defaced his picture, or even to have +disturbed his bones in his coffin, than to destroy his +manuscript. I thought, for a moment, of presenting it to Mr. +Fairscribe; but that confounded passage about the prodigal and +swine-trough--I settled at last it was as well to lock it up in +my own bureau, with the intention to look at it no more. + +But I do not know how it was, that the subject began to sit +nearer my heart than I was aware of, and I found myself +repeatedly engaged in reading descriptions of farms which were no +longer mine, and boundaries which marked the property of others. +A love of the NATALE SOLUM, if Swift be right in translating +these words, "family estate," began to awaken in my bosom--the +recollections of my own youth adding little to it, save what was +connected with field-sports. A career of pleasure is +unfavourable for acquiring a taste for natural beauty, and still +more so for forming associations of a sentimental kind, +connecting us with the inanimate objects around us. + +I had thought little about my estate while I possessed and was +wasting it, unless as affording the rude materials out of which a +certain inferior race of creatures, called tenants, were bound to +produce (in a greater quantity than they actually did) a certain +return called rent, which was destined to supply my expenses. +This was my general view of the matter. Of particular places, I +recollected that Garval Hill was a famous piece of rough upland +pasture for rearing young colts, and teaching them to throw their +feet; that Minion Burn had the finest yellow trout in the +country; that Seggy-cleugh was unequalled for woodcocks; that +Bengibbert Moors afforded excellent moorfowl-shooting; and that +the clear, bubbling fountain called the Harper's Well was the +best recipe in the world on the morning after a HARD-GO with my +neighbour fox-hunters. Still, these ideas recalled, by degrees, +pictures of which I had since learned to appreciate the merit-- +scenes of silent loneliness, where extensive moors, undulating +into wild hills, were only disturbed by the whistle of the plover +or the crow of the heathcock; wild ravines creeping up into +mountains, filled with natural wood, and which, when traced +downwards along the path formed by shepherds and nutters, were +found gradually to enlarge and deepen, as each formed a channel +to its own brook, sometimes bordered by steep banks of earth, +often with the more romantic boundary of naked rocks or cliffs +crested with oak, mountain ash, and hazel--all gratifying the eye +the more that the scenery was, from the bare nature of the +country around, totally unexpected. + +I had recollections, too, of fair and fertile holms, or level +plains, extending between the wooded banks and the bold stream of +the Clyde, which, coloured like pure amber, or rather having the +hue of the pebbles called Cairngorm, rushes over sheets of rock +and beds of gravel, inspiring a species of awe from the few and +faithless fords which it presents, and the frequency of fatal +accidents, now diminished by the number of bridges. These +alluvial holms were frequently bordered by triple and quadruple +rows of large trees, which gracefully marked their boundary, and +dipped their long arms into the foaming stream of the river. +Other places I remembered, which had been described by the old +huntsman as the lodge of tremendous wild-cats, or the spot where +tradition stated the mighty stag to have been brought to bay, or +where heroes, whose might was now as much forgotten, were said to +have been slain by surprise, or in battle. + +It is not to be supposed that these finished landscapes became +visible before the eyes of my imagination, as the scenery of the +stage is disclosed by the rising of the curtain. I have said +that I had looked upon the country around me, during the hurried +and dissipated period of my life, with the eyes, indeed, of my +body, but without those of my understanding. It was piece by +piece, as a child picks out its lesson, that I began to recollect +the beauties of nature which had once surrounded me in the home +of my forefathers. A natural taste for them must have lurked at +the bottom of my heart, which awakened when I was in foreign +countries, and becoming by degrees a favourite passion, gradually +turned its eyes inwards, and ransacked the neglected stores which +my memory had involuntarily recorded, and, when excited, exerted +herself to collect and to complete. + +I began now to regret more bitterly than ever the having fooled +away my family property, the care and improvement of which I saw +might have afforded an agreeable employment for my leisure, which +only went to brood on past misfortunes, and increase useless +repining. "Had but a single farm been reserved, however small," +said I one day to Mr. Fairscribe, "I should have had a place I +could call my home, and something that I could call business." + +"It might have been managed," answered Fairscribe; "and for my +part, I inclined to keep the mansion house, mains, and some of +the old family acres together; but both Mr. -- and you were of +opinion that the money would be more useful." + +"True, true, my good friend," said I; "I was a fool then, and did +not think I could incline to be Glentanner with L200 or L300 a +year, instead of Glentanner with as many thousands. I was then a +haughty, pettish, ignorant, dissipated, broken-down Scottish +laird; and thinking my imaginary consequence altogether ruined, I +cared not how soon, or how absolutely, I was rid of everything +that recalled it to my own memory, or that of others." + +"And now it is like you have changed your mind?" said +Fairscribe. "Well, fortune is apt to circumduce the term upon us; +but I think she may allow you to revise your condescendence." + +"How do you mean, my good friend?" + +"Nay," said Fairscribe, "there is ill luck in averring till one +is sure of his facts. I will look back on a file of newspapers, +and to-morrow you shall hear from me. Come, help yourself--I +have seen you fill your glass higher." + +"And shall see it again," said I, pouring out what remained of +our bottle of claret; "the wine is capital, and so shall our +toast be--"To your fireside, my good friend. And now we shall go +beg a Scots song without foreign graces from my little siren, +Miss Katie." + +The next day, accordingly, I received a parcel from Mr. +Fairscribe with a newspaper enclosed, among the advertisements of +which one was marked with a cross as requiring my attention. I +read, to my surprise:-- + + "DESIRABLE ESTATE FOR SALE. + +"By order of the Lords of Council and Session, will be exposed to +sale in the New Sessions House of Edinburgh, on Wednesday, the +25th November, 18--, all and whole the lands and barony of +Glentanner, now called Castle Treddles, lying in the Middle Ward +of Clydesdale, and shire of Lanark, with the teinds, parsonage +and vicarage, fishings in the Clyde, woods, mosses, moors, and +pasturages," etc., etc. + +The advertisement went on to set forth the advantages of the +soil, situation, natural beauties, and capabilities of +improvement, not forgetting its being a freehold estate, with the +particular polypus capacity of being sliced up into two, three, +or, with a little assistance, four freehold qualifications, and a +hint that the county was likely to be eagerly contested between +two great families. The upset price at which "the said lands and +barony and others" were to be exposed was thirty years' purchase +of the proven rental, which was about a fourth more than the +property had fetched at the last sale. This, which was +mentioned, I suppose, to show the improvable character of the +land, would have given another some pain. But let me speak truth +of myself in good as in evil--it pained not me. I was only angry +that Fairscribe, who knew something generally of the extent of my +funds, should have tantalized me by sending me information that +my family property was in the market, since he must have known +that the price was far out of my reach. + +But a letter dropped from the parcel on the floor, which +attracted my eye, and explained the riddle. A client of Mr. +Fairscribe's, a moneyed man, thought of buying Glentanner, merely +as an investment of money--it was even unlikely he would ever see +it; and so the price of the whole being some thousand pounds +beyond what cash he had on hand, this accommodating Dives would +gladly take a partner in the sale for any detached farm, and +would make no objection to its including the most desirable part +of the estate in point of beauty, provided the price was made +adequate. Mr. Fairscribe would take care I was not imposed on in +the matter, and said in his card he believed, if I really wished +to make such a purchase, I had better go out and look at the +premises, advising me, at the same time, to keep a strict +incognito--an advice somewhat superfluous, since I am naturally +of a retired and reserved disposition. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MR. CROFTANGRY, INTER ALIA, REVISITS GLENTANNER. + + Then sing of stage-coaches, + And fear no reproaches + For riding in one; + But daily be jogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + Whilst, whistling and flogging, + The coachman drives on. FARQUHAR. + +Disguised in a grey surtout which had seen service, a white +castor on my head, and a stout Indian cane in my hand, the next +week saw me on the top of a mail-coach driving to the westward. + +I like mail-coaches, and I hate them. I like them for my +convenience; but I detest them for setting the whole world a- +gadding, instead of sitting quietly still minding their own +business, and preserving the stamp of originality of character +which nature or education may have impressed on them. Off they +go, jingling against each other in the rattling vehicle till they +have no more variety of stamp in them than so many smooth +shillings--the same even in their Welsh wigs and greatcoats, each +without more individuality than belongs to a partner of the +company, as the waiter calls them, of the North Coach. + +Worthy Mr. Piper, best of contractors who ever furnished four +frampal jades for public use, I bless you when I set out on a +journey myself; the neat coaches under your contract render the +intercourse, from Johnnie Groat's House to Ladykirk and Cornhill +Bridge, safe, pleasant, and cheap. But, Mr. Piper, you who are a +shrewd arithmetician, did it never occur to you to calculate how +many fools' heads, which might have produced an idea or two in +the year, if suffered to remain in quiet, get effectually addled +by jolting to and fro in these flying chariots of yours; how many +decent countrymen become conceited bumpkins after a cattle-show +dinner in the capital, which they could not have attended save +for your means; how many decent country parsons return critics +and spouters, by way of importing the newest taste from +Edinburgh? And how will your conscience answer one day for +carrying so many bonny lasses to barter modesty for conceit and +levity at the metropolitan Vanity Fair? + +Consider, too, the low rate to which you reduce human intellect. +I do not believe your habitual customers have their ideas more +enlarged than one of your coach-horses. They KNOWS the road, +like the English postilion, and they know nothing besides. They +date, like the carriers at Gadshill, from the death of Robin +Ostler; [See Act II. Scene 1 of the First Part of Shakespeare's +Henry IV.] the succession of guards forms a dynasty in their +eyes; coachmen are their ministers of state; and an upset is to +them a greater incident than a change of administration. Their +only point of interest on the road is to save the time, and see +whether the coach keeps the hour. This is surely a miserable +degradation of human intellect. Take my advice, my good sir, and +disinterestedly contrive that once or twice a quarter your most +dexterous whip shall overturn a coachful of these superfluous +travellers, IN TERROREM to those who, as Horace says, "delight in +the dust raised by your chariots." + +Your current and customary mail-coach passenger, too, gets +abominably selfish, schemes successfully for the best seat, the +freshest egg, the right cut of the sirloin. The mode of +travelling is death to all the courtesies and kindnesses of life, +and goes a great way to demoralize the character, and cause it to +retrograde to barbarism. You allow us excellent dinners, but +only twenty minutes to eat them. And what is the consequence? +Bashful beauty sits on the one side of us, timid childhood on the +other; respectable, yet somewhat feeble, old age is placed on our +front; and all require those acts of politeness which ought to +put every degree upon a level at the convivial board. But have +we time--we the strong and active of the party--to perform the +duties of the table to the more retired and bashful, to whom +these little attentions are due? The lady should be pressed to +her chicken, the old man helped to his favourite and tender +slice, the child to his tart. But not a fraction of a minute +have we to bestow on any other person than ourselves; and the +PRUT-PRUT--TUT-TUT of the guard's discordant note summons us to +the coach, the weaker party having gone without their dinner, and +the able-bodied and active threatened with indigestion, from +having swallowed victuals like a Lei'stershire clown bolting +bacon. + +On the memorable occasion I am speaking of I lost my breakfast, +sheerly from obeying the commands of a respectable-looking old +lady, who once required me to ring the bell, and another time to +help the tea-kettle. I have some reason to think she was +literally an OLD-STAGER, who laughed in her sleeve at my +complaisance; so that I have sworn in my secret soul revenge upon +her sex, and all such errant damsels of whatever age and degree +whom I may encounter in my travels. I mean all this without the +least ill-will to my friend the contractor, who, I think, has +approached as near as any one is like to do towards accomplishing +the modest wish cf the Amatus and Amata of the Peri Bathous,-- + + "Ye gods, annihilate but time and space, + And make two lovers happy." + +I intend to give Mr. P. his full revenge when I come to discuss +the more recent enormity of steamboats; meanwhile, I shall only +say of both these modes of conveyance, that-- + + "There is no living with them or without them." + +I am, perhaps, more critical on the--mail-coach on this +particular occasion, that I did not meet all the respect from the +worshipful company in his Majesty's carriage that I think I was +entitled to. I must say it for myself that I bear, in my own +opinion at least, not a vulgar point about me. My face has seen +service, but there is still a good set of teeth, an aquiline +nose, and a quick, grey eye, set a little too deep under the +eyebrow; and a cue of the kind once called military may serve to +show that my civil occupations have been sometimes mixed with +those of war. Nevertheless, two idle young fellows in the +vehicle, or rather on the top of it, were so much amused with the +deliberation which I used in ascending to the same place of +eminence, that I thought I should have been obliged to pull them +up a little. And I was in no good-humour at an unsuppressed +laugh following my descent when set down at the angle, where a +cross road, striking off from the main one, led me towards +Glentanner, from which I was still nearly five miles distant. + +It was an old-fashioned road, which, preferring ascents to +sloughs, was led in a straight line over height and hollow, +through moor and dale. Every object around me; as I passed them +in succession, reminded me of old days, and at the same time +formed the strongest contrast with them possible. Unattended, on +foot, with a small bundle in my hand, deemed scarce sufficient +good company for the two shabby-genteels with whom I had been +lately perched on the top of a mail-coach, I did not seem to be +the same person with the young prodigal, who lived with the +noblest and gayest in the land, and who, thirty years before, +would, in the same country, have, been on the back of a horse +that had been victor for a plate, or smoking aloof in his +travelling chaise-and-four. My sentiments were not less changed +than my condition. I could quite well remember that my ruling +sensation in the days of heady youth was a mere schoolboy's +eagerness to get farthest forward in the race in which I had +engaged; to drink as many bottles as --; to be thought as good a +judge of a horse as --; to have the knowing cut of --'s jacket. +These were thy gods, O Israel! + +Now I was a mere looker-on; seldom an unmoved, and sometimes an +angry spectator, but still a spectator only, of the pursuits of +mankind. I felt how little my opinion was valued by those +engaged in the busy turmoil, yet I exercised it with the +profusion of an old lawyer retired from his profession, who +thrusts himself into his neighbour's affairs, and gives advice +where it is not wanted, merely under pretence of loving the crack +of the whip. + +I came amid these reflections to the brow of a hill, from which I +expected to see Glentanner, a modest-looking yet comfortable +house, its walls covered with the most productive fruit-trees in +that part of the country, and screened from the most stormy +quarters of the horizon by a deep and ancient wood, which +overhung the neighbouring hill. The house was gone; a great part +of the wood was felled; and instead of the gentlemanlike mansion, +shrouded and embosomed among its old hereditary trees, stood +Castle Treddles, a huge lumping four-square pile of freestone, as +bare as my nail, except for a paltry edging of decayed and +lingering exotics, with an impoverished lawn stretched before it, +which, instead of boasting deep green tapestry, enamelled with +daisies and with crowsfoot and cowslips, showed an extent of +nakedness, raked, indeed, and levelled, but where the sown +grasses had failed with drought, and the earth, retaining its +natural complexion, seemed nearly as brown and bare as when it +was newly dug up. + +The house was a large fabric, which pretended to its name of +Castle only from the front windows being finished in acute Gothic +arches (being, by the way, the very reverse of the castellated +style), and each angle graced with a turret about the size of a +pepper-box. In every other respect it resembled a large town- +house, which, like a fat burgess, had taken a walk to the country +on a holiday, and climbed to the top of all eminence to look +around it. The bright red colour of the freestone, the size of +the building, the formality of its shape, and awkwardness of its +position, harmonized as ill with the sweeping Clyde in front, and +the bubbling brook which danced down on the right, as the fat +civic form, with bushy wig, gold-headed cane, maroon-coloured +coat, and mottled silk stockings, would have accorded with the +wild and magnificent scenery of Corehouse Linn. + +I went up to the house. It was in that state of desertion which +is perhaps the most unpleasant to look on, for the place was +going to decay without having been inhabited. There were about +the mansion, though deserted, none of the slow mouldering touches +of time, which communicate to buildings, as to the human frame, a +sort of reverence, while depriving them of beauty and of +strength. The disconcerted schemes of the Laird of Castle +Treddles had resembled fruit that becomes decayed without ever +having ripened. Some windows broken, others patched, others +blocked up with deals, gave a disconsolate air to all around, and +seemed to say, "There Vanity had purposed to fix her seat, but +was anticipated by Poverty." + +To the inside, after many a vain summons, I was at length +admitted by an old labourer. The house contained every +contrivance for luxury and accommodation. The kitchens were a +model; and there were hot closets on the office staircase, that +the dishes might not cool, as our Scottish phrase goes, between +the kitchen and the hall. But instead of the genial smell of +good cheer, these temples of Comus emitted the damp odour of +sepulchral vaults, and the large cabinets of cast-iron looked +like the cages of some feudal Bastille. The eating room and +drawing-room, with an interior boudoir, were magnificent +apartments, the ceiling was fretted and adorned with stucco-work, +which already was broken in many places, and looked in others +damp and mouldering; the wood panelling was shrunk and warped, +and cracked; the doors, which had not been hung for more than two +years, were, nevertheless, already swinging loose from their +hinges. Desolation, in short, was where enjoyment had never +been; and the want of all the usual means to preserve was fast +performing the work of decay. + +The story was a common one, and told in a few words. Mr. +Treddles, senior, who bought the estate, was a cautious, money- +making person. His son, still embarked in commercial +speculations, desired at the same time to enjoy his opulence and +to increase it. He incurred great expenses, amongst which this +edifice was to benumbered. To support these he speculated +boldly, and unfortunately; and thus the whole history is told, +which may serve for more places than Glentanner. + +Strange and various feelings ran through my bosom as I loitered +in these deserted apartments, scarce hearing what my guide said +to me about the size and destination of each room. The first +sentiment, I am ashamed to say, was one of gratified spite. My +patrician pride was pleased that the mechanic, who had not +thought the house of the Croftangrys sufficiently good for him, +had now experienced a fall in his turn. My next thought was as +mean, though not so malicious. "I have had the better of this +fellow," thought I. "If I lost the estate, I at least spent the +price; and Mr. Treddles has lost his among paltry commercial +engagements." + +"Wretch!" said the secret voice within, "darest thou exult in +thy shame? Recollect how thy youth and fortune was wasted in +those years, and triumph not in the enjoyment of an existence +which levelled thee with the beasts that perish. Bethink thee +how this poor man's vanity gave at least bread to the labourer, +peasant, and citizen; and his profuse expenditure, like water +spilt on the ground, refreshed the lowly herbs and plants where +it fell. But thou! Whom hast thou enriched during thy career of +extravagance, save those brokers of the devil--vintners, panders, +gamblers, and horse-jockeys?" The anguish produced by this self- +reproof was so strong that I put my hand suddenly to my forehead, +and was obliged to allege a sudden megrim to my attendant, in +apology for the action, and a slight groan with which it was +accompanied. + +I then made an effort to turn my thoughts into a more +philosophical current, and muttered half aloud, as a charm to +lull any more painful thoughts to rest,-- + + "NUNC AGER UMBRENI SUB NOMINE, NUPER OFELLI + DICTUS ERIT NULLI PROPRIUS; SED CEDIT IN USUM + NUNC MIHI, NUNC ALII. QUOCIRCA VIVITE FORTES, + FORTIAQUE ADVERSIS OPPONITE PECTORA REBUS." + +[Horace Sat.II Lib.2. The meaning will be best conveyed to the +English reader in Pope's imitation:-- + + "What's property, dear Swift? You see it alter + From you to me, from me to Peter Walter; + Or in a mortgage prove a lawyer's share; + Or in a jointure vanish from the heir. + + * * * * * * * + + "Shades, that to Bacon could retreat afford, + Become the portion of a booby lord; + And Helmsley, once proud Buckingham's delight, + Slides to a scrivener and city knight. + Let lands and houses have what lords they will, + Let us be fix'd, and our own masters still."] + +In my anxiety to fix the philosophical precept in my mind, I +recited the last line aloud, which, joined to my previous +agitation, I afterwards found became the cause of a report that a +mad schoolmaster had come from Edinburgh, with the idea in his +head of buying Castle Treddles. + +As I saw my companion was desirous of getting rid of me, I asked +where I was to find the person in whose hands were left the map +of the estate, and other particulars connected with the sale. +The agent who had this in possession, I was told, lived at the +town of --, which I was informed, and indeed knew well, was +distant five miles and a bittock, which may pass in a country +where they are less lavish of their land for two or three more. +Being somewhat afraid of the fatigue of walking so far, I +inquired if a horse or any sort of carriage was to be had, and +was answered in the negative. + +"But," said my cicerone, "you may halt a blink till next morning +at the Treddles Arms, a very decent house, scarce a mile off." + +"A new house, I suppose?" replied I. + +"No, it's a new public, but it's an auld house; it was aye the +Leddy's jointure-house in the Croftangry folk's time. But Mr. +Treddles has fitted it up for the convenience of the country, +poor man, he was a public-spirited man when he had the means." + +"Duntarkin a public-house!" I exclaimed. + +"Ay!" said the fellow, surprised at my naming the place by its +former title; "ye'll hae been in this country before, I'm +thinking?" + +"Long since," I replied. "And there is good accommodation at the +what-d'ye-call-'em arms, and a civil landlord?" This I said by +way of saying something, for the man stared very hard at me. + +"Very decent accommodation. Ye'll no be for fashing wi' wine, +I'm thinking; and there's walth o' porter, ale, and a drap gude +whisky" (in an undertone)--"Fairntosh--if you call get on the +lee-side of the gudewife--for there is nae gudeman. They ca' her +Christie Steele." + +I almost started at the sound. Christie Steele! Christie Steele +was my mother's body-servant, her very right hand, and, between +ourselves, something like a viceroy over her. I recollected her +perfectly; and though she had in former times been no favourite +of mine, her name now sounded in my ear like that of a friend, +and was the first word I had heard somewhat in unison with the +associations around me. I sallied from Castle Treddles, +determined to make the best of my way to Duntarkin, and my +cicerone hung by me for a little way, giving loose to his love of +talking--an opportunity which, situated as he was, the seneschal +of a deserted castle, was not likely to occur frequently. + +"Some folk think," said my companion, "that Mr. Treddles might as +weel have put my wife as Christie Steele into the Treddles Arms; +for Christie had been aye in service, and never in the public +line, and so it's like she is ganging back in the world, as I +hear. Now, my wife had keepit a victualling office." + +"That would have been an advantage, certainly," I replied. + +"But I am no sure that I wad ha' looten Eppie take it, if they +had put it in her offer." + +"That's a different consideration." + +"Ony way, I wadna ha' liked to have offended Mr. Treddles. He +was a wee toustie when you rubbed him again the hair; but a kind, +weel-meaning man." + +I wanted to get rid of this species of chat, and finding myself +near the entrance of a footpath which made a short cut to +Duntarkin, I put half a crown into my guide's hand, bade him +good-evening, and plunged into the woods. + +"Hout, sir--fie, sir--no from the like of you. Stay, sir, ye +wunna find the way that gate.--Odd's mercy, he maun ken the gate +as weel as I do mysel'. Weel, I wad Iike to ken wha the chield +is." + +Such were the last words of my guide's drowsy, uninteresting tone +of voice and glad to be rid of him, I strode out stoutly, in +despite of large stones, briers, and BAD STEPS, which abounded in +the road I had chosen. In the interim, I tried as much as I +could, with verses from Horace and Prior, and all who have lauded +the mixture of literary with rural life, to call back the visions +of last night and this morning, imagining myself settled in same +detached farm of the estate of Glentanner,-- + + "Which sloping hills around enclose-- + Where many a birch and brown oak grows," + +when I should have a cottage with a small library, a small +cellar, a spare bed for a friend, and live more happy and more +honoured than when I had the whole barony. But the sight of +Castle Treddles had disturbed all my own castles in the air. The +realities of the matter, like a stone plashed into a limpid +fountain, had destroyed the reflection of the objects around, +which, till this act of violence, lay slumbering on the crystal +surface, and I tried in vain to re-establish the picture which +had been so rudely broken. Well, then, I would try it another +way. I would try to get Christie Steele out of her PUBLIC, since +she was not striving in it, and she who had been my mother's +governante should be mine. I knew all her faults, and I told her +history over to myself. + +She was grand-daughter, I believe--at least some relative--of the +famous Covenanter of the name, whom Dean Swift's friend, Captain +Creichton, shot on his own staircase in the times of the +persecutions; [See Note 2.--Steele a Covenanter, shot by Captain +Creichton.] and had perhaps derived from her native stock much +both of its good and evil properties. No one could say of her +that she was the life and spirit of the family, though in my +mother's time she directed all family affairs. Her look was +austere and gloomy, and when she was not displeased with you, you +could only find it out by her silence. If there was cause for +complaint, real or imaginary, Christie was loud enough. She +loved my mother with the devoted attachment of a younger sister; +but she was as jealous of her favour to any one else as if she +had been the aged husband of a coquettish wife, and as severe in +her reprehensions as an abbess over her nuns. The command which +she exercised over her was that, I fear, of a strong and +determined over a feeble and more nervous disposition and though +it was used with rigour, yet, to the best of Christie Steele's +belief, she was urging her mistress to her best and most becoming +course, and would have died rather than have recommended any +other. The attachment of this woman was limited to the family of +Croftangry; for she had few relations, and a dissolute cousin, +whom late in life she had taken as a husband, had long left her a +widow. + +To me she had ever a strong dislike. Even from my early +childhood she was jealous, strange as it may seem, of my interest +in my mother's affections. She saw my foibles and vices with +abhorrence, and without a grain of allowance; nor did she pardon +the weakness of maternal affection even when, by the death of two +brothers, I came to be the only child of a widowed parent. At +the time my disorderly conduct induced my mother to leave +Glentanner, and retreat to her jointure-house, I always blamed +Christie Steele for having influenced her resentment and +prevented her from listening to my vows of amendment, which at +times were real and serious, and might, perhaps, have accelerated +that change of disposition which has since, I trust, taken place. +But Christie regarded me as altogether a doomed and predestinated +child of perdition, who was sure to hold on my course, and drag +downwards whosoever might attempt to afford me support. + +Still, though I knew such had been Christie's prejudices against +me in other days, yet I thought enough of time had since passed +away to destroy all of them. I knew that when, through the +disorder of my affairs, my mother underwent some temporary +inconvenience about money matters, Christie, as a thing of +course, stood in the gap, and having sold a small inheritance +which had descended to her, brought the purchase money to her +mistress, with a sense of devotion as deep as that which inspired +the Christians of the first age, when they sold all they had, and +followed the apostles of the church. I therefore thought that we +might, in old Scottish phrase, "let byganes be byganes," and +begin upon a new account. Yet I resolved, like a skilful +general, to reconnoitre a little before laying down any precise +scheme of proceeding, and in the interim I determined to preserve +my incognito. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MR. CROFTANGRY BIDS ADIEU TO CLYDESDALE. + + Alas, how changed from what it once had been! + 'Twas now degraded to a common inn. GAY. + +An hour's brisk walking, or thereabouts, placed me in front of +Duntarkin, which had also, I found, undergone considerable +alterations, though it had not been altogether demolished like +the principal mansion. An inn-yard extended before the door of +the decent little jointure-house, even amidst the remnants of the +holly hedges which had screened the lady's garden. Then a broad, +raw-looking, new-made road intruded itself up the little glen, +instead of the old horseway, so seldom used that it was almost +entirely covered with grass. It is a great enormity, of which +gentlemen trustees on the highways are sometimes guilty, in +adopting the breadth necessary for an avenue to the metropolis, +where all that is required is an access to some sequestered and +unpopulous district. I do not say anything of the expense--that +the trustees and their constituents may settle as they please. +But the destruction of silvan beauty is great when the breadth of +the road is more than proportioned to the vale through which it +runs, and lowers, of course, the consequence of any objects of +wood or water, or broken and varied ground, which might otherwise +attract notice and give pleasure. A bubbling runnel by the side +of one of those modern Appian or Flaminian highways is but like a +kennel; the little hill is diminished to a hillock--the romantic +hillock to a molehill, almost too small for sight. + +Such an enormity, however, had destroyed the quiet loneliness of +Duntarkin, and intruded its breadth of dust and gravel, and its +associations of pochays and mail-coaches, upon one of the most +sequestered spots in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale. The house +was old and dilapidated, and looked sorry for itself, as if +sensible of a derogation; but the sign was strong and new, and +brightly painted, displaying a heraldic shield (three shuttles in +a field diapre), a web partly unfolded for crest, and two stout +giants for supporters, each one holding a weaver's beam proper. +To have displayed this monstrous emblem on the front of the house +might have hazarded bringing down the wall, but for certain would +have blocked up one or two windows. It was therefore established +independent of the mansion, being displayed in an iron framework, +and suspended upon two posts, with as much wood and iron about it +as would have builded a brig; and there it hung, creaking, +groaning, and screaming in every blast of wind, and frightening +for five miles' distance, for aught I know, the nests of thrushes +and linnets, the ancient denizens of the little glen. + +When I entered the place I was received by Christie Steele +herself, who seemed uncertain whether to drop me in the kitchen, +or usher me into a separate apartment, as I called for tea, with +something rather more substantial than bread and butter, and +spoke of supping and sleeping, Christie at last inducted me into +the room where she herself had been sitting, probably the only +one which had a fire, though the month was October. This +answered my plan; and as she was about to remove her spinning- +wheel, I begged she would have the goodness to remain and make my +tea, adding that I liked the sound of the wheel, and desired not +to disturb her housewife thrift in the least. + +"I dinna ken, sir," she replied, in a dry, REVECHE tone, which +carried me back twenty years, "I am nane of thae heartsome +landleddies that can tell country cracks, and make themsel's +agreeable, and I was ganging to put on a fire for you in the Red +Room; but if it is your will to stay here, he that pays the +lawing maun choose the lodging." + +I endeavoured to engage her in conversation; but though she +answered, with a kind of stiff civility, I could get her into no +freedom of discourse, and she began to look at her wheel and at +the door more than once, as if she meditated a retreat. I was +obliged, therefore, to proceed to some special questions; that +might have interest for a person whose ideas were probably of a +very bounded description. + +I looked round the apartment, being the same in which I had last +seen my poor mother. The author of the family history, formerly +mentioned, had taken great credit to himself for the improvements +he had made in this same jointure-house of Duntarkin, and how, +upon his marriage, when his mother took possession of the same as +her jointure-house, "to his great charges and expenses he caused +box the walls of the great parlour" (in which I was now sitting), +"empanel the same, and plaster the roof, finishing the apartment +with ane concave chimney, and decorating the same with pictures, +and a barometer and thermometer." And in particular, which his +good mother used to say she prized above all the rest, he had +caused his own portraiture be limned over the mantlepiece by a +skilful hand. And, in good faith, there he remained still, +having much the visage which I was disposed to ascribe to him on +the evidence of his handwriting,--grim and austere, yet not +without a cast of shrewdness and determination; in armour, though +he never wore it, I fancy; one hand on an open book, and one +resting on the hilt of his sword, though I dare say his head +never ached with reading, nor his limbs with fencing. + +"That picture is painted on the wood, madam," said I. + +"Ay, sir, or it's like it would not have been left there; they +look a' they could." + +"Mr. Treddles's creditors, you mean?" said I. + +"Na," replied she dryly, "the creditors of another family, that +sweepit cleaner than this poor man's, because I fancy there was +less to gather." + +"An older family, perhaps, and probably more remembered and +regretted than later possessors?" + +Christie here settled herself in her seat, and pulled her wheel +towards her. I had given her something interesting for her +thoughts to dwell upon, and her wheel was a mechanical +accompaniment on such occasions, the revolutions of which +assisted her in the explanation of her ideas. + +"Mair regretted--mair missed? I liked ane of the auld family +very weel, but I winna say that for them a'. How should they be +mair missed than the Treddleses? The cotton mill was such a +thing for the country! The mair bairns a cottar body had the +better; they would make their awn keep frae the time they were +five years auld, and a widow wi' three or four bairns was a +wealthy woman in the time of the Treddleses." + +"But the health of these poor children, my good friend--their +education and religious instruction--" + +"For health," said Christie, looking gloomily at me, "ye maun ken +little of the warld, sir, if ye dinna ken that the health of the +poor man's body, as well as his youth and his strength, are all +at the command of the rich man's purse. There never was a trade +so unhealthy yet but men would fight to get wark at it for twa +pennies a day aboon the common wage. But the bairns were +reasonably weel cared for in the way of air and exercise, and a +very responsible youth heard them their Carritch, and gied them +lessons in Reediemadeasy ["Reading made Easy," usually so +pronounced in Scotland.] Now, what did they ever get before? +Maybe on a winter day they wad be called out to beat the wood for +cocks or siclike; and then the starving weans would maybe get a +bite of broken bread, and maybe no, just as the butler was in +humour--that was a' they got." + +"They were not, then, a very kind family to the poor, these old +possessors?" said I, somewhat bitterly; for I had expected to +hear my ancestors' praises recorded, though I certainly despaired +of being regaled with my own. + +"They werena ill to them, sir, and that is aye something. They +were just decent bien bodies; ony poor creature that had face to +beg got an awmous, and welcome--they that were shamefaced gaed +by, and twice as welcome. But they keepit an honest walk before +God and man, the Croftangrys, and, as I said before, if they did +little good, they did as little ill. They lifted their rents, +and spent them; called in their kain and ate them; gaed to the +kirk of a Sunday; bowed civilly if folk took aff their bannets as +they gaed by, and lookit as black as sin at them that keepit them +on." + +"These are their arms that you have on the sign?" + +"What! on the painted board that is skirling and groaning at the +door? Na, these are Mr. Treddles's arms though they look as like +legs as arms. Ill pleased I was at the fule thing, that cost as +muckle as would hae repaired the house from the wa' stane to the +rigging-tree. But if I am to bide here, I'll hae a decent board +wi' a punch bowl on it." + +"Is there a doubt of your staying here, Mrs. Steele?" + +"Dinna Mistress me," said the cross old woman, whose fingers were +now plying their thrift in a manner which indicated nervous +irritation; "there was nae luck in the land since Luckie turned +Mistress, and Mistress my Leddy. And as for staying here, if it +concerns you to ken, I may stay if I can pay a hundred pund +sterling for the lease, and I may flit if I canna, and so gude +e'en to you, Christie,"--and round went the wheel with much +activity. + +"And you like the trade of keeping a public-house?" + +"I can scarce say that," she replied. "But worthy Mr. +Prendergast is clear of its lawfulness; and I hae gotten used to +it, and made a decent living, though I never make out a fause +reckoning, or give ony ane the means to disorder reason in my +house." + +"Indeed!" said I; "in that case, there is no wonder you have not +made up the hundred pounds to purchase the lease." + +"How do you ken," said she sharply, "that I might not have had a +hundred punds of my ain fee? If I have it not, I am sure it is +my ain faut. And I wunna ca' it faut neither, for it gaed to her +wha was weel entitled to a' my service." Again she pulled +stoutly at the flax, and the wheel went smartly round. + +"This old gentleman," said I, fixing my eye on the painted panel, +"seems to have had HIS arms painted as well as Mr. Treddles--that +is, if that painting in the corner be a scutcheon." + +"Ay, ay--cushion, just sae. They maun a' hae their cushions-- +there's sma' gentry without that--and so the arms, as they ca' +them, of the house of Glentanner may be seen on an auld stane in +the west end of the house. But to do them justice; they didna +propale sae muckle about them as poor Mr. Treddles did--it's like +they were better used to them." + +"Very likely. Are there any of the old family in life, +goodwife?" + +"No," she replied; then added; after a moment's hesitation, "Not +that I know of"--and the wheel, which had intermitted, began +again to revolve. + +"Gone abroad, perhaps?" I suggested. + +She now looked up, and faced me. "No, sir. There were three +sons of the last laird of Glentanner, as he was then called. +John and William were hopeful young gentlemen, but they died +early--one of a decline brought on by the mizzles, the other lost +his life in a fever. It would hae been lucky for mony ane that +Chrystal had gane the same gate." + +"Oh, he must have been the young spendthrift that sold the +property? Well, but you should you have such an ill-will against +him; remember necessity has no law. And then, goodwife, he was +not more culpable than Mr. Treddles, whom you are so sorry for." + +"I wish I could think sae, sir, for his mother's sake. But Mr. +Treddles was in trade, and though he had no preceese right to do +so, yet there was some warrant for a man being expensive that +imagined he was making a mint of money. But this unhappy lad +devoured his patrimony, when he kenned that he was living like a +ratten in a Dunlap cheese, and diminishing his means at a' hands. +I canna bide to think on't." With this she broke out into a +snatch of a ballad, but little of mirth was there either in the +tone or the expression:-- + + "For he did spend, and make an end + Of gear that his forefathers wan; + Of land and ware he made him bare, + So speak nae mair of the auld gudeman." + +"Come, dame," said I, "it is a long lane that has no turning. I +will not keep from you that I have heard something of this poor +fellow, Chrystal Croftangry. He has sown his wild oats, as they +say, and has settled into a steady, respectable man." + +"And wha tell'd ye that tidings?" said she, looking sharply at +me. + +"Not, perhaps, the best judge in the world of his character, for +it was himself, dame." + +"And if he tell'd you truth, it was a virtue he did not aye use +to practise," said Christie. + +"The devil!" said I, considerably nettled; "all the world held +him to be a man of honour." + +"Ay, ay! he would hae shot onybody wi' his pistols and his guns +that had evened him to be a liar. But if he promised to pay an +honest tradesman the next term-day, did he keep his word then? +And if he promised a puir, silly lass to make gude her shame, did +he speak truth then? And what is that but being a liar, and a +black-hearted, deceitful liar to boot?" + +My indignation was rising, but I strove to suppress it; indeed, I +should only have afforded my tormentor a triumph by an angry +reply. I partly suspected she began to recognize me, yet she +testified so little emotion that I could not think my suspicion +well founded. I went on, therefore, to say, in a tone as +indifferent as I could command, "Well, goodwife, I see you will +believe no good of this Chrystal of yours, till he comes back and +buys a good farm on the estate, and makes you his housekeeper." + +The old woman dropped her thread, folded her hands, as she looked +up to heaven with a face of apprehension. "The Lord," she +exclaimed, "forbid! The Lord in His mercy forbid! O sir! if +you really know this unlucky man, persuade him to settle where +folk ken the good that you say he has come to, and dinna ken the +evil of his former days. He used to be proud enough--O dinna let +him come here, even for his own sake. He used once to have some +pride." + +Here she once more drew the wheel close to her, and began to pull +at the flax with both hands. "Dinna let him come here, to be +looked down upon by ony that may be left of his auld reiving +companions, and to see the decent folk that he looked over his +nose at look over their noses at him, baith at kirk and market. +Dinna let him come to his ain country, to be made a tale about +when ony neighbour points him out to another, and tells what he +is, and what he was, and how he wrecked a dainty estate, and +brought harlots to the door-cheek of his father's house, till he +made it nae residence for his mother; and how it had been +foretauld by a servant of his ain house that he was a ne'er-do- +weel and a child of perdition, and how her words were made good, +and--" + +"Stop there, goodwife, if you please," said I; "you have said as +much as I can well remember, and more than it may be safe to +repeat. I can use a great deal of freedom with the gentleman we +speak of; but I think, were any other person to carry him half of +your message, I would scarce ensure his personal safety. And +now, as I see the night is settled to be a fine one, I will walk +on to --, where I must meet a coach to-morrow as it passes to +Edinburgh." + +So saying, I paid my moderate reckoning, and took my leave, +without being able to discover whether the prejudiced and hard- +hearted old woman did, or did not, suspect the identity of her +guest with the Chrystal Croftangry against whom she harboured so +much dislike. + +The night was fine and frosty, though, when I pretended to see +what its character was, it might have rained like the deluge. I +only made the excuse to escape from old Christie Steele. The +horses which run races in the Corso at Rome without any riders, +in order to stimulate their exertion, carry each his own spurs +namely, small balls of steel, with sharp, projecting spikes, +which are attached to loose straps of leather, and, flying about +in the violence of the agitation, keep the horse to his speed by +pricking him as they strike against his flanks. The old woman's +reproaches had the same effect on me, and urged me to a rapid +pace, as if it had been possible to escape from my own +recollections. In the best days of my life, when I won one or +two hard walking matches, I doubt if I ever walked so fast as I +did betwixt the Treddles Arms and the borough town for which I +was bound. Though the night was cold, I was warm enough by the +time I got to my inn; and it required a refreshing draught of +porter, with half an hour's repose, ere I could determine to give +no further thought to Christie and her opinions than those of any +other vulgar, prejudiced old woman. I resolved at last to treat +the thing EN BAGATELLE, and calling for writing materials, I +folded up a cheque for L100, with these lines on the envelope:-- + + "Chrystal, the ne'er-do-weel, + Child destined to the deil, + Sends this to Christie Steele." + +And I was so much pleased with this new mode of viewing the +subject, that I regretted the lateness of the hour prevented my +finding a person to carry the letter express to its destination. + + "But with the morning cool reflection came." + +I considered that the money, and probably more, was actually due +by me on my mother's account to Christie, who had lent it in a +moment of great necessity, and that the returning it in a light +or ludicrous manner was not unlikely to prevent so touchy and +punctilious a person from accepting a debt which was most justly +her due, and which it became me particularly to see satisfied. +Sacrificing, then, my triad with little regret (for it looked +better by candlelight, and through the medium of a pot of porter, +than it did by daylight, and with bohea for a menstruum), I +determined to employ Mr. Fairscribe's mediation in buying up the +lease of the little inn, and conferring it upon Christie in the +way which should make it most acceptable to her feelings. It is +only necessary to add that my plan succeeded, and that Widow +Steele even yet keeps the Treddles Arms. Do not say, therefore, +that I have been disingenuous with you, reader; since, if I have +not told all the ill of myself I might have done, I have +indicated to you a person able and willing to supply the blank, +by relating all my delinquencies as well as my misfortunes. + +In the meantime I totally abandoned the idea of redeeming any +part of my paternal property, and resolved to take Christie +Steele's advice, as young Norval does Glenalvon's, "although it +sounded harshly." + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MR. CROFTANGRY SETTLES IN THE CANONGATE. + + If you will know my house, + 'Tis at the tuft of olives here hard by. AS YOU LIKE IT. + +By a revolution of humour which I am unable to account for, I +changed my mind entirely on my plans of life, in consequence of +the disappointment, the history of which fills the last chapter. +I began to discover that the country would not at all suit me; +for I had relinquished field-sports, and felt no inclination +whatever to farming, the ordinary vocation of country gentlemen. +Besides that, I had no talent for assisting either candidate in +case of an expected election, and saw no amusement in the duties +of a road trustee, a commissioner of supply, or even in the +magisterial functions of the bench. I had begun to take some +taste for reading; and a domiciliation in the country must remove +me from the use of books, excepting the small subscription +library, in which the very book which you want is uniformly sure +to be engaged. + +I resolved, therefore, to make the Scottish metropolis my regular +resting-place, reserving to myself to take occasionally those +excursions which, spite of all I have said against mail-coaches, +Mr. Piper has rendered so easy. Friend of our life and of our +leisure, he secures by dispatch against loss of time, and by the +best of coaches, cattle, and steadiest of drivers, against hazard +of limb, and wafts us, as well as our letters, from Edinburgh to +Cape Wrath in the penning of a paragraph. + +When my mind was quite made up to make Auld Reekie my +headquarters, reserving the privilege of EXPLORING in all +directions, I began to explore in good earnest for the purpose of +discovering a suitable habitation. "And whare trew ye I gaed?" +as Sir Pertinax says. Not to George's Square--nor to Charlotte +Square--nor to the old New Town--nor to the new New Town--nor to +the Calton Hill. I went to the Canongate, and to the very +portion of the Canongate in which I had formerly been immured, +like the errant knight, prisoner in some enchanted castle, where +spells have made the ambient air impervious to the unhappy +captive, although the organs of sight encountered no obstacle to +his free passage. + +Why I should have thought of pitching my tent here I cannot tell. +Perhaps it was to enjoy the pleasures of freedom where I had so +long endured the bitterness of restraint, on the principle of the +officer who, after he had retired from the army, ordered his +servant to continue to call him at the hour or parade, simply +that he might have the pleasure of saying, "D--n the parade!" +and turning to the other side to enjoy his slumbers. Or perhaps +I expected to find in the vicinity some little old-fashioned +house, having somewhat of the RUS IN URBE which I was ambitious +of enjoying. Enough: I went, as aforesaid, to the Canongate. + +I stood by the kennel, of which I have formerly spoken, and, my +mind being at ease, my bodily organs were more delicate. I was +more sensible than heretofore, that, like the trade of Pompey in +MEASURE FOR MEASURE,--it did in some sort--pah an ounce of civet, +good apothecary! Turning from thence, my steps naturally +directed themselves to my own humble apartment, where my little +Highland landlady, as dapper and as tight as ever, (for old women +wear a hundred times better than the hard-wrought seniors of the +masculine sex), stood at the door, TEEDLING to herself a Highland +song as she shook a table napkin over the fore-stair, and then +proceeded to fold it up neatly for future service. + +"How do you, Janet?" + +"Thank ye, good sir," answered my old friend, without looking at +me; "but ye might as weel say Mrs. MacEvoy, for she is na +a'body's Shanet--umph." + +"You must be MY Janet, though, for all that. Have you forgot me? +Do you not remember Chrystal Croftangry?" + +The light, kind-hearted creature threw her napkin into the open +door, skipped down the stair like a fairy, three steps at once, +seized me by the hands--both hands--jumped up, and actually +kissed me. I was a little ashamed; but what swain, of somewhere +inclining to sixty could resist the advances of a fair +contemporary? So we allowed the full degree of kindness to the +meeting--HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE--and then Janet entered +instantly upon business. "An ye'll gae in, man, and see your +auld lodgings, nae doubt and Shanet will pay ye the fifteen +shillings of change that ye ran away without, and without bidding +Shanet good day. But never mind" (nodding good-humouredly), +"Shanet saw you were carried for the time." + +By this time we were in my old quarters, and Janet, with her +bottle of cordial in one hand and the glass in the other, had +forced on me a dram of usquebaugh, distilled with saffron and +other herbs, after some old-fashioned Highland receipt. Then was +unfolded, out of many a little scrap of paper, the reserved sum +of fifteen shillings, which Janet had treasured for twenty years +and upwards. + +"Here they are," she said, in honest triumph, "just the same I +was holding out to ye when ye ran as if ye had been fey. Shanet +has had siller, and Shanet has wanted siller, mony a time since +that. And the gauger has come, and the factor has come, and the +butcher and baker--Cot bless us just like to tear poor auld +Shanet to pieces; but she took good care of Mr. Croftangry's +fifteen shillings." + +"But what if I had never come back, Janet?" + +"Och, if Shanet had heard you were dead, she would hae gien it to +the poor of the chapel, to pray for Mr. Croftangry," said Janet, +crossing herself, for she was a Catholic, "You maybe do not think +it would do you cood, but the blessing of the poor can never do +no harm," + +I agreed heartily in Janet's conclusion; and as to have desired +her to consider the hoard as her own property would have been an +indelicate return to her for the uprightness of her conduct, I +requested her to dispose of it as she had proposed to do in the +event of my death--that is, if she knew any poor people of merit +to whom it might be useful. + +"Ower mony of them," raising the corner of her checked apron to +her eyes--"e'en ower mony of them, Mr. Croftangry. Och, ay. +'There is the puir Highland creatures frae Glenshee, that cam +down for the harvest, and are lying wi' the fever--five shillings +to them; and half a crown to Bessie MacEvoy, whose coodman, puir +creature, died of the frost, being a shairman, for a' the whisky +he could drink to keep it out o' his stamoch; and--" + +But she suddenly interrupted the bead-roll of her proposed +charities, and assuming a very sage look, and primming up her +little chattering mouth, she went on in a different tone--"But +och, Mr. Croftangry, bethink ye whether ye will not need a' this +siller yoursel', and maybe look back and think lang for ha'en +kiven it away, whilk is a creat sin to forthink a wark o' +charity, and also is unlucky, and moreover is not the thought of +a shentleman's son like yoursel', dear. And I say this, that ye +may think a bit, for your mother's son kens that ye are no so +careful as you should be of the gear, and I hae tauld ye of it +before, jewel." + +I assured her I could easily spare the money, without risk of +future repentance; and she went on to infer that in such a case +"Mr. Croftangry had grown a rich man in foreign parts, and was +free of his troubles with messengers and sheriff-officers, and +siclike scum of the earth, and Shanet MacEvoy's mother's daughter +be a blithe woman to hear it. But if Mr. Croftangry was in +trouble, there was his room, and his ped, and Shanet to wait on +him, and tak payment when it was quite convenient." + +I explained to Janet my situation, in which she expressed +unqualified delight. I then proceeded to inquire into her own +circumstances, and though she spoke cheerfully and contentedly, I +could see they were precarious. I had paid more than was due; +other lodgers fell into an opposite error, and forgot to pay +Janet at all. Then, Janet being ignorant of all indirect modes +of screwing money out of her lodgers, others in the same line of +life, who were sharper than the poor, simple Highland woman, were +enabled to let their apartments cheaper in appearance, though the +inmates usually found them twice as dear in the long run. + +As I had already destined my old landlady to be my house-keeper +and governante, knowing her honesty, good-nature, and, although a +Scotchwoman, her cleanliness and excellent temper (saving the +short and hasty expressions of anger which Highlanders call a +FUFF), I now proposed the plan to her in such a way as was likely +to make it most acceptable. Very acceptable as the proposal was, +as I could plainly see, Janet, however, took a day to consider +upon it; and her reflections against our next meeting had +suggested only one objection, which was singular enough. + +"My honour," so she now termed me, "would pe for biding in some +fine street apout the town. Now Shanet wad ill like to live in a +place where polish, and sheriffs, and bailiffs, and sie thieves +and trash of the world, could tak puir shentlemen by the throat, +just because they wanted a wheen dollars in the sporran. She had +lived in the bonny glen of Tomanthoulick. Cot, an ony of the +vermint had come there, her father wad hae wared a shot on them, +and he could hit a buck within as mony measured yards as e'er a +man of his clan, And the place here was so quiet frae them, they +durst na put their nose ower the gutter. Shanet owed nobody a +bodle, but she couldna pide to see honest folk and pretty +shentlemen forced away to prison whether they would or no; and +then, if Shanet was to lay her tangs ower ane of the ragamuffins' +heads, it would be, maybe, that the law would gi'ed a hard name." + +One thing I have learned in life--never to speak sense when +nonsense will answer the purpose as well. I should have had +great difficulty to convince this practical and disinterested +admirer and vindicator of liberty, that arrests seldom or never +were to be seen in the streets of Edinburgh; and to satisfy her +of their justice and necessity would have been as difficult as to +convert her to the Protestant faith. I therefore assured her my +intention, if I could get a suitable habitation, was to remain in +the quarter where she at present dwelt. Janet gave three skips +on the floor, and uttered as many short, shrill yells of joy. +Yet doubt almost instantly returned, and she insisted on knowing +what possible reason I could have for making my residence where +few lived, save those whose misfortunes drove them thither. It +occurred to me to answer her by recounting the legend of the rise +of my family, and of our deriving our name from a particular +place near Holyrood Palace. This, which would have appeared to +most people a very absurd reason for choosing a residence, was +entirely satisfactory to Janet MacEvoy. + +"Och, nae doubt! if it was the land of her fathers, there was +nae mair to be said. Put it was queer that her family estate +should just lie at the town tail, and covered with houses, where +the King's cows--Cot bless them, hide and horn--used to craze +upon. It was strange changes." She mused a little, and then +added: "Put it is something better wi' Croftangry when the +changes is frae the field to the habited place, and not from the +place of habitation to the desert; for Shanet, her nainsell, kent +a glen where there were men as weel as there may be in +Croftangry, and if there werena altogether sae mony of them, they +were as good men in their tartan as the others in their +broadcloth. And there were houses, too; and if they were not +biggit with stane and lime, and lofted like the houses at +Croftangry, yet they served the purpose of them that lived there, +and mony a braw bonnet, and mony a silk snood and comely white +curch, would come out to gang to kirk or chapel on the Lord's +day, and little bairns toddling after. And now--Och, Och, +Ohellany, Ohonari! the glen is desolate, and the braw snoods and +bonnets are gane, and the Saxon's house stands dull and lonely, +like the single bare-breasted rock that the falcon builds on--the +falcon that drives the heath-bird frae the glen." + +Janet, like many Highlanders, was full of imagination, and, when +melancholy themes came upon her, expressed herself almost +poetically, owing to the genius of the Celtic language in which +she thought, and in which, doubtless, she would have spoken, had +I understood Gaelic. In two minutes the shade of gloom and +regret had passed from her good-humoured features, and she was +again the little, busy, prating, important old woman, undisputed +owner of one flat of a small tenement in the Abbey Yard, and +about to be promoted to be housekeeper to an elderly bachelor +gentleman, Chrystal Croftangry, Esq. + +It was not long before Janet's local researches found out exactly +the sort of place I wanted, and there we settled. Janet was +afraid I would not be satisfied, because it is not exactly part +of Croftangry; but I stopped her doubts by assuring her it had +been part and pendicle thereof in my forefather' time, which +passed very well. + +I do not intend to possess any one with an exact knowledge of my +lodging; though, as Bobadil says, "I care not who knows it, since +the cabin is convenient." But I may state in general, that it is +a house "within itself," or, according to a newer phraseology in +advertisements, SELF-CONTAINED, has a garden of near half an +acre, and a patch of ground with trees in front. It boasts five +rooms and servants' apartments--looks in front upon the palace, +and from behind towards the hill and crags of the King's Park. +Fortunately, the place had a name, which, with a little +improvement, served to countenance the legend which I had imposed +on Janet, and would not, perhaps have been sorry if I had been +able to impose on myself. It was called Littlecroft; we have +dubbed it Little Croftangry, and the men of letters belonging to +the Post Office have sanctioned the change, and deliver letters +so addressed. Thus I am to all intents and purposes Chrystal +Croftangry of that Ilk. + +My establishment consists of Janet, an under maid-servant, and a +Highland wench for Janet to exercise her Gaelic upon, with a +handy lad who can lay the cloth, and take care, besides, of a +pony, on which I find my way to Portobello sands, especially when +the cavalry have a drill; for, like an old fool as I am, I have +not altogether become indifferent to the tramp of horses and the +flash of weapons, of which, though no professional soldier, it +has been my fate to see something in my youth. For wet mornings +I have my book; is it fine weather? I visit, or I wander on the +Crags, as the humour dictates. My dinner is indeed solitary, yet +not quite so neither; for though Andrew waits, Janet--or, as she +is to all the world but her master and certain old Highland +gossips, Mrs. MacEvoy--attends, bustles about, and desires to see +everything is in first-rate order, and to tell me, Cot pless us, +the wonderful news of the palace for the day. When the cloth is +removed, and I light my cigar, and begin to husband a pint of +port, or a glass of old whisky and water, it is the rule of the +house that Janet takes a chair at some distance, and nods or +works her stocking, as she may be disposed--ready to speak, if I +am in the talking humour, and sitting quiet as a mouse if I am +rather inclined to study a book or the newspaper. At six +precisely she makes my tea, and leaves me to drink it; and then +occurs an interval of time which most old bachelors find heavy on +their hands. The theatre is a good occasional resource, +especially if Will Murray acts, or a bright star of eminence +shines forth; but it is distant, and so are one or two public +societies to which I belong. Besides, these evening walks are +all incompatible with the elbow-chair feeling, which desires some +employment that may divert the mind without fatiguing the body. + +Under the influence of these impressions, I have sometimes +thought of this literary undertaking. I must have been the +Bonassus himself to have mistaken myself for a genius; yet I have +leisure and reflections like my neighbours. I am a borderer, +also, between two generations, and can point out more, perhaps, +than others of those fading traces of antiquity which are daily +vanishing; and I know many a modern instance and many an old +tradition, and therefore I ask-- + + "What ails me, I may not as well as they + Rake up some threadbare tales, that mouldering lay + In chimney corners, wont by Christmas fires + To read and rock to sleep our ancient sires? + No man his threshold better knows, than I + Brute's first arrival and first victory, + Saint George's sorrel and his cross of blood, + Arthur's round board and Caledonian wood." + +No shop is so easily set up as an antiquary's. Like those of the +lowest order of pawnbrokers, a commodity of rusty iron, a bay or +two of hobnails, a few odd shoe-buckles, cashiered kail-pots, and +fire-irons declared incapable of service, are quite sufficient to +set him up. If he add a sheaf or two of penny ballads and +broadsides, he is a great man--an extensive trader. And then, +like the pawnbrokers aforesaid, if the author understands a +little legerdemain, he may, by dint of a little picking and +stealing, make the inside of his shop a great deal richer than +the out, and be able to show you things which cause those who do +not understand the antiquarian trick of clean conveyance to +wonder how the devil he came by them. + +It may be said that antiquarian articles interest but few +customers, and that we may bawl ourselves as rusty as the wares +we deal in without any one asking; the price of our merchandise. +But I do not rest my hopes upon this department of my labours +only. I propose also to have a corresponding shop for Sentiment, +and Dialogues, and Disquisition, which may captivate the fancy of +those who have no relish, as the established phrase goes, for +pure antiquity--a sort of greengrocer's stall erected in front of +my ironmongery wares, garlanding the rusty memorials of ancient +times with cresses, cabbages, leeks, and water purpy. + +As I have some idea that I am writing too well to be understood, +I humble myself to ordinary language, and aver, with becoming +modesty, that I do think myself capable of sustaining a +publication of a miscellaneous nature, as like to the Spectator +or the Guardian, the Mirror or the Lounger, as my poor abilities +may be able to accomplish. Not that I have any purpose of +imitating Johnson, whose general learning and power of expression +I do not deny, but many of whose Ramblers are little better than +a sort of pageant, where trite and obvious maxims are made to +swagger in lofty and mystic language, and get some credit only +because they are not easily understood. There are some of the +great moralist's papers which I cannot peruse without thinking on +a second-rate masquerade, where the best-known and least-esteemed +characters in town march in as heroes, and sultans, and so forth, +and, by dint of tawdry dresses, get some consideration until they +are found out. It is not, however, prudent to commence with +throwing stones, just when I am striking out windows of my own. + +I think even the local situation of Little Croftangry may be +considered as favourable to my undertaking. A nobler contrast +there can hardly exist than that of the huge city, dark with the +smoke of ages, and groaning with the various sounds of active +industry or idle revel, and the lofty and craggy hill, silent and +solitary as the grave--one exhibiting the full tide of existence, +pressing and precipitating itself forward with the force of an +inundation; the other resembling some time-worn anchorite, whose +life passes as silent and unobserved as the slender rill which +escapes unheard, and scarce seen, from the fountain of his +patron saint. The city resembles the busy temple, where the +modern Comus and Mammon hold their court, and thousands sacrifice +ease, independence, and virtue itself at their shrine; the misty +and lonely mountain seems as a throne to the majestic but +terrible Genius of feudal times, when the same divinities +dispensed coronets and domains to those who had heads to devise +and arms to execute bold enterprises. + +I have, as it were, the two extremities of the moral world at my +threshold. From the front door a few minutes' walk brings me +into the heart of a wealthy and populous city; as many paces from +my opposite entrance place me in a solitude as complete as +Zimmerman could have desired. Surely, with such aids to my +imagination, I may write better than if I were in a lodging in +the New Town or a garret in the old. As the Spaniard says, +"VIAMOS--CARACCO!" + +I have not chosen to publish periodically, my reason for which +was twofold. In the first place, I don't like to be hurried, and +have had enough of duns in an early part of my life to make me +reluctant to hear of or see one, even in the less awful shape of +a printer's devil. But, secondly, a periodical paper is not +easily extended in circulation beyond the quarter in which it is +published. This work, if published in fugitive numbers, would +scarce, without a high pressure on the part of the bookseller, be +raised above the Netherbow, and never could be expected to ascend +to the level of Princes Street. Now, I am ambitious that my +compositions, though having their origin in this Valley of +Holyrood, should not only be extended into those exalted regions +I have mentioned, but also that they should cross the Forth, +astonish the long town of Kirkcaldy, enchant the skippers and +colliers of the East of Fife, venture even into the classic +arcades of St. Andrews, and travel as much farther to the north +as the breath of applause will carry their sails. As for a +southward direction, it is not to be hoped for in my fondest +dreams. I am informed that Scottish literature, like Scottish +whisky, will be presently laid under a prohibitory duty. But +enough of this. If any reader is dull enough not to comprehend +the advantages which, in point of circulation, a compact book has +over a collection of fugitive numbers, let him try the range of a +gun loaded with hail-shot against that of the same piece charged +with an equal weight of lead consolidated in a single bullet. + +Besides, it was of less consequence that I should have published +periodically, since I did not mean to solicit or accept of the +contributions of friends, or the criticisms of those who may be +less kindly disposed. Notwithstanding the excellent examples +which might be quoted, I will establish no begging-box, either +under the name of a lion's head or an ass's. What is good or ill +shall be mine own, or the contribution of friends to whom I may +have private access. Many of my voluntary assistants might be +cleverer than myself, and then I should have a brilliant article +appear among my chiller effusions, like a patch of lace on a +Scottish cloak of Galashiels grey. Some might be worse, and then +I must reject them, to the injury of the feelings of the writer, +or else insert them, to make my own darkness yet more opaque and +palpable. "Let every herring," says our old-fashioned proverb, +"hang by his own head." + +One person, however, I may distinguish, as she is now no more, +who, living to the utmost term of human life, honoured me with a +great share of her friendship--as, indeed, we were blood- +relatives in the Scottish sense--Heaven knows how many degrees +removed--and friends in the sense of Old England. I mean the +late excellent and regretted Mrs. Bethune Baliol. But as I +design this admirable picture of the olden time for a principal +character in my work, I will only say here that she knew and +approved of my present purpose; and though she declined to +contribute to it while she lived, from a sense of dignified +retirement, which she thought became her age, sex, and condition +in life, she left me some materials for carrying on my proposed +work which I coveted when I heard her detail them in +conversation, and which now, when I have their substance in her +own handwriting, I account far more valuable than anything I have +myself to offer. I hope the mentioning her name in conjunction +with my own will give no offence to any of her numerous friends, +as it was her own express pleasure that I should employ the +manuscripts which she did me the honour to bequeath me in the +manner in which I have now used them. It must be added, however, +that in most cases I have disguised names, and in some have added +shading and colouring to bring out the narrative. + +Much of my materials, besides these, are derived from friends, +living or dead. The accuracy of some of these may be doubtful, +in which case I shall be happy to receive, from sufficient +authority, the correction of the errors which must creep into +traditional documents. The object of the whole publication is to +throw some light on the manners of Scotland as they were, and to +contrast them occasionally with those of the present day. My own +opinions are in favour of our own times in many respects, but not +in so far as affords means for exercising the imagination or +exciting the interest which attaches to other times. I am glad +to be a writer or a reader in 1826, but I would be most +interested in reading or relating what happened from half a +century to a century before. We have the best of it. Scenes in +which our ancestors thought deeply, acted fiercely, and died +desperately, are to us tales to divert the tedium of a winter's +evening, when we are engaged to no party, or beguile a summer's +morning, when it is too scorching to ride or walk. + +Yet I do not mean that my essays and narratives should be limited +to Scotland. I pledge myself to no particular line of subjects, +but, on the contrary, say with Burns-- + + "Perhaps it may turn out a sang, + Perhaps turn out a sermon." + +I have only to add, by way of postscript to these preliminary +chapters, that I have had recourse to Moliere's recipe, and read +my manuscript over to my old woman, Janet MacEvoy. + +The dignity of being consulted delighted Janet; and Wilkie, or +Allan, would have made a capital sketch of her, as she sat +upright in her chair, instead of her ordinary lounging posture, +knitting her stocking systematically, as if she meant every twist +of her thread and inclination of the wires to bear burden to the +cadence of my voice. I am afraid, too, that I myself felt more +delight than I ought to have done in my own composition, and read +a little more oratorically than I should have ventured to do +before an auditor of whose applause I was not so secure. And the +result did not entirely encourage my plan of censorship. Janet +did indeed seriously incline to the account of my previous life, +and bestowed some Highland maledictions, more emphatic than +courteous, on Christie Steele's reception of a "shentlemans in +distress," and of her own mistress's house too. I omitted for +certain reasons, or greatly abridged, what related to her-self. +But when I came to treat of my general views in publication, I +saw poor Janet was entirely thrown out, though, like a jaded +hunter, panting, puffing, and short of wind, she endeavoured at +least to keep up with the chase. Or, rather, her perplexity made +her look all the while like a deaf person ashamed of his +infirmity, who does not understand a word you are saying, yet +desires you to believe that he does understand you, and who is +extremely jealous that you suspect his incapacity. When she saw +that some remark was necessary, she resembled exactly in her +criticism the devotee who pitched on the "sweet word Mesopotamia" +as the most edifying note which she could bring away from a +sermon. She indeed hastened to bestow general praise on what she +said was all "very fine;" but chiefly dwelt on what I, had said +about Mr. Timmerman, as she was pleased to call the German +philosopher, and supposed he must be of the same descent with the +Highland clan of M'Intyre, which signifies Son of the Carpenter. +"And a fery honourable name too--Shanet's own mither was a +M'Intyre." + +In short, it was plain the latter part of my introduction was +altogether lost on poor Janet; and so, to have acted up to +Moliere's system, I should have cancelled the whole, and written +it anew. But I do not know how it is. I retained, I suppose, +some tolerable opinion of my own composition, though Janet did +not comprehend it, and felt loath to retrench those Delilahs of +the imagination, as Dryden calls them, the tropes and figures of +which are caviar to the multitude. Besides, I hate rewriting as +much as Falstaff did paying back--it is a double labour. So I +determined with myself to consult Janet, in future, only on such +things as were within the limits of her comprehension, and hazard +my arguments and my rhetoric on the public without her +imprimatur. I am pretty sure she will "applaud it done." and in +such narratives as come within her range of thought and feeling I +shall, as I first intended, take the benefit of her +unsophisticated judgment, and attend to it deferentially--that +is, when it happens not to be in peculiar opposition to my own; +for, after all, I say with Almanzor,-- + + "Know that I alone am king of me." + +The reader has now my who and my whereabout, the purpose of the +work, and the circumstances under which it is undertaken. He has +also a specimen of the author's talents, and may judge for +himself, and proceed, or send back the volume to the bookseller, +as his own taste shall determine. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MR. CROFTANGRY'S ACCOUNT OF MRS. BETHUNE BALIOL. + + The moon, were she earthly, no nobler. CORIOLANUS. + +When we set out on the jolly voyage of life, what a brave fleet +there is around us, as, stretching our finest canvas to the +breeze, all "shipshape and Bristol fashion," pennons flying, +music playing, cheering each other as we pass, we are rather +amused than alarmed when some awkward comrade goes right ashore +for want of pilotage! Alas! when the voyage is well spent, and +we look about us, toil-worn mariners, how few of our ancient +consorts still remain in sight; and they, how torn and wasted, +and, like ourselves, struggling to keep as long as possible off +the fatal shore, against which we are all finally drifting! + +I felt this very trite but melancholy truth in all its force the +other day, when a packet with a black seal arrived, containing a +letter addressed to me by my late excellent friend Mrs. Martha +Bethune Baliol, and marked with the fatal indorsation, "To be +delivered according to address, after I shall be no more." A +letter from her executors accompanied the packet, mentioning that +they had found in her will a bequest to me of a painting of some +value, which she stated would just fit the space above my +cupboard, and fifty guineas to buy a ring. And thus I separated, +with all the kindness which we had maintained for many years, +from a friend, who, though old enough to have been the companion +of my mother, was yet, in gaiety of spirits and admirable +sweetness of temper, capable of being agreeable, and even +animating society, for those who write themselves in the vaward +of youth, an advantage which I have lost for these five-and- +thirty years. The contents of the packet I had no difficulty in +guessing, and have partly hinted at them in the last chapter. +But to instruct the reader in the particulars, and at the same +time to indulge myself with recalling the virtues and agreeable +qualities of my late friend, I will give a short sketch of her +manners and habits. + +Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol was a person of quality and fortune, +as these are esteemed in Scotland. Her family was ancient, and +her connections honourable. She was not fond of specially +indicating her exact age, but her juvenile recollections +stretched backwards till before the eventful year 1745, and she +remembered the Highland clans being in possession of the Scottish +capital, though probably only as an indistinct vision. Her +fortune, independent by her father's bequest, was rendered +opulent by the death of more than one brave brother, who fell +successively in the service of their country, so that the family +estates became vested in the only surviving child of the ancient +house of Bethune Baliol. My intimacy was formed with the +excellent lady after this event, and when she was already +something advanced in age. + +She inhabited, when in Edinburgh, where she regularly spent the +winter season, one of those old hotels which, till of late, were +to be found in the neighbourhood of the Canongate and of the +Palace of Holyrood House, and which, separated from the street, +now dirty and vulgar, by paved courts and gardens of some extent, +made amends for an indifferent access, by showing something of +aristocratic state and seclusion when you were once admitted +within their precincts. They have pulled her house down; for, +indeed, betwixt building and burning, every ancient monument of +the Scottish capital is now likely to be utterly demolished. I +pause on the recollections of the place, however; and since +nature has denied a pencil when she placed a pen in my hand, I +will endeavour to make words answer the purpose of delineation. + +Baliol's Lodging, so was the mansion named, reared its high stack +of chimneys, among which were seen a turret or two, and one of +those small projecting platforms called bartizans, above the mean +and modern buildings which line the south side of the Canongate, +towards the lower end of that street, and not distant from the +Palace. A PORTE COCHERE, having a wicket for foot passengers, +was, upon due occasion, unfolded by a lame old man, tall, grave, +and thin, who tenanted a hovel beside the gate, and acted as +porter. To this office he had been promoted by my friend's +charitable feelings for an old soldier, and partly by an idea +that his head, which was a very fine one, bore some resemblance +to that of Garrick in the character of Lusignan. He was a man +saturnine, silent, and slow in his proceedings, and would never +open the PORTE COCHERE to a hackney coach, indicating the wicket +with his finger as the proper passage for all who came in that +obscure vehicle, which was not permitted to degrade with its +ticketed presence the dignity of Baliol's Lodging. I do not +think this peculiarity would have met with his lady's +approbation, any more than the occasional partiality of Lusignan, +or, as mortals called him, Archie Macready, to a dram. But Mrs. +Martha Bethune Baliol, conscious that, in case of conviction, she +could never have prevailed upon herself to dethrone the King of +Palestine from the stone bench on which he sat for hours knitting +his stocking, refused, by accrediting the intelligence, even to +put him upon his trial, well judging that he would observe more +wholesome caution if he conceived his character unsuspected, than +if he were detected, and suffered to pass unpunished. For after +all, she said, it would be cruel to dismiss an old Highland +soldier for a peccadillo so appropriate to his country and +profession. + +The stately gate for carriages, or the humble accommodation for +foot-passengers, admitted into a narrow and short passage running +between two rows of lime-trees, whose green foliage during the +spring contrasted strangely with the swart complexion of the two +walls by the side of which they grew. This access led to the +front of the house, which was formed by two gable ends, notched, +and having their windows adorned with heavy architectural +ornaments. They joined each other at right angles; and a half +circular tower, which contained the entrance and the staircase, +occupied the point of junction, and rounded the acute angle. One +of other two sides of the little court, in which there was just +sufficient room to turn a carriage, was occupied by some low +buildings answering the purpose of offices; the other, by a +parapet surrounded by a highly-ornamented iron railing, twined +round with honeysuckle and other parasitical shrubs, which +permitted the eye to peep into a pretty suburban garden, +extending down to the road called the South Back of the +Canongate, and boasting a number of old trees, many flowers, and +even some fruit. We must not forget to state that the extreme +cleanliness of the courtyard was such as intimated that mop and +pail had done their utmost in that favoured spot to atone for the +general dirt and dinginess of the quarter where the premises were +situated. + +Over the doorway were the arms of Bethune and Baliol, with +various other devices, carved in stone. The door itself was +studded with iron nails, and formed of black oak; an iron rasp, +as it was called, was placed on it, instead of a knocker, for the +purpose of summoning the attendants. [See Note 3.--Iron Rasp.] +He who usually appeared at the summons was a smart lad, in a +handsome livery, the son of Mrs. Martha's gardener at Mount +Baliol. Now and then a servant girl, nicely but plainly dressed, +and fully accoutred with stockings and shoes, would perform this +duty; and twice or thrice I remember being admitted by Beauffet +himself, whose exterior looked as much like that of a clergyman +of rank as the butler of a gentleman's family. He had been +valet-de-chambre to the last Sir Richard Bethune Baliol, and was, +a person highly trusted by the present lady. A full stand, as it +is called in Scotland, of garments of a dark colour, gold buckles +in his shoes and at the knees of his breeches, with his hair +regularly dressed and powdered, announced him to be a domestic of +trust and importance. His mistress used to say of him,-- + + "He is sad and civil, + And suits well for a servant with my fortunes." + +As no one can escape scandal, some said that Beauffet made a +rather better thing of the place than the modesty of his old- +fashioned wages would, unassisted, have amounted to. But the man +was always very civil to me. He had been long in the family, had +enjoyed legacies, and lain by a something of his own, upon which +he now enjoys ease with dignity, in as far as his newly-married +wife, Tibbie Shortacres, will permit him. + +The Lodging--dearest reader, if you are tired, pray pass over the +next four or five pages--was not by any means so large as its +external appearance led people to conjecture. The interior +accommodation was much cut up by cross walls and long passages, +and that neglect of economizing space which characterizes old +Scottish architecture. But there was far more room than my old +friend required, even when she had, as was often the case, four +or five young cousins under her protection; and I believe much of +the house was unoccupied. Mrs. Bethune Baliol never, in my +presence, showed herself so much offended as once with a meddling +person who advised her to have the windows of these supernumerary +apartments built up to save the tax. She said in ire that, while +she lived, the light of God should visit the house of her +fathers; and while she had a penny, king and country should have +their due. Indeed, she was punctiliously loyal, even in that +most staggering test of loyalty, the payment of imposts. Mr. +Beauffet told me he was ordered to offer a glass of wine to the +person who collected the income tax, and that the poor man was so +overcome by a reception so unwontedly generous, that he had well- +nigh fainted on the spot. + +You entered by a matted anteroom into the eating-parlour, filled +with old-fashioned furniture, and hung with family portraits, +which, excepting one of Sir Bernard Bethune, in James the Sixth's +time, said to be by Jameson, were exceedingly frightful. A +saloon, as it was called, a long, narrow chamber, led out of the +dining-parlour, and served for a drawing-room. It was a pleasant +apartment, looking out upon the south flank of Holyrood House, +the gigantic slope of Arthur's Seat, and the girdle of lofty +rocks called Salisbury Crags; objects so rudely wild, that the +mind can hardly conceive them to exist in the vicinage of a +populous metropolis. [The Rev. Mr. Bowles derives the name of +these crags, as of the Episcopal city in the west of England, +from the same root, both, in his opinion, which he very ably +defends and illustrates, having been the sites of Druidical +temples.] The paintings of the saloon came from abroad, and had +some of them much merit. To see the best of them, however, you +must be admitted into the very PENETRALIA of the temple, and +allowed to draw the tapestry at the upper end of the saloon, and +enter Mrs. Martha's own special dressing-room. This was a +charming apartment, of which it would be difficult to describe +the form, it had so many recesses which were filled up with +shelves of ebony and cabinets of japan and ormolu--some for +holding books, of which Mrs. Martha had an admirable collection, +some for a display of ornamental china, others for shells and +similar curiosities. In a little niche, half screened by a +curtain of crimson silk, was disposed a suit of tilting armour of +bright steel inlaid with silver, which had been worn on some +memorable occasion by Sir Bernard Bethune, already mentioned; +while over the canopy of the niche hung the broadsword with which +her father had attempted to change the fortunes of Britain in +1715, and the spontoon which her elder brother bore when he was +leading on a company of the Black Watch at Fontenoy. [The well- +known original designation of the gallant 42nd Regiment. Being +the first corps raised for the royal service in the Highlands, +and allowed to retain their national garb, they were thus named +from the contrast which their dark tartans furnished to the +scarlet and white of the other regiments.] + +There were some Italian and Flemish pictures of admitted +authenticity, a few genuine bronzes, and other objects of +curiosity, which her brothers or herself had picked up while +abroad. In short, it was a place where the idle were tempted to +become studious, the studious to grow idle where the grave might +find matter to make them gay, and the gay subjects for gravity. + +That it might maintain some title to its name, I must not forget +to say that the lady's dressing-room exhibited a superb mirror, +framed in silver filigree work; a beautiful toilette, the cover +of which was of Flanders lace; and a set of boxes corresponding +in materials and work to the frame of the mirror. + +This dressing apparatus, however, was mere matter of parade. +Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol always went through the actual duties +of the toilette in an inner apartment, which corresponded with +her sleeping-room by a small detached staircase. There were, I +believe, more than one of those TURNPIKE STAIRS, as they were +called, about the house, by which the public rooms, all of which +entered through each other, were accommodated with separate and +independent modes of access. In the little boudoir we have +described, Mrs. Martha Baliol had her choicest meetings. She +kept early hours; and if you went in the morning, you must not +reckon that space of day as extending beyond three o'clock, or +four at the utmost. These vigilant habits were attended with +some restraint on her visitors, but they were indemnified by your +always finding the best society and the best information which +were to be had for the day in the Scottish capital. Without at +all affecting the blue stocking, she liked books. They amused +her; and if the authors were persons of character, she thought +she owed them a debt of civility, which she loved to discharge by +personal kindness. When she gave a dinner to a small party, +which she did now and then, she had the good nature to look for, +and the good luck to discover, what sort of people suited each +other best, and chose her company as Duke Theseus did his +hounds,-- + + "Matched in mouth like bells, + Each under each," + [Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Act IV. Sc. I.] + +so that every guest could take his part in the cry, instead of +one mighty Tom of a fellow, like Dr. Johnson, silencing all +besides by the tremendous depth of his diapason. On such +occasions she afforded CHERE EXQUISE; and every now and then +there was some dish of French, or even Scottish derivation, +which, as well as the numerous assortment of VINS +EXTRAORDINAIRES produced by Mr. Beauffet, gave a sort of antique +and foreign air to the entertainment, which rendered it more +interesting. + +It was a great thing to be asked to such parties; and not less so +to be invited to the early CONVERSAZIONE, which, in spite of +fashion, by dint of the best coffee, the finest tea, and CHASSE +CAFE that would have called the dead to life, she contrived now +and then to assemble in her saloon already mentioned, at the +unnatural hour of eight in the evening. At such time the +cheerful old lady seemed to enjoy herself so much in the +happiness of her guests that they exerted themselves in turn to +prolong her amusement and their own; and a certain charm was +excited around, seldom to be met with in parties of pleasure, and +which was founded on the general desire of every one present to +contribute something to the common amusement. + +But although it was a great privilege to be admitted to wait on +my excellent friend in the morning, or be invited to her dinner +or evening parties, I prized still higher the right which I had +acquired, by old acquaintance, of visiting Baliol's Lodging upon +the chance of finding its venerable inhabitant preparing for tea, +just about six o'clock in the evening. It was only to two or +three old friends that she permitted this freedom; nor was this +sort of chance-party ever allowed to extend itself beyond five in +number. The answer to those who came later announced that the +company was filled up for the evening, which had the double +effect of making those who waited on Mrs. Bethune Baliol in this +unceremonious manner punctual in observing her hour, and of +adding the zest of a little difficulty to the enjoyment of the +party. + +It more frequently happened that only one or two persons partook +of this refreshment on the same evening; or, supposing the case +of a single gentleman, Mrs. Martha, though she did not hesitate +to admit him to her boudoir, after the privilege of the French +and the old Scottish school, took care, as she used to say, to +prescribe all possible propriety, by commanding the attendance of +her principal female attendant, Mrs. Alice Lambskin, who might, +from the gravity and dignity of her appearance, have sufficed to +matronize a whole boarding-school, instead of one maiden lady of +eighty and upwards. As the weather permitted, Mrs. Alice sat +duly remote from the company in a FAUTEUIL behind the projecting +chimney-piece, or in the embrasure of a window, and prosecuted in +Carthusian silence, with indefatigable zeal, a piece of +embroidery, which seemed no bad emblem of eternity. + +But I have neglected all this while to introduce my friend +herself to the reader--at least so far as words can convey the +peculiarities by which her appearance and conversation were +distinguished. + +A little woman, with ordinary features and an ordinary form, and +hair which in youth had no decided colour, we may believe Mrs. +Martha when she said of herself that she was never remarkable for +personal charms; a modest admission, which was readily confirmed +by certain old ladies, her contemporaries, who, whatever might +have been the youthful advantages which they more than hinted had +been formerly their own share, were now in personal appearance, +as well as in everything else, far inferior to my accomplished +friend. Mrs. Martha's features had been of a kind which might be +said to wear well; their irregularity was now of little +consequence, animated, as they were, by the vivacity of her +conversation. Her teeth were excellent, and her eyes, although +inclining to grey, were lively, laughing, and undimmed by time. +A slight shade of complexion, more brilliant than her years +promised, subjected my friend amongst strangers to the suspicion +of having stretched her foreign habits as far as the prudent +touch of the rouge. But it was a calumny; for when telling or +listening to an interesting and affecting story, I have seen her +colour come and go as if it played on the cheek of eighteen. + +Her hair, whatever its former deficiencies was now the most +beautiful white that time could bleach, and was disposed with +some degree of pretension, though in the simplest manner +possible, so as to appear neatly smoothed under a cap of Flanders +lace, of an old-fashioned but, as I thought, of a very handsome +form, which undoubtedly has a name, and I would endeavour to +recur to it, if I thought it would make my description a bit more +intelligible. I think I have heard her say these favourite caps +had been her mother's, and had come in fashion with a peculiar +kind of wig used by the gentlemen about the time of the battle of +Ramillies. The rest of her dress was always rather costly and +distinguished, especially in the evening. A silk or satin gown +of some colour becoming her age, and of a form which, though +complying to a certain degree with the present fashion, had +always a reference to some more distant period, was garnished +with triple ruffles. Her shoes had diamond buckles, and were +raised a little at heel, an advantage which, possessed in her +youth, she alleged her size would not permit her to forego in her +old age. She always wore rings, bracelets, and other ornaments +of value, either for the materials or the workmanship; nay, +perhaps she was a little profuse in this species of display. But +she wore them as subordinate matters, to which the habits of +being constantly in high life rendered her indifferent; she wore +them because her rank required it, and thought no more of them as +articles of finery than a gentleman dressed for dinner thinks of +his clean linen and well-brushed coat, the consciousness of which +embarrasses the rustic beau on a Sunday. + +Now and then, however, if a gem or ornament chanced to be noticed +for its beauty or singularity, the observation usually led the +way to an entertaining account of the manner in which it had been +acquired, or the person from whom it had descended to its present +possessor. On such and similar occasions my old friend spoke +willingly, which is not uncommon; but she also, which is more +rare, spoke remarkably well, and had in her little narratives +concerning foreign parts or former days, which formed an +interesting part of her conversation, the singular art of +dismissing all the usual protracted tautology respecting time, +place, and circumstances which is apt to settle like a mist upon +the cold and languid tales of age, and at the same time of +bringing forward, dwelling upon, and illustrating those incidents +and characters which give point and interest to the story. + +She had, as we have hinted, travelled a good deal in foreign +countries; for a brother, to whom she was much attached, had been +sent upon various missions of national importance to the +Continent, and she had more than once embraced the opportunity of +accompanying him. This furnished a great addition to the +information which she could supply, especially during the last +war, when the Continent was for so many years hermetically sealed +against the English nation. But, besides, Mrs. Bethune Baliol +visited different countries, not in the modern fashion, when +English travel in caravans together, and see in France and Italy +little besides the same society which they might have enjoyed at +home. On the contrary, she mingled when abroad with the natives +of those countries she visited, and enjoyed at once the advantage +of their society, and the pleasure of comparing it with that of +Britain. + +In the course of her becoming habituated with foreign manners, +Mrs. Bethune Baliol had, perhaps, acquired some slight tincture +of them herself. Yet I was always persuaded that the peculiar +vivacity of look and manner--the pointed and appropriate action +with which she accompanied what she said--the use of the gold and +gemmed TABATIERE, or rather, I should say, BONBONNIERE (for she +took no snuff, and the little box contained only a few pieces of +candled angelica, or some such ladylike sweetmeat), were of real +old-fashioned Scottish growth, and such as might have graced the +tea-table of Susannah, Countess of Eglinton, the patroness of +Allan Ramsay [See Note 4.--Countess of Eglinton.], or of the +Hon. Mrs. Colonel Ogilvy, who was another mirror by whom the +Maidens of Auld Reekie were required to dress themselves. +Although well acquainted with the customs of other countries, her +manners had been chiefly formed in her own, at a time when great +folk lived within little space and when the distinguished names +of the highest society gave to Edinburgh the ECLAT which we now +endeavour to derive from the unbounded expense and extended +circle of our pleasures. + +I was more confirmed in this opinion by the peculiarity of the +dialect which Mrs. Baliol used. It was Scottish--decidedly +Scottish--often containing phrases and words little used in the +present day. But then her tone and mode of pronunciation were as +different from the usual accent of the ordinary Scotch PATOIS, as +the accent of St. James's is from that of Billingsgate. The +vowels were not pronounced much broader than in the Italian +language, and there was none of the disagreeable drawl which is +so offensive to southern ears. In short, it seemed to be the +Scottish as spoken by the ancient Court of Scotland, to which no +idea of vulgarity could be attached; and the lively manners and +gestures with which it was accompanied were so completely in +accord with the sound of the voice and the style of talking, that +I cannot assign them a different origin. In long derivation, +perhaps the manner of the Scottish court might have been +originally formed on that of France, to which it had certainly +some affinity; but I will live and die in the belief that those +of Mrs. Baliol, as pleasing as they were peculiar, came to her by +direct descent from the high dames who anciently adorned with +their presence the royal halls of Holyrood. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MRS. BALIOL ASSISTS MR. CROFTANGRY IN HIS LITERARY SPECULATIONS. + +Such as I have described Mrs. Bethune Baliol, the reader will +easily believe that, when I thought of the miscellaneous nature +of my work, I rested upon the information she possessed, and her +communicative disposition, as one of the principal supports of my +enterprise. Indeed, she by no means disapproved of my proposed +publication, though expressing herself very doubtful how far she +could personally assist it--a doubt which might be, perhaps, set +down to a little ladylike coquetry, which required to be sued for +the boon she was not unwilling to grant. Or, perhaps, the good +old lady, conscious that her unusual term of years must soon draw +to a close, preferred bequeathing the materials in the shape of a +legacy, to subjecting them to the judgment of a critical public +during her lifetime. + +Many a time I used, in our conversations of the Canongate, to +resume my request of assistance, from a sense that my friend was +the most valuable depository of Scottish traditions that was +probably now to be found. This was a subject on which my mind +was so much made up that, when I heard her carry her description +of manners so far back beyond her own time, and describe how +Fletcher of Salton spoke, how Graham of Claverhouse danced, what +were the jewels worn by the famous Duchess of Lauderdale, and how +she came by them, I could not help telling her I thought her some +fairy, who cheated us by retaining the appearance of a mortal of +our own day, when, in fact, she had witnessed the revolutions of +centuries. She was much diverted when I required her to take +some solemn oath that she had not danced at the balls given by +Mary of Este, when her unhappy husband occupied Holyrood in a +species of honourable banishment; [The Duke of York afterwards +James II., frequently resided in Holyrood House when his religion +rendered him an object of suspicion to the English Parliament.] +or asked whether she could not recollect Charles the Second when +he came to Scotland in 1650, and did not possess some slight +recollections of the bold usurper who drove him beyond the Forth. + +"BEAU COUSIN," she said, laughing, "none of these do I remember +personally, but you must know there has been wonderfully little +change on my natural temper from youth to age. From which it +follows, cousin, that, being even now something too young in +spirit for the years which Time has marked me in his calendar, I +was, when a girl, a little too old for those of my own standing, +and as much inclined at that period to keep the society of elder +persons, as I am now disposed to admit the company of gay young +fellows of fifty or sixty like yourself, rather than collect +about me all the octogenarians. Now, although I do not actually +come from Elfland, and therefore cannot boast any personal +knowledge of the great personages you enquire about, yet I have +seen and heard those who knew them well, and who have given me as +distinct an account of them as I could give you myself of the +Empress Queen, or Frederick of Prussia; and I will frankly add," +said she, laughing and offering her BONBONNIERE, "that I HAVE +heard so much of the years which immediately succeeded the +Revolution, that I sometimes am apt to confuse the vivid +descriptions fixed on my memory by the frequent and animated +recitation of others, for things which I myself have actually +witnessed. I caught myself but yesterday describing to Lord M-- +the riding of the last Scottish Parliament, with as much +minuteness as if I had seen it, as my mother did, from the +balcony in front of Lord Moray's Lodging in the Canongate." + +"I am sure you must have given Lord M-- a high treat." + +"I treated him to a hearty laugh, I believe," she replied; "but +it is you, you vile seducer of youth, who lead me into such +follies. But I will be on my guard against my own weakness. I +do not well know if the Wandering Jew is supposed to have a wife, +but I should be sorry a decent middle-aged Scottish gentlewoman +should be suspected of identity with such a supernatural person." + +"For all that, I must torture you a little more, MA BELLE +COUSINE, with my interrogatories; for how shall I ever turn +author unless on the strength of the information which you have +so often procured me on the ancient state of manners?" + +"Stay, I cannot allow you to give your points of enquiry a name +so very venerable, if I am expected to answer them. Ancient is a +term for antediluvians. You may catechise me about the battle of +Flodden, or ask particulars about Bruce and Wallace, under +pretext of curiosity after ancient manners; and that last subject +would wake my Baliol blood, you know." + +"Well, but, Mrs. Baliol, suppose we settle our era: you do not +call the accession of James the Sixth to the kingdom of Britain +very ancient?" + +"Umph! no, cousin; I think I could tell you more of that than +folk nowadays remember. For instance, that as James was trooping +towards England, bag and baggage, his journey was stopped near +Cockenzie by meeting the funeral of the Earl of Winton, the old +and faithful servant and follower of his ill-fated mother, poor +Mary! It was an ill omen for the INFARE, and so was seen of it, +cousin." [See Note 5.--Earl of Winton.] + +I did not choose to prosecute this subject, well knowing Mrs. +Bethune Baliol did not like to be much pressed on the subject of +the Stewarts, whose misfortunes she pitied, the rather that her +father had espoused their cause. And yet her attachment to the +present dynasty being very sincere, and even ardent, more +especially as her family had served his late Majesty both in +peace and war, she experienced a little embarrassment in +reconciling her opinions respecting the exiled family with those +she entertained for the present. In fact, like many an old +Jacobite, she was contented to be somewhat inconsistent on the +subject, comforting herself that NOW everything stood as it ought +to do, and that there was no use in looking back narrowly on the +right or wrong of the matter half a century ago. + +"The Highlands," I suggested, "should furnish you with ample +subjects of recollection. You have witnessed the complete change +of that primeval country, and have seen a race not far removed +from the earliest period of society melted down into the great +mass of civilization; and that could not happen without incidents +striking in themselves, and curious as chapters in the history of +the human race." + +"It is very true," said Mrs. Baliol; "one would think it should +have struck the observers greatly, and yet it scarcely did so. +For me, I was no Highlander myself, and the Highland chiefs of +old, of whom I certainly knew several, had little in their +manners to distinguish them from the Lowland gentry, when they +mixed in society in Edinburgh, and assumed the Lowland dress. +Their peculiar character was for the clansmen at home; and you +must not imagine that they swaggered about in plaids and +broadswords at the Cross, or came to the Assembly Rooms in +bonnets and kilts." + +"I remember," said I, "that Swift, in his Journal, tells Stella +he had dined in the house of a Scots nobleman, with two Highland +chiefs, whom he had found as well-bred men as he had ever met +with." [Extract of Journal to Stella.--"I dined to-day (12th +March 1712) with Lord Treasurer and two gentlemen of the +Highlands of Scotland, yet very polite men." SWIFT'S WORKS, VOL. +III. p.7. EDIN. 1824.] + +"Very likely," said my friend. "The extremes of society approach +much more closely to each other than perhaps the Dean of Saint +Patrick's expected. The savage is always to a certain degree +polite. Besides, going always armed, and having a very +punctilious idea of their own gentility and consequence, they +usually behaved to each other and to the Lowlanders with a good +deal of formal politeness, which sometimes even procured them the +character of insincerity." + +"Falsehood belongs to an early period of society, as well as the +deferential forms which we style politeness," I replied. "A +child does not see the least moral beauty in truth until he has +been flogged half a dozen times. It is so easy, and apparently +so natural, to deny what you cannot be easily convicted of, that +a savage as well as a child lies to excuse himself almost as +instinctively as he raises his hand to protect his head. The old +saying, 'Confess and be hanged,' carries much argument in it. I +observed a remark the other day in old Birrel. He mentions that +M'Gregor of Glenstrae and some of his people had surrendered +themselves to one of the Earls of Argyle, upon the express +condition that they should be conveyed safe into England. The +Maccallum Mhor of the day kept the word of promise, but it was +only to the ear. He indeed sent his captives to Berwick, where +they had an airing on the other side of the Tweed; but it was +under the custody of a strong guard, by whom they were brought +back to Edinburgh, and delivered to the executioner. This, +Birrel calls keeping a Highlandman's promise." [See Note 6.-- +M'Gregor of Glenstrae.] + +"Well," replied Mrs. Baliol, "I might add that many of the +Highland chiefs whom I knew in former days had been brought up in +France, which might improve their politeness, though perhaps it +did not amend their sincerity. But considering that, belonging +to the depressed and defeated faction in the state, they were +compelled sometimes to use dissimulation, you must set their +uniform fidelity to their friends; against their occasional +falsehood to their enemies, and then you will not judge poor John +Highlandman too severely. They were in a state of society where +bright lights are strongly contrasted with deep shadows." + +"It is to that point I would bring you, MA BELLE COUSINE; and +therefore they are most proper subjects for composition." + +"And you want to turn composer, my good friend, and set my old +tales to some popular tune? But there have been too many +composers, if that be the word, in the field before. The +Highlands WERE indeed a rich mine; but they have, I think, been +fairly wrought out, as a good tune is grinded into vulgarity when +it descends to the hurdy-gurdy and the barrel-organ." + +"If it be really tune," I replied, "it will recover its better +qualities when it gets into the hands of better artists." + +"Umph!" said Mrs. Baliol, tapping her box, "we are happy in our +own good opinion this evening, Mr. Croftangry. And so you think +you can restore the gloss to the tartan which it has lost by +being dragged through so many fingers?" + +"With your assistance to procure materials, my dear lady, much, I +think, may be done." + +"Well, I must do my best, I suppose, though all I know about the +Gael is but of little consequence. Indeed, I gathered it chiefly +from Donald MacLeish." + +"And who might Donald MacLeish be?" + +"Neither bard nor sennachie, I assure you, nor monk nor hermit, +the approved authorities for old traditions. Donald was as good +a postilion as ever drove a chaise and pair between Glencroe and +Inverary. I assure you, when I give you my Highland anecdotes, +you will hear much of Donald MacLeish. He was Alice Lambskin's +beau and mine through a long Highland tour." + +"But when am I to possess these anecdotes? you answer me as +Harley did poor Prior-- + + 'Let that be done which Mat doth say-- + Yea, quoth the Earl, but not to-day.'" + +"Well, MON BEAU COUSIN, if you begin to remind me of my cruelty, +I must remind you it has struck nine on the Abbey clock, and it +is time you were going home to Little Croftangry. For my promise +to assist your antiquarian researches, be assured I will one day +keep it to the utmost extent. It shall not be a Highlandman's +promise, as your old citizen calls it." + +I by this time suspected the purpose of my friend's +procrastination; and it saddened my heart to reflect that I was +not to get the information which I desired, excepting in the +shape of a legacy. I found accordingly, in the packet +transmitted to me after the excellent lady's death, several +anecdotes respecting the Highlands, from which I have selected +that which follows, chiefly on account of its possessing great +power over the feelings of my critical housekeeper, Janet M'Evoy, +who wept most bitterly when I read it to her. + +It is, however, but a very simple tale, and may have no interest +for persons beyond Janet's rank of life or understanding. + + +* + + +THE HIGHLAND WIDOW + + + +CHAPTER I. + + It wound as near as near could be, + But what it is she cannot tell; + On the other side it seemed to be + Of the huge broad-breasted old oak-tree. COLERIDGE. + +Mrs. Bethune Baliol's memorandum begins thus:-- + +It is five-and-thirty, or perhaps nearer forty years ago, since, +to relieve the dejection of spirits occasioned by a great family +loss sustained two or three months before, I undertook what was +called the short Highland tour. This had become in some degree +fashionable; but though the military roads were excellent, yet +the accommodation was so indifferent that it was reckoned a +little adventure to accomplish it. Besides, the Highlands, +though now as peaceable as any part of King George's dominions, +was a sound which still carried terror, while so many survived +who had witnessed the insurrection of 1745; and a vague idea of +fear was impressed on many as they looked from the towers of +Stirling northward to the huge chain of mountains, which rises +like a dusky rampart to conceal in its recesses a people whose +dress, manners, and language differed still very much from those +of their Lowland countrymen. For my part, I come of a race not +greatly subject to apprehensions arising from imagination only. +I had some Highland relatives; know several of their families of +distinction; and though only having the company of my bower- +maiden, Mrs. Alice Lambskin, I went on my journey fearless. + +But then I had a guide and cicerone, almost equal to Greatheart +in the Pilgrim's Progress, in no less a person than Donald +MacLeish, the postilion whom I hired at Stirling, with a pair of +able-bodied horses, as steady as Donald himself, to drag my +carriage, my duenna, and myself, wheresoever it was my pleasure +to go. + +Donald MacLeish was one of a race of post-boys whom, I suppose, +mail-coaches and steamboats have put out of fashion. They were +to be found chiefly at Perth, Stirling, or Glasgow, where they +and their horses were usually hired by travellers, or tourists, +to accomplish such journeys of business or pleasure as they might +have to perform in the land of the Gael. This class of persons +approached to the character of what is called abroad a +CONDUCTEUR; or might be compared to the sailing-master on board a +British ship of war, who follows out after his own manner the +course which the captain commands him to observe. You explained +to your postilion the length of your tour, and the objects you +were desirous it should embrace; and you found him perfectly +competent to fix the places of rest or refreshment, with due +attention that those should be chosen with reference to your +convenience, and to any points of interest which you might desire +to visit. + +The qualifications of such a person were necessarily much +superior to those of the "first ready," who gallops thrice-a-day +over the same ten miles. Donald MacLeish, besides being quite +alert at repairing all ordinary accidents to his horses and +carriage, and in making shift to support them, where forage was +scarce, with such substitutes as bannocks and cakes, was likewise +a man of intellectual resources. He had acquired a general +knowledge of the traditional stories of the country which he had +traversed so often; and if encouraged (for Donald was a man of +the most decorous reserve), he would willingly point out to you +the site of the principal clan-battles, and recount the most +remarkable legends by which the road, and the objects which +occurred in travelling it, had been distinguished. There was +some originality in the man's habits of thinking and expressing +himself, his turn for legendary lore strangely contrasting with a +portion of the knowing shrewdness belonging to his actual +occupation, which made his conversation amuse the way well +enough. + +Add to this, Donald knew all his peculiar duties in the country +which he traversed so frequently. He could tell, to a day, when +they would "be killing" lamb at Tyndrum or Glenuilt; so that the +stranger would have some chance of being fed like a Christian; +and knew to a mile the last village where it was possible to +procure a wheaten loaf for the guidance of those who were little +familiar with the Land of Cakes. He was acquainted with the road +every mile, and could tell to an inch which side of a Highland +bridge was passable, which decidedly dangerous. [This is, or was +at least, a necessary accomplishment. In one of the most +beautiful districts of the Highlands was, not many years since, a +bridge bearing this startling caution, "Keep to the right side, +the left being dangerous."] In short, Donald MacLeish was not +only our faithful attendant and steady servant, but our humble +and obliging friend; and though I have known the half-classical +cicerone of Italy, the talkative French valet-de-place, and even +the muleteer of Spain, who piques himself on being a maize-eater, +and whose honour is not to be questioned without danger, I do not +think I have ever had so sensible and intelligent a guide. + +Our motions were of course under Donald's direction; and it +frequently happened, when the weather was serene, that we +preferred halting to rest his horses even where there was no +established stage, and taking our refreshment under a crag, from +which leaped a waterfall, or beside the verge of a fountain, +enamelled with verdant turf and wild-flowers. Donald had an eye +for such spots, and though he had, I dare say, never read Gil +Blas or Don Quixote, yet he chose such halting-places as Le Sage +or Cervantes would have described. Very often, as he observed +the pleasure I took in conversing with the country people, he +would manage to fix our place of rest near a cottage, where there +was some old Gael whose broadsword had blazed at Falkirk or +Preston, and who seemed the frail yet faithful record of times +which had passed away. Or he would contrive to quarter us, as +far as a cup of tea went, upon the hospitality of some parish +minister of worth and intelligence, or some country family of the +better class, who mingled with the wild simplicity of their +original manners, and their ready and hospitable welcome, a sort +of courtesy belonging to a people, the lowest of whom are +accustomed to consider themselves as being, according to the +Spanish phrase, "as good gentlemen as the king, only not quite so +rich." + +To all such persons Donald MacLeish was well known, and his +introduction passed as current as if we had brought letters from +some high chief of the country. + +Sometimes it happened that the Highland hospitality, which +welcomed us with all the variety of mountain fare, preparations +of milk and eggs, and girdle-cakes of various kinds, as well as +more substantial dainties, according to the inhabitant's means of +regaling the passenger, descended rather too exuberantly on +Donald MacLeish in the shape of mountain dew. Poor Donald! he +was on such occasions like Gideon's fleece--moist with the noble +element, which, of course, fell not on us. But it was his only +fault, and when pressed to drink DOCH-AN-DORROCH to my ladyship's +good health, it would have been ill taken to have refused the +pledge; nor was he willing to do such discourtesy. It was, I +repeat, his only fault. Nor had we any great right to complain; +for if it rendered him a little more talkative, it augmented his +ordinary share of punctilious civility, and he only drove slower, +and talked longer and more pompously, than when he had not come +by a drop of usquebaugh. It was, we remarked, only on such +occasions that Donald talked with an air of importance of the +family of MacLeish; and we had no title to be scrupulous in +censuring a foible, the consequences of which were confined +within such innocent limits. + +We became so much accustomed to Donald's mode of managing us, +that we observed with some interest the art which he used to +produce a little agreeable surprise, by concealing from us the +spot where he proposed our halt to be made, when it was of an +unusual and interesting character. This was so much his wont +that, when he made apologies at setting off for being obliged to +stop in some strange, solitary place till the horses should eat +the corn which he brought on with them for that purpose, our +imagination used to be on the stretch to guess what romantic +retreat he had secretly fixed upon for our noontide baiting- +place. + +We had spent the greater part of the morning at the delightful +village of Dalmally, and had gone upon the lake under the +guidance of the excellent clergyman who was then incumbent at +Glenorquhy, [This venerable and hospitable gentleman's name was +MacIntyre.] and had heard a hundred legends of the stern chiefs +of Loch Awe, Duncan with the thrum bonnet, and the other lords of +the now mouldering towers of Kilchurn. [See Note 7.--Loch Awe.] +Thus it was later than usual when we set out on our journey, +after a hint or two from Donald concerning the length of the way +to the next stage, as there was no good halting-place between +Dalmally and Oban. + +Having bid adieu to our venerable and kind cicerone, we proceeded +on our tour, winding round the tremendous mountain called +Cruachan Ben, which rushes down in all its majesty of rocks and +wilderness on the lake, leaving only a pass, in which, +notwithstanding its extreme strength, the warlike clan of +MacDougal of Lorn were almost destroyed by the sagacious Robert +Bruce. That King, the Wellington of his day, had accomplished, +by a forced march, the unexpected manoeuvre of forcing a body of +troops round the other side of the mountain, and thus placed them +in the flank and in the rear of the men of Lorn, whom at the same +time, he attacked in front. The great number of cairns yet +visible as you descend the pass on the westward side shows the +extent of the vengeance which Bruce exhausted on his inveterate +and personal enemies. I am, you know, the sister of soldiers, +and it has since struck me forcibly that the manoeuvre which +Donald described, resembled those of Wellington or of Bonaparte. +He was a great man Robert Bruce, even a Baliol must admit that; +although it begins now to be allowed that his title to the crown +was scarce so good as that of the unfortunate family with whom he +contended. But let that pass. The slaughter had been the +greater, as the deep and rapid river Awe is disgorged from the +lake just in the rear of the fugitives, and encircles the base of +the tremendous mountain; so that the retreat of the unfortunate +fleers was intercepted on all sides by the inaccessible character +of the country, which had seemed to promise them defence and +protection. [See Note 8.--Battle betwixt the armies of the Bruce +and MacDougal of Lorn.] + +Musing, like the Irish lady in the song, "upon things which are +long enough a-gone," [This is a line from a very pathetic ballad +which I heard sung by one of the young ladies of Edgeworthstown +in 1825. I do not know that it has been printed.] we felt no +impatience at the slow and almost creeping pace with which our +conductor proceeded along General Wade's military road, which +never or rarely condescends to turn aside from the steepest +ascent, but proceeds right up and down hill, with the +indifference to height and hollow, steep or level, indicated by +the old Roman engineers. Still, however, the substantial +excellence of these great works--for such are the military +highways in the Highlands--deserved the compliment of the poet, +who, whether he came from our sister kingdom, and spoke in his +own dialect, or whether he supposed those whom he addressed might +have some national pretension to the second sight, produced the +celebrated couplet,-- + + "Had you but seen these roads BEFORE they were made, + You would hold up your hands and bless General Wade." + +Nothing, indeed, can be more wonderful than to see these +wildernesses penetrated and pervious in every quarter by broad +accesses of the best possible construction, and so superior to +what the country could have demanded for many centuries for any +pacific purpose of commercial intercourse. Thus the traces of +war are sometimes happily accommodated to the purposes of peace. +The victories of Bonaparte have been without results but his road +over the Simplon will long be the communication betwixt peaceful +countries, who will apply to the ends of commerce and friendly +intercourse that gigantic work, which was formed for the +ambitious purpose of warlike invasion. + +While we were thus stealing along, we gradually turned round the +shoulder of Ben Cruachan, and descending the course of the +foaming and rapid Awe, left behind us the expanse of the majestic +lake which gives birth to that impetuous river. The rocks and +precipices which stooped down perpendicularly on our path on the +right hand exhibited a few remains of the wood which once clothed +them, but which had in later times been felled to supply, Donald +MacLeish informed us, the iron foundries at the Bunawe. This +made us fix our eyes with interest on one large oak, which grew +on the left hand towards the river. It seemed a tree of +extraordinary magnitude and picturesque beauty, and stood just +where there appeared to be a few roods of open ground lying among +huge stones, which had rolled down from the mountain. To add to +the romance of the situation, the spot of clear ground extended +round the foot of a proud-browed rock, from the summit of which +leaped a mountain stream in a fall of sixty feet, in which it was +dissolved into foam and dew. At the bottom of the fall the +rivulet with difficulty collected, like a routed general, its +dispersed forces, and, as if tamed by its descent, found a +noiseless passage through the heath to join the Awe. + +I was much struck with the tree and waterfall, and wished myself +nearer them; not that I thought of sketch-book or portfolio--for +in my younger days misses were not accustomed to black-lead +pencils, unless they could use them to some good purpose--but +merely to indulge myself with a closer view. Donald immediately +opened the chaise door, but observed it was rough walking down +the brae, and that I would see the tree better by keeping the +road for a hundred yards farther, when it passed closer to the +spot, for which he seemed, however, to have no predilection. "He +knew," he said, "a far bigger tree than that nearer Bunawe, and +it was a place where there was flat ground for the carriage to +stand, which it could jimply do on these braes; but just as my +leddyship liked." + +My ladyship did choose rather to look at the fine tree before me +than to pass it by in hopes of a finer; so we walked beside the +carriage till we should come to a point, from which, Donald +assured us, we might, without scrambling, go as near the tree as +we chose, "though he wadna advise us to go nearer than the +highroad." + +There was something grave and mysterious in Donald's sun-browned +countenance when he gave us this intimation, and his manner was +so different from his usual frankness, that my female curiosity +was set in motion. We walked on the whilst, and I found the +tree, of which we had now lost sight by the intervention of some +rising ground, was really more distant than I had at first +supposed. "I could have sworn now," said I to my cicerone, "that +yon tree and waterfall was the very place where you intended to +make a stop to-day." + +"The Lord forbid!" said Donald hastily. + +"And for what, Donald? Why should you be willing to pass so +pleasant a spot?" + +"It's ower near Dalmally, my leddy, to corn the beasts; it would +bring their dinner ower near their breakfast, poor things. An' +besides, the place is not canny." + +"Oh! then the mystery is out. There is a bogle or a brownie, a +witch or a gyre-carlin, a bodach or a fairy, in the case?" + +"The ne'er a bit, my leddy--ye are clean aff the road, as I may +say. But if your leddyship will just hae patience, and wait till +we are by the place and out of the glen, I'll tell ye all about +it. There is no much luck in speaking of such things in the +place they chanced in." + +I was obliged to suspend my curiosity, observing, that if I +persisted in twisting the discourse one way while Donald was +twining it another, I should make his objection, like a hempen +cord, just so much the tougher. At length the promised turn of +the road brought us within fifty paces of the tree which I +desired to admire, and I now saw to my surprise, that there was a +human habitation among the cliffs which surrounded it. It was a +hut of the least dimensions, and most miserable description that +I ever saw even in the Highlands. The walls of sod, or DIVOT, as +the Scotch call it, were not four feet high; the roof was of +turf, repaired with reeds and sedges; the chimney was composed of +clay, bound round by straw ropes; and the whole walls, roof, and +chimney, were alike covered with the vegetation of house-leek, +rye-grass, and moss common to decayed cottages formed of such +materials. There was not the slightest vestige of a kale-yard, +the usual accompaniment of the very worst huts; and of living +things we saw nothing, save a kid which was browsing on the roof +of the hut, and a goat, its mother, at some distance, feeding +betwixt the oak and the river Awe. + +"What man," I could not help exclaiming, "can have committed sin +deep enough to deserve such a miserable dwelling!" + +"Sin enough," said Donald MacLeish, with a half-suppressed groan; +"and God he knoweth, misery enough too. And it is no man's +dwelling neither, but a woman's." + +"A woman's!" I repeated, "and in so lonely a place! What sort +of a woman can she be?" + +"Come this way, my leddy, and you may judge that for yourself," +said Donald. And by advancing a few steps, and making a sharp +turn to the left, we gained a sight of the side of the great +broad-breasted oak, in the direction opposed to that in which we +had hitherto seen it. + +"If she keeps her old wont, she will be there at this hour of the +day," said Donald; but immediately became silent, and pointed +with his finger, as one afraid of being overheard. I looked, and +beheld, not without some sense of awe, a female form seated by +the stem of the oak, with her head drooping, her hands clasped, +and a dark-coloured mantle drawn over her head, exactly as Judah +is represented in the Syrian medals as seated under her palm- +tree. I was infected with the fear and reverence which my guide +seemed to entertain towards this solitary being, nor did I think +of advancing towards her to obtain a nearer view until I had cast +an enquiring look on Donald; to which be replied in a half +whisper, "She has been a fearfu' bad woman, my leddy." + +"Mad woman, said you," replied I, hearing him imperfectly; "then +she is perhaps dangerous?" + +"No--she is not mad," replied Donald; "for then it may be she +would be happier than she is; though when she thinks on what she +has done, and caused to be done, rather than yield up a hair- +breadth of her ain wicked will, it is not likely she can be very +well settled. But she neither is mad nor mischievous; and yet, +my leddy, I think you had best not go nearer to her." And then, +in a few hurried words, he made me acquainted with the story +which I am now to tell more in detail. I heard the narrative +with a mixture of horror and sympathy, which at once impelled me +to approach the sufferer, and speak to her the words of comfort, +or rather of pity, and at the same time made me afraid to do so. + +This indeed was the feeling with which she was regarded by the +Highlanders in the neighbourhood, who looked upon Elspat +MacTavish, or the Woman of the Tree, as they called her, as the +Greeks considered those who were pursued by the Furies, and +endured the mental torment consequent on great criminal actions. +They regarded such unhappy beings as Orestes and OEdipus, as +being less the voluntary perpetrators of their crimes than as the +passive instruments by which the terrible decrees of Destiny had +been accomplished; and the fear with which they beheld them was +not unmingled with veneration. + +I also learned further from Donald MacLeish, that there was some +apprehension of ill luck attending those who had the boldness to +approach too near, or disturb the awful solitude of a being so +unutterably miserable--that it was supposed that whosoever +approached her must experience in some respect the contagion of +her wretchedness. + +It was therefore with some reluctance that Donald saw me prepare +to obtain a nearer view of the sufferer, and that he himself +followed to assist me in the descent down a very rough path. I +believe his regard for me conquered some ominous feelings in his +own breast, which connected his duty on this occasion with the +presaging fear of lame horses, lost linch-pins, overturns, and +other perilous chances of the postilion's life. + +I am not sure if my own courage would have carried me so close to +Elspat had he not followed. There was in her countenance the +stern abstraction of hopeless and overpowering sorrow, mixed with +the contending feelings of remorse, and of the pride which +struggled to conceal it. She guessed, perhaps, that it was +curiosity, arising out of her uncommon story, which induced me to +intrude on her solitude; and she could not be pleased that a fate +like hers had been the theme of a traveller's amusement. Yet the +look with which she regarded me was one of scorn instead of +embarrassment. The opinion of the world and all its children +could not add or take an iota from her load of misery; and, save +from the half smile that seemed to intimate the contempt of a +being rapt by the very intensity of her affliction above the +sphere of ordinary humanities, she seemed as indifferent to my +gaze, as if she had been a dead corpse or a marble statue. + +Elspat was above the middle stature. Her hair, now grizzled, was +still profuse, and it had been of the most decided black. So +were her eyes, in which, contradicting the stern and rigid +features of her countenance, there shone the wild and troubled +light that indicates an unsettled mind. Her hair was wrapt round +a silver bodkin with some attention to neatness, and her dark +mantle was disposed around her with a degree of taste, though the +materials were of the most ordinary sort. + +After gazing on this victim of guilt and calamity till I was +ashamed to remain silent, though uncertain how I ought to address +her, I began to express my surprise at her choosing such a desert +and deplorable dwelling. She cut short these expressions of +sympathy, by answering in a stern voice, without the least change +of countenance or posture, "Daughter of the stranger, he has told +you my story." I was silenced at once, and felt how little all +earthly accommodation must seem to the mind which had such +subjects as hers for rumination. Without again attempting to +open the conversation, I took a piece of gold from my purse, (for +Donald had intimated she lived on alms), expecting she would at +least stretch her hand to receive it. But she neither accepted +nor rejected the gift; she did not even seem to notice it, though +twenty times as valuable, probably, as was usually offered. I +was obliged to place it on her knee, saying involuntarily, as I +did so, "May God pardon you and relieve you!" I shall never +forget the look which she cast up to Heaven, nor the tone in +which she exclaimed, in the very words of my old friend John +Home,-- + + "My beautiful--my brave!" + +It was the language of nature, and arose from the heart of the +deprived mother, as it did from that gifted imaginative poet +while furnishing with appropriate expressions the ideal grief of +Lady Randolph. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Oh, I'm come to the Low Country, + Och, och, ohonochie, + Without a penny in my pouch + To buy a meal for me. + I was the proudest of my clan, + Long, long may I repine; + And Donald was the bravest man, + And Donald he was mine. OLD SONG. + +Elspat had enjoyed happy days, though her age had sunk into +hopeless and inconsolable sorrow and distress. She was once the +beautiful and happy wife of Hamish MacTavish, for whom his +strength and feats of prowess had gained the title of MacTavish +Mhor. His life was turbulent and dangerous, his habits being of +the old Highland stamp which esteemed it shame to want anything +that could be had for the taking. Those in the Lowland line who +lay near him, and desired to enjoy their lives and property in +quiet, were contented to pay him a small composition, in name of +protection money, and comforted themselves with the old proverb +that it was better to "fleech the deil than fight him." Others, +who accounted such composition dishonourable, were often +surprised by MacTavish Mhor and his associates and followers, who +usually inflicted an adequate penalty, either in person or +property, or both. The creagh is yet remembered in which he +swept one hundred and fifty cows from Monteith in one drove; and +how he placed the laird of Ballybught naked in a slough, for +having threatened to send for a party of the Highland Watch to +protect his property. + +Whatever were occasionally the triumphs of this daring cateran, +they were often exchanged for reverses; and his narrow escapes, +rapid flights, and the ingenious stratagems with which he +extricated himself from imminent danger, were no less remembered +and admired than the exploits in which he had been successful. +In weal or woe, through every species of fatigue, difficulty, and +danger, Elspat was his faithful companion. She enjoyed with him +the fits of occasional prosperity; and when adversity pressed +them hard, her strength of mind, readiness of wit, and courageous +endurance of danger and toil, are said often to have stimulated +the exertions of her husband. + +Their morality was of the old Highland cast--faithful friends and +fierce enemies. The Lowland herds and harvests they accounted +their own, whenever they had the means of driving off the one or +of seizing upon the other; nor did the least scruple on the right +of property interfere on such occasions. Hamish Mhor argued like +the old Cretan warrior: + + "My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield, + They make me lord of all below; + For he who dreads the lance to wield, + Before my shaggy shield must bow. + His lands, his vineyards, must resign, + And all that cowards have is mine." + +But those days of perilous, though frequently successful +depredation, began to be abridged after the failure of the +expedition of Prince Charles Edward. MacTavish Mhor had not sat +still on that occasion, and he was outlawed, both as a traitor to +the state and as a robber and cateran. Garrisons were now +settled in many places where a red-coat had never before been +seen, and the Saxon war-drum resounded among the most hidden +recesses of the Highland mountains. The fate of MacTavish became +every day more inevitable; and it was the more difficult for him +to make his exertions for defence or escape, that Elspat, amid +his evil days, had increased his family with an infant child, +which was a considerable encumbrance upon the necessary rapidity +of their motions. + +At length the fatal day arrived. In a strong pass on the skirts +of Ben Crunchan, the celebrated MacTavish Mhor was surprised by a +detachment of the Sidier Roy. [The Red Soldier.] His wife +assisted him heroically, charging his piece from time to time; +and as they were in possession of a post that was nearly +unassailable, he might have perhaps escaped if his ammunition had +lasted. But at length his balls were expended, although it was +not until he had fired off most of the silver buttons from his +waistcoat; and the soldiers, no longer deterred by fear of the +unerring marksman, who had slain three and wounded more of their +number, approached his stronghold, and, unable to take him alive, +slew him after a most desperate resistance. + +All this Elspat witnessed and survived; for she had, in the child +which relied on her for support, a motive for strength and +exertion. In what manner she maintained herself it is not easy +to say. Her only ostensible means of support were a flock of +three or four goats, which she fed wherever she pleased on the +mountain pastures, no one challenging the intrusion. In the +general distress of the country, her ancient acquaintances had +little to bestow; but what they could part with from their own +necessities, they willingly devoted to the relief of others, From +Lowlanders she sometimes demanded tribute, rather than requested +alms. She had not forgotten she was the widow of MacTavish Mhor, +or that the child who trotted by her knee might, such were her +imaginations, emulate one day the fame of his father, and command +the same influence which he had once exerted without control. +She associated so little with others, went so seldom and so +unwillingly from the wildest recesses of the mountains, where she +usually dwelt with her goats, that she was quite unconscious of +the great change which had taken place in the country around her +--the substitution of civil order for military violence, and the +strength gained by the law and its adherents over those who were +called in Gaelic song, "the stormy sons of the sword." Her own +diminished consequence and straitened circumstances she indeed +felt, but for this the death of MacTavish Mhor was, in her +apprehension, a sufficing reason; and she doubted not that she +should rise to her former state of importance when Hamish Bean +(or fair-haired James) should be able to wield the arms of his +father. If, then, Elspat was repelled, rudely when she demanded +anything necessary for her wants, or the accommodation of her +little flock, by a churlish farmer, her threats of vengeance, +obscurely expressed, yet terrible in their tenor, used frequently +to extort, through fear of her maledictions, the relief which was +denied to her necessities; and the trembling goodwife, who gave +meal or money to the widow of MacTavish Mhor, wished in her heart +that the stern old carlin had been burnt on the day her husband +had his due. + +Years thus ran on, and Hamish Bean grew up--not, indeed, to be of +his father's size or strength, but to become an active, high- +spirited, fair-haired youth, with a ruddy cheek, an eye like an +eagle's, and all the agility, if not all the strength, of his +formidable father, upon whose history and achievements his mother +dwelt, in order to form her son's mind to a similar course of +adventures. But the young see the present state of this +changeful world more keenly than the old. Much attached to his +mother, and disposed to do all in his power for her support, +Hamish yet perceived, when he mixed with the world, that the +trade of the cateran was now alike dangerous and discreditable, +and that if he were to emulate his father's progress, it must be +in some other line of warfare more consonant to the opinions of +the present day. + +As the faculties of mind and body began to expand, he became more +sensible of the precarious nature of his situation, of the +erroneous views of his mother, and her ignorance respecting the +changes of the society with which she mingled so little. In +visiting friends and neighbours, he became aware of the extremely +reduced scale to which his parent was limited, and learned that +she possessed little or nothing more than the absolute +necessaries of life, and that these were sometimes on the point +of failing. At times his success in fishing and the chase was +able to add something to her subsistence; but he saw no regular +means of contributing to her support, unless by stooping to +servile labour, which, if he himself could have endured it, +would, he knew, have been like a death's-wound to the pride of +his mother. + +Elspat, meanwhile, saw with surprise that Hamish Bean, although +now tall and fit for the field, showed no disposition to enter on +his father's scene of action. There was something of the mother +at her heart, which prevented her from urging him in plain terms +to take the field as a cateran, for the fear occurred of the +perils into which the trade must conduct him; and when she would +have spoken to him on the subject, it seemed to her heated +imagination as if the ghost of her husband arose between them in +his bloody tartans, and laying his finger on his lips, appeared +to prohibit the topic. Yet she wondered at what seemed his want +of spirit, sighed as she saw him from day to day lounging about +in the long-skirted Lowland coat which the legislature had +imposed upon the Gael instead of their own romantic garb, and +thought how much nearer he would have resembled her husband had +he been clad in the belted plaid and short hose, with his +polished arms gleaming at his side. + +Besides these subjects for anxiety, Elspat had others arising +from the engrossing impetuosity of her temper. Her love of +MacTavish Mhor had been qualified by respect and sometimes even +by fear, for the cateran was not the species of man who submits +to female government; but over his son she had exerted, at first +during childhood, and afterwards in early youth, an imperious +authority, which gave her maternal love a character of jealousy. +She could not bear when Hamish, with advancing life, made +repeated steps towards independence, absented himself from her +cottage at such season and for such length of time as he chose, +and seemed to consider, although maintaining towards her every +possible degree of respect and kindness, that the control and +responsibility of his actions rested on himself alone. This +would have been of little consequence, could she have concealed +her feelings within her own bosom; but the ardour and impatience +of her passions made her frequently show her son that she +conceived herself neglected and ill-used. When he was absent for +any length of time from her cottage without giving intimation of +his purpose, her resentment on his return used to be so +unreasonable, that it naturally suggested to a young man fond of +independence, and desirous to amend his situation in the world, +to leave her, even for the very purpose of enabling him to +provide for the parent whose egotistical demands on his filial +attention tended to confine him to a desert, in which both were +starving in hopeless and helpless indigence. + +Upon one occasion, the son having been guilty of some independent +excursion, by which the mother felt herself affronted and +disobliged, she had been more than usually violent on his return, +and awakened in Hamish a sense of displeasure, which clouded his +brow and cheek. At length, as she persevered in her unreasonable +resentment, his patience became exhausted, and taking his gun +from the chimney corner, and muttering to himself the reply which +his respect for his mother prevented him from speaking aloud, he +was about to leave the hut which he had but barely entered. + +"Hamish," said his mother, "are you again about to leave me?" +But Hamish only replied by looking at and rubbing the lock of his +gun. + +"Ay, rub the lock of your gun," said his parent bitterly. "I am +glad you have courage enough to fire it? though it be but at a +roe-deer." Hamish started at this undeserved taunt, and cast a +look of anger at her in reply. She saw that she had found the +means of giving him pain. + +"Yes," she said, "look fierce as you will at an old woman, and +your mother; it would be long ere you bent your brow on the angry +countenance of a bearded man." + +"Be silent, mother, or speak of what you understand," said +Hamish, much irritated, "and that is of the distaff and the +spindle." + +"And was it of spindle and distaff that I was thinking when I +bore you away on my back through the fire of six of the Saxon +soldiers, and you a wailing child? I tell you, Hamish, I know a +hundredfold more of swords and guns than ever you will; and you +will never learn so much of noble war by yourself, as you have +seen when you were wrapped up in my plaid." + +"You are determined, at least, to allow me no peace at home, +mother; but this shall have an end," said Hamish, as, resuming +his purpose of leaving the hut, he rose and went towards the +door. + +"Stay, I command you," said his mother--"stay! or may the gun +you carry be the means of your ruin! may the road you are going +be the track of your funeral!" + +"What makes you use such words, mother?" said the young man, +turning a little back; "they are not good, and good cannot come +of them. Farewell just now! we are too angry to speak together +--farewell! It will be long ere you see me again." And he +departed, his mother, in the first burst of her impatience, +showering after him her maledictions, and in the next invoking +them on her own head, so that they might spare her son's. She +passed that day and the next in all the vehemence of impotent and +yet unrestrained passion, now entreating Heaven, and such powers +as were familiar to her by rude tradition, to restore her dear +son, "the calf of her heart;" now in impatient resentment, +meditating with what bitter terms she should rebuke his filial +disobedience upon his return, and now studying the most tender +language to attach him to the cottage, which, when her boy was +present, she would not, in the rapture of her affection, have +exchanged for the apartments of Taymouth Castle. + +Two days passed, during which, neglecting even the slender means +of supporting nature which her situation afforded, nothing but +the strength of a frame accustomed to hardships and privations of +every kind could have kept her in existence, notwithstanding the +anguish of her mind prevented her being sensible of her personal +weakness. Her dwelling at this period was the same cottage near +which I had found her, but then more habitable by the exertions +of Hamish, by whom it had been in a great measure built and +repaired. + +It was on the third day after her son had disappeared, as she sat +at the door rocking herself, after the fashion of her +countrywomen when in distress, or in pain, that the then unwonted +circumstance occurred of a passenger being seen on the highroad +above the cottage. She cast but one glance at him. He was on +horseback, so that it could not be Hamish; and Elspat cared not +enough for any other being on earth to make her turn her eyes +towards him a second time. The stranger, however, paused +opposite to her cottage, and dismounting from his pony, led it +down the steep and broken path which conducted to her door. + +"God bless you, Elspat MacTavish!" She looked at the man as he +addressed her in her native language, with the displeased air of +one whose reverie is interrupted; but the traveller went on to +say, "I bring you tidings of your son Hamish." At once, from +being the most uninteresting object, in respect to Elspat, that +could exist, the form of the stranger became awful in her eyes, +as that of a messenger descended from heaven, expressly to +pronounce upon her death or life. She started from her seat, and +with hands convulsively clasped together, and held up to Heaven, +eyes fixed on the stranger's countenance, and person stooping +forward to him, she looked those inquiries which her faltering +tongue could not articulate. "Your son sends you his dutiful +remembrance, and this," said the messenger, putting into Elspat's +hand a small purse containing four or five dollars. + +"He is gone! he is gone!" exclaimed Elspat; "he has sold +himself to be the servant of the Saxons, and I shall never more +behold him! Tell me, Miles MacPhadraick--for now I know you--is +it the price of the son's blood that you have put into the +mother's hand?" + +"Now, God forbid!" answered MacPhadraick, who was a tacksman, +and had possession of a considerable tract of ground under his +chief, a proprietor who lived about twenty miles off--"God forbid +I should do wrong, or say wrong, to you, or to the son of +MacTavish Mhor! I swear to you by the hand of my chief that your +son is well, and will soon see you; and the rest he will tell you +himself." So saying, MacPhadraick hastened back up the pathway, +gained the road, mounted his pony, and rode upon his way. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Elspat MacTavish remained gazing on the money as if the impress +of the coin could have conveyed information how it was procured. + +"I love not this MacPhadraick," she said to herself. "It was his +race of whom the Bard hath spoken, saying, Fear them not when +their words are loud as the winter's wind, but fear them when +they fall on you like the sound of the thrush's song. And yet +this riddle can be read but one way: My son hath taken the sword +to win that, with strength like a man, which churls would keep +him from with the words that frighten children." This idea, when +once it occurred to her, seemed the more reasonable, that +MacPhadraick, as she well knew, himself a cautious man, had so +far encouraged her husband's practices as occasionally to buy +cattle of MacTavish, although he must have well known how they +were come by, taking care, however, that the transaction was so +made as to be accompanied with great profit and absolute safety. +Who so likely as MacPhadraick to indicate to a young cateran the +glen in which he could commence his perilous trade with most +prospect of success? Who so likely to convert his booty into +money? The feelings which another might have experienced on +believing that an only son had rushed forward on the same path in +which his father had perished, were scarce known to the Highland +mothers of that day. She thought of the death of MacTavish Mhor +as that of a hero who had fallen in his proper trade of war, and +who had not fallen unavenged. She feared less for her son's life +than for his dishonour. She dreaded, on his account, the +subjection to strangers, and the death-sleep of the soul which is +brought on by what she regarded as slavery. + +The moral principle which so naturally and so justly occurs to +the mind of those who have been educated under a settled +government of laws that protect the property of the weak against +the incursions of the strong, was to poor Elspat a book sealed +and a fountain closed. She had been taught to consider those +whom they call Saxons as a race with whom the Gael were +constantly at war; and she regarded every settlement of theirs +within the reach of Highland incursion as affording a legitimate +object of attack and plunder. Her feelings on this point had +been strengthened and confirmed, not only by the desire of +revenge for the death of her husband, but by the sense of general +indignation entertained, not unjustly, through the Highlands of +Scotland, on account of the barbarous and violent conduct of the +victors after the battle of Culloden. Other Highland clans, too, +she regarded as the fair objects of plunder, when that was +possible, upon the score of ancient enmities and deadly feuds. + +The prudence that might have weighed the slender means which the +times afforded for resisting the efforts of a combined +government, which had, in its less compact and established +authority, been unable to put down the ravages of such lawless +caterans as MacTavish Mhor, was unknown to a solitary woman whose +ideas still dwelt upon her own early times. She imagined that +her son had only to proclaim himself his father's successor in +adventure and enterprise, and that a force of men, as gallant as +those who had followed his father's banner, would crowd around to +support it when again displayed. To her Hamish was the eagle who +had only to soar aloft and resume his native place in the skies, +without her being able to comprehend how many additional eyes +would have watched his flight--how many additional bullets would +have been directed at his bosom. To be brief, Elspat was one who +viewed the present state of society with the same feelings with +which she regarded the times that had passed away. She had been +indigent, neglected, oppressed since the days that her husband +had no longer been feared and powerful, and she thought that the +term of her ascendence would return when her son had determined +to play the part of his father. If she permitted her eye to +glance farther into futurity, it was but to anticipate that she +must be for many a day cold in the grave, with the coronach of +her tribe cried duly over her, before her fair-haired Hamish +could, according to her calculation, die with his hand on the +basket-hilt of the red claymore. His father's hair was grey, +ere, after a hundred dangers, he had fallen with his arms in his +hands. That she should have seen and survived the sight was a +natural consequence of the manners of that age. And better it +was--such was her proud thought--that she had seen him so die, +than to have witnessed his departure from life in a smoky hovel +on a bed of rotten straw like an over-worn hound, or a bullock +which died of disease. But the hour of her young, her brave +Hamish, was yet far distant. He must succeed--he must conquer +--like his father. And when he fell at length--for she +anticipated for him no bloodless death--Elspat would ere then +have lain long in the grave, and could neither see his death- +struggle nor mourn over his grave-sod. + +With such wild notions working in her brain, the spirit of Elspat +rose to its usual pitch, or, rather, to one which seemed higher. +In the emphatic language of Scripture, which in that idiom does +not greatly differ from her own, she arose, she washed and +changed her apparel, and ate bread, and was refreshed. + +She longed eagerly for the return of her son, but she now longed +not with the bitter anxiety of doubt and apprehension. She said +to herself that much must be done ere he could in these times +arise to be an eminent and dreaded leader. Yet when she saw him +again, she almost expected him at the head of a daring band, with +pipes playing and banners flying, the noble tartans fluttering +free in the wind, in despite of the laws which had suppressed, +under severe penalties, the use of the national garb and all the +appurtenances of Highland chivalry. For all this, her eager +imagination was content only to allow the interval of some days. + +From the moment this opinion had taken deep and serious +possession of her mind, her thoughts were bent upon receiving her +son at the head of his adherents in the manner in which she used +to adorn her hut for the return of his father. + +The substantial means of subsistence she had not the power of +providing, nor did she consider that of importance. The +successful caterans would bring with them herds and flocks. But +the interior of her hut was arranged for their reception, the +usquebaugh was brewed or distilled in a larger quantity than it +could have been supposed one lone woman could have made ready. +Her hut was put into such order as might, in some degree, give it +the appearance of a day of rejoicing. It was swept and +decorated, with boughs of various kinds, like the house of a +Jewess upon what is termed the Feast of the Tabernacles. The +produce of the milk of her little flock was prepared in as great +variety of forms as her skill admitted, to entertain her son and +his associates whom she, expected to receive along with him. + +But the principal decoration, which she sought with the greatest +toil, was the cloud-berry, a scarlet fruit, which is only found +on very high hills; and these only in small quantities. Her +husband, or perhaps one of his forefathers, had chosen this as +the emblem of his family, because it seemed at once to imply, by +its scarcity, the smallness of their clan, and, by the places in +which it was found, the ambitious height of their pretensions. + +For the time that these simple preparations of welcome endured, +Elspat was in a state of troubled happiness. In fact, her only +anxiety was that she might be able to complete all that she could +do to welcome Hamish and the friends who she supposed must have +attached themselves to his band, before they should arrive and +find her unprovided for their reception. + +But when such efforts as she could make had been accomplished, +she once more had nothing left to engage her save the trifling +care of her goats; and when these had been attended to, she had +only to review her little preparations, renew such as were of a +transitory nature, replace decayed branches and fading boughs, +and then to sit down at her cottage-door and watch the road as it +ascended on the one side from the banks of the Awe, and on the +other wound round the heights of the mountain, with such a degree +of accommodation to hill and level as the plan of the military +engineer permitted. While so occupied, her imagination, +anticipating the future from recollections of the past, formed +out of the morning mist or the evening cloud the wild forms of an +advancing band, which were then called "Sidier Dhu" (dark +soldiers), dressed in their native tartan, and so named to +distinguish them from the scarlet ranks of the British army. In +this occupation she spent many hours of each morning and evening. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +It was in vain that Elspat's eyes surveyed the distant path by +the earliest light of the dawn and the latest glimmer of the +twilight. No rising dust awakened the expectation of nodding +plumes or flashing arms. The solitary traveller trudged +listlessly along in his brown lowland greatcoat, his tartans dyed +black or purple, to comply with or evade the law which prohibited +their being worn in their variegated hues. The spirit of the +Gael, sunk and broken by the severe though perhaps necessary +laws, that proscribed the dress and arms which he considered as +his birthright, was intimated by his drooping head and dejected +appearance. Not in such depressed wanderers did Elspat recognise +the light and free step of her son, now, as she concluded, +regenerated from every sign of Saxon thraldom. Night by night, +as darkness came, she removed from her unclosed door, to throw +herself on her restless pallet, not to sleep, but to watch. The +brave and the terrible, she said, walk by night. Their steps are +heard in darkness, when all is silent save the whirlwind and the +cataract. The timid deer comes only forth when the sun is upon +the mountain's peak, but the bold wolf walks in the red light of +the harvest-moon. She reasoned in vain; her son's expected +summons did not call her from the lowly couch where she lay +dreaming of his approach. Hamish came not. + +"Hope deferred," saith the royal sage, "maketh the heart sick;" +and strong as was Elspat's constitution, she began to experience +that it was unequal to the toils to which her anxious and +immoderate affection subjected her, when early one morning the +appearance of a traveller on the lonely mountain-road, revived +hopes which had begun to sink into listless despair. There was +no sign of Saxon subjugation about the stranger. At a distance +she could see the flutter of the belted-plaid that drooped in +graceful folds behind him, and the plume that, placed in the +bonnet, showed rank and gentle birth. He carried a gun over his +shoulder, the claymore was swinging by his side with its usual +appendages, the dirk, the pistol, and the SPORRAN MOLLACH. [The +goat-skin pouch, worn by the Highlanders round their waist.] Ere +yet her eye had scanned all these particulars, the light step of +the traveller was hastened, his arm was waved in token of +recognition--a moment more, and Elspat held in her arms her +darling son, dressed in the garb of his ancestors, and looking, +in her maternal eyes, the fairest among ten thousand! + +The first outpouring of affection it would be impossible to +describe. Blessings mingled with the most endearing epithets +which her energetic language affords in striving to express the +wild rapture of Elspat's joy. Her board was heaped hastily with +all she had to offer, and the mother watched the young soldier, +as he partook of the refreshment, with feelings how similar to, +yet how different from, those with which she had seen him draw +his first sustenance from her bosom! + +When the tumult of joy was appeased, Elspat became anxious to +know her son's adventures since they parted, and could not help +greatly censuring his rashness for traversing the hills in the +Highland dress in the broad sunshine, when the penalty was so +heavy, and so many red soldiers were abroad in the country. + +"Fear not for me, mother," said Hamish, in a tone designed to +relieve her anxiety, and yet somewhat embarrassed; "I may wear +the BREACAN [That which is variegated--that is, the tartan.] at +the gate of Fort-Augustus, if I like it." + +"Oh, be not too daring, my beloved Hamish, though it be the fault +which best becomes thy father's son--yet be not too daring! +Alas! they fight not now as in former days, with fair weapons +and on equal terms, but take odds of numbers and of arms, so that +the feeble and the strong are alike levelled by the shot of a +boy. And do not think me unworthy to be called your father's +widow and your mother because I speak thus; for God knoweth, +that, man to man, I would peril thee against the best in +Breadalbane, and broad Lorn besides." + +"I assure you, my dearest mother," replied Hamish, "that I am in +no danger. But have you seen MacPhadraick, mother? and what has +he said to you on my account?" + +"Silver he left me in plenty, Hamish; but the best of his comfort +was that you were well, and would see me soon. But beware of +MacPhadraick, my son; for when he called himself the friend of +your father, he better loved the most worthless stirk in his herd +than he did the life-blood of MacTavish Mhor. Use his services, +therefore, and pay him for them, for it is thus we should deal +with the unworthy; but take my counsel, and trust him not." + +Hamish could not suppress a sigh, which seemed to Elspat to +intimate that the caution came too late. "What have you done +with him?" she continued, eager and alarmed. "I had money of +him, and he gives not that without value; he is none of those who +exchange barley for chaff. Oh, if you repent you of your +bargain, and if it be one which you may break off without +disgrace to your truth or your manhood, take back his silver, and +trust not to his fair words." + +"It may not be, mother," said Hamish; "I do not repent my +engagement, unless that it must make me leave you soon." + +"Leave me! how leave me? Silly boy, think you I know not what +duty belongs to the wife or mother of a daring man? Thou art but +a boy yet; and when thy father had been the dread of the country +for twenty years, he did not despise my company and assistance, +but often said my help was worth that of two strong gillies." + +"It is not on that score, mother, but since I must leave the +country--" + +"Leave the country!" replied his mother, interrupting him. "And +think you that I am like a bush, that is rooted to the soil where +it grows, and must die if carried elsewhere? I have breathed +other winds than these of Ben Cruachan. I have followed your +father to the wilds of Ross and the impenetrable deserts of Y Mac +Y Mhor. Tush, man! my limbs, old as they are, will bear me as +far as your young feet can trace the way." + +"Alas, mother," said the young man, with a faltering accent, "but +to cross the sea--" + +"The sea! who am I that I should fear the sea? Have I never +been in a birling in my life--never known the Sound of Mull, the +Isles of Treshornish, and the rough rocks of Harris?" + +"Alas, mother, I go far--far from all of these. I am enlisted in +one of the new regiments, and we go against the French in +America." + +"Enlisted!" uttered the astonished mother--"against MY will-- +without MY consent! You could not! you would not!" Then rising +up, and assuming a posture of almost imperial command, "Hamish, +you DARED not!" + +"Despair, mother, dares everything," answered Hamish, in a tone +of melancholy resolution. "What should I do here, where I can +scarce get bread for myself and you, and when the times are +growing daily worse? Would you but sit down and listen, I would +convince you I have acted for the best." + +With a bitter smile Elspat sat down, and the same severe ironical +expression was on her features, as, with her lips firmly closed, +she listened to his vindication. + +Hamish went on, without being disconcerted by her expected +displeasure. "When I left you, dearest mother, it was to go to +MacPhadraick's house; for although I knew he is crafty and +worldly, after the fashion of the Sassenach, yet he is wise, and +I thought how he would teach me, as it would cost him nothing, in +which way I could mend our estate in the world." + +"Our estate in the world!" said Elspat, losing patience at the +word; "and went you to a base fellow with a soul no better than +that of a cowherd, to ask counsel about your conduct? Your +father asked none, save of his courage and his sword." + +"Dearest mother," answered Hamish, "how shall I convince you that +you live in this land of our fathers as if our fathers were yet +living? You walk as it were in a dream, surrounded by the +phantoms of those who have been long with the dead. When my +father lived and fought, the great respected the man of the +strong right hand, and the rich feared him. He had protection +from Macallum Mhor, and from Caberfae, and tribute from meaner +men. [Caberfae--ANGLICE, the Stag's-head, the Celtic designation +for the arms of the family of the high Chief of Seaforth.] That +is ended, and his son would only earn a disgraceful and unpitied +death by the practices which gave his father credit and power +among those who wear the breacan. The land is conquered; its +lights are quenched--Glengarry, Lochiel, Perth, Lord Lewis, all +the high chiefs are dead or in exile. We may mourn for it, but +we cannot help it. Bonnet, broadsword, and sporran--power, +strength, and wealth, were all lost on Drummossie Muir." + +"It is false!" said Elspat, fiercely; "you and such like +dastardly spirits are quelled by your own faint hearts, not by +the strength of the enemy; you are like the fearful waterfowl, to +whom the least cloud in the sky seems the shadow of the eagle." + +"Mother," said Hamish proudly, "lay not faint heart to my charge. +I go where men are wanted who have strong arms and bold hearts +too. I leave a desert, for a land where I may gather fame." + +"And you leave your mother to perish in want, age, and solitude," +said Elspat, essaying successively every means of moving a +resolution which she began to see was more deeply rooted than she +had at first thought. + +"Not so, neither," he answered; "I leave you to comfort and +certainty, which you have yet never known. Barcaldine's son is +made a leader, and with him I have enrolled myself. MacPhadraick +acts for him, and raises men, and finds his own in doing it." + +"That is the truest word of the tale, were all the rest as false +as hell," said the old woman, bitterly. + +"But we are to find our good in it also," continued Hamish; "for +Barcaldine is to give you a shieling in his wood of Letter- +findreight, with grass for your goats, and a cow, when you please +to have one, on the common; and my own pay, dearest mother, +though I am far away, will do more than provide you with meal, +and with all else you can want. Do not fear for me. I enter a +private gentleman; but I will return, if hard fighting and +regular duty can deserve it, an officer, and with half a dollar a +day." + +"Poor child!" replied Elspat, in a tone of pity mingled with +contempt, "and you trust MacPhadraick?" + +"I might mother," said Hamish, the dark red colour of his race +crossing his forehead and cheeks, "for MacPhadraick knows the +blood which flows in my veins, and is aware, that should he break +trust with you, he might count the days which could bring Hamish +back to Breadalbane, and number those of his life within three +suns more. I would kill him at his own hearth, did he break his +word with me--I would, by the great Being who made us both!" + +The look and attitude of the young soldier for a moment overawed +Elspat; she was unused to see him express a deep and bitter mood, +which reminded her so strongly of his father. But she resumed +her remonstrances in the same taunting manner in which she had +commenced them. + +"Poor boy!" she said; "and you think that at the distance of +half the world your threats will be heard or thought of! But, +go--go--place your neck under him of Hanover's yoke, against whom +every true Gael fought to the death. Go, disown the royal +Stewart, for whom your father, and his fathers, and your mother's +fathers, have crimsoned many a field with their blood. Go, put +your head under the belt of one of the race of Dermid, whose +children murdered--Yes," she added, with a wild shriek, "murdered +your mother's fathers in their peaceful dwellings in Glencoe! +Yes," she again exclaimed, with a wilder and shriller scream, "I +was then unborn, but my mother has told me--and I attended to the +voice of MY mother--well I remember her words! They came in +peace, and were received in friendship--and blood and fire arose, +and screams and murder!" [See Note 9.--Massacre of Glencoe.] + +"Mother," answered Hamish, mournfully, but with a decided tone, +"all that I have thought over. There is not a drop of the blood +of Glencoe on the noble hand of Barcaldine; with the unhappy +house of Glenlyon the curse remains, and on them God hath avenged +it." + +"You speak like the Saxon priest already," replied his mother; +"will you not better stay, and ask a kirk from Macallum Mhor, +that you may preach forgiveness to the race of Dermid?" + +"Yesterday was yesterday," answered Hamish, "and to-day is to- +day. When the clans are crushed and confounded together, it is +well and wise that their hatreds and their feuds should not +survive their independence and their power. He that cannot +execute vengeance like a man, should not harbour useless enmity +like a craven. Mother, young Barcaldine is true and brave. I +know that MacPhadraick counselled him that he should not let me +take leave of you, lest you dissuaded me from my purpose; but he +said, 'Hamish MacTavish is the son of a brave man, and he will +not break his word.' Mother, Barcaldine leads an hundred of the +bravest of the sons of the Gael in their native dress, and with +their fathers' arms--heart to heart--shoulder to shoulder. I +have sworn to go with him. He has trusted me, and I will trust +him." + +At this reply, so firmly and resolvedly pronounced, Elspat +remained like one thunderstruck, and sunk in despair. The +arguments which she had considered so irresistibly conclusive, +had recoiled like a wave from a rock. After a long pause, she +filled her son's quaigh, and presented it to him with an air of +dejected deference and submission. + +"Drink," she said, "to thy father's roof-tree, ere you leave it +for ever; and tell me--since the chains of a new King, and of a +new chief, whom your fathers knew not save as mortal enemies, are +fastened upon the limbs of your father's son--tell me how many +links you count upon them?" + +Hamish took the cup, but looked at her as if uncertain of her +meaning. She proceeded in a raised voice. "Tell me," she said, +"for I have a right to know, for how many days the will of those +you have made your masters permits me to look upon you? In other +words, how many are the days of my life? for when you leave me, +the earth has nought besides worth living for!" + +"Mother," replied Hamish MacTavish, "for six days I may remain +with you; and if you will set out with me on the fifth, I will +conduct you in safety to your new dwelling. But if you remain +here, then I will depart on the seventh by daybreak--then, as at +the last moment, I MUST set out for Dunbarton, for if I appear +not on the eighth day, I am subject to punishment as a deserter, +and am dishonoured as a soldier and a gentleman." + +"Your father's foot," she answered, "was free as the wind on the +heath--it were as vain to say to him, where goest thou? as to +ask that viewless driver of the clouds, wherefore blowest thou? +Tell me under what penalty thou must--since go thou must, and go +thou wilt--return to thy thraldom?" + +"Call it not thraldom, mother; it is the service of an honourable +soldier--the only service which is now open to the son of +MacTavish Mhor." + +"Yet say what is the penalty if thou shouldst not return?" +replied Elspat. + +"Military punishment as a deserter," answered Hamish, writhing, +however, as his mother failed not to observe, under some internal +feelings, which she resolved to probe to the uttermost. + +"And that," she said, with assumed calmness, which her glancing +eye disowned, "is the punishment of a disobedient hound, is it +not?" + +"Ask me no more, mother," said Hamish; "the punishment is nothing +to one who will never deserve it." + +"To me it is something," replied Elspat, "since I know better +than thou, that where there is power to inflict, there is often +the will to do so without cause. I would pray for thee, Hamish, +and I must know against what evils I should beseech Him who +leaves none unguarded, to protect thy youth and simplicity." + +"Mother," said Hamish, "it signifies little to what a criminal +may be exposed, if a man is determined not to be such. Our +Highland chiefs used also to punish their vassals, and, as I have +heard, severely. Was it not Lachlan MacIan, whom we remember of +old, whose head was struck off by order of his chieftain for +shooting at the stag before him?" + +"Ay," said Elspat, "and right he had to lose it, since he +dishonoured the father of the people even in the face of the +assembled clan. But the chiefs were noble in their ire; they +punished with the sharp blade, and not with the baton. Their +punishments drew blood, but they did not infer dishonour. Canst +thou say, the same for the laws under whose yoke thou hast placed +thy freeborn neck?" + +"I cannot, mother--I cannot," said Hamish mournfully. "I saw +them punish a Sassenach for deserting as they called it, his +banner. He was scourged--I own it--scourged like a hound who has +offended an imperious master. I was sick at the sight--I confess +it. But the punishment of dogs is only for those worse than +dogs, who know not how to keep their faith." + +"To this infamy, however, thou hast subjected thyself, Hamish," +replied Elspat, "if thou shouldst give, or thy officers take, +measure of offence against thee. I speak no more to thee on thy +purpose. Were the sixth day from this morning's sun my dying +day, and thou wert to stay to close mine eyes, thou wouldst run +the risk of being lashed like a dog at a post--yes! unless thou +hadst the gallant heart to leave me to die alone, and upon my +desolate hearth, the last spark of thy father's fire, and of thy +forsaken mother's life, to be extinguished together!"--Hamish +traversed the hut with an impatient and angry pace. + +"Mother," he said at length, "concern not yourself about such +things. I cannot be subjected to such infamy, for never will I +deserve it; and were I threatened with it, I should know how to +die before I was so far dishonoured." + +"There spoke the son of the husband of my heart!" replied +Elspat, and she changed the discourse, and seemed to listen in +melancholy acquiescence, when her son reminded her how short the +time was which they were permitted to pass in each other's +society, and entreated that it might be spent without useless and +unpleasant recollections respecting the circumstances under which +they must soon be separated. + +Elspat was now satisfied that her son, with some of his father's +other properties, preserved the haughty masculine spirit which +rendered it impossible to divert him from a resolution which he +had deliberately adopted. She assumed, therefore, an exterior of +apparent submission to their inevitable separation; and if she +now and then broke out into complaints and murmurs, it was either +that she could not altogether suppress the natural impetuosity of +her temper, or because she had the wit to consider that a total +and unreserved acquiescence might have seemed to her son +constrained and suspicious, and induced him to watch and defeat +the means by which she still hoped to prevent his leaving her. +Her ardent though selfish affection for her son, incapable of +being qualified by a regard for the true interests of the +unfortunate object of her attachment, resembled the instinctive +fondness of the animal race for their offspring; and diving +little farther into futurity than one of the inferior creatures, +she only felt that to be separated from Hamish was to die. + +In the brief interval permitted them, Elspat exhausted every art +which affection could devise, to render agreeable to him the +space which they were apparently to spend with each other. Her +memory carried her far back into former days, and her stores of +legendary history, which furnish at all times a principal +amusement of the Highlander in his moments of repose, were +augmented by an unusual acquaintance with the songs of ancient +bards, and traditions of the most approved seannachies and +tellers of tales. Her officious attentions to her son's +accommodation, indeed, were so unremitted as almost to give him +pain, and he endeavoured quietly to prevent her from taking so +much personal toil in selecting the blooming heath for his bed, +or preparing the meal for his refreshment. "Let me alone, +Hamish," she would reply on such occasions; "you follow your own +will in departing from your mother, let your mother have hers in +doing what gives her pleasure while you remain." + +So much she seemed to be reconciled to the arrangements which he +had made in her behalf, that she could hear him speak to her of +her removing to the lands of Green Colin, as the gentleman was +called, on whose estate he had provided her an asylum. In truth, +however, nothing could be farther from her thoughts. From what +he had said during their first violent dispute, Elspat had +gathered that, if Hamish returned not by the appointed time +permitted by his furlough, he would incur the hazard of corporal +punishment. Were he placed within the risk of being thus +dishonoured, she was well aware that he would never submit to the +disgrace by a return to the regiment where it might be inflicted. +Whether she looked to any farther probable consequences of her +unhappy scheme cannot be known; but the partner of MacTavish +Mhor, in all his perils and wanderings, was familiar with an +hundred instances of resistance or escape, by which one brave +man, amidst a land of rocks, lakes, and mountains, dangerous +passes, and dark forests, might baffle the pursuit of hundreds. +For the future, therefore, she feared nothing; her sole +engrossing object was to prevent her son from keeping his word +with his commanding officer. + +With this secret purpose, she evaded the proposal which Hamish +repeatedly made, that they should set out together to take +possession of her new abode; and she resisted it upon grounds +apparently so natural to her character that her son was neither +alarmed nor displeased. "Let me not," she said, "in the same +short week, bid farewell to my only son, and to the glen in which +I have so long dwelt. Let my eye, when dimmed with weeping for +thee, still look around, for a while at least, upon Loch Awe and +on Ben Cruachan." + +Hamish yielded the more willingly to his mother's humour in this +particular, that one or two persons who resided in a neighbouring +glen, and had given their sons to Barcaldine's levy, were also to +be provided for on the estate of the chieftain, and it was +apparently settled that Elspat was to take her journey along with +them when they should remove to their new residence. Thus, +Hamish believed that he had at once indulged his mother's humour, +and ensured her safety and accommodation. But she nourished in +her mind very different thoughts and projects. + +The period of Hamish's leave of absence was fast approaching, and +more than once he proposed to depart, in such time as to ensure +his gaining easily and early Dunbarton, the town where were the +head-quarters of his regiment. But still his mother's +entreaties, his own natural disposition to linger among scenes +long dear to him, and, above all, his firm reliance in his speed +and activity, induced him to protract his departure till the +sixth day, being the very last which he could possibly afford to +spend with his mother, if indeed he meant to comply with the +conditions of his furlough. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + But for your son, believe it--oh, believe it-- + Most dangerously you have with him prevailed, + If not most mortal to him. CORIOLANUS. + +On the evening which preceded his proposed departure, Hamish +walked down to the river with his fishing-rod, to practise in the +Awe, for the last time, a sport in which he excelled, and to +find, at the same time, the means for making one social meal with +his mother on something better than their ordinary cheer. He was +as successful as usual, and soon killed a fine salmon. On his +return homeward an incident befell him, which he afterwards +related as ominous, though probably his heated imagination, +joined to the universal turn of his countrymen for the +marvellous, exaggerated into superstitious importance some very +ordinary and accidental circumstance. + +In the path which he pursued homeward, he was surprised to +observe a person, who, like himself, was dressed and armed after +the old Highland fashion. The first idea that struck him was, +that the passenger belonged to his own corps, who, levied by +government, and bearing arms under royal authority, were not +amenable for breach of the statutes against the use of the +Highland garb or weapons. But he was struck on perceiving, as he +mended his pace to make up to his supposed comrade, meaning to +request his company for the next day's journey, that the stranger +wore a white cockade, the fatal badge which was proscribed in the +Highlands. The stature of the man was tall, and there was +something shadowy in the outline, which added to his size; and +his mode of motion, which rather resembled gliding than walking, +impressed Hamish with superstitious fears concerning the +character of the being which thus passed before him in the +twilight. He no longer strove to make up to the stranger, but +contented himself with keeping him in view, under the +superstition common to the Highlanders, that you ought neither to +intrude yourself on such supernatural apparitions as you may +witness, nor avoid their presence, but leave it to themselves to +withhold or extend their communication, as their power may +permit, or the purpose of their commission require. + +Upon an elevated knoll by the side of the road, just where the +pathway turned down to Elspat's hut, the stranger made a pause, +and seemed to await Hamish's coming up. Hamish, on his part, +seeing it was necessary he should pass the object of his +suspicion, mustered up his courage, and approached the spot where +the stranger had placed himself; who first pointed to Elspat's +hut, and made, with arm and head, a gesture prohibiting Hamish to +approach it, then stretched his hand to the road which led to the +southward, with a motion which seemed to enjoin his instant +departure in that direction. In a moment afterwards the plaided +form was gone--Hamish did not exactly say vanished, because there +were rocks and stunted trees enough to have concealed him; but it +was his own opinion that he had seen the spirit of MacTavish +Mhor, warning him to commence his instant journey to Dunbarton, +without waiting till morning, or again visiting his mother's hut. + +In fact, so many accidents might arise to delay his journey, +especially where there were many ferries, that it became his +settled purpose, though he could not depart without bidding his +mother adieu, that he neither could nor would abide longer than +for that object; and that the first glimpse of next day's sun +should see him many miles advanced towards Dunbarton. He +descended the path, therefore, and entering the cottage, he +communicated, in a hasty and troubled voice, which indicated +mental agitation, his determination to take his instant +departure. Somewhat to his surprise, Elspat appeared not to +combat his purpose, but she urged him to take some refreshment +ere he left her for ever. He did so hastily, and in silence, +thinking on the approaching separation, and scarce yet believing +it would take place without a final struggle with his mother's +fondness. To his surprise, she filled the quaigh with liquor for +his parting cup. + +"Go," she said, "my son, since such is thy settled purpose; but +first stand once more on thy mother's hearth, the flame on which +will be extinguished long ere thy foot shall again be placed +there." + +"To your health, mother!" said Hamish; "and may we meet again in +happiness, in spite of your ominous words." + +"It were better not to part," said his mother, watching him as he +quaffed the liquor, of which he would have held it ominous to +have left a drop. + +"And now," she said, muttering the words to herself, "go--if thou +canst go." + +"Mother," said Hamish, as he replaced on the table the empty +quaigh, "thy drink is pleasant to the taste, but it takes away +the strength which it ought to give." + +"Such is its first effect, my son," replied Elspat. "But lie +down upon that soft heather couch, shut your eyes but for a +moment, and, in the sleep of an hour, you shall have more +refreshment than in the ordinary repose of three whole nights, +could they be blended into one." + +"Mother," said Hamish, upon whose brain the potion was now taking +rapid effect, "give me my bonnet--I must kiss you and begone--yet +it seems as if my feet were nailed to the floor." + +"Indeed," said his mother, "you will be instantly well, if you +will sit down for half an hour--but half an hour. It is eight +hours to dawn, and dawn were time enough for your father's son to +begin such a journey." + +"I must obey you, mother--I feel I must," said Hamish +inarticulately; "but call me when the moon rises." + +He sat down on the bed, reclined back, and almost instantly was +fast asleep. With the throbbing glee of one who has brought to +an end a difficult and troublesome enterprise, Elspat proceeded +tenderly to arrange the plaid of the unconscious slumberer, to +whom her extravagant affection was doomed to be so fatal, +expressing, while busied in her office, her delight, in tones of +mingled tenderness and triumph. "Yes," she said, "calf of my +heart, the moon shall arise and set to thee, and so shall the +sun; but not to light thee from the land of thy fathers, or tempt +thee to serve the foreign prince or the feudal enemy! To no son +of Dermid shall I be delivered, to be fed like a bondswoman; but +he who is my pleasure and my pride shall be my guard and my +protector. They say the Highlands are changed; but I see Ben +Cruachan rear his crest as high as ever into the evening sky; no +one hath yet herded his kine on the depths of Loch Awe; and +yonder oak does not yet bend like a willow. The children of the +mountains will be such as their fathers, until the mountains +themselves shall be levelled with the strath. In these wild +forests, which used to support thousands of the brave, there is +still surely subsistence and refuge left for one aged woman, and +one gallant youth of the ancient race and the ancient manners." + +While the misjudging mother thus exulted in the success of her +stratagem, we may mention to the reader that it was founded on +the acquaintance with drugs and simples which Elspat, +accomplished in all things belonging to the wild life which she +had led, possessed in an uncommon degree, and which she exercised +for various purposes. With the herbs, which she knew how to +select as well as how to distil, she could relieve more diseases +than a regular medical person could easily believe. She applied +some to dye the bright colours of the tartan; from others she +compounded draughts of various powers, and unhappily possessed +the secret of one which was strongly soporific. Upon the effects +of this last concoction, as the reader doubtless has anticipated, +she reckoned with security on delaying Hamish beyond the period +for which his return was appointed; and she trusted to his horror +for the apprehended punishment to which he was thus rendered +liable, to prevent him from returning at all. + +Sound and deep, beyond natural rest, was the sleep of Hamish +MacTavish on that eventful evening, but not such the repose of +his mother. Scarce did she close her eyes from time to time, but +she awakened again with a start, in the terror that her son had +arisen and departed; and it was only on approaching his couch, +and hearing his deep-drawn and regular breathing, that she +reassured herself of the security of the repose in which he was +plunged. + +Still, dawning, she feared, might awaken him, notwithstanding the +unusual strength of the potion with which she had drugged his +cup. If there remained a hope of mortal man accomplishing the +journey, she was aware that Hamish would attempt it, though he +were to die from fatigue upon the road. Animated by this new +fear, she studied to exclude the light, by stopping all the +crannies and crevices through which, rather than through any +regular entrance, the morning beams might find access to her +miserable dwelling; and this in order to detain amid its wants +and wretchedness the being on whom, if the world itself had been +at her disposal, she would have joyfully conferred it. + +Her pains were bestowed unnecessarily. The sun rose high above +the heavens, and not the fleetest stag in Breadalbane, were the +hounds at his heels, could have sped, to save his life, so fast +as would have been necessary to keep Hamish's appointment. Her +purpose was fully attained--her son's return within the period +assigned was impossible. She deemed it equally impossible, that +he would ever dream of returning, standing, as he must now do, in +the danger of an infamous punishment. By degrees, and at +different times, she had gained from him a full acquaintance with +the predicament in which he would be placed by failing to appear +on the day appointed, and the very small hope he could entertain +of being treated with lenity. + +It is well known, that the great and wise Earl of Chatham prided +himself on the scheme, by which he drew together for the defence +of the colonies those hardy Highlanders, who, until his time, had +been the objects of doubt, fear, and suspicion, on the part of +each successive administration. But some obstacles occurred, +from the peculiar habits and temper of this people, to the +execution of his patriotic project. By nature and habit, every +Highlander was accustomed to the use of arms, but at the same +time totally unaccustomed to, and impatient of, the restraints +imposed by discipline upon regular troops. They were a species +of militia, who had no conception of a camp as their only home. +If a battle was lost, they dispersed to save themselves, and look +out for the safety of their families; if won, they went back to +their glens to hoard up their booty, and attend to their cattle +and their farms. This privilege of going and coming at pleasure, +they would not be deprived of even by their chiefs, whose +authority was in most other respects so despotic. It followed as +a matter of course, that the new-levied Highland recruits could +scarce be made to comprehend the nature of a military engagement, +which compelled a man to serve in the army longer than he +pleased; and perhaps, in many instances, sufficient care was not +taken at enlisting to explain to them the permanency of the +engagement which they came under, lest such a disclosure should +induce them to change their mind. Desertions were therefore +become numerous from the newly-raised regiment, and the veteran +general who commanded at Dunbarton saw no better way of checking +them than by causing an unusually severe example to be made of a +deserter from an English corps. The young Highland regiment was +obliged to attend upon the punishment, which struck a people, +peculiarly jealous of personal honour, with equal horror and +disgust, and not unnaturally indisposed some of them to the +service. The old general, however, who had been regularly bred +in the German wars, stuck to his own opinion, and gave out in +orders that the first Highlander who might either desert, or fail +to appear at the expiry of his furlough, should be brought to the +halberds, and punished like the culprit whom they had seen in +that condition. No man doubted that General -- would keep his +word rigorously whenever severity was required, and Elspat, +therefore, knew that her son, when he perceived that due +compliance with his orders was impossible, must at the same time +consider the degrading punishment denounced against his defection +as inevitable, should he place himself within the general's +power. [See Note 10.--Fidelity of the Highlanders.] + +When noon was well passed, new apprehensions came on the mind of +the lonely woman. Her son still slept under the influence of the +draught; but what if, being stronger than she had ever known it +administered, his health or his reason should be affected by its +potency? For the first time, likewise, notwithstanding her high +ideas on the subject of parental authority, she began to dread +the resentment of her son, whom her heart told her she had +wronged. Of late, she had observed that his temper was less +docile, and his determinations, especially upon this late +occasion of his enlistment, independently formed, and then boldly +carried through. She remembered the stern wilfulness of his +father when he accounted himself ill-used, and began to dread +that Hamish, upon finding the deceit she had put upon him, might +resent it even to the extent of cutting her off, and pursuing his +own course through the world alone. Such were the alarming and +yet the reasonable apprehensions which began to crowd upon the +unfortunate woman, after the apparent success of her ill-advised +stratagem. + +It was near evening when Hamish first awoke, and then he was far +from being in the full possession either of his mental or bodily +powers. From his vague expressions and disordered pulse, Elspat +at first experienced much apprehension; but she used such +expedients as her medical knowledge suggested, and in the course +of the night she had the satisfaction to see him sink once more +into a deep sleep, which probably carried off the greater part of +the effects of the drug, for about sunrising she heard him arise, +and call to her for his bonnet. This she had purposely removed, +from a fear that he might awaken and depart in the night-time, +without her knowledge. + +"My bonnet--my bonnet," cried Hamish; "it is time to take +farewell. Mother, your drink was too strong--the sun is up--but +with the next morning I will still see the double summit of the +ancient Dun. My bonnet--my bonnet, mother; I must be instant in +my departure." These expressions made it plain that poor Hamish +was unconscious that two nights and a day had passed since he had +drained the fatal quaigh, and Elspat had now to venture on what +she felt as the almost perilous, as well as painful, task of +explaining her machinations. + +"Forgive me, my son," she said, approaching Hamish, and taking +him by the hand with an air of deferential awe, which perhaps she +had not always used to his father, even when in his moody fits. + +"Forgive you, mother!--for what?" said Hamish, laughing; "for +giving me a dram that was too strong, and which my head still +feels this morning, or for hiding my bonnet to keep me an instant +longer? Nay, do YOU forgive ME. Give me the bonnet, and let +that be done which now must be done. Give me my bonnet, or I go +without it; surely I am not to be delayed by so trifling a want +as that--I, who have gone for years with only a strap of deer's +hide to tie back my hair. Trifle not, but give it me, or I must +go bareheaded, since to stay is impossible." + +"My son," said Elspat, keeping fast hold of his hand, "what is +done cannot be recalled. Could you borrow the wings of yonder +eagle, you would arrive at the Dun too late for what you purpose +--too soon for what awaits you there. You believe you see the +sun rising for the first time since you have seen him set; but +yesterday beheld him climb Ben Cruachan, though your eyes were +closed to his light." + +Hamish cast upon his mother a wild glance of extreme terror, then +instantly recovering himself, said, "I am no child to be cheated +out of my purpose by such tricks as these. Farewell, mother! +each moment is worth a lifetime." + +"Stay," she said, "my dear, my deceived son, run not on infamy +and ruin. Yonder I see the priest upon the high-road on his +white horse. Ask him the day of the month and week; let him +decide between us." + +With the speed of an eagle, Hamish darted up the acclivity, and +stood by the minister of Glenorquhy, who was pacing out thus +early to administer consolation to a distressed family near +Bunawe. + +The good man was somewhat startled to behold an armed Highlander, +then so unusual a sight, and apparently much agitated, stop his +horse by the bridle, and ask him with a faltering voice the day +of the week and month. "Had you been where you should have been +yesterday, young man," replied the clergyman, "you would have +known that it was God's Sabbath; and that this is Monday, the +second day of the week, and twenty-first of the month." + +"And this is true?" said Hamish. + +"As true," answered the surprised minister, "as that I yesterday +preached the word of God to this parish. What ails you, young +man?--are you sick?--are you in your right mind?" + +Hamish made no answer, only repeated to himself the first +expression of the clergyman, "Had you been where you should have +been yesterday;" and so saying, he let go the bridle, turned from +the road, and descended the path towards the hut, with the look +and pace of one who was going to execution. The minister looked +after him with surprise; but although he knew the inhabitant of +the hovel, the character of Elspat had not invited him to open +any communication with her, because she was generally reputed a +Papist, or rather one indifferent to all religion, except some +superstitious observances which had been handed down from her +parents. On Hamish the Reverend Mr. Tyrie had bestowed +instructions when he was occasionally thrown in his way; and if +the seed fell among the brambles and thorns of a wild and +uncultivated disposition, it had not yet been entirely checked or +destroyed. There was something so ghastly in the present +expression of the youth's features that the good man was tempted +to go down to the hovel, and inquire whether any distress had +befallen the inhabitants, in which his presence might be +consoling and his ministry useful. Unhappily he did not +persevere in this resolution, which might have saved a great +misfortune, as he would have probably become a mediator for the +unfortunate young man; but a recollection of the wild moods of +such Highlanders as had been educated after the old fashion of +the country, prevented his interesting himself in the widow and +son of the far-dreaded robber, MacTavish Mhor, and he thus missed +an opportunity, which he afterwards sorely repented, of doing +much good. + +When Hamish MacTavish entered his mother's hut, it was only to +throw himself on the bed he had left, and exclaiming, "Undone, +undone!" to give vent, in cries of grief and anger, to his deep +sense of the deceit which had been practised on him, and of the +cruel predicament to which he was reduced. + +Elspat was prepared for the first explosion of her son's passion, +and said to herself, "It is but the mountain torrent, swelled by +the thunder shower. Let us sit and rest us by the bank; for all +its present tumult, the time will soon come when we may pass it +dryshod." She suffered his complaints and his reproaches, which +were, even in the midst of his agony, respectful and +affectionate, to die away without returning any answer; and when, +at length, having exhausted all the exclamations of sorrow which +his language, copious in expressing the feelings of the heart, +affords to the sufferer, he sunk into a gloomy silence, she +suffered the interval to continue near an hour ere she approached +her son's couch. + +"And now," she said at length, with a voice in which the +authority of the mother was qualified by her tenderness, "have +you exhausted your idle sorrows, and are you able to place what +you have gained against what you have lost? Is the false son of +Dermid your brother, or the father of your tribe, that you weep +because you cannot bind yourself to his belt, and become one of +those who must do his bidding? Could you find in yonder distant +country the lakes and the mountains that you leave behind you +here? Can you hunt the deer of Breadalbane in the forests of +America, or will the ocean afford you the silver-scaled salmon of +the Awe? Consider, then, what is your loss, and, like a wise +man, set it against what you have won." + +"I have lost all, mother," replied Hamish, "since I have broken +my word, and lost my honour. I might tell my tale, but who, oh, +who would believe me?" The unfortunate young man again clasped +his hands together, and, pressing them to his forehead, hid his +face upon the bed. + +Elspat was now really alarmed, and perhaps wished the fatal +deceit had been left unattempted. She had no hope or refuge +saving in the eloquence of persuasion, of which she possessed no +small share, though her total ignorance of the world as it +actually existed rendered its energy unavailing. She urged her +son, by every tender epithet which a parent could bestow, to take +care for his own safety. + +"Leave me," she said, "to baffle your pursuers. I will save your +life--I will save your honour. I will tell them that my fair- +haired Hamish fell from the Corrie Dhu (black precipice) into the +gulf, of which human eye never beheld the bottom. I will tell +them this, and I will fling your plaid on the thorns which grow +on the brink of the precipice, that they may believe my words. +They will believe, and they will return to the Dun of the double- +crest; for though the Saxon drum can call the living to die, it +cannot recall the dead to their slavish standard. Then will we +travel together far northward to the salt lakes of Kintail, and +place glens and mountains betwixt us and the sons of Dermid. We +will visit the shores of the dark lake; and my kinsmen--for was +not my mother of the children of Kenneth, and will they not +remember us with the old love?--my kinsmen will receive us with +the affection of the olden time, which lives in those distant +glens, where the Gael still dwell in their nobleness, unmingled +with the churl Saxons, or with the base brood that are their +tools and their slaves." + +The energy of the language, somewhat allied to hyperbole, even in +its most ordinary expressions, now seemed almost too weak to +afford Elspat the means of bringing out the splendid picture +which she presented to her son of the land in which she proposed +to him to take refuge. Yet the colours were few with which she +could paint her Highland paradise. "The hills," she said, "were +higher and more magnificent than those of Breadalbane--Ben +Cruachan was but a dwarf to Skooroora. The lakes were broader +and larger, and abounded not only with fish, but with the +enchanted and amphibious animal which gives oil to the lamp. +[The seals are considered by the Highlanders as enchanted +princes.] The deer were larger and more numerous; the white- +tusked boar, the chase of which the brave loved best, was yet to +be roused in those western solitudes; the men were nobler, wiser, +and stronger than the degenerate brood who lived under the Saxon +banner. The daughters of the land were beautiful, with blue eyes +and fair hair, and bosoms of snow; and out of these she would +choose a wife for Hamish, of blameless descent, spotless fame, +fixed and true affection, who should be in their summer bothy as +a beam of the sun, and in their winter abode as the warmth of the +needful fire." + +Such were the topics with which Elspat strove to soothe the +despair of her son, and to determine him, if possible, to leave +the fatal spot, on which he seemed resolved to linger. The style +of her rhetoric was poetical, but in other respects resembled +that which, like other fond mothers, she had lavished on Hamish, +while a child or a boy, in order to gain his consent to do +something he had no mind to; and she spoke louder, quicker, and +more earnestly, in proportion as she began to despair of her +words carrying conviction. + +On the mind of Hamish her eloquence made no impression. He knew +far better than she did the actual situation of the country, and +was sensible that, though it might be possible to hide himself as +a fugitive among more distant mountains, there was now no corner +in the Highlands in which his father's profession could be +practised, even if he had not adopted, from the improved ideas of +the time when he lived, the opinion that the trade of the cateran +was no longer the road to honour and distinction. Her words were +therefore poured into regardless ears, and she exhausted herself +in vain in the attempt to paint the regions of her mother's +kinsmen in such terms as might tempt Hamish to accompany her +thither. She spoke for hours, but she spoke in vain. She could +extort no answer, save groans and sighs and ejaculations, +expressing the extremity of despair. + +At length, starting on her feet, and changing the monotonous tone +in which she had chanted, as it were, the praises of the province +of refuge, into the short, stern language of eager passion--"I am +a fool," she said, "to spend my words upon an idle, poor- +spirited, unintelligent boy, who crouches like a hound to the +lash. Wait here, and receive your taskmasters, and abide your +chastisement at their hands; but do not think your mother's eyes +will behold it. I could not see it and live. My eyes have +looked often upon death, but never upon dishonour. Farewell, +Hamish! We never meet again." + +She dashed from the hut like a lapwing, and perhaps for the +moment actually entertained the purpose which she expressed, of +parting with her son for ever. A fearful sight she would have +been that evening to any who might have met her wandering through +the wilderness like a restless spirit, and speaking to herself in +language which will endure no translation. She rambled for +hours, seeking rather than shunning the most dangerous paths. +The precarious track through the morass, the dizzy path along the +edge of the precipice or by the banks of the gulfing river, were +the roads which, far from avoiding, she sought with eagerness, +and traversed with reckless haste. But the courage arising from +despair was the means of saving the life which (though deliberate +suicide was rarely practised in the Highlands) she was perhaps +desirous of terminating. Her step on the verge of the precipice +was firm as that of the wild goat. Her eye, in that state of +excitation, was so keen as to discern, even amid darkness, the +perils which noon would not have enabled a stranger to avoid. + +Elspat's course was not directly forward, else she had soon been +far from the bothy in which she had left her son. It was +circuitous, for that hut was the centre to which her heartstrings +were chained, and though she wandered around it, she felt it +impossible to leave the vicinity. With the first beams of +morning she returned to the hut. Awhile she paused at the +wattled door, as if ashamed that lingering fondness should have +brought her back to the spot which she had left with the purpose +of never returning; but there was yet more of fear and anxiety in +her hesitation--of anxiety, lest her fair-haired son had suffered +from the effects of her potion--of fear, lest his enemies had +come upon him in the night. She opened the door of the hut +gently, and entered with noiseless step. Exhausted with his +sorrow and anxiety, and not entirely relieved perhaps from the +influence of the powerful opiate, Hamish Bean again slept the +stern, sound sleep by which the Indians are said to be overcome +during the interval of their torments. His mother was scarcely +sure that she actually discerned his form on the bed, scarce +certain that her ear caught the sound of his breathing. With a +throbbing heart, Elspat went to the fireplace in the centre of +the hut, where slumbered, covered with a piece of turf, the +glimmering embers of the fire, never extinguished on a Scottish +hearth until the indwellers leave the mansion for ever. + +"Feeble greishogh," [Greishogh, a glowing ember.] she said, as +she lighted, by the help of a match, a splinter of bog pine which +was to serve the place of a candle--"weak greishogh, soon shalt +thou be put out for ever, and may Heaven grant that the life of +Elspat MacTavish have no longer duration than thine!" + +While she spoke she raised the blazing light towards the bed, on +which still lay the prostrate limbs of her son, in a posture that +left it doubtful whether he slept or swooned. As she advanced +towards him, the light flashed upon his eyes--he started up in an +instant, made a stride forward with his naked dirk in his hand, +like a man armed to meet a mortal enemy, and exclaimed, "Stand +off!--on thy life, stand off!" + +"It is the word and the action of my husband," answered Elspat; +"and I know by his speech and his step the son of MacTavish +Mhor." + +"Mother," said Hamish, relapsing from his tone of desperate +firmness into one of melancholy expostulation--"oh, dearest +mother, wherefore have you returned hither?" + +"Ask why the hind comes back to the fawn," said Elspat, "why the +cat of the mountain returns to her lodge and her young. Know +you, Hamish, that the heart of the mother only lives in the bosom +of the child." + +"Then will it soon cease to throb," said Hamish, "unless it can +beat within a bosom that lies beneath the turf. Mother, do not +blame me. If I weep, it is not for myself but for you; for my +sufferings will soon be over, but yours--oh, who but Heaven shall +set a boundary to them?" + +Elspat shuddered and stepped backward, but almost instantly +resumed her firm and upright position and her dauntless bearing. + +"I thought thou wert a man but even now," she said, "and thou art +again a child. Hearken to me yet, and let us leave this place +together. Have I done thee wrong or injury? if so, yet do not +avenge it so cruelly. See, Elspat MacTavish, who never kneeled +before even to a priest, falls prostrate before her own son, and +craves his forgiveness." And at once she threw herself on her +knees before the young man, seized on his hand, and kissing it an +hundred times, repeated as often, in heart-breaking accents, the +most earnest entreaties for forgiveness. "Pardon," she +exclaimed, "pardon, for the sake of your father's ashes--pardon, +for the sake of the pain with which I bore thee, the care with +which I nurtured thee!--Hear it, Heaven, and behold it, Earth-- +the mother asks pardon of her child, and she is refused!" + +It was in vain that Hamish endeavoured to stem this tide of +passion, by assuring his mother, with the most solemn +asseverations, that he forgave entirely the fatal deceit which +she had practised upon him. + +"Empty words," she said, "idle protestations, which are but used +to hide the obduracy of your resentment. Would you have me +believe you, then leave the hut this instant, and retire from a +country which every hour renders more dangerous. Do this, and I +may think you have forgiven me; refuse it, and again I call on +moon and stars, heaven and earth, to witness the unrelenting +resentment with which you prosecute your mother for a fault, +which, if it be one, arose out of love to you." + +"Mother," said Hamish, "on this subject you move me not. I will +fly before no man. If Barcaldine should send every Gael that is +under his banner, here, and in this place, will I abide them; and +when you bid me fly, you may as well command yonder mountain to +be loosened from its foundations. Had I been sure of the road by +which they are coming hither, I had spared them the pains of +seeking me; but I might go by the mountain, while they perchance +came by the lake. Here I will abide my fate; nor is there in +Scotland a voice of power enough to bid me stir from hence, and +be obeyed." + +"Here, then, I also stay," said Elspat, rising up and speaking +with assumed composure. "I have seen my husband's death--my +eyelids shall not grieve to look on the fall of my son. But +MacTavish Mhor died as became the brave, with his good sword in +his right hand; my son will perish like the bullock that is +driven to the shambles by the Saxon owner who had bought him for +a price." + +"Mother," said the unhappy young man, "you have taken my life. +To that you have a right, for you gave it; but touch not my +honour! It came to me from a brave train of ancestors, and +should be sullied neither by man's deed nor woman's speech. What +I shall do, perhaps I myself yet know not; but tempt me no +farther by reproachful words--you have already made wounds more +than you can ever heal." + +"It is well, my son," said Elspat, in reply. "Expect neither +farther complaint nor remonstrance from me; but let us be silent, +and wait the chance which Heaven shall send us." + +The sun arose on the next morning, and found the bothy silent as +the grave. The mother and son had arisen, and were engaged each +in their separate task--Hamish in preparing and cleaning his arms +with the greatest accuracy, but with an air of deep dejection. +Elspat, more restless in her agony of spirit, employed herself in +making ready the food which the distress of yesterday had induced +them both to dispense with for an unusual number of hours. She +placed it on the board before her son so soon as it was prepared, +with the words of a Gaelic poet, "Without daily food, the +husbandman's ploughshare stands still in the furrow; without +daily food, the sword of the warrior is too heavy for his hand. +Our bodies are our slaves, yet they must be fed if we would have +their service. So spake in ancient days the Blind Bard to the +warriors of Fion." + +The young man made no reply, but he fed on what was placed before +him, as if to gather strength for the scene which he was to +undergo. When his mother saw that he had eaten what sufficed +him, she again filled the fatal quaigh, and proffered it as the +conclusion of the repast. But he started aside with a convulsive +gesture, expressive at once of fear and abhorrence. + +"Nay, my son," she said, "this time surely, thou hast no cause of +fear." + +"Urge me not, mother," answered Hamish--"or put the leprous toad +into a flagon, and I will drink; but from that accursed cup, and +of that mind-destroying potion, never will I taste more!" + +"At your pleasure, my son," said Elspat, haughtily, and began, +with much apparent assiduity, the various domestic tasks which +had been interrupted during the preceding day. Whatever was at +her heart, all anxiety seemed banished from her looks and +demeanour. It was but from an over-activity of bustling exertion +that it might have been perceived, by a close observer, that her +actions were spurred by some internal cause of painful +excitement; and such a spectator, too, might also have observed +how often she broke off the snatches of songs or tunes which she +hummed, apparently without knowing what she was doing, in order +to cast a hasty glance from the door of the hut. Whatever might +be in the mind of Hamish, his demeanour was directly the reverse +of that adopted by his mother. Having finished the task of +cleaning and preparing his arms, which he arranged within the +hut, he sat himself down before the door of the bothy, and +watched the opposite hill, like the fixed sentinel who expects +the approach of an enemy. Noon found him in the same unchanged +posture, and it was an hour after that period, when his mother, +standing beside him, laid her hand on his shoulder, and said, in +a tone indifferent, as if she had been talking of some friendly +visit, "When dost thou expect them?" + +"They cannot be here till the shadows fall long to the eastward," +replied Hamish; "that is, even supposing the nearest party, +commanded by Sergeant Allan Breack Cameron, has been commanded +hither by express from Dunbarton, as it is most likely they +will." + +"Then enter beneath your mother's roof once more; partake the +last time of the food which she has prepared; after this, let +them come, and thou shalt see if thy mother is an useless +encumbrance in the day of strife. Thy hand, practised as it is, +cannot fire these arms so fast as I can load them; nay, if it is +necessary, I do not myself fear the flash or the report, and my +aim has been held fatal." + +"In the name of Heaven, mother, meddle not with this matter!" +said Hamish. "Allan Breack is a wise man and a kind one, and +comes of a good stem. It may be, he can promise for our officers +that they will touch me with no infamous punishment; and if they +offer me confinement in the dungeon, or death by the musket, to +that I may not object." + +"Alas, and wilt thou trust to their word, my foolish child? +Remember the race of Dermid were ever fair and false; and no +sooner shall they have gyves on thy hands, than they will strip +thy shoulders for the scourge." + +"Save your advice, mother," said Hamish, sternly; "for me, my +mind is made up." + +But though he spoke thus, to escape the almost persecuting +urgency of his mother, Hamish would have found it, at that +moment, impossible to say upon what course of conduct he had thus +fixed. On one point alone he was determined--namely, to abide +his destiny, be what it might, and not to add to the breach of +his word, of which he had been involuntarily rendered guilty, by +attempting to escape from punishment. This act of self-devotion +he conceived to be due to his own honour and that of his +countrymen. Which of his comrades would in future be trusted, if +he should be considered as having broken his word, and betrayed +the confidence of his officers? and whom but Hamish Bean +MacTavish would the Gael accuse for having verified and confirmed +the suspicions which the Saxon General was well known to +entertain against the good faith of the Highlanders? He was, +therefore, bent firmly to abide his fate. But whether his +intention was to yield himself peaceably into the bands of the +party who should come to apprehend him, or whether he purposed, +by a show of resistance, to provoke them to kill him on the spot, +was a question which he could not himself have answered. His +desire to see Barcaldine, and explain the cause of his absence at +the appointed time, urged him to the one course; his fear of the +degrading punishment, and of his mother's bitter upbraidings, +strongly instigated the latter and the more dangerous purpose. +He left it to chance to decide when the crisis should arrive; nor +did he tarry long in expectation of the catastrophe. + +Evening approached; the gigantic shadows of the mountains +streamed in darkness towards the east, while their western peaks +were still glowing with crimson and gold. The road which winds +round Ben Cruachan was fully visible from the door of the bothy, +when a party of five Highland soldiers, whose arms glanced in the +sun, wheeled suddenly into sight from the most distant extremity, +where the highway is hidden behind the mountain. One of the +party walked a little before the other four, who marched +regularly and in files, according to the rules of military +discipline. There was no dispute, from the firelocks which they +carried, and the plaids and bonnets which they wore, that they +were a party of Hamish's regiment, under a non-commissioned +officer; and there could be as little doubt of the purpose of +their appearance on the banks of Loch Awe. + +"They come briskly forward"--said the widow of MacTavish Mhor;-- +"I wonder how fast or how slow some of them will return again! +But they are five, and it is too much odds for a fair field. +Step back within the hut, my son, and shoot from the loophole +beside the door. Two you may bring down ere they quit the +highroad for the footpath--there will remain but three; and your +father, with my aid, has often stood against that number." + +Hamish Bean took the gun which his mother offered, but did not +stir from the door of the hut. He was soon visible to the party +on the highroad, as was evident from their increasing their pace +to a run--the files, however, still keeping together like coupled +greyhounds, and advancing with great rapidity. In far less time +than would have been accomplished by men less accustomed to the +mountains, they had left the highroad, traversed the narrow path, +and approached within pistol-shot of the bothy, at the door of +which stood Hamish, fixed like a statue of stone, with his +firelock in his band, while his mother, placed behind him, and +almost driven to frenzy by the violence of her passions, +reproached him in the strongest terms which despair could invent, +for his want of resolution and faintness of heart. Her words +increased the bitter gall which was arising in the young man's +own spirit, as he observed the unfriendly speed with which his +late comrades were eagerly making towards him, like hounds +towards the stag when he is at bay. The untamed and angry +passions which he inherited from father and mother, were awakened +by the supposed hostility of those who pursued him; and the +restraint under which these passions had been hitherto held by +his sober judgment began gradually to give way. The sergeant now +called to him, "Hamish Bean MacTavish, lay down your arms and +surrender." + +"Do YOU stand, Allan Breack Cameron, and command your men to +stand, or it will be the worse for us all." + +"Halt, men," said the sergeant, but continuing himself to +advance. "Hamish, think what you do, and give up your gun; you +may spill blood, but you cannot escape punishment." + +"The scourge--the scourge--my son, beware the scourge!" +whispered his mother. + +"Take heed, Allan Breack," said Hamish. "I would not hurt you +willingly, but I will not be taken unless you can assure me +against the Saxon lash." + +"Fool!" answered Cameron, "you know I cannot. Yet I will do all +I can. I will say I met you on your return, and the punishment +will be light; but give up your musket--Come on, men." + +Instantly he rushed forward, extending his arm as if to push +aside the young man's levelled firelock. Elspat exclaimed, "Now, +spare not your father's blood to defend your father's hearth!" +Hamish fired his piece, and Cameron dropped dead. All these +things happened, it might be said, in the same moment of time. +The soldiers rushed forward and seized Hamish, who, seeming +petrified with what he had done, offered not the least +resistance. Not so his mother, who, seeing the men about to put +handcuffs on her son, threw herself on the soldiers with such +fury, that it required two of them to hold her, while the rest +secured the prisoner. + +"Are you not an accursed creature," said one of the men to +Hamish, "to have slain your best friend, who was contriving, +during the whole march, how he could find some way of getting you +off without punishment for your desertion?" + +"Do you hear THAT, mother?" said Hamish, turning himself as much +towards her as his bonds would permit; but the mother heard +nothing, and saw nothing. She had fainted on the floor of her +hut. Without waiting for her recovery, the party almost +immediately began their homeward march towards Dunbarton, leading +along with them their prisoner. They thought it necessary, +however, to stay for a little space at the village of Dalmally, +from which they despatched a party of the inhabitants to bring +away the body of their unfortunate leader, while they themselves +repaired to a magistrate, to state what had happened, and require +his instructions as to the farther course to be pursued. The +crime being of a military character, they were instructed to +march the prisoner to Dunbarton without delay. + +The swoon of the mother of Hamish lasted for a length of time-- +the longer perhaps that her constitution, strong as it was, must +have been much exhausted by her previous agitation of three days' +endurance. She was roused from her stupor at length by female +voices, which cried the coronach, or lament for the dead, with +clapping of hands and loud exclamations; while the melancholy +note of a lament, appropriate to the clan Cameron, played on the +bagpipe, was heard from time to time. + +Elspat started up like one awakened from the dead, and without +any accurate recollection of the scene which had passed before +her eyes. There were females in the hut who were swathing the +corpse in its bloody plaid before carrying it from the fatal +spot. "Women," she said, starting up and interrupting their +chant at once and their labour--"Tell me, women, why sing you the +dirge of MacDhonuil Dhu in the house of MacTavish Mhor?" + +"She-wolf, be silent with thine ill-omened yell," answered one of +the females, a relation of the deceased, "and let us do our duty +to our beloved kinsman. There shall never be coronach cried, or +dirge played, for thee or thy bloody wolf-burd. [Wolf-brood-- +that is, wolf-cub.] The ravens shall eat him from the gibbet, and +the foxes and wild-cats shall tear thy corpse upon the hill. +Cursed be he that would sain [Bless.] your bones, or add a stone +to your cairn!" + +"Daughter of a foolish mother," answered the widow of MacTavish +Mhor, "know that the gibbet with which you threaten us is no +portion of our inheritance. For thirty years the Black Tree of +the Law, whose apples are dead men's bodies, hungered after the +beloved husband of my heart; but he died like a brave man, with +the sword in his hand, and defrauded it of its hopes and its +fruit." + +"So shall it not be with thy child, bloody sorceress," replied +the female mourner, whose passions were as violent as those of +Elspat herself. "The ravens shall tear his fair hair to line +their nests, before the sun sinks beneath the Treshornish +islands." + +These words recalled to Elspat's mind the whole history of the +last three dreadful days. At first she stood fixed, as if the +extremity of distress had converted her into stone; but in a +minute, the pride and violence of her temper, outbraved as she +thought herself on her own threshold, enabled her to reply, "Yes, +insulting hag, my fair-haired boy may die, but it will not be +with a white hand. It has been dyed in the blood of his enemy, +in the best blood of a Cameron--remember that; and when you lay +your dead in his grave, let it be his best epitaph that he was +killed by Hamish Bean for essaying to lay hands on the son of +MacTavish Mhor on his own threshold. Farewell--the shame of +defeat, loss, and slaughter remain with the clan that has endured +it!" + +The relative of the slaughtered Cameron raised her voice in +reply; but Elspat, disdaining to continue the objurgation, or +perhaps feeling her grief likely to overmaster her power of +expressing her resentment, had left the hut, and was walking +forth in the bright moonshine. + +The females who were arranging the corpse of the slaughtered man +hurried from their melancholy labour to look after her tall +figure as it glided away among the cliffs. "I am glad she is +gone," said one of the younger persons who assisted. "I would as +soon dress a corpse when the great fiend himself--God sain us!-- +stood visibly before us, as when Elspat of the Tree is amongst +us. Ay, ay, even overmuch intercourse hath she had with the +enemy in her day." + +"Silly woman," answered the female who had maintained the +dialogue with the departed Elspat, "thinkest thou that there is a +worse fiend on earth, or beneath it, than the pride and fury of +an offended woman, like yonder bloody-minded hag? Know that +blood has been as familiar to her as the dew to the mountain +daisy. Many and many a brave man has she caused to breathe their +last for little wrong they had done to her or theirs. But her +hough-sinews are cut, now that her wolf-burd must, like a +murderer as he is, make a murderer's end." + +Whilst the women thus discoursed together, as they watched the +corpse of Allan Breack Cameron, the unhappy cause of his death +pursued her lonely way across the mountain. While she remained +within sight of the bothy, she put a strong constraint on +herself, that by no alteration of pace or gesture she might +afford to her enemies the triumph of calculating the excess of +her mental agitation, nay, despair. She stalked, therefore, with +a slow rather than a swift step, and, holding herself upright, +seemed at once to endure with firmness that woe which was passed, +and bid defiance to that which was about to come. But when she +was beyond the sight of those who remained in the hut, she could +no longer suppress the extremity of her agitation. Drawing her +mantle wildly round her, she stopped at the first knoll, and +climbing to its summit, extended her arms up to the bright moon, +as if accusing heaven and earth for her misfortunes, and uttered +scream on scream, like those of an eagle whose nest has been +plundered of her brood. Awhile she vented her grief in these +inarticulate cries, then rushed on her way with a hasty and +unequal step, in the vain hope of overtaking the party which was +conveying her son a prisoner to Dunbarton. But her strength, +superhuman as it seemed, failed her in the trial; nor was it +possible for her, with her utmost efforts, to accomplish her +purpose. + +Yet she pressed onward, with all the speed which her exhausted +frame could exert. When food became indispensable, she entered +the first cottage. "Give me to eat," she said. "I am the widow +of MacTavish Mhor--I am the mother of Hamish MacTavish Bean,-- +give me to eat, that I may once more see my fair-haired son." +Her demand was never refused, though granted in many cases with a +kind of struggle between compassion and aversion in some of those +to whom she applied, which was in others qualified by fear. The +share she had had in occasioning the death of Allan Breack +Cameron, which must probably involve that of her own son, was not +accurately known; but, from a knowledge of her violent passions +and former habits of life, no one doubted that in one way or +other she had been the cause of the catastrophe, and Hamish Bean +was considered, in the slaughter which he had committed, rather +as the instrument than as the accomplice of his mother. + +This general opinion of his countrymen was of little service to +the unfortunate Hamish. As his captain, Green Colin, understood +the manners and habits of his country, he had no difficulty in +collecting from Hamish the particulars accompanying his supposed +desertion, and the subsequent death of the non-commissioned +officer. He felt the utmost compassion for a youth, who had thus +fallen a victim to the extravagant and fatal fondness of a +parent. But he had no excuse to plead which could rescue his +unhappy recruit from the doom which military discipline and the +award of a court-martial denounced against him for the crime he +had committed. + +No time had been lost in their proceedings, and as little was +interposed betwixt sentence and execution. General -- had +determined to make a severe example of the first deserter who +should fall into his power, and here was one who had defended +himself by main force, and slain in the affray the officer sent +to take him into custody. A fitter subject for punishment could +not have occurred, and Hamish was sentenced to immediate +execution. All which the interference of his captain in his +favour could procure was that he should die a soldier's death; +for there had been a purpose of executing him upon the gibbet. + +The worthy clergyman of Glenorquhy chanced to be at Dunbarton, in +attendance upon some church courts, at the time of this +catastrophe. He visited his unfortunate parishioner in his +dungeon, found him ignorant indeed, but not obstinate, and the +answers which he received from him, when conversing on religious +topics, were such as induced him doubly to regret that a mind +naturally pure and noble should have remained unhappily so wild +and uncultivated. + +When he ascertained the real character and disposition of the +young man, the worthy pastor made deep and painful reflections on +his own shyness and timidity, which, arising out of the evil fame +that attached to the lineage of Hamish, had restrained him from +charitably endeavouring to bring this strayed sheep within the +great fold. While the good minister blamed his cowardice in +times past, which had deterred him from risking his person, to +save, perhaps, an immortal soul, he resolved no longer to be +governed by such timid counsels, but to endeavour, by application +to his officers, to obtain a reprieve, at least, if not a pardon, +for the criminal, in whom he felt so unusually interested, at +once from his docility of temper and his generosity of +disposition. + +Accordingly the divine sought out Captain Campbell at the +barracks within the garrison. There was a gloomy melancholy on +the brow of Green Colin, which was not lessened, but increased, +when the clergyman stated his name, quality, and errand. "You +cannot tell me better of the young man than I am disposed to +believe," answered the Highland officer; "you cannot ask me to do +more in his behalf than I am of myself inclined, and have already +endeavoured to do. But it is all in vain. General -- is half a +Lowlander, half an Englishman. He has no idea of the high and +enthusiastic character which in these mountains often brings +exalted virtues in contact with great crimes, which, however, are +less offences of the heart than errors of the understanding. I +have gone so far as to tell him, that in this young man he was +putting to death the best and the bravest of my company, where +all, or almost all, are good and brave. I explained to him by +what strange delusion the culprit's apparent desertion was +occasioned, and how little his heart was accessory to the crime +which his hand unhappily committed. His answer was, 'These are +Highland visions, Captain Campbell, as unsatisfactory and vain as +those of the second sight. An act of gross desertion may, in any +case, be palliated under the plea of intoxication; the murder of +an officer may be as easily coloured over with that of temporary +insanity. The example must be made, and if it has fallen on a +man otherwise a good recruit, it will have the greater effect.' +Such being the general's unalterable purpose," continued Captain +Campbell, with a sigh, "be it your care, reverend sir, that your +penitent prepare by break of day tomorrow for that great change +which we shall all one day be subjected to." + +"And for which," said the clergyman, "may God prepare us all, as +I in my duty will not be wanting to this poor youth!" + +Next morning, as the very earliest beams of sunrise saluted the +grey towers which crown the summit of that singular and +tremendous rock, the soldiers of the new Highland regiment +appeared on the parade, within the Castle of Dunbarton, and +having fallen into order, began to move downward by steep +staircases, and narrow passages towards the external barrier- +gate, which is at the very bottom of the rock. The wild wailings +of the pibroch were heard at times, interchanged with the drums +and fifes, which beat the Dead March. + +The unhappy criminal's fate did not, at first, excite that +general sympathy in the regiment which would probably have arisen +had he been executed for desertion alone. The slaughter of the +unfortunate Allan Breack had given a different colour to Hamish's +offence; for the deceased was much beloved, and besides belonged +to a numerous and powerful clan, of whom there were many in the +ranks. The unfortunate criminal, on the contrary, was little +known to, and scarcely connected with, any of his regimental +companions. His father had been, indeed, distinguished for his +strength and manhood; but he was of a broken clan, as those names +were called who had no chief to lead them to battle. + +It would have been almost impossible in another case to have +turned out of the ranks of the regiment the party necessary for +execution of the sentence; but the six individuals selected for +that purpose, were friends of the deceased, descended, like him, +from the race of MacDhonuil Dhu; and while they prepared for the +dismal task which their duty imposed, it was not without a stern +feeling of gratified revenge. The leading company of the +regiment began now to defile from the barrier-gate, and was +followed by the others, each successively moving and halting +according to the orders of the adjutant, so as to form three +sides of an oblong square, with the ranks faced inwards. The +fourth, or blank side of the square, was closed up by the huge +and lofty precipice on which the Castle rises. About the centre +of the procession, bare-headed, disarmed, and with his hands +bound, came the unfortunate victim of military law. He was +deadly pale, but his step was firm and his eye as bright as ever. +The clergyman walked by his side; the coffin, which was to +receive his mortal remains, was borne before him. The looks of +his comrades were still, composed, and solemn. They felt for the +youth, whose handsome form and manly yet submissive deportment +had, as soon as he was distinctly visible to them, softened the +hearts of many, even of some who had been actuated by vindictive +feelings. + +The coffin destined for the yet living body of Hamish Bean was +placed at the bottom of the hollow square, about two yards +distant from the foot of the precipice, which rises in that place +as steep as a stone wall to the height of three or four hundred +feet. Thither the prisoner was also led, the clergyman still +continuing by his side, pouring forth exhortations of courage and +consolation, to which the youth appeared to listen with +respectful devotion. With slow, and, it seemed, almost unwilling +steps, the firing party entered the square, and were drawn up +facing the prisoner, about ten yards distant. The clergyman was +now about to retire. "Think, my son," he said, "on what I have +told you, and let your hope be rested on the anchor which I have +given. You will then exchange a short and miserable existence +here for a life in which you will experience neither sorrow nor +pain. Is there aught else which you can entrust to me to execute +for you?" + +The youth looked at his sleeve buttons. They were of gold, booty +perhaps which his father had taken from some English officer +during the civil wars. The clergyman disengaged them from his +sleeves. + +"My mother!" he said with some effort--"give them to my poor +mother! See her, good father, and teach her what she should +think of all this. Tell her Hamish Bean is more glad to die than +ever he was to rest after the longest day's hunting. Farewell, +sir--farewell!" + +The good man could scarce retire from the fatal spot. An officer +afforded him the support of his arm. At his last look towards +Hamish, he beheld him alive and kneeling on the coffin; the few +that were around him had all withdrawn. The fatal word was +given, the rock rung sharp to the sound of the discharge, and +Hamish, falling forward with a groan, died, it may be supposed, +without almost a sense of the passing agony. + +Ten or twelve of his own company then came forward, and laid with +solemn reverence the remains of their comrade in the coffin, +while the Dead March was again struck up, and the several +companies, marching in single files, passed the coffin one by +one, in order that all might receive from the awful spectacle the +warning which it was peculiarly intended to afford. The regiment +was then marched off the ground, and reascended the ancient +cliff, their music, as usual on such occasions, striking lively +strains, as if sorrow, or even deep thought, should as short a +while as possible be the tenant of the soldier's bosom. + +At the same time the small party, which we before mentioned, bore +the bier of the ill-fated Hamish to his humble grave, in a corner +of the churchyard of Dunbarton, usually assigned to criminals. +Here, among the dust of the guilty, lies a youth, whose name, had +he survived the ruin of the fatal events by which he was hurried +into crime, might have adorned the annals of the brave. + +The minister of Glenorquhy left Dunbarton immediately after he +had witnessed the last scene of this melancholy catastrophe. His +reason acquiesced in the justice of the sentence, which required +blood for blood, and he acknowledged that the vindictive +character of his countrymen required to be powerfully restrained +by the strong curb of social law. But still he mourned over the +individual victim. Who may arraign the bolt of Heaven when it +bursts among the sons of the forest? yet who can refrain from +mourning when it selects for the object of its blighting aim the +fair stem of a young oak, that promised to be the pride of the +dell in which it flourished? Musing on these melancholy events, +noon found him engaged in the mountain passes, by which he was to +return to his still distant home. + +Confident in his knowledge of the country, the clergyman had left +the main road, to seek one of those shorter paths, which are only +used by pedestrians, or by men, like the minister, mounted on the +small, but sure-footed, hardy, and sagacious horses of the +country. The place which he now traversed was in itself gloomy +and desolate, and tradition had added to it the terror of +superstition, by affirming it was haunted by an evil spirit, +termed CLOGHT-DEARG--that is, Redmantle--who at all times, but +especially at noon and at midnight, traversed the glen, in enmity +both to man and the inferior creation, did such evil as her power +was permitted to extend to, and afflicted with ghastly terrors +those whom she had not license otherwise to hurt. + +The minister of Glenorquhy had set his face in opposition to many +of these superstitions, which he justly thought were derived from +the dark ages of Popery, perhaps even from those of paganism, and +unfit to be entertained or believed by the Christians of an +enlightened age. Some of his more attached parishioners +considered him as too rash in opposing the ancient faith of their +fathers; and though they honoured the moral intrepidity of their +pastor, they could not avoid entertaining and expressing fears +that he would one day fall a victim to his temerity, and be torn +to pieces in the glen of the Cloght-dearg, or some of those other +haunted wilds, which he appeared rather to have a pride and +pleasure in traversing alone, on the days and hours when the +wicked spirits were supposed to have especial power over man and +beast. + +These legends came across the mind of the clergyman, and, +solitary as he was, a melancholy smile shaded his cheek, as he +thought of the inconsistency of human nature, and reflected how +many brave men, whom the yell of the pibroch would have sent +headlong against fixed bayonets, as the wild bull rushes on his +enemy, might have yet feared to encounter those visionary +terrors, which he himself, a man of peace, and in ordinary perils +no way remarkable for the firmness of his nerves, was now risking +without hesitation. + +As he looked around the scene of desolation, he could not but +acknowledge, in his own mind, that it was not ill chosen for the +haunt of those spirits, which are said to delight in solitude and +desolation. The glen was so steep and narrow that there was but +just room for the meridian sun to dart a few scattered rays upon +the gloomy and precarious stream which stole through its +recesses, for the most part in silence, but occasionally +murmuring sullenly against the rocks and large stones which +seemed determined to bar its further progress. In winter, or in +the rainy season, this small stream was a foaming torrent of the +most formidable magnitude, and it was at such periods that it had +torn open and laid bare the broad-faced and huge fragments of +rock which, at the season of which we speak, hid its course from +the eye, and seemed disposed totally to interrupt its course. +"Undoubtedly," thought the clergyman, "this mountain rivulet, +suddenly swelled by a waterspout or thunderstorm, has often been +the cause of those accidents which, happening in the glen called +by her name, have been ascribed to the agency of the Cloght- +dearg." + +Just as this idea crossed his mind, he heard a female voice +exclaim, in a wild and thrilling accent, "Michael Tyrie! Michael +Tyrie!" He looked round in astonishment, and not without some +fear. It seemed for an instant, as if the evil being, whose +existence he had disowned, was about to appear for the punishment +of his incredulity. This alarm did not hold him more than an +instant, nor did it prevent his replying in a firm voice, "Who +calls? and where are you?" + +"One who journeys in wretchedness, between life and death," +answered the voice; and the speaker, a tall female, appeared from +among the fragments of rocks which had concealed her from view. + +As she approached more closely, her mantle of bright tartan, in +which the red colour much predominated, her stature, the long +stride with which she advanced, and the writhen features and wild +eyes which were visible from under her curch, would have made her +no inadequate representative of the spirit which gave name to the +valley. But Mr. Tyrie instantly knew her as the Woman of the +Tree, the widow of MacTavish Mhor, the now childless mother of +Hamish Bean. I am not sure whether the minister would not have +endured the visitation of the Cloght-dearg herself, rather than +the shock of Elspat's presence, considering her crime and her +misery. He drew up his horse instinctively, and stood +endeavouring to collect his ideas, while a few paces brought her +up to his horse's head. + +"Michael Tyrie," said she, "the foolish women of the Clachan [The +village; literally, the stones.] hold thee as a god--be one to +me, and say that my son lives. Say this, and I too will be of +thy worship; I will bend my knees on the seventh day in thy house +of worship, and thy God shall be my God." + +"Unhappy woman," replied the clergyman, "man forms not pactions +with his Maker as with a creature of clay like himself. Thinkest +thou to chaffer with Him, who formed the earth, and spread out +the heavens, or that thou canst offer aught of homage or devotion +that can be worth acceptance in his eyes? He hath asked +obedience, not sacrifice; patience under the trials with which He +afflicts us, instead of vain bribes, such as man offers to his +changeful brother of clay, that he may be moved from his +purpose." + +"Be silent, priest!" answered the desperate woman; "speak not to +me the words of thy white book. Elspat's kindred were of those +who crossed themselves and knelt when the sacring bell was rung, +and she knows that atonement can be made on the altar for deeds +done in the field. Elspat had once flocks and herds, goats upon +the cliffs, and cattle in the strath. She wore gold around her +neck and on her hair--thick twists, as those worn by the heroes +of old. All these would she have resigned to the priest--all +these; and if he wished for the ornaments of a gentle lady, or +the sporran of a high chief, though they had been great as +Macallum Mhor himself, MacTavish Mhor would have procured them, +if Elspat had promised them. Elspat is now poor, and has nothing +to give. But the Black Abbot of Inchaffray would have bidden her +scourge her shoulders, and macerate her feet by pilgrimage; and +he would have granted his pardon to her when he saw that her +blood had flowed, and that her flesh had been torn. These were +the priests who had indeed power even with the most powerful; +they threatened the great men of the earth with the word of their +mouth, the sentence of their book, the blaze of their torch, the +sound of their sacring bell. The mighty bent to their will, and +unloosed at the word of the priests those whom they had bound in +their wrath, and set at liberty, unharmed, him whom they had +sentenced to death, and for whose blood they had thirsted. These +were a powerful race, and might well ask the poor to kneel, since +their power could humble the proud. But you!--against whom are +ye strong, but against women who have been guilty of folly, and +men who never wore sword? The priests of old were like the +winter torrent which fills this hollow valley, and rolls these +massive rocks against each other as easily as the boy plays with +the ball which he casts before him. But you!--you do but +resemble the summer-stricken stream, which is turned aside by the +rushes, and stemmed by a bush of sedges. Woe worth you, for +there is no help in you!" + +The clergyman was at no loss to conceive that Elspat had lost the +Roman Catholic faith without gaining any other, and that she +still retained a vague and confused idea of the composition with +the priesthood, by confession, alms, and penance, and of their +extensive power, which, according to her notion, was adequate, if +duly propitiated, even to effecting her son's safety. +Compassionating her situation, and allowing for her errors and +ignorance, he answered her with mildness. + +"Alas, unhappy woman! Would to God I could convince thee as +easily where thou oughtest to seek, and art sure to find, +consolation, as I can assure you with a single word, that were +Rome and all her priesthood once more in the plenitude of their +power, they could not, for largesse or penance, afford to thy +misery an atom of aid or comfort--Elspat MacTavish, I grieve to +tell you the news." + +"I know them without thy speech," said the unhappy woman. "My +son is doomed to die." + +"Elspat," resumed the clergyman, "he WAS doomed, and the sentence +has been executed." + +The hapless mother threw her eyes up to heaven, and uttered a +shriek so unlike the voice of a human being, that the eagle which +soared in middle air answered it as she would have done the call +of her mate. + +"It is impossible!" she exclaimed--"it is impossible! Men do +not condemn and kill on the same day! Thou art deceiving me. +The people call thee holy--hast thou the heart to tell a mother +she has murdered her only child?" + +"God knows," said the priest, the tears falling fast from his +eyes, "that were it in my power, I would gladly tell better +tidings. But these which I bear are as certain as they are +fatal. My own ears heard the death-shot, my own eyes beheld thy +son's death--thy son's funeral. My tongue bears witness to what +my ears heard and my eyes saw." + +The wretched female clasped her bands close together, and held +them up towards heaven like a sibyl announcing war and +desolation, while, in impotent yet frightful rage, she poured +forth a tide of the deepest imprecations. "Base Saxon churl!" +she exclaimed--"vile hypocritical juggler! May the eyes that +looked tamely on the death of my fair-haired boy be melted in +their sockets with ceaseless tears, shed for those that are +nearest and most dear to thee! May the ears that heard his +death-knell be dead hereafter to all other sounds save the +screech of the raven, and the hissing of the adder! May the +tongue that tells me of his death and of my own crime, be +withered in thy mouth--or better, when thou wouldst pray with thy +people, may the Evil One guide it, and give voice to blasphemies +instead of blessings, until men shall fly in terror from thy +presence, and the thunder of heaven be launched against thy head, +and stop for ever thy cursing and accursed voice! Begone, with +this malison! Elspat will never, never again bestow so many +words upon living man." + +She kept her word. From that day the world was to her a +wilderness, in which she remained without thought, care, or +interest, absorbed in her own grief, indifferent to every thing +else. + +With her mode of life, or rather of existence, the reader is +already as far acquainted as I have the power of making him. Of +her death, I can tell him nothing. It is supposed to have +happened several years after she had attracted the attention of +my excellent friend Mrs. Bethune Baliol. Her benevolence, which +was never satisfied with dropping a sentimental tear, when there +was room for the operation of effective charity, induced her to +make various attempts to alleviate the condition of this most +wretched woman. But all her exertions could only render Elspat's +means of subsistence less precarious--a circumstance which, +though generally interesting even to the most wretched outcasts, +seemed to her a matter of total indifference. Every attempt to +place any person in her hut to take charge of her miscarried, +through the extreme resentment with which she regarded all +intrusion on her solitude, or by the timidity of those who had +been pitched upon to be inmates with the terrible Woman of the +Tree. At length, when Elspat became totally unable (in +appearance at least) to turn herself on the wretched settle which +served her for a couch, the humanity of Mr. Tyrie's successor +sent two women to attend upon the last moments of the solitary, +which could not, it was judged, be far distant, and to avert the +possibility that she might perish for want of assistance or food, +before she sunk under the effects of extreme age or mortal +malady. + +It was on a November evening, that the two women appointed for +this melancholy purpose arrived at the miserable cottage which we +have already described. Its wretched inmate lay stretched upon +the bed, and seemed almost already a lifeless corpse, save for +the wandering of the fierce dark eyes, which rolled in their +sockets in a manner terrible to look upon, and seemed to watch +with surprise and indignation the motions of the strangers, as +persons whose presence was alike unexpected and unwelcome. They +were frightened at her looks; but, assured in each other's +company, they kindled a fire, lighted a candle, prepared food, +and made other arrangements for the discharge of the duty +assigned them. + +The assistants agreed they should watch the bedside of the sick +person by turns; but, about midnight, overcome by fatigue, (for +they had walked far that morning), both of them fell fast asleep. +When they awoke, which was not till after the interval of some +hours, the hut was empty, and the patient gone. They rose in +terror, and went to the door of the cottage, which was latched as +it had been at night. They looked out into the darkness, and +called upon their charge by her name. The night-raven screamed +from the old oak-tree, the fox howled on the hill, the hoarse +waterfall replied with its echoes; but there was no human answer. +The terrified women did not dare to make further search till +morning should appear; for the sudden disappearance of a creature +so frail as Elspat, together with the wild tenor of her history, +intimidated them from stirring from the hut. They remained, +therefore, in dreadful terror, sometimes thinking they heard her +voice without, and at other times, that sounds of a different +description were mingled with the mournful sigh of the night- +breeze, or the dashing of the cascade. Sometimes, too, the latch +rattled, as if some frail and impotent hand were in vain +attempting to lift it, and ever and anon they expected the +entrance of their terrible patient, animated by supernatural +strength, and in the company, perhaps, of some being more +dreadful than herself. Morning came at length. They sought +brake, rock, and thicket in vain. Two hours after daylight, the +minister himself appeared, and, on the report of the watchers, +caused the country to be alarmed, and a general and exact search +to be made through the whole neighbourhood of the cottage and the +oak-tree. But it was all in vain. Elspat MacTavish was never +found, whether dead or alive; nor could there ever be traced the +slightest circumstance to indicate her fate. + +The neighbourhood was divided concerning the cause of her +disappearance. The credulous thought that the evil spirit, under +whose influence she seemed to have acted, had carried her away in +the body; and there are many who are still unwilling, at untimely +hours, to pass the oak-tree, beneath which, as they allege, she +may still be seen seated according to her wont. Others less +superstitious supposed, that had it been possible to search the +gulf of the Corri Dhu, the profound deeps of the lake, or the +whelming eddies of the river, the remains of Elspat MacTavish +might have been discovered--as nothing was more natural, +considering her state of body and mind, than that she should have +fallen in by accident, or precipitated herself intentionally, +into one or other of those places of sure destruction. The +clergyman entertained an opinion of his own. He thought that, +impatient of the watch which was placed over her, this unhappy +woman's instinct had taught her, as it directs various domestic +animals, to withdraw herself from the sight of her own race, that +the death-struggle might take place in some secret den, where, in +all probability, her mortal relics would never meet the eyes of +mortals. This species of instinctive feeling seemed to him of a +tenor with the whole course of her unhappy life, and most likely +to influence her when it drew to a conclusion. + +End of THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + + +* + + +MR. CROFTANGRY INTRODUCES ANOTHER TALE. + + Together both on the high lawns appeared. + Under the opening eyelids of the morn + They drove afield. ELEGY ON LYCIDAS. + +I have sometimes wondered why all the favourite occupations and +pastimes of mankind go to the disturbance of that happy state of +tranquillity, that OTIUM, as Horace terms it, which he says is +the object of all men's prayers, whether preferred from sea or +land; and that the undisturbed repose, of which we are so +tenacious, when duty or necessity compels us to abandon it, is +precisely what we long to exchange for a state of excitation, as +soon as we may prolong it at our own pleasure. Briefly, you have +only to say to a man, "Remain at rest," and you instantly inspire +the love of labour. The sportsman toils like his gamekeeper, the +master of the pack takes as severe exercise as his whipper-in, +the statesman or politician drudges more than the professional +lawyer; and, to come to my own case, the volunteer author +subjects himself to the risk of painful criticism, and the +assured certainty of mental and manual labour, just as completely +as his needy brother, whose necessities compel him to assume the +pen. + +These reflections have been suggested by an annunciation on the +part of Janet, "that the little Gillie-whitefoot was come from +the printing-office." + +"Gillie-blackfoot you should call him, Janet," was my response, +"for he is neither more nor less than an imp of the devil, come +to torment me for COPY, for so the printers call a supply of +manuscript for the press." + +"Now, Cot forgie your honour," said Janet; "for it is no like +your ainsell to give such names to a faitherless bairn." + +"I have got nothing else to give him, Janet; he must wait a +little." + +"Then I have got some breakfast to give the bit gillie," said +Janet; "and he can wait by the fireside in the kitchen, till your +honour's ready; and cood enough for the like of him, if he was to +wait your honour's pleasure all day." + +"But, Janet," said I to my little active superintendent, on her +return to the parlour, after having made her hospitable +arrangements, "I begin to find this writing our Chronicles is +rather more tiresome than I expected, for here comes this little +fellow to ask for manuscript--that is, for something to print-- +and I have got none to give him." + +"Your honour can be at nae loss. I have seen you write fast and +fast enough; and for subjects, you have the whole Highlands to +write about, and I am sure you know a hundred tales better than +that about Hamish MacTavish, for it was but about a young cateran +and an auld carlin, when all's done; and if they had burned the +rudas quean for a witch, I am thinking, may be they would not +have tyned their coals--and her to gar her ne'er-do-weel son +shoot a gentleman Cameron! I am third cousin to the Camerons +mysel'--my blood warms to them. And if you want to write about +deserters, I am sure there were deserters enough on the top of +Arthur's Seat, when the MacRaas broke out, and on that woeful day +beside Leith Pier--ohonari!"-- + +Here Janet began to weep, and to wipe her eyes with her apron. +For my part, the idea I wanted was supplied, but I hesitated to +make use of it. Topics, like times, are apt to become common by +frequent use. It is only an ass like Justice Shallow, who would +pitch upon the over-scutched tunes, which the carmen whistled, +and try to pass them off as his FANCIES and his GOOD-NIGHTS. +Now, the Highlands, though formerly a rich mine for original +matter, are, as my friend Mrs. Bethune Baliol warned me, in some +degree worn out by the incessant labour of modern romancers and +novelists, who, finding in those remote regions primitive habits +and manners, have vainly imagined that the public can never tire +of them; and so kilted Highlanders are to be found as frequently, +and nearly of as genuine descent, on the shelves of a circulating +library, as at a Caledonian ball. Much might have been made at +an earlier time out of the history of a Highland regiment, and +the singular revolution of ideas which must have taken place in +the minds of those who composed it, when exchanging their native +hills for the battle-fields of the Continent, and their simple, +and sometimes indolent domestic habits for the regular exertions +demanded by modern discipline. But the market is forestalled. +There is Mrs. Grant of Laggan, has drawn the manners, customs, +and superstitions of the mountains in their natural +unsophisticated state; [Letters from the Mountains, 3 vols.-- +Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlanders--The Highlanders, +and other Poems, etc.] and my friend, General Stewart of Garth, +[The gallant and amiable author of the History of the Highland +Regiments, in whose glorious services his own share had been +great, went out Governor of St Lucia in 1828, and died in that +island on the 18th of December 1829,--no man more regretted, or +perhaps by a wider circle of friends and acquaintance.] in +giving the real history of the Highland regiments, has rendered +any attempt to fill up the sketch with fancy-colouring extremely +rash and precarious. Yet I, too, have still a lingering fancy to +add a stone to the cairn; and without calling in imagination to +aid the impressions of juvenile recollection, I may just attempt +to embody one or two scenes illustrative of the Highland +character, and which belong peculiarly to the Chronicles of the +Canongate, to the grey-headed eld of whom they are as familiar as +to Chrystal Croftangry. Yet I will not go back to the days of +clanship and claymores. Have at you, gentle reader, with a tale +of Two Drovers. An oyster may be crossed in love, says the +gentle Tilburina--and a drover may be touched on a point of +honour, says the Chronicler of the Canongate. + + +* + + +THE TWO DROVERS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +It was the day after Doune Fair when my story commences. It had +been a brisk market. Several dealers had attended from the +northern and midland counties in England, and English money had +flown so merrily about as to gladden the hearts of the Highland +farmers. Many large droves were about to set off for England, +under the protection of their owners, or of the topsmen whom they +employed in the tedious, laborious, and responsible office of +driving the cattle for many hundred miles, from the market where +they had been purchased, to the fields or farmyards where they +were to be fattened for the shambles. + +The Highlanders in particular are masters of this difficult trade +of driving, which seems to suit them as well as the trade of war. +It affords exercise for all their habits of patient endurance and +active exertion. They are required to know perfectly the drove- +roads, which lie over the wildest tracts of the country, and to +avoid as much as possible the highways, which distress the feet +of the bullocks, and the turnpikes, which annoy the spirit of the +drover; whereas on the broad green or grey track which leads +across the pathless moor, the herd not only move at ease and +without taxation, but, if they mind their business, may pick up a +mouthful of food by the way. At night the drovers usually sleep +along with their cattle, let the weather be what it will; and +many of these hardy men do not once rest under a roof during a +journey on foot from Lochaber to Lincolnshire. They are paid +very highly, for the trust reposed is of the last importance, as +it depends on their prudence, vigilance, and honesty whether the +cattle reach the final market in good order, and afford a profit +to the grazier. But as they maintain themselves at their own +expense, they are especially economical in that particular. At +the period we speak of, a Highland drover was victualled for his +long and toilsome journey with a few handfulls of oatmeal and two +or three onions, renewed from time to time, and a ram's horn +filled with whisky, which he used regularly, but sparingly, every +night and morning. His dirk, or SKENE-DHU, (that is, black- +knife), so worn as to be concealed beneath the arm, or by the +folds of the plaid, was his only weapon, excepting the cudgel +with which he directed the movements of the cattle. A Highlander +was never so happy as on these occasions. There was a variety in +the whole journey, which exercised the Celt's natural curiosity +and love of motion. There were the constant change of place and +scene, the petty adventures incidental to the traffic, and the +intercourse with the various farmers, graziers, and traders, +intermingled with occasional merry-makings, not the less +acceptable to Donald that they were void of expense. And there +was the consciousness of superior skill; for the Highlander, a +child amongst flocks, is a prince amongst herds, and his natural +habits induce him to disdain the shepherd's slothful life, so +that he feels himself nowhere more at home than when following a +gallant drove of his country cattle in the character of their +guardian. + +Of the number who left Doune in the morning, and with the purpose +we have described, not a GLUNAMIE of them all cocked his bonnet +more briskly, or gartered his tartan hose under knee over a pair +of more promising SPIOGS, (legs), than did Robin Oig M'Combich, +called familiarly Robin Oig, that is young, or the Lesser, Robin. +Though small of stature, as the epithet Oig implies, and not very +strongly limbed, he was as light and alert as one of the deer of +his mountains. He had an elasticity of step which, in the course +of a long march, made many a stout fellow envy him; and the +manner in which he busked his plaid and adjusted his bonnet +argued a consciousness that so smart a John Highlandman as +himself would not pass unnoticed among the Lowland lasses. The +ruddy cheek, red lips, and white teeth set off a countenance +which had gained by exposure to the weather a healthful and hardy +rather than a rugged hue. If Robin Oig did not laugh, or even +smile frequently--as, indeed, is not the practice among his +countrymen--his bright eyes usually gleamed from under his bonnet +with an expression of cheerfulness ready to be turned into mirth. + +The departure of Robin Oig was an incident in the little town, in +and near which he had many friends, male and female. He was a +topping person in his way, transacted considerable business on +his own behalf, and was entrusted by the best farmers in the +Highlands, in preference to any other drover in that district. +He might have increased his business to any extent had he +condescended to manage it by deputy; but except a lad or two, +sister's sons of his own, Robin rejected the idea of assistance, +conscious, perhaps, how much his reputation depended upon his +attending in person to the practical discharge of his duty in +every instance. He remained, therefore, contented with the +highest premium given to persons of his description, and +comforted himself with the hopes that a few journeys to England +might enable him to conduct business on his own account, in a +manner becoming his birth. For Robin Oig's father, Lachlan +M'Combich (or SON OF MY FRIEND, his actual clan surname being +M'Gregor), had been so called by the celebrated Rob Roy, because +of the particular friendship which had subsisted between the +grandsire of Robin and that renowned cateran. Some people even +said that Robin Oig derived his Christian name from one as +renowned in the wilds of Loch Lomond as ever was his namesake +Robin Hood in the precincts of merry Sherwood. "Of such +ancestry," as James Boswell says, "who would not be proud?" +Robin Oig was proud accordingly; but his frequent visits to +England and to the Lowlands had given him tact enough to know +that pretensions which still gave him a little right to +distinction in his own lonely glen, might be both obnoxious and +ridiculous if preferred elsewhere. The pride of birth, +therefore, was like the miser's treasure--the secret subject of +his contemplation, but never exhibited to strangers as a subject +of boasting. + +Many were the words of gratulation and good-luck which were +bestowed on Robin Oig. The judges commended his drove, +especially Robin's own property, which were the best of them. +Some thrust out their snuff-mulls for the parting pinch, others +tendered the DOCH-AN-DORRACH, or parting cup. All cried, "Good- +luck travel out with you and come home with you. Give you luck +in the Saxon market--brave notes in the LEABHAR-DHU," (black +pocket-book), "and plenty of English gold in the SPORRAN" (pouch +of goat-skin). + +The bonny lasses made their adieus more modestly, and more than +one, it was said, would have given her best brooch to be certain +that it was upon her that his eye last rested as he turned +towards the road. + +Robin Oig had just given the preliminary "HOO-HOO!" to urge +forward the loiterers of the drove, when there was a cry behind +him:-- + +"Stay, Robin--bide a blink. Here is Janet of Tomahourich--auld +Janet, your father's sister." + +"Plague on her, for an auld Highland witch and spaewife," said a +farmer from the Carse of Stirling; "she'll cast some of her +cantrips on the cattle." + +"She canna do that," said another sapient of the same profession. +"Robin Oig is no the lad to leave any of them without tying Saint +Mungo's knot on their tails, and that will put to her speed the +best witch that ever flew over Dimayet upon a broomstick." + +It may not be indifferent to the reader to know that the Highland +cattle are peculiarly liable to be TAKEN, or infected, by spells +and witchcraft, which judicious people guard against by knitting +knots of peculiar complexity on the tuft of hair which terminates +the animal's tail. + +But the old woman who was the object of the farmer's suspicion +seemed only busied about the drover, without paying any attention +to the drove. Robin, on the contrary, appeared rather impatient +of her presence. + +"What auld-world fancy," he said, "has brought you so early from +the ingle-side this morning, Muhme? l am sure I bid you good- +even, and had your God-speed, last night." + +"And left me more siller than the useless old woman will use till +you come back again, bird of my bosom," said the sibyl. "But it +is little I would care for the food that nourishes me, or the +fire that warms me, or for God's blessed sun itself, if aught but +weel should happen to the grandson of my father. So let me walk +the DEASIL round you, that you may go safe out into the far +foreign land, and come safe home." + +Robin Oig stopped, half embarrassed, half laughing, and signing +to those around that he only complied with the old woman to +soothe her humour. In the meantime, she traced around him, with +wavering steps, the propitiation, which some have thought has +been derived from the Druidical mythology. It consists, as is +well known, in the person who makes the DEASIL walking three +times round the person who is the object of the ceremony, taking +care to move according to the course of the sun. At once, +however, she stopped short, and exclaimed, in a voice of alarm +and horror, "Grandson of my father, there is blood on your hand." + +"Hush, for God's sake, aunt!" said Robin Oig. "You will bring +more trouble on yourself with this TAISHATARAGH" (second sight) +"than you will be able to get out of for many a day." + +The old woman only repeated, with a ghastly look, "There is blood +on your hand, and it is English blood. The blood of the Gael is +richer and redder. Let us see--let us--" + +Ere Robin Oig could prevent her, which, indeed, could only have +been by positive violence, so hasty and peremptory were her +proceedings, she had drawn from his side the dirk which lodged in +the folds of his plaid, and held it up, exclaiming, although the +weapon gleamed clear and bright in the sun, "Blood, blood--Saxon +blood again. Robin Oig M'Combich, go not this day to England!" + +"Prutt, trutt," answered Robin Oig, "that will never do neither +--it would be next thing to running the country. For shame, +Muhme--give me the dirk. You cannot tell by the colour the +difference betwixt the blood of a black bullock and a white one, +and you speak of knowing Saxon from Gaelic blood. All men have +their blood from Adam, Muhme. Give me my skene-dhu, and let me +go on my road. I should have been half way to Stirling brig by +this time. Give me my dirk, and let me go." + +"Never will I give it to you," said the old woman--"Never will I +quit my hold on your plaid--unless you promise me not to wear +that unhappy weapon." + +The women around him urged him also, saying few of his aunt's +words fell to the ground; and as the Lowland farmers continued to +look moodily on the scene, Robin Oig determined to close it at +any sacrifice. + +"Well, then," said the young drover, giving the scabbard of the +weapon to Hugh Morrison, "you Lowlanders care nothing for these +freats. Keep my dirk for me. I cannot give it you, because it +was my father's; but your drove follows ours, and I am content it +should be in your keeping, not in mine.--Will this do, Muhme?" + +"It must," said the old woman--"that is, if the Lowlander is mad +enough to carry the knife." + +The strong Westlandman laughed aloud. + +"Goodwife," said he, "I am Hugh Morrison from Glenae, come of the +Manly Morrisons of auld lang syne, that never took short weapon +against a man in their lives. And neither needed they. They had +their broadswords, and I have this bit supple"--showing a +formidable cudgel; "for dirking ower the board, I leave that to +John Highlandman.--Ye needna snort, none of you Highlanders, and +you in especial, Robin. I'll keep the bit knife, if you are +feared for the auld spaewife's tale, and give it back to you +whenever you want it." + +Robin was not particularly pleased with some part of Hugh +Morrison's speech; but he had learned in his travels more +patience than belonged to his Highland constitution originally, +and he accepted the service of the descendant of the Manly +Morrisons without finding fault with the rather depreciating +manner in which it was offered. + +"If he had not had his morning in his head, and been but a +Dumfriesshire hog into the boot, he would have spoken more like a +gentleman. But you cannot have more of a sow than a grumph. +It's shame my father's knife should ever slash a haggis for the +like of him." + +Thus saying, (but saying it in Gaelic), Robin drove on his +cattle, and waved farewell to all behind him. He was in the +greater haste, because he expected to join at Falkirk a comrade +and brother in profession, with whom he proposed to travel in +company. + +Robin Oig's chosen friend was a young Englishman, Harry Wakefield +by name, well known at every northern market, and in his way as +much famed and honoured as our Highland driver of bullocks. He +was nearly six feet high, gallantly formed to keep the rounds at +Smithfield, or maintain the ring at a wrestling match; and +although he might have been overmatched, perhaps, among the +regular professors of the Fancy, yet, as a yokel or rustic, or a +chance customer, he was able to give a bellyful to any amateur of +the pugilistic art. Doncaster races saw him in his glory, +betting his guinea, and generally successfully; nor was there a +main fought in Yorkshire, the feeders being persons of celebrity, +at which he was not to be seen if business permitted. But though +a SPRACK lad, and fond of pleasure and its haunts, Harry +Wakefield was steady, and not the cautious Robin Oig M'Combich +himself was more attentive to the main chance. His holidays were +holidays indeed; but his days of work were dedicated to steady +and persevering labour. In countenance and temper, Wakefield was +the model of Old England's merry yeomen, whose clothyard shafts, +in so many hundred battles, asserted her superiority over the +nations, and whose good sabres, in our own time, are her cheapest +and most assured defence. His mirth was readily excited; for, +strong in limb and constitution, and fortunate in circumstances, +he was disposed to be pleased with every thing about him, and +such difficulties as he might occasionally encounter were, to a +man of his energy, rather matter of amusement than serious +annoyance. With all the merits of a sanguine temper, our young +English drover was not without his defects. He was irascible, +sometimes to the verge of being quarrelsome; and perhaps not the +less inclined to bring his disputes to a pugilistic decision, +because he found few antagonists able to stand up to him in the +boxing ring. + +It is difficult to say how Harry Wakefield and Robin Oig first +became intimates, but it is certain a close acquaintance had +taken place betwixt them, although they had apparently few common +subjects of conversation or of interest, so soon as their talk +ceased to be of bullocks. Robin Oig, indeed, spoke the English +language rather imperfectly upon any other topics but stots and +kyloes, and Harry Wakefield could never bring his broad Yorkshire +tongue to utter a single word of Gaelic. It was in vain Robin +spent a whole morning, during a walk over Minch Moor, in +attempting to teach his companion to utter, with true precision, +the shibboleth LLHU, which is the Gaelic for a calf. From +Traquair to Murder Cairn, the hill rung with the discordant +attempts of the Saxon upon the unmanageable monosyllable, and the +heartfelt laugh which followed every failure. They had, however, +better modes of awakening the echoes; for Wakefield could sing +many a ditty to the praise of Moll, Susan, and Cicely, and Robin +Oig had a particular gift at whistling interminable pibrochs +through all their involutions, and what was more agreeable to his +companion's southern ear, knew many of the northern airs, both +lively and pathetic, to which Wakefield learned to pipe a bass. +Thus, though Robin could hardly have comprehended his companion's +stories about horse-racing, and cock-fighting, or fox-hunting, +and although his own legends of clan-fights and CREAGHS, varied +with talk of Highland goblins and fairy folk, would have been +caviare to his companion, they contrived, nevertheless to find a +degree of pleasure in each other's company, which had for three +years back induced them to join company and travel together, when +the direction of their journey permitted. Each, indeed, found +his advantage in this companionship; for where could the +Englishman have found a guide through the Western Highlands like +Robin Oig M'Combich? and when they were on what Harry called the +RIGHT side of the Border, his patronage, which was extensive, and +his purse, which was heavy, were at all times at the service of +his Highland friend, and on many occasions his liberality did him +genuine yeoman's service. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Were ever two such loving friends!-- + How could they disagree? + Oh, thus it was, he loved him dear, + And thought how to requite him, + And having no friend left but he, + He did resolve to fight him. DUKE UPON DUKE. + +The pair of friends had traversed with their usual cordiality the +grassy wilds of Liddesdale, and crossed the opposite part of +Cumberland, emphatically called The Waste. In these solitary +regions the cattle under the charge of our drovers derived their +subsistence chiefly by picking their food as they went along the +drove-road, or sometimes by the tempting opportunity of a START +AND OWERLOUP, or invasion of the neighbouring pasture, where an +occasion presented itself. But now the scene changed before +them. They were descending towards a fertile and enclosed +country, where no such liberties could be taken with impunity, or +without a previous arrangement and bargain with the possessors of +the ground. This was more especially the case, as a great +northern fair was upon the eve of taking place, where both the +Scotch and English drover expected to dispose of a part of their +cattle, which it was desirable to produce in the market rested +and in good order. Fields were therefore difficult to be +obtained, and only upon high terms. This necessity occasioned a +temporary separation betwixt the two friends, who went to +bargain, each as he could, for the separate accommodation of his +herd. Unhappily it chanced that both of them, unknown to each +other, thought of bargaining for the ground they wanted on the +property of a country gentleman of some fortune, whose estate lay +in the neighbourhood. The English drover applied to the bailiff +on the property, who was known to him. It chanced that the +Cumbrian Squire, who had entertained some suspicions of his +manager's honesty, was taking occasional measures to ascertain +how far they were well founded, and had desired that any +enquiries about his enclosures, with a view to occupy them for a +temporary purpose, should be referred to himself. As however, +Mr. Ireby had gone the day before upon a journey of some miles +distance to the northward, the bailiff chose to consider the +check upon his full powers as for the time removed, and concluded +that he should best consult his master's interest, and perhaps +his own, in making an agreement with Harry Wakefield. Meanwhile, +ignorant of what his comrade was doing, Robin Oig, on his side, +chanced to be overtaken by a good-looking smart little man upon a +pony, most knowingly hogged and cropped, as was then the fashion, +the rider wearing tight leather breeches, and long-necked bright +spurs. This cavalier asked one or two pertinent questions about +markets and the price of stock. So Robin, seeing him a well- +judging civil gentleman, took the freedom to ask him whether he +could let him know if there was any grass-land to be let in that +neighbourhood, for the temporary accommodation of his drove. He +could not have put the question to more willing ears. The +gentleman of the buckskins was the proprietor, with whose bailiff +Harry Wakefield had dealt, or was in the act of dealing. + +"Thou art in good luck, my canny Scot," said Mr. Ireby, "to have +spoken to me, for I see thy cattle have done their day's work, +and I have at my disposal the only field within three miles that +is to be let in these parts." + +"The drove can pe gang two, three, four miles very pratty weel +indeed"--said the cautious Highlander; "put what would his honour +pe axing for the peasts pe the head, if she was to tak the park +for twa or three days?" + +"We won't differ, Sawney, if you let me have six stots for +winterers, in the way of reason." + +"And which peasts wad your honour pe for having?" + +"Why--let me see--the two black--the dun one--yon doddy--him with +the twisted horn--the brockit--How much by the head?" + +"Ah," said Robin, "your honour is a shudge--a real shudge. I +couldna have set off the pest six peasts petter mysel'--me that +ken them as if they were my pairns, puir things." + +"Well, how much per head, Sawney?" continued Mr. Ireby. + +"It was high markets at Doune and Falkirk," answered Robin. + +And thus the conversation proceeded, until they had agreed on the +PRIX JUSTE for the bullocks, the Squire throwing in the temporary +accommodation of the enclosure for the cattle into the boot, and +Robin making, as he thought, a very good bargain, provided the +grass was but tolerable. The Squire walked his pony alongside of +the drove, partly to show him the way, and see him put into +possession of the field, and partly to learn the latest news of +the northern markets. + +They arrived at the field, and the pasture seemed excellent. But +what was their surprise when they saw the bailiff quietly +inducting the cattle of Harry Wakefield into the grassy Goshen +which had just been assigned to those of Robin Oig M'Combich by +the proprietor himself! Squire Ireby set spurs to his horse, +dashed up to his servant, and learning what had passed between +the parties, briefly informed the English drover that his bailiff +had let the ground without his authority, and that he might seek +grass for his cattle wherever he would, since he was to get none +there. At the same time he rebuked his servant severely for +having transgressed his commands, and ordered him instantly to +assist in ejecting the hungry and weary cattle of Harry +Wakefield, which were just beginning to enjoy a meal of unusual +plenty, and to introduce those of his comrade, whom the English +drover now began to consider as a rival. + +The feelings which arose in Wakefield's mind would have induced +him to resist Mr. Ireby's decision; but every Englishman has a +tolerably accurate sense of law and justice, and John +Fleecebumpkin, the bailiff, having acknowledged that he had +exceeded his commission, Wakefield saw nothing else for it than +to collect his hungry and disappointed charge, and drive them on +to seek quarters elsewhere. Robin Oig saw what had happened with +regret, and hastened to offer to his English friend to share with +him the disputed possession. But Wakefield's pride was severely +hurt, and he answered disdainfully, "Take it all, man--take it +all; never make two bites of a cherry. Thou canst talk over the +gentry, and blear a plain man's eye. Out upon you, man. I would +not kiss any man's dirty latchets for leave to bake in his oven." + +Robin Oig, sorry but not surprised at his comrade's displeasure, +hastened to entreat his friend to wait but an hour till he had +gone to the Squire's house to receive payment for the cattle he +had sold, and he would come back and help him to drive the cattle +into some convenient place of rest, and explain to him the whole +mistake they had both of them fallen into. But the Englishman +continued indignant: "Thou hast been selling, hast thou? Ay, +ay; thou is a cunning lad for kenning the hours of bargaining. +Go to the devil with thyself, for I will ne'er see thy fause +loon's visage again--thou should be ashamed to look me in the +face." + +"I am ashamed to look no man in the face," said Robin Oig, +something moved; "and, moreover, I will look you in the face this +blessed day, if you will bide at the Clachan down yonder." + +"Mayhap you had as well keep away," said his comrade; and turning +his back on his former friend, he collected his unwilling +associates, assisted by the bailiff, who took some real and some +affected interest in seeing Wakefield accommodated. + +After spending some time in negotiating with more than one of the +neighbouring farmers, who could not, or would not, afford the +accommodation desired, Henry Wakefield at last, and in his +necessity, accomplished his point by means of the landlord of the +alehouse at which Robin Oig and he had agreed to pass the night, +when they first separated from each other. Mine host was content +to let him turn his cattle on a piece of barren moor, at a price +little less than the bailiff had asked for the disputed +enclosure; and the wretchedness of the pasture, as well as the +price paid for it, were set down as exaggerations of the breach +of faith and friendship of his Scottish crony. This turn of +Wakefield's passions was encouraged by the bailiff, (who had his +own reasons for being offended against poor Robin, as having been +the unwitting cause of his falling into disgrace with his +master), as well as by the innkeeper, and two or three chance +guests, who stimulated the drover in his resentment against his +quondam associate--some from the ancient grudge against the +Scots, which, when it exists anywhere, is to be found lurking in +the Border counties, and some from the general love of mischief, +which characterises mankind in all ranks of life, to the honour +of Adam's children be it spoken. Good John Barleycorn also, who +always heightens and exaggerates the prevailing passions, be they +angry or kindly, was not wanting in his offices on this occasion, +and confusion to false friends and hard masters was pledged in +more than one tankard. + +In the meanwhile Mr. Ireby found some amusement in detaining the +northern drover at his ancient hall. He caused a cold round of +beef to be placed before the Scot in the butler's pantry, +together with a foaming tankard of home-brewed, and took pleasure +in seeing the hearty appetite with which these unwonted edibles +were discussed by Robin Oig M'Combich. The Squire himself +lighting his pipe, compounded between his patrician dignity and +his love of agricultural gossip, by walking up and down while he +conversed with his guest. + +"I passed another drove," said the Squire, with one of your +countrymen behind them. They were something less beasts than +your drove--doddies most of them. A big man was with them. None +of your kilts, though, but a decent pair of breeches. D'ye know +who he may be?" + +"Hout aye; that might, could, and would be Hughie Morrison. I +didna think he could hae peen sae weel up. He has made a day on +us; but his Argyleshires will have wearied shanks. How far was +he pehind?" + +"I think about six or seven miles," answered the Squire, "for I +passed them at the Christenbury Crag, and I overtook you at the +Hollan Bush. If his beasts be leg-weary, he will be maybe +selling bargains." + +"Na, na, Hughie Morrison is no the man for pargains--ye maun come +to some Highland body like Robin Oig hersel' for the like of +these. Put I maun pe wishing you goot night, and twenty of them, +let alane ane, and I maun down to the Clachan to see if the lad +Harry Waakfelt is out of his humdudgeons yet." + +The party at the alehouse were still in full talk, and the +treachery of Robin Oig still the theme of conversation, when the +supposed culprit entered the apartment. His arrival, as usually +happens in such a case, put an instant stop to the discussion of +which he had furnished the subject, and he was received by the +company assembled with that chilling silence which, more than a +thousand exclamations, tells an intruder that he is unwelcome. +Surprised and offended, but not appalled by the reception which +he experienced, Robin entered with an undaunted and even a +haughty air, attempted no greeting, as he saw he was received +with none, and placed himself by the side of the fire, a little +apart from a table at which Harry Wakefield, the bailiff, and two +or three other persons, were seated. The ample Cumbrian kitchen +would have afforded plenty of room, even for a larger separation. + +Robin thus seated, proceeded to light his pipe, and call for a +pint of twopenny. + +"We have no twopence ale," answered Ralph Heskett the landlord; +"but as thou find'st thy own tobacco, it's like thou mayst find +thy own liquor too--it's the wont of thy country, I wot." + +"Shame, goodman," said the landlady, a blithe, bustling +housewife, hastening herself to supply the guest with liquor. +"Thou knowest well enow what the strange man wants, and it's thy +trade to be civil, man. Thou shouldst know, that if the Scot +likes a small pot, he pays a sure penny." + +Without taking any notice of this nuptial dialogue, the +Highlander took the flagon in his hand, and addressing the +company generally, drank the interesting toast of "Good markets" +to the party assembled. + +"The better that the wind blew fewer dealers from the north," +said one of the farmers, "and fewer Highland runts to eat up the +English meadows." + +"Saul of my pody, put you are wrang there, my friend," answered +Robin, with composure; "it is your fat Englishmen that eat up our +Scots cattle, puir things." + +"I wish there was a summat to eat up their drovers," said +another; "a plain Englishman canna make bread within a kenning of +them." + +"Or an honest servant keep his master's favour but they will come +sliding in between him and the sunshine," said the bailiff. + +"If these pe jokes," said Robin Oig, with the same composure, +"there is ower mony jokes upon one man." + +"It is no joke, but downright earnest," said the bailiff. +"Harkye, Mr. Robin Ogg, or whatever is your name, it's right we +should tell you that we are all of one opinion, and that is, that +you, Mr. Robin Ogg, have behaved to our friend Mr. Harry +Wakefield here, like a raff and a blackguard." + +"Nae doubt, nae doubt," answered Robin, with great composure; +"and you are a set of very pretty judges, for whose prains or +pehaviour I wad not gie a pinch of sneeshing. If Mr. Harry +Waakfelt kens where he is wranged, he kens where he may be +righted." + +"He speaks truth," said Wakefield, who had listened to what +passed, divided between the offence which he had taken at Robin's +late behaviour, and the revival of his habitual feelings of +regard. + +He now rose, and went towards Robin, who got up from his seat as +he approached, and held out his hand. + +"That's right, Harry--go it--serve him out," resounded on all +sides--"tip him the nailer--show him the mill." + +"Hold your peace all of you, and be--," said Wakefield; and then +addressing his comrade, he took him by the extended hand, with +something alike of respect and defiance. "Robin," he said, "thou +hast used me ill enough this day; but if you mean, like a frank +fellow, to shake hands, and take a tussle for love on the sod, +why I'll forgie thee, man, and we shall be better friends than +ever." + +"And would it not pe petter to pe cood friends without more of +the matter?" said Robin; "we will be much petter friendships +with our panes hale than proken." + +Harry Wakefield dropped the hand of his friend, or rather threw +it from him. + +"I did not think I had been keeping company for three years with +a coward." + +"Coward pelongs to none of my name," said Robin, whose eyes began +to kindle, but keeping the command of his temper. "It was no +coward's legs or hands, Harry Waakfelt, that drew you out of the +fords of Frew, when you was drifting ower the plack rock, and +every eel in the river expected his share of you." + +"And that is true enough, too," said the Englishman, struck by +the appeal. + +"Adzooks!" exclaimed the bailiff--"sure Harry Wakefield, the +nattiest lad at Whitson Tryste, Wooler Fair, Carlisle Sands, or +Stagshaw Bank, is not going to show white feather? Ah, this +comes of living so long with kilts and bonnets--men forget the +use of their daddles." + +"I may teach you, Master Fleecebumpkin, that I have not lost the +use of mine," said Wakefield and then went on. "This will never +do, Robin. We must have a turn-up, or we shall be the talk of +the country-side. I'll be d--d if I hurt thee--I'll put on the +gloves gin thou like. Come, stand forward like a man." + +"To be peaten like a dog," said Robin; "is there any reason in +that? If you think I have done you wrong, I'll go before your +shudge, though I neither know his law nor his language." + +A general cry of "No, no--no law, no lawyer! a bellyful and be +friends," was echoed by the bystanders. + +"But," continued Robin, "if I am to fight, I have no skill to +fight like a jackanapes, with hands and nails." + +"How would you fight then?" said his antagonist; "though I am +thinking it would be hard to bring you to the scratch anyhow." + +"I would fight with proadswords, and sink point on the first +plood drawn--like a gentlemans." + +A loud shout of laughter followed the proposal, which indeed had +rather escaped from poor Robin's swelling heart, than been the +dictate of his sober judgment. + +"Gentleman, quotha!" was echoed on all sides, with a shout of +unextinguishable laughter; "a very pretty gentleman, God wot. +--Canst get two swords for the gentleman to fight with, Ralph +Heskett?" + +"No, but I can send to the armoury at Carlisle, and lend them two +forks, to be making shift with in the meantime." + +"Tush, man," said another, "the bonny Scots come into the world +with the blue bonnet on their heads, and dirk and pistol at their +belt." + +"Best send post," said Mr. Fleecebumpkin, "to the Squire of Corby +Castle, to come and stand second to the GENTLEMAN." + +In the midst of this torrent of general ridicule, the Highlander +instinctively griped beneath the folds of his plaid, + +"But it's better not," he said in his own language. "A hundred +curses on the swine-eaters, who know neither decency nor +civility!" + +"Make room, the pack of you," he said, advancing to the door. + +But his former friend interposed his sturdy bulk, and opposed his +leaving the house; and when Robin Oig attempted to make his way +by force, he hit him down on the floor, with as much ease as a +boy bowls down a nine-pin. + +"A ring, a ring!" was now shouted, until the dark rafters, and +the hams that hung on them, trembled again, and the very platters +on the BINK clattered against each other. "Well done, Harry" +--"Give it him home, Harry"--"Take care of him now--he sees his +own blood!" + +Such were the exclamations, while the Highlander, starting from +the ground, all his coldness and caution lost in frantic rage, +sprung at his antagonist with the fury, the activity, and the +vindictive purpose of an incensed tiger-cat. But when could rage +encounter science and temper? Robin Oig again went down in the +unequal contest; and as the blow was necessarily a severe one, he +lay motionless on the floor of the kitchen. The landlady ran to +offer some aid, but Mr. Fleecebumpkin would not permit her to +approach. + +"Let him alone," he said, "he will come to within time, and come +up to the scratch again. He has not got half his broth yet." + +"He has got all I mean to give him, though," said his antagonist, +whose heart began to relent towards his old associate; "and I +would rather by half give the rest to yourself, Mr. +Fleecebumpkin, for you pretend to know a thing or two, and Robin +had not art enough even to peel before setting to, but fought +with his plaid dangling about him.--Stand up, Robin, my man! All +friends now; and let me hear the man that will speak a word +against you, or your country, for your sake." + +Robin Oig was still under the dominion of his passion, and eager +to renew the onset; but being withheld on the one side by the +peacemaking Dame Heskett, and on the other, aware that Wakefield +no longer meant to renew the combat, his fury sunk into gloomy +sullenness. + +"Come, come, never grudge so much at it, man," said the brave- +spirited Englishman, with the placability of his country; "shake +hands, and we will be better friends than ever." + +"Friends!" exclaimed Robin Oig with strong emphasis--"friends! +Never. Look to yourself, Harry Waakfelt." + +"Then the curse of Cromwell on your proud Scots stomach, as the +man says in the play, and you may do your worst, and be d--d; for +one man can say nothing more to another after a tussle, than that +he is sorry for it." + +On these terms the friends parted. Robin Oig drew out, in +silence, a piece of money, threw it on the table, and then left +the alehouse. But turning at the door, he shook his hand at +Wakefield, pointing with his forefinger upwards, in a manner +which might imply either a threat or a caution. He then +disappeared in the moonlight. + +Some words passed after his departure, between the bailiff, who +piqued himself on being a little of a bully, and Harry Wakefield, +who, with generous inconsistency, was now not indisposed to begin +a new combat in defence of Robin Oig's reputation, "although he +could not use his daddles like an Englishman, as it did not come +natural to him." But Dame Heskett prevented this second quarrel +from coming to a head by her peremptory interference. "There +should be no more fighting in her house," she said; "there had +been too much already.--And you, Mr. Wakefield, may live to +learn," she added, "what it is to make a deadly enemy out of a +good friend." + +"Pshaw, dame! Robin Oig is an honest fellow, and will never keep +malice." + +"Do not trust to that; you do not know the dour temper of the +Scots, though you have dealt with them so often. I have a right +to know them, my mother being a Scot." + +"And so is well seen on her daughter," said Ralph Heskett. + +This nuptial sarcasm gave the discourse another turn. Fresh +customers entered the tap-room or kitchen, and others left it. +The conversation turned on the expected markets, and the report +of prices from different parts both of Scotland and England. +Treaties were commenced, and Harry Wakefield was lucky enough to +find a chap for a part of his drove, and at a very considerable +profit--an event of consequence more than sufficient to blot out +all remembrances of the unpleasant scuffle in the earlier part of +the day. But there remained one party from whose mind that +recollection could not have been wiped away by the possession of +every head of cattle betwixt Esk and Eden. + +This was Robin Oig M'Combich. "That I should have had no +weapon," he said, "and for the first time in my life! Blighted +be the tongue that bids the Highlander part with the dirk. The +dirk--ha! the English blood! My Muhme's word! When did her +word fall to the ground?" + +The recollection of the fatal prophecy confirmed the deadly +intention which instantly sprang up in his mind. + +"Ha! Morrison cannot be many miles behind; and if it were an +hundred, what then?" + +His impetuous spirit had now a fixed purpose and motive of +action, and he turned the light foot of his country towards the +wilds, through which he knew, by Mr. Ireby's report, that +Morrison was advancing. His mind was wholly engrossed by the +sense of injury--injury sustained from a friend; and by the +desire of vengeance on one whom he now accounted his most bitter +enemy. The treasured ideas of self-importance and self-opinion +--of ideal birth and quality, had become more precious to him, +(like the hoard to the miser) because he could only enjoy them in +secret. But that hoard was pillaged--the idols which he had +secretly worshipped had been desecrated and profaned. Insulted, +abused, and beaten, he was no longer worthy, in his own opinion, +of the name he bore, or the lineage which he belonged to. +Nothing was left to him--nothing but revenge; and as the +reflection added a galling spur to every step, he determined it +should be as sudden and signal as the offence. + +When Robin Oig left the door of the alehouse, seven or eight +English miles at least lay betwixt Morrison and him. The advance +of the former was slow, limited by the sluggish pace of his +cattle; the latter left behind him stubble-field and hedgerow, +crag and dark heath, all glittering with frost-rime in the broad +November moonlight, at the rate of six miles an hour. And now +the distant lowing of Morrison's cattle is heard; and now they +are seen creeping like moles in size and slowness of motion on +the broad face of the moor; and now he meets them--passes them, +and stops their conductor. + +"May good betide us," said the Westlander. "Is this you, Robin +M'Combich, or your wraith?" + +"It is Robin Oig M'Combich," answered the Highlander, "and it is +not. But never mind that, put pe giving me the skene-dhu." + +"What! you are for back to the Highlands! The devil! Have you +selt all off before the fair? This beats all for quick markets!" + +"I have not sold--I am not going north--maype I will never go +north again. Give me pack my dirk, Hugh Morrison, or there will +pe words petween us." + +"Indeed, Robin, I'll be better advised before I gie it back to +you; it is a wanchancy weapon in a Highlandman's hand, and I am +thinking you will be about some harns-breaking." + +"Prutt, trutt! let me have my weapon," said Robin Oig +impatiently. + +"Hooly and fairly," said his well-meaning friend. "I'll tell you +what will do better than these dirking doings. Ye ken +Highlander, and Lowlander, and Border-men are a' ae man's bairns +when you are over the Scots dyke. See, the Eskdale callants, and +fighting Charlie of Liddesdale, and the Lockerby lads, and the +four Dandies of Lustruther, and a wheen mair grey plaids, are +coming up behind; and if you are wranged, there is the hand of a +Manly Morrison, we'll see you righted, if Carlisle and Stanwix +baith took up the feud." + +"To tell you the truth," said Robin Oig, desirous of eluding the +suspicions of his friend, "I have enlisted with a party of the +Black Watch, and must march off to-morrow morning." + +"Enlisted! Were you mad or drunk? You must buy yourself off. I +can lend you twenty notes, and twenty to that, if the drove +sell." + +"I thank you--thank ye, Hughie; but I go with good-will the gate +that I am going. So the dirk, the dirk!" + +"There it is for you then, since less wunna serve. But think on +what I was saying. Waes me, it will be sair news in the braes of +Balquidder that Robin Oig M'Combich should have run an ill gate, +and ta'en on." + +"Ill news in Balquidder, indeed!" echoed poor Robin. "But Cot +speed you, Hughie, and send you good marcats. Ye winna meet with +Robin Oig again, either at tryste or fair." + +So saying, he shook hastily the hand of his acquaintance, and set +out in the direction from which he had advanced, with the spirit +of his former pace. + +"There is something wrang with the lad," muttered the Morrison to +himself; "but we will maybe see better into it the morn's +morning." + +But long ere the morning dawned, the catastrophe of our tale had +taken place. It was two hours after the affray had happened, and +it was totally forgotten by almost every one, when Robin Oig +returned to Heskett's inn. The place was filled at once by +various sorts of men, and with noises corresponding to their +character. There were the grave low sounds of men engaged in +busy traffic, with the laugh, the song, and the riotous jest of +those who had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves. Among the +last was Harry Wakefield, who, amidst a grinning group of smock- +frocks, hobnailed shoes, and jolly English physiognomies, was +trolling forth the old ditty,-- + + "What though my name be Roger, + Who drives the plough and cart--" + +when he was interrupted by a well-known voice saying in a high +and stern voice, marked by the sharp Highland accent, "Harry +Waakfelt--if you be a man stand up!" + +"What is the matter?--what is it?" the guests demanded of each +other. + +"It is only a d--d Scotsman," said Fleecebumpkin, who was by this +time very drunk, "whom Harry Wakefield helped to his broth to- +day, who is now come to have HIS CAULD KAIL het again." + +"Harry Waakfelt," repeated the same ominous summons, "stand up, +if you be a man!" + +There is something in the tone of deep and concentrated passion, +which attracts attention and imposes awe, even by the very sound. +The guests shrunk back on every side, and gazed at the Highlander +as he stood in the middle of them, his brows bent, and his +features rigid with resolution. + +"I will stand up with all my heart, Robin, my boy, but it shall +be to shake hands with you, and drink down all unkindness. It is +not the fault of your heart, man, that you don't know how to +clench your hands." + +By this time he stood opposite to his antagonist, his open and +unsuspecting look strangely contrasted with the stern purpose, +which gleamed wild, dark, and vindictive in the eyes of the +Highlander. + +"'Tis not thy fault, man, that, not having the luck to be an +Englishman, thou canst not fight more than a school-girl." + +"I can fight," answered Robin Oig sternly, but calmly, "and you +shall know it. You, Harry Waakfelt, showed me to-day how the +Saxon churls fight; I show you now how the Highland Dunnie-wassel +fights." + +He seconded the word with the action, and plunged the dagger, +which he suddenly displayed, into the broad breast of the English +yeoman, with such fatal certainty and force that the hilt made a +hollow sound against the breast-bone, and the double-edged point +split the very heart of his victim. Harry Wakefield fell and +expired with a single groan. His assassin next seized the +bailiff by the collar, and offered the bloody poniard to his +throat, whilst dread and surprise rendered the man incapable of +defence. + +"It were very just to lay you peside him," he said, "but the +blood of a pase pickthank shall never mix on my father's dirk, +with that of a brave man." + +As he spoke, he cast the man from him with so much force that he +fell on the floor, while Robin, with his other hand, threw the +fatal weapon into the blazing turf-fire. + +"There," he said, "take me who likes--and let fire cleanse blood +if it can." + +The pause of astonishment still continuing, Robin Oig asked for a +peace-officer, and a constable having stepped out, he surrendered +himself to his custody. + +"A bloody night's work you have made of it," said the constable. + +"Your own fault," said the Highlander. "Had you kept his hands +off me twa hours since, he would have been now as well and merry +as he was twa minutes since." + +"It must be sorely answered," said the peace-officer. + +"Never you mind that--death pays all debts; it will pay that +too." + +The horror of the bystanders began now to give way to +indignation, and the sight of a favourite companion murdered in +the midst of them, the provocation being, in their opinion, so +utterly inadequate to the excess of vengeance, might have induced +them to kill the perpetrator of the deed even upon the very spot. +The constable, however, did his duty on this occasion, and with +the assistance of some of the more reasonable persons present, +procured horses to guard the prisoner to Carlisle, to abide his +doom at the next assizes. While the escort was preparing, the +prisoner neither expressed the least interest, nor attempted the +slightest reply. Only, before he was carried from the fatal +apartment, he desired to look at the dead body, which, raised +from the floor, had been deposited upon the large table (at the +head of which Harry Wakefield had presided but a few minutes +before, full of life, vigour, and animation), until the surgeons +should examine the mortal wound. The face of the corpse was +decently covered with a napkin. To the surprise and horror of +the bystanders, which displayed itself in a general AH! drawn +through clenched teeth and half-shut lips, Robin Oig removed the +cloth, and gazed with a mournful but steady eye on the lifeless +visage, which had been so lately animated that the smile of good- +humoured confidence in his own strength, of conciliation at once +and contempt towards his enemy, still curled his lip. While +those present expected that the wound, which had so lately +flooded the apartment with gore, would send forth fresh streams +at the touch of the homicide, Robin Oig replaced the covering +with the brief exclamation, "He was a pretty man!" + +My story is nearly ended. The unfortunate Highlander stood his +trial at Carlisle. I was myself present, and as a young Scottish +lawyer, or barrister at least, and reputed a man of some quality, +the politeness of the Sheriff of Cumberland offered me a place on +the bench. The facts of the case were proved in the manner I +have related them; and whatever might be at first the prejudice +of the audience against a crime so un-English as that of +assassination from revenge, yet when the rooted national +prejudices of the prisoner had been explained, which made him +consider himself as stained with indelible dishonour, when +subjected to personal violence--when his previous patience, +moderation, and endurance were considered--the generosity of the +English audience was inclined to regard his crime as the wayward +aberration of a false idea of honour rather than as flowing from +a heart naturally savage, or perverted by habitual vice. I shall +never forget the charge of the venerable judge to the jury, +although not at that time liable to be much affected either by +that which was eloquent or pathetic. + +"We have had," he said, "in the previous part of our duty" +(alluding to some former trials), "to discuss crimes which infer +disgust and abhorrence, while they call down the well-merited +vengeance of the law. It is now our still more melancholy task +to apply its salutary though severe enactments to a case of a +very singular character, in which the crime (for a crime it is, +and a deep one) arose less out of the malevolence of the heart, +than the error of the understanding--less from any idea of +committing wrong, than from an unhappily perverted notion of that +which is right. Here we have two men, highly esteemed, it has +been stated, in their rank of life, and attached, it seems, to +each other as friends, one of whose lives has been already +sacrificed to a punctilio, and the other is about to prove the +vengeance of the offended laws; and yet both may claim our +commiseration at least, as men acting in ignorance of each +other's national prejudices, and unhappily misguided rather than +voluntarily erring from the path of right conduct. + +"In the original cause of the misunderstanding, we must in +justice give the right to the prisoner at the bar. He had +acquired possession of the enclosure, which was the object of +competition, by a legal contract with the proprietor, Mr. Ireby; +and yet, when accosted with reproaches undeserved in themselves, +and galling, doubtless, to a temper at least sufficiently +susceptible of passion, he offered notwithstanding, to yield up +half his acquisition, for the sake of peace and good +neighbourhood, and his amicable proposal was rejected with scorn. +Then follows the scene at Mr. Heskett the publican's, and you +will observe how the stranger was treated by the deceased, and, I +am sorry to observe, by those around, who seem to have urged him +in a manner which was aggravating in the highest degree. While +he asked for peace and for composition, and offered submission to +a magistrate, or to a mutual arbiter, the prisoner was insulted +by a whole company, who seem on this occasion to have forgotten +the national maxim of 'fair play;' and while attempting to escape +from the place in peace, he was intercepted, struck down, and +beaten to the effusion of his blood. + +"Gentlemen of the jury, it was with some impatience that I heard +my learned brother who opened the case for the crown give an +unfavourable turn to the prisoner's conduct on this occasion. He +said the prisoner was afraid to encounter his antagonist in fair +fight, or to submit to the laws of the ring; and that therefore, +like a cowardly Italian, he had recourse to his fatal stiletto, +to murder the man whom he dared not meet in manly encounter. I +observed the prisoner shrink from this part of the accusation +with the abhorrence natural to a brave man; and as I would wish +to make my words impressive when I point his real crime, I must +secure his opinion of my impartiality by rebutting everything +that seems to me a false accusation. There can be no doubt that +the prisoner is a man of resolution--too much resolution. I wish +to Heaven that he had less--or, rather that he had had a better +education to regulate it. + +"Gentlemen, as to the laws my brother talks of, they may be known +in the bull-ring, or the bear-garden, or the cock-pit, but they +are not known here. Or, if they should be so far admitted as +furnishing a species of proof that no malice was intended in this +sort of combat, from which fatal accidents do sometimes arise, it +can only be so admitted when both parties are IN PARI CASU, +equally acquainted with, and equally willing to refer themselves +to, that species of arbitrament. But will it be contended that a +man of superior rank and education is to be subjected, or is +obliged to subject himself, to this coarse and brutal strife, +perhaps in opposition to a younger, stronger, or more skilful +opponent? Certainly even the pugilistic code, if founded upon +the fair play of Merry Old England, as my brother alleges it to +be, can contain nothing so preposterous. And, gentlemen of the +jury, if the laws would support an English gentleman, wearing, we +will suppose, his sword, in defending himself by force against a +violent personal aggression of the nature offered to this +prisoner, they will not less protect a foreigner and a stranger, +involved in the same unpleasing circumstances. If, therefore, +gentlemen of the jury, when thus pressed by a VIS MAJOR, the +object of obloquy to a whole company, and of direct violence from +one at least, and, as he might reasonably apprehend, from more, +the panel had produced the weapon which his countrymen, as we are +informed, generally carry about their persons, and the same +unhappy circumstance had ensued which you have heard detailed in +evidence, I could not in my conscience have asked from you a +verdict of murder. The prisoner's personal defence might indeed, +even in that case, have gone more or less beyond the MODERAMEN +INCULPATAE TUTELAE, spoken of by lawyers; but the punishment +incurred would have been that of manslaughter, not of murder. I +beg leave to add that I should have thought this milder species +of charge was demanded in the case supposed, notwithstanding the +statute of James I. cap. 8, which takes the case of slaughter by +stabbing with a short weapon, even without MALICE PREPENSE, out +of the benefit of clergy. For this statute of stabbing, as it is +termed, arose out of a temporary cause; and as the real guilt is +the same, whether the slaughter be committed by the dagger, or by +sword or pistol, the benignity of the modern law places them all +on the same, or nearly the same, footing. + +"But, gentlemen of the jury, the pinch of the case lies in the +interval of two hours interposed betwixt the reception of the +injury and the fatal retaliation. In the heat of affray and +CHAUDE MELEE, law, compassionating the infirmities of humanity, +makes allowance for the passions which rule such a stormy moment +--for the sense of present pain, for the apprehension of further +injury, for the difficulty of ascertaining with due accuracy the +precise degree of violence which is necessary to protect the +person of the individual, without annoying or injuring the +assailant more than is absolutely necessary. But the time +necessary to walk twelve miles, however speedily performed, was +an interval sufficient for the prisoner to have recollected +himself; and the violence with which he carried his purpose into +effect, with so many circumstances of deliberate determination, +could neither be induced by the passion of anger, nor that of +fear. It was the purpose and the act of predetermined revenge, +for which law neither can, will, nor ought to have sympathy or +allowance. + +"It is true, we may repeat to ourselves, in alleviation of this +poor man's unhappy action, that his case is a very peculiar one. +The country which he inhabits was, in the days of many now alive, +inaccessible to the laws, not only of England, which have not +even yet penetrated thither, but to those to which our neighbours +of Scotland are subjected, and which must be supposed to be, and +no doubt actually are, founded upon the general principles of +justice and equity which pervade every civilized country. +Amongst their mountains, as among the North American Indians, the +various tribes were wont to make war upon each other, so that +each man was obliged to go armed for his own protection. These +men, from the ideas which they entertained of their own descent +and of their own consequence, regarded themselves as so many +cavaliers or men-at-arms, rather than as the peasantry of a +peaceful country. Those laws of the ring, as my brother terms +them, were unknown to the race of warlike mountaineers; that +decision of quarrels by no other weapons than those which nature +has given every man must to them have seemed as vulgar and as +preposterous as to the NOBLESSE of France. Revenge, on the other +hand, must have been as familiar to their habits of society as to +those of the Cherokees or Mohawks. It is indeed, as described by +Bacon, at bottom a kind of wild untutored justice; for the fear +of retaliation must withhold the hands of the oppressor where +there is no regular law to check daring violence. But though all +this may be granted, and though we may allow that, such having +been the case of the Highlands in the days of the prisoner's +fathers, many of the opinions and sentiments must still continue +to influence the present generation, it cannot, and ought not, +even in this most painful case, to alter the administration of +the law, either in your hands, gentlemen of the jury, or in mine. +The first object of civilisation is to place the general +protection of the law, equally administered, in the room of that +wild justice which every man cut and carved for himself, +according to the length of his sword and the strength of his arm. +The law says to the subjects, with a voice only inferior to that +of the Deity, 'Vengeance is mine.' The instant that there is time +for passion to cool, and reason to interpose, an injured party +must become aware that the law assumes the exclusive cognisance +of the right and wrong betwixt the parties, and opposes her +inviolable buckler to every attempt of the private party to right +himself. I repeat that this unhappy man ought personally to be +the object rather of our pity than our abhorrence, for he failed +in his ignorance, and from mistaken notions of honour. But his +crime is not the less that of murder, gentlemen, and, in your +high and important office, it is your duty so to find. +Englishmen have their angry passions as well as Scots; and should +this man's action remain unpunished, you may unsheath, under +various pretences, a thousand daggers betwixt the Land's-End and +the Orkneys." + +The venerable Judge thus ended what, to judge by his apparent +emotion, and by the tears which filled his eyes, was really a +painful task. The jury, according to his instructions, brought +in a verdict of Guilty; and Robin Oig M'Combich, ALIAS McGregor, +was sentenced to death, and left for execution, which took place +accordingly. He met his fate with great firmness, and +acknowledged the justice of his sentence. But he repelled +indignantly the observations of those who accused him of +attacking an unarmed man. "I give a life for the life I took," +he said, "and what can I do more?" [See Note 11.--Robert Donn's +Poems.] + + +* + + +NOTES. + + +NOTES TO CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +Note 1.--HOLYROOD. + +The reader may be gratified with Hector Boece's narrative of the +original foundation of the famous abbey of Holyrood, or the Holy +Cross, as given in Bellenden's translation:-- + +"Eftir death of Alexander the first, his brothir David come out +of Ingland, and wes crownit at Scone, the yeir of God MCXXIV +yeiris, and did gret justice, eftir his coronation, in all partis +of his realme. He had na weris during the time of King Hary; and +wes so pietuous, that he sat daylie in judgement, to caus his +pure commonis to have justice; and causit the actionis of his +noblis to be decidit be his othir jugis. He gart ilk juge redres +the skaithis that come to the party be his wrang sentence; throw +quhilk, he decorit his realm with mony nobil actis, and ejeckit +the vennomus custome of riotus cheir, quhilk wes inducit afore be +Inglismen, quhen thay com with Quene Margaret; for the samin wes +noisum to al gud maneris, makand his pepil tender and effeminat. + +"In the fourt yeir of his regne, this nobill prince come to visie +the madin Castell of Edinburgh. At this time, all the boundis of +Scotland were ful of woddis, lesouris, and medois; for the +countre wes more gevin to store of bestiall, than ony productioun +of cornis; and about this castell was ane gret forest, full of +haris, hindis, toddis, and siclike maner of beistis. Now was the +Rude Day cumin, called the Exaltation of the Croce; and, becaus +the samin wes ane hie solempne day, the king past to his +contemplation. Eftir the messis wer done with maist solempnitie +and reverence, comperit afore him mony young and insolent baronis +of Scotland, richt desirus to haif sum plesur and solace, be +chace of hundis in the said forest. At this time wes with the +king ane man of singulare and devoit life, namit Alkwine, channon +eftir the ordour of Sanct Augustine, quhilk well lang time +confessoure, afore, to King David in Ingland, the time that he +wes Erle of Huntingtoun and Northumbirland. This religious man +dissuadit the king, be mony reasonis, to pas to this huntis; and +allegit the day wes so solempne, be reverence of the haly croce, +that he suld gif him erar, for that day, to contemplation, than +ony othir exersition. Nochtheles, his dissuasion is litill +avalit; for the king wes finallie so provokit, be inoportune +solicitatioun of his baronis, that he past, nochtwithstanding the +solempnite of this day, to his hountis. At last, quhen he wes +cumin throw the vail that lyis to the gret eist fra the said +castell, quhare now lyis the Canongait, the staik past throw the +wod with sic noyis and din of rachis and bugillis, that all the +bestis were rasit fra thair dennis. Now wes the king cumin to +the fute of the crag, and all his nobilis severit, heir and +thair, fra him, at thair game and solace; quhen suddenlie apperit +to his sicht the fairist hart that evir wes sene afore with +levand creature. The noyis and din of this hart rinnand, as +apperit, with awful and braid tindis, maid the kingis hors so +effrayit, that na renzeis micht hald him, bot ran, perforce, ouir +mire and mossis, away with the king. Nochtheles, the hart +followit so fast, that he dang baith the king and his hors to the +ground. Than the king kest abak his handis betwix the tindis of +this hart, to haif savit him fra the strak thairof; and the haly +croce slaid, incontinent, in his handis. The hart fled away with +gret violence, and evanist in the same place quhare now springis +the Rude Well. The pepil richt affrayitly, returnit to him out +of all partis of the wod, to comfort him efter his trubill; and +fell on kneis, devotly adoring the haly croce; for it was not +cumin but sum hevinly providence, as weill apperis; for thair is +na man can schaw of quhat mater it is of, metal or tre. Sone +eftir, the king returnit to his castell; and in the nicht +following, he was admonist, be ane vision in his sleip, to big +ane abbay of channonis regular in the same place quhare he gat +the croce. Als sone as he was awalkinnit, he schew his visione +to Alkwine, his confessoure; and he na thing suspended his gud +mind, bot erar inflammit him with maist fervent devotion thairto. +The king, incontinent, send his traist servandis in France and +Flanderis, and brocht richt crafty masonis to big this abbay; +syne dedicat it in the honour of this haly croce. The croce +remanit continewally in the said abbay, to the time of King David +Bruce; quhilk was unhappily tane with it at Durame, quhare it is +haldin yit in gret veneration."--BOECE, BOOK 12, CH. 16. + +It is by no means clear what Scottish prince first built a +palace, properly so called, in the precincts of this renowned +seat of sanctity. The abbey, endowed by successive sovereigns +and many powerful nobles with munificent gifts of lands and +tithes, came, in process of time, to be one of the most important +of the ecclesiastical corporations of Scotland; and as early as +the days of Robert Bruce, parliaments were held occasionally +within its buildings. We have evidence that James IV. had a +royal lodging adjoining to the cloister; but it is generally +agreed that the first considerable edifice for the accommodation +of the royal family erected here was that of James V., anno 1525, +great part of which still remains, and forms the north-western +side of the existing palace. The more modern buildings which +complete the quadrangle were erected by King Charles II. The +name of the old conventual church was used as the parish church +of the Canongate from the period of the Reformation, until James +II. claimed it for his chapel royal, and had it fitted up +accordingly in a style of splendour which grievously outraged the +feelings of his Presbyterian subjects. The roof of this fragment +of a once magnificent church fell in in the year 1768, and it has +remained ever since in a state of desolation. For fuller +particulars, see the PROVINCIAL ANTIQUITIES OF SCOTLAND, or the +HISTORY OF HOLYROOD, BY MR. CHARLES MACKIE. + +The greater part of this ancient palace is now again occupied by +his Majesty Charles the Tenth of France, and the rest of that +illustrious family, which, in former ages so closely connected by +marriage and alliance with the house of Stewart, seems to have +been destined to run a similar career of misfortune. REQUIESCANT +IN PACE! + + +Note 2.--STEELE, A COVENANTER, SHOT BY CAPTAIN CREICHTON. + +The following extract from Swift's Life of Creichton gives the +particulars of the bloody scene alluded to in the text:-- + +"Having drank hard one night, I (Creichton) dreamed that I had +found Captain David Steele, a notorious rebel, in one of the five +farmers' houses on a mountain in the shire of Clydesdale, and +parish of Lismahago, within eight miles of Hamilton, a place that +I was well acquainted with. This man was head of the rebels +since the affair of Airs-Moss, having succeeded to Hackston, who +had been there taken, and afterward hanged, as the reader has +already heard; for, as to Robert Hamilton, who was then +Commander-in-chief at Bothwell Bridge, he appeared no more among +them, but fled, as it was believed, to Holland. + +"Steele, and his father before him, held a farm in the estate of +Hamilton, within two or three miles of that town. When he betook +himself to arms, the farm lay waste, and the Duke could find no +other person who would venture to take it; whereupon his Grace +sent several messages to Steele, to know the reason why he kept +the farm waste. The Duke received no other answer than that he +would keep it waste, in spite of him and the king too; whereupon +his Grace, at whose table I had always the honour to be a welcome +guest, desired I would use my endeavours to destroy that rogue, +and I would oblige him for ever. + +* + +"I return to my story. When I awaked out of my dream, as I had +done before in the affair of Wilson (and I desire the same +apology I made in the introduction to these Memoirs may serve for +both), I presently rose, and ordered thirty-six dragoons to be at +the place appointed by break of day. When we arrived thither, I +sent a party to each of the five farmers' houses. This villain +Steele had murdered above forty of the king's subjects in cold +blood, and, as I was informed, had often laid snares to entrap +me; but it happened that, although he usually kept a gang to +attend him, yet at this time he had none, when he stood in the +greatest need. One of the party found him in one of the farmers' +houses, just as I happened to dream. The dragoons first searched +all the rooms below without success, till two of them hearing +somebody stirring over their heads, went up a pair of turnpike +stairs. Steele had put on his clothes while the search was +making below; the chamber where he lay was called the Chamber of +Deese, [Or chamber of state; so called from the DAIS, or canopy +and elevation of floor, which distinguished the part of old halls +which was occupied by those of high rank. Hence the phrase was +obliquely used to signify state in general.] which is the name +given to a room where the laird lies when he comes to a tenant's +house. Steele suddenly opening the door, fired a blunderbuss +down at the two dragoons, as they were coming up the stairs; but +the bullets grazing against the side of the turnpike, only +wounded, and did not kill them. Then Steele violently threw +himself down the stairs among them, and made towards the door to +save his life, but lost it upon the spot; for the dragoons who +guarded the house dispatched him with their broadswords. I was +not with the party when he was killed, being at that time +employed in searching one of the other houses, but I soon found +what had happened, by hearing the noise of the shot made with the +blunderbuss; from whence I returned straight to Lanark, and +immediately sent one of the dragoons express to General Drummond +at Edinburgh."--SWIFT'S WORKS, VOL.XII. (MEMOIRS OF CAPTAIN JOHN +CREICHTON), pages 57-59, Edit. Edinb. 1824. + +Woodrow gives a different account of this exploit:--"In December +this year, (1686), David Steil, in the parish of Lismahagow, was +surprised in the fields by Lieutenant Creichton, and after his +surrender of himself on quarters, he was in a very little time +most barbarously shot, and lies buried in the churchyard there." + + +Note 3.--IRON RASP. + +The ingenious Mr. R. CHAMBERS'S Traditions of Edinburgh give the +following account of the forgotten rasp or risp:-- + +"This house had a PIN or RISP at the door, instead of the more +modern convenience--a knocker. The pin, rendered interesting by +the figure which it makes in Scottish song, was formed of a small +rod of iron, twisted or notched, which was placed +perpendicularly, starting out a little from the door, and bore a +small ring of the same metal, which an applicant for admittance +drew rapidly up and down the NICKS, so as to produce a grating +sound. Sometimes the rod was simply stretched across the +VIZZYING hole, a convenient aperture through which the porter +could take cognisance of the person applying; in which case it +acted also as a stanchion. These were almost all disused about +sixty years ago, when knockers were generally substituted as more +genteel. But knockers at that time did not long remain in +repute, though they have never been altogether superseded, even +by bells, in the Old Town. The comparative merit of knockers and +pins was for a long time a subject of doubt, and many knockers +got their heads twisted off in the course of the dispute."-- +CHAMBERS'S TRADITIONS OF EDINBURGH. + + +Note 4.--COUNTESS OF EGLINTON. + +Susannah Kennedy, daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy of Cullean, +Bart., by Elizabeth Lesly, daughter of David Lord Newark, third +wife of Alexander 9th Earl of Eglinton, and mother of the 10th +and 11th Earls. She survived her husband, who died 1729, no less +than fifty-seven years, and died March 1780, in her ninety-first +year. Allan Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd, published 1726, is +dedicated to her, in verse, by Hamilton of Bangour. + +The following account of this distinguished lady is taken from +Boswell's Life of Johnson by Mr. Croker:-- + +"Lady Margaret Dalrymple, only daughter of John, Earl of Stair, +married in 1700, to Hugh, third Earl of Loudoun. She died in +1777, aged ONE HUNDRED. Of this venerable lady, and of the +Countess of Eglintoune, whom Johnson visited next day, he thus +speaks in his JOURNEY:--'Length of life is distributed +impartially to very different modes of life, in very different +climates; and the mountains have no greater examples of age than +the Lowlands, where I was introduced to two ladies of high +quality, one of whom (Lady Loudoun) in her ninety-fourth year, +presided at her table with the full exercise of all her powers, +and the other (Lady Eglintoun) had attained her eighty-fourth +year, without any diminution of her vivacity, and little reason +to accuse time of depredations on her beauty.'" + +* + +"Lady Eglintoune, though she was now in her eighty-fifth year, +and had lived in the retirement of the country for almost half a +century, was still a very agreeable woman. She was of the noble +house of Kennedy, and had all the elevation which the +consciousness of such birth inspires. Her figure was majestic, +her manners high-bred, her reading extensive, and her +conversation elegant. She had been the admiration of the gay +circles of life, and the patroness of poets. Dr. Johnson was +delighted with his reception here. Her principles in church and +state were congenial with his. She knew all his merit, and had +heard much of him from her son, Earl Alexander, who loved to +cultivate the acquaintance of men of talents in every +department." + +* + +"In the course of our conversation this day, it came out that +Lady Eglintoune was married the year before Dr. Johnson was born; +upon which she graciously said to him, that she might have been +his mother, and that she now adopted him, and when we were going +away, she embraced him, saying, 'My dear son, farewell!' My +friend was much pleased with this day's entertainment, and owned +that I had done well to force him out." + +* + +"At Sir Alexander Dick's, from that absence of mind to which +every man is at times subject, I told, in a blundering manner, +Lady Eglintoune's complimentary adoption of Dr. Johnson as her +son; for I unfortunately stated that her ladyship adopted him as +her son, in consequence of her having been married the year AFTER +he was born. Dr. Johnson instantly corrected me. 'Sir, don't +you perceive that you are defaming the Countess? For, supposing +me to be her son, and that she was not married till the year +after my birth, I must have been her NATURAL son.' A young lady +of quality who was present very handsomely said, 'Might not the +son have justified the fault?' My friend was much flattered by +this compliment, which he never forgot. When in more than +ordinary spirits, and talking of his journey in Scotland, he has +called to me, 'Boswell, what was it that the young lady of +quality said of me at Sir Alexander Dick's?' Nobody will doubt +that I was happy in repeating it." + + +Note 5.--EARL OF WINTON. + +The incident here alluded to is thus narrated in Nichols' +Progresses of James I., Vol.III. p.306:-- + +"The family" (of Winton) "owed its first elevation to the union +of Sir Christopher Seton with a sister of King Robert Bruce. +With King James VI. they acquired great favour, who, having +created his brother Earl of Dunfermline in 1599, made Robert, +seventh Lord Seton, Earl of Winton in 1600. Before the King's +accession to the English throne, his Majesty and the Queen were +frequently at Seton, where the Earl kept a very hospitable table, +at which all foreigners of quality were entertained on their +visits to Scotland. His Lordship died in 1603, and was buried on +the 5th of April, on the very day the King left Edinburgh for +England. His Majesty, we are told, was pleased to rest himself +at the south-west round of the orchard of Seton, on the highway, +till the funeral was over, that he might not withdraw the noble +company; and he said that he had lost a good, faithful, and loyal +subject."--NICHOLS' PROGRESSES OF K. JAMES I., VOL.III. p.306. + + +Note 6.--MACGREGOR OF GLENSTRAE. + +"The 2 of Octr: (1603) Allaster MacGregor of Glenstrae tane be +the laird Arkynles, bot escapit againe; bot after taken be the +Earle of Argyll the 4 of Januarii, and brought to Edr: the 9 of +Januar: 1604, wt: 18 mae of hes friendes MacGregors. He wes +convoyit to Berwick be the gaird, conform to the Earle's promes; +for he promesit to put him out of Scottis grund: Sua, he keipit +an Hielandman's promes, in respect he sent the gaird to convoy +him out of Scottis grund; bot yai wer not directit to pairt wt: +him, bot to fetche him bak againe. The 18 of Januar, he came at +evin againe to Edinburghe; and upone the 20 day, he was hangit at +the crosse, and ij of his freindes and name, upon ane gallows: +himself being chieff, he was hangit his awin hight above the rest +of hes freindis."--BIRRELL'S DIARY, (IN DALZELL'S FRAGMENTS OF +SCOTTISH HISTORY),pp.60,61. + + + +NOTES TO THE HIGHLAND WIDOW. + +Note 7.--LOCH AWE. + +"Loch Awe, upon the banks of which the scene of action took +place, is thirty-four miles in length. The north side is bounded +by wide muirs and inconsiderable hills, which occupy an extent of +country from twelve to twenty miles in breadth, and the whole of +this space is enclosed as by circumvallation. Upon the north it +is barred by Loch Eitive, on the south by Loch Awe, and on the +east by the dreadful pass of Brandir, through which an arm of the +latter lake opens, at about four miles from its eastern +extremity, and discharges the river Awe into the former. The +pass is about three miles in length; its east side is bounded by +the almost inaccessible steeps which form the base of the vast +and rugged mountain of Cruachan. The crags rise in some places +almost perpendicularly from the water, and for their chief extent +show no space nor level at their feet, but a rough and narrow +edge of stony beach. Upon the whole of these cliffs grows a +thick and interwoven wood of all kinds of trees, both timber, +dwarf, and coppice; no track existed through the wilderness, but +a winding path, which sometimes crept along the precipitous +height, and sometimes descended in a straight pass along the +margin of the water. Near the extremity of the defile, a narrow +level opened between the water and the crag; but a great part of +this, as well as of the preceding steeps, was formerly enveloped +in a thicket, which showed little facility to the feet of any but +the martens and wild cats. Along the west side of the pass lies +a wall of sheer and barren crags. From behind they rise in +rough, uneven, and heathy declivities, out of the wide muir +before mentioned, between Loch Eitive and Loch Awe; but in front +they terminate abruptly in the most frightful precipices, which +form the whole side of the pass, and descend at one fall into the +water which fills its trough. At the north end of the barrier, +and at the termination of the pass, lies that part of the cliff +which is called Craiganuni; at its foot the arm of the lake +gradually contracts its water to a very narrow space, and at +length terminates at two rocks (called the Rocks of Brandir), +which form a strait channel, something resembling the lock of a +canal. From this outlet there is a continual descent towards +Loch Eitive, and from hence the river Awe pours out its current +in a furious stream, foaming over a bed broken with holes, and +cumbered with masses of granite and whinstone. + +"If ever there was a bridge near Craiganuni in ancient times, it +must have been at the Rocks of Brandir. From the days of Wallace +to those of General Wade, there were never passages of this kind +but in places of great necessity, too narrow for a boat, and too +wide for a leap; even then they were but an unsafe footway formed +of the trunks of trees placed transversely from rock to rock, +unstripped of their bark, and destitute of either plank or rail. +For such a structure there is no place in the neighbourhood of +Craiganuni but at the rocks above mentioned. In the lake and on +the river the water is far too wide; but at the strait the space +is not greater than might be crossed by a tall mountain pine, and +the rocks on either side are formed by nature like a pier. That +this point was always a place of passage is rendered probable by +its facility and the use of recent times. It is not long since +it was the common gate of the country on either side the river +and the pass: the mode of crossing is yet in the memory of +people living, and was performed by a little currach moored on +either side the water, and a stout cable fixed across the stream +from bank to bank, by which the passengers drew themselves across +in the manner still practised in places of the same nature. It +is no argument against the existence of a bridge in former times +that the above method only existed in ours, rather than a passage +of that kind, which would seem the more improved expedient. The +contradiction is sufficiently accounted for by the decay of +timber in the neighbourhood. Of old, both oaks and firs of an +immense size abounded within a very inconsiderable distance; but +it is now many years since the destruction of the forests of Glen +Eitive and Glen Urcha has deprived the country of all the trees +of sufficient size to cross the strait of Brandir; and it is +probable that the currach was not introduced till the want of +timber had disenabled the inhabitants of the country from +maintaining a bridge. It only further remains to be noticed that +at some distance below the Rocks of Brandir there was formerly a +ford, which was used for cattle in the memory of people living; +from the narrowness of the passage, the force of the stream, and +the broken bed of the river, it was, however, a dangerous pass, +and could only be attempted with safety at leisure and by +experience."--NOTES TO THE BRIDAL OF CAOLCHAIRN. + + +Note 8.--BATTLE BETWIXT THE ARMIES OF THE BRUCE AND MACDOUGAL OF +LORN. + +"But the King, whose dear-bought experience in war had taught him +extreme caution, remained in the Braes of Balquhidder till he had +acquired by his spies and outskirries a perfect knowledge of the +disposition of the army of Lorn, and the intention of its leader. +He then divided his force into two columns, entrusting the +command of the first, in which he placed his archers and lightest +armed troops, to Sir James Douglas, whilst he himself took the +leading of the other, which consisted principally of his knights +and barons. On approaching the defile, Bruce dispatched Sir +James Douglas by a pathway which the enemy had neglected to +occupy, with directions to advance silently, and gain the heights +above and in front of the hilly ground where the men of Lorn were +concealed; and having ascertained that this movement had been +executed with success, he put himself at the head of his own +division, and fearlessly led his men into the defile. Here, +prepared as he was for what was to take place, it was difficult +to prevent a temporary panic when the yell which, to this day, +invariably precedes the assault of the mountaineer, burst from +the rugged bosom of Ben Cruachan; and the woods which, the moment +before, had waved in silence and solitude, gave forth their birth +of steel-clad warriors, and, in an instant, became instinct with +the dreadful vitality of war. But although appalled and checked +for a brief space by the suddenness of the assault, and the +masses of rock which the enemy rolled down from the precipices, +Bruce, at the head of his division, pressed up the side of the +mountain. Whilst this party assaulted the men of Lorn with the +utmost fury, Sir James Douglas and his party shouted suddenly +upon the heights in their front, showering down their arrows upon +them; and, when these missiles were exhausted, attacking them +with their swords and battle-axes. The consequence of such an +attack, both in front and rear, was the total discomfiture of the +army of Lorn; and the circumstances to which this chief had so +confidently looked forward, as rendering the destruction of Bruce +almost inevitable, were now turned with fatal effect against +himself. His great superiority of numbers cumbered and impeded +his movements. Thrust by the double assault, and by the peculiar +nature of the ground, into such narrow room as the pass afforded, +and driven to fury by finding themselves cut to pieces in detail, +without power of resistance, the men of Lorn fled towards Loch +Eitive, where a bridge thrown over the Awe, and supported upon +two immense rocks, known by the name of the Rocks of Brandir, +formed the solitary communication between the side of the river +where the battle took place and the country of Lorn. Their +object was to gain the bridge, which was composed entirely of +wood, and having availed themselves of it in their retreat, to +destroy it, and thus throw the impassable torrent of the Awe +between them and their enemies. But their intention was +instantly detected by Douglas, who, rushing down from the high +grounds at the head of his archers and light-armed foresters, +attacked the body of the mountaineers, which had occupied the +bridge, and drove them from it with great slaughter, so that +Bruce and his division, on coming up, passed it without +molestation; and this last resource being taken from them, the +army of Lorn were, in a few hours, literally cut to pieces, +whilst their chief, who occupied Loch Eitive with his fleet, saw, +from his ships, the discomfiture of his men, and found it +impossible to give them the least assistance."--TYTLER'S LIFE OF +BRUCE. + + +Note 9.--MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. + +The following succinct account of this too celebrated event, may +be sufficient for this place:-- + +"In the beginning of the year 1692 an action of unexampled +barbarity disgraced the government of King William III. in +Scotland. In the August preceding, a proclamation had been +issued, offering an indemnity to such insurgents as should take +the oaths to the King and Queen, on or before the last day of +December; and the chiefs of such tribes, as had been in arms for +James, soon after took advantage of the proclamation. But +Macdonald of Glencoe was prevented by accident, rather than +design, from tendering his submission within the limited time. +In the end of December he went to Colonel Hill, who commanded the +garrison in Fort William, to take the oaths of allegiance to the +government; and the latter having furnished him with a letter to +Sir Colin Campbell, Sheriff of the county of Argyll, directed him +to repair immediately to Inverary, to make his submission in a +legal manner before that magistrate. But the way to Inverary lay +through almost impassable mountains, the season was extremely +rigorous, and the whole country was covered with a deep snow. So +eager, however, was Macdonald to take the oaths before the +limited time should expire, that, though the road lay within half +a mile of his own house, he stopped not to visit his family, and, +after various obstructions, arrived at Inverary. The time had +elapsed, and the sheriff hesitated to receive his submission; but +Macdonald prevailed by his importunities, and even tears, in +inducing that functionary to administer to him the oath of +allegiance, and to certify the cause of his delay. At this time +Sir John Dalrymple, afterwards Earl of Stair, being in attendance +upon William as Secretary of State for Scotland, took advantage +of Macdonald's neglecting to take the oath within the time +prescribed, and procured from the King a warrant of military +execution against that chief and his whole clan. This was done +at the instigation of the Earl of Breadalbane, whose lands the +Glencoe men had plundered, and whose treachery to government in +negotiating with the Highland clans Macdonald himself had +exposed. The King was accordingly persuaded that Glencoe was the +main obstacle to the pacification of the Highlands; and the fact +of the unfortunate chief's submission having been concealed, the +sanguinary orders for proceeding to military execution against +his clan were in consequence obtained. The warrant was both +signed and countersigned by the King's own hand, and the +Secretary urged the officers who commanded in the Highlands to +execute their orders with the utmost rigour. Campbell of +Glenlyon, a captain in Argyll's regiment, and two subalterns, +were ordered to repair to Glencoe on the first of February with a +hundred and twenty men. Campbell being uncle to young +Macdonald's wife, was received by the father with all manner of +friendship and hospitality. The men were lodged at free quarters +in the houses of his tenants, and received the kindest +entertainment. Till the 13th of the month the troops lived in +the utmost harmony and familiarity with the people, and on the +very night of the massacre the officers passed the evening at +cards in Macdonald's house. In the night Lieutenant Lindsay, +with a party of soldiers, called in a friendly manner at his +door, and was instantly admitted. Macdonald, while in the act of +rising to receive his guest, was shot dead through the back with +two bullets. His wife had already dressed; but she was stripped +naked by the soldiers, who tore the rings off her fingers with +their teeth. The slaughter now became general, and neither age +nor infirmity was spared. Some women, in defending their +children, were killed; boys, imploring mercy, were shot dead by +officers on whose knees they hung. In one place nine persons, as +they sat enjoying themselves at table, were butchered by the +soldiers. In Inverriggon, Campbell's own quarters, nine men were +first bound by the soldiers, and then shot at intervals, one by +one. Nearly forty persons were massacred by the troops, and +several who fled to the mountains perished by famine and the +inclemency of the season. Those who escaped owed their lives to +a tempestuous night. Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, who had +received the charge of the execution from Dalrymple, was on his +march with four hundred men, to guard all the passes from the +valley of Glencoe; but he was obliged to stop by the severity of +the weather, which proved the safety of the unfortunate clan. +Next day he entered the valley, laid the houses in ashes, and +carried away the cattle and spoil, which were divided among the +officers and soldiers."--ARTICLE "BRITAIN;" ENCYC. BRITANNICA-- +NEW EDITION. + + +Note 10.--FIDELITY OF THE HIGHLANDERS. + +Of the strong, undeviating attachment of the Highlanders to the +person, and their deference to the will or commands of their +chiefs and superiors--their rigid adherence to duty and +principle--and their chivalrous acts of self-devotion to these in +the face of danger and death, there are many instances recorded +in General Stewart of Garth's interesting Sketches of the +Highlanders and Highland Regiments, which might not inaptly +supply parallels to the deeds of the Romans themselves, at the +era when Rome was in her glory. The following instances of such +are worthy of being here quoted:-- + +"In the year 1795 a serious disturbance broke out in Glasgow +among the Breadalbane Fencibles. Several men having been +confined and threatened with corporal punishment, considerable +discontent and irritation were excited among their comrades, +which increased to such violence, that, when some men were +confined in the guard-house, a great proportion of the regiment +rushed out and forcibly released the prisoners. This violation +of military discipline was not to be passed over, and accordingly +measures were immediately taken to secure the ringleaders. But +so many were equally concerned, that it was difficult, if not +impossible, to fix the crime on any, as being more prominently +guilty. And here was shown a trait of character worthy of a +better cause, and which originated from a feeling alive to the +disgrace of a degrading punishment. The soldiers being made +sensible of the nature of their misconduct, and the consequent +necessity of public example, SEVERAL MEN VOLUNTARILY OFFERED +THEMSELVES TO STAND TRIAL, and suffer the sentence of the law as +an atonement for the whole. These men were accordingly marched +to Edinburgh Castle, tried, and four condemned to be shot. Three +of them were afterwards reprieved, and the fourth, Alexander +Sutherland, was shot on Musselburgh Sands. + +"The following semi-official account of this unfortunate +misunderstanding was published at the time:-- + +"'During the afternoon of Monday, when a private of the light +company of the Breadalbane Fencibles, who had been confined for a +MILITARY offence, was released by that company, and some other +companies, who had assembled in a tumultuous manner before the +guard-house, no person whatever was hurt, and no violence +offered; and however unjustifiable the proceedings, it originated +not from any disrespect or ill-will to their officers, but from a +mistaken point of honour, in a particular set of men in the +battalion, who thought themselves disgraced by the impending +punishment of one of their number. The men have, in every +respect, since that period conducted themselves with the greatest +regularity, and strict subordination. The whole of the battalion +seemed extremely sensible of the improper conduct of such as were +concerned, whatever regret they might feel for the fate of the +few individuals who had so readily given themselves up as +prisoners, to be tried for their own and others' misconduct.' + +"On the march to Edinburgh a circumstance occurred, the more +worthy of notice, as it shows a strong principle of honour and +fidelity to his word and to his officer in a common Highland +soldier. One of the men stated to the officer commanding the +party, that he knew what his fate would be, but that he had left +business of the utmost importance to a friend in Glasgow, which +he wished to transact before his death; that, as to himself, he +was fully prepared to meet his fate; but with regard to his +friend, he could not die in peace unless the business was +settled, and that, if the officer would suffer him to return to +Glasgow, a few hours there would be sufficient, and he would join +him before he reached Edinburgh, and march as a prisoner with the +party. The soldier added, 'You have known me since I was a +child; you know my country and kindred; and you may believe I +shall never bring you to any blame by a breach of the promise I +now make, to be with you in full time to be delivered up in the +Castle.' This was a startling proposal to the officer, who was a +judicious, humane man, and knew perfectly his risk and +responsibility in yielding to such an extraordinary application. +However, his confidence was such, that he complied with the +request of the prisoner, who returned to Glasgow at night, +settled his business, and left the town before daylight to redeem +his pledge. He took a long circuit to avoid being seen, +apprehended as a deserter, and sent back to Glasgow, as probably +his account of his officer's indulgence would not have been +credited. In consequence of this caution, and the lengthened +march through woods and over hills by an unfrequented route, +there was no appearance of him at the hour appointed. The +perplexity of the officer when he reached the neighbourhood of +Edinburgh may be easily imagined. He moved forward slowly +indeed, but no soldier appeared; and unable to delay any longer, +he marched up to the Castle, and as he was delivering over the +prisoners, but before any report was given in, Macmartin, the +absent soldier, rushed in among his fellow prisoners, all pale +with anxiety and fatigue, and breathless with apprehension of the +consequences in which his delay might have involved his +benefactor. + +"In whatever light the conduct of the officer (my respectable +friend, Major Colin Campbell) may be considered, either by +military men or others, in this memorable exemplification of the +characteristic principle of his countrymen, fidelity to their +word, it cannot but be wished that the soldier's magnanimous +self-devotion had been taken as an atonement for his own +misconduct and that of the whole, who also had made a high +sacrifice, in the voluntary offer of their lives for the conduct +of their brother soldiers. Are these a people to be treated as +malefactors, without regard to their feelings and principles? +and might not a discipline, somewhat different from the usual +mode, be, with advantage, applied to them?"--Vol.II. pp.413-15. +3rd Edit. + + +"A soldier of this regiment, (The Argyllshire Highlanders) +deserted, and emigrated to America, where he settled. Several +years after his desertion, a letter was received from him, with a +sum of money, for the purpose of procuring one or two men to +supply his place in the regiment, as the only recompense he could +make for 'breaking his oath to his God and his allegiance to his +King, which preyed on his conscience in such a manner, that he +had no rest night nor day.' + +"This man had had good principles early instilled into his mind, +and the disgrace which he had been originally taught to believe +would attach to a breach of faith now operated with full effect. +The soldier who deserted from the 42nd Regiment at Gibraltar, in +1797, exhibited the same remorse of conscience after he had +violated his allegiance. In countries where such principles +prevail, and regulate the character of a people, the mass of the +population may, on occasions of trial, be reckoned on as sound +and trustworthy."--Vol.II., p.218. 3rd Edit. + + +"The late James Menzies of Culdares, having engaged in the +rebellion of 1715, and been taken at Preston, in Lancashire, was +carried to London, where he was tried and condemned, but +afterwards reprieved. Grateful for this clemency, he remained at +home in 1745, but, retaining a predilection for the old cause, he +sent a handsome charger as a present to Prince Charles, when +advancing through England. The servant who led and delivered the +horse was taken prisoner, and carried to Carlisle, where he was +tried and condemned. To extort a discovery of the person who +sent the horse, threats of immediate execution in case of +refusal, and offers of pardon on his giving information, were +held out ineffectually to the faithful messenger. He knew, he +said, what the consequence of a disclosure would be to his +master, and his own life was nothing in the comparison. When +brought out for execution, he was again pressed to inform on his +master. He asked if they were serious in supposing him such a +villain. If he did what they desired, and forgot his master and +his trust, he could not return to his native country, for +Glenlyon would be no home or country for him, as he would be +despised and hunted out of the glen. Accordingly he kept steady +to his trust, and was executed. This trusty servant's name was +John Macnaughton, from Glenlyon, in Perthshire. He deserves to +be mentioned, both on account of his incorruptible fidelity, and +of his testimony to the honourable principles of the people, and +to their detestation of a breach of trust to a kind and +honourable master, however great might be the risk, or however +fatal the consequences, to the individual himself."--Vol.1., pp. +52,53, 3rd Edit. + + + +NOTE TO THE TWO DROVERS. + +Note 11.--ROBERT DONN'S POEMS. + +I cannot dismiss this story without resting attention for a +moment on the light which has been thrown on the character of the +Highland Drover since the time of its first appearance, by the +account of a drover poet, by name Robert Mackay, or, as he was +commonly called, Rob Donn--that is, Brown Robert--and certain +specimens of his talents, published in the ninetieth number of +the Quarterly Review. The picture which that paper gives of the +habits and feelings of a class of persons with which the general +reader would be apt to associate no ideas but those of wild +superstition and rude manners, is in the highest degree +interesting, and I cannot resist the temptation of quoting two of +the songs of this hitherto unheard-of poet of humble life. They +are thus introduced by the reviewer:-- + +"Upon one occasion, it seems, Rob's attendance upon his master's +cattle business detained him a whole year from home, and at his +return he found that a fair maiden to whom his troth had been +plighted of yore had lost sight of her vows, and was on the eve +of being married to a rival (a carpenter by trade), who had +profited by the young drover's absence. The following song was +composed during a sleepless night, in the neighbourhood of +Creiff, in Perthshire, and the home sickness which it expresses +appears to be almost as much that of the deer-hunter as of the +loving swain. + + 'EASY IS MY BED, IT IS EASY, + BUT IT IS NOT TO SLEEP THAT I INCLINE; + THE WIND WHISTLES NORTHWARDS, NORTHWARDS, + AND MY THOUGHTS MOVE WITH IT. + More pleasant were it to be with thee + In the little glen of calves, + Than to be counting of droves + In the enclosures of Creiff. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Great is my esteem of the maiden + Towards whose dwelling the north wind blows; + She is ever cheerful, sportive, kindly, + Without folly, without vanity, without pride. + True is her heart--were I under hiding, + And fifty men in pursuit of my footsteps, + I should find protection, when they surrounded me most + closely, + In the secret recess of that shieling. + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Oh for the day for turning my face homeward, + That I may see the maiden of beauty-- + Joyful will it be to me to be with thee, + Fair girl with the long heavy locks! + Choice of all places for deer-hunting + Are the brindled rock and the ridge! + How sweet at evening to be dragging the slain deer + Downwards along the piper's cairn! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Great is my esteem for the maiden + Who parted from me by the west side of the enclosed field; + Late yet again will she linger in that fold, + Long after the kine are assembled. + It is I myself who have taken no dislike to thee, + Though far away from thee am I now. + It is for the thought of thee that sleep flies from me; + Great is the profit to me of thy parting kiss! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC. + + 'Dear to me are the boundaries of the forest; + Far from Creiff is my heart; + My remembrance is of the hillocks of sheep, + And the heath of many knolls. + Oh for the red-streaked fissures of the rock, + Where in spring time the fawns leap; + Oh for the crags towards which the wind is blowing-- + Cheap would be my bed to be there! + EASY IS MY BED, ETC.' + +"The following describes Rob's feelings on the first discovery +of his damsel's infidelity. The airs of both these pieces +are his own, and, the Highland ladies say, very beautiful. + + 'Heavy to me is the shieling, and the hum that is in it, + Since the ear that was wont to listen is now no more on the + watch. + Where is Isabel, the courteous, the conversable, a sister in + kindness? + Where is Anne, the slender-browed, the turret-breasted, whose + glossy hair pleased me when yet a boy? + HEICH! WHAT AN HOUR WAS MY RETURNING! + PAIN SUCH AS THAT SUNSET BROUGHT, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL IT? + + 'I traversed the fold, and upward among the trees-- + Each place, far and near, wherein I was wont to salute my + love. + When I looked down from the crag, and beheld the fair-haired + stranger dallying with his bride, + I wished I had never revisited the glen of my dreams. + SUCH THINGS CAME INTO MY HEART AS THAT SUN WAS GOING DOWN, + A PAIN OF WHICH I SHALL NEVER BE RID, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL + IT? + + 'Since it has been heard that the carpenter had persuaded thee, + My sleep is disturbed--busy is foolishness within me at + midnight. + The kindness that has been between us, I cannot shake off that + memory in visions; + Thou callest me not to thy side; but love is to me for a + messenger. + THERE IS STRIFE WITHIN ME, AND I TOSS TO BE AT LIBERTY; + AND EVER THE CLOSER IT CLINGS, AND THE DELUSION IS GROWING TO + ME AS A TREE. + + 'Anne, yellow-haired daughter of Donald, surely thou knowest + not how it is with me-- + That it is old love, unrepaid, which has worn down from me my + strength; + That when far from thee, beyond many mountains, the wound in + my heart was throbbing, + Stirring, and searching for ever, as when I sat beside thee on + the turf. + NOW, THEN, HEAR ME THIS ONCE, IF FOR EVER I AM TO BE WITHOUT + THEE, + MY SPIRIT IS BROKEN--GIVE ME ONE KISS ERE I LEAVE THIS LAND! + + 'Haughtily and scornfully the maid looked upon me:-- + Never will it be work for thy fingers to unloose the band from + my curls. + Thou hast been absent a twelvemonth, and six were seeking me + diligently; + Was thy superiority so high that there should be no end of + abiding for thee? + HA! HA! HA! HAST THOU AT LAST BECOME SICK? + IS IT LOVE THAT IS TO GIVE DEATH TO THEE? SURELY THE ENEMY + HAS BEEN IN NO HASTE. + + 'But how shall I hate thee, even though towards me thou hast + become cold? + When my discourse is most angry concerning thy name in thine + absence, + Of sudden thine image, with its old dearness, comes visibly + into my mind, + And a secret voice whispers that love will yet prevail! + AND I BECOME SURETY FOR IT ANEW, DARLING, + AND IT SPRINGS UP AT THAT HOUR LOFTY AS A TOWER.' + +"Rude and bald as these things appear in a verbal translation, +and rough as they might possibly appear, even were the originals +intelligible, we confess we are disposed to think they would of +themselves justify Dr. Mackay (their Editor) in placing this +herdsman-lover among the true sons of song."--QUARTERLY REVIEW, +NO. XC., JULY 1831. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of Chronicles of the Canongate, by Scott + diff --git a/old/cnngt10.zip b/old/cnngt10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c2a23b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cnngt10.zip |