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diff --git a/1828.txt b/1828.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd63dbb --- /dev/null +++ b/1828.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8961 @@ +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 + +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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