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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +WAVERLEY + +or + +'TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE + + +by SIR WALTER SCOTT BART. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTION +WAVERLEY or 'TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE +NOTES +GLOSSARY + + + +[Note: + +Characters that were in italics in the printed text have been +written in capital letters in this Etext. Accents in quotations +in French and other accented languages have been omitted. + +Footnotes in the printed text that were at the bottom of the +page have been placed in square brackets, as near as possible +to the place where they were originally referred to by a suffix. + +Numbered notes at the end of the book are referred to by the +insertion of references to those notes in square brackets.] + + + + +Under which King, Bezonian? speak, or die! Henry IV, Part II. + + +INTRODUCTION--(1829) + +The plan of this Edition leads me to insert in this place some +account of the incidents on which the Novel of WAVERLEY is +founded. They have been already given to the public, by my late +lamented friend, William Erskine, Esq. (afterwards Lord +Kinneder), when reviewing the 'Tales of My Landlord' for the +QUARTERLY REVIEW, in 1817. The particulars were derived by the +Critic from the Author's information. Afterwards they were +published in the Preface to the CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. +They are now inserted in their proper place. + +The mutual protection afforded by Waverley and Talbot to each +other, upon which the whole plot depends, is founded upon one of +those anecdotes which soften the features even of civil war; and +as it is equally honourable to the memory of both parties, we +have no hesitation to give their names at length. When the +Highlanders, on the morning of the battle of Preston, 1745, made +their memorable attack on Sir John Cope's army, a battery of four +field-pieces was stormed and carried by the Camerons and the +Stewarts of Appine. The late Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle +was one of the foremost in the charge, and observing an officer +of the King's forces, who, scorning to join the flight of all +around, remained with his sword in his hand, as if determined to +the very last to defend the post assigned to him, the Highland +gentleman commanded him to surrender, and received for reply a +thrust, which he caught in his target. The officer was now +defenceless, and the battle-axe of a gigantic Highlander (the +miller of Invernahyle's mill) was uplifted to dash his brains +out, when Mr. Stewart with difficulty prevailed on him to yield. +He took charge of his enemy's property, protected his person, and +finally obtained him liberty on his parole. The officer proved +to be Colonel Whitefoord, an Ayrshire gentleman of high character +and influence, and warmly attached to the House of Hanover; yet +such was the confidence existing between these two honourable +men, though of different political principles, that while the +civil war was raging, and straggling officers from the Highland +army were executed without mercy, Invernahyle hesitated not to +pay his late captive a visit, as he returned to the Highlands to +raise fresh recruits, on which occasion he spent a day or two in +Ayrshire among Colonel Whitefoord's Whig friends, as pleasantly +and as good-humouredly as if all had been at peace around him. + +After the battle of Culloden had ruined the hopes of Charles +Edward, and dispersed his proscribed adherents, it was Colonel +Whitefoord's turn to strain every nerve to obtain Mr. Stewart's +pardon. He went to the Lord Justice-Clerk, to the Lord-Advocate, +and to all the officers of state, and each application was +answered by the production of a list, in which Invernahyle (as +the good old gentleman was wont to express it) appeared 'marked +with the sign of the beast!' as a subject unfit for favour or +pardon. + +At length Colonel Whitefoord applied to the Duke of Cumberland in +person. From him, also, he received a positive refusal. He then +limited his request, for the present, to a protection for +Stewart's house, wife, children, and property. This was also +refused by the Duke; on which Colonel Whitefoord, taking his +commission from his bosom, laid it on the table before his Royal +Highness with much emotion, and asked permission to retire from +the service of a sovereign who did not know how to spare a +vanquished enemy. The Duke was struck, and even affected. He +bade the Colonel take up his commission, and granted the +protection he required. If was issued just in time to save the +house, corn, and cattle at Invernahyle, from the troops who were +engaged in laying waste what it was the fashion to call 'the +country of the enemy.' A small encampment of soldiers was formed +on Invernahyle's property, which they spared while plundering the +country around, and searching in every direction for the leaders +of the insurrection, and for Stewart in particular. He was much +nearer them than they suspected; for, hidden in a cave (like the +Baron of Bradwardine), he lay for many days so near the English +sentinels, that he could hear their muster-roll called, His food +was brought to him by one of his daughters, a child of eight +years old, whom Mrs. Stewart was under the necessity of +entrusting with this commission; for her own motions, and those +of all her elder inmates, were closely watched. With ingenuity +beyond her years, the child used to stray about among the +soldiers, who were rather kind to her, and thus seize the moment +when she was unobserved, and steal into the thicket, when she +deposited whatever small store of provisions she had in charge at +some marked spot, where her father might find it. Invernahyle +supported life for several weeks by means of these precarious +supplies; and as he had been wounded in the battle of Culloden, +the hardships which he endured were aggravated by great bodily +pain. After the soldiers had removed their quarters, he had +another remarkable escape. + +As he now ventured to his own house at night, and left it in the +morning, he was espied during the dawn by a party of the enemy, +who fired at and pursued him. The fugitive being fortunate +enough to escape their search, they returned to the house, and +charged the family with harbouring one of the proscribed +traitors. An old woman had presence of mind enough to maintain +that the man they had seen was the shepherd. 'Why did he not +stop when we called to him?' said the soldier.--'He is as deaf, +poor man, as a peat-stack,' answered the ready-witted domestic. +--'Let him be sent for, directly.' The real shepherd accordingly +was brought from the hill, and as there was time to tutor him by +the way, he was as deaf when he made his appearance, as was +necessary to sustain his character. Invernahyle was afterwards +pardoned under the Act of Indemnity. + +The Author knew him well, and has often heard these circumstances +from his own mouth. He was a noble specimen of the old +Highlander, far descended, gallant, courteous, and brave, even to +chivalry. He had been OUT, I believe, in 1715 and 1745; was an +active partaker in all the stirring scenes which passed in the +Highlands betwixt these memorable eras; and, I have heard, was +remarkable, among other exploits, for having fought a duel with +the broadsword with the celebrated Rob Roy MacGregor, at the +Clachan of Balquhidder. + +Invernahyle chanced to be in Edinburgh when Paul Jones came into +the Frith of Forth, and though then an old man, I saw him in +arms, and heard him exult (to use his own words) in the prospect +of 'drawing his claymore once more before he died.' In fact, on +that memorable occasion, when the capital of Scotland was menaced +by three trifling sloops or brigs, scarce fit to have sacked a +fishing village, he was the only man who seemed to propose a plan +of resistance. He offered to the magistrates, if broadswords and +dirks could be obtained, to find as many Highlanders among the +lower classes, as would cut off any boat's-crew who might be sent +into a town full of narrow and winding passages, in which they +were like to disperse in quest of plunder. I know not if his +plan was attended to; I rather think it seemed too hazardous to +the constituted authorities, who might not, even at that time, +desire to see arms in Highland hands. A steady and powerful west +wind settled the matter, by sweeping Paul Jones and his vessels +out of the Frith. + +If there is something degrading in this recollection, it is not +unpleasant to compare it with those of the last war, when +Edinburgh, besides regular forces and militia, furnished a +volunteer brigade of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, to the +amount of six thousand men and upwards, which was in readiness to +meet and repel a force of a far more formidable description than +was commanded by the adventurous American. Time and +circumstances change the character of nations and the fate of +cities; and it is some pride to a Scotchman to reflect, that the +independent and manly character of a country willing to entrust +its own protection to the arms of its children, after having been +obscured for half a century, has, during the course of his own +lifetime, recovered its lustre. + +Other illustrations of Waverley will be found in the Notes at the +foot of the pages to which they belong. [In this etext they are +embedded in the text in square brackets.] Those which appeared +too long to be so placed are given at the end of the volume. + + +* + + +WAVERLEY or 'TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + +The title of this work has not been chosen without the grave and +solid deliberation, which matters of importance demand from the +prudent. Even its first, or general denomination, was the result +of no common research or selection, although, according to the +example of my predecessors, I had only to seize upon the most +sounding and euphonic surname that English history or topography +affords, and elect it at once as the title of my work, and the +name of my hero. But, alas! what could my readers have expected +from the chivalrous epithets of Howard, Mordaunt, Mortimer, or +Stanley, or from the softer and more sentimental sounds of +Belmour, Belville, Belfield, and Belgrave, but pages of inanity, +similar to those which have been so christened for half a century +past? I must modestly admit I am too diffident of my own merit +to place it in unnecessary opposition to preconceived +associations; I have, therefore, like a maiden knight with his +white shield, assumed for my hero, WAVERLEY, an uncontaminated +name, bearing with its sound little of good or evil, excepting +what the reader shall hereafter be pleased to affix to it. But +my second or supplemental title was a matter of much more +difficult election, since that, short as it is, may be held as +pledging the author to some special mode of laying his scene, +drawing his characters, and managing his adventures. Had I, for +example, announced in my frontispiece, 'Waverley, a Tale of other +Days,' must not every novel reader have anticipated a castle +scarce less than that of Udolpho, of which the eastern wing had +long been uninhabited, and the keys either lost, or consigned to +the care of some aged butler or housekeeper, whose trembling +steps, about the middle of the second volume, were doomed to +guide the hero, or heroine, to the ruinous precincts? Would not +the owl have shrieked and the cricket cried in my very title- +page? and could it have been possible for me, with a moderate +attention to decorum, to introduce any scene more lively than +might be produced by the jocularity of a clownish but faithful +valet, or the garrulous narrative of the heroine's fille-de- +chambre, when rehearsing the stories of blood and horror which +she had heard in the servants' hall? Again, had my title borne +'Waverley, a Romance from the German,' what head so obtuse as not +to image forth a profligate abbot, an oppressive duke, a secret +and mysterious association of Rosycrucians and Illuminati, with +all their properties of black cowls, caverns, daggers, electrical +machines, trap-doors, and dark-lanterns? Or if I had rather +chosen to call my work a 'Sentimental Tale,' would it not have +been a sufficient presage of a heroine with a profusion of auburn +hair, and a harp, the soft solace of her solitary hours, which +she fortunately finds always the means of transporting from +castle to cottage, although she herself be sometimes obliged to +jump out of a two-pair-of-stairs window, and is more than once +bewildered on her journey, alone and on foot, without any guide +but a blowzy peasant girl, whose jargon she hardly can +understand? Or again, if my WAVERLEY had been entitled 'A Tale +of the Times,' wouldst thou not, gentle reader, have demanded +from me a dashing sketch of the fashionable world, a few +anecdotes of private scandal thinly veiled, and if lusciously +painted, so much the better? a heroine from Grosvenor Square, +and a hero from the Barouche Club or the Four-in-hand, with a set +of subordinate characters from the elegantes of Queen Anne Street +East, or the dashing heroes of the Bow Street Office? I could +proceed in proving the importance of a title-page, and displaying +at the same time my own intimate knowledge of the particular +ingredients necessary to the composition of romances and novels +of various descriptions: but it is enough, and I scorn to +tyrannize longer over the impatience of my reader, who is +doubtless already anxious to know the choice made by an author so +profoundly versed in the different branches of his art. + +By fixing, then, the date of my story Sixty Years before the +present 1st November, 1805, I would have my readers understand, +that they will meet in the following pages neither a romance of +chivalry, nor a tale of modern manners; that my hero will neither +have iron on his shoulders, as of yore, nor on the heels of his +boots, as is the present fashion of Bond Street; and that my +damsels will neither be clothed 'in purple and in pall,' like the +Lady Alice of an old ballad, nor reduced to the primitive +nakedness of a modern fashionable at a rout. From this my choice +of an era the understanding critic may further presage, that the +object of my tale is more a description of men than manners. A +tale of manners, to be interesting, must either refer to +antiquity so great as to have become venerable, or it must bear a +vivid reflection of those scenes which are passing daily before +our eyes, and are interesting from their novelty. Thus the coat- +of-mail of our ancestors, and the triple-furred pelisse of our +modern beaux, may, though for very different reasons, be equally +fit for the array of a fictitious character; but who, meaning the +costume of his hero to be impressive, would willingly attire him +in the court dress of George the Second's reign, with its no +collar, large sleeves, and low pocket-holes? The same may be +urged, with equal truth, of the Gothic hall, which, with its +darkened and tinted windows, its elevated and gloomy roof, and +massive oaken table garnished with boar's-head and rosemary, +pheasants and peacocks, cranes and cygnets, has an excellent +effect in fictitious description. Much may also be gained by a +lively display of a modern fete, such as we have daily recorded +in that part of a newspaper entitled the Mirror of Fashion, if we +contrast these, or either of them, with the splendid formality of +an entertainment given Sixty Years since; and thus it will be +readily seen how much the painter of antique or of fashionable +manners gains over him who delineates those of the last +generation. + +Considering the disadvantages inseparable from this part of my +subject, I must be understood to have resolved to avoid them as +much as possible, by throwing the force of my narrative upon the +characters and passions of the actors;--those passions common to +men in all stages of society, and which have alike agitated the +human heart, whether it throbbed under the steel corselet of the +fifteenth century, the brocaded coat of the eighteenth, or the +blue frock and white dimity waistcoat of the present day. [Alas! +that attire, respectable and gentlemanlike in 1805, or +thereabouts, is now as antiquated as the Author of Waverley has +himself become since that period! The reader of fashion will +please to fill up the costume with an embroidered waistcoat of +purple velvet or silk, and a coat of whatever colour he pleases.] +Upon these passions it is no doubt true that the state of manners +and laws casts a necessary colouring; but the bearings, to use +the language of heraldry, remain the same, though the tincture +may be not only different, but opposed in strong +contradistinction. The wrath of our ancestors, for example, was +coloured GULES; it broke forth in acts of open and sanguinary +violence against the objects of its fury. Our malignant +feelings, which must seek gratification through more indirect +channels, and undermine the obstacles which they cannot openly +bear down, may be rather said to be tinctured SABLE. But the +deep-ruling impulse is the same in both cases; and the proud peer +who can now only ruin his neighbour according to law, by +protracted suits, is the genuine descendant of the baron who +wrapped the castle of his competitor in flames, and knocked him +on the head as he endeavoured to escape from the conflagration. +It is from the great book of Nature, the same through a thousand +editions, whether of black-letter, or wire-wove and hot-pressed, +that I have venturously essayed to read a chapter to the public. +Some favourable opportunities of contrast have been afforded me, +by the state of society in the northern part of the island at +the period of my history, and may serve at once to vary and to +illustrate the moral lessons, which I would willingly consider as +the most important part of my plan; although I am sensible how +short these will fall of their aim, if I shall be found unable to +mix them with amusement,--a task not quite so easy in this +critical generation as it was 'Sixty Years since.' + + + +CHAPTER II + +WAVERLEY-HONOUR---A RETROSPECT + +It is, then, sixty years since Edward Waverley, the hero of the +following pages, took leave of his family, to join the regiment +of dragoons in which he had lately obtained a commission. It was +a melancholy day at Waverley-Honour when the young officer parted +with Sir Everard, the affectionate old uncle to whose title and +estate he was presumptive heir. + +A difference in political opinions had early separated the +Baronet from his younger brother, Richard Waverley, the father of +our hero. Sir Everard had inherited from his sires the whole +train of Tory or High-Church predilections and prejudices, which +had distinguished the house of Waverley since the Great Civil +War. Richard, on the contrary, who was ten years younger, beheld +himself born to the fortune of a second brother, and anticipated +neither dignity nor entertainment in sustaining the character of +Will Wimble. He saw early, that, to succeed in the race of life, +it was necessary he should carry as little weight as possible. +Painters talk of the difficulty of expressing the existence of +compound passions in the same features at the same moment: it +would be no less difficult for the moralist to analyse the mixed +motives which unite to form the impulse of our actions. Richard +Waverley read and satisfied himself, from history and sound +argument, that, in the words of the old song, + + Passive obedience was a jest, + And pshaw! was non-resistance; + +yet reason would have probably been unable to combat and remove +hereditary prejudice, could Richard have anticipated that his +elder brother, Sir Everard, taking to heart an early +disappointment, would have remained a batchelor at seventy-two. +The prospect of succession, however remote, might in that case +have led him to endure dragging through the greater part of his +life as 'Master Richard at the Hall, the baronet's brother,' in +the hope that ere its conclusion he should be distinguished as +Sir Richard Waverley of Waverley-Honour, successor to a princely +estate, and to extended political connexions as head of the +county interest in the shire where it lay. But this was a +consummation of things not to be expected at Richard's outset, +when Sir Everard was in the prime of life, and certain to be an +acceptable suitor in almost any family, whether wealth or beauty +should be the object of his pursuit, and when, indeed, his speedy +marriage was a report which regularly amused the neighbourhood +once a year. His younger brother saw no practicable road to +independence save that of relying upon his own exertions, and +adopting a political creed more consonant both to reason and his +own interest than the hereditary faith of Sir Everard in High +Church and in the house of Stewart. He therefore read his +recantation at the beginning of his career, and entered life as +an avowed Whig, and friend of the Hanover succession. + +The ministry of George the First's time were prudently anxious to +diminish the phalanx of opposition. The Tory nobility, depending +for their reflected lustre upon the sunshine of a court, had for +some time been gradually reconciling themselves to the new +dynasty. But the wealthy country gentlemen of England, a rank +which retained, with much of ancient manners and primitive +integrity, a great proportion of obstinate and unyielding +prejudice, stood aloof in haughty and sullen opposition, and cast +many a look of mingled regret and hope to Bois de Duc, Avignon, +and Italy. [Where the Chevalier Saint George, or, as he was +termed, the Old Pretender, held his exiled court, as his +situation compelled him to shift his place of residence.] The +accession of the near relation of one of those steady and +inflexible opponents was considered as a means of bringing over +more converts, and therefore Richard Waverley met with a share of +ministerial favour more than proportioned to his talents or his +political importance. It was however, discovered that he had +respectable talents for public business, and the first admittance +to the minister's levee being negotiated, his success became +rapid. Sir Everard learned from the public NEWS-LETTER,--first, +that Richard Waverley, Esquire, was returned for the ministerial +borough of Barterfaith; next, that Richard Waverley, Esquire, had +taken a distinguished part in the debate upon the Excise bill in +the support of government; and, lastly, that Richard Waverley, +Esquire, had been honoured with a seat at one of those boards, +where the pleasure of serving the country is combined with other +important gratifications, which, to render them the more +acceptable, occur regularly once a quarter. + +Although these events followed each other so closely that the +sagacity of the editor of a modern newspaper would have presaged +the last two even while he announced the first, yet they came +upon Sir Everard gradually, and drop by drop, as it were, +distilled through the cool and procrastinating alembic of DYER'S +WEEKLY LETTER. [Long the oracle of the country gentlemen of the +high Tory party. The ancient NEWS-LETTER was written in +manuscript and copied by clerks, who addressed the copies to the +subscribers. The politician by whom they were compiled picked up +his intelligence at coffee-houses, and often pleaded for an +additional gratuity, in consideration of the extra expense +attached to frequenting such places of fashionable resort.] For +it may be observed in passing, that instead of those mail- +coaches, by means of which every mechanic at his sixpenny club +may nightly learn from twenty contradictory channels the +yesterday's news of the capital, a weekly post brought, in those +days, to Waverley-Honour, a WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER, which, after it +had gratified Sir Everard's curiosity, his sister's, and that of +his aged butler, was regularly transferred from the Hall to the +Rectory, from the Rectory to Squire Stubbs' at the Grange, from +the Squire to the Baronet's steward at his neat white house on +the heath, from the steward to the bailiff, and from him through +a huge circle of honest dames and gaffers, by whose hard and +horny hands it was generally worn to pieces in about a month +after its arrival. + +This slow succession of intelligence was of some advantage to +Richard Waverley in the case before us; for, had the sum total of +his enormities reached the ears of Sir Everard at once, there can +be no doubt that the new commissioner would have had little +reason to pique himself on the success of his politics. The +Baronet, although the mildest of human beings, was not without +sensitive points in his character; his brother's conduct had +wounded these deeply; the Waverley estate was fettered by no +entail (for it had never entered into the head of any of its +former possessors that one of their progeny could be guilty of +the atrocities laid by DYER'S LETTER to the door of Richard), and +if it had, the marriage of the proprietor might have been fatal +to a collateral heir. These various ideas floated through the +brain of Sir Everard, without, however, producing any determined +conclusion. + +He examined the tree of his genealogy, which, emblazoned with +many an emblematic mark of honour and heroic achievement, hung +upon the well-varnished wainscot of his hall. The nearest +descendants of Sir Hildebrand Waverley, failing those of his +eldest son Wilfred, of whom Sir Everard and his brother were the +only representatives, were, as this honoured register informed +him (and, indeed, as he himself well knew), the Waverleys of +Highley Park, com. Hants; with whom the main branch, or rather +stock, of the house had renounced all connexion, since the great +lawsuit in 1670. + +This degenerate scion had committed a further offence against the +head and source of their gentility, by the intermarriage of their +representative with Judith, heiress of Oliver Bradshawe, of +Highley Park, whose arms, the same with those of Bradshawe the +regicide, they had quartered with the ancient coat of Waverley. +These offences, however, had vanished from Sir Everard's +recollection in the heat of his resentment; and had Lawyer +Clippurse, for whom his groom was dispatched express, arrived but +an hour earlier, he might have had the benefit of drawing a new +settlement of the lordship and manor of Waverley-Honour, with all +its dependencies. But an hour of cool reflection is a great +matter, when employed in weighing the comparative evil of two +measures, to neither of which we are internally partial. Lawyer +Clippurse found his patron involved in a deep study, which he was +too respectful to disturb, otherwise than by producing his paper +and leathern ink-case, as prepared to minute his honour's +commands. Even this slight manoeuvre was embarrassing to Sir +Everard, who felt it as a reproach to his indecision. He looked +at the attorney with some desire to issue his fiat, when the sun, +emerging from behind a cloud, poured at once its chequered light +through the stained window of the gloomy cabinet in which they +were seated. The Baronet's eye, as he raised it to the +splendour, fell right upon the central scutcheon, impressed with +the same device which his ancestor was said to have borne in the +field of Hastings; three ermines passant, argent, in a field +azure, with its appropriate motto, SANS LACHE. 'May our name +rather perish,' exclaimed Sir Everard, 'than that ancient and +loyal symbol should be blended with the dishonoured insignia of a +traitorous Roundhead!' + +All this was the effect of the glimpse of a sunbeam, just +sufficient to light Lawyer Clippurse to mend his pen. The pen +was mended in vain. The attorney was dismissed, with directions +to hold himself in readiness on the first summons. + +The apparition of Lawyer Clippurse at the Hall occasioned much +speculation in that portion of the world to which Waverley-Honour +formed the centre: but the more judicious politicians of this +microcosm augured yet worse consequences to Richard Waverley from +a movement which shortly followed his apostasy. This was no less +than an excursion of the Baronet in his coach-and-six, with four +attendants in rich liveries, to make a visit of some duration to +a noble peer on the confines of the shire, of untainted descent, +steady Tory principles, and the happy father of six unmarried and +accomplished daughters. + +Sir Everard's reception in this family was, as it may be easily +conceived, sufficiently favourable; but of the six young ladies, +his taste unfortunately determined him in favour of Lady Emily, +the youngest, who received his attentions with an embarrassment +which showed at once that she durst not decline them, and that +they afforded her anything but pleasure. + +Sir Everard could not but perceive something uncommon in the +restrained emotions which the young lady testified at the +advances he hazarded; but, assured by the prudent Countess that +they were the natural effects of a retired education, the +sacrifice might have been completed, as doubtless has happened in +many similar instances, had it not been for the courage of an +elder sister, who revealed to the wealthy suitor that Lady +Emily's affections were fixed upon a young soldier of fortune, a +near relation of her own. Sir Everard manifested great emotion +on receiving this intelligence, which was confirmed to him, in a +private interview, by the young lady herself, although under the +most dreadful apprehensions of her father's indignation. + +Honour and generosity were hereditary attributes of the house of +Waverley. With a grace and delicacy worthy the hero of a +romance, Sir Everard withdrew his claim to the hand of Lady +Emily. He had even, before leaving Blandeville Castle, the +address to extort from her father a consent to her union with the +object of her choice. What arguments he used on this point +cannot exactly be known, for Sir Everard was never supposed +strong in the powers of persuasion; but the young officer, +immediately after this transaction, rose in the army with a +rapidity far surpassing the usual pace of unpatronized +professional merit, although, to outward appearance, that was all +he had to depend upon. + +The shock which Sir Everard encountered upon this occasion, +although diminished by the consciousness of having acted +virtuously and generously, had its effect upon his future life. +His resolution of marriage had been adopted in a fit of +indignation; the labour of courtship did not quite suit the +dignified indolence of his habits; he had but just escaped the +risk of marrying a woman who could never love him; and his pride +could not be greatly flattered by the termination of his amour, +even if his heart had not suffered. The result of the whole +matter was his return to Waverley-Honour without any transfer of +his affections, notwithstanding the sighs and languishments of +the fair tell-tale, who had revealed, in mere sisterly affection, +the secret of Lady Emily's attachment, and in despite of the +nods, winks, and innuendoes of the officious lady mother, and the +grave eulogiums which the Earl pronounced successively on the +prudence, and good sense, and admirable dispositions, of his +first, second, third, fourth, and fifth daughters. The memory of +his unsuccessful amour was with Sir Everard, as with many more of +his temper, at once shy, proud, sensitive, and indolent, a beacon +against exposing himself to similar mortification, pain, and +fruitless exertion for the time to come. He continued to live at +Waverley-Honour in the style of an old English gentleman, of an +ancient descent and opulent fortune. His sister, Miss Rachel +Waverley, presided at his table; and they became, by degrees, an +old bachelor and an ancient maiden lady, the gentlest and kindest +of the votaries of celibacy. + +The vehemence of Sir Everard's resentment against his brother was +but short-lived; yet his dislike to the Whig and the placeman, +though unable to stimulate him to resume any active measures +prejudicial to Richard's interest in the succession to the family +estate, continued to maintain the coldness between them. Richard +knew enough of the world, and of his brother's temper, to believe +that by any ill-considered or precipitate advances on his part, +he might turn passive dislike into a more active principle. It +was accident, therefore, which at length occasioned a renewal of +their intercourse. Richard had married a young woman of rank, by +whose family interest and private fortune he hoped to advance his +career. In her right, he became possessor of a manor of some +value, at the distance of a few miles from Waverley-Honour. + +Little Edward, the hero of our tale, then in his fifth year, was +their only child. It chanced that the infant with his maid had +strayed one morning to a mile's distance from the avenue of +Brere-wood Lodge, his father's seat. Their attention was +attracted by a carriage drawn by six stately long-failed black +horses, and with as much carving and gilding as would have done +honour to my lord mayor's. It was waiting for the owner, who was +at a little distance inspecting the progress of a half-built +farm-house. I know not whether the boy's nurse had been a Welsh +or a Scotch woman, or in what manner he associated a shield +emblazoned with three ermines with the idea of personal property, +but he no sooner beheld this family emblem, than he stoutly +determined on vindicating his right to the splendid vehicle on +which it was displayed. The Baronet arrived while the boy's maid +was in vain endeavouring to make him desist from his +determination to appropriate the gilded coach and six. The +rencontre was at a happy moment for Edward, as his uncle had been +just eyeing wistfully, with something of a feeling like envy, the +chubby boys of the stout yeoman whose mansion was building by his +direction. In the round-faced rosy cherub before him, bearing +his eye and his name, and vindicating a hereditary title to his +family affection and patronage, by means of a tie which Sir +Everard held as sacred as either Garter or Blue Mantle, +Providence seemed to have granted to him the very object best +calculated to fill up the void in his hopes and affections. Sir +Everard returned to Waverley Hall upon a led horse which was kept +in readiness for him, while the child and his attendant were sent +home in the carriage to Brere-wood Lodge, with such a message as +opened to Richard Waverley a door of reconciliation with his +elder brother. + +Their intercourse, however, though thus renewed, continued to be +rather formal and civil, than partaking of brotherly cordiality; +yet it was sufficient to the wishes of both parties. Sir Everard +obtained, in the frequent society of his little nephew, something +on which his hereditary pride might found the anticipated +pleasure of a continuation of his lineage, and where his kind and +gentle affections could at the same time fully exercise +themselves. For Richard Waverley, he beheld in the growing +attachment between the uncle and nephew the means of securing his +son's, if not his own, succession to the hereditary estate, which +he felt would be rather endangered than promoted by any attempt +on his own part towards a closer intimacy with a man of Sir +Everard's habits and opinions. + +Thus, by a sort of tacit compromise, little Edward was permitted +to pass the greater part of the year at the Hall, and appeared to +stand in the same intimate relation to both families, although +their mutual intercourse was otherwise limited to formal +messages, and more formal visits. The education of the youth was +regulated alternately by the taste and opinions of his uncle and +of his father. But more of this in a subsequent chapter. + + + +CHAPTER III + +EDUCATION + +The education of our hero, Edward Waverley, was of a nature +somewhat desultory. In infancy, his health suffered, or was +supposed to suffer (which is quite the same thing), by the air of +London. As soon, therefore, as official duties, attendance on +Parliament, or the prosecution of any of his plans of interest or +ambition, called his father to town, which was his usual +residence for eight months in the year, Edward was transferred to +Waverley-Honour, and experienced a total change of instructors +and of lessons, as well as of residence. This might have been +remedied, had his father placed him under the superintendence of +a permanent tutor. But he considered that one of his choosing +would probably have been unacceptable at Waverley-Honour, and +that such a selection as Sir Everard might have made, were the +matter left to him, would have burdened him with a disagreeable +inmate, if not a political spy, in his family. He therefore +prevailed upon his private secretary, a young man of taste and +accomplishments, to bestow an hour or two on Edward's education +while at Brere-wood Lodge, and left his uncle answerable for his +improvement in literature while an inmate at the Hall. + +This was in some degree respectably provided for. Sir Everard's +chaplain, an Oxonian, who had lost his fellowship for declining +to take the oaths at the accession of George I, was not only an +excellent classical scholar, but reasonably skilled in science, +and master of most modern languages. He was, however, old and +indulgent, and the recurring interregnum, during which Edward was +entirely freed from his discipline, occasioned such a relaxation +of authority, that the youth was permitted, in a great measure, +to learn as he pleased, what he pleased, and when he pleased. +This slackness of rule might have been ruinous to a boy of slow +understanding, who, feeling labour in the acquisition of +knowledge, would have altogether neglected it, save for the +command of a task-master; and it might have proved equally +dangerous to a youth whose animal spirits were more powerful than +his imagination or his feelings, and whom the irresistible +influence of Alma would have engaged in field sports from morning +till night. But the character of Edward Waverley was remote from +either of these. His powers of apprehension were so uncommonly +quick, as almost to resemble intuition, and the chief care of his +preceptor was to prevent him, as a sportsman would phrase it, +from overrunning his game, that is, from acquiring his knowledge +in a slight, flimsy, and inadequate manner. And here the +instructor had to combat another propensity too often united with +brilliancy of fancy and vivacity of talent,--that indolence, +namely, of disposition, which can only be stirred by some strong +motive of gratification, and which renounces study as soon as +curiosity is gratified, the pleasure of conquering the first +difficulties exhausted, and the novelty of pursuit at an end. +Edward would throw himself with spirit upon any classical author +of which his preceptor proposed the perusal, make himself master +of the style so far as to understand the story, and if that +pleased or interested him, he finished the volume. But it was in +vain to attempt fixing his attention on critical distinctions of +philology, upon the difference of idiom, the beauty of felicitous +expression, or the artificial combinations of syntax. 'I can +read and understand a Latin author,' said young Edward, with the +self-confidence and rash reasoning of fifteen, 'and Scaliger or +Bentley could not do much more.' Alas! while he was thus +permitted to read only for the gratification of his amusement, he +foresaw not that he was losing for ever the opportunity of +acquiring habits of firm and assiduous application, of gaining +the art of controlling, directing, and concentrating the powers +of his mind for earnest investigation,--an art far more essential +than even that intimate acquaintance with classical learning, +which is the primary object of study. + +I am aware I may be here reminded of the necessity of rendering +instruction agreeable to youth, and of Tasso's infusion of honey +into the medicine prepared for a child; but an age in which +children are taught the driest doctrines by the insinuating +method of instructive games, has little reason to dread the +consequences of study being rendered too serious or severe. The +history of England is now reduced to a game at cards,--the +problems of mathematics to puzzles and riddles,--and the +doctrines of arithmetic may, we are assured, be sufficiently +acquired, by spending a few hours a week at a new and complicated +edition of the Royal Game of the Goose. There wants but one step +further, and the Creed and Ten Commandments may be taught in the +same manner, without the necessity of the grave face, deliberate +tone of recital, and devout attention, hitherto exacted from the +well governed childhood of this realm. It may, in the meantime, +be subject of serious consideration, whether those who are +accustomed only to acquire instruction through the medium of +amusement, may not be brought to reject that which approaches +under the aspect of study; whether those who learn history by the +cards, may not be led to prefer the means to the end; and +whether, were we to teach religion in the way of sport, our +pupils may not thereby be gradually induced to make sport of +their religion. To our young hero, who was permitted to seek his +instruction only according to the bent of his own mind, and who, +of consequence, only sought it so long as it afforded him +amusement, the indulgence of his tutors was attended with evil +consequences, which long continued to influence his character, +happiness, and utility. Edward's power of imagination and love +of literature, although the former was vivid, and the latter +ardent, were so far from affording a remedy to this peculiar +evil, that they rather inflamed and increased its violence. The +library at Waverley-Honour, a large Gothic room, with double +arches and a gallery, contained such a miscellaneous and +extensive collection of volumes as had been assembled together, +during the course of two hundred years, by a family which had +been always wealthy, and inclined, of course, as a mark of +splendour, to furnish their shelves with the current literature +of the day, without much scrutiny, or nicety of discrimination. +Throughout this ample realm Edward was permitted to roam at +large. His tutor had his own studies; and church politics and +controversial divinity, together with a love of learned ease, +though they did not withdraw his attention at stated times from +the progress of his patron's presumptive heir, induced him +readily to grasp at any apology for not extending a strict and +regulated survey towards his general studies. Sir Everard had +never been himself a student, and, like his sister Miss Rachel +Waverley, he held the common doctrine, that idleness is +incompatible with reading of any kind, and that the mere tracing +the alphabetical characters with the eye is in itself a useful +and meritorious task, without scrupulously considering what ideas +or doctrines they may happen to convey. With a desire of +amusement, therefore, which better discipline might soon have +converted into a thirst for knowledge, young Waverley drove +through the sea of books, like a vessel without a pilot or a +rudder. Nothing perhaps increases by indulgence more than a +desultory habit of reading, especially under such opportunities +of gratifying it. I believe one reason why such numerous +instances of erudition occur among the lower ranks is, that, with +the same powers of mind, the poor student is limited to a narrow +circle for indulging his passion for books, and must necessarily +make himself master of the few he possesses ere he can acquire +more. Edward, on the contrary, like the epicure who only deigned +to take a single morsel from the sunny side of a peach, read no +volume a moment after it ceased to excite his curiosity or +interest; and it necessarily happened, that the habit of seeking +only this sort of gratification rendered it daily more difficult +of attainment, till the passion for reading, like other strong +appetites, produced by indulgence a sort of satiety. + +Ere he attained this indifference, however, he had read, and +stored in a memory of uncommon tenacity, much curious, though +ill-arranged and miscellaneous information. In English +literature he was master of Shakespeare and Milton, of our +earlier dramatic authors; of many picturesque and interesting +passages from our old historical chronicles; and was particularly +well acquainted with Spenser, Drayton, and other poets who have +exercised themselves on romantic fiction, of all themes the most +fascinating to a youthful imagination, before the passions have +roused themselves, and demand poetry of a more sentimental +description. In this respect his acquaintance with Italian +opened him yet a wider range. He had perused the numerous +romantic poems, which, from the days of Pulci, have been a +favourite exercise of the wits of Italy; and had sought +gratification in the numerous collections of NOVELLE, which were +brought forth by the genius of that elegant though luxurious +nation, in emulation of the DECAMERON. In classical literature, +Waverley had made the usual progress, and read the usual authors; +and the French had afforded him an almost exhaustless collection +of memoirs, scarcely more faithful than romances, and of romances +so well written as hardly to be distinguished from memoirs. The +splendid pages of Froissart, with his heart-stirring and eye- +dazzling descriptions of war and of tournaments, were among his +chief favourites; and from those of Brantome and de la Noue he +learned to compare the wild and loose yet superstitious character +of the nobles of the League, with the stern, rigid, and sometimes +turbulent disposition of the Huguenot party. The Spanish had +contributed to his stock of chivalrous and romantic lore. The +earlier literature of the northern nations did not escape the +study of one who read rather to awaken the imagination than to +benefit the understanding. And yet, knowing much that is known +but to few, Edward Waverley might justly be considered as +ignorant, since he knew little of what adds dignify to man, and +qualifies him to support and adorn an elevated situation in +society. + +The occasional attention of his parents might indeed have been of +service, to prevent the dissipation of mind incidental to such a +desultory course of reading. But his mother died in the seventh +year after the reconciliation between the brothers, and Richard +Waverley himself, who, after this event, resided more constantly +in London, was too much interested in his own plans of wealth and +ambition, to notice more respecting Edward, than that he was of a +very bookish turn, and probably destined to be a bishop. If he +could have discovered and analysed his son's waking dreams, he +would have formed a very different conclusion. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CASTLE-BUILDING + +I have already hinted, that the dainty, squeamish, and fastidious +taste acquired by a surfeit of idle reading, had not only +rendered our hero unfit for serious and sober study, it had even +disgusted him in some degree with that in which he had hitherto +indulged. + +He was in his sixteenth year, when his habits of abstraction and +love of solitude became so much marked, as to excite Sir +Everard's affectionate apprehension. He tried to counterbalance +these propensities, by engaging his nephew in field sports, which +had been the chief pleasure of his own youthful days. But +although Edward eagerly carried the gun for one season, yet when +practice had given him some dexterity, the pastime ceased to +afford him amusement. + +In the succeeding spring, the perusal of old Isaac Walton's +fascinating volume determined Edward to become 'a brother of the +angle.' But of all diversions which ingenuity ever devised for +the relief of idleness, fishing is the worst qualified to amuse a +man who is at once indolent and impatient; and our hero's rod was +speedily flung aside. Society and example, which, more than any +other motives, master and sway the natural bent of our passions, +might have had their usual effect upon the youthful visionary: +but the neighbourhood was thinly inhabited, and the homebred +young squires whom it afforded, were not of a class fit to form +Edward's usual companions, far less to excite him to emulation in +the practice of those pastimes which composed the serious +business of their lives. + +There were a few other youths of better education, and a more +liberal character; but from their society also our hero was in +some degree excluded. Sir Everard had, upon the death of Queen +Anne, resigned his seat in Parliament, and, as his age increased +and the number of his contemporaries diminished, had gradually +withdrawn himself from society; so that when, upon any particular +occasion, Edward mingled with accomplished and well-educated +young men of his own rank and expectations, he felt an +inferiority in their company, not so much from deficiency of +information, as from the want of the skill to command and to +arrange that which he possessed. A deep and increasing +sensibility added to this dislike of society. The idea of having +committed the slightest solecism in politeness, whether real or +imaginary, was agony to him; for perhaps even guilt itself does +not impose upon some minds so keen a sense of shame and remorse, +as a modest, sensitive, and inexperienced youth feels from the +consciousness of having neglected etiquette, or excited ridicule. +Where we are not at ease, we cannot be happy; and therefore it is +not surprising, that Edward Waverley supposed that he disliked +and was unfitted for society, merely because he had not yet +acquired the habit of living in it with ease and comfort, and of +reciprocally giving and receiving pleasure. + +The hours he spent with his uncle and aunt were exhausted in +listening to the oft-repeated tale of narrative old age. Yet +even there his imagination, the predominant faculty of his mind, +was frequently excited. Family tradition and genealogical +history, upon which much of Sir Everard's discourse turned, is +the very reverse of amber, which, itself a valuable substance, +usually includes flies, straws, and other trifles; whereas these +studies, being themselves very insignificant and trifling, do +nevertheless serve to perpetuate a great deal of what is rare and +valuable in ancient manners, and to record many curious and +minute facts, which could have been preserved and conveyed +through no other medium. If, therefore, Edward Waverley yawned +at times over the dry deduction of his line of ancestors, with +their various intermarriages, and inwardly deprecated the +remorseless and protracted accuracy with which the worthy Sir +Everard rehearsed the various degrees of propinquity between the +house of Waverley-Honour and the doughty barons, knights, and +squires, to whom they stood allied; if (notwithstanding his +obligations to the three ermines passant) he sometimes cursed in +his heart the jargon of heraldry, its griffins, its moldwarps, +its wyverns, and its dragons with all the bitterness of Hotspur +himself, there were moments when these communications interested +his fancy and rewarded his attention. + +The deeds of Wilibert of Waverley in the Holy Land, his long +absence and perilous adventures, his supposed death, and his +return in the evening when the betrothed of his heart had wedded +the hero who had protected her from insult and oppression during +his absence; the generosity with which the Crusader relinquished +his claims, and sought in a neighbouring cloister that peace +which passeth not away; [See Note 1]--to these and similar tales +he would hearken till his heart glowed and his eye glistened. +Nor was he less affected, when his aunt, Mrs. Rachel, narrated +the sufferings and fortitude of Lady Alice Waverley during the +Great Civil War. The benevolent features of the venerable +spinster kindled into more majestic expression, as she told how +Charles had, after the field of Worcester, found a day's refuge +at Waverley-Honour; and how, when a troop of cavalry were +approaching to search the mansion, Lady Alice dismissed her +youngest son with a handful of domestics, charging them to make +good with their lives an hour's diversion, that the king might +have that space for escape, 'And, God help her,' would Mrs. +Rachel continue, fixing her eyes upon the heroine's portrait as +she spoke, 'full dearly did she purchase the safety of her prince +with the life of her darling child. They brought him here a +prisoner, mortally wounded; and you may trace the drops of his +blood from the great hall door along the little gallery, and up +to the saloon, where they laid him down to die at his mother's +feet. But there was comfort exchanged between them; for he knew +from the glance of his mother's eye, that the purpose of his +desperate defence was attained. Ah! I remember,' she continued, +'I remember well to have seen one that knew and loved him. Miss +Lucy St. Aubin lived and died a maid for his sake, though one of +the most beautiful and wealthy matches in this country; all the +world ran after her, but she wore widow's mourning all her life +for poor William, for they were betrothed though not married, and +died in -- I cannot think of the date; but I remember, in the +November of that very year, when she found herself sinking, she +desired to be brought to Waverley-Honour once more, and visited +all the places where she had been with my grand-uncle, and caused +the carpets to be raised that she might trace the impression of +his blood, and if tears could have washed it out, it had not been +there now; for there was not a dry eye in the house. You would +have thought, Edward, that the very trees mourned for her, for +their leaves dropped around her without a gust of wind; and, +indeed, she looked like one that would never see them green +again.' + +From such legends our hero would steal away to indulge the +fancies they excited. In the corner of the large and sombre +library, with no other light than was afforded by the decaying +brands on its ponderous and ample hearth, he would exercise for +hours that internal sorcery, by which past or imaginary events +are presented in action, as it were, to the eye of the muser. +Then arose in long and fair array the splendour of the bridal +feast at Waverley Castle; the tall and emaciated form of its real +lord, as he stood in his pilgrim's weeds, an unnoticed spectator +of the festivities of his supposed heir and intended bride; the +electrical shock occasioned by the discovery; the springing of +the vassals to arms; the astonishment of the bridegroom; the +terror and confusion of the bride; the agony with which Wilibert +observed that her heart as well as consent was in these nuptials; +the air of dignity, yet of deep feeling, with which he flung down +the half-drawn sword, and turned away for ever from the house of +his ancestors. Then would he change the scene, and fancy would +at his wish represent Aunt Rachel's tragedy. He saw the Lady +Waverley seated in her bower, her ear strained to every sound, +her heart throbbing with double agony, now listening to the +decaying echo of the hoofs of the king's horse, and when that had +died away, hearing in every breeze that shook the trees of the +park, the noise of the remote skirmish. A distant sound is heard +like the rushing of a swollen stream; it comes nearer, and Edward +can plainly distinguish the galloping of horses, the cries and +shouts of men, with straggling pistol-shots between, rolling +forwards to the Hall. The lady starts up--a terrified menial +rushes in--but why pursue such a description? + +As living in this ideal world became daily more delectable to our +hero, interruption was disagreeable in proportion. The extensive +domain that surrounded the Hall, which, far exceeding the +dimensions of a park, was usually termed Waverley-Chase, had +originally been forest ground, and still, though broken by +extensive glades, in which the young deer were sporting, retained +its pristine and savage character. It was traversed by broad +avenues, in many places half grown up with brushwood, where the +beauties of former days used to take their stand to see the stag +course with greyhounds, or to gain an aim at him with the +crossbow. In one spot, distinguished by a moss-grown Gothic +monument, which retained the name of Queen's Standing, Elizabeth +herself was said to have pierced seven bucks with her own arrows. +This was a very favourite haunt of Waverley. At other times, +with his gun and his spaniel, which served as an apology to +others, and with a book in his pocket, which perhaps served as an +apology to himself, he used to pursue one of these long avenues, +which, after an ascending sweep of four miles, gradually narrowed +into a rude and contracted path through the cliffy and woody pass +called Mirkwood Dingle, and opened suddenly upon a deep, dark, +and small lake, named, from the same cause, Mirkwood Mere. There +stood, in former times, a solitary tower upon a rock almost +surrounded by the water, which had acquired the name of the +Strength of Waverley, because, in perilous times, it had often +been the refuge of the family. There, in the wars of York and +Lancaster, the last adherents of the Red Rose who dared to +maintain her cause, carried on a harassing and predatory warfare, +till the stronghold was reduced by the celebrated Richard of +Gloucester. Here, too, a party of cavaliers long maintained +themselves under Nigel Waverley, elder brother of that William +whose fate Aunt Rachel commemorated. Through these scenes it was +that Edward loved to 'chew the cud of sweet and bitter fancy,' +and, like a child among his toys, culled and arranged, from the +splendid yet useless imagery and emblems with which his +imagination was stored, visions as brilliant and as fading as +those of an evening sky. The effect of this indulgence upon his +temper and character will appear in the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER V + +CHOICE OF A PROFESSION + +From the minuteness with which I have traced Waverley's pursuits, +and the bias which these unavoidably communicated to his +imagination, the reader may perhaps anticipate, in the following +tale, an imitation of the romance of Cervantes. But he will do +my prudence injustice in the supposition. My intention is not to +follow the steps of that inimitable author, in describing such +total perversion of intellect as misconstrues the objects +actually presented to the senses, but that more common aberration +from sound judgement, which apprehends occurrences indeed in +their reality, but communicates to them a tincture of its own +romantic tone and colouring. So far was Edward Waverley from +expecting general sympathy with his own feelings, or concluding +that the present state of things was calculated to exhibit the +reality of those visions in which he loved to indulge, that he +dreaded nothing more than the detection of such sentiments as +were dictated by his musings, he neither had nor wished to have a +confidant, with whom to communicate his reveries; and so sensible +was he of the ridicule attached to them, that, had he been to +choose between any punishment short of ignominy, and the +necessity of giving a cold and composed account of the ideal +world in which he lived the better part of his days, I think he +would not have hesitated to prefer the former infliction. This +secrecy became doubly precious, as he felt in advancing life the +influence of the awakening passions. Female forms of exquisite +grace and beauty began to mingle in his mental adventures; nor +was he long without looking abroad to compare the creatures of +his own imagination with the females of actual life. + +The list of the beauties who displayed their hebdomadal finery at +the parish church of Waverley was neither numerous nor select. +By far the most passable was Miss Sissly, or, as she rather chose +to be called, Miss Cecilia Stubbs, daughter of Squire Stubbs at +the Grange. I know not whether it was by the 'merest accident in +the world,' a phrase which, from female lips, does not always +exclude MALICE PREPENSE, or whether it was from a conformity of +taste, that Miss Cecilia more than once crossed Edward in his +favourite walks through Waverley-Chase. He had not as yet +assumed courage to accost her on these occasions; but the meeting +was not without its effect. A romantic lover is a strange +idolater, who sometimes cares not out of what log he frames the +object of his adoration; at least, if nature has given that +object any passable proportion of personal charms, he can easily +play the jeweller and Dervise in the Oriental tale, [See +Hoppner's tale of The Seven Lovers.] and supply her richly, out +of the stores of his own imagination, with supernatural beauty, +and all the properties of intellectual wealth. + +But ere the charms of Miss Cecilia Stubbs had erected her into a +positive goddess, or elevated her at least to a level with the +saint her namesake, Mrs. Rachel Waverley gained some intimation +which determined her to prevent the approaching apotheosis. Even +the most simple and unsuspicious of the female sex have (God +bless them!) an instinctive sharpness of perception in such +matters, which sometimes goes the length of observing +partialities that never existed, but rarely misses to detect such +as pass actually under their observation. Mrs. Rachel applied +herself with great prudence, not to combat, but to elude, the +approaching danger, and suggested to her brother the necessity +that the heir of his house should see something more of the world +than was consistent with constant residence at Waverley-Honour. + +Sir Everard would not at first listen to a proposal which went to +separate his nephew from him. Edward was a little bookish, he +admitted; but youth, he had always heard, was the season for +learning, and, no doubt, when his rage for letters was abated, +and his head fully stocked with knowledge, his nephew would take +to field sports and country business. He had often, he said, +himself regretted that he had not spent some time in study during +his youth: he would neither have shot nor hunted with less +skill, and he might have made the roof of St. Stephen's echo to +longer orations than were comprised in those zealous Noes, with +which, when a member of the House during Godolphin's +administration, he encountered every measure of government. + +Aunt Rachel's anxiety, however, lent her address to carry her +point. Every representative of their house had visited foreign +parts, or served his country in the army, before he settled for +life at Waverley-Honour, and she appealed for the truth of her +assertion to the genealogical pedigree, an authority which Sir +Everard was never known to contradict. In short, a proposal was +made to Mr. Richard Waverley that his son should travel, under +the direction of his present tutor, Mr. Pembroke, with a suitable +allowance from the baronet's liberality. The father himself saw +no objection to this overture; but upon mentioning it casually at +the table of the Minister, the great man looked grave. The +reason was explained in private. The unhappy turn of Sir +Everard's politics, the Minister observed, was such as would +render it highly improper that a young gentleman of such hopeful +prospects should travel on the Continent with a tutor doubtless +of his uncle's choosing, and directing his course by his +instructions. What might Mr. Edward Waverley's society be at +Paris, what at Rome, where all manner of snares were spread by +the Pretender and his sons--these were points for Mr. Waverley to +consider. This he could himself say, that he knew his Majesty +had such a just sense of Mr. Richard Waverley's merits, that if +his son adopted the army for a few years, a troop, he believed, +might be reckoned upon in one of the dragoon regiments lately +returned from Flanders. + +A hint thus conveyed and enforced was not to be neglected with +impunity; and Richard Waverley, though with great dread of +shocking his brother's prejudices, deemed he could not avoid +accepting the commission thus offered him for his son. The truth +is, he calculated much, and justly, upon Sir Everard's fondness +for Edward, which made him unlikely to resent any step that he +might take in due submission to parental authority. Two letters +announced this determination to the Baronet and his nephew. The +latter barely communicated the fact, and pointed out the +necessary preparation for joining his regiment. To his brother, +Richard was more diffuse and circuitous. He coincided with him +in the most flattering manner, in the propriety of his son's +seeing a little more of the world, and was even humble in +expressions of gratitude for his proposed assistance; was, +however, deeply concerned that it was now, unfortunately, not in +Edward's power exactly to comply with the plan which had been +chalked out by his best friend and benefactor. He himself had +thought with pain on the boy's inactivity, at an age when all his +ancestors had borne arms; even Royalty itself had deigned to +inquire whether young Waverley was not now in Flanders, at an age +when his grandfather was already bleeding for his king in the +Great Civil War. This was accompanied by an offer of a troop of +horse. What could he do? There was no time to consult his +brother's inclinations, even if he could have conceived there +might be objections on his part to his nephew s following the +glorious career of his predecessors. And, in short, that Edward +was now (the intermediate steps of cornet and lieutenant being +overleapt with great agility) Captain Waverley, of Gardiner's +regiment of dragoons, which he must join in their quarters at +Dundee in Scotland, in the course of a month. + +Sir Everard Waverley received this intimation with a mixture of +feelings. At the period of the Hanoverian succession he had +withdrawn from Parliament, and his conduct, in the memorable year +1715, had not been altogether unsuspected. There were reports of +private musters of tenants and horses in Waverley-Chase by +moonlight, and of cases of carbines and pistols purchased in +Holland, and addressed to the Baronet, but intercepted by the +vigilance of a riding officer of the excise, who was afterwards +tossed in a blanket on a moonless night, by an association of +stout yeomen, for his officiousness. Nay, it was even said, that +at the arrest of Sir William Wyndham, the leader of the Tory +party, a letter from Sir Everard was found in the pocket of his +night-gown. But there was no overt act which an attainder could +be founded on; and government, contented with suppressing the +insurrection of 1715, felt it neither prudent nor safe to push +their vengeance further than against those unfortunate gentlemen +who actually took up arms. + +Nor did Sir Everard's apprehensions of personal consequences seem +to correspond with the reports spread among his Whig neighbours. +It was well known that he had supplied with money several of the +distressed Northumbrians and Scotchmen, who, after being made +prisoners at Preston in Lancashire, were imprisoned in Newgate +and the Marshalsea; and it was his solicitor and ordinary counsel +who conducted the defence of some of these unfortunate gentlemen +at their trial. It was generally supposed, however, that, had +ministers possessed any real proof of Sir Everard's accession to +the rebellion, he either would not have ventured thus to brave +the existing government, or at least would not have done so with +impunity. The feelings which then dictated his proceedings, were +those of a young man, and at an agitating period. Since that +time Sir Everard's jacobitism had been gradually decaying, like a +fire which burns out for want of fuel. His Tory and High Church +principles were kept up by some occasional exercise at elections +and quarter-sessions: but those respecting hereditary right were +fallen into a sort of abeyance. Yet it jarred severely upon his +feelings, that his nephew should go into the army under the +Brunswick dynasty; and the more so, as, independent of his high +and conscientious ideas of paternal authority, it was impossible, +or at least highly imprudent, to interfere authoritatively to +prevent it. This suppressed vexation gave rise to many poohs and +pshaws, which were placed to the account of an incipient fit of +gout, until, having sent for the Army List, the worthy Baronet +consoled himself with reckoning the descendants of the houses of +genuine loyalty, Mordaunts, Granvilles, and Stanleys, whose names +were to be found in that military record; and, calling up all his +feelings of family grandeur and warlike glory, he concluded, with +logic something like Falstaff's, that when war was at hand, +although it were shame to be on any side but one, it were worse +shame to be idle than to be on the worst side, though blacker +than usurpation could make it. As for Aunt Rachel, her scheme +had not exactly terminated according to her wishes, but she was +under the necessity of submitting to circumstances; and her +mortification was diverted by the employment she found in fitting +out her nephew for the campaign, and greatly consoled by the +prospect of beholding him blaze in complete uniform. + +Edward Waverley himself received with animated and undefined +surprise this most unexpected intelligence. It was, as a fine +old poem expresses it, 'like a fire to heather set,' that covers +a solitary hill with smoke, and illumines it at the same time +with dusky fire. His tutor, or, I should say, Mr. Pembroke, for +he scarce assumed the name of tutor, picked up about Edward's +room some fragments of irregular verse, which he appeared to have +composed under the influence of the agitating feelings occasioned +by this sudden page being turned up to him in the book of life. +The doctor, who was a believer in all poetry which was composed +by his friends, and written out in fair straight lines, with a +capital at the beginning of each, communicated this treasure to +Aunt Rachel, who, with her spectacles dimmed with tears, +transferred them to her commonplace book, among choice receipts +for cookery and medicine, favourite texts, and portions from High +Church divines, and a few songs, amatory and jacobitical, which +she had carolled in her younger days, from whence her nephew's +poetical TENTAMINA were extracted, when the volume itself, with +other authentic records of the Waverley family, were exposed to +the inspection of the unworthy editor of this memorable history. +If they afford the reader no higher amusement, they will serve, +at least, better than narrative of any kind, to acquaint him with +the wild and irregular spirit of our hero:- + + Late when the Autumn evening fell + On Mirkwood-Mere's romantic dell, + The lake returned, in chastened gleam, + The purple cloud, the golden beam: + Reflected in the crystal pool, + Headand and bank lay fair and cool; + The weather-tinted rock and tower, + Each drooping tree, each fairy flower, + So true, so soft, the mirror gave, + As if there lay beneath the wave, + Secure from trouble, toil, and care, + A world than earthly world more fair. + + But distant winds began to wake, + And roused the Genius of the Lake! + He heard the groaning of the oak, + And donned at once his sable cloak, + As warrior, at the battle-cry, + Invests him with his panoply: + Then as the whirlwind nearer pressed, + He 'gan to shake his foamy crest + O'er furrowed brow and blackened cheek, + And bade his surge in thunder speak. + In wild and broken eddies whirled, + Flitted that fond ideal world, + And, to the shore in tumult tost, + The realms of fairy bliss were lost. + + Yet, with a stern delight and strange, + I saw the spirit-stirring change, + As warred the wind with wave and wood. + Upon the ruined tower I stood, + And felt my heart more strongly bound, + Responsive to the lofty sound, + While, joying in the mighty roar, + I mourned that tranquil scene no more. + + So, on the idle dreams of youth, + Breaks the loud trumpet-call of truth, + Bids each fair vision pass away, + Like landscape on the lake that lay, + As fair, as flitting, and as frail, + As that which fled the Autumn gale.-- + For ever dead to fancy's eye + Be each gay form that glided by, + While dreams of love and lady's charms + Give place to honour and to arms! + +In sober prose, as perhaps these verses intimate less decidedly, +the transient idea of Miss Cecilia Stubbs passed from Captain +Waverley's heart amid the turmoil which his new destinies +excited. She appeared, indeed, in full splendour in her father's +pew upon the Sunday when he attended service for the last time at +the old parish church, upon which occasion, at the request of his +uncle and Aunt Rachel, he was induced (nothing loth, if the truth +must be told) to present himself in full uniform. + +There is no better antidote against entertaining too high an +opinion of others, than having an excellent one of ourselves at +the very same time. Miss Stubbs had indeed summoned up every +assistance which art could afford to beauty; but, alas! hoop, +patches, frizzled locks, and a new mantua of genuine French silk, +were lost upon a young officer of dragoons, who wore, for the +first time, his gold-laced hat, jack-boots, and broadsword. I +know not whether, like the champion of an old ballad, + + His heart was all on honour bent, + He could not stoop to love; + No lady in the land had power + His frozen heart to move; + +or whether the deep and flaming bars of embroidered gold, which +now fenced his breast, defied the artillery of Cecilia's eyes; +but every arrow was launched at him in vain. + + Yet did I mark where Cupid's shaft did light; + It lighted not on little western flower, + But on bold yeoman, flower of all the west, + Hight Jonas Culbertfield, the steward's son. + +Craving pardon for my heroics (which I am unable in certain cases +to resist giving way to), it is a melancholy fact, that my +history must here take leave of the fair Cecilia, who, like many +a daughter of Eve, after the departure of Edward, and the +dissipation of certain idle visions which she had adopted, +quietly contented herself with a PIS-ALLER, and gave her hand, at +the distance of six months, to the aforesaid Jonas, son of the +Baronet's steward, and heir (no unfertile prospect) to a +steward's fortune; besides the snug probability of succeeding to +his father's office. All these advantages moved Squire Stubbs, +as much as the ruddy brow and manly form of the suitor influenced +his daughter, to abate somewhat in the article of their gentry; +and so the match was concluded. None seemed more gratified than +Aunt Rachel, who had hitherto looked rather askance upon the +presumptuous damsel (as much so, peradventure, as her nature +would permit), but who, on the first appearance of the new- +married pair at church, honoured the bride with a smile and a +profound curtsy, in presence of the rector, the curate, the +clerk, and the whole congregation of the united parishes of +Waverley CUM Beverley. + +I beg pardon, once and for all, of those readers who take up +novels merely for amusement, for plaguing them so long with old- +fashioned politics, and Whig and Tory, and Hanoverians and +Jacobites, The truth is, I cannot promise them that this story +shall be intelligible, not to say probable, without it. My plan +requires that I should explain the motives on which its action +proceeded; and these motives necessarily arose from the feelings, +prejudices, and parties of the times. I do not invite my fair +readers, whose sex and impatience give them the greatest right to +complain of these circumstances, into a flying chariot drawn by +hippogriffs, or moved by enchantment. Mine is a humble English +post-chaise, drawn upon four wheels, and keeping his Majesty's +highway. Such as dislike the vehicle may leave it at the next +halt, and wait for the conveyance of Prince Hussein's tapestry, +or Malek the Weaver's flying sentry-box. Those who are contented +to remain with me will be occasionally exposed to the dullness +inseparable from heavy roads, steep hills, sloughs, and other +terrestrial retardations; but, with tolerable horses and a civil +driver (as the advertisements have it), I engage to get as soon +as possible into a more picturesque and romantic country, if my +passengers incline to have some patience with me during my first +stages. [These Introductory Chapters have been a good deal +censured as tedious and unnecessary. Yet there are circumstances +recorded in them which the author has not been able to persuade +himself to retract or cancel.] + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ADIEUS OF WAVERLEY + +It was upon the evening of this memorable Sunday that Sir Everard +entered the library, where he narrowly missed surprising our +young hero as he went through the guards of the broadsword with +the ancient weapon of old Sir Hildebrand, which, being preserved +as an heirloom, usually hung over the chimney in the library, +beneath a picture of the knight and his horse, where the features +were almost entirely hidden by the knight's profusion of curled +hair, and the Bucephalus which he bestrode concealed by the +voluminous robes of the Bath with which he was decorated. Sir +Everard entered, and after a glance at the picture and another at +his nephew, began a little speech, which, however, soon dropped +into the natural simplicity of his common manner, agitated upon +the present occasion by no common feeling. 'Nephew,' he said; +and then, as mending his phrase, 'My dear Edward, it is God's +will, and also the will of your father, whom, under God, it is +your duty to obey, that you should leave us to take up the +profession of arms, in which so many of your ancestors have been +distinguished. I have made such arrangements as will enable you +to take the field as their descendant, and as the probable heir +of the house of Waverley; and, sir, in the field of battle you +will remember what name you bear. And, Edward, my dear boy, +remember also that you are the last of that race, and the only +hope of its revival depends upon you; therefore, as far as duty +and honour will permit, avoid danger--I mean unnecessary danger-- +and keep no company with rakes, gamblers, and Whigs, of whom, it +is to be feared, there are but too many in the service into which +you are going. Your colonel, as I am informed, is an excellent +man--for a Presbyterian; but you will remember your duty to God, +the Church of England, and the--' (this breach ought to have been +supplied, according to the rubric, with the word KING; but as, +unfortunately, that word conveyed a double and embarrassing +sense, one meaning DE FACTO, and the other DE JURE, the knight +filled up the blank otherwise)--'the Church of England, and all +constituted authorities.' Then, not trusting himself with any +further oratory, he carried his nephew to his stables to see the +horses destined for his campaign. Two were black (the regimental +colour), superb chargers both; the other three were stout active +hacks, designed for the road, or for his domestics, of whom two +were to attend him from the Hall: an additional groom, if +necessary, might be picked up in Scotland. + +'You will depart with but a small retinue,' quoth the Baronet, +'compared to Sir Hildebrand, when he mustered before the gate of +the Hall a larger body of horse than your whole regiment consists +of. I could have wished that these twenty young fellows from my +estate, who have enlisted in your troop, had been to march with +you on your journey to Scotland. It would have been something, +at least; but I am told their attendance would be thought unusual +in these days, when every new and foolish fashion is introduced +to break the natural dependence of the people upon their +landlords.' + +Sir Everard had done his best to correct this unnatural +disposition of the times; for he had brightened the chain of +attachment between the recruits and their young captain, not only +by a copious repast of beef and ale, by way of parting feast, but +by such a pecuniary donation to each individual, as tended rather +to improve the conviviality than the discipline of their march. +After inspecting the cavalry, Sir Everard again conducted his +nephew to the library, where he produced a letter, carefully +folded, surrounded by a little stripe of flox-silk, according to +ancient form, and sealed with an accurate impression of the +Waverley coat-of-arms. It was addressed, with great formality, +'To Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, Esq. of Bradwardine, at his +principal mansion of Tully-Veolan, in Perthshire, North Britain, +These--By the hands of Captain Edward Waverley, nephew of Sir +Everard Waverley, of Waverley-Honour, Bart.' + +The gentleman to whom this enormous greeting was addressed, of +whom we shall have more to say in the sequel, had been in arms +for the exiled family of Stuart in the year 1715, and was made +prisoner at Preston in Lancashire. He was of a very ancient +family, and somewhat embarrassed fortune; a scholar, according to +the scholarship of Scotchmen, that is, his learning was more +diffuse than accurate, and he was rather a reader than a +grammarian. Of his zeal for the classic authors he is said to +have given an uncommon instance. On the road between Preston and +London he made his escape from his guards; but being afterwards +found loitering near the place where they had lodged the former +night, he was recognized, and again arrested. His companions, +and even his escort, were surprised at his infatuation, and could +not help inquiring, why, being once at liberty, he had not made +the best of his way to a place of safety; to which he replied, +that he had intended to do so, but, in good faith, he had +returned to seek his Titus Livius, which he had forgot in the +hurry of his escape. [See Note 2.] The simplicity of this +anecdote struck the gentleman, who, as we before observed, had +managed the defence of some of those unfortunate persons, at the +expense of Sir Everard, and perhaps some others of the party. He +was, besides, himself a special admirer of the old Patavinian; +and though probably his own zeal might not have carried him such +extravagant lengths, even to recover the edition of Sweynheim and +Pannartz (supposed to be the princeps), he did not the less +estimate the devotion of the North Briton, and in consequence +exerted himself to so much purpose to remove and soften evidence, +detect legal flaws, ET CETERA, that he accomplished the final +discharge and deliverance of Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine from +certain very awkward consequences of a plea before our sovereign +lord the king in Westminster. + +The Baron of Bradwardine, for he was generally so called in +Scotland (although his intimates, from his place of residence, +used to denominate him. Tully-Veolan, or more familiarly, +Tully), no sooner stood RECTUS IN CURIA, than he posted down to +pay his respects and make his acknowledgements at Waverley- +Honour. A congenial passion for field sports, and a general +coincidence in political opinions, cemented his friendship with +Sir Everard, notwithstanding the difference of their habits and +studies in other particulars; and, having spent several weeks at +Waverley-Honour, the Baron departed with many expressions of +regard, warmly pressing the Baronet to return his visit, and +partake of the diversion of grouse-shooting upon his moors in +Perthshire next season. Shortly after, Mr. Bradwardine remitted +from Scotland a sum in reimbursement of expenses incurred in the +King's High Court of Westminster, which, although not quite so +formidable when reduced to the English denomination, had, in its +original form of Scotch pounds, shillings, and pence, such a +formidable effect upon the frame of Duncan Macwheeble, the +laird's confidential factor, baron-bailie, and man of resource, +that he had a fit of the colic which lasted for five days, +occasioned, he said, solely and utterly by becoming the unhappy +instrument of conveying such a serious sum of money out of his +native country into the hands of the false English. But +patriotism as it is the fairest, so it is often the most +suspicious mask of other feelings; and many who knew Bailie +Macwheeble, concluded that his professions of regret were not +altogether disinterested, and that he would have grudged the +moneys paid to the LOONS at Westminster much less had they not +come from Bradwardine estate, a fund which he considered as more +particularly his own. But the Bailie protested he was absolutely +disinterested-- + + Woe, woe, for Scotland, not a whit for me! + +The laird was only rejoiced that his worthy friend, Sir Everard +Waverley of Waverley-Honour, was reimbursed of the expenditure +which he had outlaid on account of the house of Bradwardine. It +concerned, he said, the credit of his own family, and of the +kingdom of Scotland at large, that these disbursements should be +repaid forthwith, and, if delayed, if would be a matter of +national reproach. Sir Everard, accustomed to treat much larger +sums with indifference, received the remittance of 294l. 13s. +6d., without being aware that the payment was an international +concern, and, indeed, would probably have forgot the circumstance +altogether, if Bailie Macwheeble had thought of comforting his +colic by intercepting the subsidy. A yearly intercourse took +place, of a short letter, and a hamper or a cask or two, between +Waverley-Honour and Tully-Veolan, the English exports consisting +of mighty cheeses and mightier ale, pheasants and venison, and +the Scottish returns being vested in grouse, white hares, pickled +salmon, and usquebaugh. All which were meant, sent, and +received, as pledges of constant friendship and amity between two +important houses. It followed as a matter of course, that the +heir-apparent of Waverley-Honour could not, with propriety, visit +Scotland without being furnished with credentials to the Baron of +Bradwardine. + +When this matter was explained and settled, Mr. Pembroke +expressed his wish to take a private and particular leave of his +dear pupil. The good man's exhortations to Edward to preserve an +unblemished life and morals, to hold fast the principles of the +Christian religion, and to eschew the profane company of scoffers +and latitudinarians, too much abounding in the army, were not +unmingled with his political prejudices. It had pleased Heaven, +he said, to place Scotland (doubtless for the sins of their +ancestors in 1642) in a more deplorable state of darkness than +even this unhappy kingdom of England. Here, at least, although +the candlestick of the Church of England had been in some degree +removed from its place, it yet afforded a glimmering light; there +was a hierarchy, though schismatical, and fallen from the +principles maintained by those great fathers of the church, +Sancroft and his brethren; there was a liturgy, though wofully +perverted in some of the principal petitions. But in Scotland it +was utter darkness; and, excepting a sorrowful, scattered, and +persecuted remnant, the pulpits were abandoned to Presbyterians, +and he feared, to sectaries of every description. It should be +his duty to fortify his dear pupil to resist such unhallowed and +pernicious doctrines in church and state, as must necessarily be +forced at times upon his unwilling ears. + +Here he produced two immense folded packets, which appeared each +to contain a whole ream of closely-written manuscript. They had +been the labour of the worthy man's whole life; and never were +labour and zeal more absurdly wasted. He had at one time gone to +London, with the intention of giving them to the world, by the +medium of a bookseller in Little Britain, well known to deal in +such commodities, and to whom he was instructed to address +himself in a particular phrase, and with a certain sign, which, +it seems, passed at that time current among the initiated +Jacobites. The moment Mr. Pembroke had uttered the shibboleth, +with the appropriate gesture, the bibliopolist greeted him, +notwithstanding every disclamation, by the title of Doctor, and +conveying him into his back shop, after inspecting every possible +and impossible place of concealment, he commenced: 'Eh, doctor! +Well--all under the rose--snug--I keep no holes here even for a +Hanoverian rat to hide in. And, what--eh! any good news from +our friends over the water?--and how does the worthy king of +France? Or perhaps you are more lately from Rome?--it must be +Rome will do it at last--the church must light its candle at the +old lamp. Eh! what, cautious? I like you the better; but no +fear.' + +Here Mr. Pembroke, with some difficulty, stopped a torrent of +interrogations, eked out with signs, nods, and winks; and, having +at length convinced the bookseller that he did him too much +honour in supposing him an emissary of exiled royalty, he +explained his actual business. + +The man of books, with a much more composed air, proceeded to +examine the manuscripts. The title of the first was 'A Dissent +from Dissenters, or the Comprehension confuted; showing the +Impossibility of any Composition between the Church and Puritans, +Presbyterians, or Sectaries of any Description; illustrated from +the Scriptures, the fathers of the Church, and the soundest +Controversial Divines.' To this work the bookseller positively +demurred. 'Well meant,' he said, 'and learned, doubtless; but +the time had gone by. Printed on small pica it would run to +eight hundred pages, and could never pay. Begged therefore to be +excused. Loved and honoured the true church from his soul; and, +had it been a sermon on the martyrdom, or any twelve-penny touch +--why I would venture something for the honour of the cloth. But +come, let's see the other. 'Right Hereditary righted!' ah, +there's some sense in this! Hum--hum--hum--pages so many, paper +so much, letterpress--Ah! I'll tell you, though, doctor, you +must knock out some of the Latin and Greek; heavy, doctor, damn'd +heavy--(beg your pardon) and if you throw in a few grains more +pepper--I am he that never peached my author--I have published +for Drake, and Charlwood Lawton, and poor Amhurst. [See Note +3.]--Ah, Caleb! Caleb! Well, it was a shame to let poor Caleb +starve, and so many fat rectors and squires among us. I gave him +a dinner once a week; but, Lord love you, what's once a week, +when a man does not know where to go the other six days?--Well, +but I must show the manuscript to little Tom Alibi the solicitor, +who manages all my law affairs--must keep on the windy side--the +mob were very uncivil the last time I mounted in Old Palace Yard +--all Whigs and Roundheads every man of them, Williamites and +Hanover rats.' + +The next day Mr. Pembroke again called on the publisher, but +found Tom Alibi's advice had determined him against undertaking +the work. 'Not but what I would go to--(what was I going to +say?) to the Plantations for the church with pleasure--but, dear +doctor, I have a wife and family; but, to show my zeal, I'll +recommend the job to my neighbour Trimmel--he is a bachelor, and +leaving off business, so a voyage in a western barge would not +inconvenience him.' But Mr. Trimmel was also obdurate, and Mr. +Pembroke, fortunately perchance for himself, was compelled to +return to Waverley-Honour with his treatise in vindication of the +real fundamental principles of church and state safely packed in +his saddle-bags. + +As the public were thus likely to be deprived of the benefit +arising from his lucubrations by the selfish cowardice of the +trade, Mr. Pembroke resolved to make two copies of these +tremendous manuscripts for the use of his pupil. He felt that he +had been indolent as a tutor, and, besides, his conscience +checked him for complying with the request of Mr. Richard +Waverley, that he would impress no sentiments upon Edward's mind +inconsistent with the present settlement in church and state. +But now, thought he, I may, without breach of my word, since he +is no longer under my tuition, afford the youth the means of +judging for himself, and have only to dread his reproaches for so +long concealing the light which the perusal will flash upon his +mind. While he thus indulged the reveries of an author and a +politician, his darling proselyte, seeing nothing very inviting +in the title of the tracts, and appalled by the bulk and compact +lines of the manuscript, quietly consigned them to a corner of +his travelling trunk. + +Aunt Rachel's farewell was brief and affectionate. She only +cautioned her dear Edward, whom she probably deemed somewhat +susceptible, against the fascination of Scottish beauty. She +allowed that the northern part of the island contained some +ancient families, but they were all Whigs and Presbyterians +except the Highlanders; and respecting them she must needs say, +there could be no great delicacy among the ladies, where the +gentlemen's usual attire was, as she had been assured, to say the +least, very singular, and not at all decorous. She concluded her +farewell with a kind and moving benediction, and gave the young +officer, as a pledge of her regard, a valuable diamond ring +(often worn by the male sex at that time), and a purse of broad +gold pieces, which also were more common Sixty Years since than +they have been of late. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A HORSE-QUARTER IN SCOTLAND + +The next morning, amid varied feelings, the chief of which was a +predominant, anxious, and even solemn impression, that he was now +in a great measure abandoned to his own guidance and direction, +Edward Waverley departed from the Hall amid the blessings and +tears of all the old domestics and the inhabitants of the +village, mingled with some sly petitions for sergeantcies and +corporalships, and so forth, on the part of those who professed +that 'they never thoft to ha' seen Jacob, and Giles, and +Jonathan, go off for soldiers, save to attend his honour, as in +duty bound.' Edward, as in duty bound, extricated himself from +the supplicants with the pledge of fewer promises than might have +been expected from a young man so little accustomed to the world. +After a short visit to London, he proceeded on horseback, then +the general mode of travelling, to Edinburgh, and from thence to +Dundee, a seaport on the eastern coast of Angus-shire, where his +regiment was then quartered. + +He now entered upon a new world, where, for a time, all was +beautiful because all was new. Colonel Gardiner, the commanding +officer of the regiment, was himself a study for a romantic, and +at the same time an inquisitive, youth. In person he was tall, +handsome, and active, though somewhat advanced in life. In his +early years, he had been what is called, by manner of palliative, +a very gay young man, and strange stories were circulated about +his sudden conversion from doubt, if not infidelity, to a serious +and even enthusiastic turn of mind. It was whispered that a +supernatural communication, of a nature obvious even to the +exterior senses, had produced this wonderful change; and though +some mentioned the proselyte as an enthusiast, none hinted at his +being a hypocrite. This singular and mystical circumstance gave +Colonel Gardiner a peculiar and solemn interest in the eyes of +the young soldier. [See Note 4.] It may be easily imagined that +the officers of a regiment, commanded by so respectable a person, +composed a society more sedate and orderly than a military mess +always exhibits; and that Waverley escaped some temptations to +which he might otherwise have been exposed. + +Meanwhile his military education proceeded. Already a good +horseman, he was now initiated into the arts of the manege, +which, when carried to perfection, almost realize the fable of +the Centaur, the guidance of the horse appearing to proceed from +the rider's mere volition, rather than from the use of any +external and apparent signal of motion. He received also +instructions in his field duty; but, I must own, that when his +first ardour was passed, his progress fell short in the latter +particular of what he wished and expected. The duty of an +officer, the most imposing of all others to the inexperienced +mind, because accompanied with so much outward pomp and +circumstance, is in its essence a very dry and abstract task, +depending chiefly upon arithmetical combinations, requiring much +attention, and a cool and reasoning head, to bring them into +action. Our hero was liable to fits of absence, in which his +blunders excited some mirth, and called down some reproof. This +circumstance impressed him with a painful sense of inferiority in +those qualities which appeared most to deserve and obtain regard +in his new profession. He asked himself in vain, why his eye +could not judge of distance or space so well as those of his +companions; why his head was not always successful in +disentangling the various partial movements necessary to execute +a particular evolution; and why his memory, so alert upon most +occasions, did not correctly retain technical phrases, and minute +points of etiquette or field discipline. Waverley was naturally +modest, and therefore did not fall into the egregious mistake of +supposing such minuter rules of military duty beneath his notice, +or conceiting himself to be born a general, because he made an +indifferent subaltern. The truth was, that the vague and +unsatisfactory course of reading which he had pursued, working +upon a temper naturally retired and abstracted, had given him +that wavering and unsettled habit of mind, which is most averse +to study and riveted attention. Time, in the meanwhile, hung +heavy on his hands. The gentry of the neighbourhood were +disaffected, and, showed little hospitality to the military +guests; and the people of the town, chiefly engaged in mercantile +pursuits, were not such as Waverley chose to associate with. The +arrival of summer, and a curiosity to know something more of +Scotland than he could see in a ride from his quarters, +determined him to request leave of absence for a few weeks. He +resolved first to visit his uncle's ancient friend and +correspondent, with the purpose of extending or shortening the +time of his residence according to circumstances. He travelled +of course on horseback, and with a single attendant, and passed +his first night at a miserable inn, where the landlady had +neither shoes nor stockings, and the landlord, who called himself +a gentleman, was disposed to be rude to his guest, because he had +not bespoke the pleasure of his society to supper. [See Note 5.] +The next day, traversing an open and unenclosed country, Edward +gradually approached the Highlands of Perthshire, which at first +had appeared a blue outline in the horizon, but now swelled into +huge gigantic masses, which frowned defiance over the more level +country that lay beneath them. Near the bottom of this +stupendous barrier, but still in the Lowland country, dwelt Cosmo +Comyne Bradwardine of Bradwardine; and, if grey-haired eld can be +in aught believed, there had dwelt his ancestors, with all their +heritage, since the days of the gracious King Duncan. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A SCOTTISH MANOR-HOUSE SIXTY YEARS SINCE + +It was about noon when Captain Waverley entered the straggling +village, or rather hamlet, of Tully-Veolan, close to which was +situated the mansion of the proprietor. The houses seemed +miserable in the extreme, especially to an eye accustomed to the +smiling neatness of English cottages. They stood, without any +respect for regularity, on each side of & straggling kind of +unpaved street, where children, almost in a primitive state of +nakedness, lay sprawling, as if to be crushed by the hoofs of the +first passing horse. Occasionally, indeed, when such a +consummation seemed inevitable, a watchful old grandam, with her +close cap, distaff, and spindle, rushed like a sibyl in frenzy +out of one of these miserable cells, dashed into the middle of +the path, and snatching up her own charge from among the sunburnt +loiterers, saluted him with a sound cuff, and transported him +back to his dungeon, the little white-headed varlet screaming all +the while, from the very top of his lungs, a shrilly treble to +the growling remonstrances of the enraged matron. Another part +in this concert was sustained by the incessant yelping of a score +of idle useless curs, which followed, snarling, barking, howling, +and snapping at the horses' heels; a nuisance at that time so +common in Scotland, that a French tourist, who, like other +travellers, longed to find a good and rational reason for +everything he saw, has recorded, as one of the memorabilia of +Caledonia, that the state maintained in each village a relay of +curs, called COLLIES, whose duty it was to chase the CHEVAUX DE +POSTE (too starved and exhausted to move without such a stimulus) +from one hamlet to another, till their annoying convoy drove them +to the end of their stage. The evil and remedy (such as it is) +still exist: but this is remote from our present purpose, and is +only thrown out for consideration of the collectors under Mr. +Dent's dog bill. + +As Waverley moved on, here and there an old man, bent as much by +toil as years, his eyes bleared with age and smoke, tottered to +the door of his hut, to gaze on the dress of the stranger, and +the form and motions of the horses, and then assembled with his +neighbours, in a little group at the smithy, to discuss the +probabilities of whence the stranger came, and where he might be +going. Three or four village girls, returning from the well or +brook with pitchers and pails upon their heads, formed more +pleasing objects; and, with their thin, short gowns and single +petticoats, bare arms, legs, and feet, uncovered heads, and +braided hair, somewhat resembled Italian forms of landscape. Nor +could a lover of the picturesque have challenged either the +elegance of their costume, or the symmetry of their shape; +although, to say the truth, a mere Englishman, in search of the +COMFORTABLE, a word peculiar to his native tongue, might have +wished the clothes less scanty, the feet and legs somewhat +protected from the weather, the head and complexion shrouded from +the sun, or perhaps might even have thought the whole person and +dress considerably improved, by a plentiful application of spring +water, with a QUANTUM SUFFICIT of soap, The whole scene was +depressing; for it argued, at the first glance, at least a +stagnation of industry, and perhaps of intellect. Even +curiosity, the busiest passion of the idle, seemed of a listless +cast in the village of Tully-Veolan: the curs aforesaid alone +showed any part of its activity; with the villagers it was +passive. They stood and gazed at the handsome young officer and +his attendant, but without any of those quick motions, and eager +looks, that indicate the earnestness with which those who live in +monotonous ease at home, look out for amusement abroad. Yet the +physiognomy of the people, when more closely examined, was far +from exhibiting the indifference of stupidity; their features +were rough, but remarkably intelligent; grave, but the very +reverse of stupid; and from among the young women, an artist +might have chosen more than one model, whose features and form +resembled those of Minerva. The children, also, whose skins were +burnt black, and whose hair was bleached white, by the influence +of the sun, had a look and manner of life and interest. It +seemed, upon the whole, as if poverty, and indolence, its too +frequent companion, were combining to depress the natural genius +and acquired information of a hardy, intelligent, and reflecting +peasantry. + +Some such thoughts crossed Waverley's mind as he paced his horse +slowly through the rugged and flinty street of Tully-Veolan, +interrupted only in his meditations by the occasional caprioles +which his charger exhibited at the reiterated assaults of those +canine Cossacks, the COLLIES before mentioned. The village was +more than half a mile long, the cottages being irregularly +divided from each other by gardens, or yards, as the inhabitants +called them, of different sizes, where (for it is Sixty Years +since) the now universal potato was unknown, but which were +stored with gigantic plants of KALE or colewort, encircled with +groves of nettles, and exhibited here and there a huge hemlock, +or the national thistle, overshadowing a quarter of the petty +enclosure. The broken ground on which the village was built had +never been levelled; so that these enclosures presented +declivities of every degree, here rising like terraces, there +sinking like tan-pits. The dry-stone walls which fenced, or +seemed to fence (for they were sorely breached), these hanging +gardens of Tully-Veolan, were intersected by a narrow lane +leading to the common field, where the joint labour of the +villagers cultivated alternate ridges and patches of rye, oats, +barley, and peas, each of such minute extent, that at a little +distance the unprofitable variety of the surface resembled a +tailor's book of patterns. In a few favoured instances, there +appeared behind the cottages a miserable wigwam, compiled of +earth, loose stones, and turf, where the wealthy might perhaps +shelter a starved cow or sorely galled horse. But almost every +hut was fenced in front by a huge black stack of turf on one side +of the door, while on the other the family dung-hill ascended in +noble emulation. + +About a bow-shot from the end of the village appeared the +enclosures, proudly denominated the Parks of Tully-Veolan, being +certain square fields, surrounded and divided by stone walls five +feet in height. In the centre of the exterior barrier was the +upper gate of the avenue, opening under an archway, battlemented +on the top, and adorned with two large weather-beaten mutilated +masses of upright stone, which, if the tradition of the hamlet +could be trusted, had once represented, at least had been once +designed to represent, two rampant Bears, the supporters of the +family of Bradwardine. This avenue was straight, and of moderate +length, running between a double row of very ancient horse- +chestnuts, planted alternately with sycamores, which rose to such +huge height, and flourished so luxuriantly, that their boughs +completely over-arched the broad road beneath. Beyond these +venerable ranks, and running parallel to them, were two high +walls, of apparently the like antiquity, overgrown with ivy, +honeysuckle, and other climbing plants. The avenue seemed very +little trodden, and chiefly by foot-passengers; so that being +very broad, and enjoying a constant shade, it was clothed with +grass of a deep and rich verdure, excepting where a footpath, +worn by occasional passengers, tracked with a natural sweep the +way from the upper to the lower gate. This nether portal, like +the former, opened in front of a wall ornamented with some rude +sculpture, with battlements on the top, over which were seen, +half-hidden by the trees of the avenue, the high steep roofs and +narrow gables of the mansion, with lines indented into steps, and +corners decorated with small turrets. One of the folding leaves +of the lower gate was open, and as the sun shone full into the +court behind, a long line of brilliancy was flung upon the +aperture up the dark and gloomy avenue. It was one of those +effects which a painter loves to represent, and mingled well with +the struggling light which found its way between the boughs of +the shady arch that vaulted the broad green alley. + +The solitude and repose of the whole scene seemed almost +romantic; and Waverley, who had given his horse to his servant on +entering the first gate, walked slowly down the avenue, enjoying +the grateful and cooling shade, and so much pleased with the +placid ideas of rest and seclusion excited by this confined and +quiet scene, that he forgot the misery and dirt of the hamlet he +had left behind him. The opening into the paved courtyard +corresponded with the rest of the scene. The house, which seemed +to consist of two or three high, narrow, and steep-roofed +buildings, projecting from each other at right angles, formed one +side of the enclosure. It had been built at a period when +castles were no longer necessary, and when the Scottish +architects had not yet acquired the art of designing a domestic +residence. The windows were numberless, but very small; the roof +had some nondescript kind of projections, called bartizans, and +displayed at each frequent angle a small turret, rather +resembling a pepper-box than a Gothic watch-tower. Neither did +the front indicate absolute security from danger. There were +loop-holes for musketry, and iron stanchions on the lower +windows, probably to repel any roving band of gipsies, or resist +a predatory visit from the Caterans of the neighbouring +Highlands. Stables and other offices occupied another side of +the square. The former were low vaults, with narrow slits +instead of windows, resembling, as Edward's groom observed, +'rather a prison for murderers and larceners, and such like as +are tried at 'sizes, than a place for any Christian cattle.' +Above these dungeon-looking stables were granaries, called +girnels, and other offices, to which there was access by outside +stairs of heavy masonry. Two battlemented walls, one of which +faced the avenue, and the other divided the court from the +garden, completed the enclosure. + +Nor was the court without its ornaments. In one corner was a +tun-bellied pigeon-house, of great size and rotundity, resembling +in figure and proportion the curious edifice called Arthur's +Oven, which would have turned the brains of all the antiquaries +in England, had not the worthy proprietor pulled it down for the +sake of mending a neighbouring dam-dyke. This dovecot, or +COLUMBARIUM, as the owner called it, was no small resource to a +Scottish laird of that period, whose scanty rents were eked out +by the contributions levied upon the farms by these light +foragers, and the conscriptions exacted from the latter for the +benefit of the table. + +Another corner of the court displayed a fountain, where a huge +bear, carved in stone, predominated over a large stone basin, +into which he disgorged the water. This work of art was the +wonder of the country ten miles round. It must not be forgotten, +that all sorts of bears, small and large, demi or in full +proportion, were carved over the windows, upon the ends of the +gables, terminated the spouts, and supported the turrets, with +the ancient family motto 'BEWAR THE BAR,' cut under each +hyperborean form. The court was spacious, well paved, and +perfectly clean, there being probably another entrance behind the +stables for removing the litter. Everything around appeared +solitary, and would have been silent, but for the continued +plashing of the fountain; and the whole scene still maintained +the monastic illusion which the fancy of Waverley had conjured +up.--And here we beg permission to close a chapter of still life. +[There is no particular mansion described under the name of +Tully-Veolan; but the peculiarities of the description occur in +various old Scottish seats. The House of Warrender upon +Bruntsfield Links, and that of Old Ravelston, belonging, the +former to Sir George Warrender, the latter to Sir Alexander +Keith, have both contributed several hints to the description in +the text. The House of Dean, near Edinburgh, has also some +points of resemblance with Tully-Veolan. The author has, +however, been informed, that the House of Grandtully resembles +that of the Baron of Bradwardine still more than any of the +above.] + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MORE OF THE MANOR-HOUSE AND ITS ENVIRONS + +After having satisfied his curiosity by gazing around him for a +few minutes, Waverley applied himself to the massive knocker of +the hall-door, the architrave of which bore the date 1594. But +no answer was returned, though the peal resounded through a +number of apartments, and was echoed from the courtyard walls +without the house, startling the pigeons from the venerable +rotunda which they occupied, and alarming anew even the distant +village curs, which had retired to sleep upon their respective +dung-hills. Tired of the din which he created, and the +unprofitable responses which it excited, Waverley began to think +that he had reached the castle of Orgoglio, as entered by the +victorious Prince Arthur, + + When 'gan he loudly through the house to call, + But no man cared to answer to his cry; + There reigned a solemn silence over all, + Nor voice was heard, nor wight was seen, in bower or hall. + +Filled almost with expectation of beholding some 'old, old man, +with beard as white as snow,' whom he might question concerning +this deserted mansion, our hero turned to a little oaken wicket- +door, well clenched with iron nails, which opened in the +courtyard wall at its angle with the house. It was only latched, +notwithstanding its fortified appearance, and, when opened, +admitted him into the garden, which presented a pleasant scene. +[At Ravelston may be seen such a garden, which the taste of the +proprietor, the author's friend and kinsman, Sir Alexander Keith, +Knight Mareschal, has judiciously preserved. That, as well as +the house, is, however, of smaller dimensions than the Baron of +Bradwardine's mansion and garden are presumed to have been.] The +southern side of the house, clothed with fruit-trees, and having +many evergreens trained upon its walls, extended its irregular +yet venerable front along a terrace, partly paved, partly +gravelled, partly bordered with flowers and choice shrubs. This +elevation descended by three several flights of steps, placed in +its centre and at the extremities, into what might be called the +garden proper, and was fenced along the top by a stone parapet +with a heavy balustrade, ornamented from space to space with huge +grotesque figures of animals seated upon their haunches, among +which the favourite bear was repeatedly introduced. Placed in +the middle of the terrace, between a sashed door opening from the +house and the central flight of steps, a huge animal of the same +species supported on his head and fore-paws a sundial of large +circumference, inscribed with more diagrams than Edward's +mathematics enabled him to decipher. + +The garden, which seemed to be kept with great accuracy, abounded +in fruit-trees, and exhibited a profusion of flowers and +evergreens, cut into grotesque forms. It was laid out in +terraces, which descended rank by rank from the western wall to a +large brook, which had a tranquil and smooth appearance, where it +served as a boundary to the garden; but, near the extremity, +leapt in tumult over a strong dam, or weir-head, the cause of its +temporary tranquillity, and there forming a cascade, was +overlooked by an octangular summer-house, with a gilded bear on +the top by way of vane. After this feat, the brook, assuming its +natural rapid and fierce character, escaped from the eye down a +deep and wooded dell, from the copse of which arose a massive, +but ruinous tower, the former habitation of the Barons of +Bradwardine, The margin of the brook, opposite to the garden, +displayed a narrow meadow, or haugh, as it was called, which +formed a small washing-green; the bank, which retired behind it, +was covered by ancient trees. + +The scene, though pleasing, was not quite equal to the gardens of +Alcina; yet wanted not the 'DUE DONZELLETTE GARRULE' of that +enchanted paradise, for upon the green aforesaid two bare-legged +damsels, each standing in a spacious tub, performed with their +feet the office of a patent washing-machine. These did not, +however, like the maidens of Armida, remain to greet with their +harmony the approaching guest, but, alarmed at the appearance of +a handsome stranger on the opposite side, dropped their garments +(I should say garment, to be quite-correct) over their limbs, +which their occupation exposed somewhat too freely, and, with a +shrill exclamation of 'Eh, sirs!' uttered with an accent between +modesty and coquetry, sprang off like deer in different +directions. + +Waverley began to despair of gaining entrance into this solitary +and seemingly enchanted mansion, when a, man advanced up one of +the garden alleys, where he still retained his station. Trusting +this might be a gardener, or some domestic belonging to the +house, Edward descended the steps in order to meet him; but as +the figure approached, and long before he could descry its +features, he was struck with the oddity of its appearance and +gestures.--Sometimes this mister wight held his hands clasped +over his head, like an Indian Jogue in the attitude of penance; +sometimes he swung them perpendicularly, like a pendulum, on each +side; and anon he slapped them swiftly and repeatedly across his +breast, like the substitute used by a hackney-coachman for his +usual flogging exercise, when his cattle are idle upon the stand +in a clear frosty day. His gait was as singular as his gestures, +for at times he hopped with great perseverance on the right foot, +then exchanged that supporter to advance in the same manner on +the left, and then putting his feet close together, he hopped +upon both at once. His attire, also, was antiquated and +extravagant. It consisted in a sort of grey jerkin, with scarlet +cuffs and slashed sleeves, showing a scarlet lining; the other +parts of the dress corresponded in colour, not forgetting a pair +of scarlet stockings, and a scarlet bonnet, proudly surmounted +with a turkey's feather. Edward, whom he did not seem to +observe, now perceived confirmation in his features of what the +mien and gestures had already announced. It was apparently +neither idiocy nor insanity which gave that wild, unsettled, +irregular expression to a face which naturally was rather +handsome, but something that resembled a compound of both, where +the simplicity of the fool was mixed with the extravagance of a +crazed imagination. He sang with great earnestness, and not +without some taste, a fragment of an old Scottish ditty:-- + + False love, and hast thou played me thus + In summer among the flowers? + I will repay thee back again + In winter among the showers. + Unless again, again, my love, + Unless you turn again; + As you with other maidens rove, + I'll smile on other men. + +[This is a genuine ancient fragment, with some alteration in the +last two lines.] + +Here lifting up his eyes, which had hither&o been fixed in +observing how his feet kept time to the tune, he beheld Waverley, +and instantly doffed his cap, with many grotesque signals of +surprise, respect, and salutation. Edward, though with little +hope of receiving an answer to any constant question, requested +to know whether Mr. Bradwardine were at home, or where he could +find any of the domestics. The questioned party replied,--and, +like the witch of Thalaba, 'still his speech was song,'-- + + The Knight's to the mountain + His bugle to wind; + The Lady's to greenwood + Her garland to bind. + The bower of Burd Ellen + Has moss on the floor, + That the step of Lord William + Be silent and sure. + +This conveyed no information, and Edward, repeating his queries, +received a rapid answer, in which, from the haste and peculiarity +of the dialect, the word 'butler' was alone intelligible. +Waverley then requested to see the butler; upon which the fellow, +with a knowing look and nod of intelligence, made a signal to +Edward to follow, and began to dance and caper down the alley up +which he had made his approaches.--A strange guide this, thought +Edward, and not much unlike one of Shakespeare's roynish clowns. +I am not over prudent to trust to his pilotage; but wiser men +have been led by fools.--By this time he reached the bottom of +the alley, where, turning short on a little parterre of flowers, +shrouded from the east and north by a close yew hedge, he found +an old man at work without his coat, whose appearance hovered +between that of an upper servant and gardener; his red nose and +ruffed shirt belonging to the former profession; his hale and +sunburnt visage, with his green apron, appearing to indicate + + Old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden. + +The major domo--for such he was, and indisputably the second +officer of state in the barony (nay, as chief minister of the +interior, superior even to Bailie Macwheeble, in his own +department of the kitchen and cellar)--the major domo laid down +his spade, slipped on his coat in haste, and with a wrathful look +at Edward's guide, probably excited by his having introduced a +stranger while he was engaged in this laborious, and, as he might +suppose it, degrading office, requested to know the gentleman's +commands. Being informed that he wished to pay his respects to +his master, that his name was Waverley, and so forth, the old +man's countenance assumed a great deal of respectful importance. +'He could take it upon his conscience to say, his honour would +have exceeding pleasure in seeing him. Would not Mr. Waverley +choose some refreshment after his journey? His honour was with +the folk who were getting doon the dark hag; the twa gardener +lads (an emphasis on the word TWA) had been ordered to attend +him; and he had been just amusing himself in the meantime with +dressing Miss Rose's flower-bed, that he might be near to receive +his honour's orders, if need were: he was very fond of a garden, +but had little time for such divertisements.' + +'He canna get it wrought in abune twa days in the week at no rate +whatever,' said Edward's fantastic conductor. + +A grim look from the butler chastised his interference, and he +commanded him, by the name of Davie Gellatley, in a tone which +admitted no discussion, to look for his honour at the dark hag, +and tell him there was a gentleman from the south had arrived at +the Ha'. + +'Can this poor fellow deliver a letter?' asked Edward. + +'With all fidelity, sir, to any one whom he respects. I would +hardly trust him with a long message by word of mouth--though he +is more knave than fool.' + +Waverley delivered his credentials to Mr. Gellatley, who seemed +to confirm the butler's last observation, by twisting his +features at him, when he was looking another way, into the +resemblance of the grotesque face on the bowl of a German +tobacco-pipe; after which, with an odd conge to Waverley, he +danced off to discharge his errand. + +'He is an innocent, sir,' said the butler; 'there is one such in +almost every town in the country, but ours is brought far ben. +He used to work a day's turn weel eneugh; but he help'd Miss Rose +when she was flemit with the Laird of Killancureit's new English +bull, and since that time we ca' him Davie Do-little indeed we +might ca' him Davie Do-naething, for since he got that gay +clothing, to please his honour and my young mistress (great folks +will have their fancies), he has done naething but dance up and +down about the TOUN, without doing a single turn, unless trimming +the laird's fishing-wand or busking his flies, or maybe catching +a dish of trouts at an orra-time. But here comes Miss Rose, who, +I take burden upon me for her, will be especially glad to see one +of the house of Waverley at her father's mansion at Tully- +Veolan.' + +But Rose Bradwardine deserves better of her unworthy historian, +than to be introduced at the end of a chapter. + +In the meanwhile it may be noticed, that Waverley learned two +things from this colloquy; that in Scotland a single house was +called a TOWN, and a natural fool an INNOCENT. [See Note 6.] + + + +CHAPTER X + +ROSE BRADWARDINE AND HER FATHER + +Miss Bradwardine was but seventeen; yet, at the last races of the +county town of --, upon her health being proposed among a round +of beauties, the Laird of Bumperquaigh, permanent feast-master +and croupier of the Bautherwhillery Club, not only said MORE to +the pledge in a pint bumper of Bourdeaux, but, ere pouring forth +the libation, denominated the divinity to whom it was dedicated, +'the Rose of Tully-Veolan;' upon which festive occasion, three +cheers were given by all the sitting members of that respectable +society, whose throats the wine had left capable of such +exertion. Nay, I am well assured, that the sleeping partners of +the company snorted applause, and that although strong bumpers +and weak brains had consigned two or three to the floor, yet even +these, fallen as they were from their high estate, and weltering +--I will carry the parody no further--uttered divers inarticulate +sounds, intimating their assent to the motion. + +Such unanimous applause could not be extorted but by acknowledged +merit; and Rose Bradwardine not only deserved it, but also the +approbation of much more rational persons than the +Bautherwhillery Club could have mustered, even before discussion +of the first MAGNUM. She was indeed a very pretty girl of the +Scotch cast of beauty, that is, with a profusion of hair of paley +gold, and a skin like the snow of her own mountains in whiteness. +Yet she had not a pallid or pensive cast of countenance; her +features, as well as her temper, had a lively expression; her +complexion, though not florid, was so pure as to seem +transparent, and the slightest emotion sent her whole blood at +once to her face and neck. Her form, though under the common +size, was remarkably elegant, and her motions light, easy, and +unembarrassed. She came from another part of the garden to +receive Captain Waverley, with a manner that hovered between +bashfulness and courtesy. + +The first greetings past, Edward learned from her that the dark +hag, which had somewhat puzzled him in the butler's account of +his master's avocations, had nothing to do either with a black +cat or a broomstick, but was simply a portion of oak copse which +was to be felled that day. She offered, with diffident civility, +to show the stranger the way to the spot, which, it seems, was +not far distant; but they were prevented by the appearance of the +Baron of Bradwardine in person, who, summoned by David Gellatley, +now appeared, 'on hospitable thoughts intent,' clearing the +ground at a prodigious rate with swift and long strides, which +reminded Waverley of the seven-league boots of the nursery fable. +He was a tall, thin, athletic figure; old indeed, and grey- +haired, but with every muscle rendered as tough as whip-cord by +constant exercise. He was dressed carelessly, and more like a +Frenchman than an Englishman of the period, while, from his hard +features and perpendicular rigidity of stature, he bore some +resemblance to a Swiss officer of the guards, who had resided +some time at Paris, and caught the costume, but not the ease or +manner of its inhabitants. The truth was, that his language and +habits were as heterogeneous as his external appearance. + +Owing to his natural disposition to study, or perhaps to a very +general Scottish fashion of giving young men of rank a legal +education, he had been bred with a view to the Bar. But the +politics of his family precluding the hope of his rising in that +profession, Mr. Bradwardine travelled with high reputation for +several years, and made some campaigns in foreign service. After +his DEMELE with the law of high treason in 1715, he had lived in +retirement, conversing almost entirely with those of his own +principles in the vicinage. The pedantry of the lawyer, +superinduced upon the military pride of the soldier, might remind +a modern of the days of the zealous volunteer service, when the +bar-gown of our pleaders was often hung over a blazing uniform. +To this must be added the prejudices of ancient birth and +Jacobite politics, greatly strengthened by habits of solitary and +secluded authority, which, though exercised only within the +bounds of his half-cultivated estate, was there indisputable and +undisputed. For, as he used to observe, 'the lands of +Bradwardine, Tully-Veolan, and others, had been erected into a +free barony by a charter from David the First, CUM LIBERALI +POTEST. HABENDI CURIAS ET JUSTICIAS, CUM FOSSA ET FURCA (LIE pit +and gallows) ET SAKA ET SOKA, ET THOL ET THEAM, ET INFANG-THIEF +ET OUTFANG-THIEF, SIVE HAND-HABEND. SIVE BAK-BARAND.' The +peculiar meaning of all these cabalistical words few or none +could explain; but they implied, upon the whole, that the Baron +of Bradwardine might, in case of delinquency, imprison, try, and +execute his vassals at his pleasure. Like James the First. +however, the present possessor of this authority was more pleased +in talking about prerogative than in exercising it; and, +excepting that he imprisoned two poachers in the dungeon of the +old tower of Tully-Veolan, where they were sorely frightened by +ghosts, and almost eaten by rats, and that he set an old woman in +the JOUGS (or Scottish pillory) for saying 'there were mair fules +in the laird's ha' house than Davie Gellatley,' I do not learn +that he was accused of abusing his high powers. Still, however, +the conscious pride of possessing them gave additional importance +to his language and deportment. + +At his first address to Waverley, it would seem that the hearty +pleasure he felt to behold the nephew of his friend had somewhat +discomposed the stiff and upright dignity of the Baron of +Bradwardine's demeanour, for the tears stood in the old +gentleman's eyes, when, having first shaken Edward heartily by +the hand in the English fashion, he embraced him A LA MODE +FRANCAISE, and kissed him on both sides of his face; while the +hardness of his grip, and the quantity of Scotch snuff which his +ACCOLADE communicated, called corresponding drops of moisture to +the eyes of his guest. + +'Upon the honour of a gentleman,' he said, 'but it makes me young +again to see you here, Mr. Waverley!' A worthy scion of the old +stock of Waverley-Honour--SPES ALTERA, as Maro hath it--and you +have the look of the old line, Captain Waverley, not so portly +yet as my old friend Sir Everard--MAIS CELA VIENDRA AVEC LE +TEMPS, as my Dutch acquaintance, Baron Kikkitbroeck, said of the +SAGESSE of MADAME SON EPOUSE.--And so ye have mounted the +cockade? Right, right; though I could have wished the colour +different, and so I would ha' deemed might Sir Everard. But no +more of that; I am old, and times are changed.--And how does the +worthy knight baronet, and the fair Mrs. Rachel?--Ah, ye laugh, +young man! In troth she was the fair Mrs. Rachel in the year of +grace seventeen hundred and sixteen; but time passes--ET SINGULA +PRAEDANTUR ANNI--that is most certain. But once again, ye are +most heartily welcome to my poor house of Tully-Veolan!--Hie to +the house, Rose, and see that Alexander Saunderson leaks out the +old Chateau Margaux, which I sent from Bourdeaux to Dundee in the +year 1713.' + +Rose tripped off demurely enough till she turned the first +corner, and then ran with the speed of a fairy, that she might +gain leisure, after discharging her father's commission, to put +her own dress in order, and produce all her little finery, an +occupation for which the approaching dinner hour left but limited +time. + +'We cannot rival the luxuries of your English table, Captain +Waverley, or give you the EPULAE LAUTIORES of Wavery-Honour--I +say EPULAE rather than PRANDIUM, because the latter phrase is +popular; EPULAE AD SENATUM, PRANDIUM VERO AD POPULUM ATTINET, +says Suetonius Tranquillus. But I trust ye will applaud my +Bourdeaux; C'EST D'UNE OREILLE, as Captain Vinsauf used to say-- +VINUM PRIMAE NOTAE, the Principal of St. Andrews denominated it. +And, once more, Captain Waverley, right glad am I that ye are +here to drink the best my cellar can make forthcoming.' + +This speech, with the necessary interjectional answers, continued +from the lower alley where they met, up to the door of the house, +where four or five servants in old-fashioned liveries, headed by +Alexander Saunderson, the butler, who now bore no token of the +sable stains of the garden, received them in grand costume, + + In an old hall hung round with pikes and with bows, + With old bucklers and corselets that had borne many shrewd + blows. + +With much ceremony, and still more real kindness, the Baron, +without stopping in any intermediate apartment, conducted his +guest through several into the great dining parlour, wainscoted +with black oak, and hung round with the pictures of his ancestry, +where a table was set forth in form for six persons, and an old- +fashioned beaufet displayed all the ancient and massive plate of +the Bradwardine family. A bell was now heard at the head of the +avenue; for an old man, who acted as porter upon gala days, had +caught the alarm given by Waverley's arrival, and, repairing to +his post, announced the arrival of other guests. + +These, as the Baron assured his young friend, were very estimable +persons. 'There was the young Laird of Balmawhapple, a Falconer +by surname, of the house of Glenfarquhar, given right much to +field sports--GAUDAT EQUIS ET CANIBUS--but a very discreet young +gentleman. Then there was the Laird of Killancureit, who had +devoted his leisure UNTILL tillage and agriculture, and boasted +himself to be possessed of a bull of matchless merit, brought +from the county of Devon (the Damnonia, of the Romans, if we can +trust Robert of Cirencester). He is, as ye may well suppose from +such a tendency, but of yeoman extraction--SERVABIT ODOREM TESTA +DIU--and I believe, between ourselves, his grandsire was from the +wrong side of the Border--one Bullsegg, who came hither as a +steward, or bailiff, or ground-officer, or something in that +department, to the last Girnigo of Killancureit, who died of an +atrophy. After his master's death, sir,--ye would hardly believe +such a scandal,--but this Bullsegg, being portly and comely of +aspect, intermarried with the lady dowager, who was young and +amorous, and possessed himself of the estate, which devolved on +this unhappy woman by a settlement of her umwhile husband, in +direct contravention of an unrecorded taillie, and to the +prejudice of the disponer's own flesh and blood, in the person of +his natural heir and seventh cousin, Girnigo of Tipperhewit, +whose family was so reduced by the ensuing lawsuit, that his +represenative is now serving as a private gentleman-sentinel in +the Highland Black Watch. But this gentleman, Mr. Bullsegg of +Killancureit that now is, has good blood in his veins by the +mother and grandmother, who were both of the family of +Pickletillim, and he is well liked and looked upon, and knows his +own place. And God forbid, Captain Waverley, that we of +irreproachable lineage should exult over him, when it may be, +that in the eighth, ninth, or tenth generation, his progeny may +rank, in a manner, with the old gentry of the country. Rank and +ancestry, sir, should be the last words in the mouths of us of +unblemished race--VIX EA NOSTRA VOCO, as Naso saith.--There is, +besides, a clergyman of the true (though suffering) Episcopal +church of Scotland. He was a confessor in her cause after the +year 1715, when a Whiggish mob destroyed his meeting-house, tore +his surplice, and plundered his dwelling-house of four silver +spoons, intromitting also with his mart and his meal-ark, and +with two barrels, one of single, and one of double ale, besides +three bottles of brandy. [See Note 7.] My Baron-Bailie and +doer, Mr. Duncan Macwheeble, is the fourth on our list. There is +a question, owing to the incertitude of ancient orthography, +whether he belongs to the clan of Wheedle or of Quibble, but both +have produced persons eminent in the law.'-- + + As such he described them by person and name, + They entered, and dinner was served as they came. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BANQUET + +The entertainment was ample, and handsome, according to the +Scotch ideas of the period, and the guests did great honour to +it. The Baron ate like a famished soldier, the Laird of +Balmawhapple like a sportsman, Bullsegg of Killancureit like a +farmer, Waverley himself like a traveller, and Bailie Macwheeble +like all four together; though, either out of more respect, or in +order to preserve that proper declination of person which showed +a sense that he was in the presence of his patron, he sat upon +the edge of his chair, placed at three feet distance from the +table, and achieved a communication with his plate by projecting +his person towards it in a line, which obliqued from the bottom +of his spine, so that the person who sat opposite to him could +only see the foretop of his riding periwig. + +This stooping position might have been inconvenient to another +person; but long habit made it, whether seated or walking, +perfectly easy to the worthy Bailie. In the latter posture, it +occasioned, no doubt, an unseemly projection of the person +towards those who happened to walk behind; but those being at all +times his inferiors (for Mr. Macwheeble was very scrupulous in +giving place to all others), he cared very little what inference +of contempt or slight regard they might derive from the +circumstance. Hence, when he waddled across the court to and +from his old grey pony, he somewhat resembled a turnspit walking +upon its hind legs. + +The nonjuring clergyman was a pensive and interesting old man, +with much the air of a sufferer for conscience' sake. He was one +of those, + + Who, undeprived, their benefice forsook. + +For this whim, when the Baron was out of hearing, the Bailie used +sometimes gently to rally Mr. Rubrick, upbraiding him with the +nicety of his scruples. Indeed it must be owned, that he +himself, though at heart a keen partisan of the exiled family, +had kept pretty fair with all the different turns of state in his +time; so that Davie Gellatley once described him as a +particularly good man, who had a very quiet and peaceful +conscience, THAT NEVER DID HIM ANY HARM. + +When the dinner was removed, the Baron announced the health of +the King, politely leaving to the consciences of his guests to +drink to the sovereign DE FACTO or DE JURE, as their politics +inclined. The conversation now became general; and, shortly +afterwards, Miss Bradwardine, who had done the honours with +natural grace and simplicity, retired, and was soon followed by +the clergyman. Among the rest of the party, the wine, which +fully justified the encomiums of the landlord, flowed freely +round, although Waverley, with some difficulty, obtained the +privilege of sometimes neglecting the glass. At length, as the +evening grew more late, the Baron made a private signal to Mr. +Saunders Saunderson, or, as he facetiously denominated him, +ALEXANDER AB ALEXANDRO, who left the room with a nod, and soon +after returned, his grave countenance mantling with a solemn and +mysterious smile, and placed before his master a small oaken +casket, mounted with brass ornaments of curious form. The Baron, +drawing out a private key, unlocked the casket, raised the lid, +and produced a golden goblet of a singular and antique +appearance, moulded into the shape of a rampant bear, which the +owner regarded with a look of mingled reverence, pride, and +delight, that irresistibly reminded Waverley of Ben Jonson's Tom +Otter, with his Bull, Horse, and Dog, as that wag wittily +denominated his chief carousing cups. But Mr. Bradwardine, +fuming towards him with complacency, requested him to observe +this curious relic of the olden time. + +'It represents,' he said, 'the chosen crest of our family, a +bear, as ye observe, and rampant; because a good herald will +depict every animal in its noblest posture; as a horse SALIENT, a +greyhound CURRANT, and, as may be inferred, a ravenous animal IN +ACTU FEROCIORI, or in a voracious, lacerating, and devouring +posture. Now, sir, we hold this most honourable achievement by +the wappen-brief, or concession of arms, of Frederick Redbeard, +Emperor of Germany, to my predecessor, Godmund Bradwardine, it +being the crest of a gigantic Dane, whom he slew in the lists in +the Holy Land, on a quarrel touching the chastity of the +Emperor's spouse or daughter, tradition saith not precisely +which, and thus, as Virgilius hath it-- + + Mutemus clypeos, Danaumque insignia nobis + Aptemus. + +Then for the cup, Captain Waverley, it was wrought by the command +of St. Duthac, Abbot of Aberbrothock, for behoof of another baron +of the house of Bradwardine, who had valiantly defended the +patrimony of that monastery against certain encroaching nobles. +It is properly termed the Blessed Bear of Bradwardine (though old +Dr. Doubleit used jocosely to call it Ursa Major), and was +supposed, in old and Catholic times, to be invested with certain +properties of a mystical and supernatural quality. And though I +give not in to such ANILIA, it is certain it has always been +esteemed a solemn standard cup and heirloom of our house; nor is +it ever used but upon seasons of high festival, and such I hold +to be the arrival of the heir of Sir Everard under my roof; and I +devote this draught to the health and prosperity of the ancient +and highly-to-be-honoured house of Waverley.' + +During this long harangue, he carefully decanted a cobwebbed +bottle of claret into the goblet, which held nearly an English +pint; and, at the conclusion, delivering the bottle to the +butler, to be held carefully in the same angle with the horizon, +he devoutly quaffed off the contents of the Blessed Bear of +Bradwardine. + +Edward, with horror and alarm, beheld the animal making his +rounds, and thought with great anxiety upon the appropriate +motto, 'Beware the Bear;' but at the same time plainly foresaw, +that as none of the guests scrupled to do him this extraordinary +honour, a refusal on-his part to pledge their courtesy would be +extremely ill received. Resolving, therefore, to submit to this +last piece of tyranny, and then to quit the table, if possible, +and confiding in the strength of his constitution, he did justice +to the company in the contents of the Blessed Bear, and felt less +inconvenience from the draught than he could possibly have +expected. The others, whose time had been more actively +employed, began to show symptoms of innovation,--'the good wine +did its good office.' [Southey's MADOC.] The frost of etiquette, +and pride of birth, began to give way before the genial blessings +of this benign constellation, and the formal appellatives with +which the three dignitaries had hitherto addressed each other, +were now familiarly abbreviated into Tully, Bally, and Killie. +When a few rounds had passed, the two latter, after whispering +together, craved permission (a joyful hearing for Edward) to ask +the grace-cup. This, after some delay, was at length produced, +and Waverley concluded that the orgies of Bacchus were terminated +for the evening. He was never more mistaken in his life. + +As the guests had left their horses at the small inn, or CHANGE- +HOUSE, as it was called, of the village, the Baron could not, in +politeness, avoid walking with them up the avenue, and Waverley, +from the same motive, and to enjoy, after this feverish revel, +the cool summer evening, attended the party. But when they +arrived at Luckie Macleary's, the Lairds of Balmawhapple and +Killancureit declared their determination to acknowledge their +sense of the hospitality of Tully-Veolan, by partaking with their +entertainer and his guest Captain Waverley, what they technically +called DEOCH AN DORUIS, a stirrup-cup, to the honour of the +Baron's roof-tree. [See Note 8.] + +It must be noticed, that the Bailie, knowing by experience that +the day's joviality, which had been hitherto sustained at the +expense of his patron, might terminate partly at his own, had +mounted his spavined grey pony, and, between gaiety of heart, and +alarm for being hooked into a reckoning, spurred him into a +hobbling canter (a trot was out of the question), and had already +cleared the village. The others entered the change-house, +leading Edward in unresisting submission; for his landlord +whispered him, that to demur to such an overture would be +construed into a high misdemeanour against the LEGES CONVIVIALES, +or regulations of genial compotation. Widow Macleary seemed to +have expected this visit, as well she might, for it was the usual +consummation of merry bouts, not only at Tully-Veolan, but at +most other gentlemen's houses in Scotland, Sixty Years since. +The guests thereby at once acquitted themselves of their burden +of gratitude for their entertainer's kindness, encouraged the +trade of his change-house, did honour to the place which afforded +harbour to their horses, and indemnified themselves for the +previous restraints imposed by private hospitality, by spending, +what Falstaff calls the sweet of the night, in the genial license +of a tavern. + +Accordingly, in full expectation of these distinguished guests, +Luckie Macleary had swept her house for the first time this +fortnight, tempered her turf-fire to such a heat as the season +required in her damp hovel even at Midsummer, set forth her deal +table newly washed, propped its lame foot with a fragment of +turf, arranged four or five stools of huge and clumsy form, upon +the sites which best suited the inequalities of her clay floor; +and having, moreover, put on her clean toy, rokelay, and scarlet +plaid, gravely awaited the arrival of the company, in full hope +of custom and profit. When they were seated under the sooty +rafters of Luckie Macleary's only apartment, thickly tapestried +with cobwebs, their hostess, who had already taken her cue from +the Laird of Balmawhapple, appeared with a huge pewter measuring- +pot, containing at least three English quarts, familiarly +denominated a TAPPIT HEN, and which, in the language of the +hostess, reamed (i.e. mantled) with excellent claret, just drawn +from the cask. + +It was soon plain that what crumbs of reason the Bear had not +devoured, were to be picked up by the Hen; but the confusion +which appeared to prevail favoured Edward's resolution to evade +the gaily circling glass. The others began to talk thick and at +once, each performing his own part in the conversation, without +the least respect to hist neighbour. The Baron of Bradwardine +sang French CHANSONS-A-BOIRE, and spouted pieces of Latin; +Killancureit talked, in a steady unalterable dull key, of top- +dressing and bottom-dressing, [This has been censured as an +anachronism; and it must be confessed that agriculture of this +kind was unknown to the Scotch Sixty Years since.] and year- +olds, and gimmers, and dinmonts, and stots, and runts, and +kyloes, and a proposed turnpike-act; while Balmawhapple, in notes +exalted above both, extolled his horse, his hawks, and a +greyhound called Whistler. In the middle of this din, the Baron +repeatedly implored silence; and when at length the instinct of +polite discipline so far prevailed, that for a moment he obtained +it, he hastened to beseech their attention 'unto a military +ariette, which was a particular favourite of the Marechal Duc de +Berwick;' then, imitating, as well as he could, the manner and +tone of a French mousquetaire, he immediately commenced,-- + + Mon coeur volage, dit-elle, + N'est pas pour vous, garcon; + Est pour un homme de guerre, + Qui a barbe au menton. + Lon, Lon, Laridon. + + Qui ports chapeau a plume, + Soulier a rouge talon, + Qui joue de la flute, + Aussi du violon. + Lon, Lon, Laridon. + +Balmawhapple could hold no longer, but broke in with what he +called a, d--d good song, composed by Gibby Gaethroughwi't, the +piper of Cupar; and, without wasting more time, struck up,-- + + It's up Glenbarchan's braes I gaed, + And o'er the bent of Killiebraid, + And mony a weary cast I made, + To cuittle the muirfowl's tail. + +[SUUM CUIQUE. This snatch of a ballad was composed by Andrew +MacDonald, the ingenious and unfortunate author of VIMONDA.] + +The Baron, whose voice was drowned in the louder and more +obstreperous strains of Balmawhapple, now dropped the +competition, but continued to hum, Lon, Lon, Laridon, and to +regard the successful candidate for the attention of the company, +with an eye of disdain, while Balmawhapple proceeded,-- + + If up a bonny black-cock should spring, + To whistle him down wi' a slug in his wing, + And strap him on to my lunzie string, + Right seldom would I fail. + +After an ineffectual attempt to recover the second verse, he sang +the first over again; and, in prosecution of his triumph, +declared there was 'more sense in that than in all the DERRY- +DONGS of France, and Fifeshire to the boot of it.' The Baron +only answered with a long pinch of snuff, and a glance of +infinite contempt. But those noble allies, the Bear and the Hen, +had emancipated the young laird from the habitual reverence in +which he held Bradwardine at other times. He pronounced the +claret SHILPIT, and demanded brandy with great vociferation. It +was brought; and now the Demon of Politics envied even the +harmony arising from this Dutch concert, merely because there was +not a wrathful note in the strange compound of sounds which it +produced. Inspired by her, the Laird of Balmawhapple, now +superior to the nods and winks with which the Baron of +Bradwardine, in delicacy to Edward, had hitherto checked his +entering upon political discussion, demanded a bumper, with the +lungs of a Stentor, 'to the little gentleman in black velvet who +did such service in 1702, and may the white horse break his neck +over a mound of his making!' + +Edward was not at that moment clear-headed enough to remember +that King William's fall, which occasioned his death, was said to +be owing to his horse stumbling at a mole-hill; yet felt inclined +to take umbrage at a toast, which seemed, from the glance of +Balmawhapple's eye, to have a peculiar and uncivil reference to +the Government which he served. But, ere he could interfere, the +Baron of Bradwardine had taken up the quarrel. 'Sir,' he said, +'whatever my sentiments, TANQUAM PRIVATUS, may be in such +matters, I shall not tamely endure your saying anything that may +impinge upon the honourable feelings of a gentleman under my +roof. Sir, if you have no respect for the laws of urbanity, do ye +not respect the military oath, the SACRAMENTUM MILITARE, by which +every officer is bound to the standards under which he is +enrolled? Look at Titus Livius, what he says of those Roman +soldiers who were so unhappy as EXUERE SACRAMENTUM,--to renounce +their legionary oath; but you are ignorant, sir, alike of ancient +history and modern courtesy.' + +'Not so ignorant as ye would pronounce me,' roared Balmawhapple. +'I ken weel that you mean the Solemn League and Covenant; but if +a' the Whigs in hell had taken the--' + +Here the Baron and Waverley both spoke at once, the former +calling out, 'Be silent, sir! ye not only show your ignorance, +but disgrace your native country before a stranger and an +Englishman;' and Waverley, at the same moment, entreating Mr. +Bradwardine to permit him to reply to an affront which seemed +levelled at him personally. But the Baron was exalted by wine, +wrath, and scorn, above all sublunary considerations. + +'I crave you to be hushed, Captain Waverley; you are elsewhere, +peradventure, SUI JURIS,--foris-familiated, that is, and +entitled, it may be, to think and resent for yourself; but in my +domain, in this poor Barony of Bradwardine, and under this roof, +which is QUASI mine, being held by tacit relocation by a tenant +at will, I am IN LOCO PARENTIS to you, and bound to see you +scathless.--And for you, Mr. Falconer of Balmawhapple, I warn ye, +let me see no more aberrations from the paths of good manners.' + +'And I tell you, Mr. Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, of Bradwardine and +Tully-Veolan,' retorted the sportsman, in huge disdain, 'that +I'll make a moor-cock of the man that refuses my toast, whether +it be a crop-eared English Whig wi' a black ribband at his lug, +or ane wha deserts his ain friends to claw favour wi' the rats of +Hanover.' + +In an instant both rapiers were brandished, and some desperate +passes exchanged. Balmawhapple was young, stout, and active; but +the Baron, infinitely more master of his weapon, would, like Sir +Toby Belch, have tickled his opponent other gates than he did, +had he not been under the influence of Ursa Major. + +Edward rushed forward to interfere between the combatants, but +the prostrate bulk of the Laird of Killancureit, over which he +stumbled, intercepted his passage. How Killancureit happened to +be in this recumbent posture at so interesting a moment, was +never accurately known. Some thought he was about to ensconce +himself under the table; he himself alleged that he stumbled in +the act of lifting a joint-stool, to prevent mischief, by +knocking down Balmawhapple. Be that as it may, if readier aid +than either his or Waverley's had not interposed, there would +certainly have been bloodshed. But the well-known clash of +swords, which was no stranger to her dwelling, aroused Luckie +Macleary as she sat quietly beyond the hallan, or earthen +partition of the cottage, with eyes employed on Boston's CROOK OF +THE LOT, while her ideas were engaged in summing up the +reckoning. She boldly rushed in, with the shrill expostulation, +'Wad their honours slay ane another there, and bring discredit on +an honest widow-woman's house, when there was a' the lee-land in +the country to fight upon?' a remonstrance which she seconded by +flinging her plaid with great dexterity over the weapons of the +combatants. The servants by this time rushed in, and being, by +great chance, tolerably sober, separated the incensed opponents, +with the assistance of Edward and Killancureit. The latter led +off Balmawhapple, cursing, swearing, and vowing revenge against +every Whig, Presbyterian, and fanatic in England and Scotland, +from John-o'-Groat's to the Land's End, and with difficulty got +him to horse. Our hero, with the assistance of Saunders +Saunderson, escorted the Baron of Bradwardine to his own +dwelling, but could not prevail upon him to retire to bed until +he had made a long and learned apology for the events of the +evening, of which, however, there was not a word intelligible, +except something about the Centaurs and the Lapithae. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +REPENTANCE AND A RECONCILIATION + +Waverley was unaccustomed to the use of wine, excepting with +great temperance. He slept, therefore, soundly till late in the +succeeding morning, and then awakened to a painful recollection +of the scene of the preceding evening. He had received a +personal affront,--he, a gentleman, a soldier, and a Waverley. +True, the person who had offered it was not, at the time it was +given, possessed of the moderate share of sense which nature had +allotted him; true also, in resenting this insult, he would break +the laws of Heaven, as well as of his country; true, in doing so, +he might take the life of a young man who perhaps respectably +discharged the social duties, and render his family miserable; or +he might lose his own;--no pleasant alternative even to the +bravest, when it is debated coolly and in private. + +All this pressed on his mind; yet the original statement recurred +with the same irresistible force. He had received a personal +insult; he was of the house of Waverley; and he bore a +commission. There was no alternative; and he descended to the +breakfast parlour with the intention of taking leave of the +family, and writing to one of his brother officers to meet him at +the inn mid-way between Tully-Veolan and the town where they were +quartered, in order that he might convey such a message to the +Laird of Balmawhapple as the circumstances seemed to demand. He +found Miss Bradwardine presiding over the tea and coffee, the +table loaded with warm bread, both of flour, oatmeal, and barley- +meal, in the shape of leaves, cakes, biscuits, and other +varieties, together with eggs, reindeer ham, mutton and beef, +ditto, smoked salmon, marmalade, and all other delicacies which +induced even Johnson himself to extol the luxury of a Scotch +breakfast above that of all other countries. A mess of oatmeal +porridge, flanked by a silver jug, which held an equal mixture of +cream and butter-milk, was placed for the Baron's share of this +repast; but Rose observed he had walked out early in the morning, +after giving orders that his guest should not be disturbed. + +Waverley sat down almost in silence, and with an air of absence +and abstraction, which could not give Miss Bradwardine a +favourable opinion of his talents for conversation. He answered +at random one or two observations which she ventured to make upon +ordinary topics; so that feeling herself almost repulsed in her +efforts at entertaining him, and secretly wondering that a +scarlet coat should cover no better breeding, she left him to his +mental amusement of cursing Dr. Doubleit's favourite +constellation of Ursa Major, as the cause of all the mischief +which had already happened, and was likely to ensue. At once he +started, and his colour heightened, as, looking toward the +window, he beheld the Baron and young Balmawhapple pass arm in +arm, apparently in deep conversation; and he hastily asked, 'Did +Mr. Falconer sleep here last night?' Rose, not much pleased with +the abruptness of the first question which the young stranger had +addressed to her, answered drily in the negative, and the +conversation again sank into silence. + +At this moment Mr. Saunderson appeared, with a message from his +master, requesting to speak with Captain Waverley in another +apartment. With a heart which beat; a little quicker, not indeed +from fear, but from uncertainty and anxiety, Edward obeyed the +summons. He found the two gentlemen standing together, an air of +complacent dignity on the brow of the Baron, while something like +sullenness, or shame, or both, blanked the bold visage of +Balmawhapple. The former slipped his arm through that of the +latter, and thus seeming to walk with him, while in reality he +led him, advanced to meet Waverley, and, stopping in the midst of +the apartment, made in great state the following oration: +'Captain Waverley,--my young and esteemed friend, Mr. Falconer of +Balmawhapple, has craved of my age and experience, as of one not +wholly unskilled in the dependencies and punctilios of the duello +or monomachia, to be his interlocutor in expressing to you the +regret with which he calls to remembrance certain passages of our +symposion last night, which could not but be highly displeasing +to you, as serving for the time under this present existing +government. He craves you, sir, to drown in oblivion the memory +of such solecisms against the laws of politeness, as being what +his better reason disavows, and to receive the hand which he +offers you in amity; and I must needs assure you, that nothing +less than a sense of being DANS SON TORT, as a gallant French +chevalier, Mons, Le Bretailleur, once said to me on such an +occasion, and an opinion also of your peculiar merit, could have +extorted such concessions; for he and all his family are, and +have been time out of mind, MAVORTIA PECTORA, as Buchanan saith, +a bold and warlike sept, or people.' + +Edward immediately, and with natural politeness, accepted the +hand which Balmawhapple, or rather the Baron in his character of +mediator, extended towards him. 'It was impossible,' he said, +'for him to remember what a gentleman expressed his wish he had +not uttered; and he willingly imputed what had passed to the +exuberant festivity of the day.' + +'That is very handsomely said,' answered the Baron; 'for +undoubtedly, if a man be EBRIUS, or intoxicated--an incident +which, on solemn and festive occasions, may and will take place +in the life of a man of honour; and if the same gentleman, being +fresh and sober, recants the contumelies which he hath spoken in +his liquor, it must be held VINUM LOCUTUM EST; the words cease to +be his own. Yet would I not find this exculpation relevant in +the case of one who was EBRIOSUS, or an habitual drunkard; +because, if such a person choose to pass the greater part of his +time in the predicament of intoxication, he hath no title to be +exeemed from the obligations of the code of politeness, but +should learn to deport himself peaceably and courteously when +under the influence of the vinous stimulus.--And now let us +proceed to breakfast, and think no more of this daft business.' + +I must confess, whatever inference may be drawn from the +circumstance, that Edward, after so satisfactory an explanation, +did much greater honour to the delicacies of Miss Bradwardine's +breakfast-table than his commencement had promised. +Balmawhapple, on the contrary, seemed embarrassed and dejected; +and Waverley now, for the first time, observed that his arm was +in a sling, which seemed to account for the awkward and +embarrassed manner with which he had presented his hand. To a +question from Miss Bradwardine, he muttered, in answer, something +about his horse having fallen; and, seeming desirous to escape +both from the subject and the company, he arose as soon as +breakfast was over, made his bow to the party, and, declining the +Baron's invitation to tarry till after dinner, mounted his horse +and returned to his own home. + +Waverley now announced his purpose of leaving Tully-Veolan early +enough after dinner to gain the stage at which he meant to sleep; +but the unaffected and deep mortification with which the good- +natured and affectionate old gentleman heard the proposal, quite +deprived him of courage to persist in it. No sooner had he +gained Waverley's consent to lengthen his visit for a few days, +than he laboured to remove the grounds upon which he conceived he +had meditated a more early retreat. 'I would not have you opine, +Captain Waverley, that I am by practice or precept an advocate of +ebriety, though it may be that, in our festivity of last night, +some of our friends, if not perchance altogether EBRII, or +drunken, were, to say the least, EBRIOLI, by which the ancients +designed those who were fuddled, or, as your English vernacular +and metaphorical phrase goes, half-seas-over. Not that I would +so insinuate respecting you, Captain Waverley, who, like a +prudent youth, did rather abstain from potation; nor can it be +truly said of myself, who, having assisted at the tables of many +great generals and marechals at their solemn carousals, have the +art to carry my wine discreetly, and did not, during the whole +evening, as ye must have doubtless observed, exceed the bounds of +a modest hilarity.' + +There was no refusing assent to a proposition so decidedly laid +down by him who undoubtedly was the best judge; although, had +Edward formed his opinion from his own recollections, he would +have pronounced that the Baron was not only EBRIOLUS, but verging +to become EBRIUS; or, in plain English, was incomparably the most +drunk of the party, except perhaps his antagonist the Laird of +Balmawhapple. However, having received the expected, or rather +the required, compliment on his sobriety, the Baron proceeded,-- +'No, sir, though I am myself of a strong temperament, I abhor +ebriety, and detest those who swallow wine GULAE CAUSA, for the +oblectation of the gullet; albeit I might deprecate the law of +Pittacus of Mitylene, who punished doubly a crime committed under +the influence of LIBER PATER; nor would I utterly accede to the +objurgation of the younger Plinius, in the fourteenth book of his +HISTORIA NATURALIS. No, sir; I distinguish, I discriminate, and +approve of wine so far only as it maketh glad the face, or, in +the language of Flaccus, RECEPTO AMICO.' + +Thus terminated the apology which the Baron of Bradwardine +thought it necessary to make for the super-abundance of his +hospitality; and it may be easily believed that he was neither +interrupted by dissent, nor any expression of incredulity. + +He then invited his guest to a morning ride, and ordered that +Davie Gellatley should meet them at the DERN PATH with Ban and +Buscar. 'For, until the shooting season commenced, I would +willingly show you some sport, and we may, God willing, meet with +a roe. The roe, Captain Waverley, may be hunted at all times +alike; for never being in what is called PRIDE OF GREASE, he is +also never out of season, though it be a truth that his venison +is not equal to that of either the red or fallow deer. [The +learned in cookery dissent from the Baron of Bradwardine, and +hold the roe-venison dry and indifferent food, unless when +dressed in soup and Scotch collops.] But he will serve to show +how my dogs run; and therefore they shall attend us with Davie +Gellatley.' + +Waverley expressed his surprise that his friend Davie was capable +of such trust; but the Baron gave him to understand that this +poor simpleton was neither fatuous, NEC NATURALITER IDIOTA, as is +expressed in the brieves of furiosity, but simply a crack-brained +knave, who could execute very well any commission which jumped +with his own humour, and made his folly a plea for avoiding every +other. 'He has made an interest with us,' continued the Baron, +'by saving Rose from a great danger with his own proper peril; +and the roguish loon must therefore eat of our bread and drink of +our cup, and do what he can, or what he will; which, if the +suspicions of Saunderson and the Bailie are well founded, may +perchance in his case be commensurate terms.' + +Miss Bradwardine then gave Waverley to understand, that this poor +simpleton was doatingly fond of music, deeply affected by that +which was melancholy, and transported into extravagant gaiety by +light and lively airs. He had in this respect a prodigious +memory, stored with miscellaneous snatches and fragments of all +tunes and songs, which he sometimes applied, with considerable +address, as the vehicles of remonstrance, explanation, or satire. +Davie was much attached to the few who showed him kindness; and +both aware of any slight or ill usage which he happened to +receive, and sufficienty apt, where he saw opportunity, to +revenge it. The common people, who often judge hardly of each +other, as well as of their betters, although they had expressed +great compassion for the poor innocent while suffered to wander +in rags about the village, no sooner beheld him decently clothed, +provided for, and even a sort of favourite, than they called up +all the instances of sharpness and ingenuity, in action and +repartee, which his annals afforded, and charitably bottomed +thereupon a hypothesis, that Davie Gellatley was no further fool +than was necessary to avoid hard labour. This opinion was not +better founded than that of the Negroes, who, from the acute and +mischievous pranks of the monkeys, suppose that they have the +gift of speech, and only suppress their powers of elocution to +escape being set to work. But the hypothesis was entirely +imaginary: Davie Gellatley was in good earnest the half-crazed +simpleton which he appeared, and was incapable of any constant +and steady exertion. He had just so much solidity as kept on the +windy side of insanity; so much wild wit as saved him from the +imputation of idiocy; some dexterity in field sports (in which we +have known as great fools excel), great kindness and humanity in +the treatment of animals entrusted to him, warm affections, a +prodigious memory, and an ear for music. + +The stamping of horses was now heard in the court, and Davie's +voice singing to the two large deer greyhounds,-- + + Hie away, hie away, + Over bank and over brae, + Where the copsewood is the greenest, + Where the fountains glisten sheenest, + Where the lady-fern grows strongest, + Where the morning dew lies longest, + Where the black-cock sweetest sips it, + Where the fairy latest trips it: + Hie to haunts right seldom seen, + Lovely, lonesome, cool, and green, + Over bank and over brae, + Hie away, hie away. + +'Do the verses he sings,' asked Waverley, 'belong to old Scottish +poetry, Miss Bradwardine?' + +'I believe not,' she replied. 'This poor creature had a brother, +and Heaven, as if to compensate to the family Davie's +deficiencies, had given him what the hamlet thought uncommon +talents. An uncle contrived to educate him for the Scottish +kirk, but he could not get preferment because he came from our +GROUND. He returned from college hopeless and broken-hearted, +and fell into a decline. My father supported him till his death, +which happened before he was nineteen. He played beautifully on +the flute, and was supposed to have a great turn for poetry. He +was affectionate and compassionate to his brother, who followed +him like his shadow, and we think that from him Davie gathered +many fragments of songs and music unlike those of this country. +But if we ask him where he got such a fragment as he is now +singing, he either answers with wild and long fits of laughter, +or else breaks into tears of lamentation; but was never heard to +give any explanation, or to mention his brother's name since his +death.' + +'Surely,' said Edward, who was readily interested by a tale +bordering on the romantic, 'surely more might be learned by more +particular inquiry.' + +'Perhaps so,' answered Rose, 'but my father will not permit any +one to practise on his feelings on this subject.' + +By this time the Baron, with the help of Mr. Saunderson, had +indued a pair of jack-boots of large dimensions, and now invited +our hero to follow him as he stalked clattering down the ample +staircase, tapping each huge balustrade as he passed with the +butt of his massive horsewhip, and humming, with the air of a +chasseur of Louis Quatorze, + + Pour la chasse ordonnee il faut preparer tout, + Hola ho! Vite! vite debout. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A MORE RATIONAL DAY THAN THE LAST + +The Baron of Bradwardine, mounted on an active and well-managed +horse, and seated on a demi-pique saddle, with deep housings to +agree with his livery, was no bad representative of the old +school. His light-coloured embroidered coat, and superbly barred +waistcoat, his brigadier wig, surmounted by a small gold-laced +cocked-hat, completed his personal costume; but he was attended +by two well-mounted servants on horseback, armed with holster +pistols. + +In this guise he ambled forth over hill and valley, the +admiration of every farmyard which they passed in their progress, +till, 'low down in a grassy vale,' they found Davie Gellatley +leading two very tall deer greyhounds, and presiding over half a +dozen curs, and about as many bare-legged and bare-headed boys, +who, to procure the chosen distinction of attending on the chase, +had not failed to tickle his ears with the dulcet appellation of +Maister Gellatley, though probably all and each had booted him on +former occasions in the character of daft Davie. But this is no +uncommon strain of flattery to persons in office, nor altogether +confined to the bare-legged villagers of Tully-Veolan: it was in +fashion Sixty Years since, is now, and will be six hundred years +hence, if this admirable compound of folly and knavery, called +the world, shall be then in existence. + +These GILLIE-WET-FOOTS, [A bare-footed Highland lad is called a +gillie-wet-foot. Gillie, in general, means servant or +attendant.] as they were called, were destined to beat the +bushes, which they performed with so much success, that, after +half an hour's search, a roe was started, coursed, and killed; +the Baron following on his white horse, like Earl Percy of yore, +and magnanimously flaying and embowelling the slain animal +(which, he observed, was called by the French chasseurs FAIRE LA +CUREE) with his own baronial COUTEAU DE CHASSE. After this +ceremony he conducted his guest homeward by a pleasant and +circuitous route, commanding an extensive prospect of different +villages and houses, to each of which Mr. Bradwardine attached +some anecdote of history or genealogy, told in language whimsical +from prejudice and pedantry, but often respectable for the good +sense and honourable feelings which his narrative displayed, and +almost always curious, if not valuable, for the information they +contained. + +The truth is, the ride seemed agreeable to both gentlemen, +because they found amusement in each other's conversation, +although their characters and habits of thinking were in many +respects totally opposite. Edward, we have informed the reader, +was warm in his feelings, wild and romantic in his ideas and in +his taste of reading, with a strong disposition towards poetry. +Mr. Bradwardine was the reverse of all this, and piqued himself +upon stalking through life with the same upright, starched, +stoical gravity which distinguished his evening promenade upon +the terrace of Tully-Veolan, where for hours together--the very +model old Hardyknute-- + + Stately stepped he east the wa', + And stately stepped he west. + +As for literature, he read the classic poets, to be sure, and the +EPITHALAMIUM of Georgius Buchanan, and Arthur Johnston's PSALMS, +of a Sunday; and the DELICIAE POETARUM SCOTORUM, and Sir David +Lindsay's WORKS, and Barbour's BRUCE, and Blind Harry's WALLACE, +and the GENTLE SHEPHERD, and the CHERRY AND THE SLAE. But though +he thus far sacrificed his time to the Muses, he would if the +truth must be spoken, have been much better pleased had the pious +or sapient apothegms, as well as the historical narratives, which +these various works contained, been presented to him in the form +of simple prose. And he sometimes could not refrain from +expressing contempt of the 'vain and unprofitable art of poem- +making,' in which, he said, 'the only one who had excelled in his +time was Allan Ramsay, the periwig-maker.' + +[The Baron ought to have remembered that the joyous Allan +literally drew his blood from the house of the noble Earl, whom +he terms-- + + Dalhousie of an old descent, + My stoup, my pride, my ornament.] + +But although Edward and he differed TOTO COELO, as the Baron +would have said, upon this subject, yet they met upon history as +on a neutral ground, in which each claimed an interest. The +Baron, indeed, only cumbered his memory with matters of fact; the +cold, dry, hard outlines which history delineates. Edward, on +the contrary, loved to fill up and round the sketch with the +colouring of a warm and vivid imagination, which gives light and +life to the actors and speakers in the drama of past ages. Yet +with tastes so opposite, they contributed greatly to each other's +amusement. Mr. Bradwardine's minute narratives and powerful +memory supplied to Waverley fresh subjects of the kind upon which +his fancy loved to labour, and opened to him a new mine of +incident and of character. And he repaid the pleasure thus +communicated, by an earnest attention, valuable to all story- +tellers, more especially to the Baron, who felt his habits of +self-respect flattered by it; and sometimes also by reciprocal +communications, which interested Mr. Bradwardine, as confirming +or illustrating his own favourite anecdotes. Besides, Mr. +Bradwardine loved to talk of the scenes of his youth, which had +been spent in camps and foreign lands, and had many interesting +particulars to tell of the generals under whom he had served, and +the actions he had witnessed. + +Both parties returned to Tully-Veolan in great good humour with +each other; Waverley desirous of studying more attentively what +he considered as a singular and interesting character, gifted +with a memory containing a curious register of ancient and modern +anecdotes; and Bradwardine disposed to regard Edward as PUER (or +rather JUVENIS) BONAE SPEI ET MAGNAE INDOLIS, a youth devoid of +that petulant volatility, which is impatient of, or vilipends, +the conversation and advice of his seniors, from which he +predicted great things of his future success and deportment in +life. There was no other guest except Mr. Rubrick, whose +information and discourse, as a clergyman and a scholar, +harmonized very well with that of the Baron and his guest. + +Shortly after dinner, the Baron, as if to show that his +temperance was not entirely theoretical, proposed a visit to +Rose's appartment, or, as he termed it, her TROISIEME ETAGE. +Waverley was accordingly conducted through one or two of those +long awkward passages with which ancient architects studied to +puzzle the inhabitants of the houses which they planned, at the +end of which Mr. Bradwardine began to ascend, by two steps at +once, a very steep, narrow, and winding stair, leaving Mr. +Rubrick and Waverley to follow at more leisure, while he should +announce their approach to his daughter. + +After having climbed this perpendicular corkscrew until their +brains were almost giddy, they arrived in a little matted lobby, +which served as an ante-room to Rose's SANCTUM SANCTORUM, and +through which they entered her parlour. It was a small but +pleasant apartment, opening to the south, and hung with tapestry; +adorned besides with two pictures, one of her mother, in the +dress of a shepherdess, with a bell-hoop; the other of the Baron, +in his tenth year, in a blue coat, embroidered waistcoat, laced +hat, and bag-wig, with a bow in his hand. Edward could not help +smiling at the costume, and at the odd resemblance between the +round, smooth, red-checked, staring visage in the portrait, and +the gaunt, bearded, hollow-eyed, swarthy features, which +travelling, fatigues of war, and advanced age, had bestowed on +the original. The Baron joined in the laugh. 'Truly,' he said, +'that picture was a woman's fantasy of my good mother's (a +daughter of the Laird of Tulliellum, Captain Waverley; I +indicated the house to you when we were on the top of the +Shinnyheuch; it was burnt by the Dutch auxiliaries brought in by +the Government in 1715); I never sat for my pourtraicture but +once since that was painted, and it was at the special and +reiterated request of the Marechal Duke of Berwick.' + +The good old gentleman did not mention what Mr. Rubrick +afterwards told Edward, that the Duke had done him this honour on +account of his being the first to mount the breach of a fort; in +Savoy during the memorable campaign of 1709, and his having there +defended himself with his half-pike for nearly ten minutes before +any support reached him. To do the Baron justice, although +sufficiently prone to dwell upon, and even to exaggerate, his +family dignity and consequence, he was too much a man of real +courage ever to allude to such personal acts of merit as he had +himself manifested. + +Miss Rose now appeared from the interior room of her apartment, +to welcome her father and his friends. The little labours in +which she had been employed obviously showed a natural taste, +which required only cultivation. Her father had taught her +French and Italian, and a few of the ordinary authors in those +languages ornamented her shelves. He had endeavoured also to be +her preceptor in music; but as he began with the more abstruse +doctrines of the science, and was not perhaps master of them +himself, she had made no proficiency further than to be able to +accompany her voice with the harpsichord; but even this was not +very common in Scotland at that period. To make amends, she sang +with great taste and feeling, and with a respect to the sense of +what she uttered that might be proposed in example to ladies of +much superior musical talent. Her natural good sense taught her, +that if, as we are assured by high authority, music be 'married +to immortal verse,' they are very often divorced by the performer +in a most shameful manner. It was perhaps owing to this +sensibility to poetry, and power of combining its expression with +those of the musical notes, that her singing gave more pleasure +to all the unlearned in music, and even to many of the learned, +than could have been communicated by a much finer voice and more +brilliant execution, unguided by the same delicacy of feeling. + +A bartizan, or projecting gallery, before the windows of her +parlour, served to illustrate another of Rose's pursuits; for it +was crowded with flowers of different kinds, which she had taken +under her special protection. A projecting turret gave access to +this Gothic balcony, which commanded a most beautiful prospect. +The formal garden, with its high bounding walls, lay below, +contracted, as it seemed, to a mere parterre; while the view +extended beyond them down a wooded glen, where the small river +was sometimes visible, sometimes hidden in copse. The eye might +be delayed by a desire to rest on the rocks, which here and there +rose from the dell with massive or spiry fronts, or it might +dwell on the noble, though ruined tower, which was here beheld in +all its dignity, frowning from a promontory over the river. To +the left were seen two or three cottages, a part of the village; +the brow of the hill concealed the others. The glen, or dell, +was terminated by a sheet of water, called Loch-Veolan, into +which the brook discharged itself, and which now glistened in the +western sun. The distant country seemed open and varied in +surface, though not wooded; and there was nothing to interrupt +the view until the scene was bounded by a ridge of distant and +blue hills, which formed the southern boundary of the strath or +valley. To this pleasant station Miss Bradwardine had ordered +coffee. + +The view of the old tower, or fortalice, introduced some family +anecdotes and tales of Scottish chivalry, which the Baron told +with great enthusiasm. The projecting peak of an impending crag +which rose near it, had acquired the name of St. Swithin's Chair. +it was the scene of a peculiar superstition, of which Mr. Rubrick +mentioned some curious particulars, which reminded Waverley of a +rhyme quoted By Edgar in KING LEAR; and Rose was called upon to +sing a little legend, in which they had been interwoven by some +village poet, + + Who, noteless as the race from which he sprung, + Saved others' names, but left his own unsung. + +The sweetness of her voice, and the simple beauty of her music, +gave all the advantage which the minstrel could have desired, and +which his poetry so much wanted. I almost doubt if it can be +read with patience, destitute of these advantages; although I +conjecture the following copy to have been somewhat corrected by +Waverley, to suit the taste of those who might not relish pure +antiquity:-- + + ST. SWITHIN'S CHAIR. + + On Hallow-Mass Eve, ere ye boune ye to rest, + Ever beware that your couch be blessed; + Sign it with cross, and sain it with bead, + Sing the Ave, and say the Creed. + + For on Hallow-Mass Eve the Night-Hag will ride, + And all her nine-fold sweeping on by her side, + Whether the wind sing lowly or loud, + Sailing through moonshine or swathed in the cloud. + + The Lady she sat in St. Swithin's Chair, + The dew of the night has damped her hair: + Her cheek was pale--but resolved and high + Was the word of her lip and the glance of her eye. + + She muttered the spell of Swithin bold, + When his naked foot traced the midnight wold, + When he stopped the Hag as she rode the night, + And bade her descend, and her promise plight. + + He that dare sit on St. Swithin's Chair, + When the Night-Hag wings the troubled air, + Questions three, when he speaks the spell, + He may ask, and she must tell. + + The Baron has been with King Robert his liege, + These three long years in battle and siege; + News are there none of his weal or his woe, + And fain the Lady his fate would know. + + She shudders and stops as the charm she speaks;- + Is it the moody owl that shrieks? + Or is it that sound, betwixt laughter and scream, + The voice of the Demon who haunts the stream? + + The moan of the wind sunk silent and low, + And the roaring torrent ceased to flow; + The calm was more dreadful than raging storm, + Then the cold grey mist brought the ghastly form! + + . . . . . . + +'I am sorry to disappoint the company, especially Captain +Waverley, who listens with such laudable gravity; it is but a +fragment, although I think there are other verses, describing the +return of the Baron from the wars, and how the lady was found +"clay-cold upon the grounsill ledge."' + +'It is one of those figments,' observed Mr. Bradwardine, 'with +which the early history of distinguished families was deformed in +the times of superstition; as that of Rome, and other ancient +nations, had their prodigies, sir, the which you may read in +ancient histories, or in the little work compiled by Julius +Obsequens, and inscribed by the learned Scheffer, the editor, to +his patron, Benedictus Skytte, Baron of Dudershoff.' + +'My father has a strange defiance of the marvellous, Captain +Waverley,' observed Rose, 'and once stood firm when a whole synod +of Presbyterian divines were put to the rout by a sudden +apparition of the foul fiend.' + +Waverley looked as if desirous to hear more. + +Must I tell my story as well as sing my song?--Well.--Once upon a +time there lived an old woman, called Janet Gellatley, who was +suspected to be a witch, on the infallible grounds that she was +very old, very ugly, very poor, and had two sons, one of whom was +a poet, and the other a fool, which visitation, all the +neighbourhood agreed, had come upon her for the sin of +witchcraft. And she was imprisoned for a week in the steeple of +the parish church, and sparingly supplied with food, and not +permitted to sleep, until she herself became as much persuaded of +her being a witch as her accusers; and in this lucid and happy +state of mind was brought forth to make a clean breast, that is, +to make open confession of her sorceries, before all the Whig +gentry and ministers in the vicinity, who were no conjurers +themselves. My father went to see fair play between the witch +and the clergy; for the witch had been born on his estate. 'And +while the witch was confessing that the Enemy appeared, and made +his addresses to her as a handsome black man,--which, if you +could have seen poor old blear-eyed Janet, reflected little +honour on Apollyon's taste,--and while the auditors listened with +astonished ears, and the clerk recorded with a trembling hand, +she, all of a sudden, changed the low mumbling tone with which +she spoke into a shrill yell, and exclaimed, "Look to yourselves! +look to yourselves! I see the Evil One sitting in the midst of +ye." The surprise was general, and terror and flight its +immediate consequences. Happy were those who were next the door; +and many were the disasters that befell hats, bands, cuffs, and +wigs, before they could get out of the church, where they left +the obstinate prelatist to settle matters with the witch and her +admirer, at his own peril or pleasure.' + +'RISU SOLVUNTUR TABULAE,' said the Baron: 'when they recovered +their panic trepidation, they were too much ashamed to bring any +wakening of the process against Janet Gellatley.' [The story +last told was said to have happened in the south of Scotland; +but--CEDANT ARMA TOGAE--and let the gown have its dues. It was +an old clergyman, who had wisdom and firmness enough to resist +the panic which seized his brethren, who was the means of +rescuing a poor insane creature from the cruel fate which would +otherwise have overtaken her. The accounts of the trials for +witchcraft form one of the most deplorable chapters in Scottish +story.] + +This anecdote led to a long discussion of + + All those idle thoughts and fantasies, + Devices, dreams, opinions unsound, + Shows, visions, soothsays, and prophecies, + And all that feigned is, as leasings, tales, and lies. + +With such conversation, and the romantic legends which it +produced, closed our hero's second evening in the house of Tully- +Veolan. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A DISCOVERY--WAVERLEY BECOMES DOMESTICATED AT +TULLY-VEOLAN + +The next day Edward arose betimes, and in a morning walk around +the house and its vicinity, came suddenly upon a small court in +front of the dog-kennel, where his friend Davie was employed +about his four-footed charge. One quick glance of his eye +recognized Waverley, when, instantly turning his back, as if he +had not observed him, he began to sing part of an old ballad:-- + + Young men will love thee more fair and more fast; + HEARD YE SO MERRY THE LITTLE BIRD SING? + Old men's love the longest will last, + AND THE THROSTLE-COCK'S HEAD IS UNDER HIS WING. + + The young man's wrath is like light straw on fire; + HEARD YE SO MERRY THE LITTLE BIRD SING? + But like red-hot steel is the old man's ire, + AND THE THROSTLE-COCK'S HEAD IS UNDER HIS WING. + + The young man will brawl at the evening board; + HEARD YE SO MERRY THE LITTLE BIRD SING? + But the old man will draw at the dawning the sword, + AND THE THROSTLE-COCK'S HEAD IS UNDER HIS WING. + +Waverley could not avoid observing that Davie laid something like +a satirical emphasis on these lines. He therefore approached, +and endeavoured, by sundry queries, to elicit from him what the +innuendo might mean; but Davie had no mind to explain, and had +wit enough to make his folly cloak his knavery. Edward could +collect nothing from him, excepting that the Laird of +Balmawhapple had gone home yesterday morning, 'wi' his boots fu' +o' bluid.' In the garden, however, he met the old butler, who no +longer attempted to conceal, that, having been bred in the +nursery line with Sumack & Co., of Newcastle, he sometimes +wrought a turn in the flower-borders to oblige the Laird and Miss +Rose. By a series of queries, Edward at length discovered, with +a painful feeling of surprise and shame, that Balmawhapple's +submission and apology had been the consequence of a rencontre +with the Baron before his guest had quitted his pillow, in which +the younger combatant had been disarmed and wounded in the sword- +arm. + +Greatly mortified at this information, Edward sought out his +friendly host, and anxiously expostulated with him upon the +injustice he had done him in anticipating his meeting with Mr. +Falconer, a circumstance which, considering his youth and the +profession of arms which he had just adopted, was capable of +being represented much to his prejudice. The Baron justified +himself at greater length than I choose to repeat. He urged that +the quarrel was common to them, and that Balmawhapple could not, +by the code of honour, EVITE giving satisfaction to both, which +he had done in his case by an honourable meeting, and in that of +Edward by such a PALINODE as rendered the use of the sword +unnecessary, and which, being made and accepted, must necessarily +SOPITE the whole affair. + +With this excuse or explanation, Waverley was silenced, if not +satisfied; but he could not help testifying some displeasure +against the Blessed Bear, which had given rise to the quarrel, +nor refrain from hinting, that the sanctified epithet was hardly +appropriate. The Baron observed, he could not deny that 'the +Bear, though allowed by heralds as a most honourable ordinary, +had, nevertheless, somewhat fierce, churlish, and morose in his +disposition (as might be read in Archibald Simson, pastor of +Dalkeith's HIEROGLYPHICA ANIMALIUM), and had thus been the type +of many quarrels and dissensions which had occurred in the house +of Bradwardine; of which,' he continued, 'I might commemorate +mine own unfortunate dissension with my third cousin by the +mother's side, Sir Hew Halbert, who was so unthinking as to +deride my family name, as if it had been QUASI BEARWARDEN; a most +uncivil jest, since it not only insinuated that the founder of +our house occupied such a mean situation as to be a custodier of +wild beasts, a charge which, ye must have observed, is only +entrusted to the very basest plebeians; but, moreover, seemed to +infer that our coat-armour had not been achieved by honourable +actions in war, but bestowed by way of PARONOMASIA, or pun upon +our family appellation,--a sort of bearing which the French call +ARMOIRES PARLANTES; the Latins ARMA CANTANTIA; and your English +authorities, canting heraldry; being indeed a species of +emblazoning more befitting canters, gaberlunzies, and such-like +mendicants, whose gibberish is formed upon playing upon the word, +than the noble, honourable, and useful science of heraldry, which +assigns armorial bearings as the reward of noble and generous +actions, and not to tickle the ear with vain quodlibets, such as +are found in jest-books.' [See Note 9.] Of his quarrel with Sir +Hew, he said nothing more, than that it was settled in a fitting +manner. + +Having been so minute with respect to the diversions of Tully- +Veolan, on the first days of Edward's arrival, for the purpose of +introducing its inmates to the reader's acquaintance, it becomes +less necessary to trace the progress of his intercourse with the +same accuracy. It is probable that a young man, accustomed to +more cheerful society, would have tired of the conversation of so +violent an asserter of the 'boast of heraldry' as the Baron; but +Edward found an agreeable variety in that of Miss Bradwardine, +who listened with eagerness to his remarks upon literature, and +showed great justness of taste in her answers. The sweetness of +her disposition had made her submit with complacency, and even +pleasure, to the course of reading prescribed by her father, +although it not only comprehended several heavy folios of +history, but certain gigantic tomes in High Church polemics. In +heraldry he was fortunately contented to give her only such a +slight tincture as might be acquired by perusal of the two folio +volumes of Nisbet. Rose was indeed the very apple of her +father's eye. Her constant liveliness, her attention to all +those little observances most gratifying to those who would never +think of exacting them, her beauty, in which he recalled the +features of his beloved wife, her unfeigned piety, and the noble +generosity of her disposition, would have justified the affection +of the most doting father. + +His anxiety on her behalf did not, however, seem to extend itself +in that quarter, where, according to the general opinion, it is +most efficiently displayed; in labouring, namely, to establish +her in life, either by a large dowry or a wealthy marriage. By +an old settlement, almost all the landed estates of the Baron +went, after his death, to a distant relation; and it was supposed +that Miss Bradwardine would remain but slenderly provided for, as +the good gentleman's cash matters had been too long under the +exclusive charge of Bailie Macwheeble, to admit of any great +expectations from his personal succession. It is true, the said +Bailie loved his patron and his patron's daughter next (although +at an incomparable distance) to himself. He thought it was +possible to set aside the settlement on the male line, and had +actually procured an opinion to that effect (and, as he boasted, +without a fee) from an eminent Scottish counsel, under whose +notice he contrived to bring the point while consulting him +regularly on some other business. But the Baron would not listen +to such a proposal for an instant. On the contrary, he used to +have a perverse pleasure in boasting that the barony of +Bradwardine was a male fief, the first charter having been given +at that early period when women were not deemed capable to hold a +feudal grant; because, according to Les COUSTUSMES DE NORMANDIE, +C'EST L'HOMME KI SE BAST ET KI CONSEILLE; or, as is yet more +ungallantly expressed by other authorities, all of whose +barbarous names he delighted to quote at full length, because a +woman could not serve the superior, or feudal lord, in war, on +account of the decorum of her sex, nor assist him with advice, +because of her limited intellect, nor keep his counsel, owing to +the infirmity of her disposition. He would triumphantly ask, how +it would become a female, and that female a Bradwardine, to be +seen employed in, SERVITIO EXUENDI, SEU DETRAHENDI, CALIGAS REGIS +POST BATTALIAM? that is, in pulling off the king's boots after +an engagement, which was the feudal service by which he held the +barony of Bradwardine. 'No,' he said, 'beyond hesitation, PROCUL +DUBIO, many females, as worthy as Rose, had been excluded, in +order to make way for my own succession, and Heaven forbid that I +should do aught that might contravene the destination of my +forefathers, or impinge upon the right of my kinsman, Malcolm +Bradwardine of Inchgrabbit, an honourable though decayed branch +of my own family.' + +The Bailie, as prime minister, having received this decisive +communication from his sovereign, durst not press his own +opinion any further, but contented himself with deploring, on +all suitable occasions, to Saunderson, the minister of the +interior, the Laird's self-willedness, and with laying plans for +uniting Rose with the young laird of Balmawhapple, who had a fine +estate, only moderately burdened, and was a faultless young +gentleman, being as sober as a saint--if you keep brandy from +him, and him from brandy--and who, in brief, had no imperfection +but that of keeping light company at a time; such as Jinker, the +horse-couper, and Gibby Gaethroughwi't, the piper o' Cupar; o' +whilk follies, Mr. Saunderson, he'll mend, he'll mend,'-- +pronounced the Bailie. + +'Like sour ale in simmer,' added Davie Gellatley, who happened to +be nearer the conclave than they were aware of. + +Miss Bradwardine, such as we have described her, with all the +simplicity and curiosity of a recluse, attached herself to the +opportunities of increasing her store of literature which +Edward's visit afforded her. He sent for some of his books from +his quarters, and they opened to her sources of delight of which +she had hitherto had no idea. The best English poets, of every +description, and other works on belles lettres, made a part of +this precious cargo. Her music, even her flowers, were +neglected, and Saunders not only mourned over, but began to +mutiny against the labour for which he now scarce received +thanks. These new pleasures became gradually enhanced by sharing +them with one of a kindred taste. Edward's readiness to comment, +to recite, to explain difficult passages, rendered his assistance +invaluable; and the wild romance of his spirit delighted a +character too young and inexperienced to observe its +deficiencies. Upon subjects which interested him, and when quite +at ease, he possessed that flow of natural, and somewhat florid +eloquence, which has been supposed as powerful even as figure, +fashion, fame, or fortune, in winning the female heart. There +was, therefore, an increasing danger in this constant +intercourse, to poor Rose's peace of mind, which was the more +imminent, as her father was greatly too much abstracted in his +studies, and wrapped up in his own dignity, to dream of his +daughter's incurring it. The daughters of the house of +Bradwardine were, in his opinion, like those of the house of +Bourbon or Austria, placed high above the clouds of passion which +might obfuscate the intellects of meaner females; they moved in +another sphere, were governed by other feelings, and amenable to +other rules, than those of idle and fantastic affection. In +short, he shut his eyes so resolutely to the natural consequences +of Edward's intimacy with Miss Bradwardine, that the whole +neighbourhood concluded that he had opened them to the advantages +of a match between his daughter and the wealthy young Englishman, +and pronounced him much less a fool than he had generally shown +himself in cases where his own interest was concerned. + +If the Baron, however, had really meditated such an alliance, the +indifference of Waverley would have been an insuperable bar to +his project. Our hero, since mixing more freely with the world, +had learned to think with great shame and confusion upon his +mental legend of Saint Cecilia, and the vexation of these +reflections was likely, for some time at least, to counterbalance +the natural susceptibility of his disposition. Besides, Rose +Bradwardine, beautiful and amiable as we have described her, had +not precisely the sort of beauty or merit which captivates a +romantic imagination in early youth. She was too frank, too +confiding, too kind; amiable qualities, undoubtedly, but +destructive of the marvellous, with which a youth of imagination +delights to address the empress of his affections. Was it +possible to bow, to tremble, and to adore, before the timid, yet +playful little girl, who now asked Edward to mend her pen, now to +construe a stanza in Tasso, and now how to spell a very--very +long word in her version of it? All these incidents have their +fascination on the mind at a certain period of life, but not when +a youth is entering it, and rather looking out for some object +whose affection may dignify him in his own eyes, than stooping to +one who looks up to him for such distinction. Hence, though +there can be no rule in so capricious a passion, early love is +frequently ambitious in choosing its object; or, which comes to +the same, selects her (as in the case of Saint Cecilia aforesaid) +from a situation that gives fair scope for LE BEAU IDEAL, which +the reality of intimate and familiar life rather tends to limit +and impair. I knew a very accomplished and sensible young man +cured of a violent passion for a pretty woman, whose talents +were not equal to her face and figure, by being permitted to bear +her company for a whole afternoon. Thus it is certain, that had +Edward enjoyed such an opportunity of conversing with Miss +Stubbs, Aunt Rachel's precaution would have been unnecessary, for +he would as soon have fallen in love with the dairymaid. And +although Miss Bradwardine was a very different character, it +seems probable that the very intimacy of their intercourse +prevented his feeling for her other sentiments than those of a +brother for an amiable and accomplished sister; while the +sentiments of poor Rose were gradually, and without her being +conscious, assuming a shade of warmer affection. + +I ought to have said that Edward, when he sent to Dundee for the +books before mentioned, had applied for, and received permission, +extending his leave of absence. But the letter of his +commanding-officer contained a friendly recommendation to him, +not to spend his time exclusively with persons, who, estimable as +they might be in a general sense, could not be supposed well +affected to a government which they declined to acknowledge by +taking the oath of allegiance. The letter further insinuated, +though with great delicacy, that although some family connexions +might be supposed to render it necessary for Captain Waverley to +communicate with gentlemen who were in this unpleasant state of +suspicion, yet his father's situation and wishes ought to prevent +his prolonging those attentions into exclusive intimacy. And it +was intimated, that; while his political principles were +endangered by communicating with laymen of this description, he +might also receive erroneous impressions in religion from the +prelatic clergy, who so perversely laboured to set up the royal +prerogative in things sacred. + +This last insinuation probably induced Waverley to set both down +to the prejudices of his commanding-officer. He was sensible +that Mr. Bradwardine had acted with the most scrupulous delicacy, +in never entering upon any discussion that had the most remote +tendency to bias his mind in political opinions, although he was +himself not only a decided partisan of the exiled family, but had +been trusted at different times with important commissions for +their service. Sensible, therefore, that there was no risk of +his being perverted from his allegiance, Edward felt as if he +should do his uncle's old friend injustice in removing from a +house where he gave and received pleasure and amusement, merely +to gratify a prejudiced and ill-judged suspicion, He therefore +wrote a very general answer, assuring his commanding-officer that +his loyalty was not in the most distant danger of contamination, +and continued an honoured guest and inmate of the house of Tully- +Veolan. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A CREAGH, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES +[A CREAGH was an incursion for plunder, termed on the Borders a raid.] + +When Edward had been a guest at Tully-Veolan nearly six weeks, he +descried one morning, as he took his usual walk before the +breakfast-hour, signs of uncommon perturbation in the family. +Four bare-legged dairymaids, with each an empty milk-pail in her +hand, ran about with frantic gestures, and uttering loud +exclamations of surprise, grief, and resentment. From their +appearance, a pagan might have conceived them a detachment of the +celebrated Belides, just come from their baling penance. As +nothing was to be got from this distracted chorus, excepting +'Lord guide us!' and 'Eh, sirs!' ejaculations which threw no +light upon the cause of their dismay, Waverley repaired to the +forecourt, as it was called, where he beheld Bailie Macwheeble +cantering his white pony down the avenue with all the speed it +could muster. He had arrived, it would seem, upon a hasty +summons and was followed by half a score of peasants from the +village, who had no great difficulty in keeping pace with him. + +The Bailie, greatly too busy, and too important, to enter into +explanations with Edward, summoned forth Mr. Saunderson, who +appeared with a countenance in which dismay was mingled with +solemnity, and they immediately entered into close conference. +Davie Gellatley was also seen in the group, idle as Diogenes at +Sinope, while his countrymen were preparing for a siege. His +spirits always rose with anything, good or bad, which occasioned +tumult, and he continued frisking, hopping, dancing, and singing +the burden of an old ballad, + + Our gear's a' gane, + +until, happening to pass too near the Bailie, he received an +admonitory hint from his horsewhip, which converted his songs +into lamentation. + +Passing from thence towards the garden, Waverley beheld the Baron +in person, measuring and re-measuring, with swift and tremendous +strides, the length of the terrace; his countenance clouded with +offended pride and indignation, and the whole of his demeanour +such as seemed to indicate, that any inquiry concerning the cause +of his discomposure would give pain at least, if not offence. +Waverley therefore glided into the house, without addressing him, +and took his way to the breakfast parlour, where he found his +young friend Rose, who, though she neither exhibited the +resentment of her father, the turbid importance of Bailie +Macwheeble, nor the despair of the hand-maidens, seemed vexed and +thoughtful. A single word explained the mystery. 'Your +breakfast will be a disturbed one, Captain Waverley, A party of +Caterans have come down upon us, last night, and have driven off +all our milch cows.' + +'A party of Caterans?' + +'Yes; robbers from the neighbouring Highlands. We used to be +quite free from them while we paid blackmail to Fergus Mac-Ivor +Vich Ian Vohr; but my father thought it unworthy of his rank and +birth to pay it any longer, and so this disaster has happened. +It is not the value of the cattle, Captain Waverley, that vexes +me; but my father is so much hurt at the affront, and is so bold +and hot, that I fear he will try to recover them by the strong +hand; and if he is not hurt himself, he will hurt some of these +wild people, and then there will be no peace between them and us +perhaps for our lifetime; and we cannot defend ourselves as is +old times, for the government have taken all our arms; and my +dear father is so rash--Oh, what will become of us!'--Here poor +Rose lost heart altogether, and burst into a flood of tears. + +The Baron entered at this moment, and rebuked her with more +asperity than Waverley had ever heard him use to any one. 'Was +it not a shame,' he said, 'that she should exhibit herself before +any gentleman in such a light, as if she shed tears for a drove +of horned nolt and milch kine, like the daughter of a Cheshire +yeoman! Captain Waverley, I must request your favourable +construction of her grief, which may, or ought to proceed, solely +from seeing her father's estate exposed to spulzie and +depredation from common thieves and sornars, [Sornars may be +translated sturdy beggars, more especially indicating those +unwelcome visitors who exact lodgings and victuals by force, or +something approaching to it.] while we are not allowed to keep +half a score of muskets, whether for defence or rescue.' + +Bailie Macwheeble entered immediately afterwards, and by his +report of arms and ammunition confirmed this statement, informing +the Baron, in a melancholy voice, that though the people would +certainly obey his honour's orders, yet there was no chance of +their following the gear to ony guid purpose, in respect there +were only his honour's body servants who had swords and pistols, +and the depredators were twelve Highlanders, completely armed +after the manner of their country.--Having delivered this doleful +annunciation, he assumed a posture of silent dejection, shaking +his head slowly with the motion of a pendulum when it is ceasing +to vibrate, and then remained stationary, his body stooping at a +more acute angle than usual, and the latter part of his person +projecting in proportion. + +The Baron, meanwhile, paced the room in silent indignation, and +at length fixing his eye upon an old portrait, whose person was +clad in armour, and whose features glared grimly out of a huge +bush of hair, part of which descended from his head to his +shoulders, and part from his chin and upper-lip to his +breastplate,--'That gentleman, Captain Waverley, my grandsire,' +he said, 'with two hundred horse, whom he levied within his own +bounds, discomfited and put to the rout more than five hundred of +these Highland reivers, who have been ever LAPIS OFFENSIONIS, ET +PETRA SCANDALI, a stumbling-block and a rock of offence to the +Lowland vicinage--he discomfited them, I say, when they had the +temerity to descend to harry this country, in the time of the +civil dissensions, in the year of grace sixteen hundred forty and +two. And now, sir, I, his grandson, am thus used at such +unworthy hands!' + +Here there was an awful pause; after which all the company, as is +usual in cases of difficulty, began to give separate and +inconsistent counsel. Alexander ab Alexandro proposed they +should send some one to compound with the Caterans, who would +readily, he said, give up their prey for a dollar a head. The +Bailie opined that this transaction would amount to theft-boot, +or composition of felony; and he recommended that some CANNY HAND +should be sent up to the glens to make the best bargain he could, +as it were for himself, so that the laird might not be seen in +such a transaction. Edward proposed to send off to the nearest +garrison for a party of soldiers and a magistrate's warrant; and +Rose, as far as she dared, endeavoured to insinuate the course of +paying the arrears of tribute money to Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian +Vohr, who, they all knew, could easily procure restoration of the +cattle, if he were properly propitiated. + +None of these proposals met the Baron's approbation. The idea of +composition, direct or implied, was absolutely ignominious; that +of Waverley only showed that he did not understand the state of +the country, and of the political parties which divided it; and, +standing matters as they did with Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr, +the Baron would make no concession to him, were it, he said, (to +procure restitution IN INTEGRUM of every stirk and stot that the +chief, his forefathers, and his clan, had stolen since the days +of Malcolm Canmore.' + +In fact, his voice was still for war, and he proposed to send +expresses to Balmawhapple, Killancureit, Tulliellum, and other +lairds, who were exposed to similar depredations, inviting them +to join in the pursuit; 'and then, sir, shall these NEBULONES +NEQUISSIMI, as Leslaeus calls them, be brought to the fate of +their predecessor Cacus, + + Elisos oculos, et siccum sanguine guttur.' + +The Bailie, who by no means relished these warlike counsels, here +pulled forth an immense watch, of the colour, and nearly of the +size, of a pewter warming-pan, and observed it was now past noon, +and that the Caterans had been seen in the pass of Bally-Brough +soon after sunrise; so that before the allied forces could +assemble, they and their prey would be far beyond the reach of +the most active pursuit, and sheltered in those pathless deserts +where it was neither advisable to follow, nor indeed possible to +trace them. + +This proposition was undeniable. The council therefore broke up +without coming to any conclusion, as has occurred to councils of +more importance; only it was determined that the Bailie should +send his own three milk-cows down to the Mains for the use of the +Baron's family, and brew small ale, as a substitute for milk, in +his own. To this arrangement, which was suggested by Saunderson, +the Bailie readily assented, both from habitual deference to the +family, and an internal consciousness that his courtesy would, in +some mode or other, be repaid tenfold. + +The Baron having also retired to give some necessary directions, +Waverley seized the opportunity to ask, whether this Fergus, with +the unpronounceable name, was the chief thief-taker of the +district. + +'Thief-taker!' answered Rose, laughing; 'he is a gentleman of +great honour and consequence; the chieftain of an independent +branch of a powerful Highland clan, and is much respected, both +for his own power, and that of his kith, kin, and allies.' + +'And what has he to do with the thieves, then? is he a +magistrate, or in the commission of the peace?' asked Waverley. + +The commission of war rather, if there be such a thing,' said +Rose; 'for he is a very unquiet neighbour to his un-friends, and +keeps a greater FOLLOWING on foot than many that have thrice his +estates. As to his connexion with the thieves, that I cannot +well explain; but the boldest of them will never steal a hoof +from any one that pays blackmail to Vich Ian Vohr.' + +'And what is blackmail?' + +'A sort of protection-money that Low-country gentlemen and +heritors, lying near the Highlands, pay to some Highland chief, +that he may neither do them harm himself, nor suffer it to be +done to them by others; and then, if your cattle are stolen, you +have only to send him word, and he will recover them; or it may +be, he will drive away cows from some distant place, where he has +a quarrel, and give them to you to make up your loss.' + +'And is this sort of Highland Jonathan Wild admitted into +society, and called a gentleman?' + +'So much so,' said Rose, 'that the quarrel between my father and +Fergus Mac-Ivor began at a county meeting, where he wanted to +take precedence of all the Lowland gentlemen then present, only +my father would not suffer it. And then he upbraided my father +that he was under his banner, and paid him tribute; and my father +was in a towering passion, for Bailie Macwheeble, who manages +such things his own way, had contrived to keep this blackmail a +secret from him, and passed it in his account for cess-money. +And they would have fought; but Fergus Mac-Ivor said, very +gallantly, he would never raise his hand against a grey head that +was so much respected as my father's. Oh, I wish, I wish they +had continued friends!' + +'And did you ever see this Mr. Mac-Ivor, if that be his name, +Miss Bradwardine?' + +'No, that is not his name; and he would consider MASTER as a sort +of affront, only that you are an Englishman, and know no better. +But the Lowlanders call him, like other gentlemen, by the name of +his estate, Glennaquoich; and the Highlanders call him Vich Ian +Vohr, that is, the son of John the Great; and we upon the braes +here call him by both names indifferently.' + +I am afraid I shall never bring my English tongue to call him by +either one or other.' + +'But he is a very polite, handsome man,' continued Rose; 'and his +sister Flora is one of the most beautiful and accomplished young +ladies in this country: she was bred in a convent in France, and +was a great friend of mine before this unhappy dispute. Dear +Captain Waverley, try your influence with my father to make +matters up. I am sure this is but the beginning of our troubles; +for Tully-Veolan has never been a safe or quiet residence when we +have been at feud with the Highlanders. When I was a girl about +ten, there was a skirmish fought between a party of twenty of +them, and my father and his servants, behind the Mains; and the +bullets broke several panes in the north windows, they were so +near. Three of the Highlanders were killed, and they brought +them in, wrapped in their plaids, and laid them on the stone +floor of the hall; and next morning, their wives and daughters +came, clapping their hands, and crying the coronach, and +shrieking, and carried away the dead bodies, with the pipes +playing before them. I could not sleep for six weeks without +starting, and thinking I heard these terrible cries, and saw the +bodies lying on the steps, all stiff and swathed up in their +bloody tartans. But since that time there came a party from the +garrison at Stirling, with a warrant from the Lord Justice-Clerk, +or some such great man, and took away all our arms; and now, how +are we to protect ourselves if they come down in any strength?' + +Waverley could not help starting at a story which bore so much +resemblance to one of his own day-dreams. Here was a girl scarce +seventeen, the gentlest of her sex, both in temper and +appearance, who had witnessed with her own eyes such a scene as +he had used to conjure up in his imagination, as only occurring +in ancient times, and spoke of it coolly, as one very likely to +recur. He felt at once the impulse of curiosity, and that slight +sense of danger which only serves to heighten its interest. He +might have said with Malvolio, '"I do not now fool myself, to let +imagination jade me!" I am actually in the land of military and +romantic adventures, and it only remains to be seen what will be +my own share in them.' + +The whole circumstances now detailed concerning the state of the +country, seemed equally novel and extraordinary. He had indeed +often heard of Highland thieves, but had no idea of the +systematic mode in which their depredations were conducted; and +that the practice was connived at, and even encouraged, by many +of the Highland chieftains, who not only found the creaghs, or +forays, useful for the purpose of training individuals of their +clan to the practice of arms, but also of maintaining a wholesome +terror among their Lowland neighbours, and levying, as we have +seen, a tribute from them, under colour of protection-money. + +Bailie Macwheeble, who soon afterwards entered, expatiated still +more at length upon the same topic. This honest gentleman's +conversation was so formed upon his professional practice, that +Davie Gellatley once said his discourse was like 'a charge of +horning.' He assured our hero, that 'from the maist ancient +times of record, the lawless thieves, limmers, and broken men of +the Highlands, had been in fellowship together by reason of their +surnames, for the committing of divers thefts, reifs, and +herships upon the honest men of the Low Country, when they not +only intromitted with their whole goods and gear, corn, cattle, +horse, nolt, sheep, outsight and insight plenishing, at their +wicked pleasure, but moreover made prisoners, ransomed them, or +concussed them into giving borrows (pledges) to enter into +captivity again: all which was directly prohibited in divers +parts of the Statute Book, both by the act one thousand five +hundred and sixty-seven, and various others; the whilk statutes, +with all that had followed and might follow thereupon, were +shamefully broken and vilipended by the said sornars, limmers, +and broken men, associated into fellowships, for the aforesaid +purposes of theft, stouthreef, fire-raising, murther, RAPTUS +MULIERUM, or forcible abduction of women, and such like as +aforesaid.' + +It seemed like a dream to Waverley that these deeds of violence +should be familiar to men's minds, and currently talked of, as +falling within the common order of things, and happening daily in +the immediate vicinity, without his having crossed the seas, and +while he was yet in the otherwise well-ordered island of Great +Britain. [See Note 10.] + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AN UNEXPECTED ALLY APPEARS + +The Baron returned at the dinner-hour, and had in a great measure +recovered his composure and good humour. He not only confirmed +the stories which Edward had heard from Rose and Bailie +Macwheeble, but added many anecdotes from his own experience, +concerning the state of the Highlands and their inhabitants, The +chiefs he pronounced to be, in general, gentlemen of great honour +and high pedigree, whose word was accounted as a law by all those +of their own sept, or clan. 'It did not, indeed,' he +said, 'become them, as had occurred in late instances, to propone +their PROSAPIA, a lineage which rested for the most part on the +vain and fond rhymes of their Seannachies or Barahs, as +aequiponderate with the evidence of ancient charters and royal +grants of antiquity, conferred upon distinguished houses in the +Low Country by divers Scottish monarchs; nevertheless, such was +their OUTRECUIDANCE and presumption, as to undervalue those who +possessed such evidents, as if they held their lands in a sheep's +skin.' + +This, by the way, pretty well explained the cause of quarrel +between the Baron and his Highland ally. But he went on to state +so many curious particulars concerning the manners, customs, and +habits of this patriarchal race, that Edward's curiosity became +highly interested, and he inquired whether it was possible to +make with safety an excursion into the neighbouring Highlands, +whose dusky barrier of mountains had already excited his wish to +penetrate beyond them. The Baron assured his guest that nothing +would be more easy, providing this quarrel were first made up, +since he could himself give him letters to many of the +distinguished chiefs, who would receive him with the utmost +courtesy and hospitality. + +While they were on this topic, the door suddenly opened, and, +ushered by Saunders Saunderson, a Highlander, fully armed and +equipped, entered the apartment. Had it not been that Saunders +acted the part of master of the ceremonies to this martial +apparition, without appearing to deviate from his usual +composure, and that neither Mr. Bradwardine nor Rose exhibited +any emotion, Edward would certainly have thought the intrusion +hostile, As it was, he started at the sight of what he had not +yet happened to see, a mountaineer in his full national costume. +The individual Gael was a stout, dark, young man, of low stature, +the ample folds of whose plaid added to the appearance of +strength which his person exhibited. The short kilt, or +petticoat, showed his sinewy and clean-made limbs; the goat-skin +purse, flanked by the usual defences, a dirk and steel-wrought +pistol, hung before him; his bonnet had a short feather, which +indicated his claim to be treated as a Duinhe-wassel, or sort of +gentleman; a broadsword dangled by his side, a target hung upon +his shoulder, and a long Spanish fowling-piece occupied one of +his hands. With the other hand he pulled off his bonnet, and the +Baron, who well knew their customs, and the proper mode of +addressing them, immediately said, with an air of dignity, but +without rising, and much, as Edward thought, in the manner of a +prince receiving an embassy, 'Welcome, Evan Dhu Maccombich! what +news from Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr?' + +'Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr,' said the ambassador, in good +English, 'greets you well, Baron of Bradwardine and Tully-Veolan, +and is sorry there has been a thick cloud interposed between you +and him, which has kept you from seeing and considering the +friendship and alliances that have been between your houses and +forebears of old; and he prays you that the cloud may pass away, +and that things may be as they have been heretofore between the +clan Ivor and the house of Bradwardine, when there was an egg +between them for a flint, and a knife for a sword. And he +expects you will also say, you are sorry for the cloud, and no +man shall hereafter ask whether it descended from the hill to the +valley, or rose from the valley to the hill; for they never +struck with the scabbard who did not receive with the sword; and +woe to him who would lose his friend for the stormy cloud of a +spring morning!' + +To this the Baron of Bradwardine answered, with suitable dignity, +that he knew the chief of clan Ivor to be a well-wisher to the +King, and he was sorry there should have been a cloud between him +and any gentleman of such sound principles, 'for when folks are +banding together, feeble is he who hath no brother.' + +This appearing perfectly satisfactory, that the peace between +these august persons might be duly solemnized, the Baron ordered +a stoup of usquebaugh, and, filling a glass, drank to the health +and prosperity of Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich; upon which the Celtic +ambassador, to requite his politeness, turned down a mighty +bumper of the same generous liquor, seasoned with his good wishes +to the house of Bradwardine. + +Having thus ratified the preliminaries of the general treaty of +pacification, the envoy retired to adjust with Mr. Macwheeble +some subordinate articles with which it was not thought necessary +to trouble the Baron. These probably referred to the +discontinuance of the subsidy, and apparently the Bailie found +means to satisfy their ally, without suffering his master to +suppose that his dignity was compromised. At least, it is +certain, that after the plenipotentiaries had drunk a bottle of +brandy in single drams, which seemed to have no more effect upon +such seasoned vessels, than if it had been poured upon the two +bears at the top of the avenue, Evan Dhu Maccombich, having +possessed himself of all the information which he could procure +respecting the robbery of the preceding night, declared his +intention to set off immediately in pursuit of the cattle, which +he pronounced to be 'not far off;--they have broken the bone,' he +observed, 'but they have had no time to suck the marrow.' + +Our hero, who had attended Evan Dhu during his perquisitions, was +much struck with the ingenuity which he displayed in collecting +information, and the precise and pointed conclusions which he +drew from it. Evan Dhu, on his part, was obviously flattered +with the attention of Waverley, the interest he seemed to take in +his inquiries, and his curiosity about the customs and scenery of +the Highlands. Without much ceremony he invited Edward to +accompany him on a short walk of ten or fifteen miles into the +mountains, and see the place where the cattle were conveyed to; +adding, 'If it be as I suppose, you never saw such a place in +your life, nor ever will, unless you go with me, or the like of +me.' + +Our hero, feeling his curiosity considerably excited by the idea +of visiting the den of a Highland Cacus, took, however, the +precaution to inquire if his guide might be trusted. He was +assured, that the invitation would on no account have been given +had there been the least danger, and that all he had to apprehend +was a little fatigue; and as Evan proposed he should pass a day +at his Chieftain's house in returning, where he would be sure of +good accommodation and an excellent welcome, there seemed nothing +very formidable in the task he undertook. Rose, indeed, turned +pale when she heard of it; but her father, who loved the spirited +curiosity of his young friend, did not attempt to damp it by an +alarm of danger which really did not exist; and a knapsack, with +a few necessaries, being bound on the shoulders of a sort of +deputy gamekeeper, our hero set forth with a fowling-piece in his +hand, accompanied by his new friend Evan Dhu, and, followed by +the gamekeeper aforesaid, and by two wild Highlanders, the +attendants of Evan, one of whom had upon his shoulder a hatchet +at the end of a pole, called a Lochaber-axe, [The Town-guard of +Edinburgh were, till a late period, armed with this weapon when +on their police duty. There was a hook at the back of the axe, +which the ancient Highlanders used to assist them to climb over +walls, fixing the hook upon it, and raising themselves by the +handle. The axe, which was also much used by the natives of +Ireland, is supposed to have been introduced into both countries +from Scandinavia.] and the other a long ducking-gun. Evan, +upon Edward's inquiry, gave him to understand that this martial +escort was by no means necessary as a guard, but merely, as he +said, drawing up and adjusting his plaid with an air of dignity, +that he might appear decently at Tully-Veolan, and as Vich Ian +Vohr's foster-brother ought to do. 'Ah!' said he, 'if you Saxon +Duinhe-wassel (English gentlemen) saw but the Chief with his tail +on!' + +'With his tail on!' echoed Edward, in some surprise. + +'Yes--that is, with all his usual followers, when he visits those +of the same rank. There is,' he continued, stopping and drawing +himself proudly up, while he counted upon his fingers the several +officers of his chief's retinue--'there is his HANCH-MAN, or +right-hand man; then his BARDH, or poet; then his BLADIER, or +orator, to make harangues to the great folks whom he visits; then +his GILLY-MORE, or armour-bearer, to carry his sword and target, +and his gun; then his GILLY CASFLIUCH, who carries him on his +back through the sikes and brooks; then his GILLY-COMSTRIAN, to +lead his horse by the bridle in steep and difficult paths; then +his GILLY-TRUSHHARNISH, to carry his knapsack; and the piper and +the piper's man, and it may be a dozen young lads besides, that +have no business, but are just boys of the belt, to follow the +laird, and do his honour's bidding.' + +And does your Chief regularly maintain all these men?' demanded +Waverley. + +'All these!' replied Evan; 'aye, and many a fair head beside, +that would not ken where to lay itself, but for the mickle barn +at Glennaquoich.' + +With similar tales of the grandeur of the Chief in peace and war, +Evan Dhu beguiled the way till they approached more closely those +huge mountains which Edward had hitherto only seen at a distance. +It was towards evening as they entered one of the tremendous +passes which afford communication between the High and Low +Country; the path, which was extremely steep and rugged, winded +up a chasm between two tremendous rocks, following the passage +which a foaming stream, that brawled far below, appeared to have +worn for itself in the course of ages. A few slanting beams of +the sun, which was now setting, reached the water in its darksome +bed, and showed it partially, chafed by a hundred rocks, and +broken by a hundred falls. The descent from the path to the +stream was a mere precipice, with here and there a projecting +fragment of granite, or a scathed tree, which had warped its +twisted roots into the fissures of the rock. On the right hand, +the mountain rose above the path with almost equal +inaccessibility; but the hill on the opposite side displayed a +shroud of copsewood, with which some pines were intermingled. + +'This,' said Evan, 'is the pass of Bally-Brough, which was kept +in former times by ten of the clan Donnochie against a hundred of +the Low Country carles. The graves of the slain are still to be +seen in that little corri, or bottom, on the opposite side of the +burn--if your eyes are good, you may see the green specks among +the heather.--See, there is an earn, which you Southrons call an +eagle--you have no such birds as that in England--he is going to +fetch his supper from the Laird of Bradwardine's braes, but I'll +send a slug after him.' + +He fired his piece accordingly, but missed the superb monarch of +the feathered tribes, who, without noticing the attempt to annoy +him, continued his majestic flight to the southward. A thousand +birds of prey, hawks, kites, carrion-crows, and ravens, disturbed +from the lodgings which they had just taken up for the evening, +rose at the report of the gun, and mingled their hoarse and +discordant notes with the echoes which replied to it, and with +the roar of the mountain cataracts. Evan, a little disconcerted +at having missed his mark, when he meant to have displayed +peculiar dexterity, covered his confusion by whistling part of a +pibroch as he reloaded his piece, and proceeded in silence up the +pass. + +It issued in a narrow glen, between two mountains, both very +lofty, and covered with heath. The brook continued to be their +companion, and they advanced up its mazes, crossing them now and +then, on which occasions Even Dhu uniformly offered the +assistance of his attendants to carry over Edward; but our hero, +who had been always a tolerable pedestrian, declined the +accommodation, and obviously rose in his guide's opinion by +showing that he did not fear wetting his feet. Indeed he was +anxious, so far as he could without affectation, to remove the +opinion which Evan seemed to entertain of the effeminacy of the +Lowlanders, and particularly of the English. + +Through the gorge of this glen they found access to a black bog, +of tremendous extent, full of large pit-holes, which they +traversed with great difficulty and some danger, by tracks which +no one but a Highlander could have followed. The path itself, or +rather the portion of more solid ground on which the travellers +half walked, half waded, was rough, broken, and in many places +quaggy and unsound. Sometimes the ground was so completely +unsafe, that it was necessary to spring from one hillock to +another, the space between being incapable of bearing the human +weight. This was an easy matter to the Highlanders, who wore +thin-soled brogues fit for the purpose, and moved with a peculiar +springing step; but Edward began to find the exercise, to which +he was unaccustomed, more fatiguing than he expected. The +lingering twilight served to show them through this Serbonian +bog, but deserted them almost totally at the bottom of a steep +and very stony hill, which it was the travellers' next toilsome +task to ascend. The night, however, was pleasant, and not dark; +and Waverley, calling up mental energy to support personal +fatigue, held on his march gallantly, though envying in his heart +his Highland attendants, who continued, without a symptom of +abated vigour, the rapid and swinging pace, or rather trot, +which, according to his computation, had already brought them +fifteen miles upon their journey. + +After crossing this mountain, and descending on the other side +towards a thick wood, Evan Dhu held some conference with his +Highland attendants, in consequence of which Edward's baggage was +shifted from the shoulders of the gamekeeper to those of one of +the gillies, and the former was sent off with the other +mountaineer in a direction different from that of the three +remaining travellers. On asking the meaning of this separation, +Waverley was told that the Lowlander must go to a hamlet about +three miles off for the night; for unless it was some very +particular friend, Donald Bean Lean, the worthy person whom they +supposed to be possessed of the cattle, did not much approve of +strangers approaching his retreat. This seemed reasonable, and +silenced a qualm of suspicion which came across Edward's mind, +when he saw himself, at such a place and such an hour, deprived +of his only Lowland companion. And Evan immediately afterwards +added, 'that indeed he himself had better get forward, and +announce their approach to Donald Bean Lean, as the arrival of a +SIDIER ROY (red soldier) might otherwise be a disagreeable +surprise.' And without waiting for an answer, in jockey phrase, +he trotted out, and putting himself to a very round pace, was out +of sight in an instant. + +Waverley was now left to his own meditations, for his attendant +with the battle-axe spoke very little English. They were +traversing a thick, and, as it seemed, an endless wood of pines, +and consequently the path was altogether indiscernible in the +murky darkness which surrounded them. The Highlander, however, +seemed to trace it by instinct, without the hesitation of a +moment, and Edward followed his footsteps as close as he could. + +After journeying a considerable time in silence, he could not +help asking, 'Was it far to the end of their journey?' + +'Ta cove was tree, four mile; but as Duinhe-wassel was a wee +taiglit, Donald could, tat is, might--would--should send ta +curragh.' + +This conveyed no information. The CURRAGH which was promised +might be a man, a horse, a cart, or chaise; and no more could be +got from the man with the battle-axe, but a repetition of 'Aich +ay! ta curragh.' + +But in a short time Edward began to conceive his meaning, when, +issuing from the wood, he found himself on the banks of a large +river or lake, where his conductor gave him to understand they +must sit down for a little while. The moon, which now began to +rise, showed obscurely the expanse of water which spread before +them, and the shapeless and indistinct forms of mountains with +which it seemed to be surrounded. The cool and yet mild air of +the summer night refreshed Waverley after his rapid and toilsome +walk; and the perfume which it wafted from the birch-trees, +bathed in the evening dew, was exquisitely fragrant. [It is not +the weeping birch, the most common species in the Highlands, but +the woolly-leaved Lowland birch, that is distinguished by this +fragrance.] + +He had now time to give himself up to the full romance of his +situation. Here he saw on the banks of an unknown lake, under +the guidance of a wild native, whose language was unknown to him, +on a visit to the den of some renowned outlaw, a second Robin +Hood, perhaps, or Adam o' Gordon, and that at deep midnight, +through scenes of difficulty and toil, separated from his +attendant, left by his guide.--What a variety of incidents for +the exercise of a romantic imagination, and all enhanced by the +solemn feeling of uncertainty, at least, if not of danger! The +only circumstance which assorted ill with the rest, was the cause +of his journey--the Baron's milk-cows! This degrading incident +he kept in the background. + +While wrapped in these dreams of imagination, his companion +gently touched him, and pointing in a direction nearly straight +across the lake, said 'Yon's ta cove.' A small point of light +was seen to twinkle in the direction in which he pointed, and +gradually increasing in size and lustre, seemed to flicker like a +meteor upon the verge of the horizon. While Edward watched this +phenomenon, the distant dash of oars was heard. The measured +sound approached near and more near, and presently a loud whistle +was heard in the same direction. His friend with the battle-axe +immediately whistled clear and shrill, in reply to the signal, +and a boat, manned with four or five Highlanders, pushed for a +little inlet, near which Edward was sitting. He advanced to meet +them with his attendant, was immediately assisted into the boat +by the officious attention of two stout mountaineers, and had no +sooner seated himself than they resumed their oars, and began to +row across the lake with great rapidity. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE HOLD OF A HIGHLAND ROBBER + +The party preserved silence, interrupted only by the monotonous +and murmured chant of a Gaelic song, sung in a kind of low +recitative by the steersman, and by the dash of the oars, which +the notes seemed to regulate, as they dipped to them in cadence. +The light, which they now approached more nearly, assumed a +broader, redder, and more irregular splendour. It appeared +plainly to be a large fire, but whether kindled upon an island or +the main land, Edward could not determine. As he saw it, the red +glaring orb seemed to rest on the very surface of the lake +itself, and resembled the fiery vehicle in which the Evil Genius +of an Oriental tale traverses land and sea. They approached +nearer, and the light of the fire sufficed to show that it was +kindled at the bottom of a huge dark crag or rock, rising +abruptly from the very edge of the water; its front changed by +the reflection to dusky red, formed a strange and even awful +contrast to the banks around, which were from time to time +faintly and partially illuminated by pallid moonlight. + +The boat now neared the shore, and Edward could discover that +this large fire, amply supplied with branches of pine-wood by two +figures, who, in the red reflection of its light, appeared like +demons, was kindled in the jaws of a lofty cavern, into which an +inlet from the lake seemed to advance; and he conjectured, which +was indeed true, that the fire had been lighted as a beacon to +the boatmen on their return. They rowed right for the mouth of +the cave, and then, shipping their oars, permitted the boat to +enter in obedience to the impulse which it had received. + +The skiff passed the little point or platform of rock on which +the fire was blazing, and running about two boats' length +farther, stopped where the cavern (for it was already arched +overhead) ascended from the water by five or six broad ledges of +rocks, so easy and regular that they might be termed natural +steps. At this moment a quantity of water was suddenly flung +upon the fire, which sank with a hissing noise, and with it +disappeared the light it had hitherto afforded. Four or five +active arms lifted Waverley out of the boat, placed him on his +feet, and almost carried him into the recesses of the cave. He +made a few paces in darkness, guided in this manner; and +advancing towards a hum of voices, which seemed to sound from the +centre of the rock, at an acute turn Donald Bean Lean and his +whole establishment were before his eyes. + +The interior of the cave, which here rose very high, was +illuminated by torches made of pine-tree, which emitted a bright +and bickering light, attended by a strong though not unpleasant +odour. Their light was assisted by the red glare of a large +charcoal fire, round which were seated five or six armed +Highlanders, while others were indistinctly seen couched on their +plaids, in the more remote recesses of the cavern. In one large +aperture, which the robber facetiously called his spence (or +pantry), there hung by the heels the carcasses of a sheep, or +ewe, and two cows lately slaughtered. The principal inhabitant +of this singular mansion, attended by Evan Dhu as master of the +ceremonies, came forward to meet his guest, totally different in +appearance and manner from what his imagination had anticipated. +The profession which he followed--the wilderness in which he +dwelt--the wild warrior-forms that surrounded him, were all +calculated to inspire terror. From such accompaniments, Waverley +prepared himself to meet a stern, gigantic, ferocious figure, +such as Salvator would have chosen to be the central object of a +group of banditti. [See Note 11.] + +Donald Bean Lean was the very reverse of all these. He was thin +in person and low in stature, with light sandy-coloured hair, and +small pale features, from which he derived his agnomen of BEAN, +or white; and although his form was light, well-proportioned, and +active, he appeared, on the whole, rather a diminutive and +insignificant figure. He had served in some inferior capacity in +the French army, and in order to receive his English visitor in +great form, and probably meaning, in his way, to pay him a +compliment, he had laid aside the Highland dress for the time, to +put on an old blue and red uniform, and a feathered hat, in which +he was far from showing to advantage, and indeed looked so +incongruous, compared with all around him, that Waverley would +have been tempted to laugh, had laughter been either civil or +safe. The robber received Captain Waverley with a profusion of +French politeness and Scottish hospitality, seemed perfectly to +know his name and connexions, and to be particularly acquainted +with his uncle's political principles. On these he bestowed +great applause, to which Waverley judged it prudent to make a +very general reply. + +Being placed at a convenient distance from the charcoal fire, the +heat of which the season rendered oppressive, a strapping +Highland damsel placed before Waverley, Evan, and Donald Bean, +three cogues, or wooden vessels, composed of staves and hoops, +containing EANARUICH, [This was the regale presented by Rob Roy +to the Laird of Tullibody.] a sort of strong soup, made out of a +particular part of the inside of the beeves. After this +refreshment, which, though coarse, fatigue and hunger rendered +palatable, steaks, roasted on the coals, were supplied in liberal +abundance, and disappeared before Even Dhu and their host with a +promptitude that seemed like magic, and astonished Waverley, who +was much puzzled to reconcile their voracity with what he had +heard of the abstemiousness of the Highlanders. He was ignorant +that this abstinance was with the lower ranks wholly compulsory, +and that, like some animals of prey, those who practise it were +usually gifted with the power of indemnifying themselves to good +purpose, when chance threw plenty in their way. The whisky came +forth in abundance to crown the cheer. The Highlanders drank it +copiously and undiluted; but Edward, having mixed a little with +water, did not find it so palatable as to invite him to repeat +the draught. Their host bewailed himself exceedingly that he +could offer him no wine: 'Had he but known four-and-twenty hours +before, he would have had some, had it been within the circle of +forty miles round him. But no gentleman could do more to show +his sense of the honour of a visit from another, than to offer +him the best cheer his house afforded. Where there are no bushes +there can be no nuts, and the way of those you live with is that +you must follow.' + +He went on regretting to Evan Dhu the death of an aged man, +Donnacha an Amrigh, or Duncan with the Cap, 'a gifted seer,' who +foretold, through the second sight, visitors of every description +who haunted their dwelling, whether as friends or foes. + +'Is not his son Malcolm TAISHATR?' (a second-sighted person), +asked Evan. + +'Nothing equal to his father,' replied Donald Bean. He told us +the other day we were to see a great gentleman riding on a horse, +and there came nobody that whole day but Shemus Beg, the blind +harper, with his dog. Another time he advertised us of a +wedding, and behold it proved a funeral; and on the creagh, when +he foretold to us we should bring home a hundred head of horned +cattle, we gripped nothing but a fat bailie of Perth.' + +From this discourse he passed to the political and military state +of the country; and Waverley was astonished, and even alarmed, to +find a person of this description so accurately acquainted with +the strength of the various garrisons and regiments quartered +north of the Tay. He even mentioned the exact number of recruits +who had joined Waverley's troop from his uncle's estate, and +observed they were pretty men, meaning, not handsome, but stout +warlike fellows. He put Waverley in mind of one or two minute +circumstances which had happened at a general review of the +regiment, which satisfied him that the robber had been an eye- +witness of it; and Evan Dhu having by this time retired from the +conversation, and wrapped himself up in his plaid to take some +repose, Donald asked Edward, in a very significant manner, +whether he had nothing particular to say to him. + +Waverley, surprised and somewhat startled at this question from +such a character, answered he had no motive in visiting him but +curiosity to see his extraordinary place of residence. Donald +Bean Lean looked him steadily in the face for an instant, and +then said, with a significant nod, 'You might as well have +confided in me; I am as much worthy of trust as either the Baron +of Bradwardine, or Vich Ian Vohr:--but you are equally welcome to +my house.' + +Waverley felt an involuntary shudder creep over him at the +mysterious language held by this outlawed and lawless bandit, +which, in despite of his attempts to master it, deprived him of +the proper to ask the meaning of his insinuations. A heath +pallet, with the flowers stuck uppermost, had been prepared for +him in a recess of the cave, and here, covered with such spare +plaids as could be mustered, he lay for some time matching the +motions of the other inhabitants of the cavern. Small parties of +two or three entered or left the place without any other ceremony +than a few words in Gaelic to the principal outlaw, and, when he +fell asleep, to a tall Highlander who acted as his lieutenant, +and seemed to keep watch during his repose. Those who entered, +seemed to have returned from some excursion, of which they +reported the success, and went without further ceremony to the +larder, where, cutting with their dirks their rations from the +carcasses which were there suspended, they proceeded to broil and +eat them at their own pleasure and leisure. The liquor was under +strict regulation, being served out either by Donald himself, his +lieutenant, or the strapping Highland girl aforesaid, who was the +only female that appeared. The allowance of whisky, however, +would have appeared prodigal to any but Highlanders, who, living +entirely in the open air, and in a very moist climate, can +consume great quantities of ardent spirits without the usual +baneful effects either upon the brain or constitution. + +At length the fluctuating groups began to swim before the eyes of +our hero as they gradually closed; nor did he re-open them till +the morning sun was high on the lake without, though there was +but a faint and glimmering twilight in the recesses of Uaimh an +Ri, or the King's Cavern, as the abode of Donald Bean Lean was +proudly denominated. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +WAVERLEY PROCEEDS ON HIS JOURNEY + +Then Edward had collected his scattered recollection, he was +surprised to observe the cavern totally deserted. Having arisen +and put his dress in some order, he looked more accurately round +him; but all was still solitary. If it had not been for the +decayed brands of the fire, now sunk into grey ashes, and the +remnants of the festival, consisting of bones half burnt and half +gnawed, and an empty keg or two, there remained no traces of +Donald and his band. When Waverley sallied forth to the entrance +of the cave, he perceived that the point of rock, on which +remained the marks of last night's beacon, was accessible by a +small path, either natural, or roughly hewn in the rock, along +the little inlet of water which ran a few yards up into the +cavern, where, as in a wet-dock, the skiff which brought him +there the night before was still lying moored. When he reached +the small projecting platform on which the beacon had been +established, he would have believed his further progress by land +impossible, only that it was scarce probable but that the +inhabitants of the cavern had some mode of issuing from it +otherwise than by the lake. Accordingly, he soon observed three +or four shelving steps, or ledges of rock, at the very extremity +of the little platform; and, making use of them as a staircase, +he clambered by their means around the projecting shoulder of the +crag on which the cavern opened, and, descending with some +difficulty on the other side, he gained the wild and precipitous +shores of a Highland loch, about four miles in length, and a +mile and a half across, surrounded by heathy and savage +mountains, on the crests of which the morning mist was still +sleeping. + +Looking back to the place from which he came, he could not help +admiring the address which had adopted a retreat of such +seclusion and secrecy. The rock, round the shoulder of which he +had turned by a few imperceptible notches, that barely afforded +place for the foot, seemed, in looking back upon it, a huge +precipice, which barred all further passage by the shores of the +lake in that direction. There could be no possibility, the +breadth of the lake considered, of descrying the entrance of the +narrow and low-browed cave from the other side; so that, unless +the retreat had been sought for with boats, or disclosed by +treachery, it might be a safe and secret residence to its +garrison as long as they were supplied with provisions. Having +satisfied his curiosity in these particulars, Waverley looked +around for Evan Dhu and his attendants, who, he rightly judged, +would be at no great distance, whatever might have become of +Donald Bean Lean and his party, whose mode of life was, of +course, liable to sudden migrations of abode. Accordingly, at +the distance of about half a mile, he beheld a Highlander (Evan +apparently) angling in the lake, with another attending him, +whom, from the weapon which he shouldered, he recognized for his +friend with the battle-axe. + +Much nearer to the mouth of the cave, he heard the notes of a +lively Gaelic song, guided by which, in a sunny recess, shaded by +a glittering birch-tree, and carpeted with a bank of firm white +sand, he found the damsel of the cavern, whose lay had already +reached him, busy, to the best of her power, in arranging to +advantage a morning repast of milk, eggs, barley-bread, fresh +butter, and honeycomb. The poor girl had already made a circuit +of four miles that morning in search of the eggs, of the meal +which baked her cakes, and of the other materials of the +breakfast, being all delicacies which she had to beg or borrow +from distant cottagers. The followers of Donald Bean Lean used +little food except the flesh of the animals which they drove away +from the Lowlands; bread itself was a delicacy seldom thought of, +because hard to be obtained, and all the domestic accommodations +of milk, poultry, butter, &c., were out of the question in this +Scythian camp. Yet it must not be omitted, that, although Alice +had occupied a part of the morning in providing those +accommodations for her guest which the cavern did not afford, she +had secured time also to arrange her own person in her best trim. +Her finery was very simple. A short russet-coloured jacket, and +a petticoat, of scanty longitude, was her whole dress; but these +were clean, and neatly arranged. A piece of scarlet embroidered +cloth, called the snood, confined her hair, which fell over it in +a profusion of rich dark curls. The scarlet plaid, which formed +part of her dress, was laid aside, that it might not impede her +activity in attending the stranger. I should forget Alice's +proudest ornament, were I to omit mentioning a pair of gold +ear-rings, and a golden rosary, which her father (for she was the +daughter of Donald Bean Lean) had brought from France, the +plunder, probably, of some battle or storm. + +Her form, though rather large for her years, was very well +proportioned, and her demeanour had a natural and rustic grace, +with nothing of the sheepishness of an ordinary peasant. The +smiles, displaying a row of teeth of exquisite whiteness, and the +laughing eyes, with which, in dumb show, she gave Waverley that +morning greeting which she wanted English words to express, might +have been interpreted by a coxcomb, or perhaps by a young +soldier, who, without being such, was conscious of a handsome +person, as meant to convey more than the courtesy of an hostess. +Nor do I take it upon me to say, that the little wild mountaineer +would have welcomed any staid old gentleman advanced in life, the +Baron of Bradwardine, for example, with the cheerful pains which +she bestowed upon Edward's accommodation. She seemed eager to +place him by the meal which she had so sedulously arranged, and +to which she now added a few bunches of cranberries, gathered in +an adjacent morass. Having had the satisfaction of seeing him +seated at his breakfast, she placed herself demurely upon a stone +at a few yards' distance, and appeared to watch with great +complacency for some opportunity of serving him. + +Evan and his attendant now returned slowly along the beach, the +latter bearing a large salmon-trout, the produce of the morning's +sport, together with the angling-rod, while Evan strolled +forward, with an easy, self-satisfied, and important gait, +towards the spot where Waverley was so agreeably employed at the +breakfast-table. After morning greetings had passed on both +sides, and Evan, looking at Waverley, had said something in +Gaelic to Alice, which made her laugh, yet colour up to her eyes, +through a complexion well embrowned by sun and wind, Evan +intimated his commands that the fish should be prepared for +breakfast. A spark from the lock of his pistol produced a light, +and a few withered fir branches were quickly in flame, and as +speedily reduced to hot embers, on which the trout was broiled in +large slices. To crown the repast, Evan produced from the pocket +of his short jerkin, a large scallop shell, and from under the +folds of his plaid, a ram's horn full of whisky. Of this he took +a copious dram, observing he had already taken his MORNING with +Donald Bean Lean, before his departure; he offered the same +cordial to Alice and to Edward, which they both declined. With +the bounteous air of a lord, Evan then proffered the scallop to +Dugald Mahony, his attendant, who, without waiting to be asked a +second time, drank it off with great gusto. Evan then prepared +to move towards the boat, inviting Waverley to attend him. +Meanwhile, Alice had made up in a small basket what she thought +worth removing, and hinging her plaid around her, she advanced up +to Edward, and, with the utmost simplicity, taking hold of his +hand, offered her cheek to his salute, dropping, at the same +time, her little curtsy. Evan, who was esteemed a wag among the +mountain fair, advanced, as if to secure a similar favour; but +Alice, snatching up her basket, escaped up the rocky bank as +fleetly as a roe, and, turning round and laughing, called +something out to him in Gaelic, which he answered in the same +tone and language; then, waving her hand to Edward, she resumed +her road, and was soon lost among the thickets, though they +continued for some time to hear her lively carol, as she +proceeded gaily on her solitary journey. + +They now again entered the gorge of the cavern, and stepping into +the boat, the Highlander pushed off, and, taking advantage of the +morning breeze, hoisted a clumsy sort of sail, while Evan assumed +the helm, directing their course, as it appeared to Waverley, +rather higher up the lake than towards the place of his +embarkation on the preceding night. As they glided along the +silver mirror, Evan opened the conversation with a panegyric upon +Alice, who, he said, was both CANNY and FENDY; and was, to the +boot of all that, the best dancer of a strathspey in the whole +strath. Edward assented to her praises so far as he understood +them, yet could not help regretting that she was condemned to +such a perilous and dismal life. + +'Oich! for that,' said Evan, 'there is nothing in Perthshire +that she need want, if she ask her father to fetch it, unless it +be too hot or too heavy. + +'But to be the daughter of a cattle-stealer--a common thief!' + +'Common thief!--no such thing: Donald Bean Lean never LIFTED +less than a drove in his life.' + +'Do you call him an uncommon thief, then?' + +'No--he that steals a cow from a poor widow, or a stirk from a +cottar, is a thief; he that lifts a drove from a Sassenach laird, +is a gentleman-drover. And, besides, to take a tree from the +forest, a salmon from the river, a deer from the hill, or a cow +from a Lowland strath, is what no Highlander need ever think +shame upon.' + +'But what can this end in, were he taken in such an +appropriation?' + +'To be sure he would DIE FOR THE LAW, as many a pretty man has +done before him.' + +'Die for the law!' + +'Aye; that is, with the law, or by the law; be strapped up on the +KIND gallows of Crieff, [See Note 12.] where his father died, +and his goodsire died, and where I hope he'll live to die +himself, if he's not shot, or slashed, in a creagh.' + +'You HOPE such a death for your friend, Evan!' + +'And that do I e'en; would you have me wish him to die on a +bundle of wet straw in yon den of his, like a mangy tyke?' + +'But what becomes of Alice, then?' + +'Troth, if such an accident were to happen, as her father would +not need her help ony langer, I ken naught to hinder me to marry +her mysell.' + +'Gallantly resolved!' said Edward;--'but, in the meanwhile, +Evan, what has your father-in-law (that shall be, if he have the +good fortune to be hanged) done with the Baron's cattle?' + +'Oich,' answered Evan, 'they were all trudging before your lad +and Allan Kennedy before the sun blinked ower Ben-Lawers this +morning; and they'll be in the pass of Bally-Brough by this time, +in their way back to the parks of Tully-Veolan, all but two, that +were unhappily slaughtered before I got last night to Uaimh an +Ri.' + +'And where are we going, Evan, if I may be so bold as to ask?' +said Waverley. + +'Where would you be ganging, but to the laird's ain house of +Glennaquoich? Ye would not think to be in his country, without +ganging to see him? It would be as much as a man's life's +worth,' + +'And are we far from Glennaquoich?' + +But five bits of miles; and Vich Ian Vohr will meet us.' + +In about half an hour they reached the upper end of the lake, +where, after landing Waverley, the two Highlanders drew the boat +into a little creek among thick flags and reeds, where it lay +perfectly concealed. The oars they put in another place of +concealment, both for the use of Donald Bean Lean probably, when +his occasions should next bring him to that place. + +The travellers followed for some time a delightful opening into +the hills, down which a little brook found its way to the lake. +When they had pursued their walk a short distance, Waverley +renewed his questions about their host of the cavern. + +'Does he always reside in that cave?' + +'Out, no! it's past the skill of man to tell where he's to be +found at a' times; there's not a dern nook, or cove, or corri, in +the whole country, that he's not acquainted with.' + +'And do others beside your master shelter him?' + +'My master?--My master is in heaven,' answered Evan haughtily; +and then immediately assuming his usual civility of manner--'But +you mean my Chief;--no, he does not shelter Donald Bean Lean, nor +any that are like him; he only allows him (with a smile) wood and +water.' + +'No great boon, I should think, Evan, when both seem to be very +plenty.' + +'Ah! but ye dinna see through it. When I say wood and water, I +mean the loch and the land; and I fancy Donald would be put +till't if the laird were to look for him wi' threescore men in +the wood of Kailychat yonder; and if our boats, with a score or +twa mair, were to come down the loch to Uaimh an Ri, headed by +mysell, or ony other pretty man.' + +'But suppose a strong party came against him from the Low +Country, would not your Chief defend him?' + +'Na, he would not ware the spark of a flint for him--if they came +with the law.' + +'And what must Donald do, then?' + +'He behoved to rid this country of himsell, and fall back, it may +be, over the mount upon Letter Scriven.' + +'And if he were pursued to that place?' + +'I'se warrant he would go to his cousin's at Rannoch.' + +'Well, but if they followed him to Rannoch?' + +'That,' quoth Evan, 'is beyond all belief; and, indeed, to tell +you the truth, there durst not a Lowlander in all Scotland follow +the fray a gun-shot beyond Bally-Brough, unless he had the help +of the SIDIER DHU.' + +'Whom do you call so?' + +'The SIDIER DHU? the black soldier; that is what they call the +independent companies that were raised to keep peace and law in +the Highlands. Vich Ian Vohr commanded one of them for five +years, and I was sergeant myself, I shall warrant ye. They call +them SIDIER DHU, because they wear the tartans,--as they call +your men, King George's men, SIDIER ROY, or red soldiers.' + +'Well, but when you were in King George's pay, Evan, you were +surely King George's soldiers?' + +'Troth, and you must ask Vich Ian Vohr about that; for we are for +his king, and care not much which o' them it is. At any rate, +nobody can say we are King George's men now, when we have not +seen his pay this twelvemonth.' + +This last argument admitted of no reply, nor did Edward attempt +any; he rather chose to bring back the discourse to Donald Bean +Lean. 'Does Donald confine himself to cattle, or does he LIFT, +as you call it, anything else that comes in his way?' + +'Troth, he's nae nice body, and he'll just tak ony thing, but +most readily cattle, horse, or live Christians; for sheep are +slow of travel, and inside plenishing is cumbrous to carry, and +not easy to put away for siller in this country.' + +'But does he carry off men and women?' + +'Out, aye. Did not ye hear him speak o' the Perth bailie? It +cost that body five hundred merks ere he got to the south of +Bally-Brough.--And ance Donald played a pretty sport. [See Note +13.] There was to be a blythe bridal between the Lady +Cramfeezer, in the howe o' the Mearns (she was the auld laird's +widow, and no sae young as she had been hersell), and young +Gilliewhackit, who had spent his heirship and movables, like a +gentleman, at cock-matches, bull-baitings, horse-races, and the +like. Now, Donald Bean Lean, being aware that the bridegroom was +in request, and wanting to cleik the cunzie (that is, to hook the +siller), he cannily carried off Gilliewhackit ae night when he +was riding DOVERING hame (wi' the malt rather abune the meal), +and with the help of his gillies he gat him into the hills with +the speed of light, and the first place he wakened in was the +cove of Uaimh an Ri. So there was old to do about ransoming the +bridegroom; for Donald would not lower a farthing of a thousand +punds'-- + +The devil!' + +'Punds Scottish, ya shall understand. And the lady had not the +siller if she had pawned her gown; and they applied to the +governor o' Stirling castle, and to the major o' the Black Watch; +and the governor said, it was ower far to the northward, and out +of his district; and the major said, his men were gane hame to +the shearing, and he would not call them out before the victual +was got in for all the Cramfeezers in Christendom, let alane the +Mearns, for that it would prejudice the country. And in the +meanwhile ye'll no hinder Gilliewhackit to take the small-pox. +There was not the doctor in Perth or Stirling would look near the +poor lad; and I cannot blame them, for Donald had been misguggled +by ane of these doctors about Paris, and he swore he would fling +the first into the loch that he catched beyond the Pass. +However, some cailliachs (that is, old women) that were about +Donald's hand, nursed Gilliewhackit sae weel, that between the +free open air in the cove and the fresh whey, deil an' he did not +recover maybe as weel as if he had been closed in a glazed +chamber and a bed with curtains, and fed with red wine and white +meat. And Donald was sae vexed about it, that when he was stout +and weel, he even sent him free home, and said he would be +pleased with onything they would like to gie him for the plague +and trouble which he had about Gilliewhackit to an unkenn'd +degree. And I cannot tell you precisely how they sorted; but +they agreed sae right that Donald was invited to dance at the +wedding in his Highland trews, and they said that there was never +sae meikle siller clinked in his purse either before or since. +And to the boot of all that, Gilliewhackit said, that, be the +evidence what it liked, if he had the luck to be on Donald's +inquest, he would bring him in guilty of nothing whatever, unless +it were wilful arson, or murder under trust.' + +With such bald and disjointed chat Evan went on, illustrating the +existing state of the Highlands, more perhaps to the amusement of +Waverley than that of our readers. At length, after having +marched over bank and brae, moss and heather, Edward, though not +unacquainted with the Scottish liberality in computing distance, +began to think that Evan's five miles were nearly doubled. His +observation on the large measure which the Scottish allowed of +their land, in comparison to the computation of their money, was +readily answered by Evan, with the old jest, The deil take them +wha have the least pint stoup.' ['The Scotch are liberal in +computing their land and liquor; the Scottish pint corresponds to +two English quarts. As for their coin, every one knows the +couplet-- + +'How can the rogues pretend to sense? + Their pound is only twenty pence.'] + +And now the report of a gun was heard, and a sportsman was seen, +with his dogs and attendant, at the upper end of the glen. +'Shough,' said Dugald Mahony, 'tat's ta Chief.' + +'It is not,' said Evan imperiously. 'Do you think he would come +to meet a Sassenach Duinhe-wassel in such a way as that?' + +But as they approached a little nearer, he said, with an +appearance of mortification, 'And it is even he, sure enough; and +he has not his tail on after all;--there is no living creature +with him but Callum Beg.' + +In fact, Fergus Mac-Ivor, of whom a Frenchman might have said, as +truly as of any man in the Highlands, 'QU'IL CONNOIT BIEN SES +GENS,' had no idea of raising himself in the eyes of an English +young man of fortune, by appearing with a retinue of idle +Highlanders disproportioned to the occasion. He was well aware +that such an unnecessary attendance would seem to Edward rather +ludicrous than respectable; and while few men were more attached +to ideas of chieftainship and feudal power, he was, for that very +reason, cautious of exhibiting external marks of dignity, unless +at the time and in the manner when they were most likely to +produce an imposing effect. Therefore, although, had he been to +receive a brother chieftain, he would probably have been attended +by all that retinue which Evan described with so much unction, he +judged it more respectable to advance to meet Waverley with a +single attendant, a very handsome Highland boy, who carried his +master's shooting-pouch and his broadsword, without which he +seldom went abroad. + +When Fergus and Waverley met, the latter was struck with the +peculiar grace and dignity of the Chieftain's figure, Above the +middle size, and finely proportioned, the Highland dress, which +he wore in its simplest mode, set off his person to great +advantage. He wore the trews, or close trousers, made of tartan, +chequed scarlet and white; in other particulars, his dress +strictly resembled Evan's, excepting that he had no weapon save a +dirk, very richly mounted with silver. His page, as we have +said, carried his claymore and the fowling-piece, which he held +in his hand, seemed only designed for sport. He had shot in the +course of his walk some young wild-ducks, as, though CLOSE TIME +was then unknown, the broods of grouse were yet too young for the +sportsman. His countenance was decidedly Scottish, with all the +peculiarities of the northern physiognomy, but yet had so little +of ifs harshness and exaggeration, that it would have been +pronounced in any country extremely handsome. The martial air of +the bonnet, with a single eagle's feather as a distinction, added +much to the manly appearance of his head, which was besides +ornamented with a far more natural and graceful cluster of close +black curls than ever were exposed to sale in Bond Street. + +An air of openness and affability increased the favourable +impression derived from this handsome and dignified exterior. +Yet a skilful physiognomist would have been less satisfied with +the countenance on the second than on the first view. The +eyebrow and upper lip bespoke something of the habit of +peremptory command and decisive superiority. Even his courtesy, +though open, frank, and unconstrained, seemed to indicate a sense +of personal importance; and, upon any check or accidental +excitation, a sudden, though transient lour of the eye, showed a +hasty, haughty, and vindictive temper, not less to be dreaded +because it seemed much under its owner's command. In short, the +countenance of the Chieftain resembled a smiling summer's day, in +which, notwithstanding, we are made sensible by certain, though +slight signs, that it may thunder and lighten before the close of +evening. + +It was not, however, upon their first meeting that Edward had an +opportunity of making these less favourable remarks. The Chief +received him as a friend of the Baron of Bradwardine, with the +utmost expression of kindness and obligation for the visit; +upbraided him gently with choosing so rude an abode as he had +done the night before; and entered into a lively conversation +with him about Donald Bean's housekeeping, but without the least +hint as to his predatory habits, or the immediate occasion of +Waverley's visit, a topic which, as the Chief did not introduce +it, our hero also avoided. While they walked merrily on towards +the house of Glennaquoich, Evan, who now fell respectfully into +the rear, followed with Callum Beg and Dugald Mahony. + +We shall take the opportunity to introduce the reader to some +particulars of Fergus Mac-Ivor's character and history, which +were not completely known to Waverley till after a connexion, +which, though arising from a circumstance so casual, had for a +length of time the deepest influence upon his character, actions, +and prospects. But this, being an important subject, must form +the commencement of a new chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE CHIEF AND HIS MANSION + +The ingenious licentiate, Francisco de Ubeda, when he commenced +his history of La Picara Justina Diez,--which, by the way, is one +of the most rare books of Spanish literature,--complained of his +pen having caught up a hair, and forthwith begins, with more +eloquence than common sense, an affectionate expostulation with +that useful implement, upbraiding it with being the quill of a +goose,--a bird inconstant by nature, as frequenting the three +elements of water, earth, and air, indifferently, and being, of +course, 'to one thing constant never.' Now I protest to thee, +gentle reader, that I entirely dissent from Francisco de Ubeda in +this matter, and hold it the most useful quality of my pen, that +it can speedily change from grave to gay, and from description +and dialogue to narrative and character. So that, if my quill +display no other properties of its mother-goose than her +mutability, truly I shall be well pleased; and I conceive that +you, my worthy friend, will have no occasion for discontent. +From the jargon, therefore, of the Highland gillies, I pass to +the character of their Chief. It is an important examination, +and therefore, like Dogberry, we must spare no wisdom. + +The ancestor of Fergus Mac-Ivor, about three centuries before, +had set up a claim to be recognized as chief of the numerous and +powerful clan to which he belonged, the name of which it is +unnecessary to mention. Being defeated by an opponent who had +more justice, or at least more force, on his side, he moved +southwards, with those who adhered to him, in quest of new +settlements, like a second Aeneas. The state of the Perthshire +Highlands favoured his purpose. A great baron in that country +had lately become traitor to the crown; Ian, which was the name +of our adventurer, united himself with those who were +commissioned by the king to chastise him, and did such good +service, that he obtained a grant of the property, upon which he +and his posterity afterwards resided. He followed the king also +in war to the fertile regions of England, where he employed his +leisure hours so actively in raising subsidies among the boors of +Northumberland and Durham, that upon his return he was enabled to +erect a stone tower, or fortalice, so much admired by his +dependants and neighbours, that he, who had hitherto been called +Ian Mac-Ivor, or John the son of Ivor, was thereafter +distinguished, both in song and genealogy, by the high title of +IAN NAN CHAISTEL, or John of the Tower. The descendants of this +worthy were so proud of him, that the reigning chief always bore +the patronymic title of Vich Ian Vohr, i.e. the son of John the +Great; while the clan at large, to distinguish them from that +from which they had seceded, were denominated SLIOCHD NAN IVOR, +the race of Ivor. + +The father of Fergus, the tenth in direct descent from John of +the Tower, engaged heart and hand in the insurrection of 1715, +and was forced to fly to France, after the attempt of that year +in favour of the Stuarts had proved unsuccessful. More fortunate +than other fugitives, he obtained employment in the French +service, and married a lady of rank in that kingdom, by whom he +had two children, Fergus and his sister Flora. The Scottish +estate had been forfeited and exposed to sale, but was re- +purchased for a small price in the name of the young proprietor, +who in consequence came to reside upon his native domains. [See +Note 14.] It was soon perceived that he possessed a character of +uncommon acuteness, fire, and ambition, which, as he became +acquainted with the state of the country, gradually assumed a +mixed and peculiar tone, that could only have been acquired Sixty +Years since. + +Had Fergus Mac-Ivor lived Sixty Years sooner than he did, he +would, in all probability, have wanted the polished manner and +knowledge of the world which he now possessed; and had he lived +Sixty Years later, his ambition and love of rule would have +lacked the fuel which his situation now afforded. He was indeed, +within his little circle, as perfect a politician as Castruccio +Castracani himself. He applied himself with great earnestness to +appease all the feuds and dissensions which often arose among +other clans in his neighbourhood, so that he became a frequent +umpire in their quarrels. His own patriarchal power he +strengthened at every expense which his fortune would permit, and +indeed stretched his means to the uttermost, to maintain the rude +and plentiful hospitality, which was the most valued attribute of +a chieftain. For the same reason, he crowded his estate with a +tenantry, hardy indeed, and fit for the purposes of war, but +greatly outnumbering what the soil was calculated to maintain. +These consisted chiefly of his own clan, not one of whom he +suffered to quit his lands if he could possibly prevent it. But +he maintained, besides, many adventurers from the mother sept, +who deserted a less warlike, though more wealthy chief, to do +homage to Fergus Mac-Ivor. Other individuals, too, who had not +even that apology, were nevertheless received into his +allegiance, which indeed was refused to none who were, like +Poins, proper men of their hands, and were willing to assume the +name of Mac-Ivor. + +He was enabled to discipline these forces, from having obtained +command of one of the independent companies raised by Government +to preserve the peace of the Highlands. While in this capacity +he acted with vigour and spirit, and preserved great order in the +country under his charge. He caused his vassals to enter by +rotation into his company, and serve for a certain space of time, +which gave them all in turn a general notion of military +discipline. In his campaigns against the banditti, it was +observed that he assumed and exercised to the utmost the +discretionary power, which, while the law had no free course in +the Highlands, was conceived to belong to the military parties +who were called in to support it. He acted, for example, with +great and suspicious lenity to those freebooters who made +restitution on his summons, and offered personal submission to +himself, while he rigorously pursued, apprehended, and sacrificed +to justice, all such interlopers as dared to despise his +admonitions or commands. On the other hand, if any officers of +justice, military parties, or others, presumed to pursue thieves +or marauders through his territories, and without applying for +his consent and concurrence, nothing was more certain than that +they would meet with some notable foil or defeat; upon which +occasions Fergus Mac-Ivor was the first to condole with them, +and, after gently blaming their rashness, never failed deeply to +lament the lawless state of the country. These lamentations did +not exclude suspicion, and matters were so represented to +Government, that our Chieftain was deprived of his military +command. [See Note 15.] + +Whatever Fergus Mac-Ivor felt on this occasion, he had the art of +entirely suppressing every appearance of discontent; but in a +short time the neighbouring country began to feel bad effects +from his disgrace. Donald Bean Lean, and others of his class, +whose depredations had hitherto been confined to other districts, +appeared from thenceforward to have made a settlement on this +devoted border; and their ravages were carried on with little +opposition, as the Lowland gentry were chiefly Jacobites, and +disarmed. This forced many of the inhabitants into contracts of +blackmail with Fergus Mac-Ivor, which not only established him +their protector, and gave him great weight in all their +consultations, but, moreover, supplied funds for the waste of his +feudal hospitality, which the discontinuance of his pay might +have otherwise essentially diminished. + +In following this course of conduct, Fergus had a further object +than merely being the great man of his neighbourhood, and ruling +despotically over a small clan. From his infancy upward, he had +devoted himself to the cause of the exiled family, and had +persuaded himself, not only that their restoration to the crown +of Britain would be speedy, but that those who assisted them +would be raised to honour and rank. It was with this view that +he laboured to reconcile the Highlanders among themselves, and +augmented his own force to the utmost, to be prepared for the +first favourable opportunity of rising. With this purpose also +he conciliated the favour of such Lowland gentlemen in the +vicinity as were friends to the good cause; and for the same +reason, having incautiously quarrelled with Mr. Bradwardine, who, +notwithstanding his peculiarities, was much respected in the +country, he took advantage of the foray of Donald Bean Lean to +solder up the dispute in the manner we have mentioned. Some, +indeed, surmised that he caused the enterprise to be suggested to +Donald, on purpose to pave the way to a reconciliation, which, +supposing that to be the case, cost the Laird of Bradwardine two +good milch-cows. This zeal in their behalf the House of Stuart +repaid with a considerable share of their confidence, an +occasional supply of louis d'or, abundance of fair words, and a +parchment, with a huge waxen seal appended, purporting to be an +Earl's patent, granted by no less a person than James the Third +King of England, and Eighth King of Scotland, to his right leal, +trusty, and well-beloved Fergus Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich, in the +county of Perth, and kingdom of Scotland. + +With this future coronet glittering before his eyes, Fergus +plunged deeply into the correspondence and plots of that unhappy +period; and, like all such active agents, easily reconciled his +conscience to going certain lengths in the service of his party, +from which honour and pride would have deterred him, had his sole +object been the direct advancement of his own personal interest. +With this insight into a bold, ambitious, and ardent, yet artful +and politic character, we resume the broken thread of our +narrative. + +The Chief and his guest had by this time reached the house of +Glennaquoich, which consisted of Ian nan Chaistel's mansion, a +high rude-looking square tower, with the addition of a lofted +house, that is, a building of two stories, constructed by +Fergus's grandfather when he returned from that memorable +expedition, well remembered by the western shires under the name +of the Highland Host. Upon occasion of this crusade against the +Ayrshire Whigs and Covenanters, the Vich Ian Vohr of the time had +probably been as successful as his predecessor was in harrying +Northumberland, and therefore left to his posterity a rival +edifice, as a monument of his magnificence. + +Around the house, which stood on an eminence in the midst of a +narrow Highland valley, there appeared none of that attention to +convenience, far less to ornament and decoration, which usually +surrounds a gentleman's habitation. An enclosure or two, divided +by dry-stone walls, were the only part of the domain that was +fenced; as to the rest, the narrow slips of level ground which +lay by the side of the brook exhibited a scanty crop of barley, +liable to constant depredations from the herds of wild ponies and +black cattle that grazed upon the adjacent hills. These ever and +anon made an incursion upon the arable ground, which was repelled +by the loud, uncouth, and dissonant shouts of half a dozen +Highland swains, all running as if they had been mad, and every +one hallooing a half-starved dog to the rescue of the forage. At +a little distance up the glen was a small and stunted wood of +birch; the hills were high and heathy, but without any variety of +surface; so that the whole view was wild and desolate, rather +than grand and solitary. Yet, such as it was, no genuine +descendant of Ian nan Chaistel would have changed the domain for +Stowe or Blenheim. + +There was a sight, however, before the gate, which perhaps would +have afforded the first owner of Blenheim more pleasure than the +finest view in the domain assigned to him by the gratitude of his +country. This consisted of about a hundred Highlanders in +complete dress and arms; at sight of whom the Chieftain +apologized to Waverley in a sort of negligent manner. 'He had +forgot,' he said, 'that he had ordered a few of his clan out, for +the purpose of seeing that they were in a fit condition to +protect the country, and prevent such accidents as, he was sorry +to learn, had befallen the Baron of Bradwardine. Before they +were dismissed, perhaps Captain Waverley might choose to see them +go through a part of their exercise.' + +Edward assented, and the men executed with agility and precision +some of the ordinary military movements. They then practised +individually at a mark, and showed extraordinary dexterity in the +management of the pistol and firelock. They took aim, standing, +sitting, leaning, or lying prostrate, as they were commanded, and +always with effect upon the target. Next, they paired off for +the broadsword exercise; and, having manifested their individual +skill and dexterity, united in two bodies, and exhibited a sort +of mock encounter, in which the charge, the rally, the flight, +the pursuit, and all the current of a heady fight, were exhibited +to the sound of the great war-bagpipe. + +On a signal made by the Chief, the skirmish was ended. Marches +were then made for running, wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, +and other sports, in which this feudal militia displayed +incredible swiftness, strength, and agility; and accomplished the +purpose which their Chieftain had at heart, by impressing on +Waverley no light sense of their merit as soldiers, and of the +power of him who commanded them by his nod. [See Note 16.] + +'And what number of such gallant fellows have the happiness to +call you leader?' asked Waverley. + +'In a good cause, and under a chieftain whom they loved, the race +of Ivor have seldom taken the field under five hundred claymores. +But you are aware, Captain Waverley, that the Disarming Act, +passed about twenty years ago, prevents their being in the +complete state of preparation as in former times; and I keep no +more of my clan under arms than may defend my own or my friends' +property, when the country is troubled with such men as your last +night's landlord; and Government, which has removed other means +of defence, must connive at our protecting ourselves.' + +'But, with your force, you might soon destroy, or put down, such +gangs as that of Donald Bean Lean.' + +'Yes, doubtless; and my reward would be a summons to deliver up +to General Blakeney, at Stirling, the few broadswords they have +left us: there were little policy in that, methinks.--But come, +Captain, the sound of the pipes informs me that dinner is +prepared. Let me have the honour to show you into my rude +mansion.' + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A HIGHLAND FEAST + +Ere Waverley entered the banqueting hall, he was offered the +patriarchal refreshment of a bath for the feet, which the sultry +weather, and the morasses he had traversed, rendered highly +acceptable. He was not, indeed, so luxuriously attended upon +this occasion as the heroic travellers in the Odyssey; the task +of ablution and abstersion being performed, not by a beautiful +damsel, trained + + To chafe the limb, and pour the fragrant oil, + +but by a smoke-dried skinny old Highland woman, who did not seem +to think herself much honoured by the duty imposed upon her, but +muttered between her teeth, 'Our father's herds did not feed so +near together, that I should do you this service.' A small +donation, however, amply reconciled this ancient handmaiden to +the supposed degradation; and, as Edward proceeded to the hall, +she gave him her blessing, in the Gaelic proverb, 'May the open +hand be filled the fullest.' + +The hall, in which the feast was prepared, occupied all the first +storey of Ian nan Chaistel's original erection, and a huge oaken +table extended through its whole length. The apparatus for +dinner was simple, even to rudeness, and the company numerous, +even to crowding. At the head of the table was the Chief +himself, with Edward, and two or three Highland visitors of +neighbouring clans; the elders of his own tribe, wadsetters, and +tacksmen, as they were called, who occupied portions of his +estate as mortgagers or lessees, sat next in rank beneath them, +their sons, and nephews, and foster-brethren; then the officers +of the Chief's household, according to their order; and, lowest +of all, the tenants who actually cultivated the ground. Even +beyond this long perspective, Edward might see upon the green, to +which a huge pair of folding doors opened, a multitude of +Highlanders of a yet inferior description, who, nevertheless, +were considered as guests, and had their share both of the +countenance of the entertainer, and of the cheer of the day. In +the distance, and fluctuating round this extreme verge of the +banquet, was a changeful group of women, ragged boys and girls, +beggars, young and old, large greyhounds, and terriers, and +pointers, and curs of low degree; all of whom took some interest, +more or less immediate, in the main action of the piece. + +This hospitality, apparently unbounded, had yet its line of +economy. Some pains had been bestowed in dressing the dishes of +fish, game, &c., which were at the upper end of the table, and +immediately under the eye of the English stranger. Lower down +stood immense clumsy joints of mutton and beef, which, but for +the absence of pork, [See Note 17.] abhorred in the Highlands, +resembled the rude festivity of the banquet of Penelope's +suitors. But the central dish was a yearling lamb, called 'a hog +in har'st,' roasted whole. It was set upon its legs, with a +bunch of parsley in its mouth, and was probably exhibited in that +form to gratify the pride of the cook, who piqued himself more on +the plenty than the elegance of his master's table. The sides of +this poor animal were fiercely attacked by the clansmen, some +with dirks, others with the knives which were usually in the same +sheath with the dagger, so that it was soon rendered a mangled +and rueful spectacle. Lower down still, the victuals seemed of +yet coarser quality, though sufficiently abundant. Broth, +onions, cheese, and the fragments of the feast, regaled the sons +of Ivor who feasted in the open air. + +The liquor was supplied in the same proportion, and under similar +regulations. Excellent claret and champagne were liberally +distributed among the Chief's immediate neighbours; whisky, plain +or diluted, and strong beer, refreshed those who sat near the +lower end. Nor did this inequality of distribution appear to +give the least offence. Every one present understood that his +taste was to be formed according to the rank which he held at +table; and, consequently, the tacksmen and their dependants +always professed the wine was too cold for their stomachs, and +called, apparently out of choice, for the liquor which was +assigned to them from economy. [See Note 18.] The bagpipers, +three in number, screamed, during the whole time of dinner, a +tremendous war-tune; and the echoing of the vaulted roof, and +clang of the Celtic tongue, produced such a Babel of noises, that +Waverley dreaded his ears would never recover it. Mac-Ivor, +indeed, apologized for the confusion occasioned by so large a +party, and pleaded the necessity of his situation, on which +unlimited hospitality was imposed as a paramount duty. 'These +stout idle kinsmen of mine,' he said, 'account my estate as held +in trust for their support; and I must find them beef and ale, +while the rogues will do nothing for themselves but practise the +broadsword, or wander about the hills, shooting, fishing, +hunting, drinking, and making love to the lasses of the strath. +But what can I do, Captain Waverley? everything will keep after +its kind, whether it be a hawk or a Highlander.' Edward made the +expected answer, in a compliment upon his possessing so many bold +and attached followers. + +'Why, yes,' replied the Chief,' were I disposed, like my father, +to put myself in the way of getting one blow on the head, or two +on the neck, I believe the loons would stand by me. But who +thinks of that in the present day, when the maxim is,--"Better an +old woman with a purse in her hand, than three men with belted +brands?"' Then, turning to the company, he proposed the 'Health +of Captain Waverley, a worthy friend of his kind neighbour and +ally, the Baron of Bradwardine.' + +'He is welcome hither,' said one of the elders, 'if he come from +Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine.' + +'I say nay to that,' said an old man, who apparently did not mean +to pledge the toast: 'I say nay to that;--while there is a green +leaf in the forest, there will be fraud in a Comyne.' + +'There is nothing but honour in the Baron of Bradwardine,' +answered another ancient; 'and the guest that comes hither from +him should be welcome, though he came with blood on his hand, +unless it were blood of the race of Ivor.' + +The old man, whose cup remained full, replied, 'There has been +blood enough of the race of Ivor on the hand of Bradwardine.' + +'Ah! Ballenkeiroch,' replied the first, 'you think rather of the +flash of the carbine at the Mains of Tully-Veolan, than the +glance of the sword that fought for the cause at Preston.' + +'And well I may,' answered Ballenkeiroch; 'the flash of the gun +cost me a fair-haired son, and the glance of the sword has done +but little for King James.' + +The Chieftain, in two words of French, explained to Waverley, +that the Baron had shot this old man's son in a fray near Tully- +Veolan about seven years before; and then hastened to remove +Ballenkeiroch's prejudice, by informing him that Waverley was an +Englishman, unconnected by birth or alliance with the family of +Bradwardine; upon which the old gentleman raised the hitherto- +untasted cup, and courteously drank to his health. This ceremony +being requited in kind, the Chieftain made a signal for the pipes +to cease, and said aloud, 'Where is the song hidden, my friends, +that Mac-Murrough cannot find it?' + +Mac-Murrough, the family BHAIRDH, an aged man, immediately took +the hint, and began to chant, with low and rapid utterance, a +profusion of Celtic verses, which were received by the audience +with all the applause of enthusiasm. As he advanced in his +declamation, his ardour seemed to increase. He had at first +spoken with his eyes fixed on the ground; he now cast them around +as if beseeching, and anon as if commanding, attention, and his +tones rose into wild and impassioned notes, accompanied with +appropriate gestures. He seemed to Edward, who attended to him +with much interest, to recite many proper names, to lament the +dead, to apostrophize the absent, to exhort, and entreat, and +animate those who were present. Waverley thought he even +discerned his own name, and was convinced his conjecture was +right, from the eyes of the company being at that moment turned +towards him simultaneously. The ardour of the poet appeared to +communicate itself to the audience. Their wild and sunburnt +countenances assumed a fiercer and more animated expression; all +bent forward towards the reciter, many sprang up and waved their +arms in ecstasy, and some laid their hands on their swords. When +the song ceased, there was a deep pause, while the aroused +feelings of the poet and of the hearers gradually subsided into +their usual channel. + +The Chieftain, who during this scene had appeared rather to watch +the emotions which were excited, than to partake their high tone +of enthusiasm, filled with claret a small silver cup which stood +by him. 'Give this,' he said to an attendant, 'to Mac-Murrough +nan Fonn (i.e. of the songs), and when he has drunk the juice, +bid him keep, for the sake of Vich Ian Vohr, the shell of the +gourd which contained it.' The gift was received by Mac-Murrough +with profound gratitude; he drank the wine, and, kissing the cup, +shrouded it with reverence in the plaid which was folded on his +bosom. He then burst forth into what Edward justly supposed to +be an extemporaneous effusion of thanks, and praises of his +Chief. It was received with applause, but did not produce the +effect of his first poem. It was obvious, however, that the clan +regarded the generosity of their Chieftain with high approbation. +Many approved Gaelic toasts were then proposed, of some of which +the Chieftain gave his guest the following versions:--'To him +that will not turn his back on friend or foe.' 'To him that +never forsook a comrade.' 'To him that never bought or sold +justice.' 'Hospitality to the exile, and broken bones to the +tyrant.' 'The lads with the kilts.' 'Highlanders, shoulder to +shoulder,'--with many other pithy sentiments of the like nature. + +Edward was particularly solicitous to know the meaning of that +song which appeared to produce such effect upon the passions of +the company, and hinted his curiosity to his host. 'As I +observe,' said the Chieftain, 'that you have passed the bottle +during the last three rounds, I was about to propose to you to +retire to my sister's tea-table, who can explain these things to +you better than I can. Although I cannot stint my clan in the +usual current of their festivity, yet I neither am addicted +myself to exceed in its amount, nor do I,' added he, smiling, +'keep a Bear to devour the intellects of such as can make good +use of them.' + +Edward readily assented to this proposal, and the Chieftain, +saying a few words to those around him, left the table, followed +by Waverley. As the door closed behind them, Edward heard Vich +Ian Vohr's health invoked with a wild and animated cheer, that +expressed the satisfaction of the guests, and the depth of their +devotion to his service. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE CHIEFTAIN'S SISTER + +The drawing-room of Flora Mac-Ivor was furnished in the plainest +and most simple manner; for at Glennaquoich every other sort of +expenditure was retrenched as much as possible, for the purpose +of maintaining, in its full dignity, the hospitality of the +Chieftain, and retaining and multiplying the number of his +dependants and adherents. But there was no appearance of this +parsimony in the dress of the lady herself, which was in texture +elegant, and even rich, and arranged in a manner which partook +partly of the Parisian fashion, and partly of the more simple +dress of the Highlands, blended together with great taste. Her +hair was not disfigured by the art of the friseur, but fell in +jetty ringlets on her neck, confined only by a circlet, richly +set with diamonds. This peculiarity she adopted in compliance +with the Highland prejudices, which could not endure that a +woman's head should be covered before wedlock. + +Flora Mac-Ivor bore a most striking resemblance to her brother +Fergus; so much so, that they might have played Viola and +Sebastian with the same exquisite effect produced by the +appearance of Mrs. Henry Siddons and her brother, Mr. William +Murray, in these characters. They had, the same antique and +regular correctness of profile; the same dark eyes, eyelashes, +and eyebrows; the same clearness of complexion, excepting that +Fergus's was embrowned by exercise, and Flora's possessed the +utmost feminine delicacy. But the haughty, and somewhat stern +regularity of Fergus's features was beautifully softened in those +of Flora. Their voices were also similar in tone, though +differing in the key. That of Fergus, especially while issuing +orders to his followers during their military exercise, reminded +Edward of a favourite passage in the description of Emetrius: + + --whose voice was heard around, + Loud as a trumpet with a silver sound. + +That of Flora, on the contrary, was soft and sweet,--'an +excellent thing in woman;' yet, in urging any favourite topic, +which she often pursued with natural eloquence, it possessed as +well the tones which impress awe and conviction, as those of +persuasive insinuation. The eager glance of the keen black eye, +which in the Chieftain seemed impatient even of the material +obstacles it encountered, had, in his sister, acquired a gentle +pensiveness. His looks seemed to seek glory, power, all that +could exalt him above others in the race of humanity; while those +of his sister, as if she were already conscious of mental +superiority, seemed to pity, rather than envy, those who were +struggling for any further distinction. Her sentiments +corresponded with the expression of her countenance. Early +education had impressed upon her mind, as well as on that of the +Chieftain, the most devoted attachment to the exiled family of +Stuart. She believed if the duty of her brother, of his clan, of +every man in Britain, at whatever personal hazard, to contribute +to that restoration which the partisans of the Chevalier de St. +George had not ceased to hope for. For this she was prepared to +do all, to suffer all, to sacrifice all. But her loyalty, as it +exceeded her brother's in fanaticism, excelled it also in purity. +Accustomed to petty intrigue, and necessarily involved in a +thousand paltry and selfish discussions, ambitious also by +nature, his political faith was tinctured, at least, if not +tainted, by the views of interest and advancement so easily +combined with it; and at the moment he should unsheathe his +claymore, it might be difficult to say whether it would be most +with the view of making James Stuart a king, or Fergus Mac-Ivor +an earl. This, indeed, was a mixture of feeling which he did not +avow even to himself, but it existed, nevertheless, in a powerful +degree. + +In Flora's bosom, on the contrary, the zeal of loyalty burnt pure +and unmixed with any selfish feeling; she would have as soon made +religion the mask of ambitious and interested views, as have +shrouded them under the opinions which she had been taught to +think patriotism. Such instances of devotion were not uncommon +among the followers of the unhappy race of Stuart, of which many +memorable proofs will recur to the mind of most of my readers. +But peculiar attention on the part of the Chevalier de St. George +and his princess to the parents of Fergus and his sister, and to +themselves when orphans, had riveted their faith. Fergus, upon +the death of his parents, had been for some time a page of honour +in the train of the Chevalier's lady, and, from his beauty and +sprightly temper, was uniformly treated by her with the utmost +distinction. This was also extended to Flora, who was maintained +for some time at a convent of the first order, at the princess's +expense, and removed from thence into her own family, where she +spent nearly two years. Both brother and sister retained the +deepest and most grateful sense of her kindness. + +Having thus touched upon the leading principle of Flora's +character, I may dismiss the rest more slightly. She was highly +accomplished, and had acquired those elegant manners to be +expected from one who, in early youth, had been the companion of +a princess; yet she had not learned to substitute the gloss of +politeness for the reality of feeling. When settled in the +lonely regions of Glennaquoich, she found that her resources in +French, English, and Italian literature, were likely to be few +and interrupted; and, in order to fill up the vacant time, she +bestowed a part of it upon the music and poetical traditions of +the Highlanders, and began really to feel the pleasure in the +pursuit, which her brother, whose perceptions of literary merit +were more blunt, rather affected for the sake of popularity than +actually experienced. Her resolution was strengthened in these +researches by the extreme delight which her inquiries seemed to +afford those to whom she resorted for information. + +Her love of her clan, an attachment which was almost hereditary +in her bosom, was, like her loyalty, a more pure passion than +that of her brother. He was too thorough a politician,regarded +his patriarchal influence too much as the means of accomplishing +his own aggrandizement, that we should term him the model of a +Highland Chieftain. Flora felt the same anxiety for cherishing +and extending their patriarchal sway, but it was with the +generous desire of vindicating from poverty, or at least from +want and foreign oppression, those whom her brother was by birth, +according to the notions of the time and country, entitled to +govern. The savings of her income, for she had a small pension +from the Princess Sobieski, were dedicated, not to add to the +comforts of the peasantry, for that was a word which they neither +knew nor apparently wished to know, but to relieve their absolute +necessities, when in sickness or extreme old age. At every other +period, they rather toiled to procure something which they might +share with the Chief as a proof of their attachment, than +expected other assistance from him save what was afforded by the +rude hospitality of his castle, and the general division and +subdivision of his estate among them. Flora was so much beloved +by them, that when Mac-Murrough composed a song in which he +enumerated all the principal beauties of the district, and +intimated her superiority by concluding; that 'the fairest apple +hung on the highest bough,' he received, in donatives from the +individuals of the clan, more seed-barley than would have sowed +his Highland Parnassus, the Bard's croft as it was called, ten +times over. + +From situation, as well as choice, Miss Mac-Ivor's society was +extremely limited. Her most intimate friend had been Rose +Bradwardine, to whom she was much attached; and when seen +together, they would have afforded an artist two admirable +subjects for the gay and the melancholy muse. Indeed Rose was so +tenderly watched by her father, and her circle of wishes was so +limited, that none arose but what he was willing to gratify, and +scarce any which did not come within the compass of his power. +With Flora it was otherwise. While almost a girl, she had +undergone the most complete change of scene, from gaiety and +splendour to absolute solitude and comparative poverty; and the +ideas and wishes which she chiefly fostered, respected great +national events, and changes not to be brought round without both +hazard and bloodshed, and therefore not to be thought of with +levity. Her manner, consequently, was grave, though she readily +contributed her talents to the amusement of society, and stood +very high in the opinion of the old Baron, who used to sing along +with her such French duets of Lindor and Cloris, &c., as were in +fashion about the end of the reign of old Louis le Grand. + +It was generally believed, though no one durst have hinted it to +the Baron of Bradwardine, that Flora's entreaties had no small +share in allaying the wrath of Fergus upon occasion of their +quarrel. She took her brother on the assailable side, by +dwelling first upon the Baron's age, and then representing the +injury which the cause might sustain, and the damage which must +arise to his own character in point of prudence, so necessary to +a political agent, if he persisted in carrying it to extremity. +Otherwise it is probable it would have terminated in a duel, both +because the Baron had, on a former occasion, shed blood of the +clan, though the matter had been timely accommodated, and on +account of his high reputation for address at his weapon, which +Fergus almost condescended to envy. For the same reason she had +urged their reconciliation, which the Chieftain the more readily +agreed to, as it favoured some ulterior projects of his own. + +To this young lady, now presiding at the female empire of the +tea-table, Fergus introduced Captain Waverley, whom she received +with the usual forms of politeness. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +HIGHLAND MINSTRELSY + +When the first salutations had passed, Fergus said to his sister, +'My dear Flora, before I return to the barbarous ritual of our +forefathers, I must tell you that Captain Waverley is a +worshipper of the Celtic muse, not the less so perhaps that he +does not understand a word of her language. I have told him you +are eminent as a translator of Highland poetry, and that Mac- +Murrough admires your version of his songs upon the same +principle that Captain Waverley admires the original,--because he +does not comprehend them. Will you have the goodness to read or +recite to our guest in English, the extraordinary string of names +which Mac-Murrough has tacked together in Gaelic?--My life to a +moorfowl's feather, you are provided with a version; for I know +you are in all the bard's councils, and acquainted with his songs +long before he rehearses them in the hall.' + +'How can you say so, Fergus? You know how little these verses +can possibly interest an English stranger, even if I could +translate them as you pretend.' + +'Not less than they interest me, lady fair. To-day your joint +composition, for I insist you had a share in it, has cost me the +last silver cup in the castle, and I suppose will cost me +something else next time I hold COUR PLENIERE, if the muse +descends on Mac-Murrough; for you know our proverb,--When the +hand of the chief ceases to bestow, the breath of the bard is +frozen in the utterance.--Well, I would it were even so: there +are three things that are useless to a modern Highlander, a sword +which he must not draw,--a bard to sing of deeds which he dare +not imitate,--and a large goatskin purse without a louis d'or to +put into it.' + +'Well, brother, since you betray my secrets, you cannot expect me +to keep yours.--I assure you, Captain Waverley, that Fergus is +too proud to exchange his broadsword for a marechal's baton; that +he esteems Mac-Murrough a far greater poet than Homer, and would +not give up his goat skin purse for all the louis d'or which it +could contain.' + +'Well pronounced, Flora; blow for blow, as Conan [See Note 19.] +said to the devil. Now do you two talk of bards and poetry, if +not of purses and claymores, while I return to do the final +honours to the senators of the tribe of Ivor.' So saying, he +left the room. + +The conversation continued between Flora, and Waverley; for two +well-dressed young women, whose character seemed to hover between +that of companions and dependants, took no share in it. They +were both pretty girls, but served only as foils to the grace and +beauty of their patroness. The discourse followed the turn which +the Chieftain had given it, and Waverley was equally amused and +surprised with the account which the lady gave him of Celtic +poetry. + +'The recitation,' she said, 'of poems, recording the feats of +heroes, the complaints of lovers, and the wars of contending +tribes, forms the chief amusement of a winter fireside in the +Highlands. Some of these are said to be very ancient, and if +they are ever translated into any of the languages of civilized +Europe, cannot fail to produce a deep and general sensation. +Others are more modern, the composition of those family bards +whom the chieftains of more distinguished name and power retain +as the poets and historians of their tribes. These, of course, +possess various degrees of merit; but much of it must evaporate +in translation, or be lost on those who do not sympathize with +the feelings of the poet. + +'And your bard, whose effusions seemed to produce such effect +upon the company to-day,--is he reckoned among the favourite +poets of the mountain?' + +'That is a trying question. His reputation is high among his +countrymen, and you must not expect me to depreciate it.' [The +Highland poet almost always was an improvisatore. Captain Burt +met one of them at Lovat's table.] + +'But the song, Miss Mac-Ivor, seemed to awaken all those +warriors, both young and old.' + +'The song is little more than a catalogue of names of the +'Highland clans under their distinctive peculiarities, and an +exhortation to them to remember and to emulate the actions of +their forefathers.' + +'And am I wrong in conjecturing, however extraordinary the guess +appears, that there was some allusion to me in the verses which +he recited?' + +'You have a quick observation, Captain Waverley, which in this +instance has not deceived you. The Gaelic language, being +uncommonly vocalic, is well adapted for sudden and extemporaneous +poetry; and a bard seldom fails to augment the effects of a +premeditated song, by throwing in any stanzas which may be +suggested by the circumstances attending the recitation.' + +'I would give my best horse to know what the Highland bard could +find to say of such an unworthy Southron as myself.' + +'It shall not even cost you a lock of his mane.--Una, MAVOURNEEN! +(She spoke a few words to one of the young girls in attendance, +who instantly curtsied, and tripped out of the room.)--I have +sent Una to learn from the bard the expressions he used, and you +shall command my skill as dragoman.' + +Una returned in a few minutes, and repeated to her mistress a few +lines in Gaelic. Flora seemed to think for a moment, and then, +slightly colouring, she turned to Waverley--'It is impossible to +gratify your curiosity, Captain Waverley, without exposing my own +presumption. If you will give me a few moments for +consideration, I will endeavour to engraft the meaning of these +lines upon a rude English translation, which I have attempted, of +a part of the original. The duties of the tea-table seem to be +concluded, and, as the evening is delightful, Una will show you +the way to one of my favourite haunts, and Cathleen and I will +join you there.' + +Una, having received instructions in her native language, +conducted Waverley out by a passage different from that through +which he had entered the apartment. At a distance he heard the +hall of the chief still resounding with the clang of bagpipes and +the high applause of his guests. Having gained the open air by a +postern door, they walked a little way up the wild, bleak, and +narrow valley in which the house was situated, following the +course of the stream that winded through it. In a spot, about a +quarter of a mile from the castle, two brooks, which formed the +little river, had their junction. The larger of the two came +down the long bare valley, which extended, apparently without any +change or elevation of character, as far as the hills which +formed its boundary permitted the eye to reach. But the other +stream, which had its source among the mountains on the left hand +of the strath, seemed to issue from a very narrow and dark +opening betwixt two large rocks. These streams were different +also in character. The larger was placid, and even sullen in its +course, wheeling in deep eddies, or sleeping in dark blue pools; +but the motions of the lesser brook were rapid and furious, +issuing from between precipices, like a maniac from his +confinement, all foam and uproar. + +It was up the course of this last stream that Waverley, like a +knight of romance, was conducted by the fair Highland damsel, his +silent guide. A small path, which had been rendered easy in many +places for Flora's accommodation, led him through scenery of a +very different description from that which he had just quitted. +Around the castle, all was cold, bare, and desolate, yet tame +even in desolation; but this narrow glen, at so short a distance, +seemed to open into the land of romance. The rocks assumed a +thousand peculiar and varied forms. In one place, a crag of huge +size presented its gigantic bulk, as if to forbid the passenger's +farther progress; and it was not until he approached its very +base, that Waverley discerned the sudden and acute turn by which +the pathway wheeled its course around this formidable obstacle. +In another spot, the projecting rocks from the opposite sides of +the chasm had approached so near to each other, that two pine- +trees laid across, and covered with turf, formed a rustic bridge +at the height of at least one hundred and fifty feet. It had no +ledges, and was barely three feet in breadth. + +While gazing at this pass of peril, which crossed, like a single +black line, the small portion of blue sky not intercepted by the +projecting rocks on either side, it was with a sensation of +horror that Waverley beheld Flora and her attendant appear, like +inhabitants of another region, propped, as it were, in mid air, +upon this trembling structure. She stopped upon observing him +below, and, with an air of graceful ease, which made him shudder, +waved her handkerchief to him by way of signal. He was unable, +from the sense of dizziness which her situation conveyed, to +return the salute; and was never more relieved than when the fair +apparition passed on from the precarious eminence which she +seemed to occupy with so much indifference, and disappeared on +the other side. + +Advancing a few yards, and passing under the bridge which he had +viewed with so much terror, the path ascended rapidly from the +edge of the brook, and the glen widened into a sylvan +amphitheatre, waving with birch, young oaks, and hazels, with +here and there a scattered yew-tree. The rocks now receded, but +still showed their grey and shaggy crests rising among the copse- +wood. Still higher, rose eminences and peaks, some bare, some +clothed with wood, some round and purple with heath, and others +splintered into rocks and crags. At a short turning, the path, +which had for some furlongs lost sight of the brook, suddenly +placed Waverley in front of a romantic waterfall. It was not so +remarkable either for great height or quantity of water, as for +the beautiful accompaniments which made the spot interesting. +After a broken cataract of about twenty feet, the stream was +received in a large natural basin filled to the brim with water, +which, where the bubbles of the fall subsided, was so exquisitely +clear, that, although it was of great depth, the eye could +discern each pebble at the bottom. Eddying round this reservoir, +the brook found its way over a broken part of the ledge, and +formed a second fall, which seemed to seek the very abyss; then, +wheeling out beneath from among the smooth dark rocks, which it +had polished for ages, it wandered murmuring down the glen, +forming the stream up which Waverley had just ascended. [See +Note 20.] The borders of this romantic reservoir corresponded in +beauty; but it was beauty of a stern and commanding cast, as if +in the act of expanding into grandeur. Mossy banks of turf were +broken and interrupted by huge fragments of rock, and decorated +with trees and shrubs, some of which had been planted under the +direction of Flora, but so cautiously, that they added to the +grace, without diminishing the romantic wildness of the scene. + +Here, like one of those lovely forms which decorate the +landscapes of Poussin, Waverley found Flora, gazing on the +waterfall. Two paces further back stood Cathleen, holding a +small Scottish harp, the use of which had been taught to Flora by +Rory Dall, one of the last harpers of the Western Highlands. The +sun, now stooping in the west, gave a rich and varied tinge to +all the objects which surrounded Waverley, and seemed to add more +than human brilliancy to the full expressive darkness of Flora's +eye, exalted the richness and purity of her complexion, and +enhanced the dignity and grace of her beautiful form. Edward +thought he had never, even in his wildest dreams, imagined a +figure of such exquisite and interesting loveliness. The wild +beauty of the retreat, bursting upon him as if by magic, +augmented the mingled feeling of delight and awe with which he +approached her, like a fair enchantress of Boiardo or Ariosto, by +whose nod the scenery around seemed to have been created, an Eden +in the wilderness. + +Flora, like every beautiful woman, was conscious of her own +power, and pleased with its effects, which she could easily +discern from the respectful, yet confused address of the young +soldier. But, as she possessed excellent sense, she gave the +romance of the scene, and other accidental circumstances, full +weight in appreciating the feelings with which Waverley seemed +obviously to be impressed; and, unacquainted with the fanciful +and susceptible peculiarities of his character, considered his +homage as the passing tribute which a woman of even inferior +charms might have expected in such a situation. She therefore +quietly led the way to a spot at such a distance from the +cascade, that its sound should rather accompany than interrupt +that of her voice and instrument, and, sitting down upon a mossy +fragment of rock, she took the harp from Cathleen. + +'I have given you the trouble of walking to this spot, Captain +Waverley, both because I thought the scenery would interest you, +and because a Highland song would suffer still more from my +imperfect translation, were I to introduce it without its own +wild and appropriate accompaniments. To speak in the poetical +language of my country, the seat of the Celtic muse is in the +mist of the secret and solitary hill, and her voice in the murmur +of the mountain stream. He who wooes her must love the barren +rock more than the fertile valley, and the solitude of the desert +better than the festivity of the hall.' + +Few could have heard this lovely woman make this declaration, +with a voice where harmony was exalted by pathos, without +exclaiming that the muse whom she invoked could never find a more +appropriate representative. But Waverley, though the thought +rushed on his mind, found no courage to utter it. Indeed, the +wild feeling of romantic delight with which he heard the first +few notes she drew from her instrument, amounted almost to a +sense of pain. He would not for worlds have quitted his place by +her side; yet he almost longed for solitude, that he might +decipher and examine at leisure the complication of emotions +which now agitated his bosom. + +Flora had exchanged the measured and monotonous recitative of the +bard for a lofty and uncommon Highland air, which had been a +battle-song in former ages. A few irregular strains introduced a +prelude of a wild and peculiar tone, which harmonized well with +the distant waterfall, and the soft sigh of the evening breeze in +the rustling leaves of an aspen which overhung the seat of the +fair harpress. The following verses convey but little idea of +the feelings with which, so sung and accompanied, they were heard +by Waverley:-- + + There is mist on the mountain, and night on the vale, + But more dark is the sleep of the sons of the Gael. + A stranger commanded--it sunk on the land; + It has frozen each heart, and benumbed every hand! + + The dirk and the target lie sordid with dust; + The bloodless claymore is but reddened with rust; + On the hill or the glen if a gun should appear, + It is only to war with the heath-cock or deer. + + The deeds of our sires if our bards should rehearse, + Let a blush or a blow be the meed of their verse! + Be mute every string, and be hushed every tone, + That shall bid us remember the fame that is flown! + + But the dark hours of night and of slumber are past; + The morn on our mountains is dawning at last; + Glenaladale's peaks are illumed with the rays, + And the streams of Glenfinnan leap bright in the blaze. + + [The young and daring adventurer, Charles Edward, landed at + Glenaladale, in Moidart, and displayed his standard in the + valley of Glenfinnan, mustering around it the Mac-Donalds, the + Camerons, and other less numerous clans, whom he had prevailed + on to join him. There is a monument erected on the spot, with + a Latin inscription by the late Dr. Gregory.] + + + O high-minded Moray!--the exiled--the dear!-- + In the blush of the dawning the STANDARD uprear! + Wide, wide on the winds of the north let it fly, + Like the sun's latest flash when the tempest is nigh! + + [The Marquis of Tullibardine's elder brother, who, long exiled, + returned to Scotland with Charles Edward in 1745] + + Ye sons of the strong, when that dawning shall break, + Need the harp of the aged remind you to wake? + That dawn never beamed on your forefathers' eye, + But it roused each high chieftain to vanquish or die. + + O! sprung from the kings who in Islay kept state, + Proud chiefs of Clan Ranald, Glengarry, and Sleat! + Combine like three streams from one mountain of snow, + And resistless in union rush down on the foe! + + True son of Sir Even, undaunted Lochiel, + Place thy targe on thy shoulder and burnish thy steel! + Rough Keppoch, give breath to thy bugle's bold swell, + Till far Coryarrick resound to the knell! + + Stern son of Lord Kenneth, high chief of Kinntail, + Let the stag in thy standard bound wild in the gale! + May the race of Clan Gillean, the fearless and free, + Remember Glenlivat, Harlaw, and Dundee! + + Let the clan of grey Fingon, whose offspring has given + Such heroes to earth, and such martyrs to heaven, + Unite with the race of renowned Rorri More, + To launch the long galley, and stretch to the oar. + + How Mac-Shimei will joy when their chief shall display + The ewe-crested bonnet o'er tresses of grey! + How the race of wronged Alpine and murdered Glencoe + Shall shout for revenge when they pour on the foe! + + Ye sons of brown Dermid, who slew the wild boar, + Resume the pure faith of the great Callum-More! + Mac-Neil of the Islands, and Moy of the Lake, + For honour, for freedom, for vengeance awake! + +Here a large greyhound, bounding up the glen, jumped upon Flora, +and interrupted her music by his importunate caresses. At a +distant whistle, he turned, and shot down the path again with the +rapidity of an arrow. 'That is Fergus's faithful attendant, +Captain Waverley, and that was his signal. He likes no poetry +but what is humorous, and comes in good time to interrupt my long +catalogue of the tribes, whom one of your saucy English poets +calls + + Our bootless host of high-born beggars, + Mac-Leans, Mac-Kenzies, and Mac-Gregors.' + +Waverley expressed his regret at the interruption. + +'Oh, you cannot guess how much you have lost! The bard, as in +duty bound, has addressed three long stanzas to Vich Ian Vohr of +the Banners, enumerating all his great properties, and not +forgetting his being a cheerer of the harper and bard,--"a giver +of bounteous gifts." Besides, you should have heard a practical +admonition to the fair-haired son of the stranger, who lives in +the land where the grass is always green--the rider on the +shining pampered steed, whose hue is like the raven, and whose +neigh is like the scream of the eagle for battle. This valiant +horseman is affectionately conjured to remember that his +ancestors were distinguished by their loyalty, as well as by +their courage.--All this you have lost; but, since your curiosity +is not satisfied, I judge, from the distant sound of my brother's +whistle, I may have time to sing the concluding stanzas before he +comes to laugh at my translation.' + + Awake on your hills, on your islands awake, + Brave sons of the mountain, the frith, and the lake! + 'Tis the bugle--but not for the chase is the call; + 'Tis the pibroch's shrill summons--but not to the hall. + + 'Tis the summons of heroes for conquest or death, + When the banners are blazing on mountain and heath: + They call to the dirk, the claymore, and the targe, + To the march and the muster, the line and the charge. + + Be the brand of each Chieftain like Fin's in his ire! + May the blood through his veins flow like currents of fire! + Burst the base foreign yoke as your sires did of yore, + Or die like your sires, and endure it no more! + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +WAVERLEY CONTINUES AT GLENNAQUOICH + +As Flora concluded her song, Fergus stood before them. 'I knew I +should find you here, even without the assistance of my friend +Bran. A simple and unsublimed taste now, like my own, would +prefer a jet d'eau at Versailles to this cascade with all its +accompaniments of rock and roar; but this is Flora's Parnassus, +Captain Waverley, and that fountain her Helicon. It would be +greatly for the benefit of my cellar if she could teach her +coadjutor, Mac-Murrough, the value of its influence: he has just +drunk a pint of usquebaugh to correct, he said, the coldness of +the claret.--Let me try its virtues.' He sipped a little water +in the hollow of his hand, and immediately commenced, with a +theatrical air,-- + + 'O Lady of the desert, hail! + That lov'st the harping of the Gael, + Through fair and fertile regions borne, + Where never yet grew grass or corn. + +But English poetry will never succeed under the influence of a +Highland Helicon.--ALLONS, COURAGE!-- + + O vous, qui buvez, a tasse pleine, + A cette heureuse fontaine, + Ou on ne voit, sur le rivage, + Que quelques vilains troupeaux, + Suivis de nymphes de village, + Qui les escortent sans sabots'-- + +'A truce, dear Fergus! spare us those most tedious and insipid +persons of all Arcadia. Do not, for Heaven's sake, bring down +Coridon and Lindor upon us.' + +'Nay, if you cannot relish LA HOULETTE ET LE CHALUMEAU, have with +you in heroic strains.' + +'Dear Fergus, you have certainly partaken of the inspiration of +Mac-Murrough's cup, rather than of mine.' + +'I disclaim it, MA BELLE DEMOISELLE, although I protest it would +be the more congenial of the two. Which of your crackbrained +Italian romancers is it that says, + + Io d'Elicona niente + Mi curo, in fe de Dio, che'il bere d'acque + (Bea chi ber ne vuol) sempre me spiacque! + [Good sooth, I reck not of your Helicon; + Drink water whoso will, in faith I will drink none.] + +But if you prefer the Gaelic, Captain Waverley, here is little +Cathleen shall sing you Drimmindhu.--Come, Cathleen, ASTORE (i.e. +my dear), begin; no apologies to the CEANKINNE.' + +Cathleen sang with much liveliness a little Gaelic song, the +burlesque elegy of a countryman on the loss of his cow, the comic +tones of which, though he did not understand the language, made +Waverley laugh more than once. [This ancient Gaelic ditty is +still well known, both in the Highlands and in Ireland. It was +translated into English, and published, if I mistake not, under +the auspices of the facetious Tom D'Urfey, by the title of +'Colley, my Cow.'] + +'Admirable, Cathleen!' cried the Chieftain; 'I must find you a +handsome husband among the clansmen one of these days.' + +Cathleen laughed, blushed, and sheltered herself behind her +companion. + +In the progress of their return to the castle, the Chieftain +warmly pressed Waverley to remain for a week or two, in order to +see a grand hunting party, in which he and some other Highland +gentlemen proposed to join. The charms of melody and beauty were +too strongly impressed in Edward's breast to permit his declining +an invitation so pleasing. It was agreed, therefore, that he +should write a note to the Baron of Bradwardine, expressing his +intention to stay a fortnight at Glennaquoich, and requesting him +to forward by the bearer (a GILLY of the Chieftain's) any letters +which might have arrived for him. + +This turned the discourse upon the Baron, whom Fergus highly +extolled as a gentleman and soldier. His character was touched +with yet more discrimination by Flora, who observed that he was +the very model of the old Scottish cavalier, with all his +excellences and peculiarities. 'It is a character, Captain +Waverley, which is fast disappearing; for its best point was a +self-respect, which was never lost sight of till now. But, in +the present time, the gentlemen whose principles do not permit +them to pay court to the existing government are neglected and +degraded, and many conduct themselves accordingly; and, like some +of the persons you have seen at Tully-Veolan, adopt habits and +companions inconsistent with their birth and breeding. The +ruthless proscription of party seems to degrade the victims whom +it brands, however unjustly. But let us hope that a brighter day +is approaching, when a Scottish country-gentleman may be a +scholar without the pedantry of our friend the Baron; a +sportsman, without the low habits of Mr. Falconer; and a +judicious improver of his property, without becoming a boorish +two-legged steer like Killancureit." + +Thus did Flora prophesy a revolution, which time indeed has +produced, but in a manner very different from what she had in her +mind. + +The amiable Rose was next mentioned, with the warmest encomium on +her person, manners, and mind, 'That man,' said Flora, 'will find +an inestimable treasure in the affections of Rose Bradwardine, +who shall be so fortunate as to become their object. Her very +soul is in home, and in the discharge of all those quiet virtues +of which home is the centre. Her husband will be to her what her +father now is--the object of all her care, solicitude, and +affection. She will see nothing, and connect herself with +nothing, but by him and through him. If he is a man of sense and +virtue, she will sympathize in his sorrows, divert his fatigue, +and share his pleasures. If she becomes the property of a +churlish or negligent husband, she will suit his taste also, for +she will not long survive his unkindness. And, alas, how great +is the chance that some such unworthy lot may be that of my poor +friend!--Oh, that I were a, queen this moment, and could command +the most amiable and worthy youth of my kingdom to accept +happiness with the hand of Rose Bradwardine!' + +'I wish you would command her to accept mine EN ATTENDANT,' said +Fergus, laughing. + +I don't know by what caprice it was that this wish, however +jocularly expressed, rather jarred on Edward's feelings, +notwithstanding his growing inclination to Flora, and his +indifference to Miss Bradwardine. This is one of the +inexplicabilities of human nature, which we leave without +comment. + +'Yours, brother?' answered Flora, regarding him steadily. 'No; +you have another bride--Honour; and the dangers you must run in +pursuit of her rival would break poor Rose's heart.' + +With this discourse they reached the castle, and Waverley soon +prepared his dispatches for Tully-Veolan. As he knew the Baron +was punctilious in such matters, he was about to impress his +billet with a seal on which his armorial bearings were engraved, +but he did not find it at his watch, and thought he must have +left it at Tully-Veolan. He mentioned his loss, borrowing at the +same time the family seal of the Chieftain. + +'Surely,' said Miss Mac-Ivor, 'Donald Bean Lean would not--' + +'My life for him, in such circumstances,' answered her brother; +--'besides, he would never have left the watch behind.' + +'After all, Fergus,' said Flora,' and with every allowance, I am +surprised you can countenance that man.' + +'I countenance him!--This kind sister of mine would persuade you, +Captain Waverley, that I take what the people of old used to call +"a steakraid," that is, a "collop of the foray," or, in plainer +words, a portion of the robber's booty, paid by him to the Laird, +or Chief, through whose grounds he drove his prey. Oh, it is +certain, that unless I can find some way to charm Flora's tongue, +General Blakeney will send a sergeant's party from Stirling (this +he said with haughty and emphatic irony) to seize Vich Ian Vohr, +as they nickname me, in his own castle.' + +'Now, Fergus, must not our guest be sensible that all this is +folly and affectation? You have men enough to serve you without +enlisting a banditti, and your own honour is above taint.--Why +don't you send this Donald Bean Lean, whom I hate for his +smoothness and duplicity, even more than for his rapine, out of +your country at once? No cause should induce me to tolerate such +a character.' + +'NO cause, Flora?' said the Chieftain, significantly. + +'No cause, Fergus! not even that which is nearest to my heart. +Spare it the omen of such evil supporters!' + +'Oh, but, sister,' rejoined the Chief, gaily, 'you don't consider +my respect for LA BELLE PASSION. Evan Dhu Maccombich is in love +with Donald's daughter, Alice, and you cannot expect me to +disturb him in his amours. Why, the whole clan would cry shame +on me. You know it is one of their wise sayings, that a kinsman +is part of a man's body, but a foster-brother is a piece of his +heart.' + +'Well, Fergus, there is no disputing with you; but I would all +this may end well.' + +'Devoutly prayed, my dear and prophetic sister, and the best way +in the world to close a dubious argument.--But hear ye not the +pipes, Captain Waverley? Perhaps you will like better to dance +to them in the hall, than to be deafened with their harmony +without taking part in the exercise they invite us to.' + +Waverley took Flora's hand. The dance, song, and merry-making +proceeded, and closed the day's entertainment at the castle of +Vich Ian Vohr. Edward at length retired, his mind agitated by a +variety of new and conflicting feelings, which detained him from +rest for some time, in that not unpleasing state of mind in which +fancy takes the helm, and the soul rather drifts passively along +with the rapid and confused tide of reflections, than exerts +itself to encounter, systematize, or examine them. At a late +hour he fell asleep, and dreamed of Flora Mac-Ivor. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A STAG-HUNT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + +Shall this be a long or a short chapter?--This is a question in +which you, gentle reader, have no vote, however much you may be +interested in the consequences; just as you may (like myself) +probably have nothing to do with the imposing a new tax, +excepting the trifling circumstance of being obliged to pay it. +More happy surely in the present case, since, though it lies +within my arbitrary power to extend my materials as I think +proper, I cannot call you into Exchequer if you do not think +proper to read my narrative. Let me therefore consider. It is +true, that the annals and documents in my hands say but little of +this Highland chase; but then I can find copious materials for +description elsewhere. There is old Lindsay of Pitscottie ready +at my elbow, with his Athole hunting, and his 'lofted and joisted +palace of green timber; with all kind of drink to be had in burgh +and land, as ale, beer, wine, muscadel, malvaise, hippocras, and +aquavitae; with wheat-bread, main-bread, ginge-bread, beef, +mutton, lamb, veal, venison, goose, grice, capon, coney, crane, +swan, partridge, plover, duck, drake, brissel-cock, pawnies, +black-cock, muir-fowl, and capercailzies;' not forgetting the +'costly bedding, vaiselle, and napry,' and least of all the +'excelling stewards, cunning barters, excellent cooks, and +pottingars, with confections and drugs for the desserts.' +Besides the particulars which may be thence gleaned for this +Highland feast (the splendour of which induced the Pope's legate +to dissent from an opinion which he had hitherto held, that +Scotland, namely, was the--the--the latter end of the world)-- +besides these, might I not illuminate my pages with Taylor the +Water Poet's hunting in the braes of Mar, where, + + Through heather, mosse, 'mong frogs, and bogs, and fogs, + 'Mongst craggy cliffs and thunder-battered hills, + Hares, hinds, bucks, roes, are chased by men and dogs, + Where two hours' hunting fourscore fat deer kills. + Lowland, your sports are low as is your seat; + The Highland games and minds are high and great. + +But without further tyranny over my readers, or display of the +extent of my own reading, I shall content myself with borrowing a +single incident from the memorable hunting at Lude, commemorated +in the ingenious Mr. Gunn's Essay on the Caledonian Harp, and so +proceed in my story with all the brevity that my natural style of +composition, partaking of what scholars call the periphrastic and +ambagitory, and the vulgar the circumbendibus, will permit me. + +The solemn hunting was delayed, from various causes, for about +three weeks. The interval was spent by Waverley with great +satisfaction at Glennaquoich; for the impression which Flora had +made on his mind at their first meeting grew daily stronger. She +was precisely the character to fascinate a youth of romantic +imagination. Her manners, her language, her talents for poetry +and music, gave additional and varied influence to her eminent +personal charms. Even in her hours of gaiety, she was in his +fancy exalted above the ordinary daughters of Eve, and seemed +only to stoop for an instant to those topics of amusement and +gallantry which others appear to live for. In the neighbourhood +of this enchantress, while sport consumed the morning, and music +and the dance led on the hours of evening, Waverley became daily +more delighted with his hospitable landlord, and more enamoured +of his bewitching sister. + +At length, the period fixed for the grand hunting arrived, and +Waverley and the Chieftain departed for the place of rendezvous, +which was a day's journey to the northward of Glennaquoich. +Fergus was attended on this occasion by about three hundred of +his clan, well armed, and accoutred in their best fashion. +Waverley complied so far with the custom of the country as to +adopt the trews (he could not be reconciled to the kilt), +brogues, and bonnet, as the fittest dress for the exercise in +which he was to be engaged, and which least exposed him to be +stared at as a stranger when they should reach the place of +rendez-vous. They found, on the spot appointed, several powerful +Chiefs, to all of whom Waverley was formally presented, and by +all cordially received. Their vassals and clansmen, a part of +whose feudal duty it was to attend on these parties, appeared in +such numbers as amounted to a small army. These active +assistants spread through the country far and near, forming a +circle, technically called the TINCHEL, which, gradually closing, +drove the deer in herds together towards the glen where the +Chiefs and principal sportsmen lay in wait for them. In the +meanwhile, these distinguished personages bivouacked among the +flowery heath, wrapped up in their plaids; a mode of passing a +summer's night which Waverley found by no means unpleasant. + +For many hours after sunrise, the mountain ridges and passes +retained their ordinary appearance of silence and solitude; and +the Chiefs, with their followers, amused themselves with various +pastimes, in which the joys of the shell, as Ossian has it, were +not forgotten. 'Others apart sat on a hill retired;' probably as +deeply engaged in the discussion of politics and news, as +Milton's spirits in metaphysical disquisition. At length signals +of the approach of the game were descried and heard. Distant +shouts resounded from valley to valley, as the various parties of +Highlanders, climbing rocks, struggling through copses, wading +brooks, and traversing thickets, approached more and more near to +each other, and compelled the astonished deer, with the other +wild animals that fled before them, into a narrower circuit. +Every now and then the report of muskets was heard, repeated by a +thousand echoes. The baying of the dogs was soon added to the +chorus, which grew ever louder and more loud. At length the +advanced parties of the deer began to show themselves; and as the +stragglers came bounding down the pass by two or three at a time, +the Chiefs showed their skill by distinguishing the fattest deer, +and their dexterity in bringing them down with their guns. +Fergus exhibited remarkable address, and Edward was also so +fortunate as to attract the notice and applause of the sportsmen. + +But now the main body of the deer appeared at the head of the +glen, compelled into a very narrow compass, and presenting such a +formidable phalanx, that their antlers appeared at a distance, +over the ridge of the steep pass, like a leafless grove. Their +number was very great, and from a desperate stand which they +made, with the tallest of the red-deer stags arranged in front, +in a sort of battle array, gazing on the group which barred their +passage down the glen, the more experienced sportsmen began to +augur danger. The work of destruction, however, now commenced on +all sides. Dogs and hunters were at work, and muskets and fusees +resounded from every quarter. The deer, driven to desperation, +made at length a fearful charge right upon the spot where the +more distinguished sportsmen had taken their stand. The word was +given in Gaelic to fling themselves upon their faces; but +Waverley, on whose English ears the signal was lost, had almost +fallen a sacrifice to his ignorance of the ancient language in +which it was communicated. Fergus, observing his danger, sprang +up and pulled him with violence to the ground, just as the whole +herd broke down upon them. The tide being absolutely +irresistible, and wounds from a stag's horn highly dangerous, the +activity of the Chieftain may be considered, on this occasion, as +having saved his guest's life. [The thrust from the tynes, or +branches, of the stag's horns, was accounted far more dangerous +than those of the boar's tusk:-- + + If thou be hurt with horn of stag, it brings thee to thy bier, + But barber's hand shall boar's hurt heal; thereof have thou no + fear.] + +He detained him with a firm grasp until the whole herd of deer +had fairly run over them. Waverley then attempted to rise, but +found that he had suffered several very severe contusions; and, +upon a further examination, discovered that he had sprained his +ankle violently. + +This checked the mirth of the meeting, although the Highlanders, +accustomed to such incidents, and prepared for them, had suffered +no harm themselves. A wigwam was erected almost in an instant, +where Edward was deposited on a couch of heather. The surgeon, +or he who assumed the office, appeared to unite the characters of +a leech and a conjurer. He was an old smoke-dried Highlander, +wearing a venerable grey beard, and having for his sole garment a +tartan frock, the skirts of which descended to the knee; and, +being undivided in front, made the vestment serve at once for +doublet and breeches. [This garb, which resembled the dress +often put on children in Scotland, called a polonie (i.e. +polonaise), is a very ancient modification of the Highland garb. +It was, in fact, the hauberk or shirt of mail, only composed of +cloth instead of rings of armour.] He observed great ceremony in +approaching Edward; and though our hero was writhing with pain, +would not proceed to any operation which might assuage it until +he had perambulated his couch three times, moving from east to +west, according to the course of the sun. This, which was called +making the DEASIL, [Old Highlanders will still make the deasil +around those whom they wish well to. To go round a person in the +opposite direction, or wither-shins (German WIDER-SHINS), is +unlucky, and a sort of incantation.] both the leech and the +assistants seemed to consider as a matter of the last importance +to the accomplishment of a cure; and Waverley, whom pain rendered +incapable of expostulation, and who indeed saw no chance of its +being attended to, submitted in silence. + +After this ceremony was duly performed, the old Esculapius let +his patient blood with a cupping-glass with great dexterity, and +proceeded, muttering all the while to himself in Gaelic, to boil +on the fire certain herbs, with which he compounded an +embrocation. He then fomented the parts which had sustained +injury, never failing to murmur prayers or spells, which of the +two Waverley could not distinguish, as his ear only caught the +words GASPER-MELCHIOR-BALTHAZAR-MAX-PRAX-FAX, and similar +gibberish. The fomentation had a speedy effect in alleviating +the pain and swelling, which our hero imputed to the virtue of +the herbs, or the effect of the chafing, but which was by the +bystanders unanimously ascribed to the spells with which the +operation had been accompanied. Edward was given to understand, +that not one of the ingredients had been gathered except during +the full moon, and that the herbalist had, while collecting them, +uniformly recited a charm, which in English ran thus:-- + + Hail to thee, thou holy herb, + That sprung on holy ground! + All in the Mount Olivet + First wert thou found: + Thou art boot for many a bruise, + And healest many a wound; + In our Lady's blessed name, + I take thee from the ground.' + [This metrical spell, or something very like it, is preserved + by Reginald Scott, in his work on Witchcraft.] + +Edward observed, with some surprise, that even Fergus, +notwithstanding his knowledge and education, seemed to fall in +with the superstitious ideas of his countrymen, either because he +deemed it impolitic to affect scepticism on a matter of general +belief, or more probably because, like most men who do not think +deeply or accurately on such subjects, he had in his mind a +reserve of superstition which balanced the freedom of his +expressions and practice upon other occasions. Waverley made no +commentary, therefore, on the manner of the treatment, but +rewarded the professor of medicine with a liberality beyond the +utmost conception of his wildest hopes. He uttered, on the +occasion, so many incoherent blessings in Gaelic and English, +that Mac-Ivor, rather scandalized at the excess of his +acknowledgements, cut them short, by exclaiming, 'CEUD MILE +MHALLOICH ART ORT!' i.e. 'A hundred thousand curses on you!' +and so pushed the helper of men out of the cabin. + +After Waverley was left alone, the exhaustion of pain and +fatigue,--for the whole day's exercise had been severe,--threw +him into a profound, but yet a feverish sleep, which he chiefly +owed to an opiate draught administered by the old Highlander from +some decoction of herbs in his pharmacopoeia. + +Early the next morning, the purpose of their meeting being over, +and their sports damped by the untoward accident, in which Fergus +and all his friends expressed the greatest sympathy, it became a +question how to dispose of the disabled sportsman. This was +settled by Mac-Ivor, who had a litter prepared, of 'birch and +hazel grey,' + + [On the morrow they made their biers, + of birch and hazel grey.--CHEVY CHASE.] + +which was borne by his people with such caution and +dexterity as renders it not improbable that they may have been +the ancestors of some of those sturdy Gael, who have now the +happiness to transport the belles of Edinburgh, in their sedan +chairs, to ten routs in one evening. When Edward was elevated +upon their shoulders, he could not help being gratified with the +romantic effect produced by the breaking up of this sylvan camp. +[The author has been sometimes accused of confounding fiction +with reality. He therefore thinks it necessary to state, that +the circumstance of the hunting described in the text as +preparatory to the insurrection of 1745, is, so far as he knows, +entirely imaginary. But it is well known such a great hunting +was held in the Forest of Braemar, under the auspices of the +Earl of Mar, as preparatory to the Rebellion of 1715; and most +of the Highland Chieftains who afterwards engaged in that civil +commotion were present on this occasion.] + +The various tribes assembled, each at the pibroch of their native +clan, and each headed by their patriarchal ruler. Some, who had +already begun to retire, were seen winding up the hills, or +descending the passes which led to the scene of action, the sound +of their bagpipes dying upon the ear. Others made still a moving +picture upon the narrow plain, forming various changeful groups, +their feathers and loose plaids waving in the morning breeze, and +their arms glittering in the rising sun. Most of the Chiefs came +to take farewell of Waverley, and to express their anxious hope +they might again, and speedily, meet; but the care of Fergus +abridged the ceremony of taking leave. At length, his own men +being completely assembled and mustered. Mac-Ivor commenced his +march, but not towards the quarter from which they had come. He +gave Edward to understand, that the greater part of his +followers, now on the field, were bound on a distant expedition, +and that when he had deposited him in the house of a gentleman, +who he was sure would pay him every attention, he himself should +be under the necessity of accompanying them the greater part of +the way, but would lose no time in rejoining his friend. + +Waverley was rather surprised that Fergus had not mentioned this +ulterior destination when they set out upon the hunting-party; +but his situation did not admit of many interrogatories. The +greater part of the clansmen went forward under the guidance of +old Ballenkeiroch and Evan Dhu Maccombich, apparently in high +spirits. A few remained for the purpose of escorting the +Chieftain, who walked by the side of Edward's litter, and +attended him with the most affectionate assiduity. About noon, +after a journey which the nature of the conveyance, the pain of +his bruises, and the roughness of the way, rendered inexpressibly +painful, Waverley was hospitably received into the house of a +gentleman related to Fergus, who had prepared for him every +accommodation which the simple habits of living, then universal +in the Highlands, put in his power. In this person, an old man +about seventy, Edward admired a relic of primitive simplicity. +He wore no dress but what his estate afforded. The cloth was the +fleece of his own sheep, woven by his own servants, and stained +into tartan by the dyes produced from the herbs and lichens of +the hills around him. His linen was spun by his daughters and +maid-servants, from his own flax, nor did his table, though +plentiful, and varied with game and fish, offer an article but +what was of native produce. + +Claiming himself no rights of clanship or vassalage, he was +fortunate in the alliance and protection of Vich Ian Vohr and +other bold and enterprising Chieftains, who protected him in the +quiet unambitious life he loved. It is true, the youth born on +his grounds were often enticed to leave him for the service of +his more active friends; but a few old servants and tenants used +to shake their grey locks when they heard their master censured +for want of spirit, and observed, 'When the wind is still, the +shower falls soft.' This good old man, whose charity and +hospitality were unbounded, would have received Waverley with +kindness, had he been the meanest Saxon peasant, since his +situation required assistance. But his attention to a friend and +guest of Vich Ian Vohr was anxious and unremitted. Other +embrocations were applied to the injured limb, and new spells +were put in practice. At length, after more solicitude than was +perhaps for the advantage of his health, Fergus took farewell of +Edward for a few days, when, he said, he would return to +Tomanrait, and hoped by that time Waverley would be able to ride +one of the Highland ponies of his landlord, and in that manner +return to Glennaquoich. + +The next day, when his good old host appeared, Edward learned +that his friend had departed with the dawn, leaving none of his +followers except Callum Beg, the sort of foot-page who used to +attend his person, and who had it now in charge to wait upon +Waverley. On asking his host if he knew where the Chieftain was +gone, the old man looked fixedly at him, with something +mysterious and sad in the smile which was his only reply. +Waverley repeated his question, to which his host answered in a +proverb,-- + + What sent the messengers to hell, + Was asking what they knew full well.' + [Corresponding to the Lowland saying, 'Mony ane speirs the + gate they ken fu' weel.] + +He was about to proceed, but Callum Beg said, rather pertly, as +Edward thought, that 'Ta Tighearnach (i.e. the Chief) did not +like ta Sassenagh Duinhe-wassel to be pingled wi' mickle +speaking, as she was na tat weel.' From this Waverley concluded +he should disoblige his friend by inquiring of a stranger the +object of a journey which he himself had not communicated. + +It is unnecessary to trace the progress of our hero's recovery. +The sixth morning had arrived, and he was able to walk about with +a staff, when Fergus returned with about a score of his men. He +seemed in the highest spirits, congratulated Waverley on his +progress towards recovery, and finding he was able to sit on +horseback, proposed their immediate return to Glennaquoich, +Waverley joyfully acceded, for the form of his fair mistress had +lived in his dreams during all the time of his confinement. + + Now he has ridden o'er moor and moss, + O'er hill and many a glen. + +Fergus, all the while, with his myrmidons, striding stoutly by +his side, or diverging to get a shot at a roe or a heath-cock. +Waverley's bosom beat thick when they approached the old tower of +Ian nan Chaistel, and could distinguish the fair form of its +mistress advancing to meet them. + +Fergus began immediately, with his usual high spirits, to +exclaim, 'Open your gates, incomparable princess, to the wounded +Moor Abindarez, whom Rodrigo de Narvez, constable of Antiquera, +conveys to your castle; or open them, if you like it better, to +the renowned Marquis of Mantua, the sad attendant of his half- +slain friend, Baldovinos of the Mountain.--Ah, long rest to thy +soul, Cervantes! without quoting thy remnants, how should I +frame my language to befit romantic ears!' + +Flora now advanced, and welcoming Waverley with much kindness, +expressed her regret for his accident, of which she had already +heard the particulars, and her surprise that her brother should +not have taken better care to put a stranger on his guard against +the perils of the sport in which he engaged him. Edward easily +exculpated the Chieftain, who, indeed, at his own personal risk, +had probably saved his life. + +This greeting over, Fergus said three or four words to his sister +in Gaelic. The tears instantly sprang to her eyes, but they +seemed to be tears of devotion and joy, for she looked up to +heaven, and folded her hands as in a solemn expression of prayer +or gratitude. After the pause of a minute, she presented to +Edward some letters which had been forwarded from Tully-Veolan +during his absence, and, at the same time, delivered some to her +brother. To the latter she likewise gave three or four numbers +of the CALEDONIAN MERCURY, the only newspaper which was then +published to the north of the Tweed. + +Both gentlemen retired to examine their dispatches, and Edward +speedily found that those which he had received contained matters +of very deep interest. + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NEWS FROM ENGLAND + +The letters which Waverley had hitherto received from his +relations in England, were not such as required any particular +notice in this narrative. His father usually wrote to him with +the pompous affectation of one who was too much oppressed by +public affairs to find leisure to attend to those of his own +family. Now and then he mentioned persons of rank in Scotland to +whom he wished his son should pay some attention; but Waverley, +hitherto occupied by the amusements which he had found at Tully- +Veolan and Glennaquoich, dispensed with paying any attention to +hints so coldly thrown out, especially as distance, shortness of +leave of absence, and so forth, furnished a ready apology. But +latterly the burden of Mr. Richard Waverley's paternal epistles +consisted in certain mysterious hints of greatness and influence +which he was speedily to attain, and which would ensure his son's +obtaining the most rapid promotion, should he remain in the +military service. Sir Everard's letters were of a different +tenor. They were short; for the good Baronet was none of your +illimitable correspondents, whose manuscript overflows the folds +of their large post paper, and leaves no room for the seal; but +they were kind and affectionate, and seldom concluded without +some allusion to our hero's stud, some question about the state +of his purse, and a special inquiry after such of his recruits as +had preceded him from Waverley-Honour. Aunt Rachel charged him +to remember his principles of religion, to take care of his +health, to beware of Scotch mists, which, she had heard, would +wet an Englishman through and through; never to go out at night +without his great-coat; and, above all, to wear flannel next to +his skin. + +Mr. Pembroke only wrote to our hero one letter, but it was of the +bulk of six epistles of these degenerate days, containing, in the +moderate compass of ten folio pages, closely written, a precis of +a supplementary quarto manuscript of ADDENDA, DELENDA, ET +CORRIGENDA, in reference to the two tracts with which he had +presented Waverley. This he considered as a mere sop in the pan +to stay the appetite of Edward's curiosity, until he should find +an opportunity of sending down the volume itself, which was much +too heavy for the post, and which he proposed to accompany with +certain interesting pamphlets, lately published by his friend in +Little Britain, with whom he had kept up a sort of literary +correspondence, in virtue of which the library shelves of +Waverley-Honour were loaded with much trash, and a good round +bill, seldom summed in fewer than three figures, was yearly +transmitted, in which Sir Everard Waverley, of Waverley-Honour, +Bart., was marked Dr. to Jonathan Grubbet, bookseller and +stationer, Little Britain. Such had hitherto been the style of +the letters which Edward had received from England; but the +packet delivered to him at Glennaquoich was of a different and +more interesting complexion. It would be impossible for the +reader, even were I to insert the letters at full length, to +comprehend the real cause of their being written, without a +glance into the interior of the British Cabinet at the period in +question. + +The Ministers of the day happened (no very singular event) to be +divided into two parties; the weakest of which, making up by +assiduity of intrigue their inferiority in real consequence, had +of late acquired some new proselytes, and with them the hope of +superseding their rivals in the favour of their sovereign, and +overpowering them in the House of Commons. Amongst others, they +had thought it worth while to practise upon Richard Waverley. +This honest gentleman, by a grave mysterious demeanour, an +attention to the etiquette of business, rather more than to its +essence, a facility in making long dull speeches, consisting of +truisms and commonplaces, hashed up with a technical jargon of +office, which prevented the inanity of his orations from being +discovered, had acquired a certain name and credit in public +life, and even established, with many, the character of a +profound politician; none of your shining orators, indeed, whose +talents evaporate in tropes of rhetoric and dashes of wit, but +one possessed of steady parts for business, which would wear +well, as the ladies say in choosing their silks, and ought in all +reason to be good for common and everyday use, since they were +confessedly formed of no holiday texture. + +This faith had become so general, that the insurgent party in the +Cabinet of which we have made mention, after sounding Mr. Richard +Waverley, were so satisfied with his sentiments and abilities, as +to propose, that, in case of a certain revolution in the +ministry, he should take an ostensible place in the new order of +things, not indeed of the very first rank, but greatly higher, in +point both of emolument and influence, than that which he now +enjoyed. There was no resisting so tempting a proposal, +notwithstanding that the Great Man, under whose patronage he had +enlisted and by whose banner he had hitherto stood firm, was the +principal object of the proposed attack by the new allies. +Unfortunately this fair scheme of ambition was blighted in the +very bud, by a premature movement. All the official gentlemen +concerned in it, who hesitated to take the part of a voluntary +resignation, were informed that the king had no further occasion +for their services; and, in Richard Waverley's case, which the +Minister considered as aggravated by ingratitude; dismissal was +accompanied by something like personal contempt and contumely. +The public, and even the party of whom he shared the fall, +sympathized little in the disappointment of this selfish and +interested statesman; and he retired to the country under the +comfortable reflection, that he had lost, at the same time, +character, credit, and,--what he at least equally deplored,-- +emolument. + +Richard Waverley's letter to his son upon this occasion was a +masterpiece of its kind. Aristides himself could not have made +out a harder case. An unjust monarch, and an ungrateful country, +were the burden of each rounded paragraph. He spoke of long +services, and unrequited sacrifices; though the former had been +overpaid by his salary, and nobody could guess in what the latter +consisted, unless it were in his deserting, not from conviction, +but for the lucre of gain, the Tory principles of his family. In +the conclusion, his resentment was wrought to such an excess by +the force of his own oratory, that he could not repress some +threats of vengeance, however vague and impotent, and finally +acquainted his son with his pleasure that he should testify his +sense of the ill-treatment he had sustained, by throwing up his +commission as soon as the letter reached him. This, he said, was +also his uncle's desire, as he would himself intimate in due +course. + +Accordingly, the next letter which Edward opened was from Sir +Everard. His brother's disgrace seemed to have removed from his +well-natured bosom all recollection of their differences, and, +remote as he was from every means of learning that Richard's +disgrace was in reality only the just, as well as natural +consequence, of his own unsuccessful intrigues, the good but +credulous Baronet at once set it down as a new and enormous +instance of the injustice of the existing Government. It was +true, he said, and he must not disguise it even from Edward, that +his father could not have sustained such an insult as was now, +for the first time, offered to one of his house, unless he had +subjected himself to it by accepting of an employment under the +present system. Sir Everard had no doubt that he now both saw +and felt the magnitude of this error, and it should be his (Sir +Everard's) business, to take care that the cause of his regret +should not extend itself to pecuniary consequences. It was +enough for a Waverley to have sustained the public disgrace; the +patrimonial injury could easily be obviated by the head of their +family. But it was both the opinion of Mr. Richard Waverley and +his own, that Edward, the representative of the family of +Waverley-Honour, should not remain in a situation which subjected +him also to such treatment as that with which his father had been +stigmatized. He requested his nephew therefore to take the +fittest, and, at the same time, the most speedy opportunity, of +transmitting his resignation to the War-Office, and hinted, +moreover, that little ceremony was necessary where so little had +been used to his father. He sent multitudinous greetings to the +Baron of Bradwardine. + +A letter from Aunt Rachel spoke out even more plainly. She +considered the disgrace of brother Richard as the just reward of +his forfeiting his allegiance to a lawful, though exiled +sovereign, and taking the oaths to an alien; a concession which +her grandfather, Sir Nigel Waverley, refused to make, either to +the Roundhead Parliament or to Cromwell, when his life and +fortune stood in the utmost extremity. She hoped her dear Edward +would follow the footsteps of his ancestors, and as speedily as +possible get rid of the badge of servitude to the usurping +family, and regard the wrongs sustained by his father as an +admonition from Heaven, that every desertion of the line of +loyalty becomes its own punishment. She also concluded with her +respects to Mr. Bradwardine, and begged Waverley would inform her +whether his daughter, Miss Rose, was old enough to wear a pair of +very handsome ear-rings, which she proposed to send as a token of +her affection. The good lady also desired to be informed whether +Mr. Bradwardine took as much Scotch snuff, and danced as +unweariedly, as he did when he was at Waverley-Honour about +thirty years ago. + +These letters, as might have been expected, highly excited +Waverley's indignation. From the desultory style of his studies, +he had not any fixed political opinion to place in opposition to +the movements of indignation which he felt at his father's +supposed wrongs. Of the real cause of his disgrace, Edward was +totally ignorant; nor had his habits at all led him to +investigate the politics of the period in which he lived, or +remark the intrigues in which his father had been so actively +engaged. Indeed, any impressions which he had accidentally +adopted concerning the parties of the times, were (owing to the +society in which he had lived at Waverley-Honour) of a nature +rather unfavourable to the existing government and dynasty. He +entered, therefore, without hesitation, into the resentful +feeling of the relations who had the best title to dictate his +conduct; and not perhaps the less willingly, when he remembered +the tedium of his quarters, and the inferior figure which he had +made among the officers of his regiment. If he could have had +any doubt upon the subject, it would have been decided by the +following letter from his commanding-officer, which, as it is +very short, shall be inserted verbatim:-- + +'SIR, + +'Having carried somewhat beyond the line of my duty an indulgence +which even the lights of nature, and much more those of +Christianity, direct towards errors which may arise from youth +and inexperience, and that altogether without effect, I am +reluctantly compelled, at the present crisis, to use the only +remaining remedy which is in my power. You are therefore, hereby +commanded to repair to --, the head-quarters of the regiment, +within three days after the date of this letter. If you shall +fail to do so, I must report you to the War-Office as absent +without leave, and also take other steps, which will be +disagreeable to you, as well as to, Sir, + + 'Your obedient Servant, + J. GARDINER, Lieut.-Col. + 'Commanding the -- Regt. Dragoons.' + +Edward's blood boiled within him as he read this letter. He had +been accustomed from his very infancy to possess, in a great +measure, the disposal of his own time, and thus acquired habits +which rendered the rules of military discipline as unpleasing to +him in this as they were in some other respects. An idea that in +his own case they would not be enforced in a very rigid manner +had also obtained full possession of his mind, and had hitherto +been sanctioned by the indulgent conduct of his lieutenant- +colonel. Neither had anything occurred, to his knowledge, that +should have induced his commanding-officer, without any other +warning than the hints we noticed at the end of the fourteenth +chapter, so suddenly to assume a harsh, and, as Edward deemed it, +so insolent a tone of dictatorial authority. Connecting it with +the letters he had just received from his family, he could not +but suppose that it was designed to make him feel, in his present +situation, the same pressure of authority which had been +exercised in his father's case, and that the whole was a +concerted scheme to depress and degrade every member of the +Waverley family. + +Without a pause, therefore, Edward wrote a few cold lines, +thanking his lieutenant-colonel for past civilities, and +expressing regret that he should have chosen to efface the +remembrance of them, by assuming a different tone towards him. +The strain of his letter, as well as what he (Edward) conceived +to be his duty, in the present crisis, called upon him to lay +down his commission; and he therefore enclosed the formal +resignation of a situation which subjected him to so unpleasant a +correspondence, and requested Colonel Gardiner would have the +goodness to forward it to the proper authorities. + +Having finished this magnanimous epistle, he felt somewhat +uncertain concerning the terms in which his resignation ought to +be expressed, upon which subject he resolved to consult Fergus +Mac-Ivor. It may be observed in passing, that the bold and +prompt habits of thinking, acting, and speaking, which +distinguished this young Chieftain, had given him a considerable +ascendancy over the mind of Waverley. Endowed with at least +equal powers of understanding, and with much finer genius, Edward +yet stooped to the bold and decisive activity of an intellect +which was sharpened by the habit of acting on a preconceived and +regular system, as well as by extensive knowledge of the world. + +When Edward found his friend, the latter had still in his hand +the newspaper which he had perused, and advanced to meet him with +the embarrassment of one who has unpleasing news to communicate. +'Do your letters, Captain Waverley, confirm the unpleasing +information which I find in this paper?' + +He put the paper into his hand, where his father's disgrace was +registered in the most bitter terms, transferred probably from +some London journal. At the end of the paragraph was this +remarkable innuendo:-- + +'We understand, that "this same RICHARD, who hath done all this," +is not the only example of the WAVERING HONOUR of W-v-rl-y H-n-r. +See the GAZETTE of this day.' + +With hurried and feverish apprehension our hero turned to the +place referred to, and found therein recorded, 'Edward Waverley, +captain in -- regiment dragoons, superseded for absence without +leave:' and in the list of military promotions, referring to the +same regiment, he discovered this further article, 'Lieut. Julius +Butler, to be captain, vice Edward Waverley, superseded.' + +Our hero's bosom glowed with the resentment which undeserved and +apparently premeditated insult was calculated to excite in the +bosom of one who had aspired after honour, and was thus wantonly +held up to public scorn and disgrace. Upon comparing the date of +his colonel's letter with that of the article in the GAZETTE, he +perceived that his threat of making a report upon his absence had +been literally fulfilled, and without inquiry, as it seemed, +whether Edward had either received his summons, or was disposed +to comply with it. The whole, therefore, appeared a formed plan +to degrade him in the eyes of the public; and the idea of its +having succeeded filled him with such bitter emotions, that, +after various attempts to conceal them, he at length threw +himself into Mac-Ivor's arms, and gave vent to tears of shame and +indignation. + +It was none of this Chieftain's faults to be indifferent to the +wrongs of his friends; and for Edward, independent of certain +plans with which he was connected, he felt a deep and sincere +interest. The proceeding appeared as extraordinary to him as it +had done to Edward. He indeed knew of more motives than Waverley +was privy to, for the peremptory order that he should join his +regiment. But that, without further inquiry into the +circumstances of a necessary delay, the commanding officer, in +contradiction to his known and established character, should have +proceeded in so harsh and unusual a manner, was a mystery which +he could not penetrate. He soothed our hero, however, to the +best of his power, and began to turn his thoughts on revenge for +his insulted honour. + +Edward eagerly grasped at the idea. 'Will you carry a message +for me to Colonel Gardiner, my dear Fergus, and oblige me for +ever?' + +Fergus paused. 'It is an act of friendship which you should +command, could it be useful, or lead to the righting your honour; +but in the present case, I doubt if your commanding-officer would +give you the meeting on account of his having taken measures, +which, however harsh and exasperating, were still within the +strict bounds of his duty. Besides, Gardiner is a precise +Huguenot, and has adopted certain ideas about the sinfulness of +such rencontres, from which it would be impossible to make him +depart, especially as his courage is beyond all suspicion. And +besides, I--I--to say the truth--I dare not at this moment, for +some very weighty reasons, go near any of the military quarters +or garrisons belonging to this government.' + +'And am I,' said Waverley, 'to sit down quiet and contented under +the injury I have received?' + +'That will I never advise, my friend,' replied Mac-Ivor. 'But I +would have vengeance to fall on the head, not on the hand; on the +tyrannical and oppressive Government which designed and directed +these premeditated and reiterated insults, not on the tools of +office which they employed in the execution of the injuries they +aimed at you.' + +'On the Government!' said Waverley. + +'Yes,' replied the impetuous Highlander, 'on the usurping House +of Hanover, whom your grandfather would no more have served than +he would have taken wages of red-hot gold from the great fiend of +hell!' + +'But since the time of my grandfather, two generations of this +dynasty have possessed the throne,' said Edward, coolly. + +'True,' replied the Chieftain; 'and because we have passively +given them so long the means of showing their native character, +--because both you and I myself have lived in quiet submission, +have even truckled to the times so far as to accept commissions +under them, and thus have given them an opportunity of disgracing +us publicly by resuming them,--are we not on that account to +resent injuries which our fathers only apprehended, but which we +have actually sustained? Or is the cause of the unfortunate +Stuart family become less just, because their title has devolved +upon an heir who is innocent of the charges of misgovernment +brought against his father? Do you remember the lines of your +favourite poet?-- + + Had Richard unconstrained resigned the throne, + A king can give no more than is his own; + The title stood entailed had Richard had a son. + +You see, my dear Waverley, I can quote poetry as well as Flora +and you. But come, clear your moody brow, and trust to me to +show you an honourable road to a speedy and glorious revenge. +Let us seek Flora, who perhaps has more news to tell us of what +has occurred during our absence. She will rejoice to hear that +you are relieved of your servitude. But first add a postcript to +your letter, marking the time when you received this +calvinistical Colonel's first summons, and express your regret +that the hastiness of his proceedings prevented your anticipating +them by sending your resignation. Then let him blush for his +injustice.' + +The letter was sealed accordingly, covering a formal resignation +of the commission, and Mac-Ivor dispatched it with some letters +of his own by a special messenger, with charge to put them into +the nearest post office in the Lowlands. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +AN ECLAIRCISSEMENT + +The hint which the Chieftain had thrown out respecting Flora was +not unpremeditated. He had observed with great satisfaction the +growing attachment of Waverley to his sister, nor did he see any +bar to their union, excepting the situation which Waverley's +father held in the ministry, and Edward's own commission in the +army of George II. These obstacles were now removed, and in a +manner which apparently paved the way for the son's becoming +reconciled to another allegiance. In every other respect the +match would be most eligible. The safety, happiness, and +honourable provision of his sister, whom he dearly loved, +appeared to be ensured by the proposed union; and his heart +swelled when he considered how his own interest would be exalted +in the eyes of the ex-monarch to whom he had dedicated his +service, by an alliance with one of those ancient, powerful, and +wealthy English families of the steady Cavalier faith, to awaken +whose decayed attachment to the Stuart family was now a matter of +such vital importance to the Stuart cause. Nor could Fergus +perceive any obstacle to such a scheme. Waverley's attachment +was evident; and as his person was handsome, and his taste +apparently coincided with her own, he anticipated no opposition +on the part of Flora. Indeed, between his ideas of patriarchal +power, and those which he had acquired in France respecting the +disposal of females in marriage, any opposition from his sister, +dear as she was to him, would have been the last obstacle on +which he would have calculated, even had the union been less +eligible. + +Influenced by these feelings, the Chief now led Waverley in quest +of Miss Mac-Ivor, not without the hope that the present agitation +of his guest's spirits might give him courage to cut short what +Fergus termed the romance of the courtship. They found Flora, +with her faithful attendants, Una and Cathleen, busied in +preparing what appeared to Waverley to be white bridal favours. +Disguising as well as he could the agitation of his mind, +Waverley asked for what joyful occasion Miss Mac-Ivor made such +ample preparation. + +'It is for Fergus's bridal,' she said, smiling. + +'Indeed!' said Edward; 'he has kept his secret well. I hope he +will allow me to be his bride's-man.' + +'That is a man's office, but not yours, as Beatrice says,' +retorted Flora. + +'And who is the fair lady, may I be permitted to ask, Miss Mac- +Ivor?' + +'Did not I tell you long since, that Fergus wooed no bride but +Honour?' answered Flora. + +'And am I then incapable of being his assistant and counsellor in +the pursuit of honour?' said our hero, colouring deeply. 'Do I +rank so low in your opinion?' + +'Far from it, Captain Waverley. I would to God you were of our +determination! and made use of the expression which displeased +you, solely + + Because you are not of our quality, + But stand against us as an enemy. + +'That time is past, sister,' said Fergus; 'and you may wish +Edward Waverley (no longer captain) joy of being freed from the +slavery to an usurper, implied in that sable and ill-omened +emblem.' + +'Yes,' said Waverley, undoing the cockade from his hat, 'it has +pleased the king who bestowed this badge upon me, to resume it in +a manner which leaves me little reason to regret his service.' + +'Thank God for that!' cried the enthusiast;--'and oh that they +may be blind enough to treat every man of honour who serves them +with the same indignity, that I may have less to sigh for when +the struggle approaches! + +'And now, sister,' said the Chieftain, 'replace his cockade with +one of a more lively colour, I think it was the fashion of the +ladies of yore to arm and send forth their knights to high +achievement.' + +'Not,' replied the lady, 'till the knight adventurer had well +weighed the justice and the danger of the cause, Fergus. Mr. +Waverley is just now too much agitated by feelings of recent +emotion, for me to press upon him a resolution of consequence.' + +Waverley felt half alarmed at the thought of adopting the badge +of what was by the majority of the kingdom esteemed rebellion, +yet he could not disguise his chagrin at the coldness with which +Flora parried her brother's hint. 'Miss Mac-Ivor, I perceive, +thinks the knight unworthy of her encouragement and favour,' said +he, somewhat bitterly. + +'Not so, Mr. Waverley,' she replied, with great sweetness. 'Why +should I refuse my brother's valued friend a boon which I am +distributing to his whole clan? Most willingly would I enlist +every man of honour in the cause to which my brother has devoted +himself. But Fergus has taken his measures with his eyes open. +His life has been devoted to this cause from his cradle; with him +its call is sacred, were it even a summons to the tomb. But how +can I wish you, Mr. Waverley, so new to the world, so far from +every friend who might advise and ought to influence you,--in a +moment too of sudden pique and indignation,--how can I wish you +to plunge yourself at once into so desperate an enterprise?' + +Fergus, who did not understand these delicacies, strode through +the apartment biting his lip, and then, with a constrained smile, +said, 'Well, sister, I leave you to act your new character of +mediator between the Elector of Hanover and the subjects of your +lawful sovereign and benefactor,' and left the room. + +There was a painful pause, which was at length broken by Miss +Mac-Ivor. 'My brother is unjust,' she said, 'because he can bear +no interruption that seems to thwart his loyal zeal.' + +'And do you not share his ardour?' asked Waverley. + +'Do I not?' answered Flora--'God knows mine exceeds his, if that +be possible. But I am not, like him, rapt by the bustle of +military preparation, and the infinite detail necessary to the +present undertaking, beyond consideration of the grand principles +of justice and truth, on which our enterprise is grounded; and +these, I am certain, can only be furthered by measures in +themselves true and just. To operate upon your present feelings, +my dear Mr. Waverley, to induce you to an irretrievable step, of +which you have not considered either the justice or the danger, +is, in my poor judgement, neither the one nor the other.' + +'Incomparable Flora!' said Edward, taking her hand, 'how much do +I need such a monitor!' + +'A better one by far,' said Flora, gently withdrawing her hand, +'Mr. Waverley will always find in his own bosom, when he will +give its small still voice leisure to be heard.' + +'No, Miss Mac-Ivor, I dare not hope it. A thousand circumstances +of fatal self-indulgence have made me the creature rather of +imagination than reason. Durst I but hope--could I but think +that you would deign to be to me that affectionate, that +condescending friend, who would strengthen me to redeem my +errors, my future life'-- + +'Hush, my dear sir! now you carry your joy at escaping the hands +of a Jacobite recruiting officer to an unparalleled excess of +gratitude.' + +'Nay, dear Flora, trifle with me no longer; you cannot mistake +the meaning of those feelings which I have almost involuntarily +expressed; and since I have broken the barrier of silence, let me +profit by my audacity--Or may I, with your permission, mention to +your brother'-- + +'Not for the world, Mr. Waverley!' + +'What am I to understand?' said Edward. 'Is there any fatal +bar--has any prepossession'-- + +'None, sir,' answered Flora. 'I owe it to myself to say, that I +never yet saw the person on whom I thought with reference to the +present subject.' + +'The shortness of our acquaintance, perhaps--If Miss Mac-Ivor +will deign to give me time' + +'I have not even that excuse. Captain Waverley's character is so +open--is, in short, of that nature, that it cannot be +misconstrued, either in its strength or its weakness.' + +'And for that weakness you despise me?' said Edward. + +'Forgive me, Mr. Waverley, and remember it is but within this +half-hour that there existed between us a barrier of a nature to +me insurmountable, since I never could think of an officer in the +service of the Elector of Hanover in any other light than as a +casual acquaintance. Permit me then to arrange my ideas upon so +unexpected a topic, and in less than an hour I will be ready to +give you such reasons for the resolution I shall express, as may +be satisfactory at least, if not pleasing to you.' So saying, +Flora withdrew, leaving Waverley to meditate upon the manner in +which she had received his addresses. + +Ere he could make up his mind whether to believe his suit had +been acceptable or no, Fergus re-entered the apartment. 'What, A +LA MORT, Waverley?' he cried. 'Come down with me to the court, +and you shall see a sight worth all the tirades of your romances. +An hundred firelocks, my friend, and as many broadswords, just +arrived from good friends; and two or three hundred stout fellows +almost fighting which shall first possess them.--But let me look +at you closer--Why, a true Highlander would say you had been +blighted by an evil eye.--Or can it be this silly girl that has +thus blanked your spirit?--Never mind her, dear Edward; the +wisest of her sex are fools in what regards the business of +life.' + +'Indeed, my good friend,' answered Waverley, 'all that I can +charge against your sister is, that she is too sensible, too +reasonable.' + +'If that be all, I ensure you for a louis d'or against the mood +lasting four-and-twenty hours. No woman was ever steadily +sensible for that period; and I will engage, if that will please +you, Flora shall be as unreasonable to-morrow as any of her sex. +You must learn, my dear Edward, to consider women EN +MOUSQUETAIRE.' So saying, he seized Waverley's arm, and dragged +him off to review his military preparations. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +UPON THE SAME SUBJECT + +Fergus Mac-Ivor had too much tact and delicacy to renew the +subject which he had interrupted. His head was, or appeared to +be, so full of guns, broadswords, bonnets, canteens, and tartan +hose, that Waverley could not for some time draw his attention to +any other topic. + +'Are you to take the field so soon, Fergus,' he asked, 'that you +are making all these martial preparations?' + +'When we have settled that you go with me, you shall know all; +but otherwise, the knowledge might rather be prejudicial to you.' + +'But are you serious in your purpose, with such inferior forces, +to rise against an established government? It is mere frenzy.' + +'LAISSEZ FAIRE A DON ANTOINE--I shall take good care of myself. +We shall at least use the compliment of Conan, who never got a +stroke but he gave one. I would not, however,' continued the +Chieftain, 'have you think me mad enough to stir till a +favourable opportunity: I will not slip my dog before the game's +afoot. But once more, will you join with us, and you shall know +all?' + +'How can I?' said Waverley; 'I who have so lately held that +commission which is now posting back to those that gave it? My +accepting it implied a promise of fidelity, and an +acknowledgement of the legality of the government. + +'A rash promise,' answered Fergus, 'is not a steel handcuff; it +may be shaken off, especially when it was given under deception, +and has been repaid by insult. But if you cannot immediately +make up your mind to a glorious revenge, go to England, and ere +you cross the Tweed, you will hear tidings that will make the +world ring; and if Sir Everard be the gallant old cavalier I have +heard him described by some of our HONEST gentlemen of the year +one thousand seven hundred and fifteen, he will find you a better +horse-troop and a better cause than you have lost.' + +'But your sister, Fergus?' + +'Out, hyperbolical fiend,' replied the Chief, laughing; 'how +vexest thou this man!--Speak'st thou of nothing but of ladies?' + +'Nay, be serious, my dear friend,' said Waverley; 'I feel that +the happiness of my future life must depend upon the answer which +Miss Mac-Ivor shall make to what I ventured to tell her this +morning.' + +'And is this your very sober earnest,' said Fergus, more gravely, +'or are we in the land of romance and fiction?' + +'My earnest, undoubtedly. How could you suppose me jesting on +such a subject?' + +'Then, in very sober earnest,' answered his friend, 'I am very +glad to hear it; and so highly do I think of Flora, that; you are +the only man in England for whom I would say so much.--But before +you shake my hand so warmly, there is more to be considered.-- +Your own family--will they approve your connecting yourself with +the sister of a highborn Highland beggar?' + +'My uncle's situation,' said Waverley, 'his general opinions, and +his uniform indulgence, entitle me to say, that birth and +personal qualities are all he would look to in such a connexion. +And where can I find both united in such excellence as in your +sister?' + +'Oh, nowhere!--CELA VA SANS DIRE,' replied Fergus with a smile. +'But your father will expect a father's prerogative in being +consulted.' + +'Surely; but his late breach with the ruling powers removes all +apprehension of objection on his part, especially as I am +convinced that my uncle will be warm in my cause.' + +'Religion, perhaps,' said Fergus, 'may make obstacles, though we +are not bigoted Catholics.' + +'My grandmother was of the Church of Rome, and her religion was +never objected to by my family.--Do not think of MY friends, dear +Fergus; let me rather have your influence where it may be more +necessary to remove obstacles--I mean with your lovely sister.' + +'My lovely sister,' replied Fergus, 'like her loving brother, is +very apt to have a pretty decisive will of her own, by which, in +this case, you must be ruled; but you shall not want my interest, +nor my counsel. And, in the first place, I will give you one +hint--loyalty is her ruling passion; and since she could spell an +English book, she has been in love with the memory of the gallant +Captain Wogan, who renounced the service of the usurper Cromwell +to join the standard of Charles II, marched a handful of cavalry +from London to the Highlands to join Middleton, then in arms for +the king, and at length died gloriously in the royal cause. Ask +her to show you some verses she made on his history and fate; +they have been much admired, I assure you. The next point is--I +think I saw Flora go up towards the waterfall a short time since +--follow, man, follow! don't allow the garrison time to +strengthen its purposes of resistance--ALERTE A LA MURAILLE! +Seek Flora out, and learn her decision as soon as you can--and +Cupid go with you, while I go to look over belts and cartouch- +boxes.' + +Waverley ascended the glen with an anxious and throbbing heart. +Love, with all its romantic train of hopes, fears, and wishes, +was mingled with other feelings of a nature less easily defined. +He could not but remember how much this morning had changed his +fate, and into what a complication of perplexity it was likely to +plunge him. Sunrise had seen him possessed of an esteemed rank +in the honourable profession of arms, his father to all +appearance rapidly rising in the favour of his sovereign;--all +this had passed away like a dream--he himself was dishonoured, +his father disgraced, and he had become involuntarily the +confidant at least, if not the accomplice, of plans dark, deep, +and dangerous, which must infer either subversion of the +government he had so lately served, or the destruction of all who +had participated in them, Should Flora even listen to his suit +favourably, what prospect was there of its being brought to a +happy termination, amid the tumult of an impending insurrection? +Or how could he make the selfish request that she should leave +Fergus, to whom she was so much attached, and, retiring with him +to England, wait, as a distant spectator, the success of her +brother's undertaking, or the ruin of all his hopes and +fortunes!--Or, on the other hand, to engage himself, with no +other aid than his single arm, in the dangerous and precipitate +counsels of the Chieftain,--to be whirled along by him, the +partaker of all his desperate and impetuous motions, renouncing +almost the power of judging, or deciding upon the rectitude or +prudence of his actions,--this was no pleasing prospect for the +secret pride of Waverley to stoop to. And yet what other +conclusion remained, saving the rejection of his addresses by +Flora, an alternative not to be thought of in the present high- +wrought state of his feelings, with anything short of mental +agony. Pondering the doubtful and dangerous prospect before him, +he at length arrived near the cascade, where, as Fergus had +augured, he found Flora seated. + +She was quite alone; and, as soon as she observed his approach, +she arose, and came to meet him. Edward attempted to say +something within the verge of ordinary compliment and +conversation, but found himself unequal to the task. Flora +seemed at first equally embarrassed, but recovered herself more +speedily, and (an unfavourable augury for Waverley's suit) was +the first to enter upon the subject of their last interview, 'It +is too important, in every point of view, Mr. Waverley, to permit +me to leave you in doubt on my sentiments.' + +'Do not speak them speedily,' said Waverley, much agitated, +'unless they are such as, I fear from your manner, I must not dare +to anticipate. Let time--let my future conduct--let your +brother's influence'-- + +'Forgive me, Mr. Waverley,' said Flora, her complexion a little +heightened, but her voice firm and composed. 'I should incur my +own heavy censure, did I delay expressing my sincere conviction +that I can never regard you otherwise than as a valued friend. I +should do you the highest injustice did I conceal my sentiments +for a moment. I see I distress you, and I grieve for it, but +better now than later; and oh, better a thousand times, Mr. +Waverley, that you should feel a present momentary +disappointment, than the long and heart-sickening griefs which +attend a rash and ill-assorted marriage!' + +'Good God!' exclaimed Waverley, 'why should you anticipate such +consequences from a union where birth is equal, where fortune is +favourable, where, if I may venture to say so, the tastes are +similar, where you allege no preference for another, where you +even express a favourable opinion of him whom you reject?' + +'Mr. Waverley, I HAVE that favourable opinion,' answered Flora; +'and so strongly, that though I would rather have been silent on +the grounds of my resolution, you shall command them, if you +exact such a mark of my esteem and confidence.' + +She sat down upon a fragment of rock, and Waverley, placing +himself near her, anxiously pressed for the explanation she +offered. + +'I dare hardly,' she said, 'tell you the situation of my +feelings, they are so different from those usually ascribed to +young women at my period of life; and I dare hardly touch upon +what I conjecture to be the nature of yours, lest I should give +offence where I would willingly administer consolation. For +myself, from my infancy till this day, I have had but one wish +--the restoration of my royal benefactors to their rightful +throne. It is impossible to express to you the devotion of my +feelings to this single subject; and I will frankly confess, that +it has so occupied my mind as to exclude every thought respecting +what is called my own settlement in life. Let me but live to see +the day of that happy restoration, and a Highland cottage, a +French convent, or an English palace, will be alike indifferent +to me.' + +'But, dearest Flora, how is your enthusiastic zeal for the exiled +family inconsistent with my happiness?' + +'Because you seek, or ought to seek in the object of your +attachment, a heart whose principal delight should be in +augmenting your domestic felicity, and returning your affection, +even to the height of romance. To a man of less keen +sensibility, and less enthusiastic tenderness of disposition, +Flora Mac-Ivor might give content, if not happiness; for were the +irrevocable words spoken, never would she be deficient in the +duties which she vowed.' + +'And why--why, Miss Mac-Ivor, should you think yourself a more +valuable treasure to one who is less capable of loving, of +admiring you, than to me?' + +'Simply because the tone of our affections would be more in +unison, and because his more blunted sensibility would not +require the return of enthusiasm which I have not to bestow. But +you, Mr. Waverley, would for ever refer to the idea of domestic +happiness which your imagination is capable of painting, and +whatever fell short of that ideal representation would be +construed into coolness and indifference, while you might +consider the enthusiasm with which I regarded the success of the +royal family as defrauding your affection of its due return.' + +'In other words, Miss Mac-Ivor, you cannot love me?' said her +suitor, dejectedly. + +'I could esteem you, Mr. Waverley, as much, perhaps more, than +any man I have ever seen; but I cannot love you as you ought to +be loved. Oh! do not, for your own sake, desire so hazardous an +experiment! The woman whom you marry ought to have affections +and opinions moulded upon yours. Her studies ought to be your +studies;--her wishes, her feelings, her hopes, her fears, should +all mingle with yours. She should enhance your pleasures, share +your sorrows, and cheer your melancholy.' + +'And, why will not you, Miss Mac-Ivor, who can so well describe a +happy union,--why will not you be yourself the person you +describe?' + +'Is it possible you do not yet comprehend me?' answered Flora. +'Have I not told you, that every keener sensation of my mind is +bent exclusively towards an event, upon which, indeed, I have no +power but those of my earnest prayers?' + +'And might not the granting the suit I solicit,' said Waverley, +too earnest on his purpose to consider what he was about to say, +'even advance the interest to which you have devoted yourself? +My family is wealthy and powerful, inclined in principles to the +Stuart race, and should a favourable opportunity'-- + +'A favourable opportunity!' said Flora, somewhat scornfully,-- +'inclined in principles!--Can such lukewarm adherence be +honourable to yourselves, or gratifying to your lawful +sovereign?--Think, from my present feelings, what I should suffer +when I held the place of member in a family where the rights +which I hold most sacred are subjected to cold discussion, and +only deemed worthy of support when they shall appear on the point +of triumphing without it!' + +'Your doubts,' quickly replied Waverley, 'are unjust as far as +concerns myself. The cause that I shall assert, I dare support +through every danger, as undauntedly as the boldest who draws +sword in its behalf.' + +'Of that,' answered Flora, 'I cannot doubt for a moment. But +consult your own good sense and reason, rather than a +prepossession hastily adopted, probably only because you have met +a young woman possessed of the usual accomplishments, in a +sequestered and romantic situation. Let your part in this great +and perilous drama rest upon conviction, and not on a hurried, +and probably a temporary feeling.' + +Waverley attempted to reply, but his words failed him. Every +sentiment that Flora had uttered vindicated the strength of his +attachment; for even her loyalty, although wildly enthusiastic, +was generous and noble, and disdained to avail itself of any +indirect means of supporting the cause to which she was devoted. + +After walking a little way in silence down the path, Flora thus +resumed the conversation.--'One word more, Mr. Waverley, ere we +bid farewell to this topic for ever; and forgive my boldness if +that word have the air of advice. My brother Fergus is anxious +that you should join him in his present enterprise. But do not +consent to this: you could not, by your single exertions, +further his success, and you would inevitably share his fall, if +it be God's pleasure that fall he must. Your character would +also suffer irretrievably. Let me beg you will return to your +own country; and, having publicly freed yourself from every tie +to the usurping government, I trust you will see cause, and find +opportunity, to serve your injured sovereign with effect, and +stand forth, as your loyal ancestors, at the head of your natural +followers and adherents, a worthy representative of the house of +Waverley.' + +'And should I be so happy as thus to distinguish myself, might I +not hope'-- + +'Forgive my interruption,' said Flora. 'The present time only is +ours, and I can but explain to you with candour the feelings +which I now entertain; how they might be altered by a train of +events too favourable perhaps to be hoped for, it were in vain +even to conjecture: only be assured, Mr. Waverley, that, after +my brother's honour and happiness, there is none which I shall +more sincerely pray for than for yours.' + +With these words she parted from him, for they were now arrived +where two paths separated. Waverley reached the castle amidst a +medley of conflicting passions. He avoided any private interview +with Fergus, as he did not find himself able either to encounter +his raillery, or reply to his solicitations. The wild revelry of +the feast, for Mac-Ivor kept open table for his clan, served in +some degree to stun reflection. When their festivity was ended, +he began to consider how he should again meet Miss Mac-Ivor after +the painful and interesting explanation of the morning. But +Flora did not appear. Fergus, whose eyes flashed when he was +told by Cathleen that her mistress designed to keep her apartment +that evening, went himself in quest of her; but apparently his +remonstrances were in vain, for he returned with a heightened +complexion, and manifest symptoms of displeasure. The rest of +the evening passed on without any allusion, on the part either of +Fergus or Waverley, to the subject which engrossed the +reflections of the latter, and perhaps of both. + +When retired to his own apartment, Edward endeavoured to sum up +the business of the day. That the repulse he had received from +Flora would be persisted in for the present, there was no doubt. +But could he hope for ultimate success in case circumstances +permitted the renewal of his suit? Would the enthusiastic +loyalty, which at this animating moment left no room for a softer +passion, survive, at least in its engrossing force, the success +or the failure of the present political machinations? And if so, +could he hope that the interest which she had acknowledged him to +possess in her favour, might be improved into a warmer +attachment? He taxed his memory to recall every word she had +used, with the appropriate looks and gestures which had enforced +them, and ended by finding himself in the same state of +uncertainty. It was very late before sleep brought relief to the +tumult of his mind, after the most painful and agitating day +which he had ever passed. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +A LETTER FROM TULLY-VEOLAN + +In the morning, when Waverley's troubled reflections had for some +time given way to repose, there came music to his dreams, but not +the voice of Selma. He imagined himself transported back to +Tully-Veolan, and that he heard Davie Gellatley singing in the +court those matins which used generally to be the first sounds +that disturbed his repose while a guest of the Baron of +Bradwardine. The notes which suggested this vision continued, +and waxed louder, until Edward awoke in earnest. The illusion, +however, did not seem entirely dispelled. The apartment was in +the fortress of Ian nan Chaistel, but it was still the voice of +Davie Gellatley that made the following lines resound under the +window:-- + + My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, + My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer; + A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe, + My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go. + [These lines form the burden of an old song to which Burns + wrote additional verses.] + +Curious to know what could have determined Mr. Gellatley on an +excursion of such unwonted extent, Edward began to dress himself +in all haste, during which operation the minstrelsy of Davie +changed its tune more than once:-- + + There's naught in the Highlands but syboes and leeks, + And lang-leggit callants gaun wanting the breeks; + Wanting the breeks, and without hose and shoon, + But we'll a' win the breeks when King Jamie comes hame. + [These lines are also ancient, and I believe to the tune of + 'We'll never hae peace till Jamie comes hame;' + to which Burns likewise wrote some verses.] + +By the time Waverley was dressed and had issued forth, David had +associated himself with two or three of the numerous Highland +loungers who always graced the gates of the castle with their +presence, and was capering and dancing full merrily in the +doubles and full career of a Scotch foursome reel, to the music +of his own whistling. In this double capacity of dancer and +musician, he continued, until an idle piper, who observed his +zeal, obeyed the unanimous call of SEID SUAS (i.e. blow up), and +relieved him from the latter part of his trouble. Young and old +then mingled in the dance as they could find partners. The +appearance of Waverley did not interrupt David's exercise, though +he contrived, by grinning, nodding, and throwing one or two +inclinations of the body into the graces with which he performed +the Highland fling, to convey to our hero symptoms of +recognition. Then, while busily employed in setting, whooping +all the while, and snapping his fingers over his head, he of a +sudden prolonged his side-step until it brought him to the place +where Edward was standing, and, still keeping time to the music +like Harlequin in a pantomime, he thrust a letter into our hero's +hand, and continued his saltation without pause or intermission, +Edward, who perceived that the address was in Rose's handwriting, +retired to peruse it, leaving the faithful bearer to continue his +exercise until the piper or he should be tired out. + +The contents of the letter greatly surprised him. It had +originally commenced with DEAR SIR; but these words had been +carefully erased, and the monosyllable, SIR, substituted in their +place. The rest of the contents shall be given in Rose's own +language :-- + +'I fear I am using an improper freedom by intruding upon you, yet +I cannot trust to any one else to let you know some things which +have happened here, with which it seems necessary you should be +acquainted. Forgive me if I am wrong in what I am doing; for, +alas! Mr. Waverley, I have no better advice than that of my own +feelings;--my dear father is gone from this place, and when he +can return to my assistance and protection, God alone knows. You +have probably heard, that in consequence of some troublesome news +from the Highlands, warrants were sent out for apprehending +several gentlemen in these parts, and, among others, my dear +father. In spite of all my tears and entreaties that he would +surrender himself to the Government, he joined with Mr. Falconer +and some other gentlemen, and they have all gone northwards, with +a body of about forty horsemen. So I am not so anxious +concerning his immediate safety, as about what may follow +afterwards, for these troubles are only beginning. But all this +is nothing to you, Mr. Waverley, only I thought you would be glad +to learn that my father has escaped, in case you happen to have +heard that he was in danger. + +'The day after my father went off, there came a party of soldiers +to Tully-Veolan, and behaved very rudely to Bailie Macwheeble; +but the officer was very civil to me, only said his duty obliged +him to search for arms and papers. My father had provided +against this by taking away all the arms except the old useless +things which hung in the hall; and he had put all his papers out +of the way. But oh! Mr. Waverley, how shall I tell you that +they made strict inquiry after you, and asked when you had been +at Tully-Veolan, and where you now were. The officer is gone +back with his party, but a non-commissioned officer and four men +remain as a sort of garrison in the house. They have hitherto +behaved very well, as we are forced to keep them in good humour. +But these soldiers have hinted as if on your falling into their +hands you would be in great danger; I cannot prevail on myself to +write what wicked falsehoods they said, for I am sure they are +falsehoods; but you will best judge what you ought to do. The +party that returned carried off your servant prisoner, with your +two horses, and everything that you left at Tully-Veolan. I hope +God will protect you, and that you will get safe home to England, +where you used to tell me there was no military violence nor +fighting among clans permitted, but everything was done according +to an equal law that protected all who were harmless and +innocent. I hope you will exert your indulgence as to my +boldness in writing to you, where it seems to me, though perhaps +erroneously, that your safety and honour are concerned. I am +sure--at least I think, my father would approve of my writing; +for Mr. Rubrick is fled to his cousin's at the Duchran, to be out +of danger from the soldiers and the Whigs, and Bailie Macwheeble +does not like to meddle (he says) in other men's concerns, though +I hope what may serve my father's friend at such a time as this, +cannot be termed improper interference. Farewell, Captain +Waverley! I shall probably never see you more; for it would be +very improper to wish you to call at Tully-Veolan just now, even +if these men were gone; but I will always remember with gratitude +your kindness in assisting so poor a scholar as myself, and your +attentions to my dear, dear father. + +'I remain, your obliged servant, + +'ROSE COMYNE BRADWARDINE. + +'PS.--I hope you will send me a line by David Gellatley, just to +say you have received this, and that you will take care of +yourself; and forgive me if I entreat you, for your own sake, to +join none of these unhappy cabals, but escape, as fast as +possible, to your own fortunate country.--My compliments to my +dear Flora, and, to Glennaquoich. Is she not as handsome and +accomplished as I have described her?' + +Thus concluded the letter of Rose Bradwardine, the contents of +which both surprised and affected Waverley. That the Baron +should fall under the suspicions of Government, in consequence of +the present stir among the partisans of the house of Stuart, +seemed only the natural consequence of his political +predilections; but how he himself should have been involved in +such suspicions, conscious that until yesterday he had been free +from harbouring a thought against the prosperity of the reigning +family, seemed inexplicable. Both at Tully-Veolan and +Glennaquoich, his hosts had respected his engagements with the +existing government, and though enough passed by accidental +innuendo that might induce him to reckon the Baron and the Chief +among those disaffected gentlemen who were still numerous in +Scotland, yet until his own connexion with the army had been +broken off by the resumption of his commission, he had no reason +to suppose that they nourished any immediate or hostile attempts +against the present establishment. Still he was aware that +unless he meant at once to embrace the proposal of Fergus Mac- +Ivor, it would deeply concern him to leave the suspicious +neighbourhood without delay, and repair where his conduct might +undergo a satisfactory examination. Upon this he the rather +determined, as Flora's advice favoured his doing so, and because +he felt inexpressible repugnance at the idea of being accessory +to the plague of civil war. Whatever were the original rights of +the Stuarts, calm reflection told him, that, omitting the +question how far James the Second could forfeit those of his +posterity, he had, according to the united voice of the whole +nation, justly forfeited his own. Since that period, four +monarchs had reigned in peace and glory over Britain, sustaining +and exalting the character of the nation abroad, and its +liberties at home. Reason asked, was it worth while to disturb a +government so long settled and established, and to plunge a +kingdom into all the miseries of civil war, for the purpose of +replacing upon the throne the descendants of a monarch by whom it +had been wilfully forfeited? If, on the other hand, his own +final conviction of the goodness of their cause, or the commands +of his father or uncle, should recommend to him allegiance to the +Stuarts, still it was necessary to clear his own character by +showing that he had not, as seemed to be falsely insinuated, +taken any step to this purpose, during his holding the commission +of the reigning monarch. + +The affectionate simplicity of Rose, and her anxiety for his +safety,--his sense, too, of her unprotected state, and of the +terror and actual dangers to which she might be exposed, made an +impression upon his mind, and he instantly wrote to thank her in +the kindest terms for her solicitude on his account, to express +his earnest good wishes for her welfare and that of her father, +and to assure her of his own safety. The feelings which this +task excited were speedily lost in the necessity which he now saw +of bidding farewell to Flora Mac-Ivor, perhaps for ever. The +pang attending this reflection were inexpressible; for her high- +minded elevation of character, her self-devotion to the cause +which she had embraced, united to her scrupulous rectitude as to +the means of serving it, had vindicated to his judgement the +choice adopted by his passions. But time pressed, calumny was +busy with his fame, and every hour's delay increased the power to +injure it. His departure must be instant. + +With this determination he sought out Fergus, and communicated to +him the contents of Rose's letter, with his own resolution +instantly to go to Edinburgh, and put into the hands of some one +or other of those persons of influence to whom he had letters +from his father, his exculpation from any charge which might be +preferred against him. + +'You run your head into the lion's mouth,' answered Mac-Ivor. +'You do not know the severity of a Government harassed by just +apprehensions, and a consciousness of their own illegality and +insecurity. I shall have to deliver you from some dungeon in +Stirling or Edinburgh Castle.' + +'My innocence, my rank, my father's intimacy with Lord M--, +General G--, &c., will be a sufficient protection,' said +Waverley. + +'You will find the contrary,' replied the Chieftain;--'these +gentlemen will have enough to do about their own matters. Once +more, will you take the plaid, and stay a little while with us +among the mists and the crows, in the bravest cause ever sword +was drawn in?' [A Highland rhyme on Glencairn's Expedition, in +1650, has these lines-- + + We'll hide a while among ta crows, + 'We'll wiske ta sword and bend ta bows.] + +'For many reasons, my dear Fergus, you must hold me excused.' + +'Well, then,' said Mac-Ivor, 'I shall certainly find you exerting +your poetical talents in elegies upon a prison, or your +antiquarian researches in detecting the Oggam [The Oggam is a +species of the old Irish character. The idea of the +correspondence betwixt the Celtic and Punic, founded on a scene +in Plautus, was not started till General Vallancey set up his +theory, long after the date of Fergus Mac-Ivor.] character, or +some Punic hieroglyphic upon the key-stones of a vault, curiously +arched. Or what say you to UN PETIT PENDEMENT BIEN JOLI? +against which awkward ceremony I don't warrant you, should you +meet a body of the armed west-country Whigs.' + +'And why should they use me so?' said Waverley. + +'For a hundred good reasons,' answered Fergus: 'First, you are +an Englishman; secondly, a gentleman; thirdly, a prelatist +abjured; and, fourthly, they have not had an opportunity to +exercise their talents on such a subject this long while. But +don't be cast down, beloved: all will be done in the fear of the +Lord.' + +'Well, I must run my hazard,' + +'You are determined, then?' + +'I am.' + +'Wilful will do 't,' said Fergus;--'but you cannot go on foot and +I shall want no horse, as I must march on foot at the head of the +children of Ivor; you shall have Brown Dermid.' + +'If you will sell him, I shall certainly be much obliged.' + +'If your proud English heart cannot be obliged by a gift or loan, +I will not refuse money at the entrance of a campaign: his price +is twenty guineas, [Remember, reader, it was Sixty Years since.] +And when do you propose to depart?' + +'The sooner the better,' answered Waverley. + +'You are right, since go you must, or rather, since go you will: +I will take Flora's pony, and ride with you as far as Bally- +Brough.--Callum Beg, see that our horses are ready, with a pony +for yourself, to attend and carry Mr. Waverley's baggage as far +as -- (naming a small town), where he can have a horse and guide +to Edinburgh. Put on a Lowland dress, Callum, and see you keep +your tongue close, if you would not have me cut it out: Mr. +Waverley rides Dermid,' Then turning to Edward, 'You will take +leave of my sister?' + +'Surely--that is, if Miss Mac-Ivor will honour me so far.' + +'Cathleen, let my sister know that Mr. Waverley wishes to bid her +farewell before he leaves us.--But Rose Bradwardine,--her +situation must be thought of. I wish she were here. And why +should she not? There are but four red-coats at Tully-Veolan, +and their muskets would be very useful to us.' + +To these broken remarks Edward made no answer; his ear indeed +received them, but his soul was intent upon the expected entrance +of Flora. The door opened--it was but Cathleen, with her lady's +excuse, and wishes for Captain Waverley's health and happiness. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +WAVERLEY'S RECEPTION IN THE LOWLANDS AFTER HIS HIGHLAND TOUR + +It was noon when the two friends stood at the top of the pass of +Bally-Brough. 'I must go no farther,' said Fergus Mac-Ivor, who +during the journey had in vain endeavoured to raise his friend's +spirits, 'If my cross-grained sister has any share in your +dejection, trust me she thinks highly of you, though her present +anxiety about the public cause prevents her listening to any +other subject. Confide your interest to me; I will not betray +it, providing you do not again assume that vile cockade.' + +'No fear of that, considering the manner in which it has been +recalled. Adieu, Fergus; do not permit your sister to forget +me.' + +'And adieu, Waverley; you may soon hear of her with a prouder +title. Get home, write letters, and make friends as many and as +fast as you can; there will speedily be unexpected guests on the +coast of Suffolk, or my news from France has deceived me.' [The +sanguine Jacobites, during the eventful years 1745-6, kept up the +spirits of their party by the rumour of descents from France on +behalf of the Chevalier St. George.] + +Thus parted the friends; Fergus returning back to his castle, +while Edward, followed by Callum Beg, the latter transformed from +point to point into a Low-country groom, proceeded to the little +town of --. + +Edward paced on under the painful and yet not altogether +embittered feelings which separation and uncertainty produce in +the mind of a youthful lover. I am not sure if the ladies +understand the full value of the influence of absence, nor do I +think it wise to teach it them, lest, like the Clelias and +Mandanes of yore, they should resume the humour of sending their +lovers into banishment. Distance, in truth, produces in idea the +same effect as in real prospective. Objects are softened, and +rounded, and rendered doubly graceful; the harsher and more +ordinary points of character are mellowed down, and those by +which it is remembered are the more striking outlines that mark +sublimity, grace, or beauty. There are mists, too, in the +mental, as well as the natural horizon, to conceal what is less +pleasing in distant objects, and there are happy lights, to +stream in full glory upon those points which can profit by +brilliant illumination. + +Waverley forgot Flora Mac-Ivor's prejudices in her magnanimity, +and almost pardoned her indifference towards his affection, when +he recollected the grand and decisive object which seemed to fill +her whole soul. She, whose sense of duty so wholly engrossed her +in the cause of a benefactor,--what would be her feelings in +favour of the happy individual who should be so fortunate as to +awaken them? Then came the doubtful question, whether he might +not be that happy man,--a question which fancy endeavoured to +answer in the affirmative, by conjuring up all she had said in +his praise, with the addition of a comment much more flattering +than the text warranted. All that was commonplace--all that +belonged to the everyday world--was melted away and obliterated +in those dreams of imagination, which only remembered with +advantage the points of grace and dignity that distinguished +Flora, from the generality of her sex, not the particulars which +she held in common with them, Edward was, in short, in the fair +way of creating a goddess out of a high-spirited, accomplished, +and beautiful young woman; and the time was wasted in castle- +building, until, at the descent of a steep hill, he saw beneath +him the market-town of --. + +The Highland politeness of Callum Beg--there are few nations, by +the way, who can boast of so much natural politeness as the +Highlanders [The Highlander, in former times, had always a high +idea, of his own gentility, and was anxious to impress the same +upon those with whom he conversed. His language abounded in the +phrases of courtesy and compliment; and the habit of carrying +arms, and mixing with those who did so, made if particularly +desirable they should use cautious politeness in their +intercourse with each other.]--the Highland civility of his +attendant had not permitted him to disturb the reveries of our +hero. But observing him rouse himself at the sight of the +village, Callum pressed closer to his side, and hoped 'When they +cam to the public, his honour wad not say nothing about Vich Ian +Vohr, for ta people were bitter Whigs, deil burst tem.' + +Waverley assured the prudent page that he would be cautious; and +as he now distinguished, not indeed the ringing of bells, but the +tinkling of something like a hammer against the side of an old +messy, green, inverted porridge-pot, that hung in an open booth, +of the size and shape of a parrot's cage, erected to grace the +east end of a building resembling an old barn, he asked Callum +Beg if it were Sunday. + +'Could na say just preceesely--Sunday seldom cam aboon the pass +of Bally-Brough.' + +On entering the town, however, and advancing towards the most +apparent public house which presented itself, the numbers of old +women, in tartan screens and red cloaks, who streamed from the +barn-resembling building, debating, as they went, the comparative +merits of the blessed youth Jabesh Rentowel, and that chosen +vessel Maister Goukthrapple, induced Callum to assure his +temporary master, 'that it was either ta muckle Sunday hersell, +or ta little government Sunday that they ca'd ta fast.' + +On alighting at the sign of the Seven-branched Golden +Candlestick, which, for the further delectation of the guests, +was graced with a short Hebrew motto, they were received by mine +host, a tall, thin puritanical figure, who seemed to debate with +himself whether he ought to give shelter to those who travelled +on such a day. Reflecting, however, in all probability, that he +possessed the power of mulcting them for this irregularity, a +penalty which they might escape by passing into Gregor +Duncanson's, at the sign of the Highlander and the Hawick Gill, +Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks condescended to admit them into his +dwelling. + +To this sanctified person Waverley addressed his request that he +would procure him a guide, with a saddle-horse, to carry his +portmanteau to Edinburgh. + +'And whar may ye be coming from?' demanded mine host of the +Candlestick. + +'I have told you where I wish to go; I do not conceive any +further information necessary either for the guide or his saddle- +horse.' + +'Hem! Ahem!' returned he of the Candlestick, somewhat +disconcerted at this rebuff. 'It's the general fast, sir, and I +cannot enter into ony carnal transactions on sic a day, when the +people should be humbled, and the back sliders should return, as +worthy Mr. Goukthrapple said; and moreover when, as the precious +Mr. Jabesh Rentowel did weel observe, the land was mourning for +covenants burnt, broken, and buried.' + +'My good friend,' said Waverley, 'if you cannot let me have a +horse and guide, my servant shall seek them elsewhere.' + +'Aweel! Your servant?--and what for gangs he not forward wi' you +himsell?' + +Waverley had but very little of a captain of horse's spirit +within him--I mean of that sort of spirit which I have been +obliged to when I happened, in a mail-coach, or diligence, to +meet some military man who has kindly taken upon him the +disciplining of the waiters, and the taxing of reckonings. Some +of this useful talent our hero had, however, acquired during his +military service, and on this gross provocation it began +seriously to arise. 'Look ye, sir; I came here for my own +accommodation, and not to answer impertinent questions. Either +say you can, or cannot, get me what I want; I shall pursue my +course in either case.' + +Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks left the room with some indistinct +muttering; but whether negative or acquiescent, Edward could not +well distinguish. The hostess, a civil, quiet, laborious drudge, +came to take his orders for dinner, but declined to make answer +on the subject of the horse and guide; for the Salique law, it +seems, extended to the stables of the Golden Candlestick. + +From a window which overlooked the dark and narrow court in which +Callum Beg rubbed down the horses after their journey, Waverley +heard the following dialogue betwixt the subtle foot-page of Vich +Ian Vohr and his landlord:-- + +'Ye'll be frae the north, young man?' began the latter. + +'And ye may say that,' answered Callum. + +'And ye'll hae ridden a lang way the day, it may weel be?' + +'Sae lang, that I could weel tak a dram,' + +'Gudewife, bring the gill stoup.' + +Here some compliments passed, fitting the occasion, when my host +of the Golden Candlestick, having, as he thought, opened his +guest's heart by this hospitable propitiation, resumed his +scrutiny. + +'Ye'll no hae mickle better whisky than that aboon the Pass?' + +'I am nae frae aboon the Pass.' + +'Ye're a Highlandman by your tongue?' + +'Na; I am but just Aberdeen-a-way.' + +'And did your master come frae Aberdeen wi' you?' + +'Aye--that's when I left it mysell,' answered the cool and +impenetrable Callum Beg. + +'And what kind of a gentleman is he?' + +'I believe he is ane o' King George's state officers; at least +he's aye for ganging on to the south; and he has a hantle siller, +and never grudges ony thing till a poor body, or in the way of a +lawing.' + +'He wants a guide and a horse frae hence to Edinburgh?' + +'Aye, and ye maun find it him forthwith.' + +'Ahem! It will be chargeable.' + +'He cares na for that a bodle.' + +'Aweel, Duncan--did ye say your name was Duncan, or Donald?' + +'Na, man--Jamie--Jamie Steenson--I telt ye before.' + +This last undaunted parry altogether foiled Mr. Cruickshanks, +who, though not quite satisfied either with the reserve of the +master, or the extreme readiness of the man, was contented to lay +a tax on the reckoning and horse-hire, that might compound for +his ungratified curiosity. The circumstance of its being the +fast-day was not forgotten in the charge, which, on the whole, +did not, however, amount to much more than double what in +fairness it should have been. + +Callum Beg soon after announced in person the ratification of +this treaty, adding, 'Ta auld deevil was ganging to ride wi' ta +Duinhe-wassel hersell.' + +'That will not be very pleasant, Callum, nor altogether safe, for +our host seems a person of great curiosity; but a traveller must +submit to these inconveniences. Meanwhile, my good lad, here is +a trifle for you to drink Vich Ian Vohr's health.' + +The hawk's eye of Callum flashed delight upon a golden guinea, +with which these last words were accompanied. He hastened, not +without a curse on the intricacies of a Saxon breeches pocket, or +SPLEUCHAN, as he called it, to deposit the treasure in his fob; +and then, as if he conceived the benevolence called for some +requital on his part, he gathered close up to Edward, with an +expression of countenance peculiarly knowing, and spoke in an +undertone, 'If his honour thought ta auld deevil Whig carle was a +bit dangerous, she could easily provide for him, and tell ane ta +wiser.' + +'How, and in what manner?' + +'Her ain sell,' replied Callum, 'could wait for him a wee bit +frae the toun, and kittle his quarters wi' her SKENE-OCCLE.' + +'Skene-occle! what's that?' + +Callum unbuttoned his coat, raised his left arm, and, with an +emphatic nod, pointed to the hilt of a small dirk, snugly +deposited under it, in the lining of his jacket. Waverley +thought he had misunderstood his meaning; he gazed in his face, +and discovered in Callum's very handsome, though embrowned +features, just the degree of roguish malice with which a lad of +the same age in England would have brought forward a plan for +robbing an orchard. + +'Good God, Callum, would you take the man's life?' + +'Indeed,' answered the young desperado, 'and I think he has had +just a lang enough lease o't, when he's for betraying honest +folk, that come to spend siller at his public.' + +Edward saw nothing was to be gained by argument, and therefore +contented himself with enjoining Callum to lay aside all +practices against the person of Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks; in +which injunction the page seemed to acquiesce with an air of +great indifference. + +'Ta Duinhe-wassel might please himsell; ta auld rudas loon had +never done Callum nae ill. But here's a bit line frae ta +Tighearna, tat he bade me gie your honour ere I came back.' + +The letter from the Chief contained Flora's lines on the fate of +Captain Wogan, whose enterprising character is so well drawn by +Clarendon. He had originally engaged in the service of the +Parliament, but had abjured that party upon the execution of +Charles I; and upon hearing that the royal standard was set up by +the Earl of Glencairn and General Middleton in the Highlands of +Scotland, took leave of Charles II, who was then at Paris, passed +into England, assembled a body of cavaliers in the neighbourhood +of London, and traversed the kingdom, which had been so long +under domination of the usurper, by marches conducted with such +skill, dexterity, and spirit, that he safely united his handful +of horsemen with the body of Highlanders then in arms. After +several months of desultory warfare, in which Wogan's skill and +courage gained him the highest reputation, he had the misfortune +to be wounded in a dangerous manner, and no surgical assistance +being within reach, he terminated his short but glorious career. + +Where were obvious reasons why the politic Chieftain was desirous +to place the example of this young hero under the eye of +Waverley, with whose romantic disposition it coincided so +peculiarly. But his letter turned chiefly upon some trifling +commissions which Waverley had promised to execute for him in +England, and it was only toward the conclusion that Edward found +these words: 'I owe Flora a grudge for refusing us her company +yesterday; and as I am giving you the trouble of reading these +lines, in order to keep in your memory your promise to procure me +the fishing-tackle and cross-bow from London, I will enclose her +verses on the Grave of Wogan. This I know will tease her; for, +to tell you the truth, I think her more in love with the memory +of that dead hero, than she is likely to be with any living one, +unless he shall tread a similar path. But English squires of our +day keep their oak-trees to shelter their deer-parks, or repair +the losses of an evening at White's, and neither invoke them to +wreathe their brows nor shelter their graves. Let me hope for +one brilliant exception in a dear friend, to whom I would most +gladly give a dearer title.' + +The verses were inscribed, + +TO AN OAK TREE + +IN THE CHURCHYARD OF --, IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND, SAID TO +MARK THE GRAVE OF CAPTAIN WOGAN, KILLED IN 1649. + + Emblem of England's ancient faith, + Full proudly may thy branches wave, + Where loyalty lies low in death, + And valour fills a timeless grave. + + And thou, brave tenant of the tomb! + Repine not if our clime deny, + Above thine honoured sod to bloom, + The flowerets of a milder sky. + + These owe their birth to genial May; + Beneath a fiercer sun they pine, + Before the winter storm decay-- + And can their worth be type of thine? + + No! for 'mid storms of Fate opposing, + Still higher swelled thy dauntless heart, + And, while Despair the scene was closing, + Commenced thy brief but brilliant part. + + Twas then thou sought'st on Albyn's hill, + (When England's sons the strife resigned), + A rugged race, resisting still, + And unsubdued though unrefined. + + Thy death's hour heard no kindred wail, + No holy knell thy requiem rung; + Thy mourners were the plaided Gael; + Thy dirge the clamorous pibroch sung. + + Yet who, in Fortune's summer-shine, + To waste life's longest term away, + Would change that glorious dawn of thine, + Though darkened ere its noontide day? + + Be thine the Tree whose dauntless boughs + Brave summer's drought and winter's gloom! + Rome bound with oak her patriots' brows, + As Albyn shadows Wogan's tomb. + +Whatever might be the real merit of Flora Mac-Ivor's poetry, the +enthusiasm which it intimated was well calculated to make a +corresponding impression upon her lover. The lines were read-- +read again--then deposited in Waverley's bosom--then again drawn +out, and read line by line, in a low and smothered voice, and +with frequent pauses which, prolonged the mental treat, as an +epicure protracts, by sipping slowly the enjoyment of a delicious +beverage. The entrance of Mrs. Cruickshanks, with the sublunary +articles of dinner and wine, hardly interrupted this pantomime of +affectionate enthusiasm. + +At length the tall, ungainly figure and ungracious visage of +Ebenezer presented themselves. The upper part of his form, +notwithstanding the season required no such defence, was shrouded +in a large great-coat, belted over his under habiliments, and +crested with a huge cowl of the same stuff, which, when drawn +over the head and hat, completely over-shadowed both, and being +buttoned beneath the chin, was called a TROT-COZY. His hand +grasped a huge jockey-whip, garnished with brass mounting. His +thin legs tenanted a pair of gambadoes, fastened at the sides +with rusty clasps. Thus accoutred, he stalked into the midst of +the apartment, and announced his errand in brief phrase:-- 'Yer +horses are ready.' + +'You go with me yourself then, landlord?' + +'I do, as far as Perth; where you may be supplied With a guide to +Embro', as your occasions shall require.' + +Thus saying, he placed under Waverley's eye the bill which he +held in his hand; and at the same time, self-invited, filled a +glass of wine, and drank devoutly to a blessing on their journey. +Waverley stared at the man's impudence, but, as their connexion +was to be short, and promised to be convenient, he made no +observation upon it; and, having paid his reckoning, expressed +his intention to depart immediately. He mounted Dermid +accordingly, and sallied forth from the Golden Candlestick, +followed by the puritanical figure we have described, after he +had, at the expense of some time and difficulty, and by the +assistance of a 'louping-on-stane,' or structure of masonry +erected for the traveller's convenience in front of the house, +elevated his person to the back of a long-backed, raw-boned, +thin-gutted phantom of a broken-down blood-horse, on which +Waverley's portmanteau was deposited. Our hero, though not in a +very gay humour, could hardly help laughing at the appearance of +his new squire, and at imagining the astonishment which his +person and equipage would have excited at Waverley-Honour. + +Edward's tendency to mirth did not escape mine host of the +Candlestick, who, conscious of the cause, infused a double +portion of souring into the pharisaical leaven of his +countenance, and resolved internally that in one way or other the +young ENGLISHER should pay dearly for the contempt with which he +seemed to regard him. Callum also stood at the gate, and +enjoyed, with undissembled glee, the ridiculous figure of Mr. +Cruickshanks. As Waverley passed him, he pulled off his hat +respectfully, and approaching his stirrup, bade him 'Tak heed the +auld Whig deevil played him nae cantrip.' + +Waverley once more thanked, and bade him farewell, and then rode +briskly onward, not sorry to be out of hearing of the shouts of +the children, as they beheld old Ebenezer rise and sink in his +stirrups, to avoid the concussions occasioned by a hard trot upon +a half-paved street. The village of -- was soon several miles +behind him. + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +SHOWS THAT THE LOSS OF A HORSE'S SHOE MAY BE A SERIOUS INCONVENIENCE + +The manner and air of Waverley, but, above all, the glittering +contents of his purse, and the indifference with which he seemed +to regard them, somewhat overawed his companion, and deterred him +from making any attempts to enter upon conversation. His own +reflections were, moreover, agitated by various surmises, and by +plans of self-interest, with which these were intimately +connected. The travellers journeyed, therefore, in silence, +until it was interrupted by the annunciation, on the part of the +guide, that his 'naig had lost a fore-foot shoe, which, +doubtless, his honour would consider it was his part to replace.' + +This was what lawyers call a FISHING QUESTION, calculated to +ascertain how far Waverley was disposed to submit to petty +imposition. 'My part to replace your horse's shoe, you rascal!' +said Waverley, mistaking the purport of the intimation. + +'Indubitably,' answered Mr. Cruickshanks; 'though there was no +preceese clause to that effect, it canna be expected that I am to +pay for the casualties whilk may befall the puir naig while in +your honour's service.--Nathless, if your honour--' + +'Oh, you mean I am to pay the farrier; but where shall we find +one?' + +Rejoiced at discerning there would be no objection made on the +part of his temporary master, Mr. Cruickshanks assured him that +Cairnvreckan, a village which they were about to enter, was happy +in an excellent blacksmith; 'but as he was a professor, he would +drive a nail for no man on the Sabbath, or kirk-fast, unless it +were in a case of absolute necessity, for which he always charged +sixpence each shoe.' The most important part of this +communication, in the opinion of the speaker, made a very slight +impression on the hearer, who only internally wondered what +college this veterinary professor belonged to; not aware that the +word was used to denote any person who pretended to uncommon +sanctity of faith and manner. + +As they entered the village of Cairnvreckan, they speedily +distinguished the smith's house. Being also a PUBLIC, it was two +stories high, and proudly reared its crest, covered with grey +slate, above the thatched hovels by which it was surrounded. The +adjoining smithy betokened none of the Sabbatical silence and +repose which Ebenezer had augured from the sanctity of his +friend. On the contrary, hammer clashed and anvil rang, the +bellows groaned, and the whole apparatus of Vulcan appeared to be +in full activity. Nor was the labour of a rural and pacific +nature. The master smith, benempt, as his sign intimated, John +Mucklewrath, with two assistants, toiled busily in arranging, +repairing, and furbishing old muskets, pistols, and swords, which +lay scattered around his workshop in military confusion. The +open shed, containing the forge, was crowded with persons who +came and went as if receiving and communicating important news; +and a single glance at the aspect of the people who traversed the +street in haste, or stood assembled in groups, with eyes +elevated, and hands uplifted, announced that some extraordinary +intelligence was agitating the public mind of the municipality of +Cairnvreckan. 'There is some news,' said mine host of the +Candlestick, pushing his lantern-jawed visage and bare-boned nag +rudely forward into the crowd--'there is some news; and if it +please my Creator, I will forthwith obtain speirings thereof.' + +Waverley, with better regulated curiosity than his attendant's, +dismounted, and gave his horse to a boy who stood idling near. +It arose, perhaps, from the shyness of his character in early +youth, that he felt dislike at applying to a stranger even for +casual information, without previously glancing at his +physiognomy and appearance. While he looked about in order to +select the person with whom he would most willingly hold +communication, the buzz around saved him in some degree the +trouble of interrogatories. The names of Lochiel, Clanronald, +Glengarry, and other distinguished Highland Chiefs, among whom +Vich Ian Vohr was repeatedly mentioned, were as familiar in men's +mouths as household words; and from the alarm generally +expressed, he easily conceived that their descent into the +Lowlands, at the head of their armed tribes, had either already +taken place, or was instantly apprehended. + +Ere Waverley could ask particulars, a strong, large-boned, hard- +featured woman, about forty, dressed as if her clothes had been +flung on with a pitchfork, her cheeks flushed with a scarlet red +where they were not smutted with soot and lamp-black, jostled +through the crowd, and, brandishing high a child of two years +old, which she danced in her arms, without regard to its screams +of terror, sang forth, with all her might,-- + + 'Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling, + Charlie is my darling, + The young Chevalier! + +'D'ye hear what's come ower ye now,' continued the virago, 'ye +whingeing Whig carles? D'ye hear wha's coming to cow yer cracks? + + Little wot ye wha's coming, + Little wot ye wha's coming, + A' the wild Macraws are coming.' + +The Vulcan of Cairnvreckan, who acknowledged his Venus in this +exulting Bacchante, regarded her with a grim and ire-foreboding +countenance, while some of the senators of the village hastened +to interpose. 'Whisht, gudewife; is this a time, or is this a +day, to be singing your ranting fule sangs in?--a time when the +wine of wrath is poured out without mixture in the cup of +indignation, and a day when the land should give testimony +against popery, and prelacy, and quakerism, and independency, and +supremacy, and erastianism, and antinomianism, and a' the errors +of the church?' + +'And that's a' your Whiggery,' re-echoed the Jacobite heroine; +'that's a' your Whiggery, and your presbytery, ye cut-lugged, +graning carles! What! d'ye think the lads wi' the kilts will +care for yer synods and yer presbyteries, and yer buttock-mail, +and yer stool o' repentance? Vengeance on the black face o't! +Mony an honester woman's been set upon it than streeks doon +beside ony Whig in the country. I mysell'-- + +Here John Mucklewrath, who dreaded her entering upon a detail of +personal experience, interposed his matrimonial authority. 'Gae +hame, and be d-- (that I should say sae), and put on the sowens +for supper.' + +'And you, ye doil'd dotard,' replied his gentle helpmate, her +wrath, which had hitherto wandered abroad over the whole +assembly, being at once and violently impelled into its natural +channel, 'ye stand there hammering dog-heads for fules that will +never snap them at a Highlandman, instead, of earning bread for +your family, and shoeing this winsome young gentleman's horse +that's just come frae the north! I'se warrant him nane of your +whingeing King George folk, but a gallant Gordon, at the least o' +him.' + +The eyes of the assembly were now turned upon Waverley, who took +the opportunity to beg the smith to shoe his guide's horse with +all speed, as he wished to proceed on his journey;--for he had +heard enough to make him sensible that there would be danger in +delaying long in this place. The smith's eye rested on him with +a look of displeasure and suspicion, not lessened by the +eagerness with which his wife enforced Waverley's mandate. 'D'ye +hear what the weel-favoured young gentleman says, ye drunken +ne'er-do-good?' + +And what may your name be, sir?' quoth Mucklewrath. + +'It is of no consequence to you, my friend, provided I pay your +labour.' + +'But it may be of consequence to the state, sir,' replied an old +farmer, smelling strongly of whisky and peat-smoke; 'and I doubt +we maun delay your journey till you have seen the Laird.' + +'You certainly,' said Waverley, haughtily, 'will find it both +difficult and dangerous to detain me, unless you can produce some +proper authority.' + +There was a pause and a whisper among the crowd--'Secretary +Murray;' 'Lord Lewis Gordon;' 'Maybe the Chevalier himsell!' +Such were the surmises that passed hurriedly among them, and +there was obviously an increased disposition to resist WaverIey's +departure. He attempted to argue mildly with them, but his +voluntary ally, Mrs. Mucklewrath, broke in upon and drowned his +expostulations, taking his part with an abusive violence, which +was all set down to Edward's account by those on whom it was +bestowed. 'YE'LL stop ony gentleman that's the Prince's freend?' +for she too, though with other feelings, had adopted the general +opinion respecting Waverley. 'I daur ye to touch him,' spreading +abroad her long and muscular fingers, garnished with claws which +a vulture might have envied. 'I'll set my ten commandments in +the face o' the first loon that lays a finger on him.' + +'Gae hame, gudewife, quoth the farmer aforesaid; 'it wad better +set you to be nursing the gudeman's bairns than to be deaving us +here.' + +'HIS bairns!' retorted the amazon, regarding her husband with a +grin of ineffable contempt--'HIS bairns! + + O gin ye were dead, gudeman, + And a green turf on your head, gudeman! + Then I would ware my widowhood + Upon a ranting Highlandman.' + +This canticle, which excited a suppressed titter among the +younger part of the audience, totally overcame the patience of +the taunted man of the anvil. 'Deil be in me but I'll put this +het gad down her throat!' cried he, in an ecstasy of wrath, +snatching a bar from the forge; and he might have executed his +threat, had he not been withheld by a part of the mob; while the +rest endeavoured to force the termagant out of his presence. + +Waverley meditated a retreat in the confusion, but his horse was +nowhere to be seen. At length he observed, at some distance, his +faithful attendant, Ebenezer, who, as soon as he had perceived +the turn matters were likely to take, had withdrawn both horses +from the press, and, mounted on the one, and holding the other, +answered the loud and repeated calls of Waverley for his horse-- +'Na, na! if ye are nae friend to kirk and the king, and are +detained as siccan a person, ye maun answer to honest men of the +country for breach of contract; and I maun keep the naig and the +walise for damage and expense, in respect my horse and mysell +will lose to-morrow's day's-wark, besides the afternoon +preaching.' + +Edward, out of patience, hemmed in and hustled by the rabble on +every side, and every moment expecting personal violence, +resolved to try measures of intimidation, and at length drew a +pocket-pistol, threatening, on the one hand, to shoot whomsoever +dared to stop him, and, on the other, menacing Ebenezer with a +similar doom, if he stirred a foot with the horses. The sapient +Partridge says, that one man with a pistol is equal to a hundred +unarmed, because, though he can shoot but one of the multitude, +yet no one knows but that he himself may be that luckless +individual. The levy en masse of Cairnvreckan would therefore +probably have given way, nor would Ebenezer, whose natural +paleness had waxed three shades more cadaverous, have ventured to +dispute a mandate so enforced, had not the Vulcan of the village, +eager to discharge upon some more worthy object the fury which +his helpmate had provoked, and not ill satisfied to find such an +object in Waverley, rushed at him with the red-hot bar of iron, +with such determination as made the discharge of his pistol an +act of self-defence. The unfortunate man fell; and while Edward, +thrilled with a natural horror at the incident, neither had +presence of mind to unsheathe his sword nor to draw his remaining +pistol, the populace threw themselves upon him, disarmed him, and +were about to use him with great violence, when the appearance of +a venerable clergyman, the pastor of the parish, put a curb on +their fury. + +This worthy man (none of the Goukthrapples or Rentowels) +maintained his character with the common people, although he +preached the practical fruits of Christian faith, as well as its +abstract tenets, and was respected by the higher orders, +notwithstanding he declined soothing their speculative errors by +converting the pulpit of the gospel into a school of heathen +morality. Perhaps it is owing to this mixture of faith and +practice in his doctrine, that, although his memory has formed a +sort of era in the annals of Cairnvreckan, so that the +parishioners, to denote what befell Sixty Years since, still say +it happened 'in good Mr. Morton's time,' I have never been able +to discover which he belonged to, the evangelical, or the +moderate party in the kirk. Nor do I hold the circumstance of +much moment, since, in my own remembrance, the one was headed by +an Erskine, the other by a Robertson. [The Rev. John Erskine, +D.D., an eminent Scottish divine, and a most excellent man, +headed the Evangelical party in the Church of Scotland at the +time when the celebrated Dr. Robertson, the historian, was the +leader of the Moderate party. These two distinguished persons +were colleagues in the Old Grey Friars' Church, Edinburgh; and, +however much they differed in church politics, preserved the most +perfect harmony as private friends, and as clergymen serving the +same cure.] + +Mr. Morton had been alarmed by the discharge of the pistol, and +the increasing hubbub around the smithy. His first attention, +after he had directed the bystanders to detain Waverley, but to +abstain from injuring him, was turned to the body of Mucklewrath, +over which his wife, in a revulsion of feeling, was weeping, +howling, and tearing her elf-locks, in a state little short of +distraction. On raising up the smith, the first discovery was, +that he was alive; and the next, that he was likely to live as +long as if he had never heard the report of a pistol in his life. +He had made a narrow escape, however; the bullet had grazed his +head, and stunned him for a moment or two, which trance terror +and confusion of spirit had prolonged, somewhat longer. He now +arose to demand vengeance on the person of Waverley, and with +difficulty acquiesced in the proposal of Mr. Morton, that he +should be carried before the laird, as a justice of peace, and +placed at his disposal. The rest of the assistants unanimously +agreed to the measure recommended; even Mrs. Mucklewrath, who had +begun to recover from her hysterics, whimpered forth, 'She wadna +say naething against what the minister proposed; he was e'en ower +gude for his trade, and she hoped to see him wi' a dainty decent +bishop's gown on his back; a comelier sight than your Geneva +cloaks and bands, I wis.' + +All controversy being thus laid aside, Waverley, escorted by the +whole inhabitants of the village who were not bed-ridden, was +conducted to the house of Cairnvreckan, which was about half a +mile distant. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +AN EXAMINATION + +Major Melville of Cairnvreckan, an elderly gentleman, who had +spent his youth in the military service, received Mr. Morton with +great kindness, and our hero with civility. which the equivocal +circumstances wherein Edward was placed rendered constrained and +distant. + +The nature of the smith's hurt was inquired into, and as the +actual injury was likely to prove trifling, and the circumstances +in which it was received rendered the infliction, on Edward's +part, a natural act of self-defence, the Major conceived he might +dismiss that matter, on Waverley's depositing in his hands a +small sum for the benefit of the wounded person. + +'I could wish, sir,' continued the Major, 'that my duty +terminated here; but it is necessary that we should have some +further inquiry into the cause of your journey through the +country at this unfortunate and distracted time.' + +Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks now stood forth, and communicated to +the magistrate all he knew or suspected, from the reserve of +Waverley, and the evasions of Callum Beg. The horse upon which +Edward rode, he said he knew to belong to Vich Ian Vohr, though +he dared not tax Edward's former attendant with the fact, lest he +should have his house and stables burnt over his head some night +by that godless gang, the Mac-Ivors. He concluded by +exaggerating his own services to kirk and state, as having been +the means, under God (as he modestly qualified the assertion), of +attaching this suspicious and formidable delinquent. He +intimated hopes of future reward, and of instant reimbursement +for loss of time, and even of character, by travelling on the +state business on the fast-day. + +To this Major Melville answered, with great composure, that so +far from claiming any merit in this affair, Mr. Cruickshanks +ought to deprecate the imposition of a very heavy fine for +neglecting to lodge, in terms of the recent proclamation, an +account with the nearest magistrate of any stranger who came to +his inn; that as Mr. Cruickshanks boasted so much of religion and +loyalty, he should not impute this conduct to disaffection, but +only suppose that his zeal for kirk and state had been lulled +asleep by the opportunity of charging a stranger with double +horse-hire; that, however, feeling himself incompetent to decide +singly upon the conduct of a person of such importance, he should +reserve it for consideration of the next quarter-sessions. Now +our history for the present saith no more of him of the +Candlestick, who wended dolorous and malcontent back to his own +dwelling. + +Major Melville then commanded the villagers to return to their +homes, excepting two, who officiated as constables, and whom he +directed to wait below. The apartment was thus cleared of every +person but Mr. Morton, whom the Major invited to remain; a sort +of factor, who acted as clerk; and Waverley himself. There +ensued a painful and embarrassed pause, till Major Melville, +looking upon Waverley with much compassion, and often consulting +a paper or memorandum which he held in his hand, requested to +know his name.--'Edward Waverley.' + +'I thought so; late of the -- dragoons, and nephew of Sir Everard +Waverley of Waverley-Honour?' + +'The same.' + +'Young gentleman, I am extremely sorry that this painful duty has +fallen to my lot.' + +'Duty, Major Melville, renders apologies superfluous.' + +'True, sir; permit me, therefore, to ask you how your time has +been disposed of since you obtained leave of absence from your +regiment, several weeks ago, until the present moment?' + +'My reply,' said Waverley, 'to so general a question must be +guided by the nature of the charge which renders it necessary. I +request to know what that charge is, and upon what authority I am +forcibly detained to reply to it?' + +'The charge, Mr. Waverley, I grieve to say, is of a very high +nature, and affects your character both as a soldier and a +subject. In the former capacity, you are charged with spreading +mutiny and rebellion among the men you commanded, and setting +them the example of desertion, by prolonging your own absence +from the regiment, contrary to the express orders of your +commanding-officer. The civil crime of which you stand accused +is that of high treason, and levying war against the king, the +highest delinquency of which a subject can be guilty.' + +'And by what authority am I detained to reply to such heinous +calumnies?' + +'By one which you must not dispute, nor I disobey.' + +He handed to Waverley a warrant from the Supreme Criminal Court +of Scotland, in full form, for apprehending and securing the +person of Edward Waverley, Esq., suspected of treasonable +practices and other high crimes and misdemeanours. + +The astonishment which Waverley expressed at this communication +was imputed by Major Melville to conscious guilt, while Mr. +Morton was rather disposed to construe it into the surprise of +innocence unjustly suspected. There was something true in both +conjectures; for although Edward's mind acquitted him of the +crime with which he was charged, yet a hasty review of his own +conduct convinced him he might have great difficulty in +establishing his innocence to the satisfaction of others. + +'It is a very painful part of this painful business,' said Major +Melville, after a pause, 'that, under so grave a charge, I must +necessarily request to see such papers as you have on your +person.' + +'You shall, sir, without reserve,' said Edward, throwing his +pocket-book and memorandums upon the table; 'there is but one +with which I could wish you would dispense.' + +'I am afraid, Mr. Waverley, I can indulge you with no +reservation.' + +'You shall see it then, sir; and as it can be of no service, I +beg it may be returned.' + +He took from his bosom the lines he had that morning received, +and presented them with the envelope. The Major perused them in +silence, and directed his clerk to make a copy of them. He then +wrapped the copy in the envelope, and placing it on the table +before him, returned the original to Waverley, with an air of +melancholy gravity. + +After indulging the prisoner, for such our hero must now be +considered, with what he thought a reasonable time for +reflection, Major Melville resumed his examination, premising, +that as Mr. Waverley seemed to object to general questions, his +interrogatories should be as specific as his information +permitted. He then proceeded in his investigation, dictating, as +he went on, the import of the questions and answers to the +amanuensis, by whom it was written down. + +Did Mr. Waverley know one Humphry Houghton, a non-commissioned +officer in Gardiner's dragoons?' + +'Certainly; he was sergeant of my troop, and son of a tenant of +my uncle.' + +'Exactly--and had a considerable share of your confidence, and an +influence among his comrades?' + +'I had never occasion to repose confidence in a person of his +description,' answered Waverley. 'I favoured Sergeant Houghton +as a clever, active young fellow, and I believe his fellow +soldiers respected him accordingly.' + +'But you used through this man,' answered Major Melville, 'to +communicate with such of your troop as were recruited upon +Waverley-Honour?' + +'Certainly; the poor fellows, finding themselves in a regiment +chiefly composed of Scotch or Irish, looked up to me in any of +their little distresses, and naturally made their countryman, and +sergeant, their spokesman on such occasions.' + +'Sergeant Houghton's influence,' continued the Major, 'extended, +then, particularly over those soldiers who followed you to the +regiment from your uncle's estate?' + +'Surely;--but what is that to the present purpose?' + +'To that I am just coming, and I beseech your candid reply. Have +you, since leaving the regiment, held any correspondence, direct +or indirect, with this Sergeant Houghton?' + +'I!--I hold correspondence with a man of his rank and situation! +--How, or for what purpose?' + +'That you are to explain;--but did you not, for example, send to +him for some books?' + +'You remind me of a trifling commission,' said Waverley, 'which I +gave Sergeant Houghton, because my servant could not read. I do +recollect I bade him, by letter, select some books, of which I +sent him a list, and send them to me at Tully-Veolan.' + +'And of what description were those books?' + +'They related almost entirely to elegant literature; they were +designed for a lady's perusal.' + +'Were there not, Mr. Waverley, treasonable tracts and pamphlets +among them?' + +'There were some political treatises, into which I hardly looked. +They had been sent to me by the officiousness of a kind friend, +whose heart is more to be esteemed than his prudence or political +sagacity; they seemed to be dull compositions.' + +'That friend,' continued the persevering inquirer, 'was a Mr. +Pembroke, a nonjuring clergyman, the author of two treasonable +works, of which the manuscripts were found among your baggage?' + +'But of which, I give you my honour as a gentleman,' replied +Waverley, 'I never read six pages.' + +'I am not your judge, Mr. Waverley; your examination will be +transmitted elsewhere. And now to proceed--Do you know a person +that passes by the name of Wily Will, or Will Ruthven?' + +'I never heard of such a name till this moment.' + +'Did you never, through such a person, or any other person, +communicate with Sergeant Humphry Houghton, instigating him to +desert, with as many of his comrades as he could seduce to join +him, and unite with the Highlanders and other rebels now in arms +under the command of the young Pretender?' + +'I assure you I am not only entirely guiltless of the plot you +have laid to my charge, but I detest it from the very bottom of +my soul, nor would I be guilty of such treachery to gain a +throne, either for myself or any other man alive.' + +'Yet when I consider this envelope, in the handwriting of one of +those misguided gentlemen who are now in arms against their +country, and the verses which it enclosed, I cannot but find some +analogy between the enterprise I have mentioned and the exploit +of Wogan, which the writer seems to expect you should imitate.' + +Waverley was struck with the coincidence, but denied that the +wishes or expectations of the letter-writer were to be regarded +as proofs of a charge otherwise chimerical. + +'But, if I am rightly informed, your time was spent, during your +absence from the regiment, between the house of this Highland +Chieftain, and that of Mr. Bradwardine of Bradwardine, also in +arms for this unfortunate cause?' + +'I do not mean to disguise it; but I do deny, most resolutely, +being privy to any of their designs against the Government.' + +'You do not, however, I presume, intend to deny, that you +attended your host Glennaquoich to a rendezvous, where, under a +pretence of a general hunting-match, most of the accomplices of +his treason were assembled to concert measures for taking arms?' + +'I acknowledge having been at such a meeting,' said Waverley; +'but I neither heard nor saw anything which could give it the +character you affix to it.' + +'From thence you proceeded,' continued the magistrate, 'with +Glennaquoich and a part of his clan, to join the army of the +young Pretender, and returned, after having paid your homage to +him, to discipline and arm the remainder, and unite them to his +bands on their way southward?' + +'I never went with Glennaquoich on such an errand. I never so +much as heard that the person whom you mention was in the +country.' + +He then detailed the history of his misfortune at the hunting- +match, and added, that on his return he found himself suddenly +deprived of his commission and did not deny that he then, for +the first time, observed symptoms which indicated a disposition +in the Highlanders to take arms; but added, that having no +inclination to join their cause, and no longer any reason for +remaining in Scotland, he was now on his return to his native +country, to which he had been summoned by those who had a right +to direct his motions, as Major Melville would perceive from the +letters on the table. + +Major Melville accordingly perused the letters of Richard +Waverley, of Sir Everard, and of Aunt Rachel; but the inferences +he drew from them were different from what Waverley expected. +They held the language of discontent with Government, threw out +no obscure hints of revenge; and that of poor Aunt Rachel, which +plainly asserted the justice of the Stuart cause, was held to +contain the open avowal of what the others only ventured to +insinuate. + +'Permit me another question, Mr. Waverley,' said Major Melville. +'Did you not receive repeated letters from your commanding- +officer, warning you and commanding you to return to your post, +and acquainting you with the use made of your name to spread +discontent among your soldiers?' + +'I never did, Major Melville. One letter, indeed, I received +from him, containing a civil intimation of his wish that I would +employ my leave of absence otherwise than in constant residence +at Bradwardine, as to which, I own, I thought he was not called +on to interfere; and, finally, I received, on the same day on +which I observed myself superseded in the Gazette, a second +letter from Colonel Gardiner, commanding me to join the +regiment,--an order which, owing to my absence, already mentioned +and accounted for, I received too late to be obeyed. If there +were any intermediate letters--and certainly, from the Colonel's +high character, I think it probable that there were--they have +never reached me.' + +'I have omitted, Mr. Waverley,' continued Major Melville, 'to +inquire after a matter of less consequence, but which has +nevertheless been publicly talked of to your disadvantage. It is +said that a treasonable toast having been proposed in your +hearing and presence, you, holding his Majesty's commission, +suffered the task of resenting it to devolve upon another +gentleman of the company. This, sir, cannot be charged against +you in a court of justice; but if, as I am informed, the officers +of your regiment requested an explanation of such a rumour, as a +gentleman and soldier, I cannot but be surprised that you did not +afford it to them.' + +This was too much. Beset and pressed on every hand by +accusations, in which gross falsehoods were blended with such +circumstances of truth as could not fail to procure them credit, +--alone, unfriended, and in a strange land, Waverley almost gave +up his life and honour for lost, and, leaning his head upon his +hand, resolutely refused to answer any further questions, since +the fair and candid statement he had already made had only served +to furnish arms against him. + +Without expressing either surprise or displeasure at the change +in Waverley's manner, Major Melville proceeded composedly to put +several other queries to him. 'What does it avail me to answer +you?' said Edward, sullenly. 'You appear convinced of my guilt, +and wrest every reply I have made to support your own +preconceived opinion. Enjoy your supposed triumph, then, and +torment me no further. If I am capable of the cowardice and +treachery your charge burdens me with, I am not worthy to be +believed in any reply I can make to you. If I am not deserving +of your suspicion--and God and my own conscience bear evidence +with me that it is so--then I do not see why I should, by my +candour, lend my accusers arms against my innocence. There is no +reason I should answer a word more, and I am determined to abide +by this resolution.' And again he resumed his posture of sullen +and determined silence. + +'Allow me,' said the magistrate, 'to remind you of one reason +that may suggest the propriety of a candid and open confession. +The inexperience of youth, Mr. Waverley, lays it open to the +plans of the more designing and artful; and one of your friends +at least--I mean Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich--ranks high in the +latter class, as, from your apparent ingenuousness, youth, and +unacquaintance with the manners of the Highlands, I should be +disposed to place you among the former. In such a case, a false +step, or error like yours, which I shall be happy to consider as +involuntary, may be atoned for, and I would willingly act as +intercessor. But as you must necessarily be acquainted with the +strength of the individuals in this country who have assumed +arms, with their means, and with their plans, I must expect you +will merit this mediation on my part by a frank and candid avowal +of all that has come to your knowledge upon these heads. In +which case, I think I can venture to promise that a very short +personal restraint will be the only ill consequence that can +arise from your accession to these unhappy intrigues.' + +Waverley listened with great composure until the end of this +exhortation, when, springing from his seat, with an energy he had +not yet displayed, he replied, 'Major Melville, since that is +your name, I have hitherto answered your questions with candour, +or declined them with temper, because their import concerned +myself alone; but as you presume to esteem me mean enough to +commence informer against others, who received me, whatever may +be their public misconduct, as a guest and friend,--I declare to +you that I consider your questions as an insult infinitely more +offensive than your calumnious suspicions; and that, since my +hard fortune permits me no other mode of resenting them than by +verbal defiance, you should sooner have my heart out of my bosom, +than a single syllable of information on subjects which I could +only become acquainted with in the full confidence of +unsuspecting hospitality.' + +Mr. Morton and the Major looked at each other; and the former, +who, in the course of the examination, had been repeatedly +troubled with a sorry rheum, had recourse to his snuff-box and +his handkerchief. + +'Mr. Waverley,' said the Major, 'my present situation prohibits +me alike from giving or receiving offence, and I will not +protract a discussion which approaches to either. I am afraid I +must sign a warrant for detaining you in custody, but this house +shall for the present be your prison. I fear I cannot persuade +you to accept a share of our supper?--(Edward shook his head)-- +but I will order refreshments in your apartment. + +Our hero bowed and withdrew, under guard of the officers of +justice, to a small but handsome room, where, declining all +offers of food or wine, he flung himself on the bed, and, +stupefied by the harassing events and mental fatigue of this +miserable day, he sank into a deep and heavy slumber. This was +more than he himself could have expected; but it is mentioned of +the North American Indians, when at the stake of torture, that on +the least intermission of agony, they will sleep until the fire +is applied to awaken them. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +A CONFERENCE, AND THE CONSEQUENCE + +Major Melville had detained Mr. Morton during his examination of +Waverley, both because he thought he might derive assistance from +his practical good sense and approved loyalty, and also because +it was agreeable to have a witness of unimpeached candour and +veracity to proceedings which touched the honour and safety of a +young Englishman of high rank and family, and the expectant heir +of a large fortune. Every step he knew would be rigorously +canvassed, and it was his business to place the justice and +integrity of his own conduct beyond the limits of question. + +When Waverley retired, the laird and clergyman of Cairnvreckan +sat down in silence to their evening meal. While the servants +were in attendance, neither chose to say anything on the +circumstances which occupied their minds, and neither felt it +easy to speak upon any other. The youth and apparent frankness +of Waverley stood in strong contrast to the shades of suspicion +which darkened around him, and he had a sort of NAIVETE and +openness of demeanour, that seemed to belong to one unhackneyed +in the ways of intrigue, and which pleaded highly in his favour. + +Each mused over the particulars of the examination, and each +viewed it through the medium of his own feelings. Both were men +of ready and acute talent, and both were equally competent to +combine various parts of evidence, and to deduce from them the +necessary conclusions. But the wide difference of their habits +and education often occasioned a great discrepancy in their +respective deductions from admitted premises. + +Major Melville had been versed in camps and cities; he was +vigilant by profession, and cautious from experience; had met +with much evil in the world, and therefore, though himself an +upright magistrate and an honourable man, his opinions of others +were always strict, and sometimes unjustly severe. Mr. Morton, +on the contrary, had passed from the literary pursuits of a +college, where he was beloved by his companions, and respected by +his teachers, to the ease and simplicity of his present charge, +where his opportunities of witnessing evil were few, and never +dwelt upon but in order to encourage repentance and amendment; +and where the love and respect of his parishioners repaid his +affectionate zeal in their behalf, by endeavouring to disguise +from him what they knew would give him the most acute pain, +namely, their own occasional transgressions of the duties which +it was the business of his life to recommend. Thus it was a +common saying in the neighbourhood (though both wore popular +characters), that the laird knew only the ill in the parish, and +the minister only the good. + +A love of letters, though kept in subordination to his clerical +studies and duties, also distinguished the pastor of +Cairnvreckan, and had tinged his mind in earlier days with a +slight feeling of romance, which no after incidents of real life +had entirely dissipated. The early loss of an amiable young +woman, whom he had married for love, and who was quickly followed +to the grave by an only child, had also served, even after the +lapse of many years, to soften a disposition naturally mild and +contemplative. His feelings on the present occasion were +therefore likely to differ from those of the severe +disciplinarian, strict magistrate, and distrustful man of the +world. + +When the servants had withdrawn, the silence of both parties +continued, until Major Melville, filling his glass, and pushing +the bottle to Mr. Morton, commenced. 'A distressing affair this, +Mr. Morton. I fear this youngster has brought himself within the +compass of a halter.' + +'God forbid!' answered the clergyman. + +'Marry, and amen,' said the temporal magistrate; 'but I think +even your merciful logic will hardly deny the conclusion.' + +'Surely, Major,' answered the clergyman, 'I should hope it might +be averted, for aught we have heard to-night?' + +'Indeed!' replied Melville. 'But, my good parson, you are one +of those who would communicate to every criminal the benefit of +clergy.' + +'Unquestionably I would: mercy and long-suffering are the grounds +of the doctrine I am called to teach.' + +'True, religiously speaking; but mercy to a criminal may be gross +injustice to the community. I don't speak of this young fellow +in particular, who I heartily wish may be able to clear himself, +for I like both his modesty and his spirit. But I fear he has +rushed upon his fate.' + +'And why? Hundreds of misguided gentlemen are now in arms +against the Government; many, doubtless, upon principles which +education and early prejudice have gilded with the names of +patriotism and heroism;--Justice, when she selects her victims +from such a multitude (for surely all will not be destroyed), +must regard the moral motive. He whom ambition, or hope of +personal advantage, has led to disturb the peace of a well- +ordered government, let him fall a victim to the laws; but surely +youth, misled by the wild visions of chivalry and imaginary +loyalty, may plead for pardon.' + +'If visionary chivalry and imaginary loyalty come within the +predicament of high treason,' replied the magistrate, 'I know no +court in Christendom, my dear Mr. Morton, where they can sue out +their Habeas Corpus.' + +'But I cannot see that this youth's guilt is at all established +to my satisfaction,' said the clergyman. + +'Because your good nature blinds your good sense,' replied Major +Melville. 'Observe now: this young man, descended of a family of +hereditary Jacobites, his uncle the leader of the Tory interest +in the county of --, his father a disobliged and discontented +courtier, his tutor a nonjuror, and the author of two treasonable +volumes--this youth, I say, enters into Gardiner's dragoons, +bringing with him a body-of young fellows from his uncle's +estate, who have not stickled at avowing, in their way, the High +Church principles they learned at Waverley-Honour, in their +disputes with their comrades. To these young men Waverley is +unusually attentive; they are supplied with money beyond a +soldier's wants, and inconsistent with his discipline; and are +under the management of a favourite sergeant, through whom they +hold an unusually close communication with their captain, and +affect to consider themselves as independent of the other +officers, and superior to their comrades.' + +'All this, my dear Major, is the natural consequence of their +attachment to their young landlord, and of their finding +themselves in a regiment levied chiefly in the north of Ireland +and the west of Scotland, and of course among comrades disposed +to quarrel with them, both as Englishmen, and as members of the +Church of England.' + +'Well said, parson!' replied the magistrate.--'I would some of +your synod heard you.--But let me go on. This young man obtains +leave of absence, goes to Tully-Veolan--the principles of the +Baron of Bradwardine are pretty well known, not to mention that +this lad's uncle brought him off in the year fifteen; he engages +there in a brawl, in which he is said to have disgraced the +commission he bore; Colonel Gardiner writes to him, first mildly, +then more sharply--I think you will not doubt his having done so, +since he says so; the mess invite him to explain the quarrel in +which he is said to have been involved; he neither replies to his +commander nor his comrades. In the meanwhile, his soldiers +become mutinous and disorderly, and at length, when the rumour of +this unhappy rebellion becomes general, his favourite Sergeant +Houghton, and another fellow, are detected in correspondence with +a French emissary, accredited, as he says, by Captain Waverley, +who urges him, according to the men's confession, to desert with +the troop and join their captain, who was with Prince Charles. +In the meanwhile this trusty captain is, by his own admission, +residing at Glennaquoich with the most active, subtle, and +desperate Jacobite in Scotland; he goes with him at least as far +as their famous hunting rendezvous, and I fear a little farther. +Meanwhile two other summonses are sent him; one warning him of +the disturbances in his troop, another peremptorily ordering him +to repair to the regiment, which, indeed, common sense might have +dictated, when he observed rebellion thickening all round him. +He returns an absolute refusal, and throws up his commission.' + +'He had been already deprived of it,' said Mr. Morton. + +'But he regrets,' replied Melville, 'that the measure had +anticipated his resignation. His baggage is seized at his +quarters, and at Tully-Veolan, and is found to contain a stock of +pestilent jacobitical pamphlets, enough to poison a whole +country, besides the unprinted lucubrations of his worthy friend +and tutor Mr. Pembroke. + +'He says he never read them,' answered the minister. + +'In an ordinary case I should believe him,' replied the +magistrate, 'for they are as stupid and pedantic in composition, +as mischievous in their tenets. But can you suppose anything but +value for the principles they maintain would induce a young man +of his age to lug such trash about with him? Then, when news +arrive of the approach of the rebels, he sets out in a sort of +disguise, refusing to tell his name; and, if yon old fanatic tell +truth, attended by a very suspicious character, and mounted on a +horse known to have belonged to Glennaquoich, and bearing on his +person letters from his family expressing high rancour against +the house of Brunswick, and a copy of verses in praise of one +Wogan, who abjured the service of the Parliament to join the +Highland insurgents, when in arms to restore the house of Stuart, +with a body of English cavalry the very counterpart of his own +plot--and summed up with a "Go thou and do likewise," from that +loyal subject, and most safe and peaceable character, Fergus Mac- +Ivor of Glennaquoich, Vich Ian Vohr, and so forth. And, lastly,' +continued Major Melville, warming in the detail of his arguments, +'where do we find this second edition of Cavalier Wogan? Why, +truly, in the very track most proper for execution of his design, +and pistolling the first of the king's subjects who ventures to +question his intentions.' + +Mr. Morton prudently abstained from argument, which be perceived +would only harden the magistrate in his opinion, and merely asked +how he intended to dispose of the prisoner? + +'It is a question of some difficulty, considering the state of +the country,' said Major Melville. + +'Could you not detain him (being such a gentleman-like young man) +here in your own house, out of harm's way, till this storm blow +over?' + +'My good friend,' said Major Melville, 'neither your house nor +mine will be long out of harm's way, even were it legal to +confine him here. I have just learned that the commander-in- +chief, who marched into the Highlands to seek out and disperse +the insurgents, has declined giving them battle at Corryerick, +and marched on northward with all the disposable force of +Government to Inverness, John-o'-Groat's House, or the devil, for +what I know, leaving the road to the Low Country open and +undefended to the Highland army.' + +'Good God!' said the clergyman. 'Is the man a coward, a +traitor, or an idiot?' + +'None of the three, I believe,' answered Melville. 'Sir John has +the commonplace courage of a common soldier, is honest enough, +does what he is commanded, and understands what is told him, but +is as fit to act for himself in circumstances of importance, as +I, my dear parson, to occupy your pulpit.' + +This important public intelligence naturally diverted the +discourse from Waverley for some time; at length, however, the +subject was resumed. + +'I believe,' said Major Melville, 'that I must give this young +man in charge to some of the detached parties of armed +volunteers, who were lately sent out to overawe the disaffected +districts, They are now recalled towards Stirling, and a small +body comes this way to-morrow or next day, commanded by the +westland man,--what's his name?--You saw him, and said he was the +very model of one of Cromwell's military saints,' + +Gilfillan, the Cameronian,' answered Mr. Morton. 'I wish the +young gentleman may be safe with him. Strange things are done in +the heat and hurry of minds in so agitating a crisis, and I fear +Gilfillan is of a sect which has suffered persecution without +learning mercy.' + +'He has only to lodge Mr. Waverley in Stirling Castle,' said the +Major: 'I will give strict injunctions to treat him well. I +really cannot devise any better mode for securing him, and I +fancy you would hardly advise me to encounter the responsibility +of setting him at liberty.' + +'But you will have no objection to my seeing him tomorrow in +private?' said the minister. + +'None, certainly; your loyalty and character are my warrant. But +with what view do you make the request?' + +'Simply,' replied Mr. Morton, 'to make the experiment whether he +may not be brought to communicate to me some circumstances which +may hereafter be useful to alleviate, if not to exculpate his +conduct.' + +The friends now parted and retired to rest, each filled with the +most anxious reflections on the state of the country. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A CONFIDANT + +Waverley awoke in the morning, from troubled dreams and +unrefreshing slumbers, to a full consciousness of the horrors of +his situation. How it might terminate he knew not. He might be +delivered up to military law, which, in the midst of civil war, +was not likely to be scrupulous in the choice of its victims, or +the quality of the evidence. Nor did he feel much more +comfortable at the thoughts of a trial before a Scottish court of +justice, where he knew the laws and forms differed in many +respects from those of England, and had been taught to believe, +however erroneously, that the liberty and rights of the subject +were less carefully protected. A sentiment of bitterness rose in +his mind against the Government, which he considered as the cause +of his embarrassment and peril, and he cursed internally his +scrupulous rejection of Mac-Ivor's invitation to accompany him to +the field. + +'Why did not I,' he said to himself, 'like other men of honour, +take the earliest opportunity to welcome to Britain the +descendant of her ancient kings, and lineal heir of her throne? +Why did not I + + Unthread the rude eye of rebellion, + And welcome home again discarded faith, + Seek out Prince Charles, and fall before his feet? + +All that has been recorded of excellence and worth in the house +of Waverley has been founded upon their loyal faith to the house +of Stuart. From the interpretation which this Scotch magistrate +has put upon the letters of my uncle and father, it is plain that +I ought to have understood them as marshalling me to the course +of my ancestors; and it has been my gross dullness, joined to the +obscurity of expression which they adopted for the sake of +security, that has confounded my judgement. Had I yielded to the +first generous impulse of indignation when I learned that my +honour was practised upon, how different had been my present +situation! I had then been free and in arms, fighting, like my +forefathers, for love, for loyalty, and for fame. And now I am +here, netted and in the toils, at the disposal of a suspicious, +stern, and cold-hearted man, perhaps to be turned over to the +solitude of a dungeon, or the infamy of a public execution. O +Fergus! how true has your prophecy proved; and how speedy, how +very speedy, has been its accomplishment!' + +While Edward was ruminating on these painful subjects of +contemplation, and very naturally, though not quite so justly, +bestowing upon the reigning dynasty that blame which was due to +chance, or, in part at least, to his own unreflecting conduct, +Mr. Morton availed himself of Major Melville's permission to pay +him an early visit. + +Waverley's first impulse was to intimate a desire that he might +not be disturbed with questions or conversation; but he +suppressed it upon observing the benevolent and reverend +appearance of the clergyman who had rescued him from the +immediate violence of the villagers. + +'I believe, sir,' said the unfortunate young man, 'that in any +other circumstances I should have had as much gratitude to +express to you as the safety of my life may be worth; but such is +the present tumult of my mind, and such is my anticipation of +what I am yet likely to endure, that I can hardly offer you +thanks for your interposition.' + +Mr. Morton replied, that, far from making any claim upon his good +opinion, his only wish and the sole purpose of his visit was to +find out the means of deserving it. 'My excellent friend, Major +Melville,' he continued, 'has feelings and duties as a soldier +and public functionary, by which I am not fettered; nor can I +always coincide in opinions which he forms, perhaps with too +little allowance for the imperfections of human nature. He +paused, and then proceeded: 'I do not intrude myself on your +confidence, Mr. Waverley, for the purpose of learning any +circumstances, the knowledge of which can be prejudicial either +to yourself or to others; but I own my earnest wish is, that you +would entrust me with any particulars which could lead to your +exculpation. I can solemnly assure you they will be deposited +with a faithful, and, to the extent of his limited powers, a +zealous agent.' + +'You are, sir, I presume, a Presbyterian clergyman?'--Mr. Morton +bowed.--'Were I to be guided by the prepossessions of education, +I might distrust your friendly professions in my case; but I have +observed that similar prejudices are nourished in this country +against your professional brethren of the Episcopal persuasion, +and I am willing to believe them equally unfounded in both +cases.' + +'Evil to him that thinks otherwise,' said Mr. Morton; 'or who +holds church government and ceremonies as the exclusive gage of +Christian faith or moral virtue.' + +'But,' continued Waverley, 'I cannot perceive why I should +trouble you with a detail of particulars, out of which, after +revolving them as carefully as possible in my recollection, I +find myself unable to explain much of what is charged against me. +I know, indeed, that I am innocent, but I hardly see how I can +hope to prove myself so.' + +'It is for that very reason, Mr. Waverley,' said the clergyman, +'that I venture to solicit your confidence. My knowledge of +individuals in this country is pretty general, and can upon +occasion be extended. Your situation will, I fear, preclude you +taking those active steps for recovering intelligence, or tracing +imposture, which I would willingly undertake in your behalf; and +if you are not benefited by my exertions, at least they cannot be +prejudicial to you.' + +Waverley, after a few minutes' reflection, was convinced that his +reposing confidence in Mr. Morton, so far as he himself was +concerned, could hurt neither Mr. Bradwardine nor Fergus +Mac-Ivor, both of whom had openly assumed arms against the +Government, and that it might possibly, if the professions of his +new friend corresponded in sincerity with the earnestness of his +expression, be of some service to himself. He therefore ran +briefly over most of the events with which the reader is already +acquainted, suppressing his attachment to Flora, and indeed +neither mentioning her nor Rose Bradwardine in the course of his +narrative. + +Mr. Morton seemed particularly struck with the account of +Waverley's visit to Donald Bean Lean. 'I am glad,' he said, 'you +did not mention this circumstance to the Major. It is capable of +great misconstruction on the part; of those who do not consider +the power of curiosity and the influence of romance as motives of +youthful conduct. When I was a young man like you, Mr. Waverley, +any such hair-brained expedition (I beg your pardon for the +expression) would have had inexpressible charms for me. But +there are men in the world who will not believe that danger and +fatigue are often incurred without any very adequate cause, and +therefore who are sometimes led to assign motives of action +entirely foreign to the truth. This man Bean Lean is renowned +through the country as a sort of Robin Hood, and the stories +which are told of his address and enterprise are the common tales +of the winter fireside. He certainly possesses talents beyond +the rude sphere in which he moves; and, being neither destitute +of ambition nor encumbered with scruples, he will probably +attempt, by every means, to distinguish himself during the period +of these unhappy commotions.' Mr. Morton then made a careful +memorandum of the various particulars of Waverley's interview +with Donald Bean Lean, and the other circumstances which he had +communicated. + +The interest which this good man seemed to take in his +misfortunes,--above all, the full confidence he appeared to +repose in his innocence,--had the natural effect of softening +Edward's heart, whom the coldness of Major Melville had taught to +believe that the world was leagued to oppress him. He shook Mr. +Morton warmly by the hand, and assuring him that his kindness and +sympathy had relieved his mind of a heavy load, told him, that +whatever might be his own fate, he belonged to a family who had +both gratitude and the power of displaying it. + +The earnestness of his thanks called drops to the eyes of the +worthy clergyman, who was doubly interested in the cause for +which he had volunteered his services, by observing the genuine +and undissembled feelings of his young friend. + +Edward now inquired if Mr. Morton knew what was likely to be his +destination. + +'Stirling Castle,' replied. his friend; 'and so far I am well +pleased for your sake, for the governor is a man of honour and +humanity. But I am more doubtful of your treatment upon the +road; Major Melville is involuntarily obliged to entrust the +custody of your person to another.' + +'I am glad of it,' answered Waverley. 'I detest that cold- +blooded calculating Scotch magistrate. I hope he and I shall +never meet more: he had neither sympathy with my innocence nor +my wretchedness; and the petrifying accuracy with which he +attended to every form of civility, while he tortured me by his +questions, his suspicions, and his inferences, was as tormenting +as the racks of the Inquisition. Do not vindicate him, my dear +sir, for that I cannot bear with patience; tell me rather who is +to have the charge of so important a state prisoner as I am.' + +'I believe a person called Gilfillan, one of the sect who are +termed Cameronians.' + +'I never heard of them before.' + +'They claim,' said the clergyman, 'to represent the more strict +and severe Presbyterians, who in Charles Second's and James +Second's days, refused to profit by the Toleration, or +Indulgence, as it was called, which was extended to others of +that religion. They held conventicles in the open fields, and +being treated, with great violence and cruelty by the Scottish +government, more than once took arms during those reigns. They +take their name from their leader, Richard Cameron. + +'I recollect,' said Waverley; 'but did not the triumph of +Presbytery at the Revolution extinguish that sect?' + +'By no means,' replied Morton; 'that great event fell yet far +short of what they proposed, which was nothing less than the +complete establishment of the Presbyterian Church, upon the +grounds of the old Solemn League and Covenant. Indeed, I believe +they scarce knew what they wanted; but being a numerous body of +men, and not unacquainted with the use of arms, they kept +themselves together as a separate party in the state, and at the +time of the Union had nearly formed a most unnatural league with +their old enemies, the Jacobites, to oppose that important +national measure. Since that time their numbers have gradually +diminished; but a good many are still to be found in the western +counties, and several, with a better temper than in 1707, have +now taken arms for Government, This person, whom they call Gifted +Gilfillan, has been long a leader among them, and now heads a +small party, which will pass here to-day, or to-morrow, on their +march towards Stirling, under whose escort Major Melville +proposes you shall travel. I would willingly speak to Gilfillan +in your behalf; but, having deeply imbibed all the prejudices of +his sect, and being of the same fierce disposition, he would pay +little regard to the remonstrances of an Erastian divine, as he +would politely term me.--And now, farewell, my young friend; for +the present, I must not weary out the Major's indulgence, that I +may obtain his permission to visit you again in the course of the +day.' + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THINGS MEND A LITTLE + +About noon, Mr. Morton returned, and brought an invitation from +Major Melville that Mr. Waverley would honour him with his +company to dinner, notwithstanding the unpleasant affair which +detained him at Cairnvreckan, from which he should heartily +rejoice to see Mr. Waverley completely extricated. The truth +was, that Mr. Morton's favourable report and opinion had somewhat +staggered the preconceptions of the old soldier concerning +Edward's supposed accession to the mutiny in the regiment; and in +the unfortunate state of the country, the mere suspicion of +disaffection, or an inclination to join the insurgent Jacobites, +might infer criminality indeed, but certainly not dishonour. +Besides, a person whom the Major trusted had reported to him +(though, as it proved, inaccurately) a contradiction of the +agitating news of the preceding evening. According to this +second edition of the intelligence, the Highlanders had withdrawn +from the Lowland frontier with the purpose of following the army +in their march to Inverness. The Major was at a loss, indeed, to +reconcile his information with the well-known abilities of some +of the gentlemen in the Highland army, yet it was the course +which was likely to be most agreeable to others. He remembered +the same policy had detained them in the north in the year 1715, +and he anticipated a similar termination to the insurrection as +upon that occasion. + +This news put him in such good humour, that he readily acquiesced +in Mr. Morton's proposal to pay some hospitable attention to his +unfortunate guest, and voluntarily added, he hoped the whole +affair would prove a youthful escapade, which might be easily +atoned by a short confinement. The kind mediator had some +trouble to prevail on his young friend to accept the invitation. +He dared not urge to him the real motive, which was a good- +natured wish to secure a favourable report of Waverley's case +from Major Melville to Governor Blakeney. He remarked, from the +flashes of our hero's spirit, that touching upon this topic would +be sure to defeat his purpose. He therefore pleaded, that the +invitation argued the Major's disbelief of any part of the +accusation which was inconsistent with Waverley's conduct as a +soldier and a man of honour, and that to decline his courtesy +might be interpreted into a consciousness that it was unmerited. +In short, he so far satisfied Edward that the manly and proper +course was to meet the Major on easy terms, that, suppressing his +strong dislike again to encounter his cold and punctilious +civility, Waverley agreed to be guided by his new friend. The +meeting, at first, was stiff and formal enough. But Edward, +having accepted the invitation, and his mind being really soothed +and relieved by the kindness of Morton, held himself bound to +behave with ease, though he could not affect cordiality. The +Major was somewhat of a BON VIVANT, and his wine was excellent. +He told his old campaign stories, and displayed much knowledge of +men and manners. Mr. Morton had an internal fund of placid and +quiet gaiety, which seldom failed to enliven any small party in +which he found himself pleasantly seated. Waverley, whose life +was a dream, gave ready way to the predominating impulse, and +became the most lively of the party. He had at all times +remarkable natural powers of conversation, though easily silenced +by discouragement. On the present occasion, he piqued himself +upon leaving on the minds of his companions a favourable +impression of one who, under such disastrous circumstances, could +sustain his misfortunes with ease and gaiety. His spirits, +though not unyielding, were abundantly elastic, and soon seconded +his efforts. The trio were engaged in very lively discourse, +apparently delighted with each other, and the kind host was +pressing a third bottle of Burgundy, when the sound of a drum was +heard at some distance. The Major, who, in the glee of an old +soldier, had forgot the duties of a magistrate, cursed, with a +muttered military oath, the circumstances which recalled him to +his official functions. He rose and went towards the window, +which commanded a very near view of the high-road, and he was +followed by his guests. + +The drum advanced, beating no measured martial tune, but a kind +of rub-a-dub-dub, like that with which the fire-drum startles the +slumbering artisans of a Scotch burgh. It is the object of this +history to do justice to all men; I must therefore record, in +justice to the drummer, that he protested he could beat any known +march or point of war known in the British army, and had +accordingly commenced with 'Dumbarton's Drums,' when he was +silenced by Gifted Gilfillan, the commander of the party, who +refused to permit his followers to move to this profane, and +even, as he said, persecuting tune, and commanded the drummer to +beat the 119th Psalm. As this was beyond the capacity of the +drubber of sheepskin, he was fain to have recourse to the +inoffensive row-de-dow, as a harmless substitute for the sacred +music which his instrument or skill were unable to achieve. This +may be held a trifling anecdote, but the drummer in question was +no less than town-drummer of Anderton. I remember his successor +in office, a member of that enlightened body, the British +Convention: be his memory, therefore, treated with due respect. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A VOLUNTEER SIXTY YEARS SINCE + +On hearing the unwelcome sound of the drum, Major Melville +hastily opened a sashed door, and stepped out upon a sort of +terrace which divided his house from the high-road from which the +martial music proceeded. Waverley and his new friend followed +him, though probably he would have dispensed with their +attendance. They soon recognized in solemn march, first, the +performer upon the drum; secondly, a large flag of four +compartments, on which were inscribed the words COVENANTS, +RELIGION, KING, KINGDOMES. The person who was honoured with this +charge was followed by the commander of the party, a thin, dark, +rigid-looking man, about sixty years old. The spiritual pride, +which in mine Host of the Candlestick mantled in a sort of +supercilious hypocrisy, was, in this man's face, elevated and yet +darkened by genuine and undoubting fanaticism. It was impossible +to behold him without imagination placing him in some strange +crisis, where religious zeal was the ruling principle. A martyr +at the stake, a soldier in the field, a lonely and banished +wanderer consoled by the intensity and supposed purity of his +faith under every earthly privation; perhaps a persecuting +inquisitor, as terrible in power as unyielding in adversity; any +of these seemed congenial characters to this personage. With +these high traits of energy, there was something in the affected +precision and solemnity of his deportment and discourse, that +bordered upon the ludicrous; so that, according to the mood of +the spectator's mind, and the light under which Mr. Gilfillan +presented himself, one might have feared; admired, or laughed at +him. His dress was that of a west-country peasant, of better +materials indeed than that of the lower rank, but in no respect +affecting either the mode of the age, or of the Scottish gentry +at any period. His arms were a broadsword and pistols, which, +from the antiquity of their appearance, might have seen the rout +of Pentland, or Bothwell Brigg. + +As he came up a few steps to meet Major Melville, and touched +solemnly, but slightly, his huge and overbrimmed blue bonnet, in +answer to the Major, who had courteously raised a small +triangular gold-laced hat, Waverley was irresistibly impressed +with the idea that he beheld a leader of the Roundheads of yore +in conference with one of Marlborough's captains. + +The group of about thirty armed men who followed this gifted +commander, was of a motley description. They were in ordinary +Lowland dresses, of different colours, which, contrasted with the +arms they bore, gave them an irregular and mobbish appearance; so +much is the eye accustomed to connect uniformity of dress with +the military character. In front were a few who apparently +partook of their leader's enthusiasm; men obviously to be feared +in a combat where their natural courage was exalted by religious +zeal. Others puffed and strutted, filled with the importance of +carrying arms, and all the novelty of their situation, while the +rest, apparently fatigued with their march, dragged their limbs +listlessly along, or straggled from their companions to procure +such refreshments as the neighbouring cottages and ale-houses +afforded.--Six grenadiers of Ligonier's, thought the Major to +himself, as his mind reverted to his own military experience, +would have sent all these fellows to the right about. + +Greeting, however, Mr. Gilfillan civilly, he requested to know if +he had received the letter he had sent to him upon his march, and +could undertake the charge of the state prisoner whom he there +mentioned, as far as Stirling Castle. 'Yea,' was the concise +reply of the Cameronian leader, in a voice which seemed to issue +from the very PENETRALIA of his person. + +'But your escort, Mr. Gilfillan, is not so strong as I expected,' +said Major Melville, + +'Some of the people,' replied Gilfillan, 'hungered and were +athirst by the way, and tarried until their poor souls were +refreshed with the word.' + +'I am sorry, sir,' replied the Major, 'you did not trust to your +refreshing your men at Cairnvreckan; whatever my house contains +is at the command of persons employed in the service.' + +'It was not of creature comforts I spake,' answered the +Covenanter, regarding Major Melville with something like a smile +of contempt; 'howbeit, I thank you; but the people remained +waiting upon the precious Mr. Jabesh Rentowel, for the outpouring +of the afternoon exhortation.' + +'And have you, sir,' said the Major, 'when the rebels are about +to spread themselves through this country, actually left a great +part of your command at a field-preaching!' + +Gilfillan again smiled scornfully as he made this indirect +answer,--'Even thus are the children of this world wiser in their +generation than the children of light!' + +'However, sir,' said the Major, 'as you are to take charge of +this gentleman to Stirling, and deliver him, with these papers, +into the hands of Governor Blakeney, I beseech you to observe +some rules of military discipline upon your march. For example, +I would advise you to keep your men more closely together, and +that each, in his march, should cover his file-leader, instead of +straggling like geese upon a common; and, for fear of surprise, I +further recommend to you to form a small advance-party of your +best men, with a single vidette in front of the whole march, so +that when you approach a village or a wood'--(Here the Major +interrupted himself)--'But as I don't observe you listen to me, +Mr. Gilfillan, I suppose I need not give myself the trouble to +say more upon the subject. You are a better judge, +unquestionably, than I am, of the measures to be pursued; but one +thing I would have you well aware of, that you are to treat this +gentleman, your prisoner, with no rigour nor incivility, and are +to subject him to no other restraint than is necessary for his +security.' + +'I have looked into my commission,' said Mr. Gilfillan, +subscribed by a worthy and professing nobleman, William, Earl of +Glencairn; nor do I find it therein set down that I am to receive +any charges or commands anent my doings from Major William +Melville of Cairnvreckan.' + +Major Melville reddened even to the well-powdered ears which +appeared beneath his neat military side-curls, the more so, as he +observed Mr. Morton smile at the same moment. 'Mr. Gilfillan,' +he answered with some asperity, 'I beg ten thousand pardons for +interfering with a person of your importance. I thought, +however, that as you have been bred a grazier, if I mistake not, +there might be occasion to remind you of the difference between +Highlanders and Highland cattle; and if you should happen to meet +with any gentleman who has seen service; and is disposed to speak +upon the subject, I should still imagine that listening to him +would do you no sort of harm. But I have done, and have only +once more to recommend this gentleman to your civility, as well +as to your custody.-- Mr, Waverley, I am truly sorry we should +part in this way; but I trust, when you are again in this +country, I may have an opportunity to render Cairnvreckan more +agreeable than circumstances have permitted on this occasion.' + +So saying, he shook our hero by the hand. Morton also took an +affectionate farewell; and Waverley, having mounted his horse, +with a musketeer leading it by the bridle, and a file upon each +side to prevent his escape, set forward upon the march with +Gilfillan and his party. Through the little village they were +accompanied with the shouts of the children, who cried out, 'Eh! +see to the Southland gentleman, that's gaun to be hanged for +shooting lang John Mucklewrath the smith!' + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +AN INCIDENT + +The dinner-hour of Scotland Sixty Years since was two o'clock. +It was therefore about four o'clock of a delightful autumn +afternoon that Mr. Gilfillan commenced his march, in hopes, +although Stirling was eighteen miles distant, he might be able, +by becoming a borrower of the night for an hour or two, to reach +it that evening. He therefore put forth his strength, and +marched stoutly along at the head of his followers, eyeing our +hero from time to time, as if he longed to enter into controversy +with him. At length unable to resist the temptation, he +slackened his pace till he was alongside of his prisoner's horse, +and after marching a few steps in silence abreast of him, he +suddenly asked,--'Can ye say wha the carle was wi' the black +coat; and the mousted head, that was wi' the Laird of +Cairnvreckan?' + +'A Presbyterian clergyman,' answered Waverley. + +'Presbyterian!' answered Gilfillan contemptuously: 'a wretched +Erastian, or rather an obscured Prelatist,--a favourer of the +black Indulgence; ane of thae dumb dogs that canna bark: they +tell ower a clash o' terror and a clatter o' comfort in their +sermons, without ony sense, or savour, or life.--Ye've been fed +in siccan a fauld, belike?' + +'No; I am of the Church of England,' said Waverley. + +And they're just neighbour-like,' replied the Covenanter; 'and +nae wonder they gree sae weel. Wha wad hae thought the goodly +structure of the Kirk of Scotland, built up by our fathers in +1642, wad hae been defaced by carnal ends and, the corruptions of +the time;--aye, wha wad hae thought the carved work of the +sanctuary would hae been sae soon cut down!' + +To this lamentation, which one or two of the assistants chorussed +with a deep groan, our hero thought it unnecessary to make any +reply. Whereupon Mr. Gilfillan, resolving that he should be a +hearer at least, if not a disputant, proceeded in his Jeremiad. + +'And now is it wonderful, when, for lack of exercise anent the +call to the service of the altar and the duty of the day, +ministers fall into sinful compliances with patronage, and +indemnities, and oaths, and bonds, and, other corruptions,--is it +wonderful, I say, that you, sir, and other sic-like unhappy +persons, should labour to build up your auld Babel of iniquity, +as in the bluidy persecuting saint-killing times? I trow, gin ya +werena blinded wi' the graces and favours, and services and +enjoyments, and employments and inheritances, of this wicked +world, I could prove to you, by the Scripture, in what a filthy +rag ye put your trust; and that your surplices, and your copes +and vestments, are but cast-off-garments of the muckle harlot, +that sitteth upon seven hills, and drinketh of the cup of +abomination. But, I trow, ye are deaf as adders upon that side +of the head; aye, ye are deceived with her enchantments, and ye +traffic with her merchandise, and ye are drunk with the cup of +her fornication!' + +How much longer this military theologist might have continued his +invective, in which he spared nobody but the scattered remnant of +HILL-FOLK, as he called them, is absolutely uncertain. His +matter was copious, his voice powerful, and his memory strong; so +that there was little chance of his ending his exhortation till +the party had reached Stirling, had not his attention been +attracted by a pedlar who had joined the march from a cross-road, +and who sighed or groaned with great regularity at all fitting +pauses of his homily. + +'And what may ya be, friend?' said the Gifted Gilfillan. + +'A puir pedler, that's bound for Stirling, and craves the +protection of your honour's party in these kittle times. Ah! +your honour has a notable faculty in searching and explaining the +secret,--aye, the secret and obscure and incomprehensible causes +of the backslidings of the land; aye, your honour touches the +root o' the matter.' + +'Friend,' said Gilfillan, with a more complacent voice than he +had hitherto used, 'honour not me. I do not go out to park- +dikes, and to steadings, and to market-towns, to have herds and +cottars and burghers pull off their bonnets to me as they do to +Major Melville o' Cairnvreckan, and ca' me laird, or captain, or +honour;--no; my sma' means, whilk are not aboon twenty thousand +merk, have had the blessing of increase, but the pride of heart +has not increased with them; nor do I delight to be called +captain, though I have the subscribed commission of that gospel- +searching nobleman, the Earl of Glencairn, in whilk I am so +designated. While I live, I am and will be called Habakkuk +Gilfillan, who will stand up for the standards of doctrine agreed +on by the ance-famous Kirk of Scotland, before she trafficked +with the accursed Achan, while he has a plack in his purse, or a +drap o' bluid in his body.' + +'Ah,' said the pedlar, 'I have seen your land about Mauchlin--a +fertile spot! your lines have fallen in pleasant places!--And +siccan a breed o' cattle is not in ony laird's land in Scotland.' + +'Ye say right,--ye say right, friend,' retorted Gilfillan +eagerly, for he was not inaccessible to flattery upon this +subject,--'ye say right; they are the real Lancashire, and +there's no the like o' them even at the Mains of Kilmaurs;' and +he then entered into a discussion of their excellences, to which +our readers will probably be as indifferent as our hero. After +this excursion, the leader returned to his theological +discussions, while the pedlar, less profound upon those mystic +points, contented himself with groaning, and expressing his +edification at suitable intervals. + +'What a blessing it would be to the puir blinded popish nations +among whom I hae sojourned, to have siccan a light to their +paths! I hae been as far as Muscovia in my sma' trading way, as +a travelling merchant; and I hae been through France, and the Low +Countries, and a' Poland, and maist feck o' Germany; and oh! it +would grieve your honour's soul to see the murmuring, and the +singing, and massing, that's in the kirk, and the piping that's +in the quire, and the heathenish dancing and dicing upon the +Sabbath!' + +This set Gilfillan off upon the Book of Sports and the Covenant, +and the Engagers, and the Protesters, and the Whiggamore's Raid, +and the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and the Longer and +Shorter Catechism, and the Excommunication at Torwood, and the +slaughter of Archbishop Sharp. This last topic, again, led him +into the lawfulness of defensive arms, on which subject he +uttered much more sense than could have been expected from some +other parts of his harangue, and attracted even Waverley's +attention, who had hitherto been lost in his own sad reflections. +Mr. Gilfillan then considered the lawfulness of a private man's +standing forth as the avenger of public oppression, and as he was +labouring with great earnestness the cause of Mas James Mitchell, +who fired at the Archbishop of St. Andrews some years before the +prelate's assassination on Magus Muir, an incident occurred which +interrupted his harangue. + +The rays of the sun were lingering on the very verge of the +horizon, as the party ascended a hollow and somewhat steep path, +which led to the summit of a rising ground. The country was +unenclosed, being part of a very extensive heath or common; but +it was far from level, exhibiting in many places hollows filled +with furze and broom; in others little dingles of stunted +brushwood. A thicket of the latter description crowned the hill +up which the party ascended. The foremost of the band, being the +stoutest and most active, had pushed on, and having surmounted +the ascent, were out of ken for the present. Gilfillan, with the +pedlar, and the small party who were Waverley's more immediate +guard, were near the top of the ascent, and the remainder +straggled after them at a considerable interval. + +Such was the situation of matters, when the pedlar, missing, as +he said, a little doggie which belonged to him, began to halt and +whistle for the animal. This signal, repeated more than once, +gave offence to the rigour of his companion, the rather because +it appeared to indicate inattention to the treasures of +theological and controversial knowledge which was pouring out for +his edification. He therefore signified gruffly, that he could +not waste his time in waiting for a useless cur. + +'But if your honour wad consider the case of Tobit'-- + +'Tobit!' exclaimed Gilfillan, with great heat; 'Tobit and his +dog baith are altogether heathenish and apocryphal, and none but +a prelatist or a papist would draw them into question. I doubt I +hae been mista'en in you, friend.' + +'Very likely,' answered the pedlar, with great composure; 'but +ne'ertheless, I shall take leave to whistle again upon puir +Bawty,' + +This last signal was answered in an unexpected manner; for six or +eight stout Highlanders, who lurked among the copse and +brushwood, sprang into the hollow way, and began to lay about +them with their claymores. Gilfillan, un-appalled at this +undesirable apparition, cried out manfully, 'The sword of the +Lord and of Gideon!' and, drawing his broadsword, would probably +have done as much credit to the good old cause as any of its +doughty champions at Drumclog, when, behold! the pedlar, +snatching a musket from the person who was next him, bestowed the +butt of it with such emphasis on the head of his late instructor +in the Cameronian creed, that he was forthwith levelled to the +ground. In the confusion which ensued, the horse which bore our +hero was shot by one of Gilfillan's party, as he discharged his +firelock at random. Waverley fell with, and indeed under, the +animal, and sustained some severe contusions. But he was almost +instantly extricated from the fallen steed by two Highlanders, +who, each seizing him by the arm, hurried him away from the +scuffle and from the high-road. They ran with great speed, half +supporting and half dragging our hero, who could, however, +distinguish a few dropping shots fired about the spat which he +had left. This, as he afterwards learned, proceeded from +Gilfillan's party, who had now assembled, the stragglers in front +and rear having joined the others. At their approach the +Highlanders drew off, but not before they had rifled Gilfillan +and two of his people, who remained on the spot grievously +wounded. A few shots were exchanged betwixt them and the +Westlanders; but the latter, now without a commander, and +apprehensive of a second ambush, did not make any serious effort +to recover their prisoner, judging it more wise to proceed on +their journey to Stirling, carrying with them their wounded +captain and comrades. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +WAVERLEY IS STILL IN DISTRESS + +The velocity, and indeed violence, with which Waverley was +hurried along, nearly deprived him of sensation; for the injury +he had received from his fall prevented him from aiding himself +so effectually as he might otherwise have done. When this was +observed by his conductors, they called to their aid two or three +others of the party, and swathing our hero's body in one of their +plaids, divided his weight by that means among them, and +transported him at the same rapid rate as before, without any +exertion of his own. They spoke little, and that in Gaelic; and +did not slacken their pace till they had run nearly two miles, +when they abated their extreme rapidity, but continued still to +walk very fast, relieving each other occasionally, + +Our hero now endeavoured to address them, but was only answered +with 'CHA N'EIL BEURL' AGAM,' i.e. 'I have no English,' being, as +Waverley well knew, the constant reply of a Highlander, when he +either does not understand, or does not choose to reply to, an +Englishman or Lowlander. He then mentioned the name of Vich Ian +Vohr, concluding that he was indebted to his friendship for his +rescue from the clutches of Gifted Gilfillan; but neither did +this produce any mark of recognition from his escort. + +The twilight had given place to moonshine when the party halted +upon the brink of a precipitous glen, which, as partly +enlightened by the moonbeams, seemed full of trees and tangled +brushwood. Two of the Highlanders dived into it by a small +footpath, as if to explore its recesses, and one of them +returning in a few minutes, said something to his companions, who +instantly raised their burden, and bore him, with great attention +and care, down the narrow and abrupt descent. Notwithstanding +their precautions, however, Waverley's person came more than once +into contact, rudely enough, with the projecting stumps and +branches which overhung the pathway. + +At the bottom of the descent, and, as it seemed, by the side of a +brook (for Waverley heard the rushing of a considerable body of +water, although its stream was invisible in the darkness), the +party again stopped before a small and rudely-constructed hovel. +The door was open, and the inside of the premises appeared as +uncomfortable and rude as its situation and exterior foreboded. +There was no appearance of a floor of any kind; the roof seemed +rent in several places; the walls were composed of loose stones +and turf, and the thatch of branches of trees. The fire was in +the centre, and filled the whole wigwam with smoke, which escaped +as much through the door as by means of a circular aperture in +the roof. An old Highland sibyl, the only inhabitant of this +forlorn mansion, appeared busy in the preparation of some food. +By the light which the fire afforded, Waverley could discover +that his attendants were not of the clan of Ivor, for Fergus was +particularly strict in requiring from his followers that they +should wear the tartan striped in the mode peculiar to their +race; a mark of distinction anciently general through the +Highlands, and still maintained by those chiefs who were proud of +their lineage, or jealous of their separate and exclusive +authority. + +Edward had lived at Glennaquoich long enough to be aware of a +distinction which he had repeatedly heard noticed; and now +satisfied that he had no interest with his attendants, he glanced +a disconsolate eye around the interior of the cabin. The only +furniture, excepting a washing-tub, and a wooden press, called in +Scotland an AMBRY, sorely decayed, was a large wooden bed, +planked, as is usual, all around, and opening by a sliding panel. +In this recess the Highlanders deposited Waverley, after he had +by signs declined any refreshment. His slumbers were broken and +unrefreshing; strange visions passed before his eyes, and it +required constant and reiterated efforts of mind to dispel them. +Shivering, violent headache, and shooting pains in his limbs, +succeeded these symptoms; and in the morning it was evident to +his Highland attendants or guard, for he knew not in which light +to consider them, that Waverley was quite unfit to travel. After +a long consultation among themselves, six of the party left the +hut with their arms, leaving behind an old and a young man. The +former addressed Waverley, and bathed the contusions, which +swelling and livid colour now made conspicuous. His own +portmanteau, which the Highlanders had not failed to bring off, +supplied him with linen, and, to his great surprise, was, with +all its undiminished contents, freely resigned to his use. The +bedding of his couch seemed clean and comfortable, and his aged +attendant closed the door of the bed, for it had no curtain, +after a few words of Gaelic, from which Waverley gathered that he +exhorted him to repose. So behold our hero for a second time the +patient of a Highland Aesculapius, but in a situation much more +uncomfortable than when he was the guest of the worthy Tomanrait. + +The symptomatic fever which accompanied the injuries he had +sustained did not abate till the third day, when it gave way to +the care of his attendants and the strength of his constitution, +and he could now raise himself in his bed, though not without +pain. He observed, however, that there was a great +disinclination, on the part of the old woman who acted as his +nurse, as well as on that of the elderly Highlander, to permit +the door of the bed to be left open, so that he might amuse +himself with observing their motions; and at length, after +Waverley had repeatedly drawn open, and they had as frequently +shut, the hatchway of his cage, the old gentleman put an end to +the contest, by securing it on the outside with a nail, so +effectually that the door could not be drawn till this exterior +impediment was removed. + +While musing upon the cause of this contradictory spirit in +persons whose conduct intimated no purpose of plunder, and who, +in all other points, appeared to consult his welfare and his +wishes, it occurred to our hero, that, during the worst crisis of +his illness, a female figure, younger than his old Highland +nurse, had appeared to flit around his couch. Of this, indeed, +he had but a very indistinct recollection, but his suspicions +were confirmed when, attentively listening, he often heard, in +the course of the day, the voice of another female conversing in +whispers with his attendant. Who could it be? And why should +she apparently desire concealment? Fancy immediately roused +herself, and turned to Flora Mac-Ivor. But after a short +conflict between his eager desire to believe she was in his +neighbourhood, guarding, like an angel of mercy, the couch of his +sickness, Waverley was compelled to conclude that his conjecture +was altogether improbable; since, to suppose she had left the +comparatively safe situation at Glennaquoich to descend into the +Low Country, now the seat of civil war, and to inhabit such a +lurking-place as this, was a thing hardly to be imagined. Yet +his heart bounded as he sometimes could distinctly hear the trip +of a light female step glide to or from the door of the hut, or +the suppressed sounds of a female voice, of softness and +delicacy, hold dialogue with the hoarse inward croak of old +Janet, for so he understood his antiquated attendant was +denominated. + +Having nothing else to amuse his solitude, he employed himself in +contriving some plan to gratify his curiosity, in spite of the +sedulous caution of Janet and the old Highland janizary, for he +had never seen the young fellow since the first morning. At +length, upon accurate examination, the infirm state of his wooden +prison-house appeared to supply the means of gratifying his +curiosity, for out of a spot which was somewhat decayed he was +able to extract a nail. Through this minute aperture he could +perceive a female form, wrapped in a plaid, in the act of +conversing with Janet. But, since the days of our grandmother +Eve, the gratification of inordinate curiosity has generally +borne its penalty in disappointment. The form was not that of +Flora, nor was the face visible; and, to crown his vexation, +while he laboured with the nail to enlarge the hole, that he +might obtain a more complete view, a slight noise betrayed his +purpose, and the object of his curiosity instantly disappeared; +nor, so far as he could observe, did she again revisit the +cottage. + +All precautions to blockade his view were from that time +abandoned, and he was not only permitted, but assisted to rise +and quit what had been, in a literal sense, his couch of +confinement. But he was not allowed to leave the hut; for the +young Highlander had now rejoined his senior, and one or other +was constantly on the watch. Whenever Waverley approached the +cottage door, the sentinel upon duty civilly, but resolutely, +placed himself against it and opposed his exit, accompanying his +action with signs which seemed to imply there was danger in the +attempt, and an enemy in the neighbourhood. Old Janet appeared +anxious and upon the watch; and Waverley, who had not yet +recovered strength enough to attempt to take his departure in +spite of the opposition of his hosts, was under the necessity of +remaining patient. His fare was, in every point of view, better +than he could have conceived; for poultry, and even wine, were no +strangers to his table. The Highlanders never presumed to eat +with him, and unless in the circumstance of watching him, treated +him with great respect. His sole amusement was gazing from the +window, or rather the shapeless aperture which was meant to +answer the purpose of a window, upon large and rough brook, which +raged and foamed through a rocky channel, closely canopied with +trees and bushes, about ten feet beneath the site of his house of +captivity. + +Upon the sixth day of his confinement, Waverley found himself so +well, that he began to meditate his escape from this dull and +miserable prison-house, thinking any risk which he might incur in +the attempt preferable to the stupefying and intolerable +uniformity of Janet's retirement. The question indeed occurred, +whither he was to direct his course when again at his own +disposal. Two schemes seemed practicable, yet both attended with +danger and difficulty. One was to go back to Glennaquoich, and +join Fergus Mac-Ivor, by whom he was sure to be kindly received; +and in the present state of his mind, the rigour with which he +had been treated fully absolved him, in his own eyes, from his +allegiance to the existing government. The other project was to +endeavour to attain a Scottish seaport, and thence to take +shipping for England. His mind wavered between these plans; and +probably, if he had effected his escape in the manner he +proposed, he would have been finally determined by the +comparative facility by which either might have been executed. +But his fortune had settled that he was not to be left to his +option. + +Upon the evening of the seventh day the door of the hut suddenly +opened, and two Highlanders entered, whom Waverley recognized as +having been a part of his original escort to this cottage. They +conversed for a short time with the old man and his companion, +and then made Waverley understand, by very significant signs, +that he was to prepare to accompany them. This was a joyful +communication. What had already passed during his confinement +made it evident that no personal injury was designed to him; and +his romantic spirit, having recovered during his repose much of +that elasticity which anxiety, resentment, disappointment, and +the mixture of unpleasant feelings excited by his late +adventures, had for a time subjugated, was now wearied with +inaction. His passion for the wonderful, although it is the +nature of such dispositions to be excited, by that degree of +danger which merely gives dignity to the feeling of the +individual exposed to it, had sunk under the extraordinary and +apparently, insurmountable evils by which he appeared environed +at Cairnvreckan. In fact, this compound of intense curiosity and +exalted imagination forms a peculiar species of courage, which +somewhat resembles the light usually carried by a miner,-- +sufficiently competent, indeed, to afford him guidance and +comfort during the ordinary perils of his labour, but certain to +be extinguished should he encounter the more formidable hazard of +earth-damps or pestiferous vapours. It was now, however, once +more rekindled, and with a throbbing mixture of hope, awe, and +anxiety, Waverley watched the group before him, as those who had +just arrived snatched a hasty meal, and the others assumed their +arms, and made brief preparations for their departure. + +As he sat in the smoky hut, at some distance from the fire, +around which the others were crowded, he felt a gentle pressure +upon his arm. He looked round--it was Alice, the daughter of +Donald Bean Lean. She showed him a packet of papers in such a +manner that the motion was remarked by no one else, put her +finger for a second to her lips, and passed on, as if to assist +old Janet in packing Waverley's clothes in his portmanteau. It +was obviously her wish that he should not seem to recognize her; +yet she repeatedly looked back at him, as an opportunity occurred +of doing so unobserved, and when she saw that he remarked what +she did, she folded the packet with great address and speed in +one of his shirts, which she deposited in the portmanteau. + +Here then was fresh food for conjecture. Was Alice his unknown +warden, and was this maiden of the cavern the tutelar genius that +watched his bed during his sickness? Was he in the hands of her +father? and if so, what was his purpose? Spoil, his usual +object, seemed in this case neglected; for not only Waverley's +property was restored, but his purse, which might have tempted +this professional plunderer, had been all along suffered to +remain in his possession. All this perhaps the packet might +explain; but it was plain from Alice's manner that she desired he +should consult it in secret. Nor did she again seek his eye +after she had satisfied herself that her manoeuvre was observed +and understood. On the contrary, she shortly afterwards left +the hut, and it was only as she tripped out from the door, that, +favoured by the obscurity, she gave Waverley a parting smile and +nod of significance, ere she vanished in the dark glen. + +The young Highlander was repeatedly dispatched by his comrades as +if to collect intelligence. At length when he had returned for +the third or fourth time, the whole party arose, and made signs +to our hero to accompany them. Before his departure, however, he +shook hands with old Janet, who had been so sedulous in his +behalf, and added substantial marks of his gratitude for her +attendance. + +'God bless you! God prosper you, Captain Waverley!' said Janet, +in good Lowland Scotch, though he had never hitherto heard her +utter a syllable, save in Gaelic. But the impatience of his +attendants prohibited his asking any explanation. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +A NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE + +There was a moment's pause when the whole party had got out of +the hut; and the Highlander who assumed the command, and who, in +Waverley's awakened recollection, seemed to be the same tall +figure who had acted as Donald Bean Lean's lieutenant, by +whispers and signs imposed the strictest silence. He delivered +to Edward a sword and steel pistol, and, pointing up the tract, +laid his hand on the hilt of his own claymore, as if to make him +sensible they might have occasion to use force to make good their +passage. He then placed himself at the head of the party, who +moved up the pathway in single or Indian file, Waverley being +placed nearest to their leader. He moved with great precaution, +as if to avoid giving any alarm, and halted as soon as he came to +the verge of the ascent. Waverley was soon sensible of the +reason, for he heard at no great distance an English sentinel +call out 'All's well.' The heavy sound sank on the night-wind +down the woody glen, and was answered by the echoes of its banks. +A second, third, and fourth time, the signal was repeated, +fainter and fainter, as if at a greater and greater distance. It +was obvious that a party of soldiers were near, and upon their +guard, though not sufficiently so to detect men skilful in every +art of predatory warfare, like those with whom he now watched +their ineffectual precautions. + +When these sounds had died upon the silence of the night, the +Highlanders began their march swiftly, yet with the most cautious +silence. Waverley had little time, or indeed disposition, for +observation, and could only discern that; they passed at some +distance from a large building, in the windows of which a light +or two yet seemed to twinkle. A little farther on, the leading +Highlander snuffed the wind like a setting spaniel, and then made +a signal to his party again to halt. He stooped down upon all- +fours, wrapped up in his plaid, so as to be scarce +distinguishable from the heathy ground on which he moved, and +advanced in this posture to reconnoitre. In a short time he +returned, and dismissed his attendants excepting one; and, +intimating to Waverley that he must imitate his cautious mode of +proceeding, all three crept forward on hands and knees. + +After proceeding a greater way in this inconvenient manner than +was at all comfortable to his knees and shins, Waverley perceived +the smell of smoke, which probably had been much sooner +distinguished by the more acute nasal organs of his guide. It +proceeded from the corner of a low and ruinous sheepfold, the +walls of which were made of loose stones, as is usual in +Scotland. Close by this low wall the Highlander guided Waverley, +and, in order probably to make him sensible of his danger, or +perhaps to obtain the full credit of his own dexterity, he +intimated to him, by sign and example, that he might raise his +head so as to peep into the sheepfold. Waverley did so, and +beheld an outpost of four or five soldiers lying by their watch- +fire. They were all asleep, except the sentinel, who paced +backwards and forwards with his firelock on his shoulder, which +glanced red in the light of the fire as he crossed and recrossed +before it in his short walk, casting his eye frequently to that +part of the heavens from which the moon, hitherto obscured by +mist, seemed now about to make her appearance, + +In the course of a minute or two, by one of those sudden changes +of atmosphere incident to a mountainous country, a breeze arose, +and swept before it the clouds which had covered the horizon, and +the night planet poured her full effulgence upon a wide and +blighted heath, skirted indeed with copsewood and stunted trees +in the quarter from which they had come, but open and bare to the +observation of the sentinel in that to which their course tended. +The wall of the sheepfold, indeed, concealed them as they lay, +but any advance beyond its shelter seemed impossible without +certain discovery. + +The Highlander eyed the blue vault, but far from blessing the +useful light with Homer's, or rather Pope's, benighted peasant, +he muttered a Gaelic curse upon the unseasonable splendour of +MAC-FARLANE'S BUAT (i. e. lantern). [See Note 21.] He looked +anxiously around for a few minutes, and then apparently took his +resolution. Leaving his attendant with Waverley, after motioning +to Edward to remain quiet, and giving his comrade directions in a +brief whisper, he retreated, favoured by the irregularity of the +ground, in the same direction and in the same manner as they had +advanced. Edward, turning his head after him, could perceive him +crawling on all-fours with the dexterity of an Indian, availing +himself of every bush and inequality to escape observation, and +never passing over the more exposed parts of his track until the +sentinel's back was turned from him. At length he reached the +thickets and underwood which partly covered the moor in that +direction, and probably extended to the verge of the glen where +Waverley had been so long an inhabitant. The Highlander +disappeared, but it was only for a few minutes, for he suddenly +issued forth from a different part of the thicket, and advancing +boldly upon the open heath, as if to invite discovery, he +levelled his piece, and fired at the sentinel. A wound in the +arm proved a disagreeable interruption to the poor fellow's +meteorological observations, as well as to the tune of 'Nancy +Dawson,' which he was whistling. He returned the fire +ineffectually, and his comrades, starting up at the alarm, +advanced alertly towards the spot from which the first shot had +issued. The Highlander, after giving them a full view of his +person, dived among the thickets, for his RUSE DE GUERRE had now +perfectly succeeded. + +While the soldiers pursued the cause of their disturbance in one +direction, Waverley, adopting the hint of his remaining +attendant, made the best of his speed in that which his guide +originally intended to pursue, and which now (the attention of +the soldiers being drawn to a different quarter) was unobserved +and unguarded. When they had run about a quarter of a mile, the +brow of a rising ground, which they had surmounted, concealed +them from further risk of observation. They still heard, +however, at a distance, the shouts of the soldiers as they +hallooed to each other upon the heath, and they could also hear +the distant roll of a drum beating to arms in the same direction. +But these hostile sounds were now far in their rear, and died +away upon the breeze as they rapidly proceeded. + +When they had walked about half an hour, still along open and +waste ground of the same description, they came to the stump of +an ancient oak, which, from its relics, appeared to have been at +one time a tree of very large size. In an adjacent hollow they +found several Highlanders, with a horse or two. They had not +joined them above a few minutes, which Waverley's attendant +employed, in all probability, in communicating the cause of their +delay (for the words 'Duncan Duroch' were often repeated), when +Duncan himself appeared, out of breath indeed, and with all the +symptoms of having run for his life, but laughing, and in high +spirits at the success of the stratagem by which he had baffled +his pursuers. This, indeed, Waverley could easily conceive might +be a matter of no great difficulty to the active mountaineer, who +was perfectly acquainted with the ground, and traced his course +with a firmness and confidence to which his pursuers must have +been strangers. The alarm which he excited seemed still to +continue, for a dropping shot or two were heard at a great +distance, which seemed to serve as an addition to the mirth of +Duncan and his comrades. + +The mountaineer now resumed the arms with which he had entrusted +our hero, giving him to understand that the dangers of the +journey were happily surmounted. Waverley was then mounted upon +one of the horses, a change which the fatigue of the night and +his recent illness rendered exceedingly acceptable. His +portmanteau was placed on another pony, Duncan mounted a third, +and they set forward at a round pace, accompanied by their +escort. No other incident marked the course of that night's +journey, and at the dawn of morning they attained the banks of a +rapid river. The country around was at once fertile and +romantic. Steep banks of wood were broken by cornfields, which +this year presented an abundant harvest, already in a great +measure cut down. + +On the opposite bank of the river, and partly surrounded by a +winding of its stream, stood a large and massive castle, the +half-ruined turrets of which were already glittering in the first +rays of the sun. [See Note 22.] It was in form an oblong +square, of size sufficient to contain a large court in the +centre. The towers at each angle of the square rose higher than +the walls of the building, and were in their turn surmounted by +turrets, differing in height, and irregular in shape. Upon one +of these a sentinel watched, whose bonnet and plaid, streaming in +the wind, declared him to be a Highlander, as a broad white +ensign, which floated from another tower, announced that the +garrison was held by the insurgent adherents of the House of +Stuart. + +Passing hastily through a small and mean town, where their +appearance excited neither surprise nor curiosity in the few +peasants whom the labours of the harvest began to summon from +their repose, the party crossed an ancient and narrow bridge of +several arches, and turning to the left, up an avenue of huge old +sycamores, Waverley found himself in front of the gloomy yet +picturesque structure which he had admired at a distance. A huge +iron-grated door, which formed the exterior defence of the +gateway, was already thrown back to receive them; and a second, +heavily constructed of oak, and studded thickly with iron nails, +being next opened, admitted them into the interior courtyard. A +gentleman, dressed in the Highland garb, and having a white +cockade in his bonnet, assisted Waverley to dismount from his +horse, and with much courtesy bid him welcome to the castle. + +The governor for so we must term him, having conducted Waverley +to a half-ruinous apartment, where, however, there was a small +camp-bed, and having offered him any refreshment which he +desired, was then about to leave him. + +'Will you not add to your civilities,' said Waverley, after +having made the usual acknowledgement, 'by having the kindness to +inform me where I am, and whether or not I am to consider myself +as a prisoner?' + +'I am not at liberty to be so explicit upon this subject as I +could wish. Briefly, however, you are in the Castle of Doune, in +the district of Menteith, and in no danger whatever.' + +'And how am I assured of that?' + +'By the honour of Donald Stewart, governor of the garrison, and +lieutenant-colonel in the service of his Royal Highness Prince +Charles Edward.' So saying, he hastily left the apartment, as if +to avoid further discussion. + +Exhausted by the fatigues of the night, our hero now threw +himself upon the bed, and was in a few minutes fast asleep. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE JOURNEY IS CONTINUED + +Before Waverley awakened from his repose, the day was far +advanced, and he began to feel that he had passed many hours +without food. This was soon supplied in form of a copious +breakfast, but Colonel Stewart, as if wishing to avoid the +queries of his guest, did not again present himself. His +compliments were, however, delivered by a servant, with an offer +to provide anything in his power that could be useful to Captain +Waverley on his journey, which he intimated would be continued +that evening. To Waverley's further inquiries, the servant +opposed the impenetrable barrier of real or affected ignorance +and stupidity. He removed the table and provisions, and Waverley +was again consigned to his own meditations. + +As he contemplated the strangeness of his fortune, which seemed +to delight in placing him at the disposal of others, without the +power of directing his own motions, Edward's eye suddenly rested +upon his portmanteau, which had been deposited in his apartment +during his sleep. The mysterious appearance of Alice, in the +cottage of the glen, immediately rushed upon his mind, and he was +about to secure and examine the packet which she had deposited +among his clothes, when the servant of Colonel Stewart again made +his appearance, and took up the portmanteau upon his shoulders. + +'May I not take out a change of linen, my friend?' + +'Your honour sall get ane o' the Colonel's ain ruffled sarks, but +this maun gang in the baggage-cart.' + +And so saying, he very coolly carried off the portmanteau, +without waiting further remonstrance, leaving our hero in a state +where disappointment and indignation struggled for the mastery. +In a few minutes he heard a cart rumble out of the rugged +courtyard, and made no doubt that he was now dispossessed, for a +space at least, if not for ever, of the only documents which +seemed to promise some light upon the dubious events which had of +late influenced his destiny. With such melancholy thoughts he +had to beguile about four or five hours of solitude. + +When this space was elapsed, the trampling of horse was heard in +the courtyard, and Colonel Stewart soon after made his appearance +to request his guest to take some further refreshment before his +departure. The offer was accepted, for a late breakfast had by +no means left our hero incapable of doing honour to dinner, which +was now presented. The conversation of his host was that of a +plain country gentleman, mixed with some soldier-like sentiments +and expressions. He cautiously avoided any reference to the +military operations or civil politics of the time: and to +Waverley's direct inquiries concerning some of these points, +replied, that he was not at liberty to speak upon such topics. + +When dinner was finished, the governor arose, and, wishing Edward +a good journey, said, that having been informed by Waverley's +servant that his baggage had been sent forward, he had taken the +freedom to supply him with such changes of linen as he might find +necessary, till he was again possessed of his own. With this +compliment he disappeared. A servant acquainted Waverley an +instant afterwards, that his horse was ready. + +Upon this hint he descended into the courtyard, and found a +trooper holding a saddled horse, on which he mounted, and sallied +from the portal of Doune Castle, attended by about a score of +armed men on horseback. These had less the appearance of regular +soldiers than of individuals who had suddenly assumed arms from +some pressing motive of unexpected emergency. Their uniform, +which was blue and red, an affected imitation of that of French +chasseurs, was in many respects incomplete, and sat awkwardly +upon those who wore it. Waverley's eye, accustomed to look at a +well-disciplined regiment, could easily discover that the motions +and habits of his escort were not those of trained soldiers, and +that, although expert enough in the management of their horses, +their skill was that of huntsmen or grooms, rather than of +troopers. The horses were not trained to the regular pace so +necessary to execute simultaneous and combined movements and +formations; nor did they seem BITTED (as it is technically +expressed) for the use of the sword. The men, however, were +stout, hardy-looking fellows, and might be individually +formidable as irregular cavalry. The commander of this small +party was mounted upon an excellent hunter, and although dressed +in uniform, his change of apparel did not prevent Waverley from +recognizing his old acquaintance, Mr. Falconer of Balmawhapple. + +Now, although the terms upon which Edward had parted with this +gentleman were none of the most friendly, he would have +sacrificed every recollection of their foolish quarrel for the +pleasure of enjoying once more the social intercourse of question +and answer, from which he had been so long secluded. But +apparently the remembrance of his defeat by the Baron of +Bradwardine, of which Edward had been the unwilling cause, still +rankled in the mind of the low-bred, and yet proud laird. He +carefully avoided giving the ]east sign of recognition, riding +doggedly at the head of his men, who, though scarce equal in +numbers to a sergeant's party, were denominated Captain +Falconer's troop, being preceded by a trumpet, which sounded from +time to time, and a standard, borne by Cornet Falconer, the +laird's young brother. The lieutenant, an elderly man, had much +the air of a low sportsman and boon companion; an expression of +dry humour predominated in his countenance over features of a +vulgar cast, which indicated habitual intemperance. His cocked +hat was set knowingly upon one side of his head, and while he +whistled the 'Bob of Dumblain,' under the influence of half a +mutchkin of brandy, he seemed to fret merrily forward, with a +happy indifference to the state of the country, the conduct of +the party, the end of the journey, and all other sublunary +matters whatever. + +From this wight, who now and then dropped alongside of his horse, +Waverley hoped to acquire some information, or at least to +beguile the way with talk. + +'A fine evening, sir,' was Edward's salutation. + +'Ow, aye, sir! a bra' night,' replied the lieutenant, in broad +Scotch of the most vulgar description. + +'And a fine harvest, apparently,' continued Waverley, following +up his first attack. + +'Aye, the aits will be got bravely in: but the farmers, deil +burst them, and the corn-mongers will make the auld price gude +against them as has horses till keep.' + +'You perhaps act as quarter-master, sir?' + +'Aye, quarter-master, riding-master, and lieutenant,' answered +this officer of all work. 'And, to be sure, wha's fitter to look +after the breaking and the keeping of the poor beasts than +mysell, that bought and sold every ane o' them?' + +'And pray, sir, if it be not too great a freedom, may I beg to +know where we are going just now?' + +'A fule's errand, I fear,' answered this communicative personage. + +'In that case,' said Waverley, determined not to spare civility, +'I should have thought a person of your appearance would not have +been found on the road.' + +'Vera true, vera true, sir,' replied the officer, 'but every why +has its wherefore. Ye maun ken, the laird there bought a' thir +beasts frae' me to munt his troop, and agreed to pay for them +according to the necessities and prices of the time. But then he +hadna the ready penny, and I hae been advised his bond will not +be worth a boddle against the estate, and then I had a' my +dealers to settle wi' at Martinmas; and so as he very kindly +offered me this commission, and as the auld Fifteen [The Judges +of the Supreme Court of Session in Scotland are proverbially +termed, among the country people, The Fifteen.] wad never help me +to my siller for sending out naigs against the Government, why, +conscience! sir, I thought my best chance for payment was e'en +to GAE OUT mysell; and ye may judge, sir, as I hae dealt a' my +life in halters, I think na mickle o' putting my craig in peril +of a St. Johnstone's tippet.' [TO GO OUT, or TO HAVE BEEN OUT, +in Scotland, was a conventional phrase similar to that of the +Irish respecting a man having been UP, both having reference to +an individual who had been engaged in insurrection. It was +accounted ill-breeding in Scotland, about forty years since, to +use the phrase rebellion or rebel, which might be interpreted by +some of the parties present as a personal insult. It was also +esteemed more polite even for stanch Whigs to denominate Charles +Edward the Chevalier, than to speak of him as the Pretender; and +this kind of accommodating courtesy was usually observed in +society where individuals of each party mixed on friendly terms.] + +'You are not, then, by profession a soldier?' said Waverley. + +'Na, na; thank God,' answered this doughty partisan, 'I wasna +bred at sae short a tether; I was brought up to hack and manger. +I was bred a horse-couper, sir; and if I might live to see you at +Whitson-tryst, or at Stagshawbank, or the winter fair at Hawick, +and ye wanted a spanker that would lead the field, I'se be +caution I would serve ye easy; for Jamie Jinker was ne'er the lad +to impose upon a gentleman. Ye're a gentleman, sir, and should +ken a horse's points; ye see that through-ganging thing that +Balmawhapple's on; I selled her till him. She was bred out of +Lick-the-Ladle, that wan the king's plate at Caverton-Edge, by +Duke Hamilton's White-foot,' &c. &c. &c. + +But as Jinker was entered full sail upon the pedigree of +Balmawhapple's mare, having already got as far as great-grandsire +and great-grand-dam, and while Waverley was watching for an +opportunity to obtain from him intelligence of more interest, the +noble captain checked his horse until they came up, and then, +without directly appearing to notice Edward, said sternly to the +genealogist, 'I thought, lieutenant', my orders were preceese, +that no one should speak to the prisoner?' + +The metamorphosed horse-dealer was silenced of course, and slunk +to the rear, where he consoled himself by entering into a +vehement dispute upon the price of hay with a farmer, who had +reluctantly followed his laird to the field, rather than give up +his farm, whereof the lease had just expired. Waverley was +therefore once more consigned to silence, foreseeing that further +attempts at conversation with any of the party would only give +Balmawhapple a wished-for opportunity to display the insolence of +authority, and the sulky spite of a temper naturally dogged, and +rendered more so by habits of low indulgence and the incense of +servile adulation. + +In about two hours' time, the party were near the Castle of +Stirling, over whose battlements the union flag was brightened as +it waved in the evening sun. To shorten his journey or perhaps +to display his importance and insult the English garrison, +Balmawhapple, inclining to the right, took his route through the +royal park, which reaches to and surrounds the rock upon which +the fortress is situated. + +With a mind more at ease, Waverley could not have failed to +admire the mixture of romance and beauty which renders +interesting the scene through which he was now passing--the field +which had been the scene of the tournaments of old--the rock from +which the ladies beheld the contest, while each made vows for the +success of some favourite knight--the towers of the Gothic +church, where these vows might be paid--and, surmounting all, the +fortress itself, at once a castle and palace, where valour +received the prize from royalty, and knights and dames closed the +evening amid the revelry of the dance, the song, and the feast. +All these were objects fitted to arouse and interest a romantic +imagination. + +But Waverley had other objects of meditation, and an incident +soon occurred of a nature to disturb meditation of any kind. +Balmawhapple, in the pride of his heart, as he wheeled his little +body of cavalry round the base of the castle, commanded his +trumpet to sound a flourish, and his standard to be displayed. +This insult produced apparently some sensation; for when the +cavalcade was at such a distance from the southern battery as to +admit of a gun being depressed so as to bear upon them, a flash +of fire issued from one of the embrasures upon the rock; and ere +the report with which it was attended could be heard, the rushing +sound of a cannon-ball passed over Balmawhapple's head, and the +bullet, burying itself in the ground at a few yards' distance, +covered him with the earth which it drove up. There was no need +to bid the party trudge. In fact, every man, acting upon the +impulse of the moment, soon brought Mr. Jinker's steeds to show +their mettle, and the cavaliers, retreating with more speed than +regularity, never took to a trot, as the lieutenant afterwards +observed, until an intervening eminence had secured them from any +repetition of so undesirable a compliment on the part of Stirling +Castle. I must do Balmawhapple, however, the justice to say, +that he not only kept the rear of his troop, and laboured to +maintain some order among them, but, in the height of his +gallantry, answered the fire of the castle by discharging one of +his horse-pistols at the battlements; although, the distance +being nearly half a mile, I could never learn that this measure +of retaliation was attended with any particular effect. + +The travellers now passed the memorable field of Bannockburn, and +reached the Torwood,--a place glorious or terrible to the +recollections of the Scottish peasant, as the feats of Wallace, +or the cruelties of Wude Willie Grime, predominate in his +recollection. At Falkirk, a town formerly famous in Scottish +history, and soon to be again distinguished as the scene of +military events of importance, Balmawhapple proposed to halt and +repose for the evening. This was performed with very little +regard to military discipline, his worthy quarter-master being +chiefly solicitous to discover where the best brandy might be +come at. Sentinels were deemed unnecessary, and the only vigils +performed were those of such of the party as could procure +liquor. A few resolute men might easily have cut off the +detachment; but of the inhabitants some were favourable, many +indifferent, and the rest overawed. So nothing memorable +occurred in the course of the evening, except that Waverley's +rest was sorely interrupted by the revellers hallooing forth +their Jacobite songs, without remorse or mitigation of voice. + +Early in the morning they were again mounted, and on the road to +Edinburgh, though the pallid visages of some of the troop +betrayed that they had spent a night of sleepless debauchery. +They halted at Linlithgow, distinguished by its ancient palace, +which, Sixty Years since, was entire and habitable, and whose +venerable ruins, not quite Sixty Years since, very narrowly +escaped the unworthy fate of being converted into a barrack for +French prisoners. May repose and blessings attend the ashes of +the patriotic statesman, who, amongst his last services to +Scotland, interposed to prevent this profanation! + +As they approached the metropolis of Scotland, through a +champaign and cultivated country, the sounds of war began to be +heard. The distant, yet distinct report of heavy cannon, fired +at intervals, apprized Waverley that the work of destruction was +going forward. Even Balmawhapple seemed moved to take some +precautions, by sending an advanced party in front of his troop, +keeping the main body in tolerable order, and moving steadily +forward. + +Marching in this manner they speedily reached an eminence, from +which they could view Edinburgh stretching along the ridgy hill +which slopes eastward from the Castle. The latter, being in a +state of siege, or rather of blockade, by the northern +insurgents, who had already occupied the town for two or three +days, fired at intervals upon such parties of Highlanders as +exposed themselves, either on the main street, or elsewhere in +the vicinity of the fortress. The morning being calm and fair, +the effect of this dropping fire was to invest the Castle in +wreaths of smoke, the edges of which dissipated slowly in the +air, while the central veil was darkened ever and anon by fresh +clouds poured forth from the battlements; the whole giving, by +the partial concealment, an appearance of grandeur and gloom, +rendered more terrific when Waverley reflected on the cause by +which it was produced, and that each explosion might ring some +brave man's knell. + +Ere they approached the city, the partial cannonade had wholly +ceased. Balmawhapple, however, having in his recollection the +unfriendly greeting which his troop had received from the battery +of Stirling, had apparently no wish to tempt the forbearance of +the artillery of the Castle. He therefore left the direct road, +and sweeping considerably to the southward, so as to keep out of +the range of the cannon, approached the ancient palace of +Holyrood, without having entered the walls of the city. He then +drew up his men in front of that venerable pile, and delivered +Waverley to the custody of a guard of Highlanders, whose officer +conducted him into the interior of the building. + +A long, low, and ill-proportioned gallery, hung with pictures, +affirmed to be the portraits of kings, who, if they ever +flourished at all, lived several hundred years before the +invention of painting in oil colours, served as a sort of guard- +chamber, or vestibule, to the apartments which the adventurous +Charles Edward now occupied in the palace of his ancestors. +Officers, both in the Highland and Lowland garb, passed and +repassed in haste, or loitered in the hall, as if waiting for +orders. Secretaries were engaged in making out passes, musters, +and returns. All seemed busy, and earnestly intent upon +something of importance; but Waverley was suffered to remain +seated in the recess of a window, unnoticed by any one, in +anxious reflection upon the crisis of his fate, which seemed now +rapidly approaching. + + + +CHAPTER XL + +AN OLD AND A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + +While he was deep sunk in his reverie, the rustle of tartans was +heard behind him, a friendly arm clasped his shoulders, and a +friendly voice exclaimed, + +'Said the Highland prophet sooth?--or must second-sight go for +nothing?' + +Waverley turned, and was warmly embraced by Fergus Mac-Ivor. 'A +thousand welcomes to Holyrood, once more possessed by her +legitimate sovereign! Did I not say we should prosper, and that +you would fall into the hands of the Philistines if you parted +from us?' + +'Dear Fergus!' said Waverley, eagerly returning his greeting, +'it is long since I have heard a friend's voice. Where is +Flora?' + +'Safe, and a triumphant spectator of our success.' + +'In this place?' said Waverley. + +'Aye, in this city at least,' answered his friend, 'and you shall +see her; but first you must meet a friend whom you little think +of, who has been frequent in his inquiries after you.' + +Thus saying, he dragged Waverley by the arm out of the guard- +chamber, and, ere he knew where he was conducted, Edward found +himself in a presence-room, fitted up with some attempt at royal +state. + +A young man, wearing his own fair hair, distinguished by the +dignity of his mien and the noble expression of his well-formed +and regular features, advanced out of a circle of military +gentlemen and Highland chiefs, by whom he was surrounded. In his +easy and graceful manners Waverley afterwards thought he could +have discovered his high birth and rank, although the star on his +breast, and the embroidered garter at his knee, had not appeared +as its indications. + +'Let me present to your Royal Highness,' said Fergus, bowing +profoundly-- + +'The descendant of one of the most ancient and loyal families in +England,' said the young Chevalier, interrupting him. 'I beg +your pardon for interrupting you, my dear Mac-Ivor; but no master +of ceremonies is necessary to present a Waverley to a Stuart.' + +Thus saying, he extended his hand to Edward with the utmost +courtesy, who could not, had he desired it, have avoided +rendering him the homage which seemed due to his rank, and was +certainly the right of his birth. 'I am sorry to understand, Mr. +Waverley, that, owing to circumstances which have been as yet but +ill explained, you have suffered some restraint among my +followers in Perthshire, and on your march here; but we are in +such a situation that we hardly know our friends, and I am even +at this moment uncertain whether I can have the pleasure of +considering Mr. Waverley as among mine.' + +He then paused for an instant; but before Edward could adjust a +suitable reply or even arrange his ideas as to its purport, the +Prince took out a paper, and then proceeded:--'I should indeed +have no doubts upon this subject, if I could trust to this +proclamation, set forth by the friends of the Elector of Hanover, +in which they rank Mr. Waverley among the nobility and gentry who +are menaced with the pains of high treason for loyalty to their +legitimate sovereign. But I desire to gain no adherents save +from affection and conviction; and if Mr. Waverley inclines to +prosecute his journey to the south, or to join the forces of the +Elector, he shall have my passport and free permission to do so; +and I can only regret, that my present power will not extend to +protect him against the probable consequences of such a measure. +--But,' continued Charles Edward, after another short pause, 'if +Mr. Waverley should, like his ancestor, Sir Nigel, determine to +embrace a cause which has little to recommend it but its justice, +and follow a prince who throws himself upon the affections of his +people to recover the throne of his ancestors, or perish in the +attempt, I can only say, that among these nobles and gentlemen he +will find worthy associates in a gallant enterprise, and will +follow a master who may be unfortunate, but, I trust, will never +be ungrateful.' + +The politic Chieftain of the race of Ivor knew his advantage in +introducing Waverley to this personal interview with the royal +Adventurer. Unaccustomed to the address and manners of a +polished court, in which Charles was eminently skilful, his words +and his kindness penetrated the heart of our hero, and easily +outweighed all prudential motives. To be thus personally +solicited for assistance by a Prince, whose form and manners, as +well as the spirit which he displayed in this singular +enterprise, answered his ideas of a hero of romance; to be +courted by him in the ancient halls of his paternal palace, +recovered by the sword which he was already bending towards other +conquests, gave Edward, in his own eyes, the dignity and +importance which he had ceased to consider as his attributes. +Rejected, slandered, and threatened upon the one side, he was +irresistibly attracted to the cause which the prejudices of +education, and the political principles of his family, had +already recommended as the most just. These thoughts rushed +through his mind like a torrent, sweeping before them every +consideration of an opposite tendency,--the time, besides, +admitted of no deliberation,--and Waverley, kneeling to Charles +Edward, devoted his heart and sword to the vindication of his +rights! + +The Prince (for, although unfortunate in the faults and follies +of his forefathers, we shall here, and elsewhere, give him the +title due to his birth) raised Waverley from the ground, and +embraced him with an expression of thanks too warm not to be +genuine. He also thanked Fergus Mac-Ivor repeatedly for having +brought him such an adherent, and presented Waverley to the +various noblemen, chieftains, and officers who were about his +person, as a young gentleman of the highest hopes and prospects, +in whose bold and enthusiastic avowal of his cause they might see +an evidence of the sentiments of the English families of rank at +this important crisis. [See Note 23.] Indeed, this was a point +much doubted among the adherents of the house of Stuart; and as a +well-founded disbelief in the co-operation of the English +Jacobites kept many Scottish men of rank from his standard, and +diminished the courage of those who had joined it, nothing could +be more seasonable for the Chevalier than the open declaration in +his favour of the representative of the house of Waverley-Honour, +so long known as cavaliers and royalists. This Fergus had +foreseen from the beginning. He really loved Waverley, because +their feelings and projects never thwarted each other; he hoped +to see him united with Flora, and he rejoiced that they were +effectually engaged in the same cause. But, as we before hinted, +he also exulted as a politician in beholding secured to his party +a partisan of such consequence; and he was far from being +insensible to the personal importance which he himself gained +with the Prince, from having so materially assisted in making the +acquisition. + +Charles Edward, on his part, seemed eager to show his attendants +the value which he attached to his new adherent, by entering +immediately, as in confidence, upon the circumstances of his +situation. 'You have been secluded so much from intelligence, +Mr. Waverley, from causes of which I am but indistinctly +informed, that I presume you are even yet unacquainted with the +important particulars of my present situation. You have, +however, heard of my landing in the remote district of Moidart, +with only seven attendants, and of the numerous chiefs and clans +whose loyal enthusiasm at once placed a solitary adventurer at +the head of a gallant army. You must also, I think, have +learned, that the commander-in-chief of the Hanoverian Elector, +Sir John Cope, marched into the Highlands at the head of a +numerous and well-appointed military force, with the intention of +giving us battle, but that his courage failed him when we were +within three hours' march of each other, so that he fairly gave +us the slip, and marched northward to Aberdeen, leaving the Low +Country open and undefended. Not to lose so favourable an +opportunity, I marched on to this metropolis, driving before me +two regiments of horse, Gardiner's and Hamilton's, who had +threatened to cut to pieces every Highlander that should venture +to pass Stirling; and while discussions were carrying forward +among the magistracy and citizens of Edinburgh, whether they +should defend themselves or surrender, my good friend Lochiel +(laying his hand on the shoulder of that gallant and accomplished +chieftain) saved them the trouble of further deliberation, by +entering the gates with five hundred Camerons. Thus far, +therefore, we have done well; but, in the meanwhile, this doughty +general's nerves being braced by the keen air of Aberdeen, he has +taken shipping for Dunbar, and I have just received certain +information that he landed there yesterday. His purpose must +unquestionably be to march towards us to recover possession of +the capital. Now, there are two opinions in my council of war: +one, that being inferior probably in numbers, and certainly in +discipline and military appointments, not to mention our total +want of artillery, and the weakness of our cavalry, it will be +safest to fall back towards the mountains, and there protract the +war, until fresh succours arrive from France, and the whole body +of the Highland clans shall have taken arms in our favour. The +opposite opinion maintains, that a retrograde movement, in our +circumstances, is certain to throw utter discredit on our arms +and undertaking; and, far from gaining us new partisans, will be +the means of disheartening-those who have joined our standard. +The officers who use these last arguments, among whom is your +friend Fergus Mac-Ivor, maintain, that if the Highlanders are +strangers to the usual military discipline of Europe, the +soldiers whom they are to encounter are no less strangers to +their peculiar and formidable mode of attack; that the attachment +and courage of the chiefs and gentlemen are not to be doubted; +and that as they will be in the midst of the enemy, their +clansmen will as surely follow them; in fine, that having drawn +the sword, we should throw away the scabbard, and trust our cause +to battle, and to the God of Battles. Will Mr. Waverley favour +us with his opinion in these arduous circumstances?' + +Waverley coloured high betwixt pleasure and modesty at the +distinction implied in this question, and answered, with equal +spirit-and readiness, that he could not venture to offer an +opinion as derived from military skill, but that the counsel +would be far the most acceptable to him which should first afford +him an opportunity to evince his zeal in his Royal Highness's +service. + +'Spoken like a Waverley!' answered Charles Edward; and that you +may hold a rank in some degree corresponding to your name, allow +me, instead of the captain's commission which you have lost, to +offer you the brevet rank of major in my service, with the +advantage of acting as one of my aides de camp until you can be +attached to a regiment, of which I hope several will be speedily +embodied.' + +'Your Royal Highness will forgive me,' answered Waverley (for his +recollection turned to Balmawhapple and his scanty troop), 'If I +decline accepting any rank until the time and place where I may +have interest enough to raise a sufficient body of men to make my +command useful to your Royal Highness's service. In the +meanwhile, I hope for your permission to serve as a volunteer +under my friend Fergus Mac-Ivor.' + +'At least,' said the Prince, who was obviously pleased with this +proposal, 'allow me the pleasure of arming you after the Highland +fashion.' With these words, he unbuckled the broadsword which he +wore, the belt of which was plated with silver, and the steel +basket-hilt richly and curiously inlaid, 'The blade,' said the +Prince, 'is a genuine Andrea Ferrara; it has been a sort of +heirloom in our family; but I am convinced I put it into better +hands than my own, and will add to it pistols of the same +workmanship.--Colonel Mac-Ivor, you must have much to say to your +friend; I will detain you no longer from your private +conversation; but remember, we expect you both to attend us in +the evening. It may be perhaps the last night we may enjoy in +these halls, and as we go to the field with a clear conscience, +we will spend the eve of battle merrily.' + +Thus licensed, the Chief and Waverley left the presence-chamber. + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE MYSTERY BEGINS TO BE CLEARED UP + +'How do you like him?' was Fergus's first question, as they +descended the large stone staircase. + +'A prince to live and die under,' was Waverley's enthusiastic +answer. + +'I knew you would think so when you saw him, and I intended you +should have met earlier, but was prevented by your sprain. And +yet he has his foibles, or rather he has difficult cards to play, +and his Irish officers, [See note 24.] who are much about him, +are but sorry advisers,--they cannot discriminate among the +numerous pretensions that are set up. Would you think it--I have +been obliged for the present to suppress an earl's patent, +granted for services rendered ten years ago, for fear of exciting +the jealousy, forsooth, of C-- and M--. But you were very right, +Edward, to refuse the situation of aide de camp. There are two +vacant, indeed, but Clanronald and Lochiel, and almost all of us, +have requested one for young Aberchallader, and the Lowlanders +and the Irish party are equally desirous to have the other for +the Master of F--. Now, if either of these candidates were to be +superseded in your favour, you would make enemies. And then I am +surprised that the Prince should have offered you a majority, +when he knows very well that nothing short of lieutenant-colonel +will satisfy others, who cannot bring one hundred and fifty men +to the field. "But patience, cousin, and shuffle the cards!" It +is all very well for the present, and we must have you regularly +equipped for the evening in your new costume; for, to say truth, +your outward man is scarce fit for a court.' + +'Why,' said Waverley, looking at his soiled dress, 'my shooting- +jacket has seen service since we parted; but that, probably, you, +my friend, know as well or better than I.' + +'You do my second-sight too much honour,' said Fergus, 'We were +so busy, first with the scheme of giving battle to Cope, and +afterwards with our operations in the Lowlands, that I could only +give general directions to such of our people as were left in +Perthshire to respect and protect you, should you come in their +way. But let me hear the full story of your adventures, for they +have reached us in a very partial and mutilated manner.' + +Waverley then detailed at length the circumstances with which the +reader is already acquainted, to which Fergus listened with great +attention. By this time they had reached the door of his +quarters, which he had taken up in a small paved court, retiring +from the street called the Canongate, at the house of a buxom +widow of forty, who seemed to smile very graciously upon the +handsome young Chief, she being a person with whom good looks and +good humour were sure to secure an interest, whatever might be +the party's political opinions. Here Callum Beg received them +with a smile of recognition. 'Callum,' said the Chief, 'call +Shemus an Snachad' (James of the Needle). This was the +hereditary tailor of Vich Ian Vohr. 'Shemus, Mr. Waverley is to +wear the CATH DATH (battle colour, or tartan); his trews must be +ready in four hours. You know the measure of a well-made man: +two double nails to the small of the leg'-- + +'Eleven from haunch to heel, seven round the waist--I give your +honour leave to hang Shemus, if there's a pair of sheers in the +Highlands that has a baulder sneck than her's ain at the CUMADH +AN TRUAIS' (shape of the trews). + +'Get a plaid of Mac-Ivor tartan, and sash,' continued the +Chieftain, 'and a blue bonnet of the Prince's pattern, at Mr. +Mouat's in the Crames. My short green coat, with silver lace and +silver buttons, will fit him exactly, and I have never worn it. +Tell Ensign Maccombich to pick out a handsome target from among +mine. The Prince has given Mr. Waverley broadsword and pistols, +I will furnish him with a dirk and purse; add but a pair of low- +heeled shoes, and then, my dear Edward (turning to him), you will +be a complete son of Ivor. + +These necessary directions given, the Chieftain resumed the +subject of Waverley's adventures. 'It is plain,' he said, 'that +you have been in the custody of Donald Bean Lean. You must know, +that when I marched away my clan to join the Prince, I laid my +injunctions on that worthy member of society to perform a certain +piece of service, which done, he was to join me with all the +force he could muster. But instead of doing so, the gentleman, +finding the coast clear, thought it better to make war on his own +account, and has scoured the country, plundering, I believe, both +friend and foe, under pretence of levying blackmail, sometimes as +if by my authority, and sometimes (and be cursed to his +consummate impudence) in his own great name! Upon my honour, if +I live to see the cairn of Benmore again, I shall be tempted to +hang that fellow! I recognize his hand particularly in the mode +of your rescue from that canting rascal Gilfillan, and I have +little doubt that Donald himself played the part of the pedlar on +that occasion; but how he should not have plundered you, or put +you to ransom, or availed himself in some way or other of your +captivity for his own advantage, passes my judgement.' + +'When and how did you hear the intelligence of my confinement?' +asked Waverley. + +'The Prince himself told me,' said Fergus,' and inquired very +minutely into your history. He then mentioned your being at that +moment in the power of one of our northern parties--you know I +could not ask him to explain particulars--and requested my +opinion about disposing of you. I recommended that you should be +brought here as a prisoner, because I did not wish to prejudice +you further with the English Government, in case you pursued your +purpose of going southward. I knew nothing, you must recollect, +of the charge brought against you of aiding and abetting high +treason, which, I presume, had some share in changing your +original plan. That sullen, good-for-nothing brute, +Balmawhapple, was sent to escort you from Doune, with what he +calls his troop of horse. As to his behaviour, in addition to +his natural antipathy to everything that resembles a gentleman, +I presume his adventure with Bradwardine rankles in his +recollection, the rather that I dare say his mode of telling that +story contributed to the evil reports which reached your quondam +regiment.' + +'Very likely,' said Waverley; 'but now surely, my dear Fergus, +you may find time to tell me something of Flora.' + +'Why,' replied Fergus, 'I can only tell you that she is well, and +residing for the present with a relation in this city. I thought +it better she should come here, as since our success a good many +ladies of rank attend our military court; and I assure you, that +there is a sort of consequence annexed to the near relative of +such a person as Flora Mac-Ivor; and where there is such a +justling of claims and requests, a man must use every fair means +to enhance his importance.' + +There was something in this last sentence which grated on +Waverley's feelings. He could not bear that Flora should be +considered as conducing to her brother's preferment, by the +admiration which she must unquestionably attract; and although it +was in strict correspondence with many points of Fergus's +character, it shocked him as selfish, and unworthy of his +sister's high mind, and his own independent pride. Fergus, to +whom such manoeuvres were familiar, as to one brought up at the +French court, did not observe the unfavourable impression which +he had unwarily made upon his friend's mind, and concluded by +saying, that they could hardly see Flora before the evening, when +she would be at the concert and ball, with which the Prince's +party were to be entertained. She and I had a quarrel about her +not appearing to take leave of you. I am unwilling to renew it, +by soliciting her to receive you this morning; and perhaps my +doing so might not only be ineffectual, but prevent your meeting +this evening.' + +While thus conversing, Waverley heard in the court, before the +windows of the parlour, a well-known voice. 'I aver to you, my +worthy friend,' said the speaker, 'that it is a total dereliction +of military discipline; and were you not as it were a TYRO, your +purpose would deserve strong reprobation. For a prisoner of war +is on no account to be coerced with fetters, or detained IN +ERGASTULO, as would have been the case had you put this gentleman +into the pit of the peel-house at Balmawhapple. I grant, indeed, +that such a prisoner may for security be coerced IN CARCERE, that +is, in a public prison.' + +The growling voice of Balmawhapple was heard as taking leave in +displeasure, but the word 'land-louper' alone was distinctly +audible. He had disappeared before Waverley reached the house, +in order to greet the worthy Baron of Bradwardine. The uniform +in which he was now attired, a blue coat, namely, with gold lace, +a scarlet waistcoat and breeches, and immense jack-boots, seemed +to have added fresh stiffness and rigidity to his tall, +perpendicular figure; and the consciousness of military command +and authority had increased, in the same proportion, the self- +importance of his demeanour, and the dogmatism of his +conversation. + +He received Waverley with his usual kindness, and expressed +immediate anxiety to hear an explanation of the circumstances +attending the loss of his commission in Gardiner's dragoons; +'not,' he said, 'that he had the least apprehension of his young +friend having done aught which could merit such ungenerous +treatment as he had received from Government, but because it was +right and seemly that the Baron of Bradwardine should be, in +point of trust and in point of power, fully able to refute all +calumnies against the heir of Waverley-Honour, whom he had so +much right to regard as his own son.' + +Fergus Mac-Ivor, who had now joined them, went hastily over the +circumstances of Waverley's story, and concluded with the +flattering reception he had met from the young Chevalier. The +Baron listened in silence, and at the conclusion shook Waverley +heartily by the hand, and congratulated him upon entering the +service of his lawful Prince. 'For,' continued he, 'although it +has been justly held in all nations a matter of scandal and +dishonour to infringe the SACRAMENTUM MILITARE, and that whether +it was taken by each soldier singly, whilk the Romans denominated +PER CONJURATIONEM, or by one soldier in name of the rest, yet no +one ever doubted that the allegiance so sworn was discharged by +the DIMISSIO, or discharging of a soldier, whose case would be as +hard as that of colliers, salters, and other ADSCRIPTI GLEBAE, or +slaves of the soil, were it to be accounted otherwise. This is +something like the brocard expressed by the learned Sanchez in +his work DE JURE-JURANDO, which you have questionless consulted +upon this occasion. As for those who have calumniated you by +leasing-making, I protest to Heaven I think they have justly +incurred the penalty of the MEMNONIA LEX, also called LEX +RHEMNIA, which is prelected upon by Tullius in his oration IN +VERREM. I should have deemed, however, Mr. Waverley, that before +destining yourself to any special service in the army of the +Prince, ye might have inquired what rank the old Bradwardine held +there, and whether he would not have been peculiarly happy to +have had your services in the regiment of horse which he is now +about to levy.' + +Edward eluded this reproach by pleading the necessity of giving +an immediate answer to the Prince's proposal, and his uncertainty +at the moment whether his friend the Baron was with the army, or +engaged upon service elsewhere. + +This punctilio being settled, Waverley made inquiry after Miss +Bradwardine, and was informed she had come to Edinburgh with +Flora Mac-Ivor, under guard of a party of the Chieftain's men. +This step was indeed necessary, Tully-Veolan having become a very +unpleasant, and even dangerous place of residence for an +unprotected young lady, on account of its vicinity to the +Highlands, and also to one or two large villages, which, from +aversion as much to the Caterans as zeal for presbytery, had +declared themselves on the side of Government, and formed +irregular bodies of partisans, who had frequent skirmishes with +the mountaineers, and sometimes attacked the houses of the +Jacobite gentry in the braes, or frontier betwixt the mountain +and plain. + +'I would propose to you,' continued the Baron, 'to walk as far as +my quarters in the Luckenbooths, and to admire in your passage +the High Street, whilk is, beyond a shadow of dubitation, finer +than any street, whether in London or Paris. But Rose, poor +thing, is sorely discomposed with the firing of the Castle, +though I have proved to her from Blondel and Coehorn, that it is +impossible a bullet can reach these buildings; and, besides, I +have it in charge from His Royal Highness to go to the camp, or +leaguer of our army, to see that the men do CONCLAMARE VASA, that +is, truss up their bag and baggage for to-morrow's march.' + +'That will be easily done by most of us,' said Mac-Ivor, +laughing. + +'Craving your pardon, Colonel Mac-Ivor, not quite so easily as ye +seem to opine. I grant most of your folk left the Highlands, +expedited as it were, and free from the incumbrance of baggage; +but it is unspeakable the quantity of useless sprechery which +they have collected on their march, I saw one fellow of yours +(craving your pardon once more) with a pier-glass upon his back.' + +'Aye,' said Fergus, still in good humour, 'he would have told +you, if you had questioned him, A GANGING FOOT IS AYE GETTING.-- +But come, my dear Baron, you know as well as I, that a hundred +Uhlans, or a single troop of Schmirschitz's Pandours, would make +more havoc in a country than the knight of the mirror and all the +rest of our clans put together.' + +'And that is very true likewise,' replied the Baron; 'they are, +as the heathen author says, FEROCIORES IN ASPECTU, MITIORES IN +ACTU, of a horrid and grim visage, but more benign in demeanour +than their physiognomy or aspect might infer.--But I stand here +talking to you two youngsters when I should be in the King's +Park.' + +'But you will dine with Waverley and me on your return? I assure +you, Baron, though I can live like a Highlander when needs must, +I remember my Paris education, and understand perfectly FAIRE LA +MEILLEURE CHERE.' + +'And wha the deil doubts it,' quoth the Baron, laughing, 'when ye +bring only the cookery, and the gude toun must furnish the +materials?--'Weel, I have some business in the toun too: But +I'll join you at three, if the vivers can tarry so long.' + +So saying, he took leave of his friends, and went to look after +the charge which had been assigned him. + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +A SOLDIER'S DINNER + +James of the Needle was a man of his word, when whisky was no +party to the contract; and upon this occasion Callum Beg, who +still thought himself in Waverley's debt, since he had declined +accepting compensation at the expense of mine Host of the +Candlestick's person, took the opportunity of discharging the +obligation, by mounting guard over the hereditary tailor of +Sliochd nan Ivor; and, as he expressed himself, 'targed him +tightly' till the finishing of the job. To rid himself of this +restraint, Shemus's needle flew through the tartan like +lightning; and as the artist kept chanting some dreadful skirmish +of Fin Macoul, he accomplished at least three stitches to the +death of every hero. The dress was, therefore, soon ready, for +the short coat fitted the wearer, and the rest of the apparel +required little adjustment. + +Our hero having now fairly assumed the 'garb of old Gaul,' well +calculated its it was to give an appearance of strength to a +figure, which, though tall and well-made, was rather elegant than +robust, I hope my fair readers will excuse him if he looked at +himself in the mirror more than once, and could not help +acknowledging that the reflection seemed that of a very handsome +young fellow. In fact, there was no disguising it. His light- +brown hair--for he wore no periwig, notwithstanding the universal +fashion of the time--became the bonnet which surmounted it. His +person promised firmness and agility, to which the ample folds of +the tartan added an air of dignity. His blue eye seemed of that +kind, + + Which melted in love, and which kindled in war; + +and an air of bashfulness, which was in reality the effect of +want of habitual intercourse with the world, gave interest to his +features, without injuring their grace or intelligence. + +'He's a pratty man--a very pratty man,' said Evan Dhu (now Ensign +Maccombich) to Fergus's buxom landlady. + +'He's vera weel,' said the Widow Flockhart, 'but no naething sae +weel-far'd as your colonel, ensign.' + +'I wasna comparing them,' quoth Evan, 'nor was I speaking about +his being weel-favoured; but only that Mr. Waverley looks clean- +made and DELIVER, and like a proper lad of his quarters, that +will not cry barley in a brulzie, And, indeed, he's gleg aneuch +at the broadsword and target, I hae played wi' him mysell at +Glennaquoich, and sae has Vich Ian Vohr, often of a Sunday +afternoon,' + +'Lord forgie ye, Ensign Maccombich,' said the alarmed +Presbyterian; 'I'm sure the colonel wad never do the like o' +that!' + +'Hout! hout! Mrs. Flockhart,' replied the ensign, 'we're young +blude, ye ken; and young saints, auld deils.' + +'But will ye fight wi' Sir John Cope the morn, Ensign +Maccombich?' demanded Mrs. Flockhart of her guest. + +'Troth I'se ensure him, an' he'll bide us, Mrs. Flockhart,' +replied the Gael. + +'And will ye face thae tearing chields, the dragoons, Ensign +Maccombich?' again inquired the landlady. + +'Claw for claw, as Conan said to Satan, Mrs. Flockhart, and the +deevil tak the shortest nails.' + +'And will the colonel venture on the bagganets himsell?' + +'Ye may swear it, Mrs. Flockhart; the very first man will he be, +by Saint Phedar.' + +'Merciful goodness! and if he's killed amang the red-coats!' +exclaimed the soft-hearted widow. + +'Troth, if it should sae befall, Mrs. Flockhart, I ken ane that +will no be living to weep for him. But we maun a' live the day, +and have our dinner; and there's Vich Ian Vohr has packed his +DORLACH, and Mr. Waverley's wearied wi' majoring yonder afore the +muckle pier-glass; and that grey auld stoor carle, the Baron o' +Bradwardine, that shot young Ronald of Ballenkeiroch, he's +coming down the close wi' that droghling coghling bailie body +they ca' Macwhupple, just like the Laird o' Kittlegab's French +cook, wi' his turn-spit doggie trindling ahint him, and I am as +hungry as a gled, my bonny dow; sae bid Kate set on the broo', +and do ye put on your pinners, for ye ken Vich Ian Vohr winna sit +down till ye be at the head o' the table;--and dinna forget the +pint bottle o' brandy, my woman.' + +This hint produced dinner. Mrs. Flockhart, smiling in her weeds +like the sun through a mist; took the head of the table, thinking +within herself, perhaps, that she cared not how long the +rebellion lasted, that brought her into company so much above her +usual associates. She was supported by Waverley and the Baron, +with the advantage of the Chieftain VIS-A-VIS. The men of peace +and of war, that is, Bailie Macwheeble and Ensign Maccombich, +after many profound conges to their superiors and each other, +took their places on each side of the Chieftain. Their fare was +excellent, time, place, and circumstances considered, and +Fergus's spirits were extravagantly high. Regardless of danger, +and sanguine from temper, youth, and ambition, he saw in +imagination all his prospects crowned with success, and was +totally indifferent to the probable alternative of a soldier's +grave. The Baron apologized slightly for bringing Macwheeble. +They had been providing, he said, for the expenses of the +campaign. 'And, by my faith,' said the old man, 'as I think this +will be my last, so I just end where I began--I hae evermore +found the sinews of war, as a learned author calls the CAISSE +MILITAIRE mair difficult to come by than either its flesh, blood, +or bones.' + +'What! have you raised our only efficient body of cavalry, and +got ye none of the louis d'or out of the DOUTELLE, to help you?' +[The Doutelle was an armed vessel, which brought a small supply +of money and arms from France for the use of the insurgents.] + +'No, Glennaquoich; cleverer fellows have been before me.' + +'That's a scandal,' said the young Highlander; 'but you will +share what is left of my subsidy: it will save you an anxious +thought to-night, and will be all one to-morrow, for we shall all +be provided for, one way or other, before the sun sets.' +Waverley, blushing deeply, but with great earnestness, pressed +the same request. + +'I thank ye baith, my good lads,' said the Baron, 'but I will not +infringe upon your peculium. Bailie Macwheeble has provided the +sum which is necessary.' + +Here the Bailie shifted and fidgeted about in his seat, and +appeared extremely uneasy. At length, after several preliminary +hems, and much tautological expression of his devotion to his +honour's service, by night or day, living or dead, he began to +insinuate, 'that the Banks had removed a' their ready cash into +the Castle; that, nae doubt, Sandie Goldie, the silversmith, +would do mickle for his honour; but there was little time to get +the wadset made out; and, doubtless, if his honour Glennaquoich, +or Mr. Waverley, could accommodate'-- + +'Let me hear of no such nonsense, sir,' said the Baron, in a, +tone which rendered Macwheeble mute, 'but proceed as we accorded +before dinner, if it be your wish to remain in my service.' + +To this peremptory order the Bailie, though he felt as if +condemned to suffer a transfusion of blood from his own veins +into those of the Baron, did not presume to make any reply. +After fidgeting a little while longer, however, he addressed +himself to Glennaquoich, and told him, if his honour had mair +ready siller than was sufficient for his occasions in the field, +he could put it out at use for his honour in safe hands, and at +great profit, at this time. + +At this proposal Fergus laughed heartily, and answered, when he +had recovered his breath,--'Many thanks, Bailie; but you must +know it is a general custom among us soldiers to make our +landlady our banker.--Here, Mrs. Flockhart,' said he, taking four +or five broad pieces out of a well-filled purse, and tossing the +purse itself, with its remaining contents, into her apron, 'these +will serve my occasions; do you take the rest; be my banker if I +live, and my executor if I die; but take care to give something +to the Highland cailliachs [Old women, on whom devolved the duty +of lamenting for the dead, which the Irish call KEENING.] that +shall cry the coronach loudest for the last Vich Ian Vohr.' + +'It is the TESTAMENTUM MILITARE,' quoth the Baron, 'whilk, amang +the Romans, was privilegiate to be nuncupative.' But the soft +heart of Mrs. Flockhart was melted within her at the Chieftain's +speech; she set up a lamentable blubbering, and positively +refused to touch the bequest, which Fergus was therefore obliged +to resume. + +'Well, then,' said the Chief, 'if I fall, it will go to the +grenadier that knocks my brains out, and I shall take care he +works hard for it.' + +Bailie Macwheeble was again tempted to put in his oar; for where +cash was concerned, he did not willingly remain silent. 'Perhaps +he had better carry the gowd to Miss Mac-Ivor, in case of +mortality, or accidents of war. It might tak the form of a +MORTIS CAUSA donation in the young leddie's favour, and wad cost +but the scrape of a pen to mak it out.' + +'The young lady,' said Fergus, 'should such an event happen, will +have other matters to think of than these wretched louis d'or.' + +'True--undeniable--there 's nae doubt o' that; but your honour +kens that a full sorrow'-- + +'Is endurable by most folk more easily than a hungry one?--True, +Bailie, very true; and I believe there may even be some who would +be consoled by such a reflection for the loss of the whole +existing generation. But there is a sorrow which knows neither +hunger nor thirst; and poor Flora'--He paused, and the whole +company sympathized in his emotion. + +The Baron's thoughts naturally reverted to the unprotected state +of his daughter, and the big tear came to the veteran's eye. 'If +I fall, Macwheeble; you have all my papers, and know all my +affairs; be just to Rose.' + +The Bailie was a man of earthly mould, after all; a good deal of +dirt and dress about him, undoubtedly, but some kindly and just +feelings he had, especially where the Baron or his young mistress +were concerned. He set up a lamentable howl. 'If that doleful +day should come, while Duncan Macwheeble had a boddle, it should +be Miss Rose's. He wald scroll for a plack the sheet, or she +kenn'd what it was to want; if indeed a' the bonnie baronie o' +Bradwardine and Tully-Veolan, with the fortalice and manor-place +thereof (he kept sobbing and whining at every pause), tofts, +crofts, mosses, muirs--outfield, infield--buildings--orchards +--dovecots--with the right of net and coble in the water and loch +of Veolan--teinds, parsonage and vicarage--annexis, connexis-- +rights of pasturage--fuel, feal, and divot--parts, pendicles, and +pertinents whatsoever--(here he had recourse to the end of his +long cravat to wipe his eyes, which overflowed in spite of him, +at the ideas which this technical jargon conjured up)--all as +more fully described in the proper evidents and titles thereof-- +and lying within the parish of Bradwardine, and the shire of +Perth--if, as aforesaid, they must a' pass from my master's child +to Inch-Grabbit, wha's a Whig and a Hanoverian, and be managed by +his doer, Jamie Howie, wha's no fit to be a birlieman, let be a +bailie'-- + +The beginning of this lamentation really had something affecting, +but the conclusion rendered laughter irresistible. 'Never mind, +Bailie,' said Ensign Maccombich, 'for the gude auld times of +rugging and riving (pulling and tearing) are come back again, an' +Sneckus Mac-Snacbus (meaning, probably, annexis, connexis), and +a' the rest of your friends, maun gie place to the langest +claymore.' + +'And that claymore shall be ours, Bailie,' said the Chieftain, +who saw that Macwheeble looked very blank at this intimation. + + We'll give them the metal our mountain affords, + Lillibulero, bullen a la, + And in place of broad-pieces we'll pay with broadswords, + Lero, lero, &c. + With duns and with debts we will soon clear our score, + Lillibulero, &c. + For the man that's thus paid will crave payment no more, + Lero, Lero, &c. + [These lines, or something like them, occur in an old magazine + of the period.] + +'But come, Bailie, be not cast down; drink your wine with a +joyous heart; the Baron shall return safe and victorious to +Tully-Veolan, and unite Killancureit's lairdship with his own, +since the cowardly half-bred swine will not turn out for the +Prince like a gentleman.' + +'To be sure, they lie maist ewest,' [i.e. contiguous] said the +Bairie, wiping his eyes, 'and should naturally fa' under the same +factory.' + +'And I,' proceeded the Chieftain, 'shall take care of myself, +too; 'for you must know, I have to complete a good work here, by +bringing Mrs. Flockhart into the bosom of the Catholic church, or +at least half way, and that is to your Episcopal meeting-house. +Oh, Baron! if you heard her fine counter-tenor admonishing Kate +and Matty in the morning, you, who understand music, would +tremble at the idea of hearing her shriek in the psalmody of +Haddo's Hole.' + +'Lord forgie you, colonel, how ye rin on! But I hope your +honours will tak tea before ye gang to the palace, and I maun +gang and mask it for you.' + +So saying, Mrs. Flockhart left the gentlemen to their own +conversation, which, as might be supposed, turned chiefly upon +the approaching events of the campaign. + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE BALL + +Ensign Maccombich having gone to the Highland camp upon duty, and +Bailie Macwheeble having retired to digest his dinner and Evan +Dhu's intimation of martial law in some blind change-house, +Waverley, with the Baron and the Chieftain, proceeded to Holyrood +House. The two last were in full tide of spirits, and the Baron +rallied in his way our hero upon the handsome figure which his +new dress displayed to advantage. 'If you have any design upon +the heart of a bonny Scotch lassie, I would premonish you, when +you address her, to remember and quote the words of Virgilius:-- + + Nunc insanus amor duri me Martis in armis, + Tela inter media atque adversos detinet hostes: + +whilk verses Robertson of Struan, Chief of the Clan Donnochy +(unless the claims of Lude ought to be preferred PRIMO LOCO), has +thus elegantly rendered; + + For cruel love has gartan'd low my leg, + And clad my hurdies in a philabeg. + +Although, indeed, ye wear the trews, a garment whilk I approve +maist of the twa, as mair ancient and seemly.' 'Or rather,' said +Fergus, 'hear my song: + + She wadna hae a Lowland laird, + Nor be an English lady; + But she's away with Duncan Graeme, + And he's row'd her in his plaidy.' + +By this time they reached the palace of Holyrood, and were +announced respectively as they entered the apartments. + +It is but too well known how many gentlemen of rank, education, +and fortune, took a concern in the ill-fated and desperate +undertaking of 1745. The ladies, also, of Scotland very +generally espoused the cause of the gallant and handsome young +Prince, who threw himself upon the mercy of his countrymen, +rather like a hero of romance than a calculating politician. It +is not, therefore, to be wondered that Edward, who had spent the +greater part of his life in the solemn seclusion of Waverley- +Honour, should have been dazzled at the liveliness and elegance +of the scene now exhibited in the long-deserted halls of the +Scottish palace. The accompaniments, indeed, fell short of +splendour, being such as the confusion and hurry of the time +admitted; still, however, the general effect was striking, and, +the rank of the company considered, might well be called +brilliant. + +It was not long before the lover's eye discovered the object of +his attachment. Flora Mac-Ivor was in the act; of returning to +her seat, near the top of the room, with Rose Bradwardine by her +side. Among much elegance and beauty, they had attracted a great +degree of the public attention, being certainly two of the +handsomest women present. The Prince took much notice of both, +particularly of Flora, with whom he danced; a preference which +she probably owed to her foreign education, and command of the +French and Italian languages. + +When the bustle attending the conclusion of the dance permitted, +Edward, almost intuitively, followed Fergus to the place where +Miss Mac-Ivor was seated. The sensation of hope, with which he +had nursed his affection in absence of the beloved object, seemed +to vanish in her presence, and, like one striving to recover the +particulars of a forgotten dream, he would have given the world +at that moment to have recollected the grounds on which he had +founded expectations which now seemed so delusive. He +accompanied Fergus with downcast eyes, tingling ears, and the +feelings of the criminal, who, while the melancholy cart moves +slowly through the crowds that have assembled to behold his +execution, receives no clear sensation either from the noise +which fills his ears, or the tumult on which he casts his +wandering look. + +Flora seemed a little--a very little--affected and discomposed at +his approach. 'I bring you an adopted son of Ivor,' said Fergus. + +'And I receive him as a second brother,' replied Flora. + +There was a slight emphasis on the word, which would have escaped +every ear but one that was feverish with apprehension. It was, +however, distinctly marked, and, combined with her whole tone and +manner, plainly intimated, 'I will never think of Mr. Waverley as +a more intimate connexion.' Edward stopped, bowed, and looked at +Fergus, who bit his lip; a movement of anger, which proved that +he also had put a sinister interpretation on the reception which +his sister had given his friend. 'This, then, is an end of my +day-dream!' Such was Waverley's first thought, and it was so +exquisitely painful as to banish from his cheek every drop of +blood. + +'Good God!' said Rose Bradwardine, 'he is not yet recovered!' + +These words, which she uttered with great emotion, were overheard +by the Chevalier himself, who stepped hastily forward, and, +taking Waverley by the hand, inquired kindly after his health, +and added, that he wished to speak with him. By a strong and +sudden effort, which the circumstances rendered indispensable, +Waverley recovered himself so far as to follow the Chevalier in +silence to a recess in the apartment. + +Here the Prince detained him some time, asking various questions +about the great Tory and Catholic families of England, their +connexions, their influence, and the state of their affections +towards the house of Stuart. To these queries Edward could not +at any time have given more than general answers, and it may be +supposed that, in the present state of his feelings, his +responses were indistinct even to confusion. The Chevalier +smiled once or twice at the incongruity of his replies, but +continued the same style of conversation, although he found +himself obliged to occupy the principal share of it, until he +perceived that Waverley had recovered his presence of mind. It +is probable that this long audience was partly meant to further +the idea which the Prince desired should be entertained among his +followers, that Waverley was a character of political influence. +But it appeared, from his concluding expressions, that he had a +different and good-natured motive, personal to our hero, for +prolonging the conference. 'I cannot resist the temptation,' he +said, 'of boasting of my own discretion as a lady's confidant. +You see, Mr. Waverley, that I know all, and I assure you I am +deeply interested in the affair. But, my good young friend, you +must put a more severe restraint upon your feelings. There are +many here whose eyes can see as clearly as mine, but the prudence +of whose tongues may not be equally trusted.' + +So saying, he turned easily away, and joined a circle of officers +at a few paces' distance, leaving Waverley to meditate upon his +parting expression, which though not intelligible to him in its +whole purport, was sufficiently so in the caution which the last +word recommended. Making, therefore, an effort to show himself +worthy of the interest which his new master had expressed, by +instant obedience to his recommendation, he walked up to the spot +where Flora and Miss Bradwardine were still seated, and having +made his compliments to the latter, he succeeded, even beyond his +own expectation, in entering into conversation upon general +topics. + +If, my dear reader, thou hast ever happened to take post-horses +at --, or at -- (one at least of which blanks, or more probably +both, you will be able to fill up from an inn near your own +residence), you must have observed, and doubtless with +sympathetic pain, the reluctant agony with which the poor jades +at first apply their galled necks to the collars of the harness. +But when the irresistible arguments of the postboy have prevailed +upon them to proceed a mile or two, they will become callous to +the first sensation; and being warm at the harness, as the said +postboy may term it, proceed as if their withers were altogether +unwrung. This simile so much corresponds with the state of +Waverley's feelings in the course of this memorable evening, that +I prefer it (especially as being, I trust, wholly original) to +any more splendid illustration with which Byshe's ART OF POETRY +might supply me. + +Exertion, like virtue, is its own reward; and our hero had, +moreover, other stimulating motives for persevering in a display +of affected composure and indifference to Flora's obvious +unkindness. Pride, which supplies its caustic as a useful, +though severe, remedy for the wounds of affection, came rapidly +to his aid. Distinguished by the favour of a Prince; destined, +he had room to hope, to play a conspicuous part in the revolution +which awaited a mighty kingdom; excelling, probably, in mental +acquirements, and equalling, at least, in personal +accomplishments, most of the noble and distinguished persons with +whom he was now ranked; young, wealthy, and high-born--could he, +or ought he to droop beneath the frown of a capricious beauty? + + O nymph, unrelenting and cold as thou art, + My bosom is proud as thine own. + +With the feeling expressed in these beautiful lines (which, +however, were not then written) [They occur in Miss Seward's fine +verses, beginning--To thy rocks, stormy Lannow, adieu.], Waverley +determined upon convincing Flora that he was not to be depressed. +by a rejection, in which his vanity whispered that perhaps she +did her own prospects as much injustice as his. And, to aid this +change of feeling, there lurked the secret and unacknowledged +hope, that she might learn to prize his affection more highly +when she did not conceive it to be altogether within her own +choice to attract or repulse it. There was a mystic tone of +encouragement, also, in the Chevalier's words, though he feared +they only referred to the wishes of Fergus in favour of a union +between him and his sister. But the whole circumstances of time, +place, and incident, combined at once to awaken his imagination, +and to call upon him for a manly and decisive tone of conduct, +leaving to fate to dispose of the issue. Should he appear to be +the only one sad and disheartened on the eve of battle, how +greedily would the tale be commented upon by the slander which +had been already but too busy with his fame? Never, never, he +internally resolved, shall my unprovoked enemies possess such an +advantage over my reputation. + +Under the influence of these mixed sensations, and cheered at +times by a smile of intelligence and approbation from the Prince +as he passed the group, Waverley exerted his powers of fancy, +animation, and eloquence, and attracted the general admiration of +the company. The conversation gradually assumed the tone best +qualified for the display of his talents and acquisitions. The +gaiety of the evening was exalted in character, rather than +checked, by the approaching dangers of the morrow. All nerves +were strung for the future, and prepared to enjoy the present. +This mood of mind is highly favourable for the exercise of the +powers of imagination, for poetry, and for that eloquence which +is allied to poetry. Waverley, as we have elsewhere observed, +possessed at times a wonderful flow of rhetoric; and, on the +present occasion, he touched more than once the higher notes of +feeling, and then again ran off in a wild voluntary of fanciful +mirth. He was supported and excited by kindred spirits, who felt +the same impulse of mood and time; and even those of more cold +and calculating habits were hurried along by the torrent. Many +ladies declined the dance, which still went forward, and, under +various pretences, joined the party to which the 'handsome young +Englishman' seemed to have attached himself. He was presented to +several of the first rank, and his manners, which for the present +were altogether free from the bashful restraint by which, in a +moment of less excitation, they were usually clouded, gave +universal delight. + +Flora Mac-Ivor appeared to be the only female present who +regarded him with a degree of coldness and reserve; yet even she +could not suppress a sort of wonder at talents which, in the +course of their acquaintance, she had never seen displayed with +equal brilliancy and impressive effect. I do not know whether +she might not feel a momentary regret at having taken so decisive +a resolution upon the addresses of a lover, who seemed fitted so +well to fill a high place in the highest stations of society. +Certainly she had hitherto accounted among the incurable +deficiencies of Edward's disposition, the MAUVAISE HONTE, which, +as she had been educated in the first foreign circles, and was +little acquainted with the shyness of English manners, was, in +her opinion, too nearly related to timidity and imbecility of +disposition. But if a passing wish occurred that Waverley could +have rendered himself uniformly thus amiable and attractive, its +influence was momentary; for circumstances had arisen since they +met, which rendered, in her eyes, the resolution she had formed +respecting him final and irrevocable. + +With opposite feelings, Rose Bradwardine bent her whole soul to +listen. She felt a secret triumph at the public tribute paid to +one, whose merit she had learned to prize too early and too +fondly. Without a thought of jealousy, without a feeling of +fear, pain, or doubt, and undisturbed by a single selfish +consideration, she resigned herself to the pleasure of observing +the general murmur of applause. When Waverley spoke, her ear was +exclusively filled with his voice; when others answered, her eye +took its turn of observation, and seemed to watch his reply. +Perhaps the delight which she experienced in the course of that +evening, though transient, and followed by much sorrow, was in +its nature the most pure and disinterested which the human mind +is capable of enjoying. + +'Baron,' said the Chevalier, 'I would not trust my mistress in +the company of your young friend. He is really, though perhaps +somewhat romantic, one of the most fascinating young men whom I +have ever seen.' + +'And by my honour, sir,' replied the Baron, 'the lad can +sometimes be as dowff as a sexagenary like myself. If your Royal +Highness had seen him dreaming and dozing about the banks of +Tully-Veolan like an hypochondriac person, or, as Burton's +ANATOMIA hath it, a phrenesiac or lethargic patient, you would +wonder where he hath sae suddenly acquired all this fine sprack +festivity and jocularity.' + +'Truly,' said Fergus Mac-Ivor, 'I think it can only be the +inspiration of the tartans; for, though Waverley be always a +young fellow of sense and honour, I have hitherto often found him +a very absent and inattentive companion.' + +'We are the more obliged to him,' said the Prince, 'for having +reserved for this evening qualities which even such intimate +friends had not discovered.--But come, gentlemen, the night +advances, and the business of to-morrow must be early thought +upon. Each take charge of his fair partner, and honour a small +refreshment with your company.' + +He led the way to another suite of apartments, and assumed the +seat and canopy at the head of a long range of tables, with an +air of dignity mingled with courtesy, which well became his high +birth and lofty pretensions. An hour had hardly flown away when +the musicians played the signal for parting, so well known in +Scotland.' [Which is, or was wont to be, the old air of 'Good- +night, and joy be with you a'!'] + +'Good-night, then, said the Chevalier, rising; 'Good-night, and +joy be with you!--Good-night, fair ladies, who have so highly +honoured a proscribed and banished Prince.--Good-night, my brave +friends;--may the happiness we have this evening experienced be +an omen of our return to these our paternal halls, speedily and +in triumph, and of many and many future meetings of mirth and +pleasure in the palace of Holyrood!' + +When the Baron of Bradwardine afterwards mentioned this adieu of +the Chevalier, he never failed to repeat, in a melancholy tone, + + Audiit, et voti Phoebus succedere partem + Mente dedit; partem volueres dispersit in auras, + +'which,' as he added, 'is weel rendered into English metre by my +friend Bangour: + + Ae half the prayer, wi' Phoebus grace did find, + The t'other half he whistled down the wind.' + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +THE MARCH + +The conflicting passions and exhausted feelings of Waverley had +resigned him to late but sound repose. He was dreaming of +Glennaquoich, and had transferred to the halls of Ian nan +Chaistel the festal train which so lately graced those of +Holyrood. The pibroch too was distinctly heard; and this at +least was no delusion, for the 'proud step of the chief piper' of +the 'chlain Mac-Ivor' was perambulating the court before the door +of his Chieftain's quarters, and, as Mrs. Flockhart, apparently +no friend to his minstrelsy, was pleased to observe, 'garring the +very stane-and-lime wa's dingle wi' his screeching.' Of course, +it soon became too powerful for Waverley's dream, with which it +had at first rather harmonized. + +The sound of Callum's brogues in his apartment (for Mac-Ivor had +again assigned Waverley to his care) was the next note of +parting. 'Winna yere honour bang up? Vich Ian Vohr and ta +Prince are awa to the lang green glen ahint the clachan, tat they +ca' the King's Park, and mony ane's on his ain shanks the day, +that will be carried on ither folk's ere night.' [The main body +of the Highland army encamped, or rather bivouacked, in that part +of the King's Park which lies towards the village of +Duddingston.] + +Waverley sprang up, and, with Callum's assistance and +instructions, adjusted his tartans in proper costume. Callum +told him also, 'tat his leather DORLACH wi' the lock on her was +come frae Doune, and she was awa again in the wain wi' Vich Inn +Vohr's walise,' + +By this periphrasis Waverley readily apprehended his portmanteau +was intended. He thought upon the mysterious packet of the maid +of the cavern, which seemed always to escape him when within his +very grasp. But this was no time for indulgence of curiosity; +and having declined Mrs, Flockhart's compliment of a morning, +i.e. a matutinal dram, being probably the only man in the +Chevalier's army by whom such a courtesy would have been +rejected, he made his adieus, and departed with Callum. + +'Callum,' said he, as they proceeded down a dirty close to gain +the southern skirts of the Canongate, 'what shall I do for a +horse?' + +'Ta deil ane ye maun think o',' said Callum. 'Vich Ian Vohr's +marching on foot at the head o' his kin (not to say ta Prince, +wha does the like), wi' his target on his shoulder; and ye maun +e'en be neighbour-like.' + +'And so I will, Callum--give me my target;--so, there we are +fixed. How does it look?' + +'Like the bra' Highlander tat's painted on the board afore the +mickle change-house they ca' Luckie Middlemass's,' answered +Callum; meaning, I must observe, a high compliment, for, in his +opinion, Luckie Middlemass's sign was an exquisite specimen of +art. Waverley, however, not feeling the full force of this +polite simile, asked him no further questions. + +Upon extricating themselves from the mean and dirty suburbs of +the metropolis, and emerging into the open air, Waverley felt a +renewal both of health and spirits, and turned his recollection +with firmness upon the events of the preceding evening, and with +hope and resolution towards those of the approaching day. + +When he had surmounted a small craggy eminence, called St. +Leonard's Hill, the King's Park, or the hollow between the +mountain of Arthur's Seat, and the rising grounds on which the +southern part of Edinburgh is now built, lay beneath him, and +displayed a singular and animating prospect. It was occupied by +the army of the Highlanders, now in the act of preparing for +their march. Waverley had already seen something of the kind at +the hunting-match which he attended with Fergus Mac-Ivor; but +this was on a scale of much greater magnitude, and incomparably +deeper interest. The rocks, which formed the background of the +scene, and the very sky itself, rang with the clang of the +bagpipers, summoning forth, each with his appropriate pibroch, +his chieftain and clan. The mountaineers, rousing themselves +from their couch under the canopy of heaven, with the hum and +bustle of a confused and irregular multitude, like bees alarmed +and arming in their hives, seemed to possess all the pliability +of movement fitted to execute military manoeuvres. Their motions +appeared spontaneous and confused, but the result was order and +regularity; so that a general must have praised the conclusion, +though a martinet might have ridiculed the method by which it was +attained. + +The sort of complicated medley created by the hasty arrangements +of the various clans under their respective banners, for the +purpose of getting into the order of march, was in itself a gay +and lively spectacle. They had no tents to strike, having +generally, and by choice, slept upon the open field, although the +autumn was now waning, and the nights began to be frosty. For a +little space, while they were getting into order, there was +exhibited a changing, fluctuating; and confused appearance of +waving tartans and floating plumes, and of banners displaying the +proud gathering word of Clanronald, GANION COHERIGA (Gainsay who +dares); LOCH-SLOY, the watchword of the Mac-Farlanes; FORTH +FORTUNE, AND FILL THE FETTERS, the motto of the Marquis of +Tuilibardine; BYDAND, that of Lord Lewis Gordon; and the +appropriate signal words and emblems of many other chieftains and +clans. + +At length the mixed and wavering multitude arranged themselves +into a narrow and dusky column of great length, stretching +through the whole extent of the valley. In the front of the +column the standard of the Chevalier was displayed, bearing at +red cross upon a white ground, with the motto TANDEM TRIUMPHANS. +The few cavalry being chiefly Lowland gentry, with their domestic +servants and retainers, formed the advanced guard of the army; +and their standards, of which they had rather too many in respect +of their numbers, were seen waving upon the extreme verge of the +horizon. Many horsemen of this body, among whom Waverley +accidentally remarked Balmawhapple, and his lieutenant, Jinker +(which last, however, had been reduced, with several others, by +the advice of the Baron of Bradwardine, to the situation of what +he called reformed officers, or reformadoes), added to the +liveliness, though by no means to the regularity, of the scene, +by galloping their horses as fast forward as the press would +permit, to join their proper station in the van. The +fascinations of the Circes of the High Street, and the potations +of strength with which they had been drenched over night, had +probably detained these heroes within the walls of Edinburgh +somewhat later than was consistent with their morning duty. Of +such loiterers, the prudent took the longer and circuitous, but +more open route, to attain their place in the march, by keeping +at some distance from the infantry, and making their way through +the enclosures to the right, at the expense of leaping over or +pulling down the dry-stone fences. The irregular appearance and +vanishing of these small parties of horsemen, as well as the +confusion occasioned by those who endeavoured, though generally +without effect, to press to the front through the crowd of +Highlanders, maugre their curses, oaths, and opposition, added to +the picturesque wildness what it took from the military +regularity of the scene. + +While Waverley gazed upon this remarkable spectacle, rendered yet +more impressive by the occasional discharge of cannon-shot from +the Castle at the Highland guards as they were withdrawn from its +vicinity to join their main body, Callum, with his usual freedom +of interference, reminded him that Vich Ian Vohr's folk were +nearly at the head of the column of march, which was still +distant, and that 'they would gang very fast after the cannon +fired.' Thus admonished, Waverley walked briskly forward, yet +often easting a glance upon the darksome clouds of warriors who +were collected before and beneath him. A nearer view, indeed, +rather diminished the effect impressed on the mind by the more +distant appearance of the army. The leading men of each clan +were well armed with broadsword, target, and fusee, to which all +added the dirk, and most the steel pistol. But these consisted +of gentlemen, that is, relations of the chief, however distant, +and who had an immediate title to his countenance and protection. +Finer and hardier men could not have been selected out of any +army in Christendom; while the free and independent habits which +each possessed, and which each was yet so well taught to subject +to the command of his chief, and the peculiar mode of discipline +adopted in Highland warfare, rendered them equally formidable by +their individual courage and high spirit, and from their rational +conviction of the necessity of acting in unison, and of giving +their national mode of attack the fullest opportunity of success. + +But, in a lower rank to these, there were found individuals of an +inferior description, the common peasantry of the Highland +country, who, although they did not allow themselves to be so +called, and claimed often, with apparent truth, to be of more +ancient descent than the masters whom they served, bore, +nevertheless, the livery of extreme penury, being indifferently +accoutred, and worse armed, half naked, stinted in growth, and +miserable in aspect. Each important clan had some of those +Helots attached to them;--thus, the Mac-Couls, though tracing +their descent from Comhal, the father of Finn or Fingal, were a +sort of Gibeonites, or hereditary servants to the Stewarts of +Appin; the Macbeths, descended from the unhappy monarch of that +name, were subjects to the Morays, and clan Donnochy, or +Robertsons of Athole; and many other examples might be given, +were it not for the risk of hurting any pride of clanship which +may yet be left, and thereby drawing a Highland tempest into the +shop of my publisher. Now these same Helots, though forced into +the field by the arbitrary authority of the chieftains under whom +they hewed wood and drew water, were, in general, very sparingly +fed, ill dressed, and worse armed. The latter circumstance was +indeed owing chiefly to the general disarming act, which had been +carried into effect ostensibly through the whole Highlands, +although most of the chieftains contrived to elude-its influence, +by retaining the weapons of their own immediate clansmen, and +delivering up those of less value, which they collected from +these inferior satellites. It followed, as a matter of course, +that, as we have already hinted, many of these poor fellows were +brought to the field in a very wretched condition. + +From this it happened, that, in bodies, the van of which were +admirably well armed in their own fashion, the rear resembled +actual banditti. Here was a pole-axe, there a sword without a +scabbard; here a gun without a lock, there a scythe set straight +upon a pole; and some had only their dirks, and bludgeons or +stakes pulled out of hedges. The grim, uncombed, and wild +appearance of these men, most of whom gazed with all the +admiration of ignorance upon the most ordinary production of +domestic art, created surprise in the Lowlands, but it also +created terror. So little was the condition of the Highlands +known at that late period, that the character and appearance of +their population, while thus sallying forth as military +adventurers, conveyed to the south-country Lowlanders as much +surprise as if an invasion of African Negroes or Esquimaux +Indians had issued forth from the northern mountains of their own +native country. It cannot therefore be wondered if Waverley, who +had hitherto judged of the Highlanders generally from the samples +which the policy of Fergus had from time to time exhibited, +should have felt damped and astonished at the daring attempt of a +body not then exceeding four thousand men, and of whom not above +half the number, at the utmost, were armed, to change the fate, +and alter the dynasty, of the British kingdoms. + +As he moved along the column, which still remained stationary, an +iron gun, the only piece of artillery possessed by the army which +meditated so important a revolution, was fired as the signal of +march. The Chevalier had expressed a wish to leave this useless +piece of ordnance behind him; but, to his surprise, the Highland +chiefs interposed to solicit that it might accompany their march, +pleading the prejudices of their followers, who, little +accustomed to artillery, attached a degree of absurd importance +to this field-piece, and expected it would contribute essentially +to a victory which they could only owe to their own muskets and +broadswords. Two or three French artillerymen were therefore +appointed to the management of this military engine, which was +drawn along by a string of Highland ponies, and was, after all, +only used for the purpose of firing signals. [See Note 25.] + +No sooner was its voice heard upon the present occasion, than the +whole line was in motion. A wild cry of joy from the advancing +battalions rent the air, and was then lost in the shrill clangour +of the bagpipes, as the sound of these, in their turn, was +partially drowned by the heavy tread of so many men put at once +into motion. The banners glittered and shook as they moved +forward, and the horse hastened to occupy their station as the +advanced guard, and to push on reconnoitring parties to ascertain +and report the motions of the enemy. They vanished from +Waverley's eye as they wheeled round the base of Arthur's seat, +under the remarkable ridge of basaltic rocks which fronts the +little lake of Duddingston. + +The infantry followed in the same direction, regulating their +pace by another body which occupied a road more to the southward. +It cost Edward some exertion of activity to attain the place +which Fergus's followers occupied in the line of march. + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +AN INCIDENT GIVES RISE TO UNAVAILING REFLECTIONS + +When Waverley reached that part of the column which was filled by +the clan of Mac-Ivor, they halted, formed, and received him with +a triumphant flourish upon the bagpipes, and a loud shout of the +men, most of whom knew him personally, and were delighted to see +him in the dress of their country and of their sept. 'You +shout,' said a Highlander of a neighbouring clan to Evan Dhu, 'as +if the Chieftain were just come to your head.' + +MAR E BRAN IS E BRATHAIR, If it be not Bran, it is Bran's +brother,' was the proverbial reply of Maccombich. [Bran, the +well-known dog of Fingal, is often the theme of Highland proverb +as well as song.] + +'Oh, then, it is the handsome Sassenach Duinhe-wassel, that is to +be married to Lady Flora?' + +'That may be, or it may not be; and it is neither your matter nor +mine, Gregor.' + +Fergus advanced to embrace the volunteer, and afford him a warm +and hearty welcome; but he thought it necessary to apologize for +the diminished numbers of his battalion (which did not exceed +three hundred men), by observing, he had sent a good many out +upon parties. + +The real fact, however, was, that the defection of Donald Bean +Lean had deprived him of at least thirty hardy fellows, whose +services he had fully reckoned upon, and that many of his +occasional adherents had been recalled by their several chiefs to +the standards to which they most properly owed their allegiance. +The rival chief of the great northern branch also of his own +clan, had mustered his people, although he had not yet declared +either for the Government or for the Chevalier, and by his +intrigues had in some degree diminished the force with which +Fergus took the field. To make amends for these disappointments, +it was universally admitted that the followers of Vich Ian Vohr, +in point of appearance, equipment, arms, and dexterity in using +them, equalled the most choice troops which followed the standard +of Charles Edward. Old Ballenkeiroch acted as his major; and, +with the other officers who had known Waverley when at +Glennaquoich, gave our hero a cordial reception, as the sharer of +their future dangers and expected honours. + +The route pursued by the Highland army, after leaving the village +of Duddingston, was for some time the common post-road betwixt +Edinburgh and Haddington, until they crossed the Esk at +Musselburgh, when, instead of keeping the low grounds towards the +sea, they turned more inland, and occupied the brow of the +eminence called Carberry hill, a place already distinguished in +Scottish history as the spot where the lovely Mary surrendered +herself to her insurgent subjects. This direction was chosen, +because the Chevalier had received notice that the army of the +Government, arriving by sea from Aberdeen, had landed at Dunbar, +and quartered the night before to the west of Haddington, with +the intention of falling down towards the sea-side, and +approaching Edinburgh by the lower coast-road. By keeping the +height, which overhung that road in many places, it was hoped the +Highlanders might find an opportunity of attacking them to +advantage. The army therefore halted upon the ridge of Carberry +hill, both to refresh the soldiers, and as a central situation, +from which their march could be directed to any point that the +motions of the enemy might render most advisable. While they +remained in this position, a messenger arrived in haste to desire +Mac-Ivor to come to the Prince, adding, that their advanced post +had had a skirmish with some of the enemy's cavalry, and that the +Baron of Bradwardine had sent in a few prisoners. + +Waverley walked forward out of the line to satisfy his curiosity, +and soon observed five or six of the troopers, who, covered with +dust, had galloped in to announce that the enemy were in full +march westward along the coast. Passing still a little further +on, he was struck with a groan which issued from a hovel. He +approached the spot, and heard a voice, in the provincial English +of his native county, which endeavoured, though frequently +interrupted by pain, to repeat the Lord's Prayer. The voice of +distress always found a ready answer in our hero's bosom. He +entered the hovel, which seemed to be intended for what is +called, in the pastoral counties of Scotland, a smearing-house; +and in its obscurity Edward could only at first discern a sort of +red bundle; for those who had stripped the wounded man of his +arms, and part of his clothes, had left him the dragoon-cloak in +which he was enveloped. + +'For the love of God,' said the wounded man, as he heard +Waverley's step, 'give me a single drop of water!' + +'You shall have it,' answered Waverley, at the same time raising +him in his arms, bearing him to the door of the hut, and giving +him some drink from his flask. + +'I should know that voice,' said the man; but, looking on +Waverley's dress with a bewildered look,--'no, this is not the +young squire!' + +This was the common phrase by which Edward was distinguished on +the estate of Waverley-Honour, and the sound now thrilled to his +heart with the thousand recollections which the well-known +accents of his native country had already contributed to awaken. +'Houghton!' he said, gazing on the ghastly features which death +was fast disfiguring, 'can this be you?' + +'I never thought to hear an English voice again,' said the +wounded man; 'they left me to live or die here as I could, when +they found I would say nothing about the strength of the +regiment. But, oh, squire! how could you stay from us so long, +and let us be tempted by that fiend of the pit, Ruffin?--we +should have followed you through flood and fire, to be sure.' + +'Ruffin! I assure you, Houghton, you have been vilely imposed +upon.' + +'I often thought so,' said Houghton, 'though they showed us your +very seal; and so Timms was shot, and I was reduced to the +ranks.' + +'Do not exhaust your strength in speaking,' said Edward; 'I will +get you a surgeon presently.' + +He saw Mac-Ivor approaching, who was now returning from head- +quarters, where he had attended a council of war, and hastened to +meet him. 'Brave news!' shouted the Chief; 'we shall be at it +in less than two hours. The Prince has put himself at the head +of the advance, and as he drew his sword, called out, "My +friends, I have thrown away the scabbard." Come, Waverley, we +move instantly.' + +'A moment,--a moment; this poor prisoner is dying where shall I +find a surgeon?' + +'Why, where should you? We have none, you know, but two or three +French fellows, who, I believe, are little better than GARCONS +APOTHICAIRES.' + +'But the man will bleed to death.' + +'Poor fellow!' said Fergus, in a momentary fit of compassion; +then instantly added, 'But it will be a thousand men's fate +before night; so come along.' + +'I cannot; I tell you he is a son of a tenant of my uncle's.' + +'Oh, if he's a follower of yours, he must be looked to; + +'I'll send Callum to you. But DIAOUL!-CAEDE MILLIA MOLLIGHEART!' +continued the impatient Chieftain,--'what made an old soldier, +like Bradwardine, send dying men here to cumber us?' + +Callum came with his usual alertness; and, indeed, Waverley +rather gained than lost in the opinion of the Highlanders, by his +anxiety about the wounded man. They would not have understood +the general philanthropy which rendered it almost impossible for +Waverley to have passed any person in such distress; but, as +apprehending that the sufferer was one of his following, +[SCOTTICE for followers.] they unanimously allowed that +Waverley's conduct was that of a kind and considerate chieftain, +who merited the attachment of his people. In about a quarter of +an hour poor Humphry breathed his last, praying his young master, +when he returned to Waverley-Honour, to be kind to old Job +Houghton and his dame, and conjuring him not to fight with these +wild petticoat-men against old England. + +When his last breath was drawn, Waverley, who had beheld with +sincere sorrow, and no slight tinge of remorse, the final agonies +of mortality, now witnessed for the first time, commanded Callum +to remove the body into the hut. This the young Highlander +performed, not without examining the pockets of the defunct, +which, however, he remarked, had been pretty well spung'd. He +took the cloak, however, and proceeding with the provident +caution of a spaniel hiding a bone, concealed it among some +furze, and carefully marked the spot, observing that, if he +chanced to return that way, it would be an excellent rokelay for +his auld mother Elspat. + +It was by a considerable exertion that they regained their place +in the marching column, which was now moving rapidly forward to +occupy the high grounds above the village of Tranent, between +which and the sea, lay the purposed march of the opposite army. + +This melancholy interview with his late sergeant forced many +unavailing and painful reflections upon Waverley's mind. It was +clear, from the confession of the man, that Colonel Gardiner's +proceedings had been strictly warranted, and even rendered +indispensable, by the steps taken in Edward's name to induce the +soldiers of his troop to mutiny. The circumstance of the seal, +he now, for the first time, recollected, and that he had lost it +in the cavern of the robber, Bean Lean. That the artful villain +had secured it, and used it as the means of carrying on an +intrigue in the regiment, for his own purposes, was sufficiently +evident, and Edward had now little doubt that in the packet +placed in his portmanteau by his daughter, he should find further +light upon his proceedings. In the meanwhile, the repeated +expostulation of Houghton,--'Ah, squire, why did you leave us?' +rang like a knell in his ears. + +'Yes,' he said, 'I have indeed acted towards you with thoughtless +cruelty. I brought you from your paternal fields, and the +protection of a generous and kind landlord, and when I had +subjected you to all the rigour of military discipline, I shunned +to bear my own share of the burden, and wandered from the duties +I had undertaken, leaving alike those whom it was my business to +protect, and my own reputation, to suffer under the artifices of +villany. O indolence and indecision of mind! if not in +yourselves vices, to how much exquisite misery and mischief do +you frequently prepare the way!' + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +THE EVE OF BATTLE + +Although the Highlanders marched on very fast, the sun was +declining when they arrived upon the brow of those high grounds +which command an open and extensive plain stretching northward to +the sea, on which are situated, but at a considerable distance +from each other, the small villages of Seaton and Cockenzie, and +the larger one of Preston. One of the low coast-roads to +Edinburgh passed through this plain, issuing upon it from the +enclosures of Seaton-house, and at the town or village of Preston +again entering the defiles of an enclosed country. By this way +the English general had chosen to approach the metropolis, both +as most commodious for his cavalry, and being probably of opinion +that, by doing so, he would meet in front with the Highlanders +advancing from Edinburgh in the opposite direction. In this he +was mistaken; for the sound judgement of the Chevalier, or of +those to whose advice he listened, left the direct passage free, +but occupied the strong ground by which it was overlooked and +commanded. + +When the Highlanders reached the heights above the plain +described, they were immediately formed in army of battle along +the brow of the hill. Almost at the same instant the van of the +English appeared issuing from among the trees and enclosures of +Seaton, with the purpose of occupying the level plain between the +high ground and the sea; the space which divided the armies being +only about half a mile in breadth. Waverley could plainly see +the squadrons of dragoons issue, one after another, from the +defiles, with their videttes in front, and form upon the plain, +with their front opposed to that of the Prince's army. They were +followed by a train of field-pieces, which, when they reached the +flank of the dragoons, were also brought into line, and pointed +against the heights. The march was continued by three or four +regiments of infantry marching in open column, their fixed +bayonets showing like successive hedges of steel, and their arms +glancing like lightning, as, at a signal given, they also at once +wheeled up, and were placed in direct opposition to the +Highlanders. A second train of artillery, with another regiment +of horse, closed the long march, and formed on the left flank of +the infantry, the whole line facing southward. + +While the English army went through these evolutions, the +Highlanders showed equal promptitude and zeal for battle. As +fast as the clans came upon the ridge which fronted their enemy, +they were formed into line, so that both armies got into complete +order of battle at the same moment. When this was accomplished, +the Highlanders set up a tremendous yell, which was re-echoed by +the heights behind them. The regulars, who were in high spirits, +returned a loud shout of defiance, and fired one or two of their +cannon upon an advanced post of the Highlanders. The latter +displayed great earnestness to proceed instantly to the attack, +Evan Dhu urging to Fergus, by way of argument, that 'the SIDIER +ROY was tottering like an egg upon a staff, and that they had a' +the vantage of the onset, for even a haggis (God bless her!) +could charge down hill.' + +But the ground through which the mountaineers must have +descended, although not of great extent, was impracticable in its +character, being not only marshy, but intersected with walls of +dry-stone, and traversed in its whole length by a very broad and +deep ditch, circumstances which must have given the musketry of +the regulars dreadful advantages, before the mountaineers could +have used their swords, on which they were taught to rely. The +authority of the commanders was therefore interposed to curb the +impetuosity of the Highlanders, and only a few marksmen were sent +down the descent to skirmish with the enemy's advanced posts, and +to reconnoitre the ground. + +Here, then, was a military spectacle of no ordinary interest, or +usual occurrence. The two armies, so different in aspect and +discipline, yet each admirably trained in its own peculiar mode +of war, upon whose conflict the temporary fate at least of +Scotland appeared to depend, now faced each other like two +gladiators in the arena, each meditating upon the mode of +attacking their enemy. The leading officers, and the general's +staff of each army, could be distinguished in front of their +lines, busied with spy-glasses to watch each other's motions, and +occupied in dispatching the orders and receiving the intelligence +conveyed, by the aides-de-camp and orderly men, who gave life to +the scene by galloping along in different directions as if the +fate of the day depended upon the speed of their horses. The +space between the armies was at times occupied by the partial and +irregular contests of individual sharpshooters, and a hat or +bonnet was occasionally seen to fall, as a wounded man was borne +off by his comrades. These, however, were but trifling +skirmishes, for it suited the views of neither party to advance +in that direction. From the neighbouring hamlets, the peasantry +cautiously showed themselves, as if watching the issue of the +expected engagement; and at no great distance in the bay were two +square-rigged vessels, bearing the English flag, whose tops and +yards were crowded with less timid spectators. + +When this awful pause had lasted for a short time, Fergus, with +another chieftain, received orders to detach their clans towards +the village of Preston, in order to threaten the right flank of +Cope's army, and compel him to a change of position. To enable +him to execute these orders, the Chief of Glennaquoich occupied +the churchyard of Tranent, a commanding situation, and a +convenient place, as Evan Dhu remarked, 'for any gentleman who +might have the misfortune to be killed, and chanced to be curious +about Christian burial.' To check or dislodge this party, the +English general detached two guns escorted by a strong party of +cavalry. They approached so near, that Waverley could plainly +recognize the standard of the troop he had formerly commanded, +and hear the trumpets and kettledrums sound the signal of +advance, which he had so often obeyed. He could hear, too, the +well-known word given in the English dialect, by the equally +well-distinguished voice of the commanding-officer, for whom he +had once felt so much respect. It was at that instant, that, +looking around him, he saw the wild dress and appearance of his +Highland associates, heard their whispers in an uncouth and +unknown language, looked upon his own dress, so unlike that which +he had worn from his infancy, and wished to awake from what +seemed at the moment a dream, strange, horrible, and unnatural. +'Good God!' he muttered, 'am I then a traitor to my country, a +renegade to my standard, and a foe, as that poor dying wretch +expressed himself, to my native England?' + +Ere he could digest or smother the recollection, the tall +military form of his late commander came full in view, for the +purpose of reconnoitring. 'I can hit him now,' said Callum, +cautiously raising his fusee over the wall under which he lay +couched, at scarce sixty yards' distance. + +Edward felt as if he was about to see a parricide committed in +his presence; for the venerable grey hair and striking +countenance of the veteran recalled the almost paternal respect +with which his officers universally regarded him. But ere he +could say 'Hold!' an aged Highlander, who lay beside Callum Beg, +stopped his arm. 'Spare your shot,' said the seer, 'his hour is +not yet come. But let him beware of to-morrow.--I see his +winding-sheet high upon his breast.' + +Callum, flint to other considerations, was penetrable to +superstition. He turned pale at the words of the TAISHATR, and +recovered his piece. Colonel Gardiner, unconscious of the danger +he had escaped, turned his horse round, and rode slowly back to +the front of his regiment. + +By this time the regular army had assumed a new line, with one +flank inclined towards the sea, and the other resting upon the +village of Preston; and as similar difficulties occurred in +attacking their new position, Fergus and the rest of the +detachment were recalled to their former post. This alteration +created the necessity of a corresponding change in General Cope's +army, which was again brought into a line parallel with that of +the Highlanders. In these manoeuvres on both sides the daylight +was nearly consumed, and both armies prepared to rest upon their +arms for the night in the lines which they respectively occupied. + +'There will be nothing done to-night,' said Fergus to his friend +Waverley. 'Ere we wrap ourselves in our plaids, let us go see +what the Baron is doing in the rear of the line.' + +When they approached his post, they found the good old careful +officer, after having sent out his night patrols, and posted his +sentinels, engaged in reading the Evening Service of the +Episcopal Church to the remainder of his troop. His voice was +loud and sonorous, and though his spectacles upon his nose, and +the appearance of Saunders Saunderson, in military array, +performing the functions of clerk, had something ludicrous, yet +the circumstances of danger in which they stood, the military +costume of the audience, and the appearance of their horses, +saddled and picketed behind them, gave an impressive and solemn +effect to the office of devotion. + +'I have confessed to-day, ere you were awake,' whispered Fergus +to Waverley; 'yet I am not so strict a Catholic as to refuse to +join in this good man's prayers.' + +Edward assented, and they remained till the Baron had concluded +the service. + +As he shut the book, 'Now, lads,' said he, 'have at them in the +morning, with heavy hands and light consciences.' He then kindly +greeted Mac-Ivor and Waverley, who requested to know his opinion +of their situation. 'Why, you know, Tacitus saith, "IN REBUS +BELLICIS MAXIME DOMINATUR FORTUNA," which is equiponderate with +our vernacular adage, "Luck can maist in the mellee." But credit +me, gentlemen, yon man is not a deacon o' his craft. He damps +the spirits of the poor lads he commands, by keeping them on the +defensive, whilk of itself implies inferiority or fear. Now will +they lie on their arms yonder, as anxious and as ill at ease as a +toad under a harrow, while our men will be quite fresh and blithe +for action in the morning. Well, goodnight.--One thing troubles +me, but if to-morrow goes well off, I will consult you about it, +Glennaquoich.'-- + +'I could almost apply to Mr. Bradwardine the character which +Henry gives of Fluellen,' said Waverley, as his friend and he +walked towards their BIVOUAC: + + Though it appears a little out of fashion, + There is much care and valour in this 'Scotchman.' + +'He has seen much service,' answered Fergus, 'and one is +sometimes astonished to find how much nonsense and reason are +mingled in his composition, I wonder what can be troubling his +mind--probably something about Rose.--Hark! the English are +setting their watch.' + +The roll of the drum and shrill accompaniment of the fifes +swelled up the hill-died away--resumed its thunder--and was at +length hushed. The trumpets and kettledrums of the cavalry were +next heard to perform the beautiful and wild point of war +appropriated as a signal for that piece of nocturnal duty, and +then finally sank upon the wind with a shrill and mournful +cadence. + +The friends, who had now reached their post, stood and looked +round them ere they lay down to rest. The western sky twinkled +with stars, but a frost-mist, rising from the ocean, covered the +eastern horizon, and rolled in white wreaths along the plain +where the adverse army lay couched upon their arms. Their +advanced posts were pushed as far as the side of the great ditch +at the bottom of the descent, and had kindled large fires at +different intervals, gleaming with obscure and hazy lustre +through the heavy fog which encircled them with a doubtful halo. + +The Highlanders, 'thick as leaves in Vallombrosa,' lay stretched +upon the ridge of the hill, buried (excepting their sentinels) in +the most profound repose. 'How many of these brave fellows will +sleep more soundly before to-morrow night, Fergus!' said +Waverley, with an involuntary sigh. + +'You must not think of that,' answered Fergus, whose ideas were +entirely military. 'You must only think of your sword, and by +whom it was given. All other reflections are now TOO LATE.' + +With the opiate contained in this undeniable remark, Edward +endeavoured to lull the tumult of his conflicting feelings. The +Chieftain and he, combining their plaids, made a comfortable and +warm couch. Callum, sitting down at their head (for it was his +duty to watch upon the immediate person of the Chief), began a +long mournful song in Gaelic, to a low and uniform tune, which, +like the sound of the wind at a distance, soon lulled them to +sleep. + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +THE CONFLICT + +When Fergus Mac-Ivor and his friend had slept for a few hours, +they were awakened, and summoned to attend the Prince. The +distant village-clock was heard to toll three as they hastened to +the place where he lay. He was already surrounded by his +principal officers and the chiefs of clans. A bundle of peas- +straw, which had been lately his couch, now served for his seat. +Just as Fergus reached the circle, the consultation had broken +up. 'Courage, my brave friends!' said the Chevalier, 'and each +one put himself instantly at the head of his command; a faithful +friend [See Note 26.] has offered to guide us by a practicable, +though narrow and circuitous route, which, sweeping to our right, +traverses the broken ground and morass, and enables us to gain +the firm and open plain, upon which the enemy are lying. This +difficulty surmounted, Heaven and your good swords must do the +rest.' + +The proposal spread unanimous joy, and each leader hastened to +get his men into order with as little noise as possible. The +army, moving by its right from off the ground on which they had +rested, soon entered the path through the morass, conducting +their march with astonishing silence and great rapidity. The +mist had not risen to the higher grounds, so that for some time +they had the advantage of starlight. But this was lost as the +stars faded before approaching day, and the head of the marching +column, continuing its descent, plunged as it were into the heavy +ocean of fog, which rolled its white waves over the whole plain, +and over the sea by which it was bounded. Some difficulties were +now to be encountered, inseparable from darkness,--a narrow, +broken, and marshy path, and the necessity of preserving union in +the march. These, however, were less inconvenient to +Highlanders, from their habits of life, than they would have been +to any other troops, and they continued a steady and swift +movement. + +As the clan of Ivor approached the firm ground, following the +track of those who preceded them, the challenge of a patrol was +heard through the mist, though they could not see the dragoon by +whom it was made--'Who goes there?' + +'Hush!' cried Fergus, 'hush!--Let none answer, as he values his +life.--Press forward!' and they continued their march with +silence and rapidity. + +The patrol fired his carabine upon the body, and the report was +instantly followed by the clang of his horse's feet as he +galloped off. 'HYLAX IN LIMINE LATRAT,' said the Baron of +Bradwardine, who heard the shot; 'that loon will give the alarm.' + +The clan of Fergus had now gained the firm plain, which had +lately borne a large crop of corn. But the harvest was gathered +in, and the expense was unbroken by tree, bush, or interruption +of any kind. The rest of the army were following fast, when they +heard the drums of the enemy beat the general. Surprise, +however, had made no part of their plan, so they were not +disconcerted by this intimation that the foe was upon his guard +and prepared to receive them. It only hastened their +dispositions for the combat, which were very simple. + +The Highland army, which now occupied the eastern end of the wide +plain, or stubble field, so often referred to, was drawn up in +two lines, extending from the morass towards the sea. The first +was destined to charge the enemy, the second to act as a reserve. +The few horse, whom the Prince headed in person, remained between +the two lines. The Adventurer had intimated a resolution to +charge in person at the head of his first line; but his purpose +was deprecated by all around him, and he was with difficulty +induced to abandon it. + +Both lines were now moving forward, the first prepared for +instant combat. The clans of which it was composed, formed each +a sort of separate phalanx, narrow in front, and in depth ten, +twelve, or fifteen files, according to the strength of the +following. The best armed and best born, for the words were +synonymous, were placed in front of each of these irregular +subdivisions. The others in the rear shouldered forward the +front, and by their pressure added both physical impulse, and +additional ardour and confidence, to those who were first to +encounter the danger. + +'Down with your plaid, Waverley,' cried Fergus, throwing off his +own; 'we'll win silks for our tartans before the sun is above the +sea.' + +The clansmen on every side stripped their plaids, prepared their +arms, and there was an awful pause of about three minutes, during +which the men, pulling off their bonnets, raised their faces to +heaven, and uttered a short prayer; then pulled their bonnets +over their brows, and began to move forward at first slowly. +Waverley felt his heart at that moment throb as it would have +burst from his bosom. It was not fear, it was not ardour,--it +was a compound of both, a new and deeply energetic impulse, that +with its first emotion chilled and astounded, then fevered and +maddened his mind, The sounds around him combined to exalt his +enthusiasm; the pipes played, and the clans rushed forward, each +in its own dark column. As they advanced they mended their pace, +and the muttering sounds of the men to each other began to swell +into a wild cry. + +At this moment, the sun, which was now risen above the horizon, +dispelled the mist. The vapours rose like a curtain, and showed +the two armies in the act of closing. The line of the regulars +was formed directly fronting the attack of the Highlanders; it +glittered with the appointments of a complete army, and was +flanked by cavalry and artillery. But the sight impressed no +terror on the assailants. + +'Forward, sons of Ivor,' cried their Chief, 'or the Camerons will +draw the first blood!'--They rushed on with a tremendous yell. + +The rest is well known. The horse, who were commanded to charge +the advancing Highlanders in the flank, received an irregular +fire from their fusees as they ran on, and, seized with a +disgraceful panic, wavered, halted, disbanded, and galloped from +the field. The artillerymen, deserted by the cavalry, fled after +discharging their pieces, and the Highlanders, who dropped their +guns when fired, and drew their broadswords, rushed with headlong +fury against the infantry. + +It was at this moment of confusion and terror, that Waverley +remarked an English officer, apparently of high rank, standing +alone and unsupported by a field-piece, which, after the flight +of the men by whom it was wrought, he had himself levelled and +discharged against the clan of Mac-Ivor, the nearest group of +Highlanders within his aim. Struck with his tall, martial +figure, and eager to save him from inevitable destruction, +Waverley outstripped for an instant even the speediest of the +warriors, and, reaching the spot first, called to him to +surrender. The officer replied by a thrust with his sword, which +Waverley received in his target, and in turning it aside the +Englishman's weapon broke. At the same time the battle-axe of +Dugald Mahony was in the act of descending upon the officer's +head. Waverley intercepted and prevented the blow, and the +officer, perceiving further resistance unavailing, and struck +with Edward's generous anxiety for his safety, resigned the +fragment of his sword, and was committed by Waverley to Dugald, +with strict charge to use him well, and not to pillage his +person, promising him, at the same time, full indemnification for +the spoil. + +On Edward's right, the battle for a few minutes raged fierce and +thick. The English infantry, trained in the wars in Flanders, +stood their ground with great courage. But their extended files +were pierced and broken in many places by the close masses of the +clans; and in the personal struggle which ensued, the nature of +the Highlanders' weapons, and their extraordinary fierceness and +activity, gave them a decided superiority over those who had been +accustomed to trust much to their array and discipline, and felt +that the one was broken and the other useless. Waverley, as he +cast his eyes towards this scene of smoke and slaughter, observed +Colonel Gardiner, deserted by his own soldiers in spite of all +his attempts to rally them, yet spurring his horse through the +field to take the command of a small body of infantry, who, with +their backs arranged against the wall of his own park (for his +house was close by the field of battle), continued a desperate +and unavailing resistance. Waverley could perceive that he had +already received many wounds, his clothes and saddle being marked +with blood. To save this good and brave man, became the instant +object of his most anxious exertions. But he could only witness +his fall. Ere Edward could make his way among the Highlanders, +who, furious and eager for spoil, now thronged upon each other, +he saw his former commander brought from his horse by the blow of +a scythe, and beheld him receive, while on the ground, more +wounds than would have let out twenty lives. When Waverley came +up, however, perception had not entirely fled. The dying warrior +seemed to recognize Edward, for he fixed his eye upon him with an +upbraiding, yet sorrowful look, and appeared to struggle for +utterance. But he felt that death was dealing closely with him, +and resigning his purpose, and folding his hands as if in +devotion, he gave up his soul to his Creator. The look with +which he regarded Waverley in his dying moments did not strike +him so deeply at that crisis of hurry and confusion, as when it +recurred to his imagination at the distance of some time. [See +Note 27.] + +Loud shouts of triumph now echoed over the whole field. The +battle was fought and won, and the whole baggage, artillery, and +military stores of the regular army remained in possession of the +victors. Never was a victory more complete. Scarce any escaped +from the battle, excepting the cavalry, who had left it at the +very onset, and even these were broken into different parties and +scattered all over the country. So far as our tale is concerned, +we have only to relate the fate of Balmawhapple, who, mounted on +a horse as headstrong and stiff-necked as his rider, pursued the +flight of the dragoons above four miles from the field of battle, +when some dozen of the fugitives took heart of grace, turned +round, and, cleaving his skull with their broadswords, satisfied +the world that the unfortunate gentleman had actually brains, the +end of his life thus giving proof of a fact greatly doubted +during its progress. His death was lamented by few. Most of +those who knew him agreed in the pithy observation of Ensign +Maccombich, that there 'was mair TINT (lost) at Sheriff-Muir.' +His friend, Lieutenant Jinker, bent his eloquence only to +exculpate his favourite mare from any share in contributing to +the catastrophe. 'He had tauld the laird a thousand times,' he +said, 'that it was a burning shame to put a martingale upon the +puir thing, when he would needs ride her wi' a curb of half a +yard lang; and that he could na but bring himsell (not to say +her) to some mischief, by flinging her down, or otherwise; +whereas, if he had had a wee bit rinnin ring on the snaffle, she +wad ha' rein'd as cannily as a cadger's pownie.' + +Such was the elegy of the Laird of Balmawhapple. [See Note 28.] + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +AN UNEXPECTED EMBARRASSMENT + +When the battle was over, and all things coming into order, the +Baron of Bradwardine, returning from the duty of the day, and +having disposed those under his command in their proper stations, +sought the Chieftain of Glennaquoich and his friend Edward +Waverley. He found the former busied in determining disputes +among his clansmen about points of precedence and deeds of +valour, besides sundry high and doubtful questions concerning +plunder. The most important of the last respected the property +of a gold watch, which had once belonged to some unfortunate +English officer. The party against whom judgement was awarded +consoled himself by observing, 'She (i.e. the watch, which he +took for a living animal) died the very night Vich Ian Vohr gave +her to Murdock;' the machine having, in fact, stopped for want of +winding up. + +It was just when this important question was decided, that the +Baron of Bradwardine, with a careful and yet important expression +of countenance, joined the two young men. He descended from his +reeking charger, the care of which he recommended to one of his +grooms. 'I seldom ban, sir,' said he to the man; 'but if you +play any of your hound's-foot tricks, and leave puir Berwick +before he's sorted, to rin after spuilzie, deil be wi' me if I do +not; give your craig a thraw. He then stroked with great +complacency the animal which had borne him through the fatigues +of the day, and having taken a tender leave of him,--'Weel, my +good young friends, a glorious and decisive victory,' said he; +'but these loons of troopers fled ower soon. I should have liked +to have shown you the true points of the PRAELIUM EQUESTRE, or +equestrian combat, whilk their cowardice has postponed, and which +I hold to be the pride and terror of warfare. Weel, I have +fought once more in this old quarrel, though I admit I could not +be so far BEN as you lads, being that it was my point of duty to +keep together our handful of horse. And no cavalier ought in any +wise to begrudge honour that befalls his companions, even though +they are ordered upon thrice his danger, whilk, another time, by +the blessing of God, may be his own case.--But, Glennaquoich, and +you, Mr. Waverley, I pray ye to give me your best advice on a +matter of mickle weight, and which deeply affects the honour of +the house of Bradwardine.--I crave your pardon, Ensign +Maccombich, and yours, Inveraughlin, and yours, Edderalshendrach, +and yours, sir.' + +The last person he addressed was Ballenkeiroch, who, remembering +the death of his son, loured on him with a look of savage +defiance. The Baron, quick as lightning at taking umbrage, had +already bent his brow, when Glennaquoich dragged his major from +the spot, and remonstrated with him, in the authoritative tone of +a chieftain, on the madness of reviving a quarrel in such a +moment. + +'The ground is cumbered with carcases,' said the old mountaineer, +turning sullenly away; 'ONE MORE would hardly have been kenn'd +upon it; and if it wasna for yoursell, Vich Ian Vohr, that one +should be Bradwardine's or mine.' + +The chief soothed while he hurried him away; and then returned to +the Baron. 'It is Ballenkeiroch,' he said, in an under and +confidential voice, 'father of the young man who fell eight years +since in the unlucky affair at the Mains.' + +'Ah!' said the Baron, instantly relaxing the doubtful sternness +of his features, 'I can take mickle frae a man to whom I have +unhappily rendered sie a displeasure as that. Ye were right to +apprize me, Glennaquoich; he may look as black as midnight at +Martinmas ere Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine shall say he does him +wrang. Ah! I have nae male lineage, and I should bear with one +I have made childless, though you are aware the blood-wit was +made up to your ain satisfaction by assythment, and that I have +since expedited letters of slains.--Weel, as I have said, I have +no male issue, and yet it is needful that I maintain the honour +of my house; and it is on that score I prayed ye for your +peculiar and private attention,' + +The two young men awaited to hear him in anxious curiosity. + +'I doubt na, lads,' he proceeded, 'but your education has been +sae seen to, that ye understand the true nature of the feudal +tenures?' + +Fergus, afraid of an endless dissertation, answered, 'Intimately, +Baron,' and touched Waverley, as a signal to express no +ignorance. + +'And ye are aware, I doubt not, that the holding of the Barony of +Bradwardine is of a nature alike honourable and peculiar, being +blanch (which Craig opines ought to be Latinated BLANCUM, or +rather FRANCUM, a free holding) PRO SERVITIO DETRAHENDI, SEU +EXUENDI, CALIGAS REGIS POST BATTALIAM.' Here Fergus turned his +falcon eye upon Edward, with an almost imperceptible rise of his +eyebrow, to which his shoulders corresponded in the same degree +of elevation. 'Now, twa points of dubitation occur to me upon +this topic. First, whether this service, or feudal homage, be at +any event due to the person of the Prince, the words being, PER +EXPRESSUM, CALIGAS REGIS, the boots of the king himself; and I +pray your opinion anent that particular before we proceed +further.' + +'Why, he is Prince Regent,' answered Mac-Ivor, with laudable +composure of countenance; 'and in the court of France all the +honours are rendered to the person of the Regent which are due to +that of the King. Besides, were I to pull off either of their +boots, I would render that service to the young Chevalier ten +times more willingly than to his father.' + +'Aye, but I talk not of personal predilections. However, your +authority is of great weight as to the usages of the court of +France: and doubtless the Prince, as ALTER EGO, may have a right +to claim the HOMAGIUM of the great tenants of the crown, since +all faithful subjects are commanded, in the commission of +regency, to respect him as the king's own person. Far, +therefore, be it from me to diminish the lustre of his authority, +by withholding this act of homage, so peculiarly calculated to +give it splendour; for I question if the Emperor of Germany hath +his boots taken off by a free baron of the empire. But here +lieth the second difficulty--The Prince wears no boots, but +simply brogues and trews.' + +This last dilemma had almost disturbed Fergus's gravity. + +'Why,' said he, 'you know, Baron, the proverb tells us, "It's ill +taking the breeks off a Highlandman,"--and the boots are here in +the same predicament.' + +'The word CALIGAE, however,' continued the Baron, 'though I +admit, that, by family tradition, and even in our ancient +evidents, it is explained LIE BOOTS, means, in its primitive +sense, rather sandals; and Caius Caesar, the nephew and successor +of Caius Tiberius, received the agnomen of Caigula, A CALIGULIS, +SIVE CALIGIS LEVIORIBUS, QUIBUS ADOLESCENTIOR USUS FUERAT IN +EXERCITU GERMANICI PATRIS SUI. And the CALIGAE were also proper +to the monastic bodies; for we read in an ancient Glossarium, +upon the rule of St. Benedict, in the Abbey of St. Amand, that +CALIGAE were tied with latchets.' + +'That will apply to the brogues,' said Fergus. + +'It will so, my dear Glennaquoich;--and the words are express: +CALIGAE DICTAE SUNT QUIA LIGANTUR; NAM SOCCI NON LIGANTUR, SED +TANTUM INTROMITTUNTUR; that is, CALIGAE are denominated from the +ligatures wherewith they are bound; whereas SOCCI, which may be +analogous to our mules, whilk the English denominate slippers, +are only slipped upon the feet, The words of the charter are also +alternative,--EXUERE, SEU DETRAHERE; that is, to UNDO, as in the +case of sandals or brogues; and to PULL OF, as we say +vernacularly, concerning boots. Yet I would we had more light; +but I fear there is little chance of finding hereabout any +erudite author DE RE VESTIARIA.' + +'I should doubt it very much,' said the Chieftain, looking around +on the straggling Highlanders, who were returning loaded with +spoils of the slain, 'though the RES VESTIARIA itself seems to be +in some request at present.' + +This remark coming within the Baron's idea of jocularity, he +honoured it with a smile, but immediately resumed what to him +appeared very serious business. 'Bailie Macwheeble indeed holds +an opinion, that this honorary service is due, from its very +nature, SI PETATUR TANTUM; only if his Royal Highness shall +require of the great tenant of the crown to perform that personal +duty; and indeed he pointed out the case in Dirleton's DOUBTS AND +QUERIES, Grippit VERSUS Spicer, anent the eviction of an estate +OB NON SOLUTUM CANONEM, that is, for non-payment of a feu-duty of +three peppercorns a year, whilk were taxt to be worth seven- +eighths of a penny Scots, in whilk the defender was assoilzied. +But I deem it safest, wi' your good favour, to place myself in +the way of rendering the Prince this service, and to proffer +performance thereof; and I shall cause the Bailie to attend with +a schedule of a protest, whilk he has here prepared (taking out a +paper), intimating, that if it shall be his Royal Highness's +pleasure to accept of other assistance at pulling off his CALIGAE +(whether the same shall be rendered boots or brogues) save that +of the said Baron of Bradwardine, who is in presence ready and +willing to perform the same, it shall in no wise impinge upon or +prejudice the right of the said Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine to +perform the said service in future; nor shall it give any +esquire, valet of the chamber, squire, or page, whose assistance +it may please his Royal Highness to employ, any right, title, or +ground, for evicting from the said Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine the +estate and barony of Bradwardine, and others held as aforesaid, +by the due and faithful performance thereof.' + +Fergus highly applauded this arrangement; and the Baron took a +friendly leave of them, with a smile of contented importance upon +his visage. + +'Long live our dear friend the Baron,' exclaimed the Chief, as +soon as he was out of hearing, 'for the most absurd original that +exists north of the Tweed! I wish to heaven I had recommended +him to attend the circle this evening with a boot-ketch under his +arm. I think he might have adopted the suggestion, if it had +been made with suitable gravity.' + +'And how can you take pleasure in making a man of his worth so +ridiculous?' + +'Begging pardon, my dear Waverley, you are as ridiculous as he. +Why, do you not see that the man's whole mind is wrapped up in +this ceremony? He has heard and thought of it since infancy, as +the most august privilege and ceremony in the world; and I doubt +not but the expected pleasure of performing it was a principal +motive with him for taking up arms. Depend upon it, had I +endeavoured to divert him from exposing himself, he would have +treated me as an ignorant conceited coxcomb, or perhaps might +have taken a fancy to cut my throat; a pleasure which he once +proposed to himself upon some point of etiquette, not half so +important, in his eyes, as this matter of boots or brogues, or +whatever the CALIGAE shall finally be pronounced by the learned. +But I must go to head-quarters to prepare the Prince for this +extraordinary scene. My information will be well taken, for it +will give him a hearty laugh at present, and put him on his guard +against laughing, when it might be very MAL-A-PROPOS. So, AU +REVOIR, my dear Waverley.' + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +THE ENGLISH PRISONER + +The first occupation of Waverley, after he departed from the +Chieftain, was to go in quest of the officer whose life he had +saved. He was guarded, along with his companions in misfortune, +who were very numerous, in a gentleman's house near the field of +battle. + +On entering the room where they stood crowded together, Waverley +easily recognized the object of his visit, not only by the +peculiar dignity of his appearance, but by the appendage of +Dugald Mahony, with his battle-axe, who had stuck to him from the +moment of his captivity, as if he had been skewered to his side. +This close attendance was, perhaps, for the purpose of securing +his promised reward from Edward, but it also operated to save the +English gentleman from being plundered in the scene of general +confusion; for Dugald sagaciously argued, that the amount of the +salvage which he might be allowed, would be regulated by the +state of the prisoner, when he should deliver him over to +Waverley, He hastened to assure Waverley, therefore, with more +words than he usually employed, that he had 'keepit ta SIDIER ROY +haill, and that he wasna a plack the waur since the fery moment +when his honour forbad her to gie him a bit clamhewit wi' her +Lochaber-axe.' + +Waverley assured Dugald of a liberal recompense, and, approaching +the English officer, expressed his anxiety to do anything which +might contribute to his convenience under his present unpleasant +circumstances. + +'I am not so inexperienced a soldier, sir,' answered the +Englishman, 'as to complain of the fortune of war. I am only +grieved to see those scenes acted in our own island, which I have +often witnessed elsewhere with comparative indifference.' + +'Another such day as this,' said Waverley, 'and I trust the cause +of your regrets will be removed, and all will again return to +peace and order.' + +The officer smiled and shook his head. 'I must not forget my +situation so far as to attempt a formal confutation of that +opinion; but, notwithstanding your success, and the valour which +achieved it, you have undertaken a task to which your strength +appears wholly inadequate.' + +At this moment Fergus pushed into the press. + +'Come, Edward, come along; the Prince has gone to Pinkie-house +for the night; and we must follow, or lose the whole ceremony of +the CALIGAE. Your friend, the Baron, has been guilty of a great +piece of cruelty; he has insisted upon dragging Bailie Macwheeble +out to the field of battle. Now you must know the Bailie's +greatest horror is an armed Highlander, or a loaded gun; and +there he stands, listening to the Baron's instructions concerning +the protest; ducking his head like a sea-gull at the report of +every gun and pistol that our idle boys are firing upon the +fields; and undergoing, by way of penance, at every symptom of +flinching, a severe rebuke from his patron, who would not admit +the discharge of a whole battery of cannon, within point-blank +distance, as an apology for neglecting a discourse, in which the +honour of his family is interested. + +'But how has Mr. Bradwardine got him to venture so far?' said +Edward. + +'Why, he had come as far as Musselburgh, I fancy, in hopes of +making some of our wills; and the peremptory commands of the +Baron dragged him forward to Preston after the battle was over. +He complains of one or two of our ragamuffins having put him in +peril of his life, by presenting their pieces at him; but as they +limited his ransom to an English penny, I don't think we need +trouble the provost-marshal upon that subject. So, come along, +Waverley.' + +'Waverley!' said the English officer, with great emotion; 'the +nephew of Sir Everard Waverley, of --shire?' + +'The same, sir,' replied our hero, somewhat surprised at the tone +in which he was addressed. + +'I am at once happy and grieved,' said the prisoner, 'to have met +with you.' + +'I am ignorant, sir,' answered Waverley, 'how I have deserved so +much interest.' + +'Did your uncle never mention a friend called Talbot?' + +'I have heard him talk with great regard of such a person,' +replied Edward; 'a colonel, I believe, in the army, and the +husband of Lady Emily Blandeville; but I thought Colonel Talbot +had been abroad.' + +'I am just returned,' answered the officer; 'and being in +Scotland, thought it my duty to act where my services promised to +be useful. Yes, Mr. Waverley, I am that Colonel Talbot, the +husband of the lady you have named; and I am proud to +acknowledge, that I owe alike my professional rank and my +domestic happiness to your generous and noble-minded relative. +Good God! that I should find his nephew in such a dress, and +engaged in such a cause!' + +'Sir,' said Fergus, haughtily, 'the dress and cause are those of +men of birth and honour.' + +'My situation forbids me to dispute your assertion,' said Colonel +Talbot; 'otherwise it were no difficult matter to show, that +neither courage nor pride of lineage can gild a bad cause. But, +with Mr. Waverley's permission, and yours, sir, if yours also +must be asked, I would willingly speak a few words with him on +affairs connected with his own family.' + +'Mr. Waverley, sir, regulates his own motions. You will follow +me, I suppose, to Pinkie,' said Fergus, turning to Edward, 'when +you have finished your discourse with this new acquaintance?' So +saying, the Chief of Glennaquoich adjusted his plaid with rather +more than his usual air of haughty assumption, and left the +apartment. + +The interest of Waverley readily procured for Colonel Talbot the +freedom of adjourning to a large garden belonging to his place of +confinement. They walked a few paces in silence, Colonel Talbot +apparently studying how to open what he had to say; at length he +addressed Edward. + +'Mr. Waverley, you have this day saved my life; and yet I would +to God that I had lost it, ere I had found you wearing the +uniform and cockade of these men.' + +'I forgive your reproach, Colonel Talbot; it is well meant, and +your education and prejudices render it natural. But there is +nothing extraordinary in finding a man, whose honour has been +publicly and unjustly assailed, in the situation which promised +most fair to afford him satisfaction on his calumniators.' + +'I should rather say, in the situation most likely to confirm the +reports which they have circulated,' said Colonel Talbot, 'by +following the very line of conduct ascribed to you. Are you +aware, Mr. Waverley, of the infinite distress, and even danger, +which your present conduct has occasioned to your nearest +relatives?' + +'Danger!' + +'Yes, sir, danger. When I left England, your uncle and father +had been obliged to find bail to answer a charge of treason, to +which they were only admitted by the exertion of the most +powerful interest. I came down to Scotland, with the sole +purpose of rescuing you from the gulf into which you have +precipitated yourself; nor can I estimate the consequences to +your family, of your having openly joined the rebellion, since +the very suspicion of your intention was so perilous to them. +Most deeply do I regret that I did not meet you before this last +and fatal error.' + +'I am really ignorant,' said Waverley, in a tone of reserve, 'why +Colonel Talbot should have taken so much trouble on my account.' + +'Mr. Waverley,' answered Talbot, 'I am dull at apprehending +irony; and therefore I shall answer your words according to their +plain meaning. I am indebted to your uncle for benefits greater +than those which a son owes to a father. I acknowledge to him +the duty of a son; and as I know there is no manner in which I +can requite his kindness so well as by serving you, I will serve +you, if possible, whether you will permit me or no. The personal +obligation which you have this day laid me under (although in +common estimation as great as one human being can bestow on +another) adds nothing to my zeal on your behalf; nor can that +zeal be abated by any coolness with which you may please to +receive it.' + +'Your intentions may be kind, sir,' said Waverley, drily; 'but +your language is harsh, or at least peremptory.' + +'On my return to England,' continued Colonel Talbot, 'after long +absence, I found your uncle, Sir Everard Waverley, in the custody +of a king's messenger, in consequence of the suspicion brought +upon him by your conduct. He is my oldest friend--how often +shall I repeat it?--my best benefactor; he sacrificed his own +views of happiness to mine--he never uttered a word, he never +harboured a thought, that benevolence itself might not have +thought or spoken. I found this man in confinement, rendered +harsher to him by his habits of life, his natural dignity of +feeling, and--forgive me, Mr. Waverley--by the cause through +which this calamity had come upon him. I cannot disguise from +you my feelings upon this occasion; they were most painfully +unfavourable to you. Having, by my family interest, which you +probably know is not inconsiderable, succeeded in obtaining Sir +Everard's release, I set out for Scotland. I saw Colonel +Gardiner, a man whose fate alone is sufficient to render this +insurrection for ever execrable. In the course of conversation +with him, I found, that, from late circumstances, from a re- +examination of the persons engaged in the mutiny, and from his +original good opinion of your character, he was much softened +towards you; and I doubted not, that if I could be so fortunate +as to discover you, all might yet be well. But this unnatural +rebellion has ruined all. I have, for the first time in a long +and active military life, seen Britons disgrace themselves by a +panic flight, and that before a foe without either arms or +discipline: and now I find the heir of my dearest friend--the +son, I may say, of his affections--sharing a triumph, for which +he ought the first to have blushed. Why should I lament +Gardiner? his lot was happy, compared to mine!' + +There was so much dignity in Colonel Talbot's manner, such a +mixture of military pride and manly sorrow, and the news of Sir +Everard's imprisonment was told in so deep a tone of feeling, +that Edward stood mortified, abashed, and distressed in presence +of the prisoner, who owed to him his life not many hours before. +He was not sorry when Fergus interrupted their conference a +second time. + +'His Royal Highness commands Mr. Waverley's attendance.' Colonel +Talbot threw upon Edward a reproachful glance, which did not +escape the quick eye of the Highland Chief. 'His immediate +attendance,' he repeated, with considerable emphasis. Waverley +turned again towards the Colonel. + +'We shall meet again,' he said; 'in the meanwhile, every possible +accommodation'-- + +'I desire none,' said the Colonel; 'let me fare like the meanest +of those brave men, who, on this day of calamity, have preferred +wounds and captivity to flight; I would, almost exchange places +with one of those who have fallen, to know that my words have +made a suitable impression on your mind.' + +'Let Colonel Talbot be carefully secured,' said Fergus to the +Highland officer, who commanded the guard over the prisoners; 'it +is the Prince's particular command; he is a prisoner of the +utmost importance.' + +'But let him want no accommodation suitable to his rank,' said +Waverley. + +'Consistent always with secure custody,' reiterated Fergus. The +officer signified his acquiescence in both commands, and Edward +followed Fergus to the garden-gate, where Callum Beg, with three +saddle-horses, awaited them. Turning his head, he saw Colonel +Talbot reconducted to his place of confinement by a file of +Highlanders; he lingered on the threshold of the door, and made a +signal with his hand towards Waverley, as if enforcing the +language he had held towards him. + +'Horses,' said Fergus, as he mounted, 'are now as plenty as +blackberries; every man may have them for the catching. Come, +let Callum adjust your stirrups, and let us to Pinkie-house +[Charles Edward took up his quarters after the battle at Pinkie- +house, adjoining to Musselburgh.] as fast as these CI-DEVANT +dragoon-horses choose to carry us.' + + + +CHAPTER L + +RATHER UNIMPORTANT + +'I was turned back,' said Fergus to Edward, as they galloped from +Preston to Pinkie-house, 'by a message from the Prince. But, I +suppose, you know the value of this most noble Colonel Talbot as +a prisoner. He is held one of the best officers among the red- +coats; a special friend and favourite of the Elector himself, and +of that dreadful hero, the Duke of Cumberland, who has been +summoned from his triumphs at Fontenoy, to come over and devour +us poor Highlanders alive. Has he been telling you how the bells +of St. James's ring? Not "turn again, Whittington," like those +of Bow, in the days of yore?' + +'Fergus!' said Waverley, with a reproachful look. + +'Nay, I cannot tell what to make of you,' answered the Chief of +Mac-Ivor, 'you are blown about with every wind of doctrine. Here +have we gained a victory, unparalleled in history--and your +behaviour is praised by every living mortal to the skies--and the +Prince is eager to thank you in person--and all our beauties of +the White Rose are pulling caps for you,--and you, the PREUX +CHEVALIER of the day, are stooping on your horse's neck like a +butter-woman riding to market, and looking as black as a +funeral!' + +'I am sorry for poor Colonel Gardiner's death: he was once very +kind to me.' + +'Why, then, be sorry for five minutes, and then be glad again; +his chance to-day may be ours to-morrow. And what does it +signify?--the next best thing to victory is honourable death; but +it is a PIS-ALLER, and one would rather a foe had it than one's +self.' + +'But Colonel Talbot has informed me that my father and uncle are +both imprisoned by government on my account.' + +'We'll put in bail, my boy; old Andrew Ferrara [See Note 29.] +shall lodge his security; and I should like to see him put to +justify it in Westminster Hall!' + +'Nay, they are already at liberty, upon bail of a more civic +disposition.' + +'Then why is thy noble spirit cast down, Edward? Dost think that +the Elector's Ministers are such doves as to set their enemies at +liberty at this critical moment, if they could or durst confine +and punish them? Assure thyself that either they have no charge +against your relations on which they can continue their +imprisonment, or else they are afraid of our friends, the jolly +cavaliers of old England. At any rate, you need not be +apprehensive upon their account; and we will find some means of +conveying to them assurances of your safety.' + +Edward was silenced, but not satisfied, with these reasons. He +had now been more than once shocked at the small degree of +sympathy which Fergus exhibited for the feelings even of those +whom he loved, if they did not correspond with his own mood at +the time, and more especially if they thwarted him while earnest +in a favourite pursuit. Fergus sometimes indeed observed that he +had offended Waverley, but, always intent upon some favourite +plan or project of his own, he was never sufficiently aware of +the extent or duration of his displeasure, so that the +reiteration of these petty offences somewhat cooled the +volunteer's extreme attachment to his officer. + +The Chevalier received Waverley with his usual favour, and paid +him many compliments on his distinguished bravery. He then took +him apart, made many inquiries concerning Colonel Talbot, and +when he had received all the information which Edward was able to +give concerning him and his connexions, he proceeded,--'I cannot +but think, Mr. Waverley, that since this gentleman is so +particularly connected with our worthy and excellent friend, Sir +Everard Waverley, and since his lady is of the house of +Blandeville, whose devotion to the true and loyal principles of +the Church of England is so generally known, the Colonel's own +private sentiments cannot be unfavourable to us, whatever mask he +may have assumed to accommodate himself to the times.' + +'If I am to judge from the language he this day held to me, I am +under the necessity of differing widely from your Royal +Highness.' + +'Well, it is worth making a trial at least. I therefore entrust +you with the charge of Colonel Talbot, with power to act +concerning him as you think most advisable;--and I hope you will +find means of ascertaining what are his real dispositions towards +our Royal Father's restoration.' + +'I am convinced,' said Waverley, bowing, 'that if Colonel Talbot +chooses to grant his parole, it may be securely depended upon; +but if he refuses it, I trust your Royal Highness will devolve on +some other person than the nephew of his friend, the task of +laying him under the necessary restraint.' + +'I will trust him with no person but you,' said the Prince, +smiling, but peremptorily repeating his mandate: 'it is of +importance to my service that there should appear to be a good +intelligence between you, even if you are unable to gain his +confidence in earnest. You will therefore receive him into your +quarters, and in case he declines giving his parole, you must +apply for a proper guard. I beg you will go about this directly. +We return to Edinburgh to-morrow.' + +Being thus remanded to the vicinity of Preston, Waverley lost the +Baron of Bradwardine's solemn act of homage. So little, however, +was he at this time in love with vanity, that he had quite +forgotten the ceremony in which Fergus had laboured to engage his +curiosity. But next day a formal GAZETTE was circulated, +containing a detailed account of the battle of Gladsmuir, as the +Highlanders chose to denominate their victory. It concluded with +an account of the Court afterwards held by the Chevalier at +Pinkie-house, which contained this among other high-flown +descriptive paragraphs: + +'Since that fatal treaty which annihilates Scotland as an +independent nation, it has not been our happiness to see her +princes receive, and her nobles discharge, those acts of feudal +homage, which, founded upon the splendid actions of Scottish +valour, recall the memory of her early history, with the manly +and chivalrous simplicity of the ties which united to the Crown +the homage of the warriors by whom it was repeatedly upheld and +defended. But on the evening of the 20th, our memories were +refreshed with one of those ceremonies which belong to the +ancient days of Scotland's glory. After the circle was formed, +Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, of that ilk, colonel in the service, +&c. &c. &c., came before the Prince, attended by Mr. D. +Macwheeble, the Bailie of his ancient barony of Bradwardine (who, +we understand, has been-lately named a commissary), and, under +form of instrument, claimed permission to perform, to the person +of his Royal Highness, as representing his father, the service +used and wont, for which, under a charter of Robert Bruce (of +which the original was produced and inspected by the Masters of +his Royal Highness's Chancery, for the time being), the claimant +held the barony of Bradwardine, and lands of Tully-Veolan. His +claim being admitted and registered, his Royal Highness having +placed his foot upon a cushion, the Baron of Bradwardine, +kneeling upon his right knee, proceeded to undo the latchet of +the brogue, or low-heeled Highland shoe, which our gallant young +hero wears in compliment to his brave followers. When this was +performed, his Royal Highness declared the ceremony completed; +and embracing the gallant veteran, protested that nothing but +compliance with an ordinance of Robert Bruce could have induced +him to receive even the symbolical performance of a menial office +from hands which had fought so bravely to put the crown upon the +head of his father. The Baron of Bradwardine then took +instruments in the hands of Mr. Commissary Macwheeble, bearing, +that all points and circumstances of the act of homage had been +RITE ET SOLENNITER ACTA ET PERACTA; and a corresponding entry was +made in the protocol of the Lord High Chamberlain, and in the +record of Chancery. We understand that it is in contemplation of +his Royal Highness, when his Majesty's pleasure can be known, to +raise Colonel Bradwardine to the peerage, by the title of +Viscount Bradwardine, of Bradwardine and Tully-Veolan, and that, +in the meanwhile, his Royal Highness, in his father's name and +authority, has been pleased to grant him an honourable +augmentation to his paternal coat of arms, being a budget or +boot-jack, disposed saltier-wise with a naked broadsword, to be +borne in the dexter cantle of the shield; and, as an additional +motto, on a scroll beneath, the words, "DRAW AND DRAW OFF"' + +'Were it not for the recollection of Fergus's raillery,' thought +Waverley to himself, when he had perused this long and grave +document, 'how very tolerable would all this sound, and how +little should I have thought of connecting it with any ludicrous +idea! Well, after all, everything has its fair, as well as its +seamy side; and truly I do not see why the Baron's boot-jack may +not stand as fair in heraldry as the water-Buckets, waggons, +cart-wheels, plough-socks, shuttles, candlesticks, and other +ordinaries, conveying ideas of anything save chivalry, which +appear in the arms of some of our most ancient gentry.'--This, +however, is an episode in respect to the principal story. + +When Waverley returned to Preston, and rejoined Colonel Talbot, +he found him recovered from the strong and obvious emotions with +which a concurrence of unpleasing events had affected him. He +had regained his natural manner, which was that of an English +gentleman and soldier, manly, open, and generous, but not +unsusceptible of prejudice against those of a different country, +or who opposed him in political tenets. When Waverley acquainted +Colonel Talbot with the Chevalier's purpose to commit him to his +charge, 'I did not think to have owed so much obligation to that +young gentleman,' he said, 'as is implied in this destination. I +can at least cheerfully join in the prayer of the honest +Presbyterian clergyman, that, as he has come among us seeking an +earthly crown, his labours may be speedily rewarded with a +heavenly one. [The clergyman's name was Mac-Vicar. Protected by +the cannon of the Castle, he preached every Sunday in the West +Kirk, while the Highlanders were in possession of Edinburgh; and +it was in presence of some of the Jacobites that he prayed for +Prince Charles Edward in the terms quoted in the text.] I shall +willingly give my parole not to attempt an escape without your +knowledge, since, in fact, it was to meet you that I came to +Scotland; and I am glad it has happened even under this +predicament. But I suppose we shall be 'but a short time +together. Your Chevalier (that is a name we may both give to +him), with his plaids and blue-caps, will, I presume, be +continuing his crusade southward?' + +'Not as I hear; I believe the army makes some stay, in Edinburgh, +to collect reinforcements.' + +'And to besiege the Castle?' said Talbot, smiling sarcastically. +'Well, unless my old commander, General Preston, turn false +metal, or the Castle sink into the North Loch, events which I +deem equally probable, I think we shall have some time to make up +our acquaintance. I have a guess that this gallant Chevalier has +a design that I should be your proselyte; and, as I wish you to +be mine, there cannot be a more fair proposal than to afford us +fair conference together. But as I spoke to-day under the +influence of feelings I rarely give way to, I hope you will +excuse my entering again upon controversy till we are somewhat +better acquainted.' + + + +CHAPTER LI + +INTRIGUES OF LOVE AND POLITICS + +It is not necessary to record in these pages the triumphant +entrance of the Chevalier into Edinburgh after the decisive +affair of Preston. One circumstance, however, may be noticed, +because it illustrates the high spirit of Flora Mac-Ivor. The +Highlanders, by whom the Prince was surrounded, in the licence +and extravagance of this joyful moment, fired their pieces +repeatedly, and one of these having been accidentally loaded with +ball, the bullet grazed the young lady's temple as she waved her +handkerchief from a balcony. [See Note 30.] Fergus, who beheld +the accident, was at her side in an instant; and, on seeing that +the wound was trifling, he drew his broadsword, with the purpose +of rushing down upon the man by whose carelessness she had +incurred so much danger, when, holding him by the plaid, 'Do not +harm the poor fellow,' she cried; 'for Heaven's sake, do not harm +him! but thank God with me that the accident happened to Flora +Mac-Ivor; for had it befallen a Whig, they would have pretended +that the shot was fired on purpose.' + +Waverley escaped the alarm which this accident would have +occasioned to him, as he was unavoidably delayed by the necessity +of accompanying Colonel Talbot to Edinburgh. + +They performed the journey together on horseback, and for some +time, as if to sound each other's feelings and sentiments, they +conversed upon general and ordinary topics. + +When Waverley again entered upon the subject which he had most at +heart, the situation, namely, of his father and his uncle, +Colonel Talbot seemed now rather desirous to alleviate than to +aggravate his anxiety. This appeared particularly to be the case +when he heard Waverley's history, which he did not scruple to +confide to him. + +'And so,' said the Colonel, 'there has been no malice prepense, +as lawyers, I think, term it, in this rash step of yours; and you +have been trepanned into the service of this Italian knight- +errant by a few civil speeches from him, and one or two of his +Highland recruiting sergeants? It is sadly foolish, to be sure, +but not nearly so bad as I was led to expect. However, you +cannot desert, even from the Pretender, at the present moment,-- +that seems impossible. But I have little doubt that, in the +dissensions incident to this heterogeneous mass of wild and +desperate men, some opportunity may arise, by availing yourself +of which, you may extricate yourself honourably from your rash +engagement before the bubble burst. If this can be managed, I +would have you go to a place of safety in Flanders, which I shall +point out. And I think I can secure your pardon from Government +after a few months' residence abroad.' + +'I cannot; permit you, Colonel Talbot,' answered Waverley, 'to +speak of any plan which turns on my deserting an enterprise in +which I may have engaged hastily, but certainly voluntarily, and +with the purpose of abiding the issue.' + +'Well,' said Colonel Talbot, smiling, 'leave me my thoughts and +hopes at least at liberty, if not my speech. But have you never +examined your mysterious packet?' + +'It is in my baggage,' replied Edward; 'we shall find it in +Edinburgh.' + +In Edinburgh they soon arrived. Waverley's quarters had been +assigned to him, by the Prince's express orders, in a handsome +lodging, where there was accommodation, for Colonel Talbot. His +first business was to examine his portmanteau, and, after a very +short search, out tumbled the expected packet. Waverley opened +it eagerly. Under a blank cover, simply addressed to E. +Waverley, Esq., he found a number of open letters. The uppermost +were two from Colonel Gardiner, addressed to himself. The +earliest in date was a kind and gentle remonstrance for neglect +of the writer's advice respecting the disposal of his time during +his leave of absence, the renewal of which, he reminded Captain +Waverley, would speedily expire. 'Indeed,' the letter proceeded, +'had it been otherwise, the news from abroad, and my instructions +from the War-office, must have compelled me to recall it, as +there is great danger, since the disaster in Flanders, both of +foreign invasion and insurrection among the disaffected at home. +I therefore entreat you will repair, as soon as possible, to the +head-quarters of the regiment; and I am concerned to add, that +this is still the more necessary, as there is some discontent in +your troop, and I postpone inquiry into particulars until I can +have the advantage of your assistance.' + +The second letter, dated eight days later, was in such a style as +might have been expected from the Colonel's receiving no answer +to the first. It reminded Waverley of his duty as a man of +honour, an officer, and a Briton; took notice of the increasing +dissatisfaction of his men, and that some of them had been heard +to hint that their Captain encouraged and approved of their +mutinous behaviour; and, finally, the writer expressed the utmost +regret and surprise that he had not obeyed his commands by +repairing to head-quarters, reminded him that his leave of +absence had been recalled, and conjured him, in a style in which +paternal remonstrance was mingled with military authority, to +redeem his error by immediately joining his regiment. 'That I +may be certain,' concluded the letter, 'that this actually +reaches you, I dispatch it by Corporal Timms, of your troop, with +orders to deliver it into your own hand.' + +Upon reading these letters, Waverley, with great bitterness of +feeling, was compelled to make the AMENDE HONORABLE to the memory +of the brave and excellent writer; for surely, as Colonel +Gardiner must have had every reason to conclude they had come +safely to hand, less could not follow, on their being neglected, +than that third and final summons, which Waverley actually +received at Glennaquoich, though too late to obey it. And his +being superseded, in consequence of his apparent neglect of this +last command, was so far from being a harsh or severe proceeding, +that it was plainly inevitable. The next letter he unfolded was +from the Major of the regiment, acquainting him that a report, to +the disadvantage of his reputation, was public in the country, +stating, that one Mr. Falconer of Ballihopple, or some such name, +had proposed, in his presence, a treasonable toast, which he +permitted to pass in silence, although it was so gross an affront +to the royal family, that a gentleman in company, not remarkable +for his zeal for government, had nevertheless taken the matter +up; and that, supposing the account true, Captain Waverley had +thus suffered another, comparatively unconcerned, to resent an +affront directed against him personally as an officer,and to go +out with the person by whom it was offered. The Major concluded, +that no one of Captain Waverley's brother officers could believe +this scandalous story, but it was necessarily their joint opinion +that his own honour, equally with that of the regiment, depended +upon its being instantly contradicted by his authority, &c. &c. +&c. + +'What do you think of all this?' said Colonel Talbot, to whom +Waverley handed the letters after he had perused them. + +'Think! it renders thought impossible. It is enough to drive me +mad.' + +'Be calm, my young friend; let us see what are these dirty +scrawls that follow.' + +The first was addressed, 'For Master W. Ruffin These,'--'Dear +sur, sum of our yong gulpins will not bite, thof I tuold them you +shoed me the squoire's own seel. But Timms will deliver you the +lettrs as desired, and tell ould Addem he gave them to squoir's +hond, as to be sure yours is the same, and shall be ready for +signal, and hoy for Hoy Church and Sachefrel, as fadur sings at +harvest-whome. Yours, deer Sur, H.H. + +'Poscriff. Do' e tell squoire we longs to heer from him, and has +dootings about his not writing himself, and Lieftenant Bottler is +smoky.' + +'This Ruffin, I suppose, then, is your Donald of the Cavern, who +has intercepted your letters, and carried on a correspondence +with the poor devil Houghton, as if under your authority? + +'It seems too true. But who can Addem be?' + +'Possibly Adam, for poor Gardiner, a sort of pun on his name.' + +The other letters were to the same purpose, and they soon +received yet more complete light upon Donald Bean's machinations. + +John Hedges, one of Waverley's servants, who had remained with +the regiment, and had been taken at Preston, now made his +appearance. He had sought out his master, with the purpose of +again entering his service. From this fellow they learned, that, +some time after Waverley had gone from the head-quarters of the +regiment, a pedlar, called Ruthven, Ruffin, or Rivane, known +among the soldiers by the name of Wily Will, had made frequent +visits to the town of Dundee. He appeared to possess plenty of +money, sold his commodities very cheap, seemed always willing to +treat his friends at the ale-house, and easily ingratiated +himself with many of Waverley's troop, particularly Sergeant +Houghton, and one Timms, also a non-commissioned officer. To +these he unfolded, in Waverley's name, a plan for leaving the +regiment, and joining him in the Highlands, where report said the +clans had already taken arms in great numbers. The men, who had +been educated as Jacobites, so far as they had any opinion at +all, and who knew their landlord, Sir Everard, had always been +supposed to hold such tenets, easily fell into the snare. That +Waverley was at a distance in the Highlands, was received as a +sufficient excuse for transmitting his letters through the medium +of the pedlar; and the sight of his well-known seal seemed to +authenticate the negotiations in his name, where writing might +have been dangerous. The cabal, however, began to take air, from +the premature mutinous language of those concerned. Wily Will +justified his appellative; for, after suspicion arose, he was +seen no more. When the Gazette appeared, in which Waverley was +superseded, great part of his troop broke out into actual mutiny, +but were surrounded and disarmed by the rest of the regiment. In +consequence of the sentence of a court-martial, Houghton and +Timms were condemned to be shot, but afterwards permitted to cast +lots for life. Houghton, the survivor, showed much penitence, +being convinced from the rebukes and explanations of Colonel +Gardiner, that he had really engaged in a very heinous crime. It +is remarkable, that, as soon as the poor fellow was satisfied of +this, he became also convinced that the instigator had acted +without authority from Edward, saying, 'If it was dishonourable +and against Old England, the squire could know naught about it; +he never did, or thought to do, anything dishonourable,--no more +didn't Sir Everard, nor none of them afore him, and in that +belief he would live and die that Ruffin had done it all of his +own head.' + +The strength of conviction with which he expressed himself upon +this subject, as well as his assurances that the letters intended +for Waverley had been delivered to Ruthven, made that revolution +in Colonel Gardiner's opinion which he expressed to Talbot. + +The reader has long since understood that Donald Bean Lean played +the part of tempter on this occasion. His motives were shortly +these. Of an active and intriguing spirit, he had been long +employed as a subaltern agent and spy by those in the confidence +of the Chevalier, to an extent beyond what was suspected even by +Fergus Mac-Ivor, whom, though obliged to him for protection, he +regarded with fear and dislike. To success in this political +department, he naturally looked for raising himself by some bold +stroke above his present hazardous and precarious state of +rapine. He was particularly employed in learning the strength of +the regiments in Scotland, the character of the officers, &c., +and had long had his eye upon Waverley's troop, as open to +temptation. Donald even believed that Waverley himself was at +bottom in the Stuart interest, which seemed confirmed by his long +visit to the Jacobite Baron of Bradwardine. When, therefore, he +came to his cave with one of Glennaquoich's attendants, the +robber, who could never appreciate his real motive, which was +mere curiosity, was so sanguine as to hope that his own talents +were to be employed in some intrigue of consequence, under the +auspices of this wealthy young Englishman. Nor was he undeceived +by Waverley's neglecting all hints and openings for an +explanation. His conduct passed for prudent reserve, and +somewhat piqued Donald Bean, who, supposing himself left out of a +secret where confidence promised to be advantageous, determined +to have his share in the drama, whether a regular part were +assigned him or not. For this purpose, during Waverley's sleep, +he possessed, himself of his seal, as a token to be used to any +of the troopers whom he might discover to be possessed of the +captain's confidence. His first journey to Dundee, the town +where the regiment was quartered, undeceived him in his original +supposition, but opened to him a new field of action. He knew +there would be no service so well rewarded by the friends of the +Chevalier, as seducing a part of the regular army to his +standard. For this purpose, he opened the machinations with +which the reader is already acquainted, and which form a clue to +all the intricacies and obscurities of the narrative previous to +Waverley's leaving Glennaquoich. + +By Colonel Talbot's advice, Waverley declined detaining in his +service the lad whose evidence had thrown additional light on +these intrigues. He represented to him that it would be doing +the man an injury to engage him in a desperate undertaking, and +that, whatever should happen, his evidence would go some length, +at least, in explaining the circumstances under which Waverley +himself had embarked in it. Waverley therefore wrote a short +statement of what had happened, to his uncle and his father, +cautioning them, however, in the present circumstances, not to +attempt to answer his letter. Talbot then gave the young man a +letter to the commander of one of the English vessels of war +cruising in the frith, requesting him to put the bearer ashore at +Berwick, with a pass to proceed to --shire. He was then +furnished with money to make an expeditious journey and directed +to get on board the ship by means of bribing a fishing-boat, +which, as they afterwards learned, he easily effected. + +Tired of the attendance of Callum Beg, who, he thought, had some +disposition to act as a spy on his motions, Waverley hired as a +servant a simple Edinburgh swain, who had mounted the white +cockade in a fit of spleen and jealousy, because Jenny Jop had +danced a whole night with Corporal Bullock of the Fusileers. + + + +CHAPTER LII + +INTRIGUES OF SOCIETY AND LOVE + +Colonel Talbot became more kindly in his demeanour towards +Waverley after the confidence he had reposed in him; and as they +were necessarily much together, the character of the Colonel rose +in Waverley's estimation. There seemed at first something harsh +in his strong expressions of dislike and censure, although no one +was in the general case more open to conviction. The habit of +authority had also given his manners some peremptory hardness, +notwithstanding the polish which they had received from his +intimate acquaintance with the higher circles. As a specimen of +the military character, he differed from all whom Waverley had as +yet seen. The soldiership of the Baron of Bradwardine was marked +by pedantry; that of Major Melville by a sort of martinet +attention to the minutiae and technicalities of discipline, +rather suitable to one who was to manoeuvre a battalion, than to +him who was to command an army; the military spirit of Fergus was +so much warped and blended with his plans and political views, +that it was less that of a soldier than of a petty sovereign. +But Colonel Talbot was in every point the English soldier. His +whole soul was devoted to the service of his king and country, +without feeling any pride in knowing the theory of his art with +the Baron, or its practical minutiae with the Major, or in +applying his science to his own particular plans of ambition, +like the Chieftain of Glennaquoich. Added to this, he was a man +of extended knowledge and cultivated taste, although strongly +tinged, as we have already observed, with those prejudices which +are peculiarly English. + +The character of Colonel Talbot dawned upon Edward by degrees; +for the delay of the Highlanders in the fruitless siege of +Edinburgh Castle occupied several weeks, during which Waverley +had little to do, excepting to seek such amusement as society +afforded. He would willingly have persuaded his new friend to +become acquainted with some of his former intimates. But the +Colonel, after one or two visits, shook his head, and declined +further experiment. Indeed he went further, and characterized +the Baron as the most intolerable formal pedant he had ever had +the misfortune to meet with, and the Chief of Glennaquoich as a +Frenchified Scotchman, possessing all the cunning and +plausibility of the nation where he was educated, with the proud, +vindictive, and turbulent humour of that of his birth. 'If the +devil,' he said, 'had sought out an agent expressly for the +purpose of embroiling this miserable country, I do not think he +could find a better than such a fellow as this, whose temper +seems equally active, supple, and mischievous, and who is +followed, and implicitly obeyed, by a gang of such cut-throats as +those whom you are pleased to admire so much.' + +The ladies of the party did not escape his censure. He allowed +that Flora Mac-Ivor was a fine woman, and Rose Bradwardine a +pretty girl. But he alleged that the former destroyed the effect +of her beauty by an affectation of the grand airs which she had +probably seen practised at the mock court of St. Germains. As +for Rose Bradwardine, he said it was impossible for any mortal to +admire such a little uninformed thing, whose small portion of +education was as ill adapted to her sex or youth, as if she had +appeared with one of her father's old campaign-coats upon her +person for her sole garment. Now much of this was mere spleen +and prejudice in the excellent Colonel, with whom the white +cockade on the breast, the white rose in the hair, and the Mac at +the beginning of a name, would have made a devil out of an angel; +and indeed he himself jocularly allowed, that he could not have +endured Venus herself, if she had been announced in a drawing- +room by the name of Miss Mac-Jupiter. + +Waverley, it may easily be believed, looked upon these young +ladies with very different eyes. During the period of the siege, +he paid them almost daily visits, although he observed with +regret that his suit made as little progress in the affections of +the former as the arms of the Chevalier in subduing the fortress. +She maintained with rigour the rule she had laid down of treating +him with indifference, without either affecting to avoid him, or +to shun intercourse with him. Every word, every look, was +strictly regulated to accord with her system, and neither the +dejection of Waverley, nor the anger which Fergus scarcely +suppressed, could extend Flora's attention to Edward beyond that +which the most ordinary politeness demanded. On the other hand, +Rose Bradwardine gradually rose in Waverley's opinion. He had +several opportunities of remarking, that, as her extreme timidity +wore off, her manners received a higher character; that the +agitating circumstances of the stormy time seemed to call forth a +certain dignity of feeling and expression, which he had not +formerly observed; and that she omitted no opportunity within her +reach to extend her knowledge and refine her taste. + +Flora Mac-Ivor called Rose her pupil, and was attentive to assist +her in her studies, and to fashion both her taste and +understanding. It might have been remarked by a very close +observer, that in the presence of Waverley she was much more +desirous to exhibit her friend's excellences than her own. But I +must request of the reader to suppose, that this kind and +disinterested purpose was concealed by the most cautious +delicacy, studiously shunning the most distant approach to +affectation. So that it was as unlike the usual exhibition of +one pretty woman affecting to PRONER another, as the friendship +of David and Jonathan might be to the intimacy of two Bond-street +loungers. + +The fact is, that, though the effect was felt, the cause could +hardly be observed. Each of the ladies, like two excellent +actresses, were perfect in their parts, and performed them to the +delight of the audience; and such being the case, it was almost +impossible to discover that the elder constantly ceded to her +friend that which was most suitable to her talents. + +But to Waverley, Rose Bradwardine possessed an attraction which +few men can resist, from the marked interest which she took in +everything that effected him. She was too young and too +inexperienced to estimate the full force of the constant +attention which she paid to him. Her father was too abstractedly +immersed in learned and military discussions to observe her +partiality, and Flora Mac-Ivor did not alarm her by remonstrance, +because she saw in this line of conduct the most probable chance +of her friend securing at length a return of affection. + +The truth is, that, in her first conversation after their +meeting, Rose had discovered the state of her mind to that acute +and intelligent friend, although she was not herself aware of it. +From that time, Flora was not only determined upon the final +rejection of Waverley's addresses, but became anxious that they +should, if possible, be transferred to her friend. Nor was she +less interested in this plan, though her brother had from time to +time talked, as between jest and earnest, of paying his suit to +Miss Bradwardine. She knew that Fergus had the true continental +latitude of opinion respecting the institution of marriage, and +would not have given his hand to an angel, unless for the purpose +of strengthening his alliances, and increasing his influence and +wealth. The Baron's whim of transferring his estate to the +distant heir-male instead of his own daughter, was therefore +likely to be an insurmountable obstacle to his entertaining any +serious thoughts of Rose Bradwardine. Indeed, Fergus's brain was +a perpetual workshop of scheme and intrigue of every possible +kind and description; while, like many a mechanic of more +ingenuity than steadiness, he would often unexpectedly and +without any apparent motive, abandon one plan, and go earnestly +to work upon another, which was either fresh from the forge of +his imagination, or had at some former period been flung aside +half finished. It was therefore often difficult to guess what +line of conduct he might finally adopt upon any given occasion. + +Although Flora was sincerely attached to her brother, whose high +energies might indeed have commanded her admiration even without +the ties which bound them together, she was by no means blind to +his faults, which she considered as dangerous to the hopes of any +woman who should found her ideas of a happy marriage in the +peaceful enjoyment of domestic society, and the exchange of +mutual and engrossing affection. The real disposition of +Waverley, on the other hand, notwithstanding his dreams of tented +fields and military honour, seemed exclusively domestic. He +asked and received no share in the busy scenes which were +constantly going on around him, and was rather annoyed than +interested by the discussion of contending claims, rights, and +interests, which often passed in his presence. All this pointed +him out as the person formed to make happy a spirit like that of +Rose, which corresponded with his own. + +She remarked this point in Waverley's character one day while she +sat with Miss Bradwardine. 'His genius and elegant taste,' +answered Rose, 'cannot be interested in such trifling +discussions. What is it to him, for example, whether the Chief +of the Macindallaghers, who has brought out only fifty men, +should be a colonel or a captain? and how could Mr. Waverley be +supposed to interest himself in the violent altercation between +your brother and young Corrinaschian, whether the post of honour +is due to the eldest cadet of a clan or the youngest?' +'My dear Rose, if he were the hero you suppose him, he would +interest himself in these matters, not indeed as important in +themselves, but for the purpose of mediating between the ardent +spirits who actually do make them the subject of discord. You +saw when Corrinaschian raised his voice in great passion, and +laid his hand upon his sword, Waverley lifted his head as if he +had just awaked from a dream, and asked, with great composure, +what the matter was.' + +'Well, and did not the laughter they fell into at his absence of +mind, serve better to break off the dispute than anything he +could have said to them?' + +'True, my dear,' answered Flora; 'but not quite so creditably for +Waverley as if he had brought them to their senses by force of +reason.' + +'Would you have him peacemaker general between all the gunpowder +Highlanders in the army? I beg your pardon, Flora--your brother, +you know, is out of the question; he has more sense than half of +them. But can you think the fierce, hot, furious spirits, of +whose brawls we see much, and hear more, and who terrify me out +of my life every day in the world, are at all to be compared to +Waverley?' + +'I do not compare him with those uneducated men, my dear Rose. I +only lament, that, with his talents and genius, he does not +assume that place in society for which they eminently fit him, +and that he does not lend their full impulse to the noble cause +in which he has enlisted. Are there not Lochiel, and P--, and +M--, and G--, all men of the highest education, as well as the +first talents?--why will he not stoop like them to be alive and +useful?--I often believe his zeal is frozen by that proud cold- +blooded Englishman, whom he now lives with so much.' + +'Colonel Talbot?--he is a very disagreeable person, to be sure. +He looks as if he thought no Scottish woman worth the trouble of +handing her a cup of tea. But Waverley is so gentle, so well +informed'-- + +'Yes,' said Flora, smiling; 'he can admire the moon, and quote a +stanza from Tasso.' + +'Besides, you know how he fought,' added Miss Bradwardine. + +'For mere fighting,' answered Flora, 'I believe all men (that is, +who deserve the name) are pretty much alike; there is generally +more courage required to run away. They have, besides, when +confronted with each other, a certain instinct for strife, as we +see in other male animals, such as dogs, bulls, and so forth. +But high and perilous enterprise is not Waverley's forte. He +would never have been his celebrated ancestor Sir Nigel, but only +Sir Nigel's eulogist and poet. I will tell you where he will be +at home, my dear, and in his place,--in the quiet circle of +domestic happiness, lettered indolence, and elegant enjoyments, +of Waverley-Honour. And he will refit the old library in the +most exquisite Gothic taste, and garnish its shelves, with the +rarest and most valuable volumes; and he will draw plans and +landscapes, and write verses, and rear temples, and dig +grottoes;--and he will stand in a clear summer night in the +colonnade before the hall, and gaze on the deer as they stray in +the moonlight, or lie shadowed by the boughs of the huge old +fantastic oaks;--and he will repeat verses to his beautiful wife, +who will hang upon his arm;--and he will be a happy man.' + +'And she will be a happy woman,' thought poor Rose. But she only +sighed, and dropped the conversation. + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +FERGUS A SUITOR + +Waverly had, indeed, as he looked closer into the state of the +Chevalier's Court, less reason to be satisfied with it. It +contained, as they say an acorn includes all the ramifications of +the future oak, as many seeds of TRACASSERIE and intrigue, as +might have done honour to the Court of a large empire. Every +person of consequence had some separate object, which he pursued +with a fury that Waverley considered as altogether +disproportioned to its importance. Almost all had their reasons +for discontent, although the most legitimate was that of the +worthy old Baron, who was only distressed on account of the +common cause. + +'We shall hardly,' said he one morning to Waverley, when they had +been viewing the castle,--'we shall hardly gain the obsidional +crown, which you wot well was made of the roots or grain which +takes root within the place besieged, or it may be of the herb +woodbind, PARETARIA, or pellitory; we shall not, I say, gain it +by this same blockade or leaguer of Edinburgh Castle.' For this +opinion, he gave most learned and satisfactory reasons, that the +reader may not care to hear repeated. + +Having escaped from the old gentleman, Waverley went to Fergus's +lodgings by appointment, to await his return from Holyrood House. +'I am to have a particular audience to-morrow,' said Fergus to +Waverley, overnight, 'and you must meet me to wish me joy of the +success which I securely anticipate.' + +The morrow came, and in the Chief's apartment he found Ensign +Maccombich waiting to make report of his turn of duty in a sort +of ditch which they had dug across the Castle-hill, and called a +trench. In a short time the Chief's voice was heard on the stair +in a tone of impatient fury:--'Callum,--why, Callum Beg,-- +Diaoul!' He entered the room with all the marks of a man +agitated by a towering passion; and there were few upon whose +features rage produced a more violent effect. The veins of his +forehead swelled when he was in such agitation; his nostril +became dilated; his cheek and eye inflamed; and his look that of +a demoniac. These appearances of half-suppressed rage were the +more frightful, because they were obviously caused by a strong +effort to temper with discretion an almost ungovernable paroxysm +of passion, and resulted from an internal conflict of the most +dreadful kind, which agitated his whole frame of mortality. + +As he entered the apartment, he unbuckled his broadsword, and +throwing it down with such violence that the weapon rolled to the +other end of the room, 'I know not what,' he exclaimed, +'withholds me from taking a solemn oath that I will never more +draw it in his cause. Load my pistols, Callum, and bring them +hither instantly;--instantly!' Callum, whom nothing ever +startled, dismayed, or disconcerted, obeyed very coolly. Evan +Dhu, upon whose brow the suspicion that his Chief had been +insulted, called up a corresponding storm, swelled in sullen +silence, awaiting to learn where or upon whom vengeance was to +descend. + +'So, Waverley you are there,' said the Chief, after a moment's +recollection;--'Yes, I remember I asked you to share my triumph, +and you have come to witness my--disappointment we shall call +it.' Evan now presented the written report he had in his hand, +which Fergus threw from him with great passion. 'I wish to God,' +he said, 'the old den would tumble down upon the heads of the +fools who attack, and the knaves who defend it! I see, Waverley, +you think I am mad--leave us, Evan, but be within call.' + +'The Colonel's in an unco kippage,' said Mrs. Flockhart to Evan, +as he descended; 'I wish he may be weel,--the very veins on his +brent brow are swelled like whipcord: wad he no tak something?' + +'He usually lets blood for these fits,' answered the Highland +ancient with great composure. + +When this officer left the room, the Chieftain gradually +reassumed some degree of composure.--'I know, Waverley,' he said, +'that Colonel Talbot has persuaded you to curse ten times a day +your engagement with us; nay, never deny it, for I am at this +moment tempted to curse my own. Would you believe it, I made +this very morning two suits to the Prince, and he has rejected +them both: what do you think of it?' + +'What can I think,' answered Waverley, 'till I know what your +requests were?' + +'Why, what signifies what they were, man? I tell you it was I +that made them,--I, to whom he owes more than to any three who +have joined the standard; for I negotiated the whole business, +and brought in all the Perthshire men when not one would have +stirred. I am not likely, I think, to ask anything very +unreasonable, and if I did they might have stretched a point.-- +Well, but you shall know all, now that I can draw my breath again +with some freedom.--You remember my earl's patent; it is dated +some years back, for services then rendered; and certainly my +merit has not been diminished, to say the least, by my subsequent +behaviour. Now, sir, I value this bauble of a coronet as little +as you can, or any philosopher on earth; for I hold that the +chief of such a clan as the Sliochd nan Ivor is superior in rank +to any earl in Scotland. But I had a particular reason for +assuming this cursed title at this time. You must know, that I +learned accidentally that the Prince has been pressing that old +foolish Baron of Bradwardine to disinherit his male heir, or +nineteenth or twentieth cousin, who has taken a command in the +Elector of Hanover's militia, and to settle his estate upon your +pretty little friend Rose; and this, as being the command of his +king and overlord, who may alter the destination of a fief at +pleasure, the old gentleman seems well reconciled to.' + +'And what becomes of the homage?' + +'Curse the homage!--I believe Rose is to pull off the queen's +slipper on her coronation-day, or some such trash. Well sir, as +Rose Bradwardine would always have made a suitable match for me, +but for this idiotical predilection of her father for the heir- +male, it occurred to me there now remained no obstacle, unless +that the Baron might expect his daughter's husband to take the +name of Bradwardine (which you know would be impossible in my +case), and that this might be evaded by my assuming the title to +which I had so good a right, and which, of course, would +supersede that difficulty. If she was to be also Viscountess +Bradwardine in her own right, after her father's demise, so much +the better; I could have no objection.' + +'But, Fergus,' said Waverley, 'I had no idea that you had any +affection for Miss Bradwardine, and you are always sneering at +her father.' + +'I have as much affection for Miss Bradwardine, my good friend, +as I think it necessary to have for the future mistress of my +family, and the mother of my children. She is a very pretty, +intelligent girl, and is certainly of one of the very first +Lowland families; and, with a little of Flora's instructions and +forming, will make a very good figure. As to her father, he is +an original, it is true, and an absurd one enough; but he has +given such severe lessons to Sir Hew Halbert, that dear defunct +the Laird of Balmawhapple, and others, that nobody dare laugh at +him, so his absurdity goes for nothing. I tell you there could +have been no earthly objection--none. I had settled the thing +entirely in my own mind.' + +'But had you asked the Baron's consent,' said Waverley, 'Or +Rose's?' + +'To what purpose? To have spoke to the Baron before I had +assumed my title would have only provoked a premature and +irritating discussion on the subject of the change of name, when, +as Earl of Glennaquoich, I had only to propose to him to carry +his d-d bear and bootjack PARTY PER PALE, or in a scutcheon of +pretence, or in a separate shield perhaps--any way that would not +blemish my own coat of arms. And as to Rose, I don't see what +objection she could have made, if her father was satisfied.' + +'Perhaps the same that your sister makes to me, you being +satisfied.' + +Fergus gave a broad stare at the comparison which this +supposition implied, but cautiously suppressed the answer which +rose to his tongue. 'Oh, we should easily have arranged all +that.--so, sir, I craved a private interview, and this morning +was assigned; and I asked you to meet me here, thinking, like a +fool, that I should want your countenance as bride's-man. Well +--I state my pretensions--they are not denied; the promises so +repeatedly made, and the patent granted--they are acknowledged. +But I propose, as a natural consequence, to assume the rank which +the patent bestowed--I have the old story of the jealousy of C-- +and M-- trumped up against me--I resist this pretext, and offer +to procure their written acquiescence, in virtue of the date of +my patent as prior to their silly claims--I assure you I would +have had such a consent from them, if it had been at the point of +the sword. And then, out comes the real truth; and he dares to +tell me, to my face, that my patent must be suppressed for the +present, for fear of disgusting that rascally coward and +FAINEANT--(naming the rival chief of his own clan)--who has no +better title to be a chieftain than I to be Emperor of China; and +who is pleased to shelter his dastardly reluctance to come out, +agreeable to his promise twenty times pledged, under a pretended +jealousy of the Prince's partiality to me. And, to leave this +miserable driveller without a pretence for his cowardice, the +Prince asks if as a personal favour of me, forsooth, not to press +my just and reasonable request at this moment. After this, put +your faith in princes!' + +'And did your audience end here?' + +'End? Oh, no! I was determined to leave him no pretence for his +ingratitude, and I therefore stated, with all the composure I +could muster,--for I promise you I trembled with passion,--the +particular reasons I had for wishing that his Royal Highness +would impose upon me any other mode of exhibiting my duty and +devotion, as my views in life made, what at any other time would +have been a mere trifle, at this crisis a severe sacrifice; and +then I explained to him my full plan.' + +'And what did the Prince answer?' + +'Answer? why--it is well it is written, Curse not the king; no, +not in thy thought!--why, he answered, that truly he was glad I +had made him my confidant, to prevent more grievous +disappointment, for he could assure me, upon the word of a +prince, that Miss Bradwardine's affections were engaged, and he +was under a particular promise to favour them. "So, my dear +Fergus," said he, with his most gracious cast of smile, "as the +marriage is utterly out of question, there need be no hurry, you +know, about the earldom." And so he glided off, and left me +PLANTE LA.' + +'And what did you do?' + +'I'll tell you what I could have done at that moment--sold myself +to the devil or the Elector, whichever offered the dearest +revenge. However, I am now cool. I know he intends to marry her +to some of his rascally Frenchmen, or his Irish officers: but I +will watch them close; and let the man that would supplant me +look well to himself.--BISOGNA COPRIRSI, SIGNOR.' + +After some further conversation, unnecessary to be detailed, +Waverley took leave of the Chieftain, whose fury had now subsided +into a deep and strong desire of vengeance, and returned home, +scarce able to analyse the mixture of feelings which the +narrative had awakened in his own bosom. + + + +CHAPTER LIV + +'TO ONE THING CONSTANT NEVER' + +'I am the very child of caprice,' said Waverley to himself, as he +bolted the door of his apartment, and paced it with hasty steps. +--'What is it to me that Fergus Mac-Ivor should wish to marry +Rose Bradwardine?--I love her not.--I might have been loved by +her, perhaps; but I rejected her simple, natural, and affecting +attachment, instead of cherishing it into tenderness, and +dedicated myself to one who will never love mortal man, unless +old Warwick, the King-maker, should arise from the dead. The +Baron, too--I would not have cared about his estate, and so the +name would have been no stumbling-block, The devil might have +taken the barren moors, and drawn off the royal CALIGAE, for +anything I would have minded. But, framed as she is for domestic +affection and tenderness, for giving and receiving all those kind +and quiet attentions which sweeten life to those who pass it +together, she is sought by Fergus Mac-Ivor. He will not use her +ill, to be sure--of that he is incapable--but he will neglect her +after the first month; he will be too intent on subduing some +rival chieftain, or circumventing some favourite at court, on +gaining some heathy hill and lake, or adding to his bands some +new troop of caterans, to inquire what she does, or how she +amuses herself. + + And then will canker sorrow eat her bud, + And chase the native beauty from her cheek; + And she will look as hollow as a ghost, + And dim and meagre as an ague fit, + And so she'll die. + +And such a catastrophe of the most gentle creature on earth might +have been prevented, if Mr. Edward Waverley had had his eyes! +Upon my word, I cannot understand how I thought Flora so much-- +that is, so very much--handsomer than Rose. She is taller, +indeed, and her manner more formed; but many people think Miss +Bradwardine's more natural; and she is certainly much younger. I +should think Flora is two years older than I am--I will look at +them particularly this evening.' + +And with this resolution Waverley went to drink tea (as the +fashion was Sixty Years since) at the house of a lady of quality +attached to the cause of the Chevalier, where he found, as he +expected, both the ladies. All rose as he entered, but Flora +immediately resumed her place, and the conversation in which she +was engaged. Rose, on the contrary, almost imperceptibly, made a +little way in the crowded circle for his advancing the corner of +a chair. 'Her manner, upon the whole, is most engaging,' said +Waverley to himself. + +A dispute occurred whether the Gaelic or Italian language was +most liquid, and best adapted for poetry; the opinion for the +Gaelic, which probably might not have found supporters elsewhere, +was here fiercely defended by seven Highland ladies, who talked +at the top of their lungs, and screamed the company deaf, with +examples of Celtic EUPHONIA. Flora, observing the Lowland ladies +sneer at the comparison, produced some reasons to show that it +was not altogether so absurd; but Rose, when asked for her +opinion, gave it with animation in praise of Italian, which she +had studied with Waverley's assistance. 'She has a more correct +ear than Flora, though a less accomplished musician,' said +Waverley to himself. 'I suppose Miss Mac-Ivor will next compare +Mac-Murrough nan Fonn to Ariosto!' + +Lastly, it so befell that the company differed whether Fergus +should be asked to perform on the flute, at which he was an +adept, or Waverley invited to read a play of Shakespeare; and the +lady of the house good-humouredly undertook to collect the votes +of the company for poetry or music, under the condition, that the +gentleman whose talents were not laid under contribution that +evening, should contribute them to enliven the next. It chanced +that Rose had the casting vote. Now Flora, who seemed to impose +it as a rule upon herself never to countenance any proposal which +might seem to encourage Waverley, had voted for music, providing +the Baron would take his violin to accompany Fergus. 'I wish you +joy of your taste, Miss Mac-Ivor,' thought Edward, as they sought +for his book. 'I thought it better when we were at Glennaquoich; +but certainly the Baron is no great performer, and Shakespeare is +worth listening to.' + +ROMEO AND JULIET was selected, and Edward read with taste, +feeling, and spirit, several scenes from that play. All the +company applauded with their hands, and many with their tears. +Flora, to whom the drama was well known, was among the former; +Rose, to whom it was altogether new, belonged to the latter class +of admirers. 'She has more feeling, too,' said Waverley, +internally. + +The conversation turning upon the incidents of the play, and upon +the characters, Fergus declared that the only one worth naming, +as a man of fashion and spirit, was Mercutio. 'I could not,' he +said, 'quite follow all his old-fashioned wit, but he must have +been a very pretty fellow, according to the ideas of his time.' + +'And it was a shame,' said Ensign Maccombich, who usually +followed his Colonel everywhere, 'for that Tibbert, or Taggart, +or whatever was his name, to stick him under the other +gentleman's arm while he was redding the fray.' + +The ladies, of course, declared loudly in favour of Romeo; but +this opinion did not go undisputed. The mistress of the house, +and several other ladies, severely reprobated the levity with +which the hero transfers his affections from Rosalind to Juliet. +Flora remained silent until her opinion was repeatedly requested, +and then answered, she thought the circumstance objected to not +only reconcilable to nature, but such as in the highest degree +evinced the art of the poet. 'Romeo is described,' said she, 'as +a young man, peculiarly susceptible of the softer passions; his +love is at first fixed upon a woman who could afford it no +return; this he repeatedly tells you,-- + + From love's weak childish bow she lives unharmed; + +and again,-- + + She hath forsworn to love. + +Now, as it was impossible that Romeo's love, supposing him a +reasonable being, could continue to subsist without hope, the +poet has, with great art, seized the moment when he was reduced +actually to despair, to throw in his way an object more +accomplished than her by whom he had been rejected, and who is +disposed to repay his attachment. I can scarce conceive a +situation more calculated to enhance the ardour of Romeo's +affection for Juliet, than his being at once raised by her from +the state of drooping melancholy in which he appears first upon +the scene, to the ecstatic state in which he exclaims-- + + --come what sorrow can, + It cannot countervail the exchange of joy + That one short moment gives me in her sight.' + +'Good, now, Miss Mac-Ivor,' said a young lady of quality, 'do you +mean to cheat us out of our prerogative? will you persuade us +love cannot subsist-without hope, or that the lover must become +fickle if the lady is cruel? Oh, fie! I did not expect such an +unsentimental conclusion.' + +'A lover, my dear Lady Betty,' said Flora, 'may, I conceive, +persevere in his suit under very discouraging circumstances. +Affection can (now and then) withstand very severe storms of +rigour, but not a long polar frost of downright indifference. +Don't, even with YOUR attractions, try the experiment upon any +lover whose faith you value. Love will subsist on wonderfully +little hope, but not altogether without it.' + +'It will be just like Duncan Mac-Girdie's mare,' said Evan, 'if +your ladyships please; he wanted to use her by degrees to live +without meat, and just as he had put her on a straw a day, the +poor thing died!' + +Evan's illustration set the company a-laughing, and the discourse +took a different turn. Shortly afterwards the party broke up, +and Edward returned home, musing on what Flora had said. 'I +will love my Rosalind no more,' said he: 'she has given me a +broad enough hint for that; and I will speak to her brother, and +resign my suit. But for a Juliet--would it be handsome to +interfere with Fergus's pretensions?--though it is impossible +they can ever succeed: and should they miscarry, what then?-- +why then ALORS COMME ALORS.' And with this resolution, of being +guided by circumstances, did our hero commit himself to repose. + + + +CHAPTER LV + +A BRAVE MAN IN SORROW + +If my fair readers should be of opinion that my hero's levity in +love is altogether unpardonable, I must remind them that all his +griefs and difficulties did not arise from that sentimental +source. Even the lyric poet, who complains so feelingly of the +pains of love, could not forget, that, at the same time, he was +'in debt and in drink,' which, doubtless, were great aggravations +of his distress. There were indeed whole days in which Waverley +thought neither of Flora nor Rose Bradwardine, but which were +spent in melancholy conjectures on the probable state of matters +at Waverley-Honour, and the dubious issue of the civil contest in +which he was pledged. Colonel Talbot often engaged him in +discussions upon the justice of the cause he had espoused. +'Not,' he said, 'that it is possible for you to quit it at this +present moment, for, come what will, you must stand by your rash +engagement. But I with you to be aware that the right is not +with you; that you are fighting against the real interests of +your country; and that you ought, as an Englishman and a patriot, +to take the first opportunity to leave this unhappy expedition +before the snowball melts.' + +In such political disputes, Waverley usually opposed the common +arguments of his party, with which it is unnecessary to trouble +the reader. But he had little to say when the Colonel urged him +to compare the strength by which they had undertaken to overthrow +the Government, with that which was now assembling very rapidly +for its support. To this statement Waverley had but one answer: +'If the cause I have undertaken be perilous, there would be the +greater disgrace in abandoning it.' And in his turn he generally +silenced Colonel Talbot, and succeeded in changing the subject. + +One night, when, after a long dispute of this nature, the friends +had separated, and our hero had retired to bed, he was awakened +about midnight by a suppressed groan. He started up and +listened; it came from the apartment of Colonel Talbot, which was +divided from his own by a wainscoted partition, with a door of +communication. Waverley approached this door, and distinctly +heard one or two deep-drawn sighs. What could be the matter? +The Colonel had parted from him, apparently, in his usual state +of spirits. He must have been taken suddenly ill. Under this +impression, he opened the door of communication very gently, and +perceived the Colonel, in his nightgown, seated by a table, on +which lay a letter and a picture. He raised his head hastily, as +Edward stood uncertain whether to advance or retire, and Waverley +perceived that his cheeks were stained with tears. + +As if ashamed at being found giving way to such emotion, Colonel +Talbot rose with apparent displeasure, and said, with some +sternness, 'I think, Mr. Waverley, my own apartment, and the +hour, might have secured even a prisoner against'-- + +'Do not say INTRUSION, Colonel Talbot; I heard you breathe hard, +and feared you were ill; that alone could have induced me to +break in upon you.' + +'I am well,' said the Colonel, 'perfectly well.' + +'But you are distressed,' said Edward: 'is there anything can be +done?' + +'Nothing, Mr. Waverley: I was only thinking of home, and of some +unpleasant occurrences there.' + +'Good God, my uncle!' exclaimed Waverley. + +'No,--it is a grief entirely my own. I am ashamed you should +have seen it disarm me so much; but it must have its course at +times, that it may be at others more decently supported. I would +have kept it secret from you; for I think it will grieve you, and +yet you can administer no consolation. But you have surprised +me,--I see you are surprised yourself,--and I hate mystery. Read +that letter. + +The letter was from Colonel Talbot's sister, and in these words: + +'I received yours, my dearest brother, by Hodges. Sir E. W. and +Mr. R. are still at large, but are not permitted to leave London. +I wish to Heaven I could give you as good an account of matters +in the square. But the news of the unhappy affair at Preston +came upon us, with the dreadful addition that you were among the +fallen. You know Lady Emily's state of health, when your +friendship for Sir E. induced you to leave her. She was much +harassed with the sad accounts from Scotland of the rebellion +having broken out; but kept up her spirits as, she said, it +became your wife, and for the sake of the future heir, so long +hoped for in vain. Alas, my dear brother, these hopes are now +ended! Notwithstanding all my watchful care, this unhappy rumour +reached her without preparation. She was taken ill immediately; +and the poor infant scarce survived its birth. Would to God this +were all! But although the contradiction of the horrible report +by your own letter has greatly revived her spirits, yet Dr-- +apprehends, I grieve to say, serious, and even dangerous, +consequences to her health, especially from the uncertainty in +which she must necessarily remain for some time, aggravated by +the ideas she has formed of the ferocity of those with whom you +are a prisoner. + +Do therefore, my dear brother, as soon as this reaches you, +endeavour to gain your release, by parole, by ransom, or any way +that is practicable. I do not exaggerate Lady Emily's state of +health; but I must not--dare not--suppress the truth.--Ever, my +dear Philip, your most affectionate sister, 'LUCY TALBOT.' + +Edward stood motionless when he had perused this letter; for the +conclusion was inevitable, that by the Colonel's journey in quest +of him, he had incurred this heavy calamity. It was severe +enough, even in its irremediable part; for Colonel Talbot and +Lady Emily, long without a family, had fondly exulted in the +hopes which were now blasted. But this disappointment was +nothing to the extent of the threatened evil; and Edward, with +horror, regarded himself as the original cause of both. + +Ere he could collect himself sufficiently to speak, Colonel +Talbot had recovered his usual composure of manner, though his +troubled eye denoted his mental agony. + +'She is a woman, my young friend, who may justify even a +soldier's tears.' He reached him the miniature, exhibiting +features which fully justified the eulogium; 'and yet, God knows, +what you see of her there is the least of the charms she +possesses--possessed, I should perhaps say--but God's will be +done!' + +'You must fly--you must fly instantly to her relief. It is not +--it shall not be too late.' + +'Fly!--how is it possible? I am a prisoner--upon parole.' + +'I am your keeper--I restore your parole-I am to answer for you.' + +'You cannot do so consistently with your duty; nor can I accept a +discharge from you with due regard to my own honour--you would be +made responsible.' + +'I will answer it with my head, if necessary,' said Waverley, +impetuously. 'I have been the unhappy cause of the loss of your +child--make me not the murderer of your wife.' + +'No, my dear Edward,' said Talbot, taking him kindly by the hand, +'you are in no respect to blame; and if I concealed this domestic +distress for two days, it was lest your sensibility should view +it in that light. You could not think of me, hardly knew of my +existence, when I left England in quest of you. It is a +responsibility, Heaven knows, sufficiently heavy for mortality, +that we must answer for the foreseen and direct result of our +actions,--for their indirect and consequential operation, the +great and good Being, who alone can foresee the dependence of +human events on each other, hath not pronounced his frail +creatures liable.' + +But that you should have left Lady Emily,' said Waverley, with +much emotion, 'in the situation of all others the most +interesting to a husband, to seek a--' + +'I only did my duty,' answered Colonel Talbot, calmly, 'and I do +not, ought not to regret it. If the path of gratitude and honour +were always smooth and easy, there would be little merit in +following it; but it moves often in contradiction to our interest +and passions, and sometimes to our better affections. These are +the trials of life, and this, though not the least bitter' (the +tears came unbidden to his eyes), 'is not the first which it has +been my fate to encounter. But we will talk of this to-morrow,' +he said, wringing Waverley's hands. 'Good night; strive to +forget it for a few hours. It will dawn, I think, by six, and it +is now past two. Good-night.' + +Edward retired, without trusting his voice with a reply. + + + +CHAPTER LVI + +EXERTION + +When Colonel Talbot entered the breakfast-parlour next morning, +he learned from Waverley's servant that our hero had been abroad +at an early hour, and was not yet returned. The morning was well +advanced before he again appeared, He arrived out of breath, but +with an air of joy that astonished Colonel Talbot. + +'There,' said he, throwing a paper on the table, 'there is my +morning's work.--Alick, pack up the Colonel's clothes. Make +haste, make haste.' + +The Colonel examined the paper with astonishment. It was a pass +from the Chevalier to Colonel Talbot, to repair to Leith, or any +other port in possession of his Royal Highness's troops, and +there to embark for England or elsewhere, at his free pleasure; +he only giving his parole of honour not to bear arms against the +house of Stuart for the space of a twelvemonth. + +'In the name of God,' said the Colonel, his eyes sparkling with +eagerness, 'how did you obtain this?' + +'I was at the Chevalier's levee as soon as he usually rises. He +was gone to the camp at Duddingston. I pursued him thither; +asked and obtained an audience--but I will tell you not a word +more, unless I see you begin to pack.' + +'Before I know whether I can avail myself of this passport, or +how it was obtained?' + +'Oh, you can take out the things again, you know.--Now I see you +busy, I will go on. When I first mentioned your name, his eyes +sparkled almost as bright as yours did two minutes since. "Had +you," he earnestly asked, "shown any sentiments favourable to his +cause?" + +"Not in the least, nor was there any hope you would do so." His +countenance fell. I requested your freedom. "Impossible," he +said;--"your importance, as a friend and confidant of such and +such personages, made my request altogether extravagant." I told +him my own story and yours and asked him to judge what my +feelings must be by his own. He has a heart, and a kind one, +Colonel Talbot, you may say what you please. He took a sheet of +paper, and wrote the pass with his own hand. "I will not-trust +myself with my council," he said "they will argue me out of what +is right. I will not endure that a friend, valued as I value +you, should be loaded with the painful reflections which must +afflict you in ease of further misfortune in Colonel Talbot's +family; nor will I keep a brave enemy a prisoner under such +circumstances. Besides," said he, "I think I can justify myself +to my prudent advisers, by pleading the good effect such lenity +will produce on the minds of the great English families with whom +Colonel Talbot is connected."' + +'There the politician peeped out,' said the Colonel. + +'Well, at least he concluded like a king's son--"Take the +passport; I have added a condition for form's sake; but if the +Colonel objects to it, let him depart without giving any parole +whatever. I come here to war with men, but not to distress or +endanger women."' + +'Well, I never thought to have been so much indebted to the +Pretend--' + +'To the Prince,' said Waverley, smiling. + +'To the Chevalier,' said the Colonel; 'it is a good travelling +name, and which we may both freely use. Did he say anything +more?' + +'Only asked if there was anything else he could oblige me in; and +when I replied in the negative, he shook me by the hand, and +wished all his followers were as considerate, since some friends +of mine not only asked all he had to bestow, but many things +which were entirely out of his power, or that of the greatest +sovereign upon earth. Indeed, he said, no prince seemed, in the +eyes of his followers, so like the Deity as himself, if you were +to judge from the extravagant requests which they daily preferred +to him.' + +'Poor young gentleman!' said the Colonel 'I suppose he begins to +feel the difficulties of his situation. Well, dear Waverley, +this is more than kind, and shall not be forgotten while Philip +Talbot can remember anything. My life--pshaw--let Emily thank +you for that--this is a favour worth fifty lives. I cannot +hesitate on giving my parole in the circumstances: there it is-- +(he wrote it out in form)--and now, how am I to get off?' + +'All that is settled: your baggage is packed, my horses wait, +and a boat has been engaged, by the Prince's permission, to put +you on board the Fox frigate. I sent a messenger down to Leith +on purpose.' + +'That will do excellently well. Captain Beaver is my particular +friend: he will put me ashore at Berwick or Shields, from whence +I can ride post to London;--and you must entrust me with the +packet of papers which you recovered by means of your Miss Bean +Lean. I may have an opportunity of using them to your +advantage.--But I see your Highland friend, Glen--what do you +call his barbarous name? and his orderly with him--I must not +call him his orderly cut-throat any more, I suppose. See how he +walks as if the world were his own, with the bonnet on one side +of his head, and his plaid puffed out across his breast! I +should like now to meet that youth where my hands were not tied: +I would tame his pride, or he should tame mine,' + +'For shame, Colonel Talbot! you swell at sight of tartan, as the +bull is said to do at scarlet. You and Mac-Ivor have some points +not much unlike, so far as national prejudice is concerned.' + +The latter part of this discourse took place in the street. They +passed the Chief, the Colonel and he sternly and punctiliously +greeting each other, like two duellists before they take their +ground. It was evident the dislike was mutual. 'I never see +that surly fellow that dogs his heels,' said the Colonel, after +he had mounted his horse, 'but he reminds me of lines I have +somewhere heard--upon the stage, I think: + + --Close behind him + Stalks sullen Bertram, like a sorcerer's fiend, + Pressing to be employed.' + +'I assure you, Colonel,' said Waverley,' that you judge too +harshly of the Highlanders.' + +'Not a whit, not a whit; I cannot spare them a jot--I cannot bate +them an ace. Let them stay in their own barren mountains, and +puff and swell, and hang their bonnets on the horns of the moon, +if they have a mind; but what business have they to come where +people wear breeches, and speak an intelligible language? I mean +intelligible in comparison with their gibberish, for even the +Lowlanders talk a kind of English little better than the negroes +in Jamaica. I could pity the Pr--, I mean the Chevalier himself, +for having so many desperadoes about him. And they learn their +trade so early. There is a kind of subaltern imp, for example, a +sort of sucking devil, whom your friend Glenna--Glennamuck there, +has sometimes in his train. To look at him, he is about fifteen +years; but he is a century old in mischief and villany. He was +playing at quoits the other day in the court; a gentleman--a +decent-looking person enough--came past, and as a quoit hit his +shin, he lifted his cane: but my young brave whips out his +pistol, like Beau Clincher in the TRIP TO THE JUBILEE and had not +a scream of GARDEZ L'EAU from an upper window set all parties a- +scampering for fear of the inevitable consequences, the poor +gentleman would have lost his life by the hands of that little +cockatrice.' + +'A fine character you'll give of Scotland upon your return, +Colonel Talbot.' + +'Oh, Justice Shallow,' said the Colonel, 'will save me the +trouble--"Barren, barren--beggars all, beggars all. Marry, good +air,"--and that only when you are fairly out of Edinburgh, and +not yet come to Leith, as is our case at present.' + +In a short time they arrived at the seaport: + + The boat rocked at the pier of Leith, + Full loud the wind blew down the ferry; + The ship rode at the Berwick Law-- + +'Farewell, Colonel; may you find all as you would wish it! +Perhaps we may meet sooner than you expect: they talk of an +immediate route to England.' + +Tell me nothing of that,' said Talbot 'I wish to carry no news of +your motions.' + +'Simply then, adieu. Say, with a thousand kind greetings, all +that is dutiful and affectionate to Sir Everard and Aunt Rachel. +Think of me as kindly as you can--speak of me as indulgently as +your conscience will permit, and once more adieu.' + +'And adieu, my dear Waverley!--many, many thanks for your +kindness. Unplaid yourself on the first opportunity. I shall +ever think on you with gratitude, and the worst of my censure +shall be, QUE DIABLE ALLOIT-IL FAIRE DANS CETTE GALERE?' + +And thus they parted, Colonel Talbot going on board of the boat, +and Waverley returning to Edinburgh. + + + +CHAPTER LVII + +THE MARCH + +It is not our purpose to intrude upon the province of history. +We shall therefore only remind our readers, that about the +beginning of November the Young Chevalier, at the head of about +six thousand men at the utmost, resolved to peril his cause on an +attempt to penetrate into the centre of England, although aware +of the mighty preparations which were made for his reception. +They set forward on this crusade in weather which would have +rendered any other troops incapable of marching, but which in +reality gave these active mountaineers advantages over a less +hardy enemy. In defiance of a superior army lying upon the +Borders, under Field Marshal Wade, they besieged and took +Carlisle, and soon afterwards prosecuted their daring march to +the southward. + +As Colonel Mac-Ivor's regiment marched in the van of the clans, +he and Waverley, who now equalled any Highlander in the endurance +of fatigue, and was become somewhat acquainted with their +language, were perpetually at its head. They marked the progress +of the army, however, with very different eyes. Fergus, all air +and fire, and confident against the world in arms, measured +nothing but that every step was a yard nearer London. He neither +asked, expected, nor desired any aid, except that of the clans, +to place the Stuarts once more on the throne; and when by chance +a few adherents joined the standard, he always considered them in +the light of new claimants upon the favours of the future +monarch, who, he concluded, must therefore subtract for their +gratification so much of the bounty which ought to be shared +among his Highland followers. + +Edward's views were very different. He could not but observe, +that in those towns in which they proclaimed James the Third, 'no +man cried, God bless him.' The mob stared and listened, +heartless, stupefied, and dull, but gave few signs even of that +boisterous spirit which induces them to shout upon all occasions, +for the mere exercise of their most sweet voices. The Jacobites +had been taught to believe that the north-western counties +abounded with wealthy squires and hardy yeomen, devoted to the +cause of the White Rose. But of the wealthier Tories they saw +little. Some fled from their houses, some feigned themselves +sick, some surrendered themselves to the Government as suspected +persons. Of such as remained, the ignorant gazed with +astonishment, mixed with horror and aversion, at the wild +appearance, unknown language, and singular garb, of the Scottish +clans. And to the more prudent, their scanty numbers, apparent +deficiency in discipline; and poverty of equipment, seemed +certain tokens of the calamitous termination of their rash +undertaking. Thus the few who joined them were such as bigotry +of political principle blinded to consequences, or whose broken +fortunes induced them to hazard all on a risk so desperate. + +The Baron of Bradwardine being asked what he thought of these +recruits, took a long pinch of snuff, and answered drily, 'that +he could not but have an excellent opinion of them, since they +resembled precisely the followers who attached themselves to the +good King David at the cave of Adullam; VIDELICET, every one that +was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one +that was discontented, which the Vulgate renders bitter of soul; +and doubtless,' he said 'they will prove mighty men of their +hands, and there is much need that they should, for I have seen +many a sour look cast upon us.' + +But none of these considerations moved Fergus. He admired the +luxuriant beauty of the country, and the situation of many of the +seats which they passed. 'Is Waverley-Honour like that house, +Edward?' + +'It is one half larger.' + +'Is your uncle's park as fine a one as that?' + +'It is three times; as extensive, and rather resembles a forest +than a mere park.' + +'Flora, will be a happy woman.' + +'I hope Miss Mac-Ivor will have much reason for happiness, +unconnected with Waverley-Honour.' + +'I hope so too; but, to be mistress of such a place, will be a +pretty addition to the sum total.' + +'An addition, the want of which, I trust, will be amply supplied +by some other means.' + +'How,' said Fergus, stopping short, and turning upon Waverley-- +'How am I to understand that, Mr. Waverley?--Had I the pleasure +to hear you aright?' + +'Perfectly right, Fergus.' + +'And I am to understand that you no longer desire my alliance, +and my sister's hand?' + +'Your sister has refused mine,' said Waverley, 'both directly, +and by all the usual means by which ladies repress undesired +attentions.' + +'I have no idea,' answered the Chieftain, 'of a lady dismissing +or a gentleman withdrawing his suit, after it has been approved +of by her legal guardian, without giving him an opportunity of +talking the matter over with the lady. You did not, I suppose, +expect my sister to drop into your mouth like a ripe plum, the +first moment you chose to open it?' + +'As to the lady's title to dismiss her lover, Colonel replied +Edward, 'it is a point which you must argue with her, as I am +ignorant of the customs of the Highlands in that particular. But +as to my title to acquiesce in a rejection from her without an +appeal to your interest, I will tell you plainly, without meaning +to undervalue Miss Mac-Ivor's admitted beauty and +accomplishments, that I would not take the hand of an angel, with +an empire for her dowry, if her consent were extorted by the +importunity of friends and guardians, and did not flow from her +own free inclination.' + +'An angel, with the dowry of an empire,' repeated Fergus, in a +tone of bitter irony, 'is not very likely to be pressed upon a +--shire squire.--But sir,' changing his tone, 'if Flora Mac-Ivor +have not the dowry of an empire, she is my sister; and that is +sufficient at least to secure her against being treated with +anything approaching to levity.' + +She is Flora Mac-Ivor, sir,' said Waverley, with firmness, 'which +to me, were I capable of treating any woman with levity, would be +a more effectual protection.' + +The brow of the Chieftain was now fully clouded, but Edward felt +too indignant at the unreasonable tone which he had adopted, to +avert the storm by the least concession. They both stood still +while this short dialogue passed, and Fergus seemed half disposed +to say something more violent, but, by a strong effort, +suppressed his passion, and, turning his face forward, walked +sullenly on. As they had always hitherto walked together, and +almost constantly side by side; Waverley pursued his course +silently in the same direction, determined to let the Chief take +his own time in recovering the good humour which he had so +unreasonably discarded, and firm in his resolution not to bate +him an inch of dignity. + +After they had marched on in this sullen manner about a mile, +Fergus resumed the discourse in a different tone. 'I believe I +was warm, my dear Edward, but you provoke me with your want of +knowledge of the world. You have taken pet at some of Flora's +prudery, or high-flying notions of loyalty, and now, like a +child, you quarrel with the plaything you have been crying for, +and beat me, your faithful keeper, because my arm cannot reach to +Edinburgh to hand it to you. I am sure, if I was passionate, the +mortification of losing the alliance of such a friend, after your +arrangement had been the talk of both Highlands and Lowlands, and +that without so much as knowing why or wherefore, might well +provoke calmer blood than mine. I shall write to Edinburgh, and +put all to rights; that is, if you desire I should do so,--as +indeed I cannot suppose that your good opinion of Flora, it being +such as you have often expressed to me, can be at once laid +aside.' + +'Colonel Mac-Ivor,' said Edward, who had no mind to be hurried +farther or faster than he chose, in a matter which he had already +considered as broken off, 'I am fully sensible of the value of +your good offices; and certainly, by your zeal on my behalf in +such an affair, you do me no small honour. But as Miss Mac-Ivor +has made her election freely and voluntarily, and as all my +attentions in Edinburgh were received with more than coldness, I +cannot, in justice either to her or myself, consent that she +should again be harassed upon this topic. I would have mentioned +this to you some time since;--but you saw the footing upon which +we stood together, and must have understood it. Had I thought +otherwise, I would have earlier spoken; but I had a natural +reluctance to enter upon a subject so painful to us both.' + +'Oh, very well, Mr. Waverley,' said Fergus, haughtily, 'the thing +is at an end. I have no occasion to press my sister upon any +man.' + +'Nor have I any occasion to court repeated rejection from the +same young lady,' answered Edward, in the same tone. + +'I shall make due inquiry, however,' said the Chieftain, without +noticing the interruption, 'and learn what my sister thinks of +all this: we will then see whether it is to end here.' + +'Respecting such inquiries, you will of course be guided by your +own judgement,' said Waverley. 'It is, I am aware, impossible +Miss Mac-Ivor can change her mind; and were such an unsupposable +case to happen, it is certain I will not change mine. I only +mention this to prevent any possibility of future +misconstruction.' + +Gladly at this moment would Mac-Ivor have put their quarrel to a +personal arbitrament;--his eye flashed fire, and he measured +Edward as if to choose where he might best plant a mortal wound. +But although we do not now quarrel according to the modes and +figures of Caranza or Vincent Saviola, no one knew better than +Fergus that there must be some decent pretext for a mortal duel. +For instance, you may challenge a man for treading on your corn +in a crowd, or for pushing you up to the wall, or for taking your +seat in the theatre; but the modern code of honour will not +permit you to found a quarrel upon your right of compelling a man +to continue addresses to a female relative, which the fair lady +has already refused. So that Fergus was compelled to stomach +this supposed affront, until the whirligig of time, whose motion +he promised himself he would watch most sedulously, should bring +about an opportunity of revenge. + +Waverley's servant always led a saddle-horse for him in the rear +of the battalion to which he was attached, though his master +seldom rode. But now, incensed at the domineering and +unreasonable conduct of his late friend, he fell behind the +column, and mounted his horse, resolving to seek the Baron of +Bradwardine, and request permission to volunteer in his troop, +instead of the Mac-Ivor regiment. + +'A happy time of it I should have had,' thought he, after he was +mounted, 'to have been so closely allied to this superb specimen +of pride and self-opinion and passion. A colonel! why, he +should have been a generalissimo. A petty chief of three or four +hundred men!--his pride might suffice for the Cham of Tartary-- +the Grand Seignior--the Great Mogul! I am well free of him. +Were Flora an angel, she would bring with her a second Lucifer of +ambition and wrath for a brother-in-law. + +The Baron, whose learning (like Sancho's jests while in the +Sierra Morena) seemed to grow mouldy for want of exercise, +joyfully embraced the opportunity of Waverley's offering his +service in his regiment, to bring it into some exertion. The +good-natured old gentleman, however, laboured to effect a +reconciliation between the two quondam friends. Fergus turned a +cold ear to his remonstrances, though he gave them a respectful +hearing; and as for Waverley, he saw no reason why he should be +the first in courting a renewal of the intimacy which the +Chieftain had so unreasonably disturbed. The Baron then +mentioned the matter to the Prince, who, anxious to prevent +quarrels in his little army, declared he would himself +remonstrate with Colonel Mac-Ivor on the unreasonableness of his +conduct. But, in the hurry of their march, it was a day or two +before he had an opportunity to exert his influence in the manner +proposed. + +In the meanwhile, Waverley turned the instructions he had +received while in Gardiner's dragoons to some account, and +assisted the Baron in his command as a sort of adjutant. 'PARMI +LES AVEUGLES UN BORGNE EST ROI,' says the French proverb; and the +cavalry, which consisted chiefly of Lowland gentlemen, their +tenants and servants, formed a high opinion of Waverley's skill, +and a great attachment to his person. This was indeed partly +owing to the satisfaction which they felt at the distinguished +English volunteer's leaving the Highlanders to rank among them; +for there was a latent grudge between the horse and foot, not +only owing to the difference of the services, but because most of +the gentlemen, living near the Highlands, had at one time or +other had quarrels with the tribes in their vicinity, and all of +them looked with a jealous eye on the Highlanders' avowed +pretensions to superior valour, and utility in the Prince's +service. + + + +CHAPTER LVIII + +THE CONFUSION OF KING AGRAMANT'S CAMP + +It was Waverley's custom sometimes to ride a little apart from +the main body, to look at any object of curiosity which occurred +on the march. They were now in Lancashire, when, attracted by a +castellated old hall, he left the squadron for half an hour, to +take a survey and slight sketch of it. As he returned down the +avenue, he was met by Ensign Maccombich. This man had contracted +a sort of regard for Edward since the day of his first seeing him +at Tully-Veolan, and introducing him to the Highlands. He seemed +to loiter, as if on purpose to meet with our hero. Yet, as he +passed him, he only approached his stirrup, and pronounced the +single word, 'Beware!' and then walked swiftly on, shunning all +further communication. + +Edward, somewhat surprised at this hint, followed with his eyes +the course of Evan, who speedily disappeared among the trees. +His servant, Alick Polwarth, who was in attendance, also looked +after the Highlander, and then riding up close to his master, +said, + +'The ne'er be in me, sir, if I think you're safe amang thae +Highland rintherouts.' + +'What do you mean, Alick?' said Waverley. + +'The Mac-Ivors, sir, hae gotten it into their heads, that ye hae +affronted their young leddy, Miss Flora; and I hae heard mae than +ane say, they wadna, tak muckle to make a black-cock o' ye; and +ye ken weel eneugh there's mony o' them wadna mind a bawbee the +weising a ball through the Prince himsell, an the Chief gae them +the wink--or whether he did or no,--if they thought it a thing +that would please him when it was dune.' + +Waverley, though confident that Fergus Mac-Ivor was incapable of +such treachery, was by no means equally sure of the forbearance +of his followers. He knew, that where the honour of the Chief or +his family was supposed to be touched, the happiest man would be +he that could first avenge the stigma; and he had often heard +them quote a proverb, 'That the best revenge was the most speedy +and most safe.' Coupling this with the hint of Evan, he judged +it most prudent to set spurs to his horse, and ride briskly back +to the squadron. Ere he reached the end of the long avenue, +however, a ball whistled past him, and the report of a pistol was +heard. + +'It was that deevil's buckie, Callum Beg,' said Alick; I saw him +whisk away through amang the reises.' + +Edward, justly incensed at this act of treachery, galloped out of +the avenue, and observed the battalion of Mac-Ivor at some +distance moving along the common, in which it terminated. He +also saw an individual running very fast to join the party; this +he concluded was the intended assassin, who, by leaping an +enclosure, might easily make a much shorter path to the main body +than he could find on horseback. Unable to contain himself, he +commanded Alick to go to the Baron of Bradwardine, who was at the +head of his regiment about half a mile in front, and acquaint him +with what had happened. He himself immediately rode up to +Fergus's regiment. The Chief himself was in the act of joining +them. He was on horseback, having returned from waiting on the +Prince. On perceiving Edward approaching, he put his horse in +motion towards him. + +'Colonel Mac-Ivor,' said Waverley, without any further +salutation, 'I have to inform you that one of your people has +this instant fired at me from a lurking-place. + +'As that,' answered Mac-Ivor, 'excepting the circumstance of a +lurking-place, is a pleasure which I presently propose to myself, +I should be glad to know which of my clansmen dared to anticipate +me.' + +'I shall certainly be at your command whenever you please;--the +gentleman who took your office upon himself is your page there, +Callum Beg.' + +'Stand forth from the ranks, Callum! Did you fire at Mr. +Waverley?' + +'No,' answered the unblushing Callum. + +'You did,' said Alick Polwarth, who was already returned, having +met a trooper by whom he dispatched an account of what was going +forward to the Baron of Bradwardine, while he himself returned to +his master at full gallop, neither sparing the rowels of his +spurs, nor the sides of his horse. 'You did; I saw you as +plainly as I ever saw the auld kirk at Coudingham.' + +'You lie,' replied Callum, with his usual impenetrable obstinacy. +The combat between the knights would certainly, as in the days of +chivalry, have been preceded by an encounter between the squires +(for Alick was a stout-hearted Merseman, and feared the bow of +Cupid far more than a Highlander's dirk or claymore), but Fergus, +with his usual tone of decision, demanded Callum's pistol. The +cock was down, the pan and muzzle were black with the smoke; it +had been that instant fired. + +'Take that,' said Fergus, striking the boy upon the head with the +heavy pistol-butt with his whole force, 'take that for acting +without orders, and lying to disguise it.' Callum received the +blow without appearing to flinch from it, and fell without sign +of life. 'Stand still, upon your lives!' said Fergus to the +rest of the clan; 'I blow out the brains of the first man who +interferes between Mr. Waverley and me.' They stood motionless; +Evan Dhu alone showed symptoms of vexation and anxiety. Callum +lay on the ground bleeding copiously, but no one ventured to give +him any assistance. It seemed as if he had gotten his death- +blow. + +'And now for you, Mr. Waverley; please to turn your horse twenty +yards with me upon the common.' Waverley complied; and Fergus, +confronting him when they were a little way from the line of +march, said, with great affected coolness, 'I could not but +wonder, sir, at the fickleness of taste which you were pleased to +express the other day. But it was not an angel, as you justly +observed, who had charms for you, unless she brought an empire +for her fortune. I have now an excellent commentary upon that +obscure text.' + +'I am at a loss even to guess at your meaning, Colonel Mac-Ivor, +unless it seems plain that you intend to fasten a quarrel upon +me.' + +'Your affected ignorance shall not serve you, sir. The Prince, +--the Prince himself, has acquainted me with your manoeuvres, I +little thought that your engagements with Miss Bradwardine were +the reason of your breaking off your intended match with my +sister. I suppose the information that the Baron had altered the +destination of his estate, was quite a sufficient reason for +slighting your friend's sister, and carrying off your friend's +mistress.' + +'Did the Prince tell you I was engaged to Miss Bradwardine?' +said Waverley. 'Impossible.' + +'He did, sir,' answered Mac-Ivor; 'so, either draw and defend +yourself, or resign your pretensions to the lady.' + +'This is absolute madness,' exclaimed Waverley, 'or some strange +mistake!' + +'Oh! no evasion! draw your sword!' said the infuriated +Chieftain,--his own already unsheathed. + +'Must I fight in a madman's quarrel?' + +'Then give up now, and for ever, all pretensions to Miss +Bradwardine's hand.' + +'What title have you,' cried Waverley, utterly losing command of +himself,--'What title have you, or any man living, to dictate +such terms to me?' And he also drew his sword. + +At this moment the Baron of Bradwardine, followed by several of +his troop, came up on the spur, some from curiosity, others to +take part in the quarrel, which they indistinctly understood had +broken out between the Mac-Ivors and their corps. The clan, +seeing them approach, put themselves in motion to support their +Chieftain, and a scene of confusion commenced, which seemed +likely to terminate in bloodshed. A hundred tongues were in +motion at once. The Baron lectured, the Chieftain stormed, the +Highlanders screamed in Gaelic, the horsemen cursed and swore in +Lowland Scotch. At length matters came to such a pass, that the +Baron threatened to charge the Mac-Ivors unless they resumed +their ranks, and many of them, in return, presented their fire- +arms at him and the other troopers. The confusion was privately +fostered by old Ballenkeiroch, who made no doubt that his own day +of vengeance was arrived, when, behold! a cry arose of 'Room! +make way!--PLACE A MONSEIGNEUR! PLACE A MONSEIGNEUR!' This +announced the approach of the Prince, who came up with a party of +Fitz-James's foreign dragoons that acted as his bodyguard. His +arrival produced some degree of order. The Highlanders re- +assumed their ranks, the cavalry fell in and formed squadron, and +the Baron and Chieftain were silent. + +The Prince called them and Waverley before him. Having heard the +original cause of the quarrel through the villany of Callum Beg, +he ordered him into custody of the provost-marshal for immediate +execution, in the event of his surviving the chastisement +inflicted by his Chieftain. Fergus, however, in a tone betwixt +claiming a right and asking a favour, requested he might be left +to his disposal, and promised his punishment should be exemplary. +To deny this, might have seemed to encroach on the patriarchal +authority of the Chieftains, of which they were very jealous, and +they were not persons to be disobliged. Callum was therefore +left to the justice of his own tribe. + +The Prince next demanded to know the new cause of quarrel between +Colonel Mac-Ivor and Waverley. There was a pause. Both +gentlemen found the presence of the Baron of Bradwardine (for by +this time all three had approached the Chevalier by his command) +an insurmountable barrier against entering upon a subject where +the name of his daughter must unavoidably be mentioned. They +turned their eyes on the ground, with looks in which shame and +embarrassment were mingled with displeasure. The Prince, who had +been educated amongst the discontented and mutinous spirits of +the court of St. Germains, where feuds of every kind were the +daily subject of solicitude to the dethroned sovereign, had +served his apprenticeship, as old Frederick of Prussia would have +said, to the trade of royalty. To promote or restore concord +among his followers was indispensable. Accordingly he took his +measures. + +'Monsieur de Beaujeu!' + +'Monseigneur!' said a very handsome French cavalry officer, who +was in attendance. + +'Ayez la bonte d'alligner ces montagnards la, ainsi que la +cavalerie, s'il vous plait, et de les remettre a la marche. Vous +parlez si bien l'Anglois, cela ne vous donneroit pas beaucoup de +peine.' + +'Ah! pas de tout, Monseigneur,' replied Mons. le Comte de +Beaujeu, his head bending down to the neck of his little prancing +highly-managed charger. Accordingly he PIAFFED away, in high +spirits and confidence, to the head of Fergus's regiment, +although understanding not a word of Gaelic, and very little +English. + +'Messieurs les sauvages Ecossois--dat is--gentilmans savages, +have the goodness d'arranger vous.' + +The clan, comprehending the order more from the gesture than the +words, and seeing the Prince himself present, hastened to dress +their ranks. + +'Ah! ver well! dat is fort bien!' said the Count de Beaujeu. +'Gentilmans sauvages--mais tres bien--Eh bien!--Qu'est-ce que +vous appellez visage, Monsieur?' (to a lounging trooper who +stood by him). 'Ah, oui! FACE--Je vous remercie, Monsieur.-- +Gentilshommes, have de goodness to make de face to de right par +file, dat is, by files.--Marsh!--Mais tres bien--encore, +Messieurs; il faut vous mettre a la marche...Marchez donc, au nom +de Dieu, parceque j'ai oublie le mot Anglois--mais vous etes des +braves gens, et me comprenez tres bien.' + +The Count next hastened to put the cavalry in motion. +'Gentilmans cavalry, you must fall in--Ah! par ma foi, I did not +say fall off! I am a fear de little gross fat gentilman is moche +hurt. Ah, mon Dieu! c'est le Commissaire qui nous a apporte les +premieres nouvelles de ce maudit fracas. Je suis trop fache, +Monsieur!' + +But poor Macwheeble, who, with a sword stuck across him, and a +white cockade as large as a pancake, now figured in the character +of a commissary, being overturned in the bustle occasioned by the +troopers hastening to get themselves in order in the Prince's +presence, before he could rally his galloway, slunk to the rear +amid the unrestrained laughter of the spectators. + +'Eh bien, Messieurs, wheel to de right--Ah! dat is it!--Eh, +Monsieur de Bradwardine, ayez la bonte de vous mettre a la tete +de votre regiment, car, par Dieu, je n'en puis plus!' + +The Baron of Bradwardine was obliged to go to the assistance of +Monsieur de Beaujeu, after he had fairly expended his few English +military phrases. One purpose of the Chevalier was thus +answered. The other he proposed was, that in the eagerness to +hear and comprehend commands issued through such an indistinct +medium in his own presence, the thoughts of the soldiers in both +corps might get a current different from the angry channel in +which they were flowing at the time. + +Charles Edward was no sooner left with the Chieftain and +Waverley, the rest of his attendants being at some distance, than +he said, 'If I owed less to your disinterested friendship, I +could be most seriously angry with both of you for this very +extraordinary and causeless broil, at a moment when my father's +service so decidedly demands the most perfect unanimity. But the +worst of my situation is, that my very best friends hold they +have liberty to ruin themselves, as well as the cause they are +engaged in, upon the slightest caprice.' + +Both the young men protested their resolution to submit every +difference to his arbitration. 'Indeed,' said Edward, 'I hardly +know of what I am accused. I sought Colonel Mac-Ivor merely to +mention to him that I had narrowly escaped assassination at the +hand of his immediate dependent--a dastardly revenge, which I +knew him to be incapable of authorizing. As to the cause for +which he is disposed to fasten a quarrel upon me, I am ignorant +of it, unless it be that he accuses me, most unjustly, of having +engaged the affections of a young lady in prejudice of his +pretensions.' + +'If there is an error,' said the Chieftain, 'it arises from a +conversation which I held this morning with his Royal Highness +himself.' + +'With me?' said the Chevalier; 'how can Colonel Mac-Ivor have so +far misunderstood me?' + +He then led Fergus aside, and, after five minutes' earnest +conversation, spurred his horse towards Edward. 'Is it possible +--nay, ride up, Colonel, for I desire no secrets--Is it possible, +Mr. Waverley, that I am mistaken in supposing that you are an +accepted lover of Miss Bradwardine?--a fact of which I was by +circumstances, though not by communication from you, so +absolutely convinced, that I alleged it to Vich Ian Vohr this +morning as a reason why, without offence to him, you might not +continue to be ambitious of an alliance, which to an unengaged +person, even though once repulsed, holds out too many charms to +be lightly laid aside.' + +'Your Royal Highness,' said Waverley, 'must have founded on +circumstances altogether unknown to me, when you did me the +distinguished honour of supposing me an accepted lover of Miss +Bradwardine. I feel the distinction implied in the supposition, +but I have no title to it. For the rest, my confidence in my own +merits is too justly slight to admit of my hoping for success in +any quarter after positive rejection.' + +The Chevalier was silent for a moment, looking steadily at them +both, and then said, 'Upon my word, Mr. Waverley, you are a less +happy man than I conceived I had very good reason to believe +you.--But now, gentlemen, allow me to be umpire in this matter, +not as Prince Regent, but as Charles Stuart, a brother adventurer +with you in the same gallant cause. Lay my pretensions to be +obeyed by you entirely out of view, and consider your own honour, +and how far it is well, or becoming, to give our enemies the +advantage, and our friends the scandal, of showing that, few as +we are, we are not united. And forgive me if I add, that the +names of the ladies who have been mentioned, crave more respect +from us all than to be made themes of discord.' + +He took Fergus a little apart, and spoke to him very earnestly +for two or three minutes, and then returning to Waverley, said-- +'I believe I have satisfied Colonel Mac-Ivor that his resentment +was founded upon a misconception, to which, indeed, I myself gave +rise; and I trust Mr. Waverley is too generous to harbour any +recollection of what is past, when I assure him that such is the +case.--You must state this matter properly to your clan, Vich +Iain Vohr, to prevent a recurrence of their precipitate +violence.' Fergus bowed. 'And now, gentlemen, let me have the +pleasure to see you shake hands.' + +They advanced coldly, and with measured steps, each apparently +reluctant to appear most forward in concession. They did, +however, shake hands, and parted, taking a respectful leave of +the Chevalier. Charles Edward [See Note 31.] then rode to the +head of the Mac-Ivors, threw himself from his horse, begged a +drink out of old Ballenkeiroch's canteen, and marched about half +a mile along with them, inquiring into the history and connexions +of Sliochd nan Ivor, adroitly using the few words of Gaelic he +possessed, and affecting a great desire to learn it more +thoroughly. He then mounted his horse once more, and galloped to +the Baron's cavalry, which was in front; halted them, and +examined their accoutrements and state of discipline; took notice +of the principal gentlemen, and even of the cadets; inquired +after their ladies, and commended their horses;--rode about an +hour with the Baron of Bradwardine, and endured three long +stories about Field-Marshal the Duke of Berwick. + +'Ah, Beaujeu, mon cher ami,' said he as he returned to his usual +place in the line of march, 'que mon metier de prince errant est +ennuyant, par fois. Mais, courage! c'est le grand jeu, apres +tout.' + + + +CHAPTER LIX + +A SKIRMISH + +The reader need hardly be reminded, that, after a council of war +held at Derby on the 5th of December, the Highlanders +relinquished their desperate attempt to penetrate farther into +England, and, greatly to the dissatisfaction of their young and +daring leader, positively determined to return northward. They +commenced their retreat accordingly, and by the extreme celerity +of their movements, outstripped the motions of the Duke of +Cumberland, who now pursued them with a very large body of +cavalry. + +This retreat was a virtual resignation of their towering hopes. +None had been so sanguine as Fergus Mac-Ivor; none, consequently, +was so cruelly mortified at the change of measures. He argued, +or rather remonstrated, with the utmost vehemence at the council +of war; and, when his opinion was rejected, shed tears of grief +and indignation. From that moment his whole manner was so much +altered, that he could scarcely have been recognized for the same +soaring and ardent spirit, for whom the whole earth seemed too +narrow but a week before. The retreat had continued for several +days, when Edward, to his surprise, early on the 12th of +December, received a visit from the Chieftain in his quarters, in +a hamlet about half way between Shap and Penrith. + +Having had no intercourse with the Chieftain since their rupture, +Edward waited with some anxiety an explanation of this unexpected +visit; nor could he help being surprised, and somewhat shocked, +with the change in his appearance. His eye had lost much of its +fire; his cheek was hollow, his voice was languid; even his gait +seemed less firm and elastic than it was wont; and his dress, to +which he used to be particularly attentive, was now carelessly +flung about him. He invited Edward to walk out with him by the +little river in the vicinity; and smiled in a melancholy manner +when he observed him take down and buckle on his sword. + +As soon as they were in a wild sequestered path by the side of +the stream, the Chief broke out,--'Our fine adventure is now +totally ruined, Waverley, and I wish to know what you intend to +do:--nay, never stare at me, man. I tell you I received a packet +from my sister yesterday, and, had I got the information it +contains sooner, it would have prevented a quarrel, which I am +always vexed when I think of. In a letter written after our +dispute, I acquainted her with the cause of it; and she now +replies to me, that she never had, nor could have, any purpose of +giving you encouragement; so that it seems I have acted like a +madman. Poor Flora! she writes in high spirits; what a change +will the news of this unhappy retreat make in her state of mind!' + +Waverley, who was really much affected by the deep tone of +melancholy with which Fergus spoke, affectionately entreated him +to banish from his remembrance any unkindness which had arisen +between them, and they once more shook hands, but now with +sincere cordiality. Fergus again inquired of Waverley what he +intended to do. 'Had you not better leave this luckless army, +and get down before us into Scotland, and embark for the +Continent from some of the eastern ports that are still in our +possession? When you are out of the kingdom, your friends will +easily negotiate your pardon; and, to tell you the truth, I wish +you would carry Rose Bradwardine with you as your wife, and take +Flora also under your joint protection.' Edward looked surprised +--'She loves you, and I believe you love her, though, perhaps, +you have not found it out, for you are not celebrated for knowing +your own mind very pointedly.' He said this with a sort of +smile. + +'How!' answered Edward,' can you advise me to desert the +expedition in which we are all embarked?' + +'Embarked?' said Fergus; 'the vessel is going to pieces, and it +is full time for all who can, to get into the long-boat and leave +her.' + +'Why, what will other gentlemen do?' answered Waverley, 'and why +did the Highland chiefs consent to this retreat, if it is so +ruinous?' + +'Oh,' replied Mac-Ivor, 'they think that, as on former occasions, +the heading, hanging, and forfeiting, will chiefly fall to the +lot of the Lowland gentry; that they will be left secure in their +poverty and their fastnesses, there, according to their proverb, +"to listen to the wind upon the hill till the waters abate." But +they will be disappointed; they have been too often troublesome +to be so repeatedly passed over, and this time John Bull has been +too heartily frightened to recover his good humour for some time. +The Hanoverian ministers always deserved to be hanged for +rascals; but now, if they get the power in their hands,--as, +sooner or later, they must, since there is neither rising in +England nor assistance from France,--they will deserve the +gallows as fools, if they leave a single clan in the Highlands in +a situation to be again troublesome to Government. Aye, they +will make root-and-branch work, I warrant them.' + +'And while you recommend flight to me,' said Edward,--'a counsel +which I would rather die than embrace,--what are your own views?' + +'Oh,' answered Fergus, with a melancholy air, 'my fate is +settled. Dead or captive I must be before to-morrow.' + +'What do you mean by that, my friend?' said Edward. 'The enemy +is still a day's march in our rear, and if he comes up, we are +still strong enough to keep him in check. Remember Gladsmuir.' + +'What I tell you is true notwithstanding, so far as I am +individually concerned.' + +'Upon what authority can you found so melancholy a prediction?' +asked Waverley. + +'On one which never failed a person of my house. I have seen,' +he said, lowering his voice, 'I have seen the Bodach Glas.' + +'Bodach Glas?' + +'Yes: have you been so long at Glennaquoich, and never heard of +the Grey Spectre? though indeed there is a certain reluctance +among us to mention him.' + +'No, never.' + +'Ah! it would have been a tale for poor Flora to have told you. +Or, if that hill were Benmore, and that long blue lake, which you +see just winding towards yon mountainous country, were Loch Tay, +or my own Loch an Ri, the tale would be better suited with +scenery. However, let us sit down on this knell; even Saddleback +and Ullswater will suit what I have to say better than the +English hedgerows, enclosures, and farm-houses. You must know, +then, that when my ancestor, Ian nan Chaistel, wasted +Northumberland, there was associated with him in the expedition a +sort of Southland Chief, or captain of a band of Low-landers, +called Halbert Hall. In their return through the Cheviots, they +quarrelled about the division of the great booty they had +acquired, and came from words to blows. The Lowlanders were cut +off to a man, and their chief fell the last, covered with wounds +by the sword of my ancestor, Since that time, his spirit has +crossed the Vich Ian Vohr of the day when any great disaster was +impending, but especially before approaching death. My father +saw him twice; once before he was made prisoner at Sheriff-Muir; +another time, on the morning of the day on which he died.' + +'How can you, my dear Fergus, tell such nonsense with a grave +face?' + +'I do not ask you to believe it; but I tell you the truth, +ascertained by three hundred years' experience at least, and last +night by my own eyes.' + +'The particulars, for Heaven's sake!' said Waverley, with +eagerness. + +'I will, on condition you will not attempt a jest on the +subject.--Since this unhappy retreat commenced, I have scarce +ever been able to sleep for thinking of my clan, and of this poor +Prince, whom they are leading back like a dog in a string, +whether he will or no, and of the downfall of my family. Last +night I felt so feverish that I left my quarters, and walked out, +in hopes the keen frosty air would brace my nerves--I cannot tell +how much I dislike going on, for I know you will hardly believe +me. However--I crossed a small footbridge, and kept walking +backwards and forwards, when I observed with surprise, by the +clear moonlight, a tall figure in a grey plaid, such as shepherds +wear in the south of Scotland, which, move at what pace I would, +kept regularly about four yards before me.' + +'You saw a Cumberland peasant in his ordinary dress, probably.' + +'No: I thought so at first, and was astonished at the man's +audacity in daring to dog me. I called to him but received no +answer. I felt an anxious throbbing at my heart; and to +ascertain what I dreaded, I stood still, and turned myself on the +same spot successively to the four points of the compass--By +Heaven, Edward, turn where I would, the figure was instantly +before my eyes, at precisely the same distance! I was then +convinced it was the Bodach Glas. My hair bristled, and my knees +shook. I manned myself, however, and determined to return to my +quarters. My ghastly visitant glided before me (for I cannot say +he walked), until he reached the footbridge: there he stopped, +and turned full round. I must either wade the river, or pass him +as close as I am to you. A desperate courage, founded on the +belief that my death was near, made me resolve to make my way in +despite of him. I made the sign of the cross, drew my sword, and +uttered, "In the name of God, Evil Spirit, give place!" "Vich +Ian Vohr," it said, in a voice that made my very blood curdle, +"beware of to-morrow!" It seemed at that moment not half a yard +from my sword's point; but the words were no sooner spoken than +it was gone, and nothing appeared further to obstruct my passage. +I got home, and threw myself on my bed, where I spent a few hours +heavily enough; and this morning, as no enemy was reported to be +near us, I took my horse, and rode forward to make up matters +with you. I would not willingly fall until I am in charity with +a wronged friend.' + +Edward had little doubt that this phantom was the operation of an +exhausted frame and depressed spirits, working on the belief +common to all Highlanders in such superstitions. He did not the +less pity Fergus, for whom, in his present distress, he felt all +his former regard revive. With the view of diverting his mind +from these gloomy images, he offered with the Baron's permission, +which he knew he could readily obtain, to remain in his quarters +till Fergus's corps should come up, and then to march with them +as usual. The Chief seemed much pleased, yet hesitated to accept +the offer. + +'We are, you know, in the rear,--the post of danger in a +retreat.' + +'And therefore the post of honour.' + +'Well,' replied the Chieftain, 'let Alick have your horse in +readiness, in case we should be over-matched, and I shall be +delighted to have your company once more.' + +The rearguard were late in making their appearance, having been +delayed by various accidents and by the badness of the roads. At +length they entered the hamlet. When Waverley joined the clan +Mac-Ivor, arm in arm with their Chieftain, all the resentment +they had entertained against him seemed blown off at once. Evan +Dhu received him with a grin of congratulation; and even Callum, +who was running about as active as ever, pale indeed, and with a +great patch on his head, appeared delighted to see him. + +'That gallows-bird's skull,' said Fergus, 'must be harder than +marble: the lock of the pistol was actually broken.' + +'How could you strike so young a lad so hard?' said Waverley, +with some interest. + +'Why, if I did not strike hard sometimes, the rascals would +forget themselves.' + +They were now in full march, every caution being taken to prevent +surprise. Fergus's people, and a fine clan regiment from +Badenoch, commanded by Cluny Mac-Pherson, had the rear. They had +passed a large open moor, and were entering into the enclosures +which surround a small village called Clifton. The winter sun +had set, and Edward began to rally Fergus upon the false +predictions of the Grey Spirit. 'The Ides of March are not +past,' said Mac-Ivor, with a smile; when, suddenly casting his +eyes back on the moor, a large body of cavalry was indistinctly +seen to hover upon its brown and dark surface. To line the +enclosures facing the open ground, and the road by which the +enemy must move from it upon the village, was the work of a short +time. While these manoeuvres were accomplishing, night sunk +down, dark and gloomy, though the moon was at full. Sometimes, +however, she gleamed forth a dubious light upon the scene of +action. + +The Highlanders did not remain long undisturbed in the defensive +position they had adopted. Favoured by the night, one large body +of dismounted dragoons attempted to force the enclosures, while +another, equally strong, strove to penetrate by the high road. +Both were received by such a heavy fire as disconcerted their +ranks, and effectually checked their progress. Unsatisfied with +the advantage thus gained, Fergus, to whose ardent spirit the +approach of danger seemed to restore all ifs elasticity, drawing +his sword, and calling out 'Claymore!' encouraged his men, by +voice and example, to break through the hedge which divided them, +and rush down upon the enemy. Mingling with the dismounted +dragoons, they forced them, at the sword-point, to fly to the +open moor, where a considerable number were cut to pieces. But +the moon, which suddenly shone out, showed to the English the +small number of assailants, disordered by their own success. Two +squadrons of horse moving to the support of their companions, the +Highlanders endeavoured to recover the enclosures. But several +of them, amongst others their brave Chieftain, were cut off and +surrounded before they could effect their purpose. Waverley, +looking eagerly for Fergus, from whom, as well as from the +retreating body of his followers, he had been separated in the +darkness and tumult, saw him, with Evan Dhu and Callum, defending +themselves desperately against a dozen of horsemen, who were +hewing at them with their long broadswords. The moon was again +at that moment totally overclouded, and Edward, in the obscurity, +could neither bring aid to his friends, nor discover which way +lay his own road to rejoin the rear-guard. After once or twice +narrowly escaping being slain or made prisoner by parties of the +cavalry whom he encountered in the darkness, he at length reached +an enclosure, and clambering over it, concluded himself in +safety, and on the way to the Highland forces, whose pipes he +heard at some distance. For Fergus hardly a hope remained, +unless that he might be made prisoner. Revolving his fate with +sorrow and anxiety, the superstition of the Bodach Glas recurred +to Edward's recollection, and he said to himself, with internal +surprise, 'What, can the devil speak truth?' [See Note 32.] + + + +CHAPTER LX + +CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS + +Edward was in a most unpleasant and dangerous situation. He soon +lost the sound of the bagpipes; and, what was yet more +unpleasant, when, after searching long in vain, and scrambling +through many enclosures, he at length approached the high road, +he learned, from the unwelcome noise of kettledrums and trumpets, +that the English cavalry now occupied it, and consequently were +between him and the Highlanders. Precluded, therefore, from +advancing in a straight direction, he resolved to avoid the +English military, and endeavour to join his friends by making a +circuit to the left, for which a beaten path deviating from the +main road in that direction seemed to afford facilities. The +path was muddy, and the night dark and cold; but even these +inconveniences were hardly felt amidst the apprehensions which +falling into the hands of the King's forces reasonably excited in +his bosom. + +After walking about three miles, he at length reached a hamlet. +Conscious that the common people were in general unfavourable to +the cause he had espoused, yet desirous, if possible, to procure +a horse and guide to Penrith, where he hoped to find the rear, if +not the main body, of the Chevalier's army, he approached the +ale-house of the place. There was a great noise within: he +paused to listen. A round English oath or two, and the burden of +a campaign song, convinced him the hamlet also was occupied by +the Duke of Cumberland's soldiers. Endeavouring to retire from +it as softly as possible, and blessing the obscurity which +hitherto he had murmured against, Waverley groped his way the +best he could along a small paling, which seemed the boundary of +some cottage garden. As he reached the gate of this little +enclosure, his outstretched hand was grasped by that of a female, +whose voice at the same time uttered, 'Edward, is't thou, man?' + +'Here is some unlucky mistake,' thought Edward, struggling, but +gently, to disengage himself. + +'Naen o' thy foun, now; man, or the red cwoats will hear thee; +they hae been houlerying and poulerying every ane that past +alehouse door this noight to make them drive their wagons and +sick loike. Come into feyther's, or they'll do ho a mischief.' + +'A good hint,' thought Waverley, following the girl through the +little garden into a brick-paved kitchen, where she set herself +to kindle a match at an expiring fire, and with the match to +light a candle. She had no sooner looked on Edward than she +dropped the light, with a shrill scream of 'O feyther! feyther!' + +The father, thus invoked, speedily appeared, a sturdy old farmer, +in a pair of leather breeches, and boots pulled on without +stockings, having just started from his bed;--the rest of his +dress was only a Westmoreland statesman's robe-de-chambre,--that +is, his shirt. His figure was displayed to advantage, by a +candle which he bore in his left hand ; in his right he +brandished a poker. + +What hast ho here, wench?' + +'Oh!' cried the poor girl, almost going off in hysterics, I +thought it was Ned Williams, and it is one of the plaid-men!' + +'And what was thee ganging to do wi' Ned Williams at this time o' +noight?' To this, which was, perhaps, one of the numerous class +of questions more easily asked than answered, the rosy-cheeked +damsel made no reply, but continued sobbing and wringing her +hands. + +'And thee, lad, dost ho know that the dragoons be a town? Dost +ho know that, mon?--ad, they'll sliver thee like a turnip, mon.' + +'I know my life is in great danger,' said Waverley, 'but if you +can assist me, I will reward you handsomely, I am no Scotchman, +but an unfortunate English gentleman.' + +'Be ho Scot or no,' said the honest farmer, 'I wish thou hadst +kept the other side of the hallan. But since thou art here, +Jacob Jopson will betray no man's bluid; and the plaids were gay +canny, and did not so much mischief when they were here +yesterday.' Accordingly, he set seriously about sheltering and +refreshing our hero for the night, The fire was speedily +rekindled, but with precaution against its light being seen from +without. The jolly yeoman cut a rasher of bacon, which Cicely +soon broiled, and her father added a swingeing tankard of his +best ale. It was settled, that Edward should remain there till +the troops marched in the morning, then hire or buy a horse from +the farmer, and, with the best directions that could be obtained, +endeavour to overtake his friends. A clean, though coarse bed, +received him after the fatigues of this unhappy day. + +With the morning arrived the news that the Highlanders had +evacuated Penrith, and marched off towards Carlisle; that the +Duke of Cumberland was in possession of Penrith, and that +detachments of his army covered the roads in every direction. To +attempt to get through undiscovered, would be an act of the most +frantic temerity. Ned Williams (the right Edward) was now called +to council by Cicely and her father, Ned, who perhaps did not +care that his handsome namesake should remain too long in the +same house with his sweetheart, for fear of fresh mistakes, +proposed that Waverley, exchanging his uniform and plaid for the +dress of the country, should go with him to his father's farm +near Ullswater, and remain in that undisturbed retirement until +the military movements in the country should have ceased to +render his departure hazardous. A price was also agreed upon, at +which the stranger might board with Farmer Williams, if he +thought proper, till he could depart with safety. It was of +moderate amount; the distress of his situation, among this honest +and simple-hearted race, being considered as no reason for +increasing their demand. + +The necessary articles of dress were accordingly procured; and, +by following by-paths, known to the young farmer, they hoped to +escape any unpleasant rencontre, A recompense for their +hospitality was refused peremptorily by old Jopson and his +cherry-cheeked daughter; a kiss paid the one, and a hearty shake +of the hand the other. Both seemed anxious for their guest's +safety, and took leave of him with kind wishes, + +In the course of their route, Edward, with his guide, traversed +those fields which the night before had been the scene of action. +A brief gleam of December's sun shone sadly on the broad heath, +which, towards the spot where the great north-west road entered +the enclosures of Lord Lonsdale's property, exhibited dead bodies +of men and horses, and the usual companions of war--a number of +carrion-crows, hawks, and ravens. + +'And this, then, was thy last field,' said Waverley to himself, +his eye filling at the recollection of the many splendid points +of Fergus's character, and of their former intimacy, all his +passions and imperfections forgotten.--'Here fell the last Vich +Ian Vohr, on a nameless heath; and in an obscure night-skirmish +was quenched that ardent spirit, who thought it little to cut a +way for his master to the British throne! Ambition, policy, +bravery, all far beyond their sphere, here learned the fate of +mortals, The sole support, too, of a sister, whose spirit, as +proud and unbending, was even more exalted than thine own; here +ended all thy hopes for Flora, and the long and valued line which +it was thy boast to raise yet more highly by thy adventurous +valour!' + +As these ideas pressed on Waverley's mind, he resolved to go upon +the open heath, and search if, among the slain, he could discover +the body of his friend, with the pious intention of procuring for +him the last rites of sepulture. The timorous young man who +accompanied him remonstrated upon the danger of the attempt, but +Edward was determined. The followers of the camp had already +stripped the dead of all they could carry away; but the country +people, unused to scenes of blood, had not yet approached the +field of action, though some stood fearfully gazing at a +distance. About sixty or seventy dragoons lay slain within the +first enclosure, upon the high road, and on the open moor. Of +the Highlanders, not above a dozen had fallen, chiefly those who, +venturing too far on the moor, could not regain the strong +ground. He could not find the body of Fergus among the slain. +On a little knell, separated from the others, lay the carcasses +of three English dragoons, two horses, and the page Callum Beg, +whose hard skull a trooper's broadsword had, at length, +effectually cloven. It was possible his clan had carried off the +body of Fergus; but it was also possible he had escaped, +especially as Evan Dhu, who would never leave his Chief, was not +found among the dead; or he might be prisoner, and the less +formidable denunciation inferred from the appearance of the +Bodach Glas might have proved the true one. The approach of a +party, sent for the purpose of compelling the country people to +bury the dead, and who had already assembled several peasants for +that purpose, now obliged Edward to rejoin his guide, who awaited +him in great anxiety and fear under shade of the plantations. + +After leaving this field of death, the rest of their journey was +happily accomplished. At the house of Farmer Williams, Edward +passed for a young kinsman, educated for the church, who was come +to reside there till the civil tumults permitted him to pass +through the country. This silenced suspicion among the kind and +simple yeomanry of Cumberland, and accounted sufficiently for the +grave manners and retired habits of the new guest, The precaution +became more necessary than Waverley had anticipated, as a variety +of incidents prolonged his stay at Fasthwaite, as the farm was +called. + +A tremendous fall of snow rendered his departure impossible for +more than ten days. When the roads began to become a little +practicable, they successively received news of the retreat of +the Chevalier into Scotland; then, that he had abandoned the +frontiers, retiring upon Glasgow; and that the Duke of Cumberland +had formed the siege of Carlisle. His army, therefore, cut off +all possibility of Waverley's escaping into Scotland in that +direction. On the eastern border, Marshal Wade, with a large +force, was advancing upon Edinburgh; and all along the frontier, +parties of militia, volunteers, and partisans, were in arms to +suppress insurrection, and apprehend such stragglers from the +Highland army as had been left in England, The surrender of +Carlisle, and the severity with which the rebel garrison were +threatened, soon formed an additional reason against venturing +upon a solitary and hopeless journey through a hostile country +and a large army, to carry the assistance of a single sword to a +cause which seemed altogether desperate. + +In this lonely and secluded situation, without the advantage of +company or conversation with men of cultivated minds, the +arguments of Colonel Talbot often recurred to the mind of our +hero. A still more anxious recollection haunted his slumbers--it +was the dying look and gesture of Colonel Gardiner. Most +devoutly did he hope, as the rarely occurring post brought news +of skirmishes with various success, that it might never again be +his lot to draw his sword in civil conflict. Then his mind +turned to the supposed death of Fergus, to the desolate situation +of Flora, and, with yet more tender recollection, to that of Rose +Bradwardine, who was destitute of the devoted enthusiasm of +loyalty, which, to her friend, hallowed and exalted misfortune. +These reveries he was permitted to enjoy, undisturbed by queries +or interruption;--and it was in many a winter walk by the shores +of Ullswater, that he acquired a more complete mastery of a +spirit tamed by adversity than his former experience had given +him; and that he felt himself entitled to say firmly, though +perhaps with a sigh, that the romance of his life was ended, and +that its real history had now commenced. He was soon called upon +to justify his pretensions by reason and philosophy. + + + +CHAPTER LXI + +A JOURNEY TO LONDON + +The family at Fasthwaite were soon attached to Edward. He had, +indeed, that gentleness and urbanity which almost universally +attracts corresponding kindness; and to their simple ideas his +learning gave him consequence, and his sorrows interest. The +last he ascribed, evasively, to the loss of a brother in the +skirmish near Clifton; and in that primitive state of society, +where the ties of affection were highly deemed of, his continued +depression excited sympathy, but not surprise. + +In the end of January, his more lively powers were called out by +the happy union of Edward Williams, the son of his host, with +Cicely Jopson. Our hero would not cloud with sorrow the +festivity attending the wedding of two persons to whom he was so +highly obliged. He therefore exerted himself, danced, sang, +played at the various games of the day, and was the blithest of +the company. The next morning, however, he had more serious +matters to think of. + +The clergyman who had married the young couple was so much +pleased with the supposed student of divinity, that he came next +day from Penrith on purpose to pay him a visit. This might have +been a puzzling chapter had he entered into any examination of +our hero's supposed theological studies; but fortunately he loved +better to hear and communicate the news of the day. He brought +with him two or three old newspapers, in one of which Edward +found a piece of intelligence that soon rendered him deaf to +every word which the Reverend Mr. Twigtythe was saying upon the +news from the north, and the prospect of the Duke's speedily +overtaking and crushing the rebels. This was an article in +these, or nearly these words: + +'Died at his house, in Hill street, Berkeley Square, upon the +10th inst., Richard Waverley, Esq., second son of Sir Giles +Waverley of Waverley-Honour, &c. &c. He died of a lingering +disorder, augmented by the unpleasant predicament of suspicion in +which he stood, having been obliged to find bail to a high +amount, to meet an impending accusation of high-treason. An +accusation of the same grave crime hangs over his elder brother, +Sir Everard Waverley, the representative of that ancient family; +and we understand the day of his trial will be fixed early in the +next month, unless Edward Waverley, son of the deceased Richard, +and heir to the Baronet, shall surrender himself to justice. In +that case, we are assured it is his Majesty's gracious purpose to +drop further proceedings upon the charge against Sir Everard. +This unfortunate young gentleman is ascertained to have been in +arms in the Pretender's service, and to have marched along with +the Highland troops into England. But he has not been heard of +since the skirmish at Clifton, on the 18th December last.' + +Such was this distracting paragraph.--'Good God!' exclaimed +Waverley, 'am I then a parricide?--Impossible! My father, who +never showed the affection of a father while he lived, cannot +have been so much affected by my supposed death as to hasten his +own. No, I will not believe it,--it were distraction to +entertain for a moment such a horrible idea. But it were, if +possible, worse than parricide to suffer any danger to hang over +my noble and generous uncle, who has ever been more to me than a +father, if such evil can be averted by any sacrifice on my part!' + +While these reflections passed like the stings of scorpions +through Waverley's sensorium, the worthy divine was startled in a +long disquisition on the battle of Falkirk by the ghastliness +which they communicated to his looks, and asked him if he was +ill. Fortunately the bride, all smirk and blush, had just +entered the room. Mrs. Williams was none of the brightest of +women, but she was good-natured, and readily concluding that +Edward had been shocked by disagreeable news in the papers, +interfered so judiciously, that, without exciting suspicion, she +drew off Mr. Twigtythe's attention, and engaged it until he soon +after took his leave. Waverley then explained to his friends, +that he was under the necessity of going to London with as little +delay as possible. + +One cause of delay, however, did occur, to which Waverley had +been very little accustomed. His purse, though well stocked when +he first went to Tully-Veolan, had not been reinforced since that +period; and although his life since had not been of a nature to +exhaust it hastily (for he had lived chiefly with his friends or +with the army), yet he found, that, after settling with his kind +landlord, he should be too poor to encounter the expense of +travelling post. The best course, therefore, seemed to be, to +get into the great north road about Boroughbridge, and there take +a place in the Northern Diligence,--a huge old-fashioned tub, +drawn by three horses, which completed the journey from Edinburgh +to London (God willing, as the advertisement expressed it) in +three weeks. Our hero, therefore, took an affectionate farewell +of his Cumberland friends, whose kindness he promised never to +forget, and tacitly hoped one day to acknowledge by substantial +proofs of gratitude. After some petty difficulties and vexatious +delays, and after putting his dress into a shape better befitting +his rank, though perfectly plain and simple, he accomplished +crossing the country, and found himself in the desired vehicle, +VIS-A-VIS to Mrs. Nosebag, the lady of Lieutenant Nosebag, +adjutant and riding-master of the -- dragoons, a jolly woman of +about fifty, wearing a blue habit, faced with scarlet, and +grasping a silver-mounted horsewhip. + +This lady was one of those active members of society who take +upon them FAIRE LE FRAIS DE CONVERSATION. She had just returned +from the north, and informed Edward how nearly her regiment had +cut the petticoat people into ribands at Falkirk, 'only somehow +there was one of those nasty, awkward marshes, that they are +never without in ScotIand, I think, and so our poor dear little +regiment suffered something, as my Nosebag says, in that +unsatisfactory affair. You, sir, have served in the dragoons?' +Waverley was taken so much at unawares, that he acquiesced. + +'Oh, I knew it at once; I saw you were military from your air, +and I was sure you could be none of the foot-wobblers, as my +Nosebag calls them. What regiment, pray?' Here was a delightful +question. Waverley, however, justly concluded that this good +lady had the whole army-list by heart; and, to avoid detection by +adhering to truth, answered--'Gardiner's dragoons, ma'am; but I +have retired some time.' + +'Oh aye, those as won the race at the battle of Preston, as my +Nosebag says. Pray, sir, were you there?' + +'I was so unfortunate, madam,' he replied, 'as to witness that +engagement.' + +'And that was a misfortune that few of Gardiner's stood to +witness, I believe, sir--ha! ha! ha!--I beg your pardon; but a +soldier's wife loves a joke.' + +'Devil confound you!' thought Waverley; 'what infernal luck has +penned me up with this inquisitive bag!' + +Fortunately the good lady did not stick long to one subject. 'We +are coming to Ferrybridge, now,' she said, 'where there was a +party of OURS left to support the beadles, and constables, and +justices, and these sort of creatures that are examining papers +and stopping rebels, and all that.' They were hardly in the inn +before she dragged Waverley to the window, exclaiming, 'Yonder +comes Corporal Bridoon, of our poor dear troop; he's coming with +the constable man: Bridoon's one of my lambs, as Nosebag calls +'em. Come, Mr. --a--a--pray, what 's your name, sir?' + +'Butler, ma'am,' said Waverley, resolved rather to make free with +the name of a former fellow officer, than run the risk of +detection by inventing one not to be found in the regiment. + +'Oh, you got a troop lately, when that shabby fellow, Waverley, +went over to the rebels. Lord, I wish our old cross Captain +Crump would go over to the rebels, that Nosebag might get the +troop!--Lord, what can Bridoon be standing swinging on the bridge +for? I'll be hanged if he a'nt hazy, as Nosebag says.--Come, +sir, as you and I belong to the service, we'll go put the rascal +in mind of his duty.' + +Waverley, with feelings more easily conceived than described, saw +himself obliged to follow this doughty female commander. The +gallant trooper was as like a lamb as a drunk corporal of +dragoons, about six feet high, with very broad shoulders, and +very thin legs, not to mention a great scar across his nose, +could well be. Mrs. Nosebag addressed him with something which, +if not an oath, sounded very like one, and commanded him to +attend to his duty. 'You be d--d for a--,' commenced the gallant +cavalier; but, looking up in order to suit the action to the +words, and also to enforce the epithet which he meditated, with +an adjective applicable to the party, he recognized the speaker, +made his military salaam, and altered his tone.--'Lord love your +handsome face, Madam Nosebag, is it you? Why, if a poor fellow +does happen to fire a slug of a morning, I am sure you were never +the lady to bring him to harm.' + +'Well, you rascallion, go, mind your duty; this gentleman and I +belong to the service; but be sure you look after that shy cock +in the slouched hat that sits in the corner of the coach. I +believe he's one of the rebels in disguise.' + +'D--n her gooseberry wig!' said the corporal, when she was out +of hearing. 'That gimlet-eyed jade--mother adjutant, as we call +her--is a greater plague to the regiment than prevot-marshal, +sergeant-major, and old Hubble-de-Shuff the colonel into the +bargain.--Come, Master Constable, let's see if this shy cock, as +she calls him' (who, by the way, was a Quaker from Leeds, with +whom Mrs. Nosebag had had some tart argument on the legality of +bearing arms), 'will stand godfather to a sup of brandy, for your +Yorkshire ale is cold on my stomach.' + +The vivacity of this good lady, as it helped Edward out of this +scrape, was like to have drawn him into one or two others. In +every town where they stopped, she wished to examine the CORPS DE +GARDE, if there was one, and once very narrowly missed +introducing Waverley to a recruiting-sergeant of his own +regiment. Then she Captain'd and Butler'd him till he was almost +mad with vexation and anxiety; and never was he more rejoiced in +his life at the termination of a journey, than when the arrival +of the coach in London freed him from the attentions of Madam +Nosebag. + + + +CHAPTER LXII + +WHAT'S TO BE DONE NEXT? + +It was twilight when they arrived in town; and having shaken off +his companions, and walked through a good many streets to avoid +the possibility of being traced by them, Edward took a hackney- +coach and drove to Colonel Talbot's house, in one of the +principal squares at the west end of the town. That gentleman, +by the death of relations, had succeeded since his marriage to a +large fortune, possessed considerable political interest, and +lived in what is called great style. + +When Waverley knocked at his door, he found it at first difficult +to procure admittance, but at length was shown into an apartment +where the Colonel was at table. Lady Emily, whose very beautiful +features were still pallid from indisposition, sat opposite to +him. The instant he heard Waverley's voice, he started up and +embraced him. 'Frank Stanley, my dear boy, how d'ye do?--Emily, +my love, this is young Stanley.' + +The blood started to the lady's cheek as she gave Waverley a +reception, in which courtesy was mingled with kindness, while her +trembling hand and faltering voice showed how much she was +startled and discomposed. Dinner was hastily replaced, and while +Waverley was engaged in refreshing himself, the Colonel +proceeded--'I wonder you have come here, Frank; the doctors tell +me the air of London is very bad for your complaints. You should +not have risked it. But I am delighted to see you, and so is +Emily, though I fear we must not reckon upon your staying long.' + +'Some particular business brought me up,' muttered Waverley. + +'I supposed so, but I sha'n't allow you to stay long.--Spontoon' +(to an elderly military-looking servant out of livery), 'take +away these things, and answer the bell yourself, if I ring. +Don't let any of the other fellows disturb us.--My nephew and I +have business to talk of.' + +When the servants had retired, 'In the name of God, Waverley, +what has brought you here? It may be as much as your life is +worth.' + +'Dear Mr. Waverley,' said Lady Emily,' to whom I owe so much more +than acknowledgements can ever pity, how could you be so rash?' + +'My father--my uncle--this paragraph,'--he handed the paper to +Colonel Talbot. + +'I wish to Heaven' these scoundrels were condemned to be squeezed +to death in their own presses,' said Talbot. 'I am told there +are not less than a dozen of their papers now published in town, +and no wonder that they are obliged to invent lies to find sale +for their journals. It is true, however, my dear Edward, that +you have lost your father; but as to this flourish of his +unpleasant situation having grated upon his spirits, and hurt his +health--the truth is--for though it is harsh to say so now, yet +it will relieve your mind from the idea of weighty +responsibility--the truth then is, that Mr. Richard Waverley, +through this whole business, showed great want of sensibility, +both to your situation and that of your uncle; and the last time +I saw him, he told me, with great glee, that, as I was so good as +to take charge of your interests, he had thought it best to patch +up a separate negotiation for himself, and make his peace with +Government through some channels which former connexions left +still open to him.' + +'And my uncle--my dear uncle?' + +'Is in no danger whatever. It is true' (looking at the date of +the paper) 'there was a foolish report some time ago to the +purport here quoted, but it is entirely false. Sir Everard is +gone down to Waverley-Honour, freed from all uneasiness, unless +upon your own account. But you are in peril yourself--your name +is in every proclamation--warrants are out to apprehend you. How +and when did you come here?' + +Edward told his story at length, suppressing his quarrel with +Fergus; for being himself partial to Highlanders, he did not wish +to give any advantage to the Colonel's national prejudice against +them. + +'Are you sure it was your friend Glen's footboy you saw dead in +Clifton Moor?' + +'Quite positive.' + +'Then that little limb of the devil has cheated the gallows, for +cut-throat was written in his face; though' (turning to Lady +Emily) 'it was a very handsome face too.--But for you, Edward, I +wish you would go down again to Cumberland, or rather I wish you +had never stirred from thence, for there is an embargo on all the +seaports, and a strict search for the adherents of the Pretender; +and the tongue of that confounded woman will wag in her head like +the clack of a mill, till somehow or other she will detect +Captain Butler to be a feigned personage,' + +'Do you know anything,' asked Waverley, 'of my fellow traveller?' + +'Her husband was my sergeant-major for six years; she was a buxom +widow, with a little money--he married her--was steady, and got +on by being a good drill. I must send Spontoon to see what she +is about; he will find her out among the old regimental +connexions. To-morrow you must be indisposed, and keep your room +from fatigue. Lady Emily is to be your nurse, and Spontoon and I +your attendants. You bear the name of a near relation of mine, +whom none of my present people ever saw, except Spontoon; so +there will be no immediate danger. So pray feel your head ache +and your eyes grow heavy as soon as possible, that you may be put +upon the sick list; and, Emily, do you order an apartment for +Frank Stanley, with all the attention which an invalid may +require.' + +In the morning the Colonel visited his guest.--'Now,' said he, 'I +have some good news for you. Your reputation as a gentleman and +officer is effectually cleared of neglect of duty, and accession +to the mutiny in Gardiner's regiment. I have had a +correspondence on this subject with a very zealous friend of +yours, your Scottish parson, Morton; his first letter was +addressed to Sir Everard; but I relieved the good Baronet of the +trouble of answering it. You must know, that your freebooting +acquaintance; Donald of the Cave, has at length fallen into the +hands of the Philistines. He was driving off the cattle of a +certain proprietor, called Killan--something or other--' + +'Killancureit?' + +'The same. Now, the gentleman being, it seems, a great farmer, +and having a special value for his breed of cattle--being, +moreover, rather of a timid disposition, had got a party of +soldiers to protect his property. So Donald ran his head +unawares into the lion's mouth, and was defeated and made +prisoner. Being ordered for execution, his conscience was +assailed on the one hand by a Catholic priest,--on the other by +your friend Morton. He repulsed the Catholic chiefly on account +of the doctrine of extreme unction, which this economical +gentleman considered as an excessive waste of oil. So his +conversion from a state of impenitence fell to Mr. Morton's +share, who, I dare say, acquitted himself excellently, though, I +suppose, Donald made but a queer kind of Christian after all. He +confessed, however, before a magistrate--one Major Melville, who +seems to have been a correct, friendly sort of person--his full +intrigue with Houghton, explaining particularly how it was +carried on, and fully acquitting you of the least accession to +it. He also mentioned his rescuing you from the hands of the +volunteer officer, and sending you, by orders of the Pret-- +Chevalier, I mean as a prisoner to Doune, from whence he +understood you were carried prisoner to Edinburgh. These are +particulars which cannot but tell in your favour. He hinted that +he had been employed to deliver and protect you, and rewarded for +doing so; but he would not confess by whom, alleging, that, +though he would not have minded breaking any ordinary oath to +satisfy the curiosity of Mr. Morton, to whose pious admonitions +he owed so much, yet in the present case he had been sworn to +silence upon the edge of his dirk, [See Note 33.] which, it +seems, constituted, in his opinion, an inviolable obligation.' + +'And what has become of him?' + +'Oh, he was hanged at Stirling after the rebels raised the siege, +with his lieutenant, and four plaids besides; he having the +advantage of a gallows more lofty than his friends.' + +'Well, I have little cause either to regret or rejoice at his +death; and yet he has done me both good and harm to a very +considerable extent.' + +His confession, at least, will serve you materially, since it +wipes from your character all those suspicions which gave the +accusation against you a complexion of a nature different from +that with which so many unfortunate gentlemen, now or lately in +arms against the Government, may be justly charged. Their +treason--I must give it its name, though you participate in its +guilt--is an action arising from mistaken virtue, and therefore +cannot be classed as a disgrace, though it be doubtless highly +criminal. Where the guilty are so numerous, clemency must be +extended to far the greater number; and I have little doubt of +procuring a remission for you, provided we can keep you out of +the claws of justice till she has selected and gorged upon her +victims; for in this, as in other cases, it will be according to +the vulgar proverb, 'First come, first served.' Besides, +Government are desirous at present to intimidate the English +Jacobites, among whom they can find few examples for punishment. +This is a vindictive and timid feeling which will soon wear off, +for, of all nations, the English are least bloodthirsty by +nature. But it exists at present, and you must therefore be kept +out of the way in the meantime.' + +Now entered Spontoon with an anxious countenance. By his +regimental acquaintances he had traced out Madam Nosebag, and +found her full of ire, fuss, and fidget, at discovery of an +impostor, who had travelled from the north with her under the +assumed name of Captain Butler of Gardiner's dragoons. She was +going to lodge an information on the subject, to have him sought +for as an emissary of the Pretender; but Spontoon (an old +soldier), while he pretended to approve, contrived to make her +delay her intention. No time, however, was to be lost: the +accuracy of this good dame's description might probably lead to +the discovery that Waverley was the pretended Captain Butler; an +identification fraught with danger to Edward, perhaps to his +uncle, and even to Colonel Talbot. Which way to direct his +course was now, therefore, the question. + +'To Scotland,' said Waverley. + +'To Scotland!' said the Colonel; 'with what purpose?--not to +engage again with the rebels, I hope?' + +'No--I considered my campaign ended, when, after all my efforts, +I could not rejoin them; and now, by all accounts, they are gone +to make a winter campaign in the Highlands, where such adherents +as I am would rather be burdensome than useful. Indeed, it seems +likely that they only prolong the war to place the Chevalier's +person out of danger, and then to make some terms for themselves. +To burden them with my presence would merely add another party, +whom they would not give up, and could not defend. I understand +they left almost all their English adherents in garrison at +Carlisle, for that very reason: and on a more general view, +Colonel, to confess the truth, though it may lower me in your +opinion, I am heartily tired of the trade of war, and am, as +Fletcher's Humorous Lieutenant says, "even as weary of this +fighting"--' + +'Fighting! pooh, what have you seen but a skirmish or two?-Ah! +if you saw war on the grand scale--sixty or a hundred thousand +men in the field on each side!' + +'I am not at all curious, Colonel.--"Enough," says our homely +proverb, "is as good as a feast." The plumed troops and the big +war used to enchant me in poetry; but the night marches, vigils, +couched under the wintry sky, and such accompaniments of the +glorious trade, are not at all to my taste in practice:--then for +dry blows, I had my fill of fighting at Clifton, where I escaped +by a hair's-breadth half a dozen times; and you, I should think +--' He stopped. + +'Had enough of it at Preston? you mean to say,' answered the +Colonel, laughing; 'but, "'tis my vocation, Hal."' + +'It is not mine, though,' said Waverley; 'and having honourably +got rid of the sword, which I drew only as a volunteer, I am +quite satisfied with my military experience, and shall be in no +hurry to take it up again.' + +'I am very glad you are of that mind--but then, what would you do +in the North?' + +'In the first place, there are some seaports on the eastern coast +of Scotland still in the hands of the Chevalier's friends; should +I gain any of them, I can easily embark for the Continent.' + +'Good--your second reason?' + +'Why, to speak the very truth, there is a person in Scotland upon +whom I now find my happiness, depends more than I was always +aware, and about whose situation I am very anxious.' + +'Then Emily was right, and there is a love affair in the case +after all?--And which of these two pretty Scotchwomen, whom you +insisted upon my admiring, is the distinguished fair?--not Miss +Glen--I hope.' + +'No.' + +'Ah, pass for the other: simplicity may be improved, but pride +and conceit never. Well, I don't discourage you; I think it will +please Sir Everard, from what he said when I jested with him +about it; only I hope that intolerable papa, with his brogue, and +his snuff, and his Latin, and his insufferable long stories about +the Duke of Berwick, will find it necessary hereafter to be an +inhabitant of foreign parts. But as to the daughter, though I +think you might find as fitting a match in England, yet if your +heart be really set upon this Scotch rosebud, why, the Baronet +has a great opinion of her father and of his family, and he +wishes much to see you married and settled, both for your own +sake and for that of the three ermines passant, which may +otherwise pass away altogether. But I will bring you his mind +fully upon the subject, since you are debarred correspondence for +the present, for I think you will not be long in Scotland before +me. + +Indeed! and what can induce you to think of returning to +Scotland? No relenting longings towards the land of mountains +and floods, I am afraid.' + +'None, on my word; but Emily's health is now, thank God, re- +established, and, to tell you the truth, I have little hopes of +concluding the business which I have at present most at heart, +until I can have a personal interview with his Royal Highness the +Commander-in-Chief; for, as Fluellen says, "The duke doth love me +well, and I thank Heaven I have deserved some love at his hands." +I am now going out for an hour or two to arrange matters for your +departure; your liberty extends to the next room, Lady Emily's +parlour, where you will find her when you are disposed for music, +reading, or conversation. We have taken measures to exclude all +servants but Spontoon, who is as true as steel.' + +In about two hours Colonel Talbot returned, and found his young +friend conversing with his lady; she pleased with his manners and +information, and he delighted at being restored, though but for a +moment, to the society of his own rank, from which he had been +for some time excluded.' + +'And now,' said the Colonel, 'hear my arrangements, for there is +little time to lose. This youngster, Edward Waverley, ALIAS +Williams, ALIAS Captain Butler, must continue to pass by his +fourth ALIAS of Francis Stanley, my nephew: he shall set out +to-morrow for the North, and the chariot shall take him the first +two stages.' Spontoon shall then attend him; and they shall ride +post as far as Huntingdon; and the presence of Spontoon, well +known on the road as my servant, will check all disposition to +inquiry. At Huntingdon you will meet the real Frank Stanley. He +is studying at Cambridge; but, a little while ago, doubtful if +Emily's health would permit me to go down to the North myself, I +procured him a passport from the Secretary of State's office to +go in my stead. As he went chiefly to look after you, his +journey is now unnecessary. He knows your story; you will dine +together at Huntingdon; and perhaps your wise heads may hit upon +some plan for removing or diminishing the danger of your further +progress northward. And now' (taking out a morocco case), 'let +me put you in funds for the campaign.' + +'I am ashamed, my dear Colonel,--' + +'Nay,' said Colonel Talbot, 'you should command my purse in any +event; but this money is your own. Your father, considering the +chance of your being attainted, left me his trustee for your +advantage. So that you are worth above L15,000, besides +Brerewood Lodge--a very independent person, I promise you. There +are bills here for L200; any larger sum you may have, or credit +abroad, as soon as your motions require it.' + +The first use which occurred to Waverley of his newly-acquired +wealth, was to write to honest Farmer Jopson, requesting his +acceptance of a silver tankard on the part of his friend +Williams, who had not forgotten the night of the eighteenth +December last. He begged him at the same time carefully to +preserve for him his Highland garb and accoutrements, +particularly the arms--curious in themselves, and to which the +friendship of the donors gave additional value. Lady Emily +undertook to find some suitable token of remembrance, likely to +flatter the vanity and please the taste of Mrs. Williams; and the +Colonel, who was a kind of farmer, promised to send the Ullswater +patriarch an excellent team of horses for cart and plough. + +One happy day Waverley spent in London; and, travelling in the +manner projected, he met with Frank Stanley at Huntingdon. The +two young men were acquainted in a minute. + +'I can read my uncle's riddle,' said Stanley. 'The cautious old +soldier did not care to hint to me that I might hand over to you +this passport, which I have no occasion for; but if it should +afterwards come out as the rattlepated trick of a young Cantab, +CELA NE TIRE A RIEN. You are therefore to be Francis Stanley, +with this passport.' This proposal appeared in effect to +alleviate a great part of the difficulties which Edward must +otherwise have encountered at every turn; and accordingly he +scrupled not to avail himself of it, the more especially as he +had discarded all political purposes from his present journey, +and could not be accused of furthering machinations against the +Government while travelling under protection of the Secretary's +passport. + +The day passed merrily away. The young student was inquisitive +about Waverley's campaigns, and the manners of the Highlands; and +Edward was obliged to satisfy his curiosity by whistling a +pibroch, dancing a strathspey, and singing a Highland song. The +next morning Stanley rode a stage northward with his new friend, +and parted from him with great reluctance, upon the remonstrances +of Spontoon, who, accustomed to submit to discipline, was rigid +in enforcing it. + + + +CHAPTER LXIII + +DESOLATION + +Waverly riding post, as was the usual fashion of the period, +without any adventure save one or two queries, which the talisman +of his passport sufficiently answered, reached the borders of +Scotland. Here he heard the tidings of the decisive battle of +Culloden. It was no more than he had long expected, though the +success at Falkirk had thrown a faint and setting gleam over the +arms of the Chevalier. Yet it came upon him like a shock, by +which he was for a time altogether unmanned. The generous, the +courteous, the noble-minded Adventurer, was then a fugitive, with +a price upon his head; his adherents, so brave, so enthusiastic, +so faithful, were dead, imprisoned, or exiled. Where, now, was +the exalted and high-souled Fergus, if, indeed, he had survived +the night at Clifton?--where the pure-hearted and primitive Baron +of Bradwardine, whose foibles seemed foils to set off the +disinterestedness of his disposition, the genuine goodness of his +heart, and his unshaken courage? Those who clung for support to +these fallen columns, Rose and Flora,--where were they to be +sought, and in what distress must not the loss of their natural +protectors have involved them? Of Flora he thought with the +regard of a brother for a sister--of Rose, with a sensation yet +more deep and tender. It might be still his fate to supply the +want of those guardians they had lost. Agitated by these +thoughts, he precipitated his journey. + +When he arrived in Edinburgh, where his inquiries must +necessarily commence, he felt the full difficulty of his +situation. Many inhabitants of that city had seen and known him +as Edward Waverley; how, then, could he avail himself of a +passport as Francis Stanley? He resolved, there-fore, to avoid +all company, and to move northward as soon as possible. He was, +however, obliged to wait a day or two in expectation of a letter +from Colonel Talbot, and he was also to leave his own address, +under his feigned character, at a place agreed upon. With this +latter purpose he sallied out in the dusk through the well-known +streets, carefully shunning observation,--but in vain: one of +the first persons whom he met at once recognized him, It was Mrs. +Flockhart, Fergus Mac-Ivor's good-humoured landlady. + +'Gude guide us, Mr. Waverley, is this you?--na, ye needna be +feared for me--I wad betray nae gentleman in your circumstances. +Eh, lack-a-day! lack-a-day! here's a change o' markets! how +merry Colonel Mac-Ivor and you used to be in our house!' And the +good-natured widow shed a few natural tears. As there was no +resisting her claim of acquaintance, Waverley acknowledged it +with a good grace, as well as the danger of his own situation. +'As it's near the darkening, sir, wad ye just step in by to our +house, and tak a dish o' tea? and I am sure, if ye like to sleep +in the little room, I wad tak care ye are no disturbed, and +naebody wad ken ye; for Kate and Matty, the limmers, gaed aff wi' +twa o' Hawley's dragoons, and I hae twa new queans instead o' +them.' + +Waverley accepted her invitation, and engaged her lodging for a +night or two, satisfied he should be safer in the house of this +simple creature than anywhere else. When he entered the parlour, +his heart swelled to see Fergus's bonnet, with the white cockade, +hanging beside the little mirror. + +'Aye,' said Mrs. Flockhart, sighing, as she observed the +direction of his eyes, 'the puir Colonel bought a new ane just +the day before they marched, and I winna let them tak that ane +doun, but just to brush it ilka day mysell; and whiles I look at +it till I just think I hear him cry to Callum to bring him his +bonnet, as he used to do when he was ganging out.--It's unco +silly--the neighbours ca' me a Jacobite--but they may say their +say--I am sure it's no for that--but he was as kind-hearted a +gentleman as ever lived, and as weel-fa'rd too. Oh, d'ye ken, +sir, when he is to suffer?' + +'Suffer! Good heaven!--Why, where is he?' + +'Eh, Lord's sake! d'ye no ken? The poor Hieland body, Dugald +Mahoney, cam here a while syne, wi' ane o' his arms cuttit off, +and a sair clour in the head--ye'll mind Dugald? he carried aye +an axe on his shouther--and he cam here just begging, as I may +say, for something to eat. Aweel, he tauld us the Chief, as they +ca'd him (but I aye ca' him the Colonel), and Ensign Maccombich, +that ye mind weel, were ta'en somewhere beside the English +border, when it was sae dark that his folk never missed him till +it was ower late, and they were like to gang clean daft. And he +said that little Callum Beg (he was a bauld mischievous callant +that), and your honour, were killed that same night in the +tuilzie, and mony mae braw men. But he grat when he spak o' the +Colonel, ye never saw tie like. And now the word gangs, the +Colonel is to be tried, and to suffer wi' them that were ta'en at +Carlisle.' + +'And his sister?' + +'Aye, that they ca'd the Lady Flora--weel, she's away up to +Carlisle to him, and lives wi' some grand Papist lady +thereabouts, to be near him.' + +'And,' said Edward, 'the other young lady?' + +'Whilk other? I ken only of ae sister the Colonel had.' + +'I mean Miss Bradwardine,' said Edward. + +'Ou aye, the laird's daughter,' said his landlady. 'She was a +very bonny lassie, poor thing, but far shyer than Lady Flora.' + +'Where is she, for God's sake?' + +'Ou, wha kens where ony o' them is now? Puir things, they're +sair ta'en doun for their white cockades and their white roses; +but she gaed north to her father's in Perthshire, when the +Government troops cam back to Edinbro'. There was some pretty +men amang them, and ane Major Whacker was quartered on me, a very +ceevil gentleman,--but oh, Mr. Waverley, he was naething sae +weel-fa'rd as the puir Colonel.' + +'Do you know what is become of Miss Bradwardine's father?' + +'The auld laird?--na, naebody kens that; but they say he fought +very hard in that bluidy battle at Inverness; and Deacon Clark, +the white-iron smith, says, that the Government folk are sair +agane him for having been OUT twice; and troth he might hae ta'en +warning,--but there's nae fule like an auld fule--the puir +Colonel was only out ance.' + +Such conversation contained almost all the good-natured widow +knew of the fate of her late lodgers and acquaintances; but it +was enough to determine Edward at all hazards to proceed +instantly to Tully-Veolan, where he concluded he should see, or +at least hear, something of Rose. He therefore left a letter for +Colonel Talbot at the place agreed upon, signed by his assumed +name, and giving for his address the post-town next to the +Baron's residence. + +From Edinburgh to Perth he took post-horses, resolving to make +the rest of his journey on foot--a mode of travelling to which he +was partial, and which had the advantage of permitting a +deviation from the road when he saw parties of military at a +distance. His campaign had considerably strengthened his +constitution, and improved his habits of enduring fatigue. His +baggage he sent before him as opportunity occurred. + +As he advanced northward, the traces of war became visible. +Broken carriages, dead horses, unroofed cottages, trees felled +for palisades, and bridges destroyed, or only partially +repaired,--all indicated the movements of hostile armies. In +those places where the gentry were attached to the Stuart cause, +their houses seemed dismantled or deserted, the usual course of +what may be called ornamental labour was totally interrupted, and +the inhabitants were seen gliding about, with fear, sorrow, and +dejection on their faces. + +It was evening when he approached the village of Tully-Veolan, +with feelings and sentiments--how different from those which +attended his first entrance! Then, life was so new to him, that +a dull or disagreeable day was one of the greatest misfortunes +which his imagination anticipated, and it seemed to him that his +time ought only to be consecrated to elegant or amusing study, +and relieved by social or youthful frolic. Now, how changed! +how saddened, yet how elevated was his character, within the +course of a very few months! Danger and misfortune are rapid, +though severe teachers. 'A sadder and a wiser man,' he felt, in +internal confidence and mental dignity, a compensation for the +gay dreams which, in his case, experience had so rapidly +dissolved. + +As he approached the village, he saw, with surprise and anxiety, +that a party of soldiers were quartered near it, and, what was +worse, that they seemed stationary there. This he conjectured +from a few tents which he beheld glimmering upon what was called +the Common Moor. To avoid the risk of being stopped and +questioned in a place where he was so likely to be recognized, he +made a large circuit, altogether avoiding the hamlet, and +approaching the upper gate of the avenue by a by-path well known +to him. A single glance announced that great changes had taken +place. One half of the gate, entirely destroyed and split up for +firewood, lay in piles, ready to be taken away; the other swung +uselessly about upon its loosened hinges. The battlements above +the gate were broken and thrown down, and the carved Bears, which +were said to have done sentinel's duty upon the top for +centuries, now, hurled from their posts, lay among the rubbish. +The avenue was cruelly wasted. Several large trees were felled +and left lying across the path; and the cattle of the villagers, +and the more rude hoofs of dragoon horses, had poached into black +mud the verdant turf which Waverley had so much admired. + +Upon entering the courtyard, Edward saw the fears realized which +these circumstances had excited. The place had been sacked by +the King's troops, who, in wanton mischief, had even attempted to +burn it; and though the thickness of the walls had resisted the +fire, unless to a partial extent, the stables and out-houses were +totally consumed. The towers and pinnacles of the main building +were scorched and blackened; the pavement of the court broken and +shattered; the doors torn down entirely, or hanging by a single +hinge; the windows dashed in and demolished; and the court +strewed with articles of furniture broken into fragments. The +accessories of ancient distinction, to which the Baron, in the +pride of his heart, had attached so much importance and +veneration, were treated with peculiar contumely. The fountain +was demolished, and the spring which had supplied it now flooded +the courtyard. The stone basin seemed to be destined for a +drinking-trough for cattle, from the manner in which it was +arranged upon the ground. The whole tribe of Bears, large and +small, had experienced as little favour as those at the head of +the avenue; and one or two of the family pictures, which seemed +to have served as targets for the soldiers, lay on the ground in +tatters. With an aching heart, as may well be imagined, Edward +viewed this wreck of a mansion so respected. But his anxiety to +learn the fate of the proprietors, and his fears as to what that +fate might be, increased with every step. When he entered upon +the terrace, new scenes of desolation were visible. The +balustrade was broken down, the walls destroyed, the borders +overgrown with weeds, and the fruit-trees cut down or grubbed up. +In one compartment of this old-fashioned garden were two immense +horse-chestnut trees, of whose size the Baron was particularly +vain: too lazy, perhaps, to cut them down, the spoilers, with +malevolent ingenuity, had mined them, and placed a quantity of +gunpowder in the cavity. One had been shivered to pieces by the +explosion, and the fragments lay scattered around, encumbering +the ground it had so long shadowed. The other mine had been more +partial in its effect. About one-fourth of the trunk of the tree +was torn from the mass, which, mutilated and defaced on the one +side, still spread on the other its ample and undiminished +boughs. [A pair of chestnut trees, destroyed, the one entirely, +and the other in part, by such a mischievous and wanton act of +revenge, grew at Invergarry Castle, the fastness of Macdonald of +Glengarry.] + +Amid these general marks of ravage, there were some which more +particularly addressed the feelings of Waverley. Viewing the +front of the building, thus wasted and defaced, his eyes +naturally sought the little balcony which more properly belonged +to Rose's apartment--her TROISIEME, or rather CINQUIEME ETAGE. +It was easily discovered, for beneath it lay the stage-flowers +and shrubs with which it was her pride to decorate it, and which +had been hurled from the bartizan: several of her books were +mingled with broken flower-pots and other remnants. Among these, +Waverley distinguished one of his own, a small copy of Ariosto, +and gathered it as a treasure, though wasted by the wind and +rain. + +While, plunged in the sad reflections which the scene excited, he +was looking around for some one who might explain the fate of the +inhabitants, he heard a voice from the interior of the building +singing, in well-remembered accents, an old Scottish song: + + They came upon us in the night, + And brake my bower and slew my knight: + My servants a' for life did flee, + And left us in extremitie, + + They slew my knight, to me sae dear; + They slew my knight, and drave his gear; + The moon may set, the sun may rise, + But a deadly sleep has closed his eyes. + [The first three couplets are from an old ballad, called the + Border Widow's Lament.] + +'Alas!' thought Edward, 'is it thou? Poor helpless being, art +thou alone left, to gibber and moan, and fill with thy wild and +unconnected scraps of minstrelsy the halls that protected thee?' +--He then called, first low, and then louder, 'Davie--Davie +Gellatley!' + +The poor simpleton showed himself from among the ruins of a sort +of greenhouse, that once terminated what was called the Terrace- +walk, but at first sight of a stranger retreated, as if in +terror. Waverley, remembering his habits, began to whistle a +tune to which he was partial, which Davie had expressed great +pleasure in listening to, and had picked up from him by the ear. +Our hero's minstrelsy no more equalled that of Blondel, than poor +Davie resembled Coeur de Lion; but the melody had the same effect +of producing recognition. Davie again stole from his lurking- +place, but timidly, while Waverley, afraid of frightening him, +stood making the most encouraging signals he could devise.--'It's +his ghaist,' muttered Davie; yet, coming nearer, he seemed to +acknowledge his living acquaintance. The poor fool himself +appeared the ghost of what he had been. The peculiar dress in +which he had been attired in better days, showed only miserable +rags of its whimsical finery, the lack of which was oddly +supplied by the remnants of tapestried hangings, window-curtains, +and shreds of pictures, with which he had bedizened his tatters. +His face, too, had lost its vacant and careless air, and the poor +creature looked hollow-eyed, meagre, half-starved, and nervous to +a pitiable degree.--After long hesitation, he at length +approached Waverley with some confidence, stared him sadly in the +face, and said, 'A' dead and gane--a' dead and gane!' + +'Who are dead?' said Waverley, forgetting the incapacity of +Davie to hold any connected discourse. + +'Baron--and Bailie and Saunders Saunderson and Lady Rose, that +sang sae sweet--A' dead and gane--dead and gane! + + But follow, follow me, + While glow-worms light the lea; + I'll show you where the dead should be-- + Each in his shroud, + While winds pipe loud, + And the red moon peeps dim through the cloud. + Follow, follow me; + Brave should he be + That treads by night the dead man's lea.' + +With these' words, chanted in a wild and earnest tone, he made a +sign to Waverley to follow him, and walked rapidly towards the +bottom of the garden, tracing the bank of the stream, which, it +may be remembered, was its eastern boundary. Edward, over whom +an involuntary shuddering stole at the import of his words, +followed him in some hope of an explanation. As the house was +evidently deserted, he could not expect to find among the ruins +any more rational informer. + +Davie, walking very fast, soon reached the extremity of the +garden, and scrambled over the ruins of the wall that once had +divided it from the wooded glen in which the old Tower of Tully- +Veolan was situated. He then jumped down into the bed of the +stream, and, followed by Waverley, proceeded at a great pace, +climbing over some fragments of rock, and turning with difficulty +round others. They passed beneath the ruins of the castle; +Waverley followed, keeping up with his guide with difficulty, for +the twilight began to fall. Following the descent of the stream +a little lower, he totally lost him, but a twinkling light, which +he now discovered among the tangled copse-wood and bushes, seemed +a surer guide. He soon pursued a very uncouth path; and by its +guidance at length reached the door of a wretched hut. A fierce +barking of dogs was at first heard, but it stilled at his +approach. A voice sounded from within, and he held it most +prudent to listen before he advanced. + +'Wha hast thou brought here, thou unsonsy villain, thou?' said +an old woman, apparently in great indignation. He heard Davie +Gellatley, in answer, whistle a part of the tune by which he had +recalled himself to the simpleton's memory, and had now no +hesitation to knock at the door. There was a dead silence +instantly within, except the deep growling of the dogs; and he +next heard the mistress of the hut approach the door, not +probably for the sake of undoing a latch, but of fastening a +bolt. To prevent this, Waverley lifted the latch himself. + +In front was an old wretched-looking woman, exclaiming, 'Wha +comes into folk's houses in this gate, at this time o' the +night?' On one side, two grim and half-starved deer greyhounds +laid aside their ferocity at his appearance, and seemed to +recognize him. On the other side, half concealed by the open +door, yet apparently seeking that concealment reluctantly, with a +cocked pistol in his right hand, and his left in the act of +drawing another from his belt, stood a tall bony gaunt figure in +the remnants of a faded uniform, and a beard of three weeks' +growth. + +It was the Baron of Bradwardine. It is unnecessary to add, that +he threw aside his weapon, and greeted Waverley with a hearty +embrace. + + + +CHAPTER LXIV + +COMPARING OF NOTES + +The Baron's story was short, when divested of the adages and +commonplaces, Latin, English, and Scotch, with which his +erudition garnished it. He insisted much upon his grief at the +loss of Edward and of Glennaquoich, fought the fields of Falkirk +and Culloden, and related how, after all was lost in the last +battle, he had returned home, under the idea of more easily +finding shelter among his own tenants, and on his own estate, +than elsewhere. A party of soldiers had been sent to lay waste +his property, for clemency was not the order of the day. Their +proceedings, however, were checked by an order from the civil +court. The estate, it was found, might not be forfeited to the +crown, to the prejudice of Malcolm Bradwardine of Inch-Grabbit, +the heir-male, whose claim could not be prejudiced by the Baron's +attainder, as deriving no right through him, and who, therefore, +like other heirs of entail in the same situation, entered upon +possession. But, unlike many in similar circumstances, the new +laird speedily showed that he intended utterly to exclude his +predecessor from all benefit or advantage in the estate, and that +it was his purpose to avail himself of the old Baron's evil +fortune to the full extent. This was the more ungenerous, as it +was generally known, that, from a romantic idea of not +prejudicing this young man's right as heir-male, the Baron had +refrained from settling his estate on his daughter. + +This selfish injustice was resented by the country people, who +were partial to their old master, and irritated against his +successor. In the Baron's own words, 'The matter did not +coincide with the feelings of the commons of Bradwardine, Mr. +Waverley; and the tenants were slack and repugnant in payment of +their mails and duties; and when my kinsman came to the village +wi' the new factor, Mr. James Howie, to lift the rents, some +wanchancy person--I suspect John Heatherblutter, the auld +gamekeeper, that was out wi' me in the year fifteen--fired a shot +at him in the gloaming, whereby he was so affrighted, that I may +say with Tullius in Catilinam, ABIIT, EVASIT, ERUPIT, EFFUGIT. +He fled, sir, as one may say, incontinent to Stirling. And now +he hath advertised the estate for sale, being himself the last +substitute in the entail. And if I were to lament about sic +matters, this would grieve me mair than its passing from my +immediate possession, whilk, by the course of nature, must have +happened in a few years. Whereas now it passes from the lineage +that should have possessed it in SAECULA SAECULORUM. But God's +will be done, HUMANA PERPESSI SUMUS. Sir John of Bradwardine-- +Black Sir John, as he is called--who was the common ancestor of +our house and the Inch-Grabbits, little thought such a person +would have sprung from his loins. Meantime, he has accused me to +some of the primates, the rulers for the time, as if I were a +cut-throat, and an abettor of bravoes and assassinates, and +coupe-jarrets. And they have sent soldiers here to abide on the +estate, and hunt me like a partridge upon the mountains, as +Scripture says of good King David, or like our valiant Sir +William Wallace,--not that I bring myself into comparison with +either.--I thought, when I heard you at the door, they had driven +the auld deer to his den at last; and so I e'en proposed to die +at bay, like a buck of the first head.--But now, Janet, canna ye +gie us something for supper?' + +'Ou aye, sir, I'll brander the moor-fowl that John Heatherblutter +brought in this morning; and ye see puir Davie's roasting the +black hen's eggs.--I daur say, Mr. Wauverley, ye never kend that +a' the eggs that were sae weel roasted at supper in the Ha'-house +were aye turned by our Davie?--there's no the like o' him ony +gate for powtering wi' his fingers amang the het peat-ashes, and +roasting eggs. Davie all this while lay with his nose almost in +the fire, nuzzling among the ashes, kicking his heels, mumbling +to himself, turning the eggs as they lay in the hot embers, as if +to confute the proverb, that 'there goes reason to roasting of +eggs,' and justify the eulogium which poor Janet poured out upon + + Him whom she loved, her idiot boy. + +Davie's no sae silly as folk tak him for, Mr. Wauverley; he wadna +hae brought you here unless he had kend ye was a friend to his +Honour--indeed the very dogs kend ye, Mr. Wauverley, for ye was +aye kind to beast and body.--I can tell you a story o' Davie, wi' +his Honour's leave: His Honour, ye see, being under hiding in +thae sair times--the mair's the pity--he lies a' day, and whiles +a' night, in the cove in the dern hag; but though it 's a bieldy +eneugh bit, and the auld gudeman o' Corse-Cleugh has panged it +wi' a kemple o' strae amaist, yet when the country's quiet, and +the night very cauld, his Honour whiles creeps doun here to get a +warm at the ingle, and a sleep amang the blankets, and gangs awa +in the morning. And so, ae morning, siccan a fright as I got! +Twa unlucky red-coats were up for black-fishing, or some siccan +ploy--for the neb o' them's never out o' mischief--and they just +got a glisk o' his Honour as he gaed into the wood, and banged +aff a gun at him, I out like a jer-falcon, and cried,--"Wad they +shoot an honest woman's poor innocent bairn?" And I fleyt at +them, and threepit it was my son; and they damned and swuir at me +that it was the auld rebel, as the villains ca'd his Honour; and +Davie was in the wood, and heard the tuilzie, and he, just out o' +his ain head, got up the auld grey mantle that his Honour had +flung off him to gang the faster, and he cam out o' the very same +bit o' the wood, majoring and looking about sae like his Honour, +that they were clean beguiled, and thought they had letten aff +their gun at crack-brained Sawney, as they ca'd him; and they gae +me saxpence, and twa saumon fish, to say naething about it.--Na, +na; Davie's no just like other folk, puir fallow; but he's no sae +silly as folk tak him for.--But, to be sure, how can we do eneugh +for his Honour, when we and ours have lived on his ground this +twa hundred years; and when he keepit my puir Jamie at school and +college, and even at the Ha'-house, till he gaed to a better +place; and when he saved me frae being ta'en to Perth as a witch +--lord forgi'e them that would touch sic a puir silly auld body! +--and has maintained puir Davie at heck and manger maist feck o' +his life?' + +Waverley at length found an opportunity to interrupt Janet's +narrative, by an inquiry after Miss Bradwardine. + +'She's weel and safe, thank God! at the Duchran,' answered the +Baron. 'The laird's distantly related to us, and more nearly to +my chaplain, Mr. Rubrick; and, though he be of Whig principles, +yet he's not forgetful of auld friendship at this time. The +Bailie's doing what he can to save something out of the wreck for +puir Rose; but I doubt, I doubt, I shall never see her again, for +I maun lay my banes in some far country.' + +'Hout na, your Honour,' said old Janet; 'ye were just as ill aff +in the feifteen, and got the bonnie baronie back, an' a'.--And +now the eggs is ready, and the muir-cock's brandered, and there's +ilk ane a trencher and some saut, and the heel o' the white loaf +that cam frae the Bailie's; and there's plenty o' brandy in the +greybeard that Luckie Maclearie sent doun; and winna ye be +suppered like princes?' + +'I wish one Prince, at least, of our acquaintance, may be no +worse off,' said the Baron to Waverley, who joined him in cordial +hopes for the safety of the unfortunate Chevalier. + +They then began to talk of their future prospects. The Baron's +plan was very simple. It was, to escape to France, where, by the +interest of his old friends, he hoped to get some military +employment, of which he still conceived himself capable. He +invited Waverley to go with him, a proposal in which he +acquiesced, providing the interest of Colonel Talbot should fail +in procuring his pardon. Tacitly he hoped the Baron would +sanction his addresses to Rose, and give him a right to assist +him in his exile; but he forbore to speak on this subject until +his own fate should be decided. They then talked of +Glennaquoich, for whom the Baron expressed great anxiety, +although, he observed, he was 'the very Achilles of Horatius +Flaccus,-- + + Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer. + +Which,' he continued, 'has been thus rendered (vernacularly) by +Struan Robertson: + + A fiery etter-cap, a fractious chiel, + As het as ginger, and as stieve as steel.' + +Flora had a large and unqualified share of the good old man's +sympathy. + +It was now wearing late. Old Janet got into some kind of kennel +behind the hallan. Davie had been long asleep and snoring +between Ban and Buscar. These dogs had followed him to the hut +after the mansion-house was deserted, and there constantly +resided; and their ferocity, with the old woman's reputation of +being a witch, contributed a good deal to keep visitors from the +glen. With this view, Bailie Macwheeble provided Janet underhand +with meal for their maintenance, and also with little articles of +luxury for their patron's use, in supplying which much precaution +was necessarily used. After some compliments, the Baron occupied +his usual couch, and Waverley reclined in an easy-chair of +tattered velvet, which had once garnished the state bed-room of +Tully-Veolan (for the furniture of this mansion was now scattered +through all the cottages in the vicinity), and went to sleep as +comfortably as if he had been in a bed of down. + + + +CHAPTER LXV + +MORE EXPLANATION + +With the first dawn of the day, old Janet was scuttling about the +house to wake the Baron, who usually slept sound and heavily. + +'I must go back,' he said to Waverley, to my cove: will you walk +down the glen wi' me?' + +They went out together, and followed a narrow and entangled +footpath, which the occasional passage of anglers, or wood- +cutters, had traced by the side of the stream. On their way, the +Baron explained to Waverley, that he would be under no danger in +remaining a day or two at Tully-Veolan, and even in being seen +walking about, if he used the precaution of pretending that he +was looking at the estate as agent or surveyor for an English +gentleman, who designed to be purchaser. With this view, he +recommended to him to visit the Bailie, who still lived at the +factor's house, called Little Veolan, about a mile from the +village, though he was to remove at next term. Stanley's +passport would be an answer to the officer who commanded the +military; and as to any of the country people who might recognize +Waverley the Baron assured him that he was in no danger of being +betrayed by them. + +'I believe,' said the old man, 'half the people of the barony +know that their poor auld laird is somewhere hereabout; for I see +they do not suffer a single bairn to come here a bird-nesting--a +practice whilk, when I was in full possession of my power as +baron, I was unable totally to inhibit. Nay, I often find bits +of things in my way, that the poor bodies, God help them! leave +there, because they think they may be useful to me. I hope they +will get a wiser master, and as kind a one as I was.' + +A natural sigh closed the sentence; but the quiet equanimity with +which the Baron endured his misfortunes, had something in it +venerable, and even sublime. There was no fruitless repining, no +turbid melancholy; he bore his lot, and the hardships which it +involved, with a good-humoured, though serious composure, and +used no violent language against the prevailing party. + +'I did what I thought my duty,' said the good old man, 'and +questionless they are doing what they think theirs. It grieves +me sometimes to look upon these blackened walls of the house of +my ancestors; but doubtless officers cannot always keep the +soldier's hand from depredation and spuilzie; and Gustavus +Adolphus himself, as ye may read in Colonel Munro his Expedition +with the worthy Scotch regiment called Mackay's regiment, did +often permit it.--Indeed I have myself seen as sad sights as +Tully-Veolan now is, when I served with the Mareschal Duke of +Berwick. To be sure, we may say with Virgilius Maro, FUIMUS +TROES--and there's the end of an auld sang. But houses and +families and men have a' stood lang eneugh when they have stood +till they fall with honour; and now I hae gotten a house that is +not unlike a DOMUS ULTIMA'--they were now standing below a steep +rock. 'We poor Jacobites,' continued the Baron, looking up, 'are +now like the conies in Holy Scripture (which the great traveller +Pococke calleth Jerboa), a feeble people, that make our abode in +the rocks. So, fare you well, my good lad, till we meet at +Janet's in the even; for I must get into my Patmos, which is no +easy matter for my auld still limbs.' + +With that he began to ascend the rock, striding, with the help of +his hands, from one precarious footstep to another, till he got +about half-way up, where two or three bushes concealed the mouth +of a hole, resembling an oven, into which the Baron insinuated, +first his head and shoulders, and then, by slow gradation, the +rest of his long body; his legs and feet finally disappearing, +coiled up like a huge snake entering his retreat, or a long +pedigree introduced with care and difficulty into the narrow +pigeon-hole of an old cabinet. Waverley had the curiosity to +clamber up and look in upon him in his den, as the lurking-place +might well be termed. Upon the whole, he looked not unlike that +ingenious puzzle, called a reel in a bottle, the marvel of +children (and of some grown people too, myself for one), who can +neither comprehend the mystery how it was got in, or how it is to +be taken out. The cave was very narrow, too low in the roof to +admit of his standing, or almost of his sitting up, though he +made some awkward attempts at the latter posture. His sole +amusement was the perusal of his old friend Titus Livius, varied +by occasionally scratching Latin proverbs and texts of Scripture +with his knife on the roof and walls of his fortalice, which were +of sandstone. As the cave was dry, and filled with clean straw +and withered fern, 'it made,' as he said, coiling himself up with +an air of snugness and comfort which contrasted strangely with +his situation, 'unless when the wind was due north, a very +passable GITE for an old soldier.' Neither, as he observed, was +he without sentries for the purpose of reconnoitring. Davie and +his mother were constantly on the watch, to discover and avert +danger; and it was singular what instances of address seemed +dictated by the instinctive attachment of the poor simpleton, +when his patron's safety was concerned. + +With Janet, Edward now sought an interview. He had recognized +her at first sight as the old woman who had nursed him during his +sickness after his delivery from Gifted Gilfillan. The hut, +also, though a little repaired, and somewhat better furnished, +was certainly the place of his confinement; and he now +recollected on the common moor of Tully-Veolan the trunk of a +large decayed tree, called the TRYSTING-TREE, which he had no +doubt was the same at which the Highlanders rendezvoused on that +memorable night. All this he had combined in his imagination the +night before; but reasons, which may probably occur to the +reader, prevented him from catechizing Janet in the presence of +the Baron. + +He now commenced the task in good earnest; and the first question +was, Who was the young lady that visited the hut during his +illness? Janet paused for a little; and then observed, that to +keep the secret now, would neither do good nor ill to anybody. +'It was just a leddy that hasna her equal in the world--Miss Rose +Bradwardine.' + +'Then Miss Rose was probably also the author of my deliverance,' +inferred Waverley, delighted at the confirmation of an idea which +local circumstances had already induced him to entertain. + +'I wot weel, Mr. Wauverley, and that was she e'en; but sair, sair +angry and affronted wad she hae been, puir thing, if she had +thought ye had been ever to ken a word about the matter; for she +gar'd me speak aye Gaelic when ye was in hearing, to mak ye trow +we were in the Hielands. I can speak it well eneugh, for my +mother was a Hieland woman.' + +A few more questions now brought out the whole mystery respecting +Waverley's deliverance from the bondage in which he left +Cairnvreckan. Never did music sound sweeter to an amateur, than +the drowsy tautology, with which old Janet detailed every +circumstance, thrilled upon the ears of Waverley. But my reader +is not a lover, and I must spare his patience, by attempting to +condense within reasonable compass the narrative which old Janet +spread through a harangue of nearly two hours, + +When Waverley communicated to Fergus the letter he had received +from Rose Bradwardine, by Davie Gellatley, giving an account of +Tully-Veolan being occupied by a small party of soldiers, that +circumstance had struck upon the busy and active mind of the +Chieftain. Eager to distress and narrow the posts of the enemy, +desirous to prevent their establishing a garrison so near him, +and willing also to oblige the Baron,--for he often had the idea +of marriage with Rose floating through his brain,--he resolved to +send some of his people to drive out the red-coats, and to bring +Rose to Glennaquoich. But just as he had ordered Evan with a +small party on this duty, the news of Cope's having marched into +the Highlands to meet and disperse the forces of the Chevalier, +ere they came to a head, obliged him to join the standard with +his whole forces. + +He sent to order Donald Bean to attend him; but that cautious +freebooter, who well understood the value of a separate command, +instead of joining, sent various apologies which the pressure of +the times compelled Fergus to admit as current, though not +without the internal resolution of being revenged on him for his +procrastination, time and place convenient. However, as he could +not amend the matter, he issued orders to Donald to descend into +the Low Country, drive the soldiers from Tully-Veolan, and, +paying all respect to the mansion of the Baron, to take his abode +somewhere near it, for protection of his daughter and family, and +to harass and drive away any of the armed volunteers, or small +parties of military, which he might find moving about the +vicinity. + +As this charge formed a sort of roving commission, which Donald +proposed to interpret in the way most advantageous to himself, as +he was relieved from the immediate terrors of Fergus, and as he +had, from former secret services, some interest in the councils +of the Chevalier, he resolved to make hay while the sun shone. +He achieved, without difficulty, the task of driving the soldiers +from Tully-Veolan; but although he did not venture to encroach +upon the interior of the family, or to disturb Miss Rose, being +unwilling to make himself a powerful enemy in the Chevalier's +army, + + For well he knew the Baron's wrath was deadly; + +yet he set about to raise contributions and exactions upon the +tenantry, and otherwise to turn the war to his own advantage. +Meanwhile he mounted the white cockade, and waited upon Rose with +a pretext of great devotion for the service in which her father +was engaged, and many apologies for the freedom he must +necessarily use for the support of his people. It was at this +moment that Rose learned, by open-mouthed fame, with all sorts of +exaggeration, that Waverley had killed the smith of Cairnvreckan, +in an attempt to arrest him; had been cast into a dungeon by +Major Melville of Cairnvreckan, and was to be executed by martial +law within three days. In the agony which these tidings excited, +she proposed to Donald Bean the rescue of the prisoner. It was +the very sort of service which he was desirous to undertake, +judging it might constitute a merit of such a nature as would +make amends for any peccadilloes which he might be guilty of in +the country. He had the art, however, pleading all the while +duty and discipline, to hold off, until poor Rose, in the +extremity of her distress, offered to bribe him to the enterprise +with some valuable jewels which had been her mother's. + +Donald Bean, who had served in France, knew, and perhaps over- +estimated, the value of these trinkets. But he also perceived +Rose's apprehensions of its being discovered that she had parted +with her jewels for Waverley's liberation. Resolved this scruple +should not part him and the treasure, he voluntarily offered to +take an oath that he would never mention Miss Rose's share in the +transaction; and foreseeing convenience in keeping the oath, and +no probable advantage in breaking it, he took the engagement--in +order, as he told his lieutenant, to deal handsomely by the young +lady--in the only form and mode which, by a mental paction with +himself, he considered as binding--he swore secrecy upon his +drawn dirk. He was the more especially moved to this act of good +faith by some attentions that Miss Bradwardine showed to his +daughter Alice, which, while they gained the heart of the +mountain damsel, highly gratified the pride of her father. +Alice, who could now speak a little English, was very +communicative in return for Rose's kindness, readily confided to +her the whole papers respecting the intrigue with Gardiner's +regiment, of which she was the depositary, and as readily +undertook, at her instance, to restore them to Waverley without +her father's knowledge. 'For they may oblige the bonnie young +lady and the handsome young gentleman,' said Alice, 'and what use +has my father for a whin bits o' scarted paper?' + +The reader is aware that she took an opportunity of executing +this purpose on the eve of Waverley's leaving the glen. + +How Donald executed his enterprise, the reader is aware. But the +expulsion of the military from Tully-Veolan had given alarm, and, +while he was lying in wait for Gilfillan, a strong party, such as +Donald did not care to face, was sent to drive back the +insurgents in their turn, to encamp there, and to protect the +country. The officer, a gentleman and a disciplinarian, neither +intruded himself on Miss Bradwardine, whose unprotected situation +he respected, nor permitted his soldiers to commit any breach of +discipline. He formed a little camp, upon an eminence near the +house of Tully-Veolan, and placed proper guards at the passes in +the vicinity. This unwelcome news reached Donald Bean Lean as he +was returning to Tully-Veolan. Determined, however, to obtain +the guerdon of his labour, he resolved, since approach to Tully- +Veolan was impossible; to deposit his prisoner in Janet's +cottage--a place the very existence of which could hardly have +been suspected even by those who had long lived In the vicinity, +unless they had been guided thither, and which was utterly +unknown to Waverley himself. This effected, he claimed and +received his reward. Waverley's illness was an event which +deranged all their calculations. Donald was obliged to leave the +neighbourhood with his people, and to seek more free course for +his adventures elsewhere. At Rose's earnest entreaty, he left an +old man, a herbalist, who was supposed to understand a little of +medicine, to attend Waverley during his illness. + +In the meanwhile, new and fearful doubts started in Rose's mind. +They were suggested by old Janet, who insisted, that a reward +having been offered for the apprehension of Waverley, and his own +personal effects being so valuable, there was no saying to what +breach of faith Donald might be tempted. In an agony of grief +and terror, Rose took the daring resolution of explaining to the +Prince himself the danger in which Mr. Waverley stood, judging +that, both as a politician, and a man of honour and humanity, +Charles Edward would interest himself to prevent his falling into +the hands of the opposite party. This letter she at first +thought of sending anonymously, but naturally feared it would +not, in that case, be credited. She therefore subscribed her +name, though with reluctance and terror, and consigned it in +charge to a young man, who, at leaving his farm to join the +Chevalier's army, made it his petition to her to have some sort +of credentials to the Adventurer, from whom he hoped to obtain a +commission. + +The letter reached Charles Edward on his descent to the Lowlands, +and, aware of the political importance of having it supposed that +he was in correspondence with the English Jacobites, he caused +the most positive orders to be transmitted to Donald Bean Lean, +to transmit Waverley, safe and uninjured in person or effects, to +the governor of Doune Castle. The freebooter durst not disobey, +for the army of the Prince was now so near him that punishment +might have followed; besides, he was a politician as well as a +robber, and was unwilling to cancel the interest created through +former secret services, by being refractory on this occasion. He +therefore made a virtue of necessity, and transmitted orders to +his lieutenant to convey Edward to Doune, which was safely +accomplished in the mode mentioned in a former chapter. The +governor of Doune was directed to send him to Edinburgh as a +prisoner, because the Prince was apprehensive that Waverley, if +set at liberty, might have resumed his purpose of returning to +England, without affording him an opportunity of a personal +interview. In this, indeed, he acted by the advice of the +Chieftain of Glennaquoich, with whom it may be remembered the +Chevalier communicated upon the mode of disposing of Edward, +though without telling him how he came to learn the place of his +confinement. + +This, indeed, Charles Edward considered as a lady's secret; for +although Rose's letter was couched in the most cautious and +general terms, and professed to be written merely from motives of +humanity, and zeal for the Prince's service, yet she expressed so +anxious a wish that she should not be known to have interfered, +that the Chevalier was induced to suspect the deep interest which +she took in Waverley's safety. This conjecture, which was well +founded, led, however, to false inferences. For the emotion +which Edward displayed on approaching Flora and Rose at the ball +of Holyrood, was placed by the Chevalier to the account of the +latter, and he concluded that the Baron's views about the +settlement of his property, or some such obstacle, thwarted their +mutual inclinations. Common fame, it is true, frequently gave +Waverley to Miss Mac-Ivor; but the Prince knew that common fame +is very prodigal in such gifts; and, watching attentively the +behaviour of the ladies towards Waverley, he had no doubt that +the young Englishman had no interest with Flora, and was beloved +by Rose Bradwardine. Desirous to bind Waverley to his service, +and wishing also to do a kind and friendly action, the Prince +next assailed the Baron on the subject of settling his estate +upon his daughter. Mr. Bradwardine acquiesced; but the +consequence was, that Fergus was immediately induced to prefer +his double suit for a wife and an earldom, which the Prince +rejected in the manner we have seen. The Chevalier, constantly +engaged in his own multiplied affairs, had not hitherto sought +any explanation with Waverley, though often meaning to do so. +But after Fergus's declaration, he saw the necessity of appearing +neutral between the rivals, devoutly hoping that the matter, +which now seemed fraught with the seeds of strife, might be +permitted to lie over till the termination of the expedition. +When on the march to Derby, Fergus, being questioned concerning +his quarrel with Waverley, alleged as the cause, that Edward was +desirous of retracting the suit he made to his sister, the +Chevalier plainly told him, that he had himself observed Miss +Mac-Ivor's behaviour to Waverley, and that he was convinced +Fergus was under the influence of a mistake in judging of +Waverley's conduct, who, he had every reason to believe, was +engaged to Miss Bradwardine. The quarrel which ensued between +Edward and the chieftain is, I hope, still in the remembrance of +the reader. These circumstances will serve to explain such +points of our narrative as, according to the custom of story- +tellers, we deemed it fit to leave unexplained, for the purpose +of exciting the reader's curiosity. + +When Janet had once finished the leading facts of this narrative, +Waverley was easily enabled to apply the clue which they +afforded, to other mazes of the labyrinth in which he had been +engaged. To Rose Bradwardine, then, he owed the life which he +now thought he could willingly have laid down to serve her. A +little reflection convinced him, however, that to live for her +sake was more convenient and agreeable, and that, being possessed +of independence, she might share it with him either in foreign +countries or in his own. The pleasure of being allied to a man +of the Baron's high worth, and who was so much valued by his +uncle Sir Everard, was also an agreeable consideration, had +anything been wanting to recommend the match. His absurdities, +which had appeared grotesquely ludicrous during his prosperity, +seemed, in the sunset of his fortune, to be harmonized and +assimilated with the noble features of his character, so as to +add peculiarity without exciting ridicule. His mind occupied +with such projects of future happiness, Edward sought Little +Veolan, the habitation of Mr. Duncan Macwheeble. + + + +CHAPTER LXVI + + Now is Cupid like a child of conscience--he makes + restitution.-- + SHAKESPEARE. + +Mr. Duncan Macwheeble, no longer Commissary or Bailie, though +still enjoying the empty name of the latter dignity, had escaped +proscription by an early secession from the insurgent party and +by his insignificance. + +Edward found him in his office, immersed among papers and +accounts. Before him was a large bicker of oatmeal-porridge, and +at the side thereof, a horn-spoon and a bottle of two-penny. +Eagerly running his eye over a voluminous law-paper, he from time +to time shovelled an immense spoonful of these nutritive viands +into his capacious mouth. A pot-bellied Dutch bottle of brandy +which stood by, intimated either that this honest limb of the law +had taken his morning already, or that he meant to season his +porridge with such digestive; or perhaps both circumstances might +reasonably be inferred. His night-cap and morning-gown had +whilome been of tartan, but, equally cautious and frugal, the +honest Bailie had got them dyed black, lest their original ill- +omened colour might remind his visitors of his unlucky excursion +to Derby. To sum up the picture, his face was daubed with snuff +up to the eyes, and his fingers with ink up to the knuckles. He +looked dubiously at Waverley as he approached the little green +rail which fenced his desk and stool from the approach of the +vulgar. Nothing could give the Bailie more annoyance than the +idea of his acquaintance being claimed by any of the unfortunate +gentlemen who were now so much more likely to need assistance +than to afford profit. But this was the rich young Englishman-- +who knew what might be his situation?--he was the Baron's friend +too--what was to be done? + +While these reflections gave an air of absurd perplexity to the +poor man's visage, Waverley, reflecting on the communication he +was about to make to him, of a nature so ridiculously contrasted +with the appearance of the individual, could not help bursting +out a-laughing, as he checked the propensity to exclaim with +Syphax-- + + Cato's a proper person to entrust + A love-tale with. + +As Mr. Macwheeble had no idea of any person laughing heartily who +was either encircled by peril or oppressed by poverty, the +hilarity of Edward's countenance greatly relieved the +embarrassment of his own, and, giving him a tolerably hearty +welcome to Little Veolan, he asked what he would choose for +breakfast. His visitor had, in the first place, something for +his private ear, and begged leave to bolt the door. Duncan by no +means liked this precaution, which savoured of danger to be +apprehended; but he could not now draw back. + +Convinced he might trust this man, as he could make it his +interest to be faithful, Edward communicated his present +situation and future schemes to Macwheeble. The wily agent +listened with apprehension when he found Waverley was still in a +state of proscription--was somewhat comforted by learning that he +had a passport-- rubbed his hands with glee when he mentioned the +amount of his present fortune--opened huge eyes when he heard the +brilliancy of his future expectations; but when he expressed his +intention to share them with Miss Rose Bradwardine, ecstasy had +almost deprived the honest man of his senses. The Bailie started +from his three-footed stool like the Pythoness from her tripod; +flung his best wig out of the window, because the block on which +it was placed stood in the way of his career; chucked his cap to +the ceiling, caught it as it fell; whistled Tullochgorum; danced +a Highland fling with inimitable grace and agility; and then +threw himself exhausted into a chair, exclaiming, 'Lady +Wauverley!--ten thousand a year, the least penny!-- Lord preserve +my poor understanding!' + +'Amen, with all my heart,' said Waverley;--'but now, Mr. +Macwheeble, let us proceed to business.' This word had a +somewhat sedative effect, but the Bailie's head, as he expressed +himself, was still 'in the bees.' He mended his pen, however, +marked half a dozen sheets of paper with an ample marginal fold, +whipped down Dallas of St. Martin's STYLES from a shelf, where +that venerable work roosted with Stair's INSTITUTIONS, Dirleton's +DOUBTS, Balfour's PRACTIQUES, and a parcel of old account-books- +opened the volume at the article Contract of Marriage, and +prepared to make what he called a 'sma' minute, to prevent +parties frae resiling. + +With some difficulty, Waverley made him comprehend that he was +going a little too fast. He explained to him that he should want +his assistance, in the first place, to make his residence safe +for the time, by writing to the officer at Tully-Veolan, that Mr. +Stanley, an English gentleman, nearly related to Colonel Talbot, +was upon a visit of business at Mr. Macwheeble's, and, knowing +the state of the country, had sent his passport for Captain +Foster's inspection. This produced a polite answer from the +officer, with an invitation to Mr. Stanley to dine with him, +which was declined (as may easily be supposed), under pretence of +business. + +Waverley's next request was, that Mr. Macwheeble would dispatch a +man and horse to --, the post-town, at which Colonel Talbot was +to address him, with directions to wait there until the post +should bring a letter for Mr. Stanley, and then to forward it to +Little Veolan with all speed. In a moment, the Bailie was in +search of his apprentice (or servitor, as he was called Sixty +Years since), Jock Scriever, and in not much greater space of +time, Jock was on the back of the white pony. + +'Tak care ye guide him weel, sir, for he's aye been short in the +wind since--ahem--lord be gude to me!' (in a low voice) 'I was +gaun to come out wi'--since I rode whip and spur to fetch the +Chevalier to redd Mr. Wauverley and Vich Ian Vohr; and an uncanny +coup I gat for my pains.-- Lord forgie your honour! I might hae +broken my neck-- but troth it was in a venture, mae ways nor ane; +but this maks amends for a'. Lady Wauverley!--ten thousand a +year!--Lord be gude unto me!' + +'But you forget, Mr. Macwheeble, we want the Baron's consent--the +lady's--' + +'Never fear, I'se be caution for them--I'se gie you my personal +warrandice--ten thousand a year! it dings Balmawhapple out and +out--a year's rent's worth a' Balmawhapple, fee and life-rent! +Lord make us thankful!' + +To turn the current of his feelings, Edward inquired if he had +heard anything lately of the Chieftain of Glennaquoich? + +'Not one word,' answered Macwheeble, 'but that he was still in +Carlisle Castle, and was soon to be panelled for his life. I +dinna wish the young gentleman ill,' he said, 'but I hope that +they that hae got him will keep him, and no let him back to this +Hieland border to plague us wi' blackmail, and a' manner o' +violent, wrongous, and masterfu' oppression and spoliation, both +by himself and others of his causing, sending, and hounding out: +--and he couldna tak care o' the siller when he had gotten it +neither, but flung it a' into yon idle quean's lap at Edinburgh +--but light come light gane. For my part, I never wish to see a +kilt in the country again, nor a red-coat, nor a gun, for that +matter, unless it were to shoot a paitrick:--they're a' tarr'd +wi' ae stick. And when they have done ye wrang, even when ya hae +gotten decreet of spuilzie, oppression, and violent profits +against them, what better are ye?-- they hae na a plack to pay +ye; ye need never extract it.' + +With such discourse, and the intervening topics of business, the +time passed until dinner, Macwheeble meanwhile promising to +devise some mode of introducing Edward at the Duchran, where Rose +at present resided, without risk of danger or suspicion; which +seemed no very easy task, since the laird was a very zealous +friend to Government.--The poultry-yard had been laid under +requisition, and cockyleeky and Scotch collops soon reeked in the +Bailie's little parlour. The landlord's corkscrew was just +introduced into the muzzle of a pint-bottle of claret (cribbed +possibly from the cellars of Tully-Veolan), when the sight of the +grey pony, passing the window at full trot, induced the Bailie, +but with due precaution, to place it aside for the moment. Enter +Jock Scriever with a packet for Mr. Stanley: it is Colonel +Talbot's seal; and Edward's fingers tremble as he undoes it. Two +official papers, folded, signed, and sealed in all formality, +drop out. They were hastily picked up by the Bailie, who had a +natural respect for everything resembling a deed, and, glancing +slily on their titles, his eyes, or rather spectacles, are +greeted with 'Protection by His Royal Highness to the person of +Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, Esq. of that ilk, commonly called Baron +of Bradwardine, forfeited for his accession to the late +rebellion.' The other proves to be a protection of the same +tenor in favour of Edward Waverley, Esq. Colonel Talbot's letter +was in these words:-- + +'MY DEAR EDWARD, + +'I am just arrived here, and yet I have finished my business; it +has cost me some trouble though, as you shall hear. I waited +upon his Royal Highness immediately on my arrival, and found him +in no very good humour for my purpose. Three or four Scotch +gentlemen were just leaving his levee. After he had expressed +himself to me very courteously; "Would you think it," he said, +"Talbot? here have been half a dozen of the most respectable +gentlemen, and best friends to Government north of the Forth,-- +Major Melville of Cairnvreckan, Rubrick of Duchran, and others, +--who have fairly wrung from me, by their downright importunity, +a present protection, and the promise of a future pardon, for +that stubborn old rebel whom they call Baron of Bradwardine. +They allege that his high personal character, and the clemency +which he showed to such of our people as fell into the rebels' +hands, should weigh in his favour; especially as the loss of his +estate is likely to be a severe enough punishment. Rubrick has +undertaken to keep him at his own house till things are settled +in the country; but it's a little hard to be forced in a manner +to pardon such a mortal enemy to the House of Brunswick." This +was no favourable moment for opening my business:--however, I +said I was rejoiced to learn that his Royal Highness was in the +course of granting such requests, as it emboldened me to present +one of the like nature in my own name. He was very angry, but I +persisted;--I mentioned the uniform support of our three votes in +the House, touched modestly on services abroad, though valuable +only in his Royal Highness's having been pleased kindly to accept +them, and founded pretty strongly on his own expressions of +friendship and goodwill. He was embarrassed, but obstinate. I +hinted the policy of detaching, on all future occasions, the heir +of such a fortune as your uncle's from the machinations of the +disaffected. But I made no impression. I mentioned the +obligation which I lay under to Sir Everard, and to you +personally, and claimed, as the sole reward of my services, that +he would be pleased to afford me the means of evincing my +gratitude. I perceived that he still meditated a refusal, and, +taking my commission from my pocket, I said (as a last resource), +that as his Royal Highness did not, under these pressing +circumstances, think me worthy of a favour which he had not +scrupled to grant to other gentlemen, whose services I could +hardly judge more important than my own, I must beg leave to +deposit, with all humility, my commission in his Royal Highness's +hands, and to retire from the service. He was not prepared for +this;--he told me to take up my commission; said some handsome +things of my services, and granted my request. You are therefore +once more a free man, and I have promised for you that you will +be a good boy in future, and remember what you owe to the lenity +of Government. Thus you see MY PRINCE can be as generous as +YOURS. I do not pretend, indeed, that he confers a favour with +all the foreign graces and compliments of your Chevalier errant; +but he has a plain English manner, and the evident reluctance +with which he grants your request, indicates the sacrifice which +he makes of his own inclination to your wishes. My friend, the +adjutant-general, has procured me a duplicate of the Baron's +protection (the original being in Major Melville's possession), +which I send to you, as I know that if you can find him you will +have pleasure in being the first to communicate the joyful +intelligence. He will of course repair to the Duchran without +loss of time, there to ride quarantine for a few weeks. As for +you, I give you leave to escort him thither, and to stay a week +there, as I understand a certain fair lady is in that quarter. +And I have the pleasure to tell you, that whatever progress you +can make in her good graces will be highly agreeable to Sir +Everard and Mrs. Rachel, who will never believe your view and +prospects settled, and the three ermines passant in actual +safety, until you present them with a Mrs. Edward Waverley. Now, +certain love-affairs of my own--a good many years since-- +interrupted some measures which were then proposed in favour of +the three ermines passant; so I am bound in honour to make them +amends. Therefore make good use of your time, for when your week +is expired, it will be necessary that you go to London to plead +your pardon in the law courts. + +'Ever, dear Waverley, yours most truly, + +'PHILIP TALBOT.' + + + +CHAPTER LXVII + +Happy 's the wooing +That's not long a-doing. + +When the first rapturous sensation occasioned by these excellent +tidings had somewhat subsided, Edward proposed instantly to go +down to the glen to acquaint the Baron with their import. But +the cautious Bailie justly observed, that if the Baron were to +appear instantly in public, the tenantry and villagers might +become riotous in expressing their joy, and give offence to 'the +powers that be,' a sort of persons for whom the Bailie always had +unlimited respect. He therefore proposed that Mr. Waverley +should go to Janet Gellatley's, and bring the Baron up under +cloud of night to Little Veolan, where he might once more enjoy +the luxury of a good bed. In the meanwhile, he said, he himself +would go to Captain Foster, and show him the Baron's protection, +and obtain his countenance for harbouring him that night,--and he +would have horses ready on the morrow to set him on his way to +the Duchran along with Mr. Stanley, 'whilk denomination, I +apprehend, your honour will for the present retain,' said the +Bailie. + +'Certainly, Mr. Macwheeble; but will you not go down to the glen +yourself in the evening to meet your patron?' + +'That I wad wi' a' my heart; and mickle obliged to your honour +for putting me in mind o' my bounden duty. But it will be past +sunset afore I get back frae the Captain's, and at these unsonsy +hours the glen has a bad name--there's something no that canny +about auld Janet Gellatley. The Laird he'll no believe thae +things, but he was aye ower rash and venturesome--and feared +neither man nor deevil--and sae's seen o't. But right sure am I +Sir George Mackenyie says, that no divine can doubt there are +witches, since the Bible says thou shalt not suffer them to live; +and that no lawyer in Scotland can doubt it, since it is +punishable with death by our law. So there's baith law and +gospel for it. An his honour winna believe the Leviticus, he +might aye believe the Statute-book; but he may tak his ain way +o't--it's a' ane to Duncan Macwheeble. However, I shall send to +ask up auld Janet this e'en; it 's best no to lightly them that +have that character--and we'll want Davie to turn the spit, for +I'll gar Eppie put down a fat goose to the fire for your honours +to your supper.' + +When it was near sunset, Waverley hastened to the hut; and he +could not but allow that superstition had chosen no improper +locality, or unfit object, for the foundation of her fantastic +terrors. It resembled exactly the description of Spenser: + + There, in a gloomy hollow glen, she found. + A little cottage built of sticks and reeds, + In homely wise, and wall'd with sods around, + In which a witch did dwell in loathly weeds, + And wilful want, all careless of her needs; + So choosing solitary to abide + Far from all neighbours, that her devilish deeds, + And hellish arts, from people she might hide, + And hurt far off, unknown, whomsoever she espied. + +He entered the cottage with these verses in his memory. Poor old +Janet, bent double with age, and bleared with peat-smoke, was +tottering about the hut with a birch broom, muttering to herself +as she endeavoured to make her hearth and floor a little clean +for the reception of her expected guests. Waverley's step made +her start, look up, and fall a-trembling, so much had her nerves +been on the rack for her patron's safety. With difficulty +Waverley made her comprehend that the Baron was now safe from +personal danger; and when her mind had admitted that joyful news, +it was equally hard to make her believe that he was not to enter +again upon possession of his estate. 'It behoved to be,' she +said, 'he wad get it back again; naebody wad be sae gripple as to +tak his gear after they had gi'en him a pardon: and for that +Inch-Grabbit, I could whiles wish mysell a witch for his sake, if +I werena feared the Enemy wad tak me at my word.' Waverley then +gave her some money, and promised that her fidelity should be +rewarded. 'How can I be rewarded, sir, sae weel, as just to see +my auld maister and Miss Rose come back and bruik their ain?' + +Waverley now took leave of Janet, and soon stood beneath the +Baron's Patmos. At a low whistle, he observed the veteran +peeping out to reconnoitre, like an old badger with his head out +of his hole. 'Ye hae come rather early, my good lad,' said he, +descending; 'I question if the red-coats hae beat the tattoo yet, +and we're not safe till then.' + +'Good news cannot be told too soon,' said Waverley; and with +infinite joy communicated to him the happy tidings. + +The old man stood for a moment in silent devotion, then +exclaimed, 'Praise be to God!--I shall see my bairn again.' + +'And never, I hope, to part with her more,' said Waverley. + +'I trust in God, not, unless it be to win the means of supporting +her; for my things are but in a bruckle state;--but what +signifies warld's gear?' + +'And if,' said Waverley, modestly, 'there were a situation in +life which would put Miss Bradwardine beyond the uncertainty of +fortune, and in the rank to which she was born, would you object +to it, my dear Baron, because it would make one of your friends +the happiest man in the world?' The Baron turned, and looked at +him with great earnestness. 'Yes,' continued Edward, 'I shall +not consider my sentence of banishment as repealed, unless you +will give me permission to accompany you to the Duchran, and--' + +The Baron seemed collecting all his dignity to make a suitable +reply to what, at another time, he would have treated as the +propounding a treaty of alliance between the houses of +Bradwardine and Waverley. But his efforts were in vain; the +father was too mighty for the Baron; the pride of birth and rank +were swept away: in the joyful surprise, a slight convulsion +passed rapidly over his features as he gave way to the feelings +of nature, threw his arms around Waverley's neck, and sobbed +out,--'My son! my son!--if I had been to search the world, I +would have made my choice here.' Edward returned the embrace +with great sympathy of feeling, and for a little while they both +kept silence. At length it was broken by Edward. But Miss +Bradwardine?' + +'She had never a will but her old father's; besides, you are a +likely youth, of honest principles and high birth; no, she never +had any other will than mine, and in my proudest days I could not +have wished a mair eligible espousal for her than the nephew of +my excellent old friend, Sir Everard.--But I hope, young man, ye +deal na rashly in this matter? I hope ye hae secured the +approbation of your ain friends and allies, particularly of your +uncle, who is in LOCO PARENTIS? Ah! we maun tak heed o' that.' +Edward assured him that Sir Everard would think himself highly +honoured in the flattering reception his proposal had met with, +and that it had his entire approbation; in evidence of which, he +put Colonel Talbot's letter into the Baron's hand. The Baron +read it with great attention. 'Sir Everard,' he said, 'always +despised wealth in comparison of honour and birth; and indeed he +had no occasion to court the DIVA PECUNIA. Yet I now wish, since +this Malcolm turns out such a parricide, for I can call him no +better, as to think of alienating the family inheritance-I now +wish' (his eyes fixed on a part of the roof which was visible +above the trees) 'that I could have left Rose the auld hurley- +house, and the riggs belanging to it.--And yet,' said he, +resuming more cheerfully, 'it's maybe as weel as it is; for, as +Baron of Bradwardine, I might have thought it my duty to insist +upon certain compliances respecting name and bearings, whilk now, +as a landless laird wi' a tocherless daughter, no one can blame +me for departing from.' + +'Now, Heaven be praised!' thought Edward, 'that Sir Everard does +not hear these scruples!--the three ermines passsat and rampant +bear would certainly have gone together by the ears.' He then, +with all the ardour of a young lover, assured the Baron, that he +sought for his happiness only in Rose's heart and hand, and +thought himself as happy in her father's simple approbation, as +if he had settled an earldom upon his daughter. + +They now reached Little Veolan. The goose was smoking on the +table, and the Bailie brandished his knife and fork. A joyous +greeting took place between him and his patron. The kitchen, +too, had its company. Auld Janet was established at the ingle- +nook; Davie had turned the spit to his immortal honour; and even +Ban and Buscar, in the liberality of Macwheeble's joy, had been +stuffed to the throat with food, and now lay snoring on the +floor. + +The next day conducted the Baron and his young friend to the +Duchran, where the former was expected, in consequence of the +success of the nearly unanimous application of the Scottish +friends of Government in his favour. This had been so general +and so powerful, that it was almost thought his estate might have +been saved, had it not passed into the rapacious hands-of his +unworthy kinsman, whose right, arising out of the Baron's +attainder, could not be affected by a pardon from the crown. The +old gentleman, however, said, with his usual spirit, he was more +gratified by the hold he possessed in the good opinion of his +neighbours, than he would have been in being 'rehabilitated and +restored IN INTEGRUM, had it been found practicable.' + +We shall not attempt to describe the meeting of the father and +daughter,--loving each other so affectionately, and separated +under such perilous circumstances. Still less shall we attempt +to analyse the deep blush of Rose, at receiving the compliments +of Waverley, or stop to inquire whether she had any curiosity +respecting the particular cause of his journey to Scotland at +that period. We shall not; even trouble the reader with the +humdrum details of a courtship Sixty Years since. It is enough +to say, that, under so strict a martinet as the Baron, all things +were conducted in due form. He took upon himself, the morning +after their arrival, the task of announcing the proposal of +Waverley to Rose, which she heard with a proper degree of maiden +timidity. Fame does, however, say, that Waverley had, the +evening before, found five minutes to apprize her of what was +coming, while the rest of the company were looking at three +twisted serpents which formed a JET D'EAU in the garden. + +My fair readers will judge for themselves; but, for my part, I +cannot conceive how so important an affair could be communicated +in so short a space of time;--at least, it certainly took a full +hour in the Baron's mode of conveying it. + +Waverley was now considered as a received lover in all the forms. +He was made, by dint of smirking and nodding on the part of the +lady of the house, to sit next to Miss Bradwardine at dinner, to +be Miss Bradwardine's partner at cards. If he came into the +room, she of the four Miss Rubricks who chanced to be next Rose, +was sure to recollect that her thimble, or her scissors, were at +the other end of the room, in order to leave the seat nearest to +Miss Bradwardine vacant for his occupation, And sometimes, if +papa and mamma were not in the way to keep them on their good +behaviour, the misses would titter a little. The old laird of +Duchran would also have his occasional jest, and the old lady her +remark. Even the Baron could not refrain; but here Rose escaped +every embarrassment but that of conjecture, for his wit was +usually couched in a Latin quotation. The very footmen sometimes +grinned too broadly, the maid-servants giggled mayhap too loud, +and a provoking air of intelligence seemed to pervade the whole +family. Alice Bean, the pretty maid of the cavern, who, after +her father's MISFORTUNE, as she called it, had attended Rose as +fille-de-chambre, smiled and smirked with the best of them. Rose +and Edward, however, endured all these little vexatious +circumstances as other folks have done before and since, and +probably contrived to obtain some indemnification, since they are +not supposed, on the whole, to have been particularly unhappy +during Waverley's six days' stay at the Duchran. + +It was finally arranged that Edward should go to Waverley-Honour +to make the necessary arrangements for his marriage, thence to +London to take the proper measures for pleading his pardon, and +return as soon as possible to claim the hand of his plighted +bride. He also intended in his journey to visit Colonel Talbot; +but, above all, it was his most important object to learn the +fate of the unfortunate Chief of Glennaquoich; to visit him at +Carlisle, and to try whether anything could be done for +procuring, if not a pardon, a commutation at least, or +alleviation, of the punishment to which he was almost certain of +being condemned;--and in case of the worst, to offer the +miserable Flora an asylum with Rose, or otherwise to assist her +views in any mode which might seem possible. The fate of Fergus +seemed hard to be averted. Edward had already striven to +interest his friend Colonel Talbot in his behalf; but had been +given distinctly to understand, by his reply, that his credit in +matters of that nature was totally exhausted. + +The Colonel was still in Edinburgh, and proposed to wait there +for some months upon business confided to him by the Duke of +Cumberland. He was to be joined by Lady Emily, to whom easy +travelling and goat's whey were recommended, and who was to +journey northward, under the escort of Francis Stanley. Edward, +therefore, met the Colonel at Edinburgh, who wished him joy in +the kindest manner on his approaching happiness, and cheerfully +undertook many commissions which our hero was necessarily obliged +to delegate to his charge. But on the subject of Fergus he was +inexorable. He satisfied Edward, indeed, that his interference +would be unavailing; but besides, Colonel Talbot owned that he +could not conscientiously use any influence in favour of that +unfortunate gentleman. 'Justice,' he said, 'which demanded some +penalty of those who had wrapped the whole nation in fear and in +mourning, could not perhaps have selected a fitter victim, He +came to the field with the fullest light upon the nature of his +attempt. He had studied and understood the subject. His +father's fate could not intimidate him; the lenity of the laws +which had restored to him his father's property and rights could +not melt him. That he was brave, generous, and possessed many +good qualities, only rendered him the more dangerous; that he was +enlightened and accomplished, made his crime the less excusable; +that he was an enthusiast in a wrong cause, only made him the +more fit to be its martyr. Above all, he had been the means of +bringing many hundreds of men into the field, who, without him, +would never have broken the peace of the country. + +'I repeat it,' said the Colonel, 'though Heaven knows with a +heart distressed for him as an individual, that this young +gentleman has studied and fully understood the desperate game +which he has played. He threw for life or death, a coronet or a +coffin; and he cannot now be permitted, with justice to the +country, to draw stakes because the dice have gone against him.' + +Such was the reasoning of those times, held even by brave and +humane men towards a vanquished enemy. Let us devoutly hope, +that, in this respect at least, we shall never see the scenes, or +hold the sentiments, that were general in Britain Sixty Years +since. + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII: + +To-morrow? Oh that's sudden! Spare him! spare him! + SHAKESPEARE. + +Edward, attended by his former servant Alick Polwarth, who had +re-entered his service at Edinburgh, reached Carlisle while the +commission of Oyer and Terminer on his unfortunate associates was +yet sitting. He had pushed forward in haste,--not, alas! with +the most distant hope of saving Fergus, but to see him for the +last time. I ought to have mentioned, that he had furnished +funds for the defence of the prisoners in the most liberal +manner, as soon as he heard that the day of trial was fixed. A +solicitor, and the first counsel, accordingly attended; but it +was upon the same footing on which the first physicians are +usually summoned to the bedside of some dying man of rank;--the +doctors to take the advantage of some incalculable chance of an +exertion of nature--the lawyers to avail themselves of the barely +possible occurrence of some legal flaw. Edward pressed into the +court, which was extremely crowded; but by his arriving from the +north, and his extreme eagerness and agitation, it was supposed +he was a relation of the prisoners, and people made way for him. +It was the third sitting of the court, and there were two men at +the bar. The verdict of GUILTY was already pronounced. Edward +just glanced at the bar during the momentous pause which ensued. +There was no mistaking the stately form and noble features of +Fergus Mac-Ivor, although his dress was squalid, and his +countenance tinged with the sickly yellow hue of long and close +imprisonment. By his side was Evan Maccombich. Edward felt sick +and dizzy as he gazed on them; but he was recalled to himself as +the Clerk of the Arraigns pronounced the solemn words: 'Fergus +Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich, otherwise called Vich Ian Vohr, and +Evan Mac-Ivor, in the Dhu of Tarrascleugh, otherwise called Evan +Dhu, otherwise called Evan Maccombich, or Evan Dhu Maccombich +--you, and each of you, stand attainted of high treason. What +have you to say for yourselves why the Court should not pronounce +judgement against you, that you die according to law?' + +Fergus, as the presiding Judge was putting on the fatal cap of +judgement, placed his own bonnet upon his head, regarded him with +a steadfast and stern look, and replied in a firm voice, 'I +cannot let this numerous audience suppose that to such an appeal +I have no answer to make. But what I have to say, you would not +bear to hear, for my defence would be your condemnation. +Proceed, then, in the name of God, to do what is permitted to +you. Yesterday, and the day before, you have condemned loyal and +honourable blood to be poured forth like water. Spare not mine. +Were that of all my ancestors in my veins, I would have peril'd +it in this quarrel.' He resumed his seat, and refused again to +rise. + +Evan Maccombich looked at him with great earnestness, and, rising +up, seemed anxious to speak; but the confusion of the court, and +the perplexity arising from thinking in a language different from +that in which he was to express himself, kept him silent. There +was a murmur of compassion among the spectators, from an idea +that the poor fellow intended to plead the influence of his +superior as an excuse for his crime. The Judge commanded +silence, and encouraged Evan to proceed. + +'I was only ganging to say, my lord,' said Evan, in what he meant +to be in an insinuating manner, 'that if your excellent honour, +and the honourable Court, would let Vich Ian Vohr go free just +this once, and let him gae back to France, and no to trouble King +George's government again, that ony six o' the very best of his +clan will be willing to be justified in his stead; and if you'll +just let me gae down to Glennaquoich, I'll fetch them up to ye +mysel, to head or hang, and you may begin wi' me the very first +man.' + +Notwithstanding the solemnity of the occasion, a sort of laugh +was heard in the court at the extraordinary nature of the +proposal. The Judge checked this indecency, and Evan, looking +sternly around, when the murmur abated, 'If the Saxon gentlemen +are laughing,' he said, 'because a poor man, such as me, thinks +my life, or the life of six of my degree, is worth that of Vich +Ian Vohr, it's like enough they may be very right; but if they +laugh because they think I would not keep my word, and come back +to redeem him, I can tell them they ken neither the heart of a +Hielandman, nor the honour of a gentleman.' + +There was no further inclination to laugh among the audience, and +a dead silence ensued. + +The Judge then pronounced upon both prisoners the sentence of the +law of high treason, with all its horrible accompaniments. The +execution was appointed for the ensuing day. 'For you, Fergus +Mac-Ivor,' continued the Judge, 'I can hold out no hope of mercy. +You must prepare against to-morrow for your last sufferings here, +and your great audit hereafter.' + +'I desire nothing else, my lord,' answered Fergus, in the same +manly and firm tone. + +The hard eyes of Evan, which had been perpetually bent on his +Chief, were moistened with a tear. 'For you, poor ignorant man,' +continued the Judge, 'who, following the ideas in which you have +been educated, have this day given us a striking example how the +loyalty due to the king and state alone, is, from your unhappy +ideas of clanship, transferred to some ambitious individual, who +ends by making you the tool of his crimes--for you, I say, I feel +so much compassion, that if you can make up your mind to petition +for grace, I will endeavour to procure if for you. Otherwise--' + +'Grace me no grace,' said Evan; 'since you are to shed Vich Ian +Vohr's blood, the only favour I would accept from you, is--to bid +them loose my hands and gie me my claymore, and bide you just a +minute sitting where you are!' + +'Remove the prisoners,' said the Judge; 'his blood be upon his +own head.' + +Almost stupefied with his feelings, Edward found that the rush of +the crowd had conveyed him out into the street, ere he knew what +he was doing.--His immediate wish was to see and speak with +Fergus once more. He applied at the Castle where his unfortunate +friend was confined, but was refused admittance. 'The High +Sheriff,' a non-commissioned officer said, 'had requested of the +governor that none should be admitted to see the prisoner +excepting his confessor and his sister.' + +'And where was Miss Mac-Ivor?' They gave him the direction, It +was the house of a respectable Catholic family near Carlisle. + +Repulsed from the gate of the Castle, and not venturing to make +application to the High Sheriff or Judges in his own unpopular +name, he had recourse to the solicitor who came down in Fergus's +behalf. This gentleman told him, that it was thought the public +mind was in danger of being debauched by the account of the last +moments of these persons, as given by the friends of the +Pretender; that there had been a resolution, therefore, to +exclude all such persons as had not the plea of near kindred for +attending upon them. Yet he promised (to oblige the heir of +Waverley-Honour) to get him an order for admittance to the +prisoner the next morning, before his irons were knocked off for +execution. + +'Is it of Fergus Mac-Ivor they speak thus,' thought Waverley 'or +do I dream? of Fergus, the bold, the chivalrous, the free- +minded,--the lofty chieftain of a tribe devoted to him? Is it +he, that I have seen lead the chase and head the attack,--the +brave, the active, the young, the noble, the love of ladies, and +the theme of song,--is it he who is ironed like a malefactor--who +is to be dragged on a hurdle to the common gallows--to die a +lingering and cruel death, and to be mangled by the hand of the +most outcast of wretches? Evil indeed was the spectre that boded +such a fate as this to the brave Chief of Glennaquoich!' + +With a faltering voice he requested the solicitor to find means +to warn Fergus of his intended visit, should he obtain permission +to make it. He then turned away from him, and, returning to the +inn, wrote a scarcely intelligible note to Flora Mac-Ivor, +intimating his purpose to wait upon her that evening. The +messenger brought back a letter in Flora's beautiful Italian +hand, which seemed scarce to tremble even under this load of +misery. 'Miss Flora Mac-Ivor,' the letter bore, 'could not +refuse to see the dearest friend of her dear brother, even in her +present circumstances of unparalleled distress.' + +When Edward reached Miss Mac-Ivor's present place of abode, he +was instantly admitted. In a large and gloomy tapestried +apartment, Flora was seated by a latticed window, sewing what +seemed to be a garment of white flannel. At a little distance +sat an elderly woman, apparently a foreigner, and of a religious +order. She was reading in a book of Catholic devotion; but when +Waverley entered, laid it on the table and left the room. Flora +rose to receive him, and stretched out her hand, but neither +ventured to attempt speech. Her fine complexion was totally +gone; her person considerably emaciated; and her face and hands +as white as the purest statuary marble, forming a strong contrast +with her sable dress and jet-black hair. Yet, amid these marks +of distress, there was nothing negligent or ill-arranged about +her attire; even her hair, though totally without ornament, was +disposed with her usual attention to neatness. The first words +she uttered were, 'Have you seen him?' + +'Alas, no,' answered Waverley; 'I have been refused admittance.' + +'It accords with the rest,' she said; 'but we must submit. Shall +you obtain leave, do you suppose?' + +'For--for--to-morrow,' said Waverley; but muttering the last word +so faintly that it was almost unintelligible. + +'Aye, then or never,' said Flora, 'until'--she added, looking +upward, 'the time when, I trust, we shall all meet. But I hope +you will see him while earth yet bears him. He always loved you +at his heart, though--but it is vain to talk of the past.' + +'Vain indeed!' echoed Waverley. + +'Or even of the future, my good friend,' said Flora, 'so far as +earthly events are concerned; for how often have I pictured to +myself the strong possibility of this horrid issue, and tasked +myself to consider how I could support my part; and yet how far +has all my anticipation fallen short of the unimaginable +bitterness of this hour!' + +'Dear Flora, if your strength of mind'-- + +'Aye, there it is,' she answered, somewhat wildly; 'there is, Mr. +Waverley, there is a busy devil at my heart, that whispers--but +it were madness to listen to it--that the strength of mind on +which Flora prided herself has murdered her brother!' + +'Good God! how can you give utterance to a thought so shocking?' + +'Aye, is it not so?--but yet it haunts me like a phantom: I know +it is unsubstantial and vain; but it will be present--will +intrude its horrors on my mind--will whisper that my brother, as +volatile as ardent, would have divided his energies amid a +hundred objects. It was I who taught him to concentrate them, +and to gage all on this dreadful and desperate cast. Oh that I +could recollect that I had but once said to him, "He that +striketh with the sword shall die by the sword"; that I had but +once said, Remain at home; reserve yourself, your vassals, your +life, for enterprises within the reach of man. But oh, Mr. +Waverley, I spurred his fiery temper, and half of his ruin at +least lies with his sister.' + +The horrid idea which she had intimated, Edward endeavoured to +combat by every incoherent argument that occurred to him. He +recalled to her the principles on which both thought it their +duty to act, and in which they had been educated. + +'Do not think I have forgotten them,' she said, looking up, with +eager quickness; 'I do not regret his attempt, because it was +wrong--oh no! on that point I am armed--but because it was +impossible it could end otherwise than thus.' + +'Yet it did not always seem so desperate and hazardous as it was; +and it would have been chosen by the bold spirit of Fergus, +whether you had approved it or no; your counsels only served to +give unity and consistence to his conduct; to dignify, but not to +precipitate his resolution.' Flora had soon ceased to listen to +Edward, and was again intent upon her needlework. + +'Do you remember,' she said, looking up with a ghastly smile, +'you once found me making Fergus's bride-favours, and now I am +sewing his bridal-garment. Our friends here,' she continued, +with suppressed emotion, 'are to give hallowed earth in their +chapel to the bloody relies of the last Vich Ian Vohr. But they +will not all rest together; no--his head!---I shall not have the +last miserable consolation of kissing the cold lips of my dear, +dear Fergus!' + +The unfortunate Flora here, after one or two hysterical sobs, +fainted in her chair. The lady, who had been attending in the +ante-room, now entered hastily, and begged Edward to leave the +room, but not the house. + +When he was recalled, after the space of nearly half an hour, he +found that, by a strong effort, Miss Mac-Ivor had greatly +composed herself. It was then he ventured to urge Miss +Bradwardine's claim to be considered as an adopted sister, and +empowered to assist her plans for the future. + +'I have had a letter from my dear Rose,' she replied, 'to the +same purpose. Sorrow is selfish and engrossing, or I would have +written to express that, even in my own despair, I felt a gleam +of pleasure at learning her happy prospects, and at hearing that +the good old Baron has escaped the general wreck. Give this to +my dearest Rose; it is her poor Flora's only ornament of value, +and was the gift of a princess.' She put into his hands a case +containing the chain of diamonds with which she used to decorate +her hair. 'To me it is in future useless. The kindness of my +friends has secured me a retreat in the convent of the Scottish +Benedictine nuns in Paris. To-morrow--if indeed I can survive +to-morrow--I set forward on my journey with this venerable +sister. And now, Mr. Waverley, adieu! May you be as happy with +Rose as your amiable dispositions deserve!--and think sometimes +on the friends you have lost. Do not attempt to see me again; it +would be mistaken kindness.' + +She gave him her hand, on which Edward shed a torrent of tears, +and, with a faltering step, withdrew from the apartment, and +returned to the town of Carlisle. At the inn he found a letter +from his law friend, intimating that he would be admitted to +Fergus next morning as soon as the Castle gates were opened, and +permitted to remain with him till the arrival of the Sheriff gave +signal for the fatal procession. + + + +CHAPTER LXIX + + --A darker departure is near, + The death-drum is muffled, and sable the bier. + CAMPBELL. + +After a sleepless night, the first dawn of morning found Waverley +on the esplanade in front of the old Gothic gate of Carlisle +Castle. But he paced it long in every direction, before the hour +when, according to the rules of the garrison, the gates were +opened and the drawbridge lowered. He produced his order to the +sergeant of the guard, and was admitted. + +The place of Fergus's confinement was a gloomy and vaulted +apartment in the central part of the Castle--a huge old tower, +supposed to be of great antiquity, and surrounded by outworks, +seemingly of Henry VIII's time, or somewhat later. The grating +of the large old-fashioned bars and bolts, withdrawn for the +purpose of admitting Edward, was answered by the clash of chains, +as the unfortunate Chieftain, strongly and heavily fettered, +shuffled along the stone floor of his prison, to fling himself +into his friend's arms. + +'My dear Edward,' he said, in a firm, and even cheerful voice, +'this is truly kind. I heard of your approaching happiness with +the highest pleasure. And how does Rose? and how is our old +whimsical friend the Baron? Well, I trust, since I see you at +freedom--And how will you settle precedence between the three +ermines passant and the bear and bootjack?' + +'How, oh how, my dear Fergus, can you talk of such things at such +a moment!' + +'Why, we have entered Carlisle with happier auspices, to be sure +--on the 16th of November last, for example, when we marched in, +side by side, and hoisted the white flag on these ancient towers. +But I am no boy, to sit down and weep because the luck has gone +against me. I knew the stake which I risked; we played the game +boldly, and the forfeit shall be paid manfully. And now, since +my time is short, let me come to the questions that interest me +most--The Prince? has he escaped the bloodhounds?' + +'He has, and is in safety.' + +'Praised be God for that! Tell me the particulars of his +escape.' + +Waverley communicated that remarkable history, so far as it had +then transpired, to which Fergus listened with deep interest. He +then asked after several other friends; and made many minute +inquiries concerning the fate of his own clansmen. They had +suffered less than other tribes who had been engaged in the +affair; for, having in a great measure dispersed and returned +home after the captivity of their Chieftain, according to the +universal custom of the Highlanders, they were not in arms when +the insurrection was finally suppressed, and consequently were +treated with less rigour. This Fergus heard with great +satisfaction. + +'You are rich,' he said, 'Waverley, and you are generous. When +you hear of these poor Mac-Ivors being distressed about their +miserable possessions by some harsh overseer or agent of +Government, remember you have worn their tartan, and are an +adopted son of their race. The Baron, who knows our manners, and +lives near our country, will apprize you of the time and means to +be their protector. Will you promise this to the last Vich Ian +Vohr?' + +Edward, as may well be believed, pledged his word; which he +afterwards so amply redeemed, that his memory still lives in +these glens by the name of the Friend of the Sons of Ivor. + +'Would to God,' continued the Chieftain, 'I could bequeath to you +my rights to the love and obedience of this primitive and brave +race:--or at least, as I have striven to do, persuade poor Evan +to accept of his life upon their terms, and be to you what he has +been to me, the kindest,--the bravest,--the most devoted--' + +The tears which his own fate could not draw forth, fell fast for +that of his foster-brother. + +'But,' said he, drying them, 'that cannot be. You cannot be to +them Vich Ian Vohr; and these three magic words,' said he, half +smiling, 'are the only Open Sesame to their feelings and +sympathies, and poor Evan must attend his foster-brother in +death, as he has done through his whole life.' + +'And I am sure,' said Maccombich, raising himself from the floor, +on which, for fear of interrupting their conversation, he had +lain so still, that, in the obscurity of the apartment, Edward +was not aware of his presence,--'I am sure Evan never desired or +deserved a better end than just to die with his Chieftain.' + +'And now,' said Fergus, 'while we are upon the subject of +clanship--what think you now of the prediction of the Bodach +Glas?'--Then, before Edward could answer, 'I saw him again last +night--he stood in the slip of moonshine, which fell from that +high and narrow window towards my bed. Why should I fear him, I +thought--to-morrow, long ere this time, I shall be as immaterial +as he. "False Spirit!" I said, "art thou come to close thy walks +on earth, and to enjoy thy triumph in the fall of the last +descendant of thine enemy?" The spectre seemed to beckon and to +smile as he faded from my sight. What do you think of it?--I +asked the same question of the priest, who is a good and sensible +man; he admitted that the Church allowed that such apparitions +were possible, but urged me not to permit my mind to dwell upon +it, as imagination plays us such strange tricks. What do you +think of it?' + +'Much as your confessor,' said Waverley, willing to avoid dispute +upon such a point at such a moment. A tap at the door now +announced that good man, and Edward retired while he administered +to both prisoners the last rites of religion, in the mode which +the Church of Rome prescribes. + +In about an hour he was re-admitted; soon after, a file of +soldiers entered with a blacksmith, who struck the fetters from +the legs of the prisoners. + +'You see the compliment they pay to our Highland strength and +courage--we have lain chained here like wild beasts, till our +legs are cramped into palsy, and when they free us, they send six +soldiers with loaded muskets to prevent our taking the castle by +storm!' + +Edward afterwards learned that these severe precautions had been +taken in consequence of a desperate attempt of the prisoners to +escape, in which they had very nearly succeeded. + +Shortly afterwards the drums of the garrison beat to arms. 'This +is the last turn-out,' said Fergus, 'that I shall hear and obey. +And now, my dear, dear Edward, ere we part let us speak of Flora +--a subject which awakes the tenderest feeling that yet thrills +within me.' + +'We part not here!' said Waverley. + +'Oh yes, we do; you must come no farther. Not that I fear what +is to follow for myself,' he said proudly: 'Nature has her +tortures as well as art; and how happy should we think the man +who escapes from the throes of a mortal and painful disorder, in +the space of a short half hour? And this matter, spin it out as +they will, cannot last longer, But what a dying man can suffer +firmly, may kill a living friend to look upon.--This same law of +high treason,' he continued, with astonishing firmness and +composure, 'is one of the blessings, Edward, with which your free +country has accommodated poor old Scotland: her own +jurisprudence, as I have heard, was much milder. But I suppose +one day or other--when there are no longer any wild Highlanders +to benefit by its tender mercies--they will blot it from their +records, as levelling them with a nation of cannibals. The +mummery, too, of exposing the senseless head--they have not the +wit to grace mine with a paper coronet; there would be some +satire in that, Edward. I hope they will set it on the Scotch +gate though, that I may look, even after death, to the blue hills +of my own country, which I love so dearly. The Baron would have +added, + + MORITUR, ET MORIENS DULCES REMINISCITUR ARGOS.' + +A bustle, and the sound of wheels and horses' feet, was now heard +in the courtyard of the Castle. 'As I have told you why you must +not follow me, and these sounds admonish me that my time flies +fast, tell me how you found poor Flora?' + +Waverley, with a voice interrupted by suffocating sensations, +gave some account of the state of her mind. + +'Poor Flora!' answered the Chief, 'she could have borne her own +sentence of death, but not mine. You, Waverley, will soon know +the happiness of mutual affection in the married state--long, +long may Rose and you enjoy it!--but you can never know the +purity of feeling which combines two orphans, like Flora and me, +left alone as it were in the world, and being all in all to each +other from our very infancy. But her strong sense of duty, and +predominant feeling of loyalty, will give new nerve to her mind +after the immediate and acute sensation of this parting has +passed away. She will then think of Fergus as of the heroes of +our race, upon whose deeds she loved to dwell.' + +'Shall she not see you, then?' asked Waverley. 'She seemed to +expect it.' + +'A necessary deceit will spare her the last dreadful parting. I +could not part with her without tears, and I cannot bear that +these men should think they have power to extort them. She was +made to believe she would see me at a later hour, and this +letter, which my confessor will deliver, will apprize her that +all is over,' + +An officer now appeared, and intimated that the High Sheriff and +his attendants waited before the gate of the Castle, to claim the +bodies of Fergus Mac-Ivor and Evan Maccombich. 'I come,' said +Fergus. Accordingly, supporting Edward by the arm, and followed +by Evan Dhu and the priest, he moved down the stairs of the +tower, the soldiers bringing up the rear. The court was occupied +by a squadron of dragoons and a battalion of infantry, drawn up +in hollow square. Within their ranks was the sledge, or hurdle, +on which the prisoners were to be drawn to the place of +execution, about a mile distant from Carlisle. It was painted +black, and drawn by a white horse. At one end of the vehicle sat +the Executioner, a horrid-looking fellow, as beseemed his trade, +with the broad axe in his hand; at the other end, next the horse, +was an empty seat for two persons. Through the deep and dark +Gothic archway that opened on the drawbridge, were seen on +horseback the High Sheriff and his attendants, whom the etiquette +betwixt the civil and military powers did not permit to come +farther. 'This is well GOT UP for a closing scene,' said Fergus, +smiling disdainfully as he gazed around upon the apparatus of +terror. Evan Dhu exclaimed with some eagerness, after looking at +the dragoons, 'These are the very chields that galloped off at +Gladsmuir, before we could kill a dozen o' them. They look bold +enough now, however.' The priest entreated him to be silent. + +The sledge now approached, and Fergus, turning round, embraced +Waverley, kissed him on each side of the face, and stepped nimbly +into his place. Evan sat down by his side. The priest was to +follow in a carriage belonging to his patron, the Catholic +gentleman at whose house Flora resided. As Fergus waved his hand +to Edward, the ranks closed around the sledge, and the whole +procession began to move forward. There was a momentary stop at +the gateway, while the governor of the Castle and the High +Sheriff went through a short ceremony, the military officer there +delivering over the persons of the criminals to the civil power. +'God save King George!' said the High Sheriff. When the +formality concluded, Fergus stood erect in the sledge, and with a +firm and steady voice, replied, 'God save King James!' These +were the last words which Waverley heard him speak. + +The procession resumed its march, and the sledge vanished from +beneath the portal, under which it had stopped for an instant. +The dead-march was then heard, and its melancholy sounds were +mingled with those of a muffled peal, tolled from the +neighbouring cathedral. The sound of the military music died +away as the procession moved on--the sullen clang of the bells +was soon heard to sound alone. + +The last of the soldiers had now disappeared from under the +vaulted archway through which they had been filing for several +minutes; the courtyard was now totally empty, but Waverley still +stood there as if stupefied, his eyes fixed upon the dark pass +where he had so lately seen the last glimpse of his friend. At +length, a female servant of the governor's, struck with +compassion at the stupefied misery which his countenance +expressed, asked him if he would not walk into her master's house +and sit down? She was obliged to repeat her question twice ere +he comprehended her, but at length it recalled him to himself. +Declining the courtesy by a hasty gesture, he pulled his hat over +his eyes, and, leaving the Castle, walked as swiftly as he could +through the empty streets, till he regained his inn, then rushed +into an apartment, and bolted the door. + +In about an hour and a half, which seemed an age of unutterable +suspense, the sound of the drums and fifes, performing a lively +air, and the confused murmur of the crowd which now filled the +streets, so lately deserted, apprized him that all was finished, +and that the military and populace were returning from the +dreadful scene. I will not attempt to describe his sensations. + +In the evening the priest made him a visit, and informed him that +he did so by directions of his deceased friend, to assure him +that Fergus Mac-Ivor had died as he lived, and remembered his +friendship to the last. He added, he had also seen Flora, whose +state of mind seemed more composed since all was over. With her +and Sister Theresa, the priest proposed next day to leave +Carlisle, for the nearest seaport from which they could embark +for France. Waverley forced on this good man a ring of some +value, and a sum of money to be employed (as he thought might +gratify Flora) in the services of the Catholic Church, for the +memory of his friend. 'FUNGARQUE INANI MUNERE,' he repeated, as +the ecclesiastic retired. 'Yet why not class these acts of +remembrance with other honours, with which affection, in all +sects, pursues the memory of the dead?' + +The next morning, ere daylight, he took leave of the town of +Carlisle, promising to himself never again to enter its walls. +He dared hardly look back towards the Gothic battlements of the +fortified gate under which he passed (for the place is surrounded +with an old wall). 'They're no there,' said Alick Polwarth, who +guessed the cause of the dubious look which Waverley cast +backward, and who, with the vulgar appetite for the horrible, was +master of each detail of the butchery--'the heads are ower the +Scotch yate, as they ca' it. It's a great pity of Evan Dhu, who +was a very weel-meaning, good-natured man, to be a Hielandman; +and indeed so was the Laird o' Glennaquoich too, for that matter, +when he wasna in ane o' his tirrivies. + + + +CHAPTER LXX + +DOLCE DOMUM + +The impression of horror with which Waverley left Carlisle +softened by degrees into melancholy--a gradation which was +accelerated by the painful, yet soothing, task of writing to +Rose; and, while he could not suppress his own feelings of the +calamity, he endeavoured to place it in a light which might +grieve her without shocking her imagination. The picture which +he drew for her benefit he gradually familiarized to his own +mind; and his next letters were more cheerful, and referred to +the prospects of peace and happiness which lay before them. Yet, +though his first horrible sensations had sunk into melancholy, +Edward had reached his native county before he could, as usual on +former occasions, look round for enjoyment upon the face of +nature. + +He then, for the first time since leaving Edinburgh, began to +experience that pleasure which almost all feel who return to a +verdant, populous, and highly cultivated country, from scenes of +waste desolation, or of solitary and melancholy grandeur. But +how were those feelings enhanced when he entered on the domain so +long possessed by his forefathers; recognized the old oaks of +Waverley-Chase; thought with what delight he should introduce +Rose to all his favourite haunts; beheld at length the towers of +the venerable hall arise above the woods which embowered it, and +finally threw himself into the arms of the venerable relations to +whom he owed so much duty and affection! + +The happiness of their meeting was not tarnished by a single word +of reproach. On the contrary, whatever pain Sir Everard and Mrs. +Rachel had felt during Waverley's perilous engagement with the +young Chevalier, it assorted too well with the principles in +which they had been brought up, to incur reprobation, or even +censure. Colonel Talbot also had smoothed the way, with great +address, for Edward's favourable reception, by dwelling upon his +gallant behaviour in the military character, particularly his +bravery and generosity at Preston; until, warmed at the idea of +their nephew's engaging in single combat, making prisoner, and +saving from slaughter, so distinguished an officer as the Colonel +himself, the imagination of the Baronet and his sister ranked the +exploits of Edward with those of Wilibert, Hildebrand, and Nigel, +the vaunted heroes of their line. + +The appearance of Waverley, embrowned by exercise, and dignified +by the habits of military discipline, had acquired an athletic +and hardy character, which not only verified the Colonel's +narration, but surprised and delighted all the inhabitants of +Waverley-Honour. They crowded to see, to hear him, and to sing +his praises. Mr. Pembroke, who secretly extolled his spirit and +courage in embracing the genuine cause of the Church of England, +censured his pupil gently, nevertheless, for being so careless of +his manuscripts, which indeed, he said, had occasioned him some +personal inconvenience, as, upon the Baronet's being arrested by +a king's messenger, he had deemed it prudent to retire to a +concealment called 'The Priest's Hole,' from the use it had been +put to in former days; where, he assured our hero, the butler had +thought it safe to venture with food only once in the day, so +that he had been repeatedly compelled to dine upon victuals +either absolutely cold, or, what was worse, only half warm, not +to mention that sometimes his bed had not been arranged for two +days together. Waverley's mind involuntarily turned to the +Patmos of the Baron of Bradwardine, who was well pleased with +Janet's fare, and a few bunches of straw stowed in a cleft in the +front of a sand-cliff: but he made no remarks upon a contrast +which could only mortify his worthy tutor. + +All was now in a bustle to prepare for the nuptials of Edward, an +event to which the good old Baronet and Mrs. Rachel looked +forward as if to the renewal of their own youth. The match, as +Colonel Talbot had intimated, had seemed to them in the highest +degree eligible, having every recommendation but wealth, of which +they themselves had more than enough. Mr. Clippurse was +therefore summoned to Waverley-Honour, under better auspices than +at the commencement of our story. But Mr. Clippurse came not +alone; for, being now stricken in years, he had associated with +him a nephew, a younger vulture (as our English Juvenal, who +tells the tale of Swallow the attorney, might have called him), +and they now carried on business as Messrs. Clippurse and Hookem. +These worthy gentlemen had directions to make the necessary +settlements on the most splendid scale of liberality, as if +Edward were to wed a peeress in her own right, with her paternal +estate tacked to the fringe of her ermine. + +But before entering upon a subject of proverbial delay, I must +remind my reader of the progress of a stone rolled down hill by +an idle truant boy (a pastime at which I was myself expert in my +more juvenile years): it moves at first slowly, avoiding by +inflection every obstacle of the least importance; but when it +has attained its full impulse, and draws near the conclusion of +its career, it smokes and thunders down, taking a rood at every +spring, clearing hedge and ditch like a Yorkshire huntsman, and +becoming most furiously rapid in its course when it is nearest to +being consigned to rest for ever. Even such is the course of a +narrative like that which you are perusing. The earlier events +are studiously dwelt upon, that you, kind reader, may be +introduced to the character rather by narrative, than by the +duller medium of direct description; but when the story draws +near its close, we hurry over the circumstances, however +important, which your imagination must have forestalled, and +leave you to suppose those things which it would be abusing your +patience to relate at length. + +We are, therefore, so far from attempting to trace the dull +progress of Messrs. Clippurse and Hookem, or that of their worthy +official brethren, who had the charge of suing out the pardons of +Edward Waverley and his intended father-in-law, that we can but +touch upon matters more attractive. The mutual epistles, for +example, which were exchanged between Sir Everard and the Baron +upon this occasion, though matchless specimens of eloquence in +their way, must be consigned to merciless oblivion. Nor can I +tell you at length, how worthy Aunt Rachel, not without a +delicate and affectionate allusion to the circumstances which had +transferred Rose's maternal diamonds to the hands of Donald Bean +Lean, stocked her casket with a set of jewels that a duchess +might have envied. Moreover, the reader will have the goodness +to imagine that Job Houghton and his dame were suitably provided +for, although they could never be persuaded that their son fell +otherwise than fighting by the young squire's side; so that +Alick, who, as a lover of truth, had made many needless attempts +to expound the real circumstances to them, was finally ordered to +say not a word more upon the subject. He indemnified himself, +however, by the liberal allowance of desperate battles, grisly +executions, and rawhead and bloody-bone stories, with which he +astonished the servants' hall. + +But although these important matters may be briefly told in +narrative, like a newspaper report of a Chancery suit, yet, with +all the urgency which Waverley could use, the real time which the +law proceedings occupied, joined to the delay occasioned by the +mode of travelling at that period, rendered it considerably more +than two months ere Waverley, having left England, alighted once +more at the mansion of the Laird of Duchran to claim the hand of +his plighted bride. + +The day of his marriage was fixed for the sixth after his +arrival. The Baron of Bradwardine, with whom bridals, +christenings, and funerals, were festivals of high and solemn +import, felt a little hurt, that, including the family of the +Duchran, and all the immediate vicinity who had title to be +present on such an occasion, there could not be above thirty +persons collected. 'When he was married,' he observed, 'three +hundred horse of gentlemen born, besides servants, and some score +or two of Highland lairds, who never got on horseback, were +present on the occasion.' + +But his pride found some consolation in reflecting, that he and +his son-in-law having been so lately in arms against Government, +it, might give matter of reasonable fear and offence to the +ruling powers, if they were to collect together the kith, kin, +and allies of their houses, arrayed in effeir of war, as was the +ancient custom of Scotland on these occasions--'And, without +dubitation,' he concluded with a sigh, 'many of those who would +have rejoiced most freely upon these joyful espousals, are either +gone to a better place, or are now exiles from their native +land.' + +The marriage took place on the appointed day. The Reverend Mr. +Rubrick, kinsman to the proprietor of the hospitable mansion +where it was solemnized, and chaplain to the Baron of +Bradwardine, had the satisfaction to unite their hands; and Frank +Stanley acted as bridesman, having joined Edward with that view +soon after his arrival. Lady Emily and Colonel Talbot had +proposed being present; but Lady Emily's health, when the day +approached, was found inadequate to the journey. In amends, it +was arranged that Edward Waverley and his lady, who, with the +Baron, proposed an immediate journey to Waverley-Honour, should, +in their way, spend a few days at an estate which Colonel Talbot +had been tempted to purchase in Scotland as a very great bargain, +and at which he proposed to reside for some time. + + + +CHAPTER LXXI + + This is no mine ain house, I ken by the bigging o't'. + --OLD SONG. + +The nuptial party travelled in great style. There was a coach +and six after the newest pattern, which Sir Everard had presented +to his nephew, that dazzled with its splendour the eyes of one +half of Scotland; there was the family coach of Mr. Rubrick;-- +both these were crowded with ladies, and there were gentlemen on +horseback, with their servants, to the number of a round score. +Nevertheless, without having the fear of famine before his eyes, +Bailie Macwheeble met them in the road, to entreat that they +would pass by his house at Little Veolan. The Baron stared, and +said his son and he would certainly ride by Little Veolan, and +pay their compliments to the Bailie, but could not think of +bringing with them the 'haill COMITATUS NUPTIALIS, or matrimonial +procession.' He added, 'that, as he understood that the barony +had been sold by its unworthy possessor, he was glad to see his +old friend Duncan had regained his situation under the new +DOMINUS, or proprietor. ' The Bailie ducked, bowed, and fidgeted, +and then again insisted upon his invitation; until the Baron, +though rather piqued at the pertinacity of his instances, could +not nevertheless refuse to consent, without making evident +sensations which he was anxious to conceal. + +He fell into a deep study as they approached the top of the +avenue, and was only startled from it by observing that the +battlements were replaced, the ruins cleared sway, and (most +wonderful of all) that the two great stone Bears, those mutilated +Dagons of his idolatry, had resumed their posts over the gateway. +'Now this new proprietor,' said he to Edward, 'has shown mair +gusto, as the Italians call it, in the short time he has had this +domain, than that hound Malcolm, though I bred him here mysell, +has acquired VITA ADHUC DURANTE.--and now I talk of hounds, is +not yon Ban and Buscar, who come scouping up the avenue with +Davie Gallatley?' + +'I vote we should go to meet them, sir,' said Waverley, 'for I +believe the present master of the house is Colonel Talbot, who +will expect to see us. We hesitated to mention to you at first +that he had purchased your ancient patrimonial property, and even +yet, if you do not incline to visit him, we can pass on to the +Bailie's.' + +The Baron had occasion for all his magnanimity. However, he drew +a long breath, took a long snuff, and observed, since they had +brought him so far, he could not pass the Colonel's gate, and he +would be happy to see the new master of his old tenants. He +alighted accordingly, as did the other gentlemen and ladies;--he +gave his arm to his daughter, and as they descended the avenue, +pointed out to her how speedily the 'DIVA PECUNIA of the +Southron--their tutelary deity, he might call her--had removed +the marks of spoliation.' + +In truth, not only had the felled trees been removed, but, their +stumps being grubbed up, and the earth round them levelled and +sown with grass, every mark of devastation, unless to an eye +intimately acquainted with the spot, was already totally +obliterated. There was a similar reformation in the outward man +of Davie Gellatley, who met them, every now and then stopping to +admire the new suit which graced his person, In the same colours +as formerly, but bedizened fine enough to have served Touchstone +himself. He danced up with his usual ungainly frolics, first to +the Baron, and then to Rose, passing his hands over his clothes, +crying, 'BRA', BRA' DAVIE,' and scarce able to sing a bar to an +end of his thousand-and-one songs, for the breathless +extravagance of his joy. The dogs also acknowledged their old +master with a thousand gambols. 'Upon my conscience, Rose,' +ejaculated the Baron, 'the gratitude o' thae dumb brutes, and of +that puir innocent, brings the tears into my auld een, while that +schellum Malcolm--but I'm obliged to Colonel Talbot for putting +my hounds into such good condition, and likewise for puir Davie. +But, Rose, my dear, we must not permit them to be a liferent +burden upon the estate.' + +As he spoke, Lady Emily, leaning upon the arm of her husband, met +the party at the lower gate, with a thousand welcomes. After the +ceremony of introduction had been gone through, much abridged by +the ease and excellent breeding of Lady Emily, she apologized for +having used a little art to wile them back to a place which might +awaken some painful reflections--'But as it was to change +masters, we were very desirous that the Baron'-- + +'Mr. Bradwardine, madam, if you please,' said the old gentleman. + +'--Mr. Bradwardine, then, and Mr. Waverley, should see what we +have done towards restoring the mansion of your fathers to its +former state.' + +The Baron answered with a low bow. Indeed, when he entered the +court, excepting that the heavy stables, which had been burnt +down, were replaced by buildings of a lighter and more +picturesque appearance, all seemed as much as possible restored +to the state in which he had left it when he assumed arms some +months before. The pigeon-house was replenished; the fountain +played with its usual activity; and not only the Bear who +predominated over its basin, but all the other Bears whatsoever, +were replaced on their several stations, and renewed or repaired +with so much care, that they bore no tokens of the violence which +had so lately descended upon them. While these minutiae had been +so heedfully attended to, it is scarce necessary to add, that the +house itself had been thoroughly repaired, as well as the +gardens, with the strictest attention to maintain the original +character of both, and to remove, as far as possible, all +appearance of the ravage they had sustained. The Baron gazed in +silent wonder; at length he addressed Colonel Talbot: + +'While I acknowledge my obligation to you, sir, for the +restoration of the badge of our family, I cannot but marvel that +you have nowhere established your own crest, whilk is, I believe, +a mastiff, anciently called a talbot; as the poet has it, + + A talbot strong--a sturdy tyke. + +At least such a dog is the crest of the martial and renowned +Earls of Shrewsbury, to whom your family are probably blood +relations.' + +'I believe,' said the Colonel, smiling, 'our dogs are whelps of +the same litter: for my part, if crests were to dispute +precedence, I should be apt to let them, as the proverb says, +"fight dog, fight bear."' + +As he made this speech, at which the Baron took another long +pinch of snuff, they had entered the house--that is, the Baron, +Rose, and Lady Emily, with young Stanley and the Bailie, for +Edward and the rest of the party remained on the terrace, to +examine a new greenhouse stocked with the finest plants. The +Baron resumed his favourite topic: 'However it may please you to +derogate from the honour of your burgonet, Colonel Talbot, which +is doubtless your humour, as I have seen in other gentlemen of +birth and honour in your country, I must again repeat it as a +most ancient and distinguished bearing, as well as that of my +young friend Francis Stanley, which is the eagle and child.' + +'The bird and bantling they call it in Derbyshire, sir,' said +Stanley. + +'Ye're a daft callant, sir,' said the Baron, who had a great +liking to this young man, perhaps because he sometimes teased +him--'Ye're a daft callant, and I must correct you some of these +days,' shaking his great brown fist at him. 'But what I meant to +say, Colonel Talbot, is, that yours is an ancient PROSAPIA, or +descent, and since you have lawfully and justly acquired the +estate for you and yours, which I have lost for me and mine, I +wish it may remain in your name as many centuries as it has done +in that of the late proprietor's.' + +'That,' answered the Colonel, 'is very handsome, Mr. Bradwardine, +indeed.' + +'And yet, sir, I cannot but marvel that you, Colonel, whom I +noted to have so much of the AMOR PATRIAE, when we met in +Edinburgh, as even to vilipend other countries, should have +chosen to establish your Lares, or household gods, PROCUL A +PATRIEA FINIBUS, and in a manner to expatriate yourself.' + +'Why really, Baron, I do not see why, to keep the secret of these +foolish boys, Waverley and Stanley, and of my wife, who is no +wiser, one old soldier should continue to impose upon another. +You must know, then, that I have so much of that same prejudice +in favour of my native country, that the sum of money which I +advanced to the seller of this extensive barony has only +purchased for me a box in --shire, called Brerewood Lodge, with +about two hundred and fifty acres of land, the chief merit of +which is, that it is within a very few miles of Waverley-Honour.' + +'And who, then, in the name of Haven, has bought this property?' + +'That,' said the Colonel,' it is this gentleman's profession to +explain.' + +The Bailie, whom this reference regarded, and who had all this +while shifted from one foot to another with great impatience, +'like a hen,' as he afterwards said, 'upon a het girdle'; and +chuckling, he might have added, like the said hen in all the +glory of laying an egg--now pushed forward: 'That I can, that I +can, your Honour,' drawing from his pocket a budget of papers, +and untying the red tape with a hand trembling with eagerness. +'Here is the disposition and assignation, by Malcolm Bradwardine +of Inch-Grabbit, regularly signed and tested in terms of the +statute, whereby, for a certain sum of sterling money presently +contented and paid to him, he has disponed, alienated, and +conveyed the whole estate and barony of Bradwardine, Tully- +Veolan, and others, with the fortalice and manor-place--' + +'For God's sake, to the point, sir--I have all that by heart,' +said the Colonel. + +'To Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, Esq.' pursued the Bailie, 'his +heirs and assignees, simply and irredeemably--to be held either A +ME VEL DE ME--' + +'Pray read short, sir.' + +'On the conscience of an honest man, Colonel, I read as short as +is consistent with style.--Under the burden and reservation +always-- + +'Mr. Macwheeble, this would outlast a Russian winter--give me +leave. In short, Mr. Bradwardine, your family estate is your own +once more in full property, and at your absolute disposal, but +only burdened with the sum advanced to repurchase it, which I +understand is utterly disproportioned to its value. + +'An auld sang--an auld sang, if it please your Honours,' cried +the Bailie, rubbing his hands; 'look at the rental book.' + +'Which sum being advanced by Mr. Edward Waverley, chiefly from +the price of his father's property which I bought from him, is +secured to his lady your daughter, and her family by this +marriage.' + +'It is a catholic security,' shouted the Bailie, 'to Rose Comyne +Bradwardine, ALIAS Wauverley, in liferent, and the children of +the said marriage in fee; and I made up a wee bit minute of an +ante-nuptial contract, INTUITU MATRIMONII, so it cannot be +subject to reduction hereafter, as a donation INTER VIRUM ET +UXOREM.' + +It is difficult to say whether the worthy Baron was most +delighted with the restitution of his family property, or with +the delicacy and generosity that left him unfettered to pursue +his purpose in disposing of it after his death, and which +avoided, as much as possible, even the appearance of laying him +under pecuniary obligation. When his first pause of joy and +astonishment was over, his thoughts turned to the unworthy heir- +male, who, he pronounced, 'had sold his birthright, like Esau, +for a mess o' pottage.' + +'But wha cookit the parritch for him?' exclaimed the Bailie; 'I +wad like to ken that--wha but your Honour's to command, Duncan +Macwheeble? His Honour, young Mr. Wauverley, put it a' into my +hand frae the beginning--frae the first calling o' the summons, +as I may say. I circumvented them--I played at bogle about the +bush wi' them--I cajoled them; and if I havena gien Inch-Grabbit +and Jamie Howie a bonnie begunk, they ken themselves. Him a +writer! I didna gea slapdash to them wi' our young bra' +bridegroom, to gar them haud up the market; na, na; I scared them +wi' our wild tenantry, and the Mac-Ivors, that are but ill +settled yet, till they durstna on ony errand whatsoever gang ower +the doorstane after gloaming, for fear John Heatherblutter, or +some siccan dare-the-deil, should tak a baff at them: then, on +the other hand, I beflumm'd them wi' Colonel Talbot--wad they +offer to keep up the price again' the Duke's friend? did they na +ken wha was master? had they na seen eneugh, by the sad example +of mony a puir misguided unhappy body--' + +'Who went to Derby, for example, Mr. Macwheeble?' said the +Colonel to him, aside. + +'Oh' whisht, Colonel, for the love o' God! let that flee stick +i' the wa'. There were mony good folk at Derby; and it's ill +speaking of halters,'--with a sly cast of his eye toward the +Baron, who was in a deep reverie. + +Starting out of it at once, he took Macwheeble by the button, and +led him into one of the deep window recesses, whence only +fragments of their conversation reached the rest of the party. +It certainly related to stamp-paper and parchment; for no other +subject, even from the mouth of his patron, and he, once more an +efficient one, could have arrested so deeply the Bailie's +reverent and absorbed attention. + +'I understand your Honour perfectly; it can be dune as easy as +taking out a decreet in absence.' + +'To her and him, after my demise, and to their heirs-male,--but +preferring the second son, if God shall bless them with two, who +is to carry the name and arms of Bradwardine of that Ilk, without +any other name or armorial bearings whatsoever.' + +'Tut, your Honour!' whispered the Bailie, 'I'll mak a slight +jotting the morn; it will cost but a charter of resignation IN +FAVOREM; and I'll hae it ready for the next term in Exchequer. + +Their private conversation ended, the Baron was now summoned to +do the honours of Tully-Veolan to new guests. These were, Major +Melville of Cairnvreckan, and the Reverend Mr. Morton, followed +by two or three others of the Baron's acquaintances, who had been +made privy to his having again acquired the estate of his +fathers. The shouts of the villagers were also heard beneath in +the courtyard; for Saunders Saunderson, who had kept the secret +for several days with laudable prudence, had unloosed his tongue +upon beholding the arrival of the carriages. + +But, while Edward received Major Melville with politeness, and +the clergyman with the most affectionate and grateful kindness, +his father-in-law looked a little awkward, as uncertain how he +should answer the necessary claims of hospitality to his guests, +and forward the festivity of his tenants. Lady Emily relieved +him, by intimating, that, though she must be an indifferent +representative of Mrs. Edward Waverley in many respects, she +hoped the Baron would approve of the entertainment she had +ordered, in expectation of so many guests; and that they would +find such other accommodations provided, as might in some degree +support the ancient hospitality of Tully-Veolan. It is +impossible to describe the pleasure which this assurance gave the +Baron, who, with an air of gallantry half appertaining to the +stiff Scottish laird, and half to the officer in the French +service, offered his arm to the fair speaker, and led the way, in +something between a stride and a minuet step, into the large +dining parlour, followed by all the rest of the good company. + +By dint of Saunderson's directions and exertions, all here, as +well as in the other apartments, had been disposed as much as +possible according to the old arrangement; and where new movables +had been necessary, they had been selected in the same character +with the old furniture, There was one addition to this fine old +apartment, however, which drew tears into the Baron's eyes. It +was a large and spirited painting, representing Fergus Mac-Ivor +and Waverley in their Highland dress; the scene a wild, rocky, +and mountainous pass, down which the clan were descending in the +background. It was taken from a spirited sketch, drawn while +they were in Edinburgh by a young man of high genius, and had +been painted on a full-length scale by an eminent London artist. +Raeburn himself (whose Highland chiefs do all but walk out of the +canvas) could not have done more justice to the subject; and the +ardent, fiery, and impetuous character of the unfortunate Chief +of Glennaquoich was finely contrasted with the contemplative, +fanciful, and enthusiastic expression of his happier friend. +Beside this painting hung the arms which Waverley had borne in +the unfortunate civil war; The whole piece was beheld with +admiration, and deeper feelings. + +Men must, however, eat, in spite both of sentiment and vertu; and +the Baron, while he assumed the lower end of the table, insisted +that Lady Emily should do the honours of the head, that they +might, he said, set a meet example to the YOUNG FOLK. After a +pause of deliberation, employed in adjusting in his own brain the +precedence between the Presbyterian kirk and Episcopal church of +Scotland, he requested Mr. Morton, as the stranger, would crave a +blessing,--observing, that Mr. Rubrick, who was at home, would +return thanks for the distinguished mercies it had been his lot +to experience. The dinner was excellent. Saunderson attended in +full costume, with all the former domestics, who had been +collected, excepting one or two, that had not been heard of since +the affair of Culloden. The cellars were stocked with wine which +was pronounced to be superb, and it had been contrived that the +Bear of the Fountain, in the courtyard, should (for that night +only) play excellent brandy punch for the benefit of the lower +orders. + +When the dinner was over, the Baron, about to propose a toast, +cast a somewhat sorrowful look upon the sideboard,--which, +however, exhibited much of his plate, that had either been +secreted or purchased by neighbouring gentlemen from the +soldiery, and by them gladly restored to the original owner. + +'In the late times,' he said, 'those must be thankful who have +saved life and land; yet, when I am about to pronounce this +toast, I cannot but regret an old heirloom, Lady Emily--A POCULUM +POTATORIUM, Colonel Talbot'-- + +Here the Baron's elbow was gently touched by his major-demo, and, +turning round, he beheld, in the hands of Alexander ab Alexandro, +the celebrated cup of Saint Duthac, the Blessed Bear of +Bradwardine! I question if the recovery of his estate afforded +him more rapture. 'By my honour,' he said, 'one might almost +believe in brownies and fairies, Lady Emily, when your ladyship +is in presence!' + +'I am truly happy,' said Colonel Talbot, 'that by the recovery of +this piece of family antiquity, it has fallen within my power to +give you some token of my deep interest in all that concerns my +young friend Edward. But that you may not suspect Lady Emily for +a sorceress, or me for a conjurer, which is no joke in Scotland, +I must tell you that Frank Stanley, your friend, who has been +seized with a tartan fever ever since he heard Edward's tales of +old Scottish manners, happened to describe to us at second hand +this remarkable cup. My servant, Spontoon, who, like a true old +soldier, observes everything and says little, gave me afterwards +to understand that he thought he had seen the piece of plate Mr. +Stanley mentioned, in the possession of a certain Mrs. Nosebag, +who, having been originally the helpmate of a pawnbroker, had +found opportunity, during the late unpleasant scenes in Scotland, +to trade a little in her old line, and so became the depositary +of the more valuable part of the spoil of half the army. You may +believe the cup was speedily recovered; and it will give me very +great pleasure if you allow me to suppose that its value is not +diminished by having been restored through my means.' + +A tear mingled with the wine which the Baron filled, as he +proposed a cup of gratitude to Colonel Talbot, and 'The +Prosperity of the united Houses of Waverley-Honour and +Bradwardine!'-- + +It only remains for me to say, that as no wish was ever uttered +with more affectionate sincerity, there are few which, allowing +for the necessary mutability of human events, have been, upon the +whole, more happily fulfilled. + + + +CHAPTER LXXII + +A POSTSCRIPT, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PREFACE + +Our journey is now finished, gentle reader; and if your patience +has accompanied me through these sheets, the contract is, on your +part, strictly fulfilled. Yet, like the driver who has received +his full hire, I still linger near you, and make, with becoming +diffidence, a trifling additional claim upon your bounty and good +nature. You are as free, however, to shut the volume of the one +petitioner, as to close your door in the face of the other. + +This should have been a prefatory chapter, but for two reasons:-- +First, that most novel readers, as my own conscience reminds me, +are apt to be guilty of the sin of omission respecting that same +matter of prefaces;--secondly, that it is a general custom with +that class of students, to begin with the last chapter of a work; +so that, after all, these remarks, being introduced last in +order, have still the best chance to be read in their proper +place. + +There is no European nation, which, within the course of half a +century, or little more, has undergone so complete a change as +this kingdom of Scotland. The effects of the insurrection of +1745,--the destruction of the patriarchal power of the Highland +chiefs,--the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions of the +Lowland nobility and barons,--the total eradication of the +Jacobite party, which, averse to intermingle with the English, or +adopt their customs, long continued to pride themselves upon +maintaining ancient Scottish manners and customs,--commenced this +innovation. The gradual influx of wealth, and extension of +commerce, have since united to render the present people of +Scotland a class of beings as different from their grandfathers +as the existing English are from those of Queen Elizabeth's time, +The political and economical effects of these changes have been +traced by Lord Selkirk with great precision and accuracy. But +the change, though steadily and rapidly progressive, has, +nevertheless, been gradual; and, like those who drift down the +stream of a deep and smooth river, we are not aware of the +progress we have made until we fix our eye on the now distant +point from which we have been drifted.--Such of the present +generation as can recollect the last twenty or twenty-five years +of the eighteenth century, will be fully sensible of the truth of +this statement;--especially if their acquaintance and connexions +lay among those, who, in my younger time, were facetiously called +'folks of the old leaven,' who still cherished a lingering, +though hopeless, attachment, to the house of Stuart. This race +has now almost entirely vanished from the land, and with it, +doubtless, much absurd political prejudice--but also, many living +examples of singular and disinterested attachment to the +principles of loyalty which they received from their fathers, and +of old Scottish faith, hospitality, worth, and honour. + +It was my accidental lot, though not born a Highlander (which may +be an apology for much bad Gaelic), to reside, during my +childhood and youth, among persons of the above description;--and +now, for the purpose of preserving some idea of the ancient +manners of which I have witnessed the almost total extinction, I +have embodied in imaginary scenes, and ascribed to fictitious +characters, a part of the incidents which I then received from +those who were actors in them. Indeed, the most romantic parts +of this narrative are precisely those which have a foundation in +fact. The exchange of mutual protection between a Highland +gentleman and an officer of rank in the king's service, together +with the spirited manner in which the latter asserted his right +to return the favour he had received, is literally true. The +accident by a musket-shot, and the heroic reply imputed to Flora, +relate to a lady of rank not long deceased. And scarce a +gentleman who was 'in hiding' after the battle of Culloden but +could tell a tale of strange concealments, and of wild and +hair's-breadth 'scapes, as extraordinary as any which I have +ascribed to my heroes. Of this, the escape of Charles Edward +himself, as the most prominent, is the most striking example. +The accounts of the battle of Preston and skirmish at Clifton are +taken from the narrative of intelligent eye-witnesses, and +corrected from the History of the Rebellion by the late venerable +author of DOUGLAS. The Lowland Scottish gentlemen, and the +subordinate characters, are not given as individual portraits, +but are drawn from the general habits of the period (of which I +have witnessed some remnants in my younger days), and partly +gathered from tradition. + +It has been my object to describe these persons, not by a +caricatured and exaggerated use of the national dialect, but by +their habits, manners, and feelings; so as in some distant degree +to emulate the admirable Irish portraits drawn by Miss Edgeworth, +so different from the 'Teagues' and 'dear joys,' who so long, +with the most perfect family resemblance to each other, occupied +the drama and the novel. + +I feel no confidence, however, in the manner in which I have +executed my purpose. Indeed, so little was I satisfied with my +production, that I laid it aside in an unfinished state, and only +found it again by mere accident among other waste papers in an +old cabinet, the drawers of which I was rummaging, in order to +accommodate a friend with some fishing tackle, after it had been +mislaid for several years. Two works upon similar subjects, by +female authors, whose genius is highly creditable to their +country, have appeared in the interval; I mean Mrs. Hamilton's +GLENBURNIE, and the late account of Highland Superstitions. But +the first is confined to the rural habits of Scotland, of which +it has given a picture with striking and impressive fidelity; and +the traditional records of the respectable and ingenious Mrs. +Grant of Laggan, are of a nature distinct from the fictitious +narrative which I have here attempted. + +I would willingly persuade myself, that the preceding work will +not be found altogether uninteresting. To elder persons it will +recall scenes and characters familiar to their youth; and to the +rising generation the tale may present some idea of the manners +of their forefathers. + +Yet I heartily wish that the task of tracing the evanescent +manners of his own country had employed the pen of the only man +in Scotland who could have done it justice,--of him so eminently +distinguished in elegant literature,--and whose sketches of +Colonel Caustic and Umphraville are perfectly blended with the +finer traits of national character. I should in that case have +had more pleasure as a reader than I shall ever feel in the pride +of a successful author, should these sheets confer upon me that +envied distinction. And as I have inverted the usual +arrangement, placing these remarks at the end of the work to +which they refer, I will venture on a second violation of form, +by closing the whole with a Dedication:-- + +THESE VOLUMES BEING RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO OUR SCOTTISH +ADDISON, + +HENRY MACKENZIE, + +BY AN UNKNOWN ADMIRER OF HIS GENIUS. + + +* + + + +NOTES + + +NOTE 1.--THE BRADSHAIGH LEGEND + +There is a family legend to this purpose, belonging to the +knightly family of Bradshaigh, the proprietors of Haighhall, in +Lancashire, where, I have been told, the event is recorded on a +painted glass window. The German ballad of the 'Noble Moringer' +turns upon a similar topic. But undoubtedly many such incidents +may have taken place, where, the distance being great, and the +intercourse infrequent, false reports concerning the fate of the +absent Crusaders must have been commonly circulated, and +sometimes perhaps rather hastily credited at home. + + +NOTE 2.--TITUS LIVIUS + +The attachment to this classic was, it is said, actually +displayed, in the manner mentioned in the text, by an unfortunate +Jacobite in that unhappy period. He escaped from the jail in +which he was confined for a hasty trial and certain condemnation, +and was retaken as he hovered around the place in which he had +been imprisoned, for which he could give no better reason than +the hope of recovering his favourite Titus Livius. I am sorry to +add, that the simplicity of such a character was found to form no +apology for his guilt as a rebel, and that he was condemned and +executed. + + +NOTE 3.--NICHOLAS AMHURST + +Nicholas Amhurst, a noted political writer, who conducted for +many years a paper called the Craftsman, under the assumed name +of Caleb d'Anvers. He was devoted to the Tory interest, and +seconded with much ability the attacks of Pulteney on Sir Robert +Walpole. He died in 1742, neglected by his great patrons, and in +the most miserable circumstances. + +Amhurst survived the downfall of Walpole's power, and had reason +to expect a reward for his labours. If we excuse Bolingbroke, +who had only saved the shipwreck of his fortunes, we shall be at +a loss to justify Pulteney, who could with ease have given this +man a considerable income. The utmost of his generosity to +Amhurst, that I ever heard of, was a hogshead of claret! He +died, it is supposed, of a broken heart; and was buried at the +charge of his honest printer, Richard Franklin.'--LORD +CHESTERFIELD'S CHARACTERS REVIEWED, p. 42. + + +NOTE 4.--COLONEL GARDINER + +I have now given in the text the full name of this gallant and +excellent man, and proceed to copy the account of his remarkable +conversion, as related by Dr. Doddridge. + +'This memorable event,' says the pious writer, 'happened towards +the middle of July, 1719. The major had spent the evening (and, +if I mistake not, it was the Sabbath) in some gay company, and +had an unhappy assignation with a married woman, whom he was to +attend exactly at twelve. The company broke up about eleven; and +not judging it convenient to anticipate the time appointed, he +went into his chamber to kill the tedious hour, perhaps with some +amusing book, or some other way. But it very accidentally +happened that he took up a religious book, which his good mother +or aunt had, without his knowledge, slipped into his portmanteau. +It was called, if I remember the title exactly, THE CHRISTIAN +SOLDIER, or HEAVEN TAKEN BY STORM; and it was written by Mr. +Thomas Watson. Guessing by the title of it that he would find +some phrases of his own profession spiritualized in a manner +which he thought might afford him some diversion, he resolved to +dip into it; but he took no serious notice of anything it had in +it; and yet, while this book was in his hand an impression was +made upon his mind (perhaps God only knows how) which drew after +it a train of the most important and happy consequences. He +thought he saw an unusual blaze of light fall upon the book which +he was reading, which he at first imagined might happen by some +accident in the candle: but lifting up his eyes, he apprehended, +to his extreme amazement, that there was before him, as it were +suspended in the air, a visible representation of the Lord Jesus +Christ upon the cross, surrounded on all sides with a glory; and +was impressed, as if a voice, or something equivalent to a voice, +had come to him, to this effect (for he was not confident as to +the words)--"Oh, sinner! did I suffer this for thee? and are +these thy returns?" Struck with so amazing a phenomenon as this, +there remained hardly any life in him, so that he sunk down in +the arm-chair in which he sat, and continued, he knew not how +long, insensible.' + +'With regard to this vision,' says the ingenious Dr. Hibbert, +'the appearance of our Saviour on the cross, and the awful words +repeated, can be considered in no other light than as so many +recollected images of the mind, which, probably, had their origin +in the language of some urgent appeal to repentance, that the +colonel might have casually read or heard delivered. From what +cause, however, such ideas were rendered as vivid as actual +impressions, we have no information to be depended upon. This +vision was certainly attended with one of the most important of +consequences connected with the Christian dispensation--the +conversion of a sinner; and hence no single narrative has, +perhaps, done more to confirm the superstitious opinion that +apparitions of this awful kind cannot arise without a divine +fiat.' Dr. Hibbert adds, in a note--'A short time before the +vision, Colonel Gardiner had received a severe fall from his +horse. Did the brain receive some slight degree of injury from +the accident, so as to predispose him to this spiritual +illusion?'--HIBBERT'S PHILOSOPHY OF APPARITIONS, Edinburgh, 1824, +p. 190. + + +NOTE 5.--SCOTTISH INNS + +The courtesy of an invitation to partake a traveller's meal, or +at least that of being invited to share whatever liquor the guest +called for, was expected by certain old landlords in Scotland, +even in the youth of the author. In requital, mine host was +always furnished with the news of the country, and was probably a +little of a humorist to boot. The devolution of the whole actual +business and drudgery of the inn upon the poor gudewife, was very +common among the Scottish Bonifaces. There was in ancient times, +in the city of Edinburgh, a gentleman of good family, who +condescended, in order to gain a livelihood, to become the +nominal keeper of a coffee house, one of the first places of the +kind which had been opened in the Scottish metropolis. As usual, +it was entirely managed by the careful and industrious Mrs. B--; +while her husband amused himself with field sports, without +troubling his head about the matter. Once upon a time the +premises having taken fire, the husband was met, walking up the +High Street loaded with his guns and fishing-rods, and replied +calmly to some one who inquired after his wife, 'that the poor +woman was trying to save a parcel of crockery, and some trumpery +books'; the last being those which served her to conduct the +business of the house. + +There were many elderly gentlemen in the author's younger days, +who still held it part of the amusement of a journey 'to parley +with mine host,' who often resembled, in his quaint humour, mine +Host of the Garter in the MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR; or Blague of +the George in the MERRY DEVIL OF EDMONTON. Sometimes the +landlady took her share of entertaining the company. In either +case, the omitting to pay them due attention gave displeasure, +and perhaps brought down a smart jest, as on the following +occasion:-- + +A jolly dame, who, not 'Sixty Years since,' kept the principal +caravansary at Greenlaw in Berwickshire, had the honour to +receive under her roof a very worthy clergyman, with three sons +of the same profession, each having a cure of souls: be it said +in passing, none of the reverend party were reckoned powerful in +the pulpit. After dinner was over, the worthy senior, in the +pride of his heart, asked Mrs. Buchan whether she ever had had +such a party in her house before. 'Here sit I,' he said, 'a +placed minister of the Kirk of Scotland, and here sit my three +sons, each a placed minister of the same kirk.--confess, Luckie +Buchan, you never had such a party in your house before.' The +question was not premised by any invitation to sit down and take +a glass of wine or the like, so Mrs. B. answered dryly, 'Indeed, +Sir, I cannot just say that ever I had such a party in my house +before, except once in the forty-five, when I had a Highland +piper here, with his three sons, all Highland pipers; AND DEIL A +SPRING THEY COULD PLAY AMANG THEM.' + + +NOTE 6.--THE CUSTOM OF KEEPING FOOLS + +I am ignorant how long the ancient and established custom of +keeping fools has been disused in England. Swift writes an +epitaph on the Earl of Suffolk's fool,-- + + 'Whose name was Dickie Pearce.' + +In Scotland the custom subsisted till late in the last century. +At Glamis Castle, is preserved the dress of one of the jesters, +very handsome, and ornamented with many bells. It is not above +thirty years since such a character stood by the sideboard of a +nobleman of the first rank in Scotland, and occasionally mixed in +the conversation, till he carried the joke rather too far, in +making proposals to one of the young ladies of the family, and +publishing the banns betwixt her and himself in the public +church. + + +NOTE 7.--PERSECUTION OF EPISCOPAL CLERGYMEN + +After the Revolution of 1688, and on some occasions when the +spirit of the Presbyterians had been unusually animated against +their opponents, the Episcopal clergymen, who were chiefly non- +jurors, were exposed to be mobbed, as we should now say, or +rabbled, as the phrase then went, to expiate their political +heresies. But notwithstanding that the Presbyterians had the +persecution in Charles II and his brother's time to exasperate +them, there was little mischief done beyond the kind of petty +violence mentioned in the text. + + +NOTE 8.--STIRRUP-CUP + +I may here mention, that the fashion of compotation described in +the text, was still occasionally practised in Scotland in the +author's youth. A company, after having taken leave of their +host, often went to finish the evening at the clachan or village, +in 'womb of tavern.' Their entertainer always accompanied them +to take the stirrup-cup, which often occasioned a long and late +revel. + +The POCULUM POTATORIUM of the valiant Baron, his Blessed Bear, +has a prototype at the fine old Castle of Glamis, so rich in +memorials of ancient times; it is a massive beaker of silver, +double gilt, moulded into the shape of a lion, and holding about +an English pint of wine. The form alludes to the family name of +Strathmore, which is Lyon, and, when exhibited, the cup must +necessarily be emptied to the Earl's health. The author ought +perhaps to be ashamed of recording that he has had the honour of +swallowing the contents of the Lion; and the recollection of the +feat served to suggest the story of the Bear of Bradwardine. In +the family of Scott of Thirlestane (not Thirlestane in the +Forest, but the place of the same name in Roxburghshire) was long +preserved a cup of the same kind, in the form of a jack-boot. +Each guest was obliged to empty this at his departure. If the +guest's name was Scott, the necessity was doubly imperative. + +When the landlord of an inn presented his guests with DEOCH AN +DORUIS, that is, the drink at the door, or the stirrup-cup, the +draught was not charged in the reckoning. On this point a +learned Bailie of the town of Forfar pronounced a very sound +judgement. + +A., an ale-wife in Forfar, had brewed her 'peck of malt,' and set +the liquor out of doors to cool; the cow of B., a neighbour of A. +chanced to come by, and seeing the good beverage, was allured to +taste it, and finally to drink it up. When A. came to take in +her liquor, she found the tub empty, and from the cow's +staggering and staring, so as to betray her intemperance, she +easily divined the mode in which her 'brewst' had disappeared. +To take vengeance on Crummie's ribs with a stick, was her first +effort. The roaring of the cow brought B., her master, who +remonstrated with his angry neighbour, and received in reply a +demand for the value of the ale which Crummie had drunk up. B. +refused payment, and was conveyed before C., the Bailie, or +sitting Magistrate. He heard the case patiently; and then +demanded of the plaintiff A., whether the cow had sat down to her +potation, or taken it standing. The plaintiff answered she had +not seen the deed committed, but she supposed the cow drank the +ale standing on her feet; adding, that had she been near, she +would have made her use them to some purpose. The Bailie, on +this admission, solemnly adjudged the cow's drink to be DEOCH AN +DORUIS--a stirrup-cup, for which no charge could be made without +violating the ancient hospitality of Scotland. + + +NOTE 9.--CANTING HERALDRY + +Although canting heraldry is generally reprobated, it seems +nevertheless to have been adopted in the arms and mottoes of many +honourable families. Thus the motto of the Vernons, VER NON +SEMPER VIRET, is a perfect pun, and so is that of the Onslows, +FESTINA LENTE. The PERIISSEM NI PER-IISSEM of the Anstruthers is +liable to a similar objection. One of that ancient race, finding +that an antagonist, with whom he had fixed a friendly meeting, +was determined to take the opportunity of assassinating him, +prevented the hazard by dashing out his brains with a battle-axe. +Two sturdy arms brandishing such a weapon, form the usual crest +of the family, with the above motto--PERIISSEM NI PER-IISSEM--I +had died, unless I had gone through with it. + + +NOTE 10.--THE LEVYING OF BLACKMAIL + +Mac-Donald of Barrisdale, one of the very last Highland gentlemen +who carried on the plundering system to any great extent, was a +scholar and a well-bred gentleman. He engraved on his +broadswords the well-known lines-- + + Hae tibi erunt artes--pacisque imponere morem, + Parcere subiectis, et debellare superbos. + +Indeed, the levying of blackmail was, before 1745, practised by +several chiefs of very high rank, who, in doing so, contended +that they were lending the laws the assistance of their arms and +swords, and affording a protection which could not be obtained +from the magistracy in the disturbed state of the country. The +author has seen a memoir of Mac-Pherson of Cluny, chief of that +ancient clan, from which it appears that he levied protection- +money to a very large amount, which was willingly paid even by +some of his most powerful neighbours. A gentleman of this clan +hearing a clergyman hold forth to his congregation on the crime +of theft, interrupted the preacher to assure him, he might leave +the enforcement of such doctrines to Cluny Mac-Pherson, whose +broadsword would put a stop to theft sooner than all the sermons +of all the ministers of the synod. + + +NOTE 11.--ROB ROY + +An adventure, very similar to what is here stated, actually +befell the late Mr. Abercromby of Tullibody, grandfather of the +present Lord Abercromby, and father of the celebrated Sir Ralph. +When this gentlemen, who lived to a very advanced period of life, +first settled in Stirlingshire, his cattle were repeatedly driven +off by the celebrated Rob Roy, or some of his gang; and at length +he was obliged, after obtaining a proper safe-conduct, to make +the Cateran such a visit as that of Waverley to Bean Lean in the +text. Rob received him with much courtesy, and made many +apologies for the accident, which must have happened, he said, +through some mistake. Mr. Abercromby was regaled with collops +from two of his own cattle, which were hung up by the heels in +the cavern, and was dismissed in perfect safety, after having +agreed to pay in future a small sum of blackmail, in +consideration of which Rob Roy not only undertook to forbear his +herds in future, but to replace any that should be stolen from +him by other freebooters. Mr. Abercromby said, Rob Roy affected +to consider him as a friend to the Jacobite interest, and a +sincere enemy to the Union. Neither of these circumstances were +true; but the laird thought it quite unnecessary to undeceive his +Highland host at the risk of bringing on a political dispute in +such a situation. This anecdote I received many years since +(about 1792) from the mouth of the venerable gentleman who was +concerned in it. + + +NOTE 12.--KIND GALLOWS OF CRIEFF + +This celebrated gibbet was, in the memory of the last generation, +still standing at the western end of the town of Crieff, in +Perthshire. Why it was called the kind gallows, we are unable to +inform the reader with certainty; but it is alleged that the +Highlanders used to touch their bonnets as they passed a place +which had been fatal to many of their countrymen, with the +ejaculation--'God bless her nain sell, and the Teil tamn you!' +It may therefore have been called kind, as being a sort of native +or kindred place of doom to those who suffered there, as in +fulfilment of a natural destiny. + + +NOTE 13.--CATERANS + +The story of the bridegroom carried off by Caterans on his +bridal-day is taken from one which was told to the author by the +late Laird of Mac-Nab, many years since. To carry off persons +from the Lowlands, and to put them to ransom, was a common +practice with the wild Highlanders, as it is said to be at the +present day with the banditti in the south of Italy. Upon the +occasion alluded to, a party of Caterans carried off the +bridegroom, and secreted him in some cave near the mountain of +Schehallion. The young man caught the small-pox before his +ransom could be agreed on; and whether it was the fine cool air +of the place, or the want of medical attendance, Mac-Nab did not +pretend to be positive; but so it was, that the prisoner +recovered, his ransom was paid, and he was restored to his +friends and bride, but always considered the Highland robbers as +having saved his life by their treatment of his malady. + + +NOTE 14.--RE-PURCHASE OF FORFEITED ESTATES + +This happened on many occasions. Indeed, it was not till after +the total destruction of the clan influence, after 1745, that +purchasers could be found who offered a fair price for the +estates forfeited in 1715, which were then brought to sale by the +creditors of the York-Buildings Company, who had purchased the +whole, or greater part, from Government at a very small price. +Even so late as the period first mentioned, the prejudices of the +public in favour of the heirs of the forfeited families threw +various impediments in the way of intending purchasers of such +property. + + +NOTE 15.--HIGHLAND POLICY + +This sort of political game ascribed to Mac-Ivor was in reality +played by several Highland chiefs, the celebrated Lord Lovat in +particular, who used that kind of finesse to the uttermost. The +Laird of Mac-- was also captain of an independent company, but +valued the sweets of present pay too well to incur the risk of +losing them in the Jacobite cause. His martial consort raised +his clan, and headed it in 1745. But the chief himself would +have nothing to do with king-making, declaring himself for that +monarch, and no other, who gave the Laird of Mac-- 'half a guinea +the day, and half a guinea the morn.' + + +NOTE 16.--HIGHLAND DISCIPLINE + +In explanation of the military exercise observed at the Castle of +Glennaquoich, the author begs to remark, that the Highlanders +were not only well practised in the use of the broadsword, +firelock, and most of the manly sports and trials of strength +common throughout Scotland, but also used a peculiar sort of +drill, suited to their own dress and mode of warfare. There +were, for instance, different modes of disposing the plaid,--one +when on a peaceful journey, another when danger was apprehended; +one way of enveloping themselves in it when expecting undisturbed +repose, and another which enabled them to start up with sword and +pistol in hand on the slightest alarm. + +Previous to 1720, or thereabouts, the belted plaid was +universally worn, in which the portion which surrounded the +middle of the wearer, and that which was flung around his +shoulders, were all of the same piece of tartan. In a desperate +onset, all was thrown away, and the clan charged bare beneath the +doublet, save for an artificial arrangement of the shirt, which, +like that of the Irish, was always ample, and for the sporran- +mollach, or goat's-skin purse. + +The manner of handling the pistol and dirk was also part of the +Highland manual exercise, which the author has seen gone through +by men who had learned it in their youth. + + +NOTE 17.--HIGHLAND ABHORRENCE OF PORK + +Pork, or swine's flesh, in any shape, was, till of late years, +much abominated by the Scotch, nor is it yet a favourite food +amongst them. King Jamie carried this prejudice to England, and +is known to have abhorred pork almost as much as he did tobacco. +Ben Jonson has recorded this peculiarity, where the gipsy in a +masque, examining the king's hand, says,-- + + --'you should, by this line, + Love a horse, and a hound, but no part of a swine.'-- + THE GYPSIES METAMORPHOSED. + +James's own proposed banquet for the devil was a loin of pork and +a poll of ling, with a pipe of tobacco for digestion. + + +NOTE 18.--A HIGHLAND CHIEF'S DINNER-TABLE + +In the number of persons of all ranks who assembled at the same +table, though by no means to discuss the same fare, the Highland +Chiefs only retained a custom which had been formerly universally +observed throughout Scotland. 'I myself,' says the traveller +Fynes Morrison, in the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the scene +being the Lowlands of Scotland, 'was at a knight's house, who had +many servants to attend him, that brought in his meat with their +heads covered with blue caps, the table being more than half +furnished with great platters of porridge each having a little +piece of sodden meat. And when the table was served, the +servants did sit down with us; but the upper mess, instead of +porridge, had a pullet, with some prunes in the broth.'--TRAVELS, +p. 155. + +Till within this last century, the farmers, even of a respectable +condition, dined with their work-people. The difference betwixt +those of high degree was ascertained by the place of the party +above or below the salt, or, sometimes, by a line drawn with +chalk on the dining-table. Lord Lovat, who knew well how to feed +the vanity and restrain the appetites of his clansmen, allowed +each sturdy Fraser, who had the slightest pretension to be a +Duinhe-wassel, the full honour of the sitting, but, at the same +time, took care that his young kinsmen did not acquire at his +table any taste for outlandish luxuries. His Lordship was always +ready with some honourable apology, why foreign wines and French +brandy--delicacies which he conceived might sap the hardy habits +of his cousins--should not circulate past an assigned point on +the table. + + +NOTE 19.--CONAN THE JESTER + +In the Irish ballads relating to Fion (the Fingal of Mac- +Pherson), there occurs, as in the primitive poetry of most +nations, a cycle of heroes, each of whom has some distinguishing +attribute: upon these qualities, and the adventures of those +possessing them, many proverbs are formed which are still current +in the Highlands. Among other characters, Conan is distinguished +as in some respects a kind of Thersites, but brave and daring +even to rashness. He had made a vow that he would never take a +blow without returning it; and having, like other heroes of +antiquity, descended to the infernal regions, he received a cuff +from the Arch-fiend; who presided there, which he instantly +returned, using the expression in the text. Sometimes the +proverb is worded thus:--'Claw for claw, and the devil take the +shortest nails, as Conan said to the devil.' + + +NOTE 20.--WATERFALL + +The description of the waterfall mentioned in this chapter is +taken from that of Ledeard, at the farm so called on the northern +side of Lochard, and near the head of the Lake, four or five +miles from Aberfoyle. It is upon a small scale, but otherwise +one of the most exquisite cascades it is possible to behold. The +appearance of Flora with the harp, as described, has been justly +censured as too theatrical and affected for the ladylike +simplicity of her character. But something may be allowed to her +French education, in which point and striking effect always make +a considerable object. + + +NOTE 21.--MAC-FARLANE'S LANTERN + +The clan of Mac-Farlane, occupying the fastnesses of the western +side of Loch Lomond, were great depredators on the Low Country; +and as their excursions were made usually by night, the moon was +proverbially called their lantern. Their celebrated pibroch of +HOGGIL NAM BO, which is the name of their gathering tune, +intimates similar practices,--the sense being-- + + We are bound to drive the bullocks, + All by hollows, hirsts, and hillocks, + Through the sleet and through the rain; + When the moon is beaming low + On frozen lake and hills of snow, + Bold and heartily we go; + And all for little gain. + + +NOTE 22.--CASTLE OF DOUNE + +This noble ruin is dear to my recollection, from associations +which have been long and painfully broken. It holds a commanding +station on the banks of the river Teith, and has been one of the +largest castles in Scotland. Murdock, Duke of Albany, the +founder of this stately pile, was beheaded on the Castle-hill of +Stirling, from which he might see the towers of Doune, the +monument of his fallen greatness. + +In 1745-6, as stated in the text, a garrison on the part of the +Chevalier was put into the castle, then less ruinous than at +present. It was commanded by Mr. Stewart of Balloch, as governor +for Prince Charles he was a man of property near Callander. This +castle became at that time the actual scene of a romantic escape +made by John Home, the author of Douglas, and some other +prisoners, who, having been taken at the battle of Falkirk, were +confined there by the insurgents. The poet, who had in his own +mind a large stock of that romantic and enthusiastic spirit of +adventure, which he has described as animating the youthful hero +of his drama, devised and undertook the perilous enterprise of +escaping from his prison. He inspired his companions with his +sentiments and when every attempt at open force was deemed +hopeless, they resolved to twist their bed-clothes into ropes, +and thus to descend. Four persons, with Home himself, reached +the ground in safety. But the rope broke with the fifth, who was +a tall lusty man. The sixth was Thomas Barrow, a brave young +Englishman, a particular friend of Home's. Determined to take +the risk, even in such unfavourable circumstances, Barrow +committed himself to the broken rope, slid down on it as far as +if could assist him, and then let himself drop. His friends +beneath succeeded in breaking his fall. Nevertheless, he +dislocated his ankle, and had several of his ribs broken. His +companions, however, were able to bear him off in safety. + +The Highlanders next morning sought for their prisoners with +great activity. An old gentleman told the author he remembered +seeing the commander Stewart, + + Bloody with spurring, fiery red with haste, + +riding furiously through the country in quest of the fugitives. + + +NOTE 23.--JACOBITE SENTIMENTS + +The Jacobite sentiments were general among the western counties, +and in Wales. But although the great families of the Wynnes, the +Wyndhams, and others, had come under an actual obligation to join +Prince Charles if he should land, they had done so under the +express stipulation, that he should be assisted by an auxiliary +army of French, without which they foresaw the enterprise would +be desperate. Wishing well to his cause, therefore, and watching +an opportunity to join him, they did not, nevertheless, think +themselves bound in honour to do so, as he was only supported by +a body of wild mountaineers, speaking an uncouth dialect, and +wearing a singular dress. The race up to Derby struck them with +more dread than admiration. But it was difficult to say what the +effect might have been, had either the battle of Preston or +Falkirk been fought and won during the advance into England. + + +NOTE 24.--THE CHEVALIER'S IRISH OFFICERS + +Divisions early showed themselves in the Chevalier's little army, +not only amongst the independent chieftains, who were far too +proud to brook subjection to each other, but betwixt the Scotch +and Charles's governor O'Sullivan, an Irishman by birth, who, +with some of his countrymen bred in the Irish Brigade in the +service of the King of France, had an influence with the +Adventurer much resented by the Highlanders, who were sensible +that their own clans made the chief, or rather the only strength +of his enterprise. There was a feud, also, between Lord George +Murray, and James Murray of Broughton, the Prince's secretary, +whose disunion greatly embarrassed the affairs of the Adventurer. +In general, a thousand different pretensions divided their little +army, and finally contributed in no small degree to its +overthrow. + + +NOTE 25.--FIELD-PIECE IN THE HIGHLAND ARMY + +This circumstance, which is historical, as well as the +description that precedes it, will remind the reader of the war +of La Vendee, in which the royalists, consisting chiefly of +insurgent peasantry, attached a prodigious and even superstitious +interest to the possession of a piece of brass ordnance, which +they called Marie Jeanne. + +The Highlanders of an early period were afraid of cannon, with +the noise and effect of which they were totally unacquainted. It +was by means of three or four small pieces of artillery that the +Earl of Huntly and Errol, in James VI's time, gained a great +victory at Glenlivat, over a numerous Highland army, commanded by +the Earl of Argyle. At the battle of the Bridge of Dee, General +Middleton obtained by his artillery a similar success, the +Highlanders not being able to stand the discharge of MUSKET'S- +MOTHER, which was the name they bestowed on great guns. In an +old ballad on the battle of the Bridge of Dee, these verses +occur:-- + + The Highlandmen are pretty men + For handling sword and shield, + But yet they are but simple men + To stand a stricken field. + + The Highlandmen are pretty men + For target and claymore, + But yet they are but naked men + To face the cannon's roar. + + For the cannons roar on a summer night + Like thunder in the air; + Was never man in Highland garb + Would face the cannon fair. + +But the Highlanders of 1745 had got far beyond the simplicity of +their forefathers, and showed throughout the whole war how little +they dreaded artillery, although the common people still attached +some consequence to the possession of the field-piece which led +to this disquisition. + + +NOTE 26.--ANDERSON OF WHITBURGH + +The faithful friend who pointed out the pass by which the +Highlanders moved from Tranent to Seaton, was Robert Anderson, +Junior, of Whitburgh, a gentleman of property in East Lothian. +He had been interrogated by the Lord George Murray concerning the +possibility of crossing the uncouth and marshy piece of ground +which divided the armies, and which he described as +impracticable. When dismissed, he recollected that there was a +circuitous path leading eastward through the marsh into the +plain, by which the Highlanders might turn the flank of Sir John +Cope's position, without being exposed to the enemy's fire. +Having mentioned his opinion to Mr. Hepburn of Keith, who +instantly saw its importance, he was encouraged by that gentleman +to awake Lord George Murray, and communicate the idea to him. +Lord George received the information with grateful thanks, and +instantly awakened Prince Charles, who was sleeping in the field +with a bunch of peas under his head. The Adventurer received +with alacrity the news that there was a possibility of bringing +an excellently provided army to a decisive battle with his own +irregular forces. His joy on the occasion was not very +consistent with the charge of cowardice brought against him by +Chevalier Johnstone, a discontented follower, whose Memoirs +possess at least as much of a romantic as a historical character. +Even by the account of the Chevalier himself, the Prince was at +the head of the second line of the Highland army during the +battle, of which he says, 'It was gained with such rapidity, that +in the second line, where I was still by the side of the Prince, +we saw no other enemy than those who were lying on the ground +killed and wounded, THOUGH WE WERE NOT MORE THAN FIFTY PACES +BEHIND OUR FIRST LINE, RUNNING ALWAYS AS FAST AS WE COULD TO +OVERTAKE THEM.' + +This passage in the Chevalier's Memoirs places the Prince within +fifty paces of the best of the battle, a position which would +never have been the choice of one unwilling to take a share of +its dangers. Indeed, unless the chiefs had complied with the +young Adventurer's proposal to lead the van in person, it does +not appear that he could have been deeper in the action. + + +NOTE 27.--DEATH OF COLONEL GARDINER + +The death of this good Christian and gallant man is thus given by +his affectionate biographer Dr. Doddridge, from the evidence of +eye-witnesses:-- + +'He continued all night under arms, wrapped up in his cloak, and +generally sheltered under a rick of barley, which happened to be +in the field. About three in the morning he called-his domestic +servants to him, of which there were four in waiting. He +dismissed three of them with most affectionate Christian advice, +and such solemn charges relating to the performance of their duty +and the care of their souls, as seemed plainly to intimate that +he apprehended it was at least very probable he was taking his +last farewell of them. There is great reason to believe that he +spent the little remainder of the time, which could not be much +above an hour, in those devout exercises of soul which had been +so long habitual to him and to which so many circumstances did +then concur to call him. The army was alarmed, by break of day, +by the noise of the rebels' approach, and the attack was made +before sunrise, yet when it was light enough to discern what +passed. As soon as the enemy came within gunshot they made a +furious fire; and it is said that the dragoons which constituted +the left wing immediately fled. The Colonel, at the beginning of +the onset, which in the whole lasted but a few minutes, received +a wound by a bullet in his left breast, which made him give a +sudden spring in his saddle upon which his servant, who led the +horse, would have persuaded him to retreat, but he said it was +only a wound in the flesh, and fought on, though he presently +after received a shot in his right thigh. In the meantime, it +was discerned that some of the enemy fell by him, and +particularly one man, who had made him a treacherous visit but a +few days before, with great profession of zeal for the present +establishment. + +'Events of this kind pass in less time than the description of +them can be written, or than it can be read. The Colonel was for +a few moments supported by his men, and particularly by that +worthy person Lieutenant-Colonel Whitney, who was shot through +the arm here, and a few months after fell nobly at the battle of +Falkirk, and by Lieutenant West, a man of distinguished bravery, +as also by about fifteen dragoons, who stood by him to the last. +But after a faint fire, the regiment in general was seized with a +panic; and though their Colonel and some other gallant officers +did what they could to rally them once or twice, they at last +took a precipitate flight. And just in the moment when Colonel +Gardiner seemed to be making a pause to deliberate what duty +required him to do in such circumstances, an accident happened, +which must, I think, in the judgement of every worthy and +generous man, be allowed a sufficient apology for exposing his +life to so great hazard, when his regiment had left him. He saw +a party of the foot, who were then bravely fighting near him, and +whom he was ordered to support, had no officer to head them; upon +which he said eagerly, in the hearing of the person from whom I +had this account, "These brave fellows will be cut to pieces for +want of a commander," or words to that effect; which while he was +speaking, he rode up to them and cried out, "Fire on, my lads, +and fear nothing." But just as the words were out of his mouth, a +Highlander advanced towards him with a scythe fastened to a long +pole, with which he gave him so dreadful a wound on his right +arm, that his sword dropped out of his hand; and at the same time +several others coming about him while he was thus dreadfully +entangled with that cruel weapon, he was dragged off from his +horse. The moment he fell, another Highlander, who, if the +king's evidence at Carlisle may be credited (as I know not why +they should not, though the unhappy creature died denying it), +was one Mac-Naught, who was executed about a year after, gave him +a stroke either with a broadsword or a Lochaber-axe (for my +informant could not exactly distinguish) on the hinder part of +his head, which was the mortal blow. All that his faithful +attendant saw further at this time was, that, as his hat was +falling off, he took it in his left hand, and waved it as a +signal to him to retreat, and added what were the last words he +ever heard him speak, "Take care of yourself," upon which the +servant retired.'--SOME REMARKABLE PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF +COLONEL JAMES GARDINER, BY P. DODDRIDGE, D.D., London, 1747, p. +187. + +I may remark on this extract, that it confirms the account given +in the text of the resistance offered by some of the English +infantry. Surprised by a force of a peculiar and unusual +description, their opposition could not be long or formidable, +especially as they were deserted by the cavalry, and those who +undertook to manage the artillery. But although the affair was +soon decided, I have always understood that many of the infantry +showed an inclination to do their duty. + + +NOTE 28.-THE LAIRD OF BALMAWHAPPLE + +It is scarcely necessary to say that the character of this brutal +young Laird is entirely imaginary. A gentleman, however, who +resembled Balmawhapple in the article of courage only, fell at +Preston in the manner described. A Perthshire gentleman of high +honour and respectability, one of the handful of cavalry who +followed the fortunes of Charles Edward, pursued the fugitive +dragoons almost alone till near St. Clement's Wells, where the +efforts of some of the officers had prevailed on a few of them to +make a momentary stand. Perceiving at this moment that they were +pursued by only one man and a couple of servants, they turned +upon him and cut him down with their swords. I remember, when a +child, sitting on his grave, where the grass long grew rank and +green, distinguishing it from the rest of the field. A female of +the family then residing at St. Clement's Wells used to tell me +the tragedy, of which she had been an eye-witness, and showed me +in evidence one of the silver clasps of the unfortunate +gentleman's waistcoat. + + +NOTE 29.--ANDREA DE FERRARA + +The name of Andrea de Ferrara is inscribed on all the Scottish +broadswords which are accounted of peculiar excellence. Who this +artist was, what were his fortunes, and when he flourished, have +hitherto defied the research of antiquaries; only it is in +general believed that Andrea de Ferrara was a Spanish or Italian +artificer, brought over by James IV or V to instruct the Scots in +the manufacture of sword blades. Most barbarous nations excel in +the fabrication of arms; and the Scots had attained great +proficiency in forging swords, so early as the field of Pinkie; +at which period the historian Patten describes them as 'all +notably broad and thin, universally made to slice, and of such +exceeding good temper, that as I never saw any so good, so I +think it hard to devise better.' ACCOUNT OF SOMERSET'S +EXPEDITION. + +It may be observed, that the best and most genuine Andrea +Ferraras have a crown marked on the blades. + + +NOTE 30.--MISS NAIRNE + +The incident here said to have happened to Flora, Mac-Ivor, +actually befell Miss Nairne, a lady with whom the author had the +pleasure of being acquainted. As the Highland army rushed into +Edinburgh, Miss Nairne, like other ladies who approved of their +cause, stood waving her handkerchief from a balcony, when a ball +from a Highlander's musket, which was discharged by accident, +grazed her forehead. 'Thank God' said she, the instant she +recovered, 'that the accident happened to me, whose principles +are known. Had it befallen a Whig, they would have said it was +done on purpose.' + + +NOTE 31.--PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD + +The Author of Waverley has been charged with painting the young +Adventurer in colours more amiable than his character deserved. +But having known many individuals who were near his person, he +has been described according to the light in which those eye- +witnesses saw his temper and qualifications. Something must be +allowed, no doubt, to the natural exaggerations of those who +remembered him as the bold and adventurous Prince, in whose cause +they had braved death and ruin; but is their evidence to give +place entirely to that of a single malcontent? + +I have already noticed the imputations thrown by the Chevalier +Johnstone on the Prince's courage. But some part at least of +that gentleman's tale is purely romantic. It would not, for +instance, be supposed, that at the time he is favouring us with +the highly-wrought account of his amour with the adorable Peggie, +the Chevalier Johnstone was a married man, whose grandchild is +now alive, or that the whole circumstantial story concerning the +outrageous vengeance taken by Gordon of Abbachie on a +Presbyterian clergyman, is entirely apocryphal. At the same time +it may be admitted, that the Prince, like others of his family, +did not esteem the services done him by his adherents so highly +as he ought. Educated in high ideas of his hereditary right, he +has been supposed to have held every exertion and sacrifice made +in his cause as too much the duty of the person making it, to +merit extravagant gratitude on his part. Dr. King's evidence +(which his leaving the Jacobite interest renders somewhat +doubtful) goes to strengthen this opinion. + +The ingenious editor of Johnstone's MEMOIRS has quoted a story +said to be told by Helvetius, stating that Prince Charles Edward, +far from voluntarily embarking on his daring expedition, was +literally bound hand and foot, and to which he seems disposed to +yield credit. Now, it being a fact as well known as any in his +history, and, so far as I know, entirely undisputed, that the +Prince's personal entreaties and urgency positively forced +Boisdale and Lochiel into insurrection, when they were earnestly +desirous that he would put off his attempt until he could obtain +a sufficient force from France, it will be very difficult to +reconcile his alleged reluctance to undertake the expedition, +with his desperately insisting on carrying the rising into +effect, against the advice and entreaty of his most powerful and +most sage partisans. Surely a man who had been carried bound on +board the vessel which brought him to so desperate an enterprise, +would have taken the opportunity afforded by the reluctance of +his partisans, to return to France in safety. + +It is averred in Johnstone's Memoirs, that Charles Edward left +the field of Culloden without doing the utmost to dispute the +victory; and, to give the evidence on both sides, there is in +existence the more trustworthy testimony of Lord Elcho, who +states, that he himself earnestly exhorted the Prince to charge +at the head of the left wing, which was entire, and retrieve the +day, or die with honour. And on his counsel being declined, Lord +Elcho took leave of him with a bitter execration, swearing he +would never look on his face again, and kept his word. + +On the other hand, it seems to have been the opinion of almost +all the other officers, that the day was irretrievably lost, one +wing of the Highlanders being entirely routed, the rest of the +army out-numbered, out-flanked, and in a condition totally +hopeless. In this situation of things, the Irish officers who +surrounded Charles's person interfered to force him off the +field. A cornet who was close to the Prince, left a strong +attestation, that he had seen Sir Thomas Sheridan seize the +bridle of his horse, and turn him round. There is some +discrepancy of evidence; but the opinion of Lord Elcho, a man of +fiery temper, and desperate at the ruin which he beheld +impending, cannot fairly be taken in prejudice of a character for +courage which is intimated by the nature of the enterprise +itself, by the Prince's eagerness to fight on all occasions, by +his determination to advance from Derby to London, and by the +presence of mind which he manifested during the romantic perils +of his escape. The author is far from claiming for this +unfortunate person the praise due to splendid talents; but he +continues to be of opinion, that at the period of his enterprise, +he had a mind capable of facing danger and aspiring to fame. + +That Charles Edward had the advantages of a graceful presence, +courtesy, and an address and manner becoming his station, the +author never heard disputed by any who approached his person, nor +does he conceive that these qualities are overcharged in the +present attempt to sketch his portrait. The following extracts, +corroborative of the general opinion respecting the Prince's +amiable disposition, are taken from a manuscript account of his +romantic expedition, by James Maxwell of Kirkconnel, of which I +possess a copy, by the friendship of J. Menzies, Esq., of +Pitfoddells. The author, though partial to the Prince, whom he +faithfully followed, seems to have been a fair and candid man, +and well acquainted with the intrigues among the Adventurer's +council:-- + +'Everybody was mightily taken with the Prince's figure and +personal behaviour. There was but one voice about them. Those +whom interest or prejudice made a runaway to his cause, could not +help acknowledging that they wished him well in all other +respects, and could hardly blame him for his present undertaking. +Sundry things had concurred to raise his character to the highest +pitch, besides the greatness of the enterprise, and the conduct +that had hitherto appeared in the execution of it. There were +several instances of good nature and humanity that had made a +great impression on people's minds, I shall confine myself to two +or three. Immediately after the battle, as the Prince was riding +along the ground that Cope's army had occupied a few minutes +before, one of the officers came up to congratulate him, and +said, pointing to the killed, "Sir, there are your enemies at +your feet." The Prince, far from exulting, expressed a great +deal of compassion for his father's deluded subjects, whom he +declared he was heartily sorry to see in that posture. Next day, +while the Prince was at Pinkie-house, a citizen of Edinburgh came +to make some representation to Secretary Murray about the tents +that city was ordered to furnish against a certain day. Murray +happened to be out of the way, which the Prince hearing of, +called to have the gentleman brought to him, saying, he would +rather dispatch the business, whatever it was, himself, than have +the gentleman wait, which he did, by granting everything that was +asked. So much affability in a young prince, flushed with +victory, drew encomiums even from his enemies. But what gave the +people the highest idea of him, was the negative he gave to a +thing that very nearly concerned his interest, and upon which the +success of his enterprise perhaps depended. It was proposed to +send one of the prisoners to London, to demand of that court a +cartel for the exchange of prisoners taken, and to be taken, +during this war, and to intimate that a refusal would be looked +upon as a resolution on their part to give no quarter. It was +visible a cartel would be of great advantage to the Prince's +affairs; his friends would be more ready to declare for him if +they had nothing to fear but the chance of war in the field; and +if the court of London refused to settle a cartel, the Prince was +authorized to treat his prisoners in the same manner the Elector +of Hanover was determined to treat such of the Prince's friends +as might fall into his hands: it was urged that a few examples +would compel the court of London to comply. It was to be +presumed that the officers of the English army would make a point +of it. They had never engaged in the service but upon such terms +as are in use among all civilized nations, and it could be no +stain upon their honour to lay down their commissions if these +terms were not observed, and that owing to the obstinacy of their +own Prince. Though this scheme was plausible, and represented as +very important, the Prince could never be brought into it: it +was below him, he said, to make empty threats, and he would never +put such as those into execution; he would never in cold blood +take away lives which he had saved in heat of action, at the +peril of his own. These were not the only proofs of good nature +the Prince gave about this time. Every day produced something +new of this kind. These things softened the rigour of a military +government, which was only imputed to the necessity of his +affairs, and which he endeavoured to make as gentle and easy as +possible.' + +It has been said, that the Prince sometimes exacted more state +and ceremonial than seemed to suit his condition; but, on the +other hand some strictness of etiquette was altogether +indispensable where he must otherwise have been exposed to +general intrusion. He could also endure, with a good grace, the +retorts which his affectation of ceremony sometimes exposed him +to. It is said, for example, that Grant of Glenmoriston having +made a hasty march to join Charles, at the head of his clan, +rushed into the Prince's presence at Holyrood with unceremonious +haste, without having attended to the duties of the toilet. The +Prince received him kindly, but not without a hint that a +previous interview with the barber might not have been wholly +unnecessary. 'It is not beardless boys,' answered the displeased +Chief, 'who are to do your Royal Highness's turn.' The Chevalier +took the rebuke in good part. + +On the whole, if Prince Charles had concluded his life soon after +his miraculous escape, his character in history must have stood +very high. As it was, his station is amongst those, a certain +brilliant portion of whose life forms a remarkable contrast to +all which precedes, and all which follows it. + + +NOTE 32.--THE SKIRMISH AT CLIFTON + +The following account of the skirmish at Clifton is extracted +from the manuscript Memoirs of Evan Macpherson of Cluny, chief of +the clan Macpherson who had the merit of supporting the principal +brunt of that spirited affair. The Memoirs appear to have been +composed about 1755, only ten years after the action had taken +place. They were written in France, where that gallant Chief +resided in exile, which accounts for some Gallicisms which occur +in the narrative. + +'In the Prince's return from Derby back towards Scotland, my Lord +George Murray, Lieutenant-General, cheerfully charg'd himself +with the command of the rear; a post, which, altho' honourable, +was attended with great danger, many difficulties, and no small +fatigue; for the Prince being apprehensive that his retreat to +Scotland might be cut off by Marischall Wade, who lay to the +northward of him with an armie much superior to what H. R. H. +had, while the Duke of Comberland with his whole cavalrie +followed hard in the rear, was obliged to hasten his marches. It +was not, therefore, possible for the artilirie to march so fast +as the Prince's armie, in the depth of winter, extremely bad +weather, and the worst roads in England; so Lord George Murray +was obliged often to continue his marches long after it was dark +almost every night, while at the same time, he had frequent +allarms and disturbances from the Duke of Comberland's advanc'd +parties. Towards the evening of the twentie-eight December 1745, +the Prince entered the town of Penrith, in the Province of +Comberland. But as Lord George Murray could not bring up the +artilirie so fast as he wou'd have wish'd, he was obliged to pass +the night six miles short of that town, together with the +regiment of Mac-Donel of Glengarrie, which that day happened to +have the arrear guard. The Prince, in order to refresh his +armie, and to give my Lord George and the artilirie time to come +up, resolved to sejour the 29th at Penrith; so ordered his little +army to appear in the morning under arms, in order to be +reviewed, and to know in what manner the numbers stood from his +haveing entered England. It did not at that time amount to 5000 +foot in all, with about 400 cavalrie, composed of the noblesse +who serv'd as volunteers, part of whom form'd a first troop of +guards for the Prince, under the command of My Lord Elchoe, now +Comte de Weems, who, being proscribed, is presently in France. +Another part formed a second troup of guards under the command of +My Lord Balmirino, who was beheaded at the Tower of London. A +third part serv'd under My Lord le Comte de Kilmarnock, who was +likewise beheaded at the Tower. A fourth part serv'd under My +Lord Pitsligow, who is also proscribed; which cavalrie, tho' very +few in numbers, being all Noblesse, were very brave, and of +infinite advantage to the foot, not only in the day of battle, +but in serving as advanced guards on the several marches, and in +patroling dureing the night on the different roads which led +towards the towns where the army happened to quarter. + +'While this small army was out in a body on the 29th December, +upon a rising ground to the northward of Penrith, passing review, +Mons. de Cluny with his tribe, was ordered to the Bridge of +Clifton, about a mile to southward of Penrith, after having +pass'd in review before Mons. Patullo, who was charged with the +inspection of the troops, and was likewise Quarter Master General +of the army, and is now in France. They remained under arms at +the Bridge, waiting the arrival of My Lord George Murray with the +artilirie, whom Mons. de Cluny had orders to cover in passing the +bridge. They arrived about sunsett closely pursued by the Duke +of Comberland with the whole body of his cavalrie, reckoned +upwards of 3000 strong, about a thousand of whom, as near as +might be computed, dismounted, in order to cut off the passage of +the artilirie towards the bridge, while the Duke and the others +remained on horseback in order to attack the arrear. My Lord +George Murray advanced, and although he found Mons. de Cluny and +his tribe in good spirits under arms, yet the circumstance +appear'd extremely delicate. The numbers were vastly unequall, +and the attack seem'd very dangerous; so my Lord George declin'd +giving orders to such time as he ask'd Mons. de Cluny's oppinion. +"I will attack them with all my heart," says Mons. de Cluny, "if +you order me." "I do order it then," answered my Lord George, and +immediately went on himself along with Mons. de Cluny, and fought +sword in hand on foot, at the head of the single tribe of +Macphersons. They in a moment made their way through a strong +hedge of thorns, under the cover whereof the cavalrie had taken +their station, in the struggle of passing which hedge My Lord +George Murray, being dressed EN MONTAGNARD, as all the army were, +lost his bonnet and wig; so continued to fight bare-headed during +the action, They at first made a brisk discharge of their +firearms on the enemy, then attacked them with their sabres, and +made a great slaughter a considerable time, which obliged +Comberland and his cavalrie to fly with precipitation and in +great confusion; in so much, that if the Prince had been provided +in a sufficient number of cavalrie to have taken advantage of the +disorder, it is beyond question that the Duke of Comberland and +the bulk of his cavalrie had been taken prisoners. By this time +it was so dark that it was not possible to view or number the +slain, who filled all the ditches which happened to be on the +ground where they stood. But it was computed that, besides those +who went off wounded upwards of a hundred at least were left on +the spot, among whom was Colonel Honeywood, who commanded the +dismounted cavalrie, whose sabre, of considerable value, Mons. de +Cluny brought off and still preserves; and his tribe lykeways +brought off many arms;--the Colonel was afterwards taken up, and, +his wounds being dress'd, with great difficultie recovered. +Mons. de Cluny lost only in the action twelve men, of whom some +haveing been only wounded, fell afterwards into the hands of the +enemy, and were sent as slaves to America, whence several of them +returned, and one of them is now in France, a serjeant in the +Regiment of Royal Scots. How soon the accounts of the enemie's +approach had reached the Prince, H. R. H. had immediately ordered +Mi-Lord le Comte de Nairne, Brigadier, who, being proscribed, is +now in France, with the three batalions of the Duke of Athol, the +batalion of the Duke of Perth, and some other troups under his +command, in order to support Cluny, and to bring off the +artilirie. But the action was intirely over before the Comte de +Nairne, with his command, cou'd reach nigh to the place. They +therefore return'd all to Penrith, and the artilirie marched up +in good order. Nor did the Duke of Comberland ever afterwards +dare to come within a day's march of the Prince and his army +dureing the course of all that retreat, which was conducted with +great prudence and safety, when in some manner surrounded by +enemies.' + + +NOTE 33.--THE OATH UPON THE DIRK + +As the heathen deities contracted an indelible obligation if they +swore by Styx, the Scottish Highlanders had usually some peculiar +solemnity attached to an oath which they intended should be +binding on them. Very frequently it consisted in laying their +hand, as they swore, on their own drawn dirk; which dagger, +becoming a party to the transaction, was invoked to punish any +breach of faith. But, by whatever ritual the oath was +sanctioned, the party was extremely desirous to keep secret what +the especial oath was, which he considered as irrevocable. This +was a matter of great convenience, as he felt no scruple in +breaking his asseveration when made in any other form than that +which he accounted as peculiarly solemn; and therefore readily +granted any engagement which bound him no longer than he +inclined. Whereas, if the oath which he accounted inviolable +was once publicly known, no party with whom he might have +occasion to contract, would have rested satisfied with any other. +Louis XI of France practised the same sophistry, for he also had +a peculiar species of oath, the only one which he was ever known +to respect, and which, therefore, he was very unwilling to +pledge. The only engagement which that wily tyrant accounted +binding upon him, was an oath by the Holy Cross of Saint Lo +d'Angers, which contained a Portion of the True Cross. If he +prevaricated after taking this oath, Louis believed he should +die within the year. The Constable Saint Paul, being invited to +a personal conference with Louis, refused to meet the king unless +he would agree to ensure him safe conduct under sanction of this +oath. But, says Comines, the king replied, he would never again +pledge that engagement to mortal man, though he was willing to +take any other oath which could be devised. The treaty broke +off, therefore, after much chaffering concerning the nature of +the vow which Louis was to take. Such is the difference between +the dictates of superstition and those of conscience. + + +* + +GLOSSARY + +ABIIT, EVASIT, ERUPIT, EFFUGIT, more correctly the quotation is, +'abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit': varying terms to express the +haste, secrecy, and energy of the flight. + +ABOON or ABUNE, above. + +ACCOLADE, embrace. + +ADSCRIPTI GLEBAE, slaves, transferred with the land to which they +are bound, from one possessor to another. + +AHINT, behind. + +AITS, oats. + +ALERTE A LA MURAILLE, 'Quick to the wall!' + +ALEXANDER AB ALEXANDRO, Alexander the son of Alexander. + +ALMA = 'alma mater terra', the land, the bounteous mother. + +ALTER EGO, his other self. + +AMBRY, AWMRY, chest. + +ANENT, concerning. + +ANILIA, old women's tales. + +APOTHEOSIS, deification. + +ARIETTE, air. + +ASSOILZIED, acquitted, or absolved. + +ASSYTHMENT, satisfaction. + + +BAFF, slap. + +BAGGANETS, bayonets. + +BARLEY, parley; CRY BARLEY IN A BRUILZIE, call a truce during a +scrimmage. + +BARON-BAILIE, steward of the estate. + +BAWBEE, halfpenny. + +BAXTER, baker. + +BEAUFET, buffet, sideboard. + +BEFLUMMED, befooled. + +BEGUNK, trick. + +BEN, within (by, in). + +BENEMPT, named. + +BENT, open country. + +BHAIRD, bard. + +BIBLIOPOLIST, seller of books. + +BIELDY, sheltered. + +BIRLIEMAN, a parish official. + +BLIND, hidden, out of the way. + +BLOOD-WIT, blood-money, compensation for homicide. + +BODACH, spectre. + +BODLE, farthing. + +BOGLE, bogey. + +BON VIVANT, a lover of good fare. + +BOUNE, make ready. + +BRANDER, broil. + +BRAW, fine. + +BROGUES, shoes. + +BROO', broth. + +BRUCKLE, brittle, frail. + +BRUIK, possess. + +BRUILZIE, broil, scrimmage. + +BURGONET, helmet. + +BUSK, get ready. + + +CAILLIACH, crone, old woman. + +CAISSE MILITAIRE, military chest. + +CALLANT, lad. + +CANNY, shrewd; UNCANNY or NO CANNY, eerie. + +CANTER, beggar; from the whining or 'canting' tone. + +CANTRIPS, tricks. + +CATH-DATH, tartan. + +C'EST DES DEUX OREILLES, properly, 'c'est d'une oreille,' an +expression appreciative of good wine. + +C'EST L'HOMME KI SE BAST ET KI CONSEILLE, it is the man who +fights and gives counsel. + +CEAN-KINNE, head of the clan. + +CEDANT ARMA TOGAE, let weapons give place to the citizen's robe. + +CELA NE TIRE A RIEN, that counts for nothing. + +CELA VA SANS DIRE, that goes without saying. + +CESS-MONEY, land-tax. + +CHANGE-HOUSE, public house. + +CHEVAUX-DE-POSTE, post-horses. + +CHIEL, person. + +CLACHAN, village. + +CLAMHEWIT, slash, clout. + +CLAW FAVOUR, curry favour. + +CLOUR, bump. + +COGHLING, blowing. + +COM., short for COMITATUS = county. + +CONCLAMARE VASA, to give the signal for baggage, i.e. for packing +the baggage. + +CONGES, bowing and scraping. + +CORONACH, lament. + +CORRI, hill-side. + +COUP, upset. + +COUPE-JARRET, cut-throat (literally, leg-chopper). + +COUR PLENIERE, full court, state-reception. + +COUTEAU DE CHASSE, hunting-knife. + +COW YER CRACKS, stop your chatter. + +CRAIG, neck. + +CREAGH, foray, raid. + +CUITTLE, fickle. + +CURRAGH, boat, + +CURRANT, running. + +CUT-LUGGED, crop-eared. + + +DANS SON TORT, in the wrong. + +DE FACTO, in actual fact. + +DE JURE, by legal right. + +DEAVING, deafening. + +DELIVER, active. + +DEMELEE, extrication from a hobble. + +DEOCH AN DORUIS, stirrup-cup. + +DERN, dark. + +DIAOUL, devil. + +DIAOUL!--CEADE MILLIA MOLLIGHEART, O the devil! a hundred +thousand curses. + +DINMONTS, year-old wethers. + +DISPONE, assign. + +DIVERTISEMENTS, diversions. + +DOER, factor, agent. + +DOITED, witless. + +DOON, down. + +DORLACH, valise, portmanteau. + +DOVERING, half-asleep. + +DOW, dove. + +DOWFF, dull. + +DUE DONZELLETTE GARRULE, two garrulous damsels. + +DUINHE-WASSEL, gentleman. + + +EARN, eagle. + +ELD, age. + +ELISOS OCULOS, ET SICCUM SANGUINE GUTTUR, eyes squeezed out of +his head, and throat drained of blood. + +EN ATTENDANT, meanwhile. + +EN MOUSQUETAIRE, from a soldier's point of view. + +EPULAE AD SENATUM, PRANDIUM VERO AD POPULUM ATTINET, for the +senate feasts are befitting, but for the people a simple meal. + +EPULAE LAUTIORES, splendid feasts. + +EQUIPONDERATE, equivalent. + +ET SINGULA PRAEDANTUR ANNI, the passing years rob us of every +thing we possess, one by one. + +ETTER-CAP, A venomous person. + +EVITE, evade. + +EWEST, nearest. + +EXEEMED, exempt. + + +FAIRE LA CUREE, to give the shin, &c., of a killed stag to the +hounds. + +FAIRE LA MEILLEURE CHERE, to make good cheer. + +FEAL, loyal. + +FECK, part. + +FENDY, handy. + +FEROCIORES IN ASPECTU, MITIORES IN ACTU, fierce in appearance, in +behaviour mild. + +FILLE DE CHAMBRE, lady's maid. + +FLEMIT, frightened. + +FLEYT, scold. + +FORIS-FAMILIATED, excluded from the family, out of the +jurisdiction of the head of the family. + +FUNGARQUE INANI MUNERE, I shall render a fruitless service. + + +GABERLUNZIE, beggar. + +GAD, bar. + +GANE, gone. + +GAR, make. + +GARCONS APOTHICAIRES, chemists' assistants. + +GARDEZ L'EAU, beware of the water. + +GARTANED, gartered. + +GAUDET EQUIS ET CANIBUS, he finds his pleasure in horses and +dogs. + +GAUN, going. + +GEAR, goods. + +GIMMERS, ewes of two years. + +GIN, if. + +GLED, hawk. + +GLEG, quick. + +GLISK, glimpse. + +GRANING, groaning. + +GRAT, cried; GREET, cry, weep. + +GREY-BEARD, jug. + +GRICE, young pig. + +GRIFFIN, a four-legged dragon. + +GRIPPLE, greedy. + +GUSTO, taste. + + +HAEC TIBI ERUNT ARTES, &c. + 'These be your acts; to impose the rule of peace; + To spare the humbled, crush the arrogant foe.' + +HAG, copse. + +HAGGIS, a dish composed of the pluck, &c., of a sheep, with +oatmeal, suet, onions, &c., boiled inside the animal's maw. + +HAILL, whole. + +HALLAN, inner wall. + +HANTLE, a lot. + +HECK, cattle rack. + +HER NAIN SELL, me, myself. + +HERSHIP, plunder. + +HET, hot. + +HIPPOGRIFF, a cross between a horse and a dragon. + +HOG, lamb. + +HOMAGIUM, the act of homage. + +HORNING, outlawry. + +HORSE-COUPER, horse-dealer. + +HOWE, hollow. + +HUMANA PERPESSI SUMUS, we have borne all that man can inflict on +us. + +HURDLES, buttocks. + + +ILK, each; OF THAT ILK, having the same title as the surname. + +IMPIGER, IRACUNDUS, INEXORABILIS, ACER, untiring, swift to wrath, +unyielding, keen. + +IN CARCERE, in prison. + +IN ERGASTULO, in a dungeon (a private prison, as opposed to +INCARCERE). + +IN INTEGNUM, in full. + +IN LOCO PARENTIS, in the place of a parent. + +IN REBUS BELLICIS MAXIME DOMINATUR FORTUNA, in matters of war, +Luck has most to say. + +IN SERVITIO EXUENDI, SEU DETRAHENDI. CALIGAS REGIS POST +BATALLIAM, for the service of undoing or pulling off the king's +boots after a battle. + +INTROMITTED, interfered with. + + +JOGUE, jogee, ascetic or conjurer. + + +KEMPLE, a load of hay (forty 'bottles'). + +KIPPAGE, rage. + +KITTLE, tricky, difficult. + +KYLOES, highland cattle. + + +LA BELLE PASSION, the gentle passion. + +LA HOULETTE ET LE CHALLUMEAU, the shepherd's crook and pipe. + +LAIRD, (equivalent to) squire. + +LAISSEZ FAIRE A DON ANTOINE, Leave that to Don Antonio. + +LANG-LEGGIT, long-legged. + +LAPIS OFFENSIONIS ET PETRA SCANDALI, a stone of stumbling and a +rock of offence. + +LAWING, reckoning. + +LE BEAU IDEAL, the perfect conception. + +LEGES CONVIVIALES, the rules of the table. + +LES COUSTUSMES DE NORMANDIE, C'EST L'HOMME KI SE BAST ET KI +CONSEILLE, [according to] the Norman custom, it is the man who +fights and gives counsel. + +LEVY EN MASSE, full muster. + +LIBER PATER, Father Liber; an old Italian deity, afterwards +identified with Bacchus. + +LIGHTLY, make light of. + +LIMMER, hussy, good-for-nothing. + +LOON, fellow. + +LOUPING-ON STANE, mounting-stone. + +LOUR, to frown. + +LUCKIE, widow. + +LUG, ear. + +LUNZIE, wallet. + + +MA BELLE DEMOISELLE, my fair damsel. + +MADAME SON EPOUSE, Madam his wife. + +MAILS, rent, dues. + +MAIS CELA VIENDRA AVEC LE TEMPS, but that will come with time. + +MAIST, most. + +MAJOR DOMO, butler, mayor of the house, steward. + +MANEGE, the art of training and managing horses. + +MART, fatted beasts, slaughtered at Martinmas for winter +provision. + +MASK, infuse. + +MAUGRE, in spite of. + +MAUN, must. + +MAUVAISE HONTE, false shame. + +MAVORTIA PECTORA, warlike breasts. + +MEAL-ARK, meal-tub. + +MISGUGGLE, mishandle. + +MOLDWARP, mole. + +MON COEUR, &c. + 'My heart so light, quo' she, + My lad, is not for you; + 'Tis for a soldier bold, + With beard of martial hue. + Down, down, derrydown. + 'A feather in his hat, + A red heel on his shoe; + Who plays upon the flute, + And on the fiddle too. + Down, down, derrydown.' + +MORNING, morning drink. + +MORTIS CAUSA, the cause of death. + +MOUSTED, powdered. + +MUTEMUS CLYPEOS, &c. + 'Change we our shields, and for + ourselves assume the trappings + of the Greeks.' + + +NEB, nose. + +NEBULONES NEQUISSIMI, worthless scamps. + +NEC NATURALITER IDIOTA, not a born idiot. + +NOLT, cattle. + +NUNC INSANUS AMOR, &c. + 'Love's frenzy keeps me still in war's array + Where bolts fly thick, and foemen compass me.' + +NUNCUPATIVE, legally valid nomination of an heir. + + +OBSIDIONAL CROWN, the reward of a commander who delivered a town +from siege; here used erroneously for the reward of the soldier +who first entered a besieged city. + +ORRA, odd; ORRA MAN, the man who does the odd jobs. + +OUTRECUIDANCE, presumption. + +O VOUS QUI BUVEZ, &c. + 'O you, who drink from flagons full, + From out this happy fountain cool, + Here where, upon the banks, you see + Only the flocks of silly sheep, + With rustic maids for company, + Who bare of foot their wardship keep.' + +OYER AND TERMINER, to hear and determine (legal, from Norman +terminology). + + +PAITRICK, partridge. + +PALINODE, recantation. + +PANGED, crammed. + +PAUNIE, peacock. + +PEACHED, informed against, betrayed. + +PECULIUM, property. + +PENETRALIA, interior. + +PER CONJURATIONEM, on oath. + +PHILABEG, kilt. + +PHRENESIAC, frenzied. + +PINNERS, cap with lappets. + +PIS-ALLER, an inferior article which will do to go on with. + +PLACK, halfpenny. + +PLEADER, barrister. + +PLOY, employment, or fuss. + +POCULUM POTATORIUM, drinking-cup. + +POWTERING, rummaging. + +PRANDIUM, a meal. + +PRETTY, athletic. + +PRIMAE NOTAE, of the first quality. + +PRINCEPS, chieftain. + +PROCUL A PATRIAE FINIBUS, far from the borders of your own land. + +PROCUL DUBIO, without doubt. + +PRONER, praise up. + +PROPONE, propose. + +PROSAPIA, ancestry. + +PUER (JUVENIS) BONAE SPEI ET MAGNAE INDOLIS, a youth of promising +future and of high character. + + +QUANTUM SUFFICIT, as much as is needed, enough. + +QUASI BEARWARDEN, in the capacity of Bearwarden. + +QU'IL CONNOIT BIEN SES GENS, that he knows well with whom he has +to deal. + +QUEAN, girl. + +QUODLIBETS, subtleties. + + +RAMPANT, erect on the hind legs. + +RECEPTO AMICO, when a friend is present. + +RECTUS IN CURIA, cleared before the law, + +REDD, put in order. + +REIFS, robberies. + +REISES, brushwood. + +RESILING, drawing back. + +RINTHEROUT, rapscallion. + +RISU SOLVUNTUR TABULAE, the prosecution is laughed out of court. + +ROKELAY, short cloak. + +ROYNISH, scurvy. + +RUNT, an old cow. + +RUSE DE GUERRE, military stratagem. + + +SACRAMENTUM MILITARE, soldiers' oath of allegiance. + +SAGESSE, discretion. + +SALIENT, in the act of leaping. + +SANCTUM SANCTORUM, lit. 'holy of holies'; a specially private +retreat or study. + +SANS TACHE, without stain. + +SARKS, shirts. + +SCARTED, scratched, + +SCHELLUM, scamp. + +SCOUPING, scampering. + +SENNACHIES, Highland genealogists. + +SERVABIT ODOREM TESTA DIU, the pot will keep the smell for a long +time. + +SHEMUS BEG, little James. + +SHIBBOLETH, a pass-word (Judges xii, 6). + +SHILPIT, thin. + +SICCAN, such. + +SIDIER ROY, red-coated soldiers. + +SILLER, silver. + +SKENE, small dirk or dagger. + +SMOKY, suspicious. + +SONSIE, sensible. + +SOPITE, allay. + +SORNER, a person who lives on his neighbours. + +SOWENS, porridge or gruel. + +SPEIRINGS, askings, = information. + +SPENCE, best room. + +SPES ALTERA, another hope. + +SPLEUCHAN, pocket. + +SPRACK, spruce. + +SPRECHERY, cattle-lifting. + +SPUILZIE, spoil (cf. BRUILZIE = broil). + +STEADINGS, farms. + +STIEVE, stiff. + +STIRK, a year-old heifer or bullock. + +STOOR, austere. + +STOT, bull. + +STOUP, mug, flagon. + +STOUTHREIF, robbery with violence. + +STRAE, straw. + +STRATH, a valley. + +STRATHSPEY, a Scottish dance. + +STREEK, lie down. + +SUI JURIS, of his own right. + +SUUM CUIQUE, to each his due. + +SYBOES, onions or radishes. + + +TACKSMAN, tenant. + +TAIGLIT, slow, tired. + +TAILLIE, covenant, bond. + +TAISHATR, a person who has second-sight. + +TANDEM TRIUMPHANS, triumphant in the end. + +TANQUAM PRIVATUS, in my private capacity. + +TAPPIT-HEN, a pewter-pot, holding nearly a gallon. + +TENTAMINA, experiments. + +TESTAMENTUM MILITARE, will made on the field of battle. + +THIR, those. + +THRAW, twist. + +THREEPIT, declared. + +TIGHEARNA, chief. + +TIL, to; INTIL, into; UNTIL, unto. + +TINCHEL, circle of beaters for driving game. + +TOCHER, dowry; TOCHERLESS, dowerless. + +TOTO COELO, as widely as may be. + +TOUN, collection of houses, + +TRACASSERIE, annoyance. + +TREWS, tartan trousers. + +TRINDLING, trundling. + +TROISIEME ETAGE, third floor. + +TROT-COZY, riding-hood. + +TUILZIE, scrimmage. + + +UMWHILE, sometime, late. + +UN PETIT PENDEMENT BIEN JOLI, a very pretty little hanging. + +UNCO, very. + +UNSONSY, senseless, or uncanny. + +UNTIL, unto. + +USQUEBAUGH, whiskey. + + +VILIPENDED, slandered. + +VINUM LOCUTUM EST, it was the wine that spoke. + +VINUM PRIMAE NOTAE, wine of the first quality. + +VITA ADHUC DURANTE, as long as life lasts. + +VIVERS, victuals. + +VIX EA NOSTRA VOCO, I scarcely call these things my own. + + +WADSET, pledge. + +WANCHANCY, unchancy unlucky. ill-omened. + +WAPPEN, brief. + +WARE, spend, bestow. + +WA'S, walls. + +WEEL-FAR'D, well-favoured. + +WEISING, aiming. + +WHEEN, WHIN, few. + +WHILK, which. + +WHINGEING, whining. + +WYVERN, two-legged dragon. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Waverley, by Walter Scott + |