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diff --git a/old/orig7005-h/p1.htm b/old/orig7005-h/p1.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5a02e01..0000000 --- a/old/orig7005-h/p1.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11216 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> -<html lang="en"><!-- FIXME --> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" - content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> - -<title>The Antiquary - by Sir Walter Scott -</title> - -<style type="text/css"> - <!-- - body {background:#faebd7; margin:10%; text-align:justify} - P { text-indent: 1em; - margin-top: .75em; - margin-bottom: .75em; } - H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } - HR { width: 33%; text-align: center; } - blockquote {font-size: 97%; } - .figleft {float: left;} - .figright {float: right;} - .toc { margin-left: 15%; margin-bottom: 0em;} - CENTER { padding: 10px;} - PRE { font-family: Times; font-size: 97%; margin-left: 15%;} - // --> -</style> - -</head> -<body> - -<h2> - THE ANTIQUARY -</h2> -<h2> - BY SIR WALTER SCOTT -</h2> -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Antiquary, Volume 1, by Sir Walter Scott - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net - - -Title: The Antiquary, Volume 1 - -Author: Sir Walter Scott - -Release Date: August 16, 2004 [EBook #7003] -[Last Updated: September 4, 2010] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANTIQUARY, VOLUME 1 *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger - - - - - -</pre> - - -<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/bookcover.jpg" height="1073" width="754" -alt="Bookcover -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/spines.jpg" height="1079" width="398" -alt="Spines -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<a name="2H_4_0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - THE ANTIQUARY -</h2> -<br><br> -<h2> - BY SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. -</h2> -<br><br> -<a name="image-0003"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/titlepage1.jpg" height="1002" width="634" -alt="Titlepage -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> - -<br><br> - -<a name="image-0004"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" height="504" width="749" -alt="Frontispiece -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> - - - -<br><br> -<hr> -<br><br> - - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> -<center> -<table summary=""> -<tr><td> - - -<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0003"> -VOLUME ONE -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_INTR"> -INTRODUCTION -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0005"> -EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0001"> -CHAPTER FIRST. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0002"> -CHAPTER SECOND. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0003"> -CHAPTER THIRD. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0004"> -CHAPTER FOURTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0005"> -CHAPTER FIFTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0006"> -CHAPTER SIXTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0007"> -CHAPTER SEVENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0008"> -CHAPTER EIGHTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0009"> -CHAPTER NINTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0010"> -CHAPTER TENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0011"> -CHAPTER ELEVENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0012"> -CHAPTER TWELFTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0013"> -CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0014"> -CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0015"> -CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0016"> -CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0017"> -CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0018"> -CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0019"> -CHAPTER NINETEENTH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0020"> -CHAPTER TWENTIETH. -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0021"> -CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST. -</a></p> - -</td></tr> -</table> -</center> - -<br><br> -<hr> -<br><br> - - -<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -<center> -<table summary=""> -<tr><td> - -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0001"> -Bookcover -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0002"> -Spines -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0003"> -Titlepage -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0004"> -Frontispiece -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0005"> -The Antiquary and Lovel—the Sanctum -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0006"> -Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0007"> -The Rescue of Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0008"> -Eddie Ochiltree Visits Miss Wardour -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0009"> -Mrs. Heukbane and Mrs. Shortcake -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0010"> -St. Ruth (arbroath Abbey) -</a></p> -<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0011"> -The Ruins of St. Ruth -</a></p> - - -</td></tr> -</table> -</center> - -<br><br> -<hr> -<br><br> - - - - -<h2>ILLUSTRATORS</h2> - -<br><br> - - -<center> -<table summary=""> -<tr><td> - - -<h2>Subject or Title - - -</h2> -</td> -<td> -<h2>Original Drawing - -</h2> -</td> -<td> -<h2>Etching -</h2> -</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> -The Antiquary and Lovel—Kinpurnes -</td> -<td> -J. B. MacDonald -</td> -<td> -T. J. Dagleish -</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> -The Antiquary and Lovel—The Sanctum -</td> -<td> -Robert Herdman -</td> -<td> -B. Dammon -</td> -</tr> - - - -<tr> -<td> -Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour -</td> -<td> -J. MacWhirter -</td> -<td> -Alex Ansted -</td> -</tr> - - -<tr> -<td> -Rescue of Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour -</td> -<td> -Sam Bough -</td> -<td> -C. de Billy -</td> -</tr> - - -<tr> -<td> -Edie Ochiltree visits Miss Wardour -</td> -<td> -W. McTaggart -</td> -<td> -C. O. Murray -</td> -</tr> - - -<tr> -<td> -Mrs. Heukbane and Mrs. Shortcake -</td> -<td> -Original Etching by: -</td> -<td> -George Cruikshank -</td> -</tr> - - -<tr> -<td> -St. Ruth (Arbroath Abbey) -</td> -<td> -Photo Etching by: -</td> -<td> -John Andrew & Son Co. -</td> -</tr> - - -<tr> -<td> -Ruins of St. Ruth -</td> -<td> -Original Etching by: -</td> -<td> -J. Moyr Smith - -</td></tr> -</table> -</center> - - - - - - -<br><br><br><br><br> - - - - -<a name="2H_4_0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - VOLUME ONE -</h2> -<pre> - I knew Anselmo. He was shrewd and prudent, - Wisdom and cunning had their shares of him; - But he was shrewish as a wayward child, - And pleased again by toys which childhood please; - As—-book of fables, graced with print of wood, - Or else the jingling of a rusty medal, - Or the rare melody of some old ditty, - That first was sung to please King Pepin's cradle -</pre> -<a name="2H_INTR"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - INTRODUCTION -</h2> -<p> - The present work completes a series of fictitious narratives, intended to - illustrate the manners of Scotland at three different periods. <i>Waverley</i> - embraced the age of our fathers, <i>Guy Mannering</i> that of our own youth, - and the <i>Antiquary</i> refers to the last ten years of the eighteenth - century. I have, in the two last narratives especially, sought my - principal personages in the class of society who are the last to feel the - influence of that general polish which assimilates to each other the - manners of different nations. Among the same class I have placed some of - the scenes in which I have endeavoured to illustrate the operation of the - higher and more violent passions; both because the lower orders are less - restrained by the habit of suppressing their feelings, and because I - agree, with my friend Wordsworth, that they seldom fail to express them - in the strongest and most powerful language. This is, I think, peculiarly - the case with the peasantry of my own country, a class with whom I have - long been familiar. The antique force and simplicity of their language, - often tinctured with the Oriental eloquence of Scripture, in the mouths - of those of an elevated understanding, give pathos to their grief, and - dignity to their resentment. -</p> -<p> - I have been more solicitous to describe manners minutely than to arrange - in any case an artificial and combined narrative, and have but to regret - that I felt myself unable to unite these two requisites of a good Novel. -</p> -<p> - The knavery of the adept in the following sheets may appear forced and - improbable; but we have had very late instances of the force of - superstitious credulity to a much greater extent, and the reader may be - assured, that this part of the narrative is founded on a fact of actual - occurrence. -</p> -<p> - I have now only to express my gratitude to the Public for the - distinguished reception which, they have given to works, that have little - more than some truth of colouring to recommend them, and to take my - respectful leave, as one who is not likely again to solicit their favour. -</p> -<br> -<hr> -<br> - -<p> - To the above advertisement, which was prefixed to the first edition of - the Antiquary, it is necessary in the present edition to add a few words, - transferred from the Introduction to the Chronicles of the Canongate, - respecting the character of Jonathan Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "I may here state generally, that although I have deemed historical - personages free subjects of delineation, I have never on any occasion - violated the respect due to private life. It was indeed impossible that - traits proper to persons, both living and dead, with whom I have had - intercourse in society, should not have risen to my pen in such works as - Waverley, and those which, followed it. But I have always studied to - generalise the portraits, so that they should still seem, on the whole, - the productions of fancy, though possessing some resemblance to real - individuals. Yet I must own my attempts have not in this last particular - been uniformly successful. There are men whose characters are so - peculiarly marked, that the delineation of some leading and principal - feature, inevitably places the whole person before you in his - individuality. Thus the character of Jonathan Oldbuck in the Antiquary, - was partly founded on that of an old friend of my youth, to whom I am - indebted for introducing me to Shakspeare, and other invaluable favours; - but I thought I had so completely disguised the likeness, that it could - not be recognised by any one now alive. I was mistaken, however, and - indeed had endangered what I desired should be considered as a secret; - for I afterwards learned that a highly respectable gentleman, one of the - few surviving friends of my father, and an acute critic, had said, upon - the appearance of the work, that he was now convinced who was the author - of it, as he recognised, in the Antiquary, traces of the character of a - very intimate friend* of my father's family." -</p> -<p> - * [The late George Constable of Wallace Craigie, near Dundee.] -</p> -<p> - I have only farther to request the reader not to suppose that my late - respected friend resembled Mr. Oldbuck, either in his pedigree, or the - history imputed to the ideal personage. There is not a single incident in - the Novel which is borrowed from his real circumstances, excepting the - fact that he resided in an old house near a flourishing seaport, and that - the author chanced to witness a scene betwixt him and the female - proprietor of a stage-coach, very similar to that which commences the - history of the Antiquary. An excellent temper, with a slight degree of - subacid humour; learning, wit, and drollery, the more poignant that they - were a little marked by the peculiarities of an old bachelor; a soundness - of thought, rendered more forcible by an occasional quaintness of - expression, were, the author conceives, the only qualities in which the - creature of his imagination resembled his benevolent and excellent old - friend. -</p> -<p> - The prominent part performed by the Beggar in the following narrative, - induces the author to prefix a few remarks of that character, as it - formerly existed in Scotland, though it is now scarcely to be traced. -</p> -<p> - Many of the old Scottish mendicants were by no means to be confounded - with the utterly degraded class of beings who now practise that wandering - trade. Such of them as were in the habit of travelling through a - particular district, were usually well received both in the farmer's ha', - and in the kitchens of the country gentlemen. Martin, author of the - <i>Reliquiae Divi Sancti Andreae,</i> written in 1683, gives the following - account of one class of this order of men in the seventeenth century, in - terms which would induce an antiquary like Mr. Oldbuck to regret its - extinction. He conceives them to be descended from the ancient bards, and - proceeds:—-"They are called by others, and by themselves, Jockies, who - go about begging; and use still to recite the Sloggorne (gathering-words - or war-cries) of most of the true ancient surnames of Scotland, from old - experience and observation. Some of them I have discoursed, and found to - have reason and discretion. One of then told me there were not now above - twelve of them in the whole isle; but he remembered when they abounded, - so as at one time he was one of five that usually met at St. Andrews." -</p> -<p> - The race of Jockies (of the above description) has, I suppose, been long - extinct in Scotland; but the old remembered beggar, even in my own time, - like the Baccoch, or travelling cripple of Ireland, was expected to merit - his quarters by something beyond an exposition of his distresses. He was - often a talkative, facetious fellow, prompt at repartee, and not withheld - from exercising his powers that way by any respect of persons, his - patched cloak giving him the privilege of the ancient jester. To be a - <i>gude crack,</i> that is, to possess talents for conversation, was essential - to the trade of a "puir body" of the more esteemed class; and Burns, who - delighted in the amusement their discourse afforded, seems to have looked - forward with gloomy firmness to the possibility of himself becoming one - day or other a member of their itinerant society. In his poetical works, - it is alluded to so often, as perhaps to indicate that he considered the - consummation as not utterly impossible. Thus in the fine dedication of - his works to Gavin Hamilton, he says,— -</p> -<pre> - And when I downa yoke a naig, - Then, Lord be thankit, I can beg. -</pre> -<p> - Again, in his Epistle to Davie, a brother Poet, he states, that in their - closing career— -</p> -<pre> - The last o't, the warst o't, - Is only just to beg. -</pre> -<p> - And after having remarked, that -</p> -<pre> - To lie in kilns and barns at e'en, - When banes are crazed and blude is thin, -</pre> -<p> - Is doubtless great distress; the bard reckons up, with true poetical - spirit, the free enjoyment of the beauties of nature, which might - counterbalance the hardship and uncertainty of the life, even of a - mendicant. In one of his prose letters, to which I have lost the - reference, he details this idea yet more seriously, and dwells upon it, - as not ill adapted to his habits and powers. -</p> -<p> - As the life of a Scottish mendicant of the eighteenth century seems to - have been contemplated without much horror by Robert Burns, the author - can hardly have erred in giving to Edie Ochiltree something of poetical - character and personal dignity, above the more abject of his miserable - calling. The class had, intact, some privileges. A lodging, such as it - was, was readily granted to them in some of the out-houses, and the usual - <i>awmous</i> (alms) of a handful of meal (called a <i>gowpen</i>) was scarce - denied by the poorest cottager. The mendicant disposed these, according - to their different quality, in various bags around his person, and thus - carried about with him the principal part of his sustenance, which he - literally received for the asking. At the houses of the gentry, his cheer - was mended by scraps of broken meat, and perhaps a Scottish "twalpenny," - or English penny, which was expended in snuff or whiskey. In fact, these - indolent peripatetics suffered much less real hardship and want of food, - than the poor peasants from whom they received alms. -</p> -<p> - If, in addition to his personal qualifications, the mendicant chanced to - be a King's Bedesman, or Blue-Gown, he belonged, in virtue thereof, to - the aristocracy of his order, and was esteemed a parson of great - importance. -</p> -<p> - These Bedesmen are an order of paupers to whom the Kings of Scotland were - in the custom of distributing a certain alms, in conformity with the - ordinances of the Catholic Church, and who where expected in return to - pray for the royal welfare and that of the state. This order is still - kept up. Their number is equal to the number of years which his Majesty - has lived; and one Blue-Gown additional is put on the roll for every - returning royal birth-day. On the same auspicious era, each Bedesman - receives a new cloak, or gown of coarse cloth, the colour light blue, - with a pewter badge, which confers on them the general privilege of - asking alms through all Scotland,—all laws against sorning, masterful - beggary, and every other species of mendicity, being suspended in favour - of this privileged class. With his cloak, each receives a leathern purse, - containing as many shillings Scots (videlicet, pennies sterling) as the - sovereign is years old; the zeal of their intercession for the king's - long life receiving, it is to be supposed, a great stimulus from their - own present and increasing interest in the object of their prayers. On - the same occasion one of the Royal Chaplains preaches a sermon to the - Bedesmen, who (as one of the reverend gentlemen expressed himself) are - the most impatient and inattentive audience in the world. Something of - this may arise from a feeling on the part of the Bedesmen, that they are - paid for their own devotions, not for listening to those of others. Or, - more probably, it arises from impatience, natural, though indecorous in - men bearing so venerable a character, to arrive at the conclusion of the - ceremonial of the royal birth-day, which, so far as they are concerned, - ends in a lusty breakfast of bread and ale; the whole moral and religious - exhibition terminating in the advice of Johnson's "Hermit hoar" to his - proselyte, -</p> -<pre> - Come, my lad, and drink some beer. -</pre> -<p> - Of the charity bestowed on these aged Bedesmen in money and clothing, - there are many records in the Treasurer's accompts. The following - extract, kindly supplied by Mr. Macdonald of the Register House, may - interest those whose taste is akin to that of Jonathan Oldbuck of - Monkbarns. -</p> -<h4> - BLEW GOWNIS. -</h4> -<pre> - In the Account of Sir Robert Melvill of Murdocarney, - Treasurer-Depute of King James VI., there are the following Payments:— - - "Junij 1590. - - "Item, to Mr. Peter Young, Elimosinar, twentie four gownis of blew - clayth, to be gevin to xxiiij auld men, according to the yeiris of his - hienes age, extending to viii xx viii elnis clayth; price of the elne - xxiiij <i>s. </i> Inde, ij <i>c</i>j <i>li. </i>xij <i>s. </i> - - "Item, for sextene elnis bukrum to the saidis gownis, price of the elne x - <i>s. </i> Inde, viij <i>li. </i> - - "Item, twentie four pursis, and in ilk purse twentie four schelling - Inde, xxciij <i>li. </i> xvj <i>s. </i> - "Item, the price of ilk purse iiij <i>d. </i> Inde, viij <i>s. </i> - - "Item, for making of the saidis gownis viij <i>li.</i>" - - In the Account of John, Earl of Mar, Great Treasurer of Scotland, and of - Sir Gideon Murray of Enbank, Treasurer-Depute, the Blue-Gowns also appear - thus:— - - - "Junij 1617. - - "Item, to James Murray, merchant, for fyftene scoir sex elnis and aine - half elne of blew claith to be gownis to fyftie ane aigeit men, according - to the yeiris of his Majesteis age, at xl <i>s. </i> the elne - Inde, vj <i>c</i> xiij <i>li. </i> - - "Item, to workmen for careing the blewis to James Aikman, tailyeour, his - hous xiij <i>s. </i> iiij <i>d. </i> - - "Item, for sex elnis and ane half of harden to the saidis gownis, at vj - <i>s. </i> viij <i>d. </i> the elne Inde, xliij <i>s. </i>iiij <i>d. </i> - - "Item, to the said workmen for careing of the gownis fra the said James - Aikman's hous to the palace of Halyrudehous xviij <i>s. </i> - - "Item, for making the saidis fyftie ane gownis, at xij <i>s. </i> the peice - Inde, xxx <i>li. </i>xij <i>s. </i> - - "Item, for fyftie ane pursis to the said puire menlj <i>s. </i> - - "Item, to Sir Peter Young, li <i>s. </i> to be put in everie ane of the saidis - ljpursis to the said poore men j <i>c</i>xxxl jj <i>s. </i> - - "Item, to the said Sir Peter, to buy breid and drink to the said puir men - vj <i>li. </i>xiij <i>s. </i>iiij <i>d. </i> - - "Item, to the said Sir Peter, to be delt amang uther puire folk j <i>c</i>li. - - "Item, upoun the last day of Junii to Doctor Young, Deane of Winchester, - Elimozinar Deput to his Majestic, twentie fyve pund sterling, to be gevin - to the puir be the way in his Majesteis progress Inde, iij <i>c li.</i>" -</pre> - -<p> - I have only to add, that although the institution of King's Bedesmen - still subsists, they are now seldom to be seen on the streets of - Edinburgh, of which their peculiar dress made them rather a - characteristic feature. -</p> -<p> - Having thus given an account of the genus and species to which Edie - Ochiltree appertains, the author may add, that the individual he had in - his eye was Andrew Gemmells, an old mendicant of the character described, - who was many years since well known, and must still be remembered, in the - vales of Gala, Tweed, Ettrick, Yarrow, and the adjoining country. -</p> -<p> - The author has in his youth repeatedly seen and conversed with Andrew, - but cannot recollect whether he held the rank of Blue-Gown. He was a - remarkably fine old figure, very tall, and maintaining a soldierlike or - military manner and address. His features were intelligent, with a - powerful expression of sarcasm. His motions were always so graceful, that - he might almost have been suspected of having studied them; for he might, - on any occasion, have, served as a model for an artist, so remarkably - striking were his ordinary attitudes. Andrew Gemmells had little of the - cant of his calling; his wants were food and shelter, or a trifle of - money, which he always claimed, and seemed to receive as his due. He, - sung a good song, told a good story, and could crack a severe jest with - all the acumen of Shakespeare's jesters, though without using, like them, - the cloak of insanity. It was some fear of Andrew's satire, as much as a - feeling of kindness or charity, which secured him the general good - reception which he enjoyed everywhere. In fact, a jest of Andrew - Gemmells, especially at the expense of a person of consequence, flew - round the circle which he frequented, as surely as the bon-mot of a man - of established character for wit glides through the fashionable world, - Many of his good things are held in remembrance, but are generally too - local and personal to be introduced here. -</p> -<p> - Andrew had a character peculiar to himself among his tribe for aught I - ever heard. He was ready and willing to play at cards or dice with any - one who desired such amusement. This was more in the character of the - Irish itinerant gambler, called in that country a "carrow," than of the - Scottish beggar. But the late Reverend Doctor Robert Douglas, minister of - Galashiels, assured the author, that the last time he saw Andrew - Gemmells, he was engaged in a game at brag with a gentleman of fortune, - distinction, and birth. To preserve the due gradations of rank, the party - was made at an open window of the chateau, the laird sitting on his chair - in the inside, the beggar on a stool in the yard; and they played on the - window-sill. The stake was a considerable parcel of silver. The author - expressing some surprise, Dr. Douglas observed, that the laird was no - doubt a humourist or original; but that many decent persons in those - times would, like him, have thought there was nothing extraordinary in - passing an hour, either in card-playing or conversation, with Andrew - Gemmells. -</p> -<p> - This singular mendicant had generally, or was supposed to have, much - money about his person, as would have been thought the value of his life - among modern foot-pads. On one occasion, a country gentleman, generally - esteemed a very narrow man, happening to meet Andrew, expressed great - regret that he had no silver in his pocket, or he would have given him - sixpence.—"I can give you change for a note, laird," replied Andrew. -</p> -<p> - Like most who have arisen to the head of their profession, the modern - degradation which mendicity has undergone was often the subject of - Andrew's lamentations. As a trade, he said, it was forty pounds a-year - worse since he had first practised it. On another occasion he observed, - begging was in modern times scarcely the profession of a gentleman; and - that, if he had twenty sons, he would not easily be induced to breed one - of them up in his own line. When or where this <i>laudator temporis acti</i> - closed his wanderings, the author never heard with certainty; but most - probably, as Burns says, -</p> -<pre> - —he died a cadger-powny's death, - At some dike side. -</pre> -<p> - The author may add another picture of the same kind as Edie Ochiltree and - Andrew Gemmells; considering these illustrations as a sort of gallery, - open to the reception of anything which may elucidate former manners, or - amuse the reader. -</p> -<p> - The author's contemporaries at the university of Edinburgh will probably - remember the thin, wasted form of a venerable old Bedesman, who stood by - the Potterrow-Port, now demolished, and, without speaking a syllable, - gently inclined his head, and offered his hat, but with the least - possible degree of urgency, towards each individual who passed. This man - gained, by silence and the extenuated and wasted appearance of a palmer - from a remote country, the same tribute which was yielded to Andrew - Gemmells' sarcastic humour and stately deportment. He was understood to - be able to maintain a son a student in the theological classes of the - University, at the gate of which the father was a mendicant. The young - man was modest and inclined to learning, so that a student of the same - age, and whose parents where rather of the lower order, moved by seeing - him excluded from the society of other scholars when the secret of his - birth was suspected, endeavoured to console him by offering him some - occasional civilities. The old mendicant was grateful for this attention - to his son, and one day, as the friendly student passed, he stooped - forward more than usual, as if to intercept his passage. The scholar drew - out a halfpenny, which he concluded was the beggar's object, when he was - surprised to receive his thanks for the kindness he had shown to Jemmie, - and at the same time a cordial invitation to dine with them next - Saturday, "on a shoulder of mutton and potatoes," adding, "ye'll put on - your clean sark, as I have company." The student was strongly tempted to - accept this hospitable proposal, as many in his place would probably have - done; but, as the motive might have been capable of misrepresentation, he - thought it most prudent, considering the character and circumstances of - the old man, to decline the invitation. -</p> -<p> - Such are a few traits of Scottish mendicity, designed to throw light on a - Novel in which a character of that description plays a prominent part. We - conclude, that we have vindicated Edie Ochiltree's right to the - importance assigned him; and have shown, that we have known one beggar - take a hand at cards with a person of distinction, and another give - dinner parties. -</p> -<p> - I know not if it be worth while to observe, that the Antiquary,* was not - so well received on its first appearance as either of its predecessors, - though in course of time it rose to equal, and, with some readers, - superior popularity. -</p> -<p> - * Note A. Mottoes. -</p> -<a name="2H_4_0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION -</h2> -<h3> - TO -</h3> -<h3> - THE ANTIQUARY. -</h3> -<p> - "THE ANTIQUARY" was begun in 1815; the bargain for its publication by - Constable was made in the October of that year. On December 22 Scott - wrote to Morritt: "I shall set myself seriously to 'The Antiquary,' of - which I have only a very general sketch at present; but when once I get - my pen to the paper it will walk fast enough. I am sometimes tempted to - leave it alone, and try whether it will not write as well without the - assistance of my head as with it,—a hopeful prospect for the reader!'" - It is amazing enough that he even constructed "a general sketch," for to - such sketches he confesses that he never could keep constant. "I have - generally written to the middle of one of these novels without having the - least idea how it was to end,—in short, in the <i>hab nab at a venture - style</i> of composition" (Journal, Feb. 24, 1828). Yet it is almost - impossible but that the plot of "The Antiquary" should have been duly - considered. Scott must have known from the first who Lovel was to turn - out to be, and must have recognised in the hapless bride of Lord - Glenallan the object of the Antiquary's solitary and unfortunate passion. - To introduce another Wandering Heir immediately after the Harry Bertram - of "Guy Mannering" was rather audacious. But that old favourite, the Lost - Heir, is nearly certain to be popular. For the Antiquary's immortal - sorrow Scott had a model in his own experience. "What a romance to - tell!—and told, I fear, it will one day be. And then my three years of - dreaming and my two years of wakening will be chronicled doubtless. But - the dead will feel no pain." The dead, as Aristotle says, if they care - for such things at all, care no more than we do for what has passed in a - dream. -</p> -<p> - The general sketch probably began to take full shape about the last day - of 1815. On December 29 Scott wrote to Ballantyne:— -</p> - -<pre> - - DEAR JAMES,— - I've done, thank'God, with the long yarns - Of the most prosy of Apostles—Paul, 1 - And now advance, sweet heathen of Monkbarns, - Step out, old quizz, as fast as I can scrawl. -</pre> -<p> - In "The Antiquary" Scott had a subject thoroughly to his mind. He had - been an antiquary from his childhood. His earliest pence had been devoted - to that collection of printed ballads which is still at Abbotsford. These - he mentions in the unfinished fragment of his "Reliquiae Trotcosienses," - in much the same words as in his manuscript note on one of the seven - volumes. -</p> -<p> - "This little collection of Stall tracts and ballads was formed by me, - when a boy, from the baskets of the travelling pedlars. Until put into - its present decent binding it had such charms for the servants that it - was repeatedly, and with difficulty, recovered from their clutches. It - contains most of the pieces that were popular about thirty years since, - and, I dare say, many that could not now be procured for any price - (1810)." -</p> -<p> - Nor did he collect only— -</p> -<pre> - "The rare melody of some old ditties - That first were sung to please King Pepin's cradle. -</pre> -<p> - "Walter had soon begun to gather out-of-the-way things of all sorts. He - had more books than shelves [sic]; a small painted cabinet with Scotch - and Roman coins in it, and so forth. A claymore and Lochaber axe, given - him by old Invernahyle, mounted guard on a little print of Prince - Charlie; and Broughton's Saucer was hooked up on the wall below it." - He had entered literature through the ruined gateway of archleology, in - the "Border Minstrelsy," and his last project was an edition of - Perrault's "Contes de Ma Mere l'Oie." As pleasant to him as the purchase - of new lands like Turn Again, bought dearly, as in Monkbarns's case, from - "bonnet lauds," was a fresh acquisition of an old book or of old armour. - Yet, with all his enthusiasm, he did not please the antiquaries of his - own day. George Chalmers, in Constable's "Life and Correspondence" - (i. 431), sneers at his want of learning. "His notes are loose and - unlearned, as they generally are." Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, his - friend in life, disported himself in jealous and ribald mockery of - Scott's archaeological knowledge, when Scott was dead. In a letter of - the enigmatic Thomas Allen, or James Stuart Hay, father of John Sobieski - and Charles Edward Stuart, this mysterious person avers that he never - knew Scott's opinion to be held as of any value by antiquaries (1829). - They probably missed in him "a sort of pettifogging intimacy with dates, - names, and trifling matters of fact,—a tiresome and frivolous accuracy - of memory" which Sir Arthur Wardour reproves in Monkbarns. Scott, in - brief, was not as Dry-as-dust; all the dead bones that he touches come - to life. He was as great an archeologist as a poet can be, and, with - Virgil, was the greatest antiquary among poets. Like Monkbarns, he was - not incapable of being beguiled. As Oldbuck bought the bodle from the - pedlar at the price of a rare coin, so Scott took Surtees's "Barthram's - Dirge," and his Latin legend of the tourney with the spectre knight, for - genuine antiquities. No Edie Ochiltree ever revealed to him the truth - about these forgeries, and the spectre knight, with the ballad of - "Anthony Featherstonhaugh," hold their own in "Marmion," to assure the - world that this antiquary was gullible when the sleight was practised by - a friend. "Non est tanti," he would have said, had he learned the truth; - for he was ever conscious of the humorous side of the study of the - mouldering past. "I do not know anything which relieves the mind so much - from the sullens as a trifling discourse about antiquarian oldwomanries. - It is like knitting a stocking,—diverting the mind without occupying - it." ("Journal," March 9, 1828). -</p> -<p> - Begun about Jan. 1, 1816, "The Antiquary" was published before May 16, - 1816, when Scott writes to say that he has sent Mr. Morritt the novel - "some time since." "It is not so interesting as its predecessors; the - period does not admit of so much romantic situation. But it has been - more fortunate than any of them in the sale, for six thousand went off - in the first six days, and it is now at press again." The Preface of the - first edition ends with the melancholy statement that the author "takes - his respectful leave, as one who is not likely again to solicit favour." - Apparently Scott had already determined not to announce his next novels - ("The Black Dwarf" and "Old Mortality") as "by the Author of Waverley." - Mr. Constable, in the biography of his father, says (iii. 84): "Even - before the publication of 'The Antiquary,' John Ballantyne had been - impowered by the Author to negotiate with Mr. Murray and Mr. Blackwood - for the first series of the 'Tales of my Landlord.'" The note of - withdrawal from the stage, in the first edition of "The Antiquary," was - probably only a part of another experiment on public sagacity. As - Lockhart says, Mr. Murray and Mr. Blackwood thought that the consequent - absence of the Author of "Waverley's" name from the "Tales of my - Landlord" would "check very much the first success of the book;" but - they risked this, "to disturb Constable's tenure." -</p> -<p> - Scott's temporary desertion of Constable in the "Tales of my Landlord" - may have had various motives. There was a slight grudge against - Constable, born of some complications of the Ballantynes' affairs. - Perhaps the mere amusement of the experiment on public sagacity was one - of the more powerful reasons for the change. In our day Lord Lytton and - Mr. Trollope made similar trials of their popularity when anonymous, the - former author with the greater success. The idea of these masquerades and - veils of the incognito appears to have bewitched Constable. William - Godwin was writing for him his novel "Mandeville," and Godwin had - obviously been counselled to try a disguise. He says (Jan. 30, 1816) "I - have amused my imagination a thousand times since last we parted with the - masquerade you devised for me. The world is full of wonder. An old - favourite is always reviewed with coldness. . . . 'Pooh,' they say; - 'Godwin has worn his pen to the stump!' . . . But let me once be equipped - with a significant mask and an unknown character from your masquerade - shop, and admitted to figure in with the 'Last Minstrel,' the 'Lady of - the Lake,' and 'Guy Mannering' in the Scottish carnival, Gods! how the - boys and girls will admire me! 'Here is a new wonder!' they will say. - 'Ah, this is something like! Here is Godwin beaten on his own ground. . . - Here is for once a Scottish writer that they cannot say has anything of - the Scotchman about him.'" -</p> -<p> - However, Mr. Godwin did not don the mask and domino. "Mandeville" came - out about the same time as "Rob Roy;" but the "craziness of the public" - for the Author of "Waverley" was not changed into a passion for the - father-in-law of Shelley. -</p> -<p> - "'The Antiquary,' after a little pause of hesitation, attained popularity - not inferior to 'Guy Mannering,' and though the author appears for a - moment to have shared the doubts which he read in the countenance of - James Ballantyne, it certainly was, in the sequel, his chief favourite - among all his novels.'" -</p> -<p> - As Scott said to Terry, "If a man will paint from nature, he will be - likely to amuse those who are daily looking at it." The years which saw - the first appearance of "Guy Mannering" also witnessed that of "Emma." By - the singular chance, or law, which links great authors closely in time, - giving us novelists in pairs, Miss Austen was "drawing from nature" at - the very moment when Scott was wedding nature with romance. How - generously and wisely he admired her is familiar, and it may, to some, - seem curious that he never deliberately set himself to a picture of - ordinary life, free from the intrusion of the unusual, of the heroic. - Once, looking down at the village which lies on the Tweed, opposite - Melrose, he remarked that under its roofs tragedies and tales were - doubtless being lived. 'I undertake to say there is some real romance at - this moment going on down there, that, if it could have justice done to - it, would be well worth all the fiction that was ever spun out of human - brains.' But the example he gave was terrible,—"anything more dreadful - was never conceived by Crabbe;" yet, adds Lockhart, "it would never have - entered into his head to elaborate such a tale." He could not dwell in - the unbroken gloom dear to some modern malingerers. But he could easily - have made a tale of common Scotch life, dark with the sorrow of - Mucklebackit, and bright with the mirth of Cuddie Headrigg. There was, - however, this difficulty,—that Scott cared not to write a story of a - single class. "From the peer to the ploughman," all society mingles in - each of his novels. A fiction of middle-class life did not allure him, - and he was not at the best, but at his worst, as Sydney Smith observed, - in the light talk of society. He could admire Miss Austen, and read her - novels again and again; but had he attempted to follow her, by way of - variety, then inevitably wild as well as disciplined humour would have - kept breaking in, and his fancy would have wandered like the old knights - of Arthur's Court, "at adventure." "St. Ronan's Well" proved the truth of - all this. Thus it happens that, in "The Antiquary," with all his sympathy - for the people, with all his knowledge of them, he does not confine - himself to their cottages. As Lockhart says, in his admirable piece of - criticism, he preferred to choose topics in which he could display "his - highest art, that of skilful contrast." -</p> -<p> - Even the tragic romance of "Waverley" does not set off its Macwheebles - and Callum Begs better than the oddities of Jonathan Oldbuck and his - circle are relieved, on the one hand by the stately gloom of the - Glenallans, on the other by the stern affliction of the poor fisherman, - who, when discovered repairing "the auld black bitch of a boat," in which - his boy had been lost, and congratulated by his visitors on being capable - of the exertion, makes answer, "And what would you have me to do, unless - I wanted to see four children starve, because one is drowned? It 's weel - with you gentles, that can sit in the house with handkerchers at your - een, when ye lose a friend; but the like o' us maun to our work again, - if our hearts were beating as hard as ony hammer." And to his work again - Scott had to go when he lost the partner of his life. -</p> -<p> - The simple unsought charm which Lockhart notes in "The Antiquary" may - have passed away in later works, when what had been the amusement of - happy days became the task of sadness. But this magic "The Antiquary" - keeps perhaps beyond all its companions,—the magic of pleasant memories - and friendly associations. The sketches of the epoch of expected - invasion, with its patriotic musters and volunteer drillings, are - pictures out of that part in the author's life which, with his early - Highland wanderings ("Waverley") and his Liddesdale raids ("Guy - Mannering"), was most dear to him. In "Redgauntlet," again, he makes, as - Alan Fairford, a return on his youth and his home, and in "Rob Roy" he - revives his Highland recollections, his Highland lairds of "the blawing, - bleezing stories." None of the rest of the tales are so intimate in their - connection with Scott's own personal history. "The Antiquary" has always, - therefore, been held in the very first rank of his novels. -</p> -<p> - As far as plot goes, though Godwin denied that it had any story, "The - Antiquary" may be placed among the most careful. The underplot of the - Glenallans, gloomy almost beyond endurance, is very ingeniously made to - unravel the mystery of Lovel. The other side-narrative, that of - Dousterswivel, is the weak point of the whole; but this Scott justifies - by "very late instances of the force of superstitious credulity, to a - much greater extent." Some occurrence of the hour may have suggested the - knavish adept with his divining-rod. But facts are never a real excuse - for the morally incredible, or all but incredible, in fiction. On the - wealth and vraisemblance and variety of character it were superfluous to - dilate. As in Shakspeare, there is not even a minor person but lives and - is of flesh and blood, if we except, perhaps, Dousterswivel and Sir - Arthur Wardour. Sir Arthur is only Sir Robert Hazlewood over again, with - a slightly different folly and a somewhat more amiable nature. Lovel's - place, as usual, is among the shades of heroes, and his love-affair is - far less moving, far more summarily treated, than that of Jenny Caxon. - The skilful contrasts are perhaps most remarkable when we compare Elspeth - of the Burnfoot with the gossiping old women in the post-office at - Fairport,—a town studied perhaps from Arbroath. It was the opinion of - Sydney Smith that every one of the novels, before "The Fortunes of - Nigel," contained a Meg Merrilies and a Dominie Sampson. He may have - recognized a male Meg in Edie Ochiltree,—the invaluable character who is - always behind a wall, always overhears everything, and holds the threads - of the plot. Or he may have been hypercritical enough to think that - Elspeth of the Burnfoot is the Meg of the romance. Few will agree with - him that Meg Merrilies, in either of these cases, is "good, but good too - often." -</p> -<p> - The supposed "originals" of certain persons in the tale have been topics - of discussion. The character of Oldbuck, like most characters in fiction, - is a combination of traits observed in various persons. Scott says, in a - note to the Ashiestiel fragment of Autobiography, that Mr. George - Constable, an old friend of his father's, "had many of those - peculiarities of character which long afterwards I tried to develop in - the character of Jonathan Oldbuck." Sir Walter, when a child, made Mr. - Constable's acquaintance at Prestonpans in 1777, where he explored the - battle-field "under the learned guidance of Dalgetty." Mr. Constable - first introduced him to Shakspeare's plays, and gave him his first German - dictionary. Other traits may have been suggested by John Clerk of Eldin, - whose grandfather was the hero of the story "Praetorian here, Praetorian - there, I made it wi' a flaughter spade." Lockhart is no doubt right in - thinking that Oldbuck is partly a caricature of Oldbuck's creator,—Sir - Walter indeed frankly accepted the kinship; and the book which he began - on his own collection he proposed to style "Reliquim Trotcosienses; or, - the Gabions of Jonathan Oldbuck." -</p> -<p> - Another person who added a few points to Oldbuck was "Sandy Gordon," - author of the "Itinerarium Septentrionale" (1726), the very folio which - Monkbarns carried in the dilatory coach to Queensferry. Gordon had been - a student in the University of Aberdeen; he was an amateur in many arts, - but antiquarianism was his favourite hobby. He was an acquaintance of Sir - John Clerk of Eldin, the hero of the Praetorium. The words of Gordon in - his "Itinerarium," where he describes the battle of the Grampians, have - supplied, or suggested, the speech of Monkbarns at the Kaim of Kinprunes. - The great question was, Where is the Mons Grampius of Tacitus? Dismissing - Camden's Grantsbain, because he does not know where it is, Gordon says, - "As for our Scotch Antiquaries, they are so divided that some will have - it to be in the shire of Angus, or in the Mearns, some at the Blair of - Athol in Perthshire, or Ardoch in Strathallan, and others at - Inverpeffery." Gordon votes for Strathern, "half a mile short of the Kirk - of Comrie." This spot is both at the foot of the Montes Grampii, "and - boasts a Roman camp capable of holding an army fit to encounter so - formidable a number as thirty thousand Caledonians. . . . Here is the - Porta Decumana, opposite the Prcetoria, together with the dextra and - sinistra gates," all discovered by Sandy Gordon. "Moreover, the situation - of the ground is so very exact with the description given by Tacitus, - that in all my travels through Britain I never beheld anything with more - pleasure. . . . Nor is it difficult, in viewing this ground, to say where - the Covinarii, or Charioteers, stood. In fine, to an Antiquary, this is a - ravishing scene." He adds the argument "that Galgacus's name still - remains on this ground, for the moor on which the camp stood is called to - this day Galdachan, or Galgachan Rosmoor." All this lore Gordon - illustrates by an immense chart of a camp, and a picture of very small - Montes Grampii, about the size and shape of buns. The plate is dedicated - to his excellency General Wade. -</p> -<p> - In another point Monkbapns borrows from Gordon. Sandy has a plate (page - 20) of "The Roman Sacellum of Mars Signifer, vulgarly called 'Arthur's - Oon.' With regard to its shape, it is not unlike the famous Pantheon at - Rome before the noble Portico was added to it by Marcus Agrippa." Gordon - agrees with Stukeley in attributing Arthur's Oon to Agricola, and here - Monkbarns and Lovel adopt almost his words. "Time has left Julius - Agricola's very name on the place; . . . and if ever those initial - letters J. A. M. P. M. P. T., mentioned by Sir Robert Sibbald, were - engraven on a stone in this building, it may not be reckoned altogether - absurd that they should bear this reading, JULIUS AGRICOLA MAGNUS - PIETATIS MONUMENTUM POSUIT TEMPLUM; but this my reader may - either accept or reject as he pleases. However, I think it may be as - probably received as that inscription on Caligula's Pharos in Holland, - which having these following letters, C. C. P. F., is read Caius Caligula - Pharum Fecit." "This," Monkbarns adds, "has ever been recorded as a sound - exposition." -</p> -<p> - The character of Edie Ochiltree, Scott himself avers to have been - suggested by Andrew Gemmells, pleasantly described in the Introduction. - Mr. Chambers, in "Illustrations of the Author of 'Waverley," clears up a - point doubtful in Scott's memory, by saying that Geimells really was a - Blue-Gown. He rode a horse of his own, and at races was a bookmaker. He - once dropped at Rutherford, in Teviotdale, a clue of yarn containing - twenty guineas. Like Edie Ochiltree, he had served at Fontenoy. He died - at Roxburgh Newton in 1793, at the age of one hundred and five, according - to his own reckoning. "His wealth was the means of enriching a nephew in - Ayrshire, who is now (1825) a considerable landholder there, and belongs - to a respectable class of society." -</p> -<p> - An old Irus of similar character patrolled Teviotdale, while Andrew - Gemmells was attached to Ettrick and Yarrow. This was Blind Willie Craw. - Willie was the Society Journal of Hawick, and levied blackmail on the - inhabitants. He is thus described by Mr. Grieve, in the Diary already - quoted: "He lived at Branxholme Town, in a free house set apart for the - gamekeeper, and for many a year carried all the bread from Hawick used in - my father's family. He came in that way at breakfast-time, and got a - wallet which he put it in, and returned at dinner-time with the 'bawbee - rows' and two loaves. He laid the town of Hawick under contribution for - bawbees, and he knew the history of every individual, and went rhyming - through the town from door to door; and as he knew something against - every one which they would rather wish should not be rehearsed, a bawbee - put a stop to the paragraph which they wished suppressed. Willie Craw was - the son of a gamekeeper of the duke's, and enjoyed a free house at - Branxholme Town as long as he lived." -</p> -<p> - Had Burns ever betaken himself to the gaberlunzie's life, which he speaks - of in one of his poems as "the last o't, the worst o't," he would have - proved a much more formidable satirist than poor Willie Craw, the last of - the "blind crowders." Burns wrote, of course, in a spirit of reckless - humour; but he could not, even in sport, have alluded to the life as - "suited to his habits and powers," had gaberlunzies been mere mendicants. - In Herd's collection of Ballads is one on the ancient Scottish beggar:— -</p> -<pre> - In Scotland there lived a humble beggar, - He had nor house, nor hald, nor hame; - But he was well liked by ilk a body, - And they gave him sunkets to rax his wame. - - A sieve fu' o' meal, a handfu' o' groats, - A dad o' a bannock, or pudding bree, - Cauld porridge, or the lickings o' plates, - Wad make him as blythe as a body could be. -</pre> -<p> - The dress and trade of the beggar are said to have been adopted by James - V. in his adventures, and tradition attributes to him a song, "The - Gaberlunzie Man." -</p> -<p> - One of Edie's most charming traits is his readiness to "fight for his - dish, like the laird for his land," when a French invasion was expected. - Scott places the date of "The False Alarm," when he himself rode a - hundred miles to join his regiment, on Feb. 2, 1804. -</p> -<p> - Lockhart gives it as an event of 1805 (vol. ii. p. 275). The occasion - gave great pleasure to Scott, on account of the patriotism and courage - displayed by all classes. "Me no muckle to fight for?" says Edie. "Isna - there the country to fight for, and the burns I gang dandering beside, - and the hearths o' the gudewives that gie me my bit bread, and the bits - o' weans that come toddling to play wi' me when I come about a landward - town?" Edie had fought at Fontenoy, and was of the old school. Scott - would have been less pleased with a recruit from St. Boswells, on the - Tweed. This man was a shoemaker, John Younger, a very intelligent and - worthy person, famous as an angler and writer on angling, who has left an - account of the "False Alarm" in his memoirs. His view was that the - people, unlike Edie, had nothing to fight for, that only the rich had any - reason to be patriotic, that the French had no quarrel with the poor. In - fact, Mr. Younger was a cosmopolitan democrat, and sneered at the old - Border glories of the warlike days. Probably, however, he would have done - his duty, had the enemy landed, and, like Edie, might have remembered the - "burns he dandered beside," always with a fishingrod in his hand. -</p> -<pre> - The Editor cannot resist the temptation to add that the patriotic - lady mentioned in Scott's note, who "would rather have seen her son - dead on that hearth than hear that he had been a horse's length - behind his companions," was his paternal great-grandmother, Mrs. - John Lang. Her husband, who died shortly afterwards, so that she was - a widow when Scott conversed with her, chanced to be chief - magistrate of Selkirk. His family was aroused late one night by the - sound of a carriage hurrying down the steep and narrow street. Lord - Napier was bringing, probably from Hawick, the tidings that the - beacons were ablaze. The town-bell was instantly rung, the - inhabitants met in the marketplace, where Scott's statue now stands, - and the whole force, with one solitary exception, armed and marched - to Dalkeith. According to the gentleman whose horse and arms were - sent on to meet him, it was intended, if the French proved - victorious, that the population of the Border towns should abandon - their homes and retire to the hills. -</pre> -<p> - No characters in the "Antiquary," except Monkbarns and Edie Ochiltree, - seem to have been borrowed from notable originals. The frauds of - Dousterswivel, Scott says, are rendered plausible by "very late instances - of the force of superstitious credulity to a much greater extent." He can - hardly be referring to the career of Cagliostro, but he may have had in - his memory some unsuccessful mining speculations by Charles Earl of - Traquair, who sought for lead and found little or none in Traquair hills. - The old "Statistical Account of Scotland" (vol. xii. p. 370) says nothing - about imposture, and merely remarks that "the noble family of Traquair - have made several attempts to discover lead mines, and have found - quantities of the ore of that metal, though not adequate to indemnify the - expenses of working, and have therefore given up the attempt." This was - published in 1794, so twenty years had passed when "The Antiquary" was - written. If there was here an "instance of superstitious credulity," it - was not "a very late instance." The divining, or "dowsing," rod of - Dousterswivel still keeps its place in mining superstition and in the - search for wells. -</p> -<pre> -With "The Antiquary" most contemporary reviews of the novels lose their -interest. Their author had firmly established his position, at least till -"The Monastery" caused some murmurings. Even the "Quarterly Review" was -infinitely more genial in its reception of "The Antiquary" than of "Guy -Mannering." The critic only grumbled at Lovel's feverish dreams, which, -he thought, showed an intention to introduce the marvellous. He -complained of "the dark dialect of Anglified Erse," but found comfort in -the glossary appended. The "Edinburgh Review" pronounced the chapter on -the escape from the tide to be "I the very best description we have ever -met, inverse or in prose, in ancient or in modern writing." No reviewer -seems to have noticed that the sun is made to set in the sea, on the east -coast of Scotland. The "Edinburgh," however, declared that the Antiquary, -"at least in so far as he is an Antiquary," was the chief blemish on the -book. The "sweet heathen of Monkbarns" has not suffered from this -disparagement. The "British Critic" pledged its reputation that Scott was -the author. If an argument were wanted, "it would be that which has been -applied to prove the authenticity of the last book of the Iliad,—that -Homer must have written it, because no one else could." Alas! that -argument does not convince German critics. - ANDREW LANG. -</pre> -<a name="2HCH0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER FIRST. -</h2> -<pre> - Go call a coach, and let a coach be called, - And let the man who calleth be the caller; - And in his calling let him nothing call, - But Coach! Coach! Coach! O for a coach, ye gods! - Chrononhotonthologos. -</pre> -<p> - It was early on a fine summer's day, near the end of the eighteenth - century, when a young man, of genteel appearance, journeying towards the - north-east of Scotland, provided himself with a ticket in one of those - public carriages which travel between Edinburgh and the Queensferry, at - which place, as the name implies, and as is well known to all my northern - readers, there is a passage-boat for crossing the Firth of Forth. The - coach was calculated to carry six regular passengers, besides such - interlopers as the coachman could pick up by the way, and intrude upon - those who were legally in possession. The tickets, which conferred right - to a seat in this vehicle, of little ease, were dispensed by a - sharp-looking old dame, with a pair of spectacles on a very thin nose, - who inhabited a "laigh shop," <i>anglice,</i> a cellar, opening to the High - Street by a straight and steep stair, at the bottom of which she sold - tape, thread, needles, skeins of worsted, coarse linen cloth, and such - feminine gear, to those who had the courage and skill to descend to the - profundity of her dwelling, without falling headlong themselves, or - throwing down any of the numerous articles which, piled on each side of - the descent, indicated the profession of the trader below. -</p> -<p> - The written hand-bill, which, pasted on a projecting board, announced - that the Queensferry Diligence, or Hawes Fly, departed precisely at - twelve o'clock on Tuesday, the fifteenth July 17—, in order to secure - for travellers the opportunity of passing the Firth with the flood-tide, - lied on the present occasion like a bulletin; for although that hour was - pealed from Saint Giles's steeple, and repeated by the Tron, no coach - appeared upon the appointed stand. It is true, only two tickets had been - taken out, and possibly the lady of the subterranean mansion might have - an understanding with her Automedon, that, in such cases, a little space - was to be allowed for the chance of filling up the vacant places—or the - said Automedon might have been attending a funeral, and be delayed by the - necessity of stripping his vehicle of its lugubrious trappings—or he - might have staid to take a half-mutchkin extraordinary with his crony the - hostler—or—in short, he did not make his appearance. -</p> -<p> - The young gentleman, who began to grow somewhat impatient, was now joined - by a companion in this petty misery of human life—the person who had - taken out the other place. He who is bent upon a journey is usually - easily to be distinguished from his fellow-citizens. The boots, the - great-coat, the umbrella, the little bundle in his hand, the hat pulled - over his resolved brows, the determined importance of his pace, his brief - answers to the salutations of lounging acquaintances, are all marks by - which the experienced traveller in mail-coach or diligence can - distinguish, at a distance, the companion of his future journey, as he - pushes onward to the place of rendezvous. It is then that, with worldly - wisdom, the first comer hastens to secure the best berth in the coach for - himself, and to make the most convenient arrangement for his baggage - before the arrival of his competitors. Our youth, who was gifted with - little prudence, of any sort, and who was, moreover, by the absence of - the coach, deprived of the power of availing himself of his priority of - choice, amused himself, instead, by speculating upon the occupation and - character of the personage who was now come to the coach office. -</p> -<p> - He was a good-looking man of the age of sixty, perhaps older,—but his - hale complexion and firm step announced that years had not impaired his - strength or health. His countenance was of the true Scottish cast, - strongly marked, and rather harsh in features, with a shrewd and - penetrating eye, and a countenance in which habitual gravity was - enlivened by a cast of ironical humour. His dress was uniform, and of a - colour becoming his age and gravity; a wig, well dressed and powdered, - surmounted by a slouched hat, had something of a professional air. He - might be a clergyman, yet his appearance was more that of a man of the - world than usually belongs to the kirk of Scotland, and his first - ejaculation put the matter beyond question. -</p> -<p> - He arrived with a hurried pace, and, casting an alarmed glance towards - the dial-plate of the church, then looking at the place where the coach - should have been, exclaimed, "Deil's in it—I am too late after all!" -</p> -<p> - The young man relieved his anxiety, by telling him the coach had not yet - appeared. The old gentleman, apparently conscious of his own want of - punctuality, did not at first feel courageous enough to censure that of - the coachman. He took a parcel, containing apparently a large folio, from - a little boy who followed him, and, patting him on the head, bid him go - back and tell Mr. B——, that if he had known he was to have had so much - time, he would have put another word or two to their bargain,—then told - the boy to mind his business, and he would be as thriving a lad as ever - dusted a duodecimo. The boy lingered, perhaps in hopes of a penny to buy - marbles; but none was forthcoming. Our senior leaned his little bundle - upon one of the posts at the head of the staircase, and, facing the - traveller who had first arrived, waited in silence for about five minutes - the arrival of the expected diligence. -</p> -<p> - At length, after one or two impatient glances at the progress of the - minute-hand of the clock, having compared it with his own watch, a huge - and antique gold repeater, and having twitched about his features to give - due emphasis to one or two peevish pshaws, he hailed the old lady of the - cavern. -</p> -<p> - "Good woman,—what the d—l is her name?—Mrs. Macleuchar!" -</p> -<p> - Mrs. Macleuchar, aware that she had a defensive part to sustain in the - encounter which was to follow, was in no hurry to hasten the discussion - by returning a ready answer. -</p> -<p> - "Mrs. Macleuchar,—Good woman" (with an elevated voice)—then apart, "Old - doited hag, she's as deaf as a post—I say, Mrs. Macleuchar!" -</p> -<p> - "I am just serving a customer.—Indeed, hinny, it will no be a bodle - cheaper than I tell ye." -</p> -<p> - "Woman," reiterated the traveller, "do you think we can stand here all - day till you have cheated that poor servant wench out of her half-year's - fee and bountith?" -</p> -<p> - "Cheated!" retorted Mrs. Macleuchar, eager to take up the quarrel upon a - defensible ground; "I scorn your words, sir: you are an uncivil person, - and I desire you will not stand there, to slander me at my ain - stair-head." -</p> -<p> - "The woman," said the senior, looking with an arch glance at his destined - travelling companion, "does not understand the words of action.—Woman," - again turning to the vault, "I arraign not thy character, but I desire to - know what is become of thy coach?" -</p> -<p> - "What's your wull?" answered Mrs. Macleuchar, relapsing into deafness. -</p> -<p> - "We have taken places, ma'am," said the younger stranger, "in your - diligence for Queensferry"——"Which should have been half-way on the - road before now," continued the elder and more impatient traveller, - rising in wrath as he spoke: "and now in all likelihood we shall miss the - tide, and I have business of importance on the other side—and your - cursed coach"— -</p> -<p> - "The coach?—Gude guide us, gentlemen, is it no on the stand yet?" - answered the old lady, her shrill tone of expostulation sinking into a - kind of apologetic whine. "Is it the coach ye hae been waiting for?" -</p> -<p> - "What else could have kept us broiling in the sun by the side of the - gutter here, you—you faithless woman, eh?" -</p> -<p> - Mrs. Macleuchar now ascended her trap stair (for such it might be called, - though constructed of stone), until her nose came upon a level with the - pavement; then, after wiping her spectacles to look for that which she - well knew was not to be found, she exclaimed, with well-feigned - astonishment, "Gude guide us—saw ever onybody the like o' that?" -</p> -<p> - "Yes, you abominable woman," vociferated the traveller, "many have seen - the like of it, and all will see the like of it that have anything to do - with your trolloping sex;" then pacing with great indignation before the - door of the shop, still as he passed and repassed, like a vessel who - gives her broadside as she comes abreast of a hostile fortress, he shot - down complaints, threats, and reproaches, on the embarrassed Mrs. - Macleuchar. He would take a post-chaise—he would call a hackney - coach—he would take four horses—he must—he would be on the north side, - to-day—and all the expense of his journey, besides damages, direct and - consequential, arising from delay, should be accumulated on the devoted - head of Mrs. Macleuchar. -</p> -<p> - There, was something so comic in his pettish resentment, that the younger - traveller, who was in no such pressing hurry to depart, could not help - being amused with it, especially as it was obvious, that every now and - then the old gentleman, though very angry, could not help laughing at his - own vehemence. But when Mrs. Macleuchar began also to join in the - laughter, he quickly put a stop to her ill-timed merriment. -</p> -<p> - "Woman," said he, "is that advertisement thine?" showing a bit of - crumpled printed paper: "Does it not set forth, that, God willing, as you - hypocritically express it, the Hawes Fly, or Queensferry Diligence, would - set forth to-day at twelve o'clock; and is it not, thou falsest of - creatures, now a quarter past twelve, and no such fly or diligence to be - seen?—Dost thou know the consequence of seducing the lieges by false - reports?—dost thou know it might be brought under the statute of - leasing-making? Answer—and for once in thy long, useless, and evil life, - let it be in the words of truth and sincerity,—hast thou such a - coach?—is it <i>in rerum natura?</i>—or is this base annunciation a mere swindle on - the incautious to beguile them of their time, their patience, and three - shillings of sterling money of this realm?—Hast thou, I say, such a - coach? ay or no?" -</p> -<p> - "O dear, yes, sir; the neighbours ken the diligence weel, green picked - oat wi' red—three yellow wheels and a black ane." -</p> -<p> - "Woman, thy special description will not serve—it may be only a lie with - a circumstance." -</p> -<p> - "O, man, man!" said the overwhelmed Mrs. Macleuchar, totally exhausted at - having been so long the butt of his rhetoric, "take back your three - shillings, and make me quit o' ye." -</p> -<p> - "Not so fast, not so fast, woman—Will three shillings transport me to - Queensferry, agreeably to thy treacherous program?—or will it requite - the damage I may sustain by leaving my business undone, or repay the - expenses which I must disburse if I am obliged to tarry a day at the - South Ferry for lack of tide?—Will it hire, I say, a pinnace, for which - alone the regular price is five shillings?" -</p> -<p> - Here his argument was cut short by a lumbering noise, which proved to be - the advance of the expected vehicle, pressing forward with all the - dispatch to which the broken-winded jades that drew it could possibly be - urged. With ineffable pleasure, Mrs. Macleuchar saw her tormentor - deposited in the leathern convenience; but still, as it was driving off, - his head thrust out of the window reminded her, in words drowned amid the - rumbling of the wheels, that, if the diligence did not attain the Ferry - in time to save the flood-tide, she, Mrs. Macleuchar, should be held - responsible for all the consequences that might ensue. -</p> -<p> - The coach had continued in motion for a mile or two before the stranger - had completely repossessed himself of his equanimity, as was manifested - by the doleful ejaculations, which he made from time to time, on the too - great probability, or even certainty, of their missing the flood-tide. By - degrees, however, his wrath subsided; he wiped his brows, relaxed his - frown, and, undoing the parcel in his hand, produced his folio, on which - he gazed from time to time with the knowing look of an amateur, admiring - its height and condition, and ascertaining, by a minute and individual - inspection of each leaf, that the volume was uninjured and entire from - title-page to colophon. His fellow-traveller took the liberty of - inquiring the subject of his studies. He lifted up his eyes with - something of a sarcastic glance, as if he supposed the young querist - would not relish, or perhaps understand, his answer, and pronounced the - book to be Sandy Gordon's <i>Itinerarium Septentrionale,</i>* a book - illustrative of the Roman remains in Scotland. -</p> -<p> - * Note B. Sandy Gordon's <i>Itinerarium.</i> -</p> -<p> - The querist, unappalled by this learned title, proceeded to put several - questions, which indicated that he had made good use of a good education, - and, although not possessed of minute information on the subject of - antiquities, had yet acquaintance enough with the classics to render him - an interested and intelligent auditor when they were enlarged upon. The - elder traveller, observing with pleasure the capacity of his temporary - companion to understand and answer him, plunged, nothing loath, into a - sea of discussion concerning urns, vases, votive, altars, Roman camps, - and the rules of castrametation. -</p> -<p> - The pleasure of this discourse had such a dulcifying tendency, that, - although two causes of delay occurred, each of much more serious duration - than that which had drawn down his wrath upon the unlucky Mrs. - Macleuchar, our =Antiquary= only bestowed on the delay the honour of a - few episodical poohs and pshaws, which rather seemed to regard the - interruption of his disquisition than the retardation of his journey. -</p> -<p> - The first of these stops was occasioned by the breaking of a spring, - which half an hour's labour hardly repaired. To the second, the Antiquary - was himself accessory, if not the principal cause of it; for, observing - that one of the horses had cast a fore-foot shoe, he apprized the - coachman of this important deficiency. "It's Jamie Martingale that - furnishes the naigs on contract, and uphauds them," answered John, "and I - am not entitled to make any stop, or to suffer prejudice by the like of - these accidents." -</p> -<p> - "And when you go to—I mean to the place you deserve to go to, you - scoundrel,—who do you think will uphold <i>you</i> on contract? If you don't - stop directly and carry the poor brute, to the next smithy, I'll have you - punished, if there's a justice of peace in Mid-Lothian;" and, opening the - coach-door, out he jumped, while the coachman obeyed his orders, - muttering, that "if the gentlemen lost the tide now, they could not say - but it was their ain fault, since he was willing to get on." -</p> -<p> - I like so little to analyze the complication of the causes which - influence actions, that I will not venture to ascertain whether our - Antiquary's humanity to the poor horse was not in some degree aided by - his desire of showing his companion a Pict's camp, or Round-about, a - subject which he had been elaborately discussing, and of which a - specimen, "very curious and perfect indeed," happened to exist about a - hundred yards distant from the spot where this interruption took place. - But were I compelled to decompose the motives of my worthy friend (for - such was the gentleman in the sober suit, with powdered wig and slouched - hat), I should say, that, although he certainly would not in any case - have suffered the coachman to proceed while the horse was unfit for - service, and likely to suffer by being urged forward, yet the man of - whipcord escaped some severe abuse and reproach by the agreeable mode - which the traveller found out to pass the interval of delay. -</p> -<p> - So much time was consumed by these interruptions of their journey, that - when they descended the hill above the Hawes (for so the inn on the - southern side of the Queensferry is denominated), the experienced eye of - the Antiquary at once discerned, from the extent of wet sand, and the - number of black stones and rocks, covered with sea-weed, which were - visible along the skirts of the shore, that the hour of tide was past. - The young traveller expected a burst of indignation; but whether, as - Croaker says in "The Good-natured Man," our hero had exhausted himself in - fretting away his misfortunes beforehand, so that he did not feel them - when they actually arrived, or whether he found the company in which he - was placed too congenial to lead him to repine at anything which delayed - his journey, it is certain that he submitted to his lot with much - resignation. -</p> -<p> - "The d—l's in the diligence and the old hag, it belongs to!—Diligence, - quoth I? Thou shouldst have called it the Sloth—Fly, quoth she? why, it - moves like a fly through a glue-pot, as the Irishman says. But, however, - time and tide tarry for no man, and so, my young friend, we'll have a - snack here at the Hawes, which is a very decent sort of a place, and I'll - be very happy to finish the account I was giving you of the difference - between the mode of entrenching <i>castra stativa</i> and <i>castra aestiva,</i> - things confounded by too many of our historians. Lack-a-day, if they had - ta'en the pains to satisfy their own eyes, instead of following each - other's blind guidance!—Well! we shall be pretty comfortable at the - Hawes; and besides, after all, we must have dined somewhere, and it will - be pleasanter sailing with the tide of ebb and the evening breeze." -</p> -<p> - In this Christian temper of making the best of all occurrences, our - travellers alighted at the Hawes. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER SECOND. -</h2> -<pre> - Sir, they do scandal me upon the road here! - A poor quotidian rack of mutton roasted - Dry to be grated! and that driven down - With beer and butter-milk, mingled together. - It is against my freehold, my inheritance. - Wine is the word that glads the heart of man, - And mine's the house of wine. <i>Sack,</i> says my bush, - <i>Be merry and drink Sherry,</i> that's my posie. - Ben Jonson's <i>New Inn.</i> -</pre> -<p> - As the senior traveller descended the crazy steps of the diligence at the - inn, he was greeted by the fat, gouty, pursy landlord, with that mixture - of familiarity and respect which the Scotch innkeepers of the old school - used to assume towards their more valued customers. -</p> -<p> - "Have a care o' us, Monkbarns (distinguishing him by his territorial - epithet, always most agreeable to the ear of a Scottish proprietor), is - this you? I little thought to have seen your honour here till the summer - session was ower." -</p> -<p> - "Ye donnard auld deevil," answered his guest, his Scottish accent - predominating when in anger though otherwise not particularly - remarkable,—"ye donnard auld crippled idiot, what have I to do with the - session, or the geese that flock to it, or the hawks that pick their - pinions for them?" -</p> -<p> - "Troth, and that's true," said mine host, who, in fact, only spoke upon a - very general recollection of the stranger's original education, yet would - have been sorry not to have been supposed accurate as to the station and - profession of him, or any other occasional guest—"That's very true,—but - I thought ye had some law affair of your ain to look after—I have ane - mysell—a ganging plea that my father left me, and his father afore left - to him. It's about our back-yard—ye'll maybe hae heard of it in the - Parliament-house, Hutchison against Mackitchinson—it's a weel-kenn'd - plea—its been four times in afore the fifteen, and deil ony thing the - wisest o' them could make o't, but just to send it out again to the - outer-house.—O it's a beautiful thing to see how lang and how carefully - justice is considered in this country!" -</p> -<p> - "Hold your tongue, you fool," said the traveller, but in great - good-humour, "and tell us what you can give this young gentleman and me - for dinner." -</p> -<p> - "Ou, there's fish, nae doubt,—that's sea-trout and caller haddocks," - said Mackitchinson, twisting his napkin; "and ye'll be for a mutton-chop, - and there's cranberry tarts, very weel preserved, and—and there's just - ony thing else ye like." -</p> -<p> - "Which is to say, there is nothing else whatever? Well, well, the fish - and the chop, and the tarts, will do very well. But don't imitate the - cautious delay that you praise in the courts of justice. Let there be no - remits from the inner to the outer house, hear ye me?" -</p> -<p> - "Na, na," said Mackitchinson, whose long and heedful perusal of volumes - of printed session papers had made him acquainted with some law - phrases—"the denner shall be served <i>quam primum</i> and that <i>peremptorie.</i>" And - with the flattering laugh of a promising host, he left them in his sanded - parlour, hung with prints of the Four Seasons. -</p> -<p> - As, notwithstanding his pledge to the contrary, the glorious delays of - the law were not without their parallel in the kitchen of the inn, our - younger traveller had an opportunity to step out and make some inquiry of - the people of the house concerning the rank and station of his companion. - The information which he received was of a general and less authentic - nature, but quite sufficient to make him acquainted with the name, - history, and circumstances of the gentleman, whom we shall endeavour, in - a few words, to introduce more accurately to our readers. -</p> -<p> - Jonathan Oldenbuck, or Oldinbuck, by popular contraction Oldbuck, of - Monkbarns, was the second son of a gentleman possessed of a small - property in the neighbourhood of a thriving seaport town on the - north-eastern coast of Scotland, which, for various reasons, we shall - denominate Fairport. They had been established for several generations, - as landholders in the county, and in most shires of England would have - been accounted a family of some standing. But the shire of——was filled - with gentlemen of more ancient descent and larger fortune. In the last - generation, also, the neighbouring gentry had been almost uniformly - Jacobites, while the proprietors of Monkbarns, like the burghers of the - town near which they were settled, were steady assertors of the - Protestant succession. The latter had, however, a pedigree of their own, - on which they prided themselves as much as those who despised them valued - their respective Saxon, Norman, or Celtic genealogies. The first - Oldenbuck, who had settled in their family mansion shortly after the - Reformation, was, they asserted, descended from one of the original - printers of Germany, and had left his country in consequence of the - persecutions directed against the professors of the Reformed religion. He - had found a refuge in the town near which his posterity dwelt, the more - readily that he was a sufferer in the Protestant cause, and certainly not - the less so, that he brought with him money enough to purchase the small - estate of Monkbarns, then sold by a dissipated laird, to whose father it - had been gifted, with other church lands, on the dissolution of the great - and wealthy monastery to which it had belonged. The Oldenbucks were - therefore, loyal subjects on all occasions of insurrection; and, as they - kept up a good intelligence with the borough, it chanced that the Laird - of Monkbarns, who flourished in 1745, was provost of the town during that - ill-fated year, and had exerted himself with much spirit in favour of - King George, and even been put to expenses on that score, which, - according to the liberal conduct of the existing government towards their - friends, had never been repaid him. By dint of solicitation, however, and - borough interest, he contrived to gain a place in the customs, and, being - a frugal, careful man, had found himself enabled to add considerably to - his paternal fortune. He had only two sons, of whom, as we have hinted, - the present laird was the younger, and two daughters, one of whom still - flourished in single blessedness, and the other, who was greatly more - juvenile, made a love-match with a captain in the <i>Forty-twa,</i> who had no - other fortune but his commission and a Highland pedigree. Poverty - disturbed a union which love would otherwise have made happy, and Captain - M'Intyre, in justice to his wife and two children, a boy and girl, had - found himself obliged to seek his fortune in the East Indies. Being - ordered upon an expedition against Hyder Ally, the detachment to which he - belonged was cut off, and no news ever reached his unfortunate wife, - whether he fell in battle, or was murdered in prison, or survived in what - the habits of the Indian tyrant rendered a hopeless captivity. She sunk - under the accumulated load of grief and uncertainty, and left a son and - daughter to the charge of her brother, the existing Laird of Monkbarns. -</p> -<p> - The history of that proprietor himself is soon told. Being, as we have - said, a second son, his father destined him to a share in a substantial - mercantile concern, carried on by some of his maternal relations. From - this Jonathan's mind revolted in the most irreconcilable manner. He was - then put apprentice to the profession of a writer, or attorney, in which - he profited so far, that he made himself master of the whole forms of - feudal investitures, and showed such pleasure in reconciling their - incongruities, and tracing their origin, that his master had great hope - he would one day be an able conveyancer. But he halted upon the - threshold, and, though he acquired some knowledge of the origin and - system of the law of his country, he could never be persuaded to apply it - to lucrative and practical purposes. It was not from any inconsiderate - neglect of the advantages attending the possession of money that he thus - deceived the hopes of his master. "Were he thoughtless or light-headed, or - <i>rei suae prodigus,</i>" said his instructor, "I would know what to make of - him. But he never pays away a shilling without looking anxiously after - the change, makes his sixpence go farther than another lad's half-crown, - and wilt ponder over an old black-letter copy of the acts of parliament - for days, rather than go to the golf or the change-house; and yet he will - not bestow one of these days on a little business of routine, that would - put twenty shillings in his pocket—a strange mixture of frugality and - industry, and negligent indolence—I don't know what to make of him." -</p> -<p> - But in process of time his pupil gained the means of making what he - pleased of himself; for his father having died, was not long survived by - his eldest son, an arrant fisher and fowler, who departed this life, in - consequence of a cold caught in his vocation, while shooting ducks in the - swamp called Kittlefittingmoss, notwithstanding his having drunk a bottle - of brandy that very night to keep the cold out of his stomach. Jonathan, - therefore, succeeded to the estate, and with it to the means of - subsisting without the hated drudgery of the law. His wishes were very - moderate; and as the rent of his small property rose with the improvement - of the country, it soon greatly exceeded his wants and expenditure; and - though too indolent to make money, he was by no means insensible to the - pleasure of beholding it accumulate. The burghers of the town near which - he lived regarded him with a sort of envy, as one who affected to divide - himself from their rank in society, and whose studies and pleasures - seemed to them alike incomprehensible. Still, however, a sort of - hereditary respect for the Laird of Monkbarns, augmented by the knowledge - of his being a ready-money man, kept up his consequence with this class - of his neighbours. The country gentlemen were generally above him in - fortune, and beneath him in intellect, and, excepting one with whom he - lived in habits of intimacy, had little intercourse with Mr. Oldbuck of - Monkbarns. He, had, however, the usual resources, the company of the - clergyman, and of the doctor, when he chose to request it, and also his - own pursuits and pleasures, being in correspondence with most of the - virtuosi of his time, who, like himself, measured decayed entrenchments, - made plans of ruined castles, read illegible inscriptions, and wrote - essays on medals in the proportion of twelve pages to each letter of the - legend. Some habits of hasty irritation he had contracted, partly, it was - said in the borough of Fairport, from an early disappointment in love in - virtue of which he had commenced misogynist, as he called it, but yet - more by the obsequious attention paid to him by his maiden sister and his - orphan niece, whom he had trained to consider him as the greatest man - upon earth, and whom he used to boast of as the only women he had ever - seen who were well broke in and bitted to obedience; though, it must be - owned, Miss Grizzy Oldbuck was sometimes apt to <i>jibb</i> when he pulled the - reins too tight. The rest of his character must be gathered from the - story, and we dismiss with pleasure the tiresome task of recapitulation. -</p> -<p> - During the time of dinner, Mr. Oldbuck, actuated by the same curiosity - which his fellow-traveller had entertained on his account, made some - advances, which his age and station entitled him to do in a more direct - manner, towards ascertaining the name, destination, and quality of his - young companion. -</p> -<p> - His name, the young gentleman said, was Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "What! the cat, the rat, and Lovel our dog? Was he descended from King - Richard's favourite?" -</p> -<p> - "He had no pretensions," he said, "to call himself a whelp of that - litter; his father was a north-of-England gentleman. He was at present - travelling to Fairport (the town near to which Monkbarns was situated), - and, if he found the place agreeable, might perhaps remain there for some - weeks." -</p> -<p> - "Was Mr. Lovel's excursion solely for pleasure?" -</p> -<p> - "Not entirely." -</p> -<p> - "Perhaps on business with some of the commercial people of Fairport?" -</p> -<p> - "It was partly on business, but had no reference to commerce." -</p> -<p> - Here he paused; and Mr. Oldbuck, having pushed his inquiries as far as - good manners permitted, was obliged to change the conversation. The - Antiquary, though by no means an enemy to good cheer, was a determined - foe to all unnecessary expense on a journey; and upon his companion - giving a hint concerning a bottle of port wine, he drew a direful picture - of the mixture, which, he said, was usually sold under that denomination, - and affirming that a little punch was more genuine and better suited for - the season, he laid his hand upon the bell to order the materials. But - Mackitchinson had, in his own mind, settled their beverage otherwise, and - appeared bearing in his hand an immense double quart bottle, or magnum, - as it is called in Scotland, covered with saw-dust and cobwebs, the - warrants of its antiquity. -</p> -<p> - "Punch!" said he, catching that generous sound as he entered the parlour, - "the deil a drap punch ye'se get here the day, Monkbarns, and that ye may - lay your account wi'." -</p> -<p> - "What do you mean, you impudent rascal?" -</p> -<p> - "Ay, ay, it's nae matter for that—but do you mind the trick ye served me - the last time ye were here!" -</p> -<p> - "I trick you!" -</p> -<p> - "Ay, just yoursell, Monkbarns. The Laird o' Tamlowrie and Sir Gilbert - Grizzlecleuch, and Auld Rossballoh, and the Bailie, were just setting in - to make an afternoon o't, and you, wi' some o' your auld-warld stories, - that the mind o' man canna resist, whirl'd them to the back o' beyont to - look at the auld Roman camp—Ah, sir!" turning to Lovel, "he wad wile the - bird aff the tree wi' the tales he tells about folk lang syne—and did - not I lose the drinking o' sax pints o' gude claret, for the deil ane wad - hae stirred till he had seen that out at the least?" -</p> -<p> - "D'ye hear the impudent scoundrel!" said Monkbarns, but laughing at the - same time; for the worthy landlord, as he used to boast, know the measure - of a guest's foot as well as e'er a souter on this side Solway; "well, - well, you may send us in a bottle of port." -</p> -<p> - "Port! na, na! ye maun leave port and punch to the like o' us, it's - claret that's fit for you lairds; and, I dare say, nane of the folk ye - speak so much o' ever drank either of the twa." -</p> -<p> - "Do you hear how absolute the knave is? Well, my young friend, we must - for once prefer the <i>Falernian</i> to the <i>vile Sabinum.</i>" -</p> -<p> - The ready landlord had the cork instantly extracted, decanted the wine - into a vessel of suitable capaciousness, and, declaring it <i>parfumed</i> the - very room, left his guests to make the most of it. -</p> -<p> - Mackitchinson's wine was really good, and had its effect upon the spirits - of the elder guest, who told some good stories, cut some sly jokes, and - at length entered into a learned discussion concerning the ancient - dramatists; a ground on which he found his new acquaintance so strong, - that at length he began to suspect he had made them his professional - study. "A traveller partly for business and partly for pleasure?—why, - the stage partakes of both; it is a labour to the performers, and - affords, or is meant to afford, pleasure to the spectators. He seems, in - manner and rank, above the class of young men who take that turn; but I - remember hearing them say, that the little theatre at Fairport was to - open with the performance of a young gentleman, being his first - appearance on any stage.—If this should be thee, Lovel!—Lovel? yes, - Lovel or Belville are just the names which youngsters are apt to assume - on such occasions—on my life, I am sorry for the lad." -</p> -<p> - Mr. Oldbuck was habitually parsimonious, but in no respects mean; his - first thought was to save his fellow-traveller any part of the expense of - the entertainment, which he supposed must be in his situation more or - less inconvenient. He therefore took an opportunity of settling privately - with Mr. Mackitchinson. The young traveller remonstrated against his - liberality, and only acquiesced in deference to his years and - respectability. -</p> -<p> - The mutual satisfaction which they found in each other's society induced - Mr. Oldbuck to propose, and Lovel willingly to accept, a scheme for - travelling together to the end of their journey. Mr. Oldbuck intimated a - wish to pay two-thirds of the hire of a post-chaise, saying, that a - proportional quantity of room was necessary to his accommodation; but - this Mr. Lovel resolutely declined. Their expense then was mutual, unless - when Lovel occasionally slipt a shilling into the hand of a growling - postilion; for Oldbuck, tenacious of ancient customs, never extended his - guerdon beyond eighteen-pence a stage. In this manner they travelled, - until they arrived at Fairport* about two o'clock on the following day. -</p> -<p> - * [The "Fairport" of this novel is supposed to refer to the town of * - Arbroath, in Forfarshire, and "Musselcrag," <i>post,</i> to the fishing - village of * Auchmithie, in the same county.] -</p> -<p> - Lovel probably expected that his travelling companion would have invited - him to dinner on his arrival; but his consciousness of a want of ready - preparation for unexpected guests, and perhaps some other reasons, - prevented Oldbuck from paying him that attention. He only begged to see - him as early as he could make it convenient to call in a forenoon, - recommended him to a widow who had apartments to let, and to a person who - kept a decent ordinary; cautioning both of them apart, that he only knew - Mr. Lovel as a pleasant companion in a post-chaise, and did not mean to - guarantee any bills which he might contract while residing at Fairport. - The young gentleman's figure and manners; not to mention a well-furnished - trunk, which soon arrived by sea, to his address at Fairport, probably - went as far in his favour as the limited recommendation of his - fellow-traveller. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER THIRD. -</h2> -<pre> - He had a routh o' auld nick-nackets, - Rusty airn caps, and jinglin-jackets, - Would held the Loudons three in tackets, - A towmond gude; - And parritch-pats, and auld sayt-backets, - Afore the flude. - Burns. -</pre> -<p> - After he had settled himself in his new apartments at Fairport, Mr. Lovel - bethought him of paying the requested visit to his fellow-traveller. He - did not make it earlier, because, with all the old gentleman's - good-humour and information, there had sometimes glanced forth in his - language and manner towards him an air of superiority, which his - companion considered as being fully beyond what the difference of age - warranted. He therefore waited the arrival of his baggage from Edinburgh, - that he might arrange his dress according to the fashion of the day, and - make his exterior corresponding to the rank in society which he supposed - or felt himself entitled to hold. -</p> -<p> - It was the fifth day after his arrival, that, having made the necessary - inquiries concerning the road, he went forth to pay his respects at - Monkbarns. A footpath leading over a heathy hill, and through two or - three meadows, conducted him to this mansion, which stood on the opposite - side of the hill aforesaid, and commanded a fine prospect of the bay and - shipping. Secluded from the town by the rising ground, which also - screened it from the north-west wind, the house had a solitary, and - sheltered appearance. The exterior had little to recommend it. It was an - irregular old-fashioned building, some part of which had belonged to a - grange, or solitary farm-house, inhabited by the bailiff, or steward, of - the monastery, when the place was in possession of the monks. It was here - that the community stored up the grain, which they received as - ground-rent from their vassals; for, with the prudence belonging to their - order, all their conventional revenues were made payable in kind, and - hence, as the present proprietor loved to tell, came the name of - Monkbarns. To the remains of the bailiff's house, the succeeding lay - inhabitants had made various additions in proportion to the accommodation - required by their families; and, as this was done with an equal contempt - of convenience within and architectural regularity without, the whole - bore the appearance of a hamlet which had suddenly stood still when in - the act of leading down one of Amphion's, or Orpheus's, country dances. - It was surrounded by tall clipped hedges of yew and holly, some of which - still exhibited the skill of the <i>topiarian</i> artist,* and presented - curious arm-chairs, towers, and the figures of Saint George and the - Dragon. -</p> -<p> - * <i>Ars Topiaria,</i> the art of clipping yew-hedges into fantastic figures. - A Latin poem, entitled <i>Ars Topiaria,</i> contains a curious account of the - process. -</p> -<p> - The taste of Mr. Oldbuck did not disturb these monuments of an art now - unknown, and he was the less tempted so to do, as it must necessarily - have broken the heart of the old gardener. One tall embowering holly was, - however, sacred from the shears; and, on a garden seat beneath its shade, - Lovel beheld his old friend with spectacles on nose, and pouch on side, - busily employed in perusing the London Chronicle, soothed by the summer - breeze through the rustling leaves, and the distant dash of the waves as - they rippled upon the sand. -</p> -<p> - Mr. Oldbuck immediately rose, and advanced to greet his travelling - acquaintance with a hearty shake of the hand. "By my faith," said he, "I - began to think you had changed your mind, and found the stupid people of - Fairport so tiresome, that you judged them unworthy of your talents, and - had taken French leave, as my old friend and brother-antiquary Mac-Cribb - did, when he went off with one of my Syrian medals." -</p> -<p> - "I hope, my good sir, I should have fallen under no such imputation." -</p> -<p> - "Quite as bad, let me tell you, if you had stolen yourself away without - giving me the pleasure of seeing you again. I had rather you had taken my - copper Otho himself.—But come, let me show you the way into my <i>sanctum - sanctorum</i>—my cell I may call it, for, except two idle hussies of - womankind," (by this contemptuous phrase, borrowed from his - brother-antiquary, the cynic Anthony a-Wood, Mr. Oldbuck was used to - denote the fair sex in general, and his sister and niece in particular), - "that, on some idle pretext of relationship, have established themselves - in my premises, I live here as much a Coenobite as my predecessor, John - o' the Girnell, whose grave I will show you by and by." -</p> -<p> - Thus speaking the old gentleman led the way through a low door; but - before entrance, suddenly stopped short to point out some vestiges of - what he called an inscription, and, shaking his head as he pronounced it - totally illegible, "Ah! if you but knew, Mr. Lovel, the time and trouble - that these mouldering traces of letters have cost me! No mother ever - travailed so for a child—and all to no purpose—although I am almost - positive that these two last marks imply the figures, or letters, LV, and - may give us a good guess at the real date of the building, since we know, - <i>aliunde,</i> that it was founded by Abbot Waldimir about the middle of the - fourteenth century—and, I profess, I think that centre ornament might be - made out by better eyes than mine." -</p> -<p> - "I think," answered Lovel, willing to humour the old man, "it has - something the appearance of a mitre." -</p> -<p> - "I protest you are right! you are right! it never struck me before—see - what it is to have younger eyes—A mitre—a mitre—it corresponds in - every respect." -</p> -<p> - The resemblance was not much nearer than that of Polonius's cloud to a - whale, or an owzel; it was sufficient, however, to set the Antiquary's - brains to work. "A mitre, my dear sir," continued he, as he led the way - through a labyrinth of inconvenient and dark passages, and accompanied - his disquisition with certain necessary cautions to his guest—"A mitre, - my dear sir, will suit our abbot as well as a bishop—he was a mitred - abbot, and at the very top of the roll—take care of these three steps—I - know Mac-Cribb denies this, but it is as certain as that he took away my - Antigonus, no leave asked—you'll see the name of the Abbot of Trotcosey, - <i>Abbas Trottocosiensis,</i> at the head of the rolls of parliament in the - fourteenth and fifteenth centuries—there is very little light here, and - these cursed womankind always leave their tubs in the passage—now take, - care of the corner—ascend twelve steps, and ye are safe!" -</p> -<a name="image-0005"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/pa026.jpg" height="802" width="555" -alt="The Antiquary and Lovel--the Sanctum -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<p> - Mr. Oldbuck had by this time attained the top of the winding stair which - led to his own apartment, and opening a door, and pushing aside a piece - of tapestry with which it was covered, his first exclamation was, "What - are you about here, you sluts?" A dirty barefooted chambermaid threw down - her duster, detected in the heinous fact of arranging the <i>sanctum - sanctorum,</i> and fled out of an opposite door from the face of her - incensed master. A genteel-looking young woman, who was superintending - the operation, stood her ground, but with some timidity. -</p> -<p> - "Indeed, uncle, your room was not fit to be seen, and I just came to see - that Jenny laid everything down where she took it up." -</p> -<p> - "And how dare you, or Jenny either, presume to meddle with my private - matters?" (Mr. Oldbuck hated <i>puttting to rights</i> as much as Dr. - Orkborne, or any other professed student.) "Go, sew your sampler, you - monkey, and do not let me find you here again, as you value your ears.—I - assure you, Mr. Lovel, that the last inroad of these pretended friends to - cleanliness was almost as fatal to my collection as Hudibras's visit to - that of Sidrophel; and I have ever since missed -</p> -<pre> - My copperplate, with almanacks - Engraved upon't and other knacks - My moon-dial, with Napier's bones, - And several constellation Stones; - My flea, my morpeon, and punaise, - I purchased for my proper ease. -</pre> -<p> - And so forth, as old Butler has it." -</p> -<p> - The young lady, after courtesying to Lovel, had taken the opportunity to - make her escape during this enumeration of losses. "You'll be poisoned - here with the volumes of dust they have raised," continued the Antiquary; - "but I assure you the dust was very ancient, peaceful, quiet dust, about - an hour ago, and would have remained so for a hundred years, had not - these gipsies disturbed it, as they do everything else in the world." -</p> -<p> - It was indeed some time before Lovel could, through the thick atmosphere, - perceive in what sort of den his friend had constructed his retreat. It - was a lofty room of middling size, obscurely lighted by high narrow - latticed windows. One end was entirely occupied by book-shelves, greatly - too limited in space for the number of volumes placed upon them, which - were, therefore, drawn up in ranks of two or three files deep, while - numberless others littered the floor and the tables, amid a chaos of - maps, engraving, scraps of parchment, bundles of papers, pieces of old - armour, swords, dirks, helmets, and Highland targets. Behind Mr. - Oldbuck's seat (which was an ancient leathern-covered easy-chair, worn - smooth by constant use) was a huge oaken cabinet, decorated at each - corner with Dutch cherubs, having their little duck-wings displayed, and - great jolter-headed visages placed between them. The top of this cabinet - was covered with busts, and Roman lamps and paterae, intermingled with - one or two bronze figures. The walls of the apartment were partly clothed - with grim old tapestry, representing the memorable story of Sir Gawaine's - wedding, in which full justice was done to the ugliness of the Lothely - Lady; although, to judge from his own looks, the gentle knight had less - reason to be disgusted with the match on account of disparity of outward - favour, than the romancer has given us to understand. The rest of the - room was panelled, or wainscotted, with black oak, against which hung two - or three portraits in armour, being characters in Scottish history, - favourites of Mr. Oldbuck, and as many in tie-wigs and laced coats, - staring representatives of his own ancestors. A large old-fashioned oaken - table was covered with a profusion of papers, parchments, books, and - nondescript trinkets and gewgaws, which seemed to have little to - recommend them, besides rust and the antiquity which it indicates. In the - midst of this wreck of ancient books and utensils, with a gravity equal - to Marius among the ruins of Carthage, sat a large black cat, which, to a - superstitious eye, might have presented the <i>genius loci,</i> the tutelar - demon of the apartment. The floor, as well as the table and chairs, was - overflowed by the same <i>mare magnum</i> of miscellaneous trumpery, where it - would have been as impossible to find any individual article wanted, as - to put it to any use when discovered. -</p> -<p> - Amid this medley, it was no easy matter to find one's way to a chair, - without stumbling over a prostrate folio, or the still more awkward - mischance of overturning some piece of Roman or ancient British pottery. - And, when the chair was attained, it had to be disencumbered, with a - careful hand, of engravings which might have received damage, and of - antique spurs and buckles, which would certainly have occasioned it to - any sudden occupant. Of this the Antiquary made Lovel particularly aware, - adding, that his friend, the Rev. Doctor Heavysterne from the Low - Countries, had sustained much injury by sitting down suddenly and - incautiously on three ancient calthrops, or <i>craw-taes,</i> which had been - lately dug up in the bog near Bannockburn, and which, dispersed by Robert - Bruce to lacerate the feet of the English chargers, came thus in process - of time to endamage the sitting part of a learned professor of Utrecht. -</p> -<p> - Having at length fairly settled himself, and being nothing loath to make - inquiry concerning the strange objects around him, which his host was - equally ready, as far as possible, to explain, Lovel was introduced to a - large club, or bludgeon, with an iron spike at the end of it, which, it - seems, had been lately found in a field on the Monkbarns property, - adjacent to an old burying-ground. It had mightily the air of such a - stick as the Highland reapers use to walk with on their annual - peregrinations from their mountains; but Mr. Oldbuck was strongly tempted - to believe, that, as its shape was singular, it might have been one of - the clubs with which the monks armed their peasants in lieu of more - martial weapons,—whence, he observed, the villains were called - <i>Colve-carles,</i> or <i>Kolb-kerls,</i> that is, <i>Clavigeri,</i> or club-bearers. - For the truth of this custom, he quoted the chronicle of Antwerp and that - of St. Martin; against which authorities Lovel had nothing to oppose, - having never heard of them till that moment. -</p> -<p> - Mr. Oldbuck next exhibited thumb-screws, which had given the Covenanters - of former days the cramp in their joints, and a collar with the name of a - fellow convicted of theft, whose services, as the inscription bore, had - been adjudged to a neighbouring baron, in lieu of the modern Scottish - punishment, which, as Oldbuck said, sends such culprits to enrich England - by their labour, and themselves by their dexterity. Many and various were - the other curiosities which he showed;—but it was chiefly upon his books - that he prided himself, repeating, with a complacent air, as he led the - way to the crowded and dusty shelves, the verses of old Chaucer— -</p> -<pre> - For he would rather have, at his bed-head, - A twenty books, clothed in black or red, - Of Aristotle, or his philosophy, - Than robes rich, rebeck, or saltery. -</pre> -<p> - This pithy motto he delivered, shaking his head, and giving each guttural - the true Anglo-Saxon enunciation, which is now forgotten in the southern - parts of this realm. -</p> -<p> - The collection was indeed a curious one, and might well be envied by an - amateur. Yet it was not collected at the enormous prices of modern times, - which are sufficient to have appalled the most determined as well as - earliest bibliomaniac upon record, whom we take to have been none else - than the renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha, as, among other slight - indications of an infirm understanding, he is stated, by his veracious - historian, Cid Hamet Benengeli, to have exchanged fields and farms for - folios and quartos of chivalry. In this species of exploit, the good - knight-errant has been imitated by lords, knights, and squires of our own - day, though we have not yet heard of any that has mistaken an inn for a - castle, or laid his lance in rest against a windmill. Mr. Oldbuck did not - follow these collectors in such excess of expenditure; but, taking a - pleasure in the personal labour of forming his library, saved his purse - at the expense of his time and toil, He was no encourager of that - ingenious race of peripatetic middle-men, who, trafficking between the - obscure keeper of a stall and the eager amateur, make their profit at - once of the ignorance of the former, and the dear-bought skill and taste - of the latter. When such were mentioned in his hearing, he seldom failed - to point out how necessary it was to arrest the object of your curiosity - in its first transit, and to tell his favourite story of Snuffy Davie and - Caxton's Game at Chess.—"Davy Wilson," he said, "commonly called Snuffy - Davy, from his inveterate addiction to black rappee, was the very prince - of scouts for searching blind alleys, cellars, and stalls for rare - volumes. He had the scent of a slow-hound, sir, and the snap of a - bull-dog. He would detect you an old black-letter ballad among the leaves - of a law-paper, and find an <i>editio princeps</i> under the mask of a school - Corderius. Snuffy Davy bought the Game of Chess, 1474, the first book - ever printed in England, from a stall in Holland, for about two groschen, - or twopence of our money. He sold it to Osborne for twenty pounds, and as - many books as came to twenty pounds more. Osborne resold this inimitable - windfall to Dr. Askew for sixty guineas. At Dr. Askew's sale," continued - the old gentleman, kindling as he spoke, "this inestimable treasure - blazed forth in its full value, and was purchased by Royalty itself for - one hundred and seventy pounds!—Could a copy now occur, Lord only - knows," he ejaculated, with a deep sigh and lifted-up hands—"Lord only - knows what would be its ransom; and yet it was originally secured, by - skill and research, for the easy equivalent of two-pence sterling. * - Happy, thrice happy, Snuffy Davie!—and blessed were the times when thy - industry could be so rewarded! -</p> -<p> - * This bibliomaniacal anecdote is literally true; and David Wilson, the - author need not tell his brethren of the Roxburghe and Bannatyne Clubs, - was a real personage. -</p> -<p> - "Even I, sir," he went on, "though far inferior in industry and - discernment and presence of mind, to that great man, can show you a - few—a very few things, which I have collected, not by force of money, as any - wealthy man might,—although, as my friend Lucian says, he might chance - to throw away his coin only to illustrate his ignorance,—but gained in a - manner that shows I know something of the matter. See this bundle of - ballads, not one of them later than 1700, and some of them an hundred - years older. I wheedled an old woman out of these, who loved them better - than her psalm-book. Tobacco, sir, snuff, and the Complete Syren, were - the equivalent! For that, mutilated copy of the Complaynt of Scotland, I - sat out the drinking of two dozen bottles of strong ale with the late - learned proprietor, who, in gratitude, bequeathed it to me by his last - will. These little Elzevirs are the memoranda and trophies of many a walk - by night and morning through the Cowgate, the Canongate, the Bow, St. - Mary's Wynd,—wherever, in fine, there were to be found brokers and - trokers, those miscellaneous dealers in things rare and curious. How - often have I stood haggling on a halfpenny, lest, by a too ready - acquiescence in the dealer's first price, he should be led to suspect the - value I set upon the article!—how have I trembled, lest some passing - stranger should chop in between me and the prize, and regarded each poor - student of divinity that stopped to turn over the books at the stall, as - a rival amateur, or prowling bookseller in disguise!—And then, Mr. - Lovel, the sly satisfaction with which one pays the consideration, and - pockets the article, affecting a cold indifference, while the hand is - trembling with pleasure!—Then to dazzle the eyes of our wealthier and - emulous rivals by showing them such a treasure as this" (displaying a - little black smoked book about the size of a primer); "to enjoy their - surprise and envy, shrouding meanwhile, under a veil of mysterious - consciousness, our own superior knowledge and dexterity these, my young - friend, these are the white moments of life, that repay the toil, and - pains, and sedulous attention, which our profession, above all others, so - peculiarly demands!" -</p> -<p> - Lovel was not a little amused at hearing the old gentleman run on in this - manner, and, however incapable of entering into the full merits of what - he beheld, he admired, as much as could have been expected, the various - treasures which Oldbuck exhibited. Here were editions esteemed as being - the first, and there stood those scarcely less regarded as being the last - and best; here was a book valued because it had the author's final - improvements, and there another which (strange to tell!) was in request - because it had them not. One was precious because it was a folio, another - because it was a duodecimo; some because they were tall, some because - they were short; the merit of this lay in the title-page—of that in the - arrangement of the letters in the word Finis. There was, it seemed, no - peculiar distinction, however trifling or minute, which might not give - value to a volume, providing the indispensable quality of scarcity, or - rare occurrence, was attached to it. -</p> -<p> - Not the least fascinating was the original broadside,—the Dying Speech, - Bloody Murder, or Wonderful Wonder of Wonders,—in its primary tattered - guise, as it was hawked through the streets, and sold for the cheap and - easy price of one penny, though now worth the weight of that penny in - gold. On these the Antiquary dilated with transport, and read, with a - rapturous voice, the elaborate titles, which bore the same proportion to - the contents that the painted signs without a showman's booth do to the - animals within. Mr. Oldbuck, for example, piqued himself especially in - possessing an <i>unique</i> broadside, entitled and called "Strange and - Wonderful News from Chipping-Norton, in the County of Oxon, of certain - dreadful Apparitions which were seen in the Air on the 26th of July 1610, - at Half an Hour after Nine o'Clock at Noon, and continued till Eleven, in - which Time was seen Appearances of several flaming Swords, strange - Motions of the superior Orbs; with the unusual Sparkling of the Stars, - with their dreadful Continuations; With the Account of the Opening of the - Heavens, and strange Appearances therein disclosing themselves, with - several other prodigious Circumstances not heard of in any Age, to the - great Amazement of the Beholders, as it was communicated in a Letter to - one Mr. Colley, living in West Smithfield, and attested by Thomas Brown, - Elizabeth Greenaway, and Anne Gutheridge, who were Spectators of the - dreadful Apparitions: And if any one would be further satisfied of the - Truth of this Relation, let them repair to Mr. Nightingale's at the Bear - Inn, in West Smithfield, and they may be satisfied."* -</p> -<p> - * Of this thrice and four times rare broadside, the author possesses an - exemplar. -</p> -<p> - "You laugh at this," said the proprietor of the collection, "and I - forgive you. I do acknowledge that the charms on which we doat are not so - obvious to the eyes of youth as those of a fair lady; but you will grow - wiser, and see more justly, when you come to wear spectacles.—Yet stay, - I have one piece of antiquity, which you, perhaps, will prize more - highly." -</p> -<p> - So saying, Mr. Oldbuck unlocked a drawer, and took out a bundle of keys, - then pulled aside a piece of the tapestry which concealed the door of a - small closet, into which he descended by four stone steps, and, after - some tinkling among bottles and cans, produced two long-stalked - wine-glasses with bell mouths, such as are seen in Teniers' pieces, and a - small bottle of what he called rich racy canary, with a little bit of - diet cake, on a small silver server of exquisite old workmanship. "I will - say nothing of the server," he remarked, "though it is said to have been - wrought by the old mad Florentine, Benvenuto Cellini. But, Mr. Lovel, our - ancestors drank sack—you, who admire the drama, know where that's to be - found.—Here's success to your exertions at Fairport, sir!" -</p> -<p> - "And to you, sir, and an ample increase to your treasure, with no more - trouble on your part than is just necessary to make the acquisitions - valuable." -</p> -<p> - After a libation so suitable to the amusement in which they had been - engaged, Lovel rose to take his leave, and Mr. Oldbuck prepared to give - him his company a part of the way, and show him something worthy of his - curiosity on his return to Fairport. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER FOURTH. -</h2> -<pre> - The pawkie auld carle cam ower the lea, - Wi' mony good-e'ens and good-morrows to me, - Saying, Kind Sir, for your courtesy, - Will ye lodge a silly puir man? - The Gaberlunzie Man. -</pre> -<p> - Our two friends moved through a little orchard, where the aged - apple-trees, well loaded with fruit, showed, as is usual in the - neighbourhood of monastic buildings, that the days of the monks had not - always been spent in indolence, but often dedicated to horticulture and - gardening. Mr. Oldbuck failed not to make Lovel remark, that the planters - of those days were possessed of the modern secret of preventing the roots - of the fruit-trees from penetrating the till, and compelling them to - spread in a lateral direction, by placing paving-stones beneath the trees - when first planted, so as to interpose between their fibres and the - subsoil. "This old fellow," he said, "which was blown down last summer, - and still, though half reclined on the ground, is covered with fruit, has - been, as you may see, accommodated with such a barrier between his roots - and the unkindly till. That other tree has a story:—the fruit is called - the Abbot's Apple; the lady of a neighbouring baron was so fond of it, - that she would often pay a visit to Monkbarns, to have the pleasure of - gathering it from the tree. The husband, a jealous man, belike, suspected - that a taste so nearly resembling that of Mother Eve prognosticated a - similar fall. As the honour of a noble family is concerned, I will say no - more on the subject, only that the lands of Lochard and Cringlecut still - pay a fine of six bolls of barley annually, to atone the guilt of their - audacious owner, who intruded himself and his worldly suspicions upon the - seclusion of the Abbot and his penitent.—Admire the little belfry rising - above the ivy-mantled porch—there was here a <i>hospitium, hospitale,</i> or - <i>hospitamentum</i> (for it is written all these various ways in the old - writings and evidents), in which the monks received pilgrims. I know our - minister has said, in the Statistical Account, that the <i>hospitium</i> was - situated either in the lands of Haltweary or upon those of Half-starvet; - but he is incorrect, Mr. Lovel—that is the gate called still the - Palmer's Port, and my gardener found many hewn stones, when he was - trenching the ground for winter celery, several of which I have sent as - specimens to my learned friends, and to the various antiquarian societies - of which I am an unworthy member. But I will say no more at present; I - reserve something for another visit, and we have an object of real - curiosity before us." -</p> -<p> - While he was thus speaking, he led the way briskly through one or two - rich pasture-meadows, to an open heath or common, and so to the top of a - gentle eminence. "Here," he said, "Mr. Lovel, is a truly remarkable - spot." -</p> -<p> - "It commands a fine view," said his companion, looking around him. -</p> -<p> - "True: but it is not for the prospect I brought you hither; do you see - nothing else remarkable?—nothing on the surface of the ground?" -</p> -<p> - "Why, yes; I do see something like a ditch, indistinctly marked." -</p> -<p> - "Indistinctly!—pardon me, sir, but the indistinctness must be in your - powers of vision. Nothing can be more plainly traced—a proper <i>agger</i> or - <i>vallum,</i> with its corresponding ditch or <i>fossa.</i> Indistinctly! why, - Heaven help you, the lassie, my niece, as light-headed a goose as - womankind affords, saw the traces of the ditch at once. Indistinct!—why, - the great station at Ardoch, or that at Burnswark in Annandale, may be - clearer, doubtless, because they are stative forts, whereas this was only - an occasional encampment. Indistinct!—why, you must suppose that fools, - boors, and idiots, have ploughed up the land, and, like beasts and - ignorant savages, have thereby obliterated two sides of the square, and - greatly injured the third; but you see, yourself, the fourth side is - quite entire!" -</p> -<p> - Lovel endeavoured to apologize, and to explain away his ill-timed phrase, - and pleaded his inexperience. But he was not at once quite successful. - His first expression had come too frankly and naturally not to alarm the - Antiquary, and he could not easily get over the shock it had given him. -</p> -<p> - "My dear sir," continued the senior, "your eyes are not inexperienced: - you know a ditch from level ground, I presume, when you see them? - Indistinct! why, the very common people, the very least boy that can herd - a cow, calls it the Kaim of Kinprunes; and if that does not imply an - ancient camp, I am ignorant what does." -</p> -<p> - Lovel having again acquiesced, and at length lulled to sleep the - irritated and suspicious vanity of the Antiquary, he proceeded in his - task of cicerone. "You must know," he said, "our Scottish antiquaries - have been greatly divided about the local situation of the final conflict - between Agricola and the Caledonians; some contend for Ardoch in - Strathallan, some for Innerpeffry, some for the Raedykes in the Mearns, - and some are for carrying the scene of action as far north as Blair in - Athole. Now, after all this discussion," continued the old gentleman, - with one of his slyest and most complacent looks, "what would you think, - Mr. Lovel,—I say, what would you think,—if the memorable scene of - conflict should happen to be on the very spot called the Kaim of - Kinprunes, the property of the obscure and humble individual who now - speaks to you?" Then, having paused a little, to suffer his guest to - digest a communication so important, he resumed his disquisition in a - higher tone. "Yes, my good friend, I am indeed greatly deceived if this - place does not correspond with all the marks of that celebrated place of - action. It was near to the Grampian mountains—lo! yonder they are, - mixing and contending with the sky on the skirts of the horizon! It was - <i>in conspectu classis</i>—in sight of the Roman fleet; and would any - admiral, Roman or British, wish a fairer bay to ride in than that on your - right hand? It is astonishing how blind we professed antiquaries - sometimes are! Sir Robert Sibbald, Saunders Gordon, General Roy, Dr. - Stokely,—why, it escaped all of them. I was unwilling to say a word - about it till I had secured the ground, for it belonged to auld Johnnie - Howie, a bonnet-laird* hard by, and many a communing we had before he and - I could agree. -</p> -<p> - * A bonnet-laird signifies a petty proprietor, wearing the dress, along - with the habits of a yeoman. -</p> -<p> - At length—I am almost ashamed to say it—but I even brought my mind to - give acre for acre of my good corn-land for this barren spot. But then it - was a national concern; and when the scene of so celebrated an event - became my own, I was overpaid.—Whose patriotism would not grow warmer, - as old Johnson says, on the plains of Marathon? I began to trench the - ground, to see what might be discovered; and the third day, sir, we found - a stone, which I have transported to Monkbarns, in order to have the - sculpture taken off with plaster of Paris; it bears a sacrificing vessel, - and the letters A. D. L. L. which may stand, without much violence, for - <i>Agricola Dicavit Libens Lubens.</i>" -</p> -<p> - "Certainly, sir; for the Dutch Antiquaries claim Caligula as the founder - of a light-house, on the sole authority of the letters C. C. P. F., which - they interpret <i>Caius Caligula Pharum Fecit.</i>" -</p> -<p> - "True, and it has ever been recorded as a sound exposition. I see we - shall make something of you even before you wear spectacles, - notwithstanding you thought the traces of this beautiful camp indistinct - when you first observed them." -</p> -<p> - "In time, sir, and by good instruction"— -</p> -<p> - "—You will become more apt—I doubt it not. You shall peruse, upon your - next visit to Monkbarns, my trivial Essay upon Castrametation, with some - particular Remarks upon the Vestiges of Ancient Fortifications lately - discovered by the Author at the Kaim of Kinprunes. I think I have pointed - out the infallible touchstone of supposed antiquity. I premise a few - general rules on that point, on the nature, namely, of the evidence to be - received in such cases. Meanwhile be pleased to observe, for example, - that I could press into my service Claudian's famous line, -</p> -<pre> - Ille Caledoniis posuit qui castra pruinis. -</pre> -<p> - For <i>pruinis,</i> though interpreted to mean <i>hoar frosts,</i> to which I own - we are somewhat subject in this north-eastern sea-coast, may also signify - a locality, namely, <i>Prunes;</i> the <i>Castra Pruinis posita</i> would therefore - be the Kaim of Kinprunes. But I waive this, for I am sensible it might be - laid hold of by cavillers as carrying down my Castra to the time of - Theodosius, sent by Valentinian into Britain as late as the year 367, or - thereabout. No, my good friend, I appeal to people's eye-sight. Is not - here the Decuman gate? and there, but for the ravage of the horrid - plough, as a learned friend calls it, would be the Praetorian gate. On - the left hand you may see some slight vestiges of the <i>porta sinistra,</i> - and on the right, one side of the <i>porta dextra</i> wellnigh entire. Here, - then, let us take our stand, on this tumulus, exhibiting the foundation - of ruined buildings,—the central point—the <i>praetorium,</i> doubtless, of - the camp. From this place, now scarce to be distinguished but by its - slight elevation and its greener turf from the rest of the fortification, - we may suppose Agricola to have looked forth on the immense army of - Caledonians, occupying the declivities of yon opposite hill,—the - infantry rising rank over rank, as the form of ground displayed their - array to its utmost advantage,—the cavalry and <i>covinarii,</i> by which I - understand the charioteers—another guise of folks from your Bond-street - four-in-hand men, I trow—scouring the more level space below— -</p> -<pre> - —See, then, Lovel—See— - See that huge battle moving from the mountains! - Their gilt coats shine like dragon scales;—their march - Like a rough tumbling storm.—See them, and view them, - And then see Rome no more!— -</pre> -<p> - Yes, my dear friend, from this stance it is probable—nay, it is nearly - certain, that Julius Agricola beheld what our Beaumont has so admirably - described!—From this very Praetorium"— -</p> -<p> - A voice from behind interrupted his ecstatic description—"Praetorian - here, Praetorian there, I mind the bigging o't." -</p> -<p> - Both at once turned round, Lovel with surprise, and Oldbuck with mingled - surprise and indignation, at so uncivil an interruption. An auditor had - stolen upon them, unseen and unheard, amid the energy of the Antiquary's - enthusiastic declamation, and the attentive civility of Lovel. He had the - exterior appearance of a mendicant. A slouched hat of huge dimensions; a - long white beard which mingled with his grizzled hair; an aged but - strongly marked and expressive countenance, hardened, by climate and - exposure, to a right brick-dust complexion; a long blue gown, with a - pewter badge on the right arm; two or three wallets, or bags, slung - across his shoulder, for holding the different kinds of meal, when he - received his charity in kind from those who were but a degree richer than - himself:—all these marked at once a beggar by profession, and one of - that privileged class which are called in Scotland the King's Bedesmen, - or, vulgarly, Blue-Gowns. -</p> -<p> - "What is that you say, Edie?" said Oldbuck, hoping, perhaps, that his - ears had betrayed their duty—"what were you speaking about!" -</p> -<p> - "About this bit bourock, your honour," answered the undaunted Edie; "I - mind the bigging o't." -</p> -<p> - "The devil you do! Why, you old fool, it was here before you were born, - and will be after you are hanged, man!" -</p> -<p> - "Hanged or drowned, here or awa, dead or alive, I mind the bigging o't." -</p> -<p> - "You—you—you—," said the Antiquary, stammering between confusion and - anger, "you strolling old vagabond, what the devil do you know about it?" -</p> -<p> - "Ou, I ken this about it, Monkbarns—and what profit have I for telling - ye a lie?—l just ken this about it, that about twenty years syne, I, and - a wheen hallenshakers like mysell, and the mason-lads that built the lang - dike that gaes down the loaning, and twa or three herds maybe, just set - to wark, and built this bit thing here that ye ca' the—the—Praetorian, - and a' just for a bield at auld Aiken Drum's bridal, and a bit blithe - gae-down wi' had in't, some sair rainy weather. Mair by token, Monkbarns, - if ye howk up the bourock, as ye seem to have began, yell find, if ye hae - not fund it already, a stane that ane o' the mason-callants cut a ladle - on to have a bourd at the bridegroom, and he put four letters on't, - that's A. D. L. L.—Aiken Drum's Lang Ladle—for Aiken was ane o' the - kale-suppers o' Fife." -</p> -<p> - "This," thought Lovel to himself, "is a famous counterpart to the story - of <i>Keip on this syde.</i>" He then ventured to steal a glance at our - Antiquary, but quickly withdrew it in sheer compassion. For, gentle - reader, if thou hast ever beheld the visage of a damsel of sixteen, whose - romance of true love has been blown up by an untimely discovery, or of a - child of ten years, whose castle of cards has been blown down by a - malicious companion, I can safely aver to you, that Jonathan Oldbuck of - Monkbarns looked neither more wise nor less disconcerted. -</p> -<p> - "There is some mistake about this," he said, abruptly turning away from - the mendicant. -</p> -<p> - "Deil a bit on my side o' the wa'," answered the sturdy beggar; "I never - deal in mistakes, they aye bring mischances.—Now, Monkbarns, that young - gentleman, that's wi' your honour, thinks little of a carle like me; and - yet, I'll wager I'll tell him whar he was yestreen at the gloamin, only - he maybe wadna like to hae't spoken o' in company." -</p> -<p> - Lovel's soul rushed to his cheeks, with the vivid blush of - two-and-twenty. -</p> -<p> - "Never mind the old rogue," said Mr. Oldbuck; "don't suppose I think the - worse of you for your profession; they are only prejudiced fools and - coxcombs that do so. You remember what old Tully says in his oration, - <i>pro Archia poeta,</i> concerning one of your confraternity—<i>quis nostrum - tam anino agresti ac duro fuit—ut—ut</i>—I forget the Latin—the meaning - is, which of us was so rude and barbarous as to remain unmoved at the - death of the great Roscius, whose advanced age was so far from preparing - us for his death, that we rather hoped one so graceful, so excellent in - his art, ought to be exempted from the common lot of mortality? So the - Prince of Orators spoke of the stage and its professor." -</p> -<p> - The words of the old man fell upon Lovel's ears, but without conveying - any precise idea to his mind, which was then occupied in thinking by what - means the old beggar, who still continued to regard him with a - countenance provokingly sly and intelligent, had contrived to thrust - himself into any knowledge of his affairs. He put his hand in his pocket - as the readiest mode of intimating his desire of secrecy, and securing - the concurrence of the person whom he addressed; and while he bestowed on - him an alms, the amount of which rather bore proportion to his fears than - to his charity, looked at him with a marked expression, which the - mendicant, a physiognomist by profession, seemed perfectly to - understand.—"Never mind me, sir—I am no tale-pyet; but there are mair - een in the warld than mine," answered he as he pocketed Lovel's bounty, - but in a tone to be heard by him alone, and with an expression which - amply filled up what was left unspoken. Then turning to Oldbuck—"I am - awa' to the manse, your honour. Has your honour ony word there, or to Sir - Arthur, for I'll come in by Knockwinnock Castle again e'en?" -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck started as from a dream; and, in a hurried tone, where vexation - strove with a wish to conceal it, paying, at the same time, a tribute to - Edie's smooth, greasy, unlined hat, he said, "Go down, go down to - Monkbarns—let them give you some dinner—Or stay; if you do go to the - manse, or to Knockwinnock, ye need say nothing about that foolish story - of yours." -</p> -<p> - "Who, I?" said the mendicant—"Lord bless your honour, naebody sall ken a - word about it frae me, mair than if the bit bourock had been there since - Noah's flood. But, Lord, they tell me your honour has gien Johnnie Howie - acre for acre of the laigh crofts for this heathery knowe! Now, if he has - really imposed the bourock on ye for an ancient wark, it's my real - opinion the bargain will never haud gude, if you would just bring down - your heart to try it at the law, and say that he beguiled ye." -</p> -<p> - "Provoking scoundrel!" muttered the indignant Antiquary between his - teeths—"I'll have the hangman's lash and his back acquainted for this." - And then, in a louder tone,—"Never mind, Edie—it is all a mistake." -</p> -<p> - "Troth, I am thinking sae," continued his tormentor, who seemed to have - pleasure in rubbing the galled wound, "troth, I aye thought sae; and it's - no sae lang since I said to Luckie Gemmers, Never think you, luckie' said - I, that his honour Monkbarns would hae done sic a daft-like thing as to - gie grund weel worth fifty shillings an acre, for a mailing that would be - dear o'a pund Scots. Na, na,' quo' I, depend upon't the lard's been - imposed upon wi that wily do-little deevil, Johnnie Howie.' But Lord haud - a care o' us, sirs, how can that be,' quo' she again, when the laird's - sae book-learned, there's no the like o' him in the country side, and - Johnnie Howie has hardly sense eneugh to ca' the cows out o' his - kale-yard?' Aweel, aweel,' quo' I, but ye'll hear he's circumvented him - with some of his auld-warld stories,'—for ye ken, laird, yon other time - about the bodle that ye thought was an auld coin"— -</p> -<p> - "Go to the devil!" said Oldbuck; and then in a more mild tone, as one - that was conscious his reputation lay at the mercy of his antagonist, he - added—"Away with you down to Monkbarns, and when I come back, I'll send - ye a bottle of ale to the kitchen." -</p> -<p> - "Heaven reward your honour!" This was uttered with the true mendicant - whine, as, setting his pike-staff before him, he began to move in the - direction of Monkbarns.—"But did your honour," turning round, "ever get - back the siller ye gae to the travelling packman for the bodle?" -</p> -<p> - "Curse thee, go about thy business!" -</p> -<p> - "Aweel, aweel, sir, God bless your honour! I hope ye'll ding Johnnie - Howie yet, and that I'll live to see it." And so saying, the old beggar - moved off, relieving Mr. Oldbuck of recollections which were anything - rather than agreeable. -</p> -<p> - "Who is this familiar old gentleman?" said Lovel, when the mendicant was - out of hearing. -</p> -<p> - "O, one of the plagues of the country—I have been always against - poor's-rates and a work-house—I think I'll vote for them now, to have - that scoundrel shut up. O, your old-remembered guest of a beggar becomes - as well acquainted with you as he is with his dish—as intimate as one of - the beasts familiar to man which signify love, and with which his own - trade is especially conversant. Who is he?—why, he has gone the vole— - has been soldier, ballad-singer, travelling tinker, and is now a beggar. - He is spoiled by our foolish gentry, who laugh at his jokes, and rehearse - Edie Ochiltree's good thing's as regularly as Joe Miller's." -</p> -<p> - "Why, he uses freedom apparently, which is the soul of wit," answered - Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "O ay, freedom enough," said the Antiquary; "he generally invents some - damned improbable lie or another to provoke you, like that nonsense he - talked just now—not that I'll publish my tract till I have examined the - thing to the bottom." -</p> -<p> - "In England," said Lovel, "such a mendicant would get a speedy check." -</p> -<p> - "Yes, your churchwardens and dog-whips would make slender allowance for - his vein of humour! But here, curse him! he is a sort of privileged - nuisance—one of the last specimens of the old fashioned Scottish - mendicant, who kept his rounds within a particular space, and was the - news-carrier, the minstrel, and sometimes the historian of the district. - That rascal, now, knows more old ballads and traditions than any other - man in this and the four next parishes. And after all," continued he, - softening as he went on describing Edie's good gifts, "the dog has some - good humour. He has borne his hard fate with unbroken spirits, and it's - cruel to deny him the comfort of a laugh at his betters. The pleasure of - having quizzed me, as you gay folk would call it, will be meat and drink - to him for a day or two. But I must go back and look after him, or he - will spread his d—d nonsensical story over half the country."* -</p> -<p> - * Note C. Praetorium. -</p> -<p> - So saying our heroes parted, Mr. Oldbuck to return to his <i>hospitium</i> at - Monkbarns, and Lovel to pursue his way to Fairport, where he arrived - without farther adventure. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER FIFTH. -</h2> -<pre> - <i>Launcelot Gobbo.</i> Mark me now: - Now will I raise the waters. - Merchant of Venice. -</pre> -<p> - The theatre at Fairport had opened, but no Mr. Lovel appeared on the - boards, nor was there anything in the habits or deportment of the young - gentleman so named, which authorised Mr. Oldbuck's conjecture that his - fellow-traveller was a candidate for the public favour. Regular were the - Antiquary's inquiries at an old-fashioned barber who dressed the only - three wigs in the parish which, in defiance of taxes and times, were - still subjected to the operation of powdering and frizzling, and who for - that purpose divided his time among the three employers whom fashion had - yet left him; regular, I say, were Mr. Oldbuck's inquiries at this - personage concerning the news of the little theatre at Fairport, - expecting every day to hear of Mr. Lovel's appearance; on which occasion - the old gentleman had determined to put himself to charges in honour of - his young friend, and not only to go to the play himself, but to carry - his womankind along with him. But old Jacob Caxon conveyed no information - which warranted his taking so decisive a step as that of securing a box. -</p> -<p> - He brought information, on the contrary, that there was a young man - residing at Fairport, of whom the <i>town</i> (by which he meant all the - gossips, who, having no business of their own, fill up their leisure - moments by attending to that of other people) could make nothing. He - sought no society, but rather avoided that which the apparent gentleness - of his manners, and some degree of curiosity, induced many to offer him. - Nothing could be more regular, or less resembling an adventurer, than his - mode of living, which was simple, but so completely well arranged, that - all who had any transactions with him were loud in their approbation. -</p> -<p> - "These are not the virtues of a stage-struck hero," thought Oldbuck to - himself; and, however habitually pertinacious in his opinions, he must - have been compelled to abandon that which he had formed in the present - instance, but for a part of Caxon's communication. "The young gentleman," - he said, "was sometimes heard speaking to himsell, and rampauging about - in his room, just as if he was ane o' the player folk." -</p> -<p> - Nothing, however, excepting this single circumstance, occurred to confirm - Mr. Oldbuck's supposition; and it remained a high and doubtful question, - what a well-informed young man, without friends, connections, or - employment of any kind, could have to do as a resident at Fairport. - Neither port wine nor whist had apparently any charms for him. He - declined dining with the mess of the volunteer cohort which had been - lately embodied, and shunned joining the convivialities of either of the - two parties which then divided Fairport, as they did more important - places. He was too little of an aristocrat to join the club of Royal True - Blues, and too little of a democrat to fraternise with an affiliated - society of the <i>soi-disant</i> Friends of the People, which the borough had - also the happiness of possessing. A coffee-room was his detestation; and, - I grieve to say it, he had as few sympathies with the tea-table.—In - short, since the name was fashionable in novel-writing, and that is a - great while agone, there was never a Master Lovel of whom so little - positive was known, and who was so universally described by negatives. -</p> -<p> - One negative, however, was important—nobody knew any harm of Lovel. - Indeed, had such existed, it would have been speedily made public; for - the natural desire of speaking evil of our neighbour could in his case - have been checked by no feelings of sympathy for a being so unsocial. On - one account alone he fell somewhat under suspicion. As he made free use - of his pencil in his solitary walks, and had drawn several views of the - harbour, in which the signal tower, and even the four-gun battery, were - introduced, some zealous friends of the public sent abroad a whisper, - that this mysterious stranger must certainly be a French spy. The Sheriff - paid his respects to Mr. Lovel accordingly; but in the interview which - followed, it would seem that he had entirely removed that magistrate's - suspicions, since he not only suffered him to remain undisturbed in his - retirement, but it was credibly reported, sent him two invitations to - dinner-parties, both which were civilly declined. But what the nature of - the explanation was, the magistrate kept a profound secret, not only from - the public at large, but from his substitute, his clerk, his wife and his - two daughters, who formed his privy council on all questions of official - duty. -</p> -<p> - All these particulars being faithfully reported by Mr. Caxon to his - patron at Monkbarns, tended much to raise Lovel in the opinion of his - former fellow-traveller. "A decent sensible lad," said he to himself, - "who scorns to enter into the fooleries and nonsense of these idiot - people at Fairport—I must do something for him—I must give him a - dinner;—and I will write Sir Arthur to come to Monkbarns to meet him. I - must consult my womankind." -</p> -<p> - Accordingly, such consultation having been previously held, a special - messenger, being no other than Caxon himself, was ordered to prepare for - a walk to Knockwinnock Castle with a letter, "For the honoured Sir Arthur - Wardour, of Knockwinnock, Bart." The contents ran thus: -</p> -<p> - "Dear Sir Arthur, -</p> -<p> - "On Tuesday the 17th curt. <i>stilo novo,</i> I hold a coenobitical symposion - at Monkbarns, and pray you to assist thereat, at four o'clock precisely. - If my fair enemy, Miss Isabel, can and will honour us by accompanying - you, my womankind will be but too proud to have the aid of such an - auxiliary in the cause of resistance to awful rule and right supremacy. - If not, I will send the womankind to the manse for the day. I have a - young acquaintance to make known to you, who is touched with some strain - of a better spirit than belongs to these giddy-paced times—reveres his - elders, and has a pretty notion of the classics—and, as such a youth - must have a natural contempt for the people about Fairport, I wish to - show him some rational as well as worshipful society.—I am, Dear Sir - Arthur, etc. etc. etc." -</p> -<p> - "Fly with this letter, Caxon," said the senior, holding out his missive, - <i>signatum atque sigillatum,</i> "fly to Knockwinnock, and bring me back an - answer. Go as fast as if the town-council were met and waiting for the - provost, and the provost was waiting for his new-powdered wig." -</p> -<p> - "Ah sir," answered the messenger, with a deep sigh, "thae days hae lang - gane by. Deil a wig has a provost of Fairport worn sin' auld Provost - Jervie's time—and he had a quean of a servant-lass that dressed it - herself, wi' the doup o' a candle and a drudging-box. But I hae seen the - day, Monkbarns, when the town-council of Fairport wad hae as soon wanted - their town-clerk, or their gill of brandy ower-head after the haddies, as - they wad hae wanted ilk ane a weel-favoured, sonsy, decent periwig on his - pow. Hegh, sirs! nae wonder the commons will be discontent and rise - against the law, when they see magistrates and bailies, and deacons, and - the provost himsell, wi' heads as bald and as bare as ane o' my blocks!" -</p> -<p> - "And as well furnished within, Caxon. But away with you!—you have an - excellent view of public affairs, and, I dare say, have touched the cause - of our popular discontent as closely as the provost could have done - himself. But away with you, Caxon!" -</p> -<p> - And off went Caxon upon his walk of three miles— -</p> -<pre> - He hobbled—but his heart was good! - Could he go faster than he could?— -</pre> -<p> - While he is engaged in his journey and return, it may not be impertinent - to inform the reader to whose mansion he was bearing his embassy. -</p> -<p> - We have said that Mr. Oldbuck kept little company with the surrounding - gentlemen, excepting with one person only. This was Sir Arthur Wardour, a - baronet of ancient descent, and of a large but embarrassed fortune. His - father, Sir Anthony, had been a Jacobite, and had displayed all the - enthusiasm of that party, while it could be served with words only. No - man squeezed the orange with more significant gesture; no one could more - dexterously intimate a dangerous health without coming under the penal - statutes; and, above all, none drank success to the cause more deeply and - devoutly. But, on the approach of the Highland army in 1745, it would - appear that the worthy baronet's zeal became a little more moderate just - when its warmth was of most consequence. He talked much, indeed, of - taking the field for the rights of Scotland and Charles Stuart; but his - demi-pique saddle would suit only one of his horses; and that horse could - by no means be brought to stand fire. Perhaps the worshipful owner - sympathized in the scruples of this sagacious quadruped, and began to - think, that what was so much dreaded by the horse could not be very - wholesome for the rider. At any rate, while Sir Anthony Wardour talked, - and drank, and hesitated, the Sturdy provost of Fairport (who, as we - before noticed, was the father of our Antiquary) sallied from his ancient - burgh, heading a body of whig-burghers, and seized at once, in the name - of George II., upon the Castle of Knockwinnock, and on the four - carriage-horses, and person of the proprietor. Sir Anthony was shortly - after sent off to the Tower of London by a secretary of state's warrant, - and with him went his son, Arthur, then a youth. But as nothing appeared - like an overt act of treason, both father and son were soon set at - liberty, and returned to their own mansion of Knockwinnock, to drink - healths five fathoms deep, and talk of their sufferings in the royal - cause. This became so much a matter of habit with Sir Arthur, that, even - after his father's death, the non-juring chaplain used to pray regularly - for the restoration of the rightful sovereign, for the downfall of the - usurper, and for deliverance from their cruel and bloodthirsty enemies; - although all idea of serious opposition to the House of Hanover had long - mouldered away, and this treasonable liturgy was kept up rather as a - matter of form than as conveying any distinct meaning. So much was this - the case, that, about the year 1770, upon a disputed election occurring - in the county, the worthy knight fairly gulped down the oaths of - abjuration and allegiance, in order to serve a candidate in whom he was - interested;—thus renouncing the heir for whose restoration he weekly - petitioned Heaven, and acknowledging the usurper whose dethronement he - had never ceased to pray for. And to add to this melancholy instance of - human inconsistency, Sir Arthur continued to pray for the House of Stuart - even after the family had been extinct, and when, in truth, though in his - theoretical loyalty he was pleased to regard them as alive, yet, in all - actual service and practical exertion, he was a most zealous and devoted - subject of George III. -</p> -<p> - In other respects, Sir Arthur Wardour lived like most country gentlemen - in Scotland, hunted and fished—gave and received dinners—attended races - and county meetings—was a deputy-lieutenant and trustee upon turnpike - acts. But, in his more advanced years, as he became too lazy or unwieldy - for field-sports, he supplied them by now and then reading Scottish - history; and, having gradually acquired a taste for antiquities, though - neither very deep nor very correct, he became a crony of his neighbour, - Mr. Oldbuck of Monkbarns, and a joint-labourer with him in his - antiquarian pursuits. -</p> -<p> - There were, however, points of difference between these two humourists, - which sometimes occasioned discord. The faith of Sir Arthur, as an - antiquary, was boundless, and Mr. Oldbuck (notwithstanding the affair of - the Praetorium at the Kaim of Kinprunes) was much more scrupulous in - receiving legends as current and authentic coin. Sir Arthur would have - deemed himself guilty of the crime of leze-majesty had he doubted the - existence of any single individual of that formidable head-roll of one - hundred and four kings of Scotland, received by Boethius, and rendered - classical by Buchanan, in virtue of whom James VI. claimed to rule his - ancient kingdom, and whose portraits still frown grimly upon the walls of - the gallery of Holyrood. Now Oldbuck, a shrewd and suspicious man, and no - respecter of divine hereditary right, was apt to cavil at this sacred - list, and to affirm, that the procession of the posterity of Fergus - through the pages of Scottish history, was as vain and unsubstantial as - the gleamy pageant of the descendants of Banquo through the cavern of - Hecate. -</p> -<p> - Another tender topic was the good fame of Queen Mary, of which the knight - was a most chivalrous assertor, while the esquire impugned it, in spite - both of her beauty and misfortunes. When, unhappily, their conversation - turned on yet later times, motives of discord occurred in almost every - page of history. Oldbuck was, upon principle, a staunch Presbyterian, a - ruling elder of the kirk, and a friend to revolution principles and - Protestant succession, while Sir Arthur was the very reverse of all this. - They agreed, it is true, in dutiful love and allegiance to the sovereign - who now fills* the throne; but this was their only point of union. -</p> -<p> - * The reader will understand that this refers to the reign of our late - gracious Sovereign, George the Third. -</p> -<p> - It therefore often happened, that bickerings hot broke out between them, - in which Oldbuck was not always able to suppress his caustic humour, - while it would sometimes occur to the Baronet that the descendant of a - German printer, whose sires had "sought the base fellowship of paltry - burghers," forgot himself, and took an unlicensed freedom of debate, - considering the rank and ancient descent of his antagonist. This, with - the old feud of the coach-horses, and the seizure of his manor-place and - tower of strength by Mr. Oldbuck's father, would at times rush upon his - mind, and inflame at once his cheeks and his arguments. And, lastly, as - Mr. Oldbuck thought his worthy friend and compeer was in some respects - little better than a fool, he was apt to come more near communicating to - him that unfavourable opinion, than the rules of modern politeness - warrant. In such cases they often parted in deep dudgeon, and with - something like a resolution to forbear each other's company in future: -</p> -<p> - But with the morning calm reflection came; and as each was sensible that - the society of the other had become, through habit, essential to his - comfort, the breach was speedily made up between them. On such occasions, - Oldbuck, considering that the Baronet's pettishness resembled that of a - child, usually showed his superior sense by compassionately making the - first advances to reconciliation. But it once or twice happened that the - aristocratic pride of the far-descended knight took a flight too - offensive to the feelings of the representative of the typographer. In - these cases, the breach between these two originals might have been - immortal, but for the kind exertion and interposition of the Baronet's - daughter, Miss Isabella Wardour, who, with a son, now absent upon foreign - and military service, formed his whole surviving family. She was well - aware how necessary Mr. Oldbuck was to her father's amusement and - comfort, and seldom failed to interpose with effect, when the office of a - mediator between them was rendered necessary by the satirical shrewdness - of the one, or the assumed superiority of the other. Under Isabella's - mild influence, the wrongs of Queen Mary were forgotten by her father, - and Mr. Oldbuck forgave the blasphemy which reviled the memory of King - William. However, as she used in general to take her father's part - playfully in these disputes, Oldbuck was wont to call Isabella his fair - enemy, though in fact he made more account of her than any other of her - sex, of whom, as we have seen, he, was no admirer. -</p> -<p> - There existed another connection betwixt these worthies, which had - alternately a repelling and attractive influence upon their intimacy. Sir - Arthur always wished to borrow; Mr. Oldbuck was not always willing to - lend. Mr. Oldbuck, per contra, always wished to be repaid with - regularity; Sir Arthur was not always, nor indeed often, prepared to - gratify this reasonable desire; and, in accomplishing an arrangement - between tendencies so opposite, little <i>miffs</i> would occasionally take - place. Still there was a spirit of mutual accommodation upon the whole, - and they dragged on like dogs in couples, with some difficulty and - occasional snarling, but without absolutely coming to a stand-still or - throttling each other. -</p> -<p> - Some little disagreement, such as we have mentioned, arising out of - business, or politics, had divided the houses of Knockwinnock and - Monkbarns, when the emissary of the latter arrived to discharge his - errand. In his ancient Gothic parlour, whose windows on one side looked - out upon the restless ocean, and, on the other, upon the long straight - avenue, was the Baronet seated, now turning over the leaves of a folio, - now casting a weary glance where the sun quivered on the dark-green - foliage and smooth trunks of the large and branching limes with which the - avenue was planted. At length, sight of joy! a moving object is seen, and - it gives rise to the usual inquiries, Who is it? and what can be his - errand? The old whitish-grey coat, the hobbling gait, the hat - half-slouched, half-cocked, announced the forlorn maker of periwigs, and - left for investigation only the second query. This was soon solved by a - servant entering the parlour,—"A letter from Monkbarns, Sir Arthur." -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur took the epistle with a due assumption of consequential - dignity. -</p> -<p> - "Take the old man into the kitchen, and let him get some refreshment," - said the young lady, whose compassionate eye had remarked his thin grey - hair and wearied gait. -</p> -<p> - "Mr. Oldbuck, my love, invites us to dinner on Tuesday the 17th," said - the Baronet, pausing;—"he really seems to forget that he has not of late - conducted himself so civilly towards me as might have been expected." -</p> -<p> - "Dear sir, you have so many advantages over poor Mr. Oldbuck, that no - wonder it should put him a little out of humour; but I know he has much - respect for your person and your conversation;—nothing would give him - more pain than to be wanting in any real attention." -</p> -<p> - "True, true, Isabella; and one must allow for the original - descent;—something of the German boorishness still flows in the blood; something - of the whiggish and perverse opposition to established rank and - privilege. You may observe that he never has any advantage of me in - dispute, unless when he avails himself of a sort of pettifogging intimacy - with dates, names, and trifling matters of fact—a tiresome and frivolous - accuracy of memory, which is entirely owing to his mechanical descent." -</p> -<p> - "He must find it convenient in historical investigation, I should think, - sir?" said the young lady. -</p> -<p> - "It leads to an uncivil and positive mode of disputing; and nothing seems - more unreasonable than to hear him impugn even Bellenden's rare - translation of Hector Boece, which I have the satisfaction to possess, - and which is a black-letter folio of great value, upon the authority of - some old scrap of parchment which he has saved from its deserved destiny - of being cut up into tailor's measures. And besides, that habit of minute - and troublesome accuracy leads to a mercantile manner of doing business, - which ought to be beneath a landed proprietor whose family has stood two - or three generations. I question if there's a dealer's clerk in Fairport - that can sum an account of interest better than Monkbarns." -</p> -<p> - "But you'll accept his invitation, sir?" -</p> -<p> - "Why, ye—yes; we have no other engagement on hand, I think. Who can the - young man be he talks of?—he seldom picks up new acquaintance; and he - has no relation that I ever heard of." -</p> -<p> - "Probably some relation of his brother-in-law Captain M'Intyre." -</p> -<p> - "Very possibly—yes, we will accept—the M'Intyres are of a very ancient - Highland family. You may answer his card in the affirmative, Isabella; I - believe I have, no leisure to be <i>Dear Sirring</i> myself." -</p> -<p> - So this important matter being adjusted, Miss Wardour intimated "her own - and Sir Arthur's compliments, and that they would have the honour of - waiting upon Mr. Oldbuck. Miss Wardour takes this opportunity to renew - her hostility with Mr. Oldbuck, on account of his late long absence from - Knockwinnock, where his visits give so much pleasure." With this - <i>placebo</i> she concluded her note, with which old Caxon, now refreshed in - limbs and wind, set out on his return to the Antiquary's mansion. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER SIXTH. -</h2> -<pre> - <i>Moth.</i> By Woden, God of Saxons, - From whence comes Wensday, that is, Wodnesday, - Truth is a thing that I will ever keep - Unto thylke day in which I creep into - My sepulcre— - Cartwright's <i>Ordinary.</i> -</pre> -<p> - Our young friend Lovel, who had received a corresponding invitation, - punctual to the hour of appointment, arrived at Monkbarns about five - minutes before four o'clock on the 17th of July. The day had been - remarkably sultry, and large drops of rain had occasionally fallen, - though the threatened showers had as yet passed away. -</p> -<p> - Mr. Oldbuck received him at the Palmer's-port in his complete brown suit, - grey silk stockings, and wig powdered with all the skill of the veteran - Caxon, who having smelt out the dinner, had taken care not to finish his - job till the hour of eating approached. -</p> -<p> - "You are welcome to my symposion, Mr. Lovel. And now let me introduce you - to my Clogdogdo's, as Tom Otter calls them—my unlucky and - good-for-nothing womankind—<i>malae bestiae,</i> Mr. Lovel." -</p> -<p> - "I shall be disappointed, sir, if I do not find the ladies very - undeserving of your satire." -</p> -<p> - "Tilley-valley, Mr. Lovel,—which, by the way, one commentator derives - from <i>tittivillitium,</i> and another from <i>talley-ho</i>—but tilley-valley, - I say—a truce with your politeness. You will find them but samples of - womankind—But here they be, Mr. Lovel. I present to you in due order, my - most discreet sister Griselda, who disdains the simplicity, as well as - patience annexed to the poor old name of Grizzel; and my most exquisite - niece Maria, whose mother was called Mary, and sometimes Molly." -</p> -<p> - The elderly lady rustled in silks and satins, and bore upon her head a - structure resembling the fashion in the ladies' memorandum-book for the - year 1770—a superb piece of architecture, not much less than a modern - Gothic castle, of which the curls might represent the turrets, the black - pins the <i>chevaux de frise,</i> and the lappets the banners. -</p> -<p> - The face, which, like that of the ancient statues of Vesta, was thus - crowned with towers, was large and long, and peaked at nose and chin, and - bore, in other respects, such a ludicrous resemblance to the physiognomy - of Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck, that Lovel, had they not appeared at once, like - Sebastian and Viola in the last scene of the "Twelfth Night," might have - supposed that the figure before him was his old friend masquerading in - female attire. An antique flowered silk gown graced the extraordinary - person to whom belonged this unparalleled <i>tete,</i> which her brother was - wont to say was fitter for a turban for Mahound or Termagant, than a - head-gear for a reasonable creature, or Christian gentlewoman. Two long - and bony arms were terminated at the elbows by triple blond ruffles, and - being, folded saltire-ways in front of her person, and decorated with - long gloves of a bright vermilion colour, presented no bad resemblance to - a pair of gigantic lobsters. High-heeled shoes, and a short silk cloak, - thrown in easy negligence over her shoulders, completed the exterior of - Miss Griselda Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - Her niece, the same whom Lovel had seen transiently during his first - visit, was a pretty young woman, genteelly dressed according to the - fashion of the day, with an air of <i>espieglerie</i> which became her very - well, and which was perhaps derived from the caustic humour peculiar to - her uncle's family, though softened by transmission. -</p> -<p> - Mr. Lovel paid his respects to both ladies, and was answered by the elder - with the prolonged courtesy of 1760, drawn from the righteous period, -</p> -<pre> - When folks conceived a grace - Of half an hour's space, - And rejoiced in a Friday's capon, -</pre> -<p> - and by the younger with a modern reverence, which, like the festive - benediction of a modern divine, was of much shorter duration. -</p> -<p> - While this salutation was exchanging, Sir Arthur, with his fair daughter - hanging upon his arm, having dismissed his chariot, appeared at the - garden door, and in all due form paid his respects to the ladies. -</p> -<p> - "Sir Arthur," said the Antiquary, "and you, my fair foe, let me make - known to you my young friend Mr. Lovel, a gentleman who, during the - scarlet-fever which is epidemic at present in this our island, has the - virtue and decency to appear in a coat of a civil complexion. You see, - however, that the fashionable colour has mustered in his cheeks which - appears not in his garments. Sir Arthur, let me present to you a young - gentleman, whom your farther knowledge will find grave, wise, courtly, - and scholar-like, well seen, deeply read, and thoroughly grounded in all - the hidden mysteries of the green-room and stage, from the days of Davie - Lindsay down to those of Dibdin—he blushes again, which is a sign of - grace." -</p> -<p> - "My brother," said Miss Griselda, addressing Lovel, "has a humorous way - of expressing himself, sir; nobody thinks anything of what Monkbarns - says—so I beg you will not be so confused for the matter of his - nonsense; but you must have had a warm walk beneath this broiling - sun—would you take anything?—a glass of balm-wine?" -</p> -<p> - Ere Lovel could answer, the Antiquary interposed. "Aroint thee, witch! - wouldst thou poison my guests with thy infernal decoctions? Dost thou not - remember how it fared with the clergyman whom you seduced to partake of - that deceitful beverage?" -</p> -<p> - "O fy, fy, brother!—Sir Arthur, did you ever hear the like?—he must - have everything his ain way, or he will invent such stories—But there - goes Jenny to ring the old bell to tell us that the dinner is ready." -</p> -<p> - Rigid in his economy, Mr. Oldbuck kept no male servant. This he disguised - under the pretext that the masculine sex was too noble to be employed in - those acts of personal servitude, which, in all early periods of society, - were uniformly imposed on the female. "Why," would he say, "did the boy, - Tam Rintherout, whom, at my wise sister's instigation, I, with equal - wisdom, took upon trial—why did he pilfer apples, take birds' nests, - break glasses, and ultimately steal my spectacles, except that he felt - that noble emulation which swells in the bosom of the masculine sex, - which has conducted him to Flanders with a musket on his shoulder, and - doubtless will promote him to a glorious halbert, or even to the gallows? - And why does this girl, his full sister, Jenny Rintherout, move in the - same vocation with safe and noiseless step—shod, or unshod—soft as the - pace of a cat, and docile as a spaniel—Why? but because she is in her - vocation. Let them minister to us, Sir Arthur,—let them minister, I - say,—it's the only thing they are fit for. All ancient legislators, from - Lycurgus to Mahommed, corruptly called Mahomet, agree in putting them in - their proper and subordinate rank, and it is only the crazy heads of our - old chivalrous ancestors that erected their Dulcineas into despotic - princesses." -</p> -<p> - Miss Wardour protested loudly against this ungallant doctrine; but the - bell now rung for dinner. -</p> -<p> - "Let me do all the offices of fair courtesy to so fair an antagonist," - said the old gentleman, offering his arm. "I remember, Miss Wardour, - Mahommed (vulgarly Mahomet) had some hesitation about the mode of - summoning his Moslemah to prayer. He rejected bells as used by - Christians, trumpets as the summons of the Guebres, and finally adopted - the human voice. I have had equal doubt concerning my dinner-call. Gongs, - now in present use, seemed a newfangled and heathenish invention, and the - voice of the female womankind I rejected as equally shrill and dissonant; - wherefore, contrary to the said Mahommed, or Mahomet, I have resumed the - bell. It has a local propriety, since it was the conventual signal for - spreading the repast in their refectory, and it has the advantage over - the tongue of my sister's prime minister, Jenny, that, though not quite - so loud and shrill, it ceases ringing the instant you drop the bell-rope: - whereas we know, by sad experience, that any attempt to silence Jenny, - only wakes the sympathetic chime of Miss Oldbuck and Mary M'Intyre to - join in chorus." -</p> -<p> - With this discourse he led the way to his dining-parlour, which Lovel had - not yet seen;—it was wainscotted, and contained some curious paintings. - The dining-table was attended by Jenny; but an old superintendent, a sort - of female butler, stood by the sideboard, and underwent the burden of - bearing several reproofs from Mr. Oldbuck, and inuendos, not so much - marked, but not less cutting, from his sister. -</p> -<p> - The dinner was such as suited a professed antiquary, comprehending many - savoury specimens of Scottish viands, now disused at the tables of those - who affect elegance. There was the relishing Solan goose, whose smell is - so powerful that he is never cooked within doors. Blood-raw he proved to - be on this occasion, so that Oldbuck half threatened to throw the greasy - sea-fowl at the head of the negligent housekeeper, who acted as priestess - in presenting this odoriferous offering. But, by good-hap, she had been - most fortunate in the hotch-potch, which was unanimously pronounced to be - inimitable. "I knew we should succeed here," said Oldbuck exultingly, - "for Davie Dibble, the gardener (an old bachelor like myself), takes care - the rascally women do not dishonour our vegetables. And here is fish and - sauce, and crappit-heads—I acknowledge our womankind excel in that - dish—it procures them the pleasure of scolding, for half an hour at least, - twice a-week, with auld Maggy Mucklebackit, our fish-wife. The - chicken-pie, Mr. Lovel, is made after a recipe bequeathed to me by my - departed grandmother of happy memory—And if you will venture on a glass - of wine, you will find it worthy of one who professes the maxim of King - Alphonso of Castile,—Old wood to burn—old books to read—old wine to - drink—and old friends, Sir Arthur—ay, Mr. Lovel, and young friends too, - to converse with." -</p> -<p> - "And what news do you bring us from Edinburgh, Monkbarns?" said Sir - Arthur; "how wags the world in Auld Reekie?" -</p> -<p> - "Mad, Sir Arthur, mad—irretrievably frantic—far beyond dipping in the - sea, shaving the crown, or drinking hellebore. The worst sort of frenzy, - a military frenzy, hath possessed man, woman, and child." -</p> -<p> - "And high time, I think," said Miss Wardour, "when we are threatened with - invasion from abroad and insurrection at home." -</p> -<p> - "O, I did not doubt you would join the scarlet host against me—women, - like turkeys, are always subdued by a red rag—But what says Sir Arthur, - whose dreams are of standing armies and German oppression?" -</p> -<p> - "Why, I say, Mr. Oldbuck," replied the knight, "that so far as I am - capable of judging, we ought to resist <i>cum toto corpore regni</i>—as the - phrase is, unless I have altogether forgotten my Latin—an enemy who - comes to propose to us a Whiggish sort of government, a republican - system, and who is aided and abetted by a sort of fanatics of the worst - kind in our own bowels. I have taken some measures, I assure you, such as - become my rank in the community; for I have directed the constables to - take up that old scoundrelly beggar, Edie Ochiltree, for spreading - disaffection against church and state through the whole parish. He said - plainly to old Caxon, that Willie Howie's Kilmarnock cowl covered more - sense than all the three wigs in the parish—I think it is easy to make - out that inuendo—But the rogue shall be taught better manners." -</p> -<p> - "O no, my dear sir," exclaimed Miss Wardour, "not old Edie, that we have - known so long;—I assure you no constable shall have my good graces that - executes such a warrant." -</p> -<p> - "Ay, there it goes," said the Antiquary; "you, to be a staunch Tory, Sir - Arthur, have nourished a fine sprig of Whiggery in your bosom—Why, Miss - Wardour is alone sufficient to control a whole quarter-session—a - quarter-session? ay, a general assembly or convocation to boot—a - Boadicea she—an Amazon, a Zenobia." -</p> -<p> - "And yet, with all my courage, Mr. Oldbuck, I am glad to hear our people - are getting under arms." -</p> -<p> - "Under arms, Lord love thee! didst thou ever read the history of Sister - Margaret, which flowed from a head, that, though now old and somedele - grey, has more sense and political intelligence than you find now-a-days - in the whole synod? Dost thou remember the Nurse's dream in that - exquisite work, which she recounts in such agony to Hubble Bubble?—When - she would have taken up a piece of broad-cloth in her vision, lo! it - exploded like a great iron cannon; when she put out her hand to save a - pirn, it perked up in her face in the form of a pistol. My own vision in - Edinburgh has been something similar. I called to consult my lawyer; he - was clothed in a dragoon's dress, belted and casqued, and about to mount - a charger, which his writing-clerk (habited as a sharp-shooter) walked to - and fro before his door. I went to scold my agent for having sent me to - advise with a madman; he had stuck into his head the plume, which in more - sober days he wielded between his fingers, and figured as an artillery - officer. My mercer had his spontoon in his hand, as if he measured his - cloth by that implement, instead of a legitimate yard. The banker's - clerk, who was directed to sum my cash-account, blundered it three times, - being disordered by the recollection of his military <i>tellings-off</i> at - the morning-drill. I was ill, and sent for a surgeon— -</p> -<pre> - He came—but valour so had fired his eye, - And such a falchion glittered on his thigh, - That, by the gods, with such a load of steel, - I thought he came to murder,—not to heal. -</pre> -<p> - I had recourse to a physician, but he also was practising a more - wholesale mode of slaughter than that which his profession had been - supposed at all times to open to him. And now, since I have returned - here, even our wise neighbours of Fairport have caught the same valiant - humour. I hate a gun like a hurt wild duck—I detest a drum like a - quaker;—and they thunder and rattle out yonder upon the town's common, - so that every volley and roll goes to my very heart." -</p> -<p> - "Dear brother, dinna speak that gate o' the gentlemen volunteers—I am - sure they have a most becoming uniform—Weel I wot they have been wet to - the very skin twice last week—I met them marching in terribly doukit, an - mony a sair hoast was amang them—And the trouble they take, I am sure it - claims our gratitude." -</p> -<p> - "And I am sure," said Miss M'Intyre, "that my uncle sent twenty guineas - to help out their equipments." -</p> -<p> - "It was to buy liquorice and sugar-candy," said the cynic, "to encourage - the trade of the place, and to refresh the throats of the officers who - had bawled themselves hoarse in the service of their country." -</p> -<p> - "Take care, Monkbarns! we shall set you down among the black-nebs by and - by." -</p> -<p> - "No Sir Arthur—a tame grumbler I. I only claim the privilege of croaking - in my own corner here, without uniting my throat to the grand chorus of - the marsh—<i>Ni quito Rey, ni pongo Rey</i>—I neither make king nor mar - king, as Sancho says, but pray heartily for our own sovereign, pay scot - and lot, and grumble at the exciseman—But here comes the ewe-milk cheese - in good time; it is a better digestive than politics." -</p> -<p> - When dinner was over, and the decanters placed on the table, Mr. Oldbuck - proposed the King's health in a bumper, which was readily acceded to both - by Lovel and the Baronet, the Jacobitism of the latter being now a sort - of speculative opinion merely,—the shadow of a shade. -</p> -<p> - After the ladies had left the apartment, the landlord and Sir Arthur - entered into several exquisite discussions, in which the younger guest, - either on account of the abstruse erudition which they involved, or for - some other reason, took but a slender share, till at length he was - suddenly started out of a profound reverie by an unexpected appeal to his - judgment. -</p> -<p> - "I will stand by what Mr. Lovel says; he was born in the north of - England, and may know the very spot." -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur thought it unlikely that so young a gentleman should have paid - much attention to matters of that sort. -</p> -<p> - "I am avised of the contrary," said Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "How say you, Mr. Lovel?—speak up for your own credit, man." -</p> -<p> - Lovel was obliged to confess himself in the ridiculous situation of one - alike ignorant of the subject of conversation and controversy which had - engaged the company for an hour. -</p> -<p> - "Lord help the lad, his head has been wool-gathering!—I thought how it - would be when the womankind were admitted—no getting a word of sense out - of a young fellow for six hours after.—Why, man, there was once a people - called the Piks"— -</p> -<p> - "More properly <i>Picts,</i>" interrupted the Baronet. -</p> -<p> - "I say the <i>Pikar, Pihar, Piochtar, Piaghter,</i> or <i>Peughtar,</i>" - vociferated Oldbuck; "they spoke a Gothic dialect"— -</p> -<p> - "Genuine Celtic," again asseverated the knight. -</p> -<p> - "Gothic! Gothic! I'll go to death upon it!" counter-asseverated the - squire. -</p> -<p> - "Why, gentlemen," sad Lovel, "I conceive that is a dispute which may be - easily settled by philologists, if there are any remains of the - language." -</p> -<p> - "There is but one word," said the Baronet, "but, in spite of Mr. - Oldbuck's pertinacity, it is decisive of the question." -</p> -<p> - "Yes, in my favour," said Oldbuck: "Mr. Lovel, you shall be judge—I have - the learned Pinkerton on my side." -</p> -<p> - "I, on mine, the indefatigable and erudite Chalmers." -</p> -<p> - "Gordon comes into my opinion." -</p> -<p> - "Sir Robert Sibbald holds mine." -</p> -<p> - "Innes is with me!" vociferated Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "Riston has no doubt!" shouted the Baronet. -</p> -<p> - "Truly, gentlemen," said Lovel, "before you muster your forces and - overwhelm me with authorities, I should like to know the word in - dispute." -</p> -<p> - "<i>Benval</i>" said both the disputants at once. -</p> -<p> - "Which signifies <i>caput valli,</i>" said Sir Arthur. -</p> -<p> - "The head of the wall," echoed Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - There was a deep pause.—"It is rather a narrow foundation to build a - hypothesis upon," observed the arbiter. -</p> -<p> - "Not a whit, not a whit," said Oldbuck; "men fight best in a narrow - ring—an inch is as good as a mile for a home-thrust." -</p> -<p> - "It is decidedly Celtic," said the Baronet; "every hill in the Highlands - begins with <i>Ben.</i>" -</p> -<p> - "But what say you to <i>Val,</i> Sir Arthur; is it not decidedly the Saxon - <i>wall?</i>" -</p> -<p> - "It is the Roman <i>vallum,</i>" said Sir Arthur;—"the Picts borrowed that - part of the word." -</p> -<p> - "No such thing; if they borrowed anything, it must have been your <i>Ben,</i> - which they might have from the neighbouring Britons of Strath Cluyd." -</p> -<p> - "The Piks, or Picts," said Lovel, "must have been singularly poor in - dialect, since, in the only remaining word of their vocabulary, and that - consisting only of two syllables, they have been confessedly obliged to - borrow one of them from another language; and, methinks, gentlemen, with - submission, the controversy is not unlike that which the two knights - fought, concerning the shield that had one side white and the other - black. Each of you claim one-half of the word, and seem to resign the - other. But what strikes me most, is the poverty of the language which has - left such slight vestiges behind it." -</p> -<p> - "You are in an error," said Sir Arthur; "it was a copious language, and - they were a great and powerful people; built two steeples—one at - Brechin, one at Abernethy. The Pictish maidens of the blood-royal were - kept in Edinburgh Castle, thence called <i>Castrum Puellarum.</i>" -</p> -<p> - "A childish legend," said Oldbuck, "invented to give consequence to - trumpery womankind. It was called the Maiden Castle, <i>quasi lucus a non - lucendo,</i> because it resisted every attack, and women never do." -</p> -<p> - "There is a list of the Pictish kings," persisted Sir Arthur, "well - authenticated from Crentheminachcryme (the date of whose reign is - somewhat uncertain) down to Drusterstone, whose death concluded their - dynasty. Half of them have the Celtic patronymic <i>Mac</i> prefixed—Mac, <i>id - est filius;</i>—what do you say to that, Mr. Oldbuck? There is Drust - Macmorachin, Trynel Maclachlin (first of that ancient clan, as it may be - judged), and Gormach Macdonald, Alpin Macmetegus, Drust Mactallargam" - (here he was interrupted by a fit of coughing)—"ugh, ugh, ugh—Golarge - Macchan—ugh, ugh—Macchanan—ugh—Macchananail, Kenneth—ugh—ugh— - Macferedith, Eachan Macfungus—and twenty more, decidedly Celtic names, - which I could repeat, if this damned cough would let me." -</p> -<p> - "Take a glass of wine, Sir Arthur, and drink down that bead-roll of - unbaptized jargon, that would choke the devil—why, that last fellow has - the only intelligible name you have repeated—they are all of the tribe - of Macfungus—mushroom monarchs every one of them; sprung up from the - fumes of conceit, folly, and falsehood, fermenting in the brains of some - mad Highland seannachie." -</p> -<p> - "I am surprised to hear you, Mr. Oldbuck: you know, or ought to know, - that the list of these potentates was copied by Henry Maule of Melguin, - from the Chronicles of Loch Leven and St. Andrews, and put forth by him - in his short but satisfactory history of the Picts, printed by Robert - Freebairn of Edinburgh, and sold by him at his shop in the Parliament - Close, in the year of God seventeen hundred and five, or six, I am not - precisely certain which—but I have a copy at home that stands next to my - twelvemo copy of the Scots Acts, and ranges on the shelf with them very - well. What say you to that, Mr. Oldbuck?" -</p> -<p> - "Say?—why, I laugh at Harry Maule and his history," answered Oldbuck, - "and thereby comply with his request, of giving it entertainment - according to its merits." -</p> -<p> - "Do not laugh at a better man than yourself," said Sir Arthur, somewhat - scornfully. -</p> -<p> - "I do not conceive I do, Sir Arthur, in laughing either at him or his - history." -</p> -<p> - "Henry Maule of Melgum was a gentleman, Mr. Oldbuck." -</p> -<p> - "I presume he had no advantage of me in <i>that</i> particular," replied the - Antiquary, somewhat tartly. -</p> -<p> - "Permit me, Mr. Oldbuck—he was a gentleman of high family, and ancient - descent, and therefore"— -</p> -<p> - "The descendant of a Westphalian printer should speak of him with - deference? Such may be your opinion, Sir Arthur—it is not mine. I - conceive that my descent from that painful and industrious typographer, - Wolfbrand Oldenbuck, who, in the month of December 1493, under the - patronage, as the colophon tells us, of Sebaldus Scheyter and Sebastian - Kammermaister, accomplished the printing of the great Chronicle of - Nuremberg—I conceive, I say, that my descent from that great restorer of - learning is more creditable to me as a man of letters, than if I had - numbered in my genealogy all the brawling, bullet-headed, iron-fisted, - old Gothic barons since the days of Crentheminachcryme—not one of whom, - I suppose, could write his own name." -</p> -<p> - "If you mean the observation as a sneer at my ancestry," said the knight, - with an assumption of dignified superiority and composure, "I have the - pleasure to inform you, that the name of my ancestor, Gamelyn de - Guardover, Miles, is written fairly with his own hand in the earliest - copy of the Ragman-roll." -</p> -<p> - "Which only serves to show that he was one of the earliest who set the - mean example of submitting to Edward I. What have, you to say for the - stainless loyalty of your family, Sir Arthur, after such a backsliding as - that?" -</p> -<p> - "It's enough, sir," said Sir Arthur, starting up fiercely, and pushing - back his chair; "I shall hereafter take care how I honour with my company - one who shows himself so ungrateful for my condescension." -</p> -<p> - "In that you will do as you find most agreeable, Sir Arthur;—I hope, - that as I was not aware of the extent of the obligation which you have - done me by visiting my poor house, I may be excused for not having - carried my gratitude to the extent of servility." -</p> -<p> - "Mighty well—mighty well, Mr. Oldbuck—I wish you a good evening—Mr. - a—a—a—Shovel—I wish you a very good evening." -</p> -<p> - Out of the parlour door flounced the incensed Sir Arthur, as if the - spirit of the whole Round Table inflamed his single bosom, and traversed - with long strides the labyrinth of passages which conducted to the - drawing-room. -</p> -<p> - "Did you ever hear such an old tup-headed ass?" said Oldbuck, briefly - apostrophizing Lovel. "But I must not let him go in this mad-like way - neither." -</p> -<p> - So saying, he pushed off after the retreating Baronet, whom he traced by - the clang of several doors which he opened in search of the apartment for - tea, and slammed with force behind him at every disappointment. "You'll - do yourself a mischief," roared the Antiquary; "<i>Qui ambulat in tenebris, - nescit quo vadit</i>—You'll tumble down the back-stair." -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur had now got involved in darkness, of which the sedative effect - is well known to nurses and governesses who have to deal with pettish - children. It retarded the pace of the irritated Baronet, if it did not - abate his resentment, and Mr. Oldbuck, better acquainted with the - <i>locale,</i> got up with him as he had got his grasp upon the handle of the - drawing-room door. -</p> -<p> - "Stay a minute, Sir Arthur," said Oldbuck, opposing his abrupt entrance; - "don't be quite so hasty, my good old friend. I was a little too rude - with you about Sir Gamelyn—why, he is an old acquaintance of mine, man, - and a favourite; he kept company with Bruce and Wallace—and, I'll be - sworn on a black-letter Bible, only subscribed the Ragman-roll with the - legitimate and justifiable intention of circumventing the false - Southern—'twas right Scottish craft, my good knight—hundreds did it. Come, - come, forget and forgive—confess we have given the young fellow here a - right to think us two testy old fools." -</p> -<p> - "Speak for yourself, Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck," said Sir Arthur with much - majesty. -</p> -<p> - "A-well, a-well—a wilful man must have his way." -</p> -<p> - With that the door opened, and into the drawing-room marched the tall - gaunt form of Sir Arthur, followed by Lovel and Mr. Oldbuck, the - countenances of all the three a little discomposed. -</p> -<p> - "I have been waiting for you, sir," said Miss Wardour, "to propose we - should walk forward to meet the carriage, as the evening is so fine." -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur readily assented to this proposal, which suited the angry mood - in which he found himself; and having, agreeable to the established - custom in cases of pet, refused the refreshment of tea and coffee, he - tucked his daughter under his arm; and after taking a ceremonious leave - of the ladies, and a very dry one of Oldbuck—off he marched. -</p> -<p> - "I think Sir Arthur has got the black dog on his back again," said Miss - Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "Black dog!—black devil!—he's more absurd than womankind—What say you, - Lovel?—Why, the lad's gone too." -</p> -<p> - "He took his leave, uncle, while Miss Wardour was putting on her things; - but I don't think you observed him." -</p> -<p> - "The devil's in the people! This is all one gets by fussing and bustling, - and putting one's self out of one's way in order to give dinners, besides - all the charges they are put to!—O Seged, Emperor of Ethiopia!" said he, - taking up a cup of tea in the one hand, and a volume of the Rambler in - the other,—for it was his regular custom to read while he was eating or - drinking in presence of his sister, being a practice which served at once - to evince his contempt for the society of womankind, and his resolution - to lose no moment of instruction,—"O Seged, Emperor of Ethiopia! well - hast thou spoken—No man should presume to say, This shall be a day of - happiness." -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck proceeded in his studies for the best part of an hour, - uninterrupted by the ladies, who each, in profound silence, pursued some - female employment. At length, a light and modest tap was heard at the - parlour door. "Is that you, Caxon?—come in, come in, man." -</p> -<p> - The old man opened the door, and thrusting in his meagre face, thatched - with thin grey locks, and one sleeve of his white coat, said in a subdued - and mysterious tone of voice, "I was wanting to speak to you, sir." -</p> -<p> - "Come in then, you old fool, and say what you have got to say." -</p> -<p> - "I'll maybe frighten the ladies," said the ex-friseur. -</p> -<p> - "Frighten!" answered the Antiquary,—"what do you mean?—never mind the - ladies. Have you seen another ghaist at the Humlock-knowe?" -</p> -<p> - "Na, sir—it's no a ghaist this turn," replied Caxton;—"but I'm no easy - in my mind." -</p> -<p> - "Did you ever hear of any body that was?" answered Oldbuck;—"what reason - has an old battered powder-puff like you to be easy in your mind, more - than all the rest of the world besides?" -</p> -<p> - "It's no for mysell, sir; but it threatens an awfu' night; and Sir - Arthur, and Miss Wardour, poor thing"— -</p> -<p> - "Why, man, they must have met the carriage at the head of the loaning, or - thereabouts; they must be home long ago." -</p> -<p> - "Na, sir; they didna gang the road by the turnpike to meet the carriage, - they gaed by the sands." -</p> -<p> - The word operated like electricity on Oldbuck. "The sands!" he exclaimed; - "impossible!" -</p> -<p> - "Ou, sir, that's what I said to the gardener; but he says he saw them - turn down by the Mussel-craig. In troth, says I to him, an that be the - case, Davie, I am misdoubting"— -</p> -<p> - "An almanac! an almanac!" said Oldbuck, starting up in great alarm—"not - that bauble!" flinging away a little pocket almanac which his niece - offered him.—"Great God! my poor dear Miss Isabella!—Fetch me instantly - the Fairport Almanac."—It was brought, consulted, and added greatly to - his agitation. "I'll go myself—call the gardener and ploughman—bid them - bring ropes and ladders—bid them raise more help as they come - along—keep the top of the cliffs, and halloo down to them—I'll go myself." -</p> -<p> - "What is the matter?" inquired Miss Oldbuck and Miss M'Intyre. -</p> -<p> - "The tide!—the tide!" answered the alarmed Antiquary. -</p> -<p> - "Had not Jenny better—but no, I'll run myself," said the younger lady, - partaking in all her uncle's terrors—"I'll run myself to Saunders - Mucklebackit, and make him get out his boat." -</p> -<p> - "Thank you, my dear, that's the wisest word that has been spoken - yet—Run! run!—To go by the sands!" seizing his hat and cane; "was there - ever such madness heard of!" -</p> -<a name="2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER SEVENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - —Pleased awhile to view - The watery waste, the prospect wild and new; - The now receding waters gave them space, - On either side, the growing shores to trace - And then returning, they contract the scene, - Till small and smaller grows the walk between. - Crabbe. -</pre> -<p> - The information of Davie Dibble, which had spread such general alarm at - Monkbarns, proved to be strictly correct. Sir Arthur and his daughter had - set out, according to their first proposal, to return to Knockwinnock by - the turnpike road; but when they reached the head of the loaning, as it - was called, or great lane, which on one side made a sort of avenue to the - house of Monkbarns, they discerned, a little way before them, Lovel, who - seemed to linger on the way as if to give him an opportunity to join - them. Miss Wardour immediately proposed to her father that they should - take another direction; and, as the weather was fine, walk home by the - sands, which, stretching below a picturesque ridge of rocks, afforded at - almost all times a pleasanter passage between Knockwinnock and Monkbarns - than the high-road. -</p> -<a name="image-0006"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/pa082.jpg" height="502" width="783" -alt="Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<p> - Sir Arthur acquiesced willingly. "It would be unpleasant," he said, "to - be joined by that young fellow, whom Mr. Oldbuck had taken the freedom to - introduce them to." And his old-fashioned politeness had none of the ease - of the present day which permits you, if you have a mind, to <i>cut</i> the - person you have associated with for a week, the instant you feel or - suppose yourself in a situation which makes it disagreeable to own him. - Sir Arthur only stipulated, that a little ragged boy, for the guerdon of - one penny sterling, should run to meet his coachman, and turn his - equipage back to Knockwinnock. -</p> -<p> - When this was arranged, and the emissary despatched, the knight and his - daughter left the high-road, and following a wandering path among sandy - hillocks, partly grown over with furze and the long grass called bent, - soon attained the side of the ocean. The tide was by no means so far out - as they had computed but this gave them no alarm;—there were seldom ten - days in the year when it approached so near the cliffs as not to leave a - dry passage. But, nevertheless, at periods of spring-tide, or even when - the ordinary flood was accelerated by high winds, this road was - altogether covered by the sea; and tradition had recorded several fatal - accidents which had happened on such occasions. Still, such dangers were - considered as remote and improbable; and rather served, with other - legends, to amuse the hamlet fireside, than to prevent any one from going - between Knockwinnock and Monkbarns by the sands. -</p> -<p> - As Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour paced along, enjoying the pleasant footing - afforded by the cool moist hard sand, Miss Wardour could not help - observing that the last tide had risen considerably above the usual - water-mark. Sir Arthur made the same observation, but without its - occurring to either of them to be alarmed at the circumstance. The sun - was now resting his huge disk upon the edge of the level ocean, and - gilded the accumulation of towering clouds through which he had travelled - the livelong day, and which now assembled on all sides, like misfortunes - and disasters around a sinking empire and falling monarch. Still, - however, his dying splendour gave a sombre magnificence to the massive - congregation of vapours, forming out of their unsubstantial gloom the - show of pyramids and towers, some touched with gold, some with purple, - some with a hue of deep and dark red. The distant sea, stretched beneath - this varied and gorgeous canopy, lay almost portentously still, - reflecting back the dazzling and level beams of the descending luminary, - and the splendid colouring of the clouds amidst which he was setting. - Nearer to the beach the tide rippled onward in waves of sparkling silver, - that imperceptibly, yet rapidly, gained upon the sand. -</p> -<p> - With a mind employed in admiration of the romantic scene, or perhaps on - some more agitating topic, Miss Wardour advanced in silence by her - father's side, whose recently offended dignity did not stoop to open any - conversation. Following the windings of the beach, they passed one - projecting point of headland or rock after another, and now found - themselves under a huge and continued extent of the precipices by which - that iron-bound coast is in most places defended. Long projecting reefs - of rock, extending under water and only evincing their existence by here - and there a peak entirely bare, or by the breakers which foamed over - those that were partially covered, rendered Knockwinnock bay dreaded by - pilots and ship-masters. The crags which rose between the beach and the - mainland, to the height of two or three hundred feet, afforded in their - crevices shelter for unnumbered sea-fowl, in situations seemingly secured - by their dizzy height from the rapacity of man. Many of these wild - tribes, with the instinct which sends them to seek the land before a - storm arises, were now winging towards their nests with the shrill and - dissonant clang which announces disquietude and fear. The disk of the sun - became almost totally obscured ere he had altogether sunk below the - horizon, and an early and lurid shade of darkness blotted the serene - twilight of a summer evening. The wind began next to arise; but its wild - and moaning sound was heard for some time, and its effects became visible - on the bosom of the sea, before the gale was felt on shore. The mass of - waters, now dark and threatening, began to lift itself in larger ridges, - and sink in deeper furrows, forming waves that rose high in foam upon the - breakers, or burst upon the beach with a sound resembling distant - thunder. -</p> -<p> - Appalled by this sudden change of weather, Miss Wardour drew close to her - father, and held his arm fast. "I wish," at length she said, but almost - in a whisper, as if ashamed to express her increasing apprehensions, "I - wish we had kept the road we intended, or waited at Monkbarns for the - carriage." -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur looked round, but did not see, or would not acknowledge, any - signs of an immediate storm. They would reach Knockwinnock, he said, long - before the tempest began. But the speed with which he walked, and with - which Isabella could hardly keep pace, indicated a feeling that some - exertion was necessary to accomplish his consolatory prediction. -</p> -<p> - They were now near the centre of a deep but narrow bay or recess, formed - by two projecting capes of high and inaccessible rock, which shot out - into the sea like the horns of a crescent;—and neither durst communicate - the apprehension which each began to entertain, that, from the unusually - rapid advance of the tide, they might be deprived of the power of - proceeding by doubling the promontory which lay before them, or of - retreating by the road which brought them thither. -</p> -<p> - As they thus pressed forward, longing doubtless to exchange the easy - curving line, which the sinuosities of the bay compelled them to adopt, - for a straighter and more expeditious path, Sir Arthur observed a human - figure on the beach advancing to meet them. "Thank God," he exclaimed, - "we shall get round Halket-head!—that person must have passed it;" thus - giving vent to the feeling of hope, though he had suppressed that of - apprehension. -</p> -<p> - "Thank God, indeed!" echoed his daughter, half audibly, half internally, - as expressing the gratitude which she strongly felt. -</p> -<p> - The figure which advanced to meet them made many signs, which the haze of - the atmosphere, now disturbed by wind and by a drizzling rain, prevented - them from seeing or comprehending distinctly.—Some time before they met, - Sir Arthur could recognise the old blue-gowned beggar, Edie Ochiltree. It - is said that even the brute creation lay aside their animosities and - antipathies when pressed by an instant and common danger. The beach under - Halket-head, rapidly diminishing in extent by the encroachments of a - spring-tide and a north-west wind, was in like manner a neutral field, - where even a justice of peace and a strolling mendicant might meet upon - terms of mutual forbearance. -</p> -<p> - "Turn back! turn back!" exclaimed the vagrant; "why did ye not turn when - I waved to you?" -</p> -<p> - "We thought," replied Sir Arthur, in great agitation, "we thought we - could get round Halket-head." -</p> -<p> - "Halket-head!—the tide will be running on Halket-head by this time like - the Fall of Fyers!—it was a' I could do to get round it twenty minutes - since—it was coming in three feet abreast. We will maybe get back by - Bally-burgh Ness Point yet. The Lord help us!—it's our only chance. We - can but try." -</p> -<p> - "My God, my child!"—"My father! my dear father!" exclaimed the parent - and daughter, as, fear lending them strength and speed, they turned to - retrace their steps, and endeavoured to double the point, the projection - of which formed the southern extremity of the bay. -</p> -<p> - "I heard ye were here frae the bit callant ye sent to meet your - carriage," said the beggar, as he trudged stoutly on a step or two behind - Miss Wardour; "and I couldna bide to think o' the dainty young leddy's - peril, that has aye been kind to ilka forlorn heart that cam near her. - Sae I lookit at the lift and the rin o' the tide, till I settled it that - if I could get down time eneugh to gie you warning, we wad do weel yet. - But I doubt, I doubt, I have been beguiled! for what mortal ee ever saw - sic a race as the tide is risening e'en now? See, yonder's the Ratton's - Skerry—he aye held his neb abune the water in my day—but he's aneath it - now." -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur cast a look in the direction in which the old man pointed. A - huge rock, which in general, even in spring-tides, displayed a hulk like - the keel of a large vessel, was now quite under water, and its place only - indicated by the boiling and breaking of the eddying waves which - encountered its submarine resistance. -</p> -<p> - "Mak haste, mak haste, my bonny leddy," continued the old man—"mak - haste, and we may do yet! Take haud o' my arm—an auld and frail arm it's - now, but it's been in as sair stress as this is yet. Take haud o' my arm, - my winsome leddy! D'ye see yon wee black speck amang the wallowing waves - yonder? This morning it was as high as the mast o' a brig—it's sma' - eneugh now—but, while I see as muckle black about it as the crown o' my - hat, I winna believe but we'll get round the Ballyburgh Ness, for a' - that's come and gane yet." -</p> -<p> - Isabella, in silence, accepted from the old man the assistance which Sir - Arthur was less able to afford her. The waves had now encroached so much - upon the beach, that the firm and smooth footing which they had hitherto - had on the sand must be exchanged for a rougher path close to the foot of - the precipice, and in some places even raised upon its lower ledges. It - would have been utterly impossible for Sir Arthur Wardour, or his - daughter, to have found their way along these shelves without the - guidance and encouragement of the beggar, who had been there before in - high tides, though never, he acknowledged, "in sae awsome a night as - this." -</p> -<p> - It was indeed a dreadful evening. The howling of the storm mingled with - the shrieks of the sea-fowl, and sounded like the dirge of the three - devoted beings, who, pent between two of the most magnificent, yet most - dreadful objects of nature—a raging tide and an insurmountable - precipice—toiled along their painful and dangerous path, often lashed by - the spray of some giant billow, which threw itself higher on the beach - than those that had preceded it. Each minute did their enemy gain ground - perceptibly upon them! Still, however, loth to relinquish the last hopes - of life, they bent their eyes on the black rock pointed out by Ochiltree. - It was yet distinctly visible among the breakers, and continued to be so, - until they came to a turn in their precarious path, where an intervening - projection of rock hid it from their sight. Deprived of the view of the - beacon on which they had relied, they now experienced the double agony of - terror and suspense. They struggled forward, however; but, when they - arrived at the point from which they ought to have seen the crag, it was - no longer visible: the signal of safety was lost among a thousand white - breakers, which, dashing upon the point of the promontory, rose in - prodigious sheets of snowy foam, as high as the mast of a first-rate - man-of-war, against the dark brow of the precipice. -</p> -<p> - The countenance of the old man fell. Isabella gave a faint shriek, and, - "God have mercy upon us!" which her guide solemnly uttered, was piteously - echoed by Sir Arthur—"My child! my child!—to die such a death!" -</p> -<p> - "My father! my dear father!" his daughter exclaimed, clinging to - him—"and you too, who have lost your own life in endeavouring to save - ours!" -</p> -<p> - "That's not worth the counting," said the old man. "I hae lived to be - weary o' life; and here or yonder—at the back o' a dyke, in a wreath o' - snaw, or in the wame o' a wave, what signifies how the auld gaberlunzie - dies?" -</p> -<p> - "Good man," said Sir Arthur, "can you think of nothing?—of no - help?—I'll make you rich—I'll give you a farm—I'll"— -</p> -<p> - "Our riches will be soon equal," said the beggar, looking out upon the - strife of the waters—"they are sae already; for I hae nae land, and you - would give your fair bounds and barony for a square yard of rock that - would be dry for twal hours." -</p> -<p> - While they exchanged these words, they paused upon the highest ledge of - rock to which they could attain; for it seemed that any further attempt - to move forward could only serve to anticipate their fate. Here, then, - they were to await the sure though slow progress of the raging element, - something in the situation of the martyrs of the early church, who, - exposed by heathen tyrants to be slain by wild beasts, were compelled for - a time to witness the impatience and rage by which the animals were - agitated, while awaiting the signal for undoing their grates, and letting - them loose upon the victims. -</p> -<p> - Yet even this fearful pause gave Isabella time to collect the powers of a - mind naturally strong and courageous, and which rallied itself at this - terrible juncture. "Must we yield life," she said, "without a struggle? - Is there no path, however dreadful, by which we could climb the crag, or - at least attain some height above the tide, where we could remain till - morning, or till help comes? They must be aware of our situation, and - will raise the country to relieve us." -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur, who heard, but scarcely comprehended, his daughter's - question, turned, nevertheless, instinctively and eagerly to the old man, - as if their lives were in his gift. Ochiltree paused—"I was a bauld - craigsman," he said, "ance in my life, and mony a kittywake's and - lungie's nest hae I harried up amang thae very black rocks; but it's - lang, lang syne, and nae mortal could speel them without a rope—and if I - had ane, my ee-sight, and my footstep, and my hand-grip, hae a' failed - mony a day sinsyne—And then, how could I save <i>you?</i> But there was a - path here ance, though maybe, if we could see it, ye would rather bide - where we are—His name be praised!" he ejaculated suddenly, "there's ane - coming down the crag e'en now!"—Then, exalting his voice, he hilloa'd - out to the daring adventurer such instructions as his former practice, - and the remembrance of local circumstances, suddenly forced upon his - mind:—"Ye're right!—ye're right!—that gate—that gate!—fasten the - rope weel round Crummies-horn, that's the muckle black stane—cast twa - plies round it—that's it!—now, weize yoursell a wee easel-ward—a wee - mair yet to that ither stane—we ca'd it the Cat's-lug—there used to be - the root o' an aik tree there—that will do!—canny now, lad—canny - now—tak tent and tak time—Lord bless ye, tak time—Vera weel!—Now ye maun - get to Bessy's apron, that's the muckle braid flat blue stane—and then, - I think, wi' your help and the tow thegither, I'll win at ye, and then - we'll be able to get up the young leddy and Sir Arthur." -</p> -<p> - The adventurer, following the directions of old Edie, flung him down the - end of the rope, which he secured around Miss Wardour, wrapping her - previously in his own blue gown, to preserve her as much as possible from - injury. Then, availing himself of the rope, which was made fast at the - other end, he began to ascend the face of the crag—a most precarious and - dizzy undertaking, which, however, after one or two perilous escapes, - placed him safe on the broad flat stone beside our friend Lovel. Their - joint strength was able to raise Isabella to the place of safety which - they had attained. Lovel then descended in order to assist Sir Arthur, - around whom he adjusted the rope; and again mounting to their place of - refuge, with the assistance of old Ochiltree, and such aid as Sir Arthur - himself could afford, he raised himself beyond the reach of the billows. -</p> -<a name="image-0007"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/pa092.jpg" height="535" width="839" -alt="The Rescue of Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<p> - The sense of reprieve from approaching and apparently inevitable death, - had its usual effect. The father and daughter threw themselves into each - other's arms, kissed and wept for joy, although their escape was - connected with the prospect of passing a tempestuous night upon a - precipitous ledge of rock, which scarce afforded footing for the four - shivering beings, who now, like the sea-fowl around them, clung there in - hopes of some shelter from the devouring element which raged beneath. The - spray of the billows, which attained in fearful succession the foot of - the precipice, overflowing the beach on which they so lately stood, flew - as high as their place of temporary refuge; and the stunning sound with - which they dashed against the rocks beneath, seemed as if they still - demanded the fugitives in accents of thunder as their destined prey. It - was a summer night, doubtless; yet the probability was slender, that a - frame so delicate as that of Miss Wardour should survive till morning the - drenching of the spray; and the dashing of the rain, which now burst in - full violence, accompanied with deep and heavy gusts of wind, added to - the constrained and perilous circumstances of their situation. -</p> -<p> - "The lassie!—the puir sweet, lassie!" said the old man: "mony such a - night have I weathered at hame and abroad, but, God guide us, how can she - ever win through it!" -</p> -<p> - His apprehension was communicated in smothered accents to Lovel; for with - the sort of freemasonry by which bold and ready spirits correspond in - moments of danger, and become almost instinctively known to each other, - they had established a mutual confidence.—"I'll climb up the cliff - again," said Lovel—"there's daylight enough left to see my footing; I'll - climb up, and call for more assistance." -</p> -<p> - "Do so, do so, for Heaven's sake!" said Sir Arthur eagerly. -</p> -<p> - "Are ye mad?" said the mendicant: "Francie o' Fowlsheugh, and he was the - best craigsman that ever speel'd heugh (mair by token, he brake his neck - upon the Dunbuy of Slaines), wodna hae ventured upon the Halket-head - craigs after sun-down—It's God's grace, and a great wonder besides, that - ye are not in the middle o' that roaring sea wi' what ye hae done - already—I didna think there was the man left alive would hae come down - the craigs as ye did. I question an I could hae done it mysell, at this - hoar and in this weather, in the youngest and yaldest of my strength—But - to venture up again—it's a mere and a clear tempting o' Providence." -</p> -<p> - "I have no fear," answered Lovel; "I marked all the stations perfectly as - I came down, and there is still light enough left to see them quite - well—I am sure I can do it with perfect safety. Stay here, my good friend, by - Sir Arthur and the young lady." -</p> -<p> - "Dell be in my feet then," answered the bedesman sturdily; "if ye gang, - I'll gang too; for between the twa o' us, we'll hae mair than wark eneugh - to get to the tap o' the heugh." -</p> -<p> - "No, no—stay you here and attend to Miss Wardour—you see Sir Arthur is - quite exhausted." -</p> -<p> - "Stay yoursell then, and I'll gae," said the old man;—"let death spare - the green corn and take the ripe." -</p> -<p> - "Stay both of you, I charge you," said Isabella, faintly; "I am well, and - can spend the night very well here—I feel quite refreshed." So saying, - her voice failed her—she sunk down, and would have fallen from the crag, - had she not been supported by Lovel and Ochiltree, who placed her in a - posture half sitting, half reclining, beside her father, who, exhausted - by fatigue of body and mind so extreme and unusual, had already sat down - on a stone in a sort of stupor. -</p> -<p> - "It is impossible to leave them," said Lovel—"What is to be done?—Hark! - hark!—did I not hear a halloo?" -</p> -<p> - "The skreigh of a Tammie Norie," answered Ochiltree—"I ken the skirl - weel." -</p> -<p> - "No, by Heaven!" replied Lovel, "it was a human voice." -</p> -<p> - A distant hail was repeated, the sound plainly distinguishable among the - various elemental noises, and the clang of the sea-mews by which they - were surrounded. The mendicant and Lovel exerted their voices in a loud - halloo, the former waving Miss Wardour's handkerchief on the end of his - staff to make them conspicuous from above. Though the shouts were - repeated, it was some time before they were in exact response to their - own, leaving the unfortunate sufferers uncertain whether, in the - darkening twilight and increasing storm, they had made the persons who - apparently were traversing the verge of the precipice to bring them - assistance, sensible of the place in which they had found refuge. At - length their halloo was regularly and distinctly answered, and their - courage confirmed, by the assurance that they were within hearing, if not - within reach, of friendly assistance. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER EIGHTH. -</h2> -<pre> - There is a cliff, whose high and bending head - Looks fearfully on the confined deep; - Bring me but to the very brim of it, - And I'll repair the misery thou dost bear. - King Lear. -</pre> -<p> - The shout of human voices from above was soon augmented, and the gleam of - torches mingled with those lights of evening which still remained amidst - the darkness of the storm. Some attempt was made to hold communication - between the assistants above and the sufferers beneath, who were still - clinging to their precarious place of safety; but the howling of the - tempest limited their intercourse to cries as inarticulate as those of - the winged denizens of the crag, which shrieked in chorus, alarmed by the - reiterated sound of human voices, where they had seldom been heard. -</p> -<p> - On the verge of the precipice an anxious group had now assembled. Oldbuck - was the foremost and most earnest, pressing forward with unwonted - desperation to the very brink of the crag, and extending his head (his - hat and wig secured by a handkerchief under his chin) over the dizzy - height, with an air of determination which made his more timorous - assistants tremble. -</p> -<p> - "Haud a care, haud a care, Monkbarns!" cried Caxon, clinging to the - skirts of his patron, and withholding him from danger as far as his - strength permitted—"God's sake, haud a care!—Sir Arthur's drowned - already, and an ye fa' over the cleugh too, there will be but ae wig left - in the parish, and that's the minister's." -</p> -<p> - "Mind the peak there," cried Mucklebackit, an old fisherman and - smuggler—"mind the peak—Steenie, Steenie Wilks, bring up the tackle—I'se - warrant we'll sune heave them on board, Monkbarns, wad ye but stand out - o' the gate." -</p> -<p> - "I see them," said Oldbuck—"I see them low down on that flat - stone—Hilli-hilloa, hilli-ho-a!" -</p> -<p> - "I see them mysell weel eneugh," said Mucklebackit; "they are sitting - down yonder like hoodie-craws in a mist; but d'yo think ye'll help them - wi' skirling that gate like an auld skart before a flaw o' - weather?—Steenie, lad, bring up the mast—Od, I'se hae them up as we used to - bouse up the kegs o' gin and brandy lang syne—Get up the pickaxe, make - a step for the mast—make the chair fast with the rattlin—haul taught - and belay!" -</p> -<p> - The fishers had brought with them the mast of a boat, and as half of the - country fellows about had now appeared, either out of zeal or curiosity, - it was soon sunk in the ground, and sufficiently secured. A yard across - the upright mast, and a rope stretched along it, and reeved through a - block at each end, formed an extempore crane, which afforded the means of - lowering an arm-chair, well secured and fastened, down to the flat shelf - on which the sufferers had roosted. Their joy at hearing the preparations - going on for their deliverance was considerably qualified when they - beheld the precarious vehicle by means of which they were to be conveyed - to upper air. It swung about a yard free of the spot which they occupied, - obeying each impulse of the tempest, the empty air all around it, and - depending upon the security of a rope, which, in the increasing darkness, - had dwindled to an almost imperceptible thread. Besides the hazard of - committing a human being to the vacant atmosphere in such a slight means - of conveyance, there was the fearful danger of the chair and its occupant - being dashed, either by the wind or the vibrations of the cord, against - the rugged face of the precipice. But to diminish the risk as much as - possible, the experienced seaman had let down with the chair another - line, which, being attached to it, and held by the persons beneath, might - serve by way of <i>gy,</i> as Mucklebackit expressed it, to render its descent - in some measure steady and regular. Still, to commit one's self in such a - vehicle, through a howling tempest of wind and rain, with a beetling - precipice above and a raging abyss below, required that courage which - despair alone can inspire. Yet, wild as the sounds and sights of danger - were, both above, beneath, and around, and doubtful and dangerous as the - mode of escaping appeared to be, Lovel and the old mendicant agreed, - after a moment's consultation, and after the former, by a sudden strong - pull, had, at his own imminent risk, ascertained the security of the - rope, that it would be best to secure Miss Wardour in the chair, and - trust to the tenderness and care of those above for her being safely - craned up to the top of the crag. -</p> -<p> - "Let my father go first," exclaimed Isabella; "for God's sake, my - friends, place him first in safety!" -</p> -<p> - "It cannot be, Miss Wardour," said Lovel;—"your life must be first - secured—the rope which bears your weight may"— -</p> -<p> - "I will not listen to a reason so selfish!" -</p> -<p> - "But ye maun listen to it, my bonnie lassie," said Ochiltree, "for a' our - lives depend on it—besides, when ye get on the tap o' the heugh yonder, - ye can gie them a round guess o' what's ganging on in this Patmos o' - ours—and Sir Arthur's far by that, as I'm thinking." -</p> -<p> - Struck with the truth of this reasoning, she exclaimed, "True, most true; - I am ready and willing to undertake the first risk—What shall I say to - our friends above?" -</p> -<p> - "Just to look that their tackle does not graze on the face o' the crag, - and to let the chair down and draw it up hooly and fairly;—we will - halloo when we are ready." -</p> -<p> - With the sedulous attention of a parent to a child, Lovel bound Miss - Wardour with his handkerchief, neckcloth, and the mendicant's leathern - belt, to the back and arms of the chair, ascertaining accurately the - security of each knot, while Ochiltree kept Sir Arthur quiet. "What are - ye doing wi' my bairn?—what are ye doing?—She shall not be separated - from me—Isabel, stay with me, I command you!" -</p> -<p> - "Lordsake, Sir Arthur, haud your tongue, and be thankful to God that - there's wiser folk than you to manage this job," cried the beggar, worn - out by the unreasonable exclamations of the poor Baronet. -</p> -<p> - "Farewell, my father!" murmured Isabella—"farewell, my—my friends!" and - shutting her eyes, as Edie's experience recommended, she gave the signal - to Lovel, and he to those who were above. She rose, while the chair in - which she sate was kept steady by the line which Lovel managed beneath. - With a beating heart he watched the flutter of her white dress, until the - vehicle was on a level with the brink of the precipice. -</p> -<p> - "Canny now, lads, canny now!" exclaimed old Mucklebackit, who acted as - commodore; "swerve the yard a bit—Now—there! there she sits safe on dry - land." -</p> -<p> - A loud shout announced the successful experiment to her fellow-sufferers - beneath, who replied with a ready and cheerful halloo. Monkbarns, in his - ecstasy of joy, stripped his great-coat to wrap up the young lady, and - would have pulled off his coat and waistcoat for the same purpose, had he - not been withheld by the cautious Caxon. "Haud a care o' us! your honour - will be killed wi' the hoast—ye'll no get out o'your night-cowl this - fortnight—and that will suit us unco ill.—Na, na—there's the chariot - down by; let twa o' the folk carry the young leddy there." -</p> -<p> - "You're right," said the Antiquary, readjusting the sleeves and collar of - his coat, "you're right, Caxon; this is a naughty night to swim in.—Miss - Wardour, let me convey you to the chariot." -</p> -<p> - "Not for worlds till I see my father safe." -</p> -<p> - In a few distinct words, evincing how much her resolution had surmounted - even the mortal fear of so agitating a hazard, she explained the nature - of the situation beneath, and the wishes of Lovel and Ochiltree. -</p> -<p> - "Right, right, that's right too—I should like to see the son of Sir - Gamelyn de Guardover on dry land myself—I have a notion he would sign - the abjuration oath, and the Ragman-roll to boot, and acknowledge Queen - Mary to be nothing better than she should be, to get alongside my bottle - of old port that he ran away from, and left scarce begun. But he's safe - now, and here a' comes"—(for the chair was again lowered, and Sir Arthur - made fast in it, without much consciousness on his own part)—"here a' - comes—Bowse away, my boys! canny wi' him—a pedigree of a hundred links - is hanging on a tenpenny tow—the whole barony of Knockwinnock depends on - three plies of hemp—<i>respice finem, respice funem</i>—look to your - end—look to a rope's end.—Welcome, welcome, my good old friend, to firm - land, though I cannot say to warm land or to dry land. A cord for ever - against fifty fathom of water, though not in the sense of the base - proverb—a fico for the phrase,—better <i>sus. per funem,</i> than <i>sus. per - coll.</i>" -</p> -<p> - While Oldbuck ran on in this way, Sir Arthur was safely wrapped in the - close embraces of his daughter, who, assuming that authority which the - circumstances demanded, ordered some of the assistants to convey him to - the chariot, promising to follow in a few minutes, She lingered on the - cliff, holding an old countryman's arm, to witness probably the safety of - those whose dangers she had shared. -</p> -<p> - "What have we here?" said Oldbuck, as the vehicle once more - ascended—"what patched and weather-beaten matter is this?" Then as the torches - illumed the rough face and grey hairs of old Ochiltree,—"What! is it - thou?—Come, old Mocker, I must needs be friends with thee—but who the - devil makes up your party besides?" -</p> -<p> - "Ane that's weel worth ony twa o' us, Monkbarns;—it's the young stranger - lad they ca' Lovel—and he's behaved this blessed night as if he had - three lives to rely on, and was willing to waste them a' rather than - endanger ither folk's. Ca' hooly, sirs, as ye, wad win an auld man's - blessing!—mind there's naebody below now to haud the gy—Hae a care o' - the Cat's-lug corner—bide weel aff Crummie's-horn!" -</p> -<p> - "Have a care indeed," echoed Oldbuck. "What! is it my <i>rara avis</i>—my - black swan—my phoenix of companions in a post-chaise?—take care of - him, Mucklebackit." -</p> -<p> - "As muckle care as if he were a graybeard o' brandy; and I canna take - mair if his hair were like John Harlowe's.—Yo ho, my hearts! bowse away - with him!" -</p> -<p> - Lovel did, in fact, run a much greater risk than any of his precursors. - His weight was not sufficient to render his ascent steady amid such a - storm of wind, and he swung like an agitated pendulum at the mortal risk - of being dashed against the rocks. But he was young, bold, and active, - and, with the assistance of the beggar's stout piked staff, which he had - retained by advice of the proprietor, contrived to bear himself from the - face of the precipice, and the yet more hazardous projecting cliffs which - varied its surface. Tossed in empty space, like an idle and unsubstantial - feather, with a motion that agitated the brain at once with fear and with - dizziness, he retained his alertness of exertion and presence of mind; - and it was not until he was safely grounded upon the summit of the cliff, - that he felt temporary and giddy sickness. As he recovered from a sort of - half swoon, he cast his eyes eagerly around. The object which they would - most willingly have sought, was already in the act of vanishing. Her - white garment was just discernible as she followed on the path which her - father had taken. She had lingered till she saw the last of their company - rescued from danger, and until she had been assured by the hoarse voice - of Mucklebackit, that "the callant had come off wi' unbrizzed banes, and - that he was but in a kind of dwam." But Lovel was not aware that she had - expressed in his fate even this degree of interest,—which, though - nothing more than was due to a stranger who had assisted her in such an - hour of peril, he would have gladly purchased by braving even more - imminent danger than he had that evening been exposed to. The beggar she - had already commanded to come to Knockwinnock that night. He made an - excuse.—"Then to-morrow let me see you." -</p> -<p> - The old man promised to obey. Oldbuck thrust something into his - hand—Ochiltree looked at it by the torchlight, and returned it—"Na, na! I - never tak gowd—besides, Monkbarns, ye wad maybe be rueing it the morn." - Then turning to the group of fishermen and peasants—"Now, sirs, wha will - gie me a supper and some clean pease-strae?" -</p> -<p> - "I," "and I," "and I," answered many a ready voice. -</p> -<p> - "Aweel, since sae it is, and I can only sleep in ae barn at ance, I'll - gae down with Saunders Mucklebackit—he has aye a soup o' something - comfortable about his begging—and, bairns, I'll maybe live to put ilka - ane o' ye in mind some ither night that ye hae promised me quarters and - my awmous;" and away he went with the fisherman. -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck laid the band of strong possession on Lovel—"Deil a stride ye's - go to Fairport this night, young man—you must go home with me to - Monkbarns. Why, man, you have been a hero—a perfect Sir William Wallace, - by all accounts. Come, my good lad, take hold of my arm;—I am not a - prime support in such a wind—but Caxon shall help us out—Here, you old - idiot, come on the other side of me.—And how the deil got you down to - that infernal Bessy's-apron, as they call it? Bess, said they? Why, curse - her, she has spread out that vile pennon or banner of womankind, like all - the rest of her sex, to allure her votaries to death and headlong ruin." -</p> -<p> - "I have been pretty well accustomed to climbing, and I have long observed - fowlers practise that pass down the cliff." -</p> -<p> - "But how, in the name of all that is wonderful, came you to discover the - danger of the pettish Baronet and his far more deserving daughter?" -</p> -<p> - "I saw them from the verge of the precipice." -</p> -<p> - "From the verge!—umph—And what possessed you <i>dumosa pendere procul de - rupe?</i>—though <i>dumosa</i> is not the appropriate epithet—what the deil, - man, tempted ye to the verge of the craig?" -</p> -<p> - "Why—I like to see the gathering and growling of a coming storm—or, in - your own classical language, Mr. Oldbuck, <i>suave mari magno</i>—and so - forth—but here we reach the turn to Fairport. I must wish you - good-night." -</p> -<p> - "Not a step, not a pace, not an inch, not a shathmont, as I may say,—the - meaning of which word has puzzled many that think themselves antiquaries. - I am clear we should read <i>salmon-length</i> for <i>shathmont's-length.</i> You - are aware that the space allotted for the passage of a salmon through a - dam, dike, or weir, by statute, is the length within which a full-grown - pig can turn himself round. Now I have a scheme to prove, that, as - terrestrial objects were thus appealed to for ascertaining submarine - measurement, so it must be supposed that the productions of the water - were established as gauges of the extent of land.—Shathmont—salmont—you see the close alliance of the sounds; dropping out two <i>h</i>'s, and a - <i>t,</i> and assuming an <i>l,</i> makes the whole difference—I wish to heaven no - antiquarian derivation had demanded heavier concessions." -</p> -<p> - "But, my dear sir, I really must go home—I am wet to the skin." -</p> -<p> - "Shalt have my night-gown, man, and slippers, and catch the antiquarian - fever as men do the plague, by wearing infected garments. Nay, I know - what you would be at—you are afraid to put the old bachelor to charges. - But is there not the remains of that glorious chicken-pie—which, <i>meo - arbitrio,</i> is better cold than hot—and that bottle of my oldest port, - out of which the silly brain-sick Baronet (whom I cannot pardon, since he - has escaped breaking his neck) had just taken one glass, when his infirm - noddle went a wool-gathering after Gamelyn de Guardover?" -</p> -<p> - So saying he dragged Lovel forward, till the Palmer's-port of Monkbarns - received them. Never, perhaps, had it admitted two pedestrians more - needing rest for Monkbarns's fatigue had been in a degree very contrary - to his usual habits, and his more young and robust companion had that - evening undergone agitation of mind which had harassed and wearied him - even more than his extraordinary exertions of body. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER NINTH. -</h2> -<pre> - "Be brave," she cried, "you yet may be our guest, - Our haunted room was ever held the best. - If, then, your valour can the sight sustain - Of rustling curtains and the clinking chain - If your courageous tongue have powers to talk, - When round your bed the horrid ghost shall walk - If you dare ask it why it leaves its tomb, - I'll see your sheets well air'd, and show the Room." - True Story. -</pre> -<p> - They reached the room in which they had dined, and were clamorously - welcomed by Miss Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "Where's the younger womankind?" said the Antiquary. -</p> -<p> - "Indeed, brother, amang a' the steery, Maria wadna be guided by me she - set away to the Halket-craig-head—I wonder ye didna see her." -</p> -<p> - "Eh!—what—what's that you say, sister?—did the girl go out in a night - like this to the Halket-head?—Good God! the misery of the night is not - ended yet!" -</p> -<p> - "But ye winna wait, Monkbarns—ye are so imperative and impatient"— -</p> -<p> - "Tittle-tattle, woman," said the impatient and agitated Antiquary, "where - is my dear Mary?" -</p> -<p> - "Just where ye suld be yoursell, Monkbarns—up-stairs, and in her warm - bed." -</p> -<p> - "I could have sworn it," said Oldbuck laughing, but obviously much - relieved—"I could have sworn it;—the lazy monkey did not care if we - were all drowned together. Why did you say she went out?" -</p> -<p> - "But ye wadna wait to hear out my tale, Monkbarns—she gaed out, and she - came in again with the gardener sae sune as she saw that nane o' ye were - clodded ower the Craig, and that Miss Wardour was safe in the chariot; - she was hame a quarter of an hour syne, for it's now ganging ten—sair - droukit was she, puir thing, sae I e'en put a glass o' sherry in her - water-gruel." -</p> -<p> - "Right, Grizel, right—let womankind alone for coddling each other. But - hear me, my venerable sister—start not at the word venerable; it implies - many praiseworthy qualities besides age; though that too is honourable, - albeit it is the last quality for which womankind would wish to be - honoured—But perpend my words: let Lovel and me have forthwith the - relics of the chicken-pie, and the reversion of the port." -</p> -<p> - "The chicken-pie! the port!—ou dear! brother—there was but a wheen - banes, and scarce a drap o' the wine." -</p> -<p> - The Antiquary's countenance became clouded, though he was too well bred - to give way, in the presence of a stranger, to his displeased surprise at - the disappearance of the viands on which he had reckoned with absolute - certainty. But his sister understood these looks of ire. "Ou dear! - Monkbarns, what's the use of making a wark?" -</p> -<p> - "I make no wark, as ye call it, woman." -</p> -<p> - "But what's the use o' looking sae glum and glunch about a pickle - banes?—an ye will hae the truth, ye maun ken the minister came in, worthy - man—sair distressed he was, nae doubt, about your precarious situation, as - he ca'd it (for ye ken how weel he's gifted wi' words), and here he wad - bide till he could hear wi' certainty how the matter was likely to gang - wi' ye a'—He said fine things on the duty of resignation to Providence's - will, worthy man! that did he." -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck replied, catching the same tone, "Worthy man!—he cared not how - soon Monkbarns had devolved on an heir-female, I've a notion;—and while - he was occupied in this Christian office of consolation against impending - evil, I reckon that the chicken-pie and my good port disappeared?" -</p> -<p> - "Dear brother, how can you speak of sic frivolities, when you have had - sic an escape from the craig?" -</p> -<p> - "Better than my supper has had from the minister's <i>craig,</i> Grizzle—it's - all discussed, I suppose?" -</p> -<p> - "Hout, Monkbarns, ye speak as if there was nae mair meat in the - house—wad ye not have had me offer the honest man some slight refreshment - after his walk frae the manse?" -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck half-whistled, half-hummed, the end of the old Scottish ditty, -</p> -<pre> - O, first they eated the white puddings, - And then they eated the black, O, - And thought the gudeman unto himsell, - The deil clink down wi' that, O! -</pre> -<p> - His sister hastened to silence his murmurs, by proposing some of the - relies of the dinner. He spoke of another bottle of wine, but recommended - in preference a glass of brandy which was really excellent. As no - entreaties could prevail on Lovel to indue the velvet night-cap and - branched morning-gown of his host, Oldbuck, who pretended to a little - knowledge of the medical art, insisted on his going to bed as soon as - possible, and proposed to despatch a messenger (the indefatigable Caxon) - to Fairport early in the morning, to procure him a change of clothes. -</p> -<p> - This was the first intimation Miss Oldbuck had received that the young - stranger was to be their guest for the night; and such was the surprise - with which she was struck by a proposal so uncommon, that, had the - superincumbent weight of her head-dress, such as we before described, - been less preponderant, her grey locks must have started up on end, and - hurled it from its position. -</p> -<p> - "Lord haud a care o' us!" exclaimed the astounded maiden. -</p> -<p> - "What's the matter now, Grizel?" -</p> -<p> - "Wad ye but just speak a moment, Monkbarns?" -</p> -<p> - "Speak!—what should I speak about? I want to get to my bed—and this - poor young fellow—let a bed be made ready for him instantly." -</p> -<p> - "A bed?—The Lord preserve us!" again ejaculated Grizel. -</p> -<p> - "Why, what's the matter now?—are there not beds and rooms enough in the - house?—was it not an ancient <i>hospitium,</i> in which, I am warranted to - say, beds were nightly made down for a score of pilgrims?" -</p> -<p> - "O dear, Monkbarns! wha kens what they might do lang syne?—but in our - time—beds—ay, troth, there's beds enow sic as they are—and rooms enow - too—but ye ken yoursell the beds haena been sleepit in, Lord kens the - time, nor the rooms aired.—If I had kenn'd, Mary and me might hae gaen - down to the manse—Miss Beckie is aye fond to see us—(and sae is the - minister, brother)—But now, gude save us!"— -</p> -<p> - "Is there not the Green Room, Grizel?" -</p> -<p> - "Troth is there, and it is in decent order too, though naebody has - sleepit there since Dr. Heavysterne, and"— -</p> -<p> - "And what?" -</p> -<p> - "And what! I am sure ye ken yoursell what a night he had—ye wadna expose - the young gentleman to the like o' that, wad ye?" -</p> -<p> - Lovel interfered upon hearing this altercation, and protested he would - far rather walk home than put them to the least inconvenience—that the - exercise would be of service to him—that he knew the road perfectly, by - night or day, to Fairport—that the storm was abating, and so - forth—adding all that civility could suggest as an excuse for escaping from - a hospitality which seemed more inconvenient to his host than he could - possibly have anticipated. But the howling of the wind, and the pattering - of the rain against the windows, with his knowledge of the preceding - fatigues of the evening, must have prohibited Oldbuck, even had he - entertained less regard for his young friend than he really felt, from - permitting him to depart. Besides, he was piqued in honour to show that - he himself was not governed by womankind—"Sit ye down, sit ye down, sit - ye down, man," he reiterated;—"an ye part so, I would I might never draw - a cork again, and here comes out one from a prime bottle of—strong - ale—right <i>anno domini</i>—none of your Wassia Quassia decoctions, but brewed - of Monkbarns barley—John of the Girnel never drew a better flagon to - entertain a wandering minstrel, or palmer, with the freshest news from - Palestine.—And to remove from your mind the slightest wish to depart, - know, that if you do so, your character as a gallant knight is gone for - ever. Why, 'tis an adventure, man, to sleep in the Green Room at - Monkbarns.—Sister, pray see it got ready—And, although the bold - adventurer, Heavysterne, dree'd pain and dolour in that charmed - apartment, it is no reason why a gallant knight like you, nearly twice as - tall, and not half so heavy, should not encounter and break the spell." -</p> -<p> - "What! a haunted apartment, I suppose?" -</p> -<p> - "To be sure, to be sure—every mansion in this country of the slightest - antiquity has its ghosts and its haunted chamber, and you must not - suppose us worse off than our neighbours. They are going, indeed, - somewhat out of fashion. I have seen the day, when if you had doubted the - reality of a ghost in an old manor-house you ran the risk of being made a - ghost yourself, as Hamlet says.—Yes, if you had challenged the existence - of Redcowl in the Castle of Glenstirym, old Sir Peter Pepperbrand would - have had ye out to his court-yard, made you betake yourself to your - weapon, and if your trick of fence were not the better, would have - sticked you like a paddock, on his own baronial midden-stead. I once - narrowly escaped such an affray—but I humbled myself, and apologised to - Redcowl; for, even in my younger days, I was no friend to the - <i>monomachia,</i> or duel, and would rather walk with Sir Priest than with - Sir Knight—I care not who knows so much of my valour. Thank God, I am - old now, and can indulge my irritabilities without the necessity of - supporting them by cold steel." -</p> -<p> - Here Miss Oldbuck re-entered, with a singularly sage expression of - countenance.—"Mr. Lovel's bed's ready, brother—clean sheets—weel - aired—a spunk of fire in the chimney—I am sure, Mr. Lovel," (addressing - him), "it's no for the trouble—and I hope you will have a good night's - rest—But"— -</p> -<p> - "You are resolved," said the Antiquary, "to do what you can to prevent - it." -</p> -<p> - "Me?—I am sure I have said naething, Monkbarns." -</p> -<p> -"My dear madam," said Lovel, "allow me to ask you the meaning of your -obliging anxiety on my account." -</p> -<p> - "Ou, Monkbarns does not like to hear of it—but he kens himsell that the -room has an ill name. It's weel minded that it was there auld Rab Tull -the town-clerk was sleeping when he had that marvellous communication -about the grand law-plea between us and the feuars at the Mussel-craig. -—It had cost a hantle siller, Mr. Lovel; for law-pleas were no carried on -without siller lang syne mair than they are now—and the Monkbarns of -that day—our gudesire, Mr. Lovel, as I said before—was like to be -waured afore the Session for want of a paper—Monkbarns there kens weel -what paper it was, but I'se warrant he'll no help me out wi' my tale—but -it was a paper of great significance to the plea, and we were to be -waured for want o't. Aweel, the cause was to come on before the fifteen—in presence, as they ca't—and auld Rab Tull, the town-clerk, he cam ower -to make a last search for the paper that was wanting, before our gudesire -gaed into Edinburgh to look after his plea—so there was little time to -come and gang on. He was but a doited snuffy body, Rab, as I've heard -—but then he was the town-clerk of Fairport, and the Monkbarns heritors -aye employed him on account of their connection wi' the burgh, ye ken." -</p> -<p> - "Sister Grizel, this is abominable," interrupted Oldbuck; "I vow to - Heaven ye might have raised the ghosts of every abbot of Trotcosey, since - the days of Waldimir, in the time you have been detailing the - introduction to this single spectre.—Learn to be succinct in your - narrative.—Imitate the concise style of old Aubrey, an experienced - ghost-seer, who entered his memoranda on these subjects in a terse - business-like manner; <i>exempli gratia</i>—At Cirencester, 5th March, 1670, - was an apparition.—Being demanded whether good spirit or bad, made no - answer, but instantly disappeared with a curious perfume, and a melodious - twang'—<i>Vide</i> his Miscellanies, p. eighteen, as well as I can remember, - and near the middle of the page." -</p> -<p> - "O, Monkbarns, man! do ye think everybody is as book-learned as - yoursell?—But ye like to gar folk look like fools—ye can do that to Sir - Arthur, and the minister his very sell." -</p> -<p> - "Nature has been beforehand with me, Grizel, in both these instances, and - in another which shall be nameless—but take a glass of ale, Grizel, and - proceed with your story, for it waxes late." -</p> -<p> - "Jenny's just warming your bed, Monkbarns, and ye maun e'en wait till - she's done.—Weel, I was at the search that our gudesire, Monkbarns that - then was, made wi' auld Rab Tull's assistance;—but ne'er-be-licket could - they find that was to their purpose. And sae after they had touzled out - mony a leather poke-full o' papers, the town-clerk had his drap punch at - e'en to wash the dust out of his throat—we never were glass-breakers in - this house, Mr. Lovel, but the body had got sic a trick of sippling and - tippling wi' the bailies and deacons when they met (which was amaist ilka - night) concerning the common gude o' the burgh, that he couldna weel - sleep without it—But his punch he gat, and to bed he gaed; and in the - middle of the night he got a fearfu' wakening!—he was never just himsell - after it, and he was strucken wi' the dead palsy that very day four - years. He thought, Mr. Lovel, that he heard the curtains o' his bed - fissil, and out he lookit, fancying, puir man, it might hae been the - cat—But he saw—God hae a care o' us! it gars my flesh aye creep, though I - hae tauld the story twenty times—he saw a weel-fa'ard auld gentleman - standing by his bedside, in the moonlight, in a queer-fashioned dress, - wi' mony a button and band-string about it, and that part o' his garments - which it does not become a leddy to particulareeze, was baith side and - wide, and as mony plies o't as of ony Hamburgh skipper's—He had a beard - too, and whiskers turned upwards on his upper-lip, as lang as - baudrons'—and mony mair particulars there were that Rab Tull tauld o', but they are - forgotten now—it's an auld story. Aweel, Rab was a just-living man for a - country writer—and he was less feared than maybe might just hae been - expected; and he asked in the name o' goodness what the apparition - wanted—and the spirit answered in an unknown tongue. Then Rab said he - tried him wi' Erse, for he cam in his youth frae the braes of - Glenlivat—but it wadna do. Aweel, in this strait, he bethought him of the twa or - three words o' Latin that he used in making out the town's deeds, and he - had nae sooner tried the spirit wi' that, than out cam sic a blatter o' - Latin about his lugs, that poor Rab Tull, wha was nae great scholar, was - clean overwhelmed. Od, but he was a bauld body, and he minded the Latin - name for the deed that he was wanting. It was something about a cart, I - fancy, for the ghaist cried aye, <i>Carter, carter</i>—" -</p> -<p> - "<i>Carta,</i> you transformer of languages!" cried Oldbuck;—"if my ancestor - had learned no other language in the other world, at least he would not - forget the Latinity for which he was so famous while in this." -</p> -<p> - "Weel, weel, <i>carta</i> be it then, but they ca'd it <i>carter</i> that tell'd me - the story. It cried aye <i>carta,</i> if sae be that it was <i>carta,</i> and made - a sign to Rab to follow it. Rab Tull keepit a Highland heart, and banged - out o' bed, and till some of his readiest claes—and he did follow the - thing up stairs and down stairs to the place we ca' the high dow-cot—(a - sort of a little tower in the corner of the auld house, where there was a - Rickle o' useless boxes and trunks)—and there the ghaist gae Rab a kick - wi' the tae foot, and a kick wi' the tother, to that very auld - east-country tabernacle of a cabinet that my brother has standing beside - his library table, and then disappeared like a fuff o' tobacco, leaving - Rab in a very pitiful condition." -</p> -<p> - "<i>Tenues secessit in auras,</i>" quoth Oldbuck. "Marry, sir, <i>mansit - odor</i>—But, sure enough, the deed was there found in a drawer of this forgotten - repository, which contained many other curious old papers, now properly - labelled and arranged, and which seemed to have belonged to my ancestor, - the first possessor of Monkbarns. The deed, thus strangely recovered, was - the original Charter of Erection of the Abbey, Abbey Lands, and so forth, - of Trotcosey, comprehending Monkbarns and others, into a Lordship of - Regality in favour of the first Earl of Glengibber, a favourite of James - the Sixth. It is subscribed by the King at Westminster, the seventeenth - day of January, A. D. one thousand six hundred and twelve—thirteen. It's - not worth while to repeat the witnesses' names." -</p> -<p> - "I would rather," said Lovel with awakened curiosity, "I would rather - hear your opinion of the way in which the deed was discovered." -</p> -<p> - "Why, if I wanted a patron for my legend, I could find no less a one than - Saint Augustine, who tells the story of a deceased person appearing to - his son, when sued for a debt which had been paid, and directing him - where, to find the discharge.* -</p> -<p> - *Note D. Mr. Rutherford's dream. -</p> -<p> - But I rather opine with Lord Bacon, who says that imagination is much - akin to miracle-working faith. There was always some idle story of the - room being haunted by the spirit of Aldobrand Oldenbuck, my - great-great-great-grandfather—it's a shame to the English language that, - we have not a less clumsy way of expressing a relationship of which we - have occasion to think and speak so frequently. He was a foreigner, and - wore his national dress, of which tradition had preserved an accurate - description; and indeed there is a print of him, supposed to be by - Reginald Elstracke, pulling the press with his own hand, as it works off - the sheets of his scarce edition of the Augsburg Confession. He was a - chemist as well as a good mechanic, and either of these qualities in this - country was at that time sufficient to constitute a white witch at least. - This superstitious old writer had heard all this, and probably believed - it, and in his sleep the image and idea of my ancestor recalled that of - his cabinet, which, with the grateful attention to antiquities and the - memory of our ancestors not unusually met with, had been pushed into the - pigeon-house to be out of the way—Add a <i>quantum sufficit</i> of - exaggeration, and you have a key to the whole mystery." -</p> -<p> - "O brother! brother! but Dr. Heavysterne, brother—whose sleep was so - sore broken, that he declared he wadna pass another night in the Green - Room to get all Monkbarns, so that Mary and I were forced to yield our"— -</p> -<p> - "Why, Grizel, the doctor is a good, honest, pudding-headed German, of - much merit in his own way, but fond of the mystical, like many of his - countrymen. You and he had a traffic the whole evening in which you - received tales of Mesmer, Shropfer, Cagliostro, and other modern - pretenders to the mystery of raising spirits, discovering hidden - treasure, and so forth, in exchange for your legends of the green - bedchamber;—and considering that the <i>Illustrissimus</i> ate a pound and a - half of Scotch collops to supper, smoked six pipes, and drank ale and - brandy in proportion, I am not surprised at his having a fit of the - night-mare. But everything is now ready. Permit me to light you to your - apartment, Mr. Lovel—I am sure you have need of rest—and I trust my - ancestor is too sensible of the duties of hospitality to interfere with - the repose which you have so well merited by your manly and gallant - behaviour." -</p> -<p> - So saying, the Antiquary took up a bedroom candlestick of massive silver - and antique form, which, he observed, was wrought out of the silver found - in the mines of the Harz mountains, and had been the property of the very - personage who had supplied them with a subject for conversation. And - having so said, he led the way through many a dusky and winding passage, - now ascending, and anon descending again, until he came to the apartment - destined for his young guest. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER TENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - When midnight o'er the moonless skies - Her pall of transient death has spread, - When mortals sleep, when spectres rise, - And none are wakeful but the dead; - No bloodless shape my way pursues, - No sheeted ghost my couch annoys, - Visions more sad my fancy views,— - Visions of long departed joys. - W. R. Spenser. -</pre> -<p> - When they reached the Green Room, as it was called, Oldbuck placed the - candle on the toilet table, before a huge mirror with a black japanned - frame, surrounded by dressing-boxes of the same, and looked around him - with something of a disturbed expression of countenance. "I am seldom in - this apartment," he said, "and never without yielding to a melancholy - feeling—not, of course, on account of the childish nonsense that Grizel - was telling you, but owing to circumstances of an early and unhappy - attachment. It is at such moments as these, Mr. Lovel, that we feel the - changes of time. The same objects are before us—those inanimate things - which we have gazed on in wayward infancy and impetuous youth, in anxious - and scheming manhood—they are permanent and the same; but when we look - upon them in cold unfeeling old age, can we, changed in our temper, our - pursuits, our feelings—changed in our form, our limbs, and our - strength,—can we be ourselves called the same? or do we not rather look - back with a sort of wonder upon our former selves, as being separate and - distinct from what we now are? The philosopher who appealed from Philip - inflamed with wine to Philip in his hours of sobriety, did not choose a - judge so different, as if he had appealed from Philip in his youth to - Philip in his old age. I cannot but be touched with the feeling so - beautifully expressed in a poem which I have heard repeated:* -</p> -<p> - *Probably Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads had not as yet been published. -</p> -<pre> - My eyes are dim with childish tears, - My heart is idly stirred, - For the same sound is in my ears - Which in those days I heard. - - Thus fares it still in our decay; - And yet the wiser mind - Mourns less for what time takes away, - Than what he leaves behind. -</pre> -<p> - Well, time cures every wound, and though the scar may remain and - occasionally ache, yet the earliest agony of its recent infliction is - felt no more."—So saying, he shook Lovel cordially by the hand, wished - him good-night, and took his leave. -</p> -<p> - Step after step Lovel could trace his host's retreat along the various - passages, and each door which he closed behind him fell with a sound more - distant and dead. The guest, thus separated from the living world, took - up the candle and surveyed the apartment. -</p> -<p> - The fire blazed cheerfully. Mrs. Grizel's attention had left some fresh - wood, should he choose to continue it, and the apartment had a - comfortable, though not a lively appearance. It was hung with tapestry, - which the looms of Arras had produced in the sixteenth century, and which - the learned typographer, so often mentioned, had brought with him as a - sample of the arts of the Continent. The subject was a hunting-piece; and - as the leafy boughs of the forest-trees, branching over the tapestry, - formed the predominant colour, the apartment had thence acquired its name - of the Green Chamber. Grim figures in the old Flemish dress, with slashed - doublets covered with ribbands, short cloaks, and trunk-hose, were - engaged in holding grey-hounds, or stag-hounds, in the leash, or cheering - them upon the objects of their game. Others, with boar-spears, swords, - and old-fashioned guns, were attacking stags or boars whom they had - brought to bay. The branches of the woven forest were crowded with fowls - of various kinds, each depicted with its proper plumage. It seemed as if - the prolific and rich invention of old Chaucer had animated the Flemish - artist with its profusion, and Oldbuck had accordingly caused the - following verses, from that ancient and excellent poet, to be embroidered - in Gothic letters, on a sort of border which he had added to the - tapestry:- -</p> -<pre> - Lo! here be oakis grete, streight as a line, - Under the which the grass, so fresh of line, - Be'th newly sprung—at eight foot or nine. - Everich tree well from his fellow grew, - With branches broad laden with leaves new, - That sprongen out against the sonne sheene, - Some golden red and some a glad bright green. -</pre> -<p> - And in another canton was the following similar legend:— -</p> -<pre> - And many an hart and many an hind, - Was both before me, and behind. - Of fawns, sownders, bucks and does, - Was full the wood and many roes, - And many squirrels that ysate - High on the trees and nuts ate. -</pre> -<p> - The bed was of a dark and faded green, wrought to correspond with the - tapestry, but by a more modern and less skilful hand. The large and heavy - stuff-bottomed chairs, with black ebony backs, were embroidered after the - same pattern, and a lofty mirror, over the antique chimney-piece, - corresponded in its mounting with that on the old-fashioned toilet. -</p> -<p> - "I have heard," muttered Lovel, as he took a cursory view of the room and - its furniture, "that ghosts often chose the best room in the mansion to - which they attached themselves; and I cannot disapprove of the taste of - the disembodied printer of the Augsburg Confession." But he found it so - difficult to fix his mind upon the stories which had been told him of an - apartment with which they seemed so singularly to correspond, that he - almost regretted the absence of those agitated feelings, half fear half - curiosity, which sympathise with the old legends of awe and wonder, from - which the anxious reality of his own hopeless passion at present detached - him. For he now only felt emotions like those expressed in the lines,— -</p> -<pre> - Ah! cruel maid, how hast thou changed - The temper of my mind! - My heart, by thee from all estranged, - Becomes like thee unkind. -</pre> -<p> - He endeavoured to conjure up something like the feelings which would, at - another time, have been congenial to his situation, but his heart had no - room for these vagaries of imagination. The recollection of Miss Wardour, - determined not to acknowledge him when compelled to endure his society, - and evincing her purpose to escape from it, would have alone occupied his - imagination exclusively. But with this were united recollections more - agitating if less painful,—her hair-breadth escape—the fortunate - assistance which he had been able to render her—Yet what was his - requital? She left the cliff while his fate was yet doubtful—while it - was uncertain whether her preserver had not lost the life which he had - exposed for her so freely. Surely gratitude, at least, called for some - little interest in his fate—But no—she could not be selfish or - unjust—it was no part of her nature. She only desired to shut the door against - hope, and, even in compassion to him, to extinguish a passion which she - could never return. -</p> -<p> - But this lover-like mode of reasoning was not likely to reconcile him to - his fate, since the more amiable his imagination presented Miss Wardour, - the more inconsolable he felt he should be rendered by the extinction of - his hopes. He was, indeed, conscious of possessing the power of removing - her prejudices on some points; but, even in extremity, he determined to - keep the original determination which he had formed, of ascertaining that - she desired an explanation, ere he intruded one upon her. And, turn the - matter as he would, he could not regard his suit as desperate. There was - something of embarrassment as well as of grave surprise in her look when - Oldbuck presented him—and, perhaps, upon second thoughts, the one was - assumed to cover the other. He would not relinquish a pursuit which had - already cost him such pains. Plans, suiting the romantic temper of the - brain that entertained them, chased each other through his head, thick - and irregular as the motes of the sun-beam, and, long after he had laid - himself to rest, continued to prevent the repose which he greatly needed. - Then, wearied by the uncertainty and difficulties with which each scheme - appeared to be attended, he bent up his mind to the strong effort of - shaking off his love, "like dew-drops from the lion's mane," and resuming - those studies and that career of life which his unrequited affection had - so long and so fruitlessly interrupted. In this last resolution he - endeavoured to fortify himself by every argument which pride, as well as - reason, could suggest. "She shall not suppose," he said, "that, presuming - on an accidental service to her or to her father, I am desirous to - intrude myself upon that notice, to which, personally, she considered me - as having no title. I will see her no more. I will return to the land - which, if it affords none fairer, has at least many as fair, and less - haughty than Miss Wardour. Tomorrow I will bid adieu to these northern - shores, and to her who is as cold and relentless as her climate." When he - had for some time brooded over this sturdy resolution, exhausted nature - at length gave way, and, despite of wrath, doubt, and anxiety, he sank - into slumber. -</p> -<p> - It is seldom that sleep, after such violent agitation, is either sound or - refreshing. Lovel's was disturbed by a thousand baseless and confused - visions. He was a bird—he was a fish—or he flew like the one, and swam - like the other,—qualities which would have been very essential to his - safety a few hours before. Then Miss Wardour was a syren, or a bird of - Paradise; her father a triton, or a sea-gull; and Oldbuck alternately a - porpoise and a cormorant. These agreeable imaginations were varied by all - the usual vagaries of a feverish dream;—the air refused to bear the - visionary, the water seemed to burn him—the rocks felt like down pillows - as he was dashed against them—whatever he undertook, failed in some - strange and unexpected manner—and whatever attracted his attention, - underwent, as he attempted to investigate it, some wild and wonderful - metamorphosis, while his mind continued all the while in some degree - conscious of the delusion, from which it in vain struggled to free itself - by awaking;—feverish symptoms all, with which those who are haunted by - the night-hag, whom the learned call Ephialtes, are but too well - acquainted. At length these crude phantasmata arranged themselves into - something more regular, if indeed the imagination of Lovel, after he - awoke (for it was by no means the faculty in which his mind was least - rich), did not gradually, insensibly, and unintentionally, arrange in - better order the scene of which his sleep presented, it may be, a less - distinct outline. Or it is possible that his feverish agitation may have - assisted him in forming the vision. -</p> -<p> - Leaving this discussion to the learned, we will say, that after a - succession of wild images, such as we have above described, our hero, for - such we must acknowledge him, so far regained a consciousness of locality - as to remember where he was, and the whole furniture of the Green Chamber - was depicted to his slumbering eye. And here, once more, let me protest, - that if there should be so much old-fashioned faith left among this - shrewd and sceptical generation, as to suppose that what follows was an - impression conveyed rather by the eye than by the imagination, I do not - impugn their doctrine. He was, then, or imagined himself, broad awake in - the Green Chamber, gazing upon the flickering and occasional flame which - the unconsumed remnants of the faggots sent forth, as, one by one, they - fell down upon the red embers, into which the principal part of the - boughs to which they belonged had crumbled away. Insensibly the legend of - Aldobrand Oldenbuck, and his mysterious visits to the inmates of the - chamber, awoke in his mind, and with it, as we often feel in dreams, an - anxious and fearful expectation, which seldom fails instantly to summon - up before our mind's eye the object of our fear. Brighter sparkles of - light flashed from the chimney, with such intense brilliancy as to - enlighten all the room. The tapestry waved wildly on the wall, till its - dusky forms seemed to become animated. The hunters blew their horns—the - stag seemed to fly, the boar to resist, and the hounds to assail the one - and pursue the other; the cry of deer, mangled by throttling dogs—the - shouts of men, and the clatter of horses' hoofs, seemed at once to - surround him—while every group pursued, with all the fury of the chase, - the employment in which the artist had represented them as engaged. Lovel - looked on this strange scene devoid of wonder (which seldom intrudes - itself upon the sleeping fancy), but with an anxious sensation of awful - fear. At length an individual figure among the tissued huntsmen, as he - gazed upon them more fixedly, seemed to leave the arras and to approach - the bed of the slumberer. As he drew near, his figure appeared to alter. - His bugle-horn became a brazen clasped volume; his hunting-cap changed to - such a furred head-gear as graces the burgomasters of Rembrandt; his - Flemish garb remained but his features, no longer agitated with the fury - of the chase, were changed to such a state of awful and stern composure, - as might best portray the first proprietor of Monkbarns, such as he had - been described to Lovel by his descendants in the course of the preceding - evening. As this metamorphosis took place, the hubbub among the other - personages in the arras disappeared from the imagination of the dreamer, - which was now exclusively bent on the single figure before him. Lovel - strove to interrogate this awful person in the form of exorcism proper - for the occasion; but his tongue, as is usual in frightful dreams, - refused its office, and clung, palsied, to the roof of his mouth. - Aldobrand held up his finger, as if to impose silence upon the guest who - had intruded on his apartment, and began deliberately to unclasp the - venerable, volume which occupied his left hand. When it was unfolded, he - turned over the leaves hastily for a short space, and then raising his - figure to its full dimensions, and holding the book aloft in his left - hand, pointed to a passage in the page which he thus displayed. Although - the language was unknown to our dreamer, his eye and attention were both - strongly caught by the line which the figure seemed thus to press upon - his notice, the words of which appeared to blaze with a supernatural - light, and remained riveted upon his memory. As the vision shut his - volume, a strain of delightful music seemed to fill the apartment—Lovel - started, and became completely awake. The music, however, was still in - his ears, nor ceased till he could distinctly follow the measure of an - old Scottish tune. -</p> -<p> - He sate up in bed, and endeavoured to clear his brain of the phantoms - which had disturbed it during this weary night. The beams of the morning - sun streamed through the half-closed shutters, and admitted a distinct - light into the apartment. He looked round upon the hangings,—but the - mixed groups of silken and worsted huntsmen were as stationary as - tenter-hooks could make them, and only trembled slightly as the early - breeze, which found its way through an open crevice of the latticed - window, glided along their surface. Lovel leapt out of bed, and, wrapping - himself in a morning-gown, that had been considerately laid by his - bedside, stepped towards the window, which commanded a view of the sea, - the roar of whose billows announced it still disquieted by the storm of - the preceding evening, although the morning was fair and serene. The - window of a turret, which projected at an angle with the wall, and thus - came to be very near Lovel's apartment, was half-open, and from that - quarter he heard again the same music which had probably broken short his - dream. With its visionary character it had lost much of its charms—it - was now nothing more than an air on the harpsichord, tolerably well - performed—such is the caprice of imagination as affecting the fine arts. - A female voice sung, with some taste and great simplicity, something - between a song and a hymn, in words to the following effect:— -</p> -<pre> - "Why sitt'st thou by that ruin'd hall, - Thou aged carle so stern and grey? - Dost thou its former pride recall, - Or ponder how it passed away? - - "Know'st thou not me!" the Deep Voice cried, - "So long enjoyed, so oft misused— - Alternate, in thy fickle pride, - Desired, neglected, and accused? - - "Before my breath, like, blazing flax, - Man and his marvels pass away; - And changing empires wane and wax, - Are founded, flourish and decay. - - "Redeem mine hours—the space is brief— - While in my glass the sand-grains shiver, - And measureless thy joy or grief, - When Time and thou shalt part for ever!" -</pre> -<p> - While the verses were yet singing, Lovel had returned to his bed; the - train of ideas which they awakened was romantic and pleasing, such as his - soul delighted in, and, willingly adjourning till more broad day the - doubtful task of determining on his future line of conduct, he abandoned - himself to the pleasing languor inspired by the music, and fell into a - sound and refreshing sleep, from which he was only awakened at a late - hour by old Caxon, who came creeping into the room to render the offices - of a valet-de-chambre. -</p> -<p> - "I have brushed your coat, sir," said the old man, when he perceived - Lovel was awake; "the callant brought it frae Fairport this morning, for - that ye had on yesterday is scantly feasibly dry, though it's been a' - night at the kitchen fire; and I hae cleaned your shoon. I doubt ye'll no - be wanting me to tie your hair, for" (with a gentle sigh) "a' the young - gentlemen wear crops now; but I hae the curling tangs here to gie it a - bit turn ower the brow, if ye like, before ye gae down to the leddies." -</p> -<p> - Lovel, who was by this time once more on his legs, declined the old man's - professional offices, but accompanied the refusal with such a douceur as - completely sweetened Caxon's mortification. -</p> -<p> - "It's a pity he disna get his hair tied and pouthered," said the ancient - friseur, when he had got once more into the kitchen, in which, on one - pretence or other, he spent three parts of his idle time—that is to say, - of his <i>whole</i> time—"it's a great pity, for he's a comely young - gentleman." -</p> -<p> - "Hout awa, ye auld gowk," said Jenny Rintherout, "would ye creesh his - bonny brown hair wi' your nasty ulyie, and then moust it like the auld - minister's wig? Ye'll be for your breakfast, I'se warrant?—hae, there's - a soup parritch for ye—it will set ye better tae be slaistering at them - and the lapper-milk than meddling wi' Mr. Lovel's head—ye wad spoil the - maist natural and beautifaest head o' hair in a' Fairport, baith burgh - and county." -</p> -<p> - The poor barber sighed over the disrespect into which his art had so - universally fallen, but Jenny was a person too important to offend by - contradiction; so, sitting quietly down in the kitchen, he digested at - once his humiliation, and the contents of a bicker which held a Scotch - pint of substantial oatmeal porridge. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER ELEVENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - Sometimes he thinks that Heaven this pageant sent, - And ordered all the pageants as they went; - Sometimes that only 'twas wild Fancy's play,— - The loose and scattered relics of the day. -</pre> -<p> - We must now request our readers to adjourn to the breakfast parlour of - Mr. Oldbuck, who, despising the modern slops of tea and coffee, was - substantially regaling himself, <i>more majorum,</i> with cold roast-beef, and - a glass of a sort of beverage called <i>mum</i>—a species of fat ale, brewed - from wheat and bitter herbs, of which the present generation only know - the name by its occurrence in revenue acts of parliament, coupled with - cider, perry, and other excisable commodities. Lovel, who was seduced to - taste it, with difficulty refrained from pronouncing it detestable, but - <i>did</i> refrain, as he saw he should otherwise give great offence to his - host, who had the liquor annually prepared with peculiar care, according - to the approved recipe bequeathed to him by the so-often mentioned - Aldobrand Oldenbuck. The hospitality of the ladies offered Lovel a - breakfast more suited to modern taste, and while he was engaged in - partaking of it, he was assailed by indirect inquiries concerning the - manner in which he had passed the night. -</p> -<p> - "We canna compliment Mr. Lovel on his looks this morning, brother—but he - winna condescend on any ground of disturbance he has had in the night - time. I am certain he looks very pale, and when he came here he was as - fresh as a rose." -</p> -<p> - "Why, sister, consider this rose of yours has been knocked about by sea - and wind all yesterday evening, as if he had been a bunch of kelp or - tangle, and how the devil would you have him retain his colour?" -</p> -<p> - "I certainly do still feel somewhat fatigued," said Lovel, - "notwithstanding the excellent accommodations with which your hospitality - so amply supplied me." -</p> -<p> - "Ah, sir!" said Miss Oldbuck looking at him with a knowing smile, or what - was meant to be one, "ye'll not allow of ony inconvenience, out of - civility to us." -</p> -<p> - "Really, madam," replied Lovel, "I had no disturbance; for I cannot term - such the music with which some kind fairy favoured me." -</p> -<p> - "I doubted Mary wad waken you wi' her skreighing; she dinna ken I had - left open a chink of your window, for, forbye the ghaist, the Green Room - disna vent weel in a high wind—But I am judging ye heard mair than - Mary's lilts yestreen. Weel, men are hardy creatures—they can gae - through wi' a' thing. I am sure, had I been to undergo ony thing of that - nature,—that's to say that's beyond nature—I would hae skreigh'd out at - once, and raised the house, be the consequence what liket—and, I dare - say, the minister wad hae done as mickle, and sae I hae tauld him,—I ken - naebody but my brother, Monkbarns himsell, wad gae through the like o't, - if, indeed, it binna you, Mr. Lovel." -</p> -<p> - "A man of Mr. Oldbuck's learning, madam," answered the questioned party, - "would not be exposed to the inconvenience sustained by the Highland - gentleman you mentioned last night." -</p> -<p> - "Ay, ay—ye understand now where the difficulty lies. Language? he has - ways o' his ain wad banish a' thae sort o' worricows as far as the - hindermost parts of Gideon" (meaning possibly Midian), "as Mr. - Blattergowl says—only ane widna be uncivil to ane's forbear, though he - be a ghaist. I am sure I will try that receipt of yours, brother, that ye - showed me in a book, if onybody is to sleep in that room again, though I - think, in Christian charity, ye should rather fit up the - matted-room—it's a wee damp and dark, to be sure, but then we hae sae seldom - occasion for a spare bed." -</p> -<p> - "No, no, sister;—dampness and darkness are worse than spectres—ours are - spirits of light, and I would rather have you try the spell." -</p> -<p> - "I will do that blythely, Monkbarns, an I had the ingredients, as my - cookery book ca's them—There was <i>vervain</i> and <i>dill</i>—I mind - that—Davie Dibble will ken about them, though, maybe, he'll gie them Latin - names—and Peppercorn, we hae walth o' them, for"— -</p> -<p> - "Hypericon, thou foolish woman!" thundered Oldbuck; "d'ye suppose you're - making a haggis—or do you think that a spirit, though he be formed of - air, can be expelled by a receipt against wind?—This wise Grizel of - mine, Mr. Lovel, recollects (with what accuracy you may judge) a charm - which I once mentioned to her, and which, happening to hit her - superstitious noddle, she remembers better than anything tending to a - useful purpose, I may chance to have said for this ten years. But many an - old woman besides herself"— -</p> -<p> - "Auld woman, Monkbarns!" said Miss Oldbuck, roused something above her - usual submissive tone; "ye really are less than civil to me." -</p> -<p> - "Not less than just, Grizel: however, I include in the same class many a - sounding name, from Jamblichus down to Aubrey, who have wasted their time - in devising imaginary remedies for non-existing diseases.—But I hope, my - young friend, that, charmed or uncharmed—secured by the potency of - Hypericon, -</p> -<pre> - With vervain and with dill, - That hinder witches of their will, -</pre> -<p> - or left disarmed and defenceless to the inroads of the invisible world, - you will give another night to the terrors of the haunted apartment, and - another day to your faithful and feal friends." -</p> -<p> - "I heartily wish I could, but"— -</p> -<p> - "Nay, but me no <i>buts</i>—I have set my heart upon it." -</p> -<p> - "I am greatly obliged, my dear sir, but"— -</p> -<p> - "Look ye there, now—<i>but</i> again!—I hate <i>but;</i> I know no form of - expression in which he can appear, that is amiable, excepting as a <i>butt</i> - of sack. But is to me a more detestable combination of letters than <i>no</i> - itself.<i>No</i> is a surly, honest fellow—speaks his mind rough and round at - once. <i>But</i> is a sneaking, evasive, half-bred, exceptuous sort of a - conjunction, which comes to pull away the cup just when it is at your - lips— -</p> -<pre> - —it does allay - The good precedent—fie upon <i>but yet!</i> - <i>But yet</i> is as a jailor to bring forth - Some monstrous malefactor." -</pre> -<p> - "Well, then," answered Lovel, whose motions were really undetermined at - the moment, "you shall not connect the recollection of my name with so - churlish a particle. I must soon think of leaving Fairport, I am - afraid—and I will, since you are good enough to wish it, take this opportunity - of spending another day here." -</p> -<p> - "And you shall be rewarded, my boy. First, you shall see John o' the - Girnel's grave, and then we'll walk gently along the sands, the state of - the tide being first ascertained (for we will have no more Peter Wilkins' - adventures, no more Glum and Gawrie work), as far as Knockwinnock Castle, - and inquire after the old knight and my fair foe—which will but be - barely civil, and then"— -</p> -<p> - "I beg pardon, my dear sir; but, perhaps, you had better adjourn your - visit till to-morrow—I am a stranger, you know." -</p> -<p> - "And are, therefore, the more bound to show civility, I should suppose. - But I beg your pardon for mentioning a word that perhaps belongs only to - a collector of antiquities—I am one of the old school, -</p> -<pre> - When courtiers galloped o'er four counties - The ball's fair partner to behold, - And humbly hope she caught no cold." -</pre> -<p> - "Why, if—if—if you thought it would be expected—but I believe I had - better stay." -</p> -<p> - "Nay, nay, my good friend, I am not so old-fashioned as to press you to - what is disagreeable, neither—it is sufficient that I see there is some - <i>remora,</i> some cause of delay, some mid impediment, which I have no title - to inquire into. Or you are still somewhat tired, perhaps;—I warrant I - find means to entertain your intellects without fatiguing your limbs—I - am no friend to violent exertion myself—a walk in the garden once a-day - is exercise, enough for any thinking being—none but a fool or a - fox-hunter would require more. Well, what shall we set about?—my Essay - on Castrametation—but I have that in <i>petto</i> for our afternoon - cordial;—or I will show you the controversy upon Ossian's Poems between - Mac-Cribb and me. I hold with the acute Orcadian—he with the defenders - of the authenticity;—the controversy began in smooth, oily, lady-like - terms, but is now waxing more sour and eager as we get on—it already - partakes somewhat of old Scaliger's style. I fear the rogue will get some - scent of that story of Ochiltree's—but at worst, I have a hard repartee - for him on the affair of the abstracted Antigonus—I will show you his - last epistle and the scroll of my answer—egad, it is a trimmer!" -</p> -<p> - So saying, the Antiquary opened a drawer, and began rummaging among a - quantity of miscellaneous papers, ancient and modern. But it was the - misfortune of this learned gentleman, as it may be that of many learned - and unlearned, that he frequently experienced, on such occasions, what - Harlequin calls <i>l'embarras des richesses;</i> in other words, the abundance - of his collection often prevented him from finding the article he sought - for. "Curse the papers!—I believe," said Oldbuck, as he shuffled them to - and fro—"I believe they make themselves wings like grasshoppers, and fly - away bodily—but here, in the meanwhile, look at that little treasure." - So saying, he put into his hand a case made of oak, fenced at the corner - with silver roses and studs—"Pr'ythee, undo this button," said he, as he - observed Lovel fumbling at the clasp. He did so,—the lid opened, and - discovered a thin quarto, curiously bound in black shagreen—"There, Mr. - Lovel—there is the work I mentioned to you last night—the rare quarto - of the Augsburg Confession, the foundation at once and the bulwark of the - Reformation drawn up by the learned and venerable Melancthon, defended by - the Elector of Saxony, and the other valiant hearts who stood up for - their faith, even against the front of a powerful and victorious emperor, - and imprinted by the scarcely less venerable and praiseworthy Aldobrand - Oldenbuck, my happy progenitor, during the yet more tyrannical attempts - of Philip II. to suppress at once civil and religious liberty. Yes, - sir—for printing this work, that eminent man was expelled from his - ungrateful country, and driven to establish his household gods even here - at Monkbarns, among the ruins of papal superstition and - domination.—Look upon his venerable effigies, Mr. Lovel, and respect the honourable - occupation in which it presents him, as labouring personally at the - press for the diffusion of Christian and political knowledge.—And see - here his favourite motto, expressive of his independence and self- - reliance, which scorned to owe anything to patronage that was not earned - by desert—expressive also of that firmness of mind and tenacity of - purpose recommended by Horace. He was indeed a man who would have stood - firm, had his whole printing-house, presses, fonts, forms, great and - small pica, been shivered to pieces around him—Read, I say, his - motto,—for each printer had his motto, or device, when that illustrious art - was first practised. My ancestor's was expressed, as you see, in the - Teutonic phrase, Kunst macht Gunst—that is, skill, or prudence, in - availing ourselves of our natural talents and advantages, will compel - favour and patronage, even where it is withheld from prejudice or - ignorance." -</p> -<p> - "And that," said Lovel, after a moment's thoughtful silence—"that, then, - is the meaning of these German words?" -</p> -<p> - "Unquestionably. You perceive the appropriate application to a - consciousness of inward worth, and of eminence in a useful and honourable - art.—Each printer in those days, as I have already informed you, had his - device, his impresa, as I may call it, in the same manner as the doughty - chivalry of the age, who frequented tilt and tournament. My ancestor - boasted as much in his, as if he had displayed it over a conquered field - of battle, though it betokened the diffusion of knowledge, not the - effusion of blood. And yet there is a family tradition which affirms him - to have chosen it from a more romantic circumstance." -</p> -<p> - "And what is that said to have been, my good sir?" inquired his young - friend. -</p> -<p> - "Why, it rather encroaches on my respected predecessor's fame for - prudence and wisdom—<i>Sed semel insanivimus omnes</i>—everybody has played - the fool in their turn. It is said, my ancestor, during his - apprenticeship with the descendant of old Faust, whom popular tradition - hath sent to the devil under the name of Faustus, was attracted by a - paltry slip of womankind, his master's daughter, called Bertha—they - broke rings, or went through some idiotical ceremony, as is usual on such - idle occasions as the plighting of a true-love troth, and Aldobrand set - out on his journey through Germany, as became an honest <i>hand-werker;</i> - for such was the custom of mechanics at that time, to make a tour through - the empire, and work at their trade for a time in each of the most - eminent towns, before they finally settled themselves for life. It was a - wise custom; for, as such travellers were received like brethren in each - town by those of their own handicraft, they were sure, in every case, to - have the means either of gaining or communicating knowledge. When my - ancestor returned to Nuremburg, he is said to have found his old master - newly dead, and two or three gallant young suitors, some of them - half-starved sprigs of nobility forsooth, in pursuit of the <i>Yung-fraw</i> - Bertha, whose father was understood to have bequeathed her a dowry which - might weigh against sixteen armorial quarters. But Bertha, not a bad - sample of womankind, had made a vow she would only marry that man who - would work her father's press. The skill, at that time, was as rare as - wonderful; besides that the expedient rid her at once of most of her - <i>gentle</i> suitors, who would have as soon wielded a conjuring wand as a - composing stick. Some of the more ordinary typographers made the attempt: - but none were sufficiently possessed of the mystery—But I tire you." -</p> -<p> - "By no means; pray, proceed, Mr. Oldbuck—I listen with uncommon - interest." -</p> -<p> - "Ah! it is all folly. However—Aldobrand arrived in the ordinary dress, - as we would say, of a journeyman printer—the same in which he had - traversed Germany, and conversed with Luther, Melancthon, Erasmus, and - other learned men, who disdained not his knowledge, and the power he - possessed of diffusing it, though hid under a garb so homely. But what - appeared respectable in the eyes of wisdom, religion, learning, and - philosophy, seemed mean, as might readily be supposed, and disgusting, in - those of silly and affected womankind, and Bertha refused to acknowledge - her former lover, in the torn doublet, skin cap, clouted shoes, and - leathern apron, of a travelling handicraftsman or mechanic. He claimed - his privilege, however, of being admitted to a trial; and when the rest - of the suitors had either declined the contest, or made such work as the - devil could not read if his pardon depended on it, all eyes were bent on - the stranger. Aldobrand stepped gracefully forward, arranged the types - without omission of a single letter, hyphen, or comma, imposed them - without deranging a single space, and pulled off the first proof as clear - and free from errors, as if it had been a triple revise! All applauded - the worthy successor of the immortal Faustus—the blushing maiden - acknowledged her error in trusting to the eye more than the - intellect—and the elected bridegroom thenceforward chose for his impress or device - the appropriate words, <i>Skill wins favour.</i>'—But what is the matter with - you?—you are in a brown study! Come, I told you this was but trumpery - conversation for thinking people—and now I have my hand on the Ossianic - Controversy." -</p> -<p> - "I beg your pardon," said Lovel; "I am going to appear very silly and - changeable in your eyes, Mr. Oldbuck—but you seemed to think Sir Arthur - might in civility expect a call from me?" -</p> -<p> - "Psha! psha! I can make your apology; and if you must leave us so soon as - you say, what signifies how you stand in his honours good graces?—And I - warn you that the Essay on Castrametation is something prolix, and will - occupy the time we can spare after dinner, so you may lose the Ossianic - Controversy if we do not dedicate this morning to it. We will go out to - my ever-green bower, my sacred holly-tree yonder, and have it <i>fronde - super viridi.</i> -</p> -<pre> - Sing heigh-ho! heigh-ho! for the green holly, - Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly. -</pre> -<p> - But, egad," continued the old gentleman, "when I look closer at you, I - begin to think you may be of a different opinion. Amen with all my - heart—I quarrel with no man's hobby, if he does not run it a tilt against - mine, and if he does—let him beware his eyes. What say you?—in the - language of the world and worldlings base, if you can condescend to so - mean a sphere, shall we stay or go?" -</p> -<p> - "In the language of selfishness, then, which is of course the language of - the world—let us go by all means." -</p> -<p> - "Amen, amen, quo' the Earl Marshall," answered Oldbuck, as he exchanged - his slippers for a pair of stout walking shoes, with <i>cutikins,</i> as he - called them, of black cloth. He only interrupted the walk by a slight - deviation to the tomb of John o' the Girnel, remembered as the last - bailiff of the abbey who had resided at Monkbarns. Beneath an old - oak-tree upon a hillock, sloping pleasantly to the south, and catching a - distant view of the sea over two or three rich enclosures, and the - Mussel-crag, lay a moss-grown stone, and, in memory of the departed - worthy, it bore an inscription, of which, as Mr. Oldbuck affirmed (though - many doubted), the defaced characters could be distinctly traced to the - following effect:— -</p> -<pre> - Here lyeth John o' ye Girnell; - Erth has ye nit, and heuen ye kirnell. - In hys tyme ilk wyfe's hennis clokit, - Ilka gud mannis herth wi' bairnis was stokit. - He deled a boll o' bear in firlottis fyve, - Four for ye halie kirke, and ane for puir mennis wyvis. -</pre> -<p> - "You see how modest the author of this sepulchral commendation was;—he - tells us that honest John could make five firlots, or quarters, as you - would say, out of the boll, instead of four,—that he gave the fifth to - the wives of the parish, and accounted for the other four to the abbot - and CHAPTER—that in his time the wives' hens always laid eggs—and devil - thank them, if they got one-fifth of the abbey rents; and that honest - men's hearths were never unblest with offspring—an addition to the - miracle, which they, as well as I, must have considered as perfectly - unaccountable. But come on—leave we Jock o' the Girnel, and let us jog - on to the yellow sands, where the sea, like a repulsed enemy, is now - retreating from the ground on which he gave us battle last night." -</p> -<p> - Thus saying, he led the way to the sands. Upon the links or downs close - to them, were seen four or five huts inhabited by fishers, whose boats, - drawn high upon the beach, lent the odoriferous vapours of pitch melting - under a burning sun, to contend with those of the offals of fish and - other nuisances usually collected round Scottish cottages. Undisturbed by - these complicated steams of abomination, a middle-aged woman, with a face - which had defied a thousand storms, sat mending a net at the door of one - of the cottages. A handkerchief close bound about her head, and a coat - which had formerly been that of a man, gave her a masculine air, which - was increased by her strength, uncommon stature, and harsh voice. "What - are ye for the day, your honour?" she said, or rather screamed, to - Oldbuck; "caller haddocks and whitings—a bannock-fluke and a - cock-padle." -</p> -<p> - "How much for the bannock-fluke and cock-padle?" demanded the Antiquary. -</p> -<p> - "Four white shillings and saxpence," answered the Naiad. -</p> -<p> - "Four devils and six of their imps!" retorted the Antiquary; "do you - think I am mad, Maggie?" -</p> -<p> - "And div ye think," rejoined the virago, setting her arms akimbo, "that - my man and my sons are to gae to the sea in weather like yestreen and the - day—sic a sea as it's yet outby—and get naething for their fish, and be - misca'd into the bargain, Monkbarns? It's no fish ye're buying—it's - men's lives." -</p> -<p> - "Well, Maggie, I'll bid you fair—I'll bid you a shilling for the fluke - and the cock-padle, or sixpence separately—and if all your fish are as - well paid, I think your man, as you call him, and your sons, will make a - good voyage." -</p> -<p> - "Deil gin their boat were knockit against the Bell-Rock rather! it wad be - better, and the bonnier voyage o' the twa. A shilling for thae twa bonnie - fish! Od, that's ane indeed!" -</p> -<p> - "Well, well, you old beldam, carry your fish up to Monkbarns, and see - what my sister will give you for them." -</p> -<p> - "Na, na, Monkbarns, deil a fit—I'll rather deal wi' yoursell; for though - you're near enough, yet Miss Grizel has an unco close grip—I'll gie ye - them" (in a softened tone) "for three-and-saxpence." -</p> -<p> - "Eighteen-pence, or nothing!" -</p> -<p> - "Eighteen-pence!!!" (in a loud tone of astonishment, which declined into - a sort of rueful whine, when the dealer turned as if to walk away)—"Yell - no be for the fish then?"—(then louder, as she saw him moving - off)—"I'll gie ye them—and—and—and a half-a-dozen o' partans to make the - sauce, for three shillings and a dram." -</p> -<p> - "Half-a-crown then, Maggie, and a dram." -</p> -<p> - "Aweel, your honour maun hae't your ain gate, nae doubt; but a dram's - worth siller now—the distilleries is no working." -</p> -<p> - "And I hope they'll never work again in my time," said Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "Ay, ay—it's easy for your honour, and the like o' you gentle-folks to - say sae, that hae stouth and routh, and fire and fending and meat and - claith, and sit dry and canny by the fireside—but an ye wanted fire, and - meat, and dry claes, and were deeing o' cauld, and had a sair heart, - whilk is warst ava', wi' just tippence in your pouch, wadna ye be glad to - buy a dram wi't, to be eilding and claes, and a supper and heart's ease - into the bargain, till the morn's morning?" -</p> -<p> - "It's even too true an apology, Maggie. Is your goodman off to sea this - morning, after his exertions last night?" -</p> -<p> - "In troth is he, Monkbarns; he was awa this morning by four o'clock, when - the sea was working like barm wi' yestreen's wind, and our bit coble - dancing in't like a cork." -</p> -<p> - "Well, he's an industrious fellow. Carry the fish up to Monkbarns." -</p> -<p> - "That I will—or I'll send little Jenny, she'll rin faster; but I'll ca' - on Miss Grizzy for the dram mysell, and say ye sent me." -</p> -<p> - A nondescript animal, which might have passed for a mermaid, as it was - paddling in a pool among the rocks, was summoned ashore by the shrill - screams of its dam; and having been made decent, as her mother called it, - which was performed by adding a short red cloak to a petticoat, which was - at first her sole covering, and which reached scantily below her knee, - the child was dismissed with the fish in a basket, and a request on the - part of Monkbarns that they might be prepared for dinner. "It would have - been long," said Oldbuck, with much self-complacency, "ere my womankind - could have made such a reasonable bargain with that old skin-flint, - though they sometimes wrangle with her for an hour together under my - study window, like three sea-gulls screaming and sputtering in a gale of - wind. But come, wend we on our way to Knockwinnock." -</p> -<a name="2HCH0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER TWELFTH. -</h2> -<pre> - Beggar?—the only freeman of your commonwealth; - Free above Scot-free, that observe no laws, - Obey no governor, use no religion - But what they draw from their own ancient custom, - Or constitute themselves, yet they are no rebels. - Brome. -</pre> -<p> - With our reader's permission, we will outstep the slow, though sturdy - pace of the Antiquary, whose halts, as he, turned round to his companion - at every moment to point out something remarkable in the landscape, or to - enforce some favourite topic more emphatically than the exercise of - walking permitted, delayed their progress considerably. -</p> -<p> - Notwithstanding the fatigues and dangers of the preceding evening, Miss - Wardour was able to rise at her usual hour, and to apply herself to her - usual occupations, after she had first satisfied her anxiety concerning - her father's state of health. Sir Arthur was no farther indisposed than - by the effects of great agitation and unusual fatigue, but these were - sufficient to induce him to keep his bedchamber. -</p> -<p> - To look back on the events of the preceding day, was, to Isabella, a very - unpleasing retrospect. She owed her life, and that of her father, to the - very person by whom, of all others, she wished least to be obliged, - because she could hardly even express common gratitude towards him - without encouraging hopes which might be injurious to them both. "Why - should it be my fate to receive such benefits, and conferred at so much - personal risk, from one whose romantic passion I have so unceasingly - laboured to discourage? Why should chance have given him this advantage - over me? and why, oh why, should a half-subdued feeling in my own bosom, - in spite of my sober reason, almost rejoice that he has attained it?" -</p> -<p> - While Miss Wardour thus taxed herself with wayward caprice, she, beheld - advancing down the avenue, not her younger and more dreaded preserver, - but the old beggar who had made such a capital figure in the melodrama of - the preceding evening. -</p> -<p> - She rang the bell for her maid-servant. "Bring the old man up stairs." -</p> -<p> - The servant returned in a minute or two—"He will come up at no rate, - madam;—he says his clouted shoes never were on a carpet in his life, and - that, please God, they never shall.—Must I take him into the servants' - hall?" -</p> -<p> - "No; stay, I want to speak with him—Where is he?" for she had lost sight - of him as he approached the house. -</p> -<p> - "Sitting in the sun on the stone-bench in the court, beside the window of - the flagged parlour." -</p> -<a name="image-0008"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/pa146.jpg" height="785" width="540" -alt="Eddie Ochiltree Visits Miss Wardour -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<p> - "Bid him stay there—I'll come down to the parlour, and speak with him at - the window." -</p> -<p> - She came down accordingly, and found the mendicant half-seated, - half-reclining, upon the bench beside the window. Edie Ochiltree, old man - and beggar as he was, had apparently some internal consciousness of the - favourable, impressions connected with his tall form, commanding - features, and long white beard and hair. It used to be remarked of him, - that he was seldom seen but in a posture which showed these personal - attributes to advantage. At present, as he lay half-reclined, with his - wrinkled yet ruddy cheek, and keen grey eye turned up towards the sky, - his staff and bag laid beside him, and a cast of homely wisdom and - sarcastic irony in the expression of his countenance, while he gazed for - a moment around the court-yard, and then resumed his former look upward, - he might have been taken by an artist as the model of an old philosopher - of the Cynic school, musing upon the frivolity of mortal pursuits, and - the precarious tenure of human possessions, and looking up to the source - from which aught permanently good can alone be derived. The young lady, - as she presented her tall and elegant figure at the open window, but - divided from the court-yard by a grating, with which, according to the - fashion of ancient times, the lower windows of the castle were secured, - gave an interest of a different kind, and might be supposed, by a - romantic imagination, an imprisoned damsel communicating a tale of her - durance to a palmer, in order that he might call upon the gallantry of - every knight whom he should meet in his wanderings, to rescue her from - her oppressive thraldom. -</p> -<p> - After Miss Wardour had offered, in the terms she thought would be most - acceptable, those thanks which the beggar declined as far beyond his - merit, she began to express herself in a manner which she supposed would - speak more feelingly to his apprehension. "She did not know," she said, - "what her father intended particularly to do for their preserver, but - certainly it would be something that would make him easy for life; if he - chose to reside at the castle, she would give orders"— -</p> -<p> - The old man smiled, and shook his head. "I wad be baith a grievance and a - disgrace to your fine servants, my leddy, and I have never been a - disgrace to onybody yet, that I ken of." -</p> -<p> - "Sir Arthur would give strict orders"— -</p> -<p> - "Ye're very kind—I doubtna, I doubtna; but there are some things a - master can command, and some he canna—I daresay he wad gar them keep - hands aff me—(and troth, I think they wad hardly venture on that ony - gate)—and he wad gar them gie me my soup parritch and bit meat. But trow - ye that Sir Arthur's command could forbid the gibe o' the tongue or the - blink o' the ee, or gar them gie me my food wi' the look o' kindness that - gars it digest sae weel, or that he could make them forbear a' the - slights and taunts that hurt ane's spirit mair nor downright - misca'ing?—Besides, I am the idlest auld carle that ever lived; I downa be bound - down to hours o' eating and sleeping; and, to speak the honest truth, I - wad be a very bad example in ony weel regulated family." -</p> -<p> - "Well, then, Edie, what do you think of a neat cottage and a garden, and - a daily dole, and nothing to do but to dig a little in your garden when - you pleased yourself?" -</p> -<p> -"And how often wad that be, trow ye, my leddy? maybe no ance atween -Candlemas and Yule and if a' thing were done to my hand, as if I was Sir -Arthur himsell, I could never bide the staying still in ae place, and -just seeing the same joists and couples aboon my head night after -night.--And then I have a queer humour o' my ain, that sets a strolling -beggar weel eneugh, whase word naebody minds—but ye ken Sir Arthur -has odd sort o' ways—and I wad be jesting or scorning at -them—and ye wad be angry, and then I wad be just fit to hang -mysell." -</p> -<p> - "O, you are a licensed man," said Isabella; "we shall give you all - reasonable scope: So you had better be ruled, and remember your age." -</p> -<p> - "But I am no that sair failed yet," replied the mendicant. "Od, ance I - gat a wee soupled yestreen, I was as yauld as an eel. And then what wad - a' the country about do for want o' auld Edie Ochiltree, that brings news - and country cracks frae ae farm-steading to anither, and gingerbread to - the lasses, and helps the lads to mend their fiddles, and the gudewives - to clout their pans, and plaits rush-swords and grenadier caps for the - weans, and busks the laird's flees, and has skill o' cow-ills and - horse-ills, and kens mair auld sangs and tales than a' the barony - besides, and gars ilka body laugh wherever he comes? Troth, my leddy, I - canna lay down my vocation; it would be a public loss." -</p> -<p> - "Well, Edie, if your idea of your importance is so strong as not to be - shaken by the prospect of independence"— -</p> -<p> - "Na, na, Miss—it's because I am mair independent as I am," answered the - old man; "I beg nae mair at ony single house than a meal o' meat, or - maybe but a mouthfou o't—if it's refused at ae place, I get it at - anither—sae I canna be said to depend on onybody in particular, but just - on the country at large." -</p> -<p> - "Well, then, only promise me that you will let me know should you ever - wish to settle as you turn old, and more incapable of making your usual - rounds; and, in the meantime, take this." -</p> -<p> - "Na, na, my leddy: I downa take muckle siller at ance—it's against our - rule; and—though it's maybe no civil to be repeating the like o' - that—they say that siller's like to be scarce wi' Sir Arthur himsell, and - that he's run himsell out o' thought wi' his honkings and minings for - lead and copper yonder." -</p> -<p> - Isabella had some anxious anticipations to the same effect, but was - shocked to hear that her father's embarrassments were such public talk; - as if scandal ever failed to stoop upon so acceptable a quarry as the - failings of the good man, the decline of the powerful, or the decay of - the prosperous.—Miss Wardour sighed deeply—"Well, Edie, we have enough - to pay our debts, let folks say what they will, and requiting you is one - of the foremost—let me press this sum upon you." -</p> -<p> - "That I might be robbed and murdered some night between town and town? - or, what's as bad, that I might live in constant apprehension o't?—I am - no"—(lowering his voice to a whisper, and looking keenly around him)—"I - am no that clean unprovided for neither; and though I should die at the - back of a dyke, they'll find as muckle quilted in this auld blue gown as - will bury me like a Christian, and gie the lads and lasses a blythe - lykewake too; sae there's the gaberlunzie's burial provided for, and I - need nae mair. Were the like o' me ever to change a note, wha the deil - d'ye think wad be sic fules as to gie me charity after that?—it wad flee - through the country like wildfire, that auld Edie suld hae done siccan a - like thing, and then, I'se warrant, I might grane my heart out or onybody - wad gie me either a bane or a bodle." -</p> -<p> - "Is there nothing, then, that I can do for you?" -</p> -<p> - "Ou ay—I'll aye come for my awmous as usual,—and whiles I wad be fain - o' a pickle sneeshin, and ye maun speak to the constable and - ground-officer just to owerlook me; and maybe ye'll gie a gude word for - me to Sandie Netherstanes, the miller, that he may chain up his muckle - dog—I wadna hae him to hurt the puir beast, for it just does its office - in barking at a gaberlunzie like me. And there's ae thing maybe - mair,—but ye'll think it's very bald o' the like o' me to speak o't." -</p> -<p> - "What is it, Edie?—if it respects you it shall be done if it is in my - power." -</p> -<p> - "It respects yoursell, and it is in your power, and I maun come out wi't. - Ye are a bonny young leddy, and a gude ane, and maybe a weel-tochered - ane—but dinna ye sneer awa the lad Lovel, as ye did a while sinsyne on - the walk beneath the Briery-bank, when I saw ye baith, and heard ye too, - though ye saw nae me. Be canny wi' the lad, for he loes ye weel, and it's - to him, and no to anything I could have done for you, that Sir Arthur and - you wan ower yestreen." -</p> -<p> - He uttered these words in a low but distinct tone of voice; and without - waiting for an answer, walked towards a low door which led to the - apartments of the servants, and so entered the house. -</p> -<p> - Miss Wardour remained for a moment or two in the situation in which she - had heard the old man's last extraordinary speech, leaning, namely, - against the bars of the window; nor could she determine upon saying even - a single word, relative to a subject so delicate, until the beggar was - out of sight. It was, indeed, difficult to determine what to do. That her - having had an interview and private conversation with this young and - unknown stranger, should be a secret possessed by a person of the last - class in which a young lady would seek a confidant, and at the mercy of - one who was by profession gossip-general to the whole neighbourhood, gave - her acute agony. She had no reason, indeed, to suppose that the old man - would wilfully do anything to hurt her feelings, much less to injure her; - but the mere freedom of speaking to her upon such a subject, showed, as - might have been expected, a total absence of delicacy; and what he might - take it into his head to do or say next, that she was pretty sure so - professed an admirer of liberty would not hesitate to do or say without - scruple. This idea so much hurt and vexed her, that she half-wished the - officious assistance of Lovel and Ochiltree had been absent upon the - preceding evening. -</p> -<p> - While she was in this agitation of spirits, she suddenly observed Oldbuck - and Lovel entering the court. She drew instantly so far back from the - window, that she could without being seen, observe how the Antiquary - paused in front of the building, and pointing to the various scutcheons - of its former owners, seemed in the act of bestowing upon Lovel much - curious and erudite information, which, from the absent look of his - auditor, Isabella might shrewdly guess was entirely thrown away. The - necessity that she should take some resolution became instant and - pressing;—she rang, therefore, for a servant, and ordered him to show - the visitors to the drawing-room, while she, by another staircase, gained - her own apartment, to consider, ere she made her appearance, what line of - conduct were fittest for her to pursue. The guests, agreeably to her - instructions, were introduced into the room where company was usually - received. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - —The time was that I hated thee, - And yet it is not that I bear thee love. - Thy company, which erst was irksome to me, - I will endure— - But do not look for further recompense. - As You Like It. -</pre> -<p> - Miss Isabella Wardour's complexion was considerably heightened, when, - after the delay necessary to arrange her ideas, she presented herself in - the drawing-room. -</p> -<p> - "I am glad you are come, my fair foe," said the Antiquary greeting her - with much kindness, "for I have had a most refractory, or at least - negligent auditor, in my young friend here, while I endeavoured to make - him acquainted with the history of Knockwinnock Castle. I think the - danger of last night has mazed the poor lad. But you, Miss Isabel,—why, - you look as if flying through the night air had been your natural and - most congenial occupation; your colour is even better than when you - honoured my <i>hospitium</i> yesterday. And Sir Arthur—how fares my good old - friend?" -</p> -<p> - "Indifferently well, Mr. Oldbuck; but I am afraid, not quite able to - receive your congratulations, or to pay—to pay—Mr. Lovel his thanks for - his unparalleled exertions." -</p> -<p> - "I dare say not—A good down pillow for his good white head were more - meet than a couch so churlish as Bessy's-apron, plague on her!" -</p> -<p> - "I had no thought of intruding," said Lovel, looking upon the ground, and - speaking with hesitation and suppressed emotion; "I did not—did not mean - to intrude upon Sir Arthur or Miss Wardour the presence of one who—who - must necessarily be unwelcome—as associated, I mean, with painful - reflections." -</p> -<p> - "Do not think my father so unjust and ungrateful," said Miss Wardour. "I - dare say," she continued, participating in Lovel's embarrassment—"I dare - say—I am certain—that my father would be happy to show his - gratitude—in any way—that is, which Mr. Lovel could consider it as proper to - point out." -</p> -<p> - "Why the deuce," interrupted Oldbuck, "what sort of a qualification is - that?—On my word, it reminds me of our minister, who, choosing, like a - formal old fop as he is, to drink to my sister's inclinations, thought it - necessary to add the saving clause, Provided, madam, they be virtuous. - Come, let us have no more of this nonsense—I dare say Sir Arthur will - bid us welcome on some future day. And what news from the kingdom of - subterranean darkness and airy hope?—What says the swart spirit of the - mine? Has Sir Arthur had any good intelligence of his adventure lately in - Glen-Withershins?" -</p> -<p> - Miss Wardour shook her head—"But indifferent, I fear, Mr. Oldbuck; but - there lie some specimens which have lately been sent down." -</p> -<p> - "Ah! my poor dear hundred pounds, which Sir Arthur persuaded me to give - for a share in that hopeful scheme, would have bought a porter's load of - mineralogy—But let me see them." -</p> -<p> - And so saying, he sat down at the table in the recess, on which the - mineral productions were lying, and proceeded to examine them, grumbling - and pshawing at each which he took up and laid aside. -</p> -<p> - In the meantime, Lovel, forced as it were by this secession of Oldbuck, - into a sort of tete-a'-tete with Miss Wardour, took an opportunity of - addressing her in a low and interrupted tone of voice. "I trust Miss - Wardour will impute, to circumstances almost irresistible, this intrusion - of a person who has reason to think himself—so unacceptable a visitor." -</p> -<p> - "Mr. Lovel," answered Miss Wardour, observing the same tone of caution, - "I trust you will not—I am sure you are incapable of abusing the - advantages given to you by the services you have rendered us, which, as - they affect my father, can never be sufficiently acknowledged or repaid. - Could Mr. Lovel see me without his own peace being affected—could he see - me as a friend—as a sister—no man will be—and, from all I have ever - heard of Mr. Lovel, ought to be, more welcome but"— -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck's anathema against the preposition <i>but</i> was internally echoed by - Lovel. "Forgive me if I interrupt you, Miss Wardour; you need not fear my - intruding upon a subject where I have been already severely - repressed;—but do not add to the severity of repelling my sentiments the rigour of - obliging me to disavow them." -</p> -<p> - "I am much embarrassed, Mr. Lovel," replied the young lady, "by your—I - would not willingly use a strong word—your romantic and hopeless - pertinacity. It is for yourself I plead, that you would consider the - calls which your country has upon your talents—that you will not waste, - in an idle and fanciful indulgence of an ill-placed predilection, time, - which, well redeemed by active exertion, should lay the foundation of - future distinction. Let me entreat that you would form a manly - resolution"— -</p> -<p> - "It is enough, Miss Wardour;—I see plainly that"— -</p> -<p> - "Mr. Lovel, you are hurt—and, believe me, I sympathize in the pain which - I inflict; but can I, in justice to myself, in fairness to you, do - otherwise? Without my father's consent, I never will entertain the - addresses of any one, and how totally impossible it is that he should - countenance the partiality with which you honour me, you are yourself - fully aware; and, indeed"— -</p> -<p> - "No, Miss Wardour," answered Lovel, in a tone of passionate entreaty; "do - not go farther—is it not enough to crush every hope in our present - relative situation?—do not carry your resolutions farther—why urge what - would be your conduct if Sir Arthur's objections could be removed?" -</p> -<p> - "It is indeed vain, Mr. Lovel," said Miss Wardour, "because their removal - is impossible; and I only wish, as your friend, and as one who is obliged - to you for her own and her father's life, to entreat you to suppress this - unfortunate attachment—to leave a country which affords no scope for - your talents, and to resume the honourable line of the profession which - you seem to have abandoned." -</p> -<p> - "Well, Miss Wardour, your wishes shall be obeyed;—have patience with me - one little month, and if, in the course of that space, I cannot show you - such reasons for continuing my residence at Fairport, as even you shall - approve of, I will bid adieu to its vicinity, and, with the same breath, - to all my hopes of happiness." -</p> -<p> - "Not so, Mr. Lovel; many years of deserved happiness, founded on a more - rational basis than your present wishes, are, I trust, before, you. But - it is full time, to finish this conversation. I cannot force you to adopt - my advice—I cannot shut the door of my father's house against the - preserver of his life and mine; but the sooner Mr. Lovel can teach his - mind to submit to the inevitable disappointment of wishes which have been - so rashly formed, the more highly he will rise in my esteem—and, in the - meanwhile, for his sake as well as mine, he must excuse my putting an - interdict upon conversation on a subject so painful." -</p> -<p> - A servant at this moment announced that Sir Arthur desired to speak to - Mr. Oldbuck in his dressing-room. -</p> -<p> - "Let me show you the way," said Miss Wardour, who apparently dreaded a - continuation of her tete-a-tete with Lovel, and she conducted the - Antiquary accordingly to her father's apartment. -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur, his legs swathed in flannel, was stretched on the couch. - "Welcome, Mr. Oldbuck," he said; "I trust you have come better off than - I have done from the inclemency of yesterday evening?" -</p> -<p> - "Truly, Sir Arthur, I was not so much exposed to it—I kept <i>terra - firma</i>—you fairly committed yourself to the cold night-air in the most - literal of all senses. But such adventures become a gallant knight better - than a humble esquire,—to rise on the wings of the night-wind—to dive - into the bowels of the earth. What news from our subterranean Good - Hope!—the <i>terra incognita</i> of Glen-Withershins?" -</p> -<p> - "Nothing good as yet," said the Baronet, turning himself hastily, as if - stung by a pang of the gout; "but Dousterswivel does not despair." -</p> -<p> - "Does he not?" quoth Oldbuck; "I do though, under his favour. Why, old - Dr. H—n* told me, when I was in Edinburgh, that we should never find - copper enough, judging from the specimens I showed him, to make a pair of - sixpenny knee-buckles—and I cannot see that those samples on the table - below differ much in quality." -</p> -<p> - * Probably Dr. Hutton, the celebrated geologist. -</p> -<p> - "The learned doctor is not infallible, I presume?" -</p> -<p> - "No; but he is one of our first chemists; and this tramping philosopher - of yours—this Dousterswivel—is, I have a notion, one, of those learned - adventurers described by Kirchner, <i>Artem habent sine arte, partem sine - parte, quorum medium est mentiri, vita eorum mendicatum ire;</i> that is to - say, Miss Wardour"— -</p> -<p> - "It is unnecessary to translate," said Miss Wardour—"I comprehend your - general meaning; but I hope Mr. Dousterswivel will turn out a more - trustworthy character." -</p> -<p> - "I doubt it not a little," said the Antiquary,—"and we are a foul way - out if we cannot discover this infernal vein that he has prophesied about - these two years." -</p> -<p> - "<i>You</i> have no great interest in the matter, Mr. Oldbuck," said the - Baronet. -</p> -<p> - "Too much, too much, Sir Arthur; and yet, for the sake of my fair foe - here, I would consent to lose it all so you had no more on the venture." -</p> -<p> - There was a painful silence of a few moments, for Sir Arthur was too - proud to acknowledge the downfall of his golden dreams, though he could - no longer disguise to himself that such was likely to be the termination - of the adventure. "I understand," he at length said, "that the young - gentleman, to whose gallantry and presence of mind we were so much - indebted last night, has favoured me with a visit—I am distressed that I - am unable to see him, or indeed any one, but an old friend like you, Mr. - Oldbuck." -</p> -<p> - A declination of the Antiquary's stiff backbone acknowledged the - preference. -</p> -<p> - "You made acquaintance with this young gentleman in Edinburgh, I - suppose?" -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck told the circumstances of their becoming known to each other. -</p> -<p> - "Why, then, my daughter is an older acquaintance, of Mr. Lovel than you - are," said the Baronet. -</p> -<p> - "Indeed! I was not aware of that," answered Oldbuck somewhat surprised. -</p> -<p> - "I met Mr. Lovel," said Isabella, slightly colouring, "when I resided - this last spring with my aunt, Mrs. Wilmot." -</p> -<p> - "In Yorkshire?—and what character did he bear then, or how was he - engaged?" said Oldbuck,—"and why did not you recognise him when I - introduced you?" -</p> -<p> - Isabella answered the least difficult question, and passed over the - other—"He had a commission in the army, and had, I believe, served with - reputation; he was much respected, as an amiable and promising young - man." -</p> -<p> - "And pray, such being the case," replied the Antiquary, not disposed to - take one reply in answer to two distinct questions, "why did you not - speak to the lad at once when you met him at my house? I thought you had - less of the paltry pride of womankind about you, Miss Wardour." -</p> -<p> - "There was a reason for it," said Sir Arthur with dignity; "you know the - opinions—prejudices, perhaps you will call them—of our house concerning - purity of birth. This young gentleman is, it seems, the illegitimate son - of a man of fortune; my daughter did not choose to renew their - acquaintance till she should know whether I approved of her holding any - intercourse with him." -</p> -<p> - "If it had been with his mother instead of himself," answered Oldbuck, - with his usual dry causticity of humour, "I could see an excellent reason - for it. Ah, poor lad! that was the cause, then, that he seemed so absent - and confused while I explained to him the reason of the bend of bastardy - upon the shield yonder under the corner turret!" -</p> -<p> - "True," said the Baronet, with complacency—"it is the shield of Malcolm - the Usurper, as he is called. The tower which he built is termed, after - him, Malcolm's Tower, but more frequently Misticot's Tower, which I - conceive to be a corruption for <i>Misbegot.</i> He is denominated, in the - Latin pedigree of our family, <i>Milcolumbus Nothus;</i> and his temporary - seizure of our property, and most unjust attempt to establish his own - illegitimate line in the estate of Knockwinnock, gave rise to such family - feuds and misfortunes, as strongly to found us in that horror and - antipathy to defiled blood and illegitimacy which has been handed down to - me from my respected ancestry." -</p> -<p> - "I know the story," said Oldbuck, "and I was telling it to Lovel this - moment, with some of the wise maxims and consequences which it has - engrafted on your family politics. Poor fellow! he must have been much - hurt: I took the wavering of his attention for negligence, and was - something piqued at it, and it proves to be only an excess of feeling. I - hope, Sir Arthur, you will not think the less of your life because it has - been preserved by such assistance?" -</p> -<p> - "Nor the less of my assistant either," said the Baronet; "my doors and - table shall be equally open to him as if he had descended of the most - unblemished lineage." -</p> -<p> - "Come, I am glad of that—he'll know where he can get a dinner, then, if - he wants one. But what views can he have in this neighbourhood? I must - catechise him; and if I find he wants it—or, indeed, whether he does or - not—he shall have my best advice." As the Antiquary made this liberal - promise, he took his leave of Miss Wardour and her father, eager to - commence operations upon Mr. Lovel. He informed him abruptly that Miss - Wardour sent her compliments, and remained in attendance on her father, - and then, taking him by the arm, he led him out of the castle. -</p> -<p> - Knockwinnock still preserved much of the external attributes of a - baronial castle. It had its drawbridge, though now never drawn up, and - its dry moat, the sides of which had been planted with shrubs, chiefly of - the evergreen tribes. Above these rose the old building, partly from a - foundation of red rock scarped down to the sea-beach, and partly from the - steep green verge of the moat. The trees of the avenue have been already - mentioned, and many others rose around of large size,—as if to confute - the prejudice that timber cannot be raised near to the ocean. Our walkers - paused, and looked back upon the castle, as they attained the height of a - small knoll, over which lay their homeward road; for it is to be supposed - they did not tempt the risk of the tide by returning along the sands. The - building flung its broad shadow upon the tufted foliage of the shrubs - beneath it, while the front windows sparkled in the sun. They were viewed - by the gazers with very different feelings. Lovel, with the fond - eagerness of that passion which derives its food and nourishment from - trifles, as the chameleon is said to live on the air, or upon the - invisible insects which it contains, endeavoured to conjecture which of - the numerous windows belonged to the apartment now graced by Miss - Wardour's presence. The speculations of the Antiquary were of a more - melancholy cast, and were partly indicated by the ejaculation of <i>cito - peritura!</i> as he turned away from the prospect. Lovel, roused from his - reverie, looked at him as if to inquire the meaning of an exclamation so - ominous. The old man shook his head. "Yes, my young friend," said he, "I - doubt greatly—and it wrings my heart to say it—this ancient family is - going fast to the ground!" -</p> -<p> - "Indeed!" answered Lovel—"you surprise me greatly." -</p> -<p> - "We harden ourselves in vain," continued the Antiquary, pursuing his own - train of thought and feeling—"we harden ourselves in vain to treat with - the indifference they deserve, the changes of this trumpery whirligig - world. We strive ineffectually to be the self-sufficing invulnerable - being, the <i>teres atque rotundus</i> of the poet;—the stoical exemption - which philosophy affects to give us over the pains and vexations of human - life, is as imaginary as the state of mystical quietism and perfection - aimed at by some crazy enthusiasts." -</p> -<p> - "And Heaven forbid that it should be otherwise!" said Lovel, - warmly—"Heaven forbid that any process of philosophy were capable so to sear - and indurate our feelings, that nothing should agitate them but what - arose instantly and immediately out of our own selfish interests! I - would as soon wish my hand to be as callous as horn, that it might - escape an occasional cut or scratch, as I would be ambitious of the - stoicism which should render my heart like a piece of the nether - millstone." -</p> -<p> - The Antiquary regarded his youthful companion with a look half of pity, - half of sympathy, and shrugged up his shoulders as he replied—"Wait, - young man—wait till your bark has been battered by the storm of sixty - years of mortal vicissitude: you will learn by that time, to reef your - sails, that she may obey the helm;—or, in the language of this world, - you will find distresses enough, endured and to endure, to keep your - feelings and sympathies in full exercise, without concerning yourself - more in the fate of others than you cannot possibly avoid." -</p> -<p> - "Well, Mr. Oldbuck, it may be so;—but as yet I resemble you more in your - practice than in your theory, for I cannot help being deeply interested - in the fate of the family we have just left." -</p> -<p> - "And well you may," replied Oldbuck. "Sir Arthur's embarrassments have of - late become so many and so pressing, that I am surprised you have not - heard of them. And then his absurd and expensive operations carried on by - this High-German landlouper, Dousterswivel"— -</p> -<p> - "I think I have seen that person, when, by some rare chance, I happened - to be in the coffee-room at Fairport;—a tall, beetle-browed, - awkward-built man, who entered upon scientific subjects, as it appeared - to my ignorance at least, with more assurance than knowledge—was very - arbitrary in laying down and asserting his opinions, and mixed the terms - of science with a strange jargon of mysticism. A simple youth whispered - me that he was an <i>Illumine',</i> and carried on an intercourse with the - invisible world." -</p> -<p> - "O, the same—the same. He has enough of practical knowledge to speak - scholarly and wisely to those of whose intelligence he stands in awe; - and, to say the truth, this faculty, joined to his matchless impudence, - imposed upon me for some time when I first knew him. But I have since - understood, that when he is among fools and womankind, he exhibits - himself as a perfect charlatan—talks of the <i>magisterium</i>—of sympathies - and antipathies—of the cabala—of the divining-rod—and all the trumpery - with which the Rosicrucians cheated a darker age, and which, to our - eternal disgrace, has in some degree revived in our own. My friend - Heavysterne knew this fellow abroad, and unintentionally (for he, you - must know, is, God bless the mark! a sort of believer) let me into a good - deal of his real character. Ah! were I caliph for a day, as Honest Abon - Hassan wished to be, I would scourge me these jugglers out of the - commonwealth with rods of scorpions. They debauch the spirit of the - ignorant and credulous with mystical trash, as effectually as if they had - besotted their brains with gin, and then pick their pockets with the same - facility. And now has this strolling blackguard and mountebank put the - finishing blow to the ruin of an ancient and honourable family!" -</p> -<p> - "But how could he impose upon Sir Arthur to any ruinous extent?" -</p> -<p> - "Why, I don't know. Sir Arthur is a good honourable gentleman; but, as - you may see from his loose ideas concerning the Pikish language, he is by - no means very strong in the understanding. His estate is strictly - entailed, and he has been always an embarrassed man. This rapparee - promised him mountains of wealth, and an English company was found to - advance large sums of money—I fear on Sir Arthur's guarantee. Some - gentlemen—I was ass enough to be one—took small shares in the concern, - and Sir Arthur himself made great outlay; we were trained on by specious - appearances and more specious lies; and now, like John Bunyan, we awake, - and behold it is a dream!" -</p> -<p> - "I am surprised that you, Mr. Oldbuck, should have encouraged Sir Arthur - by your example." -</p> -<p> - "Why," said Oldbuck, dropping his large grizzled eyebrow, "I am something - surprised and ashamed at it myself; it was not the lucre of gain—nobody - cares less for money (to be a prudent man) than I do—but I thought I - might risk this small sum. It will be expected (though I am sure I cannot - see why) that I should give something to any one who will be kind enough - to rid me of that slip of womankind, my niece, Mary M'Intyre; and perhaps - it may be thought I should do something to get that jackanapes, her - brother, on in the army. In either case, to treble my venture, would have - helped me out. And besides, I had some idea that the Phoenicians had in - former times wrought copper in that very spot. That cunning scoundrel, - Dousterswivel, found out my blunt side, and brought strange tales (d—n - him) of appearances of old shafts, and vestiges of mining operations, - conducted in a manner quite different from those of modern times; and - I—in short, I was a fool, and there is an end. My loss is not much worth - speaking about; but Sir Arthur's engagements are, I understand, very - deep, and my heart aches for him and the poor young lady who must share - his distress." -</p> -<p> - Here the conversation paused, until renewed in the next CHAPTER. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - If I may trust the flattering eye of sleep, - My dreams presage some joyful news at hand: - My bosom's lord sits lightly on his throne, - And all this day, an unaccustomed spirit - Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts. - Romeo and Juliet. -</pre> -<p> - The account of Sir Arthur's unhappy adventure had led Oldbuck somewhat - aside from his purpose of catechising Lovel concerning the cause of his - residence at Fairport. He was now, however, resolved to open the subject. - "Miss Wardour was formerly known to you, she tells me, Mr. Lovel?" -</p> -<p> - "He had had the pleasure," Lovel answered, "to see her at Mrs. Wilmot's, - in Yorkshire." -</p> -<p> - "Indeed! you never mentioned that to me before, and you did not accost - her as an old acquaintance." -</p> -<p> - "I—I did not know," said Lovel, a good deal embarrassed, "it was the - same lady, till we met; and then it was my duty to wait till she should - recognise me." -</p> -<p> - "I am aware of your delicacy: the knight's a punctilious old fool, but I - promise you his daughter is above all nonsensical ceremony and prejudice. - And now, since you have, found a new set of friends here, may I ask if - you intend to leave Fairport as soon as you proposed?" -</p> -<p> - "What if I should answer your question by another," replied Lovel, "and - ask you what is your opinion of dreams?" -</p> -<p> - "Of dreams, you foolish lad!—why, what should I think of them but as the - deceptions of imagination when reason drops the reins? I know no - difference betwixt them and the hallucinations of madness—the unguided - horses run away with the carriage in both cases, only in the one the - coachman is drunk, and in the other he slumbers. What says our Marcus - Tullius—<i>Si insanorum visis fides non est habenda, cur credatur - somnientium visis, quae multo etiam perturbatiora sunt, non intelligo.</i>" -</p> -<p> - "Yes, sir; but Cicero also tells us, that as he who passes the whole day - in darting the javelin must sometimes hit the mark, so, amid the cloud of - nightly dreams, some may occur consonant to future events." -</p> -<p> - "Ay—that is to say, <i>you</i> have hit the mark in your own sage opinion? - Lord! Lord! how this world is given to folly! Well, I will allow for once - the Oneirocritical science—I will give faith to the exposition of - dreams, and say a Daniel hath arisen to interpret them, if you can prove - to me that that dream of yours has pointed to a prudent line of conduct." -</p> -<p> - "Tell me, then," answered Lovel, "why when I was hesitating whether to - abandon an enterprise, which I have perhaps rashly undertaken, I should - last night dream I saw your ancestor pointing to a motto which encouraged - me to perseverance?—why should I have thought of those words which I - cannot remember to have heard before, which are in a language unknown to - me, and which yet conveyed, when translated, a lesson which I could so - plainly apply to my own circumstances?" -</p> -<p> - The Antiquary burst into a fit of laughing. "Excuse me, my young - friend—but it is thus we silly mortals deceive ourselves, and look out of doors - for motives which originate in our own wilful will. I think I can help - out the cause of your vision. You were so abstracted in your - contemplations yesterday after dinner, as to pay little attention to the - discourse between Sir Arthur and me, until we fell upon the controversy - concerning the Piks, which terminated so abruptly;—but I remember - producing to Sir Arthur a book printed by my ancestor, and making him - observe the motto; your mind was bent elsewhere, but your ear had - mechanically received and retained the sounds, and your busy fancy, - stirred by Grizel's legend I presume, had introduced this scrap of German - into your dream. As for the waking wisdom which seized on so frivolous a - circumstance as an apology for persevering in some course which it could - find no better reason to justify, it is exactly one of those juggling - tricks which the sagest of us play off now and then, to gratify our - inclination at the expense of our understanding." -</p> -<p> - "I own it," said Lovel, blushing deeply;—"I believe you are right, Mr. - Oldbuck, and I ought to sink in your esteem for attaching a moment's - consequence to such a frivolity;—but I was tossed by contradictory - wishes and resolutions, and you know how slight a line will tow a boat - when afloat on the billows, though a cable would hardly move her when - pulled up on the beach." -</p> -<p> - "Right, right," exclaimed the Antiquary. "Fall in my opinion!—not a - whit—I love thee the better, man;—why, we have story for story against - each other, and I can think with less shame on having exposed myself - about that cursed Praetorium—though I am still convinced Agricola's camp - must have been somewhere in this neighbourhood. And now, Lovel, my good - lad, be sincere with me—What make you from Wittenberg?—why have you - left your own country and professional pursuits, for an idle residence in - such a place as Fairport? A truant disposition, I fear." -</p> -<p> - "Even so," replied Lovel, patiently submitting to an interrogatory which - he could not well evade. "Yet I am so detached from all the world, have - so few in whom I am interested, or who are interested in me, that my very - state of destitution gives me independence. He whose good or evil fortune - affects himself alone, has the best right to pursue it according to his - own fancy." -</p> -<p> - "Pardon me, young man," said Oldbuck, laying his hand kindly on his - shoulder, and making a full halt—"<i>sufflamina</i>—a little patience, if - you please. I will suppose that you have no friends to share or rejoice - in your success in life—that you cannot look back to those to whom you - owe gratitude, or forward to those to whom you ought to afford - protection; but it is no less incumbent on you to move steadily in the - path of duty—for your active exertions are due not only to society, but - in humble gratitude to the Being who made you a member of it, with powers - to serve yourself and others." -</p> -<p> - "But I am unconscious of possessing such powers," said Lovel, somewhat - impatiently. "I ask nothing of society but the permission of walking - innoxiously through the path of life, without jostling others, or - permitting myself to be jostled. I owe no man anything—I have the means - of maintaining, myself with complete independence; and so moderate are my - wishes in this respect, that even these means, however limited, rather - exceed than fall short of them." -</p> -<p> - "Nay, then," said Oldbuck, removing his hand, and turning again to the - road, "if you are so true a philosopher as to think you have money - enough, there's no more to be said—I cannot pretend to be entitled to - advise you;—you have attained the <i>acme'</i>—the summit of perfection. And - how came Fairport to be the selected abode of so much self-denying - philosophy? It is as if a worshipper of the true religion had set up his - staff by choice among the multifarious idolaters of the land of Egypt. - There is not a man in Fairport who is not a devoted worshipper of the - Golden Calf—the mammon of unrighteousness. Why, even I, man, am so - infected by the bad neighbourhood, that I feel inclined occasionally to - become an idolater myself." -</p> -<p> - "My principal amusements being literary," answered Lovel, "and - circumstances which I cannot mention having induced me, for a time at - least, to relinquish the military service, I have pitched on Fairport as - a place where I might follow my pursuits without any of those temptations - to society which a more elegant circle might have presented to me." -</p> -<p> - "Aha!" replied Oldbuck, knowingly,—"I begin to understand your - application of my ancestor's motto. You are a candidate for public - favour, though not in the way I first suspected,—you are ambitious to - shine as a literary character, and you hope to merit favour by labour and - perseverance?" -</p> -<p> - Lovel, who was rather closely pressed by the inquisitiveness of the old - gentleman, concluded it would be best to let him remain in the error - which he had gratuitously adopted. -</p> -<p> - "I have been at times foolish enough," he replied, "to nourish some - thoughts of the kind." -</p> -<p> - "Ah, poor fellow! nothing can be more melancholy; unless, as young men - sometimes do, you had fancied yourself in love with some trumpery - specimen of womankind, which is indeed, as Shakspeare truly says, - pressing to death, whipping, and hanging all at once." -</p> -<p> - He then proceeded with inquiries, which he was sometimes kind enough to - answer himself. For this good old gentleman had, from his antiquarian - researches, acquired a delight in building theories out of premises which - were often far from affording sufficient ground for them; and being, as - the reader must have remarked, sufficiently opinionative, he did not - readily brook being corrected, either in matter of fact or judgment, even - by those who were principally interested in the subjects on which he - speculated. He went on, therefore, chalking out Lovel's literary career - for him. -</p> -<p> - "And with what do you propose to commence your debut as a man of - letters?—But I guess—poetry—poetry—the soft seducer of youth. Yes! - there is an acknowledging modesty of confusion in your eye and manner. - And where lies your vein?—are you inclined to soar to the higher - regions of Parnassus, or to flutter around the base of the hill?" -</p> -<p> - "I have hitherto attempted only a few lyrical pieces," said Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "Just as I supposed—pruning your wing, and hopping from spray to spray. - But I trust you intend a bolder flight. Observe, I would by no means - recommend your persevering in this unprofitable pursuit—but you say you - are quite independent of the public caprice?" -</p> -<p> - "Entirely so," replied Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "And that you are determined not to adopt a more active course of life?" -</p> -<p> - "For the present, such is my resolution," replied the young man. -</p> -<p> - "Why, then, it only remains for me to give you my best advice and - assistance in the object of your pursuit. I have myself published two - essays in the Antiquarian Repository,—and therefore am an author of - experience, There was my Remarks on Hearne's edition of Robert of - Gloucester, signed <i>Scrutator;</i> and the other signed <i>Indagator,</i> upon a - passage in Tacitus. I might add, what attracted considerable notice at - the time, and that is my paper in the Gentleman's Magazine, upon the - inscription of OElia Lelia, which I subscribed <i>OEdipus.</i> So you see I am - not an apprentice in the mysteries of author-craft, and must necessarily - understand the taste and temper of the times. And now, once more, what do - you intend to commence with?" -</p> -<p> - "I have no instant thoughts of publishing." -</p> -<p> - "Ah! that will never do; you must have the fear of the public before your - eyes in all your undertakings. Let us see now: A collection of fugitive - pieces; but no—your fugitive poetry is apt to become stationary with the - bookseller. It should be something at once solid and attractive—none of - your romances or anomalous novelties—I would have you take high ground - at once. Let me see: What think you of a real epic?—the grand - old-fashioned historical poem which moved through twelve or twenty-four - books. We'll have it so—I'll supply you with a subject—The battle - between the Caledonians and Romans—The Caledoniad; or, Invasion - Repelled;—let that be the title—it will suit the present taste, and you - may throw in a touch of the times." -</p> -<p> - "But the invasion of Agricola was <i>not</i> repelled." -</p> -<p> - "No; but you are a poet—free of the corporation, and as little bound - down to truth or probability as Virgil himself—You may defeat the Romans - in spite of Tacitus." -</p> -<p> - "And pitch Agricola's camp at the Kaim of—what do you call it," answered - Lovel, "in defiance of Edie Ochiltree?" -</p> -<p> - "No more of that, an thou lovest me—And yet, I dare say, ye may - unwittingly speak most correct truth in both instances, in despite of the - <i>toga</i> of the historian and the blue gown of the mendicant." -</p> -<p> - "Gallantly counselled!—Well, I will do my best—your kindness will - assist me with local information." -</p> -<p> - "Will I not, man?—why, I will write the critical and historical notes on - each canto, and draw out the plan of the story myself. I pretend to some - poetical genius, Mr. Lovel, only I was never able to write verses." -</p> -<p> - "It is a pity, sir, that you should have failed in a qualification - somewhat essential to the art." -</p> -<p> - "Essential?—not a whit—it is the mere mechanical department. A man may - be a poet without measuring spondees and dactyls like the ancients, or - clashing the ends of lines into rhyme like the moderns, as one may be an - architect though unable to labour like a stone-mason—Dost think Palladio - or Vitruvius ever carried a hod?" -</p> -<p> - "In that case, there should be two authors to each poem—one to think and - plan, another to execute." -</p> -<p> - "Why, it would not be amiss; at any rate, we'll make the experiment;—not - that I would wish to give my name to the public—assistance from a - learned friend might be acknowledged in the preface after what flourish - your nature will—I am a total stranger to authorial vanity." -</p> -<p> - Lovel was much entertained by a declaration not very consistent with the - eagerness wherewith his friend seemed to catch at an opportunity of - coming before the public, though in a manner which rather resembled - stepping up behind a carriage than getting into one. The Antiquary was - indeed uncommonly delighted; for, like many other men who spend their - lives in obscure literary research, he had a secret ambition to appear in - print, which was checked by cold fits of diffidence, fear of criticism, - and habits of indolence and procrastination. "But," thought he, "I may, - like a second Teucer, discharge my shafts from behind the shield of my - ally; and, admit that he should not prove to be a first-rate poet, I am - in no shape answerable for his deficiencies, and the good notes may very - probably help off an indifferent text. But he is—he must be a good poet; - he has the real Parnassian abstraction—seldom answers a question till it - is twice repeated—drinks his tea scalding, and eats without knowing what - he is putting into his mouth. This is the real <i>aestus,</i> the <i>awen</i> of - the Welsh bards, the <i>divinus afflatus</i> that transports the poet beyond - the limits of sublunary things. His visions, too, are very symptomatical - of poetic fury—I must recollect to send Caxon to see he puts out his - candle to-night—poets and visionaries are apt to be negligent in that - respect." Then, turning to his companion, he expressed himself aloud in - continuation— -</p> -<p> - "Yes, my dear Lovel, you shall have full notes; and, indeed, think we may - introduce the whole of the Essay on Castrametation into the appendix—it - will give great value to the work. Then we will revive the good old forms - so disgracefully neglected in modern times. You shall invoke the - Muse—and certainly she ought to be propitious to an author who, in an - apostatizing age, adheres with the faith of Abdiel to the ancient form of - adoration.—Then we must have a vision—in which the Genius of Caledonia - shall appear to Galgacus, and show him a procession of the real Scottish - monarchs:—and in the notes I will have a hit at Boethius—No; I must not - touch that topic, now that Sir Arthur is likely to have vexation enough - besides—but I'll annihilate Ossian, Macpherson, and Mac-Cribb." -</p> -<p> - "But we must consider the expense of publication," said Lovel, willing to - try whether this hint would fall like cold water on the blazing zeal of - his self-elected coadjutor. -</p> -<p> - "Expense!" said Mr. Oldbuck, pausing, and mechanically fumbling in his - pocket—"that is true;—I would wish to do something—but you would not - like to publish by subscription?" -</p> -<p> - "By no means," answered Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "No, no!" gladly acquiesced the Antiquary—"it is not respectable. I'll - tell you what: I believe I know a bookseller who has a value for my - opinion, and will risk print and paper, and I will get as many copies - sold for you as I can." -</p> -<p> - "O, I am no mercenary author," answered Lovel, smiling; "I only wish to - be out of risk of loss." -</p> -<p> - "Hush! hush! we'll take care of that—throw it all on the publishers. I - do long to see your labours commenced. You will choose blank verse, - doubtless?—it is more grand and magnificent for an historical subject; - and, what concerneth you, my friend, it is, I have an idea, more easily - written." -</p> -<p> - This conversation brought them to Monkbarns, where the Antiquary had to - undergo a chiding from his sister, who, though no philosopher, was - waiting to deliver a lecture to him in the portico. "Guide us, Monkbarns! - are things no dear eneugh already, but ye maun be raising the very fish - on us, by giving that randy, Luckie Mucklebackit, just what she likes to - ask?" -</p> -<p> - "Why, Grizel," said the sage, somewhat abashed at this unexpected attack, - "I thought I made a very fair bargain." -</p> -<p> - "A fair bargain! when ye gied the limmer a full half o' what she - seekit!—An ye will be a wife-carle, and buy fish at your ain hands, ye suld - never bid muckle mair than a quarter. And the impudent quean had the - assurance to come up and seek a dram—But I trow, Jenny and I sorted - her!" -</p> -<p> - "Truly," said Oldbuck (with a sly look to his companion), "I think our - estate was gracious that kept us out of hearing of that - controversy.—Well, well, Grizel, I was wrong for once in my life <i>ultra - crepidam</i>—I fairly admit. But hang expenses!—care killed a cat—we'll eat the - fish, cost what it will.—And then, Lovel, you must know I pressed you - to stay here to-day, the rather because our cheer will be better than - usual, yesterday having been a gaude' day—I love the reversion of a - feast better than the feast itself. I delight in the <i>analecta,</i> the - <i>collectanea,</i> as I may call them, of the preceding day's dinner, which - appear on such occasions—And see, there is Jenny going to ring the - dinner-bell." -</p> -<a name="2HCH0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - Be this letter delivered with haste—haste—post-haste! - Ride, villain, ride,—for thy life—for thy life—for thy life. - Ancient Indorsation of Letters of Importance. -</pre> -<p> - Leaving Mr. Oldbuck and his friend to enjoy their hard bargain of fish, - we beg leave to transport the reader to the back-parlour of the - post-master's house at Fairport, where his wife, he himself being absent, - was employed in assorting for delivery the letters which had come by the - Edinburgh post. This is very often in country towns the period of the day - when gossips find it particularly agreeable to call on the man or woman - of letters, in order, from the outside of the epistles, and, if they are - not belied, occasionally from the inside also, to amuse themselves with - gleaning information, or forming conjectures about the correspondence and - affairs of their neighbours. Two females of this description were, at the - time we mention, assisting, or impeding, Mrs. Mailsetter in her official - duty. -</p> -<p> - "Eh, preserve us, sirs!" said the butcher's wife, "there's ten— - eleven—twall letters to Tennant and Co.—thae folk do mair business than a' - the rest o' the burgh." -</p> -<p> - "Ay; but see, lass," answered the baker's lady, "there's twa o' them - faulded unco square, and sealed at the tae side—I doubt there will be - protested bills in them." -</p> -<p> - "Is there ony letters come yet for Jenny Caxon?" inquired the woman of - joints and giblets; "the lieutenant's been awa three weeks." -</p> -<p> - "Just ane on Tuesday was a week," answered the dame of letters. -</p> -<p> - "Wast a ship-letter?" asked the Fornerina. -</p> -<p> - "In troth wast." -</p> -<p> - "It wad be frae the lieutenant then," replied the mistress of the rolls, - somewhat disappointed—"I never thought he wad hae lookit ower his - shouther after her." -</p> -<p> - "Od, here's another," quoth Mrs. Mailsetter. "A ship-letter—post-mark, - Sunderland." All rushed to seize it.—"Na, na, leddies," said Mrs. - Mailsetter, interfering; "I hae had eneugh o' that wark—Ken ye that Mr. - Mailsetter got an unco rebuke frae the secretary at Edinburgh, for a - complaint that was made about the letter of Aily Bisset's that ye opened, - Mrs. Shortcake?" -</p> -<p> - "Me opened!" answered the spouse of the chief baker of Fairport; "ye ken - yoursell, madam, it just cam open o' free will in my hand—what could I - help it?—folk suld seal wi' better wax." -</p> -<p> - "Weel I wot that's true, too," said Mrs. Mailsetter, who kept a shop of - small wares, "and we have got some that I can honestly recommend, if ye - ken onybody wanting it. But the short and the lang o't is, that we'll - lose the place gin there's ony mair complaints o' the kind." -</p> -<p> - "Hout, lass—the provost will take care o' that." -</p> -<p> - "Na, na, I'll neither trust to provost nor bailier" said the - postmistress,—"but I wad aye be obliging and neighbourly, and I'm no - again your looking at the outside of a letter neither—See, the seal has - an anchor on't—he's done't wi' ane o' his buttons, I'm thinking." -</p> -<p> - "Show me! show me!" quoth the wives of the chief butcher and chief baker; - and threw themselves on the supposed love-letter, like the weird sisters - in Macbeth upon the pilot's thumb, with curiosity as eager and scarcely - less malignant. Mrs. Heukbane was a tall woman—she held the precious - epistle up between her eyes and the window. Mrs. Shortcake, a little - squat personage, strained and stood on tiptoe to have her share of the - investigation. -</p> -<p> - "Ay, it's frae him, sure eneugh," said the butcher's lady;—"I can read - Richard Taffril on the corner, and it's written, like John Thomson's - wallet, frae end to end." -</p> -<p> - "Haud it lower down, madam," exclaimed Mrs. Shortcake, in a tone above - the prudential whisper which their occupation required—"haud it lower - down—Div ye think naebody can read hand o' writ but yoursell?" -</p> -<p> - "Whist, whist, sirs, for God's sake!" said Mrs. Mailsetter, "there's - somebody in the shop,"—then aloud—"Look to the customers, Baby!"—Baby - answered from without in a shrill tone—"It's naebody but Jenny Caxon, - ma'am, to see if there's ony letters to her." -</p> -<p> - "Tell her," said the faithful postmistress, winking to her compeers, "to - come back the morn at ten o'clock, and I'll let her ken—we havena had - time to sort the mail letters yet—she's aye in sic a hurry, as if her - letters were o' mair consequence than the best merchant's o' the town." -</p> -<p> - Poor Jenny, a girl of uncommon beauty and modesty, could only draw her - cloak about her to hide the sigh of disappointment and return meekly home - to endure for another night the sickness of the heart occasioned by hope - delayed. -</p> -<p> - "There's something about a needle and a pole," said Mrs. Shortcake, to - whom her taller rival in gossiping had at length yielded a peep at the - subject of their curiosity. -</p> -<p> - "Now, that's downright shamefu'," said Mrs. Heukbane, "to scorn the poor - silly gait of a lassie after he's keepit company wi' her sae lang, and - had his will o' her, as I make nae doubt he has." -</p> -<p> - "It's but ower muckle to be doubted," echoed Mrs. Shortcake;—"to cast up - to her that her father's a barber and has a pole at his door, and that - she's but a manty-maker hersell! Hout fy for shame!" -</p> -<p> - "Hout tout, leddies," cried Mrs. Mailsetter, "ye're clean wrang—It's a - line out o' ane o' his sailors' sangs that I have heard him sing, about - being true like the needle to the pole." -</p> -<p> - "Weel, weel, I wish it may be sae," said the charitable Dame - Heukbane,—"but it disna look weel for a lassie like her to keep up a - correspondence wi' ane o' the king's officers." -</p> -<p> - "I'm no denying that," said Mrs. Mailsetter; "but it's a great advantage - to the revenue of the post-office thae love-letters. See, here's five or - six letters to Sir Arthur Wardour—maist o' them sealed wi' wafers, and - no wi' wax. There will be a downcome, there, believe me." -</p> -<p> - "Ay; they will be business letters, and no frae ony o' his grand friends, - that seals wi' their coats of arms, as they ca' them," said Mrs. - Heukbane;—"pride will hae a fa'—he hasna settled his account wi' my - gudeman, the deacon, for this twalmonth—he's but slink, I doubt." -</p> -<p> - "Nor wi' huz for sax months," echoed Mrs. Shortcake—"He's but a brunt - crust." -</p> -<p> - "There's a letter," interrupted the trusty postmistress, "from his son, - the captain, I'm thinking—the seal has the same things wi' the - Knockwinnock carriage. He'll be coming hame to see what he can save out - o' the fire." -</p> -<p> - The baronet thus dismissed, they took up the esquire—"Twa letters for - Monkbarns—they're frae some o' his learned friends now; see sae close as - they're written, down to the very seal—and a' to save sending a double - letter—that's just like Monkbarns himsell. When he gets a frank he fills - it up exact to the weight of an unce, that a carvy-seed would sink the - scale—but he's neer a grain abune it. Weel I wot I wad be broken if I - were to gie sic weight to the folk that come to buy our pepper and - brimstone, and suchlike sweetmeats." -</p> -<p> - "He's a shabby body the laird o' Monkbarns," said Mrs. Heukbane; "he'll - make as muckle about buying a forequarter o' lamb in August as about a - back sey o' beef. Let's taste another drop of the sinning" (perhaps she - meant <i>cinnamon</i>) "waters, Mrs. Mailsetter, my dear. Ah, lasses! an ye - had kend his brother as I did—mony a time he wad slip in to see me wi' a - brace o' wild deukes in his pouch, when my first gudeman was awa at the - Falkirk tryst—weel, weel—we'se no speak o' that e'enow." -</p> -<p> - "I winna say ony ill o'this Monkbarns," said Mrs. Shortcake; "his brother - neer brought me ony wild-deukes, and this is a douce honest man; we serve - the family wi' bread, and he settles wi' huz ilka week—only he was in an - unco kippage when we sent him a book instead o' the <i>nick-sticks,</i>* - whilk, he said, were the true ancient way o' counting between tradesmen - and customers; and sae they are, nae doubt." -</p> -<p> - * Note E. Nick-sticks. -</p> -<p> - "But look here, lasses," interrupted Mrs. Mailsetter, "here's a sight for - sair e'en! What wad ye gie to ken what's in the inside o' this letter? - This is new corn—I haena seen the like o' this—For William Lovel, - Esquire, at Mrs. Hadoway's, High Street, Fairport, by Edinburgh, N. B. - This is just the second letter he has had since he was here." -</p> -<p> - "Lord's sake, let's see, lass!—Lord's sake, let's see!—that's him that - the hale town kens naething about—and a weel-fa'ard lad he is; let's - see, let's see!" Thus ejaculated the two worthy representatives of mother - Eve. -</p> -<p> - "Na, na, sirs," exclaimed Mrs. Mailsetter; "haud awa—bide aff, I tell - you; this is nane o' your fourpenny cuts that we might make up the value - to the post-office amang ourselves if ony mischance befell it;—the - postage is five-and-twenty shillings—and here's an order frae the - Secretary to forward it to the young gentleman by express, if he's no at - hame. Na, na, sirs, bide aff;—this maunna be roughly guided." -</p> -<p> - "But just let's look at the outside o't, woman." -</p> -<p> - Nothing could be gathered from the outside, except remarks on the various - properties which philosophers ascribe to matter,—length, breadth, depth, - and weight, The packet was composed of strong thick paper, imperviable by - the curious eyes of the gossips, though they stared as if they would - burst from their sockets. The seal was a deep and well-cut impression of - arms, which defied all tampering. -</p> -<p> - "Od, lass," said Mrs. Shortcake, weighing it in her hand, and wishing, - doubtless, that the too, too solid wax would melt and dissolve itself, "I - wad like to ken what's in the inside o' this, for that Lovel dings a' - that ever set foot on the plainstanes o' Fairport—naebody kens what to - make o' him." -</p> -<a name="image-0009"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/pa185.jpg" height="459" width="737" -alt="Mrs. Heukbane and Mrs. Shortcake -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<p> - "Weel, weel, leddies," said the postmistress, "we'se sit down and crack - about it.—Baby, bring ben the tea-water—Muckle obliged to ye for your - cookies, Mrs. Shortcake—and we'll steek the shop, and cry ben Baby, and - take a hand at the cartes till the gudeman comes hame—and then we'll try - your braw veal sweetbread that ye were so kind as send me, Mrs. - Heukbane." -</p> -<p> - "But winna ye first send awa Mr. Lovel's letter?" said Mrs. Heukbane. -</p> -<p> - "Troth I kenna wha to send wi't till the gudeman comes hame, for auld - Caxon tell'd me that Mr. Lovel stays a' the day at Monkbarns—he's in a - high fever, wi' pu'ing the laird and Sir Arthur out o' the sea." -</p> -<p> - "Silly auld doited carles!" said Mrs. Shortcake; "what gar'd them gang to - the douking in a night like yestreen!" -</p> -<p> - "I was gi'en to understand it was auld Edie that saved them," said Mrs. - Heukbane—"Edie Ochiltree, the Blue-Gown, ye ken; and that he pu'd the - hale three out of the auld fish-pound, for Monkbarns had threepit on them - to gang in till't to see the wark o' the monks lang syne." -</p> -<p> - "Hout, lass, nonsense!" answered the postmistress; "I'll tell ye, a' - about it, as Caxon tell'd it to me. Ye see, Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour, - and Mr. Lovel, suld hae dined at Monkbarns"— -</p> -<p> - "But, Mrs. Mailsetter," again interrupted Mrs. Heukbane, "will ye no be - for sending awa this letter by express?—there's our powny and our - callant hae gane express for the office or now, and the powny hasna gane - abune thirty mile the day;—Jock was sorting him up as I came ower by." -</p> -<p> - "Why, Mrs. Heukbane," said the woman of letters, pursing up her mouth, - "ye ken my gudeman likes to ride the expresses himsell—we maun gie our - ain fish-guts to our ain sea-maws—it's a red half-guinea to him every - time he munts his mear; and I dare say he'll be in sune—or I dare to - say, it's the same thing whether the gentleman gets the express this - night or early next morning." -</p> -<p> - "Only that Mr. Lovel will be in town before the express gaes aff," said - Mrs. Heukbane; "and where are ye then, lass? But ye ken yere ain ways - best." -</p> -<p> - "Weel, weel, Mrs. Heukbane," answered Mrs. Mailsetter, a little out of - humour, and even out of countenance, "I am sure I am never against being - neighbour-like, and living and letting live, as they say; and since I hae - been sic a fule as to show you the post-office order—ou, nae doubt, it - maun be obeyed. But I'll no need your callant, mony thanks to ye—I'll - send little Davie on your powny, and that will be just five-and-threepence - to ilka ane o' us, ye ken." -</p> -<p> - "Davie! the Lord help ye, the bairn's no ten year auld; and, to be plain - wi' ye, our powny reists a bit, and it's dooms sweer to the road, and - naebody can manage him but our Jock." -</p> -<p> - "I'm sorry for that," answered the postmistress, gravely; "it's like we - maun wait then till the gudeman comes hame, after a'—for I wadna like to - be responsible in trusting the letter to sic a callant as Jock—our Davie - belangs in a manner to the office." -</p> -<p> - "Aweel, aweel, Mrs. Mailsetter, I see what ye wad be at—but an ye like - to risk the bairn, I'll risk the beast." -</p> -<p> - Orders were accordingly given. The unwilling pony was brought out of his - bed of straw, and again equipped for service—Davie (a leathern post-bag - strapped across his shoulders) was perched upon the saddle, with a tear - in his eye, and a switch in his hand. Jock good-naturedly led the animal - out of town, and, by the crack of his whip, and the whoop and halloo of - his too well-known voice, compelled it to take the road towards - Monkbarns. -</p> -<p> - Meanwhile the gossips, like the sibyls after consulting their leaves, - arranged and combined the information of the evening, which flew next - morning through a hundred channels, and in a hundred varieties, through - the world of Fairport. Many, strange, and inconsistent, were the rumours - to which their communications and conjectures gave rise. Some said - Tennant and Co. were broken, and that all their bills had come back - protested—others that they had got a great contract from Government, and - letters from the principal merchants at Glasgow, desiring to have shares - upon a premium. One report stated, that Lieutenant Taffril had - acknowledged a private marriage with Jenny Caxon—another, that he had - sent her a letter upbraiding her with the lowness of her birth and - education, and bidding her an eternal adieu. It was generally rumoured - that Sir Arthur Wardour's affairs had fallen into irretrievable - confusion, and this report was only doubted by the wise, because it was - traced to Mrs. Mailsetter's shop,—a source more famous for the - circulation of news than for their accuracy. But all agreed that a packet - from the Secretary of State's office, had arrived, directed for Mr. - Lovel, and that it had been forwarded by an orderly dragoon, despatched - from the head-quarters at Edinburgh, who had galloped through Fairport - without stopping, except just to inquire the way to Monkbarns. The reason - of such an extraordinary mission to a very peaceful and retired - individual, was variously explained. Some said Lovel was an emigrant - noble, summoned to head an insurrection that had broken out in La - Vende'e—others that he was a spy—others that he was a general officer, - who was visiting the coast privately—others that he was a prince of the - blood, who was travelling <i>incognito.</i> -</p> -<p> - Meanwhile the progress of the packet which occasioned so much - speculation, towards its destined owner at Monkbarns, had been perilous - and interrupted. The bearer, Davie Mailsetter, as little resembling a - bold dragoon as could well be imagined, was carried onwards towards - Monkbarns by the pony, so long as the animal had in his recollection the - crack of his usual instrument of chastisement, and the shout of the - butcher's boy. But feeling how Davie, whose short legs were unequal to - maintain his balance, swung to and fro upon his back, the pony began to - disdain furthur compliance with the intimations he had received. First, - then, he slackened his pace to a walk This was no point of quarrel - between him and his rider, who had been considerably discomposed by the - rapidity of his former motion, and who now took the opportunity of his - abated pace to gnaw a piece of gingerbread, which had been thrust into - his hand by his mother in order to reconcile this youthful emissary of - the post-office to the discharge of his duty. By and by, the crafty pony - availed himself of this surcease of discipline to twitch the rein out of - Davies hands, and applied himself to browse on the grass by the side of - the lane. Sorely astounded by these symptoms of self-willed rebellion, - and afraid alike to sit or to fall, poor Davie lifted up his voice and - wept aloud. The pony, hearing this pudder over his head, began apparently - to think it would be best both for himself and Davie to return from - whence they came, and accordingly commenced a retrograde movement towards - Fairport. But, as all retreats are apt to end in utter rout, so the - steed, alarmed by the boy's cries, and by the flapping of the reins, - which dangled about his forefeet—finding also his nose turned homeward, - began to set off at a rate which, if Davie kept the saddle (a matter - extremely dubious), would soon have presented him at Heukbane's - stable-door,—when, at a turn of the road, an intervening auxiliary, in - the shape of old Edie Ochiltree, caught hold of the rein, and stopped his - farther proceeding. "Wha's aught ye, callant? whaten a gate's that to - ride?" -</p> -<p> - "I canna help it!" blubbered the express; "they ca' me little Davie." -</p> -<p> - "And where are ye gaun?" -</p> -<p> - "I'm gaun to Monkbarns wi' a letter." -</p> -<p> - "Stirra, this is no the road to Monkbarns." -</p> -<p> - But Davie could oinly answer the expostulation with sighs and tears. -</p> -<p> - Old Edie was easily moved to compassion where childhood was in the case.--"I - wasna gaun that gate," he thought, "but it's the best o' my way o' - life that I canna be weel out o' my road. They'll gie me quarters at - Monkbarns readily eneugh, and I'll e'en hirple awa there wi' the wean, - for it will knock its hams out, puir thing, if there's no somebody to - guide the pony.—Sae ye hae a letter, hinney? will ye let me see't?" -</p> -<p> - "I'm no gaun to let naebody see the letter," sobbed the boy, "till I - gie't to Mr. Lovel, for I am a faithfu' servant o' the office—if it - werena for the powny." -</p> -<p> - "Very right, my little man," said Ochiltree, turning the reluctant pony's - head towards Monkbarns; "but we'll guide him atween us, if he's no a' the - sweerer." -</p> -<p> - Upon the very height of Kinprunes, to which Monkbarns had invited Lovel - after their dinner, the Antiquary, again reconciled to the once degraded - spot, was expatiating upon the topics the scenery afforded for a - description of Agricola's camp at the dawn of morning, when his eye was - caught by the appearance of the mendicant and his protegee. "What the - devil!—here comes Old Edie, bag and baggage, I think." -</p> -<p> - The beggar explained his errand, and Davie, who insisted upon a literal - execution of his commission by going on to Monkbarns, was with difficulty - prevailed upon to surrender the packet to its proper owner, although he - met him a mile nearer than the place he had been directed to. "But my - minnie said, I maun be sure to get twenty shillings and five shillings - for the postage, and ten shillings and sixpence for the express—there's - the paper." -</p> -<p> - "Let me see—let me see," said Oldbuck, putting on his spectacles, and - examining the crumpled copy of regulations to which Davie - appealed. "Express, per man and horse, one day, not to exceed ten - shillings and sixpence. One day? why, it's not an hour—Man and horse? - why, 'tis a monkey on a starved cat!" -</p> -<p> - "Father wad hae come himsell," said Davie, "on the muckle red mear, an ye - wad hae bidden till the morn's night." -</p> -<p> - "Four-and-twenty hours after the regular date of delivery! You little - cockatrice egg, do you understand the art of imposition so early?" -</p> -<p> - "Hout Monkbarns! dinna set your wit against a bairn," said the beggar; - "mind the butcher risked his beast, and the wife her wean, and I am sure - ten and sixpence isna ower muckle. Ye didna gang sae near wi' Johnnie - Howie, when"— -</p> -<p> - Lovel, who, sitting on the supposed <i>Praetorium,</i> had glanced over the - contents of the packet, now put an end to the altercation by paying - Davies demand; and then turning to Mr. Oldbuck, with a look of much - agitation, he excused himself from returning with him to Monkbarns' that - evening.—"I must instantly go to Fairport, and perhaps leave it on a - moment's notice;—your kindness, Mr. Oldbuck, I can never forget." -</p> -<p> - "No bad news, I hope?" said the Antiquary. -</p> -<p> - "Of a very chequered complexion," answered his friend. "Farewell—in good - or bad fortune I will not forget your regard." -</p> -<p> - "Nay, nay—stop a moment. If—if—" (making an effort)—"if there be any - pecuniary inconvenience—I have fifty—or a hundred guineas at your - service—till—till Whitsunday—or indeed as long as you please." -</p> -<p> - "I am much obliged, Mr. Oldbuck, but I am amply provided," said his - mysterious young friend. "Excuse me—I really cannot sustain further - conversation at present. I will write or see you, before I leave - Fairport—that is, if I find myself obliged to go." -</p> -<p> - So saying, he shook the Antiquary's hand warmly, turned from him, and - walked rapidly towards the town, "staying no longer question." -</p> -<p> - "Very extraordinary indeed!" said Oldbuck;—"but there's something about - this lad I can never fathom; and yet I cannot for my heart think ill of - him neither. I must go home and take off the fire in the Green Room, for - none of my womankind will venture into it after twilight." -</p> -<p> - "And how am I to win hame?" blubbered the disconsolate express. -</p> -<p> - "It's a fine night," said the Blue-Gown, looking up to the skies; "I had - as gude gang back to the town, and take care o' the wean." -</p> -<p> - "Do so, do so, Edie;" and rummaging for some time in his huge waistcoat - pocket till he found the object of his search, the Antiquary added, - "there's sixpence to ye to buy sneeshin." -</p> -<a name="2HCH0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - "I am bewitched with the rogue's company. If the rascal has not - given me medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged; it could - not be else. I have drunk medicines." - Second Part of Henry IV. -</pre> -<p> - Regular for a fortnight were the inquiries of the Antiquary at the - veteran Caxon, whether he had heard what Mr. Lovel was about; and as - regular were Caxon's answers, "that the town could learn naething about - him whatever, except that he had received anither muckle letter or twa - frae the south, and that he was never seen on the plainstanes at a'." -</p> -<p> - "How does he live, Caxon?" -</p> -<p> - "Ou, Mrs. Hadoway just dresses him a beefsteak or a muttonchop, or makes - him some Friar's chicken, or just what she likes hersell, and he eats it - in the little red parlour off his bedroom. She canna get him to say that - he likes ae thing better than anither; and she makes him tea in a - morning, and he settles honourably wi' her every week." -</p> -<p> - "But does he never stir abroad?" -</p> -<p> - "He has clean gi'en up walking, and he sits a' day in his room reading or - writing; a hantle letters he has written, but he wadna put them into our - post-house, though Mrs. Hadoway offered to carry them hersell, but sent - them a' under ae cover to the sheriff; and it's Mrs. Mailsetter's belief, - that the sheriff sent his groom to put them into the post-office at - Tannonburgh; it's my puir thought, that he jaloused their looking into - his letters at Fairport; and weel had he need, for my puir daughter - Jenny"— -</p> -<p> - "Tut, don't plague me with your womankind, Caxon. About this poor young - lad.—Does he write nothing but letters?" -</p> -<p> - "Ou, ay—hale sheets o' other things, Mrs. Hadoway says. She wishes - muckle he could be gotten to take a walk; she thinks he's but looking - very puirly, and his appetite's clean gane; but he'll no hear o' ganging - ower the door-stane—him that used to walk sae muckle too." -</p> -<p> - "That's wrong—I have a guess what he's busy about; but he must not work - too hard neither. I'll go and see him this very day—he's deep, - doubtless, in the Caledoniad." -</p> -<p> - Having formed this manful resolution, Mr. Oldbuck equipped himself for - the expedition with his thick walking-shoes and gold-headed cane, - muttering the while the words of Falstaff which we have chosen for the - motto of this CHAPTER; for the Antiquary was himself rather surprised at - the degree of attachment which he could not but acknowledge be - entertained for this stranger. The riddle was notwithstanding easily - solved. Lovel had many attractive qualities, but he won our Antiquary's - heart by being on most occasions an excellent listener. -</p> -<p> - A walk to Fairport had become somewhat of an adventure with Mr. Oldbuck, - and one which he did not often care to undertake. He hated greetings in - the market-place; and there were generally loiterers in the streets to - persecute him, either about the news of the day, or about some petty - pieces of business. So, on this occasion, he had no sooner entered the - streets of Fairport, than it was "Good-morrow, Mr. Oldbuck—a sight o' - you's gude, for sair een: what d'ye think of the news in the Sun the - day?—they say the great attempt will be made in a fortnight." -</p> -<p> - "I wish to the Lord it were made and over, that I might hear no more - about it." -</p> -<p> - "Monkbarns, your honour," said the nursery and seedsman, "I hope the - plants gied satisfaction?—and if ye wanted ony flower-roots fresh frae - Holland, or" (this in a lower key) "an anker or twa o' Cologne gin, ane - o' our brigs cam in yestreen." -</p> -<p> - "Thank ye, thank ye,—no occasion at present, Mr. Crabtree," said the - Antiquary, pushing resolutely onward. -</p> -<p> - "Mr. Oldbuck," said the town-clerk (a more important person, who came in - front and ventured to stop the old gentleman), "the provost, - understanding you were in town, begs on no account that you'll quit it - without seeing him; he wants to speak to ye about bringing the water frae - the Fairwell-spring through a part o' your lands." -</p> -<p> - "What the deuce!—have they nobody's land but mine to cut and carve - on?—I won't consent, tell them." -</p> -<p> - "And the provost," said the clerk, going on, without noticing the rebuff, - "and the council, wad be agreeable that you should hae the auld stones at - Donagild's chapel, that ye was wussing to hae." -</p> -<p> - "Eh!—what?—Oho! that's another story—Well, well, I'll call upon the - provost, and we'll talk about it." -</p> -<p> - "But ye maun speak your mind on't forthwith, Monkbarns, if ye want the - stones; for Deacon Harlewalls thinks the carved through-stanes might be - put with advantage on the front of the new council-house—that is, the - twa cross-legged figures that the callants used to ca' Robin and Bobbin, - ane on ilka door-cheek; and the other stane, that they ca'd Ailie Dailie, - abune the door. It will be very tastefu', the Deacon says, and just in - the style of modern Gothic." -</p> -<p> - "Lord deliver me from this Gothic generation!" exclaimed the - Antiquary,—"A monument of a knight-templar on each side of a Grecian porch, and a - Madonna on the top of it!—<i>O crimini!</i>—Well, tell the provost I wish to - have the stones, and we'll not differ about the water-course. It's lucky - I happened to come this way to-day." -</p> -<p> - They parted mutually satisfied; but the wily clerk had most reason to - exult in the dexterity he had displayed, since the whole proposal of an - exchange between the monuments (which the council had determined to - remove as a nuisance, because they encroached three feet upon the public - road), and the privilege of conveying the water to the burgh through the - estate of Monkbarns, was an idea which had originated with himself upon - the pressure of the moment. -</p> -<p> - Through these various entanglements, Monkbarns (to use the phrase by - which he was distinguished in the country) made his way at length to Mrs. - Hadoway's. This good woman was the widow of a late clergyman at Fairport, - who had been reduced by her husband's untimely death, to that state of - straitened and embarrassed circumstances in which the widows of the - Scotch clergy are too often found. The tenement which she occupied, and - the furniture of which she was possessed, gave her the means of letting a - part of her house; and as Lovel had been a quiet, regular, and profitable - lodger, and had qualified the necessary intercourse which they had - together with a great deal of gentleness and courtesy, Mrs. Hadoway, not, - perhaps, much used to such kindly treatment, had become greatly attached - to her lodger, and was profuse in every sort of personal attention which - circumstances permitted her to render him. To cook a dish somewhat better - than ordinary for "the poor young gentleman's dinner;" to exert her - interest with those who remembered her husband, or loved her for her own - sake and his, in order to procure scarce vegetables, or something which - her simplicity supposed might tempt her lodger's appetite, was a labour - in which she delighted, although she anxiously concealed it from the - person who was its object. She did not adopt this secrecy of benevolence - to avoid the laugh of those who might suppose that an oval face and dark - eyes, with a clear brown complexion, though belonging to a woman of - five-and-forty, and enclosed within a widow's close-drawn pinners, might - possibly still aim at making conquests; for, to say truth, such a - ridiculous suspicion having never entered into her own head, she could - not anticipate its having birth in that of any one else. But she - concealed her attentions solely out of delicacy to her guest, whose power - of repaying them she doubted as much as she believed in his inclination - to do so, and in his being likely to feel extreme pain at leaving any of - her civilities unrequited. She now opened the door to Mr. Oldbuck, and - her surprise at seeing him brought tears into her eyes, which she could - hardly restrain. -</p> -<p> - "I am glad to see you, sir—I am very glad to see you. My poor gentleman - is, I am afraid, very unwell; and oh, Mr. Oldbuck, he'll see neither - doctor, nor minister, nor writer! And think what it would be, if, as my - poor Mr. Hadoway used to say, a man was to die without advice of the - three learned faculties!" -</p> -<p> - "Greatly better than with them," grumbled the cynical Antiquary. "I tell - you, Mrs. Hadoway, the clergy live by our sins, the medical faculty by - our diseases, and the law gentry by our misfortunes." -</p> -<p> - "O fie, Monkbarns!—to hear the like o' that frae you!—But yell walk up - and see the poor young lad?—Hegh sirs? sae young and weel-favoured—and - day by day he has eat less and less, and now he hardly touches onything, - only just pits a bit on the plate to make fashion—and his poor cheek - has turned every day thinner and paler, sae that he now really looks as - auld as me, that might be his mother—no that I might be just that - neither, but something very near it." -</p> -<p> - "Why does he not take some exercise?" said Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "I think we have persuaded him to do that, for he has bought a horse from - Gibbie Golightly, the galloping groom. A gude judge o' horse-flesh Gibbie - tauld our lass that he was—for he offered him a beast he thought wad - answer him weel eneugh, as he was a bookish man, but Mr. Lovel wadna look - at it, and bought ane might serve the Master o' Morphie—they keep it at - the Graeme's Arms, ower the street;—and he rode out yesterday morning - and this morning before breakfast—But winna ye walk up to his room?" -</p> -<p> - "Presently, presently. But has he no visitors?" -</p> -<p> - "O dear, Mr. Oldbuck, not ane; if he wadna receive them when he was weel - and sprightly, what chance is there of onybody in Fairport looking in - upon him now?" -</p> -<p> - "Ay, ay, very true,—I should have been surprised had it been - otherwise—Come, show me up stairs, Mrs. Hadoway, lest I make a blunder, and go - where I should not." -</p> -<p> - The good landlady showed Mr. Oldbuck up her narrow staircase, warning him - of every turn, and lamenting all the while that he was laid under the - necessity of mounting up so high. At length she gently tapped at the door - of her guest's parlour. "Come in," said Lovel; and Mrs. Hadoway ushered - in the Laird of Monkbarns. -</p> -<p> - The little apartment was neat and clean, and decently - furnished—ornamented, too, by such relics of her youthful arts of - sempstress-ship as Mrs. Hadoway had retained; but it was close, overheated, and, - as it appeared to Oldbuck, an unwholesome situation for a young person in - delicate health,—an observation which ripened his resolution touching a - project that had already occurred to him in Lovel's behalf. With a - writing-table before him, on which lay a quantity of books and papers, - Lovel was seated on a couch, in his night-gown and slippers. Oldbuck was - shocked at the change which had taken place in his personal appearance. - His cheek and brow had assumed a ghastly white, except where a round - bright spot of hectic red formed a strong and painful contrast, totally - different from the general cast of hale and hardy complexion which had - formerly overspread and somewhat embrowned his countenance. Oldbuck - observed, that the dress he wore belonged to a deep mourning suit, and a - coat of the same colour hung on a chair near to him. As the Antiquary - entered, Lovel arose and came forward to welcome him. -</p> -<p> - "This is very kind," he said, shaking him by the hand, and thanking him - warmly for his visit—"this is very kind, and has anticipated a visit - with which I intended to trouble you. You must know I have become a - horseman lately." -</p> -<p> - "I understand as much from Mrs. Hadoway—I only hope, my good young - friend, you have been fortunate in a quiet horse. I myself inadvertently - bought one from the said Gibbie Golightly, which brute ran two miles on - end with me after a pack of hounds, with which I had no more to do than - the last year's snow; and after affording infinite amusement, I suppose, - to the whole hunting field, he was so good as to deposit me in a dry - ditch—I hope yours is a more peaceful beast?" -</p> -<p> - "I hope, at least, we shall make our excursions on a better plan of - mutual understanding." -</p> -<p> - "That is to say, you think yourself a good horseman?" -</p> -<p> - "I would not willingly," answered Lovel, "confess myself a very bad one." -</p> -<p> - "No—all you young fellows think that would be equal to calling - yourselves tailors at once—But have you had experience? for, <i>crede - experto,</i> a horse in a passion is no joker." -</p> -<p> - "Why, I should be sorry to boast myself as a great horseman; but when I - acted as aide-de-camp to Sir——in the cavalry action at—, last year, I - saw many better cavaliers than myself dismounted." -</p> -<p> - "Ah! you have looked in the face of the grisly god of arms then?—you are - acquainted with the frowns of Mars armipotent? That experience fills up - the measure of your qualifications for the epopea! The Britons, however, - you will remember, fought in chariots—<i>covinarii</i> is the phrase of - Tacitus;—you recollect the fine description of their dashing among the - Roman infantry, although the historian tells us how ill the rugged face - of the ground was calculated for equestrian combat; and truly, upon the - whole, what sort of chariots could be driven in Scotland anywhere but on - turnpike roads, has been to me always matter of amazement. And well - now—has the Muse visited you?—have you got anything to show me?" -</p> -<p> - "My time," said Lovel, with a glance at his black dress, "has been less - pleasantly employed." -</p> -<p> - "The death of a friend?" said the Antiquary. -</p> -<p> - "Yes, Mr. Oldbuck—of almost the only friend I could ever boast of - possessing." -</p> -<p> - "Indeed? Well, young man," replied his visitor, in a tone of seriousness - very different from his affected gravity, "be comforted. To have lost a - friend by death while your mutual regard was warm and unchilled, while - the tear can drop unembittered by any painful recollection of coldness or - distrust or treachery, is perhaps an escape from a more heavy - dispensation. Look round you—how few do you see grow old in the - affections of those with whom their early friendships were formed! Our - sources of common pleasure gradually dry up as we journey on through the - vale of Bacha, and we hew out to ourselves other reservoirs, from which - the first companions of our pilgrimage are excluded;—jealousies, - rivalries, envy, intervene to separate others from our side, until none - remain but those who are connected with us rather by habit than - predilection, or who, allied more in blood than in disposition, only keep - the old man company in his life, that they may not be forgotten at his - death— -</p> -<pre> - <i>Haec data poena diu viventibus.</i> -</pre> -<p> - Ah, Mr. Lovel! if it be your lot to reach the chill, cloudy, and - comfortless evening of life, you will remember the sorrows of your youth - as the light shadowy clouds that intercepted for a moment the beams of - the sun when it was rising. But I cram these words into your ears against - the stomach of your sense." -</p> -<p> - "I am sensible of your kindness," answered the youth; "but the wound that - is of recent infliction must always smart severely, and I should be - little comforted under my present calamity—forgive me for saying so—by - the conviction that life had nothing in reserve for me but a train of - successive sorrows. And permit me to add, you, Mr. Oldbuck, have least - reason of many men to take so gloomy a view of life. You have a competent - and easy fortune—are generally respected—may, in your own phrase, - <i>vacare musis,</i> indulge yourself in the researches to which your taste - addicts you; you may form your own society without doors—and within you - have the affectionate and sedulous attention of the nearest relatives." -</p> -<p> - "Why, yes—the womankind, for womankind, are, thanks to my training, very - civil and tractable—do not disturb me in my morning studies—creep - across the floor with the stealthy pace of a cat, when it suits me to - take a nap in my easy-chair after dinner or tea. All this is very well; - but I want something to exchange ideas with—something to talk to." -</p> -<p> - "Then why do you not invite your nephew, Captain M'Intyre, who is - mentioned by every one as a fine spirited young fellow, to become a - member of your family?" -</p> -<p> - "Who?" exclaimed Monkbarns, "my nephew Hector?—the Hotspur of the North? - Why, Heaven love you, I would as soon invite a firebrand into my - stackyard. He's an Almanzor, a Chamont—has a Highland pedigree as long - as his claymore, and a claymore as long as the High Street of Fairport, - which he unsheathed upon the surgeon the last time he was at Fairport. I - expect him here one of these days; but I will keep him at staff's end, I - promise you. He an inmate of my house! to make my very chairs and tables - tremble at his brawls. No, no—I'll none of Hector M'Intyre. But hark ye, - Lovel;—you are a quiet, gentle-tempered lad; had not you better set up - your staff at Monkbarns for a month or two, since I conclude you do not - immediately intend to leave this country?—I will have a door opened out - to the garden—it will cost but a trifle—there is the space for an old - one which was condemned long ago—by which said door you may pass and - repass into the Green Chamber at pleasure, so you will not interfere with - the old man, nor he with you. As for your fare, Mrs. Hadoway tells me you - are, as she terms it, very moderate of your mouth, so you will not - quarrel with my humble table. Your washing"— -</p> -<p> - "Hold, my dear Mr. Oldbuck," interposed Lovel, unable to repress a smile; - "and before your hospitality settles all my accommodations, let me thank - you most sincerely for so kind an offer—it is not at present in my power - to accept of it; but very likely, before I bid adieu to Scotland, I shall - find an opportunity to pay you a visit of some length." -</p> -<p> - Mr. Oldbuck's countenance fell. "Why, I thought I had hit on the very - arrangement that would suit us both,—and who knows what might happen in - the long run, and whether we might ever part? Why, I am master of my - acres, man—there is the advantage of being descended from a man of more - sense than pride—they cannot oblige me to transmit my goods chattels, - and heritages, any way but as I please. No string of substitute heirs of - entail, as empty and unsubstantial as the morsels of paper strung to the - train of a boy's kite, to cumber my flights of inclination, and my - humours of predilection. Well,—I see you won't be tempted at - present—but Caledonia goes on I hope?" -</p> -<p> - "O certainly," said Lovel; "I cannot think of relinquishing a plan so - hopeful." -</p> -<p> - "It is indeed," said the Antiquary, looking gravely upward,—for, though - shrewd and acute enough in estimating the variety of plans formed by - others, he had a very natural, though rather disproportioned good opinion - of the importance of those which originated with himself—"it is indeed - one of those undertakings which, if achieved with spirit equal to that - which dictates its conception, may redeem from the charge of frivolity - the literature of the present generation." -</p> -<p> - Here he was interrupted by a knock at the room door, which introduced a - letter for Mr. Lovel. The servant waited, Mrs. Hadoway said, for an - answer. "You are concerned in this matter, Mr. Oldbuck," said Lovel, - after glancing over the billet, and handing it to the Antiquary as he - spoke. -</p> -<p> - It was a letter from Sir Arthur Wardour, couched in extremely civil - language, regetting that a fit of the gout had prevented his hitherto - showing Mr. Lovel the attentions to which his conduct during a late - perilous occasion had so well entitled him—apologizing for not paying - his respects in person, but hoping Mr. Lovel would dispense with that - ceremony, and be a member of a small party which proposed to visit the - ruins of Saint Ruth's priory on the following day, and afterwards to dine - and spend the evening at Knockwinnock Castle. Sir Arthur concluded with - saying, that he had sent to request the Monkbarns family to join the - party of pleasure which he thus proposed. The place of rendezvous was - fixed at a turnpike-gate, which was about an equal distance from all the - points from which the company were to assemble. -</p> -<p> - "What shall we do?" said Lovel, looking at the Antiquary, but pretty - certain of the part he would take. -</p> -<p> - "Go, man—we'll go, by all means. Let me see—it will cost a post-chaise - though, which will hold you and me, and Mary M'Intyre, very well—and the - other womankind may go to the manse—and you can come out in the chaise - to Monkbarns, as I will take it for the day." -</p> -<p> - "Why, I rather think I had better ride." -</p> -<p> - "True, true, I forgot your Bucephalus. You are a foolish lad, by the by, - for purchasing the brute outright; you should stick to eighteenpence a - side, if you will trust any creature's legs in preference to your own." -</p> -<p> - "Why, as the horse's have the advantage of moving considerably faster, - and are, besides, two pair to one, I own I incline"— -</p> -<p> - "Enough said—enough said—do as you please. Well then, I'll bring either - Grizel or the minister, for I love to have my full pennyworth out of - post-horses—and we meet at Tirlingen turnpike on Friday, at twelve - o'clock precisely. "—And with this ageement the friends separated. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - Of seats they tell, where priests, 'mid tapers dim, - Breathed the warm prayer, or tuned the midnight hymn - To scenes like these the fainting soul retired; - Revenge and Anger in these cells expired: - By Pity soothed, Remorse lost half her fears, - And softened Pride dropped penitential tears. - Crabbe's Borough. -</pre> -<p> - The morning of Friday was as serene and beautiful as if no pleasure party - had been intended; and that is a rare event, whether in novel-writing or - real life. Lovel, who felt the genial influence of the weather, and - rejoiced at the prospect of once more meeting with Miss Wardour, trotted - forward to the place of rendezvous with better spirits than he had for - some time enjoyed. His prospects seemed in many respects to open and - brighten before him—and hope, although breaking like the morning sun - through clouds and showers, appeared now about to illuminate the path - before him. He was, as might have been expected from this state of - spirits, first at the place of meeting,—and, as might also have been - anticipated, his looks were so intently directed towards the road from - Knockwinnock Castles that he was only apprized of the arrival of the - Monkbarns division by the gee-hupping of the postilion, as the - post-chaise lumbered up behind him. In this vehicle were pent up, first, - the stately figure of Mr. Oldbuck himself; secondly, the scarce less - portly person of the Reverend Mr. Blattergowl, minister of Trotcosey, the - parish in which Monkbarns and Knockwinnock were both situated. The - reverend gentleman was equipped in a buzz wig, upon the top of which was - an equilateral cocked hat. This was the paragon of the three yet - remaining wigs of the parish, which differed, as Monkbarns used to - remark, like the three degrees of comparison—Sir Arthur's ramilies being - the positive, his own bob-wig the comparative, and the overwhelming - grizzle of the worthy clergyman figuring as the superlative. The - superintendent of these antique garnitures, deeming, or affecting to - deem, that he could not well be absent on an occasion which assembled all - three together, had seated himself on the board behind the carriage, - "just to be in the way in case they wanted a touch before the gentlemen - sat down to dinner." Between the two massive figures of Monkbarns and the - clergyman was stuck, by way of bodkin, the slim form of Mary M'Intyre, - her aunt having preferred a visit to the manse, and a social chat with - Miss Beckie Blattergowl, to investigating the ruins of the priory of - Saint Ruth. -</p> -<p> - As greetings passed between the members of the Monkbarns party and Mr. - Lovel, the Baronet's carriage, an open barouche, swept onward to the - place of appointment, making, with its smoking bays, smart drivers, arms, - blazoned panels, and a brace of outriders, a strong contrast with the - battered vehicle and broken-winded hacks which had brought thither the - Antiquary and his followers. The principal seat of the carriage was - occupied by Sir Arthur and his daughter. At the first glance which passed - betwixt Miss Wardour and Lovel, her colour rose considerably;—but she - had apparently made up her mind to receive him as a friend, and only as - such, and there was equal composure and courtesy in the mode of her reply - to his fluttered salutation. Sir Arthur halted the barouche to shake his - preserver kindly by the hand, and intimate the pleasure he had on this - opportunity of returning him his personal thanks; then mentioned to him, - in a tone of slight introduction, "Mr. Dousterswivel, Mr. Lovel." -</p> -<p> - Lovel took the necessary notice of the German adept, who occupied the - front seat of the carriage, which is usually conferred upon dependants or - inferiors. The ready grin and supple inclination with which his - salutation, though slight, was answered by the foreigner, increased the - internal dislike which Lovel had already conceived towards him; and it - was plain, from the lower of the Antiquary's shaggy eye-brow, that he too - looked with displeasure on this addition to the company. Little more than - distant greeting passed among the members of the party, until, having - rolled on for about three miles beyond the place at which they met, the - carriages at length stopped at the sign of the Four Horse-shoes, a small - hedge inn, where Caxon humbly opened the door, and let down the step of - the hack-chaise, while the inmates of the barouche were, by their more - courtly attendants, assisted to leave their equipage. -</p> -<p> - Here renewed greetings passed: the young ladies shook hands; and Oldbuck, - completely in his element, placed himself as guide and cicerone at the - head of the party, who were now to advance on foot towards the object of - their curiosity. He took care to detain Lovel close beside him as the - best listener of the party, and occasionally glanced a word of - explanation and instruction to Miss Wardour and Mary M'Intyre, who - followed next in order. The Baronet and the clergyman he rather avoided, - as he was aware both of them conceived they understood such matters as - well, or better than he did; and Dousterswivel, besides that he looked on - him as a charlatan, was so nearly connected with his apprehended loss in - the stock of the mining company, that he could not abide the sight of - him. These two latter satellites, therefore, attended upon the orb of Sir - Arthur, to whom, moreover, as the most important person of the society, - they were naturally induced to attach themselves. -</p> -<p> - It frequently happens that the most beautiful points of Scottish scenery - lie hidden in some sequestered dell, and that you may travel through the - country in every direction without being aware of your vicinity to what - is well worth seeing, unless intention or accident carry you to the very - spot. This is particularly the case in the country around Fairport, which - is, generally speaking, open, unenclosed, and bare. But here and there - the progress of rills, or small rivers, has formed dells, glens, or as - they are provincially termed, <i>dens,</i> on whose high and rocky banks trees - and shrubs of all kinds find a shelter, and grow with a luxuriant - profusion, which is the more gratifying, as it forms an unexpected - contrast with the general face of the country. This was eminently the - case with the approach to the ruins of Saint Ruth, which was for some - time merely a sheep-track, along the side of a steep and bare hill. By - degrees, however, as this path descended, and winded round the hillside, - trees began to appear, at first singly, stunted, and blighted, with locks - of wool upon their trunks, and their roots hollowed out into recesses, in - which the sheep love to repose themselves—a sight much more gratifying - to the eye of an admirer of the picturesque than to that of a planter or - forester. By and by the trees formed groups, fringed on the edges, and - filled up in the middle, by thorns and hazel bushes; and at length these - groups closed so much together, that although a broad glade opened here - and there under their boughs, or a small patch of bog or heath occurred - which had refused nourishment to the seed which they sprinkled round, and - consequently remained open and waste, the scene might on the whole be - termed decidedly woodland. The sides of the valley began to approach each - other more closely; the rush of a brook was heard below, and between the - intervals afforded by openings in the natural wood, its waters were seen - hurling clear and rapid under their silvan canopy. -</p> -<p> - Oldbuck now took upon himself the full authority of cicerone, and - anxiously directed the company not to go a foot-breadth off the track - which he pointed out to them, if they wished to enjoy in full perfection - what they came to see. "You are happy in me for a guide, Miss Wardour," - exclaimed the veteran, waving his hand and head in cadence as he repeated - with emphasis, -</p> -<pre> - I know each lane, and every alley green, - Dingle, or bushy dell, of this wild wood, - And every bosky bower from side to side. * -</pre> -<p> - * (Milton's <i>Comus.</i>) -</p> -<p> - Ah! deuce take it!—that spray of a bramble has demolished all Caxon's - labours, and nearly canted my wig into the stream—so much for - recitations, <i>hors de propos.</i>" -</p> -<p> - "Never mind, my dear sir," said Miss Wardour; "you have your faithful - attendant ready to repair such a disaster when it happens, and when you - appear with it as restored to its original splendour, I will carry on the - quotation: -</p> -<pre> - So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, - And yet anon repairs his drooping head, - And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore - Flames on the forehead"—* -</pre> -<p> - * (<i>Lycidas.</i>) -</p> -<p> - "O! enough, enough!" answered Oldbuck; "I ought to have known what it was - to give you advantage over me—But here is what will stop your career of - satire, for you are an admirer of nature, I know." In fact, when they had - followed him through a breach in a low, ancient, and ruinous wall, they - came suddenly upon a scene equally unexpected and interesting. -</p> -<p> - They stood pretty high upon the side of the glen, which had suddenly - opened into a sort of amphitheatre to give room for a pure and profound - lake of a few acres extent, and a space of level ground around it. The - banks then arose everywhere steeply, and in some places were varied by - rocks—in others covered with the copse, which run up, feathering their - sides lightly and irregularly, and breaking the uniformity of the green - pasture-ground.—Beneath, the lake discharged itself into the huddling - and tumultuous brook, which had been their companion since they had - entered the glen. At the point at which it issued from "its parent lake," - stood the ruins which they had come to visit. They were not of great - extent; but the singular beauty, as well as the wild and sequestered - character of the spot on which they were situated, gave them an interest - and importance superior to that which attaches itself to architectural - remains of greater consequence, but placed near to ordinary houses, and - possessing less romantic accompaniments. The eastern window of the church - remained entire, with all its ornaments and tracery work; and the sides, - upheld by flying buttresses whose airy support, detached from the wall - against which they were placed, and ornamented with pinnacles and carved - work, gave a variety and lightness to the building. The roof and western - end of the church were completely ruinous; but the latter appeared to - have made one side of a square, of which the ruins of the conventual - buildings formed other two, and the gardens a fourth. The side of these - buildings which overhung the brook, was partly founded on a steep and - precipitous rock; for the place had been occasionally turned to military - purposes, and had been taken with great slaughter during Montrose's wars. - The ground formerly occupied by the garden was still marked by a few - orchard trees. At a greater distance from the buildings were detached - oaks and elms and chestnuts, growing singly, which had attained great - size. The rest of the space between the ruins and the hill was a - close-cropt sward, which the daily pasture of the sheep kept in much - finer order than if it had been subjected to the scythe and broom. The - whole scene had a repose, which was still and affecting without being - monotonous. The dark, deep basin, in which the clear blue lake reposed, - reflecting the water lilies which grew on its surface, and the trees - which here and there threw their arms from the banks, was finely - contrasted with the haste and tumult of the brook which broke away from - the outlet, as if escaping from confinement and hurried down the glen, - wheeling around the base of the rock on which the ruins were situated, - and brawling in foam and fury with every shelve and stone which - obstructed its passage. A similar contrast was seen between the level - green meadow, in which the ruins were situated, and the large - timber-trees which were scattered over it, compared with the precipitous - banks which arose at a short distance around, partly fringed with light - and feathery underwood, partly rising in steeps clothed with purple - heath, and partly more abruptly elevated into fronts of grey rock, - chequered with lichen, and with those hardy plants which find root even - in the most arid crevices of the crags. -</p> -<p> - "There was the retreat of learning in the days of darkness, Mr. Lovel!" - said Oldbuck,—around whom the company had now grouped themselves while - they admired the unexpected opening of a prospect so romantic;—"there - reposed the sages who were aweary of the world, and devoted either to - that which was to come, or to the service of the generations who should - follow them in this. I will show you presently the library;—see that - stretch of wall with square-shafted windows—there it existed, stored, as - an old manuscript in my possession assures me, with five thousand - volumes. And here I might well take up the lamentation of the learned - Leland, who, regretting the downfall of the conventual libraries, - exclaims, like Rachel weeping for her children, that if the Papal laws, - decrees, decretals, clementines, and other such drugs of the devil—yea, - if Heytesburg's sophisms, Porphyry's universals, Aristotle's logic, and - Dunse's divinity, with such other lousy legerdemains (begging your - pardon, Miss Wardour) and fruits of the bottomless pit,—had leaped out - of our libraries, for the accommodation of grocers, candlemakers, - soapsellers, and other worldly occupiers, we might have been therewith - contented. But to put our ancient chronicles, our noble histories, our - learned commentaries, and national muniments, to such offices of contempt - and subjection, has greatly degraded our nation, and showed ourselves - dishonoured in the eyes of posterity to the utmost stretch of time—O - negligence most unfriendly to our land!" -</p> -<p> - "And, O John Knox" said the Baronet, "through whose influence, and under - whose auspices, the patriotic task was accomplished!" -</p> -<p> - The Antiquary, somewhat in the situation of a woodcock caught in his own - springe, turned short round and coughed, to excuse a slight blush as he - mustered his answer—"as to the Apostle of the Scottish Reformation"— -</p> -<p> - But Miss Wardour broke in to interrupt a conversation so dangerous. - "Pray, who was the author you quoted, Mr. Oldbuck?" -</p> -<p> - "The learned Leland, Miss Wardour, who lost his senses on witnessing the - destruction of the conventual libraries in England." -</p> -<p> - "Now, I think," replied the young lady, "his misfortune may have saved - the rationality of some modern antiquaries, which would certainly have - been drowned if so vast a lake of learning had not been diminished by - draining." -</p> -<p> - "Well, thank Heaven, there is no danger now—they have hardly left us a - spoonful in which to perform the dire feat." -</p> -<p> - So saying, Mr. Oldbuck led the way down the bank, by a steep but secure - path, which soon placed them on the verdant meadow where the ruins stood. - "There they lived," continued the Antiquary, "with nought to do but to - spend their time in investigating points of remote antiquity, - transcribing manuscripts, and composing new works for the information of - posterity." -</p> -<p> - "And," added the Baronet, "in exercising the rites of devotion with a - pomp and ceremonial worthy of the office of the priesthood." -</p> -<p> - "And if Sir Arthur's excellence will permit," said the German, with a low - bow, "the monksh might also make de vary curious experiment in deir - laboraties, both in chemistry and <i>magia naturalis.</i>" -</p> -<p> - "I think," said the clergyman, "they would have enough to do in - collecting the teinds of the parsonage and vicarage of three good - parishes." -</p> -<p> - "And all," added Miss Wardour, nodding to the Antiquary, "without - interruption from womankind." -</p> -<p> - "True, my fair foe," said Oldbuck; "this was a paradise where no Eve was - admitted, and we may wonder the rather by what chance the good fathers - came to lose it." -</p> -<p> - With such criticisms on the occupations of those by whom the ruins had - been formerly possessed, they wandered for some time from one moss-grown - shrine to another, under the guidance of Oldbuck, who explained, with - much plausibility, the ground-plan of the edifice, and read and expounded - to the company the various mouldering inscriptions which yet were to be - traced upon the tombs of the dead, or under the vacant niches of the - sainted images. -</p> -<p> - "What is the reason," at length Miss Wardour asked the Antiquary, "why - tradition has preserved to us such meagre accounts of the inmates of - these stately edifices, raised with such expense of labour and taste, and - whose owners were in their times personages of such awful power and - importance? The meanest tower of a freebooting baron or squire who lived - by his lance and broadsword, is consecrated by its appropriate legend, - and the shepherd will tell you with accuracy the names and feats of its - inhabitants;—but ask a countryman concerning these beautiful and - extensive remains—these towers, these arches, and buttresses, and - shafted windows, reared at such cost,—three words fill up his - answer—they were made up by the monks lang syne.'" -</p> -<p> - The question was somewhat puzzling. Sir Arthur looked upward, as if - hoping to be inspired with an answer—Oldbuck shoved back his wig—the - clergyman was of opinion that his parishioners were too deeply impressed - with the true presbyterian doctrine to preserve any records concerning - the papistical cumberers of the land, offshoots as they were of the great - overshadowing tree of iniquity, whose roots are in the bowels of the - seven hills of abomination—Lovel thought the question was best resolved - by considering what are the events which leave the deepest impression on - the minds of the common people—"These," he contended, "were not such as - resemble the gradual progress of a fertilizing river, but the headlong - and precipitous fury of some portentous flood. The eras by which the - vulgar compute time, have always reference to some period of fear and - tribulation, and they date by a tempest, an earthquake, or burst of civil - commotion. When such are the facts most alive, in the memory of the - common people, we cannot wonder," he concluded, "that the ferocious - warrior is remembered, and the peaceful abbots are abandoned to - forgetfulness and oblivion." -</p> -<p> - "If you pleashe, gentlemans and ladies, and ashking pardon of Sir Arthur - and Miss Wardour, and this worthy clergymansh, and my goot friend Mr. - Oldenbuck, who is my countrymansh, and of goot young Mr. Lofel also, I - think it is all owing to de hand of glory." -</p> -<p> - "The hand of what?" exclaimed Oldbuck. -</p> -<p> - "De hand of glory, my goot Master Oldenbuck, which is a vary great and - terrible secrets—which de monksh used to conceal their treasures when - they were triven from their cloisters by what you call de Reform." -</p> -<p> - "Ay, indeed! tell us about that," said Oldbuck, "for these are secrets - worth knowing." -</p> -<p> - "Why, my goot Master Oldenbuck, you will only laugh at me—But de hand of - glory is vary well known in de countries where your worthy progenitors - did live—and it is hand cut off from a dead man, as has been hanged for - murther, and dried very nice in de shmoke of juniper wood; and if you put - a little of what you call yew wid your juniper, it will not be any - better—that is, it will not be no worse—then you do take something of - de fatsh of de bear, and of de badger, and of de great eber, as you call - de grand boar, and of de little sucking child as has not been christened - (for dat is very essentials), and you do make a candle, and put it into - de hand of glory at de proper hour and minute, with de proper ceremonish, - and he who seeksh for treasuresh shall never find none at all." -</p> -<p> - "I dare take my corporal oath of that conclusion," said the Antiquary. - "And was it the custom, Mr. Dousterswivel, in Westphalia, to make use of - this elegant candelabrum?" -</p> -<p> - "Alwaysh, Mr. Oldenbuck, when you did not want nobody to talk of nothing - you wash doing about—And the monksh alwaysh did this when they did hide - their church-plates, and their great chalices, and de rings, wid very - preshious shtones and jewels." -</p> -<p> - "But, notwithstanding, you knights of the Rosy Cross have means, no - doubt, of breaking the spell, and discovering what the poor monks have - put themselves to so much trouble to conceal?" -</p> -<p> - "Ah! goot Mr. Oldenbuck," replied the adept, shaking his head - mysteriously, "you was very hard to believe; but if you had seen de great - huge pieces of de plate so massive, Sir Arthur,—so fine fashion, Miss - Wardour—and de silver cross dat we did find (dat was Schroepfer and my - ownself) for de Herr Freygraf, as you call de Baron Von Blunderhaus, I do - believe you would have believed then." -</p> -<p> - "Seeing <i>is</i> believing indeed. But what was your art—what was your - mystery, Mr. Dousterswivel?" -</p> -<p> - "Aha, Mr. Oldenbuck! dat is my little secret, mine goot sir—you sall - forgife me that I not tell that. But I will tell you dere are various - ways—yes, indeed, dere is de dream dat you dream tree times—dat is a - vary goot way." -</p> -<p> - "I am glad of that," said Oldbuck; "I have a friend" (with a side-glance - to Lovel) "who is peculiarly favoured by the visits of Queen Mab." -</p> -<p> - "Den dere is de sympathies, and de antipathies, and de strange properties - and virtues natural of divers herb, and of de little divining-rod." -</p> -<p> - "I would gladly rather see some of these wonders than hear of them," said - Miss Wardour. -</p> -<p> - "Ah, but, my much-honoured young lady, this is not de time or de way to - do de great wonder of finding all de church's plate and treasure; but to - oblige you, and Sir Arthur my patron, and de reverend clergymans, and - goot Mr. Oldenbuck, and young Mr. Lofel, who is a very goot young - gentleman also, I will show you dat it is possible, a vary possible, to - discover de spring, of water, and de little fountain hidden in de ground, - without any mattock, or spade, or dig at all." -</p> -<p> - "Umph!" quoth the Antiquary, "I have heard of that conundrum. That will - be no very productive art in our country;—you should carry that property - to Spain or Portugal, and turn it to good account." -</p> -<p> - "Ah! my goot Master Oldenbuck, dere is de Inquisition and de - Auto-da-fe—they would burn me, who am but a simple philosopher, for one great - conjurer." -</p> -<p> - "They would cast away their coals then," said Oldbuck; "but," continued - he, in a whisper to Lovel, "were they to pillory him for one of the most - impudent rascals that ever wagged a tongue, they would square the - punishment more accurately with his deserts. But let us see: I think he - is about to show us some of his legerdemain." -</p> -<p> - In truth, the German was now got to a little copse-thicket at some - distance from the ruins, where he affected busily to search for such a - wand as would suit the purpose of his mystery: and after cutting and - examining, and rejecting several, he at length provided himself with a - small twig of hazel terminating in a forked end, which he pronounced to - possess the virtue proper for the experiment that he was about to - exhibit. Holding the forked ends of the wand, each between a finger and - thumb, and thus keeping the rod upright, he proceeded to pace the ruined - aisles and cloisters, followed by the rest of the company in admiring - procession. "I believe dere was no waters here," said the adept, when he - had made the round of several of the buildings, without perceiving any of - those indications which he pretended to expect—"I believe those Scotch - monksh did find de water too cool for de climate, and alwaysh drank de - goot comfortable, Rhinewine. But, aha!—see there!" Accordingly, the - assistants observed the rod to turn in his fingers, although he pretended - to hold it very tight.—"Dere is water here about, sure enough," and, - turning this way and that way, as the agitation of the divining-rod - seemed to increase or diminish, he at length advanced into the midst of a - vacant and roofless enclosure which had been the kitchen of the priory, - when the rod twisted itself so as to point almost straight downwards. - "Here is de place," said the adept, "and if you do not find de water - here, I will give you all leave to call me an impudent knave." -</p> -<p> - "I shall take that license," whispered the Antiquary to Lovel, "whether - the water is discovered or no." -</p> -<p> - A servant, who had come up with a basket of cold refreshments, was now - despatched to a neighbouring forester's hut for a mattock and pick-axe. - The loose stones and rubbish being removed from the spot indicated by the - German, they soon came to the sides of a regularly-built well; and when a - few feet of rubbish were cleared out by the assistance of the forester - and his sons, the water began to rise rapidly, to the delight of the - philosopher, the astonishment of the ladies, Mr. Blattergowl, and Sir - Arthur, the surprise of Lovel, and the confusion of the incredulous - Antiquary. He did not fail, however, to enter his protest in Lovers ear - against the miracle. "This is a mere trick," he said; "the rascal had - made himself sure of the existence of this old well, by some means or - other, before he played off this mystical piece of jugglery. Mark what he - talks of next. I am much mistaken if this is not intended as a prelude to - some more serious fraud. See how the rascal assumes consequence, and - plumes himself upon the credit of his success, and how poor Sir Arthur - takes in the tide of nonsense which he is delivering to him as principles - of occult science!" -</p> -<p> - "You do see, my goot patron, you do see, my goot ladies, you do see, - worthy Dr. Bladderhowl, and even Mr. Lofel and Mr. Oldenbuck may see, if - they do will to see, how art has no enemy at all but ignorance. Look at - this little slip of hazel nuts—it is fit for nothing at all but to whip - de little child"—("I would choose a cat and nine tails for your - occasions," whispered Oldbuck apart)—"and you put it in the hands of a - philosopher—paf! it makes de grand discovery. But this is nothing, Sir - Arthur,—nothing at all, worthy Dr. Botherhowl—nothing at all, - ladies—nothing at all, young Mr. Lofel and goot Mr. Oldenbuck, to what art can - do. Ah! if dere was any man that had de spirit and de courage, I would - show him better things than de well of water—I would show him"— -</p> -<p> - "And a little money would be necessary also, would it not?" said the - Antiquary. -</p> -<p> - "Bah! one trifle, not worth talking about, maight be necessaries," - answered the adept. -</p> -<p> - "I thought as much," rejoined the Antiquary, drily; "and I, in the - meanwhile, without any divining-rod, will show you an excellent venison - pasty, and a bottle of London particular Madeira, and I think that will - match all that Mr. Dousterswivel's art is like to exhibit." -</p> -<p> - The feast was spread <i>fronde super viridi,</i> as Oldbuck expressed himself, - under a huge old tree called the Prior's Oak, and the company, sitting - down around it, did ample honour to the contents of the basket. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0018"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - As when a Gryphon through the wilderness, - With winged course, o'er hill and moory dale, - Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth - Had from his wakeful custody purloined - The guarded gold: So eagerly the Fiend— - Paradise Lost. -</pre> -<p> - When their collation was ended, Sir Arthur resumed the account of the - mysteries of the divining-rod, as a subject on which he had formerly - conversed with Dousterswivel. "My friend Mr. Oldbuck will now be - prepared, Mr. Dousterswivel, to listen with more respect to the stories - you have told us of the late discoveries in Germany by the brethren of - your association." -</p> -<p> - "Ah, Sir Arthur, that was not a thing to speak to those gentlemans, - because it is want of credulity—what you call faith—that spoils the - great enterprise." -</p> -<p> - "At least, however, let my daughter read the narrative she has taken down - of the story of Martin Waldeck." -</p> -<p> - "Ah! that was vary true story—but Miss Wardour, she is so sly and so - witty, that she has made it just like one romance—as well as Goethe or - Wieland could have done it, by mine honest wort." -</p> -<p> - "To say the truth, Mr. Dousterswivel," answered Miss Wardour, "the - romantic predominated in the legend so much above the probable, that it - was impossible for a lover of fairyland like me to avoid lending a few - touches to make it perfect in its kind. But here it is, and if you do not - incline to leave this shade till the heat of the day has somewhat - declined, and will have sympathy with my bad composition, perhaps Sir - Arthur or Mr. Oldbuck will read it to us." -</p> -<p> - "Not I," said Sir Arthur; "I was never fond of reading aloud." -</p> -<p> - "Nor I," said Oldbuck, "for I have forgot my spectacles. But here is - Lovel, with sharp eyes and a good voice; for Mr. Blattergowl, I know, - never reads anything, lest he should be suspected of reading his - sermons." -</p> -<p> - The task was therefore imposed upon Lovel, who received, with some - trepidation, as Miss Wardour delivered, with a little embarrassment, a - paper containing the lines traced by that fair hand, the possession of - which he coveted as the highest blessing the earth could offer to him. - But there was a necessity of suppressing his emotions; and after glancing - over the manuscript, as if to become acquainted with the character, he - collected himself, and read the company the following tale:— -</p> - -<h3>The Fortunes of Martin Waldeck.</h3 - - -<p> The solitudes of the Harz forest in Germany, but especially the - mountains called Blocksberg, or rather Brockenberg, are the chosen scenes - for tales of witches, demons, and apparitions. - -<p> - [The outline of this story is taken from the German, though the Author - is at present unable to say in which of the various collections of the - popular legends in that language the original is to be found.] -</p> -<p> - The occupation of the inhabitants, who are either miners or foresters, is - of a kind that renders them peculiarly prone to superstition, and the - natural phenomena which they witness in pursuit of their solitary or - subterraneous profession, are often set down by them to the interference - of goblins or the power of magic. Among the various legends current in - that wild country, there is a favourite one, which supposes the Harz to - be haunted by a sort of tutelar demon, in the shape of a wild man, of - huge stature, his head wreathed with oak leaves, and his middle cinctured - with the same, bearing in his hand a pine torn up by the roots. It is - certain that many persons profess to have seen such a form traversing, - with huge strides, in a line parallel to their own course, the opposite - ridge of a mountain, when divided from it by a narrow glen; and indeed - the fact of the apparition is so generally admitted, that modern - scepticism has only found refuge by ascribing it to optical deception. * -</p> -<p> - *The shadow of the person who sees the phantom, being reflected upon a - cloud of mist, like the image of the magic lantern upon a white sheet, is - supposed to have formed the apparition. -</p> -<p> - In elder times, the intercourse of the demon with the inhabitants was - more familiar, and, according to the traditions of the Harz, he was wont, - with the caprice usually ascribed to these earth-born powers, to - interfere with the affairs of mortals, sometimes for their weal, - sometimes for their wo. But it was observed that even his gifts often - turned out, in the long run, fatal to those on whom they were bestowed, - and it was no uncommon thing for the pastors, in their care of their - flocks, to compose long sermons, the burden whereof was a warning against - having any intercourse, direct or indirect, with the Harz demon. The - fortunes of Martin Waldeck have been often quoted by the aged to their - giddy children, when they were heard to scoff at a danger which appeared - visionary. -</p> -<p> - A travelling capuchin had possessed himself of the pulpit of the thatched - church at a little hamlet called <i>Morgenbrodt,</i> lying in the Harz - district, from which he declaimed against the wickedness of the - inhabitants, their communication with fiends, witches, and fairies, and, - in particular, with the woodland goblin of the Harz. The doctrines of - Luther had already begun to spread among the peasantry (for the incident - is placed under the reign of Charles V. ), and they laughed to scorn the - zeal with which the venerable man insisted upon his topic. At length, as - his vehemence increased with opposition, so their opposition rose in - proportion to his vehemence. The inhabitants did not like to hear an - accustomed quiet demon, who had inhabited the Brockenberg for so many - ages, summarily confounded with Baal-peor, Ashtaroth, and Beelzebub - himself, and condemned without reprieve to the bottomless Tophet. The - apprehensions that the spirit might avenge himself on them for listening - to such an illiberal sentence, added to their national interest in his - behalf. A travelling friar, they said, that is here to-day and away - to-morrow, may say what he pleases: but it is we, the ancient and - constant inhabitants of the country, that are left at the mercy of the - insulted demon, and must, of course, pay for all. Under the irritation - occasioned by these reflections, the peasants from injurious language - betook themselves to stones, and having pebbled the priest pretty - handsomely, they drove him out of the parish to preach against demons - elsewhere. -</p> -<p> - Three young men, who had been present and assisting on this occasion were - upon their return to the hut where they carried on the laborious and mean - occupation of preparing charcoal for the smelting furnaces. On the way, - their conversation naturally turned upon the demon of the Harz and the - doctrine of the capuchin. Max and George Waldeck, the two elder brothers, - although they allowed the language of the capuchin to have been - indiscreet and worthy of censure, as presuming to determine upon the - precise character and abode of the spirit, yet contended it was - dangerous, in the highest degree, to accept of his gifts, or hold any - communication with him, He was powerful, they allowed, but wayward and - capricious, and those who had intercourse with him seldom came to a good - end. Did he not give the brave knight, Ecbert of Rabenwald, that famous - black steed, by means of which he vanquished all the champions at the - great tournament at Bremen? and did not the same steed afterwards - precipitate itself with its rider into an abyss so steep and fearful, - that neither horse nor man were ever seen more? Had he not given to Dame - Gertrude Trodden a curious spell for making butter come? and was she not - burnt for a witch by the grand criminal judge of the Electorate, because - she availed herself of his gift? But these, and many other instances - which they quoted, of mischance and ill-luck ultimately attending on the - apparent benefits conferred by the Harz spirit, failed to make any - impression upon Martin Waldeck, the youngest of the brothers. -</p> -<p> - Martin was youthful, rash, and impetuous; excelling in all the exercises - which distinguish a mountaineer, and brave and undaunted from his - familiar intercourse with the dangers that attend them. He laughed at the - timidity of his brothers. "Tell me not of such folly," he said; "the - demon is a good demon—he lives among us as if he were a peasant like - ourselves—haunts the lonely crags and recesses of the mountains like a - huntsman or goatherd—and he who loves the Harz forest and its wild - scenes cannot be indifferent to the fate of the hardy children of the - soil. But, if the demon were as malicious as you would make him, how - should he derive power over mortals, who barely avail themselves of his - gifts, without binding themselves to submit to his pleasure? When you - carry your charcoal to the furnace, is not the money as good that is paid - you by blaspheming Blaize, the old reprobate overseer, as if you got it - from the pastor himself? It is not the goblins gifts which can endanger - you, then, but it is the use you shall make of them that you must account - for. And were the demon to appear to me at this moment, and indicate to - me a gold or silver mine, I would begin to dig away even before his back - were turned,—and I would consider myself as under protection of a much - Greater than he, while I made a good use of the wealth he pointed out to - me." -</p> -<p> - To this the elder brother replied, that wealth ill won was seldom well - spent; while Martin presumptuously declared, that the possession of all - the treasures of the Harz would not make the slightest alteration on his - habits, morals, or character. -</p> -<p> - His brother entreated Martin to talk less wildly upon the subject, and - with some difficulty contrived to withdraw his attention, by calling it - to the consideration of the approaching boar-chase. This talk brought - them to their hut, a wretched wigwam, situated upon one side of a wild, - narrow, and romantic dell, in the recesses of the Brockenberg. They - released their sister from attending upon the operation of charring the - wood, which requires constant attention, and divided among themselves the - duty of watching it by night, according to their custom, one always - waking, while his brothers slept. -</p> -<p> - Max Waldeck, the eldest, watched during the first two hours of the night, - and was considerably alarmed by observing, upon the opposite bank of the - glen, or valley, a huge fire surrounded by some figures that appeared to - wheel around it with antic gestures. Max at first bethought him of - calling up his brothers; but recollecting the daring character of the - youngest, and finding it impossible to wake the elder without also - disturbing Martin—conceiving also what he saw to be an illusion of the - demon, sent perhaps in consequence of the venturous expressions used by - Martin on the preceding evening, he thought it best to betake himself to - the safeguard of such prayers as he could murmur over, and to watch in - great terror and annoyance this strange and alarming apparition. After - blazing for some time, the fire faded gradually away into darkness, and - the rest of Max's watch was only disturbed by the remembrance of its - terrors. -</p> -<p> - George now occupied the place of Max, who had retired to rest. The - phenomenon of a huge blazing fire, upon the opposite bank of the glen, - again presented itself to the eye of the watchman. It was surrounded as - before by figures, which, distinguished by their opaque forms, being - between the spectator and the red glaring light, moved and fluctuated - around it as if engaged in some mystical ceremony. George, though equally - cautious, was of a bolder character than his elder brother. He resolved - to examine more nearly the object of his wonder; and, accordingly after - crossing the rivulet which divided the glen, he climbed up the opposite - bank, and approached within an arrow's flight of the fire, which blazed - apparently with the same fury as when he first witnessed it. -</p> -<p> - The appearance, of the assistants who surrounded it resembled those - phantoms which are seen in a troubled dream, and at once confirmed the - idea he had entertained from the first, that they did not belong to the - human world. Amongst these strange unearthly forms, George Waldeck - distinguished that of a giant overgrown with hair, holding an uprooted - fir in his hand, with which, from time to time, he seemed to stir the - blazing fire, and having no other clothing than a wreath of oak leaves - around his forehead and loins. George's heart sunk within him at - recognising the well-known apparition of the Harz demon, as he had been - often described to him by the ancient shepherds and huntsmen who had seen - his form traversing the mountains. He turned, and was about to fly; but - upon second thoughts, blaming his own cowardice, he recited mentally the - verse of the Psalmist, "All good angels, praise the Lord!" which is in - that country supposed powerful as an exorcism, and turned himself once - more towards the place where he had seen the fire. But it was no longer - visible. -</p> -<p> - The pale moon alone enlightened the side of the valley; and when George, - with trembling steps, a moist brow, and hair bristling upright under his - collier's cap, came to the spot on which the fire had been so lately - visible, marked as it was by a scathed oak-tree, there appeared not on - the heath the slightest vestiges of what he had seen. The moss and wild - flowers were unscorched, and the branches of the oak-tree, which had so - lately appeared enveloped in wreaths of flame and smoke, were moist with - the dews of midnight. -</p> -<p> - George returned to his hut with trembling steps, and, arguing like his - elder brother, resolved to say nothing of what he had seen, lest he - should awake in Martin that daring curiosity which he almost deemed to be - allied with impiety. -</p> -<p> - It was now Martin's turn to watch. The household cock had given his first - summons, and the night was well-nigh spent. Upon examining the state of - the furnace in which the wood was deposited in order to its being <i>coked</i> - or <i>charred,</i> he was surprised to find that the fire had not been - sufficiently maintained; for in his excursion and its consequences, - George had forgot the principal object of his watch. Martin's first - thought was to call up the slumberers; but observing that both his - brothers slept unwontedly deep and heavily, he respected their repose, - and set himself to supply the furnace with fuel without requiring their - aid. What he heaped upon it was apparently damp and unfit for the - purpose, for the fire seemed rather to decay than revive. Martin next - went to collect some boughs from a stack which had been carefully cut and - dried for this purpose; but, when he returned, he found the fire totally - extinguished. This was a serious evil, and threatened them with loss of - their trade for more than one day. The vexed and mortified watchman set - about to strike a light in order to rekindle the fire but the tinder was - moist, and his labour proved in this respect also ineffectual. He was now - about to call up his brothers, for circumstances seemed to be pressing, - when flashes of light glimmered not only through the window, but through - every crevice of the rudely built hut, and summoned him to behold the - same apparition which had before alarmed the successive watches of his - brethren. His first idea was, that the Muhllerhaussers, their rivals in - trade, and with whom they had had many quarrels, might have encroached - upon their bounds for the purpose of pirating their wood; and he resolved - to awake his brothers, and be revenged on them for their audacity. But a - short reflection and observation on the gestures and manner of those who - seemed to "work in the fire," induced him to dismiss this belief, and - although rather sceptical in such matters, to conclude that what he saw - was a supernatural phenomenon. "But be they men or fiends," said the - undaunted forester, "that busy themselves yonder with such fantastical - rites and gestures, I will go and demand a light to rekindle our - furnace." He, relinquished at the same time the idea of awaking his - brethren. There was a belief that such adventures as he was about to - undertake were accessible only to one person at a time; he feared also - that his brothers, in their scrupulous timidity, might interfere to - prevent his pursuing the investigation he had resolved to commence; and, - therefore, snatching his boar-spear from the wall, the undaunted Martin - Waldeck set forth on the adventure alone. -</p> -<p> - With the same success as his brother George, but with courage far - superior, Martin crossed the brook, ascended the hill, and approached so - near the ghostly assembly, that he could recognise, in the presiding - figure, the attributes of the Harz demon. A cold shuddering assailed him - for the first time in his life; but the recollection that he had at a - distance dared and even courted the intercourse which was now about to - take place, confirmed his staggering courage; and pride supplying what he - wanted in resolution, he advanced with tolerable firmness towards the - fire, the figures which surrounded it appearing still more wild, - fantastical, and supernatural, the more near he approached to the - assembly. He was received with a loud shout of discordant and unnatural - laughter, which, to his stunned ears, seemed more alarming than a - combination of the most dismal and melancholy sounds that could be - imagined. "Who art thou?" said the giant, compressing his savage and - exaggerated features into a sort of forced gravity, while they were - occasionally agitated by the convulsion of the laughter which he seemed - to suppress. -</p> -<p> - "Martin Waldeck, the forester," answered the hardy youth;—"and who are - you?" -</p> -<p> - "The King of the Waste and of the Mine," answered the spectre;—"and why - hast thou dared to encroach on my mysteries?" -</p> -<p> - "I came in search of light to rekindle my fire," answered Martin, - hardily, and then resolutely asked in his turn, "What mysteries are those - that you celebrate here?" -</p> -<p> - "We celebrate," answered the complaisant demon, "the wedding of Hermes - with the Black Dragon—But take thy fire that thou camest to seek, and - begone! no mortal may look upon us and live." -</p> -<p> - The peasant struck his spear-point into a large piece of blazing wood, - which he heaved up with some difficulty, and then turned round to regain - his hut, the shouts of laughter being renewed behind him with treble - violence, and ringing far down the narrow valley. When Martin returned to - the hut, his first care, however much astonished with what he had seen, - was to dispose the kindled coal among the fuel so as might best light the - fire of his furnace; but after many efforts, and all exertions of bellows - and fire-prong, the coal he had brought from the demon's fire became - totally extinct without kindling any of the others. He turned about, and - observed the fire still blazing on the hill, although those who had been - busied around it had disappeared. As he conceived the spectre had been - jesting with him, he gave way to the natural hardihood of his temper, - and, determining to see the adventure to an end, resumed the road to the - fire, from which, unopposed by the demon, he brought off in the same - manner a blazing piece of charcoal, but still without being able to - succeed in lighting his fire. Impunity having increased his rashness, he - resolved upon a third experiment, and was as successful as before in - reaching the fire; but when he had again appropriated a piece of burning - coal, and had turned to depart, he heard the harsh and supernatural voice - which had before accosted him, pronounce these words, "Dare not return - hither a fourth time!" -</p> -<p> - The attempt to kindle the fire with this last coal having proved as - ineffectual as on the former occasions, Martin relinquished the hopeless - attempt, and flung himself on his bed of leaves, resolving to delay till - the next morning the communication of his supernatural adventure to his - brothers. He was awakened from a heavy sleep into which he had sunk, from - fatigue of body and agitation of mind, by loud exclamations of surprise - and joy. His brothers, astonished at finding the fire extinguished when - they awoke, had proceeded to arrange the fuel in order to renew it, when - they found in the ashes three huge metallic masses, which their skill - (for most of the peasants in the Harz are practical mineralogists) - immediately ascertained to be pure gold. -</p> -<p> - It was some damp upon their joyful congratulations when they learned from - Martin the mode in which he had obtained this treasure, to which their - own experience of the nocturnal vision induced them to give full credit. - But they were unable to resist the temptation of sharing in their - brother's wealth. Taking now upon him as head of the house, Martin - Waldeck bought lands and forests, built a castle, obtained a patent of - nobility, and, greatly to the indignation of the ancient aristocracy of - the neighbourhood, was invested with all the privileges of a man of - family. His courage in public war, as well as in private feuds, together - with the number of retainers whom he kept in pay, sustained him for some - time against the odium which was excited by his sudden elevation, and the - arrogance of his pretensions. -</p> -<p> - And now it was seen in the instance of Martin Waldeck, as it has been in - that of many others, how little mortals can foresee the effect of sudden - prosperity on their own disposition. The evil propensities in his nature, - which poverty had checked and repressed, ripened and bore their - unhallowed fruit under the influence of temptation and the means of - indulgence. As Deep calls unto Deep, one bad passion awakened another the - fiend of avarice invoked that of pride, and pride was to be supported by - cruelty and oppression. Waldeck's character, always bold and daring but - rendered harsh and assuming by prosperity, soon made him odious, not to - the nobles only, but likewise to the lower ranks, who saw, with double - dislike, the oppressive rights of the feudal nobility of the empire so - remorselessly exercised by one who had risen from the very dregs of the - people. His adventure, although carefully concealed, began likewise to be - whispered abroad, and the clergy already stigmatized as a wizard and - accomplice of fiends, the wretch, who, having acquired so huge a treasure - in so strange a manner, had not sought to sanctify it by dedicating a - considerable portion to the use of the church. Surrounded by enemies, - public and private, tormented by a thousand feuds, and threatened by the - church with excommunication, Martin Waldeck, or, as we must now call him, - the Baron von Waldeck, often regretted bitterly the labours and sports of - his unenvied poverty. But his courage failed him not under all these - difficulties, and seemed rather to augment in proportion to the danger - which darkened around him, until an accident precipitated his fall. -</p> -<p> - A proclamation by the reigning Duke of Brunswick had invited to a solemn - tournament all German nobles of free and honourable descent; and Martin - Waldeck, splendidly armed, accompanied by his two brothers, and a - gallantly-equipped retinue, had the arrogance to appear among the - chivalry of the province, and demand permission to enter the lists. This - was considered as filling up the measure of his presumption. A thousand - voices exclaimed, "We will have no cinder-sifter mingle in our games of - chivalry." Irritated to frenzy, Martin drew his sword and hewed down the - herald, who, in compliance with the general outcry, opposed his entry - into the lists. An hundred swords were unsheathed to avenge what was in - those days regarded as a crime only inferior to sacrilege or regicide. - Waldeck, after defending himself like a lion, was seized, tried on the - spot by the judges of the lists, and condemned, as the appropriate - punishment for breaking the peace of his sovereign, and violating the - sacred person of a herald-at-arms, to have his right hand struck from his - body, to be ignominiously deprived of the honour of nobility, of which he - was unworthy, and to be expelled from the city. When he had been stripped - of his arms, and sustained the mutilation imposed by this severe - sentence, the unhappy victim of ambition was abandoned to the rabble, who - followed him with threats and outcries levelled alternately against the - necromancer and oppressor, which at length ended in violence. His - brothers (for his retinue were fled and dispersed) at length succeeded in - rescuing him from the hands of the populace, when, satiated with cruelty, - they had left him half dead through loss of blood, and through the - outrages he had sustained. They were not permitted, such was the - ingenious cruelty of their enemies, to make use of any other means of - removing him, excepting such a collier's cart as they had themselves - formerly used, in which they deposited their brother on a truss of straw, - scarcely expecting to reach any place of shelter ere death should release - him from his misery. -</p> -<p> - When the Waldecks, journeying in this miserable manner, had approached - the verge of their native country, in a hollow way, between two - mountains, they perceived a figure advancing towards them, which at first - sight seemed to be an aged man. But as he approached, his limbs and - stature increased, the cloak fell from his shoulders, his pilgrim's staff - was changed into an uprooted pine-tree, and the gigantic figure of the - Harz demon passed before them in his terrors. When he came opposite to - the cart which contained the miserable Waldeck, his huge features dilated - into a grin of unutterable contempt and malignity, as he asked the - sufferer, "How like you the fire my coals have kindled?" The power of - motion, which terror suspended in his two brothers, seemed to be restored - to Martin by the energy of his courage. He raised himself on the cart, - bent his brows, and, clenching his fist, shook it at the spectre with a - ghastly look of hate and defiance. The goblin vanished with his usual - tremendous and explosive laugh, and left Waldeck exhausted with this - effort of expiring nature. -</p> -<p> - The terrified brethren turned their vehicle toward the towers of a - convent, which arose in a wood of pine-trees beside the road. They were - charitably received by a bare-footed and long-bearded capuchin, and - Martin survived only to complete the first confession he had made since - the day of his sudden prosperity, and to receive absolution from the very - priest whom, precisely on that day three years, he had assisted to pelt - out of the hamlet of Morgenbrodt. The three years of precarious - prosperity were supposed to have a mysterious correspondence with the - number of his visits to the spectral fire upon the bill. -</p> -<p> - The body of Martin Waldeck was interred in the convent where he expired, - in which his brothers, having assumed the habit of the order, lived and - died in the performance of acts of charity and devotion. His lands, to - which no one asserted any claim, lay waste until they were reassumed by - the emperor as a lapsed fief, and the ruins of the castle, which Waldeck - had called by his own name, are still shunned by the miner and forester - as haunted by evil spirits. Thus were the miseries attendant upon wealth, - hastily attained and ill employed, exemplified in the fortunes of Martin - Waldeck. -</p> - - -<a name="2HCH0019"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER NINETEENTH. -</h2> -<pre> - Here has been such a stormy encounter - Betwixt my cousin Captain, and this soldier, - About I know not what!—nothing, indeed; - Competitions, degrees, and comparatives - Of soldiership!— - A Faire Qurrell. -</pre> -<p> - The attentive audience gave the fair transcriber of the foregoing legend - the thanks which politeness required. Oldbuck alone curled up his nose, - and observed, that Miss Wardour's skill was something like that of the - alchemists, for she had contrived to extract a sound and valuable moral - out of a very trumpery and ridiculous legend. "It is the fashion, as I am - given to understand, to admire those extravagant fictions—for me, -</p> -<pre> - —I bear an English heart, - Unused at ghosts and rattling bones to start." -</pre> -<p> - "Under your favour, my goot Mr. Oldenbuck," said the German, "Miss - Wardour has turned de story, as she does every thing as she touches, very - pretty indeed; but all the history of de Harz goblin, and how he walks - among de desolate mountains wid a great fir-tree for his walking cane, - and wid de great green bush around his head and his waist—that is as - true as I am an honest man." -</p> -<p> - "There is no disputing any proposition so well guaranteed," answered the - Antiquary, drily. But at this moment the approach of a stranger cut short - the conversation. -</p> -<p> - The new comer was a handsome young man, about five-and-twenty, in a - military undress, and bearing, in his look and manner, a good deal of - the martial profession—nay, perhaps a little more than is quite - consistent with the ease of a man of perfect good-breeding, in whom no - professional habit ought to predominate. He was at once greeted by the - greater part of the company. "My dear Hector!" said Miss M'Intyre, as she - rose to take his hand— -</p> -<p> - "Hector, son of Priam, whence comest thou?" said the Antiquary. -</p> -<p> - "From Fife, my liege," answered the young soldier, and continued, when he - had politely saluted the rest of the company, and particularly Sir Arthur - and his daughter—"I learned from one of the servants, as I rode towards - Monkbarns to pay my respects to you, that I should find the present - company in this place, and I willingly embrace the opportunity to pay my - respects to so many of my friends at once." -</p> -<p> - "And to a new one also, my trusty Trojan," said Oldbuck. "Mr. Lovel, this - is my nephew, Captain M'Intyre—Hector, I recommend Mr. Lovel to your - acquaintance." -</p> -<p> - The young soldier fixed his keen eye upon Lovel, and paid his compliment - with more reserve than cordiality and as our acquaintance thought his - coldness almost supercilious, he was equally frigid and haughty in making - the necessary return to it; and thus a prejudice seemed to arise between - them at the very commencement of their acquaintance. -</p> -<p> - The observations which Lovel made during the remainder of this pleasure - party did not tend to reconcile him with this addition to their society. - Captain M'Intyre, with the gallantry to be expected from his age and - profession, attached himself to the service of Miss Wardour, and offered - her, on every possible opportunity, those marks of attention which Lovel - would have given the world to have rendered, and was only deterred from - offering by the fear of her displeasure. With forlorn dejection at one - moment, and with irritated susceptibility at another, he saw this - handsome young soldier assume and exercise all the privileges of a - <i>cavaliere servente.</i> He handed Miss Wardour's gloves, he assisted her in - putting on her shawl, he attached himself to her in the walks, had a hand - ready to remove every impediment in her path, and an arm to support her - where it was rugged or difficult; his conversation was addressed chiefly - to her, and, where circumstances permitted, it was exclusively so. All - this, Lovel well knew, might be only that sort of egotistical gallantry - which induces some young men of the present day to give themselves the - air of engrossing the attention of the prettiest women in company, as if - the others were unworthy of their notice. But he thought he observed in - the conduct of Captain M'Intyre something of marked and peculiar - tenderness, which was calculated to alarm the jealousy of a lover. Miss - Wardour also received his attentions; and although his candour allowed - they were of a kind which could not be repelled without some strain of - affectation, yet it galled him to the heart to witness that she did so. -</p> -<p> - The heart-burning which these reflections occasioned proved very - indifferent seasoning to the dry antiquarian discussions with which - Oldbuck, who continued to demand his particular attention, was - unremittingly persecuting him; and he underwent, with fits of impatience - that amounted almost to loathing, a course of lectures upon monastic - architecture, in all its styles, from the massive Saxon to the florid - Gothic, and from that to the mixed and composite architecture of James - the First's time, when, according to Oldbuck, all orders were confounded, - and columns of various descriptions arose side by side, or were piled - above each other, as if symmetry had been forgotten, and the elemental - principles of art resolved into their primitive confusion. "What can be - more cutting to the heart than the sight of evils," said Oldbuck, in - rapturous enthusiasm, "which we are compelled to behold, while we do not - possess the power of remedying them?" Lovel answered by an involulatary - groan. "I see, my dear young friend, and most congenial spirit, that you - feel these enormities almost as much as I do. Have you ever approached - them, or met them, without longing to tear, to deface, what is so - dishonourable?" -</p> -<p> - "Dishonourable!" echoed Lovel—"in what respect dishonourable?" -</p> -<p> - "I mean, disgraceful to the arts." -</p> -<p> - "Where? how?" -</p> -<p> - "Upon the portico, for example, of the schools of Oxford, where, at - immense expense, the barbarous, fantastic, and ignorant architect has - chosen to represent the whole five orders of architecture on the front of - one building." -</p> -<p> - By such attacks as these, Oldbuck, unconscious of the torture he was - giving, compelled Lovel to give him a share of his attention,—as a - skilful angler, by means of his line, maintains an influence over the - most frantic movements of his agonized prey. -</p> -<p> - They were now on their return to the spot where they had left the - carriages; and it is inconceivable how often, in the course of that short - walk, Lovel, exhausted by the unceasing prosing of his worthy companion, - mentally bestowed on the devil, or any one else that would have rid him - of hearing more of them, all the orders and disorders of architecture - which had been invented or combined from the building of Solomon's temple - downwards. A slight incident occurred, however, which sprinkled a little - patience on the heat of his distemperature. -</p> -<p> - Miss Wardour, and her self-elected knight companion, rather preceded the - others in the narrow path, when the young lady apparently became desirous - to unite herself with the rest of the party, and, to break off her - <i>tete-a-tete</i> with the young officer, fairly made a pause until Mr. - Oldbuck came up. "I wished to ask you a question, Mr. Oldbuck, concerning - the date of these interesting ruins." -</p> -<p> - It would be doing injustice to Miss Wardour's <i>savoir faire,</i> to suppose - she was not aware that such a question would lead to an answer of no - limited length. The Antiquary, starting like a war-horse at the trumpet - sound, plunged at once into the various arguments for and against the - date of 1273, which had been assigned to the priory of St. Ruth by a late - publication on Scottish architectural antiquities. He raked up the names - of all the priors who had ruled the institution, of the nobles who had - bestowed lands upon it, and of the monarchs who had slept their last - sleep among its roofless courts. As a train which takes fire is sure to - light another, if there be such in the vicinity, the Baronet, catching at - the name of one of his ancestors which occurred in Oldbuck's - disquisition, entered upon an account of his wars, his conquests, and his - trophies; and worthy Dr. Blattergowl was induced, from the mention of a - grant of lands, <i>cum decimis inclusis tam vicariis quam garbalibus, et - nunquan antea separatis,</i> to enter into a long explanation concerning the - interpretation given by the Teind Court in the consideration of such a - clause, which had occurred in a process for localling his last - augmentation of stipend. The orators, like three racers, each pressed - forward to the goal, without much regarding how each crossed and jostled - his competitors. Mr. Oldbuck harangued, the Baronet declaimed, Mr. - Blattergowl prosed and laid down the law, while the Latin forms of feudal - grants were mingled with the jargon of blazonry, and the yet more - barbarous phraseology of the Teind Court of Scotland. "He was," exclaimed - Oldbuck, speaking of the Prior Adhemar, "indeed an exemplary prelate; - and, from his strictness of morals, rigid execution of penance, joined to - the charitable disposition of his mind, and the infirmities endured by - his great age and ascetic habits"— -</p> -<p> - Here he chanced to cough, and Sir Arthur burst in, or rather - continued—"was called popularly Hell-in-Harness; he carried a shield, gules with - a sable fess, which we have since disused, and was slain at the battle of - Vernoil, in France, after killing six of the English with his own"— -</p> -<p> - "Decreet of certification," proceeded the clergyman, in that prolonged, - steady, prosing tone, which, however overpowered at first by the - vehemence of competition, promised, in the long run, to obtain the - ascendancy in this strife of narrators;—"Decreet of certification having - gone out, and parties being held as confessed, the proof seemed to be - held as concluded, when their lawyer moved to have it opened up, on the - allegation that they had witnesses to bring forward, that they had been - in the habit of carrying the ewes to lamb on the teind-free land; which - was a mere evasion, for"— -</p> -<p> - But here the Baronet and Mr. Oldbuck having recovered their wind, and - continued their respective harangues, the three <i>strands</i> of the - conversation, to speak the language of a rope-work, were again twined - together into one undistinguishable string of confusion. -</p> -<p> - Yet, howsoever uninteresting this piebald jargon might seem, it was - obviously Miss Wardour's purpose to give it her attention, in preference - to yielding Captain M'Intyre an opportunity of renewing their private - conversation. So that, after waiting for a little time with displeasure, - ill concealed by his haughty features, he left her to enjoy her bad - taste, and taking his sister by the arm, detained her a little behind the - rest of the party. -</p> -<p> - "So I find, Mary, that your neighbour has neither become more lively nor - less learned during my absence." -</p> -<p> - "We lacked your patience and wisdom to instruct us, Hector." -</p> -<p> - "Thank you, my dear sister. But you have got a wiser, if not so lively an - addition to your society, than your unworthy brother—Pray, who is this - Mr. Lovel, whom our old uncle has at once placed so high in his good - graces?—he does not use to be so accessible to strangers." -</p> -<p> - "Mr. Lovel, Hector, is a very gentleman-like young man." -</p> -<p> - "Ay,—that is to say, he bows when he comes into a room, and wears a coat - that is whole at the elbows." -</p> -<p> - "No, brother; it says a great deal more. It says that his manners and - discourse express the feelings and education of the higher class." -</p> -<p> - "But I desire to know what is his birth and his rank in society, and what - is his title to be in the circle in which I find him domesticated?" -</p> -<p> - "If you mean, how he comes to visit at Monkbarns, you must ask my uncle, - who will probably reply, that he invites to his own house such company as - he pleases; and if you mean to ask Sir Arthur, you must know that Mr. - Lovel rendered Miss Wardour and him a service of the most important - kind." -</p> -<p> - "What! that romantic story is true, then?—And pray, does the valorous - knight aspire, as is befitting on such occasions, to the hand of the - young lady whom he redeemed from peril? It is quite in the rule of - romance, I am aware; and I did think that she was uncommonly dry to me as - we walked together, and seemed from time to time as if she watched - whether she was not giving offence to her gallant cavalier." -</p> -<p> - "Dear Hector," said his sister, "if you really continue to nourish any - affection for Miss Wardour"— -</p> -<p> - "If, Mary?—what an <i>if</i> was there!" -</p> -<p> - "—I own I consider your perseverance as hopeless." -</p> -<p> - "And why hopeless, my sage sister?" asked Captain M'Intyre: "Miss - Wardour, in the state of her father's affairs, cannot pretend to much - fortune;—and, as to family, I trust that of Mlntyre is not inferior." -</p> -<p> - "But, Hector," continued his sister, "Sir Arthur always considers us as - members of the Monkbarns family." -</p> -<p> - "Sir Arthur may consider what he pleases," answered the Highlander - scornfully; "but any one with common sense will consider that the wife - takes rank from the husband, and that my father's pedigree of fifteen - unblemished descents must have ennobled my mother, if her veins had been - filled with printer's ink." -</p> -<p> - "For God's sake, Hector," replied his anxious sister, "take care of - yourself! a single expression of that kind, repeated to my uncle by an - indiscreet or interested eavesdropper, would lose you his favour for - ever, and destroy all chance of your succeeding to his estate." -</p> -<p> - "Be it so," answered the heedless young man; "I am one of a profession - which the world has never been able to do without, and will far less - endure to want for half a century to come; and my good old uncle may tack - his good estate and his plebeian name to your apron-string if he pleases, - Mary, and you may wed this new favourite of his if you please, and you - may both of you live quiet, peaceable, well-regulated lives, if it - pleases Heaven. My part is taken—I'll fawn on no man for an inheritance - which should be mine by birth." -</p> -<p> - Miss M'Intyre laid her hand on her brother's arm, and entreated him to - suppress his vehemence. "Who," she said, "injures or seeks to injure you, - but your own hasty temper?—what dangers are you defying, but those you - have yourself conjured up?—Our uncle has hitherto been all that is kind - and paternal in his conduct to us, and why should you suppose he will in - future be otherwise than what he has ever been, since we were left as - orphans to his care?" -</p> -<p> - "He is an excellent old gentleman, I must own," replied M'Intyre, "and I - am enraged at myself when I chance to offend him; but then his eternal - harangues upon topics not worth the spark of a flint—his investigations - about invalided pots and pans and tobacco-stoppers past service—all - these things put me out of patience. I have something of Hotspur in me, - sister, I must confess." -</p> -<p> - "Too much, too much, my dear brother! Into how many risks, and, forgive - me for saying, some of them little creditable, has this absolute and - violent temper led you! Do not let such clouds darken the time you are - now to pass in our neighbourhood, but let our old benefactor see his - kinsman as he is—generous, kind, and lively, without being rude, - headstrong, and impetuous." -</p> -<p> - "Well," answered Captain M'Intyre, "I am schooled—good-manners be my - speed! I'll do the civil thing by your new friend—I'll have some talk - with this Mr. Lovel." -</p> -<p> - With this determination, in which he was for the time perfectly sincere, - he joined the party who were walking before them. The treble disquisition - was by this time ended; and Sir Arthur was speaking on the subject of - foreign news, and the political and military situation of the country, - themes upon which every man thinks himself qualified to give an opinion. - An action of the preceding year having come upon the <i>tapis,</i> Lovel, - accidentally mingling in the conversation, made some assertion concerning - it, of the accuracy of which Captain M'Intyre seemed not to be convinced, - although his doubts were politely expressed. -</p> -<p> - "You must confess yourself in the wrong here, Hector," said his uncle, - "although I know no man less willing to give up an argument; but you were - in England at the time, and Mr. Lovel was probably concerned in the - affair." -</p> -<p> - "I am speaking to a military man, then?" said M'Intyre; "may I inquire to - what regiment Mr. Lovel belongs?"—Mr. Lovel gave him the number of the - regiment. "It happens strangely that we should never have met before, Mr. - Lovel. I know your regiment very well, and have served along with them at - different times." -</p> -<p> - A blush crossed Lovel's countenance. "I have not lately been with my - regiment," he replied; "I served the last campaign upon the staff of - General Sir——." -</p> -<p> - "Indeed! that is more wonderful than the other circumstance!—for - although I did not serve with General Sir——, yet I had an opportunity - of knowing the names of the officers who held situations in his family, - and I cannot recollect that of Lovel." -</p> -<p> - At this observation Lovel again blushed so deeply as to attract the - attention of the whole company, while, a scornful laugh seemed to - indicate Captain M'Intyre's triumph. "There is something strange in - this," said Oldbuck to himself; "but I will not readily give up my - phoenix of post-chaise companions—all his actions, language, and - bearing, are those of a gentleman." -</p> -<p> - Lovel in the meanwhile had taken out his pocket-book, and selecting a - letter, from which he took off the envelope, he handed it to Mlntyre. - "You know the General's hand, in all probability—I own I ought not to - show these exaggerated expressions of his regard and esteem for me." The - letter contained a very handsome compliment from the officer in question - for some military service lately performed. Captain M'Intyre, as he - glanced his eye over it, could not deny that it was written in the - General's hand, but drily observed, as he returned it, that the address - was wanting. "The address, Captain M'Intyre," answered Lovel, in the same - tone, "shall be at your service whenever you choose to inquire after it!" -</p> -<p> - "I certainly shall not fail to do so," rejoined the soldier. -</p> -<p> - "Come, come," exclaimed Oldbuck, "what is the meaning of all this? Have - we got Hiren here?—We'll have no swaggering youngsters. Are you come - from the wars abroad, to stir up domestic strife in our peaceful land? - Are you like bull-dog puppies, forsooth, that when the bull, poor fellow, - is removed from the ring, fall to brawl among themselves, worry each - other, and bite honest folk's shins that are standing by?" -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur trusted, he said, the young gentlemen would not so far forget - themselves as to grow warm upon such a trifling subject as the back of a - letter. -</p> -<p> - Both the disputants disclaimed any such intention, and, with high colour - and flashing eyes, protested they were never so cool in their lives. But - an obvious damp was cast over the party;—they talked in future too much - by the rule to be sociable, and Lovel, conceiving himself the object of - cold and suspicious looks from the rest of the company, and sensible that - his indirect replies had given them permission to entertain strange - opinions respecting him, made a gallant determination to sacrifice the - pleasure he had proposed in spending the day at Knockwinnock. -</p> -<p> - He affected, therefore, to complain of a violent headache, occasioned by - the heat of the day, to which he had not been exposed since his illness, - and made a formal apology to Sir Arthur, who, listening more to recent - suspicion than to the gratitude due for former services, did not press - him to keep his engagement more than good-breeding exactly demanded. -</p> -<p> - When Lovel took leave of the ladies, Miss Wardour's manner seemed more - anxious than he had hitherto remarked it. She indicated by a glance of - her eye towards Captain M'Intyre, perceptible only by Lovel, the subject - of her alarm, and hoped, in a voice greatly under her usual tone, it was - not a less pleasant engagement which deprived them of the pleasure of Mr. - Lovel's company. "No engagement had intervened," he assured her; "it was - only the return of a complaint by which he had been for some time - occasionally attacked." -</p> -<p> - "The best remedy in such a case is prudence, and I—every friend of Mr. - Lovel's will expect him to employ it." -</p> -<p> - Lovel bowed low and coloured deeply, and Miss Wardour, as if she felt - that she had said too much, turned and got into the carriage. Lovel had - next to part with Oldbuck, who, during this interval, had, with Caxon's - assistance, been arranging his disordered periwig, and brushing his coat, - which exhibited some marks of the rude path they had traversed. "What, - man!" said Oldbuck, "you are not going to leave us on account of that - foolish Hector's indiscreet curiosity and vehemence? Why, he is a - thoughtless boy—a spoiled child from the time he was in the nurse's - arms—he threw his coral and bells at my head for refusing him a bit of - sugar; and you have too much sense to mind such a shrewish boy: <i>aequam - servare mentem</i> is the motto of our friend Horace. I'll school Hector by - and by, and put it all to rights." But Lovel persisted in his design of - returning to Fairport. -</p> -<p> - The Antiquary then assumed a graver tone.—"Take heed, young man, to your - present feelings. Your life has been given you for useful and valuable - purposes, and should be reserved to illustrate the literature of your - country, when you are not called upon to expose it in her defence, or in - the rescue of the innocent. Private war, a practice unknown to the - civilised ancients, is, of all the absurdities introduced by the Gothic - tribes, the most gross, impious, and cruel. Let me hear no more of these - absurd quarrels, and I will show you the treatise upon the duello, which - I composed when the town-clerk and provost Mucklewhame chose to assume - the privileges of gentlemen, and challenged each other. I thought of - printing my Essay, which is signed <i>Pacificator;</i> but there was no need, - as the matter was taken up by the town-council of the borough." -</p> -<p> - "But I assure you, my dear sir, there is nothing between Captain M'Intyre - and me that can render such respectable interference necessary." -</p> -<p> - "See it be so; for otherwise, I will stand second to both parties." -</p> -<p> - So saying, the old gentleman got into the chaise, close to which Miss - M'Intyre had detained her brother, upon the same principle that the owner - of a quarrelsome dog keeps him by his side to prevent his fastening upon - another. But Hector contrived to give her precaution the slip, for, as he - was on horseback, he lingered behind the carriages until they had fairly - turned the corner in the road to Knockwinnock, and then, wheeling his - horse's head round, gave him the spur in the opposite direction. -</p> -<p> - A very few minutes brought him up with Lovel, who, perhaps anticipating - his intention, had not put his horse beyond a slow walk, when the clatter - of hoofs behind him announced Captain Mlntyre. The young soldier, his - natural heat of temper exasperated by the rapidity of motion, reined his - horse up suddenly and violently by Lovel's side, and touching his hat - slightly, inquired, in a very haughty tone of voice, "What am I to - understand, sir, by your telling me that your address was at my service?" -</p> -<p> - "Simply, sir," replied Lovel, "that my name is Lovel, and that my - residence is, for the present, Fairport, as you will see by this card." -</p> -<p> - "And is this all the information you are disposed to give me?" -</p> -<p> - "I see no right you have to require more." -</p> -<p> - "I find you, sir, in company with my sister," said the young soldier, - "and I have a right to know who is admitted into Miss M'Intyre's - society." -</p> -<p> - "I shall take the liberty of disputing that right," replied Lovel, with a - manner as haughty as that of the young soldier;—"you find me in society - who are satisfied with the degree of information on my affairs which I - have thought proper to communicate, and you, a mere stranger, have no - right to inquire further." -</p> -<p> - "Mr. Lovel, if you served as you say you have"— -</p> -<p> - "If!" interrupted Lovel,—"<i>if</i> I have served as <i>I say</i> I have?" -</p> -<p> - "Yes, sir, such is my expression—<i>if</i> you have so served, you must know - that you owe me satisfaction either in one way or other." -</p> -<p> - "If that be your opinion, I shall be proud to give it to you, Captain - M'Intyre, in the way in which the word is generally used among - gentlemen." -</p> -<p> - "Very well, sir," rejoined Hector, and, turning his horse round, galloped - off to overtake his party. -</p> -<p> - His absence had already alarmed them, and his sister, having stopped the - carriage, had her neck stretched out of the window to see where he was. -</p> -<p> - "What is the matter with you now?" said the Antiquary, "riding to and fro - as your neck were upon the wager—why do you not keep up with the - carriage?" -</p> -<p> - "I forgot my glove, sir," said Hector. -</p> -<p> - "Forgot your glove!—I presume you meant to say you went to throw it - down—But I will take order with you, my young gentleman—you shall - return with me this night to Monkbarns." So saying, he bid the postilion - go on. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0020"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER TWENTIETH. -</h2> -<pre> - —If you fail Honour here, - Never presume to serve her any more; - Bid farewell to the integrity of armes; - And the honourable name of soldier - Fall from you, like a shivered wreath of laurel - By thunder struck from a desertlesse forehead. - A Faire Quarrell. -</pre> -<p> - Early the next morning, a gentleman came to wait upon Mr. Lovel, who was - up and ready to receive him. He was a military gentleman, a friend of - Captain M'Intyre's, at present in Fairport on the recruiting service. - Lovel and he were slightly known to each other. "I presume, sir," said - Mr. Lesley (such was the name of the visitor), "that you guess the - occasion of my troubling you so early?" -</p> -<p> - "A message from Captain M'Intyre, I presume?" -</p> -<p> - "The same. He holds himself injured by the manner in which you declined - yesterday to answer certain inquiries which he conceived himself entitled - to make respecting a gentleman whom he found in intimate society with his - family." -</p> -<p> - "May I ask, if you, Mr. Lesley, would have inclined to satisfy - interrogatories so haughtily and unceremoniously put to you?" -</p> -<p> - "Perhaps not;—and therefore, as I know the warmth of my friend M'Intyre - on such occasions, I feel very desirous of acting as peacemaker. From Mr. - Lovel's very gentleman-like manners, every one must strongly wish to see - him repel all that sort of dubious calumny which will attach itself to - one whose situation is not fully explained. If he will permit me, in - friendly conciliation, to inform Captain M'Intyre of his real name, for - we are led to conclude that of Lovel is assumed"— -</p> -<p> - "I beg your pardon, sir, but I cannot admit that inference." -</p> -<p> - "—Or at least," said Lesley, proceeding, "that it is not the name by - which Mr. Lovel has been at all times distinguished—if Mr. Lovel will - have the goodness to explain this circumstance, which, in my opinion, he - should do in justice to his own character, I will answer for the amicable - arrangement of this unpleasant business." -</p> -<p> - "Which is to say, Mr. Lesley, that if I condescend to answer questions - which no man has a right to ask, and which are now put to me under - penalty of Captain M'Intyre's resentment, Captain MIntyre will condescend - to rest satisfied? Mr. Lesley, I have just one word to say on this - subject—I have no doubt my secret, if I had one, might be safely - entrusted to your honour, but I do not feel called upon to satisfy the - curiosity of any one. Captain M'Intyre met me in society which of itself - was a warrant to all the world, and particularly ought to be such to him, - that I was a gentleman. He has, in my opinion, no right to go any - further, or to inquire the pedigree, rank, or circumstances, of a - stranger, who, without seeking any intimate connection with him, or his, - chances to dine with his uncle, or walk in company with his sister." -</p> -<p> - "In that case, Captain M'Intyre requests you to be informed, that your - farther visits at Monkbarns, and all connection with Miss M'Intyre, must - be dropt, as disagreeable to him." -</p> -<p> - "I shall certainly," said Lovel, "visit Mr. Oldbuck when it suits me, - without paying the least respect to his nephew's threats or irritable - feelings. I respect the young lady's name too much (though nothing can be - slighter than our acquaintance) to introduce it into such a discussion." -</p> -<p> - "Since that is your resolution, sir," answered Lesley, "Captain M'Intyre - requests that Mr. Lovel, unless he wishes to be announced as a very - dubious character, will favour him with a meeting this evening, at seven, - at the thorn-tree in the little valley close by the ruins of St. Ruth." -</p> -<p> - "Most unquestionably, I will wait upon him. There is only one - difficulty—I must find a friend to accompany me, and where to seek one on this - short notice, as I have no acquaintance in Fairport—I will be on the - spot, however—Captain M'Intyre may be assured of that." -</p> -<p> - Lesley had taken his hat, and was as far as the door of the apartment, - when, as if moved by the peculiarity of Lovel's situation, he returned, - and thus addressed him: "Mr. Lovel, there is something so singular in all - this, that I cannot help again resuming the argument. You must be - yourself aware at this moment of the inconvenience of your preserving an - incognito, for which, I am convinced, there can be no dishonourable - reason. Still, this mystery renders it difficult for you to procure the - assistance of a friend in a crisis so delicate—nay, let me add, that - many persons will even consider it as a piece of Quixotry in M'Intyre to - give you a meeting, while your character and circumstances are involved - in such obscurity." -</p> -<p> - "I understand your innuendo, Mr. Lesley," rejoined Lovel; and though I - might be offended at its severity, I am not so, because it is meant - kindly. But, in my opinion, he is entitled to all the privileges of a - gentleman, to whose charge, during the time he has been known in the - society where he happens to move, nothing can be laid that is unhandsome - or unbecoming. For a friend, I dare say I shall find some one or other - who will do me that good turn; and if his experience be less than I could - wish, I am certain not to suffer through that circumstance when you are - in the field for my antagonist." -</p> -<p> - "I trust you will not," said Lesley; "but as I must, for my own sake, be - anxious to divide so heavy a responsibility with a capable assistant, - allow me to say, that Lieutenant Taffril's gun-brig is come into the - roadstead, and he himself is now at old Caxon's, where he lodges. I think - you have the same degree of acquaintance with him as with me, and, as I - am sure I should willingly have rendered you such a service were I not - engaged on the other side, I am convinced he will do so at your first - request." -</p> -<p> - "At the thorn-tree, then, Mr. Lesley, at seven this evening—the arms, I - presume, are pistols?" -</p> -<p> - "Exactly. M'Intyre has chosen the hour at which he can best escape from - Monkbarns—he was with me this morning by five, in order to return and - present himself before his uncle was up. Good-morning to you, Mr. Lovel." - And Lesley left the apartment. -</p> -<p> - Lovel was as brave as most men; but none can internally regard such a - crisis as now approached, without deep feelings of awe and uncertainty. - In a few hours he might be in another world to answer for an action which - his calmer thought told him was unjustifiable in a religious point of - view, or he might be wandering about in the present like Cain, with the - blood of his brother on his head. And all this might be saved by speaking - a single word. Yet pride whispered, that to speak that word now, would be - ascribed to a motive which would degrade him more low than even the most - injurious reasons that could be assigned for his silence. Every one, Miss - Wardour included, must then, he thought, account him a mean dishonoured - poltroon, who gave to the fear of meeting Captain M'Intyre the - explanation he had refused to the calm and handsome expostulations of Mr. - Lesley. M'Intyre's insolent behaviour to himself personally, the air of - pretension which he assumed towards Miss Wardour, and the extreme - injustice, arrogance, and incivility of his demands upon a perfect - stranger, seemed to justify him in repelling his rude investigation. In - short, he formed the resolution which might have been expected from so - young a man,—to shut the eyes, namely, of his calmer reason, and follow - the dictates of his offended pride. With this purpose he sought - Lieutenant Taffril. -</p> -<p> - The lieutenant received him with the good breeding of a gentleman and the - frankness of a sailor, and listened with no small surprise to the detail - which preceded his request that he might be favoured with his company at - his meeting with Captain M'Intyre. When he had finished, Taffril rose up - and walked through his apartment once or twice. "This is a most singular - circumstance," he said, "and really"— -</p> -<p> - "I am conscious, Mr. Taffril, how little I am entitled to make my present - request, but the urgency of circumstances hardly leaves me an - alternative." -</p> -<p> - "Permit me to ask you one question," asked the sailor;—"is there - anything of which you are ashamed in the circumstances which you have - declined to communicate." -</p> -<p> - "Upon my honour, no; there is nothing but what, in a very short time, I - trust I may publish to the whole world." -</p> -<p> - "I hope the mystery arises from no false shame at the lowness of your - friends perhaps, or connections?" -</p> -<p> - "No, on my word," replied Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "I have little sympathy for that folly," said Taffril—"indeed I cannot - be supposed to have any; for, speaking of my relations, I may be said to - have come myself from before the mast, and I believe I shall very soon - form a connection, which the world will think low enough, with a very - amiable girl, to whom I have been attached since we were next-door - neighbours, at a time when I little thought of the good fortune which has - brought me forward in the service." -</p> -<p> - "I assure you, Mr. Taffril," replied Lovel, "whatever were the rank of my - parents, I should never think of concealing it from a spirit of petty - pride. But I am so situated at present, that I cannot enter on the - subject of my family with any propriety." -</p> -<p> - "It is quite enough," said the honest sailor—"give me your hand; I'll - see you as well through this business as I can, though it is but an - unpleasant one after all—But what of that? our own honour has the next - call on us after our country;—you are a lad of spirit, and I own I think - Mr. Hector M'Intyre, with his long pedigree and his airs of family, very - much of a jackanapes. His father was a soldier of fortune as I am a - sailor—he himself, I suppose, is little better, unless just as his uncle - pleases; and whether one pursues fortune by land, or sea, makes no great - difference, I should fancy." -</p> -<p> - "None in the universe, certainly," answered Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "Well," said his new ally, "we will dine together and arrange matters for - this rencounter. I hope you understand the use of the weapon?" -</p> -<p> - "Not particularly," Lovel replied. -</p> -<p> - "I am sorry for that—M'Intyre is said to be a marksman." -</p> -<p> - "I am sorry for it also," said Lovel, "both for his sake and my own: I - must then, in self-defence, take my aim as well as I can." -</p> -<p> - "Well," added Taffril, "I will have our surgeon's mate on the field—a - good clever young fellow at caulking a shot-hole. I will let Lesley, who - is an honest fellow for a landsman, know that he attends for the benefit - of either party. Is there anything I can do for you in case of an - accident?" -</p> -<p> - "I have but little occasion to trouble you," said Lovel. "This small - billet contains the key of my escritoir, and my very brief secret. There - is one letter in the escritoir" (digesting a temporary swelling of the - heart as he spoke), "which I beg the favour of you to deliver with your - own hand." -</p> -<p> - "I understand," said the sailor. "Nay, my friend, never be ashamed for - the matter—an affectionate heart may overflow for an instant at the - eyes, if the ship were clearing for action; and, depend on it, whatever - your injunctions are, Dan Taffril will regard them like the bequest of a - dying brother. But this is all stuff;—we must get our things in fighting - order, and you will dine with me and my little surgeon's mate, at the - Graeme's-Arms over the way, at four o'clock." -</p> -<p> - "Agreed," said Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "Agreed," said Taffril; and the whole affair was arranged. -</p> -<p> - It was a beautiful summer evening, and the shadow of the solitary - thorn-tree was lengthening upon the short greensward of the narrow - valley, which was skirted by the woods that closed around the ruins of - St. Ruth. * -</p> -<p> - * [Supposed to have been suggested by the old Abbey of Arbroath in * - Forfarshire.] -</p> -<a name="image-0010"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/pa261.jpg" height="521" width="833" -alt="St. Ruth (arbroath Abbey) -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> - -<p> - Lovel and Lieutenant Taffril, with the surgeon, came upon the ground -with a purpose of a nature very uncongenial to the soft, mild, and -pacific character of the hour and scene. The sheep, which during the -ardent heat of the day had sheltered in the breaches and hollows of the -gravelly bank, or under the roots of the aged and stunted trees, had now -spread themselves upon the face of the hill to enjoy their evening's -pasture, and bleated, to each other with that melancholy sound which at -once gives life to a landscape, and marks its solitude.—Taffril and -Lovel came on in deep conference, having, for fear of discovery, sent -their horses back to the town by the Lieutenant's servant. The opposite -party had not yet appeared on the field. But when they came upon the -ground, there sat upon the roots of the old thorn a figure as vigorous in -his decay as the moss-grown but strong and contorted boughs which served -him for a canopy. It was old Ochiltree. "This is embarrassing enough," -said Lovel:—"How shall we get rid of this old fellow?" -</p> -<p> - "Here, father Adam," cried Taffril, who knew the mendicant of - yore—"here's half-a-crown for you. You must go to the Four Horse-shoes - yonder—the little inn, you know, and inquire for a servant with blue and - yellow livery. If he is not come, you'll wait for him, and tell him we - shall be with his master in about an hour's time. At any rate, wait there - till we come back,—and—Get off with you—Come, come, weigh anchor." -</p> -<p> - "I thank ye for your awmous," said Ochiltree, pocketing the piece of - money; "but I beg your pardon, Mr. Taffril—I canna gang your errand e'en - now." -</p> -<p> - "Why not, man? what can hinder you?" -</p> -<p> - "I wad speak a word wi' young Mr. Lovel." -</p> -<p> - "With me?" answered Lovel: "what would you say with me? Come, say on, and - be brief." -</p> -<p> - The mendicant led him a few paces aside. "Are ye indebted onything to the - Laird o' Monkbarns?" -</p> -<p> - "Indebted!—no, not I—what of that?—what makes you think so?" -</p> -<p> - "Ye maun ken I was at the shirra's the day; for, God help me, I gang - about a' gates like the troubled spirit; and wha suld come whirling there - in a post-chaise, but Monkbarns in an unco carfuffle—now, it's no a - little thing that will make his honour take a chaise and post-horse twa - days rinnin'." -</p> -<p> - "Well, well; but what is all this to me?" -</p> -<p> - "Ou, ye'se hear, ye'se hear. Weel, Monkbarns is closeted wi' the shirra - whatever puir folk may be left thereout—ye needna doubt that—the - gentlemen are aye unco civil amang themsells." -</p> -<p> - "For heaven's sake, my old friend"— -</p> -<p> - "Canna ye bid me gang to the deevil at ance, Mr. Lovel? it wad be mair - purpose fa'ard than to speak o' heaven in that impatient gate." -</p> -<p> - "But I have private business with Lieutenant Taffril here." -</p> -<p> - "Weel, weel, a' in gude time," said the beggar—"I can use a little wee - bit freedom wi' Mr. Daniel Taffril;—mony's the peery and the tap I - worked for him langsyne, for I was a worker in wood as weel as a - tinkler." -</p> -<p> - "You are either mad, Adam, or have a mind to drive me mad." -</p> -<p> - "Nane o' the twa," said Edie, suddenly changing his manner from the - protracted drawl of the mendicant to a brief and decided tone. "The - shirra sent for his clerk, and as the lad is rather light o' the tongue, - I fand it was for drawing a warrant to apprehend you—I thought it had - been on a <i>fugie</i> warrant for debt; for a' body kens the laird likes - naebody to pit his hand in his pouch—But now I may haud my tongue, for I - see the M'Intyre lad and Mr. Lesley coming up, and I guess that - Monkbarns's purpose was very kind, and that yours is muckle waur than it - should be." -</p> -<p> - The antagonist now approached, and saluted with the stern civility which - befitted the occasion. "What has this old fellow to do here?" said - M'Intyre. -</p> -<p> - "I am an auld fallow," said Edie, "but I am also an auld soldier o' your - father's, for I served wi' him in the 42d." -</p> -<p> - "Serve where you please, you have no title to intrude on us," said - M'Intyre, "or"—and he lifted his cane <i>in terrorem,</i> though without the - idea of touching the old man. -</p> -<p> - But Ochiltree's courage was roused by the insult. "Haud down your switch, - Captain M'Intyre! I am an auld soldier, as I said before, and I'll take - muckle frae your father's son; but no a touch o' the wand while my - pike-staff will haud thegither." -</p> -<p> - "Well, well, I was wrong—I was wrong," said M'Intyre; "here's a crown - for you—go your ways—what's the matter now?" -</p> -<p> - The old man drew himself up to the full advantage of his uncommon height, - and in despite of his dress, which indeed had more of the pilgrim than - the ordinary beggar, looked from height, manner, and emphasis of voice - and gesture, rather like a grey palmer or eremite preacher, the ghostly - counsellor of the young men who were around him, than the object of their - charity. His speech, indeed, was as homely as his habit, but as bold and - unceremonious as his erect and dignified demeanour. "What are ye come - here for, young men?" he said, addressing himself to the surprised - audience; "are ye come amongst the most lovely works of God to break his - laws? Have ye left the works of man, the houses and the cities that are - but clay and dust, like those that built them—and are ye come here among - the peaceful hills, and by the quiet waters, that will last whiles aught - earthly shall endure, to destroy each other's lives, that will have but - an unco short time, by the course of nature, to make up a lang account at - the close o't? O sirs! hae ye brothers, sisters, fathers, that hae tended - ye, and mothers that hae travailed for ye, friends that hae ca'd ye like - a piece o' their ain heart? and is this the way ye tak to make them - childless and brotherless and friendless? Ohon! it's an ill feight whar - he that wins has the warst o't. Think on't, bairns. I'm a puir man—but - I'm an auld man too—and what my poverty takes awa frae the weight o' my - counsel, grey hairs and a truthfu' heart should add it twenty times. Gang - hame, gang hame, like gude lads—the French will be ower to harry us ane - o' thae days, and ye'll hae feighting eneugh, and maybe auld Edie will - hirple out himsell if he can get a feal-dyke to lay his gun ower, and may - live to tell you whilk o' ye does the best where there's a good cause - afore ye." -</p> -<p> - There was something in the undaunted and independent manner, hardy - sentiment, and manly rude elocution of the old man, that had its effect - upon the party, and particularly on the seconds, whose pride was - uninterested in bringing the dispute to a bloody arbitrament, and who, on - the contrary, eagerly watched for an opportunity to recommend - reconciliation. -</p> -<p> - "Upon my word, Mr. Lesley," said Taffril, "old Adam speaks like an - oracle. Our friends here were very angry yesterday, and of course very - foolish;—today they should be cool, or at least we must be so in their - behalf. I think the word should be forget and forgive on both - sides,—that we should all shake hands, fire these foolish crackers in the air, - and go home to sup in a body at the Graeme's-Arms." -</p> -<p> - "I would heartily recommend it," said Lesley; "for, amidst a great deal - of heat and irritation on both sides, I confess myself unable to discover - any rational ground of quarrel." -</p> -<p> - "Gentlemen," said M'Intyre, very coldly, "all this should have been - thought of before. In my opinion, persons that have carried this matter - so far as we have done, and who should part without carrying it any - farther, might go to supper at the Graeme's-Arms very joyously, but would - rise the next morning with reputations as ragged as our friend here, who - has obliged us with a rather unnecessary display of his oratory. I speak - for myself, that I find myself bound to call upon you to proceed without - more delay." -</p> -<p> - "And I," said Lovel, "as I never desired any, have also to request these - gentlemen to arrange preliminaries as fast as possible." -</p> -<p> - "Bairns! bairns!" cried old Ochiltree; but perceiving he was no longer - attended to—"Madmen, I should say—but your blood be on your heads!" And - the old man drew off from the ground, which was now measured out by the - seconds, and continued muttering and talking to himself in sullen - indignation, mixed with anxiety, and with a strong feeling of painful - curiosity. Without paying farther attention to his presence or - remonstrances, Mr. Lesley and the Lieutenant made the necessary - arrangements for the duel, and it was agreed that both parties should - fire when Mr. Lesley dropped his handkerchief. -</p> -<p> - The fatal sign was given, and both fired almost in the same moment. - Captain M'Intyre's ball grazed the side of his opponent, but did not draw - blood. That of Lovel was more true to the aim; M'Intyre reeled and fell. - Raising himself on his arm, his first exclamation was, "It is nothing—it - is nothing—give us the other pistols." But in an instant he said, in a - lower tone, "I believe I have enough—and what's worse, I fear I deserve - it. Mr. Lovel, or whatever your name is, fly and save yourself—Bear all - witness, I provoked this matter." Then raising himself again on his arm, - he added, "Shake hands, Lovel—I believe you to be a gentleman—forgive - my rudeness, and I forgive you my death—My poor sister!" -</p> -<p> - The surgeon came up to perform his part of the tragedy, and Lovel stood - gazing on the evil of which he had been the active, though unwilling - cause, with a dizzy and bewildered eye. He was roused from his trance by - the grasp of the mendicant. "Why stand you gazing on your deed?—What's - doomed is doomed—what's done is past recalling. But awa, awa, if ye wad - save your young blood from a shamefu' death—I see the men out by yonder - that are come ower late to part ye—but, out and alack! sune eneugh, and - ower sune, to drag ye to prison." -</p> -<p> - "He is right—he is right," exclaimed Taffril; "you must not attempt to - get on the high-road—get into the wood till night. My brig will be under - sail by that time, and at three in the morning, when the tide will serve, - I shall have the boat waiting for you at the Mussel-crag. Away-away, for - Heaven's sake!" -</p> -<p> - "O yes! fly, fly!" repeated the wounded man, his words faltering with - convulsive sobs. -</p> -<p> - "Come with me," said the mendicant, almost dragging him off; "the - Captain's plan is the best—I'll carry ye to a place where ye might be - concealed in the meantime, were they to seek ye 'wi' sleuth-hounds." -</p> -<p> - "Go, go," again urged Lieutenant Taffril—"to stay here is mere madness." -</p> -<p> - "It was worse madness to have come hither," said Lovel, pressing his - hand—"But farewell!" And he followed Ochiltree into the recesses of the - wood. -</p> -<a name="2HCH0021"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> - -<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> - -<h2> - CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST. -</h2> -<pre> - —The Lord Abbot had a soul - Subtile and quick, and searching as the fire; - By magic stairs he went as deep as hell, - And if in devils' possession gold be kept, - He brought some sure from thence—'tis hid in caves, - Known, save to me, to none.— - The Wonder of a Kingdome. -</pre> -<p> - Lovel almost mechanically followed the beggar, who led the way with a - hasty and steady pace, through bush and bramble, avoiding the beaten - path, and often turning to listen whether there were any sounds of - pursuit behind them. They sometimes descended into the very bed of the - torrent, sometimes kept a narrow and precarious path, that the sheep - (which, with the sluttish negligence towards property of that sort - universal in Scotland, were allowed to stray in the copse) had made along - the very verge of its overhanging banks. From time to time Lovel had a - glance of the path which he had traversed the day before in company with - Sir Arthur, the Antiquary, and the young ladies. Dejected, embarrassed, - and occupied by a thousand inquietudes, as he then was, what would he now - have given to regain the sense of innocence which alone can - counter-balance a thousand evils! "Yet, then," such was his hasty and - involuntary reflection, "even then, guiltless and valued by all around - me, I thought myself unhappy. What am I now, with this young man's blood - upon my hands?—the feeling of pride which urged me to the deed has now - deserted me, as the actual fiend himself is said to do those whom he has - tempted to guilt." Even his affection for Miss Wardour sunk for the time - before the first pangs of remorse, and he thought he could have - encountered every agony of slighted love to have had the conscious - freedom from blood-guiltiness which he possessed in the morning. -</p> -<p> - These painful reflections were not interrupted by any conversation on the - part of his guide, who threaded the thicket before him, now holding back - the sprays to make his path easy, now exhorting him to make haste, now - muttering to himself, after the custom of solitary and neglected old age, - words which might have escaped Lovel's ear even had he listened to them, - or which, apprehended and retained, were too isolated to convey any - connected meaning,—a habit which may be often observed among people of - the old man's age and calling. -</p> -<p> - At length, as Lovel, exhausted by his late indisposition, the harrowing - feelings by which he was agitated, and the exertion necessary to keep up - with his guide in a path so rugged, began to flag and fall behind, two or - three very precarious steps placed him on the front of a precipice - overhung with brushwood and copse. Here a cave, as narrow in its entrance - as a fox-earth, was indicated by a small fissure in the rock, screened by - the boughs of an aged oak, which, anchored by its thick and twisted roots - in the upper part of the cleft, flung its branches almost straight - outward from the cliff, concealing it effectually from all observation. - It might indeed have escaped the attention even of those who had stood at - its very opening, so uninviting was the portal at which the beggar - entered. But within, the cavern was higher and more roomy, cut into two - separate branches, which, intersecting each other at right angles, formed - an emblem of the cross, and indicated the abode of an anchoret of former - times. There are many caves of the same kind in different parts of - Scotland. I need only instance those of Gorton, near Rosslyn, in a scene - well known to the admirers of romantic nature. -</p> -<p> - The light within the eave was a dusky twilight at the entrance, which - failed altogether in the inner recesses. "Few folks ken o' this place," - said the old man; "to the best o'my knowledge, there's just twa living by - mysell, and that's Jingling Jock and the Lang Linker. I have had mony a - thought, that when I fand mysell auld and forfairn, and no able to enjoy - God's blessed air ony langer, I wad drag mysell here wi' a pickle - ait-meal; and see, there's a bit bonny dropping well that popples that - self-same gate simmer and winter;—and I wad e'en streek mysell out here, - and abide my removal, like an auld dog that trails its useless ugsome - carcass into some bush or bracken no to gie living things a scunner wi' - the sight o't when it's dead—Ay, and then, when the dogs barked at the - lone farm-stead, the gudewife wad cry, Whisht, stirra, that'll be auld - Edie,' and the bits o' weans wad up, puir things, and toddle to the door - to pu' in the auld Blue-Gown that mends a' their bonny-dies—But there - wad be nae mair word o' Edie, I trow." -</p> -<p> - He then led Lovel, who followed him unresistingly, into one of the - interior branches of the cave. "Here," he said, "is a bit turnpike-stair - that gaes up to the auld kirk abune. Some folks say this place was howkit - out by the monks lang syne to hide their treasure in, and some said that - they used to bring things into the abbey this gate by night, that they - durstna sae weel hae brought in by the main port and in open day—And - some said that ane o' them turned a saint (or aiblins wad hae had folk - think sae), and settled him down in this Saint Ruth's cell, as the auld - folks aye ca'd it, and garr'd big the stair, that he might gang up to the - kirk when they were at the divine service. The Laird o' Monkbarns wad hae - a hantle to say about it, as he has about maist things, if he ken'd only - about the place. But whether it was made for man's devices or God's - service, I have seen ower muckle sin done in it in my day, and far ower - muckle have I been partaker of—ay, even here in this dark cove. Mony a - gudewife's been wondering what for the red cock didna craw her up in the - morning, when he's been roasting, puir fallow, in this dark hole—And, - ohon! I wish that and the like o' that had been the warst o't! Whiles - they wad hae heard the din we were making in the very bowels o' the - earth, when Sanders Aikwood, that was forester in thae days, the father - o' Ringan that now is, was gaun daundering about the wood at e'en, to see - after the Laird's game and whiles he wad hae seen a glance o' the light - frae the door o' the cave, flaughtering against the hazels on the other - bank;—and then siccan stories as Sanders had about the worricows and - gyre-carlins that haunted about the auld wa's at e'en, and the lights - that he had seen, and the cries that he had heard, when there was nae - mortal e'e open but his ain; and eh! as he wad thrum them ower and ower - to the like o' me ayont the ingle at e'en, and as I wad gie the auld - silly carle grane for grane, and tale for tale, though I ken'd muckle - better about it than ever he did. Ay, ay—they were daft days thae;—but - they were a' vanity, and waur,—and it's fitting that they wha hae led a - light and evil life, and abused charity when they were young, suld - aiblins come to lack it when they are auld." -</p> -<p> - While Ochiltree was thus recounting the exploits and tricks of his - earlier life, with a tone in which glee and compunction alternately - predominated, his unfortunate auditor had sat down upon the hermit's - seat, hewn out of the solid rock, and abandoned himself to that - lassitude, both of mind and body, which generally follows a course of - events that have agitated both, The effect of his late indisposition, - which had much weakened his system, contributed to this lethargic - despondency. "The puir bairn!" said auld Edie, "an he sleeps in this damp - hole, he'll maybe wauken nae mair, or catch some sair disease. It's no - the same to him as to the like o' us, that can sleep ony gate an anes our - wames are fu'. Sit up, Maister Lovel, lad! After a's come and gane, I - dare say the captain-lad will do weel eneugh—and, after a', ye are no - the first that has had this misfortune. I hae seen mony a man killed, and - helped to kill them mysell, though there was nae quarrel between us—and - if it isna wrang to kill folk we have nae quarrel wi', just because they - wear another sort of a cockade, and speak a foreign language, I canna see - but a man may have excuse for killing his ain mortal foe, that comes - armed to the fair field to kill him. I dinna say it's right—God - forbid—or that it isna sinfu' to take away what ye canna restore, and that's - the breath of man, whilk is in his nostrils; but I say it is a sin to be - forgiven if it's repented of. Sinfu' men are we a'; but if ye wad believe - an auld grey sinner that has seen the evil o' his ways, there is as much - promise atween the twa boards o' the Testament as wad save the warst o' - us, could we but think sae." -</p> -<p> - With such scraps of comfort and of divinity as he possessed, the - mendicant thus continued to solicit and compel the attention of Lovel, - until the twilight began to fade into night. "Now," said Ochiltree, "I - will carry ye to a mair convenient place, where I hae sat mony a time to - hear the howlit crying out of the ivy tod, and to see the moonlight come - through the auld windows o' the ruins. There can be naebody come here - after this time o' night; and if they hae made ony search, thae - blackguard shirra'-officers and constables, it will hae been ower lang - syne. Od, they are as great cowards as ither folk, wi' a' their warrants - and king's keys*—I hae gien some o' them a gliff in my day, when they - were coming rather ower near me—But, lauded be grace for it! they canna - stir me now for ony waur than an auld man and a beggar, and my badge is a - gude protection; and then Miss Isabella Wardour is a tower o' strength, - ye ken"—(Lovel sighed)—"Aweel, dinna be cast down—bowls may a' row - right yet—gie the lassie time to ken her mind. She's the wale o' the - country for beauty, and a gude friend o' mine—I gang by the bridewell as - safe as by the kirk on a Sabbath—deil ony o' them daur hurt a hair o' - auld Edie's head now; I keep the crown o' the causey when I gae to the - borough, and rub shouthers wi' a bailie wi' as little concern as an he - were a brock." -</p> -<p> - * The king's keys are, in law phrase, the crow-bars and hammers used to - force doors and locks, in execution of the king's warrant. -</p> -<p> - While the mendicant spoke thus, he was busied in removing a few loose - stones in one angle of the eave, which obscured the entrance of the - staircase of which he had spoken, and led the way into it, followed by - Lovel in passive silence. -</p> -<p> - "The air's free eneugh," said the old man; "the monks took care o' that, - for they werena a lang-breathed generation, I reckon; they hae contrived - queer tirlie-wirlie holes, that gang out to the open air, and keep the - stair as caller as a kail-blade." -</p> -<p> - Lovel accordingly found the staircase well aired, and, though narrow, it - was neither ruinous nor long, but speedily admitted them into a narrow - gallery contrived to run within the side wall of the chancel, from which - it received air and light through apertures ingeniously hidden amid the - florid ornaments of the Gothic architecture. -</p> -<p> - "This secret passage ance gaed round great part o' the biggin," said the - beggar, "and through the wa' o' the place I've heard Monkbarns ca' the - Refractory" [meaning probably <i>Refectory</i>], "and so awa to the Prior's - ain house. It's like he could use it to listen what the monks were saying - at meal-time,—and then he might come ben here and see that they were - busy skreighing awa wi' the psalms doun below there; and then, when he - saw a' was right and tight, he might step awa and fetch in a bonnie lass - at the cove yonder—for they were queer hands the monks, unless mony lees - is made on them. But our folk were at great pains lang syne to big up the - passage in some parts, and pu' it down in others, for fear o' some - uncanny body getting into it, and finding their way down to the cove: it - wad hae been a fashious job that—by my certie, some o' our necks wad hae - been ewking." -</p> -<p> - They now came to a place where the gallery was enlarged into a small - circle, sufficient to contain a stone seat. A niche, constructed exactly - before it, projected forward into the chancel, and as its sides were - latticed, as it were, with perforated stone-work, it commanded a full - view of the chancel in every direction, and was probably constructed, as - Edie intimated, to be a convenient watch-tower, from which the superior - priest, himself unseen, might watch the behaviour of his monks, and - ascertain, by personal inspection, their punctual attendance upon those - rites of devotion which his rank exempted him from sharing with them. As - this niche made one of a regular series which stretched along the wall of - the chancel, and in no respect differed from the rest when seen from - below, the secret station, screened as it was by the stone figure of St. - Michael and the dragon, and the open tracery around the niche, was - completely hid from observation. The private passage, confined to its - pristine breadth, had originally continued beyond this seat; but the - jealous precautions of the vagabonds who frequented the cave of St. Ruth - had caused them to build it carefully up with hewn stones from the ruin. -</p> -<p> - "We shall be better here," said Edie, seating himself on the stone bench, - and stretching the lappet of his blue gown upon the spot, when he - motioned Lovel to sit down beside him—"we shall be better here than doun - below; the air's free and mild, and the savour of the wallflowers, and - siccan shrubs as grow on thae ruined wa's, is far mair refreshing than - the damp smell doun below yonder. They smell sweetest by night-time thae - flowers, and they're maist aye seen about rained buildings. Now, Maister - Lovel, can ony o' you scholars gie a gude reason for that?" -</p> -<p> - Lovel replied in the negative. -</p> -<p> - "I am thinking," resumed the beggar, "that they'll be, like mony folk's - gude gifts, that often seem maist gracious in adversity—or maybe it's a - parable, to teach us no to slight them that are in the darkness of sin - and the decay of tribulation, since God sends odours to refresh the - mirkest hour, and flowers and pleasant bushes to clothe the ruined - buildings. And now I wad like a wise man to tell me whether Heaven is - maist pleased wi' the sight we are looking upon—thae pleasant and quiet - lang streaks o' moonlight that are lying sae still on the floor o' this - auld kirk, and glancing through the great pillars and stanchions o' the - carved windows, and just dancing like on the leaves o' the dark ivy as - the breath o' wind shakes it—I wonder whether this is mair pleasing to - Heaven than when it was lighted up wi' lamps, and candles nae doubt, and - roughies,* and wi' the mirth and the frankincent that they speak of in - the Holy Scripture, and wi' organs assuredly, and men and women singers, - and sackbuts, and dulcimers, and a' instruments o' music—I wonder if - that was acceptable, or whether it is of these grand parafle o' - ceremonies that holy writ says, It is an abomination to me. -</p> -<p> - * Links, or torches. -</p> -<p> - I am thinking, Maister Lovel, if twa puir contrite spirits like yours and - mine fand grace to make our petition"— -</p> -<p> - Here Lovel laid his hand eagerly on the mendicant's arm, saying,—"Hush! - I heard some one speak." -</p> -<p> - "I am dull o' hearing," answered Edie, in a whisper, "but we're surely - safe here—where was the sound?" -</p> -<p> - Lovel pointed to the door of the chancel, which, highly ornamented, - occupied the west end of the building, surmounted by the carved window, - which let in a flood of moonlight over it. -</p> -<p> - "They can be nane o' our folk," said Edie in the same low and cautious - tone; "there's but twa o' them kens o' the place, and they're mony a mile - off, if they are still bound on their weary pilgrimage. I'll never think - it's the officers here at this time o' night. I am nae believer in auld - wives' stories about ghaists, though this is gey like a place for - them—But mortal, or of the other world, here they come!—twa men and a - light." -</p> -<p> - And in very truth, while the mendicant spoke, two human figures darkened - with their shadows the entrance of the chancel—which had before opened - to the moon-lit meadow beyond, and the small lantern which one of them - displayed, glimmered pale in the clear and strong beams of the moon, as - the evening star does among the lights of the departing day. The first - and most obvious idea was, that, despite the asseverations of Edie - Ochiltree, the persons who approached the ruins at an hour so uncommon - must be the officers of justice in quest of Lovel. But no part of their - conduct confirmed the suspicion. A touch and a whisper from the old man - warned Lovel that his best course was to remain quiet, and watch their - motions from their present place of concealment. Should anything appear - to render retreat necessary, they had behind them the private stair-case - and cavern, by means of which they could escape into the wood long before - any danger of close pursuit. They kept themselves, therefore, as still as - possible, and observed with eager and anxious curiosity every accent and - motion of these nocturnal wanderers. -</p> -<p> - After conversing together some time in whispers, the two figures advanced - into the middle of the chancel; and a voice, which Lovel at once - recognised, from its tone and dialect, to be that of Dousterswivel, - pronounced in a louder but still a smothered tone, "Indeed, mine goot - sir, dere cannot be one finer hour nor season for dis great purpose. You - shall see, mine goot sir, dat it is all one bibble-babble dat Mr. - Oldenbuck says, and dat he knows no more of what he speaks than one - little child. Mine soul! he expects to get as rich as one Jew for his - poor dirty one hundred pounds, which I care no more about, by mine honest - wort, than I care for an hundred stivers. But to you, my most munificent - and reverend patron, I will show all de secrets dat art can show—ay, de - secret of de great Pymander." -</p> -<a name="image-0011"><!--IMG--></a> -<center> -<img src="images/pa278.jpg" height="501" width="764" -alt="The Ruins of St. Ruth -"> -</center> -<!--IMAGE END--> -<p> - "That other ane," whispered Edie, "maun be, according to a' likelihood, - Sir Arthur Wardour—I ken naebody but himsell wad come here at this time - at e'en wi' that German blackguard;—ane wad think he's bewitched him—he - gars him e'en trow that chalk is cheese. Let's see what they can be - doing." -</p> -<p> - This interruption, and the low tone in which Sir Arthur spoke, made Lovel - lose all Sir Arthur's answer to the adept, excepting the last three - emphatic words, "Very great expense;" to which Dousterswivel at once - replied—"Expenses!—to be sure—dere must be de great expenses. You do - not expect to reap before you do sow de seed: de expense is de seed—de - riches and de mine of goot metal, and now de great big chests of plate, - they are de crop—vary goot crop too, on mine wort. Now, Sir Arthur, you - have sowed this night one little seed of ten guineas like one pinch of - snuff, or so big; and if you do not reap de great harvest—dat is, de - great harvest for de little pinch of seed, for it must be proportions, - you must know—then never call one honest man, Herman Dousterswivel. Now - you see, mine patron—for I will not conceal mine secret from you at - all—you see this little plate of silver; you know de moon measureth de - whole zodiack in de space of twenty-eight day—every shild knows dat. - Well, I take a silver plate when she is in her fifteenth mansion, which - mansion is in de head of <i>Libra,</i> and I engrave upon one side de worts, - [Shedbarschemoth Schartachan]—dat is, de Emblems of de Intelligence of - de moon—and I make this picture like a flying serpent with a turkey-cock's - head—vary well. Then upon this side I make de table of de moon, - which is a square of nine, multiplied into itself, with eighty-one - numbers on every side, and diameter nine—dere it is done very proper. - Now I will make dis avail me at de change of every quarter-moon dat I - shall find by de same proportions of expenses I lay out in de - suffumigations, as nine, to de product of nine multiplied into - itself—But I shall find no more to-night as maybe two or dree times nine, - because dere is a thwarting power in de house of ascendency." -</p> -<p> - "But, Dousterswivel," said the simple Baronet, "does not this look like - magic?—I am a true though unworthy son of the Episcopal church, and I - will have nothing to do with the foul fiend." -</p> -<p> - "Bah! bah!—not a bit magic in it at all—not a bit—It is all founded on - de planetary influence, and de sympathy and force of numbers. I will show - you much finer dan dis. I do not say dere is not de spirit in it, because - of de suffumigation; but, if you are not afraid, he shall not be - invisible." -</p> -<p> - "I have no curiosity to see him at all," said the Baronet, whose courage - seemed, from a certain quaver in his accent, to have taken a fit of the - ague. -</p> -<p> - "Dat is great pity," said Dousterswivel; "I should have liked to show you - de spirit dat guard dis treasure like one fierce watchdog—but I know how - to manage him;—you would not care to see him?" -</p> -<p> - "Not at all," answered the Baronet, in a tone of feigned indifference; "I - think we have but little time." -</p> -<p> - "You shall pardon me, my patron; it is not yet twelve, and twelve precise - is just our planetary hours; and I could show you de spirit vary well, in - de meanwhile, just for pleasure. You see I would draw a pentagon within a - circle, which is no trouble at all, and make my suffumigation within it, - and dere we would be like in one strong castle, and you would hold de - sword while I did say de needful worts. Den you should see de solid wall - open like de gate of ane city, and den—let me see—ay, you should see - first one stag pursued by three black greyhounds, and they should pull - him down as they do at de elector's great hunting-match; and den one - ugly, little, nasty black negro should appear and take de stag from - them—and paf—all should be gone; den you should hear horns winded dat all - de ruins should ring—mine wort, they should play fine hunting piece, as - goot as him you call'd Fischer with his oboi; vary well—den comes one - herald, as we call Ernhold, winding his horn—and den come de great - Peolphan, called de mighty Hunter of de North, mounted on hims black - steed. But you would not care to see all this?"* -</p> -<p> - * Note F. Witchcraft. -</p> -<pre> - "Why, I am not afraid," answered the poor Baronet,—"if—that is—does -anything—any great mischiefs, happen on such occasions?" -</pre> -<p> - "Bah! mischiefs? no!—sometimes if de circle be no quite just, or de - beholder be de frightened coward, and not hold de sword firm and straight - towards him, de Great Hunter will take his advantage, and drag him - exorcist out of de circle and throttle him. Dat does happens." -</p> -<p> - "Well then, Dousterswivel, with every confidence in my courage and your - skill, we will dispense with this apparition, and go on to the business - of the night." -</p> -<p> - "With all mine heart—it is just one thing to me—and now it is de - time—hold you de sword till I kindle de little what you call chip." -</p> -<p> - Dousterswivel accordingly set fire to a little pile of chips, touched and - prepared with some bituminous substance to make them burn fiercely; and - when the flame was at the highest, and lightened, with its shortlived - glare, all the ruins around, the German flung in a handful of perfumes - which produced a strong and pungent odour. The exorcist and his pupil - both were so much affected as to cough and sneeze heartily; and, as the - vapour floated around the pillars of the building, and penetrated every - crevice, it produced the same effect on the beggar and Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "Was that an echo?" said the Baronet, astonished at the sternutation - which resounded from above; "or"—drawing close to the adept, "can it be - the spirit you talked of, ridiculing our attempt upon his hidden - treasures?" -</p> -<p> - "N—n—no," muttered the German, who began to partake of his pupil's - terrors, "I hope not." -</p> -<p> - Here a violent of sneezing, which the mendicant was unable to suppress, - and which could not be considered by any means as the dying fall of an - echo, accompanied by a grunting half-smothered cough, confounded the two - treasure-seekers. "Lord have mercy on us!" said the Baronet. -</p> -<p> - "<i>Alle guten Geistern loben den Herrn!</i>" ejaculated the terrified adept. - "I was begun to think," he continued, after a moment's silence, "that - this would be de bestermost done in de day-light—we was bestermost to go - away just now." -</p> -<p> - "You juggling villain!" said the Baronet, in whom these expressions - awakened a suspicion that overcame his terrors, connected as it was with - the sense of desperation arising from the apprehension of impending - ruin—"you juggling mountebank! this is some legerdemain trick of yours to - get off from the performance of your promise, as you have so often done - before. But, before Heaven! I will this night know what I have trusted to - when I suffered you to fool me on to my ruin! Go on, then—come fairy, - come fiend, you shall show me that treasure, or confess yourself a knave - and an impostor, or, by the faith of a desperate and ruined man, I'll - send you where you shall see spirits enough." -</p> -<p> - The treasure-finder, trembling between his terror for the supernatural - beings by whom he supposed himself to be surrounded, and for his life, - which seemed to be at the mercy of a desperate man, could only bring out, - "Mine patron, this is not the allerbestmost usage. Consider, mine - honoured sir, that de spirits"— -</p> -<p> - Here Edie, who began to enter into the humour of the scene, uttered an - extraordinary howl, being an exaltation and a prolongation of the most - deplorable whine in which he was accustomed to solicit charity. -</p> -<p> - Dousterswivel flung himself on his knees—"Dear Sir Arthurs, let us go, - or let me go!" -</p> -<p> - "No, you cheating scoundrel!" said the knight, unsheathing the sword - which he had brought for the purposes of the exorcism, "that shift shall - not serve you—Monkbarns warned me long since of your juggling pranks—I - will see this treasure before you leave this place, or I will have you - confess yourself an impostor, or, by Heaven, I'll run this sword through - you, though all the spirits of the dead should rise around us!" -</p> -<p> - "For de lofe of Heaven be patient, mine honoured patron, and you shall - hafe all de treasure as I knows of—yes, you shall indeed—But do not - speak about de spirits—it makes dem angry." -</p> -<p> - Edie Ochiltree here prepared himself to throw in another groan, but was - restrained by Lovel, who began to take a more serious interest, as he - observed the earnest and almost desperate demeanour of Sir Arthur. - Dousterswivel, having at once before his eyes the fear of the foul fiend, - and the violence of Sir Arthur, played his part of a conjuror extremely - ill, hesitating to assume the degree of confidence necessary to deceive - the latter, lest it should give offence to the invisible cause of his - alarm. However, after rolling his eyes, muttering and sputtering German - exorcisms, with contortions of his face and person, rather flowing from - the impulse of terror than of meditated fraud, he at length proceeded to - a corner of the building where a flat stone lay upon the ground, bearing - upon its surface the effigy of an armed warrior in a recumbent posture - carved in bas-relief. He muttered to Sir Arthur, "Mine patrons, it is - here—Got save us all!" -</p> -<p> - Sir Arthur, who, after the first moment of his superstitious fear was - over, seemed to have bent up all his faculties to the pitch of resolution - necessary to carry on the adventure, lent the adept his assistance to - turn over the stone, which, by means of a lever that the adept had - provided, their joint force with difficulty effected. No supernatural - light burst forth from below to indicate the subterranean treasury, nor - was there any apparition of spirits, earthly or infernal. But when - Dousterswivel had, with great trepidation, struck a few strokes with a - mattock, and as hastily thrown out a shovelful or two of earth (for they - came provided with the tools necessary for digging), something was heard - to ring like the sound of a falling piece of metal, and Dousterswivel, - hastily catching up the substance which produced it, and which his shovel - had thrown out along with the earth, exclaimed, "On mine dear wort, mine - patrons, dis is all—it is indeed; I mean all we can do to-night;"—and - he gazed round him with a cowering and fearful glance, as if to see from - what corner the avenger of his imposture was to start forth. -</p> -<p> - "Let me see it," said Sir Arthur; and then repeated, still more sternly, - "I will be satisfied—I will judge by mine own eyes." He accordingly held - the object to the light of the lantern. It was a small case, or - casket,—for Lovel could not at the distance exactly discern its shape, which, - from the Baronet's exclamation as he opened it, he concluded was filled - with coin. "Ay," said the Baronet, "this is being indeed in good luck! - and if it omens proportional success upon a larger venture, the venture - shall be made. That six hundred of Goldieword's, added to the other - incumbent claims, must have been ruin indeed. If you think we can parry - it by repeating this experiment—suppose when the moon next changes,—I - will hazard the necessary advance, come by it how I may." -</p> -<p> - "Oh, mine good patrons, do not speak about all dat," said Dousterswivel, - "as just now, but help me to put de shtone to de rights, and let us - begone our own ways." And accordingly, so soon as the stone was replaced, - he hurried Sir Arthur, who was now resigned once more to his guidance, - away from a spot, where the German's guilty conscience and superstitious - fears represented goblins as lurking behind each pillar with the purpose - of punishing his treachery. -</p> -<p> - "Saw onybody e'er the like o' that!" said Edie, when they had disappeared - like shadows through the gate by which they had entered—"saw ony - creature living e'er the like o' that!—But what can we do for that puir - doited deevil of a knight-baronet? Od, he showed muckle mair spunk, too, - than I thought had been in him—I thought he wad hae sent cauld iron - through the vagabond—Sir Arthur wasna half sae bauld at Bessie's-apron - yon night—but then, his blood was up even now, and that makes an unco - difference. I hae seen mony a man wad hae felled another an anger him, - that wadna muckle hae liked a clink against Crummies-horn yon time. But - what's to be done?" -</p> -<p> - "I suppose," said Lovel, "his faith in this fellow is entirely restored - by this deception, which, unquestionably, he had arranged beforehand." -</p> -<p> - "What! the siller?—Ay, ay—trust him for that—they that hide ken best - where to find. He wants to wile him out o' his last guinea, and then - escape to his ain country, the land-louper. I wad likeit weel just to hae - come in at the clipping-time, and gien him a lounder wi' my pike-staff; - he wad hae taen it for a bennison frae some o' the auld dead abbots. But - it's best no to be rash; sticking disna gang by strength, but by the - guiding o' the gally. I'se be upsides wi' him ae day." -</p> -<p> - "What if you should inform Mr. Oldbuck?" said Lovel. -</p> -<p> - "Ou, I dinna ken—Monkbarns and Sir Arthur are like, and yet they're no - like neither. Monkbarns has whiles influence wi' him, and whiles Sir - Arthur cares as little about him as about the like o' me. Monkbarns is no - that ower wise himsell, in some things;—he wad believe a bodle to be an - auld Roman coin, as he ca's it, or a ditch to be a camp, upon ony leasing - that idle folk made about it. I hae garr'd him trow mony a queer tale - mysell, gude forgie me. But wi' a' that, he has unco little sympathy wi' - ither folks; and he's snell and dure eneugh in casting up their nonsense - to them, as if he had nane o' his ain. He'll listen the hale day, an yell - tell him about tales o' Wallace, and Blind Harry, and Davie Lindsay; but - ye maunna speak to him about ghaists or fairies, or spirits walking the - earth, or the like o' that;—he had amaist flung auld Caxon out o' the - window (and he might just as weel hae flung awa his best wig after him), - for threeping he had seen a ghaist at the humlock-knowe. Now, if he was - taking it up in this way, he wad set up the tother's birse, and maybe do - mair ill nor gude—he's done that twice or thrice about thae mine-warks; - ye wad thought Sir Arthur had a pleasure in gaun on wi' them the deeper, - the mair he was warned against it by Monkbarns." -</p> -<p> - "What say you then," said Lovel, "to letting Miss Wardour know the - circumstance?" -</p> -<p> - "Ou, puir thing, how could she stop her father doing his pleasure?—and, - besides, what wad it help? There's a sough in the country about that six - hundred pounds, and there's a writer chield in Edinburgh has been driving - the spur-rowels o' the law up to the head into Sir Arthur's sides to gar - him pay it, and if he canna, he maun gang to jail or flee the country. - He's like a desperate man, and just catches at this chance as a' he has - left, to escape utter perdition; so what signifies plaguing the puir - lassie about what canna be helped? And besides, to say the truth, I wadna - like to tell the secret o' this place. It's unco convenient, ye see - yoursell, to hae a hiding-hole o' ane's ain; and though I be out o' the - line o' needing ane e'en now, and trust in the power o' grace that I'll - neer do onything to need ane again, yet naebody kens what temptation ane - may be gien ower to—and, to be brief, I downa bide the thought of - anybody kennin about the place;—they say, keep a thing seven year, an' - yell aye find a use for't—and maybe I may need the cove, either for - mysell, or for some ither body." -</p> -<p> - This argument, in which Edie Ochiltree, notwithstanding his scraps of - morality and of divinity, seemed to take, perhaps from old habit, a - personal interest, could not be handsomely controverted by Lovel, who was - at that moment reaping the benefit of the secret of which the old man - appeared to be so jealous. -</p> -<p> - This incident, however, was of great service to Lovel, as diverting his - mind from the unhappy occurrence of the evening, and considerably rousing - the energies which had been stupefied by the first view of his calamity. - He reflected that it by no means necessarily followed that a dangerous - wound must be a fatal one—that he had been hurried from the spot even - before the surgeon had expressed any opinion of Captain M'Intyre's - situation—and that he had duties on earth to perform, even should the - very worst be true, which, if they could not restore his peace of mind or - sense of innocence, would furnish a motive for enduring existence, and at - the same time render it a course of active benevolence.—Such were - Lovel's feelings, when the hour arrived when, according to Edie's - calculation—who, by some train or process of his own in observing the - heavenly bodies, stood independent of the assistance of a watch or - time-keeper—it was fitting they should leave their hiding-place, and - betake themselves to the seashore, in order to meet Lieutenant Taffril's - boat according to appointment. -</p> -<p> - They retreated by the same passage which had admitted them to the prior's - secret seat of observation, and when they issued from the grotto into the - wood, the birds which began to chirp, and even to sing, announced that - the dawn was advanced. This was confirmed by the light and amber clouds - that appeared over the sea, as soon as their exit from the copse - permitted them to view the horizon.—Morning, said to be friendly to the - muses, has probably obtained this character from its effect upon the - fancy and feelings of mankind. Even to those who, like Lovel, have spent - a sleepless and anxious night, the breeze of the dawn brings strength and - quickening both of mind and body. It was, therefore, with renewed health - and vigour that Lovel, guided by the trusty mendicant, brushed away the - dew as he traversed the downs which divided the Den of St. Ruth, as the - woods surrounding the ruins were popularly called, from the sea-shore. -</p> -<p> - The first level beam of the sun, as his brilliant disk began to emerge - from the ocean, shot full upon the little gun-brig which was lying-to in - the offing—close to the shore the boat was already waiting, Taffril - himself, with his naval cloak wrapped about him, seated in the stern. He - jumped ashore when he saw the mendicant and Lovel approach, and, shaking - the latter heartily by the hand, begged him not to be cast down. - "M'Intyre's wound," he said, "was doubtful, but far from desperate." - His attention had got Lovel's baggage privately sent on board the brig; - "and," he said, "he trusted that, if Lovel chose to stay with the vessel, - the penalty of a short cruise would be the only disagreeable consequence - of his rencontre. As for himself, his time and motions were a good deal - at his own disposal, he said, excepting the necessary obligation of - remaining on his station." -</p> -<p> - "We will talk of our farther motions," said Lovel, "as we go on board." -</p> -<p> - Then turning to Edie, he endeavoured to put money into his hand. "I - think," said Edie, as he tendered it back again, "the hale folk here have - either gane daft, or they hae made a vow to rain my trade, as they say - ower muckle water drowns the miller. I hae had mair gowd offered me - within this twa or three weeks than I ever saw in my life afore. Keep the - siller, lad—yell hae need o't, I'se warrant ye, and I hae nane my claes - is nae great things, and I get a blue gown every year, and as mony siller - groats as the king, God bless him, is years auld—you and I serve the - same master, ye ken, Captain Taffril; there's rigging provided for—and - my meat and drink I get for the asking in my rounds, or, at an orra time, - I can gang a day without it, for I make it a rule never to pay for - nane;—so that a' the siller I need is just to buy tobacco and sneeshin, and - maybe a dram at a time in a cauld day, though I am nae dram-drinker to be - a gaberlunzie;—sae take back your gowd, and just gie me a lily-white - shilling." -</p> -<p> - Upon these whims, which he imagined intimately connected with the honour - of his vagabond profession, Edie was flint and adamant, not to be moved - by rhetoric or entreaty; and therefore Lovel was under the necessity of - again pocketing his intended bounty, and taking a friendly leave of the - mendicant by shaking him by the hand, and assuring him of his cordial - gratitude for the very important services which he had rendered him, - recommending, at the same time, secrecy as to what they had that night - witnessed.—"Ye needna doubt that," said Ochiltree; "I never tell'd tales - out o' yon cove in my life, though mony a queer thing I hae seen in't." -</p> -<p> - The boat now put off. The old man remained looking after it as it made - rapidly towards the brig under the impulse of six stout rowers, and Lovel - beheld him again wave his blue bonnet as a token of farewell ere he - turned from his fixed posture, and began to move slowly along the sands - as if resuming his customary perambulations. -</p> - - -<div style="height: 6em;"><br><br><br><br><br><br></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Antiquary, Volume 1, by Sir Walter Scott - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANTIQUARY, VOLUME 1 *** - -***** This file should be named 7003-h.htm or 7003-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.net/7/0/0/7003/ - -Produced by David Widger - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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