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diff --git a/old/old/mntrs10.txt b/old/old/mntrs10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..15d86a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/mntrs10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10428 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext of A Legend of Montrose, by Walter Scott +#5 in our series by Walter Scott + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +A LEGEND OF MONTROSE + +by + +Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +I. Introduction to A LEGEND OF MONTROSE. +II. Introduction (Supplement). Sergeant More M'Alpin. +III. Main text of A LEGEND OF MONTROSE. +IV. Appendix No. I Clan Alpin's Vow. + No. II The Children of the Mist. +V. Notes Note I Fides et Fiducia sunt relativa. + Note II Wraiths. + +Note: Footnotes in the printed book have been inserted in the + etext in square brackets ("[]") close to the place where + they were referenced by a suffix in the original text. + + + + +I. INTRODUCTION TO A LEGEND OF MONTROSE. + +The Legend of Montrose was written chiefly with a view to place +before the reader the melancholy fate of John Lord Kilpont, +eldest son of William Earl of Airth and Menteith, and the +singular circumstances attending the birth and history of James +Stewart of Ardvoirlich, by whose hand the unfortunate nobleman +fell. + +Our subject leads us to talk of deadly feuds, and we must begin +with one still more ancient than that to which our story relates. +During the reign of James IV., a great feud between the powerful +families of Drummond and Murray divided Perthshire. The former, +being the most numerous and powerful, cooped up eight score of +the Murrays in the kirk of Monivaird, and set fire to it. The +wives and the children of the ill-fated men, who had also found +shelter in the church, perished by the same conflagration. One +man, named David Murray, escaped by the humanity of one of the +Drummonds, who received him in his arms as he leaped from amongst +the flames. As King James IV. ruled with more activity than most +of his predecessors, this cruel deed was severely revenged, and +several of the perpetrators were beheaded at Stirling. In +consequence of the prosecution against his clan, the Drummond by +whose assistance David Murray had escaped, fled to Ireland, +until, by means of the person whose life he had saved, he was +permitted to return to Scotland, where he and his descendants +were distinguished by the name of Drummond-Eirinich, or Ernoch, +that is, Drummond of Ireland; and the same title was bestowed on +their estate. + +The Drummond-ernoch of James the Sixth's time was a king's +forester in the forest of Glenartney, and chanced to be employed +there in search of venison about the year 1588, or early in 1589. +This forest was adjacent to the chief haunts of the MacGregors, +or a particular race of them, known by the title of MacEagh, or +Children of the Mist. They considered the forester's hunting in +their vicinity as an aggression, or perhaps they had him at feud, +for the apprehension or slaughter of some of their own name, or +for some similar reason. This tribe of MacGregors were outlawed +and persecuted, as the reader may see in the Introduction to ROB +ROY; and every man's hand being against them, their hand was of +course directed against every man. In short, they surprised and +slew Drummond-ernoch, cut off his head, and carried it with them, +wrapt in the corner of one of their plaids. + +In the full exultation of vengeance, they stopped at the house of +Ardvoirlich and demanded refreshment, which the lady, a sister of +the murdered Drummond-ernoch (her husband being absent), was +afraid or unwilling to refuse. She caused bread and cheese to be +placed before them, and gave directions for more substantial +refreshments to be prepared. While she was absent with this +hospitable intention, the barbarians placed the head of her +brother on the table, filling the mouth with bread and cheese, +and bidding him eat, for many a merry meal he had eaten in that +house. + +The poor woman returning, and beholding this dreadful sight, +shrieked aloud, and fled into the woods, where, as described in +the romance, she roamed a raving maniac, and for some time +secreted herself from all living society. Some remaining +instinctive feeling brought her at length to steal a glance from +a distance at the maidens while they milked the cows, which being +observed, her husband, Ardvoirlich, had her conveyed back to her +home, and detained her there till she gave birth to a child, of +whom she had been pregnant; after which she was observed +gradually to recover her mental faculties. + +Meanwhile the outlaws had carried to the utmost their insults +against the regal authority, which indeed, as exercised, they had +little reason for respecting. They bore the same bloody trophy, +which they had so savagely exhibited to the lady of Ardvoirlich, +into the old church of Balquidder, nearly in the centre of their +country, where the Laird of MacGregor and all his clan being +convened for the purpose, laid their hands successively on the +dead man's head, and swore, in heathenish and barbarous manner, +to defend the author of the deed. This fierce and vindictive +combination gave the author's late and lamented friend, Sir +Alexander Boswell, Bart., subject for a spirited poem, entitled +"Clan-Alpin's Vow," which was printed, but not, I believe, +published, in 1811 [See Appendix No. I]. + +The fact is ascertained by a proclamation from the Privy Council, +dated 4th February, 1589, directing letters of fire and sword +against the MacGregors [See Appendix No. II]. This fearful +commission was executed with uncommon fury. The late excellent +John Buchanan of Cambusmore showed the author some correspondence +between his ancestor, the Laird of Buchanan, and Lord Drummond, +about sweeping certain valleys with their followers, on a fixed +time and rendezvous, and "taking sweet revenge for the death of +their cousin, Drummond-ernoch." In spite of all, however, that +could be done, the devoted tribe of MacGregor still bred up +survivors to sustain and to inflict new cruelties and injuries. + +[I embrace the opportunity given me by a second mention of this +tribe, to notice an error, which imputes to an individual named +Ciar Mohr MacGregor, the slaughter of the students at the battle +of Glenfruin. I am informed from the authority of John Gregorson, +Esq., that the chieftain so named was dead nearly a century +before the battle in question, and could not, therefore, have +done the cruel action mentioned. The mistake does not rest with +me, as I disclaimed being responsible for the tradition while I +quoted it, but with vulgar fame, which is always disposed to +ascribe remarkable actions to a remarkable name.--See the +erroneous passage, ROB ROY, Introduction; and so soft sleep the +offended phantom of Dugald Ciar Mohr. + +It is with mingled pleasure and shame that I record the more +important error, of having announced as deceased my learned +acquaintance, the Rev. Dr. Grahame, minister of Aberfoil.--See +ROB ROY, p.360. I cannot now recollect the precise ground of my +depriving my learned and excellent friend of his existence, +unless, like Mr. Kirke, his predecessor in the parish, the +excellent Doctor had made a short trip to Fairyland, with whose +wonders he is so well acquainted. But however I may have been +misled, my regret is most sincere for having spread such a +rumour; and no one can be more gratified than I that the report, +however I have been induced to credit and give it currency, is a +false one, and that Dr. Grahame is still the living pastor of +Aberfoil, for the delight and instruction of his brother +antiquaries.] + +Meanwhile Young James Stewart of Ardvoirlich grew up to manhood +uncommonly tall, strong, and active, with such power in the grasp +of his hand in particular, as could force the blood from beneath +the nails of the persons who contended with him in this feat of +strength. His temper was moody, fierce, and irascible; yet he +must have had some ostensible good qualities, as he was greatly +beloved by Lord Kilpont, the eldest son of the Earl of Airth and +Menteith. + +This gallant young nobleman joined Montrose in the setting up his +standard in 1644, just before the decisive battle at Tippermuir, +on the 1st September in that year. At that time, Stewart of +Ardvoirlich shared the confidence of the young Lord by day, and +his bed by night, when, about four or five days after the battle, +Ardvoirlich, either from a fit of sudden fury or deep malice long +entertained against his unsuspecting friend, stabbed Lord Kilpont +to the heart, and escaped from the camp of Montrose, having +killed a sentinel who attempted to detain him. Bishop Guthrie +gives us a reason for this villainous action, that Lord Kilpont +had rejected with abhorrence a proposal of Ardvoirlich to +assassinate Montrose. But it does not appear that there is any +authority for this charge, which rests on mere suspicion. +Ardvoirlich, the assassin, certainly did fly to the Covenanters, +and was employed and promoted by them. He obtained a pardon for +the slaughter of Lord Kilpont, confirmed by Parliament in 1634, +and was made Major of Argyle's regiment in 1648. Such are the +facts of the tale here given as a Legend of Montrose's wars. The +reader will find they are considerably altered in the fictitious +narrative. + +The author has endeavoured to enliven the tragedy of the tale by +the introduction of a personage proper to the time and country. +In this he has been held by excellent judges to have been in some +degree successful. The contempt of commerce entertained by young +men having some pretence to gentility, the poverty of the country +of Scotland, the national disposition to wandering and to +adventure, all conduced to lead the Scots abroad into the +military service of countries which were at war with each other. +They were distinguished on the Continent by their bravery; but in +adopting the trade of mercenary soldiers, they necessarily +injured their national character. The tincture of learning, +which most of them possessed, degenerated into pedantry; their +good breeding became mere ceremonial; their fear of dishonour no +longer kept them aloof from that which was really unworthy, but +was made to depend on certain punctilious observances totally +apart from that which was in itself deserving of praise. A +cavalier of honour, in search of his fortune, might, for example, +change his service as he would his shirt, fight, like the doughty +Captain Dalgetty, in one cause after another, without regard to +the justice of the quarrel, and might plunder the peasantry +subjected to him by the fate of war with the most unrelenting +rapacity; but he must beware how he sustained the slightest +reproach, even from a clergyman, if it had regard to neglect on +the score of duty. The following occurrence will prove the truth +of what I mean:-- + +"Here I must not forget the memory of one preacher, Master +William Forbesse, a preacher for souldiers, yea, and a captaine +in neede to leade souldiers on a good occasion, being full of +courage, with discretion and good conduct, beyond some captaines +I have knowne, that were not so capable as he. At this time he +not onely prayed for us, but went on with us, to remarke, as I +thinke, men's carriage; and having found a sergeant neglecting +his dutie and his honour at such a time (whose name I will not +expresse), having chidden him, did promise to reveale him unto +me, as he did after their service. The sergeant being called +before me, and accused, did deny his accusation, alleaging, if he +were no pasteur that had alleaged it, he would not lie under the +injury, The preacher offered to fight with him, [in proof] that +it was truth he had spoken of him; whereupon I cashiered the +sergeant, and gave his place to a worthier, called Mungo Gray, a +gentleman of good worth, and of much courage. The sergeant being +cashiered, never called Master William to account, for which he +was evill thought of; so that he retired home, and quit the +warres." + +The above quotation is taken from a work which the author +repeatedly consulted while composing the following sheets, and +which is in great measure written in the humour of Captain Dugald +Dalgetty. It bears the following formidable title:--"MONRO his +Expedition with the worthy Scots Regiment, called MacKeye's +Regiment, levied in August 1626, by Sir Donald MacKeye Lord Rees +Colonel, for his Majestie's service of Denmark, and reduced after +the battle of Nerling, in September 1634, at Wormes, in the Palz: +Discharged in several duties and observations of service, first, +under the magnanimous King of Denmark, during his wars against +the Empire; afterwards under the invincible King of Sweden, +during his Majestie's lifetime; and since under the Director- +General, the Rex-Chancellor Oxensterne, and his Generals: +collected and gathered together, at spare hours, by Colonel +Robert Monro, as First Lieutenant under the said Regiment, to the +noble and worthy Captain Thomas MacKenzie of Kildon, brother to +the noble Lord, the Lord Earl of Seaforth, for the use of all +noble Cavaliers favouring the laudable profession of arms. To +which is annexed, the Abridgement of Exercise, and divers +Practical Observations for the Younger Officer, his +consideration. Ending with the Soldier's Meditations on going on +Service."--London, 1637. + +Another worthy of the same school, and nearly the same views of +the military character, is Sir James Turner, a soldier of +fortune, who rose to considerable rank in the reign of Charles +II., had a command in Galloway and Dumfries-shire, for the +suppression of conventicles, and was made prisoner by the +insurgent Covenanters in that rising which was followed by the +battle of Pentland. Sir James is a person even of superior +pretensions to Lieutenant-Colonel Monro, having written a +Military Treatise on the Pike-Exercise, called "Pallas Armata." +Moreover, he was educated at Glasgow College, though he escaped +to become an Ensign in the German wars, instead of taking his +degree of Master of Arts at that learned seminary. + +In latter times, he was author of several discourses on +historical and literary subjects, from which the Bannatyne Club +have extracted and printed such passages as concern his Life and +Times, under the title of SIR JAMES TURNER'S MEMOIRS. From this +curious book I extract the following passage, as an example of +how Captain Dalgetty might have recorded such an incident had he +kept a journal, or, to give it a more just character, it is such +as the genius of De Foe would have devised, to give the minute +and distinguishing features of truth to a fictitious narrative:-- + +"Heere I will set doun ane accident befell me; for thogh it was +not a very strange one, yet it was a very od one in all its +parts. My tuo brigads lay in a village within halfe a mile of +Applebie; my own quarter was in a gentleman's house, ho was a +Ritmaster, and at that time with Sir Marmaduke; his wife keepd +her chamber readie to be brought to bed. The castle being over, +and Lambert farre enough, I resolved to goe to bed everie night, +haveing had fatigue enough before. 'The first night I sleepd well +enough; and riseing nixt morning, I misd one linnen stockine, one +halfe silke one, and one boothose, the accoustrement under a +boote for one leg; neither could they be found for any search. +Being provided of more of the same kind, I made myselfe reddie, +and rode to the head-quarters. At my returne, I could heare no +news of my stockins. That night I went to bed, and nixt morning +found myselfe just so used; missing the three stockins for one +leg onlie, the other three being left intire as they were the day +before. A narrower search then the first was made, bot without +successe. I had yet in reserve one paire of whole stockings, and +a paire of boothose, greater then the former. These I put on my +legs. The third morning I found the same usage, the stockins for +one leg onlie left me. It was time for me then, and my servants +too, to imagine it must be rats that had shard my stockins so +inequallie with me; and this the mistress of the house knew well +enough, but would not tell it me. The roome, which was a low +parlour, being well searched with candles, the top of my great +boothose was found at a hole, in which they had drawne all the +rest. I went abroad and ordered the boards to be raised, to see +how the rats had disposed of my moveables. The mistress sent a +servant of her oune to be present at this action, which she knew +concerned her. One board being bot a litle opend, a litle boy of +mine thrust in his hand, and fetchd with him foure and tuentie +old peeces of gold, and one angell. The servant of the house +affirmed it appertained to his mistres. The boy bringing the gold +to me, I went immediatlie to the gentlewomans chamber, and told +her, it was probable Lambert haveing quarterd in that house, as +indeed he had, some of his servants might have hid that gold; and +if so, it was lawfullie mine; bot if she could make it appeare it +belongd to her, I should immediatlie give it her. The poore +gentlewoman told me with many teares, that her husband being none +of the frugallest men (and indeed he was a spendthrift), she had +hid that gold without his, knowledge, to make use of it as she +had occasion, especiallie when she lay in; and conjured me, as I +lovd the King (for whom her husband and she had suffered much), +not to detaine her gold. She said, if there was either more or +lesse then foure and tuentie whole peeces, and two halfe ones, it +sould be none of hers; and that they were put by her in a red +velvet purse. After I had given her assureance of her gold, a +new search is made, the other angell is found, the velvet purse +all gnawd in bits, as my stockins were, and the gold instantlie +restord to the gentlewoman. I have often heard that the eating +or gnawing of cloths by rats is ominous, and portends some +mischance to fall on those to whom the cloths belong. I thank +God I was never addicted to such divinations, or heeded them. It +is true, that more misfortunes then one fell on me shortlie +after; bot I am sure I could have better forseene them myselfe +then rats or any such vermine, and yet did it not. I have heard +indeed many fine stories told of rats, how they abandon houses +and ships, when the first are to be burnt and the second dround. +Naturalists say they are very sagacious creatures, and I beleeve +they are so; bot I shall never be of the opinion they can forsee +future contingencies, which I suppose the divell himselfe can +neither forknow nor fortell; these being things which the +Almightie hath keepd hidden in the bosome of his divine +prescience. And whither the great God hath preordained or +predestinated these things, which to us are contingent, to fall +out by ane uncontrollable and unavoidable necessitie, is a +question not yet decided." [SIR JAMES TURNER'S MEMOIRS, Bannatyne +edition, p. 59.] + +In quoting these ancient authorities, I must not forget the more +modern sketch of a Scottish soldier of the old fashion, by a +masterhand, in the character of Lesmahagow, since the existence +of that doughty Captain alone must deprive the present author of +all claim to absolute originality. Still Dalgetty, as the +production of his own fancy, has been so far a favourite with its +parent, that he has fallen into the error of assigning to the +Captain too prominent a part in the story. This is the opinion of +a critic who encamps on the highest pinnacles of literature; and +the author is so far fortunate in having incurred his censure, +that it gives his modesty a decent apology for quoting the +praise, which it would have ill-befited him to bring forward in +an unmingled state. The passage occurs in the EDINBURGH REVIEW, +No. 55, containing a criticism on IVANHOE:-- + +"There is too much, perhaps, of Dalgetty,--or, rather, he +engrosses too great a proportion of the work,--for, in himself, +we think he is uniformly entertaining;--and the author has +nowhere shown more affinity to that matchless spirit who could +bring out his Falstaffs and his Pistols, in act after act, and +play after play, and exercise them every time with scenes of +unbounded loquacity, without either exhausting their humour, or +varying a note from its characteristic tone, than in his large +and reiterated specimens of the eloquence of the redoubted Ritt- +master. The general idea of the character is familiar to our +comic dramatists after the Restoration--and may be said in some +measure to be compounded of Captain Fluellen and Bobadil;--but +the ludicrous combination of the SOLDADO with the Divinity +student of Mareschal-College, is entirely original; and the +mixture of talent, selfishness, courage, coarseness, and conceit, +was never so happily exemplified. Numerous as his speeches are, +there is not one that is not characteristic--and, to our taste, +divertingly ludicrous." + + +POSTSCRIPT. + +While these pages were passing through the press, the author +received a letter from the present Robert Stewart of Ardvoirlich, +favouring him with the account of the unhappy slaughter of Lord +Kilpont, differing from, and more probable than, that given by +Bishop Wishart, whose narrative infers either insanity or the +blackest treachery on the part of James Stewart of Ardvoirlich, +the ancestor of the present family of that name. It is but fair +to give the entire communication as received from my respected +correspondent, which is more minute than the histories of the +period. + +"Although I have not the honour of being personally known to you, +I hope you will excuse the liberty I now take, in addressing you +on the subject of a transaction more than once alluded to by you, +in which an ancestor of mine was unhappily concerned. I allude +to the slaughter of Lord Kilpont, son of the Earl of Airth and +Monteith, in 1644, by James Stewart of Ardvoirlich. As the cause +of this unhappy event, and the quarrel which led to it, have +never been correctly stated in any history of the period in which +it took place, I am induced, in consequence of your having, in +the second series of your admirable Tales on the History of +Scotland, adopted Wishart's version of the transaction, and being +aware that your having done so will stamp it with an authenticity +which it does not merit, and with a view, as far as possible, to +do justice to the memory of my unfortunate ancestor, to send you +the account of this affair as it has been handed down in the +family. + +"James Stewart of Ardvoirlich, who lived in the early part of the +17th century, and who was the unlucky cause of the slaughter of +Lord Kilpont, as before mentioned, was appointed to the command +of one of several independent companies raised in the Highlands +at the commencement of the troubles in the reign of Charles I.; +another of these companies was under the command of Lord Kilpont, +and a strong intimacy, strengthened by a distant relationship, +subsisted between them. When Montrose raised the royal standard, +Ardvoirlich was one of the first to declare for him, and is said +to have been a principal means of bringing over Lord Kilpont to +the same cause; and they accordingly, along with Sir John +Drummond and their respective followers, joined Montrose, as +recorded by Wishart, at Buchanty. While they served together, so +strong was their intimacy, that they lived and slept in the same +tent. + +"In the meantime, Montrose had been joined by the Irish under the +command of Alexander Macdonald; these, on their march to join +Montrose, had committed some excesses on lands belonging to +Ardvoirlich, which lay in the line of their march from the west +coast. Of this Ardvoirlich complained to Montrose, who, probably +wishing as much as possible to conciliate his new allies, treated +it in rather an evasive manner. Ardvoirlich, who was a man of +violent passions, having failed to receive such satisfaction as +he required, challenged Macdonald to single combat. Before they +met, however, Montrose, on the information and by advice, as it +is said, of Kilpont, laid them both under arrest. Montrose, +seeing the evils of such a feud at such a critical time, effected +a sort of reconciliation between them, and forced them to shake +hands in his presence; when, it was said, that Ardvoirlich, who +was a very powerful man, took such a hold of Macdonald's hand as +to make the blood start from his fingers. Still, it would +appear, Ardvoirlich was by no means reconciled. + +"A few days after the battle of Tippermuir, when Montrose with +his army was encamped at Collace, an entertainment was given by +him to his officers, in honour of the victory he had obtained, +and Kilpont and his comrade Ardvoirlich were of the party. After +returning to their quarters, Ardvoirlich, who seemed still to +brood over his quarrel with Macdonald, and being heated with +drink, began to blame Lord Kilpont for the part he had taken in +preventing his obtaining redress, and reflecting against Montrose +for not allowing him what he considered proper reparation. +Kilpont of course defended the conduct of himself and his +relative Montrose, till their argument came to high words; and +finally, from the state they were both in, by an easy transition, +to blows, when Ardvoirlich, with his dirk, struck Kilpont dead on +the spot. He immediately fled, and under the cover of a thick +mist escaped pursuit, leaving his eldest son Henry, who had been +mortally wounded at Tippermuir, on his deathbed. + +"His followers immediately withdrew from Montrose, and no course +remained for him but to throw himself into the arms of the +opposite faction, by whom he was well received. His name is +frequently mentioned in Leslie's campaigns, and on more than one +occasion he is mentioned as having afforded protection to several +of his former friends through his interest with Leslie, when the +King's cause became desperate. + +"The foregoing account of this unfortunate transaction, I am well +aware, differs materially from the account given by Wishart, who +alleges that Stewart had laid a plot for the assassination of +Montrose, and that he murdered Lord Kilpont in consequence of his +refusal to participate in his design. Now, I may be allowed to +remark, that besides Wishart having always been regarded as a +partial historian, and very questionable authority on any subject +connected with the motives or conduct of those who differed from +him in opinion, that even had Stewart formed such a design, +Kilpont, from his name and connexions, was likely to be the very +last man of whom Stewart would choose to make a confidant and +accomplice. On the other hand, the above account, though never, +that I am aware, before hinted at, has been a constant tradition +in the family; and, from the comparative recent date of the +transaction, and the sources from which the tradition has been +derived, I have no reason to doubt its perfect authenticity. It +was most circumstantially detailed as above, given to my father, +Mr. Stewart, now of Ardvoirlich, many years ago, by a man nearly +connected with the family, who lived to the age of 100. This man +was a great-grandson of James Stewart, by a natural son John, of +whom many stories are still current in this country, under his +appellation of JOHN DHU MHOR. This John was with his father at +the time, and of course was a witness of the whole transaction; +he lived till a considerable time after the Revolution, and it +was from him that my father's informant, who was a man before his +grandfather, John dhu Mhor's death, received the information as +above stated. + +"I have many apologies to offer for trespassing so long on your +patience; but I felt a natural desire, if possible, to correct +what I conceive to be a groundless imputation on the memory of my +ancestor, before it shall come to be considered as a matter of +History. That he was a man of violent passions and singular +temper, I do not pretend to deny, as many traditions still +current in this country amply verify; but that he was capable of +forming a design to assassinate Montrose, the whole tenor of his +former conduct and principles contradict. That he was obliged to +join the opposite party, was merely a matter of safety, while +Kilpont had so many powerful friends and connexions able and +ready to avenge his death. + +"I have only to add, that you have my full permission to make +what use of this communication you please, and either to reject +it altogether, or allow it such credit as you think it deserves; +and I shall be ready at all times to furnish you with any further +information on this subject which you may require, and which it +may be in my power to afford. + +"ARDVOIRLICH, +15TH JANUARY, 1830." + +The publication of a statement so particular, and probably so +correct, is a debt due to the memory of James Stewart; the +victim, it would seem, of his own violent passions, but perhaps +incapable of an act of premeditated treachery. + +ABBOTSFORD, +1ST AUGUST, 1830. + + +* + + +II. INTRODUCTION (Supplement). + +Sergeant More M'Alpin was, during his residence among us, one of +the most honoured inhabitants of Gandercleugh. No one thought of +disputing his title to the great leathern chair on the "cosiest +side of the chimney," in the common room of the Wallace Arms, on +a Saturday evening. No less would our sexton, John Duirward, +have held it an unlicensed intrusion, to suffer any one to induct +himself into the corner of the left-hand pew nearest to the +pulpit, which the Sergeant regularly occupied on Sundays. There +he sat, his blue invalid uniform brushed with the most scrupulous +accuracy. Two medals of merit displayed at his button-hole, as +well as the empty sleeve which should have been occupied by his +right arm, bore evidence of his hard and honourable service. His +weatherbeaten features, his grey hair tied in a thin queue in the +military fashion of former days, and the right side of his head a +little turned up, the better to catch the sound of the +clergyman's voice, were all marks of his profession and +infirmities. Beside him sat his sister Janet, a little neat old +woman, with a Highland curch and tartan plaid, watching the very +looks of her brother, to her the greatest man upon earth, and +actively looking out for him, in his silver-clasped Bible, the +texts which the minister quoted or expounded. + +I believe it was the respect that was universally paid to this +worthy veteran by all ranks in Gandercleugh which induced him to +choose our village for his residence, for such was by no means +his original intention. + +He had risen to the rank of sergeant-major of artillery, by hard +service in various quarters of the world, and was reckoned one of +the most tried and trusty men of the Scotch Train. A ball, which +shattered his arm in a peninsular campaign, at length procured +him an honourable discharge. with an allowance from Chelsea, and +a handsome gratuity from the patriotic fund. Moreover, Sergeant +More M'Alpin had been prudent as well as valiant; and, from +prize-money and savings, had become master of a small sum in the +three per cent consols. + +He retired with the purpose of enjoying this income in the wild +Highland glen, in which, when a boy, he had herded black cattle +and goats, ere the roll of the drum had made him cock his bonnet +an inch higher, and follow its music for nearly forty years. To +his recollection, this retired spot was unparalleled in beauty by +the richest scenes he had visited in his wanderings. Even the +Happy Valley of Rasselas would have sunk into nothing upon the +comparison. He came--he revisited the loved scene; it was but a +sterile glen, surrounded with rude crags, and traversed by a +northern torrent. This was not the worst. The fires had been +quenched upon thirty hearths--of the cottage of his fathers he +could but distinguish a few rude stones--the language was almost +extinguished--the ancient race from which he boasted his descent +had found a refuge beyond the Atlantic. One southland farmer, +three grey-plaided shepherds, and six dogs, now tenanted the +whole glen, which in his youth had maintained, in content, if not +in competence, upwards of two hundred inhabitants, + +In the house of the new tenant, Sergeant M'Alpin found, however, +an unexpected source of pleasure, and a means of employing his +social affections. His sister Janet had fortunately entertained +so strong a persuasion that her brother would one day return, +that she had refused to accompany her kinsfolk upon their +emigration. Nay, she had consented, though not without a feeling +of degradation, to take service with the intruding Lowlander, +who, though a Saxon, she said, had proved a kind man to her. +This unexpected meeting with his sister seemed a cure for all the +disappointments which it had been Sergeant More's lot to +encounter, although it was not without a reluctant tear that he +heard told, as a Highland woman alone could ten it, the story of +the expatriation of his kinsmen. + +She narrated at great length the vain offers they had made of +advanced rent, the payment of which must have reduced them to the +extremity of poverty, which they were yet contented to face, for +permission to live and die on their native soil. Nor did Janet +forget the portents which had announced the departure of the +Celtic race, and the arrival of the strangers. For two years +previous to the emigration, when the night wind howled dawn the +pass of Balachra, its notes were distinctly modelled to the tune +of "HA TIL MI TULIDH" (we return no more), with which the +emigrants usually bid farewell to their native shores. The +uncouth cries of the Southland shepherds, and the barking of +their dogs, were often heard in the midst of the hills long +before their actual arrival. A bard, the last of his race, had +commemorated the expulsion of the natives of the glen in a tune, +which brought tears into the aged eyes of the veteran, and of +which the first stanza may be thus rendered:-- + +Woe, woe, son of the Lowlander, +Why wilt thou leave thine own bonny Border? +Why comes thou hither, disturbing the Highlander, +Wasting the glen that was once in fair order? + +What added to Sergeant More M'Alpin's distress upon the occasion +was, that the chief by whom this change had been effected, was, +by tradition and common opinion, held to represent the ancient +leaders and fathers of the expelled fugitives; and it had +hitherto been one of Sergeant More's principal subjects of pride +to prove, by genealogical deduction, in what degree of kindred he +stood to this personage. A woful change was now wrought in his +sentiments towards him. + +"I cannot curse him," he said, as he rose and strode through the +room, when Janet's narrative was finished--"I will not curse him; +he is the descendant and representative of my fathers. But never +shall mortal man hear me name his name again." And he kept his +word; for, until his dying day, no man heard him mention his +selfish and hard-hearted chieftain. + +After giving a day to sad recollections, the hardy spirit which +had carried him through so many dangers, manned the Sergeant's +bosom against this cruel disappointment. "He would go," he said, +"to Canada to his kinsfolk, where they had named a Transatlantic +valley after the glen of their fathers. Janet," he said, "should +kilt her coats like a leaguer lady; d--n the distance! it was a +flea's leap to the voyages and marches he had made on a slighter +occasion." + +With this purpose he left the Highlands, and came with his sister +as far as Gandercleugh, on his way to Glasgow, to take a passage +to Canada. But winter was now set in, and as he thought it +advisable to wait for a spring passage, when the St. Lawrence +should be open, he settled among us for the few months of his +stay in Britain. As we said before, the respectable old man met +with deference and attention from all ranks of society; and when +spring returned, he was so satisfied with his quarters, that he +did not renew the purpose of his voyage. Janet was afraid of the +sea, and he himself felt the infirmities of age and hard service +more than he had at first expected. And, as he confessed to the +clergyman, and my worthy principal, Mr. Cleishbotham, "it was +better staying with kend friends, than going farther, and faring +worse." + +He therefore established himself and his domicile at +Gandercleugh, to the great satisfaction, as we have already said, +of all its inhabitants, to whom he became, in respect of military +intelligence, and able commentaries upon the newspapers, +gazettes, and bulletins, a very oracle, explanatory of all +martial events, past, present, or to come. + +It is true, the Sergeant had his inconsistencies. He was a +steady jacobite, his father and his four uncles having been out +in the forty-five; but he was a no less steady adherent of King +George, in whose service he had made his little fortune, and lost +three brothers; so that you were in equal danger to displease +him, in terming Prince Charles, the Pretender, or by saying +anything derogatory to the dignity of King George. Further, it +must not be denied, that when the day of receiving his dividends +came round, the Sergeant was apt to tarry longer at the Wallace +Arms of an evening, than was consistent with strict temperance, +or indeed with his worldly interest; for upon these occasions, +his compotators sometimes contrived to flatter his partialities +by singing jacobite songs, and drinking confusion to Bonaparte, +and the health of the Duke of Wellington, until the Sergeant was +not only flattered into paying the whole reckoning, but +occasionally induced to lend small sums to his interested +companions. After such sprays, as he called them, were over, and +his temper once more cool, he seldom failed to thank God, and the +Duke of York, who had made it much more difficult for an old +soldier to ruin himself by his folly, than had been the case in +his younger days. + +It was not on such occasions that I made a part of Sergeant More +M'Alpin's society. But often, when my leisure would permit, I +used to seek him, on what he called his morning and evening +parade, on which, when the weather was fair, he appeared as +regularly as if summoned by tuck of drum. His morning walk was +beneath the elms in the churchyard; "for death," he said, "had +been his next-door neighbour for so many years, that he had no +apology for dropping the acquaintance." His evening promenade +was on the bleaching-green by the river-side, where he was +sometimes to be seen on an open bench, with spectacles on nose, +conning over the newspapers to a circle of village politicians, +explaining military terms, and aiding the comprehension of his +hearers by lines drawn on the ground with the end of his rattan. +On other occasions, he was surrounded by a bevy of school-boys, +whom he sometimes drilled to the manual, and sometimes, with less +approbation on the part of their parents, instructed in the +mystery of artificial fire-works; for in the case of public +rejoicings, the Sergeant was pyrotechnist (as the Encyclopedia +calls it) to the village of Gandercleugh. + +It was in his morning walk that I most frequently met with the +veteran. And I can hardly yet look upon the village footpath, +overshadowed by the row of lofty elms, without thinking I see his +upright form advancing towards me with measured step, and his +cane advanced, ready to pay me the military salute--but he is +dead, and sleeps with his faithful Janet, under the third of +those very trees, counting from the stile at the west corner of +the churchyard. + +The delight which I had in Sergeant M'Alpin's conversation, +related not only to his own adventures, of which he had +encountered many in the course of a wandering life, but also to +his recollection of numerous Highland traditions, in which his +youth had been instructed by his parents, and of which he would +in after life have deemed it a kind of heresy to question the +authenticity. Many of these belonged to the wars of Montrose, in +which some of the Sergeant's ancestry had, it seems, taken a +distinguished part. It has happened, that, although these civil +commotions reflect the highest honour upon the Highlanders, being +indeed the first occasion upon which they showed themselves +superior, or even equal to their Low-country neighbours in +military encounters, they have been less commemorated among them +than any one would have expected, judging from the abundance of +traditions which they have preserved upon less interesting +subjects. It was, therefore, with great pleasure, that I +extracted from my military friend some curious particulars +respecting that time; they are mixed with that measure of the +wild and wonderful which belongs to the period and the narrator, +but which I do not in the least object to the reader's treating +with disbelief, providing he will be so good as to give implicit +credit to the natural events of the story, which, like all those +which I have had the honour to put under his notice, actually +rest upon a basis of truth. + +* + + + +III. A LEGEND OF MONTROSE. + + +* + + +CHAPTER I. + + Such as do build their faith upon + The holy text of pike and gun, + Decide all controversies by + Infallible artillery, + And prove their doctrine orthodox, + By apostolic blows and knocks. BUTLER. + +It was during the period of that great and bloody Civil War which +agitated Britain during the seventeenth century, that our tale +has its commencement. Scotland had as yet remained free from the +ravages of intestine war, although its inhabitants were much +divided in political opinions; and many of them, tired of the +control of the Estates of Parliament, and disapproving of the +bold measure which they had adopted, by sending into England a +large army to the assistance of the Parliament, were determined +on their part to embrace the earliest opportunity of declaring +for the King, and making such a diversion as should at least +compel the recall of General Leslie's army out of England, if it +did not recover a great part of Scotland to the King's +allegiance. This plan was chiefly adopted by the northern +nobility, who had resisted with great obstinacy the adoption of +the Solemn League and Covenant, and by many of the chiefs of the +Highland clans, who conceived their interest and authority to be +connected with royalty, who had, besides, a decided aversion to +the Presbyterian form of religion, and who, finally, were in that +half savage state of society, in which war is always more welcome +than peace. + +Great commotions were generally expected to arise from these +concurrent causes; and the trade of incursion and depredation, +which the Scotch Highlanders at all times exercised upon the +Lowlands, began to assume a more steady, avowed, and systematic +form, as part of a general military system. + +Those at the head of affairs were not insensible to the peril of +the moment, and anxiously made preparations to meet and to repel +it. They considered, however, with satisfaction, that no leader +or name of consequence had as yet appeared to assemble an army of +royalists, or even to direct the efforts of those desultory +bands, whom love of plunder, perhaps, as much as political +principle, had hurried into measures of hostility. It was +generally hoped that the quartering a sufficient number of troops +in the Lowlands adjacent to the Highland line, would have the +effect of restraining the mountain chieftains; while the power of +various barons in the north, who had espoused the Covenant, as, +for example, the Earl Mareschal, the great families of Forbes, +Leslie, and Irvine, the Grants, and other Presbyterian clans, +might counterbalance and bridle, not only the strength of the +Ogilvies and other cavaliers of Angus and Kincardine, but even +the potent family of the Gordons, whose extensive authority was +only equalled by their extreme dislike to the Presbyterian model. + +In the West Highlands the ruling party numbered many enemies; but +the power of these disaffected clans was supposed to be broken, +and the spirit of their chieftains intimidated, by the +predominating influence of the Marquis of Argyle, upon whom the +confidence of the Convention of Estates was reposed with the +utmost security; and whose power in the Highlands, already +exorbitant, had been still farther increased by concessions +extorted from the King at the last pacification. It was indeed +well known that Argyle was a man rather of political enterprise +than personal courage, and better calculated to manage an +intrigue of state, than to control the tribes of hostile +mountaineers; yet the numbers of his clan, and the spirit of the +gallant gentlemen by whom it was led, might, it was supposed, +atone for the personal deficiencies of their chief; and as the +Campbells had already severely humbled several of the +neighbouring tribes, it was supposed these would not readily +again provoke an encounter with a body so powerful. + +Thus having at their command the whole west and south of +Scotland, indisputably the richest part of the kingdom,-- +Fifeshire being in a peculiar manner their own, and possessing +many and powerful friends even north of the Forth and Tay,--the +Scottish Convention of Estates saw no danger sufficient to induce +them to alter the line of policy they had adopted, or to recall +from the assistance of their brethren of the English Parliament +that auxiliary army of twenty thousand men, by means of which +accession of strength, the King's party had been reduced to the +defensive, when in full career of triumph and success. + +The causes which moved the Convention of Estates at this time to +take such an immediate and active interest in the civil war of +England, are detailed in our historians, but may be here shortly +recapitulated. They had indeed no new injury or aggression to +complain of at the hand of the King, and the peace which had been +made between Charles and his subjects of Scotland had been +carefully observed; but the Scottish rulers were well aware that +this peace had been extorted from the King, as well by the +influence of the parliamentary party in England, as by the terror +of their own arms. It is true, King Charles had since then +visited the capital of his ancient kingdom, had assented to the +new organization of the church, and had distributed honours and +rewards among the leaders of the party which had shown themselves +most hostile to his interests; but it was suspected that +distinctions so unwillingly conferred would be resumed as soon as +opportunity offered. The low state of the English Parliament was +seen in Scotland with deep apprehension; and it was concluded, +that should Charles triumph by force of arms against his +insurgent subjects of England, he would not be long in exacting +from the Scotch the vengeance which he might suppose due to those +who had set the example of taking up arms against him. Such was +the policy of the measure which dictated the sending the +auxiliary army into England; and it was avowed in a manifesto +explanatory of their reasons for giving this timely and important +aid to the English Parliament. The English Parliament, they said, +had been already friendly to them, and might be so again; whereas +the King, although he had so lately established religion among +them according to their desires, had given them no ground to +confide in his royal declaration, seeing they had found his +promises and actions inconsistent with each other. "Our +conscience," they concluded, "and God, who is greater than our +conscience, beareth us record, that we aim altogether at the +glory of God, peace of both nations, and honour of the King, in +suppressing and punishing in a legal way, those who are the +troublers of Israel, the firebrands of hell, the Korahs, the +Balaams, the Doegs, the Rabshakehs, the Hamans, the Tobiahs, the +Sanballats of our time, which done, we are satisfied. Neither +have we begun to use a military expedition to England as a mean +for compassing those our pious ends, until all other means which +we could think upon have failed us: and this alone is left to us, +ULTIMUM ET UNICUM REMEDIUM, the last and only remedy." + +Leaving it to casuists to determine whether one contracting party +is justified in breaking a solemn treaty, upon the suspicion +that, in certain future contingencies, it might be infringed by +the other, we shall proceed to mention two other circumstances +that had at least equal influence with the Scottish rulers and +nation, with any doubts which they entertained of the King's good +faith. + +The first of these was the nature and condition of their army; +headed by a poor and discontented nobility, under whom it was +officered chiefly by Scottish soldiers of fortune, who had served +in the German wars until they had lost almost all distinction of +political principle, and even of country, in the adoption of the +mercenary faith, that a soldier's principal duty was fidelity to +the state or sovereign from whom he received his pay, without +respect either to the justice of the quarrel, or to their own +connexion with either of the contending parties. To men of this +stamp, Grotius applies the severe character--NULLUM VITAE GENUS +ET IMPROBIUS, QUAM EORUM, QUI SINE CAUSAE RESPECTU MERCEDE +CONDUCTI, MILITANT. To these mercenary soldiers, as well as to +the needy gentry with whom they were mixed in command, and who +easily imbibed the same opinions, the success of the late short +invasion of England in 1641 was a sufficient reason for renewing +so profitable an experiment. The good pay and free quarters of +England had made a feeling impression upon the recollection of +these military adventurers, and the prospect of again levying +eight hundred and fifty pounds a-day, came in place of all +arguments, whether of state or of morality. + +Another cause inflamed the minds of the nation at large, no less +than the tempting prospect of the wealth of England animated the +soldiery. So much had been written and said on either side +concerning the form of church government, that it had become a +matter of infinitely more consequence in the eyes of the +multitude than the doctrines of that gospel which both churches +had embraced. The Prelatists and Presbyterians of the more +violent kind became as illiberal as the Papists, and would +scarcely allow the possibility of salvation beyond the pale of +their respective churches. It was in vain remarked to these +zealots, that had the Author of our holy religion considered any +peculiar form of church government as essential to salvation, it +would have been revealed with the same precision as under the Old +Testament dispensation. Both parties continued as violent as if +they could have pleaded the distinct commands of Heaven to +justify their intolerance, Laud, in the days of his domination, +had fired the train, by attempting to impose upon the Scottish +people church ceremonies foreign to their habits and opinions. +The success with which this had been resisted, and the +Presbyterian model substituted in its place, had endeared the +latter to the nation, as the cause in which they had triumphed. +The Solemn League and Covenant, adopted with such zeal by the +greater part of the kingdom, and by them forced, at the sword's +point, upon the others, bore in its bosom, as its principal +object, the establishing the doctrine and discipline of the +Presbyterian church, and the putting down all error and heresy; +and having attained for their own country an establishment of +this golden candlestick, the Scots became liberally and +fraternally anxious to erect the same in England. This they +conceived might be easily attained by lending to the Parliament +the effectual assistance of the Scottish forces. The +Presbyterians, a numerous and powerful party in the English +Parliament, had hitherto taken the lead in opposition to the +King; while the Independents and other sectaries, who afterwards, +under Cromwell, resumed the power of the sword, and overset the +Presbyterian model both in Scotland and England, were as yet +contented to lurk under the shelter of the wealthier and more +powerful party. The prospect of bringing to a uniformity the +kingdoms of England and Scotland in discipline and worship, +seemed therefore as fair as it was desirable. + +The celebrated Sir Henry Vane, one of the commissioners who +negotiated the alliance betwixt England and Scotland, saw the +influence which this bait had upon the spirits of those with whom +he dealt; and although himself a violent Independent, he +contrived at once to gratify and to elude the eager desires of +the Presbyterians, by qualifying the obligation to reform the +Church of England, as a change to be executed "according to the +word of God, and the best reformed churches." Deceived by their +own eagerness, themselves entertaining no doubts on the JUS +DIVINUM of their own ecclesiastical establishments, and not +holding it possible such doubts could be adopted by others, the +Convention of Estates and the Kirk of Scotland conceived, that +such expressions necessarily inferred the establishment of +Presbytery; nor were they undeceived, until, when their help was +no longer needful, the sectaries gave them to understand, that +the phrase might be as well applied to Independency, or any other +mode of worship, which those who were at the head of affairs at +the time might consider as agreeable "to the word of God, and the +practice of the reformed churches." Neither were the outwitted +Scottish less astonished to find, that the designs of the English +sectaries struck against the monarchial constitution of Britain, +it having been their intention to reduce the power of the King, +but by no means to abrogate the office. They fared, however, in +this respect, like rash physicians, who commence by over- +physicking a patient, until he is reduced to a state of weakness, +from which cordials are afterwards unable to recover him. + +But these events were still in the womb of futurity. As yet the +Scottish Parliament held their engagement with England consistent +with justice, prudence, and piety, and their military undertaking +seemed to succeed to their very wish. The junction of the +Scottish army with those of Fairfax and Manchester, enabled the +Parliamentary forces to besiege York, and to fight the desperate +action of Long-Marston Moor, in which Prince Rupert and the +Marquis of Newcastle were defeated. The Scottish auxiliaries, +indeed, had less of the glory of this victory than their +countrymen could desire. David Leslie, with their cavalry, fought +bravely, and to them, as well as to Cromwell's brigade of +Independents, the honour of the day belonged; but the old Earl of +Leven, the covenanting general, was driven out of the field by +the impetuous charge of Prince Rupert, and was thirty miles +distant, in full flight towards Scotland, when he was overtaken +by the news that his party had gained a complete victory. + +The absence of these auxiliary troops, upon this crusade for the +establishment of Presbyterianism in England, had considerably +diminished the power of the Convention of Estates in Scotland, +and had given rise to those agitations among the anti- +covenanters, which we have noticed at the beginning of this +chapter. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +His mother could for him as cradle set +Her husband's rusty iron corselet; +Whose jangling sound could hush her babe to rest, +That never plain'd of his uneasy nest; +Then did he dream of dreary wars at hand, +And woke, and fought, and won, ere he could stand. HALL'S SATIRES + +It was towards the close of a summer's evening, during the +anxious period which we have commemorated, that a young gentleman +of quality, well mounted and armed, and accompanied by two +servants, one of whom led a sumpter horse, rode slowly up one of +those steep passes, by which the Highlands are accessible from +the Lowlands of Perthshire. [The beautiful pass of Leny, near +Callander, in Monteith, would, in some respects, answer this +description.] Their course had lain for some time along the banks +of a lake, whose deep waters reflected the crimson beams of the +western sun. The broken path which they pursued with some +difficulty, was in some places shaded by ancient birches and oak- +trees, and in others overhung by fragments of huge rock. +Elsewhere, the hill, which formed the northern side of this +beautiful sheet of water, arose in steep, but less precipitous +acclivity, and was arrayed in heath of the darkest purple. In +the present times, a scene so romantic would have been judged to +possess the highest charms for the traveller; but those who +journey in days of doubt and dread, pay little attention to +picturesque scenery. + +The master kept, as often as the wood permitted, abreast of one +or both of his domestics, and seemed earnestly to converse with +them, probably because the distinctions of rank are readily set +aside among those who are made to be sharers of common danger. +The dispositions of the leading men who inhabit this wild +country, and the probability of their taking part in the +political convulsions that were soon expected, were the subjects +of their conversation. + +They had not advanced above half way up the lake, and the young +gentleman was pointing to his attendants the spot where their +intended road turned northwards, and, leaving the verge of the +loch, ascended a ravine to the right hand, when they discovered a +single horseman coming down the shore, as if to meet them. The +gleam of the sunbeams upon his head-piece and corslet showed that +he was in armour, and the purpose of the other travellers +required that he should not pass unquestioned. "We must know who +he is," said the young gentleman, "and whither he is going." And +putting spurs to his horse, he rode forward as fast as the rugged +state of the road would permit, followed by his two attendants, +until he reached the point where the pass along the side of the +lake was intersected by that which descended from the ravine, +securing thus against the possibility of the stranger eluding +them, by turning into the latter road before they came up with +him. + +The single horseman had mended his pace, when he first observed +the three riders advance rapidly towards him; but when he saw +them halt and form a front, which completely occupied the path, +he checked his horse, and advanced with great deliberation; so +that each party had an opportunity to take a full survey of the +other. The solitary stranger was mounted upon an able horse, fit +for military service, and for the great weight which he had to +carry, and his rider occupied his demipique, or war-saddle, with +an air that showed it was his familiar seat. He had a bright +burnished head-piece, with a plume of feathers, together with a +cuirass, thick enough to resist a musket-ball, and a back-piece +of lighter materials. These defensive arms he wore over a buff +jerkin, along with a pair of gauntlets, or steel gloves, the tops +of which reached up to his elbow, and which, like the rest of his +armour, were of bright steel. At the front of his military +saddle hung a case of pistols, far beyond the ordinary size, +nearly two feet in length, and carrying bullets of twenty to the +pound. A buff belt, with a broad silver buckle, sustained on one +side a long straight double-edged broadsword, with a strong +guard, and a blade calculated either to strike or push. On the +right side hung a dagger of about eighteen inches in length; a +shoulder-belt sustained at his back a musketoon or blunderbuss, +and was crossed by a bandelier containing his charges of +ammunition. Thigh-pieces of steel, then termed taslets, met the +tops of his huge jack-boots, and completed the equipage of a +well-armed trooper of the period. + +The appearance of the horseman himself corresponded well with his +military equipage, to which he had the air of having been long +inured. He was above the middle size, and of strength sufficient +to bear with ease the weight of his weapons, offensive and +defensive. His age might be forty and upwards, and his +countenance was that of a resolute weather-beaten veteran, who +had seen many fields, and brought away in token more than one +scar. At the distance of about thirty yards he halted and stood +fast, raised himself on his stirrups, as if to reconnoitre and +ascertain the purpose of the opposite party, and brought his +musketoon under his right arm, ready for use, if occasion should +require it. In everything but numbers, he had the advantage of +those who seemed inclined to interrupt his passage. + +The leader of the party was, indeed, well mounted and clad in a +buff coat, richly embroidered, the half-military dress of the +period; but his domestics had only coarse jackets of thick felt, +which could scarce be expected to turn the edge of a sword, if +wielded by a strong man; and none of them had any weapons, save +swords and pistols, without which gentlemen, or their attendants, +during those disturbed times, seldom stirred abroad. + +When they had stood at gaze for about a minute, the younger +gentleman gave the challenge which was then common in the mouth +of all strangers who met in such circumstances--"For whom are +you?" + +"Tell me first," answered the soldier, "for whom are you?--the +strongest party should speak first." + +"We are for God and King Charles," answered the first speaker.--" +Now tell your faction, you know ours." + +"I am for God and my standard," answered the single horseman. + +"And for which standard?" replied the chief of the other party +--"Cavalier or Roundhead, King or Convention?" + +"By my troth, sir," answered the soldier, "I would be loath to +reply to you with an untruth, as a thing unbecoming a cavalier of +fortune and a soldier. But to answer your query with beseeming +veracity, it is necessary I should myself have resolved to whilk +of the present divisions of the kingdom I shall ultimately +adhere, being a matter whereon my mind is not as yet preceesely +ascertained." + +"I should have thought," answered the gentleman, "that, when +loyalty and religion are at stake, no gentleman or man of honour +could be long in choosing his party." + +"Truly, sir," replied the trooper, "if ye speak this in the way +of vituperation, as meaning to impugn my honour or genteelity, I +would blithely put the same to issue, venturing in that quarrel +with my single person against you three. But if you speak it in +the way of logical ratiocination, whilk I have studied in my +youth at the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, I am ready to prove +to ye LOGICE, that my resolution to defer, for a certain season, +the taking upon me either of these quarrels, not only becometh me +as a gentleman and a man of honour, but also as a person of sense +and prudence, one imbued with humane letters in his early youth, +and who, from thenceforward, has followed the wars under the +banner of the invincible Gustavus, the Lion of the North, and +under many other heroic leaders, both Lutheran and Calvinist, +Papist and Arminian." + +After exchanging a word or two with his domestics, the younger +gentleman replied, "I should be glad, sir, to have some +conversation with you upon so interesting a question, and should +be proud if I can determine you in favour of the cause I have +myself espoused. I ride this evening to a friend's house not +three miles distant, whither, if you choose to accompany me, you +shall have good quarters for the night, and free permission to +take your own road in the morning, if you then feel no +inclination to join with us." + +"Whose word am I to take for this?" answered the cautious +soldier--"A man must know his guarantee, or he may fall into an +ambuscade." + +"I am called," answered the younger stranger, "the Earl of +Menteith, and, I trust, you will receive my honour as a +sufficient security." + +"A worthy nobleman," answered the soldier, "whose parole is not +to be doubted." With one motion he replaced his musketoon at his +back, and with another made his military salute to the young +nobleman, and continuing to talk as he rode forward to join him +--"And, I trust," said he, "my own assurance, that I will be BON +CAMARADO to your lordship in peace or in peril, during the time +we shall abide together, will not be altogether vilipended in +these doubtful times, when, as they say, a man's head is safer in +a steel-cap than in a marble palace." + +"I assure you, sir," said Lord Menteith, "that to judge from your +appearance, I most highly value the advantage of your escort; +but, I trust, we shall have no occasion for any exercise of +valour, as I expect to conduct you to good and friendly +quarters." + +"Good quarters, my lord," replied the soldier, "are always +acceptable, and are only to be postponed to good pay or good +booty,--not to mention the honour of a cavalier, or the needful +points of commanded duty. And truly, my lord, your noble proffer +is not the less welcome, in that I knew not preceesely this night +where I and my poor companion" (patting his horse) "were to find +lodgments." + +"May I be permitted to ask, then," said Lord Menteith, "to whom I +have the good fortune to stand quarter-master?" + +"Truly, my lord," said the trooper, "my name is Dalgetty--Dugald +Dalgetty, Ritt-master Dugald Dalgetty of Drumthwacket, at your +honourable service to command. It is a name you may have seen in +GALLO BELGICUS, the SWEDISH INTELLIGENCER, or, if you read High +Dutch, in the FLIEGENDEN MERCOEUR of Leipsic. My father, my +lord, having by unthrifty courses reduced a fair patrimony to a +nonentity, I had no better shift, when I was eighteen years auld, +than to carry the learning whilk I had acquired at the Mareschal- +College of Aberdeen, my gentle bluid and designation of +Drumthwacket, together with a pair of stalwarth arms, and legs +conform, to the German wars, there to push my way as a cavalier +of fortune. My lord, my legs and arms stood me in more stead +than either my gentle kin or my book-lear, and I found myself +trailing a pike as a private gentleman under old Sir Ludovick +Leslie, where I learned the rules of service so tightly, that I +will not forget them in a hurry. Sir, I have been made to stand +guard eight hours, being from twelve at noon to eight o'clock of +the night, at the palace, armed with back and breast, head-piece +and bracelets, being iron to the teeth, in a bitter frost, and +the ice was as hard as ever was flint; and all for stopping an +instant to speak to my landlady, when I should have gone to roll- +call." + +"And, doubtless, sir," replied Lord Menteith, "you have gone +through some hot service, as well as this same cold duty you talk +of?" + +"Surely, my lord, it doth not become me to speak; but he that +hath seen the fields of Leipsic and of Lutzen, may be said to +have seen pitched battles. And one who hath witnessed the +intaking of Frankfort, and Spanheim, and Nuremberg, and so forth, +should know somewhat about leaguers, storms, onslaughts and +outfalls." + +"But your merit, sir, and experience, were doubtless followed by +promotion?" + +"It came slow, my lord, dooms slow," replied Dalgetty; "but as my +Scottish countrymen, the fathers of the war, and the raisers of +those valorous Scottish regiments that were the dread of Germany, +began to fall pretty thick, what with pestilence and what with +the sword, why we, their children, succeeded to their +inheritance. Sir, I was six years first private gentleman of the +company, and three years lance speisade; disdaining to receive a +halberd, as unbecoming my birth. Wherefore I was ultimately +promoted to be a fahndragger, as the High Dutch call it (which +signifies an ancient), in the King's Leif Regiment of Black- +Horse, and thereafter I arose to be lieutenant and ritt-master, +under that invincible monarch, the bulwark of the Protestant +faith, the Lion of the North, the terror of Austria, Gustavus the +Victorious." + +"And yet, if I understand you, Captain Dalgetty,--I think that +rank corresponds with your foreign title of ritt-master--" + +"The same grade preceesely," answered Dalgetty; "ritt-master +signifying literally file-leader." + +"I was observing," continued Lord Menteith, "that, if I +understood you right, you had left the service of this great +Prince." + +"It was after his death--it was after his death, sir," said +Dalgetty, "when I was in no shape bound to continue mine +adherence. There are things, my lord, in that service, that +cannot but go against the stomach of any cavalier of honour. In +especial, albeit the pay be none of the most superabundant, being +only about sixty dollars a-month to a ritt-master, yet the +invincible Gustavus never paid above one-third of that sum, whilk +was distributed monthly by way of loan; although, when justly +considered, it was, in fact, a borrowing by that great monarch of +the additional two-thirds which were due to the soldier. And I +have seen some whole regiments of Dutch and Holsteiners mutiny on +the field of battle, like base scullions, crying out Gelt, gelt, +signifying their desire of pay, instead of falling to blows like +our noble Scottish blades, who ever disdained, my lord, +postponing of honour to filthy lucre." + +"But were not these arrears," said Lord Menteith, "paid to the +soldiery at some stated period?" + +"My lord," said Dalgetty, "I take it on my conscience, that at no +period, and by no possible process, could one creutzer of them +ever be recovered. I myself never saw twenty dollars of my own +all the time I served the invincible Gustavus, unless it was from +the chance of a storm or victory, or the fetching in some town or +doorp, when a cavalier of fortune, who knows the usage of wars, +seldom faileth to make some small profit." + +"I begin rather to wonder, sir," said Lord Menteith, "that you +should have continued so long in the Swedish service, than that +you should have ultimately withdrawn from it." + +"Neither I should," answered the Ritt-master; "but that great +leader, captain, and king, the Lion of the North, and the bulwark +of the Protestant faith, had a way of winning battles, taking +towns, over-running countries, and levying contributions, whilk +made his service irresistibly delectable to all true-bred +cavaliers who follow the noble profession of arms. Simple as I +ride here, my lord, I have myself commanded the whole stift of +Dunklespiel on the Lower Rhine, occupying the Palsgrave's palace, +consuming his choice wines with my comrades, calling in +contributions, requisitions, and caduacs, and not failing to lick +my fingers, as became a good cook. But truly all this glory +hastened to decay, after our great master had been shot with +three bullets on the field of Lutzen; wherefore, finding that +Fortune had changed sides, that the borrowings and lendings went +on as before out of our pay, while the caduacs and casualties +were all cut off, I e'en gave up my commission, and took service +with Wallenstein, in Walter Butler's Irish regiment." + +"And may I beg to know of you," said Lord Menteith, apparently +interested in the adventures of this soldier of fortune, "how you +liked this change of masters?" + +"Indifferent well," said the Captain--"very indifferent well. I +cannot say that the Emperor paid much better than the great +Gustavus. For hard knocks, we had plenty of them. I was often +obliged to run my head against my old acquaintances, the Swedish +feathers, whilk your honour must conceive to be double-pointed +stakes, shod with iron at each end, and planted before the squad +of pikes to prevent an onfall of the cavalry. The whilk Swedish +feathers, although they look gay to the eye, resembling the +shrubs or lesser trees of ane forest, as the puissant pikes, +arranged in battalia behind them, correspond to the tall pines +thereof, yet, nevertheless, are not altogether so soft to +encounter as the plumage of a goose. Howbeit, in despite of +heavy blows and light pay, a cavalier of fortune may thrive +indifferently well in the Imperial service, in respect his +private casualties are nothing so closely looked to as by the +Swede; and so that an officer did his duty on the field, neither +Wallenstein nor Pappenheim, nor old Tilly before them, would +likely listen to the objurgations of boors or burghers against +any commander or soldado, by whom they chanced to be somewhat +closely shorn. So that an experienced cavalier, knowing how to +lay, as our Scottish phrase runs, 'the head of the sow to the +tail of the grice,' might get out of the country the pay whilk he +could not obtain from the Emperor." + +"With a full hand, sir, doubtless, and with interest," said Lord +Menteith. + +"Indubitably, my lord," answered Dalgetty, composedly; "for it +would be doubly disgraceful for any soldado of rank to have his +name called in question for any petty delinquency." + +"And pray, Sir," continued Lord Menteith, "what made you leave so +gainful a service?" + +"Why, truly, sir," answered the soldier, "an Irish cavalier, +called O'Quilligan, being major of our regiment, and I having had +words with him the night before, respecting the worth and +precedence of our several nations, it pleased him the next day to +deliver his orders to me with the point of his batoon advanced +and held aloof, instead of declining and trailing the same, as is +the fashion from a courteous commanding officer towards his equal +in rank, though, it may be, his inferior in military grade. Upon +this quarrel, sir, we fought in private rencontre; and as, in the +perquisitions which followed, it pleased Walter Butler, our +oberst, or colonel, to give the lighter punishment to his +countryman, and the heavier to me, whereupon, ill-stomaching such +partiality, I exchanged my commission for one under the +Spaniard." + +"I hope you found yourself better off by the change?" said Lord +Menteith. + +"In good sooth," answered the Ritt-master, "I had but little to +complain of. The pay was somewhat regular, being furnished by +the rich Flemings and Waloons of the Low Country. The quarters +were excellent; the good wheaten loaves of the Flemings were +better than the Provant rye-bread of the Swede, and Rhenish wine +was more plenty with us than ever I saw the black-beer of Rostock +in Gustavus's camp. Service there was none, duty there was +little; and that little we might do, or leave undone, at our +pleasure; an excellent retirement for a cavalier somewhat weary +of field and leaguer, who had purchased with his blood as much +honour as might serve his turn, and was desirous of a little ease +and good living." + +"And may I ask," said Lord Menteith, "why you, Captain, being, as +I suppose, in the situation you describe, retired from the +Spanish service also?" + +"You are to consider, my lord, that your Spaniard," replied +Captain Dalgetty, "is a person altogether unparalleled in his own +conceit, where-through he maketh not fit account of such foreign +cavaliers of valour as are pleased to take service with him. And +a galling thing it is to every honourable soldado, to be put +aside, and postponed, and obliged to yield preference to every +puffing signor, who, were it the question which should first +mount a breach at push of pike, might be apt to yield willing +place to a Scottish cavalier. Moreover, sir, I was pricked in +conscience respecting a matter of religion." + +"I should not have thought, Captain Dalgetty," said the young +nobleman, "that an old soldier, who had changed service so often, +would have been too scrupulous on that head." + +"No more I am, my lord," said the Captain, "since I hold it to be +the duty of the chaplain of the regiment to settle those matters +for me, and every other brave cavalier, inasmuch as he does +nothing else that I know of for his pay and allowances. But this +was a particular case, my lord, a CASUS IMPROVISUS, as I may say, +in whilk I had no chaplain of my own persuasion to act as my +adviser. I found, in short, that although my being a Protestant +might be winked at, in respect that I was a man of action, and +had more experience than all the Dons in our TERTIA put together, +yet, when in garrison, it was expected I should go to mass with +the regiment. Now, my lord, as a true Scottish man, and educated +at the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, I was bound to uphold the +mass to be an act of blinded papistry and utter idolatry, whilk I +was altogether unwilling to homologate by my presence. True it +is, that I consulted on the point with a worthy countryman of my +own, one Father Fatsides, of the Scottish Covenant in Wurtzburg +--" + +"And I hope," observed Lord Menteith, "you obtained a clear +opinion from this same ghostly father?" + +"As clear as it could be," replied Captain Dalgetty, "considering +we had drunk six flasks of Rhenish, and about two mutchkins of +Kirchenwasser. Father Fatsides informed me, that, as nearly as +he could judge for a heretic like myself, it signified not much +whether I went to mass or not, seeing my eternal perdition was +signed and sealed at any rate, in respect of my impenitent and +obdurate perseverance in my damnable heresy. Being discouraged +by this response, I applied to a Dutch pastor of the reformed +church, who told me, he thought I might lawfully go to mass, in +respect that the prophet permitted Naaman, a mighty man of +valour, and an honourable cavalier of Syria, to follow his master +into the house of Rimmon, a false god, or idol, to whom he had +vowed service, and to bow down when the king was leaning upon his +hand. But neither was this answer satisfactory to me, both +because there was an unco difference between an anointed King of +Syria and our Spanish colonel, whom I could have blown away like +the peeling of an ingan, and chiefly because I could not find the +thing was required of me by any of the articles of war; neither +was I proffered any consideration, either in perquisite or pay, +for the wrong I might thereby do to my conscience." + +"So you again changed your service?" said Lord Menteith. + +"In troth did I, my lord; and after trying for a short while two +or three other powers, I even took on for a time with their High +Mightinesses the States of Holland." + +"And how did their service jump with your humour?" again demanded +his companion. + +"O! my lord," said the soldier, in a sort of enthusiasm, "their +behaviour on pay-day might be a pattern to all Europe--no +borrowings, no lendings, no offsets no arrears--all balanced and +paid like a banker's book. The quarters, too, are excellent, and +the allowances unchallengeable; but then, sir, they are a +preceese, scrupulous people, and will allow nothing for +peccadilloes. So that if a boor complains of a broken head, or a +beer-seller of a broken can, or a daft wench does but squeak loud +enough to be heard above her breath, a soldier of honour shall be +dragged, not before his own court-martial, who can best judge of +and punish his demerits, hut before a base mechanical burgo- +master, who shall menace him with the rasp-house, the cord, and +what not, as if he were one of their own mean, amphibious, +twenty-breeched boors. So not being able to dwell longer among +those ungrateful plebeians, who, although unable to defend +themselves by their proper strength, will nevertheless allow the +noble foreign cavalier who engages with them nothing beyond his +dry wages, which no honourable spirit will put in competition +with a liberal license and honourable countenance, I resolved to +leave the service of the Mynheers. And hearing at this time, to +my exceeding satisfaction, that there is something to be doing +this summer in my way in this my dear native country, I am come +hither, as they say, like a beggar to a bridal, in order to give +my loving countrymen the advantage of that experience which I +have acquired in foreign parts. So your lordship has an outline +of my brief story, excepting my deportment in those passages of +action in the field, in leaguers, storms, and onslaughts, whilk +would be wearisome to narrate, and might, peradventure, better +befit any other tongue than mine own." + + + +CHAPTER III. + +For pleas of right let statesmen vex their head, +Battle's my business, and my guerdon bread; +And, with the sworded Switzer, I can say, +The best of causes is the best of pay. DONNE. + +The difficulty and narrowness of the road had by this time become +such as to interrupt the conversation of the travellers, and Lord +Menteith, reining back his horse, held a moment's private +conversation with his domestics. The Captain, who now led the +van of the party, after about a quarter of a mile's slow and +toilsome advance up a broken and rugged ascent, emerged into an +upland valley, to which a mountain stream acted as a drain, and +afforded sufficient room upon its greensward banks for the +travellers to pursue their journey in a more social manner. + +Lord Menteith accordingly resumed the conversation, which had +been interrupted by the difficulties of the way. "I should have +thought," said he to Captain Dalgetty, "that a cavalier of your +honourable mark, who hath so long followed the valiant King of +Sweden, and entertains such a suitable contempt for the base +mechanical States of Holland, would not have hesitated to embrace +the cause of King Charles, in preference to that of the low-born, +roundheaded, canting knaves, who are in rebellion against his +authority?" + +"Ye speak reasonably, my lord," said Dalgetty, "and, CAETERIS +PARIBUS, I might be induced to see the matter in the same light. +But, my lord, there is a southern proverb, fine words butter no +parsnips. I have heard enough since I came here, to satisfy me +that a cavalier of honour is free to take any part in this civil +embroilment whilk he may find most convenient for his own +peculiar. Loyalty is your pass-word, my lord--Liberty, roars +another chield from the other side of the strath--the King, +shouts one war-cry--the Parliament, roars another--Montrose, for +ever, cries Donald, waving his bonnet--Argyle and Leven, cries a +south-country Saunders, vapouring with his hat and feather. +Fight for the bishops, says a priest, with his gown and rochet +--Stand stout for the Kirk, cries a minister, in a Geneva cap and +band.--Good watchwords all--excellent watchwords. Whilk cause is +the best I cannot say. But sure am I, that I have fought knee- +deep in blood many a day for one that was ten degrees worse than +the worst of them all." + +"And pray, Captain Dalgetty," said his lordship, "since the +pretensions of both parties seem to you so equal, will you please +to inform us by what circumstances your preference will be +determined?" + +"Simply upon two considerations, my lord," answered the soldier. +"Being, first, on which side my services would be in most +honourable request;--And, secondly, whilk is a corollary of the +first, by whilk party they are likely to be most gratefully +requited. And, to deal plainly with you, my lord, my opinion at +present doth on both points rather incline to the side of the +Parliament." + +"Your reasons, if you please," said Lord Menteith, "and perhaps I +may be able to meet them with some others which are more +powerful." + +"Sir, I shall be amenable to reason," said Captain Dalgetty, +"supposing it addresses itself to my honour and my interest. +Well, then, my lord, here is a sort of Highland host assembled, +or expected to assemble, in these wild hills, in the King's +behalf. Now, sir, you know the nature of our Highlanders. I +will not deny them to be a people stout in body and valiant in +heart, and courageous enough in their own wild way of fighting, +which is as remote from the usages and discipline of war as ever +was that of the ancient Scythians, or of the salvage Indians of +America that now is, They havena sae mickle as a German whistle, +or a drum, to beat a march, an alarm, a charge, a retreat, a +reveille, or the tattoo, or any other point of war; and their +damnable skirlin' pipes, whilk they themselves pretend to +understand, are unintelligible to the ears of any cavaliero +accustomed to civilised warfare. So that, were I undertaking to +discipline such a breechless mob, it were impossible for me to be +understood; and if I were understood, judge ye, my lord, what +chance I had of being obeyed among a band of half salvages, who +are accustomed to pay to their own lairds and chiefs, allenarly, +that respect and obedience whilk ought to be paid to +commissionate officers. If I were teaching them to form battalia +by extracting the square root, that is, by forming your square +battalion of equal number of men of rank and file, corresponding +to the square root of the full number present, what return could +I expect for communicating this golden secret of military tactic, +except it may be a dirk in my wame, on placing some M'Alister +More M'Shemei or Capperfae, in the flank or rear, when he claimed +to be in the van?--Truly, well saith holy writ, 'if ye cast +pearls before swine, they will turn again and rend ye.'" + +"I believe, Anderson," said Lord Menteith, looking back to one of +his servants, for both were close behind him, "you can assure +this gentleman, we shall have more occasion for experienced +officers, and be more disposed to profit by their instructions, +than he seems to be aware of." + +"With your honour's permission," said Anderson, respectfully +raising his cap, "when we are joined by the Irish infantry, who +are expected, and who should be landed in the West Highlands +before now, we shall have need of good soldiers to discipline our +levies." + +"And I should like well--very well, to be employed in such +service," said Dalgetty; "the Irish are pretty fellows--very +pretty fellows--I desire to see none better in the field. I once +saw a brigade of Irish, at the taking of Frankfort upon the Oder, +stand to it with sword and pike until they beat off the blue and +yellow Swedish brigades, esteemed as stout as any that fought +under the immortal Gustavus. And although stout Hepburn, valiant +Lumsdale, courageous Monroe, with myself and other cavaliers, +made entry elsewhere at point of pike, yet, had we all met with +such opposition, we had returned with great loss and little +profit. Wherefore these valiant Irishes, being all put to the +sword, as is usual in such cases, did nevertheless gain immortal +praise and honour; so that, for their sakes, I have always loved +and honoured those of that nation next to my own country of +Scotland." + +"A command of Irish," said Menteith, "I think I could almost +promise you, should you be disposed to embrace the royal cause." + +"And yet," said Captain Dalgetty, "my second and greatest +difficulty remains behind; for, although I hold it a mean and +sordid thing for a soldado to have nothing in his mouth but pay +and gelt, like the base cullions, the German lanz-knechts, whom I +mentioned before; and although I will maintain it with my sword, +that honour is to be preferred before pay, free quarters, and +arrears, yet, EX CONTRARIO, a soldier's pay being the counterpart +of his engagement of service, it becomes a wise and considerate +cavalier to consider what remuneration he is to receive for his +service, and from what funds it is to be paid. And truly, my +lord, from what I can see and hear, the Convention are the purse- +masters. The Highlanders, indeed, may be kept in humour, by +allowing them to steal cattle; and for the Irishes, your lordship +and your noble associates may, according to the practice of the +wars in such cases, pay them as seldom or as little as may suit +your pleasure or convenience; but the same mode of treatment doth +not apply to a cavalier like me, who must keep up his horses, +servants, arms, and equipage, and who neither can, nor will, go +to warfare upon his own charges." + +Anderson, the domestic who had before spoken now respectfully +addressed his master.--"I think, my lord," he said, "that, under +your lordship's favour, I could say something to remove Captain +Dalgetty's second objection also. He asks us where we are to +collect our pay; now, in my poor mind, the resources are as open +to us as to the Covenanters. They tax the country according to +their pleasure, and dilapidate the estates of the King's friends; +now, were we once in the Lowlands, with our Highlanders and our +Irish at our backs, and our swords in our hands, we can find many +a fat traitor, whose ill-gotten wealth shall fill our military +chest and satisfy our soldiery. Besides, confiscations will fall +in thick; and, in giving donations of forfeited lands to every +adventurous cavalier who joins his standard, the King will at +once reward his friends and punish his enemies. In short, he +that joins these Roundhead dogs may get some miserable pittance +of pay--he that joins our standard has a chance to be knight, +lord, or earl, if luck serve him." + +"Have you ever served, my good friend?" said the Captain to the +spokesman. + +"A little, sir, in these our domestic quarrels," answered the +man, modestly. + +"But never in Germany or the Low Countries?" said Dalgetty. + +"I never had the honour," answered Anderson. + +"I profess," said Dalgetty, addressing Lord Menteith, "your +lordship's servant has a sensible, natural, pretty idea of +military matters; somewhat irregular, though, and smells a little +too much of selling the bear's skin before he has hunted him.--I +will take the matter, however, into my consideration." + +"Do so, Captain," said Lord Menteith; "you will have the night to +think of it, for we are now near the house, where I hope to +ensure you a hospitable reception." + +"And that is what will be very welcome," said the Captain, "for I +have tasted no food since daybreak but a farl of oatcake, which I +divided with my horse. So I have been fain to draw my sword-belt +three bores tighter for very extenuation, lest hunger and heavy +iron should make the gird slip." + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Once on a time, no matter when, +Some Glunimies met in a glen; +As deft and tight as ever wore +A durk, a targe, and a claymore, +Short hose, and belted plaid or trews, +In Uist, Lochaber, Skye, or Lewes, +Or cover'd hard head with his bonnet; +Had you but known them, you would own it. MESTON. + +A hill was now before the travellers, covered with an ancient +forest of Scottish firs, the topmost of which, flinging their +scathed branches across the western horizon, gleamed ruddy in the +setting sun. In the centre of this wood rose the towers, or +rather the chimneys, of the house, or castle, as it was called, +destined for the end of their journey. + +As usual at that period, one or two high-ridged narrow buildings, +intersecting and crossing each other, formed the CORPS DE LOGIS. +A protecting bartizan or two, with the addition of small turrets +at the angles, much resembling pepper-boxes, had procured for +Darnlinvarach the dignified appellation of a castle. It was +surrounded by a low court-yard wall, within which were the usual +offices. + +As the travellers approached more nearly, they discovered marks +of recent additions to the defences of the place, which had been +suggested, doubtless, by the insecurity of those troublesome +times. Additional loop-holes for musketry were struck out in +different parts of the building, and of its surrounding wall. +The windows had just been carefully secured by stancheons of +iron, crossing each other athwart and end-long, like the grates +of a prison. The door of the court-yard was shut; and it was +only after cautious challenge that one of its leaves was opened +by two domestics, both strong Highlanders, and both under arms, +like Bitias and Pandarus in the AEneid, ready to defend the +entrance if aught hostile had ventured an intrusion. + +When the travellers were admitted into the court, they found +additional preparations for defence. The walls were scaffolded +for the use of fire-arms, and one or two of the small guns, +called sackers, or falcons, were mounted at the angles and +flanking turrets. + +More domestics, both in the Highland and Lowland dress, instantly +rushed from the anterior of the mansion, and some hastened to +take the horses of the strangers, while others waited to marshal +them a way into the dwelling-house. But Captain Dalgetty refused +the proffered assistance of those who wished to relieve him of +the charge of his horse. "It is my custom, my friends, to see +Gustavus (for so I have called him, after my invincible master) +accommodated myself; we are old friends and fellow-travellers, +and as I often need the use of his legs, I always lend him in my +turn the service of my tongue, to call for whatever he has +occasion for;" and accordingly he strode into the stable after +his steed without farther apology. + +Neither Lord Menteith nor his attendants paid the same attention +to their horses, but, leaving them to the proffered care of the +servants of the place, walked forward into the house, where a +sort of dark vaulted vestibule displayed, among other +miscellaneous articles, a huge barrel of two-penny ale, beside +which were ranged two or three wooden queichs, or bickers, ready, +it would appear, for the service of whoever thought proper to +employ them. Lord Menteith applied himself to the spigot, drank +without ceremony, and then handed the stoup to Anderson, who +followed his master's example, but not until he had flung out the +drop of ale which remained, and slightly rinsed the wooden cup. + +"What the deil, man," said an old Highland servant belonging to +the family, "can she no drink after her ain master without +washing the cup and spilling the ale, and be tamned to her!" + +"I was bred in France," answered Anderson, "where nobody drinks +after another out of the same cup, unless it be after a young +lady." + +"The teil's in their nicety!" said Donald; "and if the ale be +gude, fat the waur is't that another man's beard's been in the +queich before ye?" + +Anderson's companion drank without observing the ceremony which +had given Donald so much offence, and both of them followed their +master into the low-arched stone hall, which was the common +rendezvous of a Highland family. A large fire of peats in the +huge chimney at the upper end shed a dim light through the +apartment, and was rendered necessary by the damp, by which, even +during the summer, the apartment was rendered uncomfortable. +Twenty or thirty targets, as many claymores, with dirks, and +plaids, and guns, both match-lock and fire-lock, and long-bows, +and cross-bows, and Lochaber axes, and coats of plate armour, and +steel bonnets, and headpieces, and the more ancient haborgeons, +or shirts of reticulated mail, with hood and sleeves +corresponding to it, all hung in confusion about the walls, and +would have formed a month's amusement to a member of a modern +antiquarian society. But such things were too familiar, to +attract much observation on the part of the present spectators. + +There was a large clumsy oaken table, which the hasty hospitality +of the domestic who had before spoken, immediately spread with +milk, butter, goat-milk cheese, a flagon of beer, and a flask of +usquebae, designed for the refreshment of Lord Menteith; while an +inferior servant made similar preparations at the bottom of the +table for the benefit of his attendants. The space which +intervened between them was, according to the manners of the +times, sufficient distinction between master and servant, even +though the former was, as in the present instance, of high rank. +Meanwhile the guests stood by the fire--the young nobleman under +the chimney, and his servants at some little distance. + +"What do you think, Anderson," said the former, "of our fellow- +traveller?" + +"A stout fellow," replied Anderson, "if all be good that is +upcome. I wish we had twenty such, to put our Teagues into some +sort of discipline." + +"I differ from you, Anderson," said Lord Menteith; "I think this +fellow Dalgetty is one of those horse-leeches, whose appetite for +blood being only sharpened by what he has sucked in foreign +countries, he is now returned to batten upon that of his own. +Shame on the pack of these mercenary swordmen! they have made the +name of Scot through all Europe equivalent to that of a pitiful +mercenary, who knows neither honour nor principle but his month's +pay, who transfers his allegiance from standard to standard, at +the pleasure of fortune or the highest bidder; and to whose +insatiable thirst for plunder and warm quarters we owe much of +that civil dissension which is now turning our swords against our +own bowels. I had scarce patience with the hired gladiator, and +yet could hardly help laughing at the extremity of his +impudence." + +"Your lordship will forgive me," said Anderson, "if I recommend +to you, in the present circumstances, to conceal at least a part +of this generous indignation; we cannot, unfortunately, do our +work without the assistance of those who act on baser motives +than our own. We cannot spare the assistance of such fellows as +our friend the soldado. To use the canting phrase of the saints +in the English Parliament, the sons of Zeruiah are still too many +for us." + +"I must dissemble, then, as well as I can," said Lord Menteith, +"as I have hitherto done, upon your hint. But I wish the fellow +at the devil with all my heart." + +"Ay, but still you must remember, my lord," resumed Anderson, +"that to cure the bite of a scorpion, you must crush another +scorpion on the wound--But stop, we shall be overheard." + +From a side-door in the hall glided a Highlander into the +apartment, whose lofty stature and complete equipment, as well as +the eagle's feather in his bonnet, and the confidence of his +demeanour, announced to be a person of superior rank. He walked +slowly up to the table, and made no answer to Lord Menteith, who, +addressing him by the name of Allan, asked him how he did. + +"Ye manna speak to her e'en now," whispered the old attendant. + +The tall Highlander, sinking down upon the empty settle next the +fire, fixed his eyes upon the red embers and the huge heap of +turf, and seemed buried in profound abstraction. His dark eyes, +and wild and enthusiastic features, bore the air of one who, +deeply impressed with his own subjects of meditation, pays little +attention to exterior objects. An air of gloomy severity, the +fruit perhaps of ascetic and solitary habits, might, in a +Lowlander, have been ascribed to religious fanaticism; but by +that disease of the mind, then so common both in England and the +Lowlands of Scotland, the Highlanders of this period were rarely +infected. They had, however, their own peculiar superstitions, +which overclouded the mind with thick-coming fancies, as +completely as the puritanism of their neighbours. + +"His lordship's honour," said the Highland servant sideling up to +Lord Menteith, and speaking in a very low tone, "his lordship +manna speak to Allan even now, for the cloud is upon his mind." + +Lord Menteith nodded, and took no farther notice of the reserved +mountaineer. + +"Said I not," asked the latter, suddenly raising his stately +person upright, and looking at the domestic--"said I not that +four were to come, and here stand but three on the hall floor?" + +"In troth did ye say sae, Allan," said the old Highlander, "and +here's the fourth man coming clinking in at the yett e'en now +from the stable, for he's shelled like a partan, wi' airn on back +and breast, haunch and shanks. And am I to set her chair up near +the Menteith's, or down wi' the honest gentlemen at the foot of +the table?" + +Lord Menteith himself answered the enquiry, by pointing to a seat +beside his own. + +"And here she comes," said Donald, as Captain Dalgetty entered +the hall; "and I hope gentlemens will all take bread and cheese, +as we say in the glens, until better meat be ready, until the +Tiernach comes back frae the hill wi' the southern gentlefolk, +and then Dugald Cook will show himself wi' his kid and hill +venison.'' + +In the meantime, Captain Dalgetty had entered the apartment, and +walking up to the seat placed next Lord Menteith, was leaning on +the back of it with his arms folded. Anderson and his companion +waited at the bottom of the table, in a respectful attitude, +until they should receive permission to seat themselves; while +three or four Highlanders, under the direction of old Donald, ran +hither and thither to bring additional articles of food, or stood +still to give attendance upon the guests. + +In the midst of these preparations, Allan suddenly started up, +and snatching a lamp from the hand of an attendant, held it close +to Dalgetty's face, while he perused his features with the most +heedful and grave attention. + +"By my honour," said Dalgetty, half displeased, as, mysteriously +shaking his head, Allan gave up the scrutiny--"I trow that lad +and I will ken each other when we meet again." + +Meanwhile Allan strode to the bottom of the table, and having, by +the aid of his lamp, subjected Anderson and his companion to the +same investigation, stood a moment as if in deep reflection; +then, touching his forehead, suddenly seized Anderson by the arm, +and before he could offer any effectual resistance, half led and +half dragged him to the vacant seat at the upper end, and having +made a mute intimation that he should there place himself, he +hurried the soldado with the same unceremonious precipitation to +the bottom of the table. The Captain, exceedingly incensed at +this freedom, endeavoured to shake Allan from him with violence; +but, powerful as he was, he proved in the struggle inferior to +the gigantic mountaineer, who threw him off with such violence, +that after reeling a few paces, he fell at full length, and the +vaulted hall rang with the clash of his armour. When he arose, +his first action was to draw his sword and to fly at Allan, who, +with folded arms, seemed to await his onset with the most +scornful indifference. Lord Menteith and his attendants +interposed to preserve peace, while the Highlanders, snatching +weapons from the wall, seemed prompt to increase the broil. + +"He is mad," whispered Lord Menteith, "he is perfectly mad; there +is no purpose in quarrelling with him." + +"If your lordship is assured that he is NON COMPOS MENTIS," said +Captain Dalgetty, "the whilk his breeding and behaviour seem to +testify, the matter must end here, seeing that a madman can +neither give an affront, nor render honourable satisfaction. +But, by my saul, if I had my provstnt and a bottle of Rhenish +under my belt, I should hive stood otherways up to him. And yet +it's a pity he should be sae weak in the intellectuals, being a +strong proper man of body, fit to handle pike, morgenstern, or +any other military implement whatsoever." [This was a sort of +club or mace, used in the earlier part of the seventeenth century +in the defence of breaches and walls. When the Germans insulted +a Scotch regiment then besieged in Trailsund, saying they heard +there was a ship come from Denmark to them laden with tobacco +pipes, "One of our soldiers," says Colonel Robert Munro, "showing +them over the work a morgenstern, made of a large stock banded +with iron, like the shaft of a halberd, with a round globe at the +end with cross iron pikes, saith, 'Here is one of the tobacco +pipes, wherewith we will beat out your brains when you intend to +storm us.'"] + +Peace was thus restored, and the party seated themselves +agreeably to their former arrangement, with which Allan, who had +now returned to his settle by the fire, and seemed once more +immersed in meditation, did not again interfere. Lord Menteith, +addressing the principal domestic, hastened to start some theme +of conversation which might obliterate all recollection of the +fray that had taken place. "The laird is at the hill then, +Donald, I understand, and some English strangers with him?" + +"At the hill he is, an it like your honour, and two Saxon +calabaleros are with him sure eneugh; and that is Sir Miles +Musgrave and Christopher Hall, both from the Cumraik, as I think +they call their country." + +"Hall and Musgrave?" said Lord Menteith, looking at his +attendants, "the very men that we wished to see." + +"Troth," said Donald, "an' I wish I had never seen them between +the een, for they're come to herry us out o' house and ha'." + +"Why, Donald," said Lord Menteith, "you did not use to be so +churlish of your beef and ale; southland though they be, they'll +scarce eat up all the cattle that's going on the castle mains." + +"Teil care an they did," said Donald, "an that were the warst +o't, for we have a wheen canny trewsmen here that wadna let us +want if there was a horned beast atween this and Perth. But this +is a warse job--it's nae less than a wager." + +"A wager!" repeated Lord Menteith, with some surprise. + +"Troth," continued Donald, to the full as eager to tell his news +as Lord Menteith was curious to hear them, "as your lordship is a +friend and kinsman o' the house, an' as ye'll hear eneugh o't in +less than an hour, I may as weel tell ye mysell. Ye sall be +pleased then to know, that when our Laird was up in England where +he gangs oftener than his friends can wish, he was biding at the +house o' this Sir Miles Musgrave, an' there was putten on the +table six candlesticks, that they tell me were twice as muckle as +the candlesticks in Dunblane kirk, and neither airn, brass, nor +tin, but a' solid silver, nae less;--up wi' their English pride, +has sae muckle, and kens sae little how to guide it! Sae they +began to jeer the Laird, that he saw nae sic graith in his ain +poor country; and the Laird, scorning to hae his country put down +without a word for its credit, swore, like a gude Scotsman, that +he had mair candlesticks, and better candlesticks, in his ain +castle at hame, than were ever lighted in a hall in Cumberland, +an Cumberland be the name o' the country." + +"That was patriotically said," observed Lord Menteith. + +"Fary true," said Donald; "but her honour had better hae hauden +her tongue: for if ye say ony thing amang the Saxons that's a +wee by ordinar, they clink ye down for a wager as fast as a +Lowland smith would hammer shoon on a Highland shelty. An' so +the Laird behoved either to gae back o' his word, or wager twa +hunder merks; and sa he e'en tock the wager, rather than be +shamed wi' the like o' them. And now he's like to get it to pay, +and I'm thinking that's what makes him sae swear to come hame at +e'en." + +"Indeed," said Lord Menteith, "from my idea of your family plate, +Donald, your master is certain to lose such a wager." + +"Your honour may swear that; an' where he's to get the siller I +kenna, although he borrowed out o' twenty purses. I advised him +to pit the twa Saxon gentlemen and their servants cannily into +the pit o' the tower till they gae up the bagain o' free gude- +will, but the Laird winna hear reason." + +Allan here started up, strode forward, and interrupted the +conversation, saying to the domestic in a voice like thunder, +"And how dared you to give my brother such dishonourable advice? +or how dare you to say he will lose this or any other wager which +it is his pleasure to lay?" + +"Troth, Allan M'Aulay," answered the old man, "it's no for my +father's son to gainsay what your father's son thinks fit to say, +an' so the Laird may no doubt win his wager. A' that I ken +against it is, that the teil a candlestick, or ony thing like it, +is in the house, except the auld airn branches that has been here +since Laird Kenneth's time, and the tin sconces that your father +gard be made by auld Willie Winkie the tinkler, mair be token +that deil an unce of siller plate is about the house at a', forby +the lady's auld posset dish, that wants the cover and ane o' the +lugs." + +"Peace, old man!" said Allan, fiercely; "and do you, gentlemen, +if your refection is finished, leave this apartment clear; I must +prepare it for the reception of these southern guests." + +"Come away," said the domestic, pulling Lord Menteith by the +sleeve; "his hour is on him," said he, looking towards Allan, +"and he will not be controlled." + +They left the hall accordingly, Lord Menteith and the Captain +being ushered one way by old Donald, and the two attendants +conducted elsewhere by another Highlander. The former had +scarcely reached a sort of withdrawing apartment ere they were +joined by the lord of the mansion, Angus M'Aulay by name, and his +English guests. Great joy was expressed by all parties, for Lord +Menteith and the English gentlemen were well known to each other; +and on Lord Menteith's introduction, Captain Dalgetty was well +received by the Laird. But after the first burst of hospitable +congratulation was over, Lord Menteith could observe that there +was a shade of sadness on the brow of his Highland friend. + +"You must have heard," said Sir Christopher Hall, "that our fine +undertaking in Cumberland is all blown up. The militia would not +march into Scotland, and your prick-ear'd Covenanters have been +too hard for our friends in the southern shires. And so, +understanding there is some stirring work here, Musgrave and I, +rather than sit idle at home, are come to have a campaign among +your kilts and plaids." + +"I hope you have brought arms, men, and money with you," said +Lord Menteith, smiling. + +"Only some dozen or two of troopers, whom we left at the last +Lowland village," said Musgrave, "and trouble enough we had to +get them so far." + +"As for money," said his companion, "We expect a small supply +from our friend and host here." + +The Laird now, colouring highly, took Menteith a little apart, +and expressed to him his regret that he had fallen into a foolish +blunder. + +"I heard it from Donald," said Lord Menteith, scarce able to +suppress a smile. + +"Devil take that old man," said M'Aulay, "he would tell every +thing, were it to cost one's life; but it's no jesting matter to +you neither, my lord, for I reckon on your friendly and fraternal +benevolence, as a near kinsman of our house, to help me out with +the money due to these pock-puddings; or else, to be plain wi' +ye, the deil a M'Aulay will there be at the muster, for curse me +if I do not turn Covenanter rather than face these fellows +without paying them; and, at the best, I shall be ill enough off, +getting both the scaith and the scorn." + +"You may suppose, cousin," said Lord Menteith, "I am not too well +equipt just now; but you may be assured I shall endeavour to help +you as well as I can, for the sake of old kindred, neighbourhood, +and alliance." + +"Thank ye--thank ye--thank ye," reiterated M'Aulay; "and as they +are to spend the money in the King's service, what signifies +whether you, they, or I pay it?--we are a' one man's bairns, I +hope? But you must help me out too with some reasonable excuse, +or else I shall be for taking to Andrew Ferrara; for I like not +to be treated like a liar or a braggart at my own board-end, +when, God knows, I only meant to support my honour, and that of +my family and country. + +Donald, as they were speaking, entered, with rather a blither +face than he might have been expected to wear, considering the +impending fate of his master's purse and credit. "Gentlemens, +her dinner is ready, and HER CANDLES ARE LIGHTED TOO," said +Donald, with a strong guttural emphasis on the last clause of his +speech. + +"What the devil can he mean?" said Musgrave, looking to his +countryman. + +Lord Menteith put the same question with his eyes to the Laird, +which M'Aulay answered by shaking his head. + +A short dispute about precedence somewhat delayed their leaving +the apartment. Lord Menteith insisted upon yielding up that +which belonged to his rank, on consideration of his being in his +own country, and of his near connexion with the family in which +they found themselves. The two English strangers, therefore, +were first ushered into the hall, where an unexpected display +awaited them. The large oaken table was spread with substantial +joints of meat, and seats were placed in order for the guests. +Behind every seat stood a gigantic Highlander, completely dressed +and armed after the fashion of his country, holding in his right +hand his drawn sword, with the point turned downwards, and in the +left a blazing torch made of the bog-pine. This wood, found in +the morasses, is so full of turpentine, that, when split and +dried, it is frequently used in the Highlands instead of candles. +The unexpected and somewhat startling apparition was seen by the +red glare of the torches, which displayed the wild features, +unusual dress, and glittering arms of those who bore them, while +the smoke, eddying up to the roof of the hall, over-canopied them +with a volume of vapour. Ere the strangers had recovered from +their surprise, Allan stept forward, and pointing with his +sheathed broadsword to the torch-bearers, said, in a deep and +stern tone of voice, "Behold, gentlemen cavaliers, the +chandeliers of my brother's house, the ancient fashion of our +ancient name; not one of these men knows any law but their Chiefs +command--Would you dare to compare to THEM in value the richest +ore that ever was dug out of the mine? How say you, cavaliers? +--is your wager won or lost?" + +"Lost; lost," said Musgrave, gaily--"my own silver candlesticks +are all melted and riding on horseback by this time, and I wish +the fellows that enlisted were half as trusty as these.--Here, +sir," he added to the Chief, "is your money; it impairs Hall's +finances and mine somewhat, but debts of honour must be settled." + +"My father's curse upon my father's son," said Allan, +interrupting him, "if he receive from you one penny! It is +enough that you claim no right to exact from him what is his +own." + +Lord Menteith eagerly supported Allan's opinion, and the elder +M'Aulay readily joined, declaring the whole to be a fool's +business, and not worth speaking more about. The Englishmen, +after some courteous opposition, were persuaded to regard the +whole as a joke. + +"And now, Allan," said the Laird, "please to remove your candles; +for, since the Saxon gentlemen have seen them, they will eat +their dinner as comfortably by the light of the old tin sconces, +without scomfishing them with so much smoke." + +Accordingly, at a sign from Allan, the living chandeliers, +recovering their broadswords, and holding the point erect, +marched out of the hall, and left the guests to enjoy their +refreshment. [Such a bet as that mentioned in the text is said +to have been taken by MacDonald of Keppoch, who extricated +himself in the manner there narrated.] + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Thareby so fearlesse and so fell he grew, +That his own syre and maister of his guise +Did often tremble at his horrid view; +And if for dread of hurt would him advise, +The angry beastes not rashly to despise, +Nor too much to provoke; for he would learne +The lion stoup to him in lowly wise, +(A lesson hard,) and make the libbard sterne +Leave roaring, when in rage he for revenge did earne. SPENSER. + +Notwithstanding the proverbial epicurism of the English, +--proverbial, that is to say, in Scotland at the period,--the +English visitors made no figure whatever at the entertainment, +compared with the portentous voracity of Captain Dalgetty, +although that gallant soldier had already displayed much +steadiness and pertinacity in his attack upon the lighter +refreshment set before them at their entrance, by way of forlorn +hope. He spoke to no one during the time of his meal; and it was +not until the victuals were nearly withdrawn from the table, that +he gratified the rest of the company, who had watched him with +some surprise, with an account of the reasons why he ate so very +fast and so very long. + +"The former quality," he said, "he had acquired, while he filled +a place at the bursar's table at the Mareschal-College of +Aberdeen; when," said he; "if you did not move your jaws as fast +as a pair of castanets, you were very unlikely to get any thing +to put between them. And as for the quantity of my food, be it +known to this honourable company," continued the Captain, "that +it's the duty of every commander of a fortress, on all occasions +which offer, to secure as much munition and vivers as their +magazines can possibly hold, not knowing when they may have to +sustain a siege or a blockade. Upon which principle, gentlemen," +said he, "when a cavalier finds that provant is good and +abundant, he will, in my estimation, do wisely to victual himself +for at least three days, as there is no knowing when he may come +by another meal." + +The Laird expressed his acquiescence in the prudence of this +principle, and recommended to the veteran to add a tass of brandy +and a flagon of claret to the substantial provisions he had +already laid in, to which proposal the Captain readily agreed. + +When dinner was removed, and the servants had withdrawn, +excepting the Laird's page, or henchman, who remained in the +apartment to call for or bring whatever was wanted, or, in a +word, to answer the purposes of a modern bell-wire, the +conversation began to turn upon politics, and the state of the +country; and Lord Menteith enquired anxiously and particularly +what clans were expected to join the proposed muster of the +King's friends. + +"That depends much, my lord, on the person who lifts the banner," +said the Laird; "for you know we Highlanders, when a few clans +are assembled, are not easily commanded by one of our own Chiefs, +or, to say the truth, by any other body. We have heard a rumour, +indeed, that Colkitto--that is, young Colkitto, or Alaster +M'Donald, is come over the Kyle from Ireland, with a body of the +Earl of Antrim's people, and that they had got as far as +Ardnamurchan. They might have been here before now, but, I +suppose, they loitered to plunder the country as they came +along." + +"Will Colkitto not serve you for a leader, then?" said Lord +Menteith. + +"Colkitto?" said Allan M'Aulay, scornfully; "who talks of +Colkitto?--There lives but one man whom we will follow, and that +is Montrose." + +"But Montrose, sir," said Sir Christopher Hall, "has not been +heard of since our ineffectual attempt to rise in the north of +England. It is thought he has returned to the King at Oxford for +farther instructions." + +"Returned!" said Allan, with a scornful laugh; "I could tell ye, +but it is not worth my while; ye will know soon enough." + +"By my honour, Allan," said Lord Menteith, "you will weary out +your friends with this intolerable, froward, and sullen humour +--But I know the reason," added he, laughing; "you have not seen +Annot Lyle to-day." + +"Whom did you say I had not seen?" said Allan, sternly. + +"Annot Lyle, the fairy queen of song and minstrelsy," said Lord +Menteith. + +"Would to God I were never to see her again," said Allan, +sighing, "On condition the same weird were laid on you!" + +"And why on me?" said Lord Menteith, carelessly. + +"Because," said Allan, "it is written on your forehead, that you +are to be the ruin of each other." So saying, he rose up and +left the room. + +"Has he been long in this way?" asked Lord Menteith, addressing +his brother. + +"About three days," answered Angus; "the fit is wellnigh over, he +will be better to-morrow.--But come, gentlemen, don't let the +tappit-hen scraugh to be emptied. The King's health, King +Charles's health! and may the covenanting dog that refuses it, +go to Heaven by the road of the Grassmarket!" + +The health was quickly pledged, and as fast succeeded by another, +and another, and another, all of a party cast, and enforced in +an earnest manner. Captain Dalgetty, however, thought it +necessary to enter a protest. + +"Gentlemen cavaliers," he said, "I drink these healths, PRIMO, +both out of respect to this honourable and hospitable roof-tree, +and, SECUNDO, because I hold it not good to be preceese in such +matters, INTER POCULA; but I protest, agreeable to the warrandice +granted by this honourable lord, that it shall be free to me, +notwithstanding my present complaisance, to take service with the +Covenanters to-morrow, providing I shall be so minded." + +M'Aulay and his English guests stared at this declaration, which +would have certainly bred new disturbance, if Lord Menteith had +not taken up the affair, and explained the circumstances and +conditions. "I trust," he concluded, "we shall be able to secure +Captain Dalgetty's assistance to our own party." + +"And if not," said the Laird, "I protest, as the Captain says, +that nothing that has passed this evening, not even his having +eaten my bread and salt, and pledged me in brandy, Bourdeaux, or +usquebaugh, shall prejudice my cleaving him to the neck-bone." + +"You shall be heartily welcome," said the Captain, "providing my +sword cannot keep my head, which it has done in worse dangers +than your fend is likely to make for me." + +Here Lord Menteith again interposed, and the concord of the +company being with no small difficulty restored, was cemented by +some deep carouses. Lord Menteith, however, contrived to break +up the party earlier than was the usage of the Castle, under +pretence of fatigue and indisposition. This was somewhat to the +disappointment of the valiant Captain, who, among other habits +acquired in the Low countries, had acquired both a disposition to +drink, and a capacity to bear, an exorbitant quantity of strong +liquors. + +Their landlord ushered them in person to a sort of sleeping +gallery, in which there was a four-post bed, with tartan +curtains, and a number of cribs, or long hampers, placed along +the wall, three of which, well stuffed with blooming heather, +were prepared for the reception of guests. + +"I need not tell your lordship," said M'Aulay to Lord Menteith, a +little apart, "our Highland mode of quartering. Only that, not +liking you should sleep in the room alone with this German land- +louper, I have caused your servants' beds to be made here in the +gallery. By G--d, my lord, these are times when men go to bed +with a throat hale and sound as ever swallowed brandy, and before +next morning it may be gaping like an oyster-shell." + +Lord Menteith thanked him sincerely, saying, "It was just the +arrangement he would have requested; for, although he had not the +least apprehension of violence from Captain Dalgetty, yet +Anderson was a better kind of person, a sort of gentleman, whom +he always liked to have near his person." + +"I have not seen this Anderson," said M'Aulay; "did you hire him +in England?" + +"I did so," said Lord Menteith; "you will see the man to-morrow; +in the meantime I wish you good-night." + +His host left the apartment after the evening salutation, and was +about to pay the same compliment to Captain Dalgetty, but +observing him deeply engaged in the discussion of a huge pitcher +filled with brandy posset, he thought it a pity to disturb him in +so laudable an employment, and took his leave without farther +ceremony. + +Lord Menteith's two attendants entered the apartment almost +immediately after his departure. The good Captain, who was now +somewhat encumbered with his good cheer, began to find the +undoing of the clasps of his armour a task somewhat difficult, +and addressed Anderson in these words, interrupted by a slight +hiccup,--"Anderson, my good friend, you may read in Scripture, +that he that putteth off his armour should not boast himself like +he that putteth it on--I believe that is not the right word of +command; but the plain truth of it is, I am like to sleep in my +corslet, like many an honest fellow that never waked again, +unless you unloose this buckle." + +"Undo his armour, Sibbald," said Anderson to the other servant. + +"By St. Andrew!" exclaimed the Captain, turning round in great +astonishment, "here's a common fellow--a stipendiary with four +pounds a-year and a livery cloak, thinks himself too good to +serve Ritt-master Dugald Dalgetty of Drumthwacket, who has +studied humanity at the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, and served +half the princes of Europe!" + +"Captain Dalgetty," said Lord Menteith, whose lot it was to stand +peacemaker throughout the evening, "please to understand that +Anderson waits upon no one but myself; but I will help Sibbald to +undo your corslet with much pleasure." + +"Too much trouble for you, my lord," said Dalgetty; "and yet it +would do you no harm to practise how a handsome harness is put on +and put off. I can step in and out of mine like a glove; only +to-night, although not EBRIUS, I am, in the classic phrase, VINO +CIBOQUE GRAVATUS." + +By this time he was unshelled, and stood before the fire musing +with a face of drunken wisdom on the events of the evening. What +seemed chiefly to interest him, was the character of Allan +M'Aulay. "To come over the Englishmen so cleverly with his +Highland torch-bearers--eight bare-breeched Rories for six silver +candlesticks!--it was a master-piece--a TOUR DE PASSE--it was +perfect legerdemain--and to be a madman after all!--I doubt +greatly, my lord" (shaking his head), "that I must allow him, +notwithstanding his relationship to your lordship, the privileges +of a rational person, and either batoon him sufficiently to +expiate the violence offered to my person, or else bring it to a +matter of mortal arbitrement, as becometh an insulted cavalier." + +"If you care to hear a long story," said Lord Menteith, at this +time of night, I can tell you how the circumstances of Allan's +birth account so well for his singular character, as to put such +satisfaction entirely out of the question." + +"A long story, my lord," said Captain Dalgetty, "is, next to a +good evening draught and a warm nightcap, the best shoeinghorn +for drawing on a sound sleep. And since your lordship is pleased +to take the trouble to tell it, I shall rest your patient and +obliged auditor." + +"Anderson," said Lord Menteith, "and you, Sibbald, are dying to +hear, I suppose, of this strange man too! and I believe I must +indulge your curiosity, that you may know how to behave to him in +time of need. You had better step to the fire then." + +Having thus assembled an audience about him, Lord Menteith sat +down upon the edge of the four-post bed, while Captain Dalgetty, +wiping the relics of the posset from his beard and mustachoes, +and repeating the first verse of the Lutheran psalm, ALLE GUTER +GEISTER LOBEN DEN HERRN, etc. rolled himself into one of the +places of repose, and thrusting his shock pate from between the +blankets, listened to Lord Menteith's relation in a most +luxurious state, between sleeping and waking. + +"The father," said Lord Menteith, "of the two brothers, Angus and +Allan M'Aulay, was a gentleman of consideration and family, being +the chief of a Highland clan, of good account, though not +numerous; his lady, the mother of these young men, was a +gentlewoman of good family, if I may be permitted to say so of +one nearly connected with my own. Her brother, an honourable and +spirited young man, obtained from James the Sixth a grant of +forestry, and other privileges, over a royal chase adjacent to +this castle; and, in exercising and defending these rights, he +was so unfortunate as to involve himself in a quarrel with some +of our Highland freebooters or caterans, of whom I think, Captain +Dalgetty, you must have heard." + +"And that I have," said the Captain, exerting himself to answer +the appeal. "Before I left the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, +Dugald Garr was playing the devil in the Garioch, and the +Farquharsons on Dee-side, and the Clan Chattan on the Gordons' +lands, and the Grants and Camerons in Moray-land. And since +that, I have seen the Cravats and Pandours in Pannonia and +Transylvania, and the Cossacks from the Polish frontier, and +robbers, banditti, and barbarians of all countries besides, so +that I have a distinct idea of your broken Highlandmen." + +"The clan," said Lord Menteith, "with whom the maternal uncle of +the M'Aulays had been placed in feud, was a small sept of +banditti, called, from their houseless state, and their +incessantly wandering among the mountains and glens, the Children +of the Mist. They are a fierce and hardy people, with all the +irritability, and wild and vengeful passions, proper to men who +have never known the restraint of civilized society. A party of +them lay in wait for the unfortunate Warden of the Forest, +surprised him while hunting alone and unattended, and slew him +with every circumstance of inventive cruelty. They cut off his +head, and resolved, in a bravado, to exhibit it at the castle of +his brother-in-law. The laird was absent, and the lady +reluctantly received as guests, men against whom, perhaps, she +was afraid to shut her gates. Refreshments were placed before +the Children of the Mist, who took an opportunity to take the +head of their victim from the plaid in which it was wrapt, placed +it on the table, put a piece of bread between the lifeless jaws, +bidding them do their office now, since many a good meal they had +eaten at that table. The lady, who had been absent for some +household purpose, entered at this moment, and, upon beholding +her brother's head, fled like an arrow out of the house into the +woods, uttering shriek upon shriek. The ruffians, satisfied with +this savage triumph, withdrew. The terrified menials, after +overcoming the alarm to which they had been subjected, sought +their unfortunate mistress in every direction, but she was +nowhere to be found. The miserable husband returned next day, +and, with the assistance of his people, undertook a more anxious +and distant search, but to equally little purpose. It was +believed universally, that, in the ecstasy of her terror, she +must either have thrown herself over one of the numerous +precipices which overhang the river, or into a deep lake about a +mile from the castle. Her loss was the more lamented, as she was +six months advanced in her pregnancy; Angus M'Aulay, her eldest +son, having been born about eighteen months before.--But I tire +you, Captain Dalgetty, and you seem inclined to sleep." + +"By no means," answered the soldier; "I am no whit somnolent; I +always hear best with my eyes shut. It is a fashion I learned +when I stood sentinel." + +"And I daresay," said Lord Menteith, aside to Anderson, "the +weight of the halberd of the sergeant of the rounds often made +him open them." + +Being apparently, however, in the humour of story-telling, the +young nobleman went on, addressing himself chiefly to his +servants, without minding the slumbering veteran. + +"Every baron in the country," said he, "now swore revenge for +this dreadful crime. They took arms with the relations and +brother-in-law of the murdered person, and the Children of the +Mist were hunted down, I believe, with as little mercy as they +had themselves manifested. Seventeen heads, the bloody trophies +of their vengeance, were distributed among the allies, and fed +the crows upon the gates of their castles. The survivors sought +out more distant wildernesses, to which they retreated." + +"To your right hand, counter-march and retreat to your former +ground," said Captain Dalgetty; the military phrase having +produced the correspondent word of command; and then starting up, +professed he had been profoundly atttentive to every word that +had been spoken. + +"It is the custom in summer," said Lord Menteith, without +attending to his apology, "to send the cows to the upland +pastures to have the benefit of the grass; and the maids of the +village, and of the family, go there to milk them in the morning +and evening. While thus employed, the females of this family, to +their great terror, perceived that their motions were watched at +a distance by a pale, thin, meagre figure, bearing a strong +resemblance to their deceased mistress, and passing, of course, +for her apparition. When some of the boldest resolved to +approach this faded form, it fled from them into the woods with a +wild shriek. The husband, informed of this circumstance, came up +to the glen with some attendants, and took his measures so well +as to intercept the retreat of the unhappy fugitive, and to +secure the person of his unfortunate lady, though her intellect +proved to be totally deranged. How she supported herself during +her wandering in the woods could not be known--some supposed she +lived upon roots and wild-berries, with which the woods at that +season abounded; but the greater part of the vulgar were +satisfied that she must have subsisted upon the milk of the wild +does, or been nourished by the fairies, or supported in some +manner equally marvellous. Her re-appearance was more easily +accounted for. She had seen from the thicket the milking of the +cows, to superintend which had been her favourite domestic +employment, and the habit had prevailed even in her deranged +state of mind. + +"In due season the unfortunate lady was delivered of a boy, who +not only showed no appearance of having suffered from his +mother's calamities, but appeared to be an infant of uncommon +health and strength. The unhappy mother, after her confinement, +recovered her reason--at least in a great measure, but never her +health and spirits. Allan was her only joy. Her attention to +him was unremitting; and unquestionably she must have impressed +upon his early mind many of those superstitious ideas to which +his moody and enthusiastic temper gave so ready a reception. She +died when he was about ten years old. Her last words were spoken +to him in private; but there is little doubt that they conveyed +an injunction of vengeance upon the Children of the Mist, with +which he has since amply complied. + +"From this moment, the habits of Allan M'Aulay were totally +changed. He had hitherto been his mother's constant companion, +listening to her dreams, and repeating his own, and feeding his +imagination, which, probably from the circumstances preceding his +birth, was constitutionally deranged, with all the wild and +terrible superstitions so common to the mountaineers, to which +his unfortunate mother had become much addicted since her +brother's death. By living in this manner, the boy had gotten a +timid, wild, startled look, loved to seek out solitary places in +the woods, and was never so much terrified, as by the approach of +children of the same age. I remember, although some years +younger, being brought up here by my father upon a visit, nor can +I forget the astonishment with which I saw this infant-hermit +shun every attempt I made to engage him in the sports natural to +our age. I can remember his father bewailing his disposition to +mine, and alleging, at the same time, that it was impossible for +him to take from his wife the company of the boy, as he seemed to +be the only consolation that remained to her in this world, and +as the amusement which Allan's society afforded her seemed to +prevent the recurrence, at least in its full force, of that +fearful malady by which she had been visited. But, after the +death of his mother, the habits and manners of the boy seemed at +once to change. It is true he remained as thoughtful and serious +as before; and long fits of silence and abstraction showed +plainly that his disposition, in this respect, was in no degree +altered. But at other times, he sought out the rendezvous of the +youth of the c]an, which he had hitherto seemed anxious to avoid. +He took share in all their exercises; and, from his very +extraordinary personal strength, soon excelled his brother and +other youths, whose age considerably exceeded his own. They who +had hitherto held him in contempt, now feared, if they did not +love him; and, instead of Allan's being esteemed a dreaming, +womanish, and feeble-minded boy, those who encountered him in +sports or military exercise, now complained that, when heated by +the strife, he was too apt to turn game into earnest, and to +forget that he was only engaged in a friendly trial of strength. +--But I speak to regardless ears," said Lord Menteith, +interrupting himself, for the Captain's nose now gave the most +indisputable signs that he was fast locked in the arms of +oblivion. + +"If you mean the ears of that snorting swine, my lord," said +Anderson, "they are, indeed, shut to anything that you can say; +nevertheless, this place being unfit for more private conference, +I hope you will have the goodness to proceed, for Sibbald's +benefit and for mine. The history of this poor young fellow has +a deep and wild interest in it." + +"You must know, then," proceeded Lord Menteith, "that Allan +continued to increase in strength and activity, till his +fifteenth year, about which time he assumed a total independence +of character, and impatience of control, which much alarmed his +surviving parent. He was absent in the woods for whole days and +nights, under pretence of hunting, though he did not always bring +home game. His father was the more alarmed, because several of +the Children of the Mist, encouraged by the increasing troubles +of the state, had ventured back to their old haunts, nor did he +think it altogether safe to renew any attack upon them. The risk +of Allan, in his wanderings, sustaining injury from these +vindictive freebooters, was a perpetual source of apprehension. + +"I was myself upon a visit to the castle when this matter was +brought to a crisis. Allan had been absent since day-break in +the woods, where I had sought for him in vain; it was a dark +stormy night, and he did not return. His father expressed the +utmost anxiety, and spoke of detaching a party at the dawn of +morning in quest of him; when, as we were sitting at the supper- +table, the door suddenly opened, and Allan entered the room with +a proud, firm, and confident air. His intractability of temper, +as well as the unsettled state of his mind, had such an influence +over his father, that he suppressed all other tokens of +displeasure, excepting the observation that I had killed a fat +buck, and had returned before sunset, while he supposed Allan, +who had been on the hill till midnight, had returned with empty +hands. 'Are you sure of that?' said Allan, fiercely; 'here is +something will tell you another tale.' + +"We now observed his hands were bloody, and that there were spots +of blood on his face, and waited the issue with impatience; when +suddenly, undoing the comer of his plaid, he rolled down on the +table a human head, bloody and new severed, saying at the same +time, 'Lie thou where the head of a better man lay before ye.' +From the haggard features, and matted red hair and beard, partly +grizzled with age, his father and others present recognised the +head of Hector of the Mist, a well-known leader among the +outlaws, redoubted for strength and ferocity, who had been active +in the murder of the unfortunate Forester, uncle to Allan, and +had escaped by a desperate defence and extraordinary agility, +when so many of his companions were destroyed. We were all, it +may be believed, struck with surprise, but Allan refused to +gratify our curiosity; and we only conjectured that he must have +overcome the outlaw after a desperate struggle, because we +discovered that he had sustained several wounds from the contest. +All measures were now taken to ensure him against the vengeance +of the freebooters; but neither his wounds, nor the positive +command of his father, nor even the locking of the gates of the +castle and the doors of his apartment, were precautions adequate +to prevent Allan from seeking out the very persons to whom he was +peculiarly obnoxious. He made his escape by night from the +window of the apartment, and laughing at his father's vain care, +produced on one occasion the head of one, and upon another those +of two, of the Children of the Mist. At length these men, fierce +as they were, became appalled by the inveterate animosity and +audacity with which Allan sought out their recesses. As he never +hesitated to encounter any odds, they concluded that he must bear +a charmed life, or fight under the guardianship of some +supernatural influence. Neither gun, dirk, nor dourlach +[DOURLACH--quiver; literally, satchel--of arrows.], they said, +availed aught against him. They imputed this to the remarkable +circumstances under which he was born; and at length five or six +of the stoutest caterans of the Highlands would have fled at +Allan's halloo, or the blast of his horn. + +"In the meanwhile, however, the Children of the Mist carried on +their old trade, and did the M'Aulays, as well as their kinsmen +and allies, as much mischief as they could. This provoked +another expedition against the tribe, in which I had my share; we +surprised them effectually, by besetting at once the upper and +under passes of the country, and made such clean work as is usual +on these occasions, burning and slaying right before us. In this +terrible species of war, even the females and the helpless do not +always escape. One little maiden alone, who smiled upon Allan's +drawn dirk, escaped his vengeance upon my earnest entreaty. She +was brought to the castle, and here bred up under the name of +Annot Lyle, the most beautiful little fairy certainly that ever +danced upon a heath by moonlight. It was long ere Allan could +endure the presence of the child, until it occurred to his +imagination, from her features perhaps, that she did not belong +to the hated blood of his enemies, but had become their captive +in some of their incursions; a circumstance not in itself +impossible, but in which he believes as firmly as in holy writ. +He is particularly delighted by her skill in music, which is so +exquisite, that she far exceeds the best performers in this +country in playing on the clairshach, or harp. It was discovered +that this produced upon the disturbed spirits of Allan, in his +gloomiest moods, beneficial effects, similar to those experienced +by the Jewish monarch of old; and so engaging is the temper of +Annot Lyle, so fascinating the innocence and gaiety of her +disposition, that she is considered and treated in the castle +rather as the sister of the proprietor, than as a dependent upon +his charity. Indeed, it is impossible for any one to see her +without being deeply interested by the ingenuity, liveliness, and +sweetness of her disposition." + +"Take care, my lord," said Anderson, smiling; "there is danger in +such violent commendations. Allan M'Aulay, as your lordship +describes him, would prove no very safe rival." + +"Pooh! pooh!" said Lord Menteith, laughing, yet blushing at the +same time; "Allan is not accessible to the passion of love; and +for myself," said he, more gravely; "Annot's unknown birth is a +sufficient reason against serious designs, and her unprotected +state precludes every other." + +"It is spoken like yourself, my lord," said Anderson.--"But I +trust you will proceed with your interesting story." + +"It is wellnigh finished," said Lord Menteith; "I have only to +add, that from the great strength and courage of Allan M'Aulay, +from his energetic and uncontrollable disposition, and from an +opinion generally entertained and encouraged by himself that he +holds communion with supernatural beings, and can predict future +events, the clan pay a much greater degree of deference to him +than even to his brother, who is a bold-hearted rattling +Highlander, but with nothing which can possibly rival the +extraordinary character of his younger brother." + +"Such a character," said Anderson, "cannot but have the deepest +effect on the minds of a Highland host. We must secure Allan, my +lord, at all events. What between his bravery and his second +sight--" + +"Hush!" said Lord Menteith, "that owl is awaking." + +"Do you talk of the second sight, or DEUTERO-SCOPIA?" said the +soldier; "I remember memorable Major Munro telling me how Murdoch +Mackenzie, born in Assint, a private gentleman in a company, and +a pretty soldier, foretold the death of Donald Tough, a Lochaber +man, and certain other persons, as well as the hurt of the major +himself at a sudden onfall at the siege of Trailsund." + +"I have often heard of this faculty," observed Anderson, "but I +have always thought those pretending to it were either +enthusiasts or impostors." + +"I should be loath," said Lord Menteith, "to apply either +character to my kinsman, Allan M'Aulay. He has shown on many +occasions too much acuteness and sense, of which you this night +had an instance, for the character of an enthusiast; and his high +sense of honour, and manliness of disposition, free him from the +charge of imposture." + +"Your lordship, then," said Anderson, "is a believer in his +supernatural attributes?" + +"By no means," said the young nobleman; "I think that he +persuades himself that the predictions which are, in reality, the +result of judgment and reflection, are supernatural impressions +on his mind, just as fanatics conceive the workings of their own +imagination to be divine inspiration--at least, if this will not +serve you, Anderson, I have no better explanation to give; and it +is time we were all asleep after the toilsome journey of the +day." + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Coming events cast their shadows before. CAMPBELL. + +At an early hour in the morning the guests of the castle sprung +from their repose; and, after a moment's private conversation +with his attendants, Lord Menteith addressed the soldier, who was +seated in a corner burnishing his corslet with rot-stone and +chamois-leather, while he hummed the old song in honour of the +victorious Gustavus Adolphus:-- + + When cannons are roaring, and bullets are flying, + The lad that would have honour, boys, must never fear dying. + +"Captain Dalgetty," said Lord Menteith, "the time is come that we +must part, or become comrades in service." + +"Not before breakfast, I hope?" said Captain Dalgetty. + +"I should have thought," replied his lordship, "that your +garrison was victualled for three days at least." + +"I have still some stowage left for beef and bannocks," said the +Captain; "and I never miss a favourable opportunity of renewing +my supplies." + +"But," said Lord Menteith, "no judicious commander allows either +flags of truce or neutrals to remain in his camp longer than is +prudent; and therefore we must know your mind exactly, according +to which you shall either have a safe-conduct to depart in peace, +or be welcome to remain with us." + +"Truly," said the Captain, "that being the case, I will not +attempt to protract the capitulation by a counterfeited parley, +(a thing excellently practised by Sir James Ramsay at the siege +of Hannau, in the year of God 1636,) but I will frankly own, that +if I like your pay as well as your provant and your company, I +care not how soon I take the oath to your colours." + +"Our pay," said Lord Menteith, "must at present be small, since +it is paid out of the common stock raised by the few amongst us +who can command some funds--As major and adjutant, I dare not +promise Captain Dalgetty more than half a dollar a-day." + +"The devil take all halves and quarters!" said the Captain; +"were it in my option, I could no more consent to the halving of +that dollar, than the woman in the Judgment of Solomon to the +disseverment of the child of her bowels." + +"The parallel will scarce hold, Captain Dalgetty, for I think you +would rather consent to the dividing of the dollar, than give it +up entire to your competitor. However, in the way of arrears, I +may promise you the other half-dollar at the end of the +campaign." + +"Ah! these arrearages!" said Captain Dalgetty, "that are always +promised, and always go for nothing! Spain, Austria, and Sweden, +all sing one song. Oh! long life to the Hoganmogans! if they +were no officers of soldiers, they were good paymasters.--And +yet, my lord, if I could but be made certiorate that my natural +hereditament of Drumthwacket had fallen into possession of any of +these loons of Covenanters, who could be, in the event of our +success, conveniently made a traitor of, I have so much value for +that fertile and pleasant spot, that I would e'en take on with +you for the campaign." + +"I can resolve Captain Dalgetty's question," said Sibbald, Lord +Menteith's second attendant; "for if his estate of Drumthwacket +be, as I conceive, the long waste moor so called, that lies five +miles south of Aberdeen, I can tell him it was lately purchased +by Elias Strachan, as rank a rebel as ever swore the Covenant" + +"The crop-eared hound!" said Captain Dalgetty, in a rage; "What +the devil gave him the assurance to purchase the inheritance of a +family of four hundred years standing?--CYNTHIUS AUREM VELLET, +as we used to say at Mareschal-College; that is to say, I will +pull him out of my father's house by the ears. And so, my Lord +Menteith, I am yours, hand and sword, body and soul, till death +do us part, or to the end of the next campaign, whichever event +shall first come to pass." + +"And I," said the young nobleman, "rivet the bargain with a +month's pay in advance." + +"That is more than necessary," said Dalgetty, pocketing the money +however. "But now I must go down, look after my war-saddle and +abuilziements, and see that Gustavus has his morning, and tell +him we have taken new service." + +There goes your precious recruit," said Lord Menteith to +Anderson, as the Captain left the room; "I fear we shall have +little credit of him." + +"He is a man of the times, however," said Anderson; "and without +such we should hardly be able to carry on our enterprise." + +"Let us go down," answered Lord Menteith, "and see how our muster +is likely to thrive, for I hear a good deal of bustle in the +castle." + +When they entered the hall, the domestics keeping modestly in the +background, morning greetings passed between Lord Menteith, Angus +M'Aulay, and his English guests, while Allan, occupying the same +settle which he had filled the preceding evening, paid no +attention whatever to any one. Old Donald hastily rushed into +the apartment. "A message from Vich Alister More; [The +patronymic of MacDonell of Glengarry.] he is coming up in the +evening." + +"With how many attendants?" said M'Aulay. + +"Some five-and-twenty or thirty," said Donald, "his ordinary +retinue." + +"Shake down plenty of straw in the great barn," said the Laird. + +Another servant here stumbled hastily in, announcing the expected +approach of Sir Hector M'Lean, "who is arriving with a large +following." + +"Put them in the malt-kiln," said M'Aulay; "and keep the +breadth of the middenstead between them and the M'Donalds; they +are but unfriends to each other." + +Donald now re-entered, his visage considerably lengthened --"The +tell's i' the folk," he said; "the haill Hielands are asteer, I +think. Evan Dhu, of Lochiel, will be here in an hour, with Lord +kens how many gillies." + +"Into the great barn with them beside the M'Donalds," said the +Laird. + +More and more chiefs were announced, the least of whom would have +accounted it derogatory to his dignity to stir without a retinue +of six or seven persons. To every new annunciation, Angus +M'Aulay answered by naming some place of accommodation,--the +stables, the loft, the cow-house, the sheds, every domestic +office, were destined for the night to some hospitable purpose or +other. At length the arrival of M'Dougal of Lorn, after all his +means of accommodation were exhausted, reduced him to some +perplexity. "What the devil is to be done, Donald?" said he; +"the great barn would hold fifty more, if they would lie heads +and thraws; but there would be drawn dirks amang them which +should lie upper-most, and so we should have bloody puddings +before morning!" + +"What needs all this?" said Allan, starting up, and coming +forward with the stern abruptness of his usual manner; "are the +Gael to-day of softer flesh or whiter blood than their fathers +were? Knock the head out of a cask of usquebae; let that be +their night-gear--their plaids their bed-clothes--the blue sky +their canopy, and the heather their couch.--Come a thousand more, +and they would not quarrel on the broad heath for want of room!" + +"Allan is right," said his brother; "it is very odd how Allan, +who, between ourselves," said he to Musgrave, "is a little wowf, +[WOWF, i.e. crazed.] seems at times to have more sense than us +all put together. Observe him now." + +"Yes" continued Allan, fixing his eyes with a ghastly stare upon +the opposite side of the hall, "they may well begin as they are +to end; many a man will sleep this night upon the heath, that +when the Martinmas wind shalt blow shall lie there stark enough, +and reck little of cold or lack of covering." + +"Do not forespeak us, brother," said Angus; "that is not lucky." + +"And what luck is it then that you expect?" said Allan; and +straining his eyes until they almost started from their sockets, +he fell with a convulsive shudder into the arms of Donald and his +brother, who, knowing the nature of his fits, had come near to +prevent his fall. They seated him upon a bench, and supported +him until he came to himself, and was about to speak. + +For God's sake, Allan," said his brother, who knew the impression +his mystical words were likely to make on many of the guests, +"say nothing to discourage us." + +"Am I he who discourages you?" said Allan; "let every man face +his weird as I shall face mine. That which must come, will come; +and we shall stride gallantly over many a field of victory, ere +we reach yon fatal slaughter-place, or tread yon sable +scaffolds." + +"What slaughter-place? what scaffolds?" exclaimed several +voices; for Allan's renown as a seer was generally established in +the Highlands. + +"You will know that but too soon," answered Allan. "Speak to me +no more, I am weary of your questions." He then pressed his hand +against his brow, rested his elbow upon his knee, and sunk into a +deep reverie. + +Send for Annot Lyle, and the harp," said Angus, in a whisper, to +his servant; "and let those gentlemen follow me who do not fear a +Highland breakfast." + +All accompanied their hospitable landlord excepting only Lord +Menteith, who lingered in one of the deep embrasures formed by +the windows of the hall. Annot Lyle shortly after glided into +the room, not ill described by Lord Menteith as being the +lightest and most fairy figure that ever trode the turf by +moonlight. Her stature, considerably less than the ordinary size +of women, gave her the appearance of extreme youth, insomuch, +that although she was near eighteen, she might have passed for +four years younger. Her figure, hands, and feet, were formed +upon a model of exquisite symmetry with the size and lightness of +her person, so that Titania herself could scarce have found a +more fitting representative. Her hair was a dark shade of the +colour usually termed flaxen, whose clustering ringlets suited +admirably with her fair complexion, and with the playful, yet +simple, expression of her features. When we add to these charms, +that Annot, in her orphan state, seemed the gayest and happiest +of maidens, the reader must allow us to claim for her the +interest of almost all who looked on her. In fact, it was +impossible to find a more universal favourite, and she often came +among the rude inhabitants of the castle, as Allan himself, in a +poetical mood, expressed it, "like a sunbeam on a sullen sea," +communicating to all others the cheerfulness that filled her own +mind. + +Annot, such as we have described her, smiled and blushed, when, +on entering the apartment, Lord Menteith came from his place of +retirement, and kindly wished her good-morning. + +"And good-morning to you, my lord," returned she, extending her +hand to her friend; "we have seldom seen you of late at the +castle, and now I fear it is with no peaceful purpose." + +"At least, let me not interrupt your harmony, Annot," said Lord +Menteith, "though my arrival may breed discord elsewhere. My +cousin Allan needs the assistance of your voice and music." + +"My preserver," said Annot Lyle, "has a right to my poor +exertions; and you, too, my lord,--you, too, are my preserver, +and were the most active to save a life that is worthless enough, +unless it can benefit my protectors." + +So saying, she sate down at a little distance upon the bench on +which Allan M'Aulay was placed, and tuning her clairshach, a +small harp, about thirty inches in height, she accompanied it +with her voice. The air was an ancient Gaelic melody, and the +words, which were supposed to be very old, were in the same +language; but we subjoin a translation of them, by Secundus +Macpherson, Esq. of Glenforgen, which, although submitted to the +fetters of English rhythm, we trust will be found nearly as +genuine as the version of Ossian by his celebrated namesake. + +"Birds of omen dark and foul, + Night-crow, raven, bat, and owl, + Leave the sick man to his dream-- + All night long he heard your scream-- + Haste to cave and ruin'd tower, + Ivy, tod, or dingled bower, + There to wink and mope, for, hark! + In the mid air sings the lark. + +"Hie to moorish gills and rocks, + Prowling wolf and wily fox,-- + Hie you fast, nor turn your view, + Though the lamb bleats to the ewe. + Couch your trains, and speed your flight, + Safety parts with parting night; + And on distant echo borne, + Comes the hunter's early horn. + +"The moon's wan crescent scarcely gleams, + Ghost-like she fades in morning beams; + Hie hence each peevish imp and fay, + That scare the pilgrim on his way:-- + Quench, kelpy! quench, in bog and fen, + Thy torch that cheats benighted men; + Thy dance is o'er, thy reign is done, + For Benyieglo hath seen the sun. + +"Wild thoughts, that, sinful, dark, and deep, + O'erpower the passive mind in sleep, + Pass from the slumberer's soul away, + Like night-mists from the brow of day: + Foul hag, whose blasted visage grim + Smothers the pulse, unnerves the limb, + Spur thy dark palfrey, and begone! + Thou darest not face the godlike sun." + +As the strain proceeded, Allan M'Aulay gradually gave signs of +recovering his presence of mind, and attention to the objects +around him. The deep-knit furrows of his brow relaxed and +smoothed themselves; and the rest of his features, which had +seemed contorted with internal agony, relapsed into a more +natural state. When he raised his head and sat upright, his +countenance, though still deeply melancholy, was divested of its +wildness and ferocity; and in its composed state, although by no +means handsome, the expression of his features was striking, +manly, and even noble. His thick, brown eyebrows, which had +hitherto been drawn close together, were now slightly separated, +as in the natural state; and his grey eyes, which had rolled and +flashed from under them with an unnatural and portentous gleam, +now recovered a steady and determined expression. + +"Thank God!" he said, after sitting silent for about a minute, +until the very last sounds of the harp had ceased to vibrate, "my +soul is no longer darkened--the mist hath passed from my spirit." + +"You owe thanks, cousin Allan," said Lord Menteith, coming +forward, "to Annot Lyle, as well as to heaven, for this happy +change in your melancholy mood." + +"My noble cousin Menteith," said Allan, rising and greeting him +very respectfully, as well as kindly, "has known my unhappy +circumstances so long, that his goodness will require no excuse +for my being thus late in bidding him welcome to the castle." + +"We are too old acquaintances, Allan," said Lord Menteith, "and +too good friends, to stand on the ceremonial of outward greeting; +but half the Highlands will be here to-day, and you know, with +our mountain Chiefs, ceremony must not be neglected. What will +you give little Annot for making you fit company to meet Evan +Dhu, and I know not how many bonnets and feathers?" + +"What will he give me?" said Annot, smiling; "nothing less, I +hope, than the best ribbon at the Fair of Doune." + +"The Fair of Doune, Annot?" said Allan sadly; "there will be +bloody work before that day, and I may never see it; but you have +well reminded me of what I have long intended to do." + +Having said this, he left the room. + +"Should he talk long in this manner," said Lord Menteith, "you +must keep your harp in tune, my dear Annot." + +"I hope not," said Annot, anxiously; "this fit has been a long +one, and probably will not soon return. It is fearful to see a +mind, naturally generous and affectionate, afflicted by this +constitutional malady." + +As she spoke in a low and confidential tone, Lord Menteith +naturally drew close, and stooped forward, that he might the +better catch the sense of what she said. When Allan suddenly +entered the apartment, they as naturally drew back from each +other with a manner expressive of consciousness, as if surprised +in a conversation which they wished to keep secret from him. +This did not escape Allan's observation; he stopt short at the +door of the apartment--his brows were contracted--his eyes +rolled; but it was only the paroxysm of a moment. He passed his +broad sinewy hand across his brow, as if to obliterate these +signs of emotion, and advanced towards Annot, holding in his hand +a very small box made of oakwood, curiously inlaid. "I take you +to witness," he said, "cousin Menteith, that I give this box and +its contents to Annot Lyle. It contains a few ornaments that +belonged to my poor mother--of trifling value, you may guess, for +the wife of a Highland laird has seldom a rich jewel-casket." + +"But these ornaments," said Annot Lyle, gently and timidly +refusing the box, "belong to the family--I cannot accept--" + +"They belong to me alone, Annot," said Allan, interrupting her; +"they were my mother's dying bequest. They are all I can call my +own, except my plaid and my claymore. Take them, therefore--they +are to me valueless trinkets--and keep them for my sake--should I +never return from these wars." + +So saying, he opened the case, and presented it to Annot. "If," +said he, "they are of any value, dispose of them for your own +support, when this house has been consumed with hostile fire, and +can no longer afford you protection. But keep one ring in memory +of Allan, who has done, to requite your kindness, if not all he +wished, at least all he could." + +Annot Lyle endeavoured in vain to restrain the gathering tears, +when she said, "ONE ring, Allan, I will accept from you as a +memorial of your goodness to a poor orphan, but do not press me +to take more; for I cannot, and will not, accept a gift of such +disproportioned value." + +"Make your choice, then," said Allan; "your delicacy may be well +founded; the others will assume a shape in which they may be more +useful to you." + +"Think not of it," said Annot, choosing from the contents of the +casket a ring, apparently the most trifling in value which it +contained; "keep them for your own, or your brother's bride. +--But, good heavens!" she said, interrupting herself, and +looking at the ring, "what is this that I have chosen?" + +Allan hastened to look upon it, with eyes of gloomy apprehension; +it bore, in enamel, a death's head above two crossed daggers. +When Allan recognised the device, he uttered a sigh so deep, that +she dropped the ring from her hand, which rolled upon the floor. +Lord Menteith picked it up, and returned it to the terrified +Annot. + +"I take God to witness," said Allan, in a solemn tone, "that your +hand, young lord, and not mine, has again delivered to her this +ill-omened gift. It was the mourning ring worn by my mother in +memorial of her murdered brother." + +"I fear no omens," said Annot, smiling through her tears; "and +nothing coming through the hands of my two patrons," so she was +wont to call Lord Menteith and Allan, "can bring bad luck to the +poor orphan." + +She put the ring on her finger, and, turning to her harp, sung, +to a lively air, the following verses of one of the fashionable +songs of the period, which had found its way, marked as it was +with the quaint hyperbolical taste of King Charles's time, from +some court masque to the wilds of Perthshire:-- + +"Gaze not upon the stars, fond sage, + In them no influence lies; + To read the fate of youth or age, + Look on my Helen's eyes. + +"Yet, rash astrologer, refrain! + Too dearly would be won + The prescience of another's pain, + If purchased by thine own." + +"She is right, Allan," said Lord Menteith; "and this end of an +old song is worth all we shall gain by our attempt to look into +futurity." + +"She is WRONG, my lord," said Allan, sternly, "though you, who +treat with lightness the warnings I have given you, may not live +to see the event of the omen.--laugh not so scornfully," he +added, interrupting himself "or rather laugh on as loud and as +long as you will; your term of laughter will find a pause ere +long." + +"I care not for your visions, Allan," said Lord Menteith; however +short my span of life, the eye of no Highland seer can see its +termination." + +"For heaven's sake," said Annot Lyle, interrupting him, "you know +his nature, and how little he can endure--" + +"Fear me not," said Allan, interrupting her,--"my mind is now +constant and calm.--But for you, young lord," said he, turning to +Lord Menteith, "my eye has sought you through fields of battle, +where Highlanders and Lowlanders lay strewed as thick as ever the +rooks sat on those ancient trees," pointing to a rookery which +was seen from the window--"my eye sought you, but your corpse was +not there--my eye sought you among a train of unresisting and +disarmed captives, drawn up within the bounding walls of an +ancient and rugged fortress;--flash after flash--platoon after +platoon--the hostile shot fell amongst them, They dropped like +the dry leaves in autumn, but you were not among their ranks; +--scaffolds were prepared--blocks were arranged, saw-dust was +spread--the priest was ready with his book, the headsman with his +axe--but there, too, mine eye found you not." + +"The gibbet, then, I suppose, must be my doom?" said Lord +Menteith. "Yet I wish they had spared me the halter, were it but +for the dignity of the peerage." + +He spoke this scornfully, yet not without a sort of curiosity, +and a wish to receive an answer; for the desire of prying into +futurity frequently has some influence even on the minds of those +who disavow all belief in the possibility of such predictions. + +"Your rank, my lord, will suffer no dishonour in your person, or +by the manner of your death. Three times have I seen a +Highlander plant his dirk in your bosom--and such will be your +fate." + +"I wish you would describe him to me," said Lord Menteith, "and I +shall save him the trouble of fulfilling your prophecy, if his +plaid be passible to sword or pistol." + +"Your weapons," said Allan, "would avail you little; nor can I +give you the information you desire. The face of the vision has +been ever averted from me." + +"So be it then," said Lord Menteith, "and let it rest in the +uncertainty in which your augury has placed it. I shall dine not +the less merrily among plaids, and dirks, and kilts to-day." + +"It may be so," said Allan; "and, it may be, you do well to enjoy +these moments, which to me are poisoned by auguries of future +evil. But I," he continued--"I repeat to you, that this weapon +--that is, such a weapon as this," touching the hilt of the dirk +which he wore, "carries your fate." "In the meanwhile," said +Lord Menteith, "you, Allan, have frightened the blood from the +cheeks of Annot Lyle--let us leave this discourse, my friend, and +go to see what we both understand,--the progress of our military +preparations." + +They joined Angus M'Aulay and his English guests, and, in the +military discussions which immediately took place, Allan showed a +clearness of mind, strength of judgment, and precision of +thought, totally inconsistent with the mystical light in which +his character has been hitherto exhibited. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +When Albin her claymore indignantly draws, +When her bonneted chieftains around her shall crowd, +Clan-Ranald the dauntless, and Moray the proud, +All plaided and plumed in their tartan array-- + LOCHEIL'S WARNING. + +Whoever saw that morning, the Castle of Darnlinvarach, beheld a +busy and a gallant sight. + +The various Chiefs, arriving with their different retinues, +which, notwithstanding their numbers, formed no more than their +usual equipage and body-guard upon occasions of solemnity, +saluted the lord of the castle and each other with overflowing +kindness, or with haughty and distant politeness, according to +the circumstances of friendship or hostility in which their clans +had recently stood to each other. Each Chief, however small his +comparative importance, showed the full disposition to exact from +the rest the deference due to a separate and independent prince; +while the stronger and more powerful, divided among themselves by +recent contentions or ancient feuds, were constrained in policy +to use great deference to the feelings of their less powerful +brethren, in order, in case of need, to attach as many well- +wishers as might be to their own interest and standard. Thus the +meeting of Chiefs resembled not a little those ancient Diets of +the Empire, where the smallest FREY-GRAF, who possessed a castle +perched upon a barren crag, with a few hundred acres around it, +claimed the state and honours of a sovereign prince, and a seat +according to his rank among the dignitaries of the Empire. + +The followers of the different leaders were separately arranged +and accommodated, as room and circumstances best permitted, each +retaining however his henchman, who waited, close as the shadow, +upon his person, to execute whatever might be required by his +patron. + +The exterior of the castle afforded a singular scene. The +Highlanders, from different islands, glens, and straths, eyed +each other at a distance with looks of emulation, inquisitive +curiosity, or hostile malevolence; but the most astounding part +of the assembly, at least to a Lowland ear, was the rival +performance of the bagpipers. These warlike minstrels, who had +the highest opinion, each, of the superiority of his own tribe, +joined to the most overweening idea of the importance connected +with his profession, at first, performed their various pibrochs +in front each of his own clan. At length, however, as the black- +cocks towards the end of the season, when, in sportsman's +language, they are said to flock or crowd, attracted together by +the sound of each others' triumphant crow, even so did the +pipers, swelling their plaids and tartans in the same triumphant +manner in which the birds ruffle up their feathers, begin to +approach each other within such distance as might give to their +brethren a sample of their skill. Walking within a short +interval, and eyeing each other with looks in which self- +importance and defiance might be traced, they strutted, puffed, +and plied their screaming instruments, each playing his own +favourite tune with such a din, that if an Italian musician had +lain buried within ten miles of them, he must have risen from the +dead to run out of hearing. + +The Chieftains meanwhile had assembled in close conclave in the +great hall of the castle. Among them were the persons of the +greatest consequence in the Highlands, some of them attracted by +zeal for the royal cause, and many by aversion to that severe and +general domination which the Marquis of Argyle, since his rising +to such influence in the state, had exercised over his Highland +neighbours. That statesman, indeed, though possessed of +considerable abilities, and great power, had failings, which +rendered him unpopular among the Highland chiefs. The devotion +which he professed was of a morose and fanatical character; his +ambition appeared to be insatiable, and inferior chiefs +complained of his want of bounty and liberality. Add to this, +that although a Highlander, and of a family distinguished for +valour before and since, Gillespie Grumach [GRUMACH--ill- +favored.] (which, from an obliquity in his eyes, was the personal +distinction he bore in the Highlands, where titles of rank are +unknown) was suspected of being a better man in the cabinet than +in the field. He and his tribe were particularly obnoxious to +the M'Donalds and the M'Leans, two numerous septs, who, though +disunited by ancient feuds, agreed in an intense dislike to the +Campbells, or, as they were called, the Children of Diarmid. + +For some time the assembled Chiefs remained silent, until some +one should open the business of the meeting. At length one of +the most powerful of them commenced the diet by saying,--"We have +been summoned hither, M'Aulay, to consult of weighty matters +concerning the King's affairs, and those of the state; and we +crave to know by whom they are to be explained to us?" + +M'Aulay, whose strength did not lie in oratory, intimated his +wish that Lord Menteith should open the business of the council. +With great modesty, and at the same time with spirit, that young +lord said,"he wished what he was about to propose had come from +some person of better known and more established character. +Since, however, it lay with him to be spokesman, he had to state +to the Chiefs assembled, that those who wished to throw off the +base yoke which fanaticism had endeavoured to wreath round their +necks, had not a moment to lose. "The Covenanters," he said, +"after having twice made war upon their sovereign, and having +extorted from him every request, reasonable or unreasonable, +which they thought proper to demand--after their Chiefs had been +loaded with dignities and favours--after having publicly +declared, when his Majesty, after a gracious visit to the land of +his nativity, was upon his return to England, that he returned a +contented king from a contented people,--after all this, and +without even the pretext for a national grievance, the same men +have, upon doubts and suspicions, equally dishonourable to the +King, and groundless in themselves, detached a strong army to +assist his rebels in England, in a quarrel with which Scotland +had no more to do than she has with the wars in Germany. It was +well," he said, "that the eagerness with which this treasonable +purpose was pursued, had blinded the junta who now usurped the +government of Scotland to the risk which they were about to +incur. The army which they had dispatched to England under old +Leven comprehended their veteran soldiers, the strength of those +armies which had been levied in Scotland during the two former +wars--" + +Here Captain Dalgetty endeavoured to rise, for the purpose of +explaining how many veteran officers, trained in the German wars, +were, to his certain knowledge, in the army of the Earl of Leven. +But Allan M'Aulay holding him down in his seat with one hand, +pressed the fore-finger of the other upon his own lips, and, +though with some difficulty, prevented his interference. Captain +Dalgetty looked upon him with a very scornful and indignant air, +by which the other's gravity was in no way moved, and Lord +Menteith proceeded without farther interruption. + +"The moment," he said, "was most favourable for all true-hearted +and loyal Scotchmen to show, that the reproach their country had +lately undergone arose from the selfish ambition of a few +turbulent and seditious men, joined to the absurd fanaticism +which, disseminated from five hundred pulpits, had spread like a +land-flood over the Lowlands of Scotland. He had letters from +the Marquis of Huntly in the north, which he should show to the +Chiefs separately. That nobleman, equally loyal and powerful was +determined to exert his utmost energy in the common cause, and +the powerful Earl of Seaforth was prepared to join the same +standard. From the Earl of Airly, and the Ogilvies in +Angusshire, he had had communications equally decided; and there +was no doubt that these, who, with the Hays, Leiths, Burnets, and +other loyal gentlemen, would be soon on horseback, would form a +body far more than sufficient to overawe the northern +Covenanters, who had already experienced their valour in the +well-known rout which was popularly termed the Trot of Turiff. +South of Forth and Tay," he said, "the King had many friends, +who, oppressed by enforced oaths, compulsatory levies, heavy +taxes, unjustly imposed and unequally levied, by the tyranny of +the Committee of Estates, and the inquisitorial insolence of the +Presbyterian divines, waited but the waving of the royal banner +to take up arms. Douglas, Traquair, Roxburgh, Hume, all friendly +to the royal cause, would counterbalance," he said, "the +covenanting interest in the south; and two gentlemen, of name and +quality, here present, from the north of England, would answer +for the zeal of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Northumberland. +Against so many gallant gentlemen the southern Covenanters could +but arm raw levies; the Whigamores of the western shires, and the +ploughmen and mechanics of the Low-country. For the West +Highlands, he knew no interest which the Covenanters possessed +there, except that of one individual, as well known as he was +odious. But was there a single man, who, on casting his eye +round this hall, and recognising the power, the gallantry, and +the dignity of the chiefs assembled, could entertain a moment's +doubt of their success against the utmost force which Gillespie +Grumach could collect against them? He had only farther to add, +that considerable funds, both of money and ammunition, had been +provided for the army"--(Here Dalgetty pricked up his ears)-- +"that officers of ability and experience in the foreign wars, +one of whom was now present," (the Captain drew himself up, and +looked round,) "had engaged to train such levies as might require +to be disciplined;--and that a numerous body of auxiliary forces +from Ireland, having been detached from the Earl of Antrim, from +Ulster, had successfully accomplished their descent upon the main +land, and, with the assistance of Clanranald's people, having +taken and fortified the Castle of Mingarry, in spite of Argyle's +attempts to intercept them, were in full march to this place of +rendezvous. It only remained," he said, "that the noble Chiefs +assembled, laying aside every lesser consideration, should unite, +heart and hand, in the common cause; send the fiery cross through +their clans, in order to collect their utmost force, and form +their junction with such celerity as to leave the enemy no time, +either for preparation, or recovery from the panic which would +spread at the first sound of their pibroch. He himself," he +said, "though neither among the richest nor the most powerful of +the Scottish nobility, felt that he had to support the dignity of +an ancient and honourable house, the independence of an ancient +and honourable nation, and to that cause he was determined to +devote both life and fortune. If those who were more powerful +were equally prompt, he trusted they would deserve the thanks of +their King, and the gratitude of posterity." + +Loud applause followed this speech of Lord Menteith, and +testified the general acquiescence of all present in the +sentiments which he had expressed; but when the shout had died +away, the assembled Chiefs continued to gaze upon each other as +if something yet remained to be settled. After some whispers +among themselves, an aged man,whom his grey hairs rendered +respectable, although he was not of the highest order of Chiefs, +replied to what had been said. + +"Thane of Menteith," he said, "you have well spoken; nor is there +one of us in whose bosom the same sentiments do not burn like +fire. But it is not strength alone that wins the fight; it is +the head of the commander, as well as the arm of the soldier, +that brings victory. I ask of you who is to raise and sustain +the banner under which we are invited to rise and muster +ourselves? Will it be expected that we should risk our children, +and the flower of our kinsmen, ere we know to whose guidance they +are to be intrusted? This were leading those to slaughter, whom, +by the laws of God and man, it is our duty to protect. Where is +the royal commission, under which the lieges are to be convocated +in arms? Simple and rude as we may be deemed, we know something +of the established rules of war, as well as of the laws of our +country; nor will we arm ourselves against the general peace of +Scotland, unless by the express commands of the King, and under a +leader fit to command such men as are here assembled." + +"Where would you find such a leader," said another Chief, +starting up, "saving the representative of the Lord of the Isles, +entitled by birth and hereditary descent to lead forth the array +of every clan of the Highlands; and where is that dignity lodged, +save in the house of Vich Alister More?" + +"I acknowledge," said another Chief, eagerly interrupting the +speaker, "the truth in what has been first said, but not the +inference. If Vich Alister More desires to be held +representative of the Lord of the Isles, let him first show his +blood is redder than mine." + +"That is soon tried," said Vich Alister More, laying his hand +upon the basket hilt of his claymore. Lord Menteith threw +himself between them, entreating and imploring each to remember +that the interests of Scotland, the liberty of their country, and +the cause of their King, ought to be superior in their eyes to +any personal disputes respecting descent, rank, and precedence. +Several of the Highland Chiefs, who had no desire to admit the +claims of either chieftain, interfered to the same purpose, and +none with more emphasis than the celebrated Evan Dhu. + +"I have come from my lakes," he said, "as a stream descends from +the hills, not to turn again, but to accomplish my course. It is +not by looking back to our own pretensions that we shall serve +Scotland or King Charles. My voice shall be for that general +whom the King shall name, who will doubtless possess those +qualities which are necessary to command men like us. High-born +he must be, or we shall lose our rank in obeying him--wise and +skilful, or we shall endanger the safety of our people--bravest +among the brave, or we shall peril our own honour--temperate, +firm, and manly, to keep us united. Such is the man that must +command us. Are you prepared, Thane of Menteith, to say where +such a general is to be found?" + +"There is but ONE," said Allan M'Aulay; "and here," he said, +laying his hand upon the shoulder of Anderson, who stood behind +Lord Menteith, "here he stands!" + +The general surprise of the meeting was expressed by an impatient +murmur; when Anderson, throwing back the cloak in which his face +was muffled, and stepping forward, spoke thus:--"I did not long +intend to be a silent spectator of this interesting scene, +although my hasty friend has obliged me to disclose myself +somewhat sooner than was my intention. Whether I deserve the +honour reposed in me by this parchment will best appear from what +I shall be able to do for the King's service. It is a commission +under the great seal, to James Graham, Earl of Montrose, to +command those forces which are to be assembled for the service of +his Majesty in this kingdom." + +A loud shout of approbation burst from the assembly. There was, +in fact, no other person to whom, in point of rank, these proud +mountaineers would have been disposed to submit. His inveterate +and hereditary hostility to the Marquis of Argyle insured his +engaging in the war with sufficient energy, while his well-known +military talents, and his tried valour, afforded every hope of +his bringing it to a favourable conclusion. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + Our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our friends true and + constant: a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation: + an excellent plot, very good friends. HENRY IV Part I. + +No sooner had the general acclamation of joyful surprise +subsided, than silence was eagerly demanded for reading the royal +commission; and the bonnets, which hitherto each Chief had worn, +probably because unwilling to be the first to uncover, were now +at once vailed in honour of the royal warrant. It was couched in +the most full and ample terms, authorizing the Earl of Montrose +to assemble the subjects in arms, for the putting down the +present rebellion, which divers traitors and seditious persons +had levied against the King, to the manifest forfaulture, as it +stated, of their allegiance, and to the breach of the +pacification between the two kingdoms. It enjoined all +subordinate authorities to be obedient and assisting to Montrose +in his enterprise; gave him the power of making ordinances and +proclamations, punishing misdemeanours, pardoning criminals, +placing and displacing governors and commanders. In fine, it was +as large and full a commission as any with which a prince could +intrust a subject. As soon as it was finished, a shout burst +from the assembled Chiefs, in testimony of their ready submission +to the will of their sovereign. Not contented with generally +thanking them for a reception so favourable, Montrose hastened to +address himself to individuals, The most important Chiefs had +already been long personally known to him, but even to those of +inferior consequence he now introduced himself and by the +acquaintance he displayed with their peculiar designations, and +the circumstances and history of their clans, he showed how long +he must have studied the character of the mountaineers, and +prepared himself for such a situation as he now held. + +While he was engaged in these acts of courtesy, his graceful +manner, expressive features, and dignity of deportment, made a +singular contrast with the coarseness and meanness of his dress. +Montrose possessed that sort of form and face, in which the +beholder, at the first glance, sees nothing extraordinary, but of +which the interest becomes more impressive the longer we gaze +upon them. His stature was very little above the middle size, +but in person he was uncommonly well-built, and capable both of +exerting great force, and enduring much fatigue. In fact, he +enjoyed a constitution of iron, without which he could not have +sustained the trials of his extraordinary campaigns, through all +of which he subjected himself to the hardships of the meanest +soldier. He was perfect in all exercises, whether peaceful or +martial, and possessed, of course, that graceful ease of +deportment proper to those to whom habit has rendered all +postures easy. + +His long brown hair, according to the custom of men of quality +among the Royalists, was parted on the top of his head, and +trained to hang down on each side in curled locks, one of which, +descending two or three inches lower than the others, intimated +Montrose's compliance with that fashion against which it pleased +Mr. Prynne, the puritan, to write a treatise, entitled, THE +UNLOVELINESS OF LOVE-LOCKS. The features which these tresses +enclosed, were of that kind which derive their interest from the +character of the man, rather than from the regularity of their +form. But a high nose, a full, decided, well-opened, quick grey +eye, and a sanguine complexion, made amends for some coarseness +and irregularity in the subordinate parts of the face; so that, +altogether, Montrose might be termed rather a handsome, than a +hard-featured man. But those who saw him when his soul looked +through those eyes with all the energy and fire of genius--those +who heard him speak with the authority of talent, and the +eloquence of nature, were impressed with an opinion even of his +external form, more enthusiastically favourable than the +portraits which still survive would entitle us to ascribe to it. +Such, at least, was the impression he made upon the assembled +Chiefs of the mountaineers, over whom, as upon all persons in +their state of society, personal appearance has no small +influence. + +In the discussions which followed his discovering himself, +Montrose explained the various risks which he had run in his +present undertaking. His first attempt had been to assemble a +body of loyalists in the north of England, who, in obedience to +the orders of the Marquis of Newcastle, he expected would have +marched into Scotland; but the disinclination of the English to +cross the Border, and the delay of the Earl of Antrim, who was to +have landed in the Solway Frith with his Irish army, prevented +his executing this design. Other plans having in like manner +failed, he stated that he found himself under the necessity of +assuming a disguise to render his passage secure through the +Lowlands, in which he had been kindly assisted by his kinsman of +Menteith. By what means Allan M'Aulay had come to know him, he +could not pretend to explain. Those who knew Allan's prophetic +pretensions, smiled mysteriously; but he himself only replied, +that "the Earl of Montrose need not be surprised if he was known +to thousands, of whom he himself could retain no memory." + +"By the honour of a cavalier," said Captain Dalgetty, finding at +length an opportunity to thrust in his word, "I am proud and +happy in having an opportunity of drawing a sword under your +lordship's command; and I do forgive all grudge, malecontent, +and malice of my heart, to Mr. Allan M'Aulay, for having thrust +me down to the lowest seat of the board yestreen. Certes, he +hath this day spoken so like a man having full command of his +senses, that I had resolved in my secret purpose that he was no +way entitled to claim the privilege of insanity. But since I was +only postponed to a noble earl, my future commander-in-chief, I +do, before you all, recognise the justice of the preference, and +heartily salute Allan as one who is to be his BON-CAMARADO." + +Having made this speech, which was little understood or attended +to, without putting off his military glove, he seized on Allan's +hand, and began to shake it with violence, which Allan, with a +gripe like a smith's vice, returned with such force, as to drive +the iron splents of the gauntlet into the hand of the wearer. + +Captain Dalgetty might have construed this into a new affront, +had not his attention, as he stood blowing and shaking the +injured member, been suddenly called by Montrose himself. + +"Hear this news," he said, "Captain Dalgetty--I should say Major +Dalgetty,--the Irish, who are to profit by your military +experience, are now within a few leagues of us." + +"Our deer-stalkers," said Angus M'Aulay, "who were abroad to +bring in venison for this honourable party, have heard of a band +of strangers, speaking neither Saxon nor pure Gaelic, and with +difficulty making themselves understood by the people of the +country, who are marching this way in arms, under the leading, it +is said, of Alaster M'Donald, who is commonly called Young +Colkitto." + +"These must be our men," said Montrose; "we must hasten to send +messengers forward, both to act as guides and to relieve their +wants." + +"The last," said Angus M'Aulay, "will be no easy matter; for I am +informed, that, excepting muskets and a very little ammunition, +they want everything that soldiers should have; and they are +particularly deficient in money, in shoes, and in raiment." + +"There is at least no use in saying so," said Montrose, "in so +loud a tone. The puritan weavers of Glasgow shall provide them +plenty of broad-cloth, when we make a descent from the Highlands; +and if the ministers could formerly preach the old women of the +Scottish boroughs out of their webs of napery, to make tents to +the fellows on Dunse Law, [The Covenanters encamped on Dunse Law, +during the troubles of 1639.] I will try whether I have not a +little interest both to make these godly dames renew their +patriotic gift, and the prick-eared knaves, their husbands, open +their purses." + +"And respecting arms," said Captain Dalgetty, "if your lordship +will permit an old cavalier to speak his mind, so that the one- +third have muskets, my darling weapon would be the pike for the +remainder, whether for resisting a charge of horse, or for +breaking the infantry. A common smith will make a hundred pike- +heads in a day; here is plenty of wood for shafts; and I will +uphold, that, according to the best usages of war, a strong +battalion of pikes, drawn up in the fashion of the Lion of the +North, the immortal Gustavus, would beat the Macedonian phalanx, +of which I used to read in the Mareschal-College, when I studied +in the ancient town of Bon-accord; and further, I will venture to +predicate--" + +The Captain's lecture upon tactics was here suddenly interrupted +by Allan M'Aulay, who said, hastily,--"Room for an unexpected and +unwelcome guest!" + +At the same moment, the door of the hall opened, and a grey- +haired man, of a very stately appearance, presented himself to +the assembly. There was much dignity, and even authority, in his +manner. His stature was above the common size, and his looks +such as were used to command. He cast a severe, and almost stern +glance upon the assembly of Chiefs. Those of the higher rank +among them returned it with scornful indifference; but some of +the western gentlemen of inferior power, looked as if they wished +themselves elsewhere. + +"To which of this assembly," said the stranger, "am I to address +myself as leader? or have you not fixed upon the person who is +to hold an office at least as perilous as it is honourable?" + +"Address yourself to me, Sir Duncan Campbell," said Montrose, +stepping forward. + +"To you!" said Sir Duncan Campbell, with some scorn. + +"Yes,--to me," repeated Montrose,--"to the Earl of Montrose, if +you have forgot him." + +"I should now, at least," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "have had +some difficulty in recognising him in the disguise of a groom. +--and yet I might have guessed that no evil influence inferior to +your lordship's, distinguished as one who troubles Israel, could +have collected together this rash assembly of misguided persons." + +"I will answer unto you," said Montrose, "in the manner of your +own Puritans. I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy +father's house. But let us leave an altercation, which is of +little consequence but to ourselves, and hear the tidings you +have brought from your Chief of Argyle; for I must conclude that +it is in his name that you have come to this meeting." + +"It is in the name of the Marquis of Argyle," said Sir Duncan +Campbell,--" in the name of the Scottish Convention of Estates, +that I demand to know the meaning of this singular convocation. +If it is designed to disturb the peace of the country, it were +but acting like neighbours, and men of honour, to give us some +intimation to stand upon our guard." + +"It is a singular, and new state of affairs in Scotland," said +Montrose, turning from Sir Duncan Campbell to the assembly, "when +Scottish men of rank and family cannot meet in the house of a +common friend without an inquisitorial visit and demand, on the +part of our rulers, to know the subject of our conference. +Methinks our ancestors were accustomed to hold Highland huntings, +or other purposes of meeting, without asking the leave either of +the great M'Callum More himself, or any of his emissaries or +dependents." + +"The times have been such in Scotland," answered one of the +Western Chiefs, "and such they will again be, when the intruders +on our ancient possessions are again reduced to be Lairds of +Lochow instead of overspreading us like a band of devouring +locusts." + +"Am I to understand, then," said Sir Duncan, that it is against +my name alone that these preparations are directed? or are the +race of Diarmid only to be sufferers in common with the whole of +the peaceful and orderly inhabitants of Scotland?" + +"I would ask," said a wild-looking Chief, starting hastily up, +"one question of the Knight of Ardenvohr, ere he proceeds farther +in his daring catechism.--Has he brought more than one life to +this castle, that he ventures to intrude among us for the +purposes of insult?" + +"Gentlemen," said Montrose, "let me implore your patience; a +messenger who comes among us for the purpose of embassy, is +entitled to freedom of speech and safe-conduct. And since Sir +Duncan Campbell is so pressing, I care not if I inform him, for +his guidance, that he is in an assembly of the King's loyal +subjects, convoked by me, in his Majesty's name and authority, +and as empowered by his Majesty's royal commission." + +"We are to have, then, I presume," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "a +civil war in all its forms? I have been too long a soldier to +view its approach with anxiety; but it would have been for my +Lord of Montrose's honour, if, in this matter, he had consulted +his own ambition less, and the peace of the country more." + +"Those consulted their own ambition and self-interest, Sir +Duncan," answered Montrose, "who brought the country to the pass +in which it now stands, and rendered necessary the sharp remedies +which we are now reluctantly about to use." + +"And what rank among these self-seekers," said Sir Duncan +Campbell, "we shall assign to a noble Earl, so violently attached +to the Covenant, that he was the first, in 1639, to cross the +Tyne, wading middle deep at the head of his regiment, to charge +the royal forces? It was the same, I think, who imposed the +Covenant upon the burgesses and colleges of Aberdeen, at the +point of sword and pike." + +"I understand your sneer, Sir Duncan," said Montrose, +temperately; "and I can only add, that if sincere repentance can +make amends for youthful error, and for yielding to the artful +representation of ambitious hypocrites, I shall be pardoned for +the crimes with which you taunt me. I will at least endeavour to +deserve forgiveness, for I am here, with my sword in my hand, +willing to spend the best blood of my body to make amends for my +error; and mortal man can do no more." + +"Well, my lord," said Sir Duncan, "I shall be sorry to carry back +this language to the Marquis of Argyle. I had it in farther +charge from the Marquis, that, to prevent the bloody feuds which +must necessarily follow a Highland war, his lordship will be +contented if terms of truce could be arranged to the north of the +Highland line, as there is ground enough in Scotland to fight +upon, without neighbours destroying each other's families and +inheritances." + +"It is a peaceful proposal," said Montrose, smiling," such as it +should be, coming from one whose personal actions have always +been more peaceful than his measures. Yet, if the terms of such +a truce could be equally fixed, and if we can obtain security, +for that, Sir Duncan, is indispensable,--that your Marquis will +observe these terms with strict fidelity, I, for my part, should +be content to leave peace behind us, since we must needs carry +war before us. But, Sir Duncan, you are too old and experienced +a soldier for us to permit you to remain in our leaguer, and +witness our proceedings; we shall therefore, when you have +refreshed yourself, recommend your speedy return to Inverary, and +we shall send with you a gentleman on our part to adjust the +terms of the Highland armistice, in case the Marquis shall be +found serious in proposing such a measure." Sir Duncan Campbell +assented by a bow. + +"My Lord of Menteith," continued Montrose, "will you have the +goodness to attend Sir Duncan Campbell of Ardenvohr, while we +determine who shall return with him to his Chief? M'Aulay will +permit us to request that he be entertained with suitable +hospitality." + +"I will give orders for that," said Allan M'Aulay, rising and +coming forward. "I love Sir Duncan Campbell; we have been joint +sufferers in former days, and I do not forget it now." + +"My Lord of Menteith," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "I am grieved to +see you, at your early age, engaged in such desperate and +rebellious courses." + +"I am young," answered Menteith, "yet old enough to distinguish +between right and wrong, between loyalty and rebellion; and the +sooner a good course is begun, the longer and the better have I a +chance of running it." + +"And you too, my friend, Allan M'Aulay," said Sir Duncan, taking +his hand, "must we also call each other enemies, that have been +so often allied against a common foe?" Then turning round to the +meeting, he said, "Farewell, gentlemen; there are so many of you +to whom I wish well, that your rejection of all terms of +mediation gives me deep affliction. May Heaven," he said, +looking upwards, "judge between our motives, and those of the +movers of this civil commotion!" + +"Amen," said Montrose; "to that tribunal we all submit us." + +Sir Duncan Campbell left the hall, accompanied by Allan M'Aulay +and Lord Menteith. "There goes a true-bred Campbell," said +Montrose, as the envoy departed, "for they are ever fair and +false." + +"Pardon me, my lord," said Evan Dhu; "hereditary enemy as I am to +their name, I have ever found the Knight of Ardenvohr brave in +war, honest in peace, and true in council." + +"Of his own disposition," said Montrose, "such he is undoubtedly; +but he now acts as the organ or mouth-piece of his Chief, the +Marquis, the falsest man that ever drew breath. And, M'Aulay," +he continued in a whisper to his host, "lest he should make some +impression upon the inexperience of Menteith, or the singular +disposition of your brother, you had better send music into their +chamber, to prevent his inveigling them into any private +conference." + +"The devil a musician have I," answered M'Aulay, "excepting the +piper, who has nearly broke his wind by an ambitious contention +for superiority with three of his own craft; but I can send Annot +Lyle and her harp." And he left the apartment to give orders +accordingly. + +Meanwhile a warm discussion took place, who should undertake the +perilous task of returning with Sir Duncan to Inverary. To the +higher dignitaries, accustomed to consider themselves upon an +equality even with M'Callum More, this was an office not to be +proposed; unto others who could not plead the same excuse, it was +altogether unacceptable. One would have thought Inverary had +been the Valley of the Shadow of Death, the inferior chiefs +showed such reluctance to approach it. After a considerable +hesitation, the plain reason was at length spoken out, namely, +that whatever Highlander should undertake an office so +distasteful to M'Callum More, he would be sure to treasure the +offence in his remembrance, and one day or other to make him +bitterly repent of it. + +In this dilemma, Montrose, who considered the proposed armistice +as a mere stratagem on the part of Argyle, although he had not +ventured bluntly to reject it in presence of those whom it +concerned so nearly, resolved to impose the danger and dignity +upon Captain Dalgetty, who had neither clan nor estate in the +Highlands upon which the wrath of Argyle could wreak itself. + +"But I have a neck though," said Dalgetty, bluntly; "and what if +he chooses to avenge himself upon that? I have known a case +where an honourable ambassador has been hanged as a spy before +now. Neither did the Romans use ambassadors much more mercifully +at the siege of Capua, although I read that they only cut off +their hands and noses, put out their eyes, and suffered them to +depart in peace." + +"By my honour Captain Dalgetty," said Montrose, "should the +Marquis, contrary to the rules of war, dare to practise any +atrocity against you, you may depend upon my taking such signal +vengeance that all Scotland shall ring of it." + +"That will do but little for Dalgetty," returned the Captain; +"but corragio! as the Spaniard says. With the Land of Promise +full in view, the Moor of Drumthwacket, MEA PAUPERA REGNA, as we +said at Mareschal-College, I will not refuse your Excellency's +commission, being conscious it becomes a cavalier of honour to +obey his commander's orders, in defiance both of gibbet and +sword." + +"Gallantly resolved," said Montrose; "and if you will come apart +with me, I will furnish you with the conditions to be laid before +M'Callum More, upon which we are willing to grant him a truce for +his Highland dominions." + +With these we need not trouble our readers. They were of an +evasive nature, calculated to meet a proposal which Montrose +considered to have been made only for the purpose of gaining +time. When he had put Captain Dalgetty in complete possession of +his instructions, and when that worthy, making his military +obeisance, was near the door of his apartment, Montrose made him +a sign to return. + +"I presume," said he, "I need not remind an officer who has +served under the great Gustavus, that a little more is required +of a person sent with a flag of truce than mere discharge of his +instructions, and that his general will expect from him, on his +return, some account of the state of the enemy's affairs, as far +as they come under his observation. In short, Captain Dalgetty, +you must be UN PEU CLAIR-VOYANT." + +"Ah ha! your Excellency," said the Captain, twisting his hard +features into an inimitable expression of cunning and +intelligence, "if they do not put my head in a poke, which I have +known practised upon honourable soldados who have been suspected +to come upon such errands as the present, your Excellency may +rely on a preceese narration of whatever DugaId Dalgetty shall +hear or see, were it even how many turns of tune there are in +M'Callum More's pibroch, or how many checks in the sett of his +plaid and trews." + +"Enough," answered Montrose; "farewell, Captain Dalgetty: and as +they say that a lady's mind is always expressed in her +postscript, so I would have you think that the most important +part of your commission lies in what I have last said to you." + +Dalgetty once more grinned intelligence, and withdrew to victual +his charger and himself, for the fatigues of his approaching +mission. + +At the door of the stable, for Gustavus always claimed his first +care,--he met Angus M'Aulay and Sir Miles Musgrave, who had been +looking at his horse; and, after praising his points and +carriage, both united in strongly dissuading the Captain from +taking an animal of such value with him upon his present very +fatiguing journey. + +Angus painted in the most alarming colours the roads, or rather +wild tracks, by which it would be necessary for him to travel +into Argyleshire, and the wretched huts or bothies where he would +be condemned to pass the night, and where no forage could be +procured for his horse, unless he could eat the stumps of old +heather. In short, he pronounced it absolutely impossible, that, +after undertaking such a pilgrimage, the animal could be in any +case for military service. The Englishman strongly confirmed all +that Angus had said, and gave himself, body and soul, to the +devil, if he thought it was not an act little short of absolute +murder to carry a horse worth a farthing into such a waste and +inhospitable desert. Captain Dalgetty for an instant looked +steadily, first at one of the gentlemen and next at the other, +and then asked them, as if in a state of indecision, what they +would advise him to do with Gustavus under such circumstances. + +"By the hand of my father, my dear friend," answered M'Aulay, "if +you leave the beast in my keeping, you may rely on his being fed +and sorted according to his worth and quality, and that upon your +happy return, you will find him as sleek as an onion boiled in +butter." + +"Or," said Sir Miles Musgrave, "if this worthy cavalier chooses +to part with his charger for a reasonable sum, I have some part +of the silver candlesticks still dancing the heys in my purse, +which I shall be very willing to transfer to his." + +"In brief, mine honourable friends," said Captain Dalgetty, again +eyeing them both with an air of comic penetration, "I find it +would not be altogether unacceptable to either of you, to have +some token to remember the old soldier by, in case it shall +please M'Callum More to hang him up at the gate of his own +castle. And doubtless it would be no small satisfaction to me, +in such an event, that a noble and loyal cavalier like Sir Miles +Musgrave, or a worthy and hospitable chieftain like our excellent +landlord, should act as my executor." + +Both hastened to protest that they had no such object, and +insisted again upon the impassable character of the Highland +paths. Angus M'Aulay mumbled over a number of hard Gaellic +names, descriptive of the difficult passes, precipices, corries, +and beals, through which he said the road lay to Inverary, when +old Donald, who had now entered, sanctioned his master's account +of these difficulties, by holding up his hands, and elevating his +eyes, and shaking his head, at every gruttural which M'Aulay +pronounced. But all this did not move the inflexible Captain. + +"My worthy friends," said he, "Gustavus is not new to the dangers +of travelling, and the mountains of Bohemia; and (no +disparagement to the beals and corries Mr. Angus is pleased to +mention, and of which Sir Miles, who never saw them, confirms the +horrors,) these mountains may compete with the vilest roads in +Europe. In fact, my horse hath a most excellent and social +quality; for although he cannot pledge in my cup, yet we share +our loaf between us, and it will be hard if he suffers famine +where cakes or bannocks are to be found. And, to cut this matter +short, I beseech you, my good friends, to observe the state of +Sir Duncan Campbell's palfrey, which stands in that stall before +us, fat and fair; and, in return for your anxiety an my account, +I give you my honest asseveration, that while we travel the same +road, both that palfrey and his rider shall lack for food before +either Gustavus or I." + +Having said this he filled a large measure with corn, and walked +up with it to his charger, who, by his low whinnying neigh, his +pricked ears, and his pawing, showed how close the alliance was +betwixt him and his rider. Nor did he taste his corn until he +had returned his master's caresses, by licking his hands and +face. After this interchange of greeting, the steed began to his +provender with an eager dispatch, which showed old military +habits; and the master, after looking on the animal with great +complacency for about five minutes, said,--"Much good may it do +your honest heart, Gustavus;--now must I go and lay in provant +myself for the campaign." + +He then departed, having first saluted the Englishman and Angus +M'Aulay, who remained looking at each other for some time in +silence, and then burst out into a fit of laughter. + +"That fellow," said Sir Miles Musgrave, "is formed to go through +the world." + +"I shall think so too," said M'Aulay, "if he can slip through +M'Callum More's fingers as easily as he has done through ours." + +"Do you think," said the Englishman, "that the Marquis will not +respect, in Captain Dalgetty's person, the laws of civilized +war?" + +"No more than I would respect a Lowland proclamation," said Angus +M'Aulay.--"But come along, it is time I were returning to my +guests." + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + --In a rebellion, + When what's not meet, but what must be, was law, + Then were they chosen, in a better hour, + Let what is meet be said it must be meet, + And throw their power i' the dust. CORIOLANUS. + +In a small apartment, remote from the rest of the guests +assembled at the castle, Sir Duncan Campbell was presented with +every species of refreshment, and respectfully attended by Lord +Menteith, and by Allan M'Aulay. His discourse with the latter +turned upon a sort of hunting campaign, in which they had been +engaged together against the Children of the Mist, with whom the +Knight of Ardenvohr, as well as the M'Aulays, had a deadly and +irreconcilable feud. Sir Duncan, however, speedily endeavoured +to lead back the conversation to the subject of his present +errand to the castle of Darnlinvarach. + +"It grieved him to the very heart," he said, "to see that friends +and neighbours, who should stand shoulder to shoulder, were +likely to be engaged hand to hand in a cause which so little +concerned them. What signifies it," he said, "to the Highland +Chiefs, whether King or Parliament got uppermost? Were it not +better to let them settle their own differences without +interference, while the Chiefs, in the meantime, took the +opportunity of establishing their own authority in a manner not +to be called in question hereafter by either King or Parliament?" +He reminded Allan M'Aulay that the measures taken in the last +reign to settle the peace, as was alleged, of the Highlands, were +in fact levelled at the patriarchal power of the Chieftains; and +he mentioned the celebrated settlement of the Fife Undertakers, +as they were called, in the Lewis, as part of a deliberate plan, +formed to introduce strangers among the Celtic tribes, to destroy +by degrees their ancient customs and mode of government, and to +despoil them of the inheritance of their fathers. [In the reign +of James VI., an attempt of rather an extraordinary kind was made +to civilize the extreme northern part of the Hebridean +Archipelago. That monarch granted the property of the Island of +Lewis, as if it had been an unknown and savage country, to a +number of Lowland gentlemen, called undertakers, chiefly natives +of the shire of Fife, that they might colonize and settle there. +The enterprise was at first successful, but the natives of the +island, MacLeods and MacKenzies, rose on the Lowland adventurers, +and put most of them to the sword.] "And yet," he continued, +addressing Allan, "it is for the purpose of giving despotic +authority to the monarch by whom these designs have been nursed, +that so many Highland Chiefs are upon the point of quarrelling +with, and drawing the sword against, their neighbours, allies, +and ancient confederates." "It is to my brother," said Allan, +"it is to the eldest son of my father's house, that the Knight of +Ardenvohr must address these remonstrances. I am, indeed, the +brother of Angus; but in being so, I am only the first of his +clansmen, and bound to show an example to the others by my +cheerful and ready obedience to his commands." + +"The cause also," said Lord Menteith, interposing, "is far more +general than Sir Duncan Campbell seems to suppose it. It is +neither limited to Saxon nor to Gael, to mountain nor to strath, +to Highlands nor to Lowlands. The question is, if we will +continue to be governed by the unlimited authority assumed by a +set of persons in no respect superior to ourselves, instead of +returning to the natural government of the Prince against whom +they have rebelled. And respecting the interest of the Highlands +in particular," he added, "I crave Sir Duncan Campbell's pardon +for my plainness; but it seems very clear to me, that the only +effect produced by the present usurpation, will be the +aggrandisement of one overgrown clan at the expense of every +independent Chief in the Highlands." + +"I will not reply to you, my lord," said Sir Duncan Campbell, +"because I know your prejudices, and from whom they are borrowed; +yet you will pardon my saying, that being at the head of a rival +branch of the House of Graham, I have both read of and known an +Earl of Menteith, who would have disdained to have been tutored +in politics, or to have been commanded in war, by an Earl of +Montrose." + +"You will find it in vain, Sir Duncan," said Lord Menteith, +haughtily, "to set my vanity in arms against my principles. The +King gave my ancestors their title and rank; and these shall +never prevent my acting, in the royal cause, under any one who is +better qualified than myself to be a commander-in-chief. Least +of all, shall any miserable jealousy prevent me from placing my +hand and sword under the guidance of the bravest, the most loyal, +the most heroic spirit among our Scottish nobility." + +"Pity," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "that you cannot add to this +panegyric the farther epithets of the most steady, and the most +consistent. But I have no purpose of debating these points with +you, my lord," waving his hand, as if to avoid farther +discussion; "the die is cast with you; allow me only to express +my sorrow for the disastrous fate to which Angus M'Aulay's +natural rashness, and your lordship's influence, are dragging my +gallant friend Allan here, with his father's clan, and many a +brave man besides." + +"The die is cast for us all, Sir Duncan," replied Allan, looking +gloomy, and arguing on his own hypochondriac feelings; "the iron +hand of destiny branded our fate upon our forehead long ere we +could form a wish, or raise a finger in our own behalf. Were +this otherwise, by what means does the Seer ascertain the future +from those shadowy presages which haunt his waking and his +sleeping eye? Nought can be foreseen but that which is certain +to happen." + +Sir Duncan Campbell was about to reply, and the darkest and most +contested point of metaphysics might have been brought into +discussion betwixt two Highland disputants, when the door opened, +and Annot Lyle, with her clairshach in her hand, entered the +apartment. The freedom of a Highland maiden was in her step and +in her eye; for, bred up in the closest intimacy with the Laird +of M'Aulay and his brother, with Lord Menteith, and other young +men who frequented Darnlinvarach, she possessed none of that +timidity which a female, educated chiefly among her own sex, +would either have felt, or thought necessary to assume, on an +occasion like the present, + +Her dress partook of the antique, for new fashions seldom +penetrated into the Highlands, nor would they easily have found +their way to a castle inhabited chiefly by men, whose sole +occupation was war and the chase. Yet Annot's garments were not +only becoming, but even rich. Her open jacket, with a high +collar, was composed of blue cloth, richly embroidered, and had +silver clasps to fasten, when it pleased the wearer. Its +sleeves, which were wide, came no lower than the elbow, and +terminated in a golden fringe; under this upper coat, if it can +be so termed, she wore an under dress of blue satin, also richly +embroidered, but which was several shades lighter in colour than +the upper garment. The petticoat was formed of tartan silk, in +the sett, or pattern, of which the colour of blue greatly +predominated, so as to remove the tawdry effect too frequently +produced in tartan, by the mixture and strong opposition of +colours. An antique silver chain hung round her neck, and +supported the WREST, or key, with which she turned her +instrument. A small ruff rose above her collar, and was secured +by a brooch of some value, an old keepsake from Lord Menteith. +Her profusion of light hair almost hid her laughing eyes, while, +with a smile and a blush, she mentioned that she had M'Aulay's +directions to ask them if they chose music. Sir Duncan Campbell +gazed with considerable surprise and interest at the lovely +apparition, which thus interrupted his debate with Allan M'Aulay. + +"Can this," he said to him in a whisper, "a creature so beautiful +and so elegant, be a domestic musician of your brother's +establishment?" + +"By no means," answered Allan, hastily, yet with some hesitation; +"she is a--a--near relation of our family--and treated," he +added, more firmly, "as an adopted daughter of our father's +house." + +As he spoke thus, he arose from his seat, and with that air of +courtesy which every Highlander can assume when it suits him to +practise it, he resigned it to Annot, and offered to her, at the +same time, whatever refreshments the table afforded, with an +assiduity which was probably designed to give Sir Duncan an +impression of her rank and consequence. If such was Allan's +purpose, however, it was unnecessary. Sir Duncan kept his eyes +fixed upon Annot with an expression of much deeper interest than +could have arisen from any impression that she was a person of +consequence. Annot even felt embarrassed under the old knight's +steady gaze; and it was not without considerable hesitation, +that, tuning her instrument, and receiving an assenting look from +Lord Menteith and Allan, she executed the following ballad, which +our friend, Mr. Secundus M'Pherson, whose goodness we had before +to acknowledge, has thus translated into the English tongue: + +THE ORPHAN MAID. + +November's hail-cloud drifts away, +November's sunbeam wan +Looks coldly on the castle grey, +When forth comes Lady Anne. + +The orphan by the oak was set, +Her arms, her feet, were bare, +The hail-drops had not melted yet, +Amid her raven hair. + +"And, Dame," she said, "by all the ties +That child and mother know, +Aid one who never knew these joys, +Relieve an orphan's woe." + +The Lady said, "An orphan's state +Is hard and sad to bear; +Yet worse the widow'd mother's fate, +Who mourns both lord and heir. + +"Twelve times the rolling year has sped, +Since, when from vengeance wild +Of fierce Strathallan's Chief I fled, +Forth's eddies whelm'd my child." + +"Twelve times the year its course has born," +The wandering maid replied, +"Since fishers on St. Bridget's morn +Drew nets on Campsie side. + +"St. Bridget sent no scaly spoil;-- +An infant, wellnigh dead, +They saved, and rear'd in want and toil, +To beg from you her bread." + +That orphan maid the lady kiss'd-- +"My husband's looks you bear; +St. Bridget and her morn be bless'd! +You are his widow's heir." + +They've robed that maid, so poor and pale, +In silk and sandals rare; +And pearls, for drops of frozen hail, +Are glistening in her hair. + +The admirers of pure Celtic antiquity, notwithstanding the +elegance of the above translation, may be desirous to see a +literal version from the original Gaelic, which we therefore +subjoin; and have only to add, that the original is deposited +with Mr. Jedediah Cleishbotham. + +LITERAL TRANSLATION. + +The hail-blast had drifted away upon the wings of the gale of +autumn. The sun looked from between the clouds, pale as the +wounded hero who rears his head feebly on the heath when the roar +of battle hath passed over him. + +Finele, the Lady of the Castle, came forth to see her maidens +pass to the herds with their leglins [Milk-pails]. + +There sat an orphan maiden beneath the old oak-tree of +appointment. The withered leaves fell around her, and her heart +was more withered than they. + +The parent of the ice [poetically taken from the frost] still +congealed the hail-drops in her hair; they were like the specks +of white ashes on the twisted boughs of the blackened and half- +consumed oak that blazes in the hall. + +And the maiden said, "Give me comfort, Lady, I am an orphan +child." And the Lady replied, "How can I give that which I have +not? I am the widow of a slain lord,--the mother of a perished +child. When I fled in my fear from the vengeance of my husband's +foes, our bark was overwhelmed in the tide, and my infant +perished. This was on St. Bridget's morn, near the strong Lyns +of Campsie. May ill luck light upon the day." And the maiden +answered, "It was on St. Bridget's morn, and twelve harvests +before this time, that the fishermen of Campsie drew in their +nets neither grilse nor salmon, but an infant half dead, who hath +since lived in misery, and must die, unless she is now aided." +And the Lady answered, "Blessed be Saint Bridget and her morn, +for these are the dark eyes and the falcon look of my slain lord; +and thine shall be the inheritance of his widow." And she called +for her waiting attendants, and she bade them clothe that maiden +in silk, and in samite; and the pearls which they wove among her +black tresses, were whiter than the frozen hail-drops. + +While the song proceeded, Lord Menteith observed, with some +surprise, that it appeared to produce a much deeper effect upon +the mind of Sir Duncan Campbell, than he could possibly have +anticipated from his age and character. He well knew that the +Highlanders of that period possessed a much greater sensibility +both for tale and song than was found among their Lowland +neighbours; but even this, he thought, hardly accounted for the +embarrassment with which the old man withdrew his eyes from the +songstress, as if unwilling to suffer them to rest on an object +so interesting. Still less was it to be expected, that features +which expressed pride, stern common sense, and the austere habit +of authority, should have been so much agitated by so trivial a +circumstance. As the Chief's brow became clouded, he drooped his +large shaggy grey eyebrows until they almost concealed his eyes, +on the lids of which something like a tear might be seen to +glisten. He remained silent and fixed in the same posture for a +minute or two, after the last note had ceased to vibrate. He +then raised his head, and having looked at Annot Lyle, as if +purposing to speak to her, he as suddenly changed that purpose, +and was about to address Allan, when the door opened, and the +Lord of the Castle made his appearance. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Dark on their journey lour'd the gloomy day, + Wild were the hills, and doubtful grew the way; + More dark, more gloomy, and more doubtful, show'd + The mansion, which received them from the road. + THE TRAVELLERS, A ROMANCE. + +Angus M'Aulay was charged with a message which he seemed to find +some difficulty in communicating; for it was not till after he +had framed his speech several different ways, and blundered them +all, that he succeeded in letting Sir Duncan Campbell know, that +the cavalier who was to accompany him was waiting in readiness, +and that all was prepared for his return to Inverary. Sir Duncan +Campbell rose up very indignantly; the affront which this message +implied immediately driving out of his recollection the +sensibility which had been awakened by the music. + +"I little expected this," he said, looking indignantly at Angus +M'Aulay. "I little thought that there was a Chief in the West +Highlands, who, at the pleasure of a Saxon, would have bid the +Knight of Ardenvohr leave his castle, when the sun was declining +from the meridian, and ere the second cup had been filled. But +farewell, sir, the food of a churl does not satisfy the appetite; +when I next revisit Darnlinvarach, it shall be with a naked sword +in one hand, and a firebrand in the other." + +"And if you so come," said Angus, "I pledge myself to meet you +fairly, though you brought five hundred Campbells at your back, +and to afford you and them such entertainment, that you shall not +again complain of the hospitality of Darnlinvarach." + +"Threatened men," said Sir Duncan, "live long. Your turn for +gasconading, Laird of M'Aulay, is too well known, that men of +honour should regard your vaunts. To you, my lord, and to Allan, +who have supplied the place of my churlish host, I leave my +thanks.--And to you, pretty mistress," he said, addressing Annot +Lyle, "this little token, for having opened a fountain which hath +been dry for many a year." So saying, he left the apartment, and +commanded his attendants to be summoned. Angus M'Aulay, equally +embarrassed and incensed at the charge of inhospitality, which +was the greatest possible affront to a Highlander, did not follow +Sir Duncan to the court-yard, where, mounting his palfrey, which +was in readiness, followed by six mounted attendants, and +accompanied by the noble Captain Dalgetty, who had also awaited +him, holding Gustavus ready for action, though he did not draw +his girths and mount till Sir Duncan appeared, the whole +cavalcade left the castle. + +The journey was long and toilsome, but without any of the extreme +privations which the Laird of M'Aulay had prophesied. In truth, +Sir Duncan was very cautious to avoid those nearer and more +secret paths, by means of which the county of Argyle was +accessible from the eastward; for his relation and chief, the +Marquis, was used to boast, that he would not for a hundred +thousand crowns any mortal should know the passes by which an +armed force could penetrate into his country. + +Sir Duncan Campbell, therefore, rather shunned the Highlands, and +falling into the Low-country, made for the nearest seaport in the +vicinity, where he had several half-decked galleys, or birlings, +as they were called, at his command. In one of these they +embarked, with Gustavus in company, who was so seasoned to +adventure, that land and sea seemed as indifferent to him as to +his master. + +The wind being favourable, they pursued their way rapidly with +sails and oars; and early the next morning it was announced to +Captain Dalgetty, then in a small cabin beneath the hall-deck, +that the galley was under the walls of Sir Duncan Campbell's +castle. + +Ardenvohr, accordingly, rose high above him, when he came upon +the deck of the galley. It was a gloomy square tower, of +considerable size and great height, situated upon a headland +projecting into the salt-water lake, or arm of the sea, which +they had entered on the preceding evening. A wall, with flanking +towers at each angle, surrounded the castle to landward; but, +towards the lake, it was built so near the brink of the precipice +as only to leave room for a battery of seven guns, designed to +protect the fortress from any insult from that side, although +situated too high to be of any effectual use according to the +modern system of warfare. + +The eastern sun, rising behind the old tower, flung its shadow +far on the lake, darkening the deck of the galley, on which +Captain Dalgetty now walked, waiting with some impatience the +signal to land. Sir Duncan Campbell, as he was informed by his +attendants, was already within the walls of the castle; but no +one encouraged the Captain's proposal of following him ashore, +until, as they stated, they should receive the direct permission +or order of the Knight of Ardenvohr. + +In a short time afterwards the mandate arrived, while a boat, +with a piper in the bow, bearing the Knight of Ardenvohr's crest +in silver upon his left arm, and playing with all his might the +family march, entitled "The Campbells are coming," approached to +conduct the envoy of Montrose to the castle of Ardenvohr. The +distance between the galley and the beach was so short as scarce +to require the assistance of the eight sturdy rowers, in bonnets, +short coats, and trews, whose efforts sent the boat to the little +creek in which they usually landed, before one could have +conceived that it had left the side of the birling. Two of the +boatmen, in spite of Dalgetty's resistance, horsed the Captain on +the back of a third Highlander, and, wading through the surf with +him, landed him high and dry upon the beach beneath the castle +rock. In the face of this rock there appeared something like the +entrance of a low-browed cavern, towards which the assistants +were preparing to hurry our friend Dalgetty, when, shaking +himself loose from them with some difficulty, he insisted upon +seeing Gustavus safely landed before he proceeded one step +farther. The Highlanders could not comprehend what he meant, +until one who had picked up a little English, or rather Lowland +Scotch, exclaimed, "Houts! it's a' about her horse, ta useless +baste." Farther remonstrance on the part of Captain Dalgetty was +interrupted by the appearance of Sir Duncan Campbell himself, +from the mouth of the cavern which we have described, for the +purpose of inviting Captain Dalgetty to accept of the hospitality +of Ardenvohr, pledging his honour, at the same time, that +Gustavus should be treated as became the hero from whom he +derived his name, not to mention the important person to whom he +now belonged. Notwithstanding this satisfactory guarantee, +Captain Dalgetty would still have hesitated, such was his anxiety +to witness the fate of his companion Gustavus, had not two +Highlanders seized him by the arms, two more pushed him on +behind, while a fifth exclaimed, "Hout awa wi' the daft +Sassenach! does she no hear the Laird bidding her up to her ain +castle, wi' her special voice, and isna that very mickle honour +for the like o' her?" + +Thus impelled, Captain Dalgetty could only for a short space keep +a reverted eye towards the galley in which he had left the +partner of his military toils. In a few minutes afterwards he +found himself involved in the total darkness of a staircase, +which, entering from the low-browed cavern we have mentioned, +winded upwards through the entrails of the living rock. + +"The cursed Highland salvages!" muttered the Captain, half +aloud; "what is to become of me, if Gustavus, the namesake of the +invincible Lion of the Protestant League, should be lamed among +their untenty hands!" + +"Have no fear of that," said the voice of Sir Duncan, who was +nearer to him than he imagined; "my men are accustomed to handle +horses, both in embarking and dressing them, and you will soon +see Gustavus as safe as when you last dismounted from his back," + +Captain Dalgetty knew the world too well to offer any farther +remonstrance, whatever uneasiness he might suppress within his +own bosom. A step or two higher up the stair showed light and a +door, and an iron-grated wicket led him out upon a gallery cut in +the open face of the rock, extending a space of about six or +eight yards, until he reached a second door, where the path +re-entered the rock, and which was also defended by an iron +portcullis. "An admirable traverse," observed the Captain; "and +if commanded by a field-piece, or even a few muskets, quite +sufficient to ensure the place against a storming party." + +Sir Duncan Campbell made no answer at the time; but, the moment +afterwards, when they had entered the second cavern, he struck +with the stick which he had in his hand, first on the one side, +and then on the other of the wicket, and the sullen ringing sound +which replied to the blows, made Captain Dalgetty sensible that +there was a gun placed on each side, for the purpose of raking +the gallery through which they had passed, although the +embrasures, through which they might be fired on occasion, were +masked on the outside with sods and loose stones. Having +ascended the second staircase, they found themselves again on an +open platform and gallery, exposed to a fire both of musketry and +wall-guns, if, being come with hostile intent, they had ventured +farther. A third flight of steps, cut in the rock like the +former, but not caverned over, led them finally into the battery +at the foot of the tower. This last stair also was narrow and +steep, and, not to mention the fire which might be directed on it +from above, one or two resolute men, with pikes and battle-axes, +could have made the pass good against hundreds; for the staircase +would not admit two persons abreast, and was not secured by any +sort of balustrade, or railing, from the sheer and abrupt +precipice, on the foot of which the tide now rolled with a voice +of thunder. So that, under the jealous precautions used to secure +this ancient Celtic fortress, a person of weak nerves, and a +brain liable to become dizzy, might have found it something +difficult to have achieved the entrance to the castle, even +supposing no resistance had been offered. + +Captain Dalgetty, too old a soldier to feel such tremors, had no +sooner arrived in the court-yard, than he protested to God, the +defences of Sir Duncan's castle reminded him more of the notable +fortress of Spandau, situated in the March of Brandenburg, than +of any place whilk it had been his fortune to defend in the +course of his travels. Nevertheless, he criticised considerably +the mode of placing the guns on the battery we have noticed, +observing, that "where cannon were perched, like to scarts or +sea-gulls on the top of a rock, he had ever observed that they +astonished more by their noise than they dismayed by the skaith +or damage which they occasioned." + +Sir Duncan, without replying, conducted the soldier into the +tower; the defences of which were a portcullis and ironclenched +oaken door, the thickness of the wall being the space between +them. He had no sooner arrived in a hall hung with tapestry, +than the Captain prosecuted his military criticism. It was +indeed suspended by the sight of an excellent breakfast, of which +he partook with great avidity; but no sooner had he secured this +meal, than he made the tour of the apartment, examining the +ground around the Castle very carefully from each window in the +room. He then returned to his chair, and throwing himself back +into it at his length, stretched out one manly leg, and tapping +his jack-boot with the riding-rod which he carried in his hand, +after the manner of a half-bred man who affects ease in the +society of his betters, he delivered his unasked opinion as +follows:--"This house of yours, now, Sir Duncan, is a very pretty +defensible sort of a tenement, and yet it is hardly such as a +cavaliero of honour would expect to maintain his credit by +holding out for many days. For, Sir Duncan, if it pleases you to +notice, your house is overcrowed, and slighted, or commanded, as +we military men say, by yonder round hillock to the landward, +whereon an enemy might stell such a battery of cannon as would +make ye glad to beat a chamade within forty-eight hours, unless +it pleased the Lord extraordinarily to show mercy." + +"There is no road," replied Sir Duncan, somewhat shortly, "by +which cannon can be brought against Ardenvohr. The swamps and +morasses around my house would scarce carry your horse and +yourself, excepting by such paths as could be rendered impassable +within a few hours." + +"Sir Duncan," said the Captain, "it is your pleasure to suppose +so; and yet we martial men say, that where there is a sea-coast +there is always a naked side, seeing that cannon and munition, +where they cannot be transported by land, may be right easily +brought by sea near to the place where they are to be put in +action. Neither is a castle, however secure in its situation, to +be accounted altogether invincible, or, as they say, impregnable; +for I protest t'ye, Sir Duncan, that I have known twenty-five +men, by the mere surprise and audacity of the attack, win, at +point of pike, as strong a hold as this of Ardenvohr, and put to +the sword, captivate, or hold to the ransom, the defenders, being +ten times their own number." + +Notwithstanding Sir Duncan Campbell's knowledge of the world, and +his power of concealing his internal emotion, he appeared piqued +and hurt at these reflections, which the Captain made with the +most unconscious gravity, having merely selected the subject of +conversation as one upon which he thought himself capable of +shining, and, as they say, of laying down the law, without +exactly recollecting that the topic might not be equally +agreeable to his landlord. + +"To cut this matter short," said Sir Duncan, with an expression +of voice and countenance somewhat agitated, "it is unnecessary +for you to tell me, Captain Dalgetty, that a castle may be +stormed if it is not valorously defended, or surprised if it is +not heedfully watched. I trust this poor house of mine will not +be found in any of these predicaments, should even Captain +Dalgetty himself choose to beleaguer it." + +"For all that, Sir Duncan," answered the persevering commander, +"I would premonish you, as a friend, to trace out a sconce upon +that round hill, with a good graffe, or ditch, whilk may be +easily accomplished by compelling the labour of the boors in the +vicinity; it being the custom of the valorous Gustavus Adolphus +to fight as much by the spade and shovel, as by sword, pike, and +musket. Also, I would advise you to fortify the said sconce, not +only by a foussie, or graffe, but also by certain stackets, or +palisades."--(Here Sir Duncan, becoming impatient, left the +apartment, the Captain following him to the door, and raising his +voice as he retreated, until he was fairly out of hearing.)--"The +whilk stackets, or palisades, should be artificially framed with +re-entering angles and loop-holes, or crenelles, for musketry, +whereof it shall arise that the foeman--The Highland brute! the +old Highland brute! They are as proud as peacocks, and as +obstinate as tups--and here he has missed an opportunity of +making his house as pretty an irregular fortification as an +invading army ever broke their teeth upon.--But I see," he +continued, looking own from the window upon the bottom of the +precipice, "they have got Gustavus safe ashore--Proper fellow! I +would know that toss of his head among a whole squadron. I must +go to see what they are to make of him." + +He had no sooner reached, however, the court to the seaward, and +put himself in the act of descending the staircase, than two +Highland sentinels, advancing their Lochaber axes, gave him to +understand that this was a service of danger. + +"Diavolo!" said the soldier, "and I have got no pass-word. I +could not speak a syllable of their salvage gibberish, an it were +to save me from the provost-marshal." + +"I will be your surety, Captain Dalgetty," said Sir Duncan, who +had again approached him without his observing from whence; "and +we will go together, and see how your favourite charger is +accommodated." + +He conducted him accordingly down the staircase to the beach, and +from thence by a short turn behind a large rock, which concealed +the stables and other offices belonging to the castle, Captain +Dalgetty became sensible, at the same time, that the side of the +castle to the land was rendered totally inaccessible by a ravine, +partly natural and partly scarped with great care and labour, so +as to be only passed by a drawbridge. Still, however, the +Captain insisted, not withstanding the triumphant air with which +Sir Duncan pointed out his defences, that a sconce should be +erected on Drumsnab, the round eminence to the east of the +castle, in respect the house might be annoyed from thence by +burning bullets full of fire, shot out of cannon, according to +the curious invention of Stephen Bathian, King of Poland, whereby +that prince utterly ruined the great Muscovite city of Moscow. +This invention, Captain Dalgetty owned, he had not yet witnessed, +but observed, "that it would give him particular delectation to +witness the same put to the proof against Ardenvohr, or any other +castle of similar strength;" observing, "that so curious an +experiment could not but afford the greatest delight to all +admirers of the military art." + +Sir Duncan Campbell diverted this conversation by carrying the +soldier into his stables, and suffering him to arrange Gustavus +according to his own will and pleasure. After this duty had been +carefully performed, Captain Dalgetty proposed to return to the +castle, observing, it was his intention to spend the time betwixt +this and dinner, which, he presumed, would come upon the parade +about noon, in burnishing his armour, which having sustained some +injury from the sea-air, might, he was afraid, seem discreditable +in the eyes of M'Callum More. Yet, while they were returning to +the castle, he failed not to warn Sir Duncan Campbell against the +great injury he might sustain by any sudden onfall of an enemy, +whereby his horses, cattle, and granaries, might be cut off and +consumed, to his great prejudice; wherefore he again strongly +conjured him to construct a sconce upon the round hill called +Drumsnab, and offered his own friendly services in lining out the +same. To this disinterested advice Sir Duncan only replied by +ushering his guest to his apartment, and informing him that the +tolling of the castle bell would make him aware when dinner was +ready. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Is this thy castle, Baldwin? Melancholy +Displays her sable banner from the donjon, +Darkening the foam of the whole surge beneath. +Were I a habitant, to see this gloom +Pollute the face of nature, and to hear +The ceaseless sound of wave, and seabird's scream, +I'd wish me in the hut that poorest peasant +E'er framed, to give him temporary shelter. BROWN. + +The gallant Ritt-master would willingly have employed his leisure +in studying the exterior of Sir Duncan's castle, and verifying +his own military ideas upon the nature of its defences. But a +stout sentinel, who mounted guard with a Lochaber-axe at the door +of his apartment, gave him to understand, by very significant +signs, that he was in a sort of honourable captivity. + +It is strange, thought the Ritt-master to himself, how well these +salvages understand the rules and practique of war. Who should +have pre-supposed their acquaintance with the maxim of the great +and godlike Gustavus Adolphus, that a flag of truce should be +half a messenger half a spy?--And, having finished burnishing his +arms, he sate down patiently to compute how much half a dollar +per diem would amount to at the end of a six-months' campaign; +and, when he had settled that problem, proceeded to the more +abstruse calculations necessary for drawing up a brigade of two +thousand men on the principle of extracting the square root. + +From his musings, he was roused by the joyful sound of the dinner +bell, on which the Highlander, lately his guard, became his +gentleman-usher, and marshalled him to the hall, where a table +with four covers bore ample proofs of Highland hospitality. Sir +Duncan entered, conducting his lady, a tall, faded, melancholy +female, dressed in deep mourning. They were followed by a +Presbyterian clergyman, in his Geneva cloak, and wearing a black +silk skull-cap, covering his short hair so closely, that it could +scarce be seen at all, so that the unrestricted ears had an undue +predominance in the general aspect. This ungraceful fashion was +universal at the time, and partly led to the nicknames of +roundheads, prick-eared curs, and so forth, which the insolence +of the cavaliers liberally bestowed on their political enemies. + +Sir Duncan presented his military guest to his lady, who received +his technical salutation with a stiff and silent reverence, in +which it could scarce be judged whether pride or melancholy had +the greater share. The churchman, to whom he was next presented, +eyed him with a glance of mingled dislike and curiosity. + +The Captain, well accustomed to worse looks from more dangerous +persons, cared very little either for those of the lady or of the +divine, but bent his whole soul upon assaulting a huge piece of +beef, which smoked at the nether end of the table. But the +onslaught, as he would have termed it, was delayed, until the +conclusion of a very long grace, betwixt every section of which +Dalgetty handled his knife and fork, as he might have done his +musket or pike when going upon action, and as often resigned them +unwillingly when the prolix chaplain commenced another clause of +his benediction. Sir Duncan listened with decency, though he was +supposed rather to have joined the Covenanters out of devotion to +his chief, than real respect for the cause either of liberty or +of Presbytery. His lady alone attended to the blessing, with +symptoms of deep acquiescence. + +The meal was performed almost in Carthusian silence; for it was +none of Captain Dalgetty's habits to employ his mouth in talking, +while it could be more profitably occupied. Sir Duncan was +absolutely silent, and the lady and churchman only occasionally +exchanged a few words, spoken low, and indistinctly. + +But, when the dishes were removed, and their place supplied by +liquors of various sorts, Captain Dalgetty no longer had, +himself, the same weighty reasons for silence, and began to tire +of that of the rest of the company. He commenced a new attack +upon his landlord, upon the former ground. + +"Touching that round monticle, or hill, or eminence, termed +Drumsnab, I would be proud to hold some dialogue with you, Sir +Duncan, on the nature of the sconce to be there constructed; and +whether the angles thereof should be acute or obtuse--anent whilk +I have heard the great Velt-Mareschal Bannier hold a learned +argument with General Tiefenbach during a still-stand of arms." + +"Captain Dalgetty," answered Sir Duncan very dryly, "it is not +our Highland usage to debate military points with strangers. +This castle is like to hold out against a stronger enemy than any +force which the unfortunate gentlemen we left at Darnlinvarach +are able to bring against it." + +A deep sigh from the lady accompanied the conclusion of her +husband's speech, which seemed to remind her of some painful +circumstance. + +"He who gave," said the clergyman, addressing her in a solemn +tone, "hath taken away. May you, honourable lady, be long +enabled to say, Blessed be his name!" + +To this exhortation, which seemed intended for her sole behoof, +the lady answered by an inclination of her head, more humble than +Captain Dalgetty had yet observed her make. Supposing he should +now find her in a more conversible humour, he proceeded to accost +her. + +"It is indubitably very natural that your ladyship should be +downcast at the mention of military preparations, whilk I have +observed to spread perturbation among women of all nations, and +almost all conditions. Nevertheless, Penthesilea, in ancient +times, and also Joan of Arc, and others, were of a different +kidney. And, as I have learned while I served the Spaniard, the +Duke of Alva in former times had the leaguer-lasses who followed +his camp marshalled into TERTIAS (whilk me call regiments), and +officered and commanded by those of their own feminine gender, +and regulated by a commander-in chief, called in German +Hureweibler, or, as we would say vernacularly, Captain of the +Queans. True it is, they were persons not to be named as +parallel to your ladyship, being such QUAE QUAESTUM CORPORIBUS +FACIEBANT, as we said of Jean Drochiels at Mareschal-College; the +same whom the French term CURTISANNES, and we in Scottish--" + +"The lady will spare you the trouble of further exposition, +Captain Dalgetty," said his host, somewhat sternly; to which the +clergyman added, "that such discourse better befitted a watch- +tower guarded by profane soldiery than the board of an honourable +person, and the presence of a lady of quality." + +"Craving your pardon, Dominie, or Doctor, AUT QUOCUNQUE ALIO +NOMINE GAUDES, for I would have you to know I have studied polite +letters," said the unabashed envoy, filling a great cup of wine, +"I see no ground for your reproof, seeing I did not speak of +those TURPES PERSONAE, as if their occupation or character was a +proper subject of conversation for this lady's presence, but +simply PAR ACCIDENS, as illustrating the matter in hand, namely, +their natural courage and audacity, much enhanced, doubtless, by +the desperate circumstances of their condition." + +"Captain Dalgetty," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "to break short +this discourse, I must acquaint you, that I have some business to +dispatch to-night, in order to enable me to ride with you to- +morrow towards Inverary; and therefore--" + +"To ride with this person to-morrow!" exclaimed his lady; "such +cannot be your purpose, Sir Duncan, unless you have forgotten +that the morrow is a sad anniversary, and dedicated to as sad a +solemnity." + +"I had not forgotten," answered Sir Duncan; "how is it possible I +can ever forget? but the necessity of the times requires I +should send this officer onward to Inverary, without loss of +time." + +"Yet, surely, not that you should accompany him in person?" +enquired the lady. + +"It were better I did," said Sir Duncan; "yet I can write to the +Marquis, and follow on the subsequent day.--Captain Dalgetty, I +will dispatch a letter for you, explaining to the Marquis of +Argyle your character and commission, with which you will please +to prepare to travel to Inverary early to-morrow morning." + +"Sir Duncan Campbell," said Dalgetty, "I am doubtless at your +discretionary disposal in this matter; not the less, I pray you +to remember the blot which will fall upon your own escutcheon, if +you do in any way suffer me, being a commissionate flag of truce, +to be circumvented in this matter, whether CLAM, VI, VEL +PRECARIO; I do not say by your assent to any wrong done to me, +but even through absence of any due care on your part to prevent +the same." + +"You are under the safeguard of my honour, sir," answered Sir +Duncan Campbell, "and that is more than a sufficient security. +And now," continued he, rising, "I must set the example of +retiring." + +Dalgetty saw himself under the necessity of following the hint, +though the hour was early; but, like a skilful general, he +availed himself of every instant of delay which circumstances +permitted. "Trusting to your honourable parole," said he, +filling his cup, "I drink to you, Sir Duncan, and to the +continuance of your honourable-house." A sigh from Sir Duncan +was the only reply. "Also, madam," said the soldier, +replenishing the quaigh with all possible dispatch, "I drink to +your honourable health, and fulfilment of all your virtuous +desires--and, reverend sir" (not forgetting to fit the action to +the words), "I fill this cup to the drowning of all unkindness +betwixt you and Captain Dalgetty--I should say Major--and, in +respect the flagon contains but one cup more, I drink to the +health of all honourable cavaliers and brave soldados--and, the +flask being empty, I am ready, Sir Duncan, to attend your +functionary or sentinel to my place of private repose." + +He received a formal permission to retire, and an assurance, that +as the wine seemed to be to his taste, another measure of the +same vintage should attend him presently, in order to soothe the +hours of his solitude. + +No sooner had the Captain reached the apartment than this promise +was fulfilled; and, in a short time afterwards, the added +comforts of a pasty of red-deer venison rendered him very +tolerant both of confinement and want of society. The same +domestic, a sort of chamberlain, who placed this good cheer in +his apartment, delivered to Dalgetty a packet, sealed and tied up +with a silken thread, according to the custom of the time, +addressed with many forms of respect to the High and Mighty +Prince, Archibald, Marquis of Argyle, Lord of Lorne, and so +forth. The chamberlain at the same time apprized the Ritt- +master, that he must take horse at an early hour for Inverary, +where the packet of Sir Duncan would be at once his introduction +and his passport. Not forgetting that it was his object to +collect information as well as to act as an envoy, and desirous, +for his own sake, to ascertain Sir Duncan's reasons for sending +him onward without his personal attendance, the Ritt-master +enquired the domestic, with all the precaution that his +experience suggested, what were the reasons which detained Sir +Duncan at home on the succeeding day. The man, who was from the +Lowlands, replied, "that it was the habit of Sir Duncan and his +lady to observe as a day of solemn fast and humiliation the +anniversary on which their castle had been taken by surprise, and +their children, to the number of four, destroyed cruelly by a +band of Highland freebooters during Sir Duncan's absence upon an +expedition which the Marquis of Argyle had undertaken against the +Macleans of the Isle of Mull." + +"Truly," said the soldier, "your lord and lady have some cause +for fast and humiliation. Nevertheless, I will venture to +pronounce, that if he had taken the advice of any experienced +soldier, having skill in the practiques of defending places of +advantage, he would have built a sconce upon the small hill which +is to the left of the draw-brigg. And this I can easily prove to +you, mine honest friend; for, holding that pasty to be the +castle--What's your name, friend?" + +"Lorimer, sir," replied the man. + +"Here is to your health, honest Lorimer.--I say, Lorimer +--holding that pasty to be the main body or citadel of the place +to be defended, and taking the marrow-bone for the sconce to be +erected--" + +"I am sorry, sir," said Lorimer, interrupting him, "that I cannot +stay to hear the rest of your demonstration; but the bell will +presently ring. As worthy Mr. Graneangowl, the Marquis's own +chaplain, does family worship, and only seven of our household +out of sixty persons understand the Scottish tongue, it would +misbecome any one of them to be absent, and greatly prejudice me +in the opinion of my lady. There are pipes and tobacco, sir, if +you please to drink a whiff of smoke, and if you want anything +else, it shall be forthcoming two hours hence, when prayers are +over." So saying, he left the apartment. + +No sooner was he gone, than the heavy toll of the castle-bell +summoned its inhabitants together; and was answered by the shrill +clamour of the females, mixed with the deeper tones of the men, +as, talking Earse at the top of their throats, they hurried from +different quarters by a long but narrow gallery, which served as +a communication to many rooms, and, among others, to that in +which Captain Dalgetty was stationed. There they go as if they +were beating to the roll-call, thought the soldier to himself; if +they all attend the parade, I will look out, take a mouthful of +fresh air, and make mine own observations on the practicabilities +of this place. + +Accordingly, when all was quiet, he opened his chamber door, and +prepared to leave it, when he saw his friend with the axe +advancing towards him from the distant end of the gallery, half +whistling, a Gaelic tune. To have shown any want of confidence, +would have been at once impolitic, and unbecoming his military +character; so the Captain, putting the best face upon his +situation he could, whistled a Swedish retreat, in a tone still +louder than the notes of his sentinel; and retreating pace by +pace, with an air of indifference, as if his only purpose had +been to breathe a little fresh air, he shut the door in the face +of his guard, when the fellow had approached within a few paces +of him. + +It is very well, thought the Ritt-master to himself; he annuls my +parole by putting guards upon me, for, as we used to say at +Mareschal-College, FIDES ET FIDUCIA SUNT RELATIVA [See Note I]; +and if he does not trust my word, I do not see how I am bound to +keep it, if any motive should occur for my desiring to depart +from it. Surely the moral obligation of the parole is relaxed, +in as far as physical force is substituted instead thereof. + +Thus comforting himself in the metaphysical immunities which he +deduced from the vigilance of his sentinel, Ritt-master Dalgetty +retired to his apartment, where, amid the theoretical +calculations of tactics, and the occasional more practical +attacks on the flask and pasty, he consumed the evening until it +was time to go to repose. He was summoned by Lorimer at break of +day, who gave him to understand, that, when he had broken his +fast, for which he produced ample materials, his guide and horse +were in attendance for his journey to Inverary. After complying +with the hospitable hint of the chamberlain, the soldier +proceeded to take horse. In passing through the apartments, he +observed that domestics were busily employed in hanging the great +hall with black cloth, a ceremony which, he said, he had seen +practised when the immortal Gustavus Adolphus lay in state in the +Castle of Wolgast, and which, therefore, he opined, was a +testimonial of the strictest and deepest mourning. + +When Dalgetty mounted his steed, he found himself attended, or +perhaps guarded, by five or six Campbells, well armed, commanded +by one, who, from the target at his shoulder, and the short +cock's feather in his bonnet, as well as from the state which he +took upon himself, claimed the rank of a Dunniewassel, or +clansman of superior rank; and indeed, from his dignity of +deportment, could not stand in a more distant degree of +relationship to Sir Duncan, than that of tenth or twelfth cousin +at farthest. But it was impossible to extract positive +information on this or any other subject, inasmuch as neither +this commander nor any of his party spoke English. The Captain +rode, and his military attendants walked; but such was their +activity, and so numerous the impediments which the nature of the +road presented to the equestrian mode of travelling, that far +from being retarded by the slowness of their pace, his difficulty +was rather in keeping up with his guides. He observed that they +occasionally watched him with a sharp eye, as if they were +jealous of some effort to escape; and once, as he lingered behind +at crossing a brook, one of the gillies began to blow the match +of his piece, giving him to understand that he would run some +risk in case of an attempt to part company. Dalgetty did not +augur much good from the close watch thus maintained upon his +person; but there was no remedy, for an attempt to escape from +his attendants in an impervious and unknown country, would have +been little short of insanity. He therefore plodded patiently on +through a waste and savage wilderness, treading paths which were +only known to the shepherds and cattle-drivers, and passing with +much more of discomfort than satisfaction many of those sublime +combinations of mountainous scenery which now draw visitors from +every corner of England, to feast their eyes upon Highland +grandeur, and mortify their palates upon Highland fare. + +At length they arrived on the southern verge of that noble lake +upon which Inverary is situated; and a bugle, which the +Dunniewassel winded till rock and greenwood rang, served as a +signal to a well-manned galley, which, starting from a creek +where it lay concealed, received the party on board, including +Gustavus; which sagacious quadruped, an experienced traveller +both by water and land, walked in and out of the boat with the +discretion of a Christian. + +Embarked on the bosom of Loch Fine, Captain Dalgetty might have +admired one of the grandest scenes which nature affords. He +might have noticed the rival rivers Aray and Shiray, which pay +tribute to the lake, each issuing from its own dark and wooded +retreat. He might have marked, on the soft and gentle slope that +ascends from the shores, the noble old Gothic castle, with its +varied outline, embattled walls, towers, and outer and inner +courts, which, so far as the picturesque is concerned, presented +an aspect much more striking than the present massive and uniform +mansion. He might have admired those dark woods which for many a +mile surrounded this strong and princely dwelling, and his eye +might have dwelt on the picturesque peak of Duniquoich, starting +abruptly from the lake, and raising its scathed brow into the +mists of middle sky, while a solitary watch-tower, perched on its +top like an eagle's nest, gave dignity to the scene by awakening +a sense of possible danger. All these, and every other +accompaniment of this noble scene, Captain Dalgetty might have +marked, if he had been so minded. But, to confess the truth, the +gallant Captain, who had eaten nothing since daybreak, was +chiefly interested by the smoke which ascended from the castle +chimneys, and the expectations which this seemed to warrant of +his encountering an abundant stock of provant, as he was wont to +call supplies of this nature. + +The boat soon approached the rugged pier, which abutted into the +loch from the little town of Inverary, then a rude assemblage of +huts, with a very few stone mansions interspersed, stretching +upwards from the banks of Loch Fine to the principal gate of the +castle, before which a scene presented itself that might easily +have quelled a less stout heart, and turned a more delicate +stomach, than those of Ritt-master Dugald Dalgetty, titular of +Drumthwacket. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +For close designs and crooked counsels fit, +Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit, +Restless, unfix'd in principle and place, +In power unpleased, impatient in disgrace. + ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL. + +The village of Inverary, now a neat country town, then partook of +the rudeness of the seventeenth century, in the miserable +appearance of the houses, and the irregularity of the unpaved +street. But a stronger and more terrible characteristic of the +period appeared in the market-place, which was a space of +irregular width, half way betwixt the harbour, or pier, and the +frowning castle-gate, which terminated with its gloomy archway, +portcullis, and flankers, the upper end of the vista. Midway +this space was erected a rude gibbet, on which hung five dead +bodies, two of which from their dress seemed to have been +Lowlanders, and the other three corpses were muffled in their +Highland plaids. Two or three women sate under the gallows, who +seemed to be mourning, and singing the coronach of the deceased +in a low voice. But the spectacle was apparently of too ordinary +occurrence to have much interest for the inhabitants at large, +who, while they thronged to look at the military figure, the +horse of an unusual size, and the burnished panoply of Captain +Dalgetty, seemed to bestow no attention whatever on the piteous +spectacle which their own market-place afforded. + +The envoy of Montrose was not quite so indifferent; and, hearing +a word or two of English escape from a Highlander of decent +appearance, he immediately halted Gustavus and addressed him, +"The Provost-Marshal has been busy here, my friend. May I crave +of you what these delinquents have been justified for?" + +He looked towards the gibbet as he spoke; and the Gael, +comprehending his meaning rather by his action than his words, +immediately replied, "Three gentlemen caterans,--God sain them" +(crossing himself)--"twa Sassenach bits o' bodies, that wadna do +something that M'Callum More bade them;" and turning from +Dalgetty with an air of indifference, away he walked, staying no +farther question. + +Dalgetty shrugged his shoulders and proceeded, for Sir Duncan +Campbell's tenth or twelfth cousin had already shown some signs +of impatience. + +At the gate of the castle another terrible spectacle of feudal +power awaited him. Within a stockade or palisade, which seemed +lately to have been added to the defences of the gate, and which +was protected by two pieces of light artillery, was a small +enclosure, where stood a huge block, on which lay an axe. Both +were smeared with recent blood, and a quantity of saw-dust +strewed around, partly retained and partly obliterated the marks +of a very late execution. + +As Dalgetty looked on this new object of terror, his principal +guide suddenly twitched him by the skirt of his jerkin, and +having thus attracted his attention, winked and pointed with his +finger to a pole fixed on the stockade, which supported a human +head, being that, doubtless, of the late sufferer. There was a +leer on the Highlander's face, as he pointed to this ghastly +spectacle, which seemed to his fellow-traveller ominous of +nothing good. + +Dalgetty dismounted from his horse at the gateway, and Gustavus +was taken from him without his being permitted to attend him to +the stable, according to his custom. + +This gave the soldier a pang which the apparatus of death had not +conveyed.--"Poor Gustavus!" said he to himself, "if anything but +good happens to me, I had better have left him at Darnlinvarach +than brought him here among these Highland salvages, who scarce +know the head of a horse from his tail. But duty must part a man +from his nearest and dearest-- + +"When the cannons are roaring, lads, and the colours are flying, + The lads that seek honour must never fear dying; + Then, stout cavaliers, let us toil our brave trade in, + And fight for the Gospel and the bold King of Sweden." + +Thus silencing his apprehensions with the but-end of a military +ballad, he followed his guide into a sort of guard-room filled +with armed Highlanders. It was intimated to him that he must +remain here until his arrival was communicated to the Marquis. +To make this communication the more intelligible, the doughty +Captain gave to the Dunniewassel Sir Duncan Campbell's packet, +desiring, as well as he could, by signs, that it should be +delivered into the Marquis's own hand. His guide nodded, and +withdrew. + +The Captain was left about half an hour in this place, to endure +with indifference, or return with scorn, the inquisitive, and, at +the same time, the inimical glances of the armed Gael, to whom +his exterior and equipage were as much subject of curiosity, as +his person and country seemed matter of dislike. All this he +bore with military nonchalance, until, at the expiration of the +above period, a person dressed in black velvet, and wearing a +gold chain like a modern magistrate of Edinburgh, but who was, in +fact, steward of the household to the Marquis of Argyle, entered +the apartment, and invited, with solemn gravity, the Captain to +follow him to his master's presence. + +The suite of apartments through which he passed, were filled with +attendants or visitors of various descriptions, disposed, +perhaps, with some ostentation, in order to impress the envoy of +Montrose with an idea of the superior power and magnificence +belonging to the rival house of Argyle. One ante-room was filled +with lacqueys, arrayed in brown and yellow, the colours of the +family, who, ranged in double file, gazed in silence upon Captain +Dalgetty as he passed betwixt their ranks. Another was occupied +by Highland gentlemen and chiefs of small branches, who were +amusing themselves with chess, backgammon, and other games, which +they scarce intermitted to gaze with curiosity upon the stranger. +A third was filled with Lowland gentlemen and officers, who +seemed also in attendance; and, lastly, the presence-chamber of +the Marquis himself showed him attended by a levee which marked +his high importance. + +This apartment, the folding doors of which were opened for the +reception of Captain Dalgetty, was a long gallery, decorated with +tapestry and family portraits, and having a vaulted ceiling of +open wood-work, the extreme projections of the beams being richly +carved and gilded. The gallery was lighted by long lanceolated +Gothic casements, divided by heavy shafts, and filled with +painted glass, where the sunbeams glimmered dimly through boars'- +heads, and galleys, and batons, and swords, armorial bearings of +the powerful house of Argyle, and emblems of the high hereditary +offices of Justiciary of Scotland, and Master of the Royal +Household, which they long enjoyed. At the upper end of this +magnificent gallery stood the Marquis himself, the centre of a +splendid circle of Highland and Lowland gentlemen, all richly +dressed, among whom were two or three of the clergy, called in, +perhaps, to be witnesses of his lordship's zeal for the Covenant. + +The Marquis himself was dressed in the fashion of the period, +which Vandyke has so often painted, but his habit was sober and +uniform in colour, and rather rich than gay. His dark +complexion, furrowed forehead, and downcast look, gave him the +appearance of one frequently engaged in the consideration of +important affairs, and who has acquired, by long habit, an air of +gravity and mystery, which he cannot shake off even where there +is nothing to be concealed. The cast with his eyes, which had +procured him in the Highlands the nickname of Gillespie Grumach +(or the grim), was less perceptible when he looked downward, +which perhaps was one cause of his having adopted that habit. +In person, he was tall and thin, but not without that dignity of +deportment and manners, which became his high rank. Something +there was cold in his address, and sinister in his look, although +he spoke and behaved with the usual grace of a man of such +quality. He was adored by his own clan, whose advancement he had +greatly studied, although he was in proportion disliked by the +Highlanders of other septs, some of whom he had already stripped +of their possessions, while others conceived themselves in danger +from his future schemes, and all dreaded the height to which he +was elevated. + +We have already noticed, that in displaying himself amidst his +councillors, his officers of the household, and his train of +vassals, allies, and dependents, the Marquis of Argyle probably +wished to make an impression on the nervous system of Captain +Dugald Dalgetty. But that doughty person had fought his way, in +one department or another, through the greater part of the Thirty +Years' War in Germany, a period when a brave and successful +soldier was a companion for princes. The King of Sweden, and, +after his example, even the haughty Princes of the Empire, had +found themselves fain, frequently to compound with their dignity, +and silence, when they could not satisfy the pecuniary claims of +their soldiers, by admitting them to unusual privileges and +familiarity. Captain Dugald Dalgetty had it to boast, that he +had sate with princes at feasts made for monarchs, and therefore +was not a person to be brow-beat even by the dignity which +surrounded M'Callum More. Indeed, he was naturally by no means +the most modest man in the world, but, on the contrary, had so +good an opinion of himself, that into whatever company he chanced +to be thrown, he was always proportionally elevated in his own +conceit; so that he felt as much at ease in the most exalted +society as among his own ordinary companions. In this high +opinion of his own rank, he was greatly fortified by his ideas of +the military profession, which, in his phrase, made a valiant +cavalier a camarade to an emperor. + +When introduced, therefore, into the Marquis's presence-chamber, +he advanced to the upper end with an air of more confidence than +grace, and would have gone close up to Argyle's person before +speaking, had not the latter waved his hand, as a signal to him +to stop short. Captain Dalgetty did so accordingly, and having +made his military congee with easy confidence, he thus accosted +the Marquis: "Give you good morrow, my lord--or rather I should +say, good even; BESO A USTED LOS MANOS, as the Spaniard says." + +"Who are you, sir, and what is your business?" demanded the +Marquis, in a tone which was intended to interrupt the offensive +familiarity of the soldier. + +"That is a fair interrogative, my lord," answered Dalgetty, +"which I shall forthwith answer as becomes a cavalier, and that +PEREMPTORIE, as we used to say at Mareschal-College." + +"See who or what he is, Neal," said the Marquis sternly, to a +gentleman who stood near him. + +"I will save the honourable gentleman the labour of +investigation," continued the Captain. "I am Dugald Dalgetty, of +Drumthwacket, that should be, late Ritt-master in various +services, and now Major of I know not what or whose regiment of +Irishes; and I am come with a flag of truce from a high and +powerful lord, James Earl of Montrose, and other noble persons +now in arms for his Majesty. And so, God save King Charles!" + +"Do you know where you are, and the danger of dallying with us, +sir," again demanded the Marquis, "that you reply to me as if I +were a child or a fool? The Earl of Montrose is with the English +malignants; and I suspect you are one of those Irish runagates, +who are come into this country to burn and slay, as they did +under Sir Phelim O'Neale." + +"My lord," replied Captain Dalgetty, "I am no renegade, though a +Major of Irishes, for which I might refer your lordship to the +invincible Gustavus Adolphus the Lion of the North, to Bannier, +to Oxenstiern, to the warlike Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Tilly, +Wallenstein, Piccolomini, and other great captains, both dead and +living; and touching the noble Earl of Montrose, I pray your +lordship to peruse these my full powers for treating with you in +the name of that right honourable commander." + +The Marquis looked slightingly at the signed and sealed paper +which Captain Dalgetty handed to him, and, throwing it with +contempt upon a table, asked those around him what he deserved +who came as the avowed envoy and agent of malignant traitors, in +arms against the state? + +"A high gallows and a short shrift," was the ready answer of one +of the bystanders. + +"I will crave of that honourable cavalier who hath last spoken," +said Dalgetty, "to be less hasty in forming his conclusions, and +also of your lordship to be cautelous in adopting the same, in +respect such threats are to be held out only to base bisognos, +and not to men of spirit and action, who are bound to peril +themselves as freely in services of this nature, as upon sieges, +battles, or onslaughts of any sort. And albeit I have not with me +a trumpet, or a white flag, in respect our army is not yet +equipped with its full appointments, yet the honourable cavaliers +and your lordship must concede unto me, that the sanctity of an +envoy who cometh on matter of truth or parle, consisteth not in +the fanfare of a trumpet, whilk is but a sound, or in the flap of +a white flag, whilk is but an old rag in itself, but in the +confidence reposed by the party sending, and the party sent, in +the honour of those to whom the message is to be carried, and +their full reliance that they will respect the JUS GENTIUM, as +weel as the law of arms, in the person of the commissionate." + +"You are not come hither to lecture us upon the law of arms, +sir," said the Marquis, "which neither does nor can apply to +rebels and insurgents; but to suffer the penalty of your +insolence and folly for bringing a traitorous message to the Lord +Justice General of Scotland, whose duty calls upon him to punish +such an offence with death." + +"Gentlemen," said the Captain, who began much to dislike the turn +which his mission seemed about to take, "I pray you to remember, +that the Earl of Montrose will hold you and your possessions +liable for whatever injury my person, or my horse, shall sustain +by these unseemly proceedings, and that he will be justified in +executing retributive vengeance on your persons and possessions." + +This menace was received with a scornful laugh, while one of the +Campbells replied, "It is a far cry to Lochow;" proverbial +expression of the tribe, meaning that their ancient hereditary +domains lay beyond the reach of an invading enemy. "But, +gentlemen," further urged the unfortunate Captain, who was +unwilling to be condemned, without at least the benefit of a full +hearing, "although it is not for me to say how far it may be to +Lochow, in respect I am a stranger to these parts, yet, what is +more to the purpose, I trust you will admit that I have the +guarantee of an honourable gentleman of your own name, Sir Duncan +Campbell of Ardenvohr, for my safety on this mission; and I pray +you to observe, that in breaking the truce towards me, you will +highly prejudicate his honour and fair fame." + +This seemed to be new information to many of the gentlemen, for +they spoke aside with each other, and the Marquis's face, +notwithstanding his power of suppressing all external signs of +his passions, showed impatience and vexation. + +"Does Sir Duncan of Ardenvohr pledge his honour for this person's +safety, my lord?" said one of the company, addressing the +Marquis. + +"I do not believe it," answered the Marquis; "but I have not yet +had time to read his letter." + +"We will pray your lordship to do so," said another of the +Campbells; "our name must not suffer discredit through the means +of such a fellow as this." + +"A dead fly," said a clergyman, "maketh the ointment of the +apothecary to stink." + +"Reverend sir," said Captain Dalgetty, "in respect of the use to +be derived, I forgive you the unsavouriness of your comparison; +and also remit to the gentleman in the red bonnet, the +disparaging epithet of FELLOW, which he has discourteously +applied to me, who am no way to be distinguished by the same, +unless in so far as I have been called fellow-soldier by the +great Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and other choice +commanders, both in Germany and the Low Countries. But, touching +Sir Duncan Campbell's guarantee of my safety, I will gage my life +upon his making my words good thereanent, when he comes hither +to-morrow." + +"If Sir Duncan be soon expected, my Lord," said one of the +intercessors, "it would be a pity to anticipate matters with this +poor man." + +"Besides that," said another, "your lordship--I speak with +reverence--should, at least, consult the Knight of Ardenvohr's +letter, and learn the terms on which this Major Dalgetty, as he +calls himself, has been sent hither by him." + +They closed around the Marquis, and conversed together in a low +tone, both in Gaelic and English. The patriarchal power of the +Chiefs was very great, and that of the Marquis of Argyle, armed +with all his grants of hereditary jurisdiction, was particularly +absolute. But there interferes some check of one kind or other +even in the most despotic government. That which mitigated the +power of the Celtic Chiefs, was the necessity which they lay +under of conciliating the kinsmen who, under them, led out the +lower orders to battle, and who formed a sort of council of the +tribe in time of peace. The Marquis on this occasion thought +himself under the necessity of attending to the remonstrances of +this senate, or more properly COUROULTAI, of the name of +Campbell, and, slipping out of the circle, gave orders for the +prisoner to be removed to a place of security. + +"Prisoner!" exclaimed Dalgetty, exerting himself with such force +as wellnigh to shake off two Highlanders, who for some minutes +past had waited the signal to seize him, and kept for that +purpose close at his back. Indeed the soldier had so nearly +attained his liberty, that the Marquis of Argyle changed colour, +and stepped back two paces, laying, however, his hand on his +sword, while several of his clan, with ready devotion, threw +themselves betwixt him and the apprehended vengeance of the +prisoner. But the Highland guards were too strong to be shaken +off, and the unlucky Captain, after having had his offensive +weapons taken from him, was dragged off and conducted through +several gloomy passages to a small side-door grated with iron, +within which was another of wood. These were opened by a grim +old Highlander with a long white beard, and displayed a very +steep and narrow flight of steps leading downward. The Captain's +guards pushed him down two or three steps, then, unloosing his +arms, left him to grope his way to the bottom as he could; a task +which became difficult and even dangerous, when the two doors +being successively locked left the prisoner in total darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + Whatever stranger visits here, + We pity his sad case, + Unless to worship he draw near + The King of Kings--his Grace. + BURNS'S EPIGRAM ON A VISIT TO INVERARY. + +The Captain, finding himself deprived of light in the manner we +have described, and placed in a very uncertain situation, +proceeded to descend the narrow and broken stair with all the +caution in his power, hoping that he might find at the bottom +some place to repose himself. But with all his care he could not +finally avoid making a false step, which brought him down the +four or five last steps too hastily to preserve his equilibrium. +At the bottom he stumbled over a bundle of something soft, which +stirred and uttered a groan, so deranging the Captain's descent, +that he floundered forward, and finally fell upon his hands and +knees on the floor of a damp and stone-paved dungeon. + +When Dalgetty had recovered, his first demand was to know over +whom he had stumbled. + +"He was a man a month since," answered a hollow and broken voice. + +"And what is he now, then," said Dalgetty, "that he thinks it +fitting to lie upon the lowest step of the stairs, and clew'd up +like a hurchin, that honourable cavaliers, who chance to be in +trouble, may break their noses over him?" + +"What is he now?" replied the same voice; "he is a wretched +trunk, from which the boughs have one by one been lopped away, +and which cares little how soon it is torn up and hewed into +billets for the furnace." + +"Friend," said Dalgetty, "I am sorry for you; but PATIENZA, as +the Spaniard says. If you had but been as quiet as a log, as you +call yourself, I should have saved some excoriations on my hands +and knees." + +"You are a soldier," replied his fellow-prisoner; "do you +complain on account of a fall for which a boy would not bemoan +himself?" + +"A soldier?" said the Captain; "and how do you know, in this +cursed dark cavern, that I am a soldier?" + +"I heard your armour clash as you fell," replied the prisoner, +"and now I see it glimmer. When you have remained as long as I +in this darkness, your eyes will distinguish the smallest eft +that crawls on the floor." + +"I had rather the devil picked them out!" said Dalgetty; "if +this be the case, I shall wish for a short turn of the rope, a +soldier's prayer, and a leap from a ladder. But what sort of +provant have you got here--what food, I mean, brother in +affliction?" + +"Bread and water once a day," replied the voice. + +"Prithee, friend, let me taste your loaf," said Dalgetty; "I hope +we shall play good comrades while we dwell together in this +abominable pit." + +"The loaf and jar of water," answered the other prisoner, "stand +in the corner, two steps to your right hand. Take them, and +welcome. With earthly food I have wellnigh done." + +Dalgetty did not wait for a second invitation, but, groping out +the provisions, began to munch at the stale black oaten loaf with +as much heartiness as we have seen him play his part at better +viands. + +"This bread," he said, muttering (with his mouth full at the same +time), "is not very savoury; nevertheless, it is not much worse +than that which we ate at the famous leaguer at Werben, where the +valorous Gustavus foiled all the efforts of the celebrated Tilly, +that terrible old hero, who had driven two kings out of the +field--namely, Ferdinand of Bohemia and Christian of Denmark. +And anent this water, which is none of the most sweet, I drink in +the same to your speedy deliverance, comrade, not forgetting mine +own, and devoutly wishing it were Rhenish wine, or humming Lubeck +beer, at the least, were it but in honour of the pledge." + +While Dalgetty ran on in this way, his teeth kept time with his +tongue, and he speedily finished the provisions which the +benevolence or indifference of his companion in misfortune had +abandoned to his voracity. When this task was accomplished, he +wrapped himself in his cloak, and seating himself in a corner of +the dungeon in which he could obtain a support on each side (for +he had always been an admirer of elbow-chairs, he remarked, even +from his youth upward), he began to question his fellow-captive. + +"Mine honest friend," said he, "you and I, being comrades at bed +and board, should be better acquainted. I am Dugald Dalgetty of +Drumthwacket, and so forth, Major in a regiment of loyal Irishes, +and Envoy Extraordinary of a High and Mighty Lord, James Earl of +Montrose.--Pray, what may your name be?" + +"It will avail you little to know," replied his more taciturn +companion. + +"Let me judge of that matter," answered the soldier. + + "Well, then--Ranald MacEagh is my name--that is, Ranald Son of +the Mist." + +"Son of the Mist!" ejaculated Dalgetty. "Son of utter darkness, +say I. But, Ranald, since that is your name, how came you in +possession of the provost's court of guard? what the devil +brought you here, that is to say?" + +"My misfortunes and my crimes," answered Ranald. "Know ye the +Knight of Ardenvohr?" + +"I do know that honourable person," replied Dalgetty. + +"But know ye where he now is?" replied Ranald. + +"Fasting this day at Ardenvohr," answered the Envoy, "that he may +feast to-morrow at Inverary; in which last purpose if he chance +to fail, my lease of human service will be something precarious." + +"Then let him know, one claims his intercession, who is his worst +foe and his best friend," answered Ranald. + +"Truly I shall desire to carry a less questionable message," +answered Dalgetty, "Sir Duncan is not a person to play at reading +riddles with." + +"Craven Saxon," said the prisoner, "tell him I am the raven that, +fifteen years since, stooped on his tower of strength and the +pledges he had left there--I am the hunter that found out the +wolfs den on the rock, and destroyed his offspring--I am the +leader of the band which surprised Ardenvohr yesterday was +fifteen years, and gave his four children to the sword." + +"Truly, my honest friend," said Dalgetty, "if that is your best +recommendation to Sir Duncan's favour, I would pretermit my +pleading thereupon, in respect I have observed that even the +animal creation are incensed against those who intromit with +their offspring forcibly, much more any rational and Christian +creatures, who have had violence done upon their small family. +But I pray you in courtesy to tell me, whether you assailed the +castle from the hillock called Drumsnab, whilk I uphold to be the +true point of attack, unless it were to be protected by a +sconce." + +"We ascended the cliff by ladders of withies or saplings," said +the prisoner, "drawn up by an accomplice and clansman, who had +served six months in the castle to enjoy that one night of +unlimited vengeance. The owl whooped around us as we hung +betwixt heaven and earth; the tide roared against the foot of the +rock, and dashed asunder our skiff. yet no man's heart failed +him. In the morning there was blood and ashes, where there had +been peace and joy at the sunset." + +"It was a pretty camisade, I doubt not, Ranald MacEagh, a very +sufficient onslaught, and not unworthily discharged. +Nevertheless, I would have pressed the house from that little +hillock called Drumsnab. But yours is a pretty irregular +Scythian fashion of warfare, Ranald, much resembling that of +Turks, Tartars, and other Asiatic people.--But the reason, my +friend, the cause of this war--the TETERRIMA CAUSA, as I may say? +Deliver me that, Ranald." + +"We had been pushed at by the M'Aulays, and other western +tribes," said Ranald, "till our possessions became unsafe for +us." + +"Ah ha!" said Dalgetty; "I have faint remembrance of having heard +of that matter. Did you not put bread and cheese into a man's +mouth, when he had never a stomach whereunto to transmit the +same?" + +"You have heard, then," said Ranald, "the tale of our revenge on +the haughty forester?" + +"I bethink me that I have," said Dalgetty, "and that not of an +old date. It was a merry jest that, of cramming the bread into +the dead man's mouth, but somewhat too wild and salvage for +civilized acceptation, besides wasting the good victuals. I have +seen when at a siege or a leaguer, Ranald, a living soldier would +have been the better, Ranald, for that crust of bread, whilk you +threw away on a dead pow." + +"We were attacked by Sir Duncan," continued MacEagh, "and my +brother was slain--his head was withering on the battlements +which we scaled--I vowed revenge, and it is a vow I have never +broken." + +"It may be so," said Dalgetty; "and every thorough-bred soldier +will confess that revenge is a sweet morsel; but in what manner +this story will interest Sir Duncan in your justification, unless +it should move him to intercede with the Marquis to change the +manner thereof from hanging, or simple suspension, to breaking +your limbs on the roue or wheel, with the coulter of a plough, or +otherwise putting you to death by torture, surpasses my +comprehension. Were I you, Ranald, I would be for miskenning Sir +Duncan, keeping my own secret, and departing quietly by +suffocation, like your ancestors before you." + +"Yet hearken, stranger," said the Highlander. "Sir Duncan of +Ardenvohr had four children. Three died under our dirks, but the +fourth survives; and more would he give to dandle on his knee the +fourth child which remains, than to rack these old bones, which +care little for the utmost indulgence of his wrath. One word, if +I list to speak it, could turn his day of humiliation and fasting +into a day of thankfulness and rejoicing, and breaking of bread. +O, I know it by my own heart? Dearer to me is the child Kenneth, +who chaseth the butterfly on the banks of the Aven, than ten sons +who are mouldering in earth, or are preyed on by the fowls of the +air." + +"I presume, Ranald," continued Dalgetty, "that the three pretty +fellows whom I saw yonder in the market-place, strung up by the +head like rizzer'd haddocks, claimed some interest in you?" + +There was a brief pause ere the Highlander replied, in a tone of +strong emotion,--"They were my sons, stranger--they were my +sons!--blood of my blood--bone of my bone!--fleet of foot-- +unerring in aim--unvanquished by foemen till the sons of Diarmid +overcame them by numbers! Why do I wish to survive them? The +old trunk will less feel the rending up of its roots, than it has +felt the lopping off of its graceful boughs. But Kenneth must be +trained to revenge--the young eagle must learn from the old how +to stoop on his foes. I will purchase for his sake my life and my +freedom, by discovering my secret to the Knight of Ardenvohr." + +"You may attain your end more easily," said a third voice, +mingling in the conference, "by entrusting it to me." + +All Highlanders are superstitious. "The Enemy of Mankind is +among us!" said Ranald MacEagh, springing to his feet. His +chains clattered as he rose, while he drew himself as far as they +permitted from the quarter whence the voice appeared to proceed. +His fear in some degree communicated itself to Captain Dalgetty, +who began to repeat, in a sort of polyglot gibberish, all the +exorcisms he had ever heard of, without being able to remember +more than a word or two of each. + +"IN NOMINE DOMINI, as we said at Mareschal-College--SANTISSMA +MADRE DI DIOS, as the Spaniard has it--ALLE GUTEN GEISTER LOBEN +DEN HERRN, saith the blessed Psalmist, in Dr. Luther's +translation--" + +"A truce with your exorcisms," said the voice they had heard +before; "though I come strangely among you, I am mortal like +yourselves, and my assistance may avail you in your present +streight, if you are not too proud to be counselled." + +While the stranger thus spoke, he withdrew the shade of a dark +lantern, by whose feeble light Dalgetty could only discern that +the speaker who had thus mysteriously united himself to their +company, and mixed in their conversation, was a tall man, dressed +in a livery cloak of the Marquis. His first glance was to his +feet, but he saw neither the cloven foot which Scottish legends +assign to the foul fiend, nor the horse's hoof by which he is +distinguished in Germany. His first enquiry was, how the +stranger had come among them? + +"For," said he, "the creak of these rusty bars would have been +heard had the door been made patent; and if you passed through +the keyhole, truly, sir, put what face you will on it, you are +not fit to be enrolled in a regiment of living men." + +"I reserve my secret," answered the stranger, "until you shall +merit the discovery by communicating to me some of yours. It may +be that I shall be moved to let you out where I myself came in." + +"It cannot be through the keyhole, then," said Captain Dalgetty, +"for my corslet would stick in the passage, were it possible that +my head-piece could get through. As for secrets, I have none of +my own, and but few appertaining to others. But impart to us +what secrets you desire to know; or, as Professor Snufflegreek +used to say at the Mareschal-College, Aberdeen, speak that I may +know thee." + +"It is not with you I have first to do," replied the stranger, +turning his light full on the mild and wasted features, and the +large limbs of the Highlander, Ranald MacEagh, who, close drawn +up against the walls of the dungeon, seemed yet uncertain whether +his guest was a living being. + +"I have brought you something, my friend," said the stranger, in +a more soothing tone, "to mend your fare; if you are to die to- +morrow, it is no reason wherefore you should not live to-night." + +"None at all--no reason in the creation," replied the ready +Captain Dalgetty, who forthwith began to unpack the contents of a +small basket which the stranger had brought under his cloak, +while the Highlander, either in suspicion or disdain, paid no +attention to the good cheer. + +"Here's to thee, my friend," said the Captain, who, having +already dispatched a huge piece of roasted kid, was now taking a +pull at the wine-flask. "What is thy name, my good friend?" + +"Murdoch Campbell, sir," answered the servant, "a lackey of the +Marquis of Argyle, and occasionally acting as under-warden." + +"Then here is to thee once more, Murdoch," said Dalgetty, +"drinking to you by your proper name for the better luck sake. +This wine I take to be Calcavella. Well, honest Murdoch, I take +it on me to say, thou deservest to be upper-warden, since thou +showest thyself twenty times better acquainted with the way of +victualling honest gentlemen that are under misfortune, than thy +principal. Bread and water? out upon him! It was enough, +Murdoch, to destroy the credit of the Marquis's dungeon. But I +see you would converse with my friend, Ranald MacEagh here. Never +mind my presence; I'll get me into this corner with the basket, +and I will warrant my jaws make noise enough to prevent my ears +from hearing you." + +Notwithstanding this promise, however, the veteran listened with +all the attention he could to gather their discourse, or, as he +described it himself, "laid his ears back in his neck, like +Gustavus, when he heard the key turn in the girnell-kist." He +could, therefore, owing to the narrowness of the dungeon, easily +overhear the following dialogue. + +"Are you aware, Son of the Mist," said the Campbell, "that you +will never leave this place excepting for the gibbet?" + +"Those who are dearest to me," answered MacEagh, "have trode that +path before me." + +"Then you would do nothing," asked the visitor, "to shun +following them?" + +The prisoner writhed himself in his chains before returning an +answer. + +"I would do much," at length he said; "not for my own life, but +for the sake of the pledge in the glen of Strath-Aven." + +"And what would you do to turn away the bitterness of the hour?" +again demanded Murdoch; "I care not for what cause ye mean to +shun it." + +"I would do what a man might do, and still call himself a man." + +"Do you call yourself a man," said the interrogator, "who have +done the deeds of a wolf?" + +"I do," answered the outlaw; "I am a man like my forefathers-- +while wrapt in the mantle of peace, we were lambs--it was rent +from us, and ye now call us wolves. Give us the huts ye have +burned, our children whom ye have murdered, our widows whom ye +have starved--collect from the gibbet and the pole the mangled +carcasses, and whitened skulls of our kinsmen--bid them live and +bless us, and we will be your vassals and brothers--till then, +let death, and blood, and mutual wrong, draw a dark veil of +division between us." + +"You will then do nothing for your liberty," said the Campbell. + +"Anything--but call myself the friend of your tribe," answered +MacEagh. + +"We scorn the friendship of banditti and caterans," retorted +Murdoch, "and would not stoop to accept it.--What I demand to +know from you, in exchange for your liberty, is, where the +daughter and heiress of the Knight of Ardenvohr is now to be +found?" + +"That you may wed her to some beggarly kinsman of your great +master," said Ranald, "after the fashion of the Children of +Diarmid! Does not the valley of Glenorquhy, to this very hour, +cry shame on the violence offered to a helpless infant whom her +kinsmen were conveying to the court of the Sovereign? Were not +her escort compelled to hide her beneath a cauldron, round which +they fought till not one remained to tell the tale? and was not +the girl brought to this fatal castle, and afterwards wedded to +the brother of M'Callum More, and all for the sake of her broad +lands?" [Such a story is told of the heiress of the clan of +Calder, who was made prisoner in the manner described, and +afterwards wedded to Sir Duncan Campbell, from which union the +Campbells of Cawdor have their descent.] + +"And if the tale be true," said Murdoch, "she had a preferment +beyond what the King of Scots would have conferred on her. But +this is far from the purpose. The daughter of Sir Duncan of +Ardenvohr is of our own blood, not a stranger; and who has so +good a right to know her fate as M'Callum More, the chief of her +clan?" + +"It is on his part, then, that you demand it!" said the outlaw. +The domestic of the Marquis assented. + +"And you will practise no evil against the maiden?--I have done +her wrong enough already." + +"No evil, upon the word of a Christian man," replied Murdoch. + +"And my guerdon is to be life and liberty?" said the Child of +the Mist. + +"Such is our paction," replied the Campbell. + +"Then know, that the child whom I saved our of compassion at the +spoiling of her father's tower of strength, was bred as an +adopted daughter of our tribe, until we were worsted at the pass +of Ballenduthil, by the fiend incarnate and mortal enemy of our +tribe, Allan M'Aulay of the Bloody hand, and by the horsemen of +Lennox, under the heir of Menteith." + +"Fell she into the power of Allan of the Bloody hand," said +Murdoch, "and she a reputed daughter of thy tribe? Then her +blood has gilded the dirk, and thou hast said nothing to rescue +thine own forfeited life." + +"If my life rest on hers," answered the outlaw, "it is secure, +for she still survives; but it has a more insecure reliance--the +frail promise of a son of Diarmid." + +"That promise shall not fail you," said the Campbell, "if you can +assure me that she survives, and where she is to be found." + +"In the Castle of Darlinvarach," said Ranald MacEagh, "under the +name of Annot Lyle. I have often heard of her from my kinsmen, +who have again approached their native woods, and it is not long +since mine old eyes beheld her." + +"You!" said Murdoch, in astonishment, "you, a chief among the +Children of the Mist, and ventured so near your mortal foe?" + +"Son of Diarmid, I did more," replied the outlaw; "I was in the +hall of the castle, disguised as a harper from the wild shores of +Skianach. My purpose was to have plunged my dirk in the body of +the M'Aulay with the Bloody hand, before whom our race trembles, +and to have taken thereafter what fate God should send me. But I +saw Annot Lyle, even when my hand was on the hilt of my dagger. +She touched her clairshach [Harp] to a song of the Children of +the Mist, which she had learned when her dwelling was amongst us. +The woods in which we had dwelt pleasantly, rustled their green +leaves in the song, and our streams were there with the sound of +all their waters. My hand forsook the dagger; the fountains of +mine eyes were opened, and the hour of revenge passed away.--And +now, Son of Diarmid, have I not paid the ransom of my head?" + +"Ay," replied Murdoch, "if your tale be true; but what proof can +you assign for it?" + +"Bear witness, heaven and earth," exclaimed the outlaw, "he +already looks how he may step over his word!" + +"Not so," replied Murdoch; "every promise shall be kept to you +when I am assured you have told me the truth.--But I must speak a +few words with your companion in captivity." + +"Fair and false--ever fair and false," muttered the prisoner, as +he threw himself once more on the floor of his dungeon. + +Meanwhile, Captain Dalgetty, who had attended to every word of +this dialogue, was making his own remarks on it in private. +"What the HENKER can this sly fellow have to say to me? I have +no child, either of my own, so far as I know, or of any other +person, to tell him a tale about. But let him come on--he will +have some manoeuvring ere he turn the flank of the old soldier." + +Accordingly, as if he had stood pike in hand to defend a breach, +he waited with caution, but without fear, the commencement of the +attack. + +"You are a citizen of the world, Captain Dalgetty," said Murdoch +Campbell, "and cannot be ignorant of our old Scotch proverb, GIF- +GAF, [In old English, KA ME KA THEE, i.e. mutually serving each +other.] which goes through all nations and all services." + +"Then I should know something of it," said Dalgetty; "for, except +the Turks, there are few powers in Europe whom I have not served; +and I have sometimes thought of taking a turn either with Bethlem +Gabor, or with the Janizaries." + +"A man of your experience and unprejudiced ideas, then, will +understand me at once," said Murdoch, "when I say, I mean that +your freedom shall depend on your true and up right answer to a +few trifling questions respecting the gentlemen you have left; +their state of preparation; the number of their men, and nature +of their appointments; and as much as you chance to know about +their plan of operations." + +"Just to satisfy your curiosity," said Dalgetty, "and without any +farther purpose?" + +"None in the world," replied Murdoch; "what interest should a +poor devil like me take in their operations?" + +"Make your interrogations, then," said the Captain, "and I will +answer them PREREMTORIE." + +"How many Irish may be on their march to join James Graham the +delinquent?" + +"Probably ten thousand," said Captain Dalgetty. + +"Ten thousand!" replied Murdoch angrily; "we know that scarce two +thousand landed at Ardnamurchan." + +"Then you know more about them than I do," answered Captain +Dalgetty, with great composure. "I never saw them mustered yet, +or even under arms." + +"And how many men of the clans may be expected?" demanded +Murdoch. + +"As many as they can make," replied the Captain. + +"You are answering from the purpose, sir," said Murdoch "speak +plainly, will there be five thousand men?" + +"There and thereabouts," answered Dalgetty. + +"You are playing with your life, sir, if you trifle with me," +replied the catechist; "one whistle of mine, and in less than ten +minutes your head hangs on the drawbridge." + +"But to speak candidly, Mr. Murdoch," replied the Captain "do you +think it is a reasonable thing to ask me after the secrets of our +army, and I engaged to serve for the whole campaign? If I taught +you how to defeat Montrose, what becomes of my pay, arrears, and +chance of booty?" + +"I tell you," said Campbell, "that if you be stubborn, your +campaign shall begin and end in a march to the block at the +castle-gate, which stands ready for such land-laufers; but if you +answer my questions faithfully, I will receive you into my--into +the service of M'Callum More." + +"Does the service afford good pay?" said Captain Dalgetty. + +"He will double yours, if you will return to Montrose and act +under his direction." + +"I wish I had seen you, sir, before taking on with him," said +Dalgetty, appearing to meditate. + +"On the contrary, I can afford you more advantageous terms now," +said the Campbell; "always supposing that you are faithful." + +"Faithful, that is, to you, and a traitor to Montrose," answered +the Captain. + +"Faithful to the cause of religion and good order," answered +Murdoch, "which sanctifies any deception you may employ to serve +it." + +"And the Marquis of Argyle--should I incline to enter his +service, is he a kind master?" demanded Dalgetty. + +"Never man kinder," quoth Campbell. + +"And bountiful to his officers?" pursued the Captain. + +"The most open hand in Scotland," replied Murdoch. + +"True and faithful to his engagements?" continued Dalgetty. + +"As honourable a nobleman as breathes," said the clansman. + +"I never heard so much good of him before," said Dalgetty; "you +must know the Marquis well,--or rather you must be the Marquis +himself!--Lord of Argyle," he added, throwing himself suddenly on +the disguised nobleman, "I arrest you in the name of King +Charles, as a traitor. If you venture to call for assistance, I +will wrench round your neck." + +The attack which Dalgetty made upon Argyle's person was so sudden +and unexpected, that he easily prostrated him on the floor of the +dungeon, and held him down with one hand, while his right, +grasping the Marquis's throat, was ready to strangle him on the +slightest attempt to call for assistance. + +"Lord of Argyle," he said, "it is now my turn to lay down the +terms of capitulation. If you list to show me the private way by +which you entered the dungeon, you shall escape, on condition of +being my LOCUM TENENS, as we said at the Mareschal-College, until +your warder visits his prisoners. But if not, I will first +strangle you--I learned the art from a Polonian heyduck, who had +been a slave in the Ottoman seraglio--and then seek out a mode of +retreat." + +"Villain! you would not murder me for my kindness," murmured +Argyle. + +"Not for your kindness, my lord," replied Dalgetty: "but first, +to teach your lordship the JUS GENTIUM towards cavaliers who come +to you under safe-conduct; and secondly, to warn you of the +danger of proposing dishonourable terms to any worthy soldado, in +order to tempt him to become false to his standard during the +term of his service." + +"Spare my life," said Argyle, "and I will do as you require." + +Dalgetty maintained his gripe upon the Marquis's throat, +compressing it a little while he asked questions, and relaxing it +so far as to give him the power of answering them. + +"Where is the secret door into the dungeon?" he demanded. + +"Hold up the lantern to the corner on your right hand, you will +discern the iron which covers the spring," replied the Marquis. + +"So far so good.--Where does the passage lead to?" + +"To my private apartment behind the tapestry," answered the +prostrate nobleman. + +"From thence how shall I reach the gateway?" + +"Through the grand gallery, the anteroom, the lackeys' waiting +hall, the grand guardroom--" + +"All crowded with soldiers, factionaries, and attendants?--that +will never do for me, my lord;--have you no secret passage to the +gate, as you have to your dungeons? I have seen such in +Germany." + +"There is a passage through the chapel," said the Marquis, +"opening from my apartment." + +"And what is the pass-word at the gate?" + +"The sword of Levi," replied the Marquis; "but if you will +receive my pledge of honour, I will go with you, escort you +through every guard, and set you at full liberty with a +passport." + +"I might trust you, my lord, were your throat not already black +with the grasp of my fingers--as it is, BESO LOS MANOS A USTED, +as the Spaniard says. Yet you may grant me a passport;--are +there writing materials in your apartment?" + +"Surely; and blank passports ready to be signed. I will attend +you there," said the Marquis, "instantly." + +"It were too much honour for the like of me," said Dalgetty; +"your lordship shall remain under charge of mine honest friend +Ranald MacEagh; therefore, prithee let me drag you within reach +of his chain.--Honest Ranald, you see how matters stand with us. +I shall find the means, I doubt not, of setting you at freedom. +Meantime, do as you see me do; clap your hand thus on the weasand +of this high and mighty prince, under his ruff, and if he offer +to struggle or cry out, fail not, my worthy Ranald, to squeeze +doughtily; and if it be AD DELIQUIUM, Ranald, that is, till he +swoon, there is no great matter, seeing he designed your gullet +and mine to still harder usage." + +"If he offer at speech or struggle," said Ranald, "he dies by my +hand." + +"That is right, Ranald--very spirited:--A thorough-going friend +that understands a hint is worth a million!" + +Thus resigning the charge of the Marquis to his new confederate, +Dalgetty pressed the spring, by which the secret door flew open, +though so well were its hinges polished and oiled, that it made +not the slightest noise in revolving. The opposite side of the +door was secured by very strong bolts and bars, beside which hung +one or two keys, designed apparently to undo fetterlocks. A +narrow staircase, ascending up through the thickness of the +castle-wall, landed, as the Marquis had truly informed him, +behind the tapestry of his private apartment. Such +communications were frequent in old feudal castles, as they gave +the lord of the fortress, like a second Dionysius, the means of +hearing the conversation of his prisoners, or, if he pleased, of +visiting them in disguise, an experiment which had terminated so +unpleasantly on the present occasion for Gillespie Grumach. +Having examined previously whether there was any one in the +apartment, and finding the coast clear, the Captain entered, and +hastily possessing himself of a blank passport, several of which +lay on the table, and of writing materials, securing, at the same +time, the Marquis's dagger, and a silk cord from the hangings, he +again descended into the cavern, where, listening a moment at the +door, he could hear the half-stifled voice of the Marquis making +great proffers to MacEagh, on condition he would suffer him to +give an alarm. + +"Not for a forest of deer--not for a thousand head of cattle," +answered the freebooter; "not for all the lands that ever called +a son of Diarmid master, will I break the troth I have plighted +to him of the iron-garment!" + +"He of the iron-garment," said Dalgetty, entering, "is bounden +unto you, MacEagh, and this noble lord shall be bounden also; but +first he must fill up this passport with the names of Major +Dugald Dalgetty and his guide, or he is like to have a passport +to another world." + +The Marquis subscribed, and wrote, by the light of the dark +lantern, as the soldier prescribed to him. + +"And now, Ranald," said Dalgetty, "strip thy upper garment--thy +plaid I mean, Ranald, and in it will I muffle the M'Callum More, +and make of him, for the time, a Child of the Mist;--Nay, I must +bring it over your head, my lord, so as to secure us against your +mistimed clamour.--So, now he is sufficiently muffled;--hold down +your hands, or, by Heaven, I will stab you to the heart with your +own dagger!--nay, you shall be bound with nothing less than silk, +as your quality deserves.--So, now he is secure till some one +comes to relieve him. If he ordered us a late dinner, Ranald, he +is like to be the sufferer;--at what hour, my good Ranald, did +the jailor usually appear?" + +"Never till the sun was beneath the western wave," said MacEagh. +"Then, my friend, we shall have three hours good," said the +cautious Captain. "In the meantime, let us labour for your +liberation." + +To examine Ranald's chain was the next occupation. It was undone +by means of one of the keys which hung behind the private door, +probably deposited there, that the Marquis might, if he pleased, +dismiss a prisoner, or remove him elsewhere without the necessity +of summoning the warden. The outlaw stretched his benumbed arms, +and bounded from the floor of the dungeon in all the ecstasy of +recovered freedom. + +"Take the livery-coat of that noble prisoner," said Captain +Dalgetty; "put it on, and follow close at my heels." + +The outlaw obeyed. They ascended the private stair, having first +secured the door behind them, and thus safely reached the +apartment of the Marquis. + +[The precarious state of the feudal nobles introduced a great +deal of espionage into their castles. Sir Robert Carey mentions +his having put on the cloak of one of his own wardens to obtain a +confession from the mouth of Geordie Bourne, his prisoner, whom +be caused presently to be hanged in return for the frankness of +his communication. The fine old Border castle of Naworth +contains a private stair from the apartment of the Lord William +Howard, by which he could visit the dungeon, as is alleged in the +preceding chapter to have been practised by the Marquis of +Argyle.] + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + This was the entry then, these stairs--but whither after? + Yet he that's sure to perish on the land + May quit the nicety of card and compass, + And trust the open sea without a pilot. TRAGEDY OF BENNOVALT. + +"Look out for the private way through the chapel, Ranald," said +the Captain, "while I give a hasty regard to these matters." + +Thus speaking, he seized with one hand a bundle of Argyle's most +private papers, and with the other a purse of gold, both of which +lay in a drawer of a rich cabinet, which stood invitingly open. +Neither did he neglect to possess himself of a sword and pistols, +with powder-flask and balls, which hung in the apartment. +"Intelligence and booty," said the veteran, as he pouched the +spoils, "each honourable cavalier should look to, the one on his +general's behalf, and the other on his own. This sword is an +Andrew Ferrara, and the pistols better than mine own. But a fair +exchange is no robbery. Soldados are not to be endangered, and +endangered gratuitously, my Lord of Argyle.--But soft, soft, +Ranald; wise Man of the Mist, whither art thou bound?" + +It was indeed full time to stop MacEagh's proceedings; for, not +finding the private passage readily, and impatient, it would +seem, of farther delay, he had caught down a sword and target, +and was about to enter the great gallery, with the purpose, +doubtless, of fighting his way through all opposition. + +"Hold, while you live," whispered Dalgetty, laying hold on him. +"We must be perdue, if possible. So bar we this door, that it +may be thought M'Callum More would be private--and now let me +make a reconnaissance for the private passage." + +By looking behind the tapestry in various places, the Captain at +length discovered a private door, and behind that a winding +passage, terminated by another door, which doubtless entered the +chapel. But what was his disagreeable surprise to hear, on the +other side of this second door, the sonorous voice of a divine in +the act of preaching. + +"This made the villain," he said, "recommend this to us as a +private passage. I am strongly tempted to return and cut his +throat." + +He then opened very gently the door, which led into a latticed +gallery used by the Marquis himself, the curtains of which were +drawn, perhaps with the purpose of having it supposed that he was +engaged in attendance upon divine worship, when, in fact, he was +absent upon his secular affairs. There was no other person in +the seat; for the family of the Marquis,--such was the high state +maintained in those days,--sate during service in another +gallery, placed somewhat lower than that of the great man +himself. This being the case, Captain Dalgetty ventured to +ensconce himself in the gallery, of which he carefully secured +the door. + +Never (although the expression be a bold one) was a sermon +listened to with more impatience, and less edification, on the +part of one, at least, of the audience. The Captain heard +SIXTEENTHLY-SEVENTEENTHLY-EIGHTEENTHLY and TO CONCLUDE, with a +sort of feeling like protracted despair. But no man can lecture +(for the service was called a lecture) for ever; and the +discourse was at length closed, the clergyman not failing to make +a profound bow towards the latticed gallery, little suspecting +whom he honoured by that reverence. To judge from the haste with +which they dispersed, the domestics of the Marquis were scarce +more pleased with their late occupation than the anxious Captain +Dalgetty; indeed, many of them being Highlandmen, had the excuse +of not understanding a single word which the clergyman spoke, +although they gave their attendance on his doctrine by the +special order of M'Callum More, and would have done so had the +preacher been a Turkish Imaum. + +But although the congregation dispersed thus rapidly, the divine +remained behind in the chapel, and, walking up and down its +Gothic precincts, seemed either to be meditating on what he had +just been delivering, or preparing a fresh discourse for the next +opportunity. Bold as he was, Dalgetty hesitated what he ought to +do. Time, however, pressed, and every moment increased the +chance of their escape being discovered by the jailor visiting +the dungeon perhaps before his wonted time, and discovering the +exchange which had been made there. At length, whispering +Ranald, who watched all his motions, to follow him and preserve +his countenance, Captain Dalgetty, with a very composed air, +descended a flight of steps which led from the gallery into the +body of the chapel. A less experienced adventurer would have +endeavoured to pass the worthy clergyman rapidly, in hopes to +escape unnoticed. But the Captain, who foresaw the manifest +danger of failing in such an attempt, walked gravely to meet the +divine upon his walk in the midst of the chancel, and, pulling +off his cap, was about to pass him after a formal reverence. But +what was his surprise to view in the preacher the very same +person with whom he had dined in the castle of Ardenvohr! Yet he +speedily recovered his composure; and ere the clergyman could +speak, was the first to address him. "I could not," he said, +"leave this mansion without bequeathing to you, my very reverend +sir, my humble thanks for the homily with which you have this +evening favoured us." + +"I did not observe, sir," said the clergyman, "that you were in +the chapel." + +"It pleased the honourable Marquis," said Dalgetty, modestly, "to +grace me with a seat in his own gallery." The divine bowed low +at this intimation, knowing that such an honour was only +vouchsafed to persons of very high rank. "It has been my fate, +sir," said the Captain, "in the sort of wandering life which I +have led, to have heard different preachers of different +religions--as for example, Lutheran, Evangelical, Reformed, +Calvinistical, and so forth, but never have I listened to such a +homily as yours." + +"Call it a lecture, worthy sir," said the divine, "such is the +phrase of our church." + +"Lecture or homily," said Dalgetty, "it was, as the High Germans +say, GANZ FORTRE FLICH; and I could not leave this place without +testifying unto you what inward emotions I have undergone during +your edifying prelection; and how I am touched to the quick, that +I should yesterday, during the refection, have seemed to infringe +on the respect due to such a person as yourself." + +"Alas! my worthy sir," said the clergyman, "we meet in this +world as in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, not knowing +against whom we may chance to encounter. In truth, it is no +matter of marvel, if we sometimes jostle those, to whom, if +known, we would yield all respect. Surely, sir, I would rather +have taken you for a profane malignant than for such a devout +person as you prove, who reverences the great Master even in the +meanest of his servants." + +"It is always my custom to do so, learned sir," answered +Dalgetty; "for in the service of the immortal Gustavus--but I +detain you from your meditations,"--his desire to speak of the +King of Sweden being for once overpowered by the necessity of his +circumstances. + +"By no means, my worthy sir," said the clergyman. "What was, I +pray you, the order of that great Prince, whose memory is so dear +to every Protestant bosom?" + +"Sir, the drums beat to prayers morning and evening, as regularly +as for parade; and if a soldier passed without saluting the +chaplain, he had an hour's ride on the wooden mare for his pains. +Sir, I wish you a very good evening--I am obliged to depart the +castle under M'Callum More's passport." + +"Stay one instant, sir," said the preacher; "is there nothing I +can do to testify my respect for the pupil of the great Gustavus, +and so admirable a judge of preaching?" + +"Nothing, sir," said the Captain, "but to shew me the nearest way +to the gate--and if you would have the kindness," he added, with +great effrontery, "to let a servant bring my horse with him, the +dark grey gelding--call him Gustavus, and he will prick up his +ears--for I know not where the castle-stables are situated, and +my guide," he added, looking at Ranald, "speaks no English." + +"I hasten to accommodate you," said the clergyman; "your way lies +through that cloistered passage." + +"Now, Heaven's blessing upon your vanity!" said the Captain to +himself. "I was afraid I would have had to march off without +Gustavus." + +In fact, so effectually did the chaplain exert himself in behalf +of so excellent a judge of composition, that while Dalgetty was +parleying with the sentinels at the drawbridge, showing his +passport, and giving the watchword, a servant brought him his +horse, ready saddled for the journey. In another place, the +Captain's sudden appearance at large after having been publicly +sent to prison, might have excited suspicion and enquiry; but the +officers and domestics of the Marquis were accustomed to the +mysterious policy of their master, and never supposed aught else +than that he had been liberated and intrusted with some private +commission by their master. In this belief, and having received +the parole, they gave him free passage. + +Dalgetty rode slowly through the town of Inverary, the outlaw +attending upon him like a foot-page at his horse's shoulder. As +they passed the gibbet, the old man looked on the bodies and +wrung his hands. The look and gesture was momentary, but +expressive of indescribable anguish. Instantly recovering +himself, Ranald, in passing, whispered somewhat to one of the +females, who, like Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, seemed engaged in +watching and mourning the victims of feudal injustice and +cruelty. The woman started at his voice, but immediately +collected herself and returned for answer a slight inclination of +the head. + +Dalgetty continued his way out of the town, uncertain whether he +should try to seize or hire a boat and cross the lake, or plunge +into the woods, and there conceal himself from pursuit. In the +former event he was liable to be instantly pursued by the galleys +of the Marquis, which lay ready for sailing, their long yard-arms +pointing to the wind, and what hope could he have in an ordinary +Highland fishing-boat to escape from them? If he made the latter +choice, his chance either of supporting or concealing himself in +those waste and unknown wildernesses, was in the highest degree +precarious. The town lay now behind him, yet what hand to turn +to for safety he was unable to determine, and began to be +sensible, that in escaping from the dungeon at Inverary, +desperate as the matter seemed, he had only accomplished the +easiest part of a difficult task. If retaken, his fate was now +certain; for the personal injury he had offered to a man so +powerful and so vindictive, could be atoned for only by instant +death. While he pondered these distressing reflections, and +looked around with a countenance which plainly expressed +indecision, Ranald MacEagh suddenly asked him, "which way he +intended to journey?" + +"And that, honest comrade," answered Dalgetty, "is precisely the +question which I cannot answer you. Truly I begin to hold the +opinion, Ranald, that we had better have stuck by the brown loaf +and water-pitcher until Sir Duncan arrived, who, for his own +honour, must have made some fight for me." + +"Saxon," answered MacEagh, "do not regret having exchanged the +foul breath of yonder dungeon for the free air of heaven. Above +all, repent not that you have served a Son of the Mist. Put +yourself under my guidance, and I will warrant your safety with +my head." + +"Can you guide me safe through these mountains, and back to the +army of Montrose?" said Dalgetty. + +"I can," answered MacEagh; "there lives not a man to whom the +mountain passes, the caverns, the glens, the thickets, and the +corries are known, as they are to the Children of the Mist. +While others crawl on the level ground, by the sides of lakes and +streams, ours are the steep hollows of the inaccessible +mountains, the birth-place of the desert springs. Not all the +bloodhounds of Argyle can trace the fastnesses through which I +can guide you." + +"Say'st thou so, honest Ranald?" replied Dalgetty; "then have on +with thee; for of a surety I shall never save the ship by my own +pilotage." + +The outlaw accordingly led the way into the wood, by which the +castle is surrounded for several miles, walking with so much +dispatch as kept Gustavus at a round trot, and taking such a +number of cross cuts and turns, that Captain Dalgetty speedily +lost all idea where he might be, and all knowledge of the points +of the compass. At length, the path, which had gradually become +more difficult, altogether ended among thickets and underwood. +The roaring of a torrent was heard in the neighbourhood, the +ground became in some places broken, in others boggy, and +everywhere unfit for riding. + +"What the foul fiend," said Dalgetty, "is to be done here? I must +part with Gustavus, I fear." + +"Take no care for your horse," said the outlaw; "he shall soon be +restored to you." + +As he spoke, he whistled in a low tune, and a lad, half-dressed +in tartan, half naked, having only his own shaggy hair, tied with +a thong of leather, to protect his head and face from sun and +weather, lean, and half-starved in aspect, his wild grey eyes +appearing to fill up ten times the proportion usually allotted to +them in the human face, crept out, as a wild beast might have +done, from a thicket of brambles and briars. + +"Give your horse to the gillie," said Ranald MacEagh; "your life +depends upon it." + +"Och! och!" exclaimed the despairing veteran; "Eheu! as we +used to say at Mareschal-College, must I leave Gustavus in such +grooming!" + +"Are you frantic, to lose time thus!" said his guide; "do we +stand on friends' ground, that you should part with your horse as +if he were your brother? I tell you, you shall have him again; +but if you never saw the animal, is not life better than the best +colt ever mare foaled?" + +"And that is true too, mine honest friend," sighed Dalgetty; "yet +if you knew but the value of Gustavus, and the things we two have +done and suffered together--See, he turns back to look at me!--Be +kind to him, my good breechless friend, and I will requite you +well." So saying, and withal sniffling a little to swallow his +grief, he turned from the heart-rending spectacle in order to +follow his guide. + +To follow his guide was no easy matter, and soon required more +agility than Captain Dalgetty could master. The very first +plunge after he had parted from his charger, carried him, with +little assistance from a few overhanging boughs, or projecting +roots of trees, eight foot sheer down into the course of a +torrent, up which the Son of the Mist led the way. Huge stones, +over which they scrambled,--thickets of them and brambles, +through which they had to drag themselves,--rocks which were to +be climbed on the one side with much labour and pain, for the +purpose of an equally precarious descent upon the other; all +these, and many such interruptions, were surmounted by the light- +footed and half-naked mountaineer with an ease and velocity which +excited the surprise and envy of Captain Dalgetty, who, +encumbered by his head-piece, corslet, and other armour, not to +mention his ponderous jack-boots, found himself at length so much +exhausted by fatigue, and the difficulties of the road, that he +sate down upon a stone in order to recover his breath, while he +explained to Ranald MacEagh the difference betwixt travelling +EXPEDITUS and IMPEDITUS, as these two military phrases were +understood at Mareschal-College, Aberdeen. The sole answer of +the mountaineer was to lay his hand on the soldier's arm, and +point backward in the direction of the wind. Dalgetty could spy +nothing, for evening was closing fast, and they were at the +bottom of a dark ravine. But at length he could distinctly hear +at a distance the sullen toll of a large bell. + +"That," said he, "must be the alarm--the storm-clock, as the +Germans call it." + +"It strikes the hour of your death," answered Ranald, "unless you +can accompany me a little farther. For every toll of that bell a +brave man has yielded up his soul." + +"Truly, Ranald, my trusty friend," said Dalgetty, "I will not +deny that the case may be soon my own; for I am so forfoughen +(being, as I explained to you, IMPEDITUS, for had I been +EXPEDITUS, I mind not pedestrian exercise the flourish of a +fife), that I think I had better ensconce myself in one of these +bushes, and even lie quiet there to abide what fortune God shall +send me. I entreat you, mine honest friend Ranald, to shift for +yourself, and leave me to my fortune, as the Lion of the North, +the immortal Gustavus Adolphus, my never-to-be-forgotten master +(whom you must surely have heard of, Ranald, though you may have +heard of no one else), said to Francis Albert, Duke of Saxe- +Lauenburgh, when he was mortally wounded on the plains of Lutzen. +Neither despair altogether of my safety, Ranald, seeing I have +been in as great pinches as this in Germany--more especially, I +remember me, that at the fatal battle of Nerlingen--after which I +changed service--" + +"If you would save your father's son's breath to help his child +out of trouble, instead of wasting it upon the tales of +Seannachies," said Ranald, who now grew impatient of the +Captain's loquacity, "or if your feet could travel as fast as +your tongue, you might yet lay your head on an unbloody pillow +to-night." + +"Something there is like military skill in that," replied the +Captain, "although wantonly and irreverently spoken to an officer +of rank. But I hold it good to pardon such freedoms on a march, +in respect of the Saturnalian license indulged in such cases to +the troops of all nations. And now, resume thine office, friend +Ranald, in respect I am well-breathed; or, to be more plain, I +PRAE, SEQUAR, as we used to say at Mareschal-College." + +Comprehending his meaning rather from his motions than his +language, the Son of the Mist again led the way, with an unerring +precision that looked like instinct, through a variety of ground +the most difficult and broken that could well be imagined. +Dragging along his ponderous boots, encumbered with thigh-pieces, +gauntlets, corslet, and back-piece, not to mention the buff +jerkin which he wore under all these arms, talking of his former +exploits the whole way, though Ranald paid not the slightest +attention to him, Captain Dalgetty contrived to follow his guide +a considerable space farther, when the deep-mouthed baying of a +hound was heard coming down the wind, as if opening on the scent +of its prey. + +"Black hound," said Ranald, "whose throat never boded good to a +Child of the Mist, ill fortune to her who littered thee! hast +thou already found our trace? But thou art too late, swart hound +of darkness, and the deer has gained the herd." + +So saying, he whistled very softly, and was answered in a tone +equally low from the top of a pass, up which they had for some +time been ascending. Mending their pace, they reached the top, +where the moon, which had now risen bright and clear, showed to +Dalgetty a party of ten or twelve Highlanders, and about as many +women and children, by whom Ranald MacEagh was received with such +transports of joy, as made his companion easily sensible that +those by whom he was surrounded, must of course be Children of +the Mist. The place which they occupied well suited their name +and habits. It was a beetling crag, round which winded a very +narrow and broken footpath, commanded in various places by the +position which they held. + +Ranald spoke anxiously and hastily to the children of his tribe, +and the men came one by one to shake hands with Dalgetty, while +the women, clamorous in their gratitude, pressed round to kiss +even the hem of his garment. "They plight their faith to you," +said Ranald MacEagh, "for requital of the good deed you have done +to the tribe this day." + +"Enough said, Ranald," answered the soldier, "enough said--tell +them I love not this shaking of hands--it confuses ranks and +degrees in military service; and as to kissing of gauntlets, +puldrons, and the like, I remember that the immortal Gustavus, as +he rode through the streets of Nuremberg, being thus worshipped +by the poulace (being doubtless far more worthy of it than a poor +though honourable cavalier like myself), did say unto them, in +the way of rebuke, 'If you idolize me thus like a god, who shall +assure you that the vengeance of Heaven will not soon prove me to +be a mortal?'--And so here, I suppose you intend to make a stand +against your followers, Ranald--VOTO A DIOS, as the Spaniard +says?--a very pretty position--as pretty a position for a small +peloton of men as I have seen in my service--no enemy can come +towards it by the road without being at the mercy of cannon and +musket.--But then, Ranald, my trusty comrade, you have no cannon, +I dare to aver, and I do not see that any of these fellows have +muskets either. So with what artillery you propose making good +the pass, before you come to hand blows, truly, Ranald, it +passeth my apprehension." + +"With the weapons and with the courage of our fathers," said +MacEagh; and made the Captain observe, that the men of his party +were armed with bows and arrows. + +"Bows and arrows!" exclaimed Dalgetty; "ha! ha! ha! have we +Robin Hood and Little John back again? Bows and arrows! why, +the sight has not been seen in civilized war for a hundred years. +Bows and arrows! and why not weavers' beams, as in the days of +Goliah? Ah! that Dugald Dalgetty, of Drumthwacket, should live +to see men fight with bows and arrows!--The immortal Gustavus +would never have believed it--nor Wallenstein--nor Butler--nor +old Tilly,--Well, Ranald, a cat can have but its claws--since +bows and arrows are the word, e'en let us make the best of it. +Only, as I do not understand the scope and range of such old- +fashioned artillery, you must make the best disposition you can +out of your own head for MY taking the command, whilk I would +have gladly done had you been to fight with any Christian +weapons, is out of the question, when you are to combat like +quivered Numidians. I will, however, play my part with my +pistols in the approaching melley, in respect my carabine +unhappily remains at Gustavus's saddle.--My service and thanks to +you," he continued, addressing a mountaineer who offered him a +bow; "Dugald Dalgetty may say of himself, as he learned at +Mareschal-College, + + "Non eget Mauri jaculis, neque arcu, + Nec venenatis gravida sagittis, + Fusce, pharetra; + +whilk is to say--" + +Ranald MacEagh a second time imposed silence on the talkative +commander as before, by pulling his sleeve, and pointing down the +pass. The bay of the bloodhound was now approaching nearer and +nearer, and they could hear the voices of several persons who +accompanied the animal, and hallooed to each other as they +dispersed occasionally, either in the hurry of their advance, or +in order to search more accurately the thickets as they came +along. They were obviously drawing nearer and nearer every +moment. MacEagh, in the meantime, proposed to Captain Dalgetty +to disencumber himself of his armour, and gave him to understand +that the women should transport it to a place of safety. + +"I crave your pardon, sir," said Dalgetty, "such is not the rule +of our foreign service in respect I remember the regiment of +Finland cuirassiers reprimanded, and their kettle-drums taken +from them, by the immortal Gustavus, because they had assumed the +permission to march without their corslets, and to leave them +with the baggage. Neither did they strike kettle-drums again at +the head of that famous regiment until they behaved themselves so +notably at the field of Leipsic; a lesson whilk is not to be +forgotten, any more than that exclamation of the immortal +Gustavus, 'Now shall I know if my officers love me, by their +putting on their armour; since, if my officers are slain, who +shall lead my soldiers into victory?' Nevertheless, friend +Ranald, this is without prejudice to my being rid of these +somewhat heavy boots, providing I can obtain any other +succedaneum; for I presume not to say that my bare soles are +fortified so as to endure the flints and thorns, as seems to be +the case with your followers." + +To rid the Captain of his cumbrous greaves, and case his feet in +a pair of brogues made out of deerskin, which a Highlander +stripped off for his accommodation, was the work of a minute, and +Dalgetty found himself much lightened by the exchange. He was in +the act of recommending to Ranald MacEagh, to send two or three +of his followers a little lower to reconnoitre the pass, and, at +the same time, somewhat to extend his front, placing two detached +archers at each flank by way of posts of observation, when the +near cry of the hound apprised them that the pursuers were at the +bottom of the pass. All was then dead silence; for, loquacious +as he was on other occasions, Captain Dalgetty knew well the +necessity of an ambush keeping itself under covert. + +The moon gleamed on the broken pathway, and on the projecting +cliffs of rock round which it winded, its light intercepted here +and there by the branches of bushes and dwarf-trees, which, +finding nourishment in the crevices of the rocks, in some places +overshadowed the brow and ledge of the precipice. Below, a thick +copse-wood lay in deep and dark shadow, somewhat resembling the +billows of a half-seen ocean. From the bosom of that darkness, +and close to the bottom of the precipice, the hound was heard at +intervals baying fearfully, sounds which were redoubled by the +echoes of the woods and rocks around. At intervals, these sunk +into deep silence, interrupted only by the plashing noise of a +small runnel of water, which partly fell from the rock, partly +found a more silent passage to the bottom along its projecting +surface. Voices of men were also heard in stifled converse +below; it seemed as if the pursuers had not discovered the narrow +path which led to the top of the rock, or that, having discovered +it, the peril of the ascent, joined to the imperfect light, and +the uncertainty whether it might not be defended, made them +hesitate to attempt it. + +At length a shadowy figure was seen, which raised itself up from +the abyss of darkness below, and, emerging into the pale +moonlight, began cautiously and slowly to ascend the rocky path. +The outline was so distinctly marked, that Captain Dalgetty could +discover not only the person of a Highlander, but the long gun +which he carried in his hand, and the plume of feathers which +decorated his bonnet. "TAUSEND TEIFLEN! that I should say so, +and so like to be near my latter end!" ejaculated the Captain, +but under his breath, "what will become of us, now they have +brought musketry to encounter our archers?" + +But just as the pursuer had attained a projecting piece of rock +about half way up the ascent, and, pausing, made a signal for +those who were still at the bottom to follow him, an arrow +whistled from the bow of one of the Children of the Mist, and +transfixed him with so fatal a wound, that, without a single +effort to save himself, he lost his balance, and fell headlong +from the cliff on which he stood, into the darkness below. The +crash of the boughs which received him, and the heavy sound of +his fall from thence to the ground, was followed by a cry of +horror and surprise, which burst from his followers. The +Children of the Mist, encouraged in proportion to the alarm this +first success had caused among the pursuers, echoed back the +clamour with a loud and shrill yell of exultation, and, showing +themselves on the brow of the precipice, with wild cries and +vindictive gestures, endeavoured to impress on their enemies a +sense at once of their courage, their numbers, and their state of +defence. Even Captain Dalgetty's military prudence did not +prevent his rising up, and calling out to Ranald, more loud than +prudence warranted, "CAROCCO, comrade, as the Spaniard says! The +long-bow for ever! In my poor apprehension now, were you to +order a file to advance and take position--" + +"The Sassenach!" cried a voice from beneath, "mark the Sassenach +sidier! I see the glitter of his breastplate." At the same time +three muskets were discharged; and while one ball rattled against +the corslet of proof, to the strength of which our valiant +Captain had been more than once indebted for his life, another +penetrated the armour which covered the front of his left thigh, +and stretched him on the ground. Ranald instantly seized him in +his arms, and bore him back from the edge of the precipice, while +he dolefully ejaculated, "I always told the immortal Gustavus, +Wallenstein, Tilly, and other men of the sword, that, in my poor +mind, taslets ought to be made musket-proof." + +With two or three earnest words in Gaelic, MacEagh commended the +wounded man to the charge of the females, who were in the rear of +his little party, and was then about to return to the contest. +But Dalgetty detained him, grasping a firm hold of his plaid.--"I +know not how this matter may end--but I request you will inform +Montrose, that I died like a follower of the immortal Gustavus +--and I pray you, take heed how you quit your present strength, +even for the purpose of pursuing the enemy, if you gain any +advantage--and--and--" + +Here Dalgetty's breath and eyesight began to fail him through +loss of blood, and MacEagh, availing himself of this +circumstance, extricated from his grasp the end of his own +mantle, and substituted that of a female, by which the Captain +held stoutly, thereby securing, as he conceived, the outlaw's +attention to the military instructions which he continued to pour +forth while he had any breath to utter them, though they became +gradually more and more incoherent--"And, comrade, you will be +sure to keep your musketeers in advance of your stand of pikes, +Lochaber-axes, and two-handed swords--Stand fast, dragoons, on +the left flank!--where was I?--Ay, and, Ranald, if ye be minded +to retreat, leave some lighted matches burning on the branches of +the trees--it shows as if they were lined with shot--But I forget +--ye have no match-locks nor habergeons--only bows and arrows +--bows and arrows! ha! ha! ha!" + +Here the Captain sunk back in an exhausted condition, altogether +unable to resist the sense of the ludicrous which, as a modern +man-at-arms, he connected with the idea of these ancient weapons +of war. It was a long time ere he recovered his senses; and, in +the meantime, we leave him in the care of the Daughters of the +Mist; nurses as kind and attentive, in reality, as they were wild +and uncouth in outward appearance. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +But if no faithless action stain +Thy true and constant word, +I'll make thee famous by my pen, +And glorious by my sword. + +I'll serve thee in such noble ways +As ne'er were known before; +I'll deck and crown thy head with bays, +And love thee more and more. MONTROSE'S LINES. + +We must now leave, with whatever regret, the valiant Captain +Dalgetty, to recover of his wounds or otherwise as fate shall +determine, in order briefly to trace the military operations of +Montrose, worthy as they are of a more important page, and a +better historian. By the assistance of the chieftains whom we +have commemorated, and more especially by the junction of the +Murrays, Stewarts, and other clans of Athole, which were +peculiarly zealous in the royal cause, he soon assembled an army +of two or three thousand Highlanders, to whom he successfully +united the Irish under Colkitto. This last leader, who, to the +great embarrassment of Milton's commentators, is commemorated in +one of that great poet's sonnets, was properly named Alister, or +Alexander M'Donnell, by birth a Scottish islesman, and related to +the Earl of Antrim, to whose patronage he owed the command +assigned him in the Irish troops. In many respects he merited +this distinction. He was brave to intrepidity, and almost to +insensibility; very strong and active in person, completely +master of his weapons, and always ready to show the example in +the extremity of danger. To counterbalance these good qualities, +it must be recorded, that he was inexperienced in military +tactics, and of a jealous and presumptuous disposition, which +often lost to Montrose the fruits of Colkitto's gallantry. Yet +such is the predominance of outward personal qualities in the +eyes of a mild people, that the feats of strength and courage +shown by this champion, seem to have made a stronger impression +upon the minds of the Highlanders, than the military skill and +chivalrous spirit of the great Marquis of Montrose. Numerous +traditions are still preserved in the Highland glens concerning +Alister M'Donnell, though the name of Montrose is rarely +mentioned among them. + +[Milton's book, entitled TETRACHORDON, had +been ridiculed, it would seem, by the divines assembled at +Westminster, and others, on account of the hardness of the title; +and Milton in his sonnet retaliates upon the barbarous Scottish +names which the Civil War had made familiar to English ears:-- + +-- why is it harder, sirs, than Gordon, +COLKITTO or M'Donald, or Gallasp? +These rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek, +That would have made Quintillian stare and gasp. + +"We may suppose," says Bishop Newton, "that these were persons of +note among the Scotch ministers, who were for pressing and +enforcing the Covenant;" whereas Milton only intends to ridicule +the barbarism of Scottish names in general, and quotes, +indiscriminately, that of Gillespie, one of the Apostles of the +Covenant, and those of Colkitto and M'Donnell (both belonging to +one person), one of its bitterest enemies.] + +The point upon which Montrose finally assembled his little army, +was in Strathearn, on the verge of the Highlands of Perthshire, +so as to menace the principal town of that county. + +His enemies were not unprepared for his reception. Argyle, at the +head of his Highlanders, was dogging the steps of the Irish from +the west to the east, and by force, fear, or influence, had +collected an army nearly sufficient to have given battle to that +under Montrose. The Lowlands were also prepared, for reasons +which we assigned at the beginning of this tale. A body of six +thousand infantry, and six or seven thousand cavalry, which +profanely assumed the title of God's army, had been hastily +assembled from the shires of Fife, Angus, Perth, Stirling, and +the neighbouring counties. A much less force in former times, +nay, even in the preceding reign, would have been sufficient to +have secured the Lowlands against a more formidable descent of +Highlanders, than those united under Montrose; but times had +changed strangely within the last half century. Before that +period, the Lowlanders were as constantly engaged in war as the +mountaineers, and were incomparably better disciplined and armed. +The favourite Scottish order of battle somewhat resembled the +Macedonian phalanx. Their infantry formed a compact body, armed +with long spears, impenetrable even to the men-at-arms of the +age, though well mounted, and arrayed in complete proof. It may +easily be conceived, therefore, that their ranks could not be +broken by the disorderly charge of Highland infantry armed for +close combat only, with swords, and ill furnished with missile +weapons, and having no artillery whatever. + +This habit of fight was in a great measure changed by the +introduction of muskets into the Scottish Lowland service, which, +not being as yet combined with the bayonet, was a formidable +weapon at a distance, but gave no assurance against the enemy who +rushed on to close quarters. The pike, indeed, was not wholly +disused in the Scottish army; but it was no longer the favourite +weapon, nor was it relied upon as formerly by those in whose +hands it was placed; insomuch that Daniel Lupton, a tactician of +the day, has written a book expressly upon the superiority of the +musket. This change commenced as early as the wars of Gustavus +Adolphus, whose marches were made with such rapidity, that the +pike was very soon thrown aside in his army, and exchanged for +fire-arms. A circumstance which necessarily accompanied this +change, as well as the establishment of standing armies, whereby +war became a trade, was the introduction of a laborious and +complicated system of discipline, combining a variety of words of +command with corresponding operations and manoeuvres, the neglect +of any one of which was sure to throw the whole into confusion. +War therefore, as practised among most nations of Europe, had +assumed much more than formerly the character of a profession or +mystery, to which previous practice and experience were +indispensable requisites. Such was the natural consequence of +standing armies, which had almost everywhere, and particularly in +the long German wars, superseded what may be called the natural +discipline of the feudal militia. + +The Scottish Lowland militia, therefore, laboured under a double +disadvantage when opposed to Highlanders. They were divested of +the spear, a weapon which, in the hands of their ancestors, had +so often repelled the impetuous assaults of the mountaineer; and +they were subjected to a new and complicated species of +discipline, well adapted, perhaps, to the use of regular troops, +who could be rendered completely masters of it, but tending only +to confuse the ranks of citizen soldiers, by whom it was rarely +practised, and imperfectly understood. So much has been done in +our own time in bringing back tactics to their first principles, +and in getting rid of the pedantry of war, that it is easy for us +to estimate the disadvantages under which a half-trained militia +laboured, who were taught to consider success as depending upon +their exercising with precision a system of tactics, which they +probably only so far comprehended as to find out when they were +wrong, but without the power of getting right again. Neither can +it be denied, that, in the material points of military habits and +warlike spirit, the Lowlanders of the seventeenth century had +sunk far beneath their Highland countrymen. + +From the earliest period down to the union of the crowns, the +whole kingdom of Scotland, Lowlands as well as Highlands, had +been the constant scene of war, foreign and domestic; and there +was probably scarce one of its hardy inhabitants, between the age +of sixteen and sixty, who was not as willing in point of fact as +he was literally bound in law, to assume arms at the first call +of his liege lord, or of a royal proclamation. The law remained +the same in sixteen hundred and forty-five as a hundred years +before, but the race of those subjected to it had been bred up +under very different feelings. They had sat in quiet under their +vine and under their fig-tree, and a call to battle involved a +change of life as new as it was disagreeable. Such of them, +also, who lived near unto the Highlands, were in continual and +disadvantageous contact with the restless inhabitants of those +mountains, by whom their cattle were driven off, their dwellings +plundered, and their persons insulted, and who had acquired over +them that sort of superiority arising from a constant system of +aggression. The Lowlanders, who lay more remote, and out of +reach of these depredations, were influenced by the exaggerated +reports circulated concerning the Highlanders, whom, as totally +differing in laws, language, and dress, they were induced to +regard as a nation of savages, equally void of fear and of +humanity. These various prepossessions, joined to the less +warlike habits of the Lowlanders, and their imperfect knowledge +of the new and complicated system of discipline for which they +had exchanged their natural mode of fighting, placed them at +great disadvantage when opposed to the Highlander in the field of +battle. The mountaineers, on the contrary, with the arms and +courage of their fathers, possessed also their simple and natural +system of tactics, and bore down with the fullest confidence upon +an enemy, to whom anything they had been taught of discipline +was, like Saul's armour upon David, a hinderance rather than a +help, "because they had not proved it." + +It was with such disadvantages on the one side, and such +advantages on the other, to counterbalance the difference of +superior numbers and the presence of artillery and cavalry, that +Montrose encountered the army of Lord Elcho upon the field of +Tippermuir. The Presbyterian clergy had not been wanting in +their efforts to rouse the spirit of their followers, and one of +them, who harangued the troops on the very day of battle, +hesitated not to say, that if ever God spoke by his mouth, he +promised them, in His name, that day, a great and assured +victory. The cavalry and artillery were also reckoned sure +warrants of success, as the novelty of their attack had upon +former occasions been very discouraging to the Highlanders. The +place of meeting was an open heath, and the ground afforded +little advantage to either party, except that it allowed the +horse of the Covenanters to act with effect. + +A battle upon which so much depended, was never more easily +decided. The Lowland cavalry made a show of charging; but, +whether thrown into disorder by the fire of musketry, or deterred +by a disaffection to the service said to have prevailed among the +gentlemen, they made no impression on the Highlanders whatever, +and recoiled in disorder from ranks which had neither bayonets +nor pikes to protect them. Montrose saw, and instantly availed +himself of this advantage. He ordered his whole army to charge, +which they performed with the wild and desperate valour peculiar +to mountaineers. One officer of the Covenanters alone, trained +in the Italian wars, made a desperate defence upon the right +wing. In every other point their line was penetrated at the +first onset; and this advantage once obtained, the Lowlanders +were utterly unable to contend at close quarters with their more +agile and athletic enemies. Many were slain on the held, and +such a number in the pursuit, that above one-third of the +Covenanters were reported to have fallen; in which number, +however, must be computed a great many fat burgesses who broke +their wind in the flight, and thus died without stroke of sword. +[We choose to quote our authority for a fact so singular:--"A +great many burgesses were killed--twenty-five householders in St. +Andrews--many were bursten in the flight, and died without +stroke."--See Baillie's Letters, vol. ii. page 92.] + +The victors obtained possession of Perth, and obtained +considerable sums of money, as well as ample supplies of arms and +ammunition. But those advantages were to be balanced against an +almost insurmountable inconvenience that uniformly attended a +Highland army. The clans could be in no respect induced to +consider themselves as regular soldiers, or to act as such. Even +so late as the year 1745-6, when the Chevalier Charles Edward, by +way of making an example, caused a soldier to be shot for +desertion, the Highlanders, who composed his army, were affected +as much by indignation as by fear. They could not conceive any +principle of justice upon which a man's life could be taken, for +merely going home when it did not suit him to remain longer with +the army. Such had been the uniform practice of their fathers. +When a battle was over, the campaign was, in their opinion, +ended; if it was lost, they sought safety in their mountains--if +won, they returned there to secure their booty. At other times +they had their cattle to look after, and their harvests to sow or +reap, without which their families would have perished for want. +In either case, there was an end of their services for the time; +and though they were easily enough recalled by the prospect of +fresh adventures and more plunder, yet the opportunity of success +was, in the meantime, lost, and could not afterwards be +recovered. This circumstance serves to show, even if history had +not made us acquainted with the same fact, that the Highlanders +had never been accustomed to make war with the view of permanent +conquest, but only with the hope of deriving temporary advantage, +or deciding some immediate quarrel. It also explains the reason +why Montrose, with all his splendid successes, never obtained any +secure or permanent footing in the Lowlands, and why even those +Lowland noblemen and gentlemen, who were inclined to the royal +cause, showed diffidence and reluctance to join an army of a +character so desultory and irregular, as might lead them at all +times to apprehend that the Highlanders securing themselves by a +retreat to their mountains, would leave whatever Lowlanders might +have joined them to the mercy of an offended and predominant +enemy. The same consideration will also serve to account for the +sudden marches which Montrose was obliged to undertake, in order +to recruit his army in the mountains, and for the rapid changes +of fortune, by which we often find him obliged to retreat from +before those enemies over whom he had recently been victorious. +If there should be any who read these tales for any further +purpose than that of immediate amusement, they will find these +remarks not unworthy of their recollection. + +It was owing to such causes, the slackness of the Lowland +loyalists and the temporary desertion of his Highland followers, +that Montrose found himself, even after the decisive victory of +Tippermuir, in no condition to face the second army with which +Argyle advanced upon him from the westward. In this emergency, +supplying by velocity the want of strength, he moved suddenly +from Perth to Dundee, and being refused admission into that town, +fell northward upon Aberdeen, where he expected to be joined by +the Gordons and other loyalists. But the zeal of these gentlemen +was, for the time, effectually bridled by a large body of +Covenanters, commanded by the Lord Burleigh, and supposed to +amount to three thousand men. These Montrose boldly attacked +with half their number. The battle was fought under the walls Of +the city, and the resolute valour of Montrose's followers was +again successful against every disadvantage. + +But it was the fate of this great commander, always to gain the +glory, but seldom to reap the fruits of victory. He had scarcely +time to repose his small army in Aberdeen, ere he found, on the +one hand, that the Gordons were likely to be deterred from +joining him, by the reasons we have mentioned, with some others +peculiar to their chief, the Marquis of Huntly; on the other +hand, Argyle, whose forces had been augmented by those of several +Lowland noblemen, advanced towards Montrose at the head of an +army much larger than he had yet had to cope with. These troops +moved, indeed, with slowness, corresponding to the cautious +character of their commander; but even that caution rendered +Argyle's approach formidable, since his very advance implied, +that he was at the head of an army irresistibly superior + +There remained one mode of retreat open to Montrose, and he +adopted it. He threw himself into the Highlands, where he could +set pursuit at defiance, and where he was sure, in every glen, to +recover those recruits who had left his standard to deposit their +booty in their native fastnesses. It was thus that the singular +character of the army which Montrose commanded, while, on the one +hand, it rendered his victory in some degree nugatory, enabled +him, on the other, under the most disadvantageous circumstances, +to secure his retreat, recruit his forces, and render himself +more formidable than ever to the enemy, before whom he had lately +been unable to make a stand. + +On the present occasion he threw himself into Badenoch, and +rapidly traversing that district, as well as the neighbouring +country of Athole, he alarmed the Covenanters by successive +attacks upon various unexpected points, and spread such general +dismay, that repeated orders were dispatched by the Parliament to +Argyle, their commander, to engage, and disperse Montrose at all +rates. + +These commands from his superiors neither suited the haughty +spirit, nor the temporizing and cautious policy, of the nobleman +to whom they were addressed. He paid, accordingly, no regard to +them, but limited his efforts to intrigues among Montrose's few +Lowland followers, many of whom had become disgusted with the +prospect of a Highland campaign, which exposed their persons to +intolerable fatigue, and left their estates at the Covenanters' +mercy. Accordingly, several of them left Montrose's camp at this +period. He was joined, however, by a body of forces of more +congenial spirit, and far better adapted to the situation in +which he found himself. This reinforcement consisted of a large +body of Highlanders, whom Colkitto, dispatched for that purpose, +had levied in Argyleshire. Among the most distinguished was John +of Moidart, called the Captain of Clan Ranald, with the Stewarts +of Appin, the Clan Gregor, the Clan M'Nab, and other tribes of +inferior distinction. By these means, Montrose's army was so +formidably increased, that Argyle cared no longer to remain in +the command of that opposed to him, but returned to Edinburgh, +and there threw up his commission, under pretence that his army +was not supplied with reinforcements and provisions in the manner +in which they ought to have been. From thence the Marquis +returned to Inverary, there, in full security, to govern his +feudal vassals, and patriarchal followers, and to repose himself +in safety on the faith of the Clan proverb already quoted--"It is +a far cry to Lochow." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + Such mountains steep, such craggy hills, + His army on one side enclose: + The other side, great griesly gills + Did fence with fenny mire and moss. + + Which when the Earl understood, + He council craved of captains all, + Who bade set forth with mournful mood, + And take such fortune as would fall. + FLODDEN FIELD, AN ANCIENT POEM. + +Montrose had now a splendid career in his view, provided he could +obtain the consent of his gallant, but desultory troops, and +their independent chieftains. The Lowlands lay open before him +without an army adequate to check his career; for Argyle's +followers had left the Covenanters' host when their master threw +up his commission, and many other troops, tired of the war, had +taken the same opportunity to disband themselves. By descending +Strath-Tay, therefore, one of the most convenient passes from the +Highlands, Montrose had only to present himself in the Lowlands, +in order to rouse the slumbering spirit of chivalry and of +loyalty which animated the gentlemen to the north of the Forth. +The possession of these districts, with or without a victory, +would give him the command of a wealthy and fertile part of the +kingdom, and would enable him, by regular pay, to place his army +on a permanent footing, to penetrate as far as the capital, +perhaps from thence to the Border, where he deemed it possible to +communicate with the yet unsubdued forces of King Charles. + +Such was the plan of operations by which the truest glory was to +be acquired, and the most important success insured for the royal +cause. Accordingly it did not escape the ambitious and daring +spirit of him whose services had already acquired him the title +of the Great Marquis. But other motives actuated many of his +followers, and perhaps were not without their secret and +unacknowledged influence upon his own feelings. + +The Western Chiefs in Montrose's army, almost to a man, regarded +the Marquis of Argyle as the most direct and proper object of +hostilities. Almost all of them had felt his power; almost all, +in withdrawing their fencible men from their own glens, left +their families and property exposed to his vengeance; all, +without exception, were desirous of diminishing his sovereignty; +and most of them lay so near his territories, that they might +reasonably hope to be gratified by a share of his spoil. To +these Chiefs the possession of Inverary and its castle was an +event infinitely more important and desirable than the capture of +Edinburgh. The latter event could only afford their clansmen a +little transitory pay or plunder; the former insured to the +Chiefs themselves indemnity for the past, and security for the +future. Besides these personal reasons, the leaders, who +favoured this opinion, plausibly urged, that though, at his first +descent into the Lowlands, Montrose might be superior to the +enemy, yet every day's march he made from the hills must diminish +his own forces, and expose him to the accumulated superiority of +any army which the Covenanters could collect from the Lowland +levies and garrisons. On the other hand, by crushing Argyle +effectually, he would not only permit his present western friends +to bring out that proportion of their forces which they must +otherwise leave at home for protection of their families; but +farther, he would draw to his standard several tribes already +friendly to his cause, but who were prevented from joining him by +fear of M'Callum More. + +These arguments, as we have already hinted, found something +responsive in Montrose's own bosom, not quite consonant with the +general heroism of his character. The houses of Argyle and +Montrose had been in former times, repeatedly opposed to each +other in war and in politics, and the superior advantages +acquired by the former, had made them the subject of envy and +dislike to the neighbouring family, who, conscious of equal +desert, had not been so richly rewarded. This was not all. The +existing heads of these rival families had stood in the most +marked opposition to each other since the commencement of the +present troubles. + +Montrose, conscious of the superiority of his talents, and of +having rendered great service to the Covenanters at the beginning +of the war, had expected from that party the supereminence of +council and command, which they judged it safer to intrust to the +more limited faculties, and more extensive power, of his rival +Argyle. The having awarded this preference, was an injury which +Montrose never forgave the Covenanters; and he was still less +likely to extend his pardon to Argyle, to whom he had been +postponed. He was therefore stimulated by every feeling of +hatred which could animate a fiery temper in a fierce age, to +seek for revenge upon the enemy of his house and person; and it +is probable that these private motives operated not a little upon +his mind, when he found the principal part of his followers +determined rather to undertake an expedition against the +territories of Argyle, than to take the far more decisive step of +descending at once into the Lowlands. + +Yet whatever temptation Montrose found to carry into effect his +attack upon Argyleshire, he could not easily bring himself to +renounce the splendid achievement of a descent upon the Lowlands. +He held more than one council with the principal Chiefs, +combating, perhaps, his own secret inclination as well as theirs. +He laid before them the extreme difficulty of marching even a +Highland army from the eastward into Argyleshire, through passes +scarcely practicable for shepherds and deer-stalkers, and over +mountains, with which even the clans lying nearest to them did +not pretend to be thoroughly acquainted. These difficulties were +greatly enhanced by the season of the year, which was now +advancing towards December, when the mountain-passes, in +themselves so difficult, might be expected to be rendered utterly +impassable by snowstorms. These objections neither satisfied nor +silenced the Chiefs, who insisted upon their ancient mode of +making war, by driving the cattle, which, according to the Gaelic +phrase, "fed upon the grass of their enemy." The council was +dismissed late at night, and without coming to any decision, +excepting that the Chiefs, who supported the opinion that Argyle +should be invaded, promised to seek out among their followers +those who might be most capable of undertaking the office of +guides upon the expedition. + +Montrose had retired to the cabin which served him for a tent, +and stretched himself upon a bed of dry fern, the only place of +repose which it afforded. But he courted sleep in vain, for the +visions of ambition excluded those of Morpheus. In one moment he +imagined himself displaying the royal banner from the reconquered +Castle of Edinburgh, detaching assistance to a monarch whose +crown depended upon his success, and receiving in requital all +the advantages and preferments which could be heaped upon him +whom a king delighteth to honour. At another time this dream, +splendid as it was, faded before the vision of gratified +vengeance, and personal triumph over a personal enemy. To +surprise Argyle in his stronghold of Inverary--to crush in him at +once the rival of his own house and the chief support of the +Presbyterians--to show the Covenanters the difference between the +preferred Argyle and the postponed Montrose, was a picture too +flattering to feudal vengeance to be easily relinquished. + +While he lay thus busied with contradictory thoughts and +feelings, the soldier who stood sentinel upon his quarters +announced to the Marquis that two persons desired to speak with +his Excellency. + +"Their names?" answered Montrose, "and the cause of their +urgency at such a late hour?" + +On these points, the sentinel, who was one of Colkitto's +Irishmen, could afford his General little information; so that +Montrose, who at such a period durst refuse access to no one, +lest he might have been neglecting some important intelligence, +gave directions, as a necessary precaution, to put the guard +under arms, and then prepared to receive his untimely visitors. +His groom of the chambers had scarce lighted a pair of torches, +and Montrose himself had scarce risen from his couch, when two +men entered, one wearing a Lowland dress, of shamoy leather worn +almost to tatters; the other a tall upright old Highlander, of a +complexion which might be termed iron-grey, wasted and worn by +frost and tempest. + +"What may be your commands with me, my friends?" said the +Marquis, his hand almost unconsciously seeking the but of one of +his pistols; for the period, as well as the time of night, +warranted suspicions which the good mien of his visitors was not +by any means calculated to remove. + +"I pray leave to congratulate you," said the Lowlander, "my most +noble General, and right honourable lord, upon the great battles +which you have achieved since I had the fortune to be detached +from you, It was a pretty affair that tuilzie at Tippermuir; +nevertheless, if I might be permitted to counsel--" + +"Before doing so," said the Marquis, "will you be pleased to let +me know who is so kind as to favour me with his opinion?" + +"Truly, my lord," replied the man, "I should have hoped that was +unnecessary, seeing it is not so long since I took on in your +service, under promise of a commission as Major, with half a +dollar of daily pay and half a dollar of arrears; and I am to +trust your lordship has nut forgotten my pay as well as my +person?" + +"My good friend, Major Dalgetty," said Montrose, who by this time +perfectly recollected his man, "you must consider what important +things have happened to put my friends' faces out of my memory, +besides this imperfect light; but all conditions shall be kept. +--And what news from Argyleshire, my good Major? We have long +given you up for lost, and I was now preparing to take the most +signal vengeance upon the old fox who infringed the law of arms +in your person." + +"Truly, my noble lord," said Dalgetty, "I have no desire that my +return should put any stop to so proper and becoming an +intention; verily it is in no shape in the Earl of Argyle's +favour or mercy that I now stand before you, and I shall be no +intercessor for him. But my escape is, under Heaven, and the +excellent dexterity which, as an old and accomplished cavalier, I +displayed in effecting the same,--I say, under these, it is owing +to the assistance of this old Highlander, whom I venture to +recommend to your lordship's special favour, as the instrument of +saving your lordship's to command, Dugald Dalgetty of +Drumthwacket." + +"A thankworthy service," said the Marquis, gravely, "which shall +certainly be requited in the manner it deserves." + +"Kneel down, Ranald," said Major Dalgetty (as we must now call +him), "kneel down, and kiss his Excellency's hand." + +The prescribed form of acknowledgment not being according to the +custom of Ranald's country, he contented himself with folding his +arms on his bosom, and making a low inclination of his head. + +"This poor man, my lord," said Major Dalgetty, continuing his +speech with a dignified air of protection towards Ranald M'Eagh, +"has strained all his slender means to defend my person from mine +enemies, although having no better weapons of a missile sort than +bows and arrows, whilk your lordship will hardly believe." + +"You will see a great many such weapons in my camp," said +Montrose, "and we find them serviceable." [In fact, for the +admirers of archery it may be stated, not only that many of the +Highlanders in Montrose's army used these antique missiles, but +even in England the bow and quiver, once the glory of the bold +yeomen of that land, were occasionally used during the great +civil wars.] + +"Serviceable, my lord!" said Dalgetty; "I trust your lordship +will permit me to be surprised--bows and arrows!--I trust you +will forgive my recommending the substitution of muskets, the +first convenient opportunity. But besides defending me, this +honest Highlander also was at the pains of curing me, in respect +that I had got a touch of the wars in my retreat, which merits my +best requital in this special introduction of him to your +lordship's notice and protection." + +"What is your name, my friend?" said Montrose, turning to the +Highlander. + +"It may not be spoken," answered the mountaineer. + +"That is to say," interpreted Major Dalgetty, "he desires to have +his name concealed, in respect he hath in former days taken a +castle, slain certain children, and done other things, whilk, as +your good lordship knows, are often practised in war time, but +excite no benevolence towards the perpetrator in the friends of +those who sustain injury. I have known, in my military +experience, many brave cavaliers put to death by the boors, +simply for having used military license upon the country." + +"I understand," said Montrose: "This person is at feud with some +of our followers. Let him retire to the court of guard, and we +will think of the best mode of protecting him." + +"You hear, Ranald," said Major Dalgetty, with an air of +superiority, "his Excellency wishes to hold privy council with +me, you must go to the court of guard.--He does not know where +that is, poor fellow!--he is a young soldier for so old a man; I +will put him under the charge of a sentinel, and return to your +lordship incontinent." He did so, and returned accordingly. + +Montrose's first enquiry respected the embassy to Inverary; and +he listened with attention to Dalgetty's reply, notwithstanding +the prolixity of the Major's narrative. It required an effort +from the Marquis to maintain his attention; but no one better +knew, that where information is to be derived from the report of +such agents as Dalgetty, it can only be obtained by suffering +them to tell their story in their own way. Accordingly the +Marquis's patience was at length rewarded. Among other spoils +which the Captain thought himself at liberty to take, was a +packet of Argyle's private papers. These he consigned to the +hands of his General; a humour of accounting, however, which went +no farther, for I do not understand that he made any mention of +the purse of gold which he had appropriated at the same time that +he made seizure of the papers aforesaid. Snatching a torch from +the wall, Montrose was in an instant deeply engaged in the +perusal of these documents, in which it is probable he found +something to animate his personal resentment against his rival +Argyle. + +"Does he not fear me?" said he; "then he shall feel me. Will he +fire my castle of Murdoch?--Inverary shall raise the first +smoke.--O for a guide through the skirts of Strath-Fillan!" + +Whatever might be Dalgetty's personal conceit, he understood his +business sufficiently to guess at Montrose's meaning. He +instantly interrupted his own prolix narration of the skirmish +which had taken place, and the wound he had received in his +retreat, and began to speak to the point which he saw interested +his General. + +"If," said he, "your Excellency wishes to make an infall into +Argyleshire, this poor man, Ranald, of whom I told you, together +with his children and companions, know every pass into that land, +both leading from the east and from the north." + +"Indeed!" said Montrose; "what reason have you to believe their +knowledge so extensive?" + +"So please your Excellency," answered Dalgetty, "during the weeks +that I remained with them for cure of my wound, they were +repeatedly obliged to shift their quarters, in respect of +Argyle's repeated attempts to repossess himself of the person of +an officer who was honoured with Your Excellency's confidence; so +that I had occasion to admire the singular dexterity and +knowledge of the face of the country with which they alternately +achieved their retreat and their advance; and when, at length, I +was able to repair to your Excellency's standard, this honest +simple creature, Ranald MacEagh, guided me by paths which my +steed Gustavus (which your lordship may remember) trode with +perfect safety, so that I said to myself, that where guides, +spies, or intelligencers, were required in a Highland campaign in +that western country, more expert persons than he and his +attendants could not possibly be desired." + +"And can you answer for this man's fidelity?" said Montrose; +"what is his name and condition?" + +"He is an outlaw and robber by profession, something also of a +homicide or murderer," answered Dalgetty; "and by name, called +Ranald MacEagh; whilk signifies, Ranald, the Son of the Mist." + +"I should remember something of that name," said Montrose, +pausing: "Did not these Children of the Mist perpetrate some act +of cruelty upon the M'Aulays?" + +Major Dalgetty mentioned the circumstance of the murder of the +forester, and Montrose's active memory at once recalled all the +circumstances of the feud. + +"It is most unlucky," said Montrose, "this inexpiable quarrel +between these men and the M'Aulays. Allan has borne himself +bravely in these wars, and possesses, by the wild mystery of his +behaviour and language, so much influence over the minds of his +countrymen, that the consequences of disobliging him might be +serious. At the same time, these men being so capable of +rendering useful service, and being as you say, Major Dalgetty, +perfectly trustworthy--" + +"I will pledge my pay and arrears, my horse and arms, my head and +neck, upon their fidelity," said the Major; "and your Excellency +knows, that a soldado could say no more for his own father." + +"True," said Montrose; "but as this is a matter of particular +moment, I would willingly know the grounds of so positive an +assurance." + +"Concisely then, my lord," said the Major, "not only did they +disdain to profit by a handsome reward which Argyle did me the +honour to place upon this poor head of mine, and not only did +they abstain from pillaging my personal property, whilk was to an +amount that would have tempted regular soldiers in any service of +Europe; and not only did they restore me my horse, whilk your +Excellency knows to be of value, but I could not prevail on them +to accept one stiver, doit, or maravedi, for the trouble and +expenses of my sick bed. They actually refused my coined money +when freely offered,--a tale seldom to be told in a Christian +land." + +"I admit," said Montrose, after a moment's reflection, "that +their conduct towards you is good evidence of their fidelity; but +how to secure against the breaking out of this feud?" He paused, +and then suddenly added, "I had forgot I have supped, while you, +Major, have been travelling by moonlight." + +He called to his attendants to fetch a stoup of wine and some +refreshments. Major Dalgetty, who had the appetite of a +convalescent returned from Highland quarters, needed not any +pressing to partake of what was set before him, but proceeded to +dispatch his food with such alacrity, that the Marquis, filling a +cup of wine, and drinking to his health, could not help +remarking, that coarse as the provisions of his camp were, he was +afraid Major Dalgetty had fared much worse during his excursion +into Argyleshire. + +"Your Excellency may take your corporal oath upon that," said the +worthy Major, speaking with his mouth full; "for Argyle's bread +and water are yet stale and mouldy in my recollection, and though +they did their best, yet the viands that the Children of the Mist +procured for me, poor helpless creatures as they were, were so +unrefreshful to my body, that when enclosed in my armour, whilk I +was fain to leave behind me for expedition's sake, I rattled +therein like the shrivelled kernel in a nut that hath been kept +on to a second Hallowe'en." + +"You must take the due means to repair these losses, Major +Dalgetty." + +"In troth," answered the soldier, "I shall hardly be able to +compass that, unless my arrears are to be exchanged for present +pay; for I protest to your Excellency, that the three stone +weight which I have lost were simply raised upon the regular +accountings of the States of Holland." + +"In that case," said the Marquis, "you are only reduced to good +marching order. As for the pay, let us once have victory-- +victory, Major, and your wishes, and all our wishes, shall be +amply fulfilled. Meantime, help yourself to another cup of +wine." + +"To your Excellency's health," said the Major, filling a cup to +the brim, to show the zeal with which he drank the toast, "and +victory over all our enemies, and particularly over Argyle! I +hope to twitch another handful from his board myself--I have had +one pluck at it already." + +"Very true," answered Montrose; "but to return to those men of +the Mist. You understand, Dalgetty, that their presence here, +and the purpose for which we employ them, is a secret between you +and me?" + +Delighted, as Montrose had anticipated, with this mark of his +General's confidence, the Major laid his hand upon his nose, and +nodded intelligence. + +"How many may there be of Ranald's followers?" continued the +Marquis. + +"They are reduced, so far as I know, to some eight or ten men," +answered Major Dalgetty, "and a few women and children." + +"Where are they now?" demanded Montrose. + +"In a valley, at three miles' distance," answered the soldier, +"awaiting your Excellency's command; I judged it not fit to bring +them to your leaguer without your Excellency's orders." + +"You judged very well," said Montrose; "it would be proper that +they remain where they are, or seek some more distant place of +refuge. I will send them money, though it is a scarce article +with me at present." + +"It is quite unnecessary," said Major Dalgetty; "your Excellency +has only to hint that the M'Aulays are going in that direction, +and my friends of the Mist will instantly make volte-face, and go +to the right about." + +"That were scarce courteous," said the Marquis. "Better send +them a few dollars to purchase them some cattle for the support +of the women and children." + +"They know how to come by their cattle at a far cheaper rate," +said the Major; "but let it be as your Excellency wills." + +"Let Ranald MacEagh," said Montrose, "select one or two of his +followers, men whom he can trust, and who are capable of keeping +their own secret and ours; these, with their chief for scout- +master-general, shall serve for our guides. Let them be at my +tent to-morrow at daybreak, and see, if possible, that they +neither guess my purpose, nor hold any communication with each +other in private.--This old man, has he any children?" + +"They have been killed or hanged," answered the Major, "to the +number of a round dozen, as I believe--but he hath left one +grand-child, a smart and hopeful youth, whom I have noted to be +never without a pebble in his plaid-nook, to fling at whatsoever +might come in his way; being a symbol, that, like David, who was +accustomed to sling smooth stones taken from the brook, he may +afterwards prove an adventurous warrior." + +"That boy, Major Dalgetty," said the Marquis, "I will have to +attend upon my own person. I presume he will have sense enough +to keep his name secret?" + +"Your Excellency need not fear that," answered Dalgetty; "these +Highland imps, from the moment they chip the shell--" + +"Well," interrupted Montrose, "that boy shall be pledge for the +fidelity of his parent, and if he prove faithful, the child's +preferment shall be his reward.--And now, Major Dalgetty, I will +license your departure for the night; tomorrow you will introduce +this MacEagh, under any name or character he may please to +assume. I presume his profession has rendered him sufficiently +expert in all sort of disguises; or we may admit John of Moidart +into our schemes, who has sense, practicability, and +intelligence, and will probably allow this man for a time to be +disguised as one of his followers. For you, Major, my groom of +the chambers will be your quarter-master for this evening." + +Major Dalgetty took his leave with a joyful heart greatly elated +with the reception he had met with, and much pleased with the +personal manners of his new General, which, as he explained at +great length to Ranald MacEagh, reminded him in many respects of +the demeanour of the immortal Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the +North, and Bulwark of the Protestant Faith. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The march begins in military state, +And nations on his eyes suspended wait; +Stern famine guards the solitary coast, +And winter barricades the realms of frost. +He comes,--nor want, nor cold, his course delay. + VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES. + +By break of day Montrose received in his cabin old MacEagh, and +questioned him long and particularly as to the means of +approaching the country of Argyle. He made a note of his +answers, which he compared with those of two of his followers, +whom he introduced as the most prudent and experienced. He found +them to correspond in all respects; but, still unsatisfied where +precaution was so necessary, the Marquis compared the information +he had received with that he was able to collect from the Chiefs +who lay most near to the destined scene of invasion, and being in +all respects satisfied of its accuracy, he resolved to proceed in +full reliance upon it. + +In one point Montrose changed his mind. Having judged it unfit +to take the boy Kenneth into his own service, lest, in case of +his birth being discovered, it should be resented as an offence +by the numerous clans who entertained a feudal enmity to this +devoted family, he requested the Major to take him in attendance +upon himself; and as he accompanied this request with a handsome +DOUCEUR, under pretence of clothing and equipping the lad, this +change was agreeable to all parties. + +It was about breakfast-time, when Major Dalgetty, being dismissed +by Montrose, went in quest of his old acquaintances, Lord +Menteith and the M'Aulays, to whom he longed to communicate his +own adventures, as well as to learn from them the particulars of +the campaign. It may be imagined he was received with great glee +by men to whom the late uniformity of their military life had +rendered any change of society an interesting novelty. Allan +M'Aulay alone seemed to recoil from his former acquaintance, +although, when challenged by his brother, he could render no +other reason than a reluctance to be familiar with one who had +been so lately in the company of Argyle, and other enemies. +Major Dalgetty was a little alarmed by this sort of instinctive +consciousness which Allan seemed to entertain respecting the +society he had been lately keeping; he was soon satisfied, +however, that the perceptions of the seer in this particular were +not infallible. + +As Ranald MacEagh was to be placed under Major Dalgetty's +protection and superintendence, it was necessary he should +present him to those persons with whom he was most likely to +associate. The dress of the old man had, in the meantime, been +changed from the tartan of his clan to a sort of clothing +peculiar to the men of the distant Isles, resembling a waistcoat +with sleeves, and a petticoat, all made in one piece. This dress +was laced from top to bottom in front, and bore some resemblance +to that called Polonaise, still worn by children in Scotland of +the lower rank. The tartan hose and bonnet completed the dress, +which old men of the last century remembered well to have seen +worn by the distant Islesmen who came to the Earl of Mar's +standard in the year 1715. + +Major Dalgetty, keeping his eye on Allan as he spoke, introduced +Ranald MacEagh under the fictitious name of Ranald MacGillihuron +in Benbecula, who had escaped with him out of Argyle's prison. +He recommended him as a person skilful in the arts of the harper +and the senachie, and by no means contemptible in the quality of +a second-sighted person or seer. While making this exposition, +Major Dalgetty stammered and hesitated in a way so unlike the +usual glib forwardness of his manner, that he could not have +failed to have given suspicion to Allan M'Aulay, had not that +person's whole attention been engaged in steadily perusing the +features of the person thus introduced to him. This steady gaze +so much embarrassed Ranald MacEagh, that his hand was beginning +to sink down towards his dagger, in expectation of a hostile +assault, when Allan, suddenly crossing the floor of the hut, +extended his hand to him in the way of friendly greeting. They +sat down side by side, and conversed in a low mysterious tone of +voice. Menteith and Angus M'Aulay were not surprised at this, +for there prevailed among the Highlanders who pretended to the +second-sight, a sort of Freemasonry, which generally induced +them, upon meeting, to hold communication with each other on the +nature and extent of their visionary experiences. + +"Does the sight come gloomy upon your spirits?" said Allan to +his new acquaintance. + +"As dark as the shadow upon the moon," replied Ranald, "when she +is darkened in her mid-course in heaven, and prophets foretell of +evil times." + +"Come hither," said Allan, "come more this way, I would converse +with you apart; for men say that in your distant islands the +sight is poured forth with more clearness and power than upon us, +who dwell near the Sassenach." + +While they were plunged into their mystic conference, the two +English cavaliers entered the cabin in the highest possible +spirits, and announced to Angus M'Aulay that orders had been +issued that all should hold themselves in readiness for an +immediate march to the westward. Having delivered themselves of +their news with much glee, they paid their compliments to their +old acquaintance Major Dalgetty, whom they instantly recognised, +and enquired after the health of his charger, Gustavus. + +"I humbly thank you, gentlemen," answered the soldier, "Gustavas +is well, though, like his master, somewhat barer on the ribs than +when you offered to relieve me of him at Darnlinvarach; and let +me assure you, that before you have made one or two of those +marches which you seem to contemplate with so much satisfaction +in prospect, you will leave, my good knights, some of your +English beef, and probably an English horse or two, behind you." + +Both exclaimed that they cared very little what they found or +what they left, provided the scene changed from dogging up and +down Angus and Aberdeenshire, in pursuit of an enemy who would +neither fight nor run away. + +"If such be the case," said Angus M'Aulay, "I must give orders to +my followers, and make provision too for the safe conveyance of +Annot Lyle; for an advance into M'Callum More's country will be a +farther and fouler road than these pinks of Cumbrian knighthood +are aware of." So saying, he left the cabin. + +"Annot Lyle!" repeated Dalgetty, "is she following the +campaign?" + +"Surely," replied Sir Giles Musgrave, his eye glancing slightly +from Lord Menteith to Allan M'Aulay; "we could neither march nor +fight, advance nor retreat, without the influence of the Princess +of Harps." + +"The Princess of Broadswords and Targets, I say," answered his +companion; "for the Lady of Montrose herself could not be more +courteously waited upon; she has four Highland maidens, and as +many bare-legged gillies, to wait upon her orders." + +"And what would you have, gentlemen?" said Allan, turning +suddenly from the Highlander with whom he was in conversation; +"would you yourselves have left an innocent female, the companion +of your infancy, to die by violence, or perish by famine? There +is not, by this time, a roof upon the habitation of my fathers-- +our crops have been destroyed, and our cattle have been driven-- +and you, gentlemen, have to bless God, that, coming from a milder +and more civilized country, you expose only your own lives in +this remorseless war, without apprehension that your enemies will +visit with their vengeance the defenceless pledges you may have +left behind you." + +The Englishmen cordially agreed that they had the superiority in +this respect; and the company, now dispersing, went each to his +several charge or occupation. + +Allan lingered a moment behind, still questioning the reluctant +Ranald MacEagh upon a point in his supposed visions, by which he +was greatly perplexed. "Repeatedly," he said, "have I had the +sight of a Gael, who seemed to plunge his weapon into the body of +Menteith,--of that young nobleman in the scarlet laced cloak, who +has just now left the bothy. But by no effort, though I have +gazed till my eyes were almost fixed in the sockets, can I +discover the face of this Highlander, or even conjecture who he +may be, although his person and air seem familiar to me." [See +Note II.--Wraiths.] + +"Have you reversed your own plaid," said Ranald, "according to +the rule of the experienced Seers in such case?" + +"I have," answered Allan, speaking low, and shuddering as if with +internal agony. + +"And in what guise did the phantom then appear to you?" said +Ranald. + +"With his plaid also reversed," answered Allan, in the same low +and convulsed tone. + +"Then be assured," said Ranald, "that your own hand, and none +other, will do the deed of which you have witnessed the shadow." + +"So has my anxious soul a hundred times surmised," replied Allan. +"But it is impossible! Were I to read the record in the eternal +book of fate, I would declare it impossible--we are bound by the +ties of blood, and by a hundred ties more intimate--we have stood +side by side in battle, and our swords have reeked with the blood +of the same enemies--it is IMPOSSIBLE I should harm him!" + +"That you WILL do so," answered Ranald, "is certain, though the +cause be hid in the darkness of futurity. You say," he +continued, suppressing his own emotions with difficulty, "that +side by side you have pursued your prey like bloodhounds--have +you never seen bloodhounds turn their fangs against each other, +and fight over the body of a throttled deer?" + +"It is false!" said M'Aulay, starting up, "these are not the +forebodings of fate, but the temptation of some evil spirit from +the bottomless pit!" So saying, he strode out of the cabin. + +"Thou hast it!" said the Son of the Mist, looking after him with +an air of exultation; "the barbed arrow is in thy side! Spirits +of the slaughtered, rejoice! soon shall your murderers' swords +be dyed in each other's blood." + +On the succeeding morning all was prepared, and Montrose advanced +by rapid marches up the river Tay, and poured his desultory +forces into the romantic vale around the lake of the same name, +which lies at the head of that river. The inhabitants were +Campbells, not indeed the vassals of Argyle, but of the allied +and kindred house of Glenorchy, which now bears the name of +Breadalbane. Being taken by surprise, they were totally +unprepared for resistance, and were compelled to be passive +witnesses of the ravages which took place among their flocks and +herds. Advancing in this manner to the vale of Loch Dochart, and +laying waste the country around him, Montrose reached the most +difficult point of his enterprise. + +To a modern army, even with the assistance of the good military +road which now leads up by Teinedrum to the head of Loch Awe, the +passage of these extensive wilds would seem a task of some +difficulty. But at this period, and for long afterwards, there +was no road or path whatsoever; and to add to the difficulty, the +mountains were already covered with snow. It was a sublime scene +to look up to them, piled in great masses, one upon another, the +front rank of dazzling whiteness, while those which arose behind +them caught a rosy tint from the setting of a clear wintry sun. +Ben Cruachan, superior in magnitude, and seeming the very citadel +of the Genius of the Region, rose high above the others, showing +his glimmering and scathed peak to the distance of many miles. + +The followers of Montrose were men not to be daunted by the +sublime, yet terrible prospect before them. Many of them were of +that ancient race of Highlanders, who not only willingly made +their couch in the snow, but considered it as effeminate luxury +to use a snowball for a pillow. Plunder and revenge lay beyond +the frozen mountains which they beheld, and they did not permit +themselves to be daunted by the difficulty of traversing them. +Montrose did not allow their spirits time to subside. He ordered +the pipes to play in the van the ancient pibroch entitled, +"HOGGIL NAM BO," etc. (that is, We come through snow-drift to +drive the prey), the shrilling sounds of which had often struck +the vales of the Lennox with terror. [It is the family-march of +the M'Farlanes, a warlike and predatory clan, who inhabited the +western banks of Loch-Lomond. See WAVERLY, Note XV.] The troops +advanced with the nimble alacrity of mountaineers, and were soon +involved in the dangerous pass, through which Ranald acted as +their guide, going before them with a select party, to track out +the way. + +The power of man at no time appears more contemptible than when +it is placed in contrast with scenes of natural terror and +dignity. The victorious army of Montrose, whose exploits had +struck terror into all Scotland, when ascending up this terrific +pass, seemed a contemptible handful of stragglers, in the act of +being devoured by the jaws of the mountain, which appeared ready +to close upon them. Even Montrose half repented the boldness of +his attempt, as he looked down from the summit of the first +eminence which he attained, upon the scattered condition of his +small army. The difficulty of getting forward was so great, that +considerable gaps began to occur in the line of march, and the +distance between the van, centre, and rear, was each moment +increased in a degree equally incommodious and dangerous. It was +with great apprehension that Montrose looked upon every point of +advantage which the hill afforded, in dread it might be found +occupied by an enemy prepared for defence; and he often +afterwards was heard to express his conviction, that had the +passes of Strath-Fillan been defended by two hundred resolute +men, not only would his progress have been effectually stopped, +but his army must have been in danger of being totally cut off. +Security, however, the bane of many a strong country and many a +fortress, betrayed, on this occasion, the district of Argyle to +his enemies. The invaders had only to contend with the natural +difficulties of the path, and with the snow, which, fortunately, +had not fallen in any great quantity. The army no sooner reached +the summit of the ridge of hills dividing Argyleshire from the +district of Breadalbane, than they rushed down upon the devoted +vales beneath them with a fury sufficiently expressive of the +motives which had dictated a movement so difficult and hazardous. + +Montrose divided his army into three bodies, in order to produce +a wider and more extensive terror, one of which was commanded by +the Captain of Clan Ranald, one intrusted to the leading of +Colkitto, and the third remained under his own direction. He was +thus enabled to penetrate the country of Argyle at three +different points. Resistance there was none. The flight of the +shepherds from the hills had first announced in the peopled +districts this formidable irruption, and wherever the clansmen +were summoned out, they were killed, disarmed, and dispersed, by +an enemy who had anticipated their motions. Major Dalgetty, who +had been sent forward against Inverary with the few horse of the +army that were fit for service, managed his matters so well, that +he had very nearly surprised Argyle, as he expressed it, INTER +POCULA; and it was only a rapid flight by water which saved that +chief from death or captivity. But the punishment which Argyle +himself escaped fell heavily upon his country and clan, and the +ravages committed by Montrose on that devoted land, although too +consistent with the genius of the country and times, have been +repeatedly and justly quoted as a blot on his actions and +character. + +Argyle in the meantime had fled to Edinburgh, to lay his +complaints before the Convention of Estates. To meet the +exigence of the moment, a considerable army was raised under +General Baillie, a Presbyterian officer of skill and fidelity, +with whom was joined in command the celebrated Sir John Urrie, a +soldier of fortune like Dalgetty, who had already changed sides +twice during the Civil War, and was destined to turn his coat a +third time before it was ended. Argyle also, burning with +indignation, proceeded to levy his own numerous forces, in order +to avenge himself of his feudal enemy. He established his head- +quarters at Dunbarton, where he was soon joined by a considerable +force, consisting chiefly of his own clansmen and dependants. +Being there joined by Baillie and Urrie, with a very considerable +army of regular forces, he prepared to march into Argyleshire, +and chastise the invader of his paternal territories. + +But Montrose, while these two formidable armies were forming a +junction, had been recalled from that ravaged country by the +approach of a third, collected in the north under the Earl of +Seaforth, who, after some hesitation, having embraced the side of +the Covenanters, had now, with the assistance of the veteran +garrison of Inverness, formed a considerable army, with which he +threatened Montrose from Inverness-shire. Enclosed in a wasted +and unfriendly country, and menaced on each side by advancing +enemies of superior force, it might have been supposed that +Montrose's destruction was certain. But these were precisely the +circumstances under which the active and enterprising genius of +the Great Marquis was calculated to excite the wonder and +admiration of his friends, the astonishment and terror of his +enemies. As if by magic, he collected his scattered forces from +the wasteful occupation in which they had been engaged; and +scarce were they again united, ere Argyle and his associate +generals were informed, that the royalists, having suddenly +disappeared from Argyleshire, had retreated northwards among the +dusky and impenetrable mountains of Lochaber. + +The sagacity of the generals opposed to Montrose immediately +conjectured, that it was the purpose of their active antagonist +to fight with, and, if possible, to destroy Seaforth, ere they +could come to his assistance. This occasioned a corresponding +change in their operations. Leaving this chieftain to make the +best defence he could, Urrie and Baillie again separated their +forces from those of Argyle; and, having chiefly horse and +Lowland troops under their command, they kept the southern side +of the Grampian ridge, moving along eastward into the county of +Angus, resolving from thence to proceed into Aberdeenshire, in +order to intercept Montrose, if he should attempt to escape in +that direction. + +Argyle, with his own levies and other troops, undertook to follow +Montrose's march; so that, in case he should come to action +either with Seaforth, or with Baillie and Urrie, he might be +placed between two fires by this third army, which, at a secure +distance, was to hang upon his rear. + +For this purpose, Argyle once more moved towards Inverary, having +an opportunity, at every step, to deplore the severities which +the hostile clans had exercised on his dependants and country. +Whatever noble qualities the Highlanders possessed, and they had +many, clemency in treating a hostile country was not of the +number; but even the ravages of hostile troops combined to swell +the number of Argyle's followers. It is still a Highland +proverb, He whose house is burnt must become a soldier; and +hundreds of the inhabitants of these unfortunate valleys had now +no means of maintenance, save by exercising upon others the +severities they had themselves sustained, and no future prospect +of happiness, excepting in the gratification of revenge. His +bands were, therefore, augmented by the very circumstances which +had desolated his country, and Argyle soon found himself at the +head of three thousand determined men, distinguished for activity +and courage, and commanded by gentlemen of his own name, who +yielded to none in those qualities. Under himself, he conferred +the principal command upon Sir Duncan Campbell of Ardenvohr, and +another Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchenbreck, [This last character +is historical] an experienced and veteran soldier, whom he had +recalled from the wars of Ireland for this purpose. The cold +spirit of Argyle himself, however, clogged the military councils +of his more intrepid assistants; and it was resolved, +notwithstanding their increased force, to observe the same plan +of operations, and to follow Montrose cautiously, in whatever +direction he should march, avoiding an engagement until an +opportunity should occur of falling upon his rear, while he +should be engaged with another enemy in front. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Piobracht au Donuil-dhu, + Piobrachet au Donuil, + Piobrachet agus S'breittach + Feacht an Innerlochy. + + The war-tune of Donald the Black, + The war-tune of Black Donald, + The pipes and the banner + Are up in the rendezvous of Inverlochy. + +The military road connecting the chains of forts, as it is +called, and running in the general line of the present Caledonian +Canal, has now completely opened the great glen, or chasm, +extending almost across the whole island, once doubtless filled +by the sea, and still affording basins for that long line of +lakes, by means of which modern art has united the German and +Atlantic Oceans. The paths or tracks by which the natives +traversed this extensive valley, were, in 1645-6, in the same +situation as when they awaked the strain of an Irish engineer +officer, who had been employed in converting them into +practicable military roads, and whose eulogium begins, and, for +aught I know, ends, as follows: + +Had you seen but these roads before they were made, You would +have held up your hands and bless'd General Wade. + +But, bad as the ordinary paths were, Montrose avoided them, and +led his army, like a herd of wild deer, from mountain to +mountain, and from forest to forest, where his enemies could +learn nothing of his motions, while he acquired the most perfect +knowledge respecting theirs from the friendly clans of Cameron +and M'Donnell, whose mountainous districts he now traversed. +Strict orders had been given that Argyle's advance should be +watched, and that all intelligence respecting his motions should +be communicated instantly to the General himself. + +It was a moonlight night, and Montrose, worn out by the fatigues +of the day, was laid down to sleep in a miserable shieling. He +had only slumbered two hours, when some one touched his shoulder. +He looked up, and, by the stately form and deep voice, easily +recognised the Chief of the Camerons. + +"I have news for you," said that leader, "which is worth while to +arise and listen to." + +"M'Ilduy [Mhich-Connel Dhu, the descendant of Black Donald.] can +bring no other," said Montrose, addressing the Chief by his +patronymic title--"are they good or bad?" + +"As you may take them," said the Chieftain. + +"Are they certain?" demanded Montrose. + +"Yes," answered M'Ilduy, "or another messenger should have +brought them. Know that, tired with the task imposed upon me of +accompanying that unhappy Dalgetty and his handful of horse, who +detained me for hours on the march at the pace of a crippled +badger, I made a stretch of four miles with six of my people in +the direction of Inverlochy, and there met with Ian of Glenroy, +who had been out for intelligence. Argyle is moving upon +Inverlochy with three thousand chosen men, commanded by the +flower of the sons of Diarmid.--These are my news--they are +certain--it is for you to construe their purport." + +"Their purport must be good," answered Montrose, readily and +cheerfully; "the voice of M'Ilduy is ever pleasant in the ears of +Montrose, and most pleasant when it speaks of some brave +enterprise at hand--What are our musters?" + +He then called for light, and easily ascertained that a great +part of his followers having, as usual, dispersed to secure their +booty, he had not with him above twelve or fourteen hundred men. + +"Not much above a third," said Montrose, pausing, "of Argyle's +force, and Highlanders opposed to Highlanders.--With the blessing +of God upon the royal cause, I would not hesitate were the odds +but one to two." + +"Then do not hesitate," said Cameron; "for when your trumpets +shall sound to attack M'Callum More, not a man of these glens +will remain deaf to the summons. Glengarry--Keppoch--I myself-- +would destroy, with fire and sword, the wretch who should remain +behind under any pretence whatsoever. To-morrow, or the next +day, shall be a day of battle to all who bear the name of +M'Donnell or Cameron, whatever be the event." + +"It is gallantly said, my noble friend," said Montrose, grasping +his hand, "and I were worse than a coward did I not do justice to +such followers, by entertaining the most indubitable hopes of +success. We will turn back on this M'Callum More, who follows us +like a raven to devour the relics of our army, should we meet +braver men who may be able to break its strength! Let the Chiefs +and leaders be called together as quickly as possible; and you, +who have brought us the first news of this joyful event,--for +such it shall be,--you, M'Ilduy, shall bring it to a joyful +issue, by guiding us the best and nearest road against our +enemy." + +"That will I willingly do," said M'Ilduy; "if I have shown you +paths by which to retreat through these dusky wilds, with far +more readiness will I teach you how to advance against your foe." + +A general bustle now prevailed, and the leaders were everywhere +startled from the rude couches on which they had sought temporary +repose. + +"I never thought," said Major Dalgetty, when summoned up from a +handful of rugged heather roots, "to have parted from a bed as +hard as a stable-broom with such bad will; but, indubitably, +having but one man of military experience in his army, his +Excellency the Marquis may be vindicated in putting him upon hard +duty." + +So saying, he repaired to the council, where, notwithstanding his +pedantry, Montrose seemed always to listen to him with +considerable attention; partly because the Major really possessed +military knowledge and experience, and often made suggestions +which were found of advantage, and partly because it relieved the +General from the necessity of deferring entirely to the opinion +of the Highland Chiefs, and gave him additional ground for +disputing it when it was not agreeable to his own. On the +present occasion, Dalgetty joyfully acquiesced in the proposal of +marching back and confronting Argyle, which he compared to the +valiant resolution of the great Gustavus, who moved against the +Duke of Bavaria, and enriched his troops by the plunder of that +fertile country, although menaced from the northward by the large +army which Wallenstein had assembled in Bohemia. + +The Chiefs of Glengarry, Keppoch, and Lochiel, whose clans, equal +in courage and military fame to any in the Highlands, lay within +the neighbourhood of the scene of action, dispatched the fiery +cross through their vassals, to summon every one who could bear +arms to meet the King's lieutenant, and to join the standards of +their respective Chiefs, as they marched towards Inverlochy. As +the order was emphatically given, it was speedily and willingly +obeyed. Their natural love of war, their zeal for the royal +cause,--for they viewed the King in the light of a chief whom his +clansmen had deserted,--as well as their implicit obedience to +their own patriarch, drew in to Montrose's army not only all in +the neighbourhood who were able to bear arms, but some who, in +age at least, might have been esteemed past the use of them. +During the next day's march, which, being directed straight +through the mountains of Lochaber, was unsuspected by the enemy, +his forces were augmented by handfuls of men issuing from each +glen, and ranging themselves under the banners of their +respective Chiefs. This was a circumstance highly inspiriting to +the rest of the army, who, by the time they approached the enemy, +found their strength increased considerably more than one-fourth, +as had been prophesied by the valiant leader of the Camerons. + +While Montrose executed this counter-march, Argyle had, at the +head of his gallant army, advanced up the southern side of Loch- +Eil, and reached the river Lochy, which combines that lake with +Loch-Lochy. The ancient Castle of Inverlochy, once, as it is +said, a royal fortress, and still, although dismantled, a place +of some strength and consideration, offered convenient head- +quarters, and there was ample room for Argyle's army to encamp +around him in the valley, where the Lochy joins Loch-Eil. +Several barges had attended, loaded with provisions, so that they +were in every respect as well accommodated as such an army wished +or expected to be. Argyle, in council with Auchenbreck and +Ardenvohr, expressed his full confidence that Montrose was now on +the brink of destruction; that his troops must gradually diminish +as he moved eastward through such uncouth paths; that if he went +westward, he must encounter Urrie and Baillie; if northward, fall +into the hands of Seaforth; or should he choose any halting- +place, he would expose himself to be attacked by three armies at +once. + +"I cannot rejoice in the prospect, my lord," said Auchebreck, +"that James Grahame will be crushed with little assistance of +ours. He has left a heavy account in Argyleshire against him, +and I long to reckon with him drop of blood for drop of blood. I +love not the payment of such debts by third hands." + +"You are too scrupulous," said Argyle; "what signifies it by +whose hands the blood of the Grahames is spilt? It is time that +of the sons of Diarmid should cease to flow.--What say you, +Ardenvohr?" + +"I say, my lord," replied Sir Duncan, "that I think Auchenbreck +will be gratified, and will himself have a personal opportunity +of settling accounts with Montrose for his depredations. Reports +have reached our outposts that the Camerons are assembling their +full strength on the skirts of Ben-Nevis; this must be to join +the advance of Montrose, and not to cover his retreat." + +"It must be some scheme of harassing and depredation," said +Argyle, "devised by the inveterate malignity of M'Ilduy, which he +terms loyalty. They can intend no more than an attack on our +outposts, or some annoyance to to-morrow's march." + +"I have sent out scouts," said Sir Duncan, "in every direction, +to procure intelligence; and we must soon hear whether they +really do assemble any force, upon what point, or with what +purpose." + +It was late ere any tidings were received; but when the moon had +arisen, a considerable bustle in the camp, and a noise +immediately after heard in the castle, announced the arrival of +important intelligence. Of the scouts first dispersed by +Ardenvohr, some had returned without being able to collect +anything, save uncertain rumours concerning movements in the +country of the Camerons. It seemed as if the skirts of Ben-Nevis +were sending forth those unaccountable and portentous sounds with +which they sometimes announce the near approach of a storm. +Others, whose zeal carried them farther upon their mission, were +entrapped and slain, or made prisoners, by the inhabitants of the +fastnesses into which they endeavoured to penetrate. At length, +on the rapid advance of Montrose's army, his advanced guard and +the outposts of Argyle became aware of each other's presence, and +after exchanging a few musket-shots and arrows, fell back to +their respective main bodies, to convey intelligence and receive +orders. + +Sir Duncan Campbell, and Auchenbreck, instantly threw themselves +on horseback, in order to visit the state of the outposts; and +Argyle maintained his character of commander-in-chief with +reputation, by making a respectable arrangement of his forces in +the plain, as it was evident that they might now expect a night +alarm, or an attack in the morning at farthest. Montrose had kept +his forces so cautiously within the defiles of the mountain, that +no effort which Auchenbreck or Ardenvohr thought it prudent to +attempt, could ascertain his probable strength. They were aware, +however, that, at the utmost computation, it must be inferior to +their own, and they returned to Argyle to inform him of the +amount of their observations; but that nobleman refused to +believe that Montrose could be in presence himself. He said, "It +was a madness, of which even James Grahame, in his height of +presumptuous frenzy, was incapable; and he doubted not that their +march was only impeded by their ancient enemies, Glencoe, +Keppoch, and Glengarry; and perhaps M'Vourigh, with his +M'Phersons, might have assembled a force, which he knew must be +greatly inferior in numbers to his own, and whom, therefore, he +doubted not to disperse by force, or by terms of capitulation." + +The spirit of Argyle's followers was high, breathing vengeance +for the disasters which their country had so lately undergone; +and the night passed in anxious hopes that the morning might dawn +upon their vengeance. The outposts of either army kept a careful +watch, and the soldiers of Argyle slept in the order of battle +which they were next day to occupy. + +A pale dawn had scarce begun to tinge the tops of these immense +mountains, when the leaders of both armies prepared for the +business of the day. It was the second of February, 1645-6. The +clansmen of Argyle were arranged in two lines, not far from the +angle between the river and the lake, and made an appearance +equally resolute and formidable. Auchenbreck would willingly +have commenced the battle by an attack on the outposts of the +enemy, but Argyle, with more cautious policy, preferred receiving +to making the onset. Signals were soon heard, that they would +not long wait for it in vain. The Campbells could distinguish, +in the gorge of the mountains, the war-tunes of various clans as +they advanced to the onset. That of the Camerons, which bears +the ominous words, addressed to the wolves and ravens, "Come to +me, and I will give you flesh," was loudly re-echoed from their +native glens. In the language of the Highland bards, the war +voice of Glengarry was not silent; and the gathering tunes of +other tribes could be plainly distinguished, as they successively +came up to the extremity of the passes from which they were to +descend into the plain. + +"You see," said Argyle to his kinsmen, "it is as I said, we have +only to deal with our neighbours; James Grahame has not ventured +to show us his banner." + +At this moment there resounded from the gorge of the pass a +lively flourish of trumpets, in that note with which it was the +ancient Scottish fashion to salute the royal standard. + +"You may hear, my lord, from yonder signal," said Sir Duncan +Campbell, "that he who pretends to be the King's Lieutenant, must +be in person among these men." + +"And has probably horse with him," said Auchenbreck, "which I +could not have anticipated. But shall we look pale for that, my +lord, when we have foes to fight, and wrongs to revenge?" + +Argyle was silent, and looked upon his arm, which hung in a sash, +owing to a fall which he had sustained in a preceding march. + +"It is true," interrupted Ardenvohr, eagerly, "my Lord of Argyle, +you are disabled from using either sword or pistol; you must +retire on board the galleys--your life is precious to us as a +head--your hand cannot be useful to us as a soldier." + +"No," said Argyle, pride contending with irresolution, "it shall +never be said that I fled before Montrose; if I cannot fight, I +will at least die in the midst of my children." + +Several other principal Chiefs of the Campbells, with one voice, +conjured and obtested their Chieftain to leave them for that day +to the leading of Ardenvohr and Auchenbreck, and to behold the +conflict from a distance and in safety.--We dare not stigmatize +Argyle with poltroonery; for, though his life was marked by no +action of bravery, yet he behaved with so much composure and +dignity in the final and closing scene, that his conduct upon the +present and similar occasions, should be rather imputed to +indecision than to want of courage. But when the small still +voice within a man's own breast, which tells him that his life is +of consequence to himself, is seconded by that of numbers around +him, who assure him that it is of equal advantage to the public, +history affords many examples of men more habitually daring than +Argyle, who have consulted self-preservation when the temptations +to it were so powerfully increased. + +"See him on board, if you will, Sir Duncan," said Auchenbreck to +his kinsman; "It must be my duty to prevent this spirit from +spreading farther among us." + +So saying, he threw himself among the ranks, entreating, +commanding, and conjuring the soldiers, to remember their ancient +fame and their present superiority; the wrongs they had to +revenge, if successful, and the fate they had to dread, if +vanquished; and imparting to every bosom a portion of the fire +which glowed in his own. Slowly, meanwhile, and apparently with +reluctance, Argyle suffered himself to be forced by his officious +kinsmen to the verge of the lake, and was transported on board of +a galley, from the deck of which he surveyed with more safety +than credit the scene which ensued. + +Sir Duncan Campbell of Ardenvohr, notwithstanding the urgency of +the occasion, stood with his eyes riveted on the boat which bore +his Chieftain from the field of battle. There were feelings in +his bosom which could not be expressed; for the character of a +Chief was that of a father, and the heart of a clansman durst not +dwell upon his failings with critical severity as upon those of +other men. Argyle, too, harsh and severe to others, was generous +and liberal among his kinsmen, and the noble heart of, Ardenvohr +was wrung with bitter anguish, when he reflected to what +interpretation his present conduct might subject him. + +"It is better it should be so," said he to himself, devouring his +own emotion; "but--of his line of a hundred sires, I know not one +who would have retired while the banner of Diarmid waved in the +wind, in the face of its most inveterate foes!" + +A loud shout now compelled him to turn, and to hasten with all +dispatch to his post, which was on the right flank of Argyle's +little army. + +The retreat of Argyle had not passed unobserved by his watchful +enemy, who, occupying the superior ground, could mark every +circumstance which passed below. The movement of three or four +horsemen to the rear showed that those who retreated were men of +rank. + +"They are going," said Dalgetty, "to put their horses out of +danger, like prudent cavaliers. Yonder goes Sir Duncan Campbell, +riding a brown bay gelding, which I had marked for my own second +charger." + +You are wrong, Major," said Montrose, with a bitter smile, "they +are saving their precious Chief--Give the signal for assault +instantly--send the word through the ranks.--Gentlemen, noble +Chiefs, Glengarry, Keppoch, M'Vourigh, upon them instantly!--Ride +to M'Ilduy, Major Dalgetty, and tell him to charge as he loves +Lochaber--return and bring our handful of horse to my standard. +They shall be placed with the Irish as a reserve." + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +As meets a rock a thousand waves, so Inisfail met Lochlin. + OSSIAN. + +The trumpets and bagpipes, those clamorous harbingers of blood +and death, at once united in the signal for onset, which was +replied to by the cry of more than two thousand warriors, and the +echoes of the mountain glens behind them. Divided into three +bodies, or columns, the Highland followers of Montrose poured +from the defiles which had hitherto concealed them from their +enemies, and rushed with the utmost determination upon the +Campbells, who waited their charge with the greatest firmness. +Behind these charging columns marched in line the Irish, under +Colkitto, intended to form the reserve. With them was the royal +standard, and Montrose himself; and on the flanks were about +fifty horse, under Dalgetty, which by wonderful exertions had +been kept in some sort fit for service. + +The right column of Royalists was led by Glengarry, the left by +Lochiel, and the centre by the Earl of Menteith, who preferred +fighting on foot in a Highland dress to remaining with the +cavalry. + +The Highlanders poured on with the proverbial fury of their +country, firing their guns, and discharging their arrows, at a +little distance from the enemy, who received the assault with the +most determined gallantry. Better provided with musketry than +their enemies, stationary also, and therefore taking the more +decisive aim, the fire of Argyle's followers was more destructive +than that which they sustained. The royal clans, perceiving +this, rushed to close quarters, and succeeded on two points in +throwing their enemies into disorder. With regular troops this +must have achieved a victory; but here Highlanders were opposed +to Highlanders, and the nature of the weapons, as well as the +agility of those who wielded them, was equal on both sides. + +Their strife was accordingly desperate; and the clash of the +swords and axes, as they encountered each other, or rung upon the +targets, was mingled with the short, wild, animating shrieks with +which Highlanders accompany the battle, the dance, or indeed +violent exertion of any kind. Many of the foes opposed were +personally acquainted, and sought to match themselves with each +other from motives of hatred, or a more generous emulation of +valour. Neither party would retreat an inch, while the place of +those who fell (and they fell fast on both sides) was eagerly +supplied by others, who thronged to the front of danger. A +steam, like that which arises from a seething cauldron, rose into +the thin, cold, frosty air, and hovered above the combatants. + +So stood the fight on the right and the centre, with no immediate +consequence, except mutual wounds and death. + +On the right of the Campbells, the Knight of Ardenvohr obtained +some advantage, through his military skill and by strength of +numbers. He had moved forward obliquely the extreme flank of his +line at the instant the Royalists were about to close, so that +they sustained a fire at once on front and in flank, and, despite +the utmost efforts of their leader, were thrown into some +confusion. At this instant, Sir Duncan Campbell gave the word to +charge, and thus unexpectedly made the attack at the very moment +he seemed about to receive it. Such a change of circumstances is +always discouraging, and often fatal. But the disorder was +remedied by the advance of the Irish reserve, whose heavy and +sustained fire compelled the Knight of Ardenvohr to forego his +advantage, and content himself with repulsing the enemy. The +Marquis of Montrose, in the meanwhile, availing himself of some +scattered birch trees, as well as of the smoke produced by the +close fire of the Irish musketry, which concealed the operation, +called upon Dalgetty to follow him with the horse, and wheeling +round so as to gain the right flank and even the rear of the +enemy, he commanded his six trumpets to sound the charge. The +clang of the cavalry trumpets, and the noise of the galloping of +the horse, produced an effect upon Argyle's right wing which no +other sounds could have impressed them with. The mountaineers of +that period had a superstitious dread of the war-horse, like that +entertained by the Peruvians, and had many strange ideas +respecting the manner in which that animal was trained to combat. +When, therefore, they found their ranks unexpectedly broken, and +that the objects of their greatest terror were suddenly in the +midst of them, the panic, in spite of Sir Duncan's attempts to +stop it, became universal. Indeed, the figure of Major Dalgetty +alone, sheathed in impenetrable armour, and making his horse +caracole and bound, so as to give weight to every blow which he +struck, would have been a novelty in itself sufficient to terrify +those who had never seen anything more nearly resembling such a +cavalier, than a SHELTY waddling under a Highlander far bigger +than itself. The repulsed Royalists returned to the charge; the +Irish, keeping their ranks, maintained a fire equally close and +destructive. There was no sustaining the fight longer. Argyle's +followers began to break and fly, most towards the lake, the +remainder in different directions. The defeat of the right wing, +of itself decisive, was rendered irreparable by the death of +Auchenbreck, who fell while endeavouring to restore order. + +The Knight of Ardenvohr, with two or three hundred men, all +gentlemen of descent and distinguished gallantry,--for the +Campbells are supposed to have had more gentlemen in their ranks +than any of the Highland clans, endeavoured, with unavailing +heroism, to cover the tumultuary retreat of the common file. +Their resolution only proved fatal to themselves, as they were +charged again and again by fresh adversaries, and forced to +separate from each other, until at length their aim seemed only +to be to purchase an honourable death by resisting to the very +last. + +"Good quarter, Sir Duncan," called out Major Dalgetty, when he +discovered his late host, with one or two others, defending +himself against several Highlanders; and, to enforce his offer,, +he rode up to him with his sword uplifted. Sir Duncan's reply was +the discharge of a reserved pistol, which took effect not on the +person of the rider, but on that of his gallant horse, which, +shot through the heart, fell dead under him. Ranald MacEagh, who +was one of those who had been pressing Sir Duncan hard, took the +opportunity to cut him down with his broadsword, as he turned +from him in the act of firing the pistol. + +Allan M'Aulay came up at this moment. They were, excepting +Ranald, followers of his brother who were engaged on that part of +the field, "Villains!" he said, "which of you has dared to do +this, when it was my positive order that the Knight of Ardenvohr +should be taken alive?" + +Half-a-dozen of busy hands, which were emulously employed in +plundering the fallen knight, whose arms and accoutrements were +of a magnificence befitting his quality, instantly forbore the +occupation, and half the number of voices exculpated themselves, +by laying the blame on the Skyeman, as they called Ranald +MacEagh. + +"Dog of an Islander!" said Allan, forgetting, in his wrath, +their prophetic brotherhood, "follow the chase, and harm him no +farther, unless you mean to die by my hand." They were at this +moment left almost alone; for Allan's threats had forced his own +clan from the spot, and all around had pressed onwards toward the +lake, carrying before them noise, terror, and confusion, and +leaving behind only the dead and dying. The moment was tempting +to MacEagh's vengeful spirit.--"That I should die by your hand, +red as it is with the blood of my kindred," said he, answering +the threat of Allan in a tone as menacing as his own, "is not +more likely than that you should fall by mine." With that, he +struck at M'Aulay with such unexpected readiness, that he had +scarce time to intercept the blow with his target. + +"Villain!" said Allan, in astonishment, "what means this?" + +"I am Ranald of the Mist!" answered the Islesman, repeating the +blow; and with that word, they engaged in close and furious +conflict. It seemed to be decreed, that in Allan M'Aulay had +arisen the avenger of his mother's wrongs upon this wild tribe, +as was proved by the issue of the present, as well as of former +combats. After exchanging a few blows, Ranald MacEagh was +prostrated by a deep wound on the skull; and M'Aulay, setting his +foot on him, was about to pass the broadsword through his body, +when the point of the weapon was struck up by a third party, who +suddenly interposed. This was no other than Major Dalgetty, who, +stunned. by the fall, and encumbered by the dead body of his +horse, had now recovered his legs and his understanding. "Hold +up your sword," said he to M'Aulay, "and prejudice this person no +farther, in respect that he is here in my safeconduct, and in his +Excellency's service; and in regard that no honourable cavalier +is at liberty, by the law martial, to avenge his own private +injuries, FLAGRANTE BELLO, MULTO MAJUS FLAGRANTE PRAELIO." + +"Fool!" said Allan, "stand aside, and dare not to come between +the tiger and his prey!" + +But, far from quitting his point, Dalgetty stept across the +fallen body of MacEagh, and gave Allan to understand, that if he +called himself a tiger, he was likely, at present, to find a lion +in his path. There required no more than the gesture and tone of +defiance to turn the whole rage of the military Seer against the +person who was opposing the course of his vengeance, and blows +were instantly exchanged without farther ceremony. + +The strife betwixt Allan and MacEagh had been unnoticed by the +stragglers around, for the person of the latter was known to few +of Montrose's followers; but the scuffle betwixt Dalgetty and +him, both so well known, attracted instant attention; and +fortunately, among others, that of Montrose himself, who had come +for the purpose of gathering together his small body of horse, +and following the pursuit down Loch-Eil. Aware of the fatal +consequences of dissension in his little army, he pushed his +horse up to the spot, and seeing MacEagh on the ground, and +Dalgetty in the attitude of protecting him against M'Aulay, his +quick apprehension instantly caught the cause of quarrel, and as +instantly devised means to stop it. "For shame," he said, +"gentlemen cavaliers, brawling together in so glorious a field of +victory!--Are you mad? Or are you intoxicated with the glory +which you have both this day gained?" + +"It is not my fault, so please your Excellency," said Dalgetty. +"I have been known a BONUS SOCIUS, A BON CAMARADO, in all the +services of Europe; but he that touches a man under my safeguard +--" + +"And he," said Allan, speaking at the same time, "who dares to +bar the course of my just vengeance--" + +"For shame, gentlemen!" again repeated Montrose; "I have other +business for you both,--business of deeper importance than any +private quarrel, which you may easily find a more fitting time to +settle. For you, Major Dalgetty, kneel down." + +"Kneel!" said Dalgetty; "I have not learned to obey that word of +command, saving when it is given from the pulpit. In the Swedish +discipline, the front rank do indeed kneel, but only when the +regiment is drawn up six file deep." + +"Nevertheless," repeated Montrose,--"kneel down, in the name of +King Charles and of his representative." + +When Dalgetty reluctantly obeyed, Montrose struck him lightly on +the neck with the flat of his sword, saying,--"In reward of the +gallant service of this day, and in the name and authority of our +Sovereign, King Charles, I dub thee knight; be brave, loyal, and +fortunate. And now, Sir Dugald Dalgetty, to your duty. Collect +what horsemen you can, and pursue such of the enemy as are flying +down the side of the lake. Do not disperse your force, nor +venture too far; but take heed to prevent their rallying, which +very little exertion may do. Mount, then, Sir Dugald, and do +your duty." + +"But what shall I mount?" said the new-made chevalier. "Poor +Gustavus sleeps in the bed of honour, like his immortal namesake! +and I am made a knight, a rider, as the High Dutch have it, just +when I have not a horse left to ride upon." [In German, as in +Latin, the original meaning of the word Ritter, corresponding to +Eques, is merely a horseman.] + +"That shall not be said," answered Montrose, dismounting; "I make +you a present of my own, which has been thought a good one; only, +I pray you, resume the duty you discharge so well." + +With many acknowledgments, Sir Dugald mounted the steed so +liberally bestowed upon him; and only beseeching his Excellency +to remember that MacEagh was under his safe-conduct, immediately +began to execute the orders assigned to him, with great zeal and +alacrity. + +"And you, Allan M'Aulay," said Montrose, addressing the +Highlander, who, leaning his sword-point on the ground, had +regarded the ceremony of his antagonist's knighthood with a sneer +of sullen scorn,--"you, who are superior to the ordinary men led +by the paltry motives of plunder, and pay, and personal +distinction,--you, whose deep knowledge renders you so valuable a +counsellor,--is it YOU whom I find striving with a man like +Dalgetty, for the privilege of trampling the remains of life out +of so contemptible an enemy as lies there? Come, my friend, I +have other work for you. This victory, skilfully improved, shall +win Seaforth to our party. It is not disloyalty, but despair of +the good cause, that has induced him to take arms against us. +These arms, in this moment of better augury, he may be brought to +unite with ours. I shall send my gallant friend, Colonel Hay, to +him, from this very field of battle, but he must be united in +commission with a Highland gentleman of rank, befitting that of +Seaforth, and of talents and of influence such as may make an +impression upon him. You are not only in every respect the +fittest for this most important mission, but, having no immediate +command, your presence may be more easily spared than that of a +Chief whose following is in the field. You know every pass and +glen in the Highlands, as well as the manners and customs of +every tribe. Go therefore to Hay, on the right wing; he has +instructions, and expects you. You will find him with +Glenmorrison's men; be his guide, his interpreter, and his +colleague." + +Allan M'Aulay bent on the Marquis a dark and penetrating glance, +as if to ascertain whether this sudden mission was not conferred +for some latent and unexplained purpose. But Montrose, skilful +in searching the motives of others, was an equal adept in +concealing his own. He considered it as of the last consequence, +in this moment of enthusiasm and exalted passion, to remove Allan +from the camp for a few days, that he might provide, as his +honour required, for the safety of those who had acted as his +guides, when he trusted the Seer's quarrel with Dalgetty might be +easily made up. Allan, at parting, only recommended to the +Marquis the care of Sir Duncan Campbell, whom Montrose instantly +directed to be conveyed to a place of safety. He took the same +precaution for MacEagh, committing the latter, however, to a +party of the Irish, with directions that he should be taken care +of, but that no Highlander, of any clan, should have access to +him. + +The Marquis then mounted a led horse, which was held by one of +his attendants, and rode on to view the scene of his victory, +which was more decisive than even his ardent hopes had +anticipated. Of Argyle's gallant army of three thousand men, +fully one-half fell in the battle, or in the flight. They had +been chiefly driven back upon that part of the plain where the +river forms an angle with the lake, so that there was no free +opening either for retreat or escape. Several hundreds were +forced into the lake and drowned. Of the survivors, about one- +half escaped by swimming the river, or by an early flight along +the left bank of the lake. The remainder threw themselves into +the old Castle of Inverlochy; but being without either provisions +or hopes of relief, they were obliged to surrender, on condition +of being suffered to return to their homes in peace. Arms, +ammunition, standards, and baggage, all became the prey of the +conquerors. + +This was the greatest disaster that ever befell the race of +Diarmid, as the Campbells were called in the Highlands; it being +generally remarked that they were as fortunate in the issue of +their undertakings, as they were sagacious in planning, and +courageous in executing them. Of the number slain, nearly five +hundred were dunniwassels, or gentlemen claiming descent from +known and respected houses. And, in the opinion of many of the +clan, even this heavy loss was exceeded by the disgrace arising +from the inglorious conduct of their Chief, whose galley weighed +anchor when the day was lost, and sailed down the lake with all +the speed to which sails and oars could impel her. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Faint the din of battle bray'd, +Distant down the hollow wind; +War and terror fled before, +Wounds and death remain'd behind. PENROSE. + +Montrose's splendid success over his powerful rival was not +attained without some loss, though not amounting to the tenth of +what he inflicted. The obstinate valour of the Campbells cost +the lives of many brave men of the opposite party; and more were +wounded, the Chief of whom was the brave young Earl of Menteith, +who had commanded the centre. He was but slightly touched, +however, and made rather a graceful than a terrible appearance +when he presented to his general the standard of Argyle, which he +had taken from the standard-bearer with his own hand, and slain +him in single combat. Montrose dearly loved his noble kinsman, +in whom there was conspicuous a flash of the generous, romantic, +disinterested chivalry of the old heroic times, entirely +different from the sordid, calculating, and selfish character, +which the practice of entertaining mercenary troops had +introduced into most parts of Europe, and of which degeneracy +Scotland, which furnished soldiers of fortune for the service of +almost every nation, had been contaminated with a more than usual +share. Montrose, whose native spirit was congenial, although +experience had taught him how to avail himself of the motives of +others, used to Menteith neither the language of praise nor of +promise, but clasped him to his bosom as he exclaimed, "My +gallant kinsman!" And by this burst of heartfelt applause was +Menteith thrilled with a warmer glow of delight, than if his +praises had been recorded in a report of the action sent directly +to the throne of his sovereign. + +"Nothing," he said, "my lord, now seems to remain in which I can +render any assistance; permit me to look after a duty of +humanity--the Knight of Ardenvohr, as I am told, is our prisoner, +and severely wounded." + +"And well he deserves to be so," said Sir Dugald Dalgetty, who +came up to them at that moment with a prodigious addition of +acquired importance, "since he shot my good horse at the time +that I was offering him honourable quarter, which, I must needs +say, was done more like an ignorant Highland cateran, who has not +sense enough to erect a sconce for the protection of his old +hurley-house of a castle, than like a soldier of worth and +quality." + +"Are we to condole with you then," said Lord Menteith, "upon the +loss of the famed Gustavus?" + +"Even so, my lord," answered the soldier, with a deep sigh, "DIEM +CLAUSIT SUPREMUM, as we said at the Mareschal-College of +Aberdeen. Better so than be smothered like a cadger's pony in +some flow-moss, or snow-wreath, which was like to be his fate if +this winter campaign lasted longer. But it has pleased his +Excellency" (making an inclination to Montrose) "to supply his +place by the gift of a noble steed, whom I have taken the freedom +to name 'LOYALTY'S REWARD,' in memory of this celebrated +occasion." + +"I hope," said the Marquis, "you'll find Loyalty's Reward, since +you call him so, practised in all the duties of the field, --but +I must just hint to you, that at this time, in Scotland, loyalty +is more frequently rewarded with a halter than with a horse." + +"Ahem! your Excellency is pleased to be facetious. Loyalty's +Reward is as perfect as Gustavus in all his exercises, and of a +far finer figure. Marry! his social qualities are less +cultivated, in respect he has kept till now inferior company." + +"Not meaning his Excellency the General, I hope," said Lord +Menteith. "For shame, Sir Dugald!" + +"My lord," answered the knight gravely, "I am incapable to mean +anything so utterly unbecoming. What I asseverate is, that his +Excellency, having the same intercourse with his horse during his +exercise, that he hath with his soldiers when training them, may +form and break either to every feat of war which he chooses to +practise, and accordingly that this noble charger is admirably +managed. But as it is the intercourse of private life that +formeth the social character, so I do not apprehend that of the +single soldier to be much polished by the conversation of the +corporal or the sergeant, or that of Loyalty's Reward to have +been much dulcified, or ameliorated, by the society of his +Excellency's grooms, who bestow more oaths, and kicks, and +thumps, than kindness or caresses, upon the animals intrusted to +their charge; whereby many a generous quadruped, rendered as it +were misanthropic, manifests during the rest of his life a +greater desire to kick and bite his master, than to love and to +honour him." + +"Spoken like an oracle," said Montrose. "Were there an academy +for the education of horses to be annexed to the Mareschal- +College of Aberdeen, Sir Dugald Dalgetty alone should fill the +chair." + +"Because, being an ass," said Menteith, aside to the General, +"there would be some distant relation between the professor and +the students." + +"And now, with your Excellency's permission," said the new-made +knight, "I am going to pay my last visit to the remains of my old +companion in arms." + +"Not with the purpose of going through the ceremonial of +interment?" said the Marquis, who did not know how far Sir +Dugald's enthusiasm might lead him; "consider our brave fellows +themselves will have but a hasty burial." + +"Your Excellency will pardon me," said Dalgetty; "my purpose is +less romantic. I go to divide poor Gustavus's legacy with the +fowls of heaven, leaving the flesh to them, and reserving to +myself his hide; which, in token of affectionate remembrance, I +purpose to form into a cassock and trowsers, after the Tartar +fashion, to be worn under my armour, in respect my nether +garments are at present shamefully the worse of the wear.--Alas! +poor Gustavus, why didst thou not live at least one hour more, to +have borne the honoured weight of knighthood upon thy loins!" + +He was now turning away, when the Marquis called after him,--"As +you are not likely to be anticipated in this act of kindness, Sir +Dugald, to your old friend and companion, I trust," said the +Marquis, "you will first assist me, and our principal friends, to +discuss some of Argyle's good cheer, of which we have found +abundance in the Castle." + +"Most willingly, please your Excellency," said Sir Dugald; "as +meat and mass never hinder work. Nor, indeed, am I afraid that +the wolves or eagles will begin an onslaught on Gustavus to- +night, in regard there is so much better cheer lying all around. +But," added he, "as I am to meet two honourable knights of +England, with others of the knightly degree in your lordship's +army, I pray it may be explained to them, that now, and in +future, I claim precedence over them all, in respect of my rank +as a Banneret, dubbed in a field of stricken battle." + +"The devil confound him!" said Montrose, speaking aside; "he has +contrived to set the kiln on fire as fast as I put it out. +--'This is a point, Sir Dugald," said he, gravely addressing him, +"which I shall reserve for his Majesty's express consideration; +in my camp, all must be upon equality, like the Knights of the +Round Table; and take their places as soldiers should, upon the +principle of,--first come, first served." + +"Then I shall take care," said Menteith, apart to the Marquis, +"that Don Dugald is not first in place to-day.--Sir Dugald," +added he, raising his voice, "as you say your wardrobe is out of +repair, had you not better go to the enemy's baggage yonder, over +which there is a guard placed? I saw them take out an excellent +buff suit, embroidered in front in silk and silver." + +"VOTO A DIOS! as the Spaniard says," exclaimed the Major, "and +some beggarly gilly may get it while I stand prating here!" + +The prospect of booty having at once driven out of his head both +Gustavus and the provant, he set spurs to Loyalty's Reward, and +rode off through the field of battle. + +"There goes the hound," said Menteith, "breaking the face, and +trampling on the body, of many a better man than himself; and as +eager on his sordid spoil as a vulture that stoops upon carrion. +Yet this man the world calls a soldier--and you, my lord, select +him as worthy of the honours of chivalry, if such they can at +this day be termed. You have made the collar of knighthood the +decoration of a mere bloodhound." + +"What could I do?" said Montrose. "I had no half-picked bones +to give him, and bribed in some manner he must be,--I cannot +follow the chase alone. Besides, the dog has good qualities." + +"If nature has given him such," said Menteith, "habit has +converted them into feelings of intense selfishness. He may be +punctilious concerning his reputation, and brave in the execution +of his duty, but it is only because without these qualities he +cannot rise in the service;--nay, his very benevolence is +selfish; he may defend his companion while he can keep his feet, +but the instant he is down, Sir Dugald will be as ready to ease +him of his purse, as he is to convert the skin of Gustavus into a +buff jerkin." + +"And yet, if all this were true, cousin," answered Montrose, +"there is something convenient in commanding a soldier, upon +whose motives and springs of action you can calculate to a +mathematical certainty. A fine spirit like yours, my cousin, +alive to a thousand sensations to which this man's is as +impervious as his corslet,--it is for such that thy friend must +feel, while he gives his advice." Then, suddenly changing his +tone, he asked Menteith when he had seen Annot Lyle. + +The young Earl coloured deeply, and answered, "Not since last +evening,--excepting," he added, with hesitation, "for one moment, +about half an hour before the battle began." + +"My dear Menteith," said Montrose, very kindly, "were you one of +the gay cavaliers of Whitehall, who are, in their way, as great +self-seekers as our friend Dalgetty, should I need to plague you +with enquiring into such an amourette as this? it would be an +intrigue only to be laughed at. But this is the land of +enchantment, where nets strong as steel are wrought out of +ladies' tresses, and you are exactly the destined knight to be so +fettered. This poor girl is exquisitely beautiful, and has +talents formed to captivate your romantic temper. You cannot +think of injuring her--you cannot think of marrying her?" + +"My lord," replied Menteith, "you have repeatedly urged this +jest, for so I trust it is meant, somewhat beyond bounds. Annot +Lyle is of unknown birth,--a captive,--the daughter, probably, of +some obscure outlaw; a dependant on the hospitality of the +M'Aulays." + +"Do not be angry, Menteith," said the Marquis, interrupting him; +"you love the classics, though not educated at Mareschal-College; +and you may remember how many gallant hearts captive beauty has +subdued:-- + +Movit Ajacem, Telamone natum, +Forma captivae dominum Tecmessae. + +In a word, I am seriously anxious about this--I should not have +time, perhaps," he added very gravely, "to trouble you with my +lectures on the subject, were your feelings, and those of Annot, +alone interested; but you have a dangerous rival in Allan +M'Aulay; and there is no knowing to what extent he may carry his +resentment. It is my duty to tell you that the King's service +may be much prejudiced by dissensions betwixt you." + +"My lord," said Menteith, "I know what you mean is kind and +friendly; I hope you will be satisfied when I assure you, that +Allan M'Aulay and I have discussed this circumstance; and that I +have explained to him, that it is utterly remote from my +character to entertain dishonourable views concerning this +unprotected female; so, on the other hand, the obscurity of her +birth prevents my thinking of her upon other terms. I will not +disguise from your lordship, what I have not disguised from +M'Aulay,--that if Annot Lyle were born a lady, she should share +my name and rank; as matters stand, it is impossible. This +explanation, I trust, will satisfy your lordship, as it has +satisfied a less reasonable person." + +Montrose shrugged his shoulders. "And, like true champions in +romance," he said, "you have agreed, that you are both to worship +the same mistress, as idolaters do the same image, and that +neither shall extend his pretensions farther?" + +"I did not go so far, my lord," answered Menteith--"I only said +in the present circumstances--and there is no prospect of their +being changed,--I could, in duty to myself and family, stand in +no relation to Annot Lyle, but as that of friend or brother--But +your lordship must excuse me; I have," said he, looking at his +arm, round which he had tied his handkerchief, "a slight hurt to +attend to." + +"A wound?" said Montrose, anxiously; "let me see it.--Alas!" he +said, "I should have heard nothing of this, had I not ventured to +tent and sound another more secret and more rankling one, +Menteith; I am sorry for you--I too have known--But what avails +it to awake sorrows which have long slumbered!" + +So saying, he shook hands with his noble kinsman, and walked into +the castle. + +Annot Lyle, as was not unusual for females in the Highlands, was +possessed of a slight degree of medical and even surgical skill. +It may readily be believed, that the profession of surgery, or +medicine, as a separate art, was unknown; and the few rude rules +which they observed were intrusted to women, or to the aged, whom +constant casualties afforded too much opportunity of acquiring +experience. The care and attention, accordingly, of Annot Lyle, +her attendants, and others acting under her direction, had made +her services extremely useful during this wild campaign. And +most readily had these services been rendered to friend and foe, +wherever they could be most useful. She was now in an apartment +of the castle, anxiously superintending the preparation of +vulnerary herbs, to be applied to the wounded; receiving reports +from different females respecting those under their separate +charge, and distributing what means she had for their relief, +when Allan M'Aulay suddenly entered the apartment. She started, +for she had heard that he had left the camp upon a distant +mission; and, however accustomed she was to the gloom of his +countenance, it seemed at present to have even a darker shade +than usual. He stood before her perfectly silent, and she felt +the necessity of being the first to speak. + +"I thought," she said, with some effort, "you had already set +out." + +"My companion awaits me," said Allan; "I go instantly." +Yet still he stood before her, and held her by the arm, with a +pressure which, though insufficient to give her pain, made her +sensible of his great personal strength, his hand closing on her +like the gripe of a manacle. + +"Shall I take the harp?" she said, in a timid voice; "is--is +the shadow falling upon you?" + +Instead of replying, he led her to the window of the apartment, +which commanded a view of the field of the slain, with all its +horrors. It was thick spread with dead and wounded, and the +spoilers were busy tearing the clothes from the victims of war +and feudal ambition, with as much indifference as if they had not +been of the same species, and themselves exposed, perhaps to- +morrow, to the same fate. + +"Does the sight please you?" said M'Aulay. + +"It is hideous!" said Annot, covering her eyes with her hands; +"how can you bid me look upon it?" + +"You must be inured to it," said he, "if you remain with this +destined host--you will soon have to search such a field for my +brother's corpse--for Menteith's--for mine---but that will be a +more indifferent task--You do not love me!" + +"This is the first time you have taxed me with unkindness," said +Annot, weeping. "You are my brother--my preserver--my protector +--and can I then BUT love you?--But your hour of darkness is +approaching, let me fetch my harp--" + +"Remain," said Allan, still holding her fast; "be my visions from +heaven or hell, or from the middle sphere of disembodied spirits +--or be they, as the Saxons hold, but the delusions of an over- +heated fancy, they do not now influence me; I speak the language +of the natural, of the visible world.--You love not me, Annot-- +you love Menteith--by him you are beloved again, and Allan is no +more to you than one of the corpses which encumber yonder heath." + +It cannot be supposed that this strange speech conveyed any new +information to her who was thus addressed. No woman ever lived +who could not, in the same circumstances, have discerned long +since the state of her lover's mind. But by thus suddenly +tearing off the veil, thin as it was, Allan prepared her to +expect consequences violent in proportion to the enthusiasm of +his character. She made an effort to repel the charge he had +stated. + +"You forget," she said, "your own worth and nobleness when you +insult so very helpless a being, and one whom fate has thrown so +totally into your power. You know who and what I am, and how +impossible it is that Menteith or you can use language of +affection to me, beyond that of friendship. You know from what +unhappy race I have too probably derived my existence." + +"I will not believe it," said Allan, impetuously; "never flowed +crystal drop from a polluted spring." + +"Yet the very doubt," pleaded Annot, "should make you forbear to +use this language to me." + +"I know," said M'Aulay, "it places a bar between us--but I know +also that it divides you not so inseparably from Menteith.--Hear +me, my beloved Annot!--leave this scene of terrors and danger--go +with me to Kintail--I will place you in the house of the noble +Lady of Seaforth--or you shall be removed in safety to Icolmkill, +where some women yet devote themselves to the worship of God, +after the custom of our ancestors." + +"You consider not what you ask of me," replied Annot; "to +undertake such a journey under your sole guardianship, were to +show me less scrupulous than maiden ought. I will remain here, +Allan--here under the protection of the noble Montrose; and when +his motions next approach the Lowlands, I will contrive some +proper means to relieve you of one, who has, she knows not how, +become an object of dislike to you." + +Allan stood as if uncertain whether to give way to sympathy with +her distress, or to anger at her resistance. + +"Annot," he said, "you know too well how little your words apply +to my feelings towards you--but you avail yourself of your power, +and you rejoice in my departure, as removing a spy upon your +intercourse with Menteith. But beware both of you," he added, in +a stern tone; "for when was it ever heard that an injury was +offered to Allan M'Aulay, for which he exacted not tenfold +vengeance?" + +So saying, he pressed her arm forcibly, pulled the bonnet over +his brows, and strode out of the apartment. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +--After you're gone, +I grew acquainted with my heart, and search'd, +What stirr'd it so.--Alas! I found it love. +Yet far from lust, for could I but have lived +In presence of you, I had had my end. PHILASTER. + +Annot Lyle had now to contemplate the terrible gulf which Allan +M'Aulay's declaration of love and jealousy had made to open +around her. It seemed as if she was tottering on the very brink +of destruction, and was at once deprived of every refuge, and of +all human assistance. She had long been conscious that she loved +Menteith dearer than a brother; indeed, how could it be +otherwise, considering their early intimacy, the personal merit +of the young nobleman, his assiduous attentions,--and his +infinite superiority in gentleness of disposition, and grace of +manners, over the race of rude warriors with whom she lived? But +her affection was of that quiet, timid, meditative character, +which sought rather a reflected share in the happiness of the +beloved object, than formed more presumptuous or daring hopes. A +little Gaelic song, in which she expressed her feelings, has been +translated by the ingenious and unhappy Andrew M'Donald; and we +willingly transcribe the lines:-- + +Wert thou, like me, in life's low vale, + With thee how blest, that lot I'd share; +With thee I'd fly wherever gale + Could waft, or bounding galley bear. +But parted by severe decree, + Far different must our fortunes prove; +May thine be joy--enough for me + To weep and pray for him I love. + +The pangs this foolish heart must feel, + When hope shall be forever flown, +No sullen murmur shall reveal, + No selfish murmurs ever own. +Nor will I through life's weary years, + Like a pale drooping mourner move, +While I can think my secret tears + May wound the heart of him I love. + +The furious declaration of Allan had destroyed the romantic plan +which she had formed, of nursing in secret her pensive +tenderness, without seeking any other requital. Long before +this, she had dreaded Allan, as much as gratitude, and a sense +that he softened towards her a temper so haughty and so violent, +could permit her to do; but now she regarded him with unalloyed +terror, which a perfect knowledge of his disposition, and of his +preceding history, too well authorised her to entertain. +Whatever was in other respects the nobleness of his disposition, +he had never been known to resist the wilfulness of passion,--he +walked in the house, and in the country of his fathers, like a +tamed lion, whom no one dared to contradict, lest they should +awaken his natural vehemence of passion. So many years had +elapsed since he had experienced contradiction, or even +expostulation, that probably nothing but the strong good sense, +which, on all points, his mysticism excepted, formed the ground +of his character, prevented his proving an annoyance and terror +to the whole neighbourhood. But Annot had no time to dwell upon +her fears, being interrupted by the entrance of Sir Dugald +Dalgetty. + +It may well be supposed, that the scenes in which this person had +passed his former life, had not much qualified him to shine in +female society. He himself felt a sort of consciousness that the +language of the barrack, guard-room, and parade, was not proper +to entertain ladies. The only peaceful part of his life had been +spent at Mareschal-College, Aberdeen; and he had forgot the +little he had learned there, except the arts of darning his own +hose, and dispatching his commons with unusual celerity, both +which had since been kept in good exercise by the necessity of +frequent practice. Still it was from an imperfect recollection +of what he had acquired during this pacific period, that he drew +his sources of conversation when in company with women; in other +words, his language became pedantic when it ceased to be +military. + +"Mistress Annot Lyle," said he, upon the present occasion, "I am +just now like the half-pike, or spontoon of Achilles, one end of +which could wound and the other cure--a property belonging +neither to Spanish pike, brown-bill, partizan, halberd, Lochaber- +axe, or indeed any other modern staff-weapon whatever." +This compliment he repeated twice; but as Annot scarce heard him +the first time, and did not comprehend him the second, he was +obliged to explain. + +"I mean," he said, "Mistress Annot Lyle, that having been the +means of an honourable knight receiving a severe wound in this +day's conflict,--he having pistolled, somewhat against the law of +arms, my horse, which was named after the immortal King of +Sweden,--I am desirous of procuring him such solacement as you, +madam, can supply, you being like the heathen god Esculapius" +(meaning possibly Apollo), "skilful not only in song and in +music, but in the more noble art of chirurgery-OPIFERQUE PER +ORBEM DICOR." + +"If you would have the goodness to explain," said Annot, too sick +at heart to be amused by Sir Dugald's airs of pedantic gallantry. + +"That, madam," replied the Knight, "may not be so easy, as I am +out of the habit of construing--but we shall try. DICOR, supply +EGO--I am called,--OPIFER? OPIFER?--I remember SIGNIFER and +FURCIFER--but I believe OPIFER stands in this place for M.D., +that is, Doctor of Physic." + +"This is a busy day with us all," said Annot; "will you say at +once what you want with me?" + +"Merely," replied Sir Dugald, "that you will visit my brother +knight, and let your maiden bring some medicaments for his wound, +which threatens to be what the learned call a DAMNUM FATALE." + +Annot Lyle never lingered in the cause of humanity. She informed +herself hastily of the nature of the injury, and interesting +herself for the dignified old Chief whom she had seen at +Darnlinvarach, and whose presence had so much struck her, she +hastened to lose the sense of her own sorrow for a time, in the +attempt to be useful to another. + +Sir Dugald with great form ushered Annot Lyle to the chamber of +her patient, in which, to her surprise, she found Lord Menteith. +She could not help blushing deeply at the meeting, but, to hide +her confusion, proceeded instantly to examine the wound of the +Knight of Ardenvohr, and easily satisfied herself that it was +beyond her skill to cure it. As for Sir Dugald, he returned to a +large outhouse, on the floor of which, among other wounded men, +was deposited the person of Ranald of the Mist. + +"Mine old friend," said the Knight, "as I told you before, I +would willingly do anything to pleasure you, in return for the +wound you have received while under my safe-conduct. I have, +therefore, according to your earnest request, sent Mrs. Annot +Lyle to attend upon the wound of the knight of Ardenvohr, though +wherein her doing so should benefit you, I cannot imagine.--I +think you once spoke of some blood relationship between them; but +a soldado, in command and charge like me, has other things to +trouble his head with than Highland genealogies." + +And indeed, to do the worthy Major justice, he never enquired +after, listened to, or recollected, the business of other people, +unless it either related to the art military, or was somehow or +other connected with his own interest, in either of which cases +his memory was very tenacious. + +"And now, my good friend of the Mist," said he, "can you tell me +what has become of your hopeful grandson, as I have not seen him +since he assisted me to disarm after the action, a negligence +which deserveth the strapado?" + +"He is not far from hence," said the wounded outlaw--"lift not +your hand upon him, for he is man enough to pay a yard of +leathern scourge with a foot of tempered steel." + +"A most improper vaunt," said Sir Dugald; "but I owe you some +favours, Ranald, and therefore shall let it pass." + +"And if you think you owe me anything," said the outlaw, "it is +in your power to requite me by granting me a boon." + +"Friend Ranald," answered Dalgetty, "I have read of these boons +in silly story-books, whereby simple knights were drawn into +engagements to their great prejudice; wherefore, Ranald, the more +prudent knights of this day never promise anything until they +know that they may keep their word anent the premises, without +any displeasure or incommodement to themselves. It may be, you +would have me engage the female chirurgeon to visit your wound; +though you ought to consider, Ranald, that the uncleanness of the +place where you are deposited may somewhat soil the gaiety of her +garments, concerning the preservation of which, you may have +observed, women are apt to be inordinately solicitous. I lost +the favour of the lady of the Grand Pensionary of Amsterdam, by +touching with the sole of my boot the train of her black velvet +gown, which I mistook for a foot-cloth, it being half the room +distant from her person." + +"It is not to bring Annot Lyle hither," answered MacEagh, "but to +transport me into the room where she is in attendance upon the +Knight of Ardenvohr. Somewhat I have to say of the last +consequence to them both." + +"It is something out of the order of due precedence," said +Dalgetty, "to carry a wounded outlaw into the presence of a +knight; knighthood having been of yore, and being, in some +respects, still, the highest military grade, independent always +of commissioned officers, who rank according to their patents; +nevertheless, as your boon, as you call it, is so slight, I shall +not deny compliance with the same." So saying, he ordered three +files of men to transport MacEagh on their shoulders to Sir +Duncan Campbell's apartment, and he himself hastened before to +announce the cause of his being brought thither. But such was +the activity of the soldiers employed, that they followed him +close at the heels, and, entering with their ghastly burden, laid +MacEagh on the floor of the apartment. His features, naturally +wild, were now distorted by pain; his hands and scanty garments +stained with his own blood, and those of others, which no kind +hand had wiped away, although the wound in his side had been +secured by a bandage. + +"Are you," he said, raising his head painfully towards the couch +where lay stretched his late antagonist, "he whom men call the +Knight of Ardenvohr?" + +"The same," answered Sir Duncan,--"what would you with one whose +hours are now numbered?" + +"My hours are reduced to minutes," said the outlaw; "the more +grace, if I bestow them in the service of one, whose hand has +ever been against me, as mine has been raised higher against +him." + +"Thine higher against me!--Crushed worm!" said the Knight, +looking down on his miserable adversary. + +"Yes," answered the outlaw, in a firm voice, "my arm hath been +highest. In the deadly contest betwixt us, the wounds I have +dealt have been deepest, though thine have neither been idle nor +unfelt.--I am Ranald MacEagh--I am Ranald of the Mist--the night +that I gave thy castle to the winds in one huge blaze of fire, is +now matched with the day in which you have fallen under the sword +of my fathers.--Remember the injuries thou hast done our tribe +--never were such inflicted, save by one, beside thee. HE, they +say, is fated and secure against our vengeance--a short time will +show." + +"My Lord Menteith," said Sir Duncan, raising himself out of his +bed, "this is a proclaimed villain, at once the enemy of King and +Parliament, of God and man--one of the outlawed banditti of the +Mist; alike the enemy of your house, of the M'Aulays, and of +mine. I trust you will not suffer moments, which are perhaps my +last, to be embittered by his barbarous triumph." + +"He shall have the treatment he merits," said Menteith; "let him +be instantly removed." + +Sir Dugald here interposed, and spoke of Ranald's services as a +guide, and his own pledge for his safety; but the high harsh +tones of the outlaw drowned his voice. + +"No," said he, "be rack and gibbet the word! let me wither +between heaven and earth, and gorge the hawks and eagles of Ben- +Nevis; and so shall this haughty Knight, and this triumphant +Thane, never learn the secret I alone can impart; a secret which +would make Ardenvohr's heart leap with joy, were he in the death +agony, and which the Earl of Menteith would purchase at the price +of his broad earldom.--Come hither, Annot Lyle," he said, raising +himself with unexpected strength; "fear not the sight of him to +whom thou hast clung in infancy. Tell these proud men, who +disdain thee as the issue of mine ancient race, that thou art no +blood of ours,--no daughter of the race of the Mist, but born in +halls as lordly, and cradled on couch as soft, as ever soothed +infancy in their proudest palaces." + +"In the name of God," said Menteith, trembling with emotion, "if +you know aught of the birth of this lady, do thy conscience the +justice to disburden it of the secret before departing from this +world!" + +"And bless my enemies with my dying breath?" said MacEagh, +looking at him malignantly.--"Such are the maxims your priests +preach--but when, or towards whom, do you practise them? Let me +know first the worth of my secret ere I part with it--What would +you give, Knight of Ardenvohr, to know that your superstitious +fasts have been vain, and that there still remains a descendant +of your house?--I pause for an answer--without it, I speak not +one word more. + +"I could," said Sir Duncan, his voice struggling between the +emotions of doubt, hatred, and anxiety--"I could--but that I know +thy race are like the Great Enemy, liars and murderers from the +beginning--but could it be true thou tellest me, I could almost +forgive thee the injuries thou hast done me." + +"Hear it!" said Ranald; "he hath wagered deeply for a son of +Diarmid--And you, gentle Thane--the report of the camp says, that +you would purchase with life and lands the tidings that Annot +Lyle was no daughter of proscription, but of a race noble in your +estimation as your own--Well--It is for no love I tell you--The +time has been that I would have exchanged this secret against +liberty; I am now bartering it for what is dearer than liberty or +life.--Annot Lyle is the youngest, the sole surviving child of +the Knight of Ardenvohr, who alone was saved when all in his +halls besides was given to blood and ashes." + +"Can this man speak truth?" said Annot Lyle, scarce knowing what +she said; "or is this some strange delusion?" + +"Maiden," replied Ranald, "hadst thou dwelt longer with us, thou +wouldst have better learnt to know how to distinguish the accents +of truth. To that Saxon lord, and to the Knight of Ardenvohr, I +will yield such proofs of what I have spoken, that incredulity +shall stand convinced. Meantime, withdraw--I loved thine +infancy, I hate not thy youth--no eye hates the rose in its +blossom, though it groweth upon a thorn, and for thee only do I +something regret what is soon to follow. But he that would +avenge him of his foe must not reck though the guiltless be +engaged in the ruin." + +"He advises well, Annot," said Lord Menteith; "in God's name +retire! if--if there be aught in this, your meeting with Sir +Duncan must he more prepared for both your sakes." + +"I will not part from my father, if I have found one!" said +Annot--"I will not part from him under circumstances so +terrible." + +"And a father you shall ever find in me," murmured Sir Duncan. + +"Then," said Menteith, "I will have MacEagh removed into an +adjacent apartment, and will collect the evidence of his tale +myself. Sir Dugald Dalgetty will give me his attendance and +assistance." + +"With pleasure, my lord," answered Sir Dugald.--"I will be your +confessor, or assessor--either or both. No one can be so fit, +for I had heard the whole story a month ago at Inverary castle +--but onslaughts like that of Ardenvohr confuse each other in my +memory, which is besides occupied with matters of more +importance." + +Upon hearing this frank declaration, which was made as they left +the apartment with the wounded man, Lord Menteith darted upon +Dalgetty a look of extreme anger and disdain, to which the self- +conceit of the worthy commander rendered him totally insensible. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +I am as free as nature first made man, +Ere the base laws of servitude began, +When wild in woods the noble savage ran. CONQUEST OF GRANADA + +The Earl of Menteith, as he had undertaken, so he proceeded to +investigate more closely the story told by Ranald of the Mist, +which was corroborated by the examination of his two followers, +who had assisted in the capacity of guides. These declarations +he carefully compared with such circumstances concerning the +destruction of his castle and family as Sir Duncan Campbell was +able to supply; and it may be supposed he had forgotten nothing +relating to an event of such terrific importance. It was of the +last consequence to prove that this was no invention of the +outlaw's, for the purpose of passing an impostor as the child and +heiress of Ardenvohr. + +Perhaps Menteith, so much interested in believing the tale, was +not altogether the fittest person to be intrusted with the +investigation of its truth; but the examinations of the Children +of the Mist were simple, accurate, and in all respects consistent +with each other. A personal mark was referred to, which was +known to have been borne by the infant child of Sir Duncan, and +which appeared upon the left shoulder of Annot Lyle. It was also +well remembered, that when the miserable relics of the other +children had been collected, those of the infant had nowhere been +found. Other circumstances of evidence, which it is unnecessary +to quote, brought the fullest conviction not only to Menteith, +but to the unprejudiced mind of Montrose, that in Annot Lyle, an +humble dependant, distinguished only by beauty and talent, they +were in future to respect the heiress of Ardenvohr. + +While Menteith hastened to communicate the result of these +enquiries to the persons most interested, the outlaw demanded to +speak with his grandchild, whom he usually called his son. "He +would be found," he said, "in the outer apartment, in which he +himself had been originally deposited." + +Accordingly, the young savage, after a close search, was found +lurking in a corner, coiled up among some rotten straw, and +brought to his grandsire. + +"Kenneth," said the old outlaw, "hear the last words of the sire +of thy father. A Saxon soldier, and Allan of the Red-hand, left +this camp within these few hours, to travel to the country to +Caberfae. Pursue them as the bloodhound pursues the hurt deer +--swim the lake-climb the mountain--thread the forest--tarry not +until you join them;" and then the countenance of the lad +darkened as his grandfather spoke, and he laid his hand upon a +knife which stuck in the thong of leather that confined his +scanty plaid. "No!" said the old man; "it is not by thy hand he +must fall. They will ask the news from the camp--say to them +that Annot Lyle of the Harp is discovered to be the daughter of +Duncan of Ardenvohr; that the Thane of Menteith is to wed her +before the priest; and that you are sent to bid guests to the +bridal. Tarry not their answer, but vanish like the lightning +when the black cloud swallows it.--And now depart, beloved son of +my best beloved! I shall never more see thy face, nor hear the +light sound of thy footstep--yet tarry an instant and hear my +last charge. Remember the fate of our race, and quit not the +ancient manners of the Children of the Mist. We are now a +straggling handful, driven from every vale by the sword of every +clan, who rule in the possessions where their forefathers hewed +the wood, and drew the water for ours. But in the thicket of the +wilderness, and in the mist of the mountain, Kenneth, son of +Eracht, keep thou unsoiled the freedom which I leave thee as a +birthright. Barter it not neither for the rich garment, nor for +the stone-roof, nor for the covered board, nor for the couch of +down--on the rock or in the valley, in abundance or in famine--in +the leafy summer, and in the days of the iron winter--Son of the +Mist! be free as thy forefathers. Own no lord--receive no law +--take no hire--give no stipend--build no hut--enclose no pasture +--sow no grain;--let the deer of the mountain be thy flocks and +herds--if these fail thee, prey upon the goods of our oppressors +--of the Saxons, and of such Gael as are Saxons in their souls, +valuing herds and flocks more than honour and freedom. Well for +us that they do so--it affords the broader scope for our revenge. +Remember those who have done kindness to our race, and pay their +services with thy blood, should the hour require it. If a MacIan +shall come to thee with the head of the king's son in his hand, +shelter him, though the avenging army of the father were behind +him; for in Glencoe and Ardnamurchan, we have dwelt in peace in +the years that have gone by. The sons of Diarmid--the race of +Darnlinvarach--the riders of Menteith--my curse on thy head, +Child of the Mist, if thou spare one of those names, when the +time shall offer for cutting them off! and it will come anon, +for their own swords shall devour each other, and those who are +scattered shall fly to the Mist, and perish by its Children. +Once more, begone--shake the dust from thy feet against the +habitations of men, whether banded together for peace or for war. +Farewell, beloved! and mayst thou die like thy forefathers, ere +infirmity, disease, or age, shall break thy spirit--Begone!-- +begone!--live free--requite kindness--avenge the injuries of thy +race!" + +The young savage stooped, and kissed the brow of his dying +parent; but accustomed from infancy to suppress every exterior +sign of emotion, he parted without tear or adieu, and was soon +far beyond the limits of Montrose's camp. + +Sir Dugald Dalgetty, who was present during the latter part of +this scene, was very little edified by the conduct of MacEagh +upon the occasion. "I cannot think, my friend Ranald," said he, +"that you are in the best possible road for a dying man. Storms, +onslaughts, massacres, the burning of suburbs, are indeed a +soldier's daily work, and are justified by the necessity of the +case, seeing that they are done in the course of duty; for +burning of suburbs, in particular, it may be said that they are +traitors and cut-throats to all fortified towns. Hence it is +plain, that a soldier is a profession peculiarly favoured by +Heaven, seeing that we may hope for salvation, although we daily +commit actions of so great violence. But then, Ranald, in all +services of Europe, it is the custom of the dying soldier not to +vaunt him of such doings, or to recommend them to his fellows; +but, on the contrary, to express contrition for the same, and to +repeat, or have repeated to him, some comfortable prayer; which, +if you please, I will intercede with his Excellency's chaplain to +prefer on your account. It is otherwise no point of my duty to +put you in mind of those things; only it may be for the ease of +your conscience to depart more like a Christian, and less like a +Turk, than you seem to be in a fair way of doing." + +The only answer of the dying man--(for as such Ranald MacEagh +might now be considered)--was a request to be raised to such a +position that he might obtain a view from the window of the +Castle. The deep frost mist, which had long settled upon the top +of the mountains, was now rolling down each rugged glen and +gully, where the craggy ridges showed their black and irregular +outline, like desert islands rising above the ocean of vapour. +"Spirit of the Mist!" said Ranald MacEagh, "called by our race +our father, and our preserver--receive into thy tabernacle of +clouds, when this pang is over, him whom in life thou hast so +often sheltered." So saying, he sunk back into the arms of those +who upheld him, spoke no further word, but turned his face to the +wall for a short space. + +"I believe," said Dalgetty, "my friend Ranald will be found in +his heart to be little better than a heathen." And he renewed +his proposal to procure him the assistance of Dr. Wisheart, +Montrose's military chaplain; "a man," said Sir Dugald, "very +clever in his exercise, and who will do execution on your sins in +less time than I could smoke a pipe of tobacco." + +"Saxon," said the dying man, "speak to me no more of thy priest-- +I die contented. Hadst thou ever an enemy against whom weapons +were of no avail--whom the ball missed, and against whom the +arrow shivered, and whose bare skin was as impenetrable to sword +and dirk as thy steel garment--Heardst thou ever of such a foe?" + +"Very frequently, when I served in Germany," replied Sir Dugald. +"There was such a fellow at Ingolstadt; he was proof both against +lead and steel. The soldiers killed him with the buts of their +muskets." + +"This impassible foe," said Ranald, without regarding the Major's +interruption, "who has the blood dearest to me upon his hands--to +this man I have now bequeathed agony of mind, jealousy, despair, +and sudden death,--or a life more miserable than death itself. +Such shall be the lot of Allan of the Red-hand, when he learns +that Annot weds Menteith and I ask no more than the certainty +that it is so, to sweeten my own bloody end by his hand." + +"If that be the case," said the Major, "there's no more to be +said; but I shall take care as few people see you as possible, +for I cannot think your mode of departure can be at all +creditable or exemplary to a Christian army." So saying, he left +the apartment, and the Son of the Mist soon after breathed his +last. + +Menteith, in the meanwhile, leaving the new-found relations to +their mutual feelings of mingled emotion, was eagerly discussing +with Montrose the consequences of this discovery. "I should now +see," said the Marquis, "even had I not before observed it, that +your interest in this discovery, my dear Menteith, has no small +reference to your own happiness. You love this new-found lady,-- +your affection is returned. In point of birth, no exceptions can +be made; in every other respect, her advantages are equal to +those which you yourself possess--think, however, a moment. Sir +Duncan is a fanatic--Presbyterian, at least--in arms against the +King; he is only with us in the quality of a prisoner, and we +are, I fear, but at the commencement of a long civil war. Is +this a time, think you, Menteith, for you to make proposals for +his heiress? Or what chance is there that he will now listen to +it ?" + +Passion, an ingenious, as well as an eloquent advocate, supplied +the young nobleman with a thousand answers to these objections. +He reminded Montrose that the Knight of Ardenvohr was neither a +bigot in politics nor religion. He urged his own known and +proved zeal for the royal cause, and hinted that its influence +might be extended and strengthened by his wedding the heiress of +Ardenvohr. He pleaded the dangerous state of Sir Duncan's wound, +the risk which must be run by suffering the young lady to be +carried into the country of the Campbells, where, in case of her +father's death, or continued indisposition, she must necessarily +be placed under the guardianship of Argyle, an event fatal to his +(Menteith's) hopes, unless he could stoop to purchase his favour +by abandoning the King's party. + +Montrose allowed the force of these arguments, and owned, +although the matter was attended with difficulty, yet it seemed +consistent with the King's service that it should be concluded as +speedily as possible. + +"I could wish," said he, "that it were all settled in one way or +another, and that this fair Briseis were removed from our camp +before the return of our Highland Achilles, Allan M'Aulay.--I +fear some fatal feud in that quarter, Menteith--and I believe it +would be best that Sir Duncan be dismissed on his parole, and +that you accompany him and his daughter as his escort. The +journey can be made chiefly by water, so will not greatly +incommode his wound--and your own, my friend, will be an +honourable excuse for the absence of some time from my camp." + +"Never!" said Menteith. "Were I to forfeit the very hope that +has so lately dawned upon me, never will I leave your +Excellency's camp while the royal standard is displayed. I +should deserve that this trifling scratch should gangrene and +consume my sword-arm, were I capable of holding it as an excuse +for absence at this crisis of the King's affairs." + +"On this, then, you are determined?" said Montrose. + +"As fixed as Ben-Nevis," said the young nobleman. + +"You must, then," said Montrose, "lose no time in seeking an +explanation with the Knight of Ardenvohr. If this prove +favourable, I will talk myself with the elder M'Aulay, and we +will devise means to employ his brother at a distance from the +army until he shall be reconciled to his present disappointment. +Would to God some vision would descend upon his imagination fair +enough to obliterate all traces of Annot Lyle! That perhaps you +think impossible, Menteith?--Well, each to his service; you to +that of Cupid, and I to that of Mars." + +They parted, and in pursuance of the scheme arranged, Menteith, +early on the ensuing morning, sought a private interview with the +wounded Knight of Ardenvohr, and communicated to him his suit for +the hand of his daughter. Of their mutual attachment Sir Duncan +was aware, but he was not prepared for so early a declaration on +the part of Menteith. He said, at first, that he had already, +perhaps, indulged too much in feelings of personal happiness, at +a time when his clan had sustained so great a loss and +humiliation, and that he was unwilling, therefore, farther to +consider the advancement of his own house at a period so +calamitous. On the more urgent suit of the noble lover, he +requested a few hours to deliberate and consult with his +daughter, upon a question so highly important. + +The result of this interview and deliberation was favourable to +Menteith. Sir Duncan Campbell became fully sensible that the +happiness of his new-found daughter depended upon a union with +her lover; and unless such were now formed, he saw that Argyle +would throw a thousand obstacles in the way of a match in every +respect acceptable to himself. Menteith's private character was +so excellent, and such was the rank and consideration due to his +fortune and family, that they outbalanced, in Sir Duncan's +opinion, the difference in their political opinions. Nor could +he have resolved, perhaps, had his own opinion of the match been +less favourable, to decline an opportunity of indulging the new- +found child of his hopes. There was, besides, a feeling of pride +which dictated his determination. To produce the Heiress of +Ardenvohr to the world as one who had been educated a poor +dependant and musician in the family of Darnlinvarach, had +something in it that was humiliating. To introduce her as the +betrothed bride, or wedded wife, of the Earl of Menteith, upon an +attachment formed during her obscurity, was a warrant to the +world that she had at all times been worthy of the rank to which +she was elevated. + +It was under the influence of these considerations that Sir +Duncan Campbell announced to the lovers his consent that they +should be married in the chapel of the Castle, by Montrose's +chaplain, and as privately as possible. But when Montrose should +break up from Inverlochy, for which orders were expected in the +course of a very few days, it was agreed that the young Countess +should depart with her father to his Castle, and remain there +until the circumstances of the nation permitted Menteith to +retire with honour from his present military employment. His +resolution being once taken, Sir Duncan Campbell would not permit +the maidenly scruples of his daughter to delay its execution; and +it was therefore resolved that the bridal should take place the +next evening, being the second after the battle. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +My maid--my blue-eyed maid, he bore away, +Due to the toils of many a bloody day. ILLIAD. + +It was necessary, for many reasons, that Angus M'Aulay, so long +the kind protector of Annot Lyle, should be made acquainted with +the change in the fortunes of his late protege; and Montrose, as +he had undertaken, communicated to him these remarkable events. +With the careless and cheerful indifference of his character, he +expressed much more joy than wonder at Annot's good fortune; had +no doubt whatever she would merit it, and as she had always been +bred in loyal principles, would convey the whole estate of her +grim fanatical father to some honest fellow who loved the king. +"I should have no objection that my brother Allan should try his +chance," added he, "notwithstanding that Sir Duncan Campbell was +the only man who ever charged Darnlinvarach with inhospitality. +Annot Lyle could always charm Allan out of the sullens, and who +knows whether matrimony might not make him more a man of this +world?" Montrose hastened to interrupt the progress of his +castle-building, by informing him that the lady was already wooed +and won, and, with her father's approbation, was almost +immediately to be wedded to his kinsman, the Earl of Menteith; +and that in testimony of the high respect due to M'Aulay, so long +the lady's protector, he was now to request his presence at the +ceremony. M'Aulay looked very grave at this intimation, and drew +up his person with the air of one who thought that he had been +neglected. + +"He contrived," he said, "that his uniform kind treatment of the +young lady, while so many years under his roof, required +something more upon such an occasion than a bare compliment of +ceremony. He might," he thought, "without arrogance, have +expected to have been consulted. He wished his kinsman of +Menteith well, no man could wish him better; but he must say he +thought he had been hasty in this matter. Allan's sentiments +towards the young lady had been pretty well understood, and he, +for one, could not see why the superior pretensions which he had +upon her gratitude should have been set aside, without at least +undergoing some previous discussion." + +Montrose, seeing too well where all this pointed, entreated +M'Aulay to be reasonable, and to consider what probability there +was that the Knight of Ardenvohr could be brought to confer the +hand of his sole heiress upon Allan, whose undeniable excellent +qualities were mingled with others, by which they were +overclouded in a manner that made all tremble who approached him. + +"My lord," said Angus M'Aulay, "my brother Allan has, as God made +us all, faults as well as merits; but he is the best and bravest +man of your army, be the other who he may, and therefore ill +deserved that his happiness should have been so little consulted +by your Excellency--by his own near kinsman--and by a young +person who owes all to him and to his family." + +Montrose in vain endeavoured to place the subject in a different +view; this was the point in which Angus was determined to regard +it, and he was a man of that calibre of understanding, who is +incapable of being convinced when he has once adopted a +prejudice. Montrose now assumed a higher tone, and called upon +Angus to take care how he nourished any sentiments which might be +prejudicial to his Majesty's service. He pointed out to him, +that he was peculiarly desirous that Allan's efforts should not +be interrupted in the course of his present mission; "a mission," +he said, "highly honourable for himself, and likely to prove most +advantageous to the King's cause. He expected his brother would +hold no communication with him upon other subjects, nor stir up +any cause of dissension, which might divert his mind from a +matter of such importance." + +Angus answered somewhat sulkily, that "he was no makebate, or +stirrer-up of quarrels; he would rather be a peacemaker. His +brother knew as well as most men how to resent his own quarrels +--as for Allan's mode of receiving information, it was generally +believed he had other sources than those of ordinary couriers. +He should not be surprised if they saw him sooner than they +expected." + +A promise that he would not interfere, was the farthest to which +Montrose could bring this man, thoroughly good-tempered as he was +on all occasions, save when his pride, interest, or prejudices, +were interfered with. And at this point the Marquis was fain to +leave the matter for the present. + +A more willing guest at the bridal ceremony, certainly a more +willing attendant at the marriage feast, was to be expected in +Sir Dugald Dalgetty, whom Montrose resolved to invite, as having +been a confidant to the circumstances which preceded it. But +even Sir Dugald hesitated, looked on the elbows of his doublet, +and the knees of his leather breeches, and mumbled out a sort of +reluctant acquiescence in the invitation, providing he should +find it possible, after consulting with the noble bridegroom. +Montrose was somewhat surprised, but scorning to testify +displeasure, he left Sir Dugald to pursue his own course. + +This carried him instantly to the chamber of the bride-groom, +who, amidst the scanty wardrobe which his camp-equipage afforded, +was seeking for such articles as might appear to the best +advantage upon the approaching occasion. Sir Dugald entered, and +paid his compliments, with a very grave face, upon his +approaching happiness, which, he said, "he was very sorry he was +prevented from witnessing." + +"In plain truth," said he, "I should but disgrace the ceremony, +seeing that I lack a bridal garment. Rents, and open seams, and +tatters at elbows in the apparel of the assistants, might presage +a similar solution of continuity in your matrimonial happiness +--and to say truth, my lord, you yourself must partly have the +blame of this disappointment, in respect you sent me upon a +fool's errand to get a buff-coat out of the booty taken by the +Camerons, whereas you might as well have sent me to fetch a pound +of fresh butter out of a black dog's throat. I had no answer, my +lord, but brandished dirks and broadswords, and a sort of +growling and jabbering in what they call their language. For my +part, I believe these Highlanders to be no better than absolute +pagans, and have been much scandalized by the manner in which my +acquaintance, Ranald MacEagh, was pleased to beat his final +march, a little while since." + +In Menteith's state of mind, disposed to be pleased with +everything, and everybody, the grave complaint of Sir Dugald +furnished additional amusement. He requested his acceptance of a +very handsome buff-dress which was lying on the floor. "I had +intended it," he said, "for my own bridal-garment, as being the +least formidable of my warlike equipments, and I have here no +peaceful dress." + +Sir Dugald made the necessary apologies--would not by any means +deprive--and so forth, until it happily occurred to him that it +was much more according to military rule that the Earl should be +married in his back and breast pieces, which dress he had seen +the bridegroom wear at the union of Prince Leo of Wittlesbach +with the youngest daughter of old George Frederick, of Saxony, +under the auspices of the gallant Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of +the North, and so forth. The good-natured young Earl laughed, +and acquiesced; and thus having secured at least one merry face +at his bridal, he put on a light and ornamented cuirass, +concealed partly by a velvet coat, and partly by a broad blue +silk scarf, which he wore over his shoulder, agreeably to his +rank, and the fashion of the times. + +Everything was now arranged; and it had been settled that, +according to the custom of the country, the bride and bridegroom +should not again meet until they were before the altar. The hour +had already struck that summoned the bridegroom thither, and he +only waited in a small anteroom adjacent to the chapel, for the +Marquis, who condescended to act as bride's-man upon the +occasion. Business relating to the army having suddenly required +the Marquis's instant attention, Menteith waited his return, it +may be supposed, in some impatience; and when he heard the door +of the apartment open, he said, laughing, "You are late upon +parade." + +"You will find I am too early," said Allan M'Aulay, who burst +into the apartment. "Draw, Menteith, and defend yourself like a +man, or die like a dog!" + +"You are mad, Allan!" answered Menteith, astonished alike at his +sudden appearance, and at the unutterable fury of his demeanour. +His cheeks were livid--his eyes started from their sockets--his +lips were covered with foam, and his gestures were those of a +demoniac. + +"You lie, traitor!" was his frantic reply--"you lie in that, as +you lie in all you have said to me. Your life is a lie!" + +"Did I not speak my thoughts when I called you mad," said +Menteith, indignantly, "your own life were a brief one. In what +do you charge me with deceiving you?" + +"You told me," answered M'Aulay, "that you would not marry Annot +Lyle!--False traitor!--she now waits you at the altar." + +"It is you who speak false," retorted Menteith. "I told you the +obscurity of her birth was the only bar to our union--that is now +removed; and whom do you think yourself, that I should yield up +my pretensions in your favour?" + +"Draw then," said M'Aulay; "we understand each other." + +"Not now," said Menteith, "and not here. Allan, you know me +well--wait till to-morrow, and you shall have fighting enough." + +"This hour--this instant--or never," answered M'Aulay. + +"Your triumph shall not go farther than the hour which is +stricken. Menteith, I entreat you by our relationship--by our +joint conflicts and labours--draw your sword, and defend your +life!" As he spoke, he seized the Earl's hand, and wrung it with +such frantic earnestness, that his grasp forced the blood to +start under the nails. Menteith threw him off with violence, +exclaiming, "Begone, madman!" + +"Then, be the vision accomplished!" said Allan; and, drawing his +dirk, struck with his whole gigantic force at the Earl's bosom. +The temper of the corslet threw the point of the weapon upwards, +but a deep wound took place between the neck and shoulder; and +the force of the blow prostrated the bridegroom on the floor. +Montrose entered at one side of the anteroom. The bridal +company, alarmed at the noise, were in equal apprehension and +surprise; but ere Montrose could almost see what had happened, +Allan M'Aulay had rushed past him, and descended the castle +stairs like lightning. "Guards, shut the gate!" exclaimed +Montrose--"Seize him--kill him, if he resists!--He shall die, if +he were my brother!" + +But Allan prostrated, with a second blow of his dagger, a +sentinel who was upon duty---traversed the camp like a mountain- +deer, though pursued by all who caught the alarm--threw himself +into the river, and, swimming to the opposite side, was soon lost +among the woods. In the course of the same evening, his brother +Angus and his followers left Montrose's camp, and, taking the +road homeward, never again rejoined him. + +Of Allan himself it is said, that, in a wonderfully short space +after the deed was committed, he burst into a room in the Castle +of Inverary, where Argyle was sitting in council, and flung on +the table his bloody dirk. + +"Is it the blood of James Grahame?" said Argyle, a ghastly +expression of hope mixing with the terror which the sudden +apparition naturally excited. + +"It is the blood of his minion," answered M'Aulay--"It is the +blood which I was predestined to shed, though I would rather have +spilt my own." + +Having thus spoken, he turned and left the castle, and from that +moment nothing certain is known of his fate. As the boy Kenneth, +with three of the Children of the Mist, were seen soon afterwards +to cross Lochfine, it is supposed they dogged his course, and +that he perished by their hand in some obscure wilderness. +Another opinion maintains, that Allan M'Aulay went abroad and +died a monk of the Carthusian order. But nothing beyond bare +presumption could ever be brought in support of either opinion. + +His vengeance was much less complete than he probably fancied; +for Menteith, though so severely wounded as to remain long in a +dangerous state, was, by having adopted Major Dalgetty's +fortunate recommendation of a cuirass as a bridal-garment, +happily secured from the worst consequences of the blow. But his +services were lost to Montrose; and it was thought best, that he +should be conveyed with his intended countess, now truly a +mourning bride, and should accompany his wounded father-in-law to +the castle of Sir Duncan at Ardenvohr. Dalgetty followed them to +the water's edge, reminding Menteith of the necessity of erecting +a sconce on Drumsnab to cover his lady's newly-acquired +inheritance. + +They performed their voyage in safety, and Menteith was in a few +weeks so well in health, as to be united to Annot in the castle +of her father. + +The Highlanders were somewhat puzzled to reconcile Menteith's +recovery with the visions of the second sight, and the more +experienced Seers were displeased with him for not having died. +But others thought the credit of the vision sufficiently +fulfilled, by the wound inflicted by the hand, and with the +weapon, foretold; and all were of opinion, that the incident of +the ring, with the death's head, related to the death of the +bride's father, who did not survive her marriage many months. +The incredulous held, that all this was idle dreaming, and that +Allan's supposed vision was but a consequence of the private +suggestions of his own passion, which, having long seen in +Menteith a rival more beloved than himself, struggled with his +better nature, and impressed upon him, as it were involuntarily, +the idea of killing his competitor. + +Menteith did not recover sufficiently to join Montrose during his +brief and glorious career; and when that heroic general disbanded +his army and retired from Scotland, Menteith resolved to adopt +the life of privacy, which he led till the Restoration. After +that happy event, he occupied a situation in the land befitting +his rank, lived long, happy alike in public regard and in +domestic affection, and died at a good old age. + +Our DRAMATIS PERSONAE have been so limited, that, excepting +Montrose, whose exploits and fate are the theme of history, we +have only to mention Sir Dugald Dalgetty. This gentleman +continued, with the most rigorous punctuality, to discharge his +duty, and to receive his pay, until he was made prisoner, among +others, upon the field of Philiphaugh. He was condemned to share +the fate of his fellow-officers upon that occasion, who were +doomed to death rather by denunciations from the pulpit, than the +sentence either of civil or military tribunal; their blood being +considered as a sort of sin-offering to take away the guilt of +the land, and the fate imposed upon the Canaanites, under a +special dispensation, being impiously and cruelly applied to +them. + +Several Lowland officers, in the service of the Covenanters, +interceded for Dalgetty on this occasion, representing him as a +person whose skill would be useful in their army, and who would +be readily induced to change his service. But on this point they +found Sir Dugald unexpectedly obstinate. He had engaged with the +King for a certain term, and, till that was expired, his +principles would not permit any shadow of changing. The +Covenanters, again, understood no such nice distinction, and he +was in the utmost danger of falling a martyr, not to this or that +political principle, but merely to his own strict ideas of a +military enlistment. Fortunately, his friends discovered, by +computation, that there remained but a fortnight to elapse of the +engagement he had formed, and to which, though certain it was +never to be renewed, no power on earth could make him false. +With some difficulty they procured a reprieve for this short +space, after which they found him perfectly willing to come under +any engagements they chose to dictate. He entered the service of +the Estates accordingly, and wrought himself forward to be Major +in Gilbert Ker's corps, commonly called the Kirk's Own Regiment +of Horse. Of his farther history we know nothing, until we find +him in possession of his paternal estate of Drumthwacket, which +he acquired, not by the sword, but by a pacific intermarriage +with Hannah Strachan, a matron somewhat stricken in years, the +widow of the Aberdeenshire Covenanter. + +Sir Dugald is supposed to have survived the Revolution, as +traditions of no very distant date represent him as cruising +about in that country, very old, very deaf, and very full of +interminable stories about the immortal Gustavus Adolphus, the +Lion of the North, and the bulwark of the Protestant Faith. + +* + +READER! THE TALES OF MY LANDLORD ARE NOW FINALLY CLOSED, +closed, and it was my purpose to have addressed thee in the vein +of Jedediah Cleishbotham; but, like Horam the son of Asmar, and +all other imaginary story-tellers, Jedediah has melted into thin +air. + +Mr. Cleishbotham bore the same resemblance to Ariel, as he at +whose voice he rose doth to the sage Prospero; and yet, so fond +are we of the fictions of our own fancy, that I part with him, +and all his imaginary localities, with idle reluctance. I am +aware this is a feeling in which the reader will little +sympathize; but he cannot be more sensible than I am, that +sufficient varieties have now been exhibited of the Scottish +character, to exhaust one individual's powers of observation, and +that to persist would be useless and tedious. I have the vanity +to suppose, that the popularity of these Novels has shown my +countrymen, and their peculiarities, in lights which were new to +the Southern reader; and that many, hitherto indifferent upon the +subject, have been induced to read Scottish history, from the +allusions to it in these works of fiction. + +I retire from the field, conscious that there remains behind not +only a large harvest, but labourers capable of gathering it in. +More than one writer has of late displayed talents of this +description; and if the present author, himself a phantom, may be +permitted to distinguish a brother, or perhaps a sister shadow, +he would mention, in particular, the author of the very lively +work entitled MARRIAGE. + + +* + + +IV. APPENDIX. + + +No. I + +The scarcity of my late friend's poem may be an excuse for adding +the spirited conclusion of Clan Alpin's vow. The Clan Gregor has +met in the ancient church of Balquidder. The head of Drummond- +Ernoch is placed on the altar, covered for a time with the banner +of the tribe. The Chief of the tribe advances to the altar: + +And pausing, on the banner gazed; +Then cried in scorn, his finger raised, +"This was the boon of Scotland's king;" +And, with a quick and angry fling, +Tossing the pageant screen away, +The dead man's head before him lay. +Unmoved he scann'd the visage o'er, +The clotted locks were dark with gore, +The features with convulsion grim, +The eyes contorted, sunk, and dim. +But unappall'd, in angry mood, +With lowering brow, unmoved he stood. +Upon the head his bared right hand +He laid, the other grasp'd his brand: +Then kneeling, cried, "To Heaven I swear +This deed of death I own, and share; +As truly, fully mine, as though +This my right hand had dealt the blow: +Come then, our foeman, one, come all; +If to revenge this caitiffs fall +One blade is bared, one bow is drawn, +Mine everlasting peace I pawn, +To claim from them, or claim from him, +In retribution, limb for limb. +In sudden fray, or open strife, +This steel shall render life for life." +He ceased; and at his beckoning nod, +The clansmen to the altar trod; +And not a whisper breathed around, +And nought was heard of mortal sound, +Save from the clanking arms they bore, +That rattled on the marble floor; +And each, as he approach'd in haste, +Upon the scalp his right hand placed; +With livid lip, and gather'd brow, +Each uttered, in his turn, the vow. +Fierce Malcolm watch'd the passing scene, +And search'd them through with glances keen; +Then dash'd a tear-drop from his eye; +Unhid it came--he knew not why. +Exulting high, he towering stood: +"Kinsmen," he cried, "of Alpin's blood, +And worthy of Clan Alpin's name, +Unstain'd by cowardice and shame, +E'en do, spare nocht, in time of ill +Shall be Clan Alpin's legend still!" + + +No. II. + +It has been disputed whether the Children of the Mist were actual +MacGregors, or whether they were not outlaws named MacDonald, +belonging to Ardnamurchan. The following act of the Privy +Council seems to decide the question:-- + +"Edinburgh, 4th February, 1589. + +The same day, the Lords of Secret Council being crediblie +informed of ye cruel and mischievous proceeding of ye wicked +Clangrigor, so lang continueing in blood, slaughters, herships, +manifest reifts, and stouths committed upon his Hieness' +peaceable and good subjects; inhabiting ye countries ewest ye +brays of ye Highlands, thir money years bybgone; but specially +heir after ye cruel murder of umqll Jo. Drummond of +Drummoneyryuch, his Majesties proper tennant and ane of his +fosters of Glenartney, committed upon ye day of last bypast, be +certain of ye said clan, be ye council and determination of ye +haill, avow and to defend ye authors yrof qoever wald persew for +revenge of ye same, qll ye said Jo. was occupied in seeking of +venison to his Hieness, at command of Pat. Lord Drummond, stewart +of Stratharne, and principaI forrester of Clenartney; the Queen, +his Majesties dearest spouse, being yn shortlie looked for to +arrive in this realm. Likeas, after ye murder committed, ye +authors yrof cutted off ye said umqll Jo. Drummond's head, and +carried the same to the Laird of M'Grigor, who, and the haill +surname of M'Grigors, purposely conveined upon the Sunday +yrafter, at the Kirk of Buchquhidder; qr they caused ye said +umqll John's head to be pnted to ym, and yr avowing ye sd murder +to have been committed by yr communion, council, and +determination, laid yr hands upon the pow, and in eithnik, and +barbarous manner, swear to defend ye authors of ye sd murder, in +maist proud contempt of our sovrn Lord and his authoritie, and in +evil example to others wicked limmaris to do ye like, give ys +sall be suffered to remain unpunished." + +Then follows a commission to the Earls of Huntly, Argyle, Athole, +Montrose, Pat. Lord Drummond, Ja. Commendator of Incheffray, And. +Campbel of Lochinnel, Duncan Campbel of Ardkinglas, Lauchlane +M'Intosh of Dunnauchtane, Sir Jo. Murray of Tullibarden, knt., +Geo. Buchanan of that Ilk, and And. M'Farlane of Ariquocher, to +search for and apprehend Alaster M'Grigor of Glenstre (and a +number of others nominatim), "and all others of the said +Clangrigor, or ye assistars, culpable of the said odious murther, +or of thift, reset of thift, herships, and sornings, qrever they +may be apprehended. And if they refuse to he taken, or flees to +strengths and houses, to pursue and assege them with fire and +sword; and this commission to endure for the space of three +years." + +Such was the system of police in 1589; and such the state of +Scotland nearly thirty years after the Reformation. + + +* + + +V. NOTES. + + +Note I.--FIDES ET FIDUCIA SUNT RELATIVA. + +The military men of the times agreed upon dependencies of honour, +as they called them, with all the metaphysical argumentation of +civilians, or school divines. + +The English officer, to whom Sir James Turner was prisoner after +the rout at Uttoxeter, demanded his parole of honour not to go +beyond the wall of Hull without liberty. "He brought me the +message himself,--I told him I was ready to do so, provided he +removed his guards from me, for FIDES ET FIDUCIA SUNT RELATIVA; +and, if he took my word for my fidelity, he was obliged to trust +it, otherwise, it was needless for him to seek it, either to give +trust to my word, which I would not break, or his own guards, who +I supposed would not deceive him. In this manner I dealt with +him, because I knew him to be a scholar."--TURNER'S MEMOIRS, p. +80. The English officer allowed the strength of the reasoning; +but that concise reasoner, Cromwell, soon put an end to the +dilemma: "Sir James Turner must give his parole, or be laid in +irons." + + +Note II.--WRAITHS. + +A species of apparition, similar to what the Germans call a +Double-Ganger, was believed in by the Celtic tribes, and is still +considered as an emblem of misfortune or death. Mr. Kirke (See +Note to ROB ROY,), the minister of Aberfoil, who will no doubt be +able to tell us more of the matter should he ever come back from +Fairy-land, gives us the following:-- + +"Some men of that exalted sight, either by art or nature, have +told me they have seen at these meetings a double man, or the +shape of some man in two places, that is, a superterranean and a +subterranean inhabitant perfectly resembling one another in all +points, whom he, notwithstanding, could easily distinguish one +fro another by some secret tokens and operations, and so go speak +to the man his neighbour and familiar, passing by the apparition +or resemblance of him. They avouch that every element and +different state of being have animals resembling those of another +element, as there be fishes at sea resembling Monks of late order +in all their hoods and dresses, so as the Roman invention of good +and bad daemons and guardian angels particularly assigned, is +called by them ane ignorant mistake, springing only from this +originall. They call this reflex man a Co-Walker, every way like +the man, as a twin-brother and companion haunting him as his +shadow, as is that seen and known among men resembling the +originall, both before and after the originall is dead, and was +also often seen of old to enter a hous, by which the people knew +that the person of that liknes was to visit them within a few +days. This copy, echo, or living picture, goes at last to his +own herd. It accompanied that person so long and frequently for +ends best known to its selve, whether to guard him from the +secret assaults of some of its own folks, or only as an sportfull +ape to counterfeit all his actions."--KIRKE'S SECRET +COMMOMWEALTH, p. 3. + +The two following apparitions, resembling the vision of Allan +M'Aulay in the text, occur in Theophilus Insulanus (Rev. Mr. +Fraser's Treatise on the Second Sight, Relations x. and xvii.):-- + +"Barbara Macpherson, relict of the deceased Mr. Alexander +MacLeod, late minister of St. Kilda, informed me the natives of +that island had a particular kind of second sight, which is +always a forerunner of their approaching end. Some months before +they sicken, they are haunted with an apparition, resembling +themselves in all respects as to their person, features, or +clothing. This image, seemingly animated, walks with them in the +field in broad daylight; and if they are employed in delving, +harrowing, seed-sowing, or any other occupation, they are at the +same time mimicked by this ghostly visitant. My informer added +further that having visited a sick person of the inhabitants, she +had the curiosity to enquire of him, if at any time he had seen +any resemblance of himself as above described; he answered in the +affirmative, and told her, that to make farther trial, as he was +going out of his house of a morning, he put on straw-rope garters +instead of those he formerly used, and having gone to the fields, +his other self appeared in such garters. The conclusion was, the +sick man died of that ailment, and she no longer questioned the +truth of those remarkable presages." + +"Margaret MacLeod, an honest woman advanced in years, informed +me, that when she was a young woman in the family of Grishornish, +a dairy-maid, who daily used to herd the calves in a park close +to the house, observed, at different times, a woman resembling +herself in shape and attire, walking solitarily at no great +distance from her, and being surprised at the apparition, to make +further trial, she put the back part of her upper garment +foremost, and anon the phantom was dressed in the same manner, +which made her uneasy, believing it portended some fatal +consequence to herself. In a short time thereafter she was +seized with a fever, which brought her to her end, and before her +sickness and on her deathbed, declared the second sight to +several." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of A Legend of Montrose, by Walter Scott + |