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diff --git a/4966.txt b/4966.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b42f84 --- /dev/null +++ b/4966.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22644 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Waverley, by Sir Walter Scott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Waverley + Or 'Tis Sixty Years Hence + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Posting Date: October 27, 2014 [EBook #4966] +Release Date: January, 2004 +First Posted: April 5, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAVERLEY *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: + +I feel that it is important to note that this book is part of the +Caledonian series. The Caledonian series is a group of 50 books +comprising all of Sir Walter Scott's works.] + + + + + + + +WAVERLEY + +OR 'T IS SIXTY YEARS SINCE + +BY SIR WALTER SCOTT + +VOLUME I + + + + + +PUBLISHERS' NOTE + + +It has long been the ambition of the present publishers to offer to the +public an ideal edition of the writings of Sir Walter Scott, the great +poet and novelist of whom William Hazlitt said, 'His works are almost +like a new edition of human nature.' Secure in the belief not only that +his writings have achieved a permanent place in the literature of the +world, but that succeeding generations will prize them still more +highly, we have, after the most careful planning and study, undertaken +the publication of this edition of the Waverley Novels and the complete +poetical writings. + +It is evident that the ideal edition of a great classic must be +distinguished in typography, must present the best available text, and +must be illustrated in such a way as at once to be beautiful in itself +and to add to the reader's pleasure and his understanding of the book. +As to the typography and text, little need be said here. The format of +the edition has been most carefully studied, and represents the use of +the best resources of The Riverside Press. The text has been carefully +edited in the light of Scott's own revisions; all of his own latest +notes have been included, glossaries have been added, and full +descriptive notes to the illustrations have been prepared which will, +we hope, add greatly to the reader's interest and instruction in the +reading of the novels and poems. + +Of the illustrations, which make the special feature of this edition, +something more may be said. In the case of an author like Sir Walter +Scott, the ideal edition requires that the beautiful and romantic +scenery amid which he lived and of which he wrote shall be adequately +presented to the reader. No other author ever used more charming +backgrounds or employed them to better advantage. To see Scotland, and +to visit in person all the scenes of the novels and poems, would enable +the reader fully to understand these backgrounds and thereby add +materially to his appreciation of the author. + +Before beginning the preparation of this edition, the head of the +department having it in charge made a visit in person to the scenes of +the novels and poems, determined to explore all the localities referred +to by the author, so far as they could be identified. The field proved +even more productive than had been at first supposed, and photographs +were obtained in sufficient quantity to illustrate all the volumes. +These pictures represent the scenes very much as Scott saw them. The +natural scenery--mountains, woods, lakes, rivers, seashore, and the +like--is nearly the same as in his day. The ruins of ancient castles +and abbeys were found to correspond very closely with his descriptions, +though in many instances he had in imagination rebuilt these ruins and +filled them with the children of his fancy. The scenes of the stories +extend into nearly every county in Scotland and through a large part of +England and Wales. All of these were thoroughly investigated, and +photographs were made of everything of interest. One of the novels has +to do with France and Belgium, one with Switzerland, one with the Holy +Land, one with Constantinople, and one with India. For all of these +lands, which Scott did not visit in person, and therefore did not +describe with the same attention to detail as in the case of his own +country, interesting pictures of characteristic scenery were secured. +By this method the publishers have hoped to bring before the reader a +series of photographs which will not only please the eye and give a +satisfactory artistic effect to the volumes, but also increase the +reader's knowledge of the country described and add a new charm to the +delightful work of the author. In addition to the photographs, old +engravings and paintings have been reproduced for the illustration of +novels having to do with old buildings, streets, etc., which have long +since disappeared. For this material a careful search was made in the +British Museum, the Advocates' Library and City Museum, Edinburgh, the +Library at Abbotsford, the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, and other +collections. + +It has been thought, too, that the ideal edition of Scott's works would +not be complete without an adequate portrayal of his more memorable +characters. This has been accomplished in a series of frontispieces +specially painted for this edition by twenty of the most distinguished +illustrators of England. + +4 PARK STREET, BOSTON. + + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT TO THE WAVERLEY NOVELS + + +IT has been the occasional occupation of the Author of Waverley, for +several years past, to revise and correct the voluminous series of +Novels which pass under that name, in order that, if they should ever +appear as his avowed productions, he might render them in some degree +deserving of a continuance of the public favour with which they have +been honoured ever since their first appearance. For a long period, +however, it seemed likely that the improved and illustrated edition +which he meditated would be a posthumous publication. But the course of +the events which occasioned the disclosure of the Author's name having, +in a great measure, restored to him a sort of parental control over +these Works, he is naturally induced to give them to the press in a +corrected, and, he hopes, an improved form, while life and health +permit the task of revising and illustrating them. Such being his +purpose, it is necessary to say a few words on the plan of the proposed +Edition. + +In stating it to be revised and corrected, it is not to be inferred +that any attempt is made to alter the tenor of the stories, the +character of the actors, or the spirit of the dialogue. There is no +doubt ample room for emendation in all these points,--but where the +tree falls it must lie. Any attempt to obviate criticism, however just, +by altering a work already in the hands of the public is generally +unsuccessful. In the most improbable fiction, the reader still desires +some air of vraisemblance, and does not relish that the incidents of a +tale familiar to him should be altered to suit the taste of critics, or +the caprice of the Author himself. This process of feeling is so +natural, that it may be observed even in children, who cannot endure +that a nursery story should be repeated to them differently from the +manner in which it was first told. + +But without altering, in the slightest degree, either the story or the +mode of telling it, the Author has taken this opportunity to correct +errors of the press and slips of the pen. That such should exist cannot +be wondered at, when it is considered that the Publishers found it +their interest to hurry through the press a succession of the early +editions of the various Novels, and that the Author had not the usual +opportunity of revision. It is hoped that the present edition will be +found free from errors of that accidental kind. + +The Author has also ventured to make some emendations of a different +character, which, without being such apparent deviations from the +original stories as to disturb the reader's old associations, will, he +thinks, add something to the spirit of the dialogue, narrative, or +description. These consist in occasional pruning where the language is +redundant, compression where the style is loose, infusion of vigour +where it is languid, the exchange of less forcible for more appropriate +epithets--slight alterations in short, like the last touches of an +artist, which contribute to heighten and finish the picture, though an +inexperienced eye can hardly detect in what they consist. + +The General Preface to the new Edition, and the Introductory Notices to +each separate work, will contain an account of such circumstances +attending the first publication of the Novels and Tales as may appear +interesting in themselves, or proper to be communicated to the public. +The Author also proposes to publish, on this occasion, the various +legends, family traditions, or obscure historical facts which have +formed the ground-work of these Novels, and to give some account of the +places where the scenes are laid, when these are altogether, or in +part, real; as well as a statement of particular incidents founded on +fact; together with a more copious Glossary, and Notes explanatory of +the ancient customs and popular superstitions referred to in the +Romances. + +Upon the whole, it is hoped that the Waverley Novels, in their new +dress, will not be found to have lost any part of their attractions in +consequence of receiving illustrations by the Author, and undergoing +his careful revision. + +ABBOTSFORD, January, 1829. + + + + + +GENERAL PREFACE TO THE WAVERLEY NOVELS + + ---And must I ravel out + My weaved-up follies? + + Richard II, Act IV. + +Having undertaken to give an Introductory Account of the compositions +which are here offered to the public, with Notes and Illustrations, the +Author, under whose name they are now for the first time collected, +feels that he has the delicate task of speaking more of himself and his +personal concerns than may perhaps be either graceful or prudent. In +this particular he runs the risk of presenting himself to the public in +the relation that the dumb wife in the jest-book held to her husband, +when, having spent half of his fortune to obtain the cure of her +imperfection, he was willing to have bestowed the other half to restore +her to her former condition. But this is a risk inseparable from the +task which the Author has undertaken, and he can only promise to be as +little of an egotist as the situation will permit. It is perhaps an +indifferent sign of a disposition to keep his word, that, having +introduced himself in the third person singular, he proceeds in the +second paragraph to make use of the first. But it appears to him that +the seeming modesty connected with the former mode of writing is +overbalanced by the inconvenience of stiffness and affectation which +attends it during a narrative of some length, and which may be observed +less or more in every work in which the third person is used, from the +Commentaries of Caesar to the Autobiography of Alexander the Corrector. + +I must refer to a very early period of my life, were I to point out my +first achievements as a tale-teller; but I believe some of my old +schoolfellows can still bear witness that I had a distinguished +character for that talent, at a time when the applause of my companions +was my recompense for the disgraces and punishments which the future +romance-writer incurred for being idle himself, and keeping others +idle, during hours that should have been employed on our tasks. The +chief enjoyment of my holidays was to escape with a chosen friend, who +had the same taste with myself, and alternately to recite to each other +such wild adventures as we were able to devise. We told, each in turn, +interminable tales of knight-errantry and battles and enchantments, +which were continued from one day to another as opportunity offered, +without our ever thinking of bringing them to a conclusion. As we +observed a strict secrecy on the subject of this intercourse, it +acquired all the character of a concealed pleasure, and we used to +select for the scenes of our indulgence long walks through the solitary +and romantic environs of Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, Braid Hills, +and similar places in the vicinity of Edinburgh; and the recollection +of those holidays still forms an oasis in the pilgrimage which I have +to look back upon. I have only to add, that my friend still lives, a +prosperous gentleman, but too much occupied with graver business to +thank me for indicating him more plainly as a confidant of my childish +mystery. + +When boyhood advancing into youth required more serious studies and +graver cares, a long illness threw me back on the kingdom of fiction, +as if it were by a species of fatality. My indisposition arose, in part +at least, from my having broken a blood-vessel; and motion and speech +were for a long time pronounced positively dangerous. For several weeks +I was confined strictly to my bed, during which time I was not allowed +to speak above a whisper, to eat more than a spoonful or two of boiled +rice, or to have more covering than one thin counterpane. When the +reader is informed that I was at this time a growing youth, with the +spirits, appetite, and impatience of fifteen, and suffered, of course, +greatly under this severe regimen, which the repeated return of my +disorder rendered indispensable, he will not be surprised that I was +abandoned to my own discretion, so far as reading (my almost sole +amusement) was concerned, and still less so, that I abused the +indulgence which left my time so much at my own disposal. + +There was at this time a circulating library in Edinburgh, founded, I +believe, by the celebrated Allan Ramsay, which, besides containing a +most respectable collection of books of every description, was, as +might have been expected, peculiarly rich in works of fiction. It +exhibited specimens of every kind, from the romances of chivalry and +the ponderous folios of Cyrus and Cassandra, down to the most approved +works of later times. I was plunged into this great ocean of reading +without compass or pilot; and, unless when some one had the charity to +play at chess with me, I was allowed to do nothing save read from +morning to night. I was, in kindness and pity, which was perhaps +erroneous, however natural, permitted to select my subjects of study at +my own pleasure, upon the same principle that the humours of children +are indulged to keep them out of mischief. As my taste and appetite +were gratified in nothing else, I indemnified myself by becoming a +glutton of books. Accordingly, I believe I read almost all the +romances, old plays, and epic poetry in that formidable collection, and +no doubt was unconsciously amassing materials for the task in which it +has been my lot to be so much employed. + +At the same time I did not in all respects abuse the license permitted +me. Familiar acquaintance with the specious miracles of fiction brought +with it some degree of satiety, and I began by degrees to seek in +histories, memoirs, voyages and travels, and the like, events nearly as +wonderful as those which were the work of imagination, with the +additional advantage that they were at least in a great measure true. +The lapse of nearly two years, during which I was left to the exercise +of my own free will, was followed by a temporary residence in the +country, where I was again very lonely but for the amusement which I +derived from a good though old-fashioned library. The vague and wild +use which I made of this advantage I cannot describe better than by +referring my reader to the desultory studies of Waverley in a similar +situation, the passages concerning whose course of reading were +imitated from recollections of my own. It must be understood that the +resemblance extends no farther. + +Time, as it glided on, brought the blessings of confirmed health and +personal strength, to a degree which had never been expected or hoped +for. The severe studies necessary to render me fit for my profession +occupied the greater part of my time; and the society of my friends and +companions, who were about to enter life along with, me, filled up the +interval with the usual amusements of young men. I was in a situation +which rendered serious labour indispensable; for, neither possessing, +on the one hand, any of those peculiar advantages which are supposed to +favour a hasty advance in the profession of the law, nor being, on the +other hand, exposed to unusual obstacles to interrupt my progress, I +might reasonably expect to succeed according to the greater or less +degree of trouble which I should take to qualify myself as a pleader. + +It makes no part of the present story to detail how the success of a +few ballads had the effect of changing all the purpose and tenor of my +life, and of converting a painstaking lawyer of some years' standing +into a follower of literature. It is enough to say, that I had assumed +the latter character for several years before I seriously thought of +attempting a work of imagination in prose, although one or two of my +poetical attempts did not differ from romances otherwise than by being +written in verse. But yet I may observe, that about this time (now, +alas! thirty years since) I had nourished the ambitious desire of +composing a tale of chivalry, which was to be in the style of the +Castle of Otranto, with plenty of Border characters and supernatural +incident. Having found unexpectedly a chapter of this intended work +among some old papers, I have subjoined it to this introductory essay, +thinking some readers may account as curious the first attempts at +romantic composition by an author who has since written so much in that +department. [Footnote: See Appendix No I.] And those who complain, not +unreasonably, of the profusion of the Tales which have followed +Waverley, may bless their stars at the narrow escape they have made, by +the commencement of the inundation, which had so nearly taken place in +the first year of the century, being postponed for fifteen years later. + +This particular subject was never resumed, but I did not abandon the +idea of fictitious composition in prose, though I determined to give +another turn to the style of the work. + +My early recollections of the Highland scenery and customs made so +favourable an impression in the poem called the Lady of the Lake, that +I was induced to think of attempting something of the same kind in +prose. I had been a good deal in the Highlands at a time when they were +much less accessible and much less visited than they have been of late +years, and was acquainted with many of the old warriors of 1745, who +were, like most veterans, easily induced to fight their battles over +again for the benefit of a willing listener like myself. It naturally +occurred to me that the ancient traditions and high spirit of a people +who, living in a civilised age and country, retained so strong a +tincture of manners belonging to an early period of society, must +afford a subject favourable for romance, if it should not prove a +curious tale marred in the telling. + +It was with some idea of this kind that, about the year 1805, I threw +together about one-third part of the first volume of Waverley. It was +advertised to be published by the late Mr. John Ballantyne, bookseller +in Edinburgh, under the name of Waverley; or, 'Tis Fifty Years Since--a +title afterwards altered to 'Tis Sixty Years Since, that the actual +date of publication might be made to correspond with the period in +which the scene was laid. Having proceeded as far, I think, as the +seventh chapter, I showed my work to a critical friend, whose opinion +was unfavourable; and having then some poetical reputation, I was +unwilling to risk the loss of it by attempting a new style of +composition. I therefore threw aside the work I had commenced, without +either reluctance or remonstrance. I ought to add that, though my +ingenious friend's sentence was afterwards reversed on an appeal to the +public, it cannot be considered as any imputation on his good taste; +for the specimen subjected to his criticism did not extend beyond the +departure of the hero for Scotland, and consequently had not entered +upon the part of the story which was finally found most interesting. + +Be that as it may, this portion of the manuscript was laid aside in the +drawers of an old writing-desk, which, on my first coming to reside at +Abbotsford in 1811, was placed in a lumber garret and entirely +forgotten. Thus, though I sometimes, among other literary avocations, +turned my thoughts to the continuation of the romance which I had +commenced, yet, as I could not find what I had already written, after +searching such repositories as were within my reach, and was too +indolent to attempt to write it anew from memory, I as often laid aside +all thoughts of that nature. + +Two circumstances in particular recalled my recollection of the mislaid +manuscript. The first was the extended and well-merited fame of Miss +Edgeworth, whose Irish characters have gone so far to make the English +familiar with the character of their gay and kind-hearted neighbours of +Ireland, that she may be truly said to have done more towards +completing the Union than perhaps all the legislative enactments by +which it has been followed up. + +Without being so presumptuous as to hope to emulate the rich humour, +pathetic tenderness, and admirable tact which pervade the works of my +accomplished friend, I felt that something might be attempted for my +own country, of the same kind with that which Miss Edgeworth so +fortunately achieved for Ireland--something which might introduce her +natives to those of the sister kingdom in a more favourable light than +they had been placed hitherto, and tend to procure sympathy for their +virtues and indulgence for their foibles. I thought also, that much of +what I wanted in talent might be made up by the intimate acquaintance +with the subject which I could lay claim to possess, as having +travelled through most parts of Scotland, both Highland and Lowland, +having been familiar with the elder as well as more modern race, and +having had from my infancy free and unrestrained communication with all +ranks of my countrymen, from the Scottish peer to the Scottish +plough-man. Such ideas often occurred to me, and constituted an +ambitious branch of my theory, however far short I may have fallen of +it in practice. + +But it was not only the triumphs of Miss Edgeworth which worked in me +emulation, and disturbed my indolence. I chanced actually to engage in +a work which formed a sort of essay piece, and gave me hope that I +might in time become free of the craft of romance-writing, and be +esteemed a tolerable workman. + +In the year 1807-08 I undertook, at the request of John Murray, Esq., +of Albemarle Street, to arrange for publication some posthumous +productions of the late Mr. Joseph Strutt, distinguished as an artist +and an antiquary, amongst which was an unfinished romance, entitled +Queenhoo Hall. The scene of the tale was laid in the reign of Henry VI, +and the work was written to illustrate the manners, customs, and +language of the people of England during that period. The extensive +acquaintance which Mr. Strutt had acquired with such subjects in +compiling his laborious Horda Angel-Cynnan, his Regal and +Ecclesiastical Antiquities, and his Essay on the Sports and Pastimes of +the People of England had rendered him familiar with all the +antiquarian lore necessary for the purpose of composing the projected +romance; and although the manuscript bore the marks of hurry and +incoherence natural to the first rough draught of the author, it +evinced (in my opinion) considerable powers of imagination. + +As the work was unfinished, I deemed it my duty, as editor, to supply +such a hasty and inartificial conclusion as could be shaped out from +the story, of which Mr. Strutt had laid the foundation. This concluding +chapter [Footnote: See Appendix No. II.] is also added to the present +Introduction, for the reason already mentioned regarding the preceding +fragment. It was a step in my advance towards romantic composition; and +to preserve the traces of these is in a great measure the object of +this Essay. + +Queenhoo Hall was not, however, very successful. I thought I was aware +of the reason, and supposed that, by rendering his language too +ancient, and displaying his antiquarian knowledge too liberally, the +ingenious author had raised up an obstacle to his own success. Every +work designed for mere amusement must be expressed in language easily +comprehended; and when, as is sometimes the case in QUEENHOO HALL, the +author addresses himself exclusively to the antiquary, he must be +content to be dismissed by the general reader with the criticism of +Mungo, in the PADLOCK, on the Mauritanian music, 'What signifies me +hear, if me no understand?' + +I conceived it possible to avoid this error; and, by rendering a +similar work more light and obvious to general comprehension, to escape +the rock on which my predecessor was shipwrecked. + +But I was, on the other hand, so far discouraged by the indifferent +reception of Mr. Strutt's romance as to become satisfied that the +manners of the middle ages did not possess the interest which I had +conceived; and was led to form the opinion that a romance founded on a +Highland story and more modern events would have a better chance of +popularity than a tale of chivalry. + +My thoughts, therefore, returned more than once to the tale which I had +actually commenced, and accident at length threw the lost sheets in my +way. + +I happened to want some fishing-tackle for the use of a guest, when it +occurred to me to search the old writing-desk already mentioned, in +which I used to keep articles of that nature. + +I got access to it with some difficulty; and, in looking for lines and +flies, the long-lost manuscript presented itself. + +I immediately set to work to complete it according to my original +purpose. + +And here I must frankly confess that the mode in which I conducted the +story scarcely deserved the success which the romance afterwards +attained. + +The tale of WAVERLEY was put together with so little care that I cannot +boast of having sketched any distinct plan of the work. The whole +adventures of Waverley, in his movements up and down the country with +the Highland cateran Bean Lean, are managed without much skill. It +suited best, however, the road I wanted to travel, and permitted me to +introduce some descriptions of scenery and manners, to which the +reality gave an interest which the powers of the Author might have +otherwise failed to attain for them. And though I have been in other +instances a sinner in this sort, I do not recollect any of these novels +in which I have transgressed so widely as in the first of the series. + +Among other unfounded reports, it has been said that the copyright of +Waverley was, during the book's progress through the press, offered for +sale to various book-sellers in London at a very inconsiderable price. +This was not the case. Messrs. Constable and Cadell, who published the +work, were the only persons acquainted with the contents of the +publication, and they offered a large sum for it while in the course of +printing, which, however, was declined, the Author not choosing to part +with the copyright. + +The origin of the story of Waverley, and the particular facts on which +it is founded, are given in the separate introduction prefixed to that +romance in this edition, and require no notice in this place. + +Waverley was published in 1814, and, as the title-page was without the +name of the Author, the work was left to win its way in the world +without any of the usual recommendations. Its progress was for some +time slow; but after the first two or three months its popularity had +increased in a degree which must have satisfied the expectations of the +Author, had these been far more sanguine than he ever entertained. + +Great anxiety was expressed to learn the name of the Author, but on +this no authentic information could be attained. My original motive for +publishing the work anonymously was the consciousness that it was an +experiment on the public taste which might very probably fail, and +therefore there was no occasion to take on myself the personal risk of +discomfiture. For this purpose considerable precautions were used to +preserve secrecy. My old friend and schoolfellow, Mr. James Ballantyne, +who printed these Novels, had the exclusive task of corresponding with +the Author, who thus had not only the advantage of his professional +talents, but also of his critical abilities. The original manuscript, +or, as it is technically called, copy, was transcribed under Mr. +Ballantyne's eye by confidential persons; nor was there an instance of +treachery during the many years in which these precautions were +resorted to, although various individuals were employed at different +times. Double proof-sheets were regularly printed off. One was +forwarded to the Author by Mr. Ballantyne, and the alterations which it +received were, by his own hand, copied upon the other proof-sheet for +the use of the printers, so that even the corrected proofs of the +Author were never seen in the printing office; and thus the curiosity +of such eager inquirers as made the most minute investigation was +entirely at fault. + +But although the cause of concealing the Author's name in the first +instance, when the reception of Waverley was doubtful, was natural +enough, it is more difficult, it may be thought, to account for the +same desire for secrecy during the subsequent editions, to the amount +of betwixt eleven and twelve thousand copies, which followed each other +close, and proved the success of the work. I am sorry I can give little +satisfaction to queries on this subject. I have already stated +elsewhere that I can render little better reason for choosing to remain +anonymous than by saying with Shylock, that such was my humour. It will +be observed that I had not the usual stimulus for desiring personal +reputation, the desire, namely, to float amidst the conversation of +men. Of literary fame, whether merited or undeserved, I had already as +much as might have contented a mind more ambitious than mine; and in +entering into this new contest for reputation I might be said rather to +endanger what I had than to have any considerable chance of acquiring +more. I was affected, too, by none of those motives which, at an +earlier period of life, would doubtless have operated upon me. My +friendships were formed, my place in society fixed, my life had +attained its middle course. My condition in society was higher perhaps +than I deserved, certainly as high as I wished, and there was scarce +any degree of literary success which could have greatly altered or +improved my personal condition. + +I was not, therefore, touched by the spur of ambition, usually +stimulating on such occasions; and yet I ought to stand exculpated from +the charge of ungracious or unbecoming indifference to public applause. +I did not the less feel gratitude for the public favour, although I did +not proclaim it; as the lover who wears his mistress's favour in his +bosom is as proud, though not so vain, of possessing it as another who +displays the token of her grace upon his bonnet. Far from such an +ungracious state of mind, I have seldom felt more satisfaction than +when, returning from a pleasure voyage, I found Waverley in the zenith +of popularity, and public curiosity in full cry after the name of the +Author. The knowledge that I had the public approbation was like having +the property of a hidden treasure, not less gratifying to the owner +than if all the world knew that it was his own. Another advantage was +connected with the secrecy which I observed. I could appear or retreat +from the stage at pleasure, without attracting any personal notice or +attention, other than what might be founded on suspicion only. In my +own person also, as a successful author in another department of +literature, I might have been charged with too frequent intrusions on +the public patience; but the Author of Waverley was in this respect as +impassible to the critic as the Ghost of Hamlet to the partisan of +Marcellus. Perhaps the curiosity of the public, irritated by the +existence of a secret, and kept afloat by the discussions which took +place on the subject from time to time, went a good way to maintain an +unabated interest in these frequent publications. There was a mystery +concerning the Author which each new novel was expected to assist in +unravelling, although it might in other respects rank lower than its +predecessors. + +I may perhaps be thought guilty of affectation, should I allege as one +reason of my silence a secret dislike to enter on personal discussions +concerning my own literary labours. It is in every case a dangerous +intercourse for an author to be dwelling continually among those who +make his writings a frequent and familiar subject of conversation, but +who must necessarily be partial judges of works composed in their own +society. The habits of self-importance which are thus acquired by +authors are highly injurious to a well-regulated mind; for the cup of +flattery, if it does not, like that of Circe, reduce men to the level +of beasts, is sure, if eagerly drained, to bring the best and the +ablest down to that of fools. This risk was in some degree prevented by +the mask which I wore; and my own stores of self-conceit were left to +their natural course, without being enhanced by the partiality of +friends or adulation of flatterers. + +If I am asked further reasons for the conduct I have long observed, I +can only resort to the explanation supplied by a critic as friendly as +he is intelligent; namely, that the mental organisation of the novelist +must be characterised, to speak craniologically, by an extraordinary +development of the passion for delitescency! I the rather suspect some +natural disposition of this kind; for, from the instant I perceived the +extreme curiosity manifested on the subject, I felt a secret +satisfaction in baffling it, for which, when its unimportance is +considered, I do not well know how to account. + +My desire to remain concealed, in the character of the Author of these +Novels, subjected me occasionally to awkward embarrassments, as it +sometimes happened that those who were sufficiently intimate with me +would put the question in direct terms. In this case, only one of three +courses could be followed. Either I must have surrendered my secret, or +have returned an equivocating answer, or, finally, must have stoutly +and boldly denied the fact. The first was a sacrifice which I conceive +no one had a right to force from me, since I alone was concerned in the +matter. The alternative of rendering a doubtful answer must have left +me open to the degrading suspicion that I was not unwilling to assume +the merit (if there was any) which I dared not absolutely lay claim to; +or those who might think more justly of me must have received such an +equivocal answer as an indirect avowal. I therefore considered myself +entitled, like an accused person put upon trial, to refuse giving my +own evidence to my own conviction, and flatly to deny all that could +not be proved against me. At the same time I usually qualified my +denial by stating that, had I been the Author of these works, I would +have felt myself quite entitled to protect my secret by refusing my own +evidence, when it was asked for to accomplish a discovery of what I +desired to conceal. + +The real truth is, that I never expected or hoped to disguise my +connection with these Novels from any one who lived on terms of +intimacy with me. The number of coincidences which necessarily existed +between narratives recounted, modes of expression, and opinions +broached in these Tales and such as were used by their Author in the +intercourse of private life must have been far too great to permit any +of my familiar acquaintances to doubt the identity betwixt their friend +and the Author of Waverley; and I believe they were all morally +convinced of it. But while I was myself silent, their belief could not +weigh much more with the world than that of others; their opinions and +reasoning were liable to be taxed with partiality, or confronted with +opposing arguments and opinions; and the question was not so much +whether I should be generally acknowledged to be the Author, in spite +of my own denial, as whether even my own avowal of the works, if such +should be made, would be sufficient to put me in undisputed possession +of that character. + +I have been often asked concerning supposed cases, in which I was said +to have been placed on the verge of discovery; but, as I maintained my +point with the composure of a lawyer of thirty years' standing, I never +recollect being in pain or confusion on the subject. In Captain +Medwyn's Conversations of Lord Byron the reporter states himself to +have asked my noble and highly gifted friend,' If he was certain about +these Novels being Sir Walter Scott's?' To which Lord Byron replied, +'Scott as much as owned himself the Author of Waverley to me in +Murray's shop. I was talking to him about that Novel, and lamented that +its Author had not carried back the story nearer to the time of the +Revolution. Scott, entirely off his guard, replied, "Ay, I might have +done so; but--" there he stopped. It was in vain to attempt to correct +himself; he looked confused, and relieved his embarrassment by a +precipitate retreat.' I have no recollection whatever of this scene +taking place, and I should have thought that I was more likely to have +laughed than to appear confused, for I certainly never hoped to impose +upon Lord Byron in a case of the kind; and from the manner in which he +uniformly expressed himself, I knew his opinion was entirely formed, +and that any disclamations of mine would only have savoured of +affectation. I do not mean to insinuate that the incident did not +happen, but only that it could hardly have occurred exactly under the +circumstances narrated, without my recollecting something positive on +the subject. In another part of the same volume Lord Byron is reported +to have expressed a supposition that the cause of my not avowing myself +the Author of Waverley may have been some surmise that the reigning +family would have been displeased with the work. I can only say, it is +the last apprehension I should have entertained, as indeed the +inscription to these volumes sufficiently proves. The sufferers of that +melancholy period have, during the last and present reign, been +honoured both with the sympathy and protection of the reigning family, +whose magnanimity can well pardon a sigh from others, and bestow one +themselves, to the memory of brave opponents, who did nothing in hate, +but all in honour. + +While those who were in habitual intercourse with the real author had +little hesitation in assigning the literary property to him, others, +and those critics of no mean rank, employed themselves in investigating +with persevering patience any characteristic features which might seem +to betray the origin of these Novels. Amongst these, one gentleman, +equally remarkable for the kind and liberal tone of his criticism, the +acuteness of his reasoning, and the very gentlemanlike manner in which +he conducted his inquiries, displayed not only powers of accurate +investigation, but a temper of mind deserving to be employed on a +subject of much greater importance; and I have no doubt made converts +to his opinion of almost all who thought the point worthy of +consideration. [Footnote: Letters on the Author of Waverly; Rodwell and +Martin, London, 1822.] Of those letters, and other attempts of the same +kind, the Author could not complain, though his incognito was +endangered. He had challenged the public to a game at bo-peep, and if +he was discovered in his 'hiding-hole,' he must submit to the shame of +detection. + +Various reports were of course circulated in various ways; some founded +on an inaccurate rehearsal of what may have been partly real, some on +circumstances having no concern whatever with the subject, and others +on the invention of some importunate persons, who might perhaps imagine +that the readiest mode of forcing the Author to disclose himself was to +assign some dishonourable and discreditable cause for his silence. + +It may be easily supposed that this sort of inquisition was treated +with contempt by the person whom it principally regarded; as, among all +the rumours that were current, there was only one, and that as +unfounded as the others, which had nevertheless some alliance to +probability, and indeed might have proved in some degree true. + +I allude to a report which ascribed a great part, or the whole, of +these Novels to the late Thomas Scott, Esq., of the 70th Regiment, then +stationed in Canada. Those who remember that gentleman will readily +grant that, with general talents at least equal to those of his elder +brother, he added a power of social humour and a deep insight into +human character which rendered him an universally delightful member of +society, and that the habit of composition alone was wanting to render +him equally successful as a writer. The Author of Waverley was so +persuaded of the truth of this, that he warmly pressed his brother to +make such an experiment, and willingly undertook all the trouble of +correcting and superintending the press. Mr. Thomas Scott seemed at +first very well disposed to embrace the proposal, and had even fixed on +a subject and a hero. The latter was a person well known to both of us +in our boyish years, from having displayed some strong traits of +character. Mr. T. Scott had determined to represent his youthful +acquaintance as emigrating to America, and encountering the dangers and +hardships of the New World, with the same dauntless spirit which he had +displayed when a boy in his native country. Mr. Scott would probably +have been highly successful, being familiarly acquainted with the +manners of the native Indians, of the old French settlers in Canada, +and of the Brules or Woodsmen, and having the power of observing with +accuracy what I have no doubt he could have sketched with force and +expression. In short, the Author believes his brother would have made +himself distinguished in that striking field in which, since that +period, Mr. Cooper has achieved so many triumphs. But Mr. T. Scott was +already affected by bad health, which wholly unfitted him for literary +labour, even if he could have reconciled his patience to the task. He +never, I believe, wrote a single line of the projected work; and I only +have the melancholy pleasure of preserving in the Appendix [Footnote: +See Appendix No. III.] the simple anecdote on which he proposed to +found it. + +To this I may add, I can easily conceive that there may have been +circumstances which gave a colour to the general report of my brother +being interested in these works; and in particular that it might derive +strength from my having occasion to remit to him, in consequence of +certain family transactions, some considerable sums of money about that +period. To which it is to be added that if any person chanced to evince +particular curiosity on such a subject, my brother was likely enough to +divert himself with practising on their credulity. + +It may be mentioned that, while the paternity of these Novels was from +time to time warmly disputed in Britain, the foreign booksellers +expressed no hesitation on the matter, but affixed my name to the whole +of the Novels, and to some besides to which I had no claim. + +The volumes, therefore, to which the present pages form a Preface are +entirely the composition of the Author by whom they are now +acknowledged, with the exception, always, of avowed quotations, and +such unpremeditated and involuntary plagiarisms as can scarce be +guarded against by any one who has read and written a great deal. The +original manuscripts are all in existence, and entirely written +(horresco referens) in the Author's own hand, excepting during the +years 1818 and 1819, when, being affected with severe illness, he was +obliged to employ the assistance of a friendly amanuensis. + +The number of persons to whom the secret was necessarily entrusted, or +communicated by chance, amounted, I should think, to twenty at least, +to whom I am greatly obliged for the fidelity with which they observed +their trust, until the derangement of the affairs of my publishers, +Messrs. Constable and Co., and the exposure of their account books, +which was the necessary consequence, rendered secrecy no longer +possible. The particulars attending the avowal have been laid before +the public in the Introduction to the Chronicles of the Canongate. + +The preliminary advertisement has given a sketch of the purpose of this +edition. I have some reason to fear that the notes which accompany the +tales, as now published, may be thought too miscellaneous and too +egotistical. It maybe some apology for this, that the publication was +intended to be posthumous, and still more, that old men may be +permitted to speak long, because they cannot in the course of nature +have long time to speak. In preparing the present edition, I have done +all that I can do to explain the nature of my materials, and the use I +have made of them; nor is it probable that I shall again revise or even +read these tales. I was therefore desirous rather to exceed in the +portion of new and explanatory matter which is added to this edition +than that the reader should have reason to complain that the +information communicated was of a general and merely nominal character. +It remains to be tried whether the public (like a child to whom a watch +is shown) will, after having been satiated with looking at the outside, +acquire some new interest in the object when it is opened and the +internal machinery displayed to them. + +That Waverly and its successors have had their day of favour and +popularity must be admitted with sincere gratitude; and the Author has +studied (with the prudence of a beauty whose reign has been rather +long) to supply, by the assistance of art, the charms which novelty no +longer affords. The publishers have endeavoured to gratify the +honourable partiality of the public for the encouragement of British +art, by illustrating this edition with designs by the most eminent +living artists. [Footnote: The illustrations here referred to were made +for the edition of 1829] + +To my distinguished countryman, David Wilkie, to Edwin Landseer, who +has exercised his talents so much on Scottish subjects and scenery, to +Messrs. Leslie and Newton, my thanks are due, from a friend as well as +an author. Nor am I less obliged to Messrs. Cooper, Kidd, and other +artists of distinction to whom I am less personally known, for the +ready zeal with which they have devoted their talents to the same +purpose. + +Farther explanation respecting the Edition is the business of the +publishers, not of the Author; and here, therefore, the latter has +accomplished his task of introduction and explanation. If, like a +spoiled child, he has sometimes abused or trifled with the indulgence +of the public, he feels himself entitled to full belief when he +exculpates himself from the charge of having been at any time +insensible of their kindness. + +ABBOTSFORD, 1st January, 1829. + + + + + +WAVERLEY + +OR 'T IS SIXTY YEARS SINCE + + Under which King, Bezonian? speak, or die! + + Henry IV, Part II. + +VOLUME II + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The plan of this edition leads me to insert in this place some account +of the incidents on which the Novel of Waverley is founded. They have +been already given to the public by my late lamented friend, William +Erskine, Esq. (afterwards Lord Kinneder), when reviewing the Tales of +My Landlord for the Quarterly Review in 1817. The particulars were +derived by the critic from the Author's information. Afterwards they +were published in the Preface to the Chronicles of the Canongate. They +are now inserted in their proper place. + +The mutual protection afforded by Waverley and Talbot to each other, +upon which the whole plot depends, is founded upon one of those +anecdotes which soften the features even of civil war; and, as it is +equally honourable to the memory of both parties, we have no hesitation +to give their names at length. When the Highlanders, on the morning of +the battle of Preston, 1745, made their memorable attack on Sir John +Cope's army, a battery of four field-pieces was stormed and carried by +the Camerons and the Stewarts of Appine. The late Alexander Stewart of +Invernahylewas one of the foremost in the charge, and observing an +officer of the King's forces, who, scorning to join the flight of all +around, remained with his sword in his hand, as if determined to the +very last to defend the post assigned to him, the Highland gentleman +commanded him to surrender, and received for reply a thrust, which he +caught in his target. The officer was now defenceless, and the +battle-axe of a gigantic Highlander (the miller of Invernahyle's mill) +was uplifted to dash his brains out, when Mr. Stewart with difficulty +prevailed on him to yield. He took charge of his enemy's property, +protected his person, and finally obtained him liberty on his parole. +The officer proved to be Colonel Whitefoord, an Ayrshire gentleman of +high character and influence, and warmly attached to the House of +Hanover; yet such was the confidence existing between these two +honourable men, though of different political principles, that, while +the civil war was raging, and straggling officers from the Highland +army were executed without mercy, Invernahyle hesitated not to pay his +late captive a visit, as he returned to the Highlands to raise fresh +recruits, on which occasion he spent a day or two in Ayrshire among +Colonel Whitefoord's Whig friends, as pleasantly and as good-humouredly +as if all had been at peace around him. + +After the battle of Culloden had ruined the hopes of Charles Edward and +dispersed his proscribed adherents, it was Colonel Whitefoord's turn to +strain every nerve to obtain Mr. Stewart's pardon. He went to the Lord +Justice Clerk to the Lord Advocate, and to all the officers of state, +and each application was answered by the production of a list in which +Invernahyle (as the good old gentleman was wont to express it) appeared +'marked with the sign of the beast!' as a subject unfit for favour or +pardon. + +At length Colonel Whitefoord applied to the Duke of Cumberland in +person. From him, also, he received a positive refusal. He then limited +his request, for the present, to a protection for Stewart's house, +wife, children, and property. This was also refused by the Duke; on +which Colonel Whitefoord, taking his commission from his bosom, laid it +on the table before his Royal Highness with much emotion, and asked +permission to retire from the service of a sovereign who did not know +how to spare a vanquished enemy. The Duke was struck, and even +affected. He bade the Colonel take up his commission, and granted the +protection he required. It was issued just in time to save the house, +corn, and cattle at Invernahyle from the troops, who were engaged in +laying waste what it was the fashion to call 'the country of the +enemy.' A small encampment of soldiers was formed on Invernahyle's +property, which they spared while plundering the country around, and +searching in every direction for the leaders of the insurrection, and +for Stewart in particular. He was much nearer them than they suspected; +for, hidden in a cave (like the Baron of Bradwardine), he lay for many +days so near the English sentinels that he could hear their muster-roll +called. His food was brought to him by one of his daughters, a child of +eight years old, whom Mrs. Stewart was under the necessity of +entrusting with this commission; for her own motions, and those of all +her elder inmates, were closely watched. With ingenuity beyond her +years, the child used to stray about among the soldiers, who were +rather kind to her, and thus seize the moment when she was unobserved +and steal into the thicket, when she deposited whatever small store of +provisions she had in charge at some marked spot, where her father +might find it. Invernahyle supported life for several weeks by means of +these precarious supplies; and, as he had been wounded in the battle of +Culloden, the hardships which he endured were aggravated by great +bodily pain. After the soldiers had removed their quarters he had +another remarkable escape. + +As he now ventured to his own house at night and left it in the +morning, he was espied during the dawn by a party of the enemy, who +fired at and pursued him. The fugitive being fortunate enough to escape +their search, they returned to the house and charged the family with +harbouring one of the proscribed traitors. An old woman had presence of +mind enough to maintain that the man they had seen was the shepherd. +'Why did he not stop when we called to him?' said the soldier. 'He is +as deaf, poor man, as a peat-stack,' answered the ready-witted +domestic. 'Let him be sent for directly.' The real shepherd accordingly +was brought from the hill, and, as there was time to tutor him by the +way, he was as deaf when he made his appearance as was necessary to +sustain his character. Invernahyle was afterwards pardoned under the +Act of Indemnity. + +The Author knew him well, and has often heard these circumstances from +his own mouth. He was a noble specimen of the old Highlander, far +descended, gallant, courteous, and brave, even to chivalry. He had been +out, I believe, in 1715 and 1745, was an active partaker in all the +stirring scenes which passed in the Highlands betwixt these memorable +eras; and, I have heard, was remarkable, among other exploits, for +having fought a duel with the broadsword with the celebrated Rob Roy +MacGregor at the clachan of Balquidder. + +Invernahyle chanced to be in Edinburgh when Paul Jones came into the +Firth of Forth, and though then an old man, I saw him in arms, and +heard him exult (to use his own words) in the prospect of drawing his +claymore once more before he died.' In fact, on that memorable +occasion, when the capital of Scotland was menaced by three trifling +sloops or brigs, scarce fit to have sacked a fishing village, he was +the only man who seemed to propose a plan of resistance. He offered to +the magistrates, if broadswords and dirks could be obtained, to find as +many Highlanders among the lower classes as would cut off any boat's +crew who might be sent into a town full of narrow and winding passages, +in which they were like to disperse in quest of plunder. I know not if +his plan was attended to, I rather think it seemed too hazardous to the +constituted authorities, who might not, even at that time, desire to +see arms in Highland hands. A steady and powerful west wind settled the +matter by sweeping Paul Jones and his vessels out of the Firth. + +If there is something degrading in this recollection, it is not +unpleasant to compare it with those of the last war, when Edinburgh, +besides regular forces and militia, furnished a volunteer brigade of +cavalry, infantry, and artillery to the amount of six thousand men and +upwards, which was in readiness to meet and repel a force of a far more +formidable description than was commanded by the adventurous American. +Time and circumstances change the character of nations and the fate of +cities; and it is some pride to a Scotchman to reflect that the +independent and manly character of a country, willing to entrust its +own protection to the arms of its children, after having been obscured +for half a century, has, during the course of his own lifetime, +recovered its lustre. + +Other illustrations of Waverley will be found in the Notes at the foot +of the pages to which they belong. Those which appeared too long to be +so placed are given at the end of the chapters to which they severally +relate. [Footnote: In this edition at the end of the several volumes.] + + + + + +PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION + + +To this slight attempt at a sketch of ancient Scottish manners the +public have been more favourable than the Author durst have hoped or +expected. He has heard, with a mixture of satisfaction and humility, +his work ascribed to more than one respectable name. Considerations, +which seem weighty in his particular situation, prevent his releasing +those gentlemen from suspicion by placing his own name in the +title-page; so that, for the present at least, it must remain uncertain +whether Waverley be the work of a poet or a critic, a lawyer or a +clergyman, or whether the writer, to use Mrs. Malaprop's phrase, be, +'like Cerberus, three gentlemen at once.' The Author, as he is +unconscious of anything in the work itself (except perhaps its +frivolity) which prevents its finding an acknowledged father, leaves it +to the candour of the public to choose among the many circumstances +peculiar to different situations in life such as may induce him to +suppress his name on the present occasion. He may be a writer new to +publication, and unwilling to avow a character to which he is +unaccustomed; or he may be a hackneyed author, who is ashamed of too +frequent appearance, and employs this mystery, as the heroine of the +old comedy used her mask, to attract the attention of those to whom her +face had become too familiar. He may be a man of a grave profession, to +whom the reputation of being a novel-writer might be prejudicial; or he +may be a man of fashion, to whom writing of any kind might appear +pedantic. He may be too young to assume the character of an author, or +so old as to make it advisable to lay it aside. + +The Author of Waverley has heard it objected to this novel, that, in +the character of Callum Beg and in the account given by the Baron of +Bradwardine of the petty trespasses of the Highlanders upon trifling +articles of property, he has borne hard, and unjustly so, upon their +national character. Nothing could be farther from his wish or +intention. The character of Callum Beg is that of a spirit naturally +turned to daring evil, and determined, by the circumstances of his +situation, to a particular species of mischief. Those who have perused +the curious Letters from the Highlands, published about 1726, will find +instances of such atrocious characters which fell under the writer's +own observation, though it would be most unjust to consider such +villains as representatives of the Highlanders of that period, any more +than the murderers of Marr and Williamson can be supposed to represent +the English of the present day. As for the plunder supposed to have +been picked up by some of the insurgents in 1745, it must be remembered +that, although the way of that unfortunate little army was neither +marked by devastation nor bloodshed, but, on the contrary, was orderly +and quiet in a most wonderful degree, yet no army marches through a +country in a hostile manner without committing some depredations; and +several, to the extent and of the nature jocularly imputed to them by +the Baron, were really laid to the charge of the Highland insurgents; +for which many traditions, and particularly one respecting the Knight +of the Mirror, may be quoted as good evidence. [Footnote: A homely +metrical narrative of the events of the period, which contains some +striking particulars, and is still a great favourite with the lower +classes, gives a very correct statement of the behaviour of the +mountaineers respecting this same military license; and, as the verses +are little known, and contain some good sense, we venture to insert +them.] + + + + + +THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS TO ALL IN GENERAL + + + Now, gentle readers, I have let you ken + My very thoughts, from heart and pen, + 'Tis needless for to conten' + Or yet controule, + For there's not a word o't I can men'; + So ye must thole. + + For on both sides some were not good; + I saw them murd'ring in cold blood, + Not the gentlemen, but wild and rude, + The baser sort, + Who to the wounded had no mood + But murd'ring sport! + + Ev'n both at Preston and Falkirk, + That fatal night ere it grew mirk, + Piercing the wounded with their durk, + Caused many cry! + Such pity's shown from Savage and Turk + As peace to die. + + A woe be to such hot zeal, + To smite the wounded on the fiell! + It's just they got such groats in kail, + Who do the same. + It only teaches crueltys real + To them again. + + I've seen the men call'd Highland rogues, + With Lowland men make shangs a brogs, + Sup kail and brose, and fling the cogs + Out at the door, + Take cocks, hens, sheep, and hogs, + And pay nought for. + + I saw a Highlander,'t was right drole, + With a string of puddings hung on a pole, + Whip'd o'er his shoulder, skipped like a fole, + Caus'd Maggy bann, + Lap o'er the midden and midden-hole, + And aff he ran. + + When check'd for this, they'd often tell ye, + 'Indeed her nainsell's a tume belly; + You'll no gie't wanting bought, nor sell me; + Hersell will hae't; + Go tell King Shorge, and Shordy's Willie, + I'll hae a meat.' + + I saw the soldiers at Linton-brig, + Because the man was not a Whig, + Of meat and drink leave not a skig, + Within his door; + They burnt his very hat and wig, + And thump'd him sore. + + And through the Highlands they were so rude, + As leave them neither clothes nor food, + Then burnt their houses to conclude; + 'T was tit for tat. + How can her nainsell e'er be good, + To think on that? + + And after all, O, shame and grief! + To use some worse than murd'ring thief, + Their very gentleman and chief, + Unhumanly! + Like Popish tortures, I believe, + Such cruelty. + + Ev'n what was act on open stage + At Carlisle, in the hottest rage, + When mercy was clapt in a cage, + And pity dead, + Such cruelty approv'd by every age, + I shook my head. + + So many to curse, so few to pray, + And some aloud huzza did cry; + They cursed the rebel Scots that day, + As they'd been nowt + Brought up for slaughter, as that way + Too many rowt. + + Therefore, alas! dear countrymen, + O never do the like again, + To thirst for vengeance, never ben' + Your gun nor pa', + But with the English e'en borrow and len', + Let anger fa'. + + Their boasts and bullying, not worth a louse, + As our King's the best about the house. + 'T is ay good to be sober and douce, + To live in peace; + For many, I see, for being o'er crouse, + Gets broken face. + + + + + +WAVERLEY + +OR 'TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + + +The title of this work has not been chosen without the grave and solid +deliberation which matters of importance demand from the prudent. Even +its first, or general denomination, was the result of no common +research or selection, although, according to the example of my +predecessors, I had only to seize upon the most sounding and euphonic +surname that English history or topography affords, and elect it at +once as the title of my work and the name of my hero. But, alas! what +could my readers have expected from the chivalrous epithets of Howard, +Mordaunt, Mortimer, or Stanley, or from the softer and more sentimental +sounds of Belmour, Belville, Belfield, and Belgrave, but pages of +inanity, similar to those which have been so christened for half a +century past? I must modestly admit I am too diffident of my own merit +to place it in unnecessary opposition to preconceived associations; I +have, therefore, like a maiden knight with his white shield, assumed +for my hero, WAVERLEY, an uncontaminated name, bearing with its sound +little of good or evil, excepting what the reader shall hereafter be +pleased to affix to it. But my second or supplemental title was a +matter of much more difficult election, since that, short as it is, may +be held as pledging the author to some special mode of laying his +scene, drawing his characters, and managing his adventures. Had I, for +example, announced in my frontispiece, 'Waverley, a Tale of other +Days,' must not every novel-reader have anticipated a castle scarce +less than that of Udolpho, of which the eastern wing had long been +uninhabited, and the keys either lost, or consigned to the care of some +aged butler or housekeeper, whose trembling steps, about the middle of +the second volume, were doomed to guide the hero, or heroine, to the +ruinous precincts? Would not the owl have shrieked and the cricket +cried in my very title-page? and could it have been possible for me, +with a moderate attention to decorum, to introduce any scene more +lively than might be produced by the jocularity of a clownish but +faithful valet, or the garrulous narrative of the heroine's +fille-de-chambre, when rehearsing the stories of blood and horror which +she had heard in the servants' hall? Again, had my title borne, +'Waverley, a Romance from the German,' what head so obtuse as not to +image forth a profligate abbot, an oppressive duke, a secret and +mysterious association of Rosycrucians and Illuminati, with all their +properties of black cowls, caverns, daggers, electrical machines, +trap-doors, and dark-lanterns? Or if I had rather chosen to call my +work a 'Sentimental Tale,' would it not have been a sufficient presage +of a heroine with a profusion of auburn hair, and a harp, the soft +solace of her solitary hours, which she fortunately finds always the +means of transporting from castle to cottage, although she herself be +sometimes obliged to jump out of a two-pair-of-stairs window, and is +more than once bewildered on her journey, alone and on foot, without +any guide but a blowzy peasant girl, whose jargon she hardly can +understand? Or, again, if my Waverley had been entitled 'A Tale of the +Times,' wouldst thou not, gentle reader, have demanded from me a +dashing sketch of the fashionable world, a few anecdotes of private +scandal thinly veiled, and if lusciously painted, so much the better? a +heroine from Grosvenor Square, and a hero from the Barouche Club or the +Four-in-Hand, with a set of subordinate characters from the elegantes +of Queen Anne Street East, or the dashing heroes of the Bow-Street +Office? I could proceed in proving the importance of a title-page, and +displaying at the same time my own intimate knowledge of the particular +ingredients necessary to the composition of romances and novels of +various descriptions;--but it is enough, and I scorn to tyrannise +longer over the impatience of my reader, who is doubtless already +anxious to know the choice made by an author so profoundly versed in +the different branches of his art. + +By fixing, then, the date of my story Sixty Years before this present +1st November, 1805, I would have my readers understand, that they will +meet in the following pages neither a romance of chivalry nor a tale of +modern manners; that my hero will neither have iron on his shoulders, +as of yore, nor on the heels of his boots, as is the present fashion of +Bond Street; and that my damsels will neither be clothed 'in purple and +in pall,' like the Lady Alice of an old ballad, nor reduced to the +primitive nakedness of a modern fashionable at a rout. From this my +choice of an era the understanding critic may farther presage that the +object of my tale is more a description of men than manners. A tale of +manners, to be interesting, must either refer to antiquity so great as +to have become venerable, or it must bear a vivid reflection of those +scenes which are passing daily before our eyes, and are interesting +from their novelty. Thus the coat-of-mail of our ancestors, and the +triple-furred pelisse of our modern beaux, may, though for very +different reasons, be equally fit for the array of a fictitious +character; but who, meaning the costume of his hero to be impressive, +would willingly attire him in the court dress of George the Second's +reign, with its no collar, large sleeves, and low pocket-holes? The +same may be urged, with equal truth, of the Gothic hall, which, with +its darkened and tinted windows, its elevated and gloomy roof, and +massive oaken table garnished with boar's-head and rosemary, pheasants +and peacocks, cranes and cygnets, has an excellent effect in fictitious +description. Much may also be gained by a lively display of a modern +fete, such as we have daily recorded in that part of a newspaper +entitled the Mirror of Fashion, if we contrast these, or either of +them, with the splendid formality of an entertainment given Sixty Years +Since; and thus it will be readily seen how much the painter of antique +or of fashionable manners gains over him who delineates those of the +last generation. + +Considering the disadvantages inseparable from this part of my subject, +I must be understood to have resolved to avoid them as much as +possible, by throwing the force of my narrative upon the characters and +passions of the actors;--those passions common to men in all stages of +society, and which have alike agitated the human heart, whether it +throbbed under the steel corslet of the fifteenth century, the brocaded +coat of the eighteenth, or the blue frock and white dimity waistcoat of +the present day. [Footnote: Alas' that attire, respectable and +gentlemanlike in 1805, or thereabouts, is now as antiquated as the +Author of Waverley has himself become since that period! The reader of +fashion will please to fill up the costume with an embroidered +waistcoat of purple velvet or silk, and a coat of whatever colour he +pleases.] Upon these passions it is no doubt true that the state of +manners and laws casts a necessary colouring; but the bearings, to use +the language of heraldry, remain the same, though the tincture may be +not only different, but opposed in strong contradistinction. The wrath +of our ancestors, for example, was coloured gules; it broke forth in +acts of open and sanguinary violence against the objects of its fury. +Our malignant feelings, which must seek gratification through more +indirect channels, and undermine the obstacles which they cannot openly +bear down, may be rather said to be tinctured sable. But the +deep-ruling impulse is the same in both cases; and the proud peer, who +can now only ruin his neighbour according to law, by protracted suits, +is the genuine descendant of the baron who wrapped the castle of his +competitor in flames, and knocked him on the head as he endeavoured to +escape from the conflagration. It is from the great book of Nature, the +same through a thousand editions, whether of black-letter, or wire-wove +and hot-pressed, that I have venturously essayed to read a chapter to +the public. Some favourable opportunities of contrast have been +afforded me by the state of society in the northern part of the island +at the period of my history, and may serve at once to vary and to +illustrate the moral lessons, which I would willingly consider as the +most important part of my plan; although I am sensible how short these +will fall of their aim if I shall be found unable to mix them with +amusement--a task not quite so easy in this critical generation as it +was 'Sixty Years Since.' + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WAVERLEY-HONOUR--A RETROSPECT + + +It is, then, sixty years since Edward Waverley, the hero of the +following pages, took leave of his family, to join the regiment of +dragoons in which he had lately obtained a commission. It was a +melancholy day at Waverley-Honour when the young officer parted with +Sir Everard, the affectionate old uncle to whose title and estate he +was presumptive heir. + +A difference in political opinions had early separated the Baronet from +his younger brother Richard Waverley, the father of our hero. Sir +Everard had inherited from his sires the whole train of Tory or +High-Church predilections and prejudices which had distinguished the +house of Waverley since the Great Civil War. Richard, on the contrary, +who was ten years younger, beheld himself born to the fortune of a +second brother, and anticipated neither dignity nor entertainment in +sustaining the character of Will Wimble. He saw early that, to succeed +in the race of life, it was necessary he should carry as little weight +as possible. Painters talk of the difficulty of expressing the +existence of compound passions in the same features at the same moment; +it would be no less difficult for the moralist to analyse the mixed +motives which unite to form the impulse of our actions. Richard +Waverley read and satisfied himself from history and sound argument +that, in the words of the old song, + + Passive obedience was a jest, + And pshaw! was non-resistance; + +yet reason would have probably been unable to combat and remove +hereditary prejudice could Richard have anticipated that his elder +brother, Sir Everard, taking to heart an early disappointment, would +have remained a bachelor at seventy-two. The prospect of succession, +however remote, might in that case have led him to endure dragging +through the greater part of his life as 'Master Richard at the Hall, +the Baronet's brother,' in the hope that ere its conclusion he should +be distinguished as Sir Richard Waverley of Waverley-Honour, successor +to a princely estate, and to extended political connections as head of +the county interest in the shire where it lay. + +But this was a consummation of things not to be expected at Richard's +outset, when Sir Everard was in the prime of life, and certain to be an +acceptable suitor in almost any family, whether wealth or beauty should +be the object of his pursuit, and when, indeed, his speedy marriage was +a report which regularly amused the neighbourhood once a year. His +younger brother saw no practicable road to independence save that of +relying upon his own exertions, and adopting a political creed more +consonant both to reason and his own interest than the hereditary faith +of Sir Everard in High-Church and in the house of Stuart. He therefore +read his recantation at the beginning of his career, and entered life +as an avowed Whig and friend of the Hanover succession. + +The ministry of George the First's time were prudently anxious to +diminish the phalanx of opposition. The Tory nobility, depending for +their reflected lustre upon the sunshine of a court, had for some time +been gradually reconciling themselves to the new dynasty. But the +wealthy country gentlemen of England, a rank which retained, with much +of ancient manners and primitive integrity, a great proportion of +obstinate and unyielding prejudice, stood aloof in haughty and sullen +opposition, and cast many a look of mingled regret and hope to Bois le +Due, Avignon, and Italy. [Footnote: Where the Chevalier St. George, or, +as he was termed, the Old Pretender, held his exiled court, as his +situation compelled him to shift his place of residence.] The accession +of the near relation of one of those steady and inflexible opponents +was considered as a means of bringing over more converts, and therefore +Richard Waverley met with a share of ministerial favour more than +proportioned to his talents or his political importance. It was, +however, discovered that he had respectable talents for public +business, and the first admittance to the minister's levee being +negotiated, his success became rapid. Sir Everard learned from the +public 'News-Letter,' first, that Richard Waverley, Esquire, was +returned for the ministerial borough of Barterfaith; next, that Richard +Waverley, Esquire, had taken a distinguished part in the debate upon +the Excise Bill in the support of government; and, lastly, that Richard +Waverley, Esquire, had been honoured with a seat at one of those boards +where the pleasure of serving the country is combined with other +important gratifications, which, to render them the more acceptable, +occur regularly once a quarter. + +Although these events followed each other so closely that the sagacity +of the editor of a modern newspaper would have presaged the two last +even while he announced the first, yet they came upon Sir Everard +gradually, and drop by drop, as it were, distilled through the cool and +procrastinating alembic of Dyer's 'Weekly Letter.' [Footnote: See Note +I. ] For it may be observed in passing, that instead of those +mail-coaches, by means of which every mechanic at his six-penny club, +may nightly learn from twenty contradictory channels the yesterday's +news of the capital, a weekly post brought, in those days, to +Waverley-Honour, a Weekly Intelligencer, which, after it had gratified +Sir Everard's curiosity, his sister's, and that of his aged butler, was +regularly transferred from the Hall to the Rectory, from the Rectory to +Squire Stubbs's at the Grange, from the Squire to the Baronet's steward +at his neat white house on the heath, from the steward to the bailiff, +and from him through a huge circle of honest dames and gaffers, by +whose hard and horny hands it was generally worn to pieces in about a +month after its arrival. + +This slow succession of intelligence was of some advantage to Richard +Waverley in the case before us; for, had the sum total of his +enormities reached the ears of Sir Everard at once, there can be no +doubt that the new commissioner would have had little reason to pique +himself on the success of his politics. The Baronet, although the +mildest of human beings, was not without sensitive points in his +character; his brother's conduct had wounded these deeply; the Waverley +estate was fettered by no entail (for it had never entered into the +head of any of its former possessors that one of their progeny could be +guilty of the atrocities laid by Dyer's 'Letter' to the door of +Richard), and if it had, the marriage of the proprietor might have been +fatal to a collateral heir. These various ideas floated through the +brain of Sir Everard without, however, producing any determined +conclusion. + +He examined the tree of his genealogy, which, emblazoned with many an +emblematic mark of honour and heroic achievement, hung upon the +well-varnished wainscot of his hall. The nearest descendants of Sir +Hildebrand Waverley, failing those of his eldest son Wilfred, of whom +Sir Everard and his brother were the only representatives, were, as +this honoured register informed him (and, indeed, as he himself well +knew), the Waverleys of Highley Park, com. Hants; with whom the main +branch, or rather stock, of the house had renounced all connection +since the great law-suit in 1670. + +This degenerate scion had committed a farther offence against the head +and source of their gentility, by the intermarriage of their +representative with Judith, heiress of Oliver Bradshawe, of Highley +Park, whose arms, the same with those of Bradshawe the regicide, they +had quartered with the ancient coat of Waverley. These offences, +however, had vanished from Sir Everard's recollection in the heat of +his resentment; and had Lawyer Clippurse, for whom his groom was +despatched express, arrived but an hour earlier, he might have had the +benefit of drawing a new settlement of the lordship and manor of +Waverley-Honour, with all its dependencies. But an hour of cool +reflection is a great matter when employed in weighing the comparative +evil of two measures to neither of which we are internally partial. +Lawyer Clippurse found his patron involved in a deep study, which he +was too respectful to disturb, otherwise than by producing his paper +and leathern ink-case, as prepared to minute his honour's commands. +Even this slight manoeuvre was embarrassing to Sir Everard, who felt it +as a reproach to his indecision. He looked at the attorney with some +desire to issue his fiat, when the sun, emerging from behind a cloud, +poured at once its chequered light through the stained window of the +gloomy cabinet in which they were seated. The Baronet's eye, as he +raised it to the splendour, fell right upon the central scutcheon, +inpressed with the same device which his ancestor was said to have +borne in the field of Hastings,--three ermines passant, argent, in a +field azure, with its appropriate motto, Sans tache. 'May our name +rather perish,' exclaimed Sir Everard, 'than that ancient and loyal +symbol should be blended with the dishonoured insignia of a traitorous +Roundhead!' + +All this was the effect of the glimpse of a sunbeam, just sufficient to +light Lawyer Clippurse to mend his pen. The pen was mended in vain. The +attorney was dismissed, with directions to hold himself in readiness on +the first summons. + +The apparition of Lawyer Clippurse at the Hall occasioned much +speculation in that portion of the world to which Waverley-Honour +formed the centre. But the more judicious politicians of this microcosm +augured yet worse consequences to Richard Waverley from a movement +which shortly followed his apostasy. This was no less than an excursion +of the Baronet in his coach-and-six, with four attendants in rich +liveries, to make a visit of some duration to a noble peer on the +confines of the shire, of untainted descent, steady Tory principles, +and the happy father of six unmarried and accomplished daughters. + +Sir Everard's reception in this family was, as it may be easily +conceived, sufficiently favourable; but of the six young ladies, his +taste unfortunately determined him in favour of Lady Emily, the +youngest, who received his attentions with an embarrassment which +showed at once that she durst not decline them, and that they afforded +her anything but pleasure. + +Sir Everard could not but perceive something uncommon in the restrained +emotions which the young lady testified at the advances he hazarded; +but, assured by the prudent Countess that they were the natural effects +of a retired education, the sacrifice might have been completed, as +doubtless has happened in many similar instances, had it not been for +the courage of an elder sister, who revealed to the wealthy suitor that +Lady Emily's affections were fixed upon a young soldier of fortune, a +near relation of her own. + +Sir Everard manifested great emotion on receiving this intelligence, +which was confirmed to him, in a private interview, by the young lady +herself, although under the most dreadful apprehensions of her father's +indignation. + +Honour and generosity were hereditary attributes of the house of +Waverley. With a grace and delicacy worthy the hero of a romance, Sir +Everard withdrew his claim to the hand of Lady Emily. He had even, +before leaving Blandeville Castle, the address to extort from her +father a consent to her union with the object of her choice. What +arguments he used on this point cannot exactly be known, for Sir +Everard was never supposed strong in the powers of persuasion; but the +young officer, immediately after this transaction, rose in the army +with a rapidity far surpassing the usual pace of unpatronised +professional merit, although, to outward appearance, that was all he +had to depend upon. + +The shock which Sir Everard encountered upon this occasion, although +diminished by the consciousness of having acted virtuously and +generously had its effect upon his future life. His resolution of +marriage had been adopted in a fit of indignation; the labour of +courtship did not quite suit the dignified indolence of his habits; he +had but just escaped the risk of marrying a woman who could never love +him, and his pride could not be greatly flattered by the termination of +his amour, even if his heart had not suffered. The result of the whole +matter was his return to Waverley-Honour without any transfer of his +affections, notwithstanding the sighs and languishments of the fair +tell-tale, who had revealed, in mere sisterly affection, the secret of +Lady Emily's attachment, and in despite of the nods, winks, and +innuendos of the officious lady mother, and the grave eulogiums which +the Earl pronounced successively on the prudence, and good sense, and +admirable dispositions, of his first, second, third, fourth, and fifth +daughters. + +The memory of his unsuccessful amour was with Sir Everard, as with many +more of his temper, at once shy, proud, sensitive, and indolent, a +beacon against exposing himself to similar mortification, pain, and +fruitless exertion for the time to come. He continued to live at +Waverley-Honour in the style of an old English gentleman, of an ancient +descent and opulent fortune. His sister, Miss Rachel Waverley, presided +at his table; and they became, by degrees, an old bachelor and an +ancient maiden lady, the gentlest and kindest of the votaries of +celibacy. + +The vehemence of Sir Everard's resentment against his brother was but +short-lived; yet his dislike to the Whig and the placeman, though +unable to stimulate him to resume any active measures prejudicial to +Richard's interest, in the succession to the family estate, continued +to maintain the coldness between them. Richard knew enough of the +world, and of his brother's temper, to believe that by any +ill-considered or precipitate advances on his part, he might turn +passive dislike into a more active principle. It was accident, +therefore, which at length occasioned a renewal of their intercourse. +Richard had married a young woman of rank, by whose family interest and +private fortune he hoped to advance his career. In her right he became +possessor of a manor of some value, at the distance of a few miles from +Waverley-Honour. + +Little Edward, the hero of our tale, then in his fifth year, was their +only child. It chanced that the infant with his maid had strayed one +morning to a mile's distance from the avenue of Brerewood Lodge, his +father's seat. Their attention was attracted by a carriage drawn by six +stately long-tailed black horses, and with as much carving and gilding +as would have done honour to my lord mayor's. It was waiting for the +owner, who was at a little distance inspecting the progress of a +half-built farm-house. I know not whether the boy's nurse had been a +Welsh--or a Scotch-woman, or in what manner he associated a shield +emblazoned with three ermines with the idea of personal property, but +he no sooner beheld this family emblem than he stoutly determined on +vindicating his right to the splendid vehicle on which it was +displayed. The Baronet arrived while the boy's maid was in vain +endeavouring to make him desist from his determination to appropriate +the gilded coach-and-six. The rencontre was at a happy moment for +Edward, as his uncle had been just eyeing wistfully, with something of +a feeling like envy, the chubby boys of the stout yeoman whose mansion +was building by his direction. In the round-faced rosy cherub before +him, bearing his eye and his name, and vindicating a hereditary title +to his family, affection, and patronage, by means of a tie which Sir +Everard held as sacred as either Garter or Blue-mantle, Providence +seemed to have granted to him the very object best calculated to fill +up the void in his hopes and affections. Sir Everard returned to +Waverley-Hall upon a led horse, which was kept in readiness for him, +while the child and his attendant were sent home in the carriage to +Brerewood Lodge, with such a message as opened to Richard Waverley a +door of reconciliation with his elder brother. + +Their intercourse, however, though thus renewed, continued to be rather +formal and civil than partaking of brotherly cordiality; yet it was +sufficient to the wishes of both parties. Sir Everard obtained, in the +frequent society of his little nephew, something on which his +hereditary pride might found the anticipated pleasure of a continuation +of his lineage, and where his kind and gentle affections could at the +same time fully exercise themselves. For Richard Waverley, he beheld in +the growing attachment between the uncle and nephew the means of +securing his son's, if not his own, succession to the hereditary +estate, which he felt would be rather endangered than promoted by any +attempt on his own part towards a closer intimacy with a man of Sir +Everard's habits and opinions. + +Thus, by a sort of tacit compromise, little Edward was permitted to +pass the greater part of the year at the Hall, and appeared to stand in +the same intimate relation to both families, although their mutual +intercourse was otherwise limited to formal messages and more formal +visits. The education of the youth was regulated alternately by the +taste and opinions of his uncle and of his father. But more of this in +a subsequent chapter. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +EDUCATION + + +The education of our hero, Edward Waverley, was of a nature somewhat +desultory. In infancy his health suffered, or was supposed to suffer +(which is quite the same thing), by the air of London. As soon, +therefore, as official duties, attendance on Parliament, or the +prosecution of any of his plans of interest or ambition, called his +father to town, which was his usual residence for eight months in the +year, Edward was transferred to Waverley-Honour, and experienced a +total change of instructors and of lessons, as well as of residence. +This might have been remedied had his father placed him under the +superintendence of a permanent tutor. But he considered that one of his +choosing would probably have been unacceptable at Waverley-Honour, and +that such a selection as Sir Everard might have made, were the matter +left to him, would have burdened him with a disagreeable inmate, if not +a political spy, in his family. He therefore prevailed upon his private +secretary, a young man of taste and accomplishments, to bestow an hour +or two on Edward's education while at Brerewood Lodge, and left his +uncle answerable for his improvement in literature while an inmate at +the Hall. This was in some degree respectably provided for. Sir +Everard's chaplain, an Oxonian, who had lost his fellowship for +declining to take the oaths at the accession of George I, was not only +an excellent classical scholar, but reasonably skilled in science, and +master of most modern languages. He was, however, old and indulgent, +and the recurring interregnum, during which Edward was entirely freed +from his discipline, occasioned such a relaxation of authority, that +the youth was permitted, in a great measure, to learn as he pleased, +what he pleased, and when he pleased. This slackness of rule might have +been ruinous to a boy of slow understanding, who, feeling labour in the +acquisition of knowledge, would have altogether neglected it, save for +the command of a taskmaster; and it might have proved equally dangerous +to a youth whose animal spirits were more powerful than his imagination +or his feelings, and whom the irresistible influence of Alma would have +engaged in field-sports from morning till night. But the character of +Edward Waverley was remote from either of these. His powers of +apprehension were so uncommonly quick as almost to resemble intuition, +and the chief care of his preceptor was to prevent him, as a sportsman +would phrase it, from over-running his game--that is, from acquiring +his knowledge in a slight, flimsy, and inadequate manner. And here the +instructor had to combat another propensity too often united with +brilliancy of fancy and vivacity of talent--that indolence, namely, of +disposition, which can only be stirred by some strong motive of +gratification, and which renounces study as soon as curiosity is +gratified, the pleasure of conquering the first difficulties exhausted, +and the novelty of pursuit at an end. Edward would throw himself with +spirit upon any classical author of which his preceptor proposed the +perusal, make himself master of the style so far as to understand the +story, and, if that pleased or interested him, he finished the volume. +But it was in vain to attempt fixing his attention on critical +distinctions of philology, upon the difference of idiom, the beauty of +felicitous expression, or the artificial combinations of syntax. 'I can +read and understand a Latin author,' said young Edward, with the +self-confidence and rash reasoning of fifteen, 'and Scaliger or Bentley +could not do much more.' Alas! while he was thus permitted to read only +for the gratification of his amusement, he foresaw not that he was +losing for ever the opportunity of acquiring habits of firm and +assiduous application, of gaining the art of controlling, directing, +and concentrating the powers of his mind for earnest investigation--an +art far more essential than even that intimate acquaintance with +classical learning which is the primary object of study. + +I am aware I may be here reminded of the necessity of rendering +instruction agreeable to youth, and of Tasso's infusion of honey into +the medicine prepared for a child; but an age in which children are +taught the driest doctrines by the insinuating method of instructive +games, has little reason to dread the consequences of study being +rendered too serious or severe. The history of England is now reduced +to a game at cards, the problems of mathematics to puzzles and riddles, +and the doctrines of arithmetic may, we are assured, be sufficiently +acquired by spending a few hours a week at a new and complicated +edition of the Royal Game of the Goose. There wants but one step +further, and the Creed and Ten Commandments may be taught in the same +manner, without the necessity of the grave face, deliberate tone of +recital, and devout attention, hitherto exacted from the well-governed +childhood of this realm. It may, in the meantime, be subject of serious +consideration, whether those who are accustomed only to acquire +instruction through the medium of amusement may not be brought to +reject that which approaches under the aspect of study; whether those +who learn history by the cards may not be led to prefer the means to +the end; and whether, were we to teach religion in the way of sport, +our pupils may not thereby be gradually induced to make sport of their +religion. To our young hero, who was permitted to seek his instruction +only according to the bent of his own mind, and who, of consequence, +only sought it so long as it afforded him amusement, the indulgence of +his tutors was attended with evil consequences, which long continued to +influence his character, happiness, and utility. + +Edward's power of imagination and love of literature, although the +former was vivid and the latter ardent, were so far from affording a +remedy to this peculiar evil, that they rather inflamed and increased +its violence. The library at Waverley-Honour, a large Gothic room, with +double arches and a gallery, contained such a miscellaneous and +extensive collection of volumes as had been assembled together, during +the course of two hundred years, by a family which had been always +wealthy, and inclined, of course, as a mark of splendour, to furnish +their shelves with the current literature of the day, without much +scrutiny or nicety of discrimination. Throughout this ample realm +Edward was permitted to roam at large. His tutor had his own studies; +and church politics and controversial divinity, together with a love of +learned ease, though they did not withdraw his attention at stated +times from the progress of his patron's presumptive heir, induced him +readily to grasp at any apology for not extending a strict and +regulated survey towards his general studies. Sir Everard had never +been himself a student, and, like his sister, Miss Rachel Waverley, he +held the common doctrine, that idleness is incompatible with reading of +any kind, and that the mere tracing the alphabetical characters with +the eye is in itself a useful and meritorious task, without +scrupulously considering what ideas or doctrines they may happen to +convey. With a desire of amusement, therefore, which better discipline +might soon have converted into a thirst for knowledge, young Waverley +drove through the sea of books like a vessel without a pilot or a +rudder. Nothing perhaps increases by indulgence more than a desultory +habit of reading, especially under such opportunities of gratifying it. +I believe one reason why such numerous instances of erudition occur +among the lower ranks is, that, with the same powers of mind, the poor +student is limited to a narrow circle for indulging his passion for +books, and must necessarily make himself master of the few he possesses +ere he can acquire more. Edward, on the contrary, like the epicure who +only deigned to take a single morsel from the sunny side of a peach, +read no volume a moment after it ceased to excite his curiosity or +interest; and it necessarily happened, that the habit of seeking only +this sort of gratification rendered it daily more difficult of +attainment, till the passion for reading, like other strong appetites, +produced by indulgence a sort of satiety. + +Ere he attained this indifference, however, he had read, and stored in +a memory of uncommon tenacity, much curious, though ill-arranged and +miscellaneous information. In English literature he was master of +Shakespeare and Milton, of our earlier dramatic authors, of many +picturesque and interesting passages from our old historical +chronicles, and was particularly well acquainted with Spenser, Drayton, +and other poets who have exercised themselves on romantic fiction, of +all themes the most fascinating to a youthful imagination, before the +passions have roused themselves and demand poetry of a more sentimental +description. In this respect his acquaintance with Italian opened him +yet a wider range. He had perused the numerous romantic poems, which, +from the days of Pulci, have been a favourite exercise of the wits of +Italy, and had sought gratification in the numerous collections of +novelle, which were brought forth by the genius of that elegant though +luxurious nation, in emulation of the 'Decameron.' In classical +literature, Waverley had made the usual progress, and read the usual +authors; and the French had afforded him an almost exhaustless +collection of memoirs, scarcely more faithful than romances, and of +romances so well written as hardly to be distinguished from memoirs. +The splendid pages of Froissart, with his heart-stirring and +eye-dazzling descriptions of war and of tournaments, were among his +chief favourites; and from those of Brantome and De la Noue he learned +to compare the wild and loose, yet superstitious, character of the +nobles of the League with the stern, rigid, and sometimes turbulent +disposition of the Huguenot party. The Spanish had contributed to his +stock of chivalrous and romantic lore. The earlier literature of the +northern nations did not escape the study of one who read rather to +awaken the imagination than to benefit the understanding. And yet, +knowing much that is known but to few, Edward Waverley might justly be +considered as ignorant, since he knew little of what adds dignity to +man, and qualifies him to support and adorn an elevated situation in +society. + +The occasional attention of his parents might indeed have been of +service to prevent the dissipation of mind incidental to such a +desultory course of reading. But his mother died in the seventh year +after the reconciliation between the brothers, and Richard Waverley +himself, who, after this event, resided more constantly in London, was +too much interested in his own plans of wealth and ambition to notice +more respecting Edward than that he was of a very bookish turn, and +probably destined to be a bishop. If he could have discovered and +analysed his son's waking dreams, he would have formed a very different +conclusion. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CASTLE-BUILDING + + +I have already hinted that the dainty, squeamish, and fastidious taste +acquired by a surfeit of idle reading had not only rendered our hero +unfit for serious and sober study, but had even disgusted him in some +degree with that in which he had hitherto indulged. + +He was in his sixteenth year when his habits of abstraction and love of +solitude became so much marked as to excite Sir Everard's affectionate +apprehension. He tried to counterbalance these propensities by engaging +his nephew in field-sports, which had been the chief pleasure of his +own youthful days. But although Edward eagerly carried the gun for one +season, yet when practice had given him some dexterity, the pastime +ceased to afford him amusement. + +In the succeeding spring, the perusal of old Isaac Walton's fascinating +volume determined Edward to become 'a brother of the angle.' But of all +diversions which ingenuity ever devised for the relief of idleness, +fishing is the worst qualified to amuse a man who is at once indolent +and impatient; and our hero's rod was speedily flung aside. Society and +example, which, more than any other motives, master and sway the +natural bent of our passions, might have had their usual effect upon +the youthful visionary. But the neighbourhood was thinly inhabited, and +the home-bred young squires whom it afforded were not of a class fit to +form Edward's usual companions, far less to excite him to emulation in +the practice of those pastimes which composed the serious business of +their lives. + +There were a few other youths of better education and a more liberal +character, but from their society also our hero was in some degree +excluded. Sir Everard had, upon the death of Queen Anne, resigned his +seat in Parliament, and, as his age increased and the number of his +contemporaries diminished, had gradually withdrawn himself from +society; so that when, upon any particular occasion, Edward mingled +with accomplished and well-educated young men of his own rank and +expectations, he felt an inferiority in their company, not so much from +deficiency of information, as from the want of the skill to command and +to arrange that which he possessed. A deep and increasing sensibility +added to this dislike of society. The idea of having committed the +slightest solecism in politeness, whether real or imaginary, was agony +to him; for perhaps even guilt itself does not impose upon some minds +so keen a sense of shame and remorse, as a modest, sensitive, and +inexperienced youth feels from the consciousness of having neglected +etiquette or excited ridicule. Where we are not at ease, we cannot be +happy; and therefore it is not surprising that Edward Waverley supposed +that he disliked and was unfitted for society, merely because he had +not yet acquired the habit of living in it with ease and comfort, and +of reciprocally giving and receiving pleasure. + +The hours he spent with his uncle and aunt were exhausted in listening +to the oft-repeated tale of narrative old age. Yet even there his +imagination, the predominant faculty of his mind, was frequently +excited. Family tradition and genealogical history, upon which much of +Sir Everard's discourse turned, is the very reverse of amber, which, +itself a valuable substance, usually includes flies, straws, and other +trifles; whereas these studies, being themselves very insignificant and +trifling, do nevertheless serve to perpetuate a great deal of what is +rare and valuable in ancient manners, and to record many curious and +minute facts which could have been preserved and conveyed through no +other medium. If, therefore, Edward Waverley yawned at times over the +dry deduction of his line of ancestors, with their various +intermarriages, and inwardly deprecated the remorseless and protracted +accuracy with which the worthy Sir Everard rehearsed the various +degrees of propinquity between the house of Waverley-Honour and the +doughty barons, knights, and squires to whom they stood allied; if +(notwithstanding his obligations to the three ermines passant) he +sometimes cursed in his heart the jargon of heraldry, its griffins, its +moldwarps, its wyverns, and its dragons, with all the bitterness of +Hotspur himself, there were moments when these communications +interested his fancy and rewarded his attention. + +The deeds of Wilibert of Waverley in the Holy Land, his long absence +and perilous adventures, his supposed death, and his return on the +evening when the betrothed of his heart had wedded the hero who had +protected her from insult and oppression during his absence; the +generosity with which the Crusader relinquished his claims, and sought +in a neighbouring cloister that peace which passeth not away; +[Footnote: See Note 2.]--to these and similar tales he would hearken +till his heart glowed and his eye glistened. Nor was he less affected +when his aunt, Mrs. Rachel, narrated the sufferings and fortitude of +Lady Alice Waverley during the Great Civil War. The benevolent features +of the venerable spinster kindled into more majestic expression as she +told how Charles had, after the field of Worcester, found a day's +refuge at Waverley-Honour, and how, when a troop of cavalry were +approaching to search the mansion, Lady Alice dismissed her youngest +son with a handful of domestics, charging them to make good with their +lives an hour's diversion, that the king might have that space for +escape. 'And, God help her,' would Mrs. Rachel continue, fixing her +eyes upon the heroine's portrait as she spoke, 'full dearly did she +purchase the safety of her prince with the life of her darling child. +They brought him here a prisoner, mortally wounded; and you may trace +the drops of his blood from the great hall door along the little +gallery, and up to the saloon, where they laid him down to die at his +mother's feet. But there was comfort exchanged between them; for he +knew, from the glance of his mother's eye, that the purpose of his +desperate defence was attained. Ah! I remember,' she continued, 'I +remember well to have seen one that knew and loved him. Miss Lucy Saint +Aubin lived and died a maid for his sake, though one of the most +beautiful and wealthy matches in this country; all the world ran after +her, but she wore widow's mourning all her life for poor William, for +they were betrothed though not married, and died in--I cannot think of +the date; but I remember, in the November of that very year, when she +found herself sinking, she desired to be brought to Waverley-Honour +once more, and visited all the places where she had been with my +grand-uncle, and caused the carpets to be raised that she might trace +the impression of his blood, and if tears could have washed it out, it +had not been there now; for there was not a dry eye in the house. You +would have thought, Edward, that the very trees mourned for her, for +their leaves dropt around her without a gust of wind, and, indeed, she +looked like one that would never see them green again.' + +From such legends our hero would steal away to indulge the fancies they +excited. In the corner of the large and sombre library, with no other +light than was afforded by the decaying brands on its ponderous and +ample hearth, he would exercise for hours that internal sorcery by +which past or imaginary events are presented in action, as it were, to +the eye of the muser. Then arose in long and fair array the splendour +of the bridal feast at Waverley-Castle; the tall and emaciated form of +its real lord, as he stood in his pilgrim's weeds, an unnoticed +spectator of the festivities of his supposed heir and intended bride; +the electrical shock occasioned by the discovery; the springing of the +vassals to arms; the astonishment of the bridegroom; the terror and +confusion of the bride; the agony with which Wilibert observed that her +heart as well as consent was in these nuptials; the air of dignity, yet +of deep feeling, with which he flung down the half-drawn sword, and +turned away for ever from the house of his ancestors. Then would he +change the scene, and fancy would at his wish represent Aunt Rachel's +tragedy. He saw the Lady Waverley seated in her bower, her ear strained +to every sound, her heart throbbing with double agony, now listening to +the decaying echo of the hoofs of the king's horse, and when that had +died away, hearing in every breeze that shook the trees of the park, +the noise of the remote skirmish. A distant sound is heard like the +rushing of a swoln stream; it comes nearer, and Edward can plainly +distinguish the galloping of horses, the cries and shouts of men, with +straggling pistol-shots between, rolling forwards to the Hall. The lady +starts up--a terrified menial rushes in--but why pursue such a +description? + +As living in this ideal world became daily more delectable to our hero, +interruption was disagreeable in proportion. The extensive domain that +surrounded the Hall, which, far exceeding the dimensions of a park, was +usually termed Waverley-Chase, had originally been forest ground, and +still, though broken by extensive glades, in which the young deer were +sporting, retained its pristine and savage character. It was traversed +by broad avenues, in many places half grown up with brush-wood, where +the beauties of former days used to take their stand to see the stag +coursed with greyhounds, or to gain an aim at him with the crossbow. In +one spot, distinguished by a moss-grown Gothic monument, which retained +the name of Queen's Standing, Elizabeth herself was said to have +pierced seven bucks with her own arrows. This was a very favourite +haunt of Waverley. At other times, with his gun and his spaniel, which +served as an apology to others, and with a book in his pocket, which +perhaps served as an apology to himself, he used to pursue one of these +long avenues, which, after an ascending sweep of four miles, gradually +narrowed into a rude and contracted path through the cliffy and woody +pass called Mirkwood Dingle, and opened suddenly upon a deep, dark, and +small lake, named, from the same cause, Mirkwood-Mere. There stood, in +former times, a solitary tower upon a rock almost surrounded by the +water, which had acquired the name of the Strength of Waverley, because +in perilous times it had often been the refuge of the family. There, in +the wars of York and Lancaster, the last adherents of the Red Rose who +dared to maintain her cause carried on a harassing and predatory +warfare, till the stronghold was reduced by the celebrated Richard of +Gloucester. Here, too, a party of Cavaliers long maintained themselves +under Nigel Waverley, elder brother of that William whose fate Aunt +Rachel commemorated. Through these scenes it was that Edward loved to +'chew the cud of sweet and bitter fancy,' and, like a child among his +toys, culled and arranged, from the splendid yet useless imagery and +emblems with which his imagination was stored, visions as brilliant and +as fading as those of an evening sky. The effect of this indulgence +upon his temper and character will appear in the next chapter. + + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CHOICE OF A PROFESSION + + +From the minuteness with which I have traced Waverley's pursuits, and +the bias which these unavoidably communicated to his imagination, the +reader may perhaps anticipate, in the following tale, an imitation of +the romance of Cervantes. But he will do my prudence injustice in the +supposition. My intention is not to follow the steps of that inimitable +author, in describing such total perversion of intellect as +misconstrues the objects actually presented to the senses, but that +more common aberration from sound judgment, which apprehends +occurrences indeed in their reality, but communicates to them a +tincture of its own romantic tone and colouring. So far was Edward +Waverley from expecting general sympathy with his own feelings, or +concluding that the present state of things was calculated to exhibit +the reality of those visions in which he loved to indulge, that he +dreaded nothing more than the detection of such sentiments as were +dictated by his musings. He neither had nor wished to have a confidant, +with whom to communicate his reveries; and so sensible was he of the +ridicule attached to them, that, had he been to choose between any +punishment short of ignominy, and the necessity of giving a cold and +composed account of the ideal world in which he lived the better part +of his days, I think he would not have hesitated to prefer the former +infliction. This secrecy became doubly precious as he felt in advancing +life the influence of the awakening passions. Female forms of exquisite +grace and beauty began to mingle in his mental adventures; nor was he +long without looking abroad to compare the creatures of his own +imagination with the females of actual life. + +The list of the beauties who displayed their hebdomadal finery at the +parish church of Waverley was neither numerous nor select. By far the +most passable was Miss Sissly, or, as she rather chose to be called, +Miss Cecilia Stubbs, daughter of Squire Stubbs at the Grange. I know +not whether it was by the 'merest accident in the world,' a phrase +which, from female lips, does not always exclude malice prepense, or +whether it was from a conformity of taste, that Miss Cecilia more than +once crossed Edward in his favourite walks through Waverley-Chase. He +had not as yet assumed courage to accost her on these occasions; but +the meeting was not without its effect. A romantic lover is a strange +idolater, who sometimes cares not out of what log he frames the object +of his adoration; at least, if nature has given that object any +passable proportion of personal charms, he can easily play the Jeweller +and Dervise in the Oriental tale, [Footnote: See Hoppner's tale of The +Seven Lovers.] and supply her richly, out of the stores of his own +imagination, with supernatural beauty, and all the properties of +intellectual wealth. + +But ere the charms of Miss Cecilia Stubbs had erected her into a +positive goddess, or elevated her at least to a level with the saint +her namesake, Mrs. Rachel Waverley gained some intimation which +determined her to prevent the approaching apotheosis. Even the most +simple and unsuspicious of the female sex have (God bless them!) an +instinctive sharpness of perception in such matters, which sometimes +goes the length of observing partialities that never existed, but +rarely misses to detect such as pass actually under their observation. +Mrs. Rachel applied herself with great prudence, not to combat, but to +elude, the approaching danger, and suggested to her brother the +necessity that the heir of his house should see something more of the +world than was consistent with constant residence at Waverley-Honour. + +Sir Everard would not at first listen to a proposal which went to +separate his nephew from him. Edward was a little bookish, he admitted, +but youth, he had always heard, was the season for learning, and, no +doubt, when his rage for letters was abated, and his head fully stocked +with knowledge, his nephew would take to field-sports and country +business. He had often, he said, himself regretted that he had not +spent some time in study during his youth: he would neither have shot +nor hunted with less skill, and he might have made the roof of Saint +Stephen's echo to longer orations than were comprised in those zealous +Noes, with which, when a member of the House during Godolphin's +administration, he encountered every measure of government. + +Aunt Rachel's anxiety, however, lent her address to carry her point. +Every representative of their house had visited foreign parts, or +served his country in the army, before he settled for life at +Waverley-Honour, and she appealed for the truth of her assertion to the +genealogical pedigree, an authority which Sir Everard was never known +to contradict. In short, a proposal was made to Mr. Richard Waverley, +that his son should travel, under the direction of his present tutor +Mr. Pembroke, with a suitable allowance from the Baronet's liberality. +The father himself saw no objection to this overture; but upon +mentioning it casually at the table of the minister, the great man +looked grave. The reason was explained in private. The unhappy turn of +Sir Everard's politics, the minister observed, was such as would render +it highly improper that a young gentleman of such hopeful prospects +should travel on the Continent with a tutor doubtless of his uncle's +choosing, and directing his course by his instructions. What might Mr. +Edward Waverley's society be at Paris, what at Rome, where all manner +of snares were spread by the Pretender and his sons--these were points +for Mr. Waverley to consider. This he could himself say, that he knew +his Majesty had such a just sense of Mr. Richard Waverley's merits, +that, if his son adopted the army for a few years, a troop, he +believed, might be reckoned upon in one of the dragoon regiments lately +returned from Flanders. + +A hint thus conveyed and enforced was not to be neglected with +impunity; and Richard Waverley, though with great dread of shocking his +brother's prejudices, deemed he could not avoid accepting the +commission thus offered him for his son. The truth is, he calculated +much, and justly, upon Sir Everard's fondness for Edward, which made +him unlikely to resent any step that he might take in due submission to +parental authority. Two letters announced this determination to the +Baronet and his nephew. The latter barely communicated the fact, and +pointed out the necessary preparations for joining his regiment. To his +brother, Richard was more diffuse and circuitous. He coincided with +him, in the most flattering manner, in the propriety of his son's +seeing a little more of the world, and was even humble in expressions +of gratitude for his proposed assistance; was, however, deeply +concerned that it was now, unfortunately, not in Edward's power exactly +to comply with the plan which had been chalked out by his best friend +and benefactor. He himself had thought with pain on the boy's +inactivity, at an age when all his ancestors had borne arms; even +Royalty itself had deigned to inquire whether young Waverley was not +now in Flanders, at an age when his grandfather was already bleeding +for his king in the Great Civil War. This was accompanied by an offer +of a troop of horse. What could he do? There was no time to consult his +brother's inclinations, even if he could have conceived there might be +objections on his part to his nephew's following the glorious career of +his predecessors. And, in short, that Edward was now (the intermediate +steps of cornet and lieutenant being overleapt with great agility) +Captain Waverley, of Gardiner's regiment of dragoons, which he must +join in their quarters at Dundee in Scotland, in the course of a month. + +Sir Everard Waverley received this intimation with a mixture of +feelings. At the period of the Hanoverian succession he had withdrawn +from parliament, and his conduct in the memorable year 1715 had not +been altogether unsuspected. There were reports of private musters of +tenants and horses in Waverley-Chase by moonlight, and of cases of +carbines and pistols purchased in Holland, and addressed to the +Baronet, but intercepted by the vigilance of a riding officer of the +excise, who was afterwards tossed in a blanket on a moonless night, by +an association of stout yeomen, for his officiousness. Nay, it was even +said, that at the arrest of Sir William Wyndham, the leader of the Tory +party, a letter from Sir Everard was found in the pocket of his +night-gown. But there was no overt act which an attainder could be +founded on, and government, contented with suppressing the insurrection +of 1715, felt it neither prudent nor safe to push their vengeance +farther than against those unfortunate gentlemen who actually took up +arms. + +Nor did Sir Everard's apprehensions of personal consequences seem to +correspond with the reports spread among his Whig neighbours. It was +well known that he had supplied with money several of the distressed +Northumbrians and Scotchmen, who, after being made prisoners at Preston +in Lancashire, were imprisoned in Newgate and the Marshalsea, and it +was his solicitor and ordinary counsel who conducted the defence of +some of these unfortunate gentlemen at their trial. It was generally +supposed, however, that, had ministers possessed any real proof of Sir +Everard's accession to the rebellion, he either would not have ventured +thus to brave the existing government, or at least would not have done +so with impunity. The feelings which then dictated his proceedings were +those of a young man, and at an agitating period. Since that time Sir +Everard's Jacobitism had been gradually decaying, like a fire which +burns out for want of fuel. His Tory and High-Church principles were +kept up by some occasional exercise at elections and quarter-sessions; +but those respecting hereditary right were fallen into a sort of +abeyance. Yet it jarred severely upon his feelings, that his nephew +should go into the army under the Brunswick dynasty; and the more so, +as, independent of his high and conscientious ideas of paternal +authority, it was impossible, or at least highly imprudent, to +interfere authoritatively to prevent it. This suppressed vexation gave +rise to many poohs and pshaws which were placed to the account of an +incipient fit of gout, until, having sent for the Army List, the worthy +Baronet consoled himself with reckoning the descendants of the houses +of genuine loyalty, Mordaunts, Granvilles, and Stanleys, whose names +were to be found in that military record; and, calling up all his +feelings of family grandeur and warlike glory, he concluded, with logic +something like Falstaff's, that when war was at hand, although it were +shame to be on any side but one, it were worse shame to be idle than to +be on the worst side, though blacker than usurpation could make it. As +for Aunt Rachel, her scheme had not exactly terminated according to her +wishes, but she was under the necessity of submitting to circumstances; +and her mortification was diverted by the employment she found in +fitting out her nephew for the campaign, and greatly consoled by the +prospect of beholding him blaze in complete uniform. Edward Waverley +himself received with animated and undefined surprise this most +unexpected intelligence. It was, as a fine old poem expresses it, 'like +a fire to heather set,' that covers a solitary hill with smoke, and +illumines it at the same time with dusky fire. His tutor, or, I should +say, Mr. Pembroke, for he scarce assumed the name of tutor, picked up +about Edward's room some fragments of irregular verse, which he +appeared to have composed under the influence of the agitating feelings +occasioned by this sudden page being turned up to him in the book of +life. The doctor, who was a believer in all poetry which was composed +by his friends, and written out in fair straight lines, with a capital +at the beginning of each, communicated this treasure to Aunt Rachel, +who, with her spectacles dimmed with tears, transferred them to her +commonplace book, among choice receipts for cookery and medicine, +favourite texts, and portions from High-Church divines, and a few +songs, amatory and Jacobitical, which she had carolled in her younger +days, from whence her nephew's poetical tentamina were extracted when +the volume itself, with other authentic records of the Waverley family, +were exposed to the inspection of the unworthy editor of this memorable +history. If they afford the reader no higher amusement, they will +serve, at least, better than narrative of any kind, to acquaint him +with the wild and irregular spirit of our hero:-- + + Late, when the Autumn evening fell + On Mirkwood-Mere's romantic dell, + The lake return'd, in chasten'd gleam, + The purple cloud, the golden beam: + Reflected in the crystal pool, + Headland and bank lay fair and cool; + The weather-tinted rock and tower, + Each drooping tree, each fairy flower, + So true, so soft, the mirror gave, + As if there lay beneath the wave, + Secure from trouble, toil, and care, + A world than earthly world more fair. + + + But distant winds began to wake, + And roused the Genius of the Lake! + He heard the groaning of the oak, + And donn'd at once his sable cloak, + As warrior, at the battle-cry, + Invests him with his panoply: + Then, as the whirlwind nearer press'd + He 'gan to shake his foamy crest + O'er furrow'd brow and blacken'd cheek, + And bade his surge in thunder speak. + In wild and broken eddies whirl'd. + Flitted that fond ideal world, + And to the shore in tumult tost + The realms of fairy bliss were lost. + + Yet, with a stern delight and strange, + I saw the spirit-stirring change, + As warr'd the wind with wave and wood, + Upon the ruin'd tower I stood, + And felt my heart more strongly bound, + Responsive to the lofty sound, + While, joying in the mighty roar, + I mourn'd that tranquil scene no more. + + So, on the idle dreams of youth, + Breaks the loud trumpet-call of truth, + Bids each fair vision pass away, + Like landscape on the lake that lay, + As fair, as flitting, and as frail, + As that which fled the Autumn gale.-- + For ever dead to fancy's eye + Be each gay form that glided by, + While dreams of love and lady's charms + Give place to honour and to arms! + +In sober prose, as perhaps these verses intimate less decidedly, the +transient idea of Miss Cecilia Stubbs passed from Captain Waverley's +heart amid the turmoil which his new destinies excited. She appeared, +indeed, in full splendour in her father's pew upon the Sunday when he +attended service for the last time at the old parish church, upon which +occasion, at the request of his uncle and Aunt Rachel, he was induced +(nothing both, if the truth must be told) to present himself in full +uniform. + +There is no better antidote against entertaining too high an opinion of +others than having an excellent one of ourselves at the very same time. +Miss Stubbs had indeed summoned up every assistance which art could +afford to beauty; but, alas! hoop, patches, frizzled locks, and a new +mantua of genuine French silk, were lost upon a young officer of +dragoons who wore for the first time his gold-laced hat, jack-boots, +and broadsword. I know not whether, like the champion of an old +ballad,-- + + His heart was all on honour bent, + He could not stoop to love; + No lady in the land had power + His frozen heart to move; + +or whether the deep and flaming bars of embroidered gold, which now +fenced his breast, defied the artillery of Cecilia's eyes; but every +arrow was launched at him in vain. + + Yet did I mark where Cupid's shaft did light; + It lighted not on little western flower, + But on bold yeoman, flower of all the west, + Hight Jonas Culbertfield, the steward's son. + +Craving pardon for my heroics (which I am unable in certain cases to +resist giving way to), it is a melancholy fact, that my history must +here take leave of the fair Cecilia, who, like many a daughter of Eve, +after the departure of Edward, and the dissipation of certain idle +visions which she had adopted, quietly contented herself with a +pisaller, and gave her hand, at the distance of six months, to the +aforesaid Jonas, son of the Baronet's steward, and heir (no unfertile +prospect) to a steward's fortune, besides the snug probability of +succeeding to his father's office. All these advantages moved Squire +Stubbs, as much as the ruddy brown and manly form of the suitor +influenced his daughter, to abate somewhat in the article of their +gentry; and so the match was concluded. None seemed more gratified than +Aunt Rachel, who had hitherto looked rather askance upon the +presumptuous damsel (as much so, peradventure, as her nature would +permit), but who, on the first appearance of the new-married pair at +church, honoured the bride with a smile and a profound curtsy, in +presence of the rector, the curate, the clerk, and the whole +congregation of the united parishes of Waverley cum Beverley. + +I beg pardon, once and for all, of those readers who take up novels +merely for amusement, for plaguing them so long with old-fashioned +politics, and Whig and Tory, and Hanoverians and Jacobites. The truth +is, I cannot promise them that this story shall be intelligible, not to +say probable, without it. My plan requires that I should explain the +motives on which its action proceeded; and these motives necessarily +arose from the feelings, prejudices, and parties of the times. I do not +invite my fair readers, whose sex and impatience give them the greatest +right to complain of these circumstances, into a flying chariot drawn +by hippogriffs, or moved by enchantment. Mine is a humble English +post-chaise, drawn upon four wheels, and keeping his Majesty's highway. +Such as dislike the vehicle may leave it at the next halt, and wait for +the conveyance of Prince Hussein's tapestry, or Malek the Weaver's +flying sentrybox. Those who are contented to remain with me will be +occasionally exposed to the dulness inseparable from heavy roads, steep +hills, sloughs, and other terrestrial retardations; but with tolerable +horses and a civil driver (as the advertisements have it), I engage to +get as soon as possible into a more picturesque and romantic country, +if my passengers incline to have some patience with me during my first +stages. [Footnote: These Introductory Chapters have been a good deal +censured as tedious and unnecessary. Yet there are circumstances +recorded in them which the author has not been able to persuade himself +to retrench or cancel.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ADIEUS OF WAVERLEY + + +It was upon the evening of this memorable Sunday that Sir Everard +entered the library, where he narrowly missed surprising our young hero +as he went through the guards of the broadsword with the ancient weapon +of old Sir Hildebrand, which, being preserved as an heirloom, usually +hung over the chimney in the library, beneath a picture of the knight +and his horse, where the features were almost entirely hidden by the +knight's profusion of curled hair, and the Bucephalus which he bestrode +concealed by the voluminous robes of the Bath with which he was +decorated. Sir Everard entered, and after a glance at the picture and +another at his nephew, began a little speech, which, however, soon +dropt into the natural simplicity of his common manner, agitated upon +the present occasion by no common feeling. 'Nephew,' he said; and then, +as mending his phrase, 'My dear Edward, it is God's will, and also the +will of your father, whom, under God, it is your duty to obey, that you +should leave us to take up the profession of arms, in which so many of +your ancestors have been distinguished. I have made such arrangements +as will enable you to take the field as their descendant, and as the +probable heir of the house of Waverley; and, sir, in the field of +battle you will remember what name you bear. And, Edward, my dear boy, +remember also that you are the last of that race, and the only hope of +its revival depends upon you; therefore, as far as duty and honour will +permit, avoid danger--I mean unnecessary danger--and keep no company +with rakes, gamblers, and Whigs, of whom, it is to be feared, there are +but too many in the service into which you are going. Your colonel, as +I am informed, is an excellent man--for a Presbyterian; but you will +remember your duty to God, the Church of England, and the--' (this +breach ought to have been supplied, according to the rubric, with the +word KING; but as, unfortunately, that word conveyed a double and +embarrassing sense, one meaning de facto and the other de jure, the +knight filled up the blank otherwise)--'the Church of England, and all +constituted authorities.' Then, not trusting himself with any further +oratory, he carried his nephew to his stables to see the horses +destined for his campaign. Two were black (the regimental colour), +superb chargers both; the other three were stout active hacks, designed +for the road, or for his domestics, of whom two were to attend him from +the Hall; an additional groom, if necessary, might be picked up in +Scotland. + +'You will depart with but a small retinue,' quoth the Baronet, +'compared to Sir Hildebrand, when he mustered before the gate of the +Hall a larger body of horse than your whole regiment consists of. I +could have wished that these twenty young fellows from my estate, who +have enlisted in your troop, had been to march with you on your journey +to Scotland. It would have been something, at least; but I am told +their attendance would be thought unusual in these days, when every new +and foolish fashion is introduced to break the natural dependence of +the people upon their landlords.' + +Sir Everard had done his best to correct this unnatural disposition of +the times; for he had brightened the chain of attachment between the +recruits and their young captain, not only by a copious repast of beef +and ale, by way of parting feast, but by such a pecuniary donation to +each individual as tended rather to improve the conviviality than the +discipline of their march. After inspecting the cavalry, Sir Everard +again conducted his nephew to the library, where he produced a letter, +carefully folded, surrounded by a little stripe of flox-silk, according +to ancient form, and sealed with an accurate impression of the Waverley +coat-of-arms. It was addressed, with great formality, 'To Cosmo Comyne +Bradwardine, Esq., of Bradwardine, at his principal mansion of +Tully-Veolan, in Perthshire, North Britain. These--By the hands of +Captain Edward Waverley, nephew of Sir Everard Waverley, of +Waverley-Honour, Bart.' + +The gentleman to whom this enormous greeting was addressed, of whom we +shall have more to say in the sequel, had been in arms for the exiled +family of Stuart in the year 1715, and was made prisoner at Preston in +Lancashire. He was of a very ancient family, and somewhat embarrassed +fortune; a scholar, according to the scholarship of Scotchmen, that is, +his learning was more diffuse than accurate, and he was rather a reader +than a grammarian. Of his zeal for the classic authors he is said to +have given an uncommon instance. On the road between Preston and +London, he made his escape from his guards; but being afterwards found +loitering near the place where they had lodged the former night, he was +recognised, and again arrested. His companions, and even his escort, +were surprised at his infatuation, and could not help inquiring, why, +being once at liberty, he had not made the best of his way to a place +of safety; to which he replied, that he had intended to do so, but, in +good faith, he had returned to seek his Titus Livius, which he had +forgot in the hurry of his escape. [Footnote: See Note 3.] The +simplicity of this anecdote struck the gentleman, who, as we before +observed, had managed the defence of some of those unfortunate persons, +at the expense of Sir Everard, and perhaps some others of the party. He +was, besides, himself a special admirer of the old Patavinian, and +though probably his own zeal might not have carried him such +extravagant lengths, even to recover the edition of Sweynheim and +Pannartz (supposed to be the princeps), he did not the less estimate +the devotion of the North Briton, and in consequence exerted himself to +so much purpose to remove and soften evidence, detect legal flaws, et +cetera, that he accomplished the final discharge and deliverance of +Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine from certain very awkward consequences of a +plea before our sovereign lord the king in Westminster. + +The Baron of Bradwardine, for he was generally so called in Scotland +(although his intimates, from his place of residence, used to +denominate him Tully-Veolan, or more familiarly, Tully), no sooner +stood rectus in curia than he posted down to pay his respects and make +his acknowledgments at Waverley-Honour. A congenial passion for +field-sports, and a general coincidence in political opinions, cemented +his friendship with Sir Everard, notwithstanding the difference of +their habits and studies in other particulars; and, having spent +several weeks at Waverley-Honour, the Baron departed with many +expressions of regard, warmly pressing the Baronet to return his visit, +and partake of the diversion of grouse-shooting, upon his moors in +Perthshire next season. Shortly after, Mr. Bradwardine remitted from +Scotland a sum in reimbursement of expenses incurred in the King's High +Court of Westminster, which, although not quite so formidable when +reduced to the English denomination, had, in its original form of +Scotch pounds, shillings, and pence, such a formidable effect upon the +frame of Duncan Macwheeble, the laird's confidential factor, +baron-bailie, and man of resource, that he had a fit of the cholic, +which lasted for five days, occasioned, he said, solely and utterly by +becoming the unhappy instrument of conveying such a serious sum of +money out of his native country into the hands of the false English. +But patriotism, as it is the fairest, so it is often the most +suspicious mask of other feelings; and many who knew Bailie Macwheeble +concluded that his professions of regret were not altogether +disinterested, and that he would have grudged the moneys paid to the +LOONS at Westminster much less had they not come from Bradwardine +estate, a fund which he considered as more particularly his own. But +the Bailie protested he was absolutely disinterested-- + + 'Woe, woe, for Scotland, not a whit for me!' + +The laird was only rejoiced that his worthy friend, Sir Everard +Waverley of Waverley-Honour, was reimbursed of the expenditure which he +had outlaid on account of the house of Bradwardine. It concerned, he +said, the credit of his own family, and of the kingdom of Scotland at +large, that these disbursements should be repaid forthwith, and, if +delayed, it would be a matter of national reproach. Sir Everard, +accustomed to treat much larger sums with indifference, received the +remittance of L294, 13S. 6D. without being aware that the payment was +an international concern, and, indeed, would probably have forgot the +circumstance altogether, if Bailie Macwheeble had thought of comforting +his cholic by intercepting the subsidy. A yearly intercourse took +place, of a short letter and a hamper or a cask or two, between +Waverley-Honour and Tully-Veolan, the English exports consisting of +mighty cheeses and mightier ale, pheasants, and venison, and the +Scottish returns being vested in grouse, white hares, pickled salmon, +and usquebaugh; all which were meant, sent, and received as pledges of +constant friendship and amity between two important houses. It followed +as a matter of course, that the heir-apparent of Waverley-Honour could +not with propriety visit Scotland without being furnished with +credentials to the Baron of Bradwardine. + +When this matter was explained and settled, Mr. Pembroke expressed his +wish to take a private and particular leave of his dear pupil. The good +man's ex hortations to Edward to preserve an unblemished life and +morals, to hold fast the principles of the Christian religion, and to +eschew the profane company of scoffers and latitudinarians, too much +abounding in the army, were not unmingled with his political +prejudices. It had pleased Heaven, he said, to place Scotland +(doubtless for the sins of their ancestors in 1642) in a more +deplorable state of darkness than even this unhappy kingdom of England. +Here, at least, although the candlestick of the Church of England had +been in some degree removed from its place, it yet afforded a +glimmering light; there was a hierarchy, though schismatical, and +fallen from the principles maintained by those great fathers of the +church, Sancroft and his brethren; there was a liturgy, though woefully +perverted in some of the principal petitions. But in Scotland it was +utter darkness; and, excepting a sorrowful, scattered, and persecuted +remnant, the pulpits were abandoned to Presbyterians, and, he feared, +to sectaries of every description. It should be his duty to fortify his +dear pupil to resist such unhallowed and pernicious doctrines in church +and state as must necessarily be forced at times upon his unwilling +ears. + +Here he produced two immense folded packets, which appeared each to +contain a whole ream of closely written manuscript. They had been the +labour of the worthy man's whole life; and never were labour and zeal +more absurdly wasted. He had at one time gone to London, with the +intention of giving them to the world, by the medium of a bookseller in +Little Britain, well known to deal in such commodities, and to whom he +was instructed to address himself in a particular phrase and with a +certain sign, which, it seems, passed at that time current among the +initiated Jacobites. The moment Mr. Pembroke had uttered the +Shibboleth, with the appropriate gesture, the bibliopolist greeted him, +notwithstanding every disclamation, by the title of Doctor, and +conveying him into his back shop, after inspecting every possible and +impossible place of concealment, he commenced: 'Eh, Doctor!--Well--all +under the rose--snug--I keep no holes here even for a Hanoverian rat to +hide in. And, what--eh! any good news from our friends over the +water?--and how does the worthy King of France?--Or perhaps you are +more lately from Rome? it must be Rome will do it at last--the church +must light its candle at the old lamp.--Eh--what, cautious? I like you +the better; but no fear.' Here Mr. Pembroke with some difficulty stopt +a torrent of interrogations, eked out with signs, nods, and winks; and, +having at length convinced the bookseller that he did him too much +honour in supposing him an emissary of exiled royalty, he explained his +actual business. + +The man of books with a much more composed air proceeded to examine the +manuscripts. The title of the first was 'A Dissent from Dissenters, or +the Comprehension confuted; showing the Impossibility of any +Composition between the Church and Puritans, Presbyterians, or +Sectaries of any Description; illustrated from the Scriptures, the +Fathers of the Church, and the soundest Controversial Divines.' To this +work the bookseller positively demurred. 'Well meant,' he said, 'and +learned, doubtless; but the time had gone by. Printed on small-pica it +would run to eight hundred pages, and could never pay. Begged therefore +to be excused. Loved and honoured the true church from his soul, and, +had it been a sermon on the martyrdom, or any twelve-penny touch--why, +I would venture something for the honour of the cloth. But come, let's +see the other. "Right Hereditary righted!"--Ah! there's some sense in +this. Hum--hum--hum--pages so many, paper so much, +letter-press--Ah--I'll tell you, though, Doctor, you must knock out +some of the Latin and Greek; heavy, Doctor, damn'd heavy--(beg your +pardon) and if you throw in a few grains more pepper--I am he that +never preached my author. I have published for Drake and Charlwood +Lawton, and poor Amhurst [Footnote: See Note 4.]--Ah, Caleb! Caleb! +Well, it was a shame to let poor Caleb starve, and so many fat rectors +and squires among us. I gave him a dinner once a week; but, Lord love +you, what's once a week, when a man does not know where to go the other +six days? Well, but I must show the manuscript to little Tom Alibi the +solicitor, who manages all my law affairs--must keep on the windy side; +the mob were very uncivil the last time I mounted in Old Palace +Yard--all Whigs and Roundheads every man of them, Williamites and +Hanover rats.' + +The next day Mr. Pembroke again called on the publisher, but found Tom +Alibi's advice had determined him against undertaking the work. 'Not +but what I would go to--(what was I going to say?) to the Plantations +for the church with pleasure--but, dear Doctor, I have a wife and +family; but, to show my zeal, I'll recommend the job to my neighbour +Trimmel--he is a bachelor, and leaving off business, so a voyage in a +western barge would not inconvenience him.' But Mr. Trimmel was also +obdurate, and Mr. Pembroke, fortunately perchance for himself, was +compelled to return to Waverley-Honour with his treatise in vindication +of the real fundamental principles of church and state safely packed in +his saddle-bags. + +As the public were thus likely to be deprived of the benefit arising +from his lucubrations by the selfish cowardice of the trade, Mr. +Pembroke resolved to make two copies of these tremendous manuscripts +for the use of his pupil. He felt that he had been indolent as a tutor, +and, besides, his conscience checked him for complying with the request +of Mr. Richard Waverley, that he would impress no sentiments upon +Edward's mind inconsistent with the present settlement in church and +state. But now, thought he, I may, without breach of my word, since he +is no longer under my tuition, afford the youth the means of judging +for himself, and have only to dread his reproaches for so long +concealing the light which the perusal will flash upon his mind. While +he thus indulged the reveries of an author and a politician, his +darling proselyte, seeing nothing very inviting in the title of the +tracts, and appalled by the bulk and compact lines of the manuscript, +quietly consigned them to a corner of his travelling trunk. + +Aunt Rachel's farewell was brief and affectionate. She only cautioned +her dear Edward, whom she probably deemed somewhat susceptible, against +the fascination of Scottish beauty. She allowed that the northern part +of the island contained some ancient families, but they were all Whigs +and Presbyterians except the Highlanders; and respecting them she must +needs say, there could be no great delicacy among the ladies, where the +gentlemen's usual attire was, as she had been assured, to say the +least, very singular, and not at all decorous. She concluded her +farewell with a kind and moving benediction, and gave the young +officer, as a pledge of her regard, a valuable diamond ring (often worn +by the male sex at that time), and a purse of broad gold-pieces, which +also were more common Sixty Years Since than they have been of late. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A HORSE-QUARTER IN SCOTLAND + + +The next morning, amid varied feelings, the chief of which was a +predominant, anxious, and even solemn impression, that he was now in a +great measure abandoned to his own guidance and direction, Edward +Waverley departed from the Hall amid the blessings and tears of all the +old domestics and the inhabitants of the village, mingled with some sly +petitions for sergeantcies and corporalships, and so forth, on the part +of those who professed that 'they never thoft to ha' seen Jacob, and +Giles, and Jonathan go off for soldiers, save to attend his honour, as +in duty bound.' Edward, as in duty bound, extricated himself from the +supplicants with the pledge of fewer promises than might have been +expected from a young man so little accustomed to the world. After a +short visit to London, he proceeded on horseback, then the general mode +of travelling, to Edinburgh, and from thence to Dundee, a seaport on +the eastern coast of Angus-shire, where his regiment was then quartered. + +He now entered upon a new world, where, for a time, all was beautiful +because all was new. Colonel Gardiner, the commanding officer of the +regiment, was himself a study for a romantic, and at the same time an +inquisitive youth. In person he was tall, handsome, and active, though +somewhat advanced in life. In his early years he had been what is +called, by manner of palliative, a very gay young man, and strange +stories were circulated about his sudden conversion from doubt, if not +infidelity, to a serious and even enthusiastic turn of mind. It was +whispered that a supernatural communication, of a nature obvious even +to the exterior senses, had produced this wonderful change; and though +some mentioned the proselyte as an enthusiast, none hinted at his being +a hypocrite. This singular and mystical circumstance gave Colonel +Gardiner a peculiar and solemn interest in the eyes of the young +soldier. [Footnote: See Note 5.] It may be easily imagined that the +officers, of a regiment commanded by so respectable a person composed a +society more sedate and orderly than a military mess always exhibits; +and that Waverley escaped some temptations to which he might otherwise +have been exposed. + +Meanwhile his military education proceeded. Already a good horseman, he +was now initiated into the arts of the manege, which, when carried to +perfection, almost realise the fable of the Centaur, the guidance of +the horse appearing to proceed from the rider's mere volition, rather +than from the use of any external and apparent signal of motion. He +received also instructions in his field duty; but I must own, that when +his first ardour was past, his progress fell short in the latter +particular of what he wished and expected. The duty of an officer, the +most imposing of all others to the inexperienced mind, because +accompanied with so much outward pomp and circumstance, is in its +essence a very dry and abstract task, depending chiefly upon +arithmetical combinations, requiring much attention, and a cool and +reasoning head to bring them into action. Our hero was liable to fits +of absence, in which his blunders excited some mirth, and called down +some reproof. This circumstance impressed him with a painful sense of +inferiority in those qualities which appeared most to deserve and +obtain regard in his new profession. He asked himself in vain, why his +eye could not judge of distance or space so well as those of his +companions; why his head was not always successful in disentangling the +various partial movements necessary to execute a particular evolution; +and why his memory, so alert upon most occasions, did not correctly +retain technical phrases and minute points of etiquette or field +discipline. Waverley was naturally modest, and therefore did not fall +into the egregious mistake of supposing such minuter rules of military +duty beneath his notice, or conceiting himself to be born a general, +because he made an indifferent subaltern. The truth was, that the vague +and unsatisfactory course of reading which he had pursued, working upon +a temper naturally retired and abstracted, had given him that wavering +and unsettled habit of mind which is most averse to study and riveted +attention. Time, in the mean while, hung heavy on his hands. The gentry +of the neighbourhood were disaffected, and showed little hospitality to +the military guests; and the people of the town, chiefly engaged in +mercantile pursuits, were not such as Waverley chose to associate with. +The arrival of summer, and a curiosity to know something more of +Scotland than he could see in a ride from his quarters, determined him +to request leave of absence for a few weeks. He resolved first to visit +his uncle's ancient friend and correspondent, with the purpose of +extending or shortening the time of his residence according to +circumstances. He travelled of course on horse-back, and with a single +attendant, and passed his first night at a miserable inn, where the +landlady had neither shoes nor stockings, and the landlord, who called +himself a gentleman, was disposed to be rude to his guest, because he +had not bespoke the pleasure of his society to supper. [Footnote: See +Note 6.] The next day, traversing an open and uninclosed country, +Edward gradually approached the Highlands of Perthshire, which at first +had appeared a blue outline in the horizon, but now swelled into huge +gigantic masses, which frowned defiance over the more level country +that lay beneath them. Near the bottom of this stupendous barrier, but +still in the Lowland country, dwelt Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine of +Bradwardine; and, if grey-haired eld can be in aught believed, there +had dwelt his ancestors, with all their heritage, since the days of the +gracious King Duncan. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A SCOTTISH MANOR-HOUSE SIXTY YEARS SINCE + + +It was about noon when Captain Waverley entered the straggling village, +or rather hamlet, of Tully-Veolan, close to which was situated the +mansion of the proprietor. The houses seemed miserable in the extreme, +especially to an eye accustomed to the smiling neatness of English +cottages. They stood, without any respect for regularity, on each side +of a straggling kind of unpaved street, where children, almost in a +primitive state of nakedness, lay sprawling, as if to be crushed by the +hoofs of the first passing horse. Occasionally, indeed, when such a +consummation seemed inevitable, a watchful old grandam, with her close +cap, distaff, and spindle, rushed like a sibyl in frenzy out of one of +these miserable cells, dashed into the middle of the path, and +snatching up her own charge from among the sunburnt loiterers, saluted +him with a sound cuff, and transported him back to his dungeon, the +little white-headed varlet screaming all the while, from the very top +of his lungs, a shrilly treble to the growling remonstrances of the +enraged matron. Another part in this concert was sustained by the +incessant yelping of a score of idle useless curs, which followed, +snarling, barking, howling, and snapping at the horses' heels; a +nuisance at that time so common in Scotland, that a French tourist, +who, like other travellers, longed to find a good and rational reason +for everything he saw, has recorded, as one of the memorabilia of +Caledonia, that the state maintained, in each village a relay of curs, +called collies, whose duty it was to chase the chevaux de poste (too +starved and exhausted to move without such a stimulus) from one hamlet +to another, till their annoying convoy drove them to the end of their +stage. The evil and remedy (such as it is) still exist.--But this is +remote from our present purpose, and is only thrown out for +consideration of the collectors under Mr. Dent's Dog Bill. + +As Waverley moved on, here and there an old man, bent as much by toil +as years, his eyes bleared with age and smoke, tottered to the door of +his hut, to gaze on the dress of the stranger and the form and motions +of the horses, and then assembled, with his neighbours, in a little +group at the smithy, to discuss the probabilities of whence the +stranger came and where he might be going. Three or four village girls, +returning from the well or brook with pitchers and pails upon their +heads, formed more pleasing objects, and, with their thin short-gowns +and single petticoats, bare arms, legs, and feet, uncovered heads and +braided hair, somewhat resembled Italian forms of landscape. Nor could +a lover of the picturesque have challenged either the elegance of their +costume or the symmetry of their shape; although, to say the truth, a +mere Englishman in search of the COMFORTABLE, a word peculiar to his +native tongue, might have wished the clothes less scanty, the feet and +legs somewhat protected from the weather, the head and complexion +shrouded from the sun, or perhaps might even have thought the whole +person and dress considerably improved by a plentiful application of +spring water, with a quantum sufficit of soap. The whole scene was +depressing; for it argued, at the first glance, at least a stagnation +of industry, and perhaps of intellect. Even curiosity, the busiest +passion of the idle, seemed of a listless cast in the village of +Tully-Veolan: the curs aforesaid alone showed any part of its activity; +with the villagers it was passive. They stood, and gazed at the +handsome young officer and his attendant, but without any of those +quick motions and eager looks that indicate the earnestness with which +those who live in monotonous ease at home look out for amusement +abroad. Yet the physiognomy of the people, when more closely examined, +was far from exhibiting the indifference of stupidity; their features +were rough, but remarkably intelligent; grave, but the very reverse of +stupid; and from among the young women an artist might have chosen more +than one model whose features and form resembled those of Minerva. The +children also, whose skins were burnt black, and whose hair was +bleached white, by the influence of the sun, had a look and manner of +life and interest. It seemed, upon the whole, as if poverty, and +indolence, its too frequent companion, were combining to depress the +natural genius and acquired information of a hardy, intelligent, and +reflecting peasantry. + +Some such thoughts crossed Waverley's mind as he paced his horse slowly +through the rugged and flinty street of Tully-Veolan, interrupted only +in his meditations by the occasional caprioles which his charger +exhibited at the reiterated assaults of those canine Cossacks, the +collies before mentioned. The village was more than half a mile long, +the cottages being irregularly divided from each other by gardens, or +yards, as the inhabitants called them, of different sizes, where (for +it is Sixty Years Since) the now universal potato was unknown, but +which were stored with gigantic plants of kale or colewort, encircled +with groves of nettles, and exhibited here and there a huge hemlock, or +the national thistle, overshadowing a quarter of the petty inclosure. +The broken ground on which the village was built had never been +levelled; so that these inclosures presented declivities of every +degree, here rising like terraces, there sinking like tan-pits. The +dry-stone walls which fenced, or seemed to fence (for they were sorely +breached), these hanging gardens of Tully-Veolan were intersected by a +narrow lane leading to the common field, where the joint labour of the +villagers cultivated alternate ridges and patches of rye, oats, barley, +and pease, each of such minute extent that at a little distance the +unprofitable variety of the surface resembled a tailor's book of +patterns. In a few favoured instances, there appeared behind the +cottages a miserable wigwam, compiled of earth, loose stones, and turf, +where the wealthy might perhaps shelter a starved cow or sorely galled +horse. But almost every hut was fenced in front by a huge black stack +of turf on one side of the door, while on the other the family dunghill +ascended in noble emulation. + +About a bowshot from the end of the village appeared the inclosures +proudly denominated the Parks of Tully-Veolan, being certain square +fields, surrounded and divided by stone walls five feet in height. In +the centre of the exterior barrier was the upper gate of the avenue, +opening under an archway, battlemented on the top, and adorned with two +large weather-beaten mutilated masses of upright stone, which, if the +tradition of the hamlet could be trusted, had once represented, at +least had been once designed to represent, two rampant Bears, the +supporters of the family of Bradwardine. This avenue was straight and +of moderate length, running between a double row of very ancient +horse-chestnuts, planted alternately with sycamores, which rose to such +huge height, and nourished so luxuriantly, that their boughs completely +over-arched the broad road beneath. Beyond these venerable ranks, and +running parallel to them, were two high walls, of apparently the like +antiquity, overgrown with ivy, honeysuckle, and other climbing plants. +The avenue seemed very little trodden, and chiefly by foot-passengers; +so that being very broad, and enjoying a constant shade, it was clothed +with grass of a deep and rich verdure, excepting where a foot-path, +worn by occasional passengers, tracked with a natural sweep the way +from the upper to the lower gate. This nether portal, like the former, +opened in front of a wall ornamented with some rude sculpture, with +battlements on the top, over which were seen, half-hidden by the trees +of the avenue, the high steep roofs and narrow gables of the mansion, +with lines indented into steps, and corners decorated with small +turrets. One of the folding leaves of the lower gate was open, and as +the sun shone full into the court behind, a long line of brilliancy was +flung upon the aperture up the dark and gloomy avenue. It was one of +those effects which a painter loves to represent, and mingled well with +the struggling light which found its way between the boughs of the +shady arch that vaulted the broad green alley. + +The solitude and repose of the whole scene seemed almost monastic; and +Waverley, who had given his horse to his servant on entering the first +gate, walked slowly down the avenue, enjoying the grateful and cooling +shade, and so much pleased with the placid ideas of rest and seclusion +excited by this confined and quiet scene, that he forgot the misery and +dirt of the hamlet he had left behind him. The opening into the paved +court-yard corresponded with the rest of the scene. The house, which +seemed to consist of two or three high, narrow, and steep-roofed +buildings, projecting from each other at right angles, formed one side +of the inclosure. It had been built at a period when castles were no +longer necessary, and when the Scottish architects had not yet acquired +the art of designing a domestic residence. The windows were numberless, +but very small; the roof had some nondescript kind of projections, +called bartizans, and displayed at each frequent angle a small turret, +rather resembling a pepper-box than a Gothic watchtower. Neither did +the front indicate absolute security from danger. There were loop-holes +for musketry, and iron stanchions on the lower windows, probably to +repel any roving band of gypsies, or resist a predatory visit from the +caterans of the neighbouring Highlands. Stables and other offices +occupied another side of the square. The former were low vaults, with +narrow slits instead of windows, resembling, as Edward's groom +observed, 'rather a prison for murderers, and larceners, and such like +as are tried at 'sizes, than a place for any Christian cattle.' Above +these dungeon-looking stables were granaries, called girnels, and other +offices, to which there was access by outside stairs of heavy masonry. +Two battlemented walls, one of which faced the avenue, and the other +divided the court from the garden, completed the inclosure. + +Nor was the court without its ornaments. In one corner was a +tun-bellied pigeon-house, of great size and rotundity, resembling in +figure and proportion the curious edifice called Arthur's Oven, which +would have turned the brains of all the antiquaries in England, had not +the worthy proprietor pulled it down for the sake of mending a +neighbouring dam-dyke. This dove-cot, or columbarium, as the owner +called it, was no small resource to a Scottish laird of that period, +whose scanty rents were eked out by the contributions levied upon the +farms by these light foragers, and the conscriptions exacted from the +latter for the benefit of the table. + +Another corner of the court displayed a fountain, where a huge bear, +carved in stone, predominated over a large stone-basin, into which he +disgorged the water. This work of art was the wonder of the country ten +miles round. It must not be forgotten, that all sorts of bears, small +and large, demi or in full proportion, were carved over the windows, +upon the ends of the gables, terminated the spouts, and supported the +turrets, with the ancient family motto, 'Beware the Bear', cut under +each hyperborean form. The court was spacious, well paved, and +perfectly clean, there being probably another entrance behind the +stables for removing the litter. Everything around appeared solitary, +and would have been silent, but for the continued plashing of the +fountain; and the whole scene still maintained the monastic illusion +which the fancy of Waverley had conjured up. And here we beg permission +to close a chapter of still life. [Footnote: See Note 7.] + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MORE OF THE MANOR-HOUSE AND ITS ENVIRONS + + +After having satisfied his curiosity by gazing around him for a few +minutes, Waverley applied himself to the massive knocker of the +hall-door, the architrave of which bore the date 1594. But no answer +was returned, though the peal resounded through a number of apartments, +and was echoed from the court-yard walls without the house, startling +the pigeons from the venerable rotunda which they occupied, and +alarming anew even the distant village curs, which had retired to sleep +upon their respective dunghills. Tired of the din which he created, and +the unprofitable responses which it excited, Waverley began to think +that he had reached the castle of Orgoglio as entered by the victorious +Prince Arthur,-- + + When 'gan he loudly through the house to call, + But no man cared to answer to his cry; + There reign'd a solemn silence over all, + Nor voice was heard, nor wight was seen in bower or hall. + +Filled almost with expectation of beholding some 'old, old man, with +beard as white as snow,' whom he might question concerning this +deserted mansion, our hero turned to a little oaken wicket-door, well +clenched with iron-nails, which opened in the court-yard wall at its +angle with the house. It was only latched, notwithstanding its +fortified appearance, and, when opened, admitted him into the garden, +which presented a pleasant scene. [Footnote: Footnote: At Ravelston may +be seen such a garden, which the taste of the proprietor, the author's +friend and kinsman, Sir Alexander Keith, Knight Mareschal, has +judiciously preserved. That, as well as the house is, however, of +smaller dimensions than the Baron of Bradwardine's mansion and garden +are presumed to have been.] The southern side of the house, clothed +with fruit-trees, and having many evergreens trained upon its walls, +extended its irregular yet venerable front along a terrace, partly +paved, partly gravelled, partly bordered with flowers and choice +shrubs. This elevation descended by three several flights of steps, +placed in its centre and at the extremities, into what might be called +the garden proper, and was fenced along the top by a stone parapet with +a heavy balustrade, ornamented from space to space with huge grotesque +figures of animals seated upon their haunches, among which the +favourite bear was repeatedly introduced. Placed in the middle of the +terrace between a sashed-door opening from the house and the central +flight of steps, a huge animal of the same species supported on his +head and fore-paws a sun-dial of large circumference, inscribed with +more diagrams than Edward's mathematics enabled him to decipher. + +The garden, which seemed to be kept with great accuracy, abounded in +fruit-trees, and exhibited a profusion of flowers and evergreens, cut +into grotesque forms. It was laid out in terraces, which descended rank +by rank from the western wall to a large brook, which had a tranquil +and smooth appearance, where it served as a boundary to the garden; +but, near the extremity, leapt in tumult over a strong dam, or +wear-head, the cause of its temporary tranquillity, and there forming a +cascade, was overlooked by an octangular summer-house, with a gilded +bear on the top by way of vane. After this feat, the brook, assuming +its natural rapid and fierce character, escaped from the eye down a +deep and wooded dell, from the copse of which arose a massive, but +ruinous tower, the former habitation of the Barons of Bradwardine. The +margin of the brook, opposite to the garden, displayed a narrow meadow, +or haugh, as it was called, which formed a small washing-green; the +bank, which retired behind it, was covered by ancient trees. + +The scene, though pleasing, was not quite equal to the gardens of +Alcina; yet wanted not the 'due donzellette garrule' of that enchanted +paradise, for upon the green aforesaid two bare-legged damsels, each +standing in a spacious tub, performed with their feet the office of a +patent washing-machine. These did not, however, like the maidens of +Armida, remain to greet with their harmony the approaching guest, but, +alarmed at the appearance of a handsome stranger on the opposite side, +dropped their garments (I should say garment, to be quite correct) over +their limbs, which their occupation exposed somewhat too freely, and, +with a shrill exclamation of 'Eh, sirs!' uttered with an accent between +modesty and coquetry, sprung off like deer in different directions. + +Waverley began to despair of gaining entrance into this solitary and +seemingly enchanted mansion, when a man advanced up one of the garden +alleys, where he still retained his station. Trusting this might be a +gardener, or some domestic belonging to the house, Edward descended the +steps in order to meet him; but as the figure approached, and long +before he could descry its features, he was struck with the oddity of +its appearance and gestures. Sometimes this mister wight held his hands +clasped over his head, like an Indian Jogue in the attitude of penance; +sometimes he swung them perpendicularly, like a pendulum, on each side; +and anon he slapped them swiftly and repeatedly across his breast, like +the substitute used by a hackney-coachman for his usual flogging +exercise, when his cattle are idle upon the stand, in a clear frosty +day. His gait was as singular as his gestures, for at times he hopped +with great perseverance on the right foot, then exchanged that +supporter to advance in the same manner on the left, and then putting +his feet close together he hopped upon both at once. His attire also +was antiquated and extravagant. It consisted in a sort of grey jerkin, +with scarlet cuffs and slashed sleeves, showing a scarlet lining; the +other parts of the dress corresponded in colour, not forgetting a pair +of scarlet stockings, and a scarlet bonnet, proudly surmounted with a +turkey's feather. Edward, whom he did not seem to observe, now +perceived confirmation in his features of what the mien and gestures +had already announced. It was apparently neither idiocy nor insanity +which gave that wild, unsettled, irregular expression to a face which +naturally was rather handsome, but something that resembled a compound +of both, where the simplicity of the fool was mixed with the +extravagance of a crazed imagination. He sung with great earnestness, +and not without some taste, a fragment of an old Scottish ditty:-- + + False love, and hast thou play'd me this + In summer among the flowers? + I will repay thee back again + In winter among the showers. + Unless again, again, my love, + Unless you turn again; + As you with other maidens rove, + I'll smile on other men. + +[Footnote: This is a genuine ancient fragment, with some alteration in +the two last lines.] + +Here lifting up his eyes, which had hitherto been fixed in observing +how his feet kept time to the tune, he beheld Waverley, and instantly +doffed his cap, with many grotesque signals of surprise, respect, and +salutation. Edward, though with little hope of receiving an answer to +any constant question, requested to know whether Mr. Bradwardine were +at home, or where he could find any of the domestics. The questioned +party replied, and, like the witch of Thalaba, 'still his speech was +song,'-- + + The Knight's to the mountain + His bugle to wind; + The Lady's to greenwood + Her garland to bind. + The bower of Burd Ellen + Has moss on the floor, + That the step of Lord William + Be silent and sure. + +This conveyed no information, and Edward, repeating his queries, +received a rapid answer, in which, from the haste and peculiarity of +the dialect, the word 'butler' was alone intelligible. Waverley then +requested to see the butler; upon which the fellow, with a knowing look +and nod of intelligence, made a signal to Edward to follow, and began +to dance and caper down the alley up which he had made his approaches. +A strange guide this, thought Edward, and not much unlike one of +Shakespeare's roynish clowns. I am not over prudent to trust to his +pilotage; but wiser men have been led by fools. By this time he reached +the bottom of the alley, where, turning short on a little parterre of +flowers, shrouded from the east and north by a close yew hedge, he +found an old man at work without his coat, whose appearance hovered +between that of an upper servant and gardener; his red nose and ruffled +shirt belonging to the former profession; his hale and sunburnt visage, +with his green apron, appearing to indicate + + Old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden. + +The major domo, for such he was, and indisputably the second officer of +state in the barony (nay, as chief minister of the interior, superior +even to Bailie Macwheeble in his own department of the kitchen and +cellar)--the major domo laid down his spade, slipped on his coat in +haste, and with a wrathful look at Edward's guide, probably excited by +his having introduced a stranger while he was engaged in this +laborious, and, as he might suppose it, degrading office, requested to +know the gentleman's commands. Being informed that he wished to pay his +respects to his master, that his name was Waverley, and so forth, the +old man's countenance assumed a great deal of respectful importance. +'He could take it upon his conscience to say, his honour would have +exceeding pleasure in seeing him. Would not Mr. Waverley choose some +refreshment after his journey? His honour was with the folk who were +getting doon the dark hag; the twa gardener lads (an emphasis on the +word twa) had been ordered to attend him; and he had been just amusing +himself in the mean time with dressing Miss Rose's flower-bed, that he +might be near to receive his honour's orders, if need were; he was very +fond of a garden, but had little time for such divertisements.' + +'He canna get it wrought in abune twa days in the week at no rate +whatever,' said Edward's fantastic conductor. + +A grim look from the butler chastised his interference, and he +commanded him, by the name of Davie Gellatley, in a tone which admitted +no discussion, to look for his honour at the dark hag, and tell him +there was a gentleman from the south had arrived at the Ha'. + +'Can this poor fellow deliver a letter?' asked Edward. + +'With all fidelity, sir, to any one whom he respects. I would hardly +trust him with a long message by word of mouth--though he is more knave +than fool.' + +Waverley delivered his credentials to Mr. Gellatley, who seemed to +confirm the butler's last observation, by twisting his features at him, +when he was looking another way, into the resemblance of the grotesque +face on the bole of a German tobacco pipe; after which, with an odd +conge to Waverley, he danced off to discharge his errand. + +'He is an innocent, sir,' said the butler; 'there is one such in almost +every town in the country, but ours is brought far ben. [Footnote: See +Note 8.] He used to work a day's turn weel enough; but he helped Miss +Rose when she was flemit with the Laird of Killancureit's new English +bull, and since that time we ca' him Davie Do-little; indeed we might +ca' him Davie Do-naething, for since he got that gay clothing, to +please his honour and my young mistress (great folks will have their +fancies), he has done naething but dance up and down about the toun, +without doing a single turn, unless trimming the laird's fishing-wand +or busking his flies, or may be catching a dish of trouts at an orra +time. But here comes Miss Rose, who, I take burden upon me for her, +will be especial glad to see one of the house of Waverley at her +father's mansion of Tully-Veolan.' + +But Rose Bradwardine deserves better of her unworthy historian than to +be introduced at the end of a chapter. + +In the mean while it may be noticed, that Waverley learned two things +from this colloquy: that in Scotland a single house was called a TOWN, +and a natural fool an INNOCENT. + + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ROSE BRADWARDINE AND HER FATHER + + +Miss Bradwardine was but seventeen; yet, at the last races of the +county town of ----, upon her health being proposed among a round of +beauties, the Laird of Bumperquaigh, permanent toast-master and +croupier of the Bautherwhillery Club, not only said MORE to the pledge +in a pint bumper of Bourdeaux, but, ere pouring forth the libation, +denominated the divinity to whom it was dedicated, 'the Rose of +Tully-Veolan'; upon which festive occasion three cheers were given by +all the sitting members of that respectable society, whose throats the +wine had left capable of such exertion. Nay, I am well assured, that +the sleeping partners of the company snorted applause, and that +although strong bumpers and weak brains had consigned two or three to +the floor, yet even these, fallen as they were from their high estate, +and weltering--I will carry the parody no farther--uttered divers +inarticulate sounds, intimating their assent to the motion. + +Such unanimous applause could not be extorted but by acknowledged +merit; and Rose Bradwardine not only deserved it, but also the +approbation of much more rational persons than the Bautherwhillery Club +could have mustered, even before discussion of the first magnum. She +was indeed a very pretty girl of the Scotch cast of beauty, that is, +with a profusion of hair of paley gold, and a skin like the snow of her +own mountains in whiteness. Yet she had not a pallid or pensive cast of +countenance; her features, as well as her temper, had a lively +expression; her complexion, though not florid, was so pure as to seem +transparent, and the slightest emotion sent her whole blood at once to +her face and neck. Her form, though under the common size, was +remarkably elegant, and her motions light, easy, and unembarrassed. She +came from another part of the garden to receive Captain Waverley, with +a manner that hovered between bashfulness and courtesy. + +The first greetings past, Edward learned from her that the dark hag, +which had somewhat puzzled him in the butler's account of his master's +avocations, had nothing to do either with a black cat or a broomstick, +but was simply a portion of oak copse which was to be felled that day. +She offered, with diffident civility, to show the stranger the way to +the spot, which, it seems, was not far distant; but they were prevented +by the appearance of the Baron of Bradwardine in person, who, summoned +by David Gellatley, now appeared, 'on hospitable thoughts intent,' +clearing the ground at a prodigious rate with swift and long strides, +which reminded Waverley of the seven-league boots of the nursery fable. +He was a tall, thin, athletic figure, old indeed and grey-haired, but +with every muscle rendered as tough as whip-cord by constant exercise. +He was dressed carelessly, and more like a Frenchman than an Englishman +of the period, while, from his hard features and perpendicular rigidity +of stature, he bore some resemblance to a Swiss officer of the guards, +who had resided some time at Paris, and caught the costume, but not the +ease or manner, of its inhabitants. The truth was, that his language +and habits were as heterogeneous as his external appearance. + +Owing to his natural disposition to study, or perhaps to a very general +Scottish fashion of giving young men of rank a legal education, he had +been bred with a view to the bar. But the politics of his family +precluding the hope of his rising in that profession, Mr. Bradwardine +travelled with high reputation for several years, and made some +campaigns in foreign service. After his demele with the law of high +treason in 1715, he had lived in retirement, conversing almost entirely +with those of his own principles in the vicinage. The pedantry of the +lawyer, superinduced upon the military pride of the soldier, might +remind a modern of the days of the zealous volunteer service, when the +bar-gown of our pleaders was often flung over a blazing uniform. To +this must be added the prejudices of ancient birth and Jacobite +politics, greatly strengthened by habits of solitary and secluded +authority, which, though exercised only within the bounds of his +half-cultivated estate, was there indisputable and undisputed. For, as +he used to observe, 'the lands of Bradwardine, Tully-Veolan, and +others, had been erected into a free barony by a charter from David the +First, cum liberali potest. habendi curias et justicias, cum fossa et +furca (LIE, pit and gallows) et saka et soka, et thol et theam, et +infang-thief et outfang-thief, sive hand-habend. sive bak-barand.' The +peculiar meaning of all these cabalistical words few or none could +explain; but they implied, upon the whole, that the Baron of +Bradwardine might, in case of delinquency, imprison, try, and execute +his vassals at his pleasure. Like James the First, however, the present +possessor of this authority was more pleased in talking about +prerogative than in exercising it; and excepting that he imprisoned two +poachers in the dungeon of the old tower of Tully-Veolan, where they +were sorely frightened by ghosts, and almost eaten by rats, and that he +set an old woman in the jougs (or Scottish pillory) for saying' there +were mair fules in the laird's ha' house than Davie Gellatley,' I do +not learn that he was accused of abusing his high powers. Still, +however, the conscious pride of possessing them gave additional +importance to his language and deportment. + +At his first address to Waverley, it would seem that the hearty +pleasure he felt to behold the nephew of his friend had somewhat +discomposed the stiff and upright dignity of the Baron of Bradwardine's +demeanour, for the tears stood in the old gentleman's eyes, when, +having first shaken Edward heartily by the hand in the English fashion, +he embraced him a la mode Francoise, and kissed him on both sides of +his face; while the hardness of his gripe, and the quantity of Scotch +snuff which his accolade communicated, called corresponding drops of +moisture to the eyes of his guest. + +'Upon the honour of a gentleman,' he said, 'but it makes me young again +to see you here, Mr. Waverley! A worthy scion of the old stock of +Waverley-Honour--spes altera, as Maro hath it--and you have the look of +the old line, Captain Waverley; not so portly yet as my old friend Sir +Everard--mais cela viendra avec le tems, as my Dutch acquaintance, +Baron Kikkitbroeck, said of the sagesse of Madame son epouse. And so ye +have mounted the cockade? Right, right; though I could have wished the +colour different, and so I would ha' deemed might Sir Everard. But no +more of that; I am old, and times are changed. And how does the worthy +knight baronet, and the fair Mrs. Rachel?--Ah, ye laugh, young man! In +troth she was the fair Mrs. Rachel in the year of grace seventeen +hundred and sixteen; but time passes--et singula praedantur anni--that +is most certain. But once again ye are most heartily welcome to my poor +house of Tully-Veolan! Hie to the house, Rose, and see that Alexander +Saunderson looks out the old Chateau Margaux, which I sent from +Bourdeaux to Dundee in the year 1713.' + +Rose tripped off demurely enough till she turned the first corner, and +then ran with the speed of a fairy, that she might gain leisure, after +discharging her father's commission, to put her own dress in order, and +produce all her little finery, an occupation for which the approaching +dinner-hour left but limited time. + +'We cannot rival the luxuries of your English table, Captain Waverley, +or give you the epulae lautiores of Waverley-Honour. I say epulae +rather than prandium, because the latter phrase is popular: epulae ad +senatum, prandium vero ad populum attinet, says Suetonius Tranquillus. +But I trust ye will applaud my Bourdeaux; c'est des deux oreilles, as +Captain Vinsauf used to say; vinum primae notae, the principal of Saint +Andrews denominated it. And, once more, Captain Waverley, right glad am +I that ye are here to drink the best my cellar can make forthcoming.' + +This speech, with the necessary interjectional answers, continued from +the lower alley where they met up to the door of the house, where four +or five servants in old-fashioned liveries, headed by Alexander +Saunderson, the butler, who now bore no token of the sable stains of +the garden, received them in grand COSTUME, + + In an old hall hung round with pikes and with bows, + With old bucklers and corslets that had borne many shrewd + blows. + +With much ceremony, and still more real kindness, the Baron, without +stopping in any intermediate apartment, conducted his guest through +several into the great dining parlour, wainscotted with black oak, and +hung round with the pictures of his ancestry, where a table was set +forth in form for six persons, and an old-fashioned beaufet displayed +all the ancient and massive plate of the Bradwardine family. A bell was +now heard at the head of the avenue; for an old man, who acted as +porter upon gala days, had caught the alarm given by Waverley's +arrival, and, repairing to his post, announced the arrival of other +guests. + +These, as the Baron assured his young friend, were very estimable +persons. 'There was the young Laird of Balmawhapple, a Falconer by +surname, of the house of Glenfarquhar, given right much to +field-sports--gaudet equis et canibus--but a very discreet young +gentleman. Then there was the Laird of Killancureit, who had devoted +his leisure UNTILL tillage and agriculture, and boasted himself to be +possessed of a bull of matchless merit, brought from the county of +Devon (the Damnonia of the Romans, if we can trust Robert of +Cirencester). He is, as ye may well suppose from such a tendency, but +of yeoman extraction--servabit odorem testa diu--and I believe, between +ourselves, his grandsire was from the wrong side of the Border--one +Bullsegg, who came hither as a steward, or bailiff, or ground-officer, +or something in that department, to the last Girnigo of Killancureit, +who died of an atrophy. After his master's death, sir,--ye would hardly +believe such a scandal, --but this Bullsegg, being portly and comely of +aspect, intermarried with the lady dowager, who was young and amorous, +and possessed himself of the estate, which devolved on this unhappy +woman by a settlement of her umwhile husband, in direct contravention +of an unrecorded taillie, and to the prejudice of the disponer's own +flesh and blood, in the person of his natural heir and seventh cousin, +Girnigo of Tipperhewit, whose family was so reduced by the ensuing +law-suit, that his representative is now serving as a private +gentleman-sentinel in the Highland Black Watch. But this gentleman, Mr. +Bullsegg of Killancureit that now is, has good blood in his veins by +the mother and grandmother, who were both of the family of +Pickletillim, and he is well liked and looked upon, and knows his own +place. And God forbid, Captain Waverley, that we of irreproachable +lineage should exult over him, when it may be, that in the eighth, +ninth, or tenth generation, his progeny may rank, in a manner, with the +old gentry of the country. Rank and ancestry, sir, should be the last +words in the mouths of us of unblemished race--vix ea nostra voco, as +Naso saith. There is, besides, a clergyman of the true (though +suffering) Episcopal church of Scotland. [Footnote: See Note 9.] He was +a confessor in her cause after the year 1715, when a Whiggish mob +destroyed his meeting-house, tore his surplice, and plundered his +dwelling-house of four silver spoons, intromitting also with his mart +and his mealark, and with two barrels, one of single and one of double +ale, besides three bottles of brandy. My baron-bailie and doer, Mr. +Duncan Macwheeble, is the fourth on our list. There is a question, +owing to the incertitude of ancient orthography, whether he belongs to +the clan of Wheedle or of Quibble, but both have produced persons +eminent in the law.'-- + + As such he described them by person and name, + They enter'd, and dinner was served as they came. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BANQUET + + +The entertainment was ample and handsome, according to the Scotch ideas +of the period, and the guests did great honour to it. The Baron eat +like a famished soldier, the Laird of Balmawhapple like a sportsman, +Bullsegg of Killancureit like a farmer, Waverley himself like a +traveller, and Bailie Macwheeble like all four together; though, either +out of more respect, or in order to preserve that proper declination of +person which showed a sense that he was in the presence of his patron, +he sat upon the edge of his chair, placed at three feet distance from +the table, and achieved a communication with his plate by projecting +his person towards it in a line which obliqued from the bottom of his +spine, so that the person who sat opposite to him could only see the +foretop of his riding periwig. + +This stooping position might have been inconvenient to another person; +but long habit made it, whether seated or walking, perfectly easy to +the worthy Bailie. In the latter posture it occasioned, no doubt, an +unseemly projection of the person towards those who happened to walk +behind; but those being at all times his inferiors (for Mr. Macwheeble +was very scrupulous in giving place to all others), he cared very +little what inference of contempt or slight regard they might derive +from the circumstance. Hence, when he waddled across the court to and +from his old grey pony, he somewhat resembled a turnspit walking upon +its hind legs. + +The nonjuring clergyman was a pensive and interesting old man, with +much of the air of a sufferer for conscience' sake. He was one of those + + Who, undeprived, their benefice forsook. + +For this whim, when the Baron was out of hearing, the Bailie used +sometimes gently to rally Mr. Rubrick, upbraiding him with the nicety +of his scruples. Indeed, it must be owned, that he himself, though at +heart a keen partisan of the exiled family, had kept pretty fair with +all the different turns of state in his time; so that Davie Gellatley +once described him as a particularly good man, who had a very quiet and +peaceful conscience, THAT NEVER DID HIM ANY HARM. + +When the dinner was removed, the Baron announced the health of the +King, politely leaving to the consciences of his guests to drink to the +sovereign de facto or de jure, as their politics inclined. The +conversation now became general; and, shortly afterwards, Miss +Bradwardine, who had done the honours with natural grace and +simplicity, retired, and was soon followed by the clergyman. Among the +rest of the party, the wine, which fully justified the encomiums of the +landlord, flowed freely round, although Waverley, with some difficulty, +obtained the privilege of sometimes neglecting the glass. At length, as +the evening grew more late, the Baron made a private signal to Mr. +Saunders Saunderson, or, as he facetiously denominated him, Alexander +ab Alexandro, who left the room with a nod, and soon after returned, +his grave countenance mantling with a solemn and mysterious smile, and +placed before his master a small oaken casket, mounted with brass +ornaments of curious form. The Baron, drawing out a private key, +unlocked the casket, raised the lid, and produced a golden goblet of a +singular and antique appearance, moulded into the shape of a rampant +bear, which the owner regarded with a look of mingled reverence, pride, +and delight, that irresistibly reminded Waverley of Ben Jonson's Tom +Otter, with his Bull, Horse, and Dog, as that wag wittily denominated +his chief carousing cups. But Mr. Bradwardine, turning towards him with +complacency, requested him to observe this curious relic of the olden +time. + +'It represents,' he said, 'the chosen crest of our family, a bear, as +ye observe, and RAMPANT; because a good herald will depict every animal +in its noblest posture, as a horse SALIENT, a greyhound CURRANT, and, +as may be inferred, a ravenous animal in actu ferociori, or in a +voracious, lacerating, and devouring posture. Now, sir, we hold this +most honourable achievement by the wappen-brief, or concession of arms, +of Frederick Red-beard, Emperor of Germany, to my predecessor, Godmund +Bradwardine, it being the crest of a gigantic Dane, whom he slew in the +lists in the Holy Land, on a quarrel touching the chastity of the +emperor's spouse or daughter, tradition saith not precisely which, and +thus, as Virgilius hath it-- + + Mutemus clypeos, Danaumque insignia nobis + Aptemus. + +Then for the cup, Captain Waverley, it was wrought by the command of +Saint Duthac, Abbot of Aberbrothock, for behoof of another baron of the +house of Bradwardine, who had valiantly defended the patrimony of that +monastery against certain encroaching nobles. It is properly termed the +Blessed Bear of Bradwardine (though old Doctor Doubleit used jocosely +to call it Ursa Major), and was supposed, in old and Catholic times, to +be invested with certain properties of a mystical and supernatural +quality. And though I give not in to such anilia, it is certain it has +always been esteemed a solemn standard cup and heirloom of our house; +nor is it ever used but upon seasons of high festival, and such I hold +to be the arrival of the heir of Sir Everard under my roof; and I +devote this draught to the health and prosperity of the ancient and +highly-to-be-honoured house of Waverley.' + +During this long harangue, he carefully decanted a cob-webbed bottle of +claret into the goblet, which held nearly an English pint; and, at the +conclusion, delivering the bottle to the butler, to be held carefully +in the same angle with the horizon, he devoutly quaffed off the +contents of the Blessed Bear of Bradwardine. + +Edward, with horror and alarm, beheld the animal making his rounds, and +thought with great anxiety upon the appropriate motto, 'Beware the +Bear'; but, at the same time, plainly foresaw that, as none of the +guests scrupled to do him this extraordinary honour, a refusal on his +part to pledge their courtesy would be extremely ill received. +Resolving, therefore, to submit to this last piece of tyranny, and then +to quit the table, if possible, and confiding in the strength of his +constitution, he did justice to the company in the contents of the +Blessed Bear, and felt less inconvenience from the draught than he +could possibly have expected. The others, whose time had been more +actively employed, began to show symptoms of innovation--'the good wine +did its good office.' [Footnote: Southey's Madoc.] The frost of +etiquette and pride of birth began to give way before the genial +blessings of this benign constellation, and the formal appellatives +with which the three dignitaries had hitherto addressed each other were +now familiarly abbreviated into Tully, Bally, and Killie. When a few +rounds had passed, the two latter, after whispering together, craved +permission (a joyful hearing for Edward) to ask the grace-cup. This, +after some delay, was at length produced, and Waverley concluded the +orgies of Bacchus were terminated for the evening. He was never more +mistaken in his life. + +As the guests had left their horses at the small inn, or change-house, +as it was called, of the village, the Baron could not, in politeness, +avoid walking with them up the avenue, and Waverley from the same +motive, and to enjoy after this feverish revel the cool summer evening, +attended the party. But when they arrived at Luckie Macleary's the +Lairds of Balmawhapple and Killancureit declared their determination to +acknowledge their sense of the hospitality of Tully-Veolan by +partaking, with their entertainer and his guest Captain Waverley, what +they technically called deoch an doruis, a stirrup-cup, [Footnote 2: +See Note 10] to the honour of the Baron's roof-tree. + +It must be noticed that the Bailie, knowing by experience that the +day's jovialty, which had been hitherto sustained at the expense of his +patron, might terminate partly at his own, had mounted his spavined +grey pony, and, between gaiety of heart and alarm for being hooked into +a reckoning, spurred him into a hobbling canter (a trot was out of the +question), and had already cleared the village. The others entered the +change-house, leading Edward in unresisting submission; for his +landlord whispered him, that to demur to such an overture would be +construed into a high misdemeanour against the leges conviviales, or +regulations of genial compotation. Widow Macleary seemed to have +expected this visit, as well she might, for it was the usual +consummation of merry bouts, not only at Tully-Veolan, but at most +other gentlemen's houses in Scotland, Sixty Years Since. The guests +thereby at once acquitted themselves of their burden of gratitude for +their entertainer's kindness, encouraged the trade of his change-house, +did honour to the place which afforded harbour to their horses, and +indemnified themselves for the previous restraints imposed by private +hospitality, by spending what Falstaff calls the sweet of the night in +the genial license of a tavern. + +Accordingly, in full expectation of these distinguished guests, Luckie +Macleary had swept her house for the first time this fortnight, +tempered her turf-fire to such a heat as the season required in her +damp hovel even at Midsummer, set forth her deal table newly washed, +propped its lame foot with a fragment of turf, arranged four or five +stools of huge and clumsy form upon the sites which best suited the +inequalities of her clay floor; and having, moreover, put on her clean +toy, rokelay, and scarlet plaid, gravely awaited the arrival of the +company, in full hope of custom and profit. When they were seated under +the sooty rafters of Luckie Macleary's only apartment, thickly +tapestried with cobwebs, their hostess, who had already taken her cue +from the Laird of Balmawhapple, appeared with a huge pewter +measuring-pot, containing at least three English quarts, familiarly +denominated a Tappit Hen, and which, in the language of the hostess, +reamed (i.e., mantled) with excellent claret just drawn from the cask. + +It was soon plain that what crumbs of reason the Bear had not devoured +were to be picked up by the Hen; but the confusion which appeared to +prevail favoured Edward's resolution to evade the gaily circling glass. +The others began to talk thick and at once, each performing his own +part in the conversation without the least respect to his neighbour. +The Baron of Bradwardine sung French chansons-a-boire, and spouted +pieces of Latin; Killancureit talked, in a steady unalterable dull key, +of top-dressing and bottom-dressing, [Footnote: This has been censured +as an anachronism; and it must be confessed that agriculture of this +kind was unknown to the Scotch Sixty Years Since.] and year-olds, and +gimmers, and dinmonts, and stots, and runts, and kyloes, and a proposed +turnpike-act; while Balmawhapple, in notes exalted above both, extolled +his horse, his hawks, and a greyhound called Whistler. In the middle of +this din, the Baron repeatedly implored silence; and when at length the +instinct of polite discipline so far prevailed that for a moment he +obtained it, he hastened to beseech their attention 'unto a military +ariette, which was a particular favourite of the Marechal Duc de +Berwick'; then, imitating, as well as he could, the manner and tone of +a French musquetaire, he immediately commenced,-- + + Mon coeur volage, dit elle, + N'est pas pour vous, garcon; + Est pour un homme de guerre, + Qui a barbe au menton. + Lon, Lon, Laridon. + + Qui port chapeau a plume, + Soulier a rouge talon, + Qui joue de la flute, + Aussi du violon. + Lon, Lon, Laridon. + +Balmawhapple could hold no longer, but broke in with what he called a +d--d good song, composed by Gibby Gaethroughwi't, the piper of Cupar; +and, without wasting more time, struck up,-- + + It's up Glenbarchan's braes I gaed, + And o'er the bent of Killiebraid, + And mony a weary cast I made, + To cuittle the moor-fowl's tail. + +[Footnote: Suum cuique. This snatch of a ballad was composed by Andrew +MacDonald, the ingenious and unfortunate author of Vimonda.] + +The Baron, whose voice was drowned in the louder and more obstreperous +strains of Balmawhapple, now dropped the competition, but continued to +hum 'Lon, Lon, Laridon,' and to regard the successful candidate for the +attention of the company with an eye of disdain, while Balmawhapple +proceeded,-- + + If up a bonny black-cock should spring, + To whistle him down wi' a slug in his wing, + And strap him on to my lunzie string, + Right seldom would I fail. + +After an ineffectual attempt to recover the second verse, he sung the +first over again; and, in prosecution of his triumph, declared there +was 'more sense in that than in all the derry-dongs of France, and +Fifeshire to the boot of it.' The Baron only answered with a long pinch +of snuff and a glance of infinite contempt. But those noble allies, the +Bear and the Hen, had emancipated the young laird from the habitual +reverence in which he held Bradwardine at other times. He pronounced +the claret shilpit, and demanded brandy with great vociferation. It was +brought; and now the Demon of Politics envied even the harmony arising +from this Dutch concert, merely because there was not a wrathful note +in the strange compound of sounds which it produced. Inspired by her, +the Laird of Balmawhapple, now superior to the nods and winks with +which the Baron of Bradwardine, in delicacy to Edward, had hitherto +checked his entering upon political discussion, demanded a bumper, with +the lungs of a Stentor, 'to the little gentleman in black velvet who +did such service in 1702, and may the white horse break his neck over a +mound of his making!' + +Edward was not at that moment clear-headed enough to remember that King +William's fall, which occasioned his death, was said to be owing to his +horse stumbling at a mole-hill; yet felt inclined to take umbrage at a +toast which seemed, from the glance of Balmawhapple's eye, to have a +peculiar and uncivil reference to the Government which he served. But, +ere he could interfere, the Baron of Bradwardine had taken up the +quarrel. 'Sir,' he said, 'whatever my sentiments tanquam privatus may +be in such matters, I shall not tamely endure your saying anything that +may impinge upon the honourable feelings of a gentleman under my roof. +Sir, if you have no respect for the laws of urbanity, do ye not respect +the military oath, the sacramentum militare, by which every officer is +bound to the standards under which he is enrolled? Look at Titus +Livius, what he says of those Roman soldiers who were so unhappy as +exuere sacramentum, to renounce their legionary oath; but you are +ignorant, sir, alike of ancient history and modern courtesy.' + +'Not so ignorant as ye would pronounce me,' roared Balmawhapple. 'I ken +weel that you mean the Solemn League and Covenant; but if a' the Whigs +in hell had taken the--' + +Here the Baron and Waverley both spoke at once, the former calling out, +'Be silent, sir! ye not only show your ignorance, but disgrace your +native country before a stranger and an Englishman'; and Waverley, at +the same moment, entreating Mr. Bradwardine to permit him to reply to +an affront which seemed levelled at him personally. But the Baron was +exalted by wine, wrath, and scorn above all sublunary considerations. + +'I crave you to be hushed, Captain Waverley; you are elsewhere, +peradventure, sui juris,--foris-familiated, that is, and entitled, it +may be, to think and resent for yourself; but in my domain, in this +poor Barony of Bradwardine, and under this roof, which is quasi mine, +being held by tacit relocation by a tenant at will, I am in loco +parentis to you, and bound to see you scathless. And for you, Mr. +Falconer of Balmawhapple, I warn ye, let me see no more aberrations +from the paths of good manners.' + +'And I tell you, Mr. Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine of Bradwardine and +Tully-Veolan,' retorted the sportsman in huge disdain, 'that I'll make +a moor-cock of the man that refuses my toast, whether it be a +crop-eared English Whig wi' a black ribband at his lug, or ane wha +deserts his ain friends to claw favour wi' the rats of Hanover.' + +In an instant both rapiers were brandished, and some desperate passes +exchanged. Balmawhapple was young, stout, and active; but the Baron, +infinitely more master of his weapon, would, like Sir Toby Belch, have +tickled his opponent other gates than he did had he not been under the +influence of Ursa Major. + +Edward rushed forward to interfere between the combatants, but the +prostrate bulk of the Laird of Killancureit, over which he stumbled, +intercepted his passage. How Killancureit happened to be in this +recumbent posture at so interesting a moment was never accurately +known. Some thought he was about to insconce himself under the table; +he himself alleged that he stumbled in the act of lifting a +joint-stool, to prevent mischief, by knocking down Balmawhapple. Be +that as it may, if readier aid than either his or Waverley's had not +interposed, there would certainly have been bloodshed. But the +well-known clash of swords, which was no stranger to her dwelling, +aroused Luckie Macleary as she sat quietly beyond the hallan, or +earthen partition of the cottage, with eyes employed on Boston's 'Crook +the Lot,' while her ideas were engaged in summing up the reckoning. She +boldly rushed in, with the shrill expostulation, 'Wad their honours +slay ane another there, and bring discredit on an honest widow-woman's +house, when there was a' the lee-land in the country to fight upon?' a +remonstrance which she seconded by flinging her plaid with great +dexterity over the weapons of the combatants. The servants by this time +rushed in, and being, by great chance, tolerably sober, separated the +incensed opponents, with the assistance of Edward and Killancureit. The +latter led off Balmawhapple, cursing, swearing, and vowing revenge +against every Whig, Presbyterian, and fanatic in England and Scotland, +from John-o'-Groat's to the Land's End, and with difficulty got him to +horse. Our hero, with the assistance of Saunders Saunderson, escorted +the Baron of Bradwardine to his own dwelling, but could not prevail +upon him to retire to bed until he had made a long and learned apology +for the events of the evening, of which, however, there was not a word +intelligible, except something about the Centaurs and the Lapithae. + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +REPENTANCE AND A RECONCILIATION + + +Waverley was unaccustomed to the use of wine, excepting with great +temperance. He slept therefore soundly till late in the succeeding +morning, and then awakened to a painful recollection of the scene of +the preceding evening. He had received a personal affront--he, a +gentleman, a soldier, and a Waverley. True, the person who offered it +was not, at the time it was given, possessed of the moderate share of +sense which nature had allotted him; true also, in resenting this +insult, he would break the laws of Heaven as well as of his country; +true, in doing so, he might take the life of a young man who perhaps +respectably discharged the social duties, and render his family +miserable, or he might lose his own--no pleasant alternative even to +the bravest, when it is debated coolly and in private. + +All this pressed on his mind; yet the original statement recurred with +the same irresistible force. He had received a personal insult; he was +of the house of Waverley; and he bore a commission. There was no +alternative; and he descended to the breakfast parlour with the +intention of taking leave of the family, and writing to one of his +brother officers to meet him at the inn midway between Tully-Veolan and +the town where they were quartered, in order that he might convey such +a message to the Laird of Balmawhapple as the circumstances seemed to +demand. He found Miss Bradwardine presiding over the tea and coffee, +the table loaded with warm bread, both of flour, oatmeal, and +barleymeal, in the shape of loaves, cakes, biscuits, and other +varieties, together with eggs, reindeer ham, mutton and beef ditto, +smoked salmon, marmalade, and all the other delicacies which induced +even Johnson himself to extol the luxury of a Scotch breakfast above +that of all other countries. A mess of oatmeal porridge, flanked by a +silver jug, which held an equal mixture of cream and butter-milk, was +placed for the Baron's share of this repast; but Rose observed, he had +walked out early in the morning, after giving orders that his guest +should not be disturbed. + +Waverley sat down almost in silence, and with an air of absence and +abstraction which could not give Miss Bradwardine a favourable opinion +of his talents for conversation. He answered at random one or two +observations which she ventured to make upon ordinary topics; so that, +feeling herself almost repulsed in her efforts at entertaining him, and +secretly wondering that a scarlet coat should cover no better breeding, +she left him to his mental amusement of cursing Doctor Doubleit's +favourite constellation of Ursa Major as the cause of all the mischief +which had already happened and was likely to ensue. At once he started, +and his colour heightened, as, looking toward the window, he beheld the +Baron and young Balmawhapple pass arm in arm, apparently in deep +conversation; and he hastily asked, 'Did Mr. Falconer sleep here last +night?' Rose, not much pleased with the abruptness of the first +question which the young stranger had addressed to her, answered drily +in the negative, and the conversation again sunk into silence. + +At this moment Mr. Saunderson appeared, with a message from his master, +requesting to speak with Captain Waverley in another apartment. With a +heart which beat a little quicker, not indeed from fear, but from +uncertainty and anxiety, Edward obeyed the summons. He found the two +gentlemen standing together, an air of complacent dignity on the brow +of the Baron, while something like sullenness or shame, or both, +blanked the bold visage of Balmawhapple. The former slipped his arm +through that of the latter, and thus seeming to walk with him, while in +reality he led him, advanced to meet Waverley, and, stopping in the +midst of the apartment, made in great state the following oration: +'Captain Waverley--my young and esteemed friend, Mr. Falconer of +Balmawhapple, has craved of my age and experience, as of one not wholly +unskilled in the dependencies and punctilios of the duello or +monomachia, to be his interlocutor in expressing to you the regret with +which he calls to remembrance certain passages of our symposion last +night, which could not but be highly displeasing to you, as serving for +the time under this present existing government. He craves you, sir, to +drown in oblivion the memory of such solecisms against the laws of +politeness, as being what his better reason disavows, and to receive +the hand which he offers you in amity; and I must needs assure you that +nothing less than a sense of being dans son tort, as a gallant French +chevalier, Mons. Le Bretailleur, once said to me on such an occasion, +and an opinion also of your peculiar merit, could have extorted such +concessions; for he and all his family are, and have been, time out of +mind, Mavortia pectora, as Buchanan saith, a bold and warlike sept, or +people.' + +Edward immediately, and with natural politeness, accepted the hand +which Balmawhapple, or rather the Baron in his character of mediator, +extended towards him. 'It was impossible,' he said, 'for him to +remember what a gentleman expressed his wish he had not uttered; and he +willingly imputed what had passed to the exuberant festivity of the +day.' + +'That is very handsomely said,' answered the Baron; 'for undoubtedly, +if a man be ebrius, or intoxicated, an incident which on solemn and +festive occasions may and will take place in the life of a man of +honour; and if the same gentleman, being fresh and sober, recants the +contumelies which he hath spoken in his liquor, it must be held vinum +locutum est; the words cease to be his own. Yet would I not find this +exculpation relevant in the case of one who was ebriosus, or an +habitual drunkard; because, if such a person choose to pass the greater +part of his time in the predicament of intoxication, he hath no title +to be exeemed from the obligations of the code of politeness, but +should learn to deport himself peaceably and courteously when under +influence of the vinous stimulus. And now let us proceed to breakfast, +and think no more of this daft business.' + +I must confess, whatever inference may be drawn from the circumstance, +that Edward, after so satisfactory an explanation, did much greater +honour to the delicacies of Miss Bradwardine's breakfast-table than his +commencement had promised. Balmawhapple, on the contrary, seemed +embarrassed and dejected; and Waverley now, for the first time, +observed that his arm was in a sling, which seemed to account for the +awkward and embarrassed manner with which he had presented his hand. To +a question from Miss Bradwardine, he muttered in answer something about +his horse having fallen; and seeming desirous to escape both from the +subject and the company, he arose as soon as breakfast was over, made +his bow to the party, and, declining the Baron's invitation to tarry +till after dinner, mounted his horse and returned to his own home. + +Waverley now announced his purpose of leaving Tully-Veolan early enough +after dinner to gain the stage at which he meant to sleep; but the +unaffected and deep mortification with which the good-natured and +affectionate old gentleman heard the proposal quite deprived him of +courage to persist in it. No sooner had he gained Waverley's consent to +lengthen his visit for a few days than he laboured to remove the +grounds upon which he conceived he had meditated a more early retreat. +'I would not have you opine, Captain Waverley, that I am by practice or +precept an advocate of ebriety, though it may be that, in our festivity +of last night, some of our friends, if not perchance altogether ebrii, +or drunken, were, to say the least, ebrioli, by which the ancients +designed those who were fuddled, or, as your English vernacular and +metaphorical phrase goes, half-seas-over. Not that I would so insinuate +respecting you, Captain Waverley, who, like a prudent youth, did rather +abstain from potation; nor can it be truly said of myself, who, having +assisted at the tables of many great generals and marechals at their +solemn carousals, have the art to carry my wine discreetly, and did +not, during the whole evening, as ye must have doubtless observed, +exceed the bounds of a modest hilarity.' + +There was no refusing assent to a proposition so decidedly laid down by +him, who undoubtedly was the best judge; although, had Edward formed +his opinion from his own recollections, he would have pronounced that +the Baron was not only ebriolus, but verging to become ebrius; or, in +plain English, was incomparably the most drunk of the party, except +perhaps his antagonist the Laird of Balmawhapple. However, having +received the expected, or rather the required, compliment on his +sobriety, the Baron proceeded--'No, sir, though I am myself of a strong +temperament, I abhor ebriety, and detest those who swallow wine gulce +causa, for the oblectation of the gullet; albeit I might deprecate the +law of Pittacus of Mitylene, who punished doubly a crime committed +under the influence of 'Liber Pater'; nor would I utterly accede to the +objurgation of the younger Plinius, in the fourteenth book of his +'Historia Naturalis.' No, sir, I distinguish, I discriminate, and +approve of wine so far only as it maketh glad the face, or, in the +language of Flaccus, recepto amico.' + +Thus terminated the apology which the Baron of Bradwardine thought it +necessary to make for the superabundance of his hospitality; and it may +be easily believed that he was neither interrupted by dissent nor any +expression of incredulity. + +He then invited his guest to a morning ride, and ordered that Davie +Gellatley should meet them at the dern path with Ban and Buscar. 'For, +until the shooting season commence, I would willingly show you some +sport, and we may, God willing, meet with a roe. The roe, Captain +Waverley, may be hunted at all times alike; for never being in what is +called PRIDE OF GREASE, he is also never out of season, though it be a +truth that his venison is not equal to that of either the red or fallow +deer. [Footnote: The learned in cookery dissent from the Baron of +Bradwardine, and hold the roe venison dry and indifferent food, unless +when dressed in soup and Scotch collops.] But he will serve to show how +my dogs run; and therefore they shall attend us with David Gellatley.' + +Waverley expressed his surprise that his friend Davie was capable of +such trust; but the Baron gave him to understand that this poor +simpleton was neither fatuous, nec naturaliter idiota, as is expressed +in the brieves of furiosity, but simply a crack-brained knave, who +could execute very well any commission which jumped with his own +humour, and made his folly a plea for avoiding every other. 'He has +made an interest with us,' continued the Baron, 'by saving Rose from a +great danger with his own proper peril; and the roguish loon must +therefore eat of our bread and drink of our cup, and do what he can, or +what he will, which, if the suspicions of Saunderson and the Bailie are +well founded, may perchance in his case be commensurate terms.' + +Miss Bradwardine then gave Waverley to understand that this poor +simpleton was dotingly fond of music, deeply affected by that which was +melancholy, and transported into extravagant gaiety by light and lively +airs. He had in this respect a prodigious memory, stored with +miscellaneous snatches and fragments of all tunes and songs, which he +sometimes applied, with considerable address, as the vehicles of +remonstrance, explanation, or satire. Davie was much attached to the +few who showed him kindness; and both aware of any slight or ill usage +which he happened to receive, and sufficiently apt, where he saw +opportunity, to revenge it. The common people, who often judge hardly +of each other as well as of their betters, although they had expressed +great compassion for the poor innocent while suffered to wander in rags +about the village, no sooner beheld him decently clothed, provided for, +and even a sort of favourite, than they called up all the instances of +sharpness and ingenuity, in action and repartee, which his annals +afforded, and charitably bottomed thereupon a hypothesis that David +Gellatley was no farther fool than was necessary to avoid hard labour. +This opinion was not better founded than that of the Negroes, who, from +the acute and mischievous pranks of the monkeys, suppose that they have +the gift of speech, and only suppress their powers of elocution to +escape being set to work. But the hypothesis was entirely imaginary; +David Gellatley was in good earnest the half-crazed simpleton which he +appeared, and was incapable of any constant and steady exertion. He had +just so much solidity as kept on the windy side of insanity, so much +wild wit as saved him from the imputation of idiocy, some dexterity in +field-sports (in which we have known as great fools excel), great +kindness and humanity in the treatment of animals entrusted to him, +warm affections, a prodigious memory, and an ear for music. + +The stamping of horses was now heard in the court, and Davie's voice +singing to the two large deer greyhounds, + + Hie away, hie away, + Over bank and over brae, + Where the copsewood is the greenest, + Where the fountains glisten sheenest, + Where the lady-fern grows strongest, + Where the morning dew lies longest, + Where the black-cock sweetest sips it, + Where the fairy latest trips it. + Hie to haunts right seldom seen, + Lovely, lonesome, cool, and green, + Over bank and over brae, + Hie away, hie away. + +'Do the verses he sings,' asked Waverley, 'belong to old Scottish +poetry, Miss Bradwardine?' + +'I believe not,' she replied. 'This poor creature had a brother, and +Heaven, as if to compensate to the family Davie's deficiencies, had +given him what the hamlet thought uncommon talents. An uncle contrived +to educate him for the Scottish kirk, but he could not get preferment +because he came from our GROUND. He returned from college hopeless and +brokenhearted, and fell into a decline. My father supported him till +his death, which happened before he was nineteen. He played beautifully +on the flute, and was supposed to have a great turn for poetry. He was +affectionate and compassionate to his brother, who followed him like +his shadow, and we think that from him Davie gathered many fragments of +songs and music unlike those of this country. But if we ask him where +he got such a fragment as he is now singing, he either answers with +wild and long fits of laughter, or else breaks into tears of +lamentation; but was never heard to give any explanation, or to mention +his brother's name since his death.' + +'Surely,' said Edward, who was readily interested by a tale bordering +on the romantic, 'surely more might be learned by more particular +inquiry.' + +'Perhaps so,' answered Rose; 'but my father will not permit any one to +practise on his feelings on this subject.' + +By this time the Baron, with the help of Mr. Saunderson, had indued a +pair of jack-boots of large dimensions, and now invited our hero to +follow him as he stalked clattering down the ample stair-case, tapping +each huge balustrade as he passed with the butt of his massive +horse-whip, and humming, with the air of a chasseur of Louis Quatorze,-- + + Pour la chasse ordonnee il faut preparer tout. + Ho la ho! Vite! vite debout! + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A MORE RATIONAL DAY THAN THE LAST + + +The Baron of Bradwardine, mounted on an active and well-managed horse, +and seated on a demi-pique saddle, with deep housings to agree with his +livery, was no bad representative of the old school. His light-coloured +embroidered coat, and superbly barred waistcoat, his brigadier wig, +surmounted by a small gold-laced cocked-hat, completed his personal +costume; but he was attended by two well-mounted servants on horseback, +armed with holster-pistols. + +In this guise he ambled forth over hill and valley, the admiration of +every farm-yard which they passed in their progress, till, 'low down in +a grassy vale,' they found David Gellatley leading two very tall deer +greyhounds, and presiding over half a dozen curs, and about as many +bare-legged and bare-headed boys, who, to procure the chosen +distinction of attending on the chase, had not failed to tickle his +ears with the dulcet appellation of Maister Gellatley, though probably +all and each had hooted him on former occasions in the character of +daft Davie. But this is no uncommon strain of flattery to persons in +office, nor altogether confined to the barelegged villagers of +Tully-Veolan; it was in fashion Sixty Years Since, is now, and will be +six hundred years hence, if this admirable compound of folly and +knavery, called the world, shall be then in existence. + +These Gillie-wet-foots, as they were called, were destined to beat the +bushes, which they performed with so much success, that, after half an +hour's search, a roe was started, coursed, and killed; the Baron +following on his white horse, like Earl Percy of yore, and +magnanimously flaying and embowelling the slain animal (which, he +observed, was called by the French chasseurs, faire la curee) with his +own baronial couteau de chasse. After this ceremony, he conducted his +guest homeward by a pleasant and circuitous route, commanding an +extensive prospect of different villages and houses, to each of which +Mr. Bradwardine attached some anecdote of history or genealogy, told in +language whimsical from prejudice and pedantry, but often respectable +for the good sense and honourable feelings which his narrative +displayed, and almost always curious, if not valuable, for the +information they contained. + +The truth is, the ride seemed agreeable to both gentlemen, because they +found amusement in each other's conversation, although their characters +and habits of thinking were in many respects totally opposite. Edward, +we have informed the reader, was warm in his feelings, wild and +romantic in his ideas and in his taste of reading, with a strong +disposition towards poetry. Mr Bradwardine was the reverse of all this, +and piqued himself upon stalking through life with the same upright, +starched, stoical gravity which distinguished his evening promenade +upon the terrace of Tully-Veolan, where for hours together--the very +model of old Hardyknute-- + + Stately stepp'd he east the wa', + And stately stepp'd he west + +As for literature, he read the classic poets, to be sure, and the +'Epithalamium' of Georgius Buchanan and Arthur Johnston's Psalms, of a +Sunday; and the 'Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum,' and Sir David Lindsay's +'Works', and Barbour's 'Brace', and Blind Harry's 'Wallace', and 'The +Gentle Shepherd', and 'The Cherry and The Slae.' + +But though he thus far sacrificed his time to the Muses, he would, if +the truth must be spoken, have been much better pleased had the pious +or sapient apothegms, as well as the historical narratives, which these +various works contained, been presented to him in the form of simple +prose. And he sometimes could not refrain from expressing contempt of +the 'vain and unprofitable art of poem-making', in which, he said,'the +only one who had excelled in his time was Allan Ramsay, the +periwigmaker.' + +[Footnote: The Baron ought to have remembered that the joyous Allan +literally drew his blood from the house of the noble earl whom he +terms-- + + Dalhousie of an old descent + My stoup, my pride, my ornament.] + +But although Edward and he differed TOTO COELO, as the Baron would have +said, upon this subject, yet they met upon history as on a neutral +ground, in which each claimed an interest. The Baron, indeed, only +cumbered his memory with matters of fact, the cold, dry, hard outlines +which history delineates. Edward, on the contrary, loved to fill up and +round the sketch with the colouring of a warm and vivid imagination, +which gives light and life to the actors and speakers in the drama of +past ages. Yet with tastes so opposite, they contributed greatly to +each other's amusement. Mr. Bradwardine's minute narratives and +powerful memory supplied to Waverley fresh subjects of the kind upon +which his fancy loved to labour, and opened to him a new mine of +incident and of character. And he repaid the pleasure thus communicated +by an earnest attention, valuable to all story-tellers, more especially +to the Baron, who felt his habits of self-respect flattered by it; and +sometimes also by reciprocal communications, which interested Mr. +Bradwardine, as confirming or illustrating his own favourite anecdotes. +Besides, Mr. Bradwardine loved to talk of the scenes of his youth, +whichl had been spent in camps and foreign lands, and had many +interesting particulars to tell of the generals under whom he had +served and the actions he had witnessed. + +Both parties returned to Tully-Veolan in great good-humour with each +other; Waverley desirous of studying more attentively what he +considered as a singular and interesting character, gifted with a +memory containing a curious register of ancient and modern anecdotes; +and Bradwardine disposed to regard Edward as puer (or rather juvenis) +bonae spei et magnae indolis, a youth devoid of that petulant +volatility which is impatient of, or vilipends, the conversation and +advice of his seniors, from which he predicted great things of his +future success and deportment in life. There was no other guest except +Mr. Rubrick, whose information and discourse, as a clergyman and a +scholar, harmonised very well with that of the Baron and his guest. + +Shortly after dinner, the Baron, as if to show that his temperance was +not entirely theoretical, proposed a visit to Rose's apartment, or, as +he termed it, her troisieme etage. Waverley was accordingly conducted +through one or two of those long awkward passages with which ancient +architects studied to puzzle the inhabitants of the houses which they +planned, at the end of which Mr. Bradwardine began to ascend, by two +steps at once, a very steep, narrow, and winding stair, leaving Mr. +Rubrick and Waverley to follow at more leisure, while he should +announce their approach to his daughter. + +After having climbed this perpendicular corkscrew until their brains +were almost giddy, they arrived in a little matted lobby, which served +as an anteroom to Rose's sanctum sanctorum, and through which they +entered her parlour. It was a small, but pleasant apartment, opening to +the south, and hung with tapestry; adorned besides with two pictures, +one of her mother, in the dress of a shepherdess, with a bell-hoop; the +other of the Baron, in his tenth year, in a blue coat, embroidered +waistcoat, laced hat, and bag-wig, with a bow in his hand. Edward could +not help smiling at the costume, and at the odd resemblance between the +round, smooth, red-cheeked, staring visage in the portrait, and the +gaunt, bearded, hollow-eyed, swarthy features, which travelling, +fatigues of war, and advanced age, had bestowed on the original. The +Baron joined in the laugh. 'Truly,' he said,'that picture was a woman's +fantasy of my good mother's (a daughter of the Laird of Tulliellum, +Captain Waverley; I indicated the house to you when we were on the top +of the Shinnyheuch; it was burnt by the Dutch auxiliaries brought in by +the Government in 1715); I never sate for my pourtraicture but once +since that was painted, and it was at the special and reiterated +request of the Marechal Duke of Berwick.' + +The good old gentleman did not mention what Mr. Rubrick afterwards told +Edward, that the Duke had done him this honour on account of his being +the first to mount the breach of a fort in Savoy during the memorable +campaign of 1709, and his having there defended himself with his +half-pike for nearly ten minutes before any support reached him. To do +the Baron justice, although sufficiently prone to dwell upon, and even +to exaggerate, his family dignity and consequence, he was too much a +man of real courage ever to allude to such personal acts of merit as he +had himself manifested. + +Miss Rose now appeared from the interior room of her apartment, to +welcome her father and his friends. The little labours in which she had +been employed obviously showed a natural taste, which required only +cultivation. Her father had taught her French and Italian, and a few of +the ordinary authors in those languages ornamented her shelves. He had +endeavoured also to be her preceptor in music; but as he began with the +more abstruse doctrines of the science, and was not perhaps master of +them himself, she had made no proficiency farther than to be able to +accompany her voice with the harpsichord; but even this was not very +common in Scotland at that period. To make amends, she sung with great +taste and feeling, and with a respect to the sense of what she uttered +that might be proposed in example to ladies of much superior musical +talent. Her natural good sense taught her that, if, as we are assured +by high authority, music be 'married to immortal verse,' they are very +often divorced by the performer in a most shameful manner. It was +perhaps owing to this sensibility to poetry, and power of combining its +expression with those of the musical notes, that her singing gave more +pleasure to all the unlearned in music, and even to many of the +learned, than could have been communicated by a much finer voice and +more brilliant execution unguided by the same delicacy of feeling. + +A bartizan, or projecting gallery, before the windows of her parlour, +served to illustrate another of Rose's pursuits; for it was crowded +with flowers of different kinds, which she had taken under her special +protection. A projecting turret gave access to this Gothic balcony, +which commanded a most beautiful prospect. The formal garden, with its +high bounding walls, lay below, contracted, as it seemed, to a mere +parterre; while the view extended beyond them down a wooded glen, where +the small river was sometimes visible, sometimes hidden in copse. The +eye might be delayed by a desire to rest on the rocks, which here and +there rose from the dell with massive or spiry fronts, or it might +dwell on the noble, though ruined tower, which was here beheld in all +its dignity, frowning from a promontory over the river. To the left +were seen two or three cottages, a part of the village, the brow of the +hill concealed the others. The glen, or dell, was terminated by a sheet +of water, called Loch Veolan, into which the brook discharged itself, +and which now glistened in the western sun. The distant country seemed +open and varied in surface, though not wooded; and there was nothing to +interrupt the view until the scene was bounded by a ridge of distant +and blue hills, which formed the southern boundary of the strath or +valley. To this pleasant station Miss Bradwardine had ordered coffee. + +The view of the old tower, or fortalice, introduced some family +anecdotes and tales of Scottish chivalry, which the Baron told with +great enthusiasm. The projecting peak of an impending crag which rose +near it had acquired the name of Saint Swithin's Chair. It was the +scene of a peculiar superstition, of which Mr. Rubrick mentioned some +curious particulars, which reminded Waverley of a rhyme quoted by Edgar +in King Lear; and Rose was called upon to sing a little legend, in +which they had been interwoven by some village poet, + + Who, noteless as the race from which he sprung, + Saved others' names, but left his own unsung. + +The sweetness of her voice, and the simple beauty of her music, gave +all the advantage which the minstrel could have desired, and which his +poetry so much wanted. I almost doubt if it can be read with patience, +destitute of these advantages, although I conjecture the following copy +to have been somewhat corrected by Waverley, to suit the taste of those +who might not relish pure antiquity. + + Saint Swithin's Chair + + On Hallow-Mass Eve, ere ye boune ye to rest, + Ever beware that your couch be bless'd; + Sign it with cross, and sain it with bead, + Sing the Ave, and say the Creed. + + For on Hallow-Mass Eve the Night-Hag will ride, + And all her nine-fold sweeping on by her side, + Whether the wind sing lowly or loud, + Sailing through moonshine or swath'd in the cloud. + + The Lady she sat in Saint Swithin's Chair, + The dew of the night has damp'd her hair: + Her cheek was pale; but resolved and high + Was the word of her lip and the glance of her eye. + + She mutter'd the spell of Swithin bold, + When his naked foot traced the midnight wold, + When he stopp'd the Hag as she rode the night, + And bade her descend, and her promise plight. + + He that dare sit on Saint Swithin's Chair, + When the Night-Hag wings the troubled air, + Questions three, when he speaks the spell, + He may ask, and she must tell. + + The Baron has been with King Robert his liege + These three long years in battle and siege; + News are there none of his weal or his woe, + And fain the Lady his fate would know. + + She shudders and stops as the charm she speaks;-- + Is it the moody owl that shrieks? + Or is it that sound, betwixt laughter and scream, + The voice of the Demon who haunts the stream? + + The moan of the wind sunk silent and low, + And the roaring torrent had ceased to flow; + The calm was more dreadful than raging storm, + When the cold grey mist brought the ghastly Form! + +'I am sorry to disappoint the company, especially Captain Waverley, who +listens with such laudable gravity; it is but a fragment, although I +think there are other verses, describing the return of the Baron from +the wars, and how the lady was found "clay-cold upon the grounsill +ledge.'" + +'It is one of those figments,' observed Mr. Bradwardine, 'with which +the early history of distinguished families was deformed in the times +of superstition; as that of Rome, and other ancient nations, had their +prodigies, sir, the which you may read in ancient histories, or in the +little work compiled by Julius Obsequens, and inscribed by the learned +Scheffer, the editor, to his patron, Benedictus Skytte, Baron of +Dudershoff.' + +'My father has a strange defiance of the marvellous, Captain Waverley,' +observed Rose, 'and once stood firm when a whole synod of Presbyterian +divines were put to the rout by a sudden apparition of the foul fiend.' + +Waverley looked as if desirous to hear more. + +'Must I tell my story as well as sing my song? Well--Once upon a time +there lived an old woman, called Janet Gellatley, who was suspected to +be a witch, on the infallible grounds that she was very old, very ugly, +very poor, and had two sons, one of whom was a poet and the other a +fool, which visitation, all the neighbourhood agreed, had come upon her +for the sin of witchcraft. And she was imprisoned for a week in the +steeple of the parish church, and sparely supplied with food, and not +permitted to sleep until she herself became as much persuaded of her +being a witch as her accusers; and in this lucid and happy state of +mind was brought forth to make a clean breast, that is, to make open +confession of her sorceries, before all the Whig gentry and ministers +in the vicinity, who were no conjurors themselves. My father went to +see fair play between the witch and the clergy; for the witch had been +born on his estate. And while the witch was confessing that the Enemy +appeared, and made his addresses to her as a handsome black +man,--which, if you could have seen poor old blear-eyed Janet, +reflected little honour on Apollyon's taste,--and while the auditors +listened with astonished ears, and the clerk recorded with a trembling +hand, she, all of a sudden, changed the low mumbling tone with which +she spoke into a shrill yell, and exclaimed, "Look to yourselves! look +to yourselves! I see the Evil One sitting in the midst of ye." The +surprise was general, and terror and flight its immediate consequences. +Happy were those who were next the door; and many were the disasters +that befell hats, bands, cuffs, and wigs, before they could get out of +the church, where they left the obstinate prelatist to settle matters +with the witch and her admirer at his own peril or pleasure.' + +'Risu solvuntur tabulae,' said the Baron; 'when they recovered their +panic trepidation they were too much ashamed to bring any wakening of +the process against Janet Gellatley.' [Footnote: See Note 11] + +This anecdote led to a long discussion of + + All those idle thoughts and fantasies, + Devices, dreams, opinions unsound, + Shows, visions, soothsays, and prophecies, + And all that feigned is, as leasings, tales, and lies. + +With such conversation, and the romantic legends which it introduced, +closed our hero's second evening in the house of Tully-Veolan. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A DISCOVERY--WAVERLEY BECOMES DOMESTICATED AT TULLY-VEOLAN + + +The next day Edward arose betimes, and in a morning walk around the +house and its vicinity came suddenly upon a small court in front of the +dog-kennel, where his friend Davie was employed about his four-footed +charge. One quick glance of his eye recognised Waverley, when, +instantly turning his back, as if he had not observed him, he began to +sing part of an old ballad:-- + + Young men will love thee more fair and more fast; + Heard ye so merry the little bird sing? + Old men's love the longest will last, + And the throstle-cock's head is under his wing. + + The young man's wrath is like light straw on fire; + Heard ye so merry the little bird sing? + But like red-hot steel is the old man's ire, + And the throstle-cock's head is under his wing. + + The young man will brawl at the evening board; + Heard ye so merry the little bird sing? + But the old man will draw at the dawning the sword, + And the throstle-cock's head is under his wing. + +Waverley could not avoid observing that Davie laid something like a +satirical emphasis on these lines. He therefore approached, and +endeavoured, by sundry queries, to elicit from him what the innuendo +might mean; but Davie had no mind to explain, and had wit enough to +make his folly cloak his knavery. Edward could collect nothing from +him, excepting that the Laird of Balmawhapple had gone home yesterday +morning 'wi' his boots fu' o' bluid.' In the garden, however, he met +the old butler, who no longer attempted to conceal that, having been +bred in the nursery line with Sumack and Co. of Newcastle, he sometimes +wrought a turn in the flower-borders to oblige the Laird and Miss Rose. +By a series of queries, Edward at length discovered, with a painful +feeling of surprise and shame, that Balmawhapple's submission and +apology had been the consequence of a rencontre with the Baron before +his guest had quitted his pillow, in which the younger combatant had +been disarmed and wounded in the sword arm. + +Greatly mortified at this information, Edward sought out his friendly +host, and anxiously expostulated with him upon the injustice he had +done him in anticipating his meeting with Mr. Falconer, a circumstance +which, considering his youth and the profession of arms which he had +just adopted, was capable of being represented much to his prejudice. +The Baron justified himself at greater length than I choose to repeat. +He urged that the quarrel was common to them, and that Balmawhapple +could not, by the code of honour, evite giving satisfaction to both, +which he had done in his case by an honourable meeting, and in that of +Edward by such a palinode as rendered the use of the sword unnecessary, +and which, being made and accepted, must necessarily sopite the whole +affair. + +With this excuse, or explanation, Waverley was silenced, if not +satisfied; but he could not help testifying some displeasure against +the Blessed Bear, which had given rise to the quarrel, nor refrain from +hinting that the sanctified epithet was hardly appropriate. The Baron +observed, he could not deny that 'the Bear, though allowed by heralds +as a most honourable ordinary, had, nevertheless, somewhat fierce, +churlish, and morose in his disposition (as might be read in Archibald +Simson, pastor of Dalkeith's 'Hieroglyphica Animalium') and had thus +been the type of many quarrels and dissensions which had occurred in +the house of Bradwardine; of which,' he continued, 'I might commemorate +mine own unfortunate dissension with my third cousin by the mother's +side, Sir Hew Halbert, who was so unthinking as to deride my family +name, as if it had been QUASI BEAR-WARDEN; a most uncivil jest, since +it not only insinuated that the founder of our house occupied such a +mean situation as to be a custodier of wild beasts, a charge which, ye +must have observed, is only entrusted to the very basest plebeians; +but, moreover, seemed to infer that our coat-armour had not been +achieved by honourable actions in war, but bestowed by way of +paranomasia, or pun, upon our family appellation,--a sort of bearing +which the French call armoires parlantes, the Latins arma cantantia, +and your English authorities canting heraldry, [Footnote: See Note 12] +being indeed a species of emblazoning more befitting canters, +gaberlunzies, and such like mendicants, whose gibberish is formed upon +playing upon the word, than the noble, honourable, and useful science +of heraldry, which assigns armorial bearings as the reward of noble and +generous actions, and not to tickle the ear with vain quodlibets, such +as are found in jestbooks.' Of his quarrel with Sir Hew he said nothing +more than that it was settled in a fitting manner. + +Having been so minute with respect to the diversions of Tully-Veolan on +the first days of Edward's arrival, for the purpose of introducing its +inmates to the reader's acquaintance, it becomes less necessary to +trace the progress of his intercourse with the same accuracy. It is +probable that a young man, accustomed to more cheerful society, would +have tired of the conversation of so violent an assertor of the 'boast +of heraldry' as the Baron; but Edward found an agreeable variety in +that of Miss Bradwardine, who listened with eagerness to his remarks +upon literature, and showed great justness of taste in her answers. The +sweetness of her disposition had made her submit with complacency, and +even pleasure, to the course of reading prescribed by her father, +although it not only comprehended several heavy folios of history, but +certain gigantic tomes in high-church polemics. In heraldry he was +fortunately contented to give her only such a slight tincture as might +be acquired by perusal of the two folio volumes of Nisbet. Rose was +indeed the very apple of her father's eye. Her constant liveliness, her +attention to all those little observances most gratifying to those who +would never think of exacting them, her beauty, in which he recalled +the features of his beloved wife, her unfeigned piety, and the noble +generosity of her disposition, would have justified the affection of +the most doting father. + +His anxiety on her behalf did not, however, seem to extend itself in +that quarter where, according to the general opinion, it is most +efficiently displayed, in labouring, namely, to establish her in life, +either by a large dowry or a wealthy marriage. By an old settlement, +almost all the landed estates of the Baron went, after his death, to a +distant relation; and it was supposed that Miss Bradwardine would +remain but slenderly provided for, as the good gentleman's cash matters +had been too long under the exclusive charge of Bailie Macwheeble to +admit of any great expectations from his personal succession. It is +true, the said Bailie loved his patron and his patron's daughter next +(though at an incomparable distance) to himself. He thought it was +possible to set aside the settlement on the male line, and had actually +procured an opinion to that effect (and, as he boasted, without a fee) +from an eminent Scottish counsel, under whose notice he contrived to +bring the point while consulting him regularly on some other business. +But the Baron would not listen to such a proposal for an instant. On +the contrary, he used to have a perverse pleasure in boasting that the +barony of Bradwardine was a male fief, the first charter having been +given at that early period when women were not deemed capable to hold a +feudal grant; because, according to Les coustusmes de Normandie, c'est +l'homme ki se bast et ki conseille; or, as is yet more ungallantly +expressed by other authorities, all of whose barbarous names he +delighted to quote at full length, because a woman could not serve the +superior, or feudal lord, in war, on account of the decorum of her sex, +nor assist him with advice, because of her limited intellect, nor keep +his counsel, owing to the infirmity of her disposition. He would +triumphantly ask, how it would become a female, and that female a +Bradwardine, to be seen employed in servitio exuendi, seu detrahendi, +caligas regis post battaliam? that is, in pulling off the king's boots +after an engagement, which was the feudal service by which he held the +barony of Bradwardine. 'No,' he said, 'beyond hesitation, procul dubio, +many females, as worthy as Rose, had been excluded, in order to make +way for my own succession, and Heaven forbid that I should do aught +that might contravene the destination of my forefathers, or impinge +upon the right of my kinsman, Malcolm Bradwardine of Inchgrabbit, an +honourable, though decayed branch of my own family.' + +The Bailie, as prime minister, having received this decisive +communication from his sovereign, durst not press his own opinion any +farther, but contented himself with deploring, on all suitable +occasions, to Saunderson, the minister of the interior, the laird's +self-willedness, and with laying plans for uniting Rose with the young +Laird of Balmawhapple, who had a fine estate, only moderately burdened, +and was a faultless young gentleman, being as sober as a saint--if you +keep brandy from him and him from brandy--and who, in brief, had no +imperfection but that of keeping light company at a time; such as +Jinker, the horse-couper, and Gibby Gaethroughwi't, the piper o' Cupar; +'o' whilk follies, Mr. Saunderson, he'll mend, he'll mend,' pronounced +the Bailie. + +'Like sour ale in simmer,' added Davie Gellatley, who happened to be +nearer the conclave than they were aware of. + +Miss Bradwardine, such as we have described her, with all the +simplicity and curiosity of a recluse, attached herself to the +opportunities of increasing her store of literature which Edward's +visit afforded her. He sent for some of his books from his quarters, +and they opened to her sources of delight of which she had hitherto had +no idea. The best English poets, of every description, and other works +on belles-lettres, made a part of this precious cargo. Her music, even +her flowers, were neglected, and Saunders not only mourned over, but +began to mutiny against, the labour for which he now scarce received +thanks. These new pleasures became gradually enhanced by sharing them +with one of a kindred taste. Edward's readiness to comment, to recite, +to explain difficult passages, rendered his assistance invaluable; and +the wild romance of his spirit delighted a character too young and +inexperienced to observe its deficiencies. Upon subjects which +interested him, and when quite at ease, he possessed that flow of +natural, and somewhat florid eloquence, which has been supposed as +powerful even as figure, fashion, fame, or fortune, in winning the +female heart. There was, therefore, an increasing danger in this +constant intercourse to poor Rose's peace of mind, which was the more +imminent as her father was greatly too much abstracted in his studies, +and wrapped up in his own dignity, to dream of his daughter's incurring +it. The daughters of the house of Bradwardine were, in his opinion, +like those of the house of Bourbon or Austria, placed high above the +clouds of passion which might obfuscate the intellects of meaner +females; they moved in another sphere, were governed by other feelings, +and amenable to other rules than those of idle and fantastic affection. +In short, he shut his eyes so resolutely to the natural consequences of +Edward's intimacy with Miss Bradwardine, that the whole neighbourhood +concluded that he had opened them to the advantages of a match between +his daughter and the wealthy young Englishman, and pronounced him much +less a fool than he had generally shown himself in cases where his own +interest was concerned. + +If the Baron, however, had really meditated such an alliance, the +indifference of Waverley would have been an insuperable bar to his +project. Our hero, since mixing more freely with the world, had learned +to think with great shame and confusion upon his mental legend of Saint +Cecilia, and the vexation of these reflections was likely, for some +time at least, to counterbalance the natural susceptibility of his +disposition. Besides, Rose Bradwardine, beautiful and amiable as we +have described her, had not precisely the sort of beauty or merit which +captivates a romantic imagination in early youth. She was too frank, +too confiding, too kind; amiable qualities, undoubtedly, but +destructive of the marvellous, with which a youth of imagination +delights to dress the empress of his affections. Was it possible to +bow, to tremble, and to adore, before the timid, yet playful little +girl, who now asked Edward to mend her pen, now to construe a stanza in +Tasso, and now how to spell a very--very long word in her version of +it? All these incidents have their fascination on the mind at a certain +period of life, but not when a youth is entering it, and rather looking +out for some object whose affection may dignify him in his own eyes +than stooping to one who looks up to him for such distinction. Hence, +though there can be no rule in so capricious a passion, early love is +frequently ambitious in choosing its object; or, which comes to the +same, selects her (as in the case of Saint Cecilia aforesaid) from a +situation that gives fair scope for le beau ideal, which the reality of +intimate and familiar life rather tends to limit and impair. I knew a +very accomplished and sensible young man cured of a violent passion for +a pretty woman, whose talents were not equal to her face and figure, by +being permitted to bear her company for a whole afternoon. Thus, it is +certain, that had Edward enjoyed such an opportunity of conversing with +Miss Stubbs, Aunt Rachel's precaution would have been unnecessary, for +he would as soon have fallen in love with the dairy-maid. And although +Miss Bradwardine was a very different character, it seems probable that +the very intimacy of their intercourse prevented his feeling for her +other sentiments than those of a brother for an amiable and +accomplished sister; while the sentiments of poor Rose were gradually, +and without her being conscious, assuming a shade of warmer affection. + +I ought to have said that Edward, when he sent to Dundee for the books +before mentioned, had applied for, and received permission, extending +his leave of absence. But the letter of his commanding officer +contained a friendly recommendation to him not to spend his time +exclusively with persons who, estimable as they might be in a general +sense, could not be supposed well affected to a government which they +declined to acknowledge by taking the oath of allegiance. The letter +further insinuated, though with great delicacy, that although some +family connections might be supposed to render it necessary for Captain +Waverley to communicate with gentlemen who were in this unpleasant +state of suspicion, yet his father's situation and wishes ought to +prevent his prolonging those attentions into exclusive intimacy. And it +was intimated, that, while his political principles were endangered by +communicating with laymen of this description, he might also receive +erroneous impressions in religion from the prelatic clergy, who so +perversely laboured to set up the royal prerogative in things sacred. + +This last insinuation probably induced Waverley to set both down to the +prejudices of his commanding officer. He was sensible that Mr. +Bradwardine had acted with the most scrupulous delicacy, in never +entering upon any discussion that had the most remote tendency to bias +his mind in political opinions, although he was himself not only a +decided partisan of the exiled family, but had been trusted at +different times with important commissions for their service. Sensible, +therefore, that there was no risk of his being perverted from his +allegiance, Edward felt as if he should do his uncle's old friend +injustice in removing from a house where he gave and received pleasure +and amusement, merely to gratify a prejudiced and ill-judged suspicion. +He therefore wrote a very general answer, assuring his commanding +officer that his loyalty was not in the most distant danger of +contamination, and continued an honoured guest and inmate of the house +of Tully-Veolan. + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A CREAGH, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + + +When Edward had been a guest at Tully-Veolan nearly six weeks, he +descried, one morning, as he took his usual walk before the breakfast +hour, signs of uncommon perturbation in the family. Four bare-legged +dairy-maids, with each an empty milk-pail in her hand, ran about with +frantic gestures, and uttering loud exclamations of surprise, grief, +and resentment. From their appearance, a pagan might have conceived +them a detachment of the celebrated Belides, just come from their +baling penance. As nothing was to be got from this distracted chorus, +excepting 'Lord guide us!' and 'Eh sirs!' ejaculations which threw no +light upon the cause of their dismay, Waverley repaired to the +fore-court, as it was called, where he beheld Bailie Macwheeble +cantering his white pony down the avenue with all the speed it could +muster. He had arrived, it would seem, upon a hasty summons, and was +followed by half a score of peasants from the village who had no great +difficulty in keeping pace with him. + +The Bailie, greatly too busy and too important to enter into +explanations with Edward, summoned forth Mr. Saunderson, who appeared +with a countenance in which dismay was mingled with solemnity, and they +immediately entered into close conference. Davie Gellatley was also +seen in the group, idle as Diogenes at Sinope while his countrymen were +preparing for a siege. His spirits always rose with anything, good or +bad, which occasioned tumult, and he continued frisking, hopping, +dancing, and singing the burden of an old ballad-- + + 'Our gear's a' gane,' + +until, happening to pass too near the Bailie, he received an admonitory +hint from his horse-whip, which converted his songs into lamentation. + +Passing from thence towards the garden, Waverley beheld the Baron in +person, measuring and re-measuring, with swift and tremendous strides, +the length of the terrace; his countenance clouded with offended pride +and indignation, and the whole of his demeanour such as seemed to +indicate, that any inquiry concerning the cause of his discomposure +would give pain at least, if not offence. Waverley therefore glided +into the house, without addressing him, and took his way to the +breakfast-parlour, where he found his young friend Rose, who, though +she neither exhibited the resentment of her father, the turbid +importance of Bailie Macwheeble, nor the despair of the handmaidens, +seemed vexed and thoughtful. A single word explained the mystery. 'Your +breakfast will be a disturbed one, Captain Waverley. A party of +Caterans have come down upon us last night, and have driven off all our +milch cows.' + +'A party of Caterans?' + +'Yes; robbers from the neighbouring Highlands. We used to be quite free +from them while we paid blackmail to Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr; but +my father thought it unworthy of his rank and birth to pay it any +longer, and so this disaster has happened. It is not the value of the +cattle, Captain Waverley, that vexes me; but my father is so much hurt +at the affront, and is so bold and hot, that I fear he will try to +recover them by the strong hand; and if he is not hurt himself, he will +hurt some of these wild people, and then there will be no peace between +them and us perhaps for our life-time; and we cannot defend ourselves +as in old times, for the government have taken all our arms; and my +dear father is so rash--O what will become of us!'--Here poor Rose lost +heart altogether, and burst into a flood of tears. + +The Baron entered at this moment, and rebuked her with more asperity +than Waverley had ever heard him use to any one. 'Was it not a shame,' +he said, 'that she should exhibit herself before any gentleman in such +a light, as if she shed tears for a drove of horned nolt and milch +kine, like the daughter of a Cheshire yeoman!--Captain Waverley, I must +request your favourable construction of her grief, which may, or ought +to proceed, solely from seeing her father's estate exposed to spulzie +and depredation from common thieves and sorners, while we are not +allowed to keep half a score of muskets, whether for defence or rescue.' + +Bailie Macwheeble entered immediately afterwards, and by his report of +arms and ammunition confirmed this statement, informing the Baron, in a +melancholy voice, that though the people would certainly obey his +honour's orders, yet there was no chance of their following the gear to +ony guid purpose, in respect there were only his honour's body servants +who had swords and pistols, and the depredators were twelve +Highlanders, completely armed after the manner of their country. Having +delivered this doleful annunciation, he assumed a posture of silent +dejection, shaking his head slowly with the motion of a pendulum when +it is ceasing to vibrate, and then remained stationary, his body +stooping at a more acute angle than usual, and the latter part of his +person projecting in proportion. + +The Baron, meanwhile, paced the room in silent indignation, and at +length fixing his eye upon an old portrait, whose person was clad in +armour, and whose features glared grimly out of a huge bush of hair, +part of which descended from his head to his shoulders, and part from +his chin and upper-lip to his breast-plate,--'That gentleman, Captain +Waverley, my grandsire,' he said, 'with two hundred horse,--whom he +levied within his own bounds, discomfited and put to the rout more than +five hundred of these Highland reivers, who have been ever lapis +offensionis et petra scandali, a stumbling-block and a rock of offence, +to the Lowland vicinage--he discomfited them, I say, when they had the +temerity to descend to harry this country, in the time of the civil +dissensions, in the year of grace sixteen hundred forty and two. And +now, sir, I, his grandson, am thus used at such unworthy hands.' + +Here there was an awful pause; after which all the company, as is usual +in cases of difficulty, began to give separate and inconsistent +counsel. Alexander ab Alexandro proposed they should send some one to +compound with the Caterans, who would readily, he said, give up their +prey for a dollar a head. The Bailie opined that this transaction would +amount to theft-boot, or composition of felony; and he recommended that +some canny hand should be sent up to the glens to make the best bargain +he could, as it were for himself, so that the Laird might not be seen +in such a transaction. Edward proposed to send off to the nearest +garrison for a party of soldiers and a magistrate's warrant; and Rose, +as far as she dared, endeavoured to insinuate the course of paying the +arrears of tribute money to Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr, who, they +all knew, could easily procure restoration of the cattle, if he were +properly propitiated. + +None of these proposals met the Baron's approbation. The idea of +composition, direct or implied, was absolutely ignominious; that of +Waverley only showed that he did not understand the state of the +country, and of the political parties which divided it; and, standing +matters as they did with Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr, the Baron would +make no concession to him, were it, he said, 'to procure restitution in +integrum of every stirk and stot that the chief, his forefathers, and +his clan, had stolen since the days of Malcolm Canmore.' + +In fact his voice was still for war, and he proposed to send expresses +to Balmawhapple, Killancureit, Tulliellum, and other lairds, who were +exposed to similar depredations, inviting them to join in the pursuit; +'and then, sir, shall these nebulones nequissimi, as Leslaeus calls +them, be brought to the fate of their predecessor Cacus, + + "Elisos oculos, et siccum sanguine guttur."' + +The Bailie, who by no means relished these warlike counsels, here +pulled forth an immense watch, of the colour, and nearly of the size, +of a pewter warming-pan, and observed it was now past noon, and that +the Caterans had been seen in the pass of Ballybrough soon after +sunrise; so that, before the allied forces could assemble, they and +their prey would be far beyond the reach of the most active pursuit, +and sheltered in those pathless deserts, where it was neither advisable +to follow, nor indeed possible to trace them. + +This proposition was undeniable. The council therefore broke up without +coming to any conclusion, as has occurred to councils of more +importance; only it was determined that the Bailie should send his own +three milkcows down to the mains for the use of the Baron's family, and +brew small ale, as a substitute for milk, in his own. To this +arrangement, which was suggested by Saunderson, the Bailie readily +assented, both from habitual deference to the family, and an internal +consciousness that his courtesy would, in some mode or other, be repaid +tenfold. + +The Baron having also retired to give some necessary directions, +Waverley seized the opportunity to ask, whether this Fergus, with the +unpronounceable name, was the chief thief-taker of the district? + +'Thief-taker!' answered Rose, laughing; 'he is a gentleman of great +honour and consequence, the chieftain of an independent branch of a +powerful Highland clan, and is much respected, both for his own power +and that of his kith, kin, and allies.' + +'And what has he to do with the thieves, then? Is he a magistrate, or +in the commission of the peace?' asked Waverley. + +'The commission of war rather, if there be such a thing,' said Rose; +'for he is a very unquiet neighbour to his unfriends, and keeps a +greater following on foot than many that have thrice his estate. As to +his connection with the thieves, that I cannot well explain; but the +boldest of them will never steal a hoof from any one that pays +black-mail to Vich lan Vohr.' + +'And what is black-mail?' + +'A sort of protection-money that Low-Country gentlemen and heritors, +lying near the Highlands, pay to some Highland chief, that he may +neither do them harm himself, nor suffer it to be done to them by +others; and then if your cattle are stolen, you have only to send him +word, and he will recover them; or it may be, he will drive away cows +from some distant place, where he has a quarrel, and give them to you +to make up your loss.' [Footnote: See note 13.] + +'And is this sort of Highland Jonathan Wild admitted into society, and +called a gentleman?' + +'So much so,' said Rose, 'that the quarrel between my father and Fergus +Mac-Ivor began at a county meeting, where he wanted to take precedence +of all the Lowland gentlemen then present, only my father would not +suffer it. And then he upbraided my father that he was under his +banner, and paid him tribute; and my father was in a towering passion, +for Bailie Macwheeble, who manages such things his own way, had +contrived to keep this black-mail a secret from him, and passed it in +his account for cess-money. And they would have fought; but Fergus +Mac-Ivor said, very gallantly, he would never raise his hand against a +grey head that was so much respected as my father's.--O I wish, I wish +they had continued friends!' + +'And did you ever see this Mr. Mac-Ivor, if that be his name, Miss +Bradwardine?' + +'No, that is not his name; and he would consider MASTER as a sort of +affront, only that you are an Englishman, and know no better. But the +Lowlanders call him, like other gentlemen, by the name of his estate, +Glennaquoich; and the Highlanders call him Vich Ian Vohr, that is, the +son of John the Great; and we upon the braes here call him by both +names indifferently.' + +'I am afraid I shall never bring my English tongue to call him by +either one or other.' + +'But he is a very polite, handsome man,' continued Rose; 'and his +sister Flora is one of the most beautiful and accomplished young ladies +in this country; she was bred in a convent in France, and was a great +friend of mine before this unhappy dispute. Dear Captain Waverley, try +your influence with my father to make matters up. I am sure this is but +the beginning of our troubles; for Tully-Veolan has never been a safe +or quiet residence when we have been at feud with the Highlanders. When +I was a girl about ten, there was a skirmish fought between a party of +twenty of them and my father and his servants behind the mains; and the +bullets broke several panes in the north windows, they were so near. +Three of the Highlanders were killed, and they brought them in wrapped +in their plaids, and laid them on the stone floor of the hall; and next +morning, their wives and daughters came, clapping their hands, and +crying the coronach, and shrieking, and carried away the dead bodies, +with the pipes playing before them. I could not sleep for six weeks +without starting and thinking I heard these terrible cries, and saw the +bodies lying on the steps, all stiff and swathed up in their bloody +tartans. But since that time there came a party from the garrison at +Stirling, with a warrant from the Lord Justice Clerk, or some such +great man, and took away all our arms; and now, how are we to protect +ourselves if they come down in any strength?' + +Waverley could not help starting at a story which bore so much +resemblance to one of his own day-dreams. Here was a girl scarce +seventeen, the gentlest of her sex, both in temper and appearance, who +had witnessed with her own eyes such a scene as he had used to conjure +up in his imagination, as only occurring in ancient times, and spoke of +it coolly, as one very likely to recur. He felt at once the impulse of +curiosity, and that slight sense of danger which only serves to +heighten its interest. He might have said with Malvolio, '"I do not now +fool myself, to let imagination jade me!" I am actually in the land of +military and romantic adventures, and it only remains to be seen what +will be my own share in them.' + +The whole circumstances now detailed concerning the state of the +country seemed equally novel and extraordinary. He had indeed often +heard of Highland thieves, but had no idea of the systematic mode in +which their depredations were conducted; and that the practice was +connived at, and even encouraged, by many of the Highland chieftains, +who not only found the creaghs, or forays, useful for the purpose of +training individuals of their clan to the practice of arms, but also of +maintaining a wholesome terror among their Lowland neighbours, and +levying, as we have seen, a tribute from them, under colour of +protection-money. + +Bailie Macwheeble, who soon afterwards entered, expatiated still more +at length upon the same topic. This honest gentleman's conversation was +so formed upon his professional practice, that Davie Gellatley once +said his discourse was like a 'charge of horning.' He assured our hero, +that 'from the maist ancient times of record, the lawless thieves, +limmers, and broken men of the Highlands, had been in fellowship +together by reason of their surnames, for the committing of divers +thefts, reifs, and herships upon the honest men of the Low Country, +when they not only intromitted with their whole goods and gear, corn, +cattle, horse, nolt, sheep, outsight and insight plenishing, at their +wicked pleasure, but moreover made prisoners, ransomed them, or +concussed them into giving borrows (pledges) to enter into captivity +again;--all which was directly prohibited in divers parts of the +Statute Book, both by the act one thousand five hundred and +sixty-seven, and various others; the whilk statutes, with all that had +followed and might follow thereupon, were shamefully broken and +vilipended by the said sorners, limmers, and broken men, associated +into fellowships, for the aforesaid purposes of theft, stouthreef, +fire-raising, murther, raptus mulierum, or forcible abduction of women, +and such like as aforesaid.' + +It seemed like a dream to Waverley that these deeds of violence should +be familiar to men's minds, and currently talked of as falling within +the common order of things, and happening daily in the immediate +vicinity, without his having crossed the seas, and while he was yet in +the otherwise well-ordered island of Great Britain. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AN UNEXPECTED ALLY APPEARS + + +The Baron returned at the dinner-hour, and had in a great measure +recovered his composure and good-humour. He not only confirmed the +stories which Edward had heard from Rose and Bailie Macwheeble, but +added many anecdotes from his own experience, concerning the state of +the Highlands and their inhabitants. The chiefs he pronounced to be, in +general, gentlemen of great honour and high pedigree, whose word was +accounted as a law by all those of their own sept, or clan. 'It did not +indeed,' he said, 'become them, as had occurred in late instances, to +propone their prosapia, a lineage which rested for the most part on the +vain and fond rhymes of their seannachies or bhairds, as aequiponderate +with the evidence of ancient charters and royal grants of antiquity, +conferred upon distinguished houses in the Low Country by divers +Scottish monarchs; nevertheless, such was their outrecuidance and +presumption, as to undervalue those who possessed such evidents, as if +they held their lands in a sheep's skin.' + +This, by the way, pretty well explained the cause of quarrel between +the Baron and his Highland ally. But he went on to state so many +curious particulars concerning the manners, customs, and habits of this +patriarchal race that Edward's curiosity became highly interested, and +he inquired whether it was possible to make with safety an excursion +into the neighbouring Highlands, whose dusky barrier of mountains had +already excited his wish to penetrate beyond them. The Baron assured +his guest that nothing would be more easy, providing this quarrel were +first made up, since he could himself give him letters to many of the +distinguished chiefs, who would receive him with the utmost courtesy +and hospitality. + +While they were on this topic, the door suddenly opened, and, ushered +by Saunders Saunderson, a Highlander, fully armed and equipped, entered +the apartment. Had it not been that Saunders acted the part of master +of the ceremonies to this martial apparition, without appearing to +deviate from his usual composure, and that neither Mr. Bradwardine nor +Rose exhibited any emotion, Edward would certainly have thought the +intrusion hostile. As it was, he started at the sight of what he had +not yet happened to see, a mountaineer in his full national costume. +The individual Gael was a stout, dark, young man, of low stature, the +ample folds of whose plaid added to the appearance of strength which +his person exhibited. The short kilt, or petticoat, showed his sinewy +and clean-made limbs; the goatskin purse, flanked by the usual +defences, a dirk and steel-wrought pistol, hung before him; his bonnet +had a short feather, which indicated his claim to be treated as a +duinhe-wassel, or sort of gentleman; a broadsword dangled by his side, +a target hung upon his shoulder, and a long Spanish fowling-piece +occupied one of his hands. With the other hand he pulled off his +bonnet, and the Baron, who well knew their customs, and the proper mode +of addressing them, immediately said, with an air of dignity, but +without rising, and much, as Edward thought, in the manner of a prince +receiving an embassy, 'Welcome, Evan Dhu Maccombich; what news from +Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich lan Vohr?' + +'Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich lan Vohr,' said the ambassador, in good English, +'greets you well, Baron of Bradwardine and Tully-Veolan, and is sorry +there has been a thick cloud interposed between you and him, which has +kept you from seeing and considering the friendship and alliances that +have been between your houses and forebears of old; and he prays you +that the cloud may pass away, and that things may be as they have been +heretofore between the clan Ivor and the house of Bradwardine, when +there was an egg between them for a flint and a knife for a sword. And +he expects you will also say, you are sorry for the cloud, and no man +shall hereafter ask whether it descended from the bill to the valley, +or rose from the valley to the hill; for they never struck with the +scabbard who did not receive with the sword, and woe to him who would +lose his friend for the stormy cloud of a spring morning.' + +To this the Baron of Bradwardine answered with suitable dignity, that +he knew the chief of Clan Ivor to be a well-wisher to the King, and he +was sorry there should have been a cloud between him and any gentleman +of such sound principles, 'for when folks are banding together, feeble +is he who hath no brother.' + +This appearing perfectly satisfactory, that the peace between these +august persons might be duly solemnised, the Baron ordered a stoup of +usquebaugh, and, filling a glass, drank to the health and prosperity of +Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich; upon which the Celtic ambassador, to requite +his politeness, turned down a mighty bumper of the same generous +liquor, seasoned with his good wishes to the house of Bradwardine. + +Having thus ratified the preliminaries of the general treaty of +pacification, the envoy retired to adjust with Mr. Macwheeble some +subordinate articles with which it was not thought necessary to trouble +the Baron. These probably referred to the discontinuance of the +subsidy, and apparently the Bailie found means to satisfy their ally, +without suffering his master to suppose that his dignity was +compromised. At least, it is certain, that after the plenipotentiaries +had drunk a bottle of brandy in single drams, which seemed to have no +more effect upon such seasoned vessels than if it had been poured upon +the two bears at the top of the avenue, Evan Dhu Maccombich, having +possessed himself of all the information which he could procure +respecting the robbery of the preceding night, declared his intention +to set off immediately in pursuit of the cattle, which he pronounced to +be 'no that far off; they have broken the bone,' he observed, 'but they +have had no tune to suck the marrow.' + +Our hero, who had attended Evan Dhu during his perquisitions, was much +struck with the ingenuity which he displayed in collecting information, +and the precise and pointed conclusions which he drew from it. Evan +Dhu, on his part, was obviously flattered with the attention of +Waverley, the interest he seemed to take in his inquiries, and his +curiosity about the customs and scenery of the Highlands. Without much +ceremony he invited Edward to accompany him on a short walk of ten or +fifteen miles into the mountains, and see the place where the cattle +were conveyed to; adding, 'If it be as I suppose, you never saw such a +place in your life, nor ever will, unless you go with me or the like of +me.' + +Our hero, feeling his curiosity considerably excited by the idea of +visiting the den of a Highland Cacus, took, however, the precaution to +inquire if his guide might be trusted. He was assured that the +invitation would on no account have been given had there been the least +danger, and that all he had to apprehend was a little fatigue; and, as +Evan proposed he should pass a day at his Chieftain's house in +returning, where he would be sure of good accommodation and an +excellent welcome, there seemed nothing very formidable in the task he +undertook. Rose, indeed, turned pale when she heard of it; but her +father, who loved the spirited curiosity of his young friend, did not +attempt to damp it by an alarm of danger which really did not exist, +and a knapsack, with a few necessaries, being bound on the shoulders of +a sort of deputy gamekeeper, our hero set forth with a fowling-piece in +his hand, accompanied by his new friend Evan Dhu, and followed by the +gamekeeper aforesaid, and by two wild Highlanders, the attendants of +Evan, one of whom had upon his shoulder a hatchet at the end of a pole, +called a Lochaber-axe, [Footnote: See Note 14] and the other a long +ducking-gun. Evan, upon Edward's inquiry, gave him to understand that +this martial escort was by no means necessary as a guard, but merely, +as he said, drawing up and adjusting his plaid with an air of dignity, +that he might appear decently at Tully-Veolan, and as Vich Ian Vohr's +foster-brother ought to do. 'Ah!' said he, 'if you Saxon duinhe-wassel +(English gentleman) saw but the Chief with his tail on!' + +'With his tail on?' echoed Edward in some surprise. + +'Yes--that is, with all his usual followers, when he visits those of +the same rank. There is,' he continued, stopping and drawing himself +proudly up, while he counted upon his fingers the several officers of +his chief's retinue; 'there is his hanchman, or right-hand man; then +his bard, or poet; then his bladier, or orator, to make harangues to +the great folks whom he visits; then his gilly-more, or armour-bearer, +to carry his sword and target, and his gun; then his gilly-casfliuch, +who carries him on his back through the sikes and brooks; then his +gilly-comstrian, to lead his horse by the bridle in steep and difficult +paths; then his gilly-trushharnish, to carry his knapsack; and the +piper and the piper's man, and it may be a dozen young lads beside, +that have no business, but are just boys of the belt, to follow the +Laird and do his honour's bidding.' + +'And does your Chief regularly maintain all these men?' demanded +Waverley. + +'All these?' replied Evan; 'ay, and many a fair head beside, that would +not ken where to lay itself, but for the mickle barn at Glennaquoich.' + +With similar tales of the grandeur of the Chief in peace and war, Evan +Dhu beguiled the way till they approached more closely those huge +mountains which Edward had hitherto only seen at a distance. It was +towards evening as they entered one of the tremendous passes which +afford communication between the high and low country; the path, which +was extremely steep and rugged, winded up a chasm between two +tremendous rocks, following the passage which a foaming stream, that +brawled far below, appeared to have worn for itself in the course of +ages. A few slanting beams of the sun, which was now setting, reached +the water in its darksome bed, and showed it partially, chafed by a +hundred rocks and broken by a hundred falls. The descent from the path +to the stream was a mere precipice, with here and there a projecting +fragment of granite, or a scathed tree, which had warped its twisted +roots into the fissures of the rock. On the right hand, the mountain +rose above the path with almost equal inaccessibility; but the hill on +the opposite side displayed a shroud of copsewood, with which some +pines were intermingled. + +'This,' said Evan, 'is the pass of Bally-Brough, which was kept in +former times by ten of the clan Donnochie against a hundred of the +Low-Country carles. The graves of the slain are still to be seen in +that little corrie, or bottom, on the opposite side of the burn; if +your eyes are good, you may see the green specks among the heather. +See, there is an earn, which you Southrons call an eagle. You have no +such birds as that in England. He is going to fetch his supper from the +Laird of Bradwardine's braes, but I 'll send a slug after him.' + +He fired his piece accordingly, but missed the superb monarch of the +feathered tribes, who, without noticing the attempt to annoy him, +continued his majestic flight to the southward. A thousand birds of +prey, hawks, kites, carrion-crows, and ravens, disturbed from the +lodgings which they had just taken up for the evening, rose at the +report of the gun, and mingled their hoarse and discordant notes with +the echoes which replied to it, and with the roar of the mountain +cataracts. Evan, a little disconcerted at having missed his mark, when +he meant to have displayed peculiar dexterity, covered his confusion by +whistling part of a pibroch as he reloaded his piece, and proceeded in +silence up the pass. + +It issued in a narrow glen, between two mountains, both very lofty and +covered with heath. The brook continued to be their companion, and they +advanced up its mazes, crossing them now and then, on which occasions +Evan Dhu uniformly offered the assistance of his attendants to carry +over Edward; but our hero, who had been always a tolerable pedestrian, +declined the accommodation, and obviously rose in his guide's opinion, +by showing that he did not fear wetting his feet. Indeed he was +anxious, so far as he could without affectation, to remove the opinion +which Evan seemed to entertain of the effeminacy of the Lowlanders, and +particularly of the English. + +Through the gorge of this glen they found access to a black bog, of +tremendous extent, full of large pit-holes, which they traversed with +great difficulty and some danger, by tracks which no one but a +Highlander could have followed. The path itself, or rather the portion +of more solid ground on which the travellers half walked, half waded, +was rough, broken, and in many places quaggy and unsound. Sometimes the +ground was so completely unsafe that it was necessary to spring from +one hillock to another, the space between being incapable of bearing +the human weight. This was an easy matter to the Highlanders, who wore +thin-soled brogues fit for the purpose, and moved with a peculiar +springing step; but Edward began to find the exercise, to which he was +unaccustomed, more fatiguing than he expected. The lingering twilight +served to show them through this Serbonian bog, but deserted them +almost totally at the bottom of a steep and very stony hill, which it +was the travellers' next toilsome task to ascend. The night, however, +was pleasant, and not dark; and Waverley, calling up mental energy to +support personal fatigue, held on his march gallantly, though envying +in his heart his Highland attendants, who continued, without a symptom +of abated vigour, the rapid and swinging pace, or rather trot, which, +according to his computation, had already brought them fifteen miles +upon their journey. + +After crossing this mountain and descending on the other side towards a +thick wood, Evan Dhu held some conference with his Highland attendants, +in consequence of which Edward's baggage was shifted from the shoulders +of the gamekeeper to those of one of the gillies, and the former was +sent off with the other mountaineer in a direction different from that +of the three remaining travellers. On asking the meaning of this +separation, Waverley was told that the Lowlander must go to a hamlet +about three miles off for the night; for unless it was some very +particular friend, Donald Bean Lean, the worthy person whom they +supposed to be possessed of the cattle, did not much approve of +strangers approaching his retreat. This seemed reasonable, and silenced +a qualm of suspicion which came across Edward's mind when he saw +himself, at such a place and such an hour, deprived of his only Lowland +companion. And Evan immediately afterwards added,'that indeed he +himself had better get forward, and announce their approach to Donald +Bean Lean, as the arrival of a sidier roy (red soldier) might otherwise +be a disagreeable surprise.' And without waiting for an answer, in +jockey phrase, he trotted out, and putting himself to a very round +pace, was out of sight in an instant. + +Waverley was now left to his own meditations, for his attendant with +the battle-axe spoke very little English. They were traversing a thick, +and, as it seemed, an endless wood of pines, and consequently the path +was altogether indiscernible in the murky darkness which surrounded +them. The Highlander, however, seemed to trace it by instinct, without +the hesitation of a moment, and Edward followed his footsteps as close +as he could. + +After journeying a considerable time in silence, he could not help +asking, 'Was it far to the end of their journey?' + +'Ta cove was tree, four mile; but as duinhe-wassel was a wee taiglit, +Donald could, tat is, might--would--should send ta curragh.' + +This conveyed no information. The curragh which was promised might be a +man, a horse, a cart, or chaise; and no more could be got from the man +with the battle-axe but a repetition of 'Aich ay! ta curragh.' + +But in a short time Edward began to conceive his meaning, when, issuing +from the wood, he found himself on the banks of a large river or lake, +where his conductor gave him to understand they must sit down for a +little while. The moon, which now began to rise, showed obscurely the +expanse of water which spread before them, and the shapeless and +indistinct forms of mountains with which it seemed to be surrounded. +The cool and yet mild air of the summer night refreshed Waverley after +his rapid and toilsome walk; and the perfume which it wafted from the +birch trees, [Footnote: It is not the weeping birch, the most common +species in the Highlands, but the woolly-leaved Lowland birch, that is +distinguished by this fragrance.] bathed in the evening dew, was +exquisitely fragrant. + +He had now time to give himself up to the full romance of his +situation. Here he sate on the banks of an unknown lake, under the +guidance of a wild native, whose language was unknown to him, on a +visit to the den of some renowned outlaw, a second Robin Hood, perhaps, +or Adam o' Gordon, and that at deep midnight, through scenes of +difficulty and toil, separated from his attendant, left by his guide. +What a variety of incidents for the exercise of a romantic imagination, +and all enhanced by the solemn feeling of uncertainty at least, if not +of danger! The only circumstance which assorted ill with the rest was +the cause of his journey--the Baron's milk-cows! this degrading +incident he kept in the background. + +While wrapt in these dreams of imagination, his companion gently +touched him, and, pointing in a direction nearly straight across the +lake, said, 'Yon's ta cove.' A small point of light was seen to twinkle +in the direction in which he pointed, and, gradually increasing in size +and lustre, seemed to flicker like a meteor upon the verge of the +horizon. While Edward watched this phenomenon, the distant dash of oars +was heard. The measured sound approached near and more near, and +presently a loud whistle was heard in the same direction. His friend +with the battle-axe immediately whistled clear and shrill, in reply to +the signal, and a boat, manned with four or five Highlanders, pushed +for a little inlet, near which Edward was sitting. He advanced to meet +them with his attendant, was immediately assisted into the boat by the +officious attention of two stout mountaineers, and had no sooner seated +himself than they resumed their oars, and began to row across the lake +with great rapidity. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE HOLD OF A HIGHLAND ROBBER + + +The party preserved silence, interrupted only by the monotonous and +murmured chant of a Gaelic song, sung in a kind of low recitative by +the steersman, and by the dash of the oars, which the notes seemed to +regulate, as they dipped to them in cadence. The light, which they now +approached more nearly, assumed a broader, redder and more irregular +splendour. It appeared plainly to be a large fire, but whether kindled +upon an island or the mainland Edward could not determine. As he saw +it, the red glaring orb seemed to rest on the very surface of the lake +itself, and resembled the fiery vehicle in which the Evil Genius of an +Oriental tale traverses land and sea. They approached nearer, and the +light of the fire sufficed to show that it was kindled at the bottom of +a huge dark crag or rock, rising abruptly from the very edge of the +water; its front, changed by the reflection to dusky red, formed a +strange and even awful contrast to the banks around, which were from +time to time faintly and partially illuminated by pallid moonlight. + +The boat now neared the shore, and Edward could discover that this +large fire, amply supplied with branches of pine-wood by two figures, +who, in the red reflection of its light, appeared like demons, was +kindled in the jaws of a lofty cavern, into which an inlet from the +lake seemed to advance; and he conjectured, which was indeed true, that +the fire had been lighted as a beacon to the boatmen on their return. +They rowed right for the mouth of the cave, and then, shifting their +oars, permitted the boat to enter in obedience to the impulse which it +had received. The skiff passed the little point or platform of rock on +which the fire was blazing, and running about two boats' lengths +farther, stopped where the cavern (for it was already arched overhead) +ascended from the water by five or six broad ledges of rock, so easy +and regular that they might be termed natural steps. At this moment a +quantity of water was suddenly flung upon the fire, which sunk with a +hissing noise, and with it disappeared the light it had hitherto +afforded. Four or five active arms lifted Waverley out of the boat, +placed him on his feet, and almost carried him into the recesses of the +cave. He made a few paces in darkness, guided in this manner; and +advancing towards a hum of voices, which seemed to sound from the +centre of the rock, at an acute turn Donald Bean Lean and his whole +establishment were before his eyes. + +The interior of the cave, which here rose very high, was illuminated by +torches made of pine-tree, which emitted a bright and bickering light, +attended by a strong though not unpleasant odour. Their light was +assisted by the red glare of a large charcoal fire, round which were +seated five or six armed Highlanders, while others were indistinctly +seen couched on their plaids in the more remote recesses of the cavern. +In one large aperture, which the robber facetiously called his SPENCE +(or pantry), there hung by the heels the carcasses of a sheep, or ewe, +and two cows lately slaughtered. The principal inhabitant of this +singular mansion, attended by Evan Dhu as master of the ceremonies, +came forward to meet his guest, totally different in appearance and +manner from what his imagination had anticipated. The profession which +he followed, the wilderness in which he dwelt, the wild warrior forms +that surrounded him, were all calculated to inspire terror. From such +accompaniments, Waverley prepared himself to meet a stern, gigantic, +ferocious figure, such as Salvator would have chosen to be the central +object of a group of banditti. [Footnote: See Note 15.] + +Donald Bean Lean was the very reverse of all these. He was thin in +person and low in stature, with light sandy-coloured hair, and small +pale features, from which he derived his agnomen of BEAN or white; and +although his form was light, well proportioned and active, he appeared, +on the whole, rather a diminutive and insignificant figure. He had +served in some inferior capacity in the French army, and in order to +receive his English visitor in great form, and probably meaning, in his +way, to pay him a compliment, he had laid aside the Highland dress for +the time, to put on an old blue and red uniform and a feathered hat, in +which he was far from showing to advantage, and indeed looked so +incongruous, compared with all around him, that Waverley would have +been tempted to laugh, had laughter been either civil or safe. The +robber received Captain Waverley with a profusion of French politeness +and Scottish hospitality, seemed perfectly to know his name and +connections, and to be particularly acquainted with his uncle's +political principles. On these he bestowed great applause, to which +Waverley judged it prudent to make a very general reply. + +Being placed at a convenient distance from the charcoal fire, the heat +of which the season rendered oppressive, a strapping Highland damsel +placed before Waverley, Evan, and Donald Bean three cogues, or wooden +vessels composed of staves and hoops, containing eanaruich, [Footnote: +This was the regale presented by Rob Roy to the Laird of Tullibody.] a +sort of strong soup, made out of a particular part of the inside of the +beeves. After this refreshment, which, though coarse, fatigue and +hunger rendered palatable, steaks, roasted on the coals, were supplied +in liberal abundance, and disappeared before Evan Dhu and their host +with a promptitude that seemed like magic, and astonished Waverley, who +was much puzzled to reconcile their voracity with what he had heard of +the abstemiousness of the Highlanders. He was ignorant that this +abstinence was with the lower ranks wholly compulsory, and that, like +some animals of prey, those who practise it were usually gifted with +the power of indemnifying themselves to good purpose when chance threw +plenty in their way. The whisky came forth in abundance to crown the +cheer. The Highlanders drank it copiously and undiluted; but Edward, +having mixed a little with water, did not find it so palatable as to +invite him to repeat the draught. Their host bewailed himself +exceedingly that he could offer him no wine: 'Had he but known +four-and-twenty hours before, he would have had some, had it been +within the circle of forty miles round him. But no gentleman could do +more to show his sense of the honour of a visit from another than to +offer him the best cheer his house afforded. Where there are no bushes +there can be no nuts, and the way of those you live with is that you +must follow,' + +He went on regretting to Evan Dhu the death of an aged man, Donnacha an +Amrigh, or Duncan with the Cap, 'a gifted seer,' who foretold, through +the second sight, visitors of every description who haunted their +dwelling, whether as friends or foes. + +'Is not his son Malcolm taishatr (a second-sighted person)?' asked Evan. + +'Nothing equal to his father,' replied Donald Bean. 'He told us the +other day, we were to see a great gentleman riding on a horse, and +there came nobody that whole day but Shemus Beg, the blind harper, with +his dog. Another time he advertised us of a wedding, and behold it +proved a funeral; and on the creagh, when he foretold to us we should +bring home a hundred head of horned cattle, we gripped nothing but a +fat bailie of Perth.' + +From this discourse he passed to the political and military state of +the country; and Waverley was astonished, and even alarmed, to find a +person of this description so accurately acquainted with the strength +of the various garrisons and regiments quartered north of the Tay. He +even mentioned the exact number of recruits who had joined Waverley's +troop from his uncle's estate, and observed they were PRETTY MEN, +meaning, not handsome, but stout warlike fellows. He put Waverley in +mind of one or two minute circumstances which had happened at a general +review of the regiment, which satisfied him that the robber had been an +eye-witness of it; and Evan Dhu having by this time retired from the +conversation, and wrapped himself up in his plaid to take some repose, +Donald asked Edward, in a very significant manner, whether he had +nothing particular to say to him. + +Waverley, surprised and somewhat startled at this question from such a +character, answered, he had no motive in visiting him but curiosity to +see his extraordinary place of residence. Donald Bean Lean looked him +steadily in the face for an instant, and then said, with a significant +nod, 'You might as well have confided in me; I am as much worthy of +trust as either the Baron of Bradwardine or Vich Ian Vohr. But you are +equally welcome to my house.' + +Waverley felt an involuntary shudder creep over him at the mysterious +language held by this outlawed and lawless bandit, which, in despite of +his attempts to master it, deprived him of the power to ask the meaning +of his insinuations. A heath pallet, with the flowers stuck uppermost, +had been prepared for him in a recess of the cave, and here, covered +with such spare plaids as could be mustered, he lay for some time +watching the motions of the other inhabitants of the cavern. Small +parties of two or three entered or left the place, without any other +ceremony than a few words in Gaelic to the principal outlaw, and, when +he fell asleep, to a tall Highlander who acted as his lieutenant, and +seemed to keep watch during his repose. Those who entered seemed to +have returned from some excursion, of which they reported the success, +and went without farther ceremony to the larder, where, cutting with +their dirks their rations from the carcasses which were there +suspended, they proceeded to broil and eat them at their own pleasure +and leisure. The liquor was under strict regulation, being served out +either by Donald himself, his lieutenant, or the strapping Highland +girl aforesaid, who was the only female that appeared. The allowance of +whisky, however, would have appeared prodigal to any but Highlanders, +who, living entirely in the open air and in a very moist climate, can +consume great quantities of ardent spirits without the usual baneful +effects either upon the brain or constitution. + +At length the fluctuating groups began to swim before the eyes of our +hero as they gradually closed; nor did he re-open them till the morning +sun was high on the lake without, though there was but a faint and +glimmering twilight in the recesses of Uaimh an Ri, or the King's +Cavern, as the abode of Donald Bean Lean was proudly denominated. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +WAVERLEY PROCEEDS ON HIS JOURNEY + + +When Edward had collected his scattered recollection, he was surprised +to observe the cavern totally deserted. Having arisen and put his dress +in some order, he looked more accurately round him; but all was still +solitary. If it had not been for the decayed brands of the fire, now +sunk into grey ashes, and the remnants of the festival, consisting of +bones half burnt and half gnawed, and an empty keg or two, there +remained no traces of Donald and his band. When Waverley sallied forth +to the entrance of the cave, he perceived that the point of rock, on +which remained the marks of last night's beacon, was accessible by a +small path, either natural or roughly hewn in the rock, along the +little inlet of water which ran a few yards up into the cavern, where, +as in a wetdock, the skiff which brought him there the night before was +still lying moored. When he reached the small projecting platform on +which the beacon had been established, he would have believed his +further progress by land impossible, only that it was scarce probable +but what the inhabitants of the cavern had some mode of issuing from it +otherwise than by the lake. Accordingly, he soon observed three or four +shelving steps, or ledges of rock, at the very extremity of the little +platform; and, making use of them as a staircase, he clambered by their +means around the projecting shoulder of the crag on which the cavern +opened, and, descending with some difficulty on the other side, he +gained the wild and precipitous shores of a Highland loch, about four +miles in length and a mile and a half across, surrounded by heathy and +savage mountains, on the crests of which the morning mist was still +sleeping. + +Looking back to the place from which he came, he could not help +admiring the address which had adopted a retreat of such seclusion and +secrecy. The rock, round the shoulder of which he had turned by a few +imperceptible notches, that barely afforded place for the foot, seemed, +in looking back upon it, a huge precipice, which barred all further +passage by the shores of the lake in that direction. There could be no +possibility, the breadth of the lake considered, of descrying the +entrance of the narrow and low-browed cave from the other side; so +that, unless the retreat had been sought for with boats, or disclosed +by treachery, it might be a safe and secret residence to its garrison +as long as they were supplied with provisions. Having satisfied his +curiosity in these particulars, Waverley looked around for Evan Dhu and +his attendants, who, he rightly judged, would be at no great distance, +whatever might have become of Donald Bean Lean and his party, whose +mode of life was, of course, liable to sudden migrations of abode. +Accordingly, at the distance of about half a mile, he beheld a +Highlander (Evan apparently) angling in the lake, with another +attending him, whom, from the weapon which he shouldered, he recognised +for his friend with the battle-axe. + +Much nearer to the mouth of the cave he heard the notes of a lively +Gaelic song, guided by which, in a sunny recess, shaded by a glittering +birch-tree, and carpeted with a bank of firm white sand, he found the +damsel of the cavern, whose lay had already reached him, busy, to the +best of her power, in arranging to advantage a morning repast of milk, +eggs, barley-bread, fresh butter, and honey-comb. The poor girl had +already made a circuit of four miles that morning in search of the +eggs, of the meal which baked her cakes, and of the other materials of +the breakfast, being all delicacies which she had to beg or borrow from +distant cottagers. The followers of Donald Bean Lean used little food +except the flesh of the animals which they drove away from the +Lowlands; bread itself was a delicacy seldom thought of, because hard +to be obtained, and all the domestic accommodations of milk, poultry, +butter, etc., were out of the question in this Scythian camp. Yet it +must not be omitted that, although Alice had occupied a part of the +morning in providing those accommodations for her guest which the +cavern did not afford, she had secured time also to arrange her own +person in her best trim. Her finery was very simple. A short +russet-coloured jacket and a petticoat of scanty longitude was her +whole dress; but these were clean, and neatly arranged. A piece of +scarlet embroidered cloth, called the snood, confined her hair, which +fell over it in a profusion of rich dark curls. The scarlet plaid, +which formed part of her dress, was laid aside, that it might not +impede her activity in attending the stranger. I should forget Alice's +proudest ornament were I to omit mentioning a pair of gold ear-rings +and a, golden rosary, which her father (for she was the daughter of +Donald Bean Lean) had brought from France, the plunder, probably, of +some battle or storm. + +Her form, though rather large for her years, was very well +proportioned, and her demeanour had a natural and rustic grace, with +nothing of the sheepishness of an ordinary peasant. The smiles, +displaying a row of teeth of exquisite whiteness, and the laughing +eyes, with which, in dumb show, she gave Waverley that morning greeting +which she wanted English words to express, might have been interpreted +by a coxcomb, or perhaps by a young soldier who, without being such, +was conscious of a handsome person, as meant to convey more than the +courtesy of an hostess. Nor do I take it upon me to say that the little +wild mountaineer would have welcomed any staid old gentleman advanced +in life, the Baron of Bradwardine, for example, with the cheerful pains +which she bestowed upon Edward's accommodation. She seemed eager to +place him by the meal which she had so sedulously arranged, and to +which she now added a few bunches of cranberries, gathered in an +adjacent morass. Having had the satisfaction of seeing him seated at +his breakfast, she placed herself demurely upon a stone at a few yards' +distance, and appeared to watch with great complacency for some +opportunity of serving him. + +Evan and his attendant now returned slowly along the beach, the latter +bearing a large salmon-trout, the produce of the morning's sport, +together with the angling-rod, while Evan strolled forward, with an +easy, self-satisfied, and important gait, towards the spot where +Waverley was so agreeably employed at the breakfast-table. After +morning greetings had passed on both sides, and Evan, looking at +Waverley, had said something in Gaelic to Alice, which made her laugh, +yet colour up to her eyes, through a complexion well en-browned by sun +and wind, Evan intimated his commands that the fish should be prepared +for breakfast. A spark from the lock of his pistol produced a light, +and a few withered fir branches were quickly in flame, and as speedily +reduced to hot embers, on which the trout was broiled in large slices. +To crown the repast, Evan produced from the pocket of his short jerkin +a large scallop shell, and from under the folds of his plaid a ram's +horn full of whisky. Of this he took a copious dram, observing he had +already taken his MORNING with Donald Bean Lean before his departure; +he offered the same cordial to Alice and to Edward, which they both +declined. With the bounteous air of a lord, Evan then proffered the +scallop to Dugald Mahony, his attendant, who, without waiting to be +asked a second time, drank it off with great gusto. Evan then prepared +to move towards the boat, inviting Waverley to attend him. Meanwhile, +Alice had made up in a small basket what she thought worth removing, +and flinging her plaid around her, she advanced up to Edward, and with +the utmost simplicity, taking hold of his hand, offered her cheek to +his salute, dropping at the same time her little curtsy. Evan, who was +esteemed a wag among the mountain fair, advanced as if to secure a +similar favour; but Alice, snatching up her basket, escaped up the +rocky bank as fleetly as a roe, and, turning round and laughing, called +something out to him in Gaelic, which he answered in the same tone and +language; then, waving her hand to Edward, she resumed her road, and +was soon lost among the thickets, though they continued for some time +to hear her lively carol, as she proceeded gaily on her solitary +journey. + +They now again entered the gorge of the cavern, and stepping into the +boat, the Highlander pushed off, and, taking advantage of the morning +breeze, hoisted a clumsy sort of sail, while Evan assumed the helm, +directing their course, as it appeared to Waverley, rather higher up +the lake than towards the place of his embarkation on the preceding +night. As they glided along the silver mirror, Evan opened the +conversation with a panegyric upon Alice, who, he said, was both CANNY +and FENDY; and was, to the boot of all that, the best dancer of a +strathspey in the whole strath. Edward assented to her praises so far +as he understood them, yet could not help regretting that she was +condemned to such a perilous and dismal life. + +'Oich! for that,' said Evan, 'there is nothing in Perthshire that she +need want, if she ask her father to fetch it, unless it be too hot or +too heavy.' + +'But to be the daughter of a cattle-stealer--a common thief!' 'Common +thief!--no such thing: Donald Bean Lean never LIFTED less than a drove +in his life.' + +'Do you call him an uncommon thief, then?' + +'No; he that steals a cow from a poor widow, or a stirk from a cotter, +is a thief; he that lifts a drove from a Sassenach laird is a +gentleman-drover. And, besides, to take a tree from the forest, a +salmon from the river, a deer from the hill, or a cow from a Lowland +strath, is what no Highlander need ever think shame upon.' + +'But what can this end in, were he taken in such an appropriation?' + +'To be sure he would DIE FOR THE LAW, as many a pretty man has done +before him.' + +'Die for the law!' + +'Ay; that is, with the law, or by the law; be strapped up on the KIND +gallows of Crieff, [Footnote: See Note 16.] where his father died, and +his goodsire died, and where I hope he'll live to die himsell, if he's +not shot, or slashed, in a creagh.' + +'You HOPE such a death for your friend, Evan?' + +'And that do I e'en; would you have me wish him to die on a bundle of +wet straw in yon den of his, like a mangy tyke?' + +'But what becomes of Alice, then?' + +'Troth, if such an accident were to happen, as her father would not +need her help ony langer, I ken nought to hinder me to marry her +mysell.' + +'Gallantly resolved,' said Edward; 'but, in the meanwhile, Evan, what +has your father-in-law (that shall be, if he have the good fortune to +be hanged) done with the Baron's cattle?' + +'Oich,' answered Evan,'they were all trudging before your lad and Allan +Kennedy before the sun blinked ower Ben Lawers this morning; and +they'll be in the pass of Bally-Brough by this time, in their way back +to the parks of Tully-Veolan, all but two, that were unhappily +slaughtered before I got last night to Uaimh an Ri.' + +'And where are we going, Evan, if I may be so bold as to ask?' said +Waverley. + +'Where would you be ganging, but to the Laird's ain house of +Glennaquoich? Ye would not think to be in his country, without ganging +to see him? It would be as much as a man's life's worth.' + +'And are we far from Glennaquoich?' + +'But five bits of miles; and Vich Ian Vohr will meet us.' + +In about half an hour they reached the upper end of the lake, where, +after landing Waverley, the two Highanders drew the boat into a little +creek among thick flags and reeds, where it lay perfectly concealed. +The oars they put in another place of concealment, both for the use of +Donald Bean Lean probably, when his occasions should next bring him to +that place. + +The travellers followed for some time a delightful opening into the +hills, down which a little brook found its way to the lake. When they +had pursued their walk a short distance, Waverley renewed his questions +about their host of the cavern. + +'Does he always reside in that cave?' + +'Out, no! it's past the skill of man to tell where he's to be found at +a' times; there's not a dern nook, or cove, or corrie, in the whole +country that he's not acquainted with.' + +'And do others beside your master shelter him?' + +'My master? MY master is in Heaven,' answered Evan, haughtily; and then +immediately assuming his usual civility of manner, 'but you mean my +Chief;--no, he does not shelter Donald Bean Lean, nor any that are like +him; he only allows him (with a smile) wood and water.' + +'No great boon, I should think, Evan, when both seem to be very plenty.' + +'Ah! but ye dinna see through it. When I say wood and water, I mean the +loch and the land; and I fancy Donald would be put till 't if the Laird +were to look for him wi' threescore men in the wood of Kailychat +yonder; and if our boats, with a score or twa mair, were to come down +the loch to Uaimh an Ri, headed by mysell, or ony other pretty man.' + +'But suppose a strong party came against him from the Low Country, +would not your Chief defend him?' + +'Na, he would not ware the spark of a flint for him--if they came with +the law.' + +'And what must Donald do, then?' + +'He behoved to rid this country of himsell, and fall back, it may be, +over the mount upon Letter Scriven.' + +'And if he were pursued to that place?' + +'I'se warrant he would go to his cousin's at Rannoch.' + +'Well, but if they followed him to Rannoch?' + +'That,' quoth Evan, 'is beyond all belief; and, indeed, to tell you the +truth, there durst not a Lowlander in all Scotland follow the fray a +gun-shot beyond Bally-Brough, unless he had the help of the Sidier Dhu.' + +'Whom do you call so?' + +'The Sidier Dhu? the black soldier; that is what they call the +independent companies that were raised to keep peace and law in the +Highlands. Vich Ian Vohr commanded one of them for five years, and I +was sergeant mysell, I shall warrant ye. They call them Sidier Dhu +because they wear the tartans, as they call your men--King George's +men--Sidier Roy, or red soldiers.' + +'Well, but when you were in King George's pay, Evan, you were surely +King George's soldiers?' + +'Troth, and you must ask Vich Ian Vohr about that; for we are for his +king, and care not much which o' them it is. At ony rate, nobody can +say we are King George's men now, when we have not seen his pay this +twelve-month.' + +This last argument admitted of no reply, nor did Edward attempt any; he +rather chose to bring back the discourse to Donald Bean Lean. 'Does +Donald confine himself to cattle, or does he LIFT, as you call it, +anything else that comes in his way?' + +'Troth, he's nae nice body, and he'll just tak onything, but most +readily cattle, horse, or live Christians; for sheep are slow of +travel, and inside plenishing is cumbrous to carry, and not easy to put +away for siller in this country.' + +'But does he carry off men and women?' + +'Out, ay. Did not ye hear him speak o' the Perth bailie? It cost that +body five hundred merks ere he got to the south of Bally-Brough. And +ance Donald played a pretty sport. [Footnote: See Note 17.] There was +to be a blythe bridal between the Lady Cramfeezer, in the howe o' the +Mearns (she was the auld laird's widow, and no sae young as she had +been hersell), and young Gilliewhackit, who had spent his heirship and +movables, like a gentleman, at cock-matches, bull-baitings, +horse-races, and the like. Now, Donald Bean Lean, being aware that the +bridegroom was in request, and wanting to cleik the cunzie (that is, to +hook the siller), he cannily carried off Gilliewhackit ae night when he +was riding dovering hame (wi' the malt rather abune the meal), and with +the help of his gillies he gat him into the hills with the speed of +light, and the first place he wakened in was the cove of Uaimh an Ri. +So there was old to do about ransoming the bridegroom; for Donald would +not lower a farthing of a thousand punds--' + +'The devil!' + +'Punds Scottish, ye shall understand. And the lady had not the siller +if she had pawned her gown; and they applied to the governor o' +Stirling castle, and to the major o' the Black Watch; and the governor +said it was ower far to the northward, and out of his district; and the +major said his men were gane hame to the shearing, and he would not +call them out before the victual was got in for all the Cramfeezers in +Christendom, let alane the Mearns, for that it would prejudice the +country. And in the meanwhile ye'll no hinder Gilliewhackit to take the +small-pox. There was not the doctor in Perth or Stirling would look +near the poor lad; and I cannot blame them, for Donald had been +misguggled by ane of these doctors about Paris, and he swore he would +fling the first into the loch that he catched beyond the pass. However +some cailliachs (that is, old women) that were about Donald's hand +nursed Gilliewhackit sae weel that, between the free open air in the +cove and the fresh whey, deil an he did not recover maybe as weel as if +he had been closed in a glazed chamber and a bed with curtains, and fed +with red wine and white meat. And Donald was sae vexed about it that, +when he was stout and weel, he even sent him free home, and said he +would be pleased with onything they would like to gie him for the +plague and trouble which he had about Gilliewhackit to an unkenn'd +degree. And I cannot tell you precisely how they sorted; but they +agreed sae right that Donald was invited to dance at the wedding in his +Highland trews, and they said that there was never sae meikle siller +clinked in his purse either before or since. And to the boot of all +that, Gilliewhackit said that, be the evidence what it liked, if he had +the luck to be on Donald's inquest, he would bring him in guilty of +nothing whatever, unless it were wilful arson or murder under trust.' + +With such bald and disjointed chat Evan went on illustrating the +existing state of the Highlands, more perhaps to the amusement of +Waverley than that of our readers. At length, after having marched over +bank and brae, moss and heather, Edward, though not unacquainted with +the Scottish liberality in computing distance, began to think that +Evan's five miles were nearly doubled. His observation on the large +measure which the Scottish allowed of their land, in comparison to the +computation of their money, was readily answered by Evan with the old +jest, 'The deil take them wha have the least pint stoup.' + +[Footnote: The Scotch are liberal in computing their land and liquor; +the Scottish pint corresponds to two English quarts. As for their coin, +every one knows the couplet-- + + How can the rogues pretend to sense? + Their pound is only twenty pence.] + +And now the report of a gun was heard, and a sportsman was seen, with +his dogs and attendant, at the upper end of the glen. 'Shough,' said +Dugald Mahony, 'tat's ta Chief.' + +'It is not,' said Evan, imperiously. 'Do you think he would come to +meet a Sassenach duinhe-wassel in such a way as that?' + +But as they approached a little nearer, he said, with an appearance of +mortification, 'And it is even he, sure enough; and he has not his tail +on after all; there is no living creature with him but Callum Beg.' + +In fact, Fergus Mac-Ivor, of whom a Frenchman might have said as truly +as of any man in the Highlands, 'Qu'il connoit bien ses gens' had no +idea of raising himself in the eyes of an English young man of fortune +by appearing with a retinue of idle Highlanders disproportioned to the +occasion. He was well aware that such an unnecessary attendance would +seem to Edward rather ludicrous than respectable; and, while few men +were more attached to ideas of chieftainship and feudal power, he was, +for that very reason, cautious of exhibiting external marks of dignity, +unless at the time and in the manner when they were most likely to +produce an imposing effect. Therefore, although, had he been to receive +a brother chieftain, he would probably have been attended by all that +retinue which Evan described with so much unction, he judged it more +respectable to advance to meet Waverley with a single attendant, a very +handsome Highland boy, who carried his master's shooting-pouch and his +broadsword, without which he seldom went abroad. + +When Fergus and Waverley met, the latter was struck with the peculiar +grace and dignity of the Chieftain's figure. Above the middle size and +finely proportioned, the Highland dress, which he wore in its simplest +mode, set off his person to great advantage. He wore the trews, or +close trowsers, made of tartan, chequed scarlet and white; in other +particulars his dress strictly resembled Evan's, excepting that he had +no weapon save a dirk, very richly mounted with silver. His page, as we +have said, carried his claymore; and the fowling-piece, which he held +in his hand, seemed only designed for sport. He had shot in the course +of his walk some young wild-ducks, as, though CLOSE TIME was then +unknown, the broods of grouse were yet too young for the sportsman. His +countenance was decidedly Scottish, with all the peculiarities of the +northern physiognomy, but yet had so little of its harshness and +exaggeration that it would have been pronounced in any country +extremely handsome. The martial air of the bonnet, with a single +eagle's feather as a distinction, added much to the manly appearance of +his head, which was besides ornamented with a far more natural and +graceful cluster of close black curls than ever were exposed to sale in +Bond Street. + +An air of openness and affability increased the favorable impression +derived from this handsome and dignified exterior. Yet a skilful +physiognomist would have been less satisfied with the countenance on +the second than on the first view. The eyebrow and upper lip bespoke +something of the habit of peremptory command and decisive superiority. +Even his courtesy, though open, frank, and unconstrained, seemed to +indicate a sense of personal importance; and, upon any check or +accidental excitation, a sudden, though transient lour of the eye +showed a hasty, haughty, and vindictive temper, not less to be dreaded +because it seemed much under its owner's command. In short, the +countenance of the Chieftain resembled a smiling summer's day, in +which, notwithstanding, we are made sensible by certain, though slight +signs that it may thunder and lighten before the close of evening. + +It was not, however, upon their first meeting that Edward had an +opportunity of making these less favourable remarks. The Chief received +him as a friend of the Baron of Bradwardine, with the utmost expression +of kindness and obligation for the visit; upbraided him gently with +choosing so rude an abode as he had done the night before; and entered +into a lively conversation with him about Donald Bean's housekeeping, +but without the least hint as to his predatory habits, or the immediate +occasion of Waverley's visit, a topic which, as the Chief did not +introduce it, our hero also avoided. While they walked merrily on +towards the house of Glennaquoich, Evan, who now fell respectfully into +the rear, followed with Callum Beg and Dugald Mahony. + +We shall take the opportunity to introduce the reader to some +particulars of Fergus Mac-Ivor's character and history, which were not +completely known to Waverley till after a connection which, though +arising from a circumstance so casual, had for a length of time the +deepest influence upon his character, actions, and prospects. But this, +being an important subject, must form the commencement of a new chapter. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE CHIEF AND HIS MANSION + + +The ingenious licentiate Francisco de Ubeda, when he commenced his +history of 'La Picara Justina Diez,'--which, by the way, is one of the +most rare books of Spanish literature,--complained of his pen having +caught up a hair, and forthwith begins, with more eloquence than common +sense, an affectionate expostulation with that useful implement, +upbraiding it with being the quill of a goose,--a bird inconstant by +nature, as frequenting the three elements of water, earth, and air +indifferently, and being, of course, 'to one thing constant never.' Now +I protest to thee, gentle reader, that I entirely dissent from +Francisco de Ubeda in this matter, and hold it the most useful quality +of my pen, that it can speedily change from grave to gay, and from +description and dialogue to narrative and character. So that if my +quill display no other properties of its mother-goose than her +mutability, truly I shall be well pleased; and I conceive that you, my +worthy friend, will have no occasion for discontent. From the jargon, +therefore, of the Highland gillies I pass to the character of their +Chief. It is an important examination, and therefore, like Dogberry, we +must spare no wisdom. + +The ancestor of Fergus Mac-Ivor, about three centuries before, had set +up a claim to be recognised as chief of the numerous and powerful clan +to which he belonged, the name of which it is unnecessary to mention. +Being defeated by an opponent who had more justice, or at least more +force, on his side, he moved southwards, with those who adhered to him, +in quest of new settlements, like a second AEneas. The state of the +Perthshire Highlands favoured his purpose. A great baron in that +country had lately become traitor to the crown; Ian, which was the name +of our adventurer, united himself with those who were commissioned by +the king to chastise him, and did such good service that he obtained a +grant of the property, upon which he and his posterity afterwards +resided. He followed the king also in war to the fertile regions of +England, where he employed his leisure hours so actively in raising +subsidies among the boors of Northumberland and Durham, that upon his +return he was enabled to erect a stone tower, or fortalice, so much +admired by his dependants and neighbours that he, who had hitherto been +called Ian Mac-Ivor, or John the son of Ivor, was thereafter +distinguished, both in song and genealogy, by the high title of Ian nan +Chaistel, or John of the Tower. The descendants of this worthy were so +proud of him that the reigning chief always bore the patronymic title +of Vich Ian Vohr, i.e. the son of John the Great; while the clan at +large, to distinguish them from that from which they had seceded, were +denominated Sliochd nan Ivor, the race of Ivor. + +The father of Fergus, the tenth in direct descent from John of the +Tower, engaged heart and hand in the insurrection of 1715, and was +forced to fly to France, after the attempt of that year in favour of +the Stuarts had proved unsuccessful. More fortunate than other +fugitives, he obtained employment in the French service, and married a +lady of rank in that kingdom, by whom he had two children, Fergus and +his sister Flora. The Scottish estate had been forfeited and exposed to +sale, but was repurchased for a small price in the name of the young +proprietor, who in consequence came to reside upon his native domains. +[Footnote: See Note 18.] It was soon perceived that he possessed a +character of uncommon acuteness, fire, and ambition, which, as he +became acquainted with the state of the country, gradually assumed a +mixed and peculiar tone, that could only have been acquired Sixty Years +Since. + +Had Fergus Mac-Ivor lived Sixty Years sooner than he did, he would in +all probability have wanted the polished manner and knowledge of the +world which he now possessed; and had he lived Sixty Years later, his +ambition and love of rule would have lacked the fuel which his +situation now afforded. He was indeed, within his little circle, as +perfect a politician as Castruccio Castracani himself. He applied +himself with great earnestness to appease all the feuds and dissensions +which often arose among other clans in his neighbourhood, so that he +became a frequent umpire in their quarrels. His own patriarchal power +he strengthened at every expense which his fortune would permit, and +indeed stretched his means to the uttermost to maintain the rude and +plentiful hospitality which was the most valued attribute of a +chieftain. For the same reason he crowded his estate with a tenantry, +hardy indeed, and fit for the purposes of war, but greatly outnumbering +what the soil was calculated to maintain. These consisted chiefly of +his own clan, not one of whom he suffered to quit his lands if he could +possibly prevent it. But he maintained, besides, many adventurers from +the mother sept, who deserted a less warlike, though more wealthy chief +to do homage to Fergus Mac-Ivor. Other individuals, too, who had not +even that apology, were nevertheless received into his allegiance, +which indeed was refused to none who were, like Poins, proper men of +their hands, and were willing to assume the name of Mac-Ivor. + +He was enabled to discipline these forces, from having obtained command +of one of the independent companies raised by government to preserve +the peace of the Highlands. While in this capacity he acted with vigour +and spirit, and preserved great order in the country under his charge. +He caused his vassals to enter by rotation into his company, and serve +for a certain space of time, which gave them all in turn a general +notion of military discipline. In his campaigns against the banditti, +it was observed that he assumed and exercised to the utmost the +discretionary power which, while the law had no free course in the +Highlands, was conceived to belong to the military parties who were +called in to support it. He acted, for example, with great and +suspicious lenity to those freebooters who made restitution on his +summons and offered personal submission to himself, while he rigorously +pursued, apprehended, and sacrificed to justice all such interlopers as +dared to despise his admonitions or commands. On the other hand, if any +officers of justice, military parties, or others, presumed to pursue +thieves or marauders through his territories, and without applying for +his consent and concurrence, nothing was more certain than that they +would meet with some notable foil or defeat; upon which occasions +Fergus Mac-Ivor was the first to condole with them, and after gently +blaming their rashness, never failed deeply to lament the lawless state +of the country. These lamentations did not exclude suspicion, and +matters were so represented to government that our Chieftain was +deprived of his military command. [Footnote: See Note 19.] + +Whatever Fergus Mac-Ivor felt on this occasion, he had the art of +entirely suppressing every appearance of discontent; but in a short +time the neighbouring country began to feel bad effects from his +disgrace. Donald Bean Lean, and others of his class, whose depredations +had hitherto been confined to other districts, appeared from +thenceforward to have made a settlement on this devoted border; and +their ravages were carried on with little opposition, as the Lowland +gentry were chiefly Jacobites, and disarmed. This forced many of the +inhabitants into contracts of black-mail with Fergus Mac-Ivor, which +not only established him their protector, and gave him great weight in +all their consultations, but, moreover, supplied funds for the waste of +his feudal hospitality, which the discontinuance of his pay might have +otherwise essentially diminished. + +In following this course of conduct, Fergus had a further object than +merely being the great man of his neighbourhood, and ruling +despotically over a small clan. From his infancy upward he had devoted +himself to the cause of the exiled family, and had persuaded himself, +not only that their restoration to the crown of Britain would be +speedy, but that those who assisted them would be raised to honour and +rank. It was with this view that he laboured to reconcile the +Highlanders among themselves, and augmented his own force to the +utmost, to be prepared for the first favourable opportunity of rising. +With this purpose also he conciliated the favour of such Lowland +gentlemen in the vicinity as were friends to the good cause; and for +the same reason, having incautiously quarrelled with Mr. Bradwardine, +who, notwithstanding his peculiarities, was much respected in the +country, he took advantage of the foray of Donald Bean Lean to solder +up the dispute in the manner we have mentioned. Some, indeed, surmised +that he caused the enterprise to be suggested to Donald, on purpose to +pave the way to a reconciliation, which, supposing that to be the case, +cost the Laird of Bradwardine two good milch cows. This zeal in their +behalf the House of Stuart repaid with a considerable share of their +confidence, an occasional supply of louis-d'or, abundance of fair +words, and a parchment, with a huge waxen seal appended, purporting to +be an earl's patent, granted by no less a person than James the Third +King of England, and Eighth King of Scotland, to his right feal, +trusty, and well-beloved Fergus Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich, in the county +of Perth, and kingdom of Scotland. + +With this future coronet glittering before his eyes, Fergus plunged +deeply into the correspondence and plots of that unhappy period; and, +like all such active agents, easily reconciled his conscience to going +certain lengths in the service of his party, from which honour and +pride would have deterred him had his sole object been the direct +advancement of his own personal interest. With this insight into a +bold, ambitious, and ardent, yet artful and politic character, we +resume the broken thread of our narrative. + +The chief and his guest had by this time reached the house of +Glennaquoich, which consisted of Ian nan Chaistel's mansion, a high +rude-looking square tower, with the addition of a lofted house, that +is, a building of two stories, constructed by Fergus's grandfather when +he returned from that memorable expedition, well remembered by the +western shires under the name of the Highland Host. Upon occasion of +this crusade against the Ayrshire Whigs and Covenanters, the Vich Ian +Vohr of the time had probably been as successful as his predecessor was +in harrying Northumberland, and therefore left to his posterity a rival +edifice as a monument of his magnificence. + +Around the house, which stood on an eminence in the midst of a narrow +Highland valley, there appeared none of that attention to convenience, +far less to ornament and decoration, which usually surrounds a +gentleman's habitation. An inclosure or two, divided by dry-stone +walls, were the only part of the domain that was fenced; as to the +rest, the narrow slips of level ground which lay by the side of the +brook exhibited a scanty crop of barley, liable to constant +depredations from the herds of wild ponies and black cattle that grazed +upon the adjacent hills. These ever and anon made an incursion upon the +arable ground, which was repelled by the loud, uncouth, and dissonant +shouts of half a dozen Highland swains, all running as if they had been +mad, and every one hallooing a half-starved dog to the rescue of the +forage. At a little distance up the glen was a small and stunted wood +of birch; the hills were high and heathy, but without any variety of +surface; so that the whole view was wild and desolate rather than grand +and solitary. Yet, such as it was, no genuine descendant of Ian nan +Chaistel would have changed the domain for Stow or Blenheim. + +There was a sight, however, before the gate, which perhaps would have +afforded the first owner of Blenheim more pleasure than the finest view +in the domain assigned to him by the gratitude of his country. This +consisted of about a hundred Highlanders, in complete dress and arms; +at sight of whom the Chieftain apologised to Waverley in a sort of +negligent manner. 'He had forgot,' he said, 'that he had ordered a few +of his clan out, for the purpose of seeing that they were in a fit +condition to protect the country, and prevent such accidents as, he was +sorry to learn, had befallen the Baron of Bradwardine. Before they were +dismissed, perhaps Captain Waverley might choose to see them go through +a part of their exercise.' + +Edward assented, and the men executed with agility and precision some +of the ordinary military movements. They then practised individually at +a mark, and showed extraordinary dexterity in the management of the +pistol and firelock. They took aim, standing, sitting, leaning, or +lying prostrate, as they were commanded, and always with effect upon +the target. Next, they paired off for the broadsword exercise; and, +having manifested their individual skill and dexterity, united in two +bodies, and exhibited a sort of mock encounter, in which the charge, +the rally, the flight, the pursuit, and all the current of a heady +fight, were exhibited to the sound of the great war bagpipe. + +On a signal made by the Chief, the skirmish was ended. Matches were +then made for running, wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, and other +sports, in which this feudal militia displayed incredible swiftness, +strength, and agility; and accomplished the purpose which their +Chieftain had at heart, by impressing on Waverley no light sense of +their merit as soldiers, and of the power of him who commanded them by +his nod. [Footnote: See Note 20.] + +'And what number of such gallant fellows have the happiness to call you +leader?' asked Waverley. + +'In a good cause, and under a chieftain whom they loved, the race of +Ivor have seldom taken the field under five hundred claymores. But you +are aware, Captain Waverley, that the disarming act, passed about +twenty years ago, prevents their being in the complete state of +preparation as in former times; and I keep no more of my clan under +arms than may defend my own or my friends' property, when the country +is troubled with such men as your last night's landlord; and +government, which has removed other means of defence, must connive at +our protecting ourselves.' + +'But, with your force, you might soon destroy or put down such gangs as +that of Donald Bean Lean.' + +'Yes, doubtless; and my reward would be a summons to deliver up to +General Blakeney, at Stirling, the few broadswords they have left us; +there were little policy in that, methinks. But come, captain, the +sound of the pipes informs me that dinner is prepared. Let me have the +honour to show you into my rude mansion.' + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A HIGHLAND FEAST + + +Ere Waverley entered the banqueting hall, he was offered the +patriarchal refreshment of a bath for the feet, which the sultry +weather, and the morasses he had traversed, rendered highly acceptable. +He was not, indeed, so luxuriously attended upon this occasion as the +heroic travellers in the Odyssey; the task of ablution and abstersion +being performed, not by a beautiful damsel, trained + + To chafe the limb, and pour the fragrant oil, + +but by a smoke-dried skinny old Highland woman, who did not seem to +think herself much honoured by the duty imposed upon her, but muttered +between her teeth, 'Our fathers' herds did not feed so near together +that I should do you this service.' A small donation, however, amply +reconciled this ancient handmaiden to the supposed degradation; and, as +Edward proceeded to the hall, she gave him her blessing in the Gaelic +proverb, 'May the open hand be filled the fullest.' + +The hall, in which the feast was prepared, occupied all the first story +of lan nan Chaistel's original erection, and a huge oaken table +extended through its whole length. The apparatus for dinner was simple, +even to rudeness, and the company numerous, even to crowding. At the +head of the table was the Chief himself, with Edward, and two or three +Highland visitors of neighbouring clans; the elders of his own tribe, +wadsetters and tacksmen, as they were called, who occupied portions of +his estate as mortgagers or lessees, sat next in rank; beneath them, +their sons and nephews and foster-brethren; then the officers of the +Chief's household, according to their order; and lowest of all, the +tenants who actually cultivated the ground. Even beyond this long +perspective, Edward might see upon the green, to which a huge pair of +folding doors opened, a multitude of Highlanders of a yet inferior +description, who, nevertheless, were considered as guests, and had +their share both of the countenance of the entertainer and of the cheer +of the day. In the distance, and fluctuating round this extreme verge +of the banquet, was a changeful group of women, ragged boys and girls, +beggars, young and old, large greyhounds, and terriers, and pointers, +and curs of low degree; all of whom took some interest, more or less +immediate, in the main action of the piece. + +This hospitality, apparently unbounded, had yet its line of economy. +Some pains had been bestowed in dressing the dishes of fish, game, +etc., which were at the upper end of the table, and immediately under +the eye of the English stranger. Lower down stood immense clumsy joints +of mutton and beef, which, but for the absence of pork, [Footnote: See +Note 21.] abhorred in the Highlands, resembled the rude festivity of +the banquet of Penelope's suitors. But the central dish was a yearling +lamb, called 'a hog in har'st,' roasted whole. It was set upon its +legs, with a bunch of parsley in its mouth, and was probably exhibited +in that form to gratify the pride of the cook, who piqued himself more +on the plenty than the elegance of his master's table. The sides of +this poor animal were fiercely attacked by the clansmen, some with +dirks, others with the knives which were usually in the same sheath +with the dagger, so that it was soon rendered a mangled and rueful +spectacle. Lower down still, the victuals seemed of yet coarser +quality, though sufficiently abundant. Broth, onions, cheese, and the +fragments of the feast regaled the sons of Ivor who feasted in the open +air. + +The liquor was supplied in the same proportion, and under similar +regulations. Excellent claret and champagne were liberally distributed +among the Chief's immediate neighbours; whisky, plain or diluted, and +strong beer refreshed those who sat near the lower end. Nor did this +inequality of distribution appear to give the least offence. Every one +present understood that his taste was to be formed according to the +rank which he held at table; and, consequently, the tacksmen and their +dependants always professed the wine was too cold for their stomachs, +and called, apparently out of choice, for the liquor which was assigned +to them from economy. [Footnote: See Note 22.] The bag-pipers, three in +number, screamed, during the whole time of dinner, a tremendous +war-tune; and the echoing of the vaulted roof, and clang of the Celtic +tongue, produced such a Babel of noises that Waverley dreaded his ears +would never recover it. Mac-Ivor, indeed, apologised for the confusion +occasioned by so large a party, and pleaded the necessity of his +situation, on which unlimited hospitality was imposed as a paramount +duty. 'These stout idle kinsmen of mine,' he said, 'account my estate +as held in trust for their support; and I must find them beef and ale, +while the rogues will do nothing for themselves but practise the +broadsword, or wander about the hills, shooting, fishing, hunting, +drinking, and making love to the lasses of the strath. But what can I +do, Captain Waverley? everything will keep after its kind, whether it +be a hawk or a Highlander.' Edward made the expected answer, in a +compliment upon his possessing so many bold and attached followers. + +'Why, yes,' replied the Chief, 'were I disposed, like my father, to put +myself in the way of getting one blow on the head, or two on the neck, +I believe the loons would stand by me. But who thinks of that in the +present day, when the maxim is, "Better an old woman with a purse in +her hand than three men with belted brands"?' Then, turning to the +company, he proposed the 'Health of Captain Waverley, a worthy friend +of his kind neighbour and ally, the Baron of Bradwardine.' + +'He is welcome hither,' said one of the elders, 'if he come from Cosmo +Comyne Bradwardine.' + +'I say nay to that,' said an old man, who apparently did not mean to +pledge the toast; 'I say nay to that. While there is a green leaf in +the forest, there will be fraud in a Comyne. + +'There is nothing but honour in the Baron of Bradwardine,' answered +another ancient; 'and the guest that comes hither from him should be +welcome, though he came with blood on his hand, unless it were blood of +the race of Ivor.' + +The old man whose cup remained full replied, 'There has been blood +enough of the race of Ivor on the hand of Bradwardine.' + +'Ah! Ballenkeiroch,' replied the first, 'you think rather of the flash +of the carbine at the mains of Tully-Veolan than the glance of the +sword that fought for the cause at Preston.' + +'And well I may,' answered Ballenkeiroch; 'the flash of the gun cost me +a fair-haired son, and the glance of the sword has done but little for +King James.' + +The Chieftain, in two words of French, explained to Waverley that the +Baron had shot this old man's son in a fray near Tully-Veolan, about +seven years before; and then hastened to remove Ballenkeiroch's +prejudice, by informing him that Waverley was an Englishman, +unconnected by birth or alliance with the family of Bradwardine; upon +which the old gentleman raised the hitherto-untasted cup and +courteously drank to his health. This ceremony being requited in kind, +the Chieftain made a signal for the pipes to cease, and said aloud, +'Where is the song hidden, my friends, that Mac-Murrough cannot find +it?' + +Mac-Murrough, the family bhairdh, an aged man, immediately took the +hint, and began to chant, with low and rapid utterance, a profusion of +Celtic verses, which were received by the audience with all the +applause of enthusiasm. As he advanced in his declamation, his ardour +seemed to increase. He had at first spoken with his eyes fixed on the +ground; he now cast them around as if beseeching, and anon as if +commanding, attention, and his tones rose into wild and impassioned +notes, accompanied with appropriate gestures. He seemed to Edward, who +attended to him with much interest, to recite many proper names, to +lament the dead, to apostrophise the absent, to exhort, and entreat, +and animate those who were present. Waverley thought he even discerned +his own name, and was convinced his conjecture was right from the eyes +of the company being at that moment turned towards him simultaneously. +The ardour of the poet appeared to communicate itself to the audience. +Their wild and sun-burnt countenances assumed a fiercer and more +animated expression; all bent forward towards the reciter, many sprung +up and waved their arms in ecstasy, and some laid their hands on their +swords. When the song ceased, there was a deep pause, while the aroused +feelings of the poet and of the hearers gradually subsided into their +usual channel. + +The Chieftain, who, during this scene had appeared rather to watch the +emotions which were excited than to partake their high tone of +enthusiasm, filled with claret a small silver cup which stood by him. +'Give this,' he said to an attendant, 'to Mac-Murrough nan Fonn (i.e. +of the songs), and when he has drank the juice, bid him keep, for the +sake of Vich Ian Vohr, the shell of the gourd which contained it.' The +gift was received by Mac-Murrough with profound gratitude; he drank the +wine, and, kissing the cup, shrouded it with reverence in the plaid +which was folded on his bosom. He then burst forth into what Edward +justly supposed to be an extemporaneous effusion of thanks and praises +of his Chief. It was received with applause, but did not produce the +effect of his first poem. It was obvious, however, that the clan +regarded the generosity of their Chieftain with high approbation. Many +approved Gaelic toasts were then proposed, of some of which the +Chieftain gave his guest the following versions:-- + +'To him that will not turn his back on friend or foe.' 'To him that +never forsook a comrade.' 'To him that never bought or sold justice.' +'Hospitality to the exile, and broken bones to the tyrant.' 'The lads +with the kilts.' 'Highlanders, shoulder to shoulder,'--with many other +pithy sentiments of the like nature. + +Edward was particularly solicitous to know the meaning of that song +which appeared to produce such effect upon the passions of the company, +and hinted his curiosity to his host. 'As I observe,' said the +Chieftain, 'that you have passed the bottle during the last three +rounds, I was about to propose to you to retire to my sister's +tea-table, who can explain these things to you better than I can. +Although I cannot stint my clan in the usual current of their +festivity, yet I neither am addicted myself to exceed in its amount, +nor do I,' added he, smiling, 'keep a Bear to devour the intellects of +such as can make good use of them.' + +Edward readily assented to this proposal, and the Chieftain, saying a +few words to those around him, left the table, followed by Waverley. As +the door closed behind them, Edward heard Vich Ian Vohr's health +invoked with a wild and animated cheer, that expressed the satisfaction +of the guests and the depth of their devotion to his service. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE CHIEFTAIN'S SISTER + + +The drawing-room of Flora Mac-Ivor was furnished in the plainest and +most simple manner; for at Glennaquoich every other sort of expenditure +was retrenched as much as possible, for the purpose of maintaining, in +its full dignity, the hospitality of the Chieftain, and retaining and +multiplying the number of his dependants and adherents. But there was +no appearance of this parsimony in the dress of the lady herself, which +was in texture elegant, and even rich, and arranged in a manner which +partook partly of the Parisian fashion and partly of the more simple +dress of the Highlands, blended together with great taste. Her hair was +not disfigured by the art of the friseur, but fell in jetty ringlets on +her neck, confined only by a circlet, richly set with diamonds. This +peculiarity she adopted in compliance with the Highland prejudices, +which could not endure that a woman's head should be covered before +wedlock. + +Flora Mac-Ivor bore a most striking resemblance to her brother Fergus; +so much so that they might have played Viola and Sebastian with the +same exquisite effect produced by the appearance of Mrs. Henry Siddons +and her brother, Mr. William Murray, in these characters. They had the +same antique and regular correctness of profile; the same dark eyes, +eye-lashes, and eye-brows; the same clearness of complexion, excepting +that Fergus's was embrowned by exercise and Flora's possessed the +utmost feminine delicacy. But the haughty and somewhat stern regularity +of Fergus's features was beautifully softened in those of Flora. Their +voices were also similar in tone, though differing in the key. That of +Fergus, especially while issuing orders to his followers during their +military exercise, reminded Edward of a favourite passage in the +description of Emetrius: + + --whose voice was heard around, + Loud as a trumpet with a silver sound. + +That of Flora, on the contrary, was soft and sweet--'an excellent thing +in woman'; yet, in urging any favourite topic, which she often pursued +with natural eloquence, it possessed as well the tones which impress +awe and conviction as those of persuasive insinuation. The eager glance +of the keen black eye, which, in the Chieftain, seemed impatient even +of the material obstacles it encountered, had in his sister acquired a +gentle pensiveness. His looks seemed to seek glory, power, all that +could exalt him above others in the race of humanity; while those of +his sister, as if she were already conscious of mental superiority, +seemed to pity, rather than envy, those who were struggling for any +farther distinction. Her sentiments corresponded with the expression of +her countenance. Early education had impressed upon her mind, as well +as on that of the Chieftain, the most devoted attachment to the exiled +family of Stuart. She believed it the duty of her brother, of his clan, +of every man in Britain, at whatever personal hazard, to contribute to +that restoration which the partisans of the Chevalier St. George had +not ceased to hope for. For this she was prepared to do all, to suffer +all, to sacrifice all. But her loyalty, as it exceeded her brother's in +fanaticism, excelled it also in purity. Accustomed to petty intrigue, +and necessarily involved in a thousand paltry and selfish discussions, +ambitious also by nature, his political faith was tinctured, at least, +if not tainted, by the views of interest and advancement so easily +combined with it; and at the moment he should unsheathe his claymore, +it might be difficult to say whether it would be most with the view of +making James Stuart a king or Fergus Mac-Ivor an earl. This, indeed, +was a mixture of feeling which he did not avow even to himself, but it +existed, nevertheless, in a powerful degree. + +In Flora's bosom, on the contrary, the zeal of loyalty burnt pure and +unmixed with any selfish feeling; she would have as soon made religion +the mask of ambitious and interested views as have shrouded them under +the opinions which she had been taught to think patriotism. Such +instances of devotion were not uncommon among the followers of the +unhappy race of Stuart, of which many memorable proofs will recur to +the minds of most of my readers. But peculiar attention on the part of +the Chevalier de St. George and his princess to the parents of Fergus +and his sister, and to themselves when orphans, had riveted their +faith. Fergus, upon the death of his parents, had been for some time a +page of honour in the train of the Chevalier's lady, and, from his +beauty and sprightly temper, was uniformly treated by her with the +utmost distinction. This was also extended to Flora, who was maintained +for some time at a convent of the first order at the princess's +expense, and removed from thence into her own family, where she spent +nearly two years. Both brother and sister retained the deepest and most +grateful sense of her kindness. + +Having thus touched upon the leading principle of Flora's character, I +may dismiss the rest more slightly. She was highly accomplished, and +had acquired those elegant manners to be expected from one who, in +early youth, had been the companion of a princess; yet she had not +learned to substitute the gloss of politeness for the reality of +feeling. When settled in the lonely regions of Glennaquoich, she found +that her resources in French, English, and Italian literature were +likely to be few and interrupted; and, in order to fill up the vacant +time, she bestowed a part of it upon the music and poetical traditions +of the Highlanders, and began really to feel the pleasure in the +pursuit which her brother, whose perceptions of literary merit were +more blunt, rather affected for the sake of popularity than actually +experienced. Her resolution was strengthened in these researches by the +extreme delight which her inquiries seemed to afford those to whom she +resorted for information. + +Her love of her clan, an attachment which was almost hereditary in her +bosom, was, like her loyalty, a more pure passion than that of her +brother. He was too thorough a politician, regarded his patriarchal +influence too much as the means of accomplishing his own +aggrandisement, that we should term him the model of a Highland +Chieftain. Flora felt the same anxiety for cherishing and extending +their patriarchal sway, but it was with the generous desire of +vindicating from poverty, or at least from want and foreign oppression, +those whom her brother was by birth, according to the notions of the +time and country, entitled to govern. The savings of her income, for +she had a small pension from the Princess Sobieski, were dedicated, not +to add to the comforts of the peasantry, for that was a word which they +neither knew nor apparently wished to know, but to relieve their +absolute necessities when in sickness or extreme old age. At every +other period they rather toiled to procure something which they might +share with the Chief, as a proof of their attachment, than expected +other assistance from him save what was afforded by the rude +hospitality of his castle, and the general division and subdivision of +his estate among them. Flora was so much beloved by them that, when +Mac-Murrough composed a song in which he enumerated all the principal +beauties of the district, and intimated her superiority by concluding, +that 'the fairest apple hung on the highest bough,' he received, in +donatives from the individuals of the clan, more seed-barley than would +have sowed his Highland Parnassus, the bard's croft, as it was called, +ten times over. + +From situation as well as choice, Miss Mac-Ivor's society was extremely +limited. Her most intimate friend had been Rose Bradwardine, to whom +she was much attached; and when seen together, they would have afforded +an artist two admirable subjects for the gay and the melancholy muse. +Indeed Rose was so tenderly watched by her father, and her circle of +wishes was so limited, that none arose but what he was willing to +gratify, and scarce any which did not come within the compass of his +power. With Flora it was otherwise. While almost a girl she had +undergone the most complete change of scene, from gaiety and splendour +to absolute solitude and comparative poverty; and the ideas and wishes +which she chiefly fostered respected great national events, and changes +not to be brought round without both hazard and bloodshed, and +therefore not to be thought of with levity. Her manner, consequently, +was grave, though she readily contributed her talents to the amusement +of society, and stood very high in the opinion of the old Baron, who +used to sing along with her such French duets of Lindor and Cloris, +etc., as were in fashion about the end of the reign of old Louis le +Grand. + +It was generally believed, though no one durst have hinted it to the +Baron of Bradwardine, that Flora's entreaties had no small share in +allaying the wrath of Fergus upon occasion of their quarrel. She took +her brother on the assailable side, by dwelling first upon the Baron's +age, and then representing the injury which the cause might sustain, +and the damage which must arise to his own character in point of +prudence--so necessary to a political agent, if he persisted in +carrying it to extremity. Otherwise it is probable it would have +terminated in a duel, both because the Baron had, on a former occasion, +shed blood of the clan, though the matter had been timely accommodated, +and on account of his high reputation for address at his weapon, which +Fergus almost condescended to envy. For the same reason she had urged +their reconciliation, which the Chieftain the more readily agreed to as +it favoured some ulterior projects of his own. + +To this young lady, now presiding at the female empire of the +tea-table, Fergus introduced Captain Waverley, whom she received with +the usual forms of politeness. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +HIGHLAND MINSTRELSY + + +When the first salutations had passed, Fergus said to his sister, 'My +dear Flora, before I return to the barbarous ritual of our forefathers, +I must tell you that Captain Waverley is a worshipper of the Celtic +muse, not the less so perhaps that he does not understand a word of her +language. I have told him you are eminent as a translator of Highland +poetry, and that Mac-Murrough admires your version of his songs upon +the same principle that Captain Waverley admires the original,--because +he does not comprehend them. Will you have the goodness to read or +recite to our guest in English the extraordinary string of names which +Mac-Murrough has tacked together in Gaelic? My life to a moor-fowl's +feather, you are provided with a version; for I know you are in all the +bard's councils, and acquainted with his songs long before he rehearses +them in the hall.' + +'How can you say so, Fergus? You know how little these verses can +possibly interest an English stranger, even if I could translate them +as you pretend.' + +'Not less than they interest me, lady fair. To-day your joint +composition, for I insist you had a share in it, has cost me the last +silver cup in the castle, and I suppose will cost me something else +next time I hold cour pleniere, if the muse descends on Mac-Murrough; +for you know our proverb,--"When the hand of the chief ceases to +bestow, the breath of the bard is frozen in the utterance."--Well, I +would it were even so: there are three things that are useless to a +modern Highlander,--a sword which he must not draw, a bard to sing of +deeds which he dare not imitate, and a large goat-skin purse without a +louis-d'or to put into it.' + +'Well, brother, since you betray my secrets, you cannot expect me to +keep yours. I assure you, Captain Waverley, that Fergus is too proud to +exchange his broardsword for a marechal's baton, that he esteems +Mac-Murrough a far greater poet than Homer, and would not give up his +goat-skin purse for all the louis-d'or which it could contain.' + +'Well pronounced, Flora; blow for blow, as Conan [Footnote: See Note +23.] said to the devil. Now do you two talk of bards and poetry, if not +of purses and claymores, while I return to do the final honours to the +senators of the tribe of Ivor.' So saying, he left the room. + +The conversation continued between Flora and Waverley; for two +well-dressed young women, whose character seemed to hover between that +of companions and dependants, took no share in it. They were both +pretty girls, but served only as foils to the grace and beauty of their +patroness. The discourse followed the turn which the Chieftain had +given it, and Waverley was equally amused and surprised with the +account which the lady gave him of Celtic poetry. + +'The recitation,' she said, 'of poems recording the feats of heroes, +the complaints of lovers, and the wars of contending tribes, forms the +chief amusement of a winter fire-side in the Highlands. Some of these +are said to be very ancient, and if they are ever translated into any +of the languages of civilised Europe, cannot fail to produce a deep and +general sensation. Others are more modern, the composition of those +family bards whom the chieftains of more distinguished name and power +retain as the poets and historians of their tribes. These, of course, +possess various degrees of merit; but much of it must evaporate in +translation, or be lost on those who do not sympathise with the +feelings of the poet.' + +'And your bard, whose effusions seemed to produce such effect upon the +company to-day, is he reckoned among the favourite poets of the +mountains?' + +'That is a trying question. His reputation is high among his +countrymen, and you must not expect me to depreciate it. [Footnote: The +Highland poet almost always was an improvisatore. Captain Burt met one +of them at Lovat's table.] + +'But the song, Miss Mac-Ivor, seemed to awaken all those warriors, both +young and old.' + +'The song is little more than a catalogue of names of the Highland +clans under their distinctive peculiarities, and an exhortation to them +to remember and to emulate the actions of their forefathers.' + +'And am I wrong in conjecturing, however extraordinary the guess +appears, that there was some allusion to me in the verses which he +recited?' + +'You have a quick observation, Captain Waverley, which in this instance +has not deceived you. The Gaelic language, being uncommonly vocalic, is +well adapted for sudden and extemporaneous poetry; and a bard seldom +fails to augment the effects of a premeditated song by throwing in any +stanzas which may be suggested by the circumstances attending the +recitation.' + +'I would give my best horse to know what the Highland bard could find +to say of such an unworthy Southron as myself.' + +'It shall not even cost you a lock of his mane. Una, mavourneen! (She +spoke a few words to one of the young girls in attendance, who +instantly curtsied and tripped out of the room.) I have sent Una to +learn from the bard the expressions he used, and you shall command my +skill as dragoman.' + +Una returned in a few minutes, and repeated to her mistress a few lines +in Gaelic. Flora seemed to think for a moment, and then, slightly +colouring, she turned to Waverley--'It is impossible to gratify your +curiosity, Captain Waverley, without exposing my own presumption. If +you will give me a few moments for consideration, I will endeavour to +engraft the meaning of these lines upon a rude English translation +which I have attempted of a part of the original. The duties of the +tea-table seem to be concluded, and, as the evening is delightful, Una +will show you the way to one of my favourite haunts, and Cathleen and I +will join you there.' + +Una, having received instructions in her native language, conducted +Waverley out by a passage different from that through which he had +entered the apartment. At a distance he heard the hall of the Chief +still resounding with the clang of bagpipes and the high applause of +his guests. Having gained the open air by a postern door, they walked a +little way up the wild, bleak, and narrow valley in which the house was +situated, following the course of the stream that winded through it. In +a spot, about a quarter of a mile from the castle, two brooks, which +formed the little river, had their junction. The larger of the two came +down the long bare valley, which extended, apparently without any +change or elevation of character, as far as the hills which formed its +boundary permitted the eye to reach. But the other stream, which had +its source among the mountains on the left hand of the strath, seemed +to issue from a very narrow and dark opening betwixt two large rocks. +These streams were different also in character. The larger was placid, +and even sullen in its course, wheeling in deep eddies, or sleeping in +dark blue pools; but the motions of the lesser brook were rapid and +furious, issuing from between precipices, like a maniac from his +confinement, all foam and uproar. + +It was up the course of this last stream that Waverley, like a knight +of romance, was conducted by the fair Highland damsel, his silent +guide. A small path, which had been rendered easy in many places for +Flora's accommodation, led him through scenery of a very different +description from that which he had just quitted. Around the castle all +was cold, bare, and desolate, yet tame even in desolation; but this +narrow glen, at so short a distance, seemed to open into the land of +romance. The rocks assumed a thousand peculiar and varied forms. In one +place a crag of huge size presented its gigantic bulk, as if to forbid +the passenger's farther progress; and it was not until he approached +its very base that Waverley discerned the sudden and acute turn by +which the pathway wheeled its course around this formidable obstacle. +In another spot the projecting rocks from the opposite sides of the +chasm had approached so near to each other that two pine-trees laid +across, and covered with turf, formed a rustic bridge at the height of +at least one hundred and fifty feet. It had no ledges, and was barely +three feet in breadth. + +While gazing at this pass of peril, which crossed, like a single black +line, the small portion of blue sky not intercepted by the projecting +rocks on either side, it was with a sensation of horror that Waverley +beheld Flora and her attendant appear, like inhabitants of another +region, propped, as it were, in mid air, upon this trembling structure. +She stopped upon observing him below, and, with an air of graceful ease +which made him shudder, waved her handkerchief to him by way of signal. +He was unable, from the sense of dizziness which her situation +conveyed, to return the salute; and was never more relieved than when +the fair apparition passed on from the precarious eminence which she +seemed to occupy with so much indifference, and disappeared on the +other side. + +Advancing a few yards, and passing under the bridge which he had viewed +with so much terror, the path ascended rapidly from the edge of the +brook, and the glen widened into a sylvan amphitheatre, waving with +birch, young oaks, and hazels, with here and there a scattered +yew-tree. The rocks now receded, but still showed their grey and shaggy +crests rising among the copse-wood. Still higher rose eminences and +peaks, some bare, some clothed with wood, some round and purple with +heath, and others splintered into rocks and crags. At a short turning +the path, which had for some furlongs lost sight of the brook, suddenly +placed Waverley in front of a romantic waterfall. It was not so +remarkable either for great height or quantity of water as for the +beautiful accompaniments which made the spot interesting. After a +broken cataract of about twenty feet, the stream was received in a +large natural basin filled to the brim with water, which, where the +bubbles of the fall subsided, was so exquisitely clear that, although +it was of great depth, the eye could discern each pebble at the bottom. +Eddying round this reservoir, the brook found its way as if over a +broken part of the ledge, and formed a second fall, which seemed to +seek the very abyss; then, wheeling out beneath from among the smooth +dark rocks which it had polished for ages, it wandered murmuring down +the glen, forming the stream up which Waverley had just ascended. +[Footnote: See Note 24.] The borders of this romantic reservoir +corresponded in beauty; but it was beauty of a stern and commanding +cast, as if in the act of expanding into grandeur. Mossy banks of turf +were broken and interrupted by huge fragments of rock, and decorated +with trees and shrubs, some of which had been planted under the +direction of Flora, but so cautiously that they added to the grace +without diminishing the romantic wildness of the scene. + +Here, like one of those lovely forms which decorate the landscapes of +Poussin, Waverley found Flora gazing on the waterfall. Two paces +further back stood Cathleen, holding a small Scottish harp, the use of +which had been taught to Flora by Rory Dall, one of the last harpers of +the Western Highlands. The sun, now stooping in the west, gave a rich +and varied tinge to all the objects which surrounded Waverley, and +seemed to add more than human brilliancy to the full expressive +darkness of Flora's eye, exalted the richness and purity of her +complexion, and enhanced the dignity and grace of her beautiful form. +Edward thought he had never, even in his wildest dreams, imagined a +figure of such exquisite and interesting loveliness. The wild beauty of +the retreat, bursting upon him as if by magic, augmented the mingled +feeling of delight and awe with which he approached her, like a fair +enchantress of Boiardo or Ariosto, by whose nod the scenery around +seemed to have been created an Eden in the wilderness. + +Flora, like every beautiful woman, was conscious of her own power, and +pleased with its effects, which she could easily discern from the +respectful yet confused address of the young soldier. But, as she +possessed excellent sense, she gave the romance of the scene and other +accidental circumstances full weight in appreciating the feelings with +which Waverley seemed obviously to be impressed; and, unacquainted with +the fanciful and susceptible peculiarities of his character, considered +his homage as the passing tribute which a woman of even inferior charms +might have expected in such a situation. She therefore quietly led the +way to a spot at such a distance from the cascade that its sound should +rather accompany than interrupt that of her voice and instrument, and, +sitting down upon a mossy fragment of rock, she took the harp from +Cathleen. + +'I have given you the trouble of walking to this spot, Captain +Waverley, both because I thought the scenery would interest you, and +because a Highland song would suffer still more from my imperfect +translation were I to introduce it without its own wild and appropriate +accompaniments. To speak in the poetical language of my country, the +seat of the Celtic Muse is in the mist of the secret and solitary hill, +and her voice in the murmur of the mountain stream. He who woos her +must love the barren rock more than the fertile valley, and the +solitude of the desert better than the festivity of the hall.' + +Few could have heard this lovely woman make this declaration, with a +voice where harmony was exalted by pathos, without exclaiming that the +muse whom she invoked could never find a more appropriate +representative. But Waverley, though the thought rushed on his mind, +found no courage to utter it. Indeed, the wild feeling of romantic +delight with which he heard the few first notes she drew from her +instrument amounted almost to a sense of pain. He would not for worlds +have quitted his place by her side; yet he almost longed for solitude, +that he might decipher and examine at leisure the complication of +emotions which now agitated his bosom. + +Flora had exchanged the measured and monotonous recitative of the bard +for a lofty and uncommon Highland air, which had been a battle-song in +former ages. A few irregular strains introduced a prelude of a wild and +peculiar tone, which harmonised well with the distant waterfall, and +the soft sigh of the evening breeze in the rustling leaves of an aspen, +which overhung the seat of the fair harpress. The following verses +convey but little idea of the feelings with which, so sung and +accompanied, they were heard by Waverley:-- + + There is mist on the mountain, and night on the vale, + But more dark is the sleep of the sons of the Gael. + A stranger commanded--it sunk on the land, + It has frozen each heart, and benumb'd every hand! + + The dirk and the target lie sordid with dust, + The bloodless claymore is but redden'd with rust; + On the hill or the glen if a gun should appear, + It is only to war with the heath-cock or deer. + + The deeds of our sires if our bards should rehearse, + Let a blush or a blow be the meed of their verse! + Be mute every string, and be hush'd every tone, + That shall bid us remember the fame that is flown. + + But the dark hours of night and of slumber are past, + The morn on our mountains is dawning at last; + Glenaladale's peaks are illumined with the rays, + And the streams of Glenfinnan leap bright in the blaze. + +[Footnote: The young and daring adventurer, Charles Edward, landed at +Glenaladale, in Moidart, and displayed his standard in the valley of +Glenfinnan, mustering around it the Mac-Donalds, the Camerons, and +other less numerous clans, whom he had prevailed on to join him. There +is a monument erected on the spot, with a Latin inscription by the late +Doctor Gregory.] + + O high-minded Moray! the exiled! the dear! + In the blush of the dawning the STANDARD uprear! + Wide, wide on the winds of the north let it fly, + Like the sun's latest flash when the tempest is nigh! + +[Footnote: The Marquis of Tullibardine's elder brother, who, long +exiled, returned to Scotland with Charles Edward in 1745.] + + Ye sons of the strong, when that dawning shall break, + Need the harp of the aged remind you to wake? + That dawn never beam'd on your forefathers' eye, + But it roused each high chieftain to vanquish or die. + + O, sprung from the Kings who in Islay kept state, + Proud chiefs of Clan Ranald, Glengarry, and Sleat! + Combine like three streams from one mountain of snow, + And resistless in union rush down on the foe! + + True son of Sir Evan, undaunted Lochiel, + Place thy targe on thy shoulder and burnish thy steel! + Rough Keppoch, give breath to thy bugle's bold swell, + Till far Coryarrick resound to the knell! + + Stern son of Lord Kenneth, high chief of Kintail, + Let the stag in thy standard bound wild in the gale! + May the race of Clan Gillean, the fearless and free, + Remember Glenlivat, Harlaw, and Dundee! + + Let the clan of grey Fingon, whose offspring has given + Such heroes to earth and such martyrs to heaven, + Unite with the race of renown'd Rorri More, + To launch the long galley and stretch to the oar. + + How Mac-Shimei will joy when their chief shall display + The yew-crested bonnet o'er tresses of grey! + How the race of wrong'd Alpine and murder'd Glencoe + Shall shout for revenge when they pour on the foe! + + Ye sons of brown Dermid, who slew the wild boar, + Resume the pure faith of the great Callum-More! + Mac-Neil of the islands, and Moy of the Lake, + For honour, for freedom, for vengeance awake! + +Here a large greyhound, bounding up the glen, jumped upon Flora and +interrupted her music by his importunate caresses. At a distant whistle +he turned and shot down the path again with the rapidity of an arrow. +'That is Fergus's faithful attendant, Captain Waverley, and that was +his signal. He likes no poetry but what is humorous, and comes in good +time to interrupt my long catalogue of the tribes, whom one of your +saucy English poets calls + + Our bootless host of high-born beggars, + Mac-Leans, Mac-Kenzies, and Mac-Gregors.' + +Waverley expressed his regret at the interruption. + +'O you cannot guess how much you have lost! The bard, as in duty bound, +has addressed three long stanzas to Vich Ian Vohr of the Banners, +enumerating all his great properties, and not forgetting his being a +cheerer of the harper and bard--"a giver of bounteous gifts." Besides, +you should have heard a practical admonition to the fair-haired son of +the stranger, who lives in the land where the grass is always +green--the rider on the shining pampered steed, whose hue is like the +raven, and whose neigh is like the scream of the eagle for battle. This +valiant horseman is affectionately conjured to remember that his +ancestors were distinguished by their loyalty as well as by their +courage. All this you have lost; but, since your curiosity is not +satisfied, I judge, from the distant sound of my brother's whistle, I +may have time to sing the concluding stanzas before he comes to laugh +at my translation.' + + Awake on your hills, on your islands awake, + Brave sons of the mountain, the frith, and the lake! + 'T is the bugle--but not for the chase is the call; + 'T is the pibroch's shrill summons--but not to the hall. + + 'T is the summons of heroes for conquest or death, + When the banners are blazing on mountain and heath: + They call to the dirk, the claymore, and the targe, + To the march and the muster, the line and the charge. + + Be the brand of each chieftain like Fin's in his ire! + May the blood through his veins flow like currents of fire! + Burst the base foreign yoke as your sires did of yore, + Or die like your sires, and endure it no more! + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +WAVEELEY CONTINUES AT GLENNAQUOICH + + +As Flora concluded her song, Fergus stood before them. 'I knew I should +find you here, even without the assistance of my friend Bran. A simple +and unsublimed taste now, like my own, would prefer a jet d'eau at +Versailles to this cascade, with all its accompaniments of rock and +roar; but this is Flora's Parnassus, Captain Waverley, and that +fountain her Helicon. It would be greatly for the benefit of my cellar +if she could teach her coadjutor, Mac-Murrough, the value of its +influence: he has just drunk a pint of usquebaugh to correct, he said, +the coldness of the claret. Let me try its virtues.' He sipped a little +water in the hollow of his hand, and immediately commenced, with a +theatrical air,-- + + 'O Lady of the desert, hail! + That lovest the harping of the Gael, + Through fair and fertile regions borne, + Where never yet grew grass or corn. + +But English poetry will never succeed under the influence of a Highland +Helicon. Allons, courage! + + O vous, qui buvez, a tasse pleine, + A cette heureuse f ontaine, + Ou on ne voit, sur le rivage, + Que quelques vilains troupeaux, + Suivis de nymphes de village, + Qui les escortent sans sabots--' + +'A truce, dear Fergus! spare us those most tedious and insipid persons +of all Arcadia. Do not, for Heaven's sake, bring down Coridon and +Lindor upon us.' + +'Nay, if you cannot relish la houlette et le chalumeau, have with you +in heroic strains.' + +'Dear Fergus, you have certainly partaken of the inspiration of +Mac-Murrough's cup rather than of mine.' + +'I disclaim it, ma belle demoiselle, although I protest it would be the +more congenial of the two. Which of your crack-brained Italian +romancers is it that says, + + Io d'Elicona niente + Mi curo, in fe de Dio; che'l bere d'acque + (Bea chi ber ne vuol) sempre mi spiacque! + +[Footnote: + + Good sooth, I reck nought of your Helicon; + Drink water whoso will, in faith I will drink none.] + +But if you prefer the Gaelic, Captain Waverley, here is little Cathleen +shall sing you Drimmindhu. Come, Cathleen, astore (i.e. my dear), +begin; no apologies to the cean-kinne.' + +Cathleen sung with much liveliness a little Gaelic song, the burlesque +elegy of a countryman on the loss of his cow, the comic tones of which, +though he did not understand the language, made Waverley laugh more +than once. [Footnote: This ancient Gaelic ditty is still well known, +both in the Highlands and in Ireland It was translated into English, +and published, if I mistake not, under the auspices of the facetious +Tom D'Urfey, by the title of 'Colley, my Cow.'] + +'Admirable, Cathleen!' cried the Chieftain; 'I must find you a handsome +husband among the clansmen one of these days.' + +Cathleen laughed, blushed, and sheltered herself behind her companion. + +In the progress of their return to the castle, the Chieftain warmly +pressed Waverley to remain for a week or two, in order to see a grand +hunting party, in which he and some other Highland gentlemen proposed +to join. The charms of melody and beauty were too strongly impressed in +Edward's breast to permit his declining an invitation so pleasing. It +was agreed, therefore, that he should write a note to the Baron of +Bradwardine, expressing his intention to stay a fortnight at +Glennaquoich, and requesting him to forward by the bearer (a gilly of +the Chieftain's) any letters which might have arrived for him. + +This turned the discourse upon the Baron, whom Fergus highly extolled +as a gentleman and soldier. His character was touched with yet more +discrimination by Flora, who observed he was the very model of the old +Scottish cavalier, with all his excellencies and peculiarities. 'It is +a character, Captain Waverley, which is fast disappearing; for its best +point was a self-respect which was never lost sight of till now. But in +the present time the gentlemen whose principles do not permit them to +pay court to the existing government are neglected and degraded, and +many conduct themselves accordingly; and, like some of the persons you +have seen at Tully-Veolan, adopt habits and companions inconsistent +with their birth and breeding. The ruthless proscription of party seems +to degrade the victims whom it brands, however unjustly. But let us +hope a brighter day is approaching, when a Scottish country gentleman +may be a scholar without the pedantry of our friend the Baron, a +sportsman without the low habits of Mr. Falconer, and a judicious +improver of his property without becoming a boorish two-legged steer +like Killancureit.' + +Thus did Flora prophesy a revolution, which time indeed has produced, +but in a manner very different from what she had in her mind. + +The amiable Rose was next mentioned, with the warmest encomium on her +person, manners, and mind. 'That man,' said Flora, 'will find an +inestimable treasure in the affections of Rose Bradwardine who shall be +so fortunate as to become their object. Her very soul is in home, and +in the discharge of all those quiet virtues of which home is the +centre. Her husband will be to her what her father now is, the object +of all her care, solicitude, and affection. She will see nothing, and +connect herself with nothing, but by him and through him. If he is a +man of sense and virtue, she will sympathise in his sorrows, divert his +fatigue, and share his pleasures. If she becomes the property of a +churlish or negligent husband, she will suit his taste also, for she +will not long survive his unkindness. And, alas! how great is the +chance that some such unworthy lot may be that of my poor friend! O +that I were a queen this moment, and could command the most amiable and +worthy youth of my kingdom to accept happiness with the hand of Rose +Bradwardine!' + +'I wish you would command her to accept mine en attendant,' said +Fergus, laughing. + +I don't know by what caprice it was that this wish, however jocularly +expressed, rather jarred on Edward's feelings, notwithstanding his +growing inclination to Flora and his indifference to Miss Bradwardine. +This is one of the inexplicabilities of human nature, which we leave +without comment. + +'Yours, brother?' answered Flora, regarding him steadily. 'No; you have +another bride--Honour; and the dangers you must run in pursuit of her +rival would break poor Rose's heart.' + +With this discourse they reached the castle, and Waverley soon prepared +his despatches for Tully-Veolan. As he knew the Baron was punctilious +in such matters, he was about to impress his billet with a seal on +which his armorial bearings were engraved, but he did not find it at +his watch, and thought he must have left it at Tully-Veolan. He +mentioned his loss, borrowing at the same time the family seal of the +Chieftain. + +'Surely,' said Miss Mac-Ivor, 'Donald Bean Lean would not--' + +'My life for him in such circumstances,' answered her brother; +'besides, he would never have left the watch behind.' + +'After all, Fergus,' said Flora, 'and with every allowance, I am +surprised you can countenance that man.' + +'I countenance him? This kind sister of mine would persuade you, +Captain Waverley, that I take what the people of old used to call "a +steakraid," that is, a "collop of the foray," or, in plainer words, a +portion of the robber's booty, paid by him to the Laird, or Chief, +through whose grounds he drove his prey. O, it is certain that, unless +I can find some way to charm Flora's tongue, General Blakeney will send +a sergeant's party from Stirling (this he said with haughty and +emphatic irony) to seize Vich lan Vohr, as they nickname me, in his own +castle.' + +'Now, Fergus, must not our guest be sensible that all this is folly and +affectation? You have men enough to serve you without enlisting +banditti, and your own honour is above taint. Why don't you send this +Donald Bean Lean, whom I hate for his smoothness and duplicity even +more than for his rapine, out of your country at once? No cause should +induce me to tolerate such a character.' + +'No cause, Flora?' said the Chieftain significantly. + +'No cause, Fergus! not even that which is nearest to my heart. Spare it +the omen of such evil supporters!' + +'O but, sister,' rejoined the Chief gaily, 'you don't consider my +respect for la belle passion. Evan Dhu Maccombich is in love with +Donald's daughter, Alice, and you cannot expect me to disturb him in +his amours. Why, the whole clan would cry shame on me. You know it is +one of their wise sayings, that a kinsman is part of a man's body, but +a foster-brother is a piece of his heart.' + +'Well, Fergus, there is no disputing with you; but I would all this may +end well.' + +'Devoutly prayed, my dear and prophetic sister, and the best way in the +world to close a dubious argument. But hear ye not the pipes, Captain +Waverley? Perhaps you will like better to dance to them in the hall +than to be deafened with their harmony without taking part in the +exercise they invite us to.' + +Waverley took Flora's hand. The dance, song, and merry-making +proceeded, and closed the day's entertainment at the castle of Vich Ian +Vohr. Edward at length retired, his mind agitated by a variety of new +and conflicting feelings, which detained him from rest for some time, +in that not unpleasing state of mind in which fancy takes the helm, and +the soul rather drifts passively along with the rapid and confused tide +of reflections than exerts itself to encounter, systematise, or examine +them. At a late hour he fell asleep, and dreamed of Flora Mac-Ivor. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A STAG-HUNT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + + +Shall this be a long or a short chapter? This is a question in which +you, gentle reader, have no vote, however much you may be interested in +the consequences; just as you may (like myself) probably have nothing +to do with the imposing a new tax, excepting the trifling circumstance +of being obliged to pay it. More happy surely in the present case, +since, though it lies within my arbitrary power to extend my materials +as I think proper, I cannot call you into Exchequer if you do not think +proper to read my narrative. Let me therefore consider. It is true that +the annals and documents in my hands say but little of this Highland +chase; but then I can find copious materials for description elsewhere. +There is old Lindsay of Pitscottie ready at my elbow, with his Athole +hunting, and his 'lofted and joisted palace of green timber; with all +kind of drink to be had in burgh and land, as ale, beer, wine, +muscadel, malvaise, hippocras, and aquavitae; with wheat-bread, +main-bread, ginge-bread, beef, mutton, lamb, veal, venison, goose, +grice, capon, coney, crane, swan, partridge, plover, duck, drake, +brisselcock, pawnies, black-cock, muir-fowl, and capercailzies'; not +forgetting the 'costly bedding, vaiselle, and napry,' and least of all +the 'excelling stewards, cunning baxters, excellent cooks, and +pottingars, with confections and drugs for the desserts.' Besides the +particulars which may be thence gleaned for this Highland feast (the +splendour of which induced the Pope's legate to dissent from an opinion +which he had hitherto held, that Scotland, namely, was the--the--the +latter end of the world)--besides these, might I not illuminate my +pages with Taylor the Water Poet's hunting in the Braes of Mar, where,-- + + Through heather, mosse,'mong frogs, and bogs, and fogs, + 'Mongst craggy cliffs and thunder-batter'd hills, + Hares, hinds, bucks, roes, are chased by men and dogs, + Where two hours' hunting fourscore fat deer kills. + Lowland, your sports are low as is your seat; + The Highland games and minds are high and great? + +But without further tyranny over my readers, or display of the extent +of my own reading, I shall content myself with borrowing a single +incident from the memorable hunting at Lude, commemorated in the +ingenious Mr. Gunn's essay on the Caledonian Harp, and so proceed in my +story with all the brevity that my natural style of composition, +partaking of what scholars call the periphrastic and ambagitory, and +the vulgar the circumbendibus, will permit me. + +The solemn hunting was delayed, from various causes, for about three +weeks. The interval was spent by Waverley with great satisfaction at +Glennaquoich; for the impression which Flora had made on his mind at +their first meeting grew daily stronger. She was precisely the +character to fascinate a youth of romantic imagination. Her manners, +her language, her talents for poetry and music, gave additional and +varied influence to her eminent personal charms. Even in her hours of +gaiety she was in his fancy exalted above the ordinary daughters of +Eve, and seemed only to stoop for an instant to those topics of +amusement and gallantry which others appear to live for. In the +neighbourhood of this enchantress, while sport consumed the morning and +music and the dance led on the hours of evening, Waverley became daily +more delighted with his hospitable landlord, and more enamoured of his +bewitching sister. + +At length the period fixed for the grand hunting arrived, and Waverley +and the Chieftain departed for the place of rendezvous, which was a +day's journey to the northward of Glennaquoich. Fergus was attended on +this occasion by about three hundred of his clan, well armed and +accoutred in their best fashion. Waverley complied so far with the +custom of the country as to adopt the trews (he could not be reconciled +to the kilt), brogues, and bonnet, as the fittest dress for the +exercise in which he was to be engaged, and which least exposed him to +be stared at as a stranger when they should reach the place of +rendezvous. They found on the spot appointed several powerful Chiefs, +to all of whom Waverley was formally presented, and by all cordially +received. Their vassals and clansmen, a part of whose feudal duty it +was to attend on these parties, appeared in such numbers as amounted to +a small army. These active assistants spread through the country far +and near, forming a circle, technically called the tinchel, which, +gradually closing, drove the deer in herds together towards the glen +where the Chiefs and principal sportsmen lay in wait for them. In the +meanwhile these distinguished personages bivouacked among the flowery +heath, wrapped up in their plaids, a mode of passing a summer's night +which Waverley found by no means unpleasant. + +For many hours after sunrise the mountain ridges and passes retained +their ordinary appearance of silence and solitude, and the Chiefs, with +their followers, amused themselves with various pastimes, in which the +joys of the shell, as Ossian has it, were not forgotten. 'Others apart +sate on a hill retired,' probably as deeply engaged in the discussion +of politics and news as Milton's spirits in metaphysical disquisition. +At length signals of the approach of the game were descried and heard. +Distant shouts resounded from valley to valley, as the various parties +of Highlanders, climbing rocks, struggling through copses, wading +brooks, and traversing thickets, approached more and more near to each +other, and compelled the astonished deer, with the other wild animals +that fled before them, into a narrower circuit. Every now and then the +report of muskets was heard, repeated by a thousand echoes. The baying +of the dogs was soon added to the chorus, which grew ever louder and +more loud. At length the advanced parties of the deer began to show +themselves; and as the stragglers came bounding down the pass by two or +three at a time, the Chiefs showed their skill by distinguishing the +fattest deer, and their dexterity in bringing them down with their +guns. Fergus exhibited remarkable address, and Edward was also so +fortunate as to attract the notice and applause of the sportsmen. + +But now the main body of the deer appeared at the head of the glen, +compelled into a very narrow compass, and presenting such a formidable +phalanx that their antlers appeared at a distance, over the ridge of +the steep pass, like a leafless grove. Their number was very great, and +from a desperate stand which they made, with the tallest of the +red-deer stags arranged in front, in a sort of battle-array, gazing on +the group which barred their passage down the glen, the more +experienced sportsmen began to augur danger. The work of destruction, +however, now commenced on all sides. Dogs and hunters were at work, and +muskets and fusees resounded from every quarter. The deer, driven to +desperation, made at length a fearful charge right upon the spot where +the more distinguished sportsmen had taken their stand. The word was +given in Gaelic to fling themselves upon their faces; but Waverley, on +whose English ears the signal was lost, had almost fallen a sacrifice +to his ignorance of the ancient language in which it was communicated. +Fergus, observing his danger, sprung up and pulled him with violence to +the ground, just as the whole herd broke down upon them. The tide being +absolutely irresistible, and wounds from a stag's horn highly +dangerous, the activity of the Chieftain may be considered, on this +occasion, as having saved his guest's life. He detained him with a firm +grasp until the whole herd of deer had fairly run over them. Waverley +then attempted to rise, but found that he had suffered several very +severe contusions, and, upon a further examination, discovered that he +had sprained his ankle violently. + +[Footnote: The thrust from the tynes, or branches, of the stag's horns +was accounted far more dangerous than those of the boar's tusk:-- + + If thou be hurt with horn of stag, + it brings thee to thy bier, + But barber's hand shall boar's hurt heal, + thereof have thou no fear.] + +This checked the mirth of the meeting, although the Highlanders, +accustomed to such incidents, and prepared for them, had suffered no +harm themselves. A wigwam was erected almost in an instant, where +Edward was deposited on a couch of heather. The surgeon, or he who +assumed the office, appeared to unite the characters of a leech and a +conjuror. He was an old smoke-dried Highlander, wearing a venerable +grey beard, and having for his sole garment a tartan frock, the skirts +of which descended to the knee, and, being undivided in front, made the +vestment serve at once for doublet and breeches. [Footnote: This garb, +which resembled the dress often put on children in Scotland, called a +polonie (i. e. polonaise), is a very ancient modification of the +Highland garb. It was, in fact, the hauberk or shirt of mail, only +composed of cloth instead of rings of armour.] He observed great +ceremony in approaching Edward; and though our hero was writhing with +pain, would not proceed to any operation which might assuage it until +he had perambulated his couch three times, moving from east to west, +according to the course of the sun. This, which was called making the +deasil, [Footnote: Old Highlanders will still make the deasil around +those whom they wish well to. To go round a person in the opposite +direction, or withershins (German wider-shins), is unlucky, and a sort +of incantation.] both the leech and the assistants seemed to consider +as a matter of the last importance to the accomplishment of a cure; and +Waverley, whom pain rendered incapable of expostulation, and who indeed +saw no chance of its being attended to, submitted in silence. + +After this ceremony was duly performed, the old Esculapius let his +patient's blood with a cupping-glass with great dexterity, and +proceeded, muttering all the while to himself in Gaelic, to boil on the +fire certain herbs, with which he compounded an embrocation. He then +fomented the parts which had sustained injury, never failing to murmur +prayers or spells, which of the two Waverley could not distinguish, as +his ear only caught the words Gaspar-Melchior-Balthazar-max-prax-fax, +and similar gibberish. The fomentation had a speedy effect in +alleviating the pain and swelling, which our hero imputed to the virtue +of the herbs or the effect of the chafing, but which was by the +bystanders unanimously ascribed to the spells with which the operation +had been accompanied. Edward was given to understand that not one of +the ingredients had been gathered except during the full moon, and that +the herbalist had, while collecting them, uniformly recited a charm, +which in English ran thus:-- + + Hail to thee, them holy herb, + That sprung on holy ground! + All in the Mount Olivet + First wert thou found. + Thou art boot for many a bruise, + And healest many a wound; + In our Lady's blessed name, + I take thee from the ground. + +[Footnote: This metrical spell, or something very like it, is preserved +by Reginald Scott in his work on Witchcraft.] + +Edward observed with some surprise that even Fergus, notwithstanding +his knowledge and education, seemed to fall in with the superstitious +ideas of his countrymen, either because he deemed it impolitic to +affect scepticism on a matter of general belief, or more probably +because, ike most men who do not think deeply or accurately on such +subjects, he had in his mind a reserve of superstition which balanced +the freedom of his expressions and practice upon other occasions. +Waverley made no commentary, therefore, on the manner of the treatment, +but rewarded the professor of medicine with a liberality beyond the +utmost conception of his wildest hopes. He uttered on the occasion so +many incoherent blessings in Gaelic and English that Mac-Ivor, rather +scandalised at the excess of his acknowledgments, cut them short by +exclaiming, Ceud mile mhalloich ort! i.e. 'A hundred thousand curses on +you!' and so pushed the helper of men out of the cabin. + +After Waverley was left alone, the exhaustion of pain and fatigue--for +the whole day's exercise had been severe--threw him into a profound, +but yet a feverish sleep, which he chiefly owed to an opiate draught +administered by the old Highlander from some decoction of herbs in his +pharmacopoeia. + +Early the next morning, the purpose of their meeting being over, and +their sports damped by the untoward accident, in which Fergus and all +his friends expressed the greatest sympathy, it became a question how +to dispose of the disabled sportsman. This was settled by Mac-Ivor, who +had a litter prepared, of 'birch and hazel-grey,' + +[FOOTNOTE: + + On the morrow they made their biers + Of birch and hazel grey. Chevy Chase.] + +which was borne by his people with such caution and dexterity as +renders it not improbable that they may have been the ancestors of some +of those sturdy Gael who have now the happiness to transport the belles +of Edinburgh in their sedan-chairs to ten routs in one evening. When +Edward was elevated upon their shoulders he could not help being +gratified with the romantic effect produced by the breaking up of this +sylvan camp. [Footnote: See Note 25.] + +The various tribes assembled, each at the pibroch of their native clan, +and each headed by their patriarchal ruler. Some, who had already begun +to retire, were seen winding up the hills, or descending the passes +which led to the scene of action, the sound of their bagpipes dying +upon the ear. Others made still a moving picture upon the narrow plain, +forming various changeful groups, their feathers and loose plaids +waving in the morning breeze, and their arms glittering in the rising +sun. Most of the Chiefs came to take farewell of Waverley, and to +express their anxious hope they might again, and speedily, meet; but +the care of Fergus abridged the ceremony of taking leave. At length, +his own men being completely assembled and mustered, Mac-Ivor commenced +his march, but not towards the quarter from which they had come. He +gave Edward to understand that the greater part of his followers now on +the field were bound on a distant expedition, and that when he had +deposited him in the house of a gentleman, who he was sure would pay +him every attention, he himself should be under the necessity of +accompanying them the greater part of the way, but would lose no time +in rejoining his friend. + +Waverley was rather surprised that Fergus had not mentioned this +ulterior destination when they set out upon the hunting-party; but his +situation did not admit of many interrogatories. The greater part of +the clansmen went forward under the guidance of old Ballenkeiroch and +Evan Dhu Maccombich, apparently in high spirits. A few remained for the +purpose of escorting the Chieftain, who walked by the side of Edward's +litter, and attended him with the most affectionate assiduity. About +noon, after a journey which the nature of the conveyance, the pain of +his bruises, and the roughness of the way rendered inexpressibly +painful, Waverley was hospitably received into the house of a gentleman +related to Fergus, who had prepared for him every accommodation which +the simple habits of living then universal in the Highlands put in his +power. In this person, an old man about seventy, Edward admired a relic +of primitive simplicity. He wore no dress but what his estate afforded; +the cloth was the fleece of his own sheep, woven by his own servants, +and stained into tartan by the dyes produced from the herbs and lichens +of the hills around him. His linen was spun by his daughters and +maidservants, from his own flax; nor did his table, though plentiful, +and varied with game and fish, offer an article but what was of native +produce. + +Claiming himself no rights of clanship or vassalage, he was fortunate +in the alliance and protection of Vich Ian Vohr and other bold and +enterprising Chieftains, who protected him in the quiet unambitious +life he loved. It is true, the youth born on his grounds were often +enticed to leave him for the service of his more active friends; but a +few old servants and tenants used to shake their grey locks when they +heard their master censured for want of spirit, and observed, 'When the +wind is still, the shower falls soft.' This good old man, whose charity +and hospitality were unbounded, would have received Waverley with +kindness had he been the meanest Saxon peasant, since his situation +required assistance. But his attention to a friend and guest of Vich +Ian Vohr was anxious and unremitted. Other embrocations were applied to +the injured limb, and new spells were put in practice. At length, after +more solicitude than was perhaps for the advantage of his health, +Fergus took farewell of Edward for a few days, when, he said, he would +return to Tomanrait, and hoped by that time Waverley would be able to +ride one of the Highland ponies of his landlord, and in that manner +return to Glennaquoich. + +The next day, when his good old host appeared, Edward learned that his +friend had departed with the dawn, leaving none of his followers except +Callum Beg, the sort of foot-page who used to attend his person, and +who had now in charge to wait upon Waverley. On asking his host if he +knew where the Chieftain was gone, the old man looked fixedly at him, +with something mysterious and sad in the smile which was his only +reply. Waverley repeated his question, to which his host answered in a +proverb,-- + + What sent the messengers to hell, + Was asking what they knew full well. + +[Footnote: Corresponding to the Lowland saying, 'Mony ane speirs the +gate they ken fu' weel.'] + +He was about to proceed, but Callum Beg said, rather pertly, as Edward +thought, that 'Ta Tighearnach (i.e. the Chief) did not like ta +Sassenagh duinhe-wassel to be pingled wi' mickle speaking, as she was +na tat weel.' From this Waverley concluded he should disoblige his +friend by inquiring of a stranger the object of a journey which he +himself had not communicated. + +It is unnecessary to trace the progress of our hero's recovery. The +sixth morning had arrived, and he was able to walk about with a staff, +when Fergus returned with about a score of his men. He seemed in the +highest spirits, congratulated Waverley on his progress towards +recovery, and finding he was able to sit on horseback, proposed their +immediate return to Glennaquoich. Waverley joyfully acceded, for the +form of its fair mistress had lived in his dreams during all the time +of his confinement. + + Now he has ridden o'er moor and moss, + O'er hill and many a glen, + +Fergus, all the while, with his myrmidons, striding stoutly by his +side, or diverging to get a shot at a roe or a heath-cock. Waverley's +bosom beat thick when they approached the old tower of Ian nan +Chaistel, and could distinguish the fair form of its mistress advancing +to meet them. + +Fergus began immediately, with his usual high spirits, to exclaim, +'Open your gates, incomparable princess, to the wounded Moor Abindarez, +whom Rodrigo de Narvez, constable of Antiquera, conveys to your castle; +or open them, if you like it better, to the renowned Marquis of Mantua, +the sad attendant of his half-slain friend Baldovinos of the Mountain. +Ah, long rest to thy soul, Cervantes! without quoting thy remnants, how +should I frame my language to befit romantic ears!' + +Flora now advanced, and welcoming Waverley with much kindness, +expressed her regret for his accident, of which she had already heard +particulars, and her surprise that her brother should not have taken +better care to put a stranger on his guard against the perils of the +sport in which he engaged him. Edward easily exculpated the Chieftain, +who, indeed, at his own personal risk, had probably saved his life. + +This greeting over, Fergus said three or four words to his sister in +Gaelic. The tears instantly sprung to her eyes, but they seemed to be +tears of devotion and joy, for she looked up to heaven and folded her +hands as in a solemn expression of prayer or gratitude. After the pause +of a minute, she presented to Edward some letters which had been +forwarded from Tully-Veolan during his absence, and at the same time +delivered some to her brother. To the latter she likewise gave three or +four numbers of the Caledonian Mercury, the only newspaper which was +then published to the north of the Tweed. + +Both gentlemen retired to examine their despatches, and Edward speedily +found that those which he had received contained matters of very deep +interest. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NEWS FROM ENGLAND + + +The letters which Waverley had hitherto received from his relations in +England were not such as required any particular notice in this +narrative. His father usually wrote to him with the pompous affectation +of one who was too much oppressed by public affairs to find leisure to +attend to those of his own family. Now and then he mentioned persons of +rank in Scotland to whom he wished his son should pay some attention; +but Waverley, hitherto occupied by the amusements which he had found at +Tully-Veolan and Glennaquoich, dispensed with paying any attention to +hints so coldly thrown out, especially as distance, shortness of leave +of absence, and so forth furnished a ready apology. But latterly the +burden of Mr. Richard Waverley's paternal epistles consisted in certain +mysterious hints of greatness and influence which he was speedily to +attain, and which would ensure his son's obtaining the most rapid +promotion, should he remain in the military service. Sir Everard's +letters were of a different tenor. They were short; for the good +Baronet was none of your illimitable correspondents, whose manuscript +overflows the folds of their large post paper, and leaves no room for +the seal; but they were kind and affectionate, and seldom concluded +without some allusion to our hero's stud, some question about the state +of his purse, and a special inquiry after such of his recruits as had +preceded him from Waverley-Honour. Aunt Rachel charged him to remember +his principles of religion, to take care of his health, to beware of +Scotch mists, which, she had heard, would wet an Englishman through and +through, never to go out at night without his great-coat, and, above +all, to wear flannel next to his skin. + +Mr. Pembroke only wrote to our hero one letter, but it was of the bulk +of six epistles of these degenerate days, containing, in the moderate +compass of ten folio pages, closely written, a precis of a +supplementary quarto manuscript of addenda, delenda, et corrigenda in +reference to the two tracts with which he had presented Waverley. This +he considered as a mere sop in the pan to stay the appetite of Edward's +curiosity until he should find an opportunity of sending down the +volume itself, which was much too heavy for the post, and which he +proposed to accompany with certain interesting pamphlets, lately +published by his friend in Little Britain, with whom he had kept up a +sort of literary correspondence, in virtue of which the library shelves +of Waverley-Honour were loaded with much trash, and a good round bill, +seldom summed in fewer than three figures, was yearly transmitted, in +which Sir Everard Waverley of Waverley-Honour, Bart., was marked Dr. to +Jonathan Grubbet, bookseller and stationer, Little Britain. Such had +hitherto been the style of the letters which Edward had received from +England; but the packet delivered to him at Glennaquoich was of a +different and more interesting complexion. It would be impossible for +the reader, even were I to insert the letters at full length, to +comprehend the real cause of their being written, without a glance into +the interior of the British cabinet at the period in question. + +The ministers of the day happened (no very singular event) to be +divided into two parties; the weakest of which, making up by assiduity +of intrigue their inferiority in real consequence, had of late acquired +some new proselytes, and with them the hope of superseding their rivals +in the favour of their sovereign, and overpowering them in the House of +Commons. Amongst others, they had thought it worth while to practise +upon Richard Waverley. This honest gentleman, by a grave mysterious +demeanour, an attention to the etiquette of business rather more than +to its essence, a facility in making long dull speeches, consisting of +truisms and commonplaces, hashed up with a technical jargon of office, +which prevented the inanity of his orations from being discovered, had +acquired a certain name and credit in public life, and even +established, with many, the character of a profound politician; none of +your shining orators, indeed, whose talents evaporate in tropes of +rhetoric and flashes of wit, but one possessed of steady parts for +business, which would wear well, as the ladies say in choosing their +silks, and ought in all reason to be good for common and every-day use, +since they were confessedly formed of no holiday texture. + +This faith had become so general that the insurgent party in the +cabinet, of which we have made mention, after sounding Mr. Richard +Waverley, were so satisfied with his sentiments and abilities as to +propose that, in case of a certain revolution in the ministry, he +should take an ostensible place in the new order of things, not indeed +of the very first rank, but greatly higher, in point both of emolument +and influence, than that which he now enjoyed. There was no resisting +so tempting a proposal, notwithstanding that the Great Man under whose +patronage he had enlisted, and by whose banner he had hitherto stood +firm, was the principal object of the proposed attack by the new +allies. Unfortunately this fair scheme of ambition was blighted in the +very bud by a premature movement. All the official gentlemen concerned +in it who hesitated to take the part of a voluntary resignation were +informed that the king had no further occasion for their services; and +in Richard Waverley's case, which the minister considered as aggravated +by ingratitude, dismissal was accompanied by something like personal +contempt and contumely. The public, and even the party of whom he +shared the fall, sympathised little in the disappointment of this +selfish and interested statesman; and he retired to the country under +the comfortable reflection that he had lost, at the same time, +character, credit, and,--what he at least equally deplored,--emolument. + +Richard Waverley's letter to his son upon this occasion was a +masterpiece of its kind. Aristides himself could not have made out a +harder case. An unjust monarch and an ungrateful country were the +burden of each rounded paragraph. He spoke of long services and +unrequited sacrifices; though the former had been overpaid by his +salary, and nobody could guess in what the latter consisted, unless it +were in his deserting, not from conviction, but for the lucre of gain, +the Tory principles of his family. In the conclusion, his resentment +was wrought to such an excess by the force of his own oratory, that he +could not repress some threats of vengeance, however vague and +impotent, and finally acquainted his son with his pleasure that he +should testify his sense of the ill-treatment he had sustained by +throwing up his commission as soon as the letter reached him. This, he +said, was also his uncle's desire, as he would himself intimate in due +course. + +Accordingly, the next letter which Edward opened was from Sir Everard. +His brother's disgrace seemed to have removed from his well-natured +bosom all recollection of their differences, and, remote as he was from +every means of learning that Richard's disgrace was in reality only the +just as well as natural consequence of his own unsuccessful intrigues, +the good but credulous Baronet at once set it down as a new and +enormous instance of the injustice of the existing government. It was +true, he said, and he must not disguise it even from Edward, that his +father could not have sustained such an insult as was now, for the +first time, offered to one of his house, unless he had subjected +himself to it by accepting of an employment under the present system. +Sir Everard had no doubt that he now both saw and felt the magnitude of +this error, and it should be his (Sir Everard's) business to take care +that the cause of his regret should not extend itself to pecuniary +consequences. It was enough for a Waverley to have sustained the public +disgrace; the patrimonial injury could easily be obviated by the head +of their family. But it was both the opinion of Mr. Richard Waverley +and his own that Edward, the representative of the family of +Waverley-Honour, should not remain in a situation which subjected him +also to such treatment as that with which his father had been +stigmatised. He requested his nephew therefore to take the fittest, and +at the same time the most speedy, opportunity of transmitting his +resignation to the War Office, and hinted, moreover, that little +ceremony was necessary where so little had been used to his father. He +sent multitudinous greetings to the Baron of Bradwardine. + +A letter from Aunt Rachel spoke out even more plainly. She considered +the disgrace of brother Richard as the just reward of his forfeiting +his allegiance to a lawful though exiled sovereign, and taking the +oaths to an alien; a concession which her grandfather, Sir Nigel +Waverley, refused to make, either to the Roundhead Parliament or to +Cromwell, when his life and fortune stood in the utmost extremity. She +hoped her dear Edward would follow the footsteps of his ancestors, and +as speedily as possible get rid of the badge of servitude to the +usurping family, and regard the wrongs sustained by his father as an +admonition from Heaven that every desertion of the line of loyalty +becomes its own punishment. She also concluded with her respects to Mr. +Bradwardine, and begged Waverley would inform her whether his daughter, +Miss Rose, was old enough to wear a pair of very handsome ear-rings, +which she proposed to send as a token of her affection. The good lady +also desired to be informed whether Mr. Bradwardine took as much Scotch +snuff and danced as unweariedly as he did when he was at +Waverley-Honour about thirty years ago. + +These letters, as might have been expected, highly excited Waverley's +indignation. From the desultory style of his studies, he had not any +fixed political opinion to place in opposition to the movements of +indignation which he felt at his father's supposed wrongs. Of the real +cause of his disgrace Edward was totally ignorant; nor had his habits +at all led him to investigate the politics of the period in which he +lived, or remark the intrigues in which his father had been so actively +engaged. Indeed, any impressions which he had accidentally adopted +concerning the parties of the times were (owing to the society in which +he had lived at Waverley-Honour) of a nature rather unfavourable to the +existing government and dynasty. He entered, therefore, without +hesitation into the resentful feeling of the relations who had the best +title to dictate his conduct, and not perhaps the less willingly when +he remembered the tedium of his quarters, and the inferior figure which +he had made among the officers of his regiment. If he could have had +any doubt upon the subject it would have been decided by the following +letter from his commanding officer, which, as it is very short, shall +be inserted verbatim:-- + +SIR,-- + +Having carried somewhat beyond the line of my duty an indulgence which +even the lights of nature, and much more those of Christianity, direct +towards errors which may arise from youth and inexperience, and that +altogether without effect, I am reluctantly compelled, at the present +crisis, to use the only remaining remedy which is in my power. You are, +therefore, hereby commanded to repair to--, the headquarters of the +regiment, within three days after the date of this letter. If you shall +fail to do so, I must report you to the War Office as absent without +leave, and also take other steps, which will be disagreeable to you as +well as to, + +Sir, + +Your obedient Servant, + +J. GARDINER, Lieut.-Col. + +Commanding the ----Regt. Dragoons. + +Edward's blood boiled within him as he read this letter. He had been +accustomed from his very infancy to possess in a great measure the +disposal of his own time, and thus acquired habits which rendered the +rules of military discipline as unpleasing to him in this as they were +in some other respects. An idea that in his own case they would not be +enforced in a very rigid manner had also obtained full possession of +his mind, and had hitherto been sanctioned by the indulgent conduct of +his lieutenant-colonel. Neither had anything occurred, to his +knowledge, that should have induced his commanding officer, without any +other warning than the hints we noticed at the end of the fourteenth +chapter, so suddenly to assume a harsh and, as Edward deemed it, so +insolent a tone of dictatorial authority. Connecting it with the +letters he had just received from his family, he could not but suppose +that it was designed to make him feel, in his present situation, the +same pressure of authority which had been exercised in his father's +case, and that the whole was a concerted scheme to depress and degrade +every member of the Waverley family. + +Without a pause, therefore, Edward wrote a few cold lines, thanking his +lieutenant-colonel for past civilities, and expressing regret that he +should have chosen to efface the remembrance of them by assuming a +different tone towards him. The strain of his letter, as well as what +he (Edward) conceived to be his duty in the present crisis, called upon +him to lay down his commission; and he therefore inclosed the formal +resignation of a situation which subjected him to so unpleasant a +correspondence, and requested Colonel Gardiner would have the goodness +to forward it to the proper authorities. + +Having finished this magnanimous epistle, he felt somewhat uncertain +concerning the terms in which his resignation ought to be expressed, +upon which subject he resolved to consult Fergus Mac-Ivor. It may be +observed in passing that the bold and prompt habits of thinking, +acting, and speaking which distinguished this young Chieftain had given +him a considerable ascendency over the mind of Waverley. Endowed with +at least equal powers of understanding, and with much finer genius, +Edward yet stooped to the bold and decisive activity of an intellect +which was sharpened by the habit of acting on a preconceived and +regular system, as well as by extensive knowledge of the world. + +When Edward found his friend, the latter had still in his hand the +newspaper which he had perused, and advanced to meet him with the +embarrassment of one who has unpleasing news to communicate. 'Do your +letters, Captain Waverley, confirm the unpleasing information which I +find in this paper?' + +He put the paper into his hand, where his father's disgrace was +registered in the most bitter terms, transferred probably from some +London journal. At the end of the paragraph was this remarkable +innuendo:-- + +'We understand that "this same RICHARD who hath done all this" is not +the only example of the WAVERING HONOUR of W-v-r-ly H-n-r. See the +Gazette of this day.' + +With hurried and feverish apprehension our hero turned to the place +referred to, and found therein recorded, 'Edward Waverley, captain in +---- regiment dragoons, superseded for absence without leave'; and in +the list of military promotions, referring to the same regiment, he +discovered this farther article, 'Lieut. Julius Butler, to be captain, +VICE Edward Waverley, superseded.' + +Our hero's bosom glowed with the resentment which undeserved and +apparently premeditated insult was calculated to excite in the bosom of +one who had aspired after honour, and was thus wantonly held up to +public scorn and disgrace. Upon comparing the date of his colonel's +letter with that of the article in the Gazette, he perceived that his +threat of making a report upon his absence had been literally +fulfilled, and without inquiry, as it seemed, whether Edward had either +received his summons or was disposed to comply with it. The whole, +therefore, appeared a formed plan to degrade him in the eyes of the +public; and the idea of its having succeeded filled him with such +bitter emotions that, after various attempts to conceal them, he at +length threw himself into Mac-Ivor's arms, and gave vent to tears of +shame and indignation. + +It was none of this Chieftain's faults to be indifferent to the wrongs +of his friends; and for Edward, independent of certain plans with which +he was connected, he felt a deep and sincere interest. The proceeding +appeared as extraordinary to him as it had done to Edward. He indeed +knew of more motives than Waverley was privy to for the peremptory +order that he should join his regiment. But that, without further +inquiry into the circumstances of a necessary delay, the commanding +officer, in contradiction to his known and established character, +should have proceeded in so harsh and unusual a manner was a mystery +which he could not penetrate. He soothed our hero, however, to the best +of his power, and began to turn his thoughts on revenge for his +insulted honour. + +Edward eagerly grasped at the idea. 'Will you carry a message for me to +Colonel Gardiner, my dear Fergus, and oblige me for ever?' + +Fergus paused. 'It is an act of friendship which you should command, +could it be useful, or lead to the righting your honour; but in the +present case I doubt if your commanding officer would give you the +meeting on account of his having taken measures which, however harsh +and exasperating, were still within the strict bounds of his duty. +Besides, Gardiner is a precise Huguenot, and has adopted certain ideas +about the sinfulness of such rencontres, from which it would be +impossible to make him depart, especially as his courage is beyond all +suspicion. And besides, I--I, to say the truth--I dare not at this +moment, for some very weighty reasons, go near any of the military +quarters or garrisons belonging to this government.' + +'And am I,' said Waverley, 'to sit down quiet and contented under the +injury I have received?' + +'That will I never advise my friend,' replied Mac-Ivor. 'But I would +have vengeance to fall on the head, not on the hand, on the tyrannical +and oppressive government which designed and directed these +premeditated and reiterated insults, not on the tools of office which +they employed in the execution of the injuries they aimed at you.' + +'On the government!' said Waverley. + +'Yes,' replied the impetuous Highlander, 'on the usurping House of +Hanover, whom your grandfather would no more have served than he would +have taken wages of red-hot gold from the great fiend of hell!' + +'But since the time of my grandfather two generations of this dynasty +have possessed the throne,' said Edward coolly. + +'True,' replied the Chieftain; 'and because we have passively given +them so long the means of showing their native character,--because both +you and I myself have lived in quiet submission, have even truckled to +the times so far as to accept commissions under them, and thus have +given them an opportunity of disgracing us publicly by resuming them, +are we not on that account to resent injuries which our fathers only +apprehended, but which we have actually sustained? Or is the cause of +the unfortunate Stuart family become less just, because their title has +devolved upon an heir who is innocent of the charges of misgovernment +brought against his father? Do you remember the lines of your favourite +poet? + + Had Richard unconstrain'd resign'd the throne, + A king can give no more than is his own; + The title stood entail'd had Richard had a son. + +You see, my dear Waverley, I can quote poetry as well as Flora and you. +But come, clear your moody brow, and trust to me to show you an +honourable road to a speedy and glorious revenge. Let us seek Flora, +who perhaps has more news to tell us of what has occurred during our +absence. She will rejoice to hear that you are relieved of your +servitude. But first add a postscript to your letter, marking the time +when you received this calvinistical colonel's first summons, and +express your regret that the hastiness of his proceedings prevented +your anticipating them by sending your resignation. Then let him blush +for his injustice.' + +The letter was sealed accordingly, covering a formal resignation of the +commission, and Mac-Ivor despatched it with some letters of his own by +a special messenger, with charge to put them into the nearest +post-office in the Lowlands. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +AN ECLAIRCISSEMENT + + +The hint which the Chieftain had thrown out respecting Flora was not +unpremeditated. He had observed with great satisfaction the growing +attachment of Waverley to his sister, nor did he see any bar to their +union, excepting the situation which Waverley's father held in the +ministry, and Edward's own commission in the army of George II. These +obstacles were now removed, and in a manner which apparently paved the +way for the son's becoming reconciled to another allegiance. In every +other respect the match would be most eligible. The safety, happiness, +and honourable provision of his sister, whom he dearly loved, appeared +to be ensured by the proposed union; and his heart swelled when he +considered how his own interest would be exalted in the eyes of the +ex-monarch to whom he had dedicated his service, by an alliance with +one of those ancient, powerful, and wealthy English families of the +steady cavalier faith, to awaken whose decayed attachment to the Stuart +family was now a matter of such vital importance to the Stuart cause. +Nor could Fergus perceive any obstacle to such a scheme. Waverley's +attachment was evident; and as his person was handsome, and his taste +apparently coincided with her own, he anticipated no opposition on the +part of Flora. Indeed, between his ideas of patriarchal power and those +which he had acquired in France respecting the disposal of females in +marriage, any opposition from his sister, dear as she was to him, would +have been the last obstacle on which he would have calculated, even had +the union been less eligible. + +Influenced by these feelings, the Chief now led Waverley in quest of +Miss Mac-Ivor, not without the hope that the present agitation of his +guest's spirits might give him courage to cut short what Fergus termed +the romance of the courtship. They found Flora, with her faithful +attendants, Una and Cathleen, busied in preparing what appeared to +Waverley to be white bridal favours. Disguising as well as he could the +agitation of his mind, Waverley asked for what joyful occasion Miss +Mac-Ivor made such ample preparation. + +'It is for Fergus's bridal,' she said, smiling. + +'Indeed!' said Edward; 'he has kept his secret well. I hope he will +allow me to be his bride's-man.' + +'That is a man's office, but not yours, as Beatrice says,' retorted +Flora. + +'And who is the fair lady, may I be permitted to ask, Miss Mac-Ivor?' + +'Did not I tell you long since that Fergus wooed no bride but Honour?' +answered Flora. + +'And am I then incapable of being his assistant and counsellor in the +pursuit of honour?' said our hero, colouring deeply. 'Do I rank so low +in your opinion?' + +'Far from it, Captain Waverley. I would to God you were of our +determination! and made use of the expression which displeased you, +solely + + Because you are not of our quality, + But stand against us as an enemy.' + +'That time is past, sister,' said Fergus; 'and you may wish Edward +Waverley (no longer captain) joy of being freed from the slavery to an +usurper, implied in that sable and ill-omened emblem.' + +'Yes,' said Waverley, undoing the cockade from his hat, 'it has pleased +the king who bestowed this badge upon me to resume it in a manner which +leaves me little reason to regret his service.' + +'Thank God for that!' cried the enthusiast; 'and O that they may be +blind enough to treat every man of honour who serves them with the same +indignity, that I may have less to sigh for when the struggle +approaches!' + +'And now, sister,' said the Chieftain, 'replace his cockade with one of +a more lively colour. I think it was the fashion of the ladies of yore +to arm and send forth their knights to high achievement.' + +'Not,' replied the lady, 'till the knight adventurer had well weighed +the justice and the danger of the cause, Fergus. Mr. Waverley is just +now too much agitated by feelings of recent emotion for me to press +upon him a resolution of consequence.' + +Waverley felt half alarmed at the thought of adopting the badge of what +was by the majority of the kingdom esteemed rebellion, yet he could not +disguise his chagrin at the coldness with which Flora parried her +brother's hint. 'Miss Mac-Ivor, I perceive, thinks the knight unworthy +of her encouragement and favour,' said he, somewhat bitterly. + +'Not so, Mr. Waverley,' she replied, with great sweetness. 'Why should +I refuse my brother's valued friend a boon which I am distributing to +his whole clan? Most willingly would I enlist every man of honour in +the cause to which my brother has devoted himself. But Fergus has taken +his measures with his eyes open. His life has been devoted to this +cause from his cradle; with him its call is sacred, were it even a +summons to the tomb. But how can I wish you, Mr. Waverley, so new to +the world, so far from every friend who might advise and ought to +influence you,--in a moment, too, of sudden pique and indignation,--how +can I wish you to plunge yourself at once into so desperate an +enterprise?' + +Fergus, who did not understand these delicacies, strode through the +apartment biting his lip, and then, with a constrained smile, said, +'Well, sister, I leave you to act your new character of mediator +between the Elector of Hanover and the subjects of your lawful +sovereign and benefactor,' and left the room. + +There was a painful pause, which was at length broken by Miss Mac-Ivor. +'My brother is unjust,' she said, 'because he can bear no interruption +that seems to thwart his loyal zeal.' + +'And do you not share his ardour?' asked Waverley, + +'Do I not?' answered Flora. 'God knows mine exceeds his, if that be +possible. But I am not, like him, rapt by the bustle of military +preparation, and the infinite detail necessary to the present +undertaking, beyond consideration of the grand principles of justice +and truth, on which our enterprise is grounded; and these, I am +certain, can only be furthered by measures in themselves true and just. +To operate upon your present feelings, my dear Mr. Waverley, to induce +you to an irretrievable step, of which you have not considered either +the justice or the danger, is, in my poor judgment, neither the one nor +the other.' + +'Incomparable Flora!' said Edward, taking her hand, 'how much do I need +such a monitor!' + +'A better one by far,' said Flora, gently withdrawing her hand, 'Mr. +Waverley will always find in his own bosom, when he will give its small +still voice leisure to be heard.' + +'No, Miss Mac-Ivor, I dare not hope it; a thousand circumstances of +fatal self-indulgence have made me the creature rather of imagination +than reason. Durst I but hope--could I but think--that you would deign +to be to me that affectionate, that condescending friend, who would +strengthen me to redeem my errors, my future life--' + +'Hush, my dear sir! now you carry your joy at escaping the hands of a +Jacobite recruiting officer to an unparalleled excess of gratitude.' + +'Nay, dear Flora, trifle with me no longer; you cannot mistake the +meaning of those feelings which I have almost involuntarily expressed; +and since I have broken the barrier of silence, let me profit by my +audacity. Or may I, with your permission, mention to your brother--' + +'Not for the world, Mr. Waverley!' + +'What am I to understand?' said Edward. 'Is there any fatal bar--has +any prepossession--' + +'None, sir,' answered Flora. 'I owe it to myself to say that I never +yet saw the person on whom I thought with reference to the present +subject.' + +'The shortness of our acquaintance, perhaps--If Miss Mac-Ivor will +deign to give me time--' + +'I have not even that excuse. Captain Waverley's character is so +open--is, in short, of that nature that it cannot be misconstrued, +either in its strength or its weakness.' + +'And for that weakness you despise me?' said Edward. + +'Forgive me, Mr. Waverley--and remember it is but within this half hour +that there existed between us a barrier of a nature to me +insurmountable, since I never could think of an officer in the service +of the Elector of Hanover in any other light than as a casual +acquaintance. Permit me then to arrange my ideas upon so unexpected a +topic, and in less than an hour I will be ready to give you such +reasons for the resolution I shall express as may be satisfactory at +least, if not pleasing to you.' So saying Flora withdrew, leaving +Waverley to meditate upon the manner in which she had received his +addresses. + +Ere he could make up his mind whether to believe his suit had been +acceptable or no, Fergus re-entered the apartment. 'What, a la mort, +Waverley?' he cried. 'Come down with me to the court, and you shall see +a sight worth all the tirades of your romances. An hundred firelocks, +my friend, and as many broadswords, just arrived from good friends; and +two or three hundred stout fellows almost fighting which shall first +possess them. But let me look at you closer. Why, a true Highlander +would say you had been blighted by an evil eye. Or can it be this silly +girl that has thus blanked your spirit. Never mind her, dear Edward; +the wisest of her sex are fools in what regards the business of life.' + +'Indeed, my good friend,' answered Waverley, 'all that I can charge +against your sister is, that she is too sensible, too reasonable.' + +'If that be all, I ensure you for a louis-d'or against the mood lasting +four-and-twenty hours. No woman was ever steadily sensible for that +period; and I will engage, if that will please you, Flora shall be as +unreasonable to-morrow as any of her sex. You must learn, my dear +Edward, to consider women en mousquetaire.' So saying, he seized +Waverley's arm and dragged him off to review his military preparations. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +UPON THE SAME SUBJECT + + +Fergus Mac-Ivor had too much tact and delicacy to renew the subject +which he had interrupted. His head was, or appeared to be, so full of +guns, broadswords, bonnets, canteens, and tartan hose that Waverley +could not for some time draw his attention to any other topic. + +'Are you to take the field so soon, Fergus,' he asked, 'that you are +making all these martial preparations?' + +'When we have settled that you go with me, you shall know all; but +otherwise, the knowledge might rather be prejudicial to you.' + +'But are you serious in your purpose, with such inferior forces, to +rise against an established government? It is mere frenzy.' + +'Laissez faire a Don Antoine; I shall take good care of myself. We +shall at least use the compliment of Conan, who never got a stroke but +he gave one. I would not, however,' continued the Chieftain, 'have you +think me mad enough to stir till a favourable opportunity: I will not +slip my dog before the game's afoot. But, once more, will you join with +us, and you shall know all?' + +'How can I?' said Waverley; 'I, who have so lately held that commission +which is now posting back to those that gave it? My accepting it +implied a promise of fidelity, and an acknowledgment of the legality of +the government.' + +'A rash promise,' answered Fergus, 'is not a steel handcuff, it may be +shaken off, especially when it was given under deception, and has been +repaid by insult. But if you cannot immediately make up your mind to a +glorious revenge, go to England, and ere you cross the Tweed you will +hear tidings that will make the world ring; and if Sir Everard be the +gallant old cavalier I have heard him described by some of our HONEST +gentlemen of the year one thousand seven hundred and fifteen, he will +find you a better horse-troop and a better cause than you have lost.' + +'But your sister, Fergus?' + +'Out, hyperbolical fiend!' replied the Chief, laughing; 'how vexest +thou this man! Speak'st thou of nothing but of ladies?' + +'Nay, be serious, my dear friend,' said Waverley; 'I feel that the +happiness of my future life must depend upon the answer which Miss +Mac-Ivor shall make to what I ventured to tell her this morning.' + +'And is this your very sober earnest,' said Fergus, more gravely, 'or +are we in the land of romance and fiction?' + +'My earnest, undoubtedly. How could you suppose me jesting on such a +subject?' + +'Then, in very sober earnest,' answered his friend, 'I am very glad to +hear it; and so highly do I think of Flora, that you are the only man +in England for whom I would say so much. But before you shake my hand +so warmly, there is more to be considered. Your own family--will they +approve your connecting yourself with the sister of a high-born +Highland beggar?' + +'My uncle's situation,' said Waverley, 'his general opinions, and his +uniform indulgence, entitle me to say, that birth and personal +qualities are all he would look to in such a connection. And where can +I find both united in such excellence as in your sister?' + +'O nowhere! cela va sans dire,' replied Fergus, with a smile. 'But your +father will expect a father's prerogative in being consulted.' + +'Surely; but his late breach with the ruling powers removes all +apprehension of objection on his part, especially as I am convinced +that my uncle will be warm in my cause.' + +'Religion perhaps,' said Fergus, 'may make obstacles, though we are not +bigotted Catholics.' + +'My grandmother was of the Church of Rome, and her religion was never +objected to by my family. Do not think of MY friends, dear Fergus; let +me rather have your influence where it may be more necessary to remove +obstacles--I mean with your lovely sister.' + +'My lovely sister,' replied Fergus, 'like her loving brother, is very +apt to have a pretty decisive will of her own, by which, in this case, +you must be ruled; but you shall not want my interest, nor my counsel. +And, in the first place, I will give you one hint--Loyalty is her +ruling passion; and since she could spell an English book she has been +in love with the memory of the gallant Captain Wogan, who renounced the +service of the usurper Cromwell to join the standard of Charles II, +marched a handful of cavalry from London to the Highlands to join +Middleton, then in arms for the king, and at length died gloriously in +the royal cause. Ask her to show you some verses she made on his +history and fate; they have been much admired, I assure you. The next +point is--I think I saw Flora go up towards the waterfall a short time +since; follow, man, follow! don't allow the garrison time to strengthen +its purposes of resistance. Alerte a la muraille! Seek Flora out, and +learn her decision as soon as you can, and Cupid go with you, while I +go to look over belts and cartouch-boxes.' + +Waverley ascended the glen with an anxious and throbbing heart. Love, +with all its romantic train of hopes, fears, and wishes, was mingled +with other feelings of a nature less easily defined. He could not but +remember how much this morning had changed his fate, and into what a +complication of perplexity it was likely to plunge him. Sunrise had +seen him possessed of an esteemed rank in the honourable profession of +arms, his father to all appearance rapidly rising in the favour of his +sovereign. All this had passed away like a dream: he himself was +dishonoured, his father disgraced, and he had become involuntarily the +confidant at least, if not the accomplice, of plans, dark, deep, and +dangerous, which must infer either the subversion of the government he +had so lately served or the destruction of all who had participated in +them. Should Flora even listen to his suit favourably, what prospect +was there of its being brought to a happy termination amid the tumult +of an impending insurrection? Or how could he make the selfish request +that she should leave Fergus, to whom she was so much attached, and, +retiring with him to England, wait, as a distant spectator, the success +of her brother's undertaking, or the ruin of all his hopes and +fortunes? Or, on the other hand, to engage himself, with no other aid +than his single arm, in the dangerous and precipitate counsels of the +Chieftain, to be whirled along by him, the partaker of all his +desperate and impetuous motions, renouncing almost the power of +judging, or deciding upon the rectitude or prudence of his actions, +this was no pleasing prospect for the secret pride of Waverley to stoop +to. And yet what other conclusion remained, saving the rejection of his +addresses by Flora, an alternative not to be thought of in the present +high-wrought state of his feelings with anything short of mental agony. +Pondering the doubtful and dangerous prospect before him, he at length +arrived near the cascade, where, as Fergus had augured, he found Flora +seated. + +She was quite alone, and as soon as she observed his approach she rose +and came to meet him. Edward attempted to say something within the +verge of ordinary compliment and conversation, but found himself +unequal to the task. Flora seemed at first equally embarrassed, but +recovered herself more speedily, and (an unfavourable augury for +Waverley's suit) was the first to enter upon the subject of their last +interview. 'It is too important, in every point of view, Mr. Waverley, +to permit me to leave you in doubt on my sentiments.' + +'Do not speak them speedily,' said Waverley, much agitated, 'unless +they are such as I fear, from your manner, I must not dare to +anticipate. Let time--let my future conduct--let your brother's +influence--' + +'Forgive me, Mr. Waverley,' said Flora, her complexion a little +heightened, but her voice firm and composed. 'I should incur my own +heavy censure did I delay expressing my sincere conviction that I can +never regard you otherwise than as a valued friend. I should do you the +highest injustice did I conceal my sentiments for a moment. I see I +distress you, and I grieve for it, but better now than later; and O, +better a thousand times, Mr. Waverley, that you should feel a present +momentary disappointment than the long and heart-sickening griefs which +attend a rash and ill-assorted marriage!' + +'Good God!' exclaimed Waverley, 'why should you anticipate such +consequences from a union where birth is equal, where fortune is +favourable, where, if I may venture to say so, the tastes are similar, +where you allege no preference for another, where you even express a +favourable opinion of him whom you reject?' + +'Mr. Waverley, I HAVE that favourable opinion,' answered Flora; 'and so +strongly that, though I would rather have been silent on the grounds of +my resolution, you shall command them, if you exact such a mark of my +esteem and confidence.' + +She sat down upon a fragment of rock, and Waverley, placing himself +near her, anxiously pressed for the explanation she offered. + +'I dare hardly,' she said, 'tell you the situation of my feelings, they +are so different from those usually ascribed to young women at my +period of life; and I dare hardly touch upon what I conjecture to be +the nature of yours, lest I should give offence where I would willingly +administer consolation. For myself, from my infancy till this day I +have had but one wish--the restoration of my royal benefactors to their +rightful throne. It is impossible to express to you the devotion of my +feelings to this single subject; and I will frankly confess that it has +so occupied my mind as to exclude every thought respecting what is +called my own settlement in life. Let me but live to see the day of +that happy restoration, and a Highland cottage, a French convent, or an +English palace will be alike indifferent to me.' + +'But, dearest Flora, how is your enthusiastic zeal for the exiled +family inconsistent with my happiness?' + +'Because you seek, or ought to seek, in the object of your attachment a +heart whose principal delight should be in augmenting your domestic +felicity and returning your affection, even to the height of romance. +To a man of less keen sensibility, and less enthusiastic tenderness of +disposition, Flora Mac-Ivor might give content, if not happiness; for, +were the irrevocable words spoken, never would she be deficient in the +duties which she vowed.' + +'And why,--why, Miss Mac-Ivor, should you think yourself a more +valuable treasure to one who is less capable of loving, of admiring +you, than to me?' + +'Simply because the tone of our affections would be more in unison, and +because his more blunted sensibility would not require the return of +enthusiasm which I have not to bestow. But you, Mr. Waverley, would for +ever refer to the idea of domestic happiness which your imagination is +capable of painting, and whatever fell short of that ideal +representation would be construed into coolness and indifference, while +you might consider the enthusiasm with which I regarded the success of +the royal family as defrauding your affection of its due return.' + +'In other words, Miss Mac-Ivor, you cannot love me?' said her suitor +dejectedly. + +'I could esteem you, Mr. Waverley, as much, perhaps more, than any man +I have ever seen; but I cannot love you as you ought to be loved. O! do +not, for your own sake, desire so hazardous an experiment! The woman +whom you marry ought to have affections and opinions moulded upon +yours. Her studies ought to be your studies; her wishes, her feelings, +her hopes, her fears, should all mingle with yours. She should enhance +your pleasures, share your sorrows, and cheer your melancholy.' + +'And why will not you, Miss Mac-Ivor, who can so well describe a happy +union, why will not you be yourself the person you describe?' + +'Is it possible you do not yet comprehend me?' answered Flora. 'Have I +not told you that every keener sensation of my mind is bent exclusively +towards an event upon which, indeed, I have no power but those of my +earnest prayers?' + +'And might not the granting the suit I solicit,' said Waverley, too +earnest on his purpose to consider what he was about to say, 'even +advance the interest to which you have devoted yourself? My family is +wealthy and powerful, inclined in principles to the Stuart race, and +should a favourable opportunity--' + +'A favourable opportunity!' said Flora--somewhat scornfully. 'Inclined +in principles! Can such lukewarm adherence be honourable to yourselves, +or gratifying to your lawful sovereign? Think, from my present +feelings, what I should suffer when I held the place of member in a +family where the rights which I hold most sacred are subjected to cold +discussion, and only deemed worthy of support when they shall appear on +the point of triumphing without it!' + +'Your doubts,' quickly replied Waverley, 'are unjust as far as concerns +myself. The cause that I shall assert, I dare support through every +danger, as undauntedly as the boldest who draws sword in its behalf.' + +'Of that,' answered Flora, 'I cannot doubt for a moment. But consult +your own good sense and reason rather than a prepossession hastily +adopted, probably only because you have met a young woman possessed of +the usual accomplishments in a sequestered and romantic situation. Let +your part in this great and perilous drama rest upon conviction, and +not on a hurried and probably a temporary feeling.' + +Waverley attempted to reply, but his words failed him. Every sentiment +that Flora had uttered vindicated the strength of his attachment; for +even her loyalty, although wildly enthusiastic, was generous and noble, +and disdained to avail itself of any indirect means of supporting the +cause to which she was devoted. + +After walking a little way in silence down the path, Flora thus resumed +the conversation.--'One word more, Mr. Waverley, ere we bid farewell to +this topic for ever; and forgive my boldness if that word have the air +of advice. My brother Fergus is anxious that you should join him in his +present enterprise. But do not consent to this; you could not, by your +single exertions, further his success, and you would inevitably share +his fall, if it be God's pleasure that fall he must. Your character +would also suffer irretrievably. Let me beg you will return to your own +country; and, having publicly freed yourself from every tie to the +usurping government, I trust you will see cause, and find opportunity, +to serve your injured sovereign with effect, and stand forth, as your +loyal ancestors, at the head of your natural followers and adherents, a +worthy representative of the house of Waverley.' + +'And should I be so happy as thus to distinguish myself, might I not +hope--' + +'Forgive my interruption,' said Flora. 'The present time only is ours, +and I can but explain to you with candour the feelings which I now +entertain; how they might be altered by a train of events too +favourable perhaps to be hoped for, it were in vain even to conjecture. +Only be assured, Mr. Waverley, that, after my brother's honour and +happiness, there is none which I shall more sincerely pray for than for +yours.' + +With these words she parted from him, for they were now arrived where +two paths separated. Waverley reached the castle amidst a medley of +conflicting passions. He avoided any private interview with Fergus, as +he did not find himself able either to encounter his raillery or reply +to his solicitations. The wild revelry of the feast, for Mac-Ivor kept +open table for his clan, served in some degree to stun reflection. When +their festivity was ended, he began to consider how he should again +meet Miss Mac-Ivor after the painful and interesting explanation of the +morning. But Flora did not appear. Fergus, whose eyes flashed when he +was told by Cathleen that her mistress designed to keep her apartment +that evening, went himself in quest of her; but apparently his +remonstrances were in vain, for he returned with a heightened +complexion and manifest symptoms of displeasure. The rest of the +evening passed on without any allusion, on the part either of Fergus or +Waverley, to the subject which engrossed the reflections of the latter, +and perhaps of both. + +When retired to his own apartment, Edward endeavoured to sum up the +business of the day. That the repulse he had received from Flora would +be persisted in for the present, there was no doubt. But could he hope +for ultimate success in case circumstances permitted the renewal of his +suit? Would the enthusiastic loyalty, which at this animating moment +left no room for a softer passion, survive, at least in its engrossing +force, the success or the failure of the present political +machinations? And if so, could he hope that the interest which she had +acknowledged him to possess in her favour might be improved into a +warmer attachment? He taxed his memory to recall every word she had +used, with the appropriate looks and gestures which had enforced them, +and ended by finding himself in the same state of uncertainty. It was +very late before sleep brought relief to the tumult of his mind, after +the most painful and agitating day which he had ever passed. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +A LETTER FROM TULLY-VEOLAN + + +In the morning, when Waverley's troubled reflections had for some time +given way to repose, there came music to his dreams, but not the voice +of Selma. He imagined himself transported back to Tully-Veolan, and +that he heard Davie Gellatley singing in the court those matins which +used generally to be the first sounds that disturbed his repose while a +guest of the Baron of Bradwardine. The notes which suggested this +vision continued, and waxed louder, until Edward awoke in earnest. The +illusion, however, did not seem entirely dispelled. The apartment was +in the fortress of lan nan Chaistel, but it was still the voice of +Davie Gellatley that made the following lines resound under the +window:-- + + My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, + My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer; + A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe, + My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go. + +[Footnote: These lines form the burden of an old song to which Burns +wrote additional verses.] + +Curious to know what could have determined Mr. Gellatley on an +excursion of such unwonted extent, Edward began to dress himself in all +haste, during which operation the minstrelsy of Davie changed its tune +more than once:-- + + There's nought in the Highlands but syboes and leeks, + And lang-leggit callants gaun wanting the breeks, + Wanting the breeks, and without hose and shoon, + But we'll a'win the breeks when King Jamie comes hame. + +[Footnote: These lines are also ancient, and I believe to the tune of +We'll never hae peace till Jamie comes hame, to which Burns likewise +wrote some verses.] + +By the time Waverley was dressed and had issued forth, David had +associated himself with two or three of the numerous Highland loungers +who always graced the gates of the castle with their presence, and was +capering and dancing full merrily in the doubles and full career of a +Scotch foursome reel, to the music of his own whistling. In this double +capacity of dancer and musician he continued, until an idle piper, who +observed his zeal, obeyed the unanimous call of seid suas (i.e. blow +up), and relieved him from the latter part of his trouble. Young and +old then mingled in the dance as they could find partners. The +appearance of Waverley did not interrupt David's exercise, though he +contrived, by grinning, nodding, and throwing one or two inclinations +of the body into the graces with which he performed the Highland fling, +to convey to our hero symptoms of recognition. Then, while busily +employed in setting, whooping all the while, and snapping his fingers +over his head, he of a sudden prolonged his side-step until it brought +him to the place where Edward was standing, and, still keeping time to +the music like Harlequin in a pantomime, he thrust a letter into our +hero's hand, and continued his saltation without pause or intermission. +Edward, who perceived that the address was in Rose's hand-writing, +retired to peruse it, leaving the faithful bearer to continue his +exercise until the piper or he should be tired out. + +The contents of the letter greatly surprised him. It had originally +commenced with 'Dear Sir'; but these words had been carefully erased, +and the monosyllable 'Sir' substituted in their place. The rest of the +contents shall be given in Rose's own language. + +I fear I am using an improper freedom by intruding upon you, yet I +cannot trust to any one else to let you know some things which have +happened here, with which it seems necessary you should be acquainted. +Forgive me, if I am wrong in what I am doing; for, alas! Mr. Waverley, +I have no better advice than that of my own feelings; my dear father is +gone from this place, and when he can return to my assistance and +protection, God alone knows. You have probably heard that, in +consequence of some troublesome news from the Highlands, warrants were +sent out for apprehending several gentlemen in these parts, and, among +others, my dear father. In spite of all my tears and entreaties that he +would surrender himself to the government, he joined with Mr. Falconer +and some other gentlemen, and they have all gone northwards, with a +body of about forty horsemen. So I am not so anxious concerning his +immediate safety as about what may follow afterwards, for these +troubles are only beginning. But all this is nothing to you, Mr. +Waverley, only I thought you would be glad to learn that my father has +escaped, in case you happen to have heard that he was in danger. + +The day after my father went off there came a party of soldiers to +Tully-Veolan, and behaved very rudely to Bailie Macwheeble; but the +officer was very civil to me, only said his duty obliged him to search +for arms and papers. My father had provided against this by taking away +all the arms except the old useless things which hung in the hall, and +he had put all his papers out of the way. But O! Mr. Waverley, how +shall I tell you, that they made strict inquiry after you, and asked +when you had been at Tully-Veolan, and where you now were. The officer +is gone back with his party, but a non-commissioned officer and four +men remain as a sort of garrison in the house. They have hitherto +behaved very well, as we are forced to keep them in good-humour. But +these soldiers have hinted as if, on your falling into their hands, you +would be in great danger; I cannot prevail on myself to write what +wicked falsehoods they said, for I am sure they are falsehoods; but you +will best judge what you ought to do. The party that returned carried +off your servant prisoner, with your two horses, and everything that +you left at Tully-Veolan. I hope God will protect you, and that you +will get safe home to England, where you used to tell me there was no +military violence nor fighting among clans permitted, but everything +was done according to an equal law that protected all who were harmless +and innocent. I hope you will exert your indulgence as to my boldness +in writing to you, where it seems to me, though perhaps erroneously, +that your safety and honour are concerned. I am sure--at least I think, +my father would approve of my writing; for Mr. Rubrick is fled to his +cousin's at the Duchran, to to be out of danger from the soldiers and +the Whigs, and Bailie Macwheeble does not like to meddle (he says) in +other men's concerns, though I hope what may serve my father's friend +at such a time as this cannot be termed improper interference. +Farewell, Captain Waverley! I shall probaby never see you more; for it +would be very improper to wish you to call at Tully-Veolan just now, +even if these men were gone; but I will always remember with gratitude +your kindness in assisting so poor a scholar as myself, and your +attentions to my dear, dear father. + +I remain, your obliged servant, + +ROSE COMYNE BRADWARDINE. + +P.S.--I hope you will send me a line by David Gellatley, just to say +you have received this and that you will take care of yourself; and +forgive me if I entreat you, for your own sake, to join none of these +unhappy cabals, but escape, as fast as possible, to your own fortunate +country. My compliments to my dear Flora and to Glennaquoich. Is she +not as handsome and accomplished as I have described her? + +Thus concluded the letter of Rose Bradwardine, the contents of which +both surprised and affected Waverley. That the Baron should fall under +the suspicions of government, in consequence of the present stir among +the partisans of the house of Stuart, seemed only the natural +consequence of his political predilections; but how HE himself should +have been involved in such suspicions, conscious that until yesterday +he had been free from harbouring a thought against the prosperity of +the reigning family, seemed inexplicable. Both at Tully-Veolan and +Glennaquoich his hosts had respected his engagements with the existing +government, and though enough passed by accidental innuendo that might +induce him to reckon the Baron and the Chief among those disaffected +gentlemen who were still numerous in Scotland, yet until his own +connection with the army had been broken off by the resumption of his +commission, he had no reason to suppose that they nourished any +immediate or hostile attempts against the present establishment. Still +he was aware that, unless he meant at once to embrace the proposal of +Fergus Mac-Ivor, it would deeply concern him to leave the suspicious +neighbourhood without delay, and repair where his conduct might undergo +a satisfactory examination. Upon this he the rather determined, as +Flora's advice favoured his doing so, and because he felt inexpressible +repugnance at the idea of being accessary to the plague of civil war. +Whatever were the original rights of the Stuarts, calm reflection told +him that, omitting the question how far James the Second could forfeit +those of his posterity, he had, according to the united voice of the +whole nation, justly forfeited his own. Since that period four monarchs +had reigned in peace and glory over Britain, sustaining and exalting +the character of the nation abroad and its liberties at home. Reason +asked, was it worth while to disturb a government so long settled and +established, and to plunge a kingdom into all the miseries of civil +war, for the purpose of replacing upon the throne the descendants of a +monarch by whom it had been wilfully forfeited? If, on the other hand, +his own final conviction of the goodness of their cause, or the +commands of his father or uncle, should recommend to him allegiance to +the Stuarts, still it was necessary to clear his own character by +showing that he had not, as seemed to be falsely insinuated, taken any +step to this purpose during his holding the commission of the reigning +monarch, + +The affectionate simplicity of Rose and her anxiety for his safety, his +sense too of her unprotected state, and of the terror and actual +dangers to which she might be exposed, made an impression upon his +mind, and he instantly wrote to thank her in the kindest terms for her +solicitude on his account, to express his earnest good wishes for her +welfare and that of her father, and to assure her of his own safety. +The feelings which this task excited were speedily lost in the +necessity which he now saw of bidding farewell to Flora Mac-Ivor, +perhaps for ever. The pang attending this reflection was inexpressible; +for her high-minded elevation of character, her self-devotion to the +cause which she had embraced, united to her scrupulous rectitude as to +the means of serving it, had vindicated to his judgment the choice +adopted by his passions. But time pressed, calumny was busy with his +fame, and every hour's delay increased the power to injure it. His +departure must be instant. + +With this determination he sought out Fergus, and communicated to him +the contents of Rose's letter, with his own resolution instantly to go +to Edinburgh, and put into the hands of some one or other of those +persons of influence to whom he had letters from his father his +exculpation from any charge which might be preferred against him. + +'You run your head into the lion's mouth,' answered Mac-Ivor. 'You do +not know the severity of a government harassed by just apprehensions, +and a consciousness of their own illegality and insecurity. I shall +have to deliver you from some dungeon in Stirling or Edinburgh Castle.' + +'My innocence, my rank, my father's intimacy with Lord M--, General +G--, etc., will be a sufficient protection,' said Waverley. + +'You will find the contrary,' replied the Chieftain, 'these gentlemen +will have enough to do about their own matters. Once more, will you +take the plaid, and stay a little while with us among the mists and the +crows, in the bravest cause ever sword was drawn in?' + +[Footnote: A Highland rhyme on Glencairn's Expedition, in 1650, has +these lines-- + + We'll bide a while amang ta crows, + We'll wiske ta sword and bend ta bows] + +'For many reasons, my dear Fergus, you must hold me excused.' + +'Well then,' said Mac-Ivor, 'I shall certainly find you exerting your +poetical talents in elegies upon a prison, or your antiquarian +researches in detecting the Oggam [Footnote: The Oggam is a species of +the old Irish character. The idea of the correspondence betwixt the +Celtic and Punic, founded on a scene in Plautus, was not started till +General Vallancey set up his theory, long after the date of Fergus +Mac-Ivor] character or some Punic hieroglyphic upon the keystones of a +vault, curiously arched. Or what say you to un petit pendement bien +joli? against which awkward ceremony I don't warrant you, should you +meet a body of the armed West-Country Whigs.' + +'And why should they use me so?' said Waverley. + +'For a hundred good reasons,' answered Fergus. 'First, you are an +Englishman; secondly, a gentleman; thirdly, a prelatist abjured; and, +fourthly, they have not had an opportunity to exercise their talents on +such a subject this long while. But don't be cast down, beloved; all +will be done in the fear of the Lord.' + +'Well, I must run my hazard.' + +'You are determined, then?' + +'I am.' + +'Wilful will do't' said Fergus. 'But you cannot go on foot, and I shall +want no horse, as I must march on foot at the head of the children of +Ivor; you shall have brown Dermid.' + +'If you will sell him, I shall certainly be much obliged.' + +'If your proud English heart cannot be obliged by a gift or loan, I +will not refuse money at the entrance of a campaign: his price is +twenty guineas. [Remember, reader, it was Sixty Years Since.] And when +do you propose to depart?' + +'The sooner the better,' answered Waverley. + +'You are right, since go you must, or rather, since go you will. I will +take Flora's pony and ride with you as far as Bally-Brough. Callum Beg, +see that our horses are ready, with a pony for yourself, to attend and +carry Mr. Waverley's baggage as far as--(naming a small town), where he +can have a horse and guide to Edinburgh. Put on a Lowland dress, +Callum, and see you keep your tongue close, if you would not have me +cut it out. Mr. Waverley rides Dermid.' Then turning to Edward, 'You +will take leave of my sister?' + +'Surely--that is, if Miss Mac-Ivor will honour me so far.' + +'Cathleen, let my sister know Mr. Waverley wishes to bid her farewell +before he leaves us. But Rose Bradwardine, her situation must be +thought of; I wish she were here. And why should she not? There are but +four red-coats at Tully-Veolan, and their muskets would be very useful +to us.' + +To these broken remarks Edward made no answer; his ear indeed received +them, but his soul was intent upon the expected entrance of Flora. The +door opened. It was but Cathleen, with her lady's excuse, and wishes +for Captain Waverley's health and happiness. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +WAVERLEY'S RECEPTION IN THE LOWLANDS AFTER HIS HIGHLAND TOUR + + +It was noon when the two friends stood at the top of the pass of +Bally-Brough. 'I must go no farther,' said Fergus Mac-Ivor, who during +the journey had in vain endeavoured to raise his friend's spirits. 'If +my cross-grained sister has any share in your dejection, trust me she +thinks highly of you, though her present anxiety about the public cause +prevents her listening to any other subject. Confide your interest to +me; I will not betray it, providing you do not again assume that vile +cockade.' + +'No fear of that, considering the manner in which it has been recalled. +Adieu, Fergus; do not permit your sister to forget me.' + +'And adieu, Waverley; you may soon hear of her with a prouder title. +Get home, write letters, and make friends as many and as fast as you +can; there will speedily be unexpected guests on the coast of Suffolk, +or my news from France has deceived me.' [Footnote: The sanguine +Jacobites, during the eventful years 1745-46, kept up the spirits of +their party by the rumour of descents from France on behalf of the +Chevalier St. George.] + +Thus parted the friends; Fergus returning back to his castle, while +Edward, followed by Callum Beg, the latter transformed from point to +point into a Low-Country groom, proceeded to the little town of--. + +Edward paced on under the painful and yet not altogether embittered +feelings which separation and uncertainty produce in the mind of a +youthful lover. I am not sure if the ladies understand the full value +of the influence of absence, nor do I think it wise to teach it them, +lest, like the Clelias and Mandanes of yore, they should resume the +humour of sending their lovers into banishment. Distance, in truth, +produces in idea the same effect as in real perspective. Objects are +softened, and rounded, and rendered doubly graceful; the harsher and +more ordinary points of character are mellowed down, and those by which +it is remembered are the more striking outlines that mark sublimity, +grace, or beauty. There are mists too in the mental as well as the +natural horizon, to conceal what is less pleasing in distant objects, +and there are happy lights, to stream in full glory upon those points +which can profit by brilliant illumination. + +Waverley forgot Flora Mac-Ivor's prejudices in her magnanimity, and +almost pardoned her indifference towards his affection when he +recollected the grand and decisive object which seemed to fill her +whole soul. She, whose sense of duty so wholly engrossed her in the +cause of a benefactor, what would be her feelings in favour of the +happy individual who should be so fortunate as to awaken them? Then +came the doubtful question, whether he might not be that happy man,--a +question which fancy endeavoured to answer in the affirmative, by +conjuring up all she had said in his praise, with the addition of a +comment much more flattering than the text warranted. All that was +commonplace, all that belonged to the every-day world, was melted away +and obliterated in those dreams of imagination, which only remembered +with advantage the points of grace and dignity that distinguished Flora +from the generality of her sex, not the particulars which she held in +common with them. Edward was, in short, in the fair way of creating a +goddess out of a high-spirited, accomplished, and beautiful young +woman; and the time was wasted in castle-building until, at the descent +of a steep hill, he saw beneath him the market-town of ----. + +The Highland politeness of Callum Beg--there are few nations, by the +way, who can boast of so much natural politeness as the Highlanders +[Footnote: The Highlander, in former times, had always a high idea of +his own gentility, and was anxious to impress the same upon those with +whom he conversed. His language abounded in the phrases of courtesy and +compliment; and the habit of carrying arms, and mixing with those who +did so, made it particularly desirable they should use cautious +politeness in their intercourse with each other.]--the Highland +civility of his attendant had not permitted him to disturb the reveries +of our hero. But observing him rouse himself at the sight of the +village, Callum pressed closer to his side, and hoped 'when they cam to +the public, his honour wad not say nothing about Vich Ian Vohr, for ta +people were bitter Whigs, deil burst tem.' + +Waverley assured the prudent page that he would be cautious; and as he +now distinguished, not indeed the ringing of bells, but the tinkling of +something like a hammer against the side of an old mossy, green, +inverted porridge-pot that hung in an open booth, of the size and shape +of a parrot's cage, erected to grace the east end of a building +resembling an old barn, he asked Callum Beg if it were Sunday. + +'Could na say just preceesely; Sunday seldom cam aboon the pass of +Bally-Brough.' + +On entering the town, however, and advancing towards the most apparent +public-house which presented itself, the numbers of old women, in +tartan screens and red cloaks, who streamed from the barn-resembling +building, debating as they went the comparative merits of the blessed +youth Jabesh Rentowel and that chosen vessel Maister Goukthrapple, +induced Callum to assure his temporary master 'that it was either ta +muckle Sunday hersell, or ta little government Sunday that they ca'd ta +fast.' + +On alighting at the sign of the Seven-branched Golden Candlestick, +which, for the further delectation of the guests, was graced with a +short Hebrew motto, they were received by mine host, a tall thin +puritanical figure, who seemed to debate with himself whether he ought +to give shelter to those who travelled on such a day. Reflecting, +however, in all probability, that he possessed the power of mulcting +them for this irregularity, a penalty which they might escape by +passing into Gregor Duncanson's, at the sign of the Highlander and the +Hawick Gill, Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks condescended to admit them into +his dwelling. + +To this sanctified person Waverley addressed his request that he would +procure him a guide, with a saddle-horse, to carry his portmanteau to +Edinburgh. + +'And whar may ye be coming from?' demanded mine host of the Candlestick. + +'I have told you where I wish to go; I do not conceive any further +information necessary either for the guide or his saddle-horse.' + +'Hem! Ahem!' returned he of the Candlestick, somewhat disconcerted at +this rebuff. 'It's the general fast, sir, and I cannot enter into ony +carnal transactions on sic a day, when the people should be humbled and +the backsliders should return, as worthy Mr. Goukthrapple said; and +moreover when, as the precious Mr. Jabesh Rentowel did weel observe, +the land was mourning for covenants burnt, broken, and buried.' + +'My good friend,' said Waverley, 'if you cannot let me have a horse and +guide, my servant shall seek them elsewhere.' + +'Aweel! Your servant? and what for gangs he not forward wi' you +himsell?' + +Waverley had but very little of a captain of horse's spirit within +him--I mean of that sort of spirit which I have been obliged to when I +happened, in a mail coach or diligence, to meet some military man who +has kindly taken upon him the disciplining of the waiters and the +taxing of reckonings. Some of this useful talent our hero had, however, +acquired during his military service, and on this gross provocation it +began seriously to arise. 'Look ye, sir; I came here for my own +accommodation, and not to answer impertinent questions. Either say you +can, or cannot, get me what I want; I shall pursue my course in either +case.' + +Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks left the room with some indistinct +mutterings; but whether negative or acquiescent, Edward could not well +distinguish. The hostess, a civil, quiet, laborious drudge, came to +take his orders for dinner, but declined to make answer on the subject +of the horse and guide; for the Salique law, it seems, extended to the +stables of the Golden Candlestick. + +From a window which overlooked the dark and narrow court in which +Callum Beg rubbed down the horses after their journey, Waverley heard +the following dialogue betwixt the subtle foot-page of Vich Ian Vohr +and his landlord:-- + +'Ye'll be frae the north, young man?' began the latter. + +'And ye may say that,' answered Callum. + +'And ye'll hae ridden a lang way the day, it may weel be?' + +'Sae lang, that I could weel tak a dram.' + +'Gudewife, bring the gill stoup.' + +Here some compliments passed fitting the occasion, when my host of the +Golden Candlestick, having, as he thought, opened his guest's heart by +this hospitable propitiation, resumed his scrutiny. + +'Ye'll no hae mickle better whisky than that aboon the Pass?' + +'I am nae frae aboon the Pass.' + +'Ye're a Highlandman by your tongue?' + +'Na; I am but just Aberdeen-a-way.' + +'And did your master come frae Aberdeen wi' you?' + +'Ay; that's when I left it mysell,' answered the cool and impenetrable +Callum Beg. + +'And what kind of a gentleman is he?' + +'I believe he is ane o' King George's state officers; at least he's aye +for ganging on to the south, and he has a hantle siller, and never +grudges onything till a poor body, or in the way of a lawing.' + +'He wants a guide and a horse frae hence to Edinburgh?' + +'Ay, and ye maun find it him forthwith.' + +'Ahem! It will be chargeable.' + +'He cares na for that a bodle.' + +'Aweel, Duncan--did ye say your name was Duncan, or Donald?' + +'Na, man--Jamie--Jamie Steenson--I telt ye before.' + +This last undaunted parry altogether foiled Mr. Cruickshanks, who, +though not quite satisfied either with the reserve of the master or the +extreme readiness of the man, was contented to lay a tax on the +reckoning and horse-hire that might compound for his ungratified +curiosity. The circumstance of its being the fast day was not forgotten +in the charge, which, on the whole, did not, however, amount to much +more than double what in fairness it should have been. + +Callum Beg soon after announced in person the ratification of this +treaty, adding, 'Ta auld deevil was ganging to ride wi' ta +duinhe-wassel hersell.' + +'That will not be very pleasant, Callum, nor altogether safe, for our +host seems a person of great curiosity; but a traveller must submit to +these inconveniences. Meanwhile, my good lad, here is a trifle for you +to drink Vich Ian Vohr's health.' + +The hawk's eye of Callum flashed delight upon a golden guinea, with +which these last words were accompanied. He hastened, not without a +curse on the intricacies of a Saxon breeches pocket, or spleuchan, as +he called it, to deposit the treasure in his fob; and then, as if he +conceived the benevolence called for some requital on his part, he +gathered close up to Edward, with an expression of countenance +peculiarly knowing, and spoke in an undertone, 'If his honour thought +ta auld deevil Whig carle was a bit dangerous, she could easily provide +for him, and teil ane ta wiser.' + +'How, and in what manner?' + +'Her ain sell,' replied Callum, 'could wait for him a wee bit frae the +toun, and kittle his quarters wi'her skene-occle.' + +'Skene-occle! what's that?' + +Callum unbuttoned his coat, raised his left arm, and, with an emphatic +nod, pointed to the hilt of a small dirk, snugly deposited under it, in +the lining of his jacket. Waverley thought he had misunderstood his +meaning; he gazed in his face, and discovered in Callum's very handsome +though embrowned features just the degree of roguish malice with which +a lad of the same age in England would have brought forward a plan for +robbing an orchard. + +'Good God, Callum, would you take the man's life?' + +'Indeed,' answered the young desperado, 'and I think he has had just a +lang enough lease o 't, when he's for betraying honest folk that come +to spend siller at his public.' + +Edward saw nothing was to be gained by argument, and therefore +contented himself with enjoining Callum to lay aside all practices +against the person of Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks; in which injunction +the page seemed to acquiesce with an air of great indifference. + +'Ta duinhe-wassel might please himsell; ta auld rudas loon had never +done Callum nae ill. But here's a bit line frae ta Tighearna, tat he +bade me gie your honour ere I came back.' + +The letter from the Chief contained Flora's lines on the fate of +Captain Wogan, whose enterprising character is so well drawn by +Clarendon. He had originally engaged in the service of the Parliament, +but had abjured that party upon the execution of Charles I; and upon +hearing that the royal standard was set up by the Earl of Glencairn and +General Middleton in the Highlands of Scotland, took leave of Charles +II, who was then at Paris, passed into England, assembled a body of +Cavaliers in the neighbourhood of London, and traversed the kingdom, +which had been so long under domination of the usurper, by marches +conducted with such skill, dexterity, and spirit that he safely united +his handful of horsemen with the body of Highlanders then in arms. +After several months of desultory warfare, in which Wogan's skill and +courage gained him the highest reputation, he had the misfortune to be +wounded in a dangerous manner, and no surgical assistance being within +reach he terminated his short but glorious career. + +There were obvious reasons why the politic Chieftain was desirous to +place the example of this young hero under the eye of Waverley, with +whose romantic disposition it coincided so peculiarly. But his letter +turned chiefly upon some trifling commissions which Waverley had +promised to execute for him in England, and it was only toward the +conclusion that Edward found these words: 'I owe Flora a grudge for +refusing us her company yesterday; and, as I am giving you the trouble +of reading these lines, in order to keep in your memory your promise to +procure me the fishing-tackle and cross-bow from London, I will enclose +her verses on the Grave of Wogan. This I know will tease her; for, to +tell you the truth, I think her more in love with the memory of that +dead hero than she is likely to be with any living one, unless he shall +tread a similar path. But English squires of our day keep their +oak-trees to shelter their deer parks, or repair the losses of an +evening at White's, and neither invoke them to wreathe their brows nor +shelter their graves. Let me hope for one brilliant exception in a dear +friend, to whom I would most gladly give a dearer title.' + +The verses were inscribed, + + To an Oak Tree + + In the Church-Yard of ----, in the Highlands of Scotland, + said to mark the Grave of Captain Wogan, killed in 1649. + + Emblem of England's ancient faith, + Full proudly may thy branches wave, + Where loyalty lies low in death, + And valour fills a timeless grave. + + And thou, brave tenant of the tomb! + Repine not if our clime deny, + Above thine honour'd sod to bloom + The flowerets of a milder sky. + + These owe their birth to genial May; + Beneath a fiercer sun they pine, + Before the winter storm decay; + And can their worth be type of thine? + + No! for, 'mid storms of Fate opposing, + Still higher swell'd thy dauntless heart, + And, while Despair the scene was closing, + Commenced thy brief but brilliant part. + + 'T was then thou sought'st on Albyn's hill, + (When England's sons the strife resign'd) + A rugged race resisting still, + And unsubdued though unrefined. + + Thy death's hour heard no kindred wail, + No holy knell thy requiem rung; + Thy mourners were the plaided Gael, + Thy dirge the clamourous pibroch sung. + + Yet who, in Fortune's summer-shine + To waste life's longest term away, + Would change that glorious dawn of thine, + Though darken'd ere its noontide day! + + Be thine the tree whose dauntless boughs + Brave summer's drought and winter's gloom. + Rome bound with oak her patriots' brows, + As Albyn shadows Wogan's tomb. + +Whatever might be the real merit of Flora Mac-Ivor's poetry, the +enthusiasm which it intimated was well calculated to make a +corresponding impression upon her lover. The lines were read--read +again, then deposited in Waverley's bosom, then again drawn out, and +read line by line, in a low and smothered voice, and with frequent +pauses which prolonged the mental treat, as an epicure protracts, by +sipping slowly, the enjoyment of a delicious beverage. The entrance of +Mrs. Cruickshanks with the sublunary articles of dinner and wine hardly +interrupted this pantomime of affectionate enthusiasm. + +At length the tall ungainly figure and ungracious visage of Ebenezer +presented themselves. The upper part of his form, notwithstanding the +season required no such defence, was shrouded in a large great-coat, +belted over his under habiliments, and crested with a huge cowl of the +same stuff, which, when drawn over the head and hat, completely +overshadowed both, and, being buttoned beneath the chin, was called a +trot-cozy. His hand grasped a huge jockey-whip, garnished with +brassmounting. His thin legs tenanted a pair of gambadoes, fastened at +the sides with rusty clasps. Thus accoutred, he stalked into the midst +of the apartment, and announced his errand in brief phrase: 'Yer horses +are ready.' + +'You go with me yourself then, landlord?' + +'I do, as far as Perth; where ye may be supplied with a guide to +Embro', as your occasions shall require.' + +Thus saying, he placed under Waverley's eye the bill which he held in +his hand; and at the same time, self-invited, filled a glass of wine +and drank devoutly to a blessing on their journey. Waverley stared at +the man's impudence, but, as their connection was to be short and +promised to be convenient, he made no observation upon it; and, having +paid his reckoning, expressed his intention to depart immediately. He +mounted Dermid accordingly and sallied forth from the Golden +Candlestick, followed by the puritanical figure we have described, +after he had, at the expense of some time and difficulty, and by the +assistance of a 'louping-on-stane,' or structure of masonry erected for +the traveller's convenience in front of the house, elevated his person +to the back of a long-backed, raw-boned, thin-gutted phantom of a +broken-down blood-horse, on which Waverley's portmanteau was deposited. +Our hero, though not in a very gay humour, could hardly help laughing +at the appearance of his new squire, and at imagining the astonishment +which his person and equipage would have excited at Waverley-Honour. + +Edward's tendency to mirth did not escape mine host of the Candlestick, +who, conscious of the cause, infused a double portion of souring into +the pharisaical leaven of his countenance, and resolved internally +that, in one way or other, the young 'Englisher' should pay dearly for +the contempt with which he seemed to regard him. Callum also stood at +the gate and enjoyed, with undissembled glee, the ridiculous figure of +Mr. Cruickshanks. As Waverley passed him he pulled off his hat +respectfully, and, approaching his stirrup, bade him 'Tak heed the auld +whig deevil played him nae cantrip.' + +Waverley once more thanked and bade him farewell, and then rode briskly +onward, not sorry to be out of hearing of the shouts of the children, +as they beheld old Ebenezer rise and sink in his stirrups to avoid the +concussions occasioned by a hard trot upon a half-paved street. The +village of--was soon several miles behind him. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +SHOWS THAT THE LOSS OF A HORSE'S SHOE MAY BE A SERIOUS INCONVENIENCE + + +The manner and air of Waverley, but, above all, the glittering contents +of his purse, and the indifference with which he seemed to regard them, +somewhat overawed his companion, and deterred him from making any +attempts to enter upon conversation. His own reflections were moreover +agitated by various surmises, and by plans of self-interest with which +these were intimately connected. The travellers journeyed, therefore, +in silence, until it was interrupted by the annunciation, on the part +of the guide, that his 'naig had lost a fore-foot shoe, which, +doubtless, his honour would consider it was his part to replace.' + +This was what lawyers call a fishing question, calculated to ascertain +how far Waverley was disposed to submit to petty imposition. 'My part +to replace your horse's shoe, you rascal!' said Waverley, mistaking the +purport of the intimation. + +'Indubitably,' answered Mr. Cruickshanks; 'though there was no preceese +clause to that effect, it canna be expected that I am to pay for the +casualties whilk may befall the puir naig while in your honour's +service. Nathless, if your honour--' + +'O, you mean I am to pay the farrier; but where shall we find one?' + +Rejoiced at discerning there would be no objection made on the part of +his temporary master, Mr. Cruickshanks assured him that Cairnvreckan, a +village which they were about to enter, was happy in an excellent +blacksmith; 'but as he was a professor, he would drive a nail for no +man on the Sabbath or kirk-fast, unless it were in a case of absolute +necessity, for which he always charged sixpence each shoe.' The most +important part of this communication, in the opinion of the speaker, +made a very slight impression on the hearer, who only internally +wondered what college this veterinary professor belonged to, not aware +that the word was used to denote any person who pretended to uncommon +sanctity of faith and manner. + +As they entered the village of Cairnvreckan, they speedily +distinguished the smith's house. Being also a public, it was two +stories high, and proudly reared its crest, covered with grey slate, +above the thatched hovels by which it was surrounded. The adjoining +smithy betokened none of the Sabbatical silence and repose which +Ebenezer had augured from the sanctity of his friend. On the contrary, +hammer clashed and anvil rang, the bellows groaned, and the whole +apparatus of Vulcan appeared to be in full activity. Nor was the labour +of a rural and pacific nature. The master smith, benempt, as his sign +intimated, John Mucklewrath, with two assistants, toiled busily in +arranging, repairing, and furbishing old muskets, pistols, and swords, +which lay scattered around his workshop in military confusion. The open +shed, containing the forge, was crowded with persons who came and went +as if receiving and communicating important news, and a single glance +at the aspect of the people who traversed the street in haste, or stood +assembled in groups, with eyes elevated and hands uplifted, announced +that some extraordinary intelligence was agitating the public mind of +the municipality of Cairnvreckan. 'There is some news,' said mine host +of the Candlestick, pushing his lantern-jawed visage and bare-boned nag +rudely forward into the crowd--'there is some news; and, if it please +my Creator, I will forthwith obtain speirings thereof.' + +Waverley, with better regulated curiosity than his attendant's, +dismounted and gave his horse to a boy who stood idling near. It arose, +perhaps, from the shyness of his character in early youth, that he felt +dislike at applying to a stranger even for casual information, without +previously glancing at his physiognomy and appearance. While he looked +about in order to select the person with whom he would most willingly +hold communication, the buzz around saved him in some degree the +trouble of interrogatories. The names of Lochiel, Clanronald, +Glengarry, and other distinguished Highland Chiefs, among whom Vich Ian +Vohr was repeatedly mentioned, were as familiar in men's mouths as +household words; and from the alarm generally expressed, he easily +conceived that their descent into the Lowlands, at the head of their +armed tribes, had either already taken place or was instantly +apprehended. + +Ere Waverley could ask particulars, a strong, large-boned, +hard-featured woman, about forty, dressed as if her clothes had been +flung on with a pitchfork, her cheeks flushed with a scarlet red where +they were not smutted with soot and lamp-black, jostled through the +crowd, and, brandishing high a child of two years old, which she danced +in her arms without regard to its screams of terror, sang forth with +all her might,-- + + Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling, + Charlie is my darling, + The young Chevalier! + +'D' ye hear what's come ower ye now,' continued the virago, 'ye +whingeing Whig carles? D'ye hear wha's coming to cow yer cracks? + + Little wot ye wha's coming, + Little wot ye wha's coming, + A' the wild Macraws are coming.' + +The Vulcan of Cairnvreckan, who acknowledged his Venus in this exulting +Bacchante, regarded her with a grim and ire-foreboding countenance, +while some of the senators of the village hastened to interpose. +'Whisht, gudewife; is this a time or is this a day to be singing your +ranting fule sangs in?--a time when the wine of wrath is poured out +without mixture in the cup of indignation, and a day when the land +should give testimony against popery, and prelacy, and quakerism, and +independency, and supremacy, and erastianism, and antinomianism, and a' +the errors of the church?' + +'And that's a' your Whiggery,' reechoed the Jacobite heroine; 'that's +a' your Whiggery, and your presbytery, ye cut-lugged, graning carles! +What! d' ye think the lads wi' the kilts will care for yer synods and +yer presbyteries, and yer buttock-mail, and yer stool o' repentance? +Vengeance on the black face o't! mony an honester woman's been set upon +it than streeks doon beside ony Whig in the country. I mysell--' + +Here John Mucklewrath, who dreaded her entering upon a detail of +personal experience, interposed his matrimonial authority. 'Gae hame, +and be d--(that I should say sae), and put on the sowens for supper.' + +'And you, ye doil'd dotard,' replied his gentle helpmate, her wrath, +which had hitherto wandered abroad over the whole assembly, being at +once and violently impelled into its natural channel, 'YE stand there +hammering dog-heads for fules that will never snap them at a +Highlandman, instead of earning bread for your family and shoeing this +winsome young gentleman's horse that's just come frae the north! I'se +warrant him nane of your whingeing King George folk, but a gallant +Gordon, at the least o' him.' + +The eyes of the assembly were now turned upon Waverley, who took the +opportunity to beg the smith to shoe his guide's horse with all speed, +as he wished to proceed on his journey; for he had heard enough to make +him sensible that there would be danger in delaying long in this place. +The smith's eyes rested on him with a look of displeasure and +suspicion, not lessened by the eagerness with which his wife enforced +Waverley's mandate. 'D'ye hear what the weel-favoured young gentleman +says, ye drunken ne'er-do-good?' + +'And what may your name be, sir?' quoth Mucklewrath. + +'It is of no consequence to you, my friend, provided I pay your labour.' + +'But it may be of consequence to the state, sir,' replied an old +farmer, smelling strongly of whisky and peat-smoke; 'and I doubt we +maun delay your journey till you have seen the Laird.' + +'You certainly,' said Waverley, haughtily, 'will find it both difficult +and dangerous to detain me, unless you can produce some proper +authority.' + +There was a pause and a whisper among the crowd--'Secretary +Murray'--'Lord Lewis Gordon'--'Maybe the Chevalier himsell!' Such were +the surmises that passed hurriedly among them, and there was obviously +an increased disposition to resist Waverley's departure. He attempted +to argue mildly with them, but his voluntary ally, Mrs. Mucklewrath, +broke in upon and drowned his expostulations, taking his part with an +abusive violence which was all set down to Edward's account by those on +whom it was bestowed. 'YE'LL stop ony gentleman that's the Prince's +freend?' for she too, though with other feelings, had adopted the +general opinion respecting Waverley. 'I daur ye to touch him,' +spreading abroad her long and muscular fingers, garnished with claws +which a vulture might have envied. 'I'll set my ten commandments in the +face o' the first loon that lays a finger on him.' + +'Gae hame, gudewife,' quoth the farmer aforesaid; 'it wad better set +you to be nursing the gudeman's bairns than to be deaving us here.' + +'HIS bairns?' retorted the Amazon, regarding her husband with a grin of +ineffable contempt--'HIS bairns! + + O gin ye were dead, gudeman, + And a green turf on your head, gudeman! + Then I wad ware my widowhood + Upon a ranting Highlandman' + +This canticle, which excited a suppressed titter among the younger part +of the audience, totally overcame the patience of the taunted man of +the anvil. 'Deil be in me but I'll put this het gad down her throat!' +cried he in an ecstasy of wrath, snatching a bar from the forge; and he +might have executed his threat, had he not been withheld by a part of +the mob, while the rest endeavoured to force the termagant out of his +presence. + +Waverley meditated a retreat in the confusion, but his horse was +nowhere to be seen. At length he observed at some distance his faithful +attendant, Ebenezer, who, as soon as he had perceived the turn matters +were likely to take, had withdrawn both horses from the press, and, +mounted on the one and holding the other, answered the loud and +repeated calls of Waverley for his horse. 'Na, na! if ye are nae friend +to kirk and the king, and are detained as siccan a person, ye maun +answer to honest men of the country for breach of contract; and I maun +keep the naig and the walise for damage and expense, in respect my +horse and mysell will lose to-morrow's day's wark, besides the +afternoon preaching.' + +Edward, out of patience, hemmed in and hustled by the rabble on every +side, and every moment expecting personal violence, resolved to try +measures of intimidation, and at length drew a pocket-pistol, +threatening, on the one hand, to shoot whomsoever dared to stop him, +and, on the other, menacing Ebenezer with a similar doom if he stirred +a foot with the horses. The sapient Partridge says that one man with a +pistol is equal to a hundred unarmed, because, though he can shoot but +one of the multitude, yet no one knows but that he himself may be that +luckless individual. The levy en masse of Cairnvreckan would therefore +probably have given way, nor would Ebenezer, whose natural paleness had +waxed three shades more cadaverous, have ventured to dispute a mandate +so enforced, had not the Vulcan of the village, eager to discharge upon +some more worthy object the fury which his helpmate had provoked, and +not ill satisfied to find such an object in Waverley, rushed at him +with the red-hot bar of iron with such determination as made the +discharge of his pistol an act of self-defence. The unfortunate man +fell; and while Edward, thrilled with a natural horror at the incident, +neither had presence of mind to unsheathe his sword nor to draw his +remaining pistol, the populace threw themselves upon him, disarmed him, +and were about to use him with great violence, when the appearance of a +venerable clergyman, the pastor of the parish, put a curb on their fury. + +This worthy man (none of the Goukthrapples or Rentowels) maintained his +character with the common people, although he preached the practical +fruits of Christian faith as well as its abstract tenets, and was +respected by the higher orders, notwithstanding he declined soothing +their speculative errors by converting the pulpit of the gospel into a +school of heathen morality. Perhaps it is owing to this mixture of +faith and practice in his doctrine that, although his memory has formed +a sort of era in the annals of Cairnvreckan, so that the parishioners, +to denote what befell Sixty Years Since, still say it happened 'in good +Mr. Morton's time,' I have never been able to discover which he +belonged to, the evangelical or the moderate party in the kirk. Nor do +I hold the circumstance of much moment, since, in my own remembrance, +the one was headed by an Erskine, the other by a Robertson. + +[Footnote: The Reverend John Erskine, D. D, an eminent Scottish divine +and a most excellent man, headed the Evangelical party in the Church of +Scotland at the time when the celebrated Doctor Robertson, the +historian, was the leader of the Moderate party. These two +distinguished persons were colleagues in the Old Grey Friars' Church, +Edinburgh; and, however much they differed in church politics, +preserved the most perfect harmony as private friends and as clergymen +serving the same cure] + +Mr. Morton had been alarmed by the discharge of the pistol and the +increasing hubbub around the smithy. His first attention, after he had +directed the bystanders to detain Waverley, but to abstain from +injuring him, was turned to the body of Mucklewrath, over which his +wife, in a revulsion of feeling, was weeping, howling, and tearing her +elf-locks in a state little short of distraction. On raising up the +smith, the first discovery was that he was alive; and the next that he +was likely to live as long as if he had never heard the report of a +pistol in his life. He had made a narrow escape, however; the bullet +had grazed his head and stunned him for a moment or two, which trance +terror and confusion of spirit had prolonged somewhat longer. He now +arose to demand vengeance on the person of Waverley, and with +difficulty acquiesced in the proposal of Mr. Morton that he should be +carried before the Laird, as a justice of peace, and placed at his +disposal. The rest of the assistants unanimously agreed to the measure +recommended; even Mrs. Mucklewrath, who had begun to recover from her +hysterics, whimpered forth, 'She wadna say naething against what the +minister proposed; he was e'en ower gude for his trade, and she hoped +to see him wi' a dainty decent bishop's gown on his back; a comelier +sight than your Geneva cloaks and bands, I wis.' + +All controversy being thus laid aside, Waverley, escorted by the whole +inhabitants of the village who were not bed-ridden, was conducted to +the house of Cairnvreckan, which was about half a mile distant. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +AN EXAMINATION + + +Major Melville of Cairnvreckan, an elderly gentleman, who had spent his +youth in the military service, received Mr. Morton with great kindness, +and our hero with civility, which the equivocal circumstances wherein +Edward was placed rendered constrained and distant. + +The nature of the smith's hurt was inquired into, and, as the actual +injury was likely to prove trifling, and the circumstances in which it +was received rendered the infliction on Edward's part a natural act of +self-defence, the Major conceived he might dismiss that matter on +Waverley's depositing in his hands a small sum for the benefit of the +wounded person. + +'I could wish, sir,' continued the Major, 'that my duty terminated +here; but it is necessary that we should have some further inquiry into +the cause of your journey through the country at this unfortunate and +distracted time.' + +Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks now stood forth, and communicated to the +magistrate all he knew or suspected from the reserve of Waverley and +the evasions of Callum Beg. The horse upon which Edward rode, he said, +he knew to belong to Vich Ian Vohr, though he dared not tax Edward's +former attendant with the fact, lest he should have his house and +stables burnt over his head some night by that godless gang, the +Mac-Ivors. He concluded by exaggerating his own services to kirk and +state, as having been the means, under God (as he modestly qualified +the assertion), of attaching this suspicious and formidable delinquent. +He intimated hopes of future reward, and of instant reimbursement for +loss of time, and even of character, by travelling on the state +business on the fast-day. + +To this Major Melville answered, with great composure, that so far from +claiming any merit in this affair, Mr. Cruickshanks ought to deprecate +the imposition of a very heavy fine for neglecting to lodge, in terms +of the recent proclamation, an account with the nearest magistrate of +any stranger who came to his inn; that, as Mr. Cruickshanks boasted so +much of religion and loyalty, he should not impute this conduct to +disaffection, but only suppose that his zeal for kirk and state had +been lulled asleep by the opportunity of charging a stranger with +double horse-hire; that, however, feeling himself incompetent to decide +singly upon the conduct of a person of such importance, he should +reserve it for consideration of the next quarter-sessions. Now our +history for the present saith no more of him of the Candlestick, who +wended dolorous and malcontent back to his own dwelling. + +Major Melville then commanded the villagers to return to their homes, +excepting two, who officiated as constables, and whom he directed to +wait below. The apartment was thus cleared of every person but Mr. +Morton, whom the Major invited to remain; a sort of factor, who acted +as clerk; and Waverley himself. There ensued a painful and embarrassed +pause, till Major Melville, looking upon Waverley with much compassion, +and often consulting a paper or memorandum which he held in his hand, +requested to know his name. + +'Edward Waverley.' + +'I thought so; late of the--dragoons, and nephew of Sir Everard +Waverley of Waverley-Honour?' + +'The same.' + +'Young gentleman, I am extremely sorry that this painful duty has +fallen to my lot.' + +'Duty, Major Melville, renders apologies superfluous.' + +'True, sir; permit me, therefore, to ask you how your time has been +disposed of since you obtained leave of absence from your regiment, +several weeks ago, until the present moment?' + +'My reply,' said Waverley, 'to so general a question must be guided by +the nature of the charge which renders it necessary. I request to know +what that charge is, and upon what authority I am forcibly detained to +reply to it?' + +'The charge, Mr. Waverley, I grieve to say, is of a very high nature, +and affects your character both as a soldier and a subject. In the +former capacity you are charged with spreading mutiny and rebellion +among the men you commanded, and setting them the example of desertion, +by prolonging your own absence from the regiment, contrary to the +express orders of your commanding officer. The civil crime of which you +stand accused is that of high treason and levying war against the king, +the highest delinquency of which a subject can be guilty.' + +'And by what authority am I detained to reply to such heinous +calumnies?' + +'By one which you must not dispute, nor I disobey.' + +He handed to Waverley a warrant from the Supreme Criminal Court of +Scotland, in full form, for apprehending and securing the person of +Edward Waverley, Esq., suspected of treasonable practices and other +high crimes and misdemeanours. + +The astonishment which Waverley expressed at this communication was +imputed by Major Melville to conscious guilt, while Mr. Morton was +rather disposed to construe it into the surprise of innocence unjustly +suspected. There was something true in both conjectures; for although +Edward's mind acquitted him of the crime with which he was charged, yet +a hasty review of his own conduct convinced him he might have great +difficulty in establishing his innocence to the satisfaction of others. + +'It is a very painful part of this painful business,' said Major +Melville, after a pause, 'that, under so grave a charge, I must +necessarily request to see such papers as you have on your person.' + +'You shall, sir, without reserve,' said Edward, throwing his +pocket-book and memorandums upon the table; 'there is but one with +which I could wish you would dispense.' + +'I am afraid, Mr. Waverley, I can indulge you with no reservation,' + +'You shall see it then, sir; and as it can be of no service, I beg it +may be returned.' + +He took from his bosom the lines he had that morning received, and +presented them with the envelope. The Major perused them in silence, +and directed his clerk to make a copy of them. He then wrapped the copy +in the envelope, and placing it on the table before him, returned the +original to Waverley, with an air of melancholy gravity. + +After indulging the prisoner, for such our hero must now be considered, +with what he thought a reasonable time for reflection, Major Melville +resumed his examination, premising that, as Mr. Waverley seemed to +object to general questions, his interrogatories should be as specific +as his information permitted. He then proceeded in his investigation, +dictating, as he went on, the import of the questions and answers to +the amanuensis, by whom it was written down. + +'Did Mr. Waverley know one Humphry Houghton, a non-commissioned officer +in Gardiner's dragoons?' + +'Certainly; he was sergeant of my troop, and son of a tenant of my +uncle.' + +'Exactly--and had a considerable share of your confidence, and an +influence among his comrades?' + +'I had never occasion to repose confidence in a person of his +description,' answered Waverley. 'I favoured Sergeant Houghton as a +clever, active young fellow, and I believe his fellow-soldiers +respected him accordingly.' + +'But you used through this man,' answered Major Melville, 'to +communicate with such of your troop as were recruited upon +Waverley-Honour?' + +'Certainly; the poor fellows, finding themselves in a regiment chiefly +composed of Scotch or Irish, looked up to me in any of their little +distresses, and naturally made their countryman and sergeant their +spokesman on such occasions.' + +'Sergeant Houghton's influence,' continued the Major, 'extended, then, +particularly over those soldiers who followed you to the regiment from +your uncle's estate?' + +'Surely; but what is that to the present purpose?' + +'To that I am just coming, and I beseech your candid reply. Have you, +since leaving the regiment, held any correspondence, direct or +indirect, with this Sergeant Houghton?' + +'I!--I hold correspondence with a man of his rank and situation! How, +or for what purpose?' + +'That you are to explain. But did you not, for example, send to him for +some books?' + +'You remind me of a trifling commission,' said Waverley, 'which I gave +Sergeant Houghton, because my servant could not read. I do recollect I +bade him, by letter, select some books, of which I sent him a list, and +send them to me at Tully-Veolan.' + +'And of what description were those books?' + +'They related almost entirely to elegant literature; they were designed +for a lady's perusal.' + +'Were there not, Mr. Waverley, treasonable tracts and pamphlets among +them?' + +'There were some political treatises, into which I hardly looked. They +had been sent to me by the officiousness of a kind friend, whose heart +is more to be esteemed than his prudence or political sagacity; they +seemed to be dull compositions.' + +'That friend,' continued the persevering inquirer, 'was a Mr. Pembroke, +a nonjuring clergyman, the author of two treasonable works, of which +the manuscripts were found among your baggage?' + +'But of which, I give you my honour as a gentleman,' replied Waverley, +'I never read six pages.' + +'I am not your judge, Mr. Waverley; your examination will be +transmitted elsewhere. And now to proceed. Do you know a person that +passes by the name of Wily Will, or Will Ruthven?' + +'I never heard of such a name till this moment.' + +'Did you never through such a person, or any other person, communicate +with Sergeant Humphry Houghton, instigating him to desert, with as many +of his comrades as he could seduce to join him, and unite with the +Highlanders and other rebels now in arms under the command of the Young +Pretender?' + +'I assure you I am not only entirely guiltless of the plot you have +laid to my charge, but I detest it from the very bottom of my soul, nor +would I be guilty of such treachery to gain a throne, either for myself +or any other man alive.' + +'Yet when I consider this envelope in the handwriting of one of those +misguided gentlemen who are now in arms against their country, and the +verses which it enclosed, I cannot but find some analogy between the +enterprise I have mentioned and the exploit of Wogan, which the writer +seems to expect you should imitate.' + +Waverley was struck with the coincidence, but denied that the wishes or +expectations of the letter-writer were to be regarded as proofs of a +charge otherwise chimerical. + +'But, if I am rightly informed, your time was spent, during your +absence from the regiment, between the house of this Highland Chieftain +and that of Mr. Bradwardine of Bradwardine, also in arms for this +unfortunate cause?' + +'I do not mean to disguise it; but I do deny, most resolutely, being +privy to any of their designs against the government.' + +'You do not, however, I presume, intend to deny that you attended your +host Glennaquoich to a rendezvous, where, under a pretence of a general +hunting match, most of the accomplices of his treason were assembled to +concert measures for taking arms?' + +'I acknowledge having been at such a meeting,' said Waverley; 'but I +neither heard nor saw anything which could give it the character you +affix to it.' + +'From thence you proceeded,' continued the magistrate, 'with +Glennaquoich and a part of his clan to join the army of the Young +Pretender, and returned, after having paid your homage to him, to +discipline and arm the remainder, and unite them to his bands on their +way southward?' + +'I never went with Glennaquoich on such an errand. I never so much as +heard that the person whom you mention was in the country.' + +He then detailed the history of his misfortune at the hunting match, +and added, that on his return he found himself suddenly deprived of his +commission, and did not deny that he then, for the first time, observed +symptoms which indicated a disposition in the Highlanders to take arms; +but added that, having no inclination to join their cause, and no +longer any reason for remaining in Scotland, he was now on his return +to his native country, to which he had been summoned by those who had a +right to direct his motions, as Major Melville would perceive from the +letters on the table. + +Major Melville accordingly perused the letters of Richard Waverley, of +Sir Everard, and of Aunt Rachel; but the inferences he drew from them +were different from what Waverley expected. They held the language of +discontent with government, threw out no obscure hints of revenge, and +that of poor Aunt Rachel, which plainly asserted the justice of the +Stuart cause, was held to contain the open avowal of what the others +only ventured to insinuate. + +'Permit me another question, Mr. Waverley,' said Major Melville. 'Did +you not receive repeated letters from your commanding officer, warning +you and commanding you to return to your post, and acquainting you with +the use made of your name to spread discontent among your soldiers?' + +'I never did, Major Melville. One letter, indeed, I received from him, +containing a civil intimation of his wish that I would employ my leave +of absence otherwise than in constant residence at Bradwardine, as to +which, I own, I thought he was not called on to interfere; and, +finally, I received, on the same day on which I observed myself +superseded in the "Gazette," a second letter from Colonel Gardiner, +commanding me to join the regiment, an order which, owing to my +absence, already mentioned and accounted for, I received too late to be +obeyed. If there were any intermediate letters, and certainly from the +Colonel's high character I think it probable that there were, they have +never reached me.' + +'I have omitted, Mr. Waverley,' continued Major Melville, 'to inquire +after a matter of less consequence, but which has nevertheless been +publicly talked of to your disadvantage. It is said that a treasonable +toast having been proposed in your hearing and presence, you, holding +his Majesty's commission, suffered the task of resenting it to devolve +upon another gentleman of the company. This, sir, cannot be charged +against you in a court of justice; but if, as I am informed, the +officers of your regiment requested an explanation of such a rumour, as +a gentleman and soldier I cannot but be surprised that you did not +afford it to them.' + +This was too much. Beset and pressed on every hand by accusations, in +which gross falsehoods were blended with such circumstances of truth as +could not fail to procure them credit,--alone, unfriended, and in a +strange land, Waverley almost gave up his life and honour for lost, +and, leaning his head upon his hand, resolutely refused to answer any +further questions, since the fair and candid statement he had already +made had only served to furnish arms against him. + +Without expressing either surprise or displeasure at the change in +Waverley's manner, Major Melville proceeded composedly to put several +other queries to him. + +'What does it avail me to answer you?' said Edward sullenly. 'You +appear convinced of my guilt, and wrest every reply I have made to +support your own preconceived opinion. Enjoy your supposed triumph, +then, and torment me no further. If I am capable of the cowardice and +treachery your charge burdens me with, I am not worthy to be believed +in any reply I can make to you. If I am not deserving of your +suspicion--and God and my own conscience bear evidence with me that it +is so--then I do not see why I should, by my candour, lend my accusers +arms against my innocence. There is no reason I should answer a word +more, and I am determined to abide by this resolution.' + +And again he resumed his posture of sullen and determined silence. + +'Allow me,' said the magistrate, 'to remind you of one reason that may +suggest the propriety of a candid and open confession. The inexperience +of youth, Mr. Waverley, lays it open to the plans of the more designing +and artful; and one of your friends at least--I mean Mac-Ivor of +Glennaquoich--ranks high in the latter class, as, from your apparent +ingenuousness, youth, and unacquaintance with the manners of the +Highlands, I should be disposed to place you among the former. In such +a case, a false step or error like yours, which I shall be happy to +consider as involuntary, may be atoned for, and I would willingly act +as intercessor. But, as you must necessarily be acquainted with the +strength of the individuals in this country who have assumed arms, with +their means and with their plans, I must expect you will merit this +mediation on my part by a frank and candid avowal of all that has come +to your knowledge upon these heads; in which case, I think I can +venture to promise that a very short personal restraint will be the +only ill consequence that can arise from your accession to these +unhappy intrigues.' + +Waverley listened with great composure until the end of this +exhortation, when, springing from his seat with an energy he had not +yet displayed, he replied, 'Major Melville, since that is your name, I +have hitherto answered your questions with candour, or declined them +with temper, because their import concerned myself alone; but, as you +presume to esteem me mean enough to commence informer against others, +who received me, whatever may be their public misconduct, as a guest +and friend, I declare to you that I consider your questions as an +insult infinitely more offensive than your calumnious suspicions; and +that, since my hard fortune permits me no other mode of resenting them +than by verbal defiance, you should sooner have my heart out of my +bosom than a single syllable of information on subjects which I could +only become acquainted with in the full confidence of unsuspecting +hospitality.' + +Mr. Morton and the Major looked at each other; and the former, who, in +the course of the examination, had been repeatedly troubled with a +sorry rheum, had recourse to his snuff-box and his handkerchief. + +'Mr. Waverley,' said the Major, 'my present situation prohibits me +alike from giving or receiving offence, and I will not protract a +discussion which approaches to either. I am afraid I must sign a +warrant for detaining you in custody, but this house shall for the +present be your prison. I fear I cannot persuade you to accept a share +of our supper?--(Edward shook his head)--but I will order refreshments +in your apartment.' + +Our hero bowed and withdrew, under guard of the officers of justice, to +a small but handsome room, where, declining all offers of food or wine, +he flung himself on the bed, and, stupified by the harassing events and +mental fatigue of this miserable day, he sunk into a deep and heavy +slumber. This was more than he himself could have expected; but it is +mentioned of the North-American Indians, when at the stake of torture, +that on the least intermission of agony they will sleep until the fire +is applied to awaken them. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +A CONFERENCE AND THE CONSEQUENCE + + +Major Melville had detained Mr. Morton during his examination of +Waverley, both because he thought he might derive assistance from his +practical good sense and approved loyalty, and also because it was +agreeable to have a witness of unimpeached candour and veracity to +proceedings which touched the honour and safety of a young Englishman +of high rank and family, and the expectant heir of a large fortune. +Every step he knew would be rigorously canvassed, and it was his +business to place the justice and integrity of his own conduct beyond +the limits of question. + +When Waverley retired, the laird and clergyman of Cairnvreckan sat down +in silence to their evening meal. While the servants were in attendance +neither chose to say anything on the circumstances which occupied their +minds, and neither felt it easy to speak upon any other. The youth and +apparent frankness of Waverley stood in strong contrast to the shades +of suspicion which darkened around him, and he had a sort of naivete +and openness of demeanour that seemed to belong to one unhackneyed in +the ways of intrigue, and which pleaded highly in his favour. + +Each mused over the particulars of the examination, and each viewed it +through the medium of his own feelings. Both were men of ready and +acute talent, and both were equally competent to combine various parts +of evidence, and to deduce from them the necessary conclusions. But the +wide difference of their habits and education often occasioned a great +discrepancy in their respective deductions from admitted premises. + +Major Melville had been versed in camps and cities; he was vigilant by +profession and cautious from experience, had met with much evil in the +world, and therefore, though himself an upright magistrate and an +honourable man, his opinions of others were always strict, and +sometimes unjustly severe. Mr. Morton, on the contrary, had passed from +the literary pursuits of a college, where he was beloved by his +companions and respected by his teachers, to the ease and simplicity of +his present charge, where his opportunities of witnessing evil were +few, and never dwelt upon but in order to encourage repentance and +amendment; and where the love and respect of his parishioners repaid +his affectionate zeal in their behalf by endeavouring to disguise from +him what they knew would give him the most acute pain, namely, their +own occasional transgressions of the duties which it was the business +of his life to recommend. Thus it was a common saying in the +neighbourhood (though both were popular characters), that the laird +knew only the ill in the parish and the minister only the good. + +A love of letters, though kept in subordination to his clerical studies +and duties, also distinguished the pastor of Cairnvreckan, and had +tinged his mind in earlier days with a slight feeling of romance, which +no after incidents of real life had entirely dissipated. The early loss +of an amiable young woman whom he had married for love, and who was +quickly followed to the grave by an only child, had also served, even +after the lapse of many years, to soften a disposition naturally mild +and contemplative. His feelings on the present occasion were therefore +likely to differ from those of the severe disciplinarian, strict +magistrate, and distrustful man of the world. + +When the servants had withdrawn, the silence of both parties continued, +until Major Melville, filling his glass and pushing the bottle to Mr. +Morton, commenced-- + +'A distressing affair this, Mr. Morton. I fear this youngster has +brought himself within the compass of a halter.' + +'God forbid!' answered the clergyman. + +'Marry, and amen,' said the temporal magistrate; 'but I think even your +merciful logic will hardly deny the conclusion.' + +'Surely, Major,' answered the clergyman, 'I should hope it might be +averted, for aught we have heard tonight?' + +'Indeed!' replied Melville. 'But, my good parson, you are one of those +who would communicate to every criminal the benefit of clergy.' + +'Unquestionably I would. Mercy and long-suffering are the grounds of +the doctrine I am called to teach.' + +'True, religiously speaking; but mercy to a criminal may be gross +injustice to the community. I don't speak of this young fellow in +particular, who I heartily wish may be able to clear himself, for I +like both his modesty and his spirit. But I fear he has rushed upon his +fate.' + +'And why? Hundreds of misguided gentlemen are now in arms against the +government, many, doubtless, upon principles which education and early +prejudice have gilded with the names of patriotism and heroism; +Justice, when she selects her victims from such a multitude (for surely +all will not be destroyed), must regard the moral motive. He whom +ambition or hope of personal advantage has led to disturb the peace of +a well-ordered government, let him fall a victim to the laws; but +surely youth, misled by the wild visions of chivalry and imaginary +loyalty, may plead for pardon.' + +'If visionary chivalry and imaginary loyalty come within the +predicament of high treason,' replied the magistrate, 'I know no court +in Christendom, my dear Mr. Morton, where they can sue out their Habeas +Corpus.' + +'But I cannot see that this youth's guilt is at all established to my +satisfaction,' said the clergyman. + +'Because your good-nature blinds your good sense,' replied Major +Melville. 'Observe now: This young man, descended of a family of +hereditary Jacobites, his uncle the leader of the Tory interest in the +county of ----, his father a disobliged and discontented courtier, his +tutor a nonjuror and the author of two treasonable volumes--this youth, +I say, enters into Gardiner's dragoons, bringing with him a body of +young fellows from his uncle's estate, who have not stickled at avowing +in their way the High-Church principles they learned at +Waverley-Honour, in their disputes with their comrades. To these young +men Waverley is unusually attentive; they are supplied with money +beyond a soldier's wants and inconsistent with his discipline; and are +under the management of a favourite sergeant, through whom they hold an +unusually close communication with their captain, and affect to +consider themselves as independent of the other officers, and superior +to their comrades.' + +'All this, my dear Major, is the natural consequence of their +attachment to their young landlord, and of their finding themselves in +a regiment levied chiefly in the north of Ireland and the west of +Scotland, and of course among comrades disposed to quarrel with them, +both as Englishmen and as members of the Church of England.' + +'Well said, parson!' replied the magistrate. 'I would some of your +synod heard you. But let me go on. This young man obtains leave of +absence, goes to Tully-Veolan--the principles of the Baron of +Bradwardine are pretty well known, not to mention that this lad's uncle +brought him off in the year fifteen; he engages there in a brawl, in +which he is said to have disgraced the commission he bore; Colonel +Gardiner writes to him, first mildly, then more sharply--I think you +will not doubt his having done so, since he says so; the mess invite +him to explain the quarrel in which he is said to have been involved; +he neither replies to his commander nor his comrades. In the meanwhile +his soldiers become mutinous and disorderly, and at length, when the +rumour of this unhappy rebellion becomes general, his favourite +Sergeant Houghton and another fellow are detected in correspondence +with a French emissary, accredited, as he says, by Captain Waverley, +who urges him, according to the men's confession, to desert with the +troop and join their captain, who was with Prince Charles. In the +meanwhile this trusty captain is, by his own admission, residing at +Glennaquoich with the most active, subtle, and desperate Jacobite in +Scotland; he goes with him at least as far as their famous hunting +rendezvous, and I fear a little farther. Meanwhile two other summonses +are sent him; one warning him of the disturbances in his troop, another +peremptorily ordering him to repair to the regiment, which, indeed, +common sense might have dictated, when he observed rebellion thickening +all round him. He returns an absolute refusal, and throws up his +commission.' + +'He had been already deprived of it,' said Mr. Morton. + +'But he regrets,' replied Melville, 'that the measure had anticipated +his resignation. His baggage is seized at his quarters and at +Tully-Veolan, and is found to contain a stock of pestilent Jacobitical +pamphlets, enough to poison a whole country, besides the unprinted +lucubrations of his worthy friend and tutor Mr. Pembroke.' + +'He says he never read them,' answered the minister. + +'In an ordinary case I should believe him,' replied the magistrate, +'for they are as stupid and pedantic in composition as mischievous in +their tenets. But can you suppose anything but value for the principles +they maintain would induce a young man of his age to lug such trash +about with him? Then, when news arrive of the approach of the rebels, +he sets out in a sort of disguise, refusing to tell his name; and, if +yon old fanatic tell truth, attended by a very suspicious character, +and mounted on a horse known to have belonged to Glennaquoich, and +bearing on his person letters from his family expressing high rancour +against the house of Brunswick, and a copy of verses in praise of one +Wogan, who abjured the service of the Parliament to join the Highland +insurgents, when in arms to restore the house of Stuart, with a body of +English cavalry--the very counterpart of his own plot--and summed up +with a "Go thou and do likewise" from that loyal subject, and most safe +and peaceable character, Fergus Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich, Vich Ian +Vohr, and so forth. And, lastly,' continued Major Melville, warming in +the detail of his arguments, 'where do we find this second edition of +Cavalier Wogan? Why, truly, in the very track most proper for execution +of his design, and pistolling the first of the king's subjects who +ventures to question his intentions.' + +Mr. Morton prudently abstained from argument, which he perceived would +only harden the magistrate in his opinion, and merely asked how he +intended to dispose of the prisoner? + +'It is a question of some difficulty, considering the state of the +country,' said Major Melville. + +'Could you not detain him (being such a gentleman-like young man) here +in your own house, out of harm's way, till this storm blow over?' + +'My good friend,' said Major Melville, 'neither your house nor mine +will be long out of harm's way, even were it legal to confine him here. +I have just learned that the commander-in-chief, who marched into the +Highlands to seek out and disperse the insurgents, has declined giving +them battle at Coryarrick, and marched on northward with all the +disposable force of government to Inverness, John-o'-Groat's House, or +the devil, for what I know, leaving the road to the Low Country open +and undefended to the Highland army.' + +'Good God!' said the clergyman. 'Is the man a coward, a traitor, or an +idiot?' + +'None of the three, I believe,' answered Melville. 'Sir John has the +commonplace courage of a common soldier, is honest enough, does what he +is commanded, and understands what is told him, but is as fit to act +for himself in circumstances of importance as I, my dear parson, to +occupy your pulpit.' + +This important public intelligence naturally diverted the discourse +from Waverley for some time; at length, however, the subject was +resumed. + +'I believe,' said Major Melville, 'that I must give this young man in +charge to some of the detached parties of armed volunteers who were +lately sent out to overawe the disaffected districts. They are now +recalled towards Stirling, and a small body comes this way to-morrow or +next day, commanded by the westland man--what's his name? You saw him, +and said he was the very model of one of Cromwell's military saints.' + +'Gilfillan, the Cameronian,' answered Mr. Morton. 'I wish the young +gentleman may be safe with him. Strange things are done in the heat and +hurry of minds in so agitating a crisis, and I fear Gilfillan is of a +sect which has suffered persecution without learning mercy.' + +'He has only to lodge Mr. Waverley in Stirling Castle,' said the Major; +'I will give strict injunctions to treat him well. I really cannot +devise any better mode for securing him, and I fancy you would hardly +advise me to encounter the responsibility of setting him at liberty.' + +'But you will have no objection to my seeing him tomorrow in private?' +said the minister. + +'None, certainly; your loyalty and character are my warrant. But with +what view do you make the request?' + +'Simply,' replied Mr. Morton, 'to make the experiment whether he may +not be brought to communicate to me some circumstances which may +hereafter be useful to alleviate, if not to exculpate, his conduct.' + +The friends now parted and retired to rest, each filled with the most +anxious reflections on the state of the country. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A CONFIDANT + + +Waverley awoke in the morning from troubled dreams and unrefreshing +slumbers to a full consciousness of the horrors of his situation. How +it might terminate he knew not. He might be delivered up to military +law, which, in the midst of civil war, was not likely to be scrupulous +in the choice of its victims or the quality of the evidence. Nor did he +feel much more comfortable at the thoughts of a trial before a Scottish +court of justice, where he knew the laws and forms differed in many +respects from those of England, and had been taught to believe, however +erroneously, that the liberty and rights of the subject were less +carefully protected. A sentiment of bitterness rose in his mind against +the government, which he considered as the cause of his embarrassment +and peril, and he cursed internally his scrupulous rejection of +Mac-Ivor's invitation to accompany him to the field. + +'Why did not I,' he said to himself, 'like other men of honour, take +the earliest opportunity to welcome to Britain the descendant of her +ancient kings and lineal heir of her throne? Why did not I-- + + Unthread the rude eye of rebellion, + And welcome home again discarded faith, + Seek out Prince Charles, and fall before his feet? + +All that has been recorded of excellence and worth in the house of +Waverley has been founded upon their loyal faith to the house of +Stuart. From the interpretation which this Scotch magistrate has put +upon the letters of my uncle and father, it is plain that I ought to +have understood them as marshalling me to the course of my ancestors; +and it has been my gross dulness, joined to the obscurity of expression +which they adopted for the sake of security, that has confounded my +judgment. Had I yielded to the first generous impulse of indignation +when I learned that my honour was practised upon, how different had +been my present situation! I had then been free and in arms fighting, +like my forefathers, for love, for loyalty, and for fame. And now I am +here, netted and in the toils, at the disposal of a suspicious, stern, +and cold-hearted man, perhaps to be turned over to the solitude of a +dungeon or the infamy of a public execution. O, Fergus! how true has +your prophecy proved; and how speedy, how very speedy, has been its +accomplishment!' + +While Edward was ruminating on these painful subjects of contemplation, +and very naturally, though not quite so justly, bestowing upon the +reigning dynasty that blame which was due to chance, or, in part at +least, to his own unreflecting conduct, Mr. Morton availed himself of +Major Melville's permission to pay him an early visit. + +Waverley's first impulse was to intimate a desire that he might not be +disturbed with questions or conversation; but he suppressed it upon +observing the benevolent and reverend appearance of the clergyman who +had rescued him from the immediate violence of the villagers. + +'I believe, sir,' said the unfortunate young man,'that in any other +circumstances I should have had as much gratitude to express to you as +the safety of my life may be worth; but such is the present tumult of +my mind, and such is my anticipation of what I am yet likely to endure, +that I can hardly offer you thanks for your interposition.' + +Mr. Morton replied, that, far from making any claim upon his good +opinion, his only wish and the sole purpose of his visit was to find +out the means of deserving it. 'My excellent friend, Major Melville,' +he continued, 'has feelings and duties as a soldier and public +functionary by which I am not fettered; nor can I always coincide in +opinions which he forms, perhaps with too little allowance for the +imperfections of human nature.' He paused and then proceeded: 'I do not +intrude myself on your confidence, Mr. Waverley, for the purpose of +learning any circumstances the knowledge of which can be prejudicial +either to yourself or to others; but I own my earnest wish is that you +would intrust me with any particulars which could lead to your +exculpation. I can solemnly assure you they will be deposited with a +faithful and, to the extent of his limited powers, a zealous agent.' + +'You are, sir, I presume, a Presbyterian clergyman?' Mr. Morton bowed. +'Were I to be guided by the prepossessions of education, I might +distrust your friendly professions in my case; but I have observed that +similar prejudices are nourished in this country against your +professional brethren of the Episcopal persuasion, and I am willing to +believe them equally unfounded in both cases.' + +'Evil to him that thinks otherwise,' said Mr. Morton; 'or who holds +church government and ceremonies as the exclusive gage of Christian +faith or moral virtue.' + +'But,' continued Waverley, 'I cannot perceive why I should trouble you +with a detail of particulars, out of which, after revolving them as +carefully as possible in my recollection, I find myself unable to +explain much of what is charged against me. I know, indeed, that I am +innocent, but I hardly see how I can hope to prove myself so.' + +'It is for that very reason, Mr. Waverley,' said the clergyman, 'that I +venture to solicit your confidence. My knowledge of individuals in this +country is pretty general, and can upon occasion be extended. Your +situation will, I fear, preclude your taking those active steps for +recovering intelligence or tracing imposture which I would willingly +undertake in your behalf; and if you are not benefited by my exertions, +at least they cannot be prejudicial to you.' + +Waverley, after a few minutes' reflection, was convinced that his +reposing confidence in Mr. Morton, so far as he himself was concerned, +could hurt neither Mr. Bradwardine nor Fergus Mac-Ivor, both of whom +had openly assumed arms against the government, and that it might +possibly, if the professions of his new friend corresponded in +sincerity with the earnestness of his expression, be of some service to +himself. He therefore ran briefly over most of the events with which +the reader is already acquainted, suppressing his attachment to Flora, +and indeed neither mentioning her nor Rose Bradwardine in the course of +his narrative. + +Mr. Morton seemed particularly struck with the account of Waverley's +visit to Donald Bean Lean. 'I am glad,' he said, 'you did not mention +this circumstance to the Major. It is capable of great misconstruction +on the part of those who do not consider the power of curiosity and the +influence of romance as motives of youthful conduct. When I was a young +man like you, Mr. Waverley, any such hair-brained expedition (I beg +your pardon for the expression) would have had inexpressible charms for +me. But there are men in the world who will not believe that danger and +fatigue are often incurred without any very adequate cause, and +therefore who are sometimes led to assign motives of action entirely +foreign to the truth. This man Bean Lean is renowned through the +country as a sort of Robin Hood, and the stories which are told of his +address and enterprise are the common tales of the winter fireside. He +certainly possesses talents beyond the rude sphere in which he moves; +and, being neither destitute of ambition nor encumbered with scruples, +he will probably attempt, by every means, to distinguish himself during +the period of these unhappy commotions.' Mr. Morton then made a careful +memorandum of the various particulars of Waverley's interview with +Donald Bean Lean and the other circumstances which he had communicated. + +The interest which this good man seemed to take in his misfortunes, +above all, the full confidence he appeared to repose in his innocence, +had the natural effect of softening Edward's heart, whom the coldness +of Major Melville had taught to believe that the world was leagued to +oppress him. He shook Mr. Morton warmly by the hand, and, assuring him +that his kindness and sympathy had relieved his mind of a heavy load, +told him that, whatever might be his own fate, he belonged to a family +who had both gratitude and the power of displaying it. The earnestness +of his thanks called drops to the eyes of the worthy clergyman, who was +doubly interested in the cause for which he had volunteered his +services, by observing the genuine and undissembled feelings of his +young friend. + +Edward now inquired if Mr. Morton knew what was likely to be his +destination. + +'Stirling Castle,' replied his friend; 'and so far I am well pleased +for your sake, for the governor is a man of honour and humanity. But I +am more doubtful of your treatment upon the road; Major Melville is +involuntarily obliged to intrust the custody of your person to another.' + +'I am glad of it,' answered Waverley. 'I detest that cold-blooded +calculating Scotch magistrate. I hope he and I shall never meet more. +He had neither sympathy with my innocence nor with my wretchedness; and +the petrifying accuracy with which he attended to every form of +civility, while he tortured me by his questions, his suspicions, and +his inferences, was as tormenting as the racks of the Inquisition. Do +not vindicate him, my dear sir, for that I cannot bear with patience; +tell me rather who is to have the charge of so important a state +prisoner as I am.' + +'I believe a person called Gilfillan, one of the sect who are termed +Cameronians.' + +'I never heard of them before.' + +'They claim,' said the clergyman, 'to represent the more strict and +severe Presbyterians, who, in Charles Second's and James Second's days, +refused to profit by the Toleration, or Indulgence, as it was called, +which was extended to others of that religion. They held conventicles +in the open fields, and, being treated with great violence and cruelty +by the Scottish government, more than once took arms during those +reigns. They take their name from their leader, Richard Cameron.' + +'I recollect,' said Waverley; 'but did not the triumph of Presbytery at +the Revolution extinguish that sect?' + +'By no means,' replied Morton; 'that great event fell yet far short of +what they proposed, which was nothing less than the complete +establishment of the Presbyterian Church upon the grounds of the old +Solemn League and Covenant. Indeed, I believe they scarce knew what +they wanted; but being a numerous body of men, and not unacquainted +with the use of arms, they kept themselves together as a separate party +in the state, and at the time of the Union had nearly formed a most +unnatural league with their old enemies the Jacobites to oppose that +important national measure. Since that time their numbers have +gradually diminished; but a good many are still to be found in the +western counties, and several, with a better temper than in 1707, have +now taken arms for government. This person, whom they call Gifted +Gilfillan, has been long a leader among them, and now heads a small +party, which will pass here to-day or to-morrow on their march towards +Stirling, under whose escort Major Melville proposes you shall travel. +I would willingly speak to Gilfillan in your behalf; but, having deeply +imbibed all the prejudices of his sect, and being of the same fierce +disposition, he would pay little regard to the remonstrances of an +Erastian divine, as he would politely term me. And now, farewell, my +young friend; for the present I must not weary out the Major's +indulgence, that I may obtain his permission to visit you again in the +course of the day.' + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THINGS MEND A LITTLE + + +About noon Mr. Morton returned and brought an invitation from Major +Melville that Mr. Waverley would honour him with his company to dinner, +notwithstanding the unpleasant affair which detained him at +Cairnvreckan, from which he should heartily rejoice to see Mr. Waverley +completely extricated. The truth was that Mr. Morton's favourable +report and opinion had somewhat staggered the preconceptions of the old +soldier concerning Edward's supposed accession to the mutiny in the +regiment; and in the unfortunate state of the country the mere +suspicion of disaffection or an inclination to join the insurgent +Jacobites might infer criminality indeed, but certainly not dishonour. +Besides, a person whom the Major trusted had reported to him (though, +as it proved, inaccurately) a contradiction of the agitating news of +the preceding evening. According to this second edition of the +intelligence, the Highlanders had withdrawn from the Lowland frontier +with the purpose of following the army in their march to Inverness. The +Major was at a loss, indeed, to reconcile his information with the +well-known abilities of some of the gentlemen in the Highland army, yet +it was the course which was likely to be most agreeable to others. He +remembered the same policy had detained them in the north in the year +1715, and he anticipated a similar termination to the insurrection as +upon that occasion. + +This news put him in such good-humour that he readily acquiesced in Mr. +Morton's proposal to pay some hospitable attention to his unfortunate +guest, and voluntarily added, he hoped the whole affair would prove a +youthful escapade, which might be easily atoned by a short confinement. +The kind mediator had some trouble to prevail on his young friend to +accept the invitation. He dared not urge to him the real motive, which +was a good-natured wish to secure a favourable report of Waverley's +case from Major Melville to Governor Blakeney. He remarked, from the +flashes of our hero's spirit, that touching upon this topic would be +sure to defeat his purpose. He therefore pleaded that the invitation +argued the Major's disbelief of any part of the accusation which was +inconsistent with Waverley's conduct as a soldier and a man of honour, +and that to decline his courtesy might be interpreted into a +consciousness that it was unmerited. In short, he so far satisfied +Edward that the manly and proper course was to meet the Major on easy +terms that, suppressing his strong dislike again to encounter his cold +and punctilious civility, Waverley agreed to be guided by his new +friend. + +The meeting at first was stiff and formal enough. But Edward, having +accepted the invitation, and his mind being really soothed and relieved +by the kindness of Morton, held himself bound to behave with ease, +though he could not affect cordiality. The Major was somewhat of a bon +vivant, and his wine was excellent. He told his old campaign stories, +and displayed much knowledge of men and manners. Mr. Morton had an +internal fund of placid and quiet gaiety, which seldom failed to +enliven any small party in which he found himself pleasantly seated. +Waverley, whose life was a dream, gave ready way to the predominating +impulse and became the most lively of the party. He had at all times +remarkable natural powers of conversation, though easily silenced by +discouragement. On the present occasion he piqued himself upon leaving +on the minds of his companions a favourable impression of one who, +under such disastrous circumstances, could sustain his misfortunes with +ease and gaiety. His spirits, though not unyielding, were abundantly +elastic, and soon seconded his efforts. The trio were engaged in very +lively discourse, apparently delighted with each other, and the kind +host was pressing a third bottle of Burgundy, when the sound of a drum +was heard at some distance. The Major, who, in the glee of an old +soldier, had forgot the duties of a magistrate, cursed, with a muttered +military oath, the circumstances which recalled him to his official +functions. He rose and went towards the window, which commanded a very +near view of the highroad, and he was followed by his guests. + +The drum advanced, beating no measured martial tune, but a kind of +rub-a-dub-dub, like that with which the fire-drum startles the +slumbering artizans of a Scotch burgh. It is the object of this history +to do justice to all men; I must therefore record, in justice to the +drummer, that he protested he could beat any known march or point of +war known in the British army, and had accordingly commenced with +'Dumbarton's Drums,' when he was silenced by Gifted Gilfillan, the +commander of the party, who refused to permit his followers to move to +this profane, and even, as he said, persecutive tune, and commanded the +drummer to beat the 119th Psalm. As this was beyond the capacity of the +drubber of sheepskin, he was fain to have recourse to the inoffensive +row-de-dow as a harmless substitute for the sacred music which his +instrument or skill were unable to achieve. This may be held a trifling +anecdote, but the drummer in question was no less than town-drummer of +Anderton. I remember his successor in office, a member of that +enlightened body, the British Convention. Be his memory, therefore, +treated with due respect. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A VOLUNTEER SIXTY YEARS SINCE + + +On hearing the unwelcome sound of the drum, Major Melville hastily +opened a sashed door and stepped out upon a sort of terrace which +divided his house from the highroad from which the martial music +proceeded. Waverley and his new friend followed him, though probably he +would have dispensed with their attendance. They soon recognised in +solemn march, first, the performer upon the drum; secondly, a large +flag of four compartments, on which were inscribed the words, COVENANT, +KIRK, KING, KINGDOMS. The person who was honoured with this charge was +followed by the commander of the party, a thin, dark, rigid-looking +man, about sixty years old. The spiritual pride, which in mine host of +the Candlestick mantled in a sort of supercilious hypocrisy, was in +this man's face elevated and yet darkened by genuine and undoubting +fanaticism. It was impossible to behold him without imagination placing +him in some strange crisis, where religious zeal was the ruling +principle. A martyr at the stake, a soldier in the field, a lonely and +banished wanderer consoled by the intensity and supposed purity of his +faith under every earthly privation, perhaps a persecuting inquisitor, +as terrific in power as unyielding in adversity; any of these seemed +congenial characters to this personage. With these high traits of +energy, there was something in the affected precision and solemnity of +his deportment and discourse that bordered upon the ludicrous; so that, +according to the mood of the spectator's mind and the light under which +Mr. Gilfillan presented himself, one might have feared, admired, or +laughed at him. His dress was that of a West-Country peasant, of better +materials indeed than that of the lower rank, but in no respect +affecting either the mode of the age or of the Scottish gentry at any +period. His arms were a broadsword and pistols, which, from the +antiquity of their appearance, might have seen the rout of Pentland or +Bothwell Brigg. + +As he came up a few steps to meet Major Melville, and touched solemnly, +but slightly, his huge and over-brimmed blue bonnet, in answer to the +Major, who had courteously raised a small triangular gold-laced hat, +Waverley was irresistibly impressed with the idea that he beheld a +leader of the Roundheads of yore in conference with one of +Marlborough's captains. + +The group of about thirty armed men who followed this gifted commander +was of a motley description. They were in ordinary Lowland dresses, of +different colours, which, contrasted with the arms they bore, gave them +an irregular and mobbish appearance; so much is the eye accustomed to +connect uniformity of dress with the military character. In front were +a few who apparently partook of their leader's enthusiasm, men +obviously to be feared in a combat, where their natural courage was +exalted by religious zeal. Others puffed and strutted, filled with the +importance of carrying arms and all the novelty of their situation, +while the rest, apparently fatigued with their march, dragged their +limbs listlessly along, or straggled from their companions to procure +such refreshments as the neighbouring cottages and alehouses afforded. +Six grenadiers of Ligonier's, thought the Major to himself, as his mind +reverted to his own military experience, would have sent all these +fellows to the right about. + +Greeting, however, Mr. Gilfillan civilly, he requested to know if he +had received the letter he had sent to him upon his march, and could +undertake the charge of the state prisoner whom he there mentioned as +far as Stirling Castle. 'Yea,' was the concise reply of the Cameronian +leader, in a voice which seemed to issue from the very penetralia of +his person. + +'But your escort, Mr. Gilfillan, is not so strong as I expected,' said +Major Melville. + +'Some of the people,' replied Gilfillan, 'hungered and were athirst by +the way, and tarried until their poor souls were refreshed with the +word.' + +'I am sorry, sir,' replied the Major, 'you did not trust to your +refreshing your men at Cairnvreckan; whatever my house contains is at +the command of persons employed in the service.' + +'It was not of creature-comforts I spake,' answered the Covenanter, +regarding Major Melville with something like a smile of contempt; +'howbeit, I thank you; but the people remained waiting upon the +precious Mr. Jabesh Rentowel for the out-pouring of the afternoon +exhortation.' + +'And have you, sir,' said the Major, 'when the rebels are about to +spread themselves through this country, actually left a great part of +your command at a fieldpreaching?' + +Gilfillan again smiled scornfully as he made this indirect answer +--'Even thus are the children of this world wiser in their generation +than the children of light!' + +'However, sir,' said the Major, 'as you are to take charge of this +gentleman to Stirling, and deliver him, with these papers, into the +hands of Governor Blakeney, I beseech you to observe some rules of +military discipline upon your march. For example, I would advise you to +keep your men more closely together, and that each in his march should +cover his file-leader, instead of straggling like geese upon a common; +and, for fear of surprise, I further recommend to you to form a small +advance-party of your best men, with a single vidette in front of the +whole march, so that when you approach a village or a wood'--(here the +Major interrupted himself)--'But as I don't observe you listen to me, +Mr. Gilfillan, I suppose I need not give myself the trouble to say more +upon the subject. You are a better judge, unquestionably, than I am of +the measures to be pursued; but one thing I would have you well aware +of, that you are to treat this gentleman, your prisoner, with no rigour +nor incivility, and are to subject him to no other restraint than is +necessary for his security.' + +'I have looked into my commission,' said Mr. Gilfillan,' subscribed by +a worthy and professing nobleman, William, Earl of Glencairn; nor do I +find it therein set down that I am to receive any charges or commands +anent my doings from Major William Melville of Cairnvreckan.' + +Major Melville reddened even to the well-powdered ears which appeared +beneath his neat military sidecurls, the more so as he observed Mr. +Morton smile at the same moment. 'Mr. Gilfillan,' he answered, with +some asperity, 'I beg ten thousand pardons for interfering with a +person of your importance. I thought, however, that as you have been +bred a grazier, if I mistake not, there might be occasion to remind you +of the difference between Highlanders and Highland cattle; and if you +should happen to meet with any gentleman who has seen service, and is +disposed to speak upon the subject, I should still imagine that +listening to him would do you no sort of harm. But I have done, and +have only once more to recommend this gentleman to your civility as +well as to your custody. Mr. Waverley, I am truly sorry we should part +in this way; but I trust, when you are again in this country, I may +have an opportunity to render Cairnvreckan more agreeable than +circumstances have permitted on this occasion.' + +So saying, he shook our hero by the hand. Morton also took an +affectionate farewell, and Waverley, having mounted his horse, with a +musketeer leading it by the bridle and a file upon each side to prevent +his escape, set forward upon the march with Gilfillan and his party. +Through the little village they were accompanied with the shouts of the +children, who cried out, 'Eh! see to the Southland gentleman that's +gaun to be hanged for shooting lang John Mucklewrath, the smith! + + + + + +APPENDICES TO THE GENERAL PREFACE + + +NO. I + +FRAGMENT [Footnote: It is not to be supposed that these fragments are +given in possessing any intrinsic value of themselves; but there may be +some curiosity attached to them, as to the first etchings of a plate, +which are accounted interesting by those who have, in any degree, been +interested in the more finished works of the artist.] OF A ROMANCE +WHICH WAS TO HAVE BEEN ENTITLED + +THOMAS THE RHYMER + +CHAPTER I + +THE sun was nearly set behind the distant mountains of Liddesdale, when +a few of the scattered and terrified inhabitants of the village of +Hersildoune, which had four days before been burned by a predatory band +of English Borderers, were now busied in repairing their ruined +dwellings. One high tower in the centre of the village alone exhibited +no appearance of devastation. It was surrounded with court walls, and +the outer gate was barred and bolted. The bushes and brambles which +grew around, and had even insinuated their branches beneath the gate, +plainly showed that it must have been many years since it had been +opened. While the cottages around lay in smoking ruins, this pile, +deserted and desolate as it seemed to be, had suffered nothing from the +violence of the invaders; and the wretched beings who were endeavouring +to repair their miserable huts against nightfall seemed to neglect the +preferable shelter which it might have afforded them without the +necessity of labour. + +Before the day had quite gone down, a knight, richly armed and mounted +upon an ambling hackney, rode slowly into the village. His attendants +were a lady, apparently young and beautiful, who rode by his side upon +a dappled palfrey; his squire, who carried his helmet and lance, and +led his battlehorse, a noble steed, richly caparisoned. A page and four +yeomen bearing bows and quivers, short swords, and targets of a span +breadth, completed his equipage, which, though small, denoted him to be +a man of high rank. + +He stopped and addressed several of the inhabitants whom curiosity had +withdrawn from their labour to gaze at him; but at the sound of his +voice, and still more on perceiving the St. George's Cross in the caps +of his followers, they fled, with a loud cry, 'that the Southrons were +returned.' The knight endeavoured to expostulate with the fugitives, +who were chiefly aged men, women, and children; but their dread of the +English name accelerated their flight, and in a few minutes, excepting +the knight and his attendants, the place was deserted by all. He paced +through the village to seek a shelter for the night, and, despairing to +find one either in the inaccessible tower or the plundered huts of the +peasantry, he directed his course to the left hand, where he spied a +small decent habitation, apparently the abode of a man considerably +above the common rank. After much knocking, the proprietor at length +showed himself at the window, and speaking in the English dialect, with +great signs of apprehension, demanded their business. The warrior +replied that his quality was an English knight and baron, and that he +was travelling to the court of the King of Scotland on affairs of +consequence to both kingdoms. + +'Pardon my hesitation, noble Sir Knight,' said the old man, as he +unbolted and unbarred his doors--'Pardon my hesitation, but we are here +exposed to too many intrusions to admit of our exercising unlimited and +unsuspicious hospitality. What I have is yours; and God send your +mission may bring back peace and the good days of our old Queen +Margaret!' + +'Amen, worthy Franklin,' quoth the Knight--'Did you know her?' + +'I came to this country in her train,' said the Franklin; 'and the care +of some of her jointure lands which she devolved on me occasioned my +settling here.' + +'And how do you, being an Englishman,' said the Knight, 'protect your +life and property here, when one of your nation cannot obtain a single +night's lodging, or a draught of water were he thirsty?' + +'Marry, noble sir,' answered the Franklin, 'use, as they say, will make +a man live in a lion's den; and as I settled here in a quiet time, and +have never given cause of offence, I am respected by my neighbours, and +even, as you see, by our FORAYERS from England.' + +'I rejoice to hear it, and accept your hospitality. Isabella, my love, +our worthy host will provide you a bed. My daughter, good Franklin, is +ill at ease. We will occupy your house till the Scottish King shall +return from his northern expedition; meanwhile call me Lord Lacy of +Chester.' + +The attendants of the Baron, assisted by the Franklin, were now busied +in disposing of the horses, and arranging the table for some +refreshment for Lord Lacy and his fair companion. While they sat down +to it, they were attended by their host and his daughter, whom custom +did not permit to eat in their presence, and who afterwards withdrew to +an outer chamber, where the squire and page (both young men of noble +birth) partook of supper, and were accommodated with beds. The yeomen, +after doing honour to the rustic cheer of Queen Margaret's bailiff, +withdrew to the stable, and each, beside his favourite horse, snored +away the fatigues of their journey. + +Early on the following morning the travellers were roused by a +thundering knocking at the door of the house, accompanied with many +demands for instant admission in the roughest tone. The squire and page +of Lord Lacy, after buckling on their arms, were about to sally out to +chastise these intruders, when the old host, after looking out at a +private casement, contrived for reconnoitring his visitors, entreated +them, with great signs of terror, to be quiet, if they did not mean +that all in the house should be murdered. + +He then hastened to the apartment of Lord Lacy, whom he met dressed in +a long furred gown and the knightly cap called a MORTIER, irritated at +the noise, and demanding to know the cause which had disturbed the +repose of the household. + +'Noble sir,' said the Franklin, 'one of the most formidable and bloody +of the Scottish Border riders is at hand; he is never seen,' added he, +faltering with terror, 'so far from the hills but with some bad +purpose, and the power of accomplishing it; so hold yourself to your +guard, for--' + +A loud crash here announced that the door was broken down, and the +knight just descended the stair in time to prevent bloodshed betwixt +his attendants and the intruders. They were three in number; their +chief was tall, bony, and athletic, his spare and muscular frame, as +well as the hardness of his features, marked the course of his life to +have been fatiguing and perilous. The effect of his appearance was +aggravated by his dress, which consisted of a jack or jacket, composed +of thick buff leather, on which small plates of iron of a lozenge form +were stitched in such a manner as to overlap each other and form a coat +of mail, which swayed with every motion of the wearer's body. This +defensive armour covered a doublet of coarse grey cloth, and the +Borderer had a few half-rusted plates of steel on his shoulders, a +two-edged sword, with a dagger hanging beside it, in a buff belt; a +helmet, with a few iron bars, to cover the face instead of a visor, and +a lance of tremendous and uncommon length, completed his appointments. +The looks of the man were as wild and rude as his attire: his keen +black eyes never rested one moment fixed upon a single object, but +constantly traversed all around, as if they ever sought some danger to +oppose, some plunder to seize, or some insult to revenge. The latter +seemed to be his present object, for, regardless of the dignified +presence of Lord Lacy, he uttered the most incoherent threats against +the owner of the house and his guests. + +'We shall see--ay, marry shall we--if an English hound is to harbour +and reset the Southrons here. Thank the Abbot of Melrose and the good +Knight of Coldingnow that have so long kept me from your skirts. But +those days are gone, by Saint Mary, and you shall find it!' + +It is probable the enraged Borderer would not have long continued to +vent his rage in empty menaces, had not the entrance of the four yeomen +with their bows bent convinced him that the force was not at this +moment on his own side. + +Lord Lacy now advanced towards him. 'You intrude upon my privacy, +soldier; withdraw yourself and your followers. There is peace betwixt +our nations, or my servants should chastise thy presumption.' + +'Such peace as ye give such shall ye have,' answered the moss-trooper, +first pointing with his lance towards the burned village and then +almost instantly levelling it against Lord Lacy. The squire drew his +sword and severed at one blow the steel head from the truncheon of the +spear. + +'Arthur Fitzherbert,' said the Baron, 'that stroke has deferred thy +knighthood for one year; never must that squire wear the spurs whose +unbridled impetuosity can draw unbidden his sword in the presence of +his master. Go hence and think on what I have said.' + +The squire left the chamber abashed. + +'It were vain,' continued Lord Lacy, 'to expect that courtesy from a +mountain churl which even my own followers can forget. Yet, before thou +drawest thy brand (for the intruder laid his hand upon the hilt of his +sword), thou wilt do well to reflect that I came with a safe-conduct +from thy king, and have no time to waste in brawls with such as thou.' + +'From MY king--from my king!' re-echoed the mountaineer. 'I care not +that rotten truncheon (striking the shattered spear furiously on the +ground) for the King of Fife and Lothian. But Habby of Cessford will be +here belive; and we shall soon know if he will permit an English churl +to occupy his hostelrie.' + +Having uttered these words, accompanied with a lowering glance from +under his shaggy black eyebrows, he turned on his heel and left the +house with his two followers. They mounted their horses, which they had +tied to an outer fence, and vanished in an instant. + +'Who is this discourteous ruffian?' said Lord Lacy to the Franklin, who +had stood in the most violent agitation during this whole scene. + +'His name, noble lord, is Adam Kerr of the Moat, but he is commonly +called by his companions the Black Rider of Cheviot. I fear, I fear, he +comes hither for no good; but if the Lord of Cessford be near, he will +not dare offer any unprovoked outrage.' + +'I have heard of that chief,' said the Baron. 'Let me know when he +approaches, and do thou, Rodulph (to the eldest yeoman), keep a strict +watch. Adelbert (to the page), attend to arm me.' The page bowed, and +the Baron withdrew to the chamber of the Lady Isabella to explain the +cause of the disturbance. + +No more of the proposed tale was ever written; but the Author's purpose +was that it should turn upon a fine legend of superstition which is +current in the part of the Borders where he had his residence, where, +in the reign of Alexander III of Scotland, that renowned person Thomas +of Hersildoune, called the Rhymer, actually flourished. This personage, +the Merlin of Scotland, and to whom some of the adventures which the +British bards assigned to Merlin Caledonius, or the Wild, have been +transferred by tradition, was, as is well known, a magician, as well as +a poet and prophet. He is alleged still to live in the land of Faery, +and is expected to return at some great convulsion of society, in which +he is to act a distinguished part, a tradition common to all nations, +as the belief of the Mahomedans respecting their twelfth Imaum +demonstrates. + +Now, it chanced many years since that there lived on the Borders a +jolly, rattling horse-cowper, who was remarkable for a reckless and +fearless temper, which made him much admired and a little dreaded +amongst his neighbours. One moonlight night, as he rode over Bowden +Moor, on the west side of the Eildon Hills, the scene of Thomas the +Rhymer's prophecies, and often mentioned in his story, having a brace +of horses along with him which he had not been able to dispose of, he +met a man of venerable appearance and singularly antique dress, who, to +his great surprise, asked the price of his horses, and began to chaffer +with him on the subject. To Canobie Dick, for so shall we call our +Border dealer, a chap was a chap, and he would have sold a horse to the +devil himself, without minding his cloven hoof, and would have probably +cheated Old Nick into the bargain. The stranger paid the price they +agreed on, and all that puzzled Dick in the transaction was, that the +gold which he received was in unicorns, bonnet-pieces, and other +ancient coins, which would have been invaluable to collectors, but were +rather troublesome in modern currency. It was gold, however, and +therefore Dick contrived to get better value for the coin than he +perhaps gave to his customer. By the command of so good a merchant, he +brought horses to the same spot more than once, the purchaser only +stipulating that he should always come, by night, and alone. I do not +know whether it was from mere curiosity, or whether some hope of gain +mixed with it, but after Dick had sold several horses in this way, he +began to complain that dry bargains were unlucky, and to hint that, +since his chap must live in the neighbourhood, he ought, in the +courtesy of dealing, to treat him to half a mutchkin. + +'You may see my dwelling if you will,' said the stranger; 'but if you +lose courage at what you see there, you will rue it all your life.' + +Dicken, however, laughed the warning to scorn, and, having alighted to +secure his horse, he followed the stranger up a narrow foot-path, which +led them up the hills to the singular eminence stuck betwixt the most +southern and the centre peaks, and called from its resemblance to such +an animal in its form the Lucken Hare. At the foot of this eminence, +which is almost as famous for witch meetings as the neighbouring +wind-mill of Kippilaw, Dick was somewhat startled to observe that his +conductor entered the hillside by a passage or cavern, of which he +himself, though well acquainted with the spot, had never seen or heard. + +'You may still return,' said his guide, looking ominously back upon +him; but Dick scorned to show the white feather, and on they went. They +entered a very long range of stables; in every stall stood a coal-black +horse; by every horse lay a knight in coal-black armour, with a drawn +sword in his hand; but all were as silent, hoof and limb, as if they +had been cut out of marble. A great number of torches lent a gloomy +lustre to the hall, which, like those of the Caliph Vathek, was of +large dimensions. At the upper end, however, they at length arrived, +where a sword and horn lay on an antique table. + +'He that shall sound that horn and draw that sword,' said the stranger, +who now intimated that he was the famous Thomas of Hersildoune, 'shall, +if his heart fail him not, be king over all broad Britain. So speaks +the tongue that cannot lie. But all depends on courage, and much on +your taking the sword or the horn first.' + +Dick was much disposed to take the sword, but his bold spirit was +quailed by the supernatural terrors of the hall, and he thought to +unsheath the sword first might be construed into defiance, and give +offence to the powers of the Mountain. He took the bugle with a +trembling hand, and [sounded] a feeble note, but loud enough to produce +a terrible answer. Thunder rolled in stunning peals through the immense +hall; horses and men started to life; the steeds snorted, stamped, +grinded their bits, and tossed on high their heads; the warriors sprung +to their feet, clashed their armour, and brandished their swords. +Dick's terror was extreme at seeing the whole army, which had been so +lately silent as the grave, in uproar, and about to rush on him. He +dropped the horn, and made a feeble attempt to seize the enchanted +sword; but at the same moment a voice pronounced aloud the mysterious +words: + + 'Woe to the coward, that ever he was born, + Who did not draw the sword before he blew the horn!' + +At the same time a whirlwind of irresistible fury howled through the +long hall, bore the unfortunate horse-jockey clear out of the mouth of +the cavern, and precipitated him over a steep bank of loose stones, +where the shepherds found him the next morning, with just breath +sufficient to tell his fearful tale, after concluding which he expired. + +This legend, with several variations, is found in many parts of +Scotland and England; the scene is sometimes laid in some favourite +glen of the Highlands, sometimes in the deep coal-mines of +Northumberland and Cumberland, which run so far beneath the ocean. It +is also to be found in Reginald Scott's book on "Witchcraft," which was +written in the sixteenth century. It would be in vain to ask what was +the original of the tradition. The choice between the horn and sword, +may perhaps, include as a moral that it is foolhardy to awaken danger +before we have arms in our hands to resist it. + +Although admitting of much poetical ornament, it is clear that this +legend would have formed but an unhappy foundation for a prose story, +and must have degenerated into a mere fairy tale. Doctor John Leyden +has beautifully introduced the tradition in his Scenes of Infancy:-- + + Mysterious Rhymer, doom'd by fate's decree, + Still to revisit Eildon's fated tree; + Where oft the swain, at dawn of Hallow-day, + Hears thy fleet barb with wild impatience neigh; + Say who is he, with summons long and high. + Shall bid the charmed sleep of ages fly, + Roll the long sound through Eildon's caverns vast, + While each dark warrior kindles at the blast: + The horn, the falchion grasp with mighty hand, + And peal proud Arthur's march from Fairy-land? + + Scenes of Infancy, Part I. + +In the same cabinet with the preceding fragment, the following occurred +among other disjecta membra. It seems to be an attempt at a tale of a +different description from the last, but was almost instantly +abandoned. The introduction points out the time of the composition to +have been about the end of the eighteenth century. + +THE LORD OF ENNERDALE + +A FRAGMENT OF A LETTER FROM JOHN B----, ESQ., OF THAT ILK, TO WILLIAM +G----, F.R.S.E. + +'FILL a bumper,' said the Knight; 'the ladies may spare us a little +longer. Fill a bumper to the Archduke Charles.' + +The company did due honour to the toast of their landlord. + +'The success of the Archduke,' said the muddy Vicar, 'will tend to +further our negotiation at Paris; and if--' + +'Pardon the interruption, Doctor,' quoth a thin emaciated figure, with +somewhat of a foreign accent; 'but why should you connect those events, +unless to hope that the bravery and victories of our allies may +supersede the necessity of a degrading treaty?' + +'We begin to feel, Monsieur L'Abbe,' answered the Vicar, with some +asperity, 'that a Continental war entered into for the defence of an +ally who was unwilling to defend himself, and for the restoration of a +royal family, nobility, and priesthood who tamely abandoned their own +rights, is a burden too much even for the resources of this country.' + +'And was the war then on the part of Great Britain,' rejoined the Abbe, +'a gratuitous exertion of generosity? Was there no fear of the +wide-wasting spirit of innovation which had gone abroad? Did not the +laity tremble for their property, the clergy for their religion, and +every loyal heart for the Constitution? Was it not thought necessary to +destroy the building which was on fire, ere the conflagration spread +around the vicinity?' + +'Yet, if upon trial,' said the Doctor,' the walls were found to resist +our utmost efforts, I see no great prudence in persevering in our +labour amid the smouldering ruins.' + +'What, Doctor,' said the Baronet,'must I call to your recollection your +own sermon on the late general fast? Did you not encourage us to hope +that the Lord of Hosts would go forth with our armies, and that our +enemies, who blasphemed him, should be put to shame?' + +'It may please a kind father to chasten even his beloved children,' +answered the Vicar. + +'I think,' said a gentleman near the foot of the table,'that the +Covenanters made some apology of the same kind for the failure of their +prophecies at the battle of Dunbar, when their mutinous preachers +compelled the prudent Lesley to go down against the Philistines in +Gilgal.' + +The Vicar fixed a scrutinizing and not a very complacent eye upon this +intruder. He was a young man, of mean stature, and rather a reserved +appearance. Early and severe study had quenched in his features the +gaiety peculiar to his age, and impressed upon them a premature cast of +thoughtfulness. His eye had, however, retained its fire, and his +gesture its animation. Had he remained silent, he would have been long +unnoticed; but when he spoke there was something in his manner which +arrested attention. + +'Who is this young man?' said the Vicar in a low voice to his neighbour. + +'A Scotchman called Maxwell, on a visit to Sir Henry,' was the answer. + +'I thought so, from his accent and his manners,' said the Vicar. + +It may be here observed that the northern English retain rather more of +the ancient hereditary aversion to their neighbours than their +countrymen of the south. The interference of other disputants, each of +whom urged his opinion with all the vehemence of wine and politics, +rendered the summons to the drawing-room agreeable to the more sober +part of the company. + +The company dispersed by degrees, and at length the Vicar and the young +Scotchman alone remained, besides the Baronet, his lady, daughters, and +myself. The clergyman had not, it would seem, forgot the observation +which ranked him with the false prophets of Dunbar, for he addressed +Mr. Maxwell upon the first opportunity. + +'Hem! I think, sir, you mentioned something about the civil wars of +last century? You must be deeply skilled in them, indeed, if you can +draw any parallel betwixt those and the present evil days--days which +I am ready to maintain are the most gloomy that ever darkened the +prospects of Britain.' + +'God forbid, Doctor, that I should draw a comparison between the +present times and those you mention. I am too sensible of the +advantages we enjoy over our ancestors. Faction and ambition have +introduced division among us; but we are still free from the guilt of +civil bloodshed, and from all the evils which flow from it. Our foes, +sir, are not those of our own household; and while we continue united +and firm, from the attacks of a foreign enemy, however artful, or +however inveterate, we have, I hope, little to dread.' + +'Have you found anything curious, Mr. Maxwell, among the dusty papers?' +said Sir Henry, who seemed to dread a revival of political discussion. + +'My investigation amongst them led to reflections at which I have just +now hinted,' said Maxwell; 'and I think they are pretty strongly +exemplified by a story which I have been endeavouring to arrange from +some of your family manuscripts.' + +'You are welcome to make what use of them you please,' said Sir Henry;' +they have been undisturbed for many a day, and I have often wished for +some person as well skilled as you in these old pot-hooks to tell me +their meaning.' + +'Those I just mentioned,' answered Maxwell, 'relate to a piece of +private history, savouring not a little of the marvellous, and +intimately connected with your family; if it is agreeable, I can read +to you the anecdotes in the modern shape into which I have been +endeavouring to throw them, and you can then judge of the value of the +originals.' + +There was something in this proposal agreeable to all parties. Sir +Henry had family pride, which prepared him to take an interest in +whatever related to his ancestors. The ladies had dipped deeply into +the fashionable reading of the present day. Lady Ratcliff and her fair +daughters had climbed every pass, viewed every pine-shrouded ruin, +heard every groan, and lifted every trap-door in company with the noted +heroine of Udolpho. They had been heard, however, to observe that the +famous incident of the Black Veil singularly resembled the ancient +apologue of the mountain in labour, so that they were unquestionably +critics as well as admirers. Besides all this, they had valorously +mounted en croupe behind the ghostly horseman of Prague, through all +his seven translators, and followed the footsteps of Moor through the +forest of Bohemia. Moreover, it was even hinted (but this was a greater +mystery than all the rest) that a certain performance called the +'Monk,' in three neat volumes, had been seen by a prying eye in the +right hand drawer of the Indian cabinet of Lady Ratcliff's +dressing-room. Thus predisposed for wonders and signs, Lady Ratcliff +and her nymphs drew their chairs round a large blazing wood-fire and +arranged themselves to listen to the tale. To that fire I also +approached, moved thereunto partly by the inclemency of the season, and +partly that my deafness, which you know, cousin, I acquired during my +campaign under Prince Charles Edward, might be no obstacle to the +gratification of my curiosity, which was awakened by what had any +reference to the fate of such faithful followers of royalty as you well +know the house of Ratcliff have ever been. To this wood-fire the Vicar +likewise drew near, and reclined himself conveniently in his chair, +seemingly disposed to testify his disrespect for the narration and +narrator by falling asleep as soon as he conveniently could. By the +side of Maxwell (by the way, I cannot learn that he is in the least +related to the Nithsdale family) was placed a small table and a couple +of lights, by the assistance of which he read as follows:-- + +'Journal of Jan Van Eulen + +'On the 6th November 1645, I, Jan Van Eulen, merchant in Rotterdam, +embarked with my only daughter on board of the good vessel Vryheid of +Amsterdam, in order to pass into the unhappy and disturbed kingdom of +England. 7th November--a brisk gale--daughter sea-sick--myself unable +to complete the calculation which I have begun of the inheritance left +by Jane Lansache of Carlisle, my late dear wife's sister, the +collection of which is the object of my voyage. 8th November--wind +still stormy and adverse--a horrid disaster nearly happened--my dear +child washed overboard as the vessel lurched to leeward. Memorandum--to +reward the young sailor who saved her out of the first moneys which I +can recover from the inheritance of her aunt Lansache. 9th +November--calm--P.M. light breezes from N. N. W. I talked with the +captain about the inheritance of my sister-in-law, Jane Lansache. He +says he knows the principal subject, which will not exceed L1000 in +value. N. B. He is a cousin to a family of Petersons, which was the +name of the husband of my sister-in-law; so there is room to hope it +may be worth more than he reports. 10th November, 10 A.M. May God +pardon all our sins!--An English frigate, bearing the Parliament flag, +has appeared in the offing, and gives chase.--11 A.M. She nears us +every moment, and the captain of our vessel prepares to clear for +action.--May God again have mercy upon us!' + +'Here,' said Maxwell, 'the journal with which I have opened the +narration ends somewhat abruptly.' + +'I am glad of it,' said Lady Ratcliff. + +'But, Mr. Maxwell,' said young Frank, Sir Henry's grandchild, 'shall we +not hear how the battle ended?' + +I do not know, cousin, whether I have not formerly made you acquainted +with the abilities of Frank Ratcliff. There is not a battle fought +between the troops of the Prince and of the Government during the years +1745-46, of which he is not able to give an account. It is true, I have +taken particular pains to fix the events of this important period upon +his memory by frequent repetition. + +'No, my dear,' said Maxwell, in answer to young Frank Ratcliff--'No, my +dear, I cannot tell you the exact particulars of the engagement, but +its consequences appear from the following letter, despatched by +Garbonete Von Eulen, daughter of our journalist, to a relation in +England, from whom she implored assistance. After some general account +of the purpose of the voyage and of the engagement her narrative +proceeds thus:-- + +'The noise of the cannon had hardly ceased before the sounds of a +language to me but half known, and the confusion on board our vessel, +informed me that the captors had boarded us and taken possession of our +vessel. I went on deck, where the first spectacle that met my eyes was +a young man, mate of our vessel, who, though disfigured and covered +with blood, was loaded with irons, and whom they were forcing over the +side of the vessel into a boat. The two principal persons among our +enemies appeared to be a man of a tall thin figure, with a high-crowned +hat and long neckband, and short-cropped head of hair, accompanied by a +bluff, open-looking elderly man in a naval uniform. "Yarely! yarely! +pull away, my hearts," said the latter, and the boat bearing the +unlucky young man soon carried him on board the frigate. Perhaps you +will blame me for mentioning this circumstance; but consider, my dear +cousin, this man saved my life, and his fate, even when my own and my +father's were in the balance, could not but affect me nearly. + +'"In the name of Him who is jealous, even to slaying," said the first--' + +CETERA DESUNT + + + + + +NO. II + +CONCLUSION OF MR. STRUTT'S ROMANCE OF QUEENHOO-HALL + +BY THE AUTHOR OF WAVERLEY + +CHAPTER IV + +A HUNTING PARTY--AN ADVENTURE--A DELIVERANCE + +THE next morning the bugles were sounded by daybreak in the court of +Lord Boteler's mansion, to call the inhabitants from their slumbers to +assist in a splendid chase with which the Baron had resolved to +entertain his neighbour Fitzallen and his noble visitor St. Clare. +Peter Lanaret, the falconer, was in attendance, with falcons for the +knights and teircelets for the ladies, if they should choose to vary +their sport from hunting to hawking. Five stout yeomen keepers, with +their attendants, called Ragged Robins, all meetly arrayed in Kendal +green, with bugles and short hangers by their sides, and quarter-staffs +in their hands, led the slow-hounds or brachets by which the deer were +to be put up. Ten brace of gallant greyhounds, each of which was fit to +pluck down, singly, the tallest red deer, were led in leashes, by as +many of Lord Boteler's foresters. The pages, squires, and other +attendants of feudal splendour well attired, in their best +hunting-gear, upon horseback or foot, according to their rank, with +their boar-spears, long bows, and cross-bows, were in seemly waiting. + +A numerous train of yeomen, called in the language of the times +retainers, who yearly received a livery coat and a small pension for +their attendance on such solemn occasions, appeared in cassocks of +blue, bearing upon their arms the cognisance of the house of Boteler, +as a badge of their adherence. They were the tallest men of their hands +that the neighbouring villages could supply, with every man his good +buckler on his shoulder, and a bright burnished broadsword dangling +from his leathern belt. On this occasion they acted as rangers for +beating up the thickets and rousing the game. These attendants filled +up the court of the castle, spacious as it was. + +On the green without you might have seen the motley assemblage of +peasantry convened by report of the splendid hunting, including most of +our old acquaintances from Tewin, as well as the jolly partakers of +good cheer at Hob Filcher's. Gregory the jester, it may well be +guessed, had no great mind to exhibit himself in public after his +recent disaster; but Oswald the steward, a great formalist in whatever +concerned the public exhibition of his master's household state, had +positively enjoined his attendance. 'What,' quoth he,'shall the house +of the brave Lord Boteler, on such a brave day as this, be without a +fool? Certes, the good Lord Saint Clere and his fair lady sister might +think our housekeeping as niggardly as that of their churlish kinsman +at Gay Bowers, who sent his father's jester to the hospital, sold the +poor sot's bells for hawk-jesses, and made a nightcap of his long-eared +bonnet. And, sirrah, let me see thee fool handsomely--speak squibs and +crackers, instead of that dry, barren, musty gibing which thou hast +used of late; or, by the bones! the porter shall have thee to his +lodge, and cob thee with thine own wooden sword till thy skin is as +motley as thy doublet.' + +To this stern injunction Gregory made no reply, any more than to the +courteous offer of old Albert Drawslot, the chief parkkeeper, who +proposed to blow vinegar in his nose to sharpen his wit, as he had done +that blessed morning to Bragger, the old hound, whose scent was +failing. There was, indeed, little time for reply, for the bugles, +after a lively flourish, were now silent, and Peretto, with his two +attendant minstrels, stepping beneath the windows of the strangers' +apartments, joined in the following roundelay, the deep voices of the +rangers and falconers making up a chorus that caused the very +battlements to ring again:-- + + Waken, lords and ladies gay, + On the mountain dawns the day; + All the jolly chase is here, + With hawk and horse, and hunting spear; + Hounds are in their couples yelling, + Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling, + Merrily, merrily, mingle they, + 'Waken, lords and ladies gay.' + + Waken, lords and ladies gay, + The mist has left the mountain grey; + Springlets in the dawn are streaming, + Diamonds on the brake are gleaming, + + And foresters have busy been, + To track the buck in thicket green; + Now we come to chant our lay, + 'Waken, lords and ladies gay.' + + Waken, lords and ladies gay, + To the green-wood haste away; + We can show you where he lies, + Fleet of foot and tall of size; + We can show the marks he made, + When 'gamst the oak his antlers frayed; + You shall see him brought to bay, + 'Waken, lords and ladies gay.' + + Louder, louder chant the lay, + Waken, lords and ladies gay; + Tell them youth, and mirth, and glee + Run a course as well as we; + Time, stern huntsman! who can baulk, + Stanch as hound and fleet as hawk? + Think of this and rise with day, + Gentle lords and ladies gay. + +By the time this lay was finished, Lord Boteler, with his daughter and +kinsman, Fitzallen of Harden, and other noble guests, had mounted their +palfreys, and the hunt set forward in due order. The huntsmen, having +carefully observed the traces of a large stag on the preceding evening, +were able, without loss of time, to conduct the company, by the marks +which they had made upon the trees, to the side of the thicket in +which, by the report of Drawslot, he had harboured all night. The +horsemen, spreading themselves along the side of the cover, waited +until the keeper entered, leading his ban-dog, a large blood-hound tied +in a learn or band, from which he takes his name. + +But it befell thus. A hart of the second year, which was in the same +cover with the proper object of their pursuit, chanced to be +unharboured first, and broke cover very near where the Lady Emma and +her brother were stationed. An inexperienced varlet, who was nearer to +them, instantly unloosed two tall greyhounds, who sprung after the +fugitive with all the fleetness of the north wind. Gregory, restored a +little to spirits by the enlivening scene around him, followed, +encouraging the hounds with a loud layout, for which he had the hearty +curses of the huntsman, as well as of the Baron, who entered into the +spirit of the chase with all the juvenile ardour of twenty. 'May the +foul fiend, booted and spurred, ride down his bawling throat with a +scythe at his girdle,' quoth Albert Drawslot; 'here have I been telling +him that all the marks were those of a buck of the first head, and he +has hallooed the hounds upon a velvet-headed knobbler! By Saint Hubert, +if I break not his pate with my cross-bow, may I never cast off hound +more! But to it, my lords and masters! the noble beast is here yet, +and, thank the saints, we have enough of hounds.' + +The cover being now thoroughly beat by the attendants, the stag was +compelled to abandon it and trust to his speed for his safety. Three +greyhounds were slipped upon him, whom he threw out, after running a +couple of miles, by entering an extensive furzy brake, which extended +along the side of a hill. The horsemen soon came up, and casting off a +sufficient number of slow-hounds, sent them with the prickers into the +cover, in order to drive the game from his strength. This object being +accomplished, afforded another severe chase of several miles, in a +direction almost circular, during which the poor animal tried every +wile to get rid of his persecutors. He crossed and traversed all such +dusty paths as were likely to retain the least scent of his footsteps; +he laid himself close to the ground, drawing his feet under his belly, +and clapping his nose close to the earth, lest he should be betrayed to +the hounds by his breath and hoofs. When all was in vain, and he found +the hounds coming fast in upon him, his own strength failing, his mouth +embossed with foam, and the tears dropping from his eyes, he turned in +despair upon his pursuers, who then stood at gaze, making an hideous +clamour, and awaiting their two-footed auxiliaries. Of these, it +chanced that the Lady Eleanor, taking more pleasure in the sport than +Matilda, and being a less burden to her palfrey than the Lord Boteler, +was the first who arrived at the spot, and taking a cross-bow from an +attendant, discharged a bolt at the stag. When the infuriated animal +felt himself wounded, he pushed frantically towards her from whom he +had received the shaft, and Lady Eleanor might have had occasion to +repent of her enterprise, had not young Fitzallen, who had kept near +her during the whole day, at that instant galloped briskly in, and, ere +the stag could change his object of assault, despatched him with his +short hunting-sword. + +Albert Drawslot, who had just come up in terror for the young lady's +safety, broke out into loud encomiums upon Fitzallen's strength and +gallantry. 'By 'r Lady,' said he, taking off his cap and wiping his +sun-burnt face with his sleeve, 'well struck, and in good time! But +now, boys, doff your bonnets and sound the mort.' + +The sportsmen then sounded a treble mort, and set up a general whoop, +which, mingled with the yelping of the dogs, made the welkin ring +again. The huntsman then offered his knife to Lord Boteler, that he +might take the say of the deer, but the Baron courteously insisted upon +Fitzallen going through that ceremony. The Lady Matilda was now come +up, with most of the attendants; and the interest of the chase being +ended, it excited some surprise that neither Saint Clere nor his sister +made their appearance. The Lord Boteler commanded the horns again to +sound the recheat, in hopes to call in the stragglers, and said to +Fitzallen, 'Methinks Saint Clere so distinguished for service in war, +should have been more forward in the chase.' + +'I trow,' said Peter Lanaret, 'I know the reason of the noble lord's +absence; for, when that mooncalf Gregory hallooed the dogs upon the +knobbler, and galloped like a green hilding, as he is, after them, I +saw the Lady Emma's palfrey follow apace after that varlet, who should +be thrashed for overrunning, and I think her noble brother has followed +her, lest she should come to harm. But here, by the rood, is Gregory to +answer for himself.' + +At this moment Gregory entered the circle which had been formed round +the deer, out of breath, and his face covered with blood. He kept for +some time uttering inarticulate cries of 'Harrow!' and 'Wellaway!' and +other exclamations of distress and terror, pointing all the while to a +thicket at some distance from the spot where the deer had been killed. + +'By my honour,' said the Baron, 'I would gladly know who has dared to +array the poor knave thus; and I trust he should dearly abye his +outrecuidance, were he the best, save one, in England.' + +Gregory, who had now found more breath, cried, 'Help, an ye be men! +Save Lady Emma and her brother, whom they are murdering in Brokenhurst +thicket.' + +This put all in motion. Lord Boteler hastily commanded a small party of +his men to abide for the defence of the ladies, while he himself, +Fitzallen, and the rest made what speed they could towards the thicket, +guided by Gregory, who for that purpose was mounted behind Fabian. +Pushing through a narrow path, the first object they encountered was a +man of small stature lying on the ground, mastered and almost strangled +by two dogs, which were instantly recognised to be those that had +accompanied Gregory. A little farther was an open space, where lay +three bodies of dead or wounded men; beside these was Lady Emma, +apparently lifeless, her brother and a young forester bending over and +endeavouring to recover her. By employing the usual remedies, this was +soon accomplished; while Lord Boteler, astonished at such a scene, +anxiously inquired at Saint Clere the meaning of what he saw, and +whether more danger was to be expected. + +'For the present I trust not,' said the young warrior, who they now +observed was slightly wounded; 'but I pray you, of your nobleness, let +the woods here be searched; for we were assaulted by four of these base +assassins, and I see three only on the sward.' + +The attendants now brought forwaid the person whom they had rescued +from the dogs, and Henry, with disgust, shame, and astonishment, +recognised his kinsman, Gaston Saint Clere. This discovery he +communicated in a whisper to Lord Boteler, who commanded the prisoner +to be conveyed to Queenhoo-Hall, and closely guarded; meanwhile he +anxiously inquired of young Saint Clere about his wound. + +'A scratch, a trifle!' cried Henry. 'I am in less haste to bind it than +to introduce to you one without whose aid that of the leech would have +come too late. Where is he? where is my brave deliverer?' + +'Here, most noble lord,' said Gregory, sliding from his palfrey and +stepping forward, 'ready to receive the guerdon which your bounty would +heap on him.' + +'Truly, friend Gregory,' answered the young warrior,'thou shalt not be +forgotten, for thou didst run speedily, and roar manfully for aid, +without which, I think verily, we had not received it. But the brave +forester, who came to my rescue when these three ruffians had nigh +overpowered me, where is he?' + +Every one looked around, but though all had seen him on entering the +thicket, he was not now to be found. They could only conjecture that he +had retired during the confusion occasioned by the detention of Gaston. + +'Seek not for him,' said the Lady Emma, who had now in some degree +recovered her composure, 'he will not be found of mortal, unless at his +own season.' + +The Baron, convinced from this answer that her terror had for the time +somewhat disturbed her reason, forbore to question her; and Matilda and +Eleanor, to whom a message had been despatched with the result of this +strange adventure, arriving, they took the Lady Emma between them, and +all in a body returned to the castle. + +The distance was, however, considerable, and before reaching it they +had another alarm. The prickers, who rode foremost in the troop, halted +and announced to the Lord Boteler, that they perceived advancing +towards them a body of armed men. The followers of the Baron were +numerous, but they were arrayed for the chase, not for battle, and it +was with great pleasure that he discerned, on the pennon of the +advancing body of men-at-arms, instead of the cognisance of Gaston, as +he had some reason to expect, the friendly bearings of Fitzosborne of +Diggswell, the same young lord who was present at the May-games with +Fitzallen of Harden. The knight himself advanced, sheathed in armour, +and, without raising his visor, informed Lord Boteler that, having +heard of a base attempt made upon a part of his train by ruffianly +assassins, he had mounted and armed a small party of his retainers to +escort them to Queenhoo-Hall. Having received and accepted an +invitation to attend them thither, they prosecuted their journey in +confidence and security, and arrived safe at home without any further +accident. + +CHAPTER V + +INVESTIGATION OF THE ADVENTURE OF THE HUNTING--A DISCOVERY--GREGORY'S +MANHOOD--PATE OF GASTON SAINT CLERE--CONCLUSION + +So soon as they arrived at the princely mansion of Boteler, the Lady +Emma craved permission to retire to her chamber, that she might compose +her spirits after the terror she had undergone. Henry Saint Clere, in a +few words, proceeded to explain the adventure to the curious audience. +'I had no sooner seen my sister's palfrey, in spite of her endeavours +to the contrary, entering with spirit into the chase set on foot by the +worshipful Gregory, than I rode after to give her assistance. So long +was the chase that, when the greyhounds pulled down the knobbler, we +were out of hearing of your bugles; and having rewarded and coupled the +dogs, I gave them to be led by the jester, and we wandered in quest of +our company, whom it would seem the sport had led in a different +direction. At length, passing through the thicket where you found us, I +was surprised by a cross-bow bolt whizzing past mine head. I drew my +sword and rushed into the thicket, but was instantly assailed by two +ruffians, while other two made towards my sister and Gregory. The poor +knave fled, crying for help, pursued by my false kinsman, now your +prisoner; and the designs of the other on my poor Emma (murderous no +doubt) were prevented by the sudden apparition of a brave woodsman, +who, after a short encounter, stretched the miscreant at his feet and +came to my assistance. I was already slightly wounded, and nearly +overlaid with odds. The combat lasted some time, for the caitiffs were +both well armed, strong, and desperate; at length, however, we had each +mastered our antagonist, when your retinue, my Lord Boteler, arrived to +my relief. So ends my story; but, by my knighthood, I would give an +earl's ransom for an opportunity of thanking the gallant forester by +whose aid I live to tell it.' + +'Fear not,' said Lord Boteler, 'he shall be found, if this or the four +adjacent counties hold him. And now Lord Fitzosborne will be pleased to +doff the armour he has so kindly assumed for our sakes, and we will all +bowne ourselves for the banquet.' + +When the hour of dinner approached, the Lady Matilda and her cousin +visited the chamber of the fair Darcy. They found her in a composed but +melancholy postmire. She turned the discourse upon the misfortunes of +her life, and hinted, that having recovered her brother, and seeing him +look forward to the society of one who would amply repay to him the +loss of hers, she had thoughts of dedicating her remaining life to +Heaven, by whose providential interference it had been so often +preserved. + +Matilda coloured deeply at something in this speech, and her cousin +inveighed loudly against Emma's resolution. 'Ah, my dear lady Eleanor,' +replied she, 'I have to-day witnessed what I cannot but judge a +supernatural visitation, and to what end can it call me but to give +myself to the altar? That peasant who guided me to Baddow through the +Park of Danbury, the same who appeared before me at different times and +in different forms during that eventful journey--that youth, whose +features are imprinted on my memory, is the very individual forester +who this day rescued us in the forest. I cannot be mistaken; and, +connecting these marvellous appearances with the spectre which I saw +while at Gay Bowers, I cannot resist the conviction that Heaven has +permitted my guardian angel to assume mortal shape for my relief and +protection.' + +The fair cousins, after exchanging looks which implied a fear that her +mind was wandering, answered her in soothing terms, and finally +prevailed upon her to accompany them to the banqueting-hall. Here the +first person they encountered was the Baron Fitzosborne of Diggswell, +now divested of his armour, at the sight of whom the Lady Emma changed +colour, and exclaiming, 'It is the same!' sunk senseless into the arms +of Matilda. + +'She is bewildered by the terrors of the day,' said Eleanor;' and we +have done ill in obliging her to descend.' + +'And I,'said Fitzosborne, 'have done madly in presenting before her one +whose presence must recall moments the most alarming in her life.' + +While the ladies supported Emma from the hall, Lord Boteler and Saint +Clere requested an explanation from Fitzosborne of the words he had +used. + +'Trust me, gentle lords,' said the Baron of Diggswell, 'ye shall have +what ye demand when I learn that Lady Emma Darcy has not suffered from +my imprudence.' + +At this moment Lady Matilda, returning, said that her fair friend, on +her recovery, had calmly and deliberately insisted that she had seen +Fitzosborne before, in the most dangerous crisis of her life. + +'I dread,' said she, 'her disordered mind connects all that her eye +beholds with the terrible passages that she has witnessed.' + +'Nay,' said Fitzosborne, 'if noble Saint Clere can pardon the +unauthorized interest which, with the purest and most honourable +intentions, I have taken in his sister's fate, it is easy for me to +explain this mysterious impression.' + +He proceeded to say that, happening to be in the hostelry called the +Griffin, near Baddow, while upon a journey in that country, he had met +with the old nurse of the Lady Emma Darcy, who, being just expelled +from Gay Bowers, was in the height of her grief and indignation, and +made loud and public proclamation of Lady Emma's wrongs. From the +description she gave of the beauty of her foster-child, as well as from +the spirit of chivalry, Fitzosborne became interested in her fate. This +interest was deeply enhanced when, by a bribe to old Gaunt the Reve, he +procured a view of the Lady Emma as she walked near the castle of Gay +Bowers. The aged churl refused to give him access to the castle; yet +dropped some hints as if he thought the lady in danger, and wished she +were well out of it. His master, he said, had heard she had a brother +in life, and since that deprived him of all chance of gaining her +domains by purchase, he--in short, Gaunt wished they were safely +separated. 'If any injury,' quoth he, 'should happen to the damsel +here, it were ill for us all. I tried by an innocent stratagem to +frighten her from the castle, by introducing a figure through a +trap-door, and warning her, as if by a voice from the dead, to retreat +from thence; but the giglet is wilful, and is running upon her fate.' + +Finding Gaunt, although covetous and communicative, too faithful a +servant to his wicked master to take any active steps against his +commands, Fitzosborne applied himself to old Ursely, whom he found more +tractable. Through her he learned the dreadful plot Gaston had laid to +rid himself of his kinswoman, and resolved to effect her deliverance. +But aware of the delicacy of Emma's situation, he charged Ursely to +conceal from her the interest he took in her distress, resolving to +watch over her in disguise until he saw her in a place of safety. Hence +the appearance he made before her in various dresses during her +journey, in the course of which he was never far distant; and he had +always four stout yeomen within hearing of his bugle, had assistance +been necessary. When she was placed in safety at the lodge, it was +Fitzosborne's intention to have prevailed upon his sisters to visit and +take her under their protection; but he found them absent from +Diggswell, having gone to attend an aged relation who lay dangerously +ill in a distant county. They did not return until the day before the +May-games; and the other events followed too rapidly to permit +Fitzosborne to lay any plan for introducing them to Lady Emma Darcy. On +the day of the chase he resolved to preserve his romantic disguise, and +attend the Lady Emma as a forester, partly to have the pleasure of +being near her and partly to judge whether, according to an idle report +in the country, she favoured his friend and comrade Fitzallen of +Marden. This last motive, it may easily be believed, he did not declare +to the company. After the skirmish with the ruffians, he waited till +the Baron and the hunters arrived, and then, still doubting the farther +designs of Gaston, hastened to his castle to arm the band which had +escorted them to Queenhoo-Hall. + +Fitzosborne's story being finished, he received the thanks of all the +company, particularly of Saint Clere, who felt deeply the respectful +delicacy with which he had conducted himself towards his sister. The +lady was carefully informed of her obligations to him; and it is left +to the well-judging reader whether even the raillery of Lady Eleanor +made her regret that Heaven had only employed natural means for her +security, and that the guardian angel was converted into a handsome, +gallant, and enamoured knight. + +The joy of the company in the hall extended itself to the buttery, +where Gregory the jester narrated such feats of arms done by himself in +the fray of the morning as might have shamed Bevis and Guy of Warwick. +He was, according to his narrative, singled out for destruction by the +gigantic Baron himself, while he abandoned to meaner hands the +destruction of Saint Clere and Fitzosborne. + +'But certes,' said he, 'the foul paynim met his match; for, ever as he +foined at me with his brand, I parried his blows with my bauble, and, +closing with him upon the third veny, threw him to the ground, and made +him cry recreant to an unarmed man.' + +'Tush, man,' said Drawslot, 'thou forgettest thy best auxiliaries, the +good greyhounds, Help and Holdfast! I warrant thee, that when the +hump-backed Baron caught thee by the cowl, which he hath almost torn +off, thou hadst been in a fair plight had they not remembered an old +friend, and come in to the rescue. Why, man, I found them fastened on +him myself; and there was odd staving and stickling to make them "ware +haunch!" Their mouths were full of the flex, for I pulled a piece of +the garment from their jaws. I warrant thee, that when they brought him +to ground thou fledst like a frighted pricket.' + +'And as for Gregory's gigantic paynim,' said Fabian, 'why, he lies +yonder in the guard-room, the very size, shape, and colour of a spider +in a yew-hedge.' + +'It is false!' said Gregory. 'Colbrand the Dane was a dwarf to him.' + +'It is as true,' returned Fabian, 'as that the Tasker is to be married +on Tuesday to pretty Margery. Gregory, thy sheet hath brought them +between a pair of blankets.' + +'I care no more for such a gillflirt,' said the jester,' than I do for +thy leasings. Marry, thou hop-o'-my-thumb, happy wouldst thou be could +thy head reach the captive Baron's girdle.' + +'By the mass,' said Peter Lanaret, 'I will have one peep at this burly +gallant'; and, leaving the buttery, he went to the guard-room where +Gaston Saint Clere was confined. A man-at-arms, who kept sentinel on +the strong studded door of the apartment, said he believed he slept; +for that, after raging, stamping, and uttering the most horrid +imprecations, he had been of late perfectly still. The falconer gently +drew back a sliding board of a foot square towards the top of the door, +which covered a hole of the same size, strongly latticed, through which +the warder, without opening the door, could look in upon his prisoner. +From this aperture he beheld the wretched Gaston suspended by the neck +by his own girdle to an iron ring in the side of his prison. He had +clambered to it by means of the table on which his food had been +placed; and, in the agonies of shame and disappointed malice, had +adopted this mode of ridding himself of a wretched life. He was found +yet warm, but totally lifeless. A proper account of the manner of his +death was drawn up and certified. He was buried that evening in the +chapel of the castle, out of respect to his high birth; and the +chaplain of Fitzallen of Marden, who said the service upon the +occasion, preached the next Sunday an excellent sermon upon the text, +'Radix malorum est cupiditas,' which we have here transcribed. + +Here the manuscript, from which we have painfully transcribed, and +frequently, as it were, translated, this tale for the reader's +edification, is so indistinct and defaced, that, excepting certain +howbeits, nathlesses, lo ye's! etc., we can pick out little that is +intelligible, saving that avarice is defined 'a likourishness of heart +after earthly things.' A little farther there seems to have been a gay +account of Margery's wedding with Ralph the Tasker, the running at the +quintain, and other rural games practised on the occasion. There are +also fragments of a mock sermon preached by Gregory upon that occasion, +as for example:-- + +'My dear cursed caitiffs, there was once a king, and he wedded a young +old queen, and she had a child; and this child was sent to Solomon the +Sage, praying he would give it the same blessing which he got from the +witch of Endor when she bit him by the heel. Hereof speaks the worthy +Doctor Radigundus Potator; why should not mass be said for all the +roasted shoe souls served up in the king's dish on Saturday; for true +it is, that Saint Peter asked Father Adam, as they journeyed to +Camelot, an high, great, and doubtful question, "Adam, Adam, why +eated'st thou the apple without paring?" + +[Footnote: This tirade of gibberish is literally taken or selected from +a mock discourse pronounced by a professed jester, which occurs in an +ancient manuscript in the Advocates' Library, the same from which the +late ingenious Mr. Weber published the curious comic romance of the +Hunting of the Hare. It was introduced in compliance with Mr Strutt's +plan of rendering his tale an illustration of ancient manners A similar +burlesque sermon is pronounced by the fool in Sir David Lindesay's +satire of the Three Estates. The nonsense and vulgar burlesque of that +composition illustrate the ground of Sir Andrew Aguecheek's eulogy on +the exploits of the jester in Twelfth Night, who, reserving his sharper +jests for Sir Toby, had doubtless enough of the jargon of his calling +to captivate the imbecility of his brother knight, who is made to +exclaim--'In sooth, thou wast in very gracious fooling last night, when +thou spokest of Pigrogremitus, and of the vapours passing the +equinoctials of Quenbus; 't was very good, i' faith!' It is +entertaining to find commentators seeking to discover some meaning in +the professional jargon of such a passage as this.] + +With much goodly gibberish to the same effect; which display of +Gregory's ready wit not only threw the whole company into convulsions +of laughter, but made such an impression on Rose, the Potter's +daughter, that it was thought it would be the Jester's own fault if +Jack was long without his Jill. Much pithy matter, concerning the +bringing the bride to bed, the loosing the bridegroom's points, the +scramble which ensued for them, and the casting of the stocking, is +also omitted from its obscurity. + +The following song which has been since borrowed by the worshipful +author of the famous History of Fryar Bacon, has been with difficulty +deciphered. It seems to have been sung on occasion of carrying home the +bride + + Bridal Song + + To the tune of--'I have been a Fiddler,' etc, + + And did you not hear of a mirth befell + The morrow after a wedding day, + And carrying a bride at home to dwell? + And away to Tewin, away, away! + + The quintain was set, and the garlands were made, + 'T is pity old customs should ever decay; + And woe be to him that was horsed on a jade, + For he carried no credit away, away. + + We met a consort of fiddle-de-dees; + We set them a cockhorse, and made them play + The winning of Bullen and Upsey-frees, + And away to Tewin, away, away! + + There was ne'er a lad in all the parish + That would go to the plough that day; + But on his fore-horse his wench he carries. + And away to Tewin, away, away! + + The butler was quick, and the ale he did tap, + The maidens did make the chamber full gay; + The servants did give me a fuddling cup, + And I did carry't away, away. + + The smith of the town his liquor so took, + That he was persuaded that the ground look'd blue; + And I dare boldly be sworn on a book, + Such smiths as he there's but a few. + + A posset was made, and the women did sip, + And simpering said, they could eat no more; + Full many a maiden was laid on the lip,-- + I'll say no more, but give o'er (give o'er). + +But what our fair readers will chiefly regret is the loss of three +declarations of love; the first by Saint Clere to Matilda; which, with +the lady's answer, occupies fifteen closely written pages of +manuscript. That of Fitzosborne to Emma is not much shorter; but the +amours of Fitzallen and Eleanor, being of a less romantic cast, are +closed in three pages only. The three noble couples were married in +Queenhoo-Hall upon the same day, being the twentieth Sunday after +Easter. There is a prolix account of the marriage-feast, of which we +can pick out the names of a few dishes, such as peterel, crane, +sturgeon, swan, etc. etc., with a profusion of wild-fowl and venison. +We also see that a suitable song was produced by Peretto on the +occasion; and that the bishop who blessed the bridal beds which +received the happy couples was no niggard of his holy water, bestowing +half a gallon upon each of the couches. We regret we cannot give these +curiosities to the reader in detail, but we hope to expose the +manuscript to abler antiquaries so soon as it shall be framed and +glazed by the ingenious artist who rendered that service to Mr. +Ireland's Shakspeare MSS. And so (being unable to lay aside the style +to which our pen is habituated), gentle reader, we bid thee heartily +farewell. + + + + + +NO. III + +ANECDOTE OF SCHOOL DAYS + +UPON WHICH MR. THOMAS SCOTT PROPOSED TO FOUND A TALE OF FICTION + +It is well known in the South that there is little or no boxing at the +Scottish schools. About forty or fifty years ago, however, a far more +dangerous mode of fighting, in parties or factions, was permitted in +the streets of Edinburgh, to the great disgrace of the police and +danger of the parties concerned. These parties were generally formed +from the quarters of the town in which the combatants resided, those of +a particular square or district fighting against those of an adjoining +one. Hence it happened that the children of the higher classes were +often pitted against those of the lower, each taking their side +according to the residence of their friends. So far as I recollect, +however, it was unmingled either with feelings of democracy or +aristocracy, or indeed with malice or ill-will of any kind towards the +opposite party. In fact, it was only a rough mode of play. Such +contests were, however, maintained with great vigour with stones and +sticks and fisticuffs, when one party dared to charge and the other +stood their ground. Of course mischief sometimes happened; boys are +said to have been killed at these bickers, as they were called, and +serious accidents certainly took place, as many contemporaries can bear +witness. + +The author's father residing in George Square, in the southern side of +Edinburgh, the boys belonging to that family, with others in the +square, were arranged into a sort of company, to which a lady of +distinction presented a handsome set of colours. Now this company or +regiment, as a matter of course, was engaged in weekly warfare with the +boys inhabiting the Crosscauseway, Bristo Street, the Potterrow--in +short, the neighbouring suburbs. These last were chiefly of the lower +rank, but hardy loons, who threw stones to a hair's-breadth and were +very rugged antagonists at close quarters. The skirmish sometimes +lasted for a whole evening, until one party or the other was +victorious, when, if ours were successful, we drove the enemy to their +quarters, and were usually chased back by the reinforcement of bigger +lads who came to their assistance. If, on the contrary, we were +pursued, as was often the case, into the precincts of our square, we +were in our turn supported by our elder brothers, domestic servants, +and similar auxiliaries. + +It followed, from our frequent opposition to each other, that, though +not knowing the names of our enemies, we were yet well acquainted with +their appearance, and had nicknames for the most remarkable of them. +One very active and spirited boy might be considered as the principal +leader in the cohort of the suburbs. He was, I suppose, thirteen or +fourteen years old, finely made, tall, blue-eyed, with long fair hair, +the very picture of a youthful Goth. This lad was always first in the +charge and last in the retreat--the Achilles, at once, and Ajax of the +Crosscauseway. He was too formidable to us not to have a cognomen, and, +like that of a knight of old, it was taken from the most remarkable +part of his dress, being a pair of old green livery breeches, which was +the principal part of his clothing; for, like Pentapolin, according to +Don Quixote's account, Green-Breeks, as we called him, always entered +the battle with bare arms, legs, and feet. + +It fell, that once upon a time, when the combat was at the thickest, +this plebeian champion headed a sudden charge, so rapid and furious +that all fled before him. He was several paces before his comrades, and +had actually laid his hands on the patrician standard, when one of our +party, whom some misjudging friend had entrusted with a couleau de +chasse, or hanger, inspired with a zeal for the honour of the corps +worthy of Major Sturgeon himself, struck poor Green-Breeks over the +head with strength sufficient to cut him down. When this was seen, the +casualty was so far beyond what had ever taken place before, that both +parties fled different ways, leaving poor Green-Breeks, with his bright +hair plentifully dabbled in blood, to the care of the watchman, who +(honest man) took care not to know who had done the mischief. The +bloody hanger was flung into one of the Meadow ditches, and solemn +secrecy was sworn on all hands; but the remorse and terror of the actor +were beyond all bounds, and his apprehensions of the most dreadful +character. The wounded hero was for a few days in the Infirmary, the +case being only a trifling one. But, though inquiry was strongly +pressed on him, no argument could make him indicate the person from +whom he had received the wound, though he must have been perfectly well +known to him. When he recovered and was dismissed, the author and his +brothers opened a communication with him, through the medium of a +popular ginger-bread baker, of whom both parties were customers, in +order to tender a subsidy in name of smart-money. The sum would excite +ridicule were I to name it; but sure I am that the pockets of the noted +Green-Breeks never held as much money of his own. He declined the +remittance, saying that he would not sell his blood; but at the same +time reprobated the idea of being an informer, which he said was clam, +i.e. base or mean. With much urgency he accepted a pound of snuff for +the use of some old woman--aunt, grandmother, or the like--with whom he +lived. We did not become friends, for the bickers were more agreeable +to both parties than any more pacific amusement; but we conducted them +ever after under mutual assurances of the highest consideration for +each other. + +Such was the hero whom Mr. Thomas Scott proposed to carry to Canada, +and involve in adventures with the natives and colonists of that +country. Perhaps the youthful generosity of the lad will not seem so +great in the eyes of others as to those whom it was the means of +screening from severe rebuke and punishment. But it seemed to those +concerned to argue a nobleness of sentiment far beyond the pitch of +most minds; and however obscurely the lad who showed such a frame of +noble spirit may have lived or died, I cannot help being of opinion +that, if fortune had placed him in circumstances calling for gallantry +or generosity, the man would have fulfilled the promise of the boy. +Long afterwards, when the story was told to my father, he censured us +severely for not telling the truth at the time, that he might have +attempted to be of use to the young man in entering on life. But our +alarms for the consequences of the drawn sword, and the wound inflicted +with such a weapon, were far too predominant at the time for such a +pitch of generosity. + +Perhaps I ought not to have inserted this schoolboy tale; but, besides +the strong impression made by the incident at the time, the whole +accompaniments of the story are matters to me of solemn and sad +recollection. Of all the little band who were concerned in those +juvenile sports or brawls, I can scarce recollect a single survivor. +Some left the ranks of mimic war to die in the active service of their +country. Many sought distant lands to return no more. Others, dispersed +in different paths of life,'my dim eyes now seek for in vain.' Of five +brothers, all healthy and promising in a degree far beyond one whose +infancy was visited by personal infirmity, and whose health after this +period seemed long very precarious, I am, nevertheless, the only +survivor. The best loved, and the best deserving to be loved, who had +destined this incident to be the foundation of literary composition, +died 'before his day' in a distant and foreign land; and trifles assume +an importance not their own when connected with those who have been +loved and lost. + + + + + +NOTES + + +NOTE I + +LONG the oracle of the country gentlemen of the high Tory party. The +ancient News-Letter was written in manuscript and copied by clerks, who +addressed the copies to the subscribers. The politician by whom they +were compiled picked up his intelligence at coffee-houses, and often +pleaded for an additional gratuity in consideration of the extra +expense attached to frequenting such places of fashionable resort. + +NOTE 2 + +There is a family legend to this purpose, belonging to the knightly +family of Bradshaigh, the proprietors of Haigh Hall, in Lancashire, +where, I have been told, the event is recorded on a painted glass +window. The German ballad of the Noble Moringer turns upon a similar +topic. But undoubtedly many such incidents may have taken place, where, +the distance being great and the intercourse infrequent, false reports +concerning the fate of the absent Crusaders must have been commonly +circulated, and sometimes perhaps rather hastily credited at home. + +NOTE 3 + +The attachment to this classic was, it is said, actually displayed in +the manner mentioned in the text by an unfortunate Jacobite in that +unhappy period. He escaped from the jail in which he was confined for a +hasty trial and certain condemnation, and was retaken as he hovered +around the place in which he had been imprisoned, for which he could +give no better reason than the hope of recovering his favourite Titus +Livius. I am sorry to add that the simplicity of such a character was +found to form no apology for his guilt as a rebel, and that he was +condemned and executed. + +NOTE 4 + +Nicholas Amhurst, a noted political writer, who conducted for many +years a paper called the Craftsman, under the assumed name of Caleb +D'Anvers. He was devoted to the Tory interest, and seconded with much +ability the attacks of Pulteney on Sir Robert Walpole. He died in 1742, +neglected by his great patrons and in the most miserable circumstances. + +'Amhurst survived the downfall of Walpole's power, and had reason to +expect a reward for his labours. If we excuse Bolingbroke, who had only +saved the shipwreck of his fortunes, we shall be at a loss to justify +Pulteney, who could with ease have given this man a considerable +income. The utmost of his generosity to Amhurst that I ever heard of +was a hogshead of claret! He died, it is supposed, of a broken heart; +and was buried at the charge of his honest printer, Richard +Francklin.'--Lord Chesterfield's Characters Reviewed, p. 42. + +NOTE 5 + +I have now given in the text the full name of this gallant and +excellent man, and proceed to copy the account of his remarkable +conversion, as related by Doctor Doddridge. + +'This memorable event,' says the pious writer, 'happened towards the +middle of July 1719. The major had spent the evening (and, if I mistake +not, it was the Sabbath) in some gay company, and had an unhappy +assignation with a married woman, whom he was to attend exactly at +twelve. The company broke up about eleven, and, not judging it +convenient to anticipate the time appointed, he went into his chamber +to kill the tedious hour, perhaps with some amusing book, or some other +way. But it very accidentally happened that he took up a religious +book, which his good mother or aunt had, without his knowledge, slipped +into his portmanteau. It was called, if I remember the title exactly, +The Christian Soldier, or Heaven taken by Storm, and it was written by +Mr. Thomas Watson. Guessing by the title of it that he would find some +phrases of his own profession spiritualised in a manner which he +thought might afford him some diversion, he resolved to dip into it, +but he took no serious notice of anything it had in it; and yet, while +this book was in his hand, an impression was made upon his mind +(perhaps God only knows how) which drew after it a train of the most +important and happy consequences. He thought he saw an unusual blaze of +light fall upon the book which he was reading, which he at first +imagined might happen by some accident in the candle, but, lifting up +his eyes, he apprehended to his extreme amazement that there was before +him, as it were suspended in the air, a visible representation of the +Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, surrounded on all sides with a glory; +and was impressed as if a voice, or something equivalent to a voice, +had come to him, to this effect (for he was not confident as to the +words), "Oh, sinner! did I suffer this for thee, and are these thy +returns?" Struck with so amazing a phenomenon as this, there remained +hardly any life in him, so that he sunk down in the arm-chair in which +he sat, and continued, he knew not how long, insensible.' + +'With regard to this vision,' says the ingenious Dr. Hibbert, 'the +appearance of our Saviour on the cross, and the awful words repeated, +can be considered in no other light than as so many recollected images +of the mind, which probably had their origin in the language of some +urgent appeal to repentance that the colonel might have casually read +or heard delivered. From what cause, however, such ideas were rendered +as vivid as actual impressions, we have no information to be depended +upon. This vision was certainly attended with one of the most important +of consequences connected with the Christian dispensation--the +conversion of a sinner. And hence no single narrative has, perhaps, +done more to confirm the superstitious opinion that apparitions of this +awful kind cannot arise without a divine fiat.' Doctor Hibbert adds in +a note--'A short time before the vision, Colonel Gardiner had received +a severe fall from his horse. Did the brain receive some slight degree +of injury from the accident, so as to predispose him to this spiritual +illusion?'--Hibbert's Philosophy of Apparitions, Edinburgh, 1824, p. +190. + +NOTE 6 + +The courtesy of an invitation to partake a traveller's meal, or at +least that of being invited to share whatever liquor the guest called +for, was expected by certain old landlords in Scotland even in the +youth of the author. In requital mine host was always furnished with +the news of the country, and was probably a little of a humorist to +boot. The devolution of the whole actual business and drudgery of the +inn upon the poor gudewife was very common among the Scottish +Bonifaces. There was in ancient times, in the city of Edinburgh, a +gentleman of good family who condescended, in order to gain a +livelihood, to become the nominal keeper of a coffee-house, one of the +first places of the kind which had been opened in the Scottish +metropolis. As usual, it was entirely managed by the careful and +industrious Mrs. B--; while her husband amused himself with field +sports, without troubling his head about the matter. Once upon a time, +the premises having taken fire, the husband was met walking up the High +Street loaded with his guns and fishing-rods, and replied calmly to +someone who inquired after his wife, 'that the poor woman was trying to +save a parcel of crockery and some trumpery books'; the last being +those which served her to conduct the business of the house. + +There were many elderly gentlemen in the author's younger days who +still held it part of the amusement of a journey 'to parley with mine +host,' who often resembled, in his quaint humour, mine Host of the +Garter in the Merry Wives of Windsor; or Blague of the George in the +Merry Devil of Edmonton. Sometimes the landlady took her share of +entertaining the company. In either case the omitting to pay them due +attention gave displeasure, and perhaps brought down a smart jest, as +on the following occasion: + +A jolly dame who, not 'Sixty Years Since,' kept the principal +caravansary at Greenlaw, in Berwickshire, had the honour to receive +under her roof a very worthy clergyman, with three sons of the same +profession, each having a cure of souls; be it said in passing, none of +the reverend party were reckoned powerful in the pulpit. After dinner +was over, the worthy senior, in the pride of his heart, asked Mrs. +Buchan whether she ever had had such a party in her house before. 'Here +sit I,' he said, 'a placed minister of the Kirk of Scotland, and here +sit my three sons, each a placed minister of the same kirk. Confess, +Luckie Buchan, you never had such a party in your house before.' The +question was not premised by any invitation to sit down and take a +glass of wine or the like, so Mrs. B. answered drily, 'Indeed, sir, I +cannot just say that ever I had such a party in my house before, except +once in the forty-five, when I had a Highland piper here, with his +three sons, all Highland pipers; and deil a spring they could play +amang them.' + +NOTE 7 + +There is no particular mansion described under the name of +Tully-Veolan; but the peculiarities of the description occur in various +old Scottish seats. The House of Warrender upon Bruntsfield Links and +that of Old Ravelston, belonging, the former to Sir George Warrender, +the latter to Sir Alexander Keith, have both contributed several hints +to the description in the text. The House of Dean, near Edinburgh, has +also some points of resemblance with Tully-Veolan. The author has, +however, been informed that the House of Grandtully resembles that of +the Baron of Bradwardine still more than any of the above. + +NOTE 8 + +I am ignorant how long the ancient and established custom of keeping +fools has been disused in England. Swift writes an epitaph on the Earl +of Suffolk's fool-- + +Whose name was Dickie Pearce + +In Scotland, the custom subsisted till late in the last century; at +Glamis Castle is preserved the dress of one of the jesters, very +handsome, and ornamented with many bells. It is not above thirty years +since such a character stood by the sideboard of a nobleman of the +first rank in Scotland, and occasionally mixed in the conversation, +till he carried the joke rather too far, in making proposals to one of +the young ladies of the family, and publishing the bans betwixt her and +himself in the public church. + +NOTE 9 + +After the Revolution of 1688, and on some occasions when the spirit of +the Presbyterians had been unusually animated against their opponents, +the Episcopal clergymen, who were chiefly nonjurors, were exposed to be +mobbed, as we should now say, or rabbled, as the phrase then went, to +expiate their political heresies. But notwithstanding that the +Presbyterians had the persecution in Charles II and his brother's time +to exasperate them, there was little mischief done beyond the kind of +petty violence mentioned in the text. + +NOTE 10 + +I may here mention that the fashion of compotation described in the +text was still occasionally practised in Scotland in the author's +youth. A company, after having taken leave of their host, often went to +finish the evening at the clachan or village, in 'womb of tavern.' +Their entertainer always accompanied them to take the stirrup-cup, +which often occasioned a long and late revel. + +The poculum potatorium of the valiant Baron, his blessed Bear, has a +prototype at the fine old Castle of Glamis, so rich in memorials of +ancient times; it is a massive beaker of silver, double gilt, moulded +into the shape of a lion, and holding about an English pint of wine. +The form alludes to the family name of Strathmore, which is Lyon, and, +when exhibited, the cup must necessarily be emptied to the Earl's +health. The author ought perhaps to be ashamed of recording that he has +had the honour of swallowing the contents of the Lion; and the +recollection of the feat served to suggest the story of the Bear of +Bradwardine. In the family of Scott of Thirlestane (not Thirlestane in +the Forest, but the place of the same name in Roxburghshire) was long +preserved a cup of the same kind, in the form of a jack-boot. Each +guest was obliged to empty this at his departure. If the guest's name +was Scott, the necessity was doubly imperative. + +When the landlord of an inn presented his guests with deoch an doruis, +that is, the drink at the door, or the stirrup-cup, the draught was not +charged in the reckoning. On this point a learned bailie of the town of +Forfar pronounced a very sound judgment. + +A., an ale-wife in Forfar, had brewed her 'peck of malt' and set the +liquor out of doors to cool; the cow of B., a neighbour of A., chanced +to come by, and seeing the good beverage, was allured to taste it, and +finally to drink it up. When A. came to take in her liquor, she found +her tub empty, and from the cow's staggering and staring, so as to +betray her intemperance, she easily divined the mode in which her +'browst' had disappeared. To take vengeance on Crummie's ribs with a +stick was her first effort. The roaring of the cow brought B., her +master, who remonstrated with his angry neighbour, and received in +reply a demand for the value of the ale which Crummie had drunk up. B. +refused payment, and was conveyed before C., the bailie, or sitting +magistrate. He heard the case patiently; and then demanded of the +plaintiff A. whether the cow had sat down to her potation or taken it +standing. The plaintiff answered, she had not seen the deed committed, +but she supposed the cow drank the ale while standing on her feet, +adding, that had she been near she would have made her use them to some +purpose. The bailie, on this admission, solemnly adjudged the cow's +drink to be deoch an doruis, a stirrup-cup, for which no charge could +be made without violating the ancient hospitality of Scotland. + +NOTE 11 + +The story last told was said to have happened in the south of Scotland; +but cedant arma togae and let the gown have its dues. It was an old +clergyman, who had wisdom and firmness enough to resist the panic which +seized his brethren, who was the means of rescuing a poor insane +creature from the cruel fate which would otherwise have overtaken her. +The accounts of the trials for witchcraft form one of the most +deplorable chapters in Scottish story. + +NOTE 12 + +Although canting heraldry is generally reprobated, it seems +nevertheless to have been adopted in the arms and mottos of many +honourable families. Thus the motto of the Vernons, Ver non semper +viret, is a perfect pun, and so is that of the Onslows, Festina lente. +The Periissem ni per-iissem of the Anstruthers is liable to a similar +objection. One of that ancient race, finding that an antagonist, with +whom he had fixed a friendly meeting, was determined to take the +opportunity of assassinating him, prevented the hazard by dashing out +his brains with a battle-axe. Two sturdy arms, brandishing such a +weapon, form the usual crest of the family, with the above motto, +Periissem ni per-iissem--I had died, unless I had gone through with it. + +NOTE 13 + +Mac-Donald of Barrisdale, one of the very last Highland gentlemen who +carried on the plundering system to any great extent, was a scholar and +a well-bred gentleman. He engraved on his broad-swords the well-known +lines-- + + Hae tibi erunt artes pacisque imponere morem, + Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos. + +Indeed, the levying of black-mail was, before 1745, practised by +several chiefs of very high rank, who, in doing so, contended that they +were lending the laws the assistance of their arms and swords, and +affording a protection which could not be obtained from the magistracy +in the disturbed state of the country. The author has seen a Memoir of +Mac-Pherson of Cluny, chief of that ancient clan, from which it appears +that he levied protection-money to a very large amount, which was +willingly paid even by some of his most powerful neighbours. A +gentleman of this clan, hearing a clergyman hold forth to his +congregation on the crime of theft, interrupted the preacher to assure +him, he might leave the enforcement of such doctrines to Cluny +Mac-Pherson, whose broadsword would put a stop to theft sooner than all +the sermons of all the ministers of the synod. + +NOTE 14 + +The Town-guard of Edinburgh were, till a late period, armed with this +weapon when on their police-duty. There was a hook at the back of the +axe, which the ancient Highlanders used to assist them to climb over +walls, fixing the hook upon it and raising themselves by the handle. +The axe, which was also much used by the natives of Ireland, is +supposed to have been introduced into both countries from Scandinavia. + +NOTE 15 + +An adventure very similar to what is here stated actually befell the +late Mr. Abercromby of Tullibody, grandfather of the present Lord +Abercromby, and father of the celebrated Sir Ralph. When this +gentleman, who lived to a very advanced period of life, first settled +in Stirlingshire, his cattle were repeatedly driven off by the +celebrated Rob Roy, or some of his gang; and at length he was obliged, +after obtaining a proper safe-conduct, to make the cateran such a visit +as that of Waverley to Bean Lean in the text. Rob received him with +much courtesy, and made many apologies for the accident, which must +have happened, he said, through some mistake. Mr. Abercromby was +regaled with collops from two of his own cattle, which were hung up by +the heels in the cavern, and was dismissed in perfect safety, after +having agreed to pay in future a small sum of black-mail, in +consideration of which Rob Roy not only undertook to forbear his herds +in future, but to replace any that should be stolen from him by other +freebooters. Mr. Abercromby said Rob Roy affected to consider him as a +friend to the Jacobite interest and a sincere enemy to the Union. +Neither of these circumstances were true; but the laird thought it +quite unnecessary to undeceive his Highland host at the risk of +bringing on a political dispute in such a situation. This anecdote I +received many years since (about 1792) from the mouth of the venerable +gentleman who was concerned in it. + +NOTE 16 + +This celebrated gibbet was, in the memory of the last generation, still +standing at the western end of the town of Crieff, in Perthshire. Why +it was called the kind gallows we are unable to inform the reader with +certainty; but it is alleged that the Highlanders used to touch their +bonnets as they passed a place which had been fatal to many of their +countrymen, with the ejaculation 'God bless her nain sell, and the Teil +tamn you!' It may therefore have been called kind, as being a sort of +native or kindred place of doom to those who suffered there, as in +fulfilment of a natural destiny. + +NOTE 17 + +The story of the bridegroom carried off by caterans on his bridal-day +is taken from one which was told to the author by the late Laird of +Mac-Nab many years since. To carry off persons from the Lowlands, and +to put them to ransom, was a common practice with the wild Highlanders, +as it is said to be at the present day with the banditti in the south +of Italy. Upon the occasion alluded to, a party of caterans carried off +the bridegroom and secreted him in some cave near the mountain of +Schiehallion. The young man caught the small-pox before his ransom +could be agreed on; and whether it was the fine cool air of the place, +or the want of medical attendance, Mac-Nab did not pretend to be +positive; but so it was, that the prisoner recovered, his ransom was +paid, and he was restored to his friends and bride, but always +considered the Highland robbers as having saved his life by their +treatment of his malady. + +NOTE 18 + +This happened on many occasions. Indeed, it was not till after the +total destruction of the clan influence, after 1745, that purchasers +could be found who offered a fair price for the estates forfeited in +1715, which were then brought to sale by the creditors of the York +Buildings Company, who had purchased the whole, or greater part, from +government at a very small price. Even so late as the period first +mentioned, the prejudices of the public in favour of the heirs of the +forfeited families threw various impediments in the way of intending +purchasers of such property. + +NOTE 19 + +This sort of political game ascribed to Mac-Ivor was in reality played +by several Highland chiefs, the celebrated Lord Lovat in particular, +who used that kind of finesse to the uttermost. The Laird of Mac---was +also captain of an independent company, but valued the sweets of +present pay too well to incur the risk of losing them in the Jacobite +cause. His martial consort raised his clan and headed it in 1745. But +the chief himself would have nothing to do with king-making, declaring +himself for that monarch, and no other, who gave the Laird of Mac ---- +'half-a-guinea the day and half-a-guinea the morn.' + +NOTE 20 + +In explanation of the military exercise observed at the Castle of +Glennaquoich, the author begs to remark that the Highlanders were not +only well practised in the use of the broadsword, firelock, and most of +the manly sports and trials of strength common throughout Scotland, but +also used a peculiar sort of drill, suited to their own dress and mode +of warfare. There were, for instance, different modes of disposing the +plaid, one when on a peaceful journey, another when danger was +apprehended; one way of enveloping themselves in it when expecting +undisturbed repose, and another which enabled them to start up with +sword and pistol in hand on the slightest alarm. + +Previous to 1720 or thereabouts, the belted plaid was universally worn, +in which the portion which surrounded the middle of the wearer and that +which was flung around his shoulders were all of the same piece of +tartan. In a desperate onset all was thrown away, and the clan charged +bare beneath the doublet, save for an artificial arrangement of the +shirt, which, like that of the Irish, was always ample, and for the +sporran-mollach, or goat's-skin purse. + +The manner of handling the pistol and dirk was also part of the +Highland manual exercise, which the author has seen gone through by men +who had learned it in their youth. + +NOTE 21 + +Pork or swine's flesh, in any shape, was, till of late years, much +abominated by the Scotch, nor is it yet a favourite food amongst them. +King Jamie carried this prejudice to England, and is known to have +abhorred pork almost as much as he did tobacco. Ben Jonson has recorded +this peculiarity, where the gipsy in a masque, examining the king's +hand, says-- + +You should, by this line, + +Love a horse and a hound, but no part of a swine. + +The Gipsies Metamorphosed. + +James's own proposed banquet for the Devil was a loin of pork and a +poll of ling, with a pipe of tobacco for digestion. + +NOTE 22 + +In the number of persons of all ranks who assembled at the same table, +though by no means to discuss the same fare, the Highland chiefs only +retained a custom which had been formerly universally observed +throughout Scotland. 'I myself,' says the traveller, Fynes Morrison, in +the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the scene being the Lowlands of +Scotland, 'was at a knight's house, who had many servants to attend +him, that brought in his meat with their heads covered with blue caps, +the table being more than half furnished with great platters of +porridge, each having a little piece of sodden meat. And when the table +was served, the servants did sit down with us; but the upper mess, +instead of porridge, had a pullet, with some prunes in the +broth.'--Travels, p. 155. + +Till within this last century the farmers, even of a respectable +condition, dined with their work-people. The difference betwixt those +of high degree was ascertained by the place of the party above or below +the salt, or sometimes by a line drawn with chalk on the dining-table. +Lord Lovat, who knew well how to feed the vanity and restrain the +appetites of his clansmen, allowed each sturdy Fraser who had the +slightest pretensions to be a Duinhewassel the full honour of the +sitting, but at the same time took care that his young kinsmen did not +acquire at his table any taste for outlandish luxuries. His lordship +was always ready with some honourable apology why foreign wines and +French brandy, delicacies which he conceived might sap the hardy habits +of his cousins, should not circulate past an assigned point on the +table. + +NOTE 23 + +In the Irish ballads relating to Fion (the Fingal of Mac-Pherson) there +occurs, as in the primitive poetry of most nations, a cycle of heroes, +each of whom has some distinguishing attribute; upon these qualities, +and the adventures of those possessing them, many proverbs are formed, +which are still current in the Highlands. Among other characters, Conan +is distinguished as in some respects a kind of Thersites, but brave and +daring even to rashness. He had made a vow that he would never take a +blow without returning it; and having, like other heroes of antiquity, +descended to the infernal regions, he received a cuff from the +Arch-fiend who presided there, which he instantly returned, using the +expression in the text. Sometimes the proverb is worded thus--'Claw for +claw, and the devil take the shortest nails, as Conan said to the +devil.' + +NOTE 24 + +The description of the waterfall mentioned in this chapter is taken +from that of Ledeard, at the farm so called, on the northern side of +Lochard, and near the head of the lake, four or five miles from +Aberfoyle. It is upon a small scale, but otherwise one of the most +exquisite cascades it is possible to behold. The appearance of Flora +with the harp, as described, has been justly censured as too theatrical +and affected for the lady-like simplicity of her character. But +something may be allowed to her French education, in which point and +striking effect always make a considerable object. + +NOTE 25 + +The author has been sometimes accused of confounding fiction with +reality. He therefore thinks it necessary to state that the +circumstance of the hunting described in the text as preparatory to the +insurrection of 1745 is, so far as he knows, entirely imaginary. But it +is well known such a great hunting was held in the Forest of Brae-Mar, +under the auspices of the Earl of Mar, as preparatory to the Rebellion +of 1715; and most of the Highland chieftains who afterwards engaged in +that civil commotion were present on this occasion. + + + + + +GLOSSARY + + +A', all. + +ABOON, abune, above. + +ABY, abye, endure, suffer. + +ACCOLADE, the salutation marking the bestowal of knighthood. + +AIN, own. + +ALANE, alone. + +AN, if. + +ANE, one. + +ARRAY, annoy, trouble. + +AULD, old. + +AWEEL, well. + +AYE, always. + +BAILIE, a city magistrate in Scotland. + +BAN, curse. + +BAWTY, sly, cunning. + +BAXTER, a baker. + +BEES, in the, stupefied, bewildered. + +BELIVE, belyve, by and by. + +BEN, in, inside. + +BENT, an open field. + +BHAIRD, a bard. + +BLACK-FISHING, fishing by torchlight poaching. + +BLINKED, glanced. + +BLUDE, braid, blood. + +BLYTHE, gay, glad. + +BODLE, a copper coin worth a third of an English penny. + +BOLE, a bowl. + +BOOT-KETCH, a boot-jack. + +BRAE, the side of a hill. + +BRISSEL-COCK, a turkey cock. + +BREEKS, breeches. + +BROGUES, Highland shoes. + +BROKEN MEN, outlaws. + +BROUGHT FAR BEN, held in special favor + +BROWST, a brewing. + +BRUIK, enjoy. + +BUCKIE, a perverse or refractory person. + +BULLSEGG, a gelded bull. + +BURD, bird, a term of familiarity. + +BURN, a brook. + +BUSKING, dress, decoration. + +BUTTOCK-MAIL, a fine for fornication. + +BYDAND, awaiting. + +CAILLIACHS, old women on whom devolved the duty of lamenting for the +dead, which the Irish call keening. + +CALLANT, a young lad, a fine fellow. + +CANNY, prudent, skillful, lucky. + +CANTER, a canting, whining beggar. + +CANTRIP, a trick. + +CARLE, a churl, an old man. + +CATERAN, a Highland irregular soldier, a freebooter. + +CHAP, a customer. + +CLACHAN, a hamlet. + +CLAW FAVOUR, curry favour. + +CLAYMORE, a broad sword. + +CLEEK, a hook. + +CLEIK the cunzie, steal the silver. + +COB, beat. + +COBLE, a small fishing boat. + +COGS, wooden vessels. + +COGUE, a round wooden vessel. + +CONCUSSED, violently shaken, disturbed, forced. + +CORONACH, a dirge. + +CORRIE, a mountain hollow. + +COVE, a cave. + +CRAME, a booth, a merchant's shop. + +CREAGH, an incursion for plunder, termed on the Borders a raid. + +CROUSE, bold, courageous. + +CRUMMY, a cow with crooked horns. + +CUITTLE, tickle. + +CURRAGH, a Highland boat. + +DAFT, mad, foolish. + +DEBINDED, bound down. + +DECREET, an order of decree. + +DEOCH AN DORUIS, the stirrup-cup or parting drink. + +DERN, concealed, secret. + +DINMONTS, wethers in the second year. + +DOER, an agent, a manager. + +DOON, doun, down. + +DOVERING, dozing. + +DUINHE-WASSEL, dunniewassal, a Highland gentleman, usually the cadet of +a family of rank. + +EANARUICH, the regalia presented by Rob Roy to the Laird of Tullibody. + +ENEUGH, eneuch, enough. + +ERGASTULO, in a penitentiary. + +EXEEMED, exempt. + +FACTORY, stewardship. + +FEAL AND DIVOT, turf and thatch. + +FECK, a quantity. + +FEIFTEEN, the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. + +FENDY, good at making a shift. + +FIRE-RAISING, setting an incendiary fire. + +FLEMIT, frightened, + +FRAE, from. + +FU, full. + +FULE, fool. + +GABERLUNZIE, a kind of professional beggar. + +GANE, gone. + +GANG, go. + +GAR, make. + +GATE, gait, way. + +GAUN, going. + +GAY, gey, very. + +GEAR, goods, property. + +GILLFLIRT, a flirty girl. + +GILLIE, a servant, an attendant. + +GILLIE-WET-FOOT, a barefooted Highland lad. + +GIMMER, a ewe from one to two years old. + +GLISKED, glimpsed. + +GRIPPLE, rapacious, niggardly. + +GULPIN, a simpleton. + +HA', hall. + +HAG, a portion of copse marked off for cutting. + +HAIL, whole. + +HALLAN, a partition, a screen. + +HAME, home. + +HANTLE, a great deal. + +HARST, harvest. + +HERSHIPS, plunder. + +HILDING, a coward. + +HIRSTS, knolls. + +HORNING, charge of, a summons to pay a debt, on pain of being +pronounced a rebel, to the sound of a horn. + +HOWE, a hollow. + +HOULERYING AND POULERYING, hustling and pulling. + +HURLEY-HOUSE, a brokendown manor house. + +ILK, same; of that ilk, of the same name or place. + +ILKA, each, every. + +IN THE BEES, stupefied. + +INTROMIT, meddle with. + +KEN, know. + +KITTLE, tickle, ticklish. + +KNOBBLER, a male deer in its second year. + +KYLOE, a small Highland cow. + +LAIRD, squire, lord of the manor. + +LANG-LEGGIT, long-legged. + +LAWING, a tavern reckoning. + +LEE LAND, pasture land. + +LIE, a word used in old Scottish legal documents to call attention to +the following word or phrase. + +LIFT, capture, carry off by theft. + +LIMMER, a jade. + +LOCH, a lake. + +LOON, an idle fellow, a lout, a rogue. + +LUCKIE, an elderly woman. + +LUG, an ear, a handle. + +LUNZIE, the loins, the waist. + +MAE, mair, more. + +MAINS, the chief farm of an estate. + +MALT ABUNE THE MEAL, the drink above the food, half-seas over. + +MAUN, must. + +MEAL ARK, a meal chest. + +MERK, 13 1/3 pence in English money. + +MICKLE, much, great. + +MISGUGGLED, mangled, rumpled. + +MONY, many. + +MORN, the morn, tomorrow. + +MORNING, a morning dram. + +MUCKLE, much, great. + +MUIR, moor. + +NA, nae, no, not. + +NAINSELL, own self. + +NICE, simple. + +NOLT, black cattle. ony, any. + +ORRA, odd, unemployed. + +ORRA-TIME, occasionally. + +OWER, over. + +PEEL-HOUSE, a fortified tower. + +PENDICLE, a small piece of ground. + +PINGLE, a fuss, trouble. + +PLENISHING, furnishings. + +PLOY, sport, entertainment. + +PRETTY MEN, stout, warlike fellows. + +REIFS, robberies. + +REIVERS, robbers. + +RIGGS, ridges, ploughed ground. + +ROKELAY, a short cloak. + +RUDAS, coarse, hag-like. + +SAIN, mark with the sign of the cross, bless. + +SAIR, sore, very. + +SAUMON, salmon. + +SAUT, salt. + +SAY, a sample. + +SCHELLUM, a rascal. + +SCOUPING, scowping, skipping, leaping, running. + +SEANNACHIE, a Highland antiquary. + +SHEARING, reaping, harvest. + +SHILPIT, weak, sickly. + +SHOON, shoes. + +SIC, siccan, such. + +SIDIER DHU, black soldiers, independent companies raised to keep peace +in the Highlands; named from the tartans they wore. + +SIDIER ROY, red soldiers, King George's men. + +SIKES, small brooks. + +SILLER, silver, money. + +SIMMER, summer. + +SLIVER, slice, slit. + +SMOKY, suspicious. + +SNECK, cut. + +SNOOD, a fillet worn by young women. + +SOPITE, quiet a brawl. + +SORNERS, sornars, sojourners, sturdy beggars, especially those +unwelcome visitors who exact lodgings and victuals by force. + +SORTED, arranged, adjusted. + +SPEIR, ask, investigate. + +SPORRAN-MOLLACH, a Highland purse of goatskin. + +SPRACK, animated, lively. + +SPRING, a cheerful tune. + +SPURRZIE, spoil. + +STIEVE, stiff, firm. + +STIRK, a young steer or heifer. + +STOT, a bullock. + +STOUP, a jug, a pitcher. + +STOUTHREEF, robbery. + +STRAE, straw. + +STRATH, a valley through which a river runs. + +SYBOES, onions. + +TA, the. TAIGLIT, harassed, loitered. + +TAILZIE, taillie, a deed of entail. + +TAPPIT-HEN, a pewter pot that holds three English quarts. + +TAYOUT, tailliers-hors; in modern phrase, Tally-ho! + +TEIL, the devil. + +TEINDS, tithes. + +TELT, told. + +TILL, to. TOUN, a hamlet, a farm. + +TREWS, trousers. + +TROW, believe, suppose. + +TWA, two. + +TYKE, a dog, a snarling fellow. + +UNCO, strange, very. + +UNKENN'D, unknown. + +USQUEBAUGH, whiskey. + +WA', wall. + +WARE, spend. + +WEEL, well. + +WHA, who. + +WHAR, where. + +WHAT FOR, why. + +WHILK, which. + +WISKE, whisk, brandish. + + + + + +END OF VOLUME I WAVERLEY + +BY SIR WALTER SCOTT + +VOLUME II + + + + + +WAVERLEY + +OR 'TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +AN INCIDENT + + +The dinner hour of Scotland Sixty Years Since was two o'clock. It was +therefore about four o'clock of a delightful autumn afternoon that Mr. +Gilfillan commenced his march, in hopes, although Stirling was eighteen +miles distant, he might be able, by becoming a borrower of the night +for an hour or two, to reach it that evening. He therefore put forth +his strength, and marched stoutly along at the head of his followers, +eyeing our hero from time to time, as if he longed to enter into +controversy with him. At length, unable to resist the temptation, he +slackened his pace till he was alongside of his prisoner's horse, and +after marching a few steps in silence abreast of him, he suddenly +asked--'Can ye say wha the carle was wi' the black coat and the mousted +head, that was wi' the Laird of Cairnvreckan?' + +'A Presbyterian clergyman,' answered Waverley. + +'Presbyterian!' answered Gilfillan contemptuously; 'a wretched +Erastian, or rather an obscure Prelatist, a favourer of the black +indulgence, ane of thae dumb dogs that canna bark; they tell ower a +clash o' terror and a clatter o' comfort in their sermons, without ony +sense, or savour, or life. Ye've been fed in siccan a fauld, belike?' + +'No; I am of the Church of England,' said Waverley. + +'And they're just neighbour-like,' replied the Covenanter; 'and nae +wonder they gree sae weel. Wha wad hae thought the goodly structure of +the Kirk of Scotland, built up by our fathers in 1642, wad hae been +defaced by carnal ends and the corruptions of the time;--ay, wha wad +hae thought the carved work of the sanctuary would hae been sae soon +cut down!' + +To this lamentation, which one or two of the assistants chorussed with +a deep groan, our hero thought it unnecessary to make any reply. +Whereupon Mr. Gilfillan, resolving that he should be a hearer at least, +if not a disputant, proceeded in his Jeremiade. + +'And now is it wonderful, when, for lack of exercise anent the call to +the service of the altar and the duty of the day, ministers fall into +sinful compliances with patronage, and indemnities, and oaths, and +bonds, and other corruptions,--is it wonderful, I say, that you, sir, +and other sic-like unhappy persons, should labour to build up your auld +Babel of iniquity, as in the bluidy persecuting saint-killing times? I +trow, gin ye werena blinded wi' the graces and favours, and services +and enjoyments, and employments and inheritances, of this wicked world, +I could prove to you, by the Scripture, in what a filthy rag ye put +your trust; and that your surplices, and your copes and vestments, are +but cast-off garments of the muckle harlot that sitteth upon seven +hills and drinketh of the cup of abomination. But, I trow, ye are deaf +as adders upon that side of the head; ay, ye are deceived with her +enchantments, and ye traffic with her merchandise, and ye are drunk +with the cup of her fornication!' + +How much longer this military theologist might have continued his +invective, in which he spared nobody but the scattered remnant of +HILL-FOLK, as he called them, is absolutely uncertain. His matter was +copious, his voice powerful, and his memory strong; so that there was +little chance of his ending his exhortation till the party had reached +Stirling, had not his attention been attracted by a pedlar who had +joined the march from a cross-road, and who sighed or groaned with +great regularity at all fitting pauses of his homily. + +'And what may ye be, friend?' said the Gifted Gilfillan. + +'A puir pedlar, that's bound for Stirling, and craves the protection of +your honour's party in these kittle times. Ah' your honour has a +notable faculty in searching and explaining the secret,--ay, the secret +and obscure and incomprehensible causes of the backslidings of the +land; ay, your honour touches the root o' the matter.' + +'Friend,' said Gilfillan, with a more complacent voice than he had +hitherto used, 'honour not me. I do not go out to park-dikes and to +steadings and to market-towns to have herds and cottars and burghers +pull off their bonnets to me as they do to Major Melville o' +Cairnvreckan, and ca' me laird or captain or honour. No; my sma' means, +whilk are not aboon twenty thousand merk, have had the blessing of +increase, but the pride of my heart has not increased with them; nor do +I delight to be called captain, though I have the subscribed commission +of that gospel-searching nobleman, the Earl of Glencairn, fa whilk I am +so designated. While I live I am and will be called Habakkuk Gilfillan, +who will stand up for the standards of doctrine agreed on by the ance +famous Kirk of Scotland, before she trafficked with the accursed Achan, +while he has a plack in his purse or a drap o' bluid in his body.' + +'Ah,' said the pedlar, 'I have seen your land about Mauchlin. A fertile +spot! your lines have fallen in pleasant places! And siccan a breed o' +cattle is not in ony laird's land in Scotland.' + +'Ye say right,--ye say right, friend' retorted Gilfillan eagerly, for +he was not inaccessible to flattery upon this subject,--'ye say right; +they are the real Lancashire, and there's no the like o' them even at +the mains of Kilmaurs'; and he then entered into a discussion of their +excellences, to which our readers will probably be as indifferent as +our hero. After this excursion the leader returned to his theological +discussions, while the pedlar, less profound upon those mystic points, +contented himself with groaning and expressing his edification at +suitable intervals. + +'What a blessing it would be to the puir blinded popish nations among +whom I hae sojourned, to have siccan a light to their paths! I hae been +as far as Muscovia in my sma' trading way, as a travelling merchant, +and I hae been through France, and the Low Countries, and a' Poland, +and maist feck o' Germany, and O! it would grieve your honour's soul to +see the murmuring and the singing and massing that's in the kirk, and +the piping that's in the quire, and the heathenish dancing and dicing +upon the Sabbath!' + +This set Gilfillan off upon the Book of Sports and the Covenant, and +the Engagers, and the Protesters, and the Whiggamore's Raid, and the +Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and the Longer and Shorter +Catechism, and the Excommunication at Torwood, and the slaughter of +Archbishop Sharp. This last topic, again, led him into the lawfulness +of defensive arms, on which subject he uttered much more sense than +could have been expected from some other parts of his harangue, and +attracted even Waverley's attention, who had hitherto been lost in his +own sad reflections. Mr. Gilfillan then considered the lawfulness of a +private man's standing forth as the avenger of public oppression, and +as he was labouring with great earnestness the cause of Mas James +Mitchell, who fired at the Archbishop of Saint Andrews some years +before the prelate's assassination on Magus Muir, an incident occurred +which interrupted his harangue. + +The rays of the sun were lingering on the very verge of the horizon as +the party ascended a hollow and somewhat steep path which led to the +summit of a rising ground. The country was uninclosed, being part of a +very extensive heath or common; but it was far from level, exhibiting +in many places hollows filled with furze and broom; in others, little +dingles of stunted brushwood. A thicket of the latter description +crowned the hill up which the party ascended. The foremost of the band, +being the stoutest and most active, had pushed on, and, having +surmounted the ascent, were out of ken for the present. Gilfillan, with +the pedlar and the small party who were Waverley's more immediate +guard, were near the top of the ascent, and the remainder straggled +after them at a considerable interval. + +Such was the situation of matters when the pedlar, missing, as he said, +a little doggie which belonged to him, began to halt and whistle for +the animal. This signal, repeated more than once, gave offence to the +rigour of his companion, the rather because it appeared to indicate +inattention to the treasures of theological and controversial knowledge +which were pouring out for his edification. He therefore signified +gruffly that he could not waste his time in waiting for an useless cur. + +'But if your honour wad consider the case of Tobit--' + +'Tobit!' exclaimed Gilffflan, with great heat; 'Tobit and his dog baith +are altogether heathenish and apocryphal, and none but a prelatist or a +papist would draw them into question. I doubt I hae been mista'en in +you, friend.' + +'Very likely,' answered the pedlar, with great composure; 'but +ne'ertheless, I shall take leave to whistle again upon puir Bawty.' + +This last signal was answered in an unexpected manner; for six or eight +stout Highlanders, who lurked among the copse and brushwood, sprung +into the hollow way and began to lay about them with their claymores. +Gilfillan, unappalled at this undesirable apparition, cried out +manfully, 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!' and, drawing his +broadsword, would probably have done as much credit to the good old +cause as any of its doughty champions at Drumclog, when, behold! the +pedlar, snatching a musket from the person who was next him bestowed +the butt of it with such emphasis on the head of his late instructor in +the Cameronian creed that he was forthwith levelled to the ground. In +the confusion which ensued the horse which bore our hero was shot by +one of Gilfillan's party, as he discharged his firelock at random. +Waverley fell with, and indeed under, the animal, and sustained some +severe contusions. But he was almost instantly extricated from the +fallen steed by two Highlanders, who, each seizing him by the arm, +hurried him away from the scuffle and from the highroad. They ran with +great speed, half supporting and half dragging our hero, who could, +however, distinguish a few dropping shots fired about the spot which he +had left. This, as he afterwards learned, proceeded from Gilfillan's +party, who had now assembled, the stragglers in front and rear having +joined the others. At their approach the Highlanders drew off, but not +before they had rifled Gilfillan and two of his people, who remained on +the spot grievously wounded. A few shots were exchanged betwixt them +and the Westlanders; but the latter, now without a commander, and +apprehensive of a second ambush, did not make any serious effort to +recover their prisoner, judging it more wise to proceed on their +journey to Stirling, carrying with them their wounded captain and +comrades. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +WAVERLEY IS STILL IN DISTRESS + + +The velocity, and indeed violence, with which Waverley was hurried +along nearly deprived him of sensation; for the injury he had received +from his fall prevented him from aiding himself so effectually as he +might otherwise have done. When this was observed by his conductors, +they called to their aid two or three others of the party, and, +swathing our hero's body in one of their plaids, divided his weight by +that means among them, and transported him at the same rapid rate as +before, without any exertion of his own. They spoke little, and that in +Gaelic; and did not slacken their pace till they had run nearly two +miles, when they abated their extreme rapidity, but continued still to +walk very fast, relieving each other occasionally. + +Our hero now endeavoured to address them, but was only answered with +'Cha n'eil Beurl agam' i.e. 'I have no English,' being, as Waverley +well knew, the constant reply of a Highlander when he either does not +understand or does not choose to reply to an Englishman or Lowlander. +He then mentioned the name of Vich lan Vohr, concluding that he was +indebted to his friendship for his rescue from the clutches of Gifted +Gilfillan, but neither did this produce any mark of recognition from +his escort. + +The twilight had given place to moonshine when the party halted upon +the brink of a precipitous glen, which, as partly enlightened by the +moonbeams, seemed full of trees and tangled brushwood. Two of the +Highlanders dived into it by a small foot-path, as if to explore its +recesses, and one of them returning in a few minutes, said something to +his companions, who instantly raised their burden and bore him, with +great attention and care, down the narrow and abrupt descent. +Notwithstanding their precautions, however, Waverley's person came more +than once into contact, rudely enough, with the projecting stumps and +branches which overhung the pathway. + +At the bottom of the descent, and, as it seemed, by the side of a brook +(for Waverley heard the rushing of a considerable body of water, +although its stream was invisible in the darkness), the party again +stopped before a small and rudely-constructed hovel. The door was open, +and the inside of the premises appeared as uncomfortable and rude as +its situation and exterior foreboded. There was no appearance of a +floor of any kind; the roof seemed rent in several places; the walls +were composed of loose stones and turf, and the thatch of branches of +trees. The fire was in the centre, and filled the whole wigwam with +smoke, which escaped as much through the door as by means of a circular +aperture in the roof. An old Highland sibyl, the only inhabitant of +this forlorn mansion, appeared busy in the preparation of some food. By +the light which the fire afforded Waverley could discover that his +attendants were not of the clan of Ivor, for Fergus was particularly +strict in requiring from his followers that they should wear the tartan +striped in the mode peculiar to their race; a mark of distinction +anciently general through the Highlands, and still maintained by those +Chiefs who were proud of their lineage or jealous of their separate and +exclusive authority. + +Edward had lived at Glennaquoich long enough to be aware of a +distinction which he had repeatedly heard noticed, and now satisfied +that he had no interest with, his attendants, he glanced a disconsolate +eye around the interior of the cabin. The only furniture, excepting a +washing-tub and a wooden press, called in Scotland an ambry, sorely +decayed, was a large wooden bed, planked, as is usual, all around, and +opening by a sliding panel. In this recess the Highlanders deposited +Waverley, after he had by signs declined any refreshment. His slumbers +were broken and unrefreshing; strange visions passed before his eyes, +and it required constant and reiterated efforts of mind to dispel them. +Shivering, violent headache, and shooting pains in his limbs succeeded +these symptoms; and in the morning it was evident to his Highland +attendants or guard, for he knew not in which light to consider them, +that Waverley was quite unfit to travel. + +After a long consultation among themselves, six of the party left the +hut with their arms, leaving behind an old and a young man. The former +addressed Waverley, and bathed the contusions, which swelling and livid +colour now made conspicuous. His own portmanteau, which the Highlanders +had not failed to bring off, supplied him with linen, and to his great +surprise was, with all its undiminished contents, freely resigned to +his use. The bedding of his couch seemed clean and comfortable, and his +aged attendant closed the door of the bed, for it had no curtain, after +a few words of Gaelic, from which Waverley gathered that he exhorted +him to repose. So behold our hero for a second time the patient of a +Highland Esculapius, but in a situation much more uncomfortable than +when he was the guest of the worthy Tomanrait. + +The symptomatic fever which accompanied the injuries he had sustained +did not abate till the third day, when it gave way to the care of his +attendants and the strength of his constitution, and he could now raise +himself in his bed, though not without pain. He observed, however, that +there was a great disinclination on the part of the old woman who acted +as his nurse, as well as on that of the elderly Highlander, to permit +the door of the bed to be left open, so that he might amuse himself +with observing their motions; and at length, after Waverley had +repeatedly drawn open and they had as frequently shut the hatchway of +his cage, the old gentleman put an end to the contest by securing it on +the outside with a nail so effectually that the door could not be drawn +till this exterior impediment was removed. + +While musing upon the cause of this contradictory spirit in persons +whose conduct intimated no purpose of plunder, and who, in all other +points, appeared to consult his welfare and his wishes, it occurred to +our hero that, during the worst crisis of his illness, a female figure, +younger than his old Highland nurse, had appeared to flit around his +couch. Of this, indeed, he had but a very indistinct recollection, but +his suspicions were confirmed when, attentively listening, he often +heard, in the course of the day, the voice of another female conversing +in whispers with his attendant. Who could it be? And why should she +apparently desire concealment? Fancy immediately aroused herself and +turned to Flora Mac-Ivor. But after a short conflict between his eager +desire to believe she was in his neighbourhood, guarding, like an angel +of mercy, the couch of his sickness, Waverley was compelled to conclude +that his conjecture was altogether improbable; since, to suppose she +had left her comparatively safe situation at Glennaquoich to descend +into the Low Country, now the seat of civil war, and to inhabit such a +lurking-place as this, was a thing hardly to be imagined. Yet his heart +bounded as he sometimes could distinctly hear the trip of a light +female step glide to or from the door of the hut, or the suppressed +sounds of a female voice, of softness and delicacy, hold dialogue with +the hoarse inward croak of old Janet, for so he understood his +antiquated attendant was denominated. + +Having nothing else to amuse his solitude, he employed himself in +contriving some plan to gratify his curiosity, in despite of the +sedulous caution of Janet and the old Highland janizary, for he had +never seen the young fellow since the first morning. At length, upon +accurate examination, the infirm state of his wooden prison-house +appeared to supply the means of gratifying his curiosity, for out of a +spot which was somewhat decayed he was able to extract a nail. Through +this minute aperture he could perceive a female form, wrapped in a +plaid, in the act of conversing with Janet. But, since the days of our +grandmother Eve, the gratification of inordinate curiosity has +generally borne its penalty in disappointment. The form was not that of +Flora, nor was the face visible; and, to crown his vexation, while he +laboured with the nail to enlarge the hole, that he might obtain a more +complete view, a slight noise betrayed his purpose, and the object of +his curiosity instantly disappeared, nor, so far as he could observe, +did she again revisit the cottage. + +All precautions to blockade his view were from that time abandoned, and +he was not only permitted but assisted to rise, and quit what had been, +in a literal sense, his couch of confinement. But he was not allowed to +leave the hut; for the young Highlander had now rejoined his senior, +and one or other was constantly on the watch. Whenever Waverley +approached the cottage dooi the sentinel upon duty civilly, but +resolutely, placed himself against it and opposed his exit, +accompanying his action with signs which seemed to imply there was +danger in the attempt and an enemy in the neighbourhood. Old Janet +appeared anxious and upon the watch; and Waverley, who had not yet +recovered strength enough to attempt to take his departure in spite of +the opposition of his hosts, was under the necessity of remaining +patient His fare was, in every point of view, better than he could have +conceived, for poultry, and even wine, were no strangers to his table. +The Highlanders never presumed to eat with him, and, unless in the +circumstance of watching him, treated him with great respect. His sole +amusement was gazing from the window, or rather the shapeless aperture +which was meant to answer the purpose of a window, upon a large and +rough brook, which raged and foamed through a rocky channel, closely +canopied with trees and bushes, about ten feet beneath the site of his +house of captivity. + +Upon the sixth day of his confinement Waverley found himself so well +that he began to meditate his escape from this dull and miserable +prison-house, thinking any risk which he might incur in the attempt +preferable to the stupefying and intolerable uniformity of Janet's +retirement. The question indeed occurred, whither he was to direct his +course when again at his own disposal. Two schemes seemed practicable, +yet both attended with danger and difficulty. One was to go back to +Glennaquoich and join Fergus Mac-Ivor, by whom he was sure to be kindly +received; and in the present state of his mind, the rigour with which +he had been treated fully absolved him, in his own eyes, from his +allegiance to the existing government. The other project was to +endeavour to attain a Scottish seaport, and thence to take shipping for +England. His mind wavered between these plans, and probably, if he had +effected his escape in the manner he proposed, he would have been +finally determined by the comparative facility by which either might +have been executed. But his fortune had settled that he was not to be +left to his option. + +Upon the evening of the seventh day the door of the hut suddenly +opened, and two Highlanders entered, whom Waverley recognised as having +been a part of his original escort to this cottage. They conversed for +a short time with the old man and his companion, and then made Waverley +understand, by very significant signs, that he was to prepare to +accompany them. This was a joyful communication. What had already +passed during his confinement made it evident that no personal injury +was designed to him; and his romantic spirit, having recovered during +his repose much of that elasticity which anxiety, resentment, +disappointment, and the mixture of unpleasant feelings excited by his +late adventures had for a time subjugated, was now wearied with +inaction. His passion for the wonderful, although it is the nature of +such dispositions to be excited by that degree of danger which merely +gives dignity to the feeling of the individual exposed to it, had sunk +under the extraordinary and apparently insurmountable evils by which he +appeared environed at Cairnvreckan. In fact, this compound of intense +curiosity and exalted imagination forms a peculiar species of courage, +which somewhat resembles the light usually carried by a +miner--sufficiently competent, indeed, to afford him guidance and +comfort during the ordinary perils of his labour, but certain to be +extinguished should he encounter the more formidable hazard of earth +damps or pestiferous vapours. It was now, however, once more rekindled, +and with a throbbing mixture of hope, awe, and anxiety, Waverley +watched the group before him, as those who were just arrived snatched a +hasty meal, and the others assumed their arms and made brief +preparations for their departure. + +As he sat in the smoky hut, at some distance from the fire, around +which the others were crowded, he felt a gentle pressure upon his arm. +He looked round; it was Alice, the daughter of Donald Bean Lean. She +showed him a packet of papers in such a manner that the motion was +remarked by no one else, put her finger for a second to her lips, and +passed on, as if to assist old Janet in packing Waverley's clothes in +his portmanteau. It was obviously her wish that he should not seem to +recognise her, yet she repeatedly looked back at him, as an opportunity +occurred of doing so unobserved, and when she saw that he remarked what +she did, she folded the packet with great address and speed in one of +his shirts, which she deposited in the portmanteau. + +Here then was fresh food for conjecture. Was Alice his unknown warden, +and was this maiden of the cavern the tutelar genius that watched his +bed during his sickness? Was he in the hands of her father? and if so, +what was his purpose? Spoil, his usual object, seemed in this case +neglected; for not only Waverley's property was restored, but his +purse, which might have tempted this professional plunderer, had been +all along suffered to remain in his possession. All this perhaps the +packet might explain; but it was plain from Alice's manner that she +desired he should consult it in secret. Nor did she again seek his eye +after she had satisfied herself that her manoeuvre was observed and +understood. On the contrary, she shortly afterwards left the hut, and +it was only as she tript out from the door, that, favoured by the +obscurity, she gave Waverley a parting smile and nod of significance +ere she vanished in the dark glen. + +The young Highlander was repeatedly despatched by his comrades as if to +collect intelligence. At length, when he had returned for the third or +fourth time, the whole party arose and made signs to our hero to +accompany them. Before his departure, however, he shook hands with old +Janet, who had been so sedulous in his behalf, and added substantial +marks of his gratitude for her attendance. + +'God bless you! God prosper you, Captain Waverley!' said Janet, in good +Lowland Scotch, though he had never hithero heard her utter a syllable, +save in Gaelic. But the impatience of his attendants prohibited his +asking any explanation. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +A NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE + + +There was a moment's pause when the whole party had got out of the hut; +and the Highlander who assumed the command, and who, in Waverley's +awakened recollection, seemed to be the same tall figure who had acted +as Donald Bean Lean's lieutenant, by whispers and signs imposed the +strictest silence. He delivered to Edward a sword and steel pistol, +and, pointing up the track, laid his hand on the hilt of his own +claymore, as if to make him sensible they might have occasion to use +force to make good their passage. He then placed himself at the head of +the party, who moved up the pathway in single or Indian file, Waverley +being placed nearest to their leader. He moved with great precaution, +as if to avoid giving any alarm, and halted as soon as he came to the +verge of the ascent. Waverley was soon sensible of the reason, for he +heard at no great distance an English sentinel call out 'All's well.' +The heavy sound sunk on the night-wind down the woody glen, and was +answered by the echoes of its banks. A second, third, and fourth time +the signal was repeated fainter and fainter, as if at a greater and +greater distance. It was obvious that a party of soldiers were near, +and upon their guard, though not sufficiently so to detect men skilful +in every art of predatory warfare, like those with whom he now watched +their ineffectual precautions. + +When these sounds had died upon the silence of the night, the +Highlanders began their march swiftly, yet with the most cautious +silence. Waverley had little time, or indeed disposition, for +observation, and could only discern that they passed at some distance +from a large building, in the windows of which a light or two yet +seemed to twinkle. A little farther on the leading Highlander snuffed +the wind like a setting spaniel, and then made a signal to his party +again to halt. He stooped down upon all fours, wrapped up in his plaid, +so as to be scarce distinguishable from the heathy ground on which he +moved, and advanced in this posture to reconnoitre. In a short time he +returned, and dismissed his attendants excepting one; and, intimating +to Waverley that he must imitate his cautious mode of proceeding, all +three crept forward on hands and knees. + +After proceeding a greater way in this inconvenient manner than was at +all comfortable to his knees and shins, Waverley perceived the smell of +smoke, which probably had been much sooner distinguished by the more +acute nasal organs of his guide. It proceeded from the corner of a low +and ruinous sheep-fold, the walls of which were made of loose stones, +as is usual in Scotland. Close by this low wall the Highlander guided +Waverley, and, in order probably to make him sensible of his danger, or +perhaps to obtain the full credit of his own dexterity, he intimated to +him, by sign and example, that he might raise his head so as to peep +into the sheep-fold. Waverley did so, and beheld an outpost of four or +five soldiers lying by their watch-fire. They were all asleep except +the sentinel, who paced backwards and forwards with his firelock on his +shoulder, which glanced red in the light of the fire as he crossed and +re-crossed before it in his short walk, casting his eye frequently to +that part of the heavens from which the moon, hitherto obscured by +mist, seemed now about to make her appearance. + +In the course of a minute or two, by one of those sudden changes of +atmosphere incident to a mountainous country, a breeze arose and swept +before it the clouds which had covered the horizon, and the night +planet poured her full effulgence upon a wide and blighted heath, +skirted indeed with copse-wood and stunted trees in the quarter from +which they had come, but open and bare to the observation of the +sentinel in that to which their course tended. The wall of the +sheep-fold indeed concealed them as they lay, but any advance beyond +its shelter seemed impossible without certain discovery. + +The Highlander eyed the blue vault, but far from blessing the useful +light with Homer's, or rather Pope's benighted peasant, he muttered a +Gaelic curse upon the unseasonable splendour of Mac-Farlane's buat +(i.e. lantern) [Footnote: See Note 1]. He looked anxiously around for a +few minutes, and then apparently took his resolution. Leaving his +attendant with Waverley, after motioning to Edward to remain quiet, and +giving his comrade directions in a brief whisper, he retreated, +favoured by the irregularity of the ground, in the same direction and +in the same manner as they had advanced. Edward, turning his head after +him, could perceive him crawling on all fours with the dexterity of an +Indian, availing himself of every bush and inequality to escape +observation, and never passing over the more exposed parts of his track +until the sentinel's back was turned from him. At length he reached the +thickets and underwood which partly covered the moor in that direction, +and probably extended to the verge of the glen where Waverley had been +so long an inhabitant. The Highlander disappeared, but it was only for +a few minutes, for he suddenly issued forth from a different part of +the thicket, and, advancing boldly upon the open heath as if to invite +discovery, he levelled his piece and fired at the sentinel. A wound in +the arm proved a disagreeable interruption to the poor fellow's +meteorological observations, as well as to the tune of 'Nancy Dawson,' +which he was whistling. He returned the fire ineffectually, and his +comrades, starting up at the alarm, advanced alertly towards the spot +from which the first shot had issued. The Highlander, after giving them +a full view of his person, dived among the thickets, for his ruse de +guerre had now perfectly succeeded. + +While the soldiers pursued the cause of their disturbance in one +direction, Waverley, adopting the hint of his remaining attendant, made +the best of his speed in that which his guide originally intended to +pursue, and which now (the attention of the soldiers being drawn to a +different quarter) was unobserved and unguarded. When they had run +about a quarter of a mile, the brow of a rising ground which they had +surmounted concealed them from further risk of observation. They still +heard, however, at a distance the shouts of the soldiers as they +hallooed to each other upon the heath, and they could also hear the +distant roll of a drum beating to arms in the same direction. But these +hostile sounds were now far in their rear, and died away upon the +breeze as they rapidly proceeded. + +When they had walked about half an hour, still along open and waste +ground of the same description, they came to the stump of an ancient +oak, which, from its relics, appeared to have been at one time a tree +of very large size. In an adjacent hollow they found several +Highlanders, with a horse or two. They had not joined them above a few +minutes, which Waverley's attendant employed, in all probability, in +communicating the cause of their delay (for the words 'Duncan Duroch' +were often repeated), when Duncan himself appeared, out of breath +indeed, and with all the symptoms of having run for his life, but +laughing, and in high spirits at the success of the stratagem by which +he had baffled his pursuers. This indeed Waverley could easily conceive +might be a matter of no great difficulty to the active mountaineer, who +was perfectly acquainted with the ground, and traced his course with a +firmness and confidence to which his pursuers must have been strangers. +The alarm which he excited seemed still to continue, for a dropping +shot or two were heard at a great distance, which seemed to serve as an +addition to the mirth of Duncan and his comrades. + +The mountaineer now resumed the arms with which he had entrusted our +hero, giving him to understand that the dangers of the journey were +happily surmounted. Waverley was then mounted upon one of the horses, a +change which the fatigue of the night and his recent illness rendered +exceedingly acceptable. His portmanteau was placed on another pony, +Duncan mounted a third, and they set forward at a round pace, +accompanied by their escort. No other incident marked the course of +that night's journey, and at the dawn of morning they attained the +banks of a rapid river. The country around was at once fertile and +romantic. Steep banks of wood were broken by corn-fields, which this +year presented an abundant harvest, already in a great measure cut down. + +On the opposite bank of the river, and partly surrounded by a winding +of its stream, stood a large and massive castle, the half-ruined +turrets of which were already glittering in the first rays of the sun. +[Footnote: See Note 2.] It was in form an oblong square, of size +sufficient to contain a large court in the centre. The towers at each +angle of the square rose higher than the walls of the building, and +were in their turn surmounted by turrets, differing in height and +irregular in shape. Upon one of these a sentinel watched, whose bonnet +and plaid, streaming in the wind, declared him to be a Highlander, as a +broad white ensign, which floated from another tower, announced that +the garrison was held by the insurgent adherents of the House of Stuart. + +Passing hastily through a small and mean town, where their appearance +excited neither surprise nor curiosity in the few peasants whom the +labours of the harvest began to summon from their repose, the party +crossed an ancient and narrow bridge of several arches, and, turning to +the left up an avenue of huge old sycamores, Waverley found himself in +front of the gloomy yet picturesque structure which he had admired at a +distance. A huge iron-grated door, which formed the exterior defence of +the gateway, was already thrown back to receive them; and a second, +heavily constructed of oak and studded thickly with iron nails, being +next opened, admitted them into the interior court-yard. A gentleman, +dressed in the Highland garb and having a white cockade in his bonnet, +assisted Waverley to dismount from his horse, and with much courtesy +bid him welcome to the castle. + +The governor, for so we must term him, having conducted Waverley to a +half-ruinous apartment, where, however, there was a small camp-bed, and +having offered him any refreshment which he desired, was then about to +leave him. + +'Will you not add to your civilities,' said Waverley, after having made +the usual acknowledgment, 'by having the kindness to inform me where I +am, and whether or not I am to consider myself as a prisoner?' + +'I am not at liberty to be so explicit upon this subject as I could +wish. Briefly, however, you are in the Castle of Doune, in the district +of Menteith, and in no danger whatever.' + +'And how am I assured of that?' + +'By the honour of Donald Stewart, governor of the garrison, and +lieutenant-colonel in the service of his Royal Highness Prince Charles +Edward.' So saying, he hastily left the apartment, as if to avoid +further discussion. + +Exhausted by the fatigues of the night, our hero now threw himself upon +the bed, and was in a few minutes fast asleep. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE JOURNEY IS CONTINUED + + +Before Waverley awakened from his repose, the day was far advanced, and +he began to feel that he had passed many hours without food. This was +soon supplied in form of a copious breakfast, but Colonel Stewart, as +if wishing to avoid the queries of his guest, did not again present +himself. His compliments were, however, delivered by a servant, with an +offer to provide anything in his power that could be useful to Captain +Waverley on his journey, which he intimated would be continued that +evening. To Waverley's further inquiries, the servant opposed the +impenetrable barrier of real or affected ignorance and stupidity. He +removed the table and provisions, and Waverley was again consigned to +his own meditations. + +As he contemplated the strangeness of his fortune, which seemed to +delight in placing him at the disposal of others, without the power of +directing his own motions, Edward's eye suddenly rested upon his +portmanteau, which had been deposited in his apartment during his +sleep. The mysterious appearance of Alice in the cottage of the glen +immediately rushed upon his mind, and he was about to secure and +examine the packet which she had deposited among his clothes, when the +servant of Colonel Stewart again made his appearance, and took up the +portmanteau upon his shoulders. + +'May I not take out a change of linen, my friend?' + +'Your honour sall get ane o' the Colonel's ain ruffled sarks, but this +maun gang in the baggage-cart.' + +And so saying, he very coolly carried off the portmanteau, without +waiting further remonstrance, leaving our hero in a state where +disappointment and indignation struggled for the mastery. In a few +minutes he heard a cart rumble out of the rugged court-yard, and made +no doubt that he was now dispossessed, for a space at least, if not for +ever, of the only documents which seemed to promise some light upon the +dubious events which had of late influenced his destiny. With such +melancholy thoughts he had to beguile about four or five hours of +solitude. + +When this space was elapsed, the trampling of horse was heard in the +court-yard, and Colonel Stewart soon after made his appearance to +request his guest to take some further refreshment before his +departure. The offer was accepted, for a late breakfast had by no means +left our hero incapable of doing honour to dinner, which was now +presented. The conversation of his host was that of a plain country +gentleman, mixed with some soldier-like sentiments and expressions. He +cautiously avoided any reference to the military operations or civil +politics of the time; and to Waverley's direct inquiries concerning +some of these points replied, that he was not at liberty to speak upon +such topics. + +When dinner was finished the governor arose, and, wishing Edward a good +journey, said that, having been informed by Waverley's servant that his +baggage had been sent forward, he had taken the freedom to supply him +with such changes of linen as he might find necessary till he was again +possessed of his own. With this compliment he disappeared. A servant +acquainted Waverley an instant afterwards that his horse was ready. + +Upon this hint he descended into the court-yard, and found a trooper +holding a saddled horse, on which he mounted and sallied from the +portal of Doune Castle, attended by about a score of armed men on +horseback. These had less the appearance of regular soldiers than of +individuals who had suddenly assumed arms from some pressing motive of +unexpected emergency. Their uniform, which was blue and red, an +affected imitation of that of French chasseurs, was in many respects +incomplete, and sate awkwardly upon those who wore it. Waverley's eye, +accustomed to look at a well-disciplined regiment, could easily +discover that the motions and habits of his escort were not those of +trained soldiers, and that, although expert enough in the management of +their horses, their skill was that of huntsmen or grooms rather than of +troopers. The horses were not trained to the regular pace so necessary +to execute simultaneous and combined movements and formations; nor did +they seem bitted (as it is technically expressed) for the use of the +sword. The men, however, were stout, hardy-looking fellows, and might +be individually formidable as irregular cavalry. The commander of this +small party was mounted upon an excellent hunter, and, although dressed +in uniform, his change of apparel did not prevent Waverley from +recognising his old acquaintance, Mr. Falconer of Balmawhapple. + +Now, although the terms upon which Edward had parted with this +gentleman were none of the most friendly, he would have sacrificed +every recollection of their foolish quarrel for the pleasure of +enjoying once more the social intercourse of question and answer, from +which he had been so long secluded. But apparently the remembrance of +his defeat by the Baron of Bradwardine, of which Edward had been the +unwilling cause, still rankled in the mind of the low-bred and yet +proud laird. He carefully avoided giving the least sign of recognition, +riding doggedly at the head of his men, who, though scarce equal in +numbers to a sergeant's party, were denominated Captain Falconer's +troop, being preceded by a trumpet, which sounded from time to time, +and a standard, borne by Cornet Falconer, the laird's younger brother. +The lieutenant, an elderly man, had much the air of a low sportsman and +boon companion; an expression of dry humour predominated in his +countenance over features of a vulgar cast, which indicated habitual +intemperance. His cocked hat was set knowingly upon one side of his +head, and while he whistled the 'Bob of Dumblain,' under the influence +of half a mutchkin of brandy, he seemed to trot merrily forward, with a +happy indifference to the state of the country, the conduct of the +party, the end of the journey, and all other sublunary matters whatever. + +From this wight, who now and then dropped alongside of his horse, +Waverley hoped to acquire some information, or at least to beguile the +way with talk. + +'A fine evening, sir,' was Edward's salutation. + +'Ow, ay, sir! a bra' night,' replied the lieutenant, in broad Scotch of +the most vulgar description. + +'And a fine harvest, apparently,' continued Waverley, following up his +first attack. + +'Ay, the aits will be got bravely in; but the farmers, deil burst them, +and the corn-mongers will make the auld price gude against them as has +horses till keep.' + +'You perhaps act as quartermaster, sir?' + +'Ay, quartermaster, riding-master, and lieutenant,' answered this +officer of all work. 'And, to be sure, wha's fitter to look after the +breaking and the keeping of the poor beasts than mysell, that bought +and sold every ane o' them?' + +'And pray, sir, if it be not too great a freedom, may I beg to know +where we are going just now?' + +'A fule's errand, I fear,' answered this communicative personage. + +'In that case,' said Waverley, determined not to spare civility, 'I +should have thought a person of your appearance would not have been +found on the road.' + +'Vera true, vera true, sir,' replied the officer, 'but every why has +its wherefore. Ye maun ken, the laird there bought a' thir beasts frae +me to munt his troop, and agreed to pay for them according to the +necessities and prices of the time. But then he hadna the ready penny, +and I hae been advised his bond will not be worth a boddle against the +estate, and then I had a' my dealers to settle wi' at Martinmas; and +so, as he very kindly offered me this commission, and as the auld +Fifteen [Footnote: The Judges of the Supreme Court of Session in +Scotland are proverbially termed among the country people, The +Fifteen.] wad never help me to my siller for sending out naigs against +the government, why, conscience! sir, I thought my best chance for +payment was e'en to GAE OUT [Footnote: See Note 3.] mysell; and ye may +judge, sir, as I hae dealt a' my life in halters, I think na mickle o' +putting my craig in peril of a Saint John-stone's tippet.' + +'You are not, then, by profession a soldier?' said Waverley. + +'Na, na; thank God,' answered this doughty partizan, 'I wasna bred at +sae short a tether, I was brought up to hack and manger. I was bred a +horse-couper, sir; and if I might live to see you at Whitson-tryst, or +at Stagshawbank, or the winter fair at Hawick, and ye wanted a spanker +that would lead the field, I'se be caution I would serve ye easy; for +Jamie Jinker was ne'er the lad to impose upon a gentleman. Ye're a +gentleman, sir, and should ken a horse's points; ye see that +through--ganging thing that Balmawhapple's on; I selled her till him. +She was bred out of Lick-the-ladle, that wan the king's plate at +Caverton-Edge, by Duke Hamilton's White-Foot,' etc., etc., etc. + +But as Jinker was entered full sail upon the pedigree of Balmawhapple's +mare, having already got as far as great-grandsire and great-grand-dam, +and while Waverley was watching for an opportunity to obtain from him +intelligence of more interest, the noble captain checked his horse +until they came up, and then, without directly appearing to notice +Edward, said sternly to the genealogist, 'I thought, lieutenant, my +orders were preceese, that no one should speak to the prisoner?' + +The metamorphosed horse-dealer was silenced of course, and slunk to the +rear, where he consoled himself by entering into a vehement dispute +upon the price of hay with a farmer who had reluctantly followed his +laird to the field rather than give up his farm, whereof the lease had +just expired. Waverley was therefore once more consigned to silence, +foreseeing that further attempts at conversation with any of the party +would only give Balmawhapple a wished-for opportunity to display the +insolence of authority, and the sulky spite of a temper naturally +dogged, and rendered more so by habits of low indulgence and the +incense of servile adulation. + +In about two hours' time the party were near the Castle of Stirling, +over whose battlements the union flag was brightened as it waved in the +evening sun. To shorten his journey, or perhaps to display his +importance and insult the English garrison, Balmawhapple, inclining to +the right, took his route through the royal park, which reaches to and +surrounds the rock upon which the fortress is situated. + +With a mind more at ease Waverley could not have failed to admire the +mixture of romance and beauty which renders interesting the scene +through which he was now passing--the field which had been the scene of +the tournaments of old--the rock from which the ladies beheld the +contest, while each made vows for the success of some favourite +knight--the towers of the Gothic church, where these vows might be +paid--and, surmounting all, the fortress itself, at once a castle and +palace, where valour received the prize from royalty, and knights and +dames closed the evening amid the revelry of the dance, the song, and +the feast. All these were objects fitted to arouse and interest a +romantic imagination. + +But Waverley had other objects of meditation, and an incident soon +occurred of a nature to disturb meditation of any kind. Balmawhapple, +in the pride of his heart, as he wheeled his little body of cavalry +round the base of the Castle, commanded his trumpet to sound a flourish +and his standard to be displayed. This insult produced apparently some +sensation; for when the cavalcade was at such distance from the +southern battery as to admit of a gun being depressed so as to bear +upon them, a flash of fire issued from one of the embrazures upon the +rock; and ere the report with which it was attended could be heard, the +rushing sound of a cannon-ball passed over Balmawhapple's head, and the +bullet, burying itself in the ground at a few yards' distance, covered +him with the earth which it drove up. There was no need to bid the +party trudge. In fact, every man, acting upon the impulse of the +moment, soon brought Mr. Jinker's steeds to show their mettle, and the +cavaliers, retreating with more speed than regularity, never took to a +trot, as the lieutenant afterwards observed, until an intervening +eminence had secured them from any repetition of so undesirable a +compliment on the part of Stirling Castle. I must do Balmawhapple, +however, the justice to say that he not only kept the rear of his +troop, and laboured to maintain some order among them, but, in the +height of his gallantry, answered the fire of the Castle by discharging +one of his horse-pistols at the battlements; although, the distance +being nearly half a mile, I could never learn that this measure of +retaliation was attended with any particular effect. + +The travellers now passed the memorable field of Bannockburn and +reached the Torwood, a place glorious or terrible to the recollections +of the Scottish peasant, as the feats of Wallace or the cruelties of +Wude Willie Grime predominate in his recollection. At Falkirk, a town +formerly famous in Scottish history, and soon to be again distinguished +as the scene of military events of importance, Balmawhapple proposed to +halt and repose for the evening. This was performed with very little +regard to military discipline, his worthy quarter-master being chiefly +solicitous to discover where the best brandy might be come at. +Sentinels were deemed unnecessary, and the only vigils performed were +those of such of the party as could procure liquor. A few resolute men +might easily have cut off the detachment; but of the inhabitants some +were favourable, many indifferent, and the rest overawed. So nothing +memorable occurred in the course of the evening, except that Waverley's +rest was sorely interrupted by the revellers hallooing forth their +Jacobite songs, without remorse or mitigation of voice. + +Early in the morning they were again mounted and on the road to +Edinburgh, though the pallid visages of some of the troop betrayed that +they had spent a night of sleepless debauchery. They halted at +Linlithgow, distinguished by its ancient palace, which Sixty Years +Since was entire and habitable, and whose venerable ruins, NOT QUITE +SIXTY YEARS SINCE, very narrowly escaped the unworthy fate of being +converted into a barrack for French prisoners. May repose and blessings +attend the ashes of the patriotic statesman who, amongst his last +services to Scotland, interposed to prevent this profanation! + +As they approached the metropolis of Scotland, through a champaign and +cultivated country, the sounds of war began to be heard. The distant +yet distinct report of heavy cannon, fired at intervals, apprized +Waverley that the work of destruction was going forward. Even +Balmawhapple seemed moved to take some precautions, by sending an +advanced party in front of his troop, keeping the main body in +tolerable order, and moving steadily forward. + +Marching in this manner they speedily reached an eminence, from which +they could view Edinburgh stretching along the ridgy hill which slopes +eastward from the Castle. The latter, being in a state of siege, or +rather of blockade, by the northern insurgents, who had already +occupied the town for two or three days, fired at intervals upon such +parties of Highlanders as exposed themselves, either on the main street +or elsewhere in the vicinity of the fortress. The morning being calm +and fair, the effect of this dropping fire was to invest the Castle in +wreaths of smoke, the edges of which dissipated slowly in the air, +while the central veil was darkened ever and anon by fresh clouds +poured forth from the battlements; the whole giving, by the partial +concealment, an appearance of grandeur and gloom, rendered more +terrific when Waverley reflected on the cause by which it was produced, +and that each explosion might ring some brave man's knell. + +Ere they approached the city the partial cannonade had wholly ceased. +Balmawhapple, however, having in his recollection the unfriendly +greeting which his troop had received from the battery at Stirling, had +apparently no wish to tempt the forbearance of the artillery of the +Castle. He therefore left the direct road, and, sweeping considerably +to the southward so as to keep out of the range of the cannon, +approached the ancient palace of Holyrood without having entered the +walls of the city. He then drew up his men in front of that venerable +pile, and delivered Waverley to the custody of a guard of Highlanders, +whose officer conducted him into the interior of the building. + +A long, low, and ill-proportioned gallery, hung with pictures, affirmed +to be the portraits of kings, who, if they ever flourished at all, +lived several hundred years before the invention of painting in oil +colours, served as a sort of guard chamber or vestibule to the +apartments which the adventurous Charles Edward now occupied in the +palace of his ancestors. Officers, both in the Highland and Lowland +garb, passed and repassed in haste, or loitered in the hall as if +waiting for orders. Secretaries were engaged in making out passes, +musters, and returns. All seemed busy, and earnestly intent upon +something of importance; but Waverley was suffered to remain seated in +the recess of a window, unnoticed by any one, in anxious reflection +upon the crisis of his fate, which seemed now rapidly approaching. + + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +AN OLD AND A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + + +While he was deep sunk in his reverie, the rustle of tartans was heard +behind him, a friendly arm clasped his shoulders, and a friendly voice +exclaimed, + +'Said the Highland prophet sooth? Or must second-sight go for nothing?' + +Waverley turned, and was warmly embraced by Fergus Mac-Ivor. 'A +thousand welcomes to Holyrood, once more possessed by her legitimate +sovereign! Did I not say we should prosper, and that you would fall +into the hands of the Philistines if you parted from us?' + +'Dear Fergus!' said Waverley, eagerly returning his greeting. 'It is +long since I have heard a friend's voice. Where is Flora?' + +'Safe, and a triumphant spectator of our success.' + +'In this place?' said Waverley. + +'Ay, in this city at least,' answered his friend, 'and you shall see +her; but first you must meet a friend whom you little think of, who has +been frequent in his inquiries after you.' + +Thus saying, he dragged Waverley by the arm out of the guard chamber, +and, ere he knew where he was conducted, Edward found himself in a +presence room, fitted up with some attempt at royal state. + +A young man, wearing his own fair hair, distinguished by the dignity of +his mien and the noble expression of his well-formed and regular +features, advanced out of a circle of military gentlemen and Highland +chiefs by whom he was surrounded. In his easy and graceful manners +Waverley afterwards thought he could have discovered his high birth and +rank, although the star on his breast and the embroidered garter at his +knee had not appeared as its indications. + +'Let me present to your Royal Highness,' said Fergus, bowing +profoundly-- + +'The descendant of one of the most ancient and loyal families in +England,' said the young Chevalier, interrupting him. 'I beg your +pardon for interrupting you, my dear Mac-Ivor; but no master of +ceremonies is necessary to present a Waverley to a Stuart.' + +Thus saying, he extended his hand to Edward with the utmost courtesy, +who could not, had he desired it, have avoided rendering him the homage +which seemed due to his rank, and was certainly the right of his birth. +'I am sorry to understand, Mr. Waverley, that, owing to circumstances +which have been as yet but ill explained, you have suffered some +restraint among my followers in Perthshire and on your march here; but +we are in such a situation that we hardly know our friends, and I am +even at this moment uncertain whether I can have the pleasure of +considering Mr. Waverley as among mine.' + +He then paused for an instant; but before Edward could adjust a +suitable reply, or even arrange his ideas as to its purport, the Prince +took out a paper and then proceeded:--'I should indeed have no doubts +upon this subject if I could trust to this proclamation, set forth by +the friends of the Elector of Hanover, in which they rank Mr. Waverley +among the nobility and gentry who are menaced with the pains of +high-treason for loyalty to their legitimate sovereign. But I desire to +gain no adherents save from affection and conviction; and if Mr. +Waverley inclines to prosecute his journey to the south, or to join the +forces of the Elector, he shall have my passport and free permission to +do so; and I can only regret that my present power will not extend to +protect him against the probable consequences of such a measure. But,' +continued Charles Edward, after another short pause, 'if Mr. Waverley +should, like his ancestor, Sir Nigel, determine to embrace a cause +which has little to recommend it but its justice, and follow a prince +who throws himself upon the affections of his people to recover the +throne of his ancestors or perish in the attempt, I can only say, that +among these nobles and gentlemen he will find worthy associates in a +gallant enterprise, and will follow a master who may be unfortunate, +but, I trust, will never be ungrateful.' + +The politic Chieftain of the race of Ivor knew his advantage in +introducing Waverley to this personal interview with the royal +adventurer. Unaccustomed to the address and manners of a polished +court, in which Charles was eminently skilful, his words and his +kindness penetrated the heart of our hero, and easily outweighed all +prudential motives. To be thus personally solicited for assistance by a +prince whose form and manners, as well as the spirit which he displayed +in this singular enterprise, answered his ideas of a hero of romance; +to be courted by him in the ancient halls of his paternal palace, +recovered by the sword which he was already bending towards other +conquests, gave Edward, in his own eyes, the dignity and importance +which he had ceased to consider as his attributes. Rejected, slandered, +and threatened upon the one side, he was irresistibly attracted to the +cause which the prejudices of education and the political principles of +his family had already recommended as the most just. These thoughts +rushed through his mind like a torrent, sweeping before them every +consideration of an opposite tendency,--the time, besides, admitted of +no deliberation,--and Waverley, kneeling to Charles Edward, devoted his +heart and sword to the vindication of his rights! + +The Prince (for, although unfortunate in the faults and follies of his +forefathers, we shall here and elsewhere give him the title due to his +birth) raised Waverley from the ground and embraced him with an +expression of thanks too warm not to be genuine. He also thanked Fergus +Mac-Ivor repeatedly for having brought him such an adherent, and +presented Waverley to the various noblemen, chieftains, and officers +who were about his person as a young gentleman of the highest hopes and +prospects, in whose bold and enthusiastic avowal of his cause they +might see an evidence of the sentiments of the English families of rank +at this important crisis. [Footnote: See Note 4.] Indeed, this was a +point much doubted among the adherents of the house of Stuart; and as a +well-founded disbelief in the cooperation of the English Jacobites kept +many Scottish men of rank from his standard, and diminished the courage +of those who had joined it, nothing could be more seasonable for the +Chevalier than the open declaration in his favour of the representative +of the house of Waverley-Honour, so long known as Cavaliers and +Royalists. This Fergus had foreseen from the beginning. He really loved +Waverley, because their feelings and projects never thwarted each +other; he hoped to see him united with Flora, and he rejoiced that they +were effectually engaged in the same cause. But, as we before hinted, +he also exulted as a politician in beholding secured to his party a +partizan of such consequence; and he was far from being insensible to +the personal importance which he himself gained with the Prince from +having so materially assisted in making the acquisition. + +Charles Edward, on his part, seemed eager to show his attendants the +value which he attached to his new adherent, by entering immediately, +as in confidence, upon the circumstances of his situation. 'You have +been secluded so much from intelligence, Mr. Waverley, from causes of +which I am but indistinctly informed, that I presume you are even yet +unacquainted with the important particulars of my present situation. +You have, however, heard of my landing in the remote district of +Moidart, with only seven attendants, and of the numerous chiefs and +clans whose loyal enthusiasm at once placed a solitary adventurer at +the head of a gallant army. You must also, I think, have learned that +the commander-in-chief of the Hanoverian Elector, Sir John Cope, +marched into the Highlands at the head of a numerous and well-appointed +military force with the intention of giving us battle, but that his +courage failed him when we were within three hours' march of each +other, so that he fairly gave us the slip and marched northward to +Aberdeen, leaving the Low Country open and undefended. Not to lose so +favourable an opportunity, I marched on to this metropolis, driving +before me two regiments of horse, Gardiner's and Hamilton's, who had +threatened to cut to pieces every Highlander that should venture to +pass Stirling; and while discussions were carrying forward among the +magistracy and citizens of Edinburgh whether they should defend +themselves or surrender, my good friend Lochiel (laying his hand on the +shoulder of that gallant and accomplished chieftain) saved them the +trouble of farther deliberation by entering the gates with five hundred +Camerons. Thus far, therefore, we have done well; but, in the +meanwhile, this doughty general's nerves being braced by the keen air +of Aberdeen, he has taken shipping for Dunbar, and I have just received +certain information that he landed there yesterday. His purpose must +unquestionably be to march towards us to recover possession of the +capital. Now there are two opinions in my council of war: one, that +being inferior probably in numbers, and certainly in discipline and +military appointments, not to mention our total want of artillery and +the weakness of our cavalry, it will be safest to fall back towards the +mountains, and there protract the war until fresh succours arrive from +France, and the whole body of the Highland clans shall have taken arms +in our favour. The opposite opinion maintains, that a retrograde +movement, in our circumstances, is certain to throw utter discredit on +our arms and undertaking; and, far from gaining us new partizans, will +be the means of disheartening those who have joined our standard. The +officers who use these last arguments, among whom is your friend Fergus +Mac-Ivor, maintain that, if the Highlanders are strangers to the usual +military discipline of Europe, the soldiers whom they are to encounter +are no less strangers to their peculiar and formidable mode of attack; +that the attachment and courage of the chiefs and gentlemen are not to +be doubted; and that, as they will be in the midst of the enemy, their +clansmen will as surely follow them; in fine, that having drawn the +sword we should throw away the scabbard, and trust our cause to battle +and to the God of battles. Will Mr. Waverley favour us with his opinion +in these arduous circumstances?' + +Waverley coloured high betwixt pleasure and modesty at the distinction +implied in this question, and answered, with equal spirit and +readiness, that he could not venture to offer an opinion as derived +from military skill, but that the counsel would be far the most +acceptable to him which should first afford him an opportunity to +evince his zeal in his Royal Highness's service. + +'Spoken like a Waverley!' answered Charles Edward; 'and that you may +hold a rank in some degree corresponding to your name, allow me, +instead of the captain's commission which you have lost, to offer you +the brevet rank of major in my service, with the advantage of acting as +one of my aides-de-camp until you can be attached to a regiment, of +which I hope several will be speedily embodied.' + +'Your Royal Highness will forgive me,' answered Waverley (for his +recollection turned to Balmawhapple and his scanty troop), 'if I +decline accepting any rank until the time and place where I may have +interest enough to raise a sufficient body of men to make my command +useful to your Royal Highness's service. In the meanwhile, I hope for +your permission to serve as a volunteer under my friend Fergus +Mac-Ivor.' + +'At least,' said the Prince, who was obviously pleased with this +proposal, 'allow me the pleasure of arming you after the Highland +fashion.' With these words, he unbuckled the broadsword which he wore, +the belt of which was plaited with silver, and the steel basket-hilt +richly and curiously inlaid. 'The blade,' said the Prince, 'is a +genuine Andrea Ferrara; it has been a sort of heir-loom in our family; +but I am convinced I put it into better hands than my own, and will add +to it pistols of the same workmanship. Colonel Mac-Ivor, you must have +much to say to your friend; I will detain you no longer from your +private conversation; but remember we expect you both to attend us in +the evening. It may be perhaps the last night we may enjoy in these +halls, and as we go to the field with a clear conscience, we will spend +the eve of battle merrily.' + +Thus licensed, the Chief and Waverley left the presence-chamber. + + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE MYSTERY BEGINS TO BE CLEARED UP + + +'How do you like him?' was Fergus's first question, as they descended +the large stone staircase. + +'A prince to live and die under' was Waverley's enthusiastic answer. + +'I knew you would think so when you saw him, and I intended you should +have met earlier, but was prevented by your sprain. And yet he has his +foibles, or rather he has difficult cards to play, and his Irish +officers, [Footnote: See Note 5.] who are much about him, are but sorry +advisers: they cannot discriminate among the numerous pretensions that +are set up. Would you think it--I have been obliged for the present to +suppress an earl's patent, granted for services rendered ten years ago, +for fear of exciting the jealousy, forsooth, of C---- and M----? But +you were very right, Edward, to refuse the situation of aide-de-camp. +There are two vacant, indeed, but Clanronald and Lochiel, and almost +all of us, have requested one for young Aberchallader, and the +Lowlanders and the Irish party are equally desirous to have the other +for the master of F--. Now, if either of these candidates were to be +superseded in your favour, you would make enemies. And then I am +surprised that the Prince should have offered you a majority, when he +knows very well that nothing short of lieutenant-colonel will satisfy +others, who cannot bring one hundred and fifty men to the field. "But +patience, cousin, and shuffle the cards!" It is all very well for the +present, and we must have you properly equipped for the evening in your +new costume; for, to say truth, your outward man is scarce fit for a +court.' + +'Why,' said Waverley, looking at his soiled dress,'my shooting jacket +has seen service since we parted; but that probably you, my friend, +know as well or better than I.' + +'You do my second-sight too much honour,' said Fergus. 'We were so +busy, first with the scheme of giving battle to Cope, and afterwards +with our operations in the Lowlands, that I could only give general +directions to such of our people as were left in Perthshire to respect +and protect you, should you come in their way. But let me hear the full +story of your adventures, for they have reached us in a very partial +and mutilated manner.' + +Waverley then detailed at length the circumstances with which the +reader is already acquainted, to which Fergus listened with great +attention. By this time they had reached the door of his quarters, +which he had taken up in a small paved court, retiring from the street +called the Canongate, at the house of a buxom widow of forty, who +seemed to smile very graciously upon the handsome young Chief, she +being a person with whom good looks and good-humour were sure to secure +an interest, whatever might be the party's "political opinions". Here +Callum Beg received them with a smile of recognition. 'Callum,' said +the Chief, 'call Shemus an Snachad' (James of the Needle). This was the +hereditary tailor of Vich lan Vohr. 'Shemus, Mr. Waverley is to wear +the cath dath (battle colour, or tartan); his trews must be ready in +four hours. You know the measure of a well-made man--two double nails +to the small of the leg--' + +'Eleven from haunch to heel, seven round the waist. I give your honour +leave to hang Shemus, if there's a pair of sheers in the Highlands that +has a baulder sneck than her's ain at the cumadh an truais' (shape of +the trews). + +'Get a plaid of Mac-Ivor tartan and sash,' continued the Chieftain, +'and a blue bonnet of the Prince's pattern, at Mr. Mouat's in the +Crames. My short green coat, with silver lace and silver buttons, will +fit him exactly, and I have never worn it. Tell Ensign Maccombich to +pick out a handsome target from among mine. The Prince has given Mr. +Waverley broadsword and pistols, I will furnish him with a dirk and +purse; add but a pair of low-heeled shoes, and then, my dear Edward +(turning to him), you will be a complete son of Ivor.' + +These necessary directions given, the Chieftain resumed the subject of +Waverley's adventures. 'It is plain,' he said,'that you have been in +the custody of Donald Bean Lean. You must know that, when I marched +away my clan to join the Prince, I laid my injunctions on that worthy +member of society to perform a certain piece of service, which done, he +was to join me with all the force he could muster. But, instead of +doing so, the gentleman, finding the coast clear, thought it better to +make war on his own account, and has scoured the country, plundering, I +believe, both friend and foe, under pretence of levying blackmail, +sometimes as if by my authority, and sometimes (and be cursed to his +consummate impudence) in his own great name! Upon my honour, if I live +to see the cairn of Benmore again, I shall be tempted to hang that +fellow! I recognise his hand particularly in the mode of your rescue +from that canting rascal Gilfillan, and I have little doubt that Donald +himself played the part of the pedlar on that occasion; but how he +should not have plundered you, or put you to ransom, or availed himself +in some way or other of your captivity for his own advantage, passes my +judgment.' + +'When and how did you hear the intelligence of my confinement?' asked +Waverley. + +'The Prince himself told me,' said Fergus, 'and inquired very minutely +into your history. He then mentioned your being at that moment in the +power of one of our northern parties--you know I could not ask him to +explain particulars--and requested my opinion about disposing of you. I +recommended that you should be brought here as a prisoner, because I +did not wish to prejudice you farther with the English government, in +case you pursued your purpose of going southward. I knew nothing, you +must recollect, of the charge brought against you of aiding and +abetting high treason, which, I presume, had some share in changing +your original plan. That sullen, good-for-nothing brute, Balmawhapple, +was sent to escort you from Doune, with what he calls his troop of +horse. As to his behaviour, in addition to his natural antipathy to +everything that resembles a gentleman, I presume his adventure with +Bradwardine rankles in his recollection, the rather that I daresay his +mode of telling that story contributed to the evil reports which +reached your quondam regiment.' + +'Very likely,' said Waverley; 'but now surely, my dear Fergus, you may +find time to tell me something of Flora.' + +'Why,' replied Fergus, 'I can only tell you that she is well, and +residing for the present with a relation in this city. I thought it +better she should come here, as since our success a good many ladies of +rank attend our military court; and I assure you that there is a sort +of consequence annexed to the near relative of such a person as Flora +Mac-Ivor, and where there is such a justling of claims and requests, a +man must use every fair means to enhance his importance.' + +There was something in this last sentence which grated on Waverley's +feelings. He could not bear that Flora should be considered as +conducing to her brother's preferment by the admiration which she must +unquestionably attract; and although it was in strict correspondence +with many points of Fergus's character, it shocked him as selfish, and +unworthy of his sister's high mind and his own independent pride. +Fergus, to whom such manoeuvres were familiar, as to one brought up at +the French court, did not observe the unfavourable impression which he +had unwarily made upon his friend's mind, and concluded by saying,' +that they could hardly see Flora before the evening, when she would be +at the concert and ball with which the Prince's party were to be +entertained. She and I had a quarrel about her not appearing to take +leave of you. I am unwilling to renew it by soliciting her to receive +you this morning; and perhaps my doing so might not only be +ineffectual, but prevent your meeting this evening.' + +While thus conversing, Waverley heard in the court, before the windows +of the parlour, a well-known voice. 'I aver to you, my worthy friend,' +said the speaker, 'that it is a total dereliction of military +discipline; and were you not as it were a tyro, your purpose would +deserve strong reprobation. For a prisoner of war is on no account to +be coerced with fetters, or debinded in ergastulo, as would have been +the case had you put this gentleman into the pit of the peel-house at +Balmawhapple. I grant, indeed, that such a prisoner may for security be +coerced in carcere, that is, in a public prison.' + +The growling voice of Balmawhapple was heard as taking leave in +displeasure, but the word 'land-louper' alone was distinctly audible. +He had disappeared before Waverley reached the house in order to greet +the worthy Baron of Bradwardine. The uniform in which he was now +attired, a blue coat, namely, with gold lace, a scarlet waistcoat and +breeches, and immense jack-boots, seemed to have added fresh stiffness +and rigidity to his tall, perpendicular figure; and the consciousness +of military command and authority had increased, in the same +proportion, the self-importance of his demeanour and the dogmatism of +his conversation. + +He received Waverley with his usual kindness, and expressed immediate +anxiety to hear an explanation of the circumstances attending the loss +of his commission in Gardiner's dragoons; 'not,' he said, 'that he had +the least apprehension of his young friend having done aught which +could merit such ungenerous treatment as he had received from +government, but because it was right and seemly that the Baron of +Bradwardine should be, in point of trust and in point of power, fully +able to refute all calumnies against the heir of Waverley-Honour, whom +he had so much right to regard as his own son.' + +Fergus Mac-Ivor, who had now joined them, went hastily over the +circumstances of Waverley's story, and concluded with the flattering +reception he had met from the young Chevalier. The Baron listened in +silence, and at the conclusion shook Waverley heartily by the hand and +congratulated him upon entering the service of his lawful Prince. +'For,' continued he, 'although it has been justly held in all nations a +matter of scandal and dishonour to infringe the sacramentum militare, +and that whether it was taken by each soldier singly, whilk the Romans +denominated per conjurationem, or by one soldier in name of the rest, +yet no one ever doubted that the allegiance so sworn was discharged by +the dimissio, or discharging of a soldier, whose case would be as hard +as that of colliers, salters, and other adscripti glebes, or slaves of +the soil, were it to be accounted otherwise. This is something like the +brocard expressed by the learned Sanchez in his work "De Jure-jurando" +which you have questionless consulted upon this occasion. As for those +who have calumniated you by leasing-making, I protest to Heaven I think +they have justly incurred the penalty of the "Memnonia Lex," also +called "Lex Rhemnia," which is prelected upon by Tullius in his oration +"In Verrem." I should have deemed, however, Mr. Waverley, that before +destining yourself to any special service in the army of the Prince, ye +might have inquired what rank the old Bradwardine held there, and +whether he would not have been peculiarly happy to have had your +services in the regiment of horse which he is now about to levy.' +Edward eluded this reproach by pleading the necessity of giving an +immediate answer to the Prince's proposal, and his uncertainty at the +moment whether his friend the Baron was with the army or engaged upon +service elsewhere. + +This punctilio being settled, Waverley made inquiry after Miss +Bradwardine, and was informed she had come to Edinburgh with Flora +Mac-Ivor, under guard of a party of the Chieftain's men. This step was +indeed necessary, Tully-Veolan having become a very unpleasant, and +even dangerous, place of residence for an unprotected young lady, on +account of its vicinity to the Highlands, and also to one or two large +villages which, from aversion as much to the caterans as zeal for +presbytery, had declared themselves on the side of government, and +formed irregular bodies of partizans, who had frequent skirmishes with +the mountaineers, and sometimes attacked the houses of the Jacobite +gentry in the braes, or frontier betwixt the mountain and plain. + +'I would propose to you,' continued the Baron,'to walk as far as my +quarters in the Luckenbooths, and to admire in your passage the High +Street, whilk is, beyond a shadow of dubitation, finer than any street +whether in London or Paris. But Rose, poor thing, is sorely discomposed +with the firing of the Castle, though I have proved to her from Blondel +and Coehorn, that it is impossible a bullet can reach these buildings; +and, besides, I have it in charge from his Royal Highness to go to the +camp, or leaguer of our army, to see that the men do condamare vasa, +that is, truss up their bag and baggage for tomorrow's march.' + +'That will be easily done by most of us,' said Mac-Ivor, laughing. + +'Craving your pardon, Colonel Mac-Ivor, not quite so easily as ye seem +to opine. I grant most of your folk left the Highlands expedited as it +were, and free from the incumbrance of baggage; but it is unspeakable +the quantity of useless sprechery which they have collected on their +march. I saw one fellow of yours (craving your pardon once more) with a +pier-glass upon his back.' + +'Ay,' said Fergus, still in good-humour, 'he would have told you, if +you had questioned him, "a ganging foot is aye getting." But come, my +dear Baron, you know as well as I that a hundred Uhlans, or a single +troop of Schmirschitz's Pandours, would make more havoc in a country +than the knight of the mirror and all the rest of our clans put +together.' + +'And that is very true likewise,' replied the Baron; 'they are, as the +heathen author says, ferociores in aspectu, mitiores in actu, of a +horrid and grim visage, but more benign in demeanour than their +physiognomy or aspect might infer. But I stand here talking to you two +youngsters when I should be in the King's Park.' + +'But you will dine with Waverley and me on your return? I assure you, +Baron, though I can live like a Highlander when needs must, I remember +my Paris education, and understand perfectly faire la meilleure chere.' + +'And wha the deil doubts it,' quoth the Baron, laughing, 'when ye bring +only the cookery and the gude toun must furnish the materials? Weel, I +have some business in the toun too; but I'll join you at three, if the +vivers can tarry so long.' + +So saying, he took leave of his friends and went to look after the +charge which had been assigned him. + + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +A SOLDIER'S DINNER + + +James of the Needle was a man of his word when whisky was no party to +the contract; and upon this occasion Callum Beg, who still thought +himself in Waverley's debt, since he had declined accepting +compensation at the expense of mine host of the Candlestick's person, +took the opportunity of discharging the obligation, by mounting guard +over the hereditary tailor of Sliochd nan Ivor; and, as he expressed +himself, 'targed him tightly' till the finishing of the job. To rid +himself of this restraint, Shemus's needle flew through the tartan like +lightning; and as the artist kept chanting some dreadful skirmish of +Fin Macoul, he accomplished at least three stitches to the death of +every hero. The dress was, therefore, soon ready, for the short coat +fitted the wearer, and the rest of the apparel required little +adjustment. + +Our hero having now fairly assumed the 'garb of old Gaul,' well +calculated as it was to give an appearance of strength to a figure +which, though tall and well-made, was rather elegant than robust, I +hope my fair readers will excuse him if he looked at himself in the +mirror more than once, and could not help acknowledging that the +reflection seemed that of a very handsome young fellow. In fact, there +was no disguising it. His light-brown hair--for he wore no periwig, +notwithstanding the universal fashion of the time--became the bonnet +which surmounted it. His person promised firmness and agility, to which +the ample folds of the tartan added an air of dignity. His blue eye +seemed of that kind, + + Which melted in love, and which kindled in war; + +and an air of bashfulness, which was in reality the effect of want of +habitual intercourse with the world, gave interest to his features, +without injuring their grace or intelligence. + +'He's a pratty man, a very pratty man,' said Evan Dhu (now Ensign +Maccombich) to Fergus's buxom landlady. + +'He's vera weel,' said the Widow Flockhart, 'but no naething sae +weel-far'd as your colonel, ensign.' + +'I wasna comparing them,' quoth Evan, 'nor was I speaking about his +being weel-favoured; but only that Mr. Waverley looks clean-made and +deliver, and like a proper lad o' his quarters, that will not cry +barley in a brulzie. And, indeed, he's gleg aneuch at the broadsword +and target. I hae played wi' him mysell at Glennaquoich, and sae has +Vich lan Vohr, often of a Sunday afternoon.' + +'Lord forgie ye, Ensign Maccombich,' said the alarmed Presbyterian; +'I'm sure the colonel wad never do the like o' that!' + +'Hout! hout! Mrs. Flockhart,' replied the ensign, 'we're young blude, +ye ken; and young saints, auld deils.' + +'But will ye fight wi' Sir John Cope the morn, Ensign Maccombich?' +demanded Mrs. Flockhart of her guest. + +'Troth I'se ensure him, an he'll bide us, Mrs. Flockhart,' replied the +Gael. + +'And will ye face thae tearing chields, the dragoons, Ensign +Maccombich?' again inquired the landlady. + +'Claw for claw, as Conan said to Satan, Mrs. Flockhart, and the deevil +tak the shortest nails.' + +'And will the colonel venture on the bagganets himsell?' + +'Ye may swear it, Mrs. Flockhart; the very first man will he be, by +Saint Phedar.' + +'Merciful goodness! and if he's killed amang the redcoats!' exclaimed +the soft-hearted widow. + +'Troth, if it should sae befall, Mrs. Flockhart, I ken ane that will no +be living to weep for him. But we maun a' live the day, and have our +dinner; and there's Vich lan Vohr has packed his dorlach, and Mr. +Waverley's wearied wi' majoring yonder afore the muckle pier-glass; and +that grey auld stoor carle, the Baron o' Bradwardine that shot young +Ronald of Ballenkeiroch, he's coming down the close wi' that droghling +coghling bailie body they ca' Macwhupple, just like the Laird o' +Kittlegab's French cook, wi' his turnspit doggie trindling ahint him, +and I am as hungry as a gled, my bonny dow; sae bid Kate set on the +broo', and do ye put on your pinners, for ye ken Vich lan Vohr winna +sit down till ye be at the head o' the table;--and dinna forget the +pint bottle o' brandy, my woman.' + +This hint produced dinner. Mrs. Flockhart, smiling in her weeds like +the sun through a mist, took the head of the table, thinking within +herself, perhaps, that she cared not how long the rebellion lasted that +brought her into company so much above her usual associates. She was +supported by Waverley and the Baron, with the advantage of the +Chieftain vis-a-vis. The men of peace and of war, that is, Bailie +Macwheeble and Ensign Maccombich, after many profound conges to their +superiors and each other, took their places on each side of the +Chieftain. Their fare was excellent, time, place, and circumstances +considered, and Fergus's spirits were extravagantly high. Regardless of +danger, and sanguine from temper, youth, and ambition, he saw in +imagination all his prospects crowned with success, and was totally +indifferent to the probable alternative of a soldier's grave. The Baron +apologized slightly for bringing Macwheeble. They had been providing, +he said, for the expenses of the campaign. 'And, by my faith,' said the +old man, 'as I think this will be my last, so I just end where I began: +I hae evermore found the sinews of war, as a learned author calls the +caisse mttitaire, mair difficult to come by than either its flesh, +blood, or bones.' + +'What! have you raised our only efficient body of cavalry and got ye +none of the louis-d'or out of the Doutelle [Footnote: The Doutelle was +an armed vessel which brought a small supply of money and arms from +France for the use of the insurgents.] to help you?' + +'No, Glennaquoich; cleverer fellows have been before me.' + +'That's a scandal,' said the young Highlander; 'but you will share what +is left of my subsidy; it will save you an anxious thought tonight, and +will be all one tomorrow, for we shall all be provided for, one way or +other, before the sun sets.' Waverley, blushing deeply, but with great +earnestness, pressed the same request. + +'I thank ye baith, my good lads,' said the Baron, 'but I will not +infringe upon your peculium. Bailie Macwheeble has provided the sum +which is necessary.' + +Here the Bailie shifted and fidgeted about in his seat, and appeared +extremely uneasy. At length, after several preliminary hems, and much +tautological expression of his devotion to his honour's service, by +night or day, living or dead, he began to insinuate, 'that the banks +had removed a' their ready cash into the Castle; that, nae doubt, +Sandie Goldie, the silversmith, would do mickle for his honour; but +there was little time to get the wadset made out; and, doubtless, if +his honour Glennaquoich or Mr. Wauverley could accommodate--' + +'Let me hear of no such nonsense, sir,' said the Baron, in a tone which +rendered Macwheeble mute, 'but proceed as we accorded before dinner, if +it be your wish to remain in my service.' + +To this peremptory order the Bailie, though he felt as if condemned to +suffer a transfusion of blood from his own veins into those of the +Baron, did not presume to make any reply. After fidgeting a little +while longer, however, he addressed himself to Glennaquoich, and told +him, if his honour had mair ready siller than was sufficient for his +occasions in the field, he could put it out at use for his honour in +safe hands and at great profit at this time. + +At this proposal Fergus laughed heartily, and answered, when he had +recovered his breath--'Many thanks, Bailie; but you must know, it is a +general custom among us soldiers to make our landlady our banker. Here, +Mrs. Flockhart,' said he, taking four or five broad pieces out of a +well-filled purse and tossing the purse itself, with its remaining +contents, into her apron, 'these will serve my occasions; do you take +the rest. Be my banker if I live, and my executor if I die; but take +care to give something to the Highland cailliachs [Footnote: Old women, +on whom devolved the duty of lamenting for the dead, which the Irish +call keening.] that shall cry the coronach loudest for the last Vich +lan Vohr.' + +'It is the testamentum militare,' quoth the Baron, 'whilk, amang the +Romans, was privilegiate to be nuncupative.' But the soft heart of Mrs. +Flockhart was melted within her at the Chieftain's speech; she set up a +lamentable blubbering, and positively refused to touch the bequest, +which Fergus was therefore obliged to resume. + +'Well, then,' said the Chief, 'if I fall, it will go to the grenadier +that knocks my brains out, and I shall take care he works hard for it.' + +Bailie Macwheeble was again tempted to put in his oar; for where cash +was concerned he did not willingly remain silent. 'Perhaps he had +better carry the gowd to Miss Mac-Ivor, in case of mortality or +accidents of war. It might tak the form of a mortis causa donation in +the young leddie's favour, and--wad cost but the scrape of a pen to mak +it out.' + +'The young lady,' said Fergus,'should such an event happen, will have +other matters to think of than these wretched louis-d'or.' + +'True--undeniable--there's nae doubt o' that; but your honour kens that +a full sorrow--' + +'Is endurable by most folk more easily than a hungry one? True, Bailie, +very true; and I believe there may even be some who would be consoled +by such a reflection for the loss of the whole existing generation. But +there is a sorrow which knows neither hunger nor thirst; and poor +Flora--' He paused, and the whole company sympathised in his emotion. + +The Baron's thoughts naturally reverted to the unprotected state of his +daughter, and the big tear came to the veteran's eye. 'If I fall, +Macwheeble, you have all my papers and know all my affairs; be just to +Rose.' + +The Bailie was a man of earthly mould, after all; a good deal of dirt +and dross about him, undoubtedly, but some kindly and just feelings he +had, especially where the Baron or his young mistress were concerned. +He set up a lamentable howl. 'If that doleful day should come, while +Duncan Macwheeble had a boddle it should be Miss Rose's. He wald scroll +for a plack the sheet or she kenn'd what it was to want; if indeed a' +the bonnie baronie o' Bradwardine and Tully-Veolan, with the fortalice +and manor-place thereof (he kept sobbing and whining at every pause), +tofts, crofts, mosses, muirs--outfield, +infield--buildings--orchards--dove-cots--with the right of net and +coble in the water and loch of Veolan--teinds, parsonage and +vicarage--annexis, connexis--rights of pasturage--feul, feal and +divot--parts, pendicles, and pertinents whatsoever--(here he had +recourse to the end of his long cravat to wipe his eyes, which +overflowed, in spite of him, at the ideas which this technical jargon +conjured up)--all as more fully described in the proper evidents and +titles thereof--and lying within the parish of Bradwardine and the +shire of Perth--if, as aforesaid, they must a' pass from my master's +child to Inch-Grabbit, wha's a Whig and a Hanoverian, and be managed by +his doer, Jamie Howie, wha's no fit to be a birlieman, let be a +bailie--' + +The beginning of this lamentation really had something affecting, but +the conclusion rendered laughter irresistible. 'Never mind, Bailie,' +said Ensign Maccombich, 'for the gude auld times of rugging and riving +(pulling and tearing) are come back again, an' Sneckus Mac-Snackus +(meaning, probably, annexis, connexis), and a' the rest of your +friends, maun gie place to the langest claymore.' + +'And that claymore shall be ours, Bailie,' said the Chieftain, who saw +that Macwheeble looked very blank at this intimation. + + 'We'll give them the metal our mountain affords, + Lillibulero, bullen a la, + And in place of broad-pieces, we'll pay with broadswords, + Lero, lero, etc. + With duns and with debts we will soon clear our score, + Lillibulero, etc. + For the man that's thus paid will crave payment no more, + Lero, lero, etc. + +[Footnote: These lines, or something like them, occur in an old +magazine of the period.] + +But come, Bailie, be not cast down; drink your wine with a joyous +heart; the Baron shall return safe and victorious to Tully-Veolan, and +unite Killancureit's lairdship with his own, since the cowardly +half-bred swine will not turn out for the Prince like a gentleman.' + +'To be sure, they lie maist ewest,' said the Bailie, wiping his eyes, +'and should naturally fa' under the same factory.' + +'And I,' proceeded the Chieftain,'shall take care of myself, too; for +you must know, I have to complete a good work here, by bringing Mrs. +Flockhart into the bosom of the Catholic church, or at least half way, +and that is to your Episcopal meeting-house. O Baron! if you heard her +fine counter-tenor admonishing Kate and Matty in the morning, you, who +understand music, would tremble at the idea of hearing her shriek in +the psalmody of Haddo's Hole.' + +'Lord forgie you, colonel, how ye rin on! But I hope your honours will +tak tea before ye gang to the palace, and I maun gang and mask it for +you.' + +So saying, Mrs. Flockhart left the gentlemen to their own conversation, +which, as might be supposed, turned chiefly upon the approaching events +of the campaign. + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE BALL + + +Ensign MacCombich having gone to the Highland camp upon duty, and +Bailie Macwheeble having retired to digest his dinner and Evan Dhu's +intimation of martial law in some blind change-house, Waverley, with +the Baron and the Chieftain, proceeded to Holyrood House. The two last +were in full tide of spirits, and the Baron rallied in his way our hero +upon the handsome figure which his new dress displayed to advantage. +'If you have any design upon the heart of a bonny Scotch lassie, I +would premonish you, when you address her, to remember and quote the +words of Virgilius:-- + + Nunc insanus amor duri me Martis in armis, + Tela inter media atque adversos detinet hostes; + +whilk verses Robertson of Struan, Chief of the Clan Donnochy (unless +the claims of Lude ought to be preferred primo loco), has thus +elegantly rendered:-- + + For cruel love had gartan'd low my leg, + And clad my hurdies in a philabeg. + +Although, indeed, ye wear the trews, a garment whilk I approve maist of +the twa, as mair ancient and seemly.' 'Or rather,' said Fergus, 'hear +my song:-- + + She wadna hae a Lowland laird, + Nor be an English lady; + But she's away with Duncan Grame, + And he's row'd her in his plaidy.' + +By this time they reached the palace of Holyrood, and were announced +respectively as they entered the apartments. + +It is but too well known how many gentlemen of rank, education, and +fortune took a concern in the ill-fated and desperate undertaking of +1745. The ladies, also, of Scotland very generally espoused the cause +of the gallant and handsome young Prince, who threw himself upon the +mercy of his countrymen rather like a hero of romance than a +calculating politician. It is not, therefore, to be wondered that +Edward, who had spent the greater part of his life in the solemn +seclusion of Waverley-Honour, should have been dazzled at the +liveliness and elegance of the scene now exhibited in the long deserted +halls of the Scottish palace. The accompaniments, indeed, fell short of +splendour, being such as the confusion and hurry of the time admitted; +still, however, the general effect was striking, and, the rank of the +company considered, might well be called brilliant. + +It was not long before the lover's eye discovered the object of his +attachment. Flora Mac-Ivor was in the act of returning to her seat, +near the top of the room, with Rose Bradwardine by her side. Among much +elegance and beauty, they had attracted a great degree of the public +attention, being certainly two of the handsomest women present. The +Prince took much notice of both, particularly of Flora, with whom he +danced, a preference which she probably owed to her foreign education +and command of the French and Italian languages. + +When the bustle attending the conclusion of the dance permitted, Edward +almost intuitively followed Fergus to the place where Miss Mac-Ivor was +seated. The sensation of hope with which he had nursed his affection in +absence of the beloved object seemed to vanish in her presence, and, +like one striving to recover the particulars of a forgotten dream, he +would have given the world at that moment to have recollected the +grounds on which he had founded expectations which now seemed so +delusive. He accompanied Fergus with downcast eyes, tingling ears, and +the feelings of the criminal who, while the melancholy cart moves +slowly through the crowds that have assembled to behold his execution, +receives no clear sensation either from the noise which fills his ears +or the tumult on which he casts his wandering look. Flora seemed a +little--a very little--affected and discomposed at his approach. 'I +bring you an adopted son of Ivor,' said Fergus. + +'And I receive him as a second brother,' replied Flora. + +There was a slight emphasis on the word, which would have escaped every +ear but one that was feverish with apprehension. It was, however, +distinctly marked, and, combined with her whole tone and manner, +plainly intimated, 'I will never think of Mr. Waverley as a more +intimate connexion.' Edward stopped, bowed, and looked at Fergus, who +bit his lip, a movement of anger which proved that he also had put a +sinister interpretation on the reception which his sister had given his +friend. 'This, then, is an end of my day-dream!' Such was Waverley's +first thought, and it was so exquisitely painful as to banish from his +cheek every drop of blood. + +'Good God!' said Rose Bradwardine, 'he is not yet recovered!' + +These words, which she uttered with great emotion, were overheard by +the Chevalier himself, who stepped hastily forward, and, taking +Waverley by the hand, inquired kindly after his health, and added that +he wished to speak with him. By a strong and sudden effort; which the +circumstances rendered indispensable, Waverley recovered himself so far +as to follow the Chevalier in silence to a recess in the apartment. + +Here the Prince detained him some time, asking various questions about +the great Tory and Catholic families of England, their connexions, +their influence, and the state of their affections towards the house of +Stuart. To these queries Edward could not at any time have given more +than general answers, and it may be supposed that, in the present state +of his feelings, his responses were indistinct even to confusion. The +Chevalier smiled once or twice at the incongruity of his replies, but +continued the same style of conversation, although he found himself +obliged to occupy the principal share of it, until he perceived that +Waverley had recovered his presence of mind. It is probable that this +long audience was partly meant to further the idea which the Prince +desired should be entertained among his followers, that Waverley was a +character of political influence. But it appeared, from his concluding +expressions, that he had a different and good-natured motive, personal +to our hero, for prolonging the conference. 'I cannot resist the +temptation,' he said, 'of boasting of my own discretion as a lady's +confidant. You see, Mr. Waverley, that I know all, and I assure you I +am deeply interested in the affair. But, my good young friend, you must +put a more severe restraint upon your feelings. There are many here +whose eyes can see as clearly as mine, but the prudence of whose +tongues may not be equally trusted,' + +So saying, he turned easily away and joined a circle of officers at a +few paces' distance, leaving Waverley to meditate upon his parting +expression, which, though not intelligible to him in its whole purport, +was sufficiently so in the caution which the last word recommended. +Making, therefore, an effort to show himself worthy of the interest +which his new master had expressed, by instant obedience to his +recommendation, he walked up to the spot where Flora and Miss +Bradwardine were still seated, and having made his compliments to the +latter, he succeeded, even beyond his own expectation, in entering into +conversation upon general topics. + +If, my dear reader, thou hast ever happened to take post-horses at ---- +or at ----(one at least of which blanks, or more probably both, you +will be able to fill up from an inn near your own residence), you must +have observed, and doubtless with sympathetic pain, the reluctant agony +with which the poor jades at first apply their galled necks to the +collars of the harness. But when the irresistible arguments of the +post-boy have prevailed upon them to proceed a mile or two, they will +become callous to the first sensation; and being warm in the harness, +as the said post-boy may term it, proceed as if their withers were +altogether unwrung. This simile so much corresponds with the state of +Waverley's feelings in the course of this memorable evening, that I +prefer it (especially as being, I trust, wholly original) to any more +splendid illustration with which Byshe's 'Art of Poetry' might supply +me. + +Exertion, like virtue, is its own reward; and our hero had, moreover, +other stimulating motives for persevering in a display of affected +composure and indifference to Flora's obvious unkindness. Pride, which +supplies its caustic as an useful, though severe, remedy for the wounds +of affection, came rapidly to his aid. Distinguished by the favour of a +prince; destined, he had room to hope, to play a conspicuous part in +the revolution which awaited a mighty kingdom; excelling, probably, in +mental acquirements, and equalling at least in personal +accomplishments, most of the noble and distinguished persons with whom +he was now ranked; young, wealthy, and high-born,--could he, or ought +he, to droop beneath the frown of a capricious beauty? + + O nymph, unrelenting and cold as thou art, + My bosom is proud as thine own. + +With the feeling expressed in these beautiful lines (which, however, +were not then written), [Footnote: They occur in Miss Seward's fine +verses, beginning--'To thy rocks, stormy Lannow, adieu.'] Waverley +determined upon convincing Flora that he was not to be depressed by a +rejection in which his vanity whispered that perhaps she did her own +prospects as much injustice as his. And, to aid this change of feeling, +there lurked the secret and unacknowledged hope that she might learn to +prize his affection more highly, when she did not conceive it to be +altogether within her own choice to attract or repulse it. There was a +mystic tone of encouragement, also, in the Chevalier's words, though he +feared they only referred to the wishes of Fergus in favour of an union +between him and his sister. But the whole circumstances of time, place, +and incident combined at once to awaken his imagination and to call +upon him for a manly and decisive tone of conduct, leaving to fate to +dispose of the issue. Should he appear to be the only one sad and +disheartened on the eve of battle, how greedily would the tale be +commented upon by the slander which had been already but too busy with +his fame! Never, never, he internally resolved, shall my unprovoked +enemies possess such an advantage over my reputation. + +Under the influence of these mixed sensations, and cheered at times by +a smile of intelligence and approbation from the Prince as he passed +the group, Waverley exerted his powers of fancy, animation, and +eloquence, and attracted the general admiration of the company. The +conversation gradually assumed the tone best qualified for the display +of his talents and acquisitions. The gaiety of the evening was exalted +in character, rather than checked, by the approaching dangers of the +morrow. All nerves were strung for the future, and prepared to enjoy +the present. This mood of mind is highly favourable for the exercise of +the powers of imagination, for poetry, and for that eloquence which is +allied to poetry. Waverley, as we have elsewhere observed, possessed at +times a wonderful flow of rhetoric; and on the present occasion, he +touched more than once the higher notes of feeling, and then again ran +off in a wild voluntary of fanciful mirth. He was supported and excited +by kindred spirits, who felt the same impulse of mood and time; and +even those of more cold and calculating habits were hurried along by +the torrent. Many ladies declined the dance, which still went forward, +and under various pretences joined the party to which the 'handsome +young Englishman' seemed to have attached himself. He was presented to +several of the first rank, and his manners, which for the present were +altogether free from the bashful restraint by which, in a moment of +less excitation, they were usually clouded, gave universal delight. + +Flora Mac-Ivor appeared to be the only female present who regarded him +with a degree of coldness and reserve; yet even she could not suppress +a sort of wonder at talents which, in the course of their acquaintance, +she had never seen displayed with equal brilliancy and impressive +effect. I do not know whether she might not feel a momentary regret at +having taken so decisive a resolution upon the addresses of a lover who +seemed fitted so well to fill a high place in the highest stations of +society. Certainly she had hitherto accounted among the incurable +deficiencies of Edward's disposition the mauvaise honte which, as she +had been educated in the first foreign circles, and was little +acquainted with the shyness of English manners, was in her opinion too +nearly related to timidity and imbecility of disposition. But if a +passing wish occurred that Waverley could have rendered himself +uniformly thus amiable and attractive, its influence was momentary; for +circumstances had arisen since they met which rendered in her eyes the +resolution she had formed respecting him final and irrevocable. + +With opposite feelings Rose Bradwardine bent her whole soul to listen. +She felt a secret triumph at the public tribute paid to one whose merit +she had learned to prize too early and too fondly. Without a thought of +jealousy, without a feeling of fear, pain, or doubt, and undisturbed by +a single selfish consideration, she resigned herself to the pleasure of +observing the general murmur of applause. When Waverley spoke, her ear +was exclusively filled with his voice, when others answered, her eye +took its turn of observation, and seemed to watch his reply. Perhaps +the delight which she experienced in the course of that evening, though +transient, and followed by much sorrow, was in its nature the most pure +and disinterested which the human mind is capable of enjoying. + +'Baron,' said the Chevalier, 'I would not trust my mistress in the +company of your young friend. He is really, though perhaps somewhat +romantic, one of the most fascinating young men whom I have ever seen.' + +'And by my honour, sir,' replied the Baron,'the lad can sometimes be as +dowff as a sexagenary like myself. If your Royal Highness had seen him +dreaming and dozing about the banks of Tully-Veolan like an +hypochondriac person, or, as Burton's "Anatomia" hath it, a phrenesiac +or lethargic patient, you would wonder where he hath sae suddenly +acquired all this fine sprack festivity and jocularity.' + +'Truly,' said Fergus Mac-Ivor, 'I think it can only be the inspiration +of the tartans; for, though Waverley be always a young fellow of sense +and honour, I have hitherto often found him a very absent and +inattentive companion.' + +'We are the more obliged to him,' said the Prince, 'for having reserved +for this evening qualities which even such intimate friends had not +discovered. But come, gentlemen, the night advances, and the business +of tomorrow must be early thought upon. Each take charge of his fair +partner, and honour a small refreshment with your company.' + +He led the way to another suite of apartments, and assumed the seat and +canopy at the head of a long range of tables with an air of dignity, +mingled with courtesy, which well became his high birth and lofty +pretensions. An hour had hardly flown away when the musicians played +the signal for parting so well known in Scotland. [Footnote: Which is, +or was wont to be, the old air of 'Good-night and joy be wi' you a'.] + +'Good-night, then,' said the Chevalier, rising; 'goodnight, and joy be +with you! Good-night, fair ladies, who have so highly honoured a +proscribed and banished Prince! Good-night, my brave friends; may the +happiness we have this evening experienced be an omen of our return to +these our paternal halls, speedily and in triumph, and of many and many +future meetings of mirth and pleasure in the palace of Holyrood!' + +When the Baron of Bradwardine afterwards mentioned this adieu of the +Chevalier, he never failed to repeat, in a melancholy tone, + + 'Audiit, et voti Phoebus succedere partem + Mente dedit; partem volucres dispersit in auras; + +which,' as he added, 'is weel rendered into English metre by my friend +Bangour:-- + + Ae half the prayer wi' Phoebus grace did find, + The t'other half he whistled down the wind.' + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +THE MARCH + + +The conflicting passions and exhausted feelings of Waverley had +resigned him to late but sound repose. He was dreaming of Glennaquoich, +and had transferred to the halls of lan nan Chaistel the festal train +which so lately graced those of Holyrood. The pibroch too was +distinctly heard; and this at least was no delusion, for the 'proud +step of the chief piper' of the 'chlain MacIvor' was perambulating the +court before the door of his Chieftain's quarters, and as Mrs. +Flockhart, apparently no friend to his minstrelsy, was pleased to +observe, 'garring the very stane-and-lime wa's dingle wi' his +screeching.' Of course it soon became too powerful for Waverley's +dream, with which it had at first rather harmonised. + +The sound of Callum's brogues in his apartment (for Mac-Ivor had again +assigned Waverley to his care) was the next note of parting. 'Winna yer +honour bang up? Vich lan Vohr and ta Prince are awa to the lang green +glen ahint the clachan, tat they ca' the King's Park, [Footnote: The +main body of the Highland army encamped, or rather bivouacked, in that +part of the King's Park which lies towards the village of Duddingston.] +and mony ane's on his ain shanks the day that will be carried on ither +folk's ere night.' + +Waverley sprung up, and, with Callum's assistance and instructions, +adjusted his tartans in proper costume. Callum told him also,' tat his +leather dorlach wi' the lock on her was come frae Doune, and she was +awa again in the wain wi' Vich Ian Vohr's walise.' + +By this periphrasis Waverley readily apprehended his portmanteau was +intended. He thought upon the mysterious packet of the maid of the +cavern, which seemed always to escape him when within his very grasp. +But this was no time for indulgence of curiosity; and having declined +Mrs. Flockhart's compliment of a MORNING, i.e. a matutinal dram, being +probably the only man in the Chevalier's army by whom such a courtesy +would have been rejected, he made his adieus and departed with Callum. + +'Callum,' said he, as they proceeded down a dirty close to gain the +southern skirts of the Canongate, 'what shall I do for a horse?' + +'Ta deil ane ye maun think o',' said Callum. 'Vich Ian Vohr's marching +on foot at the head o' his kin (not to say ta Prince, wha does the +like), wi' his target on his shoulder; and ye maun e'en be +neighbour-like.' + +'And so I will, Callum, give me my target; so, there we are fixed. How +does it look?' + +'Like the bra' Highlander tat's painted on the board afore the mickle +change-house they ca' Luckie Middlemass's,' answered Callum; meaning, I +must observe, a high compliment, for in his opinion Luckie Middlemass's +sign was an exquisite specimen of art. Waverley, however, not feeling +the full force of this polite simile, asked him no further questions. + +Upon extricating themselves from the mean and dirty suburbs of the +metropolis, and emerging into the open air, Waverley felt a renewal of +both health and spirits, and turned his recollection with firmness upon +the events of the preceding evening, and with hope and resolution +towards those of the approaching day. + +When he had surmounted a small craggy eminence called St. Leonard's +Hill, the King's Park, or the hollow between the mountain of Arthur's +Seat and the rising grounds on which the southern part of Edinburgh is +now built, lay beneath him, and displayed a singular and animating +prospect. It was occupied by the army of the Highlanders, now in the +act of preparing for their march. Waverley had already seen something +of the kind at the hunting-match which he attended with Fergus MacIvor; +but this was on a scale of much greater magnitude, and incomparably +deeper interest. The rocks, which formed the background of the scene, +and the very sky itself, rang with the clang of the bagpipers, +summoning forth, each with his appropriate pibroch, his chieftain and +clan. The mountaineers, rousing themselves from their couch under the +canopy of heaven with the hum and bustle of a confused and irregular +multitude, like bees alarmed and arming in their hives, seemed to +possess all the pliability of movement fitted to execute military +manoeuvres. Their motions appeared spontaneous and confused, but the +result was order and regularity; so that a general must have praised +the conclusion, though a martinet might have ridiculed the method by +which it was attained. + +The sort of complicated medley created by the hasty arrangements of the +various clans under their respective banners, for the purpose of +getting into the order of march, was in itself a gay and lively +spectacle. They had no tents to striket having generally, and by +choice, slept upon the open field, although the autumn was now waning +and the nights began to be frosty. For a little space, while they were +getting into order, there was exhibited a changing, fluctuating, and +confused appearance of waving tartans and floating plumes, and of +banners displaying the proud gathering word of Clanronald, Ganion +Coheriga (Gainsay who dares), Loch-Sloy, the watchword of the +MacFarlanes; Forth, fortune, and fill the fetters, the motto of the +Marquis of Tullibardine; Bydand, that of Lord Lewis Gordon, and the +appropriate signal words and emblems of many other chieftains and clans. + +At length the mixed and wavering multitude arranged themselves into a +narrow and dusky column of great length, stretching through the whole +extent of the valley. In the front of the column the standard of the +Chevalier was displayed, bearing a red cross upon a white ground, with +the motto Tandem Triumphans. The few cavalry, being chiefly Lowland +gentry, with their domestic servants and retainers, formed the advanced +guard of the army; and their standards, of which they had rather too +many in respect of their numbers, were seen waving upon the extreme +verge of the horizon. Many horsemen of this body, among whom Waverley +accidentally remarked Balmawhapple and his lieutenant, Jinker (which +last, however, had been reduced, with several others, by the advice of +the Baron of Bradwardine, to the situation of what he called reformed +officers, or reformadoes), added to the liveliness, though by no means +to the regularity, of the scene, by galloping their horses as fast +forward as the press would permit, to join their proper station in the +van. The fascinations of the Circes of the High Street, and the +potations of strength with which they had been drenched over night, had +probably detained these heroes within the walls of Edinburgh somewhat +later than was consistent with their morning duty. Of such loiterers, +the prudent took the longer and circuitous, but more open, route to +attain their place in the march, by keeping at some distance from the +infantry, and making their way through the inclosures to the right, at +the expense of leaping over or pulling down the drystone fences. The +irregular appearance and vanishing of these small parties of horsemen, +as well as the confusion occasioned by those who endeavoured, though +generally without effect, to press to the front through the crowd of +Highlanders, maugre their curses, oaths, and opposition, added to the +picturesque wildness what it took from the military regularity of the +scene. + +While Waverley gazed upon this remarkable spectacle, rendered yet more +impressive by the occasional discharge of cannon-shot from the Castle +at the Highland guards as they were withdrawn from its vicinity to join +their main body, Callum, with his usual freedom of interference, +reminded him that Vich lan Vohr's folk were nearly at the head of the +column of march which was still distant, and that 'they would gang very +fast after the cannon fired.' Thus admonished, Waverley walked briskly +forward, yet often casting a glance upon the darksome clouds of +warriors who were collected before and beneath him. A nearer view, +indeed, rather diminished the effect impressed on the mind by the more +distant appearance of the army. The leading men of each clan were well +armed with broad-sword, target, and fusee, to which all added the dirk, +and most the steel pistol. But these consisted of gentlemen, that is, +relations of the chief, however distant, and who had an immediate title +to his countenance and protection. Finer and hardier men could not have +been selected out of any army in Christendom; while the free and +independent habits which each possessed, and which each was yet so well +taught to subject to the command of his chief, and the peculiar mode of +discipline adopted in Highland warfare, rendered them equally +formidable by their individual courage and high spirit, and from their +rational conviction of the necessity of acting in unison, and of giving +their national mode of attack the fullest opportunity of success. + +But, in a lower rank to these, there were found individuals of an +inferior description, the common peasantry of the Highland country, +who, although they did not allow themselves to be so called, and +claimed often, with apparent truth, to be of more ancient descent than +the masters whom they served, bore, nevertheless, the livery of extreme +penury, being indifferently accoutred, and worse armed, half naked, +stinted in growth, and miserable in aspect. Each important clan had +some of those Helots attached to them: thus, the MacCouls, though +tracing their descent from Comhal, the father of Finn or Fingal, were a +sort of Gibeonites, or hereditary servants to the Stewarts of Appin; +the Macbeths, descended from the unhappy monarch of that name, were +subjects to the Morays and clan Donnochy, or Robertsons of Athole; and +many other examples might be given, were it not for the risk of hurting +any pride of clanship which may yet be left, and thereby drawing a +Highland tempest into the shop of my publisher. Now these same Helots, +though forced into the field by the arbitrary authority of the +chieftains under whom they hewed wood and drew water, were in general +very sparingly fed, ill dressed, and worse armed. The latter +circumstance was indeed owing chiefly to the general disarming act, +which had been carried into effect ostensibly through the whole +Highlands, although most of the chieftains contrived to elude its +influence by retaining the weapons of their own immediate clansmen, and +delivering up those of less value, which they collected from these +inferior satellites. It followed, as a matter of course, that, as we +have already hinted, many of these poor fellows were brought to the +field in a very wretched condition. + +From this it happened that, in bodies, the van of which were admirably +well armed in their own fashion, the rear resembled actual banditti. +Here was a pole-axe, there a sword without a scabbard; here a gun +without a lock, there a scythe set straight upon a pole; and some had +only their dirks, and bludgeons or stakes pulled out of hedges. The +grim, uncombed, and wild appearance of these men, most of whom gazed +with all the admiration of ignorance upon the most ordinary productions +of domestic art, created surprise in the Lowlands, but it also created +terror. So little was the condition of the Highlands known at that late +period that the character and appearance of their population, while +thus sallying forth as military adventurers, conveyed to the +South-Country Lowlanders as much surprise as if an invasion of African +Negroes or Esquimaux Indians had issued forth from the northern +mountains of their own native country. It cannot therefore be wondered +if Waverley, who had hitherto judged of the Highlanders generally from +the samples which the policy of Fergus had from time to time exhibited, +should have felt damped and astonished at the daring attempt of a body +not then exceeding four thousand men, and of whom not above half the +number, at the utmost, were armed, to change the fate and alter the +dynasty of the British kingdoms. + +As he moved along the column, which still remained stationary, an iron +gun, the only piece of artillery possessed by the army which meditated +so important a revolution, was fired as the signal of march. The +Chevalier had expressed a wish to leave this useless piece of ordnance +behind him; but, to his surprise, the Highland chiefs interposed to +solicit that it might accompany their march, pleading the prejudices of +their followers, who, little accustomed to artillery, attached a degree +of absurd importance to this field-piece, and expected it would +contribute essentially to a victory which they could only owe to their +own muskets and broadswords. Two or three French artillerymen were +therefore appointed to the management of this military engine, which +was drawn along by a string of Highland ponies, and was, after all, +only used for the purpose of firing signals. [Footnote: See Note 6.] + +No sooner was its voice heard upon the present occasion than the whole +line was in motion. A wild cry of joy from the advancing batallions +rent the air, and was then lost in the shrill clangour of the bagpipes, +as the sound of these, in their turn, was partially drowned by the +heavy tread of so many men put at once into motion. The banners +glittered and shook as they moved forward, and the horse hastened to +occupy their station as the advanced guard, and to push on +reconnoitring parties to ascertain and report the motions of the enemy. +They vanished from Waverley's eye as they wheeled round the base of +Arthur's Seat, under the remarkable ridge of basaltic rocks which +fronts the little lake of Duddingston. + +The infantry followed in the same direction, regulating their pace by +another body which occupied a road more to the southward. It cost +Edward some exertion of activity to attain the place which Fergus's +followers occupied in the line of march. + + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +AN INCIDENT GIVES RISE TO UNAVAILING REFLECTIONS + + +When Waverley reached that part of the column which was filled by the +clan of Mac-Ivor, they halted, formed, and received him with a +triumphant flourish upon the bagpipes and a loud shout of the men, most +of whom knew him personally, and were delighted to see him in the dress +of their country and of their sept. 'You shout,' said a Highlander of a +neighbouring clan to Evan Dhu, 'as if the Chieftain were just come to +your head.' + +'_Mar e Bran is e a brathair_, If it be not Bran, it is Bran's +brother,' was the proverbial reply of Maccombich. [Footnote: Bran, the +well-known dog of Fingal. is often the theme of Highland proverb as +well as song.] + +'O, then, it is the handsome Sassenach duinhe-wassel that is to be +married to Lady Flora?' + +'That may be, or it may not be; and it is neither your matter nor mine, +Gregor.' + +Fergus advanced to embrace the volunteer, and afford him a warm and +hearty welcome; but he thought it necessary to apologize for the +diminished numbers of his battalion (which did not exceed three hundred +men) by observing he had sent a good many out upon parties. + +The real fact, however, was, that the defection of Donald Bean Lean had +deprived him of at least thirty hardy fellows, whose services he had +fully reckoned upon, and that many of his occasional adherents had been +recalled by their several chiefs to the standards to which they most +properly owed their allegiance. The rival chief of the great northern +branch, also, of his own clan had mustered his people, although he had +not yet declared either for the government or for the Chevalier, and by +his intrigues had in some degree diminished the force with which Fergus +took the field. To make amends for these disappointments, it was +universally admitted that the followers of Vich Ian Vohr, in point of +appearance, equipment, arms, and dexterity in using them, equalled the +most choice troops which followed the standard of Charles Edward. Old +Ballenkeiroch acted as his major; and, with the other officers who had +known Waverley when at Glennaquoich, gave our hero a cordial reception, +as the sharer of their future dangers and expected honours. + +The route pursued by the Highland army, after leaving the village of +Duddingston, was for some time the common post-road betwixt Edinburgh +and Haddington, until they crossed the Esk at Musselburgh, when, +instead of keeping the low grounds towards the sea, they turned more +inland, and occupied the brow of the eminence called Carberry Hill, a +place already distinguished in Scottish history as the spot where the +lovely Mary surrendered herself to her insurgent subjects. This +direction was chosen because the Chevalier had received notice that the +army of the government, arriving by sea from Aberdeen, had landed at +Dunbar, and quartered the night before to the west of Haddington, with +the intention of falling down towards the sea-side, and approaching +Edinburgh by the lower coast-road. By keeping the height, which +overhung that road in many places, it was hoped the Highlanders might +find an opportunity of attacking them to advantage. The army therefore +halted upon the ridge of Carberry Hill, both to refresh the soldiers +and as a central situation from which their march could be directed to +any point that the motions of the enemy might render most advisable. +While they remained in this position a messenger arrived in haste to +desire Mac-Ivor to come to the Prince, adding that their advanced post +had had a skirmish with some of the enemy's cavalry, and that the Baron +of Bradwardine had sent in a few prisoners. + +Waverley walked forward out of the line to satisfy his curiosity, and +soon observed five or six of the troopers who, covered with dust, had +galloped in to announce that the enemy were in full march westward +along the coast. Passing still a little farther on, he was struck with +a groan which issued from a hovel. He approached the spot, and heard a +voice, in the provincial English of his native county, which +endeavoured, though frequently interrupted by pain, to repeat the +Lord's Prayer. The voice of distress always found a ready answer in our +hero's bosom. He entered the hovel, which seemed to be intended for +what is called, in the pastoral counties of Scotland, a smearing-house; +and in its obscurity Edward could only at first discern a sort of red +bundle; for those who had stripped the wounded man of his arms and part +of his clothes had left him the dragoon-cloak in which he was enveloped. + +'For the love of God,' said the wounded man, as he heard Waverley's +step, 'give me a single drop of water!' + +'You shall have it,' answered Waverley, at the same time raising him in +his arms, bearing him to the door of the hut, and giving him some drink +from his flask. + +'I should know that voice,' said the man; but looking on Waverley's +dress with a bewildered look--'no, this is not the young squire!' + +This was the common phrase by which Edward was distinguished on the +estate of Waverley-Honour, and the sound now thrilled to his heart with +the thousand recollections which the well-known accents of his native +country had already contributed to awaken. 'Houghton!' he said, gazing +on the ghastly features which death was fast disfiguring, 'can this be +you?' + +'I never thought to hear an English voice again,' said the wounded +man;'they left me to live or die here as I could, when they found I +would say nothing about the strength of the regiment. But, O squire! +how could you stay from us so long, and let us be tempted by that fiend +of the pit, Rufinn? we should have followed you through flood and fire, +to be sure.' + +'Rufin! I assure you, Houghton, you have been vilely imposed upon.' + +'I often thought so,' said Houghton,'though they showed us your very +seal; and so Tims was shot and I was reduced to the ranks.' + +'Do not exhaust your strength in speaking,' said Edward; 'I will get +you a surgeon presently.' + +He saw Mac-Ivor approaching, who was now returning from headquarters, +where he had attended a council of war, and hastened to meet him. +'Brave news!'shouted the Chief; 'we shall be at it in less than two +hours. The Prince has put himself at the head of the advance, and, as +he drew his sword, called out, "My friends, I have thrown away the +scabbard." Come, Waverley, we move instantly.' + +'A moment--a moment; this poor prisoner is dying; where shall I find a +surgeon?' + +'Why, where should you? We have none, you know, but two or three French +fellows, who, I believe, are little better than _garqons apothecaires_.' + +'But the man will bleed to death.' + +'Poor fellow!' said Fergus, in a momentary fit of compassion; then +instantly added, 'But it will be a thousand men's fate before night; so +come along.' + +'I cannot; I tell you he is a son of a tenant of my uncle's.' + +'O, if he's a follower of yours he must be looked to; I'll send Callum +to you; but _diaoul! ceade millia mottigheart_,' continued the +impatient Chieftain, 'what made an old soldier like Bradwardine send +dying men here to cumber us?' + +Callum came with his usual alertness; and, indeed, Waverley rather +gained than lost in the opinion of the Highlanders by his anxiety about +the wounded man. They would not have understood the general +philanthropy which rendered it almost impossible for Waverley to have +passed any person in such distress; but, as apprehending that the +sufferer was one of his _following_ they unanimously allowed that +Waverley's conduct was thatof akind and considerate chieftain, who +merited the attachment of his people. In about a quarter of an hour +poor Humphrey breathed his last, praying his young master, when he +returned to Waverley-Honour, to be kind to old Job Houghton and his +dame, and conjuring him not to fight with these wild petticoat-men +against old England. + +When his last breath was drawn, Waverley, who had beheld with sincere +sorrow, and no slight tinge of remorse, the final agonies of mortality, +now witnessed for the first time, commanded Callum to remove the body +into the hut. This the young Highlander performed, not without +examining the pockets of the defunct, which, however, he remarked had +been pretty well spunged. He took the cloak, however, and proceeding +with the provident caution of a spaniel hiding a bone, concealed it +among some furze and carefully marked the spot, observing that, if he +chanced to return that way, it would be an excellent rokelay for his +auld mother Elspat. + +It was by a considerable exertion that they regained their place in the +marching column, which was now moving rapidly forward to occupy the +high grounds above the village of Tranent, between which and the sea +lay the purposed march of the opposite army. + +This melancholy interview with his late sergeant forced many unavailing +and painful reflections upon Waverley's mind. It was clear from the +confession of the man that Colonel Gardiner's proceedings had been +strictly warranted, and even rendered indispensable, by the steps taken +in Edward's name to induce the soldiers of his troop to mutiny. The +circumstance of the seal he now, for the first time, recollected, and +that he had lost it in the cavern of the robber, Bean Lean. That the +artful villain had secured it, and used it as the means of carrying on +an intrigue in the regiment for his own purposes, was sufficiently +evident; and Edward had now little doubt that in the packet placed in +his portmanteau by his daughter he should find farther light upon his +proceedings. In the meanwhile the repeated expostulation of +Houghton--'Ah, squire, why did you leave us?' rung like a knell in his +ears. + +'Yes,' he said, 'I have indeed acted towards you with thoughtless +cruelty. I brought you from your paternal fields, and the protection of +a generous and kind landlord, and when I had subjected you to all the +rigour of military discipline, I shunned to bear my own share of the +burden, and wandered from the duties I had undertaken, leaving alike +those whom it was my business to protect, and my own reputation, to +suffer under the artifices of villainy. O, indolence and indecision of +mind, if not in yourselves vices--to how much exquisite misery and +mischief do you frequently prepare the way!' + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +THE EVE OF BATTLE + + +Although the Highlanders marched on very fast, the sun was declining +when they arrived upon the brow of those high grounds which command an +open and extensive plain stretching northward to the sea, on which are +situated, but at a considerable distance from each other, the small +villages of Seaton and Cockenzie, and the larger one of Preston. One of +the low coastroads to Edinburgh passed through this plain, issuing upon +it from the enclosures of Seaton House, and at the town or village of +Preston again entering the denies of an enclosed country. By this way +the English general had chosen to approach the metropolis, both as most +commodious for his cavalry, and being probably of opinion that by doing +so he would meet in front with the Highlanders advancing from Edinburgh +in the opposite direction. In this he was mistaken; for the sound +judgment of the Chevalier, or of those to whose advice he listened, +left the direct passage free, but occupied the strong ground by which +it was overlooked and commanded. + +When the Highlanders reached the heights above the plain described, +they were immediately formed in array of battle along the brow of the +hill. Almost at the same instant the van of the English appeared +issuing from among the trees and enclosures of Seaton, with the purpose +of occupying the level plain between the high ground and the sea; the +space which divided the armies being only about half a mile in breadth. +Waverley could plainly see the squadrons of dragoons issue, one after +another, from the defiles, with their videttes in front, and form upon +the plain, with their front opposed to that of the Prince's army. They +were followed by a train of field-pieces, which, when they reached the +flank of the dragoons, were also brought into line and pointed against +the heights. The march was continued by three or four regiments of +infantry marching in open column, their fixed bayonets showing like +successive hedges of steel, and their arms glancing like lightning, as, +at a signal given, they also at once wheeled up, and were placed in +direct opposition to the Highlanders. A second train of artillery, with +another regiment of horse, closed the long march, and formed on the +left flank of the infantry, the whole line facing southward. + +While the English army went through these evolutions, the Highlanders +showed equal promptitude and zeal for battle. As fast as the clans came +upon the ridge which fronted their enemy, they were formed into line, +so that both armies got into complete order of battle at the same +moment. When this was accomplished, the Highlanders set up a tremendous +yell, which was re-echoed by the heights behind them. The regulars, who +were in high spirits, returned a loud shout of defiance, and fired one +or two of their cannon upon an advanced post of the Highlanders. The +latter displayed great earnestness to proceed instantly to the attack, +Evan Dhu urging to Fergus, by way of argument, that 'the SIDIER ROY was +tottering like an egg upon a staff, and that they had a' the vantage of +the onset, for even a haggis (God bless her!) could charge down hill.' + +But the ground through which the mountaineers must have descended, +although not of great extent, was impracticable in its character, being +not only marshy but intersected with walls of dry stone, and traversed +in its whole length by a very broad and deep ditch, circumstances which +must have given the musketry of the regulars dreadful advantages before +the mountaineers could have used their swords, on which they were +taught to rely. The authority of the commanders was therefore +interposed to curb the impetuosity of the Highlanders, and only a few +marksmen were sent down the descent to skirmish with the enemy's +advanced posts and to reconnoitre the ground. + +Here, then, was a military spectacle of no ordinary interest or usual +occurrence. The two armies, so different in aspect and discipline, yet +each admirably trained in its own peculiar mode of war, upon whose +conflict the temporary fate at least of Scotland appeared to depend, +now faced each other like two gladiators in the arena, each meditating +upon the mode of attacking their enemy. The leading officers and the +general's staff of each army could be distinguished in front of their +lines, busied with spy-glasses to watch each other's motions, and +occupied in despatching the orders and receiving the intelligence +conveyed by the aides-de-camp and orderly men, who gave life to the +scene by galloping along in different directions, as if the fate of the +day depended upon the speed of their horses. The space between the +armies was at times occupied by the partial and irregular contest of +individual sharp-shooters, and a hat or bonnet was occasionally seen to +fall, as a wounded man was borne off by his comrades. These, however, +were but trifling skirmishes, for it suited the views of neither party +to advance in that direction. From the neighbouring hamlets the +peasantry cautiously showed themselves, as if watching the issue of the +expected engagement; and at no great distance in the bay were two +square-rigged vessels, bearing the English flag, whose tops and yards +were crowded with less timid spectators. + +When this awful pause had lasted for a short time, Fergus, with another +chieftain, received orders to detach their clans towards the village of +Preston, in order to threaten the right flank of Cope's army and compel +him to a change of position. To enable him to execute these orders, the +Chief of Glennaquoich occupied the church-yard of Tranent, a commanding +situation, and a convenient place, as Evan Dhu remarked, 'for any +gentleman who might have the misfortune to be killed, and chanced to be +curious about Christian burial.' To check or dislodge this party, the +English general detached two guns, escorted by a strong party of +cavalry. They approached so near that Waverley could plainly recognise +the standard of the troop he had formerly commanded, and hear the +trumpets and kettle-drums sound the signal of advance which he had so +often obeyed. He could hear, too, the well-known word given in the +English dialect by the equally well-distinguished voice of the +commanding officer, for whom he had once felt so much respect. It was +at that instant, that, looking around him, he saw the wild dress and +appearance of his Highland associates, heard their whispers in an +uncouth and unknown language, looked upon his own dress, so unlike that +which he had worn from his infancy, and wished to awake from what +seemed at the moment a dream, strange, horrible, and unnatural. 'Good +God!' he muttered, 'am I then a traitor to my country, a renegade to my +standard, and a foe, as that poor dying wretch expressed himself, to my +native England!' + +Ere he could digest or smother the recollection, the tall military form +of his late commander came full in view, for the purpose of +reconnoitring. 'I can hit him now,' said Callum, cautiously raising his +fusee over the wall under which he lay couched, at scarce sixty yards' +distance. + +Edward felt as if he was about to see a parricide committed in his +presence; for the venerable grey hair and striking countenance of the +veteran recalled the almost paternal respect with which his officers +universally regarded him. But ere he could say 'Hold!' an aged +Highlander who lay beside Callum Beg stopped his arm. 'Spare your +shot,' said the seer, 'his hour is not yet come. But let him beware of +to-morrow; I see his winding-sheet high upon his breast.' + +Callum, flint to other considerations, was penetrable to superstition. +He turned pale at the words of the _taishatr_, and recovered his piece. +Colonel Gardiner, unconscious of the danger he had escaped, turned his +horse round and rode slowly back to the front of his regiment. + +By this time the regular army had assumed a new line, with one flank +inclined towards the sea and the other resting upon the village of +Preston; and, as similar difficulties occurred in attacking their new +position, Fergus and the rest of the detachment were recalled to their +former post. This alteration created the necessity of a corresponding +change in General Cope's army, which was again brought into a line +parallel with that of the Highlanders. In these manoeuvres on both +sides the daylight was nearly consumed, and both armies prepared to +rest upon their arms for the night in the lines which they respectively +occupied. + +'There will be nothing done to-night,' said Fergus to his friend +Waverley; 'ere we wrap ourselves in our plaids, let us go see what the +Baron is doing in the rear of the line.' + +When they approached his post, they found the good old careful officer, +after having sent out his night patrols and posted his sentinels, +engaged in reading the Evening Service of the Episcopal Church to the +remainder of his troop. His voice was loud and sonorous, and though his +spectacles upon his nose, and the appearance of Saunders Saunderson, in +military array, performing the functions of clerk, had something +ludicrous, yet the circumstances of danger in which they stood, the +military costume of the audience, and the appearance of their horses +saddled and picqueted behind them, gave an impressive and solemn effect +to the office of devotion. + +'I have confessed to-day, ere you were awake,' whispered Fergus to +Waverley; 'yet I am not so strict a Catholic as to refuse to join in +this good man's prayers.' + +Edward assented, and they remained till the Baron had concluded the +service. + +As he shut the book, 'Now, lads,' said he, 'have at them in the morning +with heavy hands and light consciences.' He then kindly greeted +Mac-Ivor and Waverley, who requested to know his opinion of their +situation. Why, you know Tacitus saith, "In rebus bellicis maxime +dominalur Fortuna," which is equiponderate with our vernacular adage, +"Luck can maist in the mellee." But credit me, gentlemen, yon man is +not a deacon o' his craft. He damps the spirits of the poor lads he +commands by keeping them on the defensive, whilk of itself implies +inferiority or fear. Now will they lie on their arms yonder as anxious +and as ill at ease as a toad under a harrow, while our men will be +quite fresh and blithe for action in the morning. Well, good-night. One +thing troubles me, but if to-morrow goes well off, I will consult you +about it, Glennaquoich.' + +'I could almost apply to Mr. Bradwardine the character which Henry +gives of Fluellen,' said Waverley, as his friend and he walked towards +their bivouac: + + 'Though it appears a little out of fashion, + There is much care and valour in this "Scotchman."' + +'He has seen much service,' answered Fergus, 'and one is sometimes +astonished to find how much nonsense and reason are mingled in his +composition. I wonder what can be troubling his mind; probably +something about Rose. Hark! the English are setting their watch.' + +The roll of the drum and shrill accompaniment of the fifes swelled up +the hill--died away--resumed its thunder--and was at length hushed. The +trumpets and kettle-drums of the cavalry were next heard to perform the +beautiful and wild point of war appropriated as a signal for that piece +of nocturnal duty, and then finally sunk upon the wind with a shrill +and mournful cadence. + +The friends, who had now reached their post, stood and looked round +them ere they lay down to rest. The western sky twinkled with stars, +but a frost-mist, rising from the ocean, covered the eastern horizon, +and rolled in white wreaths along the plain where the adverse army lay +couched upon their arms. Their advanced posts were pushed as far as the +side of the great ditch at the bottom of the descent, and had kindled +large fires at different intervals, gleaming with obscure and hazy +lustre through the heavy fog which encircled them with a doubtful halo. + +The Highlanders,'thick as leaves in Vallombrosa,' lay stretched upon +the ridge of the hill, buried (excepting their sentinels) in the most +profound repose. 'How many of these brave fellows will sleep more +soundly before to-morrow night, Fergus!' said Waverley, with an +involuntary sigh. + +'You must notthink of that,' answered Fergus, whose ideas were entirely +military. 'You must only think of your sword, and by whom it was given. +All other reflections are now TOO LATE.' + +With the opiate contained in this undeniable remark Edward endeavoured +to lull the tumult of his conflicting feelings. The Chieftain and he, +combining their plaids, made a comfortable and warm couch. Callum, +sitting down at their head (for it was his duty to watch upon the +immediate person of the Chief), began a long mournful song in Gaelic, +to a low and uniform tune, which, like the sound of the wind at a +distance, soon lulled them to sleep. + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +THE CONFLICT + + +When Fergus Mac-Ivor and his friend had slept for a few hours, they +were awakened and summoned to attend the Prince. The distant village +clock was heard to toll three as they hastened to the place where he +lay. He was already surrounded by his principal officers and the chiefs +of clans. A bundle of pease-straw, which had been lately his couch, now +served for his seat. Just as Fergus reached the circle, the +consultation had broken up. 'Courage, my brave friends!' said the +Chevalier, 'and each one put himself instantly at the head of his +command; a faithful friend [Footnote: See Note 7.] has offered to guide +us by a practicable, though narrow and circuitous, route, which, +sweeping to our right, traverses the broken ground and morass, and +enables us to gain the firm and open plain upon which the enemy are +lying. This difficulty surmounted, Heaven and your good swords must do +the rest.' + +The proposal spread unanimous joy, and each leader hastened to get his +men into order with as little noise as possible. The army, moving by +its right from off the ground on which they had rested, soon entered +the path through the morass, conducting their march with astonishing +silence and great rapidity. The mist had not risen to the higher +grounds, so that for some time they had the advantage of star-light. +But this was lost as the stars faded before approaching day, and the +head of the marching column, continuing its descent, plunged as it were +into the heavy ocean of fog, which rolled its white waves over the +whole plain, and over the sea by which it was bounded. Some +difficulties were now to be encountered, inseparable from darkness, a +narrow, broken, and marshy path, and the necessity of preserving union +in the march. These, however, were less inconvenient to Highlanders, +from their habits of life, than they would have been to any other +troops, and they continued a steady and swift movement. + +As the clan of Ivor approached the firm ground, following the track of +those who preceded them, the challenge of a patrol was heard through +the mist, though they could not see the dragoon by whom it was +made--'Who goes there?' + +'Hush!' cried Fergus, 'hush! let none answer, as he values his life; +press forward'; and they continued their march with silence and +rapidity. + +The patrol fired his carabine upon the body, and the report was +instantly followed by the clang of his horse's feet as he galloped off. +'Hylax in limine latrat,' said the Baron of Bradwardine, who heard the +shot;'that loon will give the alarm.' + +The clan of Fergus had now gained the firm plain, which had lately +borne a large crop of corn. But the harvest was gathered in, and the +expanse was unbroken by tree, bush, or interruption of any kind. The +rest of the army were following fast, when they heard the drums of the +enemy beat the general. Surprise, however, had made no part of their +plan, so they were not disconcerted by this intimation that the foe was +upon his guard and prepared to receive them. It only hastened their +dispositions for the combat, which were very simple. + +The Highland army, which now occupied the eastern end of the wide +plain, or stubble field, so often referred to, was drawn up in two +lines, extending from the morass towards the sea. The first was +destined to charge the enemy, the second to act as a reserve. The few +horse, whom the Prince headed in person, remained between the two +lines. The adventurer had intimated a resolution to charge in person at +the head of his first line; but his purpose was deprecated by all +around him, and he was with difficulty induced to abandon it. + +Both lines were now moving forward, the first prepared for instant +combat. The clans of which it was composed formed each a sort of +separate phalanx, narrow in front, and in depth ten, twelve, or fifteen +files, according to the strength of the following. The best-armed and +best-born, for the words were synonymous, were placed in front of each +of these irregular subdivisions. The others in the rear shouldered +forward the front, and by their pressure added both physical impulse +and additional ardour and confidence to those who were first to +encounter the danger. + +'Down with your plaid, Waverley,' cried Fergus, throwing off his own; +'we'll win silks for our tartans before the sun is above the sea.' + +The clansmen on every side stript their plaids, prepared their arms, +and there was an awful pause of about three minutes, during which the +men, pulling off their bonnets, raised their faces to heaven and +uttered a short prayer; then pulled their bonnets over their brows and +began to move forward, at first slowly. Waverley felt his heart at that +moment throb as it would have burst from his bosom. It was not fear, it +was not ardour: it was a compound of both, a new and deeply energetic +impulse that with its first emotion chilled and astounded, then fevered +and maddened his mind. The sounds around him combined to exalt his +enthusiasm; the pipes played, and the clans rushed forward, each in its +own dark column. As they advanced they mended their pace, and the +muttering sounds of the men to each other began to swell into a wild +cry. + +At this moment the sun, which was now risen above the horizon, +dispelled the mist. The vapours rose like a curtain, and showed the two +armies in the act of closing. The line of the regulars was formed +directly fronting the attack of the Highlanders; it glittered with the +appointments of a complete army, and was flanked by cavalry and +artillery. But the sight impressed no terror on the assailants. + +'Forward, sons of Ivor,' cried their Chief, 'or the Camerons will draw +the first blood!' They rushed on with a tremendous yell. + +The rest is well known. The horse, who were commanded to charge the +advancing Highlanders in the flank, received an irregular fire from +their fusees as they ran on and, seized with a disgraceful panic, +wavered, halted, disbanded, and galloped from the field. The artillery +men, deserted by the cavalry, fled after discharging their pieces, and +the Highlanders, who dropped their guns when fired and drew their +broadswords, rushed with headlong fury against the infantry. + +It was at this moment of confusion and terror that Waverley remarked an +English officer, apparently of high rank, standing, alone and +unsupported, by a fieldpiece, which, after the flight of the men by +whom it was wrought, he had himself levelled and discharged against the +clan of Mac-Ivor, the nearest group of Highlanders within his aim. +Struck with his tall, martial figure, and eager to save him from +inevitable destruction, Waverley outstripped for an instant even the +speediest of the warriors, and, reaching the spot first, called to him +to surrender. The officer replied by a thrust with his sword, which +Waverley received in his target, and in turning it aside the +Englishman's weapon broke. At the same time the battle-axe of Dugald +Mahony was in the act of descending upon the officer's head. Waverley +intercepted and prevented the blow, and the officer, perceiving further +resistance unavailing, and struck with Edward's generous anxiety for +his safety, resigned the fragment of his sword, and was committed by +Waverley to Dugald, with strict charge to use him well, and not to +pillage his person, promising him, at the same time, full +indemnification for the spoil. + +On Edward's right the battle for a few minutes raged fierce and thick. +The English infantry, trained in the wars in Flanders, stood their +ground with great courage. But their extended files were pierced and +broken in many places by the close masses of the clans; and in the +personal struggle which ensued the nature of the Highlanders' weapons, +and their extraordinary fierceness and activity, gave them a decided +superiority over those who had been accustomed to trust much to their +array and discipline, and felt that the one was broken and the other +useless. Waverley, as he cast his eyes towards this scene of smoke and +slaughter, observed Colonel Gardiner, deserted by his own soldiers in +spite of all his attempts to rally them, yet spurring his horse through +the field to take the command of a small body of infantry, who, with +their backs arranged against the wall of his own park (for his house +was close by the field of battle), continued a desperate and unavailing +resistance. Waverley could perceive that he had already received many +wounds, his clothes and saddle being marked with blood. To save this +good and brave man became the instant object of his most anxious +exertions. But he could only witness his fall. Ere Edward could make +his way among the Highlanders, who, furious and eager for spoil, now +thronged upon each other, he saw his former commander brought from his +horse by the blow of a scythe, and beheld him receive, while on the +ground, more wounds than would have let out twenty lives. When Waverley +came up, however, perception had not entirely fled. The dying warrior +seemed to recognize Edward, for he fixed his eye upon him with an +upbraiding, yet sorrowful, look, and appeared to struggle, for +utterance. But he felt that death was dealing closely with him, and +resigning his purpose, and folding his hands as if in devotion, he gave +up his soul to his Creator. The look with which he regarded Waverley in +his dying moments did not strike him so deeply at that crisis of hurry +and confusion as when it recurred to his imagination at the distance of +some time. [Footnote: See Note 8.] + +Loud shouts of triumph now echoed over the whole field. The battle was +fought and won, and the whole baggage, artillery, and military stores +of the regular army remained in possession of the victors. Never was a +victory more complete. Scarce any escaped from the battle, excepting +the cavalry, who had left it at the very onset, and even these were +broken into different parties and scattered all over the country. So +far as our tale is concerned, we have only to relate the fate of +Balmawhapple, who, mounted on a horse as headstrong and stiff-necked as +his rider, pursued the flight of the dragoons above four miles from the +field of battle, when some dozen of the fugitives took heart of grace, +turned round, and cleaving his skull with their broadswords, satisfied +the world that the unfortunate gentleman had actually brains, the end +of his life thus giving proof of a fact greatly doubted during its +progress. His death was lamented by few. Most of those who knew him +agreed in the pithy observation of Ensign Maccombich, that there 'was +mair tint (lost) at Sheriff-Muir.' His friend, Lieutenant Jinker, bent +his eloquence only to exculpate his favourite mare from any share in +contributing to the catastrophe. 'He had tauld the laird a thousand +times,' he said,'that it was a burning shame to put a martingale upon +the puir thing, when he would needs ride her wi' a curb of half a yard +lang; and that he could na but bring himsell (not to say her) to some +mischief, by flinging her down, or otherwise; whereas, if he had had a +wee bit rinnin ring on the snaffle, she wad ha' rein'd as cannily as a +cadger's pownie.' + +Such was the elegy of the Laird of Balmawhapple. [Footnote: See Note 9.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +AN UNEXPECTED EMBARRASSMENT + + +When the battle was over, and all things coming into order, the Baron +of Bradwardine, returning from the duty of the day, and having disposed +those under his command in their proper stations, sought the Chieftain +of Glennaquoich and his friend Edward Waverley. He found the former +busied in determining disputes among his clansmen about points of +precedence and deeds of valour, besides sundry high and doubtful +questions concerning plunder. The most important of the last respected +the property of a gold watch, which had once belonged to some +unfortunate English officer. The party against whom judgment was +awarded consoled himself by observing, 'She (i.e. the watch, which he +took for a living animal) died the very night Vich lan Vohr gave her to +Murdoch'; the machine, having, in fact, stopped for want of winding up. + +It was just when this important question was decided that the Baron of +Bradwardine, with a careful and yet important expression of +countenance, joined the two young men. He descended from his reeking +charger, the care of which he recommended to one of his grooms. 'I +seldom ban, sir,' said he to the man; 'but if you play any of your +hound's-foot tricks, and leave puir Berwick before he's sorted, to rin +after spuilzie, deil be wi' me if I do not give your craig a thraw.' He +then stroked with great complacency the animal which had borne him +through the fatigues of the day, and having taken a tender leave of +him--' Weel, my good young friends, a glorious and decisive victory,' +said he; 'but these loons of troopers fled ower soon. I should have +liked to have shown you the true points of the pralium equestre, or +equestrian combat, whilk their cowardice has postponed, and which I +hold to be the pride and terror of warfare. Weel--I have fought once +more in this old quarrel, though I admit I could not be so far BEN as +you lads, being that it was my point of duty to keep together our +handful of horse. And no cavalier ought in any wise to begrudge honour +that befalls his companions, even though they are ordered upon thrice +his danger, whilk, another time, by the blessing of God, may be his own +case. But, Glennaquoich, and you, Mr. Waverley, I pray ye to give me +your best advice on a matter of mickle weight, and which deeply affects +the honour of the house of Bradwardine. I crave your pardon, Ensign +Maccombich, and yours, Inveraughlin, and yours, Edderalshendrach, and +yours, sir.' + +The last person he addressed was Ballenkeiroch, who, remembering the +death of his son, loured on him with a look of savage defiance. The +Baron, quick as lightning at taking umbrage, had already bent his brow +when Glennaquoich dragged his major from the spot, and remonstrated +with him, in the authoritative tone of a chieftain, on the madness of +reviving a quarrel in such a moment. + +'The ground is cumbered with carcasses,' said the old mountaineer, +turning sullenly away; 'ONE MORE would hardly have been kenn'dupon it; +and if it wasna for yoursell, Vich lan Vohr, that one should be +Bradwardine's or mine.' + +The Chief soothed while he hurried him away; and then returned to the +Baron. 'It is Ballenkeiroch,' he said, in an under and confidential +voice, 'father of the young man who fell eight years since in the +unlucky affair at the mains.' + +'Ah!' said the Baron, instantly relaxing the doubtful sternness of his +features, 'I can take naickle frae a man to whom I have unhappily +rendered sic a displeasure as that. Ye were right to apprise me, +Glennaquoich; he may look as black as midnight at Martinmas ere Cosmo +Comyne Bradwardine shall say he does him wrang. Ah! I have nae male +lineage, and I should bear with one I have made childless, though you +are aware the blood-wit was made up to your ain satisfaction by +assythment, and that I have since expedited letters of slains. Weel, as +I have said, I have no male issue, and yet it is needful that I +maintain the honour of my house; and it is on that score I prayed ye +for your peculiar and private attention.' + +The two young men awaited to hear him, in anxious curiosity. + +'I doubt na, lads,' he proceeded, 'but your education has been sae seen +to that ye understand the true nature of the feudal tenures?' + +Fergus, afraid of an endless dissertation, answered, 'Intimately, +Baron,' and touched Waverley as a signal to express no ignorance. + +'And ye are aware, I doubt not, that the holding of the barony of +Bradwardine is of a nature alike honourable and peculiar, being blanch +(which Craig opines ought to be Latinated blancum, or rather francum, a +free holding) pro sermtio detrahendi, seu exuendi, caligas regis post +battalliam.' Here Fergus turned his falcon eye upon Edward, with an +almost imperceptible rise of his eyebrow, to which his shoulders +corresponded in the same degree of elevation. 'Now, twa points of +dubitation occur to me upon this topic. First, whether this service, or +feudal homage, be at any event due to the person of the Prince, the +words being, per expressum, caligas REGIS, the boots of the king +himself; and I pray your opinion anent that particular before we +proceed farther.' + +'Why, he is Prince Regent,' answered Mac-Ivor, with laudable composure +of countenance; 'and in the court of France all the honours are +rendered to the person of the Regent which are due to that of the King. +Besides, were I to pull off either of their boots, I would render that +service to the young Chevalier ten times more willingly than to his +father.' + +' Ay, but I talk not of personal predilections. However, your authority +is of great weight as to the usages of the court of France; and +doubtless the Prince, as alter ego, may have a right to claim the +homagium of the great tenants of the crown, since all faithful subjects +are commanded, in the commission of regency, to respect him as the +King's own person. Far, therefore, be it from me to diminish the lustre +of his authority by withholding this act of homage, so peculiarly +calculated to give it splendour; for I question if the Emperor of +Germany hath his boots taken off by a free baron of the empire. But +here lieth the second difficulty--the Prince wears no boots, but simply +brogues and trews.' + +This last dilemma had almost disturbed Fergus's gravity. + +'Why,' said he, 'you know, Baron, the proverb tells us, "It's ill +taking the breeks off a Highlandman," and the boots are here in the +same predicament.' + +'The word caligce, however,' continued the Baron, 'though I admit that, +by family tradition, and even in our ancient evidents, it is explained +"lie-boots," means, in its primitive sense, rather sandals; and Caius +Caesar, the nephew and successor of Caius Tiberius, received the +agnomen of Caligula, a caligulis sine caligis levioribus, quibus +adolescentior usus fuerat in exercitu Germanici patris sui. And the +caligce were also proper to the monastic bodies; for we read in an +ancient glossarium upon the rule of Saint Benedict, in the Abbey of +Saint Amand, that caligae were tied with latchets.' + +'That will apply to the brogues,' said Fergus. + +'It will so, my dear Glennaquoich, and the words are express: Caligae, +dicta sunt quia ligantur; nam socci non ligantur, sed tantum +intromittuntur; that is, caligae are denominated from the ligatures +wherewith they are bound; whereas socci, which may be analogous to our +mules, whilk the English denominate slippers, are only slipped upon the +feet. The words of the charter are also alternative, exuere seu +detrahere; that is, to undo, as in the case of sandals or brogues, and +to pull of, as we say vernacularly concerning boots. Yet I would we had +more light; but I fear there is little chance of finding hereabout any +erudite author de re vestiaria.' + +'I should doubt it very much,' said the Chieftain, looking around on +the straggling Highlanders, who were returning loaded with spoils of +the slain,'though the res vestiaria itself seems to be in some request +at present.' + +This remark coming within the Baron's idea of jocularity, he honoured +it with a smile, but immediately resumed what to him appeared very +serious business. + +'Bailie Macwheeble indeed holds an opinion that this honorary service +is due, from its very nature, si petatur tantum; only if his Royal +Highness shall require of the great tenant of the crown to perform that +personal duty; and indeed he pointed out the case in Dirleton's Doubts +and Queries, Grippit versus Spicer, anent the eviction of an estate ob +non solutum canonem; that is, for non-payment of a feu-duty of three +pepper-corns a year, whilk were taxt to be worth seven-eighths of a +penny Scots, in whilk the defender was assoilzied. But I deem it +safest, wi' your good favour, to place myself in the way of rendering +the Prince this service, and to proffer performance thereof; and I +shall cause the Bailie to attend with a schedule of a protest, whilk he +has here prepared (taking out a paper), intimating, that if it shall be +his Royal Highness's pleasure to accept of other assistance at pulling +off his caligae (whether the same shall be rendered boots or brogues) +save that of the said Baron of Bradwardine, who is in presence ready +and willing to perform the same, it shall in no wise impinge upon or +prejudice the right of the said Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine to perform the +said service in future; nor shall it give any esquire, valet of the +chamber, squire, or page, whose assistance it may please his Royal +Highness to employ, any right, title, or ground for evicting from the +said Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine the estate and barony of Bradwardine, and +others held as aforesaid, by the due and faithful performance thereof.' + +Fergus highly applauded this arrangement; and the Baron took a friendly +leave of them, with a smile of contented importance upon his visage. + +'Long live our dear friend the Baron,' exclaimed the Chief, as soon as +he was out of hearing, 'for the most absurd original that exists north +of the Tweed! I wish to heaven I had recommended him to attend the +circle this evening with a boot-ketch under his arm. I think he might +have adopted the suggestion if it had been made with suitable gravity.' + +'And how can you take pleasure in making a man of his worth so +ridiculous?' + +'Begging pardon, my dear Waverley, you are as ridiculous as he. Why, do +you not see that the man's whole mind is wrapped up in this ceremony? +He has heard and thought of it since infancy as the most august +privilege and ceremony in the world; and I doubt not but the expected +pleasure of performing it was a principal motive with him for taking up +arms. Depend upon it, had I endeavoured to divert him from exposing +himself he would have treated me as an ignorant, conceited coxcomb, or +perhaps might have taken a fancy to cut my throat; a pleasure which he +once proposed to himself upon some point of etiquette not half so +important, in his eyes, as this matter of boots or brogues, or whatever +the caliga shall finally be pronounced by the learned. But I must go to +headquarters, to prepare the Prince for this extraordinary scene. My +information will be well taken, for it will give him a hearty laugh at +present, and put him on his guard against laughing when it might be +very mal-a-propos. So, au revoir, my dear Waverley.' + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +THE ENGLISH PRISONER + + +The first occupation of Waverley, after he departed from the Chieftain, +was to go in quest of the officer whose life he had saved. He was +guarded, along with his companions in misfortune, who were very +numerous, in a gentleman's house near the field of battle. + +On entering the room where they stood crowded together, Waverley easily +recognised the object of his visit, not only by the peculiar dignity of +his appearance, but by the appendage of Dugald Mahony, with his +battleaxe, who had stuck to him from the moment of his captivity as if +he had been skewered to his side. This close attendance was perhaps for +the purpose of securing his promised reward from Edward, but it also +operated to save the English gentleman from being plundered in the +scene of general confusion; for Dugald sagaciously argued that the +amount of the salvage which he might be allowed would be regulated by +the state of the prisoner when he should deliver him over to Waverley. +He hastened to assure Waverley, therefore, with more words than he +usually employed, that he had 'keepit ta sidier roy haill, and that he +wasna a plack the waur since the fery moment when his honour forbad her +to gie him a bit clamhewit wi' her Lochaber-axe.' + +Waverley assured Dugald of a liberal recompense, and, approaching the +English officer, expressed his anxiety to do anything which might +contribute to his convenience under his present unpleasant +circumstances. + +'I am not so inexperienced a soldier, sir,' answered the Englishman, +'as to complain of the fortune of war. I am only grieved to see those +scenes acted in our own island which I have often witnessed elsewhere +with comparative indifference.' + +'Another such day as this,' said Waverley, 'and I trust the cause of +your regrets will be removed, and all will again return to peace and +order.' + +The officer smiled and shook his head. 'I must not forget my situation +so far as to attempt a formal confutation of that opinion; but, +notwithstanding your success and the valour which achieved it, you have +undertaken a task to which your strength appears wholly inadequate.' + +At this moment Fergus pushed into the press. + +'Come, Edward, come along; the Prince has gone to Pinkie House for the +night; and we must follow, or lose the whole ceremony of the caligae. +Your friend, the Baron, has been guilty of a great piece of cruelty; he +has insisted upon dragging Bailie Macwheeble out to the field of +battle. Now, you must know, the Bailie's greatest horror is an armed +Highlander or a loaded gun; and there he stands, listening to the +Baron's instructions concerning the protest, ducking his head like a +sea-gull at the report of every gun and pistol that our idle boys are +firing upon the fields, and undergoing, by way of penance, at every +symptom of flinching a severe rebuke from his patron, who would not +admit the discharge of a whole battery of cannon, within point-blank +distance, as an apology for neglecting a discourse in which the honour +of his family is interested.' + +'But how has Mr. Bradwardine got him to venture so far?' said Edward. + +'Why, he had come as far as Musselburgh, I fancy, in hopes of making +some of our wills; and the peremptory commands of the Baron dragged him +forward to Preston after the battle was over. He complains of one or +two of our ragamuffins having put him in peril of his life by +presenting their pieces at him; but as they limited his ransom to an +English penny, I don't think we need trouble the provost-marshal upon +that subject. So come along, Waverley.' + +'Waverley!' said the English officer, with great emotion;' the nephew +of Sir Everard Waverley, of ----shire?' + +'The same, sir,' replied our hero, somewhat surprised at the tone in +which he was addressed. + +'I am at once happy and grieved,' said the prisoner, 'to have met with +you.' + +'I am ignorant, sir,' answered Waverley, 'how I have deserved so much +interest.' + +'Did your uncle never mention a friend called Talbot?' + +'I have heard him talk with great regard of such a person,' replied +Edward; 'a colonel, I believe, in the army, and the husband of Lady +Emily Blandeville; but I thought Colonel Talbot had been abroad.' + +'I am just returned,' answered the officer; 'and being in Scotland, +thought it my duty to act where my services promised to be useful. Yes, +Mr. Waverley, I am that Colonel Talbot, the husband of the lady you +have named; and I am proud to acknowledge that I owe alike my +professional rank and my domestic happiness to your generous and +noble-minded relative. Good God! that I should find his nephew in such +a dress, and engaged in such a cause!' + +'Sir,' said Fergus, haughtily, 'the dress and cause are those of men of +birth and honour.' + +'My situation forbids me to dispute your assertion,' said Colonel +Talbot; 'otherwise it were no difficult matter to show that neither +courage nor pride of lineage can gild a bad cause. But, with Mr. +Waverley's permission and yours, sir, if yours also must be asked, I +would willingly speak a few words with him on affairs connected with +his own family.' + +'Mr. Waverley, sir, regulates his own motions. You will follow me, I +suppose, to Pinkie,' said Fergus, turning to Edward, 'when you have +finished your discourse with this new acquaintance?' So saying, the +Chief of Glennaquoich adjusted his plaid with rather more than his +usual air of haughty assumption and left the apartment. + +The interest of Waverley readily procured for Colonel Talbot the +freedom of adjourning to a large garden belonging to his place of +confinement. They walked a few paces in silence, Colonel Talbot +apparently studying how to open what he had to say; at length he +addressed Edward. + +'Mr. Waverley, you have this day saved my life; and yet I would to God +that I had lost it, ere I had found you wearing the uniform and cockade +of these men.' + +'I forgive your reproach, Colonel Talbot; it is well meant, and your +education and prejudices render it natural. But there is nothing +extraordinary in finding a man whose honour has been publicly and +unjustly assailed in the situation which promised most fair to afford +him satisfaction on his calumniators.' + +'I should rather say, in the situation most likely to confirm the +reports which they have circulated,' said Colonel Talbot, 'by following +the very line of conduct ascribed to you. Are you aware, Mr. Waverley, +of the infinite distress, and even danger, which your present conduct +has occasioned to your nearest relatives?' + +'Danger!' + +'Yes, sir, danger. When I left England your uncle and father had been +obliged to find bail to answer a charge of treason, to which they were +only admitted by the exertion of the most powerful interest. I came +down to Scotland with the sole purpose of rescuing you from the gulf +into which you have precipitated yourself; nor can I estimate the +consequences to your family of your having openly joined the rebellion, +since the very suspicion of your intention was so perilous to them. +Most deeply do I regret that I did not meet you before this last and +fatal error.' + +'I am really ignorant,' said Waverley, in a tone of reserve, 'why +Colonel Talbot should have taken so much trouble on my account.' + +'Mr. Waverley,' answered Talbot, 'I am dull at apprehending irony; and +therefore I shall answer your words according to their plain meaning. I +am indebted to your uncle for benefits greater than those which a son +owes to a father. I acknowledge to him the duty of a son; and as I know +there is no manner in which I can requite his kindness so well as by +serving you, I will serve you, if possible, whether you will permit me +or no. The personal obligation which you have this day laid me under +(although, in common estimation, as great as one human being can bestow +on another) adds nothing to my zeal on your behalf; nor can that zeal +be abated by any coolness with which you may please to receive it.' + +'Your intentions may be kind, sir,' said Waverley, drily; 'but your +language is harsh, or at least peremptory.' + +'On my return to England,' continued Colonel Talbot, 'after long +absence, I found your uncle, Sir Everard Waverley, in the custody of a +king's messenger, in consequence of the suspicion brought upon him by +your conduct. He is my oldest friend--how often shall I repeat it?--my +best benefactor! he sacrificed his own views of happiness to mine; he +never uttered a word, he never harboured a thought, that benevolence +itself might not have thought or spoken. I found this man in +confinement, rendered harsher to him by his habits of life, his natural +dignity of feeling, and--forgive me, Mr. Waverley--by the cause through +which this calamity had come upon him. I cannot disguise from you my +feelings upon this occasion; they were most painfully unfavorable to +you. Having by my family interest, which you probably know is not +inconsiderable, succeeded in obtaining Sir Everard's release, I set out +for Scotland. I saw Colonel Gardiner, a man whose fate alone is +sufficient to render this insurrection for ever execrable. In the +course of conversation with him I found that, from late circumstances, +from a reexamination of the persons engaged in the mutiny, and from his +original good opinion of your character, he was much softened towards +you; and I doubted not that, if I could be so fortunate as to discover +you, all might yet be well. But this unnatural rebellion has ruined +all. I have, for the first time in a long and active military life, +seen Britons disgrace themselves by a panic flight, and that before a +foe without either arms or discipline. And now I find the heir of my +dearest friend--the son, I may say, of his' affections--sharing a +triumph for which he ought the first to have blushed. Why should I +lament Gardiner? his lot was happy compared to mine!' + +There was so much dignity in Colonel Talbot's manner, such a mixture of +military pride and manly sorrow, and the news of Sir Everard's +imprisonment was told in so deep a tone of feeling, that Edward stood +mortified, abashed, and distressed in presence of the prisoner who owed +to him his life not many hours before. He was not sorry when Fergus +interrupted their conference a second time. + +'His Royal Highness commands Mr. Waverley's attendance.' Colonel Talbot +threw upon Edward a reproachful glance, which did not escape the quick +eye of the Highland Chief. 'His immediate attendance,' he repeated, +with considerable emphasis. Waverley turned again towards the Colonel. + +'We shall meet again,' he said; 'in the meanwhile, every possible +accommodation--' + +'I desire none,' said the Colonel; 'let me fare like the meanest of +those brave men who, on this day of calamity, have preferred wounds and +captivity to flight; I would almost exchange places with one of those +who have fallen to know that my words have made a suitable impression +on your mind.' + +'Let Colonel Talbot be carefully secured,' said Fergus to the Highland +officer who commanded the guard over the prisoners; 'it is the Prince's +particular command; he is a prisoner of the utmost importance.' + +'But let him want no accommodation suitable to his rank,' said +Waverley. 'Consistent always with secure custody,' reiterated Fergus. +The officer signified his acquiescence in both commands, and Edward +followed Fergus to the garden-gate, where Callum Beg, with three +saddle-horses, awaited them. Turning his head, he saw Colonel Talbot +reconducted to his place of confinement by a file of Highlanders; he +lingered on the threshold of the door and made a signal with his hand +towards Waverley, as if enforcing the language he had held towards him. + +'Horses,' said Fergus, as he mounted, 'are now as plenty as +blackberries; every man may have them for the catching. Come, let +Callum adjust your stirrups and let us to Pinkie House [Footnote: +Charles Edward took up his quarters after the battle at Pinkie House, +adjoining to Musselburgh.] as fast as these ci-devant dragoon-horses +choose to carry us.' + + + + + +CHAPTER L + +RATHER UNIMPORTANT + + +'I was turned back,' said Fergus to Edward, as they galloped from +Preston to Pinkie House, 'by a message from the Prince. But I suppose +you know the value of this most noble Colonel Talbot as a prisoner. He +is held one of the best officers among the red-coats, a special friend +and favourite of the Elector himself, and of that dreadful hero, the +Duke of Cumberland, who has been summoned from his triumphs at Fontenoy +to come over and devour us poor Highlanders alive. Has he been telling +you how the bells of St. James's ring? Not "turn again, Whittington," +like those of Bow, in the days of yore?' + +'Fergus!' said Waverley, with a reproachful look. + +'Nay, I cannot tell what to make of you,' answered the Chief of +Mac-Ivor, 'you are blown about with every wind of doctrine. Here have +we gained a victory unparalleled in history, and your behaviour is +praised by every living mortal to the skies, and the Prince is eager to +thank you in person, and all our beauties of the White Rose are pulling +caps for you;--and you, the preux chevalier of the day, are stooping on +your horse's neck like a butter-woman riding to market, and looking as +black as a funeral!' + +'I am sorry for poer Colonel Gardiner's death; he was once very kind to +me.' + +'Why, then, be sorry for five minutes, and then be glad again; his +chance to-day may be ours to-morrow; and what does it signify? The next +best thing to victory is honourable death; but it is a PIS-ALLER, and +one would rather a foe had it than one's self.' + +'But Colonel Talbot has informed me that my father and uncle are both +imprisoned by government on my account.' + +'We'll put in bail, my boy; old Andrew Ferrara [Footnote: See Note 10] +shall lodge his security; and I should like to see him put to justify +it in Westminster Hall!' + +'Nay, they are already at liberty, upon bail of a more civic +disposition.' + +'Then why is thy noble spirit cast down, Edward? Dost think that the +Elector's ministers are such doves as to set their enemies at liberty +at this critical moment if they could or durst confine and punish them? +Assure thyself that either they have no charge against your relations +on which they can continue their imprisonment, or else they are afraid +of our friends, the jolly Cavaliers of old England. At any rate, you +need not be apprehensive upon their account; and we will find some +means of conveying to them assurances of your safety.' + +Edward was silenced but not satisfied with these reasons. He had now +been more than once shocked at the small degree of sympathy which +Fergus exhibited for the feelings even of those whom he loved, if they +did not correspond with his own mood at the time, and more especially +if they thwarted him while earnest in a favourite pursuit. Fergus +sometimes indeed observed that he had offended Waverley, but, always +intent upon some favourite plan or project of his own, he was never +sufficiently aware of the extent or duration of his displeasure, so +that the reiteration of these petty offences somewhat cooled the +volunteer's extreme attachment to his officer. + +The Chevalier received Waverley with his usual favour, and paid him +many compliments on his distinguished bravery. He then took him apart, +made many inquiries concerning Colonel Talbot, and when he had received +all the information which Edward was able to give concerning him and +his connexions, he proceeded--'I cannot but think, Mr. Waverley, that +since this gentleman is so particularly connected with our worthy and +excellent friend, Sir Everard Waverley, and since his lady is of the +house of Blandeville, whose devotion to the true and loyal principles +of the Church of England is so generally known, the Colonel's own +private sentiments cannot be unfavorable to us, whatever mask he may +have assumed to accommodate himself to the times.' + +'If I am to judge from the language he this day held to me, I am under +the necessity of differing widely from your Royal Highness.' + +'Well, it is worth making a trial at least. I therefore entrust you +with the charge of Colonel Talbot, with power to act concerning him as +you think most advisable; and I hope you will find means of +ascertaining what are his real dispositions towards our Royal Father's +restoration.' + +'I am convinced,' said Waverley, bowing,'that if Colonel Talbot chooses +to grant his parole, it may be securely depended upon; but if he +refuses it, I trust your Royal Highness will devolve on some other +person than the nephew of his friend the task of laying him under the +necessary restraint.' + +'I will trust him with no person but you,' said the Prince, smiling, +but peremptorily repeating his mandate; 'it is of importance to my +service that there should appear to be a good intelligence between you, +even if you are unable to gain his confidence in earnest. You will +therefore receive him into your quarters, and in case he declines +giving his parole, you must apply for a proper guard. I beg you will go +about this directly. We return to Edinburgh tomorrow.' + +Being thus remanded to the vicinity of Preston, Waverley lost the Baron +of Bradwardine's solemn act of homage. So little, however, was he at +this time in love with vanity, that he had quite forgotten the ceremony +in which Fergus had laboured to engage his curiosity. But next day a +formal 'Gazette' was circulated, containing a detailed account of the +battle of Gladsmuir, as the Highlanders chose to denominate their +victory. It concluded with an account of the court afterwards held by +the Chevalier at Pinkie House, which contained this among other +high-flown descriptive paragraphs:-- + +'Since that fatal treaty which annihilates Scotland as an independent +nation, it has not been our happiness to see her princes receive, and +her nobles discharge, those acts of feudal homage which, founded upon +the splendid actions of Scottish valour, recall the memory of her early +history, with the manly and chivalrous simplicity of the ties which +united to the Crown the homage of the warriors by whom it was +repeatedly upheld and defended. But on the evening of the 20th our +memories were refreshed with one of those ceremonies which belong to +the ancient days of Scotland's glory. After the circle was formed, +Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine of that ilk, colonel in the service, etc., +etc., etc., came before the Prince, attended by Mr. D. Macwheeble, the +Bailie of his ancient barony of Bradwardine (who, we understand, has +been lately named a commissary), and, under form of instrument, claimed +permission to perform to the person of his Royal Highness, as +representing his father, the service used and wont, for which, under a +charter of Robert Bruce (of which the original was produced and +inspected by the Masters of his Royal Highness's Chancery for the time +being), the claimant held the barony of Bradwardine and lands of +Tully-Veolan. His claim being admitted and registered, his Royal +Highness having placed his foot upon a cushion, the Baron of +Bradwardine, kneeling upon his right knee, proceeded to undo the +latchet of the brogue, or low-heeled Highland shoe, which our gallant +young hero wears in compliment to his brave followers. When this was +performed, his Royal Highness declared the ceremony completed; and, +embracing the gallant veteran, protested that nothing but compliance +with an ordinance of Robert Bruce could have induced him to receive +even the symbolical performance of a menial office from hands which had +fought so bravely to put the crown upon the head of his father. The +Baron of Bradwardine then took instruments in the hands of Mr. +Commissary Macwheeble, bearing that all points and circumstances of the +act of homage had been rite et solenniter acta et peracta; and a +corresponding entry was made in the protocol of the Lord High +Chamberlain and in the record of Chancery. We understand that it is in +contemplation of his Royal Highness, when his Majesty's pleasure can be +known, to raise Colonel Bradwardine to the peerage, by the title of +Viscount Bradwardine of Bradwardine and Tully-Veolan, and that, in the +meanwhile, his Royal Highness, in his father's name and authority, has +been pleased to grant him an honourable augmentation to his paternal +coat of arms, being a budget or boot-jack, disposed saltier-wise with a +naked broadsword, to be borne in the dexter cantle of the shield; and, +as an additional motto, on a scroll beneath, the words, "Draw and draw +off."' + +'Were it not for the recollection of Fergus's raillery,' thought +Waverley to himself, when he had perused this long and grave document,' +how very tolerably would all this sound, and how little should I have +thought of connecting it with any ludicrous idea! Well, after all, +everything has its fair as well as its seamy side; and truly I do not +see why the Baron's boot-jack may not stand as fair in heraldry as the +water-buckets, waggons, cart-wheels, plough-socks, shuttles, +candlesticks, and other ordinaries, conveying ideas of anything save +chivalry, which appear in the arms of some of our most ancient gentry.' + +This, however, is an episode in respect to the principal story. + +When Waverley returned to Preston and rejoined Colonel Talbot, he found +him recovered from the strong and obvious emotions with which a +concurrence of unpleasing events had affected him. He had regained his +natural manner, which was that of an English gentleman and soldier, +manly, open and generous, but not unsusceptible of prejudice against +those of a different country, or who opposed him in political tenets. +When Waverley acquainted Colonel Talbot with the Chevalier's purpose to +commit him to his charge, 'I did not think to have owed so much +obligation to that young gentleman,' he said, 'as is implied in this +destination. I can at least cheerfully join in the prayer of the honest +Presbyterian clergyman, that, as he has come among us seeking an +earthly crown, his labours may be speedily rewarded with a heavenly +one. [Footnote: The clergyman's name was Mac-Vicar. Protected by the +cannon of the Castle, he preached every Sunday in the West Kirk while +the Highlanders were in possession of Edinburgh, and it was in presence +of some of the Jacobites that he prayed for Prince Charles Edward in +the terms quoted in the text.] I shall willingly give my parole not to +attempt an escape without your knowledge, since, in fact, it was to +meet you that I came to Scotland; and I am glad it has happened even +under this predicament. But I suppose we shall be but a short time +together. Your Chevalier (that is a name we may both give to him), with +his plaids and blue caps, will, I presume, be continuing his crusade +southward?' + +'Not as I hear; I believe the army makes some stay in Edinburgh to +collect reinforcements.' + +'And to besiege the Castle?' said Talbot, smiling sarcastically. 'Well, +unless my old commander, General Preston, turn false metal, or the +Castle sink into the North Loch, events which I deem equally probable, +I think we shall have some time to make up our acquaintance. I have a +guess that this gallant Chevalier has a design that I should be your +proselyte; and, as I wish you to be mine, there cannot be a more fair +proposal than to afford us fair conference together. But, as I spoke +today under the influence of feelings I rarely give way to, I hope you +will excuse my entering again upon controversy till we are somewhat +better acquainted.' + + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +INTRIGUES OF LOVE AND POLITICS + + +It is not necessary to record in these pages the triumphant entrance of +the Chevalier into Edinburgh after the decisive affair at Preston. One +circumstance, however, may be noticed, because it illustrates the high +spirit of Flora Mac-Ivor. The Highlanders by whom the Prince was +surrounded, in the license and extravagance of this joyful moment, +fired their pieces repeatedly, and one of these having been +accidentally loaded with ball, the bullet grazed the young lady's +temple as she waved her handkerchief from a balcony. [Footnote: See +Note II.] Fergus, who beheld the accident, was at her side in an +instant; and, on seeing that the wound was trifling, he drew his +broadsword with the purpose of rushing down upon the man by whose +carelessness she had incurred so much danger, when, holding him by the +plaid, 'Do not harm the poor fellow,' she cried; 'for Heaven's sake, do +not harm him! but thank God with me that the accident happened to Flora +Mac-Ivor; for had it befallen a Whig, they would have pretended that +the shot was fired on purpose.' + +Waverley escaped the alarm which this accident would have occasioned to +him, as he was unavoidably delayed by the necessity of accompanying +Colonel Talbot to Edinburgh. + +They performed the journey together on horseback, and for some time, as +if to sound each other's feelings and sentiments, they conversed upon +general and ordinary topics. + +When Waverley again entered upon the subject which he had most at +heart, the situation, namely, of his father and his uncle, Colonel +Talbot seemed now rather desirous to alleviate than to aggravate his +anxiety. This appeared particularly to be the case when he heard +Waverley's history, which he did not scruple to confide to him. + +'And so,' said the Colonel,'there has been no malice prepense, as +lawyers, I think, term it, in this rash step of yours; and you have +been trepanned into the service of this Italian knight-errant by a few +civil speeches from him and one or two of his Highland recruiting +sergeants? It is sadly foolish, to be sure, but not nearly so bad as I +was led to expect. However, you cannot desert, even from the Pretender, +at the present moment; that seems impossible. But I have little doubt +that, in the dissensions incident to this heterogeneous mass of wild +and desperate men, some opportunity may arise, by availing yourself of +which you may extricate yourself honourably from your rash engagement +before the bubble burst. If this can be managed, I would have you go to +a place of safety in Flanders which I shall point out. And I think I +can secure your pardon from government after a few months' residence +abroad.' + +'I cannot permit you, Colonel Talbot,' answered Waverley, 'to speak of +any plan which turns on my deserting an enterprise in which I may have +engaged hastily, but certainly voluntarily, and with the purpose of +abiding the issue.' + +'Well,' said Colonel Talbot, smiling, 'leave me my thoughts and hopes +at least at liberty, if not my speech. But have you never examined your +mysterious packet?' + +'It is in my baggage,' replied Edward; 'we shall find it in Edinburgh.' + +In Edinburgh they soon arrived. Waverley's quarters had been assigned +to him, by the Prince's express orders, in a handsome lodging, where +there was accommodation for Colonel Talbot. His first business was to +examine his portmanteau, and, after a very short search, out tumbled +the expected packet. Waverley opened it eagerly. Under a blank cover, +simply addressed to E. Waverley, Esq., he found a number of open +letters. The uppermost were two from Colonel Gardiner addressed to +himself. The earliest in date was a kind and gentle remonstrance for +neglect of the writer's advice respecting the disposal of his time +during his leave of absence, the renewal of which, he reminded Captain +Waverley, would speedily expire. 'Indeed,' the letter proceeded, 'had +it been otherwise, the news from abroad and my instructions from the +War Office must have compelled me to recall it, as there is great +danger, since the disaster in Flanders, both of foreign invasion and +insurrection among the disaffected at home. I therefore entreat you +will repair as soon as possible to the headquarters of the regiment; +and I am concerned to add that this is still the more necessary as +there is some discontent in your troop, and I postpone inquiry into +particulars until I can have the advantage of your assistance.' + +The second letter, dated eight days later, was in such a style as might +have been expected from the Colonel's receiving no answer to the first. +It reminded Waverley of his duty as a man of honour, an officer, and a +Briton; took notice of the increasing dissatisfaction of his men, and +that some of them had been heard to hint that their Captain encouraged +and approved of their mutinous behaviour; and, finally, the writer +expressed the utmost regret and surprise that he had not obeyed his +commands by repairing to headquarters, reminded him that his leave of +absence had been recalled, and conjured him, in a style in which +paternal remonstrance was mingled with military authority, to redeem +his error by immediately joining his regiment. 'That I may be certain,' +concluded the letter, 'that this actually reaches you, I despatch it by +Corporal Tims of your troop, with orders to deliver it into your own +hand.' + +Upon reading these letters Waverley, with great bitterness of feeling, +was compelled to make the amende honorable to the memory of the brave +and excellent writer; for surely, as Colonel Gardiner must have had +every reason to conclude they had come safely to hand, less could not +follow, on their being neglected, than that third and final summons, +which Waverley actually received at Glennaquoich, though too late to +obey it. And his being superseded, in consequence of his apparent +neglect of this last command, was so far from being a harsh or severe +proceeding, that it was plainly inevitable. The next letter he unfolded +was from the major of the regiment, acquainting him that a report to +the disadvantage of his reputation was public in the country, stating, +that one Mr. Falconer of Ballihopple, or some such name, had proposed +in his presence a treasonable toast, which he permitted to pass in +silence, although it was so gross an affront to the royal family that a +gentleman in company, not remarkable for his zeal for government, had +never theless taken the matter up, and that, supposing the account +true, Captain Waverley had thus suffered another, comparatively +unconcerned, to resent an affront directed against him personally as an +officer, and to go out with the person by whom it was offered. The +major concluded that no one of Captain Waverley's brother officers +could believe this scandalous story, but that it was necessarily their +joint opinion that his own honour, equally with that of the regiment, +depended upon its being instantly contradicted by his authority, etc. +etc. etc. + +'What do you think of all this?' said Colonel Talbot, to whom Waverley +handed the letters after he had perused them. + +'Think! it renders thought impossible. It is enough to drive me mad.' + +'Be calm, my young friend; let us see what are these dirty scrawls that +follow.' + +The first was addressed,-- + +'For Master W. Ruffin, These.'-- + +'Dear sur, sum of our yong gulpins will not bite, thof I tuold them you +shoed me the squoire's own seel. But Tims will deliver you the lettrs +as desired, and tell ould Addem he gave them to squoir's bond, as to be +sure yours is the same, and shall be ready for signal, and hoy for Hoy +Church and Sachefrel, as fadur sings at harvestwhome. Yours, deer Sur, + +'H. H. + +'Poscriff.--Do'e tell squoire we longs to heer from him, and has +dootings about his not writing himself, and Lifetenant Bottler is +smoky.' + +'This Ruffin, I suppose, then, is your Donald of the Cavern, who has +intercepted your letters, and carried on a correspondence with the poor +devil Houghton, as if under your authority?' + +'It seems too true. But who can Addem be?' + +'Possibly Adam, for poor Gardiner, a sort of pun on his name.' + +The other letters were to the same purpose; and they soon received yet +more complete light upon Donald Bean's machinations. + +John Hodges, one of Waverley's servants, who had remained with the +regiment and had been taken at Preston, now made his appearance. He had +sought out his master with the purpose of again entering his service. +From this fellow they learned that some time after Waverley had gone +from the headquarters of the regiment, a pedlar, called Ruthven, Rufnn, +or Rivane, known among the soldiers by the name of Wily Will, had made +frequent visits to the town of Dundee. He appeared to possess plenty of +money, sold his commodities very cheap, seemed always willing to treat +his friends at the ale-house, and easily ingratiated himself with many +of Waverley's troop, particularly Sergeant Houghton and one Tims, also +a non-commissioned officer. To these he unfolded, in Waverley's name, a +plan for leaving the regiment and joining him in the Highlands, where +report said the clans had already taken arms in great numbers. The men, +who had been educated as Jacobites, so far as they had any opinion at +all, and who knew their landlord, Sir Everard, had always been supposed +to hold such tenets, easily fell into the snare. That Waverley was at a +distance in the Highlands was received as a sufficient excuse for +transmitting his letters through the medium of the pedlar; and the +sight of his well-known seal seemed to authenticate the negotiations in +his name, where writing might have been dangerous. The cabal, however, +began to take air, from the premature mutinous language of those +concerned. Wily Will justified his appellative; for, after suspicion +arose, he was seen no more. When the 'Gazette' appeared in which +Waverley was superseded, great part of his troop broke out into actual +mutiny, but were surrounded and disarmed by the rest of the regiment In +consequence of the sentence of a court-martial, Houghton and Tims were +condemned to be shot, but afterwards permitted to cast lots for life. +Houghton, the survivor, showed much penitence, being convinced, from +the rebukes and explanations of Colonel Gardiner, that he had really +engaged in a very heinous crime. It is remarkable that, as soon as the +poor fellow was satisfied of this, he became also convinced that the +instigator had acted without authority from Edward, saying, 'If it was +dishonourable and against Old England, the squire could know nought +about it; he never did, or thought to do, anything dishonourable, no +more didn't Sir Everard, nor none of them afore him, and in that belief +he would live and die that Ruffin had done it all of his own head.' + +The strength of conviction with which he expressed himself upon this +subject, as well as his assurances that the letters intended for +Waverley had been delivered to Ruthven, made that revolution in Colonel +Gardiner's opinion which he expressed to Talbot. + +The reader has long since understood that Donald Bean Lean played the +part of tempter on this occasion. His motives were shortly these. Of an +active and intriguing spirit, he had been long employed as a subaltern +agent and spy by those in the confidence of the Chevalier, to an extent +beyond what was suspected even by Fergus Mac-Ivor, whom, though obliged +to him for protection, he regarded with fear and dislike. To success in +this political department he naturally looked for raising himself by +some bold stroke above his present hazardous and precarious trade of +rapine. He was particularly employed in learning the strength of the +regiments in Scotland, the character of the officers, etc., and had +long had his eye upon Waverley's troop as open to temptation. Donald +even believed that Waverley himself was at bottom in the Stuart +interest, which seemed confirmed by his long visit to the Jacobite +Baron of Bradwardine. When, therefore, he came to his cave with one of +Glennaquoich's attendants, the robber, who could never appreciate his +real motive, which was mere curiosity, was so sanguine as to hope that +his own talents were to be employed in some intrigue of consequence, +under the auspices of this wealthy young Englishman. Nor was he +undeceived by Waverley's neglecting all hints and openings afforded for +explanation. His conduct passed for prudent reserve, and somewhat +piqued Donald Bean, who, supposing himself left out of a secret where +confidence promised to be advantageous, determined to have his share in +the drama, whether a regular part were assigned him or not. For this +purpose during Waverley's sleep he possessed himself of his seal, as a +token to be used to any of the troopers whom he might discover to be +possessed of the captain's confidence. His first journey to Dundee, the +town where the regiment was quartered, undeceived him in his original +supposition, but opened to him a new field of action. He knew there +would be no service so well rewarded by the friends of the Chevalier as +seducing a part of the regular army to his standard. For this purpose +he opened the machinations with which the reader is already acquainted, +and which form a clue to all the intricacies and obscurities of the +narrative previous to Waverley's leaving Glennaquoich. + +By Colonel Talbot's advice, Waverley declined detaining in his service +the lad whose evidence had thrown additional light on these intrigues. +He represented to him, that it would be doing the man an injury to +engage him in a desperate undertaking, and that, whatever should +happen, his evidence would go some length at least in explaining the +circumstances under which Waverley himself had embarked in it. Waverley +therefore wrote a short state of what had happened to his uncle and his +father, cautioning them, however, in the present circumstances, not to +attempt to answer his letter. Talbot then gave the young man a letter +to the commander of one of the English vessels of war cruising in the +frith, requesting him to put the bearer ashore at Berwick, with a pass +to proceed to ----shire. He was then furnished with money to make an +expeditious journey, and directed to get on board the ship by means of +bribing a fishing-boat, which, as they afterwards learned, he easily +effected. + +Tired of the attendance of Callum Beg, who, he thought, had some +disposition to act as a spy on his motions, Waverley hired as a servant +a simple Edinburgh swain, who had mounted the white cockade in a fit of +spleen and jealousy, because Jenny Jop had danced a whole night with +Corporal Bullock of the Fusileers. + + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +INTRIGUES OF SOCIETY AND LOVE + + +Colonel Talbot became more kindly in his demeanour towards Waverley +after the confidence he had reposed in him, and, as they were +necessarily much together, the character of the Colonel rose in +Waverley's estimation. There seemed at first something harsh in his +strong expressions of dislike and censure, although no one was in the +general case more open to conviction. The habit of authority had also +given his manners some peremptory hardness, notwithstanding the polish +which they had received from his intimate acquaintance with the higher +circles. As a specimen of the military character, he differed from all +whom Waverley had as yet seen. The soldiership of the Baron of +Bradwardine was marked by pedantry; that of Major Melville by a sort of +martinet attention to the minutiae and technicalities of discipline, +rather suitable to one who was to manoeuvre a battalion than to him who +was to command an army; the military spirit of Fergus was so much +warped and blended with his plans and political views, that it was less +that of a soldier than of a petty sovereign. But Colonel Talbot was in +every point the English soldier. His whole soul was devoted to the +service of his king and country, without feeling any pride in knowing +the theory of his art with the Baron, or its practical minutiae with +the Major, or in applying his science to his own particular plans of +ambition, like the Chieftain of Glennaquoich. Added to this, he was a +man of extended knowledge and cultivated taste, although strongly +tinged, as we have already observed, with those prejudices which are +peculiarly English. + +The character of Colonel Talbot dawned upon Edward by degrees; for the +delay of the Highlanders in the fruitless siege of Edinburgh Castle +occupied several weeks, during which Waverley had little to do +excepting to seek such amusement as society afforded. He would +willingly have persuaded his new friend to become acquainted with some +of his former intimates. But the Colonel, after one or two visits, +shook his head, and declined farther experiment. Indeed he went +farther, and characterised the Baron as the most intolerable formal +pedant he had ever had the misfortune to meet with, and the Chief of +Glennaquoich as a Frenchified Scotchman, possessing all the cunning and +plausibility of the nation where he was educated, with the proud, +vindictive, and turbulent humour of that of his birth. 'If the devil,' +he said, 'had sought out an agent expressly for the purpose of +embroiling this miserable country, I do not think he could find a +better than such a fellow as this, whose temper seems equally active, +supple, and mischievous, and who is followed, and implicitly obeyed, by +a gang of such cut-throats as those whom you are pleased to admire so +much.' + +The ladies of the party did not escape his censure. He allowed that +Flora Mac-Ivor was a fine woman, and Rose Bradwardine a pretty girl. +But he alleged that the former destroyed the effect of her beauty by an +affectation of the grand airs which she had probably seen practised in +the mock court of St. Germains. As for Rose Bradwardine, he said it was +impossible for any mortal to admire such a little uninformed thing, +whose small portion of education was as ill adapted to her sex or youth +as if she had appeared with one of her father's old campaign-coats upon +her person for her sole garment. Now much of this was mere spleen and +prejudice in the excellent Colonel, with whom the white cockade on the +breast, the white rose in the hair, and the Mac at the beginning of a +name would have made a devil out of an angel; and indeed he himself +jocularly allowed that he could not have endured Venus herself if she +had been announced in a drawing-room by the name of Miss Mac-Jupiter. + +Waverley, it may easily be believed, looked upon these young ladies +with very different eyes. During the period of the siege he paid them +almost daily visits, although he observed with regret that his suit +made as little progress in the affections of the former as the arms of +the Chevalier in subduing the fortress. She maintained with rigour the +rule she had laid down of treating him with indifference, without +either affecting to avoid him or to shun intercourse with him. Every +word, every look, was strictly regulated to accord with her system, and +neither the dejection of Waverley nor the anger which Fergus scarcely +suppressed could extend Flora's attention to Edward beyond that which +the most ordinary politeness demanded. On the other hand, Rose +Bradwardine gradually rose in Waverley's opinion. He had several +opportunities of remarking that, as her extreme timidity wore off, her +manners assumed a higher character; that the agitating circumstances of +the stormy time seemed to call forth a certain dignity of feeling and +expression which he had not formerly observed; and that she omitted no +opportunity within her reach to extend her knowledge and refine her +taste. + +Flora Mac-Ivor called Rose her pupil, and was attentive to assist her +in her studies, and to fashion both her taste and understanding. It +might have been remarked by a very close observer that in the presence +of Waverley she was much more desirous to exhibit her friend's +excellences than her own. But I must request of the reader to suppose +that this kind and disinterested purpose was concealed by the most +cautious delicacy, studiously shunning the most distant approach to +affectation. So that it was as unlike the usual exhibition of one +pretty woman affecting to proner another as the friendship of David and +Jonathan might be to the intimacy of two Bond Street loungers. The fact +is that, though the effect was felt, the cause could hardly be +observed. Each of the ladies, like two excellent actresses, were +perfect in their parts, and performed them to the delight of the +audience; and such being the case, it was almost impossible to discover +that the elder constantly ceded to her friend that which was most +suitable to her talents. + +But to Waverley Rose Bradwardine possessed an attraction which few men +can resist, from the marked interest which she took in everything that +affected him. She was too young and too inexperienced to estimate the +full force of the constant attention which she paid to him. Her father +was too abstractedly immersed in learned and military discussions to +observe her partiality, and Flora Mac-Ivor did not alarm her by +remonstrance, because she saw in this line of conduct the most probable +chance of her friend securing at length a return of affection. + +The truth is, that in her first conversation after their meeting Rose +had discovered the state of her mind to that acute and intelligent +friend, although she was not herself aware of it. From that time Flora +was not only determined upon the final rejection of Waverley's +addresses, but became anxious that they should, if possible, be +transferred to her friend. Nor was she less interested in this plan, +though her brother had from time to time talked, as between jest and +earnest, of paying his suit to Miss Bradwardine. She knew that Fergus +had the true continental latitude of opinion respecting the institution +of marriage, and would not have given his hand to an angel unless for +the purpose of strengthening his alliances and increasing his influence +and wealth. The Baron's whim of transferring his estate to the distant +heir-male, instead of his own daughter, was therefore likely to be an +insurmountable obstacle to his entertaining any serious thoughts of +Rose Bradwardine. Indeed, Fergus's brain was a perpetual workshop of +scheme and intrigue, of every possible kind and description; while, +like many a mechanic of more ingenuity than steadiness, he would often +unexpectedly, and without any apparent motive, abandon one plan and go +earnestly to work upon another, which was either fresh from the forge +of his imagination or had at some former period been flung aside half +finished. It was therefore often difficult to guess what line of +conduct he might finally adopt upon any given occasion. + +Although Flora was sincerely attached to her brother, whose high +energies might indeed have commanded her admiration even without the +ties which bound them together, she was by no means blind to his +faults, which she considered as dangerous to the hopes of any woman who +should found her ideas of a happy marriage in the peaceful enjoyment of +domestic society and the exchange of mutual and engrossing affection. +The real disposition of Waverley, on the other hand, notwithstanding +his dreams of tented fields and military honour, seemed exclusively +domestic. He asked and received no share in the busy scenes which were +constantly going on around him, and was rather annoyed than interested +by the discussion of contending claims, rights, and interests which +often passed in his presence. All this pointed him out as the person +formed to make happy a spirit like that of Rose, which corresponded +with his own. + +She remarked this point in Waverley's character one day while she sat +with Miss Bradwardine. 'His genius and elegant taste,' answered Rose, +'cannot be interested in such trifling discussions. What is it to him, +for example, whether the Chief of the Macindallaghers, who has brought +out only fifty men, should be a colonel or a captain? and how could Mr. +Waverley be supposed to interest himself in the violent altercation +between your brother and young Corrinaschian whether the post of honour +is due to the eldest cadet of a clan or the youngest?' + +'My dear Rose, if he were the hero you suppose him he would interest +himself in these matters, not indeed as important in themselves, but +for the purpose of mediating between the ardent spirits who actually do +make them the subject of discord. You saw when Corrinaschian raised his +voice in great passion, and laid his hand upon his sword, Waverley +lifted his head as if he had just awaked from a dream, and asked with +great composure what the matter was.' + +'Well, and did not the laughter they fell into at his absence of mind +serve better to break off the dispute than anything he could have said +to them?' + +'True, my dear,' answered Flora; 'but not quite so creditably for +Waverley as if he had brought them to their senses by force of reason.' + +'Would you have him peacemaker general between all the gunpowder +Highlanders in the army? I beg your pardon, Flora, your brother, you +know, is out of the question; he has more sense than half of them. But +can you think the fierce, hot, furious spirits of whose brawls we see +much and hear more, and who terrify me out of my life every day in the +world, are at all to be compared to Waverley?' + +'I do not compare him with those uneducated men, my dear Rose. I only +lament that, with his talents and genius, he does not assume that place +in society for which they eminently fit him, and that he does not lend +their full impulse to the noble cause in which he has enlisted. Are +there not Lochiel, and P--, and M--, and G--, all men of the highest +education as well as the first talents,--why will he not stoop like +them to be alive and useful? I often believe his zeal is frozen by that +proud cold-blooded Englishman whom he now lives with so much.' + +'Colonel Talbot? he is a very disagreeable person, to be sure. He looks +as if he thought no Scottish woman worth the trouble of handing her a +cup of tea. But Waverley is so gentle, so well informed--' + +'Yes,' said Flora, smiling, 'he can admire the moon and quote a stanza +from Tasso.' + +'Besides, you know how he fought,' added Miss Bradwardine. + +'For mere fighting,' answered Flora,' I believe all men (that is, who +deserve the name) are pretty much alike; there is generally more +courage required to run away. They have besides, when confronted with +each other, a certain instinct for strife, as we see in other male +animals, such as dogs, bulls, and so forth. But high and perilous +enterprise is not Waverley's forte. He would never have been his +celebrated ancestor Sir Nigel, but only Sir Nigel's eulogist and poet. +I will tell you where he will be at home, my dear, and in his place--in +the quiet circle of domestic happiness, lettered indolence, and elegant +enjoyments of Waverley-Honour. And he will refit the old library in the +most exquisite Gothic taste, and garnish its shelves with the rarest +and most valuable volumes; and he will draw plans and landscapes, and +write verses, and rear temples, and dig grottoes; and he will stand in +a clear summer night in the colonnade before the hall, and gaze on the +deer as they stray in the moonlight, or lie shadowed by the boughs of +the huge old fantastic oaks; and he will repeat verses to his beautiful +wife, who will hang upon his arm;--and he will be a happy man.' + +And she will be a happy woman, thought poor Rose. But she only sighed +and dropped the conversation. + + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +FERGUS A SUITOR + + +Waverley had, indeed, as he looked closer into the state of the +Chevalier's court, less reason to be satisfied with it. It contained, +as they say an acorn includes all the ramifications of the future oak, +as many seeds of tracasserie and intrigue as might have done honour to +the court of a large empire. Every person of consequence had some +separate object, which he pursued with a fury that Waverley considered +as altogether disproportioned to its importance. Almost all had their +reasons for discontent, although the most legitimate was that of the +worthy old Baron, who was only distressed on account of the common +cause. + +'We shall hardly,' said he one morning to Waverley when they had been +viewing the Castle--'we shall hardly gain the obsidional crown, which +you wot well was made of the roots or grain which takes root within the +place besieged, or it may be of the herb woodbind, parietaria, or +pellitory; we shall not, I say, gain it by this same blockade or +leaguer of Edinburgh Castle.' For this opinion he gave most learned and +satisfactory reasons, that the reader may not care to hear repeated. + +Having escaped from the old gentleman, Waverley went to Fergus's +lodgings by appointment, to await his return from Holyrood House. 'I am +to have a particular audience to-morrow,' said Fergus to Waverley +overnight, 'and you must meet me to wish me joy of the success which I +securely anticipate.' + +The morrow came, and in the Chief's apartment he found Ensign +Maccombich waiting to make report of his turn of duty in a sort of +ditch which they had dug across the Castle-hill and called a trench. In +a short time the Chief's voice was heard on the stair in a tone of +impatient fury: 'Callum! why, Callum Beg! Diaoul!' He entered the room +with all the marks of a man agitated by a towering passion; and there +were few upon whose features rage produced a more violent effect. The +veins of his forehead swelled when he was in such agitation; his +nostril became dilated; his cheek and eye inflamed; and hislook that of +a demoniac. These appearances of half-suppressed rage were the more +frightful because they were obviously caused by a strong effort to +temper with discretion an almost ungovernable paroxysm of passion, and +resulted from an internal conflict of the most dreadful kind, which +agitated his whole frame of mortality. + +As he entered the apartment he unbuckled his broadsword, and throwing +it down with such violence that the weapon rolled to the other end of +the room, 'I know not what,' he exclaimed, 'withholds me from taking a +solemn oath that I will never more draw it in his cause. Load my +pistols, Callum, and bring them hither instantly--instantly!' Callum, +whom nothing ever startled, dismayed, or disconcerted, obeyed very +coolly. Evan Dhu, upon whose brow the suspicion that his Chief had been +insulted called up a corresponding storm, swelled in sullen silence, +awaiting to learn where or upon whom vengeance was to descend. + +'So, Waverley, you are there,' said the Chief, after a moment's +recollection. 'Yes, I remember I asked you to share my triumph, and you +have come to witness my disappointment we shall call it.' Evan now +presented the written report he had in his hand, which Fergus threw +from him with great passion. 'I wish to God,' he said, 'the old den +would tumble down upon the heads of the fools who attack and the knaves +who defend it! I see, Waverley, you think I am mad. Leave us, Evan, but +be within call.' + +'The Colonel's in an unco kippage,' said Mrs. Flockhart to Evan as he +descended; 'I wish he may be weel,--the very veins on his brent brow +are swelled like whipcord; wad he no tak something?' + +'He usually lets blood for these fits,' answered the Highland ancient +with great composure. + +When this officer left the room, the Chieftain gradually reassumed some +degree of composure. 'I know, Waverley,' he said, 'that Colonel Talbot +has persuaded you to curse ten times a day your engagement with us; +nay, never deny it, for I am at this moment tempted to curse my own. +Would you believe it, I made this very morning two suits to the Prince, +and he has rejected them both; what do you think of it?' + +'What can I think,' answered Waverley,'till I know what your requests +were?' 'Why, what signifies what they were, man? I tell you it was I +that made them--I to whom he owes more than to any three who have +joined the standard; for I negotiated the whole business, and brought +in all the Perthshire men when not one would have stirred. I am not +likely, I think, to ask anything very unreasonable, and if I did, they +might have stretched a point. Well, but you shall know all, now that I +can draw my breath again with some freedom. You remember my earl's +patent; it is dated some years back, for services then rendered; and +certainly my merit has not been diminished, to say the least, by my +subsequent behaviour. Now, sir, I value this bauble of a coronet as +little as you can, or any philosopher on earth; for I hold that the +chief of such a clan as the Sliochd nan Ivor is superior in rank to any +earl in Scotland. But I had a particular reason for assuming this +cursed title at this time. You must know that I learned accidentally +that the Prince has been pressing that old foolish Baron of Bradwardine +to disinherit his male heir, or nineteenth or twentieth cousin, who has +taken a command in the Elector of Hanover's militia, and to settle his +estate upon your pretty little friend Rose; and this, as being the +command of his king and overlord, who may alter the destination of a +fief at pleasure, the old gentleman seems well reconciled to.' + +'And what becomes of the homage?' + +'Curse the homage! I believe Rose is to pull off the queen's slipper on +her coronation-day, or some such trash. Well, sir, as Rose Bradwardine +would always have made a suitable match for me but for this idiotical +predilection of her father for the heir-male, it occurred to me there +now remained no obstacle unless that the Baron might expect his +daughter's husband to take the name of Bradwardine (which you know +would be impossible in my case), and that this might be evaded by my +assuming the title to which I had so good a right, and which, of +course, would supersede that difficulty. If she was to be also +Viscountess Bradwardine in her own right after her father's demise, so +much the better; I could have no objection.' + +'But, Fergus,' said Waverley, 'I had no idea that you had any affection +for Miss Bradwardine, and you are always sneering at her father.' + +'I have as much affection for Miss Bradwardine, my good friend, as I +think it necessary to have for the future mistress of my family and the +mother of my children. She is a very pretty, intelligent girl, and is +certainly of one of the very first Lowland families; and, with a little +of Flora's instructions and forming, will make a very good figure. As +to her father, he is an original, it is true, and an absurd one enough; +but he has given such severe lessons to Sir Hew Halbert, that dear +defunct the Laird of Balmawhapple, and others, that nobody dare laugh +at him, so his absurdity goes for nothing. I tell you there could have +been no earthly objection--none. I had settled the thing entirely in my +own mind.' + +'But had you asked the Baron's consent,' said Waverley, 'or Rose's?' + +'To what purpose? To have spoke to the Baron before I had assumed my +title would have only provoked a premature and irritating discussion on +the subject of the change of name, when, as Earl of Glennaquoich, I had +only to propose to him to carry his d--d bear and bootjack party per +pale, or in a scutcheon of pretence, or in a separate shield +perhaps--any way that would not blemish my own coat of arms. And as to +Rose, I don't see what objection she could have made if her father was +satisfied.' + +'Perhaps the same that your sister makes to me, you being satisfied.' + +Fergus gave a broad stare at the comparison which this supposition +implied, but cautiously suppressed the answer which rose to his tongue. +'O, we should easily have arranged all that. So, sir, I craved a +private interview, and this morning was assigned; and I asked you to +meet me here, thinking, like a fool, that I should want your +countenance as bride's-man. Well, I state my pretension--they are not +denied; the promises so repeatedly made and the patent granted--they +are acknowledged. But I propose, as a natural consequence, to assume +the rank which the patent bestowed. I have the old story of the +jealousy of C---- and M---- trumped up against me. I resist this +pretext, and offer to procure their written acquiescence, in virtue of +the date of my patent as prior to their silly claims; I assure you I +would have had such a consent from them, if it had been at the point of +the sword. And then out comes the real truth; and he dares to tell me +to my face that my patent must be suppressed for the present, for fear +of disgusting that rascally coward and faineant (naming the rival chief +of his own clan), who has no better title to be a chieftain than I to +be Emperor of China, and who is pleased to shelter his dastardly +reluctance to come out, agreeable to his promise twenty times pledged, +under a pretended jealousy of the Prince's partiality to me. And, to +leave this miserable driveller without a pretence for his cowardice, +the Prince asks it as a personal favour of me, forsooth, not to press +my just and reasonable request at this moment. After this, put your +faith in princes!' + +'And did your audience end here?' + +'End? O no! I was determined to leave him no pretence for his +ingratitude, and I therefore stated, with all the composure I could +muster,--for I promise you I trembled with passion,--the particular +reasons I had for wishing that his Royal Highness would impose upon me +any other mode of exhibiting my duty and devotion, as my views in life +made what at any other time would have been a mere trifle at this +crisis a severe sacrifice; and then I explained to him my full plan.' + +'And what did the Prince answer?' + +'Answer? why--it is well it is written, "Curse not the king, no, not in +thy thought!"--why, he answered that truly he was glad I had made him +my confidant, to prevent more grievous disappointment, for he could +assure me, upon the word of a prince, that Miss Bradwardine's +affections were engaged, and he was under a particular promise to +favour them. "So, my dear Fergus," said he, with his most gracious cast +of smile, "as the marriage is utterly out of question, there need be no +hurry, you know, about the earldom." And so he glided off and left me +plante la.' + +'And what did you do?' + +'I'll tell you what I COULD have done at that moment--sold myself to +the devil or the Elector, whichever offered the dearest revenge. +However, I am now cool. I know he intends to marry her to some of his +rascally Frenchmen or his Irish officers, but I will watch them close; +and let the man that would supplant me look well to himself. Bisogna +coprirsi, Signor.' + +After some further conversation, unnecessary to be detailed, Waverley +took leave of the Chieftain, whose fury had now subsided into a deep +and strong desire of vengeance, and returned home, scarce able to +analyse the mixture of feelings which the narrative had awakened in his +own bosom. + + + + + +CHAPTER LIV + +'TO ONE THING CONSTANT NEVER' + + +'I am the very child of caprice,'said Waverley to himself, as he bolted +the door of his apartment and paced it with hasty steps. 'What is it to +me that Fergus Mac-Ivor should wish to marry Rose Bradwardine? I love +her not; I might have been loved by her perhaps; but rejected her +simple, natural, and affecting attachment, instead of cherishing it +into tenderness, and dedicated myself to one who will never love mortal +man, unless old Warwick, the King-maker, should arise from the dead The +Baron too--I would not have cared about his estate, and so the name +would have been no stumbling-block. The devil might have taken the +barren moors and drawn off the royal caligae for anything I would have +minded. But, framed as she is for domestic affection and tenderness, +for giving and receiving all those kind and quiet attentions which +sweeten life to those who pass it together, she is sought by Fergus +Mac-Ivor. He will not use her ill, to be sure; of that he is incapable. +But he will neglect her after the first month; he will be too intent on +subduing some rival chieftain or circumventing some favourite at court, +on gaining some heathy hill and lake or adding to his bands some new +troop of caterans, to inquire what she does, or how she amuses herself. + + And then will canker sorrow eat her bud, + And chase the native beauty from her cheek; + And she will look as hollow as a ghost, + And dim and meagre as an ague fit, + And so she'll die. + +And such a catastrophe of the most gentle creature on earth might have +been prevented if Mr. Edward Waverley had had his eyes! Upon my word, I +cannot understand how I thought Flora so much, that is, so very much, +handsomer than Rose. She is taller indeed, and her manner more formed; +but many people think Miss Bradwardine's more natural; and she is +certainly much younger. I should think Flora is two years older than I +am. I will look at them particularly this evening.' + +And with this resolution Waverley went to drink tea (as the fashion was +Sixty Years Since) at the house of a lady of quality attached to the +cause of the Chevalier, where he found, as he expected, both the +ladies. All rose as he entered, but Flora immediately resumed her place +and the conversation in which she was engaged. Rose, on the contrary, +almost imperceptibly made a little way in the crowded circle for his +advancing the corner of a chair. 'Her manner, upon the whole, is most +engaging,' said Waverley to himself. + +A dispute occurred whether the Gaelic or Italian language was most +liquid, and best adapted for poetry; the opinion for the Gaelic, which +probably might not have found supporters elsewhere, was here fiercely +defended by seven Highland ladies, who talked at the top of their +lungs, and screamed the company deaf with examples of Celtic euphonia. +Flora, observing the Lowland ladies sneer at the comparison, produced +some reasons to show that it was not altogether so absurd; but Rose, +when asked for her opinion, gave it with animation in praise of +Italian, which she had studied with Waverley's assistance. "She has a +more correct ear than Flora, though a less accomplished musician," said +Waverley to himself. 'I suppose Miss Mac-Ivor will next compare +Mac-Murrough nan Fonn to Ariosto!' + +Lastly, it so befell that the company differed whether Fergus should be +asked to perform on the flute, at which he was an adept, or Waverley +invited to read a play of Shakspeare; and the lady of the house +good-humouredly undertook to collect the votes of the company for +poetry or music, under the condition that the gentleman whose talents +were not laid under contribution that evening should contribute them to +enliven the next. It chanced that Rose had the casting vote. Now Flora, +who seemed to impose it as a rule upon herself never to countenance any +proposal which might seem to encourage Waverley, had voted for music, +providing the Baron would take his violin to accompany Fergus. 'I wish +you joy of your taste, Miss Mac-Ivor,' thought Edward, as they sought +for his book. 'I thought it better when we were at Glennaquoich; but +certainly the Baron is no great performer, and Shakspeare is worth +listening to.' + +'Romeo and Juliet' was selected, and Edward read with taste, feeling, +and spirit several scenes from that play. All the company applauded +with their hands, and many with their tears. Flora, to whom the drama +was well known, was among the former; Rose, to whom it was altogether +new, belonged to the latter class of admirers. 'She has more feeling +too,' said Waverley, internally. + +The conversation turning upon the incidents of the play and upon the +characters, Fergus declared that the only one worth naming, as a man of +fashion and spirit, was Mercutio. 'I could not,' he said, 'quite follow +all his old-fashioned wit, but he must have been a very pretty fellow, +according to the ideas of his time.' + +'And it was a shame,' said Ensign Maccombich, who usually followed his +Colonel everywhere, 'for that Tibbert, or Taggart, or whatever was his +name, to stick him under the other gentleman's arm while he was redding +the fray.' + +The ladies, of course, declared loudly in favour of Romeo, but this +opinion did not go undisputed. The mistress of the house and several +other ladies severely reprobated the levity with which the hero +transfers his affections from Rosalind to Juliet. Flora remained silent +until her opinion was repeatedly requested, and then answered, she +thought the circumstance objected to not only reconcilable to nature, +but such as in the highest degree evinced the art of the poet. 'Romeo +is described,' said she, 'as a young man peculiarly susceptible of the +softer passions; his love is at first fixed upon a woman who could +afford it no return; this he repeatedly tells you,-- + + From love's weak, childish bow she lives unharmed, + +and again-- + + She hath forsworn to love. + +Now, as it was impossible that Romeo's love, supposing him a reasonable +being, could continue to subsist without hope, the poet has, with great +art, seized the moment when he was reduced actually to despair to throw +in his way an object more accomplished than her by whom he had been +rejected, and who is disposed to repay his attachment. I can scarce +conceive a situation more calculated to enhance the ardour of Romeo's +affection for Juliet than his being at once raised by her from the +state of drooping melancholy in which he appears first upon the scene +to the ecstatic state in which he exclaims-- + + --come what sorrow can, + It cannot countervail the exchange of joy + That one short moment gives me in her sight.' + +'Good now, Miss Mac-Ivor,' said a young lady of quality, 'do you mean +to cheat us out of our prerogative? will you persuade us love cannot +subsist without hope, or that the lover must become fickle if the lady +is cruel? O fie! I did not expect such an unsentimental conclusion.' + +'A lover, my dear Lady Betty,' said Flora, 'may, I conceive, persevere +in his suit under very discouraging circumstances. Affection can (now +and then) withstand very severe storms of rigour, but not a long polar +frost of downright indifference. Don't, even with YOUR attractions, try +the experiment upon any lover whose faith you value. Love will subsist +on wonderfully little hope, but not altogether without it.' + +'It will be just like Duncan Mac-Girdie's mare,' said Evan, 'if your +ladyships please, he wanted to use her by degrees to live without meat, +and just as he had put her on a straw a day the poor thing died!' + +Evan's illustration set the company a-laughing, and the discourse took +a different turn. Shortly afterwards the party broke up, and Edward +returned home, musing on what Flora had said. 'I will love my Rosalind +no more,' said he; 'she has given me a broad enough hint for that; and +I will speak to her brother and resign my suit. But for a Juliet--would +it be handsome to interfere with Fergus's pretensions? though it is +impossible they can ever succeed; and should they miscarry, what then? +why then alors comme alors.' And with this resolution of being guided +by circumstances did our hero commit himself to repose. + + + + + +CHAPTER LV + +A BRAVE MAN IN SORROW + + +Ifmy fair readers should be of opinion that my hero's levity in love is +altogether unpardonable, I must remind them that all his griefs and +difficulties did not arise from that sentimental source. Even the lyric +poet who complains so feelingly of the pains of love could not forget, +that at the same time he was 'in debt and in drink,' which, doubtless, +were great aggravations of his distress. There were, indeed, whole days +in which Waverley thought neither of Flora nor Rose Bradwardine, but +which were spent in melancholy conjectures on the probable state of +matters at Waverley-Honour, and the dubious issue of the civil contest +in which he was pledged. Colonel Talbot often engaged him in +discussions upon the justice of the cause he had espoused. 'Not,' he +said, 'that it is possible for you to quit it at this present moment, +for, come what will, you must stand by your rash engagement. But I wish +you to be aware that the right is not with you; that you are fighting +against the real interests of your country; and that you ought, as an +Englishman and a patriot, to take the first opportunity to leave this +unhappy expedition before the snowball melts.' + +In such political disputes Waverley usually opposed the common +arguments of his party, with which it is unnecessary to trouble the +reader. But he had little to say when the Colonel urged him to compare +the strength by which they had undertaken to overthrow the government +with that which was now assembling very rapidly for its support. To +this statement Waverley had but one answer: 'If the cause I have +undertaken be perilous, there would be the greater disgrace in +abandoning it.' And in his turn he generally silenced Colonel Talbot, +and succeeded in changing the subject. + +One night, when, after a long dispute of this nature, the friends had +separated and our hero had retired to bed, he was awakened about +midnight by a suppressed groan. He started up and listened; it came +from the apartment of Colonel Talbot, which was divided from his own by +a wainscotted partition, with a door of communication. Waverley +approached this door and distinctly heard one or two deep-drawn sighs. +What could be the matter? The Colonel had parted from him apparently in +his usual state of spirits. He must have been taken suddenly ill. Under +this impression he opened the door of communication very gently, and +perceived the Colonel, in his night-gown, seated by a table, on which +lay a letter and a picture. He raised his head hastily, as Edward stood +uncertain whether to advance or retire, and Waverley perceived that his +cheeks were stained with tears. + +As if ashamed at being found giving way to such emotion, Colonel Talbot +rose with apparent displeasure and said, with some sternness, 'I think, +Mr. Waverley, my own apartment and the hour might have secured even a +prisoner against--' + +'Do not say INTRUSION, Colonel Talbot; I heard you breathe hard and +feared you were ill; that alone could have induced me to break in upon +you.' + +'I am well,' said the Colonel, 'perfectly well.' + +'But you are distressed,' said Edward; 'is there anything can be done?' + +'Nothing, Mr. Waverley; I was only thinking of home, and some +unpleasant occurrences there.' + +'Good God, my uncle!' exclaimed Waverley. + +'No, it is a grief entirely my own. I am ashamed you should have seen +it disarm me so much; but it must have its course at times, that it may +be at others more decently supported. I would have kept it secret from +you; for I think it will grieve you, and yet you can administer no +consolation. But you have surprised me,--I see you are surprised +yourself,--and I hate mystery. Read that letter.' + +The letter was from Colonel Talbot's sister, and in these words:-- + +'I received yours, my dearest brother, by Hodges. Sir E. W. and Mr. R. +are still at large, but are not permitted to leave London. I wish to +Heaven I could give you as good an account of matters in the square. +But the news of the unhappy affair at Preston came upon us, with the +dreadful addition that you were among the fallen. You know Lady Emily's +state of health, when your friendship for Sir E. induced you to leave +her. She was much harassed with the sad accounts from Scotland of the +rebellion having broken out; but kept up her spirits, as, she said, it +became your wife, and for the sake of the future heir, so long hoped +for in vain. Alas, my dear brother, these hopes are now ended! +Notwithstanding all my watchful care, this unhappy rumour reached her +without preparation. She was taken ill immediately; and the poor infant +scarce survived its birth. Would to God this were all! But although the +contradiction of the horrible report by your own letter has greatly +revived her spirits, yet Dr. ---- apprehends, I grieve to say, serious, +and even dangerous, consequences to her health, especially from the +uncertainty in which she must necessarily remain for some time, +aggravated by the ideas she has formed of the ferocity of those with +whom you are a prisoner. + +'Do therefore, my dear brother, as soon as this reaches you, endeavour +to gain your release, by parole, by ransom, or any way that is +practicable. I do not exaggerate Lady Emily's state of health; but I +must not--dare not--suppress the truth. Ever, my dear Philip, your most +affectionate sister, + +'Lucy TALBOT.' + +Edward stood motionless when he had perused this letter; for the +conclusion was inevitable, that, by the Colonel's journey in quest of +him, he had incurred this heavy calamity. It was severe enough, even in +its irremediable part; for Colonel Talbot and Lady Emily, long without +a family, had fondly exulted in the hopes which were now blasted. But +this disappointment was nothing to the extent of the threatened evil; +and Edward, with horror, regarded himself as the original cause of both. + +Ere he could collect himself sufficiently to speak, Colonel Talbot had +recovered his usual composure of manner, though his troubled eye +denoted his mental agony. + +'She is a woman, my young friend, who may justify even a soldier's +tears.' He reached him the miniature, exhibiting features which fully +justified the eulogium; 'and yet, God knows, what you see of her there +is the least of the charms she possesses--possessed, I should perhaps +say--but God's will be done.' + +' You must fly--you must fly instantly to her relief. It is not--it +shall not be too late.' + +'Fly? how is it possible? I am a prisoner, upon parole.' + +'I am your keeper; I restore your parole; I am to answer for you.' + +'You cannot do so consistently with your duty; nor can I accept a +discharge from you, with due regard to my own honour; you would be made +responsible.' + +'I will answer it with my head, if necessary,' said Waverley +impetuously. 'I have been the unhappy cause of the loss of your child, +make me not the murderer of your wife.' + +'No, my dear Edward,' said Talbot, taking him kindly by the hand, 'you +are in no respect to blame; and if I concealed this domestic distress +for two days, it was lest your sensibility should view it in that +light. You could not think of me, hardly knew of my existence, when I +left England in quest of you. It is a responsibility, Heaven knows, +sufficiently heavy for mortality, that we must answer for the foreseen +and direct result of our actions; for their indirect and consequential +operation the great and good Being, who alone can foresee the +dependence of human events on each other, hath not pronounced his frail +creatures liable.' + +'But that you should have left Lady Emily,' said Waverley, with much +emotion, 'in the situation of all others the most interesting to a +husband, to seek a--' + +'I only did my duty,' answered Colonel Talbot, calmly, 'and I do not, +ought not, to regret it. If the path of gratitude and honour were +always smooth and easy, there would be little merit in following it; +but it moves often in contradiction to our interest and passions, and +sometimes to our better affections. These are the trials of life, and +this, though not the least bitter' (the tears came unbidden to his +eyes), 'is not the first which it has been my fate to encounter. But we +will talk of this to-morrow,' he said, wringing Waverley's hands. +'Good-night; strive to forget it for a few hours. It will dawn, I +think, by six, and it is now past two. Good-night.' + +Edward retired, without trusting his voice with a reply. + + + + + +CHAPTER LVI + +EXERTION + + +When Colonel Talbot entered the breakfast-parlour next morning, he +learned from Waverley's servant that our hero had been abroad at an +early hour and was not yet returned. The morning was well advanced +before he again appeared. He arrived out of breath, but with an air of +joy that astonished Colonel Talbot. + +'There,' said he, throwing a paper on the table, 'there is my morning's +work. Alick, pack up the Colonel's clothes. Make haste, make haste.' + +The Colonel examined the paper with astonishment. It was a pass from +the Chevalier to Colonel Talbot, to repair to Leith, or any other port +in possession of his Royal Highness's troops, and there to embark for +England or elsewhere, at his free pleasure; he only giving his parole +of honour not to bear arms against the house of Stuart for the space of +a twelve-month. + +'In the name of God,' said the Colonel, his eyes sparkling with +eagerness, 'how did you obtain this?' + +'I was at the Chevalier's levee as soon as he usually rises. He was +gone to the camp at Duddingston. I pursued him thither, asked and +obtained an audience--but I will tell you not a word more, unless I see +you begin to pack.' + +'Before I know whether I can avail myself of this passport, or how it +was obtained?' + +'O, you can take out the things again, you know. Now I see you busy, I +will go on. When I first mentioned your name, his eyes sparkled almost +as bright as yours did two minutes since. "Had you," he earnestly +asked, "shown any sentiments favourable to his cause?" "Not in the +least, nor was there any hope you would do so." His countenance fell. I +requested your freedom. "Impossible," he said; "your importance as a +friend and confidant of such and such personages made my request +altogether extravagant." I told him my own story and yours; and asked +him to judge what my feelings must be by his own. He has a heart, and a +kind one, Colonel Talbot, you may say what you please. He took a sheet +of paper and wrote the pass with his own hand. "I will not trust myself +with my council," he said; "they will argue me out of what is right. I +will not endure that a friend, valued as I value you, should be loaded +with the painful reflections which must afflict you in case of further +misfortune in Colonel Talbot's family; nor will I keep a brave enemy a +prisoner under such circumstances. Besides," said he, "I think I can +justify myself to my prudent advisers by pleading the good effect such +lenity will produce on the minds of the great English families with +whom Colonel Talbot is connected."' + +'There the politician peeped out,' said the Colonel. + +'Well, at least he concluded like a king's son: "Take the passport; I +have added a condition for form's sake; but if the Colonel objects to +it, let him depart without giving any parole whatever. I come here to +war with men, but not to distress or endanger women."' + +'Well, I never thought to have been so much indebted to the Pretend--' + +'To the Prince,' said Waverley, smiling. + +'To the Chevalier,' said the Colonel; 'it is a good travelling name, +and which we may both freely use. Did he say anything more?' + +'Only asked if there was anything else he could oblige me in; and when +I replied in the negative, he shook me by the hand, and wished all his +followers were as considerate, since some friends of mine not only +asked all he had to bestow, but many things which were entirely out of +his power, or that of the greatest sovereign upon earth. Indeed, he +said, no prince seemed, in the eyes of his followers, so like the Deity +as himself, if you were to judge from the extravagant requests which +they daily preferred to him.' + +'Poor young gentleman,' said the Colonel, 'I suppose he begins to feel +the difficulties of his situation. Well, dear Waverley, this is more +than kind, and shall not be forgotten while Philip Talbot can remember +anything. My life--pshaw--let Emily thank you for that; this is a +favour worth fifty lives. I cannot hesitate on giving my parole in the +circumstances; there it is (he wrote it out in form). And now, how am I +to get off?' + +'All that is settled: your baggage is packed, my horses wait, and a +boat has been engaged, by the Prince's permission, to put you on board +the Fox frigate. I sent a messenger down to Leith on purpose.' + +'That will do excellently well. Captain Beaver is my particular friend; +he will put me ashore at Berwick or Shields, from whence I can ride +post to London; and you must entrust me with the packet of papers which +you recovered by means of your Miss Bean Lean. I may have an +opportunity of using them to your advantage. But I see your Highland +friend, Glen ---- what do you call his barbarous name? and his orderly +with him; I must not call him his orderly cut-throat any more, I +suppose. See how he walks as if the world were his own, with the bonnet +on one side of his head and his plaid puffed out across his breast! I +should like now to meet that youth where my hands were not tied: I +would tame his pride, or he should tame mine.' + +'For shame, Colonel Talbot! you swell at sight of tartan as the bull is +said to do at scarlet. You and Mac-Ivor have some points not much +unlike, so far as national prejudice is concerned.' + +The latter part of this discourse took place in the street. They passed +the Chief, the Colonel and he sternly and punctiliously greeting each +other, like two duellists before they take their ground. It was evident +the dislike was mutual. 'I never see that surly fellow that dogs his +heels,' said the Colonel, after he had mounted his horse, 'but he +reminds me of lines I have somewhere heard--upon the stage, I think:-- + + Close behind him + Stalks sullen Bertram, like a sorcerer's fiend, + Pressing to be employed. + +'I assure you, Colonel,' said Waverley,'that you judge too harshly of +the Highlanders.' + +'Not a whit, not a whit; I cannot spare them a jot; I cannot bate them +an ace. Let them stay in their own barren mountains, and puff and +swell, and hang their bonnets on the horns of the moon, if they have a +mind; but what business have they to come where people wear breeches, +and speak an intelligible language? I mean intelligible in comparison +to their gibberish, for even the Lowlanders talk a kind of English +little better than the Negroes in Jamaica. I could pity the Pr----, I +mean the, Chevalier himself, for having so many desperadoes about him. +And they learn their trade so early. There is a kind of subaltern imp, +for example, a sort of sucking devil, whom your friend +Glena----Glenamuck there, has sometimes in his train. To look at him, +he is about fifteen years; but he is a century old in mischief and +villainy. He was playing at quoits the other day in the court; a +gentleman, a decent-looking person enough, came past, and as a quoit +hit his shin, he lifted his cane; but my young bravo whips out his +pistol, like Beau Clincher in the "Trip to the Jubilee," and had not a +scream of Gardez l'eau from an upper window set all parties +a-scampering for fear of the inevitable consequences, the poor +gentleman would have lost his life by the hands of that little +cockatrice.' + +'A fine character you'll give of Scotland upon your return, Colonel +Talbot.' + +'O, Justice Shallow,' said the Colonel, 'will save me the trouble +--"Barren, barren, beggars all, beggars all. Marry, good air,"--and +that only when you are fairly out of Edinburgh, and not yet come to +Leith, as is our case at present.' + +In a short time they arrived at the seaport. + + The boat rock'd at the pier of Leith, + Full loud the wind blew down the ferry; + The ship rode at the Berwick Law. + +'Farewell, Colonel; may you find all as you would wish it! Perhaps we +may meet sooner than you expect; they talk of an immediate route to +England.' + +'Tell me nothing of that,' said Talbot; 'I wish to carry no news of +your motions.' + +'Simply, then, adieu. Say, with a thousand kind greetings, all that is +dutiful and affectionate to Sir Everard and Aunt Rachel. Think of me as +kindly as you can, speak of me as indulgently as your conscience will +permit, and once more adieu.' + +'And adieu, my dear Waverley; many, many thanks for your kindness. +Unplaid yourself on the first opportunity. I shall ever think on you +with gratitude, and the worst of my censure shall be, Que diable +alloit--il faire dans cette galere?' + +And thus they parted, Colonel Talbot going on board of the boat and +Waverley returning to Edinburgh. + + + + + +CHAPTER LVII + +THE MARCH + + +It is not our purpose to intrude upon the province of history. We shall +therefore only remind our readers that about the beginning of November +the Young Chevalier, at the head of about six thousand men at the +utmost, resolved to peril his cause on an attempt to penetrate into the +centre of England, although aware of the mighty preparations which were +made for his reception. They set forward on this crusade in weather +which would have rendered any other troops incapable of marching, but +which in reality gave these active mountaineers advantages over a less +hardy enemy. In defiance of a superior army lying upon the Borders, +under Field-Marshal Wade, they besieged and took Carlisle, and soon +afterwards prosecuted their daring march to the southward. + +As Colonel Mac-Ivor's regiment marched in the van of the clans, he and +Waverley, who now equalled any Highlander in the endurance of fatigue, +and was become somewhat acquainted with their language, were +perpetually at its head. They marked the progress of the army, however, +with very different eyes. Fergus, all air and fire, and confident +against the world in arms, measured nothing but that every step was a +yard nearer London. He neither asked, expected, nor desired any aid +except that of the clans to place the Stuarts once more on the throne; +and when by chance a few adherents joined the standard, he always +considered them in the light of new claimants upon the favours of the +future monarch, who, he concluded, must therefore subtract for their +gratification so much of the bounty which ought to be shared among his +Highland followers. + +Edward's views were very different. He could not but observe that in +those towns in which they proclaimed James the Third, 'no man cried, +God bless him.' The mob stared and listened, heartless, stupefied, and +dull, but gave few signs even of that boisterous spirit which induces +them to shout upon all occasions for the mere exercise of their most +sweet voices. The Jacobites had been taught to believe that the +north-western counties abounded with wealthy squires and hardy yeomen, +devoted to the cause of the White Rose. But of the wealthier Tories +they saw little. Some fled from their houses, some feigned themselves +sick, some surrendered themselves to the government as suspected +persons. Of such as remained, the ignorant gazed with astonishment, +mixed with horror and aversion, at the wild appearance, unknown +language, and singular garb of the Scottish clans. And to the more +prudent their scanty numbers, apparent deficiency in discipline, and +poverty of equipment seemed certain tokens of the calamitous +termination of their rash undertaking. Thus the few who joined them +were such as bigotry of political principle blinded to consequences, or +whose broken fortunes induced them to hazard all on a risk so desperate. + +The Baron of Bradwardine, being asked what he thought of these +recruits, took a long pinch of snuff, and answered drily,'that he could +not but have an excellent opinion of them, since they resembled +precisely the followers who attached themselves to the good King David +at the cave of Adullam--videlicet, every one that was in distress, and +every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, which +the vulgate renders bitter of soul; and doubtless,' he said, 'they will +prove mighty men of their hands, and there is much need that they +should, for I have seen many a sour look cast upon us.' + +But none of these considerations moved Fergus. He admired the luxuriant +beauty of the country, and the situation of many of the seats which +they passed. 'Is Waverley-Honour like that house, Edward?' + +'It is one-half larger.' + +'Is your uncle's park as fine a one as that?' + +'It is three times as extensive, and rather resembles a forest than a +mere park.' + +'Flora will be a happy woman.' + +'I hope Miss Mac-Ivor will have much reason for happiness unconnected +with Waverley-Honour.' + +'I hope so too; but to be mistress of such a place will be a pretty +addition to the sum total.' + +'An addition, the want of which, I trust, will be amply supplied by +some other means.' + +'How,' said Fergus, stopping short and turning upon Waverley--'how am I +to understand that, Mr. Waverley? Had I the pleasure to hear you +aright?' + +'Perfectly right, Fergus.' + +'And am I to understand that you no longer desire my alliance and my +sister's hand?' + +'Your sister has refused mine,' said Waverley, 'both directly and by +all the usual means by which ladies repress undesired attentions.' + +'I have no idea,' answered the Chieftain, 'of a lady dismissing or a +gentleman withdrawing his suit, after it has been approved of by her +legal guardian, without giving him an opportunity of talking the matter +over with the lady. You did not, I suppose, expect my sister to drop +into your mouth like a ripe plum the first moment you chose to open it?' + +'As to the lady's title to dismiss her lover, Colonel,' replied Edward, +'it is a point which you must argue with her, as I am ignorant of the +customs of the Highlands in that particular. But as to my title to +acquiesce in a rejection from her without an appeal to your interest, I +will tell you plainly, without meaning to undervalue Miss Mac-Ivor's +admitted beauty and accomplishments, that I would not take the hand of +an angel, with an empire for her dowry, if her consent were extorted by +the importunity of friends and guardians, and did not flow from her own +free inclination.' + +'An angel, with the dowry of an empire,' repeated Fergus, in a tone of +bitter irony, 'is not very likely to be pressed upon a ----shire +squire. But, sir,' changing his tone, 'if Flora Mac-Ivor have not the +dowry of an empire, she is MY sister; and that is sufficient at least +to secure her against being treated with anything approaching to +levity.' + +'She is Flora Mac-Ivor, sir,' said Waverley, with firmness, 'which to +me, were I capable of treating ANY woman with levity, would be a more +effectual protection.' + +The brow of the Chieftain was now fully clouded; but Edward felt too +indignant at the unreasonable tone which he had adopted to avert the +storm by the least concession. They both stood still while this short +dialogue passed, and Fergus seemed half disposed to say something more +violent, but, by a strong effort, suppressed his passion, and, turning +his face forward, walked sullenly on. As they had always hitherto +walked together, and almost constantly side by side, Waverley pursued +his course silently in the same direction, determined to let the Chief +take his own time in recovering the good-humour which he had so +unreasonably discarded, and firm in his resolution not to bate him an +inch of dignity. + +After they had marched on in this sullen manner about a mile, Fergus +resumed the discourse in a different tone. 'I believe I was warm, my +dear Edward, but you provoke me with your want of knowledge of the +world. You have taken pet at some of Flora's prudery, or high-flying +notions of loyalty, and now, like a child, you quarrel with the +plaything you have been crying for, and beat me, your faithful keeper, +because my arm cannot reach to Edinburgh to hand it to you. I am sure, +if I was passionate, the mortification of losing the alliance of such a +friend, after your arrangement had been the talk of both Highlands and +Lowlands, and that without so much as knowing why or wherefore, might +well provoke calmer blood than mine. I shall write to Edinburgh and put +all to rights; that is, if you desire I should do so; as indeed I +cannot suppose that your good opinion of Flora, it being such as you +have often expressed to me, can be at once laid aside.' + +'Colonel Mac-Ivor,' said Edward, who had no mind to be hurried farther +or faster than he chose in a matter which he had already considered as +broken off, 'I am fully sensible of the value of your good offices; and +certainly, by your zeal on my behalf in such an affair, you do me no +small honour. But as Miss Mac-Ivor has made her election freely and +voluntarily, and as all my attentions in Edinburgh were received with +more than coldness, I cannot, in justice either to her or myself, +consent that she should again be harassed upon this topic. I would have +mentioned this to you some time since, but you saw the footing upon +which we stood together, and must have understood it. Had I thought +otherwise I would have earlier spoken; but I had a natural reluctance +to enter upon a subject so painful to us both.' + +'O, very well, Mr. Waverley,' said Fergus, haughtily, 'the thing is at +an end. I have no occasion to press my sister upon any man.' + +'Nor have I any occasion to court repeated rejection from the same +young lady,' answered Edward, in the same tone. + +'I shall make due inquiry, however,' said the Chieftain, without +noticing the interruption, 'and learn what my sister thinks of all +this, we will then see whether it is to end here.' + +'Respecting such inquiries, you will of course be guided by your own +judgment,' said Waverley. 'It is, I am aware, impossible Miss Mac-Ivor +can change her mind; and were such an unsupposable case to happen, it +is certain I will not change mine. I only mention this to prevent any +possibility of future misconstruction.' + +Gladly at this moment would Mac-Ivor have put their quarrel to a +personal arbitrement, his eye flashed fire, and he measured Edward as +if to choose where he might best plant a mortal wound. But although we +do not now quarrel according to the modes and figures of Caranza or +Vincent Saviola, no one knew better than Fergus that there must be some +decent pretext for a mortal duel. For instance, you may challenge a man +for treading on your corn in a crowd, or for pushing you up to the +wall, or for taking your seat in the theatre; but the modern code of +honour will not permit you to found a quarrel upon your right of +compelling a man to continue addresses to a female relative which the +fair lady has already refused. So that Fergus was compelled to stomach +this supposed affront until the whirligig of time, whose motion he +promised himself he would watch most sedulously, should bring about an +opportunity of revenge. + +Waverley's servant always led a saddle-horse for him in the rear of the +battalion to which he was attached, though his master seldom rode. But +now, incensed at the domineering and unreasonable conduct of his late +friend, he fell behind the column and mounted his horse, resolving to +seek the Baron of Bradwardine, and request permission to volunteer in +his troop instead of the Mac-Ivor regiment. + +'A happy time of it I should have had,' thought he, after he was +mounted, 'to have been so closely allied to this superb specimen of +pride and self-opinion and passion. A colonel! why, he should have been +a generalissimo. A petty chief of three or four hundred men! his pride +might suffice for the Cham of Tartary--the Grand Seignior--the Great +Mogul! I am well free of him. Were Flora an angel, she would bring with +her a second Lucifer of ambition and wrath for a brother-in-law.' + +The Baron, whose learning (like Sancho's jests while in the Sierra +Morena) seemed to grow mouldy for want of exercise, joyfully embraced +the opportunity of Waverley's offering his service in his regiment, to +bring it into some exertion. The good-natured old gentleman, however, +laboured to effect a reconciliation between the two quondam friends. +Fergus turned a cold ear to his remonstrances, though he gave them a +respectful hearing; and as for Waverley, he saw no reason why he should +be the first in courting a renewal of the intimacy which the Chieftain +had so unreasonably disturbed. The Baron then mentioned the matter to +the Prince, who, anxious to prevent quarrels in his little army, +declared he would himself remonstrate with Colonel Mac-Ivor on the +unreasonableness of his conduct. But, in the hurry of their march, it +was a day or two before he had an opportunity to exert his influence in +the manner proposed. + +In the meanwhile Waverley turned the instructions he had received while +in Gardiner's dragoons to some account, and assisted the Baron in his +command as a sort of adjutant. 'Parmi les aveugles un borgne est roi,' +says the French proverb; and the cavalry, which consisted chiefly of +Lowland gentlemen, their tenants and servants, formed a high opinion of +Waverley's skill and a great attachment to his person. This was indeed +partly owing to the satisfaction which they felt at the distinguished +English volunteer's leaving the Highlanders to rank among them; for +there was a latent grudge between the horse and foot, not only owing to +the difference of the services, but because most of the gentlemen, +living near the Highlands, had at one time or other had quarrels with +the tribes in their vicinity, and all of them looked with a jealous eye +on the Highlanders' avowed pretensions to superior valour and utility +in the Prince's service. + + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII + +THE CONFUSION OF KING AGRAMANT'S CAMP + + +Itwas Waverley's custom sometimes to ride a little apart from the main +body, to look at any object of curiosity which occurred on the march. +They were now in Lancashire, when, attracted by a castellated old hall, +he left the squadron for half an hour to take a survey and slight +sketch of it. As he returned down the avenue he was met by Ensign +Maccombich. This man had contracted a sort of regard for Edward since +the day of his first seeing him at Tully-Veolan and introducing him to +the Highlands. He seemed to loiter, as if on purpose to meet with our +hero. Yet, as he passed him, he only approached his stirrup and +pronounced the single word 'Beware!' and then walked swiftly on, +shunning all further communication. + +Edward, somewhat surprised at this hint, followed with his eyes the +course of Evan, who speedily disappeared among the trees. His servant, +Alick Polwarth, who was in attendance, also looked after the +Highlander, and then riding up close to his master, said,-- + +'The ne'er be in me, sir, if I think you're safe amang thae Highland +rinthereouts.' + +'What do you mean, Alick?' said Waverley. + +'The Mac-Ivors, sir, hae gotten it into their heads that ye hae +affronted their young leddy, Miss Flora; and I hae heard mae than ane +say, they wadna tak muckle to mak a black-cock o' ye; and ye ken weel +eneugh there's mony o' them wadna mind a bawbee the weising a ball +through the Prince himsell, an the Chief gae them the wink, or whether +he did or no, if they thought it a thing that would please him when it +was dune.' + +Waverley, though confident that Fergus Mac-Ivor was incapable of such +treachery, was by no means equally sure of the forbearance of his +followers. He knew that, where the honour of the Chief or his family +was supposed to be touched, the happiest man would be he that could +first avenge the stigma; and he had often heard them quote a proverb, +'That the best revenge was the most speedy and most safe.' Coupling +this with the hint of Evan, he judged it most prudent to set spurs to +his horse and ride briskly back to the squadron. Ere he reached the end +of the long avenue, however, a ball whistled past him, and the report +of a pistol was heard. + +'It was that deevil's buckle, Callum Beg,' said Alick; 'I saw him whisk +away through amang the reises.' + +Edward, justly incensed at this act of treachery, galloped out of the +avenue, and observed the battalion of Mac-Ivor at some distance moving +along the common in which it terminated. He also saw an individual +running very fast to join the party; this he concluded was the intended +assassin, who, by leaping an enclosure, might easily make a much +shorter path to the main body than he could find on horseback. Unable +to contain himself, he commanded Alick to go to the Baron of +Bradwardine, who was at the head of his regiment about half a mile in +front, and acquaint him with what had happened. He himself immediately +rode up to Fergus's regiment. The Chief himself was in the act of +joining them. He was on horseback, having returned from waiting on the +Prince. On perceiving Edward approaching, he put his horse in motion +towards him. + +'Colonel Mac-Ivor,' said Waverley, without any farther salutation, 'I +have to inform you that one of your people has this instant fired at me +from a lurking-place.' + +'As that,' answered Mac-Ivor, 'excepting the circumstance of a +lurking-place, is a pleasure which I presently propose to myself, I +should be glad to know which of my clansmen dared to anticipate me.' + +'I shall certainly be at your command whenever you please; the +gentleman who took your office upon himself is your page there, Callum +Beg.' + +'Stand forth from the ranks, Callum! Did you fire at Mr. Waverley?' + +'No,' answered the unblushing Callum. + +'You did,' said Alick Polwarth, who was already returned, having met a +trooper by whom he despatched an account of what was going forward to +the Baron of Bradwardine, while he himself returned to his master at +full gallop, neither sparing the rowels of his spurs nor the sides of +his horse. 'You did; I saw you as plainly as I ever saw the auld kirk +at Coudingham.' + +'You lie,' replied Callum, with his usual impenetrable obstinacy. The +combat between the knights would certainly, as in the days of chivalry, +have been preceded by an encounter between the squires (for Alick was a +stout-hearted Merseman, and feared the bow of Cupid far more than a +Highlander's dirk or claymore), but Fergus, with his usual tone of +decision, demanded Callum's pistol. The cock was down, the pan and +muzzle were black with the smoke; it had been that instant fired. + +'Take that,' said Fergus, striking the boy upon the head with the heavy +pistol-butt with his whole force--'take that for acting without orders, +and lying to disguise it.' Callum received the blow without appearing +to flinch from it, and fell without sign of life. 'Stand still, upon +your lives!' said Fergus to the rest of the clan; 'I blow out the +brains of the first man who interferes between Mr. Waverley and me.' +They stood motionless; Evan Dhu alone showed symptoms of vexation and +anxiety. Callum lay on the ground bleeding copiously, but no one +ventured to give him any assistance. It seemed as if he had gotten his +death-blow. + +'And now for you, Mr. Waverley; please to turn your horse twenty yards +with me upon the common.' Waverley complied; and Fergus, confronting +him when they were a little way from the line of march, said, with +great affected coolness, 'I could not but wonder, sir, at the +fickleness of taste which you were pleased to express the other day. +But it was not an angel, as you justly observed, who had charms for +you, unless she brought an empire for her fortune. I have now an +excellent commentary upon that obscure text.' + +'I am at a loss even to guess at your meaning, Colonel Mac-Ivor, unless +it seems plain that you intend to fasten a quarrel upon me.' + +'Your affected ignorance shall not serve you, sir. The Prince--the +Prince himself has acquainted me with your manoeuvres. I little thought +that your engagements with Miss Bradwardine were the reason of your +breaking off your intended match with my sister. I suppose the +information that the Baron had altered the destination of his estate +was quite a sufficient reason for slighting your friend's sister and +carrying off your friend's mistress.' + +'Did the Prince tell you I was engaged to Miss Bradwardine?' said +Waverley. 'Impossible.' + +'He did, sir,' answered Mac-Ivor; 'so, either draw and defend yourself +or resign your pretensions to the lady.' 'This is absolute madness,' +exclaimed Waverley, 'or some strange mistake!' + +'O! no evasion! draw your sword!' said the infuriated Chieftain, his +own already unsheathed. + +'Must I fight in a madman's quarrel?' + +'Then give up now, and forever, all pretensions to Miss Bradwardine's +hand.' + +'What title have you,' cried Waverley, utterly losing command of +himself--'what title have you, or any man living, to dictate such terms +to me?' And he also drew his sword. + +At this moment the Baron of Bradwardine, followed by several of his +troop, came up on the spur, some from curiosity, others to take part in +the quarrel which they indistinctly understood had broken out between +the Mac-Ivors and their corps. The clan, seeing them approach, put +themselves in motion to support their Chieftain, and a scene of +confusion commenced which seamed likely to terminate in bloodshed. A +hundred tongues were in motion at once. The Baron lectured, the +Chieftain stormed, the Highlanders screamed in Gaelic, the horsemen +cursed and swore in Lowland Scotch. At length matters came to such a +pass that the Baron threatened to charge the Mac-Ivors unless they +resumed their ranks, and many of them, in return, presented their +firearms at him and the other troopers. The confusion was privately +fostered by old Ballenkeiroch, who made no doubt that his own day of +vengeance was arrived, when, behold! a cry arose of 'Room! make way! +place a Monseigneur! place a Monseigneur!' This announced the approach +of the Prince, who came up with a party of Fitz-James's foreign +dragoons that acted as his body-guard. His arrival produced some degree +of order. The Highlanders reassumed their ranks, the cavalry fell in +and formed squadron, and the Baron and Chieftain were silent. + +The Prince called them and Waverley before him. Having heard the +original cause of the quarrel through the villainy of Callum Beg, he +ordered him into custody of the provost-marshal for immediate +execution, in the event of his surviving the chastisement inflicted by +his Chieftain. Fergus, however, in a tone betwixt claiming a right and +asking a favour, requested he might be left to his disposal, and +promised his punishment should be exemplary. To deny this might have +seemed to encroach on the patriarchal authority of the Chieftains, of +which they were very jealous, and they were not persons to be +disobliged. Callum was therefore left to the justice of his own tribe. + +The Prince next demanded to know the new cause of quarrel between +Colonel Mac-Ivor and Waverley. There was a pause. Both gentlemen found +the presence of the Baron of Bradwardine (for by this time all three +had approached the Chevalier by his command) an insurmountable barrier +against entering upon a subject where the name of his daughter must +unavoidably be mentioned. They turned their eyes on the ground, with +looks in which shame and embarrassment were mingled with displeasure. +The Prince, who had been educated amongst the discontented and mutinous +spirits of the court of St. Germains, where feuds of every kind were +the daily subject of solicitude to the dethroned sovereign, had served +his apprenticeship, as old Frederick of Prussia would have said, to the +trade of royalty. To promote or restore concord among his followers was +indispensable. Accordingly he took his measures. + +'Monsieur de Beaujeu!' + +'Monseigneur!' said a very handsome French cavalry officer who was in +attendance. + +'Ayez la bonte d'aligner ces montagnards la, ainsi que la cavalerie, +s'il vous plait, et de les remettre a la marche. Vous parlez si bien +l'Anglois, cela ne vous donneroit pas beaucoup de peine.' + +'Ah! pas du tout, Monseigneur,' replied Mons. le Comte de Beaujeu, his +head bending down to the neck of his little prancing highly-managed +charger. Accordingly he piaffed away, in high spirits and confidence, +to the head of Fergus's regiment, although understanding not a word of +Gaelic and very little English. + +'Messieurs les sauvages Ecossois--dat is, gentilmans savages, have the +goodness d'arranger vous.' + +The clan, comprehending the order more from the gesture than the words, +and seeing the Prince himself present, hastened to dress their ranks. + +'Ah! ver well! dat is fort bien!' said the Count de Beaujeu. +'Gentilmans sauvages! mais, tres bien. Eh bien! Qu'est ce que vous +appelez visage, Monsieur?' (to a lounging trooper who stood by him). +'Ah, oui! face. Je vous remercie, Monsieur. Gentilshommes, have de +goodness to make de face to de right par file, dat is, by files. Marsh! +Mais, tres bien; encore, Messieurs; il faut vous mettre a la marche. +... Marchez done, au nom de Dieu, parceque j'ai oublie le mot Anglois; +mais vous etes des braves gens, et me comprenez tres bien.' + +The Count next hastened to put the cavalry in motion. 'Gentilmans +cavalry, you must fall in. Ah! par ma foi, I did not say fall off! I am +a fear de little gross fat gentilman is moche hurt. Ah, mon Dieu! c'est +le Commissaire qui nous a apporte les premieres nouvelles de ce maudit +fracas. Je suis trop fache, Monsieur!' + +But poor Macwheeble, who, with a sword stuck across him, and a white +cockade as large as a pancake, now figured in the character of a +commissary, being overturned in the bustle occasioned by the troopers +hastening to get themselves in order in the Prince's presence, before +he could rally his galloway, slunk to the rear amid the unrestrained +laughter of the spectators. + +'Eh bien, Messieurs, wheel to de right. Ah! dat is it! Eh, Monsieur de +Bradwardine, ayez la bonte de vous mettre a la tete de votre regiment, +car, par Dieu, je n'en puis plus!' + +The Baron of Bradwardine was obliged to go to the assistance of +Monsieur de Beaujeu, after he had fairly expended his few English +military phrases. One purpose of the Chevalier was thus answered. The +other he proposed was, that in the eagerness to hear and comprehend +commands issued through such an indistinct medium in his own presence, +the thoughts of the soldiers in both corps might get a current +different from the angry channel in which they were flowing at the time. + +Charles Edward was no sooner left with the Chieftain and Waverley, the +rest of his attendants being at some distance, than he said, 'If I owed +less to your disinterested friendship, I could be most seriously angry +with both of you for this very extraordinary and causeless broil, at a +moment when my father's service so decidedly demands the most perfect +unanimity. But the worst of my situation is, that my very best friends +hold they have liberty to ruin themselves, as well as the cause they +are engaged in, upon the slightest caprice.' + +Both the young men protested their resolution to submit every +difference to his arbitration. 'Indeed,' said Edward, 'I hardly know of +what I am accused. I sought Colonel Mac-Ivor merely to mention to him +that I had narrowly escaped assassination at the hand of his immediate +dependent, a dastardly revenge which I knew him to be incapable of +authorising. As to the cause for which he is disposed to fasten a +quarrel upon me, I am ignorant of it, unless it be that he accuses me, +most unjustly, of having engaged the affections of a young lady in +prejudice of his pretensions.' + +'If there is an error,' said the Chieftain, 'it arises from a +conversation which I held this morning with his Royal Highness himself.' + +'With me?' said the Chevalier; 'how can Colonel Mac-Ivor have so far +misunderstood me?' + +He then led Fergus aside, and, after five minutes' earnest +conversation, spurred his horse towards Edward. 'Is it possible--nay, +ride up, Colonel, for I desire no secrets--is it possible, Mr. +Waverley, that I am mistaken in supposing that you are an accepted +lover of Miss Bradwardine? a fact of which I was by circumstances, +though not by communication from you, so absolutely convinced that I +alleged it to Vich Ian Vohr this morning as a reason why, without +offence to him, you might not continue to be ambitious of an alliance +which, to an unengaged person, even though once repulsed, holds out too +many charms to be lightly laid aside.' + +'Your Royal Highness,' said Waverley,'must have founded on +circumstances altogether unknown to me, when you did me the +distinguished honour of supposing me an accepted lover of Miss +Bradwardine. I feel the distinction implied in the supposition, but I +have no title to it. For the rest, my confidence in my own merit is too +justly slight to admit of my hoping for success in any quarter after +positive rejection.' + +The Chevalier was silent for a moment, looking steadily at them both, +and then said, 'Upon my word, Mr. Waverley, you are a less happy man +than I conceived I had very good reason to believe you. But now, +gentlemen, allow me to be umpire in this matter, not as Prince Regent +but as Charles Stuart, a brother adventurer with you in the same +gallant cause. Lay my pretensions to be obeyed by you entirely out of +view, and consider your own honour, and how far it is well or becoming +to give our enemies the advantage and our friends the scandal of +showing that, few as we are, we are not united. And forgive me if I +add, that the names of the ladies who have been mentioned crave more +respect from us all than to be made themes of discord.' + +He took Fergus a little apart and spoke to him very earnestly for two +or three minutes, and then returning to Waverley, said, 'I believe I +have satisfied Colonel Mac-Ivor that his resentment was founded upon a +misconception, to which, indeed, I myself gave rise; and I trust Mr. +Waverley is too generous to harbour any recollection of what is past +when I assure him that such is the case. You must state this matter +properly to your clan, Vich Ian Vohr, to prevent a recurrence of their +precipitate violence.' Fergus bowed. 'And now, gentlemen, let me have +the pleasure to see you shake hands.' + +They advanced coldly, and with measured steps, each apparently +reluctant to appear most forward in concession. They did, however, +shake hands, and parted, taking a respectful leave of the Chevalier. + +Charles Edward [Footnote: See Note 12.] then rode to the head of the +MacIvors, threw himself from his horse, begged a drink out of old +Ballenkeiroch's cantine, and marched about half a mile along with them, +inquiring into the history and connexions of Sliochd nan Ivor, adroitly +using the few words of Gaelic he possessed, and affecting a great +desire to learn it more thoroughly. He then mounted his horse once +more, and galloped to the Baron's cavalry, which was in front, halted +them, and examined their accoutrements and state of discipline; took +notice of the principal gentlemen, and even of the cadets; inquired +after their ladies, and commended their horses; rode about an hour with +the Baron of Bradwardine, and endured three long stories about +Field-Marshal the Duke of Berwick. + +'Ah, Beaujeu, mon cher ami,' said he, as he returned to his usual place +in the line of march, 'que mon metier de prince errant est ennuyant, +par fois. Mais, courage! c'est le grand jeu, apres tout.' + + + + + +CHAPTER LIX + +A SKIRMISH + + +Theeader need hardly be reminded that, after a council of war held at +Derby on the 5th of December, the Highlanders relinquished their +desperate attempt to penetrate farther into England, and, greatly to +the dissatisfaction of their young and daring leader, positively +determined to return northward. They commenced their retreat +accordingly, and, by the extreme celerity of their movements, +outstripped the motions of the Duke of Cumberland, who now pursued them +with a very large body of cavalry. + +This retreat was a virtual resignation of their towering hopes. None +had been so sanguine as Fergus MacIvor; none, consequently, was so +cruelly mortified at the change of measures. He argued, or rather +remonstrated, with the utmost vehemence at the council of war; and, +when his opinion was rejected, shed tears of grief and indignation. +From that moment his whole manner was so much altered that he could +scarcely have been recognised for the same soaring and ardent spirit, +for whom the whole earth seemed too narrow but a week before. The +retreat had continued for several days, when Edward, to his surprise, +early on the 12th of December, received a visit from the Chieftain in +his quarters, in a hamlet about half-way between Shap and Penrith. + +Having had no intercourse with the Chieftain since their rupture, +Edward waited with some anxiety an explanation of this unexpected +visit; nor could he help being surprised, and somewhat shocked, with +the change in his appearance. His eye had lost much of its fire; his +cheek was hollow, his voice was languid, even his gait seemed less firm +and elastic than it was wont; and his dress, to which he used to be +particularly attentive, was now carelessly flung about him. He invited +Edward to walk out with him by the little river in the vicinity; and +smiled in a melancholy manner when he observed him take down and buckle +on his sword. + +As soon as they were in a wild sequestered path by the side of the +stream, the Chief broke out--'Our fine adventure is now totally ruined, +Waverley, and I wish to know what you intend to do;--nay, never stare +at me, man. I tell you I received a packet from my sister yesterday, +and, had I got the information it contains sooner, it would have +prevented a quarrel which I am always vexed when I think of. In a +letter written after our dispute, I acquainted her with the cause of +it; and she now replies to me that she never had, nor could have, any +purpose of giving you encouragement; so that it seems I have acted like +a madman. Poor Flora! she writes in high spirits; what a change will +the news of this unhappy retreat make in her state of mind!' + +Waverley, who was really much affected by the deep tone of melancholy +with which Fergus spoke, affectionately entreated him to banish from +his remembrance any unkindness which had arisen between them, and they +once more shook hands, but now with sincere cordiality. Fergus again +inquired of Waverley what he intended to do. 'Had you not better leave +this luckless army, and get down before us into Scotland, and embark +for the Continent from some of the eastern ports that are still in our +possession? When you are out of the kingdom, your friends will easily +negotiate your pardon; and, to tell you the truth, I wish you would +carry Rose Bradwardine with you as your wife, and take Flora also under +your joint protection.'--Edward looked surprised.--'She loves you, and +I believe you love her, though, perhaps, you have not found it out, for +you are not celebrated for knowing your own mind very pointedly.' He +said this with a sort of smile. + +'How,' answered Edward, 'can you advise me to desert the expedition in +which we are all embarked?' + +'Embarked?' said Fergus; 'the vessel is going to pieces, and it is full +time for all who can to get into the long-boat and leave her.' + +'Why, what will other gentlemen do?' answered Waverley, 'and why did +the Highland Chiefs consent to this retreat if it is so ruinous?' + +'O,' replied Mac-Ivor, 'they think that, as on former occasions, the +heading, hanging, and forfeiting will chiefly fall to the lot of the +Lowland gentry; that they will be left secure in their poverty and +their fastnesses, there, according to their proverb, "to listen to the +wind upon the hill till the waters abate." But they will be +disappointed; they have been too often troublesome to be so repeatedly +passed over, and this time John Bull has been too heartily frightened +to recover his good-humour for some time. The Hanoverian ministers +always deserved to be hanged for rascals; but now, if they get the +power in their hands,--as, sooner or later, they must, since there is +neither rising in England nor assistance from France,--they will +deserve the gallows as fools if they leave a single clan in the +Highlands in a situation to be again troublesome to government. Ay, +they will make root-and-branch-work, I warrant them.' + +'And while you recommend flight to me,' said Edward,--'a counsel which +I would rather die than embrace,--what are your own views?' + +'O,' answered Fergus, with a melancholy air, 'my fate is settled. Dead +or captive I must be before tomorrow.' + +'What do you mean by that, my friend?' said Edward. 'The enemy is still +a day's march in our rear, and if he comes up, we are still strong +enough to keep him in check. Remember Gladsmuir.' + +'What I tell you is true notwithstanding, so far as I am individually +concerned.' + +'Upon what authority can you found so melancholy a prediction?' asked +Waverley. + +'On one which never failed a person of my house. I have seen,' he said, +lowering his voice, 'I have seen the Bodach Glas.' + +'Bodach Glas?' + +'Yes; have you been so long at Glennaquoich, and never heard of the +Grey Spectre? though indeed there is a certain reluctance among us to +mention him.' + +'No, never.' + +'Ah! it would have been a tale for poor Flora to have told you. Or, if +that hill were Benmore, and that long blue lake, which you see just +winding towards yon mountainous country, were Loch Tay, or my own Loch +an Ri, the tale would be better suited with scenery. However, let us +sit down on this knoll; even Saddleback and Ulswater will suit what I +have to say better than the English hedgerows, enclosures, and +farmhouses. You must know, then, that when my ancestor, Ian nan +Chaistel, wasted Northumberland, there was associated with him in the +expedition a sort of Southland Chief, or captain of a band of +Lowlanders, called Halbert Hall. In their return through the Cheviots +they quarrelled about the division of the great booty they had +acquired, and came from words to blows. The Lowlanders were cut off to +a man, and their chief fell the last, covered with wounds by the sword +of my ancestor. Since that time his spirit has crossed the Vich Ian +Vohr of the day when any great disaster was impending, but especially +before approaching death. My father saw him twice, once before he was +made prisoner at Sheriff-Muir, another time on the morning of the day +on which he died.' + +'How can you, my dear Fergus, tell such nonsense with a grave face?' + +' I do not ask you to believe it; but I tell you the truth, ascertained +by three hundred years' experience at least, and last night by my own +eyes.' + +'The particulars, for heaven's sake!' said Waverley, with eagerness. + +'I will, on condition you will not attempt a jest on the subject. Since +this unhappy retreat commenced I have scarce ever been able to sleep +for thinking of my clan, and of this poor Prince, whom they are leading +back like a dog in a string, whether he will or no, and of the downfall +of my family. Last night I felt so feverish that I left my quarters and +walked out, in hopes the keen frosty air would brace my nerves--I +cannot tell how much I dislike going on, for I know you will hardly +believe me. However--I crossed a small footbridge, and kept walking +backwards and forwards, when I observed with surprise by the clear +moonlight a tall figure in a grey plaid, such as shepherds wear in the +south of Scotland, which, move at what pace I would, kept regularly +about four yards before me.' + +'You saw a Cumberland peasant in his ordinary dress, probably.' + +'No; I thought so at first, and was astonished at the man's audacity in +daring to dog me. I called to him, but received no answer. I felt an +anxious throbbing at my heart, and to ascertain what I dreaded, I stood +still and turned myself on the same spot successively to the four +points of the compass. By Heaven, Edward, turn where I would, the +figure was instantly before my eyes, at precisely the same distance! I +was then convinced it was the Bodach Glas. My hair bristled and my +knees shook. I manned myself, however, and determined to return to my +quarters. My ghastly visitant glided before me (for I cannot say he +walked) until he reached the footbridge; there he stopped and turned +full round. I must either wade the river or pass him as close as I am +to you. A desperate courage, founded on the belief that my death was +near, made me resolve to make my way in despite of him. I made the sign +of the cross, drew my sword, and uttered, "In the name of God, Evil +Spirit, give place!" "Vich Ian Vohr," it said, in a voice that made my +very blood curdle, "beware of to-morrow!" It seemed at that moment not +half a yard from my sword's point; but the words were no sooner spoken +than it was gone, and nothing appeared further to obstruct my passage. +I got home and threw myself on my bed, where I spent a few hours +heavily enough; and this morning, as no enemy was reported to be near +us, I took my horse and rode forward to make up matters with you. I +would not willingly fall until I am in charity with a wronged friend.' + +Edward had little doubt that this phantom was the operation of an +exhausted frame and depressed spirits, working on the belief common to +all Highlanders in such superstitions. He did not the less pity Fergus, +for whom, in his present distress, he felt all his former regard +revive. With the view of diverting his mind from these gloomy images, +he offered, with the Baron's permission, which he knew he could readily +obtain, to remain in his quarters till Fergus's corps should come up, +and then to march with them as usual. The Chief seemed much pleased, +yet hesitated to accept the offer. + +'We are, you know, in the rear, the post of danger in a retreat.' + +'And therefore the post of honour.' + +'Well,' replied the Chieftain, 'let Alick have your horse in readiness, +in case we should be overmatched, and I shall be delighted to have your +company once more.' + +The rear-guard were late in making their appearance, having been +delayed by various accidents and by the badness of the roads. At length +they entered the hamlet. When Waverley joined the clan Mac-Ivor, +arm-in-arm with their Chieftain, all the resentment they had +entertained against him seemed blown off at once. Evan Dhu received him +with a grin of congratulation; and even Callum, who was running about +as active as ever, pale indeed, and with a great patch on his head, +appeared delighted to see him. + +'That gallows-bird's skull,' said Fergus, 'must be harder than marble; +the lock of the pistol was actually broken.' + +'How could you strike so young a lad so hard?' said Waverley, with some +interest. + +'Why, if I did not strike hard sometimes, the rascals would forget +themselves.' + +They were now in full march, every caution being taken to prevent +surprise. Fergus's people, and a fine clan regiment from Badenoch, +commanded by Cluny Mac-Pherson, had the rear. They had passed a large +open moor, and were entering into the enclosures which surround a small +village called Clifton. The winter sun had set, and Edward began to +rally Fergus upon the false predictions of the Grey Spirit. 'The ides +of March are not past,' said Mac-Ivor, with a smile; when, suddenly +casting his eyes back on the moor, a large body of cavalry was +indistinctly seen to hover upon its brown and dark surface. To line the +enclosures facing the open ground and the road by which the enemy must +move from it upon the village was the work of a short time. While these +manoeuvres were accomplishing, night sunk down, dark and gloomy, though +the moon was at full. Sometimes, however, she gleamed forth a dubious +light upon the scene of action. + +The Highlanders did not long remain undisturbed in the defensive +position they had adopted. Favoured by the night, one large body of +dismounted dragoons attempted to force the enclosures, while another, +equally strong, strove to penetrate by the highroad. Both were received +by such a heavy fire as disconcerted their ranks and effectually +checked their progress. Unsatisfied with the advantage thus gained, +Fergus, to whose ardent spirit the approach of danger seemed to restore +all its elasticity, drawing his sword and calling out 'Claymore!' +encouraged his men, by voice and example, to break through the hedge +which divided them and rush down upon the enemy. Mingling with the +dismounted dragoons, they forced them, at the sword-point, to fly to +the open moor, where a considerable number were cut to pieces. But the +moon, which suddenly shone out, showed to the English the small number +of assailants, disordered by their own success. Two squadrons of horse +moving to the support of their companions, the Highlanders endeavoured +to recover the enclosures. But several of them, amongst others their +brave Chieftain, were cut off and surrounded before they could effect +their purpose. Waverley, looking eagerly for Fergus, from whom, as well +as from the retreating body of his followers, he had been separated in +the darkness and tumult, saw him, with Evan Dhu and Callum, defending +themselves desperately against a dozen of horsemen, who were hewing at +them with their long broadswords. The moon was again at that moment +totally overclouded, and Edward, in the obscurity, could neither bring +aid to his friends nor discover which way lay his own road to rejoin +the rear-guard. After once or twice narrowly escaping being slain or +made prisoner by parties of the cavalry whom he encountered in the +darkness, he at length reached an enclosure, and, clambering over it, +concluded himself in safety and on the way to the Highland forces, +whose pipes he heard at some distance. For Fergus hardly a hope +remained, unless that he might be made prisoner Revolving his fate with +sorrow and anxiety, the superstition of the Bodach Glas recurred to +Edward's recollection, and he said to himself, with internal surprise +'What, can the devil speak truth?' [Footnote: See Note 13.] + + + + + +CHAPTER LX + +CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS + + +Edward was in a most unpleasant and dangerous situation. He soon lost +the sound of the bagpipes; and, what was yet more unpleasant, when, +after searching long in vain and scrambling through many enclosures, he +at length approached the highroad, he learned, from the unwelcome noise +of kettledrums and trumpets, that the English cavalry now occupied it, +and consequently were between him and the Highlanders. Precluded, +therefore, from advancing in a straight direction, he resolved to avoid +the English military and endeavour to join his friends by making a +circuit to the left, for which a beaten path, deviating from the main +road in that direction, seemed to afford facilities. The path was muddy +and the night dark and cold; but even these inconveniences were hardly +felt amidst the apprehensions which falling into the hands of the +King's forces reasonably excited in his bosom. + +After walking about three miles, he at length reached a hamlet. +Conscious that the common people were in general unfavourable to the +cause he had espoused, yet desirous, if possible, to procure a horse +and guide to Penrith, where he hoped to find the rear, if not the main +body, of the Chevalier's army, he approached the alehouse of the place. +There was a great noise within; he paused to listen. A round English +oath or two, and the burden of a campaign song, convinced him the +hamlet also was occupied by the Duke of Cumberland's soldiers. +Endeavouring to retire from it as softly as possible, and blessing the +obscurity which hitherto he had murmured against, Waverley groped his +way the best he could along a small paling, which seemed the boundary +of some cottage garden. As he reached the gate of this little +enclosure, his outstretched hand was grasped by that of a female, whose +voice at the same time uttered, 'Edward, is't thou, man?' + +'Here is some unlucky mistake,' thought Edward, struggling, but gently, +to disengage himself. + +'Naen o' thy foun, now, man, or the red cwoats will hear thee; they hae +been houlerying and poulerying every ane that past alehouse door this +noight to make them drive their waggons and sick loike. Come into +feyther's, or they'll do ho a mischief.' + +'A good hint,' thought Waverley, following the girl through the little +garden into a brick-paved kitchen, where she set herself to kindle a +match at an expiring fire, and with the match to light a candle. She +had no sooner looked on Edward than she dropped the light, with a +shrill scream of 'O feyther, feyther!' + +The father, thus invoked, speedily appeared--a sturdy old farmer, in a +pair of leather breeches, and boots pulled on without stockings, having +just started from his bed; the rest of his dress was only a +Westmoreland statesman's robe-de-chambre--that is, his shirt. His +figure was displayed to advantage by a candle which he bore in his left +hand; in his right he brandished a poker. + +'What hast ho here, wench?' + +'O!' cried the poor girl, almost going off in hysterics, 'I thought it +was Ned Williams, and it is one of the plaid-men.' + +'And what was thee ganging to do wi' Ned Williams at this time o' +noight?' To this, which was, perhaps, one of the numerous class of +questions more easily asked than answered, the rosy-cheeked damsel made +no reply, but continued sobbing and wringing her hands. + +'And thee, lad, dost ho know that the dragoons be a town? dost ho know +that, mon? ad, they'll sliver thee loike a turnip, mon.' + +'I know my life is in great danger,' said Waverley, 'but if you can +assist me, I will reward you handsomely. I am no Scotchman, but an +unfortunate English gentleman.' + +'Be ho Scot or no,' said the honest farmer, 'I wish thou hadst kept the +other side of the hallan. But since thou art here, Jacob Jopson will +betray no man's bluid; and the plaids were gay canny, and did not do so +much mischief when they were here yesterday.' Accordingly, he set +seriously about sheltering and refreshing our hero for the night. The +fire was speedily rekindled, but with precaution against its light +being seen from without. The jolly yeoman cut a rasher of bacon, which +Cicely soon broiled, and her father added a swingeing tankard of his +best ale. It was settled that Edward should remain there till the +troops marched in the morning, then hire or buy a horse from the +farmer, and, with the best directions that could be obtained, endeavour +to overtake his friends. A clean, though coarse, bed received him after +the fatigues of this unhappy day. + +With the morning arrived the news that the Highlanders had evacuated +Penrith, and marched off towards Carlisle; that the Duke of Cumberland +was in possession of Penrith, and that detachments of his army covered +the roads in every direction. To attempt to get through undiscovered +would be an act of the most frantic temerity. Ned Williams (the right +Edward) was now called to council by Cicely and her father. Ned, who +perhaps did not care that his handsome namesake should remain too long +in the same house with his sweetheart, for fear of fresh mistakes, +proposed that Waverley, exchanging his uniform and plaid for the dress +of the country, should go with him to his father's farm near Ullswater, +and remain in that undisturbed retirement until the military movements +in the country should have ceased to render his departure hazardous. A +price was also agreed upon, at which the stranger might board with +Farmer Williams if he thought proper, till he could depart with safety. +It was of moderate amount; the distress of his situation, among this +honest and simple-hearted race, being considered as no reason for +increasing their demand. + +The necessary articles of dress were accordingly procured, and, by +following by-paths known to the young farmer, they hoped to escape any +unpleasant rencontre. A recompense for their hospitality was refused +peremptorily by old Jopson and his cherry-cheeked daughter; a kiss paid +the one and a hearty shake of the hand the other. Both seemed anxious +for their guest's safety, and took leave of him with kind wishes. + +In the course of their route Edward, with his guide, traversed those +fields which the night before had been the scene of action. A brief +gleam of December's sun shone sadly on the broad heath, which, towards +the spot where the great north-west road entered the enclosures of Lord +Lonsdale's property, exhibited dead bodies of men and horses, and the +usual companions of war, a number of carrion-crows, hawks, and ravens. + +'And this, then, was thy last field,' said Waverley to himself, his eye +filling at the recollection of the many splendid points of Fergus's +character, and of their former intimacy, all his passions and +imperfections forgotten--'here fell the last Vich Ian Vohr, on a +nameless heath; and in an obscure night-skirmish was quenched that +ardent spirit, who thought it little to cut a way for his master to the +British throne! Ambition, policy, bravery, all far beyond their sphere, +here learned the fate of mortals. The sole support, too, of a sister +whose spirit, as proud and unbending, was even more exalted than thine +own; here ended all thy hopes for Flora, and the long and valued line +which it was thy boast to raise yet more highly by thy adventurous +valour!' + +As these ideas pressed on Waverley's mind, he resolved to go upon the +open heath and search if, among the slain, he could discover the body +of his friend, with the pious intention of procuring for him the last +rites of sepulture. The timorous young man who accompanied him +remonstrated upon the danger of the attempt, but Edward was determined. +The followers of the camp had already stripped the dead of all they +could carry away; but the country people, unused to scenes of blood, +had not yet approached the field of action, though some stood fearfully +gazing at a distance. About sixty or seventy dragoons lay slain within +the first enclosure, upon the highroad, and on the open moor. Of the +Highlanders, not above a dozen had fallen, chiefly those who, venturing +too far on the moor, could not regain the strong ground. He could not +find the body of Fergus among the slain. On a little knoll, separated +from the others, lay the carcasses of three English dragoons, two +horses, and the page Callum Beg, whose hard skull a trooper's +broadsword had, at length, effectually cloven. It was possible his clan +had carried off the body of Fergus; but it was also possible he had +escaped, especially as Evan Dhu, who would never leave his Chief, was +not found among the dead; or he might be prisoner, and the less +formidable denunciation inferred from the appearance of the Bodach Glas +might have proved the true one. The approach of a party sent for the +purpose of compelling the country people to bury the dead, and who had +already assembled several peasants for that purpose, now obliged Edward +to rejoin his guide, who awaited him in great anxiety and fear under +shade of the plantations. + +After leaving this field of death, the rest of their journey was +happily accomplished. At the house of Farmer Williams, Edward passed +for a young kinsman, educated for the church, who was come to reside +there till the civil tumults permitted him to pass through the country. +This silenced suspicion among the kind and simple yeomanry of +Cumberland, and accounted sufficiently for the grave manners and +retired habits of the new guest. The precaution became more necessary +than Waverley had anticipated, as a variety of incidents prolonged his +stay at Fasthwaite, as the farm was called. + +A tremendous fall of snow rendered his departure impossible for more +than ten days. When the roads began to become a little practicable, +they successively received news of the retreat of the Chevalier into +Scotland; then, that he had abandoned the frontiers, retiring upon +Glasgow; and that the Duke of Cumberland had formed the siege of +Carlisle. His army, therefore, cut off all possibility of Waverley's +escaping into Scotland in that direction. On the eastern border Marshal +Wade, with a large force, was advancing upon Edinburgh; and all along +the frontier, parties of militia, volunteers, and partizans were in +arms to suppress insurrection, and apprehend such stragglers from the +Highland army as had been left in England. The surrender of Carlisle, +and the severity with which the rebel garrison were threatened, soon +formed an additional reason against venturing upon a solitary and +hopeless journey through a hostile country and a large army, to carry +the assistance of a single sword to a cause which seemed altogether +desperate. In this lonely and secluded situation, without the advantage +of company or conversation with men of cultivated minds, the arguments +of Colonel Talbot often recurred to the mind of our hero. A still more +anxious recollection haunted his slumbers--it was the dying look and +gesture of Colonel Gardiner. Most devoutly did he hope, as the rarely +occurring post brought news of skirmishes with various success, that it +might never again be his lot to draw his sword in civil conflict. Then +his mind turned to the supposed death of Fergus, to the desolate +situation of Flora, and, with yet more tender recollection, to that of +Rose Bradwardine, who was destitute of the devoted enthusiasm of +loyalty, which to her friend hallowed and exalted misfortune. These +reveries he was permitted to enjoy, undisturbed by queries or +interruption; and it was in many a winter walk by the shores of +Ullswater that he acquired a more complete mastery of a spirit tamed by +adversity than his former experience had given him; and that he felt +himself entitled to say firmly, though perhaps with a sigh, that the +romance of his life was ended, and that its real history had now +commenced. He was soon called upon to justify his pretensions by reason +and philosophy. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXI + +A JOURNEY TO LONDON + + +Theamily at Fasthwaite were soon attached to Edward. He had, indeed, +that gentleness and urbanity which almost universally attracts +corresponding kindness; and to their simple ideas his learning gave him +consequence, and his sorrows interest. The last he ascribed, evasively, +to the loss of a brother in the skirmish near Clifton; and in that +primitive state of society, where the ties of affection were highly +deemed of, his continued depression excited sympathy, but not surprise. + +In the end of January his more lively powers were called out by the +happy union of Edward Williams, the son of his host, with Cicely +Jopson. Our hero would not cloud with sorrow the festivity attending +the wedding of two persons to whom he was so highly obliged. He +therefore exerted himself, danced, sung, played at the various games of +the day, and was the blithest of the company. The next morning, +however, he had more serious matters to think of. + +The clergyman who had married the young couple was so much pleased with +the supposed student of divinity, that he came next day from Penrith on +purpose to pay him a visit. This might have been a puzzling chapter had +he entered into any examination of our hero's supposed theological +studies; but fortunately he loved better to hear and communicate the +news of the day. He brought with him two or three old newspapers, in +one of which Edward found a piece of intelligence that soon rendered +him deaf to every word which the Reverend Mr. Twigtythe was saying upon +the news from the north, and the prospect of the Duke's speedily +overtaking and crushing the rebels. This was an article in these, or +nearly these words:-- + +'Died at his house, in Hill Street, Berkeley Square, upon the 10th +inst., Richard Waverley, Esq., second son of Sir Giles Waverley of +Waverley-Honour, etc. etc. He died of a lingering disorder, augmented +by the unpleasant predicament of suspicion in which he stood, having +been obliged to find bail to a high amount to meet an impending +accusation of high-treason. An accusation of the same grave crime hangs +over his elder brother, Sir Everard Waverley, the representative of +that ancient family; and we understand the day of his trial will be +fixed early in the next month, unless Edward Waverley, son of the +deceased Richard, and heir to the Baronet, shall surrender himself to +justice. In that case we are assured it is his Majesty's gracious +purpose to drop further proceedings upon the charge against Sir +Everard. This unfortunate young gentleman is ascertained to have been +in arms in the Pretender's service, and to have marched along with the +Highland troops into England. But he has not been heard of since the +skirmish at Clifton, on the 18th December last.' + +Such was this distracting paragraph. 'Good God!' exclaimed Waverley, +'am I then a parricide? Impossible! My father, who never showed the +affection of a father while he lived, cannot have been so much affected +by my supposed death as to hasten his own; no, I will not believe it, +it were distraction to entertain for a moment such a horrible idea. But +it were, if possible, worse than parricide to suffer any danger to hang +over my noble and generous uncle, who has ever been more to me than a +father, if such evil can be averted by any sacrifice on my part!' + +While these reflections passed like the stings of scorpions through +Waverley's sensorium, the worthy divine was startled in a long +disquisition on the battle of Falkirk by the ghastliness which they +communicated to his looks, and asked him if he was ill? Fortunately the +bride, all smirk and blush, had just entered the room. Mrs. Williams +was none of the brightest of women, but she was good-natured, and +readily concluding that Edward had been shocked by disagreeable news in +the papers, interfered so judiciously, that, without exciting +suspicion, she drew off Mr. Twigtythe's attention, and engaged it until +he soon after took his leave. Waverley then explained to his friends +that he was under the necessity of going to London with as little delay +as possible. + +One cause of delay, however, did occur, to which Waverley had been very +little accustomed. His purse, though well stocked when he first went to +Tully-Veolan, had not been reinforced since that period; and although +his life since had not been of a nature to exhaust it hastily, for he +had lived chiefly with his friends or with the army, yet he found that, +after settling with his kind landlord, he should be too poor to +encounter the expense of travelling post. The best course, therefore, +seemed to be to get into the great north road about Boroughbridge, and +there take a place in the northern diligence, a huge old-fashioned tub, +drawn by three horses, which completed the journey from Edinburgh to +London (God willing, as the advertisement expressed it) in three weeks. +Our hero, therefore, took an affectionate farewell of his Cumberland +friends, whose kindness he promised never to forget, and tacitly hoped +ene day to acknowledge by substantial proofs of gratitude. After some +petty difficulties and vexatious delays, and after putting his dress +into a shape better befitting his rank, though perfectly plain and +simple, he accomplished crossing the country, and found himself in the +desired vehicle vis-a-vis to Mrs. Nosebag, the lady of Lieutenant +Nosebag, adjutant and riding-master of the--dragoons, a jolly woman of +about fifty, wearing a blue habit, faced with scarlet, and grasping a +silver-mounted horse-whip. + +This lady was one of those active members of society who take upon them +faire lefrais de la conversation. She had just returned from the north, +and informed Edward how nearly her regiment had cut the petticoat +people into ribands at Falkirk, 'only somehow there was one of those +nasty, awkward marshes, that they are never without in Scotland, I +think, and so our poor dear little regiment suffered something, as my +Nosebag says, in that unsatisfactory affair. You, sir, have served in +the dragoons?' Waverley was taken so much at unawares that he +acquiesced. + +'O, I knew it at once; I saw you were military from your air, and I was +sure you could be none of the foot-wobblers, as my Nosebag calls them. +What regiment, pray?' Here was a delightful question. Waverley, +however, justly concluded that this good lady had the whole army-list +by heart; and, to avoid detection by adhering to truth, answered, +'Gardiner's dragoons, ma'am; but I have retired some time.' + +'O aye, those as won the race at the battle of Preston, as my Nosebag +says. Pray, sir, were you there?' + +'I was so unfortunate, madam,' he replied, 'as to witness that +engagement.' + +'And that was a misfortune that few of Gardiner's stood to witness, I +believe, sir--ha! ha! ha! I beg your pardon; but a soldier's wife loves +a joke.' + +'Devil confound you,' thought Waverley: 'what infernal luck has penned +me up with this inquisitive hag!' + +Fortunately the good lady did not stick long to one subject. 'We are +coming to Ferrybridge now,' she said, 'where there was a party of OURS +left to support the beadles, and constables, and justices, and these +sort of creatures that are examining papers and stopping rebels, and +all that.' They were hardly in the inn before she dragged Waverley to +the window, exclaiming, 'Yonder comes Corporal Bridoon, of our poor +dear troop; he's coming with the constable man. Bridoon's one of my +lambs, as Nosebag calls 'ern. Come, Mr.--a--a--pray, what's your name, +sir?' + +'Butler, ma'am,' said Waverley, resolved rather to make free with the +name of a former fellow-officer than run the risk of detection by +inventing one not to be found in the regiment. + +'O, you got a troop lately, when that shabby fellow, Waverley, went +over to the rebels? Lord, I wish our old cross Captain Crump would go +over to the rebels, that Nosebag might get the troop! Lord, what can +Bridoon be standing swinging on the bridge for? I'll be hanged if he +a'nt hazy, as Nosebag says. Come, sir, as you and I belong to the +service, we'll go put the rascal in mind of his duty.' + +Waverley, with feelings more easily conceived than described, saw +himself obliged to follow this doughty female commander. The gallant +trooper was as like a lamb as a drunk corporal of dragoons, about six +feet high, with very broad shoulders, and very thin legs, not to +mention a great scar across his nose, could well be. Mrs. Nosebag +addressed him with something which, if not an oath, sounded very like +one, and commanded him to attend to his duty. 'You be d--d for a ----,' +commenced the gallant cavalier; but, looking up in order to suit the +action to the words, and also to enforce the epithet which he meditated +with an adjective applicable to the party, he recognised the speaker, +made his military salaam, and altered his tone. 'Lord love your +handsome face, Madam Nosebag, is it you? Why, if a poor fellow does +happen to fire a slug of a morning, I am sure you were never the lady +to bring him to harm.' + +'Well, you rascallion, go, mind your duty; this gentleman and I belong +to the service; but be sure you look after that shy cock in the +slouched hat that sits in the corner of the coach. I believe he's one +of the rebels in disguise.' + +'D--n her gooseberry wig,' said the corporal, when she was out of +hearing, 'that gimlet-eyed jade--mother adjutant, as we call her--is a +greater plague to the regiment than provost-marshal, sergeant-major, +and old Hubble-de-Shuff, the colonel, into the bargain. Come, Master +Constable, let's see if this shy cock, as she calls him (who, by the +way, was a Quaker from Leeds, with whom Mrs. Nosebag had had some tart +argument on the legality of bearing arms), will stand godfather to a +sup of brandy, for your Yorkshire ale is cold on my stomach.' + +The vivacity of this good lady, as it helped Edward out of this scrape, +was like to have drawn him into one or two others. In every town where +they stopped she wished to examine the corps de garde, if there was +one, and once very narrowly missed introducing Waverley to a +recruiting-sergeant of his own regiment. Then she Captain'd and +Butler'd him till he was almost mad with vexation and anxiety; and +never was he more rejoiced in his life at the termination of a journey +than when the arrival of the coach in London freed him from the +attentions of Madam Nosebag. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXII + +WHAT'S TO BE DONE NEXT? + + +Itwas twilight when they arrived in town; and having shaken off his +companions, and walked through a good many streets to avoid the +possibility of being traced by them, Edward took a hackney-coach and +drove to Colonel Talbot's house, in one of the principal squares at the +west end of the town. That gentleman, by the death of relations, had +succeeded since his marriage to a large fortune, possessed considerable +political interest, and lived in what is called great style. + +When Waverley knocked at his door he found it at first difficult to +procure admittance, but at length was shown into an apartment where the +Colonel was at table. Lady Emily, whose very beautiful features were +still pallid from indisposition, sate opposite to him. The instant he +heard Waverley's voice, he started up and embraced him. 'Frank Stanley, +my dear boy, how d'ye do? Emily, my love, this is young Stanley.' + +The blood started to the lady's cheek as she gave Waverley a reception +in which courtesy was mingled with kindness, while her trembling hand +and faltering voice showed how much she was startled and discomposed. +Dinner was hastily replaced, and while Waverley was engaged in +refreshing himself, the Colonel proceeded--'I wonder you have come +here, Frank; the Doctors tell me the air of London is very bad for your +complaints. You should not have risked it. But I am delighted to see +you, and so is Emily, though I fear we must not reckon upon your +staying long.' + +'Some particular business brought me up,' muttered Waverley. + +'I supposed so, but I shan't allow you to stay long. Spontoon' (to an +elderly military-looking servant out of livery),'take away these +things, and answer the bell yourself, if I ring. Don't let any of the +other fellows disturb us. My nephew and I have business to talk of.' + +When the servants had retired, 'In the name of God, Waverley, what has +brought you here? It may be as much as your life is worth.' + +'Dear Mr. Waverley,' said Lady Emily, 'to whom I owe so much more than +acknowledgments can ever pay, how could you be so rash?' + +'My father--my uncle--this paragraph,'--he handed the paper to Colonel +Talbot. + +'I wish to Heaven these scoundrels were condemned to be squeezed to +death in their own presses,' said Talbot. 'I am told there are not less +than a dozen of their papers now published in town, and no wonder that +they are obliged to invent lies to find sale for their journals. It is +true, however, my dear Edward, that you have lost your father; but as +to this flourish of his unpleasant situation having grated upon his +spirits and hurt his health--the truth is--for though it is harsh to +say so now, yet it will relieve your mind from the idea of weighty +responsibility--the truth then is, that Mr. Richard Waverley, through +this whole business, showed great want of sensibility, both to your +situation and that of your uncle; and the last time I saw him, he told +me, with great glee, that, as I was so good as to take charge of your +interests, he had thought it best to patch up a separate negotiation +for himself, and make his peace with government through some channels +which former connexions left still open to him.' + +'And my uncle, my dear uncle?' + +'Is in no danger whatever. It is true (looking at the date of the +paper) there was a foolish report some time ago to the purport here +quoted, but it is entirely false. Sir Everard is gone down to +Waverley-Honour, freed from all uneasiness, unless upon your own +account. But you are in peril yourself; your name is in every +proclamation; warrants are out to apprehend you. How and when did you +come here?' + +Edward told his story at length, suppressing his quarrel with Fergus; +for, being himself partial to Highlanders, he did not wish to give any +advantage to the Colonel's national prejudice against them. + +'Are you sure it was your friend Glen's foot-boy you saw dead in +Clifton Moor?' + +'Quite positive.' + +'Then that little limb of the devil has cheated the gallows, for +cut-throat was written in his face; though (turning to Lady Emily) it +was a very handsome face too. But for you, Edward, I wish you would go +down again to Cumberland, or rather I wish you had never stirred from +thence, for there is an embargo in all the seaports, and a strict +search for the adherents of the Pretender; and the tongue of that +confounded woman will wag in her head like the clack of a mill, till +somehow or other she will detect Captain Butler to be a feigned +personage.' + +'Do you know anything,' asked Waverley, 'of my fellow-traveller?' + +'Her husband was my sergeant-major for six years; she was a buxom +widow, with a little money; he married her, was steady, and got on by +being a good drill. I must send Spontoon to see what she is about; he +will find her out among the old regimental connections. To-morrow you +must be indisposed, and keep your room from fatigue. Lady Emily is to +be your nurse, and Spontoon and I your attendants. You bear the name of +a near relation of mine, whom none of my present people ever saw, +except Spontoon, so there will be no immediate danger. So pray feel +your head ache and your eyes grow heavy as soon as possible, that you +may be put upon the sick-list; and, Emily, do you order an apartment +for Frank Stanley, with all the attentions which an invalid may +require.' + +In the morning the Colonel visited his guest. 'Now,' said he, 'I have +some good news for you. Your reputation as a gentleman and officer is +effectually cleared of neglect of duty and accession to the mutiny in +Gardiner's regiment. I have had a correspondence on this subject with a +very zealous friend of yours, your Scottish parson, Morton; his first +letter was addressed to Sir Everard; but I relieved the good Baronet of +the trouble of answering it. You must know, that your free-booting +acquaintance, Donald of the Cave, has at length fallen into the hands +of the Philistines. He was driving off the cattle of a certain +proprietor, called Killan--something or other--' + +'Killancureit?' + +'The same. Now the gentleman being, it seems, a great farmer, and +having a special value for his breed of cattle, being, moreover, rather +of a timid disposition, had got a party of soldiers to protect his +property. So Donald ran his head unawares into the lion's mouth, and +was defeated and made prisoner. Being ordered for execution, his +conscience was assailed on the one hand by a Catholic priest, on the +other by your friend Morton. He repulsed the Catholic chiefly on +account of the doctrine of extreme unction, which this economical +gentleman considered as an excessive waste of oil. So his conversion +from a state of impenitence fell to Mr. Morton's share, who, I daresay, +acquitted himself excellently, though I suppose Donald made but a queer +kind of Christian after all. He confessed, however, before a +magistrate, one Major Melville, who seems to have been a correct, +friendly sort of person, his full intrigue with Houghton, explaining +particularly how it was carried on, and fully acquitting you of the +least accession to it. He also mentioned his rescuing you from the +hands of the volunteer officer, and sending you, by orders of the +Pret--Chevalier, I mean--as a prisoner to Doune, from whence he +understood you were carried prisoner to Edinburgh. These are +particulars which cannot but tell in your favour. He hinted that he had +been employed to deliver and protect you, and rewarded for doing so; +but he would not confess by whom, alleging that, though he would not +have minded breaking any ordinary oath to satisfy the curiosity of Mr. +Morton, to whose pious admonitions he owed so much, yet, in the present +case he had been sworn to silence upon the edge of his dirk, [Footnote: +See Note 14.] which, it seems, constituted, in his opinion, an +inviolable obligation.' + +'And what is become of him?' + +'Oh, he was hanged at Stirling after the rebels raised the siege, with +his lieutenant and four plaids besides; he having the advantage of a +gallows more lofty than his friends.' + +'Well, I have little cause either to regret or rejoice at his death; +and yet he has done me both good and harm to a very considerable +extent.' + +'His confession, at least, will serve you materially, since it wipes +from your character all those suspicions which gave the accusation +against you a complexion of a nature different from that with which so +many unfortunate gentlemen, now or lately in arms against the +government, may be justly charged. Their treason--I must give it its +name, though you participate in its guilt--is an action arising from +mistaken virtue, and therefore cannot be classed as a disgrace, though +it be doubtless highly criminal. Where the guilty are so numerous, +clemency must be extended to far the greater number; and I have little +doubt of procuring a remission for you, providing we can keep you out +of the claws of justice till she has selected and gorged upon her +victims; for in this, as in other cases, it will be according to the +vulgar proverb, "First come, first served." Besides, government are +desirous at present to intimidate the English Jacobites, among whom +they can find few examples for punishment. This is a vindictive and +timid feeling which will soon wear off, for of all nations the English +are least blood-thirsty by nature. But it exists at present, and you +must therefore be kept out of the way in the mean-time.' + +Now entered Spontoon with an anxious countenance. By his regimental +acquaintances he had traced out Madam Nosebag, and found her full of +ire, fuss, and fidget at discovery of an impostor who had travelled +from the north with her under the assumed name of Captain Butler of +Gardiner's dragoons. She was going to lodge an information on the +subject, to have him sought for as an emissary of the Pretender; but +Spontoon (an old soldier), while he pretended to approve, contrived to +make her delay her intention. No time, however, was to be lost: the +accuracy of this good dame's description might probably lead to the +discovery that Waverley was the pretended Captain Butler, an +identification fraught with danger to Edward, perhaps to his uncle, and +even to Colonel Talbot. Which way to direct his course was now, +therefore, the question. + +'To Scotland,' said Waverley. + +'To Scotland?' said the Colonel; 'with what purpose? not to engage +again with the rebels, I hope?' + +'No; I considered my campaign ended when, after all my efforts, I could +not rejoin them; and now, by all accounts, they are gone to make a +winter campaign in the Highlands, where such adherents as I am would +rather be burdensome than useful. Indeed, it seems likely that they +only prolong the war to place the Chevalier's person out of danger, and +then to make some terms for themselves. To burden them with my presence +would merely add another party, whom they would not give up and could +not defend. I understand they left almost all their English adherents +in garrison at Carlisle, for that very reason. And on a more general +view, Colonel, to confess the truth, though it may lower me in your +opinion, I am heartly tired of the trade of war, and am, as Fletcher's +Humorous Lieutenant says, "even as weary of this fighting-'" + +'Fighting! pooh, what have you seen but a skirmish or two? Ah! if you +saw war on the grand scale--sixty or a hundred thousand men in the +field on each side!' + +'I am not at all curious, Colonel. "Enough," says our homely proverb, +"is as good as a feast." The plumed troops and the big war used to +enchant me in poetry, but the night marches, vigils, couches under the +wintry sky, and such accompaniments of the glorious trade, are not at +all to my taste in practice; then for dry blows, I had MY fill of +fighting at Clifton, where I escaped by a hair's-breadth half a dozen +times; and you, I should think--' He stopped. + +'Had enough of it at Preston? you mean to say,' answered the Colonel, +laughing; 'but 'tis my vocation, Hal.' + +'It is not mine, though,' said Waverley; 'and having honourably got rid +of the sword, which I drew only as a volunteer, I am quite satisfied +with my military experience, and shall be in no hurry to take it up +again.' + +'I am very glad you are of that mind; but then what would you do in the +north?' + +'In the first place, there are some seaports on the eastern coast of +Scotland still in the hands of the Chevalier's friends; should I gain +any of them, I can easily embark for the Continent.' + +'Good, your second reason?' + +'Why, to speak the very truth, there is a person in Scotland upon whom +I now find my happiness depends more than I was always aware, and about +whose situation I am very anxious.' + +'Then Emily was right, and there is a love affair in the case after +all? And which of these two pretty Scotchwomen, whom you insisted upon +my admiring, is the distinguished fair? not Miss Glen--I hope.' + +'No.' + +'Ah, pass for the other; simplicity may be improved, but pride and +conceit never. Well, I don't discourage you; I think it will please Sir +Everard, from what he said when I jested with him about it; only I hope +that intolerable papa, with his brogue, and his snuff, and his Latin, +and his insufferable long stories about the Duke of Berwick, will find +it necessary hereafter to be an inhabitant of foreign parts. But as to +the daughter, though I think you might find as fitting a match in +England, yet if your heart be really set upon this Scotch rosebud, why +the Baronet has a great opinion of her father and of his family, and he +wishes much to see you married and settled, both for your own sake and +for that of the three ermines passant, which may otherwise pass away +altogether. But I will bring you his mind fully upon the subject, since +you are debarred correspondence for the present, for I think you will +not be long in Scotland before me.' + +'Indeed! and what can induce you to think of returning to Scotland? No +relenting longings towards the land of mountains and floods, I am +afraid.' + +'None, on my word; but Emily's health is now, thank God, reestablished, +and, to tell you the truth, I have little hopes of concluding the +business which I have at present most at heart until I can have a +personal interview with his Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief; for, +as Fluellen says, "the duke doth love me well, and I thank heaven I +have deserved some love at his hands." I am now going out for an hour +or two to arrange matters for your departure; your liberty extends to +the next room, Lady Emily's parlour, where you will find her when you +are disposed for music, reading, or conversation. We have taken +measures to exclude all servants but Spontoon, who is as true as steel.' + +In about two hours Colonel Talbot returned, and found his young friend +conversing with his lady; she pleased with his manners and information, +and he delighted at being restored, though but for a moment, to the +society of his own rank, from which he had been for some time excluded. + +'And now,' said the Colonel, 'hear my arrangements, for there is little +time to lose. This youngster, Edward Waverley, alias Williams, alias +Captain Butler, must continue to pass by his fourth ALIAS of Francis +Stanley, my nephew; he shall set out to-morrow for the North, and the +chariot shall take him the first two stages. Spontoon shall then attend +him; and they shall ride post as far as Huntingdon; and the presence of +Spontoon, well known on the road as my servant, will check all +disposition to inquiry. At Huntingdon you will meet the real Frank +Stanley. He is studying at Cambridge; but, a little while ago, doubtful +if Emily's health would permit me to go down to the North myself, I +procured him a passport from the secretary of state's office to go in +my stead. As he went chiefly to look after you, his journey is now +unnecessary. He knows your story; you will dine together at Huntingdon; +and perhaps your wise heads may hit upon some plan for removing or +diminishing the danger of your farther progress north-ward. And now +(taking out a morocco case), let me put you in funds for the campaign.' + +'I am ashamed, my dear Colonel--' + +'Nay,' said Colonel Talbot, 'you should command my purse in any event; +but this money is your own. Your father, considering the chance of your +being attainted, left me his trustee for your advantage. So that you +are worth above L15,000, besides Brere-Wood Lodge--a very independent +person, I promise you. There are bills here for L200; any larger sum +you may have, or credit abroad, as soon as your motions require it.' + +The first use which occurred to Waverley of his newly acquired wealth +was to write to honest Farmer Jopson, requesting his acceptance of a +silver tankard on the part of his friend Williams, who had not +forgotten the night of the eighteenth December last. He begged him at +the same time carefully to preserve for him his Highland garb and +accoutrements, particularly the arms, curious in themselves, and to +which the friendship of the donors gave additional value. Lady Emily +undertook to find some suitable token of remembrance likely to flatter +the vanity and please the taste of Mrs. Williams; and the Colonel, who +was a kind of farmer, promised to send the Ullswater patriarch an +excellent team of horses for cart and plough. + +One happy day Waverley spent in London; and, travelling in the manner +projected, he met with Frank Stanley at Huntingdon. The two young men +were acquainted in a minute. + +'I can read my uncle's riddle,' said Stanley;'the cautious old soldier +did not care to hint to me that I might hand over to you this passport, +which I have no occasion for; but if it should afterwards come out as +the rattle-pated trick of a young Cantab, cela ne tire a rien. You are +therefore to be Francis Stanley, with this passport.' This proposal +appeared in effect to alleviate a great part of the difficulties which +Edward must otherwise have encountered at every turn; and accordingly +he scrupled not to avail himself of it, the more especially as he had +discarded all political purposes from his present journey, and could +not be accused of furthering machinations against the government while +travelling under protection of the secretary's passport. + +The day passed merrily away. The young student was inquisitive about +Waverley's campaigns, and the manners of the Highlands, and Edward was +obliged to satisfy his curiosity by whistling a pibroch, dancing a +strathspey, and singing a Highland song. The next morning Stanley rode +a stage northward with his new friend, and parted from him with great +reluctance, upon the remonstrances of Spontoon, who, accustomed to +submit to discipline, was rigid in enforcing it. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII + +DESOLATION + + +Waverley riding post, as was the usual fashion of the period, without +any adventure save one or two queries, which the talisman of his +passport sufficiently answered, reached the borders of Scotland. Here +he heard the tidings of the decisive battle of Culloden. It was no more +than he had long expected, though the success at Falkirk had thrown a +faint and setting gleam over the arms of the Chevalier. Yet it came +upon him like a shock, by which he was for a time altogether unmanned. +The generous, the courteous, the noble-minded adventurer was then a +fugitive, with a price upon his head; his adherents, so brave, so +enthusiastic, so faithful, were dead, imprisoned, or exiled. Where, +now, was the exalted and high-souled Fergus, if, indeed, he had +survived the night at Clifton? Where the pure-hearted and primitive +Baron of Bradwardine, whose foibles seemed foils to set off the +disinterestedness of his disposition, the genuine goodness of his +heart, and his unshaken courage? Those who clung for support to these +fallen columns, Rose and Flora, where were they to be sought, and in +what distress must not the loss of their natural protectors have +involved them? Of Flora he thought with the regard of a brother for a +sister; of Rose with a sensation yet more deep and tender. It might be +still his fate to supply the want of those guardians they had lost. +Agitated by these thoughts he precipitated his journey. + +When he arrived in Edinburgh, where his inquiries must necessarily +commence, he felt the full difficulty of his situation. Many +inhabitants of that city had seen and known him as Edward Waverley; +how, then, could he avail himself of a passport as Francis Stanley? He +resolved, therefore, to avoid all company, and to move northward as +soon as possible. He was, however, obliged to wait a day or two in +expectation of a letter from Colonel Talbot, and he was also to leave +his own address, under his feigned character, at a place agreed upon. +With this latter purpose he sallied out in the dusk through the +well-known streets, carefully shunning observation, but in vain: one of +the first persons whom he met at once recognised him. It was Mrs. +Flockhart, Fergus Mac-Ivor's good-humoured landlady. + +'Gude guide us, Mr. Waverley, is this you? na, ye needna be feared for +me. I wad betray nae gentleman in your circumstances. Eh, lack-a-day! +lack-a-day! here's a change o' markets; how merry Colonel MacIvor and +you used to be in our house!' And the good-natured widow shed a few +natural tears. As there was no resisting her claim of acquaintance, +Waverley acknowledged it with a good grace, as well as the danger of +his own situation. 'As it's near the darkening, sir, wad ye just step +in by to our house and tak a dish o' tea? and I am sure if ye like to +sleep in the little room, I wad tak care ye are no disturbed, and +naebody wad ken ye; for Kate and Matty, the limmers, gaed aff wi' twa +o' Hawley's dragoons, and I hae twa new queans instead o' them.' + +Waverley accepted her invitation, and engaged her lodging for a night +or two, satisfied he should be safer in the house of this simple +creature than anywhere else. When he entered the parlour his heart +swelled to see Fergus's bonnet, with the white cockade, hanging beside +the little mirror. + +'Ay,' said Mrs. Flockhart, sighing, as she observed the direction of +his eyes, 'the puir Colonel bought a new ane just the day before they +marched, and I winna let them tak that ane doun, but just to brush it +ilka day mysell; and whiles I look at it till I just think I hear him +cry to Callum to bring him his bonnet, as he used to do when he was +ganging out. It's unco silly--the neighbours ca' me a Jacobite, but +they may say their say--I am sure it's no for that--but he was as +kind-hearted a gentleman as ever lived, and as weel-fa'rd too. Oh, d'ye +ken, sir, when he is to suffer?' + +'Suffer! Good heaven! Why, where is he?' + +'Eh, Lord's sake! d'ye no ken? The poor Hieland body, Dugald Mahony, +cam here a while syne, wi' ane o' his arms cuttit off, and a sair clour +in the head--ye'll mind Dugald, he carried aye an axe on his +shouther--and he cam here just begging, as I may say, for something to +eat. Aweel, he tauld us the Chief, as they ca'd him (but I aye ca' him +the Colonel), and Ensign Maccombich, that ye mind weel, were ta'en +somewhere beside the English border, when it was sae dark that his folk +never missed him till it was ower late, and they were like to gang +clean daft. And he said that little Callum Beg (he was a bauld +mischievous callant that) and your honour were killed that same night +in the tuilzie, and mony mae braw men. But he grat when he spak o' the +Colonel, ye never saw the like. And now the word gangs the Colonel is +to be tried, and to suffer wi' them that were ta'en at Carlisle.' + +'And his sister?' + +'Ay, that they ca'd the Lady Flora--weel, she's away up to Carlisle to +him, and lives wi' some grand Papist lady thereabouts to be near him.' + +'And,' said Edward,'the other young lady?' + +'Whilk other? I ken only of ae sister the Colonel had.' + +'I mean Miss Bradwardine,' said Edward. + +'Ou, ay; the laird's daughter' said his landlady. 'She was a very bonny +lassie, poor thing, but far shyer than Lady Flora.' + +'Where is she, for God's sake?' + +'Ou, wha kens where ony o' them is now? puir things, they're sair ta'en +doun for their white cockades and their white roses; but she gaed north +to her father's in Perthshire, when the government troops cam back to +Edinbro'. There was some prettymen amang them, and ane Major Whacker +was quartered on me, a very ceevil gentleman,--but O, Mr. Waverley, he +was naething sae weel fa'rd as the puir Colonel.' + +'Do you know what is become of Miss Bradwardine's father?' + +'The auld laird? na, naebody kens that. But they say he fought very +hard in that bluidy battle at Inverness; and Deacon Clank, the +whit-iron smith, says that the government folk are sair agane him for +having been out twice; and troth he might hae ta'en warning, but +there's nae Me like an auld fule. The puir Colonel was only out ance.' + +Such conversation contained almost all the good-natured widow knew of +the fate of her late lodgers and acquaintances; but it was enough to +determine Edward, at all hazards, to proceed instantly to Tully-Veolan, +where he concluded he should see, or at least hear, something of Rose. +He therefore left a letter for Colonel Talbot at the place agreed upon, +signed by his assumed name, and giving for his address the post-town +next to the Baron's residence. + +From Edinburgh to Perth he took post-horses, resolving to make the rest +of his journey on foot; a mode of travelling to which he was partial, +and which had the advantage of permitting a deviation from the road +when he saw parties of military at a distance. His campaign had +considerably strengthened his constitution and improved his habits of +enduring fatigue. His baggage he sent before him as opportunity +occurred. + +As he advanced northward, the traces of war became visible. Broken +carriages, dead horses, unroofed cottages, trees felled for palisades, +and bridges destroyed or only partially repaired--all indicated the +movements of hostile armies. In those places where the gentry were +attached to the Stuart cause, their houses seemed dismantled or +deserted, the usual course of what may be called ornamental labour was +totally interrupted, and the inhabitants were seen gliding about, with +fear, sorrow, and dejection on their faces. + +It was evening when he approached the village of Tully-Veolan, with +feelings and sentiments--how different from those which attended his +first entrance! Then, life was so new to him that a dull or +disagreeable day was one of the greatest misfortunes which his +imagination anticipated, and it seemed to him that his time ought only +to be consecrated to elegant or amusing study, and relieved by social +or youthful frolic. Now, how changed! how saddened, yet how elevated +was his character, within the course of a very few months! Danger and +misfortune are rapid, though severe teachers. 'A sadder and a wiser +man,' he felt in internal confidence and mental dignity a compensation +for the gay dreams which in his case experience had so rapidly +dissolved. + +As he approached the village he saw, with surprise and anxiety, that a +party of soldiers were quartered near it, and, what was worse, that +they seemed stationary there. This he conjectured from a few tents +which he beheld glimmering upon what was called the Common Moor. To +avoid the risk of being stopped and questioned in a place where he was +so likely to be recognised, he made a large circuit, altogether +avoiding the hamlet, and approaching the upper gate of the avenue by a +by-path well known to him. A single glance announced that great changes +had taken place. One half of the gate, entirely destroyed and split up +for firewood, lay in piles, ready to be taken away; the other swung +uselessly about upon its loosened hinges. The battlements above the +gate were broken and thrown down, and the carved bears, which were said +to have done sentinel's duty upon the top for centuries, now, hurled +from their posts, lay among the rubbish. The avenue was cruelly wasted. +Several large trees were felled and left lying across the path; and the +cattle of the villagers, and the more rude hoofs of dragoon horses, had +poached into black mud the verdant turf which Waverley had so much +admired. + +Upon entering the court-yard, Edward saw the fears realised which these +circumstances had excited. The place had been sacked by the King's +troops, who, in wanton mischief, had even attempted to burn it; and +though the thickness of the walls had resisted the fire, unless to a +partial extent, the stables and out-houses were totally consumed. The +towers and pinnacles of the main building were scorched and blackened; +the pavement of the court broken and shattered, the doors torn down +entirely, or hanging by a single hinge, the windows dashed in and +demolished, and the court strewed with articles of furniture broken +into fragments. The accessaries of ancient distinction, to which the +Baron, in the pride of his heart, had attached so much importance and +veneration, were treated with peculiar contumely. The fountain was +demolished, and the spring which had supplied it now flooded the +court-yard. The stone basin seemed to be destined for a drinking-trough +for cattle, from the manner in which it was arranged upon the ground. +The whole tribe of bears, large and small, had experienced as little +favour as those at the head of the avenue, and one or two of the family +pictures, which seemed to have served as targets for the soldiers, lay +on the ground in tatters. With an aching heart, as may well be +imagined, Edward viewed this wreck of a mansion so respected. But his +anxiety to learn the fate of the proprietors, and his fears as to what +that fate might be, increased with every step. When he entered upon the +terrace new scenes of desolation were visible. The balustrade was +broken down, the walls destroyed, the borders overgrown with weeds, and +the fruit-trees cut down or grubbed up. In one compartment of this +old-fashioned garden were two immense horse-chestnut trees, of whose +size the Baron was particularly vain; too lazy, perhaps, to cut them +down, the spoilers, with malevolent ingenuity, had mined them and +placed a quantity of gunpowder in the cavity. One had been shivered to +pieces by the explosion, and the fragments lay scattered around, +encumbering the ground it had so long shadowed. The other mine had been +more partial in its effect. About one-fourth of the trunk of the tree +was torn from the mass, which, mutilated and defaced on the one side, +still spread on the other its ample and undiminished boughs. [Footnote: +A pair of chestnut trees, destroyed, the one entirely and the other in +part, by such a mischievous and wanton act of revenge, grew at +Invergarry Castle, the fastness of MacDonald of Glengarry.] + +Amid these general marks of ravage, there were some which more +particularly addressed the feelings of Waverley. Viewing the front of +the building thus wasted and defaced, his eyes naturally sought the +little balcony which more properly belonged to Rose's apartment, her +troisieme, or rather cinquieme, etage. It was easily discovered, for +beneath it lay the stage-flowers and shrubs with which it was her pride +to decorate it, and which had been hurled from the bartizan; several of +her books were mingled with broken flower-pots and other remnants. +Among these Waverley distinguished one of his own, a small copy of +Ariosto, and gathered it as a treasure, though wasted by the wind and +rain. + +While, plunged in the sad reflections which the scene excited, he was +looking around for some one who might explain the fate of the +inhabitants, he heard a voice from the interior of the building +singing, in well-remembered accents, an old Scottish song:-- + + They came upon us in the night, + And brake my bower and slew my knight; + My servants a' for life did flee, + And left us in extremitie. + + They slew my knight, to me sae dear; + They slew my knight, and drave his gear; + The moon may set, the sun may rise, + But a deadly sleep has closed his eyes. + +[Footnote: The first three couplets are from an old ballad, called the +Border Widow's Lament.] + +'Alas,' thought Edward, 'is it thou? Poor helpless being, art thou +alone left, to gibber and moan, and fill with thy wild and unconnected +scraps of minstrelsy the halls that protected thee?' He then called, +first low, and then louder, 'Davie--Davie Gellatley!' + +The poor simpleton showed himself from among the ruins of a sort of +greenhouse, that once terminated what was called the terrace-walk, but +at first sight of a stranger retreated, as if in terror. Waverley, +remembering his habits, began to whistle a tune to which he was +partial, which Davie had expressed great pleasure in listening to, and +had picked up from him by the ear. Our hero's minstrelsy no more +equalled that of Blondel than poor Davie resembled Coeur de Lion; but +the melody had the same effect of producing recognition. Davie again +stole from his lurking-place, but timidly, while Waverley, afraid of +frightening him, stood making the most encouraging signals he could +devise. 'It's his ghaist,' muttered Davie; yet, coming nearer, he +seemed to acknowledge his living acquaintance. The poor fool himself +appeared the ghost of what he had been. The peculiar dress in which he +had been attired in better days showed only miserable rags of its +whimsical finery, the lack of which was oddly supplied by the remnants +of tapestried hangings, window-curtains, and shreds of pictures with +which he had bedizened his tatters. His face, too, had lost its vacant +and careless air, and the poor creature looked hollow-eyed, meagre, +half-starved, and nervous to a pitiable degree. After long hesitation, +he at length approached Waverley with some confidence, stared him sadly +in the face, and said, 'A' dead and gane--a' dead and gane.' + +'Who are dead?' said Waverley, forgetting the incapacity of Davie to +hold any connected discourse. + +'Baron, and Bailie, and Saunders Saunderson, and Lady Rose that sang +sae sweet--a' dead and gane--dead and gane; + + But follow, follow me, + While glowworms light the lea, + I'll show ye where the dead should be-- + Each in his shroud, + While winds pipe loud, + And the red moon peeps dim through the cloud. + Follow, follow me; + Brave should he be + That treads by night the dead man's lea.' + +With these words, chanted in a wild and earnest tone, he made a sign to +Waverley to follow him, and walked rapidly towards the bottom of the +garden, tracing the bank of the stream which, it may be remembered, was +its eastern boundary. Edward, over whom an involuntary shuddering stole +at the import of his words, followed him in some hope of an +explanation. As the house was evidently deserted, he could not expect +to find among the ruins any more rational informer. + +Davie, walking very fast, soon reached the extremity of the garden, and +scrambled over the ruins of the wall that once had divided it from the +wooded glen in which the old tower of Tully-Veolan was situated. He +then jumped down into the bed of the stream, and, followed by Waverley, +proceeded at a great pace, climbing over some fragments of rock and +turning with difficulty round others. They passed beneath the ruins of +the castle; Waverley followed, keeping up with his guide with +difficulty, for the twilight began to fall. Following the descent of +the stream a little lower, he totally lost him, but a twinkling light +which he now discovered among the tangled copse-wood and bushes seemed +a surer guide. He soon pursued a very uncouth path; and by its guidance +at length reached the door of a wretched hut. A fierce barking of dogs +was at first heard, but it stilled at his approach. A voice sounded +from within, and he held it most prudent to listen before he advanced. + +'Wha hast thou brought here, thou unsonsy villain, thou?' said an old +woman, apparently in great indignation. He heard Davie Gellatley in +answer whistle a part of the tune by which he had recalled himself to +the simpleton's memory, and had now no hesitation to knock at the door. +There was a dead silence instantly within, except the deep growling of +the dogs; and he next heard the mistress of the hut approach the door, +not probably for the sake of undoing a latch, but of fastening a bolt. +To prevent this Waverley lifted the latch himself. + +In front was an old wretched-looking woman, exclaiming, 'Wha comes into +folk's houses in this gate, at this time o' the night?' On one side, +two grim and half-starved deer greyhounds laid aside their ferocity at +his appearance, and seemed to recognise him. On the other side, half +concealed by the open door, yet apparently seeking that concealment +reluctantly, with a cocked pistol in his right hand and his left in the +act of drawing another from his belt, stood a tall bony gaunt figure in +the remnants of a faded uniform and a beard of three weeks' growth. It +was the Baron of Bradwardine. It is unnecessary to add, that he threw +aside his weapon and greeted Waverley with a hearty embrace. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIV + +COMPARING OF NOTES + + +Thearon's story was short, when divested of the adages and +commonplaces, Latin, English, and Scotch, with which his erudition +garnished it. He insisted much upon his grief at the loss of Edward and +of Glennaquoich, fought the fields of Falkirk and Culloden, and related +how, after all was lost in the last battle, he had returned home, under +the idea of more easily finding shelter among his own tenants and on +his own estate than elsewhere. A party of soldiers had been sent to lay +waste his property, for clemency was not the order of the day. Their +proceedings, however, were checked by an order from the civil court. +The estate, it was found, might not be forfeited to the crown to the +prejudice of Malcolm Bradwardine of Inch-Grabbit, the heir-male, whose +claim could not be prejudiced by the Baron's attainder, as deriving no +right through him, and who, therefore, like other heirs of entail in +the same situation, entered upon possession. But, unlike many in +similar circumstances, the new laird speedily showed that he intended +utterly to exclude his predecessor from all benefit or advantage in the +estate, and that it was his purpose to avail himself of the old Baron's +evil fortune to the full extent. This was the more ungenerous, as it +was generally known that, from a romantic idea of not prejudicing this +young man's right as heir-male, the Baron had refrained from settling +his estate on his daughter. + +This selfish injustice was resented by the country people, who were +partial to their old master, and irritated against his successor. In +the Baron's own words, 'The matter did not coincide with the feelings +of the commons of Bradwardine, Mr. Waverley; and the tenants were slack +and repugnant in payment of their mails and duties; and when my kinsman +came to the village wi' the new factor, Mr. James Howie, to lift the +rents, some wanchancy person--I suspect John Heatherblutter, the auld +gamekeeper, that was out wi' me in the year fifteen--fired a shot at +him in the gloaming, whereby he was so affrighted, that I may say with +Tullius In Catilinam, "Abiit, evasit, erupit, effugit." He fled, sir, +as one may say, incontinent to Stirling. And now he hath advertised the +estate for sale, being himself the last substitute in the entail. And +if I were to lament about sic matters, this would grieve me mair than +its passing from my immediate possession, whilk, by the course of +nature, must have happened in a few years; whereas now it passes from +the lineage that should have possessed it in scecula saculorum. But +God's will be done, humana perpessi sumus. Sir John of +Bradwardine--Black Sir John, as he is called--who was the common +ancestor of our house and the Inch-Grabbits, little thought such a +person would have sprung from his loins. Mean time, he has accused me +to some of the primates, the rulers for the time, as if I were a +cut-throat, and an abettor of bravoes and assassinates and +coupe-jarrets. And they have sent soldiers here to abide on the estate, +and hunt me like a partridge upon the mountains, as Scripture says of +good King David, or like our valiant Sir William Wallace--not that I +bring myself into comparison with either. I thought, when I heard you +at the door, they had driven the auld deer to his den at last; and so I +e'en proposed to die at bay, like a buck of the first head. But now, +Janet, canna ye gie us something for supper?' 'Ou ay, sir, I'll brander +the moor-fowl that John Heatherblutter brought in this morning; and ye +see puir Davie's roasting the black hen's eggs. I daur say, Mr. +Wauverley, ye never kend that a' the eggs that were sae weel roasted at +supper in the Ha'-house were aye turned by our Davie? there's no the +like o' him ony gate for powtering wi' his fingers amang the het +peat-ashes and roasting eggs.' Davie all this while lay with his nose +almost in the fire, nuzzling among the ashes, kicking his heels, +mumbling to himself, turning the eggs as they lay in the hot embers, as +if to confute the proverb, that 'there goes reason to roasting of +eggs,' and justify the eulogium which poor Janet poured out upon + + Him whom she loved, her idiot boy. + +'Davie's no sae silly as folk tak him for, Mr. Wauverley; he wadna hae +brought you here unless he had kend ye was a friend to his Honour; +indeed the very dogs kend ye, Mr. Wauverley, for ye was aye kind to +beast and body. I can tell you a story o' Davie, wi' his Honour's +leave. His Honour, ye see, being under hiding in thae sair times--the +mair's the pity--he lies a' day, and whiles a' night, in the cove in +the dern hag; but though it's a bieldy eneugh bit, and the auld gudeman +o' Corse-Cleugh has panged it wi' a kemple o' strae amaist, yet when +the country's quiet, and the night very cauld, his Honour whiles creeps +doun here to get a warm at the ingle and a sleep amang the blankets, +and gangs awa in the morning. And so, ae morning, siccan a fright as I +got! Twa unlucky red-coats were up for black-fishing, or some siccan +ploy--for the neb o' them's never out o' mischief--and they just got a +glisk o' his Honour as he gaed into the wood, and banged aff a gun at +him. I out like a jer-falcon, and cried--"Wad they shoot an honest +woman's poor innocent bairn?" And I fleyt at them, and threepit it was +my son; and they damned and swuir at me that it was the auld rebel, as +the villains ca'd his Honour; and Davie was in the wood, and heard the +tuilzie, and he, just out o' his ain head, got up the auld grey mantle +that his Honour had flung off him to gang the faster, and he cam out o' +the very same bit o' the wood, majoring and looking about sae like his +Honour, that they were clean beguiled, and thought they had letten aff +their gun at crack-brained Sawney, as they ca' him; and they gae me +saxpence, and twa saumon fish, to say naething about it. Na, na, +Davie's no just like other folk, puir fallow; but he's no sae silly as +folk tak him for. But, to be sure, how can we do eneugh for his Honour, +when we and ours have lived on his ground this twa hundred years; and +when he keepit my puir Jamie at school and college, and even at the +Ha'-house, till he gaed to a better place; and when he saved me frae +being ta'en to Perth as a witch--Lord forgi'e them that would touch sic +a puir silly auld body!--and has maintained puir Davie at heck and +manger maist feck o' his life?' + +Waverley at length found an opportunity to interrupt Janet's narrative +by an inquiry after Miss Bradwardine. + +'She's weel and safe, thank God! at the Duchran,' answered the Baron; +'the laird's distantly related to us, and more nearly to my chaplain, +Mr. Rubrick; and, though he be of Whig principles, yet he's not +forgetful of auld friendship at this time. The Bailie's doing what he +can to save something out of the wreck for puir Rose; but I doubt, I +doubt, I shall never see her again, for I maun lay my banes in some far +country.' + +'Hout na, your Honour,' said old Janet, 'ye were just as ill aff in the +feifteen, and got the bonnie baronie back, an' a'. And now the eggs is +ready, and the muir-cock's brandered, and there's ilk ane a trencher +and some saut, and the heel o' the white loaf that cam frae the +Bailie's, and there's plenty o' brandy in the greybeard that Luckie +Maclearie sent doun, and winna ye be suppered like princes?' + +'I wish one Prince, at least, of our acquaintance may be no worse off,' +said the Baron to Waverley, who joined him in cordial hopes for the +safety of the unfortunate Chevalier. + +They then began to talk of their future prospects. The Baron's plan was +very simple. It was, to escape to France, where, by the interest of his +old friends, he hoped to get some military employment, of which he +still conceived himself capable. He invited Waverley to go with him, a +proposal in which he acquiesced, providing the interest of Colonel +Talbot should fail in procuring his pardon. Tacitly he hoped the Baron +would sanction his addresses to Rose, and give him a right to assist +him in his exile; but he forbore to speak on this subject until his own +fate should be decided. They then talked of Glennaquoich, for whom the +Baron expressed great anxiety, although, he observed, he was 'the very +Achilles of Horatius Flaccus,-- + +Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer; which,' he continued, 'has been +thus rendered (vernacularly) by Struan Robertson:-- + + A fiery etter-cap, a fractious chiel, + As het as ginger, and as stieve as steel.' + +Flora had a large and unqualified share of the good old man's sympathy. + +It was now wearing late. Old Janet got into some kind of kennel behind +the hallan; Davie had been long asleep and snoring between Ban and +Buscar. These dogs had followed him to the hut after the mansion-house +was deserted, and there constantly resided; and their ferocity, with +the old woman's reputation of being a witch, contributed a good deal to +keep visitors from the glen. With this view, Bailie Macwheeble provided +Janet underhand with meal for their maintenance, and also with little +articles of luxury for his patron's use, in supplying which much +precaution was necessarily used. After some compliments, the Baron +occupied his usual couch, and Waverley reclined in an easy chair of +tattered velvet, which had once garnished the state bed-room of +Tully-Veolan (for the furniture of this mansion was now scattered +through all the cottages in the vicinity), and went to sleep as +comfortably as if he had been in a bed of down. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXV + +MORE EXPLANATION + + +With the first dawn of day, old Janet was scuttling about the house to +wake the Baron, who usually slept sound and heavily. + +'I must go back,' he said to Waverley,'to my cove; will you walk down +the glen wi' me?' They went out together, and followed a narrow and +entangled foot-path, which the occasional passage of anglers or +wood-cutters had traced by the side of the stream. On their way the +Baron explained to Waverley that he would be under no danger in +remaining a day or two at Tully-Veolan, and even in being seen walking +about, if he used the precaution of pretending that he was looking at +the estate as agent or surveyor for an English gentleman who designed +to be purchaser. With this view he recommended to him to visit the +Bailie, who still lived at the factor's house, called Little Veolan, +about a mile from the village, though he was to remove at next term. +Stanley's passport would be an answer to the officer who commanded the +military; and as to any of the country people who might recognise +Waverley, the Baron assured him he was in no danger of being betrayed +by them. + +'I believe,' said the old man, 'half the people of the barony know that +their poor auld laird is somewhere hereabout; for I see they do not +suffer a single bairn to come here a bird-nesting; a practice whilk, +when I was in full possession of my power as baron, I was unable +totally to inhibit. Nay, I often find bits of things in my way, that +the poor bodies, God help them! leave there, because they think they +may be useful to me. I hope they will get a wiser master, and as kind a +one as I was.' + +A natural sigh closed the sentence; but the quiet equanimity with which +the Baron endured his misfortunes had something in it venerable and +even sublime. There was no fruitless repining, no turbid melancholy; he +bore his lot, and the hardships which it involved, with a good-humored, +though serious composure, and used no violent language against the +prevailing party. + +'I did what I thought my duty,' said the good old man, 'and +questionless they are doing what they think theirs. It grieves me +sometimes to look upon these blackened walls of the house of my +ancestors; but doubtless officers cannot always keep the soldier's hand +from depredation and spuilzie, and Gustavus Adolphus himself, as ye may +read in Colonel Munro his "Expedition with the Worthy Scotch Regiment +called Mackay's Regiment" did often permit it. Indeed I have myself +seen as sad sights as Tully-Veolan now is when I served with the +Marechal Duke of Berwick. To be sure we may say with Virgilius Maro, +Fuimus Troes--and there's the end of an auld sang. But houses and +families and men have a' stood lang eneugh when they have stood till +they fall with honour; and now I hae gotten a house that is not unlike +a domus ultima'--they were now standing below a steep rock. 'We poor +Jacobites,' continued the Baron, looking up, 'are now like the conies +in Holy Scripture (which the great traveller Pococke calleth Jerboa), a +feeble people, that make our abode in the rocks. So, fare you well, my +good lad, till we meet at Janet's in the even; for I must get into my +Patmos, which is no easy matter for my auld stiff limbs.' + +With that he began to ascend the rock, striding, with the help of his +hands, from one precarious footstep to another, till he got about +half-way up, where two or three bushes concealed the mouth of a hole, +resembling an oven, into which the Baron insinuated, first his head and +shoulders, and then, by slow gradation, the rest of his l ong body; his +legs and feet finally disappearing, coiled up like a huge snake +entering his retreat, or a long pedigree introduced with care and +difficulty into the narrow pigeon-hole of an old cabinet. Waverley had +the curiosity to clamber up and look in upon him in his den, as the +lurking-place might well be termed. Upon the whole, he looked not +unlike that ingenious puzzle called 'a reel in a bottle,' the marvel of +children (and of some grown people too, myself for one), who can +neither comprehend the mysteryhowit has got in or how it is to be taken +out. The cave was very narrow, too low in the roof to admit of his +standing, or almost of his sitting up, though he made some awkward +attempts at the latter posture. His sole amusement was the perusal of +his old friend Titus Livius, varied by occasionally scratching Latin +proverbs and texts of Scripture with his knife on the roof and walls of +his fortalice, which were of sandstone. As the cave was dry, and filled +with clean straw and withered fern, 'it made,' as he said, coiling +himself up with an air of snugness and comfort which contrasted +strangely with his situation, 'unless when the wind was due north, a +very passable gite for an old soldier.' Neither, as he observed, was he +without sentries for the purpose of reconnoitring. Davie and his mother +were constantly on the watch to discover and avert danger; and it was +singular what instances of address seemed dictated by the instinctive +attachment of the poor simpleton when his patron's safety was concerned. + +With Janet, Edward now sought an interview. He had recognised her at +first sight as the old woman who had nursed him during his sickness +after his delivery from Gifted Gilfillan. The hut also, although a +little repaired and somewhat better furnished, was certainly the place +of his confinement; and he now recollected on the common moor of +Tully-Veolan the trunk of a large decayed tree, called the try +sting-tree, which he had no doubt was the same at which the Highlanders +rendezvoused on that memorable night. All this he had combined in his +imagination the night before; but reasons which may probably occur to +the reader prevented him from catechising Janet in the presence of the +Baron. + +He now commenced the task in good earnest; and the first question was, +Who was the young lady that visited the hut during his illness? Janet +paused for a little; and then observed, that to keep the secret now +would neither do good nor ill to anybody. + +' It was just a leddy that hasna her equal in the world--Miss Rose +Bradwardine!' + +'Then Miss Rose was probably also the author of my deliverance,' +inferred Waverley, delighted at the confirmation of an idea which local +circumstances had already induced him to entertain. + +'I wot weel, Mr. Wauverley, and that was she e'en; but sair, sair angry +and affronted wad she hae been, puir thing, if she had thought ye had +been ever to ken a word about the matter; for she gar'd me speak aye +Gaelic when ye was in hearing, to mak ye trow we were in the Hielands. +I can speak it weil eneugh, for my mother was a Hieland woman.' + +A few more questions now brought out the whole mystery respecting +Waverley's deliverance from the bondage in which he left Cairnvreckan. +Never did music sound sweeter to an amateur than the drowsy tautology +with which old Janet detailed every circumstance thrilled upon the ears +of Waverley. But my reader is not a lover and I must spare his +patience, by attempting to condense within reasonable compass the +narrative which old Janet spread through a harangue of nearly two hours. + +When Waverley communicated to Fergus the letter he had received from +Rose Bradwardine by Davie Gellatley, giving an account of Tully-Veolan +being occupied by a small party of soldiers, that circumstance had +struck upon the busy and active mind of the Chieftain. Eager to +distress and narrow the posts of the enemy, desirous to prevent their +establishing a garrison so near him, and willing also to oblige the +Baron--for he often had the idea of marriage with Rose floating through +his brain--he resolved to send some of his people to drive out the +red-coats and to bring Rose to Glennaquoich. But just as he had ordered +Evan with a small party on this duty, the news of Cope's having marched +into the Highlands, to meet and disperse the forces of the Chevalier +ere they came to a head, obliged him to join the standard with his +whole forces. + +He sent to order Donald Bean to attend him; but that cautious +freebooter, who well understood the value of a separate command, +instead of joining, sent various apologies which the pressure of the +times compelled Fergus to admit as current, though not without the +internal resolution of being revenged on him for his procrastination, +time and place convenient. However, as he could not amend the matter, +he issued orders to Donald to descend into the Low Country, drive the +soldiers from Tully-Veolan, and, paying all respect to the mansion of +the Baron, to take his abode somewhere near it, for protection of his +daughter and family, and to harass and drive away any of the armed +volunteers or small parties of military which he might find moving +about the vicinity. As this charge formed a sort of roving commission, +which Donald proposed to interpret in the way most advantageous to +himself, as he was relieved from the immediate terrors of Fergus, and +as he had, from former secret services, some interest in the councils +of the Chevalier, he resolved to make hay while the sun shone. He +achieved without difficulty the task of driving the soldiers from +Tully-Veolan; but, although he did not venture to encroach upon the +interior of the family, or to disturb Miss Rose, being unwilling to +make himself a powerful enemy in the Chevalier's army, + + For well he knew the Baron's wrath was deadly; + +yet he set about to raise contributions and exactions upon the +tenantry, and otherwise to turn the war to his own advantage. Meanwhile +he mounted the white cockade, and waited upon Rose with a pretext of +great devotion for the service in which her father was engaged, and +many apologies for the freedom he must necessarily use for the support +of his people. It was at this moment that Rose learned, by open-mouthed +fame, with all sorts of exaggeration, that Waverley had killed the +smith at Cairnvreckan, in an attempt to arrest him; had been cast into +a dungeon by Major Melville of Cairnvreckan, and was to be executed by +martial law within three days. In the agony which these tidings excited +she proposed to Donald Bean the rescue of the prisoner. It was the very +sort of service which he was desirous to undertake, judging it might +constitute a merit of such a nature as would make amends for any +peccadilloes which he might be guilty of in the country. He had the +art, however, pleading all the while duty and discipline, to hold off, +until poor Rose, in the extremity of her distress, offered to bribe him +to the enterprise with some valuable jewels which had been her mother's. + +Donald Bean, who had served in France, knew, and perhaps +over-estimated, the value of these trinkets. But he also perceived +Rose's apprehensions of its being discovered that she had parted with +her jewels for Waverley's liberation. Resolved this scruple should not +part him and the treasure, he voluntarily offered to take an oath that +he would never mention Miss Rose's share in the transaction; and, +foreseeing convenience in keeping the oath and no probable advantage in +breaking it, he took the engagement--in order, as he told his +lieutenant, to deal handsomely by the young lady--in the only mode and +form which, by a mental paction with himself, he considered as binding: +he swore secrecy upon his drawn dirk. He was the more especially moved +to this act of good faith by some attentions that Miss Bradwardine +showed to his daughter Alice, which, while they gained the heart of the +mountain damsel, highly gratified the pride of her father. Alice, who +could now speak a little English, was very communicative in return for +Rose's kindness, readily confided to her the whole papers respecting +the intrigue with Gardiner's regiment, of which she was the depositary, +and as readily undertook, at her instance, to restore them to Waverley +without her father's knowledge. For 'they may oblige the bonnie young +lady and the handsome young gentleman,' said Alice, 'and what use has +my father for a whin bits o' scarted paper?' + +The reader is aware that she took an opportunity of executing this +purpose on the eve of Waverley's leaving the glen. + +How Donald executed his enterprise the reader is aware. But the +expulsion of the military from Tully-Veolan had given alarm, and while +he was lying in wait for Gilfillan, a strong party, such as Donald did +not care to face, was sent to drive back the insurgents in their turn, +to encamp there, and to protect the country. The officer, a gentleman +and a disciplinarian, neither intruded himself on Miss Bradwardine, +whose unprotected situation he respected, nor permitted his soldiers to +commit any breach of discipline. He formed a little camp upon an +eminence near the house of Tully-Veolan, and placed proper guards at +the passes in the vicinity. This unwelcome news reached Donald Bean +Lean as he was returning to Tully-Veolan. Determined, however, to +obtain the guerdon of his labour, he resolved, since approach to +Tully-Veolan was impossible, to deposit his prisoner in Janet's +cottage, a place the very existence of which could hardly have been +suspected even by those who had long lived in the vicinity, unless they +had been guided thither, and which was utterly unknown to Waverley +himself. This effected, he claimed and received his reward. Waverley's +illness was an event which deranged all their calculations. Donald was +obliged to leave the neighbourhood with his people, and to seek more +free course for his adventures elsewhere. At Rose's entreaty, he left +an old man, a herbalist, who was supposed to understand a little of +medicine, to attend Waverley during his illness. + +In the meanwhile, new and fearful doubts started in Rose's mind. They +were suggested by old Janet, who insisted that, a reward having been +offered for the apprehension of Waverley, and his own personal effects +being so valuable, there was no saying to what breach of faith Donald +might be tempted. In an agony of grief and terror, Rose took the daring +resolution of explaining to the Prince himself the danger in which Mr. +Waverley stood, judging that, both as a politician and a man of honour +and humanity, Charles Edward would interest himself to prevent his +falling into the hands of the opposite party. This letter she at first +thought of sending anonymously, but naturally feared it would not in +that case be credited. She therefore subscribed her name, though with +reluctance and terror, and consigned it in charge to a young man, who +at leaving his farm to join the Chevalier's army, made it his petition +to her to have some sort of credentials to the adventurer, from whom he +hoped to obtain a commission. + +The letter reached Charles Edward on his descent to the Lowlands, and, +aware of the political importance of having it supposed that he was in +correspondence with the English Jacobites, he caused the most positive +orders to be transmitted to Donald Bean Lean to transmit Waverley, safe +and uninjured, in person or effects, to the governor of Doune Castle. +The freebooter durst not disobey, for the army of the Prince was now so +near him that punishment might have followed; besides, he was a +politician as well as a robber, and was unwilling to cancel the +interest created through former secret services by being refractory on +this occasion. He therefore made a virtue of necessity, and transmitted +orders to his lieutenant to convey Edward to Doune, which was safely +accomplished in the mode mentioned in a former chapter. The governor of +Doune was directed to send him to Edinburgh as a prisoner, because the +Prince was apprehensive that Waverley, if set at liberty, might have +resumed his purpose of returning to England, without affording him an +opportunity of a personal interview. In this, indeed, he acted by the +advice of the Chieftain of Glennaquoich, with whom it may be remembered +the Chevalier communicated upon the mode of disposing of Edward, though +without telling him how he came to learn the place of his confinement. + +This, indeed, Charles Edward considered as a lady's secret; for +although Rose's letter was couched in the most cautious and general +terms, and professed to be written merely from motives of humanity and +zeal for the Prince's service, yet she expressed so anxious a wish that +she should not be known to have interfered, that the Chevalier was +induced to suspect the deep interest which she took in Waverley's +safety. This conjecture, which was well founded, led, however, to false +inferences. For the emotion which Edward displayed on approaching Flora +and Rose at the ball of Holyrood was placed by the Chevalier to the +account of the latter; and he concluded that the Baron's views about +the settlement of his property, or some such obstacle, thwarted their +mutual inclinations. Common fame, it is true, frequently gave Waverley +to Miss Mac-Ivor; but the Prince knew that common fame is very prodigal +in such gifts; and, watching attentively the behaviour of the ladies +towards Waverley, he had no doubt that the young Englishman had no +interest with Flora, and was beloved by Rose Bradwardine. Desirous to +bind Waverley to his service, and wishing also to do a kind and +friendly action, the Prince next assailed the Baron on the subject of +settling his estate upon his daughter. Mr. Bradwardine acquiesced; but +the consequence was that Fergus was immediately induced to prefer his +double suit for a wife and an earldom, which the Prince rejected in the +manner we have seen. The Chevalier, constantly engaged in his own +multiplied affairs, had not hitherto sought any explanation with +Waverley, though often meaning to do so. But after Fergus's declaration +he saw the necessity of appearing neutral between the rivals, devoutly +hoping that the matter, which now seemed fraught with the seeds of +strife, might be permitted to lie over till the termination of the +expedition. When, on the march to Derby, Fergus, being questioned +concerning his quarrel with Waverley, alleged as the cause that Edward +was desirous of retracting the suit he had made to his sister, the +Chevalier plainly told him that he had himself observed Miss Mac-Ivor's +behaviour to Waverley, and that he was convinced Fergus was under the +influence of a mistake in judging of Waverley's conduct, who, he had +every reason to believe, was engaged to Miss Bradwardine. The quarrel +which ensued between Edward and the Chieftain is, I hope, still in the +remembrance of the reader. These circumstances will serve to explain +such points of our narrative as, according to the custom of +story-tellers, we deemed it fit to leave unexplained, for the purpose +of exciting the reader's curiosity. + +When Janet had once finished the leading facts of this narrative, +Waverley was easily enabled to apply the clue which they afforded to +other mazes of the labyrinth in which he had been engaged. To Rose +Bradwardine, then, he owed the life which he now thought he could +willingly have laid down to serve her. A little reflection convinced +him, however, that to live for her sake was more convenient and +agreeable, and that, being possessed of independence, she might share +it with him either in foreign countries or in his own. The pleasure of +being allied to a man of the Baron's high worth, and who was so much +valued by his uncle Sir Everard, was also an agreeable consideration, +had anything been wanting to recommend the match. His absurdities, +which had appeared grotesquely ludicrous during his prosperity, seemed, +in the sunset of his fortune, to be harmonised and assimilated with the +noble features of his character, so as to add peculiarity without +exciting ridicule. His mind occupied with such projects of future +happiness, Edward sought Little Veolan, the habitation of Mr. Duncan +Macwheeble. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVI + + Now is Cupid a child of conscience--he makes restitution. + + SHAKSPEARE + + +Mr. Duncan MacWheeble, no longer Commissary or Bailie, though still +enjoying the empty name of the latter dignity, had escaped proscription +by an early secession from the insurgent party and by his +insignificance. + +Edward found him in his office, immersed among papers and accounts. +Before him was a large bicker of oatmeal porridge, and at the side +thereof a horn spoon and a bottle of two-penny. Eagerly running his eye +over a voluminous law-paper, he from time to time shovelled an immense +spoonful of these nutritive viands into his capacious mouth. A +pot-bellied Dutch bottle of brandy which stood by intimated either that +this honest limb of the law had taken his morning already, or that he +meant to season his porridge with such digestive; or perhaps both +circumstances might reasonably be inferred. His night-cap and +morning-gown, had whilome been of tartan, but, equally cautious and +frugal, the honest Bailie had got them dyed black, lest their original +ill-omened colour might remind his visitors of his unlucky excursion to +Derby. To sum up the picture, his face was daubed with snuff up to the +eyes, and his fingers with ink up to the knuckles. He looked dubiously +at Waverley as he approached the little green rail which fenced his +desk and stool from the approach of the vulgar. Nothing could give the +Bailie more annoyance than the idea of his acquaintance being claimed +by any of the unfortunate gentlemen who were now so much more likely to +need assistance than to afford profit. But this was the rich young +Englishman; who knew what might be his situation? He was the Baron's +friend too; what was to be done? + +While these reflections gave an air of absurd perplexity to the poor +man's visage, Waverley, reflecting on the communication he was about to +make to him, of a nature so ridiculously contrasted with the appearance +of the individual, could not help bursting out a-laughing, as he +checked the propensity to exclaim with Syphax-- + + Cato's a proper person to intrust + A love-tale with. + +As Mr. Macwheeble had no idea of any person laughing heartily who was +either encircled by peril or oppressed by poverty, the hilarity of +Edward's countenance greatly relieved the embarrassment of his own, +and, giving him a tolerably hearty welcome to Little Veolan, he asked +what he would choose for breakfast. His visitor had, in the first +place, something for his private ear, and begged leave to bolt the +door. Duncan by no means liked this precaution, which savoured of +danger to be apprehended; but he could not now draw back. + +Convinced he might trust this man, as he could make it his interest to +be faithful, Edward communicated his present situation and future +schemes to Macwheeble. The wily agent listened with apprehension when +he found Waverley was still in a state of proscription; was somewhat +comforted by learning that he had a passport; rubbed his hands with +glee when he mentioned the amount of his present fortune; opened huge +eyes when he heard the brilliancy of his future expectations; but when +he expressed his intention to share them with Miss Rose Bradwardine, +ecstasy had almost deprived the honest man of his senses. The Bailie +started from his three-footed stool like the Pythoness from her tripod; +flung his best wig out of the window, because the block on which it was +placed stood in the way of his career; chucked his cap to the ceiling, +caught it as it fell; whistled 'Tullochgorum'; danced a Highland fling +with inimitable grace and agility, and then threw himself exhausted +into a chair, exclaiming, 'Lady Wauverley! ten thousand a year the +least penny! Lord preserve my poor understanding!' + +'Amen with all my heart,' said Waverley; 'but now, Mr. Macwheeble, let +us proceed to business.' This word had somewhat a sedative effect, but +the Bailie's head, as he expressed himself, was still 'in the bees.' He +mended his pen, however, marked half a dozen sheets of paper with an +ample marginal fold, whipped down Dallas of St. Martin's 'Styles' from +a shelf, where that venerable work roosted with Stair's 'Institutions,' +Dirleton's 'Doubts,' Balfour's 'Practiques,' and a parcel of old +account-books, opened the volume at the article Contract of Marriage, +and prepared to make what he called a'sma' minute to prevent parties +frae resiling.' + +With some difficulty Waverley made him comprehend that he was going a +little too fast. He explained to him that he should want his +assistance, in the first place, to make his residence safe for the +time, by writing to the officer at Tully-Veolan that Mr. Stanley, an +English gentleman nearly related to Colonel Talbot, was upon a visit of +business at Mr. Macwheeble's, and, knowing the state of the country, +had sent his passport for Captain Foster's inspection. This produced a +polite answer from the officer, with an invitation to Mr. Stanley to +dine with him, which was declined (as may easily be supposed) under +pretence of business. + +Waverley's next request was, that Mr. Macwheeble would despatch a man +and horse to ----, the post-town at which Colonel Talbot was to address +him, with directions to wait there until the post should bring a letter +for Mr. Stanley, and then to forward it to Little Veolan with all +speed. In a moment the Bailie was in search of his apprentice (or +servitor, as he was called Sixty Years Since), Jock Scriever, and in +not much greater space of time Jock was on the back of the white pony. +'Tak care ye guide him weel, sir, for he's aye been short in the wind +since--ahem--Lord be gude to me! (in a low voice), I was gaun to come +out wi'--since I rode whip and spur to fetch the Chevalier to redd Mr. +Wauverley and Vich lan Vohr; and an uncanny coup I gat for my pains. +Lord forgie your honour! I might hae broken my neck; but troth it was +in a venture, mae ways nor ane; but this maks amends for a'. Lady +Wauverley! ten thousand a year! Lord be gude unto me!' + +'But you forget, Mr. Macwheeble, we want the Baron's consent--the +lady's--' + +'Never fear, I'se be caution for them; I'se gie you my personal +warrandice. Ten thousand a year! it dings Balmawhapple out and out--a +year's rent's worth a' Balmawhapple, fee and life-rent! Lord make us +thankful!' + +To turn the current of his feelings, Edward inquired if he had heard +anything lately of the Chieftain of Glennaquoich. + +'Not one word,' answered Macwheeble, 'but that he was still in Carlisle +Castle, and was soon to be panelled for his life. I dinna wish the +young gentleman ill,' he said, 'but I hope that they that hae got him +will keep him, and no let him back to this Hieland border to plague us +wi' black-mail and a' manner o' violent, wrongous, and masterfu' +oppression and spoliation, both by himself and others of his causing, +sending, and hounding out; and he couldna tak care o' the siller when +he had gotten it neither, but flung it a' into yon idle quean's lap at +Edinburgh; but light come light gane. For my part, I never wish to see +a kilt in the country again, nor a red-coat, nor a gun, for that +matter, unless it were to shoot a paitrick; they're a' tarr'd wi' ae +stick. And when they have done ye wrang, even when ye hae gotten +decreet of spuilzie, oppression, and violent profits against them, what +better are ye? They hae na a plack to pay ye; ye need never extract it.' + +With such discourse, and the intervening topics of business, the time +passed until dinner, Macwheeble meanwhile promising to devise some mode +of introducing Edward at the Duchran, where Rose at present resided, +without risk of danger or suspicion; which seemed no very easy task, +since the laird was a very zealous friend to government. The +poultry-yard had been laid under requisition, and cockyleeky and Scotch +collops soon reeked in the Bailie's little parlour. The landlord's +cork-screw was just introduced into the muzzle of a pint bottle of +claret (cribbed possibly from the cellars of Tully-Veolan), when the +sight of the grey pony passing the window at full trot induced the +Bailie, but with due precaution, to place it aside for the moment. +Enter Jock Scriever with a packet for Mr. Stanley; it is Colonel +Talbot's seal, and Edward's ringers tremble as he undoes it. Two +official papers, folded, signed, and sealed in all formality, drop out. +They were hastily picked up by the Bailie, who had a natural respect +for everything resembling a deed, and, glancing slily on their titles, +his eyes, or rather spectacles, are greeted with 'Protection by his +Royal Highness to the person of Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, Esq., of that +ilk, commonly called Baron of Bradwardine, forfeited for his accession +to the late rebellion.' The other proves to be a protection of the same +tenor in favour of Edward Waverley, Esq. Colonel Talbot's letter was in +these words:-- + +'My DEAR EDWARD, + +'I am just arrived here, and yet I have finished my business; it has +cost me some trouble though, as you shall hear. I waited upon his Royal +Highness immediately on my arrival, and found him in no very good +humour for my purpose. Three or four Scotch gentlemen were just leaving +his levee. After he had expressed himself to me very courteously; +"Would you think it," he said, "Talbot, here have been half a dozen of +the most respectable gentlemen and best friends to government north of +the Forth, Major Melville of Cairnvreckan, Rubrick of Duchran, and +others, who have fairly wrung from me, by their downright importunity, +a present protection and the promise of a future pardon for that +stubborn old rebel whom they call Baron of Bradwardine. They allege +that his high personal character, and the clemency which he showed to +such of our people as fell into the rebels' hands, should weigh in his +favour, especially as the loss of his estate is likely to be a severe +enough punishment. Rubrick has undertaken to keep him at his own house +till things are settled in the country; but it's a little hard to be +forced in a manner to pardon such a mortal enemy to the House of +Brunswick." This was no favourable moment for opening my business; +however, I said I was rejoiced to learn that his Royal Highness was in +the course of granting such requests, as it emboldened me to present +one of the like nature in my own name. He was very angry, but I +persisted; I mentioned the uniform support of our three votes in, the +house, touched modestly on services abroad, though valuable only in his +Royal Highness's having been pleased kindly to accept them, and founded +pretty strongly on his own expressions of friendship and good-will. He +was embarrassed, but obstinate. I hinted the policy of detaching, on +all future occasions, the heir of such a fortune as your uncle's from +the machinations of the disaffected. But I made no impression. I +mentioned the obligations which I lay under to Sir Everard and to you +personally, and claimed, as the sole reward of my services, that he +would be pleased to afford me the means of evincing my gratitude. I +perceived that he still meditated a refusal, and, taking my commission +from my pocket, I said (as a last resource) that, as his Royal Highness +did not, under these pressing circumstances, think me worthy of a +favour which he had not scrupled to grant to other gentlemen whose +services I could hardly judge more important than my own, I must beg +leave to deposit, with all humility, my commission in his Royal +Highness's hands, and to retire from the service. He was not prepared +for this; he told me to take up my commission, said some handsome +things of my services, and granted my request. You are therefore once +more a free man, and I have promised for you that you will be a good +boy in future, and remember what you owe to the lenity of government. +Thus you see my prince can be as generous as yours. I do not pretend, +indeed, that he confers a favour with all the foreign graces and +compliments of your Chevalier errant; but he has a plain English +manner, and the evident reluctance with which he grants your request +indicates the sacrifice which he makes of his own inclination to your +wishes. My friend, the adjutant-general, has procured me a duplicate of +the Baron's protection (the original being in Major Melville's +possession), which I send to you, as I know that if you can find him +you will have pleasure in being the first to communicate the joyful +intelligence. He will of course repair to the Duchran without loss of +time, there to ride quarantine for a few weeks. As for you, I give you +leave to escort him thither, and to stay a week there, as I understand +a certain fair lady is in that quarter. And I have the pleasure to tell +you that whatever progress you can make in her good graces will be +highly agreeable to Sir Everard and Mrs. Rachel, who will never believe +your views and prospects settled, and the three ermines passant in +actual safety, until you present them with a Mrs. Edward Waverley. Now, +certain love-affairs of my own--a good many years since--interrupted +some measures which were then proposed in favour of the three ermines +passant; so I am bound in honour to make them amends. Therefore make +good use of your time, for, when your week is expired, it will be +necessary that you go to London to plead your pardon in the law courts. + +'Ever, dear Waverley, yours most truly, 'PHILIP TALBOT.' + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVII + + Happy's the wooing + That's not long a doing + + +When the first rapturous sensation occasioned by these excellent +tidings had somewhat subsided, Edward proposed instantly to go down to +the glen to acquaint the Baron with their import. But the cautious +Bailie justly observed that, if the Baron were to appear instantly in +public, the tenantry and villagers might become riotous in expressing +their joy, and give offence to 'the powers that be,' a sort of persons +for whom the Bailie always had unlimited respect. He therefore proposed +that Mr. Waverley should go to Janet Gellatley's and bring the Baron up +under cloud of night to Little Veolan, where he might once more enjoy +the luxury of a good bed. In the meanwhile, he said, he himself would +go to Captain Foster and show him the Baron's protection, and obtain +his countenance for harbouring him that night, and he would have horses +ready on the morrow to set him on his way to the Duchran along with Mr. +Stanley, 'whilk denomination, I apprehend, your honour will for the +present retain,' said the Bailie. + +'Certainly, Mr. Macwheeble; but will you not go down to the glen +yourself in the evening to meet your patron?' + +'That I wad wi' a' my heart; and mickle obliged to your honour for +putting me in mind o' mybounden duty. But it will be past sunset afore +I get back frae the Captain's, and at these unsonsy hours the glen has +a bad name; there's something no that canny about auld Janet Gellatley. +The Laird he'll no believe thae things, but he was aye ower rash and +venturesome, and feared neither man nor deevil, an sae's seen o't. But +right sure am I Sir George Mackenyie says, that no divine can doubt +there are witches, since the Bible says thou shalt not suffer them to +live; and that no lawyer in Scotland can doubt it, since it is +punishable with death by our law. So there's baith law and gospel for +it. An his honour winna believe the Leviticus, he might aye believe the +Statute-book; but he may tak his ain way o't; it's a' ane to Duncan +Macwheeble. However, I shall send to ask up auld Janet this e'en; it's +best no to lightly them that have that character; and we'll want Davie +to turn the spit, for I'll gar Eppie put down a fat goose to the fire +for your honours to your supper.' + +When it was near sunset Waverley hastened to the hut; and he could not +but allow that superstition had chosen no improper locality, or unfit +object, for the foundation of her fantastic terrors. It resembled +exactly the description of Spenser:-- + + There, in a gloomy hollow glen, she found + A little cottage built of sticks and reeds, + In homely wise, and wall'd with sods around, + In which a witch did dwell in loathly weeds, + And wilful want, all careless of her needs, + So choosing solitary to abide + Far from all neighbours, that her devilish deeds, + And hellish arts, from people she might hide, + And hurt far off, unknown, whomsoever she espied. + +He entered the cottage with these verses in his memory. Poor old Janet, +bent double with age and bleared with peat-smoke, was tottering about +the hut with a birch broom, muttering to herself as she endeavoured to +make her hearth and floor a little clean for the reception of her +expected guests. Waverley's step made her start, look up, and fall +a-trembling, so much had her nerves been on the rack for her patron's +safety. With difficulty Waverley made her comprehend that the Baron was +now safe from personal danger; and when her mind had admitted that +joyful news, it was equally hard to make her believe that he was not to +enter again upon possession of his estate. 'It behoved to be,' she +said, 'he wad get it back again; naebody wad be sae gripple as to tak +his gear after they had gi'en him a pardon: and for that Inch-Grabbit, +I could whiles wish mysell a witch for his sake, if I werena feared the +Enemy wad tak me at my word.' Waverley then gave her some money, and +promised that her fidelity should be rewarded. 'How can I be rewarded, +sir, sae weel as just to see my auld maister and Miss Rose come back +and bruik their ain?' + +Waverley now took leave of Janet, and soon stood beneath the Baron's +Patmos. At a low whistle he observed the veteran peeping out to +reconnoitre, like an old badger with his head out of his hole. 'Ye hae +come rather early, my good lad,' said he, descending; 'I question if +the red-coats hae beat the tattoo yet, and we're not safe till then.' + +'Good news cannot be told too soon,' said Waverley; and with infinite +joy communicated to him the happy tidings. The old man stood for a +moment in silent devotion, then exclaimed, 'Praise be to God! I shall +see my bairn again.' + +'And never, I hope, to part with her more,' said Waverley. + +'I trust in God not, unless it be to win the means of supporting her; +for my things are but in a bruckle state;--but what signifies warld's +gear?' + +'And if,' said Waverley modestly, 'there were a situation in life which +would put Miss Bradwardine beyond the uncertainty of fortune, and in +the rank to which she was born, would you object to it, my dear Baron, +because it would make one of your friends the happiest man in the +world?' The Baron turned and looked at him with great earnestness. +'Yes,' continued Edward, 'I shall not consider my sentence of +banishment as repealed unless you will give me permission to accompany +you to the Duchran, and--' + +The Baron seemed collecting all his dignity to make a suitable reply to +what, at another time, he would have treated as the propounding a +treaty of alliance between the houses of Bradwardine and Waverley. But +his efforts were in vain; the father was too mighty for the Baron; the +pride of birth and rank were swept away; in the joyful surprise a +slight convulsion passed rapidly over his features, as he gave way to +the feelings of nature, threw his arms around Waverley's neck, and +sobbed out--'My son, my son! if I had been to search the world, I would +have made my choice here.' Edward returned the embrace with great +sympathy of feeling, and for a little while they both kept silence. At +length it was broken by Edward. 'But Miss Bradwardine?' + +'She had never a will but her old father's; besides, you are a likely +youth, of honest principles and high birth; no, she never had any other +will than mine, and in my proudest days I could not have wished a mair +eligible espousal for her than the nephew of my excellent old friend, +Sir Everard. But I hope, young man, ye deal na rashly in this matter? I +hope ye hae secured the approbation of your ain friends and allies, +particularly of your uncle, who is in loco parentis? Ah! we maun tak +heed o' that.' Edward assured him that Sir Everard would think himself +highly honoured in the flattering reception his proposal had met with, +and that it had his entire approbation; in evidence of which he put +Colonel Talbot's letter into the Baron's hand. The Baron read it with +great attention. 'Sir Everard,' he said, 'always despised wealth in +comparison of honour and birth; and indeed he hath no occasion to court +the Diva Pecunia. Yet I now wish, since this Malcolm turns out such a +parricide, for I can call him no better, as to think of alienating the +family inheritance--I now wish (his eyes fixed on a part of the roof +which was visible above the trees) that I could have left Rose the auld +hurley-house and the riggs belanging to it. And yet,' said he, resuming +more cheerfully, 'it's maybe as weel as it is; for, as Baron of +Bradwardine, I might have thought it my duty to insist upon certain +compliances respecting name and bearings, whilk now, as a landless +laird wi' a tocherless daughter, no one can blame me for departing +from.' + +'Now, Heaven be praised!' thought Edward,'that Sir Everard does not +hear these scruples! The three ermines passant and rampant bear would +certainly have gone together by the ears.' He then, with all the ardour +of a young lover, assured the Baron that he sought for his happiness +only in Rose's heart and hand, and thought himself as happy in her +father's simple approbation as if he had settled an earldom upon his +daughter. + +They now reached Little Veolan. The goose was smoking on the table, and +the Bailie brandished his knife and fork. A joyous greeting took place +between him and his patron. The kitchen, too, had its company. Auld +Janet was established at the ingle-nook; Davie had turned the spit to +his immortal honour; and even Ban and Buscar, in the liberality of +Macwheeble's joy, had been stuffed to the throat with food, and now lay +snoring on the floor. + +The next day conducted the Baron and his young friend to the Duchran, +where the former was expected, in consequence of the success of the +nearly unanimous application of the Scottish friends of government in +his favour. This had been so general and so powerful that it was almost +thought his estate might have been saved, had it not passed into the +rapacious hands of his unworthy kinsman, whose right, arising out of +the Baron's attainder, could not be affected by a pardon from the +crown. The old gentleman, however, said, with his usual spirit, he was +more gratified by the hold he possessed in the good opinion of his +neighbours than he would have been in being rehabilitated and restored +in integrum, had it been found practicable.' + +We shall not attempt to describe the meeting of the father and +daughter, loving each other so affectionately, and separated under such +perilous circumstances. Still less shall we attempt to analyse the deep +blush of Rose at receiving the compliments of Waverley, or stop to +inquire whether she had any curiosity respecting the particular cause +of his journey to Scotland at that period. We shall not even trouble +the reader with the humdrum details of a courtship Sixty Years Since. +It is enough to say that, under so strict a martinet as the Baron, all +things were conducted in due form. He took upon himself, the morning +after their arrival, the task of announcing the proposal of Waverley to +Rose, which she heard with a proper degree of maiden timidity. Fame +does, however, say that Waverley had the evening before found five +minutes to apprise her of what was coming, while the rest of the +company were looking at three twisted serpents which formed a, jet +d'eau in the garden. + +My fair readers will judge for themselves; but, for my part, I cannot +conceive how so important an affair could be communicated in so short a +space of time; at least, it certainly took a full hour in the Baron's +mode of conveying it. + +Waverley was now considered as a received lover in all the forms. He +was made, by dint of smirking and nodding on the part of the lady of +the house, to sit next Miss Bradwardine at dinner, to be Miss +Bradwardine's partner at cards. If he came into the room, she of the +four Miss Rubricks who chanced to be next Rose was sure to recollect +that her thimble or her scissors were at the other end of the room, in +order to leave the seat nearest to Miss Bradwardine vacant for his +occupation. And sometimes, if papa and mamma were not in the way to +keep them on their good behaviour, the misses would titter a little. +The old Laird of Duchran would also have his occasional jest, and the +old lady her remark. Even the Baron could not refrain; but here Rose +escaped every embarrassment but that of conjecture, for his wit was +usually couched in a Latin quotation. The very footmen sometimes +grinned too broadly, the maidservants giggled mayhap too loud, and a +provoking air of intelligence seemed to pervade the whole family. Alice +Bean, the pretty maid of the cavern, who, after her father's +misfortune, as she called it, had attended Rose as fille-de-chambre, +smiled and smirked with the best of them. Rose and Edward, however, +endured all these little vexatious circumstances as other folks have +done before and since, and probably contrived to obtain some +indemnification, since they are not supposed, on the whole, to have +been particularly unhappy during Waverley's six days' stay at the +Duchran. + +It was finally arranged that Edward should go to Waverley-Honour to +make the necessary arrangements for his marriage, thence to London to +take the proper measures for pleading his pardon, and return as soon as +possible to claim the hand of his plighted bride. He also intended in +his journey to visit Colonel Talbot; but, above all, it was his most +important object to learn the fate of the unfortunate Chief of +Glennaquoich; to visit him at Carlisle, and to try whether anything +could be done for procuring, if not a pardon, a commutation at least, +or alleviation, of the punishment to which he was almost certain of +being condemned; and, in case of the worst, to offer the miserable +Flora an asylum with Rose, or otherwise to assist her views in any mode +which might seem possible. The fate of Fergus seemed hard to be +averted. Edward had already striven to interest his friend, Colonel +Talbot, in his behalf; but had been given distinctly to understand by +his reply that his credit in matters of that nature was totally +exhausted. + +The Colonel was still in Edinburgh, and proposed to wait there for some +months upon business confided to him by the Duke of Cumberland. He was +to be joined by Lady Emily, to whom easy travelling and goat's whey +were recommended, and who was to journey northward under the escort of +Francis Stanley. Edward, therefore, met the Colonel at Edinburgh, who +wished him joy in the kindest manner on his approaching happiness, and +cheerfully undertook many commissions which our hero was necessarily +obliged to delegate to his charge. But on the subject of Fergus he was +inexorable. He satisfied Edward, indeed, that his interference would be +unavailing; but, besides, Colonel Talbot owned that he could not +conscientiously use any influence in favour of that unfortunate +gentleman. 'Justice,' he said, 'which demanded some penalty of those +who had wrapped the whole nation in fear and in mourning, could not +perhaps have selected a fitter victim. He came to the field with the +fullest light upon the nature of his attempt. He had studied and +understood the subject. His father's fate could not intimidate him; the +lenity of the laws which had restored to him his father's property and +rights could not melt him. That he was brave, generous, and possessed +many good qualities only rendered him the more dangerous; that he was +enlightened and accomplished made his crime the less excusable; that he +was an enthusiast in a wrong cause only made him the more fit to be its +martyr. Above all, he had been the means of bringing many hundreds of +men into the field who, without him, would never have broken the peace +of the country. + +'I repeat it,' said the Colonel,'though Heaven knows with a heart +distressed for him as an individual, that this young gentleman has +studied and fully understood the desperate game which he has played. He +threw for life or death, a coronet or a coffin; and he cannot now be +permitted, with justice to the country, to draw stakes because the dice +have gone against him.' + +Such was the reasoning of those times, held even by brave and humane +men towards a vanquished enemy. Let us devoutly hope that, in this +respect at least, we shall never see the scenes or hold the sentiments +that were general in Britain Sixty Years Since. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII + + To morrow? O that's sudden!--Spare him, spare him' + + SHAKSPEARE + + +Edward, attended by his former servant Alick Polwarth, who had +reentered his service at Edinburgh, reached Carlisle while the +commission of Oyer and Terminer on his unfortunate associates was yet +sitting. He had pushed forward in haste, not, alas! with the most +distant hope of saving Fergus, but to see him for the last time. I +ought to have mentioned that he had furnished funds for the defence of +the prisoners in the most liberal manner, as soon as he heard that the +day of trial was fixed. A solicitor and the first counsel accordingly +attended; but it was upon the same footing on which the first +physicians are usually summoned to the bedside of some dying man of +rank--the doctors to take the advantage of some incalculable chance of +an exertion of nature, the lawyers to avail themselves of the barely +possible occurrence of some legal flaw. Edward pressed into the court, +which was extremely crowded; but by his arriving from the north, and +his extreme eagerness and agitation, it was supposed he was a relation +of the prisoners, and people made way for him. It was the third sitting +of the court, and there were two men at the bar. The verdict of GUILTY +was already pronounced. Edward just glanced at the bar during the +momentous pause which ensued. There was no mistaking the stately form +and noble features of Fergus Mac-Ivor, although his dress was squalid +and his countenance tinged with the sickly yellow hue of long and close +imprisonment. By his side was Evan Maccombich. Edward felt sick and +dizzy as he gazed on them; but he was recalled to himself as the Clerk +of Arraigns pronounced the solemn words: 'Fergus Mac-Ivor of +Glennaquoich, otherwise called Vich Ian Vohr, and Evan Mac-Ivor, in the +Dhu of Tarrascleugh, otherwise called Evan Dhu, otherwise called Evan +Maccombich, or Evan Dhu MacCombich--you, and each of you, stand +attainted of high treason. What have you to say for yourselves why the +Court should not pronounce judgment against you, that you die according +to law?' + +Fergus, as the presiding Judge was putting on the fatal cap of +judgment, placed his own bonnet upon his head, regarded him with a +steadfast and stern look, and replied in a firm voice, 'I cannot let +this numerous audience suppose that to such an appeal I have no answer +to make. But what I have to say you would not bear to hear, for my +defence would be your condemnation. Proceed, then, in the name of God, +to do what is permitted to you. Yesterday and the day before you have +condemned loyal and honourable blood to be poured forth like water. +Spare not mine. Were that of all my ancestors in my veins, I would have +perilled it in this quarrel.' He resumed his seat and refused again to +rise. + +Evan Maccombich looked at him with great earnestness, and, rising up, +seemed anxious to speak; but the confusion of the court, and the +perplexity arising from thinking in a language different from that in +which he was to express himself, kept him silent. There was a murmur of +compassion among the spectators, from the idea that the poor fellow +intended to plead the influence of his superior as an excuse for his +crime. The Judge commanded silence, and encouraged Evan to proceed. 'I +was only ganging to say, my lord,' said Evan, in what he meant to be an +insinuating manner, 'that if your excellent honour and the honourable +Court would let Vich Ian Vohr go free just this once, and let him gae +back to France, and no to trouble King George's government again, that +ony six o' the very best of his clan will be willing to be justified in +his stead; and if you'll just let me gae down to Glennaquoich, I'll +fetch them up to ye mysell, to head or hang, and you may begin wi' me +the very first man.' + +Notwithstanding the solemnity of the occasion, a sort of laugh was +heard in the court at the extraordinary nature of the proposal. The +Judge checked this indecency, and Evan, looking sternly around, when +the murmur abated, 'If the Saxon gentlemen are laughing,' he said, +'because a poor man, such as me, thinks my life, or the life of six of +my degree, is worth that of Vich Ian Vohr, it's like enough they may be +very right; but if they laugh because they think I would not keep my +word and come back to redeem him, I can tell them they ken neither the +heart of a Hielandman nor the honour of a gentleman.' + +There was no farther inclination to laugh among the audience, and a +dead silence ensued. + +The Judge then pronounced upon both prisoners the sentence of the law +of high treason, with all its horrible accompaniments. The execution +was appointed for the ensuing day. 'For you, Fergus Mac-Ivor,' +continued the Judge, 'I can hold out no hope of mercy. You must prepare +against to-morrow for your last sufferings here, and your great audit +hereafter.' + +'I desire nothing else, my lord,' answered Fergus, in the same manly +and firm tone. + +The hard eyes of Evan, which had been perpetually bent on his Chief, +were moistened with a tear. 'For you, poor ignorant man,' continued the +Judge, 'who, following the ideas in which you have been educated, have +this day given us a striking example how the loyalty due to the king +and state alone is, from your unhappy ideas of clanship, transferred to +some ambitious individual who ends by making you the tool of his +crimes--for you, I say, I feel so much compassion that, if you can make +up your mind to petition for grace, I will endeavour to procure it for +you. Otherwise--' + +'Grace me no grace,' said Evan; 'since you are to shed Vich Ian Vohr's +blood, the only favour I would accept from you is to bid them loose my +hands and gie me my claymore, and bide you just a minute sitting where +you are!' + +'Remove the prisoners,' said the Judge; 'his blood be upon his own +head.' + +Almost stupefied with his feelings, Edward found that the rush of the +crowd had conveyed him out into the street ere he knew what he was +doing. His immediate wish was to see and speak with Fergus once more. +He applied at the Castle where his unfortunate friend was confined, but +was refused admittance. 'The High Sheriff,' a non-commissioned officer +said, 'had requested of the governor that none should be admitted to +see the prisoner excepting his confessor and his sister.' + +'And where was Miss Mac-Ivor?' They gave him the direction. It was the +house of a respectable Catholic family near Carlisle. + +Repulsed from the gate of the Castle, and not venturing to make +application to the High Sheriff or Judges in his own unpopular name, he +had recourse to the solicitor who came down in Fergus's behalf. This +gentleman told him that it was thought the public mind was in danger of +being debauched by the account of the last moments of these persons, as +given by the friends of the Pretender; that there had been a +resolution, therefore, to exclude all such persons as had not the plea +of near kindred for attending upon them. Yet he promised (to oblige the +heir of Waverley-Honour) to get him an order for admittance to the +prisoner the next morning, before his irons were knocked off for +execution. + +'Is it of Fergus Mac-Ivor they speak thus,' thought Waverley, 'or do I +dream? Of Fergus, the bold, the chivalrous, the free-minded, the lofty +chieftain of a tribe devoted to him? Is it he, that I have seen lead +the chase and head the attack, the brave, the active, the young, the +noble, the love of ladies, and the theme of song,--is it he who is +ironed like a malefactor, who is to be dragged on a hurdle to the +common gallows, to die a lingering and cruel death, and to be mangled +by the hand of the most outcast of wretches? Evil indeed was the +spectre that boded such a fate as this to the brave Chief of +Glennaquoich!' + +With a faltering voice he requested the solicitor to find means to warn +Fergus of his intended visit, should he obtain permission to make it. +He then turned away from him, and, returning to the inn, wrote a +scarcely intelligible note to Flora Mac-Ivor, intimating his purpose to +wait upon her that evening. The messenger brought back a letter in +Flora's beautiful Italian hand, which seemed scarce to tremble even +under this load of misery. 'Miss Flora Mac-Ivor,' the letter bore, +'could not refuse to see the dearest friend of her dear brother, even +in her present circumstances of unparalleled distress.' + +When Edward reached Miss Mac-Ivor's present place of abode he was +instantly admitted. In a large and gloomy tapestried apartment Flora +was seated by a latticed window, sewing what seemed to be a garment of +white flannel. At a little distance sat an elderly woman, apparently a +foreigner, and of a religious order. She was reading in a book of +Catholic devotion, but when Waverley entered laid it on the table and +left the room. Flora rose to receive him, and stretched out her hand, +but neither ventured to attempt speech. Her fine complexion was totally +gone; her person considerably emaciated; and her face and hands as +white as the purest statuary marble, forming a strong contrast with her +sable dress and jet-black hair. Yet, amid these marks of distress there +was nothing negligent or ill-arranged about her attire; even her hair, +though totally without ornament, was disposed with her usual attention +to neatness. The first words she uttered were, 'Have you seen him?' + +'Alas, no,' answered Waverley, 'I have been refused admittance.' + +'It accords with the rest,' she said; 'but we must submit. Shall you +obtain leave, do you suppose?' + +'For--for--tomorrow,' said Waverley; but muttering the last word so +faintly that it was almost unintelligible. + +'Ay, then or never,' said Flora, 'until'--she added, looking +upward--'the time when, I trust, we shall all meet. But I hope you will +see him while earth yet bears him. He always loved you at his heart, +though--but it is vain to talk of the past.' + +'Vain indeed!' echoed Waverley. + +'Or even of the future, my good friend,' said Flora,'so far as earthly +events are concerned; for how often have I pictured to myself the +strong possibility of this horrid issue, and tasked myself to consider +how I could support my part; and yet how far has all my anticipation +fallen short of the unimaginable bitterness of this hour!' + +'Dear Flora, if your strength of mind--' + +'Ay, there it is,' she answered, somewhat wildly; 'there is, Mr. +Waverley, there is a busy devil at my heart that whispers--but it were +madness to listen to it--that the strength of mind on which Flora +prided herself has murdered her brother!' + +'Good God! how can you give utterance to a thought so shocking?' + +'Ay, is it not so? but yet it haunts me like a phantom; I know it is +unsubstantial and vain; but it will be present; will intrude its +horrors on my mind; will whisper that my brother, as volatile as +ardent, would have divided his energies amid a hundred objects. It was +I who taught him to concentrate them and to gage all on this dreadful +and desperate cast. Oh that I could recollect that I had but once said +to him, "He that striketh with the sword shall die by the sword"; that +I had but once said, "Remain at home; reserve yourself, your vassals, +your life, for enterprises within the reach of man." But O, Mr. +Waverley, I spurred his fiery temper, and half of his ruin at least +lies with his sister!' + +The horrid idea which she had intimated, Edward endeavoured to combat +by every incoherent argument that occurred to him. He recalled to her +the principles on which both thought it their duty to act, and in which +they had been educated. + +'Do not think I have forgotten them,' she said, looking up with eager +quickness; 'I do not regret his attempt because it was wrong!--O no! on +that point I am armed--but because it was impossible it could end +otherwise than thus.' + +'Yet it did not always seem so desperate and hazardous as it was; and +it would have been chosen by the bold spirit of Fergus whether you had +approved it or no; your counsels only served to give unity and +consistence to his conduct; to dignify, but not to precipitate, his +resolution.' Flora had soon ceased to listen to Edward, and was again +intent upon her needlework. + +'Do you remember,' she said, looking up with a ghastly smile, 'you once +found me making Fergus's bride-favours, and now I am sewing his bridal +garment. Our friends here,' she continued, with suppressed emotion, +'are to give hallowed earth in their chapel to the bloody relics of the +last Vich Ian Vohr. But they will not all rest together; no--his +head!--I shall not have the last miserable consolation of kissing the +cold lips of my dear, dear Fergus!' + +The unfortunate Flora here, after one or two hysterical sobs, fainted +in her chair. The lady, who had been attending in the ante-room, now +entered hastily, and begged Edward to leave the room, but not the house. + +When he was recalled, after the space of nearly half an hour, he found +that, by a strong effort, Miss Mac-Ivor had greatly composed herself. +It was then he ventured to urge Miss Bradwardine's claim to be +considered as an adopted sister, and empowered to assist her plans for +the future. + +'I have had a letter from my dear Rose,' she replied, 'to the same +purpose. Sorrow is selfish and engrossing, or I would have written to +express that, even in my own despair, I felt a gleam of pleasure at +learning her happy prospects, and at hearing that the good old Baron +has escaped the general wreck. Give this to my dearest Rose; it is her +poor Flora's only ornament of value, and was the gift of a princess.' +She put into his hands a case containing the chain of diamonds with +which she used to decorate her hair. 'To me it is in future useless. +The kindness of my friends has secured me a retreat in the convent of +the Scottish Benedictine nuns in Paris. Tomorrow--if indeed I can +survive tomorrow--I set forward on my journey with this venerable +sister. And now, Mr. Waverley, adieu! May you be as happy with Rose as +your amiable dispositions deserve; and think sometimes on the friends +you have lost. Do not attempt to see me again; it would be mistaken +kindness.' + +She gave him her hand, on which Edward shed a torrent of tears, and +with a faltering step withdrew from the apartment, and returned to the +town of Carlisle. At the inn he found a letter from his law friend +intimating that he would be admitted to Fergus next morning as soon as +the Castle gates were opened, and permitted to remain with him till the +arrival of the Sheriff gave signal for the fatal procession. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIX + + A darker departure is near, + The death drum is muffled, and sable the bier + + CAMPBELL + + +After a sleepless night, the first dawn of morning found Waverley on +the esplanade in front of the old Gothic gate of Carlisle Castle. But +he paced it long in every direction before the hour when, according to +the rules of the garrison, the gates were opened and the draw-bridge +lowered. He produced his order to the sergeant of the guard and was +admitted. + +The place of Fergus's confinement was a gloomy and vaulted apartment in +the central part of the Castle; a huge old tower, supposed to be of +great antiquity, and surrounded by outworks, seemingly of Henry VIII's +time, or somewhat later. The grating of the large old-fashioned bars +and bolts, withdrawn for the purpose of admitting Edward, was answered +by the clash of chains, as the unfortunate Chieftain, strongly and +heavily fettered, shuffled along the stone floor of his prison to fling +himself into his friend's arms. + +'My dear Edward,' he said, in a firm and even cheerful voice,'this is +truly kind. I heard of your approaching happiness with the highest +pleasure. And how does Rose? and how is our old whimsical friend the +Baron? Well, I trust, since I see you at freedom. And how will you +settle precedence between the three ermines passant and the bear and +boot-jack?' + +'How, O how, my dear Fergus, can you talk of such things at such a +moment!' + +'Why, we have entered Carlisle with happier auspices, to be sure; on +the 16th of November last, for example, when we marched in side by +side, and hoisted the white flag on these ancient towers. But I am no +boy, to sit down and weep because the luck has gone against me. I knew +the stake which I risked; we played the game boldly and the forfeit +shall be paid manfully. And now, since my time is short, let me come to +the questions that interest me most--the Prince? has he escaped the +bloodhounds?' + +'He has, and is in safety.' + +'Praised be God for that! Tell me the particulars of his escape.' + +Waverley communicated that remarkable history, so far as it had then +transpired, to which Fergus listened with deep interest. He then asked +after several other friends; and made many minute inquiries concerning +the fate of his own clansmen. They had suffered less than other tribes +who had been engaged in the affair; for, having in a great measure +dispersed and returned home after the captivity of their Chieftain, +according to the universal custom of the Highlanders, they were not in +arms when the insurrection was finally suppressed, and consequently +were treated with less rigour. This Fergus heard with great +satisfaction. + +'You are rich,' he said, 'Waverley, and you are generous. When you hear +of these poor Mac-Ivors being distressed about their miserable +possessions by some harsh overseer or agent of government, remember you +have worn their tartan and are an adopted son of their race, The Baron, +who knows our manners and lives near our country, will apprise you of +the time and means to be their protector. Will you promise this to the +last Vich Ian Vohr?' + +Edward, as may well be believed, pledged his word; which he afterwards +so amply redeemed that his memory still lives in these glens by the +name of the Friend of the Sons of Ivor. + +'Would to God,' continued the Chieftain, 'I could bequeath to you my +rights to the love and obedience of this primitive and brave race; or +at least, as I have striven to do, persuade poor Evan to accept of his +life upon their terms, and be to you what he has been to me, the +kindest, the bravest, the most devoted--' + +The tears which his own fate could not draw forth fell fast for that of +his foster-brother. + +'But,' said he, drying them,'that cannot be. You cannot be to them Vich +Ian Vohr; and these three magic words,' said he, half smiling, 'are the +only Open Sesame to their feelings and sympathies, and poor Evan must +attend his foster-brother in death, as he has done through his whole +life.' + +'And I am sure,' said Maccombich, raising himself from the floor, on +which, for fear of interrupting their conversation, he had lain so +still that, in the obscurity of the apartment, Edward was not aware of +his presence--'I am sure Evan never desired or deserved a better end +than just to die with his Chieftain.' + +'And now,' said Fergus, 'while we are upon the subject of +clanship--what think you now of the prediction of the Bodach Glas?' +Then, before Edward could answer, 'I saw him again last night: he stood +in the slip of moonshine which fell from that high and narrow window +towards my bed. "Why should I fear him?" I thought; "to-morrow, long +ere this time, I shall be as immaterial as he." "False spirit," I said, +"art thou come to close thy walks on earth and to enjoy thy triumph in +the fall of the last descendant of thine enemy?" The spectre seemed to +beckon and to smile as he faded from my sight. What do you think of it? +I asked the same question of the priest, who is a good and sensible +man; he admitted that the church allowed that such apparitions were +possible, but urged me not to permit my mind to dwell upon it, as +imagination plays us such strange tricks. What do you think of it?' + +'Much as your confessor,' said Waverley, willing to avoid dispute upon +such a point at such a moment. A tap at the door now announced that +good man, and Edward retired while he administered to both prisoners +the last rites of religion, in the mode which the Church of Rome +prescribes. + +In about an hour he was re-admitted; soon after, a file of soldiers +entered with a blacksmith, who struck the fetters from the legs of the +prisoners. + +'You see the compliment they pay to our Highland strength and courage; +we have lain chained here like wild beasts, till our legs are cramped +into palsy, and when they free us they send six soldiers with loaded +muskets to prevent our taking the castle by storm!' + +Edward afterwards learned that these severe precautions had been taken +in consequence of a desperate attempt of the prisoners to escape, in +which they had very nearly succeeded. + +Shortly afterwards the drums of the garrison beat to arms. 'This is the +last turn-out,' said Fergus, 'that I shall hear and obey. And now, my +dear, dear Edward, ere we part let us speak of Flora--a subject which +awakes the tenderest feeling that yet thrills within me' + +'We part not here!' said Waverley. + +'O yes, we do; you must come no farther. Not that I fear what is to +follow for myself,' he said proudly. 'Nature has her tortures as well +as art, and how happy should we think the man who escapes from the +throes of a mortal and painful disorder in the space of a short half +hour? And this matter, spin it out as they will, cannot last longer. +But what a dying man can suffer firmly may kill a living friend to look +upon. This same law of high treason,' he continued, with astonishing +firmness and composure, 'is one of the blessings, Edward, with which +your free country has accommodated poor old Scotland; her own +jurisprudence, as I have heard, was much milder. But I suppose one day +or other--when there are no longer any wild Highlanders to benefit by +its tender mercies--they will blot it from their records as levelling +them with a nation of cannibals. The mummery, too, of exposing the +senseless head--they have not the wit to grace mine with a paper +coronet; there would be some satire in that, Edward. I hope they will +set it on the Scotch gate though, that I may look, even after death, to +the blue hills of my own country, which I love so dearly. The Baron +would have added, + + Moritur, et moriens dukes reminiscitur Argos.' + +A bustle, and the sound of wheels and horses' feet, was now heard in +the court-yard of the Castle. 'As I have told you why you must not +follow me, and these sounds admonish me that my time flies fast, tell +me how you found poor Flora.' + +Waverley, with a voice interrupted by suffocating sensations, gave some +account of the state of her mind. + +'Poor Flora!' answered the Chief, 'she could have borne her own +sentence of death, but not mine. You, Waverley, will soon know the +happiness of mutual affection in the married state--long, long may Rose +and you enjoy it!--but you can never know the purity of feeling which +combines two orphans like Flora and me, left alone as it were in the +world, and being all in all to each other from our very infancy. But +her strong sense of duty and predominant feeling of loyalty will give +new nerve to her mind after the immediate and acute sensation of this +parting has passed away. She will then think of Fergus as of the heroes +of our race, upon whose deeds she loved to dwell.' + +'Shall she not see you then?' asked Waverley. 'She seemed to expect it.' + +'A necessary deceit will spare her the last dreadful parting. I could +not part with her without tears, and I cannot bear that these men +should think they have power to extort them. She was made to believe +she would see me at a later hour, and this letter, which my confessor +will deliver, will apprise her that all is over.' + +An officer now appeared and intimated that the High Sheriff and his +attendants waited before the gate of the Castle to claim the bodies of +Fergus Mac-Ivor and Evan Maccombich. 'I come,' said Fergus. +Accordingly, supporting Edward by the arm and followed by Evan Dhu and +the priest, he moved down the stairs of the tower, the soldiers +bringing up the rear. The court was occupied by a squadron of dragoons +and a battalion of infantry, drawn up in hollow square. Within their +ranks was the sledge or hurdle on which the prisoners were to be drawn +to the place of execution, about a mile distant from Carlisle. It was +painted black, and drawn by a white horse. At one end of the vehicle +sat the executioner, a horrid-looking fellow, as beseemed his trade, +with the broad axe in his hand; at the other end, next the horse, was +an empty seat for two persons. Through the deep and dark Gothic archway +that opened on the drawbridge were seen on horseback the High Sheriff +and his attendants, whom the etiquette betwixt the civil and military +powers did not permit to come farther. 'This is well GOT UP for a +closing scene,' said Fergus, smiling disdainfully as he gazed around +upon the apparatus of terror. Evan Dhu exclaimed with some eagerness, +after looking at the dragoons,' These are the very chields that +galloped off at Gladsmuir, before we could kill a dozen o' them. They +look bold enough now, however.' The priest entreated him to be silent. + +The sledge now approached, and Fergus, turning round, embraced +Waverley, kissed him on each side of the face, and stepped nimbly into +his place. Evan sat down by his side. The priest was to follow in a +carriage belonging to his patron, the Catholic gentleman at whose house +Flora resided. As Fergus waved his hand to Edward the ranks closed +around the sledge, and the whole procession began to move forward. +There was a momentary stop at the gateway, while the governor of the +Castle and the High Sheriff went through a short ceremony, the military +officer there delivering over the persons of the criminals to the civil +power. 'God save King George!' said the High Sheriff. When the +formality concluded, Fergus stood erect in the sledge, and, with a firm +and steady voice, replied,' God save King JAMES!' These were the last +words which Waverley heard him speak. + +The procession resumed its march, and the sledge vanished from beneath +the portal, under which it had stopped for an instant. The dead march +was then heard, and its melancholy sounds were mingled with those of a +muffled peal tolled from the neighbouring cathedral. The sound of +military music died away as the procession moved on; the sullen clang +of the bells was soon heard to sound alone. + +The last of the soldiers had now disappeared from under the vaulted +archway through which they had been filing for several minutes; the +court-yard was now totally empty, but Waverley still stood there as if +stupefied, his eyes fixed upon the dark pass where he had so lately +seen the last glimpse of his friend. At length a female servant of the +governor's, struck with compassion, at the stupefied misery which his +countenance expressed, asked him if he would not walk into her master's +house and sit down? She was obliged to repeat her question twice ere he +comprehended her, but at length it recalled him to himself. Declining +the courtesy by a hasty gesture, he pulled his hat over his eyes, and, +leaving the Castle, walked as swiftly as he could through the empty +streets till he regained his inn, then rushed into an apartment and +bolted the door. + +In about an hour and a half, which seemed an age of unutterable +suspense, the sound of the drums and fifes performing a lively air, and +the confused murmur of the crowd which now filled the streets, so +lately deserted, apprised him that all was finished, and that the +military and populace were returning from the dreadful scene. I will +not attempt to describe his sensations. + +In the evening the priest made him a visit, and informed him that he +did so by directions of his deceased friend, to assure him that Fergus +Mac-Ivor had died as he lived, and remembered his friendship to the +last. He added, he had also seen Flora, whose state of mind seemed more +composed since all was over. With her and sister Theresa the priest +proposed next day to leave Carlisle for the nearest seaport from which +they could embark for France. Waverley forced on this good man a ring +of some value and a sum of money to be employed (as he thought might +gratify Flora) in the services of the Catholic church for the memory of +his friend. 'Fun-garque inani munere,' he repeated, as the ecclesiastic +retired. 'Yet why not class these acts of remembrance with other +honours, with which affection in all sects pursues the memory of the +dead?' + +The next morning ere daylight he took leave of the town of Carlisle, +promising to himself never again to enter its walls. He dared hardly +look back towards the Gothic battlements of the fortified gate under +which he passed, for the place is surrounded with an old wall. 'They're +no there,' said Alick Polwarth, who guessed the cause of the dubious +look which Waverley cast backward, and who, with the vulgar appetite +for the horrible, was master of each detail of the butchery--'the heads +are ower the Scotch yate, as they ca' it. It's a great pity of Evan +Dhu, who was a very weel-meaning, good-natured man, to be a Hielandman; +and indeed so was the Laird o' Glennaquoich too, for that matter, when +he wasna in ane o' his tirrivies.' + + + + + +CHAPTER LXX + +DULCE DOMUM + + +The impression of horror with which Waverley left Carlisle softened by +degrees into melancholy, a gradation which was accelerated by the +painful yet soothing task of writing to Rose; and, while he could not +suppress his own feelings of the calamity, he endeavoured to place it +in a light which might grieve her without shocking her imagination. The +picture which he drew for her benefit he gradually familiarised to his +own mind, and his next letters were more cheerful, and referred to the +prospects of peace and happiness which lay before them. Yet, though his +first horrible sensations had sunk into melancholy, Edward had reached +his native country before he could, as usual on former occasions, look +round for enjoyment upon the face of nature. + +He then, for the first time since leaving Edinburgh, began to +experience that pleasure which almost all feel who return to a verdant, +populous, and highly cultivated country from scenes of waste desolation +or of solitary and melancholy grandeur. But how were those feelings +enhanced when he entered on the domain so long possessed by his +forefathers; recognised the old oaks of Waverley-Chace; thought with +what delight he should introduce Rose to all his favourite haunts; +beheld at length the towers of the venerable hall arise above the woods +which embowered it, and finally threw himself into the arms of the +venerable relations to whom he owed so much duty and affection! + +The happiness of their meeting was not tarnished by a single word of +reproach. On the contrary, whatever pain Sir Everard and Mrs. Rachel +had felt during Waverley's perilous engagement with the young +Chevalier, it assorted too well with the principles in which they had +been brought up to incur reprobation, or even censure. Colonel Talbot +also had smoothed the way with great address for Edward's favourable +reception by dwelling upon his gallant behaviour in the military +character, particularly his bravery and generosity at Preston; until, +warmed at the idea of their nephew's engaging in single combat, making +prisoner, and saving from slaughter so distinguished an officer as the +Colonel himself, the imagination of the Baronet and his sister ranked +the exploits of Edward with those of Wilibert, Hildebrand, and Nigel, +the vaunted heroes of their line. + +The appearance of Waverley, embrowned by exercise and dignified by the +habits of military discipline, had acquired an athletic and hardy +character, which not only verified the Colonel's narration, but +surprised and delighted all the inhabitants of Waverley-Honour. They +crowded to see, to hear him, and to sing his praises. Mr. Pembroke, who +secretly extolled his spirit and courage in embracing the genuine cause +of the Church of England, censured his pupil gently, nevertheless, for +being so careless of his manuscripts, which indeed, he said, had +occasioned him some personal inconvenience, as, upon the Baronet's +being arrested by a king's messenger, he had deemed it prudent to +retire to a concealment called 'The Priest's Hole,' from the use it had +been put to in former days; where, he assured our hero, the butler had +thought it safe to venture with food only once in the day, so that he +had been repeatedly compelled to dine upon victuals either absolutely +cold or, what was worse, only half warm, not to mention that sometimes +his bed had not been arranged for two days together. Waverley's mind +involuntarily turned to the Patmos of the Baron of Bradwardine, who was +well pleased with Janet's fare and a few bunches of straw stowed in a +cleft in the front of a sand-cliff; but he made no remarks upon a +contrast which could only mortify his worthy tutor. + +All was now in a bustle to prepare for the nuptials of Edward, an event +to which the good old Baronet and Mrs. Rachel looked forward as if to +the renewal of their own youth. The match, as Colonel Talbot had +intimated, had seemed to them in the highest degree eligible, having +every recommendation but wealth, of which they themselves had more than +enough. Mr. Clippurse was therefore summoned to Waverley-Honour, under +better auspices than at the commencement of our story. But Mr. +Clippurse came not alone; for, being now stricken in years, he had +associated with him a nephew, a younger vulture (as our English +Juvenal, who tells the tale of Swallow the attorney, might have called +him), and they now carried on business as Messrs. Clippurse and Hookem. +These worthy gentlemen had directions to make the necessary settlements +on the most splendid scale of liberality, as if Edward were to wed a +peeress in her own right, with her paternal estate tacked to the fringe +of her ermine. + +But before entering upon a subject of proverbial delay, I must remind +my reader of the progress of a stone rolled downhill by an idle truant +boy (a pastime at which I was myself expert in my more juvenile years), +it moves at first slowly, avoiding by inflection every obstacle of the +least importance; but when it has attained its full impulse, and draws +near the conclusion of its career, it smokes and thunders down, taking +a rood at every spring, clearing hedge and ditch like a Yorkshire +huntsman, and becoming most furiously rapid in its course when it is +nearest to being consigned to rest for ever. Even such is the course of +a narrative like that which you are perusing. The earlier events are +studiously dwelt upon, that you, kind reader, may be introduced to the +character rather by narrative than by the duller medium of direct +description; but when the story draws near its close, we hurry over the +circumstances, however important, which your imagination must have +forestalled, and leave you to suppose those things which it would be +abusing your patience to relate at length. + +We are, therefore, so far from attempting to trace the dull progress of +Messrs. Clippurse and Hookem, or that of their worthy official brethren +who had the charge of suing out the pardons of Edward Waverley and his +intended father-in-law, that we can but touch upon matters more +attractive. The mutual epistles, for example, which were exchanged +between Sir Everard and the Baron upon this occasion, though matchless +specimens of eloquence in their way, must be consigned to merciless +oblivion. Nor can I tell you at length how worthy Aunt Rachel, not +without a delicate and affectionate allusion to the circumstances which +had transferred Rose's maternal diamonds to the hands of Donald Bean +Lean, stocked her casket with a set of jewels that a duchess might have +envied. Moreover, the reader will have the goodness to imagine that Job +Houghton and his dame were suitably provided for, although they could +never be persuaded that their son fell otherwise than fighting by the +young squire's side; so that Alick, who, as a lover of truth, had made +many needless attempts to expound the real circumstances to them, was +finally ordered to say not a word more upon the subject. He indemnified +himself, however, by the liberal allowance of desperate battles, grisly +executions, and raw-head and bloody-bone stories with which he +astonished the servants' hall. + +But although these important matters may be briefly told in narrative, +like a newspaper report of a Chancery suit, yet, with all the urgency +which Waverley could use, the real time which the law proceedings +occupied, joined to the delay occasioned by the mode of travelling at +that period, rendered it considerably more than two months ere +Waverley, having left England, alighted once more at the mansion of the +Laird of Duchran to claim the hand of his plighted bride. + +The day of his marriage was fixed for the sixth after his arrival. The +Baron of Bradwardine, with whom bridals, christenings, and funerals +were festivals of high and solemn import, felt a little hurt that, +including the family of the Duchran and all the immediate vicinity who +had title to be present on such an occasion, there could not be above +thirty persons collected. 'When he was married,' he observed,'three +hundred horse of gentlemen born, besides servants, and some score or +two of Highland lairds, who never got on horseback, were present on the +occasion.' + +But his pride found some consolation in reflecting that, he and his +son-in-law having been so lately in arms against government, it might +give matter of reasonable fear and offence to the ruling powers if they +were to collect together the kith, kin, and allies of their houses, +arrayed in effeir of war, as was the ancient custom of Scotland on +these occasions--'And, without dubitation,' he concluded with a sigh, +'many of those who would have rejoiced most freely upon these joyful +espousals are either gone to a better place or are now exiles from +their native land.' + +The marriage took place on the appointed day. The Reverend Mr. Rubrick, +kinsman to the proprietor of the hospitable mansion where it was +solemnised, and chaplain to the Baron of Bradwardine, had the +satisfaction to unite their hands; and Frank Stanley acted as +bridesman, having joined Edward with that view soon after his arrival. +Lady Emily and Colonel Talbot had proposed being present; but Lady +Emily's health, when the day approached, was found inadequate to the +journey. In amends it was arranged that Edward Waverley and his lady, +who, with the Baron, proposed an immediate journey to Waverley-Honour, +should in their way spend a few days at an estate which Colonel Talbot +had been tempted to purchase in Scotland as a very great bargain, and +at which he proposed to reside for some time. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXI + + This is no mine ain house, I ken by the bigging o't + + Old Song. + + +The nuptial party travelled in great style. There was a coach and six +after the newest pattern, which Sir Everard had presented to his +nephew, that dazzled with its splendour the eyes of one half of +Scotland; there was the family coach of Mr. Rubrick;--both these were +crowded with ladies,--and there were gentlemen on horseback, with their +servants, to the number of a round score. Nevertheless, without having +the fear of famine before his eyes, Bailie Macwheeble met them in the +road to entreat that they would pass by his house at Little Veolan. The +Baron stared, and said his son and he would certainly ride by Little +Veolan and pay their compliments to the Bailie, but could not think of +bringing with them the 'haill comitatus nuptialis, or matrimonial +procession.' He added, 'that, as he understood that the barony had been +sold by its unworthy possessor, he was glad to see his old friend +Duncan had regained his situation under the new Dominus, or +proprietor.' The Bailie ducked, bowed, and fidgeted, and then again +insisted upon his invitation; until the Baron, though rather piqued at +the pertinacity of his instances, could not nevertheless refuse to +consent without making evident sensations which he was anxious to +conceal. + +He fell into a deep study as they approached the top of the avenue, and +was only startled from it by observing that the battlements were +replaced, the ruins cleared away, and (most wonderful of all) that the +two great stone bears, those mutilated Dagons of his idolatry, had +resumed their posts over the gateway. 'Now this new proprietor,' said +he to Edward, 'has shown mair gusto, as the Italians call it, in the +short time he has had this domain, than that hound Malcolm, though I +bred him here mysell, has acquired vita adhuc durante. And now I talk +of hounds, is not yon Ban and Buscar who come scouping up the avenue +with Davie Gellatley?' + +'I vote we should go to meet them, sir,' said Waverley, 'for I believe +the present master of the house is Colonel Talbot, who will expect to +see us. We hesitated to mention to you at first that he had purchased +your ancient patrimonial property, and even yet, if you do not incline +to visit him, we can pass on to the Bailie's.' + +The Baron had occasion for all his magnanimity. However, he drew a long +breath, took a long snuff, and observed, since they had brought him so +far, he could not pass the Colonel's gate, and he would be happy to see +the new master of his old tenants. He alighted accordingly, as did the +other gentlemen and ladies; he gave his arm to his daughter, and as +they descended the avenue pointed out to her how speedily the 'Diva +Pecunia of the Southron--their tutelary deity, he might call her--had +removed the marks of spoliation.' + +In truth, not only had the felled trees been removed, but, their stumps +being grubbed up and the earth round them levelled and sown with grass, +every mark of devastation, unless to an eye intimately acquainted with +the spot, was already totally obliterated. There was a similar +reformation in the outward man of Davie Gellatley, who met them, every +now and then stopping to admire the new suit which graced his person, +in the same colours as formerly, but bedizened fine enough to have +served Touchstone himself. He danced up with his usual ungainly +frolics, first to the Baron and then to Rose, passing his hands over +his clothes, crying, 'Bra', bra' Davie,' and scarce able to sing a bar +to an end of his thousand-and-one songs for the breathless extravagance +of his joy. The dogs also acknowledged their old master with a thousand +gambols. 'Upon my conscience, Rose,' ejaculated the Baron, 'the +gratitude o' thae dumb brutes and of that puir innocent brings the +tears into my auld een, while that schellum Malcolm--but I'm obliged to +Colonel Talbot for putting my hounds into such good condition, and +likewise for puir Davie. But, Rose, my dear, we must not permit them to +be a life-rent burden upon the estate.' + +As he spoke, Lady Emily, leaning upon the arm of her husband, met the +party at the lower gate with a thousand welcomes. After the ceremony of +introduction had been gone through, much abridged by the ease and +excellent breeding of Lady Emily, she apologised for having used a +little art to wile them back to a place which might awaken some painful +reflections--'But as it was to change masters, we were very desirous +that the Baron--' + +'Mr. Bradwardine, madam, if you please,' said the old gentleman. + +'--Mr. Bradwardine, then, and Mr. Waverley should see what we have done +towards restoring the mansion of your fathers to its former state.' + +The Baron answered with a low bow. Indeed, when he entered the court, +excepting that the heavy stables, which had been burnt down, were +replaced by buildings of a lighter and more picturesque appearance, all +seemed as much as possible restored to the state in which he had left +it when he assumed arms some months before. The pigeon-house was +replenished; the fountain played with its usual activity, and not only +the bear who predominated over its basin, but all the other bears +whatsoever, were replaced on their several stations, and renewed or +repaired with so much care that they bore no tokens of the violence +which had so lately descended upon them. While these minutiae had been +so needfully attended to, it is scarce necessary to add that the house +itself had been thoroughly repaired, as well as the gardens, with the +strictest attention to maintain the original character of both, and to +remove as far as possible all appearance of the ravage they had +sustained. The Baron gazed in silent wonder; at length he addressed +Colonel Talbot-- + +'While I acknowledge my obligation to you, sir, for the restoration of +the badge of our family, I cannot but marvel that you have nowhere +established your own crest, whilk is, I believe, a mastiff, anciently +called a talbot; as the poet has it, + + A talbot strong, a sturdy tyke. + +At least such a dog is the crest of the martial and renowned Earls of +Shrewsbury, to whom your family are probably blood-relations.' + +'I believe,' said the Colonel, smiling, 'our dogs are whelps of the +same litter; for my part, if crests were to dispute precedence, I +should be apt to let them, as the proverb says, "fight dog, fight +bear."' + +As he made this speech, at which the Baron took another long pinch of +snuff, they had entered the house, that is, the Baron, Rose, and Lady +Emily, with young Stanley and the Bailie, for Edward and the rest of +the party remained on the terrace to examine a new greenhouse stocked +with the finest plants. The Baron resumed his favourite topic--'However +it may please you to derogate from the honour of your burgonet, Colonel +Talbot, which is doubtless your humour, as I have seen in other +gentlemen of birth and honour in your country, I must again repeat it +as a most ancient and distinguished bearing, as well as that of my +young friend Francis Stanley, which is the eagle and child.' + +'The bird and bantling they call it in Derbyshire, sir,' said Stanley. + +'Ye're a daft callant, sir,' said the Baron, who had a great liking to +this young man, perhaps because he sometimes teased him--'Ye're a daft +callant, and I must correct you some of these days,' shaking his great +brown fist at him. 'But what I meant to say, Colonel Talbot, is, that +yours is an ancient prosapia, or descent, and since you have lawfully +and justly acquired the estate for you and yours which I have lost for +me and mine, I wish it may remain in your name as many centuries as it +has done in that of the late proprietor's.' + +'That,' answered the Colonel, 'is very handsome, Mr. Bradwardine, +indeed.' + +'And yet, sir, I cannot but marvel that you, Colonel, whom I noted to +have so much of the amor patritz when we met in Edinburgh as even to +vilipend other countries, should have chosen to establish your Lares, +or household gods, procul a patrice finibus, and in a manner to +expatriate yourself.' + +'Why really, Baron, I do not see why, to keep the secret of these +foolish boys, Waverley and Stanley, and of my wife, who is no wiser, +one old soldier should continue to impose upon another. You must know, +then, that I have so much of that same prejudice in favour of my native +country, that the sum of money which I advanced to the seller of this +extensive barony has only purchased for me a box in ----shire, called +Brere-wood Lodge, with about two hundred and fifty acres of land, the +chief merit of which is, that it is within a very few miles of +Waverley-Honour.' + +'And who, then, in the name of Heaven, has bought this property?' + +'That,' said the Colonel, 'it is this gentleman's profession to +explain.' + +The Bailie, whom this reference regarded, and who had all this while +shifted from one foot to another with great impatience, 'like a hen,' +as he afterwards said, 'upon a het girdle'; and chuckling, he might +have added, like the said hen in all the glory of laying an egg, now +pushed forward. 'That I can, that I can, your honour,' drawing from his +pocket a budget of papers, and untying the red tape with a hand +trembling with eagerness. 'Here is the disposition and assignation by +Malcolm Bradwardine of Inch-Grabbit, regularly signed and tested in +terms of the statute, whereby, for a certain sum of sterling money +presently contented and paid to him, he has disponed, alienated, and +conveyed the whole estate and barony of Bradwardine, Tully-Veolan, and +others, with the fortalice and manor-place--' + +'For God's sake, to the point, sir; I have all that by heart,' said the +Colonel. + +'--To Cosmo Comyne Bradwardme, Esq.,' pursued the Bailie, 'his heirs +and assignees, simply and irredeemably, to be held either a me vel de +me--' + +'Pray read short, sir.' + +'On the conscience of an honest man, Colonel, I read as short as is +consistent with style--under the burden and reservation always--' + +'Mr. Macwheeble, this would outlast a Russian winter; give me leave. In +short, Mr. Bradwardine, your family estate is your own once more in +full property, and at your absolute disposal, but only burdened with +the sum advanced to re-purchase it, which I understand is utterly +disproportioned to its value.' + +'An auld sang--an auld sang, if it please your honours,' cried the +Bailie, rubbing his hands; 'look at the rental book.' + +'--Which sum being advanced, by Mr. Edward Waverley, chiefly from the +price of his father's property which I bought from him, is secured to +his lady your daughter and her family by this marriage.' + +'It is a catholic security,' shouted the Bailie,' to Rose Comyne +Bradwardine, alias Wauverley, in life-rent, and the children of the +said marriage in fee; and I made up a wee bit minute of an antenuptial +contract, intuitu matrimonij, so it cannot be subject to reduction +hereafter, as a donation inter virum et uxorem.' + +It is difficult to say whether the worthy Baron was most delighted with +the restitution of his family property or with the delicacy and +generosity that left him unfettered to pursue his purpose in disposing +of it after his death, and which avoided as much as possible even the +appearance of laying him under pecuniary obligation. When his first +pause of joy and astonishment was over, his thoughts turned to the +unworthy heir-male, who, he pronounced, had sold his birthright, like +Esau, for a mess o' pottage. + +'But wha cookit the parritch for him?' exclaimed the Bailie; 'I wad +like to ken that;--wha but your honour's to command, Duncan Macwheeble? +His honour, young Mr. Wauverley, put it a' into my hand frae the +beginning--frae the first calling o' the summons, as I may say. I +circumvented them--I played at bogle about the bush wi' them--I +cajolled them; and if I havena gien Inch-Grabbit and Jamie Howie a +bonnie begunk, they ken themselves. Him a writer! I didna gae slapdash +to them wi' our young bra' bridegroom, to gar them baud up the market. +Na, na; I scared them wi' our wild tenantry, and the Mac-Ivors, that +are but ill settled yet, till they durstna on ony errand whatsoever +gang ower the doorstane after gloaming, for fear John Heatherblutter, +or some siccan dare-the-deil, should tak a baff at them; then, on the +other hand, I beflummed them wi' Colonel Talbot; wad they offer to keep +up the price again' the Duke's friend? did they na ken wha was master? +had they na seen eneugh, by the sad example of mony a puir misguided +unhappy body--' + +'Who went to Derby, for example, Mr. Macwheeble?' said the Colonel to +him aside. + +'O whisht, Colonel, for the love o' God! let that flee stick i' the +wa'. There were mony good folk at Derby; and it's ill speaking of +halters'--with a sly cast of his eye toward the Baron, who was in a +deep reverie. + +Starting out of it at once, he took Macwheeble by the button and led +him into one of the deep window recesses, whence only fragments of +their conversation reached the rest of the party. It certainly related +to stamp-paper and parchment; for no other subject, even from the mouth +of his patron, and he once more an efficient one, could have arrested +so deeply the Bailie's reverent and absorbed attention. + +'I understand your honour perfectly; it can be dune as easy as taking +out a decreet in absence.' + +'To her and him, after my demise, and to their heirs-male, but +preferring the second son, if God shall bless them with two, who is to +carry the name and arms of Bradwardine of that ilk, without any other +name or armorial bearings whatsoever.' + +'Tut, your honour!' whispered the Bailie, 'I'll mak a slight jotting +the morn; it will cost but a charter of resignation in favorem; and +I'll hae it ready for the next term in Exchequer.' + +Their private conversation ended, the Baron was now summoned to do the +honours of Tully-Veolan to new guests. These were Major Melville of +Cairnvreckan and the Reverend Mr. Morton, followed by two or three +others of the Baron's acquaintances, who had been made privy to his +having again acquired the estate of his fathers. The shouts of the +villagers were also heard beneath in the court-yard; for Saunders +Saunderson, who had kept the secret for several days with laudable +prudence, had unloosed his tongue upon beholding the arrival of the +carriages. + +But, while Edward received Major Melville with politeness and the +clergyman with the most affectionate and grateful kindness, his +father-in-law looked a little awkward, as uncertain how he should +answer the necessary claims of hospitality to his guests, and forward +the festivity of his tenants. Lady Emily relieved him by intimating +that, though she must be an indifferent representative of Mrs. Edward +Waverley in many respects, she hoped the Baron would approve of the +entertainment she had ordered in expectation of so many guests; and +that they would find such other accommodations provided as might in +some degree support the ancient hospitality of Tully-Veolan. It is +impossible to describe the pleasure which this assurance gave the +Baron, who, with an air of gallantry half appertaining to the stiff +Scottish laird and half to the officer in the French service, offered +his arm to the fair speaker, and led the way, in something between a +stride and a minuet step, into the large dining parlour, followed by +all the rest of the good company. + +By dint of Saunderson's directions and exertions, all here, as well as +in the other apartments, had been disposed as much as possible +according to the old arrangement; and where new movables had been +necessary, they had been selected in the same character with the old +furniture. There was one addition to this fine old apartment, however, +which drew tears into the Baron's eyes. It was a large and spirited +painting, representing Fergus Mac-Ivor and Waverley in their Highland +dress, the scene a wild, rocky, and mountainous pass, down which the +clan were descending in the background. It was taken from a spirited +sketch, drawn while they were in Edinburgh by a young man of high +genius, and had been painted on a full-length scale by an eminent +London artist. Raeburn himself (whose 'Highland Chiefs' do all but walk +out of the canvas) could not have done more justice to the subject; and +the ardent, fiery, and impetuous character of the unfortunate Chief of +Glennaquoich was finely contrasted with the contemplative, fanciful, +and enthusiastic expression of his happier friend. Beside this painting +hung the arms which Waverley had borne in the unfortunate civil war. +The whole piece was beheld with admiration and deeper feelings. + +Men must, however, eat, in spite both of sentiment and vertu; and the +Baron, while he assumed the lower end of the table, insisted that Lady +Emily should do the honours of the head, that they might, he said, set +a meet example to the YOUNG FOLK. After a pause of deliberation, +employed in adjusting in his own brain the precedence between the +Presbyterian kirk and Episcopal church of Scotland, he requested Mr. +Morton, as the stranger, would crave a blessing, observing that Mr. +Rubrick, who was at HOME, would return thanks for the distinguished +mercies it had been his lot to experience. The dinner was excellent. +Saunderson attended in full costume, with all the former domestics, who +had been collected, excepting one or two, that had not been heard of +since the affair of Culloden. The cellars were stocked with wine which +was pronounced to be superb, and it had been contrived that the Bear of +the Fountain, in the courtyard, should (for that night only) play +excellent brandy punch for the benefit of the lower orders. + +When the dinner was over the Baron, about to propose a toast, cast a +somewhat sorrowful look upon the sideboard, which, however, exhibited +much of his plate, that had either been secreted or purchased by +neighbouring gentlemen from the soldiery, and by them gladly restored +to the original owner. + +"In the late times," he said, "those must be thankful who have saved +life and land; yet when I am about to pronounce this toast, I cannot +but regret an old heirloom, Lady Emily, a POCULUM POTATORIUM, Colonel +Talbot--" + +Here the Baron's elbow was gently touched by his major-domo, and, +turning round, he beheld in the hands of Alexander ab Alexandro the +celebrated cup of Saint Duthac, the Blessed Bear of Bradwardine! I +question if the recovery of his estate afforded him more rapture. "By +my honour," he said, "one might almost believe in brownies and fairies, +Lady Emily, when your ladyship is in presence!" + +"I am truly happy," said Colonel Talbot, "that, by the recovery of this +piece of family antiquity, it has fallen within my power to give you +some token of my deep interest in all that concerns my young friend +Edward. But that you may not suspect Lady Emily for a sorceress, or me +for a conjuror, which is no joke in Scotland, I must tell you that +Frank Stanley, your friend, who has been seized with a tartan fever +ever since he heard Edward's tales of old Scottish manners, happened to +describe to us at second-hand this remarkable cup. My servant, +Spontoon, who, like a true old soldier, observes everything and says +little, gave me afterwards to understand that he thought he had seen +the piece of plate Mr. Stanley mentioned in the possession of a certain +Mrs. Nosebag, who, having been originally the helpmate of a pawnbroker, +had found opportunity during the late unpleasant scenes in Scotland to +trade a little in her old line, and so became the depositary of the +more valuable part of the spoil of half the army. You may believe the +cup was speedily recovered; and it will give me very great pleasure if +you allow me to suppose that its value is not diminished by having been +restored through my means." + +A tear mingled with the wine which the Baron filled, as he proposed a +cup of gratitude to Colonel Talbot, and 'The Prosperity of the united +Houses of Waverley-Honour and Bradwardine!' + +It only remains for me to say that, as no wish was ever uttered with +more affectionate sincerity, there are few which, allowing for the +necessary mutability of human events, have been upon the whole more +happily fulfilled. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXII + +A POSTSCRIPT WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PREFACE + + +Our journey is now finished, gentle reader; and if your patience has +accompanied me through these sheets, the contract is, on your part, +strictly fulfilled. Yet, like the driver who has received his full +hire, I still linger near you, and make, with becoming diffidence, a +trifling additional claim upon your bounty and good nature. You are as +free, however, to shut the volume of the one petitioner as to close +your door in the face of the other. + +This should have been a prefatory chapter, but for two reasons: First, +that most novel readers, as my own conscience reminds me, are apt to be +guilty of the sin of omission respecting that same matter of prefaces; +Secondly, that it is a general custom with that class of students to +begin with the last chapter of a work; so that, after all, these +remarks, being introduced last in order, have still the best chance to +be read in their proper place. + +There is no European nation which, within the course of half a century +or little more, has undergone so complete a change as this kingdom of +Scotland. The effects of the insurrection of 1745,--the destruction of +the patriarchal power of the Highland chiefs,--the abolition of the +heritable jurisdictions of the Lowland nobility and barons,--the total +eradication of the Jacobite party, which, averse to intermingle with +the English, or adopt their customs, long continued to pride themselves +upon maintaining ancient Scottish manners and customs,--commenced this +innovation. The gradual influx of wealth and extension of commerce have +since united to render the present people of Scotland a class of beings +as different from their grandfathers as the existing English are from +those of Queen Elizabeth's time. + +The political and economical effects of these changes have been traced +by Lord Selkirk with great precision and accuracy. But the change, +though steadily and rapidly progressive, has nevertheless been gradual; +and, like those who drift down the stream of a deep and smooth river, +we are not aware of the progress we have made until we fix our eye on +the now distant point from which we have been drifted. Such of the +present generation as can recollect the last twenty or twenty-five +years of the eighteenth century will be fully sensible of the truth of +this statement; especially if their acquaintance and connexions lay +among those who in my younger time were facetiously called 'folks of +the old leaven,' who still cherished a lingering, though hopeless, +attachment to the house of Stuart. + +This race has now almost entirely vanished from the land, and with it, +doubtless, much absurd political prejudice; but also many living +examples of singular and disinterested attachment to the principles of +loyalty which they received from their fathers, and of old Scottish +faith, hospitality, worth, and honour. + +It was my accidental lot, though not born a Highlander (which may be an +apology for much bad Gaelic), to reside during my childhood and youth +among persons of the above description; and now, for the purpose of +preserving some idea of the ancient manners of which I have witnessed +the almost total extinction, I have embodied in imaginary scenes, and +ascribed to fictitious characters, a part of the incidents which I then +received from those who were actors in them. Indeed, the most romantic +parts of this narrative are precisely those which have a foundation in +fact. + +The exchange of mutual protection between a Highland gentleman and an +officer of rank in the king's service, together with the spirited +manner in which the latter asserted his right to return the favour he +had received, is literally true. The accident by a musket shot, and the +heroic reply imputed to Flora, relate to a lady of rank not long +deceased. And scarce a gentleman who was 'in hiding' after the battle +of Culloden but could tell a tale of strange concealments and of wild +and hair'sbreadth'scapes as extraordinary as any which I have ascribed +to my heroes. Of this, the escape of Charles Edward himself, as the +most prominent, is the most striking example. The accounts of the +battle of Preston and skirmish at Clifton are taken from the narrative +of intelligent eye-witnesses, and corrected from the 'History of the +Rebellion' by the late venerable author of 'Douglas.' The Lowland +Scottish gentlemen and the subordinate characters are not given as +individual portraits, but are drawn from the general habits of the +period, of which I have witnessed some remnants in my younger days, and +partly gathered from tradition. + +It has been my object to describe these persons, not by a caricatured +and exaggerated use of the national dialect, but by their habits, +manners, and feelings, so as in some distant degree to emulate the +admirable Irish portraits drawn by Miss Edgeworth, so different from +the 'Teagues' and 'dear joys' who so long, with the most perfect family +resemblance to each other, occupied the drama and the novel. + +I feel no confidence, however, in the manner in which I have executed +my purpose. Indeed, so little was I satisfied with my production, that +I laid it aside in an unfinished state, and only found it again by mere +accident among other waste papers in an old cabinet, the drawers of +which I was rummaging in order to accommodate a friend with some +fishing-tackle, after it had been mislaid for several years. + +Two works upon similar subjects, by female authors whose genius is +highly creditable to their country, have appeared in the interval; I +mean Mrs. Hamilton's 'Glenburnie' and the late account of 'Highland +Superstitions.' But the first is confined to the rural habits of +Scotland, of which it has given a picture with striking and impressive +fidelity; and the traditional records of the respectable and ingenious +Mrs. Grant of Laggan are of a nature distinct from the fictitious +narrative which I have here attempted. + +I would willingly persuade myself that the preceding work will not be +found altogether uninteresting. To elder persons it will recall scenes +and characters familiar to their youth; and to the rising generation +the tale may present some idea of the manners of their forefathers. + +Yet I heartily wish that the task of tracing the evanescent manners of +his own country had employed the pen of the only man in Scotland who +could have done it justice--of him so eminently distinguished in +elegant literature, and whose sketches of Colonel Caustic and +Umphraville are perfectly blended with the finer traits of national +character. I should in that case have had more pleasure as a reader +than I shall ever feel in the pride of a successful author, should +these sheets confer upon me that envied distinction. And, as I have +inverted the usual arrangement, placing these remarks at the end of the +work to which they refer, I will venture on a second violation of form, +by closing the whole with a Dedication-- + +THESE VOLUMES BEING RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO OUR SCOTTISH ADDISON, +HENRY MACKENZIE, BY AN UNKNOWN ADMIRER OF HIS GENIUS. + + + + + +THE END + + + + + +NOTES + + +NOTE I, p. 19 + +The clan of Mac-Farlane, occupying the fastnesses of the western side +of Loch Lomond, were great depredators on the Low Country, and as their +excursions were made usually by night, the moon was proverbially called +their lantern. Their celebrated pibroch of Hoggil nam Bo, which is the +name of their gathering tune, intimates similar practices, the sense +being:-- + + We are bound to drive the bullocks, + All by hollows, hirsts, and hillocks, + Through the sleet, and through the rain. + When the moon is beaming low + On frozen lake and hills of snow, + Bold and heartily we go; + And all for little gain. + +NOTE 2, p. 22 + +This noble ruin is dear to my recollection, from associations which +have been long and painfully broken. It holds a commanding station on +the banks of the river Teith, and has been one of the largest castles +in Scotland. Murdoch, Duke of Albany, the founder of this stately pile, +was beheaded on the Castle-hill of Stirling, from which he might see +the towers of Doune, the monument of his fallen greatness. + +In 1745-46, as stated in the text, a garrison on the part of the +Chevalier was put into the castle, then less ruinous than at present. +It was commanded by Mr. Stewart of Balloch, as governor for Prince +Charles; he was a man of property near Callander. This castle became at +that time the actual scene of a romantic escape made by John Home, the +author of Douglas, and some other prisoners, who, having been taken at +the battle of Falkirk, were confined there by the insurgents. The poet, +who had in his own mind a large stock of that romantic and enthusiastic +spirit of adventure which he has described as animating the youthful +hero of his drama, devised and undertook the perilous enterprise of +escaping from his prison. He inspired his companions with his +sentiments, and when every attempt at open force was deemed hopeless, +they resolved to twist their bed-clothes into ropes and thus to +descend. Four persons, with Home himself, reached the ground in safety. +But the rope broke with the fifth, who was a tall, lusty man. The sixth +was Thomas Barrow, a brave young Englishman, a particular friend of +Home's. Determined to take the risk, even in such unfavourable +circumstances, Barrow committed himself to the broken rope, slid down +on it as far as it could assist him, and then let himself drop. His +friends beneath succeeded in breaking his fall. Nevertheless, he +dislocated his ankle and had several of his ribs broken. His +companions, however, were able to bear him off in safety. + +The Highlanders next morning sought for their prisoners with great +activity. An old gentleman told the author he remembered seeing the +commandant Stewart + + Bloody with spurring, fiery red with haste, + +riding furiously through the country in quest of the fugitives. + +NOTE 3, p. 28 + +To go out, or to have been out, in Scotland was a conventional phrase +similar to that of the Irish respecting a man having been up, both +having reference to an individual who had been engaged in insurrection. +It was accounted ill-breeding in Scotland about forty years since to +use the phrase rebellion or rebel, which might be interpreted by some +of the parties present as a personal insult. It was also esteemed more +polite, even for stanch Whigs, to denominate Charles Edward the +Chevalier than to speak of him as the Pretender; and this kind of +accommodating courtesy was usually observed in society where +individuals of each party mixed on friendly terms. + +NOTE 4, p. 38 + +The Jacobite sentiments were general among the western counties and in +Wales. But although the great families of the Wynnes, the Wyndhams, and +others had come under an actual obligation to join Prince Charles if he +should land, they had done so under the express stipulation that he +should be assisted by an auxiliary army of French, without which they +foresaw the enterprise would be desperate. Wishing well to his cause, +therefore, and watching an opportunity to join him, they did not, +nevertheless, think themselves bound in honour to do so, as he was only +supported by a body of wild mountaineers, speaking an uncouth dialect, +and wearing a singular dress. The race up to Derby struck them with +more dread than admiration. But it is difficult to say what the effect +might have been had either the battle of Preston or Falkirk been fought +and won during the advance into England. + +NOTE 5, p. 43 + +Divisions early showed themselves in the Chevalier's little army, not +only amongst the independent chieftains, who were far too proud to +brook subjection to each other, but betwixt the Scotch and Charles's +governor O'Sullivan, an Irishman by birth, who, with some of his +countrymen bred in the Irish Brigade in the service of the King of +France, had an influence with the Adventurer much resented by the +Highlanders, who were sensible that their own clans made the chief or +rather the only strength of his enterprise. There was a feud, also, +between Lord George Murray and John Murray of Broughton, the Prince's +secretary, whose disunion greatly embarrassed the affairs of the +Adventurer. In general, a thousand different pretensions divided their +little army, and finally contributed in no small degree to its +overthrow. + +NOTE 6, p. 78 + +This circumstance, which is historical, as well as the description that +precedes it, will remind the reader of the war of La Vendee, in which +the royalists, consisting chiefly of insurgent peasantry, attached a +prodigious and even superstitious interest to the possession of a piece +of brass ordnance, which they called Marie Jeanne. + +The Highlanders of an early period were afraid of cannon, with the +noise and effect of which they were totally unacquainted. It was by +means of three or four small pieces of artillery that the Earls of +Huntly and Errol, in James VI's time, gained a great victory at +Glenlivat, over a numerous Highland army, commanded by the Earl of +Argyle. At the battle of the Bridge of Dee, General Middleton obtained +by his artillery a similar success, the Highlanders not being able to +stand the discharge of Musket's Mother, which was the name they +bestowed on great guns. In an old ballad on the battle of the Bridge of +Dee these verses occur:-- + + The Highlandmen are pretty men + For handling sword and shield, + But yet they are but simple men + To stand a stricken field. + + The Highlandmen are pretty men + For target and claymore, + But yet they are but naked men + To face the cannon's roar. + + For the cannons roar on a summer night + Like thunder in the air; + Was never man in Highland garb + Would face the cannon fair + +But the Highlanders of 1745 had got far beyond the simplicity of their +forefathers, and showed throughout the whole war how little they +dreaded artillery, although the common people still attached some +consequence to the possession of the field-piece which led to this +disquisition. + +NOTE 7, p. 93 + +The faithful friend who pointed out the pass by which the Highlanders +moved from Tranent to Seaton was Robert Anderson, junior, of Whitburgh, +a gentleman of property in East Lothian. He had been interrogated by +the Lord George Murray concerning the possibility of crossing the +uncouth and marshy piece of ground which divided the armies, and which +he described as impracticable. When dismissed, he recollected that +there was a circuitous path leading eastward through the marsh into the +plain, by which the Highlanders might turn the flank of Sir John Cope's +position without being exposed to the enemy's fire. Having mentioned +his opinion to Mr. Hepburn of Keith, who instantly saw its importance, +he was encouraged by that gentleman to awake Lord George Murray and +communicate the idea to him. Lord George received the information with +grateful thanks, and instantly awakened Prince Charles, who was +sleeping in the field with a bunch of pease under his head. The +Adventurer received with alacrity the news that there was a possibility +of bringing an excellently provided army to a decisive battle with his +own irregular forces. His joy on the occasion was not very consistent +with the charge of cowardice brought against him by Chevalier +Johnstone, a discontented follower, whose Memoirs possess at least as +much of a romantic as a historical character. Even by the account of +the Chevalier himself, the Prince was at the head of the second line of +the Highland army during the battle, of which he says, 'It was gained +with such rapidity that in the second line, where I was still by the +side of the Prince, we saw no other enemy than those who were lying on +the ground killed and wounded, though we were not more than fifty paces +behind our first line, running always as fast as we could to overtake +them.' + +This passage in the Chevalier's Memoirs places the Prince within fifty +paces of the heat of the battle, a position which would never have been +the choice of one unwilling to take a share of its dangers. Indeed, +unless the chiefs had complied with the young Adventurer's proposal to +lead the van in person, it does not appear that he could have been +deeper in the action. + +NOTE 8, p. 100 + +The death of this good Christian and gallant man is thus given by his +affectionate biographer, Doctor Doddridge, from the evidence of +eye-witnesses:-- + +'He continued all night under arms, wrapped up in his cloak, and +generally sheltered under a rick of barley which happened to be in the +field. About three in the morning he called his domestic servants to +him, of which there were four in waiting. He dismissed three of them +with most affectionate Christian advice, and such solemn charges +relating to the performance of their duty, and the care of their souls, +as seemed plainly to intimate that he apprehended it was at least very +probable he was taking his last farewell of them. There is great reason +to believe that he spent the little remainder of the time, which could +not be much above an hour, in those devout exercises of soul which had +been so long habitual to him, and to which so many circumstances did +then concur to call him. The army was alarmed by break of day by the +noise of the rebels' approach, and the attack was made before sunrise, +yet when it was light enough to discern what passed. As soon as the +enemy came within gun-shot they made a furious fire; and it is said +that the dragoons which constituted the left wing immediately fled. The +Colonel at the beginning of the onset, which in the whole lasted but a +few minutes, received a wound by a bullet in his left breast, which +made him give a sudden spring in his saddle; upon which his servant, +who led the horse, would have persuaded him to retreat, but he said it +was only a wound in the flesh, and fought on, though he presently after +received a shot in his right thigh. In the mean time, it was discerned +that some of the enemy fell by him, and particularly one man who had +made him a treacherous visit but a few days before, with great +professions of zeal for the present establishment. + +'Events of this kind pass in less time than the description of them can +be written, or than it can be read. The Colonel was for a few moments +supported by his men, and particularly by that worthy person +Lieutenant-Colonel Whitney, who was shot through the arm here, and a +few months after fell nobly at the battle of Falkirk, and by Lieutenant +West, a man of distinguished bravery, as also by about fifteen +dragoons, who stood by him to the last. But after a faint fire, the +regiment in general was seized with a panic; and though their Colonel +and some other gallant officers did what they could to rally them once +or twice, they at last took a precipitate flight. And just in the +moment when Colonel Gardiner seemed to be making a pause to deliberate +what duty required him to do in such circumstances, an accident +happened, which must, I think, in the judgment of every worthy and +generous man, be allowed a sufficient apology for exposing his life to +so great hazard, when his regiment had left him. He saw a party of the +foot, who were then bravely fighting near him, and whom he was ordered +to support, had no officer to head them; upon which he said eagerly, in +the hearing of the person from whom I had this account, "These brave +fellows will be cut to pieces for want of a commander," or words to +that effect; which while he was speaking he rode up to them and cried +out, "Fire on, my lads, and fear nothing." But just as the words were +out of his mouth, a Highlander advanced towards him with a scythe +fastened to a long pole, with which he gave him so dreadful a wound on +his right arm, that his sword dropped out of his hand; and at the same +time several others coming about him while he was thus dreadfully +entangled with that cruel weapon, he was dragged off from his horse. +The moment he fell, another Highlander, who, if the king's evidence at +Carlisle may be credited (as I know not why they should not, though the +unhappy creature died denying it), was one Mac-Naught, who was executed +about a year after, gave him a stroke either with a broadsword or a +Lochaber-axe (for my informant could not exactly distinguish) on the +hinder part of his head, which was the mortal blow. All that his +faithful attendant saw farther at this time was that, as his hat was +fallen off, he took it in his left hand and waved it as a signal to him +to retreat, and added, what were the last words he ever heard him +speak, "Take care of yourself"; upon which the servant retired.'--Some +Remarkable Passages in the Life of Colonel James Gardiner. By P. +Doddridge, D.D. London, 1747, P.187. + +I may remark on this extract, that it confirms the account given in the +text of the resistance offered by some of the English infantry. +Surprised by a force of a peculiar and unusual description, their +opposition could not be long or formidable, especially as they were +deserted by the cavalry, and those who undertook to manage the +artillery. But, although the affair was soon decided, I have always +understood that many of the infantry showed an inclination to do their +duty. + +NOTE 9, p. 101 + +It is scarcely necessary to say that the character of this brutal young +Laird is entirely imaginary. A gentleman, however, who resembled +Balmawhapple in the article of courage only, fell at Preston in the +manner described. A Perthshire gentleman of high honour and +respectability, one of the handful of cavalry who followed the fortunes +of Charles Edward, pursued the fugitive dragoons almost alone till near +Saint Clement's Wells, where the efforts of some of the officers had +prevailed on a few of them to make a momentary stand. Perceiving at +this moment that they were pursued by only one man and a couple of +servants, they turned upon him and cut him down with their swords. I +remember when a child, sitting on his grave, where the grass long grew +rank and green, distinguishing it from the rest of the field. A female +of the family then residing at Saint Clement's Wells used to tell me +the tragedy, of which she had been an eye-witness, and showed me in +evidence one of the silver clasps of the unfortunate gentleman's +waistcoat. + +NOTE 10, p. 118 + +The name of Andrea de Ferrara is inscribed on all the Scottish +broadswords which are accounted of peculiar excellence. Who this artist +was, what were his fortunes, and when he flourished, have hitherto +defied the research of antiquaries; only it is in general believed that +Andrea de Ferrara was a Spanish or Italian artificer, brought over by +James IV or V to instruct the Scots in the manufacture of sword blades. +Most barbarous nations excel in the fabrication of arms; and the Scots +had attained great proficiency in forging swords so early as the field +of Pinkie; at which period the historian Patten describes them as 'all +notably broad and thin, universally made to slice, and of such +exceeding good temper that, as I never saw any so good, so I think it +hard to devise better.'--Account of Somerset's Expedition. + +It may be observed that the best and most genuine Andrea Ferraras have +a crown marked on the blade. + +NOTE 11, p. 124 + +The incident here said to have happened to Flora Mac-Ivor actually +befell Miss Nairne, a lady with whom the author had the pleasure of +being acquainted. As the Highland army rushed into Edinburgh, Miss +Nairne, like other ladies who approved of their cause, stood waving her +handkerchief from a balcony, when a ball from a Highlander's musket, +which was discharged by accident, grazed her forehead. 'Thank God,' +said she, the instant she recovered,'that the accident happened to me, +whose principles are known. Had it befallen a Whig, they would have +said it was done on purpose.' + +NOTE 12, p. 185 + +The Author of Waverley has been charged with painting the young +Adventurer in colours more amiable than his character deserved. But +having known many individuals who were near his person, he has been +described according to the light in which those eye-witnesses saw his +temper and qualifications. Something must be allowed, no doubt, to the +natural exaggerations of those who remembered him as the bold and +adventurous Prince in whose cause they had braved death and ruin; but +is their evidence to give place entirely to that of a single malcontent? + +I have already noticed the imputations thrown by the Chevalier +Johnstone on the Prince's courage. But some part at least of that +gentleman's tale is purely romantic. It would not, for instance, be +supposed that at the time he is favouring us with the highly wrought +account of his amour with the adorable Peggie, the Chevalier Johnstone +was a married man, whose grandchild is now alive; or that the whole +circumstantial story concerning the outrageous vengeance taken by +Gordon of Abbachie on a Presbyterian clergyman is entirely apocryphal. +At the same time it may be admitted that the Prince, like others of his +family, did not esteem the services done him by his adherents so highly +as he ought. Educated in high ideas of his hereditary right, he has +been supposed to have held every exertion and sacrifice made in his +cause as too much the duty of the person making it to merit extravagant +gratitude on his part. Dr. King's evidence (which his leaving the +Jacobite interest renders somewhat doubtful) goes to strengthen this +opinion. + +The ingenious editor of Johnstone's Memoirs has quoted a story said to +be told by Helvetius, stating that Prince Charles Edward, far from +voluntarily embarking on his daring expedition, was, literally bound +hand and foot, and to which he seems disposed to yield credit. Now, it +being a fact as well known as any in his history, and, so far as I +know, entirely undisputed, that the Prince's personal entreaties and +urgency positively forced Boisdale and Lochiel into insurrection, when +they were earnestly desirous that he would put off his attempt until he +could obtain a sufficient force from France, it will be very difficult +to reconcile his alleged reluctance to undertake the expedition with +his desperately insisting upon carrying the rising into effect against +the advice and entreaty of his most powerful and most sage partizans. +Surely a man who had been carried bound on board the vessel which +brought him to so desperate an enterprise would have taken the +opportunity afforded by the reluctance of his partizans to return to +France in safety. + +It is averred in Johnstone's Memoirs that Charles Edward left the field +of Culloden without doing the utmost to dispute the victory; and, to +give the evidence on both sides, there is in existence the more +trustworthy testimony of Lord Elcho, who states that he himself +earnestly exhorted the Prince to charge at the head of the left wing, +which was entire, and retrieve the day or die with honour. And on his +counsel being declined, Lord Elcho took leave of him with a bitter +execration, swearing he would never look on his face again, and kept +his word. + +On the other hand, it seems to have been the opinion of almost all the +other officers that the day was irretrievably lost, one wing of the +Highlanders being entirely routed, the rest of the army outnumbered, +outflanked, and in a condition totally hopeless. In this situation of +things the Irish officers who surrounded Charles's person interfered to +force him off the field. A cornet who was close to the Prince left a +strong attestation that he had seen Sir Thomas Sheridan seize the +bridle of his horse and turn him round. There is some discrepancy of +evidence; but the opinion of Lord Elcho, a man of fiery temper and +desperate at the ruin which he beheld impending, cannot fairly be taken +in prejudice of a character for courage which is intimated by the +nature of the enterprise itself, by the Prince's eagerness to fight on +all occasions, by his determination to advance from Derby to London, +and by the presence of mind which he manifested during the romantic +perils of his escape. The author is far from claiming for this +unfortunate person the praise due to splendid talents; but he continues +to be of opinion that at the period of his enterprise he had a mind +capable of facing danger and aspiring to fame. + +That Charles Edward had the advantages of a graceful presence, +courtesy, and an address and manner becoming his station, the author +never heard disputed by any who approached his person, nor does he +conceive that these qualities are overcharged in the present attempt to +sketch his portrait. + +The following extracts corroborative of the general opinion respecting +the Prince's amiable disposition are taken from a manuscript account of +his romantic expedition, by James Maxwell of Kirkconnell, of which I +possess a copy, by the friendship of J. Menzies, Esq., of Pitfoddells. +The author, though partial to the Prince, whom he faithfully followed, +seems to have been a fair and candid man, and well acquainted with the +intrigues among the adventurer's council:-- + +'Everybody was mightily taken with the Prince's figure and personal +behaviour. There was but one voice about them. Those whom interest or +prejudice made a runaway to his cause could not help acknowledging that +they wished him well in all other respects, and could hardly blame him +for his present undertaking. Sundry things had concurred to raise his +character to the highest pitch, besides the greatness of the enterprise +and the conduct that had hitherto appeared in the execution of it. + +'There were several instances of good nature and humanity that had made +a great impression on people's minds. I shall confine myself to two or +three. + +'Immediately after the battle, as the Prince was riding along the +ground that Cope's army had occupied a few minutes before, one of the +officers came up to congratulate him, and said, pointing to the killed, +"Sir, there are your enemies at your feet." The Prince, far from +exulting, expressed a great deal of compassion for his father's deluded +subjects, whom he declared he was heartily sorry to see in that posture. + +'Next day, while the Prince was at Pinkie House, a citizen of Edinburgh +came to make some representation to Secretary Murray about the tents +that city was ordered to furnish against a certain day. Murray happened +to be out of the way, which the Prince hearing of called to have the +gentleman brought to him, saying, he would rather despatch the +business, whatever it was, himself than have the gentleman wait, which +he did, by granting everything that was asked. So much affability in a +young prince flushed with victory drew encomiums even from his enemies. + +'But what gave the people the highest idea of him was the negative he +gave to a thing that very nearly concerned his interest, and upon which +the success of his enterprise perhaps depended. It was proposed to send +one of the prisoners to London to demand of that court a cartel for the +exchange of prisoners taken, and to be taken, during this war, and to +intimate that a refusal would be looked upon as a resolution on their +part to give no quarter. It was visible a cartel would be of great +advantage to the Prince's affairs; his friends would be more ready to +declare for him if they had nothing to fear but the chance of war in +the field; and if the court of London refused to settle a cartel, the +Prince was authorised to treat his prisoners in the same manner the +Elector of Hanover was determined to treat such of the Prince's friends +as might fall into his hands; it was urged that a few examples would +compel the court of London to comply. It was to be presumed that the +officers of the English army would make a point of it. They had never +engaged in the service but upon such terms as are in use among all +civilised nations, and it could be no stain upon their honour to lay +down their commissions if these terms were not observed, and that owing +to the obstinacy of their own Prince. Though this scheme was plausible, +and represented as very important, the Prince could never be brought +into it, it was below him, he said, to make empty threats, and he would +never put such as those into execution; he would never in cold blood +take away lives which he had saved in heat of action at the peril of +his own. These were not the only proofs of good nature the Prince gave +about this time. Every day produced something new of this kind. These +things softened the rigour of a military government which was only +imputed to the necessity of his affairs, and which he endeavoured to +make as gentle and easy as possible.' + +It has been said that the Prince sometimes exacted more state and +ceremonial than seemed to suit his condition; but, on the other hand, +some strictness of etiquette was altogether indispensable where he must +otherwise have been exposed to general intrusion. He could also endure, +with a good grace, the retorts which his affectation of ceremony +sometimes exposed him to. It is said, for example, that Grant of +Glenmoriston having made a hasty march to join Charles, at the head of +his clan, rushed into the Prince's presence at Holyrood with +unceremonious haste, without having attended to the duties of the +toilet. The Prince received him kindly, but not without a hint that a +previous interview with the barber might not have been wholly +unnecessary. 'It is not beardless boys,' answered the displeased Chief, +'who are to do your Royal Highness's turn.' The Chevalier took the +rebuke in good part. + +On the whole, if Prince Charles had concluded his life soon after his +miraculous escape, his character in history must have stood very high. +As it was, his station is amongst those a certain brilliant portion of +whose life forms a remarkable contrast to all which precedes and all +which follows it. + +NOTE 13, p. 195 + +The following account of the skirmish at Clifton is extracted from the +manuscript Memoirs of Evan Macpherson of Cluny, Chief of the clan +Macpherson, who had the merit of supporting the principal brunt of that +spirited affair. The Memoirs appear to have been composed about 1755, +only ten years after the action had taken place. They were written in +France, where that gallant chief resided in exile, which accounts for +some Gallicisms which occur in the narrative. + +'In the Prince's return from Derby back towards Scotland, my Lord +George Murray, Lieutenant-General, cheerfully charg'd himself with the +command of the rear, a post which, altho' honourable, was attended with +great danger, many difficulties, and no small fatigue; for the Prince, +being apprehensive that his retreat to Scotland might be cut off by +Marischall Wade, who lay to the northward of him with an armie much +supperior to what H.R.H. had, while the Duke of Comberland with his +whole cavalrie followed hard in the rear, was obliged to hasten his +marches. It was not, therefore, possible for the artilirie to march so +fast as the Prince's army, in the depth of winter, extremely bad +weather, and the worst roads in England; so Lord George Murray was +obliged often to continue his marches long after it was dark almost +every night, while at the same time he had frequent allarms and +disturbances from the Duke of Comberland's advanc'd parties. + +'Towards the evening of the twentie-eight December 1745 the Prince +entered the town of Penrith, in the Province of Comberland. But as Lord +George Murray could not bring up the artilirie so fast as he wou'd have +wish'd, he was oblig'd to pass the night six miles short of that town, +together with the regiment of MacDonel of Glengarrie, which that day +happened to have the arrear guard. The Prince, in order to refresh his +armie, and to give My Lord George and the artilirie time to come up, +resolved to sejour the 29th at Penrith; so ordered his little army to +appear in the morning under arms, in order to be reviewed, and to know +in what manner the numbers stood from his haveing entered England. It +did not at that time amount to 5000 foot in all, with about 400 +cavalrie, compos'd of the noblesse who serv'd as volunteers, part of +whom form'd a first troop of guards for the Prince, under the command +of My Lord Elchoe, now Comte de Weems, who, being proscribed, is +presently in France. Another part formed a second troup of guards under +the command of My Lord Balmirino, who was beheaded at the Tower of +London. A third part serv'd under My Lord le Comte de Kilmarnock, who +was likewise beheaded at the Tower. A fourth part serv'd under My Lord +Pitsligow, who is also proscribed; which cavalrie, tho' very few in +numbers, being all noblesse, were very brave, and of infinite advantage +to the foot, not only in the day of battle, but in serving as advanced +guards on the several marches, and in patroling dureing the night on +the different roads which led towards the towns where the army happened +to quarter. + +'While this small army was out in a body on the 2Qth December, upon a +riseing ground to the northward of Penrith, passing review, Mons. de +Cluny, with his tribe, was ordered to the Bridge of Clifton, about a +mile to southward of Penrith, after having pass'd in review before +Mons. Pattullo, who was charged with the inspection of the troops, and +was likeways Quarter-Master-General of the army, and is now in France. +They remained under arms at the bridge, waiting the arrival of My Lord +George Murray with the artilirie, whom Mons. de Cluny had orders to +cover in passing the bridge. They arrived about sunsett closly pursued +by the Duke of Comberland with the whole body of his cavalrie, reckoned +upwards of 3000 strong, about a thousand of whom, as near as might be +computed, dismounted, in order to cut off the passage of the artilirie +towards the bridge, while the Duke and the others remained on horseback +in order to attack the rear. + +'My Lord George Murray advanced, and although he found Mons. de Cluny +and his tribe in good spirits under arms, yet the circumstance appear'd +extremely delicate. The numbers were vastly unequall, and the attack +seem'd very dangerous; so My Lord George declin'd giving orders to such +time as he ask'd Mons. de Cluny's oppinion. "I will attack them with +all my heart," says Mons. de Cluny, "if you order me." "I do order it +then," answered My Lord George, and immediately went on himself along +with Mons. de Cluny, and fought sword in hand on foot at the head of +the single tribe of Macphersons. They in a moment made their way +through a strong hedge of thorns, under the cover whereof the cavalrie +had taken their station, in the strugle of passing which hedge My Lord +George Murray, being dressed en montagnard, as all the army were, lost +his bonet and wig; so continued to fight bare-headed during the action. +They at first made a brisk discharge of their firearms on the enemy, +then attacked them with their sabres, and made a great slaughter a +considerable time, which obliged Comberland and his cavalrie to fly +with precipitation and in great confusion; in so much that, if the +Prince had been provided in a sufficient number of cavalrie to have +taken advantage of the disorder, it is beyond question that the Duke of +Comberland and the bulk of his cavalrie had been taken prisoners. + +'By this time it was so dark that it was not possible to view or number +the slain who filled all the ditches which happened to be on the ground +where they stood. But it was computed that, besides those who went off +wounded, upwards of a hundred at least were left on the spot, among +whom was Colonel Honywood, who commanded the dismounted cavalrie, whose +sabre of considerable value Mons. de Cluny brought off and still +preserves; and his tribe lykeways brought off many arms;--the Colonel +was afterwards taken up, and, his wounds being dress'd, with great +difficultie recovered. Mons. de Cluny lost only in the action twelve +men, of whom some haveing been only wounded, fell afterwards into the +hands of the enemy, and were sent as slaves to America, whence several +of them returned, and one of them is now in France, a sergeant in the +Regiment of Royal Scots. How soon the accounts of the enemies approach +had reached the Prince, H.R.H. had immediately ordered Mi-Lord le Comte +de Nairne, Brigadier, who, being proscribed, is now in France, with the +three batalions of the Duke of Athol, the batalion of the Duke of +Perth, and some other troups under his command, in order to support +Cluny, and to bring off the artilirie. But the action was entirely over +before the Comte de Nairne, with his command, cou'd reach nigh to the +place. They therefore return'd all to Penrith, and the artilirie +marched up in good order. + +'Nor did the Duke of Comberland ever afterwards dare to come within a +day's march of the Prince and his army dureing the course of all that +retreat, which was conducted with great prudence and safety when in +some manner surrounded by enemies.' + +NOTE 14, p. 215 + +As the heathen deities contracted an indelible obligation if they swore +by Styx, the Scottish Highlanders had usually some peculiar solemnity +attached to an oath which they intended should be binding on them. Very +frequently it consisted in laying their hand, as they swore, on their +own drawn dirk; which dagger, becoming a party to the transaction, was +invoked to punish any breach of faith. But by whatever ritual the oath +was sanctioned, the party was extremely desirous to keep secret what +the especial oath was which he considered as irrevocable. This was a +matter of great convenience, as he felt no scruple in breaking his +asseveration when made in any other form than that which he accounted +as peculiarly solemn; and therefore readily granted any engagement +which bound him no longer than he inclined. Whereas, if the oath which +he accounted inviolable was once publicly known, no party with whom he +might have occasion to contract would have rested satisfied with any +other. + +Louis XI of France practised the same sophistry, for he also had a +peculiar species of oath, the only one which he was ever known to +respect, and which, therefore, he was very unwilling to pledge. The +only engagement which that wily tyrant accounted binding upon him was +an oath by the Holy Cross of Saint Lo d'Angers, which contained a +portion of the True Cross. If he prevaricated after taking this oath +Louis believed he should die within the year. The Constable Saint Paul, +being invited to a personal conference with Louis, refused to meet the +king unless he would agree to ensure him safe conduct under sanction of +this oath. But, says Comines, the king replied, he would never again +pledge that engagement to mortal man, though he was willing to take any +other oath which could be devised. The treaty broke oft, therefore, +after much chaffering concerning the nature of the vow which Louis was +to take. Such is the difference between the dictates of superstition +and those of conscience. + + + + + +GLOSSARY + + +A', all. + +ABOON, abune, above. + +AE, one. + +AFF, off. + +AFORE, before. + +AHINT, behind. + +AIN, own. + +AITS, oats. + +AMAIST, almost. + +AMBRY, a cupboard, a pantry. + +AN, if. + +ANE, one. + +ANEUCH, enough. + +ARRAY, annoy, trouble. + +ASSOILZIED, absolved, acquitted. + +ASSYTHMENT, satisfaction, + +AULD, old. + +BAFF, a blow. + +BAGGANET, a bayonet. + +BAILIE, a city magistrate in Scotland. + +BAIRN, a child. + +BAITH, both. + +BANES, bones. + +BANG-UP, get up quickly, bounce. + +BARLEY, a parley, a truce. + +BAULD, bold. + +BAULDER, bolder. + +BAWBEE, a halfpenny. + +BAWTY, sly, cunning. + +BEES, in the, bewildered, stupefied. + +BEFLUMM'D, flattered, cajoled. + +BEGUNK, a trick, a cheat. + +BEN, within, inside. + +BENEMPT, named. + +BICKER, a wooden dish. + +BIDE, stay, endure. + +BIELDY, affording shelter. + +BIGGING, building. + +BIRLIEMAN, a peace officer. + +BLACK-COCK, the black grouse. + +BLACK-FISHING, ashing by torchlight, poaching. + +BLUDE, bluid, blood. + +BODDLE, bodle, a copper coin, worth one third of an English penny. + +BOGLE ABOUT THE BUSH, beat about the bush, a children's game. + +BONNIE, beautiful, comely, fine, + +BOUNE, prepared. + +BRA', fine, handsome, showy. + +BRANDER, broil. + +BREEKS, breeches. + +BRENT, smooth, unwrinkled. + +BROGUES, Highland shoes. + +BROO, brew, broth. + +BRUCKLE, brittle, infirm. + +BRUIK, enjoy. + +BRULZIE, bruilzie, a broil, a fray. + +BUCKIE, a perverse or refractory person. + +BUTTOCK-MAIL, a fine for fornication. + +BYDAND, awaiting. + +CA', call. + +CADGER, a country carrier. + +CAILLIACHS, old women on whom devolved the duty of lamenting for the +dead, which the Irish call keening. + +CALLANT, a stripling, a fine fellow. + +CANNILY, prudently. + +CANNY, cautious, lucky. + +CARLE, a churl, an old man. + +CATERAN, a freebooter. + +CHIEL, a young man. + +CLACHAN, a village, a hamlet. + +CLAMYHEWIT, a blow, a drubbing. + +CLASH, chatter, gossip. + +CLATTER, tattle, noisy talk. + +CLOSE, a narrow passage. + +CLOUR, a bump, a bruise. + +COCKY-LEEKY, a soup made of a cock, seasoned with leeks. + +COGHLING AND DROGHLING, wheezing and blowing. + +CORONACH, a dirge. + +CORRIE, a mountain hollow. + +COUP, fall. + +COW YER CRACKS, cut short your talk, hold your tongues. + +CRACK, boast. + +CRAIG, the neck, the throat. + +CRAMES, merchants' shops, booths. + +CUT-LUGGED, crop-eared. + +DAFT, foolish, mad, crazy. + +DAUR, dare. + +DEAVING, deafening. + +DECREET, an order of decree. + +DELIVER, light, agile. + +DERN, hidden, concealed, secret. + +DING, knock, beat, surpass. + +DINGLE, dinnle, tingle, vibrate with sound. + +DOER, an agent, a manager. + +DOG-HEAD, the hammer of a gun. + +DOILED, crazed, silly. + +DOITED, having the faculties impaired. + +DORLACH, a bundle. + +DOW, a dove. + +DOWF, dowff, dull, spiritless. + +DRAPPIE, a little drop, a small quantity of drink. + +EFFEIR, what is becoming. + +ENEUGH, enough. + +ETTER-CAP, a spider, an ill-natured person. + +EVITE, avoid, escape. + +EWEST, ewast, contiguous. + +FALLOW, a fellow. + +FAULD, fold. + +FEARED, afraid. + +FECK, a quantity. + +FLEYT, frightened, shy. + +FRAE, from. + +GAD, a goad, a rod. + +GANE, gone; gang, go. + +GAR, make. + +GATE, way. + +GAUN, going. + +GEAR, goods. + +GHAIST, a ghost. + +GIN, if. + +GITE, crazy, a noodle, + +GLED, a kite. + +GLEG, quick, clever. + +GLISK, a glimpse. + +GOWD, gold. + +GRANING, groaning. + +GRAT, wept. + +GREE, agree. + +GREYBEARD, a stone bottle or jug. + +GRICE, gryce, gris, a pig. + +GRIPPLE, griping, niggardly. + +GUDE, guid, good. + +GULPIN, a simpleton. + +HA', hall. + +HAG, a portion of copse marked off for cutting. + +HAGGIS, a pudding peculiar to Scotland, containing oatmeal, suet, +minced sheep's liver, heart, etc., seasoned with onions, pepper, and +salt, the whole mixture boiled in a sheep's stomach. + +HAIL, whole. + +HECK, a hay rack; at heck and manger, in plenty. + +HET, hot. + +HOG, a young sheep before its first shearing. + +HORSE-COUPER, horse-cowper, a horse-dealer. + +HURDLES, the buttocks. + +HURLEY-HOUSE, a large house fallen into disrepair. + + ILK, same; of that ilk, of the same name or place, + +ILKA, every. + +INGLE, a fire burning upon the hearth. + +IN THE BEES, stupefied. + +KEEPIT, kept. + +KEMPLE, a Scotch measure of straw or hay. + +KEN, know. + +KIPPAGE, disorder, confusion. + +KIRK, church. + +KITTLE, tickle, ticklish. + +LAIRD, lord of the manor. + +LANDLOUPER, a wanderer, a vagabond. + +LEDDY, a lady. + +LIGHTLY, make light of, disparage. + +LIMMER, a hussy, a jade. + +LOON, a worthless fellow, a lout. + +LOUP, leap, start. + +LUG, an ear. + +LUNZIE, the loins, the waist. + +MAE, more. + +MAINS, the chief farm of an estate. + +MAIR, more. + +MAIST, most, almost. MART, beef salted down for winter. + +MASK, mash, infuse. + +MAUN, must. + +MERK, an old silver coin worth 13 1/3 pence, English. + +MICKLE, large, much. + +MORN, tomorrow. + +MOUSTED, powdered. + +MUCKLE, great, much. + +MUNT, mount. + +MUTCHKIN, a measure equal to about three quarters of an imperial pint. + +NA, nae, no, not. + +NAIGS, horses. + +NAIL, the sixteenth part of a yard. + +NATHELESS, nevertheless. + +NEB, nose, tip. + +NE'ER BE IN ME, devil be in me. + +OLD TO DO, great doings. + +OWER, over. + +PAITRICK, a partridge. + +PANGED, crammed. + +PARRITCH, oatmeal porridge. + +PAUNIE, a peacock. + +PECULIUM, private property. + +PINNERS, a headdress for women. + +PLACK, a copper coin worth one third of a penny. + +PLAIDY, an outer covering for the body. + +PLENISH, furnish. + +PLOY, an entertainment, a pastime. + +POTTINGER, an apothecary. + +POWNIE, a pony. + +POWTERING, poking, stirring. + +PRETTY MAN, a stout, warlike fellow. + +QUEAN, a young woman. + +REDD, part, separate. + +REISES, twigs, branches. + +RESILING, retracting, withdrawing. + +RIGGS, ridges, ploughed ground. + +RINTHEROUT, a roving person, a vagabond. + +ROW, roll. + +ROWED, rolled. + +ROWT, cried out, bellowed, + +ROYNISH, scurvy, coarse. + +SAE, so. + +ST. JOHNSTONE'S TIPPET, a rope or halter for hanging. + +SAIR, sore, very. + +SALL, shall. + +SARK, a shirt. + +SAUMON, a salmon. + +SAUT, salt. + +SCARTED, scratched, scribbled over. + +SCHELLUM, a rascal. + +SCROLL, engross, copy. + +SHANKS, legs. + +SHEERS, shears. + +SHOUTHER, the shoulder. + +SICCAN, sic, such. + +SILLER, money. + +SILLY, weak. + +SKIG, the least quantity of anything. + +SMA', small. + +SMOKY, suspicious. + +SNECK, cut. + +SORTED, put in proper order, adjusted. + +SOWENS, the seeds of oatmeal soured. + +SPEER, ask, investigate. + +SPENCE, the place where provisions are kept. + +SPRACK, lively. + +SPRECHERY, movables of an unimportant sort. + +SPUILZIE, spoil. + +SPUNG, pick one's pocket. + +STIEVE, firm. + +STOOR, rough, harsh. + +STRAE, straw. + +STREEKS, stretches, lies. + +SWAIR, swore. + +SYNE, before, now, ago. + +TAIGLIT, harassed, encumbered, loitered. + +TAULD, told. + +THAE, those. + +THIR, these. + +THOLE, bear, suffer. + +THRAW, twist, wrench. + +THREEPIT, maintained obstinately. + +THROSTLE, the thrush. + +TILL, to. + +TIRRIVIES, hasty fits of passion, + +TOCHERLESS, without dowry. + +TOUN, a town, a hamlet, a farm. + +TOY, an old-fashioned cap for women. + +TREWS, trousers. + +TRINDLING, rolling. + +TROW, believe. + +TUILZIE, a quarrel + +TUME, toom, empty. + +TURNSPIT DOGGIE, a kind of dog, long-bodied and short-legged, formerly +used in turning a treadmill. + +TYKE, a dog, a rough fellow. + +UMQUHILE, formerly, late. + +UNCO, strange, very, + +UNSONSY, unlucky. + +USQUEBAUGH, whiskey. + +VENY, venue, a bout. + +VIVERS, victuals. + +WA', wall + +WAD, would. + +WADSET, a deed conveying property to a creditor + +WAIN, a wagon; to remove. + +WALISE, a portmanteau, saddlebags. + +WAN, won. + +WANCHANCY, unlucky. + +WARE, spend. + +WEEL-FARD, weel-faur'd, having a good appearance. + +WEISING, inclining, directing. + +WHA, who. + +WHAR, where, + +WHAT FOR, why. + +WHEEN, a few. + +WHILE SYNE, a while ago. + +WHILES, sometimes. + +WHILK, which. + +WHIN, a few. + +WHINGEING, whining. + +WINNA, will not. + +WISKE, whisk. + +YATE, gate. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Waverley, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAVERLEY *** + +***** This file should be named 4966.txt or 4966.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/6/4966/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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