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 ofBally-Brough. 'I must go no farther,' said Fergus Mac-Ivor, who duringthe journey had in vain endeavoured to raise his friend's spirits. 'Ifmy cross-grained sister has any share in your dejection, trust me shethinks highly of you, though her present anxiety about the public causeprevents her listening to any other subject. Confide your interest tome; I will not betray it, providing you do not again assume that vilecockade.'
'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 youcan; there will speedily be unexpected guests on the coast of Suffolk,or my news from France has deceived me.' [Footnote: The sanguineJacobites, during the eventful years 1745-46, kept up the spirits oftheir party by the rumour of descents from France on behalf of theChevalier St. George.]
Thus parted the friends; Fergus returning back to his castle, whileEdward, followed by Callum Beg, the latter transformed from point topoint into a Low-Country groom, proceeded to the little town of--.
Edward paced on under the painful and yet not altogether embitteredfeelings which separation and uncertainty produce in the mind of ayouthful lover. I am not sure if the ladies understand the full valueof 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 thehumour of sending their lovers into banishment. Distance, in truth,produces in idea the same effect as in real perspective. Objects aresoftened, and rounded, and rendered doubly graceful; the harsher andmore ordinary points of character are mellowed down, and those by whichit is remembered are the more striking outlines that mark sublimity,grace, or beauty. There are mists too in the mental as well as thenatural horizon, to conceal what is less pleasing in distant objects,and there are happy lights, to stream in full glory upon those pointswhich can profit by brilliant illumination.
Waverley forgot Flora Mac-Ivor's prejudices in her magnanimity, andalmost pardoned her indifference towards his affection when herecollected the grand and decisive object which seemed to fill herwhole soul. She, whose sense of duty so wholly engrossed her in thecause of a benefactor, what would be her feelings in favour of thehappy individual who should be so fortunate as to awaken them? Thencame the doubtful question, whether he might not be that happy man,--aquestion which fancy endeavoured to answer in the affirmative, byconjuring up all she had said in his praise, with the addition of acomment much more flattering than the text warranted. All that wascommonplace, all that belonged to the every-day world, was melted awayand obliterated in those dreams of imagination, which only rememberedwith advantage the points of grace and dignity that distinguished Florafrom the generality of her sex, not the particulars which she held incommon with them. Edward was, in short, in the fair way of creating agoddess out of a high-spirited, accomplished, and beautiful youngwoman; and the time was wasted in castle-building until, at the descentof a steep hill, he saw beneath him the market-town of ----.
The Highland politeness of Callum Beg--there are few nations, by theway, who can boast of so much natural politeness as the Highlanders[Footnote: The Highlander, in former times, had always a high idea ofhis own gentility, and was anxious to impress the same upon those withwhom he conversed. His language abounded in the phrases of courtesy andcompliment; and the habit of carrying arms, and mixing with those whodid so, made it particularly desirable they should use cautiouspoliteness in their intercourse with each other.]--the Highlandcivility of his attendant had not permitted him to disturb the reveriesof our hero. But observing him rouse himself at the sight of thevillage, Callum pressed closer to his side, and hoped 'when they cam tothe public, his honour wad not say nothing about Vich Ian Vohr, for tapeople were bitter Whigs, deil burst tem.'
Waverley assured the prudent page that he would be cautious; and as henow distinguished, not indeed the ringing of bells, but the tinkling ofsomething like a hammer against the side of an old mossy, green,inverted porridge-pot that hung in an open booth, of the size and shapeof a parrot's cage, erected to grace the east end of a buildingresembling an old barn, he asked Callum Beg if it were Sunday.
'Could na say just preceesely; Sunday seldom cam aboon the pass ofBally-Brough.'
On entering the town, however, and advancing towards the most apparentpublic-house which presented itself, the numbers of old women, intartan screens and red cloaks, who streamed from the barn-resemblingbuilding, debating as they went the comparative merits of the blessedyouth Jabesh Rentowel and that chosen vessel Maister Goukthrapple,induced Callum to assure his temporary master 'that it was either tamuckle Sunday hersell, or ta little government Sunday that they ca'd tafast.'
On alighting at the sign of the Seven-branched Golden Candlestick,which, for the further delectation of the guests, was graced with ashort Hebrew motto, they were received by mine host, a tall thinpuritanical figure, who seemed to debate with himself whether he oughtto give shelter to those who travelled on such a day. Reflecting,however, in all probability, that he possessed the power of mulctingthem for this irregularity, a penalty which they might escape bypassing into Gregor Duncanson's, at the sign of the Highlander and theHawick Gill, Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks condescended to admit them intohis dwelling.
To this sanctified person Waverley addressed his request that he wouldprocure him a guide, with a saddle-horse, to carry his portmanteau toEdinburgh.
'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 furtherinformation necessary either for the guide or his saddle-horse.'
'Hem! Ahem!' returned he of the Candlestick, somewhat disconcerted atthis rebuff. 'It's the general fast, sir, and I cannot enter into onycarnal transactions on sic a day, when the people should be humbled andthe backsliders should return, as worthy Mr. Goukthrapple said; andmoreover 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 andguide, my servant shall seek them elsewhere.'
'Aweel! Your servant? and what for gangs he not forward wi' youhimsell?'
Waverley had but very little of a captain of horse's spirit withinhim--I mean of that sort of spirit which I have been obliged to when Ihappened, in a mail coach or diligence, to meet some military man whohas kindly taken upon him the disciplining of the waiters and thetaxing of reckonings. Some of this useful talent our hero had, however,acquired during his military service, and on this gross provocation itbegan seriously to arise. 'Look ye, sir; I came here for my ownaccommodation, and not to answer impertinent questions. Either say youcan, or cannot, get me what I want; I shall pursue my course in eithercase.'
Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks left the room with some indistinctmutterings; but whether negative or acquiescent, Edward could not welldistinguish. The hostess, a civil, quiet, laborious drudge, came totake his orders for dinner, but declined to make answer on the subjectof the horse and guide; for the Salique law, it seems, extended to thestables of the Golden Candlestick.
From a window which overlooked the dark and narrow court in whichCallum Beg rubbed down the horses after their journey, Waverley heardthe following dialogue betwixt the subtle foot-page of Vich Ian Vohrand 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 theGolden Candlestick, having, as he thought, opened his guest's heart bythis hospitable propitiatio
n, 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 impenetrableCallum Beg.
'And what kind of a gentleman is he?'
'I believe he is ane o' King George's state officers; at least he's ayefor ganging on to the south, and he has a hantle siller, and nevergrudges 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 theextreme readiness of the man, was contented to lay a tax on thereckoning and horse-hire that might compound for his ungratifiedcuriosity. The circumstance of its being the fast day was not forgottenin the charge, which, on the whole, did not, however, amount to muchmore than double what in fairness it should have been.
Callum Beg soon after announced in person the ratification of thistreaty, adding, 'Ta auld deevil was ganging to ride wi' taduinhe-wassel hersell.'
'That will not be very pleasant, Callum, nor altogether safe, for ourhost seems a person of great curiosity; but a traveller must submit tothese inconveniences. Meanwhile, my good lad, here is a trifle for youto drink Vich Ian Vohr's health.'
The hawk's eye of Callum flashed delight upon a golden guinea, withwhich these last words were accompanied. He hastened, not without acurse on the intricacies of a Saxon breeches pocket, or spleuchan, ashe called it, to deposit the treasure in his fob; and then, as if heconceived the benevolence called for some requital on his part, hegathered close up to Edward, with an expression of countenancepeculiarly knowing, and spoke in an undertone, 'If his honour thoughtta auld deevil Whig carle was a bit dangerous, she could easily providefor him, and teil ane ta wiser.'
'How, and in what manner?'
'Her ain sell,' replied Callum, 'could wait for him a wee bit frae thetoun, and kittle his quarters wi'her skene-occle.'
'Skene-occle! what's that?'
Callum unbuttoned his coat, raised his left arm, and, with an emphaticnod, pointed to the hilt of a small dirk, snugly deposited under it, inthe lining of his jacket. Waverley thought he had misunderstood hismeaning; he gazed in his face, and discovered in Callum's very handsomethough embrowned features just the degree of roguish malice with whicha lad of the same age in England would have brought forward a plan forrobbing an orchard.
'Good God, Callum, would you take the man's life?'
'Indeed,' answered the young desperado, 'and I think he has had just alang enough lease o 't, when he's for betraying honest folk that cometo spend siller at his public.'
Edward saw nothing was to be gained by argument, and thereforecontented himself with enjoining Callum to lay aside all practicesagainst the person of Mr. Ebenezer Cruickshanks; in which injunctionthe page seemed to acquiesce with an air of great indifference.
'Ta duinhe-wassel might please himsell; ta auld rudas loon had neverdone Callum nae ill. But here's a bit line frae ta Tighearna, tat hebade me gie your honour ere I came back.'
The letter from the Chief contained Flora's lines on the fate ofCaptain Wogan, whose enterprising character is so well drawn byClarendon. He had originally engaged in the service of the Parliament,but had abjured that party upon the execution of Charles I; and uponhearing that the royal standard was set up by the Earl of Glencairn andGeneral Middleton in the Highlands of Scotland, took leave of CharlesII, who was then at Paris, passed into England, assembled a body ofCavaliers in the neighbourhood of London, and traversed the kingdom,which had been so long under domination of the usurper, by marchesconducted with such skill, dexterity, and spirit that he safely unitedhis handful of horsemen with the body of Highlanders then in arms.After several months of desultory warfare, in which Wogan's skill andcourage gained him the highest reputation, he had the misfortune to bewounded in a dangerous manner, and no surgical assistance being withinreach he terminated his short but glorious career.
There were obvious reasons why the politic Chieftain was desirous toplace the example of this young hero under the eye of Waverley, withwhose romantic disposition it coincided so peculiarly. But his letterturned chiefly upon some trifling commissions which Waverley hadpromised to execute for him in England, and it was only toward theconclusion that Edward found these words: 'I owe Flora a grudge forrefusing us her company yesterday; and, as I am giving you the troubleof reading these lines, in order to keep in your memory your promise toprocure me the fishing-tackle and cross-bow from London, I will encloseher verses on the Grave of Wogan. This I know will tease her; for, totell you the truth, I think her more in love with the memory of thatdead hero than she is likely to be with any living one, unless he shalltread a similar path. But English squires of our day keep theiroak-trees to shelter their deer parks, or repair the losses of anevening at White's, and neither invoke them to wreathe their brows norshelter their graves. Let me hope for one brilliant exception in a dearfriend, 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, theenthusiasm which it intimated was well calculated to make acorresponding impression upon her lover. The lines were read--readagain, then deposited in Waverley's bosom, then again drawn out, andread line by line, in a low and smothered voice, and with frequentpauses which prolonged the mental treat, as an epicure protracts, bysipping slowly, the enjoyment of a delicious beverage. The entrance ofMrs. Cruickshanks with the sublunary articles of dinner and wine hardlyinterrupted this pantomime of affectionate enthusiasm.
At length the tall ungainly figure and ungracious visage of Ebenezerpresented themselves. The upper part of his form, notwithstanding theseason required no such defence, was shrouded in a large great-coat,belted over his under habiliments, and crested with a huge cowl of thesame stuff, which, when drawn over the head and hat, completelyovershadowed both, and, being buttoned beneath the chin, was called atrot-cozy. His hand grasped a huge jockey-whip, garnished withbras
smounting. His thin legs tenanted a pair of gambadoes, fastened atthe sides with rusty clasps. Thus accoutred, he stalked into the midstof the apartment, and announced his errand in brief phrase: 'Yer horsesare ready.'
'You go with me yourself then, landlord?'
'I do, as far as Perth; where ye may be supplied with a guide toEmbro', as your occasions shall require.'
Thus saying, he placed under Waverley's eye the bill which he held inhis hand; and at the same time, self-invited, filled a glass of wineand drank devoutly to a blessing on their journey. Waverley stared atthe man's impudence, but, as their connection was to be short andpromised to be convenient, he made no observation upon it; and, havingpaid his reckoning, expressed his intention to depart immediately. Hemounted Dermid accordingly and sallied forth from the GoldenCandlestick, followed by the puritanical figure we have described,after he had, at the expense of some time and difficulty, and by theassistance of a 'louping-on-stane,' or structure of masonry erected forthe traveller's convenience in front of the house, elevated his personto the back of a long-backed, raw-boned, thin-gutted phantom of abroken-down blood-horse, on which Waverley's portmanteau was deposited.Our hero, though not in a very gay humour, could hardly help laughingat the appearance of his new squire, and at imagining the astonishmentwhich 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 intothe pharisaical leaven of his countenance, and resolved internallythat, in one way or other, the young 'Englisher' should pay dearly forthe contempt with which he seemed to regard him. Callum also stood atthe gate and enjoyed, with undissembled glee, the ridiculous figure ofMr. Cruickshanks. As Waverley passed him he pulled off his hatrespectfully, and, approaching his stirrup, bade him 'Tak heed the auldwhig deevil played him nae cantrip.'
Waverley once more thanked and bade him farewell, and then rode brisklyonward, 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 theconcussions occasioned by a hard trot upon a half-paved street. Thevillage of--was soon several miles behind him.