CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, Thence to be wrench'd by an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. Macbeth.
After this period, but under the most strict precautions againstdiscovery, the sisters corresponded occasionally, exchanging lettersabout twice every year. Those of Lady Staunton spoke of her husband'shealth and spirits as being deplorably uncertain; her own seemed also tobe sinking, and one of the topics on which she most frequently dwelt wastheir want of family. Sir George Staunton, always violent, had taken someaversion at the next heir, whom he suspected of having irritated hisfriends against him during his absence; and he declared, he wouldbequeath Willingham and all its lands to an hospital, ere thatfetch-and-carry tell-tale should inherit an acre of it.
"Had he but a child," said the unfortunate wife, "or had that lucklessinfant survived, it would be some motive for living and for exertion. ButHeaven has denied us a blessing which we have not deserved."
Such complaints, in varied form, but turning frequently on the sametopic, filled the letters which passed from the spacious but melancholyhalls of Willingham, to the quiet and happy parsonage at Knocktarlitie.Years meanwhile rolled on amid these fruitless repinings. John, Duke ofArgyle and Greenwich, died in the year 1743, universally lamented, but bynone more than by the Butlers, to whom his benevolence had been sodistinguished. He was succeeded by his brother Duke Archibald, with whomthey had not the same intimacy; but who continued the protection whichhis brother had extended towards them. This, indeed, became morenecessary than ever; for, after the breaking out and suppression of therebellion in 1745, the peace of the country, adjacent to the Highlands,was considerably disturbed. Marauders, or men that had been driven tothat desperate mode of life, quartered themselves in the fastnessesnearest to the Lowlands, which were their scene of plunder; and there isscarce a glen in the romantic and now peaceable Highlands of Perth,Stirling, and Dumbartonshire, where one or more did not take up theirresidence.
The prime pest of the parish of Knocktarlitie was a certain Donacha dhuna Dunaigh, or Black Duncan the Mischievous, whom we have alreadycasually mentioned. This fellow had been originally a tinkler, or_caird,_ many of whom stroll about these districts; but when all policewas disorganised by the civil war, he threw up his profession, and fromhalf thief became whole robber; and being generally at the head of threeor four active young fellows, and he himself artful, bold, and wellacquainted with the passes, he plied his new profession with emolument tohimself, and infinite plague to the country.
All were convinced that Duncan of Knock could have put down his namesakeDonacha any morning he had a mind; for there were in the parish a set ofstout young men, who had joined Argyle's banner in the war under his oldfriend, and behaved very well on several occasions. And as for theirleader, as no one doubted his courage, it was generally supposed thatDonacha had found out the mode of conciliating his favour, a thing notvery uncommon in that age and country. This was the more readilybelieved, as David Deans's cattle (being the property of the Duke) wereleft untouched, when the minister's cows were carried off by the thieves.Another attempt was made to renew the same act of rapine, and the cattlewere in the act of being driven off, when Butler, laying his professionaside in a case of such necessity, put himself at the head of some of hisneighbours, and rescued the creagh, an exploit at which Deans attended inperson, notwithstanding his extreme old age, mounted on a Highland pony,and girded with an old broadsword, likening himself (for he failed not toarrogate the whole merit of the expedition) to David, the son of Jesse,when he recovered the spoil of Ziklag from the Amalekites. This spiritedbehaviour had so far a good effect, that Donacha dhu na Dunaigh kept hisdistance for some time to come; and, though his distant exploits werefrequently spoken of, he did not exercise any depredations in that partof the country. He continued to flourish, and to be heard ofoccasionally, until the year 1751, when, if the fear of the second Davidhad kept him in check, fate released him from that restraint, for thevenerable patriarch of St. Leonard's was that year gathered to hisfathers.
David Deans died full of years and of honour. He is believed, for theexact time of his birth is not known, to have lived upwards of ninetyyears; for he used to speak of events as falling under his own knowledge,which happened about the time of the battle of Bothwell Bridge. It wassaid that he even bore arms there; for once, when a drunken Jacobitelaird wished for a Bothwell Brigg whig, that "he might stow the lugs outof his head," David informed him with a peculiar austerity ofcountenance, that, if he liked to try such a prank, there was one at hiselbow; and it required the interference of Butler to preserve the peace.
He expired in the arms of his beloved daughter, thankful for all theblessings which Providence had vouchsafed to him while in this valley ofstrife and toil--and thankful also for the trials he had been visitedwith; having found them, he said, needful to mortify that spiritual prideand confidence in his own gifts, which was the side on which the wilyEnemy did most sorely beset him. He prayed in the most affecting mannerfor Jeanie, her husband, and her family, and that her affectionate dutyto the puir auld man might purchase her length of days here, andhappiness hereafter; then, in a pathetic petition, too well understood bythose who knew his family circumstances, he besought the Shepherd ofsouls, while gathering his flock, not to forget the little one that hadstrayed from the fold, and even then might be in the hands of theravening wolf.--He prayed for the national Jerusalem, that peace might bein her land, and prosperity in her palaces--for the welfare of thehonourable House of Argyle, and for the conversion of Duncan ofKnockdunder. After this he was silent, being exhausted, nor did he againutter anything distinctly. He was heard, indeed, to mutter somethingabout national defections, right-hand extremes, and left-hand failingsoff; but, as May Hettly observed, his head was carried at the time; andit is probable that these expressions occurred to him merely out ofgeneral habit, and that he died in the full spirit of charity with allmen. About an hour afterwards he slept in the Lord.
Notwithstanding her father's advanced age, his death was a severe shockto Mrs. Butler. Much of her time had been dedicated to attending to hishealth and his wishes, and she felt as if part of her business in theworld was ended, when the good old man was no more. His wealth, whichcame nearly to fifteen hundred pounds, in disposable capital, served toraise the fortunes of the family at the Manse. How to dispose of this sumfor the best advantage of his family, was matter of anxious considerationto Butler. "If we put it on heritable bond, we shall maybe lose theinterest; for there's that bond over Lounsbeck's land, your father couldneither get principal nor interest for it--If we bring it into the funds,we shall maybe lose the principal and all, as many did in the South Seascheme. The little estate of Craigsture is in the market--it lies withintwo miles of the Manse, and Knock says his Grace has no thought to buyit. But they ask L2500, and they may, for it is worth the money; and wereI to borrow the balance, the creditor might call it up suddenly, or incase of my death my family might be distressed."
"And so if we had mair siller, we might buy that bonny pasture-ground,where the grass comes so early?" asked Jeanie.
"Certainly, my dear; and Knockdunder, who is a good judge, is stronglyadvising me to it. To be sure it is his nephew that is selling it."
"Aweel, Reuben," said Jeanie, "ye maun just look up a text in Scripture,as ye did when ye wanted siller before--just look up a text in theBible."
"Ah, Jeanie," said Butler, laughing and pressing her hand at the sametime, "the best people in these times can only work miracles once."
"We will see," said Jeanie composedly; and going to the closet in whichshe kept her honey, her sugar, her pots of jelly, her vials of the moreordinary medicines, and which served her, in short, as a sort ofstore-room, she jangled vials and gallipots, till, from out the darkestnook, well flanked by a triple row of bottles and jars, which she wasunder the n
ecessity of displacing, she brought a cracked brown cann, witha piece of leather tied over the top. Its contents seemed to be writtenpapers, thrust in disorder into this uncommon _secre'taire._ But fromamong these Jeanie brought an old clasped Bible, which had been DavidDeans's companion in his earlier wanderings, and which he had given tohis daughter when the failure of his eyes had compelled him to use one ofa larger print. This she gave to Butler, who had been looking at hermotions with some surprise, and desired him to see what that book coulddo for him. He opened the clasps, and to his astonishment a parcel of L50bank-notes dropped out from betwixt the leaves, where they had beenseparately lodged, and fluttered upon the floor. "I didna think to haetauld you o' my wealth, Reuben," said his wife, smiling at his surprise,"till on my deathbed, or maybe on some family pinch; but it wad be betterlaid out on yon bonny grass-holms, than lying useless here in this auldpigg."
"How on earth came ye by that siller, Jeanie?--Why, here is more than athousand pounds," said Butler, lifting up and counting the notes.
"If it were ten thousand, it's a' honestly come by," said Jeanie; "andtroth I kenna how muckle there is o't, but it's a' there that ever Igot.--And as for how I came by it, Reuben--it's weel come by, andhonestly, as I said before--And it's mair folk's secret than mine, or yewad hae kend about it lang syne; and as for onything else, I am not freeto answer mair questions about it, and ye maun just ask me nane."
"Answer me but one," said Butler. "Is it all freely and indisputably yourown property, to dispose of it as you think fit?--Is it possible no onehas a claim in so large a sum except you?"
"It _was_ mine, free to dispose of it as I like," answered Jeanie; "and Ihave disposed of it already, for now it is yours, Reuben--You are BibleButler now, as well as your forbear, that my puir father had sic an illwill at. Only, if ye like, I wad wish Femie to get a gude share o't whenwe are gane."
"Certainly, it shall be as you choose--But who on earth ever pitched onsuch a hiding-place for temporal treasures?"
"That is just ane o' my auld-fashioned gates, as you ca' them, Reuben. Ithought if Donacha Dhu was to make an outbreak upon us, the Bible was thelast thing in the house he wad meddle wi'--but an ony mair siller shoulddrap in, as it is not unlikely, I shall e'en pay it ower to you, and yemay lay it out your ain way."
"And I positively must not ask you how you have come by all this money?"said the clergyman.
"Indeed, Reuben, you must not; for if you were asking me very sair I wadmaybe tell you, and then I am sure I would do wrong."
"But tell me," said Butler, "is it anything that distresses your ownmind?"
"There is baith weal and woe come aye wi' world's gear, Reuben; but yemaun ask me naething mair--This siller binds me to naething, and cannever be speered back again."
"Surely," said Mr. Butler, when he had again counted over the money, asif to assure himself that the notes were real, "there was never man inthe world had a wife like mine--a blessing seems to follow her."
"Never," said Jeanie, "since the enchanted princess in the bairn's fairytale, that kamed gold nobles out o' the tae side of her haffit locks, andDutch dollars out o' the tother. But gang away now, minister, and put bythe siller, and dinna keep the notes wampishing in your hand that gate,or I shall wish them in the brown pigg again, for fear we get a blackcast about them--we're ower near the hills in these times to be thoughtto hae siller in the house. And, besides, ye maun gree wi' Knockdunder,that has the selling o' the lands; and dinna you be simple and let himken o' this windfa', but keep him to the very lowest penny, as if ye hadto borrow siller to make the price up."
In the last admonition, Jeanie showed distinctly, that, although she didnot understand how to secure the money which came into her handsotherwise than by saving and hoarding it, yet she had some part of herfather David's shrewdness, even upon worldly subjects. And Reuben Butlerwas a prudent man, and went and did even as his wife had advised him. Thenews quickly went abroad into the parish that the minister had boughtCraigsture; and some wished him joy, and some "were sorry it had gane outof the auld name." However, his clerical brethren, understanding that hewas under the necessity of going to Edinburgh about the ensuingWhitsunday, to get together David Deans's cash to make up thepurchase-money of his new acquisition, took the opportunity to name himtheir delegate to the General Assembly, or Convocation of the ScottishChurch, which takes place usually in the latter end of the month of May.