CHAPTER VII.
Thrice from the cavern's darksome womb Her groaning voice arose; And come, my daughter, fearless come, And fearless tell thy woes!
MEIKLE.
The dwelling of Norna, though none but a native of Zetland, familiar,during his whole life, with every variety of rock-scenery, could haveseen any thing ludicrous in this situation, was not unaptly compared byMagnus Troil to the eyry of the osprey, or sea-eagle. It was very small,and had been fabricated out of one of those dens which are called Burghsand Picts-houses in Zetland, and Duns on the mainland of Scotland andthe Hebrides, and which seem to be the first effort at architecture--theconnecting link betwixt a fox's hole in a cairn of loose stones, and anattempt to construct a human habitation out of the same materials,without the use of lime or cement of any kind,--without any timber, sofar as can be seen from their remains,--without any knowledge of thearch or of the stair. Such as they are, however, the numerous remains ofthese dwellings--for there is one found on every headland, islet, orpoint of vantage, which could afford the inhabitants additional means ofdefence--tend to prove that the remote people by whom these Burghs wereconstructed, were a numerous race, and that the islands had then a muchgreater population, than, from other circumstances, we might have beenled to anticipate.
The Burgh of which we at present speak had been altered and repaired ata later period, probably by some petty despot, or sea-rover, who,tempted by the security of the situation, which occupied the whole of aprojecting point of rock, and was divided from the mainland by a rent orchasm of some depth, had built some additions to it in the rudest styleof Gothic defensive architecture;--had plastered the inside with limeand clay, and broken out windows for the admission of light and air;and, finally, by roofing it over, and dividing it into stories, by meansof beams of wreck-wood, had converted the whole into a tower, resemblinga pyramidical dovecot, formed by a double wall, still containing withinits thickness that set of circular galleries, or concentric rings, whichis proper to all the forts of this primitive construction, and whichseem to have constituted the only shelter which they were originallyqualified to afford to their shivering inhabitants.[18]
This singular habitation, built out of the loose stones which layscattered around, and exposed for ages to the vicissitudes of theelements, was as grey, weatherbeaten, and wasted, as the rock on whichit was founded, and from which it could not easily be distinguished, socompletely did it resemble in colour, and so little did it differ inregularity of shape, from a pinnacle or fragment of the cliff.
Minna's habitual indifference to all that of late had passed around her,was for a moment suspended by the sight of an abode, which, at anotherand happier period of her life, would have attracted at once hercuriosity and her wonder. Even now she seemed to feel interest as shegazed upon this singular retreat, and recollected it was that of certainmisery and probable insanity, connected, as its inhabitant asserted, andMinna's faith admitted, with power over the elements, and the capacityof intercourse with the invisible world.
"Our kinswoman," she muttered, "has chosen her dwelling well, with nomore of earth than a sea-fowl might rest upon, and all around sightlesstempests and raging waves. Despair and magical power could not have afitter residence."
Brenda, on the other hand, shuddered when she looked on the dwelling towhich they were advancing, by a difficult, dangerous, and precariouspath, which sometimes, to her great terror, approached to the verge ofthe precipice; so that, Zetlander as she was, and confident as she hadreason to be, in the steadiness and sagacity of the sure-footed pony,she could scarce suppress an inclination to giddiness, especially at onepoint, when, being foremost of the party, and turning a sharp angle ofthe rock, her feet, as they projected from the side of the pony, hungfor an instant sheer over the ledge of the precipice, so that there wasnothing save empty space betwixt the sole of her shoe and the white foamof the vexed ocean, which dashed, howled, and foamed, five hundred feetbelow. What would have driven a maiden of another country into delirium,gave her but a momentary uneasiness, which was instantly lost in thehope that the impression which the scene appeared to make on hersister's imagination might be favourable to her cure.
She could not help looking back to see how Minna should pass the pointof peril, which she herself had just rounded; and could hear thestrong voice of the Udaller, though to him such rough paths werefamiliar as the smooth sea-beach, call, in a tone of some anxiety, "Takeheed, jarto,"[19] as Minna, with an eager look, dropped her bridle, andstretched forward her arms, and even her body, over the precipice, inthe attitude of the wild swan, when balancing itself, and spreading itsbroad pinions, it prepares to launch from the cliff upon the bosom ofthe winds. Brenda felt, at that instant, a pang of unutterable terror,which left a strong impression on her nerves, even when relieved, as itinstantly was, by her sister recovering herself and sitting upright onher saddle, the opportunity and temptation (if she felt it) passingaway, as the quiet steady animal which supported her rounded theprojecting angle, and turned its patient and firm step from the verge ofthe precipice.
They now attained a more level and open space of ground, being the flattop of an isthmus of projecting rock, narrowing again towards a pointwhere it was terminated by the chasm which separated the small peak, or_stack_, occupied by Norna's habitation, from the main ridge of cliffand precipice. This natural fosse, which seemed to have been the work ofsome convulsion of nature, was deep, dark, and irregular, narrowertowards the bottom, which could not be distinctly seen, and widest attop, having the appearance as if that part of the cliff occupied by thebuilding had been half rent away from the isthmus which itterminated,--an idea favoured by the angle at which it seemed to recedefrom the land, and lean towards the sea, with the building which crownedit.
This angle of projection was so considerable, that it requiredrecollection to dispel the idea that the rock, so much removed from theperpendicular, was about to precipitate itself seaward, with its oldtower: and a timorous person would have been afraid to put foot upon it,lest an addition of weight, so inconsiderable as that of the human body,should hasten a catastrophe which seemed at every instant impending.
Without troubling himself about such fantasies, the Udaller rode towardsthe tower, and there dismounting along with his daughters, gave theponies in charge to one of their domestics, with directions todisencumber them of their burdens, and turn them out for rest andrefreshment upon the nearest heath. This done, they approached the gate,which seemed formerly to have been connected with the land by a rudedrawbridge, some of the apparatus of which was still visible. But therest had been long demolished, and was replaced by a stationaryfootbridge, formed of barrel-staves covered with turf, very narrow andledgeless, and supported by a sort of arch, constructed out of thejaw-bones of the whale. Along this "brigg of dread" the Udaller steppedwith his usual portly majesty of stride, which threatened its demolitionand his own at the same time; his daughters trode more lightly and moresafely after him, and the whole party stood before the low and ruggedportal of Norna's habitation.
"If she should be abroad after all," said Magnus, as he plied the blackoaken door with repeated blows;--"but if so, we will at least lie by aday for her return, and make Nick Strumpfer pay the demurrage in blandand brandy."
As he spoke, the door opened, and displayed, to the alarm of Brenda,and the surprise of Minna herself, a square-made dwarf, about four feetfive inches high, with a head of most portentous size, and featurescorrespondent--namely, a huge mouth, a tremendous nose, with large blacknostrils, which seemed to have been slit upwards, blubber lips of anunconscionable size, and huge wall-eyes, with which he leared, sneered,grinned, and goggled on the Udaller as an old acquaintance, withoututtering a single word. The young women could hardly persuade themselvesthat they did not see before their eyes the very demon Trolld, who madesuch a distinguished figure in Norna's legend. Their father went onaddressing this uncouth apparition in terms of such condescendingfrien
dship as the better sort apply to their inferiors, when they wish,for any immediate purpose, to conciliate or coax them,--a tone, by theby, which generally contains, in its very familiarity, as much offenceas the more direct assumption of distance and superiority.
"Ha, Nick! honest Nick!" said the Udaller, "here you are, lively andlovely as Saint Nicholas your namesake, when he is carved with an axefor the headpiece of a Dutch dogger. How dost thou do, Nick, or Pacolet,if you like that better? Nicholas, here are my two daughters, nearly ashandsome as thyself thou seest."
Nick grinned, and did a clumsy obeisance by way of courtesy, but kepthis broad misshapen person firmly placed in the doorway.
"Daughters," continued the Udaller, who seemed to have his reasons forspeaking this Cerberus fair, at least according to his own notions ofpropitiation,--"this is Nick Strumpfer, maidens, whom his mistress callsPacolet, being a light-limbed dwarf, as you see, like him that wont tofly about, like a _Scourie_, on his wooden hobbyhorse, in the oldstorybook of Valentine and Orson, that you, Minna, used to read whilstyou were a child. I assure you he can keep his mistress's counsel, andnever told one of her secrets in his life--ha, ha, ha!"
The ugly dwarf grinned ten times wider than before, and showed themeaning of the Udaller's jest, by opening his immense jaws, and throwingback his head, so as to discover, that, in the immense cavity of hismouth, there only remained the small shrivelled remnant of a tongue,capable, perhaps, of assisting him in swallowing his food, but unequalto the formation of articulate sounds. Whether this organ had beencurtailed by cruelty, or injured by disease, it was impossible to guess;but that the unfortunate being had not been originally dumb, was evidentfrom his retaining the sense of hearing. Having made this horribleexhibition, he repaid the Udaller's mirth with a loud, horrid, anddiscordant laugh, which had something in it the more hideous that hismirth seemed to be excited by his own misery. The sisters looked on eachother in silence and fear, and even the Udaller appeared disconcerted.
"And how now?" he proceeded, after a minute's pause. "When didst thouwash that throat of thine, that is about the width of the PentlandFrith, with a cup of brandy? Ha, Nick! I have that with me which issound stuff, boy, ha!"
The dwarf bent his beetle-brows, shook his misshapen head, and made aquick sharp indication, throwing his right hand up to his shoulder withthe thumb pointed backwards.
"What! my kinswoman," said the Udaller, comprehending the signal, "willbe angry? Well, shalt have a flask to carouse when she is from home,old acquaintance;--lips and throats may swallow though they cannotspeak."
Pacolet grinned a grim assent.
"And now," said the Udaller, "stand out of the way, Pacolet, and let mecarry my daughters to see their kinswoman. By the bones of Saint Magnus,it shall be a good turn in thy way!--nay, never shake thy head, man; forif thy mistress be at home, see her we will."
The dwarf again intimated the impossibility of their being admitted,partly by signs, partly by mumbling some uncouth and most disagreeablesounds, and the Udaller's mood began to arise.
"Tittle tattle, man!" said he; "trouble not me with thy gibberish, butstand out of the way, and the blame, if there be any, shall rest withme."
So saying, Magnus Troil laid his sturdy hand upon the collar of therecusant dwarf's jacket of blue wadmaal, and, with a strong, but not aviolent grasp, removed him from the doorway, pushed him gently aside,and entered, followed by his two daughters, whom a sense ofapprehension, arising out of all which they saw and heard, kept veryclose to him. A crooked and dusky passage through which Magnus led theway, was dimly enlightened by a shot-hole, communicating with theinterior of the building, and originally intended, doubtless, to commandthe entrance by a hagbut or culverin. As they approached nearer, forthey walked slowly and with hesitation, the light, imperfect as it was,was suddenly obscured; and, on looking upward to discern the cause,Brenda was startled to observe the pale and obscurely-seen countenanceof Norna gazing downward upon them, without speaking a word. There wasnothing extraordinary in this, as the mistress of the mansion might benaturally enough looking out to see what guests were thus suddenly andunceremoniously intruding themselves on her presence. Still, however,the natural paleness of her features, exaggerated by the light in whichthey were at present exhibited,--the immovable sternness of her look,which showed neither kindness nor courtesy of civil reception,--her deadsilence, and the singular appearance of every thing about her dwelling,augmented the dismay which Brenda had already conceived. Magnus Troiland Minna had walked slowly forward, without observing the apparition oftheir singular hostess.
FOOTNOTES:
[18] Note III.--The Pictish Burgh.
[19] _Jarto_, my dear.