THE
THREE PERILS OF MAN
CHAPTER I
There was a king and a courteous king
And he had a daughter sae bonnie
And he loed that maiden aboon a thing
I the bonnie bonnie halls o Binnorie
But wae be to thee thou warlock wight
My malison come oer thee
For thou hast undone the bravest knight
That ever brak bread i Binnorie
Old Song
The days of the Stuarts kings of Scotland were the days of chivalry and romance The long and bloody contest that the nation maintained against the whole power of England for the recovery of its independence—of those rights which had been most unwarrantably wrested from our fathers by the greatest and most treacherous sovereign of that age with the successful2 and glorious issue of the war laid the foundation for this spirit of heroism which appears to have been at its zenith about the time that the Stuarts first acquired the sovereignty of the realm The deeds of the Douglasses the Randolphs and other border barons of that day are not to be equalled by any recorded in our annals while the reprisals that they made upon the English in retaliation for former injuries enriched both them and their followers and rendered their appearance splendid and imposing to a degree that would scarcely now gain credit It was no uncommon thing for a Scottish earl then to visit the Court at the head of a thousand horsemen all splendidly mounted in their military accoutrements and many of these gentlemen of rank and family In court and camp feats of arms were the topic of conversation and the only die that stamped the character of a man of renown either with the fair the monarch or the chiefs of the land No gentleman of noble blood would pay his addresses to his mistress until he had broken a spear with3 the knights of the rival nation surprised a stronghold or driven a prey from the kinsmen of the Piercies the Musgraves or the Howards As in all other things that run to a fashionable extremity the fair sex took the lead in encouraging these deeds of chivalry till it came to have the appearance of a national mania There were tournaments at the castle of every feudal baron and knight The ploughmen and drivers were often discovered on returning from the fields hotly engaged in a tilting bout with their goads and ploughstaves and even the little boys and maidens on the village green each well mounted on a crooked stick were daily engaged in the combat and riding rank and file against each other breaking their tiny weapons in the furious onset while the mimic fire flashed from their eyes Then was the play of Scots and English begun a favourite one on the school green to this day Such was the spirit of the age not only in Scotland but over all the countries of southern Europe when the romantic incidents occurred on which the following4 tale is founded It was taken down from the manuscript of an old Curate who had spent the latter part of his life in the village of Mireton and was given to the present Editor by one of those tenants who now till the valley where stood the richest city of this realm
There were once a noble king and queen of Scotland as many in that land have been—In this notable telltale manner does old Isaac the curate begin his narrative It will be seen in the sequel that this king and queen were Robert the Second and his consort—They were beloved by all their subjects continues he and loved and favoured them in return and the country enjoyed happiness and peace all save a part adjoining to the borders of England The strong castle of Roxburgh which was the key of that country had been five times taken by the English and three times by the Scots in less than seventeen months and was then held by the gallant Lord Musgrave for Richard king of England
Our worthy king had one daughter of5 exquisite beauty and accomplishments the flower of all Scotland and her name was Margaret This princess was courted by many of the principal nobility of the land who all eagerly sought an alliance with the royal family not only for the additional honour and power which it conferred on them and their posterity but for the personal charms of the lady which were of that high eminence that no man could look on her without admiration This emulation of the lords kept the court of King Robert full of bustle homage and splendour All were anxious to frustrate the designs of their opponents and to forward their own so that high jealousies were often apparent in the sharp retorts stern looks and nodding plumes of the rival wooers and as the princess had never disclosed her partiality for one above another it was judged that Robert scarcely dared openly to give the preference to any of them A circumstance however soon occurred which brought the matter fairly to the test
It happened on a lovely summer day at6 the end of July that three and twenty noble rivals for the hand of the beauteous princess were all assembled at the palace of Linlithgow but the usual gaiety mirth and repartee did not prevail for the king had received bad tidings that day and he sat gloomy and sad
Musgrave had issued from the castle of Roxburgh had surprised the castle of Jedburgh and taken prisoner William brother to the lord of Galloway slain many loyal Scottish subjects and wasted Teviotdale with fire and sword The conversation turned wholly on the state of affairs on the border and the misery to which that country was exposed by the castle of Roxburgh remaining in the hands of the English and at length the king enquired impatiently how it came that Sir Philip Musgrave had surprised the castle this last time when his subjects were so well aware of their danger
The earl of Hume made answer that it was wholly an affair of chivalry and one of the bravest and noblest acts that ever was performed Musgraves mistress the7 lady Jane Howard of the blood royal and the greatest heiress of the north of England had refused to see him unless he gained back his honour by the retaking of that perilous castle and keeping it against all force intercession or guile till the end of the Christmas holidays That he had accomplished the former in the most gallant stile and from the measures that he had adopted and the additional fortifications that he had raised there was every possibility that he would achieve the latter
What said the king must the spirit of chivalry then be confined to the country of our enemies Have our noble dames of Scotland less heroism in their constitutions than those of the south Have they fewer of the charms of beauty or have their lovers less spirit to fulfil their commands By this sceptre in my right hand I will give my daughter the princess Margaret to the knight who shall take that castle of Roxburgh out of the hands of the English before the expiry of the Christmas holidays
8
Every lord and knight was instantly on his feet to accept the proposal and every one had his hand stretched towards the royal chair for audience when Margaret arose herself from the kings left hand where she was seated and flinging her left arm backward on which swung a scarf of gold and stretching her right that gleamed with bracelets of rubies and diamonds along the festive board Hold my noble lords said she I am too deeply interested here not to have a word to say The grandchild of the great Bruce must not be given away to every adventurer without her own approval Who among you will venture his honour and his life for me Every knight waved his right hand aloft and dashed it on the hilt of his sword eyeing the graceful attitude and dignified form of the princess with raptures of delight It is well continued she the spirit of chivalry has not deserted the Scottish nation—hear me then My fathers vow shall stand I will give my hand in marriage to the knight who shall take that castle for the king my father9 before the expiry of the Christmas holidays and rid our border of that nest of reavers but with this proviso only that in case of his attempting and failing in the undertaking he shall forfeit all his lands castles towns and towers to me which shall form a part of my marriageportion to his rival Is it fit that the daughter of a king should be given up or won as circumstances may suit or that the risk should all be on one side Who would be so unreasonable as expect it This then with the concurrence of my lord and father is my determination and by it will I stand
The conditions were grievously hard and had a damping and dismal effect on the courtly circle The light of every eye deadened into a dim and sullen scowl It was a deed that promised glory and renown to adventure their blood for such a dame—to win such a lady as the Princess of Scotland But to give up their broad lands and castles to enrich a hated rival was an obnoxious consideration and what in all likelihood was to be the issue When10 all the forces of the land had been unable to take the castle by storm where was the probability that any of them was now to succeed None accepted the conditions Some remained silent some shook their heads and muttered incoherent mumblings others strode about the room as if in private consultation
My honoured liege said Lady Margaret none of the lords or knights of your court have the spirit to accept of my conditions Be pleased then to grant me a sufficient force I shall choose the officers for them myself and I engage to take the castle of Roxburgh before Christmas I will disappoint the bloody Musgrave of his bride and the world shall see whether the charms of Lady Jane Howard or those of Margaret Stuart shall rouse their admirers to deeds of the most desperate valour Before the Christmas bells have tolled that shall be tried on the rocks in the rivers in the air and the bowels of the earth In the event of my enterprise proving succesful all the guerdon that I ask is the full and free liberty of giving my hand to11 whom I will It shall be to no one that is here And so saying she struck it upon the table and again took her seat at the kings left hand
Every foot rung on the floor with a furious tramp in unison with that stroke of the princesss hand The taunt was not to be brooked Nor was it The haughty blood of the Douglasses could bear it no longer James the gallant earl of Douglas and Mar stepped forward from the circle My honoured liege and master said he I have not declined the princesss offer—beshrew my heart if ever it embraced such a purpose But the stake is deep and a moments consideration excusable I have considered and likewise decided I accept the ladys proposals With my own vassals alone and at my own sole charge will I rescue the castle from the hands of our enemies or perish in the attempt The odds are high against me But it is now a Douglas or a Musgrave God prosper the bravest
Spoken like yourself noble Douglas said the king The higher the stake the12 greater the honour The task be yours and may the issue add another laurel to the heroic name
James of Douglas said Lady Margaret dost thou indeed accept of these hard conditions for my sake Then the hand of thy royal mistress shall buckle on the armour in which thou goest to the field but never shall unloose it unless from a victor or a corse And with that she stretched forth her hand which Douglas as he kneeled with one knee on the ground took and pressed to his lips
Every one of the nobles shook Douglas by the hand and wished him success Does any man believe that there was one among them that indeed wished it No there was not a chief present that would not have rejoiced to have seen him led to the gallows His power was too high already and they dreaded that now it might be higher than ever and moreover they saw themselves outdone by him in heroism and felt degraded by the contract thus concluded
The standard of the Douglas was reared13 and the bloody heart flew far over many a lowland dale The subordinate gentlemen rose with their vassals and followed the banner of their chief but the more powerful kept aloof or sent ambiguous answers They deemed the service undertaken little better than the frenzy of a madman
There was at that time a powerful border baron nicknamed Sir Ringan Redhough by which name alone he was distinguished all the rest of his life He was warden of the middle marches and head of the most warlike and adventurous sept in all that country The answer which this hero gave to his own cousin Thomas Middlemas who came to expostulate with him from Douglas is still preserved verbatim What man are a my brave lads to lie in bloody claes that the Douglas may lie i snawwhite sheets wi a bonny bedfellow Will that keep the braid border for the king my master Tell him to keep their hands fu an their haunches toom an theyll soon be blythe to leave the lass an loup at the ladle an the fient ae cloot shall cross the border to14 gar their pots play brown atween Dirdanhead and Cocketfell Tell him this an tell him that Redhough said it If he dinna work by wiles hell never pouch the profit But if he canna do it an owns that he canna do it let him send word to me an Ill tak it for him
With these words he turned his back and abruptly left his cousin who returned to Douglas ill satisfied with the success of his message but nevertheless delivered it faithfully That curst carle said the Douglas is a thorn in my thigh as well as a buckler on my arm Hes as cunning as a fox as stubborn as an oak and as fierce as a lion I must temporize for the present as I cannot do without his support but the time may come that he may be humbled and made to know his betters since one endeavour has failed we must try another and if that do not succeed another still
The day after that as Sir Ringan was walking out at his own gate an old man with a cowl and a long grey beard accosted him May the great spirit of the15 elements shield thee and be thy protector knight said he
An wha may he be carle an it be your will said Ringan An wha may ye be that gie me sic a sachless benediction As to my shield and protection look ye here and with that he touched his twohanded sword and a sheaf of arrows that was swung at his shoulder an what are all your saints and lang nebbit spirits to me
It was a random salutation knight said the old man seeing his mood and temper I am not a priest but a prophet I come not to load you with blessings curses nor homilies all equally unavailing but to tell you what shall be in the times that are to come I have had visions of futurity that have torn up the tendrils of my spirit by the roots Would you like to know what is to befal you and your house in the times that are to come
I never believe a word that you warlocks say replied the knight but I like aye to hear what you will say about matters though it is merely to laugh at ye16 for I dinna gie credit to ane o your predictions Sin the Rhymers days the spirit o true warlockry is gane He foretauld muckle that has turned out true an something that I hope will turn out true But yere a bairns to him
Knight said the stranger I can tell you more than ever the Rhymer conceived or thought upon and moreover I can explain the words of True Thomas which neither you nor those to whom they relate in the smallest degree comprehend Knowest thou the prophecy of the Hart and the Deer as it is called
Quhere the hearte heavit in het blude over hill and howe
There shall the dinke deire droule for the dowe
Two fleite footyde maydenis shall tredde the greine
And the mone and the starre shall flashe betweine
Quhere the proude hiche halde and heveye hande beire
Ane frenauch shall feide on ane faderis frene feire
In dinging at the starris the D shall doupe down
But the S shall be S quhane the heide S is gone
I hae heard the reide often and often said the knight but the mans unborn17 that can understand that Though the prophecies and the legends of the Rhymer take the lead i my lear I hae always been obliged to make that a passover
There is not one of all his sayings that relates as much to you and your house knight It foretels that the arms of your family shall supersede those of Douglas which you know are the bloody heart and that in endeavouring to exalt himself to the stars the D that is the Douglas shall fall but that your house and name shall remain when the Stuarts are no more
By the horned beasts of Old England my fathers portion and my sons undiminished hope exclaimed the knight—Thou art a cunning man I now see the bearing o the prophecy as plainly as I see the hill of Mountcomyn before my ee and as I know Thomas never is wrong I believe it Now is the time auld warlock—now is the time hes ettling at a kings daughter but his neck lies in wad and the forfeit will be his undoing
The time is not yet come valiant knight nevertheless the prophecy is true18 Has thy horses hoof ever trode or thine eye journeyed over the Nine Glens of Niddisdale
I hae whiles gotten a glisk o them
They are extensive rich and beautiful
Theyre nae less auld carle theyre nae less They can send nine thousand leel men an stout to the field in a pinch
It is recorded in the book of fate—it is written there—
The devil it is auld carle thats mair than I thought o
Hold thy peace lay thine hand upon thy mouth and be silent till I explain I say I have seen it in the visions of the night—I have seen it in the stars of heaven—
What the Nine Glens o Niddisdale amang the starns o heaven by hoof and horn it was rarely seen warlock
I say that I have seen it—they are all to belong to thy house
Niddisdale a to pertain to my house
All
Carle I gie nae credit to sic forbodings19 but I have heard something like this afore Will ye stay till I bring my son Robin the young Master of Mountcomyn and let him hear it For aince a man takes a mark on his way I wadna hae him to tine sight ot Mony a time has the tail o the kings elwand pointed me the way to Cumberland an as often has the ee o the Charliewain blinkit me hame again A mans nae the waur o a bit beacon o some kind—a bit hope set afore him auld carle an the Nine Glens o Niddisdale are nae WillieantheWisp in a lads ee
From Roxburgh castle to the tower of Sark—
Whats the auldwarld birkie saying
From the Deadwaterfell to the Linns of Cannoby—from the Linns of Cannoby to the heights of Manor and the Deucharswire—shall thy son and the representatives of thy house ride on their own lands
May ane look at your foot carle Take off that huge wooden sandal an it be your will
Wherefore should I knight
20
Because I dread ye are either the devil or Master Michael Scott
Whoever I am I am a friend to you and to yours and have told you the words of truth I have but one word more to say—Act always in concert with the Douglasses while they act in concert with the king your master—not a day nor an hour nor a moment longer It is thus and thus alone that you must rise and the Douglas fall Remember the words of True Thomas—
Quhane the wingit hors at his maistere sal wince
Let wyse men cheat the chevysance
There is something mair about you than other folk auld man If ye be my kinsman Michael Scott the warlock I crave your pardon Master but if you are that dreadfu carle—I mean that learned and wonderfu man why you are welcome to my castle But you are not to turn my auld wife into a hare Master an hunt her up an down the hills wi my ain grews nor my callants into naigs to scamper about on i the nighttime when they hae ither21 occupations to mind There is naething i my tower that isna at your command for troth I wad rather brow a the Has and the Howards afore I beardit you
I set no foot in your halls knight This night is a night among many to me and wo would be to me if any thing canopied my head save the cope of heaven There are horoscopes to be read this night for a thousand years to come One cake of your bread and one cup of your wine is all that the old wizard requests of you and that he must have
The knight turned back and led the seer into the innercourt and fed him with bread and wine and every good thing but well he noted that he asked no holy benediction on them like the palmers and priors that wandered about the country and therefore he had some lurking dread of the old man He did not thank the knight for his courtesy but wiping his snowy beard he turned abruptly away and strode out at the gate of the castle Sir Ringan kept an eye on him privately till he saw him reach the top of Blake Law22 a small dark hill immediately above the castle There he stopped and looked around him and taking two green sods he placed the one above the other and laid himself down on his back resting his head upon the two sods—his body half raised and his eyes fixed on heaven The knight was almost frightened to look at him but sliding into the cleuch he ran secretly down to the tower to bring his lady to see this wonderful old warlock When they came back he was gone and no trace of him to be seen nor saw they him any more at that time
23
CHAPTER II
This mans the devils fellow commoner
A verie cloakebag of iniquitie
His butteries and his craboun he deschargeth
Flasche not by airt or reule Is it meet
A Ploydenist should be a cedant arma togae
Mounted on a trapt palfrey with a dishe
Of velvatte on his heide to keepe the brothe
Of his wit warm The devil my maisteris
There is no dame in Venice shall indure itt
Old Play
Whilst the knight and his lady were looking about in amazement for their mysterious guest the towerwarder sounded the great bugle a tremendous horn that lay on a shelf in the balcony where he kept watch One—two—three said the knight counting the three distinct notes—a signal of which he well knew the language—What can that mean I am wanted it would appear another messenger from the Douglas I warrant
Sir Ringan keep by that is your own said the lady—I say mind your own concerns and let the Douglas mind his
24
Dame said the chief I hae gotten some mair insight into that affair than you an we maun talk about it by an by In the meantime let us haste home and see who is arrived
As they descended from the hill hand in hand for none walked arm in arm in those days they saw Richard Dodds a landward laird coming to meet them Oh said Sir Ringan this is my officious cousin Dickie o Dryhope what business can he be come upon It will be something that he deems of great importance
I hate that old fawning flattering sycophant said the lady and cannot divine what is the cause of your partiality for him
It is his attachment to our house that I admire and his perfect devotion to my service and interests said the knight
Mere sound exclaimed the lady bitterly Mere waste of superfluous breath I tell you Sir Ringan that for all your bravery candour and kindness you are a mere novice in the affairs of life and know25 less of men and of things than ever knight did
It is a great fault in women said the knight making his observation general that they will aye be meddling wi things they ken nought about They think they ken every thing an wad gar ane trow that they can see an inch into a fir deal—Gude help them It is just as unfeasible to hear a lady discussing the merits of warriors an yeomen as it wad be to see me sitting nursing a wenchbairn
Foh what an uncourtly term said the lady What would King Robert think if he heard you speaking in that uncouth stile
I speak muckle better than him wi his short clippit Highland tongue said the chief But hush here comes the redoubted Dickie o Dryhope
No sooner were the knight and his ladys eyes turned so as to meet Dickies than he whipped off his bonnet with a graceful swing and made a low bow his thin gray locks waving as he bowed Dickie was a tall lean toothless old bachelor whose26 whole soul and body were devoted to the fair sex and the house of his chief These two mighty concerns divided his attention and often mingled with one another his enthusiasm for the one by any sudden change of subjects or concatenation of ideas being frequently transferred to the other Dickie approached with his bonnet in his hand bowing every time the knight and lady lifted their eyes When they met Sir Ringan shook him heartily by the hand and welcomed him to the castle of Mountcomyn
Oh you are so good and so kind Sir Ringan bless you bless you bless you noble sir how do you thrive Sir Ringan bless you bless you And my excellent and noble lady Mountcomyn how is my noble dame
Thank you said the lady coldly
Dickie looked as if he would have shaken hands with her or embraced her as the custom then was but she made no proffer of either the one or the other and he was obliged to keep his distance but this had no effect in checking his adulations27 I am so glad that my excellent lady is well and the young squires and maidens all brisk and whole I hope
All well cousin said the chief
Eh all well reiterated Dickie Oh the dear delightful darling souls O bless them If they be but as well as I wish them and as good as I wish—If the squires be but half so brave as their father and the noble young sweet dames half so beautiful as their lady mother—oh bless them bless them And half so independent and honest as their cousin said the lady with a rebuking sneer
Very pleasant very pleasant indeed simpered Dickie without daring to take his lips far asunder lest his toothless gums should be seen
Such babyish flummery rejoined the lady with great emphasis Dickie was somewhat abashed His eyes that were kindled with a glow of filial rapture appeared as with flattened pupils nevertheless the benignant smile did not altogether desert his features The knight gave a short look off at one side to his lady It is a28 great fault in ladies cousin said he that they will always be breaking their jokes on those that they like best and always pretending to keep at a distance from them My lady thinks to blind my een as many a dame has done to her husband afore this time but I ken an some mae ken too that if theres ane o a my kin that I durstna trust my lady wi when my backs turned that anes Dickie o Dryhope
Hm hm hm neighed Dickie laughing with his lips shut My ladys so pleasant and so kind but—Oh—no no—you wrong her knight hm hm hm But all joking and gibing aside—my ladys very pleasant I came express to inform you Sir Ringan that the Douglasses are up
I knew it
And the Maxwells—and the Gordons—and the hurklebacked Hendersons
Well
And Sir Christopher Seton is up—and the Elliots and the Laird of Tibbers is up
Well well
I came expressly to inform you—
29
Came with pipers news said the lady which the fiddler has told before you
That is very good said Dickie My lady is so delightfully pleasant—I thought Sir Ringan would be going to rise with the rest and came for directions as to raising my men
How many men can the powerful Laird of Dryhope muster in support of the warden said Lady Mountcomyn
Mine are all at his command my worthy lady knows that said Dickie bowing Every one at his command
I think said she that at the battle of Blakehope you furnished only two who were so famished with hunger that they could not bear arms far less fight
Very pleasant in sooth hm hm I declare I am delighted with my ladys good humour
You may however keep your couple of scarecrows at home for the present and give them something to eat continued she the warden has other matters to mind than wasting his vassals that the Douglas may wive
30
Very true and excellent good sense said Dickie
Well talk of that anon said Sir Ringan And with that they went into the castle and sat down to dinner There were twelve gentlemen and nine maidens present exclusive of the knights own family and they took their places on each side as the lady named them When Sir Ringan lifted up his eyes and saw the station that Dickie occupied he was dissatisfied but instantly found a remedy Davies Pate said he to the lad that waited behind him mak that bowiefu o cauld plovers change places wi yon sautfaut instantly before meat be put to mouth The order was no sooner given than obeyed and the new arrangement placed Dickie fairly above the salt
The dining apparatus at the castle of Mountcomyn was homely but the fare was abundant A dozen yeomen stood behind with long knives and slashed down the beef and venison into small pieces which they placed before the guests in wooden plates so that there was no knife used at31 the dining board All ate heartily but none with more industry than Dickie who took not even time all the while to make the complaisant observation that my lady was so pleasant
Dinner being over the younger branches of the family retired and all the kinsmen not of the first rank pretending some business that called them away likewise disappeared so that none were left with the knight and his lady save six The lady tried the effect of several broad hints on Dickie but he took them all in good part and declared that he never saw his lady so pleasant in his life And now a serious consultation ensued on the propriety of lending assistance to the Douglas Sir Ringan first put the question to his friends without any observation The lady took up the argument and reasoned strongly against the measure Dickie was in raptures with his ladys good sense and declared her arguments unanswerable Most of the gentlemen seemed to acquiesce in the same measure on the ground that as matters stood they could not rise at the Douglas32 call on that occasion without being considered as a subordinate family which neither the king nor the Douglas had any right to suppose them and so strongly and warmly ran the argument on that side that it was likely to be decided on without the chief having said a word on the subject Simon of Gemelscleuch alone ventured to dissent I have only to remark my gallant kinsmen said he that our decision in this matter is likely to prove highly eventful Without our aid the force of the Douglas is incompetent to the task and the castle will then remain in the hands of the English than which nothing can be more grievously against our interest If he be defeated and forfeit his lands the power of the Border will then remain with us but should he succeed without our assistance and become the kings soninlaw it will be a hard game with us to keep the footing that we have I conceive therefore that in withdrawing our support we risk every thing—in lending it we risk nothing but blows33 All the kinsmen were silent Dickie looked at my Lady Mountcomyn
It is well known that there is an old prophecy existing said she that a Scot shall sit in the Douglas chair and be lord of all his domains Well would it be for the country if that were so But to support the overgrown power of that house is not the way to accomplish so desirable an object
That is true said Dickie Ill defy any man to go beyond what my lady says or indeed whatever she says
Have we not had instances of their jealousy already continued she
We have had instances of their jealousy already said Dickie interrupting her
And should we raise him to be the kings soninlaw he would kick us for our pains rejoined she
Ay he would kick us for our pains said Dickie think of that
Either please to drop your responses Sir said she sternly or leave the hall I would rather hear a raven croak on my34 turret in the day of battle than the tongue of a flatterer or sycophant
That is very good indeed said Dickie My lady is so pleasant hm hm hm Excellent hm hm hm
Sir Ringan saw his lady drawing herself up in high indignation and dreading that his poor kinsman would bring on himself such a rebuke as would banish him the hall for ever he interposed Cousin said he its a great fault in women that they canna bide interruption an the mair they stand in need ot they take it the waur But I have not told you all yet a very singular circumstance has happened to me this day Who do you think I found waylaying me at my gate but our kinsman the powerful old warlock Master Michael Scott
Master Michael Scott exclaimed the whole circle every one holding up his hands has he ventured to be seen by man once more Then there is something uncommon to befal or perhaps the world is coming to an end
God forbid said Redhough It is35 true that for seven years he has been pent up in his enchanted tower at Aikwood without speaking to any one save his spirits but though I do not know him this must have been he for he has told me such things as will astonish you and moreover when he left me he laid himself down on the top of the Little Law on his back and the devils carried him away bodily through the air or down through the earth and I saw no more of him
All agreed that it had been the great magician Master Michael Scott Sir Ringan then rehearsed the conversation that had passed between the wizard and himself All the circle heard this with astonishment some with suspense and others with conviction but Dickie with raptures of delight He assured me said Redhough that my son should ride on his own land from Roxburgh to the Deadwaterfell
From Roxburgh to the Deadwaterfell cried Dickie think of that all the links of the bonny Teviot and Slitterick ha ha lads think of that and he clapped36 his hands aloud without daring to turn his eyes to the head of the table
And from the Deadwaterfell to the tower o Sark rejoined the knight
To the tower of Sark exclaimed Dickie H— have a care of us think of that All the dales of Liddel and Ewes and the fertile fields of Cannobie Who will be king of the Border then my lads who will be king of the Border then ha ha ha
And from the fords of Sark to the Deucharswire added Sir Ringan
Dickie sprang to his feet and seizing a huge timber trencher he waved it round his head The chief beckoned for silence but Dickies eyes were glistening with raprures and it was with great difficulty he repressed his vociferations
And over the Nine Glens of Niddisdale beside said Sir Ringan
Dickie could be restrained no longer He brayed out Hurrah hurrah and waved his trencher round his head
All the Esk and the braid Forest and the Nine Glens o Niddisdale Hurrah37 Hurrah Mountcomyn for ever The warden for ever hu hu hu
The knight and his friends were obliged to smile at Dickies outrageous joy but the lady rose and went out in high dudgeon Dickie then gave full vent to his rapture without any mitigation of voice adding My lady for ever to the former two and so shouting he danced around waving his immense wooden plate
The frolic did not take and Sir Ringan was obliged to call him to order You do not consider cousin said the warden that what a woman accounts excellent sport at one time is at another high offence See now you have driven my lady away from our consultation on whose advice I have a strong reliance and I am afraid we will scarcely prevail on her to come back
Oh theres no fear of my lady and me said Dickie we understand one another My lady is a kind generous noble soul and so pleasant
For as pleasant and kind as she is I am deceived if she is easily reconciled to38 you Ye dinna ken Kate Dunbar cousin—Boy tell your lady that we lack her counsel and expect that she will lend us it for a short space
The boy did as he was ordered but returned with an answer that unless Dickie was dismissed she did not choose to be of the party
I am sorry for it said Sir Ringan but you may tell her that she may then remain where she is for I cant spare my cousin Dickie now nor any day these five months And with that he began and discussed the merits of the case pro and con with his kinsmen as if nothing had happened and in the end it was resolved that with a thousand horsemen they would scour the east border to intercept all the supplies that should be sent out of England and thus enrich themselves while at at the same time they would appear to countenance the mad undertaking of Douglas
39
CHAPTER III
Come come my hearts of flint modestly decently soberly and handsomely—No man afore his leader—Ding down the enemy tomorrow—ye shall not come into the field like beggars—Lord have mercy upon me what a world this is—Well Ill give an hundred pence for as many good feathers and a hundred more for as many scarts—wounds dogs to set you out withal Frost and snow a man cannot fight till he be brave I say down with the enemy to morrow
Sir John Oldcastle
The castle of Roxburgh was beleaguered by seven thousand men in armour but never before had it been so well manned or rendered so formidable in its butresses and to endeavour to scale it appeared as vain an attempt as that of scaling the moon
There was a great deal of parading and noise went on as that of beating drums and sounding of trumpets and bugles every day and scarcely did there one pass on which there were not tilting bouts between the parties and in these the English generally had the advantage Never40 was there perhaps a more chivalrous host than that which Musgrave had under his command within the walls of Roxburgh the enthusiasm the gallantry and the fire of the captain were communicated to all the train
Their horses were much superior to those of the Scots and in place of the latter being able to make any impression on the besieged they could not with all the vigilance they were able to use prevent their posts from being surprised by the English on which the most desperate encounters sometimes took place At first the English generally prevailed but the Scots at length became inured to it and stood the shocks of the cavalry more firmly They took care always at the first onset to cut the bridle reins with their broadswords and by that means they disordered the ranks of their enemies and often drove them in confusion back to their stronghold
Thus months flew on in this dashing sort of warfare and no impression was made on the fortress nor did any appear41 practicable and every one at court began to calculate on the failure and utter ruin of the Douglas Piercy of Northumberland proffered to raise the country and lead an army to the relief of the castle but this interference Musgrave would in nowise admit it being an infringement of the task imposed on him by his mistress
Moreover he said he cared not if all the men of Scotland lay around the castle for he would defy them to win it He farther bade the messenger charge Piercy and Howard to have an army ready at the expiry of the Christmas holidays wherewith to relieve him and clear the Border but to take no care nor concern about him till then
About this time an incident right common in that day brought a number of noble young adventurers to the camp of Douglas It chanced in an encounter between two small rival parties at the back of the convent of Maisondieu which stood on the south side of the Teviot that Sir Thomas de Somerville of Carnwath engaged hand to hand with an English42 knight named Sir Comes de Moubray who after a desperate encounter unhorsed and wounded him The affair was seen from the walls of Roxburgh as well as by a part of the Scottish army which was encamped on a rising ground to the south that overlooked the plain and of course like all other chivalrous feats became the subject of general conversation Somerville was greatly mortified and not finding any other way to recover his honour he sent a challenge to Moubray to fight him again before the gate of Roxburgh in sight of both armies Moubray was too gallant to refuse There was not a knight in the castle who would have declined such a chance of earning fame and recommending himself to his mistress and the fair in general The challenge was joyfully accepted and the two knights met in the midst of a circle of gentlemen appointed by both armies on the castle green that lay betwixt the moat and the river immediately under the walls of the castle Never was there a more gallant combat seen They rode nine times against each other43 with full force twice with lances and seven times with swords yet always managed with such dexterity that neither were unhorsed nor yet materially wounded But at the tenth charge by a most strenuous exertion Sir Thomas disarmed and threw his opponent out of his saddle with his swordarm dislocated Somerville gained great renown and his fame was sounded in court and in camp Other challenges were soon sent from both sides and as readily accepted and some of the best blood both of Scotland and England was shed in these mad chivalrous exploits The ambition of the young Scottish nobles was roused and many of them flocked as volunteers to the standard of Douglas Among these were some of the retainers of Redhough who could not resist such an opportunity of trying their swords with some rivals with whom they had erst exchanged sharp blows on the marches Simon of Gemelscleuch his cousin John of Howpasley and the Laird of Yardbire all arrived in the camp of Douglas in one night in order to distinguish themselves in these tilting44 bouts Earl Douglas himself challenged Musgrave hoping thereby to gain his end and the prize for which he fought but the knight true to his engagement sent him for answer that he would first see the beginning of a new year and then he should fight either him or any of his name but that till then he had undertaken a charge to which all others must be subordinate
The Laird of Yardbire the strongest man of the Border fought three combats with English squires of the same degree two on horseback and one on foot and in all proved victorious For one whole month the siege presented nothing new save these tiltings which began at certain hours every day and always became more obstinate often proving fatal and the eagerness of the young gentry of both parties to engage in them grew into a kind of mania But an event happened which put an end to them at once
There was a combat one day between two knights of the first degree who were surrounded as usual by twenty lancers45 from each army all the rest of both parties being kept at a distance the English on the tops of their walls and the Scots on the heights behind both to the east and west for there was one division of the army stationed on the hill of Barns and at the head of the Sickmans Path and another on the rising ground between the city and castle The two gentlemen were equally matched and the issue was doubtful when the attendant Scottish guards perceived or thought they perceived in the bearing of the English knight some breach of the rules of chivalry on which with one voice they called out foul play The English answered No no none The two judges called to order on which the spearmen stood still and listened and hearing that the judges too were of different opinions they took up the matter themselves the Scots insisting that the knight should be disarmed and turned from the lists in disgrace and the English refusing to acquiesce The judges dreading some fatal conclusion gave their joint orders that both parties should retire in46 peace and let the matter be judged of afterwards on which the English prepared to quit the ground with a kind of exultation for it appeared that they were not certain with regard to the propriety of their heros conduct Unluckily it so happened that the redoubted Charlie Scott of Yardbire headed the Scottish pikemen on the lists that day a very devil for blood and battery and of strength much beyond that generally allotted to man When he saw that the insidious knight was going to be conducted off in a sort of triumph and in a manner so different from what he deemed to suit his demerits he clenched the handle of his sword with his right hand and screwed down his eyebrows till they almost touched the top of his nose What now muckle Charlie said one that stood by him What now repeated Charlie growling like a wolfdog and confining the words almost within his own breast The deil sal bake me into a kercake to gust his gab wi afore I see that saucy tike taen off in sic a way And with that he dropt his pike drew his47 sword and rushing through the group he seized the knights horse by the bridle with his left hand thinking to lead both him and his master away prisoners The knight struck at him with all his might but for this Charlie was prepared he warded the blow most dexterously and in wrath by the help of a huge curbbridle he threw the horse backward first on his hams and then on his back with his rider under him Tak ye that master for whistling o Sundays said the intrepid borderer and began to lay about him at the English who now attacked him on both sides
Charlies first break at the English knight was the watchword for a general attack The Scots flew to the combat in perfect silence and determined hatred and they were received by the other party in the same manner Not so the onlookers of both hosts—they rent the air with loud and reiterated shouts The English poured forth in a small narrow column from the east gate along the drawbridge but the Scottish horsemen who were all ready mounted the better to see the encounter48 from their stations scoured down from the heights like lightning so that they prevailed at first before the English could issue forth in numbers sufficient to oppose them The brave Sir Richard Musgrave the captains younger brother led the English he having rushed out at their head on the first breaking out of the affray but notwithstanding all his bravery he with his party were driven with their backs to the moat and hard pressed Douglas with a strong body of horse having got betwixt them and the castlegate The English were so anxious to relieve their young hero that they rushed to the gate in crowds Douglas suffered a part to issue and then attacking them furiously with the cavalry he drove them back in such confusion that he got possession of the drawbridge for several minutes and would in all likelihood have entered with the crowd had it not been for the portcullis the machinery of which the Scots did not understand nor had they the means of counteracting it so that just when they were in the hottest and most sanguine part of their enterprize49 down it came with a clattering noise louder than thunder separating a few of the most forward from their brethren who were soon every one cut down as they refused to yield
In the meantime it fared hard with Richard who was overpowered by numbers and though the English archers galled the Scottish cavalry grievously from the walls he and all that were with him being forced backward they plunged into the moat and were every one of them either slain or taken prisoners The younger Musgrave was among the latter which grieved his brother Sir Philip exceedingly as it gave Douglas an undue advantage over him and he knew that in the desperate state of his undertaking he would go any lengths to overreach him From that day forth all challenges or accepting of challenges was prohibited by Musgrave under pain of death and a proclamation was issued stating that all who entered the castle should be stripped naked searched and examined on what pretence soever they came and if any suspicious circumstances appeared against50 them they were to be hanged upon a post erected for the purpose on the top of the wall in sight of both armies He was determined to spare no vigilance and constantly said he would hold Douglas at defiance
There was only one thing that the besieged had to dread and it was haply too the only thing in which the Scots placed any degree of hope and that was the total failure of provisions within the castle Musgraves plan of getting small supplies at a time from England by night was discovered by Sir Ringan Redhough and completely cut off and as Douglas hanged every messenger that fell into his hands no new plan could be established and so closely were the English beleaguered that any attempt at sending additional supplies to those they had proved of no avail The rival armies always grew more and more inveterate against each other and the most sharp and deadly measures were exercised by both Matters went on in this manner till near the end of October when the nights grew cold long and dark There was nothing but51 the perils of that castle on the Border talked of over all Scotland and England Every one man maid and child became interested in it It may well be conceived that the two sovereign beauties the Lady Jane Howard and Princess Margaret of Scotland were not the least so and both of them prepared at the same time in the true spirit of the age to take some active part in the matter before it came to a final issue One of them seemed destined to lose her hero but both had put on the resolution of performing something worthy of the knights that were enduring so much for their sakes
52
CHAPTER IV
And O that pegis weste is slymme
And his ee wald garr the daye luke dymme
His broue is brente his brestis fayre
And the deemonde lurkis in hys revan hayre
Alake for thilke bonnye boye sae leile
That lyes withe oure Kynge in the hielande shiele
Old Rhyme
I winna gang in I darena gang in
Nor sleep i your arms ava
Fu laithly wad a fair may sleep
Atween you an the wa
War I to lie wi a belted knight
In a land thats no my ain
Fu dear wad be my courtesye
An dreich wad be my pain
Old Ballad
One cold biting evening at the beginning of November Patrick Chisholm of Castleweary an old yeoman in the upper part of Teviotdale sat conversing with his family all in a merry and cheerful mood They were placed in a circle round a blazing hearth fire on which hung a huge caldron boiling and bubbling like the pool at the foot of a cataract The lid was suspended by a rope to the iron crook on which this53 lordly machine was hung to intercept somewhat the showers of soot that now and then descended from the rafters These appeared as if they had been covered with pitch or black japanning and so violently was the kettle boiling that it made the roof of Pate Chisholms bigging all to shiver Notwithstanding these showers of soot Pate and his four goodly sons eyed the boiling caldron with looks of great satisfaction—for ever and anon the hough of an immense leg of beef was to be seen cutting its capers in the boil or coming with a graceful semicircular sweep from one lip of the pot to the other
Is it true callants said Pate that Howard is gaun to make a diversion as they cat in the west border to draw off the warden frae the Cheviots
As muckle is said an as muckle expectit said Dan his first born a goodly youth who with his three brethren sat in armour They had come home to their fathers house that night with their share of a rich prey that the warden had kidnapped while just collecting to send to54 Roxburgh under a guard of five thousand men But Sir Ringan getting intelligence of it took possession of the drove before it was placed under the charge of those intended to guard it
As muckle is said an as muckle is expectit said Dan but the west border will never turn out sae weel to us as the east has done Its oer near the Johnstones and the Jardines and the hurklebackit Hendersons
Pate looked from under his bonnet at the hough of beef—The Cheviot hills hae turned weel out for the warden continued Dan Redhough an his lads hae been as weel scrieving oer law and dale as lying getting hard pelts round the stane was o Roxburgh an muckle mair gude has he done for gin they dinna hunger them out o their hauddin theyll keep it Yell draw an Englishman by the gab easier than drive him wi an airn gaud I wad ride fifty miles to see ony ane o the bonny dames that a this pelting an peching is about
Twa wanton glaikit gillies Ill uphaud55 said Pate looking at the restless hough oer muckle marth i the back an meldar i the brusket Gin I had the heffing o them I sude tak a staup out o their bickers—Whisht I thought I heard the clanking o horse heels—Callant clap the lid down on the pat what hae theyt hinging geaving up there for
The clattering of the horses approached but apparently with caution and at length a voice called at the door in an English accent Hollo who holds here Leel men an for the Scots answered Dan starting to his feet and laying his hand on his sword For the knight of Mountcomyn the Scottish warden—inquired the horseman without For the same was the answer It is toward his castle that we are bound Can any of you direct us the way
Troth that I can said old Pate groping to satisfy himself that the lid was close down on the pot and then running to the door I can tell you every fit o the road masters You maun gang by the Fanesh you see it lies yon way you see an then56 up the Brown rig as straight as a line through Philhopehead an into Borthwick then up Aitasburn—round the Criblaw—an wheel to the right then the burn that ye come to there ye maun cross that and three miles farther on you come to the castle of Mountcomyn—Braw cheer there lads
I am afraid friend said the English trooper we will make nothing of this direction Is it far to this same castle of the Scottish warden
O no naething but a step some three Scots miles
And how is the road
A prime road man no a step int a wad tak your horse to the brusket only theres nae track ye maun just take an ettle Keep an ee on the tail o Charlies wain an yell no gang far wrang
Our young lord and master is much fatigued said the trooper I am afraid we shall scarcely make it out Pray sir could you spare us a guide
Dan who was listening behind now stepped forward and addressed them57 My masters as the night is o darkness I could hardly ride to Mountcomyn mysel an far or near I couldna win there afore day Gin ye dought accept o my fathers humble cheer the night—
The callants bewiddied an waur than bewiddied said Pate We haena cheer for oursels let abe for a byking o English lords an squires
I would gladly accept of any accommodation said a sweet delicate voice like that of a boy for the path has been so dreadful that I am almost dead and unable to proceed further I have a safeconduct to the Scottish court signed by all the wardens of the marches and every knight yeoman and vassal is obliged to give me furtherance
I dinna ken muckle about conducks an signatures said Pate but I trow there winna be mony syllables in some o the names if a the wardens hae signed your libelt for I ken weel theres ane o them whase edication brak aff at the letter G an never gat farrer But Im no caing ye a leear southron lord ye may be a vera58 honest man an as your errand may be something unco express ye had better post on
It sal never be casten up to me neither in camp nor ha said Dan that a stranger was cawed frae my auld fathers door at this time o the night Light down light down southron lord ye are a privileged man an as I like to see the meaning o things Ill ride wi ye mysel the morn fit for fit to the castle o Mountcomyn
The strangers were soon all on their feet and ushered into the family circle for there was no fireplace in the house but that one They consisted of five stout troopers well armed a page and a young nobleman having the appearance of a youth about seventeen or eighteen years of age Every eye was instantly turned on him there was something so extraordinary in his appearance Instead of a steel helmet he wore a velvet cap shaped like a crown striped with belts bars and crosses of gold wire and manifestly more for ornament than use His fair ringlets were peeping59 in curls out from below his cap and his face and bright blue eyes were lovely as the dawn of a summers morning
They were not well seated till a noise of the tread of horses was again heard
The warld be awastle us cried old Pate whas that now I think fouk will be eaten up wi fouk an naething for folks pains but dry thanks—thanks winna feed the cat—
He was stopped in his regretful soliloquy by a rough voice at the door Ho wha bauds the house The same answer was given as to the former party and in a minute the strangers entered without law or leave
Ye travel unco late maisters said old Pate How far may ye be for the night
We meant to have reached the tower of Gorranberry tonight said one of the strangers but we have been benighted and were drawn hither by the light in your hole I fear we must draw on your hospitality till day
Callant Peter gang an stap a wisp i60 that bole said Pate it seems to be the beacon light to a the clanjaumphry i the hale country I tauld ye aye to big it up but no ane o ye heeds what I say I hae seen houses that some fouk whiles gaed by But my maisters its nae gate ava to Gorranberry—a mere hautstrideandloup Ill send a guide to Bilhopehead wi ye for troth we hae neither meat nor drink houseroom nor stabling mair about the toun Were but poor yeomen an haud our mailin for hard service We hae tholed a foray the night already an a double ane wad herrie us out o house an hauld The warld be a wastle us I think a the mosstroopers be abraid the night Bairns swee that bouking o claes aff the fire yell burn it i the boiling
The new comers paid little attention to this address of the old man they saw that he was superannuated and had all the narrow selfishness that too generally clings to that last miserable stage of human exisence but drawing nigh they began to eye the southron party with looks of dark suspicion if not of fierceness
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I see what maks ye sae frightet at our entrance here said the first Scots trooper ye hae some southron spies amang ye—Gudeman ye sal answer to the king for this an to the Douglas too whilk yell find a waur job
Ken where ye are an wha yere speaking to said Dan stepping forward and browing the last speaker face to face If either the ae party or the ither be spies or aught else but leel men ye shall find ere ye gang far whase land ye are on an whase kipples ye are under That auld mans my father an doitet as he is the man amang ye that says a saucy word to him Ill gar sleep in his shoon a fit shorter than he rase i the morning Wha are ye sir or where do you travel by night on my master the wardens bounds
Sir answered another trooper who seemed to be rather a more polished man I applaud your spirit and will answer your demand We go with our lord and master Prince Alexander Stuart of Scotland on a mission to a noble English family Here is the kings seal as well as a62 pass signed by the English warden We are leel men and true
Where is the prince said Dan A prince of Scotland i my fathers house Which is he
A slender elegant stripling stept forward Here he is brave yeoman said the youth No ceremony—Regard me as your fellow and companion for this night
Dan whipped off his bonnet and clapped his foot upon it and bowing low and awkwardly to his prince he expressed his humble respect as well as he could and then presented the prince to his father The title sounded high in the old mans ears he pulled off his bonnet and looked with an unsteady gaze as if uncertain on whom to fix it—A prince Eh—Is he a prince o Scotland Ay ay said he Then hell maybe hae some say wi our head men—Dan—I say Dan—and with that he pulled Dans sleeve and said in a whisper loud enough to be heard over all the house—I say Dan man gin he wad but speak to the warden to let us hae a the land west the length o the Frosty lair O it63 wad lie weel into ours It wad father and I daresay we may get it but hush just now Eh do you think we may get it enquired the old man eagerly in the same whispering tremulous voice O man it wad lie weel in an sae wad Couterscleuch Its no perfect wanting that too An we wad be a great deal the better o twa or three rigs aff Skelfhill for a bit downfa to the south—See if ye can speak to the lad
Dan shook his fathers hand and nodded to him by way of acquiescence The old man brightened up Whar is your titty Bessy Dan Whar are a the idle hizzies Gar them get something set down to the princely lad Ise warrant hes een hungry Yell no be used til siccan roads as thir Sir Na na Theyre unco roads for a prince—Dan I say come this way I want to speak to you—I say whispering very low aside I wadna let them ken o the beef or theyll just gang wit Gie them milk an bread an cheese an a drap o the broo it will do weel aneuch Hungers good sauce But Dan—I say could64 ye no contrive to get quat o thae English I doubt there will be little made of them—Theyre but a wheen gilliegaupies at the best an nae freends to us—Fouk sude ay bow to the bush they get bield frae
Its a true that ye say father but we surely needna grudge an Englishman a piece o an English cows hip—The beef didna cost you dear an theres mair where it cam frae
The old man would not give up his point but persisted in saying it was a dangerous experiment and an unprofitable waste However in spite of his remonstrances the board was loaded with six wooden bickers filled with beef broth plenty of bearmeal bannocks and a full quarter of English ox beef to which the travellers did all manner of justice The prince as he called himself was placed at the head of the table and the young English nobleman by his side Their eyes were scarcely ever turned from one anothers faces unless in a casual hasty glance to see how others were regarding the same face The prince had dark raven hair that parted65 on a brow of snow a black liquid eye and round lips purer than the cherry about to fall from the tree with ripeness He was also a degree taller than the English lord but both of them as well as their two pages were lovelier than it became men to be The troopers who attended them seemed disposed to contradict every thing that came from the adverse party and if possible to broach a quarrel had it not been for the two knights who were all suavity good breeding and kindness to each other and seemed to have formed an attachment at first sight At length Prince Alexander inquired of his new associate his name and business at the Scottish court provided he said that it did not require strict secrecy The other said he would tell him every thing truly on condition that he would do the same which being agreed to the young English nobleman proceeded as follows
My name is Lord Jasper Tudor second son to the Earl of Pembroke I am nearly related to the throne of England and in high favour with the king The66 wars on the Borders have greatly harassed the English dalesmen for these many years and matters being still getting worse between the nations the king my cousin has proposed to me to marry the Princess Margaret of Scotland and obtain as her dowry a confirmation of these border lands and castles so that a permanent peace may be established between the nations and this bloody and desperate work cease I am on my way to the Scottish court to see the princess your sister and if I find her to be as lovely and accomplished as fame speaks her I intend to comply with the kings request and marry her forthwith
This speech affected the prince so much that all the guests wondered He started to his feet and smiling in astonishment said What you you marry m—m—my sister Margaret She is very much beholden to you and on my word she will see a becoming youth But are you sure that she will accept of you for a husband I have little to fear on that head said the Lord Jasper Tudor jeeringly Maids are in general not much averse to marriage67 and if I am well informed your lovely sister is as little averse to it as any of her contemporaries
The prince blushed deep at this character of his sister but had not a word to say
Pray continued Tudor is she like you If she is I think I shall love her—I would not have her just like you neither
I believe said the prince there is a strong family likeness but tell me in what features you would wish her to differ from me and I will describe her minutely to you
In the first place said the amorous and blueeyd Tudor I should like her to be a little stouter and more manly of frame than you and at least to have some appearance of a beard
All the circle stared The devil you would my lord said Dan Wad ye like your wife to hae a beard in earnest Gude faith an your ain war like mine ye wad think ye had eneuch ot foreby your wifes The prince held up his hands in astonishment and the young English lord blushed deeper than it behoved a knight to do but at length he tried to laugh it68 by pretending that he had unwittingly said one thing when he meant the very contrary for he wished her to be more feminine and have less beard—I think that will hardly be possible said Dan but perhaps there may be a hair here an there on my lord the princes chin when ane comes near it I wadna disparage ony man far less my kings son
Well my noble lord said the prince your tale has not a little surprised me as well it may Our meeting here in like circumstances is the most curious rencounter I ever knew for to tell you the plain truth I am likewise on an errand of the same import being thus far on my way to see and court the lady Jane Howard in order that all her wide domains may be attached to my fathers kingdom and peace and amity thereby established on the border
Gracious heaven said young Lord Tudor can this that I hear be true You Are you on your way to my cousin the lady Jane Howard Why do you not know that she is already affianced to Lord Musgrave
69
Yes it is certain I do but that is one of my principal inducements to gain her from him that is quite in the true spirit of gallantry but save her great riches I am told she has little else to recommend her said the prince
And pray how does fame report of my cousin Jane said Tudor
As of a shrew and a coquette answered the prince a wicked minx that is intemperate in all her passions
It is a manifest falsehood said Tudor his face glowing with resentment I never knew a young lady so moderate and chastened in every passion of the female heart Her most private thoughts are pure as purity itself and her—
But begging your pardon my lord how can you possibly know all this said the prince
I do know it said the other it is no matter how I cannot hear my fair cousin wronged and I know that she will remain true to Musgrave and have nothing to do with you
I will bet an earldom on that head70 said the prince if I chuse to lay siege to her
Done said the other and they joined hands on the bargain but they had no sooner laid their hands into one anothers than they hastily withdrew them with a sort of trepidation that none of the lookers on save the two pages who kept close by their masters appeared to comprehend They too were both mistaken in the real cause but of that it does not behove to speak at present
I will let you see said the prince recovering himself that this celebrated cousin of yours shall not be so ill to win as the castle of Roxburgh and Ill let Musgrave see for how much truth and virgin fidelity he has put his life in his hand and when I have her Ill cage her for I dont like her I would give that same earldom to have her in my power tonight
The young Lord Tudor looked about as if he meditated an escape to another part of the table but after a touch that his page gave him on the sleeve he sat still and mustered up courage for a reply
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And pray sir prince what would you do with her if you had her in your power tonight
Something very different from what I would do with you my lord But please describe her to me for my very heart is yearning to behold her—describe every point of her form and lineament of her features
She is esteemed as very beautiful for my part I think her but so so said Tudor She has fair hair light full blue eyes and ruddy cheeks and her brow I believe is as fine and as white as any brow can be
O frightful what a description what an ugly minx it must be Fair hair red I suppose or dirty dull yellow Light blue eyes mostly white I fancy Ah what a frightful immodest ape it must be I could spit upon the huzzy
Mary shield us exclaimed young Tudor moving farther away from the prince and striking lightly with his hand on his doublet as if something unclean had been squirted on it Mary shield us What does the saucy Scot mean
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Every one of the troopers put his hand to his sword and watched the eye of his master The prince beckoned to the Scots to be quiet but Lord Tudor did no such thing for he was flustered and wroth
Pardon me my lord said the prince I may perhaps suffer enough from the beauty and perfections of your fair cousin after I see her you may surely allow me to deride them now I am trying to depreciate the charms I dread But I do not like the description of her Tell me seriously do you not think her very intolerable
I tell you prince I think quite otherwise I believe Jane to be fifty times more lovely than any dame in Scotland and a hundred times more beautiful than your tawny virago of a sister whom I shall rejoice to tame like a spaniel The haughty vain conceited swart venom that she should lay her commands on the Douglas to conquer or die for her A fine presumption forsooth But the world shall see whether the charms of my cousin Lady Jane Howard or those of your grim and tawdry princess have most power
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Yes they shall my lord said the prince In the mean time let us drop the subject I see I have given you offence not knowing that you were in love with Lady Jane which now I clearly see to be the case Nevertheless go on with the description for I am anxious to hear all about her and I promise to approve if there be a bare possibility of it
Her manner is engaging and her deportment graceful and easy her waist is slim and her limbs slender and elegant beyond any thing you ever saw said Lord Tudor
O shocking exclaimed the prince quite forgetting himself Worst of all I declare I have no patience with the creature After such a description who can doubt the truth of the reports about the extreme levity of her conduct Confess now my lord that she is very free of her favours and that the reason why so many young gentlemen visit her is now pretty obvious
High offence was now manifest in Lord Jasper Tudors look He rose from his74 seat and said in great indignation I did not ween I should be insulted in this guise by the meanest peasant in Scotland far less by one of its courtiers and least of all by a prince of the blood royal Yeomen I will not I cannot suffer this degradation These ruffian Scots are intruders on us—here I desire that you will expel them the house
The Prince of Scotland was at the head of the table Tudor was at his right hand the rest of the English were all on that side the Scots on the other—their numbers were equal Dan and his three brethren sat at the bottom of the board around the old man who had been plying at the beef with no ordinary degree of perseverance nor did he cease when the fray began Every one of the two adverse parties was instantly on his feet with his sword gleaming in his hand but finding that the benches from which they had arisen hampered them they with one accord sprung on the tops of these and crossed their swords The pages screamed like women The two noble adventurers seemed scarcely to know the use of their weapons but75 looked on with astonishment At length the prince somewhat collecting himself drew out his shabby whanger and brandished it in a most unwarlike guise on which the blueeyed Tudor retreated behind his attendants holding up his hands but still apparently intent on revenge for the vile obloquy thrown on the character of his cousin Lady Jane Howard Tis just pe te shance she vantit said the Scot next to the prince
My certy man well get a paick at the louns now said the second
Fat te teels taen e bits o vee laddies to flee a eet abeet er buts o wheers I wudnae hae my feet i their sheen for three plucks an a beedle said the third
Thous a i the wrang buox now chaps said the fourth These were all said with one breath and before the Englishmen had time to reply clash went the swords across the table and the third Scot the true Aberdonian was wounded as were also two of the Englishmen at the very first pass
These matters are much sooner done76 than described All this was the work of a few seconds and done before advice could either be given or attended to Dan now interfered with all the spirit and authority that he was master of He came dashing along the middle of the board in his great war boots striking up their swords as he came and interposing his boardly frame between the combatants D—n ye a for a wheen madcaps cried Dan as loud as he could bawl What the muckle deils faen a bobbing at your midriffs now Yere a my fathers guests an mine an by the shinbanes o Sant Peter the first side that lifts a sword or says a misbehadden word my three brethren and I will tak the tother side an smoor the transgressors like as mony moorpoots
Keep your feet aff the meat fool said old Pate
Gude sauff us continued Dan What has been said to gie ony offence What though the young gentlewoman dis tak a stown jink o a chap thats her ain sweetheart whiles Wheres the harm in that Theres little doubt o the thing An for my part gin she didna77—
Here Dan was interrupted in his elegant harangue by a wrathful hysteric scream from young Tudor who pulled out his whinyard and ran at Dan boring at him in awkward but most angry sort crying all the while I will not bear this insult Will my followers hear me traduced to my face
Deils i e wee but steepid laddie said Buchan the Aberdonian it thinks at er preeving it to be a wheer e sel ot
Dan lifted up his heavy sword in high choler to cleave the stripling and he would have cloven him to the belt but curbing his wrath he only struck his sword which he made fly into pieces and jingle against the rafters of the house then seizing the young adventurer by the shoulder he snatched him up to him on the board where he still stood and taking his head below his arm he held him fast with the one hand making signs with the other to his brethren to join the Scots and disarm the English who were the aggressors both times In the meantime he was saying to Tudor Hout hout young master ye hae never been oer78 the Border afore ye sude hae stayed at hame an wantit a wife till ye gathered mair rummelgumption
The five English squires now seeing themselves set upon by nine yielded and suffered themselves to be disarmed
When Tudor came to himself he appeared to be exceedingly grieved at his imprudence and ready to make any acknowledgment while the prince treated him with still more and more attention yet these attentions were ever and anon mixed with a teazing curiosity and a great many inquiries that the young nobleman could not bear and did not chuse to answer
It now became necessary to make some arrangement for the parties passing the night Patrick Chisholms house had but one fireplace in an apartment which served for kitchen and hall but it had a kind of ben end as it was then and is always to this day denominated in that part of the country There was scarcely room to move a foot in it for besides two oaken beds with rowantree bars it contained five huge chests belonging to the father and his sons79 that held their clothes and warlike accoutrements The daughters of yeomen in these days did not sit at table with the men They were the household servants Two of Pates daughters who had been bustling about all the evening conducted the two noble youths into this apartment together with their two pages The one bed was neatly made down with clean clothes and the other in a more common way Now said one of the landward lasses You twa masters are to sleep thegither in here—in o this gude bed ye see an the twa lads in o this ane The two young noblemen were standing close together as behoved in such a room On the girl addressing them thus their eyes met each others but were as instantly withdrawn and fixed on the floor while a blush of the deepest tint suffused the cheeks of both spreading over the chin and neck of each The pages contemplated each other in the same way but not with the same degree of timidity The English stripling seemed rather to approve of the arrangement or at least pretended to do so for80 he frankly took the other by the hand and said in a sweet voice but broad dialect Weall yuong Scuot daghest thou lig woth mey The young Caledonian withdrew his hand and held down his head I always lie at my masters feet said he
And so shall you do tonight Colin said the prince for I will share this bed with you and let my lord take the good one I cannot go to bed tonight said Tudor I will rest me on this chest I am resolved I shant go to bed nor throw off my clothes tonight
Ye winna said May Chisholm who visibly wanted a romp with the young blooming chief—Ye winna gang til nae bed will ye nae and me has been at sic pains making it up til ye Bess come here an help me we sal soon see whether hes gang til his bed or no an that no wi his braw claes on neither So saying the two frolicsome queans seized the rosy stripling and in a moment had him stretched on the bed and making his doublet fly open all at one rude pull they were proceeding to undress him giggling and81 laughing all the while Prince Alexander from a momentary congenial feeling of delicacy put his hand hastily across to keep the lapels of Tudors vesture together without the motion having been perceived by any one in the hurry and that moment the page flung himself across his masters breast and reproved the lasses so sharply that they desisted and left them to settle the matter as they chose
The prince had however made a discovery that astonished him exceedingly for a few minutes his head was almost turned—but the truth soon began to dawn on his mind and every reflection every coincidence every word that had been said and offence that had been taken tended to confirm it so he determined not for farther trial but for the jokes sake to press matters a little further
When quietness was again restored and when the blush and the frown had several times taken alternate sway of the young lords face the prince said to him After all my lord I believe we must take share of the same bed together for this one night82 It is more proper and becoming than to sleep with our pages Besides I see the bed is good and clean and I have many things to talk to you about our two countries and about our two intended brides or sweethearts let us call them in the meantime
Oh no no prince said Tudor indeed I cannot I may not I would not sleep in the same bed with another gentleman—No—I never did—never
Do not say so my dear lord for on my word I am going to insist on it said the prince coming close up to him his eyes beaming with joy at the discovery he had made You shall sleep by my side tonight nay I will even take you in my bosom and caress you as if you were my own sweet dear Lady Jane Howard Tudor was now totally confounded and knew neither what to say for himself nor what he did say when he spoke He held out both his hands and cried Do not prince do not—I beg—I implore do not for I cannot cannot consent I never slept even in the same apartment with a man in all my life
83
What have you always slept in a room by yourself asked the teazing prince
No never but always with ladies—yes always was the passionate and sincere reply
Here the prince held up his hands and turned up his eyes What a young profligate exclaimed he Mary shield us Have you no conscience with regard to the fair sex that you have begun so wicked a course and that so early Little did I know why you took a joke on your cousin so heinously amiss I see it now truth will out Ah you are such a youth I will not go a foot further to see Lady Jane What a wicked degraded imp she must be Do not kindle into a passion again my dear lord I can well excuse your feigned wrath it is highly honourable I hate the knight that blabs the favours he enjoys from the fair He is bound to defend the honour that has stooped to him even though as in the present instance I suppose it have stooped to half a dozen more besides
A great deal of taunting and ill humour prevailed between these capricious and inexperienced84 striplings and sorely was Tudor pressed to take share of a bed with the prince but in vain—his feelings recoiled from it and the other being in possession of a secret of which the English lord was not aware took that advantage of teazing and tormenting him almost beyond sufferance After all it was decided that each should sleep with his own page a decision that did not seem to go well down at all with the Yorkshire boy who once ventured to expostulate with his lord but was silenced with a look of angry disdain
85
CHAPTER V
He set her on his milkwhite steed
Himself lap on behind her
And they are oer the Highland hills
Her friends they cannot find her
As they rode over hill and dale
This lady often fainted
And cried Wo to my cursed moneye
That this road to me invented
Ballad of Rob Roy
O cam ye here to fight young man
Or cam ye here to flee
Or cam ye out o the wally west
Our bonnie bride to see
Ballad called Foul Play
It is by this time needless to inform my readers that these two young adventurers were no other than the rival beauties of the two nations for whose charms all this bloody coil was carried on at Roxburgh and who without seeing had hated each other as cordially as any woman is capable of hating her rival in beauty or favour So much had the siege and the perils of Roxburgh become the subject of conversation that86 the ears of the two maidens had long listened to nothing else and each of them deemed her honour embarked in the success of her lover Each of them had set out with the intent of visiting the camp in disguise and having enough of interest to secure protections for feigned names each determined to see her rival in the first place the journey not being far and neither of them it is supposed went with any kind intent Each of them had a maid dressed in boys clothes with her and five stout troopers all of whom were utterly ignorant of the secret The princess had by chance found out her rivals sex but the Scottish lady and her attendant being both taller and of darker complexions than the other two no suspicions were entertained against them detrimental to their enterprise The princess never closed an eye but lay meditating on the course she should take She was convinced that she had her rival in her power and she determined not over generously to take advantage of her good fortune The time drew nigh that Roxburgh must be lost or won and well87 she knew that whichever side succeeded according to the romantic ideas of that age the charms of the lady would have all the honour while she whose hero lost would be degraded—considerations which no woman laying claim to superior and allpowerful charms could withstand
Next morning Dan was aroused at an early hour by his supposed prince who said to him Brave yeoman from a long conversation that I have had last night with these English strangers I am convinced that they are despatched on some traitorous mission and as the warden is in Northumberland I propose conveying them straight to Douglas camp there to be tried for their lives If you will engage to take charge of them and deliver them safely to the captain before night you shall have a high reward but if you fail and suffer any of them to escape your neck shall answer for it How many men can you raise for this service
Our men are maistly up already said Dan but muckle Charlie o Yardbire gaed hame last night wi twa or three kye88 like oursels Gin Charlie an his lads come I sal answer for the English chaps if they war twa to ane I hae mysel an my three billies deil a shank mae but an Charlie come hes as gude as some three an his backmans nae beanswaup neither
Then said the counterfeit prince I shall leave all my attendants to assist you save my page—we two must pursue our journey with all expedition All that is required of you is to deliver the prisoners safe to the Douglas I will despatch a message to him by the way apprising him of the circumstances
The Lady Margaret and her page then mounted their palfreys and rode off without delay but instead of taking the road by Gorranberry as they had proposed over night they scoured away at a light gallop down the side of the Teviot At the town of Hawick she caused her page who was her chief waitingmaid and confidant likewise in boys clothes to cut out her beautiful fleece of black hair that glittered like the wing of the raven being determined to attend in disguise the issue of the contest89 She then procured a red curled wig and dressing herself in a Highland garb with a plumed bonnet tartan jacket and trowsers and Highland hose and brogues her appearance was so completely altered that even no one who had seen her the day before in the character of the prince her brother could possibly have known her to be the same person and leaving her page near the camp to await her private orders she rode straight up to headquarters by herself
Being examined as she passed the outposts she said she brought a message to Douglas of the greatest importance and that it was from the court and her address being of such a superior cast every one furthered her progress till she came to the captains tent Scarcely did she know him—care anxiety and watching had so worn him down and her heart was melted when she saw his appearance Never perhaps could she have been said to have loved him till that moment but seeing what he had suffered for her sake the great stake he had ventured and the almost90 hopeless uncertainty that appeared in every line of his face raised in her heart a feeling unknown to her before and highly did that heart exult at the signal advantage that her good fortune had given him over his rival Yet she determined on trying the state of his affections and hopes Before leaving Hawick she had written a a letter to him inclosing a lock of her hair neatly plaited but this letter she kept back in order to sound her lover first without its influence He asked her name and her business She had much business she said but not a word save for his private ear Douglas was struck with the youths courtly manner and looked at him with a dark searching eye—I have no secrets said he with these my kinsmen I desire before them to know your name and business
My name said the princess pertly is Colin Roy MAlpin—I care not who knows my name but no word further of my message do I disclose save to yourself
I must humour this pert stripling said he turning to his friends if his errand91 turns out to be one of a trivial nature and that does not require all this ceremony I shall have him horsewhipped
With that the rest of the gentlemen went away and left the two by themselves Colin as we must now for brevitys sake term the princess was at first somewhat abashed before the dark eye of Douglas but soon displayed all the effrontery that his assumed character warranted if not three times more
Well now my saucy little master Colin Roy MAlpin please condescend so far as to tell me whence you are and what is your business here—this secret business of such vast importance
I am from court my lor from the Scottish court ant please you my lor but not directly as a body may say—my lor not directly—here—there—south—west—precipitately incontrovertibly ascertaining the scope and bearing of the progressive advance of the discomfiture and gradual wreck of your most flagrant and preposterous undertaking
92
The devil confound the impertinent puppy
Hold hold my lor I mean your presumptuous and foolhardy enterprise first in presuming to the hand of my mistress the kings daughter—my lovely and queenly mistress and then in foolhardily running your head against the walls of Roxburgh to attain this and your wit and manhood against the superior generalship of a Musgrave
By the pocknet of St Peter I will cause every bone in your body to be basted to powder you incorrigible pedant and puppy said the Douglas and seizing him by the collar of the coat he was about to drag him to the tentdoor and throw him into the air
Hold my lor please keep off your rough uncourtly hands till I deliver the credentials of my mistress
Did you say that you were page to the Princess Margaret Yes surely you are I have erst seen that face and heard that same flippant tongue Pray what93 word or token does my dear and sovereign lady send me
She bade me say that she does not approve of you at all my lor—that for her sake you ought to have taken this castle many days ago And she bade me ask you why you dont enter the castle by the gate or over the wall or under the hill which is only a sand one and hang up all the Englishmen by the necks and send the head of Philip Musgrave to his saucy dame—She bade me ask you why you dont my lor
Women will always be women said Douglas surlily to himself I thought the princess superior to her sex but—
But but what my lor Has she not good occasion for displeasure She bade me tell you that you dont like her—that you dont like her half so well as Musgrave does his mistress—else why dont you do as much for her He took the castle for the sake of his mistress and for her sake he keeps it in spite of you Therefore she bade me tell you that you must go in and beat the English and take94 the castle from them for she will not suffer it that Lady Jane Howard shall triumph over her
Tell her in return said Douglas that I will do what man can do and when that is done she shall find that I neither will be slack in requiring the fulfilment of her engagement nor in performing my own If that womanish tattling be all that you have to say—begone the rank of your employer protects you
Hold my lor she bade me look well and tell her what you were like and if I thought you changed since I waited on you at court On my conscience you look very ill These are hard ungainly features of yours Ill tell her you look very shabby and very surly and that you have lost all heart But oh my lor I forgot she bade me tell you that if you found you were clearly beat it would be as well to draw off your men and abandon the siege and that she would perhaps in pity give you a moiety of your lands again
I have no patience with the impertinence of a puppy even though the messenger95 of her I love and esteem above all the world Get you hence
Oh my lor I have not third done yet But stay here is a letter I had almost forgot
Douglas opened the letter Well he knew the hand there were but few in Scotland who could write and none could write like the princess It contained a gold ring set with rubies and a lock of her hair He kissed them both and tried the ring first on the one little finger and then on the other but it would scarcely go over the nail so he kissed them again and put them in his bosom He then read to himself as follows
My good Lord—I enclose you two lovetokens of my troth let them be as beacons to your heart to guide it to deeds of glory and renown For my sake put down these English Margaret shall ever pray for your success Retain my page Colin near your person He is truehearted and his flippancy affected Whatever96 you communicate to him will be safely transmitted to
Margaret
It may well be supposed how Colin watched the emotions of Douglas while reading this heroic epistle and in the true spirit of the age they were abundantly extravagant He kissed the letter hugged it in his bosom and vowed to six or seven saints to do such deeds for his adored and divine princess as never were heard or read of
Now my good lor said the page you must inform me punctually what hopes you have of success and if there is any thing wanting that the kingdom can afford you
My ranks are too thin replied the Douglas and I have engaged to take it with my own vassals The warden is too proud to join his forces to mine on that footing but keeps scouring the borders on pretence of preventing supplies and thus assisting me but in truth for enriching himself and his followers If I could have induced him and his whole force to have97 joined the camp famine would have compelled the enemy to yield a month agone But I have now the captains brother prisoner and I have already given him to know that if he does not deliver up the castle to me in four days I will hang the young knight up before his eyes—I have sworn to do it and I swear again to keep my oath
I will convey all this to my mistress said Colin So then you have his only brother in your hold My lor the victory is your own and the princess my mistress beside In a few hours will be placed in your hands the primal cause and fomentor of this cruel and bloody war the Lady Jane Howard
The Douglas started like one aroused from slumber or a state of lethargy by a sudden wound What did you say boy said he Either I heard amiss or you are dreaming I have offered estates nay I have offered an earldom to any hardy adventurer who would bring me that imperious dame but the project has been abandoned as quite impracticable
98
Rest content said Colin I have secured her and she will be delivered into your hands before night She has safe passports with her to the Scottish court but they are in favour of Jasper Tudor son to the Earl of Pembroke so that the discovery of her sex proves her an impostor and subjects her to martial law which I request for my mistress sake you will execute on her My lady the princess with all her beauty and high accomplishments is a very woman and I know there is nothing on earth she so much dreads as the triumph of Lady Jane over her Besides it is evident she was bound to the Scottish court either to poison the princess or inveigle her into the hands of her enemies All her attendants are ignorant of her sex save her page who is said to be a blooming English country maiden The Prince Alexander bade me charge you never to mention by what means she came into your hands but to give it out that she was brought to you by a miracle by witchcraft or by the power of a mighty magician It is well thought of boy said99 the Douglas greatly elevated—I have been obliged to have recourse to such means already—this will confirm all The princess your mistress desired that you should remain with me You shall be my right hand page I will love and favour you you shall be fed with the bread and wine and shall sleep in my tent and I will trust you with all my secrets for the welcome tidings you have brought and for the sake of the angelic dame that recommends you to me for she is my beloved my adored mistress and for her will I either conquer or die My sword is hers—my life is hers—Nay my very soul is the right of my beloved Poor Colin dropped a tear on hearing this passionate nonsense Women love extravagance in such matters but in those days it had no bounds
It was not long till the prisoners arrived under the care of muckle Charlie Scott of Yardbire and Dan Chisholm with their troopers guarded in a very original manner When Charlie arrived at old Chisholms house and learned that a prince had been there and had given such charges100 about the prisoners he determined to make sure work and as he had always most trust to put in himself he took the charge of the young English nobleman and his squire as he supposed them to be The page he took on his huge black horse behind him lashing him to his body with strong belts cut from a cows raw hide His ancles were moreover fastened to the straps at the tops of Charlies great war boots so that the English maiden must have had a very uncomfortable ride But the other he held on before him keeping her all the way in his arms exactly as a countryman holds up a child in the church to be christened
The Lady Jane Howard had plenty of the spirit of romance about her but she neither had the frame nor the energy of mind requisite for carrying her wild dreams of female heroism into effect She was an only child—a spoiled one having been bred up without perhaps ever being controlled till she fell into the hands of these border mosstroopers Her displeasure was excessive—She complained bitterly of her detainment and much more of being sent101 a prisoner to the camp When she found herself in muckle Charlie Scotts arms borne away to be given up to the man whom of all the world she had most reason to dread she even forgot herself so far as to burst into tears Charlie with all his inordinate strength and prowess had a heart so soft that as he said himself a laverock might hae laired int and he farther added that when he saw the bit bonny English callan that was comed o sic grand blude grow sae desperately wae an fa a blirting and greeting the deil a bit but his heart was like to come out at his mouth This was no lie for his comrades beheld him two or three times come across his eyes with his mailed sleeve—a right uncouth handkerchief and then he tried to comfort the youth with the following speech Troth man but Im unco wae for ye yere sae young an sae bonny an no a fit man at a to send out i thir crabbit times But tak good heart an dinna be dauntit for it will soon be over w ye Yell neither hae muckle to thole nor lang time to dreet for our captain will hang ye directly He102 hangs a spies an messengers aff hand sae its no worth naebodys while to greet Short warks aye best i sic cases
He cannot he dares not injure a hair of my head said Lady Jane passionately
Canna said Charlie Gude faith ye ken thats nonsense He can as easily hang ye or do ought else w ye as I can wipe my beard An as for the thing that the Douglas darena do gude faith ye ken I never saw it yet But Im sure I wish ye may be safe for it wad do little good to me to see your bit peaseweep neck rackit
It was most unfair as well as most ungenerous in your prince to detain me said she as my business required urgency I had regular signed warrandice and went on the kindest intent besides I have a great aversion to be put into the hands of Douglas How many cows and ewes would you take to set me at liberty
Whisht whisht Sir said Charlie Gudesake haud your tongue Thats kittle ground Never speak o sic a thing But how many could ye afford to gie an I were to set you at liberty
103
In the first place I will give you five hundred head of good English nolt said Lady Jane
Eh What said Charlie holding his horse still and turning his ear close round to the ladys face that he might hear with perfect distinctness the extraordinary proffer It was repeated Charlie was almost electrified with astonishment Five hunder head o nout exclaimed he But dye mean their heads by theirsels—cuttit aff like
No no five hundred good live cattle
Mercy on us Gude faith they wad stock a Yardbire—an Raeburn added he after a pause putting his horse again slowly in motion an Watkerrick into the bargain added he with a full drawn sigh putting the spurs to his beast that he might go quicker to carry him away from the danger For troth d ye ken my lord were no that scarce o grund in Scotland we can get plenty o that for little thing gin we could get ought to lay ont But its hard to get beasts an kittle to keep them i our country Five hunder104 head o black cattle Hech an Charlie Scott had a thae how mony braw lads could he tak at his back oer Craikcorse to join his master the warden But come come it canna be War somebody a Scots lord as hes an English ane an i the same danger I wad risk muckle to set him free But come Corby my fine naig ye hae carried me into mony a scrape ye maun carry me out o this ane or gude faith your masters gane Ha lad ye never had sic a backfu i your life Ye hae five hunder head o black cattle ont ye dog an yere carrying them a away frae your master an Yardbire wi as little ceremony as he took you frae Squire Weir o Cockermouth Ah Corby yere gayan like your master ye hae a lang free kind o conscience ye tike
But my dear Sir said Lady Jane you have not heard the half of my proffer You seem to be a generous sensible and good natured gentleman
Do I said Charlie Thanks t ye my lord
Now continued she if you will either set me and my page safely down on English ground or within the ports of105 Edinborough Ill add five thousand sheep to the proffer I have already made you
Are ye no joking said Charlie again stopping his horse
On my honour I am not was the answer
Theyll stock a BlakeEskhead an the GaraldGrains said Charlie Hae ye a free passport to the Scottish court
Yes I have and signed with the wardens name
Na na haud your tongue there my master has nae name said Charlie He has a good speaking name an ane he disna think shame o but nae name for black an white
Ill show you it said Lady Jane
Na ye needna fash said Charlie I fear it wad be unmannerly in me to doubt a lords word
How soon could you carry us to Edinborough inquired Lady Jane anxious to keep muckle Charlie in the humour of taking her any where save into the hands of Douglas
Thats rather a question to speer at Corby than me said Charlie but I106 think if we miss drowning i Tweed an breaking our necks oer the Redbrae an sinking out o sight i Soutraflow that I could tak in hand to hae ye in Edinborough afore twal oclock at night—Bad things for you Corby
Never say another word about it then said Lady Jane the rest are quite gone before us and out of sight Turn to the left and ride for Edinborough Think of the five hundred cows and five thousand sheep
Oh that last beats a said Charlie Five thousand sheep how mony is that Five scores a hunder—Im sure o that Every hunders five score then—and how mony hunder maks a thousand—
Ten said the page who was forced to laugh at Charlies arithmetic
Ten repeated Charlie Then ten times five hunder that maks but ae thousand an other ten times five hunder—D—n me if I ken how mony is o them ava What does it signify for a man to hae mair gear than he can count I fancy we had better jogg on the gate were gaun Corby
107
I am sure friend ye never had such a chance of being rich said Lady Jane and may never in all likelihood have such a chance again
That is a true yere saying my lord an a sair heart it has gien me said Charlie but your offers ower muckle an that maks me dread theres something at the bottom ot that I dinna comprehend Gude faith an the warden war to suffer danger or disgrace for my greed o siller it wad be a bonny story Corby straight on ye dog ding the brains out o the gutters clear for the camp ye hellicat of an English hound What are ye snoring an cocking your lugs at Od an ye get company like yoursel ye carena what mischief ye carry your master into Get on I say an dinna gie me time to hear another word or think about this business again
The young lady began here to lose heart seeing that Charlie had plucked up a determination But her companion attacked him in her turn with all the flattery and fair promises she could think of till Charlie found his heart again beginning to waver and calculate so that he had no108 other shift but to croon a border warsong that he might not hear this dangerous conversation Still the page persevered till Charlie losing all patience cried out as loud and as bitterly as he could Haud your tongue ye sleegabbit limb o the auld ane D—n ye dye think a mans conscience is to be hadden abreed like the mou of a sack an crammed fu o beef an mutton whether he will or no Corby another nicker an another snore lad an well soon see you aff at the gallop
Thus ended the trying colloquy between muckle Charlie Scott o Yardbire and his two prisoners the rest of his conversation was to Corby whom he forthwith pushed on by spur and flattery to the camp
When the truth came to be discovered many puzzled themselves endeavouring to guess what Charlie would actually have done had he known by the way what a treasure he had in his arms—the greatest beauty and the greatest heiress in England—for Charlie was as notable for kindness and generosity as he was for bodily strength and besides he was poor as he109 frankly acknowledged but then he only wished for riches to be able to keep more men for the service of his chief Some thought he would have turned his horse round without further ceremony and carried her straight to Yardbire on purpose to keep her there for a wife others thought he would have risked his neck honour and every thing and restored her again to her friends But it was impossible for any of them to guess what he would have done as it was proved afterwards that Charlie could not guess himself When the truth came to be divulged and was first told to him his mouth besides becoming amazingly extended in its dimensions actually grew foursquare with astonishment and when asked what he would have done had he known he smacked his lips and wiped them with the back of his hand as if his teeth had been watering—and laughing to himself with a chuckling sound like a moorcock he turned about his back to conceal his looks and only answered with these emphatic words Gude faith it was as weel I didna ken
110
CHAPTER VI
Some write of preclair conquerouris
And some of vallyeant emperouris
And some of nobill mychtie kingis
That royally did reull the ringis
And some of squyris douchty deidis
That wonderis wrocht in weirly weidis
Sa I intand the best I can
Descryve the deidis and the man
Sir Dav Lindsaye
Wald God I war now in Pitcary
Becass I haif bene se ill deidy
Adew I dar na langer tairy
I dreid I waif intill ane widdy
Ibid
In the same grotesque guise as formerly described Charlie at length came with his two prisoners to the outposts of the Scottish army The rest of the train had passed by before him and warned their friends who was coming and in what stile for no one thought it worth his while to tarry with Charlie and his overloaden horse When he came near the soldiers they hurrad and waved their bonnets and gathering about Charlie in crowds they would111 not let him onward Besides some fell a loosing the prisoner behind him and others holding up their arms to release him of the one he carried before and seeing how impatient he was and how determined to keep his hold they grew still more importunate in frolic But it had nearly cost some of them dear for Charlie growing wroth squeezed the Lady Jane so strait with the left arm that she was forced to cry out and putting his right over his shoulder he drew out his tremendous twohand sword Now stand back devils cried Charlie or gude faith Ill gar Corby ride ower the taps o the best o ye I hae had ower sair a trial for heart o flesh already but when I stood that it sanna be the arm o flesh that takes them frae me now till I gie them into the Douglass ain hands Stand back ye devils a Scott never gies up his trust as lang as his arm can dimple at the elbow
The soldiers flew away from around him like a flight of geese and with the same kind of noise too—every one being giggling and laughing—and up rode Charlie112 to the door of the Douglas pavilion where he shouted aloud for the captain Douglas impatient to see his illustrious prisoner left the others abruptly and hasted out at Charlies call
Gude faith my lord said Charlie I beg your pardon for garring you come running out that gate but heres a bit English lord for ye an his henchman—sic master sic man as the saying is There war terrible charges gien about them sae I thought I wad secure them an gie them into your ain hands
I am much beholden to you gallant Yardbire said Douglas The care and pains you have taken shall not be forgotten
This encouraging Charlie he spoke to the earl with great freedom who was mightily diverted with his manner as well as with his mode of securing the prisoners
Theres his lordship for ye said Charlie holding him out like a small bale of goods Mind ye hae gotten him safe off my hand an heres another chap I hae fastened to my back An a the English113 nobles war like thir twa I hae been thinking my lord that they might tak our lasses frae us but we wadna be ill pinched to tak their kye frae them an it wad be nae hard bargain for us neither So saying he cut his belts and thongs of raw hide and let the attendant lady in pages clothes free of his body Hes a little fine soft cozey callan this added Charlie he has made my hinderlands as warm as they had been in an oon
Douglas took Lady Jane off from before the gallant yeoman in his arms He observed with what a look she regarded him and he was sure from the first view he got of her features that the page Colin must have been right with regard to the sex of the prisoner He likewise noted the holes in her ears from which it was apparent that pendent jewels had lately been taken and he hoped the other part of the pages information might likewise be correct though how to account for such an extraordinary piece of good fortune he was wholly at a loss He led her into the inner pavilion and there in presence of his secretary and114 two of his kinsmen examined her papers and passports They were found all correct and signed by the public functionaries of both nations in favour of Jasper Tudor son to the Earl of Pembroke
These are quite sufficient my young lord said Douglas I see no cause for detaining you further You shall have a sufficient guard till you are out of the range of my army and safe furtherance to the Scottish court
The prisoners countenance lighted up and she thanked Douglas in the most grateful terms blessing herself that she had fallen into the hands of so courteous a knight and urged the necessity of their sudden departure Douglas assured her they should be detained no longer than the necessity of the times required but that it was absolutely requisite for his own safety the safety of the realm and the success of the enterprise in which he was engaged and so deeply concerned that they should submit to a personal search from head to foot lest some traitorous correspondence might be secretly conveyed by them
115
The countenance of the prisoner again altered at this information It became at first pale as a lily and immediately after blushed as deeply as the damask rose while the tears started to her eyes It was no wonder considering the predicament in which she now stood her delicate lady form to be searched by the hands of rude warriors her sex discovered and her mission to the Scottish court found out to be a wild intrigue She fell instantly on her knees before Douglas and besought him in moving accents to dispense with the useless formality of searching her and her young kinsman and companion assuring him at the same time that neither of them had a single scrap of writing that he had not seen and adjuring him on his honour and generosity as a knight to hearken to this request
The thing is impossible my lord said Douglas and moreover the anxiety you manifest about such a trifle argues a consciousness of guilt You must submit to be searched on the instant Chuse of us whom you will to the office
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I will never submit to it said she passionately there is not a knight in England would have refused such a request to you
I would never have asked it my lord said he and it is your utter inexperience in the customs of war that makes you once think of objecting to it I am sorry we must use force Bring in two of the guards
Hold hold my lord said Lady Jane since I must submit to such a degradation I will submit to yourself I will be searched by your own hands and yours alone
They were already in the inner tent Douglas desired his friends to go out which they complied with and he himself began to search the person of Lady Jane with the most careful minuteness as he pretended well aware what was to be the issue of the search He examined all her courtly coat pockets lining and sleeves—he came to her gaudy doublet stiff with gold embroidery and began to unloose it but she laid both her hands upon her breast and looked in his face with eyes so speaking and so117 beseeching that it was impossible for man to mistake the import Douglas did not mistake it but was bent upon having proof positive
What said he do you still resist What is here you would conceal
Oh my Lord said she do you not see
I see nothing said he and while she feebly struggled he loosed the vest when the fair heaving bosom discovered the sex of his prisoner and at the same time with the struggle the beautiful light locks had escaped from their confinement and hung over her breast in waving ringlets The maid stood revealed and with the disclosure all the tender emotions and restrained feelings of the female heart burst forth like a river that has been dammed up from running in its natural channel and has just got vent anew She wept and sobbed till her fair breast was like to rend She even seized on Douglas hand and wet it with her tears He on his part feigned great amazement
How is this said he A maid
118
Yes indeed my lord you see before you and in your power a hapless maid of noble blood who set out on a crazy expedition of love but from inexperience has fallen into your hands
Then the whole pretended mission to our Scottish court is it appears a fraud a deep laid imposition of some most dangerous intent as the interest that has been used to accomplish it fully demonstrates You have subjected yourself and all your followers to military execution and the only method by which you can procure a respite either for yourself or them is to make a full confession of the whole plot
Alas my lord I have no plot to confess Mine was merely a romantic expedition of youthful love and as you are a knight and a lover yourself I beg your clemency that you will pardon my followers and me They are innocent and save my page who is likewise a lady and my own kinswoman all the rest are as ignorant who I am and what I am as the child that is unborn
If you would entertain any hopes of a119 reprieve I say madam either for yourself or them declare here to me instantly your name lineage and the whole of your business in Scotland and by whose powerful interest you got this safe conduct made out for one who it seems knows nothing of it or who perhaps does not exist
Surely you will not be so ungallant as to insist upon a lady exposing herself and all her relations No my lord whatever become of me you must never attain to the knowledge of my name rank or titles I entrust myself to your mercy you can have nothing to fear from the machinations of a lovelorn damsel
I am placed in peculiarly hard circumstances madam I have enemies abroad and at home and have nothing but my own energies to rely on to save my house and name from utter oblivion and my dearest hopes from extinguishment This expedition of yours folded as it is in deceit and forgery has an ominous and daring appearance The house of Douglas must not fall for the tears of a deceitful maiden the daughter of my enemy Without120 a full disclosure of all that I request every one of you shall suffer death in the sight of both armies before the going down of the sun I will begin with the meanest of your followers in hopes for the sake of your youth and your sex that you will relent and make a full disclosure of your name and all your motives for such an extraordinary adventure
Lady Jane continued positive and peremptory as did also her attendant who had been thoroughly schooled beforehand in case of their sex being discovered never on any account to acknowledge who she was lest it should put Musgrave wholly in Douglas power The latter therefore to keep up the same system of terror and retribution first practised by his opponent caused sound the death knell and hung out the flag of blood to apprise those within the fortress that some of their friends were shortly to be led to execution
The first that was brought out was a thickset swarthy yeoman who said his name was Edmund Heaton and that he had been a servant to Belsay whom he121 had followed in the border wars When told that he was about to be hanged for a spy and a traitor he got very angry even into such a rage that they could not know what he said for he had a deep rough burr in his throat and spoke a coarse English dialect Hangd I hangd and fogh whot Domn your abswoghdity Hang ane mon fogh deying whot his meastegh beeds him—He was told that he had not two minutes to live unless he could discover something of the plot in which his employers were engaged that it was found he had been accompanying two ladies in disguise on some traitorous mission which they would not reveal and it was the law of war that he should suffer for the vile crime in which he was an accomplice
Nobbit I tell you that wont dey at all—nnnor it shant dey neithegh Do you think you aghe to hang eveghy mon that follows ane woeman Domn them I nevegh knew them lead to oughts but eel If I had known they had been woemen—Domn them—He was hauled up to the scaffold for he refused to walk a foot—Whwhwhy122 nobbit speak you now cried he in utter desperation why nnnobbit you aghe not serious aghe you He was told he should soon find to his experience that they were quite serious—Why cworse the whole geneghation of you the thing is nwot to be bwoghn I wont swoffegh it—that I woll not It is dwonright mworder Oh ho ho and he wept crying as loud as he could Ohoh ho mworder mworder Domn eveghy Scwot of you—In this mood kicking crying and swearing was he turned off and hanged in sight of both hosts
The walls of Roxburgh were crowded with spectators They could not divine who it was that was suffering for all kind of communication was forbid by Musgrave and it was now become exceedingly difficult Great was their wonder and anxiety when they beheld one trooper after another of their countrymen brought out and hanged like dogs But it was evident to every beholder from the unsettled and perturbed motions of those on the wall that something within the fortress123 was distressing the besieged Some hurried to and fro others stood or moved about in listless languor and there were a few that gazed without moving or taking their eyes from the spot where they were fixed Not one flight of arrows came to disturb the execution as usual and it was suspected that their whole stock of arrows was exhausted This would have been good tidings for the Scots could they have been sure of it as they might then have brought their files closer to the walls and more effectually ensured a strict blockade
Lady Janes followers were all executed and herself and companion sore threatened in vain Douglas however meant to reserve them for another purpose than execution—to ensure to himself the surrender of the fortress namely but of her squires he was glad to be rid for fear of a discovery being made to the English that the lady was in his hands which might have brought the whole puissance of the realm upon him whereas the generality of the nation viewed the siege merely as124 an affair of Border chivalry in which they were little interested and deemed Musgrave free from any danger
It was on St Leonards day that these five Englishmen were executed and as a retaliation in part a Scots fisherman was hanged by the English from the wall of the castle one who indeed had been the mean of doing them a great deal of mischief And thus stood matters at that period of the siege namely the Earl of Douglas and Mar lay before Roxburgh with eight thousand hardy veterans all his own vassals The Redhough kept a flying army on the borders of Northumberland chiefly about the mountains of Cheviot and Cocketdale interrupting all supplies and communications from that quarter and doing excellent service to himself and followers and more to the Douglas than the latter seemed to admit of Whenever he found the English gathering to any head he did not go and attack them but leaving a flying party of horse to watch their motions he instantly made a diversion somewhere else which drew them off with all expedition125 A numerous army hastily raised entered Scotland on the west border on purpose to draw off the warden but they were surprised and defeated by the Laird of Johnston who raised the Annandale people and attacked the English by night He followed them into Cumberland and fought two sharp battles with them there in both of which he had the advantage and he then fell a spoiling the country This brought the Northumberland and Durham men into these parts who mustered under Sir William Fetherstone to the amount of fifteen thousand men Johnston retired and the Earl of Galloway to back him raised twenty thousand in the west and came towards the Sarke So that the siege of Roxburgh was viewed but as an item in the general convulsion though high was the stake for those that played and ruthless the game while it lasted Douglas now looked upon the die as turned in his favour as he held pledges that would render the keeping of it of no avail to his opponent The lady was in his power at whose fiat Musgrave had taken and defended126 the perilous castle so bravely—but of this no man knew save the Douglas himself Sir Richard Musgrave was likewise in his hand the captains youngest most beloved and only surviving brother and Douglas had threatened against a certain day if the keys of the castle were not surrendered to him to hang the young hero publicly in the view of both hosts and in all his threats he had never once broke his word We must now take a peep within the walls of Roxburgh and see how matters are going on there
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CHAPTER VII
I cast my net in Largo bay
And fishes I caught nine
There were three to roast and three to boil
And three to bait the line
Old Song
Saw never man so faynt a levand wycht
And na ferlye for ouir excelland lycht
Corruptis the witt and garris the blude awail
Until the harte thocht it na dainger aill
Quhen it is smorit memberis wirk not rychte
The dreadfulle terrour swa did him assaile
Pal of Hon
Berwick was then in the hands of the English and commanded by Sir Thomas Musgrave the captain of Roxburghs cousin so also was Norham and all the forts between on that side of the river Notwithstanding of this the power of the Scots predominated so much in the open field during that reign that this chain of forts proved finally of no avail to Lord Musgrave or Sir Philip Musgrave as he is generally denominated though he had depended128 on keeping the communication open else in victualling Roxburgh he had calculated basely The garrison were already reduced to the greatest extremes they were feeding on their horses and on salted hides and two or three days previous to this their only communication with their countrymen had been cut off they could not tell how It was at best only precarious being carried on in the following singular way—The besieged had two communications with the river by secret covered ways from the interior of the fortress In each of these they had a small windlass that winded on and let off a line nearly a mile in length The lines were very small being made of plaited brass wire and putting a buoy on a hook at the end of each one of these they let them down the water Their friends knowing the very spot where they stopped watched and put dispatches on the hooks with fish beef venison and every kind of convenience which they pulled up below the water sometimes for a whole night together and though this proved but a scanty supply for a whole garrison it was for129 a long time quite regular and they depended a good deal on it
But one night it so chanced that an old fisherman who fished for the monastery had gone out with his coble by night to spear salmon in the river He had a huge blaze flaming in a grate that stood exalted over the prow of his wherry and with the light of that he pricked the salmon out of their deep recesses with great acuteness As he was plying his task he perceived a fish of a very uncommon size and form scouring up the river with no ordinary swiftness At first he started thinking he had seen the devil but a fisher generally strikes at every thing he sees in the water He struck it with his barbed spear called on Tweed a leister and in a moment had it into his boat It was an excellent sirloin of beef The man was in utter amazement for it was dead and lay without moving like other butcher meat yet he was sure he saw it running up the water at full speed He never observed the tiny line of plaited wire nor the hook which indeed was buried in the lire and we may judge with130 what surprise he looked on this wonderful fish—this phenomenon of all aquatic productions However as it seemed to lie peaceably enough and looked very well as a piece of beef he resolved to let it remain and betake himself again to his business Never was there an old man so bewildered as he was when he again looked into the river—never either on Tweed or any other river on earth Instead of being floating down the river peaceably in his boat as one naturally expects to do he discovered that he was running straight against the stream He expected to have missed about fifty yards of the river by his adventure with the beef but—no—instead of that he was about the same distance advanced in his return up the stream The windlass at the castle and the invisible wire line of which he had no conception having been still dragging him gradually up Saint Mary the mother of God protect and defend poor Sandy Yellowlees cried he What can be the meaning of this Is the world turned upside down Aha our auld friend Michael Scott has some hand i131 this Hes no to cree legs wi Is be quits wi him With that he tumbled his beef again into the water which held on its course with great rapidity straight up the stream while he and his boat returned quietly in the contrary and natural direction
Aye there it goes cried Sandy straight on for Aikwood Is warrant thats for the warlocks an the deils dinner the morn God be praised Im free ot or I should soon have been there too
Old Sandy fished down the river but he could kill no more salmon that night—for his nerves had got a shock with this new species of fishing that he could not overcome He missed one wounded another on the tail and struck a third on the rigback where no leister can pierce a fish till he made him spring above water Sandy grew chagrined at himself and the warlock Michael Scott too—for this last was what he called a real prime fish Sandy gripped the leister a little firmer clenched his teeth and drew his bonnet over his eyes to shield them from the violence of132 his blaze He then banned the wizard into himself and determined to kill the next fish that made his appearance But just as he was keeping watch in this guise he perceived another fish something like the former but differing in some degree coming swagging up the river full speed My heart laup to my teeth said Sandy when I saw it coming and I heaved the leister but durstna strike but I lookit weel an saw plainly that it was either a side o mutton or venison I couldna tell whilk But I loot it gang an shook my head Aha Michael lad quo I ye hae countit afore your host for aince Auld Sandy has beguiled ye But ye weel expeckit to gie him a canter to hell the night I rowed my boat to the side an made a the haste hame I could for I thought auld Michael had taen the water to himsel that night
Sandy took home his few fish and went to sleep for all was quiet about the abbey and the cloisters of his friends the monks and when he awoke next morning he could scarcely believe the evidence of his own senses regarding what he had seen during133 the night He arose and examined his fishes and could see nothing about them that was not about other salmon Still he strongly suspected they too might be some connections of Michaels—something illusory if not worse and took care to eat none of them himself delivering them all to the cook of the monastery The monks ate them and throve very well and as Sandy had come by no bodily harm he determined to try the fishing once again and if he met with any more such fish of passage to examine them a little better He went out with his boat light and fishspear as usual and scarcely had he taken his station when he perceived one of a very uncommon nature approaching He did not strike at it but only put his leistergrains before it as if to stop its course when he found the pressure against the leister very strong On pulling the leister towards him one of the barbs laid hold of the line by which the phenomenon was led and not being able to get rid of it he was obliged to pull it into the boat It was a small cask of Malmsey wine and at once owing134 to the way it was drawn out he discovered the hook and line fastened to the end of it These he disengaged with some difficulty the pull being so strong and constant and the mystery was thus found out In a few minutes afterwards he seized a large sheaf of arrows and some time after at considerable intervals a number of excellent sides of beef and venison
Sandy Yellowlees saw that he could now fish to some purpose and formed a resolution of being the last man in the world to tell his countrymen of this resource that the enemy had The thing of which he was most afraid was a discovery He knew that the articles would soon be missed and that his light would betray him and then a flight of arrows or even a single one from a lurking foe at the side of the river would put an end to his fishing for ever Such an opportunity was not to be given up notwithstanding of this danger so after much prying both by day and by night Sanders found that at an abrupt crook in the water whatever the line brought up came close to the side and135 when the water was low it even trailed them over a point of level sandbed quite dry This was a joyous discovery for Sandy He had nothing ado but to sail down in his boat when it grew dark and lie lurking at this crook in the water and make a prey of whatever came within his reach The very first night he filled his boat half full of valuable stuff There was a necessity for disposing of a part of this and Sandy was obliged to aver that he had discovered a hidden store belonging to the English and moreover he hinted that he could supply the towns of Kelso and Roxburgh the abbey of the one and the priory of the other for some time to come Great was the search that was made about the banks of the river but no one could find the store yet Sanders Yellowlees continued to supply the market with luxuries tho no one knew how Intelligence was sent down the stream with the buoys of the seizure of the provisions and of the place where they were taken off which they knew from the failure of the weight they were pulling to be always136 at the same place The news also spread of Sandys stores and both reached the secret friends of the English from whom the provisions were nightly sent to their besieged friends and benefactors with all the caution and secrecy possible it being given them to understand that on that supply alone depended the holding out of the fortress
Many schemes were now tried to entrap Sandy but all without effect for the Scots had a strong post surrounding that very point where Sandy caught all his spoil It was impossible to reach it but by a boat and no boat was allowed on the river but that one that belonged to the abbey At length an English trooper undertook to seize this old depredator Accordingly in the dead of the night when the lines came down he seized them both twisted them into one and walked silently up the side of the river until he came nigh to the spot where the Scots lines on each side joined the stream He then put the two hooks into his buff belt and committing himself to the water was dragged in137 silence and perfect safety up the pool between the outposts
The first turn above that was the point where Sandy lay watching He had only seized one prey that night and that was of no great value—for they had given over sending up victuals to enrich an old Scots rascal as they termed honest Sanders He was glad when he saw the wake of a heavy burden coming slowly towards him This is a sack o sweetmeats said he to himself It must be currans an raisins an sic fine things as are na injured by the fresh water I shall get a swinging price from the abbeymen for them to help wi their Christmas pies
No sooner did this huge load touch the land than Sandy seized it with all expedition but to his inexpressible horror the sack of sweetmeats seized him in its turn and that with such potence that he was instantaneously overpowered He uttered one piercing cry and no more before the trooper gagged and pinioned him The Scottish lines were alarmed and all in motion and the troops on both sides were138 crowding to the bank of the stream A party was approaching the spot where the twain were engaged in the unequal struggle To return down the stream with his prisoner as he intended was impracticable so the trooper had no alternative left but that of throwing himself into Sandys boat with its owner in his arms shoving her from the side into the deep and trusting himself to the strength of the wirelines As the windlasses were made always to exert the same force and no more by resisting that they could be stopped so by pushing the boat from the side in the direction of the castle the line being slackened that again set them agoing with great velocity and though they soon slackened in swiftness the trooper escaped with his prisoner undiscovered and by degrees was dragged up to the mouth of the covered way that led through or under the hill on which the castle stood and there was poor Sanders Yellowlees delivered into the hands of his incensed and halffamished enemies It was he that was hanged over139 the wall of the castle on the day that the five English yeomen were executed1
The English now conceived that their secret was undiscovered and that their sufferings would forthwith be mitigated by the supply drawn by their lines They commenced briskly and successfully but alas their success was of short duration Sanders secret became known to the Scots army The nightwatchers had often seen the old mans boat leaning on the shore at that point at all hours of the night for he was always free to go about plodding for fish when he pleased His cry was heard at that spot and the boat was now missing the place was watched and in two days the Englishmens secret on which they so much relied was discovered and140 quite cut off and that powerful garrison was now left with absolute famine staring them in the face As in all cases of utter privation the men grew ungovernable Their passions were chafed and foamed like the ocean before the commencement of a tempest foreboding nothing but anarchy and commotion Parties were formed of the most desperate opposition to one another and every one grew suspicious of his neighbour Amid all this tempest of passion a mutiny broke out—a strong party set themselves to deliver up the fortress to the Scots But through such a medley of jarring opinions what project could succeed The plot was soon discovered the ringleaders secured and Sir Stephen Vernon Musgraves most tried and intimate friend found to be at the head of it No pen can do justice to the astonishment manifested by Musgrave when the treachery of his dear friend was fully proven His whole frame and mind received a shock as by electricity and he gazed around him in moody madness as not knowing whom to141 trust and as if he deemed those around him were going to be his assassins
Wretch that I am cried he What is there more to afflict and rend this heart Do I breathe the same air Do I live among the same men Do I partake of the same nature and feelings as I was wont My own friend and brother Vernon has he indeed lifted up his hand against me and become one with my enemies Whom now shall I trust Must my dearest hopes—my honour and the honour of my country be sacrificed to disaffection and treachery Oh Vernon—my brother Vernon how art thou fallen
I confess my crime said Vernon and I submit to my fate since a crime it must be deemed But it was out of love and affection to you that your honour might not stoop to our haughty enemies To hold out the fortress is impossible and to persevere in the attempt utter depravity Suppose you feed on one another before the termination of the Christmas holidays the remnant that will be left will not be able to guard the sallying ports142 even though the ramparts are left unmanned In a few days I shall see my brave young friend and companion in arms your brother disgracefully put down and ere long the triumphant Scots enter treading over the feeble remains of this yet gallant army I may bide a traitors blame and be branded with a traitors name but it was to save my friends that I strove for I tell you and some of you will live to see it to hold out the castle is impossible
It is false cried Musgrave It is false It is false cried every voice present in the judgmenthall with frantic rage and all the people great and small flew on the culprit to tear him to pieces for their inveteracy against the Scots still grew with their distress
It is false It is false shouted they Down with the traitor sooner shall we eat the flesh from our own bones than deliver up the fortress to the Scots Down with the false knave down with the traitor—and in the midst of a tumult that was quite irresistible Vernon was borne up on their shoulders and hurried to execution143 smiling with derision at their madness and repeating their frantic cries in mockery It was in vain that the commander strove to save his friend—as well might he have attempted to have stemmed the river in its irresistible course singlehanded Vernon and his associates were hanged like dogs amid shouts of execration and their bodies flung into a pit When this was accomplished the soldiers waved their caps and cried out So fare it with all who take part with our hateful enemies
Musgrave shed tears at the fate of his brave companion and thenceforward was seized with gloomy despondency for he saw that subordination hung by a thread so brittle that the least concussion would snap it asunder and involve all in inextricable confusion His countenance and manner underwent a visible change and he often started on the approach of any one toward him and laid his hand on his sword The day appointed by the Douglas for the execution of Sir Richard provided the castle was not delivered up before144 that period was fast approaching—an event that Musgrave could not look forward to without distraction and it was too evident to his associates that his brave mind was so torn by conflicting passions that it stood in great danger of being rooted up for ever
It is probable that at this time he would willingly have complied with the dictates of nature and saved the life of his brother but to have talked of yielding up the fortress to the Scots at that period would only have been the prelude to his being torn in pieces It was no more their captains affair of love and chivalry that influenced them but desperate animosity against their besiegers and every one called aloud for succours Communication with their friends was impracticable but they hoped that their condition was known and that succours would soon appear—Alas their friends in Northumberland had enough ado to defend themselves nor could they do it so effectually but that their lands were sometimes harried to their very doors The warden with his hardy145 mountaineers was indefatigable and the English garrison were now so closely beleaguered that all chance of driving a prey from the country faded from their hopes Never was the portcullis drawn up nor the drawbridge at either end let down that intelligence was not communicated by blast of bugle to the whole Scottish army who were instantly on the alert The latter fared sumptuously while those within the walls were famishing and at length the day appointed for the execution of Sir Richard drew so near that three days only were to run
It had been customary for the English whenever the Scots sent out a herald bearing the flag of truce to make any proposal whatsoever to salute him with a flight of arrows all communication or listening to proposals being strictly forbidden by the captain on pain of death However that day when the Douglas herald appeared on the rising ground called the Hill of Barns Musgrave caused answer him by a corresponding flag hoping it might be some proposal of a ransom146 for the life of his beloved brother on which the heralds had an interchange of words at the drawbridge The Scottish herald made demand of the castle in his captains name and added that the Douglas requested it might be done instantly to save the life of a brave and noble youth whom he would gladly spare but could not break his word and his oath that he should suffer He farther assured the English captain that it was in vain for him to sacrifice his brother for that he had the means in his power to bring him under subjection the day following if he chose
A council of the gentlemen in the castle was called Every one spoke in anger and treated the demand with derision Musgrave spoke not a word but with a look of unstable attention on every one that spoke collected their verdicts and in a few minutes this answer was returned to the requisition of the Scots
If Sir Philip Musgrave himself and every English knight and gentleman in the castle were now in the hands of the147 Douglas and doomed to the same fate of their brave young friend still the Douglas should not gain his point—the castle would not be delivered up The garrison scorn his proposals they despise his threats and they hold his power at defiance Such tender mercies as he bestows such shall he experience He shall only take the castle by treading over the breasts of the last six men that remain alive in it
This was the general answer for the garrison—in the meantime Musgrave requested as a personal favour of the Douglas that he might see and condole with his brother one hour before his fatal exit The request was readily complied with and every assurance of safe conduct and protection added The Douglas pavilion stood on the rising ground between the castle and the then splendid city of Roxburgh a position from which he had a view of both rivers and all that passed around the castle and in the town but since the commencement of winter he had lodged over night in a tower that stood in the middle of the Hightown called the148 Kings House that had prisons underneath and was strongly guarded but during the day he continued at the pavilion in order to keep an eye over the siege
To this pavilion therefore Musgrave was suffered to pass with only one knight attendant and all the way from the drawbridge to the tent they passed between two files of armed soldiers whose features forms and armour exhibited a strange contrast The one rank was made up of Mar Highlanders men short of stature with red locks high cheek bones and looks that indicated a ferocity of nature the other was composed of Lowlanders from the dales of the south and the west men clothed in grey with sedate looks strong athletic frames and faces of blunt and honest bravery Musgrave weened himself passing between the ranks of two different nations instead of the vassals of one Scottish nobleman At the pavilion the state splendour and number of attendant knights and squires amazed him but by them all he was received with the most courteous respect
149
Sir Richard was brought up from the vaults of the Kings House to the tent as the most convenient place for the meeting with his brother and for the guards to be stationed around them and there being placed in one of the apartments of the pavilion his brother was ushered in to him No one was present at the meeting but from an inner apartment all that passed between them was overheard Musgrave clasped his younger brother in his arms the other could not return the embrace for his chains were not taken off but their meeting was passionately affecting as the last meeting between two brothers must always be When the elder retired a step that they might gaze on each other what a difference in appearance—what a contrast they exhibited to each other The man in chains doomed to instant death had looks of blooming health and manly fortitude The free man the renowned Lord Musgrave governor of the impregnable but perilous castle of Roxburgh and the affianced lord and husband to the richest and most beautiful lady in England was the150 picture of haggard despair and misfortune He appeared but the remnant the skeleton of the hero he had lately been and a sullen instability of mind flashed loweringly in his dark eye His brother was almost terrified at his looks for he regarded him sometimes as with dark suspicion and as if he dreaded him to be an incendiary
My dear brother said Sir Richard what is it that hangs upon your mind and discomposes you so much You are indeed an altered man since I had the misfortune to be taken from you Tell me how fares all within the castle
Oh very well quite well brother All perfectly secure—quite well within the castle But as he said this he strode rapidly backward and forward across the small apartment and eyed the canvass on each side with a grin of rage as if he suspected that it concealed listeners nor was he wrong in his conjecture though it was only caused by the frenzy of habitual distrust But how can I be otherwise than discomposed brother continued he when I am in so short a time to see you151 sacrificed in the prime of youth and vigour to my own obstinacy and pride perhaps
I beg that you will not think of it or take it at all to heart said the youth I have made up my mind and can look death in the face without unbecoming dismay I should have preferred dying on the field of honour with my sword in my hand rather than being hanged up between the hosts like a spy or common malefactor But let the tears that are shed for Richard be other than salt brine from the eyes of the Englishmen Let them be the drops of purple blood from the hearts of our enemies I charge you by the spirits of our fathers whom I am so shortly to join and by the blessed Trinity that you act in this trying dilemma as the son of the house you represent Shed not a tear for me but revenge my death on the haughty house of Douglas
There is my hand Here is my sword But the vital motion or the light of reason who shall ensure to me till these things are fulfilled Nay who shall ensure them to this wasted frame for one moment I152 am not the man I have been brother But here I will swear to you by all the host of heaven to revenge your death or die in the fulfilment of my vow Yes fully will I revenge it I will waste waste waste and the fire that is begun within shall be quenched and no tongue shall utter it Ha ha ha shall it not be so brother
This is mere raving brother I have nothing from this
No it is not for there is a fire that you wot not of But I will quench it though with my own blood Brother there is one thing I wish to know and for that purpose did I come hither Do you think it behoves me to suffer you to perish in this affair
That depends entirely upon your internal means of defence answered Richard If there is a certainty or even a probability that the castle can hold until relieved by our friends which will not likely be previous to the time you have appointed for them to attempt it why then I would put no account on the life of one man Were I in your place I would retain153 my integrity in opposition to the views of Douglas but if it is apparent to you who know all your own resources that the castle must yield it is needless to throw away the life of your brother sacrificing it to the pride of opposition for a day or a week
Musgrave seemed to be paying no regard to this heroic and disinterested reasoning—for he was still pacing to and fro gnawing his lip and if he was reasoning or thinking at all was following out the train of his own unstable mind—Because if I were sure said he that you felt that I was acting unkindly or unnaturally by you by the Rood I would carve the man into fragments that would oppose my submission to save my brother I would teach them that Musgrave was not to be thwarted in his command of the castle that was taken by his own might and device and to the government of which his sovereign appointed him If a dog should dare to bay at me in opposition to my will whatever it were I would154 muzzle the hound and make him repent his audacity
My noble brother said Richard what is the meaning of this frenzy No one is opposing your will and I well believe no one within the castle will attempt it—
Because they dare not said he furiously interrupting his brother They dare not I tell you But if they durst what do you think I would do Ha ha ha
Douglas overheard all this and judging it a fit time to interfere immediately a knight opened the door of the apartment where the two brothers conversed and announced the Lord Douglas Musgrave composed himself with wonderful alacrity and the greeting between the two great chiefs though dignified was courteous and apparently free of rancour or jealousy Douglas first addressed his rival as follows
I crave pardon knights for thus interrupting you I will again leave you to yourselves but I judged it incumbent on me as a warrior and a knight of honour155 to come before you settled finally on your mode of procedure and conjure you Lord Philip Musgrave to save the life of your brother—
Certainly you will not put down my brave brother Lord Douglas said Musgrave interrupting him
As certainly returned he as you put down my two kinsmen Cleland and Douglas of Rowlaw in mere spite and wanton cruelty because they were beloved and respected by me I am blameless as it was yourself who began this unwarrantable system and my word is passed Sir Richard must die unless the keys of the castle are delivered to me before Friday at noon But I shall be blameless in any thing further I conjure you to save him and as an inducement assure you by the honour of knighthood that your resistance is not only unnatural but totally useless for I have the means of commanding your submission when I please
Lord Douglas I defy thee answered Musgrave You hold the life in your hand that I hold dearest on earth save156 one For these two would I live or die but since thy inveterate enmity will not be satisfied with ought short of the life of my only brother take it and may my curse and the curse of heaven be your guerdon It shall only render the other doubly dear to me and for her sake will I withstand your proud pretensions and as she enjoined me hold this castle with all its perils till the expiry of the Christmas holidays in spite of you I defy your might and your ire Let your cruel nature have its full sway Let it be gorged with the blood of my kinsfolk it shall only serve to make my opposition the stronger and more determined For the sake of her whom I serve the mistress of my heart and soul I will hold my resolution—Do your worst
So be it said Douglas Remember that I do not like you fight only in the enthusiasm of love and chivalry but for the very being of my house I will stick at no means of retaliating the injuries you have done to me and mine however unjustifiable these may appear to some—no157 act of cruelty to attain the prize for which I contend Little do you know what you are doomed to suffer and that in a short space of time I again conjure you to save the life of your brother by yielding up to me your illgot right and your conditions shall be as liberal as you can desire
I will yield you my estate to save my brother but not the castle of Roxburgh Name any other ransom but that and I will treat with you Ask what I can grant with honour and command it
Would you give up the life of a brave only brother to gratify the vanity and whim of a romantic girl who if present herself would plead for the life of Sir Richard maugre all other considerations else she has not the feelings of woman What would you give Lord Musgrave to see that lady and hear her sentiments on the subject
I would give much to see her But rather than see her in this place I would give all the world and my lifes blood into the bargain But of that I need not have any fear You have conjurors among you158 it is said and witches that can raise up the dead but their power extends not to the living else who of my race would have been left
I have more power than you divine and I will here give you a simple specimen of it to convince you how vain it is to contend with me You are waging war with your own vain imagination and suffer all this wretchedness for a thing that has neither being nor name
Douglas then lifted a small gilded bugle that hung always at his sword belt the language of which was well known to all the army and on that he gave two blasts not louder than a common whistle when instantly the door of the apartment opened and there entered Lady Jane Howard leaning on her female attendant dressed in attire of princely magnificence Lady Jane Howard exclaimed Sir Richard starting up and struggling with his fettered arms to embrace her But when the vision met the eyes of Lord Musgrave he uttered a shuddering cry of horror and sprung with a convulsive leap back into159 the corner of the tent There he stood like the statue of distraction with his raised hands pressed to each side of his helmet as if he had been strenuously holding his head from splitting asunder
So Friend and foe have combined against me cried he wildly Earth and hell have joined their forces in opposition to one impotent human thing And what his crime He presumed on no more than what he did and could have done but who can stand against the powers of darkness and the unjust decrees of heaven Yes unjust I say unjust Down with all decrees to the centre Theres no truth in heaven I weened there was but it is as false as the rest I say as false—falser than both—Ill brave all the three Ha ha ha
Douglas had brought Lady Jane the apparel and commanded her to dress in it and perceiving the stern authoritative nature of the chief she judged it meet to comply At first she entered with a languid dejected look for she had been given to understand something of the rueful nature160 of the meeting she was called on to attend But when she heard the above infuriated rhapsody and turned her eyes in terror to look on the speaker whose voice she well knew she uttered a scream and fainted Douglas supported her in his arms and Sir Richard whose arms were in fetters stood and wept over her But Musgrave himself only strode to and fro over the floor of the pavilion and uttered now and then a frantic laugh That is well—That is well exclaimed he Just as it should be I hope she will not recover Surely she will not and then bending himself back and clasping his hands together he cried fervently O mother of God take her to thyself while she is yet pure and uncontaminated or what heart of flesh can endure the prospect What a wreck in nature that lovely form will soon be Ohohoh
The ladys swoon was temporary She soon began to revive and cast unsettled looks around in search of the object that had so overpowered her and at the request of Sir Richard who perceived his161 brothers intemperate mood she was removed She was so struck with the altered features looks and deportment of the knight who in her imagination was every thing that was courteous comely and noble and whom she had long considered as destined to be her own that her heart was unable to stand the shock and her removal from his presence was an act of humanity
She was supported out of the tent by Douglas and her female relation but when Musgrave saw them leading her away he stepped rapidly in before them and interposed and with a twist of his body put his hand two or three times to the place where the handle of his sword should have been The lady lifted her eyes to him but there was no conception in that look and her lovely face was as pale as if the hand of death had passed over it
Any one would have thought that such a look from the lady of his love in such a forlorn situation and in the hands of his mortal enemy would have totally uprooted the last fibres of his distempered mind162 But who can calculate on the medicine suited to a diseased spirit The cures even of some bodily diseases are those that would poison a healthy frame So did it prove in this mental one He lifted his hand from his left side where he had thrust it convulsively in search of his sword and clapping it on his forehead he seemed to resume the command of himself at once and looked as calm and serene as in the most collected moments of his life
When they were gone he said to Sir Richard in the hearing of the guards Brother what is the meaning of this What English traitor has betrayed that angelic maid into the hands of our enemy
To me it is incomprehensible said Sir Richard I was told of it by my keeper last night but paid no regard to the information judging it a piece of wanton barbarity but now my soul shudders at the rest of the information that he added
What more did the dog say said Musgrave
He said he had heard that it was resolved by the Douglasses that if you did163 not yield up the fortress and citadel freely on or before the day of the conception of the Blessed Virgin on that day at noon the lady of your heart should be exhibited in a state not to be named on a stage erected on the top of the Bushlaw that faces the western tower and is divided from it only by the moat and there before your eyes and in sight of both hosts compelled to yield to that disgrace which barbarians only could have conceived and then to have her nose cut off her eyes put out and her beauteous frame otherwise disfigured
He dares not for his souls salvation do such a deed said Musgrave No theres not a bloodhound that ever mouthed the air of his cursed country durst do a deed like that And though every Douglas is a hound confest where is the mongrel among them that durst but howl of such an outrage in nature Why the most absolute fiend would shrink from it Hell would disown it and do you think the earth would bear it
Brother suspend your passion and listen to the voice of reason and of nature164 Your cause is lost but not your honour You took and have kept that fortress to the astonishment of the world But for what do you now fight or what can your opposition avail Let me beseech you not to throw away the lives of those you love most on earth thus wantonly but capitulate on honourable terms and rescue your betrothed bride and your only brother from the irritated Scots Trust not that they will stick at any outrage to accomplish their aim Loth would I be to know our name were dishonoured by any pusillanimity on the part of my brother but desperate obstinacy is not bravery I therefore conjure you to save me and her in whom all your hopes of future felicity are bound up
Musgrave was deeply affected and at that instant before he had time to reply Douglas reentered
Scots lord you have overcome me said he with a pathos that could not be exceeded Yes you have conquered but not with your sword Not on the field nor on the wall have ye turned the glaive165 of Musgrave but either by some infernal power or else by chicanery and guile the everlasting resources of your cursed nation It boots not me to know how you came possessed of this last and only remaining pledge of my submission It is sufficient you have it I yield myself your prisoner let me live or die with those two already in your power
No knight that must not be replied Douglas You are here on safe conduct and protection my honour is pledged and must not be forfeited You shall return in safety to your kinsmen and soldiers and act by their counsel It is not prisoners I want but the castle of Roxburgh which is the right of my sovereign and my nation—clandestinely taken and wrongously held by you I am neither cruel nor severe beyond the small range that points to that attainment but that fortress I will have—else wo be to you and all who advise withholding it as well as all their connexions to whom the power of Scotland can extend If the castle is not delivered up before Friday at noon your brother166 shall suffer—that you already know But at the same hour on the day of the Conception if it is still madly and wantonly detained there shall be such a scene transacted before your eyes as shall blur the annals of the Border for ever
If you allude to any injury intended to the lady who is your prisoner said Musgrave the cruellest fiend in hell could not have the heart to hurt such angelic purity and loveliness and it would degrade the honour of knighthood for ever to suffer it Cruel as you are you dare not injure a hair of her head
Talk not of cruelty in me said Douglas If the knight who is her lover will not save her how should I You have it in your power and certainly it is you that behove to do it even granting that the stakes for which we fought were equal the task of redemption and the blame would rest solely with you And how wide is the difference between the prizes for which we contend I for my love my honour and the very existence of my house and name and you for you know not what—the miserable pride of opposition167 Take your measures my lord I will not be mocked
Douglas left the apartment Musgrave also arose and embraced his brother and as he parted from him he spoke these ominous words Farewell my dear Richard May the angels that watch over honour be your guardians in the hour of trial You know not what I have to endure from tormentors without and within But hence we meet not again in this state of existence The ties of love must be broken and the bands of brotherly love burst asunder—nevertheless I will save you—A long farewell my brother
Musgrave was then conducted back to the drawbridge between two long files of soldiers as before while all the musicians that belonged either to the army or the city were ranked up in a line behind them on the top of the great precipice that overhangs the Teviot playing on all manner of instruments Turn the Blue Bonnets wha can wha can with such a tremendous din that one would have thought every stone in the walls of Roxburgh was singing out the bravado
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CHAPTER VIII
Qnhat weywerde elfin thynge is thaten boie
That hyngethe still upon myne gaire as doeth
My synne of harte And quhome rychte loth I lofe
With not les hauckerynge His locent eyne
And his tungis maiter comethe on myne sense
Lyke a remembourance or lyke ane dreime
That had delytis in it Quhen I wolde say
Begone lo then my tung mistakethe quyte
Or fanceyinge not the terme it sayethe Come hidder
Come hidder crabbed boie unto myne syde
Old Play
That evening after the departure of the noble and distressed Musgrave Douglas was sitting all alone musing in a secret apartment of the pavilion when he heard a gentle tap at the door Whos there inquired he surlily It is I my lor said a petulant treble voice without Aha my excellent nondescript little fellow Colin Roy is it you Why you may come in Colin entered dressed in a most elegant and whimsical livery and forgetting himself made the Douglas two or three graceful courtesies instead of bows
169
Aye hem said he thats very well for the page of a princess I suppose you have been studying the graces from your accomplished mistress But where have you been all this while I have felt the loss of you from my hand grievously
I have been waiting on my royal mistress my lor informing her of all that is going on at the siege and of your good fortune in the late captures you have made wherein she rejoices exceedingly and wishes you all good fortune and forward success and in token of kind remembrance she sends you this heart of ruby set in gold and diamonds—a gem that befits your lordship well to wear And many more matters she has given me in charge my lor
Douglas kissed the locket and put it in his bosom and then uttered abundance of the extravagant bombast peculiar to that age He called her his guardian angel his altar of incense and the saint of his devotion the buckler of his arm the sword in his hand and the jewel of his heart Do you think Colin added170 he that ever there was a maiden born like this royal lady of my love
Why my lor I am not much skilled in these matters but I believe the wench my mistress is well enough—that is she is well formed And yet she is but so so
How dare you you piece of unparalleled impudence talk of your royal mistress in that strain Or where did you ever see a form or features so elegant and so bewitchingly lovely
Do you think so—Well Im glad of it I think she is coarse and masculine Where did I ever see such a form indeed Yes I have seen a much finer limb and an arm and a hand too What think you of that for a hand my lor—and with that the urchin clapped his hand on the green table first turning up the one side of it and then the other—I say if that hand were as well kept and that arm as well loaden with bracelets and the fingers with diamond rings it would be as handsome as your princesss of which you boast so much—aye and handsomer too
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You are a privileged boy Colin otherwise I would kick you heartily and moreover cause you to be whipped by the hand of the common executioner However you are a confidant—all is well from you and to say the truth yours is a very handsome hand for a boys hand—so is your arm But what are they to those of my lovely and royal Margaret—mere deformity the husk to the wheat
Indeed my lor you have an excellent taste and a no less gifted discernment
I cannot conceive of any earthly being equalling my beauteous princess whether in the qualifications of body or mind
I rejoice to hear it How blind love is Why in sober reality there is the Lady Jane Howard Is there any comparison between the princess and that lady in beauty
She is I confess a most exquisite creature Colin even though rival to my adorable lady in justice it must be acknowledged she is almost peerless in beauty I do not wonder at Musgraves valour when I see the object of it172 But why do you redden as with anger boy to hear my commendations of that hapless lady
I my lord How should I redden with anger On my honour craving my Lord Douglas pardon I am highly pleased I think she is much more beautiful than you have said and that you should have spoken of her in a more superlative degree and confessed frankly that you would willingly exchange your betrothed lady for her I cannot chuse but think her very beautiful too beautiful indeed with her blue eyes white teeth and ruddy lips I dont like such bright blue eyes I could almost find in my heart to scratch them out she is so like a wanton So you dont wonder at Lord Musgraves valour after having seen his mistress Well I advise your lordship your captainship and your besiegership that there are some who wonder very much at your want of valour I tell you this in confidence My mistress thinks you hold her charms only at a small avail that you have not gone into that castle long ago173 and turned out these Englishmen or hung them up by the necks if they refused Musgrave went in and took it at once for the favour of his mistress because forsooth he deemed her worthy of the honour of such a bold emprize Why then do not you do the same My mistress to be sure is a woman—a very woman but she says this that it is superabundantly ungallant of you not to have gone in and taken possession of the castle long ago Do you know that poor kind creature she has retired to a convent where she continues in a state of sufferance using daily invocations at the shrines of saints for your success And she has moreover made a vow not to braid her hair nor dress herself in princely apparel until the day of your final success Surely my lor you ought to take that castle and relieve my dear mistress from this durance I almost weep when I think of her and must say with her that she has been shabbily used and that she has reason to envy Lady Jane Howard even in her captivity
174
Colin you are abundantly impertinent but there is no stopping of your tongue once it is set agoing As to the taking of castles these things come not under the cognizance of boys or women But indeed I knew not that my sovereign lady the princess had absconded from the courtly circle of her fathers palace and betaken herself to a convent on my account Every thing that I hear of that jewel endears her to me the more
What even her orders for you to go into the castle and put out the English I assure you my lor she insists upon it Whether it is her impatience to be your bride I know not but she positively will not be satisfied unless you very soon go into that castle and put the Englishmen all to the outside of it where you are now or hang them and bury them out of sight before she visits the place to congratulate you
Boy I have no patience with you Cease your prating and inform me where my beloved mistress is that I may instantly visit her
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No not for the Douglas estate which is now in the fire and may soon be brought to the anvil will I inform you of that But my lor you know I must execute my commission And I tell you again unless you take this castle very soon you will not only lose the favour of my mistress but you will absolutely break her heart Nothing less will satisfy her I told her there was a great moat more than a hundred feet deep and as many wide that surrounded the castle and flowed up to the base of its walls that there was a large river on each side of it and that they were both dammed and appeared like two standing seas—but all availed nought There is a moat said I But let him go over that said she let him swim it or put a float on it What is it to cross a pool a hundred feet wide How did Lord Musgrave pass over it There are strong walls on the other side said I But let him go over these said she or break a hole through them and go in Men built the walls why may not men pull them down How did Musgrave get over them There are176 armed men within said I But they are only Englishmen said she Let Douglas men put their swords into them and make them stand back How did Musgrave get in when it was defended by gallant Scots Douglas is either no lover or else no warrior added she or perhaps he is neither the one nor the other
Peace sapling said Douglas frowning and stamping with his foot Peace and leave the pavilion instantly Colin went away visibly repressing a laugh which irritated Douglas still the more and as the urchin went he muttered in a crying whine My mistress is very shabbily used—very shabbily To have promised herself to a knight if he will but take a castle for her and to have fasted and prayed and vowed vows for him and yet he dares not go in and take it And I am shabbily used too and that Ill tell her Turned out before I get half her message delivered But I must inform you my lor before I go that since you are making no better use of the advantage given you I demand the prisoners177 back that I lodged in your hand in my lady mistress name and by her orders
I will do no such thing to the whim of a teasing impertinent stripling without my lady princesss hand and seal for it said Douglas
You shall not long want that said Colin and pulling a letter out from below his sash he gave it to him It was the princesss hand and seal—it being an easy matter for Colin to get what letters he listed Douglas opened it and read as follows
Lord Douglas—In token of my best wishes for your success I send you these with greeting I hope you will take immediate advantage of the high superiority afforded you in this contest by putting some indelible mark or public stain on the lusty dame I put into your hands If Musgrave be a knight of any gallantry he will never permit it but yield As I cannot attend personally I request that the mode and degree of punishment you inflict may be left to my page Colin That you have not178 been successful by such means already hath much surprised
Margaret
This is not a requisition to give you up the prisoners said Douglas but merely a request that the punishment inflicted may be left to you a request which must not be denied to the lady of my heart Now pray Master Colin Roy MacAlpin what punishment do you decree for the Lady Jane Howard For my part though I intended to threaten the most obnoxious treatment to induce my opponent to yield I could not for my dearest interests injure the person of that exquisite lady
You could not in good troth I suppose my mistress has good reason to be jealous of you two But since the power is left with me I shall prevent that I shall see her punished as she deserves Ill have no shameful exposures of a woman even were she the meanest plebeian but Ill mar her beauty that she thinks so much of and that you think so much of Ill have have her nose cut off and two of her fore179 teeth drawn and her cheeks and brow scolloped Ill spoil the indecent brightness of her gloss She shall not sparkle with such brilliance again nor shall the men gloat feasting their intolerable eyes on her as they do at present
Saint Duthoe buckler me exclaimed the Douglas—what an unnatural tyger cat it is I have heard that such feelings were sometimes entertained by one sovereign beauty toward another of the same sex but that a sprightly youth of an amorous complexion with bright blushing features and carroty locks should so depreciate female beauty and thirst to deface it surpasses any thing I have witnessed in the nature of man Go to you are a perverse boy but shall be humoured as far as my honour and character as a captain and warrior will admit
Colin paced lightly away making a slight and graceful courtesy to the Douglas as he glided out What an extraordinary wayward and accomplished youth that is said the chief to himself Is it not strange that I should converse so long with180 a page as if he were my equal There is something in his manner and voice that overcomes me and though he teazes me beyond endurance there is a sort of enchantment about him that I cannot give him the check Ah me all who submit themselves to women to be swayed by them or their delegates will find themselves crossed in every action of importance I am resolved that no woman shall sway me I can love but have not learned to submit
Colin retired to his little apartment in the pavilion it was close to the apartment that Douglas occupied while he remained there and not much longer or broader than the beautiful and romantic inhabitant Yet there he constantly abode when not employed about his lord and never mixed or conversed with the other pages Douglas retired down to the tower or Kings House as it was called from king Edward having occupied it at even tide—but Colin Roy remained in his apartment at the pavilion Alas that Douglas did not know the value181 of the life he left exposed in such a place
On the return of Musgrave into the castle a council of all the gentlemen in the fortress was called and with eager readiness they attended in the hall of the great western tower The governor related to them the heartrending intelligence of his mistress being in the hands of their enemies and of the horrid fate that awaited her as well as his only brother provided the garrison stood out Every one present perceived that Musgrave inclined to capitulate and as they all admired him they pitied his woeful plight But no one ventured a remark There they sat a silent circle in bitter and obstinate rumination Their brows were plaited down so as almost to cover their eyes their under lips were bent upward and every mouth shaped like a curve and their arms were crossed on their breasts while every mans right hand instinctively rested on the hilt of his sword
Musgrave had taken his measures whichever way the tide should run In consequence182 of this he appeared more calm and collected at this meeting than he had done for many a day I do not my friends and soldiers propose any alternative said he—I merely state to you the circumstances in which we are placed and according to your sentiments I mean to conduct myself
It is nobly said brave captain said Collingwood Our case is indeed a hard one but not desperate The Scots cannot take the castle from us and shall any one life or any fifty lives induce us to yield them the triumph and all our skill our bravery and our sufferings go for nought
We have nothing to eat said Musgrave
Ill eat the one arm and defend the drawbridge with the other before the Scots shall set a foot in the castle said a young man named Henry Clavering So will I said another So will I so will we all echoed through the hall while a wild gleam of ferocity fired every haggard countenance It was evident that the demon of animosity and revenge was now conjured183 up which to lay was not in the power of man
What then do you propose as our mode of action in this grievous dilemma said Musgrave
I for my part would propose decision and ample retaliation said Clavering Do you not perceive that there has been a great storm in the uplands last night and this morning and that the Tweed and Teviot are roaring like two whirlpools of the ocean so that neither man nor beast can cross them There is no communication between the two great divisions of the Scottish army to night save by that narrow passage betwixt the moat and the river Let us issue forth at the deepest hour of midnight secure that narrow neck of land by a strong guard while the rest proceed sword in hand to the eastern camp surround the pavilion of Douglas and take him and all his associates prisoners and then see who is most forward in using the rope
It is gallantly proposed my brave young friend said Musgrave I will lead the onset myself I do not only ween184 the scheme practicable but highly promising and if we can make good that narrow neck of land against our enemies on the first alarm I see not why we may not cut off every man in the eastern division of their army and haply from the camp and city secure to ourselves a good supply of provisions before the break of the day
These were inducements not to be withstood and there was not one dissenting voice A gloomy satisfaction rested on every brow and pervaded every look taking place of dark and hideous incertitude Like a winter day that has threatened a tempest from the break of the morning but becomes at last no longer doubtful as the storm descends on the mountain tops so was the scene at the breaking up of that meeting—and all was activity and preparation within the castle during the remainder of the day
The evening at last came but it was no ordinary evening The storm had increased in a tenfold degree The northwest wind roared like thunder The sleet descended in torrents and was driven with an impetuosity185 that no living creature could withstand The rivers foamed from bank to brae and the darkness was such as if the heavens had been sealed up The sound of the great abbey bell that rung for vespers was borne away on the tempest so that nothing was heard save once or twice a solemn melancholy sound apparently at a great distance as if a spirit had been moaning in the eastern sky
Animal nature cowered beneath the blast The hind left not her den in the wood nor broke her fast until the dawning The flocks crowded together for shelter in the small hollows of the mountains and the cattle lowed and bellowed in the shade The Scottish soldiers dozed under their plaids or rested on their arms within the shelter of their tents and trenches Even the outer sentinels on whose vigilance all depended crept into some retreat or other that was next to hand to shield them from the violence of the storm The army was quite secure—for they had the garrison so entirely cooped up within their walls that no attempt had been made to186 sally forth for a whole month Indeed ever since the English were fairly dislodged from the city the Bushlaw and all the other outworks the attempt was no more dreaded for the heaving up of the portcullis and the letting down of the drawbridge made such a noise as at once alarmed the Scottish watchers and all were instantly on the alert Besides the gates and drawbridges for there were two gates and one drawbridge at each end were so narrow that it took a long time for an enemy to pass in any force and thus it proved an easy matter to prevent them But that night the storm howling in such majesty and the constant jangling of chains and pullies swinging to its force with the roaring of the two rivers over the dams formed altogether such a hellish concert that fifty portcullises might have been raised and as many drawbridges let down and the prostrate shivering sentinels of the Scottish army have distinguished no additional chord or octave in the infernal bravura
At midnight the English issued forth187 with all possible silence Two hundred under the command of Grey and Collingwood were posted on the castlegreen that is the narrow valley between the moat and the river Tweed to prevent the junction of the two armies on the first alarm being given The rest were parted into two divisions and under the command of Musgrave and Henry Clavering went down the side of each river so as to avoid the strongest part of the Scottish lines and the ramparts raised on the height Clavering led his division down by the side of the Teviot along the bottom of the great precipice and owing to the mingled din of the flood and the storm was never perceived till fairly in the rear of the Scottish lines Musgrave was not so fortunate as the main trench ran close to the Tweed He was obliged to force it with his first column which he did with a rapidity which nothing could equal The Englishmen threw themselves over the mound of the great trench hurling in above their enemies sword in hand and overpowering them with great ease then over one188 breastwork after another spreading consternation before them and carnage behind Clavering heard nothing of this turmoil so intemperate was the night He stood with impatience his men drawn up in order within half a bowshot of Douglass pavilion waiting for the signal agreed on for their whole energy was to be bent against the tent of the commander in hopes not only to capture the Douglas himself and all his near kinsmen but likewise their own prisoners At length among other sounds that began to swell around Clavering heard the welcome cry of Duddoes away which was as readily answered with Duddoes here and at one moment the main camp was attacked on both sides The flyers from the lines had spread the alarm The captains tent was surrounded by a triple circle of lesser tents all full of armed men who instantly grasped their weapons and stood on the defensive Many rough blows were exchanged at the first onset and many of the first ranks of the assailants met their death But though those189 within fought with valour they fought without system whereas the English had arranged every thing previously and each of them had a white linen belt of which the Scots knew nothing and in the hurry and terror that ensued some parties attacked each other and fell by the hands of their brethren Finding soon that the battle raged before and behind them they fled with precipitation toward the city but there they were waylaid by a strong party and many of them captured and slain The English would have slain every man that fell into their power had it not been for the hopes of taking Douglas or some of his near kinsmen and by that means redeeming the precious pledges that the Scots held so much to their detriment and by which all their motions were paralyzed Clavering with a part of the troops under his command pursued the flyers that escaped as far as the head of the Marketstreet and put the great Douglas himself into no little dismay for he found it next to impossible to rally his men amid the storm and darkness such a panic had190 seized them by this forthbreaking of their enemies Clavering would doubtless have rifled a part of the city if not totally ruined that division of the Scottish army had he not been suddenly called back to oppose a more dangerous inroad behind
When Musgrave first broke through the right wing of the Scottish lines the noise and uproar spread amain as may well be conceived The warders on the heights then sounded the alarm incessantly and a most incongrous thing it was to hear them sounding the alarm with such vigour at their posts after the enemy had passed quietly by them and at that time were working havoc in the middle of their camp They knew not what was astir but they made plenty of din with their cowhorns leaving those that they alarmed to find out the cause the best way they could
The Scottish army that beleaguered the castle to the westward caught the alarm and rushed to the support of their brethren and commander The infantry being first in readiness were first put in motion but191 on the narrowest part of the castle green they fell in with the firm set phalanx of the English who received them on the point of their lances and in a few seconds made them give way The English could not however pursue their orders being to keep by the spot where they were and stand firm so that the Scots had nothing ado but to rally at the head of the green and return to the charge Still it was with no better success than before The English stood their ground and again made them reel and retreat But by this time the horsemen were got ready and descended to the charge at a sharp trot They were clad in armour and had heavy swords by their sides and long spears like halberds in their hands The English lines could not withstand the shock given by these for the men were famishing with hunger and benumbed with cold the wind blowing with all its fury straight in their faces They gave way but they were neither broken nor dispersed Reduced as they were they were all veterans and retreated fighting till they came to the barriers before192 the drawbridge and there having the advantage of situation they stood their ground
The horsemen passed on to the scene of confusion in the camp and came upon the rear of the English host encumbered with prisoners and spoil
When Clavering was called back Douglas who had now rallied about one hundred and forty men around him wheeled about and followed Clavering in the rear so that the English found themselves in the same predicament that the Scots were in about an hour before—beset before and behind—and that principally by horsemen which placed them under a manifest disadvantage
It is impossible to give any adequate idea of the uproar and desperate affray that now ensued The English formed on both sides to defend themselves but the prisoners being numerous detained a great part of the men from the combat A cry arose to kill the prisoners from whom it first issued no one knew but it no sooner past than the men began to put it into execution193 The order was easier to give than perform in half a minute every one of the guards had a prisoner at his throat—the battle became general—every one being particularly engaged through all the interior of the host many of them struggling in pairs on the earth who to get uppermost and have the mastery It was all for life and no exertion was withheld but whenever these single combats ended in close gripes the Scots had the mastery their bodies being in so much better condition They made a great noise both individually and in their files but the English scarcely opened their mouths like bred mastiffs when desperately engaged they only aimed at the vital parts of their opponents without letting their voices be heard
It is vain at this period to attempt giving a better description of the scenes of that night for the men that were present in the affray could give no account of it next day But after a hard encounter and heavy loss the English fought their way up to their friends before the ramparts194 who had all the while been engaged in skirmishing with the foot of the western division whom they had kept at bay and thus preserved the entrance clear to themselves and brethren but ere the rear had got over the halfmoon before the bridge it was heaped full of slain
There were more of the Scots slain during the conflict of that hideous night than of the English but by far the greater number of prisoners remained with the former and several of them were men of note but such care was taken to conceal rank and titles after falling into the hands of their enemies that they could only be guessed at De Gray was slain and Collingwood was wounded and taken so that on taking a muster next day the English found themselves losers by their heroic sally
They had however taken one prize of which had they known the value it would have proved a counterbalance for all their losses and all the distinguished prisoners that formerly told against them This was no other than the pretended page Colin195 Roy of whose sex and quality the reader has been formerly apprised and whom they found concealed among some baggage in the Douglas tent Grievous was that pages plight when he found himself thrust into a vault below the castle of Roxburgh among forty rude soldiers many of them wounded and others halfnaked and nothing given them to subsist on Concealment of his true sex for any length of time was now impossible and to divulge the secret certain ruin to himself and the cause of Douglas
Next day he pleaded hard for an audience of Musgrave on pretence of giving him some information that deeply concerned himself and he pleaded with such eloquence that the guards listened to him and informed the commander who ordered the stripling to be brought before him The next day following was that appointed for the execution of Sir Richard Musgrave Colin informed the governor that if he would give him his liberty he would procure a reprieve for his brother at least until the day of the Conception during196 which period something might occur that would save the life of so brave a youth that he was the only man on earth who had the power to alter the purpose of Douglas in that instance and that he would answer with his head for the success—only the charm required immediate application
Musgrave said it was a cowards trick to preserve his own life—for how could he answer to him for his success when he was at liberty But that no chance might be lost for saving his brothers life he would cause him to be conducted to Douglas under a strong guard allow him what time he required to proffer his suit and have him brought back to prison till the day of the Conception was over and if he succeeded he should then have his liberty This was not exactly what Colin wanted However he was obliged to accept of the terms and proceeded to the gate under a guard of ten men The Scots officer of the advanced guard refused to let any Englishman pass but answered with his honour to conduct the stripling197 in safety to his commander and in two hours return him back to the English at the drawbridge No more was required and he was conducted accordingly to the door of Douglas tent which as he desired he was suffered to enter the men keeping guard at the door
In the confusion of that morning Douglas never had missed the page nor knew he that he was taken prisoner and when the boy entered from his own little apartment he judged him to be in attendance as usual He had a bundle below his arm tied up in a ladys scarf and a look that manifested great hurry and alarm The Douglas who was busily engaged with two knights could not help noting his appearance at which he smiled
My lord said the boy I have an engagement of great importance today and the time is at hand I cannot get out at the door by reason of the crowd who must not see this Will it please you to let me pass by your own private door into the city
Douglas cursed him for a troublesome198 imp and forthwith opened the door into the concealed way and as all who came from that door passed unquestioned the page quickly vanished in the suburbs of the city
The officer and his guard waited and waited until the time was on the point of expiring and at last grew quite impatient wondering what the boy could be doing so long with the commander But at length to their mortal astonishment they beheld the stripling coming swaggering up from the high street of the city behind them putting a number of new and ridiculous airs in practice and quite unlike one going to be delivered up to enemies to be thrown into a dungeon or perhaps hanged like a dog in a day or two
The officer knew nothing of the concealed door and passage and was lost in amazement how the page should have escaped from them all without being visible but he wondered still more how the elf being once at liberty should have thought of coming strutting back to deliver himself up again
199
Where the devil have you been master an it be your will said the officer
Eh What dye say mun said the unaccountable puppy What do I say mun replied the officer quite unable to account either for the behaviour of the prisoner or his address I say I trow ye hae seen sic a man as Michael Scott some time in your days Ye hae gien me the glaiks aince by turning invisible but be ye deil be ye fairy I sal secure ye now Ye hae nearly gart me brik my pledge o honour whilk I wadna hae done for ten sic necks as yours
Your pledge o honour Whats that mun Is that your bit sword Stand back out o my gate
Shakel my knackers said the officer laughing if I do not crack thy fools pate What does the greenkailworm mean You sir I suppose are presuming to transact a character You are playing a part in order to get off but your silly stratagem will fail you Pray my young master what character do you at present appear in
200
Character me no characters said the page—it is not with you that I transact—nor such as you Do not you see who I am and what commission I bear Bide a great way back out o my gate an ye please and show me where I am to deliver this
And who is that bald epistle for master Quipes Please to open your sweet mouth and read me the inscription
Do you not see saucy axeman Cannot you spell it To James Earl of Douglas and Mar with greeting These Herald me to your commander nadkin but keep your distance—due proportioned distance if you please
No no my little crab cherry you cheated me by escaping from the tent invisible before but shall not do it again Well get your message done for you your time is expired and some more to boot I fear come along with us—And forthwith one of their number waited on the chief with the letter while the rest hauled off the unfortunate page and delivered him back to the English
201
CHAPTER IX
His doublet was sae trim and neat
Wi reid goud to the chin
Ye wad hae sworn had ye been there
That a maiden stood within
The tears they trickled to his chin
And fell down on his knee
O had he wist before he kissed
That the boy was a fair ladye
Song of May Marley
Whos she this dame that comes in such a guise
Such lace of import and unwonted speech
Tell me Cornaro For methinks I see
Some traits of hell about her
Trag of The Prioress
In this perilous situation were placed the two most beautiful ladies of England and Scotland at the close of that memorable year and in this situation stood the two chiefs with relation to those they valued dearest in life the one quite unconscious of the misery that awaited him but the other prepared to stand the severest of trials Success had for some time past made a show of favouring the Scots but she had not yet declared herself and matters202 with them soon began to look worse As a commencement of their misfortunes on that very night the battle took place the English received a supply of thirty horseloads of provisions with assurances that Sir Thomas Musgrave the governor of Berwick was setting out with a strong army to their succour
The supply was received in this way There was a bridge over the Teviot which communicated only with the castle the north end of it being within the drawbridge and that bridge the English kept possession of all the time of the siege It being of no avail to the Scots they contented themselves by keeping a guard at the convent of Maisondieu to prevent any communication between the fortress and the Border But the English barons to the eastward whose castles lay contiguous to the Tweed taking advantage of the great flood came with a strong body of men and attacking this post by surprise they beat them and chasing them a considerable way up the river got the convoy along the bridge into the castle
203
This temporary relief raised the spirits of the English or rather cheered their prospects for higher in inveterate opposition their spirits could not be raised On the day following likewise a flying party of Sir Thomas Musgraves horse made their appearance on the height above Hume castle and blew their horns and tossed their banners abroad on the wind that the besieged might see them and understand that their friends were astir to make a diversion in their favour
On the same day a new gibbet was erected on the top of the Bushlaw with a shifting wooden battery to protect the executioners and all within the castle feared that the stern and unyielding Douglas was going to put his threat respecting the life of Sir Richard Musgrave into execution Therefore to prevent their captain from seeing the scene and if possible his mind from recurring to it they contrived to get a council of war called at which they intentionally argued and contended about matters of importance in order to detain204 him until the sufferings of his brother were past
The Bushlaw on which the Scots had a strong fortification rises abruptly over against the western tower of the castle of Roxburgh they were separated only by the moat and though at a great height were so near each other that men could with ease converse across and see distinctly what was done On the top of this battery was the new gibbet erected the more to gall the English by witnessing the death of their friends
At noon the Scots to the number of two hundred came in procession up from the city with their prisoner dressed in his knightly robes and as they went by they flouted the English that looked on from the walls—but the latter answered them not either good or bad By a circular rout to the westward they reached the height where they exposed the prisoner to the view of the garrison on a semicircular platform for a few minutes until a herald made proclamation that unless the keys of the castle were instantly delivered205 at the drawbridge the life of the noble prisoner was forfeited and the sentence would momently be put in execution and then he concluded by calling in a louder voice Answer Yes or no—once—twice He paused for the space of twenty seconds and then repeated slowly and apparently with reluctance Once—twice—thrice—and the platform folding down the victim was launched into eternity
The English returned no answer to the herald as no command or order had been given In moody silence they stood till they witnessed the fatal catastrophe and then a loud groan or rather growl of abhorrence and vengeance burst from the troops on the wall which was answered by the exulting shouts of the Scots At that fatal moment Musgrave stepped on the battlement to witness the last dying throes of his loved brother By some casualty the day of the week and month happening to be mentioned in the council hall in the midst of his confused and abstracted ideas that brought to his remembrance the fate with which his brother had been threatened206 Still he had hopes that it would have been postponed for as a drowning man will catch violently at floating stubble so had he trusted to the pages mediation He had examined the stripling on his return to the dungeon but the imp proved froward and incommunicative attaching to himself an importance of which the captain could not perceive the propriety yet though he had nothing to depend on the tender mercies of Douglas as indeed he had no right he nevertheless trusted to his policy for the saving of his brother alive knowing that in his life he held a bond round his heart which it was not his interest to snap
As he left the hall of council which was in the great western tower and in the immediate vicinity of the scene then transacting the murmurs of the one host and the shouts of the other drew him to the battlement whence his eye momently embraced the heartrending cause of the tumult He started and contracted every muscle of his whole frame shrinking downward and looking madly on each hand of207 him He seemed in act to make a spring over the wall and the soldiers around him perceiving this and haply misjudging the intent of his motion seized on him to restrain him by main force But scarcely did he seem to feel that he was held he stretched out his hands toward his brother and uttered a loud cry of furious despair and then in a softer tone cried Oh my brother my brother—So you would not warn me you dog—Nor you—Nor you—No you are all combined against me That was a sight to gratify you was it not My curse on you and all that have combined against the life of that matchless youth and with that he struggled to shake them from him My lord my lord was all that the soldiers uttered as they restrained him
At that instant Clavering rushed on the battlement Unhand the captain cried he Dare you for the lives that are not your own presume to lay violent restraint on him and that in the full view of your enemies
I will have vengeance Clavering cried Musgrave—ample and uncontrolled208 vengeance Where is the deceitful and impertinent stripling that promised so solemnly to gain a reprieve for my brother and proffered the forfeit of his life if he failed
In the dungeon my lord fast and secure
He is a favourite parasite of the Douglas bring him forth that I may see vengeance executed on him the first of them all I will hang every Scot in our custody but go and bring him the first It is a base deceitful cub and shall dangle opposite to that noble and now lifeless form It is a poor revenge indeed—but I will sacrifice every Scot of them Why dont you go and bring the gilded moth you kennel knaves Know you to whom you thus scruple obedience
Clavering was silent and the soldiers durst not disobey though they obeyed with reluctance knowing the advantages that the Scots possessed over them both in the numbers and rank of their prisoners They went into the vaults and without ceremony or intimation of their intent lifted209 the gaudy page in their arms and carried him to the battlement of the western tower from whence sans farther ceremony he was suspended from a beams end
Douglas could not believe the testimony of his own senses when he saw what had occurred Till that moment he never knew that his page was a prisoner Indeed how could he conceive he was when he had seen him in his tent the day after the night engagement His grief was of a cutting and sharp kind but went not to the heart for though the boy had maintained a sort of influence over him even more than he could account to himself for yet still he was teasing and impertinent and it was not the sort of influence he desired
I wish it been our blessed Ladys will to have averted this said he to himself But the mischances of war often light upon those least concerned in the event Poor Colin thy beauty playfulness and flippancy of speech deserved a better guerdon How shall I account to my royal mistress for the cruel fate of her favourite
With all this partial regret Douglas felt210 that by the loss of this officious page of the princess he would be freed from the controul of petticoatgovernment He perceived that the princess lived in concealment somewhere in the neighbourhood—kept an eye over all his actions and movements—and by this her agent checked or upbraided him according to her whimsical inexperience Douglas was ambitious of having the beautiful princess for his spouse—of being soninlaw to his sovereign—and the first man in the realm but he liked not to have his counsels impeded or his arms checked by a froward and romantic girl however high her lineage or her endowments might soar So that upon the whole though he regretted the death of Colin Roy MacAlpin he felt like one released from a slight bondage Alas noble chief little didst thou know of the pang that was awaiting thee
It will be recollected that when the Lady Margaret first arrived in the campin the character of Colin her own page she lodged her maid in the city of Roxburgh disguised likewise as a boy With her she211 communicated every day and contrived to forward such letters to the Court as satisfied her royal mother with regard to the motives of her absence—though these letters were like many others of the sex any thing but the direct truth The king was at this period living in retirement at his castle of Logie in Athol on pretence of ill health
The name of the maiden of honour thus disguised was Mary Kirkmichael the daughter of a knight in the shire of Fife She was a lady of great beauty and elegant address—shrewd sly and enterprising
Two days after the rueful catastrophe above related word was brought to Douglas while engaged in his pavilion that a lady at the door begged earnestly to see him Some petitioner for the life of a prisoner said he What other lady can have business with me Tell her I have neither leisure nor inclination at present to listen to the complaints and petitions of women
I have told her so already said the knight in waiting but she refuses to go212 away till she speak with you in private and says that she has something to communicate that deeply concerns your welfare She is veiled but seems a beautiful accomplished and courtly dame
At these words the Douglas started to his feet He had no doubt that it was the princess emerged from her concealment in the priory or convent and come to make inquiries after her favourite and perhaps establish some other mode of communication with himself He laid his account with complaints and upbraidings and upon the whole boded no great good from this domiciliary visit However he determined to receive his royal mistress with some appearance of form and in a few seconds at a given word squires yeomen and grooms to the amount of seventy were arranged in due order every one in his proper place and up a lane formed of these was the lady conducted to the captain who received her standing and uncovered but after exchanging courtesies with her and perceiving that it was not the princess jealous of his dignity he put on his plumed213 bonnet and waited with stately mien the developement of her rank and errand
It was Mary Kirkmichael
My noble lord said she I have a word for your private ear and deeply doth it concern you and all this realm
Douglas beckoned to his friends and attendants who withdrew and left him alone with the dame who began thus with great earnestness of manner My lord of Douglas I have but one question to ask and if satisfied with the answer will not detain you a moment What is become of the page Colin that attended your hand of late Douglas hesitated deeming the lady to be some agent of the princess Margarets Where is he continued she raising her voice and advancing a step nearer to the captain Tell me as you would wish your soul to thrive Is he well Is he safe
He is sped on a long journey lady and you may not expect to meet him again for a season
Sped on a long journey Not see him again for a season What does this answer214 mean Captain on that youths wellbeing hang the safety the nobility and the honour of your house Say but to me he is well and not exposed to any danger in the message on which he is gone
Of his wellbeing I have no doubt and the message on which he is gone is a safe one He is under protection from all danger commotion or strife
It is well you can say so else wo would have fallen to your lot to mine and to that of our nation
I know he was a page of court and in the confidence of my sovereign and adored Lady Margaret But how could any misfortune attending a page prove of such overwhelming import
Was a page of court my lord What do you infer by that was Pray what is he now I entreat of you to be more explicit
The plain truth of the matter is shortly this The boy fell into the hands of our enemies that night of the late fierce engagement
At this the lady uttered a scream and215 Douglas dreading she would fall into hysterics stretched out his arms to support her I pity you gentle maiden said he for I perceive you two have been lovers
She withdrew herself shunning his profered support and looking him wildly in the face said in a passionate voice In the hands of the English O Douglas haste to redeem him Give up all the prisoners you have for that pages ransom and if these will not suffice give up all the lands of Douglas and Mar and if all these are still judged inadequate give up yourself But by your fealty your honour your nobility I charge you and in the name of the Blessed Virgin I conjure you to lose no time in redeeming that youth
Douglas could scarcely contain his gravity at this rhapsody weening it the frantic remonstrance of a lovesick maid but she perceiving the bent and tenor of his disposition held up her hand as a check to his illtimed levity Unhappy chief exclaimed she Little art thou aware216 what a gulf of misery and despair thou art suspended over and that by a single thread within reach of the flame and liable every moment to snap and hurl thee into inevitable ruin Know and to thyself alone be it known that that page was no other than the princess of Scotland herself who impelled by romantic affection came in that disguise to attend thee in all thy perils undertaken for her sake It was she herself who seized her rival and placed her in your hands thus giving you an advantage which force could not bestow And from time to time has she laid such injunctions on you written and delivered by her own hand as she judged conducive to your honour or advantage If you suffer that inestimable lady to lye in durance or one hair of her head to fall to the ground after so many marks of affection and concern for you you are unworthy of ladys esteem of the titles you bear or the honour of knighthood
When the lady first came out with the fatal secret and mentioned the princesss name Douglas strode hastily across the217 floor of the pavilion as if he would have run out at the door or rather fallen against it but the motion was involuntary he stopped short and again turned round to the speaker gazing on her as if only half comprehending what she said The truth of the assertion opened to him by degrees and it may well be supposed the intelligence acted upon his mind and frame like a shock of electricity He would fain have disbelieved it had he been able to lay hold of a plausible pretext to doubt it but every recollected circumstance coincided in the establishment of the unwelcome fact All that he could say to the lady as he stood like a statue gazing her in the face was Who art thou
I am Mary Kirkmichael of Balmedie said she and I came with the princess disguised as her attendant I am her friend and confidant and we held communication every day till of late that my dear mistress discontinued her visits O captain tell me if it is in your power to save her
Douglas flung himself on a form in the218 corner of the tent and hid his face with his hand and at the same time groaned as if every throb would have burst his hearts casement He had seen his royal his affectionate and adored mistress swung from the enemys battlements without one effort to save her and without a tear wetting his cheek and his agony of mind became so extreme that he paid no more regard to the lady who was still standing over him adding the bitterest censure to lamentation Yet he told her not of her mistresss melancholy fate—he could not tell her but the ejaculatory words that he uttered from time to time too plainly informed Mary Kirkmichael that the life of her royal mistress was either in jeopardy or irretrievably lost
The Douglas saw the lady no more nor regarded her He rushed from the tent and gave such orders as quite confounded his warriors one part being quite incompatible with another and in the confusion Mary glided quietly away from the scene without farther notice All the motions of Douglas for two days subsequent to219 this piece of information were like those of a drunken man he was enraged without cause and acted without consistency but the only point towards which all these jarring and discordant passions constantly turned was revenge on the English—deadly and insatiable revenge When he looked towards the ramparts of the castle his dark eye would change its colour and sink deeper under his brow while his brown cheeks would appear as if furrowed across and his teeth ground and jarred against one another His counsels however were not at this time of a nature suited to accomplish any thing material against his rivals He meditated the most deadly retaliation but was prevented before he could put it in practice
On the following evening when the disturbance of his mind had somewhat subsided and appeared to be settling into a sullen depression of spirit or rather a softened melancholy he was accosted by a monk who had craved and obtained admittance—for a deference to all that these people said or did was a leading feature of220 that age Douglas scarcely regarded him on his first entrance and to his address only deigned to answer by a slight motion of his head for the monks whole appearance augured little beyond contempt He was of a diminutive stature had a slight starved make and a weak treble voice His conversation nevertheless proved of that sort that soon drew the attention of the chief
May the blessed Virgin the mother of God bless and shield you captain
Humph returned the Douglas noding his head
May Saint Withold be your helmet and buckler in the day of battle—
Amen said the Douglas interrupting him and taking a searching look of the tiny being that spoke as if there were something in the tones of his voice that struck him with emotion
—And withhold your weapon from the blood of the good added the monk from the breast of the professor of our holy religion and dispose your heart to peace and amity that the land may have221 rest and the humble servants of the Cross protection Why dont you say Amen to this knight Is your profession of Christianity a mere form and are the blessed tenets which it enjoins strangers to thy turbulent bosom
Humph said Douglas With reverence be it spoken monk but you holy brethren have got a way of chattering about things that you do not understand Adhere to your books and your beads I am a soldier and must stick by my profession bearing arms for my king and country
I am a soldier too rejoined the monk and bear arms and suffer in a better cause But enough of this I have a strange message for you captain You must know that a few weeks ago a beautiful youth came to our monastery seeking supply of writing materials which he could not otherwise procure He was a kind and ingenious youth I supplied him for I loved him and I have since seen him sundry times in my cell But last night as I was sitting alone a little before midnight—I222 am afraid you will not believe me captain for the matter of my message is so strange—I had gone over my breviary and was sitting with the cross pressed to my lips when behold the youth entered I arose to receive him but he beckoned me to keep away from his person and glided backward I then recollected that he must be a spirit else he could not have got in and though I do not recollect all that he said the purport of his message was to the following effect
Benjamin said he arise and go to the captain of the Scottish army whom you will find in great perplexity of mind and meditating schemes of cruelty and retaliation which would be disgraceful to himself and to his country But let him beware for there be some at his hand that he does not see and if he dare in the slightest instance disobey the injunctions which you shall from time to time lay on him his sight shall be withered by a visitant from another world whose face he shall too well recognize ever again to find rest under a consciousness of her presence223 Monk Benjamin I was not what I seemed A few days ago I was a lady in the prime of youth and hope I loved that captain and was betrothed to him For his sake I ventured my life and lost it without a single effort on his part to save me But his fate is in my hand and I will use the power It is given to me to control or further his efforts as I see meet—to turn his sword in the day of battle—or to redouble the strength of his and his warriors arms My behests shall be made known to him and if he would avoid distraction of mind as well as utter ruin let him tremble to disobey In the first place then you will find him pondering on a scheme for the recovery of my lifeless body—a scheme of madness which cannot and may not succeed therefore charge him from me to desist You will find him farther preparing an embassy to my father and mother to inform them of the circumstances of my death and that not in the words of truth But let him take care to keep that a secret as he would take care of his life and honour for on that depends224 his ultimate success Tell him farther from me to revenge my death but not on the helpless beings that are already in his power to pursue with steady aim his primary object—and his reward shall be greater than he can conceive
Strange as this story may appear captain it is strictly according to truth You yourself may judge whether it was a true or lying spirit that spoke to me
Are you not some demon or spirit yourself said the Douglas who know such things as these Tell me are you a thing of flesh and blood that you can thus tell me the thoughts and purposes of my heart
I am a being such as yourself said the monk—a poor brother of the Cistertian order and of the cloister adjoining to this and I only speak what I was enjoined to speak without knowing whether it is true or false I was threatened with trouble and dismay if I declined the commission and I advise you captain for your own peace of mind to attend to this warning
225
Douglas promised that he would at least for a time and the monk taking his leave left the earl in the utmost consternation The monks tale was so simple and unmasked there was no doubting the truth of it—for without such a communication it was impossible he could have known the things he uttered and the assurance that a disembodied being should have such a power over him though it somewhat staggered the Douglas faith created an unwonted sensation within his breast—a sensation of wonder and awe for none of that age were exempt from the sway of an overpowering superstition
226
CHAPTER X
What a brave group we have That fellow there
He with the cushion would outprate the cricket
The babble of the brook is not more constant
Or syllabled with such monotony
Than the eternal tingle of his tongue
Cor Ill bid him silence master
Or do him so which likes you
The Prioress
We must now leave the two commanders in plights more dismal than ever commanders were before and return to our warden the bold baron of Mountcomyn whose feats form a more pleasant and diverting subject His warfare all this while was of a predatory nature—for that his warriors were peculiarly fitted and at this time they did not fail to avail themselves well of the troubles on the border and the prevailing power of the Scots alongst its line The warden pretended still to be acting in concert with Douglas but his operations were all according to the purposes of his own heart He cared nothing for the success227 or the aggrandisement of Douglas but he had a particular eye to the advancement of his own house and the honour of his kinsmen It was therefore a matter of daily consultation with him and his friends how they should act in conformity with this ruling principle The probability was against Douglas that he would ultimately fail in his undertaking and be stripped of all his dominions Viewing the matter in that light it was high time for the Redhough to be providing for himself On the other hand should Douglas succeed in his enterprize and become the kings soninlaw there was no other way by which the warden could hold his own save by a certain species of subordination a submission in effect though not by acknowledgment Such matters were perfectly understood by the chiefs in these times and all who proved refractory were taught in silence to feel the grounds on which they stood This was therefore a most critical period for Sir Ringan The future advancement of his house depended on every turn of his hand During all the former part of the228 siege he had conducted himself with an eye to Douglas failure to which he was partly incited by the prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer and those of his kinsman Master Michael Scott of Oakwood whom he believed the most powerful wizard and the greatest prophet that ever had arisen since the Rhymers days
But on the return of Charlie of Yardbire and Dan Chisholm from the beleaguering army the warden got the extraordinary intelligence that the Lady Jane Howard had fallen into the hands of the Douglas as well as Musgraves only brother These things changed Sir Ringans prospects of the future in a very material degree and he pondered on changing his mode of operations Before doing so however he called a council of his kinsmen and brought the matter again before them Most of them counselled the continuance of the predatory warfare in which they had been engaged it had served to enrich them and had proved as they reasoned of more service to the Douglas than if they had joined his host That it proved of229 more service to himself and his kinsmen than if they had joined the host the warden was well aware but he was not satisfied that the Douglas viewed their mountain warfare as of great consequence to him and he farther knew that services were always repaid not according to the toil and exertion undergone but according as they were estimated while that estimation was ever and anon modelled by the apparent motives of the performer
After much slow and inanimate reasoning on the matter Sir Ringan chanced after a minutes deep thought to say What would I not give to know the events that are to happen at Roxburgh between this time and the end of the Christmas holidays
Auld Michael Scott will ken brawly said Charlie of Yardbire
Then what for shoudna we ken too said the knight
Aye what for shoudna we ken too said Dickie o Dryhope
They might get a kittle cast that230 meddled wi him an nae the wiser after a said Robert of Howpasley
When he was at pains to come a the way to the castle of Mountcomyn said Simon Longspeare a matter o five Scots miles ower the moor to warn our captain the warden how to row his bowls he surely winna refuse to tell him whats to be the final issue o this daft contest
Ane wad think he wadna spare a cantrip or twa said Sir Ringan him that has spirits at his ca an canna get them hadden i wark It wad be an easy matter for him an bloods aye thicker than water
Ay thats a true tale said Dickie o Dryhope It wad be an easy matter for him we a ken that an bloods aye thicker than water
If I were to gang wi a gallant retinue said Sir Ringan he surely wadna refuse to gie me some answer
He wad refuse the king o France said Robert of Howpasley if he warna i the key for human conversation an maybe gar his familiar spirits carry you away231 and thraw ye into the sea or set you down i some faraway land for a piece o employment to them and amusement to himsel He has served mony ane that gate afore now
Od Ill defy him said muckle Charlie of Yardbire If my master the warden likes to tak me wi him for his elbowman Ill answer for him against a the monkey spirits that auld Michael has
Spoke like yourself honest Charlie said the baron and if it is judged meet by my friends that I should go you shall be one that shall attend me Certes it would be of incalculable benefit to me for all your sakes to know even by a small hint what is to be the upshot of this business—But should I be taken away or detained—
Ay should he be taken away or detained gentlemen think of that gentlemen said Dickie o Dryhope
I approve highly of the mission said Simon Longspeare for I believe there is nothing too hard for that old wizard to do and no event so closely sealed up in futurity232 but that he can calculate with a good deal of certainty on the issue I see that our all depends on our knowledge of the event but I disapprove of our chief attending on the wizard in person—for in his absence who is to be our commander And should any sudden rising of our foes take place of which we are every hour uncertain we may lose more by the want of him one hour than we could ever regain
Ay think of that gentlemen said Dickie My cousin Longspeare speaks good sense What could we do wanting Sir Ringan Were all children to him and little better without him
And old children are the worst of all children said the warden I would rather be deaved with the teething yammer than the toothless chatter Prithee peace and let us hear out our cousin Simons proposal
The circle of the gallant kinsmen did not like ill to hear this snub on old Dickie They could not account for the chiefs partiality to him and they were even afraid that being the oldest man he should be233 nominated to the command in the knights absence It was however noted by all that Dickie was not half so great a man in field or foray as he was at board in the castle of Mountcomyn Only a very few men of experience discerned the bottom of this The truth was that Sir Ringan did not care a doit either for Dickies counsels or his arm but he saw that his lady abhorred him and therefore he would not yield to cast him off His lady was of a high spirit and proud unyielding temper and the knight could not stand his own with her at all times and seasons but before his kinsmen warriors he was particularly jealous of his dignity and would not yield to the encroachment on it of a single item It was by this kind of elemental opposition if it may be so termed that Dickie maintained his consequence at the wardens castle In the field he was nothing more than a foolish vain old kinsman
I propose said Longspeare that we send a deputation of our notable men to the warlock of whom we have some of the first that perhaps ever the world produced234 As a bard or minstrel we can send Colley Carol a man that is fit to charm the spirits out of the heart of the earth or the bowels of the cloud without the aid of old Michael As a man of crabbed wit and endless absurdity we can send the Deils Tam As a true natural and moral philosopher the Laird o the Peatstacknowe As one versed in all the mysteries of religion and many mysteries beside or some tell lies we can send the gospel friar All these are men of spirit and can handle the sword and the bow either less or more And as a man of unequalled strength and courage and a guard and captain over all the rest we can send Charlie o Yardbire—and I will defy all the kingdoms of Europe to send out sic another quorum either to emperor Turk wizard or the devil himself
Every one applauded Simon Longspeares motion and declared the deputation worthy of being sent out if it were for nothing but its own unrivalled excellence Never they said since the mind of man was framed was there such a combination of rare talent in so small a circle There was none235 of those nominated for the mission present excepting muckle Charlie Scott Charlie scratched his head and said—Gude faith callans I hae a queer bike to gang wi hehehe I fear well get mae to laugh at us than gie us ought The Deils Tam an the metre poet the fat gospel friar and the laird o the Peatstacknowe I never gaed out on sic a foray as this afore an little do I wot how well come on Hehehe A wheen queer chaps faith
The jocund kinsmen then shouted to Gibby Jordan of the Peatstacknowe to come into the circle that they might hear what he had to say about going on this celebrated embassy This gentlemans name had erst been Gordon By some mistake either in spelling or falling into some foul tub by night for some grounded it both ways it had been changed on him to Jordan and as he had no resource he was obliged to admit it as legitimate He was a man of education and could read write and cast up accounts But his figure features and the nasal twine with which he pronounced every word that he spoke rendered236 his discourse irresistibly ludicrous Every one was so ready to give Jordan the information that he was chosen as one to go on a deputation to Master Michael Scott the warlock that the laird for a long time could not get a word said but stood and looked about him turning always round his long nose to the speaker that was loudest or him that was poking him most forcibly to obtain attention
Gentlemen said Gibby Jordan you mind me of a story that I have heard about a paddock that was lying on the plowed land an by comes the harrows an they gangs out ower the tap o the poor paddock an every tooth gae her a tite an a turn ower Whats the matter wi you the day Mrs Paddock says the goodman Naething ava but rather ower mony masters this morning quo the paddock I wish I were safe i my hole again an let them ring on Sae masters Ill tak the paddocks hint an wish ye a a good morning
There was no such escape for the honest laird they surrounded him and insisted237 on hearing his sentiments at full length teasing him till he began to lose his temper a thing in which they delighted for the more mischief the better sport for these wild border mosstroopers But muckle Charlie perceiving this came up to his side Callants Im appointit Gibbys guard said he an his guard Ill be What the deil has ony o you to say to him
Only to hear what he thinks o the journey was repeated on all sides
Gentlemen said Gibby the hale affair brings me amind of a story that I hae heard about a wife that had a batch o chickens But then ye maun mind gentlemen she had a very great deal o chickens I daresay nae fewer than a hunner for she had sax great cleckings an she was unco feared that the gled wad tak them away sae she wales out a wheen o the fattest an the best an she sends them out to the cock that he might herd an tak care o them The cock will fleg away the gleds quo she an gar them keep their distance an Ill get my braw birds a saved But by comes the greedy gled an238 when the cock saw him he croups an he currs an blithe to keep his ain skin hale he staps his head in a hole an the gled carried off the hale o his bit charge Weel the gled he fand them sae fat an sae gusty that he never linned till he had taen away every chicken that the wife had
Where is the moral of that story laird cried they We see no coincidence
Because yere blind said Jordan Dinna ye see that Michaels the cock the deils the gled an yere the birds Hell get us first an hell find out that were sic a wheen rare chaps that hell never blin till he hae ye ilk ane an that will be the end o your daft embassy
All the rest of the nominated members being sent for expressly from their different posts they soon arrived but they seemed every one to be averse to the mission except Colley the minstrel who was elevated with the idea of being introduced to the celebrated Master anticipating something highly romantic and precisely in his own way As for Thomas Craik239 better known by the singular appellation of the Deils Tam he cared not much about any thing provided he got plenty of drink mischief and breaking of heads
They got all that day to prepare themselves while Sir Ringan and his friends were considering what they should send as a present to the illustrious necromancer They weened he despised riches believing that he could turn small slates to gold by touching them and after much consultation it was resolved to send him a captive maiden and boy as they had two in the camp of exquisite loveliness The maid was the reputed daughter of Sir Anthony Hall an inveterate enemy to the baron of Mountcomyn who had burned his castles and plundered his lands but the warden at length engaging with him hand to hand at the battle of Blaikhope slew him and having discomfited his army he plundered and harried all that pertained to him at which time he took this beautiful maiden prisoner whom he treated kindly and kept as an handmaiden Her name was Delany and so lovely was she become in240 person and so amiable in her manners that several of the knights kinsmen had asked her in marriage These applications he had uniformly put off on pretence of his friends degrading themselves by marrying a captive Englishwoman a term that never sounded in a Scots ear but with disgust But in fact the warden did not choose that any of them should be so closely connected with an old respectable Northumberland family
The boy was called Elias and was the property of Jock o Gilmanscleuch having been taken by him in a night foray at Rothbury When the warden applied to Jock for him bidding him name his ransom he answered that if he wist Michael wad either mak a warlock o him or tak out his harigalds to be a sacrifice to the deil he wadna gie him up for a the lands o Newburgh an Birkendely Being pacified on these points as well as matters would bear the two captives were dressed in elegant robes and delivered to the embassy Charlie was deputed their captain and leader the rest were all to be241 equals on the same footing and to choose their own speakers
After getting every direction regarding the purport of their mission the caution and respect which they were to use toward the Master and the questions they were to get answered they departed every one well mounted on an English horse the friar on his own substantial mule and such provision with them as they judged necessary Carol the bard had a lyre and a flute Gibby Jordan ycleped of the Peatstacknowe had nothing beside a rusty sword the friar had an immense wallet below him judged to be all implements of enchantment the others had deer or goatskin wallets stuffed with such things as they deemed necessary and all of them wore arms in case of meeting with any unknown interruption Several of the gallant kinsmen shed tears on taking leave of Delany who contrary to what they all expected seemed full of gaiety and rather fond of the change than disheartened at it
Well away they rode and as soon as242 they were fairly out of sight of the army every one began to attach himself to Delany more closely than his neighbour The friar talked to her of penances and the sins of youth and the unlimited confidence due to the professors of religion The bard chanted his wildest and most amorous ditties Tam punned and quibbled on the words of the rest and Gibby continued to narrate his longwinded parables sometimes to one sometimes to another as he found them disposed to listen and sometimes to none at all As for Charlie he contented himself with laughing at them all alternately and occasionally exchanging a word or sentiment with a valued friend of his
Corby whats a this cocking o your lugs an casting up o your head for lad Yere gaun the wrang road for a battle een now An let you but see the sword an pree the spur ye dog ye wad carry your master to the deil an troth for ought he kens ye may be carrying him bornhead to his honour just now ye unconscionable tike that ye are
243
Corby first laid back one ear and then the other which Charlie took for a kind answer and patting his mane he continued Na na Corby I ken ye hae nae ill designs but only ye ken ye like a little mischief an a bit splutter now an than
That minds me o the story o Janet Sandilands an her son Jock said Gibby Jordan the philosopher when he ruggit her hair an raive her bussing That callant sude hae his hide threshed for lifting his hand to his mother said one Na na quo Janet he maunna be threshed Jock has nae ill in his mind only he likes a tulzie She that wad hae a close cog sude keep a hale laiggen Yardbire for as the auld saying rins Lippen to a Corby an hell pike out your een
Shame fa me gin I see the drift o your philosophy Peatstacknowe but as Im sure it is weel meant it sanna be ill taen Corby an mes twa auld friends an we hae a great deal to lippen to ane another But I wish we had this unsonsy job ower laird—were gaun on kittle ground
244
It minds me something o the fisher that ran away after the Willyanthewisp said Jordan Its a lang story but its weel wordy the hearing
If it be a very lang story we might as weel crack about something else said Charlie My hearts unco muckle turned on this daft job o prying into the time thats to come an on what were to say to the warlock Gude saif us laird whas to be the speaker I wish that fleysome job maunna light on you For you see gin we set the deils Tam to address him hell put him mad at the very first The poet can bring out naething but rhames o high flown nonsense an for mysel Im an unco plain matterofact man an better at good straiks than good words Sae that the matter maun lie atween you an the friar What say you to this Peatstacknowe
Gude troth Yardbire an the task light on either of us it may weel bring me in mind o the laird o Glencarthon when he stack i the midden at Saint Johnston an tint himsel i the dark entry The laird245 you see he comes to the door of a sowhouse an calls out Good people within there can you tell me the way to the Queens hostlery Oogh cried the auld sow The laird repeated his question quite distinctly which disturbing some o the pigs they came to the back o the door an fell a murmuring an squeaking What do you say said the laird in his turn Ill thank you if you will not just speak so vehemently The pigs went on Oh I hear you speak Erse in this house said the laird but no matter thank you for your information I will try to work my way Now you see Yardbire like draws aye to like an for the friar wi his auld warld says or me to address the great Master it wad be a reversing o nature an the very order of things I hae nae hope o our good success at a an it warna for that bonnie Delany If hes a man an no just an incarnate deil he will be delightit wi her
I wish we had her safely at him laird said Charlie for troth do ye see246 thae chaps hing about her an look at her as gin they wadna care to eat her
She brings me amind o a weelfaurd dink gimmer that wench said Jordan that I aince saw gaun up Sowerhopeburn There was a tichel o wallidraggle tup hoggs rinning after her an plaguing her till I was just grieved for the poor beast At length down there comes a wheelhorned ram the king o the flock an he taks up his station by the side o the bonny thing an than a the young ranigalds slinkit away as their noses had been blooding Then the bonny she thing got peace for whenever ony o the rascallions began to jee up his lug an draw near her ae glent o the auld fellows ee stoppit him short Now Yardbire I trow it is a shame to see a pretty maid jaumphed an jurmummled in that gate if you will just ride close up to the tae side o her Ill tak up the tither an well gar them keep a due distance Theres nane o them dares shoulder you aside
I doubt laird there is something selfish in that plan o yours said Charlie247 ye hae a hankering yonder yourself but ye darena try to make your ain way without ye get me to back ye Fight dog fight bane Peatstacknowe gin I be to tulzie for a bonny may I tulzie for my ain hand
It wad be sae weel done to chap them back said Jordan See to the metre poet how hes capering an turning up his mou Yon fat hypocrite the warlock friar is blinking out frae aneath his sanctified eebrees like a Barbary ape An theres the deils Tam od I think hell hae his lang coulter nose stappit into her lug
Ride up neighbour quoth Charlie an tell them that face to face I like nae yethering ahint backs Ane may ward a blow at the breast but a prod at the backs no fair A man wears neither ee nor armour there Ride up ride up neighbour gin you winna tell them a you have said Ill een tell them mysel
Yardbire I hope yere no gaen gyte to breed despite amang the wardens ambassadors to the deil Stop till I tell you a queer joke thats come into my mind by248 your speaking about armour ahint Last year when the dalesmen were cried out in sic a hurry for the Durham raide there was ane o Fairniehirsts troopers got strong breastplates o steel made to defend his heart There was ane Brogg Paterson in Hawick a wag that I kenned weel was employed to fit the harnessing to the clothes and learning that the raide was to be early in the morning an nae leisure for shifting an seeing the trooper so intent on protecting his heart instead o putting the steel plates in the inside o his doublet Paterson fastened them in the seat of his trews After passing the Tine the Scots encamped within a half moon of an impervious brake and sent out a party of foragers among whom was this trooper Turnbull The party were pursued by a body of English horse and several of them slain but Turnbull reaching the brake plunged into it horse and man The horse stuck fast and just as poor Turnbull was trying to extricate himself by scrambling over the horses head an Englishman came riding fiercely up and struck him such a blow249 with his lance behind as would have spitted him to the neck—but hitting right on the steel plate he made him fly heelsoerhead over the brake and into a place of safety A comrade perceiving came to assist him and found Turnbull lying on the ground repeating to himself these words with the utmost devotion—God bless Brogg Paterson in Hawick God bless Brogg Paterson in Hawick Wherefore that said the other Because said Turnbull he kend better where my heart lay than I did
Charlie laughed so heartily at this jocular tale that he did not expose Gibby Jordan of the Peatstacknowe to his associates at that time but keeping behind with him he held him in conversation though he saw that his teeth were watering to be near the fair Delany
They came that night to a place called Trows on the English side of the border but adjoining to the very ridge of the fells The name of the hind who sojourned there was Jock Robson He had a good stock both of cows and sheep being250 so thoroughly a neutral man that both sides spared him and both sides trusted him He gave a nights grass to the driven cattle and sheep from each side and a nights lodging to the drivers and for this he exacted kane sheep or a small cow which none ever grudged him because they found themselves so much at home in his house He would assist either party in catching a prey and either party in recovering it again taking rewards from both and though both the English and the Scots knew of this they never trusted him the less for they knew that what he undertook he would fulfil but no farther out of your sight out of your pay and out of your service with Jock Robson
At this yeomans habitation our notable embassy arrived at a late hour for though scarcely five oclock afternoon it was pitch dark They called at the door and out came Jock with a light The first man that he beheld was the friar
Saint Marys jerkin be about us cried Jock Robson half in sport half in earnest and defend us from our auld black minnys251 delegates What seeks Lucky Church amang the hills o Cheviot wi her creeds an her croons her trumpery an her lang tythes o sheep an kye wild deer and weathershaker barndoor an blackhag fowls Nought for Minny Church an her bike here Sir Monk—naething o our ain breeding—a comers an gangers like John Nisbets fat sheep Howsomever honest bedesman I speir ye the auld question
Come ye as friend or come ye as fae
For sic as ye bring sic sal ye hae
As thy friends do we come uncourteous hind said the monk and ask only a little of thy bread and thy strong drink for the refreshment of our bodies that are like the grass on the tops of thy mountains fading ere it be full grown and require as thou knowest a supply of earthly refreshment as these do the showers of heaven and also we ask of thee beds whereon we may lie down and rest and these things thou must not refuse for we would not that thou shouldst be to us as the children of Amalek and Moab and those of Mount Seir
252
Ye speak like a rational man Sir Monk but wait till I tell ye the truth that I lurde see the cross on the handle of sword or spear ony time afore that hanging at the paunch of priest Theres mair honour an generosity ahint the tane than the tither But yet it shall never be said o John Robson o the Trows that he refused a friend quarters on a dark night He kens ower weel that the king may come in the beggars way Gin ye be joking he can stand a joke wi ony man but gin ye be really gaun to hand him as an Amalekite he wad like to ken what that is an what lengths ye mean to gang
Thinkest thou that we will come into thy house to take of thy spoil for a prey and thy maid servants for bondwomen and also thy little ones said the friar
The deil be there then cried Jock Robson I wadna grudge ye meal an maut but or ye lay a hand on ane o my lasses or kidnap away my bits o bairnies frae me ye sal gang ower my breast an that wi a braid arrow through ilk ane o253 you Be at your shift bauld priest heres for ye
On saying so he turned hastily about and the friar that moment clapping the spurs to his mule gallopped round the corner leaving the rest to make good their quarters in the best way they could The mention of the broad arrow made him think it was high time for him to change his ground
There rides gospel guts an a cried Tam Craik laughing aloud
The laugh was well known to Robson for the wardens troopers had been so often there that year that almost all of them were John Robsons personal acquaintances
What cried he turning back his head Isna that the deils Tam that I hear
Ay what for shoudna it lad an how dare ye fright away our chaplain wi your bows an your braid arrows Gin we had Jocks Marion the sowkillers wife o Jeddart at ye wha wad be crousest then trow ye
254
Tam it is weel kend your tongue is nae scandal but dinna ye lippen ower muckle to your privilege gin ye be come to quarter wi me dinna let me hear sic a hard jibe as that the night again Come away however the wardens men are welcome as weel they may be this year Mony a fat mart they hae left i my hire I hope ye hae brought a bonny kane the night
Ay by my certie lad an that we hae heres nae less a kane than Jocks Marion hersel
Ye scawed like bogstalker skrinkit skraeshankit skebeld dare ye to speak that gate to me at my ain door stane I shall lend you a clout an ye were the kings cousin an see if ye dare return the compliment Wife bring the buet an my piked rung here
Peace in the kings name cried Charlie Scott
And in the name of St David cried the friar returning to the charge on hearing Charlies voice
And in my name cried Tam Craik an Gibby Jordan o the Peatstacknowes255 name and the name o Jocks Marion the sowstickers wife o Jeddart I say unto thee look here Here is the kane will please a brave yeoman Look if this be nae Marion hersel—and with that he led Delanys palfrey up to the light
Robson lifted his eyes and saw her and was so much struck with her dazzling beauty that he had not power to address even his beloved friend Charlie Scott far less any other of his guests but lifting the maiden down in his arms he led her in to his dame and said to one of his lads Rin out wi a light callant an help the troopers to put up their horses
The horses were soon put up for every one seemed more anxious than another to get first in to the cheek of Jock Robsons ingle and have his seat placed next to that of Delany but the poet being the most agile and not the least amorous of the group effected this greatly to his satisfaction
256
CHAPTER XI
The youngest turned him in a path
And drew a buirdly brande
And fifteen of the foremost slewe
Till back the lave couthe stande
Then he spurred the grey unto the path
Till baith her sides they bledde
Now grey if thou carry nae me away
My life it lies in wedde
Ballad of Auld Maitland
We must pass over a great part of the conversation that evening in order to get forward to the more momentous part of the history of our embassy Suffice it to say that the poet was in high glory and not only delivered himself in pure iambics but sung several love ditties and one song of a foray that pleased Charlie Scott mightily But Isaac the curate has only given a fragment of it which runs thus
If you will meet me on the Dirdam waste
Merry man mint to follow
Ill start you the deer and lead you the chace257
With a whoop and a whoo and a hollo
The deer that youll see has horns enow c
Marked wi red and merled wi blue c
And that deer he will not turn his tail
For the stoutest hinds that range the dale
Come then driver in gear bedight
Come bold yeoman and squire and knight
The wind soughs loud on craig and heuch
And the linn rowts loud in the Crookside cleuch
Nor tramp of steed nor jingle of spear
Will ever be heard by the southern deer
The streamer is out and the moon away
And the morning starn will rise or day
Then mount to the stirrup and scour the fell
Merry man mint to follow
And over the muir and the dean and the dell
With a whoop and a whoo and a hollo
Thy words and thy song young man said the friar are like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal if laid in the balance they are lighter than vanity
Yours will not prove so said the poet provided you are laid in with them for as the old song says—
His wit is but weak father
His gifts they are but sma
But the bouk thats under his breast bane
It grieves me warst of a258
If thou singest this nonsense of me said the friar lo I will smite thee upon the mouth yea upon the cheekbone will I smite thee till thine eyes shall gush out like two fountains of waters And so saying he began to look about him for some missile weapon to throw at the bards face his breast burning with indignation—for he loved not the tenor of the poets conversation to the maid
Tam and Jordan encouraged the friar to make the assault in hopes that the poet might be dislodged or affronted but Yardbire restrained the warmth of the friar not being aware of his real sentiments and ordered peace and good fellowship
Dame Robson covered the hearth with a huge fire and her husband bringing in a leg of beef set it upon the table and bade every one help himself
The words of thy mouth are exceeding good and sweet unto the ear said the friar as doubtless thy food is to the taste With that he rose and helped himself to three nice and extensive slices of raw beef and these he roasted on the tongs259 which he had just lifted to smite the poet on the head
In good truth though every one cooked his own supper as was the fashion of that iron time there was none did it half so nicely as the friar nor so bunglingly as Jordan whose supper though long behind the others in being ready was so unshapely a piece and so raw on the one side that the friar observed it was like Ephraim of old as a cake unturned Some roasted their meat on old swords some on spindles for their hosts took no heed how they were fitted or in what manner they shifted in these respects seemingly satisfied that they had plenty for the cooking and leaving them to cook it or eat it raw as they chose The poet made haste and first of all cooked two or three nice slices for the maiden giving her what she would take before he would taste a morsel himself Some commended him for this and others jeered him but the friar in his grave moral style said the severest things of all From the very commencement of the journey a jealousy or misunderstanding began260 to subsist between these two which never again subsided till they came to blows
The poet answered him again with a song
Keep ye to your books and your beads goodman
Your Ave Marias and creeds goodman
For gin ye end as yere begun
There will be some crack of your deeds goodman
At length the party retired to rest all save Jordan and their worthy host The latter never slept in the night he had always some watching walking or work in hand that suited that season best and as for Gibby he determined to sit up all night to watch that the poet made no encroachments on the place of Delanys repose Robson encouraged his purpose joined him heartily in conversation listened to his longwinded stories with apparent delight and when all the rest were asleep wormed the whole business of the embassy out of the shallow laird who unfortunately testified his fears that they were carrying the lovely maiden and boy to the old warlock to be a sacrifice to the devil261 Robson appeared terribly confounded at this peace of intelligence—for from the time that he heard it he conversed no more with Jordan About one in the morning he began to put on his snowboots as if preparing for a journey
Where are ye going at this time of night enquired the laird
I maun gang out an see how the night wears said Robson I hae sax score o Scots queys that are outlyers If I let the kings ellwand ower the hill Ill hae them to seek frae the kips o Kale
Gibby accompanied him to the door hoping the kings ellwand would not be over the hill for he had no good will to part with his companion But as soon as Robson turned his eye to the sky Ha gude faith I maun post away said he Yonders the kings ellwand already begun to bore the hill ay theres ane o the goud knobs out o sight already an I hear the queys rowting ower the waterfa o the height Gude morrow tye laird Im ower lang here
Gibby returned in to the blazing fire262 and hearing so many persons all snoring in sleep he caught the infection stretched himself upon a divot seat and joined the chorus with as much zeal as any of them
Morning came and our embassy made ready for proceeding on their journey but Robson still was wanting at which both his dame and household lads seemed to wonder otherwise the rest would have taken no notice of it Gibby told her about the queys that were outlyers but she only answered him with a hem and a slight shake of the head Charlie who knew his man well began to smell a rat and calling Gibby to the door he inquired if he had hinted ought of their business to their host The laird at first denied but Charlie questioned him till he confessed the whole at which Charlie was exceedingly angry and hearing that he had informed him all about the maiden and of what family she was sprung he called Gibby a worthless inconsiderate being and said he had ruined their expedition for that he knew Robson kept up a correspondence with the Halls who were263 broken men and many of them skulking about the border that Delany had uncles cousins and a brother living if she was the mans daughter she was supposed to be and that these would without fail waylay them and kill them every man for the sake of rescuing her Robson said he is altogether selfish and has some end to serve perhaps to get the maid into his own hands for he seemed mightily taken with her beauty and I calculate widely amiss if we are not watched from this house and whether we return or proceed we shall be attacked in the first strait or lonely place that we come at Jordan looked exceedingly out of countenance and every feature of his face altered What had I ado to tell the rascal exclaimed he or wha wad hae thought o him playing us sic a trick Twafaced dog that he is It wad be weel done to let his liver pree the taste o steel
Charlie made him promise that he would not mention the circumstance to one of the party as it was only a surmise and might impede their progress to no purpose264 and forthwith they mounted armed with such armour as they had and all save Gibby Jordan as cheerful and as jealous of one another as they were on the preceding day That worthy kept close by the side of muckle Charlie and looked so sharp about him that he perceived every shepherd traveller and cairn that appeared on the border fells always testifying his alarm to his friend that perhaps yon was one of the Halls watching
Charlie had resolved to go by Jedburgh straight for Oakwood castle but his suspicions of Robson made him resolve to hold more to the eastward in order to keep the open road He knew that if they were watching him it would be at the fords of Kale or Oxnam on the Jedburgh road and by taking the east path he would not only elude them but in case of a pursuit be near the outposts of the Scottish army
For a good way they saw nothing and began to think themselves in safety but in coming down SowerhopeMiddle a little from the point of the debated land three horsemen appeared to the westward265 of them His presence be about us said Gibby—yonder are the Halls now Charlie said nothing but kept watch One of the yeomen vanished in a twinkling at full speed the other two came at a brisk canter to our notable embassy
What do they mean said Jordan Do these two fellows propose to conquer us all
It wad appear that they do said Charlie for they come on us without halt or hesitation
I hardly think theyll succeed added Gibby although theyre twa dangerous looking chaps For Godsake Yardbire tak care o their back strokes if they bring you down our chance will be the waur
Charlie then called to the rest of his cavalcade Friends here are some strangers come to join us Tell them nothing either good or bad but keep on at a round trot See we are not far from the towers of Roxburgh Whatever these men may say to you make them nothing the wiser
I will not so much as say unto them266 whence comest thou or whither art thou going said the friar
Ill sing them a ditty of beauty and love
Of the wing of the raven the eye of the dove
And beings all purer than angels above
said the poet
Sic a rhame o nonsense is there said Tam Craik If ony o the dogs say an impertinent thing to me Ill gar his teeth gang down his throat like bristled beans
It was not long before the two mosstroopers joined the party They were tall athletic men armed at all points and their manner had a dash of insulting impertinence in it
A good morning and fair grace to you noble and worthy gentlemen said the foremost May we presume to be of the party
You may presume said the deils Tam for that is what befits you if you are willing to put up with the presumers reward
You are witty sir I suppose said the trooper and pray what may that reward be
267
Yes I am witty said Tam and my wit is sharp when it is not in its sheath Do you understand me As for the reward of presumption it is in Scotland to be crankit before and kicked behind
The road is at least as free to us as it is to you said the mosstrooper and of that we intend to avail ourselves for the present We go to join the army before Roxburgh whither are you bound
We follow our noses said Tam but they guide us not to the army before Roxburgh and into your rearward they caution us not to enter Raw hides and rank bacon keep your distance
While Tam Craik and the trooper were thus jangling on before Charlie said to Jordan Laird what do think o yoursel now Ye hae played us a fine pliskie wi your ill tackit tongue It is my thought that ere we ride a mile and a half well be attacked by a hale troop o horse That chap that disna speak is ane o the wale o the Has I ken him weel for a his half visor The other horseman that left them on the height is ower to the fords of Kale268 and if I guess right hell appear at yon scroggy bush wi sae mony at his back that we wad hardly be a mouthfu to them an that in less time than ane wad gang a mile
It is an ill business this said Gibby It brings me in mind o—o mair than Is name But gudesake Yardbire an ye be sure he is ane o the Halls what for do nae ye rin your sword in at the tae side o him an out at the tither The sooner a knave like that is put down the better
Fair occasion an face to face Peatstacknowe an ye sanna see Charlie Scott slack but ye wadna hae me stick a man or cleave him down ahint his back an that without fair warning and fair arming
Ay honour an generosity are braw things but lifes a brawer thing an a better thing than ony o the twa For my part I wad never stop My very heart flighters when I look at him an I amaist think I find his steel quivering at my midriff I wish I had a drive at him wi a chance o a hale head—And from that time Gibby leaned himself forward on his saddle269 and fixed his large grey eyes on the mosstrooper like a pointer going to fly on his game and in that attitude he rode several times close up to his side or very nearly opposite to him laying his hand now and then on his hilt but Charlie observed that he never looked his foe in the face with threatening aspect and perplexed as he was could not help laughing at Gibby
Yardbire now putting the spurs to Corby galloped aslant the brae to a rising ground whence he could see if any enemy was approaching by the swire from the fords of Kale as he suspected He had not well gained the height before he saw a dozen horsemen coming at the light gallop but one part of the cavalcade considerably behind the others owing to their being either worse mounted or worse horsemen
By this time Charlies own friends were coming round the bottom of the hill below him quarrelling with the strangers so loudly that Charlie heard their voices ascending on the gale in most discordant notes270 The deils Tam and the English trooper had never since their meeting ceased the jibe and the keen retort but Tams words were so provokingly severe that the mossman was driven beyond all further forbearance Just when they were at the hottest the helmets of the front men of the Northumberland cavalcade began to appear in the swire a circumstance that was well noted by their offended kinsman but of which Tam was perfectly unconscious
Well now thou jaundiced looking thief said the mosstrooper turning his horses head towards Tams left hand and making him amble and curvette with his side foremost thou lean nerveless and soulless jabberer all tongue and nothing else—I say what hast thou to say more
The alteration in the mans key of voice somewhat astounded Tam but his perverse nature would not let him soften his reply although he liked as well to see others fall into a mischief as himself Eh what do I say said he and with that he turned his horses head to that of the other making their two noses to meet and caricaturing271 the Englishmans capers he laughed sneeringly and triumphantly in his face What do I say Eh what do I say I say I thought I heard wind and smelled it a wee too Hagghiding fox that thou art Wild tike of the moors dost thou think Tam Craik fears thy prancing and thy carrion breath or ony o the burthroated litter of which thou art the outwale Nay an capering and prancing show ought of a spirit I can caper and prance as well as thou Out on thee thou bogthumper thou baseborn heatherblooter what do you say Or what dare you say
Tam had by this time drawn his sword completely to cow the Englishman and put him to silence—but he saw what Tam did not see and knew more than he
I dare both say and do and that thou shalt find said the trooper and forthwith he attacked Tam with all his prowess who not quite expecting such a thing gave way and had very nearly been unhorsed he however fought stoutly defending himself though manifestly at the disadvantage The brave friar at the first272 clash of the swords wheeled about his mule and drawing out a good sword from under his frock for he wore the sword on the one side and the cross on the other he stretched it forth pointing it as if to thrust it between them But addressing himself to the Englishman he cried with a loud voice Put up thy sword again into its place or verily I will smite thee with the edge of my sword
The other Englishman who had never yet opened his mouth and who had always kept apart as if anxious to conceal who he was now rode briskly up to the fray and perceiving the quick approach of his friends and judging his party quite secure of victory he struck up the friars sword in apparent derision But the inveterate laird of the Peatstacknowe had been watching him all this time as one colley dog watches another of which he is afraid in order to take him at an advantage and the moment that his arm was stretched so that his sword came in contact with the friars Gibby struck him behind and that with such violence that the sword ran through his273 body The wounded trooper reined up his steed furiously in order to turn on his adversary Gibby reined his up as quickly to make his escape but the convulsive force of the Englishman threw his horse over and in its fall it tumbled against the legs of Gibbys horse with such force that it struck them all four from under him and both he and his rider fell in a reverse direction rolling plump over the wounded warrior and his forlorn encumbered steed that was pawing the air at a furious rate The two horses falling thus on different sides their ironshod hoofs were intermixed and clashing and rattling away in a tremendous manner tremendous at least to poor Gibby whose leg and thigh being below his charger he was unable to extricate himself Happ Davie happ cried he to the steed Up you stupid awkward floundering thief Happ Davie happ Davie could neither happ nor weynd but there he lay groaning and kicking above his master who was in a most deplorable plight
Charlie perceiving the commencement274 of the fray was all this while galloping furiously toward the combatants But the battle was of short duration for the English trooper seeing his comrade fall he wist not how and the friar and Tam having both their swords pointed at him broke furiously through between them and fled towards his companions Tam being only enabled to inflict a deep wound on the hinder part of the horse as he passed by
I have made him to pass away as the stubble that is driven by the whirlwind said the friar yea as the chaff before the great wind so is he fled from the arm of the mighty Brother I say unto thee that thou hadst better arise continued he looking upon the disconsolate Jordan and passing by on the other side with great ang froid he rode up to Delany the boy Elias and the poet the latter of whom had not been engaged but drawing his sword manfully had stood as a guard to the other two
Tam Craik pursued his enemy although apparently not with a fixed design of overtaking275 him and Gibby being thus left all alone with the two inverted horses and the incensed mosstrooper extended his voice to an amazing pitch for he knew not what state of health and strength his opponent retained This was a horrid consideration for if he should disengage himself and get up first there was an end of him of the Peatstacknowe His nasal twine was increased by his dread and he cried so vehemently that his cries grew like the cries of a peacock
Charlie Scott rode up to the main group who continued to advance at a quiet pace for they knew nothing as yet of the approaching danger He also called and made signs to Tam Craik to return and as soon as he came up to them he pointed out their pursuers and charged them to ride for their lives We are betrayed said he but the horses of our enemies are jaded ours are fresh therefore brave lads in our masters name spare neither spur nor horseflesh Haud on your way an never look ower your shoulders you276 will find Corby an me twa gude back friends
The friar bent himself forward over the mane of his mule and opening his eyes wide abroad he put the spurs to his steed and set off with the swiftness of the roebuck or the hart as he termed it
The boy pursued hard after him and the bard taking hold of Delanys bridle by both reins below the neck for fear her steed should stumble and throw his lovely rider bade her whip on and fear nothing and in this friendly guise they also made good speed Charlie then galloped back to see if any life remained in his friend Gibby—for he only saw him at a distance go down in the encounter without being exactly versed in the circumstances of his overthrow but he thought he heard one loud squeak arise from the field after the rest had left it something like that sent forth by the small drone of the bagpipe and guessing that the laird was yet alive he galloped back to see By the way he met the deils Tam who returned with him and when they came in view of the277 spot where the two prostrate heroes had been left they saw a very curious scene the more curious because it was transacted by our worthy laird in the presiding belief that he was not seen for he was too much concerned in his own affairs to perceive the approach of his friends The Englishmans horse making an exertion by pressing his feet against the ribs of the lairds Davie by that means pushed himself forward and Gibby perceived plainly that his enemy was to be first released The struggles that Gibby then made were enormous Happ Davie happ cried he O mother of God what shall become of me Happ Davie happ my man happ happ happ and as a last resource he reared up his body and struck at the Englishmans limb that was above his horse crying out to Davie to happ in bitterness of soul Davie was not long for the next moment after the Englishmans horse rose he got up also his feet then getting to the ground but the stirrup that had been under him was crushed together and there his masters foot remained fixed278 Gibby was worse than ever Wo Davie wo Tproo ye thief cried he Davie finding the weight at his side wheeled about and dragged the unfortunate laird round across the breast of the trooper Hall who seized him by the neck Was there ever a man guidit this gate cried Gibby Honest man an ye please let gae it wasna me that hurt ye The man answered him not but Davie being scared by the struggle sprung aside and the Englishman keeping his hold Gilberts foot was released by the loss of his boot He was not long in making a bold effort to rise and though Hall hung by his neck a little it had been in the last agony of receding life that he had seized him and he dropped dead on the green having both fists clenched on his breast in the act of still holding his rival
When Gibby saw how matters stood he began to value himself on his courage Is gar ye Is gar ye cried he lifting up his sword and giving the dead man several desperate gashes and always between every stroke repeating Hm Is279 gar ye His two friends being now hard beside him the sound of their horses feet made him start but lifting his eye and perceiving who they were he again repeated his blows and continued his threats in a louder key—Hm Is gar ye Is gar ye billy Is learn you to throttle me
Fy lay on laird cried Tam dinna ye see that the mans no half dead yet
I think I hae done for him said Gibby He brings me amind o a wife that had to kill her cat thrice ower Is learn the best o the haggiesheaded Has to meddle wi me
I think hell do that ane however Gibby if he had een the nine lives o the wifes cat said Charlie therefore an ye please put up your sword an mount your horse Its no a time now to examine whether ye hae behaved in a sodgerlike manner wi that bold trooper If I wist ye had not it should be the last hour I should ride in your company—but mount quick an ride for see whar the rest o the Has are coming across us Ilk horse an280 man do what he can or dear will be our raide an yours friend the dearest of a
One look filled Gilberts eye He mounted Davie with the one boot off and the other on and there was little occasion to bid him ride Before they turned the corner of the hill their pursuers came so close on them that they looked very like cutting off their retreat but a bog around which the English were forced to cast a wide circuit saved our three heroes and gave them the start by fully a half mile of their foes who still came in a straggling way as their horses could keep up After a hard chace of two Scottish miles they came up with the friar whose mule being too heavy loaden had begun to fag When he saw them gaining on him so hard he judged that all was over with him and spurred on his jaded beast in vain O that my flesh were as my armour or my clothing cried he that I might put it off at will and escape from the face of mine enemies Lo I shall be left all alone and surrounded and taken and slain As he divined so it fell out the others were soon by him and he281 was left the hindermost Then they heard him lamenting to himself in his own sublime eastern stile that he had not the wings of the eagle or the dove that he might bear away to the mountains and the cliffs of the rocky hills to elude the dreadful weapons of death so often reared over his head and so often warded by the arm of heaven
Poor devil said muckle Charlie the tear standing in his eye Od I canna leave him after a Come what will I for ane shall stand or fa wi him I whiles think theres mair in that body than we moorland men wot of—I canna leave him to be cut in pieces
O fy let him tak his chance said Tam let him bide his weird he deserves it a What signifies the creature Hes just a thing made up o hypocritical rant empty words and stuffed paunches Let him bide the buffet that fas to his share
Ay what signifies sic a corpulation said Jordan It will be lang or he bring down man an horse in an encounter He282 brings me in mind o a capon that claps his wings but craws nane Let him tak his chance
Na but callans troth my heart winna let me said Charlie For his good deeds or his ill anes hes answerable to heaven an neither to you nor me But hes a fellow creature an has nane to look to for help but us at this time Lifes sweet to us a an its unco hard to leave our masters bedesman just to be sacrificed Therefore come what will Ill turn an lend the friar a hand As for you twa ride on the young couple that are committed to our charge may escape With that he wheeled Corbys head about and rode back to meet the gospel friar
When he met him the foremost of the riders had advanced within a bow shot and was fast gaining ground The friar still continued to spur on and though his mule likewise continued the motion of one that gallops the progress that he made was hardly discernible He had a sort of up and down hobble that was right laughable to behold in one riding for his life When283 he saw the dauntless Yardbire return to meet him with his large seven feet sword drawn and heaved over his right shoulder he lifted up his voice and wept and he said unto him—Blessed be thou my son The blessing of a man ready to perish light upon thee And now lo I will draw forth my sword and return with thee to the charge and thou shalt see what a poor bedesman can do
It is brawly said good friar—but gin ye wad save yoursel an me ride An we could but mak the end o the Thiefgate they should buy our twa lives dear If thou wilt but exert man an beast father you an I shall fight flee or fa thegither But see we are already overtaken and in the enemys hands
The foremost of the riders was now hard behind them but perceiving Charlie he reined up his horse and looked back for his comrades The friar gave a glance back and he said Lo thou art a mighty man of valour and behold there is but one do thou fall upon him and smite him why should one pursue two
284
I hae heard waur advices frae mair warlike men said Charlie Ride ye on father an lose nae time Gude faith I sal gie this ane his breakfast
Charlie as he said this put the spurs to Corby and rode full speed against the pursuer The trooper set himself firm in his stirrups and assumed his defence for he saw from the prowess of Corby that it was vain to fly Just as Charlies mighty sword was descending on his casque a check that he gave his horse in the hurry of the moment made him rear on end and Charlies stroke coming down between his ears clove his head almost into two halves The horse reeled and fell but how it fared with his rider Charlie never knew for before he got his horse turned there were other three of the Halls close at hand Charlie fled amain He was nothing afraid of himself for he knew Corby could outstrip them by one half of the way but his heart bled for the poor friar whom he saw he would either be obliged to leave or fight for him against such odds as it would be madness to withstand The friar had however285 gained the height and having now a long sloping descent all the way to the Thiefgateend he was posting on at an improved pace Charlie had one sole hope remaining of saving the friar and that was the gaining the abovementioned point before they were overtaken The warriors carried no whips in those days depending altogether on the ample spur—therefore Charlie as a last resource pulled down a large branch from a hazel tree and attacked the hinder parts of the fathers mule with such a torrent of highsounding strokes that the animal perhaps more sullen than exhausted seemed to recover new life and vigour and fled from the assault like a deer in the utmost terror and dismay Little wonder was it He heard the sound of every descending stroke coming on like the gathering tempest and clapping his tail close down between his hips pricking up his long ears and looking back first with the one eye and then with the other he went at such a rate that Corby could do little more than keep up with him
286
My swiftness is greater than I can bear cried the friar pronouncing the sentence all in syllables for want of breath verily I shall fall among the cliffs of the rocks by the side of the highway
His danger increased with his fears for the mule perceiving that exertion availed not and that there was no escaping from the fierceness of his pursuers wrath began to throw up his heels violently at every stroke nevertheless continuing to exert himself between these evolutions The friars ridinggear began to get into disorder and with great difficulty he retained his seat therefore he cried out with a loud voice I pray of thee my son to desist for it is better for me to perish by an enemys hand than thine seest thou not my confusion and despair—verily I shall be dashed in pieces against the stones
The friar saw nought of Charlies intent else he would not have besought him so earnestly to desist The Thiefgateend was now hard at hand It is still well known as a long narrow path alongst the verge of a287 precipice and all the bank above it was then a thicket of brushwood and gorse so close that the wild beast of the desart could not pass through it It was moreover shagged with rocks and bedded with small stones and the path itself was so narrow that two horsemen could scarcely ride abreast By such a strenuous manœuvre on the parts of Charlie and the mule the two flyers got into this path without having lost any ground of their pursuers When Charlie saw this he began to breathe more freely and flinging away his hazel branch he again seized his mighty weapon in his right hand
Let the chields come as close on us now an they dare said he
The mule still continued to eye him with a great deal of jealousy and perceiving the brandish that he gave his long sword when he said this he set off again full speed so that it was a good while before the friar got time to reply As soon as he got leisure to speak he opened his mouth and said—My son wilt thou lift up thine arm against a multitude or288 canst thou contend with the torrent of the mighty waters
Well well they may perhaps lead that winna drive said Charlie and he went by the friar at a light gallop leaving him behind who prayed to the other not to leave him nor forsake him but it was a device of Yardbires and a well conceived one He saw that as long as he kept the rear guard and rode behind the friar the men that pursued them would not separate on that long narrow path therefore he vanished among the bushes keeping however always within hearing of the mules feet Accordingly at the first turn of the road the foremost of the English troopers seeing the jolly bedesman posting away by himself put the spurs to his steed and made a furious dash at him The friar cried out with a loud voice and seeing that he would be overtaken he turned round and drew his sword to stand on the defensive and actually not only bore the first charge of his opponent with considerable firmness but had very nigh smitten him between the joints of the harness as289 he termed it It happened moreover very singularly from the perversity of the mule that in the charge the combatants changed sides at the imminent peril of the Englishman for the mule brushed by his horse with such violence and leaned so sore to the one side that both the horse and his rider were within an inch of the verge of the precipice
The friar had no sooner made his way by than he saw another rider coming like lightning to meet him in the face but at the same time he heard the voice of Charlie Scott behind him and the rending crash of his weapon This cheered the drooping spirits of the brave friar who had been on the very point of crying for quarter They beset me before and behind cried he yet shall my hand be avenged Come on thou froward and perverse one So saying he assumed his guard and met his foe face to face seeing he had no alternative The Englishman drew a stroke but got not time to lay it on for just as the mule and his tall horse met the former in the bitterness of his ire rushed between290 his opponent and the upper bank and pressed against his fore counters with such energy that he made the leg next him to slacken and the horse reared from the other The intention of the irritated mule was to crush his masters leg or if possible to rub him from off his back and therefore in spite of the rein he closed with the Englishmans tall steed in a moment and almost as swift as lightning The English mosstrooper had raised his arm to strike but seeing his horse shoved and rearing in that perilous place he seized the rein with his sword hand The mule finding the substance to which he leaned give way pressed to it the harder It was all one to him whether it had been a tree a horse or a rock he shouldered against it with his side foremost so strenuously that in spite of all the trooper could do the fore feet of his horse on rearing alighted within the verge of the precipice The noble animal made a spring from his hinder legs in order to leap by the obstreperous mongrel but the latter still coming the closer instead of springing by he leaped291 into the open void aiming at the branches of an oak that grew in a horizontal direction from the cliff It was an old and stubborn tree the child of a thousand years and when the horse and his rider fell upon its hoary branches it yielded far to the weight But its roots being entwined in the rifted rock as far as the stomach of the mountain it sprung upward again with a prodigious force to regain its primitive position and tossed the intruding weight afar into the unfathomed deep Horse and rider went down in a rolling motion till they lessened to the eye and fell on the rocks and water below with such a shock that the clash sounded among the echoes of the linn like the first burst of the artillery of heaven or the roar of an earthquake from the depths of the earth
Charlie Scott gazed on the scene with horror every feature of his countenance was changed and every hair on his great burly head stood on end He gave a look to heaven crossed himself and said a short prayer if a prayer it may be called that consisted only of four syllables It consisted292 merely in the pronunciation of a name too sacred to be set down in an idle tale but he pronounced it with an emphasis that made it doubly affecting The friar on the contrary astonished at his own prowess or rather at that of his mule beheld the scene with wonder it is true but also with a shade of ostentation I have overthrown the horse and his rider said he and they are sunk down as a stone into the mighty waters Corby manifested the fright that he was in by loud and reiterated snortings the mule also was astonied and that he might witness the horrific scene in more perfection he kept his tail close to the precipice and looked back
Now by my honour as a man and a warrior father said Charlie you are a man amang ten thousand I never knew of a bedesman who behaved so gallantly nor have I seen a knight behave better How durst you close so instantaneously and furiously with both these valiant troopers
Thou hadst better put that question293 to my mule said the friar—for it is a truth that he hath that in him that is the ruin of many people viz obstinacy of heart When he smelleth the battle he disdaineth all parley or courtesy as thou beholdest but rusheth upon his adversary like one of the bulls of Bashan
At that moment the friars eye caught a glance of several horsemen close upon them but as they could only come one man rank they paused at seeing their enemies in quiet possession of the way and standing in peaceful colloquy apparently about something else
By the life of Pharaoh said the friar gazing all around I had forgot the man whom I first engaged and smote as he passed by
You will see nae mair o him father said Charlie I gae him a deadly wound but the saddle was locked to the horse and the man to the saddle and the furious animal has escaped away to the forest with the dead man on its back
Thou art indeed a man of valour said the friar and here will we keep our294 ground I will do more in our defence than thou hast yet witnessed therefore be not afraid my son for that sword of thine is a good sword
It is a good sword at a straik returned Charlie but its no very handy at making a defence But an I get the first yerk of a chield Im no unco feared for his return However father this sword sic as it is shall be raised in your defence as lang as my arm can wag it I like the man that will stand a brush when a pinch comes—see thae chaps darena come on us But ill luck to the coward gin they winna come to us well gang to them
I will certainly go with thee said the friar but I know the nature of the beast that I bestride and that it will at the first onset bear me into the thickest of the battle therefore be not thou far from me in my need for though nothing afraid yet I know it will carry me into peril Come let us go and smite these men with the edge of the sword
Gallant friar said Charlie the Thiefroad is lang an narrow an theres hardly295 a bit ot that they can come on us twa in a breast stand ye still or be chopping on your way an Ill let you see yon lads get a surprise for aince
Nay I will certainly stand with thee in battle said the friar thinkest thou I will stand and be a looker on when my preserver is in jeopardy Lo my heart is as thy heart my arm as thy arm and—but I cannot say my horse is as thy horse for the beast is indeed froward in his ways and perverse in all his doings
Charlie hardly smiled at the phrase of the worthy friar—for he meditated an attack on their pursuers and his eye kindled with his heart toward the battle He heaved up his swordarm twice at its full stretch to feel if it was nowise encumbered in the armour and putting Corby in motion he rode deliberately up to the face of his enemies The foremost man spoke to him demanding what he wanted but he only answered by heaving his sword a little higher and making his horse mend his pace In one second after that he was engaged with the first man and in two seconds296 the horse and his rider had fallen in the middle of the path Charlie listed not coming to close quarter his sword was so long and heavy that it was quite unhandy in warding the blows of a short and light weapon His aim therefore was always to get the first stroke which was as apt to light on the horse as the man and thus down both of them went Springing by the prostrate warrior he attacked the second and the third in the same manner and with the same success always either cutting down the trooper or cleaving the head of his horse at the first stroke The path was now in the utmost confusion Owing to the pause that had taken place all the riders had come up and crowded each other behind some crying He is a devil and others at a greater distance shouting out Down with the Scot down with him Charlie regarded not their cries but laid about him with all his might till after striking down three of the foremost and one horse those next to him were glad to turn in order to effect their escape but the hindermost on the path refusing297 for a while to give way many of their friends fell a sacrifice to Charlies wrath He pursued them for a space and might have cut them off every man had he been sure that all was safe behind—but he had rushed by some wounded men and wounded horses and knew not how matters stood with the friar
As he dreaded so it fell out Two of the Englishmen who had fallen perhaps under their horses had scrambled up the bosky precipice and as he returned assailed him with large stones a mode of attack against which he was unable to make the least resistance Therefore it was at the utmost peril of his life that he made his way back through the encumbered path to his friend the friar This latter worthy had found it impossible to lend his friend any assistance The beast that he bestrode was fonder of rubbing shoulders with a living brute than a mangled or dead one so he refused to come nearer the first that fell than about twice his own length where he stood firm turning his tail to the scene of298 battle and looking back Our two heroes now set off at full speed after the rest of their party whom they expected to overtake before reaching the outposts of the beleaguering army
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CHAPTER XII
Lord Duffus—I saw the appearance of a mounted warrior
Whence did it come or whither did it go
Or whom did it seek here
Hush thee my lord
The apparition spoke not but passed on
Tis something dreadful and I fear me much
Betokens evil to this fair array
Trag of the Prioress
The rest of our cavalcade continued to advance at a quick pace not without anxiety They were not afraid of their enemies coming behind them for they had strong faith in the prowess of their friend as well as his horse Corby But when they came to the end of the narrow path called the Thiefgate there were two roads and they knew not which of these to follow As bad luck would have it they took the most easterly which led towards Yetholm and left the Scottish army to the westward In that path they continued to jog on turning many a long look behind them for the approach of Charlie and at one300 time they thought they got a view of him coming at a furious pace all alone but the rider being at a great space behind them he was shortly hid from their view in an intervening hollow and it was long before they saw him any more They judged that the friar was taken or slain and began to talk of his loss in a very indifferent manner
Alas how frigid and ungenial must be the hearts of you men in Scotland said Delany Now of all the men I have met with since I was brought from my own country there is only one whose death I would more regret than that of the worthy and kind friar He may have his whims and his peculiarities but his manner is pleasing and his speech has a strain of grandeur which I love Where did he acquire that speech
He gets it frae some auldfashioned beuk said Tam that he has pored on a his days an translatit out o other tongues till he was nearly hanged for it and its weel kend that he is now in hiding wi our warden for fear o his life and has been301 these half dozen o years and though he pretends to be only a friar he was aince a monk o the first order of St Benedict and president of a grand college in France
I would like to converse with him said Delany for I have always thought that he feigned to be something a degree lower than he is
You said there was but one you would lament the loss of more said the poet Pray who may that one be
Could you not guess returned she
How can I said he but this I know that to be the favoured one I would dive into the depths of the ocean—
It wad be for fear then said Tam
Or traverse the regions of ice continued the bard or wander barefoot over burning sands or—
O alak for your poor feet said Delany interrupting him but rest satisfied you shall not be put to the test it is not you
With such kind of chat did they beguile the way till Elias looking back exclaimed Mercy see what a guise Yardbire is coming in
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St Mary protect us said the maid he must be grievously wounded See how he rides
Every one turned round his horse and looked at the approaching warrior but it was wearing late and they could not see with distinctness The horse was coming rapidly and with apparent impatience but Charlie appeared as if he were riding in his sleep When the horse came down hill he bent forward and on climbing an ascent he bent back riding with that sort of motion as if his back or neck were out of joint The whole group showed manifest signs of fear at the approach of such a hideous apparition and quite in earnest though in a pretended frolic they wheeled about again and gallopped away The ground being uneven and the nightfall coming on they soon lost sight of him and continuing their career as fast as the road would permit they seemed inclined to escape from their friend altogether The maid had just begun to remonstrate on their unfriendly procedure when they beheld the same unaccountable figure coming303 at the full gallop close behind them Seeing that he was determined to be of the party they suffered him to overtake them quietly He came driving furiously up till he was in the middle of them and then paused No one had the courage to speak to him for he looked not up nor regarded any of them His helmed head nodded on his breast and his arms hung loosely down by his side the steel armlets rattling on the cuishes At one time his horse came so near to that on which Delany rode that she weened she saw the rider all covered with blood and screamed out yet in the twilight she could not be certain The poet who was never far from her side and on whom her voice always acted like electricity immediately demanded the cause of her alarm
O Carol said she in an agitated whisper we are haunted That is a dead man that rides in our company
If the maid was alarmed the poet was ten times more so If she had said that a lion or a bear was in the company it could not have struck such a chillness to the304 poor bards heart and after all it was no wonder for there is something exceedingly appalling in the idea of having a dead man riding in ones company The poet felt this in its fullest measure He held in his horse and attempted a reply but a dryness pervaded his mouth so much that he could not make himself intelligible A damp had fallen on the whole party and a breathless silence prevailed Tam put the question so natural to him as he passed Charlie is this you—but none answered or regarded They were riding up a slanting hill when the bard was first apprised of the nature of their guest and shortly after the figure coming between him and the evening sky its motions were altogether so hideous that he roared out in perfect terror as loud as he could bray scarce letting one bellow await another This was still worse than the dumb appalling uncertainty in which they were before involved till at last Tam losing all patience let loose his rage against the poet calling him a bellowing beast and many other opprobrious names This encouraging305 Gibbie who had the bard at no good will on account of the damsel he said he brought him amind of a story that the fok o Annandale tauld about Andrew Jardines bull that was better at booing than breeding The boy Elias now coming in behind them and having heard what Delany said cried softly Hush yeomen hush we are haunted it is a ghost that rides in our company
They all turned their eyes to the mysterious figure which they still thought resembled their champion Yardbire as well as the horse did that which he rode the redoubted Corby The horse had started a little forward at the cries of the poet but when the rest paused the figure seemed to wheel his horse around and made a dead pause also standing still with his face toward them and straight on the path before Not one durst proceed The figure neither moved nor threatened but stood nodding its head on the height at every motion of the steed yet our party were arrested on their way nor knew they exactly in what place they were But from306 the length of the way they had come they were sure they were near the Scottish army on one side or other and free from any danger of the foes they had left behind them on the Border None of them were good guides in any case and a man in fear is neither a fit guide for himself nor others Fear had the sway and fear gave the word of command without being disputed The poet was the first to strike from the beaten path and it was at no easy pace that he rode He turned westward and the rest all followed with main speed Their progress was soon interrupted by a strong cattle fence made of stakes and the branches of trees interwoven bespeaking the vicinity of some village or place of human habitation They soon broke through the fence but by bad luck did not take time to make up the breach which they left open and posting forward came to a large house amid a number of smaller ones The poet called for admittance in a moving and earnest stile and at once resolved to take no denial Before ever he paused he told them307 he and his party had lost their way and that they had seen a ghost
Then you must be some murderers said the men of the house—and here you remain not tonight
We belong to the warden of the marches the brave baron of Mountcomyn said the poet and go on an errand of great import to the army In that case we might demand what we only ask as a boon namely such lodging as the house affords
You had better keep that part to yourself said the men of the house Though Sir Ringan is supreme in the middle marches he is no favourite here Our masters name is Ker He is with the Douglas but may be home tonight Calm sough and kitchen fare or ride on
It brings me in mind o an auld proverb said Gibbie that beggars should nae be choisers sae honest lads bring us a light for our horses are sair tired an maun be weel put up
The party it will be remembered consisted only of five exclusive of Charlie and the friar They had draw up their horses308 close to the hall door and were still on horseback when the men turned into the house for a light The poet whose eager eyes were still on the watch chancing to look at the heads of his associates between him and the sky thought he discovered one too many
Surely there are six of ussaid he in a hurried tremulous voice Six of us said Tam as doubting the statement
Six of us No surely said Delany
At that instant a lad came out with a lanthorn and held it up to look at the party The poet was nearest the door and the light shone full on him and the rider that was next him He cast his eyes on that rider—but one glance was enough to bedim his eyesight if not to scare away his reason It had the appearance of a warrior sheathed in steel but all encrusted in a sheet of blood His mouth was wide open and his jaws hanging down upon his breast while his head seemed to be cleft asunder The poet uttered a loud yell of horror and flinging himself from his horse on the side opposite to that on which the309 phantom stood he fell among the mud and stones at the door yet ceased not to reiterate his loud cries like one in distraction Every one jumped from his horse and hurried in at the door the man with the lanthorn also fled and with the noise and uproar the horses galloped off saddled and bridled as they were As the guests ran into the hall every one asked at all the rest what it was What is it was all that could be heard all asking the question but none answering it Even the people of the house joined in the query and came all round the strangers crying What is it—What is it—I do not know—I do not know Sir—I do not know upon my word
The people are all delirious said the housekeeper—Can no one tell us what it was that affrighted you—St Magdalene be with us whom have we here
This was no other than the poor bard coming toward the light creeping slowly on allfour and still groaning as he came
Heres the chap that began the fray said Tam you may speer at him He310 rather looks as he were at ane mae wit For my part I just did as the rest did—ran an cried as loud as I could When a dust is fairly begun I think aye the mair stour that is raised the better Ill try wha will cry loudest again an ye like—or rin round the fire wi ony o you or out through the mids ot either at a pinch
Tam turned round his long nose to see if his jest had taken for he always fixed his eyes stedfastly on one object when he spoke but he found that his jargon had been illtimed for no one laughed at it but himself The rest were gathered round the bard some pitying but more like to burst with laughter at his forlorn state He fetched two or three longdrawn moans and then raising himself up on his knees with his eyes fixed on the light he rolled over and fainted
Delany first stooped to support his head and was soon assisted by every female in the house while the men only stood and looked on By bathing his hands and temples with cold water they soon brought him out of his faint but not to his right311 senses His looks continued wild and unstable and ever and anon they were turned to the door as if he expected some other guest to enter A sober conference at last ensued and as no one had seen or heard any thing at this last encounter save the man that was taken ill who a few moments before had been heard to say there were six of them all began to agree that he had been seized with some sudden frenzy or delirium till the lad who had carried out the light thrust in his pale face among the rest and said—Na na my masters it is nae for naething that the honest mans gane away in a kink for when I held up the bouet I saw a dead man riding on a horse close at his side He was berkened wi blood off at the taes and his mouth was open and I saw his tongue hinging out
It may well be conceived what an icy chillness these words distilled round the heart of every one present The effect on our travellers was particularly appalling from the idea that they were haunted by a phantom from which they could not escape The whole group closed around the312 fire and the strangers recounted to the family the singular occurrence of their having lost two of their number by the way and been pursued and overtaken by a phantom resembling one of them and that the hideous spectre was as it seemed haunting them still As they all agreed in the same story it was not of a nature to be disregarded at a period when superstition swayed the hearts of men with irresistible power The stoutest heart among them was daunted and no one durst go out to the vaults to look after his masters cattle nor to take in our travellers horses that were left to shift for themselves during the long winter night
The next morning between daylight and the sunrising the men began to peep abroad and the first things they observed were some of the horses of our travellers going about in a careless easy manner This they looked on as a good omen knowing that horses were terrified for spirits and the men joining in a body they sallied out to reconnoitre The horses had fared well for they had fed at the lairds313 stacks of hay and corn all night but as the men were going round to see how matters stood they perceived a phenomenon that if it had not been open daylight would have scared them from the habitation This was the identical phantomwarrior still sitting unmoved on his horse that was helping itself full liberally out of one of the lairds cornricks The eye of day expels the films of superstition from the human eye The men after a short consultation ventured to surround the phantom—to seize his horse—who had given full proof that he at least was flesh and blood—and after a good deal of trembling astonishment they found that he was actually rode by a dead warrior whose head was cleft asunder and his whole body both within and without the harness encrusted in blood
The mystery was soon cleared up but none then knew who he was It had become customary in that age for warriors who went to engage others on horseback to lock themselves to the saddle for fear of being borne out of their seats by the spears314 of their opponents in the encounter This was the individual trooper who had come foremost in the pursuit of our party he whom the friar jostled and whom Charlie encountering the moment after had slain but his suit of armour having kept him nearly upright in his saddle his horse had run off with him and followed after those of our travellers as every horse will do that is let go on a highway and gets his will
Glad were our travellers at an eclaircissement so fairly within the bounds of their comprehension and when the poet saw the gash made in the helmet he shook his head and exclaimed Ha well I wot the mighty hand of Charlie has been here
Gibbie remarked that he himself had killed one very like him only he was sure his wad never mount horse again But seeing Tams illset eye fixed on him he was afraid of something coming out relating to that encounter which he did not wish to hear blabbed so he changed his tone and looking wise said The hale business315 brings me amind of a very good story that happened aince at Allergrain an if it be nae true it is behadden to the maker for the sin o the lie lyes nae at my door The story you see is this—There was a man an he had a wife an they had a son an they caed him Jock—
Now d—n your particularity said Tam Craik think you we have nought else to do but stand beside the bloody man and listen to a longwinded tale like that
The poet muttered over some old rhyme in unison with what he heard If one word spoken chanced to occur in any old rhyme or song that he knew he went over the sentence to himself though it had no farther connection with it or resemblance to it than merely that word This made his conversation altogether incomprehensible to those not acquainted with him but it was always delightful to himself a chance old rhyme brought to his remembrance would have pleased him almost in any circumstances while his words chimed naturally into measure
Leaving the dead warrior at the house316 where they lodged for the people to bury as they liked they proceeded to the army in hopes of finding Charlie and the friar there for without them they did not know how to accomplish their mission These two heroes finding on asking at a hamlet that their friends had not passed on the road to Roxburgh suspected what way they had gone and turning to the southeast they followed them on the track to Yetholm but misled them at the house into which they had been chased by the dead man and rode searching for them the greater part of the night Next morning they again went in search of them and came up behind them at the convent of Maisondieu near to the Teviot where a detachment of the army was stationed and after conversing two or three hours on the state of the army and garrison they proceeded on their journey and reached the abbey of Melrose that night There they were welcomed by the brethren and lodged comfortably There also they got many strange stories told to them about Master Michael Scott which made317 the very hairs of their heads stand on end and the hearts of the boldest to palpitate When the friar heard them he seemed wrapt in deep thought and he opened his mouth and said If the things that thou hast spoken be according to the light that is in thee and the truth that is told among men then this man is not as other men for the spirit of the immortals is in him and he communeth with the prince of the power of the air Nevertheless I will go unto him and I will speak to him face to face as a man speaketh to his friend Peradventure I shall tell him that which he knoweth not
When it was told to the abbot Lawrence that the servants of the warden were come and that they were accompanied by his chaplain and bedesman a learned man in all holy things the father came to bestow upon them his benediction—for the baron of Mountcomyn had conferred many rich benefices on the abbey At the first sound of the friars voice the abbot started as if recollecting him but on looking at the man his hope seemed to die away318 Every time however that he spoke in his eastern style the abbot fixed a look on him as if he would fain have claimed acquaintance which the friar perceiving urged their departure with all the interest he had and accordingly about midday they set out for Aikwoodcastle the seat of the renowned magician Master Michael Scott
Ever since the stern encounter with the English mosstroopers on the Thiefroad Charlie had attached himself close to the friar imagining that he saw his character in a new light and that he was one who might either be roused to desperate courage or impressed with notorious dread and when he heard him say that he would speak to the enchanter face to face he admired him still the more for the business of addressing the Master was that which stuck sorest on the stomach of the doughty Yardbire As for the poet he scarcely seemed himself all that day He looked at the mountains and the wild romantic rivers branching among them in every direction with looks of which it was hard to say whether they were looks of vacancy or affection for he319 looked sometimes as at objects which he was never to see again His tongue muttered long rhymes in which his heart had little share so that Delany was obliged to detach herself from his society and make up to the friar whom she now addressed with much affection and some degree of coquetry—
Dearest father why have you neglected me so much on our journey Ever since our first stage was got over you have not deigned to take any notice of me What have you seen in my conduct that you have thus shunned me It is in sincerity that I assure you there is no man in whose conversation I so much delight
Fairest among maidens said the friar putting his arm gently around her neck as her palfrey came close up by his side say not so but come near me I will kiss thee with the kisses of my mouth for thy love is sweeter to me than the vintage Behold thou art even like a tower of alabaster shining from among the cedars of Lebanon Thy bosom resembleth two320 young roes that are twins and feed among the lilies of the valley
Hold dear father said she and do not let your gallantry run away with your good common sense Yet would I love to hear that language spoken to another for though it be nonsense it is still beautiful Tell me for I long to hear where or in what country you learned to speak in that stile
Daughter of my people said he I have learned that language at home and in a far country In youth and in age hath it been my delight At noontide when the sun shone in his strength and in the silent watches of the night hath it been my meditation In adversity hath it been my comfort and in prosperity my joy so that now it hath become unto me as my mother tongue and other language have I none
Is it the language of the convent and the priory alone said the maid
No thou rose of the desart said the friar—it is not the language indeed but the stile of language over one half of the habitable world It is the language of all the kingdoms and countries of the east321 from India even unto Ethiopia and all the way as thou goest down towards the rising of the sun yea from the river to the ends of the earth it prevaileth But O thou fairest among the daughters of women that language did I not learn in the lands that are watered by the great river even the river Euphrates In Ur of the Chaldees have I not sojourned nor on the mountains of Palestine have I lifted up my eyes But I learned it from one little book a book that is of more value to the children of men than all the gold of Ophir O maiden could I but make known unto thee the treasures of that book the majesty of its stile and the excellency of its precepts it would make thine heart to sing for joy If all the writings of this world yea if the world itself were to be laid in the balance with that book they would be found wanting The mountains may depart and the seas may pass away the stars and the heavens in which they shine may be removed but the words of that book shall remain for ever and ever And this language that I now speak to thee resembleth the words322 written therein and I speak them unto thee that thou mayest hear and love them
Dear friar teach me to read and understand that book for my breast yearneth to know more about it I am it is true not my own at present to give but I have some forebodings here that tell me I soon shall and father I will serve thee and be thy handmaid if thou wilt teach me the words and the mysteries of that little book
Alas and wo is me for the ignorance of my people said he with the tears streaming over his grim cheek they are troubled about that which availeth them nothing while the way of life is hid from their eyes Their leaders have caused them to err and I even I have been a dweller in the tabernacles of sin But the daystar hath shone upon my soul and my spirit For that have I been persecuted and hunted as a partridge upon the mountains chased from the habitations of my brethren and forced to dwell among a strange and savage people Yet there are among them whom I love and could I be the mean of opening323 thine eyes and turning thee from darkness unto light then would I know for what purpose the finger of heaven had pointed out my way to this barren wilderness Thou canst not be a servant or a handmaiden unto one who is little better than an outcast and a vagabond on the earth But better days may come to us both I am not what I seem but maiden thou mayest trust me My love for thee surpasseth the love of women for it is with more than an earthly love that I behold and delight in thee Come unto me this night and I will tell thee things that shall make thine ears tingle The book of wonders is here with me and thou mayest look thereon and be glad
The poet and his associates listened to this rhapsody apart
What book does he mean said the poet If it is not True Thomass book or the book of Sir Gawin he must be speaking absolute nonsense I could recite these to lovely Delany word for word and must this clumsy old friar wile her from me by any better book than these
324
You are clean mistaen maister poeter said Tam I ken mair about auld Roger than you do or than ony thats here It is a book o black art that he carries about wi him and studies on it night and day He gat it at a place they ca Oxford where they study nought else but sic cantrips They hae tried to hang him and they hae tried to cut off his head and they hae tried to burn him at the stake but tow wadna hang water wadna drown steel wadna nick and a the fire o the land wadna singe ae hair o the auld louns head
Gude forgie me said Charlie An that be true Corby you and I had maybe mair pith than our ain yon time I wondered that he rade sae furiously on the drawn swords of men and armour the auld warlock Hehehe well aiblins try auld Michael at his ain weapons an that be the gate
Ye maunna lippen ower muckle to a this said he of the Peatstacknowe else ye may play like Marions Jock when he gaed away to douk in Commonside loch It is a hard matter says Jock to himself325 that a the lave o Commonsides men can swatter and swim in the loch like sae mony drakes but me I am fain either to poutter about the side or down I gang I can neither sink nor swim for when I try to get to the bottom to creep there I stick like a woundit paddock wagging my arms and my legs and can neither get to the top nor the bottom Just half way there stick I But Is be even hands wi them an mair an then Ill laugh at the leishest o them for Ill stand and wade and gang ower the waves afore them a aye and that wi my head boonmost Jock after this grand contrivance coudna rest but off he sets to Hawick and gets four big blawn bladders and the next day when a the lave went to bathe Jock he went to bathe amang the rest and he gangs slyly into a bush by himsel and ties twa o the bladders to every foot Now thinks Jock Ill let them see a trick Sae he slips into the loch and wades into the deep but the bladders they aye gart him hobble and bob up and down till faith he loses the balance and ower he coups Nane o them326 kend o Jocks great plan and they were a like to burst their sides wi laughing when they saw Jock diving But when they saw he wasna like to come up again they swattered away to the place and there was Jock swimming wi his head straight to the bottom and his feet and the four bladders walking a minuay aboon Now let me tell ye an ye lippen to the friars warlockry and his enchantments and divinations ye trust to as mony bladders fu o wind and down gae a your heads and your heels uppermost Na na nane maun try to cope wi auld Michael
I hae heard indeed that he coudna brook ony rivalry said Charlie and I hae heard waur instances and waur stories too than that o yours laird But let us draw slyly near to the twasome and make lang lugs to try if we can learn ony mair about that same beuk If the friar hae ony power o enchantment it is my opinion the first glamour hell thraw will be ower that bonny wench
We ought to keep them asunder by force said the poet it would be a shame327 and a disgrace to us if we were to let the auld rogue seduce either her person or her morals
Morals said Charlie I dinna ken about them for I watna weel what they are but as to seducing hersel I think I could answer for auld Roger the friar I see theres nae man can help liking a bonny lass but the better a good man likes ane hell be the mair sweer to do her ony skaith
Aye but then how can an enchanter be a good man said the poet
Thats the thing that puzzles me said Charlie Let us hear what they are on about sae briskly now
They then drew near and heard the following words while the remarks that they made were said aside among themselves
My fate you see has been a strange one father I was separated from my parents so young that I scarcely remember them But the Scots have been kind to me and I have loved them I have never been unhappy except when long confined to a place which I dislike exceedingly328 and as I have hopes that this change will add somewhat to my freedom I rejoice in it without weighing circumstances If those fond hopes should be realised I promise to you father that the first use I will make of my liberty shall be to sit at your feet and learn that wonderful and mysterious book
Do you hear that said the poet with great emphasis but in a half whisper he has gotten her broken already to learn the book of the black art Then the deils bargain and witchcraft comes next then the harassing of the whole country side dancing in kirkyards and riding on the wind and then mayhap the stake and the faggot end the matter that is but just beginning Alak and wo is me I say in the kings name and in the wardens let them be separated
Gude sauf us exclaimed Charlie Theres nae man sure o his life an a this be true But a fair play Nae self amang us Hist and let us hear what he is saying in answer
Daughter said the friar half crying329 with joy doth not my heart yearn over thee even as a mother yearneth over the child of her bosom Lo I will be unto thee as a father and thou shalt be unto me as a daughter
Hear what the old rascal is saying said the poet
And behold the fruits of our labours shall spring up into life—
Oh this is past all sufferance said the poet
—For O thou fair one whose beauty is as the beauty of the morning and whose innocence surpasseth that of the kid or the lamb or the young roe when they are playing upon the mountains—
Gude faith Mr Carol said Charlie aside its that auld chap thats the poet an no you
Humph mere fustian said the poet
The friar still went on—
—That beauty will decay as the rose fadeth on the brows of Shinar or Hermon and that innocence shall be perverted by the sinful and regardless people among whom thou sojournest and shall become330 as it were betrothed to sin and corruption yea and that eye that shineth like the dews of the morning shall be darkened But O beloved maiden there is that in this little book yea I say unto thee even in this old neglected and despised book that unto those who learn it shall prove the savour of life unto life and if thou dost learn and cherish the things contained in this book thou shalt never die
Ay billy that is a yanker said Tam aside When ane is gaun to tell a lie theres naething like telling a plumper at aince and being done wit
Now but hear to the deceitful old rogue said the poet All the books of black art in the world cannot accomplish that In the name of Saint Barnabas I say let them be separated
It wad be weel done said Tam if ane durst—for he wanted to blow up the poets wrath for the sake of a little sport
Durst said the poet durst—If none other dare I shall in spite of all his331 hellish arts Durst that is a good one—to be dursted with an old sackbut
They did not hear what answer Delany made to the extraordinary information as they took it that by learning the little black book she was to be redeemed from death for the fierce jealousy of the enamoured bard prevented them But when they listened again so as to hear distinctly the friar was still increasing in fervency All that he said was in raptures of divine ecstacy while his associates who knew nothing and cared as little about these things understood it in another way
For I say unto thee if thou wilt suffer me to instil these truths into thee thou shalt both blossom and bring forth fruit abundantly yea thou shalt shine as the stars in the firmament of heaven Seest thou yon sun that walketh above the clouds in majesty and brightness Beyond yon sun shall thine habitation be fixed and the blue arch that encircles the regions of the air which thou hast so often seen studded over with diamonds shall be unto thee a pavement whereon thou shalt332 tread All this and more shalt thou possess if thou wilt learn and obey the things that are written in this book where it is said by one that cannot err Lo I will be always with you and my arms shall be underneath and around you and when you are faint and weary I will hide you in my bosom
For the blood that is in your body dare to attempt such a thing cried the enraged poet Down with hypocrisy and sensuality together Hurray for the combat and God defend the right
So crying as loud as he could yell he pulled out his sword and rode furiously up between Delany and the friar shoving the latter rudely as he passed The maidens palfrey sprung away but the friars mule only leaned with all his might to the poets steed as he pressed against him in passing and feeling his prop give way he leaned round in the same direction till his tail was exactly where his head was before and then dreading some abhorred exertion he set his feet asunder and stood immovable The poet drew up and333 wheeled about and seeing still the hinder parts of the friar and his beast he cried exultingly Ay you are more ready to seduce an innocent and lovely maiden than to answer for the crime Vile lump of sin and hypocrisy turn round and meet me face to face that I may chastise thee for thy graceless attempt
The friar spurred most furiously but the mule only dashed his head downward and his heels in a contrary direction and kept his position All the rest were like to burst with laughter which still increasing the bards insolence he fumed about enchantments and the black art and dared the friar to turn and look him in the face
What with one provocation what with another the friars angry passions were roused and not being able to make his mule turn round he drew out his sword saying at the same time in a voice of great vehemence God do so to me and more also if I make not—
He got no farther with his speech for the mule interrupted him Obstinate as the brute was the sight of the sword and334 the sound of his masters angry voice operated on him like magic Perhaps he understood that all further opposition was vain—for in one moment he wheeled around his eyes gleaming with rage and pricking up his ears to see where the storm of his and his masters wrath was to alight he perceived the poet on his tall steed brandishing his dazzling sword and forthwith darted at them with the swiftness of an arrow and a fury not to be checked There were no more words nor threatenings passed between the enraged combatants for more space of time there was none before the mule had his shoulder to that of the poets steed his teeth fixed in his flank and was pushing with the fury of an enraged bull
On the closing of the two steeds the riders likewise engaged the poet coming on with a downward stroke which the friar received with great indifference on his sword crossed above his cowl But knowing well the nature of his beast he kept up the poets sword and arm both until the sides of the two animals were335 jammed together as the rider of the mule well knew they would be By that time the poets arm was pressed up straight by his ear and his sword pointed to heaven and in endeavouring to free his elbow from the hilt of the friars sword he lost his balance At the same instant their feet encountering in the stirrups and the friars being below that of his opponent he gave him such a ketch with his right foot and swordarm together that he made him fly from his horse to a great distance in a sort of arching direction and the unfortunate poet falling on his shoulder and head was wofully bruised and utterly discomfited
But the combat ended not here The mule still struggled with his adversary which not only kept his ground but rather began to force the mule to give way But the inveterate mongrel was not to be vanquished in that way He pressed struggled and wrought himself round till he got his tail to the horses shoulder and then he attacked him furiously with his ironheels The horse being a horse of spirit and scorning to yield to his longeared336 adversary applied the same offensive weapons with very little ceremony wincing and screaming all the while and sometimes making his feet to fly as high as the friars elbows The mule fought with desperate energy but in profound silence Not so the rider he spurred struck with his sword and cried with a loud voice Soh tproo thou beast of the pit sure the spirit of the evil one is in thee Lo I shall be beaten to pieces for the heels of the horses are lifted up against me By the life of Pharaoh I will smite thee until thy blood shall be poured out like water—thou perverse and abominable beast I say unto thee go forward
The voice of the friar during this passionate declamation had arisen gradually until the last sentence which was pronounced in his utmost stile of vehemence The mule heard this and saw the uplifted sword and not awaiting its descent he sprang forward with main force but no man will guess the issue
It may well be conceived that during this desperate combat between the horse337 and mule the onlookers were convulsed with laughter Charlie Scott in particular laughed with a Hahaha so loud that he made all the woods around to ring and at every breath exclaimed Gude faith I never saw ought half so grand Na never Gibbie was advanced a little before the rest so as to be near the scene of action which without doubt was bringing him in mind of some excellent story for his mouth was formed like a seam from the one ear to the other But it is dangerous putting ones self too forward in life and that the poor laird of the Peatstacknowe soon found It is well known that between parties so closely connected as the horse and his rider passion begets passion The mule driven altogether furious by the broil and the rage and spurs of his master either wished to rub himself rid of him or deemed that it was to be a battle general for he no sooner rushed from one fray than he flew to another quite openmouthed on Gibbie and seizing him by the thigh he separated one limb of his buffskin breeches and a mouthful338 of the lairds own skin from their places in one moment and the next had his teeth fixed in the flank of the lairds horse Gibbie cried out against the friar irritated by pain as well as the awkward and dangerous situation in which he was thus momently placed His horse flung—the mule returned the compliment with hearty good will and glad was Gibbie to escape which he did with great celerity as soon as he got leisure to use the spurs The mule ran straight at the next horse and then at the next again but all of them scampered off at his approach and left him master of the field on which he turned two or three times sullenly round throwing himself up behind and down before The friars wrath was somewhat diverted by the shouts of laughter from his scattered compeers and he only smiled grimly as he said to his contumacious beast—Thou art even a perverse and an evil one nevertheless thou hast been to me a beast for these many years and hast borne me in distant pilgrimages through many perils and dangers and I will not act the part of the son of339 Bosor peradventure thou mayest amend thy ways and do some credit to old age
The laird in his escape gallopped by the forlorn poet who raising up his head and perceiving the plight of the dismayed and unoffensive wight scouring off with the one thigh naked and bleeding burst out into a hysteric giggle between laughing and crying and repeated some scraps of old rhyme no way connected with the incident The attention of the party was now turned to him and the friars as much as any who enquired with great simplicity My brother why was thine arm lifted up against me
The bard was dreadfully abashed and out of countenance and he only answered in rhymes of which none of them could make any thing
His arm was strong and his heart was stout
And he broke the tower and he got out
Then the king he was an angry man
And an angry man was he
And he said Go lock him in prison strong
And hunger him till he dee340
That was a hard weird was it not Haha there be many such for
He had his wale of seven sisters
Of lith and lire and limb so fair
But the loathly dame of the Hazelrig
She ruined his peace for evermair
Lo my son answered the friar thy thoughts are wandering in a wilderness I only ask thee wherein I have offended thee For as mine hand is so is mine heart and as my soul liveth I know not in what respect I have done thee wrong
I have not done thee wrong fair May
I have not done thee wrong
But the cup of death has passed my lips
And my life will not be long
No no dame Delany you need not bathe my temples I am not raving I am not even hurt The mischievous beast made my horse throw me but I am nothing the worse
The friar not being able to make any thing of the poet himself applied to the rest and was soon informed by Tam that he was overheard trying to gar the lassie learn the black art and courting her to nae341 good and the poet grew jealous and was for being revenged
The friar uttered a loud groan for the ignorance of his associates but hopeless of making any thing of them at such a period he only began to moralise in a general manner The poet was again gotten to mount and shortly after they reached the ancient town of Selkirk where they halted and refreshed themselves at the monastery of the Cistertians There the laird got his wound dressed and his dilapidated robes refitted and that same evening the party reached the castle of Aikwood the residence of the celebrated wizard Master Michael Scott
THE
THREE PERILS OF MAN
CHAPTER I
He was a base and a cruel knight
As ever my two eyes did see
And all that he did and all that he said
It was by the might of glamourye
But yet his gear was o the goude
As it waved and wampished in the wind
And the coalblack steed he rode upon
It was fleeter than the bonny hind
Ballad of Sir Colin Brand
The distance from Melrose to the castle of Aikwood being only about nine English miles our party came in view of it before sunset It was one of those dead calm winter evenings not uncommon at that season when the slightest noise is heard at a distance and the echoes are all abroad
As they drew near to the huge darklooking pile silence prevailed among them more and more All was so still that even that beautiful valley seemed a waste There was no hind whistling at the plough no2 cattle nor sheep grazing on the holms of Aikwood no bustle of servants kinsmen or their grooms as at the castles of other knights It seemed as if the breath of the enchanter or his eye had been infectious and had withered all within its influence whether of vegetable animal or human life The castle itself scarcely seemed to be the abode of man the massy gates were all locked no porter was in attendance and there was only one small piping smoke issuing from one of the turrets
Gude faith callans said Charlie thats a douth and an awsome looking bigging I wish we were fairly in and safely out again
Is that now to be my residence Yardbire said the beautiful Delany Will you go away and leave Elias and me in that frightsome and desolate looking mansion
If the great Master gie us a civil answer said Charlie not well wotting what to say—and desire to have you for his handmaiden or rather the mistress of his castle to overlook the other maids and the spinning and weaving concerns like3 then we have orders to leave you But if he should be cross and crabbit and paughty wi us yere in gude hands and well no quat wi you sae easily
Thou art in good hands indeed said the friar But alas what is man a flower of the field that the hand of the mower cutteth down and leaveth to decay A shadow a sound that passeth away and is not But maiden thou art in better hands than ours in hands that will not leave the innocent and guiltless to perish There is an arm around thee that thou seest not there is a guardian with a sword behind thee and before thee of whom thou art not aware Therefore have thou no fear for no evil shall befal thee
Methinks I could live any where and be void of fear if but suffered to be in your presence said Delany There is something in what you have told me that goes to my heart and on it I think I can rely
Blessed be thou my daughter said he yea and blessed shalt thou be in thy generation—
Hear to that said the poet aside4 Still on one subject It is all over with some body
—But thou art perhaps going into a place of danger and evil things may await thee Here take thou this and keep it in thy bosom and by the blessing of the Holy Virgin it shall shield thee from all malevolent spirits all enchantments and all dangers of the wicked one the time may come when thou shalt more thoroughly understand the great things contained in this book
As he said this he put into her hand a small gilded copy of the Four Evangelists which she kissed and put into her bosom All the rest saw this and took it for a book of the Black Art
By this time they were drawing near to the gate at Aikwood where all continued silent and still as formerly Notwithstanding of this Charlies horse Corby began to cock his ears and snort in a terrible manner Stouthearted as Charlie war his countenance began to alter but he uttered not a word farther than coaxing Corby to proceed The mule leading the way altogether5 regardless the horses jogged on after him example going farther than precept whether with man or beast All the horses were however become restive though none of them was half so fierce as Corby He continued to force down his head as if smelling the ground anon capering and snuffing the air snorting aloud and moving with an elasticity rather like a thing of spirit than of joints and bones Gude faith Corby my man said Charlie as he patted his mane a isna right here Wend on ye camstairy thief what the deil ails ye But gude sauf us ane should take care wha they name here They say an speak o the deil hell appear
The old proverb had scarcely left Charlies lips when all at once they beheld three pages in black livery standing ranged before the gate although the moment before there was no living creature there They seemed to have arisen out of the ground and as they rose they bowed their heads in a sarcastic way to the embassy The appearance of the pages and the motion that they made were both accomplished in the same6 moment of time and at the motion every one of the horses broke away like so many scared wildfowl some one way and some another Charlie tried to restrain Corby with the whole might of his capacious arm but the impatient animal plunged and bounded into the air with such violence that his rider was obliged to give him head and away he sprung like a roe over field and river straining every nerve to be out of sight of Aikwood while Charlies warrior cloak that hung only by the shoulder clasp flapped so far behind him that he appeared like a black cloud skimming the valley Though none of the other horses made equal speed with Corby every one ran as fast as it could and all to the eastward though far asunder
The mule on the contrary never moved nor concerned himself about the matter He indeed held forward his long ears and took a serious look of the pages as of some sort of beings he did not more than generally understand Nevertheless he despised them and looked about with apparent astonishment and derision at the madness7 and folly of his associates The friar finding himself left with his mule and the three pages thus unaccountably began to address the latter but they only imitated his motions and made wry faces without returning him any answer The mule had by this time taken another serious look at them and disliking them exceedingly he sidled towards them with all his mettle and tried to hit them with his heels The urchins then raised such an eldritch laugh that they made the arches of the castle to ring and skipping about and about provoked the mule to farther violence He on his part was nothing loth to attack he ran openmouthed at one kicked at another and tried to crush another up against the gate all to the great annoyance of the friar who with the utmost difficulty kept his seat for a good while in spite of the mad evolutions of his provoked and provoking beast But the game once begun was not suffered to subside The giggling elves with the swiftness of lightning skipped about and in whatever direction the mule darted one of them was always8 pricking him behind The worthy friar waxed very wroth and swore by the life of Pharaoh that he would execute vengeance on them But the noise of mirth and mischief waxed louder and louder until the austere inmates of the castle heard and the great Master said to his only attendant Gourlay what is the meaning of all this uproar
It is only Prig Prim and Pricker said he making sport with a mendicant friar and his ass
Are they killing him enquired his Master with the greatest composure and without lifting his eyes from a large book that lay before him
I wot not sire said Gourlay with the same indifference
Ay it is no matter returned the Master It will keep them in employment a little while
Perhaps said Gourlay—and retired back to the casement with sullen step
By this time the mule had become so outrageous that he wheeled kicked and plunged like one of the furies and at the9 last in spite of all the friar could do laid him fairly on his back amid the frantic shrieks and gibberish of his tormentors Gourlay beheld the incident from the crevice of the turret and not daring to discompose the great Master he walked down to the gate to witness the sport at a shorter distance though with a callous indifference about the matter and without the least hope to enjoy it
When he came nigh to the scene of action he looked as if he expected the friar to have been dead and was rather astonished when he saw him raise his head and utter a solemn anathema against the pages who fled back as if awed and overcome The seneschal not comprehending this turned his pale glazed cheek toward the friar elevated his brow as if looking at the verge of the high hill beyond the river and stood motionless stealing a side glance now and then of the stranger
The latter raised up his gruff face inflamed with passion and seeing the tall ungainly figure of Gourlay standing like a statue with a red turban on his head and10 a grey frock or mantle that in ample folds covered him from the neck to the sandals took him at once for the mighty enchanter and addressed him with as little respect as might be
If thou art the lord of this mansion draw near unto me that I may tell thee of the deeds of thy servants which eat thy bread and stand at thy gate Lo have they not lifted up the hand against my life who am a stranger and a servant of him against whom thou hast rebelled and lifted up the heel Go to thou art a churl and a derision and a byeword among thy kindred and people and not worthy to be called by their name I came unto thy gate in peace on a message of peace and the words of peace were in my mouth and why hast thou suffered these children of the wicked one to maltreat and abuse me Why dost thou not open thy mouth
The pages chattered with a malicious laugh at a distance and the seneschal came stalking near in a sort of confused astonishment to take a nearer view of this talk11ing phenomenon He came and looked over him without altering a muscle of his face and the friar irritated by pain and the contempt shewn toward his sufferings went on At any other time he would haply have been chilled by the pale frigid countenance shagged beard and glazed unearthly eye that were now bent over him but in the present state of his feelings he disregarded them and though convinced that he spoke to the mighty enchanter himself continued his harangue—
Come thou near unto me that I may curse thee Thou child of all unrighteousness art thou not already cursed among the children of men Where are the wealth and the cheerfulness where are the welcome and the faces of joy and mirth that are to be met with at the houses of thy kinsmen whose bread I eat Where the full basket and the welcome store the wine that giveth its colour in the glass the sounds of mirth and gladness the sounds of the song the viol and the harp And where is thy tongue that thou canst not speak cried the friar elevating his12 voice to its highest and most impatient tones
Humph said Gourlay
Humph returned the friar What dost thou mean by humph Tell me in one word Art thou the lord of this castle
No but his seneschal said Gourlay What hast thou to say
Then lead me to thy master that I may see him face to face and tell him the words of him that sent me I will not be afraid of these dogs of thine and thy masters What is become of thy tongue that thou dost not speak Tell me I say can I see thy master
Perhaps said Gourlay and seizing the friar by the shoulder with a rude but powerful grasp he dragged him in at the gate
Withhold thine hand and thy unmannerly grasp said the friar—else I will smite thee with the sword
The seneschal regarded this threat only with a grim unmeaning smile and as he held the friar by the right arm so firmly that he even lost the power of it it was impossible for him to draw his sword
13
Nay but hearken unto me continued he surely it is better for thee to live than to die Therefore bring in my beast that he may have provender and let me also bring my goods and my changes of raiment along with me in peace else how shall I set up my face before thy master
The seneschal then paused and motioned with his hand to the pages to bring the panniers they ran to obey but as soon as any of them touched the huge wallet he hastened back and fell to the ground
Vermin cannot you bring the furniture cried Gourlay
They shook their heads and stood at a distance
Humph said he I do not comprehend this and leading the friar back still holding him fast by the arm he suffered him to lift the panniers himself which he did with good will and then allowed himself to be led away by the uncourteous seneschal who said to the pages as he departed See to the vile animal
Without more ado he led the friar in and pushing him rudely into a small vault14ed apartment he locked first a ponderous iron door and then a massy wooden one full of nails upon him and without regarding his complaints or anathemas or deigning a word in reply to his queries he left him to his own bitter reflections
The apartment at first appeared to be dark but on looking about he found that there were two grated loopholes in it and by the light from these he soon perceived that there was nothing in the place save the skeleton of a man of uncommon stature and dimensions The bones were lying flat on the floor every one in its place exactly as the man had died and the flesh wasted away from them No disarrangement had taken place nor was the smallest joint wanting This was a petrifying sight to the poor friar who crossing himself and turning from the horrible spectacle set his nose through the grating and looked out on the fields
The first thing he beheld confounded him more than all he had ever seen in his life The three devilish pages were tampering with his mule to bring him within15 the outer gate but he in his usual manner proved as refractory as ever and laid about him with all his might On this the boys in one moment whipped him up in their arms and ere the friar could draw his breath far less utter a PaterNoster they set him down in the middle of the court straight before the friars grating and tied him to the shaft of a well with a strong rope The friar said a Benedicite and ere he had done the devilish and provoking imps began to torment the poor mule beyond all sufferance whipping him round and round the post and making him fling and jump till the blood and sweat were pouring together from his branded sides and he was no more able to resent the injuries committed on him The friar fumed and threatened and cursed them in the name of the blessed saints but they only laughed him to scorn And when the mule could no longer resent the lash they brought redhot spindles and pushed them between his hindlegs which made him fling and rear till he fell down at the post16 and lay groaning unable any more to move
The thing that provoked the friar worst of all was the sight of the tall seneschal standing looking on and seeming by his motions to be directing the game Never was such a flood of eastern eloquence heard at Aikwood as was poured from the small crevice in the bottom of the eastern turret that evening No one however regarded it or if they did it was only to mock or mimic the sublime deprecator
To all that he said the seneschal grinned a smile of grim disdain and motioned to the pages to redouble their sport which they did till as said the poor animal could furnish them with no more
The friar now beheld a joyful sight through the twilight the rest of his companions coming on foot towards the gate They had gathered together at the mill about a mile to the eastward of the castle and made another attempt to approach it on horseback but their efforts were vain not a steed would come one step farther than just in view of it so they agreed to17 put their horses up at the mill leaving them in charge of the miller and his two sons and to proceed on foot to the castle to join their mysterious associate the friar whose magical might some of them began to dread and others to trust
Gourlay beheld them approaching as well as did the friar and again waited on the great Master with awe and trembling
I pray thee mighty Master to forgive me said he but too true is it that the wretched pedagogue has said—for here come a body of the wardens friends with swords in their hands and one beautiful human thing in their company
And what then said Michael in a stern hollow voice
The seneschal trembled I—I—only want to know how they are to be received said he
Received cried the Master raising his voice to a pitch that made the old wretch shrink as it were within himself Received As spies should to be sure Begone
18
Gourlay ran cowering toward the door
Stop—Come back here What forces are in the castle
What forces Hem Great Master you only know
Any things of flesh I inquire
No not one if you except the old witch Henbane Oh I beg your pardon great and honoured master I meant your worthy and respectable housekeeper
Michael gave three gentle tramps with his heel and in one moment the three pages in black livery Prig Prim and Pricker were at his knee
Work Master work What work now said they all in one breath
Give your master there a toasting for his insolence said Michael
The pages giggled for joy the seneschal kneeled and roared out for mercy and as a motive for granting it to him said the strangers were at the gate The pages had already laid their fangs on him but the Master on the arrival of the strangers being brought to his mind ordered the imps to desist This they did on the19 instant but without delay rushed on Michael himself as if they would tear him to pieces He threatened cursed and dared them to touch him but they seemed nothing daunted by all he said but danced around him with demoniac gestures crying still out with one voice—
Work Master work work we need
Work for the living or for the dead
Since we are called work we will have
For the master or for the slave
Work Master work What work now
Miserable wight that I am cried the mighty Master Then d—d dwarfs since it must be so bring the slave back and let him have three varieties and no more
Gourlay had made his escape with all expedition but it was not long ere they overtook him and brought him back leading him in the most grotesque manner that can well be conceived They then began to twirl him about first with his face one way and then another and latest adventures making the strongest im20pressions on their wicked imaginations by some devilish slight they transformed him into the shape of a mule and practised on him all the wanton cruelties they had so lately done on the friars seeming to enjoy the sport all the while with redoubled zest They next changed him into a dog and tying a cannister containing some small stones to his tail they pursued him round and round the room and finally out into the yard with long whips every one breaking at him and giving him a lash as he came by This caused him always now and then to exert himself with such speed that the cannister was sometimes hitting him on the head with a loud rattling yerk sometimes on the back and all over the body while the poor steward was running yelping in the uttermost desperation The friar beheld part of the sport from his grate but little wist that it was the hated seneschal that was suffering else he would have doubtless enjoyed the scene in no ordinary degree The rest of the embassy also saw it from the outer gate where they now stood rapping and calling without being regard21ed the pages being too intent on their game to pay the least attention to such as they
Let alane the poor tike like good lads cried muckle Charlie and come and open the yett What ill has the silly beast done to you
They bring me in mind o Jock Harpers terriers said Gibbie that wad rather do ill for the sake o doing it than do ought that was good or right for a the warld
I hate to see a colleyshangie said the poet there is nothing sublime or romantic in it
Theyre nae canny couts thae three chaps said Charlie Corby wadna look at them and he kens things gayan weel We maun just hae a wee patience till they be done wi their chace Its a queer kind o place this
The poor metamorphosed steward finding no rest for the sole of his foot betook him again to the staircase and crept down at his masters feet deeming the chastisement to have been over But he was no22 sooner there than the pages were after him and by the time they had whirled him three times about he started up a hare and the three pages turning themselves into colley dogs set all upon him
With the form of every quadruped into the shape of which he was turned he seemed to acquire its nature and antipathies and in none was it so striking as in the hare When the collies began to snap at him his terror is not to be imagined he darted round and round the hall like lightning breaking out and in to Michaels study to the great disarrangement of his conjuring apparatus books and papers while every time that a colley sprung with open mouth at him he uttered a desperate scream
This was the only one of their frolics that appeared to amuse the great Master his partiality for the sports of the chase being proverbial to this day When he saw the old seneschal laying back his long ears and exerting his powers of speed in such manifest terror and the malignant collies whinking after him and waylaying him in every strait making him often spring aloft he23 could not help laughing outright and baiting the dogs on him The tears stood in the old hares eyes when he heard this nevertheless his fright made him agile he bolted from the halls and alleys of the castle into the extensive yard and there was such a hunt Michael and the friar both ran to their respective windows to see the sport and our party at the outer gate shouted and hallooed with great energy Many a time did the dogs get a snap at the steward and make him scream out while all the onlookers laughed aloud At length thinking he would actually be worried he cleared the wall and made a bold effort to gain the wood But these were a trio of dogs from which there was no possibility of escape Ran he fast or ran he slow there were they after him snatching at his hips and panting sides and yelping so keenly all the while that the seneschal had no doubt of being torn in pieces should they fairly seize him They turned him and made him trace many an acute angle on the hill while our party were running after him throwing always sticks or24 stones at the steward as he hasted by them and baiting the dogs on him Finding as formerly no other resource he returned with main speed to the castle and crept down at the Masters feet who with one touch of his divining rod changed him into his own native forbidding form
He started up in great wrath and though panting so that he could scarcely speak swore a horrible oath that he would no longer be kept in bondage and maltreated in that manner and that since it was impossible for him to escape in any other way he would cut his own throat and run his chance of an after life
Poor dastardly braggart said Michael not for the soul that inhabits that old malicious frame dare you do such a thing I would seize on it and make sport of it for ages I have you wholly in my power and dead or alive it is the same thing to me Were you to do as you say and take away your life by a ghastly wound I could even make one of these fiendish spirits enter into your body reanimate it and cause you to go about with25 your gaping wound unclosed and unpurified as when death entered thereat Think of what an existence that would be and then go and put your miserable threat into execution
Hah There it is said Gourlay Turn me as I will I see nothing but wretchedness Cursed be the day that I saw you and ten times cursed the confession I made that has thus subjected me to your tyranny However use me another day as you have used me on this and you do it at your peril if you were the devil himself I have warned you
Michael only smiled contemptuously at the threat and again asked what living creatures were in the castle as he wanted a retinue to receive the message of his kinsmen
I have told you already said Gourlay in the same passionate and irritated mood and I again repeat it that there is no mortal thing in the castle but the old witch and perhaps two or three hundred rats
Take that in the first place then said26 Michael for your impertinence—at the same time laying him flat on the floor by a tremendous blow although he only moved his hand toward the steward and in the next place go call out these three hundred rats you talk of marshal them up in the court and receive the mighty wardens people with all manner of pomp and respect and use them according to their demerits
The steward roared out with pain and gnashing his teeth with rage he arose growling and was hasting away when the Master asked him if he was going to accomplish what he had bidden him do
Without doubt said he Is it not very likely that I shall be able
Take that then said the Master and put it above the lockhole of the door it shall serve you as a summons and Prig Prim and Pricker shall marshal your array With that he gave him a small piece of parchment written in red characters which the steward snatched angrily out of his hand and going down the stair did as the Master had ordered him
27
The charm was effective and its effects momentary The bustling and the screaming of rats were heard in every corner of the castle and forthwith a whole column of men marched out into the court in three files led by the three pages and headed by the incensed seneschal in his grey mantle and cap
Our messengers looked mightily astonished when they beheld such a retinue and Charlie observed that it was a confounded shame for Mr Michael no to join the warden and had sae mony idle men lying tholing starvation beside him But then looking wildly around on both sides to his friends he added Gods grace be about us wha kens but a thae may be spirits or elves in the shapes omen I think they hae unco queer mustylike looks An I had Corby here he wad soon tell me wi a vengeance
Old Gourlay now at the head of his corps demanded what the strangers wanted and on being informed who they were and that they came on a special commission to the Master they were admitted and28 walked up a lane between two ranks of armed men in full caparison
The Master beheld them from his casement and was mightily diverted by the whimsical appearance of the various individuals that formed the group two of whom he conceived to be the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen Whoever reads this will at once guess who these two lovely beings were but if he does he will at once guess wrong It would seem that a wizard sees every thing in this fair and beautiful creation through an inverted medium and that all the common and fine feelings of nature are in him changed and distorted The beauty of the two young captives appeared in Michaels eyes hateful and even affected him with loathing but two more lovely and engaging creatures than Jordan and the Deils Tam he had never seen on earth The hooked nose wrinkled face and mouth from ear to ear of the laird he thought exquisite but Tams long coulter nose turned up in front his small grey eyes and shapeless physiog29nomy were beyond all expression engaging So from the time that the Master got the first look of them he determined contrary to his usual custom to see and converse with his guests
They were soon conducted to the door of the vault in which their friend the friar was immured and as soon as the door opened he exclaimed with a loud voice I charge you O my brethren and my companions that ye come not into this place nor set a foot within its boundaries for the place is a place of death and the bones of the dead men are in it
There is no deciding what these words might have produced had they been pronounced in time but as soon as Charlie and the laird who were foremost heard the friars voice they rushed towards him without thought or fear of the consequences and ere he had done the hindmost were pushed in by the relentless arm of the seneschal and the iron door closed behind them Perceiving how matters stood the friar straight lifted up his hands and con30tinued to declaim in a still more fervent stile
Hout Gude Lord friar man haud your tongue said Charlie interrupting him What signifies making sic a frase as a this or what good will it do I hae run mysel into mony a priminary in my life but I never fand that mony words did muckle good I trowed that ye had mair art about ye than to be feared for a stane an lime wa an twa or three airn staincheons Pith can do muckle but art can do mair
Charlie meant the black art but the friar taking him up in another meaning shook him by the hand and blessed him
It may not have occurred to the reader and it is not likely it should that this same friar was an English monk the most celebrated man of that age then exiled from his country and obliged to skulk in disguise for fear of being apprehended and burnt as a wizard and necromancer He was the greatest philosopher and chemist of the age the real inventor of gunpowder and many other wonderful discoveries and withal a pious and good man—al31though one whose character was tinctured with peculiarities so striking that some took him for a man crazed in his mind but far more for a powerful necromancer His name is familiar to every man in the least acquainted with the literature or the science of that age but while he remained in Scotland being always denominated the gospel friar we have judged it best to call him by that name If the reader has not discovered this it is time he should know it and whether the friar was a necromancer or not will appear in the sequel
When the party got leisure to converse together their first words were expressive of the astonishment they laboured under at sight of the warlike force kept up by the Master Charlie only testified his regret that there was not a right and mutual understanding between him and the warden but the maid Delany was the first to remark that she did not think they were right men because their faces were all alike and their eyes were not like the eyes of any human being she had ever before looked on In this every one present acquiesced32 and great was their wonder how or whence that mighty armed force had sprung but they agreed that there was no contending with such numbers of whatsoever nature they might be and that there was nothing for it but submitting to the Masters will
The day light was by this time quite extinguished but the moon was up and it being a hard frost with a slight covering of snow or rime it was nearly as light as some winter days Their damp mouldy vault with the grisly skeleton lying at the one side of it shewed horridly dismal in the wan and shadowy light and threw a chillness over their hearts They hoped and looked long for dinner and then for supper but neither of them came nor did they hear or see any living thing all that night save the friars mule that had again got to his feet and stood at the post groaning and trembling of cold This was a grievous sight to the friar for his heart was moved for the sufferings of his poor beast and in the bitterness of his spirit he vented some anathemas against the unconscionable seneschal saying—Verily if33 ever that son of Belial fall into my hands I will be unto him as Adramelech and as Sharezer and do unto him as they did to the father that begat them
Every time that Charlie looked out at the mule he testified a sort of inward satisfaction that his own trusty steed was not brought into the same scrape and sundry times said Gude faith Corby kend better sense than coming into sic a place as this is Hes as weel off down wi the auld miller Hell get some pluffins o seeds or dust poor fallow An they gie him but water Im no feared for him for theres plenty o meat yonder—but hell never do if they let him want water
About two oclock in the morning the seneschal entered with a light but had the precaution to lock the wooden door before he opened the iron one The prisoners had sat down on the floor and were leaning on one another and dismal as their lodging was some of them had fallen sound asleep Delany was leaning on the friars breast and the poet had laid himself down behind her and covered her with his mantle The34 rest were huddled together so that they appeared to be lying above one another but all or most of them set up their heads at the entrance of the steward
Tam was the first to address him Whats come o our supper goodman that you are coming toomhanded Do you no think it is time your guests had something to eat or hae ye naething either to eat or drink in this great gousty castle I dinna care what ye may think or what you may say but in my opinion you and your master baith are naething but twa illbred unmannerly niggards
The seneschal grinned disdain and clenched his teeth in wrath He was about to reply but all their tongues were loosed on him at once some complaining of one thing some of another and the friar more particularly of the treatment of his beast All however ended with a request for meat
No said Gourlay we have no meat for spies and forayers A halter is the only guerdon we bestow on such dogs I want this fair maiden and for the rest of you—He finished the sentence with a35 sneer and a point with his finger to the bones and seizing the maid by the shoulder he dragged her toward the door
Softly sir and if you please said the poet speaking in pure iambics and seizing the bars of the iron door before the steward and his prize We have indeed this maiden brought from distant camp and knight renowned unto the master of this house and to none else we give her up No not to thee nor arm of flesh
As the poet said these words he bristled up and faced the steward at the door to keep him back but the carl gave him such a blow on the temples that he staggered and fell The friar then interposed and though he was a strong and powerful man the irascible steward plied his blows so fast and so hard about his bare pate that he was also overthrown The maiden screamed and the old incendiary was within a hairbreadth of having her outside of the iron door when she would have been wholly out of the power of her friends and protectors But at that critical instant Charlie Scott seized the steward by the arm never doubting but36 that he would twist him like a willow but he was mistaken The churl seized him by the throat with his left hand with such prodigious force that Charlie deemed him to have the strength of six common men and lending him a blow on the face he made his mouth and nose to gush blood Charlie returned the salute with interest yet the steward stood his ground and a most desperate struggle ensued in which victory appeared doubtful Gibby perceiving his friend and champions jeopardy drew out his sword and was going deliberately to stick the old ragamuffin behind had not Charlie called out furiously to him to forbear
Keep back your whittle you cowardly dog cried he else Ill cut you into a thousand pieces I never yet took odds against a man nor shall I now unless I am fighting wi the devil In that case I may measure my backbreadth on the floor But be he the devil be he dicken I shall gie him ae squeeze
Charlie with that closed with his dangerous opponent and gave him such a37 squeeze that he made his back and ribs to crash The steward twisted his face into the most hideous contortions and exerted his whole force to extricate himself but Charlie brought him to the ground falling upon him with all his ponderous weight It was among the bones of the gigantic skeleton that the two combatants fell and Charlie deeming that he had given his foe enough for once and a little startled to find himself among the rattling bones began to unloose his grasp and said in a hurried way Billy Ill learn you how to strike fok on the gab and the brigg o the nose sae rashly and was getting up as fast as he could when the steward gave him such a blow with the thighbone of the dead man that he had very nigh brought him down again If Charlies bonnet had not had a bar or two of steel that blow would have shattered his skull As it was it stunned him a little and made the water start into his eyes and he had just recollection and strength sufficient to secure his adversarys arms by holding them down so that he might not repeat38 the blow Yet with all this Charlies temper was not to be ruffled He cared not how often or how much he fought but he never fought in wrath
Gude faith my man said he but yere no nice o your chapping sticks and foul fa me gin ye dinna lay them gayan freely on But I dinna blame ye A wight man never wants a weapon only come that gate again an ye dare
The steward growled and cursed trying all that he could to throw Charlie from above him and master him by sheer strength He had no idea of being overpowered by a single arm nor was he wont to fear half a dozen but he had never met with the like of Charlie Scott before He might as well have tried to remove the hill of Aikwood so he was obliged to succumb which he did with a very bad grace nor would he either abate one inch in his demand of having the damsel unconditionally or grant one request that they desired of him
Why then theres nae help for it honest man said Charlie I hae ye firm39 and fast and what ye winna gie us we maun een tak at our ain hand Honest friar come you here and tak a the keys o the castle aff this camstary hallanshaker and well een help oursels to sic as we can get I sal tak care that he sanna move a spauld against you and as for his tongue we maun just let it wag
The rage of the seneschal when he saw himself robbed of the keys of the castle is not to be described he cursed and raged in such a manner that even after the friar had both doors fairly open Charlie durst not move from off him or let him go for fear of some deadly scaith
I dinna ken what Im to do wi this deils buckie said he hes like the tods whelps that grow aye the langer the waur
I wad gie him a settler said Tam
He brings me in mind o a barrel o beer fuming and fuffing Hell no settle till he be pierced said Gibbie
The friar then took up his bulky baggage and walked out with that and the light meaning to bring his mules halter40 wherewith to bind the seneschal but Charlie making his escape from him locked him in—and thus were our messengers left in the full and free possession of the castle of Aikwood
41
CHAPTER II
The lady looked oer the castle wa
She looked both pale and wan
For the door was locked and the lord within
He was no Christian man
Song of May Marley
When the steward saw that he was fairly mastered and that neither strength nor words could avail him ought he remained where he was in sullen silence He had got no orders from the Master to bring him the maid but it had come into his head to go and take her to himself and he had nearly effected his purpose What might have been the consequence of his success it is painful even to calculate but he was thus prevented though not without blood and wounds
The guests now traversed all the lower apartments of the castle there being neither bolt nor bar to interrupt them but for all the retinue that they had seen at42 their arrival there was neither the appearance of man nor beast remaining The large hall did not seem to have been occupied for a long period The shelves were empty and there were neither dishes nor fragments of meat of any description and every thing within as well as without the castle had the appearance of desolation
At length they came to a door from the bottom of which they perceived some light issuing of which they were glad as they were afraid the stewards lamp would fail them and leave them in darkness Deeming themselves on ticklish ground they consulted in a whisper before venturing in Charlie Scott was quite a fearless man among his fellow creatures but all kinds of supernatural agency pressed heavily on his conscience Therefore in the present instance he dissuaded his comrades from entering with all his eloquence
Gude faith callans keep back off that place It is maybe the warlocks room and gin he should be in the mids o some o his cantrips at this eiry time o the morning gude sauf us it is a question what43 might be the upshot Na na friar I tell ye bide back it is best to let sleeping dogs lye for fear they get up and bite you
But the friars creed differed from that of Charlie and he went dauntlessly forward putting him aside with his hand and saying at the same time that he would surely go in unto him as with a front of brass or of iron that sooner or later the time and the season of their meeting must come and why should he be dismayed
The friar then opened the door with caution and entered followed by all his associates Charlie Scott bringing up the rear and whispering to those next him in a tremulous voice—Od that bodys mad Hell lead us into some illfaurd snapper Dinna be ower rash callans Just look afore ye
Instead of the great enchanter however they found only an old woman so busily engaged with something on the fire that she scarcely deigned to regard them as they entered She had a wooden tube like the barrel of a gun with which she blew up her fire and she kept blowing at44 it till the flame came above the lip of her caldron and let her see into it for she had no lamp nor any other light save that which came from the fire
When she had made it blaze thus high she spoke to herself and without taking her mouth from the tube saying some words to the following purport—
Sotter sotter my wee pan
To the spirit gin ye can
When the scum turns blue
And the blood bells through
Theres something aneath that will change the man
When Charlie saw her unchristianlike face and heard her mumbling these horrid words through her long hollow tube he turned his back and fled taking shelter in a void entrance to which he was led by some light that fell into it from the rays of the moon Full hardly was he then bested for he still deemed that he heard the witchs rites at a distance and the faint ray of the moon through a narrow aperture made the rest of the space appear so shadowy and dim that Charlie saw he was in a dangerous situation and actually began45 to fancy he beheld a face in the dark staring at him and still coming nearer It was no time to stand there so he fled with all his might But in his dismay he lost every kind of aim or consideration whither he was going and at once stumbled on the undermost step of a stone stair Thinking the apparition he had seen was by that time hard upon him and no other way that he knew of open for flight he rose and pursued his course straight up stairs in a state of perturbation hardly to be accounted for The first landing place that he came to he ran himself against a door and not finding farther entrance he faced about and leaning over the balluster he set up such a yell as never was before breathed from lungs It is true he neither heard nor saw aught of the apparition but Charlie was a sensible man and he was certain it might be there for any thing that he knew so he set up the same kind of cry that he was wont to do when he lost his neighbours in a mist or in a night foray only about ten times or so louder
46
Hilloa Tam Craik friar hilloa d—n ye a what for winna ye come wi a light
Charlie was now at such a distance from his comrades who were still in the witchs small apartment and the echoes of the huge void castle so confused the sounds that they took the cries of their captain for the rushing of a whirlwind roaring through the crannies of the castle and paid no regard to them No state could be more deplorable than that in which muckle Charlie Scott was now placed To have returned down the stair would have been meeting the devil face to face or as Charlie much better expressed it to hae dabbed nebs wi the deil
He had therefore no other resource than to bellow out for assistance and seeing none approach he said aloud in great agony of spirit Lord gin I were but on Corbys back again ay though it were in the wildest glen o a the Cheviots and the Eskdale souple oer my shoulder that was the cant name of Charlies tremendous sword I might then work my way But sic a place as this I saw never Od47 an there be lugs within the was o the house I shall either gar them hear or crack them Hilloa
Not satisfied with giving yelloch after yelloch as he termed his loud cries he flew to every door on the landing place laid on it with his fists and kicked it with his foot calling at each of them in the same key as before Is there ony body here He at last prevailed one door was opened and he was admitted inside But alas for our gallant yeoman he only by this transition got out of one exceedingly bad scrape into a worse
These casual separations of dramatis personæ are exceedingly unfortunate for the storyteller who aims at conciseness and brevity because it is impracticable to bring them all on at the same time A story is like a waggoner and his horses travelling out the kings highway his machine loaden with various bales of rich merchandise He goes smoothly and regularly on till he comes to the bottom of a steep ascent where he is obliged to leave a great proportion of his loading and first carry one48 part of it to the top of the hill then another and then another which retards him grievously on his way So is it with the writer of a true history such as this and the separation of parties is as a hill on his onward path
It is otherwise with dramatic representations and in these the authors have a great advantage Let their characters separate as they will or be engaged as they will they can at any time with the greatest ease be brought together on the stage The one enters from the one side and the other from the other and we do not much concern ourselves how or whence they come taking it for granted that they are there and that is enough It is rather delightful to see a hero in whom one had begun to take some interest and whom he supposed to be far distant exposed to dangers abroad and perfidy at home all at once stalk majestically in from the side scene and take his place before our eyes It gives the heart a great deal of relief to see and know that he is there in person to stand up for his own injured rights But49 in our own case there is no such expedient Like the waggoner we must return from the top of the hill and bring up those of our characters that are left behind At present we must return from the top of the great staircase in Aikwood castle into the housekeepers cell on the ground floor
Charlie had made his escape almost unobserved those next to him weening that he had only drawn a little back to keep a due distance between the witch and him so that they pressed forward to the scene without regarding him
The crone continued her orgies blowing her fire one while and again stirring the liquid in the caldron then making it run from the end of a stick that she might note its state of gelidity The friar addressed her in his usual stile of sonorous eastern eloquence but she only regarded him by a slight stare and a motion with her hand as if she wished him and his group to disappear She had taken them for spirits that she had conjured up and perhaps thought they were come before the time for in mumbling to herself they at one time50 heard her saying So you are all there are you Well I shall find you work Sotter sotter my wee pan
This scene went on for a considerable time without any variety the witch attending solely to her caldron and her fire the friar standing before the flame and Tam and Gibbie with their long kipper noses peeping over his shoulder The other three were behind these the poet with his arm round Delanys waist and the beautiful face of the boy Elias the very picture of amazement personified appeared below the friars right arm Scarcely could such another group be formed for the painters eye Here sat the witch haggard and wild close at the one cheek of the fire watching over her caldron and infernal morsel with the utmost eagerness There stood the gruff friar with the keys of the castle in his right hand and the dim lamp in his left raised above his head so that from the two groups of light the marked features of amazement could be distinctly traced which with the faint51 and yellowish hue of their complexions made the whole highly picturesque
The witch continued her occupation till at length holding up her stick to note the consistence of her jelly that appeared like boiling blood and water mixed there was something in its appearance that confounded her She dropt both her tube and her stirring stick among the ashes and turned about staring wildly at our group She appeared as if examining their features one by one in search of some one whose presence she missed and perceiving the boys face below the friars arm she fixed her eyes on that cowering down at the same time like a cat that is about to spring on its prey Then rising half up she moved toward him in a stooping posture turning always her face first to the one side and then to the other until her nose came almost in contact with the boys on which he slipped his face out of her sight behind the friars back Observing next the two droll faces over the friars two shoulders she appeared delighted with the view and letting her jaws fall down she smiled at52 it but it was rather a gape than a smile She then tottered again towards the fire rocking her body and wagging her head as before repeating the while this unmeaning phrase
Niddy noddy niddy noddy
Three heads on ae body
Haply she deemed all the three faces she had seen belonged to the friar and was happy at witnessing such a monstrous appearance
Sitting down on her hams as before she seized on her two implements and began to blow and stir for about the space of a minute testifying great impatience to see how her spell proceeded But the moment that she held up a part of her morsel on the stick and let it drip off she perceived that all was wrong and that her guests were the reverse of those she expected As soon as she looked at the liquor she uttered a horrible scream while every joint of her body shook with fury and lifting a wooden ladle that lay by her side with devilish nimbleness she splash53ed the boiling liquid on the faces and bodies of our amazed compeers
Deil be in the auld jauds fingers cried Tam Gin she hasna jaupit out baith my een
I have indeed given my cheek to the firebrand said the friar and the skin of my forehead hath departed from me
She brings me amind o my mither said Gibbie—but he got not time to proceed for after she had exhausted the contents of her caldron on the intruders she attacked them with burning coals and pieces of wood These she dashed among them with such desperate force that part of them sought refuge in retreat Not so our redoubted friar He gave the lamp out of his hand to the laird bidding him take care of it and turning his back toward her and running backward for fear of farther injury to his face and eyes he seized the witch by the frock and putting his arm round both hers to restrain them he held her fast to his side In doing so he uncovered the cross that hung at his girdle When she saw this54 and that her body was pressed against it she uttered the most horrified howlings and appeared to be falling into convulsions Nevertheless the friar kept his hold He let her scream on and dragging her toward the door said unto her Thou wicked one as thy works have been so shall be thy reward and as thou hast sown so also shalt thou reap Come with me and I will put thee into a place where thou shalt cease from troubling
Without more ado he bore her away to the vault where lay her surly and unyielding associate beside his mass of dry human bones and forcing her in he locked them up together saying as he turned the massy bolt Lo the gates of iron and of brass close upon thee the bolts of steel are drawn around thy dwelling There shalt thou remain and there shall thy flesh be consumed unless thou repentest thee of the evil that thou hast done
There was a shrewd smile on the friars face as he said this as of one who either did not mean to put his threat in execution or marvelled how it was that he55 should thus be lording it in the castle of Aikwood and imprisoning whom he would
Never till that instant did any of the party miss their friend and champion Charlie Scott but when they turned from the door of the prison to consult what was to be done next behold he was wanting This caused them great dismay but the friar most of all
Wo is me cried he How is the mighty departed and the pillar of our strength moved out of its place As well may they take my head from my body and say unto me live as bid us go on and prosper without that mighty man
The poor waggoner must again return from the top of the hill and bring up the most important and weighty part of his cargo no less a load than muckle Charlie Scott laird of Yardbire and the far famed warlock and necromancer Master Michael Scott
The mighty uproar that Charlie made at the head of the stair when he believed the devil to be on the steps aroused the56 great necromancer from his nocturnal experiments all of which were of an infernal kind At such hours as these his capacious mind was abstracted from all worldly concerns such as other mortals busy themselves about If any thing sublunary engaged his studies and calculations it was how to make the living die and the dead to live—how to remove mountains out of their places to turn the sea into dry land and the fields into a billowy and briny ocean—or in any way counteract nature in her goings on In some of these great enterprises was he doubtlessly engaged that morning when the voice of Charlie Scott astounded his ears
Often had hosts of demons mustered at his call in the castle of Aikwood and the yelling sounds of the infernals were no strangers to his ears but never had he heard such a potent voice before as that sent forth by Charlie when he conceived himself cooped up between the devil and a bolted door Conceived did I say No Charlie saw distinctly by this time an indefinable being coming slowly up to57 him Saint Peter as he did thresh the warlocks door Is there any body here Hilloa Open the door I say Thump thump thump
The bolt inside was drawn and owing to the strong pressure without the door flew wide open at once Charlie perceiving the light and fearless of ought but the figure behind him rushed into the room and made toward the fire The door was instantly shut behind him with a loud and furious clash and Charlie then turning around got the first look of the inmate He was a boardly muscular man somewhat emaciated in his appearance with a strong bushy beard that flowed to his girdle of a hue that had once been jet black but was now slightly tinted with grey His eyes were uncommonly bright and piercing but they had some resemblance to the eyes of a serpent He wore on his head a turban of crimson velvet ornamented with mystic figures in gold and on the front of it was a star of many dazzling colours The rest of his body was wrapped in a mantle or gown strip58ed with all the hues of the rainbow and many more
Charlies eye had lately been lighted up with terror but as it fell on the majestic figure of Master Michael Scott its wild gleam softened into respect and he saluted him with his quick abrupt border bow which rather resembled the motion made by a raven beckoning from his rock as he wakes the surrounding echoes than the slow and graceful courtesy then so well understood among the great Michael still kept his erect posture at the back of the door fixing on our yeoman an indignant and angry glance That look conjured up a little more of Charlies breeding he doffed his steel bonnet with the one hand stroked down the hair of his forehead with the other and gave the master another bow or rather a nod
Gude een tye Sir I fancy youre the lord o this castle said Charlie
You fancy so do you said the Master with a sneer and giving three tramps with his heel on the floor in one moment59 the three pages Prig Prim and Pricker stood beside him
Work Master work—what work now
Take that burly thief and housebreaker bind him and put him to the test
Stop short there my good masters till I speak tye said Charlie Im neither a housebreaker nor a thief but a leel man our wardens kinsman and your ain Master Michael Scott I came here on fair and honourable service and I have been guidit waur than a tike and Ill just tell you plainly for Im rather an eendown chap that if ane o thae brats dare but to touch me Ill tak my hand aff his haffet in sic a way that he sanna grene to lay foul finger on a gentleman again
The three pages fell a giggling at this speech and one of them brushed forward and seized Charlie with a force of which he had no conception But he was one that never suffered any personal attack with impunity He drew a stroke with his clenched fist and aimed such a blow at60 the pages head that if he had had a head like other pages would have smashed it to pieces Charlie hit no head at all He struck a thing of nought But the force of his arm was such that about two yards farther on he hit an apparatus of curious construction which he called a machine for setting the wind on fire and which he made to fly all in flinders against the wall The Masters eye kindled with rage but the three urchins who delighted in nothing but mischief laughed still the louder and pressed all forward on Charlie He had been a little astounded at missing the pages head but being somewhat flustered he had not leisure to reflect and his conceptions were naturally none of the most acute so for the present he took it for a miss But seeing they purposed to lay violent hands on him he sprung back into the middle of the room in order to command weapon space and drawing out the Eskdale souple he stood on the defensive in a most determined posture
The pertinacious elves wheeled also backward taking a circle round behind61 the Master and advanced on him all abreast Good Lord with what might Charlie struck at them He came on them with a hew that he meant should cut them all three through the middle at once But he a second time struck on vacancy The sword whistled through the void taking Charlie round with it and demolishing almost every thing that was in the room The pages screamed with delight but Michael foamed with fury Charlie paid no regard either to him or the devastation he had made among his utensils but springing round the board to the other side of the room said in a loud perturbed voice Tell me just this ae thing Michael—are thae three creatures deils Because an they be deils I hae nae mair chance wi them than a cat But as for yoursel goodman I ken ye are flesh and blood and o my ain kith and kin and with that he seized Michael by the throat therefore either gar thae hellicats gang about their business or by Him that made us Ill thraw your neck about
Whether it was the might of the en62chanter himself or that of his bond spirits Charlie wist not but in one moment after that his feet were tripped from beneath him and he was laid on his back on the floor There he was held by a might against which his great strength could not prevail bound with cords and stretched on the board The Master and his familiars then conversed in Latin a language of which Charlie knew but little having never been at court but he heard they were conversing about his baptism Charlie had not got much time in his life to think about these sacred rites yet he had always held them in proper respect and veneration and at that time he blessed the hour he had been presented in holy church having strong hopes that on that account the powers of hell would not prevail against him The elves loosed his buffbelt and unclasped his steeldoublet laying his manly bosom quite bare The Master gave them directions in Latin and each of them went and brought a long knife with two edges sharp as a razor and having a point like a lance
63
I didna trow that there had been ought sae misleared in nature as this said Charlie Its no that Im ony feared for death I hae looked him ower often i the face to blench at his ca but I wad just hae liket to hae faen i the field wi my sword i my hand and no to be cut up like a Christmas pye and carved a into collops by a wheen damned deils
One of them prepared to cut open his breast and another his belly but a moments dispute taking place between them in some unknown tongue about the mode as Charlie believed he crossed himself as well as he could with his bound hands and pronounced a sacred name into himself That instant he perceived the pages fall atrembling and stand back their faces blenched with dread and the weapons fell from their hands The Master was wroth and ordered them to proceed as Charlie weened by his motions but instead of that they retired trembling into a corner He snatched a knife from one of them as if determined to do the deed himself Charlie then deemed himself64 gone for he had a sort of confused idea that by certain laws of nature and the use of holy rites wicked spirits were restrained else mankind would be destroyed But what law of nature or what holy word or sign thought he can restrain the arm of a wicked man It is my duty to try however thought he again and with that he whispered a prayer to the Son of the Virgin that He would save a warrior from a death like this
Charlies prayer was heard short as it was for at that very moment while yet the syllables hung on his lips entered the gruff figure of the friar with the keys of the castle over his arm and followed by his associates
What seek you here you dogs cried the Master turning about with the great knife in his hand Am I thus to have my privacy disturbed and my abode ravaged by a pack of carrion hounds from the hills Brave pages mine bind them all and cut me them into a thousand pieces
Scarcely was the order given ere they had the poet on the floor and bound with65 strong cords The rest prepared to escape but the great enchanter placed his back to the door brandished his great knife and dared them to approach him The mettledness of these pages cannot be conceived far less described they seemed but to will a thing and it was done Ere ever one of the intruders had time to rally his thoughts or almost to think at all three of them and the boy were all lying bound in fetters But when the imps came to seize on the friar they could not They skipped about and about him but they had not power even to touch his frock The virgin stood behind him trembling and on their feeling their want of power over the friar they turned to lay hold on her But the moment they touched her robe they retired back in dismay
Michael looked as if he dreaded there was something about these two that boded him no good but he wist not what it was for he had never seen the prowess of his bond spirits counteracted before therefore he awaited the event for a space when he perceived them vanquished
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The friar had time to rally his thoughts and remembered that the maid had the blessed gospel concealed in her bosom and judging that these were perhaps fiends with whom they had to do who durst not stand against the word of truth he drew his cross from below his frock—that cross which had been consecrated at the shrine of Saint Peter bathed in holy water and blessed with many blessings from the mouths of ancient martyrs—had done wonderous miracles in the hands of saints of former days—and lifting that reverendly up on high he pronounced the words from holy writ against which no demon or false spirits power could prevail In one moment all the three imps fled yelling from the apartment The countenance of the enchanter fell and he quaked where he stood but the eye of the friar was kindled up with exultation and joy
There worketh the hand of my master exclaimed he There have I trusted and I am not like thee ashamed of my trust I have a stronghold of hope and it is founded on a rock but thy habi67tation trembleth beneath thee and dost thou know or hast thou considered what is underneath
The friar then went up and loosed the bonds of his friend Charlie and of all the rest one by one exulting in his creed and pouring forth such sentences of sublime adoration as are not suited for an idle tale
The Master at length took courage and rebuked him saying It is vain for thee foolish dupe of a foolish creed to multiply such great swelling words of vanity What though thy might hath for once prevailed above my might and thy spell proved more powerful than mine I will engage nevertheless that in nine times out of ten mine on fair trial shall prevail over thine And at all events I can at this time call in the arm of flesh to my assistance and do with you whatever seemeth to me good
Ay gude faith and thats very true Master Michael Scott said Charlie and that we saw wi our ain een It is great nonsense to quarrel with the lord of a castle aneath his ain roof although I confess68 I was the first to do it mysel But theres an auld saying wha wad sit i Rome and strive wi the pope or misca a Macdonald in the raws o Lochaber We came wi nae sic intent but in fair friendship and on courteous errand And now when we are a rather on equal footing again let me beg o you great and powerful Master to be a reasonable man for aince Answer the wardens request and let us gae for really great Sir our master canna well want us and mair nor that Im feared yon chaps at the mill dinna gie Corby ony water
Though the Master did not understand the latter part of this speech yet the honest simplicity of Charlie somewhat interested him His stern and sullen brow cleared to something like a smile and on looking at the singular and original group before him he half resolved within himself to have some intercourse with humanity once more If it were but for a day or even an hour thought he would it not form some variety in a life thus dedicated to searching after hidden mysteries—a life of turmoil and distraction in which there is no allay
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Such were some of the thoughts that glanced on the dark mind of the necromancer as he turned his eye on the broad weatherbeaten face of honest Yardbire And what may your masters request be yeoman said he
Charlie had great hopes that he would now bring matters to a bearing at once and coming a step nearer to the Master he laid the one forefinger across the other and answered him thus—Why gude faith Sir it is neither mair nor less than just this—Ye ken the last time ye war at the castle of Mountcomyn ye gae our master your kinsman the warden some little insight anent things that were to come about—of some bits o glebes and hopes and glens ye ken that war to fa to his house Now Sir Knight or Master as I should say hes a man that aboon a ithers that ever war born looks to the honour and the advantage o his house Hes as loyal as the days light as generous as a corn mill and as brave as a blast o snaw or a floody river Od you will turn either the ane or the ither sooner than you will70 turn him wi his muirland callans at his back—Ay I hae seen him—But its needless to tell what hell do for his ain So you see Sir Master that was the preceese thing he sent us for
To send troops to his assistance I perceive said the Master
Why Sir Master to say the truth we hadna that in charge though it wad be far mair mack like and far mair feasible and far mair honourable into the bargain to send yon great clan o rattennosed chaps to help our master than to hae them lying idle eating you out o house and hauld here Ye wad aye be getting part o the spulzie Half a dozen o kye at a time now and then disna do amiss Sae if you will come to terms I will engage for ane to see you get fair share to the hoof and the horn the barn an the beef boat the barrel and the bed blanket But ye ken Sir in matters like this we maun do ae thing afore another like business men and ye maun be sae good and sae kind and sae obliging as to answer our first request first
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As far as I can recollect said Michael I never heard any request made
Why gude faith Sir ye ken I believe I forgot that part ot said Charlie But ye see thats neither here nor there for the thing requires some explanation Do you ken a this mad story about the siege o Roxburgh
I trouble myself about no worldly things said the Master nor do I wish to hear about them Is there no one present who can tell me this great business at one breath
Charlie stepped back Theres nae garring him hae patience—and good troth my tongue I fear has outrun my logic said he Friar speak you
Great and magnificent Master of Arts said the friar stepping forward whom I have longed to see above all men Lo thou seest and thou hearest that this man although he be a man of might and a warrior from his youth is yet uncouth of speech and altogether diffuse therefore listen thou diligently unto the voice of thy servant Behold we are come to thee from72 the man that ruleth over the borders of the land and leadeth forth his troops to battle He sendeth unto thee greeting and beseecheth to know of thee what shall befal unto his people and to his house in the latter days It is thy counsel alone that he asketh for thou art renowned for wisdom and foresight to the farthest corners of the earth The two nations are engaged in great and bloody contest and high are the stakes for which they play The man who sent us intreateth of thee to disclose unto thy servants who shall finally prevail and whether it behoveth him to join himself to the captain of his people He hath moreover sent unto thee by our hand these two beautiful captives the one to be thine handmaiden and the other to be thy servant and run at thy bidding and whatsoever thou requirest of our captain that will he do even to the half of all that he hath
There was but one thing on earth by which the wizard could be flattered and that was a deference to his profound art He therefore listened with patience to the73 friar and answered that the request his kinsman had made would take many days to consider of For said he I have those to deal with that are more capricious than the changing seasons and more perverse than opposing tides and winds therefore remain with me a few days that I may prove you
Od bless ye Sir Master the thing is impossible said Charlie I coudna bide frae my captain and chief and him in jeopardy neither could I endure to think that my poor beast should want water sae lang A mans life often depends on his beast
Thou givest us no meat said the friar nor wine nor strong drink givest thou unto us How therefore can we remain in thine house Nevertheless would I love to abide a short time with thee to witness thy great might before which the masters of divinations in other lands have trembled Verily I would also show unto thee what thy servant can do
If I were to cope with such as thee it would only be to show thee thy littleness said Michael But thy creed is74 an abomination to me and I abhor it In the meantime call up my steward and I will order him to provide you with meat and drink
The poet now for the first time spoke up in the Masters hearing and indignant at the stewards design on Delany he delivered himself with great vehemence
Nay say not so great Master The devil hath possession of that man sure as the stars burn on the mornings brow He give us meat or drink Sooner he will draw forth the crimson current from our veins and lay us with the dead Sooner he will rob beauty of her treasure and deface the image of his Maker Let us go forth to hill or dale or wood strive with the crow for carrion or contend with owlets for a mouse but to be bearded by that same surly beast the heart of man not brooks it As for me I lift my voice my absolute protest against the degradation and effect
He is indeed a son of Belial said the friar but I have put him in ward that he trouble us not Lo here be the keys75 of thy castle which I intend to keep as our surety Therefore show me the place where thy good things are disposed and I myself will be steward for a time for indeed that man of thine is such a son of Belial that a man cannot speak to him
The Masters brow lowered with dissatisfaction His subordinate spirits in whom he trusted had no power over the friar and other man had he none within the castle save Gourlay who was almost as much fiend as man He therefore intreated the friar to set his steward at liberty and restore to him the keys else no meat or drink could be had and at the same time he gave them all warrandice that they should be kindly used
My seneschal said he is as stubborn and froward as any demon of the pit nor will he do one kind or fair action save by compulsion But he dares not disobey me If he should presume to dispute my orders in the slightest instance one word from you shall be sufficient and I will shew you how he shall be requited
It was forthwith agreed that the Master76 should accompany them down to the dungeon in order to restrain the fury and violence of his servant Matters were therefore arranged and the two prisoners set at liberty The steward was sullen and intractable lying still on the dungeon floor disregardful of the words spoken to him by the friar but when he heard the Masters threatening accents he sprung to his feet and came forth looking at Charlie in such a manner as plainly said I shall be revenged on you
The Master then took him to task demanding by whose orders he had shut up his kinsmans friends in the vault But he only snarled and gnashed his teeth in reply
And then to suffer yourself to be mured up there said the Master
Ay said Gourlay some have won a tilt on the king of the field who never saw the day to win it on another
For the viper blood that venoms thy heart do thou ought amiss to these gentlemen said the Master or to this obnoxious thing that is their ward Wherefore77 let me ask were they compelled to shut you up there
The steward only grunted in reply but the poet came again boldly forward having been exasperated beyond measure at the steward for his attempt on Delany and he said—Sir knight in that Ill truly counsel you At dead hour of night when all was still save the snell piping of the frosty wind even we were all at peace and quiet lay as did the dead mans bones but that between the friar at equal intervals sent forth his nasal roar so vehement that the mice yea and the starveling rats ceased from their prowling listened the dire sound from fleshy trumpet of our mother church then sought with stretched forth tail and nimble foot the depth profound There quaking did they lie like fiends driven from the height to the abyss—lank make chilled heart and grievous length of tail At that ill hour in comes this boding owl this illstarred man of sin and straight demands that peerless maiden for your honours couch Him we refused—the maiden shrieked for help78—he dragged her forth and on this laurelled head crowned by the muses with celestial bays inflicted ruthless wound The bedesman also fell but he our friend the Hector of the hills wrought his oerthrow and circummured him Thus my say is ended
The Master as the poet spoke seemed several times so much amused that they expected he would have burst into laughter But one look of his eye spoke sentences When he heard that Gourlay had demanded the maid for him he gave him such a glance as made the wretch almost cower to the earth and when the poet ended he turned his eyes on Charlie measuring him from head to foot and seeming as if he doubted the fact that he or any man could master his redoubted seneschal However the Master had seen so much of the group that he determined contrary to his custom to have some amusement with them He therefore ordered his seneschal forthwith to provide all good things for their entertainment
The stubborn wight made no movement betokening obedience He stood upright79 with his dull white face a little elevated and his eyes turned up below his brows while those who were next him heard him saying to himself in accents that creaked in his throat Hell must be moved for this repast The Master heard not this sentence but noting his stewards indecision he stamped with his foot and pointing with his finger the latter led the way into an antichamber of the same cold and naked appearance with the rest of the apartments of the castle where leaving them with a light the two went away into the great Masters dormitory To cast their cantrips and bring up the deil
He keeps an unco cauld house this carl said Tam when they were left by themselves I fancy hell ken brawly hell hae ane bien eneugh at the hinderend and downa bide to see fire in this
He brings me amind o daft Jock Amos i the Goosegreen said Gibbie—wha never durst lie down on a bed because his mother died on ane Whenever he saw a bed wi white sheets on it he fell atrembling and ran to the gate
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CHAP III
Goe fetche mee lofe of your wheitan breide
And ane other coppe of wyne
For drynke I quhile myne doublet ryve
For drynke I moste repine
I fele not corauge in myne herte
Nor mychte into myne honde
If there is nott wytchcrafte forth abrode
There neuir was crafte in londe
Ballade of Prince Henrie
The morning had by this time dawned on the gray hills of the forest and that with an aspect gloomy and foreboding The white snowy clouds had crept down into the bosoms of the hills and above these clouds were here and there to be seen the top of a mountain crested with its dark cairn so that the heavens and the earth seemed to be mingled together
Gude sauf us cried Charlie as he peeped out at his small crannied window but this is a grim goustylooking morning I wish the prince o the air be nae faen a brewing some o his hellish storms81 and hairikens on us If there be spirits moving about on thae hills today they can be nae good anes ye may see by their look out Sant Mary be with us see their drumly heads appear to be raised to double their ordinary height
Be not thou afraid my son of the prince of the power of the air for there is one that is greater than he said the friar and though the fiends may for a while muster their fogs and foment the air with storms yet will he send forth his angels and scatter them yea he will send them forth riding on the whirlwind and the clouds of heaven shall be their chariots and the powers of darkness shall fly in dismay before them
The friar stepped forward to the window and gazed for a minute in breathless astonishment then turning away he added in a solemn tone Verily my children I am afraid to look at the face of the sky or to behold the hues that are abroad on the firmament this day though my strength be the munition of rocks
The steward now appeared with his rod82 of office in his hand and with all due ceremony marshalled his guests up the great stair and finally up a small winding stair to an apartment at the very top of the upmost tower above all the turrets and paved battlements This room was in a blaze of light with flaming torches all around and joyful sight to our precious embassy the table was covered with rich viands in great abundance The friar having got short of breath in his ascent lagged considerably behind while the foremost rushing in every one began to help himself with the greatest avidity so that when the friar at length came puffing into the apartment all the rest had begun without grace The seat at the foot of the table was still unoccupied and before that there stood a beautiful smoking sirloin of beef with a gentle brown crust around it and half swimming in gravy Never was there a more delicious sight presented to a hungry man
The worthy friar seeing all the rest engaged would not risk a trespass on good manners by interrupting them although it was an established custom with him to83 bless every meal before tasting it In conformity with this venerable custom among Christians he lifted up his spread hands closed his eyes and leaning forward above the beef so closely that he actually breathed upon it and felt the flavour of health and joy ascending by his nostrils in that fervent and respectful attitude he blessed the beef in the name of Jesus Never had blessing a more dolorous effect When the friar opened his eyes the beef was gone There was nothing left on the great wooden plate before him but a small insignificant thing resembling the joint of a frogs leg or that of a rat and perhaps two or three drops of gravy
The friars associates were all busily engaged The steward was moving about behind them and at that time happened to be passing by near where the friar sat of course this latter worthy had no doubt whatever but that the malicious old rascal had stolen the roast slyly from under his nose the moment that his eyes were closed whereas the steward was as much astounded as he It was a fine picture The friar84 had placed himself hastily to begin but missing his beef and seeing nothing of it on the board he was moved with great anger and indignation There he sat biting his lip and having his deep dark eye fixed on the seneschal and there stood the tall seneschal with his mouth wide open his face half raised toward the cornice of the chamber and his dull heavy eye fixed on the friars plate He was in utter dismay for he dreaded that on such a blessing being pronounced openly the whole of his provisions would in like manner vanish away and he was a blithe man when instead of blessing the friar on opening his mouth was rather inclined to curse
Cursed be thy malice for it is great cried he Thou Nabal thou Rabshakeh thou Shimei the son of Bichri thou Er thou Onan thou vile Judas the son of Simon Magormissabub be thy name and may it be blotted out after thee and become a byeword and a proverb and a hissing among people and children Restore that which thou hast unjustly taken85 away before I thrust my sword into thee and take away thy life Give unto me the precious morsel thou hast taken away or lo thou art in the jaws of destruction and the pit openeth her mouth wide upon thee
The steward answered neither good nor bad for he was afraid of the vengeance of his master and the evil spirits that wrought at his bidding and delighted in nothing so much as in tormenting him else had he not taken the friars curses without repaying them sevenfold He therefore shut his mouth and closed his eyes putting on a countenance of the utmost derision But the friars heart had been set upon the beef his soul had rejoiced over it and he could not with patience give way to the idea of losing it therefore instead of joining the rest who were devouring their various fare with great eagerness he continued his anathemas on the steward
Blethering gouk cried Charlie Can nae ye tak part o whats gaun and haud your jaw What signify a thae strings o gospel phrases at sic a time as this86 Will they fill a hungry stamock or mak the worthy seneschal either better or waur than he is Come pledge me in a cup o wine to the health of our great landlord Master Michael Scott
They handed the stoup down to the friar who filled for himself and took the pledge though still with a gloomy and a discontented brow He then left his seat and went up one side of the board close to Gibbie Jordan where he began ahelping himself to a slice from a mangled shoulder of venison apparently But it relished not—for still the lost beef was uppermost in his mind and his eye glanced hot displeasure at the steward
Surely he is of all men the most accursed added he He drinketh up malice as the ox drinketh up water and as his name is so is he Whereunto he hath conveyed the morsel that I loved is a matter too high for me to comprehend I see it not in any corner of the habitation nor doth the smell of it reach my nostrils But I will visit it upon his head and mine eyes shall see my desire on him
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The dishes of meat were however of good quality and well mixed with fat and lean yet none of them knew exactly what they were neither would the sullen steward deign to give them the least information on that head There was even one large shapeless piece of a savour and consistence so peculiar that no one of them could tell whether it was flesh or fish Still they continued their perseverance devouring one dish after another and drinking off one stoup of wine after another without any abatement of appetite on the one side or any exhiliration of spirits on the other the steward always bringing in a supply with the most perfect equanimity At length our yeomen began to look at one another Their hands had waxed weary with cutting and their jaws would scarcely any more perform their office
What is the meaning of this my brethren said the friar Surely it is better for us to desist lest our table prove a snare unto us Lo my hands are weary and my cheekbones are pained even to their utmost extremities Verily it is all88 vanity for my body is only filled as with the east wind
Na na ply away Its good sport I dinna see how we can be better employed said the deils Tam
I think my brethren that we should from eating straight refrain said the poet for eating is but weariness and drinking is but pain There is no strength into our bread nor spirit in our wine some warlock wight has taen the might out of this food of mine
The steward had all this time never spoken word good or bad but had served them with the utmost obsequiousness and when they had at length ceased from feeding he went and gave the Master an account of the repast which proved a source of great divertisement to him
I have not said he for these many years had any desire to trifle with the beings to whose species I once belonged but this group surpasses all of their kind I will therefore lay aside my profound studies and be with them as one of themselves If it were but to torment them I will indulge89 in this idle and vain humour I have almost forgot how human passions work
I pray of thee Master said Gourlay that thou wilt suffer me to slay yon grim and snarling dog in the grey frock I loathe hate and abhor him He is moreover a bit of a necromancer himself and has the insolence to suppose that he can rival you in power
It is there I long to try him said the Master In power I brook no rival in this or any other land as thou thyself and thy wretched companion in bondage can witness There is only one thing in this weak man in shape of a friar that I fear and that thing shall be nameless Perhaps I may commission thee to take him away In the mean time remove the remainder of their wretched viands and bring me in a vessel full of the strong wine of Palestine mixed up with the essence of many spirits It is a beverage fit for gods In it will I pledge these deranged mortals and thou shalt see some sport for once if aught on earth can divert thee
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Certes I shall be diverted great Master of arts I hope you will favour them with a touch of the varieties by way of example
By and by Gourlay—all in good time In the mean while let us deal with them as men and as gentlemen and before I metamorphose them into quadrupeds let us see what kind of beings they will make of themselves
The Master accordingly entered the room where his guests still sat round the board All of them rose and made obeisance but without returning the courtesy he took his seat at the end of the table next to the door and was just about to address them when he was interrupted by Charlie Scott There were two great individuals always uppermost in Charlies mind—these were his master the warden and his horse Corby and finding himself again in the Masters presence and thinking he rather looked better pleased than he was wont he judged it prudent not to let the opportunity slip so after scratch91ing his head violently with both hands he thus preferred his solicitation
Gude faith Master Scott Im glad I hae seen you again and nae disparagement either to you or your house Sir Knight but the truth is we canna bide here For in the first place you see our skins will gang to the bauks in a jiffey and in the next place our captain the warden canna want us It is far mair than our lives are worth for us to stay here for troth Sir Master the lives o others depend on it Now I wadna like that we were trowed to be corbie messengers And that brings me amind Sir Knight how muckle need I hae to be at the mill down by there I hae a friend at it that I fear is in nae good plight
Content you gallant squire for a space said the Master I do intend to answer the request of my noble kinsman with all expedition but such things cannot be done in a moment I must read the face of the heavens and listen to the voices from the deep below I have likewise a master to consult he has another92 and both are as perverse as hell itself Be content therefore and enjoy yourselves for the remainder of this day Give me all your names that I may register them and give me them truly
Every one gave his name and designation save that the poet gave the name of the lovely Delany with an encomium on her beauty and virtue But Michael cared for none of those things What appeared beautiful in the eyes of other men to his were loathsomeness and deformity Far different was the case when the friar announced his own name
Michael started to his feet and with spread hands and every feature of his countenance dilated with joy he exclaimed What Primate of Douay in France and author of the Book of Arts
The same great Sir said the friar I confide it to you But haply thou dost not know in this thy retired habitation that men thirst for my blood that I am a persecuted man and have suffered imprisonments bonds wounds yea and tor93tures that I have been hunted from nation to nation and from land to land until I found shelter and protection among these wild and reckless Borderers a people that neither fear God nor regard man With them have I taken up my abode I am become a father to them and they are as children unto me I love them But if they should be induced to give me up wo would be unto me
What d ye say man said Charlie grasping his hand D ye think a Scot amang us wad gie you up If there be sic a man in the Border array he ought to be d—ned But I trow I ken a bit o the wardens mind there and I can tell you a the pens and a the rapiers in England wadna gar him gie up the gospel friar Na na if ever hes gien up he maun gie up himsel and mak his ain conditions too
Great and notable Primate you are welcome to this castle said the Master whether by the title of monk prior primate or friar I say you are welcome here I have ridden a thousand miles to meet with you But that is long agone I had94 heard of your great skill in the sublime arts that surpass the comprehension of ordinary men and I determined to stake my life on the trial of skill between us I was disappointed in meeting with you for you were not to be found dead or alive The days of my ambition are fled My power has been acknowledged so long none daring to contend with me that indifference hath ensued after that came disgust and with it misery Thou art the man of all the earth whose fame I have envied and if thou darest I will contend with thee for freedom or for life which thou wilt If thou art overcome thou shalt be my bondsman and slave and if thou conquerest I will submit to be thine
Lo I will contend with thee even for name and being said the friar Of the strongholds of sin and Satan am I not afraid I have put the ministers of thy vengeance to flight already and I will chase yea I will overcome and pursue them away as chaff is driven before the wind will I scatter them Dare not to contend with me for if I judge aright95 my Master holdeth thine in chains and if I interfere thou canst do nothing I judge it therefore best to contend as brothers contend To admire what is truly great and deride that which is insignificant Mine are the arts of peace truth and righteousness and I hoped thine were the same
Why art thou not a monk a follower of the wretched maniac Benedict of Padua that driveller in hidden mysteries said the Master I do not rightly comprehend thee or by what power thou didst thwart my servants Tell me in one word—Art thou not in combination with the potent elemental spirits that rule and controul the earth the air the fire and the waters If not thy arts are superficial and worthless
Thou shalt see and thou shalt judge said the friar I am not ashamed of that I can do And with that he went and brought up his huge portmanteau in which he always carried many a small and curious apparatus but these he kept carefully concealed having suffered so much96 from the superstitions of bigotted and illiterate men in the course of his profound researches He was the greatest chemist that had ever appeared on the stage of existence yet that curious and refined art was he obliged carefully to conceal having been persecuted as a necromancer over every kingdom of southern Europe
When he went away Charlie Scott was terribly in the fidgets He expected instantly to witness the raising of the devil and other infernal spirits against whom he cherished the most inveterate dislike His eyes began to set in his head and the roof of his mouth became so dry that he could not pronounce words distinctly
Gude faith Sir Master said he I dinna appruve of a man setting up his birse and braving a gentleman in his ain house And wi your permission I hae something o great importance to do at the mill sae Ill een step down that length and I shall come up again the morning by daylight
Please to remain with your friends good yeoman said the Master You97 shall witness something worth your while What can you possibly have to do at the mill
Muckle muckle to do at the mill Sir Knight Ill just refer it to yoursel—can either man or beast leeve wanting drink
I beg your pardon said the Master I had almost forgot my principal errand Gourlay fill me a glass of the wine of Palestine
The steward did as he was ordered and the Master taking the cup drank to the health of his kinsman the warden and all his friends Every one of his guests did the same save the maiden and boy and every eye was cleared and every heart warmed for the liquor was as strong as brandy
Weel Sir Knight said Charlie that is what ane wad ca rather stiff sturdy drink I hae nae tasted ought as weel worth the drinking And if ye will just gar auld Crossgrains come ower us again I think I could even prevail on mysel to face the deil and let Corby tak his chance
The request was instantly complied98 with Each of them got another cup and the friar having tarried a while to put his affairs in order when he came back the tongues of all his companions were going at once and he was apprehensive that they were bewitched He however took the pledge in one full cup and was greatly revived by it but refused taking another at that time
The room in which they sat was lighted by four windows those to the east and west were small circular ones having a pane of bright glass in each those to the north and south were merely long slits in the wall without any glass and the first thing the friar did before producing the specimens of his art was to close up all these windows so as to exclude the light of day and the glass of the western one he either contrived to remove substituting another in its place or else he put another piece of magnifying glass over it
When he began aclosing up the last Charlie entered a vehement protest against it on the ground that no body would see what he did or what he raised and any99 one might be seized by the neck ere ever he was aware by some o his infernal deils
I hate a surprises added he Its best keeping the crown o the fell and seeing weel about ane Room to fight and room to flee an ye like Maister Gospelfriar Wha do you thinks gaun to play at hideandseek wi the deil in sic a place as this
The Master in a sneering manner requested that the great enchanter might have his own way and Charlie whose tongue was a little loosed by the wine of Palestine was at last restrained though not without a good deal of grumbling and fidgetting The room was darkened the friar went into a small alcove and by the help of a magic lanthorn a thing never before seen in Scotland he raised up a tremendous and horrid figure on the wall It was of gigantic size its eyes lips and paws moved and its body was thrown into various contortions
All were in breathless silence on the appearance of this extraordinary shade but among the darkling group there was dis100tinctly heard one whose breathing was frequently cut short as if something had been choking him or seizing him by the throat
After the apparition had gone through its various evolutions all apparently at the further end of the apartment it fixed its eyes clenched its teeth and stretching forth its claws it appeared to make a spring forward at the party
Aih L—d be here cried Charlie in a trumpet voice and threw himself flat down behind the rest Hearing that some of them laughed at the fright he had got he ventured to speak and expostulate a little but no curiosity could induce him to raise his face from the floor or open his eyes again while the friars exhibition continued Lair him lair him friar cried he—or od Is be about your lugs some day for this Lair him lair him in the name of St Michael and if that winna do try him wi Peter—hell send him ower the battlements like a shot O good friar whatever ye do lair him
The friar went on with his phantasmagoria The figure after giving a shiver or101 two was parted into three all of the same form and size but all making different motions and different contortions of feature The three were afterwards parted into six which among other grotesque feats danced a reel and on running thro it every one threw itself heelsoverhead The group of onlookers laughed outright at this notwithstanding their astonishment and called to Charlie to look But he would not move his face from the earth and only asked in a halfsuffocated voice Is he no laired yet Od I shall be about wi that cursed body for his tricks
When the friar had concluded this feat he put out his small lanthorn took the machinery out of it concealing it beneath his ample frock and again opened all the windows
Charlie got up and running to one of the loopholes Gude be thankit Ill get a cooke o the air o heaven again said he for I hae been breathing fire and brimstone this while byegane Foul befa me gin ever I saw the like o yon I was102 sair dumfoundered—but wha could stand afore the face of a fiery giant
The friars associates looked at the lanthorn examining it with curious eyes but perceived nothing about it which could in any way account for the apparition they had seen Master Michael Scott did not deign to ask a sight of it but paced over the floor in sullen and thoughtful mood The seneschal stood fixed to the spot on which he had witnessed the phenomenon with his heavy unmoving eyes turned towards his master He seemed dubious whether he was vanquished or not The Master at length spoke addressing the friar—
I hope right worshipful Primate this is not the extent of your knowledge and power in the sublime art of divination The whole is only a delusion—a shadow—a phantom calculated to astonish women or children I acknowledge it to be ingenious still it is nothing You multiplied your shadows turning three into six now if I turn three men into six living103 breathing substantial beings will you acknowledge yourself outdone
Certes I will said the friar
Away then with deception said the Master What I do I do in the open eye of day—Stand forth three of you
Master Michael Scott Ill tell you what it is said Charlie I solemnly protest against being parted into twa
You shall neither suffer nor feel the least inconvenience by the change brave yeoman said the Master therefore be not afraid but stand forth
Charlie hung his head to one side in a deep reverie till at length his countenance lightened up by degrees his features opening into a broad smile
Ill tell you what it is Sir Knight said he if you will assure me that baith o us shall be as stout and as wight chaps as I am mysel een now gude faith I dinna care though ye mak me into twa for my master the wardens sake If you could double an army that gate it wad be a great matter I doubt sair Ill cast out wi my tither half about something that I ken o104 and thats Corby but Ill run the risk Nane o your cutfing and cleaving however Sir Knight Nane o your imps wi their langkail gully knives again
Charlie stepped up the floor and took his stand with his back at the wall to await doggedly this multiplication of himself Tam soon joined him but there was a hard contest between Gibbie and the poet both of whom were rather personal cowards and both alike averse to such experiments The former was at length obliged to yield for Carol clung so close to the maid that nothing could induce him to part from her and ever since the friar gave him the grievous overthrow he had lost all confidence in his personal prowess
Michael stamped thrice with his heel and spoke some words in an unknown tongue in a low muttering tone but some of them heard the sounds of Prig Prim and Pricker There was a momentary confusion in the apartment A darkening haze flashed over it and blinded the eyes of men for a short space the floor gave a105 shake as if it had sunk down a little—and there stood two of each of the three friends so completely alike that no one knew who was who
No scene could be more truly ludicrous than the one which now ensued each man turned to his prototype and the looks of confusion and astonishment in both being the same the beholders were seized with irrepressible laughter
Charlie felt his legs thighs and ribs if they remained the same as before The other boardly personage in the same shape followed his example and added Gude faith the like o this I saw never
You may weel sayt said the other But let me see if you can draw that lang sword as weel an as cleverly as I can do
Gude Lord hear til him said the first Hes speaking as he were the true Charlie Scott himsel Speak ye friend Were you me before this That is did you ride with the warden over the border
I am sure if you were there I never saw you before said the second speaker106 But I dinna ken what I am saying for the truth is I dinna comprehend this
With that they again gazed at each other and looked over their shoulders as if they would not have cared to have fled from one anothers presence
With every pair the scene was much the same Tam was so much astonished that he turned to his second self cowered down leaning his hands upon his knees and made a staunch point at him The other took precisely the same posture so that their long noses almost met The maid the poet and the boy screamed with laughter Both of the Tams laughed too so that they very much resembled an ideot looking at himself in a glass
Friend I canna say but yere very like me said Gibbie to his partner But though nane o us be great beauties ye look rather the warst o the twae
It brings me amind o a story I hae heard my mother tell said the other of a lady and her twa Blackamores—
What the deil man exclaimed the107 first Did your mother tell that story too
Ay wha else but she tauld it I say my mother auld Effy Blakely of the Peatstacknowe
Eh—She your mother It is gayan queer if we be baith ane after a for I never had a billy
The two Gibbies then both began to tell stories which each claimed as originally his so that the perplexity still increased Nor was it better when the parties began to mix and address each other All spoke of themselves as the right and proper persons and of the others as beings in their likenesses and the most complete uncertainty prevailed But just as the novelty and interest of the drama began to subside Michael by a wave of his hand annihilated the three additional personages and all remained as it was before the grand exhibition commenced save that our group had got a new topic of conversation and merriment
Primate of Douay so celebrated for thy108 mighty enchantments how thinkest thou of this said the Master
That thou hast done what no man could have done beside said the friar and that thy power even surpasseth that of the magicians of Egypt and of those of the countries in the lands of the east But in one thing my power is even as thy power Dost thou know that I could have prevented thy charm and put a period to thy enchantment at my will and pleasure
It is not the power of prevention that we are trying said the Master Suffer my servants to do their work as I shall suffer thine and we shall then see who are most punctually obeyed and who shall perform the greatest works Only if I prevail in all things you will surely have the generosity to acknowledge that my master is greater than thine
Wo be unto me if such a confession proceed out of my lips said the friar Who can be greater than he who builded the stories of heaven and laid the foundations of this earth below who lighted109 up the sun sending him abroad in brightness and in glory and placed the moon and the stars in the firmament on high Who is greater than he who hath made the mountains to stand the seas to roll and the winds to blow who hath not only made the souls of men but all the spirits of the upper and nether world—
Peace thou maniac cried the Master interrupting the friar in a voice that made him leap from the floor Comest thou here to babble treason against the master whom I serve and the mighty spirits with whom I am in league Do what thou canst do and cease from speaking evil of dignities What knowest thou of the principalities and powers that inhabit and rule over the various regions of the universe No more than the mole that grovelleth beneath the sward—What further canst thou do in proof of thy profound art
Behold with thine eyes O thou who accountest thyself the greatest among the children of men said the friar with a waggish air that I will but speak the110 word and the mountains shall be rent asunder and the tops of the everlasting hills stand in opposition Knowest thou the proper name figure and dimensions of that peaked mountain over against the castle to the west
Well may I know it said the Master for I have looked out on it these fifty years and many a hundred times have I followed the chase around it It is named CopeLaw and the mountain is my own
Mountain of CopeLaw hear my voice cried the friar in the same waggish tone in which there was an affectation of sublime command Thou hast borne the footsteps of thy great master and his black horse Beelzebub yet hast thou neither been scorched nor rent Yea though he hath cursed thee in the bitterness of ire yet hath thy grey head never been shaken—But behold a greater than thy master is here Mountain of CopeLaw hear my voice—Be thou rent asunder and divided into three that thy owner may look on thee and be astonied If it please thee111 mighty magician look out on thy mountain of CopeLaw now
Many a thousand times had the Master looked out at that circular window every bush and grey stone on the hill were familiar to him and all unsuspicious of the simple deceit that had been practised on him he went and looked forth from the window when in the place where one round peaked mountain was wont to be he actually saw three all of the same dimensions and as he weened each of them more steep tall and romantic than the original one had been He looked and looked again—the optical delusion was complete He paced the floor in sullen mood muttered some sentences to himself in an under tone and once more looked forth on the singular phenomenon The mountains remained the same They could not be seen from any other window and no one thought of descending to the great balcony so that in the eyes of all the friar remained triumphant
The Master could not brook this He strode the floor in gloomy indignation112 and at length they heard him saying If I should venture to demand it—But is it then to be my last great work The demand is dreadful—I will—Ill demand it Never shall it be said that Michael Scott was outdone in his own art and that by a poor peddling friar Come all of you hither added he in a louder tone Look at that mountain to the east It is known to you all—the great hill of Eildon You see and know that it is one round smooth and unbroken cone
We all know it and have known it from infancy was the general answer
The Master gave three strokes with his heel and called the names of his three elfin pages who in an instant stood before him—Work Master work—what work now
Look at that mountain to the east said he ycleped the hill of Eildon Go and twist me it into three
The pages grinned looking at him with eyes of a devilish gleam as a ravenous creature eyes its prey
The hill is a granite rock said one113—and five arrowflights high said another—and seventy round the base said the first
All the powers of earth and hell to boot are unmeet to the task added the third
Thou art a proud and impertinent liar perverse imp of the regions of flame said the Master Note this The thing must and shall be done even though a body and soul should both be given up as the guerdon I know my conditions they are sealed and subscribed and I am not to be disobeyed Get to your work without more hesitation
The three pages then fell to reeling about and about singing a wild and uncouth trio in words of the following import
Pick and spade
To our aid
Flaught and flail
Fire and hail
Winds arise and tempests brattle
And if you will the thunders rattle
Come away
Elfin grey114
Much to do ere break of day
Come with spade and sieve and shovel
Come with roar and rout and revel
Come with crow and come with crane
Strength of steed and weight of wain
Crash of rock and roar of river
And if you will with thunders shiver
Come away
Elfin grey
Much to do ere break of day
As they sung these last lines they reeled out at the door in a circular motion so rapid that the eye dazzled which looked on them The poet drawn involuntarily by the ears after that wild fairy lay hasted out after them He looked east and west and all around but he only saw three crows winging their flight toward the hill of Eildon
From the time of their departure the temper of the great Master became extremely variable At one time his visage would be clouded with the gloom of despair and at another lighted up with a sort of horrid exultation but he spake not save to himself
The friar therefore in order to divert115 his host and gratify his own vanity proposed to show off some more wonders of his art Accordingly he closed up all the windows once more making the apartment as dark as pitch and exercised many curious chemical devices lighted Roman candles and made them dance about the chamber in every colour of the rainbow
He was still busily employed playing off his little ingenious tricks when the party were disturbed by a bustle in one of the corners It chanced to be so dark at the moment that no one could see what was going on but they heard a noise as of two people struggling then a blow and one falling down with a groan
The friar paused calling out and enquiring what it was Charlie never behind in a fray bustled over the forms toward the scene of action but falling by the way the noise was quickly removed to another corner a door was opened and shut and all was again quiet
Every one ran about groping his way in the dark and coming full drive against others till the friar had the presence of116 mind to pull the stuffing out of some of the windows The first thing they then saw was the poet lying on the floor void of sense and motion and then it quickly appeared that the steward and Delany were awanting The whole party save the Master set out on the pursuit headed by the friar and Charlie and came just in time to rescue the maid as the wretch was dragging her into his abominable cell It seemed that he had determined on seizing her as his prey and now that the three infernal pages his tormentors were dispatched elsewhere he feared neither the Master nor his guests and taking advantage of the utter darkness and of the poet and her being in a corner by themselves he stole up to them gagged the maid silenced the poet who resisted with one blow and then bore off the helpless lady with all expedition
When he saw that he was overtaken and overpowered by numbers he only laughed at them and assured them that in spite of all they could do he would have possession of her and that they should see The girl117 wept and complained of being hurt but then he only laughed and mocked the louder Some of them proposed that they should hew him all to pieces but the friar had resolved on his measures and at his request they took the culprit up before the Master and there lodged their accusations against him But the Master either durst not or would not say a word against him for in fact it appeared that this great man without his familiar spirits shrunk into nothing and was not only afraid of his own bondsman but of every thing around him deeming himself altogether without help
The friars eye burned with indignation and rage at witnessing such arrogance on the one hand and imbecility on the other but his bootless wrath only delighted the steward the more and it was evident that had it not been for fear of Charlie Scotts long sword and heavy hand he would have taken his prey from the midst of them
Delany still wept and sobbed till her bosom was like to rend and begged to be taken away from the castle or to be killed118 and put in her grave The friar tried with all the fair and kind speeches he was master of to comfort her but when she saw the poet pale bleeding and sitting still unable to rise she only waxed worse and hid herself from the eye of the wretch behind the friars frock
Daughter of my love and child of many misfortunes be thou comforted said the friar for though the wicked triumph for a space in their iniquity yet shall they not thrive They who refuse to do justice to the innocent and upright in heart shall perish in their sin and pass away as the smoke that is driven by the wind Therefore my daughter be thou comforted and that thy heart may be cheered I will show thee a wonder of my art—a wonder so great that whosoever seeth it his heart shall melt within him and whosoever heareth of it his ears shall tingle Come whoso listeth forth into the open air and I will do it in the sight of heaven and of man
The friar then lifting up his huge portmanteau went forth to the large paved119 gateway that surrounded the whole of the uppermost arches of the castle It was so ample as to be like a small field for it covered all the castle save four small pointed turrets and the square apartment which the party now left that rose like a shapeless dome above all In one corner of this level battlement there stood a leaden vessel that had once been used as a cistern To that the friar went and laying down his huge walise he took from thence a handful of blackish sand and strinkled it all around the battlement on the one side to the opposite corner He then stood and looked awfully around him He looked to the heavens but they were shrouded in a dark hideous cloud that now covered the mountains and hung lowering over the uppermost spire of the castle Neither the CopeLaw nor the hill of Eildon could be seen nor could aught be seen save the dark and troubled cloud The scene was truly impressive and when the rest saw the friar looking on it with such apparent dread all of them looked abroad with him and whispered to one another Hes gaun120 to be about some awesome enchantment now
The friar covered up his pormanteau with the leaden vessel and then desired the Master to bring any weight he chose and heap it on its bottom which he had now turned uppermost and at one word or sign he would make his goatskin wallet carry the vessel and all such weight round the battlements of the castle
The Master and every one present pronounced the thing to be impossible—the steward grinned in derision—and after mocking and taunting the friar on his art in the most gross and provoking terms he proffered to hold down the leaden tub wallet and altogether or to forfeit his head if he failed Then laying himself over it in the attitude of holding it down he called on the friar to proceed and give him the promised canter round the walls which he well deserved he said not only for his kindness to them all and to their Miss in particular but also for his kind intentions Then he scoffed aloud crying out Now thou poor vain fool and liar be as good as121 thy word and give me an it were but one hobble
God do so to me and more also said the friar if I do not give thee such a hobble as eye hath not seen
With that he struck a spark of fire among the black sand as the rest supposed it to be that lay among his feet The sand caught fire—the flame ran sputtering around the western battlement—and the next moment the steward and his tub bolted away into the firmament in a tremendous flash of fire and with a sound so loud that it shook the castle to its foundations Some averred that they saw through the fire and smoke a momentary glance of him and the cistern both as they pierced the cloud towards the north but nothing further was heard or seen—and in a second of time all was quite and gloomy above and around as it had been before
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CHAPTER IV
The wind blew as twould blawn its last
The thickening showers rose on the blast
The speedy gleam the darkness swallowed
Loud deep and lang the thunder bellowed
That night a child might understand
The deil had business on his hand
Tam o Shanter
Long was it before any of the astonished spectators opened their lips The shock had almost deprived them of sense sight and motion and when they began to articulate it was only to utter short exclamations and names of saints Tam Craik was the first who ventured a remark which was in the following words—By the Lord Robin meaning it was supposed the king The deil has flown away wi him bodily in a flash o fire
The great Master stood mute with astonishment he even trembled with dread and appeared once as if he would have fallen at the friars feet But he never said Where is my seneschal gone Whither123 hast thou sent him seeming rather to succumb to his guests for the time being as a man utterly at their mercy His powerful and malevolent spirits had left him by his command his steward and only human attendant had been blown into the air and as for the miserable nighthag they had seen no more of her since her escape from the prison vault and they wist not whether she remained in the castle or had fled from it out of dread of the symbols of the Christian religion which she had seen about the friar and the effects of which she had felt in frustrating her potent spells The wizard had therefore none to execute his commands and appeared a being quite forlorn as well as greatly troubled in his mind
No one ever knew to this day by what means the wicked seneschal was borne away among the clouds in a column of fire and smoke and those who witnessed it spread the word over the country that the devil took him away with a great roar amid fire and brimstone and that after having him up among the dark clouds he124 tore him all to pieces It was a fact that one of the stewards mangled limbs was found hanging on a tree among some thick branches in the wood of Sheils Heuch over against the castle which gave some countenance to the report and no farther remnants of him were ever discovered
The friar however knew well enough by what means he was taken away and though he never explained it as long as he remained in Scotland it is meet that the readers of this tale should know the truth It can be told in a few words The friar had brought his huge wallet full of the strongest gunpowder he had been able to make to shew off his wonderful feats and astonish the great Master The exigency of the moment induced him to part with it all at once and in all probability he could not have caused so much astonishment by any experiment he could have put in practice
He was guilty however of a manifest oversight one that had well nigh proved fatal to the whole party in its consequences When they found themselves freed from their vile persecutor and the great125 Master rather their prisoner than they his their first thought was of departing from that unhallowed place and awaiting in the neighbourhood the wizards final answer without which they durst not well return to the warden
Charlie jumped on the battlement with very joy that he would now get down to the mill to see what was become of Corby and how he fared and he was the first man to proceed down the narrow staircase leading the way to the fair fields But alas how transient are all sublunary joys and hopes In the middle of this confined and difficult stair just at its darkest and most acute turn there was a massive iron door which Charlie ran his nose against in his descent and soon found to his mortification and disappointment that it was locked and double locked He returned to those above with the dismal information The friars countenance fell and he became pale as ashes when it was thus brought to his recollection that he had not only blown the brutal seneschal to the devil but that he had blown the126 keys of the castle along with him and there were they left on the roof to perish with hunger
After many ineffectual attempts to break open that door having no other resource they agreed to go to the topmost tower and there unite their voices in order to raise the country to their assistance for without ropes and ladders they saw no means of escape Accordingly they ascended and uttered many a prolonged and tremendous shout for the space of a whole hour But these unwonted cries only drove the hinds to a greater distance from the castle Many of them had witnessed the mighty explosion at the exit of the seneschal which in the middle of the lurid gloom had a hideous effect and when they heard such long and loud howls proceeding from the battlements of that gloomy and desolate pile they weened that a whole host of demons had assembled about it and kept far aloof
In these and other fruitless exertions our hapless prisoners spent the evening of that eventful day The sun or the blue127 sky had not once appeared since the break of morn For a little while about noon the hills of the Forest were visible and on their background of pale shadowy clouds formed a scene of dark sublimity Still as it approached toward evening these clouds came lower and lower down upon the hills and became more dark and dense in their appearance and precisely at the close of day the storm burst forth in all its fury sweeping over hill and dale with increasing majesty every minute The woods roared and crashed before the blast The snow descended so thick that in a short time every ravine and sheltered dell was heaped After that came sleet and snow mingled and finally a driving rain dashed with such violence on the earth that it seemed as if a thousand cataracts poured from the western heaven to mix with the tempest below Needless is it to describe that night farther It was that on which the great battle was fought in the camp of Douglas and formerly mentioned in this momentous history—It is therefore apparent that Isaac128 the curate is now drawing near to the same period of time when he broke off at a tangent and left the camp and that every thing will of course go on to the catastrophe without further interruption
Kind hearted and gentle reader be not too sanguine Who can tell what is to fall out between the cup and the lip Incidents seem to have multipled intentionally to interrupt poor Isaacs narrative Besides let any one consider how he is to liberate and get free of this group of interesting individuals locked up as they were to perish on the top of the castle of Aikwood It was no difficulty to Isaac He was one of those wise and downright men who know that truth tells always the best and to that maxim he adhered But the worst of it was there were so many truths that any body may see it was scarcely possible to get them all narrated in their proper places and that without the help of the waggoner the task could never have been effected
129
Gude sauf us but it is gaun to be an awsome night said Charlie Scott as he stepped the last up into the dark apartment in which the party had spent the greater part of the day and into which the storm had now driven them once more
Gaun to be said Tam taking up Charlies words I wot nae what it is gaun to be but it is an awsome night already
It brings me in mind of a story said Gibbie that I hae often heard about a friar Gabriel o St Martins that raised the deil—
Od Sir an ye dare for the blood of you speak another word about raising the deil the night cried Charlie interrupting him may I be chased by an Englishman if I dinna thraw you ower the castle wa We little ken wha may be near or wha may be amang us Gin ane may judge by appearances that same chap ye hae named gude keep me frae repeating it isna in his ain hett hame the night Heaven defend us hear how the wind howls and sobs I wish yon auld houses o the mill130 may be safe aneuch they stand sair exposed Hechho hear tilt There will be mony cauld quarters on Otterdale the night but there is some awanting there that wad be blithe to share them
The friar now set himself to strike a light which at last he effected and collecting the oil which remained in the lamps into one they found to Charlies great satisfaction that they had as much as would burn overnight besides some remnants of waxen torches Of all the huge remains of their morning feast that they had seen removed from the table they could not find one vestige even though the trenchers remained in the chamber as it was termed but to their great joy they found an article as precious to the eyes for about twothirds of the huge flagon of the wine of Palestine were still left This in the total absence of fuel was a discovery of some consequence and the friar in the like absence of a steward took that office voluntarily on himself
When the lamp was kindled the first thing that Delany did was to dress the131 poor poets hurt head and bind it up with a napkin This attention and kindness so thrilled his heart that he could not refrain from tears and seemed to rejoice in his wound and as both he and his adored maiden had seen the ruffian steward transported up to heaven in a flame of fire they were freed from all terror on his account and notwithstanding all the perils with which they were surrounded they appeared composed and if not happy were at least quite resigned to their fate
The great Master sat muffled up in his cloak and apart by himself his brows screwed down into deep curved wrinkles and his sunken eye fixed on the ground The friar filled a cup of wine and bowing presented it to him the first He took the cup and drank it off but he spoke not a word his piercing eyes glimmered round the chamber he uttered a loud groan and apparently sunk again into his deep reverie The transportation of his steward while in the very act of braving the friars might made a terrible impression on his mind and he weened that132 he now sat before his master—before one that might send him on a voyage of the same nature whenever he chose and therefore he judged with great reason that for a space it behoved him to keep on good terms with so dangerous an opponent
When each had taken a cup of the elevating beverage the effect was delightful all their cares dangers and wants faded the terrors of the storm that was still increasing only startled them now and then as it rattled on the tower or yelled thro the crevices below They chatted laughed and broke jokes on each other till even the sublime Master was diverted from his profound and brooding ideas and smiled at the rustic simplicity of the characters around him The laird of the Peatstacknowe told a great number of his long stories of which something that was seen said or done always reminded him Charlie told confused stories about battles and forays and the poet came in always between with his rythmatic descriptions and allusions until at one time the associations of ideas followed one another in a manner133 so truly ludicrous that the enchanter actually laughed till he had almost fallen into a fit a thing that had not for twenty years been witnessed of him
The tempest still continued to rage and the loquacity of the party beginning to flag they became drowsy as midnight approached The friar then looking gravely around him and laying aside his hood took a small psalter book from his bosom which volume also contained the four books of the Apocalypse and opening it reverendly he proposed that they should all join in performing the evening service to the Virgin and the hymn to the Redeemer Delany rose from off the lap of the poets cloak where she had sat nestling all the evening and came and kneeled down at the friars knee The Master started up with a look of indignation stamped on the floor and ordered the friar to put up his vain book and refrain from such flummery in his presence The friar looked at him with a steady countenance
It is not meet that I should obey man rather than God said he I have taken134 a vow in the face of Heaven and I will pay that vow in spite of men and devils I will sing my holy hymns with these my friends and children and he that listeth not to join let him be accursed and translated from the presence
This last sentence sounded rather equivocally in the Masters ears He liked not such a translation as he had lately witnessed for with all his power and mysterious art the terrors of death still encompassed him about He held his peace therefore although he growled like a lion at bay at being bearded thus in his own castle
The friar proceeded as he had said and all the rest joined him with becoming devotion save the poet whose orisons that night were somewhat cold He could not brook the charm that drew Delany from his own side to his rivals knee The Master sat aloof biting his lip and grinning in derision but at one part of the service although the curate does not say what part he was insensibly overcome and fell into a painful oblivious dream The strains of the sacred music simple as they were stole135 over his soul as some remembrance of early life sometimes steals into the heart of enfeebled age reminding the decaying and dying worm of joys he can no more see and of feelings of delight that have perished for ever—If a son of the mountains of the north were transported to some far foreign clime and there doomed to remain for life After sojourning in that land for half an age until grey and bowed down if by chance on some still evening or mayhap through the eddies of the storm one of the strains of his native land were poured on his ear think of the recollections it would awaken in his mind How painfully thrilling the sensations Would it not be like the last sweet beam of a hope he was never more to cherish a last look of all that was dear on earth—Such were the feelings that crept unbidden over the soul of the enchanter on hearing the sweet sounds that reminded him of a religion he had for ever renounced and in which he had never firmly believed till he had believed to tremble
In this troubled trance he sat leaning136 against the wall until the worshippers had reached the middle of the hymn to the Saviour He then was seized with strong convulsions and rising up with staggering steps he fled from the chamber crying as he went—Cruel and improvident things reptiles cursed whining sycophants that would send me to my doom before my time He rushed out to the battlements and groping his way through the storm took shelter in the narrow staircase that he might hear no more of the sounds that thus troubled and distracted his soul What dread had seized him or what he had seen or heard his guests knew not but they had scarcely well ended their hymn when he rushed again in among them with wildered looks and his hair standing on end seeming glad to take shelter among those from whom he had so lately fled with abhorrence No one enquired the cause for all were so weary and overcome with slumber and every one then composed himself to sleep in the manner that best suited his convenience
The storm continued to rage with un137abated violence and after they had laid themselves down they found that the castle was all tottering and quaking before it The firmest heart was appalled for the rocking of the castle was not all every now and then they heard eldritch shrieks arising as of some wretch perishing or rather as some of them thought like the voices of angry spirits yelling through the tempest When one of these howling sounds came on the blast every one of our prostrate friends breathed a deep sigh or uttered some exclamatory sound Charlie had always one which he uttered even after he was asleep Hech Gude sauf us sirs what will be the upshot o a this The Master sat muffled up in the corner close behind them and after he judged them all to be asleep he fell acrooning a sort of hymn in an under key The poet was however more than half awake and gathered up some broken fragments of it Poets are never to trust when they give quotations from memory out of the works of others and perhaps honest Carol might add some bombastic lines of his own but138 he always averred that the following lines formed a part of the warlocks hymn
Pother pother
My master and brother
Who may endure thee
Thus failing in fury
King of the tempest that travels the plain
King of the snow and the hail and the rain
Lend to thy lever yet seven times seven
Blow up the blue flame for bolt and for levin
The red forge of hell with the bellows of heaven
With hoop and with hammer
With yell and with yammer
Hold them at play
Till the dawn of the day
Pother pother
My sovereign and brother
O strain to thy lever
This world to sever
In two or in three—
What joy it would be
What toiling and moiling and mighty commotions
What rending of hills and what roaring of oceans
Ay that is thy voice I know it full well
And that is thy whistles majestic swell
But why wilt thou ride thy furious race
Along the bounds of vacant space
While there is tongue of flesh to scream139
And life to start and blood to stream
Yet pother pother
My sovereign and brother
And men shall see ere the rising sun
What deeds thy mighty arm hath done
If it was true that the Master sung these ridiculous lines which is not very likely his sovereign and brother had not accepted of his sacrifice nor paid due deference to his incense of praise For a little before the break of day our group were aroused from their profound slumbers by loud and reiterated cries The lamp was still burning feebly and blue Charlie whose ear was well trained to catch any alarm was the first to start up but the sight that he saw soon laid him again flat on the floor though not before he had leaped clear over a narrow oaktable and two forms There was a black being that appeared to be halfman and halfbeast dragging Master Michael Scott along the room toward the door yet he dragged him with difficulty and at some times the wizard seemed rather to prevail Horrible as this phantom was all those who saw it agreed140 that there was something about it that instantly reminded them of the late seneschal and as they raised their heads and beheld it every heart was chilled with terror Charlie pronounced his short loud prayer which has already been recorded in this history and which consisted merely of one vehement sentence of three syllables yea he pronounced it as he flew and then squatting in a corner and covering his head with his cloak that whatever dreadful thing happened he might not see it there he lay repeating his little prayer as fast as human breath could utter it
The demon struggled hard with the Master and the latter as may well be supposed exerted his utmost power—so that his adversary only got him toward the door as it were by inches When he found himself losing ground he always made a certain writhing motion which cannot be described and which every time extricated him somewhat from his adversarys clutches Then the apparition laid hold of him again by the left side with his lobster claws and that gripe uniformly caused the wiz141ard to utter a loud and piercing cry At such times Charlies little prayer might be heard waxing still louder as the strife increased and though he lifted not his face from the earth he continued a kind of spurning motion with his feet as if he would fain have burrowed under the wall like a mole
For a long time no one durst move to the Masters assistance The scene so far surpassed ought they had ever conceived in horror that their senses remained altogether benumbed The combat continued with unabated ardour The Master foamed at the mouth his hair stood all on end and his bloodshot eyes stared wildly as if they would have started from their sockets At length the fiend so far prevailed as to drag the Master close to the door where he threw him down and made a motion as if he would have dashed him through below it But Michael was flesh and blood and could not enter nor depart by the keyhole or the foot of the door like the beings with whom he had to do The demon therefore tried to open the142 door but the enchanters muscular frame being jammed against it it could not be opened at once Michaels efforts were now directed to that object alone namely the keeping of the door shut and he exerted himself till his remaining strength was exhausted but at last suffered himself to be dragged back from the door repeating these words as he lay flat on his back—Tis done Tis done Tis over Tis over
The lookers on sat and trembled all save the friar who had by that time somewhat rallied his scattered senses and stood on his feet The fiend had dragged the Master back from the door by the feet and holding him down by the grey hair with one hand he opened the door with the other then stooping down he twisted the one hand armed with red crooked claws in his hair and the other in his long grizzled beard The friar had stepped forward and at that moment laying the rood on the Masters forehead with the one hand and the open Book of the Gospels on his breast with the other he pronoun143ced a sacred Name and in that name commanded the demon to depart Swift as the javelin leaves the hand of the warrior or the winged shaft flies from the bowstring did the monster fly from the symbols of a creed by which he and his confederate powers were all controlled and from a name and authority at which the depths of hell trembled He rushed out at the door with a yell of dismay and threw himself from the battlement on the yielding wind The friar peeped forth after him but he only heard a booming sound which died on the gale and beheld like a dragon of blue livid fire flying toward the east in the direction of the hill of Eildon
The friar returned into the chamber with a countenance beaming with joy No conqueror ever returned from the field of battle with an exultation of mind so sublime as that which now lighted up his uncourtly mien His victory had been so sudden and so complete that all present were astounded at the greatness and extent of his power and none of his friends144 doubted that his might was as far above that of their host as the sun or the stars are above the earth They had in this instance seen it exemplified in a manner not to be disputed and there was the Master himself still sitting on the floor and gazing on his deliverer with astonishment
Man may I not thank thee for this said he
No said the friar think not of a poor mortal thing like me overcome with sins faults and follies You are freed for this time but thank One who is greater than I
True I am freed for the present said the Master but it is by a mode and by a power that I dare not for my existence acknowledge or acquiesce in
When Charlie heard by what was passing that the devil had been vanquished and was fled he called out with a voice that seemed to come from under ground—for he was so muffled up in his cloak that the sounds could scarcely be heard—Friar steek the door The good man obeyed and as soon as Charlie heard the welcome145 sound he raised his face which was much of the same colour as a living lobster and standing on one knee viewed all the faces and corners with that eloquence of eye which is quite indescribable How superior was it to his blunt address—Gude sauf us callans is a safe—Is the coutribat ower Sic a fiegaeto as yon I saw never Hech but it is an unsonsy place this I wadna live here an there warna another place to be had aneath the shoulder o heaven
A long discussion now commenced between the friar and the Master on the principles which each of them professed That colloquy is too serious and too tedious to be copied at full length in this place but it amounted simply to this—That the one considered the Christian Revelation as the source of all that is good wise or great among men The other had disbelieved it from his youth upward and not being able to come to any conclusion from ought he could learn among men he had besought communion with the potent spirits of the elements and after seven years of unpa146ralleled suffering such as cannot be named had attained what he sought These had confirmed him in his infidelity He had entered into a league with them renouncing for ever and ever all right in a Redeemer and signing the covenant with his own blood That afterwards he had rejoiced in this fellowship which had enabled him to do deeds such as no other man could perform till by degrees he discovered that the meanest professor of the religion of Jesus if influenced by faith and sincerity had the power of counteracting these mighty spirits and of frustrating their highest intents That then his eyes were opened when it was too late and he only believed in time to tremble and despair The friar urged the inexhaustible riches of heavenly mercy but the Master spurned at it declaring his resolution to abide by his covenant whatever his fate might be He despised the very name and nature of repentance and would rather suffer with the colleagues he had chosen he said than whine and cringe to another master—Though I now feel to my sorrow that147 they are subordinate added he yet are they mighty and powerful beyond what thou canst comprehend and why may not I be a sharer in their energies in a future existence as well as in this
The friar gazed and trembled when he heard the wild and erratic ideas of this extraordinary man and ceasing to reason further with him he enquired how it came that some of these mighty associates of his were his enemies and seemed but to watch an opportunity of tearing him in pieces
They are jealous of their rights and capricious beyond all conception said he The utmost circumspection is not fit to keep on fair and equal terms with them Even yet I do not know but that this is to be my last night here If I have gone beyond my commission in the orders I have given then am I doomed to be their bond slave for ages but if I am within my limited bounds and the work is effected then shall I still be obeyed for a time and a season Would that it were morning that I might know the worst
Scarcely dost thou need to express thy148 wish again said the friar for lo the day dawneth in the east and the shadows flee away before it the winds have gone to their chambers to sleep and the rains are over and gone Let us walk forth and see how the darkness fadeth before the face of the day and all that is stirring abroad on the fair face of the creation
The Master did not move for it was yet but twilight and nothing could be seen distinctly but the friar stepped down to the battlements and Charlie who looked on him as their only safeguard followed The poet would doubtless have followed also to have seen the dawn of the morning after a storm but like all the rhyming race to this day he was enslaved by the eyes of a maid languished in chains and could not move but as she moved Alas for the poor amorous poet The others lay in a sluggish and restless slumber
The friar and the bold yeoman strode together along the paved way and looked abroad but they could see only the clouds whitening in the eastern horizon149 without being able to distinguish wood from waste or land from water
Let us kneel down and pray my son said the friar even in this quiet place where we shall be freed from the interruptions of the wicked one for great and manifold are the dangers that surround us I see not what remains for us but either to throw ourselves from the walls and perish or remain where we are and feed upon one another
It is an awsome eternitive man answered Charlie Im sure an ye think praying will do ony good I shall take off my bonnet and kneel down on my knees and hearken weel but what mair can I do
You can join with me in spirit my son said the friar and pray with your heart
I am sure gin I but kend the process I am very willing said Charlie With that he took off his steel belted bonnet and kneeled reverendly beside the friar who prayed so fervently and sublimely for deliverance that Charlie looked about every150 minute not only then but all that morning to see by what means they were to be delivered for he had no doubt but they would be set free to a certainty and that in a very short time
When they arose the first word that the friar said was the following fervent exclamation—Blessed Virgin What do I see
Charlie looked all about for some approaching miracle he had even some hopes of seeing a detachment from the wardens army but his eye ranged the dusky fields in vain
What a strange world we live in rejoined the friar Yea surely there are things in heaven and in the earth and in the waters—yea many things of which man knoweth nothing Why art thou gazing abroad on all nature my son Turn thine eyes toward the east and tell me what thou seest
Charlie did so and on the instant the two friends were standing fixed in amazement like two statues They moved not save now and then to steal a momentary151 glance at each other The great mountain of Eildon was actually rent in pieces from the top to its very foundations and piled up in three towering spiral mountains as they remain to this day Only at that time they were taller darker and more uniform
It was a scene of wonder not to be understood and awfully impressive The two rivers flowed down their respective vallies and met below the castle like two branching seas and every little streamlet roared and foamed like a river The hills had a wan bleached appearance many of the trees of the forest were shivered and towering up against the eastern sky there stood the three romantic hills of Eildon where before there was but one
The friar was the first to move from his trance stepping away in deep meditation Charlie was by this time likewise released from the spell and he ran to the door of the high chamber calling aloud Come a out sirs come a out The like o this was never seen sin the warld stood up
They came forth accordingly and their152 consternation was correspondent to the extraordinary event But when the Master came out and saw what was done he shouted and leaped on the battlement like one frantic boasting and uttering words of terrible blasphemy He looked on the mountain of CopeLaw and he could scarcely believe his eyes when he beheld it standing in one unskaithed unbroken cone as it had done for ages He looked again to the three mountains of Eildon and his exultation and blasphemous boasting was redoubled
So all that you and your master can effect cried he is to throw a little glamour on the sight—is to practise a little deception I never weened the monkish art or profession to consist of more See what my sovereign and master can do
Hold there said the friar Who was it that made these mountains at the first Was that deception
It was not thou said the Master
But who was it then that sent up your wicked seneschal into the stormy clouds in a flame of fire added the friar153 And who was it that saved your life but this morning from a fiend that would have devoured you Were these both deceptions
The Masters countenance fell The friar said this because in their present perilous situation he wished to keep a little awe over the wizard and likewise to put a stop to the torrent of blasphemy that proceeded from his lips
The morning advanced the sun arose but no assistance no relief appeared to our hapless prisoners They had tasted nothing for a day and night save one cup of wine each and they had not above as much more remaining For all this the Master was so much elated that his behaviour was rather like that of a person frantic with joy than that of one shut up among others to perish of hunger His companions in misfortune noted likewise that he was again disposed to be peremptory and tyrannical with them and they dreaded that his familiars were again at his command
The men wrought all the forenoon en154deavouring to break up the iron door but they neither had mattocks nor room to work in and they made no more impression on it than as many mice would have done They were now quite disconsolate and being unable to do aught else they puzzled themselves in accounting for the late stewards motives for having locked it They remembered that it was standing wide open when they brought him up a prisoner before the Master and they likewise remembered of having seen him step into that stair for a minute or two immediately before he began to brave the friar Therefore all that they could guess was that it had been locked with some fatal intent
The friar perceiving that their efforts were vain entreated them to come in from the open air and keep themselves quiet and cheerful that they might wear the longer He trusted in Heaven he said that they would be delivered but in the mean time it was absolutely necessary to use every precaution and for that purpose he added if one of them would keep watch155 at each of the four windows lest any passengers or countrymen should come near he would tell them a story which would at least have the good effect of keeping them quiet The Master was quite delighted with this proposal and taking the flagon of wine he proposed that they should share it among them but the rest opposed it and contented themselves with half a cup each
Charlie was most of all cast down He had heard a word from the friar that morning that sunk deep on his heart It was something about eating one another And not being able to get rid of the thought he brought it again overhead The rest were all struck dumb for they perceived that it was but too apparent it might come to that The Master grinned darkly and said it was well But Gibbie said he hoped if things came that length they wad draw cuts that ilka ane might get a fair chance for his life The poet begged with tears in his eyes that out of respect to the tender sex they would leave Delany the last or at least that when the lot156 fell on her they would take him in her place To this they all agreed with one voice but an extraordinary thought striking on the Masters mind at that instant he made a motion and proposed to settle it off hand by a vote
This maid whom you term beautiful is mine on one condition said he and as I can now in a very short time comply with that condition I claim her as my own I will therefore give her to the man among you who tells me the best tale She shall be his fully and freely to do with her as seemeth him good And the man among you who tells the worst shall if need require it be blooded and flayed in this same chamber for food to his associates
Charlies blood ran cold within him at this proposal He almost thought he felt the flaying knife and the teeth of the ravenous halffamished eaters and when the Master called out Approve or not approve Charlie was the first to call out O Not not not He was seconded by Tam Craik but all the rest voted on157 the other side so that they were left in the minority and the matter was finally decided to be precisely as the Master had proposed The poet stretched himself so eager was he to begin for his heart yearned within him to win the beautiful Delany Gibbie was also uplifted and sure of victory but Tam and Charlie were both quite hopeless and cast down
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CHAPTER V
And I said unto him Canst thou tell unto thy servant what is the meaning of this
Esdras
The friar having volunteered a tale the priority was unanimously awarded to him So after the watches were set and all quiet he began the following singular narrative without further ceremony
The Friars Tale
CHAPTER I
1 In the days of the years of my pilgrimage it chanced to me that I sojourned in the great kingdom that is toward the south
2 And I passed through the city that lieth on the river of the hills unto the house of Galli the scribe who was a good man and a just
3 And he had one only daughter who159 was unto him as a treasure and an heritage for her mother had been led unto her people before the maid could distinguish between her right hand and her left
4 And the maiden was fair to look upon
5 For her neck was as polished ivory and her chin like the ripened peach basking on a wall that looketh toward the south
6 Her lips also were like the honeycomb her teeth were rows of pearl and her breath was as sweet smelling incense and myrrh and cassia
7 Her eyes were brighter than the dew of heaven and her hair was like the beams of the moon streaming through the white clouds that are in the firmament of air
8 And I loved the maiden exceedingly and my heart burned within me and I became as a dead man
9 And I wist not what to do or what would become of me for the vows of the Lord were on me that I could not wed and I said Woe is me for I am undone
10 And I went in unto her and communed with her of my great love and160 when she had hearkened to my voice she laughed me to scorn
11 And I said Why dost thou laugh me to scorn Knowest thou not that I would lay down my life for thee For I love thee so much above all things that are on the earth that I would even lick the dust from off thy feet
12 And she said What wouldst thou have me to do
13 And I looked on my right hand and on my left and I communed with my heart
14 And I perceived that the maid had asked aright for I knew not what I would have her to do and lo my countenance became abashed
15 And she laughed at me exceedingly yea she laughed at my calamity till the tears streamed from her eyes
16 I said therefore unto myself that I would die and be gathered unto my fathers for how could I live to be a scorn and a derision and to be burnt up as with a devouring flame and I had many thoughts of unrighteousness dwelling in me
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17 And she told her father of these matters and Galli the scribe was wroth with me and said unto me Why wouldst thou betray my daughter the child of my age and the hope of my grey hairs
18 Is it not better for thee to depart unto thine own country and to thy kindred than commit this great wickedness
19 And my spirit was grieved within me nevertheless I could not depart for my heart clove to the maid and I loved her as my own soul
CHAPTER II
1 And it came to pass that the army of the prince of the land encamped in that place
2 For he was a great prince and had increased his army and he had captains over hundreds and captains over fifties and captains over tens
3 And these were clothed in gorgeous apparel in brocade of gold and in brocade of silver and they were vain men for they had the plumage of birds upon their162 heads and gems of silver and of gold and of precious stones on their breasts and swords girded on their thighs
4 And the damsel beheld them and her heart danced with joy yea her eyes followed them whithersoever they went
5 And I was more grieved than ever therefore I counselled her and said all manner of evil of the men
6 But she would not hearken to my reproof but cast all my counsel behind her back and she derided me
7 And it came to pass in the process of time that one of the captains of fifty came to her and spoke kind words unto her even great swelling words of vanity
8 And she hearkened unto him and her ears drunk in his burning speeches even as the ox drinketh in water and she delighted therein and he looked into her eye and behold he saw his own image impressed in it as in a glass
9 And he looked into it many times and it grew brighter and every time that he looked into it he saw his own image the163 more deeply and strongly reflected until he knew that he lived in her heart
10 But her image was not in his eye
11 And I knew this and was grieved Therefore I withstood him to his face and rebuked him yea and I also cursed him
12 But the captain of fifty mocked me he also told the maid and she became wroth with me so that the two being combined against me I could do nothing but sit down and weep
13 And she gave unto him all that she had yea she gave him until she had no more to give for she gave unto him herself
14 And her countenance was changed her bright eyes retained not their wonted brightness her voice was broken and her tongue faltered in her mouth
15 But the captain of fifty regarded it not for he left her and went his way and he did eat and drink and made himself merry with wine
16 And he said What is a maiden that I should regard her or for what were the164 daughters of women formed but for my pleasure
17 And the prince of the kingdoms of the land sent unto his army that they should go into a far country to fight against the enemies of their lord the king And the men purposed to go and the captain of fifty purposed to go also
18 And when the maiden heard of it her heart failed within her and she fell sick and I feared it would be to death
19 And I tried to comfort her and I watched with her day and night and prayed many prayers for her but she became worse for her spirit was wounded and cast down
20 And Galli the scribe was also sorely afflicted and he mourned exceedingly saying Alas what shall I do for my daughter she who was the hope of my age and my only comfort here below Wo is me for she is dying of a lingering disease and I shall be left childless Now Galli the scribe knew not what the captain of fifty had done unto her nor of all that she had given unto him
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21 So I went forth unto the host to seek this betrayer of women and to speak peaceably with him and to reason with him
22 But he knew me afar off and said to his brethren Lo here cometh that man of a strange country let us make him our sport
23 And they combined against me and treated me with great indignity for they bound my hands and put me into the river and the flood carried me away so that I said in mine heart lo I shall be drowned for there is not one to pity or save me
24 But they took me forth before my breath departed clean away and they stripped me naked and tied me to a stake and scourged me
25 And afterwards they stoned me out of the camp
26 And I was very wroth and went unto the captain of the host and made my complaint known unto him
27 And I said O my lord hearken unto the voice of thy servant Behold one of your captains of fifty came unto the house of Galli the scribe
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28 And the man intreated him kindly yet hath he betrayed his daughter and refuseth to do her justice and the maid will die and her father who is a good man will go down to the grave with her
29 And he answered and said unto me What have I to do with this matter or with thee As a maid treadeth the wine press so let her drink It is not meet that I should be troubled with these things
30 And I went away and wept bitterly for I could find neither consolation nor redress and I saw that the wickedness of the men was very great
31 Then I went and trimmed my beard and borrowed me a suit of armour and I put an helmet of steel upon mine head and a breastplate upon my breast and I girded on a sword
32 And I went forth and challenged the captain of fifty to fight with me
33 And I said in mine heart Lo I will fight this wicked man and overcome him And I will take his sword from him and rend his armour from off his loins
34 And then will I compel him to do167 justice to those whom he hath wronged else will I smite off his head
35 And we met by the side of the river and he discerned me not through my disguise for he said unto me Who art thou or what have I to say to thee
36 And I said For the wrong that thou hast done to the house of Galli the scribe have I called thee out to battle
37 And he said Thou hast done well I will chastise thee as thou deservest that thou mayest learn how to lift up thy hand against the servants of our lord the king
38 So we fought and his hand was sore against me
39 For he drove me out of my place and wounded me and my hope had nearly perished
40 But I prayed to the Lord for strength And we fought again and the combat was very sore that day and he prevailed not against me
41 And after the combat had lasted until my breath was spent and my arm weary by the help of the Lord I wounded him in168 the loins so that my sword found a passage through his body and he fell
42 And I was sore afraid and fled away and hid myself for I trembled at the thing I had done because I perceived that the last case was worse than the first
43 And when the soldiers came to him he said that Galli the scribe had sent out ruffians to slay him
44 And when these things were told to the captain of the host he was exceedingly wroth and he sent forth men to destroy the house of Galli the scribe and to slay him and take his substance for a prey
45 And the captain of fifty died that night and they buried him with great lamentation for they wept over him saying Alas our brother for he hath been cut off before his time
CHAPTER III
1 And it came to pass that after I had laid aside my armour and put on my pilgrim weeds that I went forth into the plain and into the city
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2 And when I heard the words of the captain of the host and the command that he had given I hasted to the house of Galli the scribe and said unto him Go to put up all thy money and thy jewels and fly for thy life for behold evil is determined concerning thee
3 But he would not hearken to my voice for he said I have done no man wrong
4 And I intreated him but prevailed not
5 Therefore I went unto his daughter and told her of what I had heard and I said Rise up make haste and escape for the soldiers will abuse thee
6 And she was afraid and said unto me Take me and hide me for a short time for thy words have never deceived me
7 And I hid her in a palm tree and remained with her
8 And the men who belonged to the captain of fifty even to him whom I slew in battle came as they were commanded and they entered into the possessions of Galli the scribe and they took all that he170 had for a prey and burned his house with fire
9 And we beheld all from our hidingplace and were greatly astonished for we saw Galli the scribe flying through the garden and the soldiers pursuing hard after him with their swords drawn
10 And when his daughter saw it she shrieked and fainted away and when the men heard her voice they looked about and some of them ran into the arbour but they found her not therefore they pursued after Galli the scribe
11 And I trembled sore for I knew not if we were discovered neither could I support the maiden in her seat
12 For she beheld whose men they were that pursued after her father to slay him and she deemed that her captain of fifty had sent out his fifty to devour them yea to destroy and to slay and to ravage and there was no more spirit in her
13 And I prayed to the Lord my God out from among the branches of the palm tree and he heard my voice
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14 For the spoilers came and they sought but they found us not
15 For their eyes were blinded that they could not see We beheld their eyes and heard the threatenings that proceeded out of their mouths yet could they not perceive us
16 And their threatenings were filled with the abominations of iniquity for the men were very wicked
17 And I took her out of the palm tree by night and I covered her with my sackcloth gown and we tried to fly and make our escape but she could not therefore my distress was very great
18 And I carried her to the house of a poor widow in the suburbs of the city and I concealed her there till her strength should recover
19 And I went about making many inquiries and I heard that the soldiers had taken Galli the scribe and had given him up to be persecuted and tormented and slain also that the whole army were abroad searching to recover his daughter to execute vengeance on her
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20 And I was grieved for that I had done and for bringing evil on those I loved for I knew that the men of the host spoiled the people and did according to their will
22 So I borrowed me a pilgrims robes and in these I equipped the maiden and when she was clothed in her flowing sackcloth gown with her cross scallop and shell behold I myself could not discern her
22 And we escaped from the city by night and journeyed toward the north and at break of day we came to the fords of the great river where we were encountered by three of the soldiers of the guard who waylaid us
23 And I said unto them Whom seek ye And they said We be sent out to seek the daughter of Galli the scribe for she hath betrayed one of the captains into her nets and hath robbed him and also caused him to be cut off from his men therefore are we sent out to take her that she may be delivered into the hands of his men that they may do to her as seemeth good in their eyes
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24 And the maiden trembled so that the men beheld it and I turned and said unto her Said I not that it was so
25 And I said furthermore Sit thee down my brother until we converse with these men for they are good men and filled with wisdom and lo have not I strange things to relate unto them
26 And the men sat down and we sat down beside them
27 And I said We are pilgrims and strangers and come from a far country And they said Peace be unto you
28 And I said moreover that it was given unto me to dream dreams and to see visions and that I had a vision of my head upon my bed which was of this Galli the scribe of whom they spake
29 For I saw and beheld that he had put forth his hand on a captain of the servants of my lord the king and had sent forth his bravadoes who had wounded him until the sword passed through him even from the left side unto the right And the men said Is not this wonderful
30 And behold I saw the servants of174 my lord the king enter the dwelling of the man even of the scribe and take his goods and him they pursued with the edge of the sword and took by the vineyard as thou goest down towards a river
31 And they burned his house with fire so that the flames ascended up on high and his daughter who was sick and concealed in an inner chamber her also did they burn until she was quite consumed
32 And the men wondered exceedingly and they bowed down their heads and said Thou hast told unto us strange things It is even as thou hast said Go on your way
33 And I blessed them and they returned to tell unto their captains the wonderful things which they had heard
34 And I fled with the damsel until I came to the sea and when we had found a ship we went into it and I brought her to my own country but not to my kindred for I placed her in the holy isle near the river of the north
35 And she mourned night and day for her father and also for the captain of fifty175 whom she called her husband for she dreaded that some evil had befallen unto him
36 For on the day that he had sworn to her he had given her a graven image which she kept hid in her bosom and she wept over it and kissed it
37 And I was grieved and rebuked her but she refused to be comforted and I went and came and brought her of the good things of the land for I loved her as the breath of my nostrils
38 And when the days of her months were fulfilled behold she brought forth a daughter
39 And the babe was also beautiful to look upon And the bosom of the mother yearned over her child and she called her by her fathers name even by the name of the captain of fifty
40 And she kissed her child and wept over it day and night but the frame and substance of her body were wasted away with perpetual grief and I saw that the child would die
41 And when I saw the countenance176 that was once beautiful as the morning bathed in tears as her babe lay at a breast in which there was no nourishment I was exceedingly sorry even unto death
42 And lo I took the child and nourished it yea I fed it with bread and with wine with butter also and with honey and milk from the beasts of the field and the child was restored
43 But the mother decayed like a flower that is cut down for the winds of grief had passed over her and her spirit was consumed The summer came and all the herbs of the field were renewed but the fairest flower of the land was bending down to meet the clay
CHAPTER IV
1 And it came also to pass that as soon as I found myself in a land of safety I wrote many letters to Galli the scribe for I said Peradventure he may escape out of their hands
2 I wrote also to the chief of our order giving account of the whole matter and attesting the innocence of Galli the scribe
177
3 But no answer came to me therefore was I sore distressed for I said If the mother and babe both perish what shall become of me
4 And one day as I sat with the babe on my knee I beheld and lo the eyes of the mother were fixed mournfully on her babe and she lifted them to my face and looked at her babe again
5 And I could not contain myself so I lifted up my voice and wept bitterly
6 But she smiled and said Wherefore shouldst thou weep Behold am not I in the hand of the Lord And my child the daughter of my youth and of my love thou also art in the hands of thy Maker
7 May he lead thee and guide thee and keep thee from the snares in which thy mother hath fallen
8 Though thou hast lost thy father as I also have lost mine yet hast thou a Father in Heaven who will not forsake thee Neither shalt thou altogether lack a fathers care here below
9 And she said to me Is it not even so
178
10 And I could not answer her for I wept aloud yea I even wept until the child grew affrighted and wept also
11 And the mother took the graven image from her neck and from her bosom and she kissed it and hung it round the neck of her babe
12 And she said It is the image and likeness of thy father wear it my child till the day of thy death
13 Peradventure thou mayest fall among his people and among his kindred for they were men of honour and renown
14 And she kissed her child and said Now shall I be taken from thee and go to my grave and they will bury me my babe among strangers and there is none of my people to shed a tear over me
15 And we all wept abundantly and shed many tears
16 And while we yet cried aloud lifting up our voices behold one entered in and said Peace be with you
17 And I discerned him not for mine eyes flowed like two fountains of water
18 But the woman cried out and sprang179 from her couch and she clasped her arms around his neck and said My father my father
19 And behold it was Galli the scribe
20 And the woman said Now hath my child found a father indeed
21 And she said Blessed and happy mayest thou be my daughter for I bring thee joyful tidings and blessed be this man who hath befriended and saved thee His intercession hath also saved the life of thy father all that was mine hath been restored to me yea and more also
22 And I will give all unto thee and to thy child after thee and thou shalt have riches and honours in thy own country and among thy own people
23 But his daughter answered him not for the words died on her tongue but she looked in his face and smiled and then she looked at her babe as it lay on my knee
24 And Galli the scribe was sore amazed and said What aileth thee my daughter and why answerest thou not to the words of thy father
25 And he held her in his arms and180 her hands were clasped around his neck that they would not be loosed
26 And behold there was a sound like a small voice issued from her mouth and the light of her eyes became dim and her head fell back over the arm of her father
27 And her gentle spirit departed away unto him that gave it for she spoke no more neither breathed she any more
28 And we buried her in the isle of the holy place and mourned for her many days
29 And I besought of Galli the scribe that he would leave the child with me that I might bring her up in our convent and breed her in the ways of purity and truth
30 But he refused and said I cannot part with the child of my only daughter she shall go with me and be the heiress of all that I possess
31 And after I had blessed him he departed with the little maid to go to his own land and I saw them no more
32 For after many years had elapsed I went again into the country beyond the181 river and I visited the house of Galli the scribe
33 But behold he had never returned to that place and the people of the land reported unto me that he fell among thieves and was slain and the babe was slain with him or led into captivity
34 The ways of heaven are unsearchable and the hand of man often worketh out its decrees But for the misfortunes that befel the house of Galli the scribe will I go mourning till the day of my death
182
CHAPTER VI
Beef steaks and bacon hams
I can eat as langs Im able
Cutlets chops and mutton pies
Porks the king o a the table
Fragment of an old Bachanalian Song
It has made my heart very sair that tale said Charlie I wish you hadna tauld it
I think it is nae tale ata said Tam Craik If I coudna hae tauld a better tale than that I wad never hae begun I could now wager sax merks and sax brass mowdiworts to boot that the Gospelfriar is the man that shall be the first to thole the knife And what for should he no Hell make the best mart amang us
I differ widely from you said the poet with regard to the merits of the tale I love the friar for telling it and I love him ten times better for the part he took in the transaction How I do admire the love that has no selfish flaw no183 moiety of sense to prompt its aberrations Should I ever get free from this vile pinnacle—this grave in altitude—Ill search the world for that dear child and find her too if in the world she be
Alas I have searched and searched in vain answered the friar It was so long before I knew of the mishap of my friend and my darling child that all memory of the transaction was lost I would travel from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth to find out that dear that beloved maiden and could I find her I would yet put her in possession of the inheritance of her father For I have instructed the heads of our order and they are preserving it in their own hands as the patrimony of the orphan and the fatherless
During the time of the friars narrative Delany had been sitting close by his knee in fixed and earnest attention and at this time there chancing to be a pause in the conversation she looked wistfully about as if afraid she was going to commit herself by telling a lie But there was such a184 beam of intelligence playing over her lovely countenance that all the party fixed their eyes on her as if watching with the deepest interest what she was going to say
I have a confused dream of having heard something of this story before said she but subsequent events had quite obliterated the traces of it from my memory till this narrative renewed them I think I can give you some intelligence of this lost maiden You said she was called by her fathers name Do you recollect what that father of hers was called
Ay that will I never forget while memory retains her seat in this repentant bosom said the friar His name was Captain Jacques DelaVeny
The very same said the maid Then do you know ought of this Or did you ever see it before—and she took a small miniature from her bosom holding it near to the friars eye
By the blessed stars of heaven and the Holy Virgin that rules above them exclaimed the friar it is the graven image of the captain of fifty whom I slew in bat185tle I saw it placed in thy bosom yea I held thee on my knee till that chain of gold was locked about thy neck never to be removed Thou art indeed the daughter of the fairest and the comeliest among women—of her whom I loved far above my own life and for whom I travailled in pain yea thou art the child that I nursed and held on my knee and all the inheritance of thy fathers is thine Blessed be thou my daughter and blessed be they who have preserved thee Come to my bosom my child my beloved my fair one that I may fall on thy neck and bless thee and weep over thee for my soul rejoiceth that I have found thee
The poet could stand it no longer he threw himself at the maidens feet and embraced them and wept aloud Charlie was busied in drawing pictures of swords and crossbows on the floor with the brazen end of his sheathe and always giving a loud sob as if his heart would burst Even Master Michael Scott once drew the back of his hand across his eyes though no one186 believed it was ought of sympathy that affected him
The abbreviation of the name was so natural in the mouths of the people of this land said the friar that I wonder I should never have recognised it nor yet on the face of my dear child the features of her mother Hard has been thy lot and the lot of thy fathers but blessings may yet remain in store for thee
I dinna see where theyre to come frae said Charlie sighing louder than ever It wad be the hardest thing I ever kend if ane sae young sae bonnie and sae good after a that she has borne should be prickit up atween the yird and the heaven here to be hungered to dead and then eaten wi the corbies
Lifes sweet to us a said Gibbie She wad be as little missed as ony thats here if she should be starved to death wi hunger
She shall not be starved to death wi hunger cried Charlie in a tone of valiant desperation Na na afore she die o hunger after a she has come through Ill187 rather cut a limb off my ain body and feed her wit An Corbie be spared I can een ride by the wardens side wi a timmer ane
God bless you for a kind heart cried the poet
Gin I thought I were to win her mysel said Tam and win away wi life out o this luckless place I wad do a good deal for her but if I trowed ony o you were to get her frae me—Ill no tell you how I feel
Just as a hungry man should feel said Gibbie and as ane wha has starvation afore his een maun feel It is een a sair trial and often brings me amind o the story of Marion Gibs callant
Master Michael Scott thinking that in right of seniority the Laird was now about to begin his trial story for life or death made a signal with his hand for his guests to compose themselves which they did with one consent while Gibbie pleased with the mark of deference shown to him went on— 188
Laird of Peatstacknowes Tale
There wad aiblins nane o you ken Marion She lived i the DodShiel and had a callant to the lang piper him that Squire Ridleys man beat at the Peelhill meeting Weel you see he was a gilliegaupy of a callant gayan like the dad o him for Marion said he wad hae eaten a horse ahint the saddle and as her shieling wasna unco weel stored o meat she had ill getting him mainteened till at the lang and the last it just came to this pass that whenever Jock was i the house it was a constant battle atween Marion and him Jock fought to be at meat and Marion to keep him frae it and mony hard clouts and claws there past They wad hae foughten about a haggis or a new kirning o butter for a hale hour and the battle generally endit in Jocks getting a or a good shareo ilka thing I wish we had sic things here even though we had to fight for them When he had fairly gained the possession by whatever means he feasted with the189 greatest satisfaction licking his large ruddy lips and looking all about him with eyes of the utmost benevolence Marion railed all the while that the poor lad was enjoying himself without any mercy and restraint and there wasna a vile name under the sun that had ony signification of a glutton in it that she didna ca him by Jock took the bite wi the buffet—he heard a the ill names and munched away Oh how his heart did rejoice oer a fat lunch o beef a good haggis or even a cog o milk brose Poor fellow such things were his joy and delight So he snapped them up and in two or three hours after he was as ready for another battle as ever
This was a terrible life to lead Times grew aye the langer the waur and Marion was obliged to hire poor Jock to Goodman Niddery to herd his kye and his pet sheep Jock had nae thoughts at a o ganging to sic a job at first but Marion tauld him ilka day o the fat beef the huge kebbucks and the parridge sae thick that a hornspoon wadna delve into them till he grew impatient for the term day That190 day came at length and Marion went away hame wi her son to introduce him The road was gayan lang and Jocks crappin began to craw He speered a hunder times about the meat at Goodman Nidderys house and every answer that Marion gae was better than the last till Jock believed he was gaun home to a continual feast It was a delightful thought for the craving appetite within him was come to a great height They reached the place and went into the kitchen Jocks een were instantly on the lookout but they didna need to range far Above the fire there hung two sides of bacon more than three inches deep of fat besides many other meaner objects The hind legs of bullocks sheep and deer were also there but these were withered black and sapless in appearance Jock thought the very substance was dried out o them But the bacon How it did make Jock smack his lips It was so juicy that even the brown bristly skin on the outside of it was all standing thick o eenbright beaming drops like morning dew Jock was established at191 Goodman Nidderys he would not have flitted again and left these two sides of bacon hanging there for an estate Marion perceived well where the sum of his desires was fixed and trembled for fear of an instant attack Well might she for Jock had a large dirk or sheathed knife a very useful weapon that he wore and that he took twice out of its place looked at its edge and then at the enormous bacon ham which was more than three inches deep of solid fat with the rich drops of juice standing upon the skin Jock drew his knife on his sandal then on the edge of a wooden table that stood beside him examined the weapons edge again and again fixed his green eyes on the bacon What do the people mean thought he to himself that they do not instantly slice down a portion of that glorious meat and fry it on the coals Would they but give me orders to do it—would they even give me the least hint how slashingly I would obey
None of them had the good sense to give Jock ony sic orders He was two or three192 times on the very point of helping himself and at last got up on his feet it was believed for the sole purpose of making an attack on the bacon ham when behold in came Goodman Niddery
Theres your master sirrah whispered Marion haste ye and whup aff your bonnet
Jock looked at him There was something very severe and forbidding in his countenance so Jocks courage failed him and he even took aff his bonnet and sat down with that in his one hand and the drawn knife in the other Marions heart was greatly relieved and she now ventured on a little conversation
I hae brought you hame my lad Goodman and I hope hell be a good servant to you
I coudna say Marion Gin he be as gude as you caed him hell do I think he looks like ane that winna be behind at his bicker
Ay weel I wat Goodman and thats true and I wadna wish it were otherwise193 Slaw at the meat slaw at the wark ye ken
That is a good hint o my mothers thinks Jock to himsel What though I should show the auld niggard a sample The folk o this house surely hae nae common sense
The dinner was now however set down on the kitchentable The goodman sat at the head the servants in a row on each side and Jock and his mother at the foot The goodwife stood behind her servants and gave all their portions The dinner that day consisted of broad bannocks as hard as horn a pail of thin sour milk called whig and a portion of a large kebbuck positively as dry as wood Jock was exceedingly dissatisfied and could not but admire the utter stupidity of the people and their total want of all proper distinction He thought it wonderful that rational creatures should not know what was good for them He munched and munched and gnawed at the hard bread and cheese till his jaws were sore but he never once looked at the food before him but194 leaning his cheek on his hand to rest his wearied grinders somewhat at every bite he took and every splash of the sour shilpy milk that he lapped in he lifted his eyes to the fat bacon ham with the juice standing on it in clear bells
Marion wished herself fairly out of the house for she perceived there would be an outbreak and to prepare the good people for whatever might happen she said before going away—Now goodwife my callants banes are green and hes a fast growing twig I want to ken if he will get plenty o meat here
I winna answer for that Marion—he shall fare as the lave fare but hes maybe no very easily served There are some misleared servants wha think they never get enough
Tell me this thing then goodwife will he see enough
Ay I shall answer for that part ot
Then I shall answer for the rest goodwife
Jock had by this time given up contending with the timber cheese and the195 blue sour milk and taking a lug of a bannock in his hand the size of a shoe sole he went away and sat down at the fireside where he had a full view of the bacon ham three inches thick of fat with the dew standing on its brown skin
The withered bread swallowed rather the better of this delicious sight so Jock chewed and looked and looked and chewed till his mother entered into the security mentioned That is a capital hint thought Jock I shall verify my good mothers cautionry for I can stand this nae langer He sprang up on a seat sliced off a large flitch of bacon and had it on the coals before one had time to pronounce a word and then turning his back to it and his face to the company he stood with his drawn dirk quite determined to defend his prey
The goodwife spoke first up Gudeness have a care o us see to the menseless tike cried she I declare the creature has na the breeding o a whalp
Jock was well used to such kind of epithets so he bore this and some more with196 the utmost suavity still however keeping his ground
Goodman Niddery grinned and his hands shook with anger as if struck with a palsy but for some reason or other he did not interfere The servants were like to burst with laughter and Jock kept the goodwife at bay with his drawn knife till his slice was roasted and then laying it flat on his dry piece of bread he walked out to the field to enjoy it more at leisure Marion went away home and the goodman and goodwife both determined to be revenged on Jock and to make him pay dear for his audacity
Jock gave several long looks after Marion as she vanished on Kettlemoor but he had left no kind of meat in her shieling when he came away else it was likely he would have followed his mother home again He was still smacking his lips after his rich repast and he had seen too much good stuff about the house of his new master to leave it at once so he was even fain to bid Marion goodbye in his heart wipe the filial tear from his eye poor man197 and try to reconcile himself to his new situation
Do you carry aye that lang gully knife about wi you master cowherd or how do they ca ye said his master when they next met after the adventure of the bacon
I hae aye carried it yet said Jock with great innocence and a gay gude whittle it is
Ye maun gie that up said Niddery we dinna suffer chaps like you to carry sic weapons about our house
Jock fixed his green eyes on his masters face He could hardly believe him to be serious still there was something in his look he did not like so he put his knife deeper into his pocket drew one step back and putting his under row of teeth in front of those above waited the issue of such an unreasonable demand
Come come give it up I say Give it to me Ill dispose of it for you
Ill see you at the bottom o the place my mother speaks about whiles thought Jock to himself afore I gie my gully198 either to you or ony that belangs to you He still kept his former position however and the same kind of look at his masters face only his een grew rather greener
Wont you give it up you stubborn thief Then I will take it and give you a good drubbing into the bargain
When Jock heard this he pulled out his knife That is a good lad to do as you are bidden said his master But Jock instead of delivering up his knife drew it from the sheathe which he returned to his pocket Now I sal only say this said he the first man that tries to take my ain knife frae me—he may do it—but he shall get the length ot in his monyplies first So saying he drew back his hand with a sudden jerk
Goodman Niddery gave such a start that he actually leaped off the ground and holding up both his hands exclaimed What a savage we have got here what a satan And without speaking another word he ran away to the house and left Jock standing with his drawn knife in his hand
The goodmans stomach burned with199 revenge against Jock so that night he sent him supperless to bed out of requital for the affair of the fat bacon and next day the poor boy was set down to a very scanty breakfast which was not fair His eye turning invariably to one delicious object the goodman perceived well what was passing in his heart and on some pretence first sent away all the servants and then the goodwife He next rose up himself with his staff in his hand and going slowly away into the little parlour said as he went through the kitchen What can be become o a the fok and with that entered the dark door that opened in a corner He made as though he had shut the door but he turned about within it and peeped back
The moment that he vanished was the watchword for Jock he sprang from his seat at the bottom of the table and mounting a form began to whang away at the bacon ham Some invidious bone or hard object of some sort coming unfortunately in contact with the edge of his knife his progress was greatly obstructed and200 though he cut and sawed with all his might before he succeeded in separating a piece of about two pounds weight from the main body his master had rushed on him from his concealment and by one blow of his staff laid him flat on the floor The stroke was a sore one for it was given with extreme good will and deprived Jock of sensibility for the time being He and his form both came down with a great rumble but the knife remained buried in the fat bacon ham and the inveterate goodman was not satisfied with felling the poor lad but kicked him and laid on him with his stick after he was down The goodwife at length came running and put a stop to this cruelty and fearing the boy was murdered and that they would be hanged for it she got assistance and soon brought Jock again to himself
Jock had been accustomed to fight for his meat and in some measure laid his account with it so that on the whole he took his broken head as little to heart as could have been expected—certainly less than any other boy of the same age would201 have done It was only a little more rough than he had been prepared to look for but had he succeeded in his enterprise he would not have been ill content The goodwife and her maids had laid him on a kitchen bed and bathed his temples and on recovering from stupefaction the first thing he did was to examine his pockets to see if he had his gully Alak there was nothing but the empty sheathe Then he did lose the field and fell a blubbering and crying The goodwife thought he was ill and tried to sooth him by giving him some meat He took the meat of course but his heart was inconsolable till just when busy with his morsel his eye chanced to travel to the old place as if by instinct and there he beheld the haft of his valued knife sticking in the bacon ham its blade being buried deep in sappy treasures He sprang over the bed and traversing the floor with staggering steps mounted a form and stretched forth his hand to possess himself again of his gully
Aih Gudeness have a care o us cried the goodwife saw ever ony body202 the like o that The creatures bacon mad Goodman goodman come here
Jock however extricated his knife and fled though he could scarcely well walk Some of the maids averred that he at the same time slid a corner of the ham into his pocket but it is probable they belied him for Jock had been munching in the bed but the moment before
He then went out to his cows weak as he was He had six cows some mischievous calves and ten sheep to herd and he determined to take good care of these as also now that he had got his knife again not to want his share of the good things about the house of which he saw there was abundance However several days came and went and Jock was so closely watched by his master and mistress all the time he was in the house that he could get nothing but his own scanty portion What was more Jock was obliged every day to drive his charge far afield and remain with them from morn till evening He got a few porridge in the morning and a hard bannock and a203 bottle of sour milk to carry along with him for his dinner This miserable meal was often despatched before eleven oclock so that poor Jock had to spend the rest of the day in fasting and contriving grand methods of obtaining some good meat in future
There was one thing very teasing He had a small shieling which some former herd had built and plenty of sticks to burn for the gathering or cutting He had thus a fire every day without any thing to roast on it Jock sat over it often in the most profound contemplation thinking how delightfully a slice of bacon would fry on it—how he would lay the slice on his hard bannock and how the juice would ooze out of it Never was there a man who had richer prospects than Jock had still his happiness lay only in perspective But experience teaches man wisdom and wisdom points out to him many expedients
Among Jocks fat sheep there was one fat ewe lamb the flower of the flock which the goodwife and the goodman both204 loved and valued above all the rest She was as beautiful and playful as innocence itself and withal as fat as she could lie in her skin There was one rueful day and a hungry one that Jock had sat long over his little fire of sticks pondering on the joys of fat flesh He went out to turn his mischievous calves whose nebs were never out of an ill deed and at that time they had strayed into the middle of a corn field As bad luck would have it by the way he perceived this dawted ewe lamb lying asleep in the sun and out of mere frolic as any other boy would have done he flew on above her and tried if he could hold her down After hard struggling he mastered her took her between his feet stroked her snowy fleece and soft downy cheek and ever as he patted her repeated these words O but ye be a bonny beast
The lamb however was not much at her ease she struggled a little now and then but finding that it availed not she gave it over and seeing her comrades feeding near her she uttered some piteous205 bleats They could afford her no assistance but they answered her in the same tremulous key After patting her a good while Jock began to handle her breast and ribs and found that she was in good earnest as fat as pork This was a ticklish experiment for the innocent lamb Jock was seized with certain inward longings and yearnings that would not be repressed He hesitated long long and sometimes his pity awoke—but there was another natural feeling that proved the stronger of the two so Jock at length took out his long knife and unsheathed it Next he opened the fleece on the lambs throat till its bonny white skin was laid bare and not a hair of wool to intervene between it and the point of his knife He was again seized with deep remorse as he contemplated the lambs harmless and helpless look so he wept aloud and tried to put his knife again into its sheathe but he could not
To make a long tale short Jock took away the lambs life and that not in the most gentle or experienced way She made no resistance and only uttered one206 bleat Poor beast said Jock I daresay ye like this very ill but I canna help it Ye are suffering for a your bits o ill done deeds now
The day of full fruition and happiness for Jock was now arrived Before evening he had roasted and eaten the kidneys and almost the whole of the draught or pluck His heart rejoiced within him for never was there more delicious food But the worst of it was that the devils of calves were going all the while in the middle of a corn field which his master saw from the house and sent one running all the way to turn them The man had also orders to waken the dirty blackguard callant if he was sleeping and gie him his licks
Jock was otherwise employed but as luck would have it the man did not come into his hut nor discover his heinous crime for Jock met him among the corn and took a drubbing with all proper decorum
But dangers and suspicions encompassed poor Jock now on every side He sat207 down to supper at the bottom of the board with the rest of the servants but he could not eat a single morsel His eyes were not fixed on the bacon ham as usual and moreover they had quite lost that sharp green gleam for which they were so remarkable These were circumstances not to be overlooked by the sharp eyes of his master and mistress
Whats the matter wi the bit dirty callant the night said the latter What ails you sirrah that you hae nae taen your supper Are you weel eneugh
Jock wasna ill he said but he could not enter into particulars about the matter any farther The goodman said he feared the blade had been stealing for he did not kythe like ane that had been fasting a day but after the goodwife and he had examined the hams kebbucks beef barrel meal girnel and every place about the house they could discern nothing amissing and gave up farther search but not suspicion
Jock trembled lest the fat lamb might be missed in the morning when he drove out his flock but it was never remarked208 that the lamb was awanting He took very little breakfast but drove his kine and sheep and the devils of calves away to the far field and hasted to his wee housie He borrowed a coal every day from a poor woman who lived in a cot at the road side to kindle his fire and that day she noticed what none else had done that his coat was all sparked over with blood and asked him of the reason Jock was rather startled by the query and gave her a very suspicious look but no other answer
I fear ye hae been battling wi some o your neighbours said she
This was a great relief for Jocks heart Ay just that said he and went away with his coal
What a day of feasting Jock had He sliced and roasted and roasted and ate till he could hardly walk Once when the calves were going into a mischief which they were never out of he tried to run but he could not run a foot so he was obliged to lie down and roll himself on the ground take a sleep and then proceed to work again
209
There was nutrition in the very steams that issued from Jocks hut the winds that blew over it carried health and savoury delight over a great extent of country A poor hungry boy that herded a few lean cows on an adjoining farm chancing to come into the track of this delicious breeze became at once like a statue He durst not move a step for fear of losing the delicious scent and there he stood with his one foot before the other his chin on his right shoulder his eyes shut and his mouth open his nose being pointed straight to Jocks wee housie The breeze still grew richer till at last it led him as straight as there had been a hook in his nose to Jocks shieling so he popped in and found Jock at the sublime employment of cooking and eating The boy gaped and stared at the mangled body of the lamb and at the rich repast that was going on but he was a very ignorant and stupid boy and could not comprehend any thing so Jock fed him with a good fat piece well roasted and let him go again to his lean cows
Jock looked very plump and thriving210like that night his appearance was quite sleek somewhat resembling that of a young voluptuary and to lull suspicion he tried to take some supper but not one bite or soap was he able to swallow The goodwife having by that time satisfied herself that nothing was stolen became concerned about Jock and wanted him to swallow some physic which he peremptorily refused to do
How can the puir thing tak ony meat said she Hes a swalled i the belly Indeed I rather suspect that hes swalled oer the hale body
The next morning as Jock took out his drove the goodman was standing at the road side to look at them Jocks heart grew cold as well it might when the goodman called out to him Callant what hae you made o the gude lamb
Is she no there said Jock after a long pause for he was so much astounded that he could not speak at the first
Is she no there cried the goodman again in great wrath imitating Jocks voice If ye binna blind ye may see that211 But I can tell you my man gin ye hae letten ought happen to that lamb ye had better never hae been born
What can be comed o the beast said Jock I had better look the house shes may be stayed in by herself
Jock didna wait for an order but glad to be a little farther off from his master he ran back and looked the fold and sheephouse and every nettle bush around them as he had been looking for a lost knife
I can see naething o her said he as he came slounging back hanging his head and keeping aloof from the goodman who still carried his long pike staff in his hand
But Ill mak you see her and find her baith hangdog said he or deil be in my fingers an I dinna twist your neck about Are you sure you had her yestreen
O yes Jock was sure he had her yestreen The women were examined if they had observed her as they milked the cows They could not tell None of them had seen her but they could not say she was not there All was in commotion about212 the steading for the loss of the dawted pet lamb which was a favourite with every one of the family
Jock drove his cattle and nine sheep to the field—roasted a good collop or two of his concealed treasure and snapped them up but found that they did not relish so well as formerly for now that his strong appetite for fat flesh was somewhat allayed yea even fed to loathing he wished the lamb alive again He began moreover to be in great bodily fear and to provide against the probability of any discovery being made he lifted the mangled remains of his prey and conveyed them into an adjoining wood where he covered them carefully up with withered leaves and laid thorns above them Now said Jock as he left the thicket let them find that out wha can
The goodman went to all the herds around enquiring after his lamb but could hear no intelligence of her till he came to the cottage of poor Bessie the old woman that had furnished Jock with a coal every day When he put the question to her the213 rock and the lint fell out of Bessies hand and she sat a while quite motionless
What war ye saying goodman War ye saying ye had lost your bonnie pet lamb
Even sae Bessie
Then goodman I fear you will never see her living again What kind o callant is that ye hae gotten Hes rather a suspicious looking chap I tentit his claes a spairged wi blude the tither day and baith this and some days bygane he has brought in his dinner to me saying that he dought nae eat it
Goodman Niddery could make no answer to this but sat for a while grumphing and groaning as some late events passed over his mind particularly how Jocks belly was swollen and how he could not take any supper But yet the idea that the boy had killed his favourite and eaten her was hardly admissible the deed was so atrocious he could not conceive any human being capable of it strong as circumstances were against his carnivorous herd He went away with hurried and214 impatient steps to Jocks wee house his old colley dog trotting before him and his long pikestaff in his hand Jock eyed him at a distance and kept out of his path pretended to be engaged in turning the calves to a right pasture and running and threshing them with a long goad for though they were not in any mischief then he knew that they would soon be in some
The goodman no sooner set his nose within Jocks shieling than he was convinced some horrid deed had been done It smelled like a cooks larder and moreover his old dog who had a very good scent was scraping among the ashes and picking up fragments of something which he seemed very much to enjoy Jock did not know what to do when he saw how matters stood yet he still had hopes that nothing would appear to criminate him The worst thing that he saw was the stupid hungered boy on the adjoining farm coming wading through the corn He had left his dirty lean kine picking up the very roots of the grass and had come snouking away in hopes of getting another fat bit215 for his impoverished stomach But when he saw Goodman Niddery come out of the cot with impassioned strides he turned and ran through the strong corn with his whole might always jumping up as he proceeded
The goodman called angrily on his old dog to come after him but he would not come for he was working with his nose and fore feet among Jocks perfumed ashes with great industry so the goodman turned back into the house and hit him over the back with his long pikestaff which made him glad to give over and come out about his business and away the two went to reconnoitre further
As soon as the old dog was fairly afield again he took up the very track by which Jock had carried the carcase that morning and went as straight as a line to the hidden treasure in the thicket The goodman took off the thorns and removed the leaves and there found all that remained of his favourite and beautiful pet lamb Her throat was all cut and mangled her mouth open and her tongue hanging out and about one half of her whole body a216wanting The goodman shed tears of grief and wept and growled with rage over the mangled form and forthwith resolved which was hardly commendable to seize Jock and bring him to that very spot and cut his throat
Jock might have escaped with perfect safety had he had the sense or foresight to have run off as soon as he saw his master enter the wood but there seems to be an infatuation that directs the actions of some men Jock did not fly but went about and about turning his kine one while his nine sheep another and always between hands winning a pelt at one of the illconditioned calves till his incensed master returned from the fatal discovery and came up to him There was one excuse for him he was not sure if the carcase had been found for he could not see for the wood whether or not his master went to the very place and he never thought of the sagacity of the dog
When Goodman Niddery first left the wood he was half running and his knees were plaiting under him with the anticipa217tion of horrid revenge Jock did not much like his gait so he kept always the herd of cows and the sheep too betwixt himself and this halfrunning master of his But the goodman was too cunning for poor Jock he changed his step into a very slow careless walk and went into the middle of the herd of cows pretending to be whistling a tune although it was in fact no tune but merely a concatenation of tremulous notes on C sharp without the least fall of harmony He turned about this cow and the other cow watching Jock all the while with the tail of his eye and trilling his hateful whistle Jock still kept a due distance At length the goodman called to him Callant come hither like a man and help me to wear this cow against the ditch I want to get haud o her
Jock hesitated He did not like to come within stroke of his masters long stick neither did he know on what pretence absolutely to refuse his bidding so he stood still and it was impossible to know by his looks whether he was going to comply or run off altogether His mas218ter dreaded the latter and called to him in a still kinder manner until Jock at last unfortunately yielded The two wore the cow and wore the cow up against the ditch until the one was close upon her one side and the other upon her other Chproo hawkie chproo my bonnie cow cried the goodman spreading out his arms with his pikestaff clenched fast in his right hand then springing by the cow in a moment he flew upon Jock crying out with the voice of a demon D—n you rascal but Ill do for you now
Jock wheeled about to make his escape and would have beat his master hollow had he been fairly started or timeously apprised of his dreadful danger but ere he had run four or five steps the pikestaff came over the links of his neck such a blow that it laid him flat on his face in a mire The goodman then seized him by the cuff of the neck with the one hand and by the hair of his head with the other and said with a triumphant and malicious laugh Now get up and come away wi me my braw lad and Ill let you see sic a sight219 as you never saw Ill let you see a wallydy sight Get up like a good cannie lad
As he said this he pulled Jock by the hair and kicked him with his foot until he obliged him to rise and in that guise he led him away to the wood He had a hold of his rough weatherbeaten hair with the one hand and with the other he heaved the cudgel over him and as they went the following was some of the discourse that passed between them
Come away now my fine lad Are nae ye a braw honest good callant Do nae ye think ye deserve something thats unco good frae me Eh Ay ye surely deserve something better nor ordinar And ye shall hae it too—Then a kick on the posteriors or a lounder with the staff—Come your ways like a sonsy brave callant and Ill let you see a bonny thing and a braw thing in yon brake o the wood ye ken
Jock cried so piteously that if his master had not had a heart of stone he would have relented and not continued in his fatal purpose but he only grew the longer the more furious
220
O let me gang let me gang let me gang cried Jock Let me gang let me gang for it wasna me I dinna ken naething about it ata
Ye dinna ken naething about what my puir man
About yon bit sheep i the wood ye ken
You rascal you rogue you villain you have confessed that you kend about it when I wasna speiring ony sic question at you You hound you dog you savage wolf that you are Mother of God but I will do for you You whelp you dog you scoundrel come along here Another hard blow Tell me now my precious lad an ye war gaun to be killed as ye ken something about killing whether would you choose to have your throat cut or to have your feet tied and be skinned alive
O dinna kill me dinna kill me cried poor Jock My dear master dinna kill me for I canna brook it Oh oh an ye kill me Ill tell my mother that will I and what will Marion say tye when221 she has nane but me Oh master dinna kill me and Ill never do the like ot again
Nay I shall take warrant for that you shall never do the like ot again
In this melancholy and heartbreaking manner he dragged him on all the way by the rough towsy head kicking him one while and beating him another till he brought him to the very spot where the mangled remains of the pet lamb were lying It was a blasting sight for poor Jock especially as it doubled his masters rage and stern revenge and these were in all conscience high enough wrought before He twined the hapless culprit round by the hair and knocked him with his fist for he had dropped the staff to enable him to force Jock to the place of sacrifice and he swore by many an awful oath that if it should cost him his life he would do to Jock as he had done to that innocent lamb
With that he threw him on the ground and got above him with his knees and Jock having by that time lost all hope of222 moving his ruthless master by tears or prayers began a struggling with the force which desperation sometimes gives and fought with such success that it was with difficulty his master could manage him
It was very much like a battle between an inveterate terrier and a bull dog but in spite of all that Jock could do the goodman got out his knife It was not however one like Jocks for it had a folding blade and was very hard to open and the effecting of this was no easy task for he could not get both his hands to it In this last desperate struggle Jock got hold of his masters cheek with his left hand and his nails being very long he held it so strait that he was like to tear it off His master capered up with his head holding it back the full length of Jocks arm yet still being unable to extricate his cheek from Jocks hold he raised up his knife in his right hand in order to open it with his teeth and in the first place to cut off Jocks hand and his head afterwards He was holding down Jock with his right knee and his left hand and while in the223 awkward capering attitude of opening his knife his face was turned nearly straight up and his eyes had quite lost sight of his victim Jock held up his masters cheek and squeezed it still the more which considerably impeded his progress in getting the knife open and at that important moment Jock whipped out his own knife his old dangerous friend and struck it into the goodmans belly to the haft The moment he received the wound he sprang up as if he had been going to fly into the air uttered a loud roar and fell back above his dead pet lamb
Lord how Jock ran He was all bespattered with blood some of it his own and some of it his masters wanted the bonnet and had the bloody knife in his hand and was without all doubt a wild frightsomelooking boy As he sped through the wood he heard the groans and howls of his master in the agonies of death behind him Every one of them added to Jocks swiftness till it actually became beyond the speed of mortal man If it be true that love lends a pair of wings224 fear mortal fear lends two pair There is nought in life I regret so much as that I did not see Jock in this flight it must have been such an extraordinary one There was poor Jock flying with the speed of a fox from all the world and yet still flying into the world He had no home no kindred to whom he durst now retreat no hold of any thing in nature save of his own life and his good whittle and he was alike unwilling to part with either of these The last time he was seen was by two women on Kirtlecommon He appeared sore bespent but was still running on with all his might
The goodman was found before the evening but only lived to tell how he had come by his end All his friends and servants were raised and sent in pursuit of Jock How he eluded them no man knows but from that day Marions Jock has never been more seen or heard of in this land
225
CHAPTER VII
Cher That story of our captains is rather an odd story Is it not Mark
Mark Rather of the wonderful
Ford
I dinna ken but I could maybe tell ye something about him an I liket said Tam Craik but I wad maybe be as wise to haud my tongue
I wad like very weel to hear mair about him said Charlie for his life has had such a queer beginning it maun surely hae had a queer end
But what an it shouldna be endit yet Yardbire said Tam Marions Jock is perhaps living and lifelike to tell his ain tale However well say nae mair about that just now till you tell us what you think o Gibbie Jordans tale For my part I never heard a tale I was sae muckle interested in a my life
226
It is ane o the best tales o the kind that ever I heard said Charlie
It is a most abominable tale said the poet
In what way Master Poet said Charlie I dinna like to hear ony body condemned without reason
It is for the badness of the moral that I do it dislike said the poet The moral is so truly bad all mankind it must must shock it is to kill this harmless lamb the flower of all the flock—to feed upon her lovely form thats fairer than the snow—to eat her flesh and drink her blood It makes mine eyes to flow
Gude faith an I thought that war his drift I wad brain him said Charlie and I confess it looks rather like it
There can be no doubt of it said Master Michael Scott The maid Delany is the favourite lamb whom he wishes you to kill and feast on in the same delicious manner as did the hero of his tale and I am the goodman whom you are to stick afterwards and fairly make your escape
227
It is a shocking tale I really doubt said Charlie and throws a disgrace and an imputation o something unseemly on my chief and a his friends and I winna put up wi it
I do propose that from the walls the caitiff we do throw said the poet or kill and eat for dainty meat the laird of Peatstacknowe
I fear if the votes were to be taen just now he wad hae an ill chance said Charlie But its fair in ha where beards wag a Let ilk ane of us hae a fair chance There may be mae bad morals amang us Whas turn ist next
Charlie himself being next in point of seniority was called on for his tale
I hae been thinking hard what tale I should tell you said Charlie but I find I can tell nought but the thing I hae seen and Ill be pinched sair eneuch to make sense o that Therefore gin ye like Ill tell ye my first adventure in war—for I aye mind it the best and will do as lang as I live
228
Charlie Scotts Tale
It was under the command of Hab Elliot that I made my first raide a gay rough spun cout he was and nae cannie hand for a southland valley Weel you see there was a chap came to my fathers house at Yardbire ae morning and he says to my father Wat says he that was my fathers name what he caed me Charlie for I dinna ken for I never spierd Wat says the chiel ye maun raise your lads and tie on your wallets and meet the warden the morn at the HawkHass theres gaun to be a stoure on the east border
An there be a stoure on the east border Is be there for ane said my father but the deil ae man hae I left but auld Will Nicol and the callant Charlie There hae seven men o Moodlaw and Yardbire faen sin Beltan I canna mak men but I shall fight wi them I have As for Charlie he disna want spirit but hes unco young and supple and will mak but a weak stand in a strong blast Auld Will229 he kens brawly how to take care care o himsel and atween the twa I may be ill bestedde But gae as it will Ill be there
I was a massy blade that day when I gaed oer CraikCorse riding at my fathers side I was sae upliftit I could hardly sit on my yaud and I saw my father was proud o his callant as he caed me—that made me ten times waur The first men we came at were the langshankit Laidlaws o Craik and then the Grahams o Drife they came up wi us and when we came to Howpasley my father got the lairds right hand and we gaed ower Skelfhillswire seven score and ten but there were only fifty o us had horse and mine was ane o the best
Whas this stripling that rides the good dun mare said the laird o Howpasley
Thats my bit niffnaff of a callant says my father Thats my Charlie cousin John
Hes a twig of a good tree said Howpasley I like the spark gayan weel if he wad ride a little evener up an no haud230 forrit his head like a woodcock But my word he has a lang arm
Ay a pair o them cousin said my father and the twa carles hotched and leuch at my fathers joke
The warden was lying at the HawkHass wi twal score o good men but there were nane o them had horses but the Elliots and some gentlemen of the Scotts When Sir Ringan saw us coming he came out on foot to meet us and when the gentlemen of our party saw that they lighted off their horses gae them to their henchmen and walked out before the men Howpasley walked on the right hand my father next and as he desired me I came slounging up next him I lookit best on foot for my legs were sic a length I was higher in fact by half a foot than either John of Howpasley or my father but a perfect tripe for smaness When our captain the brave Redhough came near to us I thought I should hae swarfed my heart duntduntit like a man humblin bear and I was maist gasping for breath I had hard sae231 muckle o his bravery that I expectit an auld gruff austere carle as proud as Lucifer to meet us But instead o that I sees a boardly knight in the very prime o manly beauty his cheeks were ruddy his eyes dark and the black beard on his booner lip was just beginning to curl upward My heart was a his ain at the first look and I said to mysel Yere the man that Ill risk my neck wi ony day I likit him sae weel that I mind I thought I could just hae lain down in a gutter and letten him tramp on the tap o me
He first shook Howpasley by the hand and then my father and then he gave a broad look to my beardless face turning his eye back to my fathers
Thats my Charlie Sir Ringan my only son now said my father
You are welcome cousin Charlie to our camp said he If ye be as brave a man as your father I shall never want a hero at my side
I should hae said something in return but the deil a word I could say for I was like to fa to the fuffing and greeting He232 spake to a the gentlemen in the same kind hamely manner and then lookit at a the men and spiered how mony belonged to every ane
And how many are with you cousin Yardbire said he
They are a here that I hae noble chief said my father Last year at this time I brought forty to the field and now I hae nae ane but my auld henchman and that lad We hae somehow been ower rash and I now get a the wyte They ca me Wat the Waster—and not a man will haud land under me
Ay ay Yardbire said he you and your men hae stood the brunt of the battle ower often for me and mine But you are grown auld and ye maunna claim the post of honour ony mair till Charlie come to his strength Ill make you captain this day o the best troop you ever led You shall hae the hardheaded Olivers the grimy Potts and the skraeshankit Laidlaws and you shall form my flying party—
My father here interrupted him with Na na my master deil a flying troop Ill233 lead if it binna a fighting ane it winna follow me lang
The warden smiled and calling out all the men of the families he had named he put such of them as had horses under the command of my father Of these there were fortyseven so that our troop consisted of fifty men in all We were joined with the Elliots but Habby having ninety men of his own name the command of the horse devolved on him and my father was only looked on as the second I didna like this unco weel but it coudna be helped and I was glad to be in the field ony way
The first sight we got o the English was frae the top o Penchrist but a that day we could only ken where they were by the reek they were raising My blood boiled when I saw them burning the houses o Scotsmen and fain wad I hae had a handshaking wi them
There was ae message came after another a that day The Kers had been beat and chased across the river and the English host had overrun their territory Our234 chief didna seem to care for that sae muckle as I thought nor wad he stir his foot till they crossed the Rule There war mae men came in every hour for the beacons were a bleezing and as soon as the English set foot on the territory of the middle marches away we rade straight to meet them
It was on the hill of Hawthornside where I first saw the face o an enemy and Ill never forget sic queer strummings as I had within me Oh I wad fain hae been at them There was a kind o yeuk a kind o kittling a sort o prinkling in my blood like that I fand wadna be cured but by the slap o a sword or the point o a spear Instead o being feared for a wound I wad hae gien my horse and light armour baith to have had a good prodd frae an Englishman—but I wad hae liket that the warden had seen me
We kept the hills between them and the border wi our horse but the foot kept the straits to the westward Forbye the Elliots and my fathers troop o Potts and Olivers and skraeshankit Laidlaws the warden had three hundred Scotts on horseback so235 that in all he had short o five hundred horse and about eight hundred foot At the head o his horse he rade straight up to the faces o the English and challenged them in our kings name to tell their business in that place Up came an English knight Sir Robert Neville of Ravensworth and he crackit baith proudly and saucily but I didna ken weel what he said He threatened no to leave a beast or a body atween Borthwick and the Border Our captain was as crouse as the other sae there was nothing but ill blude atween them but the thing that we likit warst of a was the certainty that he had eight thousand men being just sax for our ane
The warden then held a council o friends upon the top of the hill and in view of the English host Some said ae thing and some said another to him but at length he turned to my father and he says What says our cousin Walter o Eskdale to a this But I needna speer that—he never gae me aught but ae advice a his life
Ill tell you what I wad do captain says my father Afore yon sun were twa236 cockstrides down the west I wad fight them
I kend what it wad be said the warden But my brave Yardbire are you considering the disproportion o force
Whats that to think about said he the greater the better
The warden claspit him in his arms and the tears came hopping down my muckle soft flobby cheeks
Yes captain continued my father I hae been thinking o the odds against us and I am thinking ot just now But ye ken art may do muckle
Now to hear him speaking about art said the warden pushing him playfully around by the shoulder—To hear a man speaking sagely about art that never thought of ony other art in his life but hard hand nevel Pray now my dear cousin will ye let us hear this deep profound art o yours that will enable ae man to beat half a dozen
I wad form our little army into the shape o a wedge said my father and I wad yerk that little wedge into the heart237 of their great log of an army and split it a to shivers
G—d a mercy hear to him cried the warden And pray what is to form the point o this wedge Yardbire
Just my grey naigs head captain
I kend weel what it wad come to cousin Your grey naigs head wad soon be cracked but an ought were to happen yours what wad come o me
I thought sae muckle o my auld father that I couldna haud my tongue nae langer and that was the first word I ever spake to the warden in my life Never fear my master quo I it winna be ilka ane that sal crack his grey crown the day
Weel said Charlie cried the auld hero and he waved his cap round his head Weel said little Charlie Now captain for the wedge
The warden lookit a good while at us without speaking and I gart mysel trow there was a blink o admiration in his dark eye Ah Wat Wat said he weel do you ken Im ower ready to follow your238 mad schemes But they have sae often proved successfu though wi very hard wark that Ill een take the risk and sey your skill aince mair
He then drew his horse from the height into the glen behind and formed them precisely on my fathers plan with a troop of horse in front and one on each wing the foot being arranged in close column in the middle and as my father claimed the post of honour as his right he rode the front man Will Nicol and I were next him and behind us there were four of the Laidlaws I saw no farther but was informed after that when the horse made the charge the foot had orders to run and keep up with them
We took a sweep down the water to the north and appeared all of a sudden in the rear of the English army Their scouts had seen us but could not guess our intent for as to a thought of our attacking them that never entered their heads so that their host was not newmodelled farther than their columns facing about toward us They deemed we were going239 to retreat toward the north and were making ready to pursue us when all at once the point of the wedge turned at a right angle and rushed with all haste on the centre of their line
Then there was such a hubbub and calling and noise of armour rattling throughout their army as I had never heard My father spurred on and after some few hard blows opened the line He had the least to do of any for the ranks opened naturally before him as he heaved his heavy sword But ever as their wedge grew thicker their columns being pressed together lay the heavier on our flanks and several gallant men of the Scots fell I saw naething o this but soon fand the effects of it for my father drove faster on than the flankers could bear up after him and our point lengthened out and grew thinner at every step I had been unco keen o fighting but I got my fill ot then I trow I gae some o them some gay good yerks on the chafts
Ravensworth by this time perceiving the danger in which his army stood of240 being divided brought up his side columns and closed around our front I heard him saying in a loud exasperated voice For shame countrymen for shame will ye suffer a landward Scots laird an auld crabbit loun like that to ride in through your ranks and out through your ranks as they were files o thistles Down with the moorland thief down with him
Aha Robin o Ravensworth is that you cried my father An I win within swords length o you I shall settle your crack
As he said this he raised himself up in his stirrups Auld Will Nicol roared out For Christs sake master stop But in place of that he spurred up to the captain with all his might challenging him to come forward Neville kept his ground and prepared for the attack but refused to come forward and just as my father and he began to measure swords my father was struck by six or seven spears all at once on his left side Some of these he received on his buckler but others of them pierced his241 side and before any of us could lend him the least assistance he was unhorsed Ravensworth also gave him a wound as he was falling I who was close behind him and ahead of all the rest was now hard bested I clove the head of the first spearman on my left and ere I had recovered my sword from the stroke Ravensworths sword was at my breast and I have no doubt that stroke would have slain me had it not been for a plunge made by my fathers horse that came between us and marred it By this time the Laidlaws had come up on my right—a wheen as hardy determined louns as ever brak warlds bread—and they were laying about them like incarnate devils The horse kept the lancers from reaching me on the left so that Ravensworth and I met fairly hand to hand Sure am I that I never gae sic a straik sinsyne nor ane wi sic good will I dinna think I clave his helmet but I gae him sic a devil o a knab on the temple that he was stoundit and fell as dead as a stane at my horses feet My father was at that time on his242 knee and I saw him trying to raise himself up by the stirrupleather for he had never yet quitted the bridle of his horse He saw me bring down Neville who fell almost at his very side and he looked to me and cried Weel done little Charlie weel done my brave man
That was the last word I ever heard him say My brave worthy auld father He was sae used to ca me little Charlie when I was young that he coudna gie it ower when I grew bigger than him and he cried to me Weel done little Charlie Weel done my brave man Ill never forget that moment My honest kindhearted father Ye maun forgie me sirs for taking a hearty greet at this part o my tale Mony a ane hae I taen at the same bit—Ay—he often caed me little Charlie and he cried Weel done my brave man That was the hindmost word and I hae good right to mind it
The battle thickened and thickened round us and we were borne back for there was sic a rush made by the English to the rescue that an their captain had243 been living they wad hae tramped him to pieces I was driven clean stupid and cared nae ae preen for my life after I saw the ranks rush over my father but the skraeshankit Laidlaws defendit me and did most excellent work I never saw ony men that thought less about fleeing or retreating than the Laidlaws Pellmell swap for swap was a that they countit on I heard Davie o Craik saying to his brother Take care o that lang swabble Charlie and keep by his side Deil hae him gin he be nae better than he looks like The grim Potts were mair cunning than rash and the hardheaded Olivers could be led but never driven The Laidlaws were the men for me Pellmell yank for yank Thresh on Will Ay heres wye Davie deil tak the hindmost I hae stood mony a stoure wi the Laidlaws and never wished for better lads—langshanks and a thegither
But Im forgetting my tale for aince I get into the mids o a battle its no easy getting me out again I canna tell you a the feats that were done that day espe244cially by the warden When he saw the great brulzie in front he came up with the Scotts and the Johnstons and the Grahams o Drife—and hearing that my father had fallen and that the English captain was also slain he took the front himself and scattered the English commoners like crows
When we had thus fairly broke through the centre we turned to the right and drove that division of the army before us till they took shelter in Jed forest but seeing the rest who formed the strongest wing marshalling up behind us we drew off to the hills and encamped that night at the Brae of Rule
There was heavy mourning for the loss of my father and we buried him next day at Hassendean The English were as much exasperated Dick Neville the brother of Sir Robert took the command and up Teviot they came laying all waste behind them We durst not engage them again in close battle for they were by far too numerous but we kept hovering around them and harrassing them whenever we245 could get a chance In spite of all we could do they took the town of Hawick plundered it and burnt it to ashes The warden was neither to haud nor to bind wi anger then and as he durst not leave the country nor tine sight o them for an hour himself he sent off Hab Elliot and me wi our hunder and fifty horse to plunder the castle and lands of Ravensworth by way of retaliation
Now Charlie said he to me at parting Mind what the Nevilles hae done baith to you and me and neither leave them cow nor ewe man woman nor bairn blanket nor sheet dish nor spoon
Aweel aff Habby and I set he wi his Elliots and me wi my hardheaded Olivers my grimy Potts my skraeshankit Laidlaws and auld Will Nicol—that was my army and a gay queer ane it was I hadna a man o my ain name but mysel for the warden kept them a about him He wadna part wi the Scotts at no rate It was clear moonlight sae we set off before sunset and rade a the night keeping aye the height between Tyne and Reid246 and at daylight we fand oursels at the place where the twa Tynes meet We were terrified for raising the country and were obliged to ride out to a little hollow place in a wild moor and hide oursels a the day where our horses got nothing but a rive o heather but they had plenty o water puir things Habby kept watch himsel and let us a sleep and there was ae camstary English chap that wad be up to the tap o the hill reason or nane Habby chappit aff his head—he wasna very sticking that way
The next morning after that we gae the castle o Ravensworth and the rich domains o the Nevilles an unco surprise Habby gaed up by himsel to the gate and asked a word o the porter The man came snooving out half sleeping Habby had him dead and the keys in his ain hand in half a minute It was a shamefu morning that for we killed and harried and burnt a that came afore us and Lady Ravensworth was burnt and her bairn was trowed to be burnt That sat sair on my conscience for she came to me and beggit her life I had247 nae thought o taking her life but I was sae intent on the spulzie that I lost her again and never saw mair o her It was rather cruel o Habby to lock every door when he set fire to the castle I saved ae little chap that morning though I wasna muckle the better We were flinging blankets and sheets and thousands o things out at a large window when I hears a bairnie greeting most bitterlie and aye crying out Daddy daddy O daddy daddy Poor little English brat says I to mysel theres nae daddy near you Sae I could nae help rinning into the room to see what kind o creature it was and there lay a fine bonnie callant on the bare bedstrae for they had pued the down bed and blankets and sheets and a off him and when he saw me he held out baith his hands and cried O daddy daddy I could nae think to leave him to be burnt sae I rowed him in some blankets and tossed him out at the window and when I lookit out after him to see if he wasna killed I heard him crying louder than ever Daddys boy faen Take ye up take ye248 up O daddy daddy take ye up take ye up
When we came to pack up our goods he was still lying sprawling amang the blankets and insisting on his daddy taking him up as fervently as before I was wae for the poor thing and didna ken what to do for I didna like to be nursing a bairn afore my new warriors But as luck wad hae had it up comes Will Laidlaw o Craik Will cared nae what ony body thought
What lad says he to the boy Whats the matter billy What are ye lying yammering there for Eh
Daddys good boy faen says the child O take ye up take ye up
Poor deevil says Will wi his muckle een wauling till they were like to come out Poor deevil Indeed and I will take ye up though I should get nae mair o the spoil for my share but yoursel
Will fauldit a blankit and rowed the callant carefully up int like a web He didna come weel behand at rowing up a bairn but he did as he could and had the sense to leave the head out which was a main249 concern Just at that very moment when Will was at the thrangest by comes ane o the Olivers in a great haste wi his sword drawn and it was a bloody Now thinks I to mysel the puir bairns gane for I saw what kind o chap he was that Oliver Will unluckily had the boys head out o the blanket and was busy speaking to him without regarding ony thing else and ere ever he was aware Oliver heaved his bloody sword and was just coming down wi a swap on the boys neck and he wad hae cuttit it through like a kail castock Wills ee caught a glimpse o the sword as it was coming down and with a dash of his elbow he drove it aside Eh What are ye about min said Will speaking over his shoulder and keeping his body between Olivers sword and the child
Ooh What are ye about min returned the other mimicking Wills voice and manner Hae ye nought ado but to work on a dirty English paddock like that Cut the neck ot
Will I min says Laidlaw Ill see you d—d first and a the Olivers atween250 Jed head and Tyot stane—humph A bonnie trick to come and meddle wi me and my bit bairn
Oliver went away laughing at Laidlaw leaving him to manage his nursing concern as he could
I had witnessed Wills undaunted bravery and yet I canna say but I was as weel pleased wi this bit kind turn as ought I had seen him do I think I see him yet wi the child in his arms foussomly rowed up in a blanket like a web—the head o the boy out a great neuk o the blanket hinging down to the ground and Will glowring back at Olivers face Eh What are ye about min A bonnie story to come and meddle wi me and my bit bairn Ha ha ha Honest Laidlaw I can never forget him and his bairn Cut the neck ot says the other Will I min Ill see you d—d first says Will Ha ha ha ha—But then his look that was the best sport ava wi his bendit face and muckle great wulcat een turned oer his shoulder Cut the neck ot says251 Oliver They that had seen Laidlaw then ha ha ha Will I min Ha ha ha
My son is there not a time for every thing said the friar If thou thinkest at all on our condition and thine own surely thou wilt refrain from such a torrent of vain jesting Remember that the words of thy mouth are for death or life for the possession of maiden beauty and love and pleasure or for the most dismal and miserable and wretched of all fates—to be killed and eaten up of thy brethren the companions of thy journey
Gude faith the things hardly to be thought of let be spoken about said Charlie But I beg your pardon callants I maun get on wi my tale for if I stick it in the middle ye ken it is a ower wi me
I wish you would get on with it then said Tam for if ye maun aye stop to laugh at your ain jests well be a dead o hunger or ever the votes be taen Nane but fools laugh at their ain sports
Whisht whisht Tam returned Charlie—I hae a gay wide wizen when I am252 amang friends but there are some things that I canna swallow for a that—Where was I at Aye at the sacking o Ravensworth
We drave the richest prey that morning that I ever yet saw liftit if we had gotten it a hame We had thirty horses laden wi stuff and other thirty led anes besides thirteen score o good cattle and we gae the banks o the Teme and the Blackburn an unco singe afore we left them I was rather against the burning but Habby wadna be stayed Na na tit for tat Charlie That will stand for Hawick and Abbotrule
We drave on and drave on as fast as the cattle could gang and some o the heavy soft anes we were obliged to leave behind sair against our wills We were terrified for raising the country for we had sic a far drive but luckily the Nevilles had taen amaist every man with them in their expedition into Scotland and the first time that we hovered was on Tersitmoor in Northumberland a little before the break o day At that place there was the stran253gest thing happened to us that ever happened to men—and it was for that that I began my tale
My heart had been unco sair a the night wi thinking about the bonnie Lady Neville o Ravensworth and I had often been sae grieved about her death and her bairns death that I hardly kend what I was doing I thought I saw her kneeling on her knee and begging of me to spare her life and the life o her child and then how cruel it was in me to rin away rummaging up the stair and lose the opportunity of preserving her These thoughts had made my heart wholly inclined to pity and as soon as we lighted I sought out Will Laidlaw o Craik to see if he had still been able amang a the confusion to preserve the life of the child Will had had a great deal o trouble wi him chiefly from his associates but he had him still safe an sound He had stuffed him in a horses pack o blankets and sheets wi his head out and had kept beside him a the gate and now when I found him he had laid the boy down on the heather to sleep and had him254 weel happit up and Will himsel was lying streekit beside him He thought that I wad gibe him about the business and tried to waive the subject but when I told him how much I was pleased wi what he had done he grew rather crouser and could speak about naething else but the boy and his little sayings to him by the way Poor little dear soul said Will I think some body had flung him oer the castle wa in an armfu claes and never kend and wha kens but he may be the heir o Ravensworth himsel He has been sae miraculously saved that he will surely come to something But do ye ken Charlie my heart is already sae closely knitted to that bit helpless bairn that I wadna see ony ill come ower him for a the kye on the CribLaw
Laidlaw you shall never rue your kindness o heart and attentions to that puir misfortunate bairn quo I The moment that I saw you take him up and row him in a blanket wi his head out as ye had been rowing up a wab I resolved to reward you wi my hale share o the spulzie
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Never speak about that Charlie if we get safe hame wi every thing well no differ about the spulzie
Ha but Will your rowing up o the bairn was a rare scene ony other body but you ye ken wad hae taken the creature up in their arms and rowed a blanket about it but instead o that you doubled a pair o blankets their hale length on the green laid the bairn across the one end o them and rowed it ower the body and ower the body and ower the body till ye came to the far end and it was but ill rowed up after a—ha ha ha
Hout Charlie deil a bit but yere ower muckle taen up about trifles I wish ye wad think mair about the perilous situation we are in Watch a wee while and let me get a sleep
Will then laid his arm over the boy and the hott o claes and fell sound asleep Our men were a placed two and three around the hale muir to guard the cattle and all were resting on their arms to be ready to rush together on any alarm I was sitting and keeping a good look out a256 round about and Will he was swuffing and sleeping Every thing was quiet except now and then that the hum of an ox was to be heard which missed his neighbour or the eiry whistle o the mossplover It was a while before the daysky and I was just beginning to turn drowsy when I thought I saw something white on the muir about two hundred strides from me St Mary be my buckler said I to mysel What can you be It is surely a flight o white mist risen out o the earth for I see it moving If it be a mist fawn as I dare say it can be naething else it has drawn itself up into a form the likest that of a woman of ought ever I saw As I was mumbling and speaking this to mysel I perceived that it still drew nearer and that it wasna ane o the fairy fawns o mist whiles to be seen stealing about i the nighttime but a lady a clad in white It glided athort the moor and athort the moor as if it had been looking for something it had lost and at last I saw it spring away from one point to another at a considerable distance as swift as a flash o fire257 as if something had startled or offended it I learned after that the point from which it fled was the very spot where Habby Elliot lay and who at that time was lying in a sound and troubled sleep When it again stopped its motions were very extraordinary—for though the morning was dark there was such a pale and a pure whiteness about it that I saw it the better It was like a streamer o light or the reflection of a starn in the water that aye in the darkest nights appears brightest When it paused at the place I mentioned it bent its body backward its arms were crossed on its breast and I saw like its hair streaming in the air behind it Then it spread both its hands toward heaven as in the act of making fervent supplication From that point it came straight toward me after giving a shiver that made all my een dazzle
Will Laidlaw cried I but in a violent whisper below my breath Will Laidlaw o Craik for Gods sake waken up and see what this is
I was sitting but Will sprang to his258 feet and seized his sword Where where where Where is it Charlie Where is it callant whispered he I pointed to it but durst not speak Will rubbed his een and rubbed his een and at length perceived it I do believe lad that is some hizzy—and a weel dressed ane she is said he still speaking in a whisper and sitting down close beside me What on Gods earth can she be seeking on this waste at sic an untimely hour I durst hardly draw my breath let be to answer him and sae he continued I think it wad hae been as decentlike an she had lain still in her bed rather as comed raiking out amang a wheen wild men on sic a wild height Oho Ill wager my neck it is some spy in disguise
She was by this time within ten paces o us and we both sat still in breathless suspense till she came close to us I thought I had seen the face before but couldna tell where till she kneeled on one knee at my feet crossed her hands and looked me in the face with the most piteous expression of countenance Then I saw it259 was the lady o Ravensworth and in the very posture that I had seen her for the first and last time Yet there was no anger in her face it seemed merely a look of supplication and at length she touched her lips three times as an intimation that she wished to speak and could not As for me my mouth was sealed and that I might see nae mair than I had seen I threw mysel agroof wi my face to the ground and held by the heather firmly wi baith my hands
Honest Will had nae suspicions o ony thing beyond nature and at length he says What are you wanting wi us Madam that yere making a thae murgeons
You do not know me returned she but that young warrior beside you does He has been guilty of a neglect that he will rue till the day of his death But for another deed of mercy that you and he have done your fates are averted and your heads shall be covered in the hour of danger which is fast approaching You have saved a child from the devouring flames—if you dare to wrong a hair of260 that childs head how dreadful will be your doom There is a terrible hour approaching—look at his breast that you may know him again for I cannot see the fate of the day But if you would thrive on earth and be admitted into heaven guard and preserve that dear child—That child is mine—
Say nae mair honest woman says Will perfectly undismayed an the child be yours youre perfectly welcome to him It was to save his bit innocent life that I brought him away and no for ony greed o other folks bairns I kendna wha was aught him but sin he be yours Ill deliver him safe into your hands Take care an no let him get cauld for the morning air is no gude for a bairn
So saying Will howked the boy out o the mids o a great heap o claes rowed him up as weel as he could and then said after two or three sobs I like ill to part wi him but a mothers aye a mother Then he kissed him and added Fareye weel my wee man You and I will maybe never meet again but whether or no261 you will be nae the waur o a troopers blessing An ye be spared yell be a man when auld Will Laidlaws head is laid i the grave Hae honest woman theres your son and God bless you baith
She bent her body over him in the most affectionate way and stretched her arms as if to embrace him but she neither touched him nor any part of Laidlaws claes The boy had awakened and when Will held him out to give him up to his mother he cried out Nononono No go tye no go tye Daddys boy feared daddys boy feared
Gude faith sae ye may my man thinks I to mysel an ye kend about a this as weel as I do
I saw naething that was passing for I was lying close on my face and hinging by the heather but I heard a that was said and Will tauld me the rest afterwards He said she made the sign of the cross above her childs breast then over his own head as he stooped forward with him in his arms Then she glided aside and made the cross over my head and262 shoulders and it was heavens grace that I didna ken else I wad hae swarfed away Last of all she again bent herself over her child and stretched out her arms on each side of him then leaning herself back on the air she arose gently from the ground and sailed away through the dim shades of the morning toward the verge of the heaven
I wondered what was asteer then for I heard Will crying on the Virgin Mary to preserve him and rhaming oer the names o a the saints he had ever heard of and at length he gae a great gluther like a man drowning and fell down wi sic a dunt he gart a the moss shake again The bairn screamed and grat and I didna ken what to do for I durstna look up for fear o seeing the ghost till at length I heard that the rest of the sentinels had caught the alarm and were passing the watchword frae ane to another and then I ventured to set up my head But gude and gracious sic a grip as I did haud by the heather
I took up the child covered him with263 my cloak and soothed him and the poor little harassed thing hid his face in my bosom Will lay quivering and struggling like ane in a dream or under the influence of the nightmare and after I had rolled him three times over he awoke in the most horrid consternation Charlie where are ye Speak to me Charlie and tell me where I am Then a whole string o saints and angels were a invoked one after another ower and ower again Mercy on us Charlie I hae had sic a dream as never mortal man had and a sae plain and sae particular I could amaist swear it was real What do ye think Charlie Didna this bairns mother come to me in my sleep and she says to me That bairns mine—Na that wasna what she said first Ye dinna ken me says she And then Will began and told me all that I had heard pass between them before and all that I had seen and some part that I had not seen but a that I could do I couldna persuade him that it wasna a dream And it was better it was sae for if he had kend and believed that he had264 conversed with a spirit it wad hae put him daft It pat me clean out o my judgment and for that day and mony a day and night after I kend nae mair what I was doing than ane dreaming and remembered nae mair what I had been doing than if I had been asleep all the time I can therefore gie but a puir and a lame account o what followed for it is maistly from hearsay although I was tauld that I bure a principal hand in the fray
We started at the scraigh o day and drove on There were always four or five light horsemen well mounted who rode before our array to see if the coast was clear and as we went round the head of the Gowan Burn about midday ane o these came galloping back and told us that the English were awaiting us at the fords of Keilder with an army of a thousand horse
Aha quo Habby Elliot I thought we warna to get hame this way We hae just twa choices callants either to fight or flee
265
There was not a man in all our little army that could think of scampering off for bare life and leaving such a prey behind him so with one assent we rode forward in a body to the brow of the hill that overlooks the fords of Keilder The English were stationed on a rising ground to the west of the river and that being passable only by one ford which was very rough we could not attack them without the certainty of being cut to pieces so we kept our station on the steep brae over against them and sent some few of our oldest and weakliest men to be moving the prey out toward Keilderhead
We calculated the English to be about five hundred but neither durst they cross the ford to come to us They sent a few flights of arrows among our men which we regarded very little and determined if possible to keep them at bay there till our rich prey had crossed the border fell But just at the fall of the evening to our great surprise the English rushed at once into the ford with loud and reiterated shouts and scarcely had we begun to ad266vance down the steep to meet them when we were attacked by another body of horsemen behind
These men were led by a great priest whose name was Bishop Boldone but who was always called BloodySark and at the very first encounter Hab Elliot rushed among the English ranks and slew the Bishop with his own hand at the first blow But it cost Habby dear for he was cut down in endeavouring to retreat and fell under a dozen of spears In short our small band being inclosed between two stronger bodies was literally hewed in pieces but not before they had slain a great number of our enemies Will Laidlaw and I fought side by side and though enclosed in the very middle of our foes we cut our way through and escaped without a wound and with short pursuit
Our prey was gone We saw a great part of them scattered on the hills and heard them lowing as they returned toward their native pastures Our drivers having watched the fate of the day made their escape when they saw us surrounded267 abandoning the spoil We two fled in silence toward the northeast and could not even get time to look for the child in whom we were both so much interested We had lost our well earned prey we had lost our friends and companions in arms and we had lost our honour by suffering ourselves to be surprised by the ambush behind yet we both felt as if the loss of the child sat heavier on our hearts than all There was something so mysterious in our connection with him that it could not fail making a deep impression on our minds The vision that we had seen and the promise that had been made to us—that for what we had done our heads should be shielded in the day of battle—soon recurred to us and we both agreed that our escape was miraculous and perfectly unaccountable to ourselves There were not two in the battle who exposed themselves more and Laidlaw averred that he sometimes saw twenty weapons raised against us at once and that still as we approached the bearers of them seemed to lose the power of striking It was no wonder that we were impressed268 with deep awe nor that we both wished it had been in our power to have preserved the boy over whose life there seemed to be some good guardian spirit permitted or appointed to watch Our conversation was all about him There had been a nest made for him in a pack of clothes Laidlaw had led the horse himself all the way and the child had chatted to him till the alarm was given that we were waylaid and he had then given the horse in charge to one of the drivers with particular injunctions to take care of the child but he could not even remember who that driver was I came up immediately after and charged the lad to take care of the child and in the hearing of several of my followers said that I would rather they lost the whole drove than that ought should happen to him But now we had lost him we had lost all but our horses and our swords
We jogged on all the night in melancholy mood crossed the Border and then turned westward toward the CowdPeel which we reached about sunrise A little after the break of day as we were coming269 through a hollow of the height called the SprettyGrain we perceived something before us that appeared to be moving and of a prodigious bulk which after some hesitation we made up to and found that the phenomenon consisted of eight horses all well loaden and every one with its head yerked to the tail of the one before him and all these were driven by one yeoman on horseback who rode beside them with a long goad in his hand
We soon overtook and examined him and never was I so much astonished in my life as when I found it was my own henchman auld Will Nicol He was very dour and shy of communication at first
Will Nicol Is it you said I How in the name of wonder did you escape
Humph I think I may as weel speir that question at you Humph says Will
I thought you had fallen with the rest in the battle said I
Humph but Im here says Will And I think theres mae here nor me humph and I rather think I hae brought mair wi me nor some fock humph Im270 comed as fu handit as some fock I think Humph
But Will were you in the engagement
What need ye speir that humph Where was I else but in the engagement
And did you stay till it was over
Humph I stayed lang aneuch I think humph It is needless to wait ower lang on a seen bad job Humph
But the real truth of the story was that instead of staying till the battle was ower Will didna stay till it began nor near that time He was an auldfarrant chap Will and had a great deal o foresight and when he saw us begin to stop and the English standing peaceably before us herding us as he caed it he was sure there were more enemies coming up behind
Will if I were sure that ye deserted our cause and came off before the engagement began said I although I have not a man left that I ken o but Will o Craik and yoursel may I be a coward and a traitor if I wadna cut you down i the place where you stand
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Will had nothing to say for himself but Humph humph and he scratched his head and grumbled I was quite indignant at the old fellow and was getting into a greater rage than ever I hae been in at a friend sinsyne when all at once I heard a weak tremulous voice say Daddys boy cold
Aihhayhay shouted Will Laidlaw as loud as he could yell Hilloa hilloa hilloa—and he sprang first on the back of his own horse with his feet and from that he darted upon one of those that carried the packs When I rode up he was sitting on the rumple o the beast hugging the child that he had deemed lost in his bosom kissing him and exclaiming—Aih my man my dear man are ye safe are ye safe God bless auld Will Nicol God bless auld Will Nicol
It was impossible for two downcast and brokenhearted warriors to be more uplifted at any incident than Will Laidlaw and I were at discovering that the boy was safe and even auld Will Nicol began to recover some confidence—I heard you giv272ing a chap some charges about him that I kend weel caredna if his head were off—od he was ane o the hardheaded Olivers What cares an Oliver for a mans life or a bairns either—Sae I thinks sin my young master has taen a liking for the bairn Is een gang and look after him It is a good sign of a young warrior to like to save women and bairns Sae I gangs and sae I thinks sin I is bringing away this wee chap out o danger I may as weel bring something wi me as naething sae I brings aught o the best horses and the best laden anes that I could wale and bound for the Border A fashous job I hae had wi them a night
It is needless to tell how frankly auld Will was forgiven
The CowdPeel being a rallying point on all Border raides we stayed there a whole day and a night in hopes that some part of our men wad come up but out of all my fifty men there were none appeared but three of the Potts The hardheaded Olivers had been slain to a man and all the Laidlaws save my brave companion273 Out of ninety valiant Elliots there were only twelve remaining and some of these were of the drivers
There were fiftyseven Scots and nearly as many English with BloodySark at their head buried in one cairn and for the sake of the Bishop the English raised a heap of stones above them as huge as an abbey church which will be seen on the height above the ford of Keilder for ever
Laidlaw slept that night in a good bed with the boy in his arms for we had no lack of the finest blankets and sheets and that night the white lady appeared to him again claiming her child yet still declining to accept of him and promising Will protection on earth and a reward in heaven if he continued to guard and protect that boy Whether this was in a dream or not Laidlaw could not be positive but he rather inclined to think he was wide awake for he remembered of speaking to her audibly Among other things she asked him if he knew it was the child that had slept by him on the waste the night before the274 battle Will said he was sure She asked him how He answered that unless the fairies had changed him it could nae be ony other
But the fairies or some one else may change him said she You may be separated amid the confusion and uproar now on the Border and when you meet again you may not be able to prove the identity of my child I bade you the other night examine his bosom but you neglected to do so If you had you would there have found the spur of Ravensworth testifying his lineage and descent to all the world
Will came to me in a great ferment the next day and told me of all this I had heard the same words the night before the battle but had quite forgot them among other matters and wist as little what they meant as Will did
I hae lookit a his bits o claes and graepit them a said he but I can find nae spur How could there be a spur about a nakit bairn It is may be in amang the blankets
275
It is perhaps some private mark said I Let us examine the childs body very narrowly
On doing so we found a slight mark on his breast that seemed to have been made by applying a hot iron at some time previous and it was exactly in the form of a V with the wrang end uppermost So we both concluded that this was a private mark of some family that neither fairies nor men kend o and that it was perhaps a stamp that keepit them a away
It is the stamp of the heirs lineal of the house of Neville said the friar I have impressed it with my own hand after many masses and Ave Marias said What became of that child or whither is he gone I pray thee to inform us in the words of truth not lengthened out
Alas I cannot tell He was visited by the white lady of Ravensworth every night and when the gloaming came she would be seen hovering on the skirts of the wood near to him I grew that I durst276na sleep a night within ten miles o him and Will Laidlaw turned clean bumbazed about the thing sae we were obliged to send him to board wi auld Lady Lawder her that was put out o the convent for witchery and the ill arts She cared nought about spirits and conversed wi the white lady as she had been her door neighbour and it was said there were strange mysterious sayings past between them She booklearned the boy penlearned the boy and learned him mony other things foreby that were thought to be nae better than they should hae been She chauntit sangs til him and tauld him tales and there was little doubt meant to breed him up to be a terrible enchanter but afore that could be effeckit the white lady came and took him away a thegither
From that day he has never been seen or heard of in this world neither as boy nor man And now sirs I find that my storys worn to a head hair and that I maun cut it short So it is done and thats an end tilt
277
CHAPTER VIII
I have been a skipper in my time
And something more Anon Ill tell it you
Ogilvie
It is nae worth the name of a story that said Tam Craik for in the first place it is a lang story in the second place it is a confused story and in the third place it ends ower abruptly and rather looks like half a dozen o stories linkit to ane anithers tails
The poet was by this time on his feet and coming forward to Charlie he looked him sublimely in the face stretched out his hand and spoke as follows There is some being wheresoeer he dwells that watches oer the fates of mortal men now do I know it Yea and that same being has spirits of all casts at his command that run and fly and trim and trim and trim about this world And it is even true that I have seen of these yet knew them not Look here brave hero man of heart278 and hand and see if thou canst note thy mark once seen Thy spur thy A without the crossing stroke thy V with the wrong end upmost—is it here
The poet bowed his breast and exposed it to Charlies eye which at the first scrutinizing look discerned the mark he had formerly seen—the mark of the spur of Ravensworth Charlies visage altered into lengthened amazement It could scarcely have been more strongly marked when he was visited by the white lady on Tersit moor even when he was glad to hide his face in the moss and hold by the heather with both his hands
And are you really the chap that I threw out at the window in the castle of Ravensworth said he and boarded wi auld lady Lawder The creature that had a ghaist for its guardian and a witch for its nurse But what need I spier My ain een convinces me Gude faith but we are a queer set that are prickit up on the top o this tower thegither I am amaist terrified to enquire where you have been since the white lady took you away for ye279 must have been in the fairy land or the country o the gruesome ghaists or perhaps in a waur place than either
We are a queerer set than you are thinking of said Tam for here am I standing Tam Craik liege man and true to the brave Scottish Warden and I carena wha kens it now but I am neither less nor mair a man than just Marions Jock o the DodShiel that sliced the fat bacon ate the pet lamb and killed the auld miser Goodman Niddery Heres the same whittle yet and ready at the service of ony ane that requires it for the same end Od we seem to ken mair about ane anither than ony ane o us kens about ourselves
The day wears on apace said the Master and I foresee that there is relief approaching from more quarters than one This made all the party spring to the windows to look—It is not yet visible to your eyes but it will come time enough In the meanwhile it would be as well to get through with the stories that we may know and fix on our victim for perhaps we may need a mart this night And it280 being now your turn liegeman Thomas or John by right of seniority if you know of nothing better I should like much to hear the adventures of such a promising youth from the day that you made away with the farmer to this present time
Better Master Michael Scott said Tam Better does your honour say Nay by my sooth I ken o naething half sae good I hae been an illguided chap a my life but as you will hear I hae guided others at times but in a middling way
Tam Craiks Tale
My friend the laird has given you my early history perhaps better than I could hae done myself but that is to judge of He hath added and diminished—but yet he told his story wi some life and a the better that he didna ken wha heard him In one thing he was wrong informed for I was not seen on Kirtlecommon that night I fled from the slaughter of the old inveterate wretch I ran in a contrary direction and slept that night in a mosshagg at the head of a water cal281led Lanshaw Burn Many a hard night I have had but that was one of the bitterest of them all I did not rue having killed the goodman for I rejoiced at having let out his dirty miserable life and saved my own—but then I was sure to be taken up and hanged for a murderer and I was chased away from my mother and my country and durst not face a human being I saw some goats and some sheep and would gladly have killed one to have eaten for I saw hunger staring me in the face but they would not let me come near them I likewise saw a shepherds or foresters house but kept aloof and going up into a wild bushy glen I cried myself asleep half naked as I was and slept till about the break of day When I awakened starving with hunger and cold I had no shift but to pull rashes and eat the white ends of them which I continued to do all that day whenever I came to a rash bush The next night I came to a solitary house where I ventured to go in and there I first gave myself the name of Tam Craik telling abundance of lies as to my282 origin The master of the house was a wealthy vassal and had great numbers of fat oxen with cows and calves besides a few sheep and he kept me to help him to herd these promising me a grey coat if I attended to his satisfaction He was a most extraordinary man and none of the best—for his words and actions were at variance Though he conversed with me or any one with the utmost familiarity I never found out that he had told me one word of truth The first friend that came to visit him after my arrival he overloaded so with kindness professions of friendship and respect that I believed he loved him as his own soul and after he was gone as my master and I went out to the fields I observed what a treasure it was to have so good and so valued a friend as he had in that neighbour of his What was my astonishment to hear from the same tongue that had lauded him to the skies that he was a cheat a liar and a scoundrel—a greedy sordid wretch that robbed his own hinds and such wandering pedlars as came by that road not daring to venture on higher283 game one who seduced mens wives and daughters indiscriminately and was in short a perfect demon and a pest to the whole neighbourhood But master why did you caress and commend him so much to his face O that is all very well that goes all for nothing He is to be sure a vile scoundrel There are queer people in this world thought I There is nothing for it I see but Tam mind yoursel
The farmer continued very kind to me in his own deceitful way but the meat that we got was very bad It consisted of lean beef and venison as black as soot with plenty of milk but as for bread we had none of any description So from the day that I entered to his service I determined to kill a lamb or a sheep of any sort the first time I could get one but I never could get the least chance and might as well have tried to get hold of a deer I could not help thinking of the delicious feasting that I had in my little shieling dear as it had like to have cost me and every day my appetite for fat flesh became284 more insufferable till at last by a grand expedient I got satisfaction of it I had thirty fat stots in my herd and I observed that in hurrying them through a bog they sunk and stuck quite fast so having no other resource I drove a few of them one day when I was very hungry into a mire in a wood and rushing forward on them while they were struggling I sticked the fattest among them to the heart so that he floundered and bled to death in the slough Well done again Marions Jock said I to myself Here is feasting for you now Here is a feast that will last you a twelve month at odd times if you can but preserve it I declare when I began to cut up that huge animal I almost trembled at my atrocity but these kind of feelings soon wear off I was obliged to eat some collops that day without any cooking and never relished ought better I wish we saw such a meal again My thin yellow beard was a little discoloured to be sure but that was nothing I washed it and went home as285 boldly among the rest as if nothing wrong had been done
When I returned to my prey I found to my great grief that the foxes dogs ravens and every savage beast and hind on these mountains were determined to share with me they had actually eaten more in that one night than would have served me a week—so the next day I employed myself in cutting off all the good fat and savoury pieces and secreted them in wellsprings covering them up with stones this I did to preserve them from the beasts and from putrefaction and that day I am sure I had at least ten stones weight of excellent beef—the white and red were so beautifully mixed it did ones heart good to look at it
Pleasures are of short date and the greatest pleasures have the shortest My master went over the lake next day to look at my herd and I knew the ox would be missed Had it not been for my beloved beef I would have made my escape forthwith but my heart was knit to it and for my life I could not leave it I went home286 at night in great terror but to my joy I never saw my master half so kind He told me I had suffered one of my stots to be stolen but what could the like of me help it he had a rough guess who had taken him and would perhaps make him repent it I was perfectly overjoyed at this construction and resolved to revel in feasting and gladness but next day when I went back to my ox the hide was neatly taken off him so also was the head and both were taken away This was perfectly unaccountable to me and I saw the marks of mens feet in the mire confirming the fact that some body had been there stealing the head and the skin of my ox which were in my eyes not worth half the labour of taking them off I knew not what to make of this but it was evident that my prey had been discovered by some one and all that I could calculate farther on was that the hide had been stolen by some body who stood in need of it for shoes and the head by one who wanted buglehorns It was all one to me as I grew more and more a favourite with my master who now287 began to caress me more than his own sons No young lad in the land could be more thrifty about meat than I was Being anxious to have the remainder of my bullock out of sight I stole salt and a small barrel and salted my stuff in a hole below ground then when no very good meat was going by day at my masters house I often fasted the greater part of it and then taking a coal by night I stole away into the wood and roasted and boiled and feasted the whole night The beef was delicious and it was amazing what great quanties I sometimes snapped up at once for even after I thought I could eat no more there was a part of white marrowy substance about the joints and the sides of the bones that I could not give over—no man could give it over Marry how delicious it was I account that fine meat mixed with white that lies wedged in along the doublings and shelves of the bones as the most glorious species of mans food—round the broad shoulderbone for instance the spoolbone—that through which we look for the storms Think but of the layers of the red288 and the white that lie bedded around that Peatstacknowe let me feel your shoulder I suppose a man has no spoolbone—ah no—none Blessed Virgin when shall I again shire the long crooked slices of the red meat mixed with white from the flats and the hollows of a broad spoolbone
He is hungering and yearning to pick my bones the cannibal dog said Gibby But it brings me in mind of a good saying and a true The swine that is most eager to feed itself is the first slaughtered to feed others
The horseleach hath drawn thee aside from thy onward relation thou froward and voracious one said the friar Verily it is better for thee that thou return to thy tale before thy strength be consumed within thee
The loss of this sturdy ox of my masters gave rise to strange matters matters which quite confounded my judgment and which to this day I do not comprehend My master went away to the sheriff and the lord of the manor and made289 a complaint that his neighbour beforementioned had stolen one of his cattle the best that he had on his farm This was the man that he caressed so much yet knew to be a scoundrel The complaint was attended to and the injury deeply resented My master returned with a strong body of men and orders to seize Glendairg and search all his premises and if evidence appeared against him he was to be carried before Lord William called the Severe and there imprisoned in the dungeon till time should be given him to clear himself which if he failed to do in a certain period he was to be swung All my masters servants men and women were ordered to proceed with the party I went among the rest and certainly never witnessed so curious a scene Glendairg came out and met the party with all the consciousness of innocence and even when he was seized and bound he still appeared to doubt of the sincerity of the men espepecially when they told him it was at the instance of my master
If that is all it is well said he I290 am sure my kind friend and neighbour can mean me no ill by it
My master took him aside and said to him in the kindest and most soothing manner Do not be the least disheartened my dear friend You know how far I would be from injuring you I would not do it for all the cows in my byre I ken weel wha has the ox There is little doubt but he is in our neighbour Bauldys beef stand I have long suspected him and many is the good beast I have lost You little know how many good beasts I have lost and was still so loth to make it public But I can suffer it no longer Let the skaith fall upon the skaither In the mean time I know you are quite innocent but I instituted this search as a blind to him You must just submit and never mind it
O very well neighbour very well said Glendairg I knew you could not intend me any ill—search all out and in and welcome
They did so they searched all out and in and at last when about to give up they found the individual oxs hide that I291 slew in the bog lying hid deep below some hay and corn in the corner of a barn In another place still more unfeasible they found the oxs head They were both laid upon the green and my master and all his servants myself included swore to their identity as we could not do otherwise Glendairg looked like one bewildered and said there was a plot laid against his life which he neither understood suspected nor merited The shrieves officers laughed him to scorn and proposed to hang him up on the nearest tree and I believed they would have done it had it not been for the kindness of my master who came forward with tears in his eyes and addressed them somewhat thus
Alas my masters this is a heavy and a sorrowful sight for me This is the bitterest day of my life I have lost many and many good cattle and yet I would not—I could not let myself suspect my intimate friend Think how I am grieved to see these proofs Yet perhaps he may be innocent and this may be some vile plot laid against his life I beg therefore292 that he may be set at liberty and the whole business hushed up
You are a good man and a kind said the men but this thing must not be With our lord and master justice must have sway but we will report your goodness and generosity to him and be sure it will not go unrewarded We can assure you that this man has not only forfeited his life but all his farms as well as his stock of cattle and sheep to yourself
For all this my master refused to be comforted but wept and followed after the men pleading for the life and the freedom of his friend but he pleaded in vain the men bound him on a horse and carried him away with them to the dungeon of the castle of Coombe I marvelled greatly at the great kindness and generosity of my master knowing as he did that the man was a scoundrel but I wondered far more what could induce the man to steal the hide and the head from off my ox
My master was a married man and had four children and though he was apparently a kind husband his wife seemed293 quite unhappy and discontented which I thought highly unreasonable on her part She knew more however than I did and there are some small matters that women never patiently put up with He had a number of servantmaids for the purpose of milking cows making hay and cheeses and such things and among them there was a very pretty one named Kelly with whom he had fallen in love and after long toying and courting he had seduced her I knew nothing about these sorts of concerns but I thought Kell as we called her the most beautiful sprightly and innocent being that lived and I liked to look at her and hear her speak and whenever she came near me I was like to fall atrembling She slept with a little child in a large open loft above the room where my master and mistress slept and it so happened that something came by night and frightened her and she refused to sleep there any longer without some one beside her I slept by myself in one of the outhouses and it was immediately proposed by my master that my bed should be removed and put up in the loft beside Kells294 I was drunken with delight at hearing this intelligence yet I pretended to be very averse to the plan hanging my head and turning about my back when any one spoke of it nor would I answer a word to one of them but Tutt or tutts
Tam Nosey it seems yere gaun to be bedded wi bonny Kell the night
Tutt
Yere gaun up to sleep beside her and do ye think yell never brik lair
Tutt
Shes a bonny burd yon Tam ye maun tak care
Tutts
Well up I went the next night to sleep in a bed that stood side by side or rather end by end with that of Kell Oh I was so terrified for her or for having any communication with her that I would not speak a word even when she spoke to me but covered myself over the head with the bedclothes and lay puffing till I was like to choak for want of breath I did not sleep well at all I could not sleep for she was always yawning and then saying Heighho and then hushing the child295 to sleep The next night I ventured to lye with my head out from beneath the clothes unless when she spoke which alarmed me exceedingly and so I did the next night again behaving myself with great magnanimity At length I came to that pass that when she spake to me I did not creep down beneath the bedclothes but only made a great bustle and flinging as if I had been hiding myself This practice of deception I continued for several nights always making more and more pouncing and scraping every time she addressed me She laughed at me and seemed highly amused which made me still the worse At length she said one night Pray do not creep through the house for fright what makes you so afraid of me what ill do you think I will do to you Heighho Nosey I wish the bogle may not come tonight I am afraid it will come for I thought I heard it Look that it do not rise at the back of your bed for that is a very dangerous place If it come Nosey I must either come in beside you or you must come in beside me—Tutts said I and that was my first word of court296ing the first syllable that I spoke to Kell in that luckless loft I said Tutts
I suspected no evil intention on the part of my kind and indulgent master and far less on that of Kell indeed how could I suspect either One day he said to me in the fields I do not know what to do about you and that wench Kell for both your sakes I believe I must separate you She is fallen in love with you quite over head and ears and has been complaining to our dame of your unkindness to her We have a great regard for the girl and cannot part with her—but out of respect for you both you must be separated I will however trust you together until next week and if she do not complain any more you may remain where you are but I suppose I will be obliged to part with you then though against my will
This was a terrible stound to my heart and shewed my masters masterly policy for notwithstanding of all my pretended aversion to the company of women and to that of pretty Kell in particular I would not have been parted from her at that time297 for all the world not even for all the beef and bacon that was in it I did not know well how to make up matters with her so as to retain my place but I thought I would try So that night I sat down on my own bedside with my clothes on and scratched my head and beat with my bare heel against the loft but she had lost all hope of gaining me to the measures agreed on between her and her master and took no heed of me till I was obliged to speak first myself when the following highly interesting dialogue passed between us
Im unco feared the bogle come the night Kell
So am I
I wasna sure but I thought I heard it yestreen
I aince thought that I heard it a wee too
How does it play when it is gaun to rise
It begins a scart scarting like a rattan making holes I fancy to come out and take us away
298
Aih then it has just been it that I heard
Oh Ise warrant it was and that I heard too
Ay O its terrible were ill ill set here but Ill watch a night and keep it aff you Kelly
With that I came and sat down on the side of her bed to keep the invidious scratching bogle away from her but I soon became drowsy and was like to fall down She begged me to lay down my head on her pillow but I would not hear of that Oh no no I durst not lie down there so I stretched me on the loft at her bedside and fell asleep Awakening before day the first thing I heard was the bogle scratching Kell had stretched her arm below the bed on the side opposite to me and was scratching slowly and fearfully then pretending to awake she hid herself among the bedclothes muttered prayers and cried Heighho I groaned and stretching my hand round the corner scratched on the other side even more solemnly and at more awful in299tervals than she had affected so that we lay in great tribulation till the dawning of the day
Afraid that I had still been too slightly obliging and that I run the risk of being separated from her I studied the whole day on the most becoming way of conducting myself and entered on several most amorous resolutions but the higher my resolves were the more pusillanimous was my behaviour when put to the test I durst not even touch the side of her bed that night but the wicked unsonsy bogle still continued its scratchings sometimes on the one side of the bed and sometimes on the other I was therefore obliged once more to sit down on her bed side to guard her from its inroads In sitting there I dropt asleep and my head fell down on her pillow—it was impossible I could help that and then she kindly laid the uppermost coverlet over me for fear of my catching cold but I was by far too sound asleep to perceive it She had to pull the covering from below me in order that she might lay it above me—for all that I did300 not awake which was a great pity but always as she made the greatest stir I sniffed the louder A while after I turned myself about and gave my head a ketch toward the back of the bed till my cheek came in contact with something soft but it was in my sleep—and I was in one so so profound that I could not possibly know what that thing was What a fright I got next morning on perceiving my situation I sprung from the bed and ran away to the hills to my charge without speaking a word
I was however quite intoxicated with delight and endeavoured to ingratiate myself with my master by paying every possible attention to his behests lest I should lose so delightful a place both for stolen meat and approaching pleasures which I perceived would still grow more and more sublime and was glad when he said to me one day that Kell had given over complaining of my rudeness and incivility and he would trust me as her companion for a little while longer In the mean while I was to take care and do nothing impro301per but he had such trust to put in me he was not afraid of that
He was informed every day by this subservient beauty how matters proceeded so he let them go on by degrees till they arrived at such a crisis as he desired which was no more than a boy lying on a girls bedside with his clothes on He then came up with a light one night at midnight to see how his child was resting pretending that he thought her ill and found me lying sound asleep where perhaps I should not have been though I was as innocent and as free of his mistress as the child that lay in her bosom He was in great wrath and pulled me over the bed giving me two or three gentle thwacks with his open hand he also rebuked her very sharply but said to us before going away Keep your own secret For both your sakes I will conceal what I have seen although you have acted so very improperly but let me never catch you in the like fault again If the church get hold of you you are both undone
I was dreadfully ashamed and thence302forward felt my heart quite reckless and desperate disregardful of all danger or propriety and my master made me still worse by telling me that I was to part from Kell in a few days but that he did not like to put me away just then for fear of awakening suspicions against us for he had a great regard for us both I laid all these things to heart and could not then have staid from Kells bedside a night if my head had been to answer for it next day One night we were informed that some strangers had come to the house and were making merry and before we went to bed our master sent us something to eat and drink I thought there was something going on that night for I heard a great deal of muttering and saying of paternosters till a late hour However I took up my old birth and after a while fell sound asleep About midnight we were awaked by four or five gruff looking fellows with long beards and staves in their hands who ordered us both to get up and dress ourselves Our master made a speech to them lamenting our guilt and with tears in his eyes be303seeching their clemency toward us but at the same time said that he could not suffer such immoralities under his roof he had a family of his own coming up and bad example was pernicious Then he related what strict injunctions he had given us yet we had continued to persist in our wicked unlawful courses that therefore he had been obliged to give us up as lawless and irreclaimable delinquents
All that he could now do was to intreat theirs and the holy fathers merciful clemency towards the youthful offenders for that although we had both mocked and set at defiance the statutes of holy church he had hopes of our repentance and amendment And with that he delivered us over to the officers of the church whom he had trysted and suborned for that purpose They said he was a good man but that the offenders must needs suffer a heavy penance in order that they might be again rendered pure and without blame in the eyes of their fostering and protecting parent
When Kell saw that she was betrayed304 and abandoned her grief and despair knew no bounds and she would doubtless have accused her master to his face had she been able to articulate aught distinctly—but she fell into fits and they hurried her away We were confined to cells in different religious houses but both in the same ward It is well known what tyranny prevails here and what vengeance is wreaked against all those guilty of breaches of morality especially if those possessed of riches or power desire it but it is nothing to that which predominates over the west country where I then was They fed me on bread and water though I asked for fat flesh and longed for it every hour of the day and always when the people assembled to worship I was put in the juggs that is I was chained to the kirk wall with an iron collar about my neck and every boy brought a rotten egg or some filth and threw at me till I was all over bedaubed and plastered like a rough stone wall The men gave me a kick and the old maids spit upon me as they passed but the young women looked on me with pity and the old wives305 before my time of penance was expired espoused my cause and defended me from the rabble I heard them saying to one another Poor fellow somebody may be the better o him yet What wad the mother that bore him say if she saw him standing in that guise Surely she wad think the punishment far outwent the crime
One day just when I was about to be set at liberty I saw my kind master speaking to some of the holy brethren and was glad when I saw him thinking I saw the face of the only man on earth that cared for me But he came with a different intent from what I supposed namely with the benevolent one of getting me hanged He said he had missed some money out of his house ever since I came away and though he should be sorry indeed to find any part of it on me for his own satisfaction he requested to search my clothes in their presence to which I submitted without reluctance being conscious of my innocence But he that hides knows best where to seek It was not long before my kind master took out from between several306 of the buttonholes in the breast of my grey coat two gold moudiwarts three silver merks and several placks and bodles In vain did I protest that I knew nothing about them the brethren pronounced me the most incorrigible wretch and vagabond that traversed the face of the earth and as their jurisdiction extended not to such crimes as this they sent me off with the proofs of my guilt to Lord William for judgment and execution I shall never forget the figure I cut that day when brought before Lord William and accused I was in a wretched state as to clothes having stood so long in the juggs I had been hungered almost to death and maltreated in every way and altogether looked extremely ill He asked them to go over the charges against me when one of the brethren came forward and spoke to him as follows
My noble Lord and benefactor a worthy gentleman within our bounds of censure and controul lodged a complaint with us against two of his servants that had been tempted by the devil to fall into law307less and sinful communication and notwithstanding of all his admonitions and threatenings of church discipline they not only continued in their malpractices but every day grew worse and more abandoned He therefore prayed us to take cognizance of the offence which for the sake of their souls and the general benefit of our community we undertook Accordingly my lord as he suggested we went disguised as strangers and at midnight we found this same young gentleman lying snugly in bed beside our friends principal maidservant the very maiden to whom he had entrusted the care of his children one of whom lay in the bed with them Think of the atrocity of this my lord and look at the man
The judge did so and could not help smiling
What do you say to that master said he Is it truth
Yes said I
This answer made him burst out a laughing Upon my word said he you308 are a most extraordinary youth Was the girl pretty say you monk
The woman was indeed very beautiful my lord
She has been blessed however with a singular taste I think the stripling may almost be excused for this crime
The monk then related the circumstances of the stolen money having been found on me at which the judge shook his head and said Alak it is all over with him He is unfit to live What do you say to this sirrah Is it true
Yes said I
True that you stole your masters money said he
No I never stole it but it is true that it was there
What you found it I suppose Tell me the truth did not you find it
No I never found it nor ever saw it till it was taken out of my coat yesterday I never had either gold or silver in my hand in my life
Your woman took it and sewed it in for you then I suppose
309
I do not know who took it or how it came there but there it certainly was
Did you ever part with your coat to your sweetheart Did you ever lend her it to mend or leave it at home with her
I have often on warm weather left my coat at home for three or four days rinning
But you declare you did not take the money
I never saw the money nor heard of it till yesterday
When I said this he looked stedfastly on me as if he had discovered something he saw not before There was no man on earth could discover truth like Lord William Who is this youths accuser said he They told him it was sleeky Tam
I have observed of late said he that that gentleman never searches that he does not find and never accuses that he does not bring proof I have caused several to be executed on the evidences raised by him and have always remarked that he is the only profiter by their being put down We must move with more caution Let310 that wench be brought before me and stop the execution of Jocks Sandy whom I ordered to be hanged tomorrow
My late benevolent master was watching the course of these events with punctuality and was terribly chagrined when he heard that his neighbour Jocks Sandy was reprieved He was almost beside himself but having great influence with the holy brethren he persuaded them to retain Kell under their jurisdiction and not give her up to Lord William In the course of his scrutiny he had likewise discovered some of his gold pieces on her and had doomed her to destruction with the rest yet at the same time he told the holy fathers to be lenient and altogether to overlook that fault which had originated from the first and that was one to which youth was liable He conjured them not to give her up to William the Severe who would infallibly doom her to an ignominous death If she had deserved that he said it was much better that she should die privately in which case he would pay seventy merks annually to the church for the securing of311 her soul He was frightened for the meeting of so many criminals before Lord William wicked as we were and so high was the influence of the convent of which this was a branch that the brethren refused to give up the offender to Lord Williams officers
After my first examination was over I was thrust into a dungeon beside Jocks Sandy who had been cast to die for stealing the ox which I myself slew and when we began to converse freely together what a tissue of deceit was unraveled He asked me if I knew any thing about that ox for which he was to lose his life I said I knew very well about the ox for I had killed him myself And what a great fool you were said I to incur so much danger for the sake of a nouts hide and a pair of horns for these you certainly did steal
The man was perfectly amazed when I told him all the truth and promised to procure me as much fat flesh as I could eat every day if I would tell the truth of the story to Lord William I catched at the offer for I had suffered so much in my312 stomach of late that I would have done far more than he required of me for such an advantage Indeed I would have done any thing or said any thing in the world that I might once more enjoy my beloved mess He proved as good as his word for before night the keeper brought me a whole apron full of bits and scraps of the fattest meat that I ever saw—beef mutton and pork There were some square pieces of perfect pure white fat that I sliced down like cheese They were from the flanks of fat beeves the briskets of wedders and the ribs of fatted hogs and I could not but admire the want of good taste among the gentles who had left these savoury bits to their slaves and prisoners I was so delighted that I could not sleep by night but always awakened from my straw and fell amunching I wish we saw such a feast again but indeed I saw nothing for our house was in utter darkness but it was a good meathouse and I could have been content to have lived in it all my life
In a few days I was once more carried above ground for examination where I313 told the whole truth boldly but was not believed No one would give credit to the tale that I had slain one of my masters fattest oxen for the sake of good cheer such a thing they said would never come into a striplings head and I had been suborned to my evidence by my fellow prisoner Lord William asked if there was any proof remaining that I could produce in support of my assertion I said I had a part of the beef remaining well salted up in a barrel below ground and covered with a moss divot and that I had likewise some hid for fresh meat in some cold well springs and I would shew them these if they liked I was sent with a guard and shewed them the remains of my ox and when this was reported to Lord William he called me a rogue and a glutton and caused them to tie a rope about my neck and lead me through the streets of the town naked lashing me with a whip all the way He then bade me make off with myself for if I was found within twenty miles of that place where I stood he would cause me to be hewed in pieces
314
My late master was taken up and examined face to face with those he had accused but how he contrived to elude justice I never knew ten years after one informed me that the dame Kelly had accused him before Lord William of having seduced her and that in the most disgraceful way and then of forcing me into the situation in which I was caught for a screen to his own guilt and shame For all that it seems poor Kell was returned to the convent and never more heard of and sleeky Tam possesses both his own and his neighbours farm at this day
I had begun to think that ill deeds throve best but I now conceived that I had paid very dearly indeed for my late pleasures of feasting and love being almost flayed alive I cried bitterly as I fled and cursed Lord William and his raggamuffians that had scourged me and vowed to myself if I lived to be a man that I would be revenged on them I likewise cursed my deceitful master but I did not curse poor Kell indeed I found that it was for her I wept315 most bitterly thinking myself the cause of all her shame and suffering
I fled next into a country called Galloway a place which some of you may have heard of by chance but I found it the worst meat country and the worst country altogether that I had ever seen I lived there for a number of years leading a sort of vagabond life but quite an honourable one I learned naturally among them to be a great thief and an acute liar but I never stole any thing but fat flesh nor do I account any thing else worthy of running the risk for—from that no danger ever could or ever shall debar me I care not much what sort it be provided it be juicy and a layer of white next the bone I wonder whether mens flesh is likest to beef or mutton or venison
I wish ye wadna always turn your green een on me that gate when you speak about your fat flesh said Gibbie I assure you mine is neither like beef nor mutton nor venison and what is more you shall never taste it I appeal to316 you all masters and friends if this man has not fairly fallen through his tale
I suppose it must be very like veal then continued Tam and if so I have seen a joint of cold veal very excellent meat more especially that adjoining the white gristly part with a little salt a man can eat a great deal of that without being any thing the worse
My masters I do protest against these carnivorous looks of the storyteller rejoined Gibbie they make ane feel so queerly It is as if he were tearing my flesh quick from the banes with his teeth And I call you to note that he has sticked a story which from the beginning is no story
Stay till it be done an you please said Tam the best of my tale is yet to come and any man may be allowed a breathing space and a little refreshment
At CastleFern I fell in with an old man called the Gorb an itinerant fencer who travelled the country teaching the art of the sword To him I attached myself317 somewhat against his will for I saw that though he was not everywhere a welcome guest he was nevertheless a privileged one and always admitted He was six feet high with a beard that hung to his middle and his frame was entirely composed of bones and sinews The feats that he described to me of warrior prowess first raised in me a desire to learn his noble art and as soon as I began to manifest a partiality for his profession he began to attach himself to me but in a manner so ungracious that if I had not been a being quite desperate I never could have borne it We moved on from place to place the young men of the country assembled in parties as we passed to attend his lessons and at night we had freequarters wherever we went that is the Gorb was a free man—but many pointed inuendos were thrown out against my introduction as an additional burden These people had better have let the matter pass over for he did not fail to pay them back with interest in bitter and sarcastic retorts On some of these occasions he gave me a ter318rible character of the country and its inhabitants
You are come poor man to sojourn in the worst country under the cope of heaven said he into a place where there is no faith no honour no money and very little meat
What do they live on in general said I
On some wretched roots pulse and black corn said he some lean unhealthy fish and still more lean and sapless cattle
I like the country a great deal the worse said I Is the flesh here so very lean
Why ask said he have you not witnessed it
No I am very sorry I have not said I I supposed it had been lent in this country As for their faith or honour I care not a pin Their money is of little avail to me but I hate to stay in a country where there is no meat and how they can transact business without money is beyond my comprehension
They have none however said he319 nor was there ever any in this country They transact all their business on a thing called credit which commonly attaches itself to a man for a number of years sometimes for a long and sometimes a very short term This enables him to cheat his neighbours for a time and all his exertions tend only to this namely how many he can take in and to what amount and when he has gone as far as this ideal quality of his can carry him he takes to the bent and leaves them all in the lurch This is the exact state of this blessed country called Galloway and will be its state as long as it continues to exist The only rational hope concerning it is that as it is a sort of buttend of the creation it will perhaps sink in the ocean and mankind will be rid of it
He then took a hearty fiendish laugh at the conceit of the country being sunk and went on—
After all I cannot help being amazed at the rascally crew Do not you see how suspicion and distrust are stamped on every countenance Every man makes a bargain320 with apparent reluctance and with a dread that his neighbour is going to cheat him and he is never mistaken Such is the country and such are the people to whom you have now come and such must they ever continue to remain It is in their nature to be so and they cannot be otherwise Here am I their master and benefactor who have spent my life in teaching them the noblest of all sciences without which they could not have defended their country I have taught every chief in the country and every one of their vassals and how am I requited Illclothed worse fed and not a bodle in my purse All my recompense is the freedom of living a life of fatigue and wretchedness
I will not stay another night in the country of such a parcel of rogues said I
You are wrong answered he It is the best country you can be in You have nothing to lose and you may gain much Experience is a mans greatest riches and of that you will gain abundance You will here learn hourly how to oppose cunning to cunning and I will teach you the noble321 art of opposing masterly skill to brutal force until you may haply be established as my assistant and successor
I would rather dispense with the honour said I You are too lean for me to think of being your successor Were you a fat fullfed man I would not say what I might do to attain the distinction but I have made up my mind to one thing which is always to have my meat honestly if I can but at all events to have it
You are so far right in your principle said he For when we consider of it a man can have very little more than his meat in this world for all the struggling and strife there is in it But since you set so high a value on good living I can if I please assist you to it for poor and wretched as I appear and as I am I have a right to call for and command the best in every house I could likewise take their clothes for money they have none but it would be like tearing the hearts out of the dogs—so I content myself with the meanest fare rather than humble myself to ask ought of them
322
You are an extraordinary man said I But when I look at you I cannot conceive this privilege of yours to exist in aught but in theory
You shall see said he What sort of meat would you prefer
Fat flesh at all times and all seasons said I There is nothing like that Whether it be the flesh of bullock hog or wedder the fattest is always the best
What a kite What a raven What a dog exclaimed he Well you shall have it if it were but to kill you of a surfeit
We were lying in a barn when this discourse occurred and I could not but wonder what the old fellow would do It was customary for us to take our breakfast at the place where we lodged and if I might judge from our supper the place where we then were gave no prospect of very rich fare
The breakfast was produced a quantity of black brochen and lentiles The master of defence wist not how to break the ice by introducing a refusal of the proffered meal but he considered himself as pledged to323 me and his haughty spirit would not succumb His looks were particularly embarrassed and amusing and I saw that he would gladly have been free of his engagement as he began a long palaver of general remarks I kept up my good hopes and gave him always an expecting look now and then to make him hold to his resolution The people of the house paid little attention to his harangue till at length he concluded with these words
Such being the case and such the state of the country I am obliged now to claim all my rights privileges and dues from every vassal of my lord of Galloway as well as from every subject of our liege lord the king whose commission I bear Goodman Latchie I accept no more of black croudy and lentiles for breakfast I claim order and command the best that is in this house In place of that hogs meat let us have a rasher on the coals if you so please
The muckle fiend be atween your teeth then to choak you wi the first bite said the goodwife
324
Farmer Latchie I contend not with women said the man of the sword Are you aware of my rights or do you know and dispute them
I consider yours as merely a nominal right said he which no man is bound to fulfil because no man does it All my lords vassals treat you with common fare Why should I do more
With that a rawboned young man stepped forward with a black beard and a ruffian look He was the farmers eldest son and his name was John
What is all this din about said he Let me speak will ye Master Gorb Either take that which is set before you or go away without it I say that
You say that Do you sir said my master
Yes sure I do said he I says that and Ill say it again too to be sure I will
Then there is my gage sir Do you know to what you have subjected yourself said my master pulling out his sword and laying it on the board You325 have given the kings ordained swordsman the denial you must fight him or find one on the instant to do it for you If he kills you he is entitled to take off your head and send it to the king and if you kill him you lose your head and all the goods and chattels of your house are to be confiscate Rescue or no rescue Draw craven or yield me up the keys of your pantry your chest and your sunken cellar you dog
I does nae see the sense o that Master Gorb said John with a countenance right sorely altered that a man maunna say his awns his awn or whats his fathers is his fathers but that he maun tak up sword and swordsman I does nae fear thee Its no to say that I fears thee but I winna be bullied intil aught and I just tells thee that Ill neither fight thee nor suffer thee to get a scrap o aught better than is set afore thee and gang and seek thy mends Now I says that
Thou art a craven and a nincompoop said my master with the highest indigna326tion and I lift my pledge and will report thee to thy betters
Do if thou mayest cried old Latchie running to an armour chest and taking from thence a sword and buckler Disgrace of my house To give the challenge and then to flinch Have with thee Bellwether I will give you to know that old masons are the best barrowmen
I ground my pledge again and I take thee said my master But now the old woman came running between them crying out Deil be i your teeth deil be i your teeth Tak a thats i the house an haud you wit there are the keys there are the keys deil be i your teeth take a—and let us alane o your din The Gorb waved the keys aside with his arm in high indignation but the wife clung to her point I take you a witnesses cried she I take you a witnesses I have offered him the keys and he has refused them Here young Gorb young hingbythegut take ye them take ye them Deil be i your teeth take a thats i the house
I took the keys lest they should be for327got in the hurry the two old fellows took to the field with sword and buckler while both the old dame and her son John strove to interfere but the old yeoman silenced them both with a word and I thought he would have struck his son down with the sword so much was he enraged at his behaviour
I had seen much sword play by this time in the way of amusement or lessontaking but I had never seen two men meet in deadly foil and I trembled for the event for I judged that if the old Gorb was killed it would fare hardly with me being conscious that I was the moving cause of the combat My masters demeanour was altogether inimitable He went through every thing as if it had been a matter of mere ceremony first slipping gracefully to one side crossing his hands on his breast bowing profoundly and then shaking hands with Latchie then swimming gracefully to the other side and repeating the same manœuvre Last of all he wheeled about cut some wild flourishes with his sword and took his distance The328 yeoman bit his lip and appeared to be viewing all these things with disdain but he set himself firm on his legs with his left foot foremost and setting up his broad bonnet before waited the onset The Gorb on the contrary advanced with his right foot foremost and instead of availing himself of the buckler as the former did he came forward bearing it up behind him as high as his head He seemed to wear it merely because the other did but he was too proud to make any use of it Nothing ever did or ever will exceed the singularity of that combat the figures of the men and their manner of fighting being so different Latchie was short and squat the Gorb somewhat like the skeleton of a giant The art of fighting which the former pursued was to shield himself behind his broad buckler peep over it and now and then make dreadful blows around it with the full swing of his body as if he meant to cut my master through the middle or shear off both his thighs On such occasions the Gorb beside parrying the stroke made such tremendous springs off at a side that329 he rather appeared like a spirit than any thing of bones sinews and blood for as to flesh there was none on him and at every one of these leaps he uttered a loud Hoh as if he had been mortally wounded or in great danger of having been so yet all the while his face was so sublimely grave and serious as if every movement were to have been his last He never attempted to hit the yeoman and had apparently no other aim in fighting than merely to show his dexterity in fencing retreating and advancing I deemed that all was over with him and began to be mortally afraid of myself and any man would have acknowledged what good reason I had if he had witnessed with what looks the wife and son regarded me Every one of them thought the Gorb had the worst of it and that the farmer was sure of the day Indeed by this time there was little doubt of it The old wife thrice clapped her hands and screamed out Weel proven goodman that gars him scamper Weel proven Daniel Maclatchie Lie to the breastleather At these words I began to look over my330 shoulder and meditate a most strenuous flight But now the most novel scene of all occurred my master still continued to change his ground and to skip and fly about until at length the yeoman encouraged by his wifes words came hard upon him and heaving up his shield a little he came with a deadly stroke round below it ettling to cut off both my masters legs Hoh cried the Gorb as loud as he could vociferate and as the little squat yeoman stooped to the stroke he made such a spring into the air that he leaped fairly over his head and as he passed like a meteor over above him he gave him such a slap with the broad side of his sword on the hind cants of the head that it made the farmer run forward and fall with his nose on the ground He was again on his feet however in an instant and faced about while his eyes streamed with water from the sharpness of the stroke This feat astonished the Latchies but the wife cried out A barley a barley foul play—hes fighting on springs
Emblem true of thy accursed coun331try cried the Gorb and kicking off his sandals at her head he took his ground on his bare soles The combatants set to it again but the yeoman was now on his guard and fought shy standing on the defensive My master soon grew tired of this way of fighting and after two or three flying feints at an attack in a moment he wrenched Latchies sword from his grasp and threw it into the air like a slingstone The lookers on gazed in amazement—and the astonished yeoman traced the course of his erratic weapon which after forming an arch like a rainbow lighted at the distance of forty yards John the farmers son was the first who ventured a remark on the phenomenon which he did with his accustomed shrewdness and in the Cumberland brogue which he had learned by living some years in that district
Feyther I thinks thou hast thrown away thee swoard
Ay said his father biting his lip and looking after it
By this time the Gorb had his sword at332 Latchies throat crying Rescue or no rescue I say Yield traitor or die
Latchie paid no regard to him He only bit his lip looked after his sword and stood his ground firm without moving showing a most unyielding and dauntless spirit
The Gorb repeated his threat but the yeoman paid no further attention to it than before
What an unlucky accident said he Had I not thrown away my sword I would have humbled you
Do you regret the loss of your sword so much said the Gorb Will you promise on the honour of a good yeoman not to throw it away in like manner again
Promise said the other I will swear on it and by it never to part with it in like manner again
Young man said my master to me run and bring me this brave yeomans sword
I brought it and he took it by the point and delivered it back to the owner with333 all manner of courtesy Latchie took it in his hand and let the point of it slant towards the ground in token of submission
Nay nay I deliver it cried my master I would not see such a man show fear or pusillanimity for any thing Exchange me three times three and no more and God stand by the right I counsel thee moreover to assume thy best defence as I propose to do thee all manner of injury
So be it I defy you still said Latchie and took his ground a second time His wife and son spoke a great deal by way of interference but were totally disregarded The combat began again with more fury than ever but at the second or third time of crossing their weapons Daniel Maclatchies sword betook itself again into the firmament and after tracing nearly the same course as formerly alighted on the same spot
You are the devil and none else said Latchie and I yield to my conqueror I am at your disposal
And I will use my advantage as in334 duty and in honour bound said the Gorb Rise up my friend and brother you are a man of true genuine spirit I honour you and I estimate your country more this morning for your sake than I have hitherto done I claim your friendship as a brother in arms You shall not have cause to repent this spirited encounter
The farmer was greatly flattered by this speech I gave up the keys and there was no end of kindness and endearment between the two old fellows We had our rasher on the coals and I think I have scarcely risen from a better diet than I did that day I got the greater part to myself for the rest were all so busy talking and drinking cold ale that they hardly thought of the bacon It was nicely toasted and the fat stood on it like small drops of honey But I must not dwell on the recollection else I shall faint
At our meal the yeoman offered my master a new war cloak with belts bands and haversack if he would tell him by what means he disarmed him with such335 ease and in so extraordinary a manner but the other absolutely refused
It is allowable in chivalry said he to learn and practice any mode of manual defence and to keep that mode a secret till you prove it on your opponent That is my secret and by that mode I would forfeit my life nay my character itself to disarm any man that ever pointed a twoedged sword at my breast
I should have liked very much to have known that secret of his said Charlie Scott
I found it out privately with the most perfect certainty continued Tam but durst never let him know that I understood aught of the matter It was owing to his swords handle which was made for the purpose It had an inner shell of steel polished like glass then an outer one of basketwork formed with rounded bars in such a manner that by turning his hand in a slight degree to humour the position of the opponents sword and dashing his hilt336 against the point of it that entered between those of the crossbars and running up the polished steel within bent and fixed itself then by a sudden wrench against his opponents thumb of which he was a perfect master he not only disarmed him to a certainty but generally left his arm powerless After I had discovered it I went by myself to try the experiment fixed my own sword and taking my masters in my hand I pushed the basket of that slightly against the point of the other and behold it fixed in it so close that with all my might and all my art I could not extricate it without breaking it in two and in that case I saw I would leave the point sticking where it was which I durst not do for my life At length it came into my head to do as my master did This had the effect at once the vibration in the blade caused by the swing and jerk made it loosen and it flew away through the air like a fiery dragon
Master Michael Scott said Gibbie and my friends I again appeal to you all337 if this man has not fallen through his tale It is turning out no tale at all but merely an offputting of time till we shall all perish of hunger
The story of the hapless maiden Kell and of our heros first essays in love I did admire and prize said the poet
Od help your crazed head said Charlie I wadna gie that duel atween the twa auld chaps for a creelfu o love stories
Lo the tale is good said the friar but it goeth here and there without bound or limit and wherefore should not a man relate all that befalleth unto him I suppose it behoveth our friend to go on without turning aside to the right hand or to the left
My tale is indeed long but to me it is momentous I should stop here pleasantly but life is sweet—and to give me a fair chance for mine I beg to be permitted to relate one adventure more This after some demur was granted and Tam went on
After spending several years among the hills of Galloway and being approved of338 by the Gorb as he was called by every body though his name was Macdougald for a good swordsman I tired of the country being persuaded that the ground did not fatten the cattle properly and from the moment I began to suspect that I had no more satisfaction in the place but utterly despised it I perceived that their beef was never above an inch thick in the ribs and what was worse it was not properly mixed with white layers of fat even the doubles in the broad bone of the shoulder were nothing but pure red lire This will never do thought I How I despise the people that can put up with such a country as this
Master says I one day I am quite tired of this country and am going to leave it
Wherefore are you going to leave it Thomas Have not I been better and kinder to you than to myself
For all that master I am resolved not to sojourn another week in it
I warned you that they were a deceitful people before said he but we must339 take them as they are We cannot make mankind as we would wish to have them
It is not for the men nor for the women either that I dislike the country so much said I
What is it then for said he
It is said I because I suspect that their grass is not of a good quality
I will never forget the look that the Gorb turned on me He was walking somewhat before me but when he heard my reason for disliking Galloway he wheeled about and taking one of his most striking upright positions with his lean shoulders set up like two pins he stared at me with his mouth wide open and then put the following questions to me at long intervals
Grass eh How do you mean
Look at it said I What substance is in that wiry stuff and on these hills of black heather
The Gorbs jaws fell down with dismay He visibly thought that I was deranged but he answered me mildly to humour my malady
340
True the grass is not good it never was and never will be so But I have not observed that you ever eat much of it nor can I see how a mans happiness any way depends upon the quality of the grass of a country
If that be all the sense that you have thought I I will disdain for my part to exchange another word with you on the subject Since you think that a mans happiness can depend on any thing else but good grass you shall be followed no longer by me
Well continued he after waiting a while for an answer I see you are sulky about this whim but I will humour it I have nearly finished my terms among the mountains and we shall descend upon the shores where there is as good grass as any in Scotland and I promise you full liberty to go into every field that you chuse and take your bellyful of it I have likewise many things to teach you which will amuse you in the highest degree and which belong to the sublime art of legerdemain
What is that said I
341
It is the art said he that enables us to see things and people as they really are There is scarcely any thing on this earth really what it appears to be and this art I have yet to teach you
From that day forward he began and performed feats that entirely bewildered my senses but which furnished wherever we were a great fund of amusement all the young people believed him to be in compact with the devil I have forgot them all but one which I will remember as long as I live
We came to a wealthy yeomans house on the river Urr where we were to remain several days and while he exercised the farmers sons in fencing I kept the young peasants in exercise—and then in the hall in the evenings he went on with his cantrips There was a delicious shoulder of bacon hanging up on the farmers brace among many meaner hams and pieces of wretched dried flesh I believe I had fixed my eyes on it and perhaps my heart a little too Whether the Gorb noticed this and dreaded the consequences or not I can342not tell but he began a speech about things not being what they appeared to be and offered to give us a striking instance
Take down the choicest and best ham among all these above the fire said he I did so taking down the shoulder of bacon with great alacrity
Take down the worst said he I did so it was one of venison dried like a crooked stick
Which do you account the best said he I told him Well you are mistaken said he and Ill convince you of it Roll them both neatly up in straw or as you will
I did so
Now do you know the one from the other
Yes
Very well heave them up again that you may not be mistaken in the weight Now cross your hands and heave them with different hands Quite sensible they are the same
Quite sensible
Very well Take them aside by your343self and look at them You will now see them as they really are not as they appeared to your eyes
I hastened and opened out the shoulder of bacon It was nothing but three dried bones hanging together by tendons and stuffed up into the shape of an overgrown shoulder of bacon with brawn which was covered round with a piece of a sows hide I shed some tears at this blighting discovery for though the bacon was not mine I felt in my heart that I did not know how matters were to come about I hung the two hams up as they were and was cured of my itching eye but no man can tell how things will come round to the advantage of an acute and clever fellow
While we were at that house the country was raised to follow the Lord of Galloway into Cumberland It was a great rising the utmost quota being demanded of every yeoman in the country in terms of his villanage Our landlord got a charge to find five whereas he had none to send save three unless he and his eldest son344 both went which would have been grievously against him at that time so he applied to my master and me to go on his behoof offering large conditions which were soon accepted The principal if not the sole thing that induced me to go out on that raide was the stipulation that I was to have my choice of all the meat in the house to the amount of what I could conveniently carry on my back in a march After a great deal of choosing I fixed on a small beefham because it was solid and no bones in it and blest my masters ingenuity that had let me into the secret of the deceitful shoulder of bacon The next that came after me was a blade of endless frolic and humour named Harestanes He instantly snapped at the baconham and popped it into his goatskin wallet nodding his head and twisting his mouth at me as much as if he had said What a taste you have I am glad you had not the sense to take this I could easily have prevented him by revealing the secret but he had always been trying to345 make a fool of me therefore I could scarcely contain my mirth at his mistake and resolved to enjoy his disappointment in full He was a sprightly handsome youth and had such a forward and impertinent manner that he contrived to make friends in every family that we passed by particularly with the women so that he lacked nothing that he desired and tho I watched him night and day for fear of losing the sport he never took out his bacon to break it up till the fourth day after our departure My beefham was by that time more than half done It was a most wretched piece of meat being as hard as wood and bitter as gall but I was still comforted with this that it was so much better than my comrades
It was about eight oclock on a morning on the English side of the Border that Harestanes first loosed out his wallet to make a breakfast of his bacon and he being very hungry I sat down beside him to enjoy the sport taking out my black beef likewise All that I could do I could not retain my gravity while he was loosening the cords and taking the straw346 from about his ham which made him look wistfully at me and ask what the fool meant But when I saw him look seriously and greedily at it and then take out his knife to cut off a great slice I lost all power and fell on the ground in a convulsion of laughter while my voice went away to a perfect wheezle He could not comprehend me in the least degree and actually began to cut yes he actually began to cut through the bristly skin while I lay spurring the ground and screaming with anticipation of the grand joke that was to ensue Before I could recover my sight from amid the tears of extravagant mirth the scene was changed and I shall never forget the position in which the puppy sat when my eyes cleared No it is impossible I ever can forget it Conceive a wicked impertinent frolicksome whelp of a tailor for he was nothing better who had been with Sir Robert Grahams maids all the night and was so hungry that you might almost have cast a knot on him sit down to take a hearty luncheon of his bacon ham and then conceive his looks when he347 found he had nothing but rubbish and dry bones If you conceive these you will conceive the very scene that I saw at least that I conceived and saw in my minds eye How could I but laugh No It was impossible I could abstain from laughter—but yet for all that things turned out quite the reverse He had actually sliced off a rasher of bacon the fattest the whitest and the most beautiful rasher of bacon ever I had seen in my life There were three distinct layers of lire and fat curving alternately through it like quarter moons No man ever beheld such a sight He sliced out another piece which was still more perfectly beautiful than the preceding one My eyes darkened I had seen enough to shew me the enormity of my folly and my irreparable loss He roasted his rashers on the fire The fat fried out of them and flamed among the embers and when he laid them on his bread they soaked it all with pure liquid fat And there was I sitting beside him gnawing at my piece of infernal beef the sinewy hip of some hateful Galloway stott that had died of the348 blackleg and having been unfit for ought else had been dried till the hateful substance was out of it Yet I had my choice of both and took this I shall never wish any friend of mine to suffer such pangs as I did that morning for all that I had suffered in my dangers and disappointments was nothing to them I would fain have slain the Gorb privately but not daring to do that I resolved never to see his face again after the vile trick he had played All my hopes and all my enjoyments of the foray being now ended I resolved on taking my departure and that by the time my enemy had the first slice of bacon eaten
We had orders to halt all that day for the Johnstons and the Jardines were a days march before us Their advanced columns had fallen back and as the troops were sleeping or straggling about I prepared for my departure My comrade having been with the knights women all the night a set of creatures madder than himself he was quite worn out and as soon as he got his inside lined with the salutary349 beverage he fell fast asleep An inward light now began to dawn on my heart brighter than the sun at noon day and lighting my steps forward to future felicity My breath cut short with ecstatic delight and my knees trembled as I formed the resolution of changing hams with my hopeful comrade His wallet was lying open—not so the tailors eyes I might have exchanged coats and shoes too for him The great work was done in an instant I whipped out his shoulder of bacon and put my piece of black timber in its place Take you that honest man said I to myself Time about is fair play I have given you something that will exercise your jaws for a while
When I found that I had this most delicious of all morsels on my back I was so light that I scarcely felt my feet touch the ground and there being no time now to lose I made straight away into England for I durst not turn towards Scotland the sentinels being so very thick on that quarter Our advanced guard was composed of the Gordons from the Ken—a set of desperate350 raggamuffins whom I durst not have gone among had it not been fair forenoon I had my wallet on my back and my sword by my side and when I saw any of them eying me I went up to them and asked how far the Johnstons were before us
What the devil was I wanting with the Johnstons
O I was afraid there might be a battle fought before I saw it which I would not should happen for any thing in the world
Hear to the coulternibbit piper said one
He is as like supping a pint o fat brose as killing an Englishman said another
I wadna trust him wi ought beyond a litter o English pigs said a third
Let him gang forrit and fiend that he get his chafts clawn the first sword thats drawn I wadna that his name were Gordon for a hunder civis
Accordingly I got liberty to pass but as soon as I got out of sight I turned to the left and escaped to the moors of Bew351castle I had now found out the invaluable art of flint and frizzle and could kindle a fire whenever I pleased So I sought out a lonely wild dell and lighting a fire of birns and strong heather roasted two slashing slices of my shoulder of bacon I also took a good shave of bread from my friend the tailors hearthbannock but after all I could not think of adulterating the savoury delicious fare by any unnatural intermixture—so I ate up the dry bread by itself and then smacked up the bacon afterwards I cannot describe my sensations of delight not only in my meal but in contemplating the beauty of the object I sat long feasting my eyes on the beauty of the slices before I committed them to the coals They were curved so beautifully in semicircles the fat and the lire time about that unless for such an object the term beauty would have no meaning They lay alternately as if it were this way and this way and this way
I protest against your drawing of your pictures on my shoulder cried Gibbie352 and also against the party being any longer mocked with such fulsome trash in place of a story Do you not perceive Sir Master and do you not all perceive that he is havering and speaking without end or aim He is sensible that he has failed in his story and that a dismal fate awaits him and all that he is now intent on is driving of time
I confess that I am sick of the bacon and other fat things said Charlie
My soul disdains the abject theme said the poet Its tantalizing sight is like the marshfires vacant gleam to the bewildered wight Tis throwing meat to hungry souls with fainting sore opprest or drink unto the parched lips whereof they may not taste
Let us show some spirit wretched as we are said Gibbie and protest with one assent against being farther sickened as well as mocked by such loathsome stuff
This is unfair and using undue influence cried Tam None of you were thus interrupted but got time to finish your stories as you liked Mine is not353 done the best part of it is yet to come and I say it is unfair Great Master you sit as judge I appeal to you My life has been varied Let them chuse what sort of a theme they want and I will fit them only suffer me to relate one other exploit
The Master on whom hunger seemed to make no impression thought the request was reasonable but in making choice every one of them young and old pitched on a different subject so that Tam could not get proceeded neither can this chapter as an extraordinary incident befel which naturally brings it to an end
THE
THREE PERILS OF MAN
CHAP I
And he said unto Satan whence comest thou
And he answered and said thou knowest it is true
That I come from wandering on the earth
And from going to and fro on it
Like a masterless dog with my bowwowwow
Zach Boyds Bible
At the very time they were disputing about the right of Tam to proceed with his tale their ears were astounded by a loud hollo at the gate Every mans heart leaped for joy and every one was instantly on his feet but Charlie was first on the platform and answered the hollo with full stentorian voice The same voice called again
A Bellandine
Where bye answered Charlie
By the moon said the voice
2
And the seven stars rejoined Yardbire clapping his hands and shouting for joy The Warden for ever My chief for ever He is the man that cares for his own Ah he is the noble master
Charlie well knew the voice that hailed him It was that of his friend and companion in arms Dan Chisholm whom the Warden had indeed despatched all the way from Northumberland to Aikwood to see what was become of his embassy with sixandtwenty chosen troopers Charlie Scotts arm was a bulwark of strength and his breast a tower of fidelity the value of which Sir Ringan knew how to estimate while his acts of kindness and regard made a deep impression on Charlies honest unsophisticated heart and before he would say a word about the situation of either himself or his associates he caused Dan to inform him of the Wardens fortune and success in their absence Being satisfied concerning these he called out
What ither uncos Dan What mair news are come out
O God shield you cried Dan Do3 nae ye ken that the worlds amaist turned upsidedown sin ye left us The trees hae turned their wrang ends upmost—the waters hae drowned the towns and the hills hae been rent asunder and riddled up like heaps o chaff Tis thought that there has been a siege o hell and that the citadel has been won for the deils are a broken loose and rinning jabbering through the land They hae been seen and they hae been heard and nae man kens whats to be the issue or whats to fa out neist
Blaw lown Dan ye dinna ken wha may hear ye said Charlie We hae had hand in these matter oursels But for the sake of a thats dear to you and to us bring gavelocks and ern mells pinchingbars and howies and break open every gate bar and door in this castle for here are we a imprisoned on the top of it and famishing to dead wi hunger and starvation
That I will do wi a expedition answered Dan It is a shame for the master of the castle to imprison his kinsmens friends who came to him in peace and4 good fellowship What strength of opposition holds he
Nane good Chisholm but these gates The great Master is himself a prisoner and suffering with us
That dings a said Dan I canna understand it But its a ane for that ye maunna stay there I shall gar his gates flee a into as mony flinders as there are hairs on his grey beard
If you demolish one bar of these gates young man cried the Master fiercely you do it at your peril
So I do and so I will answered Dan Either bring down my friends and companions to me this instant or—I have orders—and here goes
Man of mystery and of misery what dost thou mean said the friar Lo I have saved thy life and if thou refusest to let us escape from the face of death I will even throw thee from the top of thy tower and thy blood shall be sprinkled on the wall
The Master gave him a fierce look but made no reply As he strode the battle5ment however he muttered to himself with great violence Does the Christian dog dare to beard me thus To what am I fallen I am fallen low but not to this And not to know what I am nor what power remains with me Would that I were in the midst of my arcana and of the spirits once more Young warrior use your liberty Break up and demolish Set us all free and see who is the profiter
Dan scarcely needed such permission He and twenty others had each a stone of at least half his own weight heaved on his shoulder which at a given signal they all dashed on the gate at once The bars bent but nothing gave way and it was not before the twentieth broadside in the same irresistible style that the cross bars became like a bow and the lock slipped As for the large bolt one of the men had climbed over the counterguard on the shoulders of the rest and drawn it When they came to the gate of the castle entrance seemed hopeless It was stedfast and immoveable the door being double6 Dan bellowed for the porter and asked those on the top what was become of him but none made answer to his rash question After waiting a while for it with his face placed horizontally he muttered to himself Aha mum there He has gane nae gude gate Ill warrant him Its a queer place this an as queer folk about it
Whats queer about it lad said a strange voice through the key hole whence it would not speak again
They had nothing for it but to begin with such awkward mattocks as they had namely a score of huge stones but to their excessive joy the doors gave both way at the first assault This was owing to a most fortunate blunder of the friar who during the time he was in possession of the keys had gone forth to provide for his mule which he did in an ample manner but on returning had either been unable or unwilling to turn the tremendous locks again into their sockets and open flew the gates with a jarring sound Of course it was not long till our yeomen7 were thundering at the iron door on the small stair It was a double door of strong iron bars and the lock was inclosed between them so that all attempts to open it appeared fruitless one man only being able to get to it at once that is one on each side and these had no footing After tugging at it in vain for a space Dan swore that to open it it would be necessary either to begin at the top of the tower and demolish downward or at the bottom and demolish upward This appeared a job so tedious to starving people that it was agreed to feed them with meat and drink through the bars Every man readily proffered the contents of his wallet but the getting of these through the bars required ingenuity They poured the meal through in tubes made of leather and water and strong drink in the same way but the flesh could only be got through in long small pieces and Tam Craik having taken his station at the back of the door in order to hand up the provisions to his companions none of the butchermeat as it is now called found8 its way farther By the time they had got a supply of meal water and distilled liquor some of Dans party by the direction of the Master went to bring mattocks for raising the stair and forcing a passage through below the door others had gone to the brook for more water so that none remained in the narrow stair save Dan Chisholm and another person
By this time there was one who had been silently watching the progress of affairs at Aikwood castle where he had long been accustomed to reckon on every thing as his own but now there were some things passed under his potent eye the true motives for which he could not comprehend and these actions were still growing more and more equivocal so he resolved on trusting his sworn vassals no more to their own guardianship but to take an active management in guiding the events that so deeply concerned his honour and power Who this august personage was the reader will scarcely guess He may perhaps discover it in the detail
It was wearing toward evening the sun9 being either set or hid behind dark clouds for short as these tales may appear as here related by Isaac the curate they had taken a day in telling by the wights themselves The individuals who had been shut up were all light of heart and rejoicing Delany had fainted in ecstacy or partly perhaps by exhaustion but was soon recovered by a cup of cold water They had got plenty of stores laid in for a night and more so that they were freed from the dread of perishing by starvation or saving their lives by a resource of all others the most repulsive to humanity Such was the state of affairs when the most appalling noise was heard somewhere about the castle—a noise which neither could be described nor the cause of it discovered The people below ran out to the court or to the tops of the outer walls and those above to the battlements—but they saw nothing save the troopers horses scowering off in all directions every one of them snorting aloud and cocking their heads and their tails Tam Craik and Dan Chisholm were still standing with their noses10 close to the iron door and conversing through it Another trooper stood close at Dans back and when the rushing sound arose the one said to the other
What the devil is that
Take care wha ye speak about here friend or wi reverence be it spoken said Tam Then turning round he called out Yardbire what hurlyburly is that
I cannot tell answered Charlie only I think the devil be entered into the horses
Tam who did not hear distinctly from the top answered Dan thus He says its only the devil entered into the horses Dan was just about to reply when the trooper tapped him on the shoulder and said in a whisper Hush squire Good Lord look what is behind us He looked about and saw a terrific being standing on the landingplace beckoning him to come down From an irresistible impulse he lost no time in obeying and pushing the trooper down before him he descended the steps When he came to the bottom he got a full view of the figure that stood upright between two pilasters with11 its face straight to the aperture that lighted the place One may judge of our yeomens feelings when they gazed on a being which they always described as follows
It appeared about double the human size both in might and proportion its whole body being of the colour of bronze as well as the crown upon its head The skin appeared shrivelled as if seared with fire but over that there was a polish that glittered and shone Its eyes had no pupil nor circle of white they appeared like burning lamps deep in their sockets and when it gazed they rolled round with a circular motion There was a hairy mantle hung down and covered its feet that they could not be seen but Dan saw its right hand as it pointed to them to retire every finger of which terminated in a long crooked talon that seemed of the colour of molten gold It once opened its mouth not as if to speak but to breathe and as it stooped forward at the time both of them saw it within It had neither teeth tongue nor throat its whole inside being hollow and of the colour of burning glass
12
It pointed with its right hand across its bosom for them to be gone and as they passed by with hurried strides it drew a stroke with its paw which threatened to send them heels over head down the stair but it withheld the blow in a moment as if moved to some higher revenge and all the way down the great winding stair it followed and showered on them such a torrent of burning sulphur that they were almost overwhelmed all the while vomiting it from its burning bosom with a noise that resembled the hissing of a thousand great serpents Besides this on every landingplace there were a pair of monsters placed as guards immense snakes bears tigers and lions all with eyes like burning candles For all these our two yeomen still kept their feet which was a wonder and escaped fairly into the court of the castle
When they arrived there every one of their companions had taken legbail and were running as if for death or life and after what our two champions had seen13 there was no occasion to bid them run after the others Those above heard only the rushing noise which still increased as long as there was one of those below within the gate but they saw nothing further—and wondered not a little when they saw first the horses run away and then the men after them When Charlie saw that they were gone and his brotherinarms Dan leaving the outergate the last he called after him to go by the mill and see that Corbie got plenty of water
What our prisoners had witnessed was like every thing else about that castle quite incomprehensible Even the great Master himself was manifestly at a loss when he first heard the sound and saw the beginning of the confusion his eyes beamed with exultation He gave three stamps with his foot and called aloud as to some invisible being in an unknown tongue but on receiving no answer his countenance fell and he looked on in gloomy mood
The flyers vanished after their horses on the hill to the eastward of the castle Once14 a few of them rallied and faced about but on the next one coming up they betook them again to their heels and thus was our hapless embassy left in the same state as before save that they were rather in higher spirits their situation being now known and instant death averted After they had refreshed themselves most of them fell into a slumber but at length as the evening advanced the poet claimed his privilege of telling a story Some of them proposed that the conversation should be general instead seeing the great stake for which they contended was now in all likelihood superseded The poet however was of a different opinion on the ground that the highest stake in his estimation still remained What though my life may not be forfeited said he to feed the hungry and carnivorous maw of this outrageous baconist although my warm and oozing blood may not be sucked up like the stagnant marsh by bittern vile or by the tawney snipe yea though my joints should not be skatched and collared by the steel or sinews gnawed up by offi15cious grinder Whats that to me a gem of higher worth of richer acceptation still remains Beauty unsullied pure simplicity with high endowments in affliction nursed and cramped by bondage Oh my very heart yearns to call such a pearl of lustre mine A kindred soul A bosom friend A oh—oh—oach
Charlie hasted to clap his hand on the poets mouth as he burst out acrying Hout hout Colly said he I am quite o your opinion but truly this is carrying the joke ower far I wish ye maunna hae been hauddin rather freely to your head o thae strong liquors for the singing crew are a drowthy deils ilk ane o them Whisht whisht and ye sal tell your tale or sing your sang which you like and then you are free to take a collop or gie a collop wi the best o them
I flatter myself thats rather a good thing Eh said the poet
What thing said the other
The song that we overheard just now Do you know who made that song Eh
Not I
16
But you have heard our maidens chaunt it—have you not God bless them Sweet dear sweet sweet creatures Why Sir that song happens to be mine and I think I may say without vanity it is as good a thing of the kind as you ever heard Eh
Faith I believe it is said Charlie—not knowing well what to say for he had heard no song whatever and then turning to the rest while the poet was enlarging on the excellency of his song he said in an under voice Gude faith the poets either gaen clean daft or else hes drunk What shall I say to him
The poet tapped him on the shoulder seeing he was not paying attention
It is not for this I say that I judge the piece worthy of attention nor yet what it shows of ability hability docility or any of the terms that end in ility nor for its allegory category or any of the terms that end in ory Neither is it for its versification imagination nor any of the thousand abominable terms that end in ation No sir the properties of all my songs I17 am thankful to Saint Martin end in icity and uity You know the song Yardbire
O yes Quite weel
What do you think of the eleventh verse Let me see No it is the thirteenth verse Good Friday are there so many Hem—m—m The tenth is the Oxeye I am sure of that The eleventh is the Millstone The twelfth the Cloudberry and the Shepherd Boy The thirteenth is the Gander and WaterWagtail It is the fourteenth What do you think of the fourteenth Ay it is the Gowans and the Laverock that you will like best You remember that I am sure
O yes to be sure I do—Aside Good Lord the poets horn mad Heard ever any body the like o this
How is this it runs Ay
When the bluart bears a pearl
And the daisy turns a pea
And the bonny lucken gowan
Has fauldit up his ee
Then the laverock frae the blue lift
Doops down and thinks nae shame
To woo his bonny lassie
When the kye come hame18
The song is good and the music of the song also is delectable said the friar but the voice of the singer is like a sweet psaltery that hath lost a string and hath its belly rent by the staff of the beater Lo I would even delight to hear the song from beginning to end Sing it poet and let it stand for the tale cried two of them at once That I will not answered he I will tell my tale in my own style and my own manner as the rest have done nevertheless if my throat were not so dry I would sing the song It is plain what he wants said Charlie Tis the gate wi a the minstrels—wet the whistle or want the spring
Charlie handed him another cup of strong drink desiring him to take it off and sing He did the first freely and attempted the second with equal alacrity but his voice and memory both failed him by the way to the great amusement of the whole party—even the captive boy screamed with laughter and the great Master was twice constrained to smile But we must describe this scene as Isaac himself gives it
19
The poet was sitting on a bench with Charlie on the one hand and Delany on the other and fixing his eyes on the ceiling and clasping his hands which he heaved up at every turn of the tune he went on thus
THE SWEETEST THING THE BEST THING
A SONG
VERSE FIRST
Come tell me a you shepherds
That love the tarry woo
And tell me a you jolly boys
That whistle at the plow
What is the greatest bliss
That the tongue of man can name
Tis To woo a bonny lassie
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame
Tween the gloaming and the mirk
When the kye come hame
Thats the burden or the quoir as father Cormack calls it—the oerword like
VERSE SECOND
Tis not beneath the burgonet20
Nor yet beneath the crown
Tis not on couch of velvet
Nor yet in bed of down
Tis beneath the spreading birch
In the dell without the name
Wi a bonny bonny lassie
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame c
VERSE THIRD
There the blackbird bigs his nest
For the mate he loes to see
And on the topmost bough
Oh a happy bird is he
There he pours his melting ditty
And love tis a the theme
And hell woo his bonny lassie
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame c
VERSE FOURTH
When the little wee bit heart
Rises high in the breast
And the little wee bit starn
Rises red in the east
O theres a joy sae dear
That the heart can hardly frame
Wi a bonny bonny lassie
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame c
VERSE FIFTH
Then the eye shines sae bright21
The hale soul to beguile
Theres love in every whisper
And joy in every smile
O wha wad chuse a crown
Wi its perils and its fame
And miss a bonny lassie
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame c
Here the poet warred a long time with recollection always repeating I made the thing and it is impossible I can forget it—I cant comprehend—— At length he sung the following verse which he said was the fifteenth
VERSE THE FIFTEENTH
See yonder pawky shepherd
That lingers on the hill
His ewes are in the fauld
And his lambs are lying still
Yet he downa gang to bed
For his heart is in a flame
To meet his bonnie lassie
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame c
VERSE SIXTEENTH AND LAST
Away wi fame and fortune
What comfort can they gie
And a the arts that prey22
On mans life and libertye
Gie me the highest joy
That the heart of man can frame
My bonny bonny lassie
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame
Tween the gloaming and the mirk
When the kye come hame
I made the thing added the poet but God knows how I have forgot it Since I came to the top of this cursed tower the wind has blown it out of my head With these words he fell into a profound sleep which they suffered him to enjoy before he began his competition In the meantime Isaac relates an extraordinary story of a certain consultation that took place in the castle in that very interim but does not say on what authority he had it none of the parties yet named having apparently heard it
The castle of Aikwood says he being left as before an ample and perilous void some old and frequent inmates took undisputed possession The leader and convoker of this gang was no other than the23 Master Fiend who ordered our yeomen out of the castle and chased them forth with so little ceremony In the great Masters study was his gigantic and commanding frame placed at the end of the board while the three pages Prig Prim and Pricker were waiting his beck
Come nigh me my friends said he and read me what is to be done with this king of mighty conjurors now
What thou willest our Lord and Master was the reply Give the command with the power and thy pleasure shall be done
How canst thou answer for thy negligence in suffering this cowled and canting vagabond to gain admittance here with his saws and parables his crosiers and his writings
We meant to devour him but our power extended not to it Thou hast seen the bones of one whom we suspected
You are indolent and wayward slaves Either separate our greatest vassal on earth from this captious professor or you shall24 be punished with many stripes Our sway is dishonoured if such a man as he is suffered to take shelter under a crosier and there hold our power at bay—our control at defiance—Return to him that power which since his dejection has been withdrawn and you are sure of him still Riches and honours he despises feasting and winebibing he abhors but for power to do what no other man can perform he would sell twenty souls were they in his power of disposal
He is a great man and well suited for our free independent government By his principle of insubordination to established authorities I yet hope to bring all mankind to my own mind and my own country Read me my riddle you three slaves What is the most hateful thing in nature
A saint
More ready than right and more right than ingenious Show cause
Because he is the greatest coward and all that he does springs from the detestable passion of terror
25
Right Which being is the most noble
The opposer of all established authorities ordained by the tyrant of the universe
Right Right These are the men for me and of these this Master was a great ensample Therefore Separate Separate Separate My elemental power is solemnly engaged but on the morning of the third day it shall be given to you to work again at your Masters will Till that time it will be as well to prevent all ingress and egress here and at that time I will come again Speed you well nimble noddies shape well and shard well and the day is your own While I transform my shape sing me the song that I love Whenever I hear it my furtherance is the better The imps complied and the redoubted fiend laughed till the walls of the castle shook while those on the top took it for the great bittern of the Hartwood called there the Bogbumper
26
HYMN TO THE DEVIL
Speed thee speed thee
Liberty lead thee
Many this night shall hearken and heed thee
Far abroad
Demigod
What shall appal thee
Javel or Devil or how shall we call thee
Thine the night voices of joy and of weeping
The whisper awake and the vision when sleeping
The bloated kings of the earth shall brood
On princedoms and provinces bought with blood
Shall slubber and snore and tomorrows breath
Shall order the muster and march of death
The trumpets shall sound and the gonfalons flee
And thousands of souls step home to thee
Speed thee speed thee c
The warrior shall dream of battle begun
Of fieldday and foray and foeman undone
Of provinces sacked and warrior store
Of hurry and havoc and hampers of ore
Of captive maidens for joys abundant
And ransom vast when these grow redundant
Hurray for the foray Fiends ride forth a souling
For the dogs of havock are yelping and yowling
Speed thee speed thee c
Make the bedesmans dream27
With treasure to teem
Today and tomorrow
He has but one aim
And tis still the same and tis still the same
But well thou knowest the sots demerit
His richness of flesh and his poorness of spirit
And well thy images thou canst frame
On canvas of pride with pencil of flame
A broad demesne is a view of glory
For praying a soul from purgatory
And O let the dame be fervent and fair
Amorous and righteous and husband beware
For theres a confession so often repeated
The eyes are enlightened the lifeblood is heated
Hish—Hush—soft foot and silence
The sons of the abbot are lords of the Highlands
Thou canst make lubbard and lighthead agree
Wallow a while and come home to thee
Speed thee speed thee c
Where goest thou next by hamlet or shore
When kings when warriors and priests are oer
These for thee have the most to do
And these are the men must be looked unto
On courtier deign not to look down
Who swells at a smile and faints at a frown
With noble maid stay not to parle
But give her one glance of the golden arle
Then oh theres a creature thou needs must see
Upright and saintly and stern is she
Tis the old maid with visage demure28
With cat on her lap and dogs on the floor
Master shell prove a match for thee
With her psalter and crosier and Ave Mari
Move her with things above and below
Tickle her and teaze her from lip to toe
Should all prove vain and nothing can move
If dead to ambition and cold to love
One passion still success will crown
A glorious energy all thine own
Tis envy a die that never can fail
With children matron or maiden stale
Shew them in dreams from night to day
A happy mother and offspring gay
Show them the maiden in youthful prime
Followed and wooed improving her time
And their hearts will sicken with envy and spleen
A leperous jaundice of yellow and green
And though frightened for hell to a boundless degree
Theyll singe their dry perriwigs yet with thee
Speed thee speed thee c
Where goest thou next Where wilt thou hie thee
Still there is rubbish enough to try thee
Whisper the matron of lordly fame
Theres a greater than she in splendor and name
And her bosom shall swell with the grievous load
And torrents of slander shall volley abroad
Imbued with venom and bitter despair
O sweet are the sounds to the Prince of the Air
Reach the proud yeoman a bang with a spear29
And the tippling burgess a yerk on the ear
Put fees in the eye of the poisoning leech
And give the dull peasant a kick on the breech
As for the flush maiden the rosy elf
You may pass her by she will dream of herself
But that all may be gain and nothing loss
Keep eye on the men with the cowl and the cross
Then shall the world go swimming before thee
In a full tide of liberty licence and glory
Speed thee speed thee c
Hail patriot spirit thy labours be blest
For of all great reformers thyself wert the first
Thou wert the first with discernment strong
To perceive that all rights divine were wrong
And long hast thou spent thy sovereign breath
In heaven above and in earth beneath
And roared it from thy burning throne
The glory of independence alone
Proclaiming to all with fervor and irony
That kingly dominions all humbug and tyranny
And whoso listeth may be free
For freedom full freedoms the word with thee
That life has its pleasures—the rest is a sham
And all that comes after a flim and a flam
Speed thee Speed thee
Liberty lead thee
Many this night shall hearken and heed thee
Hie abroad
Demigod
Who shall defame thee
King of the Elements how shall we name thee30
As the imps concluded their song our prisoners on the top of the castle perceived a large rough watchdog jogging out at the gate of the castle and following in the direction of the fugitives When the brute saw that he was perceived he turned round set up his snout toward the battlements and uttered a loud bowwowwow which when the great Master heard he started to his feet and with wild staring looks and his hair standing on end took shelter behind the friar
Behold thou and see with thine eyes that it is only a watchdog come from the camp of our captain said the friar Lo thy very nature is changed since first I saw thee
Then would to the gods that I had never seen thee or that I had seen thee sooner said the Master and strode away to discourage any farther reply The dog followed the fugitives and bent his course toward the mill
That being the next inhabited house to the eastward Dan Chisholm and his yeomen landed all there and in full assembly31 he related to their terror and astonishment how he had seen the devil himself and several of his monstrous agents who had chased him from the castle spuing fire and brimstone on him like a cataract The rest said that though they had not seen the devil they had seen and heard enough to put any rational being out of his senses and as much as to teach them never to go there again Dan swore that they were not to be taught any such thing for said he Our captains friends and our own brethren in arms are most unwarrantably and I must also say unaccountably confined there—and we will either free them or perish in the attempt I can find plenty of holy men that with book and candle can withstand the devil and shall make him flee from his stronghold like fire from the flint If I had the gospel friar on the one side of him and Father Brand or Capuchin Cairnabie on the other I shall gar him skip While Dan was in the middle of this speech in comes the great rough watchdog who after fawning on some of the32 warriors as on old acquaintances took his station in a dark corner of the millers thronged hall and began a licking his feet but at the same time taking good heed to all that passed It was finally agreed that Dan and a companion should ride straight to Melrose and represent their case to the holy abbot there who was devoted to the interests of their captain and who it was not doubted would devise means of expelling the old demon from his guardship and letting free their friends who were all baptised men and good Christians As they formed these sapient devices many hard things were said of the devil and our warriors seemed rather inclined to make a laughingstock of him till the millers maid interrupted them with the following question
Wha o you trooper chaps does this maskis dog belang to
To nane o us was answered by several at the same time
I wish ye wad tent him then said she for this wee while bygane his een33 hae been glentin like twa blue burnin candles I wish he be nae a mad ane
Sneck doors and out swords cried the miller Well hae him proven
The doors were shut and the yeomen surrounded the dog with their drawn weapons The poor beast lay as harmlesslike as a lamb with his head upon his fore feet so as to hide them turning up his eyes from below his shaggy brows in a beseeching manner and wagging his tail till it played thump thump on the floor But this did not hinder the miller from reconnoitring though it gave him rather a favourable opinion of his shaggy guest Poor fellow said the miller whas dog may ye be The dog forgot himself he lifted up his head in a kind acknowledging manner to the miller who looking narrowly at him cried out A marvel a marvel saw ever ony mortal man the like o this Heres a tyke wi cloven cloots like a gait fairney cloots and a thegither The Holy Virgin be wi us I believe we hae gotten the——
Here the miller was interrupted with34out getting the sentence concluded The dog sprung to his feet appearing twice as big as when he entered Bowwowwow roared he in the millers face with the voice of an enraged lion Bowwowwow And as he bayed from side to side on the warrior circle they all retreated backward till the wall stopped them Well might they—for they perceived by his open mouth the same appearance that Dan had before witnessed namely a stomach and chest of burning flame Bowwowwow reiterated he Youph youph youph All fled back aghast but the attack was of short duration The miller had a huge fire of seeds above a burning log of wood which he had heaped on for the comfort of his guests When the dog reached that he broke into it appearing to bury himself in the coil of fiery dust It flashed upwards in millions of burning atoms and in the midst of them up flew the dog out at the top of the lum with a tremendous Bowwowwow
All was silence for a few seconds while our yeomen stood in a circle with their35 weapons drawn and their backs at the wall gaping with affright and staring on one another By Saint Thomas we are haunted cried Dan breaking silence That is the same chap I forgathered wi afore in the staircase of the castle I ken him by his lowin lungs though he has changed his shape He was interrupted by a loud laugh on the top of the house and a voice that said in a jeering tone Ha ha ha Andrew Chisholm is that you I have found out a your plans—and ride you to Melrose or ride you to Dryburgh Ill be there afore you to lend you a lift Ay and Ill keep Aikwood castle in spite o you and a your masters men
Dan could not contain his indignation on hearing this brag He ran forward to the brace put his neck under it and turning his nose up the lum or rustic chimney answered Deil o that yere fit to do auld tyke Yere but a liar at best and the father o liars Gang and toast heathen bacon in your ain het hame What seek ye here amang leel men
Weel answered and like yoursel Dan36 said one of the yeomen and slapped him on the shoulder which rousing his spirit still farther he added Confound you Robins Geordie o Feindhopehaugh what for didna ye strike when the foul thief set up his gousty gab at your nose wi his impudent bowwowwow I see nae right ony o Gods creatures hae to be hurlbarrowed out o their standing wi him
As he finished the remark there was something came to the door and gave two or three rude impatient scratches exactly in the same manner that a strong dog does that wants to be in This instantly changed the cheer of our sturdy group that with one involuntary movement closed round the hearth as the point the most distant from the door
Thats him again said the millers lass
The Lord forbid said the miller I wonder what multure he wants frae me Though I live on the lands of a Master of Arts I had nae inkling that I was thirl to hell Brave lads can nane of you rhame a mass a credo or a paternoster He is but37 a coward at best I hae kend a monk wi his crosier and his cowl chace him like a rabbit
I fear well prove but lame hands at that said Dan and think we had better sally out on him sword in hand and see what he can either say or do for himself But Chryste I needna say that considering that I ken sae weel what his linings made of
I hae a cross and chain in the house said the miller that was consecrated at the shrine of St Bothan whoever will be our leader shall bear that before him and well bang the auld thief away frae our bigging
The scratching was renewed with redoubled fury Our yeomen crowded closer around the fire till all at once their ears were saluted by a furious bowwowwow down the lum which in spite of their utmost resolution scattered them like a covey of heathfowl over which the hawk is hovering when every one endeavours to shift for itself and hide in its own heather bush
38
Their faces were by this time flushed with shame as well as fear that they should be thus cuffed about by the auld thief as they styled him Resolved therefore to make one great and strenuous effort the miller brought out his consecrated cross some tied sticks and others horn spoons across till all were armed with the same irresistible symbol and then they marshalled up before the fire uncovered their heads and with the ensigns reared before them waited for a moment the word of command to march out to the grand attack The arch fiend not choosing to wait the issue raised such a horse laugh on the top of the lum that their ears were deafened with the noise and clapping his paws that sounded like the strokes of battering rams horns he laughed till the upper and nether millstones chattered against each other and away he bounded through the clouds of the night apparently in an agony of laughter
Aha there he goes said Dan Theres nae guidance to be had o him and as little mense in meddling wi him
39
Ay let him een gang said the miller hes the warst mouse o the mill Ane had better tine the blind bitchs litter than hae the mill singed wi brimstone I lurd rather deal wi the thankless maltster that neither gies coup neivefu nor lippie than wi him I have no part of the breviary but a glorious preamble kneel till I repeat it
The troopers kneeled round the miller who lifting up his hands said with great fervour O semper timidum scelus Obstupui steteruntque comæ et vox faucibus hæsit O Deus nusquam tuta fides Amen Amen repeated all the group and arose greatly strengthened and encouraged by the millers preamble
They spent that night around the millers hearth and had a cog of good brose to their supper The next morning Dan and two associates rode off for Melrose to lay their case before the friendly abbot and to beg assistance which notwithstanding the devils brag they were not afraid of obtaining But the important40 events that followed must be related in course while we return to those friends in their elevated confinement to whom that night the poet related the following tale
41
CHAPTER II
Lord Duf Did you not wake them Cornaro
Cor Alas my lord I could not
Their slumber was so deep it seemed to me
A sleep eternal Not a sleep of death
But of extatic silence Such a beam
Of joy and happiness I neer beheld
Shed from the human face
The Prioress a Tragedy
The Poets Tale
Fain would I tell my friends and fellowsufferers of my translation hence Of all the joys and ecstacies of that celestial clime ycleped the land of faery were it not that one is here whose sex forbids it and whose gentle nature from such a tale would shrink as doth the flower before the nipping gale You all have heard of that celestial form the white lady And of that wan and beatific presence there lives in my remembrance some faint image of saintly beauty But list to me my friends and do not smile far less break forth with loud uncourteous neigh like war horse in the42 charge—vile waste of breath convulsive unrestrained But hear the truth It was not she who bore me from this land—not she the white lady as all divined No it was a form of flesh and that flesh too of most rare quality Fair witching plump rosy and amorous and of unmarred proportions Sooth she who lured me from my rustic home no other was than wandering minstreless queen to the mightiest harper ever born Sole empress of a tuneful wayward choir thoughtless and giddy But their music stole my very soul away What could I do but follow it to listen and to sing In that bright train I sought the Scottish court the nobles hall and every motely scene of loud festivity throughout the land There have I heard and seen such scenes of love of dalliance and of mirth of deep intrigue and violent cruelty as eye of minstrel hath not witnessed Yes I have seen things not to be expressed at least not here Therefore Ill change the rule this night pursued of saying what myself have seen and done The fairy land in which I sojourned was fair43 Caledon and there I had my living minstrel joys in high abundance But I grieve to say a fatal brawl placed all of us within the line to which the sword of vengeance extends its dreadful sway Our group dispersed The soul of melody was then no more The sounds of harmony divine were hushed all scattered on the winds of other lands and other climes to charm with wailing numbers Southward I came amid the border clans to trust my life men lawless as myself They once had saved me when a helpless orphan Whom could I better trust And I have found their generosity alone outdone by their own courage For my adventures let this sketch suffice And though not of the fairyland I will relate a tale as pure as wonderful and full of mystery as if in other worlds Id learned it I had it from a simple peasants mouth an old grey hind upon the Sidley hills who vouched its truth With faltering tongue and palpitating heart for love for life and all the soul holds dear I say my tale O be my soul rapt to the estimate at which I hold44 the prize and the divine and holy narrative
Once on a time in that sweet northern land called Otholine the heathen Hongar landed and oerran city and dale The rampart and the flood in vain withstood his might Even to the base of the unconquered Grampians did he wend with fire and sword and all who would not kneel and sacrifice to his strange northern gods he tortured to the death Some few renounced the cross for sordid life and dread of unheard torments Men were roasted matrons impaled and pure virginity was given up to the rude soldiery to be abused or humbled as they termed it Then were they decked with flowers and ornaments led forth in pairs unto the horrid shrine and sacrificed to Odin
At that time there lived three beauteous sisters of the line of mighty kings They were so passing fair that all who saw them wondered and all who wondered loved Hongar and Hubba these two heathen brothers and princes of the Danes heard of their fame their beauty and their ex45cellencies of nature and sent to seize them in their fathers tower that in the heights of Stormonth stood secure The castle was surprised the virgins seized and carried to the camp There to their dreadful trial were they brought and bid to curse the sacred name they feared and worshipped to renounce the holy cross and worship Odin or give up their bodies to shame to ignominy and to death on Odins hideous altar Marley and Morna both kneeled and intreated begged a little time to ponder on the dread alternative But the young sprightly Lena fairest she of Albyns virgins browed the invaders threat with dauntless eye That eye whose liquid smile in loves sweet converse had been formed to beam
Thou savage heathen cried she dost thou think to intimidate the royal maids of Caledon to thy most barbarous faith Tyrant thou art deceived I dare thine ire Thou mayst torment me for Im in thine hands and thy heart neer knew pity Thou mayst tear this tender fragile form with pincing irons But my souls purity46 thou never shall subdue by threat by engine or by flame Thee and thy god I scorn—I curse you both I lean upon the rock that will not yield and put my trust in one whose mighty arm can crush thee mid thy idol to an atom I know hell save me He will save us all if we but trust him without sinful dread Here underneath his bleeding cross I kneel and cast myself and my poor sisters here upon his mercy Here I make a vow to stand for him and for his sacred truth and for no other Now thou ruthless savage here I defy thee Do thy worst to us and thou shalt see if Jesus or if Odin shall prevail and who can best preserve their worshippers
The heathen brothers smiled and Hongar said How wildly sweet the little Christian looks I make my choice to humble and prepare her for the base slaves of Odins warlike halls Go warriors lock them up in donjon deep until the hour of midnight when the rites of Odin shall begin Then will we send and bring them47 to the test and all shall see whose God is most in might and who must yield
In prison dark the virgins were immured with sevenfold gates and sevenfold bars shut in Soon as they were alone the sisters twain Marley and Morna in fond tears embraced their youngest sister lauded her high soul and vowed with her to stand with her to die unsullied in the faith they had been taught
Then did they kneel on the cold dungeon floor and one by one offered their fervent prayers at mercys footstool But chiefly were their vows made to the Holy Virgin for they hoped that she would save their pure virginity from sins pollution Never did prayers ascend up to heaven with greater fervency And as the hour of midnight on them drew they kneeled and side by side with lifted hands and eyes turned toward heaven sang aloud this holy simple hymn to their Redeemer
48
HYMN TO THE REDEEMER
Son of the Virgin hear us hear us
Son of the living God be near us
Thou who art man in form and feature
Yet God of glory and God of nature
Thou who ledst the star of the East
Yet helpless lay at a Virgins breast
Slept in the manger and cried on the knee
Yet rulest oer Time and Eternity
Pity thy creatures here kneeling in dust
Pity the beings in Thee that trust
Thou who fedst the hungry with bread
And raisedst from the grave the mouldering dead
Who walkedst on the waves of the rolling main
Who criedst to thy Father and criedst in vain
Yet wept for the woes and the sins of man
And prayedst for them when thy lifeblood ran
With thy last breath who criedst FORGIVE
When bleeding and dying that man might live
Over death and the grave hast the victory won
And now art enthroned by the stars and the sun
For thy names glory hear us and come
And show thy power over idols dumb
O leave the abodes of glory and bliss
The realms of heavenly happiness
Come swifter than the gale of even
On thy lightnings wing the chariot of heaven
By the gates of light and the glowing sphere49
O come on thy errand of mercy here
But Lord of glory we know not thee
We know not what we say
We cannot from thy presence be
Nor from thine eye away
For though on the right hand of God
Thou art here in this dark and drear abode
Beyond the moon and the starry way
Thou holdest thy Almighty sway
Where spirits in floods of light are swimming
And angels round thy throne are hymning
Yet present with all who call on thee
In this world of wo and adversity
Then O thou Son of the Virgin hear us
God of love and of life be near us
Our hour of trial is at hand
And without thy aid how shall we stand
Our stains wash out our sins forgive
And before thee may our spirits live
For thee and thy truth be our bosoms steeled
O be our help our stay our shield
Show thy dread power for mercys sake
For thy name and thy glory and all is at stake
Bow down thy heavens and rend them asunder
And come in the cloud in the flame or the thunder
The trumpets now were sounding while the host arose from wine and wassail to prepare the baleful sacrifice of Christian souls The virgins heard and trembled as they kneeled and beauteous Lena raised50 her slender hands and prayed with many tears that the Almighty would stretch out his right hand and close their eyes in everlasting sleep to save them from selfslaughter or the fate they dreaded more
While yet the words were but in utterance and ere the vow was vowed they heard the gates unbarred one after one and saw the lights glance through the lurid gloom Each youthful heart turned as it were to stone for well they weened the Danish soldiers came to bring them forth to shame and death They kept their humble posture with hands and eyes upraised for they expected no pity or compassion save from heaven
The inmost door upon its hinges turned like thunder out of tune and lo there entered—no heathen soldier—but a radiant form covered with light as with a flowing robe In his right hand he bore a golden rod and in his left a lamp that shone as bright as the noonday sun A thousand thousand gems from off his raiment cast their dazzling lustre Diamonds and rubies formed alternate stars51 while all between was rayed and spangled oer with evervarying brightness Round his head he wore a wreath of emeralds these were set with neverfading green They deemed he was the great high priest of Odin come to lead them to the sacrifice But yet his look so mild and so benign raised half a hope within their breasts of pity and regard They were about to plead but ere a sound breathed from their lips the stranger beckoned them to silence Then in mild and courteous strain in their own tongue he thus accosted them
To ONE already have your vows been framed and would you bow to another You have pleaded to heavens high King and would you plead to man Rise up and follow me The virgins rose they had not power to stay—and followed him alas they knew not whither They had no voice to question or complain Door after door they passed gate after gate and still their guide touching them with his golden rod they closed in jangling fury Onward still they moved and met52 the heathen bands led by their chiefs Hongar and Hubba They were drunk with wine and loudly did they halloo when they saw their prey escaped and walking on the street all beauteous and serene Closing around the fugitives and jabbering uncouth terms and words obscene the chiefs opened their arms to seize the helpless three Just then their guide turned round unmoved and waving his bright rod the heathens staggered uttered mumbling sounds and trying vainly to support themselves reeling they sunk enfeebled to the earth where all as still and motionless they lay as piles of lifeless corpses How the virgins wondered at what they saw and fearless now they followed their bright leader Next they met the priests of Odin in their wild attire marching in grand procession to the scene of mighty sacrifice Aloft they bore their hideous giant idol by his sides his loathsome consort and his monster son Freya and Thor while all their followers sung this choral hymn in loud and warlike strains
53
HYMN TO ODIN
I
He comes he comes
Great Odin comes
Who can rise or stand before him
The god of the bloody field
The sword and the ruddy shield
The god of the Danes let all adore him
II
Wake the glad measure to
The goddess of pleasure too
Who fills every hero with joy and with love
And hail to dread Thor
Great son of great sire
The quaffer of gore
And the dweller in fire
The god of the sun and the lightnings above
III
Prepare prepare
The feast prepare
Since mighty Thor our guest shall be
Three times three
And three times three
This day shall bleed for repast to thee
IV
Strike the light
Make the flame burn bright
Since Freya is here who gives delight
Three times three
And nine times nine54
This day shall bleed on altar of thine
V
Shout and sing
Till the mountains ring
The father of men and of gods the king
See him advance
With sword and lance
Billows of lifeblood heroes bring
VI
God of Alhallahs dome
God of the warriors home
Who can withstand thee in earth or heaven
Bring to his altar then
Of Christian dames and men
Nine times nine and seven times seven
VII
Bend to your place of birth
Children of sordid earth
The god of battles your homage disdains
Who dare oppose him
Christian or Moslem
Who is like Odin the god of the Danes
The maids and their angelic guide went on following the cross and as they went they sung in sweet and humble aspirations the song of the Lamb They met the gorgeous files Fair met with fair The hideous idols sat an hundred cubits high whereas the cross a maidens hand upbore55 But when they met the proud and mighty peal swelling from Odins worshippers was hushed as with a sob The hills rang with the sound and the oerburdened air bore the last knell up to the skies It quavered through the spheres and died in distance to be heard no more while nought but the sweet notes the virgins sung rose on the paths of night The motely mass of heathens stood amazed and as they stood they listened and they quaked The words were these at which they paused and which the virgins sung
Silence the blasphemers thee that defy
Strike down the mighty Son of the Most High
Rise in thy power that the heathen may see
What dust are their gods and their glory to thee
Raise thy right hand and in pieces them shiver
That to the true God may the praise be for ever
At every line the bearers and their gods trembled the more and as the last notes closed the mighty Odin toppled from his throne and crashed amid his powerless worshippers His wooden spouse and son fell with the sire of Gods and men and in a56 thousand pieces their gilded frames were dashed Confusion reigned The host fled in dismay but Odins priests sunk down in low prostration groaning and howling for the fall of Odin—the shield and glory of the Danish host
From out this wild confusion the bright guide conducted the three virgins to a cave close by the rivers brink and charged them hide until the wrath of the enraged foe should be abated Here said he you are in perfect safety No one living knows of this retreat Here sleep and take your rest May angels watch around your flinty couch Farewell I must begone on the employ assigned me by your father and by mine He left the lamp and went his way Forthwith they kneeled in prayer thanking their Saviour for their great deliverance then laid them down to rest They kissed the cross and folded closely in each others arms cheek leaning unto cheek with holy hymns they sung themselves asleep
Great was the rage among the Danish chiefs and wide the search for these pre57sumptuous and bold aggressors The host was all discouraged and amazed and nought but terror reigned Earldoms were offered for the audacious maids dead or alive But nor alive nor dead could they be found either by friend or foe O dreadful were the execrations uttered by the Danes They called them demons witches and the worst of all incendiaries Well they might The terror of their arms was broken Great was the rejoicing mid the hills and glens of Albyn but the eastern vallies groaned beneath the fury of the savage Dane and Christian blood was shed on every cross
The virgins waked at morn and still the lamp sent forth its feeble glimmer through the cave The daybeam through the crevice of the rock streamed in and mixed with it The virgins strove to rise to speak—to sing a morning hymn But all their limbs were cold and their tongues clove fast to their thirsty palates Lena first of all the three upraised her pallid form and on the lamp turning her drowsy eye there did it settle closed and oped again but58 still with faded and uncertain light as if the mind were lacking Long she sat half raised in this uneasy torpid state—this struggle twixt oblivion and life Oft she assayed her sisters to awake by naming them but still as oft the names died in a whisper By degrees her mind dawned into recollection as the moon breaks oer the sullen twilight Then the wonders that she had seen oernight aroused her soul to all its wonted energy She kneeled and thanked her Maker for the great deliverance to them vouchsafed And when her sisters woke they woke to join her in a heavenly song
What ails our sister Here we are in safety Why does our dear beloved not rest in peace The night is not far spent the dawn of morn is yet far distant O dear Lena sleep Sleep on and take your rest The morning sun is yet beneath the deep Our limbs are cold our eyes are heavy yet we cannot rise for we are weary and not half awake
Wake my beloved sisters It is time The noon is at its height See how the59 sun peeps through the granite cliffs and on the stream sheds ray of trembling silver Let us rise and talk of all the wonders we have seen
Long they conversed in tears of gratitude still peeping from their cavern lest the Dane again should find and drag them to the altar Sore were they pressed by hunger From the stream they drank abundantly with thankful hearts But food for many a day and many a night they scarce had tasted and they longed for it with more than ordinary longing Night approached and there they sat not knowing what to do a prey to gnawing hunger At the last young Lena said I cannot ween that heaven hath wrought a miracle for our relief and for no higher purpose than that we should be left to die of hunger in this dark and hideous den Again Ill put my life into its hand and go into the city after twilight in search of bread and if I die I die Heavens will be done Her sisters looked at her and blessed her in the holy Virgins name They could not bid her go where danger waited so great so imminent and60 yet they felt they could not press her stay With cautious eye and with enfeebled step trembling she sought the city gate But when afar she saw by torchlight porters striding to and fro with glittering lances of enormous length and ponderous battle axes her heart failed and she drew back But then she thought again of those she left behind and all the throes of perishing with hunger and resolved to risk all hazards The huge gate stood open and strangers went and came Ill join thought she this straggling crew and enter among them they speak my native tongue Ah they must be a band of traitorous base renegades that have renounced the cross and joined the Dane else wherefore free to go and come and trade Im all unsafe with such The strangers eyed her with most curious and piercing looks and whispered as they went They seemed afraid and shunned her by the way as they who shun a being infected by the pestilence or spirit from the dead No one addressed a word to her but hurried to the gate
61
She came alone for feeble was her step and her breast palpitating as with throb of burning fever hopeless of admission
The porters stared with wide extended gaze and eyes protruding but no word they spoke nor crossed their lances Straight she entered in What can this mean thought she There is a change since yestereven that it passes thought to comprehend These keepers are not Danes I heard them speak in Albyns ancient tongue and yet methinks they wear the Danish garb Hows this that I am free to come and go as in my childhood when the land was free
She passed the sacred fane and there beheld crowds entering in but fast she sped away weening they went to Odins cursed rites
She went to those that sold and asked for bread The woman stared at her with silent gaze She asked again and straight the huckster fled in floundering haste Poor Lena stood amazed Hows this said she whereer I show my face the people shun me Here I shall remain for62 I am faint with hunger till I taste some of these cakes which I can well repay
She stood not long until she was accosted by holy bedesman who with cautious step and looks of terror entered fast repeating his Ave Maria In the Virgins name cried he and under sanction of this cross I charge thee tell who or from whence thou art
The virgin kneeled and kissed the holy symbol but waived direct reply I lack some bread to give to those that famish and Ill pay for that which I receive was her reply
Then tis the bread of life that thou dost lack mans natural food I fear thou canst not use for thou art not a being of this world but savourst of the grave Thy robes are mouldy and fall from off thy frame Thy lips are parched and colourless These eyes have not the light of human life Thou ominous visitant declare from whence thou art and on what mission thou comst to this devoted wasted land
Lena looked up The holy fathers face63 to her appeared familiar But how great the change since last she saw it Father Brand dost thou not know me was her home reply
With blenching cheek and with unstable eye the father gazed and faultering stammered forth No Jesu Maria be thy servants shield Yes Now I know thee Art thou not the spirit of the hapless Ellamere who was put down within our convent for a wilful breach of its most sacred law Avaunt Begone Nor come thou here t accuse those that grieved for thee while they executed just vengeance on thy life Injurious ghost Thy curses have fallen heavy on our heads and brought the wrath of heaven upon our land in tenfold measure In the Saviours name whose delegate I am I charge thee hence unto thy restingplace—to that award that heavens strict justice hath ordained for thee and come not with that pale and withering look more curses and more judgments to pronounce
Reach me thine hand said she and held hers forth meaning to work convic64tion on his mind that she was flesh and blood Her arm was wan as death itself emaciated and withered and furred with lines livid and colourless as by corrodent vapours of the grave The monk withdrew his hand within his frock shook his grey locks and with slow palsied step moved backward till the threshold stone he gained then turned and fled amain The household dame fled also from her inner door from which she peered and listened and the wondering virgin again was left alone She waited there in wild and dumb incertitude a space then took some bread some fruits and baken meat laid some money down as an equivalent and went away to seek her dark retreat
But as she passed the fane with wary step she ventured to the porch and marvelling heard the whole assembly joined in rapt devotion praising the name of Jesus Close she stood and darkling as it was joined in the choir so much beloved But all the wonders she so late had seen yielded to this In one short night one strange eventful night such things65 were done as human intellect with all its cunning could not calculate
She passed the gate The gaping sentinels stood as they did before immoveable each casting sidelong glances unto his mate to note who first should fly or call the word She beckoned them as with intent to speak but in one moment porters spears and axes scattered and vanished in the darksome shade
Reaching the cave she found the lamp gone out that their mysterious deliverer had left them over night First she regaled her sisters hearts with the miraculous tidings that all the people worshipped Jesus name without dismay or molestation who but the night before not for their lives durst have acknowledged him That all seemed free to go and come and pray to whom they listed The tale seemed a romance—a dream of wild delirium The Danes could not be banished in a night and all the land cleared of the vile idolatry of Odin They disbelieved the whole as well they might but held their peace dreading their sisters mind mazed66 in derangement Still as she went on saying that all whom she had met or seen supposed her one arisen from the dead or ghost of some departed criminal strangled for breach of a monastic vow then did they grasp each others hands and weep for their dear sisters sad mishap They deemed her mad as raving whirlwind or the music of mountain cataract Yet she had brought them food of various sorts which in the dark she gave them and they fed or strove to feed—but small indeed the portion they devoured
Hows this cried Morna that my little cake grows neer the less Can it be so that we are truly spirits—ghosts of the three maids that overthrew the Danish god last night I hunger and I thirst tis true Tell me Can spirits drink the element of water Certes they may But then how did we die or when for I cannot remember me of passing deaths hideous and dreary bourn though something of a weary painful dream hangs round my heart
This vague disjointed speech the way67ward visions of distemperature struck the two others motionless and set them on cogitations wandering and wild as meteors oer a dreary wilderness The thought of being in a new existence with all its unknown trials powers and limits their struggling minds essayed in vain to grasp
Reason returned but as a stepmother returns to frenzied orphans dying bed They felt each others pulses There was life—corporeal life but still there was a change which no one chose to mention—yet a change quite unaccountable for one nights sleep to have effected From their caverns porch they viewed the stars of heaven They were the same as they were wont They saw the golden wain the polar plough tilling his ample field with slow unwearied furrow and the sisters—the seven lovely sisters of the sky arching their gorgeous path Far to the east they spied a star beloved which in their childhood they oft had watched and named the tigers eye changing its vivid colours as of yore And then they wept to think of former days of innocence68 and joy And thus in tears clasped in each others arms they laid them down their mazed and oppressed spirits to compose
While thus they lay romantic Morna said My sisters it is evident to all that some great change has happed to us last night We are not what we were What can it be but change from one existence to another A mortal creature cannot touch or feel a disembodied spirit but we know not how spirits feel each other Sure as life and death hold opposition in this world from the one into the other we have passed I feel it in my being So do you though unacknowledged Let us rise and walk as spirits do by night and we shall see the change in us not over a whole land in one short night Come let us roam abroad I feel a restlessness—a strong desire to flit from place to place—perchance to fly between the mountain and the cloud and view the abodes of those we love
This wild romance waked in the virgins hearts an energy between despair69 and madness All extremes erratic and unnatural on the minds of females act like the infection of virulent disease Up they arose and stepping from their cavern took their way along the rivers brink Midnight was past The tigers eye had climbed the marble path that branches through the heaven and goggled forth now red now blue now purple and now green down from his splendid ceiling far on high Twas like a changeful spirit In the east the hues of morning rose in towering streaks as if the Almighty had caused light to grow like cedars from the summits of the hills It was a scene for spirits There were three abroad that morn before the twilight rose—three creatures spiritual yet made of flesh First they espied an aged fisherman who passed without regard Then did they deem they were invisible and wilder still their fancies worked The suburbs now they gained of the resplendent ancient Otholine the emporium of the east and hand in hand with hurried but enfeebled step they trode its lanes and alleys Those who saw them70 said their motions were erratic like the gait of beings overcome with wine or creatures learning to walk for the first time on earth The early matron and the twilight groom fled with hysteric cries at their approach The gates were left ajar the streets a waste porter and sentinel joined in the flight and nought but terror and confusion reigned
The virgin sisters wist not what to do or what to dread Within the convents porch they halted turned and gazed on one another and wondered what they were that nature thus shuddered at their approach and held aloof Three creatures spiritual yet made of flesh belonging not to heaven nor earth but shunned by the inhabitants of both Just then while standing in despondency they heard the grey cock crow the eldritch clarion note chilled every heart and twanged on every nerve
That is our warning call wild Morna said My sisters now we must hence and begone that is the rollcall of the murdering spirits We shall be missed at71 matins To your homes your damp and mouldering homes ye ghastly shades The daylight will dissolve you Does that voice not say so
Hush thee gentle Morna drive us not to distraction Here well wait until the convent matin then well ask the holy prioress what things we are What say you gentle sisters can we live outcasts on earth in such incertitude Our fathers towers are distant We can glide like passing shades with slow and feeble motion but nothing more spirits—can sail the air in skiff of mist or on the breezes wing Such powers we have not and to journey there we lack ability Here then we stay until we are resolved what strange events have happened to us to our native land and church of late so grievously oppressed
Yes here well stay Come rouse the porteress For see the sun tips the far hills with gold and we shall melt before his tepid ray all gentle as it is at early morn My frame is like a mildew The hoar frost of death hath fallen on it Oh for the72 guide—the angelic youth that left us yestereve Ho daughters of the Cross If any here hath scaped the murderous Dane come forth and welcome the conquerors of Odin Ho within Wake ere the sun upbraids you He is up on service to his Maker yet you sleep I say wake
Who calls What are you there
We know not what we are For that we come to see if any here can us resolve But two short nights ago we were three maids of royal lineage Thou stern porteress come forth and look on us Canst thou not tell what we are made of Why standst thou aloof
Speak calmly sister Morna See she trembles and dares not answer Gentle dame we pray admission to your lady prioress for sake of him who died upon the cross whose name we worship Straight she vanished upon her fearful mission glad to scape from such a colloquy Soon then arrived the aged prioress who them approached with dauntless countenance and unappalled asked of their errand Venerable dame dost thou73 not know or hast thou never heard of the three maids of Stormont who of late led by a heavenly messenger oerthrew the god of Denmark and upheld the cross triumphant oer the breasts of prostrate heathens
Ay I have heard of them and often joined in prayer and thanksgiving for the deliverance wrought by these royal virgins That was a conquest that roused the spirit of the Christian to deeds of more than mortal energy and humbled the proud confidence the Dane placed in his idols Ay that was a conquest shall cloud the brow of the idolater while the world stands But what was it you spoke of yester eve Either you are deranged or shallow poor impostors for that time hath long gone past and the three wondrous maids were in the sight and from the middle of that mighty host translated into heaven Unless you came from thence on sacred mission and bringest evidence of identity by further miracle better you had keep silence and depart
We are those maids the maids of74 Stormont nieces to the king and we require of you lodging and fair protection till we prove our lineage There is something passing strange hath happed to us But what the circumstance or how accordant with the works of God is far beyond the fathom and the height of our capacity We are the maids of Stormont To that truth we will make oath upon the holy cross
The prioress crossed herself commended her to heaven and with deep awe and dire astonishment admitted them She gazed upon them their fair cheeks were pale and their benignant eyes looked through a haze that was not earthly it was like the blue mists of the dawning All their robes were of the fashion of a former day and they were damp and mouldy falling piecemeal from off their bodies with their rottenness
I dread to question you mysterious things That you are earthly forms I see and feel Whence are you In what dreary unknown clime have you been sojourning Or are you risen from out your75 graves If you have truth in you and power to tell it pray resolve me this for I am lost in wonder
What we are we know not For that purpose we came hither that you might tell us All we know is this Last night but one we were the maids of Stormont doomed to a dreadful fate An heavenly one came to our rescue led us through the gates of iron and of brass Still as we went we conquered Ranks of proud idolaters fell prostrate in the dust and the great god the mighty Odin was oerthrown and dashed into a thousand pieces Straight our blessed guide conducted us into a lonely cave close by the rivers brink and bade us sleep and take our rest until the day should dawn and shadows fly away We slept and yestermorn when we awoke the lamp our guide had left still feebly burned Impelled by hunger from our cave we ventured All people fly from us the Danes are gone the name of Christ is mentioned Nought we see and nought we hear is comprehensible
76
A miracle a mighty miracle Within that secret cavern you have slept for days and years in quiet sweet repose the lamp of heaven still burning over you until the day hath dawned—such day of grace as Scotland hath not seen The heathen Dane with all his hideous gods was vanquished but days of darkness and contention rose until this time when all the glorious rays of mercy and of grace have shed their influence on this benighted persecuted land and you are waked to enjoy it Let us go straight to the altar and beneath the cross join in elated thanksgiving
The chancel door opened before the altar When the three virgins entered in and saw the figure on the cross they cried aloud with one combined voice Tis he Tis he What Have these heathens dared to lay their impious hands on him Tis he Tis he Our heavenly guide that saved us from the death And have they slain him Has the cursed Dane——
Hold hold for mercys sake you do not know the things you utter What you77 look upon hangs there to represent the death of him who died that man might live
And is it so Then be our lives sacred unto the service of him who laid his life down for our race and sent his angel to deliver us in his own likeness too for this is he who came to us in great extremity when we called on the name of our Redeemer in agony of soul
Remain with me till our great festival This miracle must be made known to all that trust in Jesus name Meanwhile I will cherish and comfort the beloved of heaven
The day arrived of the great festival the anniversary of the overthrow of mighty Odin—that sublime event that broke the bands of iron and of steel and threw the gates of superstition open to Albyns Christian triumph On that day the kings whole household nobles of the realm high dames and commons abbots monks and mendicants a motely and a countless multitude assembled early at the monastery of ancient Otholine to render thanks for78 their deliverance Masses were said and holy hymns of praise ascended to the skies With one accord then all the grateful multitude agreed to canonize the three heroic virgins who with the aid of angels had wrought out the Christians triumph the beloved of heaven translated to the blest beatitude where souls of saints and blessed martyrs dwell and whose joint prayers might with the holy Virgin much avail
A joyful clamour for the ordinance then spread around so eager were the crowd to kneel and pay their humble adorations to the three maids translated to the heavens with bodies like their own Applauses rang and from behind the altar was given forth a song divine in which a thousand voices joined till all were hushed at this ecstatic strain
Hail to the happy three
Vessels of sanctity
Now honoured to stand
At the Virgins right hand
Mater Dei79
Remember me
Remember us all and send us for good
Bone of our bone and blood of our blood—
Song of harp and voice be dumb—
The heaven is oped They come they come
A bustle rose The abbot on his knees sunk down and leaned upon the altarcloth and only a few voices whispered round They come they come The congregation turned their eyes into the chancel and beheld three virgins all in robes of purest white stand over against the altar The loud choir was hushed and every brow was forward bent in low obeisance All believing these three beauteous flowers from paradise had come arrayed in robes of heaven with angel forms that bloomed like winter roses newly oped in high approval of the festival and sacred honours to be paid to them
The virgins beckoned raised their flowing veils and their right hands to heaven Stay they cried stay the solemnity ere you profane the name and altar of the God of heaven Here stand the three unworthy maids of Stormont whom you would deify Come nigh to us our father and our king80 and ye chaste ministers of him we serve Come nigh and feel that we are mortal like yourselves and stop the rite Pay adoration to that Holy One who pitied us in misery extreme and you in grievous bonds There be your vows and worship paid in which we three shall join He hath indeed done wondrous things for us works of amazement which you all shall hear and whoso heareth shall rejoice in heart
Then came they all unto their fathers knee kneeled and embraced him while the good old earl shed tears of joy and rendered thanks to heaven their sovereign next their former lovers friends and all they knew in that mixed multitude they did embrace that no remaining doubt might spring and spread of their identity It was a joyful meeting such a one as hath not been in any land for happiness and holy ecstacy They lived beyond the years of women—but their lives were spent in acts of holiness apart from grandeurs train In curing of the sick clothing the naked ministering to all in want and wretchedness and speaking peace81 unto poor wandering and benighted souls Their evening of life was like the close of summer day pure placid and serene—the twilight long but when at last it closed it was with such a heavenly glow it gave pure prospect of a joyous day to come Thus ends my legend and with all submission I bow to your awards and wait my doom
82
CHAP III
Garolde Prick on good Markham That galled jade of yours
Moves with a hedgehogs pace Is this a time
To amble like a belle at tournament
When life and death hang on our enterprize
Mark Weve had long stages Garolde
We must take up What miscreants have we here
The Prioress
Lo have not I taken great delight in the words of thy mouth said the friar for it is a legend of purity and holiness which thou hast told and the words of truth are contained in it Peradventure it may be an ancient allegory of our nation in which manner of instruction the fathers of Christianity amongst us took great delight But whether it be truth or whether it be fiction the tendency is good and behold is it not so do not I even thank thee for thy tale
It is the most diffuse extravagant and silly legend that ever was invented by votary of a silly and inconsistent creed said the Master
83
I side wi you Master Michael Scott said Tam Craik I think the tale is nought but a string of bombastical nonsense
Excepting ane about fat flesh I think I never heard the match ot said the laird of the Peatstacknowe It brings me amind o our hosts dinner that was a show but nae substance
If I foresee aught aright said the Master of many a worse dinner shall I see thee partake and enjoy the sight
Was not that a beautiful and sublime tale father said Delany I could sit and listen to such divine legends for ever The poets eyes shone with tears when he heard the maid he loved say these words to the friar apart who answered and said unto her Lo there are many more sublime and more wonderful in thy little book nevertheless the tale is good for instruction to those that are faithless and doubting
Alak I fear I shall not live to learn and enjoy these Do not you think father that we shall all perish in this miser84able place added Delany—this horrible place of witchcraft and divination Charlie Scott stepped forward when he overheard some of these words Eh what was the lassie saying said he Eh Ill tell ye what it is hinney I believe ye see things as they are Theres naething but witchcraft gaun on here and it is that and that alone that a our perils and mischances rise frae Begging your pardon father I canna help thinking what I think and seeing what I see But gude faith we maun blaw lown till we win aff the tap o this bigging if that ever be
My hand hath prevailed against his hand said the friar and my master over his master and had it not been for this miserable accident we should have had nothing to fear from his divinations sublime and mighty as they are What hath become of the mighty men of valour from the camp of our captain
O theres nae mortal can tell said Charlie It was not for naething that Dan and his lads ran off and left us without ever looking ower their shoulders A85 witchcraft a witchcraft Ane may stand against muckle but nae man can stand against that I wish we were where sword and shield could aince mair stand us in stead But this Im sure o—Now that our situation is kend to our kinsman it winna be lang before some aid appear O if it wad but come afore we are driven to that last and warst of a shifts to keep in life
We canna live another day said Tam I therefore propose that the maid and the boy try ilk ane their hand at a tale too and stand their chances with the rest of us Their lives are of less value and their bodies very tender and delicate
Every one protested against Tams motion with abhorrence and it was agreed that they would now appeal to the Master who had told the worst tale Not that the unfortunate victim was to be immediately sacrificed nor even till the very last extremity but with that impatience natural to man they longed to be put out of pain every one having hopes that his own merits protected himself from danger Every86 one also believed that judgment would be given against Tam except he himself and that at all events such an award would put an end to his disagreeable and endless exultations of voracious delight They then went before the renowned wizard and desired him to give judgment who of them had related the worst and most inefficient tale laying all prejudice with regard to creeds and testimonies aside
He asked them if they referred the matter entirely to him or if they wished to have each one a vote of their own Tam said it was an understanding at first that each should have a vote and as he had made up his mind on the subject he wished to give his Charlie said it was a hard matter to vote away the life of a friend and for his part he would rather appeal to the great Master altogether But if any doubts should remain with any one of their hosts impartiality he thought it fairer that they should cast lots and hazard all alike The poet who had heard the Masters disapprobation given pointedly of his tale sided with Yardbire and voted87 that it should be decided by lot Gibbie though quite convinced in his own mind that he had told the best story yet having heard the morality of it doubted and dreading on that score to have some voices against him called also for a vote for he said the referring the matter to the Master brought him in mind of the story of the fox sitting in judgment and deciding against the lamb The friar also said Verily I should give my voice for the judgment of the Master to stand decisive But lo is it not apparent that his thoughts are not like the thoughts of other men Neither is his mind governed by the motives of the rest of the children of men I do therefore lift up my voice for the judgment that goeth by lot I would notwithstanding of all this gladly hear what the Master would say
I will be so far just that I shall give you your choice said Master Michael Scott Nevertheless I can tell you if there be any justice in the decision by lot on whom the lot will fall A pause of breathless anxiety occurred and every88 eye was fixed on the grim and stern visage of the great necromancer over whose features there appeared to pass a gleam of wild delight It will fall added he on that man of fables and similitudes who himself bears the similitude of a man just as the lions hide stuffed does the resemblance of a real one How do you call that beautiful and amiable being with the nose that would split a drop of rain without being wet
Most illustrious knight and master of the arts of mystery said the friar—as this man is so is his name for he is called Jordan after the great river that is in the east which overfloweth its banks at certain seasons and falls into the stagnant lake called the Dead Sea whose waters are diseased So doth the matter of this our friend overflow pass away and is lost But what sayest thou of the default of his story Dost thou remember that it is not for the best story that we cast lots but the worst
Ay thats weel said good friar said89 Charlie for trifling as the lairds story was I never heard ought sae queer or that interested ane mair If there be ony justice in lots the lairds safe
Yours was the best tale gallant yeoman said the Master and you may rest assured that you are safe The dumb judge will not err and there is one overlooks the judgment by lot of whom few are aware I say yours was the best tale
Thank ye kindly Master Michael Scott said Charlie Im feared ilk ane winna be o your opinion
The friar then took from the sidepockets of his frock a few scraps of parchment amounting to fifteen Twelve of these he marked with a red cross and three with a black one to prevent all infernal interference then rolling them closely up he counted them all into his cowl before his companions and shaking them together he caused every one to do the same Then putting the cowl into the virgins hand they desired her to hold it until they drew forth their scraps one by one She did so while her bright eyes90 were drowned in tears and each of the candidates put in his hand selecting his lot
Let them be opened one by one before all these witnesses cried the Master that no suspicions of foul play whatever may remain
The friar drew forth his without one muscle of his unyielding features being altered and turning deliberately about he opened it before them all It was red The friar bowed his head and made the sign of the cross Charlie thrust in his hand—pulled out a ticket—and tore it open all in one moment and with the same impatience that he fought in a battle His was likewise red
Gude faith Im aince ower the water said Charlie
Tam put in his hand with a decision that would have done honour to a better man the form of his mouth only being a little altered
Now who will take me a bet of a threeyear old cout cried Gibbie that the next shall turn out a black one and91 he grinned a ghastly smile in anticipation of the wished event Tam kept his hand within the cowl for a good while as if groping which to select At length he drew one forth and before he got it opened Gibbies long nose and his own had met above it so eager was each of them to see what it contained It was opened Each of them raised up his face and looked at the face of his opponent but with what different expressions of countenance The cross on the lot was red Grief dread and disappointment were all apparent in the features of poor Jordan while the exulting looks of his provoking neighbour were hardly to be endured
What think you o that now laird cried he What does that bring you in mind o Eh I say whas jugular vein swells highest now or whas shoulderblade stands maist need o clawing
This was rather more than Gibbie was disposed at that juncture to bear and when Tam as he concluded put forth his forefinger to ascertain the thickness of fat on the lairds ribs the latter struck him92 with such force on the wrist that he rendered his arm powerless for a space He put his hand to his sword but could not grasp it while Gibbie seeing the motion had his out in a twinkling and if the staunch friar had not turned it aside he would have had it through the heart of the deils Tam in a second which might have prevented the further drawing of lots for that present time and thereby put an end to a very critical and disagreeable business Gibbie was far from being a hot or passionate man but whether his rage was a manœuvre to put by the decision or if he really was offended at being handled like a wedder for slaughter the curate pretends not to guess He however raged and fumed exceedingly and tried again and again to wound Tam while the rest were remonstrating with him nor would he be pacified until Tams disabled arm by degrees regaining somewhat of its pristine nerve he retreated back towards the battlement for swordroom and dared the laird to the combat Gibbie struggled hard but93 finding that they were about to let him go his wrath subsided a little he put up his sword and said the whole business reminded him of a story of the laird of Tweelsdon and his two brothers which he assured them was a prime story and begged permission to tell it This was protested against with one voice until the business of the lots was decided and then all were willing to hear it Oh the lots that is quite true said Gibbie I declare that business had gone out of my head Let us see what casts up next There was a relaxation in every muscle of Gibbies face as he put his hand into the cowl But Gibbies was a sort of a cross face It did not grow long and sallow as most other mens faces do when they are agitated The jaws did not fall down they closed up so that his face grew a great deal shorter and broader The eyebrows and the cheekbones met and the nose and chin approached to a close vicinity He drew forth the momentous scrap and with fumbling and paralytic hand opened it before them The cross was black He dared94 not lift his eyes to any face there save to Delanys and when he saw it covered with tears his looks again reverted that way This lot it is true was not decisive yet it placed Gibbie on ticklish ground it having been agreed that whoever should draw the two first black crosses subjected himself to immolation if the necessity of the case required it The great Master and Tam were visibly well pleased with the wicked chance that had fallen to the laird The motives of the former for this delight were quite a mystery to those who beheld it as for Tam he seemed determined to keep no more terms with poor Gibbie
The poet also drew a red one and then it was decreed that the next round Gibbie should have his choice of the time if he judged it any advantage either to be first or last He seemed quite passive and said it was all one to him he should draw at any time they chose and desired his friend Yardbire as he termed him to choose for him Charlie said he deemed the first chance the best as he had then four chances to be right for one of being wrong95 and it would be singular indeed if his hand fixed on a black cross again for a time or two when more of them might be on an equal footing
Gibbie accordingly turned round and drew out one more of the ominous scraps opening it under the eyes of all the circle with rather a hopeful look If the deil be nae in the cowl I shall hae a red ane this time said he as he unrolled it but as soon as the head of the cross appeared the ticket fell from his hand and as the friar expressed it there was no more strength remaining in him Verily my son thy fate is decided said the latter worthy and that in a wonderful and arbitrary manner As the Master said so hath it come to pass although to judge of any thing having been done unfairly is impossible
It is absolute nonsense to talk of aught being done fairly in this place said Charlie Scott Theres naething but witchcraft gaun I tell ye a things here are done by witchery an the black arts and after what I heard the king of a warlocks say96 that the lot wad fa in this way I winna believe that honest Gibbie has gotten fair play for his life
If you would try it an hundred times over said the Master you would see it turn out in the same way Did not I say to you that there was a power presided over the decision by lot which you neither know nor comprehend Man of metaphors and old wives fables where art thou now Keep a gude heart Peatstacknowe said Charlie perhaps things may not come to the worst I have great dependence on Dan Chisholm and the wardens good men I wonder they have not appeared wi proper mattocks or ladders by this time o the morning
If they should said the Master and if we were all set at liberty this minute he shall remain my bondsman in place of these two and him of whom your arts have bereaved me Remember to what you agreed formerly of which I now remind you
I think that is but fair said the poet
97
I do not know gentlemen what you call fair or foul said Gibbie I think there is little that is favourable going for somebody Of the two evils I judge the last the worst I appeal to my captain the Warden Gibbies looks were so rueful and pitiable when he said this that no one had the heart to remonstrate farther with him on the justice or injustice of his doom The Master and Tam enjoyed his plight exceedingly the poet rejoiced in it as it tended to free Delany from a vile servitude and the friar also was glad of the release of the darling of his younger years the granddaughter of Galli the scribe Charlie and Delany were the only two that appeared to suffer on account of the lairds dismal prospects and their feelings were nearly as acute as his own Stories and all sorts of amusements were now discontinued A damp was thrown over these by the dismal gloom on the lairds countenance and the congenial feelings of others on his account The night had passed over without any more visitants from the infer98nal regions the day had arisen in the midst of heaviness and gloom and every eye was turned towards the mill in the expecsation of seeing the approach of Dan and his companions
99
CHAPTER IV
Ask me not whence I am
My vesture speaks mine office
Female Parliamenters a MS Com
After the frightsome encounter at the mill with the masterless dog and his bowwowwow Dan and his companions spent a sleepless night not without several alarms and breathless listenings on the occurrence of any noise without Few were the nightly journies on the banks of the Ettrick in those days and few the midnight noises that occurred save from the wild beasts of the forest There were no wooer lads straying at that still and silent hour to call up their sweethearts for an hours kind conversation Save when the English marauders were abroad all was quietness by hamlet and steading The land was the abode of the genii of the woods the rocks and the rivers and of this the inhabitants were well aware and100 kept within locked doors whose lintels were made of the mountain ash and nightly sprinkled with holy water Cradle and bed were also fenced with cross book and bead for the inmates knew that in no other way could they be safe or rest in peace They knew that their green and solitary glens were the nightly haunts of the fairies and that they held their sports and amorous revels in the retiring dells by the light of the moon The mermaid sung her sweet and alluring strains by the shores of the mountain lake and the kelpie sat moping and dripping by his frightsome pool or the boiling caldron at the foot of the cataract The fleeting wraiths hovered round the dwellings of those who were soon to die and the stalking ghost perambulated the walks of him that was lately living or took up his nightly stand over the bones of the unhouseholded or murdered dead In such a country and among such sojourners who durst walk by night
But these were the natural residenters in the wilds of the woodland the aboriginal inhabitants of the country and how101ever inimical their ways might be to the ways of men the latter laid their account with them There were defences to be had against them from holy church which was a great comfort But ever since Master Michael Scott came from the colleges abroad to reside at the castle of Aikwood the nature of demonology in the forest glades was altogether changed and a full torrent of necromancy or as Charlie Scott better expressed it of witchcraft deluged the country all over—an art of the most malignant and appalling kind against which no fence yet discovered could prevail How different indeed became the situation of the lonely hind Formerly he only heard at a distance on moonlight eves the bridle bells of the fairy troopers which haply caused him to haste homeward But when the door was barred and fenced he sat safe in the middle of his family circle as they closed round the hearth and talked of the pranks of the gude neyboris When the speats descended and floods roared and foamed from bank to brae then would they perceive the malevolent kelpie102 rolling and tumbling down the torrent like a drowning cow or mountain stag to allure the hungry peasant into certain destruction But aware of the danger he only kept the farther aloof quaking at the tremendous experiment made by the spirit of the waters It was in vain that the mermaid sung the sweetest strain s that ever breathed over the evening lake or sunk and rose again spreading her hands for assistance like a drowning maiden at the bottom of the abrupt cliff washed by the waves—he would not be allured to her embraces
But what could he do now His daughters were turned into roes and hares to be hunted down for sport to the Master The old wives of the hamlet were saddled and bridled by night and urged with whip and spur over whole realms The cows were deprived of their milk—the hinds cast their young and no domestic cat in the whole district could be kept alive for one year That infernal system of witchcraft then began which the stake and the gibbet could scarcely eradicate in103 a whole century It had at this time begun to spread all around Aikwood but of these things our Border troopers were not altogether aware They dreaded the spirits of the old school the devil in particular but of the new prevailing system of metamorphoses they had no comprehension
Dan and three chosen companions mounting their horses by the break of day rode straight for the abbey of Melrose to lodge their complaint against the great enemy of mankind and request assistance from the holy fathers in rescuing their friends out of his hands They reached Darnickburn before the rising of the sun and just as they passed by a small deepwooded dell they espied four horsemen approaching them who from their robes and riding appurtenances appeared to belong to the abbey and to rank high among its dignitaries They were all mounted on black steeds clothed in dark flowing robes that were fringed with costly fringes and they had caps on their heads that were horned like the new moon The foremost in particular had a formidable104 and majestic mitre on his head that seemed all glancing with gems every one of which was either black or a certain dazzling red of the colour of flame
Dan doffed his helmet to this dignified and commanding personage but he deigned not either to return our yeomans low bow that brought his face in contact with the mane of his steed or once to cross his hand on his brow in token of accepting the submission proffered He however reined up his black steed and sat upright on his saddle as if in the act of listening what this bold and blunt trooper had to say
Begging pardon of your grand and sublime reverence said Dan I presume from your lofty and priestlike demeanour habiliments and goodly steed and also from that twahorned helmet on your head that you are the very chap I want I beg your pardon I canna keep up my style to suit your dignity But are nae ye Father Lawrence the great primate that acts as a kind o king or captain ower105 a the holy men of Scotland and has haudding in that abbey down by there
Certes I am Father Lawrence Dost thou doubt it
No no what for should I doubt it when your worship has said it An we dinna find truth aneath the mitre and the gown where are we to look for it
The sublime abbot shook his head as if in scorn and derision of the apothegm and sat still upright on his steed with his face turned away Dan looked round to his companions with a meaning look as much as to say What does the body mean But seeing that he sat still in the act of listening he proceeded
Worthy Sir Priest ye ken our captain Sir Ringan Redhough warden of the Border He has helpit weel to feather your nest ye ken
He has There is no one can dispute it said the abbot nodding assent
Then yell no be averse surely to the lending o him and his a helping hand in your ain way
The priest nodded assent
106
Weel ye see Sir Priest there is a kinsman of our masters lives up by here at Aikwood a rank warlock and master o the arts of witchcraft and divination He is in compact wi the deil and can do things far ayont the power o mortal man What do ye think Sir Priest he can actually turn a man into a dog and an auld wife into a hare a mouse into a man and a cat into a good glydeaver And mair than that Sir he can raise storms and tempests in the air can gar the rivers rin upward and the trees grow down He can shake the solid yird and look ye Sir he can cleave a great mountain into three and lift the divisions up like as mony gowpens o sand
The stern abbot gave a glance up to the three new hills of Eildon that towered majestically over their heads but it seemed rather a look of exultation than one either of wonder or regret
Weel Sir disna our captain send a few chosen friends a wheen queer devils to be sure on a message of good friendship to this auld warlock Master Michael107 Scott merely with a request to read him some trivial weird And what does the auld knave but pricks them a up on the top o his castle wi a lockit irondoor aneath them and there has keepit them in confinement till they are famishing of hunger and I fear by this time they are feeding on ane another And the warst ot ava Sir is this I wad break his bolts and his bars to atoms for him but has nae he the deil standing sentry on the stair spuing fire and brimstone on a that come near him in sic torrents that it is like the fa o the Greymarestail Now maist reverend and worthy Sir my errand and request to you is that for my masters sake and for his mens sake that are a good Christians for ought that I ken to the contrary you will lend us a lift wi book and bead Ave Marias and other powerful things to drive away this auld sneckdrawing thief the devil and keep him away till I get my friends released and I promise you in my masters name high bounty and reward
Ha is it so said the abbot in a108 hollow tremulous voice Are my friend and fellowsoldiers men detained in that guise Come my brethren let us ride—let us fly to their release and we shall see whose power can stand against our own For Aikwood ho
For Aikwood ho shouted Dan and his companions as they took the rear of the four sable dignitaries and striking the spurs into their steeds all at the same time they went off at their horses utmost speed but in a short time the four yeomen were distanced The black steeds and their riders went at such a pace as warrior had never before witnessed Up by the side of Hindlyburn they sped with the most rapid velocity—over mire over ditch over ford without stay or stumble Dan and his companions posted on behind sparing neither whip nor spur for they were affronted that these gownsmen should display more energy in their masters cause and the cause of his friends than they should do themselves But their horses floundered and blew and snorted and puffed and whisked their tails with a109 whistling sound and still lagged farther and farther behind
Come come callants cried Dan to his companions let us rein up These bedesmens horses are ower weel fed for our bogtrotting nags They fly like the wind Od we may as weel try to ride wi the devil
Whisht whisht said Will Martin I dinna like to mak ower familiar wi that name nowadays We never ken whas hearing us in this country
They were nigh to the heights when these words passed and the four black horsemen perceiving them to take it leisurely they paused and wheeled about and the majestic primate taking off his cornuted chaperon waved it aloft and called aloud For shame sluggish hinds Why wont you speed before the hour of prevention is lost For Aikwood ho I say As he said these words his black courser plunged and reared at a fearful rate and as our troopers thought at one bolt sprung six or seven yards from the ground The marks of that black horses hoofs remain110 impressed in the sward to this day and the spot is still called The Abbots lee At least it had been so called when Isaac the curate wrote this history
To keep clear of the wood that was full of thickets they turned a little to the left and pursued their course and the ground becoming somewhat firmer our yeomen pursued hard after them But on coming over the steep brow of a little hill the latter perceived a mountain lake of considerable extent that interrupted their path and to their utter astonishment the four black horsemen going straight across it at about the same rate that the eagle traverses the firmament The loch is frozen and bears over said Dan Let us follow them across
The loch is frozen indeed said Will Martin but ony man may see that ice winna bear a cat
Haud your tongue you gouk said Dan Do ye think the thing that bore them winna bear us And as he spurred foremost down the steep he took the lake at the broad side but the ice offering no111 manner of resistance horse and man were in one moment out of sight The sable horsemen on the other side shouted with laughter and called aloud to the troopers to venture on and haste forward for the ice was sufficiently strong
The bold trooper and his horse were extricated with some difficulty and the monks testifying the utmost impatience he remounted dripping as he was and not being able to find the passage across the lake on the ice he and his companions gallopped around the head of it As he rode the morning being frosty he chanced to utter these words Heighho but I be a cauld cheil Which words says Isaac gave the name to that lake and the hill about it to all future ages and from those perilous days of witchcraft and divination and the shocking incidents that befel to men adds he have a great many of the names of places all over our country had their origin
The dark horsemen always paused until the troopers were near them as if to encourage them on but they never suffered112 them to join company When they came over a ridge above old Lindean they were hard upon them but lost sight of them for a short space on the height and coming on full speed they arrived on the brink of a deep wooded dell and to their utter astonishment saw the four gownsmen on the other side riding deliberately along and beckoning them forward
I am sair mistaen said Will Martin gin thae chaps hae nae gaen ower the cleugh at ae bound An it warna for their habits I wad take them for something nouther good nor cannie
Haud your tongue or else speak feasible things said Dan Can the worthy Father Lawrence and his chief priors and functionaries ever be suspected as warlocks or men connected wi the devil and his arts If sic were to be the case we hae nae mair trust to put in aught on this earth The dell maun be but a step across Here is a good passable road come let us follow them
Dan led the way and they dived into the dell by a narrow track rather like a113 path for a wild goat than men and horses however by leaping sliding and pushing one anothers horses behind they got to the bottom of the precipice and perceiving a path on the other side they expected to reach the western brink immediately But in this they were mistaken abrupt rocks and impenetrable thickets barred their progress on every side and they found it impossible to extricate themselves without leaving their horses They tried every quarter with the same success and at the last attempted to ascend by the way they came but that too they found impracticable and all the while they heard the voices of their fellow travellers chiding their stay from above and shaming them for their stupidity in taking the wrong path At one time they heard them calling on them to come this way here was an excellent outgate and when the toiled yeomen stuck fairly still in that direction they instantly heard other voices urging them to ascend by some other quarter At other times they thought they heard restrained bursts of giggling laughter After a great deal114 of exertion to no manner of purpose they grew they neither knew what to do nor what they were doing and at last were obliged to abandon their horses and climb the ascent by hanging by the bushes and roots of trees When they emerged from the deep hollow they perceived eight black horsemen awaiting them instead of four but as the country around Melrose and Dryburgh swarmed with members of the holy brotherhood of every distinction and rank the troopers took no notice of it thinking these were some of the head functionaries come to wait on their abbot The latter chided our yeomen in sharp and resentful language for their utter stupidity in taking the wrong path and regretted exceedingly the long delay their mistake had occasioned his time he said being limited as was also the time that his power prevailed in a more particular way over the powers of darkness For us to go alone added he would signify nothing The manual labour of breaking through the iron gates we cannot perform therefore115 unless you can keep up with us we may return home by the way we came
I am truly grieved said Dan at our misfortune We have certainly been more forward than wise and I fear have marred the fairest chance we will ever have for the deliverance of our friends But I have a few fellow warriors at the mill who will accompany you for a word of your mouth I beg that you will not think of returning for the case brooks no delay We have lost our horses and can hardly reach the castle on foot before it be evening I wot not what we shall do
Brethren I am afraid I must request of you to lend these brave troopers your horses said the abbot to the four last comers My esteem for the doughty champion of my domains is such that I would gladly do him a favour O thank you thank you kind sir we are mair behadden to you than tongue can tell said Dan The four new come brethren dismounted at their abbots request and without taking a moment to hesitate the four yeomen mounted their horses The abbot Law116rence charged them to urge the steeds to their utmost speed Away went the abbot and his three sable attendants and away went the four troopers after them but from the first moment that they started the latter lost sight of the ground unless it was as they thought about a mile below their feet The road seemed to be all one marble pavement or sheet of solid alabaster there was neither height nor hollow in it that they could distinguish but the fire flew from the heels of the horses and sparkled across the firmament like thousands of flying stars The velocity at which they went was such that the borderers could not draw their breath save by small broken gulps but as they imagined they rode at such an immense distance from the ground they kept firm by their seats for bare life leaning forward with their eyes and their mouths wide open Having never in all their lives rode on such a path they were soon convinced that they could not be riding toward Aikwood around which the roads were very different They often at117tempted to speak to one another but could not utter any thing farther than one short sound for the swiftness with which they clove the atmosphere cut their voices short At length Dan perceiving his comrade Will Martin scouring close by his side forced out the following sentence piecemeal
Where—the—devil—are we—gaun—now
Straight—to—hell—What—need—ye—speer
The—lord—for—for—for—bid—Will Martin was the reply which has since grown to a proverb
On they flew over hill over dale over rock and river over town tower and steeple as our yeomen deemed but they might deem what they pleased for they saw nothing except now and then the tails of the churchmens gowns flapping in the air before them However they came to their goal sooner than they expected and that in a way as singular as that by which they reached it
The miller at Aikwoodmill had a whole118 hill of kilnseeds or shealings of oats thrown out in a heap adjoining to the mill Ere ever our yeomen knew what they were doing from the time they mounted they were all lying in this immense heap of kilnseeds perfectly dizzy and dumfoundered and setting up their heads from among them with the same sort of staring stupid attempt at consideration as the heads of so many frogs which may be seen newly popped up out of a marsh The bedesmen were ahead of them to the end of the course and drew up by wheeling their horses round the kiln as if it had been a winningpost but the yeomens horses in making the wheel threw their riders one by one with a jerk over head and ears among the loose heap of seeds and galloping off around the corner of the hill they never saw another hair of their tails
The miller came running out from his mill with his broad dusty bonnet the smoky halfroasted kilnman out from his logie the millmaidens came skipping from the mealtrough as white as lilies the rest of the wardens men and the four sable dig119nitaries of the church came also and all of them stood in a ring round our dismounted troops some asking one question some another but all in loud fits of laughter Their wits could not be rallied in an instant and all that they could do or say was to blow the seeds out of their mouths with which they were literally filled and utter some indefinite sentences such as Rather briskish yauds these same May the like o mine never be crossed by man again Hech but they are the gear for the lang road Whats become o them I wad like to take a right look o them for aince Do ye want to look if they have mark o mouth Will You may look at some o these that came foremost then Yours are aff wi their tails on their rigging there are some cheated if ever you see mair o them Will Martin looked at the abbots horse but when he saw the glance of his eye he would not have taken him by the jaws to have looked his mouth for all Christendom
The four sable horsemen led the way and all the yeomen followed on foot bearing120 with them such mattocks as they had been able to procure about Selkirk that morning and away they marched in a body to Aikwood castle That was a blyth sight to our forlorn and starving prisoners even Gibbie had some hopes of a release but whenever Master Michael Scott got a near view of the four sable equestrians he sunk into profound and gloomy silence and every now and then his whole frame was observed to give a certain convulsed shake or shudder which cannot be described The rest of the sufferers supposed it to proceed from his rooted aversion to holy and devout men but they were so intent on regaining their own liberty that they paid little attention to the manner in which he was affected Father Lawrence bade the men proceed to work and he would retire into an inner chamber and exercise himself so as to keep from them all sorts of interruption from spirits of whatever denomination and he pledged himself for their protection They thanked him and hasted to execute their design nor were they long in accomplishing it By the help of huge121 scaling hammers they broke down a part of the narrow staircase and actually set their friends at liberty But the abbot enjoined them in nowise to depart or to do any thing contrary to the desire of the mighty Master while they remained in his premises else he could not answer for the consequences This our yeomen readily assented to and undertook to prevail with their friends to acquiesce in the same measure
As soon as the irondoor was forced the abbot Lawrence sent one of his officers to desire Master Michael Scott to come and speak to him privately in the secret chamber The wizard looked at the messenger as a sovereign does to a minister of whom he is afraid or a master to a slave who he knows would assassinate him if he could nevertheless he rose and followed him to his superior What passed between these two dignified characters it is needless here to relate as the substance of the matter will appear in the sequel But the Master returned into the great hall where the wardens men were by that time all as122sembled an altered man indeed His countenance glanced with a sublime but infernal exultation His eye shone with ten times the vigour of youthful animation It was like a dying flame relumined that flashes with more than pristine brightness and the tones of his voice were like those of a conqueror on the field of battle With this voice and with this mien he ordered the friar and his ward Delany instantly to quit the castle and if an hour hence they were found on his domains he would cause them to be hewed into so many pieces as there were hairs on their heads
Lo thy threats are unto me as the east wind said the friar Yea as the wind that cometh from the desert and puffeth up the vapours on the stagnant pools of water If my companions in adversity go then will I also go along with them But if they remain by the life of Pharaoh so likewise will thy servant and what hast thou more to say thou man of Belial
The Master shook his grey locks and his dark silvery beard in derision and Char123lie Scott whose confidence in his friend the friar was now unbounded stepped up to back what he had said and to protest against parting company Dan however interfered hastily and told them he was bound by a promise to the holy father who had wrought their liberty to do nothing adverse to the will of the Master while they remained in his castle and on his domains and therefore he begged they would comply without more words and without delay The friar then consented much against Charlies inclination and taking Delany by the hand he said Lo I will even depart but I will remain at the ford of Howdenburn until my friends arrive for then am I from off the territory of this blasphemer and worker of all manner of iniquity See that you tarry not at the wine neither let your eyes behold strange women that it may be well with you So the two went away and did as they had said The friar found his mule in good keeping and he remained with the maid in a cottage at the fords of How124denburn to await the issue of this singular and unfortunate embassy
Now shall I have my will and do that which seems meet to me said the Master as he strode the hall with unrestrained energy Did the dolt imagine he could with his tricks of legerdemain outdo me in the powers and mysteries of my art No that man is unborn Let him go with his crosiers and his breviaries I am Michael Scott once again
It is needless to say ought here said Charlie Scott aside to his companions Fock should ken weel what they say and where they are saying it But the truth is that the friar was the greatest man o the twa and that auld birkie was right sair cowed in his presence It is sair against my will that we hae been obliged by your promise Dan to part wi the gospel friar for dye ken I feel amaist as the buckler were taen aff my arm to want him as lang as I am here What do you think the carl did Dan Come here you and Will and Ill tell you When we came here ye see the master had a steward a perfect hound125 o hell wha thought to guide us waur than dogs and he crossed the friar unco sair till at length he lost a patience wi him and lord sauf us sent him up through the clouds in a flash o fire and there has never been mair o him seen but some wee bits o fragments I can tell you the loss o sic a man as the friar out o sic a place as this is a loss no easily made up
Have a little patience brave Yardbire said Dan We have the great and the grave abbot Lawrence in his place He is our firm friend and our captains friend and every thing will now be settled in the most amicable manner—That holy father and his assistants are the only hope I hae returned Charlie An it warna for their presence I wadna stay another half hour in sic a place as this Ye little ken what scenes we hae witnessed during the days and nights that we hae been here However as I had the charge of the embassage I will gang and speak to the auld billy He seems to be in a high key Master Michael Scott ye ken that yoursel and our auld friar by your trials126 o skill in your terrible arts o witchcraft brought about an accident that has kept us ower lang here to the great trouble and inconveniency of our captain your own brave kinsman Now since we are a at liberty again we beseech you to give us our answer and if you canna read the weird that he desires of you why tell us sae at aince and let us gang about our business
Gallant yeoman your request shall be granted without loss of time said the Master But it is the venerable fathers request that I should regale my kinsmans people before dismissing them to make some small return for the privations they have suffered Be satisfied then to remain for a few hours till you taste of my cheer and in the meanwhile I will look into the book of fate and not only tell you what your captain Sir Ringan ought to do but I will show you demonstratively what he must do if he would succeed in raising his name and his house above that of every Scottish baron Thank ye noble sir said Charlie There shall never be another word127 about it If we gain our errand sae satisfactorily at last Ill count a that we hae bidden weel wared
Noble and worthy Sir you never yet have said who told the most efficient tale and unto whom the maiden should belong said the poet
Twas he your captain there who said the tale I most approved and to him I award my right in the toy the trifle you call maiden returned the Master And it is well remembered squire amongst you you deprived me of my steward a man that could have accomplished a great deal—I therefore claim this worthy in his stead as agreed and glad may he be that he escapes so well
I fear I will be a bad cook and an awkward valet said Gibbie I was never very handy at ought that way Tam wad answer a great deal better an it were your will
We will have you taught practically and to profit said the Master The three brethren attendants on father Lawrence shall take you to task this instant128 They will act as your assistants and masters today and to their hands I recommend you Be expert and spare no cost So saying he gave three tramps with his heel as he was wont to do in time past and instantly the three sable monks stood before him Take that comely youth said he and bestow on him a few cogent lessons in the mysteries of the culinary art You may teach him a few varieties As he said this there was a malignant smile rather darkened than lighted up his stern features and on the instant the three monks had Gibbie from the ground and one holding by each arm and another by both his feet they rushed out of the hall with him in the same way that one drives a wheelbarrow When the men of the embassy heard the three tramps and the words about the varieties they looked at one another with rather uneasy sensations But the presence of father Lawrence and the other three holy brethren encouraged them still to acquiesce in the Masters request
A short time after this as they were129 sauntering about the castle they heard some loud giggling laughter intermixed with squeaking cries of despair which last they could well distinguish as proceeding from the lungs of poor Gibbie Jordan and immediately after that there came among them a huge red capon fluttering and screaming in a most desperate and deplorable manner and all the three monks pursuing him with shouts of delight The feathers were half plucked off him and his breath quite spent so that they easily laid hold of him and carried him away by the neck to have him spitted living as they said Our yeomen saw nothing but an overgrown bird but they heard well that the voice was the voice of Jordan These monks are trifling and amusing themselves said Tam we shall get no dinner before night
The words were hardly well said when the castle bell rung and in they all rushed to the great hall where stood a plentiful dinner smoking along the board and the abbot and the Master both seated at the upper end side by side Our yeo130men thought it extraordinary to see the great warlock and the reverend father in such close compact but they held their peace The abbot rose and pronounced a blessing on the food but it was in an unknown tongue and little did they wot of its purport There was great variety on the table of every kind of food yet there was not one of our yeomen knew of what the greater part of the dishes consisted But the huge capon stood at the head of the table and though he had been killed and cooked in a few minutes the bird looked exceedingly well The abbot and the Master devoured him with so much zest that no one liked to call for a piece of him save Tam Craik who eat a wing of him but there was no broad bone in his shoulder yet Tam declared him the first meat he had ever tasted save once in his life Charlie was placed next the Master and Dan next the abbot Lawrence The three monks attendants on the latter served the table but nothing of the new steward made his appearance The wine and other strong liquors were131 served round in great abundance and the quality was so excellent that notwithstanding of the friars charge every one drank liberally and soon got into high glee Whenever the supreme and haughty abbot swallowed a cup of wine Dan who sat next him heard always a hissing sound within his breast as if one had been pouring water on red hot iron This startled the trooper terribly for two or three times at first but his surprise lessened and wore off by degrees as the liquor continued to exalt his spirits The feast went on and the wine flowed but as on a former occasion the men ate without being satisfied The wines and liquor were all however real and had their due effect so that the spirit of hilarity rose to a great height
It was observed that father Lawrence conversed with no one but the Master and the dialogue they held was all in an unknown tongue in which tongue also they sometimes conferred with the servitors The Master left the table three several times for he had a charm going on132 in another part of the castle and at the third time returned with the black book of fate the book of the dynasties of men below his arm and laid it closed on the table before him
Now my brave and warlike guests said he Before I open this awful book it is meet that every one of you be blindfolded I ask this for your own sakes If any one of you were to look but on one character of this book his brain would be seared to a cinder his eyes would fly out of their sockets and perhaps his whole frame might be changed into something unspeakable and monstrous
Gude faith sir Master Ill haud my een as close as they were sewed up wi an elshin and a lingel said Charlie So said they all but they were not trusted the monks were ordered to go round the table and tie every ones eyes closely up and when this was done they were desired to lay all their heads down upon their hands on the board and to sit without moving whatever they might hear He then proceeded to open the massy iron133 clasps and as soon as they were unloosed three spirits burst from the book with loud shrieks and escaped through the barbican The yells were so piercing that some of our yeomen started from their seats but dared not lift their heads Ah They are gone said the Master This weird will cost me dear
Fear nothing but proceed said father Lawrence
He opened the book and three peals of thunder ensued that shook the castle to its foundations every one of them louder than the last and though our yeomen sat trembling in utter darkness they heard voices around them as if the hall had been crowded full of people among others they deemed that they could distinguish the voices of the warden and his lady They however sat still as if chained to their places awaiting the issue and after much noise and apparent interruptions the great Master read out as follows
He for whom this weird is read
Be he son of battle bred
Be he baron born to peril134
Be he lord or be he earl
Let him trust his gallant kin
And the sword below the skin
When the red buck quits the cover
When the midnight watch is over
Then whatever may betide
Trust the horn and trust the hide
He that drives shall feel the gin
But he thats driven shall get in
All for whom this weird is read
For the living for the dead
From the chief with corslet shorn
To the babe that is unborn
Let them to the sceptre lean
Till the place where they have been
See their sway expand untroubled
Doubled doubled nine times doubled
First to rise and rule the rings
Mixed with blood of mighty kings
This is read for princes peers
And children of a thousand years
Now begins their puissant story
Strike the blow and gain the glory
Rise not against feudal union
No advance but in communion
Though through battle broil and murther—
Shut the book and read no further
The book was closed and loud shouts of applause as from a great multitude were heard at a distance as that died away a peal of thunder burst forth over their135 heads which rolled away with an undulating sound till lost in the regions of the western heavens
Our yeomens eyes were then unbound and when they looked up the book of fate was removed and the Master was fallen back on his seat with his countenance mightily distorted but the abbot and his attendants would not suffer any to touch him till he recovered of himself He again rose into high and unwonted spirits but his elevation was rather like the delirium of a man driven to desperation than that flow of delightful hilarity the offspring of a temperate and well regulated mind The borderers persevered in their libations and the mirth and noise increased till near the fall of the evening when Charlie again proposed to go but the Master protested against it for a short space adding that he had to give them a practical lesson how their captain ought to proceed if he would be the greatest man in Scotland This was quite sufficient to prevail on Yardbire and none of the rest appeared much disposed to move
136
About this time some of our yeomen sitting with their faces toward the casement beheld a novel scene which they called up the rest to witness This was the Masters new steward the late laird of the Peatstacknowe making his escape from the castle with all possible speed He was stripped half naked and bareheaded had thrown himself over the outer wall lest he should be seen going by the gate and was running up the hollow of Aikwood burn among the trees to elude discovery Presently afterwards they beheld two of the monks stretching after him with a swiftness not to be outrun Poor Gibbie was soon overhied and brought back not in the most gentle manner and instead of carrying him round by the gate which having been broken up stood wide open they took him by the heels and threw him over the wall at the place he had leaped before Gibbie gave a loud squeak in the air as he came over the wall with a wheeling motion and falling on the other side every one believed that there would not be a whole bone left in his bo137dy Instead of that he sprung to his feet and ran across the court saying to himself Ill tell you what—It minds me o hell this place—if ever there was ane upon earth He got not time to finish the sentence till he was again seized and hauled into the castle
Master Michael Scott I protest in my masters name against this usage of a leal vassal and tiend laird said Charlie
The comely youth is mine by your own agreement said the Master He shall be well seen to Perhaps I shall only keep him for a season until better supplied Be content the matter is now beyond disputation In the meantime I will proceed to give you a specimen of my profound art of which you have now seen many instances and also of my esteem for your captain to whom you will be so good as repeat this
He then went away to his arcana and brought a bason of liquor resembling wine which he sprinkled on all his guests in small proportions and taking his seat beside the supercilious abbot the two sat ap138parently waiting for some grand metamorphosis The spell powerful as it was had not the effect that was surmised These rude warriors of a former age had principles of virtue and honour in their natures that withstood the charms of necromancy—those charms before which noble dames cruel laymen and selfish clergy sunk down confounded and overpowered The countenances of a few of the troopers were somewhat changed by the spell assuming thereby a sort of resemblance to beasts but this their associates only laughed at deeming it occasioned by the drunkenness of the individuals affected The two great personages at the head of the table viewed the matter in a different light and that with evident symptoms of disappointment They comprehended the reason for they knew there was but one against which the powers of darkness could not prevail and after holding a conversation about it in their own mysterious language they set about the accomplishment of their desires for though a matter of no great avail the Master could not brook to be baulked in139 any of his works of divination The purport of this conversation was what the Master had once proposed before that the men must be made accessory to their own transformation and in this project he forthwith engaged with all manner of earnestness
140
CHAPTER V
He can turn a man into a boy
A boy into an ass
He can change your gold into white moneye
Your white moneye into brass
He can turn our goodman to a beast
With hoof but an with horn
And chap the goodwife in her cheer
This little John Barleycorn
Old Song
The plan of our great necromancer was no other than that of pushing round the wine and other strong intoxicating liquors to the utmost extremity and it is well known that these stimulating beverages have charms that no warrior or other person accustomed to violent exertions can withstand after indulging in them to a certain extent The mirth and argument or rather the bragg of weir grew first obstreperous afterwards boisterous and unruly and several of the men got up and strode the hall with drawn swords without being able to tell with whom they141 were offended or going to fight Neither the Master nor the abbot discouraged this turmoil but pushed round the liquor till some of the most intimate friends and associates of the party in the extravagance of intoxication actually wounded one another and afterwards blubbered like children for vexation While they were all in this state of unnatural elevation father Lawrence got up and addressed himself to the party for the first time He represented to them by striking metaphors the uncertainty and toil of the warriors life and requested all such of them as loved ease freedom and independence to become inmates of his habitation and during the time of their noviciates he promised them every good thing Several of them pretended to snap at the proffer some on one condition some on another but when he presented a scroll of parchment written in red characters for their marks or signatures no one would sign and seal save Tam Craik who put his mark to it three times with uncommon avidity on the positive condition that he142 was to have as much fat flesh as he could eat for the first three years at all times that he chose by day or by night
When matters were at this pass and our brave yeomen could with difficulty rise to their feet they heard a chorus of sweet and melodious music approaching which still drew nearer and nearer This was a treat they little expected in such an habitation but how much greater was their surprise when the halldoor was thrown open and there were ushered in thirty of the most lovely maidens that the eyes of men had ever beheld They seemed too to be all of noble lineage for they were dressed like eastern princesses rustling in their silks and covered over with dazzling gems The Master welcomed them with stately courtesy apologizing for the state of his castle and the necessity they would be under of sitting down and sharing the feast with warriors who however he assured them were all gallant gentlemen of his own kin and some of them of his own name The splendid dames answered that nothing on earth143 would give them so much delight as to share the feast with gentlemen and warriors the natural protectors of their helpless sex to whom it should be their principal aim to pay all manner of deference
As soon as the door was opened our brave yeomen with the profound respect that men of their boisterous occupation always pay to female beauty and rare accomplishments started all to their feet and made their obeisance But the worst concern for them was that they could not stand on their feet Some of them propped themselves on the hilts of their sheathed swords leaning the points backward against the wall Others kept a sly hold of the buffbelt of the comrade next to him and a few of whom the poet was one and Tam another lost their balance and fell back over the benches showing the noble dames the soles of their sandals All was silence and restraint and a view of no group could be more amusing for though our heroes were hardly able to behave themselves with the utmost propriety yet they were all endeavouring to do144 it some keeping their mouths close shut that no misbecoming word might possibly escape from their lips some turning up their white faces manifesting evident symptoms of sickness and some unable to refrain their joy at this grand addition to their party
The first breaking up of the conversation was likewise extremely curious but it was begun in so many corners about the same time it is impossible to detail it all Will Martin with a lisping unbowsome tongue addressed the one next him to the following effect
Fine evening this noble dame
Do you account this so very fine an evening gallant knight
Hem hem glorious roads too most noble lady—paced all with—marble you know Hem Came you by the marble path fair lady Hem hem
Not by the marble path most courteous knight but on one of alabaster bordered with emeralds rubies and diamonds you know Hem hem
May all the powers—Hem—powers of145 beauty you know—Ay—hem and love Hem What was I about to say
Could not guess knight
That smile is so sweet Will such an—hem—such an angelic creature—really con—descend to converse familiarly with a plain homely warrior
Your notice does me far too much honour worthy knight And so saying she put the tip of her palm gently on the warriors rough hand Intoxicated as Will was with wine he was petrified with astonishment and delight and could not find terms to express his gratitude and adoration Many others were likewise by the same time testifying by their bright and exulting looks the joy and delight they were experiencing in the conversation of those most beautiful and refined of all earthly objects Tam Craik beheld or thought he beheld his lovely Kell among them blooming in tenfold loveliness He was so drunk that he could not articulate one syllable but he fixed his long coulternose and grey eyes steadily in the direc146tion of her face and put his hand below the table and scratched
Still the cup and the cates circulated without any respite The Master and the abbot both called them round and round and though the lovely and highborn dames tasted sparingly nevertheless the circumstance of their having touched the cup with their lips was sufficient to induce the enamoured warriors to drink to them in healths deep and dangerous Reason had long been tottering on her throne with the best of them but these amorous draughts of homage overthrew her completely and laid her grovelling in the dust The heroes fell from their seats first by ones but ere the last in threes and fours Still the courteous and sympathetic beauties tried to administer comfort and assistance to their natural protectors by holding up their heads and chafing their temples but in spite of all they could do total oblivion of passing events ensued to the whole of our incautious troopers
The next morning presented a scene in the great hall of Aikwood which if it can147not be described neither can it ever be conceived There lay our troop of gallant yeomen as good as ever heaved buckler scattered over the floor some in corners some below benches every one of their eyes sealed in profound slumber though the day was well advanced and every one having an inamorata in his arms or clinging close to him of her own accord At a given signal the great bell of the castle was rung with a knell that might have wakened the dead The sleepers raised their drowsy and aching heads all at the same time and as was natural every one turned his eyes first toward the partner of his slumbers Their sensations may be in some measure conceived when instead of the youthful blooming angelic beings whom they had seen overnight there lay a group of the most horrible hags that ever opened eyes on the light of day Instead of the light flowing and curled hair there hung portions of grey dishevelled locks Instead of the virgin bloom of the cheek and the brilliant enamel of the eye all was rheum haggardness and de148formity Some had two or three long pitted teeth of the colour of amber some had none Their lovely mouths were adorned with curled and silvery mustachios and their fair necks were shrivelled and seriated like the bark of a pinetree Instead of the rustling silks and dazzling jewels they were all clothed in noisome rags and to crown the horror of our benumbed and degraded Bacchanalians every one of the witches had her eyes fixed on her partner gleaming with hellish delight at the state to which they had reduced themselves and the horrors of their feelings The poet and two or three others fell into convulsions and all of them turned away groaning and hid their faces from these objects of abhorrence
The Master came with his enchanted liquor once more and sprinkled it over the prostrate and humbled group who were now in that state of mental agony that rendered them indifferent to aught that could occur and as he sprinkled them he said to himself I now have the power149 over you though you had been seven times anointed in holy church
Aye seven times seven said a tremendous voice and the words were followed by a laugh that shook the vault of the hall which laugh was echoed by three or four accordant voices and afterwards by all the witches in the apartment The astounded warriors again raised their heads and beheld their friend the abbot stalking along and along the hall in the midst of them in majesty sublime He wore the same sable and flowing robes and the same mitre that he did on the preceding day but he was now striding openly in his own character with his legs shagged and hairy shaped like those of a goat and his feet cloven into two distinct and horny hoofs The three attendants were there also but they were no more three monks but the identical Prig Prim and Pricker the infernal pages of Master Michael Scott In short our yeomen discovered to their utter despair that they had been riding eating and drinking hand to fist with the devil in propria persona
150
Before giving any of them time to recover their senses he strode up to Dan Chisholm and stooping over him with exultation he said Did not I tell you Christian droich when I bayed you at the mill that I would be before hand with you at Melrose and have not I kept my word As he said these words Dan once more saw down his throat and beheld the burning flame within Halfdead with fright he threw himself back on the floor and held up one foot and one hand as his last inefficient defence on which his infernal Majesty vomited such a torrent of sparkling flame out upon him and his forlorn partners that they lost all hope of ever again moving from the place where they were
Take heart my brave fellows said the Master This great primate you see is no other than the prince of the power of the air the great controller of the mighty elements who has honoured us with his company You are now in his power and lie at his mercy but he is more of a gentleman than he is generally represented to be and will scorn to take advantage of a151 few poor insignificant creatures who call themselves Christians of whose company he is sure before he wants it He knows you will fume and bully and fight for a few short years sending one another home to his ample mansions in myriads before your time Both he and I would scorn to take farther advantage of beings so blind ignorant and inconsistent than suits our own amusement We only love to mock you show you your own littleness and how easy a prey you would be were there a being in the universe that watched for ever over your destruction Cheer up gallant soldiers and now for the longwaited developement of mighty moment I will show you the manner and very mode by which your captain must only hope to succeed in his great enterprise
He then touched every one of them with the diviningrod that was in his hand pronouncing at the same time some mystic words which none of them comprehended While he was thus occupied the witches rushed from the hall and as soon as he had touched the hindmost he him152self also made his escape and looked from a crevice of an inner wall The enchantment began immediately to take effect the warriors rolled about on the floor in strong convulsions bellowing and flouncing trying always to run on allfour and then tumbling over again At length their noses and chins began to grow forward in hideous disproportion till their heads began to assume something of the forms of the heads of beasts and liker to those of calves than any things else The laughter that pealed from loophole crevice and barbican was at this eventual period excessive The devil the three wicked spirits the great enchanter and his conventicle of witches seemed all to be in convulsions at witnessing how the metamorphosed champions shook their long heads looked at one another and tried to speak How their language changed from longdrawn words half pronounced to downright confused bellowings and how their forms in the space of a few minutes gradually assumed those of as many mighty and ferocious bulls
153
I have now given you your own proper shapes and showed you in frames suited to your natures cried the Master from a crevice
Pass forth and be gone and carry my respects to your captain
Then there was a combined bellow of rage arose in the hall that would have rent any castle to the top but that of Aikwood and benches boards and couches flew about in flinders on the horns of the furious monsters Forthwith they rushed out into the great court and from that to the side of the hill bellowing and tearing up the ground with hoof and horn till the country was alarmed for many miles round and believing that all hell was broke loose from the castle of Aikwood that day they betook them to their heels and fled away out of sight and out of hearing
The outrageous drove looked back as they ascended the brae to the eastward of the castle and saw the devil and the great warlock standing on the topmost tower laughing at them the former appearing of a size and dimensions equal to those of154 another castle The grand mitre that he wore on his head shaped like a crescent to conceal his horns now moved like a cornuted black cloud amid the firmament his eyes glimmered like two of the reddest of the stars of heaven and the sceptre that he waved in his right hand was like a tremendous pine all in flame or rather like a burning aerial meteor Our transformed warriors gallopped away in terror as fast as cloven hoofs could carry them with one mighty bison that had once been Charlie Scott far ahead of all the rest for notwithstanding of all that Charlie had seen and heard in favours of the devil he felt as much affrighted for him as ever degraded as he was in form No wonder was it that our tumultuous group was terrified and galloped off for at the same time that they saw Satan stretching out his sceptre in his right hand he held out Tam Craik by the nape of the neck in his left while the poor fellow was seen sprawling and spurning the air over an unfathomed void When the archfiend made his retreat from among the warriors that155 morning in the midst of the confusion he carried Tam off with him according to compact—fed him for some time on animal food of the richest quality which never once satisfying him the devil grew weary of such a voracious cur and twisted his neck about
The drove was no sooner out of sight than the Master said to one of his pages Pricker assume thou the habit that thou hadst yestereve mount and ride after these wild cattle and deliver them over to the charge of their dolt of a confessor He will try to rescue them from their present degraded and brutal forms but he will not be able Spirit thou sawest a part of the charms performed Give him the proper directions how to find it out before leaving him It boots nothing offending my kinsman the Warden
Pricker mounted his horse and rode straight for the fords of Howdenburn where he knew the friar was awaiting his companions and meant to have driven them all up before him to the cottage door where the friar and his fair ward sojourn156ed and there delivered them over to the care of these two as a present of fine beeves from the great Master to Sir Ringan Redhough But before the infernal page overtook them they were all at the door of the cottage bellowing and kneeling and trying in vain to make their hard case known to the friar
Pricker came up and saluted the friar who observing his clerical habit returned the compliment in a hurried and careless manner—for he was confounded by the arrival of so many mad bulls
Reverend brother mine said the page I deliver over into thy charge this herd of beautiful cattle the best breed that ever roamed the forests of Caledon They are a present from Master Michael Scott to his cousin the Warden of the middle marches See that you deliver them safe and sound
Lo thou seest with thine eyes and thou also hearest with the hearing of the ear said the friar that the creatures are outrageous and not to be governed by the hand of a single man And thinkest thou157 a brother of the holy order of Benedict would take a goad in his hand and ride forth after these bulls of Bashan Lo would they not even run headlong upon my mule and thrust their horns into his side Thy servant also and this maiden would they tread under their feet Go to Thou speakest as one lacking understanding
I give them in charge to thee as desired by one with whom it is dangerous to contend said the page and alongst with them this request that your captain will make away with them as quickly as possible for food to his army
At these words of the apparent sacristan there was such a roaring and bellowing commenced among the herd that for the first time the friar began to suspect some horrid enchantment but wist not what to dread The drove turned round their heads to the speaker—shook them in disapproval of what he had said and joined in such a ferocious roar against him that it was not like ought the friar had ever witnessed among the brute creation before The metamorphosed troopers how158ever knew too well now who Pricker was to attack him but turning again round they came in a row and kneeled around the friar looking at him with the most supplicating expressions of countenance that ever cattle put on
Lo methinks I have looked upon these wild beasts of the forest in some of the days that are past said the friar and that their countenances are not entirely unknown to me though when or in what place in that thing my memory upholdeth me not I pray thee brother to declare unto thy servant where thou camest by these beasts of mine acquaintance If thou art a follower of the worthy Father Lawrence thou must speak the truth—Tell me art thou a Christian
The bulls gave not the infernal page time to reply They turned about shook their heads and tossed the earth at him with their horns raising at the same time such an outcry of rage against him that the friar himself was afraid and retreated within the door of the cottage and he thought that amid their confused bellow159ings he could distinguish as it were these words pronounced He a Christian Away with him Away with him
Lo what am I to understand by all this said the friar
Come near unto me thou man of mystery that comest like one of the children of Esau with thy cattle and thy herds and tell unto thy servant what are these
Pricker would not however come nigh the friar but still kept his distance for against the friars spiritual armour he durst not engage but he called out to him in mockery I then declare unto thee O thou great magician who camest to cope with the prince of all magicians Master Michael Scott that these are thy masters yeomen whom thou leftest with him yesterday Now what sayest thou Hast thou ever witnessed power like this
The friar lifted up his eyes to heaven and tears fell down on his dark beard O wretched man that I am cried he why did I leave my children in the lions den yea even in the den of the great160 lion Wo is me that this breach hath been made among the followers of my Master But there is One that can yet controul all the powers of darkness and to Him alone must I apply without delay
The friar went instantly to his devotions and performed many rites of a nature too sacred to be here minutely described yet after all his exorcisms the men could not regain their natural shapes but lay and rolled about on the valley in awful convulsions The hellish page who had kept far aloof during the time of the friars sacred appeal now came galloping near to enjoy the convulsions of the herd and the grief and astonishment of the friar and after mocking for some time in obedience to the great wizards command he called to the friar and said I see he that brought about this wonderful metamorphosis—for which you shall one day be grateful—can only effect the countercharm Look into the manes on their foreheads and look narrowly and having said these words he darted off towards Aikwood with the speed of lightning
161
The friar did as this flying horseman had directed and searching the long curled mane between the horns of the first monster that came to his hand he there found stitched a small scroll of parchment neatly rolled up and written in blood Then he caused them to bring him fire in which he burnt it and presently there stood up at his hand one of Sir Ringan Redhoughs warriors in all his arms and accoutrements as he first arrived at the castle of Aikwood By the life of Pharaoh cried the friar surely this excelleth all that I beheld heretofore
The spell was now quickly dissolved but no pen can do any justice to the feelings of our amazed troopers as they again strode the green in their own forms and vigour embracing the friar and thanking him as their deliverer They returned back over the ridge not without some dreadful apprehensions to the mill of Aikwood for their horses but went no more in view of the portentous castle They found their horses at good feed and whenever Charlie saw Corbys skin that glittered162 like the plumes of the raven he cried Aha Corby lad ye haena wantit either meat or drink ye rascal Od ye hae fared better than your master ye cockluggit glooming thief stall up ye dog till I caparison you and then let us bound for the border
But the most curious and least suspected of all the circumstances attending the horses was that Dan Chisholms horse and those of his three companions that they left stabled in the deep dell above Lindean were all found standing at the mill among the rest The miller could give no farther account about them than that a lad brought them all tied to one anothers tails and said they belonged to four of the baron of Mountcomyns men that were gone to Aikwood By the Lord Soules cried Dan then it is true that Master Michael Scott said of the devil being more of a gentleman than he had been generally represented For all the pranks he has played us Ill think the better of him for this the longest day I have to live What say you to this friend Yardbire
I shall be twenty miles off Aikwood at163 least afore I speak another sentence about either him or some others that I ken o Mercy on us poor Tam Craik What an end he has made wi his fat bacon Hech but it be a despisable thing to rin open mouth to the—Ill no mention whae—for their greed o meat Some may hae gotten nae mair than what they deserved but as for sachless Gibbie Jordan he has been right hardly dealt wi My hearts unco wae for the poor laird and I think something should be done to recover him
Something shall be done for him said the friar and that of such momentous consequence that if his own iniquities keep him not in bondage all the powers of the evil one shall be unequal to the task
After all these horrid perils of weird women and witchcraft thus miraculously overcome our troop rode straight on to the camp of the Warden and found him in the vicinity of Wooller having come into those parts to counteract the rising about Berwick in behalf of the English garrison And the time being at hand on which he164 must either do or not do either join with heart and hand in the cause of the Douglas or leave him to stand or fall by himself and abide by the consequences—his impatience for the return of his men from Aikwood castle had been commensurate with the importance that he attached to their mission But when they informed him of all the wonders they had witnessed and the transmutations they had seen and undergone—how the warlock and his spirits had raised the tempests deluged the plains levelled the forests and cleft asunder the everlasting mountains the baron was like one in a trance It was long before they could make themselves accredited or impress him with any other idea than that it was a story made up to astonish him With the feats performed by the friar he was particularly pleased and from that time forth paid him more honour than he had ever been seen pay to man But the precise meaning of the destiny read for him out of the book of fate puzzled and interested him most of all It was dark and full of intricacies165 and it was not till after long consultation with wise men as well as women that any thing like a guess could be formed of its tendency By making words and actions to coalesce a mode of procedure was at the last pitched on as the only one reconcileable with the predictions This mode will eventually appear without giving the detail at present and the reader will then be better able to judge whether or not the Redhough and his sages understood the Masters signs and injunctions properly
166
CHAPTER VI
Here away there away wandering Willie
Here away there away haud away hame
Old Song
We have now performed the waggoners difficult and tedious task with great patience and scarcely less discretion having brought all the various groups of our dramatis personae up to the same period of time It now behoves us that is Isaac the curate and me to return again to the leading event namely the siege of Roxburgh
The state of mind to which the two commanders were now reduced was truly pitiable Within the castle of Roxburgh all was sullen gloom and discontent In one thing and that only were they unanimous which was in a frantic inveteracy against the Scots and though Musgrave with the feelings of a man would gladly have saved those dearest to him in life yet he found that to have proposed such a thing167 as yielding to the garrison would have been but adding fuel to flame in order to extinguish it Their small supply soon began again to wear short and moreover the privations to which they were subjected had brought on an infectious distemper among them of which some died every day but every item added to their sufferings fell into the scale against the Scots and all the cruelties exercised by the latter in order to break the spirits of their opponents only militated against themselves Opposition to the last man was a sentiment nursed in every English bosom within the garrison with a brooding enthusiasm of delight There can be no doubt that they felt intensely for their gallant captain considering the dismal situation in which he stood with respect to their enemies and the strong hold they had been enabled to keep over his heart It was probably the burning intensity of these feelings that was the great source of their unhappiness and gave rise to the fierce spirit of dissension that daily manifested itself Although they detested the168 deed the Scots had committed in executing Sir Richard yet they felt his death a sort of relief as by it onehalf of the cord which their hated adversaries held round the breast of their commander was broken and there is little doubt that they wished themselves free of Lady Jane Howard by fair and gentle means if possible but at all events to be rid of that remaining tie which almost maddened them to think of
There was one circumstance which of late was to all of them wholly unaccountable As the day of the Conception of the blessed Virgin approached the mind of Lord Musgrave instead of becoming altogether deranged as they had foreboded became more and more steady and collected He watched over every part of the economy within that huge fortress and gave his orders with punctuality and decision although with a degree of sternness that had not previously been observed
The dreaded day of the Conception at length arrived and before noon crowds of the citizens and people from the surrounding country began to assemble around the169 Scottish camp These were forcibly kept beyond the line of circumvallation while the regular troops were drawn up in columns both to the east and west of the fortress and particularly round the gibbet on the BushLaw At eleven oclock the Scottish trumpets sounded the English soldiers crowded to the battlements around the western tower of the citadel and Lord Musgrave came up among the rest arrayed in a splendid suit of light armour and gallantly attended
These battlements and the new gibbet were as before stated right opposite to one another and separated only by the breadth of the moat and a very small slope on the western ascent so that every object could be distinctly seen from the one place to the other and by raising the voice somewhat a conversation could be carried on across At the very time that Lord Musgrave thus appeared on the wall the Lady Jane Howard and Sir Richard Musgrave were introduced on the boards of the gibbet Yes—read it over again I say Sir Richard Musgrave for it was tru170ly he The Douglas seeing that he could not prevail and that the gallant youth was given up by his brother and the English to his fate could not brook the idea of losing by his death the onehalf of the influence he held over Musgrave But that he might try it by stretching it to the very last he clothed another culprit in Sir Richards habiliments tied a white cloth over his face let him stand a proclaimed space on the boards with the cord about his neck and at the last moment of the given time there being no parley sounded for the delivering up of the keys of the fortress the board sunk and the man died but Sir Richard was safe in hold
He was again produced that day being the eighth of December along with Lady Jane He was dressed in the suit of armour in which he fought on the day he was taken prisoner and Lady Jane in pure snowwhite robes betokening her spotless virginity Sir Richards eye beamed with manly courage but the fresh hues of the rose on the cheeks of Lady Jane had blenched and given place to the most deadly171 paleness Both hosts were deeply affected with the sight and on this occasion both felt alike There was not a heart amongst them that did not overflow with pity at the unhappy fate of the two youthful prisoners whose dismal doom could now no longer be averted unless by a sacrifice on the part of the English with which even the most sanguine of the beleaguering army doubted their compliance
The Douglas then caused a herald to make proclamation in a stentorian voice first stating the cause why he had put off the execution of Sir Richard Musgrave until that day namely his anxious desire to save the life of the noble youth on the ground that the purposed holding out of the garrison till the twentyfourth was a chimera and secondly declaring that unless the keys of the castle were previously delivered up to him precisely at the hour of noon the noble and gallant Sir Richard the flower of English chivalry should be put down and the beautiful and accomplished Lady Jane Howard the betrothed bride and devoted lover of Lord Musgrave subjected to a172 fate the most humiliating and the most deplorable that ever noble maiden suffered and that in full view of both armies A loud murmur of detestation sounded from the walls of the castle but the columns of the Scottish army stood and looked on in mute and tender sorrow Lord Musgrave placed himself right opposite the prisoners turned his face straight toward them and gazed with an unmoved and undaunted air Sir Richard addressed him in the same sentiments he had formerly expressed the purport of which was it will be remembered the madness and folly of holding out the castle now when the bright and unequalled prize for which he contended was lost For his own life he said he accounted it as nothing in the scale but the fate that awaited the lady of his love who had shewn such devotion to his person and interests was not to be endured or permitted by any knight of honour Lady Jane cried out to him to save her from a doom before which her whole soul shrunk adding that she had done much and suffered much for him and173 would he not make one effort one sacrifice to save her
Lord Douglas cried Musgrave Will not a formal consignment of all my lands titles and privileges in the dominions of England ransom the lives of these two
Not if they were ten times doubled returned the Douglas Nor shall any earthly thing ransom them save the full and free possession of the castle of Roxburgh I have myself suffered a loss at your hands of which you are not aware and I long and thirst to revenge it on you and your house
Then my resolution is fixed cried Musgrave Though all England should deprecate the deed and though I know my brethren in arms disapprove of it I must and will redeem the lives of these two Yes I will save them and that without abating one iota from the honour of the house of Musgrave Not make one effort Lady Jane Not one sacrifice to save your honour and life Effort indeed I will make none But without an effort174 I will make a sacrifice of as high estimation for you as ever knight offered up for the lady of his love Perhaps it may not be in my power to save you but in the sight of these rival armies—in yours my only brother and betrothed bride—and in the sight of heaven—I offer the last ransom that can be offered by man As he said these words he flung himself headlong from the battlement of the western tower struck on the mural parapet around the lower platform then on the rampart from which he flew with a rolling bound and flashed with prodigious force into the ample moat There by the weight of his armour he sunk forthwith to rise no more The troops of the rival nations stood aghast with uplifted hands gazing on the scene but no more was to be seen of the gallant Musgrave A gurgling boil of bloody water arose above him as he sank to the bottom—and that was the last movement caused in this world by one whose life had been spent in deeds of high chivalry and restless commotion
Excepting one shriek uttered by Lady Jane the Douglas was the first to break175 the awful silence which he did by these words There fell a hero indeed Noble and resolute Musgrave I cannot but envy you such a chivalrous fate as this Many such expressions of enthusiastic admiration burst from both armies not in shouts of applause for these were suppressed by sorrow but in a low and melting pathos that bespoke the souls regret as well as approval
When these first expressions of feeling were over the dark and manly countenance of Douglas sunk into more than usual gloom and dejection All the advantages given him and which he had deemed insurmountable by his opponents were by this desperate act of Musgraves extinguished He had now no more power over the English garrison than what he could make good with his sword and his bow To have executed his threats on Sir Richard and the lovely and romantic Lady Jane would only have been an act of poor and despicable revenge which would have disgusted his own followers and could in no degree have furthered his cause so he or176dered them back to confinement with directions that they should be attended according to their rank
What was next to be done That was the great question Douglas never once conceived the idea of giving up the enterprise for though the princess for whom he had undertaken it was now no more his broad domains were all engaged The very existence of the house of Douglas depended on his success and besides the king had more daughters though none like his beloved and accomplished Margaret Therefore Douglas had no hesitation regarding the necessity of taking the castle He was determined to have it But what to do next in order to accomplish this determination was the question Circumstances were grievously changed with him The garrison had got a supply across the Teviotbridge during the time of the flood and the tempest but the Scots could not ascertain to what amount Sir Thomas Musgrave had been joined by some troops from the shores of Northumberland and had issued forth with these177 and the greater part of the garrison of Berwick to the amount of 5000 men in order to make a diversion in favour of the garrison of Roxburgh This movement by the governor of Berwick disconcerted the Douglas most of all A party of these marauders had shewed themselves on the height about Hume castle with trumpets sounding and colours waving in the air From thence they marched on keeping the backs of the hills until they came into the lower parts of Leaderdale which they harried burning in their way the town and castle of Ercildon They next made a movement towards Melrose meaning to establish themselves in the rear of Douglas and either to cut off his supplies or force him to abandon the siege in order to preserve his own country behind him But when they came to the river Tweed they were opposed by the brave abbot Lawrence not the feigned and infernal abbot that our yeomen left at Aikwood but the real worthy and apostolic Lawrence himself He had raised all the abbey vassals and retainers and shewed fairly178 disposed to dispute the passage of the English over the river In the meantime he posted message after message to Douglas to come or send to his assistance before the abbey of the holy Virgin with all its sacred stores should fall into the hands of their ruthless enemies
Douglas was hardly put to it If he drew off from a close blockade the English were sure to take advantage of his absence make a sally and procure plenty of more provisions and in that case his only probable hope of success was cut off On the other hand if he suffered himself to be inclosed between two armies his situation would become every day more precarious and perhaps in the issue quite untenable He was therefore in a manner forced to the resolution of making an effort to join father Lawrence and of giving the captain of Berwick battle before he attained possession of the rich monastry of Melrose
The time was now arrived when the support of Sir Ringan Redhough and his borderers was become absolutely necessary179 Without their cooperation in a more close and decisive manner than that in which they had hitherto conducted themselves he could not now proceed one foot and his great cause was ruined He therefore dispatched a pressing message to the chief conjuring him as his friend and fellowsoldier either to come and supply his place in the blockade of Roxburgh or march with all expedition to Melrose and give battle to the governor of Berwick The dogged and unyielding Warden returned for answer that it had always been his chief and undivided aim to act in concert with his noble and gallant friend and lord superior the Earl of Douglas and Mar But that he had a peculiar charge from his Sovereign of the English marches which it was his bounden duty to attend to prior to all other considerations Whatever he could do conformable with this first duty should not be wanting Finally he sent him word as he had done formerly that if he coudna take the castle and confessed that he coudna take it he might send word to him and he wad take it for him
180
What does the crabbed carle always mean by that answer said the Douglas when it was reported to him Perhaps he has some means of communication with those within the fortress some secret friend in disguise among our enemies Perhaps he knows of some weak or accessible point among these extensive bulwarks or perhaps he reckons on some plausible means of surmounting them for the devils head is not more fruitful in expedients than his This is a matter of such importance to me at present that I must try to probe it to the bottom Were I sure that he could accomplish his boasted feat I had better engage him to it with onethird of my dominions and at all events I must procure the active assistance of his energetic force at present whatever may be the equivalent required Let my white stead Beaver be caparisoned and my attendants in readiness I must have an interview with this man of the mountains before I sleep
The Warden had drawn his force down to Wooller with the intention of cooperating more effectively with the Douglas He181 had heard of the advantages that lord held over his adversaries but nothing of the late catastrophe by which they were all removed Deeming therefore that the chances were mainly on the side of the Douglas he judged it his safest course to act in complete concert with him Above all the words out of the black book of fate had been conveyed to him as read by the greatest magician in the world From all that could be made out of that mystic rhyme after long consultation it appeared that it behoved the Warden and his friends to go hand in hand with Douglas Rise not against feudal union—No advance but in communion were words hardly to be misinterpreted The words of the prophecy and the ludicrous metamorphosis were all taken into account compared computed and over again computed—and the sequel was a decisive resolution to support the Douglas and join issues with him But in the meantime still to make the most of a bad bargain
This resolution had been taken and so far acted upon that trusty agents had been182 despatched all over the country in disguise to execute a portion of the great concerted plan when the Douglas at a late hour in the evening arrived in the Wardens camp He then had proofs experimentally of the Wardens caution and vigilance He came upon his outposts at a great distance from the main body of his army These withstood his passage but seeing his retinue so small for he was attended only by two knights a squire and a guide they conducted him from one post to another till at length they brought him completely guarded to the Wardens headquarters which was nothing more than a lowly cottage at Wooller haughhead
The doughty chief and his kinsmen were still sitting in earnest conversation round a rustic table with a tremendous torch in the middle of it This was nothing less than a huge broken jar full of refined oxs tallow and a flow peat stuck to the head in the middle which being kindled emitted a blaze like a fish light The gallant kinsmen were in deep consultation anent their grand plan of warlike operations and the183 more they conversed about it the more eligible did it still appear to them and the more deeply did they get interested in it so that when the knight in waiting announced a stranger who requested an interview with Sir Ringan every one seemed disposed to refuse him admission
Tell him I am engaged said the Warden
O yes By all means Tell him we are engaged said Dickie o Dryhope
If it is another message from the Douglas I have had enough of him said the Warden
Ay faith we have had enough of him said Dickie
It is perhaps from Master Michael Scott said Yardbire Or maybe himsel wha kens Lord sauff us Dye think sae said the Warden starting to his feet That would indeed alter the case
Ay that would alter the case indeed said Dickie starting to his
Who is he or what is he like enquired the Warden
Ay that is the principal thing to be184 attended to said Dickie What is he like
He is delivered as a knight of most noble bearing and courtly deportment answered the knight in waiting I suppose we must admit him and hear what he has to say said the Warden again taking his seat
O yes By all means Let us hear what he has to say said Dickie sitting down likewise
As the courtly and athletic form of the Lord Douglas came up the hovel the Border gentlemen stood all up to receive him save Sir Ringan who throwing himself back on his seat leaned his chin on his hand and in that indifferent posture awaited till the quality of his guest was made manifest But no sooner did the voice of Douglas reach his ear than he rose up to salute and receive him with as much ease as if he had been his daily visitor
You are hard of admission noble Sir Ringan said he thus to let your friends wait at the door of your pavilion after riding so far in the dark to see you
185
I am chafed with visitors from both countries every hour of the day Lord Douglas many of them coming with complaints which it is out of my power to rectify I have therefore a sly inquisition established around me that might haply give your Lordship some interruption But it was your own blame Had you announced the name of Douglas that would have opened a lane for you from my farthest outpost to this chair which I request you to occupy while I take my place here at your right hand You are welcome noble Earl of Douglas and Mar to our rude habitation There is no man more so beneath our sovereign lord the King I give you and your attendants all kind welcome and greeting
You are become as much an accomplished courtier among these wild wastes as you were before an accomplished warrior Sir Ringan said Douglas
I always make points of speaking as I am spoken to drinking as I am drunk to and going to a battle when sent for said the Warden Hm hm hm neighed186 Dickie o Dryhope screwing up his mouth on one side like a shrew It is all true our Captain tells you Lord Douglas Thats his rule Mh mh Mh Hm hm hm The Douglas cast at Dickie a curious searching glance from his dark eye that was half hid by a shaggy eyebrow and then turning to Sir Ringan replied I am heartily glad of it noble Baron of Mountcomyn it having been for that very purpose I sought this interview with you Sir Ringan Redhough you must to battle with me tomorrow
With all my heart my lord was the reply
Come that is as it should be Well no more of it We can have no more of it said Douglas Let us have a flaggon of your best wine to drink success to our arms
The wine was soon produced with plenty of other good cheer with which the Wardens camp was then abundantly stored and the two chiefs conversed together with as much freedom and as little apparent jealousy with regard to rank or fame187 as if they had been two brothers The Douglas delineated his affairs as in that posture in which success could not fail him at the same time he admitted the ticklish situation in which he stood owing to the diversion made by the captain of Berwick and that without an instant effort he would be inclosed between two fires Sir Ringan answered that he had heard of the incursion and therefore he had drawn his troops down from the dales of Northumberland to support his friend and firm ally in any case of necessity and he concluded by boldly proffering either to supply the Douglass place in the blockade or march to the west and hold Sir Thomas Musgrave in check Douglas was delighted to find the crabbed crossgrained Warden as he was wont to call him in such a complaisant humour and testified that delight by many wellturned compliments and encomiums on his vigilance and gallant support He got introduced to all the gentlemen of the party with whom he exchanged civilities desiring them all to regard him as their friend and one ready to do188 them a kindness whenever it lay in his power And now Sir Ringan since you hold the taking of the castle of Roxburgh so light said he I think it is meet that my men and I should march and give battle to Musgrave Probably you may have taken possession of that troublesome garrison before we return
If I do my Lord of Douglas I take it for myself replied Sir Ringan and claim all the privileges rights and immunities that were to devolve on you as the reducer of it Now if I should take the castle of Roxburgh before your return I suspect you would find it as hard work to expel me and these Border warriors of mine as the halfstarved English that you have there already I have all these brave fellows to hold in beef and malt my Lord of Douglas and for their sakes I have laid down a golden rule to walk by which is To do nothing for nothing If I take the castle of Roxburgh I take it for myself and them
Douglas who knew nothing of the prophecy and injunctions from the book of189 the destinies of men became more convinced than ever that the Warden knew of some flaw or some tangible point in the garrison and if there existed a knowledge of such a thing he resolved to avail himself of it by any means He knew Sir Ringan too well to suppose he would confide his secret to him without a certainty of reaping due advantage and that therefore it behoved to give him a prevailing interest in it With this view he answered him jocularly Though you were to receive all that was promised to me in the event of my success you would probably find yourself only a loser by the guerdon
Why are you not to be made the kings soninlaw replied Sir Ringan and thereby the first subject or rather the first man of the realm for by the indolence and retired habits of our sovereign you would have the whole kingdom at your beck Call you this nothing my Lord Or would it be fair and reasonable—supposing the thing possible which I do not pretend to say it is—that if my warriors and I should put you in posses190session of all this power riches and honours would it be fair I say that we should be again turned out to these Border wastes to live by our shifts without reaping any thing of the benefit
Should you take the castle for me in my absence noble Sir Ringan your reward shall be of your own naming
Would it not be better Lord Douglas that the reward were settled beforehand and then I lose or gain at my own risk and peril If I deliver you no produce I ask no pay
And what is the reward Sir Ringan would ask for such a piece of incalculable service
My choice of seven baronies on the West Border to divide amongst these gentlemen commoners to whose support I owe every thing
You are a master worth serving brave Sir Ringan But such a grant would break my power on the Border for ever
It is that your power on the Border may not be broken for ever Lord Douglas that I make the proffer I am safer191 without the venture But you are a days march nearer to the English army—draw off your men silently before the break of day and march against it I shall supply your place at the blockade to the west of the castle without loss of time and answer to you at your return for all ingress or egress that takes place in that division If Sir Thomas proves hard for you you have only to keep your men together and fall back toward the entrenchments You shall find you have some good backfriends there
Douglas had determined on no account to let this proffer of the Wardens ingenious head and powerful arm in the taking of the fortress pass without trial so without more ado he called for the friars tablets and made out a grant to Sir Ringan in free present of the barony and lands of Gilterscleuch and his choice of seven of the best baronies belonging to the house of Douglas in the districts adjoining to the West Border in the event of his putting James Lord of Douglas and Mar in full possession of the castle of192 Roxburgh This grant signed and sealed the Douglas departed after pledging the Warden and his friends in a hearty stirrup cup both chiefs being alike well pleased with the agreement they had entered into The Douglas posted back to Roxburgh and reached it just in time to put the western division of his army in motion at break of day while Sir Ringan made his musters by the light of the moon and marched off to the siege of Roxburgh
193
CHAPTER VII
Aboon his skins he sat and rockit
And fiercely up his bonnet cockit
Then at ha doors he crousely knockit
Withouten dread
Till wives and bairns around him flockit
But now hes dead
Then he wad claw and he wad hustle
Till all the skins played rap and rustle
While up his thighs wi devilish bustle
Ran mony a ked
Now they hae lost their eume and gustle
Sin Robins dead
Deil on the yaud that I should ban
That brak the neck of sic ane man
Now wha will wucked dames traupan
Wi siccan speed
Or drive the hides to them wha tan
Sin Robins dead
Rob Patersons Elegy
On the same day that Douglas marched his men up the Tweed towards Melrose and the Warden his troopers across the Border to the siege of Roxburgh a band of twelve men and thirty horses came up out of Eskdale towards CraikCross the most motely group that had ever been194 seen traversing that wild country The men were dressed as English peasants of the lowest order with broad unshapely hats made of a rude felt of wool and hair mixed wide coarse jockeycoats that came below their knees and instead of loops or buttons these were bound round the middle with a broad buffbelt the rest of their dress was all conformable save that each of them had a noble broadsword girded by his side Some of their horses were loaden some of them halfloaden and a few had scarcely any thing on their backs at all But no man will guess what that loading consisted of Not to keep the reader in suspense it was of nolthides that is of cowhides oxenhides bullhides and all sorts of hides that ever came from the backs of cattle There were raw hides and dried hides black hides and white hides hides with horns and hides without horns and of these consisted their loading and nothing else
The men alighted at CraikCross to bait their horses and the following conversation ensued which will let the reader into195 the secret who these skindealers were thus strangely accoutred
Will Laidlaw o Craik yere a gayan auldfarrant chield Come near me and sit down and tell me gin ye can hae ony guess what our master the Warden can be wanting wi a thir confoundit illsmelled hides
I hae puzzled my brain to nae purpose about it Dan Chisholm but am convinced it is some way connected wi the siege of that unlucky castle and the maist part o us trows that they are for making raipladders or rather whingladders for climbing ower the was an gin that be the case Dan there will mony ane o us throw away our lives to little purpose
Now to hear you talk about fock throwing away their lives You that wad risk your life for naething but a broken crown every day o the year Why Will Laidlaw I hae foughten often in the same field wi you afore this time and I never saw you set your life at a cows horn let be the hide o ane for whilk we wad gie a good deal the day I hae seen ye196 ride from your ain party when that wing wasna hotly enough engaged and blatter into the very thickest and hettest part o the field just girning and laying on like some langnosed deil come out o the pit But let me tell ye Will o Craik it is a sair fault o yours and it is a clagg o the hale clan—the deil be your landlord as he has already been mine quietly gin the hale tott o ye be nae ill for saying ae thing an thinking another If ane hear a Laidlaw complaining of pinching and poverty ye may amaist be sure that he has the best stockit mailings and the best filled beefbarrels in the country If ye hear him complaining that the English are herrying the Scots up stoop and roop ye may rely on it the Scots hae been getting the upper hand and enriching themsels and and if ye hear a Laidlaw pretending to be averse to a foray or a battle ye may depend on it that his very knuckles are itching and his teeth watering to be at it—Na ye needna waul wi your muckle een Will for ye canna deny the thing and it is a d—nd provoking gate ye hae
197
Hout dear Dan we just hae it by kind to try what fock thinks on the subject a wee to sound them like afore we tell our hale minds But a comes aye freely out ere the hinderend But the truth is about this that we were cracking ye ken I dinna mind a bodle what the Warden be gaun to do wi the skins provided he keep his promise and gie me a living English cow for the hides of every three dead anes that I bring him
There it goes now There you go again Weel I ken ye carena ae doit about the kye Ye hae plenty o baith kye and ewes already and on the contrary ye wad gie them a to ken what our chief is gaun to be about wi thir hides But it is needless to fight wye Ye canna help that cross gate o expressing yoursel Gin ever ye be drowned we may seek you up the water Theres ae thing Will—ye may see the Warden means some general good to us a by this project whatever it is for he has sent ae man o every name to gather up the skins o his native district Ae Oliver ae Armstrong ae Laidlaw ae Chis198holm and twa o the Redhoughs for ye ken he is always maist behadden to his ain name But what can be the meaning o this ugly disguise I canna form a single conjecture and he is sae strick about it too that if ane o us let oursels be found out we lose a chance of reward or advantage Sae Will yere unco weel kend about Craik and Howpasley and a the links o Borthwick and so am I about CastleWearie and Chisholm and thereabouts Gang ye into my fathers house a night and Ill gang to Craik gather ye up the hides o Teviot and I shall take Borthwick in my road My father will maybe be a wee sweer to take ye in but ye maun make your way on him the best gate ye can he has the best stockit pantry on Teviot head but a bit of a Laidlaws fault complaining aye maist when he has least reason He has a capital stock o hides but seeing that English disguise he may deny them therefore try him first and if he winna produce them gang up the burn about half a mile and in a lown crook weel hidden frae a the world yell find a bit housie wi a dozen o good hides in it If he winna gie you199 them at a fair price ye maun een take them for naething as it is a for his ain advantage
Na na Dan Weel I wat Ill do nae sic thing I wadna dispute wi the auld man nor anger him for a the hides in the hale barony
There again Aye the auld man Now the Lord forgie ye for ye never met wi him a your life but ye baith angered him and disputed wi him But nae mair about it Take ye Sandy Pot o the Burnfit the queer hairum skairum devil Tam Oliver Bauldy Elliot and Bauldy Armstrong wi you and Ill take Jamie Telfer o the Dodhead Jock o the Delorrin Jock Anderson o nae place and Geordie Bryden o every place wi me—and good luck to the skin trade
It was one of those sort of winter days that often occur in January when the weather is what the shepherds call in the deadthraw that is in a struggle between frost and thaw There was a dark cloud of rime resting on the tops of the hills which shrouded them in a veil impervious to vision beyond the space of a few yards and200 within that cloud the whole height appeared to be covered with millions of razors every pile of bent and heath being loaded with ice on the one side so that each had the exact resemblance to a razor blade all of which appeared to be cast in the same mould and of the same beautiful metal The feet of the horses as they travelled through this made a jingling noise as if they had been wading among crystal As they came lower down on the hills the air became softer and the ground was free of those icecandles but an uncommon gloom hung over holm and dale
Old Peter Chisholm was walking on the green to the westward of his house looking at his ewes coming bleating down from among the dark foldings of the rime and saying to himself I wonder what can be word o thae dirty herd callants the day that they are letting the sheep come a stringing in lang raws and rairing and bleating into the how o the water that gate The countrys in a loose state enow for the strength is a out ot a raid o thirty stout English thieves wad herry the201 hale water An sic were to come this gate the day my stock wad be a gane
Peter was proud of his ewes for all that and giving them a whistle he threw the plaid over his shoulder set his broad bonnet up before and turned about to go home to look after the shepherd lads As he turned his face to the north he naturally cast his eye up toward the Limycleuch hills where it instantly embraced the appalling sight of Will Laidlaw o Craik and his disguised compeers with their fifteen horses coming stretching down the ridge right opposite to Pate Chisholms hirsel of bonny wheelhorned ewes The old mans eyes were dazzled in his head and a paralytic affection seized his whole frame Lord pity us Now see whats coming yonder said Peter I tauld them aye what wad happen but no ane wad heed me O dool to the day A man may soon hae muckle and soon hae naething in this wearifu country O Dan Simon and Jock the strength o my house wherefore are ye a gane and left your gear to gang202 as it came Dear bought far sought and little for the haudding
By the time Peter got thus far with his soliloquy he was quite out of breath for he was not only walking fast but he was absolutely running towards home with a sore stoop and knees bent much forward Still as he hobbled he continued to apostrophise in short sentences as he could gather a little breath now and then to utter a small portion of the concatenation of repulsive ideas that presented themselves one after another—Naething but trash left—Hehheh—RobinLaidlaw—I hae seen—Hehheh the—day but—Heh—thats—gane—Lasses too—Hoh—oh—O ay—Half—breed—bring—up—Oh—Dan—Dan c c Daughter Bessy Chisholm—Heh Are ye therein May Chisholm—wheres your titty Poor tafferel ruined tawpies What are ye gaun gaindering about that gate for as ye didna ken whilk end o ye were uppermost Thats easily kend father What has come ower ye Hae ye seen a warlock that ye are gaping and glowring at sic a dismal rate203 War than ony warlock ye twa glaikit idle hizzies Off wi jerkin and wilycoat and on wi doublet breeks and buskins instantly Belt on bow buckler and brand and stand for life limb gear and maidhood or as gane in ae kink O dool be to the day dool be to the day What are ye standing glinting and looking at ane anither there for Cast your een up to the Carlinrigg and see whats coming A harried ravaged and murdered Come come Don your billies claes let us make some show it will maybe save something Warn the herd callants let the stoutest of them arm and the weakest rin and drive sheep and cattle an a out o sight amang the clouds O dool to the day Na na for a the houses that are in the country here they come straight Nae winning by this place
The lasses seeing their father in such a querulous mood and the motely troop fast approaching acquiesced in his mandate and without delay mounted themselves each in a suit of their younger brothers clothes while old Peter stood over them to see that204 they put all to rights always giving such directions as these Come come come strap clasp belt and buckle and gudesake fauld up your cuffs Your arms hing at your shoulder blades as they were off joint Hout fie hout fie Wha ever saw young chields hae sic luchts o yellow hair hingin fleeing in the wind Come come strap and string down swaddle it round wi sax dizzen o wheelbands and fasten a steelbelted fur cap ower aboon a Yare yare Lord sauff us Here they come Whats to be our fate Keep close for a wee while
Hilloa Wha hauds the house was vollied from the door by the deeptoned voice of Will Laidlaw
Theres nae body in but me and I downa come to the door Ye had better ride on cried old Peter in a weak tremulous voice
Wilt thou answer to thy name or hast thou a name to answer to said Will feigning to speak the broad Northumberland dialect which sorted very ill with his tongue An thou best leel205 man and true coome and bid thee guests wailcome It is God speed or spulzie wi thee in three handclaps
Spulzie quo the man exclaimed Peter The muckle fiend spulzie the unmannerly gab that spake it—and with that he came stooping over his staff and coughing to the door speaking in a quavering treble key A bonny like purpose What wad ye spulzie frae a poor auld man that hasna as muckle atween him and the grave as will pay for howking it and buy a hagabag winding sheet Spulzie quo he That is a good joke—he—he—he cough hoh—hoh—hoh Im sae ill wi that host Eh wha hae we a here Strangers I think
Goodman we were directed to your house for a nights entertainment or two if you are the old rich yeoman ycleped Patrick Chisholm of CastleWeary
Na na Im nae rich yeoman Im naething but a poor herried forsaken reduced auld man I hae nae upputting for ought better than a flea Ye had better ride on down to Commonside Theres206 plenty there baith for man and horse Come away Ill set you down the length o the ford and let ye see the right gate
Come neighbours let us go away as he says Well never make our quarters good on this auld carle said Sandy Pot in a whisper to his companions And troth do ye ken I wad rather lie at the back of the dike before I imposed myself on ony body Od my hearts wae for the poor auld niggard
Come away lads come away cried Peter The days are unco short enow ye haena time to put off
Stop short there my good fellow cried Laidlaw We have some other fish to fry with you before we go I am informed you have a large stock in hand of the goods in which we deal You have had lucky lifts this year Plenty of good hides with you
Rank misprision and base rascally jests on a poor auld man Not a single hide about the hale town foreby the ane on my back cried old Peter
My orders are worthy old yeoman to give fair prices to such as produce their207 hides said Laidlaw But whoever refuses I am obliged to search for them and if I find any I take them at my own price
O dear honest gentlemen I downa joke wi ye hoh hoh coughed Peter Gin ye be for a place to stay in a night come away as lang as it is daylight
Why with your leave my good fellow we must lodge with you tonight Hearthroom and haroom steedroom and staroom is the friendly strangers right here Small things will serve a stone of English beef or so and two or three pecks of oats
Beef quoth the man Ye may as weel look for a white corby as beef in my pantry or aits in my barn Will ye no come away
Not till I makes a search for your nolt hides honest yeoman To that am I bound
The four skindealers next the door alighted and went in leaving their horses with the other two who went and put them up in a good large stable with plenty of stalls Peter ran back to the house in perfect agony speaking to himself all208 the way They are very misleared chaps thae They maun surely either be Low Dutch or else sutors o Selkirk that they are sae mad about skins I little wat how I am to get rid o them
The two lasses appeared armed capapee like two young men and though Bess was Will Laidlaws own sweetheart he did not recognize her through the disguise neither did she once suspect him The two made a little swaggering about the peltdealers as they called them entering the pantry but not choosing to measure arms with them the weak suffered the strong to pass and Will having his cue soon discovered the huge barrels of beef below the ground with empty ones above them Old Peter shed tears of vexation when he saw this huge and highlyvalued store was all discovered but had not a word to say for himself save now and then A fairly come by and hardly won and there is nae right nor law that says honest men should be eaten up wi sorners May ane speir where ye come frae or by whas right ye do this
209
Why man dost thou no hear and dost thou no see that were coome joost from Nworthoomberland
Aha thought Peter to himself English thieves after a I had some hopes that I could distinguish Scots tongues in their heads But as gane as gane
Now auld yeoman if thou hast a word of trooth in thee tell us where the hides are and we will pay thee for them
No ae hide about the town No ane either little or muckle
Why soore am I them coos doodnae coome to thee withoot heydes did they That I can answer for they had a heydes and bonns baith when they came from hwome
Waur than ever Waur than ever exclaimed Pate Chisholm to himself as he sought another apartment The very men that the kye were reaved frae come to take revenge Callant come here and speak wi me Haste to a neighbours house and raise the fray We shall never be a quietly put down wi half a dozen
Dearest father said May I dinna210 think the men mean ony ill if ye wad be but civil
Civil or no civil wench it is as good to have half a dozen armed men lying concealed near us said Peter An we dinna need them the better Rin your ways and gar raise a the auld men and the young lads in the two neist towns for there is nae ither left Piths good in a play
The maid did as she was ordered and Peter seeing that no better would be tried to compel himself to a sort of civility which however sat on him with a very bad grace But hides hides—nothing but hides was the burden of their enquiries while Peter durst not for his life produce the hides deeming that every man would know the hides of his own kine and wreak tenfold vengeance on himself and household He knew not he said what his son Dan who took care of all these matters had made of them—sold them he supposed to the curriers and sutors of Selkirk—and more than this Pate would not acknowledge There was no other thing for it nor perhaps did Laid211law want any thing else than for him and his companions to walk up the burn and make a seizure of the whole of Peters excellent hides with which they returned loaden to his dwelling His confusion and distress of mind were most appalling when Laidlaw spread them all out before him and asked in a very particular manner to be informed where he had got them O Peter knew nothing about them They were not his at all He did not know to whom they belonged But he would not stand to speak turning his back always on the men and hasting away coughing and speaking to himself He could have seen these presumptuous skinmen roasted on a brander for they had now put him out of all patience and all hope
Pray thee now mine good friend inform me this said Laidlaw Didst thou nwot get this seame fleckered one and this brwoad one here on the third of the last mwonth and heres wother three didst thou nwo get them on the twentieth of the seame mwonth Now tell me this I say Why where is thou gwoing groom212bling inte theesel Turn about thee feace to the heydes and answer to the pwoint
Aff hands is fair play said old Pate I winna be forced wi ony unmannerly English lown that ever I saw atween the een and with that he heaved his staff and struck Laidlaw across the shoulders and over the steel bonnet repeatedly who was like to burst with repressed laughter but still persisted in his queries
What ails the owld catwiddied carle said he that he winno answer a ceevil question Is jwost wanting to tauk to thee aboot boosiness and thou flees out in a reage and breaks me head Come tourn again and tell me when and where thou gotst this one see this wheyte one here Whats t moombling at Wolt thou tell me the price of them then
I want to hae naething to do wi you and as little to say to you therefore gang about your business and dinna plague a poor auld unfeiroch man The gate is afore ye and your companys wanted elsewhere
Will would take none of those hints213 he followed his uncourteous host about and about till at last he fairly holded him beyond the fire and then he took his seat over against him and conversed on while his companions dropped in one by one and joined in it For a while they got it all to themselves but at length Pate not being able to make better of it suffered himself to be drawn in by degrees to join them still preserving the same strain of disingeniousness They asked who the two handsome striplings were that attended him and spread the board with provisions He answered that they were two sons of his own Sons of thine said Laidlaw Whoy what are their neames Simon and John answered he or rather Sim and Jock for thats how we ca them
Whoy mon that is the queerest thing I ever heard said Laidlaw Then thou hast two swons of the neame of Jock and other two of the neame of Sim for I saw two of that neame strapping youths in the Wardens camp
Peter wist not well what answer to make and therefore only added Ay214 Ay Were you in the Wardens camp Then tell me is their ony word frae my son Dan
Ay man I can tell thee sic news of Dan as thou never heardst he has sitten at his supper hand and neive wi the deil At these words one of the young men behind them May Chisholm to wit uttered a suppressed scream and from that moment Will Laidlaw smelled a rat and soon discovered his own beloved Bess Chisholm standing gazing at him as he related the wonderful story of her brothers adventures with the devil the warlock and the three evil spirits of his race with those infernals along the marble pavement of the air his transformation into a horned beast and of his eating and drinking with the prince of darkness But the two striplings were most of all shocked at hearing of the devils burning stomach and how the wine fizzed as it went down
After listening and wondering while all these things were in relation Bess said to the skindealer next to her who chanced to be Sandy Pot Pray Sir when you215 were in the camp of Sir Ringan Redhough did you note a brave trooper a friend of ours named Laidlaw
Oh yes that I did said Sandy I know him well This was a glorious joke for Pot and his comrades were afraid he would persevere in it till he put their secret out altogether
How is he reported in the army said she Is it still alleged that he is the bravest and most successful battler in the barons array
Bottler I suppose you mean said Sandy for as to his battling God mend that He is not noted for ought that I ever heard of except for keeping a flunkey or a wallithechamber as the Frenchmen ca it and it is reported thro all the army that that wally o his is an English girl I can tell you that your neighbour Will Laidlaw is notorious for nothing else beside this
It is false as thyself and thy perjured ungenerous nation said the disguised maiden I know my friend to be honours self and of a house whose courage216 and integrity were never called in question The man that dares to slander him had better do it somewhere else than in my presence and under my fathers roof But I degraded him myself by putting his name into the mouth of such a mean forager as thou art The man whose actions are base always accuses the brave and generous of deeds such as his own
Bless me what ails the chiel said Sandy laughing good humouredly—Whats the great ill o keeping a wally I aince keepit ane mysel theres nae doubt ot till my uncle Gideon Scott set up his birse and gart me part wi the creature
The rest laughed at Sandy being put out of countenance by the indignant stripling but Bessy Chisholm turned on her heel and walked out at the door muttering expressions about vulgarity raw hides and maggots and Will Laidlaw not able to contain himself rose and walked out after her in a visible state of mental agitation As he approached the stable door quietly into which she had turned he heard her saying to herself Laidlaw keep217 an English mistress in disguise No the fellow is a poltroon and a liar and I will not believe it Will entering at that moment seized her hand between both his and kissed it saying in a passionate style My own dear and highspirited Bess Chisholm still
Never was there seen such a statue of amazement The tones of the voice now uttered in its natural key were familiar to her But the figure that uttered them To be addressed in that style by a great burly thief of an English skinbuyer outwent all comprehension She was in a mans dress be it remembered—and there she stood with her face half raised her ruddy lips wide apart and her set eyes of lucent blue showing a mixture of astonishment and disdain What what Sir was all that she could say until the ragamuffin figure reminded her of the weaponshaw at Mountcomyn and some lovetokens and vows of which none knew save one But with a womans natural caprice she now was angry at him in turn having discovered her true sentiments and218 refused to acknowledge him as her lover in that hateful disguise unless the meaning of it was explained to her He told her that the meaning of it was unknown to himself that he took it at his captains command but that his fortune depended on the secret being kept
There you are safe at all events said she and it is well you have disclosed yourself in time for my father has raised the country and it is not improbable that before tomorrow you should have been all dead men
I think we have been in greater jeopardies said he But in the mean time keep up your disguise that my comrades may not discover your sex—and we two must have some private discourse during the night for I have much to say to you
Not I master I winna court ae word wi a man in the dress of a vulgar English boor for it is sae hatefu to me I can like nought thats within it Ah me I wot ill how it is but I think I hardly detest it sae sair already
My bonny haughty pawkie sweet219 Elizabeth cried Laidlaw—But Isaac the curate says that being himself a married man he could not go on with all the overcharged outrageous stuff that passed between these two fond lovers so he passes it over as well as the conversation at their evening meal which Bess took care to make a plentiful and savoury one and in the mean time she was in such high spirits herself that the troopers who did not know her took the young man for the most swaggering puppy they had ever seen She challenged Sandy Pot to fight her with single rapier knowing well that Laidlaw would find some means of preventing it but it was evident that old Peter thought her entirely out of her senses for he tried to get her away from about the house to the residence of one of the neighbouring gentlemen yeomen for the night but the experiment was vain
When he saw such a goodly supper or dinner for they were both in one set down to these uncouth and to him unwelcome guests he could not contain his chagrin and at first refused to turn out to220 the board or partake with the rest But when he saw that the good fare would all go he grew as restless as if he had been sitting on pins till Bess who knew his way took him by the arm and pretended to force him jocularly out to the table But Peter was not ill to force for in place of receding he made all the haste into the head of the board that he could though at the same time always repeating I tell ye callant it is downright wastery He however plied as good a knife and as good a hornspoon as any of them all
While they were yet busily engaged at their meal the tramp of horses was heard approaching the door in a cautious and uncertain manner and by a circuitous way The two disguised maids whom bytheby we should distinguish by the names of Sim and Jock as they sustained these that night were standing eating at the halldresser behind the backs of the troopers and when the trampling was first heard Jock grew as pale as death but Sim who knew what guests were within which the other did not know shewed a courage221 so undaunted that it appeared wonderful to all present save one but to Jock in particular O ho The nearer night the mae beggars cried Sim Who have we next
That beats ought I ever heard in my life exclaimed Pate I think the fock be gane distractedly mad What brings them a here Is there no another ha house and pantry in the hale country but mine It is hard to be eaten out o house and hald wi sorners and stravaegers this gate May Libertons luck befa the hale o them Callant Jock set by that meat out o sight Stop for a wee bit an ye like goodman said Bauldy Armstrong It is best aye to do ae thing afore another
By this time the dialogue had commenced in the court Simmy went briskly to the door by himself and demanded of the strangers who they were and what they wanted They answered with hesitation that they supposed they had lost their way and requested to know who held the house and how it was called The house is held by my father a leel Scottish yeoman said222 the youth and already full of strangers to the door as well as every stall of his stable with their horses Pass on your way and peace be with you Did not I tell you we had lost our way said the first speaker riding up to the door Pray who are the strangers within We have lost a party of our friends
The men are from the south master freetraders they may be called Men of horns hides and hair Sir You I suppose are of the same profession Precisely of the same said the stranger alighting from his horse and entering the house
He was followed by other two for there were but four in all and the fourth was a a boy whom they left holding their horses When they came in upon Peter and his jolly hidemerchants they were visibly disappointed and viewed the grotesquelooking group with marked curiosity These were not the men they expected to have found that was evident but perceiving their English habits they ventured to address them They were answered in blunt cutting terms for our223 troopers knew although the disguise prevented their being known again Having learned the name of the house and its owner they began forthwith to inquire if any thing of a young nobleman had been seen at that place with such and such attendants for they had traced them to that very house they said and if the possessors could give no account of them they would be held as responsible Old Peter said there were so many people came to that house that it was impossible he could tell a tale of one of them distinct from another but the intrepid Sim knowing his back friends told him the whole story in a few words and then asked them in turn what they had to say concerning it
Whoy I has joost to say this young chap that I am to boond thee and all the faymilie and carry you all to answer before a meeting of the wardens
Ay and it is prwoper reyght and prwoper reason too that they should friend said Laidlaw pretending to take his part to see what he would say Will knew the three men to be three notorious224 English thieves of the set of the Halls and Reids and that they could not in fact be sent in search of the Lady Jane Howard but he could not divine their motive for coming there or making the inquiry therefore he took the Northumberland tongue as well as he could and encouraged them in conversation till a late hour Yet he could learn nothing only he was sure they were come about no good end As for old Peter when he saw two parties of Englishmen come upon him and heard that they laid their heads together he gave himself and all that he had up for lost and hoping to conciliate their favour in some measure he actually intreated these last comers to sit down and share of the remnants of their supper which they did in a right liberal manner while Peter went out and in to learn the news He found by this time nine men well armed assembled in the barn that had gathered from the neighbouring houses whose inhabitants were all bound to rise and assist one another on any emergency These were225 mostly old men or very young ones the flower of the Border districts being all in the Wardens camp Will likewise informed his sweetheart privately of his suspicions and perceiving that the strangers were extremely well mounted and heavily armed he desired her if possible to find means of concealing their horses This the supposed Sim soon effected The boy still held them at forage by the side of the old castlewall and he being brought in and set down to supper some of those in the barn were warned to take the horses quietly to the concealed house up in the hollow burn They were soon secured there and the thieves perceiving that no one left the house never had the smallest suspicion of any trick the boy being fast asleep behind the board At length all of them grew drowsy andbegan to compose themselves to rest as they best could save two fond lovers that were whispering their vows and their secrets to each other in the little chamber mentioned in a former part of this history
About midnight when all was quiet226 these two heard the cry of Welhee Welhee from a neighbouring mountain which in a short time was returned from two different places in the valley
Now I will lay my neck in wad whispered Will to his sweetheart that there is a thiefraid tonight and that these three have either come here to watch you or to cut your throats in case of resistance or perhaps they may have indeed lost their party in the mist But this I ken neither a Reid nor a Hall ever came thus far into Scotland for good If the fray rise take you the command and fear nothing My friends and I will defend you and clear your way
But what shall we do dear Laidlaw with these three mosstroopers and the boy
We must either slay or bind them the first thing we do or perhaps leave them to waddle to the hills in their armour on foot the best way they can
The maidens heart trembled at the thoughts of what lay before her as for old Pate he kept going out and in like a227 restless spirit and if he had not lost his daughter and knew not where she was he proposed to have fastened doors and windows and burnt all the nine Englishmen where they lay for he had no faith in any of them and weened them all come for the purpose of ruining him As he was going about preparing matters for this laudable purpose one of the shepherd lads came with the fray and related a dismal tale He said that he and his companions had driven out all the sheep and cattle to the heights among the mist as they had been commanded that in the course of the evening they heard many calls and whistles around them and just as the moon rose a band of English thieves came round them and drove them all off towards Bilhopehead Peters assembled friends advised him to take the skinmens fifteen horses and what remained at home of his own and ride off and try to recover the prey without alarming his dangerous guests but Peter was bent on fastening the doors and burning them skin and bone for he said they would never get so228 easily quit of them The two anxious lovers hearing a bustle without opened the casement and overheard a part of these perplexed words and reasonings Then hastening out to join counsel they raised the fray openly The heroic Sim flew to horse and desired all that were friends to the Scots to follow while Laidlaw addressed his compeers saying Up lads and let us ride our host must not be herried while we are under his roof
No no exclaimed the thieves all in a breath he must not be herried and we under his roof and no one appeared in half such hurry as they were to mount and be gone
Stop short my good fellows till I speak with you for a minute said Laidlaw Make me sure which side you will take before you go else one foot you stir not from that fireside I know you for Anthony Reid of Whickhope and those for two of your cousins of Tersithead and shrewdly suspect you to be at the head of the foray
Anthony drew his sword so did Laid229law But the English troopers were bold and desperate fellows and before Laidlaws friends could gather round him to his assistance the three having covered themselves with their bucklers forced their way out back to back and ran Sandy Pot through the left shoulder who pressed on them too rashly When they missed their horses and saw that they were clean gone they foamed like as many furies and setting their backs to the wall swore they would fight it out The combat might have been attended with much bloodshed had not all the people rushed from the barn and overpowered them They were then taken into the house and bound while Pot and May Chisholm alias Jock were left as guards on them with orders to kill the first that should offer to loose either himself or any of his companions This whole scene was quite beyond Peter Chisholms capacity He could in nowise conceive how the one party of Englishmen assisted with such energy in detecting and binding the others Still he was any thing but satisfied the matter230 having outgone his comprehension as well as that of all his associates save one
They now mounted without delay and rode with all manner of speed toward the Pass of the Hermitage by which path they supposed the droves must necessarily proceed and just as they went down the Redcleuch leading their horses they saw the cattle passing at the foot of it The party amounted scarcely to their own number but the sheepdrivers were not come in view so they mounted their horses and instantly mixed with the men behind the drove without offering to stop the cattle At the same time they placed a guard of two farther behind to prevent all intelligence from passing between the two parties When this was effected Simmy challenged the cattle as his fathers and desired the drivers to give them up but to this the captain of the gang whose name was Gabriel Reid the younger brother of Anthony and captain in his absence only mocked imitating the sharp treble notes of the petulant younker and telling him that he would not give them up for three231 score such men as he was else he was better than he looked As he said this however he kept a curious eye on the rough exterior of the tall athletic English peasants by whom the youth was surrounded which Laidlaw perceiving accosted him in his feigned tone
Whoy friend we are countrymen of thee own and know thee full weel Thous Gabriel Reid of Trochend But thee billy Anty is taken prisoner this seame mworning and if thou disna gie up the kie his head will be chappit off as weel as these of thee twa coosins the Has Sae thou hast ney choice left but to yield up thee ill gotten gain
And what dog art thou that takest part against thee own countrymen said Reid
Oo Is a dealer in the leather line as weel as all my friends there We have our free passages and warranty for the good of both countries but we are honest men and by chance were lodged in the house of the owner of these coos and must see joos232tice doone to him I boond thee brwother with mee own hands
Then the devil bind thee thou traitor knave and for thee reward this to thy harnpan said Gabriel drawing out his sword and attacking Laidlaw without more ado Will who was never backward at a brulzie received the encounter without flinching and calling for fair play and elbowroom both proceeded to decide the day by single combat while the rest drew aloof and looked on encouraging them only with cheers and applausive words Laidlaw was mounted on Anthony Reids gallant steed which Gabriel remarked and that added to his rancour against the skinman at least ten degrees The ground was exceedingly bad so that they could not wheel for weaponspace without a parley but neither would ask it They fought close together first with their swordblades and afterwards as their horses came in contact they dashed each other with their hilts Both were slightly wounded but Laidlaw rather had the worst of it Beshrew thine heart if thou hast been a233 skinmerchant all thy life said Gabriel as he turned his horse in the path for another encounter They had now changed sides and this encounter was longer and more inveterate than the first Laidlaw not being quite master of his mighty and furious steed was twice in imminent danger losing his broad slouched hat in the struggle the crown of which was crossbarred with steel
Poor Sim had changed colours ten times since the combat began and on seeing this last struggle he lost all command of himself and rushed with his sword drawn to Laidlaws rescue Himself did I say alas no one knew the true sex save her lover and no one interfered till she was met by an English trooper halfway who unhorsed and wounded her with as much ease of course as she had been a child Wills eye caught the first glance of her as she was falling and galloping up to the rescue bareheaded as he was he clove the troopers burgonet and slew him at the first stroke Reid followed him up but Laidlaws spirit now fully proportioned to234 the high mettle of his steed was a match for any thing He rode against his antagonist with all his fury and having the advantage of the brae overthrew horse and man and galloped over them Then throwing himself from his horse and seizing the forlorn warrior by the throat called out with a voice of fury—Rescue or no rescue No rescue Redsdale to the fray was the resolute and fatal reply Will could not stand to reason any more at that time so without more ado he ran him through the body and flew to the rescue of his beloved and heroic Elizabeth for there the combat began to thicken She was on her feet ere he arrived and well guarded and mounting her palfrey she bade her lover head the fray and pay no regard to her for she was nothing the worse He however saw the blood upon her bassonet and was roused to perfect fury The battle now became general but it was no regular engagement being scattered here and there through all the drove—some fought before the cattle some behind them and some in the middle It was reported that at one235 time there were fifteen single combats all going on at the same instant Therefore to have been an engagement on a small scale it proved a very bloody one many being slain and wounded on both sides But the tremendous skinmerchants bore down all before them wherever they went These were inured to battle while the thieving mosstroopers as well as the hinds on the Scottish side were only used to desultory warfare The bareheaded leathermerchant in particular was a dismal sight to the forayers for having soon rid himself of his first antagonists he continued galloping about the field wherever he saw two engaged and cut down all of the adverse party as he went or rode them down giving with every stroke a hard grin and a grunt The men thought the devil was come among them or else that he had fairly taken possession of a skinmerchant and giving up the contest a few of them tried to escape by flight which they did by quitting their horses and gaining some inaccessible ground The drivers of the sheep likewise made their escape for they236 found the droves deserted in the Hope The weakest of the men having been left behind with them they had come in view of the field of combat and marking how it terminated had sped them away out of danger
Chisholms party brought home five prisoners with them twelve English horses well caparisoned and all the prey save one ox that Will Laidlaw had ridden over and slain in the plenitude of his wrath The Scots had no fewer than nine killed and grievously wounded out of their small party of whom one of the latter was the brave and lovely Bess Chisholm who was so faint that Will was obliged to carry her all the way home on his horse before him clasped to his bosom he not failing to kiss her pallid cheek many a time by the way while all the rest wondered at Laidlaws great concern about the youth When Peter saw his child borne into the house pale and wounded he lost all recollection of the secret of her sex and cried out O my poor Bess my dear daughter What had I ado making a man of thee237 Thy blood is on thy old fathers head Alas for my beloved daughter
Daughter exclaimed they all again and again Daughter reechoed Will Laidlaw as if he had not known well before Daughter cried the skinmen Have we then been led to the field by a maid Shame on our heads that suffered the overthrow against the rules of chivalry as her attempt was Alas for the gallant and high spirited young dame
They put her to bed and dressed her wounds and from all appearances had high hopes that she was more afraid and fatigued than hurt She soon fell into a quiet slumber in which they left her and retired to take some refreshment and talk over their mornings adventure It turned out as suggested that their three prisoners were the three chief men of the gang who had completely lost themselves and all traces of their companions among the mist and having heard a report of the seizure formerly made at that place they cunningly tried to pass themselves off as messengers sent in search of the lost travellers If they had238 been with their own party that would have proved an overmatch for the Chisholms The Reids and Halls had been herried of their whole live stock by the Wardens people and learning that the greater part of it was driven up into these mountains they naturally wanted to make some reprisals and recover their own again Had it not been for their misfortune in separating and the exertions of the gallant hidemen they would have effected their purpose with the utmost ease It proved a luckless raid for them for they lost all their horses the greater part of their men and the chief squire Anthony and six of his friends were sent prisoners to the castle of Mountcomyn
The country people at Chisholms board were loud in praise of the skinmen and of their trusty and gallant behaviour in particular they averred that Laidlaw had killed the half of the thieves with his own hand for that he rode about the field like a resistless angel destroying all before him When Peter heard that he fought so valiantly for the recovery of his stock and239 regained his darling daughters life his heart warmed toward him and he bid him ask any thing of him he chose that was in his power to give and he should not be said nay Will at once asked the maid whose life he had saved for his wife Peter hesitated and said it was hard to bestow the flower of all the Chisholms on an English skinmerchant a man who seemed to have neither house nor name or was ashamed to own them However as he had proved himself a warrior and a hero Peter consented provided the maid grew better and was herself satisfied with the match Will said he asked her on no other terms and went ben to see her before he departed She was still sound asleep or pretended to be so therefore unwilling to disturb her he breathed a blessing over her and impressed two or three warm affectionate kisses on her lips As he came away he felt a slight pressure of her arms around his neck
When Sandy Pot learned that the lovely youth with whom he had watched the prisoners all the night and morning of the240 battle was a maid and the younger sister of his gallant friend Dan Sandys wound grew so ill that he could not be removed so he remained where he was and the other four went off with their uncouth loading They found Dan Chisholm at Hawick waiting for them in the utmost impatience having collected no fewer than twenty horseloads of hides every one of them in size like a haystack and away the motely train marched and joined the Warden on the night after his arrival before the walls of Roxburgh
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CHAPTER VIII
So they shot out and they shot in
Till the morn that it was day
When mony o the Englishmen
About the drawbrigg lay
When they hae yoket carts and wains
To ca their dead away
And shot auld dikes aboon the lave
In gutters where they lay
Ball of Old Mettlin
The expedition of the Douglas against Musgrave is like the innumerable Border battles of that reign only shortly mentioned by historians and although it was a notable encounter and is detailed by Isaac at great length it lies out of our way here Let it suffice that they skirmished cautiously for two days with various success and at last came to an engagement on a field right opposite to the junction of the Tweed and Gala After a hard fought battle Douglas left wing was discomfitted and just as he was arranging his force so as to cover the retreat an unaccountable con242fusion was noted among the English ranks which seemed to be engaged anew and with one another there being no other army nigh Douglas recalling his routed squadrons faced about but advanced with caution till he saw Musgraves army broken and flying in all directions This gallant feat was accomplished by a Sir John Gordon who was on his way with seven hundred fresh men to the assistance of Douglas and as he came on the English ranks behind at that important crisis he broke them at the first onset and took Sir Thomas Musgrave prisoner with his own hand
Thus far the affairs of Douglas wore the aspect of prosperity—but a settled gloom hung over his mind an oppression of spirits was apparent in every sentence that he uttered and every plan he suggested and these were far from being traits of his wonted disposition But the monk Benjamin had been with him again and again—had been harrassing his soul with commissions and messages from the mansions of the dead and one night he heard the voice of his lost and dearly regretted243 princess speaking to him in his tent as it were out of the canvas Still the most solemn injunctions of secrecy were imposed on him insomuch that he deemed himself not at liberty to open his mind to any one Besides all this the disconsolate Mary Kirkmichael had been constantly lingering nigh to him and always presenting herself in the utmost agony of mind to make enquiries about her royal mistress That ladys appearance became so terrible to him that he was unable to bear it and gave strict charges that she should not be suffered to come within the limits of his camp But for all that availing herself of her rank and her sexs privilege she forced her way to him several times and at every visit filled his soul with the most racking torments so that harrassed with war as he was he found this his first intercourse with women attended with ten times more distracting and grievous perils than the former While on the other hand the heroes that visited the castle of Aikwood even those who escaped not including the wretched victims who remained behind244 discovered to their dear bought experience that there were perils in nature infinitely superior to both
It is now absolutely necessary to shorten the curates narrative to prevent this work running to an inordinate length and though two of his tales have been left out already the great events that follow must also be related in a style abbreviated though not mangled by indistinctness
After the intrepid Lord Musgrave had sacrificed his own life in order to save those of his only brother and the lady of his love Clavering was unanimously chosen captain in his room and every soldier took a new oath to him to die in defence of the fortress The commission of which he accepted was a dismal one but he entered into all the feelings of the famishing inmates in their hatred of the Scots and implacable enmity against them—therefore he was the very man for their purpose
Every attempt of the besiegers to scale the walls of the castle or to gain an entrance by fraud or force had hitherto proved utterly abortive the determined sons245 of England laughed at them regarding them in no other light than as freaks of mere insanity or the gambols of children The fortress was impregnable with such heroes within had they been supplied with sufficient stores of food and of arrows both of which had long been exhausted and though a small and welcome supply of the former had been obtained during the tempest and the flood which followed for which they were obliged to the devil and Master Michael Scott yet like all the benefits derived from that quarter it proved rather more hurtful than advantageous for they devoured it with such avidity that the distemper with which they had formerly been visited broke out among them with greater violence than ever Yet disregarding all these privations which a lookeron would suppose might naturally tend to break the human heart and daunt the resolution of the boldest—with famine and pestilence both staring them in the face—they bound themselves by a new and fearful oath never to yield the fortress to the Scots while a man of them remained alive246 Every new calamity acted but as a new spur to their resolution and their food being again on the very eve of exhaustion their whole concern was how to procure a new supply Not that they valued their own lives or their own sufferings—these had for a good while been only a secondary consideration—but from the excruciating dread that they should die out and the Scots attain possession of the fortress before Christmas
The warders soon noted the alteration that had taken place in the beleaguering army They perceived the ground that had formerly been occupied by the Angus men and the Mar Highlanders now taken up by the tall athletic and careless looking borderers against whom they found their antipathy was not so mortal and they had some surmisings of what really was the case that a strong diversion had been made in their favours that had drawn off their inveterate and hateful enemy Douglas from the siege Every hour convinced them farther of the truth of this suggestion for they perceived a laxness in the247 manner of conducting the blockade which they had not witnessed for many days and all their conversation turned on the manner in which they ought to avail themselves of it The carelessness of the besiegers themselves or something subordinate thereto soon furnished an opportunity to them of putting their policy once more to the test and that by an adventure the most ardently desired On the second day after the departure of Douglas the warder on the topmost tower perceived on a rising ground two miles to the southward about thirty head of cattle that came gradually in view as a wing of a large drove might be supposed to do and after they had fed for some time there two men came before them and chased them back out of sight of the castle as if a great oversight had been committed by letting them come in view of it Notice of this important discovery was instantly given to the captain and the news spreading among the garrison many a long and longing look was cast from the battlements and loopholes of the high wes248tern tower that day They were not cast in vain Just toward the fall of evening they perceived a part of the drove appear again only a very short space from the castle and they likewise perceived by their colours that they were a drove of English beasts which had been brought from their native pastures by the strong hand of rapine for the supply of this new come border army They perceived likewise that they approached the army by a concealed way that the two glances they got of them were merely casual and that they were very slightly guarded
A council of war was immediately called in which it was agreed without one dissentient voice that the garrison should make a sham sally at the eastern drawbridge as if with intent to gain the city in order that they might draw the attention of the besiegers to that point and in the meantime the captain with the choicest of the men were to march out by Teviotbridge of which the garrison had necessarily the sole possession and endeavour to seize the prey Thence they were249 to proceed westward and try to elude the enemys posts or give them battle if the former were found to be impracticable but at all events either to die or succeed in attaining that valuable supply or a part of it The success of the contest now turned on that single point as on a pivot the balance was against them but that turned in their favours by an exertion of warrior prowess they could then reckon on a complete triumph over their unappeasable foes
Besides every thing seemed to concur in support of their gallant expedition The nights were dark even beyond their usual darkness at that gloomy season and the moon did not arise till two in the morning Both these circumstances were in their favour—the one in attaining possession of the prey unperceived and the other in enabling them to fight their way home for they knew that though they themselves might pass the strong Scottish posts favoured by the deep darkness still it was impossible to bring the drove through them and along the bridge without a hard skir250mish The captain therefore gave command to the division left behind that the more noise they heard of an engagement about the bridge of Teviot and the gate toward the west the more they should press their battle eastward to divert the strength of the army to that quarter Because on that side the Scots could make no impression and the English could lose nothing there save a few lives which they accounted of small avail but if the expedition to the west failed their cause was finally ruined
That was a busy evening within the walls of Roxburgh while all was quietness and indifference without Within there was arming and disarming for the suits of armour that once fitted these emaciated warriors would not now hang on their frames There was grinding of swords pointing of spears and oxgoads and even the slaughterhouses of the fort were cleared with a provident concern seldom overlooked by Englishmen and at eleven oclock at night by the convent matin bell Clavering with five hundred chosen251 men well armed issued silently from the garrison creeping along the Teviotbridge on their hands and knees From that they proceeded westward in the most profound silence and so close by the Scottish posts that they heard them breathing and conversing together One party crept up all the way within the waterbrae and the other led by Clavering himself past through between two Scottish posts drawing themselves along the ground close on their breasts and once or twice were obliged to squat close down and lie silent for a considerable space while the following dialogue passed between the sentinels
Od Sandie Scott think ye it can be true that the English are eating ane another
Theres nae doubt ot I hear that theyre snapping up five o the fattest o their number every day They will eat themsels out bit by bit that gate
Aih wow man I wad rather die o hunger than pick the banes of ane acquaintance Bursten devils that they are
Aha Sandie billie ye dinna ken till252 ye be tried A man will do ought or he die o hunger An do you ken Sandie Scott I think our captain has done wrang in bringing sae mony fat bullocks a sae near the castle at ae time Thae hungered louns will hae a haud o some o them and maybe cut a wheen o our throats into the bargain some o thir dark nights
Now ye see neighbour I ken sae weel that our master never does the smaest thing without some design that I think he wants to wile out the English and then kill them and that he has brought a thir braw stots oer the border just on the same principle that a fisher throws a bait into the water
Na na Sandie that canna be the case for he has gien strict orders that no ane o them be suffered to come within sight o the castle He just thinks the beasts canna be sae safe ony where else as beside himsel and his lads But hunger has sharp een and I wadna wonder if this drove should lead to some hard tulzie
Whisht Godsake haud your tongue Whats that I hear
253
The English Ill warrant you If hunger hae clear een fear has unco lang lugs What was it that Sandie heard
I heard a kind o rubbing and thristing as a fox or a foumart had been drawing himsel through a hole aneath the ground Hilloa What guard
Howpasley and Gemelscleugh
Watch weel Theres something stirring
Not a mouse
So say the sleeping foresters but I can tell you men o Gemelscleuch and Howpasley an there be nought stirring aboon the ground the moudies are very busy aneath it the night Clap close and keep an ee on the withergloom I had a heavy dream at nightfa and Im resolved no to close an ee Come neighbour tell a tale or say a rhame to keep us wauking
Have ye heard the new ballant made by the rhiming dominie o Selchrit the queerest thing ever was heard It begins this gate
254
The Devil he sat in Dornock tower
And out at a sliphole keekit he
And he saw three craws come yont the lift
And they winged their flight to the Eildon tree
O whow O whow quo the muckle deil
But yons a sight that glads my ee
For Ill lay the steelbrander o hell
Theres a storm abrewing in the west countrye
Whisht for heavens sake I heard the tod again Hilloa Gemelscleuch to the glaive Have lug and hawk ee or therell be news afore the morn thats unheard tell o yet
And that there will Saint David be with us and the blessed Saint Mary the mother of God be with us Hist havering say Benedicite
At that instant a sharp breeze arose which drowned the noise and Clavering and his men passed fairly by on their perilous expedition Beyond the next hollow they found the cattle all lying puffing and dozing on a round hill An immense drove of them there seemed to be for the hill appeared to be literally covered but the night255 was as dark as pitch and they could see nothing distinctly Clavering gave his commands in a whisper to his chief men to surround the whole drove and drive them furiously that by these means they might throw the enemys lines into confusion We have the advantage of the ground said he the bridge is clear and the gates open Let us play the men for once and our difficulties are all over Providence has favoured us beyond what could have been calculated on Our force is superior to that of our enemies on this side the river On whatever side our column is attacked let us keep a running fight so as to push on and preserve the prey and the day is our own And now Saint Anthony for the right
The men then formed themselves into a crescent behind the cattle sixline deep and with club goad and spear pushed them on There were a few dour lazy driving runts behind that bore all the thumps but the bulk were highspirited and galloped off on the path toward Roxburgh with the utmost fury insomuch that the delighted256 drivers never got a sight of them They broke through the Scottish lines without either stop or stay The alarm was instantly given but a night muster is always attended with some delay So the English thought—so they said and to their great joy they found their suggestions realized for not till the last cow was past the strong line of posts on the height were they attacked by the Scots But then indeed the Gemelscleuch and Howpasley men set upon them with unparallelled fury and being every five minutes joined by more of their companions they pressed hard upon the English who being obliged to keep up a retreating battle fell thick on the brae beyond the bridge The brave and judicious Longspeare himself led the attack and behaved like a lion for though wounded in three different places of the body he fought in the front of the main battle all that night
The Scots to the utter amazement of their enemies never once offered to stop the cattle but merely attacking the English crescent behind drove them and cattle and257 all towards the bridge This Clavering and his chief men attributed wholly to the surprise by which the Scots were taken and when the former saw the dark column of cattle take the bridge he thanked the God of heaven the blessed Virgin and all the saints whose names were known to him for such a wonderful success and merciful deliverance The English host then raised such a shout of triumph that the echoes called from the castled towers to the forest and from the forest to the distant rocks The Scots soon joined in it with equal enthusiasm and the two armies then engaged at the eastern gate also joined their voices to the general chorus The gray friars of Roxburgh and the Benedictine monks of Kelso raised their heads from their flinty pillows committed themselves to heaven and deplored the madness and folly of the men of the world The city dames wept and prayed and the men ran to headquarters to learn the cause of the uproar The sounds were actually heard in the camp of Douglas at the distance of sixteen miles and when this was reported to him next258 morning he said There was the Redhough on the ramparts of Roxburgh
But mans thoughts are vanity He cannot judge of events so as to calculate on what is to happen from one moment to another incidents of the slightest moment so often having the effect of overturning the greatest and most momentous enterprizes Never was there one so nearly overturned as this although it was not once thought of till afterwards—and it was on this wise There was a strong guard of English placed at the south end of the bridge to guide the foremost of the drove on to it or help to cut a way for the cattle through such troops as might interpose The cattle as was said came galloping furiously without intervention and as if led by an unseen providence took the bridge with all their vigour the battle being then raging behind them and the shouts beginning to rend the sky This guard had nothing to do of course but to open into two lines and give them head But at the end of the bridge there was a deep puddle and among the men there chanced to be a lit259tle boy who was running about and thrashing the cattle as they went through this puddle which made them spring up the arch with redoubled velocity which the urchin thought good sport But in the midst of this frolic he bolted away at once with such velocity that he had almost overthrown one of the men in the file and as he ran he cried out Lord saw ever ony mortal the like o that What was it rash idiot said the man Grace and mercy man did you not see how yon great black stott stood straight up on his hind legs and waded the pool said the boy Take that to clear your eyes impertinent brat said the man and gave him a blow with his fist that made him run away howling and crying always repeating as he went Ill tell your captain—now at will I that—now
The combat behind the cattle thickened apace The English were sore borne down on the hill but when they came to the little plain at the bridgeend they stood firm and gave as hard blows as they got They had fairly gained their aim and their spirits so260 long depressed mounted to an unusual height The last lingering hoof of the whole countless drove was now on the arch and they could calculate on holding out the fortress against their hated foes not only till Christmas but till that time twelvemonth Their shouts of joy were redoubled So also were those of the Scots The people are mad said they thus to shout for their own loss and their own defeat It is a small trait of the cursed perversity of the whole nation
The English narrowed their front and narrowed their front still as their files found room on the arch of the bridge which was long and narrow and very steep at the south end that rose directly from the plain But the road up to the castle by the two tremendous iron gates was likewise exceedingly steep and went by a winding ascent so that the latter end of the drove those dull driving ones that bore all the strokes got very slowly up and with great difficulty There was a guard of considerable strength left in this gateway by Clavering lest any attempt should be made by the261 enemy to enter in his absence But these men had strict charges to clear the way for the cattle and help to drive the foremost ones up the steep The fore part of the drove however came up the steep with such main fury that the men were glad to clear a way for them by flying out of the path up to the citadel There was not a man left in the gateway save two at each of the iron portcullises and these stood in deep niches of the wall out of all danger Each of these men held the end of a chain that was twisted round an immense bolt in the wall—and these bolts Isaac says are to be seen sticking to this day On untwisting this chain the portcullises fell down and when they were to raise up it was done with levers Well as the two outermost men stood in their niches holding by the ends of their chains they observed that two of the oxen that first came in nay the very first two that came in turned round their ugly heads leaned their sides to the wall and kept in their places the one on the one side and the other on the other till the whole drove262 passed them The men could not move from their posts to drive them on with the rest but they wondered at the beasts and the one cried to the other What can ail them two chaps O them are two tired ones said the other Dom them for two ugly monsters they look as them hod been dead and roosen again
At length by dint of sore driving and beating the last hoof of the Wardens choice drove passed inward through the castle gate of Roxburgh for the maintenance of his irascible enemies Could any thing be so unfortunate or how was he to set up his face and answer to the Douglas now But the Redhough was determined that he would set up his face and answer to the Douglas and his country too as well as to his kinsmen and followers whom he valued highest of all Just as the last lazy cow crossed the gate and when the triumphant shouts of the English were at the loudest the two great lubberly oxen that stood shaking their ugly heads and leaning against the wall ripped up their own bellies and out of two stuffed hides263 two most ingenious cases started up two no less men than Sir Ringan Redhough and his doughty friend Charlie Scott of Yardbire Off went the heads of the two porters in one moment and down came the portcullis with a thundering rattle and a clank that made the foundations of the gate shake Now southron lads haud ye there cried the Redhough Time about is fair play Keep ye the outside o the door threshold as lang as ye hae gart us keep it
They next went up and seized the other two porters whom they saved alive to teach them how to bolt bar open and shut the gates but the men had taken the oaths with the rest and remained obstinate No threatening could make them move either finger or tongue except in mockery which provoked the Redhough so that he despatched them likewise On reaching the great square the Warden found his men in peaceable possession Six score brave chosen men had entered among the cattle each in a stuffed ox or cow hide and had now like their captain cast their sloughs and264 stood armed at all points to execute his commands They found nothing to do save a prodigious difficulty in working their way from the western to the eastern gate There were so many turnings and windings so many doors and wickets so many ascents and descents—that an army might have gained possession of the one end and yet have been kept out of the other for years But the surprise here was so complete that the Borderers had in fact nothing to do but to keep the possession thus obtained in so easy and at the same time so gallant a style The shouts that arose from the western battle had so much encouraged those at the eastern gate that they had sallied out and attacking the besiegers sword in hand had driven them back within their strong line of defence This retreat was a part of the plan of the Scots to draw off the remaining force from the gate and while they were in the hottest of the skirmish down came Redhough and his lads from the interior of the castle behind them cut down the few guards about the entrance and the drawbridge with265 ease and having raised that and shut the double gates on that quarter likewise he placed the Armstrongs there as a guard and returned into the interior still uncertain what enemies he had to combat within
This mighty fortress was from the one drawbridge to the other a full quarter of a mile in length walled and moated round and contained seven distinct squares or castles every one of which was a fortress of itself But the strongest of all was the division on the western part which was denominated the citadel and had gates and bars of its own and towers that rose far above the rest Into this strong place the sole remnant of the English soldiers had retreated which consisted merely of the guard that kept the western porch and made way for the cattle a few stragglers beside and some official people that kept always within Through every other part of the castle the Scots found free passage and by the time the moon had been risen for an hour the shouts of A Douglas a Douglas a Redhough a Redhough were heard from every part of the walls266 excepting the western tower There indeed a faint and subdued shout announced at intervals the name of the King of England for it was now no more a Musgrave and as for Clavering they wist not whether he was dead or alive taken or at liberty
When the first ranks of the Englishmen that came up behind the cattle saw the gates shut against them they took it for some accident or some mistake that the porters had fallen into on listening to the shouts of the adverse parties but after calling and remonstrating to no purpose they began to suspect that there was treason at the bottom of it and the whisper of treason spread among that part of the forces which was now forced against the gate They could do nothing for they neither had room to fight nor fly and they knew not whom to suspect or what had befallen them As for those at the farther end of the bridge they were so hotly engaged with their opponents that they had little time to consider of any thing but finding themselves fixed to the spot and no movement making toward the gate267 they conceived that something there was wrong which retarded the regular entrance of the troops for so long a time They now fought only three to three abreast on the steep arch of the bridge down which the English drove the Scots six or seven times the latter always returning to the charge with that vigour which a certainty of success inspires Clavering fought them in the rear and in the hottest of the battle still encouraging his men to deeds of desperate valour little weening how matters went within But when the names of the Scottish chiefs were resounded from the walls every heart among the English was chilled and every arm unnerved in one instant They had no conception how the thing could have happened it appeared so far beyond all human power to have effected it that it was several hours before it gained general credit among them They had kept the fortress so long with so little dread of its being wrested from them and withal suffered so much in it that they could not believe the evidence of their senses that by a course of events entirely268 of their own planning they should be all without the walls and the Scots within It was like a work of enchantment Like some of the late inconceivable works of the spirits of divination
The Scots could make no impression on them upon that long narrow bridge but they could not long stand cooped up there and when they saw that all hope was lost of regaining entrance they threw themselves over a high parapet and took possession of the steep bank between the bottom of the southern wall and the river Teviot The river being dammed below it stood like a frith round the bottom of this bank which was so steep that they could not stand on it but were obliged to clamber alongst it on their hands and feet Escape being impracticable the Scots suffered them to take possession of that bank undisputed and to keep it supposing they must surrender next day but a great number were slain before the latter end of the train was disentangled of the bridge
The Scots had now free access to the gate into which Gemelscleuch and How269pasley were admitted The Warden embraced them and thanked them for their wise counsel as well as their great bravery and they again set about traversing and surveying the fortress concerning which Charlie Scott said It wad tak a man a year and a day to find out a the turnings and windings about it
The battle at the eastern drawbridge had continued from midnight without intermission and after the break of day our chiefs witnessed a scene from the walls that was without a parallel That division of the Scots army was composed of Douglas men being the same troops that were there before and they were commanded by Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith That knight got private intelligence of the Wardens intention to storm the castle by what means he knew not but resolved to hold himself in readiness and as he was desired when the sortie was made he retreated at first drawing them off from the gate When the cry arose that the castle was taken his men became frantic with joy and resolute on taking ample vengeance on their270 enemies they burst upon them without regularity making great havock and at the same time throwing away many of their own lives Sir James with great difficulty restrained them called a parley and offered the expelled garrison quarter but they returned for answer that they weened he had called the parley to ask quarter of them and they had determined to refuse it They concluded by telling him to see to himself and insult them no more by such messages for as yet he knew not with whom he was warring The battle was then renewed by the light of the moon with greater fury than ever they fought like baited bears with recklessness of life and the silence of death Deadly hate was in every thrust and the last words of every falling warrior were Have at them yet
When the day light arose the English fought within a semicircular wall of mangled carcasses for grievous to relate they were not corpses yet were they piled in a heap higher than a mans height which was moving with agonized life from top to bottom and from the one end to the other271 for the men having all fallen by sword wounds few of them were quite dead The English were now reduced to a small number yet in the strife their ardour seemed to prevail over that of their opponents The Border chiefs inured as they were to war stood amazed and even shocked at the scene presented to their view Yardbire was the first to deprecate it in these words Gude faith Sirs it strikes me that this is rather carrying war to an extremity
Rescue rescue shouted the Warden Give quarter to these men for my sake I will pay their ransom myself
When the Douglas vassals heard this they lowered the points of their swords and drew back from the slaughter commanding the English to ground their weapons The latter consulted together for a few minutes and void of all dread save that of being obliged to submit to the Scots they broke with one consent over the pile of human bodies and carrying destruction before them opened a way into the middle of the Scottish columns nor ceased they272 fighting until every man of them was cut down The rest of the English army were in a fold Escape was impossible Ten men could have prevented it on all sides yet for a whole day and night did they hold their tenure of that perpendicular bank although before the evening many were losing their holds and rolling into the river from exhaustion Then the sudden immersion arousing them somewhat from their torpor scores of them might be seen at a time crawling to the side of the water and endeavouring to clamber once more up the bank but at last they sunk back into the deep and their last breath arose to the surface in small chains of fetid air bubbles No one knew what became of the young and intrepid Clavering—at what time or in what place he fell and without a head as these men were it was not till the second morning when the breath of revenge had cooled and after much expostulation on the part of the conquerors that the wretched remnant yielded themselves prisoners of war and were all suffered to depart on their parole with273 high encomiums on their valour But these commendations were received with the gall of bitterness and none of them could tell when they went home how or by what means they were expelled
The Warden and his men now set themselves with all their endeavour to take the citadel and feebly as it was defended it cost them no little trouble It is probable that it might have held out a few days longer but when Douglas and his army were seen approaching on their return from the battle the impatience of the Borderers could be no longer restrained and Yardbire with a remnant of his Olivers Potts and Laidlaws scaled the wall in the faces of the enemy who had scarcely power left to cleave a head without a helmet and throwing themselves into the square became masters of the gate in a few minutes so that before Douglas reached the top of the hill of Barns his colours were placed on the topmost tower of the citadel
It may easily be conceived with what joy wonder and admiration he gazed on this phenomenon Joy that his broad lands274 and possessions were thus insured to him of which for some time past he scarcely retained a hope and admiration how that indefatigable chief had accomplished in a few days that which he had exerted himself in vain to accomplish for the space of as many months The idea of being so far outdone in policy was without doubt somewhat bitter to the palate of a Douglas for never till this day can they brook a competitor in the field but considering how matters stood it would have been the worst of policy to have let such a feeling appear Douglas therefore testified the highest satisfaction extolling the Wardens head to conceive and hand to accomplish in terms such as he had never been heard to utter Glorious Redhough unparallelled Redhough exclaimed he again and again Thou and thy lads are the men to trust
The chief received him at the castle gate welcoming him in jocular terms of high chivalry to the castle of Roxburgh which he took care always to denominate my castle This was soon noted by the Douglas and as soon as they entered the governors275 house in the citadel Douglas made over to him by regular deeds and instruments the seven first baronies he chose to name This document together with the royal charters confirming it is extant and in the possession of one of the Wardens lineal descendants at this day On receiving this grant signed sealed and witnessed Sir Ringan delivered over the keys of the castle to the Earl of Douglas and Mar and the two exchanged seats at the table Douglas also conferred the honours of knighthood on Charlie Scott Simon Longspeare and John of Howpasley while Sir Ringan bestowed one of his new baronies on each of these brave gentlemen in support of their new dignities burdened only with a few additional servitudes On his right hand hero the hereditary claimant of the post of honour he conferred the barony of Raeburn and Craik that he might thenceforward be the natural head of his hardheaded Olivers and skraeshankit Laidlaws To Longspeare he gave Temadale and to Howpasley Phingland and Langshaw When Charlie first rose from his276 knee and was saluted as Sir Charles Scott of Raeburn and Yardbire he appeared quite cast down and could not answer a word It was supposed that his grateful heart was overcome with the thought that the reward bestowed on him by his generous chief had been far above his merits
The news of the capture were transmitted to court with all expedition on which King Robert returned word that he would with his queen visit the Douglas in the castle of Roxburgh and there in the presence of the royal family and the nobles of the court confer on him his daughters hand in marriage along with such other royal grants and privileges as his high gallantry and chivalrous spirit deserved He added that he had just been apprized by his consort that his daughter the princess Margaret had been for some time living in close concealment in the vicinity of Roxburgh watching the progress of her lover with a devotion peculiar to her ardent and affectionate nature If the Douglas was aware of this which the King had some reasons for supposing he requested that277 he would defer seeing her until in the presence of her royal parents There was a thrust indeed An eclaircissement was approaching too much for man to bear—But that heartrending catastrophe must be left to the next chapter In the meantime for perspicuitys sake we must relate how this grand device of the Wardens originated by which the castle was won and himself and followers honoured and enriched
It was wholly owing to the weird read by the great enchanter Master Michael Scott So that though the reader must have felt as the editor did in a very peculiar manner that Isaac kept his guests too long in that horrible place the castle of Aikwood it will now appear that not one iota of that long interlude of his could have been omitted for till the weird was read and the transformation consummated the embassy could not depart—and unless these had been effected the castle could not have been taken The editor for brevitys sake left out both the youths and maidens characteristic tales which shall278 appear by and by but more he durst not cancel
When the passage out of the book of fate was repeated to Sir Ringan he never for a moment doubted either its truth or fulfilment provided he and his friends could discover its true meaning But the words were wrapt in mystery and when conjoined with the enchantment practised on his men were for a long time so completely unintelligible that all save Sir Ringan himself and his echo Dickie of Dryhope gave up the hope of reconciling the given destiny with reason or common sense As for the friar he entered his protest against paying any regard to it from the beginning on the principle that all the Masters powers and foreknowledge were deputed to him by subordinate and malevolent spirits and that good could not arise out of evil The Wardens philosophy on the other hand taught him to estimate facts and knowledge as he found them developed among mankind without enquiring too nicely into the spirit of their origin for the more deeply that was wrapt279 in mystery the more powerful was its sway over his imagination Charlie Scott felt much disposed to coincide with his master in these principles but in all deep matters he was diffident in offering his advice or sentiments He however hit upon the right cue in this instance and that by the most natural combination of ideas that ever presented themselves to mortal man The right understanding of the prophecy was about to be given up in despair The intervals of silence during the discussion were becoming longer and longer each time It was in order to break one of these rather than to impose his advice on his chief that Charlie ventured to deliver himself as follows Gude faith my masters I see nothing for it but that we get Master Michael Scott to turn us into fat owsen again or bulls or stotts or what ye like Then the English will drive us a gladly into the castle for marts to their beef barrels But when we are fairly in we wad need the gospel friar to change us to men again or gude faith we wad be in a bad predicament But I hae some faith to put in auld280 Michaels power as I hae good right and gin that could be done as he seemed to hint by the blood of Bruce but we wad dowss their doublets for them
Might we not rather disguise ourselves as cattle cousin said Howpasley
I have seen our jugglers and mountebank players said Longspeare disguise themselves as a lion a tiger a bear a wolf and even as a great serpent and dragon so that I myself took them for these animals
Why then may not we disguise ourselves as oxen so that we may pass for them in a dark night said the Warden
Ay in a dark night said Dickie what is to hinder us If we but walk on all four we will pass with hungry men for oxen in a dark night
Thus was the hint given which was improved on as above related till it effected the desired and important event the taking of Roxburgh castle and that in the most masterly and prudent style ever conceived by man They had a small drove of cattle collected as well as hides but the disguised ones took care to keep in the front or281 the middle of these in short on the side farthest from an Englishman The one who walked through the dub in an upright posture had not perceived the shabby boy so near him
Abundance of all the good things that the kingdom could produce were now poured into the castle with all expedition and every preparation made for the reception of the King and Queen of Scotland The carnage had been so great at the two gates that night the fortress was taken that the citizens of Roxburgh as well as the three establishments of monks and friars in the vicinity besought of Douglas that the slain might not be buried nigh to the city for fear of infection and if this was granted they proffered to be at the sole charge of removing and burying them with all holy observances This was readily granted and they were removed to a little plain behind the present village where thousands of their bones have lately been dug up The burying continued for three days
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CHAPTER IX
O I hae seen the gude auld day
The day o pride and chieftain glory
When royal Stuarts bore the sway
And neer heard tell o Whig nor Tory
Though lyart be my locks and gray
And eild has crookd me down—what matter
Ill dance and sing ae ither day
That day our King comes oer the water
Jacobite Song
From the time of the taking of the castle until the arrival of King Robert was an interval of high festivity The Border chiefs and yeomen went home to their respective places of abode with abundant spoil having been loaded with rich presents from the Douglas as well as their share of Sir Ringans numberless booties which he always divided among them with great liberality and it was computed that in the course of that predatory warfare he drove thirty thousand domestic animals out of the English territory The Scottish Bor283der districts were never so well stocked before For a century previous to that they had lain waste having been entirely depopulated and left no better than a hunting forest That reign enriched them and its happy effects have never since been obliterated
Among other things that happened in this joyful interval old Peter Chisholm received a message one day informing him that the stranger to whom he had betrothed his daughter would appear next day to claim the fulfilment of his promise
Theyll eat up every thing thats within the house said Peter If he will have her it wad suit better for us to meet them at Hawick The half o the expences there wad lye to him at ony rate and if he made weel through wi his hides mayhap he wad pay the halewort Hes a brave chield enough it wad appear but I wish he had fawn aff the tap o his humphed illsmelled hides and broken the bane o his neck for it will be a wae sight to me to see the flower of a the Chisholms gang284 away wi an English cadger Oh wae be to the day
What is a man but his word father said Dan I think the gallant way in which the stranger behaved entitles him well not only to the flower o the Chisholms but to the best in the house beside
Ay ay thats aye the gate fling away fling away till yell soon fling away every plack your auld father has gathered for ye But hark ye callant Dan Gin ye will stand by me Ill gainsay the fellow yet and refuse to gie him my Bess
Hear what Bess says hersel said Dan and then Ill gie my answer
Bess was sent for who declared not only her willingness but her resolution to abide by her fathers agreement but added that if a better came before him and made her an offer she would not wait a minute on her leathermerchant
Heard ever ony body the like o that said Peter What trow ye is the chance for that How lang hae ye hung on the285 tree wi a red cheek an a ripe lip and never man to streek out the hand to pu ye There was aince a neighbour I had some hopes o an he has a good heart too for a his jibes an ane durst but tell him
Peter said these last words to himself as he was turning about to leave the apartment—for he was at that time forming in his mind one of those superlative schemes which strike dotage as plans of the mightiest and most acute device but which youth and energy laugh at This was no other than to be early astir next morning and before any of his family was aware gallop over to Craik a matter of seven miles and beg of Will Laidlaw to come and run off with his daughter before she fell into the hands of an English skinman This grand scheme he actually put in practice but met Laidlaw and his jovial party by the way who wondered not a little when they saw old Pate coming gallopping up the Fanesh ridge having his great pike staff heaved over his shoulder with which he was every now and then saluting the far loin of his mare and that286 with an energy that made all his accoutrements wallop He never perceived the bridal party till close on them and till he was asked by half a score voices at once Whats the great haste Castleweary Where are ye gawn at sic a rate sae early in the morning Are your has burnt Are your cattle driven Have the Has and the Reids been oer the fells aince mair And many other such questions were put before Peter got a word spoken or a thought thought He only bit his lip and looked very angry at being caught in such a plight But seeing Will Laidlaw at the head of his kinsmen he took him aside and imparted his grand secret Wills sides were like to burst with laughter He however contained himself while Peter went on But ye had better turn a that clan again wha hae nought ado at a wi us but put things to waste The less din about the thing the better
But how are we to answer the skinmerchant when he comes then Castleweary That tremendous buyer of hides will hew us all to pieces
287
Ay ye maun just take a the blame on yoursels you and Bess Hell no mak muckle at the Laidlaws hands or hell do what never ony did afore him
I certainly have the greatest respect for your daughter but times are hard and dangerous and I have nae great opinion o marriage
Come now I like to hear that for ye ken fock maun ay read a Laidlaw backward and if the times are hard I shall be satisfied with a very small dowry Perhaps the matter o ten tup hogs aff the Criblaw sax owsen aff Hosecot and——
Hold there my old friend and I will run all risks and take away your daughter Elizabeth let the skinman look to himself
Weel God bless ye wi her Yell get the flower of a the Chisholms and the best bairn o the bike
Bess was a winsome and a blithe bride that day and though the wounds she received in the engagement with the marauders were not quite whole she danced the best at the wedding and was the first288 that lighted on Craikgreen Dan entertained his fellowsoldiers nobly but old Peter was terribly in the fidgets not only at the huge waste of meat and drink that he now saw going on but for fear of the arrival of the outrageous and illused hidemerchant and never till his dying day could he be brought to identify his soninlaw with the stranger to whom he first promised his daughter But for many a day when the dogs barked he hasted out in great agitation lest the dealer in skins and his associates should come upon him unawares Sandie Pott having found a very kind attentive and withal a very indulgent nurse in the younger daughter May Chisholm there chanced two weddings at Castleweary on the same day
Among other matters of that eventful period Isaac the curate mentions also a petition of the friar to Sir Ringan that he would use his interest to get the youthful bard who had come an adventurer into his army replaced in his rights of the lordship of Ravensworth and likewise that he would grant him the captive maid Dela289ny for his bride These important connections had never before come to the Wardens ears and when he heard the extraordinary adventures and early misfortunes of the twain he manifested the greatest concern for their welfare But the maid by the laws of those days was the right and property of Sir Charles Scott who seemed unwilling to part with her and she not less so to be divided from him now that his late honours became him so well This was a distressing consideration to the poet and he would in nowise leave her to lay claim to his paternal estate till he saw how matters would turn in his favour But the friar still encouraged him assuring him that he should be restored to the house and to the inheritance of his fathers and that the fairest among the daughters of women even the sole remaining stem of the house of Galli the scribe should be unto him as a spouse and a comforter
But among all the festivities at Roxburgh and all the mighty preparations for the reception of royalty and the spending290 of the Christmas holidays in such company the countenance of Douglas was manifestly overcast He affected mirth and gaiety but a hideous and terrific gloom frequently settled on his dark manly countenance The princesss shameful and untimely death hung heavy on his mind and the secret of it still heavier His conscience upbraided him not with any blame in the matter for he was alike ignorant of the rank and sex of his fantastical page But her devotion to his cause and person the manner in which she had exerted herself by putting her rival into his hands the lovetokens slily given to him by her own dear self her admonitory letters and all her whimsical and teazing inuendos came over his mind and combined in rendering her memory ten times dearer to him than ever he conceived that of human being could have been And then how was all this requited By bad humour disrespect and a total disregard of her danger and sufferings The most enthusiastic affectionate and accomplished lady of the age in which she lived was suffered to be291 put down as a common criminal without one effort being made to save her and that delicate and beautiful form thrust down into a common charnelhouse among the vulgar dead Knowing all these things as he did how could he again behold her royal parents and knowing all these things as he did why had he not related the lamentable facts as they had happened and conducted himself accordingly There was fixed the acme of his dilemma The detail of that ladys love and fate rose before his minds eye like a dark unseemly arch of which this was the keystone and there was a power stood above it that held his soul in controul and beyond that he could not pass Was it indeed true that the spirit of his royal and beloved mistress walked the earth and from day to day laid her stern behests upon him And could it be that such a spirit attended upon him in his most secret retirements and though unseen watched over all his motions words and actions Or how else could the very thoughts and purposes of his heart together with his292 most secret transactions be repeated to him by this holy monk Nay though he had never actually seen this apparition he had heard his mistresss voice one night speaking to him as from behind the hangings and charging him as he respected his own and her souls welfare to keep her fate concealed from all flesh
Whenever the Douglas got leisure to think at all amid the hurry of his military duties these cogitations preyed on his mind and one night when they had thrown him into a deep reverie the monk Benjamin was announced
I cannot see him tonight Tell him to come and speak with me tomorrow said Douglas
He craves only a few moments audience Lord of Douglas and he says that unless he is admitted a visitor of another nature will wait on you forthwith
What is the meaning of this said Douglas Must my privacy be broken in upon and my mind placed on the rack at the pleasure of every fanatical devotee Tell him that I will not be dis293turbed tonight But—I think not what I am saying Admit him Well reverend and holy father—madman rather What is your important business with me
That saintly vision has again been with me
Out upon thee maniac and liar There has been no such thing with thee and thou hast trumped up a story in order to keep the power of the Douglas under thy ghostly and interested controul
If I am a visionary Lord it is for thyself to judge I speak nothing as of myself but the words of one that has sent me If thou darest say they are the visions of a maniac in future I keep them to myself and do you abide by the consequences
Thinkest thou that I will not or that I dare not abide by any consequences Hence Begone
Rash precipitate man thou shall repent this What interest can I possibly have in whispering these truths in thine ear Did I ever ask or hint at a favour from thee Or was aught ever save thy own welfare the purport of my messages294 Adieu my lord There must another commissioner wait on you presently and one who will elude the most vigilant of your sentinels
Stay Benjamin Thou art indeed blameless If thou hast ought to warn me of say it and have done for I am not in a mood to be trifled with
I have been bid to caution you to look to yourself for that there is treason within the walls of this castle Will you answer me one or two queries truly and seriously that I may know whether the being that commissioned me be a true spirit or a false one
I will
Have you got a private offer to a prodigious amount for the ransom of Lady Jane Howard
Monk thou hast had this from hell—I have
Which thou hast rejected with the secret intent of asking her in marriage yourself should circumstances concur to favour the device
295
It is false—false as the source whence thou hadst it
Ah Then have I done my informant is a false one
Or if I had it was some passing thought which no man can gainsay and for which none are accountable
Neither is it true that you visited her in disguise last night
The Douglas gazed upon the monk in silence with an eye in which there was an unnatural gleam of madness He drew his breath three times as if he would have spoken but made no answer The monk continued If these are truths then list to the following behest—if they are false thou needest not regard it There is a conspiracy among thy people for the rescue of Lady Jane They have been bribed by unheardof rewards Thy guards are of course to be cut down otherwise the rescue cannot be effected and if thy own head is added to the convoy the guerdons are all to be doubled
The Douglas started to his feet and held up both his hands By the blessed296 Virgin it is true exclaimed he—True every word of it There have been petitions made to me for the use of certain keys already Ay and I have granted some of them too I see through a part of the conspiracy But Ill sift the traitors Ill make carrion of them
If I am rightly informed it may yet be prevented without being made manifest which would be greatly preferable Beware of Kinlossie And list for my time is expired If you value your own name see not the face of Lady Jane again till you present her to your sovereign
The monk retired with precipitation and left the Douglas overwhelmed with tumultuary and adverse passions Still the Lady Jane Howard said he to himself Nothing but the Lady Jane Howard Is it possible this can be an agent of hers But the inference contradicts the whole scope and tendency of his missions I must investigate this matter without delay He raised his small bugle to his mouth for in those days that answered all the purposes of a house bell297 and many more Every officer in castle or camp knew by the blast blown when his personal attendance was required Douglas lifted his to his mouth—but before he sounded it the knight in waiting announced a lady No bolder heart than that of Douglas beat in a Scottish bosom Nevertheless it quaked for he thought of the threatening of the monk that another commissioner should visit him whom his guards should not be able to repel His agitation was now wrought up to the highest pitch for he attempted to pronounce some words of which the knight knew not the import—probably it was a command to expel her or to call in some guards but before the order could be understood or complied with the lady herself entered There she is my lord said the knight in a whisper and none of us know whence or how she came hither
The lady came slowly by and the knight retired with all speed She bore indeed the figure and form of the late princess but the roses of youth and beau298ty were gone and in their room a clayey paleness pervaded the features which were even whiter than the cambric by which the face was surrounded The figure held up its right hand as it advanced and fixed its eyes on the earl but no man to this day ever knew any thing farther of that conference The knight in waiting shortly after he had retired heard a noise within as of a man choking and endeavouring to cry out and bringing two more attendants with him they all three rushed into the apartment and found the Douglas fallen back on the embroidered couch in a state of mental abstraction or rather of total insensibility and the lady was gone They immediately applied themselves to the restoration of their lord which they effected in a short time Animation soon returned but reason wavered in a state of insensibility for several hours During that period he had for a number of times inquired who admitted that stranger or who saw her depart The men assuring him each time that no one saw her till she was observed299 standing in the antichamber and that none was either admitted into the citadel or seen depart save the starveling monk who attended him frequently as his confessor There has been another lady they added begging admission to your presence for a whole day and night which has always been refused here in consequence of your peremptory order She has at the last resorted to the means always at a womans command tears and threatenings and she vows that if she is not admitted to an audience you shall dearly repent it
What another still said the Douglas No Ill see no more women today nor tomorrow nor next day Do you know Eveldon what I think of women
No Lord Douglas but well what I think of them myself which is that they are natures masterpieces
The pests of society Eveldon I deem them subordinate creatures created solely for mans disquietude The warrior is naturally surrounded by dangers but till300 he engages with women he rises superior to them all it is then that his troubles and perils begin No Ill see no more women tonight
Might I advise my lord it would be that you should give her admission It appears so strange to see a lovely and most courtly dame standing weeping at your gate The very commonest of the people sympathise with her and blame your neglect Beshrew me if any knight in the realm would refuse such a suit no not the King himself
Do you think Sir John of Eveldon that I can submit to be ruled by women and their agents I who never held them as ought save as beings formed for mans pleasures or his interests My hands are free of their blood Sir John—my heart if ever it was in bonds is now emancipated and yet by their means has my life of late been held in thraldom
Say that I may admit this dame my lord
Well be it so and let us be quit of301 her In the mean time let the guards be tripled and stand to your arms I have had strange intelligence tonight if true there will be a dangerous commotion in less than an hour hence
The forces of the two kingdoms cannot disturb you here tonight Lord Douglas
See to it—there is treason within our walls Who are on guard
The Gordons and Lindsay of Kinlossies men
The Gordons I can trust—let the others be changed without delay Sir John and see them consorted to the camp—Call up the Douglasses of the Dales and let them look to themselves Admit that petitioner in whom you are so much interested and call me on the slightest appearance of insubordination
Sir John did as he was commanded and forthwith introduced Mary Kirkmichael of Balmedie The impatience and mortification that the Douglas manifested under this trial is not to be described for he had302 promised to give her information of her royal mistress as soon as he had it in his power and yet he neither had the heart nor the resolution after the charges he had received of secrecy to tell her of her mistress woeful fate At Marys first entrance into his presence she rushed forward and kneeled at his feet crying in the most passionate manner O my dear lord tell me what has become of my mistress This suspense is dreadful The castle is now in your hands and all the prisoners if such there were but there are shocking insinuations whispered abroad Her father and mother are on their way to visit you here and what shall I say to them for the loss of my dear mistress O Lord Douglas if you know of her as know of her you must tell me where I can see her Dead or alive let me but see her Or tell me when I shall see her
Lady that is more than I can tell you but if it will give you any hearts ease as certainly as I speak to you I saw her in this apartment tonight
303
Blessed are the news to me my lord But why then wont you admit me to her Send me instantly to her presence Lord Douglas for I know she cannot be in any state of concealment in which my company cannot be welcome I implore of you to send me forthwith to her presence
Send you to her presence That would be a cruel act Dame you and your sex have moved my spirit from its erect and heavenward position It is like a tree bowed by the wind and the branch of memory is stripped of its fruit Did I say I saw the Princess Margaret in this apartment—You must not credit it Theres an incoherence in the principle or nature has hasty productions not accounted for You must not believe it lady for till the porter opens the great gate to you your royal mistress you shall not see again
Are not all the gates opened or shut at your controul my lord You speak to me in paradoxes I comprehend it all304 well enough however I will go in or out at any gate only in one word conduct me to my mistress
Hell has no plague like this No there are no other fiends that can torment a man in this manner He blew his bugle—Eveldon conduct this dame to her mistress She in the great state prison you know the receptacle of royalty and thraldom and let me not hear another word Ill throw him over the battlements that next mentions the name of a woman to me
The lady curtsied and thanked the Douglas and Sir John mistaking his lords frantic sarcasm for a serious command hurried Mary Kirkmichael up stairs to the topmost apartment of the great tower and ushered her in without farther ceremony to Lady Jane Howard and her attendant Lady Jane rose and came running toward them but seeing who approached she started and retreated to her place As the two ascended the narrow staircase there was a great commotion in305 the square below therefore Sir John turned the key and hastened down again The noise increased and he heard there was a stern engagement in which the name of Lady Jane was given as a rallying word on the one side At the bottom of the stair the conspirators met him having broken through the ranks in that direction for the Gordons flew to guard the apartments of the Douglas not knowing what the object of the insurrection was Sir John had just time to shut a doublebarred door in front of them and retreating up one storey he shouted from the balcony to apprize the Douglas else the Lady Jane Howard was gone One from the ranks ran to apprize the captain but losing himself among the intricacies of the entrance he shouted out Lord Douglas Lord Douglas with the utmost vociferation The Douglas was sitting in a deep reverie his drawn sword was lying on the table beside him He heaved it above his shoulder and running to the door of the apartment opened it and asked the fellow306 who was still bawling in the dark what it was Tis the Lady Jane Howard answered he in the same shouting voice Damnation on the tongue that says it exclaimed the Douglas in ire Am I never more to hear aught repeated but the names of women Do you know the penalty of that word recreant I have sworn to throw you from the battlements but that shall not prevent me from cleaving you to the earth in the first place Women women Nothing but one woman after another Ill cut down every man that dares name one to me in that manner As he said these words he rushed toward the soldier with his heavy sword heaved but the man flying with all expedition escaped into the court The Douglas followed him and was soon in the midst of a confused engagement and hearing the conspirators shouting the same name Lady Jane Howard he took it as in derision and flew on their ranks with such fury that every man at whom he struck fell to the ground The Gordons followed him up307 crying A Douglas but the conspirators were the stronger party and would ultimately have prevailed had not the Douglasses of the Dales arrived to change guard as formerly ordered and then Kinlossie having fallen in an attempt to slay the Douglas his party surrendered There was a strong troop of English horsemen waiting on the other side of the Teviot with a raft to whom she was to have been let down from the wall But the information lodged by the monk not only frustrated the whole of this desperate expedition of the Howards but saved the life of Douglas For the conspirators receiving the unexpected orders to depart to the camp were driven to make the attempt prematurely before their measures formerly concocted were ripe for execution
Of all the circumstances that had hitherto occurred the reflection upon this bewildered the mind of Douglas the most The manner in which these secret combinations had been revealed to him filled his heart both with gratitude and amazement and as all endeavours at reconciling them308 with nature or reason only increased the mystery he resolved to shake the load from his spirits and think no more of them That he might effect this with greater promptitude he kept his noble kinsmen constantly about him by night as well as by day The Redhough also returned from his visit to Mountcomyn as did all the knights and gentlemen commoners of his party from their respective homes mounted in their most splendid accoutrements to greet their Sovereign render him an account of their services and proffer him due homage But among all these Border chiefs there was none whose appearance attracted so much admiration as that of Sir Charles Scott of Raeburn and Yardbire Before that time the only attention he had ever paid to his habiliments was that of procuring the best suits of armour that could possibly be obtained As the leader of the Wardens vanguard column and his righthand files in line he knew it behoved him to be well armed and in that article he was never deficient But now that he had to appear before his Sovereign in309 full pride of array as the knight of Raeburn and the Wardens righthand man he deemed it requisite to have an equipment becoming his rank so he rummaged the old oaken wardrobe and armourchest at Yardbire and from the knightly spoils of ages got himself fitted out by a skilful hand in a style that amazed all his former compeers Both himself and his horse Corbie were literally covered with burnished gold while the playful restiveness of the one and the manly and almost colossal figure of the other rendered the appearance of our warrior a sight truly worthy of admiration The activity and elasticity of all his motions combined with his invincible muscular strength and urbanity of countenance and manners rendered Charlie at all times an interesting object but till once he appeared in his plumes and light armour studded with gold no one could have believed that he was so comely and graceful a personage At the same time the very consciousness of his appearance and the rank that he was obliged to support raised his personal carriage310 and address many degrees as by a charm so that whenever the Warden and his train presented themselves strangers always appeared disposed to move their bonnets to Sir Charles whom they took for a king or an earl at the very least
The arrival of these heroes added a great deal to the hilarity tilting and other military amusements at Roxburgh until at last the 24th of December arrived and with it the word that the King and Queen were on their way to Roxburgh and approaching by the wild path of Soutraedge There was no bustle at the castle or city of Roxburgh save by the city dames and maidens for whom the approaching festival appeared a glorious epocha for since the days of Edward Longshanks who kept his court there for some weeks there had not been a crowned head within the precincts of that illustrious city Consequently with these fair denizens and with the merchants who attended that mart once a year from many of the towns on the Continent it was a time of hurry and preparation but with the warriors it was far other311wise They were ready before every one being alike anxious to fulfil the part entrusted to him—so that they had nothing ado but to mount and ride in the order assigned to them
First of all rode Sir Ringan Redhough supported by all the gentlemen of the middle and west marches—the Scotts the Elliots the Armstrongs and the Olivers were the most powerful of these And next in order came the Laidlaws the Brydens the Glendenyngs and the Potts After them rode the coppernosed Kers the towzy Turnbulls and the redwudd Ridderfords for in those days every sept had some additional appellative or byname These were also mixed with a number of smaller septs such as the Robsons the Dicksons the hurklebacked Hendersons and the roughriding Riddels and they were all headed by the doughty Sir Andrew Ker of Aultonburn Next in order rode Old Willie Wiliecoat named also Willie wi the white doublet the ancestor of the Earls of Home—a brave and dauntless character who for the space of forty years312 had been a sight of terror to the English with his white jacket With him rode the gentlemen of his own name the hardrackle Homes the dorty Dunbars the straitlaced Somervilles and the Baillies Then came the proud Pringles a powerful sept mixed with a countless number of dependent families headed by Pringle of Galashiels and after them the Gordons led by Sir John of that ilk
All these held lands of the Douglas on conditions of certain services they were nevertheless all independent chiefs these services performed but at this time they attended personally with their kinsmen to pay their dutiful respects to their Sovereign Last of all came the Douglasses in five separate bodies every one headed by a lord or knight of the name and these made up onethird of the whole cavalcade the Earl himself being with the last party of all and most gallantly attended
The two parties met at Earlston but the royal party was nothing in point of bearing and splendour to that of the Douglasses The King and Queen travelled each313 in a litter borne by two gallant steeds These carriages were very splendid in their decorations and constructed in the same way as a sedan chair and it was truly wonderful with what velocity they were borne along They were contrived for the Kings use who had a halt and could not travel on horseback and they suited the state of the roads in Scotland at that period exceedingly Two heralds rode before his Majesty who introduced the various chiefs to him as he passed and those others of whose names he enquired among whom Sir Charles Scott was the first The Queen and her Maries also saluted him along with the Warden The whole procession then drew up in files until their Majesties passed after which they fell all into their places the order of precedency being then reversed and the Douglasses next to the Sovereign There was no time for delay considering the season the darkness of the night and the shortness of the day so they posted on with all manner of expedition and yet it was dark before they reached the abbey of Kelso But all the way314 by the cloisters the bridge and up the Highstreet of the city of Roxburgh there were tiers of torches raised above one another that made it lighter than the noonday Never was there such a scene of splendour witnessed in that ancient and noble city to which the darkness of the canopy above and the glare of torchlight below added inconceivable grandeur It seemed as if all the light and beauty of the universe had been confined within that narrow space for without all was blackness impervious to the eye but within there was nothing but brilliancy activity and joy Seven score musical instruments and as many trilling but discordant voices yelled forth from the one end of the street to the other that old song beginning
The King came to our town
Ca Cuddie ca Cuddie
The King came to our town
Low on the Border
The trumpets sounded before and the bugles behind and the Border youths and maidens were filled with enthusiastic delight at the novelty of the spectacle315 They followed with shouts to the castle gate and then returned to talk of what they had seen and what they should see on the morrow
The royal party was conducted to the citadel where every thing was in readiness for a grand entertainment and there the Douglas delivered into the Kings hands the keys of the castle of Roxburgh His Majesty received them most graciously and thanked him for all the cost pains and trouble that he had taken for the good of the realm and added that he came prepared in heart and mind to fulfil his engagements to him in return There was now a manifest embarrassment on the part of the Douglas his countenance changed and he looked as he would have asked for the Princess or at least as if some one were wanting that ought to have been there but after an agitated pause he could only stammer out that he was much beholden to his Majesty who might at all times command his utmost services without bounty or reward
316
I trust that is not as much as to say that you now decline the stipulated reward for this high service said the King
Sire I see none either for your Majesty to give or your servant to receive said the Douglas and at the same time he cast a hasty and perturbed glance at the courtiers and warriors ranged around the hall The king nodded by way of assent to his hint and at the same time said to him aside I understand you Lord Douglas You will explain this gallantry of yours in keeping your sovereigns daughter in concealment from her natural guardians in private tomorrow But pray can we not see our darling tonight
Alas my liege lord and sovereign said Douglas passionately sure you jest with your servant thus to tax him with that of which he is innocent
The King smiled and waving his hand jocularly by way of intimating that he thought his affected secrecy prudence at that time left him and forthwith went halting up among the Borderers to converse with them about the affairs of the317 English marches The stately and commanding figure of Charlie Scott who was like Saul among the people again attracted the Kings eyes and he went familiarly up to him and said at once Well gallant knight how have accounts balanced between you and your southern neighbours since last Lammastide
Gude faith my liege lord and king I can hardly tell you said Sir Charles without hesitation There hae been some hard yerks gaun but the last quarter stands rather aboon an average wi us It is a kittle bauk that hings oer the Border my liege it is often nae sooner down to the yird than it is up to the starns again
Well said knight I like your fair wit and free humour said the King So upon the whole you judge that the balance preponderates on our side just now
I should think sae Sire when sic a clod as this castle of Roxburgh is thrown into the bucket It is nae witherweight this for the end of a weighbauk A the kye o the Seven Dales winna carry the swee to the south side again
318
The Queen hearing her lord conversing so freely and jocularly with this goodly personage came also up with two of her ladies of honour in order to put in a word for says Isaac with great simplicity women always like to be striking kemps with a handsome and proper man and the bigger of bone and the stronger of muscle the more is he the object of their admiration
When Sir Charles had finished the last remark therefore the Queen smiled complacently in his face and said You must certainly acknowledge gallant knight that you have been much indebted to heaven for your singular success in this instance
Sir Charles nodded his head Its a that ye ken about it my lady queen But saft be the sough that says it I trow we were mair indebted to some other place in the first instance."
The Queen held up her hands Uh what does the knight mean Say my lord What What place Then turning to Sir Ringan who was terribly in the fidgets about what had dropped from his319 kinsman she added I trust our right traist warden and loving cousin did not practise any of the diabolical arts so prevalent of late to accomplish his hard task And then with a womans natural volubility when once her tongue is set agoing she added turning to Charlie without waiting the Wardens reply What place does Sir Charles mean I hope you would not insinuate that you had any dealings with the spirits of darkness
Not with hell directly madam answered Charlie for Isaac can never help calling him occasionally by his old title but I canna say that we didna get a strong hint frae ane or twa of its principal agents No offence my lady queen I ken by report that your Majesty takes supreme delight in religious devotions and to tell the truth I have always had a strong hankering that gate mysel and hope I will hae till the day of my death But there is ae thing in the whilk I am greatly altered Pray may I take the liberty to ask what is your Majestys opinion about the deil
320
Uh gracious St Mary be with us What a question knight Why what can I think but that he is the great enemy of God and man and the author of universal evil
There I think differently said Charlie bowing very low Always begging my lady queens gracious pardon thats the only tenet o my belief that is altered—at least an it be nae fairly altered it is considerably jumbled and nought like sae steadfast as it was Always begging your pardon though madam
I am quite confounded said the Queen Pray warrior what do you mean
Plainly this my lady queen that I think the old gentleman has been sair abused and that there are some na meikle better than him wha have been a great deal better cad It may sound a little odd in your ears but I hae now seen him I hae sat wi him I hae eaten I hae drunken wi him and gin it hadna been for the interference of women we wad hae partit civilly But whenever they get a finger in a pye there will be some ane burnt321 in the opening ot Always begging your Majestys pardon though
The Queen crossed herself and counted her beads but at the same time bestowed a smile and look of admiration on this extraordinary hero who had accomplished such singular adventures These encouraging Sir Charles to finish his sentence he added They hae frightit me wi him lang and sair has my neb been hauden at the grindstane wi the fear o him I durst hardly say or think that ane of a the members of my body was my ain wi perfect terror But thae days are a oer An the bedesmen be gaun to fright me ony langer wi a deil they maun get a new ane for the auld ane winna stand his ground to any extent wi me on that score He has doubtless some bad qualities some wicked vagaries about him but upon the whole I have met wi waur fellows
This introduction in spite of Sir Ringans endeavours to waive the subject led to the whole narrative of the transactions at Aikwood of which the Queen and her322 maidens of honour were never wearied although at the same time many an Ave Maria and Paternoster the subject cost them When obliged from the lateness of the hour to desist listening to the agitating theme the Queen was never at rest until it was renewed next day nor even then till she had gone and visited the great hill of Eildon thus miraculously cleft asunder and divided into three and even after quaking at the scene she grew still more importunate in her inquiries so that there was no satisfying her curiosity on the subject of the enchantments of Master Michael Scott all the time she remained in Roxburgh
When she retired to her chamber that first night she inquired for a confessor and the knight in waiting introduced the monk Benjamin intimating that since the capture of the castle he had been confessorgeneral to all within its walls The Queens devotions that night were prolonged until an early hour next morning nevertheless she arose from her sleep greatly refreshed and in high spirits and at the breakfast323table was more than usually gay Not so with Douglas over whose countenance in spite of all exertions to the contrary hung a heavy gloom as well as a manifest abstraction of thought The King who was a person of strong discernment observed this and from some indefinite dread of the cause involuntarily partook of the sensation
324
CHAPTER X
I want none of your gold Douglas
I want none of your fee
But swear by the faith of thy right hand
That youll love only me
And Ill leave my country and my kin
And wend along with thee
May Marley
When the mass and a plentiful morning meal were over next day every one began to prepare for such exercises as the season admitted All lingered about for some time but seeing that no orders were likely to be given out for any procession or general rendezvous during the day which every one had expected some betook them to the chace others to equestrian exercises with sword and spear while the Homes and the Gordons joined in an excursion into English ground keeping along the southern bank of the Tweed The King observing them all about to disperse reminded the Douglas that it was325 a high festal day on which the latter made a low obeisance and remarked that he was only now a guest in the castle of Roxburgh and that his honoured liege sovereign was host that his foresters and sumptuary officers had got timeous notice and nothing would be lacking that his Majesty could desire for the entertainment of his nobles and friends The King then caused it to be intimated that he would be happy to meet all his lords and nobles in the banquethall at eventide where every knight gentleman and yeoman were expected to attend in their several places and all should be heartily welcome And now Lord Douglas said he leading the way into an antichamber let us two retire by ourselves and consult what is to be done next
Lord Douglas followed but ill prepared to answer the inquiries about to be put to him He had received injunctions of secrecy from one who had in no instance misled him and to whom he had been of late indebted for the preservation of his life But how was he now to conduct him326self or how answer his sovereign in any other way than according to the truth as it had been stated unto him His predicament was a hard one for he was in the first place ashamed of the part he had acted of never having discovered his royal mistress while attached to his side notwithstanding of all the evidences in confirmation of the fact which he had never once seen till too late And then to have suffered even his mistress page to fall a victim to such a shameful death without either making an effort to save him or so much as missing him from his hand or mentioning his loss—were circumstances not quite consistent with the high spirit of gallantry as well as chivalry he had displayed at first by the perilous undertaking Gladly would he have kept his knowledge of the transaction a secret but then there was the monk Benjamin who by some supernatural agency had been given to understand the whole scope and tenor of it and there was dame Mary Kirkmichael knew the whole except the degrading catastrophe and had unfolded it all to327 him when it was too late He run over all these things in his mind and was as little as at any previous period prepared what part to act when the King turned round and in the most anxious and earnest manner said Lord Douglas where is our daughter
My liege lord and sovereign ought not I rather to have asked that question of you said the Douglas And I would have done it at our first meeting only that I would not trifle with your feelings on such a serious matter perceiving that you laboured under a grievous misconception regarding my conduct You have not it seems brought the princess Margaret along with you as was expected by all my friends and followers
Not by yourself I am certain I say Lord Douglas where is my daughter I demand a categorical answer
Sire in what way am I accountable for your daughter
Lord Douglas I hate all evasion I request an answer as express as my question I know my darling child in328 admiration of your chivalrous enterprise resolved in the true spirit of this romantic age to take some active part in the perils undertaken solely on her account I know her ingenuity which was always boundless was instrumental in performing some signal services to you and that finally she attached herself to your side in a disguise which she deemed would ensure her a kind and honourable protection Thus far I know and though the whole was undertaken and transacted without my knowledge when I was absent in the Highlands I am certain as to the truth of every circumstance and I am farther certified that you know all this
Hear me my liege sovereign Admitting that your daughter or any other kings lords or commoners daughter should put herself into a pages raiment and——
Silence lord cried the King furiously interrupting him Am I to be mocked thus and answered only with circumlocution notwithstanding my express command to the contrary Answer me in one329 word My Lord of Douglas where is my daughter
Where God will sire was the short and emphatic reply The king eyed Douglas with a keen and stern regard and the eagle eye of the latter met that of his sovereign without any abashment But yet this look of the Douglas unyielding as it was manifested no daring or offensive pride it was one rather of stern sorrow and regret nevertheless he would not withdraw it but standing erect he looked King Robert in the face until the eyes of the latter were gradually raised from his toward heaven Almighty Father cried he clasping his hands together—Where then is it thy will that my beloved child should be O Douglas Douglas In the impatience and warmth of temper peculiar to my race I was offended at your pertinacity but I dread it was out of respect to a fathers feelings I forgive it now that I see you are affected only in pity to this yearning bosom relate to me all that you know Douglas330 can you not inform me what has befallen to my daughter
No my liege I cannot I know nothing or at least little save from report but the little that I have heard and the little that I have seen shall never be reported by my tongue
Then hope is extinct cried the King The scene that can draw tears from the stern eye of the Douglas even by an after reflection is one unmeet for a parents ear The will of the Almighty be done He hath given and he hath taken away blessed be his name But why have the men of my household and the friends in whom I trusted combined against my peace The King said this in a querulous mood Why did you not tell me sooner cried he turning to Douglas his tone altering gradually from one of penitence and deep humiliation to one of high displeasure Why bring me on this fools errand when I ought to have been sitting in sackcloth and ashes and humbling myself for the sins of my house These must have been grievous indeed that have drawn331 down such punishments on me But the indifference of those in whom we trusted is the worst of all O my child My darling child Margaret Never was there a parent so blest in a daughter as I was in thee The playfulness of the lamb or the kid—the affection of the turtledove were thine Thy breast was all enthusiasm and benevolence and every emotion of thy soul as pure as the ray of heaven I loved thee with more than parental affection and if I am bereaved of thee I will go mourning to my grave Is there no one in this place that can inform me of my daughters fate Her lady confidant I understand is still lingering here Send for her instantly Send for her confessor also that I may confront you altogether and ascertain the hideous and unwelcome truth If I cannot have it here I shall have it elsewhere or wo be to all that have either been instrumental in her fate or lax in warding it off Do you think Lord of Douglas that I can be put off with a hum and a haw and a shake of the head and its Gods will Do you think I should332 when I am inquiring about my own daughter whom I held dearest of all earthly beings No Ill scrutinize it to a pins point Ill wring every syllable of the truth out of the most secret heart and the most lying tongue Ill move heaven and hell but Ill know every circumstance that has befallen to my daughter Send I say for her fostersister and faithful attendant dame Mary Kirkmichael Send also for her confessor and for all to whom she has but once spoken since she arrived here Why are they not sent for before this time
My liege lord restrain your impatience They are sent for but they will tell you nothing that can mitigate your sorrow If it be all true that has been told to me and that you yourself have told to me of the disguise the Princess assumed then is it also true that you will never again see your daughter in this state of existence
Ah is it even so Then is the flower of the realm fallen then is the solace of my old age departed But she is happy in333 the realms of blessedness While love joy and truth are the delight of heaven there will my Margaret find a place O that she had staid by her fathers hand Why was my jewel entrusted to the care and honour of those who care but for themselves and who have suffered the loveliest flower of the world to be cropped in its early blossom nay left it to be sullied and trodden down in forgetfulness Lord Douglas did you see my daughter perish
Now my liege lord can I act the man no longer Forgive me and may the holy Virgin the mother of God forgive me for I indeed saw with these eyes that inestimable treasure cut off without one effort on my part to save her and without a tear wetting my cheeks
Then may all the powers of darkness blast thy soul thou unfeeling traitor Thus thus will I avenge me on the culprit who could give up his sovereigns daughter and his own betrothed bride to a violent death and that without a tear O thou incarnate fiend shalt thou not bewail this adown the longest times of334 eternity Darest thou not draw against an injured father and king
Put up thy sword sire The Douglas draws not but on his equals and thou art none of them Thy person is sacred and thy frame debilitated He holds thee inviolate but he holds thee also as nothing
Thou shall know proud lord that the King of Scotland fears no single arm and that he can stand on one limb to avenge the blood of his royal house
My gracious lord this is the mere raving of a wounded spirit and I grieve that I should have for one moment regarded it otherwise than with veneration I had deserved to die an hundred deaths if I had known who the dear sufferer was but alas I know not ought of the sex or rank of my page who was taken prisoner in the great night engagement But I can tell you no more Sire nor is it needful you now know all I am guiltless as the babe unborn of my royal mistresss blood but I will never forgive myself for my negligence and want of perception nor do I anticipate any more happiness in this world I have335 been laid under some mysterious restraints and have suffered deeply already And now my gracious lord I submit myself to your awards
Alas Lord Douglas you are little aware of the treasure you have lost Your loss is even greater than mine It behoves us therefore to lament and bewail our misfortunes together rather than indulge in bitter upbraidings
Here they were interrupted by the entrance of the Queen who brought with her the Lady Jane Howard dressed in a style of eastern magnificence to introduce her to the King The King amid all the grief that overwhelmed his spirit was struck with her great beauty and paid that respect and homage to her which high birth and misfortune always command from the truly great and the Queen with the newfangledness of her sex appeared wholly attached to this captive stranger and had brought her down at that time to intercede with the King and Lord Douglas for her liberty loading her with commendations and kind attentions336 To check the Queens volatility of spirits the King informed her shortly of the irreparable loss both of them had suffered but the effect was manifestly not at all proportionate to the cause She appeared indeed much moved and had well nigh fallen into hysterics but if her grief was not assumed it bore strong symptoms of being so She first railed at and then tried to comfort the Douglas but finally turned again to Lady Jane who wept bitterly out of true sympathy for the Princesss cruel and untimely fate and caressed her trying to console her in the most extravagant terms The King on the other hand sobbed from his inmost soul and bewailed his loss in terms so pathetic and moving that the firm soul of Douglas was overcome and he entered into all his Sovereigns feelings with the keenest sensations It was a scene of sorrow and despair which was rather increased than mitigated by the arrival of two more who had lately been sent for These were the monk Benjamin and the lady Mary Kirkmichael whom the King began anew to examine dwelling on every337 circumstance that occurred during the course of his darling childs extravagant adventure with a painful anxiety But every now and then he became heated with anger blaming some one for the want of discernment or respect When he came to examine the monk who shewed great energy and acuteness of speech he lost his temper altogether at some part of the colloquy but the monk was not to be daunted he repelled every invective with serenity of voice and manner and at sundry times rather put the monarch to shame
Hadst thou ever an opportunity of confessing and shriving my child previous to the time she fell into the hands of her enemies reverend brother
No Sire she never made confession to me nor asked absolution at my hand
And wherefore didst thou not proffer it thou shriveled starveling Were there no grants to bestow no rich benefices to confer for the wellbeing of a royal virgins soul that caused thee to withold these poor alms of grace Who was it that bestowed on thy unconscionable order all that they338 possess in this realm And yet thou wilt suffer one of their posterity to come into thy cell to ask thy assistance without bestowing a mass or benediction for the sake of heaven
Sire it is only to the ignorant and the simple that we proffer our ghostly rites Those who are enlightened in the truths and mysteries of religion it behoves to judge for themselves and to themselves we leave the state of their consciences in all ordinary cases The monk was robed in a very wide flowing grey frock and cowled over the eyes while his thin and effeminatelooking beard trembled adown his breast with the fervency of his address As he said these last words he stretched his right hand forth toward the King and raising the left up behind him his robe was by that means extended and spread forth in a manner that increased the tiny monk to triple the size he was before And for you King of Scotland added he raising his keen voice that quavered with energy I say such a demeanour is unseemly Is it becoming the head and guardian of the339 Christian church in this realm—him that should be a pattern to all in the lower walks of life—thus to threat and fume beneath the chastening of his Maker You ask me who bestowed these ample bounds on my order I ask you in return who it was that bestowed them on thy progenitors and thee and for what purpose Who gave thee a kingdom a people and a family of thy own Was it not he before whose altar thou hast this day kneeled and vowed to be for him and not for another And what he has bestowed has he not a right to require of thee again in his own time and in his own way The King bowed with submission to the truth of this bold expostulation and the impetuous and undaunted monk went on It is rather thy duty most revered monarch to bow with deep humiliation to the righteous awards of the Almighty for just and righteous they are however unequal they may appear to the purblind eyes of mortal men If he has taken a beloved child from thee rest assured that he has only snatched her from evil to come and translated her340 to a better and a happier home Why then wilt thou not acknowledge the justice of this dispensation and rather speak comfort to the weaker vessels than give way to illtimed and unkingly wrath
As for thee noble lord to the eyes of men thine may appear a hard lot indeed For the love of one thou adventuredst thy life and the very existence of thy house and name The stake was prodigious and when thou hadst won it with great labour and perseverance the prize was snatched from thy grasp Thy case will to all ages appear a peculiarly hard one still there is this consolation in it—
There is no grain of consolation in it said Douglas interrupting him There can be none The blow on my head and my hopes of happiness is irretrievable
Yes lord there is said the monk for has it not been decreed in heaven above that this union was never to be consummated Man may propose and scheme and lay out plans for futurity but it is good for him that the fulfilment is vested in other hands than his This then is conso341lation to know that it was predestinated in the counsels of one who cannot err that that royal maid never was to be thine and therefore all manner of repining is not only unmanly and unmeet but sinful It behoves now thy sovereign in reward of thy faithful services to bestow on thee another spouse with the same dowry he meant to bestow on his daughter And it behoves you to accept of this as the gift of heaven proffered to thee in place of the one it snatched from thy grasp As its agent therefore and the promoter of peace love and happiness among men I propose that King Robert bestow upon thee this noble and high born dame for thy consort Both of you have been bereaved of those to whom you were betrothed and it cannot fail to strike every one that this seems a fortune appointed for you two by Providence nor can I form in my mind the slightest objection that can be urged to it on either side It is desirable on every account and may be the means of promoting peace between the two sister kingdoms wasted by warfare and blood which every342 true Christian must deplore I propose it as a natural consequence and a thing apparently foreordained by my master and give my voice for it King and Queen of Scotland what say you
I hold the matter that this holy and enlightened brother has uttered to be consistent with truth reason and religion said the King—and the union has my hearty and free approval I farther promise to behave to this lady as a father to a daughter and to bestow upon our trusty and leal cousin the Lord Douglas such honours power and distinction as are most due for the great services rendered to this realm The match has my hearty concurrence
And mine said the Queen I not only acquiesce in the reverend brothers proposal but I lay my commands on my noble kinsman the Lord Douglas to accept of this high boon of heaven
Pause my sovereign lady said the Douglas before you proceed too far In pity to the feelings that rend this bosom let me hear no more of the subject at pre343sent In pity to that lovely and angelic ladys feelings that must be acute as my own I implore that you will not insist farther in this proposal Do not wound a delicate female breast pressed down by misfortunes
This is something like affectation Lord Douglas rejoined the Queen If I answer for the lady Janes consent what have you then to say against this holy brothers proposal
Ay if your Queen stand security for the ladys consent and if I stand security for it likewise said the monk—what have you to say against the union then Look at her again lord Is not she a lovely and angelic being Confess the truth now For I know it to be the truth that never since you could distinguish beauty from deformity have your eyes beheld so lovely and so angelic a lady Pressed down by misfortunes too Does that not add a triple charm to all her excellencies You know what has been done for her what has been suffered for her what a noble and gallant life was laid down for her344 Was such a sacrifice ever made for a lady or princess of your own country No never heroic lord Therefore bless your stars that have paved out a way for your union with such a lovely angelic and matchless lady and take her take her to your longing and aching bosom
Moderate your fervour holy brother said the Douglas which appears to me rather to be running to unwarrantable extremes Granting that the lady Jane Howard is perhaps unequalled in beauty and elegant accomplishments——
Is she not so Is she not so cried the monk with a fervour that raised his voice to a scream of passion Did I not say that she was And now am I not warranted by your own sentiments freely expressed enough Sure lord you cannot deny that I said that I told you the lady was peerless in beauty and accomplishments I knew it and told you before that she was the queen of beauty Why then do you hesitate and make all this foolish opposition to an union which we all know you are eager to consummate345 Yes you are And we all know it You are
Holy brother what unaccountable phrenzy has seized upon you said the Douglas and why all this extravagant waste of declamation Let me not hear another sentence nor another word on the subject only suffer me to finish what I had begun I say then granting that the lady Jane were peerless in beauty and accomplishments still there is an impression engraven on my heart that can never be removed or give place to another and there will I cherish it as sacred till the day of my death And that no reckless importunity may ever be wasted on me again here I kneel before the holy rood which I kiss and swear before God and his holy angels that since I have been bereaved of the sovereign mistress of my heart and all my affections—of her in whom all my hopes of happiness in this world were placed and who to me was all in all of womankind—that never shall another of the sex be folded in the arms of Douglas or call him husband So help me346 thou Blessed One and all thy holy saints and martyrs in the performance of this vow
During the time of this last speech and solemn oath the sobs of the monk Benjamin became so audible that all eyes were turned to him for they thought that his delicate frame would burst with its emotions And besides he was all the while fumbling about his throat so that they dreaded he had purposed some mortal injury to himself But in place of that he had been unloosing some clasps or knots about his tunick for with a motion quicker than thought he flung at once his cowl frock and beard away—and there stood arrayed as a royal bride the Princess Margaret of Scotland Journeyer of earth where art thou now
Yes there stood in one moment disclosed to the eyes of all present the princess Margaret Stuart herself embellished in all the ornaments of virgin royalty and blooming in a glow of new born beauties
Thank heaven I have been deceived cried she with great emphasis and when347 she had said this she stood up motionless by the side of lady Jane Howard and cast her eyes on the ground No pen can do justice to the scene It must be left wholly to conception after the fact is told that no one present had the slightest conception of the disguise save the Queen who had been initiated into the princesss project of trying the real state of the Douglass affections on the preceding night It was like a scene of enchantment such as might have been produced at the castle of Aikwood But a moment ago all was sorrow and despair now all was one burst of joyful surprise And to make it still more interesting there stood the two rival beauties of Scotland and England side by side as if each were vying with the other for the palm to be bestowed on her native country But to this day the connoisseurs in female beauty have never decided whether the dark falcon eyes and lofty forehead of the one or the soft blushing roses and blue liquid eyes of the other were the most irresistible
The King was the first to burst from the348 silence of surprise He flew to his daughters arms with more vigour than a cripple could well be supposed to exert kissed and embraced her took her on his knee and wept on her neck then striking his crutch on the floor he scolded her most heartily for the poignant and unnecessary pain she had occasioned to him And the worst of it is added he that you have caused me show too much interest in an imp that has been the constant plague of my life with her whims and vagaries an interest and an intensity of feeling that I shall be ashamed of the longest day I have to live
Indeed but you shall not my dear lord and father for I will now teaze another than you and teaze him only to deeds of valour and renown to lead your troops to certain conquest till you are fully avenged of the oppressors of your people
Mary Kirkmichael hung by her seymar and wept The Douglas kneeled at her feet and in an ecstacy took her hand and pressed it to his lips I do not know whether or not I shall have reason to bless349 heaven all my life for this singular restoration said he but for the present I do it with all my heart Tell me thou lovely cameleon what am I to think of this Wert thou indeed as was related to me the page Colin Roy Macalpin He with the carroty locks and the flippant tongue
You need not doubt it lord Douglas I was And I think during our first intimacy that I teazed you sufficiently
Then that delicate neck of yours for all its taper form and lily hue is a charmed one and rope proof for sure as I look on you now I saw you swing from a beams end on the battlement of this same tower
Oh no no my lord It was not I Never trust this head again if it should suffer its neck to be noosed You suffered it though that you must confess And I dare say though a little sorry felt a dead weight removed from about your neck You suffered me to be taken prisoner out of your tent and mured up among rude and desperate men in a dungeon It cost me all my wits then to obtain my release But I effected it Swung from a beams end350 quoth he Och what a vulgar idea No my lord the page whom you saw swung was a tailors apprentice whom I hired to carry a packet up to your lordship with my green suit of clothes and a promise of a high place of preferment and I kept my word to the brat An intolerable ape it was Many better lives have been lost in this contention few of less value—I never deemed he was so soon to be strung and my heart smote me for the part I had acted But the scheme of turning monk and confessor suited me best of all I then got my shacles of mystery riveted on you and heavens what secrets I have found out
At this part of the narrative Isaac the curate bestows a whole chapter and a half on the description of the wedding and all the processions games and feasting that ensued but as none of these things bore the slightest resemblance to ought that has ever been witnessed in the present age like a judicious editor I have passed them over Suffice it that the Border never witnessed such splendor of array such tournaments351 such feasting and such high wassail For why because it never witnessed the marriage of a kings daughter before The streets of the city and the square of the fortress that had so lately been dyed with blood now ran red with Rhenish wine And be it farther known that Sir Charles Scott and his horse Corbie bore off every prize in the tilting matches till at last no knight would enter the lists with him but the fair dames were all in raptures with the gallantry of his bearing and the suavity of his manners As for the Queen she became so much enamoured of the hero that she was scarcely to be kept in due bounds and if she had not been advanced in years he might have deemed she was in love with him In the lists she drew up her snowwhite palfrey by Corbies side and in the revel hall the royal dame herself was sure to be at the knights side except when at table on pretence of hearing something more about his perils at Aikwood and in particular about the scene with the beautiful and splendid witches at which as Sir Charles related it with352 abashed countenance the Queen and her Maries laughed till the salt tears ran from their eyes As for the description of their appearance the succeeding morning and the feelings of the warrior both then and afterward when transformed to a huge bull these never failed to throw the gamesome group into convulsions of mirth In short the knight of Raeburn was of all the gallants quite the favourite at that splendid festival in the hall as well as the hero in the lists in which he six times received the prize of honour from the hands of the royal bride and those of lady Jane Howard who at the Queens earnest request was made principal bridesmaid and presiding lady at the sports
But if Charles was the hero of those engaged in the games his friend the gospel friar was as completely so among the gay onlookers and created them more sport often than all in the lists Ever since the various affrays in which his mule had been engaged and come off with such decided success the mongrel had learned to value himself solely as a beast of warfare and no353 man who rode near him was sure of keeping his seat a minute especially if he rode a high mettled and capricious charger By the side of a horse of modesty that bore himself with candour and humility of countenance the mule was a beast of sociality and decorum but whenever he saw a steed begin to cut any unnecessary capers he deemed himself insulted or put to the challenge and on the instant began to lay back his long ears and switch with his tail while his grey sunk eyes emitted a hellish gleam It was no matter at what distance such a horse made his appearance if the mule disliked his deportment he would have flown across a whole field to attack and humble him He had borne his master headlong into so many unpremeditated and unwarrantable scuffles since his return from Aikwood that he had bestowed on him the name of Goliah of Gath and besides giving him that veteran title he often averred that he believed one of the necromancers imps of darkness had taken possession of his beast
The friar had however learned to dis354tinguish all his motions and knew from these the exact points and stages of his irritation and when his offence began to reach its acme he had no other resource than that of wheeling his head forcibly around and turning his tail toward the object of his displeasure Without this precaution the friar would have been carried into the lists every day merely to gratify the spleen of Goliah who could not endure the curvetting and jangling that was going on there And even this inverse precaution did not at all times prove effectual as in the following pleasant instance
It chanced one day that the knight of Kraeland entered the lists alone no opponent appearing against him owing to some mistake made in the arrangement by the officers He was a goodly youth but uplifted above the earth with vanity and of his vapouring and airs there were no end Imagining that he attracted the eyes of all the beholders and elated because no one had the courage to appear against him for so he affected to regard the circumstance355 he paraded the circle round and round brandished his lance and made his horse to curvette rear and wheel accomplishing many grand evolutions The lookers on were all beginning to get sick of him and to view his vaporous manœuvres with disdain but amongst them all there was none so much moved with spleen as Goliah of Gath From the first moment that the knight entered the lists that uncircumcised Philistine began to manifest a mortal dislike towards him the more so it was believed that he was mounted on a milkwhite steed a colour peculiarly disagreeable to the mules optics The judges of the games wist not what to do and appealed to the King who gave it as his opinion that this unchallenged appearance should be accounted as a victory and that the knight should take his course in the next round and the heralds got directions to make proclamation accordingly
But long before this period the friar had been compelled to turn away the face of Goliah from this scene of vanity and as chance would have had it he was in the356 innermost circle so that retreat outward through the innumerable files was utterly impracticable and there sat the gruff uncourtly form of the gospel friar with the tail of his beast where the head should have been to the great amusement of the spectators For all this the malevolent eye of Goliah as well accustomed to look backward as forward perceived all the outrageous rearings and snortings of that proud and gaudy animal and became moved with so much indignation that he would no longer be restrained either by bit or spur soothing or threatening Just as the herald had taken his place to make proclamation the mule fell a running backward and the more fiercely that the friar spurred and the more bitterly he threatened the beast of Belial retrogaded the faster till at last after two or three intemperate plunges he got his head straight to the white charger and then in one moment he was upon him and had him by the brisket with his teeth The horse reared furiously but the mule pressed still closer to him fixing his long teeth in the horses shoul357der till on a sudden in an attempt to clear both Goliah and his rider or at least to leap over the mules neck the white steed was overturned and thrown right on his back above his overweening rider All this was transacted in a space of time shorter than the time taken up in reading the relation and the moment that Goliah of Gath had achieved this overthrow he wheeled about with a mettledness and inveteracy beyond all description and attacked the couple with his heels prostrate as they were yerk for yerk indiscriminately The friar sunk the rowels of his spurs to the head in his sides and uttered some strong declamatory sentences against him in the style of the nations of the East but Goliah plied his ironheels still the faster although he groaned as he kicked in the bitterness of his spirit The scene was perfectly irresistible grievous as the consequences threatened to be on the one side The lists were all in convulsions of laughter and involuntary shouts of applause shook the storeys of the firmament The King laughed till he sunk down in his358 litter and his attendants had some fears that he would expire in a convulsive fit The knight of Kraeland was carried out of the lists maimed and in a state of insensibility and the friar maugre all he could advance in opposition to the award was proclaimed the victor in that course and obliged to appear in the next encounter in opposition to the knight who had been the conqueror in the preceding combat
Had Goliah of Gath restrained his wrath when this conquest was achieved it would have been all very well save for Kraeland and his white charger but the mongrels wrath once aroused was not easily abated Therefore when the friends of the fallen knight and his squire forced the Philistine to forego his attack and battery his gleaming eyes glanced all around for another proper object whereon to wreak his horrid revenge Now it so happened that the Queen and her Maries were all mounted on white palfreys and as these stood in the inner circles arching their proud necks and champing the bits he359 was moved with choler against them and resolved within himself to give them a surprise and shew them the prowess of a veteran warrior for over and above their saucy demeanor the glaring whiteness of colour that pervaded them and their riders his heart could not endure And besides all these the shouts and laughter of the multitude were thought to have added greatly to his ire The friar who knew him well said so for added he the shouts of joy and laughter are unto him as a portion of gall and of wormwood Certes when he was driven from the prostrate champion by dint of club and lance he straightway laid back his long ears and with a swiftness hardly imaginable scoured the plain to the attack of the dames and their strutting genets The friar soon perceived the dangerous dilemma into which he was about to be precipitated and all unable to restrain this champion of the Philistines he cried out with a loud voice O wretched man that I am lo I shall work destruction among the daughters of women Will no man come to the assistance360 of those who have no strength of man at all Wo is me will the mighty men stand and look on till the daughters of their people are cut off from the face of the earth
Long ere this sentence had proceeded out of the friars mouth the work of deray and confusion was begun The column of white palfreys were routed in one moment and their gentle and affrighted riders kicked off in pairs like so many diving swans Never was there a warrior like Goliah of Gath for he tore with his teeth and struck with both hind feet and fore feet all at the same instant The Queen of Scotland would in all probability have been laid low with the rest had it not been for the prowess of her favourite hero who sprung from Corbies back and seized the audacious mule by the bridle Smite him my son cried the friar with a loud voice Draw thou forth thy sword and smite him to the earth for it is better for him to die than to live
The mule thought to prove contumacious at the first but feeling Charlies powerful grasp he calmed himself turned the361 one ear back the other forward and switched his tail listening with much gratification to the hysterical cries of the discomfited damsels Not so his master who was grieved in spirit and very wroth with his old servant and companion insomuch that when he alighted from his back and seized his curb he exclaimed O thou limb of the wicked one Thou emblem of the evil principle working in the children of disobedience What shall I do unto thee Lo now if I had a sword in mine hand would I not strike thy head from off thy body and cause thee to be buried with the burial of an ass The mule let his ears fall down very wide asunder like the horns of a Lancashire ox putting on a face of great humility as he looked out from beneath his heavy eyebrows with many a sly demure glance at the friars face The good man led him around the lists in search of an opening to get out for he durst not again mount him for fear of being instrumental in some farther outrage among the ranks of the great and the noble As he passed by the King his Majesty caused him to be called up into his presence362 and asked him what sum it would please him to ask as the price of his mule
Verily my lord O King answered the friar with great readiness that beast hath been unto thy servant as a friend and an inheritance He hath borne me over the mountains of Palestine and hath drunk from the fords of Jordan as well as from Abana and Pharpar the rivers of Damascus Yea bestriding that woful beast hath thy servant fought the battles of the cross and the hooves that have in thy sight been lifted up against the fair and the lovely the meek and the innocent have been dyed red in the blood of infidels Money is of no avail to thy servant and he cannot part with his old and trusty companion even though the spirit of those that are cursed from the heavens be in him
Then wilt thou come thyself unto me at the Scottish court said the King to him somewhat in his own style—and I will cherish both thee and thy doughty companion and thou shalt minister unto me in holy things and shalt be unto me as a father and I and my children will be to363 thee as sons and as daughters for my trusty and well tried friend Sir Ringan of Mountcomyn saith well of thee and of thy great wisdom valour and prudence
Verily most noble King I have yet many things to accomplish in other lands than this which by the strength of the Lord must be fulfilled when these are finished then shall thy servant come unto thee and visit thee for good
And thou shalt be a welcome guest said the King Wear thou this ring for my sake which I give thee as a pledge of friendship and of protection through my kingdom Remain in the lists for thou hast yet battle to do against two knights of the lance and the sword
Lo I will even strike with the sword and the spear if my lord the King commandeth it But I lack armour and am not a man of war save when the lives of the innocent or the cause of the cross is at stake And moreover the beast that thou seest is as a beast of the bottomless pit he hath antipathies and sympathies of his own and instead of bearing364 me full force against my opponent he may carry me to make war against women and children Nevertheless I will do all that it behooveth me to do Who are my adversaries—He was told they were the knights of Gemelscleuch and Raeburn—Then God do so to me and more also if I lift up my hand against any of these my brethren the men of my right hand and the preservers of my life Neither will one of them put his spear in rest against me so that the battle would perish Thy servant is not afraid to fight but as a gladiator he is unwilling to exhibit therefore my lord O King suffer him to depart in peace
These reasons were cogent so the King admitted them and the worthy and heroic friar was suffered to lead off Goliah of Gath amid thundering shouts of applause
365
CHAP XI
This general doctrine of the text explained I proceed in what remains of this discourse to point out to you three important and material considerations concerning the nature and character of woman These shall be 1stly What she was 2dly What she is and 3dly What she will be hereafter And are not these my brethren matters of high importance
Dicksons Sermons
All things of this world wear to an end saith Isaac so also did this high Christmas festival within the halls and towers of Roxburgh The lady Jane had borne a principal share in all the sports both in and out of doors In the hall she was led up to every dance and in the lists she presided as the queen of the games distributing the prizes with her own fair hands to the Scottish heroes and of course crowning her old friend Charlie with the bays at least once a day Sir Charles was a most unassuming character and seldom adventured on addressing his superiors first But when once they addressed discourse to366 him he never failed answering them with perfect ease and unconcern and often as is well known ere this time with more volubility than he himself approved of Once and only once during all these days of his triumph and high honours did the lady Jane remember him of having brought her into captivity and of the high bribe he had refused for her liberty An if it be your will honoured lady I wish ye wadna say ony mair about that matter said Sir Charles for mony queer fidgetty kind o feelings I hae had about it sinsyne And if I had kend then what I ken now—if I had kend wha I had in my arms and what I had in my arms I had nae borne the honours that I wear the day My heart had some sair misgiving aince about you when there were hard news gaun of your great jeopardy but now that you are in sic high favour I am een glad that I brought you for troth ye hae a face and a form that does ane good to look at
The lady Jane only sighed at this address and looked down thinking without doubt of the long and dismal widowhood367 which it would behoove her to keep for the dismal end of her betrothed knight and then a virgin widowhood too which was the worst of all There was an obscure glimpse of the same sort of ideas glanced on Charlies mind as he viewed her downcast blushing countenance and afraid of giving birth to any painful sensations in such a lovely ladys mind he desisted from further conversation
The Queen was still so much interested in that lady as to endeavour by all means to procure her liberty without any ransom somewhat contrary to her soninlaws opinion The Queen reasoned that she was not a lawful prisoner of war the Douglas that she was there being no bond of peace subsisting between the nations and she entering Scotland with forged credentials at least signed and sealed in favour of another and nonexisting person She applied to the King who gave his consent but at the same time professed having nothing to do in the matter At length she teazed Lord Douglas so much that he resolved to indulge her Majesty368 before the court took leave of him but to leave it until the very last day He however reckoned before his host for now that the abbot of Melrose had conjoined him with royalty he found that he had at the very least two to please instead of one
Here we must with that regard to veracity which so well becomes every narrator of a true tale divulge a disagreeable secret that is we must delineate truly a trait in the character of our heroine the lady Douglas lately the princess Margaret of Scotland which we would rather have concealed had it been possible to have done so But she could not conceal it any longer herself—and why should Isaac and I vex ourselves about it for one day when Mary Kirkmichael waited on her in her chamber she found her drowned in tears and with great perplexity and no less curiosity set herself to discover the cause
What My dearest and most noble lady in tears exclaimed she Now a plague on these teazing battling boisterous deluding creatures called men that will not let poor innocent maids alone to live369 at hearts ease but hold them thus in constant ferment married or unmarried Well did I ween from experience that the maidens troubles were the most insufferable to be borne The neglects—the disappointed hopes—the fears—and above all the jealousies Oh these jealousies What infernal tormentors they are But now little wot I what to say or what to think for beshrew me if I remember the time when I saw my royal mistress in tears before Let me recollect No not since dame Mary Malcolms palfrey leaped the ravine before the lords of Huntly and Athol and yours refused Then indeed you wept and when I laughed you struck me Yes you know you struck me and that had nearly made matters worse
Pray madam said lady Douglas could you conveniently command yourself so far as to bring a surgeon here on the instant
A surgeon Sanct Maries grace what is your ailment my dearest lady
It is not for myself it is for you I want him You are very ill of a quinsey370 dame and bleeding below the tongue is necessary Go bring my fathers leech to me without delay and come with him
You have not forgot your sweet maiden frolics for all that is come and all that is done Well I am glad you are still in that whimsical humour I was afraid you were grievously vexed or disappointed at something in your new state
Step forth I say and bring me in a surgeon for I insist on having you bleeded under the tongue You are very ill indeed and the disease is infectious
By my maidhood and by your own sweet lady the Douglass I mean there shall no leech that ever drew lancet open a vein in my blessed and valuable member No not were it to humour a queen or a lady Jane Howard
Now may all the plagues that prey on the heart of woman seize and torment thee if thou hast not guessed the cause of my uneasiness Theres a latent devil within thee that whispers to thy imagination the thoughts that are passing in my heart O Kirkmichael I am ill I have371 suffered many distresses in my time many many distresses
Yes indeed you have my royal mistress many many distresses
Bring the surgeon I say Cannot you for the life of you compose yourself for a little space when you see me in such distress Your royal mistress Mary I am no royal mistress now No I ant Nothing but a plain jogtrot wife of a lord or earl or how do you call that beautiful title While the lady Jane Howard—Oh Kirkmichael I cannot tell you the half of what I feel
I know it all Jealousy my dear lady jealousy Think you I know not what it is to suffer that Do you remember young Spinola that came to our court from the places abroad He loved me the best after all I had certain demonstrative proofs of it But do you know what I suffered Racks tortures strangulations Fiends tearing out my eyes pouring hellebore into my ears and boring through my heart with red hot irons Not know what jealousy is Was372 not I telling your royal self the last minute—
Mary stop and be advised You are very ill
I humbly ask forgiveness I was coming to it Dear lady I have noted your trouble these nine days past and that it was still gaining ground But I can partly account for it so that with a little prudence and patience it may be removed Ever since the day on which you was a bride or the one following perhaps there has been more court and more flattery paid to the southern beauty than to the northern one It is the course of nature madam you are now a married wife and your charms must be admired at a distance with respect and awe The maid must still be courted and flattered Quite natural madam I assure you Think you any knight durst caper and bow and prate to the lady Douglas as they do to the English puppet
Mary I will give you all my wedding apparel for these two last words Is not she a mere puppet with373out soul or magnanimity But—Mary—How gladly would I change places with her Mary She has conquered after all Yes She has conquered Margaret Stuart there is no denying of it to ones own heart
Gramercy dearest lady are you not raving Has not the noble lord of your adoption proved victorious and gained you with all honour and approbation
But then the lord of her adoption died for her Mary Think of that The gallant faithful and magnanimous Musgrave died for the mistress of his affections But who died for the poor degraded lady Margaret of Scotland I am conquered with my own weapons There is no denying of it I would rather that one lover had laid down his life for me than have had fifty husbands
Palpably wrong Ill prove it Fifty husbands How delightful—Beg pardon madam
I tried the Douglas hardly for it But he was too selfish and would not die for me Base cruel knight No he would not die for me even though I got him to be374lieve that I was put to death and my ghost haunting him yet he would not kill himself What a value those monstrous men set upon their lives Musgrave died Lady Jane has conquered and I am married I wish I were dead Kirkmichael
Tis a pity but that you were madam If ladies are to live on these terms with the world they had better be out of it For you know if the man that one loves best will not condescend always to die when the gratification of his mistress vanity requires it why there is an end of all endurance I managed otherwise with young Spinola
Mention the name of your Spinola again to me for the head that stands on your body since you deprecate the more gentle prescription of bleeding below the tongue and now find me some anodyne without delay for the distemper that is preying on my vitals None of your jeers and your jibes Kirkmichael for I am not in humour to bear them The worst thing of all is yet to come This puppet—this painted doll—this thing of wax after triumphing over me in my own country and among375 my own people—after being died for while I was only lived for—after being courted and flattered and smiled on while I was only bowed to and gazed on—after being carressed by my father and bedaubed with praises by my newfangled and volatile mother—after all this I say there is she going to be set at liberty and without all question wedded to one of the royal dukes one of the princes of the blood How shall the blood of the Bruce and the spirit of the Stuart brook this Before I heard of that ladys name I knew not what jealousy was Ever since that time has she held me in misery I thought I had once achieved the greatest conquest that ever was accomplished by heroine And I did seize a noble prize How has it turned out—in every instance to her honour and my disparagement And there through the unnatural fondness of my doating mother will she return home and be courted for her princely fortune not for her beauty I am sure But then they will hear that the bravest and most chivalrous knight in England died for her376 and as certainly as I speak to you will she achieve a higher marriage than Margaret and how shall she ever show her face again
A higher marriage than you dearest lady Then must she be married to some of the kings on the continent for in all the dominion of England there is not a subject of such power as your lord the Earl of Douglas and Mar nor one whose military honours flourish so proudly
My lord and husband is all that I could wish in man only——
Only that he is not dead Thats all
You had better Only I say that he is not a prince of the blood royal Mary Think of that There are many such in England And there to a certainty will my great and only rival be wedded to one of these The Duke of York or Glocester mayhap or to Prince Henry the heir of the house of Mortimer and then shell be a queen Yes Kirkmichael then she will be queen of England—And I—what will I be No more than plain Lady Douglas The wife of the Black Douglas—Och what shall I do Mary Ill go and wipe my377 shoes on her as long as I have it in my power
Tarry for a small space there is time enough for that afterward my dearest lady Be staid for a little while till I tell you a secret A very important and profound one it is and it behoves you to know it There is a certain distemper that young newly married ladies are subjected to which is entitled PHRENZY or some such delightful name Some call it derangement of intellect but that is too long a name I hate long names or very long things of any sort So you must know madam that this delightful trouble for it is delightful in its way produces a great deal of animation It is quite proper you should know this grand matrimonial secret madam This delicious spiritstirring trouble then soon goes off and when it goes all the giddy vapours of youth fly with it The mirror of the eye is changed its convex being thence turned inward reflecting all nature on the soul in a different light from that in which it had ever appeared before and at the same time the whole structure and378 frame of the character is metamorphosed and the being that is thus transmuted becomes a more rational and respectable creature than it was previously and at the same time a more happy one although it must be acknowledged its happiness is framed on a different model This is my secret and it is quite proper that every young lady who is married should be initiated into it As for the old ones they are too wise to be initiated into any thing or for any thing to be initiated into them
Now you imagine you have said a very wise thing and it is not without shrewdness But I can add a principal part which you have wholly left out and it is this When the patient is labouring under this disease it is absolutely necessary that she be indulged and humoured in every one of her caprices else her convalesence is highly equivocal Dont you acknowledge this
I grant it And the first case that comes under my care I promise to abide by this prescription
That is spoken like yourself—like the379 trusty friend and confidante What then is to be done for something must be done and that suddenly
That is easily decided She must be kept in confinement Kept here a prisoner at large until she turn an old maid and lose a few of her foreteeth That will be delightful Eh Then make her believe all the time that it is a duty incumbent on her to remain in that widowed state for the sake of Musgrave—Hoh beg pardon madam
I charge you never to let that triumph of hers sound in my ears again It creates the same feeling within me as if you informed me that an adder was laced in my stays Kirkmichael you never took any thing in hand that you did not accomplish for me This lady must be retained for the present till we can determine on some other course I gave my lord a lesson about it already but his reply was not only unsatisfactory but mortifying in the extreme It has almost put me beside myself and my pride will not suffer me to apply to him again My dearest love380 said he I pray that you will not shew a a sense of any inferiority by a jealousy of that unfortunate lady Inferiority I never had such a sentiment as a feeling of inferiority What absurd notions these men imbibe Is it possible Mary that I can have a sense of inferiority
No no quite impossible Think no more of such antiquated and absurd apothegms as these I will manage it for you I take in hand to keep her as long as I live if that will satisfy you But are you sure that your brother will not fall in love with her and marry her and then she will be queen of Scotland
Ooh—Oooh Give me a drink Mary I am going into fits Ooh—Yes as sure as you stand there he will The prince is his mother all over newfangled and volatile in the extreme and amorous to an intolerable degree Disgustingly amorous she is the very sort of food for his passion Then her princely fortune and the peace of the two realms Oh give me another drink Mary and bathe my hands—and my brow—That is kindly done Queen381 of Scotland Then I must pay court to her—perhaps be preferred as lady of the bedchamber No no To the Scottish court she must not go
Be calm my sweet lady I have it You shall assume your brothers character once more—pay court to her—seduce her and have her disgraced
What did you say Kirkmichael repeat that again What did you say about disgracing I am so very ill
O no That scheme will not do It will end ill it will end ill You are lady Douglas now not the maiden princess Why I will get her married to one of your footmen for you That will do
Prithee speak of things possible and within some bounds of probability If she were but married to a knight but one step below my lord in dignity I would be satisfied Nay were that step only ideal it would give my heart content
Is that then so much to make such a pother about I will accomplish it in two days So difficult to get a maid of her complexion to marry Difficulty in fattening382—a pig baiting a hook for a bagrel—a stickleback—a perch Ill do it in two days—in one day—in half a day else never call me Mary Kirkmichael of Balmedie again Difficulty in marrying a maid with light blue eyes—golden locks and rosy cheeks—with a languishing smile always on her countenance and that maid an English one too Peugh Goodbye my lady Lady Black Douglas Im off Opening the door again It is a shame and a disgrace for any gentleman not to die for his mistress I say it is Young Spinola would have died for me cheerfully if I would have suffered him—that he would Goodbye madam
Mary was as busy all the remaining part of that day as ever was a bee in a meadow She had private business with the Queen and had art or interest enough to get two private audiences She had business with the lady Jane Howard a word to say to the King and two or three to the lord Douglas—But it is a great loss that these important disclosures cannot be imparted here—for every word that she told to each383 of them was a profound secret Not a word of it ever to be repeated till death What a loss for posterity It had one quality there was not a word of truth in all this important disclosure but an ingenious lie by a woman is much more interesting than one of her true stories There was however one of Mary Kirkmichaels secrets came to light though none of those abovementioned and from the complexion of that a good guess may be made at the matter of all the rest
Sir Charles Scott alias Muckle Charlie of Yardbire was standing at the head of his hardheaded Olivers his grimy Potts and his skraeshankit Laidlaws in all amounting now to 140 brave and well appointed soldiers He had them all dressed out in their best light uniform consisting of deerskin jackets with the hair outside buckskin breeches tanned white as snow with the hair inside blue bonnets as broad as the rim of a ladys spinning wheel and clouted singlesoaled shoes He was training them to some evolutions for a grand parade before the King and was himself384 dressed in his splendid battle array with his plumes and tassels of gold His bonnet was of the form of a turban and his tall nodding plumes consisted of three fox tails two of them dyed black and the middle one crimson A goodlier sight than Sir Charles at the head of his borderers no eye of man or woman either ever beheld As he stood thus giving the word of command and brandishing the Eskdale souple by way of example in the great square in the middle of the fortress a little maid came suddenly to his side and touched him Charles was extending his voice at the time and the interruption made him start inordinately and cut a loud syllable short in the middle The maid made a low courtesy while Charles stooped forward and looked at her as a man does who has dropt a curious gem or pin on the ground and cannot find it Eh God bless us what ist hinny Ye war amaist gart me start
My mistress requests a few minutes private conversation with you sir knight
Whisht dame speak laigh said Sir385 Charles half whispering and looking raisedlike at his warriors Whas your mistress my little bonny dow Eh Oh youre nodding and smirking are you Harkee Its no the auld Queen is it Eh
You will see who it is presently gallant knight It is a matter of the greatest import to you as well as your captain
Ha Gude faith then it maunna be neglected Ill be wye even now lads saunter about but dinna quit this great fournooked fauld till I come back again Come along then my wee bonny hen chicken Raux up an gie me a grip o your fingerends Side for sides neighbour like So away went Sir Charles leading his tiny conductor by the hand and was by her introduced into one of the hundred apartments in the citadel
Our captain is gaun aff at the nail now said Will Laidlaw Thae new honours o his are gaun to be his ruin Hes getting far ower muckle in favour wi the grit fok
I wonder to hear ye speak that gate said Gideon Pott of Bilhope I think it386 be true that the country says that ye maun aye read a Laidlaw backward What can contribute sae muckle to advance a gentleman and his friends as to be in favour with the great
I am a wee inclined to be of Laidlaws opinion said Peter Oliver of the Langburnsheils for these three were the headsmen of the three names marshalled under Sir Charles—Sudden rise sudden fa that was a saying o my grandfathers and he was very seldom in the wrong I wadna wonder a bit to see our new knight get his head choppit off for I think if he haud on as he is like to do hell soon be ower grit wi the Queen Fok should bow to the bush they get bield frae but take care o lying ower near the laiggens ot That was a saying o my grandfathers aince when they wantit him to visit at the castle of Mountcomyn
There is he to the gate now said Laidlaw and left his men his breadwinners in the very mids o their lessons and as sure as we saw it some o thae imps will hae his simple honest head into Hoys387 net wi some o thae braw women Wha wins at their hands will lose at naething I never bodit ony good for my part o the gowden cuishes and the gorget and the three walloping tod tails Mere eelbaits for catching herons
Ay weel I wat thats little short of a billyblinder lad said Peter Oliver I trow I may say to you as my grandfather said to the ghost Ay ay Billy Baneless an a tales be true yours is nae lie quo he and he was a right auldfarrant man
But as this talk was going on among the borderers Sir Charles as before said was introduced into a private chamber where sat no less a dame than the officious and important lady of all close secrets Mistress Mary Kirkmichael of Balmedie who rose and made three low courtesies and then with an affected faultering tongue and downcast look addressed Sir Charles as follows Most noble and gallant knight—hem—Pardon a modest and diffident maiden sir knight—pink of all chivalry and hero of the Border I say be so generous as to forgive the zeal of a blushing388 virgin for thus presuming to interrupt your warrior avocations—Sir Charles bowed—But O knight—hem—there is a plot laying or laid against your freedom Pray may I take the liberty to ask Are you free of any love engagement
Perfectly so madam at—hem——
At my service Come that is so far well You could not then possibly have any objections to a young lady of twentyone or thereby nobly descended heir to seven ploughgates of land and five halfdavochs and most violently in love with you
I maun see her first and hear her speak said the knight and ken what blood and what name and whether she be Scots or English
Suppose that you have seen her and heard her speak said the dame and suppose she was of Fife blood and that her name was lady Mary Kirkmichael What would you then say against her
Nothing at all madam said Sir Charles bowing extremely low
Do you then consent to accept of such a one for your lady
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How can I possibly tell Let me see her
O Sir Charles gallant and generous knight do not force a young blushing virgin to disclose what she would gladly conceal You do see her Sir Charles You do see her and hear her speak too Nay you see her kneeling at your feet brave and generous knight You see her tears and you hear her weep—and what hero can withstand that Oh Sir Charles—
Hout hout hout cried Sir Charles interrupting her and raising her gently with both hands Hout hout hout for heavens sake behave yoursel and dinna flee away wi the joke athegither sweet lady Ye may be very weel and ye are very weel for ought that I see but troth ye ken a man maun do ae thing afore another and a woman too Ye deserve muckle better than the likes o me but I dinna incline marriage and mair than that I hae nae time to spare
Ah Sir Charles you should not be so cruel You should think better of the fair390 sex Sir Charles Look at this face What objections have you to it Sir Charles
The face is weel enough but it will maybe change The last blooming face that took me in turned put a very different article the next day Ah lady Ye little ken what I hae suffered by women and witchcraft or ye wadna bid me think weel o them
Well knight since I cannot melt your heart I must tell you that there is a plot against your liberty and you will be a married man before to morrows night It is a grand plot and I am convinced it is made solely to entrap you to marry an English heiress that is a captive here who is fallen so deeply in love with you that if she does not attain you for her lover and husband her heart will break She has made her case known to the Queen and I have come by it therefore sir knight as you value my life keep this a profound secret I thought it a pity not to keep you out of English connections therefore I sent for you privily to offer you my own391 hand and then you could get off on the score of engagement
Thank you kindly madam
Well Sir On pretence of an appendage to the marriage of the kings favourite daughter with the greatest nobleman of the land before the festival conclude it is agreed on that there are to be a number of weddings beside which are all to be richly endowed The ladies are to choose among the heroes of the games and this lady Jane Howard is going to make choice of you and the law is to be framed in such a manner that there will be no evading it with honour You have been a mortal enemy to the English so have they to you Had not you better then avoid the connection by a previous marriage or an engagement say
I think Ill rather take chance with your leave madam Always begging your pardon ye see But depend on it Ill keep your secret and am indebted to you for your kind intentions Ill take chance They winna surely force a wife on ane whether he will or no
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Perhaps not One who does not incline marriage and has not time to spare to be married may be excused Tell me seriously surely you will never think of accepting of her
It is time to decide about that when aince I get the offer I can hardly trow what ye say is true but if the King and the Warden will hae it sae ye ken what can a body do
Ah there it is Cruel Sir Charles But you know you really have not a minutes time to spare for marriage and the want of inclination is still worse I have told you sir knight and the plot will be accomplished tomorrow I would you would break her heart and absolutely refuse her for I hate the rosy minx But three earldoms and nine hundred thousand marks go far Ah me Goodbye noble knight Be secret for my sake
Sir Charles returned to his men in the great square laughing in his sleeve all the way He spoke some to himself likewise but it was only one short sentence which was this Three earldoms and nine hun393dred thousand marks Gudefaith Corbie will be astonished
It was reported afterwards that this grand story of Marys to Sir Charles was was nothing at all in comparison with what she told to lady Jane of flames and darts heroism royal favour and distinction and finally of endless captivity in the event of utter rejection However that was when the troops assembled around the fortress in the evening and the leaders in the hall proclamations were made in every quarter setting forth that all the champions who had gained prizes since the commencement of the Christmas games were to meet together and contend at the same exercises before the King for other prizes of higher value and farther that every successful candidate should have an opportunity of acquiring his mistress hand in marriage with rich dowries honours manors and privileges to be conferred by the King and Queen who at the same time gave forth their peremptory commands that these gallants should meet with no denial and this on pain of forfeit394ing the royal favour and protection not only towards the dame so refusing but likewise to her parents guardians and other relations
Never was there a proclamation issued that made such a deray among the fair sex as this All the beauty of the Lowlands of Scotland was assembled at this royal festival The city of Roxburgh and the town of Kelso were full of visitors choke full of them There were ladies in every house beside the inmates and generally speaking three at an average for every male whether in the city or suburbs Yet for all these lovely women of high rank and accomplishments none else fled from the consequences of the mandate but one alone who dreaded a rival being preferred—a proof how little averse the ladies of that age were to the bonds of matrimony Such a night as that was in the city There were running to and fro rapping at doors and calling of names during the whole night It was a terrible night for the dressmakers for there was such a run upon them and they had so395 much ado that they got nothing done at all except the receiving of orders which there was no time to execute
Next morning at eight of the day by the abbey bell the multitude were assembled when the names of the former heroes were all called over but only sixteen appeared although twentytwo stood on the list The candidates were then all taken into an apartment by themselves and treated with viands and wines with whatever else they required There also they were instructed in the laws of the game Every one was obliged to contend at every one of the exercises and the conqueror in each was to retire into the apartment of the ladies where they were all placed in a circle lay his prize at his mistresss feet and retire again to the sports without uttering a word
The exercises were held on the large plain south of the Teviot so that they were beheld by the whole multitude without any inconveniency The flowers of the land also beheld from their apartment in the castle although no one saw them in return save the fortunate contenders in396 the field The first trial was a foot race for a chain of gold given by the lady Douglas and all the sixteen being obliged to run the sport afforded by the race was excellent for the eager desire to be foremost acted not more powerfully to urge the candidates to exertion than the dread of being the last so that the two hindmost were straining every nerve and gasping as voraciously for breath as the two foremost Sir Charles Scott took the lead leaving the rest quite behind so far that every one thought he would gain with all manner of ease and they began to hail him as conqueror But owing to his great weight he lost breath and in spite of all he could do the poet made by him and won the prize which he took with a proud and a joyful heart and laid at the feet of Delany Bauchling shurf exclaimed Sir Charles laughing when he saw the poet passing his elbow Useless bauchling shurf an I had kend I wad hae letten ye lie and been singit to an izle in the low o Ravensworth
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Knight I think ye hae lost cried one
I think sae too said Charles I liket aye better to rin ahint an Englishman than afore him a my life
The next game given out was a trial in leaping for a pair of bracelets clasped with gold and set with jewels given by the Queen These also the poet won and laid at Delanys feet Sir Charles won three one for tilting on horseback one for wrestling and one for pitching the iron bar and he laid all the three prizes at the feet of lady Jane Howard Two lords won each of them two prizes and other two knights won each of them one and all unknown to one another laid them at the feet of lady Jane Howard
When the sports of the day were finished the seven conquerors all crowned with laurel and gorgeously arrayed were conducted to the gallery where the ladies still remained and after walking round the room to the sound of triumphal music they were desired to kneel one by one in the order in which they had entered before398 and each to invoke his mistresss pity in his own terms It fell to the poets lot to kneel first who stretched forth his hands toward a certain point in the room and expressed himself as follows O lovely darling of my soul in whom my every hope is centered at whose feet I laid my honours down This laurel wreath I also consecrate to thee By all the love that I have borne for thee the pains that I have suffered I conjure you to raise me up and say thou wilt be mine—else here Ill kneel till doomsday
A pause ensued the King and his nobles looked on in breathless curiosity for they knew not where he had bestowed his favours The dames also gazed in envious silence and in hopes that the supplicant would be refused He soon himself began to dread what they hoped his countenance changed the wild lustre of his eye faded and he began to look around to see where he could get a sword on which to fall and kill himself He cast one other pitiful look to Delany but she deigned no movement to his relief—still keeping her seat399 though visibly in great agitation But at length when hope was extinct in his bosom there appeared one to his relief This was no other than his old rival the gospel friar who had been admitted in an official capacity in order to join hands and bless unions if any such chanced to be agreed on He was standing ruminating behind backs but seeing the first offer about to be rejected and aware of the force of example whether good or bad and how little chance he had of employment that day if the first effort misgave he stepped briskly up to Delany and taking her hand said Lo my daughter have not I travelled for thee in pain and yearned over thee as a mother yearneth over the son of her youth Why wilt thou break my heart and the heart of him that burneth for thy love Delany then rose and with trembling step came toward her lover led by the grotesque form of the good friar The tears gushed from the poets eyes as she lifted the laurel crown from the floor and replacing it on his head said as she raised him up Thou hast adventured400 and overcome Hence be thou the lord of my heart and affections
The friar gave them no more time to palaver but joined their hands pronounced them a married pair and blessed their union in the name of the Trinity Then Sir Charles Scott kneeled and casting his eyes gravely toward the floor said only these words Will the lady whom I serve take pity on her humble slave or shall he retire from this presence ashamed and disgraced
Woman kind and affectionate woman is ever more ready to confer an obligation on our sex than accept of one Lady Jane arose without any hesitation put the crown on the knights head and with a most winning grace raised him up and said Gallant knight thou wert born to conquer my countrymen and me I yield my hand and with it my heart The friar lost no time in joining their hands he judged it best and safest to take women at their first words and short time was it till the two were pronounced husband and wife and whom God hath joined let no man dare to put asunder Amen said the friar and401 bestowed on them an earnest blessing—Isaac the curate expatiates largely on the greatness and goodness of this couple how they extended their possessions and were beloved on the Border Their son he says was the famous Sir Robert of Eskdale the warden of the marches from whom the families of Thirlstane Harden and many other opulent houses are descended No union could be more happy and besides it rendered the Lady Douglas the happiest of women and Mary Kirkmichael the proudest
But to return to the scene in the gallery with the knights and their mistresses The King and his nobles who accompanied the gallants into the apartment of the ladies knowing nothing of the choices each had made expected great amusement from compliances and noncompliances and at all events after so fair a beginning a number of weddings to be the result Every one of the successful knights expected the same thing for it is a curious fact which shows the duplicity of our character in a striking light that when the champions were402 all in the apartment together in the morning some mentioned one lady as the flower of the land and of all present some mentioned another and so on But no one ever mentioned the names either of Delany or Jane Howard Sir Charles indeed mentioned no name but when each had named a pretended favourite with mighty encomiums he only added Ill no say muckle but theres ane that I rank aboon a thae
The master of the ceremonies looked round to call the next champion to kneel but behold he was not there He called the next again He was gone also Every one of the knights had vanished each thinking himself slighted by the preference given to Sir Charles Scott but none knowing that for his sake they were all slighted alike The noblemen were all in the utmost consternation the King became highly offended and said What is the meaning of this Have these knights dared to desert their colours on the very eve of action This is not only an affront put upon us but upon our fair and noble visitors403 of whose honour and feelings we are more jealous than of our own
But the friar who was a man of peace and disliked all sort of offence when he saw the King was displeased took speech to himself and his speech set all the gallery into a burst of laughter He was standing in the midst of the floor with his book in hand ready and eager to officiate still farther as a knitter and binder but when he saw the knights all fled and the King offended he uplifted both of his hands and one of his feet standing still on the other and cried with a loud voice Behold my occupation is ended Woe is me for the children of my people For the spirit of man is departed away and he hath no strength remaining Oh what shall I do for the honour of my brethren For lo the virgins are come to the altar and there is none to accept of the offering The men of might are dismissed yea they are confounded and fled away and the daughters of the land are left to bewail the months and years of their virginity Woe is me for my hand findeth nothing more to do
404
The ladies laughed immoderately at the cases of the forlorn and discomfited knights for they had witnessed the proceedings and saw that all their devotions were paid to one object and as no lady of Scotland had been chosen one could not envy another—so they tittered and laughed off the affront as well as they could
The friar got passports into England and after much labour and pain got the poet established in his fathers possessions and acknowledged as the lord of Ravensworth He also regained for him his ladys possessions on the continent which the Nevilles retained for the space of two hundred years That amiable couple cultivated the arts of peace music and song as long as they lived After these things the friar was preferred to great emoluments in his old age and he spent them all in acts of charity and benevolence
From Roxburgh the royal party proceeded to Melrose where they remained two days which they spent partly in devotion and thanksgivings and partly in viewing the magnificent scenes in the405 neighbourhood particularly the great hill of Eildon so lately reft asunder and divided into three by the power of the elemental spirits To this awful theme the mind of the Queen still reverted and on her last visit to these mountains she passed through the recent chasms gazing and trembling at the effects produced by that tremendous convulsion of nature and at length she had spoken and dreamed so much about it that she proposed to go and visit the castle of Aikwood and if possible to get a sight of the great enchanter himself before she left the Border counties where she said she might never be again Every one tried to dissuade her from the attempt and the King got into a high passion but still she could not not be driven from her purpose As we return to the abbey said she we will go by the ford of Dornickburn at the foot of the deep dell that you told me of where the devil first made his appearance on horseback to the four warriors I should not wonder that we shall see him there again under some disguise
406
I would not wonder that we should said Sir Charles I have been told that he is sometimes seen there in the shape of a clerk sometimes as a mariner and sometimes in the form of the King of Scotland Always begging your pardon royal madam
There is no offence Sir Charles as long as you do not tell me that he appears in the shape of a Queen I hope he has never yet been known to assume the shape of a woman
He has enow to appear for him in that form which I ken something about to my cost and which your royal majesty kens mair about than I could have wished What does your majesty account the greatest peril that man is subject to in this world
Oh war war certainly Nineteen out of twenty of his perils concentrate in that or are derived from it
Ye may be thankfu ye ken nae mair about it than that my lady queen Aince ye gang near the castle of Aikwood yell get a little mair experience perhaps Now407 ye are determined on ganging there the morn and I am determined on accompanying you since you will go But troth I would be right wae to see my queen turned into a cow and a little deil set to drive her or into a grey mare and a witch or warlock set to gallop on her or a doe or a hare or a shefox and a tichel o tikes set after her to tear her a to tareleathers Always begging your pardon my liege lady
As they were chatting on in this familiar and jocular style they came to the identical little deep dell at the meeting of two rivulets or moorland burns where the devil and his three attendant imps had appeared to our warriors on their way to Melrose and as Dan Chisholm was of the party the Queen caused him to be called up to describe the whole scene—with the personal appearance of the arch fiend—the words he spoke and also the extraordinary course that he had with him along the marble pavement of the air All these matters were detailed to her by the trooper with perfect seriousness and simplicity which made such an impression on the Queens roman408tic and superstitious mind that her countenance altered in every feature and she was every now and then gazing around as if expecting Satans personal appearance before them once more The party were sitting on horseback conversing together when the sharp eye of Sir Charles well accustomed to the discernment of all living or moving objects whether by night or by day perceived a miserable looking wight approaching them by the very path on which the infernal cavalcade had formerly proceeded The Queen was talking to Dan still pushing her inquiries when Sir Charles touched her gently on the shoulder and said Hush your majesty See who is this approaching us by the very road that the deils took It is a question who we have here Ane is nae sure of ony shape that appears in sic a place and sic a time as this
Then there was such crossing and telling of beads and calling on the names of saints took place with the Queen and her ladies every one of them asking the same question in terrified whispers Is it he think409 you Is it he Oh is it he Then there was a general request made that they should take instant flight and ride home to the abbey full speed but an opposition arose to this proposal from a quarter not expected This was from no other than Sir Charles English lady whose education had taught her to despise the superstitions so prevalent in Scotland and seeing them all about to fly from a poor wobegone halffamished wretch she opposed it with indignation adding that she would abide his coming by herself if none else would Sir Charles was still far from being clear about these matters hard experience having taught him caution however he commended his ladys spirit and drew up by her side They rest marshalling behind them they awaited in a body the coming of this doubtful guest and every eye being fixed on his motions so every tongue was busied in giving vent to the spontaneous movements of the mind It is a palmer said one It is a warlock said another It is the devil said a third I ken him by his lang nose Aha my royal and410 noble dames cried Sir Charles exultingly If it be nae the deil its his man sae we may expect some important message either frae his infernal majesty or the great enchanter for this is no other than his seneschal My royal liege this man that you see approaching is no other than Gilbert Jordan the late laird of the Peatstackknowe who was drawn by lot to supply the room of the wretch whom our gospel friar sent up through the clouds in a convoy of fire and brimstone Whether this be Gibbie or his ghaist it is hard to say but I ken weel by the coulter nose it is either the one or the other Your majesty will scrimply believe it but the last time I saw that carl the deil was hauding him by the cuff o the neck ower the topmost tower of the castle of Aikwood and the poor laird was sprawling like a paddock in a gleds claws when fifty fathom frae the ground There is nought in nature I expected less to see than that creature again in the land of the living yet it is actually he himself in flesh and blood and that is all for he is worn to skin and bone and411 his nose is even longer than it was Hech laird is this you And are you indeed returned to the Christian world aince mair
Aye troth Yardbire it is a thats to the fore of me But who have you got all here Goodeen to you gentles This brings me in mind of a story man that I hae heard about the hunting of Stanebires cat—
Whisht Gibbieand gie us nane o your auld stories about cats even now This is the Queen of Scots and her attendants Rather tell us in one word how you have made your escape from yon infernal gang in the castle of Aikwood
Aha Yardbire that is a tale that winna tell in ae word nor twa neither it wad take a winter night in telling and it is the awesomest ane that ever passed frae the lips o man but I am ower sair forespent at this time to begin to it
Oh no cried the Queen Honest man do not begin it at present It shall serve for our evenings amusement and you shall tell it before your King and his no412bles after you have had such refreshment as you stand in need of She then caused one of her squires to alight and mounting the wearied and exhausted laird on his horse they rode off to Melrose where after a plentiful meal the laird was brought into the apartment where the King the Queen the abbot with the nobles and ladies of the court were all assembled and then at the royal request he related to them the following narrative
413
CHAPTER XII
Commissions and black bills he had
And a the land went heygae mad
The like was never seen joe
To dance and caper in the air
And theres an end of him joe
Old Jacobite Song
Weel ye see my masters and mistresses this is what I never expected to see There is something sae grand in being in the presence of a King and Queen and their courtiers that it brings me in mind of the devil and his agents that I have been in the habit of entertaining for a month bygane But there is some wee difference in masters for a that for in my late service if I had been brought in to entertain them in an instant they would have had me transformed into some paltry animal and then amused themselves by tormenting that animal to death by dissecting it while living But the queerest thing of414 all was this—there was aye a spark of life that they could not destroy which for all their cruelties remained active and intelligent as before and the moment they put that spark of life out of one animal they popped it into another and there was I obliged to undergo the same dismemberment and pain once more and so on for ever The inflicting of torment was their chief delight and of that delight there was no satiety—it seemed still to increase by gratification
On the very first day that I entered on my probation they had a feast as my comrades know and as I also have good reason to know for on that day I suffered death nine times and yet I was Gibbie Jordan again before night They first turned me into a cock and after the three pages had chased me round the castle and thrown stones at me till I was hanging out my tongue and could not cackle another lilt they seized me took me into the scullery and drew my neck Ere ever I was aware they had me transformed into a huge lubberly calf while one of the hellish pages was dragging415 me by the neck with a prickly rope made of hurcheon hides and the two others were belabouring my rumple with cudgels I suspected their intentions and being still terrified for death and inclining rather to suffer any thing I drew back shook my head and bellowed at them while they still redoubled their blows on my carcase and cursed me In spite of all I could do they dragged me gasping into the slaughterhouse kept the knife an excruciating long time at my throat and then after piercing the jugular vein they laughed immoderately to see me running about bleeding to death with my glazed stupid eyes and when through faintness I began to flounder and grovel on the floor they laughed amain threshed me to make me plunge a little more and when I could do nothing farther than give a faint baa they thought that the best sport of all and mimicked me
I had scarcely ceased baaing as a calf when I found myself a beautiful cappercailzie winging the winter cloud and three devils of falcons after me Now thinks I to myself If I do not give you the416 glaiks now my hellish masters may I never wap a wing again By all the powers of swiftness but I shall try for once if the feathers shall not carry the flesh away Sanct Martha as I did scour the rimy firmament I took the wind in my tail but I went with such amazing velocity that I left it behind me and as I clove it it seemed to return in my face I reached the shoulder of a lofty mountain and then I laid back my wings and bolted through the air like a flash of lightning O ho Messrs Hawks where are you now thought I to myself Good Lord ere ever I was aware there was ane o them gave me a nab on the crown that dovered me and gart me tumble heelsoerhead down frae the shelves of the clouds and lighting with a dunt on the ground I had nae shift but to stap my head in a heather bush and let them pelt at me till I got some breath again Then I made for a cottage thinking the inmates could not but pity my condition and drive the hawks away from me I took cover among their cabbage in the sight of both man and wife but instead of pitying me the one came417 with an old spear and the other with the tongs to finish my existence—and always when the falcons came down on me with their talons the two cried out Weel done little hawkie Yether him up puik him weel I was forced to take wing again till at length through fatigue and want of feathers I dropt close to the castle whence I had set out and the three falcons closing with me first picked out my eyes and then my brains I was stabbed as a salmon hunted as a roebuck felled as a bull and had my head chopped off for a drake The dinner was made up of me I supplied every dish and then was forced to cook them all afterward It was no wonder that I could not partake of the fragments of the meal
From the moment that the Christian warriors were all dismissed with disgrace from the castle the devil became contumacious with the Master and assayed to carry matters with a very high hand But he had to do with one that would not succumb no not in the smallest point but who opposed him with a degree of viru418lence of which even the master fiend seemed scarcely capable It was a scene of constant contention and rage and the little subordinate demons did not always know which to obey It was if it please your Majesties a scene acted in terrible magnificence of which I have seen several poor and abortive emblems among mortal men And henceforth I shall aways believe and feel when I see a family or society constantly involved in disputes wranglings and angry emotions that they are children of the wicked one and moved by the spirit of discord that bane of the human race
The worthy gentleman hath said well said the abbot It is a moral truth that can never be too deeply impressed that peace and love only lead to happiness They are emanations from above and the contrary passions from beneath All the fierce and fiery passions of the soul are the offspring of hell fire But a truce with preaching Honest friend go on with your strange relation and acquaint us in what manner his infernal majesty and the king of mortal magicians spent their time
419
In constant discord and jarring The devil challenged the Master with impotency in entertaining a poor crazy monk and submitting to be protected and even cowed by him at which the Master took high offence and retorted in the bitterest terms while the other always hinted that he would make him repent his intercourse with that preposterous and presumptive fool So he termed our own worthy friar and head chaplain
In one thing only they agreed and that was in abusing the witches Never were there poor deluded creatures guided in such a way as they The devil says to the Master one day in my hearing Brother Michael says he I have an act of justice to perform to all our true and trusty female lieges in this quarter I gave them my princely word of honour that on their yielding themselves up souls and bodies to me and to my service they should all be married and all to young and goodly husbands too That having been the principal and almost the only boon the good consistent creatures required of me for the420 sacrifice they made they must not be disappointed The Master acquiesced but at the same time remarked with what I judged unreasonable chagrin that when he was keeping his word so punctually it betokened nothing good for those to whom he kept it
Well we had a witchs wedding every night for nine nights running but such extreme of wickedness is past all human comprehension beyond the possibility of description The marriage ceremony itself always performed by a demon in the habit of a friar was a piece of the most horrid blasphemy ever conceived and every night one of the witches was married to the devil in disguise Sometimes the bridegroom made his appearance as a gay cavalier sometimes as a country squire a foreign merchant a minstrel and a mosstrooper The old wretch of a bride was all painted by some devilish cantrip and bedecked with false jewels and though she seemed always aware of the deceit in a certain degree from former experiences yet it was wonderful with what avidity each421 of the old creatures clung to her enamoured and goodly husband How they mumped and minced in their talking and ogled with their old grey ropy eyes And then how they danced Gracious me how they flung and danced among the deils and the warlocks and capered and snapped their fingers giving their partners often a jerk on the nose or the temple as they passed and repassed in the reel as quick as green clocks on a pool Then the bedding of the brides these surpassed all description and as they had me fairly in thrall I was suffered to witness every thing The first witch bride was led out at the back door of the castle with much state and ceremony into a place that had been a bowling green and in which there was nothing else save a bowling green Yet to my amazement there stood a bower of the most superb magnificence and there in a chamber hung with gorgeous tapestry that glittered all with gold and rubies the loving couple retired to their repose and to all the delights and joys of so happy an union Then wishing them the greatest422 conjugal felicity all the gallants returned to the castle But I being curious to see what would be the end of this grand pavilion in the bowlinggreen which I knew must be merely a delusion avision a shadow of something that had no stability of existence went up to the top of the castle and from a loophole sat and watched what was to be the end of this phenomenon I waited a good long while and began to think all was real and that the splendid witch had met with a happy fortune—for I knew them too well to be all witches from former happy experience But at length the lusty bridegroom as I supposed began to weary of his mate for I saw the form of the bower beginning to change and fall flat on the top and its hue also became of a lurid fiery colour I cannot tell your Majesties what sort of sensations I felt when I saw the wedded couple sinking gradually down through a bed of red burning fire and the poor old beldame writhing to death in the arms of a huge and terrible monster that squeezed her in its embraces and hugged her and423 caressed her till the spark of wretched life was wholly extinguished I saw distinctly by the light of the flame that surrounded them and marked every twist of the features and every quiver of the convulsed limbs yet these were not more impressive than the joy of the exulting fiend who continued to caress and kiss his agonized mate to the last and called her his love and his darling and his hearts delight At length the distortions of the human countenance reached their acme—the shrivelled bosom forgot to throb and with the expiry of the mortal spark the lurid flame that burnt around them also went out and all was darkness There was no bower no chamber no bridal bed but a cold winter soil and I thought that through the gloom I perceived the couple still lying on it
As I could get no rest all that night for thinking of the terrible scene I had witnessed as soon as the sun rose next morning I went out to the bowlinggreen but found nothing there save the strangled body of the wretched woman—a dismal and humbling sight—squeezed almost to a jelly and every bone broken as if it had424 been smashed on an anvil Being curious to examine her robes in which she appeared with such splendour the evening before and her jewels part of which I had seen her lay carefully aside I took every thing up as it lay Her robes were a small heap of the most wretched rags imaginable her pearl necklace was a string of dead beetles and her diamond rings pieces of thread on which were fastened small knots of clay and every thing else proportionally mean While I was standing considering this vile degradation that had taken place I heard a voice at a little distance that called to me and said Gibbie Jordan Gibbie Jordan why standest thou in amazement at a true emblem of all worldly grandeur It is all equally unreal and unsubstantial as that on which thou lookest and to that it must all come at last
Hout friend thought I it canna surely be a sae perfectly unreal as this else what does it signify But a that I could look and glime about I could never discover the speaker that said this and when I thought seriously of the matter I found425 that it comes a to the same thing in the end
Honest friend thou hast again illustrated a momentous moral truth said the abbot—and I thank thee for it Thou hast the art in thy simplicity of extracting more good out of real evil than any expounder of divine truths throughout the land Thou art both a moral and a natural philosopher and I intend conferring on thee some benefice under the church that thy talents may no longer remain locked up in a helmet Prithee go on with thy extraordinary narrative but these witch weddings are too horrible for mortal ears
Then you may consider my Lord Abbot what they were for mortal eyes especially such a run of them which were every night varied in their horrors and terminated in something perfectly distinct from all those preceding On the second night the bridegroom was a foreign merchant a man of bustle and punctuality who said he could not remain late with his kind convivial friends and was under the necessity of carrying his bride off at an early426 hour having business of importance to transact on the morrow It was a speculation he said on which he calculated making a good profit and a man who was coming in to have a wife and in all probability a small family to maintain required to look after and attend to these matters The witch caressed him in ecstacy when he made this speech and proffered to go with him as soon as he chose She saluted her cronies and bade them farewell and although there is no love among those sort of people yet there was still so much of human nature remaining that there seemed to subsist a degree of regret that they should never meet again My own heart was even sore for the wretched beldame for I had witnessed a scene the preceding night which had been withheld from her view and those of the other brides that were to be and I knew that a fate somewhat similar awaited them all They mounted this one behind the spruce merchant on a tall gallant charger whose eyes gleamed like lightning and away they set over the leas of Carterhaugh at a light427 gallop but at every bound the swiftness of the steed increased till it was quickly beyond the speed of the eagle The witch held like grim death and would fain have expostulated with the bridegroom on the madness of risking their necks for a little per centage—but her velocity was such that she could make no farther speech of it than just a squeak now and then like a shot hare The reckless merchant flew on still increasing his rapidity until he came to the very highest rock of the Harehead linn The witch knew of the dreadful chasm that was before them and weening that her husband did not know she uttered a piercing shriek but the void was only thirty yards across and a hundred deep so the fearless merchant meaning to take it at one leap made his charger bound from the top of the precipice The infernal courser cleared the linn but the witchs head failing she toppled off about the middle space There were two fishermen spearing salmon in the bottom of the gulf who saw the phenomenon pass over their heads and the wife lose her hold and428 fall off they heard her likewise saying as she came adown the air Aih what a fa I will get And as she said so it fell out for she alighted on the rocks a short space from the place where they stood and was literally dashed in pieces but the steed ran away with the merchant over hill and dale like a thunderbolt and neither the one nor the other ever looked over his shoulder to see what had befallen the bride
This continuation of horrors still depriving me of rest I went into the linn the next morning to look after the corpse but the three pages Prig Prim and Pricker were engaged with it cutting it trimly up and hanging it on the trees of the linn to be frozen so that they might thereby be enabled to preserve it for some grand experiment In the same manner did they serve the remains of all the brides none of them ever being buried—but there was one taken away bodily I shall now in conformity with your reverences hint desist from the description of any more of these weddings and proceed to the adventure by which I attained my liberty
429
I had often attempted this both by night and by day but these imps seemed to possess a sort of prescience for in all my attempts I was seized and maltreated so grossly that I gave up all hopes of escape otherwise than by some upbreaking of the warlocks establishment and of all such incidents I had resolved to avail myself and you all see that at last I have succeeded—which happened on this wise
Still as Christmas tide drew on the wranglings between my two chief masters the devil and the warlock grew more and more fierce and as I heard they were obliged to sever before that time I both hoped and dreaded some terrible convulsion The fiend for several successive days was always hinting to the Master that it now behoved the latter to deliver him up the black book and the divining rod and he tried to cajole him out of them by fair speeches and boundless promises but with these requests the Master testified no disposition to comply and the promises he utterly disregarded bidding him bestow his promises on those who did not know him At430 length the fiend fairly told him that he must and would have the possession of these invaluable treasures which ought never to have been put into the hands of mortal man and that now he would have them if he should tear his heart from his bosom to attain the boon
I weened that matters were come to that pass now that the Master would be obliged to yield and that all this show of resistance was only the ebullition of a proud and indignant spirit struggling against the yoke under which it knew it was obliged to bow like a horse that champs the bit to the sway of which it knows too well it must submit In all this however I had reckoned before mine host and knew not the resources of the great magician Beneath the influence of the cross I found him a child a novice a nonentity unresolved and inconsistent in his actions But amongst the beings with whom he associated I found him a superior intelligence a spirit formed to controul the mightiest energies and not brooking submission to any power unless by compulsion To my431 utter astonishment he not only gave the archfiend absolute refusal but haughty defiance and then it was apparent that except from necessity all forbearance was at an end
Preposterous madman dost thou know whom thou beardest said the fiend gnashing his teeth with rage and thirst of vengeance Knowest thou with whom thou art contending thou maniac—and that I can wring thy soul out of thy body consigning the one to the dunghill and the other to elemental slavery at my will and pleasure
I defy thee said the Master Do thy worst He that imparts a moiety of his power to another must abide by the consequences Do I not know with whom I am contending Yes I know thee And thou art so well aware that I do that at this moment thou tremblest beneath my rod I know thee for a liar a deceiver a backbiter and a spirit of insatiable malevolence Who can lay one of these charges to my name Were I immortal as thou art how I would hurl thee from thy usurp432ed and tyrannic sway over the mighty energies of nature Were I freed of the incumbrances of mortality—of blood that may be let out by a bodkin—bones that may be broken by the tip of an oxgoad—and breath that may be stopped by the twang of a bowstring of vitals subjected to be torn by disease—preyed on by hunger thirst and a thousand casualties beside—yes were I rid of these congregated impediments as I shall soon be I would thrust thee down into that subordinate sphere of action to which only thy perverse nature is fitted This black book and this diviningrod are mine They were consigned to my hands by thyself and the four viceroys of the elements and part with them shall I never either in life or in death and while I possess them I am thy superior Begone and let me hear no more of thy brawling at this time lest I humble thee and trample on thee before thy day of power be expired
This the Master pronounced in loud and furious accents and as he finished he struck the devil across the gorge with his433 golden rod The blow made him spring aloof and tumble into the air it had such powerful effect on his frame and when he stood again on his feet he roared with rage and indignation in a voice that resembled thunder The Master had the black book belted to his bosom with bands of steel that were hammered in the forge of hell and laying his left hand upon that and brandishing his diviningrod in his right he dared the fiend to the combat The latter approached and poured from his mouth and nostrils such a stream of liquid flame on the magician that it appeared like a fiery rainbow between them This greatly incommoded the Master and made him skip like a mountebank but it was soon exhausted and then the fiend threw trees and rocks at him some of the latter of the weight of five tons All these the Master eschewed and though he sought no other weapons but his rod he brake in upon his antagonist and chaced him from the field Then the war of words again commenced which increased to a tempest of threatening wrath and defiance The434 archdemon boasted of his legions and of their irresistible power and threatened to bring them all to the contest and annihilate the Master and his adherents root and branch
I have already said that I fear neither them nor thee said the Master What though thou hast the sovereignty over the element of fire and all the fierce and indurated spirits that sojourn and ply in the sultry regions of flame as also of the grovelling spirits of the mould Have not I at my command those of the air and the water I can muster against thee the storm the whirlwind and the raging tempest the overwhelming wave and the descending torrent These shall extinguish thy meteor hosts and sweep thy moldwarps from the face of the earth I am in the midst of my elements here Thou art out of thine and that thou shalt feel when thou bringest it to trial
Thus parted these two oncebound associates but now jealous and inexorable foes—a good lesson to all those who form combinations inimical to the laws or au435thority of the land in which they reside Like those masterspirits such are likewise conspirators against rightful sovereignty although on a smaller scale and like those whom they imitate and by whom they are moved their counsels will always be turned either to foolishness or against themselves
The sphere that this man hath filled in society said the abbot is far below that in which he ought to have moved If his narrative is true which I can hardly believe he turns it to most excellent uses and if it is an apologue it is one well conceived for the purposes of instruction Verily this gentleman hath never moved in his proper sphere
I think it is not very unlikely that your reverence says said Sir Ringan for he made no great figure in it Tho I had always a partiality for him I had no great faith in his valour He would rather have cut down a warrior behind his back than before his face any time He has made mare quake this night wi his tale than ever he did wi his weapon I436 entreat ye to get on laird and let us hear how they made up matters
Made up matters does my chief say That was a term no more mentioned between them They separated but to raise their different forces and meet again with more fury and effect The Master spoke to his three pages and asked if they were resolved to stand firm to his interest They answered that they would till the term of their bondage expired
Then am I doubly armed said the Master exultingly and I will show your tyrant that I can quell his utmost rage Speed thee my trusty and nimble spirits speed to the western and northern spheres and rouse the slumbering angels of the winds and the waters Tell them to muster their array and bear hitherward—to rear the broad billows of the Atlantic up against the breast of heaven and to make a bellows of every cloud to gather the winds up behind them Then bring down the irresistible spirits of the frozen north in ambush—and who shall437 stand against their fury How soon will you execute your commissions
Master Ill ring the surface of the ocean from the line to the first field of pickled ice before the hourglass is half run
Master Ill look south on the polar star—call every whale seamonster and iceshagged spirit by his name and return to you before the cockbittern can boomb his vesper
And Ill to the moon
And the stars aboon
And rack my invention
For the coming contention
And the wind and the weet
And the snow and the sleet
Ill gather and gather
And drive them on hither
With that the three imps departed on their several missions but not before they had seized me and bound me to a ring on a turret of the castle The Master retired into his apartment for some time but soon came up to the level space on the top of the castle our old birth and strode a438bout in the most violent agitation but appearing rather to be moved by anger and impatience than by dread At length he came up to me and said How now droich What thinkest thou of all this
I said nothing for I durst not answer a word
Dost thou think continued he that there exists another being either mortal or immortal like me thy master
I still durst not answer a word for if I had said no it would have been blasphemy and if I had said yes it would have provoked him to do me a mischief so I looked at my bonds and held my peace
Thou darest not say there is continued he but I know what thou thinkest Sit thou there in peace till this great trial of power be over and if thou darest for thy life invoke another name than mine thou shalt never stir from that spot dead or alive But if thou takest heed to this injunction and cease from all petitions to or mention of a name which thou mayest judge superior to mine then shalt thou be set at liberty to join thy friends
439
I determined to attend to this—but he waited not for my answer but strode away looking now and then on the book of destiny and at the western heaven alternately At length he exclaimed Yonder they come Yonder they rise in grand battalia Noble and potent spirits How speedily have you executed your commission Yonder comes the muster of my array and who shall stand against them
I looked towards the west when I heard him talking in such ecstacies but could see nothing save a phalanx of towering clouds rolling up in wreaths from the dun horizon I had seen the same scene a hundred times and could hardly help smiling at his enthusiasm especially when he went over a long musterroll of the names of spirits and monsters whom he saw approaching in the cloud It is a sign that warlocks have clear een thinks I quietly for I see nothing but a range of rolling and restless clouds However he was so overjoyed with the sight of this visionary array that having no other to communicate with he came rapidly up to me and said440 Tell me droich didst thou ever witness any thing so truly grand as the approach of this host of mine
You must first lend me the use of your eyes that I may see them said I for on my word I see nothing save two or three files of castled clouds which I have seen an hundred times
With that he lent me a blow with his rod and said though not apparently in wrath Thou hast no brighter eyes and no brighter conceptions than a hedgehog but art a mere clod of the valley a worm if I knew of aught lower to liken thee to I would do it Dost thou see nothing like fleets and armies approaching yonder Dost thou not see an hundred and seven of the ships of the ocean above coming full sail with colours flying and canvas spread Seest thou not also to the south of these two files of behemoths with ten thousand warriorspirits beside
I looked again and though I was sensible it must be a delusion brought on by by the stroke of his powerful rod yet I did see the appearance of a glorious fleet441 of ships coming bounding along the surface of the firmament of air while every mainsail was bosomed out like the side of a Highland mountain I saw besides whole columns of what I supposed to be crocodiles sharks kelpies and waterhorses with a thousand monsters never dreamed of by human being The Master marked my astonishment and exulted still the more and then he desired me to turn round and look toward the north At first I could see nothing but on being touched again with the diviningrod I shall never forget such a sight as opened gradually to my view The whole northern hemisphere from the eastern to the western horizon was covered with marshalled hosts of the shades of gigantic warriors They were all mailed in white armour as if it had been sprinkled with hoarfrost and their beards which had the appearance of icicles hung down swinging in the wind like so many inverted forests stripped of their foliage and bark and encrusted with ice They were all mounted on the ghosts of crackens442 whales and walruses and for bows and quivers each had a blown bladder on his bade as large as the hill of BenNevis My heart quaked at the view of these tremendous polar spirits and I said Great and magnificent Master are yon terrible chaps all coming hither
Certes they are said he Why dost thou ask after having heard my mandate sent forth
Because said I If yon bearded spirits be a coming here I wish I were somewhere else for the like of yon was never beheld by man If your opponents dare face you they have a spirit beyond what I can conceive
They will be here and that instantly said he And lo yonder they come I will go down and meet them on the open field But in the meantime I will loose you with my own hands for who knows what may be the issue of this day remain where thou art for here thou shalt be safe but no where else
I looked and as far as my eyes could discern I saw as it were a thousand thou443sand sparks of fire rising from the east that came in a straight line toward me and with great velocity As they came nearer I perceived that they were all fiery serpents with faces like men and small flaming spears issuing from their mouths which they held between their teeth or drew in as they listed These were led on to the combat by the archfiend himself who came at their head in the form of a huge fiery dragon with his iron crown on his head and wings springing from his shoulders behind that reached as high as the hill of Blackandro Aih God guide us thinks I to mysel Michael has an awsome adversary to contend with the day He was nothing daunted however but went boldly down the valley where he was met by hosts of crawling monsters such as snakes lizards and a thousand others These I took to be the spirits of the element of earth—but they were lubbards in a field of battle for at a brandish of the Masters magical rod they ran off wagging their tails in such a ven444geance of a hurry that they overturned one another
The van of Michaels western array had by this time gained the middle sky and hung boiling and wheeling like a troubled ocean straight above his head and above mine Its colour was as dark as pitch but there was now and then a shade of a dead white colour rolled out and as suddenly again swallowed up in the darkness I never saw ought so awfully sublime It had now descended so low that it hid the polar giants entirely from my view and the Master kept waving his rod towards it and clapping his left hand always on the black book till at length with the motion of a whirlpool the cloud came and settled all round him The fiend and his firebrands perceiving this darted with the utmost fury into the middle of it and the most tremendous crash of thunder ensued that ever shook heaven and earth My eyes were dazzled so that I could not see ought distinctly but I perceived these flaming meteors glancing and quivering round the verges of the dark445ness and ever and anon darting again into it Seven of these peals of thunder succeeded one another and then I saw the spirits of flame would overcome for the darkness began to scatter and I saw the Master hard bested defending himself with his rod against a multitude He then cried with a loud voice and waved his rod toward the north and that moment the giant warriors of the polar regions loosed all their quivers at once and with such effect that they tossed the opposing legions before them like chaff The hailstones the snow and the sleet poured upon them thicker and faster and the wind roared louder than their thunders had done before There was no more power in their foes to stand before them they were scattered driven away and extinguished When the Master saw this he shouted aloud for joy calling out Victory and leaping from the ground in ecstacy But when he was in the very paroxysm of exultation the great dragon came round with a circular motion behind the castle and approaching behind the446 wizards back before he was aware seized him by the hair with one paw and by the iron belt with the other and bore him off into the air straight upward The Master struggled and writhed very hard but never opened his lips At length after great exertion he struck the monster a blow with his rod that made him quit his hold and fly away yelling after his discomfited legions
The Master fell to the ground from a great height and lay still and when I saw no one to come near him I left the corner where I had hid myself and ran to his assistance but he was quite dead His teeth had severed his tongue in two and were clenched close together his eyes were open and every bone of his body was broken Having witnessed the unspeakable value of the golden rod I put out my hand and took hold of it wanting to bring it away with me but I might as well have tried to have heaved the castle from its foundations Besides when I tugged at it the dead man turned his eyes toward me with a fierceness that chilled me to the447 heart so I fled and came hitherward with all my might He is lying in a little hidden valley at the side of the burn immediately above the castle with the book of fate locked in his bosom his rod in his hand and his eyes open I have now described to your Majesties this scene exactly as I saw it but I must also tell you that when I came to the mill both the miller and his man neither of whom knew me said it had been an awful storm of thunder and lightning I asked if they perceived nothing about it but a common storm of thunder and lightning And they said nothing save that it was exceedingly violent and rather uncommon at such a season of the year I have therefore some suspicions that there might be magical delusion operating on my sight but of this I am certain that the great enchanter was carried up into the middle space between heaven and earth fell down and was killed
I think there can be no doubt said the King that what you have told us is the plain and unvarnished truth though448 perhaps the rod of divination might open your eyes to see the storm in a different light from that seen by the eyes of common men Of this there can be no doubt that the greatest man and the most profound scholar of the age has perished in this conflict of the elements He has not only kept the world in awe but in dreadful agitation for the space of thirty years let us therefore all go tomorrow and see him honourably interred I ask no rites of sepulture to be performed over his remains which if living he would have deprecated only let us all go and see his body reverendly deposited in the tomb lest it be left to consume in the open fields
They went and found him lying as stated only that his eyes were shut some of his attendant elves having closed them over night His book was in his bosom and his rod in his hand from either of which no force of man could sever them although when they lifted the body and these together there was no difference in weight from the body of another man The King then caused these dangerous relics to be deposited along with the body in an iron chest which they buried in a vaulted aisle of the abbey of Melrose and the castle of Aikwood has never more been inhabited by mortal man