Waverley; Or 'Tis Sixty Years Since — Complete

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER XV

  A CREAGH, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

  When Edward had been a guest at Tully-Veolan nearly six weeks, hedescried, one morning, as he took his usual walk before the breakfasthour, signs of uncommon perturbation in the family. Four bare-leggeddairy-maids, with each an empty milk-pail in her hand, ran about withfrantic gestures, and uttering loud exclamations of surprise, grief,and resentment. From their appearance, a pagan might have conceivedthem a detachment of the celebrated Belides, just come from theirbaling penance. As nothing was to be got from this distracted chorus,excepting 'Lord guide us!' and 'Eh sirs!' ejaculations which threw nolight upon the cause of their dismay, Waverley repaired to thefore-court, as it was called, where he beheld Bailie Macwheeblecantering his white pony down the avenue with all the speed it couldmuster. He had arrived, it would seem, upon a hasty summons, and wasfollowed by half a score of peasants from the village who had no greatdifficulty in keeping pace with him.

  The Bailie, greatly too busy and too important to enter intoexplanations with Edward, summoned forth Mr. Saunderson, who appearedwith a countenance in which dismay was mingled with solemnity, and theyimmediately entered into close conference. Davie Gellatley was alsoseen in the group, idle as Diogenes at Sinope while his countrymen werepreparing for a siege. His spirits always rose with anything, good orbad, which occasioned tumult, and he continued frisking, hopping,dancing, and singing the burden of an old ballad--

  'Our gear's a' gane,'

  until, happening to pass too near the Bailie, he received an admonitoryhint from his horse-whip, which converted his songs into lamentation.

  Passing from thence towards the garden, Waverley beheld the Baron inperson, measuring and re-measuring, with swift and tremendous strides,the length of the terrace; his countenance clouded with offended prideand indignation, and the whole of his demeanour such as seemed toindicate, that any inquiry concerning the cause of his discomposurewould give pain at least, if not offence. Waverley therefore glidedinto the house, without addressing him, and took his way to thebreakfast-parlour, where he found his young friend Rose, who, thoughshe neither exhibited the resentment of her father, the turbidimportance of Bailie Macwheeble, nor the despair of the handmaidens,seemed vexed and thoughtful. A single word explained the mystery. 'Yourbreakfast will be a disturbed one, Captain Waverley. A party ofCaterans have come down upon us last night, and have driven off all ourmilch cows.'

  'A party of Caterans?'

  'Yes; robbers from the neighbouring Highlands. We used to be quite freefrom them while we paid blackmail to Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr; butmy father thought it unworthy of his rank and birth to pay it anylonger, and so this disaster has happened. It is not the value of thecattle, Captain Waverley, that vexes me; but my father is so much hurtat the affront, and is so bold and hot, that I fear he will try torecover them by the strong hand; and if he is not hurt himself, he willhurt some of these wild people, and then there will be no peace betweenthem and us perhaps for our life-time; and we cannot defend ourselvesas in old times, for the government have taken all our arms; and mydear father is so rash--O what will become of us!'--Here poor Rose lostheart altogether, and burst into a flood of tears.

  The Baron entered at this moment, and rebuked her with more asperitythan Waverley had ever heard him use to any one. 'Was it not a shame,'he said, 'that she should exhibit herself before any gentleman in sucha light, as if she shed tears for a drove of horned nolt and milchkine, like the daughter of a Cheshire yeoman!--Captain Waverley, I mustrequest your favourable construction of her grief, which may, or oughtto proceed, solely from seeing her father's estate exposed to spulzieand depredation from common thieves and sorners, while we are notallowed to keep half a score of muskets, whether for defence or rescue.'

  Bailie Macwheeble entered immediately afterwards, and by his report ofarms and ammunition confirmed this statement, informing the Baron, in amelancholy voice, that though the people would certainly obey hishonour's orders, yet there was no chance of their following the gear toony guid purpose, in respect there were only his honour's body servantswho had swords and pistols, and the depredators were twelveHighlanders, completely armed after the manner of their country. Havingdelivered this doleful annunciation, he assumed a posture of silentdejection, shaking his head slowly with the motion of a pendulum whenit is ceasing to vibrate, and then remained stationary, his bodystooping at a more acute angle than usual, and the latter part of hisperson projecting in proportion.

  The Baron, meanwhile, paced the room in silent indignation, and atlength fixing his eye upon an old portrait, whose person was clad inarmour, and whose features glared grimly out of a huge bush of hair,part of which descended from his head to his shoulders, and part fromhis chin and upper-lip to his breast-plate,--'That gentleman, CaptainWaverley, my grandsire,' he said, 'with two hundred horse,--whom helevied within his own bounds, discomfited and put to the rout more thanfive hundred of these Highland reivers, who have been ever lapisoffensionis et petra scandali, a stumbling-block and a rock of offence,to the Lowland vicinage--he discomfited them, I say, when they had thetemerity to descend to harry this country, in the time of the civildissensions, in the year of grace sixteen hundred forty and two. Andnow, sir, I, his grandson, am thus used at such unworthy hands.'

  Here there was an awful pause; after which all the company, as is usualin cases of difficulty, began to give separate and inconsistentcounsel. Alexander ab Alexandro proposed they should send some one tocompound with the Caterans, who would readily, he said, give up theirprey for a dollar a head. The Bailie opined that this transaction wouldamount to theft-boot, or composition of felony; and he recommended thatsome canny hand should be sent up to the glens to make the best bargainhe could, as it were for himself, so that the Laird might not be seenin such a transaction. Edward proposed to send off to the nearestgarrison for a party of soldiers and a magistrate's warrant; and Rose,as far as she dared, endeavoured to insinuate the course of paying thearrears of tribute money to Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr, who, theyall knew, could easily procure restoration of the cattle, if he wereproperly propitiated.

  None of these proposals met the Baron's approbation. The idea ofcomposition, direct or implied, was absolutely ignominious; that ofWaverley only showed that he did not understand the state of thecountry, and of the political parties which divided it; and, standingmatters as they did with Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr, the Baron wouldmake no concession to him, were it, he said, 'to procure restitution inintegrum of every stirk and stot that the chief, his forefathers, andhis clan, had stolen since the days of Malcolm Canmore.'

  In fact his voice was still for war, and he proposed to send expressesto Balmawhapple, Killancureit, Tulliellum, and other lairds, who wereexposed to similar depredations, inviting them to join in the pursuit;'and then, sir, shall these nebulones nequissimi, as Leslaeus callsthem, be brought to the fate of their predecessor Cacus,

  "Elisos oculos, et siccum sanguine guttur."'

  The Bailie, who by no means relished these warlike counsels, herepulled forth an immense watch, of the colour, and nearly of the size,of a pewter warming-pan, and observed it was now past noon, and thatthe Caterans had been seen in the pass of Ballybrough soon aftersunrise; so that, before the allied forces could assemble, they andtheir prey would be far beyond the reach of the most active pursuit,and sheltered in those pathless deserts, where it was neither advisableto follow, nor indeed possible to trace them.

  This proposition was undeniable. The council therefore broke up withoutcoming to any conclusion, as has occurred to councils of moreimportance; only it was determined that the Bailie should send his ownthree milkcows down to the mains for the use of the Baron's family, andbrew small ale, as a substitute for milk, in his own. To thisarrangement, which was suggested by Saunderson, the Bailie readilyassented, both from habitual deference to the family, and an internalconsciousness that his courtesy would, in some mode or other, be repaidtenfold.

  The Baron having also ret
ired to give some necessary directions,Waverley seized the opportunity to ask, whether this Fergus, with theunpronounceable name, was the chief thief-taker of the district?

  'Thief-taker!' answered Rose, laughing; 'he is a gentleman of greathonour and consequence, the chieftain of an independent branch of apowerful Highland clan, and is much respected, both for his own powerand that of his kith, kin, and allies.'

  'And what has he to do with the thieves, then? Is he a magistrate, orin the commission of the peace?' asked Waverley.

  'The commission of war rather, if there be such a thing,' said Rose;'for he is a very unquiet neighbour to his unfriends, and keeps agreater following on foot than many that have thrice his estate. As tohis connection with the thieves, that I cannot well explain; but theboldest of them will never steal a hoof from any one that paysblack-mail to Vich lan Vohr.'

  'And what is black-mail?'

  'A sort of protection-money that Low-Country gentlemen and heritors,lying near the Highlands, pay to some Highland chief, that he mayneither do them harm himself, nor suffer it to be done to them byothers; and then if your cattle are stolen, you have only to send himword, and he will recover them; or it may be, he will drive away cowsfrom some distant place, where he has a quarrel, and give them to youto make up your loss.' [Footnote: See note 13.]

  'And is this sort of Highland Jonathan Wild admitted into society, andcalled a gentleman?'

  'So much so,' said Rose, 'that the quarrel between my father and FergusMac-Ivor began at a county meeting, where he wanted to take precedenceof all the Lowland gentlemen then present, only my father would notsuffer it. And then he upbraided my father that he was under hisbanner, and paid him tribute; and my father was in a towering passion,for Bailie Macwheeble, who manages such things his own way, hadcontrived to keep this black-mail a secret from him, and passed it inhis account for cess-money. And they would have fought; but FergusMac-Ivor said, very gallantly, he would never raise his hand against agrey head that was so much respected as my father's.--O I wish, I wishthey had continued friends!'

  'And did you ever see this Mr. Mac-Ivor, if that be his name, MissBradwardine?'

  'No, that is not his name; and he would consider MASTER as a sort ofaffront, only that you are an Englishman, and know no better. But theLowlanders call him, like other gentlemen, by the name of his estate,Glennaquoich; and the Highlanders call him Vich Ian Vohr, that is, theson of John the Great; and we upon the braes here call him by bothnames indifferently.'

  'I am afraid I shall never bring my English tongue to call him byeither one or other.'

  'But he is a very polite, handsome man,' continued Rose; 'and hissister Flora is one of the most beautiful and accomplished young ladiesin this country; she was bred in a convent in France, and was a greatfriend of mine before this unhappy dispute. Dear Captain Waverley, tryyour influence with my father to make matters up. I am sure this is butthe beginning of our troubles; for Tully-Veolan has never been a safeor quiet residence when we have been at feud with the Highlanders. WhenI was a girl about ten, there was a skirmish fought between a party oftwenty of them and my father and his servants behind the mains; and thebullets broke several panes in the north windows, they were so near.Three of the Highlanders were killed, and they brought them in wrappedin their plaids, and laid them on the stone floor of the hall; and nextmorning, their wives and daughters came, clapping their hands, andcrying the coronach, and shrieking, and carried away the dead bodies,with the pipes playing before them. I could not sleep for six weekswithout starting and thinking I heard these terrible cries, and saw thebodies lying on the steps, all stiff and swathed up in their bloodytartans. But since that time there came a party from the garrison atStirling, with a warrant from the Lord Justice Clerk, or some suchgreat man, and took away all our arms; and now, how are we to protectourselves if they come down in any strength?'

  Waverley could not help starting at a story which bore so muchresemblance to one of his own day-dreams. Here was a girl scarceseventeen, the gentlest of her sex, both in temper and appearance, whohad witnessed with her own eyes such a scene as he had used to conjureup in his imagination, as only occurring in ancient times, and spoke ofit coolly, as one very likely to recur. He felt at once the impulse ofcuriosity, and that slight sense of danger which only serves toheighten its interest. He might have said with Malvolio, '"I do not nowfool myself, to let imagination jade me!" I am actually in the land ofmilitary and romantic adventures, and it only remains to be seen whatwill be my own share in them.'

  The whole circumstances now detailed concerning the state of thecountry seemed equally novel and extraordinary. He had indeed oftenheard of Highland thieves, but had no idea of the systematic mode inwhich their depredations were conducted; and that the practice wasconnived at, and even encouraged, by many of the Highland chieftains,who not only found the creaghs, or forays, useful for the purpose oftraining individuals of their clan to the practice of arms, but also ofmaintaining a wholesome terror among their Lowland neighbours, andlevying, as we have seen, a tribute from them, under colour ofprotection-money.

  Bailie Macwheeble, who soon afterwards entered, expatiated still moreat length upon the same topic. This honest gentleman's conversation wasso formed upon his professional practice, that Davie Gellatley oncesaid his discourse was like a 'charge of horning.' He assured our hero,that 'from the maist ancient times of record, the lawless thieves,limmers, and broken men of the Highlands, had been in fellowshiptogether by reason of their surnames, for the committing of diversthefts, reifs, and herships upon the honest men of the Low Country,when they not only intromitted with their whole goods and gear, corn,cattle, horse, nolt, sheep, outsight and insight plenishing, at theirwicked pleasure, but moreover made prisoners, ransomed them, orconcussed them into giving borrows (pledges) to enter into captivityagain;--all which was directly prohibited in divers parts of theStatute Book, both by the act one thousand five hundred andsixty-seven, and various others; the whilk statutes, with all that hadfollowed and might follow thereupon, were shamefully broken andvilipended by the said sorners, limmers, and broken men, associatedinto fellowships, for the aforesaid purposes of theft, stouthreef,fire-raising, murther, raptus mulierum, or forcible abduction of women,and such like as aforesaid.'

  It seemed like a dream to Waverley that these deeds of violence shouldbe familiar to men's minds, and currently talked of as falling withinthe common order of things, and happening daily in the immediatevicinity, without his having crossed the seas, and while he was yet inthe otherwise well-ordered island of Great Britain.