by Walter Scott
NOTES
NOTE I
LONG the oracle of the country gentlemen of the high Tory party. Theancient News-Letter was written in manuscript and copied by clerks, whoaddressed the copies to the subscribers. The politician by whom theywere compiled picked up his intelligence at coffee-houses, and oftenpleaded for an additional gratuity in consideration of the extraexpense attached to frequenting such places of fashionable resort.
NOTE 2
There is a family legend to this purpose, belonging to the knightlyfamily of Bradshaigh, the proprietors of Haigh Hall, in Lancashire,where, I have been told, the event is recorded on a painted glasswindow. The German ballad of the Noble Moringer turns upon a similartopic. But undoubtedly many such incidents may have taken place, where,the distance being great and the intercourse infrequent, false reportsconcerning the fate of the absent Crusaders must have been commonlycirculated, and sometimes perhaps rather hastily credited at home.
NOTE 3
The attachment to this classic was, it is said, actually displayed inthe manner mentioned in the text by an unfortunate Jacobite in thatunhappy period. He escaped from the jail in which he was confined for ahasty trial and certain condemnation, and was retaken as he hoveredaround the place in which he had been imprisoned, for which he couldgive no better reason than the hope of recovering his favourite TitusLivius. I am sorry to add that the simplicity of such a character wasfound to form no apology for his guilt as a rebel, and that he wascondemned and executed.
NOTE 4
Nicholas Amhurst, a noted political writer, who conducted for manyyears a paper called the Craftsman, under the assumed name of CalebD'Anvers. He was devoted to the Tory interest, and seconded with muchability the attacks of Pulteney on Sir Robert Walpole. He died in 1742,neglected by his great patrons and in the most miserable circumstances.
'Amhurst survived the downfall of Walpole's power, and had reason toexpect a reward for his labours. If we excuse Bolingbroke, who had onlysaved the shipwreck of his fortunes, we shall be at a loss to justifyPulteney, who could with ease have given this man a considerableincome. The utmost of his generosity to Amhurst that I ever heard ofwas a hogshead of claret! He died, it is supposed, of a broken heart;and was buried at the charge of his honest printer, RichardFrancklin.'--Lord Chesterfield's Characters Reviewed, p. 42.
NOTE 5
I have now given in the text the full name of this gallant andexcellent man, and proceed to copy the account of his remarkableconversion, as related by Doctor Doddridge.
'This memorable event,' says the pious writer, 'happened towards themiddle of July 1719. The major had spent the evening (and, if I mistakenot, it was the Sabbath) in some gay company, and had an unhappyassignation with a married woman, whom he was to attend exactly attwelve. The company broke up about eleven, and, not judging itconvenient to anticipate the time appointed, he went into his chamberto kill the tedious hour, perhaps with some amusing book, or some otherway. But it very accidentally happened that he took up a religiousbook, which his good mother or aunt had, without his knowledge, slippedinto his portmanteau. It was called, if I remember the title exactly,The Christian Soldier, or Heaven taken by Storm, and it was written byMr. Thomas Watson. Guessing by the title of it that he would find somephrases of his own profession spiritualised in a manner which hethought might afford him some diversion, he resolved to dip into it,but he took no serious notice of anything it had in it; and yet, whilethis book was in his hand, an impression was made upon his mind(perhaps God only knows how) which drew after it a train of the mostimportant and happy consequences. He thought he saw an unusual blaze oflight fall upon the book which he was reading, which he at firstimagined might happen by some accident in the candle, but, lifting uphis eyes, he apprehended to his extreme amazement that there was beforehim, as it were suspended in the air, a visible representation of theLord Jesus Christ upon the cross, surrounded on all sides with a glory;and was impressed as if a voice, or something equivalent to a voice,had come to him, to this effect (for he was not confident as to thewords), "Oh, sinner! did I suffer this for thee, and are these thyreturns?" Struck with so amazing a phenomenon as this, there remainedhardly any life in him, so that he sunk down in the arm-chair in whichhe sat, and continued, he knew not how long, insensible.'
'With regard to this vision,' says the ingenious Dr. Hibbert, 'theappearance of our Saviour on the cross, and the awful words repeated,can be considered in no other light than as so many recollected imagesof the mind, which probably had their origin in the language of someurgent appeal to repentance that the colonel might have casually reador heard delivered. From what cause, however, such ideas were renderedas vivid as actual impressions, we have no information to be dependedupon. This vision was certainly attended with one of the most importantof consequences connected with the Christian dispensation--theconversion of a sinner. And hence no single narrative has, perhaps,done more to confirm the superstitious opinion that apparitions of thisawful kind cannot arise without a divine fiat.' Doctor Hibbert adds ina note--'A short time before the vision, Colonel Gardiner had receiveda severe fall from his horse. Did the brain receive some slight degreeof injury from the accident, so as to predispose him to this spiritualillusion?'--Hibbert's Philosophy of Apparitions, Edinburgh, 1824, p.190.
NOTE 6
The courtesy of an invitation to partake a traveller's meal, or atleast that of being invited to share whatever liquor the guest calledfor, was expected by certain old landlords in Scotland even in theyouth of the author. In requital mine host was always furnished withthe news of the country, and was probably a little of a humorist toboot. The devolution of the whole actual business and drudgery of theinn upon the poor gudewife was very common among the ScottishBonifaces. There was in ancient times, in the city of Edinburgh, agentleman of good family who condescended, in order to gain alivelihood, to become the nominal keeper of a coffee-house, one of thefirst places of the kind which had been opened in the Scottishmetropolis. As usual, it was entirely managed by the careful andindustrious Mrs. B--; while her husband amused himself with fieldsports, without troubling his head about the matter. Once upon a time,the premises having taken fire, the husband was met walking up the HighStreet loaded with his guns and fishing-rods, and replied calmly tosomeone who inquired after his wife, 'that the poor woman was trying tosave a parcel of crockery and some trumpery books'; the last beingthose which served her to conduct the business of the house.
There were many elderly gentlemen in the author's younger days whostill held it part of the amusement of a journey 'to parley with minehost,' who often resembled, in his quaint humour, mine Host of theGarter in the Merry Wives of Windsor; or Blague of the George in theMerry Devil of Edmonton. Sometimes the landlady took her share ofentertaining the company. In either case the omitting to pay them dueattention gave displeasure, and perhaps brought down a smart jest, ason the following occasion:
A jolly dame who, not 'Sixty Years Since,' kept the principalcaravansary at Greenlaw, in Berwickshire, had the honour to receiveunder her roof a very worthy clergyman, with three sons of the sameprofession, each having a cure of souls; be it said in passing, none ofthe reverend party were reckoned powerful in the pulpit. After dinnerwas over, the worthy senior, in the pride of his heart, asked Mrs.Buchan whether she ever had had such a party in her house before. 'Heresit I,' he said, 'a placed minister of the Kirk of Scotland, and heresit my three sons, each a placed minister of the same kirk. Confess,Luckie Buchan, you never had such a party in your house before.' Thequestion was not premised by any invitation to sit down and take aglass of wine or the like, so Mrs. B. answered drily, 'Indeed, sir, Icannot just say that ever I had such a party in my house before, exceptonce in the forty-five, when I had a Highland piper here, with histhree sons, all Highland pipers; and deil a spring they could playamang them.'
NOTE 7
There is no particular mansion described under the name ofTully-Veolan; but the peculiarities of the description occur in variousold Scottish seats
. The House of Warrender upon Bruntsfield Links andthat of Old Ravelston, belonging, the former to Sir George Warrender,the latter to Sir Alexander Keith, have both contributed several hintsto the description in the text. The House of Dean, near Edinburgh, hasalso some points of resemblance with Tully-Veolan. The author has,however, been informed that the House of Grandtully resembles that ofthe Baron of Bradwardine still more than any of the above.
NOTE 8
I am ignorant how long the ancient and established custom of keepingfools has been disused in England. Swift writes an epitaph on the Earlof Suffolk's fool--
Whose name was Dickie Pearce
In Scotland, the custom subsisted till late in the last century; atGlamis Castle is preserved the dress of one of the jesters, veryhandsome, and ornamented with many bells. It is not above thirty yearssince such a character stood by the sideboard of a nobleman of thefirst rank in Scotland, and occasionally mixed in the conversation,till he carried the joke rather too far, in making proposals to one ofthe young ladies of the family, and publishing the bans betwixt her andhimself in the public church.
NOTE 9
After the Revolution of 1688, and on some occasions when the spirit ofthe Presbyterians had been unusually animated against their opponents,the Episcopal clergymen, who were chiefly nonjurors, were exposed to bemobbed, as we should now say, or rabbled, as the phrase then went, toexpiate their political heresies. But notwithstanding that thePresbyterians had the persecution in Charles II and his brother's timeto exasperate them, there was little mischief done beyond the kind ofpetty violence mentioned in the text.
NOTE 10
I may here mention that the fashion of compotation described in thetext was still occasionally practised in Scotland in the author'syouth. A company, after having taken leave of their host, often went tofinish the evening at the clachan or village, in 'womb of tavern.'Their entertainer always accompanied them to take the stirrup-cup,which often occasioned a long and late revel.
The poculum potatorium of the valiant Baron, his blessed Bear, has aprototype at the fine old Castle of Glamis, so rich in memorials ofancient times; it is a massive beaker of silver, double gilt, mouldedinto the shape of a lion, and holding about an English pint of wine.The form alludes to the family name of Strathmore, which is Lyon, and,when exhibited, the cup must necessarily be emptied to the Earl'shealth. The author ought perhaps to be ashamed of recording that he hashad the honour of swallowing the contents of the Lion; and therecollection of the feat served to suggest the story of the Bear ofBradwardine. In the family of Scott of Thirlestane (not Thirlestane inthe Forest, but the place of the same name in Roxburghshire) was longpreserved a cup of the same kind, in the form of a jack-boot. Eachguest was obliged to empty this at his departure. If the guest's namewas Scott, the necessity was doubly imperative.
When the landlord of an inn presented his guests with deoch an doruis,that is, the drink at the door, or the stirrup-cup, the draught was notcharged in the reckoning. On this point a learned bailie of the town ofForfar pronounced a very sound judgment.
A., an ale-wife in Forfar, had brewed her 'peck of malt' and set theliquor out of doors to cool; the cow of B., a neighbour of A., chancedto come by, and seeing the good beverage, was allured to taste it, andfinally to drink it up. When A. came to take in her liquor, she foundher tub empty, and from the cow's staggering and staring, so as tobetray her intemperance, she easily divined the mode in which her'browst' had disappeared. To take vengeance on Crummie's ribs with astick was her first effort. The roaring of the cow brought B., hermaster, who remonstrated with his angry neighbour, and received inreply a demand for the value of the ale which Crummie had drunk up. B.refused payment, and was conveyed before C., the bailie, or sittingmagistrate. He heard the case patiently; and then demanded of theplaintiff A. whether the cow had sat down to her potation or taken itstanding. The plaintiff answered, she had not seen the deed committed,but she supposed the cow drank the ale while standing on her feet,adding, that had she been near she would have made her use them to somepurpose. The bailie, on this admission, solemnly adjudged the cow'sdrink to be deoch an doruis, a stirrup-cup, for which no charge couldbe made without violating the ancient hospitality of Scotland.
NOTE 11
The story last told was said to have happened in the south of Scotland;but cedant arma togae and let the gown have its dues. It was an oldclergyman, who had wisdom and firmness enough to resist the panic whichseized his brethren, who was the means of rescuing a poor insanecreature from the cruel fate which would otherwise have overtaken her.The accounts of the trials for witchcraft form one of the mostdeplorable chapters in Scottish story.
NOTE 12
Although canting heraldry is generally reprobated, it seemsnevertheless to have been adopted in the arms and mottos of manyhonourable families. Thus the motto of the Vernons, Ver non semperviret, is a perfect pun, and so is that of the Onslows, Festina lente.The Periissem ni per-iissem of the Anstruthers is liable to a similarobjection. One of that ancient race, finding that an antagonist, withwhom he had fixed a friendly meeting, was determined to take theopportunity of assassinating him, prevented the hazard by dashing outhis brains with a battle-axe. Two sturdy arms, brandishing such aweapon, form the usual crest of the family, with the above motto,Periissem ni per-iissem--I had died, unless I had gone through with it.
NOTE 13
Mac-Donald of Barrisdale, one of the very last Highland gentlemen whocarried on the plundering system to any great extent, was a scholar anda well-bred gentleman. He engraved on his broad-swords the well-knownlines--
Hae tibi erunt artes pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.
Indeed, the levying of black-mail was, before 1745, practised byseveral chiefs of very high rank, who, in doing so, contended that theywere lending the laws the assistance of their arms and swords, andaffording a protection which could not be obtained from the magistracyin the disturbed state of the country. The author has seen a Memoir ofMac-Pherson of Cluny, chief of that ancient clan, from which it appearsthat he levied protection-money to a very large amount, which waswillingly paid even by some of his most powerful neighbours. Agentleman of this clan, hearing a clergyman hold forth to hiscongregation on the crime of theft, interrupted the preacher to assurehim, he might leave the enforcement of such doctrines to ClunyMac-Pherson, whose broadsword would put a stop to theft sooner than allthe sermons of all the ministers of the synod.
NOTE 14
The Town-guard of Edinburgh were, till a late period, armed with thisweapon when on their police-duty. There was a hook at the back of theaxe, which the ancient Highlanders used to assist them to climb overwalls, fixing the hook upon it and raising themselves by the handle.The axe, which was also much used by the natives of Ireland, issupposed to have been introduced into both countries from Scandinavia.
NOTE 15
An adventure very similar to what is here stated actually befell thelate Mr. Abercromby of Tullibody, grandfather of the present LordAbercromby, and father of the celebrated Sir Ralph. When thisgentleman, who lived to a very advanced period of life, first settledin Stirlingshire, his cattle were repeatedly driven off by thecelebrated Rob Roy, or some of his gang; and at length he was obliged,after obtaining a proper safe-conduct, to make the cateran such a visitas that of Waverley to Bean Lean in the text. Rob received him withmuch courtesy, and made many apologies for the accident, which musthave happened, he said, through some mistake. Mr. Abercromby wasregaled with collops from two of his own cattle, which were hung up bythe heels in the cavern, and was dismissed in perfect safety, afterhaving agreed to pay in future a small sum of black-mail, inconsideration of which Rob Roy not only undertook to forbear his herdsin future, but to replace any that should be stolen from him by otherfreebooters. Mr. Abercromby said Rob Roy affected to consider him as afriend to the Jacobite interest and a sincere enemy to the Union.Neither of these circumstances were true; but the laird thought itquite unnecessary to undeceive his Highla
nd host at the risk ofbringing on a political dispute in such a situation. This anecdote Ireceived many years since (about 1792) from the mouth of the venerablegentleman who was concerned in it.
NOTE 16
This celebrated gibbet was, in the memory of the last generation, stillstanding at the western end of the town of Crieff, in Perthshire. Whyit was called the kind gallows we are unable to inform the reader withcertainty; but it is alleged that the Highlanders used to touch theirbonnets as they passed a place which had been fatal to many of theircountrymen, with the ejaculation 'God bless her nain sell, and the Teiltamn you!' It may therefore have been called kind, as being a sort ofnative or kindred place of doom to those who suffered there, as infulfilment of a natural destiny.
NOTE 17
The story of the bridegroom carried off by caterans on his bridal-dayis taken from one which was told to the author by the late Laird ofMac-Nab many years since. To carry off persons from the Lowlands, andto put them to ransom, was a common practice with the wild Highlanders,as it is said to be at the present day with the banditti in the southof Italy. Upon the occasion alluded to, a party of caterans carried offthe bridegroom and secreted him in some cave near the mountain ofSchiehallion. The young man caught the small-pox before his ransomcould be agreed on; and whether it was the fine cool air of the place,or the want of medical attendance, Mac-Nab did not pretend to bepositive; but so it was, that the prisoner recovered, his ransom waspaid, and he was restored to his friends and bride, but alwaysconsidered the Highland robbers as having saved his life by theirtreatment of his malady.
NOTE 18
This happened on many occasions. Indeed, it was not till after thetotal destruction of the clan influence, after 1745, that purchaserscould be found who offered a fair price for the estates forfeited in1715, which were then brought to sale by the creditors of the YorkBuildings Company, who had purchased the whole, or greater part, fromgovernment at a very small price. Even so late as the period firstmentioned, the prejudices of the public in favour of the heirs of theforfeited families threw various impediments in the way of intendingpurchasers of such property.
NOTE 19
This sort of political game ascribed to Mac-Ivor was in reality playedby several Highland chiefs, the celebrated Lord Lovat in particular,who used that kind of finesse to the uttermost. The Laird of Mac---wasalso captain of an independent company, but valued the sweets ofpresent pay too well to incur the risk of losing them in the Jacobitecause. His martial consort raised his clan and headed it in 1745. Butthe chief himself would have nothing to do with king-making, declaringhimself for that monarch, and no other, who gave the Laird of Mac ----'half-a-guinea the day and half-a-guinea the morn.'
NOTE 20
In explanation of the military exercise observed at the Castle ofGlennaquoich, the author begs to remark that the Highlanders were notonly well practised in the use of the broadsword, firelock, and most ofthe manly sports and trials of strength common throughout Scotland, butalso used a peculiar sort of drill, suited to their own dress and modeof warfare. There were, for instance, different modes of disposing theplaid, one when on a peaceful journey, another when danger wasapprehended; one way of enveloping themselves in it when expectingundisturbed repose, and another which enabled them to start up withsword and pistol in hand on the slightest alarm.
Previous to 1720 or thereabouts, the belted plaid was universally worn,in which the portion which surrounded the middle of the wearer and thatwhich was flung around his shoulders were all of the same piece oftartan. In a desperate onset all was thrown away, and the clan chargedbare beneath the doublet, save for an artificial arrangement of theshirt, which, like that of the Irish, was always ample, and for thesporran-mollach, or goat's-skin purse.
The manner of handling the pistol and dirk was also part of theHighland manual exercise, which the author has seen gone through by menwho had learned it in their youth.
NOTE 21
Pork or swine's flesh, in any shape, was, till of late years, muchabominated by the Scotch, nor is it yet a favourite food amongst them.King Jamie carried this prejudice to England, and is known to haveabhorred pork almost as much as he did tobacco. Ben Jonson has recordedthis peculiarity, where the gipsy in a masque, examining the king'shand, says--
You should, by this line,
Love a horse and a hound, but no part of a swine.
The Gipsies Metamorphosed.
James's own proposed banquet for the Devil was a loin of pork and apoll of ling, with a pipe of tobacco for digestion.
NOTE 22
In the number of persons of all ranks who assembled at the same table,though by no means to discuss the same fare, the Highland chiefs onlyretained a custom which had been formerly universally observedthroughout Scotland. 'I myself,' says the traveller, Fynes Morrison, inthe end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the scene being the Lowlands ofScotland, 'was at a knight's house, who had many servants to attendhim, that brought in his meat with their heads covered with blue caps,the table being more than half furnished with great platters ofporridge, each having a little piece of sodden meat. And when the tablewas served, the servants did sit down with us; but the upper mess,instead of porridge, had a pullet, with some prunes in thebroth.'--Travels, p. 155.
Till within this last century the farmers, even of a respectablecondition, dined with their work-people. The difference betwixt thoseof high degree was ascertained by the place of the party above or belowthe salt, or sometimes by a line drawn with chalk on the dining-table.Lord Lovat, who knew well how to feed the vanity and restrain theappetites of his clansmen, allowed each sturdy Fraser who had theslightest pretensions to be a Duinhewassel the full honour of thesitting, but at the same time took care that his young kinsmen did notacquire at his table any taste for outlandish luxuries. His lordshipwas always ready with some honourable apology why foreign wines andFrench brandy, delicacies which he conceived might sap the hardy habitsof his cousins, should not circulate past an assigned point on thetable.
NOTE 23
In the Irish ballads relating to Fion (the Fingal of Mac-Pherson) thereoccurs, as in the primitive poetry of most nations, a cycle of heroes,each of whom has some distinguishing attribute; upon these qualities,and the adventures of those possessing them, many proverbs are formed,which are still current in the Highlands. Among other characters, Conanis distinguished as in some respects a kind of Thersites, but brave anddaring even to rashness. He had made a vow that he would never take ablow without returning it; and having, like other heroes of antiquity,descended to the infernal regions, he received a cuff from theArch-fiend who presided there, which he instantly returned, using theexpression in the text. Sometimes the proverb is worded thus--'Claw forclaw, and the devil take the shortest nails, as Conan said to thedevil.'
NOTE 24
The description of the waterfall mentioned in this chapter is takenfrom that of Ledeard, at the farm so called, on the northern side ofLochard, and near the head of the lake, four or five miles fromAberfoyle. It is upon a small scale, but otherwise one of the mostexquisite cascades it is possible to behold. The appearance of Florawith the harp, as described, has been justly censured as too theatricaland affected for the lady-like simplicity of her character. Butsomething may be allowed to her French education, in which point andstriking effect always make a considerable object.
NOTE 25
The author has been sometimes accused of confounding fiction withreality. He therefore thinks it necessary to state that thecircumstance of the hunting described in the text as preparatory to theinsurrection of 1745 is, so far as he knows, entirely imaginary. But itis well known such a great hunting was held in the Forest of Brae-Mar,under the auspices of the Earl of Mar, as preparatory to the Rebellionof 1715; and most of the Highland chieftains who afterwards engaged inthat civil commotion were present on this occasion.
