by Walter Scott
CHAPTER NINTH.
An iron race the mountain-cliffs maintain, Foes to the gentler genius of the plain. ******* Who while their rocky ramparts round they see, The rough abode of want and liberty, As lawless force from confidence will grow, Insult the plenty of the vales below. Gray.
"What made ye sae late?" said Mr. Jarvie, as I entered the dining-parlourof that honest gentleman; "it is chappit ane the best feek o' fiveminutes by-gane. Mattie has been twice at the door wi' the dinner, andweel for you it was a tup's head, for that canna suffer by delay. Asheep's head ower muckle boiled is rank poison, as my worthy father usedto say--he likit the lug o' ane weel, honest man."
I made a suitable apology for my breach of punctuality, and was soonseated at table, where Mr. Jarvie presided with great glee andhospitality, compelling, however, Owen and myself to do rather morejustice to the Scottish dainties with which his board was charged, thanwas quite agreeable to our southern palates. I escaped pretty well, fromhaving those habits of society which enable one to elude this species ofwell-meant persecution. But it was ridiculous enough to see Owen, whoseideas of politeness were more rigorous and formal, and who was willing,in all acts of lawful compliance, to evince his respect for the friend ofthe firm, eating with rueful complaisance mouthful after mouthful ofsinged wool, and pronouncing it excellent, in a tone in which disgustalmost overpowered civility.
When the cloth was removed, Mr. Jarvie compounded with his own hands avery small bowl of brandy-punch, the first which I had ever the fortuneto see.
"The limes," he assured us, "were from his own little farm yonder-awa"(indicating the West Indies with a knowing shrug of his shoulders), "andhe had learned the art of composing the liquor from auld CaptainCoffinkey, who acquired it," he added in a whisper, "'as maist folkthought, among the Buccaniers. But it's excellent liquor," said he,helping us round; "and good ware has aften come frae a wicked market. Andas for Captain Coffinkey, he was a decent man when I kent him, only heused to swear awfully--But he's dead, and gaen to his account, and Itrust he's accepted--I trust he's accepted."
We found the liquor exceedingly palatable, and it led to a longconversation between Owen and our host on the opening which the Union hadafforded to trade between Glasgow and the British Colonies in America andthe West Indies, and on the facilities which Glasgow possessed of makingup sortable cargoes for that market. Mr. Jarvie answered some objectionwhich Owen made on the difficulty of sorting a cargo for America, withoutbuying from England, with vehemence and volubility.
"Na, na, sir, we stand on our ain bottom--we pickle in our ainpock-neuk--We hae our Stirling serges, Musselburgh stuffs, Aberdeen hose,Edinburgh shalloons, and the like, for our woollen or worsted goods--andwe hae linens of a' kinds better and cheaper than you hae in Lunnonitsell--and we can buy your north o' England wares, as Manchester wares,Sheffield wares, and Newcastle earthenware, as cheap as you can atLiverpool--And we are making a fair spell at cottons and muslins--Na, na!let every herring hing by its ain head, and every sheep by its ain shank,and ye'll find, sir, us Glasgow folk no sae far ahint but what we mayfollow.--This is but poor entertainment for you, Mr. Osbaldistone"(observing that I had been for some time silent); "but ye ken cadgersmaun aye be speaking about cart-saddles."
I apologised, alleging the painful circumstances of my own situation, andthe singular adventures of the morning, as the causes of my abstractionand absence of mind. In this manner I gained what I sought--anopportunity of telling my story distinctly and without interruption. Ionly omitted mentioning the wound I had received, which I did not thinkworthy of notice. Mr. Jarvie listened with great attention and apparentinterest, twinkling his little grey eyes, taking snuff, and onlyinterrupting me by brief interjections. When I came to the account of therencounter, at which Owen folded his hands and cast up his eyes toHeaven, the very image of woeful surprise, Mr. Jarvie broke in upon thenarration with "Wrang now--clean wrang--to draw a sword on your kinsmanis inhibited by the laws o' God and man; and to draw a sword on thestreets of a royal burgh is punishable by fine and imprisonment--and theCollege-yards are nae better privileged--they should be a place of peaceand quietness, I trow. The College didna get gude L600 a year out o'bishops' rents (sorrow fa' the brood o' bishops and their rents too!),nor yet a lease o' the archbishopric o' Glasgow the sell o't, that theysuld let folk tuilzie in their yards, or the wild callants bicker therewi' snaw-ba's as they whiles do, that when Mattie and I gae through, weare fain to make a baik and a bow, or run the risk o' our harns beingknocked out--it suld be looked to.*--But come awa'wi' your tale--whatfell neist?"
* The boys in Scotland used formerly to make a sort of Saturnalia in asnow-storm, by pelting passengers with snowballs. But those exposed tothat annoyance were excused from it on the easy penalty of a baik(courtesy) from a female, or a bow from a man. It was only the refractorywho underwent the storm.
On my mentioning the appearance of Mr. Campbell, Jarvie arose in greatsurprise, and paced the room, exclaiming, "Robin again!--Robert'smad--clean wud, and waur--Rob will be hanged, and disgrace a' hiskindred, and that will be seen and heard tell o'. My father the deaconwrought him his first hose--Od, I am thinking Deacon Threeplie, therape-spinner, will be twisting his last cravat. Ay, ay, puir Robin is ina fair way o' being hanged--But come awa', come awa'--let's hear thelave o't."
I told the whole story as pointedly as I could; but Mr. Jarvie stillfound something lacking to make it clear, until I went back, though withconsiderable reluctance, on the whole story of Morris, and of my meetingwith Campbell at the house of Justice Inglewood. Mr. Jarvie inclined aserious ear to all this, and remained silent for some time after I hadfinished my narrative.
"Upon all these matters I am now to ask your advice, Mr. Jarvie, which, Ihave no doubt, will point out the best way to act for my father'sadvantage and my own honour."
"Ye're right, young man--ye're right," said the Bailie. "Aye take thecounsel of those who are aulder and wiser than yourself, and binna likethe godless Rehoboam, who took the advice o' a wheen beardless callants,neglecting the auld counsellors who had sate at the feet o' his fatherSolomon, and, as it was weel put by Mr. Meiklejohn, in his lecture on thechapter, were doubtless partakers of his sapience. But I maun hearnaething about honour--we ken naething here but about credit. Honour is ahomicide and a bloodspiller, that gangs about making frays in the street;but Credit is a decent honest man, that sits at hame and makes the patplay."
"Assuredly, Mr. Jarvie," said our friend Owen, "credit is the sum total;and if we can but save that, at whatever discount"--
"Ye are right, Mr. Owen--ye are right; ye speak weel and wisely; and Itrust bowls will row right, though they are a wee ajee e'enow. Buttouching Robin, I am of opinion he will befriend this young man if it isin his power. He has a gude heart, puir Robin; and though I lost a mattero' twa hundred punds wi' his former engagements, and haena muckleexpectation ever to see back my thousand punds Scots that he promises mee'enow, yet I will never say but what Robin means fair by men."
"I am then to consider him," I replied, "as an honest man?"
"Umph!" replied Jarvie, with a precautionary sort of cough--"Ay, he has akind o' Hieland honesty--he's honest after a sort, as they say. My fatherthe deacon used aye to laugh when he tauld me how that by-word came up.Ane Captain Costlett was cracking crouse about his loyalty to KingCharles, and Clerk Pettigrew (ye'll hae heard mony a tale about him)asked him after what manner he served the king, when he was fightingagain him at Wor'ster in Cromwell's army; and Captain Costlett was aready body, and said that he served him _after a sort._ My honest fatherused to laugh weel at that sport--and sae the by-word came up."
"But do you think," I said, "that this man will be able to serve me aftera sort, or should I trust myself to this place of rendezvous which he hasgiven me?"
"Frankly and fairly, it's worth trying. Ye see you
rself there's some riskin your staying here. This bit body Morris has gotten a custom-houseplace doun at Greenock--that's a port on the Firth doun by here; and tho'a' the world kens him to be but a twa-leggit creature, wi' a goose's headand a hen's heart, that goes about on the quay plaguing folk aboutpermits, and cockits, and dockits, and a' that vexatious trade, yet if helodge an information--ou, nae doubt a man in magisterial duty maun attendto it, and ye might come to be clapped up between four wa's, whilk wad beill-convenient to your father's affairs."
"True," I observed; "yet what service am I likely to render him byleaving Glasgow, which, it is probable, will be the principal scene ofRashleigh's machinations, and committing myself to the doubtful faith ofa man of whom I know little but that he fears justice, and has doubtlessgood reasons for doing so; and that, for some secret, and probablydangerous purpose, he is in close league and alliance with the veryperson who is like to be the author of our ruin?"
"Ah, but ye judge Rob hardly," said the Bailie, "ye judge him hardly,puir chield; and the truth is, that ye ken naething about our hillcountry, or Hielands, as we ca' them. They are clean anither set frae thelike o' huz;--there's nae bailie-courts amang them--nae magistrates thatdinna bear the sword in vain, like the worthy deacon that's awa', and, Imay say't, like mysell and other present magistrates in this city--Butit's just the laird's command, and the loon maun loup; and the neveranother law hae they but the length o' their dirks--the broadsword'spursuer, or plaintiff, as you Englishers ca' it, and the target isdefender; the stoutest head bears langest out;--and there's a Hielandplea for ye."
Owen groaned deeply; and I allow that the description did not greatlyincrease my desire to trust myself in a country so lawless as hedescribed these Scottish mountains.
"Now, sir," said Jarvie, "we speak little o' thae things, because theyare familiar to oursells; and where's the use o' vilifying ane's country,and bringing a discredit on ane's kin, before southrons and strangers?It's an ill bird that files its ain nest."
"Well, sir, but as it is no impertinent curiosity of mine, but realnecessity, that obliges me to make these inquiries, I hope you will notbe offended at my pressing for a little farther information. I have todeal, on my father's account, with several gentlemen of these wildcountries, and I must trust your good sense and experience for therequisite lights upon the subject."
This little morsel of flattery was not thrown out in vain. "Experience!"said the Bailie--"I hae had experience, nae doubt, and I hae made somecalculations--Ay, and to speak quietly amang oursells, I hae made someperquisitions through Andrew Wylie, my auld clerk; he's wi' MacVittie &Co. now--but he whiles drinks a gill on the Saturday afternoons wi' hisauld master. And since ye say ye are willing to be guided by the Glasgowweaver-body's advice, I am no the man that will refuse it to the son ofan auld correspondent, and my father the deacon was nane sic afore me. Ihave whiles thought o' letting my lights burn before the Duke of Argyle,or his brother Lord Ilay (for wherefore should they be hidden under abushel?), but the like o' thae grit men wadna mind the like o' me, a puirwabster body--they think mair o' wha says a thing, than o' what the thingis that's said. The mair's the pity--mair's the pity. Not that I wadspeak ony ill of this MacCallum More--'Curse not the rich in yourbedchamber,' saith the son of Sirach, 'for a bird of the air shall carrythe clatter, and pint-stoups hae lang lugs.'"
I interrupted these prolegomena, in which Mr. Jarvie was apt to besomewhat diffuse, by praying him to rely upon Mr. Owen and myself asperfectly secret and safe confidants.
"It's no for that," he replied, "for I fear nae man--what for suld I?--Ispeak nae treason--Only thae Hielandmen hae lang grips, and I whiles ganga wee bit up the glens to see some auld kinsfolks, and I wadna willinglybe in bad blude wi' ony o' their clans. Howsumever, to proceed--ye maununderstand I found my remarks on figures, whilk as Mr. Owen here weelkens, is the only true demonstrable root of human knowledge."
Owen readily assented to a proposition so much in his own way, and ourorator proceeded.
"These Hielands of ours, as we ca' them, gentlemen, are but a wild kindof warld by themsells, full of heights and howes, woods, caverns, lochs,rivers, and mountains, that it wad tire the very deevil's wings to fleeto the tap o' them. And in this country, and in the isles, whilk arelittle better, or, to speak the truth, rather waur than the mainland,there are about twa hunder and thirty parochines, including the Orkneys,where, whether they speak Gaelic or no I wotna, but they are anuncivilised people. Now, sirs, I sall haud ilk parochine at the moderateestimate of eight hunder examinable persons, deducting children undernine years of age, and then adding one-fifth to stand for bairns of nineyears auld, and under, the whole population will reach to the sum of--letus add one-fifth to 800 to be the multiplier, and 230 being themultiplicand"--
"The product," said Mr. Owen, who entered delightedly into thesestatistics of Mr. Jarvie, "will be 230,000."
"Right, sir--perfectly right; and the military array of this Hielandcountry, were a' the men-folk between aughteen and fifty-six brought outthat could bear arms, couldna come weel short of fifty-seven thousandfive hundred men. Now, sir, it's a sad and awfu' truth, that there isneither wark, nor the very fashion nor appearance of wark, for the taehalf of thae puir creatures; that is to say, that the agriculture, thepasturage, the fisheries, and every species of honest industry about thecountry, cannot employ the one moiety of the population, let them work aslazily as they like, and they do work as if a pleugh or a spade burnttheir fingers. Aweel, sir, this moiety of unemployed bodies, amountingto"--
"To one hundred and fifteen thousand souls," said Owen, "being the halfof the above product."
"Ye hae't, Mr. Owen--ye hae't--whereof there may be twenty-eight thousandseven hundred able-bodied gillies fit to bear arms, and that do beararms, and will touch or look at nae honest means of livelihood even ifthey could get it--which, lack-a-day! they cannot."
"But is it possible," said I, "Mr. Jarvie, that this can be a justpicture of so large a portion of the island of Britain?"
"Sir, I'll make it as plain as Peter Pasley's pike-staff. I will allowthat ilk parochine, on an average, employs fifty pleughs, whilk is agreat proportion in sic miserable soil as thae creatures hae to labour,and that there may be pasture enough for pleugh-horses, and owsen, andforty or fifty cows; now, to take care o' the pleughs and cattle, we'seallow seventy-five families of six lives in ilk family, and we'se addfifty mair to make even numbers, and ye hae five hundred souls, the taehalf o' the population, employed and maintained in a sort o' fashion, wi'some chance of sour-milk and crowdie; but I wad be glad to ken what theother five hunder are to do?"
"In the name of God!" said I, "what _do_ they do, Mr. Jarvie? It makes meshudder to think of their situation."
"Sir," replied the Bailie, "ye wad maybe shudder mair if ye were livingnear hand them. For, admitting that the tae half of them may make somelittle thing for themsells honestly in the Lowlands by shearing in harst,droving, hay-making, and the like; ye hae still mony hundreds andthousands o' lang-legged Hieland gillies that will neither work nor want,and maun gang thigging and sorning* about on their acquaintance, or liveby doing the laird's bidding, be't right or be't wrang.
* _Thigging_ and _sorning_ was a kind of genteel begging, or rathersomething between begging and robbing, by which the needy in Scotlandused to extort cattle, or the means of subsistence, from those who hadany to give.
And mair especially, mony hundreds o' them come down to the borders ofthe low country, where there's gear to grip, and live by stealing,reiving, lifting cows, and the like depredations--a thing deplorable inony Christian country!--the mair especially, that they take pride in it,and reckon driving a spreagh (whilk is, in plain Scotch, stealing a herdof nowte) a gallant, manly action, and mair befitting of pretty* men (assic reivers will ca' themselves), than to win a day's wage by ony honestthrift.
* The word _pretty_ is or was used in Scotch, in the sense of the German_prachtig,_ and meant a gallant, alert fellow, prompt and ready at hisweapons.
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And the lairds are as bad as the loons; for if they dinna bid them gaereive and harry, the deil a bit they forbid them; and they shelter them,or let them shelter themselves, in their woods and mountains, andstrongholds, whenever the thing's dune. And every ane o' them willmaintain as mony o' his ane name, or his clan, as we say, as he can rapand rend means for; or, whilk's the same thing, as mony as can in onyfashion, fair or foul, mainteen themsells. And there they are wi' gun andpistol, dirk and dourlach, ready to disturb the peace o' the countrywhenever the laird likes; and that's the grievance of the Hielands, whilkare, and hae been for this thousand years by-past, a bike o' the maistlawless unchristian limmers that ever disturbed a douce, quiet,God-fearing neighbourhood, like this o' ours in the west here."
"And this kinsman of yours, and friend of mine, is he one of those greatproprietors who maintain the household troops you speak of?" I inquired.
"Na, na," said Bailie Jarvie; "he's nane o' your great grandees o'chiefs, as they ca' them, neither. Though he is weel born, and lineallydescended frae auld Glenstrae--I ken his lineage--indeed he is a nearkinsman, and, as I said, of gude gentle Hieland blude, though ye maythink weel that I care little about that nonsense--it's a' moonshine inwater--waste threads and thrums, as we say--But I could show ye lettersfrae his father, that was the third aff Glenstrae, to my father DeaconJarvie (peace be wi' his memory!) beginning, Dear Deacon, and ending,your loving kinsman to command,--they are amaist a' about borrowedsiller, sae the gude deacon, that's dead and gane, keepit them asdocuments and evidents--He was a carefu' man."
"But if he is not," I resumed, "one of their chiefs or patriarchalleaders, whom I have heard my father talk of, this kinsman of yours has,at least, much to say in the Highlands, I presume?"
"Ye may say that--nae name better ken'd between the Lennox andBreadalbane. Robin was ance a weel-doing, painstaking drover, as ye wadsee amang ten thousand--It was a pleasure to see him in his belted plaidand brogues, wi' his target at his back, and claymore and dirk at hisbelt, following a hundred Highland stots, and a dozen o' the gillies, asrough and ragged as the beasts they drave. And he was baith civil andjust in his dealings; and if he thought his chapman had made a hardbargain, he wad gie him a luck-penny to the mends. I hae ken'd him gieback five shillings out o' the pund sterling."
"Twenty-five per cent," said Owen--"a heavy discount."
"He wad gie it though, sir, as I tell ye; mair especially if he thoughtthe buyer was a puir man, and couldna stand by a loss. But the times camhard, and Rob was venturesome. It wasna my faut--it wasna my faut; hecanna wyte me--I aye tauld him o't--And the creditors, mair especiallysome grit neighbours o' his, gripped to his living and land; and they sayhis wife was turned out o' the house to the hill-side, and sair misguidedto the boot. Shamefu'! shamefu'!--I am a peacefu' man and a magistrate,but if ony ane had guided sae muckle as my servant quean, Mattie, as it'slike they guided Rob's wife, I think it suld hae set the shabble* that myfather the deacon had at Bothwell brig a-walking again.
* Cutlass.
Weel, Rob cam hame, and fand desolation, God pity us! where he leftplenty; he looked east, west, south, north, and saw neither hauld norhope--neither beild nor shelter; sae he e'en pu'd the bonnet ower hisbrow, belted the broadsword to his side, took to the brae-side, andbecame a broken man."*
* An outlaw.
The voice of the good citizen was broken by his contending feelings. Heobviously, while he professed to contemn the pedigree of his Highlandkinsman, attached a secret feeling of consequence to the connection, andhe spoke of his friend in his prosperity with an overflow of affection,which deepened his sympathy for his misfortunes, and his regret for theirconsequences.
"Thus tempted and urged by despair," said I, seeing Mr. Jarvie did notproceed in his narrative, "I suppose your kinsman became one of thosedepredators you have described to us?"
"No sae bad as that," said the Glaswegian,--"no a'thegither and outrightsae bad as that; but he became a levier of black-mail, wider and fartherthan ever it was raised in our day, a through the Lennox and Menteith,and up to the gates o' Stirling Castle."
"Black-mail?--I do not understand the phrase," I remarked.
"Ou, ye see, Rob soon gathered an unco band o' blue-bonnets at his back,for he comes o' a rough name when he's kent by his ain, and a name that'sheld its ain for mony a lang year, baith again king and parliament, andkirk too, for aught I ken--an auld and honourable name, for as sair as ithas been worried and hadden down and oppressed. My mother was aMacGregor--I carena wha kens it--And Rob had soon a gallant band; and asit grieved him (he said) to see sic _hership_ and waste and depredationto the south o' the Hieland line, why, if ony heritor or farmer wad payhim four punds Scots out of each hundred punds of valued rent, whilkwas doubtless a moderate consideration, Rob engaged to keep themscaithless;--let them send to him if they lost sae muckle as a singlecloot by thieving, and Rob engaged to get them again, or pay thevalue--and he aye keepit his word--I canna deny but he keepit hisword--a' men allow Rob keeps his word."
"This is a very singular contract of assurance," said Mr. Owen.
"It's clean again our statute law, that must be owned," said Jarvie,"clean again law; the levying and the paying black-mail are baithpunishable: but if the law canna protect my barn and byre, whatfor suld Ino engage wi' a Hieland gentleman that can?--answer me that."
"But," said I, "Mr. Jarvie, is this contract of black-mail, as you callit, completely voluntary on the part of the landlord or farmer who paysthe insurance? or what usually happens, in case any one refuses paymentof this tribute?"
"Aha, lad!" said the Bailie, laughing, and putting his finger to hisnose, "ye think ye hae me there. Troth, I wad advise ony friends o' mineto gree wi' Rob; for, watch as they like, and do what they like, they aresair apt to be harried* when the lang nights come on.
* Plundered.
Some o' the Grahame and Cohoon gentry stood out; but what then?--theylost their haill stock the first winter; sae maist folks now think itbest to come into Rob's terms. He's easy wi' a' body that will be easywi' him; but if ye thraw him, ye had better thraw the deevil."
"And by his exploits in these vocations," I continued, "I suppose he hasrendered himself amenable to the laws of the country?"
"Amenable?--ye may say that; his craig wad ken the weight o' his hurdiesif they could get haud o' Rob. But he has gude friends amang the gritfolks; and I could tell ye o' ae grit family that keeps him up as far asthey decently can, to be a them in the side of another. And then he's sican auld-farran lang-headed chield as never took up the trade o' cateranin our time; mony a daft reik he has played--mair than wad fill a book,and a queer ane it wad be--as gude as Robin Hood, or William Wallace--a'fu' o' venturesome deeds and escapes, sic as folk tell ower at a winteringle in the daft days. It's a queer thing o' me, gentlemen, that am aman o' peace mysell, and a peacefu man's son--for the deacon my fatherquarrelled wi' nane out o the town-council--it's a queer thing, I say,but I think the Hieland blude o' me warms at thae daft tales, and whilesI like better to hear them than a word o' profit, gude forgie me! Butthey are vanities--sinfu' vanities--and, moreover, again the statutelaw--again the statute and gospel law."
I now followed up my investigation, by inquiring what means of influencethis Mr. Robert Campbell could possibly possess over my affairs, or thoseof my father.
"Why, ye are to understand," said Mr. Jarvie in a very subdued tone--"Ispeak amang friends, and under the rose--Ye are to understand, that theHielands hae been keepit quiet since the year aughty-nine--that wasKilliecrankie year. But how hae they been keepit quiet, think ye? Bysiller, Mr. Owen--by siller, Mr. Osbaldistone. King William causedBreadalbane distribute twenty thousand oude punds sterling amang them,and it's said the auld Hieland Earl keepit a lang lug o't in his ainsporran. And then Queen Anne, that's dead, gae the chiefs bits o'pensions, sae they had wherewith to support their gillies and cateransthat work nae wark, as I said afore; and they lay by quiet eneugh, sayingsome spreagherie on the Lowlands, whilk is the
ir use and wont, and somecutting o' thrapples amang themsells, that nae civilised body kens orcares onything anent.--Weel, but there's a new warld come up wi' thisKing George (I say, God bless him, for ane)--there's neither like to besiller nor pensions gaun amang them; they haena the means o' mainteeningthe clans that eat them up, as ye may guess frae what I said before;their credit's gane in the Lowlands; and a man that can whistle ye up athousand or feifteen hundred linking lads to do his will, wad hardly getfifty punds on his band at the Cross o' Glasgow--This canna standlang--there will be an outbreak for the Stuarts--there will be anoutbreak--they will come down on the low country like a flood, as theydid in the waefu' wars o' Montrose, and that will be seen and heard tello' ere a twalmonth gangs round."
"Yet still," I said, "I do not see how this concerns Mr. Campbell, muchless my father's affairs."
"Rob can levy five hundred men, sir, and therefore war suld concern himas muckle as maist folk," replied the Bailie; "for it is a faculty thatis far less profitable in time o' peace. Then, to tell ye the truth, Idoubt he has been the prime agent between some o' our Hieland chiefs andthe gentlemen in the north o' England. We a' heard o' the public moneythat was taen frae the chield Morris somewhere about the fit o' Cheviotby Rob and ane o' the Osbaldistone lads; and, to tell ye the truth, wordgaed that it was yoursell Mr. Francis,--and sorry was I that yourfather's son suld hae taen to sic practices--Na, ye needna say a wordabout it--I see weel I was mistaen; but I wad believe onything o' astage-player, whilk I concluded ye to be. But now, I doubtna, it has beenRashleigh himself or some other o' your cousins--they are a' tarred wi'the same stick--rank Jacobites and papists, and wad think the governmentsiller and government papers lawfu' prize. And the creature Morris is sica cowardly caitiff, that to this hour he daurna say that it was Rob tookthe portmanteau aff him; and troth he's right, for your custom-house andexcise cattle are ill liket on a' sides, and Rob might get a back-handedlick at him, before the Board, as they ca't, could help him."
"I have long suspected this, Mr. Jarvie," said I, "and perfectly agreewith you. But as to my father's affairs"--
"Suspected it?--it's certain--it's certain--I ken them that saw some ofthe papers that were taen aff Morris--it's needless to say where. But toyour father's affairs--Ye maun think that in thae twenty years by-gane,some o' the Hieland lairds and chiefs hae come to some sma' sense o'their ain interest--your father and others hae bought the woods ofGlen-Disseries, Glen Kissoch, Tober-na-Kippoch, and mony mair besides,and your father's house has granted large bills in payment,--and as thecredit o' Osbaldistone and Tresham was gude--for I'll say before Mr.Owen's face, as I wad behind his back, that, bating misfortunes o' theLord's sending, nae men could be mair honourable in business--the Hielandgentlemen, holders o' thae bills, hae found credit in Glasgow andEdinburgh--(I might amaist say in Glasgow wholly, for it's little thepridefu' Edinburgh folk do in real business)--for all, or the greaterpart of the contents o' thae bills. So that--Aha! d'ye see me now?"
I confessed I could not quite follow his drift.
"Why," said he, "if these bills are not paid, the Glasgow merchant comeson the Hieland lairds, whae hae deil a boddle o' siller, and will likeill to spew up what is item a' spent--They will turn desperate--fivehundred will rise that might hae sitten at hame--the deil will gae owerJock Wabster--and the stopping of your father's house will hasten theoutbreak that's been sae lang biding us."
"You think, then," said I, surprised at this singular view of the case,"that Rashleigh Osbaldistone has done this injury to my father, merely toaccelerate a rising in the Highlands, by distressing the gentlemen to whomthese bills were originally granted?"
"Doubtless--doubtless--it has been one main reason, Mr. Osbaldistone. Idoubtna but what the ready money he carried off wi' him might be another.But that makes comparatively but a sma' part o' your father's loss,though it might make the maist part o' Rashleigh's direct gain. Theassets he carried off are of nae mair use to him than if he were to lighthis pipe wi' them. He tried if MacVittie & Co. wad gie him siller onthem--that I ken by Andro Wylie--but they were ower auld cats to drawthat strae afore them--they keepit aff, and gae fair words. RashleighOsbaldistone is better ken'd than trusted in Glasgow, for he was hereabout some jacobitical papistical troking in seventeen hundred and seven,and left debt ahint him. Na, na--he canna pit aff the paper here; folkwill misdoubt him how he came by it. Na, na--he'll hae the stuff safe atsome o' their haulds in the Hielands, and I daur say my cousin Rob couldget at it gin he liked."
"But would he be disposed to serve us in this pinch, Mr. Jarvie?" said I."You have described him as an agent of the Jacobite party, and deeplyconnected in their intrigues: will he be disposed for my sake, or, if youplease, for the sake of justice, to make an act of restitution, which,supposing it in his power, would, according to your view of the case,materially interfere with their plans?"
"I canna preceesely speak to that: the grandees among them are doubtfu'o' Rob, and he's doubtfu' o' them.--And he's been weel friended wi' theArgyle family, wha stand for the present model of government. If he wasfreed o' his hornings and captions, he would rather be on Argyle's sidethan he wad be on Breadalbane's, for there's auld ill-will between theBreadalbane family and his kin and name. The truth is, that Rob is forhis ain hand, as Henry Wynd feught*--he'll take the side that suits himbest; if the deil was laird, Rob wad be for being tenant; and ye cannablame him, puir fallow, considering his circumstances.
* Two great clans fought out a quarrel with thirty men of a side, inpresence of the king, on the North Inch of Perth, on or about the year1392; a man was amissing on one side, whose room was filled by a littlebandy-legged citizen of Perth. This substitute, Henry Wynd--or, as theHighlanders called him, _Gow Chrom,_ that is, the bandy-leggedsmith--fought well, and contributed greatly to the fate of the battle,without knowing which side he fought on;--so, "To fight for your ownhand, like Henry Wynd," passed into a proverb. [This incident forms aconspicuous part of the subsequent novel, "The Fair Maid of Perth."]
"But there's ae thing sair again ye--Rob has a grey mear in his stable athame."
"A grey mare?" said I. "What is that to the purpose?"
"The wife, man--the wife,--an awfu' wife she is. She downa bide the sighto' a kindly Scot, if he come frae the Lowlands, far less of an Inglisher,and she'll be keen for a' that can set up King James, and ding down KingGeorge."
"It is very singular," I replied, "that the mercantile transactions ofLondon citizens should become involved with revolutions and rebellions."
"Not at a', man--not at a'," returned Mr. Jarvie; "that's a' your sillyprejudications. I read whiles in the lang dark nights, and I hae read inBaker's Chronicle* that the merchants o'London could gar the Bank ofGenoa break their promise to advance a mighty sum to the King o' Spain,whereby the sailing of the Grand Spanish Armada was put aff for a haillyear--What think you of that, sir?"
* [_The Chronicle of the Kings of England,_ by Sir Richard Baker, withcontinuations, passed through several editions between 1641 and 1733.Whether any of them contain the passage alluded to is doubtful.]
"That the merchants did their country golden service, which ought to behonourably remembered in our histories."
"I think sae too; and they wad do weel, and deserve weal baith o' thestate and o' humanity, that wad save three or four honest Hielandgentlemen frae louping heads ower heels into destruction, wi' a' theirpuir sackless* followers, just because they canna pay back the sillerthey had reason to count upon as their ain--and save your father'scredit--and my ain gude siller that Osbaldistone and Tresham awes me intothe bargain.
* Sackless, that is, innocent.
I say, if ane could manage a' this, I think it suld be done and said untohim, even if he were a puir ca'-the-shuttle body, as unto one whom theking delighteth to honour."
"I cannot pretend to estimate the extent of public gratitude," I replied;"but our own thankfulness, Mr. Jarvie, would be commensurate with theextent of the obligation."
"Which," added Mr. Owen,
"we would endeavour to balance with a _percontra,_ the instant our Mr. Osbaldistone returns from Holland."
"I doubtna--I doubtna--he is a very worthy gentleman, and a sponsible,and wi' some o' my lights might do muckle business in Scotland--Weel,sir, if these assets could be redeemed out o' the hands o' thePhilistines, they are gude paper--they are the right stuff when they arein the right hands, and that's yours, Mr. Owen. And I'se find ye threemen in Glasgow, for as little as ye may think o' us, Mr. Owen--that'sSandie Steenson in the Trade's-Land, and John Pirie in Candleriggs, andanother that sall be nameless at this present, sall advance what soumsare sufficient to secure the credit of your house, and seek nae bettersecurity."
Owen's eyes sparkled at this prospect of extrication; but his countenanceinstantly fell on recollecting how improbable it was that the recovery ofthe assets, as he technically called them, should be successfullyachieved.
"Dinna despair, sir--dinna despair," said Mr. Jarvie; "I hae taen saemuckle concern wi' your affairs already, that it maun een be ower shoonower boots wi' me now. I am just like my father the deacon (praise be wi'him!) I canna meddle wi' a friend's business, but I aye end wi' making itmy ain--Sae, I'll e'en pit on my boots the morn, and be jogging owerDrymen Muir wi' Mr. Frank here; and if I canna mak Rob hear reason, andhis wife too, I dinna ken wha can--I hae been a kind freend to them aforenow, to say naething o' ower-looking him last night, when naming his namewad hae cost him his life--I'll be hearing o' this in the council maybefrae Bailie Grahame and MacVittie, and some o' them. They hae coost upmy kindred to Rob to me already--set up their nashgabs! I tauld them Iwad vindicate nae man's faults; but set apart what he had done again thelaw o' the country, and the hership o' the Lennox, and the misfortune o'some folk losing life by him, he was an honester man than stood on ony o'their shanks--And whatfor suld I mind their clavers? If Rob is an outlaw,to himsell be it said--there is nae laws now about reset ofinter-communed persons, as there was in the ill times o' the lastStuarts--I trow I hae a Scotch tongue in my head--if they speak, I'seanswer."
It was with great pleasure that I saw the Bailie gradually surmount thebarriers of caution, under the united influence of public spirit andgood-natured interest in our affairs, together with his natural wish toavoid loss and acquire gain, and not a little harmless vanity. Throughthe combined operation of these motives, he at length arrived at thedoughty resolution of taking the field in person, to aid in the recoveryof my father's property. His whole information led me to believe, that ifthe papers were in possession of this Highland adventurer, it might bepossible to induce him to surrender what he could not keep with anyprospect of personal advantage; and I was conscious that the presence ofhis kinsman was likely to have considerable weight with him. I thereforecheerfully acquiesced in Mr. Jarvie's proposal that we should set outearly next morning.
That honest gentleman was indeed as vivacious and alert in preparing tocarry his purpose into execution, as he had been slow and cautious informing it. He roared to Mattie to "air his trot-cosey, to have hisjack-boots greased and set before the kitchen-fire all night, and to seethat his beast be corned, and a' his riding gear in order." Having agreedto meet him at five o'clock next morning, and having settled that Owen,whose presence could be of no use to us upon this expedition, shouldawait our return at Glasgow, we took a kind farewell of this unexpectedlyzealous friend. I installed Owen in an apartment in my lodgings,contiguous to my own, and, giving orders to Andrew Fairservice to attendme next morning at the hour appointed, I retired to rest with betterhopes than it had lately been my fortune to entertain.
