Waverley; Or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since — Volume 2

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER XLIV

  THE MARCH

  The conflicting passions and exhausted feelings of Waverley hadresigned him to late but sound repose. He was dreaming ofGlennaquoich, and had transferred to the halls of lan nan Chaistelthe festal train which so lately graced those of Holyrood. Thepibroch too was distinctly heard; and this at least was nodelusion, for the 'proud step of the chief piper' of the 'chlainMacIvor' was perambulating the court before the door of hisChieftain's quarters, and as Mrs. Flockhart, apparently no friendto his minstrelsy, was pleased to observe, 'garring the verystane-and-lime wa's dingle wi' his screeching.' Of course it soonbecame too powerful for Waverley's dream, with which it had atfirst rather harmonised.

  The sound of Callum's brogues in his apartment (for Mac-Ivor hadagain assigned Waverley to his care) was the next note of parting.'Winna yer honour bang up? Vich lan Vohr and ta Prince are awa tothe lang green glen ahint the clachan, tat they ca' the King'sPark, [Footnote: The main body of the Highland army encamped, orrather bivouacked, in that part of the King's Park which liestowards the village of Duddingston.] and mony ane's on his ainshanks the day that will be carried on ither folk's ere night.'

  Waverley sprung up, and, with Callum's assistance andinstructions, adjusted his tartans in proper costume. Callum toldhim also,' tat his leather dorlach wi' the lock on her was comefrae Doune, and she was awa again in the wain wi' Vich Ian Vohr'swalise.'

  By this periphrasis Waverley readily apprehended his portmanteauwas intended. He thought upon the mysterious packet of the maid ofthe cavern, which seemed always to escape him when within his verygrasp. But this was no time for indulgence of curiosity; andhaving declined Mrs. Flockhart's compliment of a MORNING, i.e. amatutinal dram, being probably the only man in the Chevalier'sarmy by whom such a courtesy would have been rejected, he made hisadieus and departed with Callum.

  'Callum,' said he, as they proceeded down a dirty close to gainthe southern skirts of the Canongate, 'what shall I do for ahorse?'

  'Ta deil ane ye maun think o',' said Callum. 'Vich Ian Vohr'smarching on foot at the head o' his kin (not to say ta Prince, whadoes the like), wi' his target on his shoulder; and ye maun e'enbe neighbour-like.'

  'And so I will, Callum, give me my target; so, there we are fixed.How does it look?'

  'Like the bra' Highlander tat's painted on the board afore themickle change-house they ca' Luckie Middlemass's,' answeredCallum; meaning, I must observe, a high compliment, for in hisopinion Luckie Middlemass's sign was an exquisite specimen of art.Waverley, however, not feeling the full force of this politesimile, asked him no further questions.

  Upon extricating themselves from the mean and dirty suburbs of themetropolis, and emerging into the open air, Waverley felt arenewal of both health and spirits, and turned his recollectionwith firmness upon the events of the preceding evening, and withhope and resolution towards those of the approaching day.

  When he had surmounted a small craggy eminence called St.Leonard's Hill, the King's Park, or the hollow between themountain of Arthur's Seat and the rising grounds on which thesouthern part of Edinburgh is now built, lay beneath him, anddisplayed a singular and animating prospect. It was occupied bythe army of the Highlanders, now in the act of preparing for theirmarch. Waverley had already seen something of the kind at thehunting-match which he attended with Fergus MacIvor; but this wason a scale of much greater magnitude, and incomparably deeperinterest. The rocks, which formed the background of the scene, andthe very sky itself, rang with the clang of the bagpipers,summoning forth, each with his appropriate pibroch, his chieftainand clan. The mountaineers, rousing themselves from their couchunder the canopy of heaven with the hum and bustle of a confusedand irregular multitude, like bees alarmed and arming in theirhives, seemed to possess all the pliability of movement fitted toexecute military manoeuvres. Their motions appeared spontaneousand confused, but the result was order and regularity; so that ageneral must have praised the conclusion, though a martinet mighthave ridiculed the method by which it was attained.

  The sort of complicated medley created by the hasty arrangementsof the various clans under their respective banners, for thepurpose of getting into the order of march, was in itself a gayand lively spectacle. They had no tents to strike havinggenerally, and by choice, slept upon the open field, although theautumn was now waning and the nights began to be frosty. For alittle space, while they were getting into order, there wasexhibited a changing, fluctuating, and confused appearance ofwaving tartans and floating plumes, and of banners displaying theproud gathering word of Clanronald, Ganion Coheriga (Gainsay whodares), Loch-Sloy, the watchword of the MacFarlanes; Forth,fortune, and fill the fetters, the motto of the Marquis ofTullibardine; Bydand, that of Lord Lewis Gordon, and theappropriate signal words and emblems of many other chieftains andclans.

  At length the mixed and wavering multitude arranged themselvesinto a narrow and dusky column of great length, stretching throughthe whole extent of the valley. In the front of the column thestandard of the Chevalier was displayed, bearing a red cross upona white ground, with the motto Tandem Triumphans. The few cavalry,being chiefly Lowland gentry, with their domestic servants andretainers, formed the advanced guard of the army; and theirstandards, of which they had rather too many in respect of theirnumbers, were seen waving upon the extreme verge of the horizon.Many horsemen of this body, among whom Waverley accidentallyremarked Balmawhapple and his lieutenant, Jinker (which last,however, had been reduced, with several others, by the advice ofthe Baron of Bradwardine, to the situation of what he calledreformed officers, or reformadoes), added to the liveliness,though by no means to the regularity, of the scene, by gallopingtheir horses as fast forward as the press would permit, to jointheir proper station in the van. The fascinations of the Circes ofthe High Street, and the potations of strength with which they hadbeen drenched over night, had probably detained these heroeswithin the walls of Edinburgh somewhat later than was consistentwith their morning duty. Of such loiterers, the prudent took thelonger and circuitous, but more open, route to attain their placein the march, by keeping at some distance from the infantry, andmaking their way through the inclosures to the right, at theexpense of leaping over or pulling down the drystone fences. Theirregular appearance and vanishing of these small parties ofhorsemen, as well as the confusion occasioned by those whoendeavoured, though generally without effect, to press to thefront through the crowd of Highlanders, maugre their curses,oaths, and opposition, added to the picturesque wildness what ittook from the military regularity of the scene.

  While Waverley gazed upon this remarkable spectacle, rendered yetmore impressive by the occasional discharge of cannon-shot fromthe Castle at the Highland guards as they were withdrawn from itsvicinity to join their main body, Callum, with his usual freedomof interference, reminded him that Vich lan Vohr's folk werenearly at the head of the column of march which was still distant,and that 'they would gang very fast after the cannon fired.' Thusadmonished, Waverley walked briskly forward, yet often casting aglance upon the darksome clouds of warriors who were collectedbefore and beneath him. A nearer view, indeed, rather diminishedthe effect impressed on the mind by the more distant appearance ofthe army. The leading men of each clan were well armed with broad-sword, target, and fusee, to which all added the dirk, and mostthe steel pistol. But these consisted of gentlemen, that is,relations of the chief, however distant, and who had an immediatetitle to his countenance and protection. Finer and hardier mencould not have been selected out of any army in Christendom; whilethe free and independent habits which each possessed, and whicheach was yet so well taught to subject to the command of hischief, and the peculiar mode of discipline adopted in Highlandwarfare, rendered them equally formidable by their individualcourage and high spirit, and from their rational conviction of thenecessity of acting in unison, and of giving their national modeof attack the fullest opportunity of success.

  But, in a lower rank to these, there were found individuals of aninferior description, the common
peasantry of the Highlandcountry, who, although they did not allow themselves to be socalled, and claimed often, with apparent truth, to be of moreancient descent than the masters whom they served, bore,nevertheless, the livery of extreme penury, being indifferentlyaccoutred, and worse armed, half naked, stinted in growth, andmiserable in aspect. Each important clan had some of those Helotsattached to them: thus, the MacCouls, though tracing their descentfrom Comhal, the father of Finn or Fingal, were a sort ofGibeonites, or hereditary servants to the Stewarts of Appin; theMacbeths, descended from the unhappy monarch of that name, weresubjects to the Morays and clan Donnochy, or Robertsons of Athole;and many other examples might be given, were it not for the riskof hurting any pride of clanship which may yet be left, andthereby drawing a Highland tempest into the shop of my publisher.Now these same Helots, though forced into the field by thearbitrary authority of the chieftains under whom they hewed woodand drew water, were in general very sparingly fed, ill dressed,and worse armed. The latter circumstance was indeed owing chieflyto the general disarming act, which had been carried into effectostensibly through the whole Highlands, although most of thechieftains contrived to elude its influence by retaining theweapons of their own immediate clansmen, and delivering up thoseof less value, which they collected from these inferiorsatellites. It followed, as a matter of course, that, as we havealready hinted, many of these poor fellows were brought to thefield in a very wretched condition.

  From this it happened that, in bodies, the van of which wereadmirably well armed in their own fashion, the rear resembledactual banditti. Here was a pole-axe, there a sword without ascabbard; here a gun without a lock, there a scythe set straightupon a pole; and some had only their dirks, and bludgeons orstakes pulled out of hedges. The grim, uncombed, and wildappearance of these men, most of whom gazed with all theadmiration of ignorance upon the most ordinary productions ofdomestic art, created surprise in the Lowlands, but it alsocreated terror. So little was the condition of the Highlands knownat that late period that the character and appearance of theirpopulation, while thus sallying forth as military adventurers,conveyed to the South-Country Lowlanders as much surprise as if aninvasion of African Negroes or Esquimaux Indians had issued forthfrom the northern mountains of their own native country. It cannottherefore be wondered if Waverley, who had hitherto judged of theHighlanders generally from the samples which the policy of Fergushad from time to time exhibited, should have felt damped andastonished at the daring attempt of a body not then exceeding fourthousand men, and of whom not above half the number, at theutmost, were armed, to change the fate and alter the dynasty ofthe British kingdoms.

  As he moved along the column, which still remained stationary, aniron gun, the only piece of artillery possessed by the army whichmeditated so important a revolution, was fired as the signal ofmarch. The Chevalier had expressed a wish to leave this uselesspiece of ordnance behind him; but, to his surprise, the Highlandchiefs interposed to solicit that it might accompany their march,pleading the prejudices of their followers, who, little accustomedto artillery, attached a degree of absurd importance to thisfield-piece, and expected it would contribute essentially to avictory which they could only owe to their own muskets andbroadswords. Two or three French artillerymen were thereforeappointed to the management of this military engine, which wasdrawn along by a string of Highland ponies, and was, after all,only used for the purpose of firing signals. [Footnote: See Note6.]

  No sooner was its voice heard upon the present occasion than thewhole line was in motion. A wild cry of joy from the advancingbatallions rent the air, and was then lost in the shrill clangourof the bagpipes, as the sound of these, in their turn, waspartially drowned by the heavy tread of so many men put at onceinto motion. The banners glittered and shook as they movedforward, and the horse hastened to occupy their station as theadvanced guard, and to push on reconnoitring parties to ascertainand report the motions of the enemy. They vanished from Waverley'seye as they wheeled round the base of Arthur's Seat, under theremarkable ridge of basaltic rocks which fronts the little lake ofDuddingston.

  The infantry followed in the same direction, regulating their paceby another body which occupied a road more to the southward. Itcost Edward some exertion of activity to attain the place whichFergus's followers occupied in the line of march.