by Walter Scott
CHAPTER VIII.
The devil a puritan, or any thing else he is, but a time-server. Twelfth Night.
It was evening when Mr Henry Morton perceived an old woman, wrapped inher tartan plaid, supported by a stout, stupid-looking fellow, inhoddin-grey, approach the house of Milnwood. Old Mause made her courtesy,but Cuddie took the lead in addressing Morton. Indeed, he had previouslystipulated with his mother that he was to manage matters his own way; forthough he readily allowed his general inferiority of understanding, andfilially submitted to the guidance of his mother on most ordinaryoccasions, yet he said, "For getting a service, or getting forward in thewarld, he could somegate gar the wee pickle sense he had gang mucklefarther than hers, though she could crack like ony minister o' them a'."
Accordingly, he thus opened the conversation with young Morton: "A brawnight this for the rye, your honour; the west park will be breeringbravely this e'en."
"I do not doubt it, Cuddie; but what can have brought your mother--thisis your mother, is it not?" (Cuddie nodded.) "What can have brought yourmother and you down the water so late?"
"Troth, stir, just what gars the auld wives trot--neshessity, stir--I'mseeking for service, stir."
"For service, Cuddie, and at this time of the year? how comes that?"
Mause could forbear no longer. Proud alike of her cause and hersufferings, she commenced with an affected humility of tone, "It haspleased Heaven, an it like your honour, to distinguish us by avisitation"--"Deil's in the wife and nae gude!" whispered Cuddie to hismother, "an ye come out wi' your whiggery, they'll no daur open a door tous through the haill country!" Then aloud and addressing Morton, "Mymother's auld, stir, and she has rather forgotten hersell in speaking tomy leddy, that canna weel bide to be contradickit, (as I ken nae-bodylikes it if they could help themsells,) especially by her ain folk,--andMr Harrison the steward, and Gudyill the butler, they're no very fond o'us, and it's ill sitting at Rome and striving wi' the Pope; sae I thoughtit best to flit before ill came to waur--and here's a wee bit line toyour honour frae a friend will maybe say some mair about it."
Morton took the billet, and crimsoning up to the ears, between joy andsurprise, read these words: "If you can serve these poor helpless people,you will oblige E. B."
It was a few instants before he could attain composure enough to ask,"And what is your object, Cuddie? and how can I be of use to you?"
"Wark, stir, wark, and a service, is my object--a bit beild for my mitherand mysell--we hae gude plenishing o' our ain, if we had the cast o' acart to bring it down--and milk and meal, and greens enow, for I'm gaygleg at meal-time, and sae is my mither, lang may it be sae--And, for thepenny-fee and a' that, I'll just leave it to the laird and you. I kenye'll no see a poor lad wranged, if ye can help it."
Morton shook his head. "For the meat and lodging, Cuddie, I think I canpromise something; but the penny-fee will be a hard chapter, I doubt."
"I'll tak my chance o't, stir," replied the candidate for service,"rather than gang down about Hamilton, or ony sic far country."
"Well; step into the kitchen, Cuddie, and I'll do what I can for you."
The negotiation was not without difficulties. Morton had first to bringover the housekeeper, who made a thousand objections, as usual, in orderto have the pleasure of being besought and entreated; but, when she wasgained over, it was comparatively easy to induce old Milnwood to acceptof a servant, whose wages were to be in his own option. An outhouse was,therefore, assigned to Mause and her son for their habitation, and it wassettled that they were for the time to be admitted to eat of the frugalfare provided for the family, until their own establishment should becompleted. As for Morton, he exhausted his own very slender stock ofmoney in order to make Cuddie such a present, under the name of arles, asmight show his sense of the value of the recommendation delivered to him.
"And now we're settled ance mair," said: Cuddie to his mother, "and ifwe're no sae bien and comfortable as we were up yonder, yet life's lifeony gate, and we're wi' decent kirk-ganging folk o' your ain persuasion,mither; there will be nae quarrelling about that."
"Of my persuasion, hinnie!" said the too-enlightened Mause; "wae's me forthy blindness and theirs. O, Cuddie, they are but in the court of theGentiles, and will ne'er win farther ben, I doubt; they are but littlebetter than the prelatists themsells. They wait on the ministry of thatblinded man, Peter Poundtext, ance a precious teacher of the Word, butnow a backsliding pastor, that has, for the sake of stipend and familymaintenance, forsaken the strict path, and gane astray after the blackIndulgence. O, my son, had ye but profited by the gospel doctrines ye haeheard in the Glen of Bengonnar, frae the dear Richard Rumbleberry, thatsweet youth, who suffered martyrdom in the Grassmarket, afore Candlemas!Didna ye hear him say, that Erastianism was as bad as Prelacy, and thatthe Indulgence was as bad as Erastianism?"
"Heard ever ony body the like o' this!" interrupted Cuddie; "we'll bedriven out o' house and ha' again afore we ken where to turn oursells.Weej, mither, I hae just ae word mair--An I hear ony mair o' yourdin--afore folk, that is, for I dinna mind your clavers mysell, they ayeset me sleeping--but if I hear ony mair din afore folk, as I was saying,about Poundtexts and Rumbleberries, and doctrines and malignants, I'see'en turn a single sodger mysell, or maybe a sergeant or a captain, if yeplague me the mair, and let Rumbleberry and you gang to the deilthegither. I ne'er gat ony gude by his doctrine, as ye ca't, but a sourfit o' the batts wi' sitting amang the wat moss-hags for four hours at ayoking, and the leddy cured me wi' some hickery-pickery; mair by token,an she had kend how I came by the disorder, she wadna hae been in sic ahurry to mend it."
Although groaning in spirit over the obdurate and impenitent state, asshe thought it, of her son Cuddie, Mause durst neither urge him fartheron the topic, nor altogether neglect the warning he had given her. Sheknew the disposition of her deceased helpmate, whom this surviving pledgeof their union greatly resembled, and remembered, that althoughsubmitting implicitly in most things to her boast of superior acuteness,he used on certain occasions, when driven to extremity, to be seized withfits of obstinacy, which neither remonstrance, flattery, nor threats,were capable of overpowering. Trembling, therefore, at the verypossibility of Cuddie's fulfilling his threat, she put a guard over hertongue, and even when Poundtext was commended in her presence, as an ableand fructifying preacher, she had the good sense to suppress thecontradiction which thrilled upon her tongue, and to express hersentiments no otherwise than by deep groans, which the hearers charitablyconstrued to flow from a vivid recollection of the more pathetic parts ofhis homilies. How long she could have repressed her feelings it isdifficult to say. An unexpected accident relieved her from the necessity.
The Laird of Milnwood kept up all old fashions which were connected witheconomy. It was, therefore, still the custom in his house, as it had beenuniversal in Scotland about fifty years before, that the domestics, afterhaving placed the dinner on the table, sate down at the lower end of theboard, and partook of the share which was assigned to them, in companywith their masters. On the day, therefore, after Cuddie's arrival, beingthe third from the opening of this narrative, old Robin, who was butler,valet-de-chambre, footman, gardener, and what not, in the house ofMilnwood, placed on the table an immense charger of broth, thickened withoatmeal and colewort, in which ocean of liquid was indistinctlydiscovered, by close observers, two or three short ribs of lean muttonsailing to and fro. Two huge baskets, one of bread made of barley andpease, and one of oat-cakes, flanked this standing dish. A large boiledsalmon would now-a-days have indicated more liberal house-keeping; but atthat period salmon was caught in such plenty in the considerable riversin Scotland, that instead of being accounted a delicacy, it was generallyapplied to feed the servants, who are said sometimes to have stipulatedthat they should not be required to eat a food so luscious and surfeitingin its quality above five times a-week. The large black jack, filled withvery small beer of Milnwood's own brewing, was al
lowed to the company atdiscretion, as were the bannocks, cakes, and broth; but the mutton wasreserved for the heads of the family, Mrs Wilson included: and a measureof ale, somewhat deserving the name, was set apart in a silver tankardfor their exclusive use. A huge kebbock, (a cheese, that is, made withewemilk mixed with cow's milk,) and a jar of salt butter, were in commonto the company.
To enjoy this exquisite cheer, was placed, at the head of the table, theold Laird himself, with his nephew on the one side, and the favouritehousekeeper on the other. At a long interval, and beneath the salt ofcourse, sate old Robin, a meagre, half-starved serving-man, renderedcross and cripple by rheumatism, and a dirty drab of a housemaid, whomuse had rendered callous to the daily exercitations which her temperunderwent at the hands of her master and Mrs Wilson. A barnman, awhite-headed cow-herd boy, with Cuddie the new ploughman and his mother,completed the party. The other labourers belonging to the propertyresided in their own houses, happy at least in this, that if their cheerwas not more delicate than that which we have described, they could eattheir fill, unwatched by the sharp, envious grey eyes of Milnwood, whichseemed to measure the quantity that each of his dependents swallowed, asclosely as if their glances attended each mouthful in its progress fromthe lips to the stomach. This close inspection was unfavourable toCuddie, who sustained much prejudice in his new master's opinion, by thesilent celerity with which he caused the victuals to disappear beforehim. And ever and anon Milnwood turned his eyes from the huge feeder tocast indignant glances upon his nephew, whose repugnance to rustic labourwas the principal cause of his needing a ploughman, and who had been thedirect means of his hiring this very cormorant.
"Pay thee wages, quotha?" said Milnwood to himself,--"Thou wilt eat in aweek the value of mair than thou canst work for in a month."
These disagreeable ruminations were interrupted by a loud knocking at theouter-gate. It was a universal custom in Scotland, that, when the familywas at dinner, the outer-gate of the courtyard, if there was one, and ifnot, the door of the house itself, was always shut and locked, and onlyguests of importance, or persons upon urgent business, sought or receivedadmittance at that time.
[Note: Locking the Door during Dinner. The custom of keeping the door of a house or chateau locked during the time of dinner, probably arose from the family being anciently assembled in the hall at that meal, and liable to surprise. But it was in many instances continued as a point of high etiquette, of which the following is an example:
A considerable landed proprietor in Dumfries-shire, being a bachelor, without near relations, and determined to make his will, resolved previously to visit his two nearest kinsmen, and decide which should be his heir, according to the degree of kindness with which he should be received. Like a good clansman, he first visited his own chief, a baronet in rank, descendant and representative of one of the oldest families in Scotland. Unhappily the dinner-bell had rung, and the door of the castle had been locked before his arrival. The visitor in vain announced his name and requested admittance; but his chief adhered to the ancient etiquette, and would on no account suffer the doors to be unbarred. Irritated at this cold reception, the old Laird rode on to Sanquhar Castle, then the residence of the Duke of Queensberry, who no sooner heard his name, than, knowing well he had a will to make, the drawbridge dropped, and the gates flew open--the table was covered anew--his grace's bachelor and intestate kinsman was received with the utmost attention and respect; and it is scarcely necessary to add, that upon his death some years after, the visitor's considerable landed property went to augment the domains of the Ducal House of Queensberry. This happened about the end of the seventeenth century.]
The family of Milnwood were therefore surprised, and, in the unsettledstate of the times, something alarmed, at the earnest and repeatedknocking with which the gate was now assailed. Mrs Wilson ran in personto the door, and, having reconnoitred those who were so clamorous foradmittance, through some secret aperture with which most Scottishdoor-ways were furnished for the express purpose, she returned wringingher hands in great dismay, exclaiming, "The red-coats! the red-coats!"
"Robin--Ploughman--what ca' they ye?--Barnsman--Nevoy Harry--open thedoor, open the door!" exclaimed old Milnwood, snatching up and slippinginto his pocket the two or three silver spoons with which the upper endof the table was garnished, those beneath the salt being of goodly horn."Speak them fair, sirs--Lord love ye, speak them fair--they winna bidethrawing--we're a' harried--we're a' harried!"
While the servants admitted the troopers, whose oaths and threats alreadyindicated resentment at the delay they had been put to, Cuddie took theopportunity to whisper to his mother, "Now, ye daft auld carline, makyoursell deaf--ye hae made us a' deaf ere now--and let me speak for ye. Iwad like ill to get my neck raxed for an auld wife's clashes, though yebe our mither."
"O, hinny, ay; I'se be silent or thou sall come to ill," was thecorresponding whisper of Mause "but bethink ye, my dear, them that denythe Word, the Word will deny"--Her admonition was cut short by theentrance of the Life-Guardsmen, a party of four troopers, commanded byBothwell.
In they tramped, making a tremendous clatter upon the stone-floor withthe iron-shod heels of their large jack-boots, and the clash and clang oftheir long, heavy, basket-hilted broadswords. Milnwood and hishousekeeper trembled, from well-grounded apprehensions of the system ofexaction and plunder carried on during these domiciliary visits. HenryMorton was discomposed with more special cause, for he remembered that hestood answerable to the laws for having harboured Burley. The widow MauseHeadrigg, between fear for her son's life and an overstrained andenthusiastic zeal, which reproached her for consenting even tacitly tobelie her religious sentiments, was in a strange quandary. The otherservants quaked for they knew not well what. Cuddie alone, with the lookof supreme indifference and stupidity which a Scottish peasant can attimes assume as a mask for considerable shrewdness and craft, continuedto swallow large spoonfuls of his broth, to command which he had drawnwithin his sphere the large vessel that contained it, and helped himself,amid the confusion, to a sevenfold portion.
"What is your pleasure here, gentlemen?" said Milnwood, humbling himselfbefore the satellites of power.
"We come in behalf of the king," answered Bothwell; "why the devil didyou keep us so long standing at the door?"
"We were at dinner," answered Milnwood, "and the door was locked, as isusual in landward towns [Note: The Scots retain the use of the word townin its comprehensive Saxon meaning, as a place of habitation. A mansionor a farm house, though solitary, is called the town. A landward town isa dwelling situated in the country.] in this country. I am sure,gentlemen, if I had kend ony servants of our gude king had stood at thedoor--But wad ye please to drink some ale--or some brandy--or a cup ofcanary sack, or claret wine?" making a pause between each offer as longas a stingy bidder at an auction, who is loath to advance his offer for afavourite lot.
"Claret for me," said one fellow.
"I like ale better," said another, "provided it is right juice of JohnBarleycorn."
"Better never was malted," said Milnwood; "I can hardly say sae mucklefor the claret. It's thin and cauld, gentlemen."
"Brandy will cure that," said a third fellow; "a glass of brandy to threeglasses of wine prevents the curmurring in the stomach."
"Brandy, ale, sack, and claret?--we'll try them all," said Bothwell, "andstick to that which is best. There's good sense in that, if the damn'destwhig in Scotland had said it."
Hastily, yet with a reluctant quiver of his muscles, Milnwood lugged outtwo ponderous keys, and delivered them to the governante.
"The housekeeper," said Bothwell, taking a seat, and throwing himselfupon it, "is neither so young nor so handsome as to tempt a man to followher to the gauntrees, and devil a one here is there worth sending in herplace.--What's this?--meat?" (searching with a fork among the broth, andfishing up a cutlet of mutton)--"I think I c
ould eat a bit--why, it's astough as if the devil's dam had hatched it."
"If there is any thing better in the house, sir," said Milnwood, alarmedat these symptoms of disapprobation--"No, no," said Bothwell, "it's notworth while, I must proceed to business.--You attend Poundtext, thepresbyterian parson, I understand, Mr Morton?"
Mr Morton hastened to slide in a confession and apology.
"By the indulgence of his gracious majesty and the government, for I waddo nothing out of law--I hae nae objection whatever to the establishmentof a moderate episcopacy, but only that I am a country-bred man, and theministers are a hamelier kind of folk, and I can follow their doctrinebetter; and, with reverence, sir, it's a mair frugal establishment forthe country."
"Well, I care nothing about that," said Bothwell; "they are indulged, andthere's an end of it; but, for my part, if I were to give the law, nevera crop-ear'd cur of the whole pack should bark in a Scotch pulpit.However, I am to obey commands.--There comes the liquor; put it down, mygood old lady."
He decanted about one-half of a quart bottle of claret into a woodenquaigh or bicker, and took it off at a draught.
"You did your good wine injustice, my friend;--it's better than yourbrandy, though that's good too. Will you pledge me to the king's health?"
"With pleasure," said Milnwood, "in ale,--but I never drink claret, andkeep only a very little for some honoured friends."
"Like me, I suppose," said Bothwell; and then, pushing the bottle toHenry, he said, "Here, young man, pledge you the king's health."
Henry filled a moderate glass in silence, regardless of the hints andpushes of his uncle, which seemed to indicate that he ought to havefollowed his example, in preferring beer to wine.
"Well," said Bothwell, "have ye all drank the toast?--What is that oldwife about? Give her a glass of brandy, she shall drink the king'shealth, by"--"If your honour pleases," said Cuddie, with great stolidityof aspect, "this is my mither, stir; and she's as deaf as Corra-linn; wecanna mak her hear day nor door; but if your honour pleases, I am readyto drink the king's health for her in as mony glasses of brandy as yethink neshessary."
"I dare swear you are," answered Bothwell; "you look like a fellow thatwould stick to brandy--help thyself, man; all's free where'er I come.--Tom, help the maid to a comfortable cup, though she's but a dirty jiltneither. Fill round once more--Here's to our noble commander, ColonelGraham of Claverhouse!--What the devil is the old woman groaning for? Shelooks as very a whig as ever sate on a hill-side--Do you renounce theCovenant, good woman?"
"Whilk Covenant is your honour meaning? Is it the Covenant of Works, orthe Covenant of Grace?" said Cuddie, interposing.
"Any covenant; all covenants that ever were hatched," answered thetrooper.
"Mither," cried Cuddie, affecting to speak as to a deaf person, "thegentleman wants to ken if ye will renunce the Covenant of Works?"
"With all my heart, Cuddie," said Mause, "and pray that my feet may bedelivered from the snare thereof."
"Come," said Bothwell, "the old dame has come more frankly off than Iexpected. Another cup round, and then we'll proceed to business.--Youhave all heard, I suppose, of the horrid and barbarous murder committedupon the person of the Archbishop of St Andrews, by ten or eleven armedfanatics?"
All started and looked at each other; at length Milnwood himselfanswered, "They had heard of some such misfortune, but were in hopes ithad not been true."
"There is the relation published by government, old gentleman; what doyou think of it?"
"Think, sir? Wh--wh--whatever the council please to think of it,"stammered Milnwood.
"I desire to have your opinion more explicitly, my friend," said thedragoon, authoritatively.
Milnwood's eyes hastily glanced through the paper to pick out thestrongest expressions of censure with which it abounded, in gleaningwhich he was greatly aided by their being printed in italics.
"I think it a--bloody and execrable--murder and parricide--devised byhellish and implacable cruelty--utterly abominable, and a scandal to theland."
"Well said, old gentleman!" said the querist--"Here's to thee, and I wishyou joy of your good principles. You owe me a cup of thanks for havingtaught you them; nay, thou shalt pledge me in thine own sack--sour alesits ill upon a loyal stomach.--Now comes your turn, young man; whatthink you of the matter in hand?"
"I should have little objection to answer you," said Henry, "if I knewwhat right you had to put the question."
"The Lord preserve us!" said the old housekeeper, "to ask the like o'that at a trooper, when a' folk ken they do whatever they like throughthe haill country wi' man and woman, beast and body."
The old gentleman exclaimed, in the same horror at his nephew's audacity,"Hold your peace, sir, or answer the gentleman discreetly. Do you mean toaffront the king's authority in the person of a sergeant of theLife-Guards?"
"Silence, all of you!" exclaimed Bothwell, striking his hand fiercely onthe table--"Silence, every one of you, and hear me!--You ask me for myright to examine you, sir (to Henry); my cockade and my broadsword are mycommission, and a better one than ever Old Nol gave to his roundheads;and if you want to know more about it, you may look at the act of councilempowering his majesty's officers and soldiers to search for, examine,and apprehend suspicious persons; and, therefore, once more, I ask youyour opinion of the death of Archbishop Sharpe--it's a new touch-stone wehave got for trying people's metal."
Henry had, by this time, reflected upon the useless risk to which hewould expose the family by resisting the tyrannical power which wasdelegated to such rude hands; he therefore read the narrative over, andreplied, composedly, "I have no hesitation to say, that the perpetratorsof this assassination have committed, in my opinion, a rash and wickedaction, which I regret the more, as I foresee it will be made the causeof proceedings against many who are both innocent of the deed, and as farfrom approving it as myself."
While Henry thus expressed himself, Bothwell, who bent his eyes keenlyupon him, seemed suddenly to recollect his features.
"Aha! my friend Captain Popinjay, I think I have seen you before, and invery suspicious company."
"I saw you once," answered Henry, "in the public-house of the town of--."
"And with whom did you leave that public-house, youngster?--Was it notwith John Balfour of Burley, one of the murderers of the Archbishop?"
"I did leave the house with the person you have named," answered Henry,"I scorn to deny it; but, so far from knowing him to be a murderer of theprimate, I did not even know at the time that such a crime had beencommitted."
"Lord have mercy on me, I am ruined!--utterly ruined and undone!"exclaimed Milnwood. "That callant's tongue will rin the head aff his ainshoulders, and waste my gudes to the very grey cloak on my back!"
"But you knew Burley," continued Bothwell, still addressing Henry, andregardless of his uncle's interruption, "to be an intercommuned rebel andtraitor, and you knew the prohibition to deal with such persons. Youknew, that, as a loyal subject, you were prohibited to reset, supply, orintercommune with this attainted traitor, to correspond with him by word,writ, or message, or to supply him with meat, drink, house, harbour, orvictual, under the highest pains--you knew all this, and yet you brokethe law." (Henry was silent.) "Where did you part from him?" continuedBothwell; "was it in the highway, or did you give him harbourage in thisvery house?"
"In this house!" said his uncle; "he dared not for his neck bring onytraitor into a house of mine."
"Dare he deny that he did so?" said Bothwell.
"As you charge it to me as a crime," said Henry, "you will excuse mysaying any thing that will criminate myself."
"O, the lands of Milnwood!--the bonny lands of Milnwood, that have beenin the name of Morton twa hundred years!" exclaimed his uncle; "they arebarking and fleeing, outfield and infield, haugh and holme!"
"No, sir," said Henry, "you shall not suffer on my account.--I own," hecontinued, addressing Bothwell, "I did give this man a night's lodging,as to an old mili
tary comrade of my father. But it was not only withoutmy uncle's knowledge, but contrary to his express general orders. Itrust, if my evidence is considered as good against myself, it will havesome weight in proving my uncle's innocence."
"Come, young man," said the soldier, in a somewhat milder tone, "you're asmart spark enough, and I am sorry for you; and your uncle here is a fineold Trojan, kinder, I see, to his guests than himself, for he gives uswine and drinks his own thin ale--tell me all you know about this Burley,what he said when you parted from him, where he went, and where he islikely now to be found; and, d--n it, I'll wink as hard on your share ofthe business as my duty will permit. There's a thousand merks on themurdering whigamore's head, an I could but light on it--Come, out withit--where did you part with him?"
"You will excuse my answering that question, sir," said Morton; "the samecogent reasons which induced me to afford him hospitality at considerablerisk to myself and my friends, would command me to respect his secret,if, indeed, he had trusted me with any."
"So you refuse to give me an answer?" said Bothwell.
"I have none to give," returned Henry.
"Perhaps I could teach you to find one, by tying a piece of lighted matchbetwixt your fingers," answered Bothwell.
"O, for pity's sake, sir," said old Alison apart to her master, "gie themsiller--it's siller they're seeking--they'll murder Mr Henry, andyoursell next!"
Milnwood groaned in perplexity and bitterness of spirit, and, with a toneas if he was giving up the ghost, exclaimed, "If twenty p--p--punds wouldmake up this unhappy matter"--"My master," insinuated Alison to thesergeant, "would gie twenty punds sterling"--"Punds Scotch, ye b--h!"interrupted Milnwood; for the agony of his avarice overcame alike hispuritanic precision and the habitual respect he entertained for hishousekeeper.
"Punds sterling," insisted the housekeeper, "if ye wad hae the gudenessto look ower the lad's misconduct; he's that dour ye might tear him topieces, and ye wad ne'er get a word out o' him; and it wad do ye littlegude, I'm sure, to burn his bonny fingerends."
"Why," said Bothwell, hesitating, "I don't know--most of my cloth wouldhave the money, and take off the prisoner too; but I bear a conscience,and if your master will stand to your offer, and enter into a bond toproduce his nephew, and if all in the house will take the test-oath, I donot know but"--"O ay, ay, sir," cried Mrs Wilson, "ony test, ony oaths yeplease!" And then aside to her master, "Haste ye away, sir, and get thesiller, or they will burn the house about our lugs."
Old Milnwood cast a rueful look upon his adviser, and moved off, like apiece of Dutch clockwork, to set at liberty his imprisoned angels in thisdire emergency. Meanwhile, Sergeant Bothwell began to put the test-oathwith such a degree of solemn reverence as might have been expected, beingjust about the same which is used to this day in his majesty'scustom-house.
"You--what's your name, woman?"
"Alison Wilson, sir."
"You, Alison Wilson, solemnly swear, certify, and declare, that you judgeit unlawful for subjects, under pretext of reformation, or any otherpretext whatsoever, to enter into Leagues and Covenants"--Here theceremony was interrupted by a strife between Cuddie and his mother,which, long conducted in whispers, now became audible.
"Oh, whisht, mither, whisht! they're upon a communing--Oh! whisht, andthey'll agree weel eneuch e'enow."
"I will not whisht, Cuddie," replied his mother, "I will uplift my voiceand spare not--I will confound the man of sin, even the scarlet man, andthrough my voice shall Mr Henry be freed from the net of the fowler."
"She has her leg ower the harrows now," said Cuddie, "stop her wha can--Isee her cocked up behint a dragoon on her way to the Tolbooth--I find myain legs tied below a horse's belly--Ay--she has just mustered up hersermon, and there--wi' that grane--out it comes, and we are a'ruined,horse and foot!"
"And div ye think to come here," said Mause, her withered hand shaking inconcert with her keen, though wrinkled visage, animated by zealous wrath,and emancipated, by the very mention of the test, from the restraints ofher own prudence, and Cuddie's admonition--"Div ye think to come here,wi' your soul-killing, saint-seducing, conscience-confounding oaths, andtests, and bands--your snares, and your traps, and your gins?--Surely itis in vain that a net is spread in the sight of any bird."
"Eh! what, good dame?" said the soldier. "Here's a whig miracle, egad!the old wife has got both her ears and tongue, and we are like to bedriven deaf in our turn.--Go to, hold your peace, and remember whom youtalk to, you old idiot."
"Whae do I talk to! Eh, sirs, ower weel may the sorrowing land ken whatye are. Malignant adherents ye are to the prelates, foul props to afeeble and filthy cause, bloody beasts of prey, and burdens to theearth."
"Upon my soul," said Bothwell, astonished as a mastiff-dog might beshould a hen-partridge fly at him in defence of her young, "this is thefinest language I ever heard! Can't you give us some more of it?"
"Gie ye some mair o't?" said Mause, clearing her voice with a preliminarycough, "I will take up my testimony against you ance and again.--Philistines ye are, and Edomites--leopards are ye, and foxes--eveningwolves, that gnaw not the bones till the morrow--wicked dogs, thatcompass about the chosen--thrusting kine, and pushing bulls ofBashan--piercing serpents ye are, and allied baith in name and naturewith the great Red Dragon; Revelations, twalfth chapter, third andfourth verses."
Here the old lady stopped, apparently much more from lack of breath thanof matter.
"Curse the old hag!" said one of the dragoons, "gag her, and take her tohead-quarters."
"For shame, Andrews," said Bothwell; "remember the good lady belongs tothe fair sex, and uses only the privilege of her tongue.--But, hark ye,good woman, every bull of Bashan and Red Dragon will not be so civil as Iam, or be contented to leave you to the charge of the constable andducking-stool. In the meantime I must necessarily carry off this youngman to head-quarters. I cannot answer to my commanding-officer to leavehim in a house where I have heard so much treason and fanaticism."
"Se now, mither, what ye hae dune," whispered Cuddie; "there's thePhilistines, as ye ca' them, are gaun to whirry awa' Mr Henry, and a' wi'your nash-gab, deil be on't!"
"Haud yere tongue, ye cowardly loon," said the mother, "and layna thewyte on me; if you and thae thowless gluttons, that are sitting staringlike cows bursting on clover, wad testify wi' your hands as I havetestified wi' my tongue, they should never harle the precious young ladawa' to captivity."
While this dialogue passed, the soldiers had already bound and securedtheir prisoner. Milnwood returned at this instant, and, alarmed at thepreparations he beheld, hastened to proffer to Bothwell, though with manya grievous groan, the purse of gold which he had been obliged to rummageout as ransom for his nephew. The trooper took the purse with an air ofindifference, weighed it in his hand, chucked it up into the air, andcaught it as it fell, then shook his head, and said, "There's many amerry night in this nest of yellow boys, but d--n me if I dare venturefor them--that old woman has spoken too loud, and before all the mentoo.--Hark ye, old gentleman," to Milnwood, "I must take your nephew tohead-quarters, so I cannot, in conscience, keep more than is my due ascivility-money;" then opening the purse, he gave a gold piece to each ofthe soldiers, and took three to himself. "Now," said he, "you have thecomfort to know that your kinsman, young Captain Popinjay, will becarefully looked after and civilly used; and the rest of the money Ireturn to you."
Milnwood eagerly extended his hand.
"Only you know," said Bothwell, still playing with the purse, "that everylandholder is answerable for the conformity and loyalty of his household,and that these fellows of mine are not obliged to be silent on thesubject of the fine sermon we have had from that old puritan in thetartan plaid there; and I presume you are aware that the consequences ofdelation will be a heavy fine before the council."
"Good sergeant,--worthy captain!" exclaimed the terrified miser, "I amsure there is no person in my house, to my knowledge, would give cause ofoffence."
"Nay,"
answered Bothwell, "you shall hear her give her testimony, as shecalls it, herself.--You fellow," (to Cuddie,) "stand back, and let yourmother speak her mind. I see she's primed and loaded again since herfirst discharge."
"Lord! noble sir," said Cuddie, "an auld wife's tongue's but a fecklessmatter to mak sic a fash about. Neither my father nor me ever mindedmuckle what our mither said."
"Hold your peace, my lad, while you are well," said Bothwell; "I promiseyou I think you are slyer than you would like to be supposed.--Come, gooddame, you see your master will not believe that you can give us so brighta testimony."
Mause's zeal did not require this spur to set her again on full career.
"Woe to the compliers and carnal self-seekers," she said, "that daub overand drown their consciences by complying with wicked exactions, andgiving mammon of unrighteousness to the sons of Belial, that it may maketheir peace with them! It is a sinful compliance, a base confederacy withthe Enemy. It is the evil that Menahem did in the sight of the Lord, whenhe gave a thousand talents to Pul, King of Assyria, that his hand mightbe with him; Second Kings, feifteen chapter, nineteen verse. It is theevil deed of Ahab, when he sent money to Tiglath-Peleser; see the saameSecond Kings, saxteen and aught. And if it was accounted a backslidingeven in godly Hezekiah, that he complied with Sennacherib, giving himmoney, and offering to bear that which was put upon him, (see the saameSecond Kings, aughteen chapter, fourteen and feifteen verses,) even so itis with them that in this contumacious and backsliding generation payslocalities and fees, and cess and fines, to greedy and unrighteouspublicans, and extortions and stipends to hireling curates, (dumb dogswhich bark not, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber,) and gives giftsto be helps and hires to our oppressors and destroyers. They are all likethe casters of a lot with them--like the preparing of a table for thetroop, and the furnishing a drink-offering to the number."
"There's a fine sound of doctrine for you, Mr Morton! How like you that?"said Bothwell; "or how do you think the Council will like it? I think wecan carry the greatest part of it in our heads without a kylevine pen anda pair of tablets, such as you bring to conventicles. She denies payingcess, I think, Andrews?"
"Yes, by G--," said Andrews; "and she swore it was a sin to give atrooper a pot of ale, or ask him to sit down to a table."
"You hear," said Bothwell, addressing Milnwood; "but it's your ownaffair;" and he proffered back the purse with its diminished contents,with an air of indifference.
Milnwood, whose head seemed stunned by the accumulation of hismisfortunes, extended his hand mechanically to take the purse.
"Are ye mad?" said his housekeeper, in a whisper; "tell them to keepit;--they will keep it either by fair means or foul, and it's our onlychance to make them quiet."
"I canna do it, Ailie--I canna do it," said Milnwood, in the bitternessof his heart. "I canna part wi' the siller I hae counted sae often ower,to thae blackguards."
"Then I maun do it mysell, Milnwood," said the housekeeper, "or see a'gang wrang thegither.--My master, sir," she said, addressing Bothwell,"canna think o' taking back ony thing at the hand of an honourablegentleman like you; he implores ye to pit up the siller, and be as kindto his nephew as ye can, and be favourable in reporting our dispositionsto government, and let us tak nae wrang for the daft speeches of an auldjaud," (here she turned fiercely upon Mause, to indulge herself for theeffort which it cost her to assume a mild demeanour to the soldiers,) "adaft auld whig randy, that ne'er was in the house (foul fa' her) tillyesterday afternoon, and that sall ne'er cross the door-stane again ananes I had her out o't."
"Ay, ay," whispered Cuddie to his parent, "e'en sae! I kend we wad be putto our travels again whene'er ye suld get three words spoken to an end. Iwas sure that wad be the upshot o't, mither."
"Whisht, my bairn," said she, "and dinna murmur at the cross--cross theirdoor-stane! weel I wot I'll ne'er cross their door-stane. There's naemark on their threshold for a signal that the destroying angel shouldpass by. They'll get a back-cast o' his hand yet, that think sae muckleo' the creature and sae little o' the Creator--sae muckle o' warld's gearand sae little o' a broken covenant--sae muckle about thae wheen pieceso' yellow muck, and sae little about the pure gold o' the Scripture--saemuckle about their ain friend and kinsman, and sae little about theelect, that are tried wi' hornings, harassings, huntings, searchings,chasings, catchings, imprisonments, torturings, banishments, headings,hangings, dismemberings, and quarterings quick, forby the hundreds forcedfrom their ain habitations to the deserts, mountains, muirs, mosses,moss-flows, and peat-hags, there to hear the word like bread eaten insecret."
"She's at the Covenant now, sergeant, shall we not have her away?" saidone of the soldiers.
"You be d--d!" said Bothwell, aside to him; "cannot you see she's betterwhere she is, so long as there is a respectable, sponsible, money-brokingheritor, like Mr Morton of Milnwood, who has the means of atoning hertrespasses? Let the old mother fly to raise another brood, she's tootough to be made any thing of herself--Here," he cried, "one other roundto Milnwood and his roof-tree, and to our next merry meeting withhim!--which I think will not be far distant, if he keeps such a fanaticalfamily."
He then ordered the party to take their horses, and pressed the best inMilnwood's stable into the king's service to carry the prisoner. MrsWilson, with weeping eyes, made up a small parcel of necessaries forHenry's compelled journey, and as she bustled about, took an opportunity,unseen by the party, to slip into his hand a small sum of money. Bothwelland his troopers, in other respects, kept their promise, and were civil.They did not bind their prisoner, but contented themselves with leadinghis horse between a file of men. They then mounted, and marched off withmuch mirth and laughter among themselves, leaving the Milnwood family ingreat confusion. The old Laird himself, overpowered by the loss of hisnephew, and the unavailing outlay of twenty pounds sterling, did nothingthe whole evening but rock himself backwards and forwards in his greatleathern easy-chair, repeating the same lamentation, of "Ruined on a'sides, ruined on a' sides--harried and undone--harried and undone--bodyand gudes, body and gudes!"
Mrs Alison Wilson's grief was partly indulged and partly relieved by thetorrent of invectives with which she accompanied Mause and Cuddie'sexpulsion from Milnwood.
"Ill luck be in the graning corse o' thee! the prettiest lad inClydesdale this day maun be a sufferer, and a' for you and your daftwhiggery!"
"Gae wa'," replied Mause; "I trow ye are yet in the bonds of sin, and inthe gall of iniquity, to grudge your bonniest and best in the cause ofHim that gave ye a' ye hae--I promise I hae dune as muckle for Mr Harryas I wad do for my ain; for if Cuddie was found worthy to bear testimonyin the Grassmarket"--"And there's gude hope o't," said Alison, "unlessyou and he change your courses."
"--And if," continued Mause, disregarding the interruption, "the bloodyDoegs and the flattering Ziphites were to seek to ensnare me with aproffer of his remission upon sinful compliances, I wad persevere,natheless, in lifting my testimony against popery, prelacy,antinomianism, erastianism, lapsarianism, sublapsarianism, and the sinsand snares of the times--I wad cry as a woman in labour against the blackIndulgence, that has been a stumbling-block to professors--I wad upliftmy voice as a powerful preacher."
"Hout tout, mither," cried Cuddie, interfering and dragging her offforcibly, "dinna deave the gentlewoman wi' your testimony! ye haepreached eneugh for sax days. Ye preached us out o' our canny free-houseand gude kale-yard, and out o' this new city o' refuge afore our hinderend was weel hafted in it; and ye hae preached Mr Harry awa to theprison; and ye hae preached twenty punds out o' the Laird's pocket thathe likes as ill to quit wi'; and sae ye may haud sae for ae wee while,without preaching me up a ladder and down a tow. Sae, come awa, come awa;the family hae had eneugh o' your testimony to mind it for ae while."
So saying he dragged off Mause, the words,"Testimony--Covenant--malignants--indulgence," still thrilling upon hertongue, to make preparations for instantly renewing their travels inquest of an asylum.
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br /> "Ill-fard, crazy, crack-brained gowk, that she is!" exclaimed thehousekeeper, as she saw them depart, "to set up to be sae muckle betterthan ither folk, the auld besom, and to bring sae muckle distress on adouce quiet family! If it hadna been that I am mair than half agentlewoman by my station, I wad hae tried my ten nails in the wizen'dhide o' her!"
