Waverley

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The Chief and his guest had by this time reached the house of
Glennaquoich, which consisted of Ian nan Chaistel's mansion, a high
rude-looking square tower, with the addition of a lofted house, that is,
a building of two stories, constructed by Fergus's grandfather when he
returned from that memorable expedition, well remembered by the western
shires under the name of the Highland Host. Upon occasion of this
crusade against the Ayrshire Whigs and Covenanters, the Vich Ian Vohr
of the time had probably been as successful as his predecessor was in
harrying Northumberland, and therefore left to his posterity a rival
edifice, as a monument of his magnificence.

Around the house, which stood on an eminence in the midst of a narrow
Highland valley, there appeared none of that attention to convenience,
far less to ornament and decoration, which usually surrounds a
gentleman's habitation. An enclosure or two, divided by dry-stone walls,
were the only part of the domain that was fenced; as to the rest,
the narrow slips of level ground which lay by the side of the brook
exhibited a scanty crop of barley, liable to constant depredations from
the herds of wild ponies and black cattle that grazed upon the adjacent
hills. These ever and anon made an incursion upon the arable ground,
which was repelled by the loud, uncouth, and dissonant shouts of half
a dozen Highland swains, all running as if they had been mad, and every
one hallooing a half-starved dog to the rescue of the forage. At a
little distance up the glen was a small and stunted wood of birch; the
hills were high and heathy, but without any variety of surface; so that
the whole view was wild and desolate, rather than grand and solitary.
Yet, such as it was, no genuine descendant of Ian nan Chaistel would
have changed the domain for Stowe or Blenheim.

There was a sight, however, before the gate, which perhaps would have
afforded the first owner of Blenheim more pleasure than the finest view
in the domain assigned to him by the gratitude of his country. This
consisted of about a hundred Highlanders in complete dress and arms;
at sight of whom the Chieftain apologized to Waverley in a sort of
negligent manner. 'He had forgot,' he said, 'that he had ordered a
few of his clan out, for the purpose of seeing that they were in a fit
condition to protect the country, and prevent such accidents as, he was
sorry to learn, had befallen the Baron of Bradwardine. Before they were
dismissed, perhaps Captain Waverley might choose to see them go through
a part of their exercise.'

Edward assented, and the men executed with agility and precision some of
the ordinary military movements. They then practised individually at a
mark, and showed extraordinary dexterity in the management of the
pistol and firelock. They took aim, standing, sitting, leaning, or
lying prostrate, as they were commanded, and always with effect upon the
target. Next, they paired off for the broadsword exercise; and, having
manifested their individual skill and dexterity, united in two bodies,
and exhibited a sort of mock encounter, in which the charge, the rally,
the flight, the pursuit, and all the current of a heady fight, were
exhibited to the sound of the great war-bagpipe.

On a signal made by the Chief, the skirmish was ended. Marches were
then made for running, wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, and other
sports, in which this feudal militia displayed incredible swiftness,
strength, and agility; and accomplished the purpose which their
Chieftain had at heart, by impressing on Waverley no light sense of
their merit as soldiers, and of the power of him who commanded them by
his nod. [16]

'And what number of such gallant fellows have the happiness to call you
leader?' asked Waverley.

'In a good cause, and under a chieftain whom they loved, the race of
Ivor have seldom taken the field under five hundred claymores. But you
are aware, Captain Waverley, that the Disarming Act, passed about twenty
years ago, prevents their being in the complete state of preparation
as in former times; and I keep no more of my clan under arms than may
defend my own or my friends' property, when the country is troubled
with such men as your last night's landlord; and Government, which
has removed other means of defence, must connive at our protecting
ourselves.'

'But, with your force, you might soon destroy, or put down, such gangs
as that of Donald Bean Lean.'

'Yes, doubtless; and my reward would be a summons to deliver up to
General Blakeney, at Stirling, the few broadswords they have left us:
there were little policy in that, methinks.--But come, Captain, the
sound of the pipes informs me that dinner is prepared. Let me have the
honour to show you into my rude mansion.'



CHAPTER XX

A HIGHLAND FEAST

Ere Waverley entered the banqueting hall, he was offered the patriarchal
refreshment of a bath for the feet, which the sultry weather, and the
morasses he had traversed, rendered highly acceptable. He was not,
indeed, so luxuriously attended upon this occasion as the heroic
travellers in the Odyssey; the task of ablution and abstersion being
performed, not by a beautiful damsel, trained

To chafe the limb, and pour the fragrant oil,

but by a smoke-dried skinny old Highland woman, who did not seem to
think herself much honoured by the duty imposed upon her, but muttered
between her teeth, 'Our father's herds did not feed so near together,
that I should do you this service.' A small donation, however, amply
reconciled this ancient handmaiden to the supposed degradation; and, as
Edward proceeded to the hall, she gave him her blessing, in the Gaelic
proverb, 'May the open hand be filled the fullest.'

The hall, in which the feast was prepared, occupied all the first storey
of Ian nan Chaistel's original erection, and a huge oaken table extended
through its whole length. The apparatus for dinner was simple, even to
rudeness, and the company numerous, even to crowding. At the head of
the table was the Chief himself, with Edward, and two or three Highland
visitors of neighbouring clans; the elders of his own tribe, wadsetters,
and tacksmen, as they were called, who occupied portions of his estate
as mortgagers or lessees, sat next in rank beneath them, their sons,
and nephews, and foster-brethren; then the officers of the Chief's
household, according to their order; and, lowest of all, the tenants
who actually cultivated the ground. Even beyond this long perspective,
Edward might see upon the green, to which a huge pair of folding doors
opened, a multitude of Highlanders of a yet inferior description, who,
nevertheless, were considered as guests, and had their share both of
the countenance of the entertainer, and of the cheer of the day. In the
distance, and fluctuating round this extreme verge of the banquet, was a
changeful group of women, ragged boys and girls, beggars, young and old,
large greyhounds, and terriers, and pointers, and curs of low degree;
all of whom took some interest, more or less immediate, in the main
action of the piece.

This hospitality, apparently unbounded, had yet its line of economy.
Some pains had been bestowed in dressing the dishes of fish, game, &c.,
which were at the upper end of the table, and immediately under the
eye of the English stranger. Lower down stood immense clumsy joints
of mutton and beef, which, but for the absence of pork, [17.]
abhorred in the Highlands, resembled the rude festivity of the banquet
of Penelope's suitors. But the central dish was a yearling lamb, called
'a hog in har'st,' roasted whole. It was set upon its legs, with a bunch
of parsley in its mouth, and was probably exhibited in that form to
gratify the pride of the cook, who piqued himself more on the plenty
than the elegance of his master's table. The sides of this poor animal
were fiercely attacked by the clansmen, some with dirks, others with the
knives which were usually in the same sheath with the dagger, so that it
was soon rendered a mangled and rueful spectacle. Lower down still, the
victuals seemed of yet coarser quality, though sufficiently abundant.
Broth, onions, cheese, and the fragments of the feast, regaled the sons
of Ivor who feasted in the open air.

The liquor was supplied in the same proportion, and under similar
regulations. Excellent claret and champagne were liberally distributed
among the Chief's immediate neighbours; whisky, plain or diluted, and
strong beer, refreshed those who sat near the lower end. Nor did this
inequality of distribution appear to give the least offence. Every one
present understood that his taste was to be formed according to the
rank which he held at table; and, consequently, the tacksmen and their
dependants always professed the wine was too cold for their stomachs,
and called, apparently out of choice, for the liquor which was assigned
to them from economy. [See Note 18.] The bagpipers, three in number,
screamed, during the whole time of dinner, a tremendous war-tune;
and the echoing of the vaulted roof, and clang of the Celtic tongue,
produced such a Babel of noises, that Waverley dreaded his ears would
never recover it. Mac-Ivor, indeed, apologized for the confusion
occasioned by so large a party, and pleaded the necessity of his
situation, on which unlimited hospitality was imposed as a paramount
duty. 'These stout idle kinsmen of mine,' he said, 'account my estate
as held in trust for their support; and I must find them beef and
ale, while the rogues will do nothing for themselves but practise the
broadsword, or wander about the hills, shooting, fishing, hunting,
drinking, and making love to the lasses of the strath. But what can I
do, Captain Waverley? everything will keep after its kind, whether it
be a hawk or a Highlander.' Edward made the expected answer, in a
compliment upon his possessing so many bold and attached followers.

'Why, yes,' replied the Chief,' were I disposed, like my father, to put
myself in the way of getting one blow on the head, or two on the neck,
I believe the loons would stand by me. But who thinks of that in the
present day, when the maxim is,--"Better an old woman with a purse in
her hand, than three men with belted brands?"' Then, turning to the
company, he proposed the 'Health of Captain Waverley, a worthy friend of
his kind neighbour and ally, the Baron of Bradwardine.'

'He is welcome hither,' said one of the elders, 'if he come from Cosmo
Comyne Bradwardine.'

'I say nay to that,' said an old man, who apparently did not mean to
pledge the toast: 'I say nay to that;--while there is a green leaf in
the forest, there will be fraud in a Comyne.'

'There is nothing but honour in the Baron of Bradwardine,' answered
another ancient; 'and the guest that comes hither from him should be
welcome, though he came with blood on his hand, unless it were blood of
the race of Ivor.'

The old man, whose cup remained full, replied, 'There has been blood
enough of the race of Ivor on the hand of Bradwardine.'

'Ah! Ballenkeiroch,' replied the first, 'you think rather of the flash
of the carbine at the Mains of Tully-Veolan, than the glance of the
sword that fought for the cause at Preston.'

'And well I may,' answered Ballenkeiroch; 'the flash of the gun cost me
a fair-haired son, and the glance of the sword has done but little for
King James.'

The Chieftain, in two words of French, explained to Waverley, that the
Baron had shot this old man's son in a fray near Tully-Veolan about
seven years before; and then hastened to remove Ballenkeiroch's
prejudice, by informing him that Waverley was an Englishman, unconnected
by birth or alliance with the family of Bradwardine; upon which the old
gentleman raised the hitherto-untasted cup, and courteously drank to
his health. This ceremony being requited in kind, the Chieftain made
a signal for the pipes to cease, and said aloud, 'Where is the song
hidden, my friends, that Mac-Murrough cannot find it?'

Mac-Murrough, the family BHAIRDH, an aged man, immediately took the
hint, and began to chant, with low and rapid utterance, a profusion of
Celtic verses, which were received by the audience with all the applause
of enthusiasm. As he advanced in his declamation, his ardour seemed to
increase. He had at first spoken with his eyes fixed on the ground;
he now cast them around as if beseeching, and anon as if commanding,
attention, and his tones rose into wild and impassioned notes,
accompanied with appropriate gestures. He seemed to Edward, who attended
to him with much interest, to recite many proper names, to lament the
dead, to apostrophize the absent, to exhort, and entreat, and animate
those who were present. Waverley thought he even discerned his own name,
and was convinced his conjecture was right, from the eyes of the company
being at that moment turned towards him simultaneously. The ardour of
the poet appeared to communicate itself to the audience. Their wild and
sunburnt countenances assumed a fiercer and more animated expression;
all bent forward towards the reciter, many sprang up and waved their
arms in ecstasy, and some laid their hands on their swords. When the
song ceased, there was a deep pause, while the aroused feelings of the
poet and of the hearers gradually subsided into their usual channel.

The Chieftain, who during this scene had appeared rather to watch
the emotions which were excited, than to partake their high tone of
enthusiasm, filled with claret a small silver cup which stood by him.
'Give this,' he said to an attendant, 'to Mac-Murrough nan Fonn (i.e. of
the songs), and when he has drunk the juice, bid him keep, for the sake
of Vich Ian Vohr, the shell of the gourd which contained it.' The gift
was received by Mac-Murrough with profound gratitude; he drank the wine,
and, kissing the cup, shrouded it with reverence in the plaid which
was folded on his bosom. He then burst forth into what Edward justly
supposed to be an extemporaneous effusion of thanks, and praises of his
Chief. It was received with applause, but did not produce the effect
of his first poem. It was obvious, however, that the clan regarded
the generosity of their Chieftain with high approbation. Many approved
Gaelic toasts were then proposed, of some of which the Chieftain gave
his guest the following versions:--'To him that will not turn his back
on friend or foe.' 'To him that never forsook a comrade.' 'To him that
never bought or sold justice.' 'Hospitality to the exile, and broken
bones to the tyrant.' 'The lads with the kilts.' 'Highlanders, shoulder
to shoulder,'--with many other pithy sentiments of the like nature.

Edward was particularly solicitous to know the meaning of that song
which appeared to produce such effect upon the passions of the
company, and hinted his curiosity to his host. 'As I observe,' said
the Chieftain, 'that you have passed the bottle during the last
three rounds, I was about to propose to you to retire to my sister's
tea-table, who can explain these things to you better than I can.
Although I cannot stint my clan in the usual current of their festivity,
yet I neither am addicted myself to exceed in its amount, nor do I,'
added he, smiling, 'keep a Bear to devour the intellects of such as can
make good use of them.'

Edward readily assented to this proposal, and the Chieftain, saying a
few words to those around him, left the table, followed by Waverley. As
the door closed behind them, Edward heard Vich Ian Vohr's health invoked
with a wild and animated cheer, that expressed the satisfaction of the
guests, and the depth of their devotion to his service.



CHAPTER XXI

THE CHIEFTAIN'S SISTER

The drawing-room of Flora Mac-Ivor was furnished in the plainest and
most simple manner; for at Glennaquoich every other sort of expenditure
was retrenched as much as possible, for the purpose of maintaining, in
its full dignity, the hospitality of the Chieftain, and retaining and
multiplying the number of his dependants and adherents. But there was no
appearance of this parsimony in the dress of the lady herself, which
was in texture elegant, and even rich, and arranged in a manner which
partook partly of the Parisian fashion, and partly of the more simple
dress of the Highlands, blended together with great taste. Her hair was
not disfigured by the art of the friseur, but fell in jetty ringlets
on her neck, confined only by a circlet, richly set with diamonds. This
peculiarity she adopted in compliance with the Highland prejudices,
which could not endure that a woman's head should be covered before
wedlock.

Flora Mac-Ivor bore a most striking resemblance to her brother Fergus;
so much so, that they might have played Viola and Sebastian with the
same exquisite effect produced by the appearance of Mrs. Henry Siddons
and her brother, Mr. William Murray, in these characters. They had, the
same antique and regular correctness of profile; the same dark eyes,
eyelashes, and eyebrows; the same clearness of complexion, excepting
that Fergus's was embrowned by exercise, and Flora's possessed the
utmost feminine delicacy. But the haughty, and somewhat stern regularity
of Fergus's features was beautifully softened in those of Flora. Their
voices were also similar in tone, though differing in the key. That of
Fergus, especially while issuing orders to his followers during their
military exercise, reminded Edward of a favourite passage in the
description of Emetrius:

--whose voice was heard around,
Loud as a trumpet with a silver sound.

That of Flora, on the contrary, was soft and sweet,--'an excellent thing
in woman;' yet, in urging any favourite topic, which she often pursued
with natural eloquence, it possessed as well the tones which impress awe
and conviction, as those of persuasive insinuation. The eager glance of
the keen black eye, which in the Chieftain seemed impatient even of the
material obstacles it encountered, had, in his sister, acquired a gentle
pensiveness. His looks seemed to seek glory, power, all that could exalt
him above others in the race of humanity; while those of his sister,
as if she were already conscious of mental superiority, seemed to pity,
rather than envy, those who were struggling for any further distinction.
Her sentiments corresponded with the expression of her countenance.
Early education had impressed upon her mind, as well as on that of the
Chieftain, the most devoted attachment to the exiled family of Stuart.
She believed if the duty of her brother, of his clan, of every man in
Britain, at whatever personal hazard, to contribute to that restoration
which the partisans of the Chevalier de St. George had not ceased
to hope for. For this she was prepared to do all, to suffer all,
to sacrifice all. But her loyalty, as it exceeded her brother's in
fanaticism, excelled it also in purity. Accustomed to petty intrigue,
and necessarily involved in a thousand paltry and selfish discussions,
ambitious also by nature, his political faith was tinctured, at least,
if not tainted, by the views of interest and advancement so easily
combined with it; and at the moment he should unsheathe his claymore,
it might be difficult to say whether it would be most with the view of
making James Stuart a king, or Fergus Mac-Ivor an earl. This, indeed,
was a mixture of feeling which he did not avow even to himself, but it
existed, nevertheless, in a powerful degree.

In Flora's bosom, on the contrary, the zeal of loyalty burnt pure and
unmixed with any selfish feeling; she would have as soon made religion
the mask of ambitious and interested views, as have shrouded them
under the opinions which she had been taught to think patriotism. Such
instances of devotion were not uncommon among the followers of the
unhappy race of Stuart, of which many memorable proofs will recur to the
mind of most of my readers. But peculiar attention on the part of the
Chevalier de St. George and his princess to the parents of Fergus and
his sister, and to themselves when orphans, had riveted their faith.
Fergus, upon the death of his parents, had been for some time a page of
honour in the train of the Chevalier's lady, and, from his beauty
and sprightly temper, was uniformly treated by her with the utmost
distinction. This was also extended to Flora, who was maintained for
some time at a convent of the first order, at the princess's expense,
and removed from thence into her own family, where she spent nearly two
years. Both brother and sister retained the deepest and most grateful
sense of her kindness.

Having thus touched upon the leading principle of Flora's character, I
may dismiss the rest more slightly. She was highly accomplished, and
had acquired those elegant manners to be expected from one who, in early
youth, had been the companion of a princess; yet she had not learned
to substitute the gloss of politeness for the reality of feeling.
When settled in the lonely regions of Glennaquoich, she found that her
resources in French, English, and Italian literature, were likely to
be few and interrupted; and, in order to fill up the vacant time, she
bestowed a part of it upon the music and poetical traditions of the
Highlanders, and began really to feel the pleasure in the pursuit, which
her brother, whose perceptions of literary merit were more blunt, rather
affected for the sake of popularity than actually experienced. Her
resolution was strengthened in these researches by the extreme delight
which her inquiries seemed to afford those to whom she resorted for
information.

Her love of her clan, an attachment which was almost hereditary in
her bosom, was, like her loyalty, a more pure passion than that of
her brother. He was too thorough a politician, regarded his patriarchal
influence too much as the means of accomplishing his own aggrandizement,
that we should term him the model of a Highland Chieftain. Flora felt
the same anxiety for cherishing and extending their patriarchal sway,
but it was with the generous desire of vindicating from poverty, or at
least from want and foreign oppression, those whom her brother was by
birth, according to the notions of the time and country, entitled to
govern. The savings of her income, for she had a small pension from the
Princess Sobieski, were dedicated, not to add to the comforts of the
peasantry, for that was a word which they neither knew nor apparently
wished to know, but to relieve their absolute necessities, when in
sickness or extreme old age. At every other period, they rather toiled
to procure something which they might share with the Chief as a proof of
their attachment, than expected other assistance from him save what was
afforded by the rude hospitality of his castle, and the general division
and subdivision of his estate among them. Flora was so much beloved by
them, that when Mac-Murrough composed a song in which he enumerated all
the principal beauties of the district, and intimated her superiority
by concluding; that 'the fairest apple hung on the highest bough,'
he received, in donatives from the individuals of the clan, more
seed-barley than would have sowed his Highland Parnassus, the Bard's
croft as it was called, ten times over.

From situation, as well as choice, Miss Mac-Ivor's society was extremely
limited. Her most intimate friend had been Rose Bradwardine, to whom she
was much attached; and when seen together, they would have afforded
an artist two admirable subjects for the gay and the melancholy muse.
Indeed Rose was so tenderly watched by her father, and her circle
of wishes was so limited, that none arose but what he was willing to
gratify, and scarce any which did not come within the compass of
his power. With Flora it was otherwise. While almost a girl, she had
undergone the most complete change of scene, from gaiety and splendour
to absolute solitude and comparative poverty; and the ideas and wishes
which she chiefly fostered, respected great national events, and changes
not to be brought round without both hazard and bloodshed, and therefore
not to be thought of with levity. Her manner, consequently, was grave,
though she readily contributed her talents to the amusement of society,
and stood very high in the opinion of the old Baron, who used to sing
along with her such French duets of Lindor and Cloris, &c., as were in
fashion about the end of the reign of old Louis le Grand.

It was generally believed, though no one durst have hinted it to the
Baron of Bradwardine, that Flora's entreaties had no small share in
allaying the wrath of Fergus upon occasion of their quarrel. She took
her brother on the assailable side, by dwelling first upon the Baron's
age, and then representing the injury which the cause might sustain, and
the damage which must arise to his own character in point of prudence,
so necessary to a political agent, if he persisted in carrying it to
extremity. Otherwise it is probable it would have terminated in a duel,
both because the Baron had, on a former occasion, shed blood of the
clan, though the matter had been timely accommodated, and on account
of his high reputation for address at his weapon, which Fergus
almost condescended to envy. For the same reason she had urged their
reconciliation, which the Chieftain the more readily agreed to, as it
favoured some ulterior projects of his own.