Waverley

S >> Sir Walter Scott >> Waverley


As he spoke, Lady Emily, leaning upon the arm of her husband, met the
party at the lower gate, with a thousand welcomes. After the ceremony
of introduction had been gone through, much abridged by the ease and
excellent breeding of Lady Emily, she apologized for having used a
little art to wile them back to a place which might awaken some painful
reflections--'But as it was to change masters, we were very desirous
that the Baron'--

'Mr. Bradwardine, madam, if you please,' said the old gentleman.

'--Mr. Bradwardine, then, and Mr. Waverley, should see what we have done
towards restoring the mansion of your fathers to its former state.'

The Baron answered with a low bow. Indeed, when he entered the court,
excepting that the heavy stables, which had been burnt down, were
replaced by buildings of a lighter and more picturesque appearance, all
seemed as much as possible restored to the state in which he had left
it when he assumed arms some months before. The pigeon-house was
replenished; the fountain played with its usual activity; and not
only the Bear who predominated over its basin, but all the other Bears
whatsoever, were replaced on their several stations, and renewed or
repaired with so much care, that they bore no tokens of the violence
which had so lately descended upon them. While these minutiae had been
so heedfully attended to, it is scarce necessary to add, that the house
itself had been thoroughly repaired, as well as the gardens, with the
strictest attention to maintain the original character of both, and
to remove, as far as possible, all appearance of the ravage they had
sustained. The Baron gazed in silent wonder; at length he addressed
Colonel Talbot:

'While I acknowledge my obligation to you, sir, for the restoration
of the badge of our family, I cannot but marvel that you have nowhere
established your own crest, whilk is, I believe, a mastiff, anciently
called a talbot; as the poet has it,

A talbot strong--a sturdy tyke.

At least such a dog is the crest of the martial and renowned Earls of
Shrewsbury, to whom your family are probably blood relations.'

'I believe,' said the Colonel, smiling, 'our dogs are whelps of the same
litter: for my part, if crests were to dispute precedence, I should be
apt to let them, as the proverb says, "fight dog, fight bear."'

As he made this speech, at which the Baron took another long pinch of
snuff, they had entered the house--that is, the Baron, Rose, and Lady
Emily, with young Stanley and the Bailie, for Edward and the rest of the
party remained on the terrace, to examine a new greenhouse stocked with
the finest plants. The Baron resumed his favourite topic: 'However it
may please you to derogate from the honour of your burgonet, Colonel
Talbot, which is doubtless your humour, as I have seen in other
gentlemen of birth and honour in your country, I must again repeat it
as a most ancient and distinguished bearing, as well as that of my young
friend Francis Stanley, which is the eagle and child.'

'The bird and bantling they call it in Derbyshire, sir,' said Stanley.

'Ye're a daft callant, sir,' said the Baron, who had a great liking to
this young man, perhaps because he sometimes teased him--'Ye're a daft
callant, and I must correct you some of these days,' shaking his great
brown fist at him. 'But what I meant to say, Colonel Talbot, is, that
yours is an ancient PROSAPIA, or descent, and since you have lawfully
and justly acquired the estate for you and yours, which I have lost for
me and mine, I wish it may remain in your name as many centuries as it
has done in that of the late proprietor's.'

'That,' answered the Colonel, 'is very handsome, Mr. Bradwardine,
indeed.'

'And yet, sir, I cannot but marvel that you, Colonel, whom I noted to
have so much of the AMOR PATRIAE, when we met in Edinburgh, as even to
vilipend other countries, should have chosen to establish your Lares, or
household gods, PROCUL A PATRIEA FINIBUS, and in a manner to expatriate
yourself.'

'Why really, Baron, I do not see why, to keep the secret of these
foolish boys, Waverley and Stanley, and of my wife, who is no wiser, one
old soldier should continue to impose upon another. You must know,
then, that I have so much of that same prejudice in favour of my native
country, that the sum of money which I advanced to the seller of this
extensive barony has only purchased for me a box in --shire, called
Brerewood Lodge, with about two hundred and fifty acres of land,
the chief merit of which is, that it is within a very few miles of
Waverley-Honour.'

'And who, then, in the name of Haven, has bought this property?'

'That,' said the Colonel,' it is this gentleman's profession to
explain.'

The Bailie, whom this reference regarded, and who had all this while
shifted from one foot to another with great impatience, 'like a hen,'
as he afterwards said, 'upon a het girdle'; and chuckling, he might have
added, like the said hen in all the glory of laying an egg--now pushed
forward: 'That I can, that I can, your Honour,' drawing from his pocket
a budget of papers, and untying the red tape with a hand trembling
with eagerness. 'Here is the disposition and assignation, by Malcolm
Bradwardine of Inch-Grabbit, regularly signed and tested in terms of
the statute, whereby, for a certain sum of sterling money presently
contented and paid to him, he has disponed, alienated, and conveyed the
whole estate and barony of Bradwardine, Tully-Veolan, and others, with
the fortalice and manor-place--'

'For God's sake, to the point, sir--I have all that by heart,' said the
Colonel.

'To Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, Esq.' pursued the Bailie, 'his heirs and
assignees, simply and irredeemably--to be held either A ME VEL DE ME--'

'Pray read short, sir.'

'On the conscience of an honest man, Colonel, I read as short as is
consistent with style.--Under the burden and reservation always--

'Mr. Macwheeble, this would outlast a Russian winter--give me leave. In
short, Mr. Bradwardine, your family estate is your own once more in full
property, and at your absolute disposal, but only burdened with the sum
advanced to repurchase it, which I understand is utterly disproportioned
to its value.

'An auld sang--an auld sang, if it please your Honours,' cried the
Bailie, rubbing his hands; 'look at the rental book.'

'Which sum being advanced by Mr. Edward Waverley, chiefly from the price
of his father's property which I bought from him, is secured to his lady
your daughter, and her family by this marriage.'

'It is a catholic security,' shouted the Bailie, 'to Rose Comyne
Bradwardine, ALIAS Wauverley, in liferent, and the children of the
said marriage in fee; and I made up a wee bit minute of an ante-nuptial
contract, INTUITU MATRIMONII, so it cannot be subject to reduction
hereafter, as a donation INTER VIRUM ET UXOREM.'

It is difficult to say whether the worthy Baron was most delighted
with the restitution of his family property, or with the delicacy and
generosity that left him unfettered to pursue his purpose in disposing
of it after his death, and which avoided, as much as possible, even
the appearance of laying him under pecuniary obligation. When his first
pause of joy and astonishment was over, his thoughts turned to the
unworthy heir-male, who, he pronounced, 'had sold his birthright, like
Esau, for a mess o' pottage.'

'But wha cookit the parritch for him?' exclaimed the Bailie; 'I wad like
to ken that--wha but your Honour's to command, Duncan Macwheeble?
His Honour, young Mr. Wauverley, put it a' into my hand frae the
beginning--frae the first calling o' the summons, as I may say. I
circumvented them--I played at bogle about the bush wi' them--I cajoled
them; and if I havena gien Inch-Grabbit and Jamie Howie a bonnie begunk,
they ken themselves. Him a writer! I didna gea slapdash to them wi' our
young bra' bridegroom, to gar them haud up the market; na, na; I scared
them wi' our wild tenantry, and the Mac-Ivors, that are but ill settled
yet, till they durstna on ony errand whatsoever gang ower the
doorstane after gloaming, for fear John Heatherblutter, or some siccan
dare-the-deil, should tak a baff at them: then, on the other hand, I
beflumm'd them wi' Colonel Talbot--wad they offer to keep up the price
again' the Duke's friend? did they na ken wha was master? had they na
seen eneugh, by the sad example of mony a puir misguided unhappy body--'

'Who went to Derby, for example, Mr. Macwheeble?' said the Colonel to
him, aside.

'Oh' whisht, Colonel, for the love o' God! let that flee stick i'
the wa'. There were mony good folk at Derby; and it's ill speaking of
halters,'--with a sly cast of his eye toward the Baron, who was in a
deep reverie.

Starting out of it at once, he took Macwheeble by the button, and led
him into one of the deep window recesses, whence only fragments of their
conversation reached the rest of the party. It certainly related to
stamp-paper and parchment; for no other subject, even from the mouth of
his patron, and he, once more an efficient one, could have arrested so
deeply the Bailie's reverent and absorbed attention.

'I understand your Honour perfectly; it can be dune as easy as taking
out a decreet in absence.'

'To her and him, after my demise, and to their heirs-male,--but
preferring the second son, if God shall bless them with two, who is to
carry the name and arms of Bradwardine of that Ilk, without any other
name or armorial bearings whatsoever.'

'Tut, your Honour!' whispered the Bailie, 'I'll mak a slight jotting the
morn; it will cost but a charter of resignation IN FAVOREM; and I'll hae
it ready for the next term in Exchequer.

Their private conversation ended, the Baron was now summoned to do the
honours of Tully-Veolan to new guests. These were, Major Melville of
Cairnvreckan, and the Reverend Mr. Morton, followed by two or three
others of the Baron's acquaintances, who had been made privy to his
having again acquired the estate of his fathers. The shouts of the
villagers were also heard beneath in the courtyard; for Saunders
Saunderson, who had kept the secret for several days with laudable
prudence, had unloosed his tongue upon beholding the arrival of the
carriages.

But, while Edward received Major Melville with politeness, and the
clergyman with the most affectionate and grateful kindness, his
father-in-law looked a little awkward, as uncertain how he should answer
the necessary claims of hospitality to his guests, and forward the
festivity of his tenants. Lady Emily relieved him, by intimating, that,
though she must be an indifferent representative of Mrs. Edward Waverley
in many respects, she hoped the Baron would approve of the entertainment
she had ordered, in expectation of so many guests; and that they would
find such other accommodations provided, as might in some degree support
the ancient hospitality of Tully-Veolan. It is impossible to describe
the pleasure which this assurance gave the Baron, who, with an air of
gallantry half appertaining to the stiff Scottish laird, and half to the
officer in the French service, offered his arm to the fair speaker, and
led the way, in something between a stride and a minuet step, into the
large dining parlour, followed by all the rest of the good company.

By dint of Saunderson's directions and exertions, all here, as well as
in the other apartments, had been disposed as much as possible according
to the old arrangement; and where new movables had been necessary, they
had been selected in the same character with the old furniture, There
was one addition to this fine old apartment, however, which drew
tears into the Baron's eyes. It was a large and spirited painting,
representing Fergus Mac-Ivor and Waverley in their Highland dress; the
scene a wild, rocky, and mountainous pass, down which the clan were
descending in the background. It was taken from a spirited sketch, drawn
while they were in Edinburgh by a young man of high genius, and had
been painted on a full-length scale by an eminent London artist. Raeburn
himself (whose Highland chiefs do all but walk out of the canvas) could
not have done more justice to the subject; and the ardent, fiery, and
impetuous character of the unfortunate Chief of Glennaquoich was finely
contrasted with the contemplative, fanciful, and enthusiastic expression
of his happier friend. Beside this painting hung the arms which Waverley
had borne in the unfortunate civil war; The whole piece was beheld with
admiration, and deeper feelings.

Men must, however, eat, in spite both of sentiment and vertu; and the
Baron, while he assumed the lower end of the table, insisted that Lady
Emily should do the honours of the head, that they might, he said, set a
meet example to the YOUNG FOLK. After a pause of deliberation, employed
in adjusting in his own brain the precedence between the Presbyterian
kirk and Episcopal church of Scotland, he requested Mr. Morton, as the
stranger, would crave a blessing,--observing, that Mr. Rubrick, who was
at home, would return thanks for the distinguished mercies it had been
his lot to experience. The dinner was excellent. Saunderson attended
in full costume, with all the former domestics, who had been collected,
excepting one or two, that had not been heard of since the affair of
Culloden. The cellars were stocked with wine which was pronounced to be
superb, and it had been contrived that the Bear of the Fountain, in the
courtyard, should (for that night only) play excellent brandy punch for
the benefit of the lower orders.

When the dinner was over, the Baron, about to propose a toast, cast a
somewhat sorrowful look upon the sideboard,--which, however, exhibited
much of his plate, that had either been secreted or purchased by
neighbouring gentlemen from the soldiery, and by them gladly restored to
the original owner.

'In the late times,' he said, 'those must be thankful who have saved
life and land; yet, when I am about to pronounce this toast, I cannot
but regret an old heirloom, Lady Emily--A POCULUM POTATORIUM, Colonel
Talbot'--

Here the Baron's elbow was gently touched by his major-demo, and,
turning round, he beheld, in the hands of Alexander ab Alexandro, the
celebrated cup of Saint Duthac, the Blessed Bear of Bradwardine! I
question if the recovery of his estate afforded him more rapture. 'By
my honour,' he said, 'one might almost believe in brownies and fairies,
Lady Emily, when your ladyship is in presence!'

'I am truly happy,' said Colonel Talbot, 'that by the recovery of this
piece of family antiquity, it has fallen within my power to give you
some token of my deep interest in all that concerns my young friend
Edward. But that you may not suspect Lady Emily for a sorceress, or me
for a conjurer, which is no joke in Scotland, I must tell you that Frank
Stanley, your friend, who has been seized with a tartan fever ever since
he heard Edward's tales of old Scottish manners, happened to describe to
us at second hand this remarkable cup. My servant, Spontoon, who, like
a true old soldier, observes everything and says little, gave me
afterwards to understand that he thought he had seen the piece of plate
Mr. Stanley mentioned, in the possession of a certain Mrs. Nosebag,
who, having been originally the helpmate of a pawnbroker, had found
opportunity, during the late unpleasant scenes in Scotland, to trade
a little in her old line, and so became the depositary of the more
valuable part of the spoil of half the army. You may believe the cup was
speedily recovered; and it will give me very great pleasure if you allow
me to suppose that its value is not diminished by having been restored
through my means.'

A tear mingled with the wine which the Baron filled, as he proposed a
cup of gratitude to Colonel Talbot, and 'The Prosperity of the united
Houses of Waverley-Honour and Bradwardine!'--

It only remains for me to say, that as no wish was ever uttered with
more affectionate sincerity, there are few which, allowing for the
necessary mutability of human events, have been, upon the whole, more
happily fulfilled.



CHAPTER LXXII

A POSTSCRIPT, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PREFACE

Our journey is now finished, gentle reader; and if your patience has
accompanied me through these sheets, the contract is, on your part,
strictly fulfilled. Yet, like the driver who has received his full hire,
I still linger near you, and make, with becoming diffidence, a trifling
additional claim upon your bounty and good nature. You are as free,
however, to shut the volume of the one petitioner, as to close your door
in the face of the other.

This should have been a prefatory chapter, but for two reasons:--First,
that most novel readers, as my own conscience reminds me, are apt to
be guilty of the sin of omission respecting that same matter of
prefaces;--secondly, that it is a general custom with that class of
students, to begin with the last chapter of a work; so that, after
all, these remarks, being introduced last in order, have still the best
chance to be read in their proper place.

There is no European nation, which, within the course of half a century,
or little more, has undergone so complete a change as this kingdom of
Scotland. The effects of the insurrection of 1745,--the destruction
of the patriarchal power of the Highland chiefs,--the abolition of the
heritable jurisdictions of the Lowland nobility and barons,--the total
eradication of the Jacobite party, which, averse to intermingle with the
English, or adopt their customs, long continued to pride themselves
upon maintaining ancient Scottish manners and customs,--commenced this
innovation. The gradual influx of wealth, and extension of commerce,
have since united to render the present people of Scotland a class of
beings as different from their grandfathers as the existing English
are from those of Queen Elizabeth's time, The political and economical
effects of these changes have been traced by Lord Selkirk with great
precision and accuracy. But the change, though steadily and rapidly
progressive, has, nevertheless, been gradual; and, like those who drift
down the stream of a deep and smooth river, we are not aware of the
progress we have made until we fix our eye on the now distant point
from which we have been drifted.--Such of the present generation as
can recollect the last twenty or twenty-five years of the
eighteenth century, will be fully sensible of the truth of this
statement;--especially if their acquaintance and connexions lay among
those, who, in my younger time, were facetiously called 'folks of
the old leaven,' who still cherished a lingering, though hopeless,
attachment, to the house of Stuart. This race has now almost entirely
vanished from the land, and with it, doubtless, much absurd political
prejudice--but also, many living examples of singular and disinterested
attachment to the principles of loyalty which they received from their
fathers, and of old Scottish faith, hospitality, worth, and honour.

It was my accidental lot, though not born a Highlander (which may be an
apology for much bad Gaelic), to reside, during my childhood and youth,
among persons of the above description;--and now, for the purpose of
preserving some idea of the ancient manners of which I have witnessed
the almost total extinction, I have embodied in imaginary scenes, and
ascribed to fictitious characters, a part of the incidents which I then
received from those who were actors in them. Indeed, the most romantic
parts of this narrative are precisely those which have a foundation in
fact. The exchange of mutual protection between a Highland gentleman
and an officer of rank in the king's service, together with the spirited
manner in which the latter asserted his right to return the favour he
had received, is literally true. The accident by a musket-shot, and
the heroic reply imputed to Flora, relate to a lady of rank not long
deceased. And scarce a gentleman who was 'in hiding' after the battle of
Culloden but could tell a tale of strange concealments, and of wild and
hair's-breadth 'scapes, as extraordinary as any which I have ascribed
to my heroes. Of this, the escape of Charles Edward himself, as the most
prominent, is the most striking example. The accounts of the battle
of Preston and skirmish at Clifton are taken from the narrative of
intelligent eye-witnesses, and corrected from the History of the
Rebellion by the late venerable author of DOUGLAS. The Lowland Scottish
gentlemen, and the subordinate characters, are not given as individual
portraits, but are drawn from the general habits of the period (of which
I have witnessed some remnants in my younger days), and partly gathered
from tradition.

It has been my object to describe these persons, not by a caricatured
and exaggerated use of the national dialect, but by their habits,
manners, and feelings; so as in some distant degree to emulate the
admirable Irish portraits drawn by Miss Edgeworth, so different from
the 'Teagues' and 'dear joys,' who so long, with the most perfect family
resemblance to each other, occupied the drama and the novel.

I feel no confidence, however, in the manner in which I have executed
my purpose. Indeed, so little was I satisfied with my production, that
I laid it aside in an unfinished state, and only found it again by mere
accident among other waste papers in an old cabinet, the drawers of
which I was rummaging, in order to accommodate a friend with some
fishing tackle, after it had been mislaid for several years. Two
works upon similar subjects, by female authors, whose genius is highly
creditable to their country, have appeared in the interval; I mean Mrs.
Hamilton's GLENBURNIE, and the late account of Highland Superstitions.
But the first is confined to the rural habits of Scotland, of which
it has given a picture with striking and impressive fidelity; and the
traditional records of the respectable and ingenious Mrs. Grant of
Laggan, are of a nature distinct from the fictitious narrative which I
have here attempted.

I would willingly persuade myself, that the preceding work will not be
found altogether uninteresting. To elder persons it will recall scenes
and characters familiar to their youth; and to the rising generation the
tale may present some idea of the manners of their forefathers.

Yet I heartily wish that the task of tracing the evanescent manners of
his own country had employed the pen of the only man in Scotland who
could have done it justice,--of him so eminently distinguished
in elegant literature,--and whose sketches of Colonel Caustic and
Umphraville are perfectly blended with the finer traits of national
character. I should in that case have had more pleasure as a reader
than I shall ever feel in the pride of a successful author, should these
sheets confer upon me that envied distinction. And as I have inverted
the usual arrangement, placing these remarks at the end of the work
to which they refer, I will venture on a second violation of form, by
closing the whole with a Dedication:--

THESE VOLUMES BEING RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO OUR SCOTTISH ADDISON,

HENRY MACKENZIE,

BY AN UNKNOWN ADMIRER OF HIS GENIUS.


*****



NOTES


NOTE 1.--THE BRADSHAIGH LEGEND

There is a family legend to this purpose, belonging to the knightly
family of Bradshaigh, the proprietors of Haighhall, in Lancashire,
where, I have been told, the event is recorded on a painted glass
window. The German ballad of the 'Noble Moringer' turns upon a similar
topic. But undoubtedly many such incidents may have taken place, where,
the distance being great, and the intercourse infrequent, false reports
concerning the fate of the absent Crusaders must have been commonly
circulated, and sometimes perhaps rather hastily credited at home.


NOTE 2.--TITUS LIVIUS

The attachment to this classic was, it is said, actually displayed, in
the manner mentioned in the text, by an unfortunate Jacobite in that
unhappy period. He escaped from the jail in which he was confined for
a hasty trial and certain condemnation, and was retaken as he hovered
around the place in which he had been imprisoned, for which he could
give no better reason than the hope of recovering his favourite Titus
Livius. I am sorry to add, that the simplicity of such a character
was found to form no apology for his guilt as a rebel, and that he was
condemned and executed.


NOTE 3.--NICHOLAS AMHURST

Nicholas Amhurst, a noted political writer, who conducted for many years
a paper called the Craftsman, under the assumed name of Caleb d'Anvers.
He was devoted to the Tory interest, and seconded with much ability the
attacks of Pulteney on Sir Robert Walpole. He died in 1742, neglected by
his great patrons, and in the most miserable circumstances.

Amhurst survived the downfall of Walpole's power, and had reason to
expect a reward for his labours. If we excuse Bolingbroke, who had only
saved the shipwreck of his fortunes, we shall be at a loss to justify
Pulteney, who could with ease have given this man a considerable income.
The utmost of his generosity to Amhurst, that I ever heard of, was a
hogshead of claret! He died, it is supposed, of a broken heart; and was
buried at the charge of his honest printer, Richard Franklin.'--LORD
CHESTERFIELD'S CHARACTERS REVIEWED, p. 42.