Waverley; Or 'Tis Sixty Years Since — Volume 2, Page 4

  CHAPTER XXXIX

  THE JOURNEY IS CONTINUED

  Before Waverley awakened from his repose, the day was faradvanced, and he began to feel that he had passed many hourswithout food. This was soon supplied in form of a copiousbreakfast, but Colonel Stewart, as if wishing to avoid the queriesof his guest, did not again present himself. His compliments were,however, delivered by a servant, with an offer to provide anythingin his power that could be useful to Captain Waverley on hisjourney, which he intimated would be continued that evening. ToWaverley's further inquiries, the servant opposed the impenetrablebarrier of real or affected ignorance and stupidity. He removedthe table and provisions, and Waverley was again consigned to hisown meditations.

  As he contemplated the strangeness of his fortune, which seemed todelight in placing him at the disposal of others, without thepower of directing his own motions, Edward's eye suddenly restedupon his portmanteau, which had been deposited in his apartmentduring his sleep. The mysterious appearance of Alice in thecottage of the glen immediately rushed upon his mind, and he wasabout to secure and examine the packet which she had depositedamong his clothes, when the servant of Colonel Stewart again madehis appearance, and took up the portmanteau upon his shoulders.

  'May I not take out a change of linen, my friend?'

  'Your honour sall get ane o' the Colonel's ain ruffled sarks, butthis maun gang in the baggage-cart.'

  And so saying, he very coolly carried off the portmanteau, withoutwaiting further remonstrance, leaving our hero in a state wheredisappointment and indignation struggled for the mastery. In a fewminutes he heard a cart rumble out of the rugged court-yard, andmade no doubt that he was now dispossessed, for a space at least,if not for ever, of the only documents which seemed to promisesome light upon the dubious events which had of late influencedhis destiny. With such melancholy thoughts he had to beguile aboutfour or five hours of solitude.

  When this space was elapsed, the trampling of horse was heard inthe court-yard, and Colonel Stewart soon after made his appearanceto request his guest to take some further refreshment before hisdeparture. The offer was accepted, for a late breakfast had by nomeans left our hero incapable of doing honour to dinner, which wasnow presented. The conversation of his host was that of a plaincountry gentleman, mixed with some soldier-like sentiments andexpressions. He cautiously avoided any reference to the militaryoperations or civil politics of the time; and to Waverley's directinquiries concerning some of these points replied, that he was notat liberty to speak upon such topics.

  When dinner was finished the governor arose, and, wishing Edward agood journey, said that, having been informed by Waverley'sservant that his baggage had been sent forward, he had taken thefreedom to supply him with such changes of linen as he might findnecessary till he was again possessed of his own. With thiscompliment he disappeared. A servant acquainted Waverley aninstant afterwards that his horse was ready.

  Upon this hint he descended into the court-yard, and found atrooper holding a saddled horse, on which he mounted and salliedfrom the portal of Doune Castle, attended by about a score ofarmed men on horseback. These had less the appearance of regularsoldiers than of individuals who had suddenly assumed arms fromsome pressing motive of unexpected emergency. Their uniform, whichwas blue and red, an affected imitation of that of Frenchchasseurs, was in many respects incomplete, and sate awkwardlyupon those who wore it. Waverley's eye, accustomed to look at awell-disciplined regiment, could easily discover that the motionsand habits of his escort were not those of trained soldiers, andthat, although expert enough in the management of their horses,their skill was that of huntsmen or grooms rather than oftroopers. The horses were not trained to the regular pace sonecessary to execute simultaneous and combined movements andformations; nor did they seem bitted (as it is technicallyexpressed) for the use of the sword. The men, however, were stout,hardy-looking fellows, and might be individually formidable asirregular cavalry. The commander of this small party was mountedupon an excellent hunter, and, although dressed in uniform, hischange of apparel did not prevent Waverley from recognising hisold acquaintance, Mr. Falconer of Balmawhapple.

  Now, although the terms upon which Edward had parted with thisgentleman were none of the most friendly, he would have sacrificedevery recollection of their foolish quarrel for the pleasure ofenjoying once more the social intercourse of question and answer,from which he had been so long secluded. But apparently theremembrance of his defeat by the Baron of Bradwardine, of whichEdward had been the unwilling cause, still rankled in the mind ofthe low-bred and yet proud laird. He carefully avoided giving theleast sign of recognition, riding doggedly at the head of his men,who, though scarce equal in numbers to a sergeant's party, weredenominated Captain Falconer's troop, being preceded by a trumpet,which sounded from time to time, and a standard, borne by CornetFalconer, the laird's younger brother. The lieutenant, an elderlyman, had much the air of a low sportsman and boon companion; anexpression of dry humour predominated in his countenance overfeatures of a vulgar cast, which indicated habitual intemperance.His cocked hat was set knowingly upon one side of his head, andwhile he whistled the 'Bob of Dumblain,' under the influence ofhalf a mutchkin of brandy, he seemed to trot merrily forward, witha happy indifference to the state of the country, the conduct ofthe party, the end of the journey, and all other sublunary matterswhatever.

  From this wight, who now and then dropped alongside of his horse,Waverley hoped to acquire some information, or at least to beguilethe way with talk.

  'A fine evening, sir,' was Edward's salutation.

  'Ow, ay, sir! a bra' night,' replied the lieutenant, in broadScotch of the most vulgar description.

  'And a fine harvest, apparently,' continued Waverley, following uphis first attack.

  'Ay, the aits will be got bravely in; but the farmers, deil burstthem, and the corn-mongers will make the auld price gude againstthem as has horses till keep.'

  'You perhaps act as quartermaster, sir?'

  'Ay, quartermaster, riding-master, and lieutenant,' answered thisofficer of all work. 'And, to be sure, wha's fitter to look afterthe breaking and the keeping of the poor beasts than mysell, thatbought and sold every ane o' them?'

  'And pray, sir, if it be not too great a freedom, may I beg toknow where we are going just now?'

  'A fule's errand, I fear,' answered this communicative personage.

  'In that case,' said Waverley, determined not to spare civility,'I should have thought a person of your appearance would not havebeen found on the road.'

  'Vera true, vera true, sir,' replied the officer, 'but every whyhas its wherefore. Ye maun ken, the laird there bought a' thirbeasts frae me to munt his troop, and agreed to pay for themaccording to the necessities and prices of the time. But then hehadna the ready penny, and I hae been advised his bond will not beworth a boddle against the estate, and then I had a' my dealers tosettle wi' at Martinmas; and so, as he very kindly offered me thiscommission, and as the auld Fifteen [Footnote: The Judges of theSupreme Court of Session in Scotland are proverbially termed amongthe country people, The Fifteen.] wad never help me to my sillerfor sending out naigs against the government, why, conscience!sir, I thought my best chance for payment was e'en to GAE OUT[Footnote: See Note 3.] mysell; and ye may judge, sir, as I haedealt a' my life in halters, I think na mickle o' putting my craigin peril of a Saint John-stone's tippet.'

  'You are not, then, by profession a soldier?' said Waverley.

  'Na, na; thank God,' answered this doughty partizan, 'I wasna bredat sae short a tether, I was brought up to hack and manger. I wasbred a horse-couper, sir; and if I might live to see you atWhitson-tryst, or at Stagshawbank, or the winter fair at Hawick,and ye wanted a spanker that would lead the field, I'se be cautionI would serve ye easy; for Jamie Jinker was ne'er the lad toimpose upon a gentleman. Ye're a gentleman, sir, and should ken ahorse's points; ye see that through--ganging thing thatBalmawhapple's on; I selled her till him. She was bred out ofLick-the-ladle, that wan the king'
s plate at Caverton-Edge, byDuke Hamilton's White-Foot,' etc., etc., etc.

  But as Jinker was entered full sail upon the pedigree ofBalmawhapple's mare, having already got as far as great-grandsireand great-grand-dam, and while Waverley was watching for anopportunity to obtain from him intelligence of more interest, thenoble captain checked his horse until they came up, and then,without directly appearing to notice Edward, said sternly to thegenealogist, 'I thought, lieutenant, my orders were preceese, thatno one should speak to the prisoner?'

  The metamorphosed horse-dealer was silenced of course, and slunkto the rear, where he consoled himself by entering into a vehementdispute upon the price of hay with a farmer who had reluctantlyfollowed his laird to the field rather than give up his farm,whereof the lease had just expired. Waverley was therefore oncemore consigned to silence, foreseeing that further attempts atconversation with any of the party would only give Balmawhapple awished-for opportunity to display the insolence of authority, andthe sulky spite of a temper naturally dogged, and rendered more soby habits of low indulgence and the incense of servile adulation.

  In about two hours' time the party were near the Castle ofStirling, over whose battlements the union flag was brightened asit waved in the evening sun. To shorten his journey, or perhaps todisplay his importance and insult the English garrison,Balmawhapple, inclining to the right, took his route through theroyal park, which reaches to and surrounds the rock upon which thefortress is situated.

  With a mind more at ease Waverley could not have failed to admirethe mixture of romance and beauty which renders interesting thescene through which he was now passing--the field which had beenthe scene of the tournaments of old--the rock from which theladies beheld the contest, while each made vows for the success ofsome favourite knight--the towers of the Gothic church, wherethese vows might be paid--and, surmounting all, the fortressitself, at once a castle and palace, where valour received theprize from royalty, and knights and dames closed the evening amidthe revelry of the dance, the song, and the feast. All these wereobjects fitted to arouse and interest a romantic imagination.

  But Waverley had other objects of meditation, and an incident soonoccurred of a nature to disturb meditation of any kind.Balmawhapple, in the pride of his heart, as he wheeled his littlebody of cavalry round the base of the Castle, commanded histrumpet to sound a flourish and his standard to be displayed. Thisinsult produced apparently some sensation; for when the cavalcadewas at such distance from the southern battery as to admit of agun being depressed so as to bear upon them, a flash of fireissued from one of the embrazures upon the rock; and ere thereport with which it was attended could be heard, the rushingsound of a cannon-ball passed over Balmawhapple's head, and thebullet, burying itself in the ground at a few yards' distance,covered him with the earth which it drove up. There was no need tobid the party trudge. In fact, every man, acting upon the impulseof the moment, soon brought Mr. Jinker's steeds to show theirmettle, and the cavaliers, retreating with more speed thanregularity, never took to a trot, as the lieutenant afterwardsobserved, until an intervening eminence had secured them from anyrepetition of so undesirable a compliment on the part of StirlingCastle. I must do Balmawhapple, however, the justice to say thathe not only kept the rear of his troop, and laboured to maintainsome order among them, but, in the height of his gallantry,answered the fire of the Castle by discharging one of his horse-pistols at the battlements; although, the distance being nearlyhalf a mile, I could never learn that this measure of retaliationwas attended with any particular effect.

  The travellers now passed the memorable field of Bannockburn andreached the Torwood, a place glorious or terrible to therecollections of the Scottish peasant, as the feats of Wallace orthe cruelties of Wude Willie Grime predominate in hisrecollection. At Falkirk, a town formerly famous in Scottishhistory, and soon to be again distinguished as the scene ofmilitary events of importance, Balmawhapple proposed to halt andrepose for the evening. This was performed with very little regardto military discipline, his worthy quarter-master being chieflysolicitous to discover where the best brandy might be come at.Sentinels were deemed unnecessary, and the only vigils performedwere those of such of the party as could procure liquor. A fewresolute men might easily have cut off the detachment; but of theinhabitants some were favourable, many indifferent, and the restoverawed. So nothing memorable occurred in the course of theevening, except that Waverley's rest was sorely interrupted by therevellers hallooing forth their Jacobite songs, without remorse ormitigation of voice.

  Early in the morning they were again mounted and on the road toEdinburgh, though the pallid visages of some of the troop betrayedthat they had spent a night of sleepless debauchery. They haltedat Linlithgow, distinguished by its ancient palace, which SixtyYears Since was entire and habitable, and whose venerable ruins,NOT QUITE SIXTY YEARS SINCE, very narrowly escaped the unworthyfate of being converted into a barrack for French prisoners. Mayrepose and blessings attend the ashes of the patriotic statesmanwho, amongst his last services to Scotland, interposed to preventthis profanation!

  As they approached the metropolis of Scotland, through a champaignand cultivated country, the sounds of war began to be heard. Thedistant yet distinct report of heavy cannon, fired at intervals,apprized Waverley that the work of destruction was going forward.Even Balmawhapple seemed moved to take some precautions, bysending an advanced party in front of his troop, keeping the mainbody in tolerable order, and moving steadily forward.

  Marching in this manner they speedily reached an eminence, fromwhich they could view Edinburgh stretching along the ridgy hillwhich slopes eastward from the Castle. The latter, being in astate of siege, or rather of blockade, by the northern insurgents,who had already occupied the town for two or three days, fired atintervals upon such parties of Highlanders as exposed themselves,either on the main street or elsewhere in the vicinity of thefortress. The morning being calm and fair, the effect of thisdropping fire was to invest the Castle in wreaths of smoke, theedges of which dissipated slowly in the air, while the centralveil was darkened ever and anon by fresh clouds poured forth fromthe battlements; the whole giving, by the partial concealment, anappearance of grandeur and gloom, rendered more terrific whenWaverley reflected on the cause by which it was produced, and thateach explosion might ring some brave man's knell.

  Ere they approached the city the partial cannonade had whollyceased. Balmawhapple, however, having in his recollection theunfriendly greeting which his troop had received from the batteryat Stirling, had apparently no wish to tempt the forbearance ofthe artillery of the Castle. He therefore left the direct road,and, sweeping considerably to the southward so as to keep out ofthe range of the cannon, approached the ancient palace of Holyroodwithout having entered the walls of the city. He then drew up hismen in front of that venerable pile, and delivered Waverley to thecustody of a guard of Highlanders, whose officer conducted himinto the interior of the building.

  A long, low, and ill-proportioned gallery, hung with pictures,affirmed to be the portraits of kings, who, if they everflourished at all, lived several hundred years before theinvention of painting in oil colours, served as a sort of guardchamber or vestibule to the apartments which the adventurousCharles Edward now occupied in the palace of his ancestors.Officers, both in the Highland and Lowland garb, passed andrepassed in haste, or loitered in the hall as if waiting fororders. Secretaries were engaged in making out passes, musters,and returns. All seemed busy, and earnestly intent upon somethingof importance; but Waverley was suffered to remain seated in therecess of a window, unnoticed by any one, in anxious reflectionupon the crisis of his fate, which seemed now rapidly approaching.