Walter, on coming to the troopers and asking for their leader, soon
discovered how roughly he had treated Clavers; and it being so much the
reverse of the reception he meant to have given him, he was particularly
vexed about it. Still he was conscious that he had done nothing that was
wrong, nor any thing that it did not behove a parent and a master of a
family to have done in the same circumstances; therefore there was
nothing farther from his intention than offering any apology. He entered
his own room, as he supposed he had a good right to do, bluntly enough.
He indeed touched the rim of his bonnet as he came in; but, seeing all
the officers covered, he stalked into the midst of them with that
immense circle of blue woollen on his head, which moved over their
helmets like a black cloud as he advanced. Bruce, who was well used to
insult the peasantry with impunity, seeing Walter striding majestically
by his general in this guise, with his wonted forwardness and jocularity
lifted up his sword, sheathed as it was, and with the point of it kicked
off Walter's bonnet. The latter caught it again as it fell, and with his
fist, he made Bruce's helmet ring against the wall; then again fitting
on his bonnet, he gave him such an indignant and reproving look, that
Bruce, having no encouragement from the eye of Clavers, resented it no
farther than by saying good-humouredly, "'Pon my body and shoul, but the
carle keeps his good-looking head high enough."
"Copland," said Clavers, "desire Serjeant Daniel Roy Macpherson, with
eleven troopers, to attend." They were instantly at the door. "Seize
and pinion that haughty rebel, together with all his family," said he,
"and then go and search every corner, chest, and closet in the house;
for it is apparent that this is the nest and rendezvous of the murdering
fanatics who infest this country. Let the rest of the soldiers guard the
premises, that none escape to the mountains with tidings of our arrival.
This good dame we will first examine privately, and then dispose of her
as shall seem most meet."
The command was promptly obeyed. Walter and all his family were taken
into custody, pinioned, and a guard set on them; the house was
ransacked; and in the meantime the general and his three associates
continued the examination of the goodwife. Clavers observed that, on the
entrance of Walter before, she seemed to be laid under some restraint,
stopped short in her narration, and said, "But there's the gudeman;
he'll tell ye it wi' mair preceesion nor me;" and he had no doubt, if
she were left to herself, of worming as much out of her as would
condemn her husband, or at least furnish a pretext sufficient for the
forfeiture of his wealth. Clavers had caused to be sold, by public roup,
the whole stock on the farm of Phillhope, which belonged to Walter's
brother-in-law, merely because it was proven that the farmer's wife had
once been at a conventicle.
In the present instance, however, Clavers was mistaken, and fairly
overshot his mark; for poor Maron Linton was so overwhelmed with
astonishment when she saw her husband and family taken prisoners and
bound, that her speech lost all manner of coherence. She sobbed
aloud--complained one while, entreated another; and then muttered over
some ill-sorted phrases from the Scripture. When Clavers pressed his
questions, she answered him, weeping, "O dear sir, my lord, ye ken I
canna do naething, nor think naething, nor answer naething, unless ye
let Watie loose again; I find as I war naebody, nor nae soul, nor
naething ava wantin' him, but just like a vacation or a shadow. O my
lord, set my twa bits o' callants an' my puir auld man loose again, and
I'll say ony thing that ever ye like."
Threats and proffers proved alike in vain. Maron's mind, which
never was strong, had been of late so much unhinged by the terrors of
superstition, that it wavered in its frail tenement like "the baseless
fabric of a vision," threatening to depart, and leave not a wreck
behind. Clavers told her that her husband's life depended on the
promptness and sincerity of her answers, he having rendered himself
amenable to justice by rescuing his daughter by force, whom they had
taken prisoner on their arrival, having found her engaged in a very
suspicious employment. This only increased Maron's agony; and at length
Clavers was obliged to give up the point, and ordered her into custody.
The soldiers had by this time taken old John of the Muchrah and another
of Laidlaw's shepherds prisoners, who had come to assist their master
with the farm-work that day. All these Clavers examined separately; and
their answers, as taken down in short-hand by Mr Adam Copland, are still
extant, and at present in my possession. The following are some of them,
as decyphered by Mr J. W. Robertson, whose acquaintance with ancient
manuscripts is well known.
John Hay, shepherd in Muchrah, aged fifty-six, sworn and examined.
"Do you know such a man as the Rev. James Renwick?"
"Yes. I once heard him pray and preach for about the space of two
hours."
"Was it on your master's farm that he preached?"
"No, it was in a linn on the Earl Hill, in the march between two lairds'
lands, that he preached that day."
"How durst you go to an unlawful conventicle?"
"I didna ken there was a law against it till after--it's a wild place
this--we never hear ony o' the news, unless it be twice a-year frae the
Moffat fairs. But as soon as I heard him praying and preaching against
the king I cam aff an' left him, an' brought a' my lads an' lasses wi'
me; but my wife wadna steer her fit--there she sat, shaking her head and
glooming at me; but I trow I cowed her for't after."
"What did he say of the king?"
"O, I canna mind--he said nae muckle gude o' him."
"Did he say that he was a bloody perjured tyrant?"
"Ay, he said muckle waur nor that. He said some gayan ill-farr'd things
about him. But I cam away and left him; I thought he was saying mair
than gude manners warrantit."
"Were you in the Hope, as you call it; on that day that the king's
soldiers were slain?"
"Ay, that I was; I was the first wha came on them whan they war just
new dead, an' a' reeking i' their warm blude--Gude keep us a' frae sic
sights again!--for my part, I never gat sic a confoundit gliff sin' I
was born o' my mother."
"Describe the place where the corpses were lying."
"It is a deep cleuch, wi' a sma' sheep rodding through the linn not a
foot wide; and if ye war to stite aff that, ye wad gang to the boddom o'
the linn wi' a flaip."
"Were the bodies then lying in the bottom of that linn?"
"Odd help ye, whar could they be lying else?--D'ye think they could lie
on the Cleuch-brae? Ye might as weel think to lie on the side o' that
wa' gin ye war dead."
"How did it appear to you that they had been slain--were they cut with
swords, or pierced with bullets?"
"I canna say, but they war sair hashed."
"How do you mean when you say they were hashed?"
"Champit like--a' broozled and jurmummled, as it war."
"Do you mean that they were cut, or cloven, or minced?"
"Na, na--no that ava--But they had gotten some sair doofs--They had been
terribly paikit and daddit wi' something."
"I do not in the least conceive what you mean."
"That's extrordnar, man--can ye no understand folk's
mother-tongue?--I'll mak it plain to you. Ye see, whan a thing comes on
ye that gate, that's a dadd--sit still now. Then a paik, that's a swapp
or a skelp like--when a thing comes on ye that way, that's a paik. But a
doof's warst ava--it's"----
"Prithee hold; I now understand it all perfectly well.--What, then, is
your opinion with regard to these men's death? How, or what way do you
think they were killed?"
"O, sir, there's naebody can say. It was some extrordnar judgment,
that's out of a' doubt. There had been an unyerdly raid i' the Hope that
day."
"What reason have you for supposing such a thing?"
"Because there wasna a leevin soul i' the hale Hope that day but
theirsels--they wadna surely hae felled ane another--It's, by an'
attour, an awsome bit where they war killed; there hae been things baith
seen and heard about it; and I saw an apparition there mysel on the very
night before."
"You saw an apparition at the place the night before, did you? And,
pray, what was that apparition like?"
"It was like a man and a woman."
"Had the figure of the woman no resemblance to any one you had ever seen
before? Was it in any degree, for instance, like your master's
daughter?"
"No unlike ava."
"Then I think I can guess what the other form was like--Had it a bonnet
on its head?"
"Not a bonnet certainly, but it had the shape o' ane."
"I weened as much--And was it a tall gigantic figure?"
"Na, na, sir; the very contrair o' that."
"Are you certain of that you say? Was it not taller than the apparition
of the woman?"
"No half sae tall, sir."
"Had it not some slight resemblance to your master, little as it was?
Did that not strike you?"
"Na, na, it was naething like my master, nor nae yerdly creature that
ever was seen; indeed it was nae creature ava."
"What then do you suppose it was?"
"Lord kens!--A wraith, I hae little doubt. My een rins a' wi' water whan
I think about it yet."
"Wraiths are quite common here, are they?"
"O yes, sir!--oure common. They appear aye afore death, especially if
the death be to be sudden."
"And what are they generally like?"
"Sometimes like a light--sometimes like a windin-sheet--sometimes like
the body that's to dee, gaen mad--and sometimes like a coffin made o'
moon-light."
"Was it in the evening you saw this apparition?"
"It was a little after midnight."
"And pray, what might be your business in such a place at that untimely
hour?--Explain that fully to me if you please."
"I sall do that, sir, as weel as I can:--Our ewes, ye see, lie up in
the twa Grains an' the Middle a' the harst--Now, the Quave Brae again,
it's our hogg-fence, that's the hained grund like; and whenever the wind
gangs easterly about, then whan the auld luckies rise i' the howe o' the
night to get their rug, aff they come, snouckin a' the way to the Lang
Bank, an' the tither end o' them round the Piper Snout, and into the
Quave Brae to the hained grund; an' very often they think naething o'
landing i' the mids o' the corn. Now I never mindit the corn sae muckle;
but for them to gang wi' the hogg-fence, I coudna bide that ava; for ye
ken, sir, how coud we turn our hand wi' our pickle hoggs i' winter if
their bit foggage war a' riven up by the auld raikin hypalts ere ever a
smeary's clute clattered on't?"
Though Clavers was generally of an impatient temper, and loathed the
simplicity of nature, yet he could not help smiling at this elucidation,
which was much the same to him as if it had been delivered in the
language of the Moguls; but seeing the shepherd perfectly sincere, he
suffered him to go on to the end.
"Now, sir, ye ken the wind very often taks a swee away round to the
east i' the night-time whan the wather's gude i' the harst months, an'
whanever this was the case, and the moon i' the lift, I had e'en aye
obliged to rise at midnight, and gang round the hill an' stop the auld
kimmers--very little did the turn--just a bit thraw yont the brae, an'
they kend my whistle, or my tike's bark, as weel as I did mysel, still
they wadna do wantin't. Weel, ye see, sir, I gets up an' gangs to the
door--it was a bonny night--the moon was hingin o'er the derk brows o'
Hopertoody, an' the lang black scaddaws had an eiry look--I turned my
neb the tither gate, an' I fand the air was gane to the eissel; the
se'en starns had gaen oure the lum, an' the tail o' the king's elwand
was just pointin to the Muchrah Crags. It's the very time, quo' I to
mysel, I needna think about lying down again--I maun leave Janet to lie
doverin by hersel for an hour or twa--Keilder, my fine dog, where are
ye?--He was as ready as me--he likes a play i' the night-time brawly,
for he's aye gettin a broostle at a hare, or a tod, or a foumart, or
some o' thae beasts that gang snaikin about i' the derk. Sae to mak a
lang tale short, sir, off we sets, Keilder an' me, an' soon comes to the
place. The ewes had been very mensefu' that night, they had just comed
to the march and nae farther; sae, I says, puir things, sin' ye hae been
sae leifu', we'll sit down an' rest a while, the dog an' me, an' let ye
tak a pluck an' fill yersels or we turn ye back up to your cauld
lairs again. Sae down we sits i' the scaddaw of a bit derksome
cleuch-brae--naebody could hae seen us; and ere ever I wats, I hears by
the grumblin o' my friend, that he outher saw or smelled something mair
than ordinar. I took him in aneath my plaid for fear o' some grit
brainyell of an outbrik; and whan I lookit, there was a white thing and
a black thing new risen out o' the solid yird! They cam close by me; and
whan I saw the moon shinin on their cauld white faces, I lost my sight
an' swarfed clean away. Wae be to them for droichs, or ghaists, or
whatever they war, for aye sin' syne the hogg-fence o' the Quave Brae
has been harried an' traisselled till its little better nor a drift
road--I darna gang an' stop the ewes now for the saul that's i' my bouk,
an' little do I wat what's to come o' the hoggs the year."
"Well now, you have explained this much I believe to your own
satisfaction--Remember then, you are upon oath--Who do you think it was
that killed these men?"
"I think it was outher God or the deil, but whilk o' them, I coudna
say."
"And this is really your opinion?"
"Yes, it is."
"Have you seen any strangers about your master's house of late?"
"I saw one not long ago."
"What sort of a man was he?"
"A douse-looking man wi' a brown yaud; I took him for some wool-buyer."
"Was he not rather like a preacher?"
"The man might hae preached for aught contrair till't in his
appearance--I coudna say."
"Are you certain it was not Mr Renwick?"
"I am certain."
"Is your master a very religious man?"
"He's weel eneugh that way--No that very reithe on't; but the gudewife
hauds his neb right sair to the grindstane about it."
"Does he perform family worship?"
"Sometimes."
"Is he reckoned a great and exemplary performer of that duty?"
"Na, he's nae great gun, I trow; but he warstles away at it as weel as
he can."
"Can you repeat any part, or any particular passage of his usual
prayer?"
"I'm sure I might, for he gangs often aneuch oure some o' them. Let me
see--there's the still waters, and the green pastures, and the blood of
bulls and of goats; and then there's the gos-hawk, and the slogy riddle,
and the tyrant an' his lang neb; I hae the maist o't i' my head, but
then I canna mouband it."
"What does he mean by the tyrant and his long neb?"
"Aha! But that's mair nor ever I could find out yet. We whiles think he
means the Kelpy--him that raises the storms an' the floods on us, ye
ken, and gars the waters an' the burns come roarin down wi' bracks o'
ice an' snaw, an' tak away our sheep. But whether it's Kelpy, or
Clavers, or the Deil, we can never be sure, for we think it applies gay
an' weel to them a'."
"Repeat the passage as well as you can."
"Bring down the tyrant an' his lang neb, for he has done muckle ill this
year, and gie him a cup o' thy wrath; an' gin he winna tak that, gie him
kelty."
"What is meant by kelty?"
"That's double--it means twa cups--ony body kens that."
"Does he ever mention the king in his prayer?"
"O yes: always."
"What does he say about him?"
"Something about the sceptre of righteousness, and the standard of
truth. I ken he has some rhyme about him."
"Indeed! And does he likewise make mention of the Covenant?"
"Ay, that's after--that's near the end, just afore the resurrection. O
yes, he harls aye in the Covenant there. 'The bond o' the everlasting
Covenant,' as he ca's it, weel ordered in all things, and sure."
"Ay, that's very well; that's quite sufficient. Now, you have yourself
confessed, that you were at an unlawful and abominable conventicle,
holding fellowship with intercommuned rebels, along with your wife and
family. You _must_ be made an example of to the snarling and rebellious
hounds that are lurking in these bounds; but as you have answered me
with candour, though I might order you instantly to be shot, I will be
so indulgent as to give you your choice, whether you will go to prison
in Edinburgh, and be there tried by the Council, or submit to the
judgment which I may pronounce on you here?"
"O, sir, I canna win to Edinbrough at no rate--that's impossible. What
think ye wad come o' the sheep? The hogg-fence o' the Quave Brae is
maistly ruined already; and war I to gae to the prison at Edinbrough, it
wad be mair loss than a' that I'm worth. I maun just lippen to yoursel;
but ye maunna be very sair on me. I never did ony ill designedly; and as
for ony rebellion against the Bruce's blood, I wad be hangit or I wad
think o' sic a thing."
"Take the old ignorant animal away--Burn him on the cheek, cut off his
ears, and do not part with him till he pay you down a fine of two
hundred merks, or value to that amount. And, do you hear, make him take
all the oaths twice; and a third oath, that he is never to repent of
these. By G--; if either Monmouth or Argyle get him, they shall have a
perjured dog of him."
As John was dragged off to this punishment, which was executed without
any mitigation, he shook his head and said, "Ah, lak-a day! I fear
things are muckle waur wi' us than I had ony notion o'! I trowed aye
that even down truth an' honesty bure some respect till now--I fear our
country's a' wrang thegither."--Then looking back to Clavers, he added,
"Gude-sooth, lad, but ye'll mak mae whigs wherever ye show your face,
than a' the hill preachers o' Scotland put thegither."