THIS novel, one of the series of the "Tales of my Landlord," was
produced while the author was suffering from severe illness; and it was
passed through the press without his revision. It was, however, well
received by the public, and rapidly obtained a wide circulation. It is
chiefly founded on the melancholy fate of John, Lord Kilpont, eldest son
of William, Earl of Airth and Menteith, and the remarkable circumstances
which attended the birth and career of Stewart of Ardvoirlich, by whose
hand he fell.
In the accompanying sketch, the artist has represented the meeting of
Lord Menteith and Dugald Dalgetty in the Pass of Leny, a picturesque
defile in Perthshire, of which the scenery is depicted in the "Lady of
the Lake."
"The Pass" is approached from the low country by a road winding round
the base of Benledi. At a sudden bend of the road is disclosed Loch
Lubnaig, the source of the river which flows rapidly on the left. In the
background rises the massive summit of Benmore, overtopping the heights
of Balquhidder. Lord Menteith, accompanied by his two servants, one
leading a sumpter horse, had just wound round the projecting mountain,
which skirts the lake's northern shore, when he remarked a single
horseman coming down the shore as if to meet him. The stranger was
mounted on a powerful horse, and his rider occupied his war-saddle with
an air which showed it was his familiar seat. He wore a bright burnished
head-piece with a plume of feathers, together with a cuirass, thick
enough to resist a musket-ball. These defensive arms he wore over a
buff-jerkin, along with a pair of gauntlets, the tops of which reached
to his elbows. At the front of his saddle hung a case of pistols, nearly
two feet in length, and carrying bullets of twenty to the pound. A
buff belt, with a broad silver buckle, sustained on one side a long,
straight, double-edged sword, with a strong guard, and calculated either
to strike or push. On the right side hung a dagger of about eighteen
inches in length; a shoulder-belt sustained at his back a musketoon,
and was crossed by a bandalier containing his charges of ammunition.
Thigh-pieces of steel called taslets, met the top of his jack-boots, and
completed the equipage of Rittmaster Dugald Dalgetty of Drumthwacket.
[Illustration: 048]
[Illustration: 049-050]
Mr Cruikshank represents Captain Dalgetty's landing at Ardenvohr. The
boatman, seizing the Captain with rough civility, horsed him on the back
of a sturdy Highlander, and wading through the surf with him, landed him
on the beach under the Castle Rock. In the face of the rock appeared
the entrance of a low-browed cavern, toward which his attendants were
hurrying him, when Dalgetty, shaking himself from their grasp, insisted
upon seeing Gustavus, his horse, safely landed, before he proceeded a
step further. The Highlander could not comprehend what he meant, until
one who had picked up a little English, exclaimed, "Hout! it's a'
about her horse, ta useless baste." Farther remonstrance on the part
of Dalgetty was interrupted by the appearance of Sir Duncan Campbell
himself, from the mouth of the cavern, for the purpose of inviting
Captain Dalgetty to accept of the hospitality of Ardenvohr, pledging his
honour, at the same time, that Gustavus should be treated as became the
hero from whom he derived his name, not to mention the important
person to whom he now belonged. Notwithstanding this very satisfactory
guarantee, Captain Dalgetty would still have hesitated, had not two
Highlanders seized him by the arms, two more pushed him on behind, while
a fifth exclaimed, "Hout! awa' wi' the daft Sassenach! does she no hear
the Laird bidding her up to her ain castle, wi' her especial voice; and
isna' that very mickle honour for the like o' her?"