AN UNEXPECTED ALLY APPEARS
The Baron returned at the dinner-hour, and had in a great measure
recovered his composure and good humour. He not only confirmed the
stories which Edward had heard from Rose and Bailie Macwheeble, but
added many anecdotes from his own experience, concerning the state of
the Highlands and their inhabitants, The chiefs he pronounced to be,
in general, gentlemen of great honour and high pedigree, whose word was
accounted as a law by all those of their own sept, or clan. 'It did not,
indeed,' he said, 'become them, as had occurred in late instances, to
propone their PROSAPIA, a lineage which rested for the most part on the
vain and fond rhymes of their Seannachies or Barahs, as aequiponderate
with the evidence of ancient charters and royal grants of antiquity,
conferred upon distinguished houses in the Low Country by divers
Scottish monarchs; nevertheless, such was their OUTRECUIDANCE and
presumption, as to undervalue those who possessed such evidents, as if
they held their lands in a sheep's skin.'
This, by the way, pretty well explained the cause of quarrel between
the Baron and his Highland ally. But he went on to state so many
curious particulars concerning the manners, customs, and habits of this
patriarchal race, that Edward's curiosity became highly interested, and
he inquired whether it was possible to make with safety an excursion
into the neighbouring Highlands, whose dusky barrier of mountains had
already excited his wish to penetrate beyond them. The Baron assured his
guest that nothing would be more easy, providing this quarrel were
first made up, since he could himself give him letters to many of the
distinguished chiefs, who would receive him with the utmost courtesy and
hospitality.
While they were on this topic, the door suddenly opened, and, ushered by
Saunders Saunderson, a Highlander, fully armed and equipped, entered the
apartment. Had it not been that Saunders acted the part of master of the
ceremonies to this martial apparition, without appearing to deviate from
his usual composure, and that neither Mr. Bradwardine nor Rose exhibited
any emotion, Edward would certainly have thought the intrusion hostile,
As it was, he started at the sight of what he had not yet happened to
see, a mountaineer in his full national costume. The individual Gael was
a stout, dark, young man, of low stature, the ample folds of whose plaid
added to the appearance of strength which his person exhibited. The
short kilt, or petticoat, showed his sinewy and clean-made limbs; the
goat-skin purse, flanked by the usual defences, a dirk and steel-wrought
pistol, hung before him; his bonnet had a short feather, which indicated
his claim to be treated as a Duinhe-wassel, or sort of gentleman; a
broadsword dangled by his side, a target hung upon his shoulder, and
a long Spanish fowling-piece occupied one of his hands. With the other
hand he pulled off his bonnet, and the Baron, who well knew their
customs, and the proper mode of addressing them, immediately said, with
an air of dignity, but without rising, and much, as Edward thought,
in the manner of a prince receiving an embassy, 'Welcome, Evan Dhu
Maccombich! what news from Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr?'
'Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr,' said the ambassador, in good English,
'greets you well, Baron of Bradwardine and Tully-Veolan, and is sorry
there has been a thick cloud interposed between you and him, which has
kept you from seeing and considering the friendship and alliances that
have been between your houses and forebears of old; and he prays you
that the cloud may pass away, and that things may be as they have been
heretofore between the clan Ivor and the house of Bradwardine, when
there was an egg between them for a flint, and a knife for a sword. And
he expects you will also say, you are sorry for the cloud, and no man
shall hereafter ask whether it descended from the hill to the valley,
or rose from the valley to the hill; for they never struck with the
scabbard who did not receive with the sword; and woe to him who would
lose his friend for the stormy cloud of a spring morning!'
To this the Baron of Bradwardine answered, with suitable dignity, that
he knew the chief of clan Ivor to be a well-wisher to the King, and he
was sorry there should have been a cloud between him and any gentleman
of such sound principles, 'for when folks are banding together, feeble
is he who hath no brother.'
This appearing perfectly satisfactory, that the peace between these
august persons might be duly solemnized, the Baron ordered a stoup of
usquebaugh, and, filling a glass, drank to the health and prosperity of
Mac-Ivor of Glennaquoich; upon which the Celtic ambassador, to requite
his politeness, turned down a mighty bumper of the same generous liquor,
seasoned with his good wishes to the house of Bradwardine.
Having thus ratified the preliminaries of the general treaty of
pacification, the envoy retired to adjust with Mr. Macwheeble some
subordinate articles with which it was not thought necessary to trouble
the Baron. These probably referred to the discontinuance of the subsidy,
and apparently the Bailie found means to satisfy their ally, without
suffering his master to suppose that his dignity was compromised. At
least, it is certain, that after the plenipotentiaries had drunk a
bottle of brandy in single drams, which seemed to have no more effect
upon such seasoned vessels, than if it had been poured upon the two
bears at the top of the avenue, Evan Dhu Maccombich, having possessed
himself of all the information which he could procure respecting the
robbery of the preceding night, declared his intention to set off
immediately in pursuit of the cattle, which he pronounced to be 'not
far off;--they have broken the bone,' he observed, 'but they have had no
time to suck the marrow.'
Our hero, who had attended Evan Dhu during his perquisitions, was much
struck with the ingenuity which he displayed in collecting information,
and the precise and pointed conclusions which he drew from it. Evan Dhu,
on his part, was obviously flattered with the attention of Waverley, the
interest he seemed to take in his inquiries, and his curiosity about the
customs and scenery of the Highlands. Without much ceremony he invited
Edward to accompany him on a short walk of ten or fifteen miles into the
mountains, and see the place where the cattle were conveyed to; adding,
'If it be as I suppose, you never saw such a place in your life, nor
ever will, unless you go with me, or the like of me.'
Our hero, feeling his curiosity considerably excited by the idea of
visiting the den of a Highland Cacus, took, however, the precaution
to inquire if his guide might be trusted. He was assured, that the
invitation would on no account have been given had there been the least
danger, and that all he had to apprehend was a little fatigue; and
as Evan proposed he should pass a day at his Chieftain's house in
returning, where he would be sure of good accommodation and an excellent
welcome, there seemed nothing very formidable in the task he undertook.
Rose, indeed, turned pale when she heard of it; but her father, who
loved the spirited curiosity of his young friend, did not attempt
to damp it by an alarm of danger which really did not exist; and a
knapsack, with a few necessaries, being bound on the shoulders of a sort
of deputy gamekeeper, our hero set forth with a fowling-piece in his
hand, accompanied by his new friend Evan Dhu, and, followed by the
gamekeeper aforesaid, and by two wild Highlanders, the attendants of
Evan, one of whom had upon his shoulder a hatchet at the end of a pole,
called a Lochaber-axe, [The Town-guard of Edinburgh were, till a late
period, armed with this weapon when on their police duty. There was
a hook at the back of the axe, which the ancient Highlanders used to
assist them to climb over walls, fixing the hook upon it, and raising
themselves by the handle. The axe, which was also much used by the
natives of Ireland, is supposed to have been introduced into both
countries from Scandinavia.] and the other a long ducking-gun. Evan,
upon Edward's inquiry, gave him to understand that this martial escort
was by no means necessary as a guard, but merely, as he said, drawing
up and adjusting his plaid with an air of dignity, that he might appear
decently at Tully-Veolan, and as Vich Ian Vohr's foster-brother ought to
do. 'Ah!' said he, 'if you Saxon Duinhe-wassel (English gentlemen) saw
but the Chief with his tail on!'
'With his tail on!' echoed Edward, in some surprise.
'Yes--that is, with all his usual followers, when he visits those of the
same rank. There is,' he continued, stopping and drawing himself proudly
up, while he counted upon his fingers the several officers of his
chief's retinue--'there is his HANCH-MAN, or right-hand man; then his
BARDH, or poet; then his BLADIER, or orator, to make harangues to the
great folks whom he visits; then his GILLY-MORE, or armour-bearer, to
carry his sword and target, and his gun; then his GILLY CASFLIUCH,
who carries him on his back through the sikes and brooks; then his
GILLY-COMSTRIAN, to lead his horse by the bridle in steep and difficult
paths; then his GILLY-TRUSHHARNISH, to carry his knapsack; and the piper
and the piper's man, and it may be a dozen young lads besides, that have
no business, but are just boys of the belt, to follow the laird, and do
his honour's bidding.'
And does your Chief regularly maintain all these men?' demanded
Waverley.
'All these!' replied Evan; 'aye, and many a fair head beside, that would
not ken where to lay itself, but for the mickle barn at Glennaquoich.'
With similar tales of the grandeur of the Chief in peace and war,
Evan Dhu beguiled the way till they approached more closely those huge
mountains which Edward had hitherto only seen at a distance. It was
towards evening as they entered one of the tremendous passes which
afford communication between the High and Low Country; the path, which
was extremely steep and rugged, winded up a chasm between two tremendous
rocks, following the passage which a foaming stream, that brawled far
below, appeared to have worn for itself in the course of ages. A few
slanting beams of the sun, which was now setting, reached the water in
its darksome bed, and showed it partially, chafed by a hundred rocks,
and broken by a hundred falls. The descent from the path to the stream
was a mere precipice, with here and there a projecting fragment of
granite, or a scathed tree, which had warped its twisted roots into the
fissures of the rock. On the right hand, the mountain rose above the
path with almost equal inaccessibility; but the hill on the opposite
side displayed a shroud of copsewood, with which some pines were
intermingled.
'This,' said Evan, 'is the pass of Bally-Brough, which was kept in
former times by ten of the clan Donnochie against a hundred of the Low
Country carles. The graves of the slain are still to be seen in that
little corri, or bottom, on the opposite side of the burn--if your eyes
are good, you may see the green specks among the heather.--See, there
is an earn, which you Southrons call an eagle--you have no such birds
as that in England--he is going to fetch his supper from the Laird of
Bradwardine's braes, but I'll send a slug after him.'
He fired his piece accordingly, but missed the superb monarch of the
feathered tribes, who, without noticing the attempt to annoy him,
continued his majestic flight to the southward. A thousand birds of
prey, hawks, kites, carrion-crows, and ravens, disturbed from the
lodgings which they had just taken up for the evening, rose at the
report of the gun, and mingled their hoarse and discordant notes with
the echoes which replied to it, and with the roar of the mountain
cataracts. Evan, a little disconcerted at having missed his mark, when
he meant to have displayed peculiar dexterity, covered his confusion by
whistling part of a pibroch as he reloaded his piece, and proceeded in
silence up the pass.
It issued in a narrow glen, between two mountains, both very lofty, and
covered with heath. The brook continued to be their companion, and they
advanced up its mazes, crossing them now and then, on which occasions
Even Dhu uniformly offered the assistance of his attendants to carry
over Edward; but our hero, who had been always a tolerable pedestrian,
declined the accommodation, and obviously rose in his guide's opinion by
showing that he did not fear wetting his feet. Indeed he was anxious,
so far as he could without affectation, to remove the opinion which
Evan seemed to entertain of the effeminacy of the Lowlanders, and
particularly of the English.
Through the gorge of this glen they found access to a black bog, of
tremendous extent, full of large pit-holes, which they traversed
with great difficulty and some danger, by tracks which no one but a
Highlander could have followed. The path itself, or rather the portion
of more solid ground on which the travellers half walked, half waded,
was rough, broken, and in many places quaggy and unsound. Sometimes the
ground was so completely unsafe, that it was necessary to spring from
one hillock to another, the space between being incapable of bearing
the human weight. This was an easy matter to the Highlanders, who
wore thin-soled brogues fit for the purpose, and moved with a peculiar
springing step; but Edward began to find the exercise, to which he was
unaccustomed, more fatiguing than he expected. The lingering twilight
served to show them through this Serbonian bog, but deserted them almost
totally at the bottom of a steep and very stony hill, which it was
the travellers' next toilsome task to ascend. The night, however,
was pleasant, and not dark; and Waverley, calling up mental energy to
support personal fatigue, held on his march gallantly, though envying in
his heart his Highland attendants, who continued, without a symptom
of abated vigour, the rapid and swinging pace, or rather trot, which,
according to his computation, had already brought them fifteen miles
upon their journey.
After crossing this mountain, and descending on the other side towards a
thick wood, Evan Dhu held some conference with his Highland attendants,
in consequence of which Edward's baggage was shifted from the shoulders
of the gamekeeper to those of one of the gillies, and the former was
sent off with the other mountaineer in a direction different from
that of the three remaining travellers. On asking the meaning of this
separation, Waverley was told that the Lowlander must go to a hamlet
about three miles off for the night; for unless it was some very
particular friend, Donald Bean Lean, the worthy person whom they
supposed to be possessed of the cattle, did not much approve of
strangers approaching his retreat. This seemed reasonable, and silenced
a qualm of suspicion which came across Edward's mind, when he saw
himself, at such a place and such an hour, deprived of his only Lowland
companion. And Evan immediately afterwards added, 'that indeed he
himself had better get forward, and announce their approach to Donald
Bean Lean, as the arrival of a SIDIER ROY (red soldier) might otherwise
be a disagreeable surprise.' And without waiting for an answer, in
jockey phrase, he trotted out, and putting himself to a very round pace,
was out of sight in an instant.
Waverley was now left to his own meditations, for his attendant with the
battle-axe spoke very little English. They were traversing a thick, and,
as it seemed, an endless wood of pines, and consequently the path was
altogether indiscernible in the murky darkness which surrounded them.
The Highlander, however, seemed to trace it by instinct, without the
hesitation of a moment, and Edward followed his footsteps as close as he
could.
After journeying a considerable time in silence, he could not help
asking, 'Was it far to the end of their journey?'
'Ta cove was tree, four mile; but as Duinhe-wassel was a wee taiglit,
Donald could, tat is, might--would--should send ta curragh.'
This conveyed no information. The CURRAGH which was promised might be a
man, a horse, a cart, or chaise; and no more could be got from the man
with the battle-axe, but a repetition of 'Aich ay! ta curragh.'
But in a short time Edward began to conceive his meaning, when, issuing
from the wood, he found himself on the banks of a large river or lake,
where his conductor gave him to understand they must sit down for a
little while. The moon, which now began to rise, showed obscurely
the expanse of water which spread before them, and the shapeless and
indistinct forms of mountains with which it seemed to be surrounded. The
cool and yet mild air of the summer night refreshed Waverley after
his rapid and toilsome walk; and the perfume which it wafted from the
birch-trees, bathed in the evening dew, was exquisitely fragrant. [It is
not the weeping birch, the most common species in the Highlands, but the
woolly-leaved Lowland birch, that is distinguished by this fragrance.]
He had now time to give himself up to the full romance of his situation.
Here he saw on the banks of an unknown lake, under the guidance of a
wild native, whose language was unknown to him, on a visit to the den of
some renowned outlaw, a second Robin Hood, perhaps, or Adam o' Gordon,
and that at deep midnight, through scenes of difficulty and toil,
separated from his attendant, left by his guide.--What a variety of
incidents for the exercise of a romantic imagination, and all enhanced
by the solemn feeling of uncertainty, at least, if not of danger! The
only circumstance which assorted ill with the rest, was the cause of his
journey--the Baron's milk-cows! This degrading incident he kept in the
background.
While wrapped in these dreams of imagination, his companion gently
touched him, and pointing in a direction nearly straight across the
lake, said 'Yon's ta cove.' A small point of light was seen to twinkle
in the direction in which he pointed, and gradually increasing in
size and lustre, seemed to flicker like a meteor upon the verge of the
horizon. While Edward watched this phenomenon, the distant dash of
oars was heard. The measured sound approached near and more near, and
presently a loud whistle was heard in the same direction. His friend
with the battle-axe immediately whistled clear and shrill, in reply to
the signal, and a boat, manned with four or five Highlanders, pushed for
a little inlet, near which Edward was sitting. He advanced to meet
them with his attendant, was immediately assisted into the boat by the
officious attention of two stout mountaineers, and had no sooner seated
himself than they resumed their oars, and began to row across the lake
with great rapidity.