THE CHIEF AND HIS MANSION
The ingenious licentiate, Francisco de Ubeda, when he commenced his
history of La Picara Justina Diez,--which, by the way, is one of the
most rare books of Spanish literature,--complained of his pen having
caught up a hair, and forthwith begins, with more eloquence than
common sense, an affectionate expostulation with that useful implement,
upbraiding it with being the quill of a goose,--a bird inconstant by
nature, as frequenting the three elements of water, earth, and air,
indifferently, and being, of course, 'to one thing constant never.' Now
I protest to thee, gentle reader, that I entirely dissent from Francisco
de Ubeda in this matter, and hold it the most useful quality of my pen,
that it can speedily change from grave to gay, and from description and
dialogue to narrative and character. So that, if my quill display no
other properties of its mother-goose than her mutability, truly I shall
be well pleased; and I conceive that you, my worthy friend, will have
no occasion for discontent. From the jargon, therefore, of the Highland
gillies, I pass to the character of their Chief. It is an important
examination, and therefore, like Dogberry, we must spare no wisdom.
The ancestor of Fergus Mac-Ivor, about three centuries before, had set
up a claim to be recognized as chief of the numerous and powerful clan
to which he belonged, the name of which it is unnecessary to mention.
Being defeated by an opponent who had more justice, or at least more
force, on his side, he moved southwards, with those who adhered to him,
in quest of new settlements, like a second Aeneas. The state of the
Perthshire Highlands favoured his purpose. A great baron in that country
had lately become traitor to the crown; Ian, which was the name of our
adventurer, united himself with those who were commissioned by the king
to chastise him, and did such good service, that he obtained a grant
of the property, upon which he and his posterity afterwards resided. He
followed the king also in war to the fertile regions of England, where
he employed his leisure hours so actively in raising subsidies among the
boors of Northumberland and Durham, that upon his return he was enabled
to erect a stone tower, or fortalice, so much admired by his dependants
and neighbours, that he, who had hitherto been called Ian Mac-Ivor, or
John the son of Ivor, was thereafter distinguished, both in song and
genealogy, by the high title of IAN NAN CHAISTEL, or John of the Tower.
The descendants of this worthy were so proud of him, that the reigning
chief always bore the patronymic title of Vich Ian Vohr, i.e. the son of
John the Great; while the clan at large, to distinguish them from that
from which they had seceded, were denominated SLIOCHD NAN IVOR, the race
of Ivor.
The father of Fergus, the tenth in direct descent from John of the
Tower, engaged heart and hand in the insurrection of 1715, and was
forced to fly to France, after the attempt of that year in favour of the
Stuarts had proved unsuccessful. More fortunate than other fugitives, he
obtained employment in the French service, and married a lady of rank in
that kingdom, by whom he had two children, Fergus and his sister Flora.
The Scottish estate had been forfeited and exposed to sale, but was
re-purchased for a small price in the name of the young proprietor, who
in consequence came to reside upon his native domains. [14] It
was soon perceived that he possessed a character of uncommon acuteness,
fire, and ambition, which, as he became acquainted with the state of the
country, gradually assumed a mixed and peculiar tone, that could only
have been acquired Sixty Years since.
Had Fergus Mac-Ivor lived Sixty Years sooner than he did, he would, in
all probability, have wanted the polished manner and knowledge of the
world which he now possessed; and had he lived Sixty Years later, his
ambition and love of rule would have lacked the fuel which his situation
now afforded. He was indeed, within his little circle, as perfect a
politician as Castruccio Castracani himself. He applied himself with
great earnestness to appease all the feuds and dissensions which often
arose among other clans in his neighbourhood, so that he became
a frequent umpire in their quarrels. His own patriarchal power he
strengthened at every expense which his fortune would permit, and indeed
stretched his means to the uttermost, to maintain the rude and plentiful
hospitality, which was the most valued attribute of a chieftain. For the
same reason, he crowded his estate with a tenantry, hardy indeed, and
fit for the purposes of war, but greatly outnumbering what the soil was
calculated to maintain. These consisted chiefly of his own clan, not one
of whom he suffered to quit his lands if he could possibly prevent it.
But he maintained, besides, many adventurers from the mother sept, who
deserted a less warlike, though more wealthy chief, to do homage to
Fergus Mac-Ivor. Other individuals, too, who had not even that apology,
were nevertheless received into his allegiance, which indeed was refused
to none who were, like Poins, proper men of their hands, and were
willing to assume the name of Mac-Ivor.
He was enabled to discipline these forces, from having obtained command
of one of the independent companies raised by Government to preserve the
peace of the Highlands. While in this capacity he acted with vigour and
spirit, and preserved great order in the country under his charge. He
caused his vassals to enter by rotation into his company, and serve for
a certain space of time, which gave them all in turn a general notion
of military discipline. In his campaigns against the banditti, it was
observed that he assumed and exercised to the utmost the discretionary
power, which, while the law had no free course in the Highlands, was
conceived to belong to the military parties who were called in to
support it. He acted, for example, with great and suspicious lenity
to those freebooters who made restitution on his summons, and
offered personal submission to himself, while he rigorously pursued,
apprehended, and sacrificed to justice, all such interlopers as dared to
despise his admonitions or commands. On the other hand, if any officers
of justice, military parties, or others, presumed to pursue thieves or
marauders through his territories, and without applying for his consent
and concurrence, nothing was more certain than that they would meet with
some notable foil or defeat; upon which occasions Fergus Mac-Ivor
was the first to condole with them, and, after gently blaming their
rashness, never failed deeply to lament the lawless state of the
country. These lamentations did not exclude suspicion, and matters were
so represented to Government, that our Chieftain was deprived of his
military command. [15]
Whatever Fergus Mac-Ivor felt on this occasion, he had the art of
entirely suppressing every appearance of discontent; but in a short time
the neighbouring country began to feel bad effects from his disgrace.
Donald Bean Lean, and others of his class, whose depredations had
hitherto been confined to other districts, appeared from thenceforward
to have made a settlement on this devoted border; and their ravages were
carried on with little opposition, as the Lowland gentry were chiefly
Jacobites, and disarmed. This forced many of the inhabitants into
contracts of blackmail with Fergus Mac-Ivor, which not only
established him their protector, and gave him great weight in all their
consultations, but, moreover, supplied funds for the waste of his feudal
hospitality, which the discontinuance of his pay might have otherwise
essentially diminished.
In following this course of conduct, Fergus had a further object than
merely being the great man of his neighbourhood, and ruling despotically
over a small clan. From his infancy upward, he had devoted himself to
the cause of the exiled family, and had persuaded himself, not only
that their restoration to the crown of Britain would be speedy, but that
those who assisted them would be raised to honour and rank. It was
with this view that he laboured to reconcile the Highlanders among
themselves, and augmented his own force to the utmost, to be prepared
for the first favourable opportunity of rising. With this purpose also
he conciliated the favour of such Lowland gentlemen in the vicinity
as were friends to the good cause; and for the same reason, having
incautiously quarrelled with Mr. Bradwardine, who, notwithstanding his
peculiarities, was much respected in the country, he took advantage of
the foray of Donald Bean Lean to solder up the dispute in the manner we
have mentioned. Some, indeed, surmised that he caused the enterprise to
be suggested to Donald, on purpose to pave the way to a reconciliation,
which, supposing that to be the case, cost the Laird of Bradwardine two
good milch-cows. This zeal in their behalf the House of Stuart repaid
with a considerable share of their confidence, an occasional supply of
louis d'or, abundance of fair words, and a parchment, with a huge waxen
seal appended, purporting to be an Earl's patent, granted by no less
a person than James the Third King of England, and Eighth King of
Scotland, to his right leal, trusty, and well-beloved Fergus Mac-Ivor of
Glennaquoich, in the county of Perth, and kingdom of Scotland.
With this future coronet glittering before his eyes, Fergus plunged
deeply into the correspondence and plots of that unhappy period; and,
like all such active agents, easily reconciled his conscience to going
certain lengths in the service of his party, from which honour and pride
would have deterred him, had his sole object been the direct advancement
of his own personal interest. With this insight into a bold, ambitious,
and ardent, yet artful and politic character, we resume the broken
thread of our narrative.
The Chief and his guest had by this time reached the house of
Glennaquoich, which consisted of Ian nan Chaistel's mansion, a high
rude-looking square tower, with the addition of a lofted house, that is,
a building of two stories, constructed by Fergus's grandfather when he
returned from that memorable expedition, well remembered by the western
shires under the name of the Highland Host. Upon occasion of this
crusade against the Ayrshire Whigs and Covenanters, the Vich Ian Vohr
of the time had probably been as successful as his predecessor was in
harrying Northumberland, and therefore left to his posterity a rival
edifice, as a monument of his magnificence.
Around the house, which stood on an eminence in the midst of a narrow
Highland valley, there appeared none of that attention to convenience,
far less to ornament and decoration, which usually surrounds a
gentleman's habitation. An enclosure or two, divided by dry-stone walls,
were the only part of the domain that was fenced; as to the rest,
the narrow slips of level ground which lay by the side of the brook
exhibited a scanty crop of barley, liable to constant depredations from
the herds of wild ponies and black cattle that grazed upon the adjacent
hills. These ever and anon made an incursion upon the arable ground,
which was repelled by the loud, uncouth, and dissonant shouts of half
a dozen Highland swains, all running as if they had been mad, and every
one hallooing a half-starved dog to the rescue of the forage. At a
little distance up the glen was a small and stunted wood of birch; the
hills were high and heathy, but without any variety of surface; so that
the whole view was wild and desolate, rather than grand and solitary.
Yet, such as it was, no genuine descendant of Ian nan Chaistel would
have changed the domain for Stowe or Blenheim.
There was a sight, however, before the gate, which perhaps would have
afforded the first owner of Blenheim more pleasure than the finest view
in the domain assigned to him by the gratitude of his country. This
consisted of about a hundred Highlanders in complete dress and arms;
at sight of whom the Chieftain apologized to Waverley in a sort of
negligent manner. 'He had forgot,' he said, 'that he had ordered a
few of his clan out, for the purpose of seeing that they were in a fit
condition to protect the country, and prevent such accidents as, he was
sorry to learn, had befallen the Baron of Bradwardine. Before they were
dismissed, perhaps Captain Waverley might choose to see them go through
a part of their exercise.'
Edward assented, and the men executed with agility and precision some of
the ordinary military movements. They then practised individually at a
mark, and showed extraordinary dexterity in the management of the
pistol and firelock. They took aim, standing, sitting, leaning, or
lying prostrate, as they were commanded, and always with effect upon the
target. Next, they paired off for the broadsword exercise; and, having
manifested their individual skill and dexterity, united in two bodies,
and exhibited a sort of mock encounter, in which the charge, the rally,
the flight, the pursuit, and all the current of a heady fight, were
exhibited to the sound of the great war-bagpipe.
On a signal made by the Chief, the skirmish was ended. Marches were
then made for running, wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, and other
sports, in which this feudal militia displayed incredible swiftness,
strength, and agility; and accomplished the purpose which their
Chieftain had at heart, by impressing on Waverley no light sense of
their merit as soldiers, and of the power of him who commanded them by
his nod. [16]
'And what number of such gallant fellows have the happiness to call you
leader?' asked Waverley.
'In a good cause, and under a chieftain whom they loved, the race of
Ivor have seldom taken the field under five hundred claymores. But you
are aware, Captain Waverley, that the Disarming Act, passed about twenty
years ago, prevents their being in the complete state of preparation
as in former times; and I keep no more of my clan under arms than may
defend my own or my friends' property, when the country is troubled
with such men as your last night's landlord; and Government, which
has removed other means of defence, must connive at our protecting
ourselves.'
'But, with your force, you might soon destroy, or put down, such gangs
as that of Donald Bean Lean.'
'Yes, doubtless; and my reward would be a summons to deliver up to
General Blakeney, at Stirling, the few broadswords they have left us:
there were little policy in that, methinks.--But come, Captain, the
sound of the pipes informs me that dinner is prepared. Let me have the
honour to show you into my rude mansion.'