unlike anything I had ever heard from a woman. In Scotland here, if a
woman knew her lover was to fight, she would almost go distracted, and
do all in her power to prevent him. I could scarcely believe my ears, I
was as yet so little used to their ways. As I stood looking at her, a
shade of anger passed over her face, and the tears came into her eyes;
she turned away her head, and sobbed aloud. This roused me.
"'What ails my Betsy?" I said, taking her in my arms. She still sobbed,
and pushed me from her.
"'I am the most unfortunate girl in the world, she cried. 'I love a man,
and he is a coward.'
"'A coward, Betsy!' cried I. 'What do you mean? I am no coward. I fear
not the face of clay.'
"Turning to me with one of her sweet smiles--
"'I am not deceived, then, in my Bill?' she said. 'He is not afraid of
Long Ned?'
"'No, my love; nor of the whole gang, one after another--one down,
another come on,' said I. 'Are we friends again?'
"'O Bill, we are more than friends,' she sobbed. 'I love you dearly, and
am proud of you.'
"Arm-in-arm, we returned to the tents.
"Long Ned had just come home after an excursion; so, as soon as he saw
us, his rage knew no bounds; and his dark eyes flashed fire, as he came
forward and ordered me to quit my hold of the girl. There were few words
passed between us; every one knew what was to take place, so no one
interfered further than to see fair play. You recollect, Square, I
always loved a bit of a row. The lessons I took on board from Sambo, the
black cook, stood me now in great stead. I learned from him the African
mode, to hold the stick with both hands by the ends, and cover the body
with it, more especially the head, having thus the advantage of striking
with either hand, and puzzling my opponent. Ned, who was an expert
cudgel-player, chose that weapon, I, nothing loth, agreed. Two sticks of
equal length were chosen. Betsy at my side, held my jacket, while Ned's
mother held his. His anger was so great, he could scarce restrain
himself until we were ready. I knew my task, and was cool--as if I
waited the boatswain's call to go. So away we went. I at once felt my
advantage; and, expert as he was, he could not reach me--my mode
embarrassed him. I hit him on both sides, not severely, as I might with
ease have done, but he had never touched me. We paused, for a minute or
two, for breath.
"'Ned,' says I to him, 'I bear you no malice. I could have struck you
down every time I have touched you. Yield me Betsy, and be friends.'
"'I will die first,' he cried, kindling in rage.
"'And if you yield, I will disown you,' said his mother.
"As he made at me again--'Don't spare him,' cried Betsy, 'as you wish to
win me.'
"This was enough; but he plied me so hard for some time, that it was
with difficulty I could defend myself. I had been hit slightly several
times before an opportunity offered, so active was he and quick in his
assaults. But my mode was not nearly so exhausting as his; and it being
now my turn, I embraced it: down he went as if he had been shot. His
mother raised him up, and encouraged him to renew the fight; while Betsy
wiped some blood from my face, which came from a slight wound in the
forehead; and, squeezing gently my hand, said I was her own brave boy;
able to win a wife, and protect her. I see you do not much admire my
story, but it shows the character of the people I was among. So, the
short and the long of it is, Long Ned was carried to his tent, beaten to
his mother's satisfaction; and I was married to Betsy next day,
agreeably to the gipsy fashion--that is, a feast was given to all the
gang--and her father delivered her up to me with a long harangue,
concluding by declaring us man and wife, and the others wishing us joy.
"Betsy and I did not remain long with the gang after this. Long Ned and
his mother were our implacable enemies, and neither of us were safe from
their revenge--not that I cared a straw for them openly, but I knew
their character too well to be at ease. Betsy and I left them, have
lived well and comfortably since, and could save money, only there is no
occasion for it. We, like all the men of superior minds in the world,
live by our wits; there is no occasion for working when we can live
without. I never want money and a good diet. Now, you say you have no
particular object in view, save to get a ship for India: and why should
you court difficulties and dangers abroad, when there is so rich a
prospect before you at home? From experience, I can assure you no trade
is so easy, or quickly learned, as begging. The first day is the worst;
after that it came quite natural and agreeable."
There was a romance and bustle in the events he had narrated, which had
a strange charm for me, and opened up a new leaf in the book of life. I
had no conception of beggary but as extreme misery, and, until now, held
them as synonymous terms, from what I had witnessed in Edinburgh in the
early part of my youth. I had had no idea of the regular systematic
beggar. My notions were formed upon the destitute widow and orphan,
those whom I had herded with, who shrunk from importunity, and scarce
let their wants be known, enduring hunger to the extreme ere they
stealthily crept forth from their abodes of wretchedness, and returned
as soon as their urgent wants were satisfied. To Bill I made known my
surprise at the history he had given me of himself, and my wonder that
any one should ask charity, save those who had no other means of
supporting themselves.
"I once knew as little of the matter as you," said he, "but this I know
now were none but the really needy to ask charity, they would soon be
supplied, and fare well, but it is too good a trade, once begun, to be
given up easily. But here is Betsy, to tell us dinner is ready."
The repast did honour to her cooking, and consisted of the best the town
could afford. She herself sat at table, more lady-like than I thought it
possible a gipsy girl could have done.
"Bill," says I, "if your trade were as honourable as it appears to be
profitable, I would commence it this night."
"And what is more dishonourable in it, than any other calling a man may
choose to live by?" said the young wife, with a smile. "Is not the
whole bent of every one's mind to get as much from every one of his
fellow-men as he can? Does not the king and his ministers get all they
can from the people by taxation? Do not the ministers of the church get
all they can from their flocks? Do not the lairds get all they can for
their lands, the merchant get all he can for his goods, and the poor man
get all he can for his labour? Real utility or value enters not into
their minds at bargain-making. It is how they can get most of their
neighbour's property, in the safest and easiest manner. What is honour
but a fluctuating opinion? As I have heard my father say when he spoke
the words I am now uttering--it is honourable for kings to take their
subjects from their peaceful employments, and send them to plunder and
destroy other states, it is honourable to be one of the plunderers; for
one man to shoot another for some trifling word is honourable. Every
nation has its own notions of this same thing called honour. But we of
the wandering tribe think it means gold, for he that has got the most of
it is the most esteemed, and he that has not a penny in his purse has
not a jot of honour, though he had all the virtues. And why? Because,
from the king to the beggar, no one can expect to add to their store
from him. He is an egg already eaten--an empty shell; and, as such,
crushed and thrown aside. These are the words of my father."
I heard the bewitching creature with astonishment, and could not but
admire how easily every class finds consolation to themselves, by
arguing as it suits their views. I had often before remarked, that when
numbers of any class associated, they rose in their own estimation; but
I had no idea that the beggars carried it so far.
"But it is under deceit and false pretence," said I, to enjoy the
pleasure of hearing her speak, "you extort money from the humane and
charitable. I would rather work to the death."
"That is a matter of choice or education," replied she. "We use no more
deceit than is necessary to obtain our object, and all the world do the
same, while we do more to give pleasure to the good than any other
class. Don't we keep alive the kindly feelings of man? My Bill there, as
you saw him this morning, was a walking lecture upon the miseries of
war, and I am sure, from what I saw in your looks at the time, that you
felt a real pleasure in having it in your power to give him the
half-crown--nay, had you walked on, you would have slept the sounder for
it. Had you tippled it, or spent it foolishly, you would have regretted
parting with it. Even now, that you think we had no need of it, your
self-esteem is only wounded at being imposed upon; but your heart
upbraids you not for your good intentions; and may not a beggar feel
pleasure in the success of his arts as much as those of another
calling?"
"Does not Betsy speak like a parson?" said Bill. "I can't say I feels as
if all was right when I am rigged out for an excursion; but, somehow,
she appears to have reason on her side; and, even if I were to get a
ship, I must leave my pretty Bess, so I just get on; and I am now pretty
well used to it. If I had staid by my trade, as my parents wished me, I
could have wrought for her at home, but Betsy is pleased, and I have no
more to care for."
"And why should I not?" she quickly replied. "I have been bred to it,
and know nothing else. I could not live mewed up in a house, however
grand. A wide heath, or a dark wood, with a few light, verdant, sunny
spots embossed in its bosom, has far more charms for me than a crowded
city or painted room; and the piece of money, dexterously obtained, has
a beauty about it that does not belong to the fixed income. I had as
soon be in my grave as a sober citizen; for there would be as much
exercise for the mind in the one case as the other."
For a moment I looked with admiration at the lovely girl, as her face
glowed with animation while she spoke; but pity soon took its place,
suggesting the mournful reflection, that a mind of her powers was in a
state of nature, and what it might have been, had it been cultivated. A
sigh escaped me at the thought of my own inability to lend instruction.
She saw the cloud upon my brow.
"Come, Bill," she said, laughing, "you neglect your friend; he grows
sad. Shall we to the kenn to-night? We are expected."
"To be sure, Betsy," replied he. "Square, fill your glass; and don't
break your heart because Betsy is my wife, and can't be yours. There
will be rare fun, I expect, and would advise you to go."
I was in that mood at the time, between the serious and the sad,
contrasting the pious and modest Helen Grey with the pert and forward
beauty before me. Both were lovely in their persons--but how different
in expression and mind! Helen was a lily, modest, and filling the air
around her with a mild perfume; Betsy, an exotic flower, of surpassing
beauty, with an odour so powerful, it required time to render it not
offensive; yet it was a lovely flower, and in a skilful gardener's hands
would have been the honour of his plots, and the object of his pride.
Under the example and tuition of Helen, I had felt some serious
impressions--at times a thorn, at others a balm, as my own wayward
actions were approved or condemned. I wished to speak seriously to the
interesting creature before me, but could not find resolution. I was
conscious that it would be an evening of regret if I was left alone, so
I agreed to accompany them.
"Hurrah!" shouted Bill; "you will, I see, be a mumper yet. But you can't
appear in that rig, Square; you could not get admittance. Betsy will
furnish you out of my store. Will you be a soldier, a sailor, or a
ruined, burned-out tradesman? I guess you will be a tar?"
"Certainly," I replied.
"Shall you lack a whole fin, or part of one, or be lame of a leg? Make
your choice."
"Oh, half-an-arm," said I, now ripe for the fun I expected.
In a few minutes Betsy had me so completely changed, I hardly knew
myself, even when I looked in the glass. An immense long tie of false
hair--mine being then of a sandy colour, the same nearly as Bill's--was
brought forth, opened, and my own shorter tie secured in it. With a
liquid she browned my face. To this I at first objected, until she
assured me that she would wash it off in the morning. An old pair of
canvas trousers, a ragged jacket, a shabby vest and hat, were given to
me. When I came to put on the jacket, she caused me to double my arm,
laying my hand upon the top of my shoulder; and there was a case in the
tattered arm, made of leather, to receive it. With difficulty my doubled
limb was forced in, presenting the elbow first. For some time the
constrained position pained me, for there was a flap of leather that
came over my open hand, and was made fast to my trousers, to diminish
the bulk.
"Where did you lose your arm, my good lad?" said the smiling Betsy, as
she offered a halfpenny in jest.
"Faith, I do not know, mistress, if you have not cut it off for me," I
replied.
"Jack, that will never do," said she, "I will send for the constable,
you impostor;" and she turned, smiling, from me, with all the airs of a
fine lady; then, turning round, and assuming the attitude of a beggar,
"Bless your pretty face," she said, "sweet lady, spare a halfpenny to a
poor tar, who lost his precious limb in defending the beauties of Old
England."
"I have no coppers."
"Oh, bless you, beautiful lady," she continued, "I would die of want,
were it not for angels like you;" and she whined along the floor, as if
she had followed some one.
Bill and I could not refrain from laughter.
"Does she not do it in style?" he said, exultingly. "Take the dear
creature's advice, and copy her, and you need never want a good bed and
a good diet, besides money in your fob, and be a jolly beggar."
"Are there more kinds of beggars than one?" said I.
"Oh," replied he, "there are many kinds; for instance jolly beggars,
sturdy beggars, humble beggars, and randy beggars. I had forgot the
gentle beggars; but you will see them of all description."
And away we trudged--Betsy as an old decrepid woman, and with so
well-managed a metamorphosis, that I, who saw the change effected, could
scarce believe my eyes. Bill was not the same person I had seen in the
morning; he only wanted his left arm, which was bandaged by his side,
and his leg supported at the knee by a wooden substitute for the lower
part of it.
"This," said he, "was my last cruising dress when I was among them. I
was maimed, as you see, in the gallant Admiral Hawke's own ship, when we
defeated Conflans. You may have either lost your fin there or at Cape
Breton, for our meetings are a kind of masquerade--no one knows his
fellow, but as in the character he for the time assumes."
After a few turns through dark alleys, we arrived at a low dirty-looking
public-house. As we entered, Bill whispered in my ear--
"Now, Square," said he, "this is Liberty Hall--every one eats what he
pleases, drinks what he pleases, and, I may say, speaks as he pleases.
All I advise is, do not be too ready to take or give offence. Betsy has
agreed to sit by you--be guided by her."
We entered one by one. A single flickering light was attached to the
wall; everything bespoke the most abject poverty, until we had passed
through a second small apartment, when the sound of voices, mixed with
boisterous laughter, fell upon my ears.
"We are too late, I fear," said Betsy; "the fun is begun."
The next moment the door opened--and such a scene! I did not think the
universe could have produced such a collection of apparent misery and
mutilation. The miraculous pool of Siloam, the evening before the angel
descended to trouble the waters, I really believe, never furnished such
a spectacle of incurables. To be more particular would only disgust you:
all was hilarity and vulgar enjoyment. Viands of the richest
kinds--roast fowls, and meats of all varieties--smoked on a table at one
side of the room, and which, as called for by the guests, was cut off in
proportion to the amount ordered, handed to the expectant guest, and the
money received before the plate was delivered. Some had done, and
commenced their favourite liquors; others were doing justice to the
cookery--praising, and not a few finding fault.
"What shall I have the pleasure of handing to Mr Kay?" cried the
landlord, bowing.
"Betsy, my love, what shall we have?" said Bill.
"What you please, Bill, for myself. Square, what do you wish?" she said.
"Oh, I care not," I replied.
"Then, landlord, a duck; and have you any green peas yet?"
"The season is backward; I have some," replied he, "but they are a
little high-priced."
"So much the better--send half-a-crown's worth with the duck, for me and
my friends."
"Well, Kay, you always do the thing genteelly; but who is this friend of
yours?" said a fat little man, in very rusty black, of a clerical cut.
"An old messmate of mine, I met by chance to-day--a real good un."
"As Mr Kay's friend, I drink your health, and our better acquaintance."
"Thank you, doctor," said Kay; and I did the same.
After every one had satisfied his appetite, and got his liquor before
him, the noise of voices, joined to the boisterous laughter, was
absolutely deafening--all were in committees of twos and threes,
talking. I began to despair of getting my curiosity gratified by Betsy
on the spot; for the noise was so great that to whisper was impossible.
Never in my life had I witnessed such unbounded apparent happiness and
glee--all was enjoyment. At length a little hunch-backed caricature of a
man leaped upon the head of the table, and, seated like a Turk,
crosslegged, struck the table with a wooden mallet, and, in a hoarse,
croaking voice, commanded silence and attention to their president for
the night. In a minute all was still. Without rising to his feet, he
croaked forth--
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are met here to forget the cares and toils of
the day. You have all (or you have your purse to blame) had your
pleasure of the eatables--of the drinkables you shall have the same
provided. I add no more, save a word for our worthy landlord. He says,
if we do not be less noisy, and give him less trouble than the last time
we met, he must either cease to enjoy our company, or be on more
intimate terms with the magistrates--an honour he does not covet. He has
been a man to be sought after by the authorities already. Now, ladies
and gentlemen, I call on Rhyming Bob for his last new song--ruff him in.
Up rose a tall, gaunt, shabby-genteel, pale-looking figure, bowed to the
company, and began, in a cracked voice, affectedly to chant some
doggerel verses against the Ministers of State. I looked inquiringly at
Betsy.
"Oh, that is the poet," said she; "a gentle beggar by nature and
profession, he has no shift but his verses, and a poor shift it makes
for him. He bothers the gentry with his rhymes; sometimes gets kicked
out, sometimes a six-pence. Hand him, when done, a glass Bill; he has
been more fortunate than usual, if he has one of his own. He had better
attended to teaching his scholars than song-writing. Our friend the
doctor here is also a gentle beggar--he gets nothing on the streets and
highways--he writes a good letter as a distressed clergyman or reduced
man of education, and lives well, as you see. A great number, almost all
the maimed, are jolly beggars, like Bill, and what you are to be. They
have numerous ways of earning a subsistence, and spend it as freely.
They never take anything save money in charity, for, poor souls, they
are too feeble to carry heavy gifts."
The noisy applause of the poet's song put a stop to our whispering. When
order was restored, Mrs Kay was called upon for a song. Betsy
immediately stood up in her old woman's attire, and astonished me,
little as I know of music, by the sweetness of her voice, and the effect
with which she sang, "An old woman clothed in grey." Twice was she
obliged to sing it to the company, which she did with the utmost good
nature. When the deafening applause had abated, or, I may rather say,
the storm of noises had ceased, a stout, red-haired, broad-shouldered,
rather shortish man was called upon to sing. He gave a Welsh song, the
air of which was pretty, but the words uncouth to my ear.
"That is one of the sturdy beggars," said Betsy; "he refuses nothing
that is given him, carries all upon his person, and often, before he
reaches the proper place to dispose of his gatherings, they amount to
the weight of many stones. He always tells the charitable, when asked
what is his complaint that prevents him from working--I can't speak the
Welsh word, but it means 'sheer laziness.' The people are confounded at
the, to them, unintelligible and strange name of the disease, and are
ready to relieve the afflicted man. Once or twice, they say, he has been
detected by countrymen of his own, who laughed at his impudence, and
gave the true meaning of the words. The sturdies are a numerous class.
The randies are nearly, if not, of the same class; they abuse and
threaten until they are supplied, when they dare with impunity. The
humble, poor creatures are old or real cripples--take what they get, and
are thankful; there is not one of them here this night that I see."
We had now sat in the pandemonium for nearly three hours. The potency of
the liquor had for some time began to preponderate--angry words were
exchanging, and some were sleeping, with their heads leaning upon the
table. Bill himself was more than half-seas over, and began to bawl out
a sea-song. Betsy and I endeavoured to keep him in order, and wished him
to retire. We had succeeded, and were rising to leave the company--Bill
only half-inclined--when a stranger entered the hall of confusion and
drunkenness. We were on our feet. I saw Betsy turn pale as death, and
turn her head aside. A number of voices called out, "Hurrah! hurrah!
here is Long Ned." A young female, whose eye I had noticed was seldom
turned from where we sat, cried out--
"Betsy, you are not going away because your old sweetheart, Long Ned,
has come in?"
"Shiver my timbers if we are!" cried Bill; and in a moment sat down and
called for more liquor. I, as well as Betsy, saw that the envious female
was bent on mischief; but how to prevent it I knew not. Long Ned had
seated himself at the other side of the table, gloomy as Satan. I felt
her tremble, as she sat by my side, I believe more through rage at the
female than fear. Long Ned was evidently bent on some mischief or other,
and he was quite sober. Bill and he eyed each other for some time. Betsy
was coaxing him, to get him away, as well as myself.
"No, I will not leave the room," he said, "while that scoundrel is in
it; I will face him, or fight him out, if he says an uncivil word to you
or myself."
The same female sat only one seat from him; I saw them whispering
together. Betsy's dark eyes glanced fire. She unbuckled his timber leg,
and took it off. Scarce was this done, when Ned said aloud--
"Tell me, Kay, how much you have sold the jilt Bessy for. I see she is
very gracious with your ac----" He had only got thus far, when the
wooden leg was launched across the table, and felled him to the ground.
A scene of uproar and confusion no words can express ensued; the lights
were extinguished; blows were dealt furiously around; and the sleepers
awoke and joined in the strife. Bitterly did I regret my curiosity, as
well as the bondage my arm was in from its long confinement; it was
benumbed and painful. As I had no immediate interest in the strife, I
retired to one corner of the room, where I found several as anxious as
myself to escape. Shouts of murder and groans were mixed with vengeful
cries. At length the door was burst open, and a body of constables
entered. The moment I saw this I slipped along the side of the room and
darted past them, receiving in my flight several severe blows, and
leaving the skirts and breasts of my jacket in the hands of those in the
way who attempted to stop my career. I turned down the first opening I
came to, and ceased to run, as no one appeared to follow me.
Fortunately, I had the old canvass trousers and vest above my own, in
which was secured my guineas and silver. With some difficulty I freed
myself from the jacket, then I with ease got off the others, and had the
mortification to find myself, pretty late in the evening, without a
lodging, jacket, or hat.