I love not to leave Gowrie and Julia so long, and yet they are very
happy without me. Doubtless they could do without Mr. Rhind either, as
he sits there in the window of the old-fashioned inn, with its deep
bay and its small lozenges of glass, and its heavy frame of lead and
iron. Julia looks up at Gowrie, and smiles, and his eyes glance
cheerfully. There must be some jest between them, light and happy,
with none of the world's bitterness--the jest of two lovers' hearts.
Would that I knew what it is; but the words are spoken in a whisper,
for Mr. Rhind is there with his everlasting little volume bound in
vellum, and I may as well leave them at Berwick, too, and go on
before, to see what reception was preparing for them in a distant
place.
I must convey the reader with me to the old royal palace of Falkland,
without, however, giving any detailed account of a building, a much
better description of which than any I can afford may be found in many
an antiquarian record. Suffice it that it was large, roomy, and then
in a high state of preservation. It was also surrounded by an
extensive deer-park, called "The Wood of Falkland," which was perhaps
its highest attraction in the eyes of King James VI., whose only
virtue was the love of hunting.
The season, as every reader, whether skilled in woodcraft or not, must
know, was not one in which St. Hubert permits the horned tenants of
the forest to be chased by man, for it was as yet but the month of
February. But that season of the year was a dull one for the Scottish
monarch; and after being deprived of his favourite pastime, he
sometimes found the exercise even of his "Kingcraft," as he termed the
art of government, so tedious as to require relief, and the labours of
learned dullness, in which at other times he indulged, very wearisome.
When this was the case, he would often retire for a day or two, either
to Falkland or to Stirling, with a few chosen attendants or
companions, to see how his "_beasties_" were going on, or rather to
revive the memories of the sport in which he delighted, by the sight
of gray woods in their winter bareness, and of the antlered objects of
his pursuit stalking about familiarly through the glades at a period
when they knew, by experience or tradition, they were free from the
hostility of men and dogs. The king had that sort of tender admiration
for the objects of his sanguinary pursuit, that strange mixture of
affection and cruelty, which is not uncommon in the human tiger
throughout the world. The libertine, with the creature of his
pleasure, whom he chases but to destroy, affords merely a modification
of the same selfishness, and no one could probably have entered into
James's feelings more fully than good old Buffon himself, who begins
his description of the stag with the kindly words, "Voici l'un de ces
animaux innocents, doux et tranquilles, qui ne semblent être faits que
pour embellir, animer la solitude des forêts, et occuper loin de nous
les retraites paisibles de ces jardins de la nature;" and then he
gives an account of the best and most approved means of tearing it to
pieces.
However, it was in one of the alleys of the park or wood of Falkland
that King James wandered on, in the latter end of February, 1600.
Where he first entered the wood, the underwood was not very thick, and
the sharp winter, just drawing to a close, had torn from the branches
to which they clung many of the leaves which, like shipwrecked
mariners, had held feebly on long after their brethren had been swept
away. By his side, or rather half a step behind, was a young man,
dressed, like the monarch himself, in Lincoln green, and some fifty
paces further back was a well-armed attendant. The period at which the
stags are dangerous had long passed, indeed; but still James was not
usually ill pleased to have aid ever at hand in case of need, for he
was accustomed to say himself, "there are more vicious beasts in the
world than harts and hinds." His pace was quick, though, as usual,
shambling and irregular, and as he went he rolled his eyes about in
every direction in search of some of the beasts of the chase.
"Whist, whist, Jock," he said at length, pausing, and pointing with
his finger; "there's a fine fellow--an old stag, upon my life, as fat
as the butterman's wife. De'il's in the beastie! he's casting his head
gear already. Do you see, man, one side is as bare as my hand? We
shall have an early summer and a hot one. Whenever the old stags, or
the stags of ten, cast their horns before March, you may be sure there
will be an early season. The young ones are always a bit later; but
that's an old hart coming his ninth year. I'll warrant he's been down
every morn to neighbour Yellowly's farm at the water, by the grease
upon him. Let me catch you in the month of June, my man."
The king then went on to instruct his young companion in various parts
of science connected with his favourite amusement, giving him all the
French and Scotch and English terms for different proceedings in
woodcraft, and for the qualities and distinctions of the deer.
The young man listened with all due submission and apparent attention,
though, to say truth, he was somewhat impatient of the lecture, and
thought that he understood the subject, practically at least, as well
as the king himself. There was another source of impatience also in
his bosom, for the truth was, he eagerly sought an opportunity of
speaking upon a different topic; while the profound reverence for the
kingly office, in which he had been educated, prevented him from
introducing it himself, till the monarch's own words gave him some
fair opening. He had watched his opportunity for weeks, but something
had always intervened to prevent his executing his purpose; and now
when he had fully expected to find the moment he sought, during the
expedition to Falkland, it seemed likely to be snatched from him by
James's long-winded dissertation upon hunting. He could almost have
burst forth with some impatient exclamation as the king went on
discussing and describing, and mingling his disquisitions with quaint
scraps of Latin most strangely applied; but the opportunity was nearer
than the young man thought.
"You see, Jock," said the king, "a young stag, or a stag entering ten,
or even a stag of ten, may be forced and run and brought to bay easily
enough; but an old stag is a wily beast, ever on his guard, and ready
at every minute to give the dogs and the hunter the change. He knows
well where his enemies lie, which way they will take, what they will
do, and how to circumvent them."
"He must be very like your majesty, then," said the young man, with a
low bow, adding, "at least, I hope so."
"Ha, man, what's that?" cried the king, looking round; but before John
Ramsay could answer, the king had plunged into woodcraft again. "In
the season when people cannot hunt," continued James, "he'll come out
to the edge of the wood, or into the fields, and nibble the young
corn. I've known one rout out an old wife's kail-yard; but as soon as
the month of May begins, back goes the sleek fellow into the very
heart of the woods and parks, and then you have to track him step by
step, mark all his footprints, and sometimes in hot weather trace them
contrariwise over the dry ground, in order to put the dogs on where
the scent lies. Eh, man, he's a wary beast, and takes every means to
hide his comings in and his goings out."
"So do some of your Majesty's enemies," said the young man, with
peculiar emphasis; and James's attention was now fully caught.
"Ha! say you so, Jock?" cried the monarch, with a start. "There's
something thou hast to say, lad--out with it, in God's name. You love
your king well, I do believe. Come, tell the whole--keep farther back,
Sanderson," he continued, raising his voice, and speaking to the man
who followed. "Now, Jock, now, let's hear it all, and if you do your
duty faithfully you have the king's favour."
"My duty I will do whether or no," answered the young man, bluntly. "I
love your majesty too well to keep anything back from you, even should
it make you think me indiscreet; and I know that your wisdom will soon
see that which my poor wit cannot divine. I have had some doubts, as
to whether I may not be doing wrong, in my own thoughts, to a noble
gentleman; but if I tell you just what I have heard, which is my
bounden duty, your majesty will soon see and judge which is the right
of it all."
"That's a good lad--that's a good lad," repeated the king. "We will
soon clear the matter up when we know the whole, and act according to
judgment and reason. Kings were appointed of God, the judges of all
things upon earth; but how should they judge if they do not hear? Now
tell me, man, who it is you suspect. There are in every kingdom a
great many fools who are always getting into mischief from want of
wit, and a great many born devils always egging them on."
"I don't know that I've a right to say that I _suspect_ the Earl of
Gowrie," replied the young man; but the king instantly interrupted
him, exclaiming, with a violent oath, "Why, what the de'il do you know
about Gowrie? I had thought that all his tricks were known to myself
alone--but what have you to say concerning him?"
"If your majesty knows all his proceedings," answered John Ramsay, "I
have nought to say. The matter is in good hands."
"But how can you tell I know all about the matter, Gabie?" asked the
king, impatiently. "Speak out, man--speak out."
"Well, then, I would humbly ask your majesty," continued Ramsay,
remembering the instructions he had received, "whether you are aware
that during the whole time the earl was in Paris, he was in continual
connexion with the English ambassador, Sir Henry Neville, seeing him
every day, and that he only thought fit to wait upon your majesty's
ambassador once?"
"Ay, did he so?" said James, musing. "He may find that he cannot
lightly his own born sovereign without scathe. How got ye knowledge of
this, man? You've no been in Paris yourself, unless you can be in two
places at once."
"I had a cousin there at the time, your majesty, and he tells me that
the thing was commonly remarked and talked about. Then I understand
that her majesty, the Queen of England, showed somewhat more honour
and grace to this Earl of Gowrie than one of your majesty's subjects
should willingly have received."
"Ay, poor fellow, he couldn't help that," said the king, with a
curious grin at his own affectation of candour. "If our good titty and
aunt, Queen Elizabeth, like the other wild jade, Fortune, will thrust
honours upon a man who does not want them, he must take them as they
come. But what did she do that was worthy of mark?"
John Ramsay, in reply, recapitulated all that his cousin had told him;
and, more from James's manner than any words that escaped him, judged
the communication gave the monarch a slight uneasiness. The king, as
was common with him when internally agitated, hurried his sort of
limping pace into the thicker wood, pulling the sides of his breeches
at the same time, and mumbling inward comments, of which not one word
could be distinctly heard. Then sitting down on a broad stone bench,
which stood at the side of the avenue, near a spot where a lateral
alley branched off, he impatiently bade his companion go on, although
the young man was already speaking as fast as he could.
"The only thing more I have heard, sire," said John Ramsay, who had by
this time well-nigh finished his tale, "is that the earl was in
constant communication, and that of a secret kind, with Sir Robert
Cecil, the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Lord Cobham."
"The devil is in those fellows," said the king, abruptly. "They betray
every one, first their own mistress, and then their own friend.
They've softened all down to me; but I saw through them, lad, even
before what you have told me. They could not blind my eyes so as
to prevent my finding out that there was more under their fine
speeches.--But you've got something else to say, Jock. I see it in
your face, man.--Out with it!"
"It was only this, your majesty," replied the young man, "and I don't
know, indeed, whether it is necessary to say it, for your wisdom needs
no guidance; but the fact is, all the information I have received,
comes from my cousin Newburn."
"None the worse for that, man, I dare say," said the king. "Why should
not your cousin Newburn tell truth, as well as another, Jock
Ramshackle?"
"I have thought, since I spoke with him, sire," answered Ramsay, "that
he may be a little prejudiced, for he and the earl, it seems, are not
on the best terms, one of the earl's men having nearly killed him in a
dispute about a lady travelling under the earl's escort. Besides, my
brother Dalhousie is a great friend of the earl's, and thinks very
well of him."
"Tell your brother not to take his lot with him," said James, sharply.
"He does not know what he mints at; and he'll bring himself to bad
bread before he's done.--A lady, did you say? What lady might that be,
I should like to know? Odds life! I trust he'll bring none of his
Italian limmers here, or he'll have the kirk session on his back."
"They say she is a cousin of his own," said Ramsay, in a doubtful
tone, "and that one of her relations in Italy dying, while the earl
was there, committed her on his death bed to the earl's charge. They
call her the Lady Julia Douglas."
"Whew!" cried the king, adding a long whistle, as if he were calling
back a falcon. "So, my bonny bird, we shall get you at last. The Lady
Julia Douglas! Why, this is the very lass, I'll pawn my ears, that
Arran, poor body, was looking for so felly some eighteen years ago.
Mayhap we shall hear something now; we shall get some inkling of all
Morton's treasures which we could never lay hand on. This must be
thought of quickly. We must have the lady in our own ward, Ramsay, for
we are sair pressed for siller just now. I'll away to Edinburgh this
very night, and see to this matter. Why, that man Morton had gathered
together, what by scarting and what by nipping, enough to replenish
the treasury of Scotland for a twelvemonth, and yet when he went to
take the last kiss of the maiden of Halifax, he had not money enough
in his pouch to pay the hangman. All that he had was forfeited to the
crown, being attainted as a traitor; but he had either hidden all his
gold away, or else the Italian lady and her father had carried it away
with them, for we could never find so much as a crown piece, and I can
tell you it sat ill upon my stomach and Arran's too. He was a feckless
poor body, that Arran, or he'd have never let the old count and his
daughter and the bairn get away. But we must watch for this good earl
and the pretty lady, and we'll soon find out where the money is."
"Shall I set out at once, sir, with a party of the guard?" asked
Ramsay, ever ready for action. "I'll arrest the earl the moment he
sets foot in Scotland, if your majesty will but warrant me."
"Fie, now, lad. What a rash fool thou art!" said James, in a
good-humoured tone. "No, no, boy. We must trust things that require to
be done fair and softly to older and cooler heads than thine. There
must be no violence, no show of force; but we must get the lady into
our own ward cannily and quietly, and then deal with the earl
afterwards, as he comports himself. I tell thee what, Jock," he
continued, stretching out his hand, and pinching the young man's
cheek, "I would not have all the wealth of the old regent Morton go to
swell the riches of Gowrie for one half of Perthshire. They are too
rich and powerful already, those Ruthvens; and I'll have no new
Douglases rising up in the land to outshine their king and beard him
too. They used to call Dalkeith the lion's den, when Morton had it;
but I'm not fond of such wild beasts, and these Ruthvens are a bit of
the same breed. No, no; we'll take care of the lady, and provide for
her marriage; but it shan't be to a Ruthven."
As the king spoke he rose, as if he were going to walk away, but the
next moment he stopped, and turned round to his young companion,
saying, "Now mind, Jock, what I'm going to bid you, and see that you
obey. Hold your tongue about all that has passed between you and the
king. Say not a word to any one, whatever you may see or hear; and
above all things keep your hands, and your tongue too, off young Alex
Ruthven, whom you are always bickering with, I'll take my own time,
man; and depend upon it, if I want anything that requires a strong
hand and a bold heart, and love and affection to a sovereign, I'll
send for you, Jock; so you keep quiet and bide your time, as I shall
bide mine. Kingcraft teaches a man patience, Jockie Ramshackle; but
you'll need an awful quantity of drilling."
Thus saying, the king moved on along the avenue, till he came to the
corner of the cross alley which I have mentioned, where he suddenly
started and turned pale, on seeing a man, and that man a stranger,
approaching with an easy, sauntering step, and within some five or six
yards of him. With the impulse of courage, Ramsay, who was a little
behind, placed himself at once at the king's side, although he could
not but see there was no danger, for the stranger was quite unarmed;
and James, at the same time, becoming conscious of that fact also,
recovered his courage, and said, in a low tone, "Whist, man! wha the
de'il is this, I wonder? Haud your tongue--he's going to speer
something at us."
"I say, old gentleman," said the stranger, "I wish you would tell me
my way out of this place, for I've lost myself, and cannot get back to
the palace."
Now it is to be remarked, that James was not at this time an old
gentleman, being then in his thirty-fourth year; but his hair was
somewhat gray already, and the strange and awkward form of dress which
he affected--quilted, loose, not always in very good repair, and here
and there somewhat greasy--gave him the appearance of being at least
twenty years older than he really was. Ramsay's cheek reddened at the
man's familiar address to his sovereign; but James made him a sign to
be quiet; and the stranger went on in the same cavalier tone, saying,
"It's a long lane that has never a turning; but this has so many
turnings, that it is as bad as the labyrinth of Didymus."
"Dædalus, you mean, young man," answered the king; "and you yourself
make an ugly sort of Theseus, though I am not quite so frightful as
the Minotaur."
"I never heard of that gentleman," answered the stranger; "but I dare
say he was ugly enough. However, handsome is who handsome does; and if
he behaved well in his capacity, no one could blame him for not being
pretty. You cannot have more of a cat than its skin, or comb a monkey
that has got no hair. However, I want very much to find my way out of
this place, for like many another pretty piece of work that man gets
into, it is easier in than out."
"I should like to know how you did get in," answered James, who was
exceedingly amused. "You must have got over the wall, I think."
"Not I," answered the man; "I came round by the stables, and through
the back court; but what signifies it to you how I got in?"
"It signifies very much," cried Ramsay, fiercely, for his blood had
continued boiling during the whole conversation, at what he considered
the man's insolence.
But James interposed, exclaiming, "Hout, lad, keep your breath to cool
your porridge. How can the man tell that I am the head keeper? He's
clearly a stranger here, by his tongue."
"Oh, if you are the head keeper, that makes all the difference,"
answered the other. "I know what belongs to parks as well as any one;
and the head keeper is always a very reverend gentleman in my eyes. A
man should never quarrel with his bread and butter; and I've often got
a capital venison steak for being civil to the head keeper. So, sir,
I'll tell you I got quite honestly in, as you can learn yourself, if
you go back with me to the palace. I've brought a letter from my lord
to his majesty the king, and as I've long had a great wish to see him,
I told a lie, and said I was to deliver it myself; but the people at
the palace told me that his majesty was busy in his cabinet on affairs
of state."
"The lying loons!" muttered James, with a laugh.
"And so," continued the other, "I just put up my horse at the hostel,
and walked through the gates into the park."
"And so you had a great desire to see the king, had you?" said James.
"What might that be for? Why should you want to see him more than any
other man?"
"For three reasons," answered the other; "because they say he is as
wise as King Solomon; because he's fond of proverbs; and because he's
the greatest hunter upon earth since Nimrod."
James chuckled, till his quilted doublet shook; and then he asked,
"Who told you all this?"
"Why, my lord, the Earl of Gowrie," answered the man; and the king
instantly turned a sharp and meaning glance to Ramsay's countenance.
"And so he told you," he said, "that the king was as wise as Solomon?
Faith, my man, though I love the king, who is my master, as well as
any man in the realm can love him, yet I think your lord was a little
bit mistaken to tell you so."
"He didn't exactly tell me so," answered Austin Jute, whom the reader
has already discovered, "but he told others so within my hearing."
"Then he followed the counsel of King Solomon himself," answered
James; "and he must be a wise man, too. He spoke not ill of princes, I
mean, otherwise would the birds of the air have carried the matter."
"Now, Heaven forbid that he should speak ill of his own born
sovereign," answered Austin Jute, "or think ill of him either; but I
pray you, good sir, without more conference, tell me my way out, for I
fear that the king may go forth; and I have got to ride far to-night."
"What, you ride toward Berwick by the gloaming, I'se warrant?" said
James.
"No, not so," replied Austin Jute. "I'm away across the country to
Carlisle, and hope to meet my lord just as he crosses the border."
"Ay, comes he by Carlisle?" said the king; "but it's a wild country
thereabout, my man. Aren't you afraid to ride without any arms?"
As he spoke, he moved down the avenue, back towards the palace; and
Austin Jute followed, saying, "I have got sword and buckler at the
hostel, and know how to use them at a pinch, I trust. He who bides a
blow may spare a buffet; but you see, sir, I thought it was not right
for a man of my condition to approach the king's palace with arms on
my back, so I left all those things at the hostel till I had delivered
the letter.--Now there goes a fine stag, upon my life! I would fain be
as near him some fine summer's day, with a bow in my hand, and liberty
to shoot."
"I should like to see thee right well," said the king; "and if thou
comest here to me at Falkland some summer day, thou shalt have leave
and licence to pick out three fat bucks, and kill them, if thou canst,
with three arrows, but the first shaft that fails, so ceases thine
archery."
"Agreed, agreed," cried Austin Jute, tossing up his cap in the air,
and catching it again. "Thank thee, master keeper. If I pick thee not
out some fine venison, or if I miss one buck, say there is no archer
left in Lincolnshire; and thou shalt set up the horns over thy door,
and give a pasty to the poor men of the village, that once in their
lives they may taste king's meat."
"Soul and body! and so I will," cried the king, taking part in his
enthusiasm; "and thou shalt have two crowns into the bargain, for each
buck thou killest."
"Two crowns!" cried Austin Jute, taking a step back, and gazing at his
companion. "That's good pay, master keeper, considering that the
umbels are my own by old forest law."
"Well, well," said the king, "'twas a rash promise; but I like to see
a good shaft shot as well as any man--don't look round, lad, for I'm
taking thee straight to the palace--there you see the windows. Never
mind that man; he's only one of the under keepers."
And as they passed the attendant, who had followed the king in his
walk, the man dropped behind, and took up his station at the same
distance as before.
"I've a notion," said Austin Jute, with his cap in his hand, "that
eagles would be taken for rooks by foolish men, if they hid themselves
in rooks' feathers."
"So thou hast brought a letter from the Earl of Gowrie," said James,
without noticing the quaint observation, though it sufficiently
indicated that his real rank was now suspected. "Well, he is a right
loyal and well disposed young lord, I have heard. Have you got the
letter with you?"
"It is here, sir," answered Austin Jute, producing it.
"Let me see it, let me see it," said the king.
The man hesitated for a moment, and then dropped upon his knee,
saying, "I beseech you, sir, to pardon me; but I have strange doubts I
must have offended--unwittingly, as you will well believe--if you be
really, as I now think, the king's majesty. But your attendants
assured me confidently that you were busy in your cabinet on matters
of great moment; otherwise I should never have ventured into your
royal park."
"God's blessing on the vermin!" said the king, "for they have made me
a merry minute or two. Give me the letter, man. I am the king; and for
your mistakes you have our grace and pardon, for a dusty doublet may
well cheat a man of no great conveyance."
Thus saying, he opened the letter and read. The tenour was as follows:
"Please your Majesty,
"If the bestowing of great benefits should move the receivers thereof
to be thankful to the givers, I have many extraordinary occasions to
be thankful to your Majesty; not only being favoured with the benefit
of your Majesty's good countenance at all times myself, but also, that
it hath pleased your Majesty to advance my brother and my sister to
great grace at your royal court. Being anxious to give some more
certain sign and vive testimony to your Majesty of my devotion to your
royal person, I am now hastening to cast myself at your feet, in the
hope that it may please you to command me in anything whereby your
Majesty may have a proof of my prompt and faithful obedience in all
things that may tend to your Majesty's satisfaction, together with the
weal and prosperity of the realm.
"In the meantime I repose myself still in your Majesty's constant
favour, till God grants that I shall see your Majesty in so good a
state as I wish, which will give me the greatest contentment of all.
"So earnestly craving Heaven to bless your Majesty with all felicity
and satisfaction in health, and with an increase of many prosperous
days, I kiss most devoutly your Majesty's hands.
"Your Majesty's most humble subject, and obedient servant in all
devotion,"
"GOWRIE."
"A right loyal and faithful letter," said the king. "Now walk straight
forward into the house, my friend. Fill thy stomach at the larder. Get
thee a good cup of wine at the buttery, and away with thee at once, to
tell thy lord that the king is well pleased at his return, and waits
impatiently to consult with him and other good lords upon many things
concerning the good of the state. Tell him, however, that he will not
find us here at our palace at Falkland, but at our poor house in
Edinburgh--which, if he have any grace left," he added, in a low voice
to Ramsay, "he will not like to walk about so well. Bid him make haste
and come to us straight, for we are anxious for his presence, and
desirous to show him favour.--Away with you, my man!"
The king waited till Austin Jute had taken somewhat more than a
hundred paces along the avenue, and then said in a low voice, to
Ramsay, "This earl is a false loon, Jock. See here what he says--that
he is willing to show prompt obedience in all things that may tend to
our satisfaction, together with the weal and prosperity of the realm.
That's just their hypocritical talk when they intend to play the
traitor. They always find something which is required for the weal and
benefit of the realm, which may thwart their own natural prince, whom
God appointed to rule over them, and made his vicegerent upon earth.
He'd never have put in these words, Jock, if he were not minded to do
all he can to cross us. A dour divot, just like all those Ruthvens. I
can smell him out as well as my brack Barleycorn can smell the foot of
one of those beasties."
"I hope your majesty will let him feel that it is so," said Ramsay,
"and teach him that he cannot cross his king with impunity."
"No, no, lad. I shall handle him after my own way," said the king.
"Have you never seen a bairn stroking bawdrans up the wrong way? So
I'll just cross the grain with him in all kingly courtesy, then we
shall soon see whether he turns dorty upon us, and then will be the
time to wind off the pirn. But come along, Jockie, it's time that we
should get home, for I must see to this lassy he's got with him. It
may be she, I think--it may not; but if it be, it's high time to care
for her."
Thus saying, the king walked on hastily, and, by a small side-door,
entered the palace. Immediately after, some of his attendants were
called to his presence, and questioned regarding the account which
Austin Jute had given of himself. All they could tell, however, was
that he had brought a letter from the Earl of Gowrie, and had said
that he had been to Holyrood, but finding the king absent at Falkland,
had come on direct. On this James made no comment, but, somewhat to
the surprise of his attendants, ordered everything to be prepared for
immediate departure for Edinburgh.