TIBBY HYSLOP'S DREAM.
In the year 1807, when on a jaunt through the valleys of Nith and
Annan, I learned the following story on the spot where the incidents
occurred, and even went and visited all those connected with it, so
that there is no doubt with regard to its authenticity.
In a cottage called Knowe-back, on the large farm of Drumlochie, lived
Tibby Hyslop, a respectable spinster, about the age of forty I thought
when I saw her, but, of course, not so old when the first incidents
occurred which this singular tale relates. Tibby was represented to me
as being a good Christian, not in name and profession only, but in
word and in deed; and I believe I may add, in heart and in soul.
Nevertheless, there was something in her manner and deportment
different from other people--a sort of innocent simplicity, bordering
on silliness, together with an instability of thought, that, in the
eyes of many, approached to abstraction.
But then Tibby could repeat the book of the Evangelist Luke by heart,
and many favourite chapters both of the Old and New Testaments; while
there was scarcely one in the whole country so thoroughly acquainted
with those Books from beginning to end; for, though she had read a
portion every day for forty years, she had never perused any other
books but the Scriptures. They were her week-day books, and her Sunday
books, her books of amusement, and books of devotion. Would to God
that all our brethren and sisters of the human race--the poor and
comfortless, as well as the great and wise--knew as well how to
estimate these books as Tibby Hyslop did!
Tibby's history is shortly this: Her mother married a sergeant of a
recruiting party. The year following he was obliged to go to Ireland,
and from thence nobody knew whither; but neither he nor his wife
appeared again in Scotland. On their departure, they left Tibby, then
a helpless babe, with her grandmother, who lived in a hamlet somewhere
about Tinwald; and with that grandmother was she brought up, and
taught to read her Bible, to card, spin, and work at all kinds of
country labour to which women are accustomed. Jane Hervey was her
grandmother's name, a woman then scarcely past her prime, certainly
within forty years of age; with whom lived her elder sister, named
Douglas: and with these two were the early years of Tibby Hyslop
spent, in poverty, contentment, and devotion.
At the age of eighteen, Tibby was hired at the Candlemas fair, for a
great wage, to be a byre-woman to Mr Gilbert Forret, then farmer at
Drumlochie. Tibby had then acquired a great deal of her mother's
dangerous bloom--dangerous, when attached to poverty and so much
simplicity of heart; and when she came home and told what she had
done, her mother and aunt, as she always denominated the two,
marvelled much at the extravagant conditions, and began to express
some fears regarding her new master's designs, till Tibby put them all
to rest by the following piece of simple information:
"Dear, ye ken, ye needna be feared that Mr Forret has ony design o'
courting me, for dear, ye ken, he has a wife already, and five bonny
bairns; and he'll never be sae daft as fa' on and court anither ane.
I'se warrant he finds ane enow for him, honest man!"
"Oh, then, you are safe enough, since he is a married man, my bairn,"
said Jane.
The truth was, that Mr Forret was notorious for debauching young and
pretty girls, and was known in Dumfries market by the name of Gibby
Gledger, from the circumstance of his being always looking slyly after
them. Perceiving Tibby so comely, and at the same time so simple, he
hired her at nearly double wages, and moreover gave her a crown as
arle-money.
Tibby went home to her service, and being a pliable, diligent
creature, she was beloved by all. Her master commended her for her
neatness, and whenever a quiet opportunity offered, would pat her rosy
cheek, and say kind things. Tibby took all these in good part, judging
them tokens of approbation of her good services, and was proud of
them; and if he once or twice whispered a place and an hour of
assignation, she took it for a joke, and paid no farther attention to
it. A whole year passed over without the worthy farmer having
accomplished his cherished purpose regarding poor Tibby. He hired her
to remain with him, still on the former high conditions, and moreover
he said to her: "I wish your grandmother and grand-aunt would take my
pleasant cottage of Knowe-back. They should have it for a mere
trifle--a week's shearing or so--so long as you remain in my service;
and as it is likely to be a long while before you and I part, it would
be better to have them near you, that you might see them often, and
attend to their wants. I could give them plenty of work through the
whole year, on the best conditions. What think you of this proposal,
Rosy?"--a familiar name he often called her by.
"O, I'm sure, sir, I think ye are the kindest man that ever existed.
What a blessing is it when riches open up the heart to acts of
charity and benevolence! My poor auld mother and aunty will be blythe
to grip at the kind offer; for they sit under a hard master yonder.
The Almighty will bestow a blessing on you for this, sir!"
Tibby went immediately with the joyful news to her poor mother and
aunt. Now, they had of late found themselves quite easy in their
circumstances, owing to the large wages Tibby received, every farthing
of which was added to the common stock; and though Tibby displayed a
little more finery at the meeting-house, it was her grandmother who
purchased it for her, without any consent on her part. "I am sure,"
said her grandmother, when Tibby told the story of her master's
kindness and attention, "I am sure it was the kindest intervention o'
Providence that ever happened to poor things afore, when ye fell in
wi' that kind worthy man, i' the mids o' a great hiring market, where
ye might just as easily hae met wi' a knave, or a niggard, as wi' this
man o' siccan charity an' mercy."
"Ay; the wulcat maun hae his collop,
And the raven maun hae his part,
And the tod will creep through the heather,
For the bonny moor-hen's heart,"
said old Douglas Hervey, poking the fire all the while with the tongs,
and speaking only as if speaking to herself--"Hech-wow, and
lack-a-day! but the times are altered sair since I first saw the sun!
Poor, poor Religion, wae's me for her! She was first driven out o' the
lord's castle into the baron's ha'; out o' the baron's ha' into the
farmer's bien dwelling; and at last out o' that into the poor
cauldrife shiel, where there's nae ither comfort but what she brings
wi' her."
"What has set ye onna thae reflections the day, aunty?" cried Tibby
aloud at her ear; for she was half deaf, and had so many flannel
mutches on, besides a blue napkin, which she always wore over them
all, that her deafness was nearly completed altogether.
"Oogh! what's the lassie saying?" said she, after listening a good
while, till the sounds penetrated to the interior of her ear, "what's
the young light-head saying about the defections o' the day? what kens
she about them?--oogh! Let me see your face, dame, and find your hand,
for I hae neither seen the ane, nor felt the tither, this lang and mony
a day." Then taking her grand-niece by the hand, and looking close into
her face through the spectacles, she added,--"Ay, it is a weel-faured
sonsy face, very like the mother's that bore ye; and hers was as like
_her_ mother's; and there was never as muckle common sense amang a' the
three as to keep a brock out o' the kail-yard. Ye hae an unco good
master, I hear--oogh! I'm glad to heart--hoh-oh-oh-oh!--verra glad. I
hope it will lang continue, this kindness. Poor Tibby!--as lang as the
heart disna gang wrang, we maun excuse the head, for it'll never aince
gang right. I hope they were baith made for a better warld, for nane o'
them were made for this."
When she got this length, she sat hastily down, and began her daily
and hourly task of carding wool for her sister's spinning, abstracting
herself from all external considerations.
"I think aunty's unco parabolical the day," said Tibby to her
grandmother; "what makes her that gate?"
"O dear, hinny, she's aye that gate now. She speaks to naebody but
hersell," said Jane. "But--lownly be it spoken--I think whiles there's
ane speaks till her again that my een canna see."
"The angels often conversed wi' good folks lang-syne. I ken o'
naething that can hinder them to do sae still, if they're sae
disposed," said Tibby; and so the dialogue closed for the present.
Mr Forret sent his carts at the term, and removed the old people to
the cottage of Knowe-back, free of all charge, like a gentleman as he
was; and things went on exceedingly well. Tibby had a sincere regard
for her master; and as he continued to speak to her, when alone, in a
kind and playful manner, she had several times ventured to broach
religion to him, trying to discover the state of his soul. Then he
would shake his head, and look demure in mockery, and repeat some
grave, becoming words. Poor Tibby thought he _was_ a righteous man.
But in a short time his purposes were divulged in such a manner as to
be no more equivocal. That morning immediately preceding the
development of this long-cherished atrocity, Jane Hervey was awaked at
an early hour by the following unintelligible dialogue in her elder
sister's bed.
"Have ye seen the news o' the day, kerlin?"
"Oogh?"
"Have ye seen the news o' the day?"
"Ay, that I hae, on a braid open book, without clasp or seal. Whether
will you or the deil win?"
"That depends on the citadel. If it stand out, a' the powers o' hell
winna shake the fortress, nor sap a stane o' its foundation."
"Ah, the fortress is a good ane, and a sound ane; but the poor head
captain!--ye ken what a sweet-lipped, turnip-headit brosey he is. O,
lack-a-day, my poor Tibby Hyslop!--my innocent, kind, thowless Tibby
Hyslop!"
Jane was frightened at hearing such a colloquy, but particularly at
that part of it where her darling child was mentioned. She sprung from
her own bed to that of her sister, and cried in her ear with a loud
voice,--"Sister, sister Douglas, what is that you are saying about
our dear bairn?"
"Oogh? I was saying naething about your bairn. She lies in great
jeopardy yonder; but nane as yet. Gang away to your bed--wow, but I
was sound asleep."
"There's naebody can make aught out o' her but nonsense," said Jane.
After the two had risen from their scanty breakfast, which Douglas had
blessed with more fervency than ordinary, she could not settle at her
carding, but always stopped short, and began mumbling and speaking to
herself. At length, after a long pause, she looked over her shoulder,
and said,--"Jeanie, warna ye speaking o' ganging ower to see our bairn
the day? Haste thee and gang away, then; and stay nouther to put on
clean bussing, kirtle, nor barrie, else ye may be an antrin meenut or
twa ower lang."
Jane made no reply, but, drawing the skirt of her gown over her
shoulders, she set out for Drumlochie, a distance of nearly a mile;
and as she went by the corner of the byre, she imagined she heard her
grandchild's voice, in great passion or distress, and ran straight
into the byre, crying, "What's the matter wi' you, Tibby? what ails
you, my bairn?" but, receiving no answer, she thought the voice must
have been somewhere without, and slid quietly away, looking
everywhere, and at length went down to the kitchen.
Mr Forret, _alias_ Gledging Gibby, had borne the brunt of incensed
kirk-sessions before that time, and also the unlicensed tongues of
mothers, roused into vehemence by the degradation of beloved
daughters; but never in his life did he bear such a rebuke as he did
that day from the tongue of one he had always viewed as a mere
simpleton. It was a lesson--a warning of the most sublime and terrible
description, couched in the pure and emphatic language of Scripture.
Gibby cared not a doit for these things, but found himself foiled, and
exposed to his family, and the whole world, if this fool chose to do
it. He was, therefore, glad to act a part of deep hypocrisy,
pretending the sincerest contrition, regretting, with tears, his
momentary derangement. Poor Tibby readily believed and forgave him;
and thinking it hard to ruin a repentant sinner in his worldly and
family concerns, she promised never to divulge what had passed; and
he, knowing well the value of her word, was glad at having so escaped.
Jane found her grand-daughter apparently much disturbed; but having
asked if she was well enough, and receiving an answer in the
affirmative, she was satisfied, and only added, "Your crazed aunty wad
gar me believe ye war in some jeopardy, and hurried me away to see
you, without giving me leave to change a steek." One may easily
conceive Tibby's astonishment at hearing this, considering the moment
at which her grandmother arrived. As soon as the latter was gone, she
kneeled before her Maker, and poured out her soul in grateful
thanksgiving for her deliverance; and, in particular, for such a
manifest interference of some superior intelligence in her behalf.
"How did ye find our poor bairn the day, titty Jean? Did she no tell
ye ony thing?" asked Douglas, on Jane's return.
"She tauld me naething, but said she was weel."
"She's ae fool, and ye're another! If I had been her, I wad hae blazed
it baith to kirk and council;--to his wife's ear, and to his minister's!
She's very weel, is she?--Oogh! Ay. Hoh--oh--oh--oh!--silly woman--silly
woman--Hoh--oh--oh!"
In a few weeks, Mr Forret's behaviour to his simple dairymaid altered
very materially. He called her no more by the endearing name of Rosy;
poor idiot was oftener the term; and finding he was now safe from
accusation, his malevolence towards her had scarcely any bounds. She
made out her term with difficulty, but he refused to pay the
stipulated wage, on pretence of her incapacity; and as she had by that
time profited well at his hand, she took what he offered, thanked him,
and said no more about it. She was no more hired as a servant, but
having at the first taken a long lease of the cottage, she continued,
from year to year, working on the farm by the day, at a very scanty
allowance. Old Douglas in a few years grew incapable of any work,
through frailty of person, being constantly confined to bed, though in
mind as energetic and mysterious as ever. Jane wrought long, till at
length a severe illness in 1799 rendered her unfit to do any thing
further than occasionally knit a stocking; and Tibby's handywork was
all that herself and the two old women had to depend upon. They had
brought her up with care and kindness amid the most pinching poverty,
and now, indeed, her filial affection was severely put to the proof;
but it was genuine, and knew no bounds. Night and day she toiled for
her aged and feeble relatives, and a murmur or complaint never was
heard from her lips. Many a blessing was bestowed on her as they
raised their palsied heads to partake of her hard-earned pittance; and
many a fervent prayer was poured out, when no mortal heard it.
Times grew harder and harder. Thousands yet living remember what a
period that was for the poor, while meal, for seasons, was from four
to five shillings a-stone, and even sometimes as high as seven. Tibby
grew fairly incapable of supporting herself and her aged friends. She
stinted herself for their sakes, and that made her still more
incapable; yet often with tears in her eyes did she feed these frail
beings, her heart like to melt because she had no more to give them.
There are no poor-rates in that country. Knowe-back is quite
retired--nobody went near it, and Tibby complained to none, but
wrought on, night and day, in sorrow and anxiety, but still with a
humble and thankful heart.
In this great strait, Mrs Forret was the first who began, unsolicited,
to take compassion on the destitute group. She could not conceive how
they existed on the poor creature's earnings. So she went privately to
see them, and when she saw their wretched state, and heard their
blessings on their dear child, her heart was moved to pity, and she
determined to assist them in secret; for her husband was such a churl,
that she durst not venture to do it publicly. Accordingly, whenever
she had an opportunity, she made Tibby come into the kitchen, and get
a meal for herself; and often the considerate lady slid a small loaf,
or a little tea and sugar, into her lap, for the two aged
invalids;--for gentle woman is always the first to pity, and the first
to relieve.
Poor Tibby! how her heart expanded with gratitude on receiving these
little presents! for her love for the two old dependent creatures was
of so pure and sacred a sort, as scarcely to retain in it any thing of
the common feelings of humanity. There was no selfish principle
there--they were to her as a part of her own nature.
Tibby never went into the kitchen unless her mistress desired her, or
sent her word by some of the other day-labourers to come in as she
went home. One evening, having got word in this last way, she went in,
and the lady of the house, with her own hand, presented her with a
little bowl of beat potatoes, and some milk. This was all; and one
would have thought it was an aliment so humble and plain, that
scarcely any person would have grudged it to a hungry dog. It so
happened, however, that as Tibby was sitting behind backs enjoying the
meal, Mr Forret chanced to come into the kitchen to give some orders;
and perceiving Tibby so comfortably engaged, he, without speaking a
word, seized her by the neck with one hand, and by the shoulder with
the other, and hurrying her out at the backdoor into the yard, flung
her, with all his might, on a dunghill. "Wha the devil bade you come
into my house, and eat up the meat that was made for others?" cried
he, in a demoniac voice, choking with rage; and then he swore a
terrible oath, which I do not choose to set down, that, "if he found
her again at such employment, he would cut her throat, and fling her
to the dogs."
Poor Tibby was astounded beyond the power of utterance, or even of
rising from the place where he had thrown her down, until lifted by
two of the maid-servants, who tried to comfort her as they supported
her part of the way home; and bitterly did they blame their master,
saying it would have been a shame to any one, who had the feelings of
a man, to do such an act; but as for their master, he scarcely had the
feelings of a beast. Tibby never opened her mouth, neither to blame,
nor complain, but went on her way crying till her heart was like to
break.
She had no supper for the old famishing pair that night. They had
tasted nothing from the time that she left them in the morning; and as
she had accounted herself sure of receiving something from Mrs Forret
that night, she had not asked her day's wages from the grieve, glad to
let a day run up now and then, when able to procure a meal in any
other honest way. She had nothing to give them that night, so what
could she do? She was obliged, with a sore heart, to kiss them and
tell them so; and then, as was her custom, she said a prayer over
their couch, and laid herself down to sleep, drowned in tears.
She had never so much as mentioned Mr Forret's name either to her
grandmother or grand-aunt that night, or by the least insinuation
given them to understand that he had used her ill; but no sooner were
they composed to rest, and all the cottage quiet, than old Douglas
began abusing him with great vehemence. Tibby, to her astonishment,
heard some of his deeds spoken of with great familiarity, which she
was sure never had been whispered to the ear of flesh. But what
shocked her most of all, was the following terrible prognostication,
which she heard repeated three several times:--"Na, na, I'll no see
it, for I'll never see aught earthly again beyond the wa's o' this
cottage; but Tibby will live to see it;--ay, ay, she'll see it." Then
a different voice asked--"What will _she_ see, kerlin?"--"She'll see
the craws picking his banes at the back o' the dyke."
Tibby's heart grew cold within her when she heard this terrible
announcement, because, for many years bygone, she had been convinced,
from sensible demonstration, that old Douglas Hervey had commerce with
some superior intelligence; and after she had heard the above sentence
repeated again and again, she shut her ears, that she might hear no
more; committed herself once more to the hands of a watchful Creator,
and fell into a troubled sleep.
The elemental spirits that weave the shadowy tapestry of dreams, were
busy at their aerial looms that night in the cottage of Knowe-back,
bodying forth the destinies of men and women in brilliant and quick
succession. One only of these delineations I shall here set down,
precisely as it was related to me, by my friend the worthy clergyman
of that parish, to whom Tibby told it the very next day. There is no
doubt that her grand-aunt's disjointed prophecy formed the groundwork
of the picture; but be that as it may, this was her dream; and it was
for the sake of telling it, and tracing it to its fulfilment, that I
began this story:
Tibby Hyslop dreamed, that on a certain spot which she had never seen
before, between a stone-dyke and the verge of a woody precipice, a
little, sequestered, inaccessible corner, of a triangular shape,--or,
as she called it to the minister, "a three-neukit crook o' the linn,"
she saw Mr Forret lying without his hat, with his throat slightly
wounded, and blood running from it; but he neither appeared to be
dead, nor yet dying, but in excellent spirits. He was clothed in a
fine new black suit, had full boots on, which appeared likewise to be
new, and gilt spurs. A great number of rooks and hooded crows were
making free with his person;--some picking out his eyes, some his
tongue, and some tearing out his bowels. In place of being distressed
by their voracity, he appeared much delighted, encouraging them all
that he could, and there was a perfectly good understanding between
the parties. In the midst of this horrible feast, a large raven dashed
down from a dark cloud, and, driving away all the meaner birds, fell
a-feasting himself;--opened the breast of his victim, who was still
alive, and encouraging him on; and after preying on his vitals for
some time, at last picked out his heart, and devoured it; and then the
mangled wretch, after writhing for a short time in convulsive agonies,
groaned his last.
This was precisely Tibby's dream as it was told to me, first by my
friend Mr Cunningham of Dalswinton, and afterwards by the clergyman to
whom she herself had related it next day. But there was something in
it not so distinctly defined; for though the birds which she saw
devouring her master, were rooks, blood-crows, and a raven, still each
individual of the number had a likeness, by itself, distinguishing it
from all the rest; a certain character, as it were, to support; and
these particular likenesses were so engraven on the dreamers mind,
that she never forgot them, and she could not help looking for them
both among "birds and bodies," as she expressed it, but never could
distinguish any of them again; and the dream, like many other
distempered visions, was forgotten, or only remembered now and then
with a certain tremor of antecedent knowledge.
Days and seasons passed over, and with them the changes incident to
humanity. The virtuous and indefatigable Tibby Hyslop was assisted by
the benevolent, who had heard of her exertions and patient sufferings;
and the venerable Douglas Hervey had gone in peace to the house
appointed for all living, when one evening in June, John Jardine, the
cooper, chanced to come to Knowe-back, in the course of his girding
and hooping peregrinations. John was a living and walking chronicle of
the events of the day, all the way from the head of Glen-Breck to the
bridge of Stony-Lee. He knew every man, and every man's
affairs--every woman, and every woman's failings; and his intelligence
was not like that of many others, for it was generally to be depended
on. How he got his information so correctly, was a mystery to many,
but whatever John the cooper told as a fact, was never disputed, and
any woman, at least, might have ventured to tell it over again.
"These are hard times for poor folks, Tibby. How are you and auld
granny coming on?"
"Just fighting on as we hae done for mony a year. She is aye
contentit, poor body, and thankfu', whether I hae little to gie her,
or muckle. This life's naething but a fight, Johnnie, frae beginning
to end."
"It's a' true ye say, Tibby," said the cooper, interrupting her, for
he was afraid she was about to enter upon religious topics, a species
of conversation that did not accord with John's talents or
dispositions; "It's a' true ye say, Tibby; but your master will soon
be sic a rich man now, that we'll a' be made up, and you amang the
lave will be made a lady."
"If he get his riches honestly, and the blessing o' the Almighty wi'
them, John, I shall rejoice in his prosperity; but neither me nor ony
ither poor body will ever be muckle the better o' them. What way is he
gaun to get siccan great riches? If a' be true that I hear, he is gaun
to the wrang part to seek them."
"Aha, lass, that's a' that ye ken about it. Did ye no hear that he
had won the law-plea on his laird, whilk has been afore the Lords for
mair than seven years? And did ye no hear that he had won ten pleas
afore the courts o' Dumfries, a' rising out o' ane anither, like ash
girderings out o' ae root, and that he's to get, on the haill, about
twenty thousand punds worth o' damages?"
"That's an unco sight o' siller, John. How muckle is that?"
"Aha, lass, ye hae fixed me now; but they say it will come to as
muckle gowd as six men can carry on their backs. And we're a' to get
twenties, and thirties, and forties o' punds for bribes, to gar us gie
faithfu' and true evidence at the great concluding trial afore the
Lords; and you are to be bribit amang the rest, to gar ye tell the
haill truth, and nothing but the truth."
"There needs nae waste o' siller to gar me do that. But, Johnnie, I
wad like to ken whether that mode o' taking oaths,--solemn and saucred
oaths,--about the miserable trash o' this warld, be according to the
tenor o' Gospel revelation, and the third o' the Commands?"
"Aha, lass, ye _hae_ fixed me now! That's rather a kittle point; but I
believe it's a' true that ye say. However, ye'll get the offer of a
great bribe in a few days; and take ye my advice, Tibby--Get haud o'
the bribe afore hand; for if ye lippen to your master's promises, you
will never finger a bodle after the job's done."
"I'm but a poor simple body, Johnnie, and canna manage ony siccan
things. But I shall need nae fee to gar me tell the truth, and I winna
tell an untruth for a' my master's estate, and his sax backfu's o'
gowd into the bargain. If the sin o' the soul, Johnnie----"
"Ay, ay, that's very true, Tibby, very true, indeed, about the sin o'
the soul! But as ye were saying about being a simple body--What wad ye
think if I were to cast up that day Gledging Gibby came here to gie
you your lesson--I could maybe help you on a wee bit--What wad you gie
me if I did?"
"Alack, I hae naething to gie you but my blessing; but I shall pray
for the blessing o' God on ye."
"Ay, ay, as ye say. I daresay there might be waur things. But could
you think o' naething else to gie a body wha likes as weel to be paid
aff-hand as to gie credit? That's the very thing I'm cautioning you
against."
"I dinna expect ony siller frae that fountain-head, Johnnie: It is a
dry ane to the puir and the needy, and an unco sma' matter wad gar me
make over my rights to a pose that I hae neither faith nor hope in.
But ye're kenn'd for an auld-farrant man; if ye can bring a little
honestly my way, I sall gie you the half o't; for weel I ken it will
never come by ony art or shift o' mine."
"Ay, ay, that's spoken like a sensible and reasonable woman, Tibby
Hyslop, as ye are and hae always been. But think you that nae way
could be contrived"--and here the cooper gave two winks with his left
eye--"by the whilk ye could gie me it a', and yet no rob yoursell of a
farthing?"
"Na, na, Johnnie Jardine, that's clean aboon my comprehension: But
ye're a cunning draughty man, and I leave the haill matter to your
guidance."
"Very weel, Tibby, very weel. I'll try to ca' a gayan substantial gird
round your success, if I can hit the width o' the chance, and the
girth o' the gear. Gude day to you the day; and think about the plan
o' equal-aqual that I spake o'."
Old maids are in general very easily courted, and very apt to take a
hint. I have, indeed, known a great many instances in which they took
hints very seriously, before ever they were given. Not so with Tibby
Hyslop. So heavy a charge had lain upon her the greater part of her
life, that she had never turned her thoughts to any earthly thing
beside, and she knew no more what the cooper aimed at, than if the
words had not been spoken. When he went away, her grandmother called
her to the bedside, and asked if the cooper had gone away. Tibby
answered in the affirmative; on which granny said, "What has he been
havering about sae lang the day? I thought I heard him courting ye."
"Courting me! Dear granny, he was courting nane o' me; he was telling
me how Mr Forret had won as muckle siller at the law as sax men can
carry on their backs, and how we are a' to get a part of it."
"Dinna believe him, hinny; the man that can win siller at the law,
will lose it naewhere. But, Tibby, I heard the cooper courting you,
and I thought I heard you gie him your consent to manage the matter as
he likit. Now you hae been a great blessing to me. I thought you sent
to me in wrath, as a punishment of my sins, but I have found that you
were indeed sent to me in love and in kindness. You have been the sole
support of my old age, and of hers wha is now in the grave, and it is
natural that I should like to see you put up afore I leave you. But,
Tibby Hyslop, John Jardine is not the man to lead a Christian life
with. He has nae mair religion than the beasts that perish--he shuns
it as a body would do a loathsome or poisonous draught: And besides,
it is weel kenn'd how sair he neglected his first wife. Hae naething
to do wi' him, my dear bairn, but rather live as you are. There is
neither sin nor shame in being unwedded; but there may be baith in
joining yourself to an unbeliever."
Tibby was somewhat astonished at this piece of information. She had
not conceived that the cooper meant any thing in the way of courtship;
but found that she rather thought the better of him for what it
appeared he had done. Accordingly she made no promises to her
grandmother, but only remarked, that "it was a pity no to gie the
cooper a chance o' conversion, honest man."
The cooper kept watch about Drumlochie and the hinds' houses, and
easily found out all the farmer's movements, and even the exact
remuneration he could be prevailed on to give to such as were pleased
to remember according to his wishes. Indeed it was believed that the
most part of the hinds and labouring people recollected nothing of the
matter in dispute farther than he was pleased to inform them, and that
in fact they gave evidence to the best of their knowledge or
remembrance, although that evidence might be decidedly wrong.
One day Gibby took his gun, and went out towards Knowe-back. The
cooper also, guessing what his purpose was, went thither by a
circuitous route, in order to come in as it were by chance. Ere he
arrived, Mr Forret had begun his queries and instructions to
Tibby.--The two could not agree by any means; Tibby either could not
recollect the yearly crops on each field on the farm of Drumlochie, or
recollected wrong. At length, when the calculations were at the
keenest, the cooper came in, and at every turn he took Mr Forret's
side, with the most strenuous asseverations, abusing Tibby for her
stupidity and want of recollection.
"Hear me speak, Johnnie Jardine, afore ye condemn me aff-loof: Mr
Forret says that the Crooked Holm was pease in the 96, and corn in
the 97; I say it was corn baith the years. How do ye say about that?"
"Mr Forret's right--perfectly right. It grew pease in the 96, and
aits, good Angus aits, in the 97. Poor gowk! dinna ye think that he
has a' thae things merkit down in black and white? and what good could
it do to him to mislead you? Depend on't, he is right there."
"Could ye tak your oath on that, Johnnie Jardine?"
"Ay, this meenint,--sax times repeated, if it were necessary."
"Then I yield--I am but a poor silly woman, liable to mony errors and
shortcomings--I maun be wrang, and I yield that it is sae. But I am
sure, John, you cannot but remember this sae short while syne,--for ye
shure wi' us that har'st,--Was the lang field niest Robie Johnston's
farm growing corn in the dear year, or no? I say it was."
"It was the next year, Tibby," said Mr Forret; "you are confounding
one year with another again; and I see what is the reason. It was oats
in 99, grass in 1800, and oats again in 1801; now you never remember
any of the intermediate years, but only those that you shore on these
fields. I cannot be mistaken in a rule I never break."
The cooper had now got his cue. He perceived that the plea ultimately
depended on proof relating to the proper cropping of the land
throughout the lease; and he supported the farmer so strenuously,
that Tibby, in her simplicity, fairly yielded, although not convinced;
but the cooper assured the farmer that he would put all to rights,
provided she received a handsome acknowledgment; for there was not the
least doubt that Mr Forret was right in every particular.
This speech of the cooper's gratified the farmer exceedingly, as his
whole fortune now depended upon the evidence to be elicited in the
court at Dumfries, on a day that was fast approaching, and he was
willing to give any thing to secure the evidence on his side; so he
made a long set speech to Tibby, telling her how necessary it was that
she should adhere strictly to the truth--that, as it would be an awful
thing to make oath to that which was false, he had merely paid her
that visit to instruct her remembrance a little in that which was the
truth, it being impossible, on account of his jottings, that he could
be mistaken; and finally it was settled, that for thus telling the
truth, and nothing but the truth, Tibby Hyslop, a most deserving
woman, was to receive a present of L15, as wages for time bygone. This
was all managed in a very sly manner by the cooper, who assured Forret
that all should go right, as far as related to Tibby Hyslop and
himself.
The day of the trial arrived, and counsel attended from Edinburgh for
both parties, to take full evidence before the two Circuit Lords and
Sheriff. The evidence was said to have been unsatisfactory to the
Judges, but upon the whole in Mr Forret's favour. The cooper's was
decidedly so, and the farmer's counsel were crowing and bustling
immoderately, when at length Tibby Hyslop was called to the witnesses'
box. At the first sight of her master's counsel, and the Dumfries
writers and notaries that were hanging about him, Tibby was struck
dumb with amazement, and almost bereaved of sense. She at once
recognised them, all and severally, as the birds that she saw, in her
dream, devouring her master, and picking the flesh from his bones;
while the great lawyer from Edinburgh was, in feature, eye, and beak,
the identical raven which at last devoured his vitals and heart.
This singular coincidence brought reminiscences of such a nature over
her spirit, that, on the first questions being put, she could not
answer a word. She knew from thenceforward that her master was a
ruined man, and her heart failed, on thinking of her kind mistress and
his family. The counsel then went, and whispering Mr Forret, inquired
what sort of a woman she was, and if her evidence was likely to be of
any avail. As the cooper had behaved in a very satisfactory way, and
had answered for Tibby, the farmer was intent on not losing her
evidence, and answered his counsel that she was a worthy honest woman,
who would not swear to a lie for the king's dominions, and that her
evidence was of much consequence. This intelligence the lawyer
announced to the bench with great pomposity, and the witness was
allowed a little time to recover her spirits.
Isabella Hyslop, spinster, was again called, answered to her name, and
took the oath distinctly, and without hesitation, until the official
querist came to the usual question, "Now, has any one instructed you
what to say, or what you are to answer?" when Tibby replied, with a
steady countenance, "Nobody, except my master." The counsel and client
stared at one another, while the Court could hardly maintain their
gravity of deportment. The querist went on--
"What? Do you say your master instructed you what to say?"
"Yes."
"And did he give, or promise to give you, any reward for what you were
to say?"
"Yes."
"How much did he give, or promise you, for answering as he directed
you?"
"He gave me fifteen pound-notes."
Here Mr Forret and his counsel, losing all patience at seeing the case
take this unexpected turn, interrupted the proceedings, the latter
addressing the Judges, with vehemence, to the following purport:--
"My Lords, in my client's name, and in the names of justice and
reason, I protest against proceeding with this woman's evidence, it
being manifest that she is talking through a total derangement of
intellect. At first she is dumb, and cannot answer nor speak a word,
and now she is answering in total disregard of all truth and
propriety. I appeal to your Lordships if such a farrago as this can be
at all inferential or relevant?"
"Sir, it was but the other minute," said the junior Judge, "that you
announced to us with great importance, that this woman was a person
noted for honesty and worth, and one who would not tell a lie for the
king's dominions. Why not then hear her evidence to the end? For my
own part, I perceive no tokens of discrepancy in it, but rather a
scrupulous conscientiousness. Of that, however, we shall be better
able to judge when we have heard her out. I conceive that, for the
sake of both parties, this woman ought to be strictly examined."
"Proceed with the evidence, Mr Wood," said the senior Lord, bowing to
his assistant.
Tibby was reminded that she was on her great oath, and examined over
again; but she adhered strictly to her former answers.
"Can you repeat any thing to the Court that he desired you to say?"
"Yes; he desired me, over and over again, to tell the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth."
"And, in order that you should do this, he paid you down fifteen
pounds sterling?"
"Yes."
"This is a very singular transaction: I cannot perceive the meaning of
it. You certainly must be sensible that you made an advantageous
bargain?"
"Yes."
"But you depone that he charged you to tell only the truth?"
"Yes, he did, and before witnesses, too."
Here Mr Forret's counsel began to crow amain, as if the victory had
been his own; but the junior Judge again took him short by saying,
"Have patience, sir.--My good woman, I esteem your principles and
plain simplicity very highly. We want only to ascertain the truth, and
you say your master charged you to tell that only. Tell me this,
then--did he not inform you what the truth was?"
"Yes. It was for that purpose he came over to see me, to help my
memory to what was the truth, for fear I should hae sworn wrang; which
wad hae been a great sin, ye ken."
"Yes, it would so. I thought that would be the way.--You may now
proceed with your questions regularly, Mr Wood."
"Are you quite conscious, now, that those things he brought to your
remembrance were actually the truth?"
"No."
"Are you conscious they were _not_ the truth?"
"Yes; at least some of them, I am sure, were not."
"Please to condescend on one instance."
"He says he has it markit in his buik, that the Crookit Houm, that
lies at the back o' the wood, ye ken, grew pease in the ninety-sax,
and corn in the ninety-se'en; now, it is unco queer that he should hae
settin't down wrang, for the Houm was really and truly aits baith the
years."
"It is a long time since; perhaps your memory may be at fault."
"If my master had not chanced to mention it, I could not have been
sure, but he set me a-calculating and comparing; and my mother and me
have been consulting about it, and have fairly settled it."
"And are you absolutely positive it was oats both years?"
"Yes."
"Can you mention any circumstance on which you rest your conclusions?"
"Yes; there came a great wind ae Sabbath day, in the ninety-sax, and
that raised the shearers' wages, at Dumfries, to three shillings the
day. We began to the Crookit Houm on a Monanday's morning, at three
shillings a-day, and that very day twalmonth, we began till't again at
tenpence. We had a gude deal o' speaking about it, and I said to John
Edie, 'What need we grumble? I made sae muckle at shearing, the last
year, that it's no a' done yet.' And he said, 'Ah, Tibby, Tibby, but
wha can hain like you?'"
"Were there any others that you think your master had marked down
wrong?"
"There was ane, at ony rate--the lang field niest Robie Johnston's
march: He says it was clover in the drouthy dear year, and aits the
neist; but that's a year I canna forget; it was aits baith years. I
lost a week's shearing on it the first year, waiting on my aunty, and
the niest year she was dead; and I shore the lang field niest Robie
Johnston's wi' her sickle-heuk, and black ribbons on my mutch."
The whole of Tibby's evidence went against Mr Forret's interest most
conclusively, and the Judges at last dismissed her, with high
compliments on her truth and integrity. The cause was again remitted
to the Court of Session for revisal after this evidence taken; and the
word spread over all the country that Mr Forret had won. Tibby never
contradicted this, nor disputed it; but she was thoroughly convinced,
that in place of winning, he would be a ruined man.
About a month after the examination at Dumfries, he received a letter
from his agents in Edinburgh, buoying him up with hopes of great and
instant success, and urging the utility of his presence in town at the
final decision of the cause on which all the minor ones rested.
Accordingly he equipped himself, and rode into Dumfries in the
evening, to be ready to proceed by the mail the following morning,
saying to his wife, as he went away, that he would send home his mare
with the carrier, and that as he could not possibly name the day on
which he would be home, she was to give herself no uneasiness. The
mare was returned the following night, and put up in her own stall,
nobody knew by whom; but servants are such sleepy, careless fellows,
that few regarded the circumstance. This was on a Tuesday night. A
whole week passed over, and still Mrs Forret received no news of her
husband, which kept her very uneasy, as their whole fortune, being,
and subsistence, now depended on the issue of this great law-suit, and
she suspected that the case still continued dubious, or was found to
be going against him.
A more unhappy result followed than that she anticipated. On the
arrival of the Edinburgh papers next week, the whole case, so
important to farmers, was detailed; and it was there stated, that the
great farmer and improver, Mr Forret of Drumlochie, had not only
forfeited his whole fortune by improper husbandry, and manifest
breaches of the conditions on which he held his lease, but that
criminal letters had been issued against him for attempts to pervert
justice, and rewards offered for his detention or seizure. This was
terrible news for the family at Drumlochie; but there were still
sanguine hopes entertained that the circumstances were misstated, or,
if the worst should prove true, that perhaps the husband and father
might make his escape; and as there was no word from him day after
day, this latter sentiment began to be cherished by the whole family
as their only remaining and forlorn hope.
But one day, as poor Tibby Hyslop was going over to the Cat Linn, to
gather a burden of sticks for firewood, she was surprised, on looking
over the dike, to see a great body of crows collected, all of which
were so intent on their prey, that they seemed scarcely to regard her
presence as a sufficient cause for their desisting; she waved her
burden-rope at them over the dike, but they refused to move. Her heart
nearly failed her, for she remembered of having before seen the same
scene, with some fearful concomitants. But pure and unfeigned
religion, the first principle of which teaches a firm reliance on
divine protection, can give courage to the weakest of human beings.
Tibby climbed over the dike, drove the vermin away, and there lay the
corpse of her late unfortunate master, wofully mangled by these
voracious birds of prey. He had bled himself to death in the jugular
vein, was lying without the hat, and clothed in a fine new black suit
of clothes, top-boots, which appeared likewise to be new, and gilt
spurs; and the place where he lay was a little three-cornered
sequestered spot, between the dike and the precipice, and inaccessible
by any other way than through the field. It was a spot that Tibby had
never seen before.
A letter was found in Mr Forret's pocket, which had blasted all his
hopes, and driven him to utter distraction; he had received it at
Dumfries, returned home, and put up his mare carefully in the stable,
but not having courage to face his ruined family, he had hurried to
that sequestered spot, and perpetrated the deed of self-destruction.
The only thing more I have to add is, that the Lord President, having
made the remark that he paid more regard to that poor woman, Isabella
Hyslop's evidence, than to all the rest elicited at Dumfries, the
gainers of the great plea became sensible that it was principally in
consequence of her candour and invincible veracity that they were
successful, and sent her a present of twenty pounds. She was living
comfortably at Knowe-back when I saw her, a contented and happy old
maiden.