There was a young, rich, and beautiful lady who was about to be married
to a lord. A day or two before the wedding the lord brought his friend,
a gallant and handsome young farmer, to see the lady of his choice. The
lady fell in love at first sight with the farmer, and ere they parted,
the farmer was as deep in love with her.
When the morning of the wedding had come, the lady, love-sick for the
young farmer, instead of betaking herself to the kirk to be married,
took to her bed, and the wedding was put off. Nevertheless, in the
afternoon, she disguised her face, and dressing herself in manly
apparel, went with cross-bow on her shoulder, and with her dogs at her
heels, to hunt on the grounds of the young farmer, which were part of
her own estate.
She crossed and recrossed the fields, whistled and hallooed to her dogs,
without meeting the farmer. As she was beginning to fear that he was
absent, and was about to withdraw, she met him coming up the road.
She professed to be surprised to see him, as she understood he was to be
at the wedding to give away the bride to the lord.
"Ah!" said the young farmer, with a sigh, "I would she were as poor as
myself, that I might ask her to give herself to me."
"Are you, then, in love with the promised bride of the young lord your
friend? How would you answer to him, should the lady favor your hopes?"
said she.
"With sword and axe I would give him a meeting, and let the best man
win."
[Illustration: "HERE IS A GLOVE I PICKED UP ON THE WAY."]
At parting, the lady drew from her pocket a glove embroidered with gold,
and said to the farmer, "Here is a glove I picked up on the way thither;
as I am a stranger here, I will leave it with you in order that you may
find the owner."
Next day she sent out the crier to say that she had lost a glove
embroidered with gold, and that she would take the man who found it for
her husband, if the man were willing.
The young farmer heard the proclamation, and, half wild with joy, and
half doubting his good fortune, took his way to the house of the lady.
He presented the glove, and modestly reminded her of the reward promised
to the finder, and although that reward was far above his hopes, it was
what his heart most ardently desired.
Before he left her, she confirmed the promise of the crier, and agreed
to take him for her husband. The report was soon spread abroad, and
coming to the young lord's ears, he demanded that the farmer should
resign his claim to the lady, or else meet him in single combat.
The farmer answered that he would never resign the lady while there was
breath in his body, but that he would meet the young lord when and where
he pleased, and with whatever weapons he liked to choose.
Swords and bucklers being chosen, on the day appointed for the fight the
lord and the farmer, accompanied by their seconds, or shield-bearers,
and their friends, met to settle their difference. With the assistance
of their shields the combatants warded off each other's blows for some
time, but at last the farmer clove his adversary's shield in twain, and
following up his advantage, brought the young lord to his knees by a
blow on his helmet.
Then putting his sword to his throat, he made the young lord resign all
claim to the lady, and beg his own life.
Soon the handsome young farmer and the rich and beautiful lady were
married, and after a time she told him of her device of the glove, and
how the game that she hunted that day with her dogs and her cross-bow
was the young farmer himself. Both agreed that for the hunter and the
hunted that hunting was the happiest that had ever been undertaken in
Thulê.
* * * * *
=Nature's Barometers.=--Certain movements on the part of the animal
creation before a change of weather appear to indicate a reasoning
faculty. Such seems to be the case with the common garden spider, which,
on the approach of rainy or windy weather, will be found to shorten and
strengthen the guys of his web, lengthening the same when the storm is
over. There is a popular superstition that it is unlucky for an angler
to meet a single magpie, but two of the birds together are a good omen.
The reason is that the birds foretell the coming of cold or stormy
weather, and at such times, instead of searching for food for their
young in pairs, one will always remain on the nest. Sea-gulls predict
storms by assembling on the land, as they know that the rain will bring
earth-worms and larvæ to the surface. This, however, is merely a search
for food, and is due to the same instinct which teaches the swallow to
fly high in fine weather, and skim along the ground when foul is coming.
They simply follow the flies and gnats, which remain in the warm strata
of the air. The different tribes of wading birds always migrate before
rain, likewise to hunt for food. Many birds foretell rain by warning
cries and uneasy actions, and swine will carry hay and straw to
hiding-places, oxen will lick themselves the wrong way of the hair,
sheep will bleat and skip about, hogs turned out in the woods will come
grunting and squealing, colts will rub their backs against the ground,
crows will gather in crowds, crickets will sing more loudly, flies come
into the house, frogs croak and change color to a dingier hue, dogs eat
grass, and rooks soar like hawks. It is probable that many of these
actions are due to actual uneasiness, similar to that which all who are
troubled with corns or rheumatism experience before a storm, and are
caused both by the variation in barometric pressure and the changes in
the electrical condition of the atmosphere.
* * * * *
=Slain by her Defender.=--During King William's wars on the Continent,
soon after the Revolution, it was usual, at the end of the campaign, for
both armies to retire into winter-quarters, and numbers got leave of
absence to go home and see their friends. Among others who availed
themselves of this privilege was a young Highland officer, whose
relations lived in the upper parts of Perthshire. He visited about in
that district, and entertained his friends by talking of the battles in
which he had fought, and the wonderful events he had witnessed; and he
everywhere met with the most cordial reception. He was at last invited
to the house of a gentleman who had an only daughter, whose beauty was
the universal theme of admiration. He there, as usual, recited his
martial feats, till, like Othello, he made an impression on the young
lady, which the gallant soldier soon perceived, and he contrived to
settle a plan with her for their eloping together at midnight. They got
off unperceived, and having travelled several miles, they at last came
to an inn, where they thought they might refresh themselves in safety.
The enraged father, however, as soon as he had discovered his daughter's
flight, assembled men, and pursued the fugitives with such speed and
eagerness that he overtook them soon after they got into the inn. The
lover, though he had nobody to support him, yet was determined not to
yield up his mistress, and being well armed, and an excellent swordsman,
he resolved to resist any attack made upon him. When the party pursuing
entered the inn, his mistress ran for protection behind him; but as he
was preparing to give a deadly stroke, the point of the sword accidently
struck her a violent blow, and she instantly expired at his feet. Upon
seeing what had happened, he immediately surrendered himself, saying he
did not wish to live, his earthly pleasure being gone. He was executed
the next day, but we fail to perceive on what ground, either of justice
or of humanity.