You may believe it is safely lodged with me, Master of Ravenswood, said the Marquis; but I should like well to hear you say that you renounced the idea of an alliance which you can hardly pursue without a certain degree of degradation. Of that, my lord, I shall judge, answered Ravenswood, and I hope with delicacy as sensitive as any of my friends. But I have no engagement with Sir William and Lady Ashton. It is with Miss Ashton alone that I have entered upon the subject, and my conduct in the matter shall be entirely ruled by hers. If she continues to prefer me in my poverty to the wealthier suitors whom her friends recommend, I may well make some sacrifice to her sincere affection I may well surrender to her the less tangible and less palpable advantages of birth, and the deeprooted prejudices of family hatred. If Miss Lucy Ashton should change her mind on a subject of such delicacy, I trust my friends will be silent on my disappointment, and I shall know how to make my enemies so. Spoke like a gallant young nobleman, said the Marquis; for my part, I have that regard for you, that I should be sorry the thing went on. This Sir William Ashton was a pretty enough pettifogging kind of a lawyer twenty years ago, and betwixt battling at the bar and leading in committees of Parliament he has got well on; the Darien matter lent him a lift, for he had good intelligence and sound views, and sold out in time; but the best work is had out of him. No government will take him at his own, or rather his wifes extravagant, valuation; and betwixt his indecision and her insolence, from all I can guess, he will outsit his market, and be had cheap when no one will bid for him. I say nothing of Miss Ashton; but I assure you, a connexion with her father will be neither useful nor ornamental, beyond that part of your fathers spoils which he may be prevailed upon to disgorge by way of tochergood; and take my word for it, you will get more if you have spirit to bell the cat with him in the House of Peers. And I will be the man, cousin, continued his lordship, will course the fox for you, and make him rue the day that ever he refused a composition too honourable for him, and proposed by me on the behalf of a kinsman. There was something in all this that, as it were, overshot the mark. Ravenswood could not disguise from himself that his noble kinsman had more reasons for taking offence at the reception of his suit than regarded his interest and honour, yet he could neither complain nor be surprised that it should be so. He contented himself, therefore, with repeating, that his attachment was to Miss Ashton personally; that he desired neither wealth nor aggrandisement from her fathers means and influence; and that nothing should prevent his keeping his engagement, excepting her own express desire that it should be relinquished; and he requested as a favour that the matter might be no more mentioned betwixt them at present, assuring the Marquis of Athat he should be his confidant in its progress or its interruption. The Marquis soon had more agreeable, as well as more interesting, subjects on which to converse. A footpost, who had followed him from Edinburgh to Ravenswood Castle, and had traced his steps to the Tods Hole, brought him a packet laden with good news. The political calculations of the Marquis had proved just, both in London and at Edinburgh, and he saw almost within his grasp the preeminence for which he had panted. The refreshments which the servants had prepared were now put on the table, and an epicure would perhaps have enjoyed them with additional zest from the contrast which such fare afforded to the miserable cabin in which it was served up. The turn of conversation corresponded with and added to the social feelings of the company. The Marquis expanded with pleasure on the power which probably incidents were likely to assign to him, and on the use which he hoped to make of it in serving his kinsman Ravenswood. Ravenswood could but repeat the gratitude which he really felt, even when he considered the topic as too long dwelt upon. The wine was excellent, notwithstanding its having been brought in a runlet from Edinburgh; and the habits of the Marquis, when engaged with such good cheer, were somewhat sedentary. And so it fell out that they delayed their journey two hours later than was their original purpose. But what of that, my good young friend? said the Marquis. Your Castle of Wolfs Crag is at but five or six miles distance, and will afford the same hospitality to your kinsman of Athat it gave to this same Sir William Ashton. Sir William took the castle by storm, said Ravenswood, and, like many a victor, had little reason to congratulate himself on his conquest. Wellwell! said Lord A, whose dignity was something relaxed by the wine he had drunk, I see I must bribe you to harbour me. Come, pledge me in a bumper health to the last young lady that slept at Wolfs Crag, and liked her quarters. My bones are not so tender as hers, and I am resolved to occupy her apartment tonight, that I may judge how hard the couch is that love can soften. Your lordship may choose what penance you please, said Ravenswood; but I assure you, I should expect my old servant to hang himself, or throw himself from the battlements, should your lordship visit him so unexpectedly. I do assure you, we are totally and literally unprovided. But his declaration only brought from his noble patron an assurance of his own total indifference as to every species of accommodation, and his determination to see the Tower of Wolfs Crag. His ancestor, he said, had been feasted there, when he went forward with the then Lord Ravenswood to the fatal battle of Flodden, in which they both fell. Thus hard pressed, the Master offered to ride forward to get matters put in such preparation as time and circumstances admitted; but the Marquis protested his kinsman must afford him his company, and would only consent that an avantcourier should carry to the desinted Seneschal, Caleb Balderstone, the unexpected news of this invasion. The Master of Ravenswood soon after accompanied the Marquis in his carriage, as the latter had proposed; and when they became better acquainted in the progress of the journey, his noble relation explained the very liberal views which he entertained for his relations preferment, in case of the success of his own political schemes. They related to a secret and highly important commission beyond sea, which could only be entrusted to a person of rank, talent, and perfect confidence, and which, as it required great trust and reliance on the envoy employed, could but not prove both honourable and advantageous to him. We need not enter into the nature and purpose of this commission, farther than to acquaint our readers that the charge was in prospect highly acceptable to the Master of Ravenswood, who hailed with pleasure the hope of emerging from his present state of indigence and inaction into independence and honourable exertion. While he listened thus eagerly to the details with which the Marquis now thought it necessary to entrust him, the messenger who had been despatched to the Tower of Wolfs Crag returned with Caleb Balderstones humble duty, and an assurance that a should be in seemly order, sic as the hurry of time permitted, to receive their lordships as it behoved. Ravenswood was too well accustomed to his seneschals mode of acting and speaking to hope much from this confident assurance. He knew that Caleb acted upon the principle of the Spanish generals, in the campaign of , who, much to the perplexity of the Prince of Orange, their commanderinchief, used to report their troops as full in number, and possessed of all necessary points of equipment, not considering it consistent with their dignity, or the honour of Spain, to confess any deficiency either in men or munition, until the want of both was unavoidably discovered in the day of battle. Accordingly, Ravenswood thought it necessary to give the Marquis some hint that the fair assurance which they had just received from Caleb did not by any means ensure them against a very indifferent reception. You do yourself injustice, Master, said the Marquis, or you wish to surprise me agreeably. From this window I see a great light in the direction where, if I remember aright, Wolfs Crag lies; and, to judge from the splendour which the old Tower sheds around it, the preparations for our reception must be of no ordinary description. I remember your father putting the same deception on me, when we went to the Tower for a few days hawking, about twenty years since, and yet we spent our time as jollily at Wolfs Crag as we could have done at my own hunting seat at B. Your lordship, I fear, will experience that the faculty of the present proprietor to entertain his friends is greatly abridged, said Ravenswood; the will, I need hardly say, remains the same. But I am as much at a loss as your lordship to account for so strong and brilliant a light as is now above Wolfs Crag; the windows of the Tower are few and narrow, and those of the lower story are hidden from us by the walls of the court. I cannot conceive that any illumination of an ordinary nature could afford such a blaze of light. Illustration The mystery was soon explained; for the cavalcade almost instantly halted, and the voice of Caleb Balderstone was heard at the coach window, exclaiming, in accents broken by grief and fear, Och, gentlemen! Och, my gude lords! Och, haud to the right! Wolfs Crag is burning, bower and haa the rich plenishing outside and insidea the fine graith, pictures, tapestries, needlewark, hangings, and other decorementsa in a bleeze, as if they were nae mair than sae mony peats, or as muckle peasestrae! Haud to the right, gentlemen, I implore ye; there is some sma provision making at Luckie Smatrashs; but oh, wae for this night, and wae for me that lives to see it! Ravenswood was first stunned by this new and unexpected calamity; but after a moments recollection he sprang from the carriage, and hastily bidding his noble kinsman goodnight, was about to ascend the hill towards the castle, the broad and full conflagration of which now flung forth a high column of red light, that flickered far to seaward upon the dashing waves of the ocean. Take a horse, Master, exclaimed the Marquis, greatly affected by this additional misfortune, so unexpectedly heaped upon his young protege; and give me my ambling palfrey; and haste forward, you knaves, to see what can be done to save the furniture, or to extinguish the fireride, you knaves, for your lives! The attendants bustled together, and began to strike their horses with the spur, and call upon Caleb to show them the road. But the voice of that careful seneschal was heard above the tumult, Oh, stop sirs, stopturn bridle, for the luve of Mercy; add not loss of lives to the loss of warlds gean! Thirty barrels of powther, landed out of a Dunkirk dogger in the auld lords timea in the vauts of the auld tower,the fire canna be far off it, I trow. Lords sake, to the right, ladsto the right; lets pit the hill atween us and peril,a wap wi a cornerstane o Wolfs Crag wad defy the doctor! It will readily be supposed that this annunciation hurried the Marquis and his attendants into the route which Caleb prescribed, dragging Ravenswood along with them, although there was much in the matter which he could not possibly comprehend. Gunpowder! he exclaimed, laying hold of Caleb, who in vain endeavoured to escape from him; what gunpowder? How any quantity of powder could be in Wolfs Crag without my knowledge, I cannot possibly comprehend. But I can, interrupted the Marquis, whispering him, I can comprehend it thoroughly; for Gods sake, ask him no more questions at present. There it is, now, said Caleb, extricating himself from his master, and adjusting his dress, your honour will believe his lordships honourable testimony. His lordship minds weel how, in the year that him they cad King Willie died Hush! hush, my good friend! said the Marquis; I shall satisfy your master upon that subject. And the people at Wolfs Hope, said Ravenswood, did none of them come to your assistance before the flame got so high? Ay did they, mony ane of them, the rapscallions! said Caleb; but truly I was in nae hurry to let them into the Tower, where there were so much plate and valuables. Confound you for an impudent liar! said Ravenswood, in uncontrollable ire, there was not a single ounce of Forbye, said the butler, most irreverently raising his voice to a pitch which drowned his masters, the fire made fast on us, owing to the store of tapestry and carved timmer in the banquetingha, and the loons ran like scaulded rats sae sune as they heard of the gunpouther. I do entreat, said the Marquis to Ravenswood, you will ask him no more questions. Only one, my lord. What has become of poor Mysie? Mysie! said Caleb, I had nae time to look about ony Mysie; shes in the Tower, Ise warrant, biding her awful doom. By heaven, said Ravenswood, I do not understand all this! The life of a faithful old creature is at stake; my lord, I will be withheld no longer; I will at least ride up, and see whether the danger is as imminent as this old fool pretends. Weel, then, as I live by bread, said Caleb, Mysie is weel and safe. I saw her out of the castle before I left it mysell. Was I ganging to forget an auld fellowservant? What made you tell me the contrary this moment? said his master. Did I tell you the contrary? said Caleb; then I maun hae been dreaming surely, or this awsome night has turned my judgment; but safe she is, and neer a living soul in the castle, a the better for them they wau have gotten an unco heezy. The Master of Ravenswood, upon this assurance being solemnly reiterated, and notwithstanding his extreme wish to witness the last explosion, which was to ruin to the ground the mansion of his fathers, suffered himself to be dragged onward towards the village of Wolfs Hope, where not only the changehouse, but that of our wellknown friend the cooper, were all prepared for reception of himself and his noble guest, with a liberality of provision which requires some explanation. We omitted to mention in its place, that Lockhard having fished out the truth concerning the mode by which Caleb had obtained the supplies for his banquet, the Lord Keeper, amused with the incident, and desirous at the time to gratify Ravenswood, had recommended the cooper of Wolfs Hope to the official situation under government the prospect of which had reconciled him to the loss of his wildfowl. Mr. Girders preferment had occasioned a pleasing surprise to old Caleb; for when, some days after his masters departure, he found himself absolutely compelled, by some necessary business, to visit the fishing hamlet, and was gliding like a ghost past the door of the cooper, for fear of being summoned to give some account of the progress of the solicitation in his favour, or, more probably that the inmates might upbraid him with the false hope he had held out upon the subject, he heard himself, not without some apprehension, summoned at once in treble, tenor, and bassa trio performed by the voices of Mrs. Girder, old Dame LouptheDyke, and the goodman of the dwellingMr. Caleb!Mr. Caleb Balderstone! I hope ye arena ganging drylipped by our door, and we sae muckle indebted to you? This might be said ironically as well as in earnest. Caleb augured the worst, turned a deaf ear to the trio aforesaid, and was moving doggedly on, his ancient castor pulled over his brows, and his eyes bent on the ground, as if to count the flinty pebbles with which the rude pathway was causewayed. But on a sudden he found himself surrounded in his progress, like a stately merchantman in the Gut of Gibraltar (I hope the ladies will excuse the tarpaulin phrase) by three Algerine galleys. Gude guide us, Mr. Balderstone! said Mrs. Girder. Wha wad hae thought it of an auld and kennd friend! said the mother. And no sae muckle as stay to receive our thanks, said the cooper himself, and frae the like o me that seldom offers them! I am sure I hope theres nae ill seed sawn between us, Mr. Balderstone. Ony man that has said to ye I am no gratefu for the situation of Queens cooper, let me hae a whample at him wi mine eatche, thats a. My good friendsmy dear friends, said Caleb, still doubting how the certainty of the matter might stand, what needs a this ceremony? Ane tries to serve their friends, and sometimes they may happen to prosper, and sometimes to misgie. Naething I care to be fashed wi less than thanks; I never could bide them. Faith, Mr. Balderstone, ye suld hae been fashed wi few o mine, said the downright man of staves and hoops, if I had only your gudewill to thank ye for I suld een hae set the guse, and the wild deukes, and the runlet of sack to balance that account. Gudewill, man, is a geizend tub, that hauds in nae liquor; but gude deeds like the cask, tight, round, and sound, that will haud liquor for the king. Have ye no heard of our letter, said the motherinlaw, making our John [Gibbie] the Queens cooper for certain? and scarce a chield that had ever hammered gird upon tub but was applying for it? Have I heard!!! said Caleb, who now found how the wind set, with an accent of exceeding contempt, at the doubt expressedhave I heard, quoshe!!! and as he spoke he changed his shambling, skulking, dodging pace into a manly and authoritative step, readjusted his cocked hat, and suffered his brow to emerge from under it in all the pride of aristocracy, like the sun from behind a cloud. To be sure, he canna but hae heard, said the good woman. Ay, to be sure its impossible but I should, said Caleb; and sae Ill be the first to kiss ye, joe, and wish you, cooper, much joy of your preferment, naething doubting but ye ken wha are your friends, and have helped ye, and can help ye. I thought it right to look a wee strange upon it at first, added Caleb, just to see if ye were made of the right mettle; but ye ring true, ladye ring true! So saying, with a most lordly air he kissed the women, and abandoned his hand, with an air of serene patronage, to the hearty shake of Mr. Girders hornhard palm. Upon this complete, and to Caleb most satisfactory, information he did not, it may readily be believed, hesitate to accept an invitation to a solemn feast, to which were invited, not only all the notables of the village, but even his ancient antagonist, Mr. Dingwall, himself. At this festivity he was, of course, the most welcome and most honoured guest; and so well did he ply the company with stories of what he could do with his master, his master with the Lord Keeper, the Lord Keeper with the council, and the council with the king [queen], that before the company dismissed (which was, indeed, rather at an early hour than a late one), every man of note in the village was ascending to the topgallant of some ideal preferment by the ladder of ropes which Caleb had presented to their imagination. Nay, the cunning butler regained in that moment not only all the influence he possessed formerly over the villagers, when the baronial family which he served were at the proudest, but acquired even an accession of importance. The writerthe very attorney himself, such is the thirst of prefermentfelt the force of the attraction, and taking an opportunity to draw Caleb into a corner, spoke, with affectionate regret, of the declining health of the sheriffclerk of the county. An excellent mana most valuable man, Mr. Caleb; but fat sall I say! we are peer feckless bodies, here the day and awa by cockscreech the morn; and if he failyies, there maun be somebody in his place; and gif that ye could airt it my way, I sall be thankful, mana gluve stuffed wi gowd nobles; an hark ye, man something canny till yoursell, and the Wolfs Hope carles to settle kindly wi the Master of Ravenswoodthat is, Lord RavenswoodGod bless his lordship! A smile, and a hearty squeeze by the hand, was the suitable answer to this overture; and Caleb made his escape from the jovial party, in order to avoid committing himself by any special promises. The Lord be gude to me, said Caleb, when he found himself in the open air, and at liberty to give vent to the selfexultation with which he was, as it were, distended; did ever ony man see sic a set of greengaislings? The very pickmaws and solangeese outbye yonder at the Bass hae ten times their sense! God, an I had been the Lord High Commissioner to the Estates o Parliament, they couldna hae beflummd me mair; and, to speak Heavens truth, I could hardly hae beflummd them better neither! But the writerha! ha! ha!ah, ha! ha! ha! mercy on me, that I suld live in my auld days to gie the ganagbye to the very writer! Sheriffclerk!!! But I hae an auld account to settle wi the carle; and to make amends for byeganes, the office shall just cost him as much timeserving and tideserving as if he were to get it in gude earnest, of whilk there is sma appearance, unless the Master learns mair the ways of this warld, whilk it is muckle to be doubted that he never will do. CHAPTER XXVI. Why flames yon far summitwhy shoot to the blast Those embers, like stars from the firmament cast? Tis the fireshower of ruin, all dreadfully driven From thine eyrie, that beacons the darkness of Heaven. CAMPBELL. The circumstances announced in the conclusion of the last chapter will account for the ready and cheerful reception of the Marquis of A and the Master of Ravenswood in the village of Wolfs Hope. In fact, Caleb had no sooner announced the conflagration of the tower than the whole hamlet were upon foot to hasten to extinguish the flames. And although that zealous adherent diverted their zeal by intimating the formidable contents of the subterranean apartments, yet the check only turned their assiduity into another direction. Never had there been such slaughtering of capons, and fat geese, and barndoor fowls; never such boiling of reested hams; never such making of carcakes and sweet scones, Selkirk bannocks, cookies, and petticoattailsdelicacies little known to the present generation. Never had there been such a tapping of barrels, and such uncorking of greybeards, in the village of Wolfs Hope. All the inferior houses were thrown open for the reception of the Marquiss dependants, who came, it was thought, as precursors of the shower of preferment which hereafter was to leave the rest of Scotland dry, in order to distil its rich dews on the village of Wolfs Hope under Lammermoor. The minister put in his claim to have the guests of distinction lodged at the manse, having his eye, it was thought, upon a neighbouring preferment, where the incumbent was sickly; but Mr. Balderstone destined that honour to the cooper, his wife, and wifes mother, who danced for joy at the preferences thus assigned them. Many a beck and many a bow welcomed these noble guests to as good entertainment as persons of such rank could set before such visitors; and the old dame, who had formerly lived in Ravenswood Castle, and knew, as she said, the ways of the nobility, was in no whit wanting in arranging matters, as well as circumstances permitted, according to the etiquette of the times. The coopers house was so roomy that each guest had his separate retiringroom, to which they were ushered with all due ceremony, while the plentiful supper was in the act of being placed upon the table. Ravenswood no sooner found himself alone than, impelled by a thousand feelings, he left the apartment, the house, and the village, and hastily retraced his steps to the brow of the hill, which rose betwixt the village and screened it from the tower, in order to view the final fall of the house of his fathers. Some idle boys from the hamlet had taken the same direction out of curiosity, having first witnessed the arrival of the coach and six and its attendants. As they ran one by one past the Master, calling to each other to Come and see the auld tower blaw up in the lift like the peelings of an ingan, he could not but feel himself moved with indignation. And these are the sons of my fathers vassals, he saidof men bound, both by law and gratitude, to follow our steps through battle, and fire, and flood; and now the destruction of their liege lords house is but a holidays sight to them. These exasperating reflections were partly expressed in the acrimony with which he exclaimed, on feeling himself pulled by the cloak What do you want, you dog? I am a dog, and an auld dog too, answered Caleb, for it was he who had taken the freedom, and I am like to get a dogs wages; but it does not signification a pinch of sneesing, for I am ower auld a dog to learn new tricks, or to follow a new master. As he spoke, Ravenswood attained the ridge of the hill from which Wolfs Crag was visible; the flames had entirely sunk down, and, to his great surprise, there was only a dusky reddening upon the clouds immediately over the castle, which seemed the reflection of the embers of the sunken fire. The place cannot have blown up, said the Master; we must have heard the report if a quarter of the gunpowder was there you tell me of, it would have been heard twenty miles off. Itve very like it wad, said Balderstone, composedly. Then the fire cannot have reached the vaults? Its like no, answered Caleb, with the same impenetrable gravity. Hark ye, Caleb, said his master, this grows a little too much for my patience. I must go and examine how matters stand at Wolfs Crag myself. Your honour is ganging to gang nae sic gate, said Caleb, firmly. And why not? said Ravenswood, sharply; who or what shall prevent me? Even I mysell, said Caleb, with the same determination. You, Balderstone! replied the Master; you are forgetting yourself, I think. But I think no, said Balderstone; for I can just tell ye a about the castle on this knowehead as weel as if ye were at it. Only dinna pit yoursell into a kippage, and expose yoursell before the weans, or before the Marquis, when ye gang downbye. Speak out, you old fool, replied his master, and let me know the best and the worst at once. Ou, the best and the warst is, just that the tower is standing hail and feir, as safe and as empty as when ye left it. Indeed! and the fire? said Ravenswood. Not a gleed of fire, then, except the bit kindling peat, and maybe a spunk in Mysies cuttypipe, replied Caleb. But the flame? demanded Ravenswoodthe broad blaze which might have been seen ten miles offwhat occasioned that? Hout awa! its an auld saying and a true Littles the light Will be seen far in a mirk night. A wheen fern and horse little that I fired in the courtyard, after sending back the loon of a footman; and, to speak Heavens truth, the next time that ye send or bring ony body here, let them ge gentles allenarly, without ony fremd servants, like that chield Lockhard, to be gledging and gleeing about, and looking upon the wrang side of anes housekeeping, to the discredit of the family, and forcing ane to damn their souls wi telling ae lee after another faster than I can count them I wad rather set fire to the tower in gude earnest, and burn it ower my ain head into the bargain, or I see the family dishonoured in the sort. Upon my word, I am infinitely obliged by the proposal, Caleb, said his master, scarce able to restrain his laughter, though rather angry at the same time. But the gunpowderis there such a thing in the tower? The Marquis seemed to know of it. The pouther, ha! ha! ha!the Marquis, ha! ha! ha! replied Caleb,if your honour were to brain me, I behooved to laugh,the Marquisthe pouther! Was it there? Ay, it was there. Did he ken ot? My certie! the Marquis kennd ot, and it was the best o the game; for, when I couldna pacify your honour wi a that I could say, I aye threw out a word mair about the gunpouther, and garrd the Marquis tak the job in his ain hand. But you have not answered my question, said the Master, impatiently; how came the powder there, and where is it now? Ou, it came there, an ye maun needs ken, said Caleb, looking mysteriously, and whispering, when there was like to be a wee bit rising here; and the Marquis, and a the great lords of the north, were a in it, and mony a gudely gun and broadsword were ferried ower frae Dunkirk forbye the pouther. Awfu work we had getting them into the tower under cloud o night, for ye maun think it wasna everybody could be trusted wi sic kittle jobs. But if ye will gae hame to your supper, I will tell you a about it as ye gang down. And these wretched boys, said Ravenswood, is it your pleasure they are to sit there all night, to wait for the blowing up of a tower that is not even on fire? Surely not, if it is your honours pleasure that they suld gang hame; although, added Caleb, it wanda do them a grains damage they wad screigh less the next day, and sleep the sounder at een. But just as your honour likes. Stepping accordingly towards the urchins who manned the knolls near which they stood, Caleb informed them, in an authoritative tone, that their honours Lord Ravenswood and the Marquis of A had given orders that the tower was not to be blow up till next day at noon. The boys dispersed upon this comfortable assurance. One or two, however, followed Caleb for more information, particularly the urchin whom he had cheated while officiating as turnspit, who screamed, Mr. Balderstone!Mr. Balderstone! then the castles gane out like an auld wifes spunk? To be sure it is, callant, said the butler; do ye think the castle of as great a lord as Lord Ravenswood wad continue in a bleeze, and him standing looking on wi his ain very een? Its aye right, continued Caleb, shaking off his ragged page, and closing in to his Master, to train up weans, as the wise man says, in the way they should go, and, aboon a, to teach them respect to their superiors. But all this while, Caleb, you have never told me what became of the arms and powder, said Ravenswood. Why, as for the arms, said Caleb, it was just like the bairns rhyme Some gaed east and some gaed west, And some gaed to the craws nest. And for the pouther, I een changed it, as occasion served, with the skippers o Dutch luggers and French vessels, for gin and brandy, and is served the house mony a yeara gude swap too, between what cheereth the soul of man and that which hingeth it clean out of his body; forbye, I keepit a wheen pounds of it for yoursell when ye wanted to take the pleasure o shooting whiles, in these latter days, I wad hardly hae kennd else whar to get pouther for your pleasure. And now that your anger is ower, sir, wasna that weel managed o me, and arena ye far better sorted doun yonder than ye could hae been in your ain auld ruins upbye yonder, as the case stands wi us now? the mairs the pity! I believe you may be right, Caleb; but, before burning down my castle, either in jest or in earnest, said Ravenswood, I think I had a right to be in the secret. Fie for shame, your honour! replied Caleb; it fits an auld carle like me weel eneugh to tell lees for the credit of the family, but it wanda beseem the like o your honours sell; besides, young folk are no judicious they cannot make the maist of a bit figment. Now this firefor a fire it sall be, if I suld burn the auld stable to make it mair feasiblethis fire, besides that it will be an excuse for asking ony thing we want through the country, or doun at the haventhis fire will settle mony things on an honourable footing for the familys credit, that cost me telling twenty daily lees to a wheen idle chaps and queans, and, whats waur, without gaining credence. That was hard indeed, Caleb; but I do not see how this fire should help your veracity or your credit. There it is now? said Caleb; wasna I saying that young folk had a green judgment? How suld it help me, quotha? It will be a creditable apology for the honour of the family for this score of years to come, if it is weel guided.


Wheres the family pictures? says ae meddling body. The great fire at Wolfs Crag, answers I. Wheres the family plate? says another. The great fire, says I; wha was to think of plate, when life and limb were in danger? Wheres the wardrobe and the linens?wheres the tapestries and the decorements?beds of state, twilts, pands and testors, napery and broidered wark? The firethe firethe fire. Guide the fire weel, and it will serve ye for a that ye suld have and have not; and, in some sort, a gude excuse is better than the things themselves; for they maun crack and wear out, and be consumed by time, whereas a gude offcome, prudently and creditably handled, may serve a nobleman and his family, Lord kens how lang! Ravenswood was too well acquainted with his butlers pertinacity and selfopinion to dispute the point with him any farther. Leaving Caleb, therefore, to the enjoyment of his own successful ingenuity, he returned to the hamlet, where he found the Marquis and the good women of the mansion under some anxietythe former on account of his absence, the others for the discredit their cookery might sustain by the delay of the supper. All were now at ease, and heard with pleasure that the fire at the castle had burned out of itself without reaching the vaults, which was the only information that Ravenswood thought it proper to give in public concerning the event of his butlers strategem. They sat down to an excellent supper. No invitation could prevail on Mr. and Mrs. Girder, even in their own house, to sit down at table with guests of such high quality. They remained standing in the apartment, and acted the part of respectful and careful attendants on the company. Such were the manners of the time. The elder dame, confident through her age and connexion with the Ravenswood family, was less scrupulously ceremonious. She played a mixed part betwixt that of the hostess of an inn and the mistress of a private house, who receives guests above her own degree. She recommended, and even pressed, what she thought best, and was herself easily entreated to take a moderate share of the good cheer, in order to encourage her guests by her own example. Often she interrupted herself, to express her regret that my lord did not eat; that the Master was pyking a bare bane; that, to be sure, there was naething there fit to set before their honours; that Lord Allan, rest his saul, used to like a pouthered guse, and said it was Latin for a tass o brandy; that the brandy came frae France direct; for, for a the English laws and gaugers, the Wolfs Hope brigs handa forgotten the gate to Dunkirk. Here the cooper admonished his motherinlaw with his elbow, which procured him the following special notice in the progress of her speech Ye needna be dunshin that gate, John, continued the old lady; naebody says that ye ken whar the brandy comes frae; and it wanda be fitting ye should, and you the Queens cooper; and what signifiest, continued she, addressing Lord Ravenswood, to king, queen, or kaiser whar an auld wife like me buys her pickle sneeshin, or her drap brandywine, to haud her heart up? Having thus extricated herself from her supposed false step, Dame LouptheDyke proceeded, during the rest of the evening, to supply, with great animation, and very little assistance from her guests, the funds necessary for the support of the conversation, until, declining any further circulation of their glass, her guests requested her permission to retire to their apartments. The Marquis occupied the chamber of dais, which, in every house above the rank of a mere cottage, was kept sacred for such high occasions as the present. The modern finishing with plaster was then unknown, and tapestry was confined to the houses of the nobility and superior gentry. The cooper, therefore, who was a man of some vanity, as well as some wealth, had imitated the fashion observed by the inferior landholders and clergy, who usually ornamented their state apartments with hangings of a sort of stamped leather, manufactured in the Netherlands, garnished with trees and animals executed in copper foil, and with many a pithy sentence of morality, which, although couched in Low Dutch, were perhaps as much attended to in practice as if written in broad Scotch. The whole had somewhat of a gloomy aspect; but the fire, composed of old pitchbarrel staves, blazed merrily up the chimney; the bed was decorated with linen of most fresh and dazzling whiteness, which had never before been used, and might, perhaps, have never been used at all, but for this high occasion. On the toilette beside, stood an oldfashioned mirror, in a fillagree frame, part of the dispersed finery of the neighbouring castle. It was flanked by a longnecked bottle of Florence wine, by which stood a glass nearly as tall, resembling in shape that which Teniers usually places in the hands of his own portrait, when he paints himself as mingling in the revels of a country village. To counterbalance those foreign sentinels, there mounted guard on the other side of the mirror two stout warders of Scottish lineage; a jug, namely, of double ale, which held a Scotch pint, and a quaigh, or bicker, of ivory and ebony, hooped with silver, the work of John Girders own hands, and the pride of his heart. Besides these preparations against thirst, there was a goodly dietloaf, or sweet cake; so that, with such auxiliaries, the apartment seemed victualled against a siege of two or three days. It only remains to say, that the Marquiss valet was in attendance, displaying his masters brocaded nightgown, and richly embroidered velvet cap, lined and faced with Brussels lace, upon a huge leathern easychair, wheeled round so as to have the full advantage of the comfortable fire which we have already mentioned. We therefore commit that eminent person to his nights repose, trusting he profited by the ample preparations made for his accommodationpreparations which we have mentioned in detail, as illustrative of ancient Scottish manners. It is not necessary we should be equally minute in describing the sleeping apartment of the Master of Ravenswood, which was that usually occupied by the goodman and goodwife themselves. It was comfortably hung with a sort of warmcoloured worsted, manufactured in Scotland, approaching in texture to what is now called shalloon. A staring picture of John [Gibbie] Girder himself ornamented this dormitory, painted by a starving Frenchman, who had, God knows how or why, strolled over from Flushing or Dunkirk to Wolfs Hope in a smuggling dogger. The features were, indeed, those of the stubborn, opinionative, yet sensible artisan, but Monsieur had contrived to throw a French grace into the look and manner, so utterly inconsistent with the dogged gravity of the original, that it was impossible to look at it without laughing. John and his family, however, piqued themselves not a little upon this picture, and were proportionably censured by the neighbourhood, who pronounced that the cooper, in sitting for the same, and yet more in presuming to hang it up in his bedchamber, had exceeded his privilege as the richest man of the village; at once stept beyond the bounds of his own rank, and encroached upon those of the superior orders; and, in fine, had been guilty of a very overweening act of vanity and presumption. Respect for the memory of my deceased friend, Mr. Richard Tinto, has obliged me to treat this matter at some length; but I spare the reader his prolix though curious observations, as well upon the character of the French school as upon the state of painting in Scotland at the beginning of the 18th century. The other preparations of the Masters sleeping apartment were similar to those in the chamber of dais. At the usual early hour of that period, the Marquis of A and his kinsman prepared to resume their journey. This could not be done without an ample breakfast, in which cold meat and hot meat, and oatmeal flummery, wine and spirits, and milk varied by every possible mode of preparation, evinced the same desire to do honour to their guests which had been shown by the hospitable owners of the mansion upon the evening before. All the bustle of preparation for departure now resounded through Wolfs Hope. There was paying of bills and shaking of hands, and saddling of horses, and harnessing of carriages, and distributing of drinkmoney. The Marquis left a broad piece for the gratification of John Girders household, which he, the said John, was for some time disposed to convert to his own use; Dingwall, the writer, assuring him he was justified in so doing, seeing he was the disburser of those expenses which were the occasion of the gratification. But, notwithstanding this legal authority, John could not find in his heart to dim the splendour of his late hospitality by picketing anything in the nature of a gratuity. He only assured his menials he would consider them as a damned ungrateful pack if they bought a gill of brandy elsewhere than out of his own stores; and as the drinkmoney was likely to go to its legitimate use, he comforted himself that, in this manner, the Marquiss donative would, without any impeachment of credit and character, come ultimately into his own exclusive possession. While arrangements were making for departure, Ravenswood made blythe the heart of his ancient butler by informing him, cautiously however (for he knew Calebs warmth of imagination), of the probable change which was about to take place in his fortunes. He deposited with Balderstone, at the same time, the greater part of his slender funds, with an assurance, which he was obliged to reiterate more than once, that he himself had sufficient supplies in certain prospect. He therefore enjoined Caleb, as he valued his favour, to desist from all farther maneouvres against the inhabitants of Wolfs Hope, their cellars, poultryyards, and substance whatsoever. In this prohibition, the old domestic acquiesced more readily than his master expected. It was doubtless, he said, a shame, a discredit, and a sin to harry the puir creatures, when the family were in circumstances to live honourably on their ain means; and there might be wisdom, he added, in giving them a whiles breathingtime at any rate, that they might be the more readily brought forward upon his honours future occasions. This matter being settled, and having taken an affectionate farewell of his old domestic, the Master rejoined his noble relative, who was now ready to enter his carriage. The two landladies, old and young, having received in all kindly greeting a kiss from each of their noble guests, stood simpering at the door of their house, as the coach and six, followed by its train of clattering horsemen, thundered out of the village. John Girder also stood upon his threshold, now looking at his honoured right hand, which had been so lately shaken by a marquis and a lord, and now giving a glance into the interior of his mansion, which manifested all the disarray of the late revel, as if balancing the distinction which he had attained with the expenses of the entertainment. At length he opened his oracular jaws. Let every man and woman here set about their ain business, as if there was nae sic thing as marquis or master, duke or drake, laird or lord, in this world. Let the house be redd up, the broken meat set bye, and if there is ony thing totally uneatable, let it be gien to the puir folk; and, gude mother and wife, I hae just ae thing to entreat ye, that ye will never speak to me a single word, good or bad, anent a this nonsense wark, but keep a your cracks about it to yoursells and your kimmers, for my head is weelnigh dung donnart wi it already. As Johns authority was tolerably absolute, all departed to their usual occupations, leaving him to build castles in the air, if he had a mind, upon the court favour which he had acquired by the expenditure of his worldly substance. CHAPTER XXVII. Why, now I have Dame Fortune by the Forelock, And if she escapes my grasp, the fault is mine; He that hath buffeted with stern adversity Best knows the shape his course to favouring breezes. Old Play. Our travellers reach Edinburgh without any farther adventure, and the Master of Ravenswood, as had been previously settled, took up his abode with his noble friend. In the mean time, the political crisis which had been expected took place, and the Tory party obtained in the Scottish, as in the English, councils of Queen Anne a shortlived ascendency, of which it is not our business to trace either the cause or consequences. Suffice it to say, that it affected the different political parties according to the nature of their principles. In England, many of the High Church party, with Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, at their head, affected to separate their principles from those of the Jacobites, and, on that account, obtained the denomination of Whimsicals. The Scottish High Church party, on the contrary, or, as they termed themselves, the Cavaliers, were more consistent, if not so prudent, in their politics, and viewed all the changes now made as preparatory to calling to the throne, upon the queens demise, her brother the Chevalier de St. George. Those who had suffered in his service now entertained the most unreasonable hopes, not only of indemnification, but of vengeance upon their political adversaries; while families attached to the Whig interest saw nothing before them but a renewal of the hardships they had undergone during the reigns of Charles the Second and his brother, and a retaliation of the confiscation which had been inflicted upon the Jacobites during that of King William. But the most alarmed at the change of system was that prudential set of persons, some of whom are found in all governments, but who abound in a provincial administration like that of Scotland during the period, and who are what Cromwell called waiters upon Providence, or, in other words, uniform adherents to the party who are uppermost. Many of these hastened to read their recantation to the Marquis of A; and, as it was easily seen that he took a deep interest in the affairs of his kinsman, the Master of Ravenswood, they were the first to suggest measures for retrieving at least a part of his property, and for restoring him in blood against his fathers attainder. Old Lord Turntippet professed to be one of the most anxious for the success of these measures; for it grieved him to the very saul, he said, to see so brave a young gentleman, of sic auld and undoubted nobility, and, what was mair than a that, a bluid relation of the Marquis of A, the man whom, he swore, he honoured most upon the face of the earth, brought to so severe a pass. For his ain puir peculiar, as he said, and to contribute something to the rehabilitation of sae auld ane house, the said Turntippet sent in three family pictures lacking the frames, and six highbacked chairs, with worked Turkey cushions, having the crest of Ravenswood broidered thereon, without charging a penny either of the principal or interest they had cost him, when he bought them, sixteen years before, at a roup of the furniture of Lord Ravenswoods lodgings in the Canongate. Much more to Lord Turntippets dismay than to his surprise, although he affected to feel more of the latter than the former, the Marquis received his gift very drily, and observed, that his lordships restitution, if he expected it to be received by the Master of Ravenswood and his friends, must comprehend a pretty large farm, which, having been mortgaged to Turntippet for a very inadequate sum, he had contrived, during the confusion of the family affairs, and by means well understood by the lawyers of that period, to acquire to himself in absolute property. The old timeserving lord winced excessively under the requisition, protesting to God, that he saw no occasion the lad could have for the instant possession of the land, seeing he would doubtless now recover the bulk of his estate from Sir William Ashton, to which he was ready to contribute by every means in his power, as was just and reasonable; and finally declaring, that he was willing to settle the land on the young gentleman after his own natural demise. But all these excuses availed nothing, and he was compelled to disgorge the property, on receiving back the sum for which it had been mortgaged. Having no other means of making peace with the higher powers, he returned home sorrowful and malcontent, complaining to his confidants, That every mutation or change in the state had hitherto been productive of some sma advantage to him in his ain quiet affairs; but that the present hadpize upon it!cost him one of the best penfeathers o his wing. Similar measures were threatened against others who had profited by the wreck of the fortune of Ravenswood; and Sir William Ashton, in particular, was menaced with an appeal to the House of Peers, a court of equity, against the judicial sentences, proceeding upon a strict and severe construction of the letter of the law, under which he held the castle and barony of Ravenswood. With him, however, the Master, as well for Lucys sake as on account of the hospitality he had received from him, felt himself under the necessity of proceeding with great candor. He wrote to the late Lord Keeper, for he no longer held that office, stating frankly the engagement which existed between him and Miss Ashton, requesting his permission for their union, and assuring him of his willingness to put the settlement of all matters between them upon such a footing as Sir William himself should think favourable. The same messenger was charged with a letter to Lady Ashton, deprecating any cause of displeasure which the Master might unintentionally have given her, enlarging upon his attachment to Miss Ashton, and the length to which it had proceeded, and conjuring the lady, as a Douglas in nature as well as in name, generously to forget ancient prejudices and misunderstandings, and to believe that the family had acquired a friend, and she herself a respectful and attached humble servant, in him who subscribed himself, Edgar, Master of Ravenswood. A third letter Ravenswood addressed to Lucy, and the messenger was instructed to find some secret and secure means of delivering it into her own hands. It contained the strongest protestations of continued affection, and dwelt upon the approaching change of the writers fortunes, as chiefly valuable by tending to remove the impediments to their union. He related the steps he had taken to overcome the prejudices of her parents, and especially of her mother, and expressed his hope they might prove effectual. If not, he still trusted that his absence from Scotland upon an important and honourable mission might give time for prejudices to die away; while he hoped and trusted Miss Ashtons constancy, on which he had the most implicit reliance, would baffle any effort that might be used to divert her attachment. Much more there was, which, however interesting to the lovers themselves, would afford the reader neither interest nor information. To each of these three letters the Master of Ravenswood received an answer, but by different means of conveyance, and certainly couched in very different styles. Lady Ashton answered his letter by his own messenger, who was not allowed to remain at Ravenswood a moment longer than she was engaged in penning these lines. For the hand of Mr. Ravenswood of Wolfs CragThese SIR, UNKNOWN,I have received a letter, signed Edgar, Master of Ravenswood, concerning the writer whereof I am uncertain, seeing that the honours of such a family were forfeited for high treason in the person of Allan, late Lord Ravenswood. Sir, if you shall happen to be the person so subscribing yourself, you will please to know, that I claim the full interest of a parent in Miss Lucy Ashton, which I have disposed of irrevocably in behalf of a worthy person. And, sir, were this otherwise, I would not listen to a proposal from you, or any of your house, seeing their hand has been uniformly held up against the freedom of the subject and the immunities of Gods kirk. Sir, it is not a flightering blink of prosperity which can change my constant opinion in this regard, seeing it has been my lot before now, like holy David, to see the wicked great in power and flourishing like a green baytree; nevertheless I passed, and they were not, and the place thereof knew them no more. Wishing you to lay these things to your heart for your own sake, so far as they may concern you, I pray you to take no farther notice of her who desires to remain your unknown servant, MARGARET DOUGLAS, otherwise ASHTON. About two days after he had received this very unsatisfactory epistle, the Master of Ravenswood, while walking up the High Street of Edinburgh, was jostled by a person, in whom, as the man pulled off his hat to make an apology, he recognized Lockhard, the confidential domestic of Sir William Ashton. The man bowed, slipt a letter into his hand, and disappeared. The packet contained four closewritten folios, from which, however, as is sometimes incident to the compositions of great lawyers, little could be extracted, excepting that the writer felt himself in a very puzzling predicament. Sir William spoke at length of his high value and regard for his dear young friend, the Master of Ravenswood, and of his very extreme high value and regard for the Marquis of A, his very dear old friend; he trusted that any measures that they might adopt, in which he was concerned, would be carried on with due regard to the sanctity of decreets and judgments obtained in foro contentioso; protesting, before men and angels, that if the law of Scotland, as declared in her supreme courts, were to undergo a reversal in the English House of Lords, the evils which would thence arise to the public would inflict a greater wound upon his heart than any loss he might himself sustain by such irregular proceedings. He flourished much on generosity and forgiveness of mutual injuries, and hinted at the mutability of human affairs, always favourite topics with the weaker party in politics. He pathetically lamented, and gently censured, the haste which had been used in depriving him of his situation of Lord Keeper, which his experience had enabled him to fill with some advantage to the public, without so much as giving him an opportunity of explaining how far his own views of general politics might essentially differ from those now in power. He was convinced the Marquis of A had as sincere intentions towards the public as himself or any man; and if, upon a conference, they could have agreed upon the measures by which it was to be pursued, his experience and his interest should have gone to support the present administration. Upon the engagement betwixt Ravenswood and his daughter, he spoke in a dry and confused manner. He regretted so premature a step as the engagement of the young people should have been taken, and conjured the Master to remember he had never given any encouragement thereunto; and observed that, as a transaction inter minores, and without concurrence of his daughters natural curators, the engagement was inept, and void in law. This precipitate measure, he added, had produced a very bad effect upon Lady Ashtons mind, which it was impossible at present to remove. Her son, Colonel Douglas Ashton, had embraced her prejudices in the fullest extent, and it was impossible for Sir William to adopt a course disagreeable to them without a fatal and irreconcilable breach in his family; which was not at present to be thought of. Time, the great physician, he hoped, would mend all. In a postscript, Sir William said something more explicitly, which seemed to intimate that, rather than the law of Scotland should sustain a severe wound through his sides, by a reversal of the judgment of her supreme courts, in the case of the barony of Ravenswood, through the intervention of what, with all submission, he must term a foreign court of appeal, he himself would extrajudically consent to considerable sacrifices. From Lucy Ashton, by some unknown conveyance, the Master received the following lines I received yours, but it was at the utmost risk; do not attempt to write again till better times. I am sore beset, but I will be true to my word, while the exercise of my reason is vouchsafed to me. That you are happy and prosperous is some consolation, and my situation requires it all. The note was signed L.A. This letter filled Ravenswood with the most lively alarm. He made many attempts, notwithstanding her prohibition, to convey letters to Miss Ashton, and even to obtain an interview; but his plans were frustrated, and he had only the mortification to learn that anxious and effectual precautions had been taken to prevent the possibility of their correspondence. The Master was the more distressed by these circumstances, as it became impossible to delay his departure from Scotland, upon the important mission which had been confided to him. Before his departure, he put Sir William Ashtons letter into the hands of the Marquis of A, who observed with a smile, that Sir Williams day of grace was past, and that he had now to learn which side of the hedge the sun had got to. It was with the greatest difficulty that Ravenswood extorted from the Marquis a promise that he would compromise the proceedings in Parliament, providing Sir William should be disposed to acquiesce in a union between him and Lucy Ashton. I would hardly, said the Marquis, consent to your throwing away your birthright in this manner, were I not perfectly confident that Lady Ashton, or Lady Douglas, or whatever she calls herself, will, as Scotchmen say, keep her threep; and that her husband dares not contradict her. But yet, said the Master, I trust your lordship will consider my engagement as sacred. Believe my word of honour, said the Marquis, I would be a friend even to your follies; and having thus told you my opinion, I will endeavour, as occasion offers, to serve you according to your own. The master of Ravenswood could but thank his generous kinsman and patron, and leave him full power to act in all his affairs. He departed from Scotland upon his mission, which, it was supposed, might detain him upon the continent for some months. CHAPTER XXVIII. Was ever woman in this humor wooed? Was ever woman in this humour won? Ill have her. Richard III. Twelve months had passed away since the Master of Ravenswoods departure for the continent, and, although his return to Scotland had been expected in a much shorter space, yet the affairs of his mission, or, according to a prevailing report, others of a nature personal to himself, still detained him abroad. In the mean time, the altered state of affairs in Sir William Ashtons family may be gathered from the following conversation which took place betwixt Bucklaw and his confidential bottle companion and dependant, the noted Captain Craigengelt. They were seated on either side of the huge sepulchrallooking freestone chimney in the low hall at Girnington. A wood fire blazed merrily in the grate; a round oaken table, placed between them, supported a stoup of excellent claret, two rummer glasses, and other good cheer; and yet, with all these appliances and means to boot, the countenance of the patron was dubious, doubtful, and unsatisfied, while the invention of his dependant was taxed to the utmost to parry what he most dreaded, a fit, as he called it, of the sullens, on the part of his protector. After a long pause, only interrupted by the devils tattoo, which Bucklaw kept beating against the hearth with the toe of his boot, Craigengelt at last ventured to break silence. May I be double distanced, said he, if ever I saw a man in my life have less the air of a bridegroom! Cut me out of feather, if you have not more the look of a man condemned to be hanged! My kind thanks for the compliment, replied Bucklaw; but I suppose you think upon the predicament in which you yourself are most likely to be placed; and pray, Captain Craigengelt, if it please your worship, why should I look merry, when Im sad, and devilish sad too? And thats what vexes me, said Craigengelt. Here is this match, the best in the whole country, and which you were so anxious about, is on the point of being concluded, and you are as sulky as a bear that has lost its whelps. I do not know, answered the Laird, doggedly, whether I should conclude or not, if it was not that I am too far forwards to leap back. Leap back! exclaimed Craigengelt, with a wellassumed air of astonishment, that would be playing the backgame with a witness! Leap back! Why, is not the girls fortune The young ladys, if you please, said Hayston, interrupting him. Wellwell, no disrespect meant. Will Miss Ashtons tocher not weigh against any in Lothian? Granted, answered Bucklaw; but I care not a penny for her tocher; I have enough of my own. And the mother, that loves you like her own child? Better than some of her children, I believe, said Bucklaw, or there would be little love wared on the matter. And Colonel Sholto Douglas Ashton, who desires the marriage above all earthly things? Because, said Bucklaw, he expects to carry the county of  through my interest. And the father, who is as keen to see the match concluded as ever I have been to win a main? Ay, said Bucklaw, in the same disparaging manner, it lies with Sir Williams policy to secure the next best match, since he cannot barter his child to save the great Ravenswood estate, which the English House of Lords are about to wrench out of his clutches. What say you to the young lady herself? said Craigengelt; the finest young woman in all Scotland, one that you used to be so fond of when she was cross, and now she consents to have you, and gives up her engagement with Ravenswood, you are for jibbing. I must say, the devils in ye, when ye neither know what you would have nor what you would want. Ill tell you my meaning in a word, answered Bucklaw, getting up and walking through the room; I want to know what the devil is the cause of Miss Ashtons changing her mind so suddenly? And what need you care, said Craigengelt, since the change is in your favour? Ill tell you what it is, returned his patron, I never knew much of that sort of fine ladies, and I believe they may be as capricious as the devil; but there is something in Miss Ashtons change a devilish deal too sudden and too serious for a mere flisk of her own. Ill be bound, Lady Ashton understands every machine for breaking in the human mind, and there are as many as there are cannonbit, martingales, and cavessons for young colts. And if that were not the case, said Craigengelt, how the devil should we ever get them into training at all? And thats true too, said Bucklaw, suspending his march through the diningroom, and leaning upon the back of a chair. And besides, heres Ravenswood in the way still, do you think hell give up Lucys engagement? To be sure he will, answered Craigengelt; what good can it do him to refuse, since he wishes to marry another woman and she another man? And you believe seriously, said Bucklaw, that he is going to marry the foreign lady we heard of? You heard yourself, answered Craigengelt, what Captain Westenho said about it, and the great preparation made for their blythesome bridal. Captain Westenho, replied Bucklaw, has rather too much of your own cast about, Craigie, to make what Sir William would call a famous witness. He drinks deep, plays deep, swears deep, and I suspect can lie and cheat a little into the bargain; useful qualities, Craigie, if kept in their proper sphere, but which have a little too much of the freebooter to make a figure in a court of evidence.


Well, then, said Craigengelt, will you believe Colonel Douglas Ashton, who heard the Marquis of A say in a public circle, but not aware that he was within earshot, that his kinsman had made a better arrangement for himself than to give his fathers land for the palecheeked daughter of a brokendown fanatic, and that Bucklaw was welcome to the wearing of Ravenswoods shaughled shoes. Did he say so, by heavens! cried Bucklaw, breaking out into one of those incontrollable fits of passion to which he was constitutionally subject; if I had heard him, I would have torn the tongue out of his throat before all his peats and minions, and Highland bullies into the bargain. Why did not Ashton run him through the body? Capot me if I know, said the Captain. He deserved it sure enough; but he is an old man, and a minister of state, and there would be more risk than credit in meddling with him. You had more need to think of making up to Miss Lucy Ashton the disgrace thats like to fall upon her than of interfering with a man too old to fight, and on too high a tool for your hand to reach him. It shall reach him, though, one day, said Bucklaw, and his kinsman Ravenswood to boot. In the mean time, Ill take care Miss Ashton receives no discredit for the slight they have put upon her. Its an awkward job, however, and I wish it were ended; I scarce know how to talk to her,but fill a bumper, Craigie, and well drink her health. It grows late, and a nightcowl of good claret is worth all the consideringcaps in Europe. CHAPTER XXIX. It was the copy of our conference. In bed she slept not, for my urging it; At board she fed not, for my urging it; Alone, it was the subject of my theme; In company I often glanced at it. Comedy of Errors. The next morning saw Bucklaw and his faithful Achates, Craigengelt, at Ravenswood Castle. They were most courteously received by the knight and his lady, as well as by their son and heir, Colonel Ashton. After a good deal of stammering and blushingfor Bucklaw, notwithstanding his audacity in other matters, had all the sheepish bashfulness common to those who have lived little in respectable societyhe contrived at length to explain his wish to be admitted to a conference with Miss Ashton upon the subject of their approaching union. Sir William and his son looked at Lady Ashton, who replied with the greatest composure, That Lucy would wait upon Mr. Hayston directly. I hope, she added with a smile, that as Lucy is very young, and has been lately trepanned into an engagement of which she is now heartily ashamed, our dear Bucklaw will excuse her wish that I should be present at their interview? In truth, my dear lady, said Bucklaw, it is the very thing that I would have desired on my own account; for I have been so little accustomed to what is called gallantry, that I shall certainly fall into some cursed mistake unless I have the advantage of your ladyship as an interpreter. It was thus that Bucklaw, in the perturbation of his embarrassment upon this critical occasion, forgot the just apprehensions he had entertained of Lady Ashtons overbearing ascendency over her daughters mind, and lost an opportunity of ascertaining, by his own investigation, the real state of Lucys feelings. The other gentlemen left the room, and in a short time Lady Ashton, followed by her daughter, entered the apartment. She appeared, as he had seen her on former occasions, rather composed than agitated; but a nicer judge than he could scarce have determined whether her calmness was that of despair or of indifference. Bucklaw was too much agitated by his own feelings minutely to scrutinise those of the lady. He stammered out an unconnected address, confounding together the two or three topics to which it related, and stopt short before he brought it to any regular conclusion. Miss Ashton listened, or looked as if she listened, but returned not a single word in answer, continuing to fix her eyes on a small piece of embroidery on which, as if by instinct or habit, her fingers were busily employed. Lady Ashton sat at some distance, almost screened from notice by the deep embrasure of the window in which she had placed her chair. From this she whispered, in a tone of voice which, though soft and sweet, had something in it of admonition, if not command Lucy, my dear, rememberhave you heard what Bucklaw has been saying? The idea of her mothers presence seemed to have slipped from the unhappy girls recollection. She started, dropped her needle, and repeated hastily, and almost in the same breath, the contradictory answers Yes, madamno, my ladyI beg pardon, I did not hear. You need not blush, my love, and still less need you look so pale and frightened, said Lady Ashton, coming forward; we know that maidens ears must be slow in receiving a gentlemans language; but you must remember Mr. Hayston speaks on a subject on which you have long since agreed to give him a favourable hearing. You know how much your father and I have our hearts set upon an event so extremely desirable. In Lady Ashtons voice, a tone of impressive, and even stern, innuendo was sedulously and skilfully concealed under an appearance of the most affectionate maternal tenderness. The manner was for Bucklaw, who was easily enough imposed upon; the matter of the exhortation was for the terrified Lucy, who well knew how to interpret her mothers hints, however skilfully their real purport might be veiled from general observation. Miss Ashton sat upright in her chair, cast round her a glance in which fear was mingled with a still wilder expression, but remained perfectly silent. Bucklaw, who had in the mean time paced the room to and fro, until he had recovered his composure, now stopped within two or three yards of her chair, and broke out as follows I believe I have been a dd fool, Miss Ashton; I have tried to speak to you as people tell me young ladies like to be talked to, and I dont think you comprehend what I have been saying; and no wonder, for dn me if I understand it myself! But, however, once for all, and in broad Scotch, your father and mother like what is proposed, and if you can take a plain young fellow for your husband, who will never cross you in anything you have a mind to, I will place you at the head of the best establishment in the three Lothians; you shall have Lady Girningtons lodging in the Canongate of Edinburgh, go where you please, do what you please, and see what you pleaseand thats fair. Only I must have a corner at the boardend for a worthless old playfellow of mine, whose company I would rather want than have, if it were not that the dd fellow has persuaded me that I cant do without him; and so I hope you wont except against Craigie, although it might be easy to find much better company. Now, out upon you, Bucklaw, said Lady Ashton, again interposing; how can you think Lucy can have any objection to that blunt, honest, goodnatured creature, Captain Craigengelt? Why, madam, replied Bucklaw, as to Craigies sincerity, honesty, and goodnature, they are, I believe, pretty much upon a par; but thats neither here nor therethe fellow knows my ways, and has got useful to me, and I cannot well do without him, as I said before. But all this is nothing to the purpose; for since I have mustered up courage to make a plain proposal, I would fain hear Miss Ashton, from her own lips, give me a plain answer. My dear Bucklaw, said Lady Ashton, let me spare Lucys bashfulness. I tell you, in her presence, that she has already consented to be guided by her father and me in this matter. Lucy, my love, she added, with that singular combination of suavity of tone and pointed energy which we have already noticedLucy, my dearest love! speak for yourself, is it not as I say? Her victim answered in a tremulous and hollow voice I have promised to obey youbut upon one condition. She means, said Lady Ashton, turning to Bucklaw, she expects an answer to the demand which she has made upon the man at Vienna, or Ratisbon, or Parisor where is he?for restitution of the engagement in which he had the art to involve her. You will not, I am sure, my dear friend, think it is wrong that she should feel much delicacy upon this head; indeed, it concerns us all. Perfectly rightquite fair, said Bucklaw, half humming, half speaking the end of the old song It is best to be off wi the old love Before you be on wi the new. But I thought, said he, pausing, you might have had an answer six times told from Ravenswood. Dn me, if I have not a mind to go fetch one myself, if Miss Ashton will honour me with the commission. By no means, said Lady Ashton; we have had the utmost difficulty of preventing Douglas, for whom it would be more proper, from taking so rash a step; and do you think we could permit you, my good friend, almost equally dear to us, to go to a desperate man upon an errand so desperate? In fact, all the friends of the family are of opinion, and my dear Lucy herself ought so to think, that, as this unworthy person has returned no answer to her letter, silence must on this, as in other cases, be held to give consent, and a contract must be supposed to be given up, when the party waives insisting upon it. Sir William, who should know best, is clear upon this subject; and therefore, my dear Lucy Madam, said Lucy, with unwonted energy, urge me no farther; if this unhappy engagement be restored, I have already said you shall dispose of me as you will; till then I should commit a heavy sin in the sight of God and man in doing what you require. But, my love, if this man remains obstinately silent He will not be silent, answered Lucy; it is six weeks since I sent him a double of my former letter by a sure hand. You have notyou could notyou durst not, said Lady Ashton, with violence inconsistent with the tone she had intended to assume; but instantly correcting herself, My dearest Lucy, said she, in her sweetest tone of expostulation, how could you think of such a thing? No matter, said Bucklaw; I respect Miss Ashton for her sentiments, and I only wish I had been her messenger myself. And pray how long, Miss Ashton, said her mother, ironically, are we to wait the return of your Pacoletyour fairy messengersince our humble couriers of flesh and blood could not be trusted in this matter? I have numbered weeks, days, hours, and minutes, said Miss Ashton; within another week I shall have an answer, unless he is dead. Till that time, sir, she said, addressing Bucklaw, let me be thus far beholden to you, that you will beg my mother to forbear me upon this subject. I will make it my particular entreaty to Lady Ashton, said Bucklaw. By my honour, madam, I respect your feelings; and, although the prosecution of this affair be rendered dearer to me than ever, yet, as I am a gentleman, I would renounce it, were it so urged as to give you a moments pain. Mr. Hayston, I think, cannot comprehend that, said Lady Ashton, looking pale with anger, when the daughters happiness lies in the bosom of the mother. Let me ask you, Miss Ashton, in what terms your last letter was couched? Exactly in the same, madam, answered Lucy, which you dictated on a former occasion. When eight days have elapsed, then, said her mother, resuming her tone of tenderness, we shall hope, my dearest love, that you will end this suspense. Miss Ashton must not be hurried, madam, said Bucklaw, whose bluntness of feeling did not by any means arise from want of goodnature; messengers may be stopped or delayed. I have known a days journey broke by the casting of a foreshoe. Stay, let me see my calendar the twentieth day from this is St. Judes, and the day before I must be at Caverton Edge, to see the match between the Laird of Kittlegirths black mare and Johnston the mealmongers fouryearoldcolt; but I can ride all night, or Craigie can bring me word how the match goes; and I hope, in the mean time, as I shall not myself distress Miss Ashton with any further importunity, that your ladyship yourself, and Sir William, and Colonel Douglas will have the goodness to allow her uninterrupted time for making up her mind. Sir, said Miss Ashton, you are generous. As for that, madam, answered Bucklaw, I only pretend to be a plain, goodhumoured young fellow, as I said before, who will willingly make you happy if you will permit him, and show him how to do so. Having said this, he saluted her with more emotion than was consistent with his usual train of feeling, and took his leave; Lady Ashton, as she accompanied him out of the apartment, assuring him that her daughter did full justice to the sincerity of his attachment, and requesting him to see Sir William before his departure, since, as she said, with a keen glance reverting towards Lucy, against St. Judes day, we must all be ready to sign and seal. To sign and seal! echoed Lucy, in a muttering tone, as the door of the apartment closedto sign and sealto do and die! and, clasping her extenuated hands together, she sunk back on the easychair she occupied, in a state resembling stupor. From this she was shortly after awakened by the boisterous entry of her brother Henry, who clamorously reminded her of a promise to give him two yards of carnation ribbon to make knots to his new garters. With the most patient composure Lucy arose, and opening a little ivory cabinet, sought out the ribbon the lad wanted, measured it accurately, cut it off into proper lengths, and knotted it into the fashion his boyish whim required. Dinna shut the cabinet yet, said Henry, for I must have some of your silver wire to fasten the bells to my hawks jesses,and yet the new falcons not worth them neither; for do you know, after all the plague we had to get her from an eyrie, all the way at Posso, in Mannor Water, shes going to prove, after all, nothing better than a rifler she just wets her singles in the blood of the partridge, and then breaks away, and lets her fly; and what good can the poor bird do after that, you know, except pine and die in the first heathercow or whinbush she can crawl into? Right, Henryrightvery right, said Luch, mournfully, holding the boy fast by the hand, after she had given him the wire he wanted; but there are more riflers in the world than your falcon, and more wounded birds that seek but to die in quiet, that can find neither brake nor whinbush to hide their head in. Ah! thats some speech out of your romances, said the boy; and Sholto says they have turned your head. But I hear Norman whistling to the hawk; I must go fasten on the jesses. And he scampered away with the thoughtless gaiety of boyhood, leaving his sister to the bitterness of her own reflections. It is decreed, she said, that every living creature, even those who owe me most kindness, are to shun me, and leave me to those by whom I am beset. It is just it should be thus. Alone and uncounselled, I involved myself in these perils; alone and uncounselled, I must extricate myself or die. CHAPTER XXX. What doth ensue But moody and dull melancholy, Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair, And at her heel, a huge infectious troop Of pale distemperatures, and foes to life? Comedy of Errors. As some vindication of the ease with which Bucklaw (who otherwise, as he termed himself, was really a very goodhumoured fellow) resigned his judgment to the management of Lady Ashton, while paying his addresses to her daughter, the reader must call to mind the strict domestic discipline which, at this period, was exercised over the females of a Scottish family. The manners of the country in this, as in many other respects, coincided with those of France before the Revolution. Young women of the higher rank seldom mingled in society until after marriage, and, both in law and fact, were held to be under the strict tutelage of their parents, who were too apt to enforce the views for their settlement in life without paying any regard to the inclination of the parties chiefly interested. On such occasions, the suitor expected little more from his bride than a silent acquiescence in the will of her parents; and as few opportunities of acquaintance, far less of intimacy, occurred, he made his choice by the outside, as the lovers in the Merchant of Venice select the casket, contented to trust to chance the issue of the lottery in which he had hazarded a venture. It was not therefore surprising, such being the general manners of the age, that Mr. Hayston of Bucklaw, whom dissipated habits had detached in some degree from the best society, should not attend particularly to those feelings in his elected bride to which many men of more sentiment, experience, and reflection would, in all probability, have been equally indifferent. He knew what all accounted the principal point, that her parents and friends, namely, were decidedly in his favour, and that there existed most powerful reasons for their predilection. In truth, the conduct of the Marquis of A, since Ravenswoods departure, had been such as almost to bar the possibility of his kinsmans union with Lucy Ashton. The Marquis was Ravenswoods sincere but misjudging friend; or rather, like many friends and patrons, he consulted what he considered to be his relations true interest, although he knew that in doing so he ran counter to his inclinations. The Marquis drove on, therefore, with the plentitude of ministerial authority, an appeal to the British House of Peers against those judgments of the courts of law by which Sir William became possessed of Ravenswoods hereditary property. As this measure, enforced with all the authority of power, was new in Scottish judicial proceedings, though now so frequently resorted to, it was exclaimed against by the lawyers on the opposite side of politics, as an interference with the civil judicature of the country, equally new, arbitrary, and tyrannical. And if it thus affected even strangers connected with them only by political party, it may be guessed what the Ashton family themselves said and thought under so gross a dispensation. Sir William, still more worldlyminded than he was timid, was reduced to despair by the loss by which he was threatened. His sons haughtier spirit was exalted into rage at the idea of being deprived of his expected patrimony. But to Lady Ashtons yet more vindictive temper the conduct of Ravenswood, or rather of his patron, appeared to be an offence challenging the deepest and most immortal revenge. Even the quiet and confiding temper of Lucy herself, swayed by the opinions expressed by all around her, could not but consider the conduct of Ravenswood as precipitate, and even unkind. It was my father, she repeated with a sigh, who welcomed him to this place, and encouraged, or at least allowed, the intimacy between us. Should he not have remembered this, and requited it with at least some moderate degree of procrastination in the assertion of his own alleged rights? I would have forfeited for him double the value of these lands, which he pursues with an ardour that shows he has forgotten how much I am implicated in the matter. Lucy, however, could only murmur these things to herself, unwilling to increase the prejudices against her lover entertained by all around her, who exclaimed against the steps pursued on his account as illegal, vexatious, and tyrannical, resembling the worst measures in the worst times of the worst Stuarts, and a degradation of Scotland, the decisions of whose learned judges were thus subjected to the review of a court composed indeed of men of the highest rank, and who were not trained to the study of any municipal law, and might be supposed specially to hold in contempt that of Scotland. As a natural consequence of the alleged injustice meditated towards her father, every means was restored to, and every argument urged to induce Miss Ashton to break off her engagement with Ravenswood, as being scandalous, shameful, and sinful, formed with the mortal enemy of her family, and calculated to add bitterness to the distress of her parents. Lucys spirit, however, was high, and, although unaided and alone, she could have borne much she could have endured the repinings of her father; his murmurs against what he called the tyrannical usage of the ruling party; his ceaseless charges of ingratitude against Ravenswood; his endless lectures on the various means by which contracts may be voided and annulled; his quotations from the civil, municipal, and the canon law; and his prelections upon the patria potestas. She might have borne also in patience, or repelled with scorn, the bitter taunts and occasional violence of her brother, Colonel Douglas Ashton, and the impertinent and intrusive interference of other friends and relations. But it was beyond her power effectually to withstand or elude the constant and unceasing persecution of Lady Ashton, who, laying every other wish aside, had bent the whole efforts of her powerful mind to break her daughters contract with Ravenswood, and to place a perpetual bar between the lovers, by effecting Lucys union with Bucklaw. Far more deeply skilled than her husband in the recesses of the human heart, she was aware that in this way she might strike a blow of deep and decisive vengeance upon one whom she esteemed as her mortal enemy; nor did she hesitate at raising her arm, although she knew that the wound must be dealt through the bosom of her daughter. With this stern and fixed purpose, she sounded every deep and shallow of her daughters soul, assumed alternately every disguise of manner which could serve her object, and prepared at leisure every species of dire machinery by which the human mind can be wrenched from its settled determination. Some of these were of an obvious description, and require only to be cursorily mentioned; others were characteristic of the time, the country, and the persons engaged in this singular drama. It was of the last consequence that all intercourse betwixt the lovers should be stopped, and, by dint of gold and authority, Lady Ashton contrived to possess herself of such a complete command of all who were placed around her daughter, that, if fact, no leaguered fortress was ever more completely blockaded; while, at the same time, to all outward appearance Miss Ashton lay under no restriction. The verge of her parents domains became, in respect to her, like the viewless and enchanted line drawn around a fairy castle, where nothing unpermitted can either enter from without or escape from within. Thus every letter, in which Ravenswood conveyed to Lucy Ashton the indispensable reasons which detained him abroad, and more than one note which poor Lucy had addressed to him through what she thought a secure channel, fell into the hands of her mother. It could not be but that the tenor of these intercepted letters, especially those of Ravenswood, should contain something to irritate the passions and fortify the obstinacy of her into whose hands they fell; but Lady Ashtons passions were too deeprooted to require this fresh food. She burnt the papers as regularly as she perused them; and as they consumed into vapour and tinder, regarded them with a smile upon her compressed lips, and an exultation in her steady eye, which showed her confidence that the hopes of the writers should soon be rendered equally unsubstantial. It usually happens that fortune aids the machinations of those who are prompt to avail themselves of every chance that offers. A report was wafted from the continent, founded, like others of the same sort, upon many plausible circumstances, but without any real basis, stating the Master of Ravenswood to be on the eve of marriage with a foreign lady of fortune and distinction. This was greedily caught up by both the political parties, who were at once struggling for power and for popular favour, and who seized, as usual, upon the most private circumstances in the lives of each others partisans to convert them into subjects of political discussion. The Marquis of A gave his opinion aloud and publicly, not indeed in the coarse terms ascribed to him by Captain Craigengelt, but in a manner sufficiently offensive to the Ashtons. He thought the report, he said, highly probable, and heartily wished it might be true. Such a match was fitter and far more creditable for a spirited young fellow than a marriage with the daughter of an old Whig lawyer, whose chicanery had so nearly ruined his father. The other party, of course, laying out of view the opposition which the Master of Ravenswood received from Miss Ashtons family, cried shame upon his fickleness and perfidy, as if he had seduced the young lady into an engagement, and wilfully and causelessly abandoned her for another. Sufficient care was taken that this report should find its way to Ravenswood Castle through every various channel, Lady Ashton being well aware that the very reiteration of the same rumour, from so many quarters, could not but give it a semblance of truth. By some it was told as a piece of ordinary news, by some communicated as serious intelligence; now it was whispered to Lucy Ashtons ear in the tone of malignant pleasantry, and now transmitted to her as a matter of grave and serious warning. Even the boy Henry was made the instrument of adding to his sisters torments. One morning he rushed into the room with a willow branch in his hand, which he told her had arrived that instant from Germany for her special wearing. Lucy, as we have seen, was remarkably fond of her younger brother, and at that moment his wanton and thoughtless unkindness seemed more keenly injurious than even the studied insults of her elder brother. Her grief, however, had no shade of resentment; she folded her arms about the boys neck, and saying faintly, Poor Henry! you speak but what they tell you she burst into a flood of unrestrained tears. The boy was moved, notwithstanding the thoughtlessness of his age and character. The devil take me, said he, Lucy, if I fetch you any more of these tormenting messages again; for I like you better, said he, kissing away the tears, than the whole pack of them; and you shall have my grey pony to ride on, and you shall canter him if you likeay, and ride beyond the village, too, if you have a mind. Who told you, said Lucy, that I am not permitted to ride where I please? Thats a secret, said the boy; but you will find you can never ride beyond the village but your horse will cast a shoe, or fall lame, or the cattle bell will ring, or something will happen to bring you back. But if I tell you more of these things, Douglas will not get me the pair of colours they have promised me, and so goodmorrow to you. This dialogue plunged Lucy in still deeper dejection, as it tended to show her plainly what she had for some time suspected, that she was little better than a prisoner at large in her fathers house. We have described her in the outset of our story as of a romantic disposition, delighting in tales of love and wonder, and readily identifying herself with the situation of those legendary heroines with whose adventures, for want of better reading, her memory had become stocked. The fairy wand, with which in her solitude she had delighted to raise visions of enchantment, became now the rod of a magician, the bond slave of evil genii, serving only to invoke spectres at which the exorcist trembled. She felt herself the object of suspicion, of scorn, of dislike at least, if not of hatred, to her own family; and it seemed to her that she was abandoned by the very person on whose account she was exposed to the enmity of all around her. Indeed, the evidence of Ravenswoods infidelity began to assume every day a more determined character. A soldier of fortune, of the name of Westenho, an old familiar of Craigengelts, chanced to arrive from abroad about this time. The worthy Captain, though without any precise communication with Lady Ashton, always acted most regularly and sedulously in support of her plans, and easily prevailed upon his friend, by dint of exaggeration of real circumstances and coming of others, to give explicit testimony to the truth of Ravenswoods approaching marriage. Thus beset on all hands, and in a manner reduced to despair, Lucys temper gave way under the pressure of constant affliction and persecution. She became gloomy and abstracted, and, contrary to her natural and ordinary habit of mind, sometimes turned with spirit, and even fierceness, on those by whom she was long and closely annoyed. Her health also began to be shaken, and her hectic cheek and wandering eye gave symptoms of what is called a fever upon the spirits. In most mothers this would have moved compassion; but Lady Ashton, compact and firm of purpose, saw these waverings of health and intellect with no greater sympathy than that with which the hostile engineer regards the towers of a beleaguered city as they reel under the discharge of his artillery; or rather, she considered these starts and inequalities of temper as symptoms of Lucys expiring resolution; as the angler, by the throes and convulsive exertions of the fish which he has hooked, becomes aware that he soon will be able to land him. To accelerate the catastrophe in the present case, Lady Ashton had recourse to an expedient very consistent with the temper and credulity of those times, but which the reader will probably pronounce truly detestable and diabolical. CHAPTER XXXI. In which a witch did dwell, in loathly weeds, And wilful want, all careless of her deeds; So choosing solitary to abide, Far from all neighbours, that her devilish deeds And hellish arts from people she might hide, And hurt far off, unknown, whomeer she envied. Faerie Queene. The health of Lucy Ashton soon required the assistance of a person more skilful in the office of a sicknurse than the female domestics of the family. Ailsie Gourlay, sometimes called the Wise Woman of Bowden, was the person whom, for her own strong reasons, Lady Ashton selected as an attendant upon her daughter. This woman had acquired a considerable reputation among the ignorant by the pretended cures which she performed, especially in oncomes, as the Scotch call them, or mysterious diseases, which baffle the regular physician. Her pharmacopeia consisted partly of herbs selected in planetary hours, partly of words, signs, and charms, which sometimes, perhaps, produced a favourable influence upon the imagination of her patients. Such was the avowed profession of Luckie Gourlay, which, as may well be supposed, was looked upon with a suspicious eye, not only by her neighbours, but even by the clergy of the district. In private, however, she traded more deeply in the occult sciences; for, notwithstanding the dreadful punishments inflicted upon the supposed crime of witchcraft, there wanted not those who, steeled by want and bitterness of spirit, were willing to adopt the hateful and dangerous character, for the sake of the influence which its terrors enabled them to exercise in the vicinity, and the wretched emolument which they could extract by the practice of their supposed art. Ailsie Gourlay was not indeed fool enough to acknowledge a compact with the Evil One, which would have been a swift and ready road to the stake and tarbarrel. Her fairy, she said, like Calibans, was a harmless fairy. Nevertheless, she spaed fortunes, read dreams, composed philtres, discovered stolen goods, and made and dissolved matches as successfully as if, according to the belief of the whole neighbourhood, she had been aided in those arts by Beelzebub himself. The worst of the pretenders to these sciences was, that they were generally persons who, feeling themselves odious to humanity, were careless of what they did to deserve the public hatred.