English county of Cumberland (now known as continued to resist the Revolutionary Settlement
Cumbria) on the west coast and Berwick on the until their last uprising in 1745.
east. 6. Extraordinary crowing; i.e., much noise.
2. The Tory party in Scotland included most sup-7. Except. porters of the Episcopal Church and, after 1688, 8. Were obliged to be.
.
WANDERING WILLIE'S TALE / 413
the rent on a day preceese, or else Steenie behoved to flit.9 Sair wark1 he had to get the siller; but he was weel-freended, and at last he got the haill2 scraped thegither?a thousand merks?the maist of it was from a neighbour they caa'd Laurie Lapraik?a sly tod.3 Laurie had walth o' gear4?could hunt wi' the hound and rin wi' the hare?and be Whig or Tory, saunt or sinner, as the wind stood. He was a professor in this Revolution warld, but he liked an orra sough of this warld;5 and a tune on the pipes weel aneugh at a bytime, and abune a',6 he thought he had gude security for the siller he lent my gudesire ower the stocking at Primrose-Knowe.7
Away trots my gudesire to Redgauntlet Castle, wi' a heavy purse and a light heart, glad to be out of the Laird's danger. Weel, the first thing he learned at the Castle was, that Sir Robert had fretted himself into a fit of the gout, because he did not appear before twelve o'clock. It wasna a'thegether for sake of the money, Dougal thought; but because he didna like to part wi' my gudesire aff the grund. Dougal was glad to see Steenie, and brought him into the great oak parlour, and there sat the Laird his leesome lane, excepting that he had beside him a great, ill- favoured jackanape,8 that was a special pet of his; a cankered beast it was, and mony an ill-natured trick it played?ill to please it was, and easily angered?ran about the haill castle, chattering and yowling, and pinching and biting folk, especially before ill weather, or disturbances in the state. Sir Robert caa'd it Major Weir, after the warlock that was burnt;9 and few folk liked either the name or the conditions of the creature?they thought there was something in it by ordinar?and my gudesire was not just easy in his mind when the door shut on him, and he saw himself in the room wi' naebody but the Laird, Dougal MacCallum, and the Major, a thing that hadna chanced to him before.
Sir Robert sat, or, I should say, lay, in a great armed chair, wi' his grand velvet gown, and his feet on a cradle; for he had baith gout and gravel, and his face looked as gash and ghastly as Satan's. Major Weir sat opposite to him, in a red laced coat, and the Laird's wig1 on his head; and aye as Sir Robert girned2 wi' pain, the jackanape girned too, like a sheep's-head between a pair of tangs?an ill-faured,3 fearsome couple they were. The Laird's buff-coat was hung on a pin behind him, and his broadsword and his pistols within reach; for he keepit up the auld fashion of having the weapons ready, and a horse saddled day and night, just as he used to do when he was able to loup on horseback, and away after ony of the hill-folk he could get speerings4 of. Some said it was for fear of the Whigs taking vengeance, but I judge it was just his auld custom?he wasna gien to fear ony thing. The rental-book, wi' its black cover and brass clasps, was lying beside him; and a book of sculduddry sangs5 was put betwixt the leaves, to keep it open at the place where it bore evidence
9. To move house. Rents were due on 'quarter is 'the stocking'?cattle, farm implements, etc.? days': Candlemas (February 2), Whitsunday (May of Steenie's farm.
15), Lammas (August 1), and Martinmas (Novem-8. Monkey.
ber 11). 9. Major Weir, a historical figure who fought in
1. Difficult work. the Covenanter cause in youth and in old age con2. Whole. fessed to crimes that included wizardry, for which 3. Fox. he was executed in 1670. 4. Lots of property. 1. Gentlemen in the late 17th and the 18th cen5. I.e., in this post-Revolutionary wrorld puritani-turies were in the custom of wearing wigs in public. cal Laurie adheres to ('professes') his religion but 2. Grimaced.
still likes an occasional ('orra') worldly song 3. Ugly.
('sough'). 4. News.
6. Above all. 5. Obscene songs. 7. I.e., the security for the loan of the rent money
.
41 4 / SIR WALTER SCOTT
against the Goodman of Primrose-Knowe, as behind the hand with his mails and duties.6 Sir Robert gave my gudesire a look, as if he would have withered his heart in his bosom. Ye maun ken he had a way of bending his brows, that men saw the visible mark of a horse-shoe in his forehead, deep-dinted, as if it had been stamped there.
'Are ye come light-handed, ye son of a toom whistle?' said Sir Robert. 'Zounds! if you are'?
My gudesire, with as gude a countenance as he could put on, made a leg,7 and placed the bag of money on the table wi' a dash, like a man that does something clever. The Laird drew it to him hastily?'Is it all here, Steenie, man?
'Your honour will find it right,' said my gudesire. 'Here, Dougal,' said the Laird, 'gie Steenie a tass8 of brandy down stairs, till I count the siller and write the receipt.'
But they werena weel out of the room, when Sir Robert gied a yelloch that garr'd9 the Castle rock! Back ran Dougal?in flew the livery-men?yell on yell gied the Laird, ilk ane mair awfu' than the ither. My gudesire knew not whether to stand or flee, but he ventured back into the parlour, where a' was gaun hirdy-girdie?naebody to say 'come in,' or 'gae out.' Terribly the Laird roared for cauld water to his feet, and wine to cool his throat; and hell, hell, hell, and its flames, was aye the word in his mouth. They brought him water, and when they plunged his swoln feet into the tub, he cried out it was burning; and folk say that it did bubble and sparkle like a seething cauldron. He flung the cup at Dougal's head, and said he had given him blood instead of burgundy; and, sure aneugh, the lass washed clotted blood aff the carpet the neist day. The jackanape they caa'd Major Weir, it jibbered and cried as if it was mocking its master; my gudesire's head was like to turn?he forgot baith siller and receipt, and down stairs he banged; but as he ran, the shrieks came faint and fainter; there was a deep-drawn shivering groan, and word gaed through the Castle, that the Laird was dead.
Weel, away came my gudesire, wi' his finger in his mouth, and his best hope was, that Dougal had seen the money-bag, and heard the Laird speak of writing the receipt. The young Laird, now Sir John, came from Edinburgh, to see things put to rights. Sir John and his father never gree'd weel. Sir John had been bred an advocate, and afterwards sat in the last Scots Parliament and voted for the Union, having gotten, it was thought, a rug of the compensations'? if his father could have come out of his grave, he would have brained him for it on his awn hearthstane. Some thought it was easier counting with the auld rough Knight than the fair-spoken young ane?but
