flourished before the invention of printing, or even of writing. What think you, James, of a Noctes in hieroglyphics? Shepherd. I scarcely ken; but I think ane wadna look amiss in the Chinese. Wi' respeck to mere literary men, oh dear me, sir! hoo I do gaunt' when they come out to Mount Benger! They canna shute, they canna fish, they canna loup, they canna warsle, they canna soom, they canna put the stane, they canna fling the hammer, they canna even drive a gig, they canna kiss a lassie in an aff-haun and pleasant manner, without offendin her feelins, as through the dews she 66 comes wadin all alane;" and what's perhaps the maist contemptible o' a', they canna, to ony effeck, drink whusky. Ae glass o' pure speerits on the hill afore breakfast wad gie them a sick headache; and after denner, although the creturs hae nae objections to the jug, oh, but their heads are wake,2 wake-before the fire has got sun-bricht, they are lauchin-fou -you then fin' them out to be rejected contributors to Blackwood; and you hear that they're Whigs frae their wee, sharp, shrill, intermittin, dissatisfied, and rather disgustin snore, like a soun' ane aften hears at nicht in moors and mosses, but whence proceedin ane knows not, except it be frae some wildfool distressed in sleep by a stamach fu' o' slug-worms mixed wi' mire-for he aiblins leeves by suction. North. He is all mind, James; king of the Coteries, and monarch of all the Albums. His mother laments that he is not in Parliament; and, up to the Preface, used to hint that he had a finger in Kenilworth and Ivanhoe. 3 Shepherd. Yet, after a', it's far frae unamusin to read the verses o' sic creturs. They're aye talkin o' inspiration-o' bein' rapt, and carried awa by the Muses and ridin on Pegasus and climbin Parnassus, on their hauns and knees, nae doubt — and drinkin Hippocrene and Helicon, twa kinds o' Greek wine, ance red, but noo tawny; and though no like to flee to the head, yet apt to soor sair on an empty stamach. Yet a' the time there's no a whut mair inspiration, or ravishment, or ridin, or climbin, or drinkin about the bit versifying 1 Gaunt-yawn. 2 Wake-weak. 3 "Up to the Preface,"—that is, previous to Scott's public avowal of the authorship of the Waverley Novels. He laid aside his incognito, first at the public dinner already referred to (vol. i. p. 339, note), and secondly, in the Preface or rather Introduction to the Chronicles of the Canongate, 1827. 86 PASTORAL PEACEFULNESS. creturs o' Cockneys, than there is about a grocer's clerk copying out an adverteesement o' sweeties for the newspapers. North. Yet such Sons of Genius think themselves entitled to become unprincipled, because they can occasionally count their fingers-disdain area-doors,' with eyes in fine frenzy rolling-get into a network-that is, James, according to Dr Johnson, a thing equally reticulated and discussated with equal distances between the interstices a network of small coarse debts-attempt to commit forgery-fall, through ignorance of the forms of business, into the inferior crime of swindling-off on the coach-box of the Carlisle mail to Liverpool; and, by packet that is to sail to-morrow morning, right slick away to the United States. Shepherd. You're really verra interteenin the nicht, sir; but dinna be ower hard on them a'; for when natur has kindled the spark o' genius in the heart o' a fine out-spoken, enthusiastic, hopefu' callant, wi' bauld bricht een, like far-keekers spyin into futurity, isn't' delightfu' to grasp his haun, and to clap him on the shouther, and praise him to his face, as you shove ower the jug to him, and ask him to sing or receet something o' his ain,—and tell ane o' your bairns to gang roun' the table and speak till him, for that he's a freend o' yours, and a gran' fallow, and no to mind even about climbin ontil his knee, and ruggin the curly locks o' him, as black as a raven? North. How delightful for a town-talk-teazed poor old man, like me, to take refuge, for a month or so, in a deeper solitude even than Buchanan Lodge-the House at the head of the Glen, which, know it ever so well, you still have to search for among so many knolls, some quite bare, some with a birk or two, and some of them each in itself a grove or wood,—selfsown all the trees, brushwood, coppice, and standards. Shepherd. You're getting desperate descriptive in your dotage - sirdinna froon-there's nae dishonour in dotage, when nature's its object. The aulder we grow, our love for her gets tenderer and mair tender, for this thocht aften comes across our heart, "in the bosom o' this bonny green earth, in how few years-shall I be laid-dust restored to dust!" That's a' I mean by dotage. North. What a difference, James, between the din of twenty 1 "Disdain area-doors,"—that is, disdain to officiate as lawyers' clerks in rooms on the sunk flat. 2 Isn't-is it not. little waterfalls, that absolutely seem pursuing one another away down the glen, and as many hackney coaches jolting along a street! A composure in all faces and figures that you meet going out to work or coming in from it—or sitting or walking about the house! Quiet without dulness-without languor-peace! There the gloaming is indeed pensiveeach star as it rises sparkles contentment—and the moon is felt to belong more especially to this one valley, most beautiful of all the valleys of this earth. Not an action of all my life-not a word I ever uttered-not a tale, or poem, or article, or book in two, three, or four volumes, that I ever wrote-not one of all the panegyrics, anathemas, blessings, curses, prayers, oaths, vows, and protestations, ever pronounced, denounced, and announced anent me, known to one single dweller in all the vale! There am I strictly anonymous. That crutch is as the crutch of any ordinary rheumatic-and I, James, have the unspeakable satisfaction of feeling myself—a Cipher. Shepherd. What are ye hummin at, sir. You're no gaun to sing? (NORTH sings.) Why does the sun shine on me, O'tis no thy frown I fear— 'Tis thy smile my heart does tear,- Ladies fair hae smiled on me A' their smiles nae joy could gie- On the sea the moonbeams play- Shepherd. Some auld fragmentary strain, remindin him, nae doubt, o' joys and sorrows lang ago! He has a pathetic vice -but sing what tune he may, it still slides awa into "Stroud Water." 88 MARRY HER, SIR; MARRY HER. North. Oh, James! a dream of the olden time Shepherd. Huts! huts! I wush you maunna be gettin rather a wee fuddled, sir-hafflins fou. Preserve me! are ye greetin? The whusky's maist terrible strong-and I suspect has never been chrissened. It's time we be aff! Oh! what some o' them he has knouted wad gie to see him in this condition! But there's the wheels o' the cotch. Or is't a fire-engine? (Enter AMBROSE to announce the arrival of the coach.) Dinna look at him, Mr Ambrose-he's gotten the toothacheand likewise some ingan in his een. This is aye the way wi' him noo-he fa's aff a' on a sudden-and begins greetin at naething, or at things that's rather amusin as itherwise. There's mony thousan' ways o' gettin fou-and I ken nae mair philosophical employment, than, in sic cityations, the study o' the varieties o' human character. North. Son James Shepherd. Pardon, Father-'twas but a jeest. I've kent you noo the better pairt o' twunty years-and never saw I thae bricht een-that bricht brain obscured,-for wi' a' our daffin-our weel-timed daffin-our dulce est desipere in locothat's Latin, you ken-we return to our hame, or our lodgings, as sober as Quakers-and as peacefu', too,-well-wishers, ane and a', to the haill human race-even the verra Wheegs. North. Sometimes, my dear Shepherd, my life from eighteen to twenty-four is an utter blank, like a moonless midnightat other times, oh! what a refulgent day! Had you known me then, James, you would Shepherd. No hae liked you half as weel's I do noo-for then, though you was doutless tall and straucht as a tree, and able and willin baith to fecht man, dowg, or deevil, wi' een, tongue, feet, or hauns, yet, as doutless, you was prouder nor Lucifer. But noo that you're bent doun no that muckle, just a wee, and your "lyart haffits wearing thin and bare," sae pleesant, sae cheerfu', sae fu' o' allooances for the fauts and frailties o' your fellow-creturs, provided only they proceed na frae a bad heart-it's just perfeckly impossible no to love the wise, merry auld man North. James, I wish to consult you and Mr Ambrose about the propriety and prudence of my marrying Shepherd. Never heed ye propriety and prudence, sir, in mairrying, ony mair than ither folk. Mairry her, sir—mairry her-and I'll be godfather-for the predestined mither o' him will be an Episcopaulian-to wee Christopher. North. As the Reis Effendi well observes to the interpreters of the Three Powers-we must not name a child till we have ascertained its sex.'-But, Ambrose, open the Ear of Dionysius. [MR AMBROSE opens a secret door, and flings it open. Shepherd. Mr Gurney-the short-haun writer! Dinna be frighted, sir. What a cozy contrivance! A green-baized table o' his ain-twa wax cawnles-a nice wee bit ingle— and a gey2 big Jug! North. Not a whisper, James, that Mr Gurney does not catch. I will explain the principle to you at our first leisure. You know the Elements of Acoustics? Shepherd. Cow-steeks,-Cow's horns. What do you mean? Let me try your toddy, Mr Gurney. Oh, man! but its strong. Good-night, sir; dinna steer till ye extend. North-Awmrose, rax him ower the crutch. Come awa, Mr But North. What a hobbletehoy I am, James-Allons. hark ye, James-are you the author of the "Relief Meeting?" No? I wish I knew how to direct a letter to him about his excellent article. Let us off to Southside-and sup with Tickler. Glee-for Three Voices. [Exeunt ambo et AMBROSE. 1 After the battle of Navarino (fought on the 20th of October 1827), the allied ambassadors at Constantinople, British, French, and Russian, desired to know in what light the Porte would consider hostilities if occasioned by Ibrahim Pacha refusing to comply with the declared will of the allied courts in respect to the affairs of Greece. His excellency the Reis Effendi, who had not yet received intelligence of the defeat of the Turkish fleet at Navarino, replied, "We hope that no hostilities have taken place, and we do not feel disposed to declare what we would do, or not do, in certain cases. People do not give a name to a child before it is born and its sex known.”—See Annual Register, 1827, p. 319. 2 Gey-rather. 3 That is, do not stir till you have written out your short-hand notes. |