There was no guest at dinner but myself. Around the table were two or three dogs in attendance. Maida, the old stag-hound, took his seat at Scott's elbow, looking up wistfully in his master's eye, while Finette, the pet spaniel, placed herself near Mrs. Scott, by whom, I soon perceived, she was completely spoiled.
The conversation happening to turn on the merits of his dogs, Scott spoke1 with great feeling and affection of his favorite, Camp, who is depicted2 by his side in the earlier engravings of him. He talked of him as of a real friend whom he had lost, and Sophia Scott, looking up archly in his face, observed that Papa shed a few tears when poor Camp died. I may here mention another testimonial of Scott's fondness for his dogs, and his humorous mode of showing it, which I subsequently met with. Rambling3 with him one morning about the grounds adjacent to the house, I observed a small antique monument, on which was inscribed4, in Gothic characters—
"Cy git le preux Percy." (Here lies the brave Percy.)
I paused, supposing it to be the tomb of some stark5 warrior6 of the olden time, but Scott drew me on. "Pooh!" cried he, "it's nothing but one of the monuments of my nonsense, of which you'll find enough hereabouts." I learnt afterward7 that it was the grave of a favorite greyhound. Among the other important and privileged members of the household who figured in attendance at the dinner, was a large gray cat, who, I observed, was regaled from time to time with tit-bits from the table. This sage8 grimalkin was a favorite of both master and mistress, and slept at night in their room; and Scott laughingly observed, that one of the least wise parts of their establishment was, that the window was left open at night for puss to go in and out. The cat assumed a kind of ascendancy9 among the quadrupeds—sitting in state in Scott's arm-chair, and occasionally stationing himself on a chair beside the door, as if to review his subjects as they passed, giving each dog a cuff10 beside the ears as he went by. This clapper-clawing was always taken in good part; it appeared to be, in fact, a mere11 act of sovereignty on the part of grimalkin, to remind the others of their vassalage12; which they acknowledged by the most perfect acquiescence13. A general harmony prevailed between sovereign and subjects, and they would all sleep together in the sunshine.
Scott was full of anecdote14 and conversation during dinner. He made some admirable remarks upon the Scottish character, and spoke strongly in praise of the quiet, orderly, honest conduct of his neighbors, which one would hardly expect, said he, from the descendants of moss16 troopers, and borderers, in a neighborhood famed in old times for brawl17 and feud18, and violence of all kinds. He said he had, in his official capacity of sheriff, administered the laws for a number of years, during which there had been very few trials. The old feuds19 and local interests, and rivalries20, and animosities of the Scotch21, however, still slept, he said, in their ashes, and might easily be roused. Their hereditary22 feeling for names was still great. It was not always safe to have even the game of foot-ball between villages, the old clannish23 spirit was too apt to break out. The Scotch, he said, were more revengeful than the English; they carried their resentments24 longer, and would sometimes lay them by for years, but would be sure to gratify them in the end.
The ancient jealousy25 between the Highlanders and the Lowlanders still continued to a certain degree, the former looking upon the latter as an inferior race, less brave and hardy27, but at the same time, suspecting them of a disposition28 to take airs upon themselves under the idea of superior refinement29. This made them techy and ticklish30 company for a stranger on his first coming among them; ruffling31 up and putting themselves upon their mettle32 on the slightest occasion, so that he had in a manner to quarrel and fight his way into their good graces.
He instanced a case in point in a brother of Mungo Park, who went to take up his residence in a wild neighborhood of the Highlands. He soon found himself considered as an intruder, and that there was a disposition among these cocks of the hills, to fix a quarrel on him, trusting that, being a Lowlander, he would show the white feather.
For a time he bore their flings and taunts34 with great coolness, until one, presuming on his forbearance, drew forth35 a dirk, and holding it before him, asked him if he had ever seen a weapon like that in his part of the country. Park, who was a Hercules in frame, seized the dirk, and, with one blow, drove it through an oaken table:—"Yes," replied he, "and tell your friends that a man from the Lowlands drove it where the devil himself cannot draw it out again." All persons were delighted with the feat33, and the words that accompanied it. They drank with Park to a better acquaintance, and were staunch friends ever afterwards.
After dinner we adjourned36 to the drawing-room, which served also for study and library. Against the wall on one side was a long writing-table, with drawers; surmounted37 by a small cabinet of polished wood, with folding doors richly studded with brass38 ornaments39, within which Scott kept his most valuable papers. Above the cabinet, in a kind of niche40, was a complete corslet of glittering steel, with a closed helmet, and flanked by gauntlets and battle-axes. Around were hung trophies41 and relics42 of various kinds: a cimeter of Tippoo Saib; a Highland26 broadsword from Flodden Field; a pair of Rippon spurs from Bannockburn; and above all, a gun which had belonged to Rob Roy, and bore his initials, R.M.G., an object of peculiar43 interest to me at the time, as it was understood Scott was actually engaged in printing a novel founded on the story of that famous outlaw44.
On each side of the cabinet were book-cases, well stored with works of romantic fiction in various languages, many of them rare and antiquated45. This, however, was merely his cottage library, the principal part of his books being at Edinburgh.
From this little cabinet of curiosities Scott drew forth a manuscript picked up on the field of Waterloo, containing copies of several songs popular at the time in France. The paper was dabbled46 with blood—"the very life-blood, very possibly," said Scott, "of some gay young officer, who had cherished these songs as a keepsake from some lady-love in Paris."
He adverted47, in a mellow48 and delightful49 manner, to the little half-gay, half-melancholy50, campaigning song, said to have been composed by General Wolfe, and sung by him at the mess table, on the eve of the storming of Quebec, in which he fell so gloriously:
"Why, soldiers, why,
Should we be melancholy, boys?
Why, soldiers, why,
Whose business 'tis to die!
For should next campaign
Send us to him who made us, boys
We're free from pain:
But should we remain,
A bottle and kind landlady51
Makes all well again."
"So," added he, "the poor lad who fell at Waterloo, in all probability, had been singing these songs in his tent the night before the battle, and thinking of the fair dame52 who had taught him them, and promising53 himself, should he outlive the campaign, to return to her all glorious from the wars."
I find since that Scott published translations of these songs among some of his smaller poems.
The evening passed away delightfully54 in this quaint-looking apartment, half study, half drawing-room. Scott read several passages from the old romance of "Arthur," with a fine, deep sonorous55 voice, and a gravity of tone that seemed to suit the antiquated, black-letter volume. It was a rich treat to hear such a work, read by such a person, and in such a place; and his appearance as he sat reading, in a large armed chair, with his favorite hound Maida at his feet, and surrounded by books and relics, and border trophies, would have formed an admirable and most characteristic picture.
While Scott was reading, the sage grimalkin, already mentioned, had taken his seat in a chair beside the fire, and remained with fixed56 eye and grave demeanor57, as if listening to the reader. I observed to Scott that his cat seemed to have a black-letter taste in literature.
"Ah," said he, "these cats are a very mysterious kind of folk. There is always more passing in their minds than we are aware of. It comes no doubt from their being so familiar with witches and warlocks." He went on to tell a little story about a gude man who was returning to his cottage one night, when, in a lonely out-of-the-way place, he met with a funeral procession of cats all in mourning, bearing one of their race to the grave in a coffin58 covered with a black velvet59 pall60. The worthy61 man, astonished and half-frightened at so strange a pageant62, hastened home and told what he had seen to his wife and children. Scarce had he finished, when a great black cat that sat beside the fire raised himself up, exclaimed "Then I am king of the cats!" and vanished up the chimney. The funeral seen by the gude man, was one of the cat dynasty.
"Our grimalkin here," added Scott, "sometimes reminds me of the story, by the airs of sovereignty which he assumes; and I am apt to treat him with respect from the idea that he may be a great prince incog., and may some time or other come to the throne."
In this way Scott would make the habits and peculiarities63 of even the dumb animals about him subjects for humorous remark or whimsical story.
Our evening was enlivened also by an occasional song from Sophia Scott, at the request of her father. She never wanted to be asked twice, but complied frankly64 and cheerfully. Her songs were all Scotch, sung without any accompaniment, in a simple manner, but with great spirit and expression, and in their native dialects, which gave them an additional charm. It was delightful to hear her carol off in sprightly65 style, and with an animated66 air, some of those generous-spirited old Jacobite songs, once current among the adherents67 of the Pretender in Scotland, in which he is designated by the appellation68 of "The Young Chevalier."
These songs were much relished69 by Scott, notwithstanding his loyalty70; for the unfortunate "Chevalier" has always been a hero of romance with him, as he has with many other staunch adherents to the House of Hanover, now that the Stuart line has lost all its terrors. In speaking on the subject, Scott mentioned as a curious fact, that, among the papers of the "Chevalier," which had been submitted by government to his inspection71, he had found a memorial to Charles from some adherents in America, dated 1778, proposing to set up his standard in the back settlements. I regret that, at the time, I did not make more particular inquiries72 of Scott on the subject; the document in question, however, in all probability, still exists among the Pretender's papers, which are in the possession of the British Government. In the course of the evening, Scott related the story of a whimsical picture hanging in the room, which had been drawn73 for him by a lady of his acquaintance. It represented the doleful perplexity of a wealthy and handsome young English knight74 of the olden time, who, in the course of a border foray, had been captured and carried off to the castle of a hard-headed and high-handed old baron75. The unfortunate youth was thrown into a dungeon76, and a tall gallows77 erected78 before the castle gate for his execution. When all was ready, he was brought into the castle hall where the grim baron was seated in state, with his warriors79 armed to the teeth around him, and was given his choice, either to swing on the gibbet or to marry the baron's daughter. The last may be thought an easy alternative, but unfortunately, the baron's young lady was hideously80 ugly, with a mouth from ear to ear, so that not a suitor was to be had for her, either for love or money, and she was known throughout the border country by the name of Muckle-mouthed Mag!
The picture in question represented the unhappy dilemma81 of the handsome youth. Before him sat the grim baron, with a face worthy of the father of such a daughter, and looking daggers82 and ratsbane. On one side of him was Muckle-mouthed Mag, with an amorous83 smile across the whole breadth of her countenance84, and a leer enough to turn a man to stone; on the other side was the father confessor, a sleek85 friar, jogging the youth's elbow, and pointing to the gallows, seen in perspective through the open portal.
The story goes, that after long laboring86 in mind, between the altar and the halter, the love of life prevailed, and the youth resigned himself to the charms of Muckle-mouthed Mag. Contrary to all the probabilities of romance, the match proved a happy one. The baron's daughter, if not beautiful, was a most exemplary wife; her husband was never troubled with any of those doubts and jealousies87 which sometimes mar15 the happiness of connubial88 life, and was made the father of a fair and undoubtedly89 legitimate90 hue91, which still flourishes on the border.
I give but a faint outline of the story from vague recollection; it may, perchance, be more richly related elsewhere, by some one who may retain something of the delightful humor with which Scott recounted it.
When I retired92 for the night, I found it almost impossible to sleep; the idea of being under the roof of Scott; of being on the borders of the Tweed, in the very centre of that region which had for some time past been the favorite scene of romantic fiction; and above all, the recollections of the ramble93 I had taken, the company in which I had taken it, and the conversation which had passed, all fermented94 in my mind, and nearly drove sleep from my pillow.
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1
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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ascendancy
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| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
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cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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vassalage
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| n.家臣身份，隶属 | |
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acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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brawl
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| n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂 | |
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feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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feuds
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| n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
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rivalries
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| n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 ) | |
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scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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22
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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clannish
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| adj.排他的，门户之见的 | |
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resentments
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| （因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 ) | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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ticklish
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| adj.怕痒的；问题棘手的；adv.怕痒地；n.怕痒，小心处理 | |
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ruffling
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| 弄皱( ruffle的现在分词 )； 弄乱； 激怒； 扰乱 | |
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mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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taunts
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| 嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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41
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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42
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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43
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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46
dabbled
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| v.涉猎( dabble的过去式和过去分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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adverted
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| 引起注意（advert的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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49
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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51
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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relished
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| v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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77
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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78
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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79
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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80
hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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81
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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82
daggers
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| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
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83
amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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84
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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85
sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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86
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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87
jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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88
connubial
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| adj.婚姻的，夫妇的 | |
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89
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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90
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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91
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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92
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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93
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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94
fermented
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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