Wi’ their face into their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Sir Patrick Spens.
We forced our toes into the crevices2 of the wall and peeped stealthily over the top. Two boys of eight or ten years, with two younger children, were busily engaged in building a castle. A great pile of stones had been hauled to the spot, evidently for the purpose of mending the wall, and these were serving as rich material for sport. The oldest of the company, a bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked boy in an Eton jacket and broad white collar, was obviously commander-in-chief; and the next in size, whom he called Rafe, was a laddie of eight, in kilts. These two looked as if they might be scions3 of the aristocracy, while Dandie and the Wrig were fat little yokels4 of another sort. The miniature castle must have been the work of several mornings, and was worthy5 of the respectful but silent admiration6 with which we gazed upon it; but as the last stone was placed in the tower, the master builder looked up and spied our interested eyes peering at him over the wall. We were properly abashed7, and ducked our heads discreetly8 at once, but were reassured9 by hearing him run rapidly towards us, calling, “Stop, if you please! Have you anything on just now—are you busy?”
We answered that we were quite at leisure.
“Then would you mind coming in to help us play ‘Sir Patrick Spens’? There aren’t enough of us to do it nicely.”
This confidence was touching10, and luckily it was not in the least misplaced. Playing ‘Sir Patrick Spens’ was exactly in our line, little as he suspected it.
“Come and help?” I said. “Simply delighted! Do come, Fanny dear. How can we get over the wall?”
“I’ll show you the good broken place!” cried Sir Apple-Cheek; and following his directions we scrambled11 through, while Rafe took off his Highland12 bonnet13 ceremoniously and handed us down to earth.
“Hurrah! now it will be something like fun! Do you know ‘Sir Patrick Spens’?”
“Every word of it. Don’t you want us to pass an examination before you allow us in the game?”
“No,” he answered gravely; “it’s a great help, of course, to know it, but it isn’t necessary. I keep the words in my pocket to prompt Dandie, and the Wrig can only say two lines, she’s so little.” (Here he produced some tattered14 leaves torn from a book of ballads16.) “We’ve done it many a time, but this is a new Dunfermline Castle, and we are trying the play in a different way. Rafe is the king, and Dandie is the ‘eldern knight17,’—you remember him?”
“Certainly; he sat at the king’s right knee.”
“Yes, yes, that’s the one! Then Rafe is Sir Patrick part of the time, and I the other part, because everybody likes to be him; but there’s nobody left for the ‘lords o’ Noroway’ or the sailors, and the Wrig is the only maiden18 to sit on the shore, and she always forgets to comb her hair and weep at the right time.”
The forgetful and placid19 Wrig (I afterwards learned that this is a Scots word for the youngest bird in the nest) was seated on the grass, with her fat hands full of pink thyme and white wild woodruff. The sun shone on her curly flaxen head. She wore a dark blue cotton frock with white dots, and a short-sleeved pinafore; and though she was utterly20 useless from a dramatic point of view, she was the sweetest little Scotch21 dumpling I ever looked upon. She had been tried and found wanting in most of the principal parts of the ballad15, but when left out of the performance altogether she was wont22 to scream so lustily that all Crummylowe rushed to her assistance.
“Now let us practise a bit to see if we know what we are going to do,” said Sir Apple-Cheek. “Rafe, you can be Sir Patrick this time. The reason why we all like to be Sir Patrick,” he explained, turning to me, “is that the lords o’ Noroway say to him—
‘Ye Scottishmen spend a’ our King’s gowd,
And a’ our Queenis fee’;
and then he answers,—
‘“Ye lee! ye lee! ye leers loud,
Fu’ loudly do ye lee!”’
and a lot of splendid things like that. Well, I’ll be the king,” and accordingly he began:—
‘The King sits in Dunfermline tower,
Drinking the bluid-red wine.
“O whaur will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship o’ mine?”’
A dead silence ensued, whereupon the king said testily23, “Now, Dandie, you never remember you’re the eldern knight; go on!”
Thus reminded, Dandie recited:—
‘O up and spake an eldern knight,
Sat at the King’s right knee:
“Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever sailed the sea.”’
“Now I’ll write my letter,” said the king, who was endeavouring to make himself comfortable in his somewhat contracted tower.
‘The King has written a braid letter
And sealed it with his hand;
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.’
“Read the letter out loud, Rafe, and then you’ll remember what to do.”
‘“To Noroway! to Noroway!
To Noroway o’er the faem!
The King’s daughter of Noroway,
‘Tis thou maun bring her hame,”’
read Rafe.
“Now do the next part!”
“I can’t; I’m going to chuck up that next part. I wish you’d do Sir Patrick until it comes to ‘Ye lee! ‘ye lee!’”
“No, that won’t do, Rafe. We have to mix up everybody else, but it’s too bad to spoil Sir Patrick.”
“Well, I’ll give him to you, then, and be the king. I don’t mind so much now that we’ve got such a good tower; and why can’t I stop up there even after the ship sets sail and look out over the sea with a telescope? That’s the way Elizabeth did the time she was king.”
“You can stay till you have to come down and be a dead Scots lord. I’m not going to lie there as I did last time, with nobody but the Wrig for a Scots lord, and her forgetting to be dead!”
Sir Apple-Cheek then essayed the hard part ‘chucked up’ by Rafe. It was rather difficult, I confess, as the first four lines were in pantomime, and required great versatility:—
‘The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Fu’ loud, loud laughed he:
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blinded his e’e.’
These conflicting emotions successfully simulated, Sir Patrick resumed:—
‘“O wha is he has done this deed,
And tauld the King o’ me,—
To send us out, at this time o’ the year,
To sail upon the sea?”’
Our ship maun sail the faem;
The King’s daughter o’ Noroway,
‘Tis we maun fetch her hame.”’
“Can’t we rig the ship a little better?” demanded our stage-manager at this juncture26. “It isn’t half as good as the tower.”
Ten minutes’ hard work, in which we assisted, produced something a trifle more nautical27 and seaworthy than the first craft. The ground with a few boards spread upon it was the deck. Tarpaulin28 sheets were arranged on sticks to represent sails, and we located the vessel29 so cleverly that two slender trees shot out of the middle of it and served as the tall topmasts.
“Now let us make believe that we’ve hoisted30 our sails on ‘Mononday morn’ and been in Noroway ‘weeks but only twae,’” said our leading man; “and your time has come now,”—turning to us.
We felt indeed that it had; but plucking up sufficient courage for the lords o’ Noroway, we cried accusingly,—
‘“Ye Scottishmen spend a’ our King’s gowd,
And a’ our Queenis fee!”’
Oh but Sir Apple-Cheek was glorious as he roared virtuously:—
‘“Ye lee! ye lee! ye leers loud,
Fu’ loudly do you lee!
“For I brocht as much white monie
As gane my men and me,
An’ I brocht a half-fou o’ gude red gowd
Out ower the sea wi’ me.
“But betide me well, betide me wae,
This day I’se leave the shore;
And never spend my King’s monie
‘Mong Noroway dogs no more.
“Make ready, make ready, my merry men a’,
Our gude ship sails the morn.”’
“Now you be the sailors, please!”
Glad to be anything but Noroway dogs, we recited obediently—
‘“Now, ever alake, my master dear,
I fear a deadly storm?
. . . . . . .
And if ye gang to sea, master,
I fear we’ll come to harm.”’
We added much to the effect of this stanza31 by flinging ourselves on the turf and embracing Sir Patrick’s knees, with which touch of melodrama32 he was enchanted33.
Then came a storm so terrible that I can hardly trust myself to describe its fury. The entire corps34 dramatique personated the elements, and tore the gallant35 ship in twain, while Sir Patrick shouted in the teeth of the gale36—
‘“O whaur will I get a gude sailor
To tak’ my helm in hand,
Till I get up to the tall topmast
To see if I can spy land?”’
I knew the words a trifle better than Francesca, and thus succeeded in forestalling37 her as the fortunate hero—
‘“O here I am, a sailor gude,
To tak’ the helm in hand,
Till you go up to the tall topmast;
But I fear ye’ll ne’er spy land.”’
And the heroic sailor was right, for
‘He hadna gone a step, a step,
A step but only ane,
And the saut sea it came in.’
Then we fetched a web o’ the silken claith, and anither o’ the twine39, as our captain bade us; we wapped them into our ship’s side and letna the sea come in; but in vain, in vain. Laith were the gude Scots lords to weet their cork-heeled shune, but they did, and wat their hats abune; for the ship sank in spite of their despairing efforts,
‘And mony was the gude lord’s son
That never mair cam’ hame.’
Francesca and I were now obliged to creep from under the tarpaulins40 and personate the dishevelled ladies on the strand.
“Will your hair come down?” asked the manager gravely.
“It will and shall,” we rejoined; and it did.
‘The ladies wrang their fingers white,
“Do tear your hair, Jessie! It’s the only thing you have to do, and you never do it on time!”
The Wrig made ready to howl with offended pride, but we soothed42 her, and she tore her yellow curls with her chubby43 hands.
‘And lang, lang may the maidens sit
Wi’ there gowd kaims i’ the hair,
A’ waitin’ for their ain dear luves,
For them they’ll see nae mair.’
“Splendid! Grand!” cried Sir Patrick, as he stretched himself fifty fathoms45 below the imaginary surface of the water, and gave explicit46 ante-mortem directions to the other Scots lords to spread themselves out in like manner.
‘Half ower, half ower to Aberdour,
‘Tis fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet.’
“Oh, it is grand!” he repeated jubilantly. “If I could only be the king and see it all from Dunfermline tower! Could you be Sir Patrick once, do you think, now that I have shown you how?” he asked Francesca.
“Indeed I could!” she replied, glowing with excitement (and small wonder) at being chosen for the principal role.
Francesca appeared rather ashamed at her natural disqualifications for the part of Sir Patrick. “If I had only worn my long black cloak!” she sighed.
“Oh, I have an idea!” cried the boy. “Hand her the minister’s gown from the hedge, Rafe. You see, Mistress Ogilvie of Crummylowe lent us this old gown for a sail; she’s doing something to a new one, and this was her pattern.”
Francesca slipped it on over her white serge, and the Pettybaw parson should have seen her with the long veil of her dark locks floating over his ministerial garment.
“It seems a pity to put up your hair,” said the stage manager critically, “because you look so jolly and wild with it down, but I suppose you must; and will you have Rafe’s bonnet?”
Yes, she would have Rafe’s bonnet; and when she perched it on the side of her head and paced the deck restlessly, while the black gown floated behind in the breeze, we all cheered with enthusiasm, and, having rebuilt the ship, began the play again from the moment of the gale. The wreck48 was more horribly realistic than ever, this time, because of our rehearsal49; and when I crawled from under the masts and sails to seat myself on the beach with the Wrig, I had scarcely strength enough to remove the cooky from her hand and set her a-combing her curly locks.
When our new Sir Patrick stretched herself on the ocean bed, she fell with a despairing wail50; her gown spread like a pall51 over the earth, the Highland bonnet came off, and her hair floated over a haphazard52 pillow of Jessie’s wildflowers.
“Oh, it is fine, that part; but from here is where it always goes wrong!” cried the king from the castle tower. “It’s too bad to take the maidens away from the strand where they look so bonnie, and Rafe is splendid as the gude sailor, but Dandie looks so silly as one little dead Scots lord; if we only had one more person, young or old, if he was ever so stupid!”
“WOULD I DO?”
This unexpected offer came from behind one of the trees that served as topmasts, and at the same moment there issued from that delightfully53 secluded54 retreat Ronald Macdonald, in knickerbockers and a golf-cap.
Suddenly as this apparition55 came, there was no lack of welcome on the children’s part. They shouted his name in glee, embraced his legs, and pulled him about like affectionate young bears. Confusion reigned56 for a moment, while Sir Patrick rose from her sea grave all in a mist of floating hair, from which hung impromptu57 garlands of pink thyme and green grasses.
“Allow me to do the honours, please, Jamie,” said Mr. Macdonald, when he could escape from the children’s clutches. “Have you been properly presented? I suppose not. Ladies, the young Master of Rowardennan. Jamie, Miss Hamilton and Miss Monroe from the United States of America.” Sir Apple-Cheek bowed respectfully. “Let me present the Honourable58 Ralph Ardmore, also from the castle, together with Dandie Dinmont and the Wrig from Crummylowe. Sir Patrick, it is indeed a pleasure to see you again. Must you take off my gown? I had thought it was past use, but it never looked so well before.”
“YOUR gown?”
The counterfeit59 presentment of Sir Patrick vanished as the long drapery flew to the hedge whence it came, and there remained only an offended young goddess, who swung her dark mane tempestuously60 to one side, plaited it in a thick braid, tossed it back again over her white serge shoulder, and crowded on her sailor hat with unnecessary vehemence61.
“Yes, MY gown; whose else could you more appropriately borrow, pray? Mistress Ogilvie of Crummylowe presses, sponges, and darns my bachelor wardrobe, but I confess I never suspected that she rented it out for theatrical62 purposes. I have been calling upon you in Pettybaw; Lady Ardmore was there at the same time. Finding but one of the three American Graces at home, I stayed a few moments only, and am now returning to Inchcaldy by way of Crummylowe.” Here he plucked the gown off the hedge and folded it carefully.
“Can’t we keep it for a sail, Mr. Macdonald?” pleaded Jamie. “Mistress Ogilvie said it wasn’t any more good.”
“When Mistress Ogilvie made that remark,” replied the Reverend Ronald, “she had no idea that it would ever touch the shoulders of the martyred Sir Patrick Spens. Now, I happen to love—”
Francesca hung out a scarlet63 flag in each cheek, and I was about to say, ‘Don’t mind me!’ when he continued—
“As I was saying, I happen to love ‘Sir Patrick Spens,’—it is my favourite ballad; so, with your permission, I will take the gown, and you can find something less valuable for a sail!”
I could never understand just why Francesca was so annoyed at being discovered in our innocent game. Of course she was prone64 on Mother Earth and her tresses were much dishevelled, but she looked lovely after all, in comparison with me, the humble65 ‘supe’ and lightning-change artist; yet I kept my temper,—at least I kept it until the Reverend Ronald observed, after escorting us through the gap in the wall, “By the way, Miss Hamilton, there was a gentleman from Paris at your cottage, and he is walking down the road to meet you.”
Walking down the road to meet me, forsooth! Have ministers no brains? The Reverend Mr. Macdonald had wasted five good minutes with his observations, introductions, explanations, felicitations, and adorations, and meantime, regardez-moi, messieurs et mesdames, s’il vous plait! I have been a Noroway dog, a shipbuilder, and a gallant sailorman; I have been a gurly sea and a towering gale; I have crawled from beneath broken anchors, topsails, and mizzenmasts to a strand where I have been a suffering lady plying66 a gowd kaim. My skirt of blue drill has been twisted about my person until it trails in front; my collar is wilted67, my cravat68 untied69; I have lost a stud and a sleeve-link; my hair is in a tangled70 mass, my face is scarlet and dusty—and a gentleman from Paris is walking down the road to meet me!
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1
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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2
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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scions
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| n.接穗，幼枝( scion的名词复数 )；（尤指富家）子孙 | |
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4
yokels
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| n.乡下佬，土包子( yokel的名词复数 ) | |
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5
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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6
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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7
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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9
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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10
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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11
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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12
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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13
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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14
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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15
ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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16
ballads
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| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
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17
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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18
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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19
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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20
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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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
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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25
sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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28
tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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29
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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30
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
stanza
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| n.（诗）节，段 | |
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melodrama
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| n.音乐剧；情节剧 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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forestalling
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| v.先发制人，预先阻止( forestall的现在分词 ) | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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40
tarpaulins
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| n.防水帆布，防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 ) | |
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41
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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42
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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43
chubby
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| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
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44
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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45
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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46
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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47
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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48
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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49
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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50
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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51
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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52
haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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53
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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54
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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55
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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56
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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58
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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59
counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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60
tempestuously
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| adv.剧烈地，暴风雨似地 | |
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61
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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62
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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63
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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65
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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66
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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67
wilted
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| （使）凋谢，枯萎( wilt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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69
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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