Here is, so far, a melancholy4 picture of backward progress, and a family posting towards extinction5. But the law (however administered, and I am bound to aver6 that, in Scotland, ‘it couldna weel be waur’) acts as a kind of dredge, and with dispassionate impartiality7 brings up into the light of day, and shows us for a moment, in the jury-box or on the gallows8, the creeping things of the past. By these broken glimpses we are able to trace the existence of many other and more inglorious Stevensons, picking a private way through the brawl9 that makes Scots history. They were members of Parliament for Peebles, Stirling, Pittenweem, Kilrenny, and Inverurie. We find them burgesses of Edinburgh; indwellers in Biggar, Perth, and Dalkeith. Thomas was the forester of Newbattle Park, Gavin was a baker10, John a maltman, Francis a chirurgeon, and ‘Schir William’ a priest. In the feuds11 of Humes and Heatleys, Cunninghams, Montgomeries, Mures, Ogilvies, and Turnbulls, we find them inconspicuously involved, and apparently12 getting rather better than they gave. Schir William (reverend gentleman) was cruellie slaughtered13 on the Links of Kincraig in 1582; James (‘in the mill-town of Roberton’), murdered in 1590; Archibald (‘in Gallowfarren’), killed with shots of pistols and hagbuts in 1608. Three violent deaths in about seventy years, against which we can only put the case of Thomas, servant to Hume of Cowden Knowes, who was arraigned14 with his two young masters for the death of the Bastard15 of Mellerstanes in 1569. John (‘in Dalkeith’) stood sentry16 without Holyrood while the banded lords were despatching Rizzio within. William, at the ringing of Perth bell, ran before Gowrie House ‘with ane sword, and, entering to the yearde, saw George Craiggingilt with ane twa-handit sword and utheris nychtbouris; at quilk time James Boig cryit ower ane wynds, “Awa hame! ye will all be hangit”’— a piece of advice which William took, and immediately ‘depairtit.’ John got a maid with child to him in Biggar, and seemingly deserted17 her; she was hanged on the Castle Hill for infanticide, June 1614; and Martin, elder in Dalkeith, eternally disgraced the name by signing witness in a witch trial, 1661. These are two of our black sheep. 2 Under the Restoration, one Stevenson was a bailie in Edinburgh, and another the lessee18 of the Canonmills. There were at the same period two physicians of the name in Edinburgh, one of whom, Dr. Archibald, appears to have been a famous man in his day and generation. The Court had continual need of him; it was he who reported, for instance, on the state of Rumbold; and he was for some time in the enjoyment19 of a pension of a thousand pounds Scots (about eighty pounds sterling) at a time when five hundred pounds is described as ‘an opulent future.’ I do not know if I should be glad or sorry that he failed to keep favour; but on 6th January 1682 (rather a cheerless New Year’s present) his pension was expunged20. 3 There need be no doubt, at least, of my exultation21 at the fact that he was knighted and recorded arms. Not quite so genteel, but still in public life, Hugh was Under-Clerk to the Privy22 Council, and liked being so extremely. I gather this from his conduct in September 1681, when, with all the lords and their servants, he took the woful and soul-destroying Test, swearing it ‘word by word upon his knees.’ And, behold23! it was in vain, for Hugh was turned out of his small post in 1684. 4 Sir Archibald and Hugh were both plainly inclined to be trimmers; but there was one witness of the name of Stevenson who held high the banner of the Covenant24 — John, ‘Land-Labourer, 5 in the parish of Daily, in Carrick,’ that ‘eminently pious25 man.’ He seems to have been a poor sickly soul, and shows himself disabled with scrofula, and prostrate26 and groaning27 aloud with fever; but the enthusiasm of the martyr28 burned high within him.
‘I was made to take joyfully29 the spoiling of my goods, and with pleasure for His name’s sake wandered in deserts and in mountains, in dens30 and caves of the earth. I lay four months in the coldest season of the year in a haystack in my father’s garden, and a whole February in the open fields not far from Camragen, and this I did without the least prejudice from the night air; one night, when lying in the fields near to the Carrick-Miln, I was all covered with snow in the morning. Many nights have I lain with pleasure in the churchyard of Old Daily, and made a grave my pillow; frequently have I resorted to the old walls about the glen, near to Camragen, and there sweetly rested.’ The visible band of God protected and directed him. Dragoons were turned aside from the bramble-bush where he lay hidden. Miracles were performed for his behoof. ‘I got a horse and a woman to carry the child, and came to the same mountain, where I wandered by the mist before; it is commonly known by the name of Kellsrhins: when we came to go up the mountain, there came on a great rain, which we thought was the occasion of the child’s weeping, and she wept so bitterly, that all we could do could not divert her from it, so that she was ready to burst. When we got to the top of the mountain, where the Lord had been formerly31 kind to my soul in prayer, I looked round me for a stone, and espying32 one, I went and brought it. When the woman with me saw me set down the stone, she smiled, and asked what I was going to do with it. I told her I was going to set it up as my Ebenezer, because hitherto, and in that place, the Lord had formerly helped, and I hoped would yet help. The rain still continuing, the child weeping bitterly, I went to prayer, and no sooner did I cry to God, but the child gave over weeping, and when we got up from prayer, the rain was pouring down on every side, but in the way where we were to go there fell not one drop; the place not rained on was as big as an ordinary avenue.’ And so great a saint was the natural butt33 of Satan’s persecutions. ‘I retired34 to the fields for secret prayer about mid-night. When I went to pray I was much straitened, and could not get one request, but “Lord pity,” “Lord help”; this I came over frequently; at length the terror of Satan fell on me in a high degree, and all I could say even then was —“Lord help.” I continued in the duty for some time, notwithstanding of this terror. At length I got up to my feet, and the terror still increased; then the enemy took me by the arm-pits, and seemed to lift me up by my arms. I saw a loch just before me, and I concluded he designed to throw me there by force; and had he got leave to do so, it might have brought a great reproach upon religion. 6 But it was otherwise ordered, and the cause of piety35 escaped that danger. 7
On the whole, the Stevensons may be described as decent, reputable folk, following honest trades — millers37, maltsters, and doctors, playing the character parts in the Waverley Novels with propriety38, if without distinction; and to an orphan39 looking about him in the world for a potential ancestry40, offering a plain and quite unadorned refuge, equally free from shame and glory. John, the land-labourer, is the one living and memorable41 figure, and he, alas42! cannot possibly be more near than a collateral43. It was on August 12, 1678, that he heard Mr. John Welsh on the Craigdowhill, and ‘took the heavens, earth, and sun in the firmament44 that was shining on us, as also the ambassador who made the offer, and THE CLERK WHO RAISED THE PSALMS45, to witness that I did give myself away to the Lord in a personal and perpetual covenant never to be forgotten’; and already, in 1675, the birth of my direct ascendant was registered in Glasgow. So that I have been pursuing ancestors too far down; and John the land-labourer is debarred me, and I must relinquish46 from the trophies47 of my house his RARE SOUL-STRENGTHENING AND COMFORTING CORDIAL. It is the same case with the Edinburgh bailie and the miller36 of the Canonmills, worthy48 man! and with that public character, Hugh the Under-Clerk, and, more than all, with Sir Archibald, the physician, who recorded arms. And I am reduced to a family of inconspicuous maltsters in what was then the clean and handsome little city on the Clyde.
The name has a certain air of being Norse. But the story of Scottish nomenclature is confounded by a continual process of translation and half-translation from the Gaelic which in olden days may have been sometimes reversed. Roy becomes Reid; Gow, Smith. A great Highland49 clan50 uses the name of Robertson; a sept in Appin that of Livingstone; Maclean in Glencoe answers to Johnstone at Lockerby. And we find such hybrids51 as Macalexander for Macallister. There is but one rule to be deduced: that however uncompromisingly Saxon a name may appear, you can never be sure it does not designate a Celt. My great-grandfather wrote the name Stevenson but pronounced it Steenson, after the fashion of the immortal52 minstrel in Redgauntlet; and this elision of a medial consonant53 appears a Gaelic process; and, curiously54 enough, I have come across no less than two Gaelic forms: John Macstophane cordinerius in Crossraguel, 1573, and William M’Steen in Dunskeith (co. Ross), 1605. Stevenson, Steenson, Macstophane, M’Steen: which is the original? which the translation? Or were these separate creations of the patronymic, some English, some Gaelic? The curiously compact territory in which we find them seated — Ayr, Lanark, Peebles, Stirling, Perth, Fife, and the Lothians — would seem to forbid the supposition. 8
‘STEVENSON— or according to tradition of one of the proscribed55 of the clan MacGregor, who was born among the willows56 or in a hill-side sheep-pen —“Son of my love,” a heraldic bar sinister57, but history reveals a reason for the birth among the willows far other than the sinister aspect of the name’: these are the dark words of Mr. Cosmo Innes; but history or tradition, being interrogated58, tells a somewhat tangled59 tale. The heir of Macgregor of Glenorchy, murdered about 1858 by the Argyll Campbells, appears to have been the original ‘Son of my love’; and his more loyal clansmen took the name to fight under. It may be supposed the story of their resistance became popular, and the name in some sort identified with the idea of opposition60 to the Campbells. Twice afterwards, on some renewed aggression61, in 1502 and 1552, we find the Macgregors again banding themselves into a sept of ‘Sons of my love’; and when the great disaster fell on them in 1603, the whole original legend reappears, and we have the heir of Alaster of Glenstrae born ‘among the willows’ of a fugitive62 mother, and the more loyal clansmen again rallying under the name of Stevenson. A story would not be told so often unless it had some base in fact; nor (if there were no bond at all between the Red Macgregors and the Stevensons) would that extraneous63 and somewhat uncouth64 name be so much repeated in the legends of the Children of the Mist.
But I am enabled, by my very lively and obliging correspondent, Mr. George A. Macgregor Stevenson of New York, to give an actual instance. His grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, and great-great-great-grandfather, all used the names of Macgregor and Stevenson as occasion served; being perhaps Macgregor by night and Stevenson by day. The great-great-great-grandfather was a mighty65 man of his hands, marched with the clan in the ‘Forty-five, and returned with spolia opima in the shape of a sword, which he had wrested66 from an officer in the retreat, and which is in the possession of my correspondent to this day. His great-grandson (the grandfather of my correspondent), being converted to Methodism by some wayside preacher, discarded in a moment his name, his old nature, and his political principles, and with the zeal67 of a proselyte sealed his adherence68 to the Protestant Succession by baptising his next son George. This George became the publisher and editor of the Wesleyan Times. His children were brought up in ignorance of their Highland pedigree; and my correspondent was puzzled to overhear his father speak of him as a true Macgregor, and amazed to find, in rummaging69 about that peaceful and pious house, the sword of the Hanoverian officer. After he was grown up and was better informed of his descent, ‘I frequently asked my father,’ he writes, ‘why he did not use the name of Macgregor; his replies were significant, and give a picture of the man: “It isn’t a good METHODIST name. You can use it, but it will do you no GOOD.” Yet the old gentleman, by way of pleasantry, used to announce himself to friends as “Colonel Macgregor.”’
Here, then, are certain Macgregors habitually70 using the name of Stevenson, and at last, under the influence of Methodism, adopting it entirely71. Doubtless a proscribed clan could not be particular; they took a name as a man takes an umbrella against a shower; as Rob Roy took Campbell, and his son took Drummond. But this case is different; Stevenson was not taken and left — it was consistently adhered to. It does not in the least follow that all Stevensons are of the clan Alpin; but it does follow that some may be. And I cannot conceal72 from myself the possibility that James Stevenson in Glasgow, my first authentic73 ancestor, may have had a Highland alias74 upon his conscience and a claymore in his back parlour.
To one more tradition I may allude75, that we are somehow descended76 from a French barber-surgeon who came to St. Andrews in the service of one of the Cardinal77 Beatons. No details were added. But the very name of France was so detested78 in my family for three generations, that I am tempted79 to suppose there may be something in it.
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1
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fealty
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| n.忠贞，忠节 | |
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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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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extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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aver
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| v.极力声明；断言；确证 | |
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impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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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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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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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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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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arraigned
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| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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lessee
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| n.（房地产的）租户 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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expunged
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| v.擦掉( expunge的过去式和过去分词 )；除去；删去；消除 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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espying
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| v.看到( espy的现在分词 ) | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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millers
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| n.（尤指面粉厂的）厂主( miller的名词复数 )；磨房主；碾磨工；铣工 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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collateral
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| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
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firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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psalms
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| n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的) | |
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relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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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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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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hybrids
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| n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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consonant
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| n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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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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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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extraneous
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| adj.体外的；外来的；外部的 | |
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uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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alias
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| n.化名；别名；adv.又名 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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