For her father, when I came to know him, showed himself a great, strong, kindly1, hard-driving “nowt” of a man, with a spiritual conceit2 equal to his knowledge of his bodily powers. But, for all his great pretensions3, Sandy Gordon was essentially4 a man carnal and of the world, ever more ready to lay on lustily with the arm of the flesh than trust to the sword of the Spirit.
The “Bull of Earlstoun” was he right fitly called.
And with his children his method of training would doubtless be “Believe this! Receive that other!” Debate and appeal there would be none. So there is nothing to wonder at in{86} the revolt of a nature every whit5 as imperious as that of her father, joined to a woman’s natural whimsies6 and set within the periphery7 of a girl’s slender form.
And then her mother!
If Sandy Gordon had proved trying to such a mind as that of Mary Gordon, what of Janet Hamilton, his wife?
She had been reared in the strictest sect8 of the Extremists. Every breath of difference or opposition9 to her orthodoxies or those of her brother Sir Robert was held rank treason to the cause. She had constant visions, and these visions pointed10 ever to the cardinal11 truth that Janet Hamilton was eternally right and every one else eternally wrong.
So Alexander Gordon, as often as he was at home, bullied12 back and forth13 concerning Covenants14 and sufferings, while at other times his wife worried and yammered, bitter as the east wind and irritant as a thorn in the flesh, till the girl was driven, as it were, in self-defence into other and as intolerant extremes.
Yet when her parents were most angered with her for this perversity16, some sudden pretty wile17 or quaint18 bairnliness would set them laughing in spite of themselves, or a loving word of{87} penitence19 bring the tears into their eyes. And while she chose to be good Mary Gordon, the family rebel, the disgrace of a godly home, would be again their own winsome20 little May, with a smile as sweet as the Benediction21 after sermon on a summer Sabbath morn, when the lilac and the hawthorn22 blossom scent23 all the kirk.
But as for me, having had trial of none of these wiles24 and witchcrafts, I was grieved indeed to hear one so fair take the part of the cruel persecutors and murderers of our brethren, the torturers of her father, the men to whose charge could be laid the pillage25 and spoiling of the bonny house of Earlstoun, and the turning of her mother out upon the inclement26 pitilessness of a stormy winter.
But with old and young alike the wearing iteration of a fretful woman’s yammering tongue will oftentimes drive further and worse than all the clattering27 horses and pricking28 bayonets of persecution29.
Yet even then I thought within me, “Far be it from me that I should ever dream of winning the heart of so fair and great a lady.” But if by the wondrous30 grace of God, so I ever did, I should be none afraid but that in a little blink of time she would think even as I did. And this{88} was the beginning of the feeling I had for Mary Gordon. Yet being but little more than a shepherd lad from off the hills of heather she was to me almost as one of the angels, and I thought of her not at all as a lad thinks in his heart of a pretty lass, to whom one day if he prosper31 he may even himself in the way of love.
After a day or two at Earlstoun, spent in drilling and mustering32, in which time I saw nothing more of Mary Gordon, we set off in ordered companies towards Edinburgh. The word had been brought to us that the Convention was in great need of support, for that Clavers (whom now they called my Lord Dundee) was gathering33 his forces to disperse34 it, so that every one of the true Covenant15 men went daily in fear of their lives.
Whereupon the whole Seven Thousand of the West and South were called up by the Elders. And to those among us who had no arms four thousand muskets35 and swords were served out, which were sent by the Convention to the South and West under cover of a panic story that the wild Irishers had landed and burnt Kirkcudbright.
Hob and I marched shoulder to shoulder, and our officer was of one name with us, one{89} Captain Clelland, a young soldier of a good stock who in Holland had learnt the art of war. But Colonel William Gordon, the uncle of the lass Mary, commanded all our forces.
So in time we reached the brow of the hill of Liberton and looked northward37 towards the town of Edinburgh, reeling slantways down its windy ridge38, and crowned with the old Imperial coronet of St. Giles where Knox had preached, while the castle towered in pride over all.
It was a great day for me when first I saw those grey towers against the sky. But down in the howe of the Grassmarket there was a place that was yet dearer—the black ugly gibbet whereon so many saints of God, dear and precious, had counted their lives but dross39 that they might win the crown of faithfulness. And when we marched through the West Port, and passed it by, it was in our heart to cheer, for we knew that with the tyrant’s fall all this was at an end.
But Colonel William Gordon checked us.
“Rather your bonnets40 off, lads,” he cried, “and put up a prayer!”
And so we did. And then we faced about and filed straight up into the town. And as the sound of our marching echoed through the narrows of the West Bow, the waiting faithful{90} threw up their windows and blessed us, hailing us as their saviours41.
Company after company went by, regular and disciplined as soldiers; but in the Lawmarket, where the great folk dwelt, there were many who peeped in fear through their barred lattices.
“The wild Whigs of the West have risen and are marching into Edinburgh!” so ran the cry.
We of Colonel Gordon’s Glenkens Foot were set to guard the Parliament House, and as we waited there, though I carried a hungry belly42, yet I stood with my heart exulting43 proudly within me to see the downtrodden at last set on high and those of low estate exalted44.
For the sidewalks and causeways of the High-street were filled with eager crowds, but the crown of it was kept as bare as for the passing of a royal procession. And down it towards Holyrood tramped steadily45 and ceaselessly, company by company, the soldiers of the Other Kingdom.
Stalwart men in grey homespun they were, each with his sword belted to him, his musket36 over his shoulder, and his store of powder and{91} lead by his side. Then came squadrons of horses riding two and two, some well mounted, and others on country nags46, but all of them steady in their saddles as King’s guards. And when these had passed, again company after company of footmen.
Never a song or an oath from end to end, not so much as a cheer along all the ranks as the Hill Men marched grimly in.
“Tramp! tramp! tramp!” So they passed, as if the line would never end. And at the head of each company the blue banner of Christ’s Covenant—the standard that had been trailed in the dust, but that could never be wholly put down.
Then after a while among the new flags, bright with silk and blazening, there came one tattered47 and stained, ragged48 at the edges, and pierced with many holes. There ran a whisper. “It is the flag of Ayrsmoss!”
And at sight of its torn folds, and the writing of dulled and blistered49 gold upon it, “For Christ’s Cause and Covenant,” I felt the tears well from the heart up to my eyes, and something broke sharply with a little audible cry in my throat.
Then an old Covenant man who had been{92} both at Drumclog and the Brig of Bothwell, turned quickly to me with kindly eyes.
“Nay, lad,” he said, “rather be glad! The standard that was sunken in a sea of blood is cleansed50 and set up again. And now in this our day woe51 be to the persecutors! The banner they trailed in the dust behind the dripping head of Richard Cameron shall wave on the Nether52 Bow of Edinburgh, where the corbies picked his eyes and his fair cheeks blackened in the sun.”
And so it was, for they set it there betwixt the High-street and the Canongate, and from that day forth, during all the weeks of the Convention, the Covenant men held the city quiet as a frighted child under their hand.
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1
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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whimsies
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| n.怪念头( whimsy的名词复数 )；异想天开；怪脾气；与众不同的幽默感 | |
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periphery
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| n.(圆体的)外面；周围 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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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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bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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covenants
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| n.（有法律约束的）协议( covenant的名词复数 )；盟约；公约；（向慈善事业、信托基金会等定期捐款的）契约书 | |
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covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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wile
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| v.诡计，引诱；n.欺骗，欺诈 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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winsome
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| n.迷人的，漂亮的 | |
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benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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hawthorn
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| 山楂 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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pillage
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| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
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inclement
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| adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的 | |
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clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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pricking
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| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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31
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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32
mustering
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的现在分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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33
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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34
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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37
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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dross
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| n.渣滓；无用之物 | |
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40
bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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41
saviours
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| n.救助者( saviour的名词复数 )；救星；救世主；耶稣基督 | |
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42
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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43
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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44
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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45
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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46
nags
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| n.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的名词复数 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的第三人称单数 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责 | |
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47
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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48
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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49
blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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50
cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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52
nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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