Waverley; or, 'Tis sixty years since — CompleteScott, Walter
History
Waverley; or, 'Tis sixty years since — Complete
Scott, Walter
Historical fiction; Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1746 -- Fiction; Scotland -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction
In this guise he ambled forth over hill and valley, the admiration of
every farm-yard which they passed in their progress, till, 'low down in
a grassy vale,' they found David Gellatley leading two very tall deer
greyhounds, and presiding over half a dozen curs, and about as many
bare-legged and bare-headed boys, who, to procure the chosen
distinction of attending on the chase, had not failed to tickle his
ears with the dulcet appellation of Maister Gellatley, though probably
all and each had hooted him on former occasions in the character of
daft Davie. But this is no uncommon strain of flattery to persons in
office, nor altogether confined to the barelegged villagers of
Tully-Veolan; it was in fashion Sixty Years Since, is now, and will be
six hundred years hence, if this admirable compound of folly and
knavery, called the world, shall be then in existence.
These Gillie-wet-foots, as they were called, were destined to beat the
bushes, which they performed with so much success, that, after half an
hour's search, a roe was started, coursed, and killed; the Baron
following on his white horse, like Earl Percy of yore, and
magnanimously flaying and embowelling the slain animal (which, he
observed, was called by the French chasseurs, faire la curee) with his
own baronial couteau de chasse. After this ceremony, he conducted his
guest homeward by a pleasant and circuitous route, commanding an
extensive prospect of different villages and houses, to each of which
Mr. Bradwardine attached some anecdote of history or genealogy, told in
language whimsical from prejudice and pedantry, but often respectable
for the good sense and honourable feelings which his narrative
displayed, and almost always curious, if not valuable, for the
information they contained.
The truth is, the ride seemed agreeable to both gentlemen, because they
found amusement in each other's conversation, although their characters
and habits of thinking were in many respects totally opposite. Edward,
we have informed the reader, was warm in his feelings, wild and
romantic in his ideas and in his taste of reading, with a strong
disposition towards poetry. Mr Bradwardine was the reverse of all this,
and piqued himself upon stalking through life with the same upright,
starched, stoical gravity which distinguished his evening promenade
upon the terrace of Tully-Veolan, where for hours together--the very
model of old Hardyknute--
Stately stepp'd he east the wa',
And stately stepp'd he west
As for literature, he read the classic poets, to be sure, and the
'Epithalamium' of Georgius Buchanan and Arthur Johnston's Psalms, of a
Sunday; and the 'Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum,' and Sir David Lindsay's
'Works', and Barbour's 'Brace', and Blind Harry's 'Wallace', and 'The
Gentle Shepherd', and 'The Cherry and The Slae.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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