Waverley; or, 'Tis sixty years since — Volume 1Scott, Walter
History
Waverley; or, 'Tis sixty years since — Volume 1
Scott, Walter
Historical fiction; Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1746 -- Fiction; Scotland -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction
'So much so,' said Rose, 'that the quarrel between my father and
Fergus Mac-Ivor began at a county meeting, where he wanted to take
precedence of all the Lowland gentlemen then present, only my
father would not suffer it. And then he upbraided my father that
he was under his banner, and paid him tribute; and my father was
in a towering passion, for Bailie Macwheeble, who manages such
things his own way, had contrived to keep this black-mail a secret
from him, and passed it in his account for cess-money. And they
would have fought; but Fergus Mac-Ivor said, very gallantly, he
would never raise his hand against a grey head that was so much
respected as my father's.--O I wish, I wish they had continued
friends!'
'And did you ever see this Mr. Mac-Ivor, if that be his name, Miss
Bradwardine?'
'No, that is not his name; and he would consider MASTER as a sort
of affront, only that you are an Englishman, and know no better.
But the Lowlanders call him, like other gentlemen, by the name of
his estate, Glennaquoich; and the Highlanders call him Vich Ian
Vohr, that is, the son of John the Great; and we upon the braes
here call him by both names indifferently.'
'I am afraid I shall never bring my English tongue to call him by
either one or other.'
'But he is a very polite, handsome man,' continued Rose; 'and his
sister Flora is one of the most beautiful and accomplished young
ladies in this country; she was bred in a convent in France, and
was a great friend of mine before this unhappy dispute. Dear
Captain Waverley, try your influence with my father to make
matters up. I am sure this is but the beginning of our troubles;
for Tully-Veolan has never been a safe or quiet residence when we
have been at feud with the Highlanders. When I was a girl about
ten, there was a skirmish fought between a party of twenty of them
and my father and his servants behind the mains; and the bullets
broke several panes in the north windows, they were so near. Three
of the Highlanders were killed, and they brought them in wrapped
in their plaids, and laid them on the stone floor of the hall; and
next morning, their wives and daughters came, clapping their
hands, and crying the coronach, and shrieking, and carried away
the dead bodies, with the pipes playing before them. I could not
sleep for six weeks without starting and thinking I heard these
terrible cries, and saw the bodies lying on the steps, all stiff
and swathed up in their bloody tartans. But since that time there
came a party from the garrison at Stirling, with a warrant from
the Lord Justice Clerk, or some such great man, and took away all
our arms; and now, how are we to protect ourselves if they come
down in any strength?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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