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
'Punds Scottish, ye shall understand. And the lady had not the
siller if she had pawned her gown; and they applied to the
governor o' Stirling castle, and to the major o' the Black Watch;
and the governor said it was ower far to the northward, and out of
his district; and the major said his men were gane hame to the
shearing, and he would not call them out before the victual was
got in for all the Cramfeezers in Christendom, let alane the
Mearns, for that it would prejudice the country. And in the
meanwhile ye'll no hinder Gilliewhackit to take the small-pox.
There was not the doctor in Perth or Stirling would look near the
poor lad; and I cannot blame them, for Donald had been misguggled
by ane of these doctors about Paris, and he swore he would fling
the first into the loch that he catched beyond the pass. However
some cailliachs (that is, old women) that were about Donald's hand
nursed Gilliewhackit sae weel that, between the free open air in
the cove and the fresh whey, deil an he did not recover maybe as
weel as if he had been closed in a glazed chamber and a bed with
curtains, and fed with red wine and white meat. And Donald was sae
vexed about it that, when he was stout and weel, he even sent him
free home, and said he would be pleased with onything they would
like to gie him for the plague and trouble which he had about
Gilliewhackit to an unkenn'd degree. And I cannot tell you
precisely how they sorted; but they agreed sae right that Donald
was invited to dance at the wedding in his Highland trews, and
they said that there was never sae meikle siller clinked in his
purse either before or since. And to the boot of all that,
Gilliewhackit said that, be the evidence what it liked, if he had
the luck to be on Donald's inquest, he would bring him in guilty
of nothing whatever, unless it were wilful arson or murder under
trust.'
With such bald and disjointed chat Evan went on illustrating the
existing state of the Highlands, more perhaps to the amusement of
Waverley than that of our readers. At length, after having marched
over bank and brae, moss and heather, Edward, though not
unacquainted with the Scottish liberality in computing distance,
began to think that Evan's five miles were nearly doubled. His
observation on the large measure which the Scottish allowed of
their land, in comparison to the computation of their money, was
readily answered by Evan with the old jest, 'The deil take them
wha have the least pint stoup.'
[Footnote: The Scotch are liberal in computing their land and
liquor; the Scottish pint corresponds to two English quarts. As
for their coin, every one knows the couplet--
How can the rogues pretend to sense?
Their pound is only twenty pence.]
And now the report of a gun was heard, and a sportsman was seen,
with his dogs and attendant, at the upper end of the glen.
'Shough,' said Dugald Mahony, 'tat's ta Chief.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account