Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 01
General
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 01
Scottish Borders (Scotland) -- Fiction
Should any of our readers wish farther acquaintance with our friends,
all we can say is, the new year was still young when Adam Bell bestowed
his daughter's hand upon the heir of Marchlaw, and Peter beheld the once
vacant chair again occupied, and a namesake of the third generation
prattling on his knee!
THE FAA'S REVENGE.
A TALE OF THE BORDER GIPSIES.
Brown October was drawing to a close--the breeze had acquired a degree
of sharpness too strong to be merely termed bracing--and the fire, as
the saying is, was becoming the best flower in the garden--for the
hardiest and the latest plants had either shed their leaves, or their
flowers had shrivelled at the breath of approaching winter--when a
stranger drew his seat towards the parlour fire of the Three-Half-Moons
inn, in Rothbury. He had sat for the space of half an hour when a party
entered, who, like himself (as appeared from their conversation), were
strangers, or rather visitors of the scenery, curiosities, and
antiquities in the vicinity. One of them having ordered the waiter to
bring each of them a glass of brandy and warm water, without appearing
to notice the presence of the first mentioned stranger, after a few
remarks on the objects of interest in the neighbourhood, the following
conversation took place amongst them:--
"Why," said one, "but even Rothbury here, secluded as it is from the
world, and shut out from the daily intercourse of men, is a noted place.
It was here that the ancient and famous northern bard and unrivalled
ballad writer, Bernard Rumney, was born, bred, and died. Here, too, was
born Dr. Brown, who, like Young and Home, united the characters of
divine and dramatist, and was the author of '_Barbarossa_,' '_The Cure
of Saul_,' and other works, of which posterity and his country are
proud. The immediate neighbourhood, also, was the birth-place of the
inspired boy, the heaven-taught mathematician, George Coughran, who
knew no rival, and who bade fair to eclipse the glory of Newton, but
whom death struck down ere he had reached the years of manhood."
"Why, I can't tell," said another; "I don't know much about what you've
been talking of; but I know, for one thing, that Rothbury was a famous
place for every sort of games; and, at Fastren's E'en times, the rule
was, every male inhabitant above eight years of age to pay a shilling,
or out to the foot-ball. It was noted for its game-cocks, too--they were
the best breed on the Borders."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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