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Chapter 3 INVESTIGATION OF THE ADVENTURE OF THE HUNTING-A DISCOVERY- GREGORY'S MANHOOD-PATE OF GASTON SAINT CLERE-CONCLUSION

Word Count: 9873    |    Released on: 06/12/2017

terror she had undergone. Henry Saint Clere, in a few words, proceeded to explain the adventure to the curious audience. 'I had no sooner seen my sister's palfre

rd and rushed into the thicket, but was instantly assailed by two ruffians, while other two made towards my sister and Gregory. The poor knave fled, crying for help, pursued by my false kinsman, now your prisoner; and the designs of the other on my poor Emma (murderous no doubt) were prevented by the sudden apparition of a brave woodsman, who, after a short encounter, stretched the miscreant at his feet and came to my assista

unties hold him. And now Lord Fitzosborne will be pleased to doff the armour he ha

e turned the discourse upon the misfortunes of her life, and hinted, that having recovered her brother, and seeing him look forward to the society of one who would

f to the altar? That peasant who guided me to Baddow through the Park of Danbury, the same who appeared before me at different times and in different forms during that eventful journey-that youth, whose features are imprinted on my memory, is the very individual forester who t

d upon her to accompany them to the banqueting- hall. Here the first person they encountered was the Baron Fitzosborne of Diggswell, now divest

the day,' said Eleanor;' and we have

presenting before her one whose presence must

Lord Boteler and Saint Clere requested an expla

l, 'ye shall have what ye demand when I learn that L

on her recovery, had calmly and deliberately insisted that she ha

connects all that her eye beholds with the

terest which, with the purest and most honourable intentions, I have taken in

lry, Fitzosborne became interested in her fate. This interest was deeply enhanced when, by a bribe to old Gaunt the Reve, he procured a view of the Lady Emma as she walked near the castle of Gay Bowers. The aged churl refused to give him access to the castle; yet dropped some hints as if he thought the lady in danger, and wished she were well out of it. His master, he said, had heard she had a brother in life, and since that depriv

during her journey, in the course of which he was never far distant; and he had always four stout yeomen within hearing of his bugle, had assistance been necessary. When she was placed in safety at the lodge, it was Fitzosborne's intention to have prevailed upon his sisters to visit and take her under their protection; but he found them absent from Diggswell, having gone to attend an aged relation who lay dangerously ill in a distant county. They did not return until the day before the May-games; and the other events followed too rapidly to permit Fitzosborne to lay any plan for introducing them to L

cted himself towards his sister. The lady was carefully informed of her obligations to him; and it is left to the well-judging reader whether even the raillery of Lady Ele

imself in the fray of the morning as might have shamed Bevis and Guy of Warwick. He was, according to his narrative, singled out

with his brand, I parried his blows with my bauble, and, closing with him upon the

torn off, thou hadst been in a fair plight had they not remembered an old friend, and come in to the rescue. Why, man, I found them fastened on him myself; and there was odd staving and stickling to ma

, 'why, he lies yonder in the guard-room, the very

egory. 'Colbrand the D

s to be married on Tuesday to pretty Margery. Gregory,

I do for thy leasings. Marry, thou hop-o'-my-thumb, happy wo

towards the top of the door, which covered a hole of the same size, strongly latticed, through which the warder, without opening the door, could look in upon his prisoner. From this aperture he beheld the wretched Gaston suspended by the neck by his own girdle to an iron ring in the side of his prison. He had clambered to it by means of the table on which his food had been placed; and, in the agonies of shame and disappointed malice, had adopted thi

lesses, lo ye's! etc., we can pick out little that is intelligible, saving that avarice is defined 'a likourishness of heart after earthly things.' A little farther there seems to have been a gay account of Marg

he got from the witch of Endor when she bit him by the heel. Hereof speaks the worthy Doctor Radigundus Potator; why should not mass be said for all the roasted shoe souls served up in the king's

stration of ancient manners A similar burlesque sermon is pronounced by the fool in Sir David Lindesay's satire of the Three Estates. The nonsense and vulgar burlesque of that composition illustrate the ground of Sir Andrew Aguecheek's eulogy on the exploits of the jester in Twelfth Night, who, reserving his sharper jests for Sir Toby, had doubtless enough of the jargon of his call

pression on Rose, the Potter's daughter, that it was thought it would be the Jester's own fault if Jack was long without his Jill. Much pithy matter, concerning the b

or of the famous History of Fryar Bacon, has been with difficulty decip

dal

-'I have been

not hear of

after a w

a bride at

o Tewin, a

set, and the ga

d customs sho

him that was h

ed no credit

nsort of fi

cockhorse, and

of Bullen an

o Tewin, a

er a lad in a

o to the plo

e-horse his we

o Tewin, a

quick, and the

d make the cha

did give me a

carry't

the town his

uaded that the g

oldly be swo

as he there'

made, and the

said, they cou

aiden was lai

re, but give o

ame day, being the twentieth Sunday after Easter. There is a prolix account of the marriage- feast, of which we can pick out the names of a few dishes, such as peterel, crane, sturgeon, swan, etc. etc., with a profusion of wild-fowl and venison. We also see that a suitable song was produced by Peretto on the occasion; and that the bishop who blessed the bridal beds which received the happy couples was no niggard of his holy

.

E OF SC

SCOTT PROPOSED TO FO

of a particular square or district fighting against those of an adjoining one. Hence it happened that the children of the higher classes were often pitted against those of the lower, each taking their side according to the residence of their friends. So far as I recollect, however, it was unmingled either with feelings of democracy or aristocracy, or indeed with malice or ill-will of any kind towards the oppo

inhabiting the Crosscauseway, Bristo Street, the Potterrow-in short, the neighbouring suburbs. These last were chiefly of the lower rank, but hardy loons, who threw stones to a hair's-breadth and were very rugged antagonists at close quarters. The skirmish sometimes lasted for a whole evening, until one party or the other was victorious, when, i

e was, I suppose, thirteen or fourteen years old, finely made, tall, blue-eyed, with long fair hair, the very picture of a youthful Goth. This lad was always first in the charge and last in the retreat-the Achilles, at once, and Ajax of the Crosscauseway. He was too formidable to us not to have a cognomen, and, like

re of the watchman, who (honest man) took care not to know who had done the mischief. The bloody hanger was flung into one of the Meadow ditches, and solemn secrecy was sworn on all hands; but the remorse and terror of the actor were beyond all bounds, and his apprehensions of the most dreadful character. The wounded hero was for a few days in the Infirmary, the case being only a trifling one. But, though inquiry was strongly pressed on him, no argument could make him indicate the person from whom he had received the wound, though he must have been perfectly well known to him. When he recovered and was dismissed, the author and his brothers opened a communication with him, through the medium of a popular ginger-bread baker, of whom

argue a nobleness of sentiment far beyond the pitch of most minds; and however obscurely the lad who showed such a frame of noble spirit may have lived or died, I cannot help being of opinion that, if fortune had placed him in circumstances calling for gallantry or generosity, the man would have fulfilled the promise of the boy. Long afterwards,

ranks of mimic war to die in the active service of their country. Many sought distant lands to return no more. Others, dispersed in different paths of life,'my dim eyes now seek for in vain.' Of five brothers, all healthy and promising in a degree far beyond one whose infancy was visited by personal infirmity, and whose health after this period se

O

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who addressed the copies to the subscribers. The politician by whom they were compiled picked up his intelligence at coffee-houses, and

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on a painted glass window. The German ballad of the Noble Moringer turns upon a similar topic. But undoubtedly many such incidents may have taken place, where, the distance being gr

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as confined for a hasty trial and certain condemnation, and was retaken as he hovered around the place in which he had been imprisoned, for which he could give no better reason than the hope o

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umed name of Caleb D'Anvers. He was devoted to the Tory interest, and seconded with much ability the attacks of Pult

we shall be at a loss to justify Pulteney, who could with ease have given this man a considerable income. The utmost of his generosity to Amhurst that I ever heard of was a hogsh

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t and excellent man, and proceed to copy the account of h

mber the title exactly, The Christian Soldier, or Heaven taken by Storm, and it was written by Mr. Thomas Watson. Guessing by the title of it that he would find some phrases of his own profession spiritualised in a manner which he thought might afford him some diversion, he resolved to dip into it, but he took no serious notice of anything it had in it; and yet, while this book was in his hand, an impression was made upon his mind (perhaps God only knows how) which drew after it a train of the most important and happy consequences. He thought he saw an unusual blaze of light fall upon the book which he was reading, which he at first imagined might happen

what cause, however, such ideas were rendered as vivid as actual impressions, we have no information to be depended upon. This vision was certainly attended with one of the most important of consequences connected with the Christian dispensation-the conversion of a sinner. And hence no single narrative has, perhaps, done more to confirm the superstitious opinion that ap

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oor gudewife was very common among the Scottish Bonifaces. There was in ancient times, in the city of Edinburgh, a gentleman of good family who condescended, in order to gain a livelihood, to become the nominal keeper of a coffee-house, one of the first places of the kind which had been opened in the Scottish metropolis. As usual, it was entirely managed by the careful and industrious Mrs. B-; while her husband amused him

his quaint humour, mine Host of the Garter in the Merry Wives of Windsor; or Blague of the George in the Merry Devil of Edmonton. Sometimes the landlady took her share

r, the worthy senior, in the pride of his heart, asked Mrs. Buchan whether she ever had had such a party in her house before. 'Here sit I,' he said, 'a placed minister of the Kirk of Scotland, and here sit my three sons, each a placed minister of the same kirk. Confess, Luckie Buchan, you never had such a party in your house before.' The questio

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hat of Old Ravelston, belonging, the former to Sir George Warrender, the latter to Sir Alexander Keith, have both contributed several hints to the description in the text. The House of Dean, near Edinbur

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ustom of keeping fools has been disused in England.

e was Dic

lls. It is not above thirty years since such a character stood by the sideboard of a nobleman of the first rank in Scotland, and occasionally mixed in the conversation, t

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chiefly nonjurors, were exposed to be mobbed, as we should now say, or rabbled, as the phrase then went, to expiate their political heresies. But notwithstanding that the Pre

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hor's youth. A company, after having taken leave of their host, often went to finish the evening at the clachan or village, in '

f Strathmore, which is Lyon, and, when exhibited, the cup must necessarily be emptied to the Earl's health. The author ought perhaps to be ashamed of recording that he has had the honour of swallowing the contents of the Lion; and the recollection of the feat served to suggest the story of the Bear of Bradwardin

rink at the door, or the stirrup-cup, the draught was not charged in the reckoning. O

ared. To take vengeance on Crummie's ribs with a stick was her first effort. The roaring of the cow brought B., her master, who remonstrated with his angry neighbour, and received in reply a demand for the value of the ale which Crummie had drunk up. B. refused payment, and was conveyed before C., the bailie, or sitting magistrate. He heard the case patiently; and then demanded of the plaintiff A. whether the cow had sat down to h

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, who had wisdom and firmness enough to resist the panic which seized his brethren, who was the means of rescuing a poor insane creature from the cru

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, Festina lente. The Periissem ni per-iissem of the Anstruthers is liable to a similar objection. One of that ancient race, finding that an antagonist, with whom he had fixed a friendly meeting, was determined to take the opportunity of assassina

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ried on the plundering system to any great extent, was a scholar and a we

artes pacisque

ctis, et debe

rbed state of the country. The author has seen a Memoir of Mac-Pherson of Cluny, chief of that ancient clan, from which it appears that he levied protection- money to a very large amount, which was willingly paid even by some of his most powerful neighbours. A gentleman of this clan, he

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he axe, which the ancient Highlanders used to assist them to climb over walls, fixing the hook upon it and raising themselves by the hand

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averley to Bean Lean in the text. Rob received him with much courtesy, and made many apologies for the accident, which must have happened, he said, through some mistake. Mr. Abercromby was regaled with collops from two of his own cattle, which were hung up by the heels in the cavern, and was dismissed in perfect safety, after having agreed to pay in future a small sum of black-mail, in consideration of which Rob Roy not only undertook to forbear his herds in future, but to replace

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the reader with certainty; but it is alleged that the Highlanders used to touch their bonnets as they passed a place which had been fatal to many of their countrymen, with the ejaculation 'God bles

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the present day with the banditti in the south of Italy. Upon the occasion alluded to, a party of caterans carried off the bridegroom and secreted him in some cave near the mountain of Schiehallion. The young man caught the small-pox before his ransom could be agreed on; and whether it was the fine cool

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forfeited in 1715, which were then brought to sale by the creditors of the York Buildings Company, who had purchased the whole, or greater part, from government at a very small price. Even so

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ac--was also captain of an independent company, but valued the sweets of present pay too well to incur the risk of losing them in the Jacobite cause. His martial consort raised his clan and headed it in

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ts and trials of strength common throughout Scotland, but also used a peculiar sort of drill, suited to their own dress and mode of warfare. There were, for instance, different modes of disposing the plaid, one when on a p

s flung around his shoulders were all of the same piece of tartan. In a desperate onset all was thrown away, and the clan charged bare beneath the doubl

of the Highland manual exercise, which the author has s

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food amongst them. King Jamie carried this prejudice to England, and is known to have abhorred pork almost as much as

ld, by t

a hound, but no

ies Meta

vil was a loin of pork and a poll of li

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Fynes Morrison, in the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the scene being the Lowlands of Scotland, 'was at a knight's house, who had many servants to attend him, that brought in his meat with their heads covered with blue caps, the table being more than hal

. Lord Lovat, who knew well how to feed the vanity and restrain the appetites of his clansmen, allowed each sturdy Fraser who had the slightest pretensions to be a Duinhewassel the full honour of the sitting, but at the same time took care that his young kinsmen did not acqui

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, which are still current in the Highlands. Among other characters, Conan is distinguished as in some respects a kind of Thersites, but brave and daring even to rashness. He had made a vow that he would never take a blow without returning it; and having, like other heroes of antiqu

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rom Aberfoyle. It is upon a small scale, but otherwise one of the most exquisite cascades it is possible to behold. The appearance of Flora with the harp, as described, has been justly censured as

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preparatory to the insurrection of 1745 is, so far as he knows, entirely imaginary. But it is well known such a great hunting was held in the Forest of Brae-Mar, under the auspi

OS

,

abune

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tion marking the bes

, o

E, a

,

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annoy,

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alw

ty magistrat

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sly,

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belyve,

in, i

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fishing by torc

ED, g

braid

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Highlan

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a term of

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dress, de

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lved the duty of lamenting for the

oung lad, a

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nd irregular sold

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round woo

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for plunder, termed o

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a Highl

mad, f

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an order

the stirrup-cup

ncealed,

thers in the

agent,

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a Highland gentleman, usually

lia presented by Ro

lib

eneuch

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a qu

Jacobite reb

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setting an i

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gait

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T, a barefoote

from one to

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apacious,

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of copse marked

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partition,

E,

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PS, pl

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y a debt, on pain of being pronounc

a ho

OULERYING, hustl

a brokendown

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each,

BEES, s

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tickle,

ale deer in i

small Hig

re, lord of

GIT, lon

tavern r

D, past

legal documents to call attention

re, carry o

R, a

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an elder

ear, a

he loins,

mair,

chief farm

the drink above the

N,

K, a me

pence in En

, much

D, mangle

Y,

e morn,

a morni

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R,

ae, n

LL, ow

, si

ck cattle

dd, une

E, occas

R,

, a fortif

small piec

a fuss,

NG, furn

rt, enter

stout, war

, rob

RS, r

ges, ploug

, a sho

oarse, h

the sign of th

sore

N, sa

T,

a s

UM, a

ing, skipping,

a Highland

reaping,

, weak,

N, s

iccan,

companies raised to keep peace in the Hi

d soldiers, Ki

small

silver

R, su

, slic

suspi

CK,

let worn by

quiet

ars, especially those unwelcome visitors

rranged,

sk, inve

, a Highland pu

animated

a cheerf

ZIE,

, stif

oung steer

a bu

jug, a

REEF,

E, s

ey through whi

S, on

GLIT, harass

illie, a de

r pot that holds th

-hors; in modern

the

S, ti

T,

OUN, a haml

, tro

elieve,

, t

g, a snarl

strang

'D, un

AUGH,

, w

, sp

L,

, w

, wh

FOR

K, w

whisk,

F VOL

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