From this wight, who now and then dropped alongside of his horse, Waverley hoped to acquire some information, or at least to beguile the way with talk.
``A fine evening, sir,'' was Edward's salutation.
``Ow, ay, sir! a bra' night,'' replied the lieutenant, in broad Scotch of the most vulgar description.
``And a fine harvest, apparently,'' continued Waverley, following up his first attack.
``Ay, the aits will be got bravely in: but the farmers, deil burst them, and the corn-mongers, will make the auld price gude against them as has horses till keep.''
``You perhaps act as quartermaster, Sir?''
``Ay, quartermaster, riding-master, and lieutenant,'' answered this officer of all work.``And, to be sure, wha's fitter to look after the breaking and the keeping of the poor beasts than mysell, that bought and sold every ane o' them?''
``And pray, air, if it be not too great a *******, may I beg to know where we are going just now?''
``A fule's errand, I fear,'' answered this communicative personage.
``In that case,'' said Waverley, determined not to spare civility, ``I should have thought a person of your appearance would not have been found on the road.''
``Vera true, vera true, sir,'' replied the officer, ``but every why has its wherefore.Ye maun ken, the laird there bought thir beasts frae me to munt his troop, and agreed to pay for them according to the necessities and prices of the time.But then he hadna the ready penny, and I hae been advised his bond will not be worth a boddle against the estate, and then Ihad a' my dealers to settle wi' at Martinmas; and so as he very kindly offered me this commission, and as the auld Fifteen<*>
* The Judges of the Supreme Court of Session in Scotland are proverbially * termed, among the country peeple, The Fifteen.
wad never help me to my siller for sending out naigs against the Government, why, conscience! sir, I thought my best chance for payment was e'en to _gae out_<*> mysell; and ye may * To _go out,_ or _to have been out,_ in Scotland, was a conventional phrase * similar to that of the Irish respecting a man having been _up,_ both having * reference to an individual who had been engaged in insurrection.It was * accounted ill-breeding in Scotland, about forty years since, to use the * phrase _rebellion_ or _rebel,_ which might be interpreted by some of the parties * present as a personal insult.It was also esteemed more polite even for * staunch Whigs to denominate Charles Edward the Chevalier, than to speak * of him as the Pretender; and this kind of accommodating courtesy was * usually observed in society where individuals of each party mixed on * friendly terms.
judge, sir, as I hae dealt a' my life in halters, I think na mickle o' putting my craig in peril of a St.Johnstone's tippet.''<*>
* (_St.Johnstone's Tippet,_ literally a _halter._ Perth was formerly known * as St.John's Town, from the name of the Tutelary Saint.In an old poem * by H.Adamson, 1638, there occurs the proverbial saying---*
* ``And in contempt, when any rogue they see, * They say, Saint Johnstone's ribbon's meet for thee.''
*
* This Proverb, says the editor of Adamson in 1774, is well understood in * Perth and through the shire.It is applied to people who deserve to be * hanged).
``You are not, then, by profession a soldier?'' said Waverley.
``Na, na; thank God,'' answered this doughty partisan, ``Iwasna bred at sae short a tether; I was brought up to hack and manger.I was bred a horse-couper, sir; and if I might live to see you at Whitson-tryst, or at Stagshawbank, or the winter fair at Hawick, and ye wanted a spanker that would lead the field, I'se be caution I would serve ye easy; for Jamie Jinker was ne'er the lad to impose upon a gentleman.Ye're a gentleman, sir, and should ken a horse's points; ye see that throughgauging thing that Balmawhapple's on; I selled her' till him.
She was bred out of Lick-the-Ladle, that wan the king's plate at Caverton-Edge, by Duke Hamilton's White-foot,'' etc.etc.etc.
But as Jinker was entered full sail upon the pedigree of Balmawhapple's mare, having already got as far as great-grand-sire and great-grand-dam, and while Waverley was watching for an opportunity to obtain from him intelligence of more interest, the noble captain checked his horse until they came up, and then, without directly appearing to notice Edward, said sternly to the genealogist, ``I thought, lieutenant, my orders were preceese, that no one should speak to the prisoner?''
The metamorphosed horse-dealer was silenced of course, and slunk to the rear, where he consoled himself by entering into a vehement dispute upon the price of hay with a farmer, who had reluctantly followed his laird to the field, rather than give up his farm, whereof the lease had just expired.Waverley was therefore once more consigned to silence, foreseeing that further attempts at conversation with any of the party would only give Balmawhapple a wished-for opportunity to display the insolence of authority, and the sulky spite of a temper naturally dogged, and rendered more so by habits of low indulgence and the incense of servile adulation.
In about two hours' time, the party were near the Castle of Stirling, over whose battlements the union flag was brightened as it waved in the evening sun.To shorten his journey, or perhaps to display his importance, and insult the English garrison, Balmawhapple, inclining to the right, took his route through the royal park which reaches to and surrounds the rock upon which the fortress is situated.