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recognise in the following anecdote, not only the foundation of the mutual protection afforded by Waverley and Colonel Talbot upon which the plot of the novel altogether depends, but they will also discover, in the latter part, something very nearly resembling the concealment of the Baron Bradwardine* and the sagacity of Daft Davie Gellatley, who protected that concealment, when the unfortunate old gentleman was observed, and shot at by the soldiers on the retreat to his

cave.

When the Highlanders, on the morning of the battle of Preston Pans, made their memorable attack, a battery of four field pieces † was stormed and carried by the Cameron and Stuarts of Appin. The late Alexander Stuart, of Invernahyle, was one of the foremost in the

*No original, we believe, has hitherto been discovered for this admirable portrait-the Baron Bradwardine. The person who held the situation in the rebel army assigned in the novel to this gentleman was the Right Hon. Alexander Pitsligo, of the Shire of Aberdeen,-a nobleman, though possessing but a moderate fortune, was nevertheless so much beloved and esteemed by his neighbors for the excellent qualities of his mind that when he declared his purpose of joining the Pretender, most of the gentlemen of that part of the country put themselves under his command, conceiving they could not follow a better or safer example than that of Lord Pitsligo. He, in this manner, commanded a body of a hundred and a half of well mounted gentlemen during the rebellion, at the fatal termination of which, he escaped to France, and in the following month with many others, who followed him, became attained of high treason. It is not unworthy of remark that the supporters of the Pitsligo arms were two bears proper; a circumstance which, when connected with the great favor in which this animal was held by the Baron of Bradwardine, being as it were the patron brute of his house, would induce one to suppose that in all probability there may have been a still stronger intimacy between these personages, and that the reality of the one may have been the germ of the other.

Since this was written, the author's new series has appeared: we have not, however, altered a word, but left it as originally intended.

charge and observed an officer in the king's forces who; scorning to join the flight of all around, remained with his sword in his hand, as determined to the very last to defend the post assigned to him. The Highland gentleman commanded him to surrender, and received for reply a thrust which he caught in his target. The officer was now defenceless, and the battle axe of a gigantic Highlander (the miller of Invernahyle Mill) was uplifted to dash his brains out, when Mr. Stuart with difficulty prevailed upon him to surrender. He took charge of his enemy's property, protected his person, and finally obtained him liberty on parole. The officer proved to be Colonel Allan Whiteford, of Ballochmyle, in Ayrshire, a man of high character and influence and warmly attached to the house of Hanover; yet such was the confidence existing between these two honorable men, though of different political principles, that while the civil war was raging and straggling officers from the Highland army were executed without mercy, Invernahyle hesitated not to pay his late captive a visit as he went back to the Highlands to raise fresh recruits, when he spent a few days among Colonel Whiteford's Whig friends as pleasantly and good humoredly as if all had been at peace around him.

After the battle of Culloden, it was Colonel Whiteford's turn to strain every nerve to obtain Mr. Stuart's pardon. He went to the Lord Justice Clerk, to the Lord Advocate, and to all the officers of State, and each application was answered by the production of a list in which the name of Invernahyle's appeared, 'marked with the sign of the beast!' At length Colonel Whiteford went to the Duke of Cumberland. From him also he received a positive refusal. He then limited his request for the present, to a protection for Stuart's house, wife, children, and property. This was also refused by the duke: on which Colonel Whiteford

taking his commission from his bosom, laid it on the table before his Royal Highness and asked permission to retire from the service of a king who did not know how to spare a vanquished enemy. The Duke was struck and even affected. He bade the Colonel take up his commission, and granted the protection he requested with so much earnestness. It was issued just in time to save the house, corn, and cattle at Invernahyle, from the troops who were engaged in laying waste what it was the fashion to call the country of the enemy.' A small encampment was formed on Invernahyle's property, which they spared while plundering the country around and searching in every direction for the leaders of the insurrection, and for Stuart in particular. He was much nearer them than they suspected; for hidden in a cave, (like Baron of Bradwardine) he lay for many days within hearing of the sentinels, as they called the watchword. His food was brought to him by one of his daughters, a child of eight years old, whom Mrs. Stuart was under the necessity of trusting with this commission, for her own motions and those of all her inmates were closely watched. With ingenuity beyond her years, the child used to stray out among the soldiers, who were rather kind to her, and watch the moment when she was unobserved to steal into the thicket, when she deposited whatever small store of provisions she had in charge, at some marked spot, where her father might find it.

By means of these precarious supplies, Invernahyle supported life for several weeks, and as he had been wounded in the battle of Culloden, the hardships which he endured were aggravated by great bodily pain. After the soldiers had removed their quarters he had another remarkable escape. he now ventured to the house and left in the morning, he was espied during the dawn by a party who VOL. I. 6

As

pursued and fired at him. The fugitive being fortunate enough to escape their search, they returned to the house and charged the family with harboring one of the proscribed traitors. An old woman had presence of mind enough to maintain that the man they had seen was the shepherd. 'Why did he not stop when we called him?' said the soldier. 'He is as deaf, poor man, as a peat stack,' answered the ready witted domestic. 'Let him be sent for directly. The real shepherd was accordingly brought from the hill, and as there was time to tutor him by the way, he was as deaf, when he made his appearance, as was necessary to maintain his character. Stuart, of Invernahyle was afterwards pardoned under the act of indemnity. He was a noble specimen of the old Highlander, far descended, gallant, courteous, and brave even to chivalry. He had been out in 1715 and 1745,* was an active partaker in all the stirring scenes which passed in the Highlands, between these memorable eras, and was remarkable among other exploits for having fought with, and vanquished Rob Roy, in a trial at skill at the broadsword, a short time previous to the death of that celebrated hero, at the Clachan of Balquhidder. He chanced to be in Edinburgh when Paul Jones came into the Firth of Forth, and though then an old man, appeared in arms, and was heard to exult, (to use his own words) in the prospect of drawing his claymore once again before he died. On that memorable occasion when 'Auld Reekie' was threatened by three small armed vessels, scarce fit to have plundered a fishing village, Invernahyle was the only man who seemed to propose a resistance. He offered the magistrates, if broadswords and dirks could be procured, to find as many Highlanders among the lower orders as would cut off any

* See Rebellions. Passim.

boat's crew who might be sent into a town, full of as many defiles nearly as the Island of Corsica, in which they were likely to disperse in quest of plunder. A steady and powerful west-wind blowing Paul Jones * out of the Forth, the brave Invernahyle's services were not required.

The following elucidations of two allusions in the novel of Waverley, are taken from Mr. Alexander Campbell's notes to Mackintosh's collection of Gællic Proverbs: The author of Waverley alludes to Roderick Morison in the following passage of that inimitable faction: 'Two paces back stood Cathleen, ‘holding a small Scottish harp, the use of which had been taught her by Rory Dall, one of the last harpers of all the northern Highlands.' Rory Dall lived in the family Macleod, of Macleod, in Queen Anne's time, in the double capacity of harper and bard to the family. Many of his poems and songs are still repeated by his countrymen.

Conan was one of Fingal's heroes, rash, turbulent, and brave. One of his unearthly exploits is said to have led him to Jurna, or cold island, (similar to the den of Hela, of Scandinavian mythology) a place only inhabited by infernal beings. On Conan's departure from the island, one of its demons struck him, which he instantly returned. This outrage upon immortals was fearfully retaliated, by a legion of devils, setting on poor Conan. To a Gallic proverb founded on the circumstances of this unequal contest, Ensign Macombish facetiously alludes, in his reply to Mrs. Flockhart's interrogation, if he would actually face thae tearing, swearing chields, the dragoons.' Claw for claw,' cries the courageous Highlander, as Conan said to Satan, and the deil tak' the shortest nails.'t

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* See Plunder of Lady Selkirk's house; and letter from and to Paul Jones. Passim.

See Waverley Poetry. Appendix.

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