Waverley Novels — Volume 12

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH.

  His talk was of another world--his bodiments Strange, doubtful, and mysterious; those who heard him Listen'd as to a man in feverish dreams, Who speaks of other objects than the present, And mutters like to him who sees a vision. OLD PLAY.

  On the same Palm Sunday when De Walton and Douglas measured togethertheir mighty swords, the minstrel Bertram was busied with the ancientBook of Prophecies, which we have already mentioned as the supposedcomposition of Thomas the Rhymer, but not without many anxieties as tothe fate of his lady, and the events which were passing around him. Asa minstrel he was desirous of an auditor to enter into the discoverieswhich he should make in that mystic volume, as well as to assist inpassing away the time; Sir John de Walton had furnished him, in GilbertGreenleaf the archer, with one who was well contented to play thelistener "from morn to dewy eve," provided a flask of Gascon wine, or astoup of good English ale, remained on the board. It may be rememberedthat De Walton, when he dismissed the minstrel from the dungeon, wassensible that he owed him some compensation for the causeless suspicionwhich had dictated his imprisonment, more particularly as he was avalued servant, and had shown himself the faithful confidant of theLady Augusta de Berkely, and the person who was moreover likely to knowall the motives and circumstances of her Scottish journey. To securehis good wishes was, therefore, politic; and De Walton had intimated tohis faithful archer that he was to lay aside all suspicion of Bertram,but at the same time keep him in sight, and, if possible, in goodhumour with the governor of the castle, and his adherents. Greenleafaccordingly had no doubt in his own mind, that the only way to please aminstrel was to listen with patience and commendation to the lays whichhe liked best to sing, or the tales which he most loved to tell; and inorder to ensure the execution of his master's commands, he judged itnecessary to demand of the butler such store of good liquor, as couldnot fail to enhance the pleasure of his society.

  Having thus fortified himself with the means of bearing a longinterview with the minstrel, Gilbert Greenleaf proposed to confer uponhim the bounty of an early breakfast, which, if it pleased him, theymight wash down with a cup of sack, and, having his master's commandsto show the minstrel any thing about the castle which he might wish tosee, refresh their overwearied spirits by attending a part of thegarrison of Douglas to the service of the day, which, as we havealready seen, was of peculiar sanctity. Against such a proposal theminstrel, a good Christian by profession, and, by his connexion withthe joyous science, a good fellow, having no objections to offer, thetwo comrades, who had formerly little good-will towards each other,commenced their morning's repast on that fated Palm Sunday, with allmanner of cordiality and good fellowship.

  "Do not believe, worthy minstrel," said the archer, "that my master inany respect disparages your worth or rank in referring you for companyor conversation to so poor a man as myself. It is true I am no officerof this garrison; yet for an old archer, who, for these thirty years,has lived by bow and bowstring, I do not (Our Lady make me thankful!)hold less share in the grace of Sir John de Walton, the Earl ofPembroke, and other approved good soldiers, than many of those giddyyoung men on whom commissions are conferred, and to whom confidencesare intrusted, not on account of what they have done, but what theirancestors have done before them. I pray you to notice among them oneyouth placed at our head in De Walton's absence, and who bears thehonoured name of Aymer de Valence, being the same with that of the Earlof Pembroke, of whom I have spoken; this knight has also a brisk youngpage, whom men call Fabian Harbothel."

  "Is it to these gentlemen that your censure applies?" answered theminstrel; "I should have judged differently, having never, in thecourse of my experience, seen a young man more courteous and amiablethan the young knight you named."

  "I nothing dispute that it may be so," said the archer, hastening toamend the false step which he had made; "but in order that it should beso, it will be necessary that he conform to the usages of his uncle,taking the advice of experienced old soldiers in the emergencies whichmay present themselves; and not believing, that the knowledge which ittakes many years of observation to acquire, can be at once conferred bythe slap of the flat of a sword, and the magic words, 'Rise up, SirArthur'--or however the case may be."

  "Doubt not, Sir Archer," replied Bertram, "that I am fully aware of theadvantage to be derived from conversing with men of experience likeyou: it benefiteth men of every persuasion, and I myself am oft reducedto lament my want of sufficient knowledge of armorial bearings, signs,and cognizances, and would right fain have thy assistance, where I am astranger alike to the names of places, of persons, and description ofbanners and emblems by which great families are distinguished from eachother, so absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of my presenttask."

  "Pennons and banners," answered the archer, "I have seen right many,and can assign, as is a soldier's wont, the name of the leader to theemblem under which he musters his followers; nevertheless, worthyminstrel, I cannot presume to understand what you call prophecies, withor under warranted authority of old painted books, expositions ofdreams, oracles, revelations, invocations of damned spirits, judicials,astrologicals, and other gross and palpable offences, whereby men,pretending to have the assistance of the devil, do impose upon thecommon people, in spite of the warnings of the Privy Council; nothowever, that I suspect you, worthy minstrel, of busying yourself withthese attempts to explain futurity, which are dangerous attempts, andmay be truly said to be penal, and part of treason."

  "There is something in what you say," replied the minstrel; "yet itapplieth not to books and manuscripts such as I have been consulting;part, of which things therein written having already come to pass,authorize us surely to expect the completion of the rest; nor would Ihave much difficulty in showing you from this volume, that enough hasbeen already proved true, to entitle us to look with certainty to theaccomplishment of that which remains."

  "I should be glad to hear that," answered the archer, who entertainedlittle more than a soldier's belief respecting prophecies and auguries,but yet cared not bluntly to contradict the minstrel upon suchsubjects, as he had been instructed by Sir John de Walton to complywith his humour. Accordingly the minstrel began to recite verses,which, in our time, the ablest interpreter could not make sense out of.

  "When the cook crows, keep well his comb, For the fox and the fulmart they are false both. When the raven and the rook have rounded together, And the kid in his cliff shall accord to the same. Then shall they be bold, and soon to battle thereafter. Then the birds of the raven rugs and reives, And the leal men of Lothian, are louping on their horse; Then shall the poor people be spoiled full near, And the Abbeys be burnt truly that stand upon Tweed They shall burn and slay, and great reif make: There shall no poor man who say whose man he is: Then shall the land be lawless, for love there is none. Then falset shall have foot fully five years; Then truth surely shall be tint, and none shall lippen to other; The one cousing shall not trust the other, Not the son the father, nor the father the son: For to have his goods he would have him hanged." &c. &c. &c.

  The archer listened to these mystic prognostications, which were notthe less wearisome that they were, in a considerable degree,unintelligible; at the same time subduing his Hotspur-like dispositionto tire of the recitation, yet at brief intervals comforting himselfwith an application to the wine flagon, and enduring as he might whathe neither understood nor took interest in. Meanwhile the minstrelproceeded with his explanation of the dubious and imperfectvaticinations of which we have given a sufficient specimen.

  "Could you wish," said he to Greenleaf, "a more exact description ofthe miseries which have passed over Scotland in these latter days? Havenot these the raven and rook, the fox and the fulmart, explained;either because the nature of the birds or beasts bear an individualresemblance to those of the knights who display them on their banners,or otherwi
se are bodied forth by actual blazonry on their shields, andcome openly into the field to ravage and destroy? Is not the totaldisunion of the land plainly indicated by these words, that connexionsof blood shall be broken asunder, that kinsmen shall not trust eachother, and that the father and son, instead, of putting faith in theirnatural connexion, shall seek each other's life, in order to enjoy hisinheritance? The _leal men_ of Lothian are distinctly mentioned astaking arms, and there is plainly allusion to the other events of theselate Scottish troubles. The death of this last William is obscurelyintimated under the type of a hound, which was that good lord'soccasional cognizance.

  'The hound that was harm'd then muzzled shall be, Who loved him worst shall weep for his wreck; Yet shall a whelp rise of the same race, That rudely shall roar, and rule the whole north, And quit the whole quarrel of old deeds done, Though he from his hold be kept back awhile. True Thomas told me this in a troublesome time, In a harvest morning at Eldoun hills.'"

  "This hath a meaning, Sir Archer," continued the minstrel, "and whichflies as directly to its mark as one of your own arrows, although theremay be some want of wisdom in making the direct explication. Being,however, upon assurance with you, I do not hesitate to tell you, thatin my opinion this lion's whelp that awaits its time, means this samecelebrated Scottish prince, Robert the Bruce, who, though repeatedlydefeated, has still, while hunted with bloodhounds, and surrounded byenemies of every sort, maintained his pretensions to the crown ofScotland, in despite of King Edward, now reigning."

  "Minstrel," answered the soldier, "you are my guest, and we have satdown together as friends to this simple meal in good comradeship. Imust tell thee, however, though I am loath to disturb our harmony, thatthou art the first who hast adventured to speak a word before GilbertGreenleaf in favour of that outlawed traitor, Robert Bruce, who has byhis seditions so long disturbed the peace of this realm. Take myadvice, and be silent on this topic; for, believe me, the sword of atrue English archer will spring from its scabbard without consent ofits master, should it hear aught said to the disparagement of bonny St.George and his ruddy cross; nor shall the authority of Thomas theRhymer, or any other prophet in Scotland, England, or Wales, beconsidered as an apology for such unbecoming predictions."

  "I were loth to give offence at any time," said the minstrel, "muchmore to provoke you to anger, when I am in the very act of experiencingyour hospitality. I trust, however, you will remember that I do notcome your uninvited guest, and that if I speak to you of future events,I do so without having the least intention to add my endeavour to bringthem to pass; for, God knows, it is many years since my sincere prayerhas been for peace and happiness to all men, and particularly honourand happiness to the land of Bowmen, in which I was born, and which Iam bound to remember in my prayers beyond all other nations in theworld."

  "It is well that you do so," said the archer; "for so you shall bestmaintain your bounden duty to the fair land of your birth, which is therichest that the sun shines upon. Something, however, I would know, ifit suits with your pleasure to tell me, and that is, whether you findanything in these rude rhymes appearing to affect the safety of theCastle of Douglas, where we now are?--for, mark me, Sir Minstrel, Ihave observed that these mouldering parchments, when or by whomsoevercomposed, have so far a certain coincidence with the truth, that whensuch predictions which they contain are spread abroad in the country,and create rumours of plots, conspiracies, and bloody wars, they arevery apt to cause the very mischances which they would be thought onlyto predict."

  "It were not very cautious in me," said the minstrel, "to choose aprophecy for my theme, which had reference to any attack on thisgarrison; for in such case I should, according to your ideas, laymyself under suspicion of endeavouring to forward what no person couldmore heartily regret than myself."

  "Take my word for it, good friend," said the archer, "that it shall notbe thus with thee; for I neither will myself conceive ill of thee, norreport thee to Sir John de Walton as meditating harm against him or hisgarrison--nor, to speak truth, would Sir John de Walton be willing tobelieve anyone who did. He thinks highly, and no doubt deservedly, ofthy good faith towards thy lady, and would conceive it unjust tosuspect the fidelity of one who has given evidence of his willingnessto meet death rather than betray the least secret of his mistress."

  "In preserving her secret," said Bertram, "I only discharged the dutyof a faithful servant, leaving it to her to judge how long such asecret ought to be preserved; for a faithful servant ought to think aslittle of the issue towards himself of the commission which he bears,as the band of flock silk concerns itself with the secret of the letterwhich it secures. And, touching your question--I have no objections,although merely to satisfy your curiosity, to unfold to you that theseold prophecies do contain some intimations of wars befalling in DouglasDale, between an haggard, or wild hawk, which I take to be thecognizance of Sir John de Walton, and the three stars, or martlets,which is the cognizance of the Douglas; and more particulars I couldtell of these onslaughts, did I know whereabouts is a place in thesewoods termed Bloody Sykes, the scene also, as I comprehend, ofslaughter and death, between the followers of the three stars and thosewho hold the part of the Saxon, or King of England."

  "Such a place," replied Gilbert Greenleaf, "I have heard oftenmentioned by that name among the natives of these parts; neverthelessit is vain to seek to discover the precise spot, as these wily Scotsconceal from us with care every thing respecting the geography of theircountry, as it is called by learned men; but we may here mention theBloody Sykes, Bottomless Myre, and other places, as portentous names,to which their traditions attach some signification of war andslaughter. If it suits your wish, however, we can, on our way to thechurch, try to find this place called Bloody Sykes, which I doubt notwe shall trace out long before the traitors who meditate an attack uponus will find a power sufficient for the attempt."

  Accordingly the minstrel and archer, the latter of whom was by thistime reasonably well refreshed with wine, marched out of the castle ofDouglas, without waiting for others of the garrison, resolving to seekthe dingle bearing the ominous name of Bloody Sykes, concerning whichthe archer only knew that by mere accident he had heard of a placebearing such a name, at the hunting match made under the auspices ofSir John de Walton, and knew that it lay in the woods somewhere nearthe town of Douglas and in the vicinage of the castle.