by John Galt
CHAPTER X
At the first blink of the grey eye of the morning my grandfather rose,and, quitting the house of the Widow Rippet, went straight to the Earl'slodgings, and was admitted. The porter at the door told him that theirmaster, having been up all night, had but just retired to bed; but whilethey were speaking, the Earl's page, who slept in the ante-chamber,called from the stairhead to inquire who it was that had come so early,and being informed thereof, he went into his master, and afterwards cameagain and desired my grandfather to walk up, and conducted him to hisLordship, whom he found on his couch, but not undressed, and who said tohim on his entering, when the page had retired,--
"I am glad, Gilhaize, that you have come thus early, for I want a trustyman to go forthwith into the west country. What I wish you to do cannotbe written, but you will take this ring;" and he took one from thelittle finger of his right hand, on the gem of which his cipher wasgraven, and gave it to my grandfather. "On showing it to Lord Boyd, whomyou will find at the Dean Castle, near Kilmarnock, he will thereby knowthat you are specially trusted of me. The message whereof you are thebearer is to this effect,--That the Lords of the Congregation have, bytheir friends in many places, received strong exhortations to stepforward and oppose the headlong fury of the churchmen; and that theyhave in consequence deemed it necessary to lose no time in ascertainingwhat the strength of the Reformed may be, and to procure declarationsfor mutual defence from all who are joined in professing the truereligion of Christ. Should he see meet to employ you in this matter, youwill obey his orders and instructions, whatsoever they may be."
The Earl then put his hand aneath his pillow and drew out a smallleathern purse, which he gave to my grandfather, who, in the doing ofthis, observed that he had several other similar purses ready under hishead. In taking it, my grandfather was proceeding to tell him what hehad observed at the Widow Rippet's, but his Lordship interrupted him,saying,--
"Such things are of no issue now, and your present duty is in a higherroad; therefore make haste, and God be with you."
With these words, his Lordship turned himself on his couch, and composedhimself to sleep, which my grandfather, after looking on for about aminute or so, observing, came away; and having borrowed a frock and atrot-cozey for the journey from one of the grooms of the hall, he wentstraight to Kenneth Shelty's, a noted horse-setter in those days, wholived at the West-port, and bargained with him for the hire of a beastto Glasgow, though Glasgow was not then the nearest road to Kilmarnock;but he thought it prudent to go that way, in case any of the papisticalemissaries should track his course.
There was, however, a little oversight in this, which did not come tomind till he was some miles on the road, and that was the obligation itput him under of passing through Lithgow, where he was so well known,and where all his kith and kin lived--there being then no immediateroute from Edinburgh to Glasgow but by Lithgow. And he debated withhimself for a space of time whether he ought to proceed, or turn backand go the other way, and his mind was sorely troubled with doubts anddifficulties. At last he considered that it was never deemed wise orfortunate to turn back in any undertaking, and besides, having for theservice of the Saviour left his father's house and renounced hisparents, like a bird that taketh wing and knoweth the nest where it wasbred no more, he knit up his ravelled thoughts into resolution, andclapping spurs to his horse, rode bravely on.
But when he beheld the towers of the palace, and the steeples of hisnative town, rising before him, many remembrances came rushing to hisheart, and all the vexations he had suffered there were lost in thesunny recollections of the morning of life, when everyone was kind, andthe eyes of his parents looked on him with the brightness of delight, inso much, that his soul yearned within him, and his cheeks were wettedwith fast-flowing tears. Nevertheless, he overcame this thaw of hisfortitude, and went forward in the strength of the Lord, determined toswerve not in his duty to the Earl of Glencairn, nor in his holierfealty to a far greater Master. But the softness that he felt in hisnature made him gird himself with a firm purpose to ride through thetown without stopping. Scarcely, however, had he entered the port, whenhis horse stumbled and lost a shoe, by which he was not only constrainedto stop, but to take him to his father's smiddy, which was in sight whenthe mischance happened.
On going to the door, he found, as was commonly the case, a number ofgrooms and flunkies of the courtiers, with certain friars, holdingvehement discourse concerning the tidings of the time, the burden ofwhich was the burning of the aged Master Mill, a thing that even themonks durst not, for humanity, venture very strenuously to defend. Hisfather was not then within; but one of the prentice lads, seeing who itwas that had come with a horse to be shod, ran to tell him; and at thesight of my grandfather, the friars suspended their controversies withthe serving-men, and gathered round him with many questions. He replied,however, to them all with few words, bidding the foreman to make hasteand shoe his horse, hoping that he might thereby be off and away beforehis father came.
But, while the man was throng with the horse's foot, both father andmother came rushing in, and his mother was weeping bitterly, andwringing her hands, chiding him as if he had sold himself to the EvilOne, and beseeching him to stop and repent. His father, however, saidlittle, but inquired how he had been, what he was doing, and where hewas going; and sent the prentice lad to bring a stoup of spiced ale froma public hard by, in which he pledged him, kindly hoping he would dowell for himself and he would do well for his parents. The whichfatherliness touched my grandfather more to the quick than all the loudlament and reproaches of his mother; and he replied that he had enteredinto the service of a nobleman, and was then riding on his master'sbusiness to Glasgow; but he mentioned no name, nor did his fatherinquire. His mother, however, burst out into clamorous revilings,declaring her dread that it was some of the apostate heretics; and,giving vent to her passion, was as one in a frenzy, or possessed of adevil. The very friars were confounded at her distraction, and tried tosoothe her and remove her forth the smiddy, which only made her morewild, so that all present compassionated my grandfather, who sat silentand made no answer, wearying till his horse was ready.
But greatly afflicted as he was by this trial, it was nothing to whatensued, when, after having mounted, and shaken his father by the hand,he galloped away to the West-port. There, on the outside, he was met bytwo women and an old man, parents of the lads whom he had taken with himto Edinburgh. Having heard he was at his father's smiddy, instead ofgoing thither, they had come to that place, in order that they mightspeak with him more apart, and free from molestation, concerning theirsons.
One of the women was a poor widow, and she had no other child, nor thehope of any other bread-winner for her old age. She, however, saidnothing, but stood with the corner of her apron at her eyes, sobbingvery afflictedly, while her friends, on seeing my grandfather coming outof the port, stepped forward, and the old man caught the horse by thebridle, and said gravely,--
"Ye maun stop and satisfy three sorrowful parents! What hae ye done withyour twa thoughtless companions?"
My grandfather's heart was as if it would have perished in his bosom;for the company he had seen the lads with, and the talk they had held,and above all their recklessness of principle, came upon him like awithering flash of fire. He, however, replied soberly, that he had seenthem both the night before, and that they were well in health and jocundin spirit.
The mother that was standing near her husband was blithe to hear this,and reminded her gudeman, how she had often said, that when they didhear tidings of their son her words would be found true, for he had everbeen all his days a brisk and a valiant bairn.
But the helpless widow was not content, and she came forward drying hertears, saying, "And what is my poor fatherless do-na-gude about? I'mfearfu, fearfu to be particular; for, though he was aye kind-hearted tome, he was easily wised, and I doubt, I doubt he'll prove a blasting ora blessing, according to the hands he fa's among."
"I hope and pray," said my gra
ndfather, "that he'll be protected fromscaith, and live to be a comfort to all his friends." And, so saying, hedisengaged his bridle with a gentle violence from the old man's hold,telling them he could not afford to stop, being timed to reach Glasgowthat night. So he pricked the horse with his rowals, and shot away; buthis heart, all the remainder of his day's journey, was as if it had beenpierced with many barbed arrows, and the sad voice of the poor anxiouswidow rung in his ears like the sound of some doleful knell.
Saving this affair at Lithgow, nothing befell him till he came to thegates of Glasgow; by which time it was dark, and the ward and watch set,and they questioned him very sharply before giving him admission. Forthe Queen Regent was then sojourning in the castle, and her fears andcares were greatly quickened at that time, by rumours from all parts ofthe kingdom concerning the murder, as it was called, of Master Mill. Onthis account the French guards, which she had with her, were instructedto be jealous of all untimeous travellers, and they being joined with award of burghers, but using only their own tongue, caused no smallmolestation to every Scotsman that sought admission after the sun wasset: for the burghers, not being well versed in military practices, wereof themselves very propugnacious in their authority, making more adothan even the Frenchmen. It happened, however, that there was amongthose valiant traders and craftsmen of Glasgow one Thomas Sword, thedeacon of the hammermen, and he having the command of those stationed atthe gate, overheard what was passing with my grandfather, and coming outof the wardroom, inquired his name, which when he heard, and that he wasson to Michael Gilhaize, the Lithgow ferrier, he advised to let him in,saying he knew his father well, and that they had worked together, whenyoung men, in the King's armoury at Stirling; and he told him where helived, and invited him, when his horse was stabled, to come to supper,for he was glad to see him for his father's sake.