Rookwood

by W. Harrison Ainsworth

  Jerry Juniper was what the classical Captain Grose would designate a "gentleman with three outs"; and, although he was not entirely without wit, nor, his associates avouched, without money, nor, certainly, in his own opinion, had that been asked, without manners; yet was he assuredly without shoes, without stockings, without shirt. This latter deficiency was made up by a voluminous cravat, tied with proportionately large bows. A jaunty pair of yellow breeches, somewhat faded; a waistcoat of silver brocade, richly embroidered, somewhat tarnished and lack-lustre; a murrey-coloured velvet coat, somewhat chafed, completed the costume of this beggar Brummell, this mendicant maccaroni!

  Jerry Juniper was a character well known at the time, as a constant frequenter of all races, fairs, regattas, ship-launches, bull-baits, and prize-fights, all of which he attended, and to which he transported himself with an expedition little less remarkable than that of Turpin. You met him at Epsom, at Ascot, at Newmarket, at Doncaster, at the Roodee of Chester, at the Curragh of Kildare. The most remote as well as the most adjacent meeting attracted him. The cockpit was his constant haunt, and in more senses than one was he a leg. No opera-dancer could be more agile, more nimble; scarcely, indeed, more graceful, than was Jerry, with his shoeless and stockingless feet; and the manner in which he executed a pirouette, or a pas, before a line of carriages, seldom failed to procure him "golden opinions from all sorts of dames."

  With the ladies, it must be owned, Jerry was rather upon too easy terms; but then, perhaps, the ladies were upon too easy terms with Jerry; and if a bright-eyed fair one condescended to jest with him, what marvel if he should sometimes slightly transgress the laws of decorum. These aberrations, however, were trifling; altogether he was so well known, and knew everybody else so well, that he seldom committed himself; and, singular to say, could on occasions even be serious. In addition to his other faculties, no one cut a sly joke, or trolled a merry ditty, better than Jerry. His peculiarities, in short, were on the pleasant side, and he was a general favourite in consequence.

  No sooner did Jerry perceive that he was recognised, than, after kissing his hand, with the air of a petit-maître, to the highwayman, he strove to edge his way through the crowd. All his efforts were fruitless; and, tired of a situation in the rear rank, so inconsistent, he conceived, with his own importance, he had recourse to an expedient often practised with success in harlequinades, and not unfrequently in real life, where a flying leap is occasionally taken over our heads. He ran back a few yards to give himself an impetus, returned, and, placing his hands upon the shoulders of a stalwart vagabond near to him, threw a summerset upon the broad cap of a palliard, who was so jammed in the midst that he could not have stirred to avoid the shock; thence, without pausing, he vaulted forwards, and dropped lightly upon the ground in front of Zoroaster, and immediately before the highwayman.

  Dick laughed immoderately at Jerry's manœuvre. He shook his old chum cordially by the hand, saying in a whisper, "What the devil brings you here, Jerry?"

  "I might retort, and ask you that question, Captain Turpin," replied Jerry, sotto voce. "It is odd to see me here, certainly—quite out of my element—lost amongst this canaille—this canting crew—all the fault of a pair of gipsy eyes, bright as a diamond, dark as a sloe. You comprehend—a little affair, ha! Liable to these things. Bring your ear closer, my boy; be upon your guard—keep a sharp look-out—there's a devil of a reward upon your head—I won't answer for all these rascals."

  "Thank you for the hint, Jerry," replied Dick, in the same tone. "I calculated my chances pretty nicely when I came here. But if I should perceive any symptoms of foul play—any attempt to snitch or nose, amongst this pack of pedlars—I have a friend or two at hand, who won't be silent upon the occasion. Rest assured I shall have my eye upon the gnarling scoundrels. I won't be sold for nothing."

  "Trust you for that," returned Juniper, with a wink. "Stay," added he; "a thought strikes me. I have a scheme in petto which may, perhaps, afford you some fun, and will, at all events, insure your safety during your stay."

  "What is it?" asked Dick.

  "Just amuse yourself with a flirtation for a moment or two with that pretty damsel, who has been casting her ogles at you for the last five minutes without success, while I effect a masterstroke."

  And, as Turpin, nothing loth, followed his advice, Jerry addressed himself to Zoroaster. After a little conference, accompanied by that worthy and the knight of Malta, the trio stepped forward from the line, and approached Dick, when Juniper, assuming some such attitude as our admirable Jones, the comedian, is wont to display, delivered himself of the following address. Turpin listened with the gravity of one of the distinguished persons alluded to, at the commencement of the present chapter, upon their receiving the freedom of a city at the hands of a mayor and corporation. Thus spoke Jerry:

  "Highest of High Tobymen! rummest of Rum Padders, and most scampish of Scampsmen! We, in the name of Barbara, our most tawny queen; in the name of Zoroaster, our Upright Man, Dimber Damber, or Olli Campolli, by all which titles his excellency is distinguished; in our own respective names, as High Pads and Low Pads, Rum Gills and Queer Gills, Patricos, Palliards, Priggers, Whip-Jacks, and Jarkmen, from the Arch Rogue to the Needy Mizzler, fully sensible of the honour you have conferred upon us in gracing Stop-Hole Abbey with your presence; and conceiving that we can in no way evince our sense of your condescension so entirely as by offering you the freedom of our crew, together with the privileges of an Upright Man,10 which you may be aware are considerable, and by creating you an honorary member of the Vagrant Club, which we have recently established; and in so doing, we would fain express the sentiments of gratification and pride which we experience in enrolling among our members one who has extended the glory of roguery so widely over the land, and who has kicked up such a dust upon the highways of England, as most effectually to blind the natives—one, who is in himself a legion—of highwaymen! Awaiting, with respectful deference, the acquiescence of Captain Richard Turpin, we beg to tender him the freedom of our crew."

  "Really, gentlemen," said Turpin, who did not exactly see the drift of this harangue, "you do me a vast deal of honour. I am quite at a loss to conceive how I can possibly have merited so much attention at your hands; and, indeed, I feel myself so unworthy—" Here Dick received an expressive wink from Juniper, and therefore thought it prudent to alter his expression. "Could I suppose myself at all deserving of so much distinction," continued the modest speaker, "I should at once accept your very obliging offer; but—"

  "None so worthy," said the upright man.

  "Can't hear of a refusal," said the knight of Malta.

  "Refusal—impossible!" reiterated Juniper.

  "No: no refusal," exclaimed a chorus of voices. "Dick Turpin must be one of us. He shall be our dimber damber."

  "Well, gentlemen, since you are so pressing," replied Turpin, "even so be it. I will be your dimber damber."

  "Bravo! bravo!" cried the mob, not "of gentlemen."

  "About it pals at once," said the knight of Malta, flourishing Excalibur. "By St. Thomas à Becket, we'll have as fine a scene as I myself ever furnished to the Canterbury lieges."

  "About what?" asked Dick.

  "Your matriculation," replied Jerry. "There are certain forms to be gone through, with an oath to be taken, merely a trifle. We'll have a jolly boose when all's over. Come bing avast, my merry pals; to the green, to the green: a Turpin! a Turpin! a new brother!"

  "A Turpin! a Turpin! a new brother!" echoed the crew.

  "I've brought you through," said Jerry, taking advantage of the uproar that ensued to whisper to his chum, "none of them will dare to lift a finger against you now. They are all your friends for life."

  "Nevertheless," returned Turpin, "I should be glad to know what has become of Bess."

  "If it's your prancer you are wanting," chirped a fluttering creature whom Turpin recognised as Luke's groom, Grasshopper, "I gave her a fresh loaf and a stoup of stingo, as you bade me, and there
she be, under yon tree, as quiet as a lamb."

  "I see her," replied Turpin; "just tighten her girths, Grasshopper, and bring her after me, and thou shalt have wherewithal to chirp over thy cups at supper."

  Away bounded the elfin dwarf to execute his behest.

  A loud shout now rent the skies, and presently afterwards was heard the vile scraping of a fiddle, accompanied by the tattoo of a drum. Approaching Turpin, a host of gipsies elevated the highwayman upon their shoulders, and in this way he was carried to the centre of the green, where the long oaken table, which had once served the Franciscans for refection, was now destined for the stage of the pageant.

  Upon this table three drums were placed; and Turpin was requested to seat himself on the central one. A solemn prelude, more unearthly than the incantation in the Freyschütz, was played by the orchestra of the band, conducted by the Paganini of the place, who elicited the most marvellous notes from his shell. A couple of shawms11 emitted sepulchral sounds, while the hollow rolling of the drum broke ever and anon upon the ear. The effect was prodigiously fine. During this overture the patrico and the upright man had ascended the rostrum, each taking their places; the former on the right hand of Turpin, the latter upon his left. Below them stood the knight of Malta, with Excalibur drawn in his hand, and gleaming in the sunshine. On the whole, Dick was amused with what he saw, and with the novel situation in which he found himself placed. Around the table were congregated a compact mass of heads; so compact, indeed, that they looked like one creature—an Argus, with each eye upturned upon the highwayman. The idea struck Turpin that the restless mass of parti-coloured shreds and patches, of vivid hues and varied tintings, singularly, though accidentally disposed to produce such an effect, resembled an immense tigermoth, or it might be a Turkey carpet, spread out upon the grass!

  The scene was a joyous one. It was a brilliant sunshiny morning. Freshened and purified by the storm of the preceding night, the air breathed a balm upon the nerves and senses of the robber. The wooded hills were glittering in light; the brook was flowing swiftly past the edge of the verdant slope, glancing like a wreathed snake in the sunshine—its "quiet song" lost in the rude harmony of the mummers, as were the thousand

  twitterings of the rejoicing birds; the rocks bared their bosoms to the sun, or were buried in deep-cast gloom; the shadows of the pillars and arches of the old walls of the priory were projected afar, while the rose-like ramifications of the magnificent marigold window were traced, as if by a pencil, upon the verdant tablet of the sod.

  The overture was finished. With the appearance of the principal figures in this strange picture, the reader is already familiar. It remains only to give him some idea of the patrico. Imagine, then, an old superannuated goat, reared upon its hind-legs, and clad in a white sheet, disposed in folds like those of a simar about its limbs, and you will have some idea of Balthazar, the patrico. This resemblance to the animal before mentioned, was rendered the more striking by his huge hanging goat-like under-lip, his lengthy white beard, and a sort of cap, covering his head, which was ornamented with a pair of horns, such as are to be seen in Michael Angelo's tremendous statue of Moses. Balthazar, besides being the patrico of the tribe, was its principal professor of divination, and had been the long-tried and faithful minister of Barbara Lovel, from whose secret instructions he was supposed to have derived much of his magical skill.

  Placing a pair of spectacles upon his "prognosticating nose," and unrolling a vellum skin, upon which strange characters were written, Balthazar, turning to Turpin, thus commenced, in a solemn voice:

  "Thou who wouldst our brother be,

  Say how we shall enter thee?

  Name the name that thou wilt bear

  Ere our livery thou wear."

  "I see no reason why I should alter my designation," replied the noviciate; "but as popes change their titles on their creation, there can be no objection to a scampsman following so excellent an example. Let me be known as the Night Hawk."

  "The Night Hawk—good," returned the hierophant, proceeding to register the name upon the parchment. "Kneel down," continued he.

  After some hesitation, Turpin complied.

  "You must repeat the 'salamon,' or oath of our creed, after my dictation," said the patrico; and Turpin, signifying his assent by a nod, Balthazar propounded the following abjuration:

  OATH OF THE CANTING CREW

  I, Crank-Cuffin, swear to be

  True to this fraternity;

  That I will in all obey

  Rule and order of the lay.

  Never blow the gab, or squeak;

  Never snitch to bum or beak;

  But religiously maintain

  Authority of those who reign

  Over Stop-Hole Abbey Green,

  Be they tawny king, or queen.

  In their cause alone will fight;

  Think what they think, wrong or right;

  Serve them truly, and no other,

  And be faithful to my brother;

  Suffer none, from far or near,

  With their rights to interfere;

  No strange Abram, ruffler crack,

  Hooker of another pack,

  Rogue or rascal, frater, maunderer,

  Irish toyle, or other wanderer;

  No dimber damber, angler, dancer,

  Prig or cackler, prig of prancer;

  No swigman, swaddler, clapperdudgeon

  Cadge-gloak, curtal, or curmudgeon;

  No whip-jack, palliard, patrico;

  No jarkman, be he high or low;

  No dummerar, or romany;

  No member of "the Family";

  No ballad-basket, bouncing buffer,

  Nor any other, will I suffer;

  But stall-off now and for ever,

  All outliers whatsoever:

  And as I keep to the fore-gone,

  So may help me Salamon!12

  "So help me Salamon!" repeated Turpin, with emphasis.

  "Zoroaster," said the patrico to the upright man, "do thy part of this ceremonial."

  Zoroaster obeyed; and, taking Excalibur from the knight of Malta, bestowed a hearty thwack with the blade upon the shoulders of the kneeling highwayman, assisting him afterwards to arise.

  The inauguration was complete.

  "Well," exclaimed Dick, "I'm glad it's all over. My leg feels a little stiffish. I'm not much given to kneeling. I must dance it off"; saying which, he began to shuffle upon the boards. "I tell you what," continued he, "most reverend patrico, that same 'salmon' of yours has a cursed long tail. I could scarce swallow it all, and it's strange if it don't give me an indigestion. As to you, sage Zory, from the dexterity with which you flourish your sword, I should say you had practised at Court. His Majesty could scarce do the thing better, when, slapping some fat alderman upon the shoulders, he bids him arise Sir Richard. And now, pals," added he, glancing round, "as I am one of you, let's have a boose together ere I depart, for I don't think my stay will be long in the land of Egypt."

  This suggestion of Turpin was so entirely consonant to the wishes of the assemblage, that it met with universal approbation; and upon a sign from Zoroaster, some of his followers departed in search of supplies for the carousal. Zoroaster leaped from the table, and his example was followed by Turpin, and more leisurely by the patrico.

  It was rather early in the day for a drinking bout. But the canting crew were not remarkably particular. The chairs were removed, and the jingling of glasses announced the arrival of the preliminaries of the matutine symposion. Poles, canvas, and cords, were next brought; and in almost as short space of time as one scene is substituted for another in a theatrical representation, a tent was erected. Benches, stools, and chairs, appeared with equal celerity, and the interior soon presented

  an appearance like that of a booth at a fair. A keg of brandy was broached, and the health of the new brother quaffed in brimmers.

  Our highwayman returned thanks. Zoroaster was in the chair, the knight of Malta acting as croupier.
A second toast was proposed—the tawny queen. This was drunk with a like enthusiasm, and with a like allowance of the potent spirit; but as bumpers of brandy are not to be repeated with impunity, it became evident to the president of the board that he must not repeat his toasts quite so expeditiously. To create a temporary diversion, therefore, he called for a song.

  The dulcet notes of the fiddle now broke through the clamour; and, in answer to the call, Jerry Juniper volunteered the following:

  JERRY JUNIPER'S CHANT

  In a box13 of the stone jug14 I was born,

  Of a hempen widow15 the kid forlorn,

  Fake away.

  And my father, as I've heard say,

  Fake away,

  Was a merchant of capers16 gay,

  Who cut his last fling with great applause,

  17 Nix my doll pals, fake away.

  Who cut his last fling with great applause,18

  To the tune of a "hearty choke with caper sauce."

  Fake away.

  The knucks in quod19 did my schoolmen play,

  Fake away,

  And put me up to the time of day;

  Until at last there was none so knowing,

  Nix my doll pals, fake away.

  Until at last there was none so knowing,