dingle, such as they call in some parts of Scotland a den, and in others a cleuch, or narrow glen. It seemed, by the broken glances which the moon continued to throw upon it, to be steep, precipitous, and full of trees, which are, generally speaking, rather scarce upon these shores. The descent by which we plunged into this dell was both steep and rugged, with two or three abrupt turnings; but neither danger nor darkness impeded the motion of the black horse, who seemed rather to slide upon his haunches, than to gallop down the pass, throwing me again on the shoulders of the athletic rider, who, sustaining no inconvenience by the circumstance, continued to press the horse forward with his heel, steadily supporting him at the same time by raising his bridle-hand, until we stood in safety at the bottom of the steep-not a little to my consolation, as, friend Alan, thou mayst easily

no delay would intervene between the platter and the lip. As this thought came across me, the man who had conducted the horse to the stable entered the apartment, and discovered to me a countenance yet more uninviting than that of the old crone who was performing with such dexterity the office of cook to the party. He was perhaps sixty years old; yet his brow was not much furrowed, and his jet black hair was only grizzled, not whitened, by the advance of age. All his motions spoke strength unabated; and, though rather undersized, he had very broad shoulders, was squaremade, thin-flanked, and apparently combined in his frame muscular strength and activity; the last somewhat impaired perhaps by years, but the first remaining in full vigour. A hard and harsh countenance-eyes far sunk under projecting eyebrows, which were grizzled like his hair-a wide mouth, furnished from ear A very short advance up the glen, the bottom of to ear with a range of unimpaired teeth, of uncomwhich we had attained by this ugly descent, brought mon whiteness, and a size and breadth which might us in front of two or three cottages, one of which have become the jaws of an ogre, completed this deanother blink of moonshine enabled me to rate as lightful portrait. He was clad like a fisherman, in rather better than those of the Scottish peasantry in jacket and trowsers of the blue cloth commonly used this part of the world; for the sashes seemed glazed, by seamen, and had a Dutch case-knife, like that of and there were what are called storm-windows in a Hamburgh skipper, stuck into a broad buff belt, the roof, giving symptoms of the magnificence of a which seemed as if it might occasionally sustain weasecond story. The scene around was very interest-pons of a description still less equivocally calculated ing; for the cottages, and the yards or crofts annexed for violence. to them, occupied a haugh, or holm, of two acres, which a brook of some consequence (to judge from its roar) had left upon one side of the little glen while finding its course close to the further bank, and which appeared to be covered and darkened with trees, while the level space beneath enjoyed such stormy smiles as the moon had that night to bestow.

conceive.

This man gave me an inquisitive, and, as I thought, a sinister look, upon entering the apartment; but without any farther notice of me, took up the office of arranging the table, which the old lady had abandoned for that of cooking the fish, and, with more address than I expected from a person of his coarse appearance, placed two chairs at the head of the taI had little time for observation, for my compa-ble, and two stools below; accommodating each seat nion's loud whistle, seconded by an equally loud hal- to a cover, beside which he placed an allowance of loo, speedily brought to the door of the principal cot- barley-bread, and a small jug, which he replenished tage a man and a woman, together with two large with ale from a large black jack. Three of these jugs Newfoundland dogs, the deep baying of which I had were of ordinary earthenware, but the fourth, which for some time heard. A yelping terrier or two, which he placed by the right-hand cover at the upper end of had joined the concert, were silent at the presence of the table, was a flagon of silver, and displayed armomy conductor, and began to whine, jump up, and rial bearings. Beside this flagon he placed a saltfawn upon him. The female drew back when she cellar of silver, handsomely wrought, containing salt beheld a stranger; the man, who had a lighted lan- of exquisite whiteness, with pepper and other spices. tern, advanced, and, without any observation, received A sliced lemon was also presented on a small silver the horse from my host, and led him, doubtless, to salver. The two large water-dogs, who seemed perstable, while I followed my conductor into the house. fectly to understand the nature of the preparations, When we had passed the hallan, we entered a well- seated themselves one on each side of the table, to be sized apartment, with a clean brick floor, where a fire ready to receive their portion of the entertainment. blazed (much to my contentment) in the ordinary I never saw finer animals, or which seemed to be projecting sort of chimney, common in Scottish more influenced by a sense of decorum, excepting houses. There were stone seats within the chimney; that they slobbered a little as the rich scent from the and ordinary utensils, mixed with fishing-spears, chimney was wafted past their noses. The small nets, and similar implements of sport, were hung dogs ensconced themselves beneath the table. around the walls of the place. The female who had first appeared at the door, had now retreated into a side apartment. She was presently followed by my guide, after he had silently motioned me to a seat; and their place was supplied by an elderly woman, in a gray stuff gown, with a check apron and toy, obviously a menial, though neater in her dress than is usual in her apparent rank-an advantage which was counterbalanced by a very forbidding aspect. But the most singular part of her attire, in this very Protestant country, was a rosary, in which the smaller beads were black oak, and those indicating the paternoster of silver, with a crucifix of the same metal.

This person made preparations for supper, by spreading a clean though coarse cloth over a large oaken table, placing trenchers and salt upon it, and arranging the fire to receive a gridiron. I observed her motions in silence; for she took no sort of notice of me, and as her looks were singularly forbidding, I felt no disposition to commence conversation.

When this duenna had made all preliminary arrangements, she took from the well-filled pouch of my conductor, which he had hung up by the door, one or two salmon, or grilses, as the smaller sort are termed, and selecting that which seemed best, and in highest season, began to cut it into slices, and to prepare a grillade; the savoury smell of which affected me so powerfully, that I began sincerely to hope that

* The partition which divides a Scottish cottage.

I am aware that I am dwelling upon trivial and ordinary circumstances, and that perhaps I may weary out your patience in doing so. But conceive me alone in this strange place, which seemed, from the universal silence, to be the very temple of Harpocrates-remember that this is my first excursion from home-forget not that the manner in which I had been brought hither had the dignity of danger and something the air of an adventure, and that there was a mysterious incongruity in all I had hitherto witnessed; and you will not, I think, be surprised that these circumstances, though trifling, should force themselves on my notice at the time, and dwell in my memory afterwards.

That a fisher, who pursued the sport perhaps for his amusement as well as profit, should be well mounted and better lodged than the lower class of peasantry, had in it nothing surprising; but there was something about all that I saw which seemed to intimate, that I was rather in the abode of a decayed gentleman, who clung to a few of the forms and observances of former rank, than in that of a common peasant, raised above his fellows by comparative opulence.

Besides the articles of plate which I have already noticed, the old man now lighted and placed on the table a silver lamp, or cruisie, as the Scottish term it, filled with very pure oil, which in burning diffused an aromatic fragrance, and gave me a more perfect

view of the cottage walls, which I had hitherto only "The foul fiend shall be clerk, and say amen, when seen dimly by the light of the fire. The bink, with I turn chaplain," growled out the party addressed, in its usual arrangement of pewter and earthen-ware, tones which might have become the condition of a which was most strictly and critically clean, glanced dying bear; "if the gentleman is a whig, he may back the flame of the lamp merrily from one side of please himself with his own mummery. My faith is the apartment. In a recess, formed by the small bow neither in word nor writ, but in barley bread and of a latticed window, was a large writing-desk of brown ale." walnut-tree wood, curiously carved, above which arose shelves of the same, which supported a few books and papers. The opposite side of the recess contained (as far as I could discern, for it lay in shadow, and I could at any rate have seen it but imperfectly from the place where I was seated) one or two guns, together with swords, pistols, and other arms -a collection which, in a poor cottage, and in a country so peaceful, appeared singular at least, if not even somewhat suspicious.

conscious that you did right in making the proffer, and not caring sixpence whether you hurt the feelings of him whom you meant to serve! I saw thee once give a penny to a man with a long beard, who, from the dignity of his exterior, might have represented Solon. I had not thy courage, and therefore I made no tender to my mysterious host, although, notwithstanding his display of silver utensils, all around the house bespoke narrow circumstances, if not actual poverty.

We left the place together. But I hear thee murmur thy very new and appropriate ejaculation, Ohe, jam satis! The rest for another time. Perhaps I may delay farther communication till I learn how my favours are valued.

LETTER V.

ALAN FAIRFORD TO DARSIE LATIMER.

I HAVE thy two last epistles, my dear Darsie, and, expecting the third, have been in no hurry to answer them. Do not think my silence ought to be ascribed to my failing to take interest in them, for, truly, they excel (though the task was difficult) thy usual excellings. Since the moon-calf who earliest discovered the Pandemonium of Milton in an expiring wood-fire -since the first ingenious urchin who blew bubbles out of soap and water, thou, my best of friends, hast the highest knack at making histories out of nothing. Wert thou to plant the bean in the nursery-tale, thou wouldst make out, so soon as it began to germinate, that the castle of the giant was about to elevate its battlements on the top of it. All that happens to thee gets a touch of the wonderful and the sublime from thy own rich imagination. Didst ever see what artists call a Claude Lorraine glass, which spreads its own particular hue over the whole landscape which you see through it ?-thou beholdest ordinary events just through such a medium.

I have looked carefully at the facts of thy last long letter, and they are just such as might have befallen any little truant of the High School, who had got down to Leith Sands, gone beyond the prawn-dub wet his hose and shoon, and, finally, had been carried home, in compassion, by some highkilted fishwife, cursing all the while the trouble which the brat occasioned her.

ask yourself whether you would not exert your legs as fast as you did in flying from the Solway tide. And yet you impeach my father's courage! I tell you he has courage enough to do what is right, and to spurn what is wrong-courage enough to defend a righteous cause with hand and purse, and to take the part of the poor man against his oppressor, without fear of the consequences to himself. This is civil courage, Darsie; and it is of little consequence to most men in this age and country, whether they ever possess military courage or no.

Do not think I am angry with you, though I thus attempt to rectify your opinions on my father's account. I am well aware that, upon the whole, he is scarce regarded with more respect by me than by thee. And while I am in a serious humour, which it is difficult to preserve with one who is perpetually tempting me to laugh at him, pray dearest Darsie, let not thy ardour for adventure carry thee into more such scrapes as that of the Solway Sands. The rest of the story is a mere imagination; but that stormy evening might have proved, as the clown says to Lear, a "naughty night to swim in."

As for the rest, if you can work mysterious and romantic heroes out of old crossgrained fishermen, why, I for one will reap some amusement by the metamorphosis. Yet hold! even there, there is some need of caution. This same female chaplain-thou savest so little of her, and so much of every one else, that it excites some doubt in my mind. Very pretty she is, it seems-and that is all thy discretion informs me of There are cases in which silence implies other things than consent. Wert thou ashamed or afraid, Darsie, to trust thyself with the praises of the very pretty grace-sayer?-As I live, thou blushest! Why, do I not know thee an inveterate Squire of Dames? and have I not been in thy confidence? An elegant elbow, displayed when the rest of the figure was muffled in a cardinal, or a neat well-turned ankle and instep, seen by chance as its owner tripped up the Old Assembly Close, turned thy brain for eight days. Thou wert once caught, if I remember rightly, with a single glance of a single matchless eye, which, when the fair owner withdrew her veil, proved to be single in the literal sense of the word. And, besides, were you not another time enamoured of a voice-a mere voice, that mingled in the psalmody at the Old Greyfriars Church-until you discovered the proprietor of that I admire the figure which thou must have made, dulcet organ to be Miss Dolly MacIzzard, who is both clinging for dear life behind the old fellow's back-"back and breast," as our saying goes? thy jaws chattering with fear, thy muscles cramped with anxiety. Thy execrable supper of broiled salmon, which was enough to insure the nightmare's regular visits for a twelvemonth, may be termed a real affliction; but as for the storm of Thursday last, (such, I observe, was the date,) it roared, whistled, howled, and bellowed, as fearfully amongst the old You will not expect much news from this quarter, chimney-heads in the Candlemaker-row, as it could as you know the monotony of my life, and are aware on the Solway shore, for the very wind of it-teste it must at present be devoted to uninterrupted study. me per totam noctem vigilante. And then in the morn-You have said a thousand times, that I am only quali ing again, when-Lord help you-in your sentimen- fied to make my way by dint of plodding, and theretal delicacy you bid the poor man adieu, without even fore plod I must. tendering him a half-a-crown for supper and lodging! You laugh at me for giving a penny (to be accurate, though, thou shouldst have said sixpence) to an old fellow, whom thou, in thy high flight, wouldst have sent home supperless, because he was like Solon or Belisarius. But you forget that the affront descended like a benediction into the pouch of the old gaberlunzie, who overflowed in blessings upon the generous donor -Long ere he would have thanked thee, Darsie, for thy barren veneration of his beard and his bearing. Then you laugh at my good father's retreat from Fal-! kirk, just as if it were not time for a man to trudge I resume my pen, after a few hours' interval, to say when three or four mountain knaves, with naked that an incident has occurred, on which you will your claymores, and heels as light as their fingers, were self be building a hundred castles in the air, and which scampering after him, crying furinish. You remem- even I, jealous as I am of such baseless fabrics, canwhat he said himself when the Laird of Bucklivat told not but own, affords ground for singular conjecture. him that furinish signified "stay a while." "What the devil," he said, surprised out of his Presbyterian correctness by the unreasonableness of such a request under the circumstances, "would the scoundrels have had me stop to have my head cut off?"

Imagine such a train at your own heels, Darsie, and

All these things considered, and contrasted with thy artful silence on the subject of this grace-saving Nereid of thine, I must beg thee to be more explicit upon that subject in thy next, unless thou wouldst have me form the conclusion that thou thinkest more of her than thou carest to talk of.

My father seems to be more impatient of your absence than he was after your first departure. He is sensible, I believe, that our solitary meals want the light which your gay humour was wont to throw over them, and feels melancholy, as men do when the light of the sun is no longer upon the landscape. If it is thus with him, thou mayst imagine it is much more so with me, and canst conceive how heartily I wish that thy frolic were ended, and thou once more our inmate.

My father has of late taken me frequently along with him when he attends the Courts, in his anxiety to see me properly initiated into the practical forms of business. I own I feel something on his account

Of old this almost deserted alley formed the most common

access betwixt the High Street and the southern suburbs.

and my own from this over anxiety, which, I dare say, renders us both ridiculous. But what signifies my repugnance! my father drags me up to his counsel learned in the law," Are you quite ready to come on to-day, Mr. Crossbite ?--This is my son, designed for the bar-I take the liberty to bring him with me today to the consultation, merely that he may see how these things are managed."

Mr. Crossbite smiles and bows, as a lawyer smiles on the solicitor who employs him, and I dare say, thrusts his tongue into his cheek, and whispers into the first great wig that passes him, "What the d-1 does old Fairford mean by letting loose his whelp

on me?"

As I stood beside them, too much vexed at the childish part I was made to play to derive much information from the valuable arguments of Mr. Crossbite, I observed a rather elderly man, who stood with his eyes firmly bent on my father, as if he only waited an end of the business in which he was engaged, to address him. There was something, I thought, in the gentleman's appearance which commanded attention. Yet his dress was not in the present taste, and though it had once been magnificent, was now antiquated and unfashionable. His coat was of branched velvet, with a satin lining, a waistcoat of violet-coloured silk, much embroidered; his breeches the same stuff as the coat. He wore square-toed shoes, with foretops, as they are called; and his silk stockings were rolled up over his knee, as you may have seen in pictures, and here and there on some of those originals who seem to pique themselves on dressing after the mode of Methuselah. A chapeau bras and sword necessarily completed his equipment, which, though out of date, showed that it belonged to a man of distinction, The instant Mr. Crossbite had ended what he had to say, this gentleman walked up to my father, with, "Your servant, Mr. Fairford-it is long since you and

I met.

was with a look of scorn that he replied, "I will relieve you then till that hour, Mr. Fairford;" and his whole manner seemed to say, "It is my pleasure to dine with you, and I care not whether I am welcome or no.'

When he turned away, I asked my father who he was. "An unfortunate gentleman," was the reply. "He looks pretty well on his misfortunes," replied I. "I should not have suspected that so gay an outside was lacking a dinner."

"Who told you that he does?" replied my father; "he is omni suspicione major, so far as worldly circumstances are concerned-It is to be hoped he makes a good use of them; though, if he does, it will be for the first time in his life."

"He has then been an irregular liver?" insinuated I. My father replied by that famous brocard with which he silences all unacceptable queries, turning in the slightest degree upon the failings of our neighbours,-"If we mend our own faults, Alan, we shall all of us have enough to do, without sitting in judgment upon other folks."

Here I was again at fault; but rallying once more, I observed, he had the air of a man of high rank and family.

"He is well entitled," said my father, "representing Herries of Birrenswork; a branch of that great and once powerful family of Herries, the elder branch whereof merged in the house of Nithesdale at the death of Lord Robin the Philosopher, Anno Domini sixteen hundred and sixty-seven.'

"Has he still," said I, "his patrimonial estate of Birrenswork?"

"No," replied my father; "so far back as his father's time, it was a mere designation-the property being forfeited by Herbert Herries following his kinsman the Earl of Derwentwater, to the Preston affair in 1715. But they keep up the designation, thinking, doubtless, that their claims may be revived in more favourable times for Jacobites and for Popery; and folks who in no way partake of their fantastic capriccios, do yet allow it to pass unchallenged, ex comitate, if not ex misericordia.-But were he the Pope and the

My father, whose politeness, you know, is exact and formal, bowed, and hemmed, and was confused, and at length professed that the distance since they had met was so great, that though he remembered the face perfectly, the name, he was sorry to say, had-Pretender both, we must get some dinner ready for really-somehow-escaped his memory.

"Have you forgot Herries of Birrenswork?" said the gentleman, and my father bowed even more profoundly than before; though I think his reception of his old friend seemed to lose some of the respectful civility which he bestowed on him while his name was yet unknown. It now seemed to be something like the lip-courtesy which the heart would have denied had ceremony permitted. '

My father, however, again bowed low, and hoped he saw him well.

"So well, my good Mr. Fairford, that I come hither determined to renew my acquaintance with one or two old friends, and with you in the first place.-I halt at my old resting-place-you must dine with me to-day at Paterson's, at the head of the Horse Wyndit is near your new fashionable dwelling, and I have business with you."

My father excused himself respectfully, and not without embarrassment-" he was particularly engaged at home."

him, since he has thought fit to offer himself. So hasten home, my lad, and tell Hannah, Cook Epps, and James Wilkinson to do their best; and do thou look out a pint or two of Maxwell's best-it is in the fifth bin-there are the keys of the wine-cellar.-Do not leave them in the lock-you know poor James's failing, though he is an honest creature under all other temptations-and I have but two bottles of the old brandy left-we must keep it for medicine, Alan."

Away went I-made my preparations-the hour of dinner came, and so did Mr. Herries of Birrenswork. If I had thy power of imagination and description, Darsie, I could make out a fine, dark, mysterious, Rembrandt-looking portrait of this same stranger, which should be as far superior to thy fisherman, as a shirt of chain-mail is to a herring-net. I can assure you there is some matter for description about him; but knowing my own imperfections, I can only say, I thought him eminently disagreeable and ill-bred.No, ill-bred is not the proper word; on the contrary, he appeared to know the rules of good-breeding perfectly, and only to think that the rank of the company did not require that he should attend to them-a view of the matter infinitely more offensive than if his

Then I will dine with you, man," said Mr. Herries of Birrenswork; "the few minutes you can spare me after dinner, will suffice for my business; and I will not prevent you a moment from minding your own-behaviour had been that of uneducated and proper I am no bottle-man."

You have often remarked that my father, though a scrupulous observer of the rites of hospitality, seems to exercise them rather as a duty than as a pleasure; indeed, but for a conscientious wish to feed the hungry and receive the stranger, his doors would open to guests much seldomer than is the case. I never saw so strong an example of this peculiarity, (which I should otherwise have said is caricatured in your description,) as in his mode of homologating the selfgiven invitation of Mr. Herries. The embarrassed brow and the attempt at a smile which accompanied his "We will expect the honour of seeing you in Brown Square at three o'clock," could not deceive any one, and did not impose upon the old Laird. It

rudeness. While my father said grace, the Laird did all but whistle aloud; and when I, at my father's desire, returned thanks, he used his toothpick, as if he had waited that moment for its exercise.

So much for Kirk-with King, matters went even worse. My father, thou knowest, is particularly full of deference to his guests; and in the present case, he seemed more than usually desirous to escape every cause of dispute. He so far compromised his loyalty, as to announce merely "The King," as his first toast after dinner, instead of the emphatic "King George," which is his usual formula. Our guest made a motion with his glass, so as to pass it over the waterdecanter which stood beside him, and added, "Over the water."