Old Mortality, Volume 2. Page 4

  CHAPTER IV.

  Once more into the breach--dear friends, once more! Henry V.

  On the evening of this day, all the information which they could procureled them to expect, that the insurgent army would be with early dawn ontheir march against Tillietudlem. Lord Evandale's wounds had beenexamined by Pike, who reported them in a very promising state. They werenumerous, but none of any consequence; and the loss of blood, as muchperhaps as the boasted specific of Lady Margaret, had prevented anytendency to fever; so that, notwithstanding he felt some pain and greatweakness, the patient maintained that he was able to creep about with theassistance of a stick. In these circumstances he refused to be confinedto his apartment, both that he might encourage the soldiers by hispresence, and suggest any necessary addition to the plan of defence,which the Major might be supposed to have arranged upon something of anantiquated fashion of warfare. Lord Evandale was well qualified to giveadvice on such subjects, having served, during his early youth, both inFrance and in the Low Countries. There was little or no occasion,however, for altering the preparations already made; and, excepting onthe article of provisions, there seemed no reason to fear for the defenceof so strong a place against such assailants as those by whom it wasthreatened.

  With the peep of day, Lord Evandale and Major Bellenden were on thebattlements again, viewing and re-viewing the state of theirpreparations, and anxiously expecting the approach of the enemy. I oughtto observe, that the report of the spies had now been regularly made andreceived; but the Major treated the report that Morton was in armsagainst the government with the most scornful incredulity.

  "I know the lad better," was the only reply he deigned to make; "thefellows have not dared to venture near enough, and have been deceived bysome fanciful resemblance, or have picked up some story."

  "I differ from you, Major," answered Lord Evandale; "I think you will seethat young gentleman at the head of the insurgents; and, though I shallbe heartily sorry for it, I shall not be greatly surprised."

  "You are as bad as Claverhouse," said the Major, "who contended yesterdaymorning down my very throat, that this young fellow, who is ashigh-spirited and gentleman-like a boy as I have ever known, wanted butan opportunity to place himself at the head of the rebels."

  "And considering the usage which he has received, and the suspicionsunder which he lies," said Lord Evandale, "what other course is open tohim? For my own part, I should hardly know whether he deserved most blameor pity."

  "Blame, my lord?--Pity!" echoed the Major, astonished at hearing suchsentiments; "he would deserve to be hanged, that's all; and, were he myown son, I should see him strung up with pleasure--Blame, indeed! Butyour lordship cannot think as you are pleased to speak?"

  "I give you my honour, Major Bellenden, that I have been for some time ofopinion, that our politicians and prelates have driven matters to apainful extremity in this country, and have alienated, by violence ofvarious kinds, not only the lower classes, but all those in the upperranks, whom strong party-feeling, or a desire of court-interest, does notattach to their standard."

  "I am no politician," answered the Major, "and I do not understand nicedistinctions. My sword is the King's, and when he commands, I draw it inhis cause."

  "I trust," replied the young lord, "you will not find me more backwardthan yourself, though I heartily wish that the enemy were foreigners. Itis, however, no time to debate that matter, for yonder they come, and wemust defend ourselves as well as we can."

  As Lord Evandale spoke, the van of the insurgents began to make theirappearance on the road which crossed the top of the hill, and thencedescended opposite to the Tower. They did not, however, move downwards,as if aware that, in doing so, their columns would be exposed to the fireof the artillery of the place. But their numbers, which at first seemedfew, appeared presently so to deepen and concentrate themselves, that,judging of the masses which occupied the road behind the hill from thecloseness of the front which they presented on the top of it, their forceappeared very considerable. There was a pause of anxiety on both sides;and, while the unsteady ranks of the Covenanters were agitated, as if bypressure behind, or uncertainty as to their next movement, their arms,picturesque from their variety, glanced in the morning sun, whose beamswere reflected from a grove of pikes, muskets, halberds, and battle-axes.The armed mass occupied, for a few minutes, this fluctuating position,until three or four horsemen, who seemed to be leaders, advanced from thefront, and occupied the height a little nearer to the Castle. JohnGudyill, who was not without some skill as an artilleryman, brought a gunto bear on this detached group.

  "I'll flee the falcon,"--(so the small cannon was called,)--"I'll fleethe falcon whene'er your honour gies command; my certie, she'll ruffletheir feathers for them!"

  The Major looked at Lord Evandale.

  "Stay a moment," said the young nobleman, "they send us a flag of truce."

  In fact, one of the horsemen at that moment dismounted, and, displaying awhite cloth on a pike, moved forward towards the Tower, while the Majorand Lord Evandale, descending from the battlement of the main fortress,advanced to meet him as far as the barricade, judging it unwise to admithim within the precincts which they designed to defend. At the same timethat the ambassador set forth, the group of horsemen, as if they hadanticipated the preparations of John Gudyill for their annoyance,withdrew from the advanced station which they had occupied, and fell backto the main body.

  The envoy of the Covenanters, to judge by his mien and manner, seemedfully imbued with that spiritual pride which distinguished his sect. Hisfeatures were drawn up to a contemptuous primness, and his half-shut eyesseemed to scorn to look upon the terrestial objects around, while, atevery solemn stride, his toes were pointed outwards with an air thatappeared to despise the ground on which they trode. Lord Evandale couldnot suppress a smile at this singular figure.

  "Did you ever," said he to Major Bellenden, "see such an absurdautomaton? One would swear it moves upon springs--Can it speak, thinkyou?"

  "O, ay," said the Major; "that seems to be one of my old acquaintance, agenuine puritan of the right pharisaical leaven.--Stay--he coughs andhems; he is about to summon the Castle with the but-end of a sermon,instead of a parley on the trumpet."

  The veteran, who in his day had had many an opportunity to becomeacquainted with the manners of these religionists, was not far mistakenin his conjecture; only that, instead of a prose exordium, the Laird ofLangcale--for it was no less a personage--uplifted, with a Stentorianvoice, a verse of the twenty-fourth Psalm:

  "Ye gates lift up your heads! ye doors, Doors that do last for aye, Belifted up"--

  "I told you so," said the Major to Evandale, and then presented himselfat the entrance of the barricade, demanding to know for what purpose orintent he made that doleful noise, like a hog in a high wind, beneath thegates of the Castle.

  "I come," replied the ambassador, in a high and shrill voice, and withoutany of the usual salutations or deferences,--"I come from the godly armyof the Solemn League and Covenant, to speak with two carnal malignants,William Maxwell, called Lord Evandale, and Miles Bellenden of Charnwood."

  "And what have you to say to Miles Bellenden and Lord Evandale?" answeredthe Major.

  "Are you the parties?" said the Laird of Langcale, in the same sharp,conceited, disrespectful tone of voice.

  "Even so, for fault of better," said the Major.

  "Then there is the public summons," said the envoy, putting a paper intoLord Evandale's hand, "and there is a private letter for Miles Bellendenfrom a godly youth, who is honoured with leading a part of our host. Readthem quickly, and God give you grace to fructify by the contents, thoughit is muckle to be doubted."

  The summons ran thus: "We, the named and constituted leaders of thegentlemen, ministers, and others, presently in arms for the cause ofliberty and true religion, do warn and summon William Lord Evandale andMiles Bellenden of Charnwood, and others presently in arms, and keepi
nggarrison in the Tower of Tillietudlem, to surrender the said Tower uponfair conditions of quarter, and license to depart with bag and baggage,otherwise to suffer such extremity of fire and sword as belong by thelaws of war to those who hold out an untenable post. And so may Goddefend his own good cause!"

  This summons was signed by John Balfour of Burley, as quarter-mastergeneral of the army of the Covenant, for himself, and in name of theother leaders.

  The letter to Major Bellenden was from Henry Morton. It was couched inthe following language:

  "I have taken a step, my venerable friend, which, among many painfulconsequences, will, I am afraid, incur your very decided disapprobation.But I have taken my resolution in honour and good faith, and with thefull approval of my own conscience. I can no longer submit to have my ownrights and those of my fellow-subjects trampled upon, our freedomviolated, our persons insulted, and our blood spilt, without just causeor legal trial. Providence, through the violence of the oppressorsthemselves, seems now to have opened a way of deliverance from thisintolerable tyranny, and I do not hold him deserving of the name andrights of a freeman, who, thinking as I do, shall withold his arm fromthe cause of his country. But God, who knows my heart, be my witness,that I do not share the angry or violent passions of the oppressed andharassed sufferers with whom I am now acting. My most earnest and anxiousdesire is, to see this unnatural war brought to a speedy end, by theunion of the good, wise, and moderate of all parties, and a peacerestored, which, without injury to the King's constitutional rights, maysubstitute the authority of equal laws to that of military violence, and,permitting to all men to worship God according to their own consciences,may subdue fanatical enthusiasm by reason and mildness, instead ofdriving it to frenzy by persecution and intolerance.

  "With these sentiments, you may conceive with what pain I appear in armsbefore the house of your venerable relative, which we understand youpropose to hold out against us. Permit me to press upon you theassurance, that such a measure will only lead to the effusion ofblood--that, if repulsed in the assault, we are yet strong enough toinvest the place, and reduce it by hunger, being aware of yourindifferent preparations to sustain a protracted siege. It would grieveme to the heart to think what would be the sufferings in such a case,and upon whom they would chiefly fall.

  "Do not suppose, my respected friend, that I would propose to you anyterms which could compromise the high and honourable character which youhave so deservedly won, and so long borne. If the regular soldiers (towhom I will ensure a safe retreat) are dismissed from the place, I trustno more will be required than your parole to remain neuter during thisunhappy contest; and I will take care that Lady Margaret's property, aswell as yours, shall be duly respected, and no garrison intruded uponyou. I could say much in favour of this proposal; but I fear, as I mustin the present instance appear criminal in your eyes, good argumentswould lose their influence when coming from an unwelcome quarter. I will,therefore, break off with assuring you, that whatever your sentiments maybe hereafter towards me, my sense of gratitude to you can never bediminished or erased; and it would be the happiest moment of my life thatshould give me more effectual means than mere words to assure you of it.Therefore, although in the first moment of resentment you may reject theproposal I make to you, let not that prevent you from resuming the topic,if future events should render it more acceptable; for whenever, orhowsoever, I can be of service to you, it will always afford the greatestsatisfaction to "Henry Morton."

  Having read this long letter with the most marked indignation, MajorBellenden put it into the hands of Lord Evandale.

  "I would not have believed this," he said, "of Henry Morton, if halfmankind had sworn it! The ungrateful, rebellious traitor! rebellious incold blood, and without even the pretext of enthusiasm, that warms theliver of such a crack-brained fop as our friend the envoy there. But Ishould have remembered he was a presbyterian--I ought to have been awarethat I was nursing a wolf-cub, whose diabolical nature would make himtear and snatch at me on the first opportunity. Were Saint Paul on earthagain, and a presbyterian, he would be a rebel in three months--it is inthe very blood of them."

  "Well," said Lord Evandale, "I will be the last to recommend surrender;but, if our provisions fail, and we receive no relief from Edinburgh orGlasgow, I think we ought to avail ourselves of this opening, to get theladies, at least, safe out of the Castle."

  "They will endure all, ere they would accept the protection of such asmooth-tongued hypocrite," answered the Major indignantly; "I wouldrenounce them for relatives were it otherwise. But let us dismiss theworthy ambassador.--My friend," he said, turning to Langcale, "tell yourleaders, and the mob they have gathered yonder, that, if they have not aparticular opinion of the hardness of their own skulls, I would advisethem to beware how they knock them against these old walls. And let themsend no more flags of truce, or we will hang up the messenger inretaliation of the murder of Cornet Grahame."

  With this answer the ambassador returned to those by whom he had beensent. He had no sooner reached the main body than a murmur was heardamongst the multitude, and there was raised in front of their ranks anample red flag, the borders of which were edged with blue. As the signalof war and defiance spread out its large folds upon the morning wind, theancient banner of Lady Margaret's family, together with the royal ensign,were immediately hoisted on the walls of the Tower, and at the same time,a round of artillery was discharged against the foremost ranks of theinsurgents, by which they sustained some loss. Their leaders instantlywithdrew them to the shelter of the brow of the hill.

  "I think," said John Gudyill, while he busied himself in re-charging hisguns, "they hae fund the falcon's neb a bit ower hard for them--It's nofor nought that the hawk whistles."

  But as he uttered these words, the ridge was once more crowded with theranks of the enemy. A general discharge of their fire-arms was directedagainst the defenders upon the battlements. Under cover of the smoke, acolumn of picked men rushed down the road with determined courage, and,sustaining with firmness a heavy fire from the garrison, they forcedtheir way, in spite of opposition, to the first barricade by which theavenue was defended. They were led on by Balfour in person, who displayedcourage equal to his enthusiasm; and, in spite of every opposition,forced the barricade, killing and wounding several of the defenders, andcompelling the rest to retreat to their second position. The precautions,however, of Major Bellenden rendered this success unavailing; for nosooner were the Covenanters in possession of the post, than a close anddestructive fire was poured into it from the Castle, and from thosestations which commanded it in the rear. Having no means of protectingthemselves from this fire, or of returning it with effect against men whowere under cover of their barricades and defences, the Covenanters wereobliged to retreat; but not until they had, with their axes, destroyedthe stockade, so as to render it impossible for the defenders tore-occupy it.

  Balfour was the last man that retired. He even remained for a short spacealmost alone, with an axe in his hand, labouring like a pioneer amid thestorm of balls, many of which were specially aimed against him. Theretreat of the party he commanded was not effected without heavy loss,and served as a severe lesson concerning the local advantages possessedby the garrison.

  The next attack of the Covenanters was made with more caution. A strongparty of marksmen, (many of them competitors at the game of thepopinjay,) under the command of Henry Morton, glided through the woodswhere they afforded them the best shelter, and, avoiding the open road,endeavoured, by forcing their way through the bushes and trees, and upthe rocks which surrounded it on either side, to gain a position, fromwhich, without being exposed in an intolerable degree, they might annoythe flank of the second barricade, while it was menaced in front by asecond attack from Burley. The besieged saw the danger of this movement,and endeavoured to impede the approach of the marksmen, by firing uponthem at every point where they showed themselves. The assailants, on theother hand, displayed great coolness, spirit
, and judgment, in the mannerin which they approached the defences. This was, in a great measure, tobe ascribed to the steady and adroit manner in which they were conductedby their youthful leader, who showed as much skill in protecting his ownfollowers as spirit in annnoying the enemy.

  He repeatedly enjoined his marksmen to direct their aim chiefly upon thered-coats, and to save the others engaged in the defence of the Castle;and, above all, to spare the life of the old Major, whose anxiety madehim more than once expose himself in a manner, that, without suchgenerosity on the part of the enemy, might have proved fatal. A droppingfire of musketry now glanced from every part of the precipitous mount onwhich the Castle was founded. From bush to bush--from crag to crag--fromtree to tree, the marksmen continued to advance, availing themselves ofbranches and roots to assist their ascent, and contending at once withthe disadvantages of the ground and the fire of the enemy. At length theygot so high on the ascent, that several of them possessed an opportunityof firing into the barricade against the defenders, who then lay exposedto their aim, and Burley, profiting by the confusion of the moment, movedforward to the attack in front. His onset was made with the samedesperation and fury as before, and met with less resistance, thedefenders being alarmed at the progress which the sharp-shooters had madein turning the flank of their position. Determined to improve hisadvantage, Burley, with his axe in his hand, pursued the party whom hehad dislodged even to the third and last barricade, and entered it alongwith them.

  "Kill, kill--down with the enemies of God and his people!--Noquarter--The Castle is ours!" were the cries by which he animated hisfriends; the most undaunted of whom followed him close, whilst theothers, with axes, spades, and other implements, threw up earth, cutdown trees, hastily labouring to establish such a defensive cover in therear of the second barricade as might enable them to retain possessionof it, in case the Castle was not carried by this coup-de-main.

  Lord Evandale could no longer restrain his impatience. He charged with afew soldiers who had been kept in reserve in the court-yard of theCastle; and, although his arm was in a sling, encouraged them, by voiceand gesture, to assist their companions who were engaged with Burley. Thecombat now assumed an air of desperation. The narrow road was crowdedwith the followers of Burley, who pressed forward to support theircompanions. The soldiers, animated by the voice and presence of LordEvandale, fought with fury, their small numbers being in some measurecompensated by their greater skill, and by their possessing the upperground, which they defended desperately with pikes and halberds, as wellas with the but of the carabines and their broadswords. Those within theCastle endeavoured to assist their companions, whenever they could solevel their guns as to fire upon the enemy without endangering theirfriends. The sharp-shooters, dispersed around, were firing incessantly oneach object that was exposed upon the battlement. The Castle wasenveloped with smoke, and the rocks rang to the cries of the combatants.In the midst of this scene of confusion, a singular accident had nearlygiven the besiegers possession of the fortress.

  Cuddie Headrigg, who had advanced among the marksmen, being wellacquainted with every rock and bush in the vicinity of the Castle, wherehe had so often gathered nuts with Jenny Dennison, was enabled, by suchlocal knowledge, to advance farther, and with less danger, than most ofhis companions, excepting some three or four who had followed him close.Now Cuddie, though a brave enough fellow upon the whole, was by no meansfond of danger, either for its own sake, or for that of the glory whichattends it. In his advance, therefore, he had not, as the phrase goes,taken the bull by the horns, or advanced in front of the enemy's fire. Onthe contrary, he had edged gradually away from the scene of action, and,turning his line of ascent rather to the left, had pursued it until itbrought him under a front of the Castle different from that before whichthe parties were engaged, and to which the defenders had given noattention, trusting to the steepness of the precipice. There was,however, on this point, a certain window belonging to a certain pantry,and communicating with a certain yew-tree, which grew out of a steepcleft of the rock, being the very pass through which Goose Gibbie wassmuggled out of the Castle in order to carry Edith's express toCharnwood, and which had probably, in its day, been used for othercontraband purposes. Cuddie, resting upon the but of his gun, and lookingup at this window, observed to one of his companions,--"There's a place Iken weel; mony a time I hae helped Jenny Dennison out o' the winnock,forby creeping in whiles mysell to get some daffin, at e'en after thepleugh was loosed."

  "And what's to hinder us to creep in just now?" said the other, who was asmart enterprising young fellow.

  "There's no muckle to hinder us, an that were a'," answered Cuddie; "butwhat were we to do neist?"

  "We'll take the Castle," cried the other; "here are five or six o' us,and a' the sodgers are engaged at the gate."

  "Come awa wi' you, then," said Cuddie; "but mind, deil a finger ye maunlay on Lady Margaret, or Miss Edith, or the auld Major, or, aboon a', onJenny Dennison, or ony body but the sodgers--cut and quarter amang themas ye like, I carena."

  "Ay, ay," said the other, "let us once in, and we will make our ain termswith them a'."

  Gingerly, and as if treading upon eggs, Cuddie began to ascend thewell-known pass, not very willingly; for, besides that he was somethingapprehensive of the reception he might meet with in the inside, hisconscience insisted that he was making but a shabby requital for LadyMargaret's former favours and protection. He got up, however, into theyew-tree, followed by his companions, one after another. The window wassmall, and had been secured by stancheons of iron; but these had beenlong worn away by time, or forced out by the domestics to possess a freepassage for their own occasional convenience. Entrance was thereforeeasy, providing there was no one in the pantry, a point which Cuddieendeavoured to discover before he made the final and perilous step. Whilehis companions, therefore, were urging and threatening him behind, and hewas hesitating and stretching his neck to look into the apartment, hishead became visible to Jenny Dennison, who had ensconced herself in saidpantry as the safest place in which to wait the issue of the assault. Sosoon as this object of terror caught her eye, she set up a hystericscream, flew to the adjacent kitchen, and, in the desperate agony offear, seized on a pot of kailbrose which she herself had hung on the firebefore the combat began, having promised to Tam Halliday to prepare hisbreakfast for him. Thus burdened, she returned to the window of thepantry, and still exclaiming, "Murder! murder!--we are a' harried andravished--the Castle's taen--tak it amang ye!" she discharged the wholescalding contents of the pot, accompanied with a dismal yell, upon theperson of the unfortunate Cuddie. However welcome the mess might havebeen, if Cuddie and it had become acquainted in a regular manner, theeffects, as administered by Jenny, would probably have cured him ofsoldiering for ever, had he been looking upwards when it was thrown uponhim. But, fortunately for our man of war, he had taken the alarm uponJenny's first scream, and was in the act of looking down, expostulatingwith his comrades, who impeded the retreat which he was anxious tocommence; so that the steel cap and buff coat which formerly belonged toSergeant Bothwell, being garments of an excellent endurance, protectedhis person against the greater part of the scalding brose. Enough,however, reached him to annoy him severely, so that in the pain andsurprise he jumped hastily out of the tree, oversetting his followers, tothe manifest danger of their limbs, and, without listening to arguments,entreaties, or authority, made the best of his way by the most safe roadto the main body of the army whereunto he belonged, and could neither bythreats nor persuasion be prevailed upon to return to the attack.

  Jenny Dennison--050]

  As for Jenny, when she had thus conferred upon one admirer's outward manthe viands which her fair hands had so lately been in the act ofpreparing for the stomach of another, she continued her song of alarm,running a screaming division upon all those crimes, which the lawyerscall the four pleas of the crown, namely, murder, fire, rape, androbbery. These hideous exclamations gave so much alarm, and created suchconfusion within
the Castle, that Major Bellenden and Lord Evandalejudged it best to draw off from the conflict without the gates, and,abandoning to the enemy all the exterior defences of the avenue, confinethemselves to the Castle itself, for fear of its being surprised on someunguarded point. Their retreat was unmolested; for the panic of Cuddieand his companions had occasioned nearly as much confusion on the sideof the besiegers, as the screams of Jenny had caused to the defenders.

  There was no attempt on either side to renew the action that day. Theinsurgents had suffered most severely; and, from the difficulty whichthey had experienced in carrying the barricadoed positions without theprecincts of the Castle, they could have but little hope of storming theplace itself. On the other hand, the situation of the besieged wasdispiriting and gloomy. In the skirmishing they had lost two or threemen, and had several wounded; and though their loss was in proportiongreatly less than that of the enemy, who had left twenty men dead on theplace, yet their small number could much worse spare it, while thedesperate attacks of the opposite party plainly showed how serious theleaders were in the purpose of reducing the place, and how well secondedby the zeal of their followers. But, especially, the garrison had to fearfor hunger, in case blockade should be resorted to as the means ofreducing them. The Major's directions had been imperfectly obeyed inregard to laying in provisions; and the dragoons, in spite of all warningand authority, were likely to be wasteful in using them. It was,therefore, with a heavy heart, that Major Bellenden gave directions forguarding the window through which the Castle had so nearly beensurprised, as well as all others which offered the most remote facilityfor such an enterprise.