Waverley; Or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since Read online

  CHAPTER VII

  A HORSE-QUARTER IN SCOTLAND

  The next morning, amid varied feelings, the chief of which was apredominant, anxious, and even solemn impression, that he was now ina great measure abandoned to his own guidance and direction, EdwardWaverley departed from the Hall amid the blessings and tears of all theold domestics and the inhabitants of the village, mingled with some slypetitions for sergeantcies and corporalships, and so forth, on the partof those who professed that 'they never thoft to ha' seen Jacob, andGiles, and Jonathan, go off for soldiers, save to attend his honour, asin duty bound.' Edward, as in duty bound, extricated himself from thesupplicants with the pledge of fewer promises than might have beenexpected from a young man so little accustomed to the world. After ashort visit to London, he proceeded on horseback, then the general modeof travelling, to Edinburgh, and from thence to Dundee, a seaport on theeastern coast of Angus-shire, where his regiment was then quartered.

  He now entered upon a new world, where, for a time, all was beautifulbecause all was new. Colonel Gardiner, the commanding officer of theregiment, was himself a study for a romantic, and at the same time aninquisitive, youth. In person he was tall, handsome, and active, thoughsomewhat advanced in life. In his early years, he had been what iscalled, by manner of palliative, a very gay young man, and strangestories were circulated about his sudden conversion from doubt, if notinfidelity, to a serious and even enthusiastic turn of mind. It waswhispered that a supernatural communication, of a nature obvious even tothe exterior senses, had produced this wonderful change; and though somementioned the proselyte as an enthusiast, none hinted at his being ahypocrite. This singular and mystical circumstance gave Colonel Gardinera peculiar and solemn interest in the eyes of the young soldier. [4]It may be easily imagined that the officers of a regiment,commanded by so respectable a person, composed a society more sedate andorderly than a military mess always exhibits; and that Waverley escapedsome temptations to which he might otherwise have been exposed.

  Meanwhile his military education proceeded. Already a good horseman, hewas now initiated into the arts of the manege, which, when carried toperfection, almost realize the fable of the Centaur, the guidance of thehorse appearing to proceed from the rider's mere volition, rather thanfrom the use of any external and apparent signal of motion. He receivedalso instructions in his field duty; but, I must own, that whenhis first ardour was passed, his progress fell short in the latterparticular of what he wished and expected. The duty of an officer,the most imposing of all others to the inexperienced mind, becauseaccompanied with so much outward pomp and circumstance, is inits essence a very dry and abstract task, depending chiefly uponarithmetical combinations, requiring much attention, and a cool andreasoning head, to bring them into action. Our hero was liable to fitsof absence, in which his blunders excited some mirth, and called downsome reproof. This circumstance impressed him with a painful sense ofinferiority in those qualities which appeared most to deserve and obtainregard in his new profession. He asked himself in vain, why his eyecould not judge of distance or space so well as those of his companions;why his head was not always successful in disentangling the variouspartial movements necessary to execute a particular evolution; andwhy his memory, so alert upon most occasions, did not correctly retaintechnical phrases, and minute points of etiquette or field discipline.Waverley was naturally modest, and therefore did not fall into theegregious mistake of supposing such minuter rules of military dutybeneath his notice, or conceiting himself to be born a general, becausehe made an indifferent subaltern. The truth was, that the vague andunsatisfactory course of reading which he had pursued, working upon atemper naturally retired and abstracted, had given him that waveringand unsettled habit of mind, which is most averse to study and rivetedattention. Time, in the meanwhile, hung heavy on his hands. The gentryof the neighbourhood were disaffected, and, showed little hospitalityto the military guests; and the people of the town, chiefly engaged inmercantile pursuits, were not such as Waverley chose to associatewith. The arrival of summer, and a curiosity to know something more ofScotland than he could see in a ride from his quarters, determined himto request leave of absence for a few weeks. He resolved first tovisit his uncle's ancient friend and correspondent, with the purposeof extending or shortening the time of his residence according tocircumstances. He travelled of course on horseback, and with a singleattendant, and passed his first night at a miserable inn, where thelandlady had neither shoes nor stockings, and the landlord, who calledhimself a gentleman, was disposed to be rude to his guest, because hehad not bespoke the pleasure of his society to supper. [5] Thenext day, traversing an open and unenclosed country, Edward graduallyapproached the Highlands of Perthshire, which at first had appeared ablue outline in the horizon, but now swelled into huge gigantic masses,which frowned defiance over the more level country that lay beneaththem. Near the bottom of this stupendous barrier, but still in theLowland country, dwelt Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine of Bradwardine; and, ifgrey-haired eld can be in aught believed, there had dwelt his ancestors,with all their heritage, since the days of the gracious King Duncan.