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 Wilson's
 Tales of the Borders
 AND OF SCOTLAND.

 HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE.

 WITH A GLOSSARY.

 REVISED BY
 ALEXANDER LEIGHTON,
 _One of the Original Editors and Contributors._

 VOL. II.

 LONDON:
 WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE,
 AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.
 1884.




CONTENTS.


 A WIFE OR THE WUDDY,             (_John Mackay Wilson_),    1
 LORD DURIE AND CHRISTIE'S WILL,  (_Alexander Leighton_),   33
 RECOLLECTIONS OF BURNS,          (_Hugh Miller_),          65
 THE PROFESSOR'S TALES            (_Professor Thomas Gillespie_)--
     THE CONVIVIALISTS,                                    122
     PHILIPS GREY,                                       144
 DONALD GORM,                     (_Alexander Campbell_),  155
 THE SURGEON'S TALES,             (_Alexander Leighton_)--
     THE CURED INGRATE,  188
 THE ADOPTED SON,                 (_John Mackay Wilson_),  220
 THE FORTUNES OF WILLIAM WIGHTON, (_John Howell_),         247
 MY BLACK COAT; OR, THE BREAKING
     OF THE BRIDE'S CHINA,        (_John Mackay Wilson_),  276




 WILSON'S
 TALES OF THE BORDERS
 AND OF SCOTLAND.

THE WIFE OR THE WUDDY.

    "There was a criminal in a cart
       Agoing to be hanged--
     Reprieve to him was granted;
       The crowd and cart did stand,
     To see if he would marry a wife,
       Or, otherwise, choose to die!
     'Oh, why should I torment my life?'
       The victim did reply;
     'The bargain's bad in every part--
       But a wife's the worst!--drive on the cart.'"


Honest Sir John Falstaff talketh of "minions of the moon;" and, truth
to tell, two or three hundred years ago, nowhere was such an order of
knighthood more prevalent than upon the Borders. Not only did the
Scottish and English Borderers make their forays across the Tweed
and the ideal line, but rival chieftains, though of the same nation,
considered themselves at liberty to make inroads upon the property
of each other. The laws of _meum_ and _tuum_ they were unable to
comprehend. Theirs was the strong man's world, and with them _might_ was
_right_. But to proceed with our story. About the beginning of the
seventeenth century, one of the boldest knights upon the Borders was
William Scott, the young laird of Harden. His favourite residence was
Oakwood Tower, a place of great strength, situated on the banks of the
Ettrick. The motto of his family was "_Reparabit cornua Phoebe_," which
being interpreted by his countrymen, in their vernacular idiom, ran
thus--"We'll hae moonlight again." Now, the young laird was one who
considered it his chief honour to give effect to both the spirit and
the letter of his family motto. Permitting us again to refer to honest
Falstaff, it implied that they were "gentlemen of the night;" and he was
not one who would loll upon his pillow when his "avocation" called him
to the foray.

It was drawing towards midnight, in the month of October, when the
leaves in the forest had become brown and yellow, and with a hard sound
rustled upon each other, that young Scott called together his retainers,
and addressing them, said--"Look ye, friends, is it not a crying sin and
a national shame to see things going aglee as they are doing? There
seems hardly such a thing as manhood left upon the Borders. A bit
scratch with a pen upon parchment is becoming of more effect than a
stroke with the sword. A bairn now stands as good a chance to hold and
to have, as an armed man that has a hand to take and to defend. Such a
state o' things was only made for those who are ower lazy to ride by
night, and ower cowardly to fight. Never shall it be said that I,
William Scott of Harden, was one who either submitted or conformed to
it. Give me the good, old, manly law, that 'they shall keep who can,'
and wi' my honest sword will I maintain my right against every enemy.
Now, there is our natural and lawful adversary, auld Sir Gideon Murray
o' Elibank, carries his head as high as though he were first cousin to a
king, or the sole lord o' Ettrick Forest. More than once has he slighted
me in a way which it wasna for a Scott to bear; and weel do I ken that
he has the will, and wants but the power, to harry us o' house and ha'.
But, by my troth, he shall pay a dear reckoning for a' the insults he
has offered to the Scotts o' Harden. Now, every Murray among them has a
weel-stocked mailing, and their kine are weel-favoured; to-night the
moon is laughing cannily through the clouds:--therefore, what say ye,
neighbours--will ye ride wi' me to Elibank? and, before morning, every
man o' them shall have a toom byre."

"Hurra!" shouted they, "for the young laird! He is a true Scott from
head to heel! Ride on, and we will follow ye! Hurra!--the moon glents
ower the hills to guide us to the spoils o' Elibank! To-night we shall
bring langsyne back again."

There were twenty of them, stout and bold men, mounted upon light
and active horses--some armed with firelocks, and others with Jeddart
staves; while, in addition to such weapons, every man had a good sword
by his side. At their head was the fearless young laird; and, at a brisk
pace, they set off towards Elibank. Mothers and maidens ran to their
cottage doors, and looked after them with foreboding hearts when they
rode along; for it was a saying amongst them, that "when young Willie
Scott o' Harden set his foot in the stirrup at night, there were to be
swords drawn before morning." They knew, also, the feud between him and
the house of Elibank, and as well did they know that the Murrays were a
resolute and a sturdy race.

Morn had not dawned when they arrived at the scene where their booty
lay. Not a Murray was abroad; and to the extreme they carried the threat
of the young laird into execution, of making "toom byres." By scores and
by hundreds, they collected together, into one immense herd, horned
cattle and sheep, and they drove them before them through the forest
towards Oakwood Tower. The laird, in order to repel any rescue that
might be attempted, brought up the rear, and, in the joy of his heart,
he sang, and, at times, cried aloud, "There will be dry breakfasts in
Elibank before the sun gets oot, but a merry meal at Oakwood afore he
gangs doun. An entire bullock shall be roasted, and wives and bairns
shall eat o' it."

"I humbly beg your pardon, Maister William," said an old retainer, named
Simon Scott, and who traced a distant relationship to the family; "I
respectfully ask your pardon; but I have been in your faither's family
for forty years, and never was backward in the hoor o' danger, or in a
ploy like this; but ye will just alloo me to observe, sir, that wilfu'
waste maks wofu' want, and I see nae occasion whatever for roasting a
bullock. It would be as bad as oor neebors on the ither side o' the
Tweed, wha are roast, roastin', or bakin' in the oven, every day o' the
week, and makin' a stane weight o' meat no gang sae far as twa or three
pounds wad hae dune. Therefore, sir, if ye will tak my advice, if we are
to hae a feast, there will be nae roastin' in the way. There was a fine
sharp frost the other nicht, and I observed the rime lying upon the
kail; so that baith greens and savoys will be as tender as a weel-boiled
three-month-auld chicken; and I say, therefore, let the beef be boiled,
and let them hae ladlefu's o' kail, and ye will find, sir, that instead
o' a hail bullock, even if ye intend to feast auld and young, male and
female, upon the lands o' Oakwood, a quarter o' a bullock will be amply
sufficient, and the rest can be sauted doun for winter's provisions. Ye
ken, sir, that the Murrays winna let us lichtly slip for this nicht's
wark; and it is aye safest, as the saying is, to lay by for a sair fit."

"Well argued, good Simon," said the young laird; "but your economy
is ill-timed. After a night's work such as this there is surely
some licence for gilravishing. I say it--and who dare contradict
me?--to-night there is not one belonging to the house of Harden, be
they old or young, who shall not eat of roast meat, and drink of
the best."

"Weel, sir," replied Simon, "wi' reverence be it spoken, but I would beg
to say that ye are wrang. Folk that ance get a liking for dainties tak
ill wi' plainer fare again; and, moreover, sir, in a' my experience, I
never kenned dainty bits and hardihood to go hand in hand; but, on the
contrary, luxuries mak men effeminate, and