Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland novel. A total of 570 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Volume I.by Various.PREFACE.This seri
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Volume I.by Various.PREFACE.This series of Tales, now so well known in this country and also in America, was begun by JOHN MACKAY WILSON, originally a printer, and who subsequently betook himself to liter
- 401 On looking-up, Hume saw the Captain's bilbo thrusting manfully through the night air, as if it would pierce the night gnomes and spirits that love to hang over old battlements. Taking out his handkerchief, he wrapped it round his hand, and seizing the po
- 402 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Vol. XX.by Alexander Leighton.THE DOMINIE OF ST FILLAN'S.CHAPTER I.PLEASANT REMINISCENCES OF MY FATHER.It is now about twenty years sin' I first raised my voice in the desk o'the kirk o' St Fillan's, in
- 403 "It's just my way," said I; "we canna restrain our heart or our stamach."The mention o' the last word made the puir creature blush. It even stopped her tears. On hoo little springs do our pa.s.sions depend!This scene bein acted in the way I hae thus
- 404 "Gilbert Walker," said I, calmly, "my intentions towards your dochter were honourable, and I am come here this day--little thanks to me!--to put you on your guard against one whose intentions are false, treacherous, and abominable. When I made love to
- 405 Next day, and every day, found Peter at the house of Captain Graham; and often as love's own hour threw its grey mantle over the hills, he was to be seen wandering with the gentle Ann by his side, on the sea-banks, by the beach, and in the unfrequented p
- 406 "A rescue, by Harry!--a rescue!" cried the old skipper."No, no," returned Peter--"no rescue; if it cam to that, I wad need nae a.s.sistance. Quit my arms, sirs, and I'll accompany ye in peace. Ann, love--fareweel the noo, an' Heaven bless you, dear
- 407 "You are a n.o.ble fellow," said the lieutenant whom he had encountered, "and if you will join our service, I guess your merit shan't be long without promotion.""What!" cried Peter, "raise my right hand against my ain country! Gude gracious, sir!
- 408 "He's a braw knight that wha has come to the House o' Gordon," said Janet Hunter, one night when they were sitting round the fire."Ken ye wha, or what, or whence he is," inquired Adam, "atour the mere t.i.tle an' form o' his knighthood?""I ken
- 409 Within a few hours after his liberation, he was on his way to England, in company with Lady Arabella. He had devoted the whole period of his imprisonment to writing letters to her, and venting curses against Scotland. Margaret Williamson was forgotten, in
- 410 This done, she redoubled her exertions in general preparation, and with such effect, that in a few minutes, a little round table, spread with a clean white cloth, which she placed by the elbow of her guest, was covered with the homely but wholesome edible
- 411 replied his mother. "I'm aye blithe to hear o' his weelfare, for auld lang syne; but what mair is there aboot it?""I dinna ken, mother," said the boy; "but I've been thinkin that if he kent you were here, or kent whar to fin ye, he wad maybe let y
- 412 "This is now the sixth week that I have dwelt in this dreary place. Oh, happy they who lie beneath! they are covered, and feel not our privations, and pains, and sufferings; and yet freedom and home is offered to us, and accepted by many. G.o.d forgive t
- 413 The property of Whithaugh has been in the possession of the ancestors of the venerable and kind-hearted present proprietor for at least four centuries. Its produce has always been sufficient for the necessaries, and even some of the luxuries of life; and,
- 414 "'Well thought of, Elphinstone,' cried I; 'wring an answer to that question out of him, one way or other.'"Mary did her utmost to put a stop to further violence, but I prevented her from interfering, and encouraged William to proceed. Upon which, fi
- 415 "To all appearance," said he, "there was nothing but solitude around me; only, I heard carts at a distance which seemed to be driven inland; and my curiosity was excited by a low rumbling sound which came from the other side of a small projecting promo
- 416 "'Sir,' said he, 'I know that to be the coast and s.h.i.+pping of Havannah.'"'All's well,' cried I; 'who is at the helm?'"'Bill Bowline, your honour.'"'Bill, lay your bows right upon the main-mast of that large vessel which you see looming
- 417 When the stranger had put on dry raiment and partaken of food, his host ordered liquors to be brought; and when they were placed upon the table, he again addressed his guest, and said--"Here, sir, thou hast claret, port, and sherry--my cellar affords no
- 418 Such was my father's letter, and every word in it went to my bosom as a sharp instrument. I took two hundred pounds from the two hundred and fifty that had been given to me to provide for my voyage, and transmitted them to my father, to relieve him from
- 419 "By my right hand," said he, "I speak seriously, and the truth. She believes, and you believe that she is the niece of old Hastings, your master. She is his daughter--the only daughter of a fair but frail wife, who eloped from him while his child was y
- 420 Some days afterwards, Cubby again made his appearance at the counter of John Monilaws; and there being no more old bread for him, he struck a long-contested bargain about some "fuisted" meal that had been long in the shop, and for which he offered far b
- 421 "Ay, but ye're no tauld to brak open folk's doors, to force them to repent," replied Cubby. "Besides, Mr Willison, whar's the shoon Jamie Goodawl said he couldna mend, and sent ye to me wi'? Amang sins to be repented o', a lee is a very guid ane t
- 422 "Hae ye heard ony news o' late?" began Carey."I'm no i' the way o' hearin news," replied Cubby, "an' care little for the warld's clavers besides.""But when things concern oorsels," said Carey, "we maun care aboot them.""What mean ye?" sa
- 423 THE SEA SKIRMISH."The boatswain, piping, loudly thunders-- To your quarters fore and aft!The great guns sponge, prepare for wonders, While, my lads, the wind's abaft.With grape we can nine-pounders rattle-- Naval heroes, fight and sing-- He that bravely
- 424 Tom lost no time in informing his father of the destination of his pa.s.sengers, and of the offer which he had made them."That's right, my boy," said the old tar--"it's our duty to a.s.sist our fellow-men as much as is in our power--and never have I
- 425 Tom now took the command, and it required all his exertions and skill to save him from the privateer; for the crew of the _Tweed_, regardless of everything else, had been looking at their commander like persons stupified, allowing the vessel to go as she
- 426 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Volume 21.by Alexander Leighton.THE BURGHER'S TALES.THE HOUSE IN BELL'S WYND.Some reference has been made by Mr. Chambers, in his _Traditions of Edinburgh_, to a story which looks very like fiction, but the
- 427 "For her lover, nae doubt; for my master wasna expected hame for a week.And was I no guilty mysel', wha played into her hands, and was fause to him wha fed me?""Haud your peace, then, and say naething. The Lord will forgi'e you.""Oh G.o.d, hae merc
- 428 All in vain. At length the knurr of the clock, and the most solemn of all the hours, "one," sounded hoa.r.s.ely. Wearied, exhausted, and sorely troubled, Geordie fell asleep, greatly aided thereto by the eternal oscillation of that little tongue at the
- 429 THE PRODIGAL SON.The early sun was melting away the coronets of grey clouds on the brows of the mountains, and the lark, as if proud of its plumage, and surveying itself in an illuminated mirror, carolled over the bright water of Keswick, when two strange
- 430 "Edward," continued the grey-haired parent, "I have had deaths in my family--many deaths, and thou knowest it--but I never had to blush for a child but thee! I have felt sorrow, but thou hast added shame to sorrow--""O father!" cried Eleanor, implor
- 431 said S----."We cannot get you people to understand these things," replied the writer; "but so it is, at least with me, and I rather think a good number of my brethren. We have a pride in getting off a guilty person; whereas we have only a spice of sati
- 432 "When was she here last?""About a month ago.""Anywhere near the time of the girl's death?""Ay, just about that time, or maybe a week before.""And you can give me no trace of her?""None whatever, except that I think I saw her take to the east,
- 433 "Well, buy them yoursel'," said the woman."Done," said he; "there's five guineas for them, and you can gie them to Meg as a present. Now, are ye firm?""Firm!" she cried, as she clutched the money, and gave a shrill laugh, from a nerve that was n
- 434 The farmer was too happy to write an order for any amount within the limits of his last farthing, and getting pen and ink, he wrote the cheque."And you couldn't tell me the name of the woman with the mice; but I can tell you," he continued. "It is Mar
- 435 In religion, or rather in politics--in as far, at least, as they are interwoven with and inseparable from the Presbyterian faith--my mother was a staunch Covenanter. Nor was it at all surprising that one whose forefathers had suffered so severely in defen
- 436 This salutation was answered by a renewed discharge of musketry; and the darkness, which was relieved by the momentary flash, became instantly more impenetrable than ever. Men evidently pursued men, and horses were held by the bridle, or driven into speed
- 437 "There is Abram's house," she said; "there's light in the window."And the officer, standing a little to see where she went, now began to examine the outside of Abram's premises. A c.h.i.n.k in the shutters showed him a part of the person of some on
- 438 "Go and look into her pails," said the lieutenant to Reid, as he hastened up to him. "Jones and I will remain for a moment here."Reid set off, and disappeared in the narrow pa.s.sage leading to West Richmond Street; but he remained only a short time.
- 439 Not five minutes elapsed, when Jones and the two a.s.sistants with the box arrived; when the officer cried-- "Jones, follow up an old woman, in a grey duffle cloak, Christian Anderson by name, who is this moment gone down by the Pleasance, to take St. Ma
- 440 On this resolution being come to, Henderson returned to the window, and thrusting out his head, exclaimed, "Wait there a moment, and I will admit you."In the next instant he had unbarred the outer door, and had stepped out to a.s.sist the lady in dismou
- 441 It was so. From that hour the image of the lovely nymph of the grove was to remain for ever enshrined in the inmost heart of the young cavalier.He had met with no encouragement to follow up the accidental acquaintance he had made. Indeed, the lady's relu
- 442 It was not many hours after his arrival at the castle, that he summoned to his presence a certain trusty attendant of the name of William Buchanan, and thus schooled him in the duties of a particular mission in which he desired his services."Willie," sa
- 443 "Really," said the old dame, with a continuation of the same sneer, and long ere this guessing what Willie was driving at. "And wha may they be noo, if I may speer?""They're gey kenspeckled," replied Mr. Buchanan; "but that doesna matter. If ye ca
- 444 "Both points are of easy adjustment, your Grace," said Sir Robert. "Your Grace has only to intimate a wish to our host, when he returns, that you would feel gratified by his introducing his lady to you; and as to the matter of decision, I would, with y
- 445 "Come, Marjory," she said, as she grasped the faint hand of the almost unresisting girl. "Come."And leading her by a half-dragging effort out of the room and along the pa.s.sages, she took her to the large hall, where servants were busy laying the lon
- 446 "Or forward with any hope of happiness," said he. "But I will brave all your father's anger, Isobel's revenge, and my loss of honour, if you will consent to be mine within a year.""Nay," repeated the maid with a sigh. "Out of my unhappiness may c
- 447 PERSONAL APPEARANCE, CHARACTER, AND PECULIARITIES OF THE DOCTOR.The doctor was a little stout man, not what could be called corpulent, but presenting that sort of plump appearance which gives the idea of a person's being hard-packed, squeezed, crammed in
- 448 And there they were, to be sure. Half-a-dozen rattling fellows all in a lump. In they poured into Walkinshaw's room with hilarious glee."Ah, doctor. Oh, doctor. Here too, doctor. Hope you're well, doctor.Glad to see you, doctor!" resounded in all quar
- 449 In mute surprise, the police, every one holding his lantern aloft, and thus surrounding the bed with a halo of light, gazed for a second or two on the sleeping Esculapius. They had never, in the course of all their experience, seen a burglar take things s
- 450 "How do you explain this, doctor?" said Mr. Thomson mildly, although beginning--he couldn't help it--to think rather queerly of the doctor."Why, why," replied the crest-fallen and perplexed doctor, "if I really have been in your house, Mr. Thomson,
- 451 "You are weel forward the day, George," said Cowie. "Ye'll be in Cupar before your time. There's rowth a parcels for ye at John Sharpe's door, yonder. But, mercy on me!" he continued, starting and looking amazed, "what's the matter wi' ye, man?
- 452 "He is sae ill that I hae very little hope o him," said Mrs. Skirving. "Good G.o.d!" replied the man, "is it possible? I have murdered him." And he groaned in distress. "What do ye mean, James?" "Six o us wagered, three against three, and twa to
- 453 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.VOL XXII.by various.UPS AND DOWNS; OR, DAVID STUART'S ACCOUNT OF HIS PILGRIMAGE.Old David Stuart was the picture of health--a personification of contentment. When I knew him, his years must have considerably
- 454 "Yes," rejoined the angry uncle, "lands, tenements, hereditaments, shares, dividends, stock, furniture, bed and table linen.""And table linen," echoed the entranced nephew."Yes; everything," continued the uncle; and calming down as he saw the whit
- 455 "And why this suppression and secrecy, Walter?" she asked. "How could you know," she continued, as she held down her head, "that I would be adverse to your wishes; nay, that I was not even in the same condition as yourself?""Surely you do not mean
- 456 As soon as she recovered from her meditation, she sought again the workroom of the artist, to whom she told the issue of the search for the will. Paul looked at first greatly struck, but under his strange philosophy he recovered that calmness which belong
- 457 The soldiers, who had orders to admit her ladys.h.i.+p and attendant to the prisoner at any time between the hours of nine in the morning and seven at night, offered no hindrance to her approaching the door and rapping for admittance. This she now did; an
- 458 In a few minutes afterwards M'Kay came forth from Lord Rae's apartment to perform the daring feat of securing two armed men by the mere force of physical strength; for he was now without weapon of any kind. When he came out, however, it was with an appe
- 459 "Never. I know no more of them than you do; and, besides, I give you your choice of mother, or not mother.""Ha! ha!" laughed Campbell, as he looked intently at Dewhurst. "Are you mad, Dewhurst? Has your last triumph blinded you? The woman is too old
- 460 Left to themselves, the two remaining friends of the hour before, but now no longer friends, looked sternly at each other. The one considered himself duped; the other was burning under the imputation of being a cheat and a liar."Oh I don't retract," sa
- 461 "Well, they were, 'See ma.'""The very words; and were they not enough for proof and belief?""Yes, sir; but there are words which have two significations. Ma' is the contraction, as you know, for mamma, but it is p.r.o.nounced the same as _maw_, wh
- 462 When he returned, he kept hovering about the entrance into the show, as if to prevent the egress of any one, but without making any sign to me, or even looking at me. My agitation during this interval was excessive; and although I strictly obeyed my frien
- 463 Terrified by the ferocious manner and threatening att.i.tude of the termagant, and beginning to feel that the getting safe out of the house ought to be considered as a most desirable object, I told her, in the most conciliatory manner I could a.s.sume, th
- 464 "The others?" he said."What others?" I replied. "I have only one name, and I have given it.""Pho, pho!" exclaimed he. "Gentlemen of your profession have always a dozen. However, we'll take what you have given in the meantime." And he proceeded
- 465 How my friend Mr. Lancaster received this intimation of our former acquaintance I must reserve for another number, as I must also do the sequel of my adventures; for I have yet brought the reader but half through the history of my chequered life.THE CONVI
- 466 Whether such a desperate attempt would have been successful or not, is doubtful; but there is no question that a frightful scene of bloodshed would have taken place; nor that, if the ruffians had managed well, and judiciously timed their attack, they had
- 467 The narrative grieved and distressed him beyond measure; for, until I told him, he had no idea I stood before him a convicted felon; his first impression naturally being that I had come to the colony of my own free will.Unlike all others, however, he, my
- 468 I looked on the countenance of the sufferer again. It was slightly distorted with pain, and all trace of the resemblance I had fancied was gone. An interval of ease succeeded. The real or imagined resemblance returned. Again I lost sight of it, and again
- 469 "Somewhere about the pineal; and therefore we say impudence is moral, sometimes immoral, as just now when you d.a.m.ned me. No more of your old junk, I say, sitting here in my cathedra, which by the way is spring-bottomed, which may account for my moral
- 470 "Whaur fae, Charlie," had she repeated, still looking at him."The devil!" cried he, stung by her searching look, which brought back a gleam of the old rebellion."A gude paymaster to his servants," she said; "but I'm no ane o' them yet; and may th
- 471 Nor did the mother press the question she had already put twice; for, as we have said, she knew the nature of the girl, who ever took her own way, and had the art to make that way either filial obedience or loving conciliation."Oh, I'm so fright
- 472 "Are you ever?""I don't deny that in town I take a gla.s.s, but seldom so much as to affect my walking; never so much as make me dream I was robbed of money, and that too money gone from my pocket.""Where do you carry your mo
- 473 "About twelve months after our marriage, Heaven (as authors say) blest our loves with a son and, I had almost said, heir. Deplorable patrimony!--heir of his mother's features--the sacrifice of his father's weakness." Kean could not hav
- 474 "Rymer!"I started. I was looking into the fire, with my ear altogether his, yet the strange mention of my name startled me."What could infamy--infamy, with just a beam of consciousness to tell it was infamy, and no more but that beam--think
- 475 "Be calm," said I, taking him by the shoulders; "what new discovery is this? Nothing wrong with Mrs. Graeme, I hope?""The child," he cried; but he could get no further."The child is"-- "Is what?" said I.&q
- 476 "A useless harangue," said I, "when you have the means of saving yourself. Pay the money, read your Bible, and the signs will cease.""You have said it. I will pay the money; but I do not know where the woman Gourlay lives."&q
- 477 "I am master for the nonce. The door is locked, and Mrs. Gourlay must be delivered of her child with the naevus of the ten of diamonds on its back."And she was delivered, but not with the a.s.sistance of the doctor. She performed her part well.
- 478 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Vol. XXIII.by Various.THE LAWYER'S TALES.LORD KAMES'S PUZZLE.On looking over some Session papers which had belonged to Lord Kames, with the object, I confess, of getting hold of some facts--thos
- 479 "Never drew breath, you say, nurse!" resumed Mr. White, with an air of astonishment; "why, I have been given to understand, not only that the child was born alive, but that it is actually living now.""Weel," replied the nurse
- 480 I cannot say so much for the authenticity of the legend I am now to relate, as I have been able to do for some of the others in this collection; but that is no reason, I hope, for its failing to interest the reader, who makes it a necessary condition of h
- 481 'He took her from the fearfu' pit, And from the miry clay.'And when she got to the bank she ran as for the little life was in her, until she came to the foot of Halkerstone's Wynd, where she crossed to the other side of the loch. When
- 482 We need say nothing of the voyage across the Atlantic, somewhat arduous at that period, nor need we pick up Will again till we find him in Richmond, with his horses all safe, and as fat and sleek as if they had been fed by Neptune's wife, and had dra
- 483 TIBBY FOWLER."Tibby Fowler o' the glen, A' the lads are wooin' at her."--_Old Song_.All our readers have heard and sung of "Tibby Fowler o' the glen;" but they may not all be aware that the glen referred to lies wit
- 484 "A woman!" cried Maule; "then to heaven as fast as your wings will carry you."And this man, who braved G.o.d, shook with terror before a weak woman; and so did all these brave baccha.n.a.ls, who, on hearing the horn when no more remain
- 485 "All right," said Aminadab of the first Secession. "'And I will cause their images to cease out of Noph.'""Ay, but I am 'wide,'" continued the cook."Three feet and a half across the bosom," said
- 486 "Horrible mystery!" again e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Aminadab. "But 'the wicked shall perish; they shall consume into smoke, they shall consume away.'"Occasions make heroes of very ordinary men; and Aminadab felt that he could be one
- 487 He was conducted into a long, gloomy apartment, dimly lighted by a solitary lamp. Around him hung rude portraits of the chiefs of Wedderburn, and on the walls were suspended their arms and the spoils of their victories. The solitary apartment seemed like
- 488 "I would not like to say," added he; "but I fear you must make up your mind for the worst."Now, all this was overheard by Annie, who, we may here seize the opportunity of saying, was, in addition to being a sensitive creature, one of t
- 489 "Big with the fate of Thomas and his mother."He was to preach his trial sermon; and where? In his own parish--in his native village! It was summer, but his mother rose by daybreak. Her son, however, was at his studies before her; and when she en
- 490 Was prudence, the chief of the four cardinal virtues, ever yet consistent with vice? Balgarnie waxed clever--a dangerous trick in a witness. He stroked his beard with a smile on his face, and answered-- "_Yes, once--when I was drunk_!"Words whic
- 491 When Lieutenant Morris left India, he obtained permission to remain in England for three years; and it was about twelve months after his arrival that the marriage between him and Maria took place. He had still two years to spend in his native land, and he
- 492 "You may command me, sir," said the youth.The colonel rose from the table and left the room, and the lieutenant rose also and accompanied him. They entered an adjoining apartment. The elder soldier gazed anxiously on the face of the younger, and
- 493 [note *: Executors.]George entered the house, trembling with agitation."Father," he said--"for thou hast taught me to call thee father; and if thou art not, tell me who I am.""Ha'n't I told thee, lad?" answered the
- 494 The ear of Effie was chained to a force which was direct upon the heart.She trembled and looked wistfully into his face, even as if by that look she could extract from him some other device less fearful, by which she might have the power of retaining him
- 495 She went to his bedroom door. It was open; but where was Templeton? He was not there. He could not be out in the city; he could not be even in the garden with the full light of a bright morning sun s.h.i.+ning on it. He was not in the house; he was not in
- 496 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Volume XXIV.by Revised by Alexander Leighton.WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS, AND OF SCOTLAND.THE MINSTREL'S TALES.I.EDMUND AND HELEN.CANTO FIRST.Come, sit thee by me, love, and thou shalt hear A
- 497 I.Now, list thee, love, again, and I will tell Of other scenes, and changes which befell The hero of our tale. A wanderer still, Like a lost sheep upon a wintry hill-- Wild through his heart rush want and memory now, Like whirlwinds meeting on a mountain&
- 498 XI.Now months and years in quick succession flew, And joys increased, and still affection grew.For what is youth's first love to wedded joy?Or what the transports of the ardent boy To the fond husband's bliss, which, day by day, Lights up his sp
- 499 "Oh mother! list, what do I hear?Sir Peregrine's horn is winding clear; Ah, I know the sound, as it seems to say In its windings, 'Hali-hali-day;'And it is true, as I've heard tell, When a dead man's horn sounds loud and shri
- 500 Upon his burnished s.h.i.+eld he bore A head of bull caboshed (For so they speak in herald lore), And for his crest he aptly wore Two bones of marrow crossed.[Footnote A: A knight called Bullstrode, as having got his name in the way set forth, is mentione