Chapter XIX.
Craignacoheilg.
Sleep, the gentle sister of that awful power which shrouds man in itscold bosom, and bears him in still repose to the blissful wakefulnessof eternal life--she, sweet restorer! wraps him in her balmy embraces,and extracting from his wearied limbs the effects of every toil, safelyrelinquishes the refreshed slumberer at morn to the new-born vigor thatis her gift; to the gladsome breezes which call us forth to labor andenjoyment.
Such was the rest of the youthful Murray, till the shrill notes of ahundred bugles piercing his ear made him start. He listened; theysounded again. The morning had fully broke. He sprung from his couch,hurried on his armor, and snatching up his lance and target, issuedfrom the tower. Several women were flying past the gate. On seeinghim, they exclaimed, "The Lord Wallace is arrived--his bugles havesounded--our husbands are returned!"
Murray followed their eager footsteps, and reached the edge of the rockjust as the brave group were ascending. A stranger was also there,who, from his extreme youth and elegance, he judged must be the youngprotector of his clansmen; but he forbore to address him until theyshould be presented to each other by Wallace himself.
It was indeed the same. On hearing the first blast of the horn, theyouthful chieftain had hastened from his bed of heath, and buckling onhis brigandine, rushed to the rock; but at the sight of the noblefigure which first gained the summit, the young hero fell back. Anindescribable awe checked his steps, and he stood at a distance, whileKirkpatrick welcomed the chief, and introduced Lord Andrew Murray.Wallace received the latter with a glad smile; and taking him warmly bythe hand, "Gallant Murray," said he, "with such assistance, I hope toreinstate your brave uncle in Bothwell Castle, and soon to cut apassage to even a mightier rescue! We must carry off Scotland from thetyrant's arms; or," added he, in a graver tone, "we shall only rivether chains the closer."
"I am but a poor auxiliary," returned Murray; "my troop is a scantyone, for it is my own gathering. It is not my father's nor my uncle'sstrength, that I bring along with me. But there is one here,"continued he, "who has preserved a party of men, sent by my cousin LadyHelen Mar, almost double my numbers."
At this reference to the youthful warrior, Sir Roger Kirkpatrickdiscerned him at a distance, and hastened toward him, while Murraybriefly related to Wallace the extraordinary conduct of this unknown.On being told that the chief waited to receive him, the youth hastenedforward with a trepidation he had never felt before; but it was atrepidation that did not subtract from his own worth. It was thetimidity of a noble heart, which believed it approached one of the mostperfect among mortals; and while its anxious pulse beat to emulate suchmerit, a generous consciousness of measureless inferiority embarassedhim with a confusion so amiable, that Wallace, who perceived hisextreme youth and emotion, opened his arms and embraced him. "Braveyouth," cried he, "I trust that the power which blesses our cause willenable me to return you with many a well-earned glory, to the bosom ofyour family!"
Edwin was encouraged by the frank address of a hero whom he expected tohave found reserved, and wrapped in the deep glooms of the fate whichhad roused him to be a thunderbolt of heaven; but when he saw a benign,though pale countenance, hail him with smiles, he made a strong effortto shake off the awe with which the name, and the dignity of figure andmein of Wallace had oppressed him; and with a mantling blush hereplied: "My family are worthy of your esteem; my father is brave; butmy mother, fearing for me, her favorite son, prevailed on him to put meinto a monastery. Dreading the power of the English, even there sheallowed none but the abbot to know who I was. And as he chose to hidemy name--and I have burst from my concealment without her knowledge--tillI do something worthy of that name, and deserving her pardon, permitme, noble Wallace, to follow your footsteps by the simple appellationof Edwin."
"Noble boy," returned the chief, "your wish shall be respected. Weurge you no further to reveal what such innate bravery must shortlyproclaim in the most honorable manner."
The whole of the troop having ascended, while their wives, children,and friends were rejoicing in their embraces, Wallace asked somequestions relative to Bothwell, and Murray briefly related thedisasters which had happened there.
"My father," added he, "is still with the Lord of Loch-awe; and thitherI sent to request him to dispatch to the Cartlane Craigs all thefollowers he took with him into Argyleshire. But as things are, wouldit not be well to send a second messenger, to say that you have soughtrefuge in Glenfinlass?"
"Before he could arrive," returned Wallace, "I hope we shall be whereLord Bothwell's reinforcements may reach us by water. Our presentobject must be the Earl of Mar. He is the first Scottish earl who hashazarded his estates and life for Scotland; and as her best friend, hisliberation must be our first enterprise. In my circuit through two orthree eastern counties, a promising increase has been made to ourlittle army. The Frasers of Oliver Castle have given me two hundredmen; and the brave Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, whom I met in WestLothian, has not only brought fifty stout Scots to my command, but, ashereditary standard-bearer of the kingdom, has come himself to carrythe royal banner of Scotland to glory or oblivion."
"To glory!" cried Murray, waving his sword; "O! not while a Scotsurvives, shall that blood-red lion** again lick the dust!"
**A lion gules, in a field or, is the arms of Scotland.-(1809.)
"No," cried Kirkpatrick, his eyes flashing fire; "rather may every Scotand every Southron fall in the struggle, and fill one grave! Let me,"cried he, sternly grasping the hilt of his sword, and looking upward,"let me, oh, Saviour of mankind, live but to see the Forth and theClyde, so often reddened with our blood, dye the eastern and thewestern oceans with the vital flood of these our foes; and when none isspared, then let me die in peace."
The eyes of Wallace glanced on the young Edwin, who stood gazing onKirkpatrick, and turning on the knight with a powerful look ofapprehension-"Check that prayer," cried he; "remember my bravecompanion, what the Saviour of mankind was; and then think, whether he,who offered life to all the world, will listen to so damning aninvocation. If we would be blessed in the contest, we must bemerciful."
"To whom?" exclaimed Kirkpatrick; "to the robbers who tear from us ourlands; to the ruffians who wrest from us our honors? But you arepatient; you never received a blow!"
"Yes," cried Wallace, turning paler; "a heavy one--on my heart."
"True," returned Kirkpatrick, "your wife fell dead under the steel of aSouthron governor; and you slew him for it! You were revenged; yourfeelings were appeased."
"Not the death of fifty thousand governors," replied Wallace, "couldappease my feelings. Revenge were insufficient to satisfy theyearnings of my soul." For a moment he covered his agitated featureswith his hand, and then proceeded: "I slew Heselrigge because he was amonster, under whom the earth groaned. My sorrow, deep as it was--wasbut one of many, which his rapacity, and his nephew's licentiousness,the whole nation without reserve! When the sword of war is drawn, allwho resist must conquer or fall; but there are some noble English whoabhor the tyranny they are obliged to exercise over us, and when theydeclare such remorse, shall they not find mercy at our hands? Surely,if not for humanity's, for policy's sake we ought to give quarter; forthe exterminating sword, if not always victorious, incurs the ruin itthreatens, even hope, that by or righteous cause and our clemency, weshall not only gather our own people to our legions but turn the heartsof the poor Welsh and the misled Irish, whom the usurper has forcedinto his armies, and so confront him with troops of his own levying.Many of the English were too just to share in the subjugation of thecountry they had sworn to befriend. And their less honorablecountrymen, when they see Scotsmen no longer consenting to their owndegradation, may take shame to themselves for assisting to betray aconfiding people."
"That may be," returned Kirkpatrick; "but surely you would not rankAymer de Valence, who lords it over Dumbarton, and Cressingham, whoacts the tyrant in Stirling--you would not rank them amongst theseconscien
tious English?"
"No," replied Wallace; "the haughty oppression of the one and thewanton cruelty of the other, have given Scotland too many wounds for meto hold a shield before them; meet them, and I leave them to yoursword."
"And by heavens!" cried Kirkpatrick, gnashing his teeth with the furyof a tiger, "they shall know its point!"
Wallace then informed his friends he purposed marching next morning bydaybreak toward Dumbarton Castle. "When we make the attack," said he,"it must be in the night; for I propose seizing it by storm."
Murray and Kirkpatrick joyfully acquiesced. Edwin smiled an enrapturedassent, and Wallace, with many a gracious look and speech, disengagedhimself from the clinging embraces of the weaker part of the garrison,who, seeing in him the spring of their husband's might and the guard oftheir own safety, clung to him as to a presiding deity.
"You, my dear countrywomen," said he, "shall find a home for your agedparents, your children, and yourselves, with the venerable Sir JohnScott of Loch Doine. You are to be conducted thither this evening, andthere await in comfort the happy return of your husbands, whomProvidence now leads forth to be the champions of your country."
Filled with enthusiasm, the women uttered a shout of triumph, and,embracing their husbands, declared they were ready to resign themwholly to Heaven and Sir William Wallace.
Wallace left them with these tender relatives, from whom they were sosoon to part, and retired with his chieftains to arrange the plan ofhis proposed attack. Delighted with the glory which seemed to wave tohim from the pinnacles of Dumbarton Rock, Edwin listened in profoundsilence to all that was said, and then hastened to his quarters toprepare his armor for the ensuing morning.