CHAPTER XXIII.
There was a man walking in the woods, with a slight limp in his gait.He was coarsely but comfortably dressed, and had something very like aCretan cap upon his head. His face was a merry face, well preserved inwine or some other strong liquor; and, from the leathern belt, whichgirt his brown coat close round his waist, stuck out, on the one sidea long knife, and on the other the chanter of a bagpipe. The bag,alas, was gone.
He looked up at the blue clear sky. He looked up at the green leaves,just peering from the branches over his head; and, as he went, hesang; for his pipes had been spoiled by Catesby's soldiery, and hisown throat was the only instrument of music left him.
SONG.
Oh, merry spring, merry spring! With sunshine on thy back, and dew upon thy wing, Sweetest bird of all the year, How I love to see thee here, And thy choristers to hear, As they sing.
Oh happy time, happy time! When buds of hawthorn burst, and honeysuckles climb, And the maidens of the May, Hear the sweet bells as they play, And make out what they say In their chime.
Oh jolly hours, jolly hours! Of young and happy hearts, in gay and pleasant bowers, Could I my spring recall, I'd be merrier than all; But my year is in the fall Of the flowers.
Still, I feel there comes a day Far brighter, than e'er shone upon this round of clay, When life with swallow's wing Shall find another spring, And my spirit yet shall sing, In the ray.
Thus sang Sam the piper, as, with his rolling gait, but at a goodpace, he walked on from the high road, running between Atherston andHinckley, down the narrower walk of the forest, which led, past thecottage of the woodman, to the bank of the stream. His was a merryheart, which sought and found happiness wherever it could be met with,and bore misfortune or adversity as lightly as any heart that ever wascreated. Oh, blessed thing, that cheerfulness of disposition, whichmakes its own sunshine in this wintry world--blessed whencesoever itcomes, but most blessed when it springs from a fountain of consciousrectitude, a calm unspotted memory, and a bright high hope!
I cannot say that this was exactly the case with our good friend Sam;but he had a wonderful faculty, notwithstanding, of forgetting pastpains and shutting his eyes to coming dangers. His wants were so few,that he could entertain but small fear of their not being satisfied;and, though his desires were somewhat more extensive, yet the rims ofa trencher and a pottle pot were sufficient to contain them.Apprehensions, he entertained none; cares he had long before cast tothe winds; and by circumscribing his pleasures and his necessities,within the smallest possible limits, it was wonderful how easily hewalked under the only pack he had to carry through the world. Othermen's sorrows and misfortunes, the strife of nations, intestine wars,portents, or phenomena, acts of violence and crime, I may say,afforded him amusement, without at all impugning poor Sam's kindnessof heart or goodness of disposition; for all I mean to say is, thatthey gave him something to gossip about. Now gossiping and singingwere Sam's only amusements, since a brutal soldier had cut his bag intwain. Drinking was with him a necessary evil, which he got over assoon as possible, whenever he had the means.
He was now on his way from Hinckley, to disgorge upon the abbeymiller, who lived near the bridge, all the budget of news he hadcollected at that little town, and other places during the lastfortnight or three weeks. He would willingly have bestowed a part ofthe stock upon Boyd the woodman; but he did not venture even to thinkof doing so, inasmuch as Boyd had always affected to be as great anenemy to gossip as the miller was a friend.
The summer sunshine, however, coming a month or two before its time,had lured Boyd to his door; and there he sat, with a large strongknife in his hand, and sundry long poles of yew and other wood,fashioning arrows with the greatest possible skill. It was wonderfulto behold how straight, and round, and even, he cut them withoutcompass or rule, or any other implement but the knife. Then too, howneatly he adjusted the feathers to the shaft, from a bundle of greygoose quills that lay on his left hand. Heads indeed were wanting; butBoyd thought to himself, "I will bring six or eight score fromTamworth when next I go. At all events it is well to be prepared."
As he thus thought, the step of the piper, coming down the road, methis ear, and he looked up; but Sam would have passed him by with amere "good morning," for he stood in some awe of Master Boyd, had notthe woodman himself addressed him, in a tone that might be calledalmost kindly, saying:
"Well, Sam. How goes the world with you? You have got a new coat andhosen, I see."
"Ay, thanks to the young lord's gold pieces," answered Sam. "He paidwell and honestly; and I took a mighty resolution, and spent it on myback rather than on my belly."
"Ay, some grace left!" exclaimed Boyd. "But what has happened to thypipes, man? They used always to be under thine elbow, and not stuckinto thy belt."
"Those rascal troopers slit my bag," answered the piper; "and I shallhave to travel through three counties ere I get another. I lost asilver groat, I am sure, by the want of it this very morning; forthere was a bright company at Hinckley, and some of them speaking theScottish tongue. Now every Scot loves the bagpipe."
"But not such pipes as yours," answered Boyd. "Theirs are of adifferent make. But who were these people, did you hear?"
"Nay, I asked no names," replied Sam; "for Scots do not like to bequestioned. But there was a fair lady with them--very fair and verybeautiful still, though the spring tide of her life had gone by--andthe people called her Highness."
The woodman mused, and then inquired: "Were they all Scottish people?"
"Nay, some were English," answered Sam, "gallants of the king's court,I judge, and speaking as good English as you or I do. But there wereScottish persons of quality too, besides the lady who was so, I amsure--for what English princess should she be?"
"And were they all so gaily dressed then?" asked Boyd, in the samemusing tone.
"Some were, and some were not," replied the piper; "but the ladyherself was plainest of them all, more like a nun than a princess. Butyou can see them with your own eyes if you like; for they will pass byin half an hour, if they keep to the time at which they said theywould set out. They are going to offer at St. Clare; and you may plantyourself at the gate, or under a tree by the roadside, and they willall pass you like a show."
"I will," replied the woodman; and, rising from his seat, he put hishat, which had been lying beside him, on his head, and was stridingaway, when suddenly, seeming to recollect himself, he turned back,saying to the piper, "I dare say thou art thirsty and hungry too, Sam.Come in with me, and thou shalt have a draught of ale, and a hunch ofewe-milk cheese."
It was an invitation not to be refused by the piper, to whom meat anddrink rarely came amiss. He accordingly followed, and received whatwas proffered gratefully. The woodman waited not to hear his thanks,but, having seen him drink a moderate quart of ale, sent him away withwell nigh half a loaf of brown bread and a lump of cheese as large ashis two fists. Then, leaving his huge dog to watch the house, he,himself, took his departure, and walked with a rapid pace to the roadwhich the piper had mentioned. There he stationed himself under thevery tree by which he had been standing on a night eventful to him,when he had slain one of the king's couriers or posts. One would havethought the memory must have been painful; but it seemed to affect himnot in the least. He stood and gazed upon the very spot where the manhad fallen; and, had there not been rain since then, the blood wouldhave been still upon the stones; but, if there was any change in hiscountenance at all, it was merely that his brow somewhat relaxed, anda faint smile came upon his lip. "It was the hand of justice," he saidto himself. "Yet 'tis strange there has been no inquiry. I went in andtouched the body; but it did not bleed. The inanimate corpserecognised the hand of the avenger, and refused to accuse."[4]
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tnote 4: He referred, of course, to the superstitious notionprevalent not alone at that time but for long afterwards, that if thebody of a murdered man was touched by the hand of his assassin, thewound of which he died would bleed. I may remark that suchsuperstitions were recognised even in Scottish courts of justice longafter they were extinct in England.]
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He waited for some time, every now and then looking up the road, andsometimes bending his head to listen. At length he caught the sound ofhorses' feet coming at a slow pace, and making but little noise; for,as I have said elsewhere, the road was sandy. He then looked up thehill, and saw, coming slowly down, in no very regular order, a partyof from twenty to five and twenty persons, male and female. Withoutwaiting for anything but the first casual glance, he withdrew a littlefurther from the road, amongst the high bushes which skirted theforest all round, intermingled with a few taller trees. There, wherehe could see without being seen, he paused, and crossed his arms uponhis chest, looking intently through an aperture in the young greenleaves, which afforded a good view of a considerable part of the road.At the end of some three or four minutes after he had taken hisstation, the cavalcade began to appear. It was headed by a lady on afine grey horse, which she managed well and gracefully. Thedescription given of her appearance by the wandering musician wasquite correct, so far as it went. She was very beautiful, and herskin, most delicately fair and soft, without a wrinkle. Her hair,braided across the forehead, in a mode not usual in England, seemedonce to have been nut brown, but was now somewhat streaked with grey.Her figure too was exceedingly fine, though not above the middleheight; but it had lost the great delicacy of youth, and assumed thebeauties of a more mature age. Her dress was exceedingly plain,consisting of a grey riding-gown, cape, and hood, which had fallenback upon her shoulders; but there was an air of graceful dignity inher whole figure which was not to be mistaken. The expression of hercountenance was dignified also; but it was exceedingly grave--graveeven to melancholy.
A number of much gayer-looking personages succeeded, and some of theirdresses were exceedingly beautiful and even splendid; but the eye ofthe woodman--as that of most other people would have done--fixed uponthat lady alone, was never removed from her for an instant, andfollowed her down the road till the trees shut her from his sight.Then, after pausing for a moment or two, with his gaze firmly fixedupon the ground, he cast himself down in the long grass, and buriedhis face in his hands.