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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
- 1 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
- 2 Andrew would fain have refused this request, but he knew that it amounted to a command; and, moreover, while he had been speaking with the chief of the tribe, the maid-servants of the household, who had followed him and the other men-servants to the door,
- 3 "Proud, pitiless fool," resumed Elspeth, more bitterly than before, "repress your scorn. Whom, think ye, ye treat wi' contempt? Ken ye not that the humble adder which ye tread upon can destroy ye--that the very wasp can sting ye, and t
- 4 "For your sake!--for Heaven's sake! Laird Clennel! save my bairn!"He turned hastily aside, and, seizing the hound by the throat, tore it from the lacerated girl, who sank, bleeding, terrified, and exhausted, upon the ground. Her features we
- 5 After wandering many miles, and having lain upon what appeared the cold earth for a lodging, he was aroused from a comfortless and troubled sleep, by a person tearing the bandage from his eyes, and ordering him to prepare for his trial. He started to his
- 6 On, brave followers! Ye know your guerdon. Gallant knights have kneeled for it and been refused it. You are to fight for it, and to receive it.Hurrah for Innerkepple!" And she swung her light falchion round her head, while the war-cry of the family,
- 7 The seneschal withdrew, though reluctantly, and casting his eyes about for the indispensable Katherine; but she was not within his reach, and he felt himself compelled, by the impatience of the old baron, to admit the merchant. The creaking hinges of the
- 8 "Then I am the Deil's property," said the warder, "unless I am saved by the power o' this strong drink."And thus the men, encouraged by the smiles of Kate, who was, with great activity, conducting the ceremonies, seemed to be
- 9 "Humanity needs nae pardon, man," replied the baron, nodding with sleep."Awa and feed the puir creatures; but tak care an' no tramp on an' kill ony o' my brave men in yer effort to save the lives o' yer mules.""
- 10 CHAPTER II."Say, ye red gowns that aften here, Hae toasted cakes to Katie's beer, Gin e'er thir days hae had their peer, Sae blythe, sae daft!Ye'll ne'er again in life's career, Sit half sae saft."_Elegy on John Hogg._ W
- 11 My heart filled, and grasping his hand, I briefly intimated the purport of the communication, and we walked out together in the direction of the ruins."It is, perhaps, as hard, Mr. Ferguson," I said, "to fall from one's hopes as from t
- 12 CHAPTER V."O Ferguson! thy glorious parts Ill suited law's dry, musty arts!My curse upon your whunstane hearts, Ye Embrugh gentry!The t.i.the o' what ye waste at cartes Wad stow'd his pantry!"BURNS.I visited Edinburgh, for the fir
- 13 Lindsay. I must be a preacher like John Knox, you know--like the great John Knox, the reformer of a nation--and Mr. Lindsay knows all about him. A chair, Margaret, for Mr. Lindsay."I am not ashamed to say it was with tears, and in a voice faltering w
- 14 "Why sorrow for me, sirs?" he said; "why grieve for me? I am well, quite well, and want for nothing. But 'tis cold; oh, 'tis very cold, and the blood seems freezing at my heart. Ah, but there is neither pain nor cold where I am go
- 15 Brechin without a' this uproar, and confusion, and difficulty, and danger; this knocking about frae place to place, half drooned and half murdered. Here have I been now for mair than a week at it, and it's my opinion I'm no twenty mile near
- 16 "Aweel, maybe I wad; but, nevertheless, its kind o' you to offer me the shelter o' yer roof," replied Johnny.Dunder Vander Dunder now took his friend into a tavern, and treated him to a gla.s.s of schnaps. Shortly thereafter the two em
- 17 THE MOUNTAIN STORM.[4] The author of these stories (to be continued), the well-known Professor Thomas Gillespie, was one of the princ.i.p.al writers in _Blackwood_ during the "storm and stress" period of that magazine. As an author, his peculiar
- 18 The reader need scarcely to be told that the sagacious dog had left his master floundered, and unable to extricate himself in a snow wreath; that the same faithful guide had taken the searchers to the spot, where they found Wilson just in the act of falli
- 19 The dame was well apprised of their proceeding; and the open frankness of the youth dispelled all the fears of wrong which the innocence of the daughter, undefended by experience, might have scarcely guaranteed to one who, at least, had heard something of
- 20 "The day of sale of Whitecraigs," said he, "is the _second_ day after the 29th of September. It would have been too much had it been on that day itself."No reply was made to his remark. The announcement called up in the mind of the dam
- 21 "What Whitecraigs and she who lives now in the house yonder were or are to you, Scotland and my kindred were to me; but the house where I was born knows me not, and the bed and the cradle do not own me. But Alice Scott recognised me as a fellow-creat
- 22 "What!" said I, "was she not of some distinguished house?""By no means, sir," replied Mr. Grafton. "She was a person of the humblest birth and station; but this did not hinder her from becoming Countess of Wis...o...b..r
- 23 'But why are ye no puttin' up your silk goun, Jessy?' here interposed her mother, abruptly; seeing her daughter laying aside the article of dress she referred to, as if she did not intend it should have a place in the little chest she was p
- 24 'One, my lady, from Scotland,' replied the servant, deferentially, and, at the same time, opening the bag in which the letters were usually carried to and from the post-house.'Ah! from the earl,' said the countess.'No, my lady, I
- 25 Many days had not pa.s.sed ere Thomas Hardie, arrayed in his Sunday habiliments, paid another visit to Westruther; and he cautiously asked of the goodwife of the hostel many questions concerning Margaret; and although she jeered him, and said that "M
- 26 "The fort.i.tude o' yer mind, Margaret," said Thomas, taking her hand; and he intended to have said more, to have finished a sentence in admiration of her worth, but his heart filled, and he was silent.On the following morning, Margaret sai
- 27 "Then, goodwife, it will not be easily proved," said he--and he took the bannock, and, with some difficulty, broke it over his knee; but, when he beheld the golden coins that were kneaded through it, for the first, perhaps the last and only time
- 28 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Volume 2.by Alexander Leighton.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,
- 29 "O sir," replied Simon, "ye wrong me--ye mistake my meaning a'thegither.If you are to die, I will die also; but do ye no think it would be as valorous, and mair rational, at least to see and hear the young leddy before ye determine to
- 30 even for his ain flesh an' bluid he has but sma' compa.s.sion when his anger is provoked. Death, too, is an awfu' thing to think aboot; an', therefore, for yer ain sake, an' for the sake o' yer puir distressed mother an'
- 31 There is a change now. The bones of the bold Armstrongs lie in Carlenrig, and the descendants of their brother-rievers who got their lands sit in high places, and speak words of legislative command. But these things will be as they have ever been. We cann
- 32 The familiarity with which Will spoke of the female personage thus destined to durance vile, produced another laugh on the part of the Warden, not altogether consistent, as Will thought, with the serious nature of the subject in hand."Where is she, m
- 33 "What could all this mean?" now e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Durie. "Have I not been for three months tortured with these sounds, which I attributed to evil spirits? I have ridden from them twenty miles, and here they are again, in the form of fair h
- 34 A light breeze had risen as the sun sunk, and our lugger, with all her sails set, came sweeping along the sh.o.r.e. She had nearly gained the little bay in front of the cave, and the countrymen from above, to the number of perhaps twenty, had descended to
- 35 "Then you are yet a stranger," he rejoined, "to the greatest happiness of which our nature is capable. I have enjoyed more heartfelt pleasure in the company of the young woman I have just left, than from every other source that has been ope
- 36 "And in the case of Robert," said the old man, "our clergy have been strict to the very letter. They're guid men an' faithfu' ministers; but ane o' them, at least, an' he a leader, has a harsh, ill temper, an'm
- 37 I read on with increasing interest. It was evident, from the tone of the introduction, that some new luminary had arisen in the literary horizon, and I felt somewhat like a schoolboy when, at his first play, he waits for the drawing up of the curtain. And
- 38 "'Who can counsell a thirstie soule, With patience to forbeare the offred bowle?'""That is the pure well of English undefiled, old fellows, and so here goes--'The La.s.s we Love!'TUNE--'_Duncan Davison._'"
- 39 "It can neither be now nor here, sir," replied he, firmly, motioning Whitaker haughtily to the door."Gentlemen," said Harry, turning round to his friends with a loud laugh of derision, "you see that vanity is stronger than valour.
- 40 [H] Round about the sh.o.r.es of Loch Skene the Ettrick Shepherd herded the flocks of his master, and fed his boyish fancies with the romance and beauty which breathes from every feature of the scene. One day, when we were at Loch Skene on a fis.h.i.+ng e
- 41 At the head, then, of this troop of tatterdemallions, and walking with as stately a step as a drum-major, Donald may be said to have made his entrance into Madrid; and rather an odd first appearance of that worthy there, it certainly was. On entering the
- 42 It was now so far advanced in the morning that Donald abandoned all idea of seeking for a bed, and resolved on prosecuting an a.s.siduous search for his brother. This he accordingly commenced, and numerous were the calls at shops, and frequent the inquiri
- 43 This extraordinary resolution of a female devotee put me in mind of the immolating custom of her countrywomen, called the _suttee_. It was a complete _ultima ratio_, and put all my remedial plans at fault in an instant. Her extreme weakness, or her devote
- 44 "I will trust you," said the General; and, as he spoke, the van of his army appeared in sight.John having described the situation of the enemy to Sir David, acted as their guide until they came to the Shaw Burn, when the General called a halt. E
- 45 He went to a small drawer, and, unlocking it, took out the jewels, the bracelet, the ring, and the purse of gold, and, placing them in Philip's hands, exclaimed--"Fareweel!--fareweel!--but it maun be!" and he turned away his head."O Ma
- 46 It was drawing towards midnight. The troops of Claverhouse were quartered around the country, and his three prisoners, still bound to each other, were confined in a small farm-house, from which the inhabitants had been expelled. They could hear the heavy
- 47 Now John marvelled at the kindness of his host, and his heart burned within him; and, in the midst of all, he thought of the long-lost Philip, and how he had driven him from his house--and his cheek glowed and his heart throbbed with anxiety. His son marv
- 48 After a tedious pa.s.sage of nine days, during which we had baffling winds and calms, we reached Leith Roads about seven in the evening. It was low water, and the brig could not enter the harbour for several hours. I was put ash.o.r.e in the boat, and has
- 49 "Then," said I, "my hopes of happiness are fled for ever. So young, so beautiful, with a soul so elevated as I know yours to be, you can have done nothing to render you unworthy of me. For heaven's sake, tell me what that fatal barrier
- 50 "Never mind them, hinny--let them gang--we'll get mair."The bride, poor thing, shed a tear; but the miller threw his arm round her neck, stole a kiss, and she blushed and smiled.It was evident, however, that every one of the company regarde
- 51 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.Volume III.by Various.THE WIDOW OF DUNSKAITH."Oh, mony a shriek, that waefu' night, Rose frae the stormy main; An' mony a bootless vow was made, An' mony a prayer vain; An' mither
- 52 "We began, therefore, to drive out the cattle; but scarce had we driven them from the enclosure, and turned their heads towards the Tweed, when we heard the baying of Cunningham's blood-hounds, and the shouts of his people."The sounds of th
- 53 "It was about three years after my wife's death, poor body," (he began) "that I had been owre at Morpeth market, wi' four score o' ewes and six score o' hogs. I was at least comfortable when I left Morpeth, but noughts a
- 54 THE SURGEON'S TALES.THE DIVER AND THE BELL.I have witnessed various states of the mind and body of the wonderfully constructed creature, man; and have written down those cases where the two mutually operate upon each other, in such a manner as to bri
- 55 Vanderhoek, who had now recovered his consciousness, uttered a loud cry as he saw his companion sink. The continued fresh air seemed to strengthen him far more rapidly than it did me, and I perceived that he now made violent struggles to lay hold of the m
- 56 "Oh, sir, it's a mistak! I'm so sorry. It's an entire mistak on my part. Yer'e no the person at a' I meant. I thocht the letter was frae anither gentleman--a different person a'thegither. It's the name has misled me
- 57 "I mean just exactly what I say," said the fellow, quite coolly; and, thinkin he saw in me some show o' a spirit o' resistance, whilk there really was, he touched me wi' a bit thing like a wean's whistle, and winked to his ne
- 58 "They ca' me Smith, my man--what is it?" said I, wi' a suspicious look; for I noo stood greatly in awe o' my ain name--no bein sure what mischief it micht lead me into."There's a gentleman up in the hoose wants to see yo
- 59 Although this was an offer too good and too opportune to be negatived, yet we could not think of parting with our darling Phebe on so short a warning; and, after some remonstrances on both sides, it was agreed that the carriage should be sent for Phebe an
- 60 "Weel dune, stranger--I'm as glad as though I had gotten a gowden coin."Now, it is but justice to Andrew to say that he had repeatedly defeated Meikle Robin, both at wresting, cudgel-playing, and every athletic exercise; but I shall give th
- 61 "Base loon!" cried the stranger, starting to his feet, "ye shall rue that blow." And he flung off his bonnet as if to return it."Hooly, billy," said Andrew, "there is as little manliness in fighting afore women as there
- 62 She would have detained him; but in a moment he sprang into the amphitheatre, and exclaimed-- "Now, Sir Knights, ye that hae been trying yer hands at the tourneyings, will ony o' ye hae the guidness to obleege me wi' the loan o' yer sw
- 63 Jenny's arms were rudely torn from around his neck, and he was dragged from the house; and his arms, as I have stated, being bound, he was placed behind a horseman, and his body was fastened to that of the trooper. In this manner he was conducted to
- 64 During this interval, c.o.c.kburn rose; and, dressing himself, went quietly out of the chamber--his movements having only tended to give some new impulse to her half-dreamy sensations, ineffectual as they were to recall her to the cares of a night vigil.
- 65 FOOTNOTES: [3] The old story of Scott of Harden and the hay sow, is well known.[4] Few travellers on the Borders have pa.s.sed unnoticed the "lady's seat."--ED.THE EXPERIMENTER.No one who has escaped an imminent danger can resist the impuls
- 66 "My good woman," said I, in the most soothing manner I could, "do, for charity, open the door. We are like to perish from fatigue, and can proceed no further. You shall be paid whatever you ask for any accommodation you can afford, were it
- 67 Though George obeyed his father so far as to go the length of the house door, he could not find time to go in for his promised _piece_; and, without opening it, he turned, and set off at the top of his speed in the direction of Nettlebank.Return we now to
- 68 "The farmer of the next farm may perhaps treat me like the farmer of this--and what then?" inquired the stranger, whose wrath had not yet altogether subsided."G.o.d forbid!" was Nancy's reply; "but he will not--I know he will
- 69 "Fly, fly," she whispered. "My father is drunk. I know it. He has never seen me; and you may escape. I will find some means of sending it. Fly, I conjure you!" And she pushed him gently from her.On the following morning, Duncan was ami
- 70 "If there's law or justice in the land," exclaimed Mrs. Anderson, in high excitation, as she swept together the fragments of her demolished crockery, "I'll hae't on Tam Callender and his wife. May I niver see the morn, if I h
- 71 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.by Various.Volume 4 THE SOLITARY OF THE CAVE.On the banks of the Tweed, and about half a mile above where the Whitadder flows into it on the opposite side, there is a small and singular cave. It is eviden
- 72 'What is all over, love?' inquired I.'Oh, nothing, nothing,' continued she, smiling--'merely the difficulty a young husband has in making his wife acquainted with the state of the firm in which she has become a partner.''
- 73 'Ye talk in vain--as I have said, so it is and shall be,' added he. 'And now, farewell, dear Catherine.''Stay! stay!--leave me not thus!' she exclaimed, and grasped his arm. At that moment her husband returned and entered the
- 74 "Here, Will, here man," whispered the beggar, as he rioted in his wild humour, and twirled Will Carr about to face Lilly, while he left her for Bess Gordon. "Set to her, man, and dinna spare a kiss and a good squeeze o' her hand, as ye
- 75 A loud laugh from within was the reply to this speech. What next could this mean? The farmer was confounded, the hinds stared, and every one looked at another. Here were men who five minutes before were fighting like fiends, who had been deceived and conf
- 76 "But even a' that was little or naething," continued William again; "for to pay us for a' the guid we had dune him, he made himsel invisible, and rode aff like a fire-flaught on ane o' the knight's horses; and frae that
- 77 nor, as the shepherd of Ettrick says, "knees and elbows an' a',"--still she fought with the instruments with which nature had endowed her, with her bill and her little claws, and she fought it most vigorously. O Nature! thou art a fear
- 78 Thomson found the character of the old man quite a study in its way; and that of his wife--a very different, and, in the main, inferior sort of person, for she was mean-spirited and a n.i.g.g.ard--quite a study too. But by far the most interesting inmate
- 79 In no part of her Majesty's widespread dominions does mighty Aristocracy rear its proud head with greater majesty than at Linton. There are, or were, in the neighbourhood of that ancient borough, no fewer than forty-five lairds, all possessing portio
- 80 And, after some farther concerted arrangements, the heritor left his affianced, and proceeded to Cauldshouthers, to report to Grizelda what he had achieved. In a short time, accordingly, the marriage was solemnized; and a very suitable display was made in
- 81 BON GUALTIER'S TALES.COUNTRY QUARTERS.A pleasanter little town than Potterwell does not exist in that part of her Majesty's dominions called Scotland. On one side, the hand of cultivation has covered a genial soil with richness and fertility. Th
- 82 "You will be of our party to-night, gentlemen," continued Mrs. Cheesham."We are to have a little music. You are fond of music, Mr. Stukeley, I know; and no pressing can be necessary to an ama_toor_ like you, Mr.Francis. I can a.s.sure you,
- 83 "Oh, come, don't be too hard upon me on that point. Mum, here we are at the drawing-room again. Not a word of what we have heard. If these scamps have made themselves scarce, as I think they have, good and well.But, if they venture to shew face
- 84 "A priest, a priest! For the love o' G.o.d, a priest to shrive a dying sinner. A priest, a priest!""What are ye screaming at, ye young rascal?" exclaimed David, intercepting the boy, and catching him by the breast. "Wha wants
- 85 Of such, however, seemed to be the person who had captured the unlucky hero of our story; for, on David and his escort coming up to the gate, they found the way prepared for them by the former, who, keeping still in advance, had arrived there before them.
- 86 "Good woman, good Mrs. Wemyss, I would say, know ye anything of mine outer garment? My gown, know ye where it has been deposited? I likewise lack my hat, good Mrs. Weymss; know ye what has become of it?""Truly, your reverence, I dinna ken,&
- 87 "Deed, mem, it's no easy sayin," replied the subject of this pathetic lamentation. "They're awfu' times. Nae man leevin ever saw or heard o'the like o' them. There, doon at Leith enow, they're murderin ane anit
- 88 I followed the old man in silence. He led the way into a field. We climbed over some loose stones thrown together, to serve as a wall of division at the farther extremity of it, and slowly began to ascend the gra.s.sy acclivity, which was on both sides bo
- 89 You may smile, reader, at the idea of a story ent.i.tled--THE FAIR; but read on, and you may find it an appropriate t.i.tle to a touching, though simple tale. This may seem like the writer's praising his own production--but that is neither here nor t
- 90 "To proceed, the vessel lay at King's Road, waiting my arrival on board, to overhaul her stores, to see what might be awanting. Her name was the _Queen Charlotte_; she mounted twenty-two guns; her captain was called by the seamen the Gallipot Ca
- 91 "Why, I must say I would not feel much for your case, gentlemen," said the stranger, "though you had to sleep on the heather for a night--I have done it a thousand times; but such quarters would ill suit these fair ladies, I fear."&quo
- 92 The reception by the latter of the person whom we have just intruded upon them, was very markedly cold and distant; and it was rendered more so by the contrast between his manner to them on his entrance, and theirs to him. The former was cheerful and conc
- 93 In the meantime, however, Macpherson, though fighting desperately, was compelled to yield ground, to avoid being closed upon and surrounded; for the pressure of the crowd was now greatly increased by an accession of town's people, who, having heard t
- 94 Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland.by Various.Volume 5 BILL STANLEY; OR, A SAILOR'S STORY.Reader, if thou hast never visited the Fern Isles, but intendest to visit them, thou hast a pleasure in reserve--a positive, downright, profitab
- 95 "'There, Jack!--there, my honest old friend!' cried Bill, stretching out his one hand, and with the other supporting his sweetheart. 'My head and heart are scudding beneath a sudden tempest of joy! Speak, Mary, love!let me again hear y
- 96 MATILDA STANLEY.BY DESIRE OF HER UNFORTUNATE SON."'Matilda Stanley!' exclaimed Captain Sherbourne in a tone of agitation, 'was that the name of your mother?'"'It was, your honour,' replied William, 'and there w
- 97 THE CONSCIENCE-STRICKEN.At a dark period of the world, not yet so far back, in point of time, as modern conceit would place it, many facts in philosophy const.i.tuted a mere page of fable in the estimation of those whose belief in witchcraft and other fan
- 98 My apprentice, with difficulty, got the unhappy man into my coach, and took him home. Next day, I was called, early in the forenoon, by an express from his wife. I found him in bed, in the very room where Mr.T---- was murdered. An attack of his disease wa
- 99 ("Deil a doot's o't--mony a ane; and that I hae met wi' the nicht's ane o' them. But what's strange in the notion o' me gaun aboot the country?How else could I mak a leevin o't?") "His faither had the
- 100 Having said this, he rose from the kneeling posture to which his employment had reduced him, and, as we have already said, resumed his march through the Middlemas wood.Leaving Willie to prosecute his journey, we request the reader to return with us to Whi