Philip Neville of Garriton. A Yorkshire tale

Preface

. — ♦ — The author has stated in the tale that one of his chief purposes in writing it is to preserve the fine dialect of Craggland. For his efforts to do this he believes philolo gists will thank him ; but he is not unconscious of the repugnance and distaste some readers possess for dialectical conversations in this class of literature. He does not see, however, when a glossary is appended, as in the present case, why a .work of fiction should, on account of such conversations, be less popular. In the novels of the greatest master — Sir Walter Scott, Bart. — they rather add to the charm than otherwise. Educated readers easily understand them. The author's next purpose is to call the attention of the public to Garriton and the Upper Craigy, where, in a district remote from railways, there is a virgin beauty and loveliness unsurpassed in this British isle.

The characters in the tale, and the plot, are not sensational; but it is hoped they are not devoid of interest. Another object of the writer is to show how envy and bigotry may affect a life, and how, in a professedly liberal and independent communion, there may exist a despotism equally as cruel as that which can be found in the narrowest and most priest-ridden sect. CONTENTS. CHAPTEB I. PAGE How Dickie Lambert and Nannie became converted 1 Chapteb II. Dickie Lambert's Guest and a talk about Philip 7 Chapter III. A Sunday Morning's Walk 11 Chapter IV. Philip Neville's First Sermon in Garriton ... 19 Chapter V. A Secret Auditor 25 Chapter VI. Miss Annie Metcalfe of Underhill House 31 Chapter VII. " The Better the Day the Better the Deed " 43 Chapter VIII. " The Childhood shows the Man " - ...

SI Chapter IX Village Gossip : 80 Chapter X. Once for AU 7J Chapter XL Mr. Blocksidge in a state of unrest 84 Chapter XII. Old Jane Hetherington SI Chapter XIII. Silva Garrs 100 Chapter XIV. Silva Garrs (continued) 116 Chapter XV. Dickie Lambert's Will '■■ 129 Chapter XVI. An Epistle and a Poem CONTENTS— ContmueA. Chapter XVII. 7'AC'E The Enriched Student 148 Chapter XVHI. On the Road to an " Appointment " 157 Chapter XIX. Annie Metcalfe's Eeply 169 Chapter XX. Friarstone Lovefeast 180 Chapter XXI. Thoughts not worth a Groat 195 Chapter XXII. Hidden Scar Glen 200 Chapter XXIII. "As the Needle to the Pole" 217 Chapter XXIV. Parson Bullyclog Triumphant ... ... ... ... ... 224 Chapter XXV. Dickie Lambert Burns his Will 235 Chapter XXVI. "Ecce Homo" 246 Chapter XXVII. The Clouded Christmas 259 Chapter XXVIII.

Euin at Strothber Hall ■ 267 Chapter XXIX. A Meeting on Scar Cote Moor 276 Chapter XXX. What Dickie Lambert learnt on his knees ... ... ... 287 Chapter XXXI. Philip once more at the Scar Top Farm House ... ... ... 289 Chapter XXXII. The Superlative Grace 306 Chapter XXXIII. Mrs. Styles hears more than she likes ... ... ... ... 313 Chapter XXXIV. Down and Dp ... ... ... 321 Glossary OF GARRITON.

Chapter I. How Dickie Lahbekt And Nannie Became Converted

" An' God bless Mr. Blocksidge ; give him a clear sky an' a plain path. Let t'leet o' Thee countenance shine on him ; an' may he niwer want a friend to tak hod of his hand, or a roof to shelter him as lang as he lives. He'll finnd rare bield under Christ's shadow, if he'll nobbut seek it. Nannie an' me hev sarved Thi for thirty years, an' maer, an' we've niwer wanted bite nor sup yet." Such were some of the concluding sentences of old Dickie Lambert's prayer on a Saturday night in June, 18 — . He occupied the Scar Top Farm House, on the outside of the ancient village of Garriton, which is situate on the north bank of the Craigy, one of the swiftest and most romantic rivers of Yorkshire. The creed of his religion was that of " The People called Methodists," and during the time men tioned in his prayer, he and his wife had been staunch and consistent members of that body of Christians.

In most religious sects there are three classes of members. They who constitute the first, are the thinkers and reasoners, who defend their belief by their tongue or their pen. Those who form the second, are the bigots, whose song is "The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are we." The persons who belong to the third, are those whose preference springs more from the heart than the brain, more from temperament than prejudice. Of this latter class was Dickie Lambert ; hence the only reason which he ever assigned for being a Methodist, was that it was amongst the Methodists he was converted. " I'd gaan to t'Church down b't' t'watter-side iwer sin I were a barn, but mi mind was as blinnd as a wo', an' mi heart as cowd as a staan," said he to me, one night in winter, when I had the honour and happiness of staying under his roof.

" Fooaks," he proceeded, " did ther varra best to git ma to t'chapel, but I niwer wad gah till an owd blacksmith fellah com to preeach frae Halifax. They said 'at he could mak t'congregation laugh yah minute an' cry t'other ; an' he could too. But when I heeard him, thaer was a bonnie deeal maer crying ner laughing. His sarmon was about ' t'wrath o' t'Lamb,' an' he talked about Christ in a different leet frae what I'd bin used to, fer ye knaw Parson Fielding niwer preeached about nowt but honouring t'king, reading wer prayer-books, an' niwer missing gahing to t'Church when t'Church doors wer hoppen. " When I went into t'chapel I thout iwerybody was glooring at ma, seea I clapped ma down on a stool, in a corner, whar varra few could see ma, an' thaer I stopped aw through t'sarvice. But I wasn't lang befoor I'd to wipe mi een wi mi cooat sleeve, fer it grieved me sairly to hear misel pictur'd so plainly, as t'blacksmith pictur'd ma.

I thout he meant naabody but me, an' as he showed us t'doom o' t'wicked, I felt misel a lost man, if thaer iwer was yan, an' I sud'nt a bin mich surprised if t'grund hed hoppened under mi feet an' swallowed ma hup. " But befoor t'sarmon was ower, he telled us ' t' wrath o' t'Lamb ' hed'nt cum'd yet, an' fer iwery yan 'at was troubled an' heart-brokken about his sins thaer was hope. Then he cawd a prayer-meeting, an' as varra nar iwerybody 'at was i' t'plaace stopped at it, I stopped too ; an' my word ! what a meeting it was ! I'd niwer seen t'marra to 't befoor, but ye knaw I've seen monny a yan like it sin'. "Four girt strapping fellahs went hup to t" Penitent Form ' an' began to roor hout fer ther lives. I wer still sitting i' t'corner, feeling misel a miserable sinner an' nut knawing what to do.

But t'blacksmith fan ma hout, an' he didn't talk to ma a minute befoor I brast hout a-crying like a barn. " The diwul, howiwer, was varra thrang wi ma, an' said, ' What will Nannie think, an' Parson Fielding, an' Mister Twisleton ?' Mister Twisleton was Parson Fielding's church warden at that time. But it was nae use fer t'enemy to cum on ma i' that way. I felt 'at in a caase in which mi soul was to be saaved, I mun be freeten'd o' naabody, seea, when t'blacksmith hexed ma to gah to t' ' Penitent Form,' I went at yehnce, an' I did'nt pray lang naythur befoor I was brout into liberty. Iwer sin' then I been a Wesleyan Methody to t'backbaan, an' I meean to be yan as lang as I hve." After hearing this unvarnished account of the way in which Dickie Lambert first became connected with the Methodists, I desired him to inform me what kind of a reception Mrs. Lambert gave him when he returned home on the night of his sudden transition, and how it was that she was led to embrace the same faith as himself.

He replied : — " Whya, as soon as I gat into t'house shoo said, ' Thow's a bonnie fellah ! Betty Thwaite's just bin here, frae t'Low Sykes, to tell ma 'at thow's bin makking a caws o' thisel at t'Methody Chapel, an' I wer to expect thi cuming haam wrang o' thi heead, fer shoo'd seen thi hersel knocking a bench wi thi neuf an' rocking thisel back'ards an' for'ards wi thi een shut, an' at saam time shouting hout aw max o' things 'at it was a shaam to heear. Shoo was seea put about 'at shoo could'nt stop onny langer, an' ran off at yehnce to let me knaw on it. I niwer was seea vexed i' mi life, Dickie, niwer !' " Shoo went on i' t'saam way fer a gay while, an' then I said, ' The Lord hev mercy on baath Betty Thwaite an' thee, Nannie, an' give yuh to see yersels as I seen mysel ; 'then ye'll knaw better ner to finnd faut wi' fooak gifting converted, as I bin doing.

I that i' me to neet 'at I niwer hed i' mi life befoor. I'se so happy 'at I could varra nar loup ower a five barred yett, an' I'se sewer naythur thee ner me '11 iwer rue t'day 'at t'blacksmith com to Garriton.' "Shoo then began agaan, an' said, 'I doant hke t'Methodies, Dickie; ther nout but a lot o' rogues an' hypocrytes. Look at owd Jim Hird 'at lives hup at t'Beggarmonds. Was thaer iwer a bigger owd cheeat ner he is ? Them beeas 'at thou bout on him at Ribbleton fair wer t'poor'st lot 'at iwer com to t'Scar Top Farm. Two on 'em thou sell'd, ester thou'd hed 'em fer six months, fer less ner what thou gav fer em, an' yan on 'em deed i' t'Scar Pastur ; whal t'lile heifer 'at wer milking now doesn't give haus as mich milk as shoo sud do.' " In answer to this, I hexed her if Jim Hird could help things happening like that ; fer how could he tell how t'beeas wad turn hout ?

Besides, I said, ' Fooaks hev hed beeas o' me that hev done no better.' " Shoo then said, ' Say nae rnaer ; I doant want to hear thi talk. Come an' git thi supper at's bin waiting for thi till it's cowd ;' an' as I drew hup to t'taable shoo look'd as foul as thunner. " Ester a time shoo brak hout afresh about how grieved wer landlord wad be, an' a lot maer fooaks ; and went on sich a gaat about 'em as ye niwer heeard, till at last I said, ' Nannie, it's nae use flighting ma like this. Monny a time I've cum haam frae t'Black Horse an' t'Devonshire Arms as drunk as a wheel, an' thou's niwer said a word to me ; yet to-neet, becoss I'se turn'd a Methody, thou's fit to poo mi een hout, when, at t'saam time, I bin maade a bran new man, an' intends to treeat thee better, an' to leead a happier life ner I've iwer done befoor.' " Shoo answered, ' Time '11 prove it, Dickie ; time '11 prove it.' " ' It sal prove it,' I said ; an' wi' that, heving finished mi poddish, I went an' fetched t'Bible frae t'book-case, an' hop pen'd it at t'forty-eighth Psalm, which I read reet through, hee hup, an' then I knelt ma down, an' began to pray i' mi arn house fer t'first time.

It was a girt task, but I gat through it better ner I'd expected I sud, an' when I gat hup I dis cuver'd 'at Nannie hed gaan on her knees, too, an' hedn't left 'em, an' was sobbing like a penitent, As soon as I knew it, I shouted, ' Praise the Lord ! He's boun to put thi on to t'Rock, Nannie.' " My beginning to pray on mi arn harstun hed bin too mich for her, an' hed brout her to. But wi aw mi talking to her an' praying for her shoo didn't, as we Methodies say, git ' brout through ' that neet. I tued wi her fer a lang while, but t'neet ester shoo went to bear t'blacksmith hersel, an' was t'first to gah t'Penitent Form, when t'preeaching was ower ; an t'Methody chapel soon rang wi her shouting ' Alleluia ! ' wi a voice as strang as onny at was i' t'place. As fer misel, I thout it was a miracle, an' wasn't wrang naythur, fer naabody hed hed maer to say about t'Methodies an' ther revivals ner Nannie.

Saam neet, howiwer, at shoo was so glokken'd at me gittin' saaved, shoo was brokken down hersel, an' t'neet ester shoo was aable to sing t'saam sang as me. But thaers nout like t' power o' God, sir, an' Christ '11 saave onnyboddy." While Dickie Lambert gave me the history of his wife's conversion I felt as deeply interested as when I heard that of his own. I knew that nothing had ever come across the threshold of their house that had in the least dimmed the light or lessened the joy that began to shine into their dwelling on that, to them, the most memorable period of their lives ; and as I listened to the simple but touching strains in which the commencement of their new life was described, fresh impulse and vigour were given to that life which was already throbbing in my own heart. Dickie Lambert further informed me that Parson Fielding and Mr. Twistleton never forgave him for leaving the Church of England.

Previous to his conversion the former was in the habit of visiting him twice or thrice a week to enjoy the lnxury of a pipe and a pleasant chat, but after that event he never placed a foot within his house again ; and as for the latter, so great was his repugnance to Dickie Lambert as a Methodist that he would have no more dealing's with him, either in fair or market. "But this," said Dickie, "niwer fashed ma a bit. I didn't goam it ; an' Nannie hed t'saam pluck as me, fer we knew it wadn't do to be chicken-hearted if we meant to keep on."

Chapter II

dickie Lambert's guest and a talk about philip. Mr. Blocksidge, who was specially referred to in prayer on the night from which our story commences, was the son of Mr. Timothy Blocksidge, of Darnfield, near Rockboro'. He received his early training at the Grammar School of that place, which has been rendered famous by many of its pupils becoming in after life distinguished both for their piety and learning. Then he studied under an Oxford professor, after which he was articled to a lawyer in London. There he passed successfully and rapidly through every grade necessary to fit him for the profession which had been chosen for him ; was early placed on the Rolls, and was now residing in the town of Hopton, where, for one so young, he had met with a large share of public patronage. Hopton is a place of some note, being the capital of the district in which it is situated, and possessing a very ancient castle and church, the former of which was the chief seat of a renowned Norman family, and the latter one of their places of interment.

The castle, after enduring several sieges, is still entire, and the church has been restored with great taste and at considerable expense. The young lawyer had often been invited to the Scar Top Farm House, but this was the first visit he had paid it, and so much did he enjoy the warm hospitality and quaint humour of his host, that it was not likely to be his last. But he was no Methodist, being, though brought up to the Church of England, a Nonconformist of the advanced school, and already one of the most prominent members of Hopton Congregational Church, for I believe that is the name by which it is known now, the former one of " Independent " having become obsolete. Tet Mr. Blocksidge could not but admire the native simplicity and godlike earnestness of both Dickie and Nannie Lambert's piety, and had the good sense not to obtrude upon them his opinions, knowing that to have done so would only have confused and perplexed them.

This was the third day that had passed since his arrival, and Dickie Lambert had been bold enough to name him in his prayer each time they had bowed together at the family altar. It was indeed his custom, during the performance of that sacred duty, to mention his household one by one, and he never excepted his visitors. After they had risen from their knees, and the servants had retired to their own quarters of the house, Dickie asked Mr. Blocksidge what place of worship he thought of attending on the morrow, saying at the same time — " As ye'r nut yan o' our mak o' fooak, ye'll varra likely be gahing to t'chapel 'at belangs to yer arn set. It's i' t'lang looan 'at leads hup frae t'Square, at t'boddam o'Garriton." " No," said Mr. Block sidge, " Though I do not altogether believe in the saying, ' When you are in Rome do as Rome does,' I am inclined for once to act upon the principle contained in it, so, if you have no objection, I will accompany Mrs. Lambert and you to the Wesleyan chapel."

" I'se rarely pleeased," said Dickie Lambert, " to hear yuh say seea, fer thaer's yan boun to preeach 'at '11 fairly cap yuh. He's nobbut a young 'un, but we've varra few i' t'Circuit 'at's fit to hod canle to him. Parson Bullyclog put him on t'Plan three months sin, an' he's bin, sin then, aw through t'daal, iwery plaace 'at he's hed to gah to, being crammed full, lang befoor t'sarvice time." " It's iwery word true," said Nannie, who had taken up a half-finished stocking, and was knitting away at an extraordinary rate, being a woman who never allowed herself, what she called, " an idle minute." " Philip Neville's as gradely a lad," she continued, " as onny i' Garriton, an' I ollus said 'at he's maade fer summat better ner to hanle a pick an' a shool." Mr. Blocksidge replied — " I am very glad to hear it, Mrs. Lambert, and I hope your expectations concerning him will be fully realised."

Nannie answered — " Nae fear about that ; I knaw to mich on him to be mistaan. He tuke to reading befoor he was hout of his petticuts, an' when his mother hed nout for him to do, he ollus hed a book in his hand. Shoo tell'd ma, hersel, t'other day, 'at he studied seea hard 'at shoo was flayed he wad kill hissel. Tuh may guess how he's gitten on, when I tell yuh, 'at he knaws maer ner aw 'lads i' Garriton, an' he's hed less hedication ner onny 'em. But it's a true saying, sir, 'If thaer's nout in 'em, yuh can hev nout hout on 'em.' Nobbut look at Peter Ashton's lads, o' t'Raikes House ; they've gaan to t'school aw their lives, an' ther nout but dunder heeads yet. Our Dickie wanted yan on 'em to cum to measure him a bit o' land, an' he did'nt knaw how to do it. But Philip Neville did it as reet as onny surveyor could o' done it."

Nannie, who loved Philip as though he had been her own son, seemed disposed to go on in the same eulogistic strain, but on her husband remarking that Mr. Blocksidge must be desirous of retiring for the night, put aside her work, and lighting a candle, which she fixed in an antique brass candlestick, said — "It's nut me 'at'll keep him hup onny langer then." " Stop, stop," said Dickie, '' I didn't meean thi to be in that hurry, but thou was gitting into thi owd gaat o' running other lads down to raise Philip." Nannie justified herself by saying — "Whya!" an' they desarve it ; fer when is it 'at iwer they've a good word for him ? He's run ester iwery weer else ; but thaers a lot i' Garriton 'at can't bide to see him becoss he's so mich better ner thersels, an' they wad like to treead him under ther feet if they could.

He's a poor man's son, Dickie. If he'd bin yan o' Squire Clegg's sons, they'd o' carried him o' ther shouders." To these remarks her husband replied — "I knaw aw about it, Nannie ; but it's nae use telling it to Mr. Blocksidge. He'll hear Philip hissel to-morn, an' then he can pass on him his arn judgment." "And that I trust will be charitable," said Mr. Block sidge ; and after bidding his host and hostess a hearty good night, retired to rest.

Chapter III

A SUNDAY MORNING'S WALK. Mr. Blocksidge was one who believed in being " up in the morning early," and was therefore astir the next day by the time the farm servants were calling the cows to their usual milking-stands ; and he did not forego his accustomed walk although it was Sunday, for he looked upon Nature as being a powerful auxiliary to devotion. As he descended the steep declivity upon which the Scar Top Farm House is built, he was enamoured with the scenery that was spread out before him ; each morning as he came down the same road he had stopped midway to gaze at it, and he did the same now. There was Garriton, on a natural terrace, at his feet, shrouded in the golden sunlight ; below it was the beautiful Craigy, bounding along like a roe pursued in the chase ; to the right were gigantic woods of the olden time ; beyond them rugged hmestone ranges, upon whose grey heights grey clouds were couched; directly in front of him, between a break in the hills, there stretched away a verdant strip of country, famous for many a feudal fight ; and to the left there was a landscape of green knolls, flowery dells and pleasant reaches of pasture land, here and there studded with ancient oaks, the whole being closed in with heathery fells.

It was impossible for Mr. Blocksidge to look on such a prospect without being entranced. He not only loved Nature but did so to the very highest degree, and with an ardency that is seldom equalled. He might indeed have been a child of her own rearing. To see him gaze upon a landscape and to hear him descant upon its various features of beauty, you would have thought that his very soul and life were wedded to her praise. Possessed of the finest susceptibilities, the noblest feelings, the sublimest faculties and the highest tastes of the poet, he was more fitted to be a follower of Appollo than of Themis ; therefore, though it was his lot to be bound to the service of the latter, the former engaged as large a share of his attention as the circumstances of his profession would allow him to give, and, until this very day upon which he fell in love with a certain young lady of the neighbourhood he was visiting, Nature had ever been the subject of his song.

He was now filled with a higher inspiration than usual, and was tempted to recline himself for a short time on a crag wet with dew, which jutted out of the ground close by to where he stood, and give expression to his feelings in verse, when, suddenly bethinking that to be seen by his host active with his pencil on the Lord's Day might give that worthy and simple-hearted creature — who, while he might sanction a walk on such a day, would not, perhaps, think so well of writing upon it — an unfavourable impression of his religious character, he continued his descent to Garriton. There he was saluted by several angry curs that seemed inclined to do something more than bark, but on a rough looking farmer, who had a large milking-can upon his head, shouting at them with a gruff voice to bring them to order, they skulked off their several ways without any further molest ing him..

After leaving Garriton, he met at at the junction of two roads William Neville, Philip Neville's father, who was out like himself for the purpose of holding communion with Nature and her God. Mr. Blocksidge was the first to speak, and on finding his unknown companion to be affable and pleasant, decided not to break the acquaintance so casually begun. He there fore continued to walk along with him, making at the same time remarks complimentary to the district, each of which set Wilham Neville's face all a-glow with delight, for never did a man have greater love for the place of his birth than he had for his native vale. A poor tradesman of a country village, he was nevertheless a person of moderate intelligence, and had as fine tastes as any other man in Garriton. And while he loved his native valley of the Craigy, he also loved the dialect which he had been taught to speak on his mother's knee, and always made it the medium of his thoughts, which thoughts, flowing through such a channel, always remind me of the river by whose side he hved, in which the ruggedness of the course and the purity and force of the waters combine to give a glory which none can resist.

The vernacular of Craggland is no slang dialect ; it has fewer offensive and vulgar terms than any I know, being composed of good, strong, noble old English of the times of Chaucer and Wickliffe ; and one of the purposes I have in view in writing this tale is to preserve it in its purity before the large influx of strangers into the district renders it impossible to do so. As the two passed along a lark rose from the deep grass of a rich meadow, and soared high into the heavens, sending forth the sweetest gushes of music. They stopped to listen and to moralize until its song was over. Then they came to a stile on their left, which they crossed, and, following a foot path, were soon by the side of the Craigy. " Ye'll nut see a watter like this onny weer," said Wilham Neville. " No," replied Mr. Blocksidge.

" Though I am not insen sible to the charms of other rivers in the county, among the chief of which I rank the crystal Stanner, upon whose verdant banks I spent my boyhood, I must nevertheless confess that those of the Craigy exceed them all." " Iwerybody says t'saam, excepting wer arn town's fooak, an' they're capp'd at me makking so mich to do about it as I do, an' as fer t'scenery, they niwer nooatice it haus as mich as it desarves." " Local beauty is hke local talent, sir. Distance lends enchantment to most things, and we often go out of our way and sacrifice expense for objects which are inferior to those that are close at hand, and which we may feast our eyes upon for nothing." After passing through several fields they reached a craggy height which overlooks the river, and there they stood for awhile in silence, gazing down upon the rushing waters.

Wilham Neville at last remarked, " This is yan o' my favouryte spots. I niwer hardly tak a walk but I come here. Yuh see that girt staan thaer, under that cat-ha'-tree. I rowled it thaer misel a purpose fer me or onnybody else to sit on. I've cum here for ower forty years, an' isent tired o' t'plaace yet. Thaer's new grandur to see in it iwery time, an' I ollus think to hear t'watter makking sich a noise an' to see it derling away down frocks an' ower crags is ommost as good as a sarmon. Dear owd Craigy's preached to ma monny a fine lesson i' mi time, an' fooaks sud niwer be aboon laming frae Natur. This is weer Billy Dinsdale misses it. He's as good a man, I believe, as onny man i' Garriton, but he's yan o' them 'at finnds faut wi' me coming out to view Natur. He says it's too mich like fworld— it sawurs o' f carnal mind, an' weeans f soul frae better things ; but mi arn experience hes proved this nut to be true."

Mr. Blocksidge answered, " And so has mine. A religion that would condemn us for viewing with admiration and delight the works of the Eternal God, ' Who hath made everything beautiful in his time,' is both ignorant and narrow, and altogether out of harmony with that of the sacred Scriptures, in which we read 'All Thy works praise Thee.'" Then he quoted about a score of lines from Cowper, beginning with — Nature is hut a name for an effect, Whose cause is God, and concluding with One Spirit — His Who wore the platted thorns with hleeding hrows — Eules universal Nature. Not a flower But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain Of his unrivalled pencil. God was verily present to both of them, as they looked now on the rolling and dashing river below, and on the rocks and trees which overshadowed it, and then on the richly decked ground around them, and the glory-lit sky above.