The Fire-Ships. A tale of the last Naval War

Front matter

THE FIRE-SHIPS. % Me of % fast ftabal Œtar. EY WILLIAM H. G. KINGSTON. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL I. LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, SON, & CO., 47 LTJDGATE HILL. 1862. [The right of Translation is reserved.'] LONDON PRINTED BY W, CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET. The inhabitants of Shetland have a grievance. It is not that they complain of being badly governed, of being over-taxed, or of being poor, or of their climate, or of the shortness of the days in winter ; but they say, with justice, that they are shamefuUy ill-treated by the map-makers, who place their well-loved little group of islands out of the way, in some corner of the map, so that not one person in ten of those tolerably well informed in geographical matters generally, has a correct notion of their bearing from the other por tions of the British isles.

Some years ago, however, I made the discovery that they lie due north of Scotland, Orkney intervening ; and as I had a strong desire to pay them a visit, I took ship and reached Lerwick, their capital, in safety. The kindness I there received will never be erased from my memory. I travelled through all parts of the islands, and visited a number of very interesting scenes. Curious tales were also told me of deeds done in bygone days, when the arm of the law was too short to reach ill-doers at a distance from the centre of government, and when might was looked upon as constituting right in those far-off islands. One of the strange legends which I then heard has served as the basis of the following tale. For years its gossamer threads have been floating before my eyes, though it is only now that I have caught and woven them into a tangible form, and connected them with events belonging to history rather than fiction.

My aim has been to produce in the " Fire-Ships" a tale of stirring nautical adventure ; and at the same time to introduce characters who may add to its interest, and make it a work which will be taken up with pleasure, and not laid down till the end of a winter's evening. Middlehill, Wimborne, 1th December, 1861.

Chapter I

"Land! land on the larboard bow!" The cry was uttered in a foreign tongue from the masthead of a corvette of twenty guns, a beautiful long, low, flushdecked craft with dark hull, taunt raking masts, and square yards, which, under all the saUs she could carry with a southerly breeze right aft, was gliding rapidly over the now smooth surface of the northern ocean. The haughty flag of old Spain, and the language spoken on board, showed that she belonged to that nation. The crew sat clustered about on the forecastle with theh arms folded in a listless, inactive way — some asleep— others smoking cigarillos or playing games of chance between the guns, while a few were disputing on some trivial points with a VOL. I. B vehemence which proved the fiery tempers hidden under those calm exteriors. The officers lolled against the bulwarks, sat on the guns, or paced slowly backwards and forwards ; but rather more etiquette was kept up on the quarter-deck than appeared to be the case among the men forward.

The captain walked backwards and forwards with his first lieutenant on the starboard side ; they crossed occasionally, and Ufted their hands to theh eyes to watch the land just sighted as the ship approached and glided by it at the distance of two or three miles. The captain's appearance was in his favour. He was taU and graceful, with the clear olivecomplexion, the pointed beard, the thin moustache, and the large pensive eyes, so frequently seen in portraits of high born Spaniards. Still, though his features were handsome and very intelligent there was an expres sion in them not altogether satisfactory. His com panion was a short, thick-set man, dark and bearded, with a daring look in his countenance and a firmness in his mouth which might raise a suspicion that in cases of emergency he would be likely to take the command in the place of his superior.

" That land out there shoidd be of some interest to us, Alvarez," said the captain, pointing to the little conical-shaped islets the ship was passing. " It was there, so history tells us, that one of the grandees of Spain, the great Duke of Medina Sidonia, was wrecked when he sailed in command of that mighty Armada which would have assuredly crushed the power of England had it not been so completely baffled by the wonderful opposition of the elements. Many of his crew after being saved from the fury of the tempest were cruelly murdered by the barbarous inhabitants, and he and a small remnant only escaped to the main island of Shetland, whither we are bound." " Ah ! I have heard say that the people in those parts are little better than cannibals," answered the lieutenant ; " we may as well, at all events, keep our guns run out and double-shotted whUe we lie here, that we may be prepared for them should they attempt to play us any tricks."

" Oh ! they are tolerably civilized now, I fancy," answered the captain. "I myself have some Shet land blood in my veins, so I have been told, though it must be tolerably diluted by this time." " You, sir ! I thought that in your veins flowed none but the purest of Castilian streams," answered the lieutenant, with a slight sneer in his tone. It B was so slight, however, that his captain did not per ceive it. " How came that about, Don Hernan ?" "I wiU teU you," answered the captain: "an ancestor of mine — in our famUy tree he appears quite a modern one — commanded one of the ships of the holy Armada. She, like that of the Admiral, was driven north and ultimately wrecked and totally lost on the land we shall soon make to the northward, caUed Shetland. He and his crew were kindly treated by the chief of the Uttle island on which they were driven.

The crew buUt a chapel to show their gratitude, and having nearly produced a famine in the district, were conveyed home with honour; while he, to prove his, married the old UdaUer's daughter, and thinking it likely that his head might be chopped off as a sacrifice to assuage the rage of our pious monarch Philip, settled on the island, and did not return home till towards the end of a long o Use. His son, who accompanied him, having re covered his ancestral estates, remained in Spain ; but he, when advanced in years, in consequence of being implicated in some political plot, fled the country, and naturally took refuge in that of his mother, where he was cordially welcomed. He was afterwards joined by his son, who, curiously7 enough, married a Shetland lady, and thus, even in the days of my father, who was his grandson, a constant communication was kept up with our Norse connections.

I, also, have more than once heard of them since my father's death, and have determined to become more intimatelv acauainted with my relatives during this northern voyage of ours. But where are we getting to ? What with the strong tide, and the favourable breeze, we positively fly bv the land. Send for the chart on deck, Alvarez, and let me have a look at its bearings." The first lieutenant beckoned to a midshipman, who soon returned with a large sea-chart which the captain spread out on the capstan head. " Ah ! here we have this small rock — Fair Island, I see the natives call it — awray to the south-west ; and that lofty, bluff headland, north by west, now shining so white, as if formed of marble, is Fitfiel Head, or the White Mountain, I see by a note — not an unfit name either ; and that high point to the south-east again, is Sumburgh Head.

What bleak and barren hills appear to the northward again ! What a dreadful coast to make during the long nights of winter !" The captain shuddered. "Unless we find the inte rior more attractive, I shall wonder how my ancestors could have had so much partiality for such a country." " Summer or winter, in stormy weather it is not a coast a seaman would wish to hug too closely," observed Lieutenant Alvarez; "the crews of the ships of our great Armada found that to their cost. However, there appear to be some good roadsteads, where, should bad weather come on, we may be secure." " Numbers. See what a curious shape has the mainland," observed the captain, pointing to the chart. " It is fully twenty leagues long, and yet there does not appear to be a point where it is more than a league across from sea to sea.

Those voes run up for a league or more and make it appear like some huge insect. Then what innumerable islands of all shapes and sizes ! The people should be amphibious, who live here, to enable them to visit their neighbours : in a southern clime what a delightful spot it might be ! but in this hyperborean region, existence must be a penalty." 'As to that, my fancy is for a southern clime," answered the lieutenant, who, by the by, did not clearly comprehend all his captain's remarks ; " but I suppose as there are some animals, polar bears and arctic foxes, who delight in snow and frost, so there are human beings who are content to live on in this cheerless region." "Not a bad notion, Alvarez," observed the captain, who continued walking the deck and talking much in the same strain with his officer.

The contrast between the two was very considerable. The captain, Don Hernan Escalante, was a refined, highly-educated man. His knowledge on most matters was extensive, if not profound ; he spoke several languages, and among them English, with a fluency few Spaniards attain. Few Spaniards indeed of that day were equally accomplished. His first-lieutenant, Pedro Alvarez, was every inch a seaman, and Uke many seamen despised all who were not so. Again the captain stopped before the chart, and placing his finger on it, observed : " Here I hope we may anchor to-night, opposite the capital, Lerwick. See, there is a long wide sound marked with good anchorage, called Brassay Sound, formed by the mainland and the island of Brassay. I wonder what sort of a city is Lerwick ! It of course has theatres, hotels, billiard-rooms, and balls; these northern people are fond of dancing, I have read.

We shall have ample amusement with the fair islanders." " The dances will be something like those of the North American Indians, I suspect," answered the lieutenant, who might have thought that his captain was laughing at him, when he talked of such amuse ments in a country he believed so barbarous. The corvette had got close in with Sumburgh Head, when her saUs gave several loud flaps against the masts, bulged out, then again coUapsed, and she speedily lost all steerage way. The head of the vessel, instead of pointing, as heretofore, towards the north, now began slowly to turn round west, and south, and east, and then, as if some secret power had seized her keel, away she was whirled, now to the westward and then to the north, in the direction of the towering heights of Fitfiel Head. " The saints preserve us !" exclaimed the second lieutenant of the corvette, a sycophantish foUower of the captain ; " where can we be driving to ?

I vow six candles to our patroness St. CecUia if she carries us clear of those dreadful rocks." " Vow your candles to whomsoever you like, and much good may they do us," growled Pedro Alvarez ; " the saints may be very decent sort of people, but for my part, I have never found them of the slightest use in a case of danger, unless a crew have set manfully to work to help themselves. If a breeze does not spring up from the westward, our anchor is not likely to reach the bottom in Brassay Sound to-night." The crew were all now fully awake, and the expression of theh countenances showed that they believed their ship was placed in a very dangerous position. No one could tell at what moment the strong current, which had got her in its power, might send her driving helplessly against the rugged cliffs, over which, even calm as it was, the sea dashed, breaking into masses of glittering foam, while the vessel herself, hitherto gliding with stately majesty along, was tossed and tumbled about in a manner which many of the ignorant seamen on board believed was produced by the incantations of the weird sisters dwelling among the heretical islanders.

West Voe was passed, and so was Scat Ness, and narrowly, it seemed, she escaped driving on Cross Island, when Quendal Bay opened on them, where Medina Sidonia, and the remnant of his crew, took shelter after ttieir escape from Fair Island, and were hospitably received by the inhabitants of the town of Quendal, now but a collection of a few mud cottages. Whhled past the bay, the helpless vessel drove close under Fitfiel Head itself. The danger now indeed seemed B imminent. As the ship lay rocking to and fro under the lofty headland, the sea-bhds flew forth in myriads from the ledges and caverns, where, for ages past, in storm and sunshine, in winter and summer, they have roosted undisturbed, wheeling and tircling with dis cordant cries round the stranger, as if to inquhe why she had thus come to intrude on their domain.

The Spanish seamen, accustomed chiefly to southern climes, gazed with superstitious wonder at the frowning cliff and the screeching birds, and folly believed that those winged denizens of the wild sea-coast were evil spirits sent out by the witches of the country to trick and torment them, and perchance to lead them to destruction. " Shall we anchor, Alvarez ?" asked the captain, anxiously looking around seaward, and then at the frowning height above their heads. "Anchor!" exclaimed the lieutenant, "as well anchor in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, as in the Roust of Sumburgh, with such a current as this, even if the depth would allow. We might get the boats out and tow, and perchance, by gaining time, obtain a breeze to carry us free." " By all means do so," was the answer. The boats were lowered and their crews were soon lustily tugging at their oars with the head of the corvette to the westward, while long sweeps were got out and run through the ports to impel her yet more rapidly through the water.

Suddenly, however, she seemed to be once more seized upon and carried completely out of their control. Her head was to the westward, but she herself was swept away as fast as before to the southward ; while so tumbUng and break ing was the sea, that it was not without danger of being swamped that the boats were again hoisted in. The crew cast frowning glances towards the shore. " Ah !" exclaimed an old quarter-master, with a fierce look and a gruff voice ; " I've often heard it said that those northern witches can raise storms and seU winds, and tumble the sea about at their pleasure, and now we have good proof of the fact. For my part, the only wind I would buy of them would be a northerly breeze, warranted to last till we have landed safe on the shores of old Spain. I like not these northern regions where witches and fames revel, no saints are worshipped, and no Christians dwell.

Satan and his imps must have fine work in a gale of wind up here among them." " What are we to do, Alvarez ?" asked the captain, not at all liking the condition of his ship. " Let her drive backwards and forwards till a breeze springs up, I suppose," answered the Ueutenant. " Should a westerly gale catch us before we again get to the southward of Samburgh Head, and should we fail to weather some of those ugly-looking points, I doubt much whether St. Cecilia herself, after whom our pretty craft is called, could prevent every one of us from sharing the fate which has befallen many a' bold seaman before us. However, we'll hope for the best." "You do not seem to Uke the prospects of this northern cruise of ours, Alvarez," observed the captain. "You have not been in good-humour since we entered the British Channel, and have done nothing but predict disaster."

"Pardon me, captain," answered the lieutenant, "I am not now predicting disasters — though it requires no seer to foreteU the fate of the ship, if not of our lives, should certain not unlikely contingencies occur. However, here comes a breeze, I verUy believe from the westward too, and if it wiU but fill our safls for a short half hour, we may double yon ugly-looking Sumburgh Head, and getting out of the Roust, the tide wiU carry us along to our anchorage." The boats being once more lowered, towed the head of the corvette round to the westward, though all the time several hands were bailing to keep them free of the water, which bubbled and tumbled hissing into them over the sides. The breeze which Pedro Alvarez had observed playing on the surface in the distance, at length filled her saUs, and stemming the current she again got into smooth water and the influence of the tide, making to the northward.

The wind also drew round to the southward, and all sails being made, the corvette with her wide spread of canvas gUded on as smoothly and majestically as before, till the little island of Mousa, with its Pictie tower, bore west on her larboard beam. A signal was flying for a pilot, and a long, light boat pulling six oars was seen coming off from Fladbister, a town — in reality a little fishing village— on the shore. The heads of her crew were visible a long way off, by the bright hues of their long pendent worsted caps. They wore large sheepskin coats, coming down to the knee over theh worsted shirts, and high boots of yellow untanned leather. The corvette was about to shorten sail, but they making signals that that was unnecessary, the boat shot alongside and two of them sprang on board. " Those fellows would be unpleasant customers if they came as enemies to attack our ship, from the active way in which they leaped up our sides," observed the captain.

" They would be as difficult to keep out as wild cats." One of the two pdots was a man advanced in life, the other was very much younger, and habited in the quaint costume which has been described ; his dress, though rough, differed much from the rest, whUe his easy, unembarrassed manner, showed that he was an officer rather than an ordinary seaman. With a brisk step the men came aft, inquiring as they did so of the officers if any of them could speak EngUsh. They were referred to Don Hernan, who politely returned the salute as they touched their hats to him. " Well, my men," said he, " wdl you take charge of the ship, and bring her to an anchor in Brassay Sound to-night ?" "That will we, captain, right gladly," answered the younger of the two, glancing aloft with the eye of a seaman. " She is as pretty a craft as any one has ever seen in these waters, and weU worth taking care of.

What is her name ? where are you from ? and whither are you bound, captain? Pardon me for asking, but it is my duty so to do. They are the questions we always put in these waters." " As to that, of course you are perfectly right," answered the captain. " Her name is the St- Cecilia, her commander Don Hernan de Escalante, your humble servant, and she carries, as you see, twenty guns. We sailed from Cadiz, and have touched at two or three French ports, and the British port of Plymouth ; after visiting Lerwick we are bound round the north of your island, into the Atlantic again. You see that we have nothing to conceal. The character of this ship is above aU suspicion ; and you will find, my friend, that you have lost nothing by navigating her in safety wherever we may wish to go." " Very likely, captain," answered the pdot, looking up into the captain's countenance.

" I entertain no doubt about the matter, and if the provost and bailies of Lerwick are satisfied, I am sure that I shall be : keep her as she goes now for the Bard of Brassay. The tide wUl shoot her into the Sound rapidly enough as we draw near it." When in a short time the corvette was off the Bard or Beard of Brassay, as the ragged-looking southern end of that island is called, a turn of the helm to starboard sent the vessel into the Sound, and up she flew with smooth green heights on either side, here and there a few white buildings showing, and numerous rocks visible, tUl the pUot warned the captain that it was time to shorten saU. At a word the saUors were seen swarming aloft, studding-saUs came in as if by magic, royals and top-gaUant-saUs were handed, top-sails clewed up, and with her taunt tapering masts and square yards alone, surrounded by the intricate tracery of their rigging, the beautiful fabric glided up to an anchorage off the town of Lerwick.

" Friend, you brought the ship to an anchor in true seamanlike style," said Captain Don Hernan, touching the young pilot on the shoulder. "You have not been a simple pilot all your Use." " No indeed, captain," answered the pUot, " I have been afloat since my earliest days in southern seas, as well as engaged in the Greenland fishery. Lately I have been mate of a whaler, and maybe my next voyage I shall have charge of a ship as master. You have hit the right nail on the head — this is the first summer that I ever spent on shore." " Can I trust you then to take charge of the ship round the coast?" asked the captain. "Perhaps, however, you are not well acquainted with that." The pilot smUed. " There is not a point or headland, a rock, or shoal, or island, which I have not as clearly mapped down in my memory, as are the lines on yonder chart, and more correctly too, I doubt not.

The truth is, captain, that like many sea faring men in Shetland, during the summer I have been away to Greenland, but the winter months have been spent among these islands, and each one I have coasted round over and over again ; and, while fishing and shooting, I have visited every voe and inlet, every bay and sound, to be found among them. If you wish it, I will engage to carry your vessel wherever there is depth of water for her to pass." " That will do, I will trust you," said Don Hernan. " What is your name, friend, that I may send for you when you are wanted ?" " Rolf Morton," was the answer ; " but my home is some way to the northward, on the island of Whalsey. There you have it on your chart. Those who live on it boast that it is the finest of the outlying islands ; and well I know that such a castle as we have is not to be found in all Shetland."

" Ah, it is your native place," observed the captain. " You therefore think so highly of it-" "Not exactly, though I remember no other spot of earth before I put eyes on Whalsey. I was, so I have been told, picked up, when a chUd, from a wreck at sea ; and the men I was with caUed me Rolf Morton, the name which has stuck to me for want of a better. I know nothing more of my history, but I am prating of myself, and shall weary you, captain." " Far from it, friend ; I delight in a little ro mance," answered the captain. " How comes it, though, that you remained on shore this summer? — but I need not ask — one of your fair islanders, of whom I have heard so much, was your attraction." " Yes, in truth," said the pilot, laughing ; " she has become my wife, though ; and as I could not bring myself to quit her, I bethought me I would try to gain my livelihood by turning pUot.

Yours is one of the first ships I have taken charge of. There — I have been frank with you, captain, and told you aU my history from beginning to end." " And I thank you for it. I saw at a glance that you were above the ordinary style of a pilot. We understand each other. I wanted to find a man like yourself who would give me the information I require about the' country, the habits and customs of the people. I would wish to behave towards them so as to win their regard." While Don Hernan was speaking, Rolf Morton gave an open-hearted inquiring look in his face, as much as to say, " Are you honest, sir ?" Apparently satisfied with his scrutiny, he replied that he would gladly be of all the service in his power. " Well, then, about this island of Whalsey. What is the name of the castle on it, do you say, and who are the inhabitants?" asked Don Hernan.

The young pilot was evidently not a person at all addicted to talking, for talking's sake ; and while from kindness of heart he wished to give any information which might prove interesting, he was unwilling to be more communicative than necessary to one of whose character he knew nothing. " I spoke of Whalsey, though in a way by chance it little merits," he answered. "You, captain, would, I doubt not, look on it as a very poor little island. It may be some four miles long from point to point, and near a mUe wide, but the inhabitants do not esteem it according to its size, let me assure you. Our good minister always offers up a prayer for its prosperity, as well as for that of the mainland of Shetland, and for the adjacent islands of Great Britain and Ireland. So 'you see we islanders do not think lightly of our selves."

"I see that you are fond of a joke, pUot, and I do not like you the worse for it, though we Spaniards have the character of being people of so grave and supercilious a character," answered the captain, laughing. " But this castle of which you were speaking, I am somewhat curious to know more about it. I had fancied that no buildings existed on these barren islands much larger than those cottages I see on the shore, and that few of the inhabitants were above the rank of honest fish-dealers." Don Hernan well knew that the islander's pride would tempt him to launch out in a full description of all the families of consequence in the group, and that he should thus easily obtain, without apparently seeking for it, all the information of that description which he required. Morton unsuspectingly answered exactly in the tone for which he was prepared.

"Indeed, captain, you are out of your latitude. We have the Edmonstones of TJnst, and the Lord Dundas, and the Mouats and the OgUvys, and Scott of Scalloway, and Bruces of Sandwick, and also of Symbister, and Spences, and Duncans, and the Nicol son family ; baronets of old date, all honourable men and of ancient lineage, besides many others I have not named, standing equally well in the esti mation of the country ; and then there is the Lun nasting family of Lunnasting Castle, of which I spoke to you. The owner is Sir Marcus WardhUl, who succeeded to his property by right of his wife, the Lady Margaret Brindister ; one of the most ancient of our Shetland families, descended, so it is said, from one of the former chiefs, the Udallers of old. They are very 'great and important people, at all events, when in their own castle, and of course have little communication with a man of my humble rank.

Maybe I hear more of them than do others, because my wife's mother was for long the companion of the Lady Margaret and the nurse to her children. I be lieve she loved them as her own. Indeed, although but called a nurse in the family, she is nearly akin to the Lady Margaret. But these are matters about which a stranger can have no interest." "A stranger might not, but I must not be con sidered in that light," answered the captain. " Strange as it may appear to you, I am connected with that ■fl THE FIRE-SHIPS. very family of which you are speaking. An ancestress of mine was a Brindister. I must claim relationship with the occupants of Lunnasting. It wiU, in truth, be pleasant in this remote region to find friends so nearly related to me." The reserve which the pUot had hitherto maintained seemed to vanish on hearing the assertion made by Don Hernan.