Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, etc

Front matter

DICKS' ENGLISH NOVELS. By Gr. TJV. _VT. _El.___!'K-_XrOI_iI_>S_ Complete, from the Original Edition.— Numerous Illastrations. LONDON: JOHN DICKS, 313, STRAND. PRICE SIXPENCE. ABvKBTISEME THE GREAT MEDICINE. /ÆSx It gives instant relief in HEADACHE, SEA or BILIOUS SICK /&*5^£Æ\ WEiiS. CONSTIPATION, INDIGESTION, LASSITUDE, LOW iLSAJ SPIRITS, HEARTBUBN, and PEVEB1SH COLDS : prevents PWvfiy'' and inicWy relieves or cures the worst form of TYPHCTS, VX-toloSi0/ SCARLET, and other PEVBBS, SMALL POX, MEASLES, \ags£jfc/ and ERUPTIVE or SKIN COMPLAINTS, and various "-^> other altered conditions of the Blood. riraony of Medical Gentlemen and the Professional Press has been unqualified in praise of LAMPLOUGH'S PYRETIC SALINE as possessing most important elements calculated to restore and maintain Health w ith perfect Vigour of Body and Mind.

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Chapter I

thus employed, alike encouraging and warning them at one and the same time. " \Tis YeU' my sons ! 'tis well,"— thus rang the priestly words of encouragement—" that ye should strive to rescue the hapless dead from their watery graves, that they may receive the rite of Christian sepulture iu holy pound. But take ye heed, my sons," and now the es hortation changed into one of warning, — " how ye too rashly imperil your own lives; for ye must not cease to remember that being husbands, fathers, and sons, there be others dependent upon ye for the biead they eat!" THE PRIEST OF LINDORES. The Scottish port of Newburgh was already of some importance at the period when our narrative commences — namely, in the year 1565. Situated nearly at the point where the noble river Tay expands somewhat abruptly into the magnificent estuary which pours its broad Hood into the Northern Sea, Newburgh always possessed the natural advantage of a capacious harbour, . to which there was a navigable access for vessels of considerable burden.

Even so far back as the above-named date, the burgh enjoyed a considerable shipping connexion, not only with many other ports on the eastern coast of Scotland, but likewise with the Continental marts on the seaboard of Norway and Denmark. The adjacent Abbey of Lindores, a, wealthy and extensive ecclesiastical establishment, contributed not a little, by its luxurious requirements, to the commercial well-being of Newburgh ; for though Scotland was already a prey to the dissen sions of the Catholics and Protestants, the moment had not as yet arrived when the religious institutions of the former were actually doomed to destruction by the un compromising yet well-meaning supporters of the Refor mation. " It would seem, holy father," replied one of the most venturesome of those individuals to whom the exhorta tion was addressed, " that the fishes have resolved to keep the poor drowned creatures to serve as their own food, while the billows toss us upon the shore naught but fragments of the wreck."

"Is it so, worthy Martin?" said the priest: "dost mean me to understand that not a single corpse has as yet been recovered from the waters whose ravenous maw swallowed up last night the ill-fated vessel ?" " It is even as thou hast just said, holy father," was the man's response. " Since morning dawned upon these dark troubled waters have my comrades and I been watching along tbe shore. How completely the storm of wind and waves did the sad work for the fated ship may be judged by the countless pieces of wreck — all in such small fragments, too— which lie along the strand I But methinks that the force of the current must have swept the bodies of the crew far up into the river itself, where sooner or later they will be cast up along the green banks Unless, indeed," added the man, "they be all car ried down by the next tide into the sea, leaving no trace behind."

From the observations we have just made, it may be easily judged that Newburgh, with its thriving com merce and nascent importance, was a place by no means characterized by dulness or inactivity ; but on the par ticular morning when our tale opens, there was more than the usual bustle to be remarked in the town. This was the 30th of June of the above-named year, 1565 j and although it was the middle of summer, yet the weather was wintry and tempestuous. Dark storm-clouds were borne rapidly over the face of heaven ; and the rushing north-east wind, fraught with a hyperborean chill, swept with the fury of a hurricane over the rolling billows of the Tay. Dark and sombre were those mighty waves which seemed to roll in as it were from amidst the howling tempests of the German Ocean, making the bosom of the estuary swell as though its very bed were upheaving in Nature's agonizing throes.

Tumbling in with quick succession upon the shore, those huge billbws broke with a din that produced an effect as if continuous peals of thunder mingled with the gushing sound of the wind ; and thus while Nature seemed to have put on her aspect of most frowning cloudiness above, she likewise appeared to be speaking in her most solemn and awful voices over the earth. Many persons were collected along the shore, running hither and thither to pick up such objects as the waves cast upon the strand ; and sometimes, with the charac terististic hardihood of dwellers upon the coast, they plunged in amidst the seething waters to drag forth whatsoever might appear to have the semblance of a human form. One of the holy fathers from Lindores Abbey might be seen mingling amongst the townsmen " That is possible," observed the priest ; " for the under-currents and eddies of the Tay are oft as un accountable and peculiar in their occult operation as the secret ebbings and Sowings as the human passions when the heart is stirred by the tempest of unnatural excitement."

At this moment there was a sudden cry from many voices on the shore, accompanied by a rush of persons towards a particular spot, where some dark object was descried floating amidst the boiling surf ; and Martin, with a quick echo of that cry, at once sped in the direc tion of the same point. But suddenly stopping short, he shook his head with an air of vexation ; and then turning on his heel, rejoined the priest. " Another disappointment, worthy Father Simon," he said ; " Jtis only a fragment of the wreck which the wave has just cast up. Yet how like a human form for a moment it looked ! I fear me that *tis a small profit will be reaped by my fellows and myself on this occasion." " My son, my son," said the priest, with a reproachful mien, " I grieve that such syllables should have just fallen from your lips,— for they bespeak, with only too " No— 'twas a vesselfrom Hamburgh," replied Martin ; "and from such details as the young foreig ner was enabled to give me, I gleaned that she was bound toi Aberdeen ; but being caught in the tempest which arose yesterday towards sunset, she was feign to run tor the Tav with the intent of finding a safe anchorage.

But— heaven's will be done !— the fatal vessel found the storm racing as fearfully in the Firth as on the open sea itself ; she broke away from her anchor and was borne on amidst the utter darkness of the night, with the only hope remaining that our good port of Newburgh might possibly be reached in safety. Alas, the hope was vain— and naught indeed but a miracle could have saved the drifting ship on such a night of hurricane and darkness !" , , „ " And this young foreigner whom alone you rescued, said Father Simon,—" is he a native of Hamburgh P and to what condition of life may he belong ?" " Nay, holy sir," responded Martin, " I sought not to push questions rudelv upon one who \v:is enfeebled by the desperate struggle which life had been forced to maintain against death. I listened to as much as he chose to tell me, and troubled him but little with any discourse of mine own.

That he is a foreigner, I know right weU ; — for as consciousness began to return, he first of all spoke in a language which I could not com prehend; and strangely passionate sounded the excla mation into which he abruptly broke forth, when thrust ing his hand into the breast of his doublet in yonder shed, to which we first bore him— and by the light of the torch which was shining full upon his countenance at the instant " much plainness, the worldly thoughts that are upper most in your heart. Thus is it that if yourself aud your fellows have been watching since the earliest dawn for the appearance of any of the drowned victims of last night's awful tragedy, it has not been with the single-minded view of being enabled to afford the rites of Christian burial to your perished fellow-creatures ; but it has been with the hope of profit and gain that ye have watched and toiled— aye, and even risked your very lives by plunging into the surf to draw forth those objects which the waves, seeming reluctant to part with, threatened to suck down again into the abyss !

Fie, fie, fmy son ! Hast thou profited so little by the lessons taught thee at Lindores in other days ? Alas ! it is plain that thou hast on this occasion been moved by the thought of plundering the dead, as well as of receiving the piece or silver which his reverence the holy Abbot of Lindores bestows as a reward for the recovery of every lost victim of shipwreck. But heaven is punishing thee and thy fellows for your selfishness and your worldly-mindedness," continued Father Simon, whose tone and manner, naturally gentle and urbane, gathered sternness as he proceeded ; — " for, behold ! when with a species of savage exultation ye rush forward and plunge into the billows, thinking 'tis a corpse ye are about to drag forth, it turns out to be naught but a floating frag ment of beam or spar!" *' Holy father," replied Martin, who was a middle-aged man, with a frank honest expression on his weather beaten countenance, — " holy father, you wrong me.

Aye — and by the Saints ! your reverence wrongs likewise the hundred or so of brave fellows now gathered along the shore. For look you, holy sir ! what bribe was it that stirred us on— what hope of lucre was it that moved us, when only a few hours back, in the deep midnight, the cry of a ship in distress came sounding as it were upon our ears, like a shriek of dying agony itself borne upon the northern blast, — and when we all rushed forth from our huts and homes to render what service might best be shown to our fellow-creatures in peril ! What thoughts swayed me, I ask, Sir Priest ?"— and now Martin's voice grew stern and indignant in its turn,— " when with a rope fastened round my waist I plunged into the boiling waters, battling as it were against death in every billow, in the pitchy darkness of a night that had not a single ray of moon or star to throw so much as a thread of light upon the rolling waters " " My son," interposed the priest, *' I was indeed some what too hasty in my reproaches, and I crave your for giveness.

Yes — I was doubly wrong, inasmuch as in the first place I had forgotten the tale which I had just now heard of the noble though vain exertions which you and your fellow -towns men made last night on the behalf of that ill-fated vessel and its hapless crew ; and, secondly, I had ceased to bear in mind that the inhabitants of Newburgh still for the most part hold fast to the old faith— the faith of their forefathers— thus continuing to belong to the blessed flock of whom the Lord Abbot of Lindores has the pastoral guide in this district. Martin, I was wrong in a two-fold sense, I repeat " "Not another syllable upon the subject, reverend sir !" interrupted the frank-hearted man. " As a matter of course, holy father," he continued, "we take rewards when we can get them for such cases wherein we risk our lives ; but it is heaven's truth that when we do thus plunge into the midst of peril for our fellow-creatures' sake, we think of naught but our duty as Christians and as men.

And believe me, holy Father Simon, that when I rescued that young stranger last night, — when I bore him iu safety through the surf, placed him on the strand, and after a few minutes of deep suspense felt the beating of his heart and caught the murmuring sounds of his voice, I felt as happy as if the whole revenues of Lindores had been suddenly showered npon me !" " He thrust his hand into the breast of his doublet, you say ?" remarked the priest, inquiringly. " A doublet is only worn by one of good, or at least respectable con dition." " And doubtless so it is with the foreign stranger," continued Martin ; " for in addition to comely looks, there is about him a certain air which denotes anything rather than vulgar breeding. Moreover, his garments though plain, are of good materials ; while it was impos sible to avoid noting that to his belt was suspended a purse by no means indifferently filled with gold.

His voice is pleasant and agreeable: and he speaks our native tongue with a marvellous ease and glibness, though with the accent that denotes the foreigner. Doubtless he is one of those Continentals, who, when they get into the travelling vein, become attracted to this poor Scotland of ours— as hath now been the case for four years past, since our beloved and gracious Queen arrived from France with a brilliant and courtly equipage to take possession of her throne. Why, me thinks, holy father, that never until this lovely star descended as it were from heaveu to shine amongst the mists of old Caledonia, — methinks, I say, that never until now was even so much as the bare existence of our country known amongst the people of the Conti nent. But now, well-a-day ! we have the Frenchers and Hollanders — Germans and Spaniards— Italians and heaveu only knows how many other sorts of nobles, knights, and gentles from foreign climes, coming amongst us " " Well, well, my son," interrupted Father Simon, somewhat impatiently ; " all this is a matter of congra tulation, and I may even say of venial national pride, for the sons and daughters of Caledon.

Bus, to return to that point whence you have wandered far away — I mean touching aud concerning this young foreigner who now lieth yonder at the good hostelry of the Queen's Arms " "As good a hostelry as any in all Fifeshire — though I say it, who perhaps should uot, considering that mine own sister is the mistress thereof " "It is creditable to a man," rejoined the priest, "to speak well of his own kinsfolk and of whatsoever per tains to them, so long as they be deserving of such praise by their good works before the world. Yet once again, good Martin, let me bring thee back to the point. You were ere now saying something to the effect of a passionate exclamation sent forth by the lips of the youn" foreigner, when thrusting his hand into the breast of his doublet " " Ah, truly," said Martin.

" It was in yonder shed to which he was borne in the first instance a'fter I dragged him forth from the roaring, foaming waters • and then Will Blackie lighted a torch— and Steenie White pro duced his mutchin of strong waters— while I was feelin e for the poor young stranger's pulse and chafing his hands and temples until consciousness returned —then "I believe thee, Martin — I believe thee," said the priest. "And so, alas! he whom you thus rescued was the only survivor of the awful shipwreck ?" "The only one, reverend sir! For, as the young stranger himself was enabled to tell the tale, though in a feeble manner and in a few words, after we had gotten him to the hostelry, the vessel seemed to part asunder aU in a moment — 'twas the work of but the twinkling of an eye — and in a single instant fifty human beings were struggling in the stormy waters " " All to be engulfed, save one !" added the priest, in a tone of solemn mourns nine ss.

" Methinks I ere now heard it said that 'twas not a ship belonging to any of our own ports ?** MART STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS. 7 he spoke a few "\vord6 iu a language that none of us could understand — and we thought he was coming back to life gradually and by degrees, as is usually the case with people under such circumstances r but, behold you, reverend sir ! all in a moment his eyes opened — and I know not whether it was their own natural lire they shot forth, or whether they were merely reflecting the glare of the blazing pine-torch ; bnt certain it is that never did human eyes seem to me to flash more brilliant — and you might have said that the light of a thousand recollections swept at the same time over the features which but a few minutes back were so pale and motion less. And then he thrust his hand into the breast of his doublet, aud such a cry of rage and anguish escaped him that it made me start back — while Will Blackie well-nigh dropped the torch, and Steenie spilt the contents of his inutchin.

But at that instant the glare of the torch flashed bright on something that lay by the side of the foreigner. I picked it up ; and it was with another loud cry, but, Oh ! so different iu tone from the first! — that he snatched it from my grasp ; and never did I before see such joy reflected upon a human countenance ! The fact is, the object had no doubt slipped out of his doublet when I unbuttoned it to feel if his heart was beating ' ' " Methinks," said Father Simon, after a few moments' reflection, " that I will wend my way to the Queen's Arms, aud inquire concerning the present health of the young stranger of whom we have been speaking — and who, if he be of the true faith, will doubtless welcsme the presence of a minister of religion to join with him in meet thanksgiving for his providential deliverance."

Having bestowed the usual benediction upon Martin, the priest turned rapidly away from the tempestuous scene presented by the vicinage of the broad estuary ; and striking into a laue which extended from the shore to the centre of the town, he in a few minutes reached a hostelry of respectable appearance, and over the portal of which hung a sign that had been recently painted anew in most gorgeous colours, to represent the royal arms of Scotland. Entering the tavern, Father Simon made his way to a little parlour, as it might be called — when an elderly female of matronly and comfortable appearance was seated at a table spread with all the requisite materials for a very substantial breakfast. She rose and respectfully acknowledged the presence of the priest, to whom she proffered such refreshment as might be most agreeable to him.

"Thanks, good Alice— thanks !" responded Father Simon : " but though the wind be cold and keen for a summer's morning, and well calculated to sharpen the appetite — ytt first of all there is a duty to perform snperior to eating and drinking 1 mean in respect to this stranger now within thy gates." "The stranger?" ejaculated the good dame. "St. Mary keep you, holy father ! but you have come full late for whatsoever pious purpose you may have in view." "Late, worthy Alice? Methinks 'tis full early I It cannot yet be seven of the clock !" " Like enow, holy father,' ' interjected the dame ; " but the stranger took his departure a good half-hour agone. And a right well-mannered galliard he proved himself ; — as liberal, forsooth, as he was comely! For though, to be sure, he had a good bed and a warm posset— and his clothes, which were all dripping, were well dried and deftly brushed— and there was the best of everything"— here the dame glanced at the breakfast-table—" prepared for his morning meal— yet I am bound to confess that the reckoning was paid with as liberal a hand as if he had lodged at the Queen's Arms for days instead of hours, and had given all kinds of trouble."

"And he is gone?" said the priest, still wrapped in astonishment. . "Marry, it is as I tell your reverence ! A fine spirit must the foreign galliard possess to rise at six after having been well-nigh drowned at midnight ! But I warrant ye, he is of gentle blood. Look, holy sir ! these gold pieces did he leave as a guerdon for my brother Duncan, the saviour of his life ! — and he hath bidden me see that the rites of sepulture be properly bestowed on any corpses that may be cast up from the waters ; for he said he should soon be here again, or else _ he would take other means to communicate with me " "But how took he his departure?" inquired the priest , " and whither went he ? There is something strange in all this ! Was it on foot he set out ?" "Hey sir! a galliard like him travel on foot!

No, no!" ejaculated Dame McDougal. "Was there not in the stable of the Queen's Arms the bonnie bay steed which I took but ten days agone for the bad debt owing me by Georgie Gibbs of the Thirlston Farm-— -and though folks did say the steed had seen his best days, and was spavined and what not " "Ah, I comprehend!" said the priest. "And so you struck a bargain with your foreign guest relative to the said dubious animal?" . . ■„.*„., " In troth there was no need for bargaining ! inter rupted the landlady of the Queen's Arms ; "for when 1 named the price the comely galliard tossed it down from his purse, and he would not listen to any hint about probable faults. Then, as he had no trave ling-cap, we sent and knocked up Master Morrison the clothier-who grumbled a bit at first-but when he found tliat there was a black velvet barret wanting together with a sword hose, boots, ruffles, sash, and a few other little article, of the toilet such as might well be needed by one whe had been flung by the chance of shipwreck, without bag or baggage, upon a strange land-Master Morrison I say, soon put on a smiling countenance and supplied the goods with alacrity ' ...,-,, • i.„ "And so the long and short of it is, that your interesting foreign guest has taken his departure with _an extraordinary amount of precipitations Ah, by tne " And what might this object have been P" asked the priest.

" Methinks, holy father, my explanation, such as it may be, will leave your reverence about as wise upon the point as you are at present. The object I speak of," continued Martin, "was made of a pure white metal — most probably of plain and simple tin, though for aught I know it may be silver — about eight or ten inches long — round — and abont half as thick as my wrist. In short, it looked like a metal case or box, made to contain some article of price and value " " Was it hollow, then ?" inquired Father Simon ; " or was it open at the ends ?" " No, no — it was closed at the ends," responded Martin ; " but I judged that it was hollow from the fact that it was not heavy enough to be solid — though it was only for a single moment I had it in my hand ; for as I have already told your reverence, the young foreigner clutched it, or rather I may say tore it from my grasp— and thrusting it into his bosom, buttoned his vest or doublet over it.

He muttered something, but I know not what : then faintness again came over him— and we lost no time in bearing him to the Queen's Arms. I may add, that though unable to walk, and well-nigh sinking into ex haustion, he did not again lose his consciousness com pletely, and he kept both his hands clasped over his breast, aa if to protect the metal case which he evidently prized bo highly. Well, holy sir, I could not help telling the stranger that we men of Newburgh were no thievish knaves nor dastard wreckers— bnt hone6t citizens for sooth '—and that I, Duncan Martin, might vaunt myself as no discreditable person, as a boat-builder and master of a rope-walk— as one likewise who in my earlier days had acquired some trifling knowledge in matters of education, at the time I served as a singing-boy in the choir at Lindores " .

" To be sure, my son !" interrupted the priest r you are a man of parts and good sense— fluent in speech, and of a knowledge which lifted thee above thy fellows. But this foreigner " . , .. "In good sooth, holy sir, I have little more to tell concerning him— unless it be that we gave him over to the care of the good widow, my sister Alice McDougal, who quickly prepared him a chamber and mixed a hot posset to warm him throughout ere he settled himself to sleep. Having seen him thus disposed of, and just listened to such few Uttle hurried details of explanation as the handsome young foreigner was enabled or thought fit to give me concerning the shipwreck, and which I have already mentioned to your reyerence-I came back to the shore to see if by the will of the blessed Saints any other poor creature might have sur vived the accident.

But no !— all, all appeared to have been lost except that one man !-and it does not seem as if the waters of the Tay were even inclined to render up from their dark depths the corpses of the drowned. While giving utterance to these last words, Duncan Martin carried his looks slowly along the shore, where on the verge of the heaving waters his numerous com rades were still anxiously looking for such waifs as the Tay might choose to throw up; but though the strand v,Z Covered with pieces of the wreck, yet no human form was to be seen amongst those evidences of the past night's catastrophe. what route am I to pursue ''Tould hive have asked at the hostelry. And perhaps I should bare done *o but for that half -hour's serious reasoning with mvself on awaking this morn from slumber. CaufjJH irudrawJ '-this is my motto!

Mystery is for the present my policy ! Aye. in good sooth, thus ought it to be' for how soon may the train of suspicion fire np when once the spark is set to it ? So might it have been after once the eyes of those men caught a glimpse of thee my precious charge! "-and he laid his hand upon the breast of his doublet. " No wonder, no wonder that it was with excitement I fancied I had lost thee ! But what must those fellows have fancied when they saw that a <=eeniin<*ly worthless tin case had the effect of stirring me so deeply? 'Twas enough to set their "■ossiping tongues to work ; and therefore my policy became that of mingled circumspection and mystery. The good dame of the Queen's Arms may tell, if she think fit, that I was in haste to pursue my journey; but she knows not in which direction that journey lies.