Twa Bonnie Scotch Lassies, etc

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Twa Bonnie Scotch Lassies AT THE ARCADIAN LAKE Twa Bonnie Scotch Lassies By E. G. HERON WATSON AUTHOR OF "DOROTHY DAY " WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN DAVIDSON EDINBURGH PRINTED BY TURNBULL & SPEARS Preface I take this opportunity of thanking my kind friends and well-wishers for their hearty support which has enabled me to launch my " Twa Bonnie Scotch Lassies " on the Sea of Life, where these " Bonnie Lassies " must now steer their own course, when, I trust, they will do me credit. I would also like to mention that some of my thrilling incidents are founded on fact. What happened to Kate Kennedy, the gipsy girl, actually occurred in the time of Burke and Hare ; when one, personally known to me, was walking out to West Calder one night, he heard the sound of muffled wheels, and, fearing he might be attacked, slipped into a field close at hand and lay down in the ditch.

The machine stopped near the field where the man was lying concealed ; the two men entered it to search for him. In so doing they came very near him, yet left without finding the man, who had given himself up for lost as a certainty ; thus he made a narrow escape from being killed. The other incident occurred at Etretat, in Normandy. I and my family were seated at an entertainment in the tent of an English circus, when a violent thunderstorm came on in the midst of the performance. The incident was very similar to that described in my story, except that the circus did not go on fire on that occasion, which I have introduced with the usual licence of an author. OeOfcate tbls bool: TO MY DEAR FRIEND LADY SCORESBY JOHNSTONE IN REMEMBRANCE OF MANY HAPPY DAYS OF PAST FRIENDSHIP List of Contents CHAP- I. Norwood Castle .... i II.

Easter Holidays .... 20 III. Their Ladyships' At Home . . 45 IV. Paying Visits .... 68 V. Escapades .... 84 VI. Mademoiselle Malheureuse . . 104 VII. Appin Hall . . . . 122 VIII. Lady Divina's Disappearance . . 140 IX. Life Among the Gipsies . . . 161 X. Kate Kennedy . . . . 181 XI. The Travelling Circus . . . 204 XII. Cairngorm Castle . . . 226 XIII. Conclusion ....

Chapter I Norwood Castle

The heroines of this story are children of the respective ages of twelve and eight, Lady Poppœa and Lady Divina M'lvor, who are the daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Cairngorm. The Duchess of Cairngorm's brother, the Earl of Glenlyon, with his wife, the Countess of Glenlyon, lived at his ancestral mansion, Appin Hall, which was in the heart of the Highlands, a few miles from the little village of Creuchie, one of the most romantic parts of Scotland, but yet it was not much frequented in summer by tourists, or by strangers in search of change of air and scenery, who desired attractive country quarters, as there was not much accommodation in that way in Creuchie. The Earl and Countess of Glenlyon had two sons, boys about twelve and fourteen years of age at this time ; fine, high-spirited fellows, full of fun and frolic, as most young people are when they are surrounded by happy circumstances.

Lord Appin and his younger brother Arthur were extremely suitable companions for their cousins, Lady Poppœa and Lady Divina M'lvor, and, on the whole, when together they agreed remarkably well, either at Appin Hall or at Norwood Castle, the Duke of Cairngorm's English estate, which was beautifully situated near Silchester, in the county of Surrey. Lord Appin, Cecil St Clair, and Arthur St Clair, were only at home for a few weeks at a time, A during their holidays at Christmas and Easter, as they were both all the rest of the year at school at Eton, with the exception of two months in summer, when they returned home to spend their holidays at Appin Hall or at Norwood Castle, according to circumstances, and as it was arranged for them. Cairngorm Castle was the Duke of Cairngorm's country seat in Scotland, which was picturesquely situated not far from Piterumlie, in Strathbogle.

But Norwood Castle, the Duke of Cairngorm's English estate, was his favourite residence, as he was deli cate, and suffered from dyspepsia, that terrible com plaint which it seems impossible to cure. In the Duke's case this mysterious malady produced great irritability, nervous depression, and languor, which made him prefer to live either in England or abroad, the changeable climate of Scotland not suiting the Duke of Cairngorm's state of health during the colder months of winter and spring. The grounds and policies of Norwood Castle were very extensive and richly wooded. The Thames flowed through part of the property, which gave it a bright and cheerful appearance, and thus much enhanced its natural beauty. The fields at Norwood Castle were at present filled with cattle and sheep ; this always makes an excellent foreground in any landscape, as the dark green foliage of the woods, immediately behind the fields, form an effective background to the picture thus conjured up by the power of a vivid imagination.

In some of the other parks deer were kept, enclosed by fences so high that they could not possibly jump over them. The stags were extremely handsome, having splendid antlers, which they carried with great grace and dignity as they moved about in the park. On looking at these noble animals one felt it was cruel sport to shoot such fine stags merely to afford a little amusement and whole some exercise for sportsmen who crave occupation, having nothing else to do but to kill time. I must now give a description of my two heroines, who are to form the chief attraction of this story, I trust, in conjunction with their cousins, Lord Appin and Arthur St Clair, who are also to fill prominent parts in the coming events, and therefore ought to be depicted, both personally and as regards their disposition and mental qualifications.

Lady Poppœa was a budding beauty, tall and slender, and as to complexion, a decided brunette ; her hair was black and curly ; her brilliant dark eyes flashed out, brightening up her finely marked and pronounced features, particularly when in a lively mood. As to character, Lady Poppœa resembled her father the Duke, only she had not inherited his irritable and discontented temper. She was clever and exceedingly independent, and already exercised a good influence over the Duke, her bright, sunny nature cheering him in spite of himself j so much so that she often roused him effectually out of these morbid states of languor which were now habitual, for he was too much indulged by the gentle Duchess, who humoured all his whims, however ridiculous they might be, lest by opposition his malady might be increased, which was of a nervous nature.

Lady Divina was like her mother the Duchess, both in personal appearance and as to disposition. The Duchess of Cairngorm had been a great beauty in her youth, and was still a very handsome woman. She had not, as yet, developed embonpoint, the bete noire of most middle-aged women ; being tall and slender she might easily have been taken for her daughters' elder sister, instead of their mother, which was often the case. Like also those who have red hair, Lady Divina had an exquisite complexion, lily-white, clear, and trans parent ; sometimes, when excited, a rich colour suffused her delicately pale cheek. Her hair was long and luxuriantly thick ; as to colour, as has been said, it was a brilliant red, but, at the same time, was so wonderfully shaded, from auburn red to light golden tints, that when the sun shone on this wealth of hair it took all the colours of the rainbow.

Lady Divina's pretty face peeped forth from this frame of clustering small ringlets and golden curly locks ; indeed, it might be said to form a halo round the lovely head so gracefully set upon the slender white throat. Her eyes were grey, bright, and merry, giving her beautiful face a charming expression. At times they seemed to change colour, scintillating from grey to opeline colours, tints ever varying, just as the light caught them. Sometimes they seemed to be a pale green, so that her cousins, Lord Appin and Arthur St Clair, often told her that she had cat's eyes ! For they both liked to tease their pretty little cousin, when they assured her, in their opinion, this was the greatest compliment that could be paid her ! Lord Appin was tall and handsome ; his complexion and hair were fair, his eyes a deep blue, ever sparkling with mirth and fun.

His brother Arthur was as dark as he was fair ; his almost black hair was crisp and curly, and his beautiful hazel eyes lit up his intelligent face when particularly animated. Both Lord Appin and his brother Arthur had sunny-tempered natures, so much so, that all their clouds had ever silver linings ; they were so genial that they were made welcome as acquisitions to any society wherever they went. There was a large wood near Norwood Castle, which the young people called the Green Forest, on account of the green moss and ferns with which it abounded in spring and summer, as well as from the green foliage of the trees, planted amongst the dark pines and firs, such as beeches and birch trees, which produced a pleasing effect, more especially when lit up by bright sunshine. The Duke of Cairngorm had made several nice paths through this wood, which extended as far as the village of Silchester.

These paths were kept in good order, and in some parts of the wood were almost quite shaded by the overhanging branches of the trees, which, in some places, interlaced with one another, and thus formed a charming avenue, and afforded refreshing shade and shelter from the burning sun on a warm summer day. The children enjoyed a ramble through the Green Forest extremely with Mademoiselle Malheureuse, their French governess, or with Nursie, who was an old and valued servant, though by no means an elderly woman, for she had been in the service of the St Clair family from the time when she was quite a girl •, and when the Duchess of Cairngorm married and left Appin Hall, Nursie accompanied her to her new home at Norwood Castle in England. Leon, the poodle dog, always joined his young mistresses in these delightful wood rambles.

What a happy time Leon had when he scampered about in this, to him, most attractive Green Forest ! There were rabbits in abundance to be chased, as often as he got the chance — when, of course, he pretended he was only enjoying an innocent scamper in and out amongst the lovely green mossy carpet, with which the wood was copiously covered. Sometimes a little squirrel would cross Leon's path, which afforded him another delightful scamper, until he lost sight of it, as the squirrel ran nimbly up a tree, evidently terrified at the sight of such a formidable foe as Leon appeared, with his lion's mane, and his woolly black curly coat, and his switch-like tail, with a tuft of hair at the end of it. For the benefit of the members of the ducal family and their friends, who enjoyed the privilege of walking in the beautiful Green Forest, the Duke of Cairngorm had placed comfortable seats here and there in the wood, where the weary pedestrian could rest at leisure, and read an interesting book, or meditate on the beauties of Nature ; by which means to be soothed by the sweet fragrance of the scented pines and the refreshing balmi ness of the summer air ; to be cheered by the sounds of Nature's voice, as the birds sang and trilled their musical notes, till one would have thought their little throats might have wearied of the self-imposed arduous task ; or to be lulled into a delicious sense of repose by the purling of the crystal stream which ran through the wood.

According to the German fashion, which the Duke and Duchess of Cairngorm had much admired when they were in Germany for the Duke's health, each wooden seat in the Green Forest had the name of the donor painted on the back of it. Each one had his or her " Ruh " in this fairy-like Green Forest (Ruh meaning rest) to indicate that the rustic seat with Ruh and the donor's name painted on the back was set down in the owner's favourite part of the wood. A rippling brook meandered through the Green Forest, which the children called the Babbling Beck. Its sides were green with water-cress, lovely moss of different kinds, and other pretty plants, whilst some small oak ferns grew by the brook-side, which rose up and swayed about when moved by a gentle puff of wind, rocking to and fro on their fragile stems, as much as to say to careless passers-by, whether people, children, or quadrupeds, " Look at us, as we rise up above this rippling water in all our natural beauty, and take care where you put down your beetle crushers, whether they be bipeds or only quadrupeds, it matters not to us, as the one seems in our eyes as senseless and squashing as the other !

" Even Mademoiselle had her " Ruh" in this beautiful and attractive wood, as also the children's two pets, Leon and Marie, the handsome French cat, whose coat of long silky fur was as white as snow. These said pets were considered to have a perfect right to seats in the Green Forest, because they were entitled to all privileges enjoyed by other ducal belongings — for were they not the adored darlings of Lady Poppœa and Lady Divina MTvor ! Mademoiselle, it must be explained, was not their ladyships' pet monkey, but was only their French governess, the unfortunate Mademoiselle Malheureuse, who is mentioned later on in this story, and who has a chapter all to herself filled with her own misfortunes, which seemed to be the result of an uncongenial climate. Poor Mademoiselle was a martyr to migraine, as well as to crises de nerves, at times, which were caused by the damp of our atmosphere, so different from the genial climate of sunny France.

She had the distinguished honour of educating their juvenile ladyships, and also of imparting to them pretty French manners. Why she always fretted about nothing no one knew, but certainly her name suited her, and was characteristic of her general disposition. I must now describe Norwood Castle, which was an old mansion, but yet in good repair. Part of the sides and front of the castle were thickly covered with creeping ivy, some of it variegated, which, combined with twining roses of different kinds, had an extremely rich effect, specially in summer, and made a fine and massive frontage ; tall, stately trees rose up behind the castle, forming a strikingly rich and dense background, though by no means weird or gloomy, as many green and copper beech trees were mingled amongst the dark pines, besides oaks and silver birches, which brightened up the picturesque old castle, particularly when illuminated by brilliant sunshine, as it was sometimes, in spite of frequent mists and fogs.

All the public sitting-rooms were on the ground floor, and opened off" each other, as is the custom in large country houses. The furniture, though heavy and old fashioned, suited exactly the spacious and handsome apartments ; and as the windows were large, and reached down to the ground, they gave the rooms a very cheer ful appearance, for they commanded a beautiful view of the deer parks and pleasure grounds, through which the river Thames flowed, picturesquely winding out and in, and thus forming an attractive and ever varying landscape picture, with the beautiful Green Forest as a background in the distance — truly a picture which would have fas cinated any artist. The carpets which covered the polished floors partly — that is to say, in the centre of the rooms — were old, but thick and gaily coloured, and were not faded in the least by exposure to the sun, which is so often the case when the rooms have a sunny exposure.

It must be admitted that their juvenile ladyships some times forgot the dignity of their position as the daughters of the Duke of Cairngorm, so far as to slide upon these ducal polished floors during their parents' absence from home, which was frequent, on account of the Duke's delicate health. At these times the housemaids had a nice turn up and special cleaning. The children would find the carpets rolled up and put aside, preparatory to the rubbing up of these beautiful parquet floors, when the temptation to avail themselves of the precious oppor tunity was irresistible, as both young ladies were natur ally active and remarkably energetic. Lady Poppœa imagined herself a steam engine, and Lady Divina was the tender. She attached herself to her sister, Lady Poppœa, by clasping her round the waist.

After this arrangement was satisfactorily made, off" they would scamper round and round the room, and then for a variety they would take a turn through the other rooms which opened off one another, as has been already mentioned. Then their ladyships would both shriek and whistle, alternating this delightful and pleasing sound by puffing like a real steam engine, as they fondly imagined. This novel and strange chest exercise evidently delighted their juvenile ladyships beyond description, because they considered that these machines ought to make such hideous noises, which they most conscientiously did in an extremely unpleasant manner, until both Nurse and Margaret Emma, the head housemaid, appeared on the scene, thinking the house must be on fire ! In this ducal household there was, of course, the usual staff" of servants ; but only a few of these house hold domestics come forward in our story, in due course of time, as they present themselves, in connection with the members of this ducal family.

Nurse was Scotch, and always indulged in her own dialect when speaking, more particularly when she was excited, as on this present occasion. " Bairns ! bairns ! what dae ye mean by makkin' sic a noise, enough to deave a body ? " exclaimed Nurse, who, with Margaret Emma, appeared now in the drawing room. "Wheesht! wheesht! I canna hear mysel speakin', forbye Marget there, wha's fair dumfoundered, puir wuman ! Steam-engines are ye ! peety me ! I never heard o' the like o' that in a drawin'-room afore ! Juist to think o' thae polished floors, an' yer leddyships' scrapin' them wi' thae boots o' your's — what would her Grace say ! Leddy Diviny, what are ye hangin' on to Leddy Poppy like that for ? Steam-engines indeed ! Did onybody ever hear the like." " Oh ! Nursie dear, we are only playing at being steam-engines, as you see.

It is such fun, because the floors are so highly polished, that they are just like ice, and are so slippery that we could skate upon them," replied Lady Divina, quite excitedly and panting for breath. " Nice young ladies, hindeed ! my 'ighly polished floors ! Whathever will the Duke say ! My very 'air stands on hend with 'orror ! " said Margaret Emma, generally called " Hemma " by all the English servants ; Nurse always addressed her as " Marget." " Nursie dear, do come and have a try yourself, there's a dear old darling," added Lady Poppœa coaxingly. " If you just hang on to Divina, then Emma can lay hold of you by your dress, or anywhere, as, I daresay, you are too thick round the waist for her to clasp you by both of her arms, in the same way that Divina fastens herself on to me. Come on now ; we'll be a long train, and you and Emma can take your turn in whistling and puffing like real steam engines.

You can have no idea how delightful the motion feels ; come, Nursie, and let us have a passenger train, for you and Emma can pre tend you are the passenger carriages." Lady Poppœa now seized Nurse by the arm, Lady Divina, meanwhile, trying to lay hold of Emma, with the intention of attaching them both to the ducal train ; but neither of these individuals seemed willing to turn themselves into railway carriages, merely to please a passing whim of their juvenile ladyships. It was a source of great amusement to Lady Poppœa to observe the look of horror on Emma's face at the bare idea of her venturing so to desecrate the Duke of Cairngorm's lovely parquet floors by presuming to scratch the polished surface with her plebeian feet, whilst Nurse expressed her disapproval of the projected ducal train in her own characteristic way.

" Me a train ! yer leddyship's no thinkin' what yer sayin' ! What would her Grace say if she saw Marget an' me scrapin' thae beautiful floors wi' oor muckle feet ! Na, na, Leddy Poppy, ye'll no get me to mak a fule o' mysel', juist to please you, young leddies. An' to think this is the best room in the hoose ; I think I see Marget an' me trapeezin' round an' round the room like twa daft bodies ; an' sic a noise ye're makkin' — it would be most unbecomin' for Marget an' me to be skirlin' as if a body was stickin' us — I've no likin' for trains at ony time, my leddy, be they ducal or common trains— an' am no goin' to begin wi' them at my time o' life — I'll no pit mysel aboot for sic nonsense. Come awa wi' me, Leddy Diviny, this meenute noo ; see to yer hair, a' hangin' aboot ye, an' yer bonnie frock a' torn doon wi' the ruggin' o't. It would be better for the Duchess to bide at hame to look after ye baith, my leddy, for ye're ower camsteery for me to manage, an' as for yer Madam-moiselle, feckless body " — here Nurse broke off her indignant discourse, not only for lack of words wherewith to express her disapproval of such behaviour, but also for want of breath.

But Lady Poppœa was not, in the least, daunted by Nurse's refusal to allow herself and Margaret Emma to be attached to the ducal passenger train ; so away went the two sisters, careering round and round the room, quicker than ever, till poor little Lady Divina, who could not possibly go so fast, now just allowed herself to slide along the lovely polished floor, while she placed her two feet together, clasping Lady Poppœa's waist with both her hands and holding on by might and main ; and so was dragged along by her merry sister, neither of them being at all concerned about the long and decided trail which their thick boots left behind them on the beautiful oak parquet floor. Nurse was neither able, nor inclined to run after the runaway engine and tender; but " Hemma," who was more active, rushed after them, and seized the ducal iron horse and tender, with no gentle hand, and dared to give them — that is to say, the two ducal scions of a noble house — a good shake, whilst she, at the same time, expressed her indignation in a most decided manner, seemingly quite forgetting the respect due to young ladies in their position, even though, as yet only children, by there and then turning them out of the drawing-room, neck and crop.

In doing this she no doubt presumed on the dignity of her office as head housemaid ; she ruled over this part of her domain with absolute authority, and allowed herself, on this occasion, to be carried away by her own excited and outraged feelings. But Nurse now reminded "Marget" of the unsuitable liberty she had taken with the Duke of Cairn gorm's daughters, by, at once, taking the part of her ill used darlings ; which she was quite ready to do, when the offender was not herself, and addressed "Marget" in her usual graphic and expressive manner. " Come, come, Marget ! bairns maun be bairns ! ye're ower hard on them noo ; " exclaimed nurse. " An' forbye, that's no the way to speak to my young leddies ; ye're forgettin' yersel — they're aye the best o' bairns when they're alane wi' me ; its a' the faut o' that Madam moiselle.

Whaur's she, I would like to ken ? She'll hae the meegruns (migraine) nae doubt, or her crazy nervous turns (crises de nerves) when she greets an' taks on, juist as if she was bein' killed for a' the warld." Then turning to the rebuked, and now somewhat abashed children, she continued, as she addressed Lady Poppœa, when their ladyships left the drawing-room with her, "What's yer Madam-moiselle aboot, Leddy Poppy, to let ye gae trapeezin' aboot the hoose like this ? I canna understand her at a' — she's aye frettin' aboot puddocks, that loup in thae woods, she says •, or she's greetin' because the sun's no shinin' — what's the hairm o' the puddocks loupin' in thae woods, if thae like, puir beasties ! Did the Lord no mak the puddocks as weel as her ! To my mind she has little to dae, to be aye girnin' aboot naething."

" Now, don't be cross and grumpy, there's a dear Nursie ! " replied Lady Poppœa. " You see it is a wet day and Mademoiselle has got migraine as usual ; then besides, Dr Harrison ordered us to have daily exercise, which he says is absolutely necessary for our health. And, you see, as we could not go out to-day, on account of the rain, we resolved to obey the doctor's orders, in the only way which seemed possible under the circum stances ; so we romped in the empty drawing-room, instead of taking our usual walk, until we felt all aglow with the truly delightful exercise, and began to feel that we had benefited by this new method of stirring ourselves up to renewed activity and vigour, by the sensation of hunger, and an undoubted desire for our tea, which, you know, we shall have shortly with Mademoiselle."

Lady Poppœa said this in her most persuasive tone of voice, for she was not easily set down, whilst she tried to coax Nursie into her usual good humour again (who was really, on the whole, exceedingly amiable, and patient with children), by kindly proposing to come with her little sister, Lady Divina, to the nursery, to read aloud a new book recently published — an animal story, full of anecdotes, fun, and frolic, and one quite suited to the taste of Lady Divina, and which would certainly amuse her. These sisters were bound up in one another, and were like a pair of love-birds. Lady Poppœa's love and devotion for her little sister, Lady Divina, who was a mere child in her estimation, was quite beautiful, as well as extremely touching. If one of the sisters was in disgrace, even for a trifling misdemeanour, that meant that both were out of favour ; for if Lady Divina were the culprit, Lady Poppœa was convinced that she had led her younger sister into the mischief, and thus was bound in honour to share her punishment.

When it was Lady Poppœa's turn to be naughty, then Lady Divina howled lustily till her sister was forgiven ; this forgiveness was, generally, promptly granted, as Nurse feared the child would do herself, otherwise, a personal injury ; whilst poor long suffering Mademoiselle yielded the point, at this crisis, and condoned the offence, from an inward assurance, that the fearful noise would certainly bring on a crise de nerfs, or the much dreaded migraine, as her share in this harrowing domestic scene. We will now leave the children, so happily occupied in the ducal nursery. The readers of this story can picture to themselves a homely scene — a happy little group in this ducal home — Nurse seated in a large arm chair, with her specs on her rather prominent nose, sewing diligently some dainty piece of work, whilst Lady Divina is occupied with her doll, Julie, going through, of course, all the performances usually indulged in by little girls under such circumstances.

Julie is first kissed and cuddled in a most effusive manner by her doting mamma because she is a good child ; all this show of affection being accompanied by fond expressions and loving terms of endearment from the foolish and rather injudicious parent ; and then immediately after Lady Divina has bestowed these affectionate caresses on her too much petted and pampered, though, at the same time, long-suffering Julie, the capricious little mamma then finds it quite necessary to chastise her refractory child. She slaps and shakes poor Julie unmercifully, all the time whimpering and crying as Julie should do if she had been properly constructed — that is to say if she could have wound up by means of internal machinery in order to have given vent to her own pent-up feelings instead of imposing such a fatiguing and responsible duty upon her obliging, but somewhat over-burdened juvenile mamma.

Meanwhile Lady Poppœa read aloud the interesting story, which not only charmed Lady Divina, when her self-imposed duties permitted her to listen to the entrancing anecdotes, but also delighted Nursie, who was devoted to animals and pets of all kinds. She would interrupt Lady Poppœa now and again by a few exclama tions — such as — " Did onybody ever hear the like o' that ! What a wise beastie. It's mair like a Christian ! Juist to think o' the sense o' the crittur. She maun hae been as wise an' sensible as Lion (Leon) or Mary there " (Marie). " Can you tell us a story about any wise dog like our Leon ? " asked Lady Poppœa, laying down her book. " Yes, Nursie, dear, do tell us one about a real, live dog, that you have known yourself," pleaded Lady Divina. " Weel, my leddy, I think I can tell ye a story aboot a guid bit doggie, as wise as thae twa beasties, Lion an' Mary, wha are sittin' there aside us, juist for a' the warld like twa sensible Christians," replied Nurse.