Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

it intelligible to an Englishman.* The following is the rhyme of this play,

Scotsman, Scotsman, lo!

Where shall this poor Scotsman go?
Send him east, or send him west,
Send him to the craw's nest.

the

The terms of hot and cold, used in game of Kittlie-cout; the couplet, Gie's a pin to stick in my thumb, To carry my lady to London town; and another couplet, addressed to the secreted personage at Hidee,

Keep in, keep in, wherever you be, The greedy gled's seeking ye; as they are often heard in the playgrounds, must awaken the most pleasing recollections in the minds of those who have formerly enjoyed these pastimes, or who still enjoy them by substitution, in the persons of the little masters and misses, who are to take charge of the affairs of the world for the next generation. The following rhyme (for I am afraid grey-bearded bachelors of the present day will not think it contains much reason) is still in very common use,—

[blocks in formation]

discretion, it may be thought, that sufficient space has already been al lotted to the amusements of periods long since and for ever past.

Thus have I, Christopher Columbus, Esquire, shortly noticed the chief of those games which were, and still are, the amusement of the children of Edinburgh; and I seldom walk the streets, or pass the High School in the intervals of the daily tasks, without wishing, that it were decorous still to partake of amusements so healthy, and' so innocent. The billiard-table, dice, cards, fives-court, and pugilism, are only improved modifications of the same games, transferred from the open air to the tavern or enclosed court, and the passions of the grown-up players excited by the stimulus of wine, or the still stronger one of stakes in money. In place of the exercise being conducive to health, it is often only

the

precursor to a dinner of repletion; and the ingenuity exercised, during the midnight hours, at cards, or the mad hazards of the dice, is often the prelude to permanent ruin. I do not envy the man who cannot take amusement or exercise for health, or for their own sakes; and I would rather that my stomach had lost all the taste for healthy viands which hunger induces, than that my mind should be the slave of the most degrading passions which can agitate the bosom of a human being.

It would, perhaps, be in vain now to expect, that judges should leave the bench to hold the bannets between two pugilistic competitors, though they may formerly have done so in the High School Yard-that a gambler at cards or dice should stop the ruin of his own or of another's fortune, by playing at nivy-nick-nack or pitch and toss; that colonels and generals should amuse themselves at Ho, spy! the wads, or join the jocund bands at the English and Scots-or that lawyers and attornies should unprofitably exercise themselves at bowls or the cleckenbrod: And it perhaps

* May I venture to suggest to our erudite commentators, and those skilled in antiquarian lore, that it would be better, in place of amending poor Shakespeare, (whose writings require no emendation,) to turn their talents for conjectural criticism and historical research to such subjects as I have now set forth. It would be curious to know, that many of our present youthful games were played by Mark Antony or Julius Cæsar ;— that Homer or Virgil had dozed taps and piries; that Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret had played at tig;-or that Sir William Wallace and Robert Bruce ever amused themselves, in fun, at the game of English and Scots.

would be equally vain to expect, that ladies should give up the luxurious waltz, and the beauty-killing attractions of late hours, to dance in daylight over the skipping-rope, or join the merry ring at Through the needle e'e,-A' the birds o' the air,-or Tig me if you can; but, as the difference between these amusements is only in degree, I see no reason to despair of inducing those, to whom innocence, and health, and happiness, are objects of interest, to return to the pastimes of childhood, with the same guileless hearts as when they entered into their spirit in the morning of their days.

It may be considered puerile, childish, or even infantine, O reader! if you will, to have said so much of games and times so long gone by; but I know at least one judge who was famous at making bumbee-binks; several advocates who were celebrated for catching minnows and banstickles; and not a few writers to the signet who were dexterous at finding and herrying yel low-yites and linties. With many a

respectable merchant in Edinburgh have I been in partnership in a concern of rabbits and dows; drowned puppies and kittens with many a reverend divine; worried cats and rats with many a first-rate tradesman; and bickered, as the scars on my forehead still testify, with many of the victors of the French at Waterloo. I have lived to see not a few of my early companions blotted from the list of animated beings; and I cannot think of their fate without feeling that every chapter of my Voyages and Travels here, draws me nearer to

[blocks in formation]

CHAPTER IX.

THE GRASSMARKET.

HERE'S a sight, fy haste ye, mither,
Cows and stots, and a' thegither,
Stoitin ane against anither,

Tweedle-drone, drone-tweedle, O!

Sic a sight was never seen, O!
Some are fat and some are lean, O!
Dirty some are, others clean, O!
Tweedle-drone, drone-tweedle, O!
The Grant Fencibles' March, with variations.
posed for sale, my attention was for a
moment arrested by the appearance of
six very handsome bullocks. I liked
the physiognomy of the poor animals,
and could not help feeling some regret
that the purpose for which they were
driven there was to put an end to their
existence; that they had been brought
from luxuriating in sunny pastures
and daisied fields, merely with the
view of filling the maw of that most
carnivorous and rapacious animal,
Man. My reverie was interrupted by a
slap on the shoulder from a man in a
great-coat, with boot-hose, and a whip
in his hand. "Weel, what think ye
o' thae stots?" said he; "there is nae
better beasts in the market the day."

THE Grassmarket, on a Wednesday, is a busy scene. Being the market for black-cattle and horses, a number of droves are weekly assembled there for sale. Though the amount of my agricultural knowledge might not qualify me to undertake a farm, yet I have occasionally peeped into the publications of our patriotic countryman Sir John Sinclair, and flatter myself that I am able at first sight to distinguish a bull from a cow, a horse from a mare, and a wether from a ram. I can tell an egg from a flour-dumpling; know that calves are not fed on field-mice,that geese are not quadrupeds,-and that butter and cheese are made, not of small beer, but of milk. Sauntering along one Wednesday morning, and stopping at every parcel of cattle ex

[ocr errors]

They seem very handsome animals," said I. "Ye may say that," replied

my new friend; they war fed in my ain yard at Wirlyknows, and de'il a bit o' oilcake ever crossed their craigs: only find them, man-tak haud o' them-dinna be feared."

With that he half dragged me between two of the bullocks; and, not to shew my ignorance, I felt the flanks of the animals, in the manner I saw him, raised their tails, and patted their necks, as if I had been born a grazier or a butcher. "What do ye think may be the weight o' thae now? gie a guess."-" I have no idea, indeed," replied I. "Toots, awa_wi' your affectation, man,-ye ken fu' weel,—ye haena been sae lang a flesher without kennan mair than ye wish to tell. But if they dinna stand out aught-andforty stane, ye's get them for naething. I'm sure ye'll no grudge saxteen punds the piece for them-ye canna in your conscience ca' that dear."- "I really do not know their value correctlythey may be worth that money, for aught I know."-"Worth the money! Deacon Mitchell took twal siclike for 5s. mair a-head; but no to stand gibbling gabbling, they're your's at that price, and we'll say nae mair about it." "But really, sir, I know nothing about the matter, and"- "Say nae mair about it, Mr Harrigals,-it's a done bargain," said he, taking me by the hand; "I ken your father fu' weel, and he'll no be sorry ye've coft the beasts thrae me. If ye dinna double your money on them, I'll eat them a' mysell. We'll just stap into this house here, and tak half a mutchkin on the bargain, and ye can gie me your order on Sir William for the siller.-Sandy, drive these beasts to Mr Harrigals' parks at the Grange Toll, and then gang to Mrs Twopenny's and get your breakfast, and see the powney get a feed, for I'll leave the market at twal. Come awa, Mr Harrigals, and we'll settle the business," said he, taking me by the coat.

Remonstrance was of no availI could not get in a single word. A feeling of the ridicule I should incur among my friends in the town-council, and the figure I should make at home as the proprietor of twelve fat stots, kept me for the moment in a kind of stupor, and I followed, or rather was dragged along by my conductor, who was expatiating on the bargain he had sold me. Trusting to be able to explain matters when in the

house, or failing of that, to disposing of the animals, though at some loss, to my friend Deacon Sparerib, the butcher, I resolved to make the best of my unfortunate situation.

We were crossing the street to the fatal house, squeezing through a crowd of farmers, graziers, butchers, dogs, and cattle-drivers, when the attention of my friend was arrested by the calling of his name, in a loud voice, by a person at a little distance-" Andrew! -Andrew Cloverfield !-Mr Cloverfield, I say?-Deil's in the man, is he deaf?"-" Wha's that crying on me? Stop a wee, Mr Harrigals, till we see,' said he, and turned in the direc tion from whence the voice proceed ed. A young man, about my own size, was bustling through the crowd, dressed in a short white jacket, booted and spurred. "O, it's you! Preserve us a'-how like you are to your brither! I've been looking for you twa hours in the market the day, as I had halfpromised to your father to put a gude article in your hands. Herd Sandy's awa' wi' the beasts to your park, and now we'll a' gang in, and we'll hae our breakfast thegither."- "That's no my brither, Mr Cloverfield; you must be mista'en; and if ye hae sell'd the beasts, there's nae mair about it; but my siller's as gude as anither's, and there's as gude fish in the sea as ever cam out o't.' "For God's sake, sir, stop a moment," said I; "the bargain's yours, if you will take it. This honest gentlemen has been under some sad mistake, which he would not allow me to clear up-do but take the animals at your own price."-"What!” said young Harrigals, "has this chield been imposing upon you by calling himself me? Grip him, Andrewhe maun be a swindler-and I'll ca' for the police."-" Wha may ye be? tell honestly this moment," said Cloverfield, seizing me by the neck; "if ye offer to cheat me, by a' that's good I'll gie you a sarkfu' o' sair banes, even in the open market. He may have accomplices-there may be mair than ane o' them."

[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors]

name, we'll hae him ta'en afore the Shirra ;" and I was dragged across the pavement, in dread of being pelted by all the cattle dealers in the market, and of being perhaps walked in procession amidst a crowd of boys, to the nearest watch-house. A few moments conversation, however, served to make the necessary explanation; and when it was known that my father had been in the town-council, and had a shop on the South Bridge, my character of swindler was changed immediately into that of a "foolish laddie, for middling wi' things that I had naething to do with." Mr Cloverfield began now to think it was partly his own fault that I was dragged in to purchase bullocks, which I could not for their value have killed; and young Harrigals declared, that such a comical circumstance had never occurred in the High Market in his day.

"Foolish callant," said Andrew, "what for did you no speak out, man! I thought whan I saw ye feart to set your feet in the sharn, and handle the nout wi' your yellow gloves, preserve us a', that the Edinburgh fleshers were turn'd unco gentle indeed. But howsomever, I wadna cheat yeye need nae hae been fear'd for that. Mr Harrigals kens that they are a gude bargain, and ye might maybe hae sell'd them wi' profit. But, come, we'll hae a half mutchkin upon it. Lassie, your mistress to bring in the teathings,-ye're no to gang awa', my

tell

merchant, wi' an empty stamach, and maybe ye'll learn something about buying cattle afore we're done. It's a capital joke after a'.-I canna help laughing at my ain simplicity.” Mr Harrigals added his request to the solicitations of Mr Cloverfield, and after a good breakfast, and a glass of brandy, which I was forced to swallow to keep the wind out of my stomach, as Andrew said, I received a kind invitation, when I felt inclined, "to come and tak a day's fishing in the Braidwater at Wirlyknows, where was the best trout in a the country."

I left my friends with a hearty shake of the hand, and with mutual congratulations at the circumstance which had brought us acquainted; and I returned home by the Bow and the Lawnmarket, both of which streets, and the houses therein, seemed, from their dancing so oddly before my eyes, not to have made up their minds about the centre of gravity. The people also appeared to walk less steadily than when I commenced my excursion. These circumstances have been since endeavoured to be accounted for by the administration of the glass of brandy to my stomach; but I leave it to the reader to decide, whether it is more likely that the houses should actually nod their heads, or that the celebrated traveller, Christopher Columbus, Esq. should be imposed on by his own very serviceable organs of sight.

[blocks in formation]

tract the notice of the thrifty housewife. The bookseller gilds his books, and the apothecary dusts his pills, to make them go down more pleasingly; the lawyer, like the spider, sets his lines, and the clergy sweep their flyhooks, all for the purpose of catching something. Thousands are taken by the gilded butterflies of fame and glory, and thousands more are in the continual pursuit of the more substantial bait of riches. Even nets are set by beauty to entrap the hearts of the unwary; and the jointured widow, or miss with expectations, have only to display their purses, to congregate the persons, if not the hearts, of a whole county of unmarried gentlemen."But what has all this to do with your travels, Mr Christopher?" I think I hear the reader ask; Recollect we are at a complete stand still, while you are musing and moralizing in this odd manner." You are perfectly right, gentle Reader; and, in case of rain, I shall not keep you longer in the king's highway, but take you back again to Lucky Thomson's Inn, where you may share with me, in idea, the comforts of a hungry stomach, baps and butter, eggs, ham, and all the luxuries of the day's first meal.

6.6

I had fished up the water, and down the water, with but indifferent success, till, coming in contact with the sign-board above mentioned, I thought I could not do better than lay in a cargo of provisions to last till dinner time; so I ordered breakfast, and put my fishing-rod, to save the trouble of unscrewing, against the little window of the apartment where breakfast was set, that I might see it in case of accident. I had demolished at least one bap, (Anglicè, roll) eat two caller eggs of the honest gentlewoman's own laying, according to her phraseology, and was in the act of breaking up a third, when the shaking of my rod outside the window attracted my attention. After a tremulous motion, I thought I heard the pirn unrolling, and the next moment the rod fell and disappeared. Unwilling to part so easily with an old companion, which would moreover have spoiled my sport for the remainder of the day, I ran to the door to ascertain if the trout had really left the water, and followed me to eat their breakfast on dry land. My rod lay on the ground, with the line extended, VOL. X.

and pulled by something round the corner of the house. Taking it up, and beginning to wind up the line, I soon found an obstruction to my progress, which even in these wonderful times I should not have contemplated. I had not rolled up above two or three yards, when a respectable matron of a hen, surrounded by eight or ten chickens, made her appearance, shaking her head, unwilling to come forward and afraid to retreat.

The good woman of the house followed me to the door, suspecting perhaps that I had forgot to pay my reckoning; but, upon seeing what had happened, she exclaimed, "Preserve us a' is that my brood hen ye hae catched wi' your fishing wand? if it be, gentle or simple, ye had better been fishing something else, I'll assure ye." She then ran to the animal, which by this time was turning up its eyes, and making very extraordinary faces for a hen, and seizing it up, roared out, "As sure as I'm on this spot, the puir beast has eaten the flee-hook, and she's golloring up blude. What gart ye come to my house, wi' your whatye-ca'-thems? I had rather ye never ditted my door, than been the death o' poor Tappie." She was now joined in her lamentations by two girls, who expatiated upon the cruelty of the monster that was the death "o' grannie's hen," who could make eight or ten orphans so unadvisedly, and who "had the heart to torture puir dumb animals in this way."

Though I could scarcely refrain from laughing at the strange attachment to my line, I put on a grave face, and said in words becoming the melancholy occasion, "My good woman, I am sorry, very sorry indeed, for your hen ; but you should consider, that if she had not attempted to steal my fly, nothing would have happened." "Steal! my hen steal! she's as honest a hen as you, and that I'll let you ken, sir. What signifies a bawbee's worth o' hooks, and a wee pickle horse hair? I wadna hae ta'en five shillings for my poor creature." "Come, come, there is no use in making words about the matter. There's half-a-crown," said I, cutting off the line at the hen's mouth, and no more about it.”— "Half-a-crown!" exclaimed Lucky Thomson, "I wonder how you can offer half-a-crown for a hen worth F

« AnteriorContinuar »