XIX. "REDGAUNTLET." Nineteenth Novel of the Series; Time of Action, 1770; Published June, 1824; Author's Age, 53. THI HIS composition, the pendent to "Waverley," as shown at the end of the last chapter, is far less historical, and generally less interesting and important, than its companion; yet, as Mr. Lockhart thought, had "Waverley" not been known, this would have been deemed a masterpiece. And, he added, "it contains perhaps more of the author's personal experiences than any other of the series, or even than all the rest put together." It was written during about the last year of Scott's unbroken pecuniary prosperity; a year that, his biographer states,-"mirabile dictu! -produced but one novel;" for this was of the period when his literary achievements were almost fabulous in exuberance and richness. He had then gained the height of his remarkable position and success, -a position one of the most brilliant then held by any living person. "Redgauntlet" is often rather sad in tone; yet it is by no means unattractive. A sketch of its long and rather complicated story may be omitted here, and simply mention of its chief localities may be given. Redgauntlet Castle, the chiefest, is said to be designed from Hoddam Castle, Dumfriesshire, situated in Annandale, a few miles south-west of Ecclefechan station on the Caledonian Railway, —a station twenty miles from Carlisle. It was built in the fifteenth century, by Lord Herries, whose family name is so prominent in the novel as to have caused Scott to have used it, at first, for the title. The castle, remarkable for strength, and for the fine views it commands, is a turreted and pinnacled structure, in Scottish baronial style, "maintained in as comely a state as any edifice of its class" in the kingdom. Grose gives two views of it. The name of the parish in which it stands - Cummertrees suggests the name of a person rendered rather conspicuous by the story, the Laird of Summertrees, a Papist conspirator with Redgauntlet in the last Jacobite attempt at insurrection. This worthy's appearance to readers suggests one of his adventures in "'45," and an excursion from that pretty, quiet, little Scottish watering-place, Moffat, to which the traveller should go when exploring scenes associated with "Old Mortality" (chapter xxii). The Laird had been "out" rebelliously, had been arrested by the established authorities, and was being conducted under guard to Carlisle, and to what was disagreeably likely, to his execution. The party was traversing a public road, where, about five miles north of Moffat, it extends along an elevation that overlooks a curious, deep valley, called the Marquis of Annandale's Beefstand. The Laird, who had been watching opportunity for escape, ingeniously made available the capabilities of this eligible place. It received its name, said the Laird, "because the Annandale loons used to put their stolen cattle in there." "It looks (he described) as if four hills were laying their heads together, to shut out daylight from the dark, hollow space between them. A d-d, deep, black, blackguard-looking abyss of a hole it is, and goes straight down from the road-side, as perpendicular as it can do, to be a heathery brae. At the bottom, there is a small bit of a brook, that you would think could hardly find its way out from the hills that are so closely jammed around it." The Laird, in a manner actually accomplished there by a gentleman in his situation, slipped from his guard, rolled to the foot of the precipitous slope, "like a barrel down Chalmers's Close in Auld Reekie," fled across the moors, and escaped. A great deal of the action of this novel-peculiarly Scott's West-Border story- occurred on the Scottish and English shores of Solway Frith. This wide, shallow, and almost unique estuary is well worth a visit for its unusual character, and the land and water views it commands. At low water it presents a vast extent of sands, fordable in many places, and allows travellers a sort of Israelitish passage from one kingdom to the other: but the passage, although curious, is not thoroughly safe; for when the rapid tide rises, it may too overwhelmingly show the style of Pharaoh's discomfiture. At high tide it appears a great sea bay. A prominent place in the novel is "Fairladies," said to be designed from Drumburgh Castle, erected by the Dacres about three hundred years ago from materials of an older castle, and now, or lately, a farmhouse. It is about nine miles from Carlisle towards the Frith. The most interesting remains in the neighborhood are, however, those of the wall of Severus, and of the vallum of Adrian, that terminated at Burgh-upon-the-Sands, also a locality of the story. Another is the town of Annan on the opposite (the Scottish) side of the Frith. The curious plot into which the hero - the lover- of the novel is led, not only takes attention to this peculiar region, but also to many localities in the Old Town of Edinburgh, such as the Parliament House, and the Cowgate, and adjacent Wynds. The notice of one of these Wynds, -—the College (Scott's birth-place), -on page 14, gives sufficient idea of their present condition. They are associated with much of the very interesting law plot, life, and story of the novel, as also is the Parliament House, a great apartment of which is yet existing, the Westminster Hall of Scotland in its history, although not in its architecture. In the latter character it suggests the famous English hall, but is inferior in size and style. It is described in chapter xxx. "Redgauntlet," if its chief features are expressed in a brief paragraph, may be considered an interesting story of personal reminiscences of Scott; of old Edinburgh law-life and its haunts; of the last Scottish adventures of the last of the Stuarts; of the Quakers; of smugglers; and of peculiar West-Border scenery; but not as distinctly and fascinatingly localized a tale, as many others in the Waverley series. XX. "GUY MANNERING." Second Novel of the Series; Time of Action, 1750-70; Published Feb. 24, 1815; Author's Age, 44. THIS HIS admirable and animated story, although represented as enacted in not a few places that are imaginary, is yet distinctly and chiefly associated with the southern coast of Scotland. A pleasant excursion, aside from common routes of tourists, will lead, in partly antiquarian, partly fanciful, explorations, to evident. and interesting originals of localities that it describes and renders more attractive. The route of this excursion may be from Carlisle to Solway Frith, and thus to scenes of "Redgauntlet," and thence to Dumfries, with its souvenirs of Burns. Seven miles from the latter place is Caerlaverock Castle, the original of the Ellangowan Old Place of this novel, that should certainly be seen, and before the sea-shores hereafter visited, to which it must be supposed bodily borne by the power of creative genius. In the churchyard of the parish of Caerlaverock (between the castle and Dumfries), is the grave of Old Mortality, described on page 189. About thirty miles (by rail) beyond Dumfries is Kircudbright, a neat town, with an ivy-mantled, ruined castle. Six miles thence, towards the coast, is Dundrennan Abbey; and in its vicinity, sagacious investigation indicates that the action of "Guy Mannering" began. 66 The story opens showing us (about the year 1750) "a young English gentleman, who had just left the University of Oxford," traversing the wilds of the coast of Galloway, during a sombre evening, after he had spent the day in sketching some monastic ruins in the county of Dumfries." He was diligently inquiring his way to "Kippletringan," a town that must be considered mythical. The general descriptions in the story give, however, some clew to his route (the writer thinks after the research demanded by this important subject), and suggest that the ruins that occupied his attention were those of Dundrennan Abbey already mentioned. The drive from Kircudbright to these ruins is quite worth taking. It is through a pleasant country, and over a good road, partly well shaded, and partly lined by unusually high hedges, regularly or wavily trimmed. Some of these hedges, of red-berried hawthorn, are from fifteen to eighteen feet high. They are, like apparently every thing else in that region, the property of Lord Selkirk. Near the abbey the landscape is rather open. Hills, grassy or wooded, surround an agricultural vale, charmingly secluded and peaceful, though not so richly cultivated as others in England or in the Scottish Lowlands. In the centre of this vale-so much in what might be called the monastic style — is the Abbey, standing with its eastern end closely upon a pretty stream. This flows on and enters the sea, not far distant, at Abbey Burn Foot, a notorious smuggling-place in the days of "fair trade," it is said, of which more soon hereafter. - Dundrennan, now well cared for by public authority, is interesting intrinsically, and also associatively; for at it, Mary of Scotland spent her last night in her northern kingdom. The monastic establishment was large. Its remains are yet rather extensive, and are picturesque although fragmentary: they may well have detained the Oxonian until darkness came upon him, and may detain brief attention here as they did his prolonged there. The writer found the ruins in good order and enclosed by a wall. The area within the latter was green with soft, smooth turf, intersected by pebbly paths, almost too trim. The materials of the edifice are hard, slaty stone, now gray from age, intermixed with considerable red sandstone, grown to a reddish or purplish tint of gray. The church, cruciform, was about two hundred feet long, and one hundred and twenty feet wide at the transepts, and had a central tower bearing a spire, said to have been two hundred feet high. About twenty feet in height of the plain west front remains, pierced by a pointed, well-moulded, central door. The nave was one hundred and thirty and a half feet long: only the bases of its outer walls and of two pillars (the most western) remained at the time of the writer's visit. Much of the north transept was then nearly entire; but its three eastward chapels were destroyed. Its gable, the only one remaining, was nearly entire. The south transept was ruinous, showing the three stages of the east wall, three pillars bearing triforium and clere-story. Both transepts appeared to have been of similar design. The choir, measuring twenty-six by forty-five feet, had neither side-aisles or chapels, but blank walls |