BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 429
booty. “DO ye no see what I’m about 1’’ answered the fellow with the utmost
assurance : “ nae doubt ye’ll be some o1 the understrappers frae the big
house!” Amused at the surpassing nonchalance of the rustic, “What if
Maule were to come upon you 1” said his lordship, with difficulty maintaining
a sufficient gravity of countenance. “Hout, man, he ,wadna say a wordthere’s
no a bet,ter hearted gentleman in a’ the country ; but as I’m in a hurry,
I wish you would lend me a hand, man.” To this Panmure good-humouredly
agreed ; and when the tree had been securely placed on the cart, the jolly
peasant proposed rewarding his assistant with a dram in a neighbouring alehouse.
To this his lordship would not accede, but invited the youth to call next day
at the Castle, where, by asking for Jamie the footman, he would be sure to find
him, and be treated to a glass out of his own bottle. The countryman called
according to promise ; but his confusion and astonishment may be guessed,
when, instead of meeting Jamie the footman, he was ushered, with great ceremony,
into the presence of Lord Panmure and a company of gentlemen. “My
man,” said his lordship, walking up to him, “next time you go to cut wood, I
would advise you first to ask Illaule’s permission.” With this gentle reprimand
he dismissed the terrified depredator, though not without having given instructions
that he should be well entertained in the hall.
In imitation of some of our Scottish Kings, Maule occasionally amused himself
by visiting his tenantry in the character of a mendicant, so disguised that
it was impossible they could recognise him. He thus became minutely acquainted
with the character and habits of a class of people in whom he was
deeply interested. Entering a hamlet, in the course of his excursions, on the
borders of Forfarshire, one very cold and wet evening, he sought shelter in the
house of an old woman, who was busy at her wheel, for the spinning-jenny had
not then entirely expelled that useful instrument of industry from the cottage
ingle. With the accustomed hospitality of our rural population, the “ Gaberlunzie-
man” was welcomed to a share of the hearth; but he was no sooner
seated than he began to grumble at the small fire that burned slowly in the halfempty
grate. The woman assured him there was no more fuel in the house ;
and as she marvelled at the impertinent manner of the sturdy-looking beggar,
her terror and amazement may be conceived, when starting to his feet, and exclaiming--“
I’ll’soon make a fire,” he laid hold of the wheel ; and, in spite of
threats, remonstrances, and the personal opposition which a sense of wrong inspired
her with strength and courage to offer, first the rock, with the ‘‘wee
pickle tow ”-next the wheel-and lastly, the whole body of the frame-at
once her pride and her means of livelihood-were crackling in the flames, and
spreading a light and a warmth unknown to the cottage. Having thoroughly
warmed himself, and when the rage and imprecations of the old woman were
nearly spent with their own violence, Maule took his departure, but not without
leaving a benison, in the shape of a well-filled purse, which amply reconciled
her to the destruction of her property.
The liberality of his disposition frequently relieved the “ Generous Sports