第24章

And in this school I began to construe the Latin language,which I had never done before,notwithstanding my long and diligent study of Lilly,which illustrious grammar was not used at Edinburgh,nor indeed known.Greek was only taught in the fifth or highest class,in which my brother was;as for myself,I never got beyond the third during the two years that I remained at this seminary.I certainly acquired here a considerable insight in the Latin tongue;and,to the scandal of my father and horror of my mother,a thorough proficiency in the Scotch,which,in less than two months,usurped the place of the English,and so obstinately maintained its ground,that I still can occasionally detect its lingering remains.

I did not spend my time unpleasantly at this school,though,first of all,I had to pass through an ordeal.

'Scotland is a better country than England,'said an ugly,blear-eyed lad,about a head and shoulders taller than myself,the leader of a gang of varlets who surrounded me in the playground,on the first day,as soon as the morning lesson was over.'Scotland is a far better country than England,in every respect.'

'Is it?'said I.'Then you ought to be very thankful for not having been born in England.'

'That's just what I am,ye loon;and every morning,when I say my prayers,I thank God for not being an Englishman.The Scotch are a much better and braver people than the English.'

'It may be so,'said I,'for what I know-indeed,till I came here,I never heard a word either about the Scotch or their country.'

'Are ye making fun of us,ye English puppy?'said the blear-eyed lad;'take that!'and I was presently beaten black and blue.And thus did I first become aware of the difference of races and their antipathy to each other.

'Bow to the storm,and it shall pass over you.'I held my peace,and silently submitted to the superiority of the Scotch-INNUMBERS.This was enough;from an object of persecution I soon became one of patronage,especially amongst the champions of the class.'The English,'said the blear-eyed lad,'though a wee bit behind the Scotch in strength and fortitude,are nae to be sneezed at,being far ahead of the Irish,to say nothing of the French,a pack of cowardly scoundrels.And with regard to the English country,it is na Scotland,it is true,but it has its gude properties;and,though there is ne'er a haggis in a'the land,there's an unco deal o'gowd and siller.I respect England,for I have an auntie married there.'

The Scotch are certainly a most pugnacious people;their whole history proves it.Witness their incessant wars with the English in the olden time,and their internal feuds,highland and lowland,clan with clan,family with family,Saxon with Gael.In my time,the schoolboys,for want,perhaps,of English urchins to contend with,were continually fighting with each other;every noon there was at least one pugilistic encounter,and sometimes three.In one month I witnessed more of these encounters than I had ever previously seen under similar circumstances in England.After all,there was not much harm done.Harm!what harm could result from short chopping blows,a hug,and a tumble?I was witness to many a sounding whack,some blood shed,'a blue ee'now and then,but nothing more.In England,on the contrary,where the lads were comparatively mild,gentle,and pacific,I had been present at more than one death caused by blows in boyish combats,in which the oldest of the victors had scarcely reached thirteen years;but these blows were in the jugular,given with the full force of the arm shot out horizontally from the shoulder.

But the Scotch-though by no means proficients in boxing (and how should they box,seeing that they have never had a teacher?)-are,I repeat,a most pugnacious people;at least they were in my time.

Anything served them,that is,the urchins,as a pretence for a fray,or,Dorically speaking,a BICKER;every street and close was at feud with its neighbour;the lads of the school were at feud with the young men of the college,whom they pelted in winter with snow,and in summer with stones;and then the feud between the old and new town!

One day I was standing on the ramparts of the Castle on the south-western side which overhangs the green brae,where it slopes down into what was in those days the green swamp or morass,called by the natives of Auld Reekie the Nor Loch;it was a dark gloomy day,and a thin veil of mist was beginning to settle down upon the brae and the morass.I could perceive,however,that there was a skirmish taking place in the latter spot.I had an indistinct view of two parties-apparently of urchins-and I heard whoops and shrill cries:eager to know the cause of this disturbance,I left the Castle,and descending the brae reached the borders of the morass,where were a runnel of water and the remains of an old wall,on the other side of which a narrow path led across the swamp:upon this path at a little distance before me there was 'a bicker.'I pushed forward,but had scarcely crossed the ruined wall and runnel,when the party nearest to me gave way,and in great confusion came running in my direction.As they drew nigh,one of them shouted to me,'Wha are ye,man?are ye o'the Auld Toon?'I made no answer.'Ha!ye are o'the New Toon;De'il tak ye,we'll moorder ye';and the next moment a huge stone sung past my head.'Let me be,ye fule bodies,'said I,'I'm no of either of ye,I live yonder aboon in the Castle.''Ah!ye live in the Castle;then ye're an auld tooner;come gie us your help,man,and dinna stand there staring like a dunnot,we want help sair eneugh.Here are stanes.'