IN the romance of "Waverley," the gifted author depicts the manners of Scottish Highlanders at the period of the '45. The tale was sketched out, and one-third written in 1805. Laid aside till 1811, it was then resumed; it appeared anonymously in 1814. For the copyright, Constable tendered £700, but the offer was declined on the ground that the sum was too much should the novel prove a failure, and too little if it were successful. The success exceeded the utmost expectations both of the author and the publishers.
In MacMurrough's Chant, Mr Daniel Maclise, R.A., represents a scene in the twentieth chapter. Waverley is entertained at Glennaquoich by Fergus Maclvor in the hall of his ancestor, Ian-nan-Chaistel, "John of the Tower." The hall occupied all the first storey of the original erection, and a huge oak table extended through its whole length. The company was numerous, even to crowding. At the head of the table sat the chief himself, with Waverley, and two or three Highland visitors of neighbouring tribes; the elders of his own tribe, wadsetters and tacksmen, who occupied portions of his estate, as mortgagers or lessees, sat next in rank; beneath them, their sons and nephews, and foster-brethren; then the officers of the chief's household, according to their order; and lowest of all, the tenants.... Beyond this long perspective, upon the green, to which a huge pair of folding doors opened, might be seen a multitude of Highlanders of a yet inferior description, who, nevertheless, were considered as guests, and had their share both of the countenance of the entertainer and the cheer of the day. In the distance, and fluctuating round the extreme verge of the banquet, was a changeful group of women, ragged boys and girls, beggars young and old.
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The banquet was approaching its close, when the chief signalled the piper to cease, and then exclaimed, "Where is the song hidden, my friends, that MacMurrough cannot find it?" The bhairdh took the hint, and began to chant, with low and rapid utterance, a profusion of Celtic verses. As he advanced in his declamation, his ardour seemed to increase: he had at first spoken with eyes fixed on the ground; he now cast them around, as if beseeching, and anon as if commanding attention; and his tones rose into wild and impassioned notes, accompanied with appropriate gestures. The poet's ardour communicated itself to the audience; their wild and sun-burnt countenances assumed a fiercer and more animated expression; all bent towards the reciter, many sprang up and waved their arms in ecstasy, and some laid their hands upon their swords.
In the accompanying etching, Mr George Cruikshank represents the droll scene where Mr Duncan Macwheeble is informed by Waverley of his present fortune and future expectations, and of his intention to share all with Miss Rose Bradwardine. Waverley had found the Bailie (Macwheeble) in his office, and before him a large bicker of oatmeal porridge, with a horn spoon and a bottle of twopenny, "while a potbellied Dutch bottle of brandy which stood by, intimated that this honest limb of the law had taken his morning already, or that he meant to season his porridge with such digestive." At the instant Waverley revealed the secret of his attachment to Miss Rose, he almost deprived the Bailie of his senses. He started from his three-footed stool, like the pythoness from her tripod; flung his best wig out of the window, because the block on which it was placed stood in the way of his career; chucked his cap to the ceiling, and caught it as it fell; whistled "Tullochgorum," danced a Highland fling with inimitable grace and agility, and then threw himself, exhausted, into a chair, exclaiming, "Lady Wauverley!-Ten thousand a-year, the least penny!—Lord preserve my poor understanding!"
