The Ayrshire Legatees

CHAPTER I--THE DEPARTURE

On New Year's day Dr. Pringle received a letter from India,
informing him that his cousin, Colonel Armour, had died at Hydrabad,
and left him his residuary legatee.  The same post brought other
letters on the same subject from the agent of the deceased in
London, by which it was evident to the whole family that no time
should be lost in looking after their interests in the hands of such
brief and abrupt correspondents.  "To say the least of it," as the
Doctor himself sedately remarked, "considering the greatness of the
forth-coming property, Messieurs Richard Argent and Company, of New
Broad Street, might have given a notion as to the particulars of the
residue."  It was therefore determined that, as soon as the
requisite arrangements could be made, the Doctor and Mrs. Pringle
should set out for the metropolis, to obtain a speedy settlement
with the agents, and, as Rachel had now, to use an expression of her
mother's, "a prospect before her," that she also should accompany
them:  Andrew, who had just been called to the Bar, and who had come
to the manse to spend a few days after attaining that distinction,
modestly suggested, that, considering the various professional
points which might be involved in the objects of his father's
journey, and considering also the retired life which his father had
led in the rural village of Garnock, it might be of importance to
have the advantage of legal advice.

Mrs. Pringle interrupted this harangue, by saying, "We see what you
would be at, Andrew; ye're just wanting to come with us, and on this
occasion I'm no for making step-bairns, so we'll a' gang thegither."

The Doctor had been for many years the incumbent of Garnock, which
is pleasantly situated between Irvine and Kilwinning, and, on
account of the benevolence of his disposition, was much beloved by
his parishioners.  Some of the pawkie among them used indeed to say,
in answer to the godly of Kilmarnock, and other admirers of the late
great John Russel, of that formerly orthodox town, by whom Dr.
Pringle's powers as a preacher were held in no particular
estimation,--"He kens our pu'pit's frail, and spar'st to save outlay
to the heritors."  As for Mrs. Pringle, there is not such another
minister's wife, both for economy and management, within the
jurisdiction of the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and to this fact the
following letter to Miss Mally Glencairn, a maiden lady residing in
the Kirkgate of Irvine, a street that has been likened unto the
Kingdom of Heaven, where there is neither marriage nor giving in
marriage, will abundantly testify.

LETTER I

Mrs. Pringle to Miss Mally Glencairn--GARNOCK MANSE.

Dear Miss Mally--The Doctor has had extraordinar news from India and
London, where we are all going, as soon as me and Rachel can get
ourselves in order, so I beg you will go to Bailie Delap's shop, and
get swatches of his best black bombaseen, and crape, and muslin, and
bring them over to the manse the morn's morning.  If you cannot come
yourself, and the day should be wat, send Nanny Eydent, the mantua-
maker, with them; you'll be sure to send Nanny, onyhow, and I
requeesht that, on this okasion, ye'll get the very best the Bailie
has, and I'll tell you all about it when you come.  You will get,
likewise, swatches of mourning print, with the lowest prices.  I'll
no be so particular about them, as they are for the servan lasses,
and there's no need, for all the greatness of God's gifts, that we
should be wasterful.  Let Mrs. Glibbans know, that the Doctor's
second cousin, the colonel, that was in the East Indies, is no
more;--I am sure she will sympatheese with our loss on this
melancholy okasion.  Tell her, as I'll no be out till our mournings
are made, I would take it kind if she would come over and eate a bit
of dinner on Sunday.  The Doctor will no preach himself, but there's
to be an excellent young man, an acquaintance of Andrew's, that has
the repute of being both sound and hellaquaint.  But no more at
present, and looking for you and Nanny Eydent, with the swatches,--I
am, dear Miss Mally, your sinsare friend,

JANET PRINGLE.

The Doctor being of opinion that, until they had something in hand
from the legacy, they should walk in the paths of moderation, it was
resolved to proceed by the coach from Irvine to Greenock, there
embark in a steam-boat for Glasgow, and, crossing the country to
Edinburgh, take their passage at Leith in one of the smacks for
London.  But we must let the parties speak for themselves.

LETTER II

Miss Rachel Pringle to Miss Isabella Tod--GREENOCK.

My Dear Isabella--I know not why the dejection with which I parted
from you still hangs upon my heart, and grows heavier as I am drawn
farther and farther away.  The uncertainty of the future--the
dangers of the sea--all combine to sadden my too sensitive spirit.
Still, however, I will exert myself, and try to give you some
account of our momentous journey.

The morning on which we bade farewell for a time--alas! it was to me
as if for ever, to my native shades of Garnock--the weather was
cold, bleak, and boisterous, and the waves came rolling in majestic
fury towards the shore, when we arrived at the Tontine Inn of
Ardrossan.  What a monument has the late Earl of Eglinton left there
of his public spirit!  It should embalm his memory in the hearts of
future ages, as I doubt not but in time Ardrossan will become a
grand emporium; but the people of Saltcoats, a sordid race, complain
that it will be their ruin; and the Paisley subscribers to his
lordship's canal grow pale when they think of profit.

The road, after leaving Ardrossan, lies along the shore.  The blast
came dark from the waters, and the clouds lay piled in every form of
grandeur on the lofty peaks of Arran.  The view on the right hand is
limited to the foot of a range of abrupt mean hills, and on the left
it meets the sea--as we were obliged to keep the glasses up, our
drive for several miles was objectless and dreary.  When we had
ascended a hill, leaving Kilbride on the left, we passed under the
walls of an ancient tower.  What delightful ideas are associated
with the sight of such venerable remains of antiquity!

Leaving that lofty relic of our warlike ancestors, we descended
again towards the shore.  On the one side lay the Cumbra Islands,
and Bute, dear to departed royalty.  Afar beyond them, in the hoary
magnificence of nature, rise the mountains of Argyllshire; the
cairns, as my brother says, of a former world.  On the other side of
the road, we saw the cloistered ruins of the religious house of
Southenan, a nunnery in those days of romantic adventure, when to
live was to enjoy a poetical element.  In such a sweet sequestered
retreat, how much more pleasing to the soul it would have been, for
you and I, like two captive birds in one cage, to have sung away our
hours in innocence, than for me to be thus torn from you by fate,
and all on account of that mercenary legacy, perchance the spoils of
some unfortunate Hindoo Rajah!

At Largs we halted to change horses, and saw the barrows of those
who fell in the great battle.  We then continued our journey along
the foot of stupendous precipices; and high, sublime, and darkened
with the shadow of antiquity, we saw, upon its lofty station, the
ancient Castle of Skelmorlie, where the Montgomeries of other days
held their gorgeous banquets, and that brave knight who fell at
Chevy-Chace came pricking forth on his milk-white steed, as Sir
Walter Scott would have described him.  But the age of chivalry is
past, and the glory of Europe departed for ever!

When we crossed the stream that divides the counties of Ayr and
Renfrew, we beheld, in all the apart and consequentiality of pride,
the house of Kelly overlooking the social villas of Wemyss Bay.  My
brother compared it to a sugar hogshead, and them to cotton-bags;
for the lofty thane of Kelly is but a West India planter, and the
inhabitants of the villas on the shore are Glasgow manufacturers.

To this succeeded a dull drive of about two miles, and then at once
we entered the pretty village of Inverkip.  A slight snow-shower had
given to the landscape a sort of copperplate effect, but still the
forms of things, though but sketched, as it were, with China ink,
were calculated to produce interesting impressions.  After
ascending, by a gentle acclivity, into a picturesque and romantic
pass, we entered a spacious valley, and, in the course of little
more than half an hour, reached this town; the largest, the most
populous, and the most superb that I have yet seen.  But what are
all its warehouses, ships, and smell of tar, and other odoriferous
circumstances of fishery and the sea, compared with the green
swelling hills, the fragrant bean-fields, and the peaceful groves of
my native Garnock!

The people of this town are a very busy and clever race, but much
given to litigation.  My brother says, that they are the greatest
benefactors to the Outer House, and that their lawsuits are the most
amusing and profitable before the courts, being less for the purpose
of determining what is right than what is lawful.  The chambermaid
of the inn where we lodge pointed out to me, on the opposite side of
the street, a magnificent edifice erected for balls; but the
subscribers have resolved not to allow any dancing till it is
determined by the Court of Session to whom the seats and chairs
belong, as they were brought from another house where the assemblies
were formerly held.  I have heard a lawsuit compared to a country-
dance, in which, after a great bustle and regular confusion, the
parties stand still, all tired, just on the spot where they began;
but this is the first time that the judges of the land have been
called on to decide when a dance may begin.

We arrived too late for the steam-boat, and are obliged to wait till
Monday morning; but to-morrow we shall go to church, where I expect
to see what sort of creatures the beaux are.  The Greenock ladies
have a great name for beauty, but those that I have seen are perfect
frights.  Such of the gentlemen as I have observed passing the
windows of the inn may do, but I declare the ladies have nothing of
which any woman ought to be proud.  Had we known that we ran a risk
of not getting a steam-boat, my mother would have provided an
introductory letter or two from some of her Irvine friends; but here
we are almost entire strangers:  my father, however, is acquainted
with one of the magistrates, and has gone to see him.  I hope he
will be civil enough to ask us to his house, for an inn is a
shocking place to live in, and my mother is terrified at the
expense.  My brother, however, has great confidence in our
prospects, and orders and directs with a high hand.  But my paper is
full, and I am compelled to conclude with scarcely room to say how
affectionately I am yours,

RACHEL PRINGLE.

LETTER III