[Kate Carnegie and Those Ministers by Ian Maclaren]@TWC D-Link book
Kate Carnegie and Those Ministers

CHAPTER III
3/13

And he made his wife promise that she would have him dressed for his coffin as he fought on Culloden field, for he had kept the clothes.
"Then he asked that the window should be opened that he might hear the lilting of the burn below; and he called for my grandfather, who was only a young lad, and commanded him to enter one of the Scottish regiments and be a loyal kingsman, since all was over with the Stewarts.
"He said a prayer and kissed his wife's hand, being a courtly gentleman, and died listening to the sound of the water running over the stones in the den below." "It was as good as dying on the field," said Kate, her face flushing with pride; "that is an ancestor worth remembering; and did he get a worthy funeral ?" "More than he asked for; his old comrades gathered from far and near, and some of the chiefs that were out of hiding came down, and they brought him up this very road, with the pipers playing before the coffin.

Fifty gentlemen buried John Carnegie, and every man of them had been out with the Prince.
"When they gathered in the stone hall you 'll see soon, his friend-in-arms, Patrick Murray, gave three toasts.

The first was 'the king,' and every man bared his head; the second was 'to him that is gone;' the third was 'to the friends that are far awa';' and then one of the chiefs proposed another, 'to the men of Culloden;' and after that every gentleman dashed his glass on the floor.

Though he was only a little lad at the time, my grandfather never forgot the sight.
"He also told me that his mother never shed a tear, but looked prouder than he ever saw her, and before they left the hall she bade each gentleman good-bye, and to the chief she spoke in Gaelic, being of Cluny's blood and a gallant lady.
"Another thing she did also which the lad could not forget, for she brought down her husband's sword from the room in the turret, and Patrick Murray, of the House of Athole, fastened it above the big fireplace, where it hangs unto this day, crossed now with my father's, as you will see, Kate, unless we stand here all day going over old stories." "They 're glorious stories, dad; why did n't you tell them to me before?
I want to get into the spirit of the past and feel the Carnegie blood swinging in my veins before we come to the Lodge.

What did they do afterwards, or was that all ?" "They mounted their horses in the courtyard, and as each man passed out of the gate he took off his hat and bowed low to the widow, who stood in a window I will show you, and watched till the last disappeared into the avenue; but my grandfather ran out and saw them ride down the road in order of threes, a goodly company of gentlemen.


<<Back  Index  Next>>

D-Link book Top

TWC mobile books