The Pirate
Sing louder, brave bird, for their spoils shall be thine.
"We'll sing while we bait, and we'll sing when we haul,
For the deeps of the Haaf have enough for us all:
There is torsk for the gentle, and skate for the carle,
And there's wealth for bold Magnus, the son of the earl.
"Huzza! my brave comrades, give way for the Haaf,
We shall sooner come back to the dance and the laugh;
For life without mirth is a lamp without oil;
Then, mirth and long life to the bold Magnus Troil!"
The rude words of the song were soon drowned in the ripple of the waves,
but the tune continued long to mingle with the sound of wind and sea,
and the boats were like so many black specks on the surface of the
ocean, diminishing by degrees as they bore far and farther seaward;
while the ear could distinguish touches of the human voice, almost
drowned amid that of the elements.
The fishermen's wives looked their last after the parting sails, and
were now departing slowly, with downcast and anxious looks, towards the
huts in which they were to make arrangements for preparing and drying
the fish, with which they hoped to see their husbands and friends return
deeply laden. Here and there an old sibyl displayed the superior
importance of her experience, by predicting, from the appearance of the
atmosphere, that the wind would be fair or foul, while others
recommended a vow to the Kirk of St. Ninian's for the safety of their
men and boats, (an ancient Catholic superstition, not yet wholly
abolished,) and others, but in a low and timorous tone, regretted to
their companions, that Norna of Fitful-head had been suffered to depart
in discontent that morning from Burgh-Westra, "and, of all days in the
year, that they suld have contrived to give her displeasure on the first
day of the white fishing!"
The gentry, guests of Magnus Troil, having whiled away as much time as
could be so disposed of, in viewing the little armament set sail, and in
conversing with the poor women who had seen their friends embark in it,
began now to separate into various groups and parties, which strolled in
different directions, as fancy led them, to enjoy what may be called the
clair-obscure of a Zetland summer day, which, though without the
brilliant sunshine that cheers other countries during the fine season,
has a mild and pleasing character of its own, that softens while it
saddens landscapes, which, in their own lonely, bare, and monotonous
tone, have something in them stern as well as barren.
In one of the loneliest recesses of the coast, where a deep indenture of
the rocks gave the tide access to the cavern, or, as it is called, the
_Helyer_, of Swartaster, Minna Troil was walking with Captain Cleveland.
They had probably chosen that walk, as being little liable to
interruption from others; for, as the force of the tide rendered the
place unfit either for fishing or sailing, so it was not the ordinary
resort of walkers, on account of its being the supposed habitation of a
Mermaid, a race which Norwegian superstition invests with magical, as
well as mischievous qualities. Here, therefore, Minna wandered with her
lover.
A small spot of milk-white sand, that stretched beneath one of the
precipices which walled in the creek on either side, afforded them space
for a dry, firm, and pleasant walk of about an hundred yards, terminated
at one extremity by a dark stretch of the bay, which, scarce touched by
the wind, seemed almost as smooth as glass, and which was seen from
between two lofty rocks, the jaws of the creek, or indenture, that
approached each other above, as if they wished to meet over the dark
tide that separated them. The other end of their promenade was closed by
a lofty and almost unscaleable precipice, the abode of hundreds of
sea-fowl of different kinds, in the bottom of which the huge helyer, or
sea-cave, itself yawned, as if for the purpose of swallowing up the
advancing tide, which it seemed to receive into an abyss of immeasurable
depth and extent. The entrance to this dismal cavern consisted not in a
single arch, as usual, but was divided into two, by a huge pillar of
natural rock, which, rising out of the sea, and extending to the top of
the cavern, seemed to lend its support to the roof, and thus formed a
double portal to the helyer, on which the fishermen and peasants had
bestowed the rude name of the Devil's Nostrils. In this wild scene,
lonely and undisturbed but by the clang of the sea-fowl, Cleveland had
already met with Minna Troil more than once; for with her it was a
favourite walk, as the objects which it presented agreed peculiarly with
the love of the wild, the melancholy, and the wonderful. But now the
conversation in which she was earnestly engaged, was such as entirely to
withdraw her attention, as well as that of her companion, from the
scenery around them.
"You cannot deny it," she said; "you have given way to feelings
respecting this young man, which indicate prejudice and violence,--the
prejudice unmerited, as far as you are concerned at least, and the
violence equally imprudent and unjustifiable."
"I should have thought," replied Cleveland, "that the service I rendered
him yesterday might have freed me from such a charge. I do not talk of
my own risk, for I have lived in danger, and love it; it is not every
one, however, would have ventured so near the furious animal to save one
with whom they had no connexion."
"It is not every one, indeed, who could have saved him," answered
Minna, gravely; "but every one who has courage and generosity would have
attempted it. The giddy-brained Claud Halcro would have done as much as
you, had his strength been equal to his courage,--my father would have
done as much, though having such just cause of resentment against the
young man, for his vain and braggart abuse of our hospitality. Do not,
therefore, boast of your exploit too much, my good friend, lest you
should make me think that it required too great an effort. I know you
love not Mordaunt Mertoun, though you exposed your own life to save
his."
"Will you allow nothing, then," said Cleveland, "for the long misery I
was made to endure from the common and prevailing report, that this
beardless bird-hunter stood betwixt me and what I on earth coveted
most--the affections of Minna Troil?"
He spoke in a tone at once impassioned and insinuating, and his whole
language and manner seemed to express a grace and elegance, which formed
the most striking contrast with the speech and gesture of the unpolished
seaman, which he usually affected or exhibited. But his apology was
unsatisfactory to Minna.
"You have known," she said, "perhaps too soon, and too well, how little
you had to fear,--if you indeed feared,--that Mertoun, or any other, had
interest with Minna Troil.--Nay, truce to thanks and protestations; I
would accept it as the best proof of gratitude, that you would be
reconciled with this youth, or at least avoid every quarrel with him."
"That we should be friends, Minna, is impossible," replied Cleveland;
"even the love I bear you, the most powerful emotion that my heart ever
knew, cannot work that miracle."
"And why, I pray you?" said Minna; "there have been no evil offences
between you, but rather an exchange of mutual services; why can you not
be friends?--I have many reasons to wish it."
"And can you, then, forget the slights which he has cast upon Brenda,
and on yourself, and on your father's house?"
"I can forgive them all," said Minna;--"can you not say so much, who
have in truth received no offence?"
Cleveland looked down, and paused for an instant; then raised his head,
and replied, "I might easily deceive you, Minna, and promise you what my
soul tells me is an impossibility; but I am forced to use too much
deceit with others, and with you I will use none. I cannot be friend to
this young man;--there is a natural dislike--an instinctive
aversion--something like a principle of repulsion in our mutual nature,
which makes us odious to each other. Ask himself--he will tell you he
has the same antipathy against me. The obligation he conferred on me was
a bridle to my resentment; but I was so galled by the restraint, that I
could have gnawed the curb till my lips were bloody."
"You have worn what you are wont to call your iron mask so long, that
your features," replied Minna, "retain the impression of its rigidity
even when it is removed."
"You do me injustice, Minna," replied her lover, "and you are angry with
me because I deal with you plainly and honestly. Plainly and honestly,
however, will I say, that I cannot be Mertoun's friend, but it shall be
his own fault, not mine, if I am ever his enemy. I seek not to injure
him; but do not ask me to love him. And of this remain satisfied, that
it would be vain even if I could do so; for as sure as I attempted any
advances towards his confidence, so sure would I be to awaken his
disgust and suspicion. Leave us to the exercise of our natural feelings,
which, as they will unquestionably keep us as far separate as possible,
are most likely to prevent any possible interference with each
other.--Does this satisfy you?"
"It must," said Minna, "since you tell me there is no remedy.--And now
tell me why you looked so grave when you heard of your consort's
arrival,--for that it is her I have no doubt,--in the port of Kirkwall?"
"I fear," replied Cleveland, "the consequences of that vessel's arrival
with her crew, as comprehending the ruin of my fondest hopes. I had made
some progress in your father's favour, and, with time, might have made
more, when hither come Hawkins and the rest to blight my prospects for
ever. I told you on what terms we parted. I then commanded a vessel
braver and better found than their own, with a crew who, at my slightest
nod, would have faced fiends armed with their own fiery element; but I
now stand alone, a single man, destitute of all means to overawe or to
restrain them; and they will soon show so plainly the ungovernable
license of their habits and dispositions, that ruin to themselves and to
me will in all probability be the consequence."
"Do not fear it," said Minna; "my father can never be so unjust as to
hold you liable for the offences of others."
"But what will Magnus Troil say to my own demerits, fair Minna?" said
Cleveland, smiling.
"My father is a Zetlander, or rather a Norwegian," said Minna, "one of
an oppressed race, who will not care whether you fought against the
Spaniards, who are the tyrants of the New World, or against the Dutch
and English, who have succeeded to their usurped dominions. His own
ancestors supported and exercised the freedom of the seas in those
gallant barks, whose pennons were the dread of all Europe."
"I fear, nevertheless," said Cleveland, "that the descendant of an
ancient Sea-King will scarce acknowledge a fitting acquaintance in a
modern rover. I have not disguised from you that I have reason to dread
the English laws; and Magnus, though a great enemy to taxes, imposts,
scat, wattle, and so forth, has no idea of latitude upon points of a
more general character;--he would willingly reeve a rope to the yard-arm
for the benefit of an unfortunate buccanier."
"Do not suppose so," said Minna; "he himself suffers too much oppression
from the tyrannical laws of our proud neighbours of Scotland. I trust he
will soon be able to rise in resistance against them. The enemy--such I
will call them--are now divided amongst themselves, and every vessel
from their coast brings intelligence of fresh commotions--the Highlands
against the Lowlands--the Williamites against the Jacobites--the Whigs
against the Tories, and, to sum the whole, the kingdom of England
against that of Scotland. What is there, as Claud Halcro well hinted, to