Joanna Baillie

“ The boding sounds of ill;—I'll hold my feast,—
My moody revelry.
LOCHTARISH.
⁠Nay, why so fierce?
Think'st thou we are a tame and mongrel pack?
Dogs of true breed we are, though for a time
Our master-hound forsakes us.—Rouse him forth
The noble chace to lead: his deep-toned yell
Full well we know; and for the opening sport
Pant keenly.
BENLORA.
⁠Ha! is there amongst you still
Spirit enough for this?
LOCHTARISH.
⁠Yes, when good opportunity shall favour. ”

“ Are darted on her by those stern Macleans!
Ay; and the gestures of those fearful men,
As on the shore in savage groups they meet,
Sending their loosen'd tartans to the wind,
And tossing high their brawny arms where oft,
In vehement discourse, I have, of late,
At distance mark'd them.—Yes; thou shakest thy head:
Thou hast observed them too.
MORTON.
⁠I have observed them oft. That calm Lochtarish,
Calm as he is, the growing rancour fosters:
For, fail the offspring of their chief, his sons
Next in succession are. He hath his ends,
For which he stirs their ancient hatred up ”

“ To have made him rude, unfeeling, and cruel, and excited against her by supposing she was actually plotting his ruin at the instigation of her father, would only have presented us with a hard, bare, unshaded character, which takes no hold of our interest or attention. I have, therefore, imagined him a man of personal courage, brave in the field, but weak and timid in counsel, irresolute and unsteady in action; superstitious, and easily swayed by others, yet anxious to preserve his power as chieftain; attached to his clan, attached to his lady, and of an affectionate and gentle disposition. ”

“ When shipwreck'd strangers shiver on our coast,
Or robe or costly mantle?—All comes forth!
And when the piercing shriek of drowning mariners
Breaks through the night, up-starting from her couch,
To snatch, with eager haste, the flaming torch.
And from the tower give notice of relief,
Who comes so swiftly as her noble self?
And yet ye grumble.
FIRST HIGHLANDER.
⁠Ay, we needs must own,
That, were she not a Campbell, fit she were
To be a queen, or e'en the thing she is—
Our very chieftain's dame. But, in these towers,
The daughter of Argyll to be our lady!
MORTON.
Out! ”

“ BENLORA.
⁠Yes, we are come, Maclean, a boon to beg.
LOCHTARISH.
⁠A boon that, granted, will yourself enrich.
MACLEAN.
⁠Myself enrich?
LOCHTARISH.
⁠Yes; thereby wilt thou be
One gallant man the richer. Hear us out.
Allen of Dura, from his banishment——
MACLEAN.
False reaver! name him not.—Is he return'd?
Dares he again set foot upon this isle?
BENLORA.
Yes, chief; upon this isle set foot he hath:
And on nor isle nor main-land doth there step
A braver man than he.——Lady, forgive me:
The boldest Campbell never saw his back. ”

“ MACLEAN.
⁠The man for whom thou plead'st is most unworthy;
Yet let him safely from my shores depart:
I harm him not.
BENLORA, (turning from him indignantly) .
My suit is then denied.
⁠ (To Lochtarish and Glenfadden.) ”

“ Maclean resisted these threats, fearing the power and vengeance of Argyll; but at length fear for his own life, should he refuse the demands of his clan, made him yield to their fury, and he only drew from them a promise that they would not shed her blood. One dark winter night she was forced into a boat, and, regardless of her cries and lamentations, left upon a barren rock, mid-way between the coasts of Mull and Argyll, which, at high-water, is covered with the sea. ”

“ Are, like a child's, with scalding drops disgrac'd.
LOCHTARISH.
⁠What I shall look upon, ere in the dust
My weary head be laid to rest, heav'n knows,
Since I have lived to see Benlora weep.
BENLORA.
⁠One thing, at least, thou ne'er shalt live to see—
Benlora crouching, where he has commanded.
⁠Go ye, who will, and crowd the chieftain's hall,
And deal the feast, and nod your grizzled heads
To martial pibrochs, play'd, in better days,
To those who conquer'd, not who woo'd their foes ”

“ The fear of being deserted by his clan, and losing his dignity as their chief, with the superstitious dread of bringing some terrible calamity upon the Macleans, are represented as the motives for his crime. These qualities, I supposed, might have formed a character, imperfect and reprehensible indeed to a deplorable degree, but neither uninteresting nor detestable. As to his telling a direct lie when the Earl questions him so closely about his wife's death, his whole conduct at the castle of Argyll, coming there in mourning as from a funeral, is an enacted lie ”

“ He'll soon give heed and notice to my love?
ROSA.
⁠I doubt it not: he is a lively infant,
And moves his little limbs with vigour, spreading
His fingers forth, as if in time they would
A good claymore clench bravely. ”

“ To this man her father had formerly refused her hand, disposing of her as a bond of union, to unite the warring clans of Argyll and Maclean."
Such is the substance of my story, with no circumstance of the smallest consequence omitted; and my reader will perceive I have deviated from it very slightly. In regard to the characters that people it, I was left, except in two instances, entirely to invention; viz. that of Argyll, who, in keeping secret the return of his daughter, &c. gives one the idea of a cautious and crafty man ”

“ I must likewise beg that Mr Siddons and Mrs H. Siddons will accept my best thanks, for the great and successful exertions they have made in the two first characters in the play. To Mr Siddons I am doubly indebted, both as an able actor, and a diligent and friendly manager, who has taken great pains in adapting and preparing it for the stage. ”

“ MEN.
Maclean, Chief of the Clan of that name, Mr Thompson. The Earl of Argyll, Mr Terry. John of Lorne, Son to Argyll, Mr Siddons. Sir Hubert de Grey, friend to Lorne, Mr Putnam. Benlora.⁠}The Kinsmen and Mr Archer. Lochtavish,⁠} chief Vassals of Mr Mason. Glenfadden, } ⁠ Maclean. Mr Vining. Morton, Mr Jones. Dugald, Mr Kelly. ”