Basset

“ I had not seen Basset’s wife, but I had heard of her from some who had met her, before she left the last confines of civilisation and started for what must in future be her home. What I had heard made it seem unlikely that Mrs. Basset would reconcile herself to jungle life, and, when I understood Phatmah, I thought it would be very surprising if such a miracle could be wrought for the sake of Basset.
Basset was a most excellent fellow, a good officer, good to look at, lithe and well-made, a man who had found favour with his seniors and was likely to do well. ”

“ If this wasn’t Moss’s fallow, it might have been; Basset was all alike; it was a beggarly parish, in Mr Tulliver’s opinion, and his opinion was certainly not groundless. Basset had a poor soil, poor roads, a poor non-resident landlord, a poor non-resident vicar, and rather less than half a curate, also poor. If any one strongly impressed with the power of the human mind to triumph over circumstances will contend that the parishioners of Basset might nevertheless have been a very superior class of people, I have nothing to urge against that abstract proposition ”

“ All the influence of the legate Otho was required to reconcile the contending parties. Four years later (Easter, 1241) , Gilbert Basset figures as one of the two chief promoters of a grand tournament, which it was proposed to hold, of strangers against Englishmen. This engagement was, however, forbidden to take place by the king's orders. In the autumn of the same year Basset met with his death. While going out to hunt, his horse tripped on a root and threw its rider, who was taken up in a kind of paralysis (‘dissipatis ossibus et nervis dissolutis’) , from which he never recovered. ”

“ Hereupon an agitation arose, none could say how, the persons composing it began to be swayed backwards and forwards in a strange manner, and somehow or other poor Basset's heels got tripped up, and before he could rise, several men and boys fell over him and crushed him with their weight, so that when he became visible in the heap, he presented a most pitiable appearance. ”

“ The immediate ancestor of the Cornish Bassets was William Basset, who married in 1150 Cecilia, daughter and coheiress of Alan de Dunstanville, and the daughter of Reginald Fitzhenry, Earl of Cornwall, natural son of Henry I., who thus acquired the manor of Tehidy, which has ever since continued the residence of his descendants of the house of Basset. ”

“ Basset, bas′et, n. a short-legged dog used in unearthing foxes and badgers: an old Venetian game at cards, resembling faro, widely popular in the 18th century: (geol.) the outcrop or emergence of mineral strata at the surface.—v.i. to incline upward so as to appear at the surface, to crop up.—n. Bas′set-horn (It. corno di bassetto) , the richest and softest of all wind-instruments, similar to a clarionet in tone and fingering, but with a twice-bent wooden tube, having a compass of two and a half octaves. ”

“ Only one child of her first marriage was left; and on the 10th of March 1554, men—not God—took that dearly-prized darling from her. The custody of the person and marriage of Arthur Basset was granted to James Basset, his Popish uncle (Rot. Parl., 1 Mary, part 7) . This is sufficient to indicate that the Roman proclivities of Mr Monke and Lady Frances were at least doubtful. The double death—of the Queen and James Basset—freed Arthur; and by dint of hard riding night and day—he scarcely knew why—he reached Devon just in time to kneel and receive the last blessing of that beloved mother. ”

“ Little did Sir David Basset or Dame Deborah dream that the lame pedlar-woman, in the lilac print dress and white mob-cap, whom they passed in the park, and who curtsied so low as the great coach lumbered past, was the Royalist leader whom everyone was searching for; neither did they dream that Millicent, who was waiting so demurely on the steps to receive them, wore under her smooth white kerchief a little crystal heart hung from a slender gold chain, which she had found in a packet, addressed to her, in the bottom of the pedlar's basket. ”

“ John Basset's eldest son, John Francis Basset, of Stratton, brother of the present owner of the estates (Gustavus Lambert Basset, who served in the Crimea as lieutenant in the 72nd Highlanders) , was a barrister, and was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1861. He succeeded to the Tehidy property on the death of his aunt, Frances, Baroness Basset, in 1855, and died at the family mansion in 1869. His chief mining interests (which were immense) were in the Bassets, South Frances, and Dolcoath mines. ”

“ From papers in our possession, we have always considered ourselves descended from Edward Basnet, the first married Dean of St. Patrick's; and I drew up a pedigree of the family, which is in Berry's Berkshire. But the proofs only go as far as Thomas Basnet, of Coventry, born in 1590. Lawrance Basset, otherwise Bassnet, of Bainton, in the fee of the hundred of Hatton, in the parish of Budworth, in the palatine of Chester, living in the 27th of Henry VIII., anno 1536, was descended of a younger house of Sir Philip Basset, knight, &c. of St. Hillane, in the county of Glamorgan. ”

“ On this occasion the rashness of his speech drew down a well-merited rebuke on his head from one of the magnates present (see Matthew Paris (Rolls Ser.) , iii. 381–2) . In the same year Basset's name appears as having taken part in a great tournament, held at Lent, of north against south (‘Norenses et Australes’) , in which the south won the day, but not before the contest had changed into a real battle. ”

“ BASSET, ALAN (d. 1232–3) , baron, was a younger son of Thomas Basset of Hedendon, Oxfordshire [see Basset, Thomas] . In favour alike with Richard I and with John, he received from the former the lordships of Woking and Mapledurwell, and from the latter those of Wycombe and Berewick. With his brothers Gilbert and Thomas he accompanied John to Northampton, when the king of Scots did his homage (22 Nov. 1200) , which he tested (Rog. Hov. i. 142) , and continued throughout John's reign in close attendance on the court, accompanying the king to Ireland in 1210 (Rot. de Præst.) ”

“ We spend our lives in jeopardy,
Whilst others live at ease.’”
“Be we?” laughed the youth who was seated on the deck, half-opening his eyes. “How much of thy life hast spent in jeopardy, Jack Enville?”
“How much? Did not I once fall into the sea from a rock?—and was well-nigh drowned ere I could be fished out. More of my life than thine, Master Robert Basset.”
In something like the sense of Thekla Tremayne’s “Poor Jack!” I pause to say, Poor Robert Basset! He was the eldest son of the deceased Sir Arthur. ”

“ We’ve a good surgeon aboard our ship, and you shall be in his hands this very day, please God. Are there any more of you in this place?”
“He doesn’t know, poor soul,” answered Basset, interposing, “but I do; there be two more Englishmen that we’ve found in the cells; and they’m almost so bad as this man. We found ’em safely locked up; but they’m out now and being taken care of by our men.”
“Can they walk?” demanded George.
“A few yards, perhaps,” surmised Basset, “but not so far as the wharf.” ”

“ Next time, I git my neck broke, and den 'tis all done wid dis poor niggur. De carpenter find hard work to make one to fit."
"Now, Prime," said Basset, "you're rather too hard. I asked your pardon, and that's all a man can do. I'm sure I didn't mean to set you agoing at this rate."
"It bery easy, Massa Basset, to say I ask you pardon, and bery polite for a white man to say it to a colored pusson, but does dat pay for de breaking ob a leg or de setting ob my neck?" ”

“ Basset stammered.
“For a rich wife? For an alliance, as the saying is? And sleep ill of nights? And have bad dreams? No, he is no fool, if you are. He sees that if he marries the girl he makes himself safe. He makes himself safe! After me, it lies between them.”
“I take it that he does think himself safe.”
“Not he!” Audley replied. He was stooping over the ashes, warming his hands, but at that he jumped up. “Not he! he knows better than you! ”

“ My principle is, let every man skin his own skunks. You haint no wife nor children, have you?"
"No," said Basset. "What makes you ask?"
"Well, I'm glad to hear it. I always think it judgmatical, you see, to choose a man for constable who haint got no family; 'cause, if any accident should happen, 'twouldn't be of so much consequence."
"I don't catch your meaning clear," said Basset.
"You'll catch it clear enough, I guess," answered Gladding, "if Holden gits hold o' ye."
"Now, Tom Gladding, you needn't think you're going to frighten me," cried Basset, on whom the charm was beginning to work. ”

“ Many of the workmen in the town walked in daily from the villages, and Felix visited them at their homes; frequently preaching, too, for Basil Thorpe at Millbourne, the village of which Greene Ferne was a tithing or small hamlet. He and Newton were old friends—his own love for May no secret. Augustus Basset was a specimen of humanity not uncommonly seen on large farms—the last stray relic of a good family, half bailiff, half hanger-on, half keeper, half poacher, and never wholly anything except intoxicated. ”

“ He looks to me something like an Englishman.”
“So he be,” answered Basset. “He says his name be Job Winter, and that he was one of the crew of Admiral Hawkins’ ship, the Minion. He’ve been in this hell upon earth since last August, and all that time they fiends in human form up there,” indicating the occupants of the dais, “have been trying their hardest to make a good Catholic of him. ”

“ The baronial justiciary, Hugh Despencer, was his son-in-law, and they seem for about a year to have acted concurrently. Thenceforth the royalists were in full power, and Basset acted alone. In July 1262 the king went to France, leaving the kingdom in the charge of Basset, who presided at a parliament held in October (Rog. Hov. ii. 217) , and kept him informed of the state of affairs. ”

“ But with so small a force, and the numbers of the enemy unknown, it was necessary to exercise a very considerable amount of precaution lest some unforeseen accident should wreck the entire enterprise; therefore, while the force under George stood to their arms, motionless, close down by the water’s edge, Basset with his contingent crept warily up the sand toward the shore battery and presently were swallowed up within its shadows. ”

“ But Sir Francis Basset had the advantage of several years passed in active experience with the world. He had learnt that the human faculties are unequal to the formation of systems a priori, but must submit to follow the more humble course of adaptation, tentative experiment, and induction ”

“ BASSET, FRANCIS, Baron de Dunstanville of Tehidy and Baron Basset of Stratton (1757–1835) , patriot, political writer, and patron of science, literature, and art, was son of Francis Basset, M.P. for Penryn from 1766 to 1769 (Mrs. Delany, iii. 450, 455, and Gent. Mag., 1769, xxxix. 558) , and Margaret St. Aubyn, his wife. He was born at Walcot in Oxfordshire 9 Aug. 1757, and was educated at Harrow, Eton, and King's College, Cambridge, where he took his M.A. degree when twenty-nine years of age. Dr. ”

“ Written mostly in couplets of long lines, sometimes in stanzas of four short lines, with omissions, transpositions, and other faults.
It will be observed that neither in this tale nor in the “history” which follows does the tanner become aware that he has been dealing with “our kyng.” In both he calls the king “good fellow” to the very last. What happens at the meeting with Lord Basset, 30, is not made quite intelligible. It must be that Lord Basset and his men fall on their knees, but the conviction that “this” is the king seems to make no great difference in the tanner’s bearing. ”

“ Basset met him at Dover (ib. ii. 218) with news that the opposition were gaining strength, and eventually, on 15 July 1263, Hugh Despencer was restored to the justiciarship [see Despencer, Hugh] and Basset consoled with Devizes Castle (Pat. 47 H. III, m. 9) and the counties of Somerset and Dorset (Pip. 47 H. III) . Eager to restore the supremacy of the royalists, he assisted the king and the prince in their attempted coup de main on Dover, 3 Dec. 1263 (Rog. Hov. ii. 229) , and headed the forlorn hope of forty knights at the storm and capture of Northampton on 5 April 1264 (ib. ii. 234) . ”

“ He faded as the Southern Cross rose higher in the sky, till even Balatta knew that he would be dead ere the nuptial date determined by his taboo. Ngurn made pilgrimage personally and gathered the smoke materials for the curing of Bassett's head, and to him made proud announcement and exhibition of the artistic perfectness of his intention when Bassett should be dead. As for himself, Bassett was not shocked. Too long and too deeply had life ebbed down in him to bite him with fear of its impending extinction. ”

“ I might try a pot shot at Basset.”
“Hush up, runt.” Then, in a louder tone. “I said my say, Basset. She goes as she lays. We ain’t burnin’ no powder here ner elsewhere fer Luther Fox. Yo’re the doctor, sabe? If we’re messin’ into ary range war er such, we’ll go back the way we come, with our guns in the scabards, and leave the job tuh them that wants it. ”

“ Many pictures, unrelated, came and went in Bassett's mind as he reviewed that period of his terrible wanderings. He remembered invading another village of a dozen houses and driving all before him with his shot-gun save, for one old man, too feeble to flee, who spat at him and whined and snarled as he dug open a ground-oven and from amid the hot stones dragged forth a roasted pig that steamed its essence deliciously through its green-leaf wrappings. ”

“ Yet therein was usually to be found his favourite crony and gossip, Ngurn, always willing for a yarn or a discussion, the while he sat in the ashes of death and in a slow smoke shrewdly revolved curing human heads suspended from the rafters. For, through the months' interval of consciousness of his long sickness, Bassett had mastered the psychological simplicities and lingual difficulties of the language of the tribe of Ngurn and Balatta and Vngngn--the latter the addle-headed young chief who was ruled by Ngurn, and who, whispered intrigue had it, was the son of Ngurn. ”