Earl of Fife

“ He grew up to beauty, strength, and stature, rarely equalled. His sword is still preserved at Duff House, a residence of the Earl of Fife, and few men of our day could carry, far less wield it, as a weapon of war; and if it must be owned that his prowess was debased by the exploits of a free-booter, it is certain, no act of cruelty, no robbery of the widow, the fatherless, or distressed, and no murder, were ever perpetrated under his command. He often gave the spoils of the rich to relieve the poor ”

“ Immediately afterwards the Earl of Fife and Menteith set out with a large force for England to meet a challenge of the Earl of Nottingham, marshal of England and warden of the eastern marches, who had declared his readiness to engage in fair fight any Scottish force, though double in numbers to his own; but finding Nottingham entrenched in a position of great strength, from which he declined to move out, the earl returned immediately to Scotland (Wyntoun, bk. ix. chap. ix. lines 33 &c.; Fordun, ii. 414) . ”

“ Major's sound judgment seems to suit the facts better than the traditionary verdict: ‘Now, whatever our writers may contend, I cannot hold the aged king to have been a skilful warrior or wise in counsel.’ He especially condemns the making of the Earl of Fife regent, which was ‘nought else than to run the risk of setting up two rival kings.’ But it appears probable that the preference given to the brother over the son of Robert II was due not to the king's own act, but to the powerlessness both of Robert and the Earl of Carrick to prevent it. ”

“ Giles, but ’tis well to take care of one’s self.”
By a little management, the opinion of the council of war was easily brought perfectly to coincide with the views of the Earl of Fife. But so great was the name of James Earl of Douglas, that it was in itself a host. The two brothers, George Dunbar Earl of Dunbar and March, and John Dunbar Earl of Moray, too, were so much beloved, that a puissant band of knights voluntarily mustered under their banners. Among these were Sir Patrick Hepborne, his son, and Sir John Assueton. ”

“ Crossing the Forth in a ship of Sir Andrew Wood, and summoning the barons of Fife, Strathearn, and Angus to his standard, he proceeded to Aberdeen. He then returned to Perth, where he was joined by his uncle, the Earl of Atholl, Huntly, Crawford, and Lindsay of the Byres, who led a thousand horse and three thousand infantry raised in Fife. ”

“ In July 1889 events seemed to her to render an appeal to parliament in behalf of the third generation of her family appropriate. The elder son of the prince of Wales was coming of age, while his eldest daughter was about to marry with the queen's assent the Earl (afterwards Duke) of Fife. She therefore sent two messages to the House of Commons requesting due provision for the two elder children of her eldest son. The manner in which her request was approached was not all she could have wished. New life was given to the old cry against the expenses of monarchy. ”

“ It is a continuing splendour, this name—the Kingdom of Fife. Than the thing nothing could be less royal, more democratic. For Fifeshire is given over to farm lands and coal fields and treeless stretches, and the fringe of Fife is made up of fishing villages "a hodden gray plaid wi' a gowden fringe," said a King Jamie. It lies there, separate from Scotland, although very Scottish, between the firths of the Forth and the Tay, with the Ochil hills a barrier on the landside. ”

“ The “Fifers” are thus supposed to be a race apart; but it would be more like the truth to take Fifeishness as the essence of Saxon Scotland. Fife is, in fact, an epitome of the Lowlands, showing great stretches of practically prosaic farming, others of grimy coal-field, with patches of moor, bog, and wind-blown firs, here and there swelling into hill features, that in the abrupt Lomonds attain almost mountain dignity in face of their Highland namesake, sixty miles away. Open to cold sea winds, it nurses the hardy frames of “buirdly chiels and clever hizzies” ”

“ I am informed of a movement for putting the kingdom of Fife in its right place before a world too apt to jest at its pretensions. These are many and serious. Of old, Fibh had kings of its own, of such immemorial antiquity that their very names, much more their portraits, are not forthcoming. Enclosed between two firths, this region makes almost an island, with the Ochils as border-line cutting it off from the rest of Scotland. ”

“ He was elected M.P. for Banffshire in 1818, and made a lord in waiting in the following year, and he was created a peer of the United Kingdom as Lord Fife on 27 April 1827, in which year he was also made a knight of the Thistle. He soon afterwards retired altogether to Scotland, where he lived at Duff House, Banffshire, much beloved by his tenantry and greatly interested in farming and cattle raising, and there he died, aged 80, on 9 March 1857. ”

“ The fact that the race from whom the Mormaers of Moray derived their origin is termed in one of the Irish Genealogical MSS. Clan Duff, and the earls of Fife undoubtedly possessed from an early period large possessions in the north, including the district of Strathavon, [432] lends some probability to this supposition. The privileges of the clan, however, stand on a different footing. From the earliest period the territory of Fife comes prominently forward as the leading province of Scotland, and its earls occupied the first place among the seven earls of Scotland. ”

“ Fife's distinction as a local politician was even greater than his mark as a surgeon. He was an advanced liberal, and in his early days was stigmatised as a chartist. In 1831 he was active in forming the northern political union, which agitated in favour of the Reform Bill. Fife's stirring speeches had a great effect at this time. In 1835 he was elected one of the first members of the new corporation of Newcastle, and was immediately chosen alderman. ”

“ Suddenly the wheels revolved, and Fifi felt herself seized unceremoniously by Cartouche, to keep her from falling to the ground.
“Do you know whom you were staring at so rudely?” he asked, as he stood Fifi on her feet, and the coach moved down the street, followed by the traveling chaises. “It was the Pope—Pius the Seventh, who has come to Paris to crown the Emperor; and proud enough the Pope ought to be at the Emperor’s asking him. But that’s no reason you should stare the old man out of countenance, and peer into his carriage as if you were an impudent grisette.” ”

“ To be called “Fifish” is not a compliment, but there is much pawky humour in the typical Fife [325] character. Here is a specimen:—Recently a tattered son of Orpheus attached to the end of a tin whistle penetrated the land as far as Kingsbarns, in the East Neuk. Entering at one end, he whistled himself right out at the other, without receiving a copper. As he passed the last door he turned towards an old native who sat sunning himself on a low dyke. “Man,” said he, “I havena got a farden in the hale toon.”
“Na, I’m no thinking ye wad,” replied the ancient Fifer ”

“ In all else but that we were wholly one and inseparable, in trust, in truth, in perfect confidence.
We had it all out, of course, on the subject of those erst-peevish perversities and misunderstandings. There is no joy like a converted jealousy; quarrels become relishes when they can be discussed impartially. I told Fifine of my savage decision, on the hill that fateful night, to achieve the world-conquering work which was to refute and overwhelm her with a sense of what she had thrown away. ”

“ Fifi scolded and complained bitterly of this, but Angéline took [Pg 162] a firm stand against monkeys and Italians—much to Fifi’s relief.
The subject of Fifi’s marriage to Louis was not touched upon by either Madame Bourcet or Louis in that week, although Louis continued to spend his evenings with his aunt and Fifi, and did not intermit the nightly game of cribbage. If it was imprudent to marry Fifi, it was likewise imprudent not to marry her—so reasoned the unhappy Louis, who, like Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, was of two minds at the same time, and fairly distracted between them. ”

“ To claim recognition solely through the achievements of one’s ancestry is really a very pretty form of modesty, if looked at rightly. Besides, we owe something to those to whom we owe our own distinguished position, do we not? I admire you for doing that credit to your ancient lineage, I can assure you I do; and should think less of you if you were capable of accepting favours easily, like a commoner soul. Really, Cousin Fifine, you know, your rank is a very attractive part of you to me. ”

“ She looked at me very oddly.
“You are a gentleman, Felix Dane,” she said.
“I may be the incomparable Bayard himself, Marion; but jealousy has denied me his reputation.”
“‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be,’ Felix” (it was her only concession to the old Marion) . “For the rest, she must not be known, of course, for whom she is. Call her simply Fifine.”
“And Madame Crussol and the others?”
“What does it matter? When she leaves you, it will be to resume herself—to disappear from all imaginary associations.” ”

“ There is plainly pointed out, that in his time, a great battle should be seen in Fife.
Where saddled horses should be seen
Tyed unto the trees green.
Not only in Fife, but the four chief rivers of the realm, there should be a battle on each of them, that should make the rivers run with blood, viz. Tweed, Clyde, Forth, and Tay.
Last of all, a bloody desperate battle in Northumberland, on the river Lyne. Also great havock and slaughter about the broad walls of Berwick. All these things are yet to come to pass; and when the first appears, the rest will soon follow after. ”

“ For myself I am a little tired of the eternal cult. He is as great a nuisance in his place as the Dairyman’s daughter is in hers, or as Kingsley at Westward Ho, where the very engines carry his name about. Mistral did not create Provence, any more than Stevenson created childhood, as some of his fatuous adorers would have us believe. But, come.”
“All that is Greek to me,” said Fifine, as we sought the front of the statue. “But if it means England——”
“It does.”
“Do you ever wish for your own country again, Felix? You have been a great traveller, have you not?” ”

“ She yielded the point reluctantly, and with evident disappointment.
“Very well,” she said. “Call me Cousin, if you must.”
“The truth remains to our hearts,” I said. “Subconsciously, you shall still be Countess, and I your faithful commoner. It is really a compromise, if you would know. My step-sister’s directions to me were to call you Fifine.” ”

“ Could orthodoxy have shewn a better case for love? But let the matter rest there. If stones are to be cast, here am I, blithe to be made their target. I am jealous for her good fame; not a copper farthing for my own.
But, while I insist on that specific truth, I make generally no pretence of drawing the portrait of any Fifine but the one commonly known to me. ”

“ A poplar or two hung above the river for foreground; there was hardly a ripple there to shake the pictured rushes; it was as lovely an impression of antique peace as I have ever encountered. Fifine, after we had passed it all, made a little gesture to me, and I came and sat by her side, when she stole her hand into mine. I thought I knew what was in her heart—something emotional, a little piteous, the sense of a loveliness spent and of doubts to come. I pressed the soft palm in reassurance.
And so at last—Paris. The benediction of the season remained with us to the end. ”

“ It was obvious that the morning light had done nothing to reform that question of identification.
“They think you a connexion of mine, whom I am escorting to Paris at Marion’s request,” I went on. “You have nothing to do but uphold that fiction, and steer clear of all compromising details. Just hold your tongue about yourself, that is all. They go to-morrow.”
“Why should I do anything?” said Fifine. “They are not my friends.” ”

“ Something simple but chic—dark blue or stone-colour, would be the best, I think; but I can trust you with the choice.”
The choice put me to some pleasant pains, nevertheless; but I need not have disturbed myself. There are angles and angels; there are also women who adorn everything they put on, and those whom nothing adorns. With the memory of Marion fresh upon me, I could only bask in serene contemplation of Fifine’s management of material no better and no more effective than that so injuriously misused by my step-sister. ”

“ I enjoyed myself, I confess it; there was something exhilarating in this contact with the fresh clean North in a fervid land, and Clarice, as a fair young Englishwoman, did her country and me, I felt, the most gratifying credit. We went back to lunch at the Hôtel, to recruit against fresh exertions, and started off again without having seen anything of Fifine. That did not disturb me, but rather otherwise; I had had quite enough of her for the time being, and her presence in the room would have been nothing but an embarrassment. ”

“ Fifi smiled and blushed more than ever, and remained silent until the Empress said, in her flute-like voice:
“Perhaps, Mademoiselle, you could not love him.”
“Your Majesty, I hated him,” answered Fifi, with the greatest earnestness. “He was the most correct [Pg 232] person and the greatest bore in the universe. Unlike Cartouche, he thought himself much too good for me, but was willing to take me on account of my hundred thousand francs. At first I tried to frighten him off.”
“How, Mademoiselle?” asked the Emperor, now laughing outright. ”

“ I said, “where, in this question between us, the Marquis de Beaurepaire came in. Shall I answer, then, for you, Fifine? He does not come in anywhere, does he? If any one’s formal consent to our marriage is needed, it is not his, I am sure.”
She raised her head quickly.
“Marriage, Felix!” she whispered, in an amazed voice. ”