Border Ghost Stories
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'ill-steekit' Ephraim
'About the middle of the night The cocks began to craw: And at the dead hour o' the night The corpse began to thraw.' Ballad of Young Benjie. We--that is, the four members of our Oxford reading party--were bathing in a d... 'meenister' Machiavelli
The soul of the Minister of Bleakhope was disquieted within him, for he had just been 'up the water' and seen the new stained-glass windows which had recently been put in and dedicated to Saint Cuthbert in the English church 'beside the Knowe.' ... 'muckle-mouthed Meg'
'Hang him, Provost!'[1] cried the Town Clerk; 'he was caught red-handed; i' the verra manner, makin' awa aff wi' a quey o' your ain frae oor Common.' 'Fear God, Provost,' exhorted the Burgh Chamberlain, astonished at the Provost's hesitancy, 'b... Apud Corstopitum
(per lineam murus.) L. Sentius Castus--at one time an officer in the 'Domestici,' or Emperor's Guards--had volunteered for active service, and was now a 'Vexillarius,' or Standard Bearer to the first squadron of horse attached to the Sixth Legi... By Peden's Cleuch
The Border hounds had gone right away up Redewater after an old dog fox they had picked up on the rocks beside the Doure; twice had he circled the Doure, then setting his mask westwards had crossed the Rede, and, turning right-handed, made straigh... By The Shrine Of Saint Cuthbert
The bells were ringing to evensong in the great cathedral dedicated to Saint Cuthbert, that stands like a fortress on its rock above the murmuring Wear-- 'Half house of God, half castle 'gainst the Scot'-- in the windy dusk of a November ... Castle Ichabod
'When you saw the dog, my dear,' said my uncle, the Rector, to his wife, 'almost exactly, if I remember right, a year ago this month of November, what sort of size and colour was it, again? I remember it growled terribly on the top of the wall by ... Elder 'machiavelli-er'
I On the evening after the stained-glass 'windie' had been set up in the new kirk and dedicated to the memory of Saint Cuthbert, the Reverend Alexander Macgregor and his elder, Ringan Telfer, the ancient 'herd,' sat together in the manse's litt... In My Lady's Bedchamber
'Well,' said Harry laughingly, as he showed me the family portraits, and more especially the ladies, on the wall of the panelled dining-room, 'which of them would you choose if you were, like Henry VIII., on the look-out for a fresh wife?' 'Thi... In The Blackfriars Wynd
''Twill be a black day for auld Scotland when she ceases to believe in the muckle Deil,' commented 'the Meenister' of the Tron Kirk, when I had explained to him my troubles and sought his 'ghostly counsel and advice,' as the English service has it... In The Cliff Land Of The Dane
A LETTER TO THE REVEREND LAURENCE STERNE AT COXWOLD FROM JOHN HALL STEVENSON AT SKELTON CASTLE, AS SET DOWN BY HIS NEPHEW FREDDY HALL. The truth is, reverend sir, that being eventually designed for the Bar, I had taken up this quest with an addi... Kitty's Bower
When Eric Chesters of Chesters Castle married Miss Brocklebridge--the bold and handsome heiress of Sir William, ironmaster, baronet, and expectant baron, all the world and his wife clapped hands and cried 'an ideal arrangement,' and foretold long ... Repentance Tower
SCENE I. TEMPTATION Late one spring evening not long after the disaster of Solway Moss, Sir Robert Maxwell was walking to and fro within the Tower of Lochmaben--a heavy frown upon his brow--cogitating his reply to a letter from my Lord Arran--n... The Cock-crow
A cloud hung over the bishopric--the ancient patrimony of Saint Cuthbert. Bishop van Mildert had died and, sede vacante, great changes were impending, for Parliament was about to shear off a large portion of the privileges of the ancient franch... The Cry Of The Peacock
'Damn the dice!' cried the elder of the two players, in a spasm of rage; 'damn my ill-luck--damn everything!' and as he shouted his imprecations he regarded his opponent askance, as if including him in his malediction. ''Twas a thousand to one ... The Doppel-ganger
So this was the old home--the cradle of his race! Percy Osbaldistone of Osbaldistone Tower gazed curiously about him in what had formerly been the library, and espied a capacious Queen Anne chair by the fireside which looked inviting. Having ... The Haunted Ale-house
'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' so Donald Macgregor muttered to himself as he strode cautiously down the water of Coquet, halting at the many crooks of that wayward water to spy out the land as he went forward. He had already good... The Lord Warden's Tomb
My companion had surprised me by a sudden change of demeanour, for which I could not account, and I was watching him out of the tail of my eye from behind a pillar in the nave of the church which we were exploring. We had just been viewing the rec... The Muniment Room
My uncle had succeeded late in life to the family estate in the north of England, which was situated on the wild moorland of north-west Yorkshire. With him the entail would end, and though it was known that the estate had been much impoverished... The Prior Of Tynemouth
Prior Olaf stood on the central merlon of the gate tower that protected the little cell of Tynemouth from assault on the landward side, and gazed intently over the sea below him to the eastward haze wherein he feared to descry the red-brown sails ... The Tale Of The Three Antiquaries
Thomas Turnbull stood beside his spade and gazed rapturously at a small portable Roman altar which he had just unearthed. Owing to a fortunate legacy he had recently been enabled to retire from his business as a ship's broker, and had bought a far... The Warlock Of Glororum
'But are you sure your father wouldn't object?' I asked of my companion--a most bright and amusing Eton boy--to whom I was playing bear leader. 'Not a bit,' replied he; 'my father is a naturalist and Darwinian; not a sceptic, but Agnosticus suavis...