[Footnote: The family of De Haga, modernized into Haig, of Bemerside,
is of the highest antiquity, and is the subject of one of the
prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer:--
Betide, betide, whate'er betide.
Haig shall be Haig of Bemerside. ]
Not a Thane within reach but he knew his family and connexions, how
many of his ancestors had fallen by the sword of the English, how many
in domestic brawl, and how many by the hand of the executioner for
march-treason. Their castles he was acquainted with from turret to
foundation-stone; and as for the miscellaneous antiquities scattered
about the country, he knew every one of them, from a _cromlech_
to a _cairn_, and could give as good an account of each as if he
had lived in the time of the Danes or Druids.
I was now in the mortifying predicament of one who suddenly finds
himself a scholar when he came to teach, and nothing was left for me
but to pick up as much of his conversation as I could, for the benefit
of the next company. I told, indeed, Allan Ramsay's story of the Monk
and Miller's Wife, in order to retreat with some honour under cover of
a parting volley. Here, however, my flank was again turned by the
eternal stranger.
"You are pleased to be facetious, sir," said he; "but you cannot be
ignorant that the ludicrous incident you mentioned is the subject of a
tale much older than that of Allan Ramsay."
I nodded, unwilling to acknowledge my ignorance, though, in fact, I
knew no more what he meant than did one of my friend David's
post-horses.
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