The Heart of the Mid-Lothian

by Walter Scott

C

ontraband trade, though it strikes at the root of legitimate government, by encroaching on its revenues,—though it injures the fair trader, and debauches the minds of those engaged in it, is not usually looked upon, either by the vulgar or by their betters, in a very heinous point of view. On the contrary, in those counties where it prevails, the cleverest, boldest, and most intelli­gent of the peasantry, are uniformly engaged in illicit transactions, and very often with the sanc­tion of the farmers and inferior gentry. Smuggling was almost universal in Scotland in the reigns of George I and George II; for the people, unaccustomed to imposts, and regarding them as an unjust aggression upon their ancient liberties, made no scruple to elude them whenever it was possible to do so.

      The county of Fife, bounded by the two firths of the south and north, and by the sea on the east, and having a number of small seaports, was long famed for maintaining successfully a con­traband trade; and, as there were many seafaring men residing there, who had been pirates and buccaneers in their youth, there were not wanting a sufficient number of daring men to carry it on. Among these, a fellow, called Andrew Wilson, originally a baker in the village of Pathhead, was particularly obnoxious to the revenue officers. He was possessed of great strength, courage, and cunning,—was perfectly acquainted with the coast, and capable of conducting the most desper­ate enterprises. On several occasions he succeeded in baffling the pursuit and researches of the king's officers; but he became so much the object of their suspicious and watchful attention, that at length he was totally ruined by repeated seizures. The man became desperate. He considered himself as robbed and plundered; and took it into his head that he had a right to make reprisals, as he could find opportunity. Where the heart is prepared for evil, opportunity is seldom long waiting. This Wilson learned, that the Collector of the Customs at Kirkaldy had come to Pitten­weem, in the course of his official round of duty, with a considerable sum of public money in his custody. As the amount was greatly within the value of the goods which had been seized from him, Wilson felt no scruple of conscience in resolving to reimburse himself for his losses, at the expense of the Collector and the revenue.

Notes and exercises:

1.   Mark the spelling of long [o:] in the following words:

debauch    cause         pause       daunt          sauce         audacity

vault          vaunt         haunt       author         caught        audacious

haunch      August       autumn     staunch       taught        inaugurate

applaud     fraud          gaunt       slaughter    fault           inauguration

haughty     naughty     haul         daughter     launch        inaugural

audible      laudable     Paul         marauder     applause    inauspicious

2.   Read the following words and pay attention to the spelling of the sound [e]:

peasant       bread         breath       thread      feather        breakfast

peasantry    jealousy     health       sweat       measure      threat

weather       lead           ahead        jealous     head           stealth

meant          pleasure     death        wealth      treachery    dead

threaten       breast        treasure     leather     stealthy      pleasant

3.   Read paying attention to the pronunciation of “ui”:

suit         fruit            build       suitable     suite        bruise

biscuit     nuisance    cruise     circuit       pursuit     ruin

juice        conduit       sluice     recruit       fruitless   built

4.   Give derivatives:

Verb                Noun         Adjective     Adverb

investigate       ...              ...                ...

volunteer         ...              ...                ...

frustrate           ...              ...                ...

addict              ...              ...                ...

abuse              ...              ...                ...

refer                ...              ...                ...

discriminate     ...              ...                ...

5.   Word study:

revenue      income, especially the total annual income of the state; a revenue officer—a customs and excise officer

debauch     to cause to lose virtue, to act immorally; (n.) an occasion of excessive drinking, immoral behaviour, usually in company

heinous      odious, atrocious (of crime)

firth            a narrow arm of the sea; a river estuary (especially in Scotland)

6.   Translate the following expressions and use them in sentences of your own:

to snatch at, to catch at, a person who gasps at too much may lose all, to get at the truth, to pull at the window, to clutch at any excuse;

to peel off, Keep off the grass!, to set off, to keep off alcohol, to keep off fats, to tear off, to take off;

the war broke out, outbreak of a disease, to make out, to bring out the difference, to find out, to point out;

sooner or later, now or never, more or less, for better or for worse, dead or alive, by fair means or foul;

to look over, What has come over him?, to take over, to do the work over again, to overdo