Page:Tales of my landlord (Volume 4).djvu/283

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OLD MORTALITY.
275

"Lord Evandale?" said Morton in surprise; "Was it Lord Evandale whose life you saved?"

"In troth, even his. And kind he was to me after, and gae me a cow and calf, malt, meal, and siller, and nane durst steer me when he was in power. But we live on an outside bit of Tillietudlem land, and the estate was sair plea'd between Leddy. Margaret Bellenden and the present laird, Basil Olifant, and Lord Evandale backed the auld leddy for love o her daughter. Miss Edith, as the country said, ane o' the best and bonniest lassies in Scotland. But they behuved to gi'e way, and Basil gat the Castle and land, and on the back of that came the Revolutn, and wha to turn coat faster than the laird? for he said he had been a true whig a' the time, and turned papist only for fashion's sake. And then he got favour, and Lord Evandale's head was under water; for he was ower proud and manfu' to bend to every blast o'wind, though mony a ane may ken as