Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1833-07-25
THE VACANT CHAIR.
BY JAMES N. WILSON, ESQ.

mountains. If you have not, they are
q rough, rugged, majestic chain of hills,
which poet might term the Roman
wall of Nature; crowned with snow,
- , 80. ss..c,ss, surrounded by pas.
#tures and fruitful fields, and still divid-
aing the northern portion of Great Bril-
Tain from the southern. With their
{ proud SUBMITS piercing the Clouds, and
their dark rocky declivities frowning
upon the plains below, they appeared
q symbolical Of the wild and untameable
4 spirits of the Borderers who once in.
4 habited their sides. We say, you have
all heard of the Cheviots, and know
them to be very high hills, like huge
4 clasp riveting England and Scotland
& together; but we are not aware that
Il you have heard Of Marchlaw, an old,
n grey looking farm house, substantial
as modern fortress, recently, and, for
Aught we know to the contrary, still
n inhabited by Peter Elliot, the proprie-
d tor of some five hundred surrounding
4 acres. The boundaries Of Peters
\ farm, indeed, were defined neither by
& fields, hedges, nor stone walls A
\ wooden stake here, and a stone there,
at considerable distances from each
other, were the general landmarks; but
neither Peter nor his neighbors consid-
cred a few acres worth quarrelling
about; and their sheep frequently visit.
ed each others pastures in a friendly
way, tremendously sharing a family
|RRdina..ee:- in the same spirit as their mas
s ters made themselves free at each 9th.
Il er's tables.
81 Peter was placed in very unpleasant
circumstances, owing to the situation
@of Marchlaw house, which, unfortu-
#nately was built Immediately across
the Ideal line" dividing the two king
doms; and his misfortune was, that be-
Ing born within it, he knew not whether
he was an Englishman or a Scotch
y man. He could trace his ancestral line
Ino farther back than his great GRANDPA
Their, who, it appeared from the Bible,
had, together with his grandfather and
father, claimed Marchlaw as his birth
q place. They, however, were not in
1 volved in the same perplexity as their
descendant. The parlor was distinctly
n acknowledged to be in Scotland, and
Etwo-thirds Of the kitchen were as GER.
Htainly allowed to be in England; his
Ethree ancestors were born in the room
Eoyer the parlor, and therefore were
lScotchmen beyond question; but Peter,
Iunluckily, being brought into the world
Before the death of his grandfather, his
parents occupied room Immediately
lover the sebatable boundary line which
Icrossed the kitchen. The room, tho
scarcely eight feet square, was evil
identity situated between the two coun-
tnes; but no one being able to ascer-
tain what portion belonged to each, Pc
Itcr, after many arguments and alterca-
Itions upon the subject, was driven to
|Lthe disagreeable alternative ofcontess-
Vlng he knew not what countryman he
was. What rendered the confession
the more painful was, it was Peters
highest ambition to be tho't a Scotch
man; all his arabic land lay on the
Scotch side; his mother was collateral
ly related to the Stuarts; and few fami-
lies were more ancient or respectable
than the Elliots. Peters speech, in
deed, betrayed him to be walking par
ttion between the two kingdoms, liv.
ing representation of the Union; for in
one word he pronounced the letter ?
with the broad, masculine sound OF the
I North Briton, and in the next with the
liquid burr of the Northumbrians.
1 Peter, or if you prefer it, Peter Eli
OF, Esquire, of Marchlaw, in the coun
/ hes of Northumberland and Roxburgh
/ was for many years the best runner
leaper and wrestler, between Woolel
| and Jelburgh. Whirled from his hand
the ponderous bullet whizzed through
| the air like a pigeon on the wing; an'
the best putter on the Borders quaile'
/ from competition. AS feather in hi
n grasp, he seized the unwieldy hammer
Eswept it round and round his head, &C
companying with agile limb its evolu
kflons, swiftly as swallows play aroun
IN circle, and hurled it from his hand
nlike shot from rifle, till antagonist
/ Ishrank back, and the spectators burs
snto a shout. "Well done, squirrel tn
Esquire foreverl" once exclaimed ser
Eile observer of titles. "'Squirel VIII
ire We squirting att" returned Peter
,Confound vel where was we when
Vas christened squire! My name
feter Elliot--your man, or any body
II; = whatever they liket"