Dog and Bear: Who Wins? (Who Cares?)

 

Near the end of Waverly, after Edward and Rose are married, they agree to “spend a few days at an estate which Colonel Talbot had been tempted to purchase in Scotland as a very great bargain” (367). It seems after the old Scottish estates were ransacked by the English, they could acquire them at a great discount.  Clever Brits.  It reminds me of the white flight – slum lord – urban decay - gentrification schemes we have seen (and are seeing) in the States. Anyway, after Colonel Talbot partially restores Tully-Veolan, and the Baron of Bradwardine is being shown his former ancestral home, there is an interesting exchange between Colonel Talbot and the Baron of Bradwardine.  As the Baron surveys the grounds, and sees the two great bears that previously adorned the gates returned to their rightful place, he exclaims, “While I acknowledge my obligation to you for the restoration of these images of bears as being the ancient badge of our family, I cannot but marvel that you have no where established your own crest, Colone Talbot, whilk is, I believe, a mastiff, anciently called a talbot” (369).  After a bit of poetry, Talbot assents that his crest would include a dog, and follows with “if crests were to dispute precedence, I should be apt to let them, as the proverb says, ‘fight dog, fight bear’”(369).  I found that a bit odd, or hard to make sense of, and even stranger that our editors didn’t include a footnote to help explain. While bears are not found in Scotland (at least not in modern times) there are some family crests that include the rampart bear or the bear’s head.  The dog image for Talbot makes me think of an English bulldog.  The bear could be symbolic for Scotland in a similar manner, but it isn’t as obvious to me.  That leaves us with the quote” fight dog, fight bear.” It seems there is an old Scottish proverb “Fight dog, fight bear; wha wins, deil care.”  I think that means who cares which wins.  Deil, I’m guessing, means the devil.  The devil may care, or nobody cares.  In a few pages we find out that Talbot has been restoring the estate for Waverly, who has purchased it to restore to the Baron, and who [Waverly] will inherit it as he has married the Baron’s daughter, Rose.  Who cares?  It’s all good.  No harm done. All the loose ends are tied up, and the Baron even has his old drinking vessel in the shape of a bear restored to him.  A toast is made to “The prosperity of the united houses of Waverly-Honour and Bradwardine” (374), and likewise the jacobite lays downs with the English.  The fight is over, and it seems who won doesn’t matter. The Devil may care.