MAXWELD SEA KINGS ORKNEY 828 M4644 □ A 51674 3 ૧. ARTES 18170 SCIENTIA VERITAS LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TUEBOR SI QUÆRIS PENINSULAM-AMINAM CIRCUMSPICE ! 82,8 M46442 : THE SEAKINGS OF ORKNEY. HALE 7.BOLTONS. The Sea Kings of Orkney.-Frontispiece. THE SEA SEA KINGS OF ORKNEY. AND OTHER HISTORICAL. TALES. BY ..... CHARLES ALFRED MAXWELL, AUTHOR OF ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH CHIVALRY, AND SCOTLAND," ETC. 19 66 THE WARS OF ENGLAND EDINBURGH; WILLIAM P. NIM MO, MDCCCLXX. A M. A. J سا تمام رو ཕ。, PREFATOR Rot THE following Historical Tales have been carefully selected and compiled from the most authentic Histories, Chronicles, Diaries, and Original Manu- scripts preserved in the public Libraries of the Kingdom and in private Collections. They have been constructed with a view to combine variety with agreeable and interesting information, but due care has been taken to preserve the historical facts in all their integrity, as in most instances the authorities are laid before the reader in each Narrative. 296272 CONTENTS. PAGE The Sea-Kings of Orkney, The Ancient Alliance between Scotland and France, The Culdees, The Jacobite Officers in France, 1 11 23 42 The Lords of the Isles, The Massacre of Glencoe, The Execution of Lady Warriston, 60 77 97 The Scotish Invasion of Ireland under Edward Bruce, The Tyranny and Death of Patrick, Earl of Orkney, The Invasion of England by the Jacobite Army of 1715, The Insurrection of the Covenanters in 1666, The Life and Character of James VI., 105 115 126 151 206 The Fortunes of King Robert Bruce's Castle, Specimens of Ancient Pageantry, 221 232 The Battle of Otterburn, The Ancient Caledonians, The Raid of the Red Swire, The Restoration of James I., The Scotish Colony of Darien, 247 260 281 285 302 The Battle of Halidon Hill, 324 The Highland Host, 337 The Battle of Philiphaugh, 342 The Soldierships and Superstitions of Ancient Scotland, 350 The Exploits of the Good Sir James Douglas, 362 The Character and Death of the Sixth Earl of Douglas, 371 The Battle of Culloden, 378 The Skirmish of Airsmoss, 394 The Battle of Glenlivet, 405 The Siege of Tantallan Castle, 410 The Battle of Fontenoy, 416 The Earls of Dunbar and March, and the Town and Castle of Dunbar, 422 : :. ZA MAL A : THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY, AND OTHER HISTORICAL TALES. THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. THE Orkney Islands, over part of their extent, possess one of the wildest sea-boards in the world; but they everywhere fall off in gentle slopes in the interior; and, with some excep- tions, they stretch away toward the east and north-east in valleys or undulating plains which are rarely 100 feet above sea-level. The strictly rugged or boldest district occurs in Hoy and Walls; and occasionally exhibits some of the finest rock-scenery in Scotland,-blendings of shattered cliffs and stupendous precipices, with basins of water now smooth and translucent as glass, and now whirling and maddened like the wreaths and eddies of a whirlwind of snow. With the exception of a little chasm at Rackwick, the whole coast of about 15 miles is a precipitous mass of sandstone rocks, from 300 to upwards of 500 feet high, in some places perpendicu- lar and smooth, in others, rent and shivered and broken down into huge fragments, and, in a few, overhanging the sea and frowning on its dark and stormy surges. The heights inland from this coast-line, and those of the hilly but less rugged district of Rousay, the western sections of Pomona and Eday, and parts of Westray and South Ronaldshay, are soft in out- line, and either rounded or gently curvatured; and, in com A 2 THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY : mon with the cliffs, they are bleak and sterile, seldom wear ing any other vegetation than heath, and extensively aban- doned to the moorfowl and birds of other species. The surface of the low grounds is now heathy, now covered with coarse pasture, and now vividly green or mellow with good or even rich crops of grain; and it has not a few spots, and some entire valleys, which have been pronounced by strangers equal, in the opulence of their gramineous clothing, to some of the best lands in England. Yet from the utter absence of trees, or even of tall shrubs, except in a few gardens prin- cipally around Kirkwall, from the great prevalence of heath, from the general want of distinctive contour along the sur- face, and from the constant monotonous alternation of low bleak grounds and rock-dotted belts of sea, the aggregate landscape is far from possessing attractions to one who has dwelt among the scenic beauties of either the Lowland or the Highland continent. "If, however, the tourist has the good fortune to be in Orkney during a storm, he will cease to regret the absence of some of the softer and more common beauties of landscape, in the contemplation of the most sublime spectacle which he ever witnessed. By repairing at such a time to the weather-shore, particularly if it be the west side, he will behold waves, of the magnitude and force of which he could not have previously formed any adequate conception, tum- bling across the Atlantic like monsters of the deep, their heads erect, their manes streaming in the wind, roaring aud foaming as if with rage, till each discharges such a Niagara flood against the opposing precipices as makes the rocks tremble at their foundations, while the sheets of water that immediately ascend, as if from artillery, hundreds of feet above their summits, deluge the surrounding country, and fall like showers on the opposite side of the island. All the springs within a mile of the weather-coast are rendered brackish, for some days after such a storm. Those living half-a-mile from the precipice, declare that the earthen floors THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. 3 of their cots are shaken by the concussion of the waves. Rocks that two or three men could not lift, are washed about, even on the tops of cliffs which are between 60 and 100 feet above the surface of the sea when smooth, and detached masses of rock of an enormous size are well known to have been carried a considerable distance between low and high water-mark."* Or during the sleep of the tempests and the silent sailing of the moon, such a scene is presented as the poet thus beautifully describes :- Night walked in beauty o'er the peaceful sea, Whose gentle waters spake tranquillity. With dreamy lull the rolling billows broke In hollow murmurs on the distant rock; The sea-bird wailed along the airy steep; The creak of distant oar was on the deep. So still the scene, the boatswain's voice was heard,-- The listening ear could almost catch each word From isles remote the housedog's fitful bay Came floating o'er the waters far away. And bomeward wending o'er the silent hill, The lonely shepherd's song and whistle shrill; The lulling murmur of the mountain-flood, That sung its night-hymn to the solitude; The curlew's wild and desolate farewell, As slow she sailed adown the darksome dell: The heath-cock whirring o'er the heathy vale; The mateless plover's far-forsaken wail; The rush of tides that round the Islands ran, And danced like maniacs in the moonlight wan,— All formed a scene so wild, and yet so fair, As might have wooed the heart from dreams of care.” Toward the close of the third century, or early in the Anderson's Guide to the Highlands. 4 THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. fourth, the Orkneys appear to have become retreats of the ferocious seamen of northern Europe; and, in the time of Constantine, they loomed so bulkily in the distant view, as, at the division of the empire, to be specially mentioned along with Gaul and Britain as the patrimony of the emperor's youngest son. In 366, the great Theodosius pursued the fleet of the northern pirates into their usual haunts, and, in a panegyric by Claudian on his victory, is said to have stained the Orkneys with the effusion of Saxon blood:- Maduerunt Saxone fusio Orcades; incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thule, Scotorum cumulus flevit glacialis Ierne." In 570, Columba found one of the Orcadian chiefs at the court of the Pictish king Bridei II., and arranged with him a mission of his disciple Cormac to the Orkneys. Cormac was possibly less successful than most of his fellow-Culdees, who either did not remain long in his adopted field of labour or was not succeeded in it, as other Culdee missionaries were in theirs, by a college of preaching brethren; for he figures no further in the known history of the islands, and did not pre- vent them from being, for generations afterwards, an adopted home of Scandinavian heathenism. The islands, in an age rather of naval enterprise than of domestic industry, must have been but thinly inhabited and little cultivated. Yet their inhabitants, living chiefly by adventure, and signalized by reckless daring, seem frequently to have invaded the coasts of Pictavia; and, somewhere between 674 and 695, they were vigorously repulsed from one of their attacks by Bridei IV., and pursued by him into their usual retreats, amidst their shoals and isles. For two centuries afterwards they appear very dimly, and but as a phantasmagoria, in history. Yet, during that period, many congenial colonists were very pro- bably driven to share their bleak retreat and common exile THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. 5 10 from the frequent perturbations of their parent country; and, as well as the older settlers, they most likely yielded little subjection to any sovereign, and still less obedience to any government, and looked with stirring interest on the wild sea-kings wielding the dominion of the German main, and coming down with the swoop of an eagle, at intervals of their own choosing, upon whatever points they pleased of the Hebridean, the Pictavian, and the Scotish coasts. In 870, Harold Harfager, or the Fair-haired, one of the chiefs of Norway, who had been dissatisfied with the terri- tories he possessed, and had introduced discord and civil war among the little states around him, achieved by a naval vic- tory the union and consolidation of the Norwegian provinces in subjection to his sway. Many of the princes and people, disgusted with his usurpations, or compelled to flee from his anger, left their native land, made a lodgment on Iceland, the Faroes, and the Hebrides, but especially on Orkney and Shetland, and thence sailed out in piratical or retaliative ex- peditions to intercept the trade and ravage the coasts of his kingdom. In 876, Harold, having equipped a fleet of inva- sion, made a descent on both the Orkney and the Hebridean Islands, and subdued both, and established them under the authority of his vigorous government. On his return to Norway, he conferred the administration of Orkney on Ron- ald or Rognovald, Count of Merca, and the father of Rollo, the famous invader of Normandy, and the great-great-grand- father of William the Conqueror. In 920, Sigurd, the bro- ther of Ronald, received by peaceful cession from him the Orcadian dominion; and he afterwards added to it Caithness, Sutherland, Easter Ross, and Moray; and he eventually fell on the battle-field in the last of these districts, attempting to fight his way to further conquest. The two brothers are jointly and sometimes the one, sometimes the other, singly -reckoned the founders of the Orcadian dynasty. A long line of Scandinavian earls or jarls who succeeded them, 6 THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. affected the style of independent princes in Orkney; main- tained possession of Caithness and Sutherland, and made their power to be felt in various parts of both the eastern and the Hebridean coasts of northern Scotland; wore the attributes and wielded the influence of enterprising and dauntless reguli; and, amid the dissensions of Norway, and their own plundering and piratical excursions, probably yielded but slight obedience to the Norwegian Kings. Got- torm, the nephew of Ronald, and afterwards Halled his son, succeeded to the Orcadian earldom; but both were stupid and incompetent, and were allowed only a hasty quaff of the luxuries of power. Rollo and Einar, brothers of Halled, competing for the succession, the former "gained a loss" by defeat, marched off to try his fortune in France, and became Duke of Normandy, leaving to Einar the isleted little throne of Orkney, and opportunity to earn the curious fame of being the first to teach the Orcadians to use turf for fuel,-a fame which shows how primitive was their condition, and which has occasioned him to be known in history under the name of Torf-Einar. At or toward the close of the 10th century, Christianity, in the corrupted form in which it had been set up in the north-west of continental Europe, was forcibly in- troduced to Orkney, and made to supersede any slender re- mains, if indeed any remains there were, of its Culdee form, under the influence of Olaus, the first nominally Christian King of Norway. In 996, Sigurd, the 14th Earl, succeeded to the dominion; he enjoyed the Orkneys, Caithness, and Sutherland, with a tribute from the Hebrides, and also, for a time, established his power on the coasts of Ross and Moray; he was of the blood of the Vikingr, and did not disparage the race by his ad- ventures; and he, for years, made the eastern shores of Scot- land writhe under the torture of his frequent piracies and forays. but, in 1006, bound himself up from further harassing his neighbours by marrying, as his second wife, a daughter of THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. 7 Malcolm II., the Scotish King. Yet he could not indulge in repose, or refrain from panting after conflict and military renown; and, a war speedily arising among the petty princes of Ireland, he sailed away to the aid of Sigtrig, the sea-king of Dublin, and in April, 1014, fell in the bloody field of Clontarf, fighting against the celebrated Brian Boramh, the King of Munster. A wild ode, in celebration of his fate and that of Brian, who fell in the same field, was composed in Norse at the time, and was afterwards translated by Torfæus into Latin, and has made some noise in modern times in the English dress of Gray's "Fatal Sisters." The fabled singers. of it were the Volkers, in northern mythology, whom Odin employed to choose in battle those who should be slain, to conduct them to his hall, and to furnish them with every luxury; and in six of the least ghastly stanzas, they are re presented as saying,- 'Glitt'ring lances are the loom, Where the dusky warp we strain, Weaving many a soldier's doom, Orkney's woe, and Randver's bane. Shafts for shuttles, dipt in gore, Shoot the trembling cords along, Sword, that once a monarch bore, Keep the tissue close and strong. Mista black, terrific maid, Sangrida, and Hilda see, Join the wayward work to aid; 'Tis the woof of victory. Ere the ruddy sun be set, Pikes must shiver, javelins sing, : ! со THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. Blade with clattering buckler meet, Hauberk crash, and helmet ring. * * * Low the dauntless Earl is laid, Gor'd with many a gaping wound: Fate demands a nobler head; Soon a king shall bite the ground. Long his loss shall Erin weep, Ne'er again his likeness see; Long her strains in sorrow steep, Strains of immortality!" Einar, the eldest of four sons whom Sigurd left by his first wife, succeeded to his earldom. But Torfin, his son by his second wife, the grandson of Malcolm II. of Scotland, only five years old at his father's death, and left in the Scotish king's care, was immediately put by Malcolm into military and tutorial possession of Caithness, and such other territo- ries as had still, after his many conflicts, remained to Sigurd on the Scotish shore. Torfin resembled his father in stature of body, vigour of mind, and ambition of enterprise; he com menced, at the age of fourteen, his career as a Vikingr; he often, during his grandfather's reign, disquieted the coasts of Scotland by his ruthless and piratical exploits; he refused the usual tribute to the good Duncan, and necessitated him to march into Moray to enforce its payment; and he, at last, engaged in avowed warfare against Scotland, and held in scorn the favours it had bestowed. While in an attitude of revolt, he rushed into hardy conflicts with "brave Macbeth who well deserved that name;" and, though represented in a doubtful tone by Torfæus as the successful party in the strife, is poetically, and perhaps truly, sung by Shakspeare as ted and overawed by the "peerless Macbeth." Yet he THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. 9 was neither crushed in power, nor sobered in ambition; he engaged in hostilities with his half-brothers in Orkney, slew one in battle, compelled another to flee, and wrested from the eldest several islands; he forced the Hebrides to purchase his forbearance by payment of tribute; he emulated the Scot- ish kings in splendour, and possibly equalled them in power; and at length, wearied with savage grandeur, and feeling "the compunctious visitings of nature," he went to Rome in search of remission of his crimes, and returning with mitigated emo- tions from the seat of priestly delusion and pretended pardon, he died about the year 1074, at the age of 65. Torfin's successors, as vigorously as some of his prede- cessors, maintained the peculiar dominion, and exhibited the characteristic properties of the Vikingr. The whole race of Scandinavian earls, jarls, or sea-kings, were considered high in rank, skilful in peace, and almost redoubtable in war. They intermarried with the noble families of neighbouring countries, with the daughters of the petty kings of Ireland, and with the powerful royal families of Norway in Scotland. Commanding fleets to which antagonist powers had little or nothing to oppose, and roving from point to point of attack with a swiftness and a caprice which continually put vigilance to fault, they were known and feared along the sea-board of every territory within their reach; and sharing in the Nor- wegian expeditions against Scotland and England, or occa- sionally exhibiting, in expeditions of their own, the colours of the predatory hosts from the European continent, they were confounded with other assailants of the British shores under the general name of Danes, and figure in masques along the pages of English and Scotish historians as the con- stant and hereditary scourges of their countries. Their fol- lowers probably comprehended, not only the subjects of their proper dominions, but many independent adventurers, who only served with them for a time, or were periodically, or at intervals, attracted to their standard by the news of an 10 THE SEA-KINGS OF ORKNEY. tended expedition, or the prospect of war and plunder. They nursed their people for conflict by encouraging them to reap the fruits of the earth during the mellowness of autumn, and treating them to festivity during the gloom of winter; and then, in summer, they bounded away to the Western Islands or the Scotish shores, to England or to Ireland, to conduct predatory excursions against their fellow-men, much in the same manner as their descendants of the present day join in expeditions against the fish of the neighbouring seas, or the leviathans of Greenland. These were the men, Who for itself could woo the approaching fight, And turn what some deem danger to delight.' >> From the year 1098, when Magnus Barefoot, the powerful King of Norway, castigated the Orcadians, and made them smartingly feel his superiority, the Earls acknowledged their dependence on the Norwegian crown, and formally declared their allegiance; and, at a later date, when refinements began to be observed in the courts of the northern princes, they even received from the Kings of Norway regular investiture. At length, about the year 1325, the male line of the ancient Earls, the descendants of Ronald, failed in the person of Magnus V., leaving the earldom to pass into an entirely new The succession of current of both possessors and events. the Scandinavian Earls is carried down to its close, and the exploits of each stirring individual of the series are fully ex- hibited, in the Orcades of Torfæus, a work which he compiled from the ancient sagas and the Danish records, and are shown with sufficient amplitude in the abridgment of Torfæus' work in Dr Barry's History of Orkney. ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 11 THE ANCIENT ALLIANCE BETWEEN SCOTLAND AND FRANCE. THE alliance between Scotland and France is supposed by most Scotish historians to have been as ancient as the time of Charlemagne; and so venerable did it appear in France under Henry II., that, in the contract of marriage between his son, the Dauphin, and Mary Queen of Scots, it is ex- pressly said to have then subsisted eight hundred years. The ancient author of Chronicon Normaniæ seems to allude to it when speaking of Charles the Bald in the year 848; David Chamber, one of the lords of session, in his history dedi- cated to Henry III. of France, in 1579, exhibits a series of treaties between Philip I. and Malcolm III., between Louis VII. and Malcolm IV., between Louis VII. and William, between Philip II. and Alexander II., and between St. Louis and Alexander III., which he pretends to have taken from documents now not to be found; and Charles IV. of France, in an extant treaty with Robert Bruce, which was made in 1326, and which served as the base or model of a long series of subsequent treaties, speaks of "a friendship or alli- ance of long standing between our predecessors, Kings of France, and our kingdom, on one part, and the Kings of Scot- land, and the kingdom of Scotland, on the other.” The earliest well-authenticated treaty of alliance was one made at Paris in 1295 between Philip the Fair and John Baliol, and the next is that we have just alluded to, between Charles the Fair and Robert Bruce; and this latter states as follows the grand purpose for which the alliance was main- tained," That we, our heirs, our successors, Kings of France, our kingdom, and our whole community, are bound and obliged to the said King of Scotland, his heirs, his successors, Kings of Scotland, his kingdom, and his whole community, in goo faith, as loyal allies, whenever they shall have occasion 12 ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. aid or advice, in time of peace or war, against the King of England and his subjects,—that we shall aid and advise them, whereinsoever we honestly can as loyal allies; and if we, our heirs, our successors, Kings of France, our kingdom, or our community, shall make peace or truce with the King of Eng- land, his heirs, Kings of England, or his subjects, that the King of Scotland, his heirs, bis successors, Kings of Scotland, his kingdom, and his community, shall be excepted; so that such peace or truce shall be null, whensoever war is waged between the aforesaid Kings of Scotland and of England: and, if the King of Scotland, his heirs, his successors, Kings of Scotland, his kingdom, and his community, shall make peace or truce with the King of England and his subjects, that we, our heirs, our successors, Kings of France, our king- dom, and our whole community, shall be excepted; so that such peace or truce shall be null, whensoever war is waged between us and the said King of England: and the said King of Scotland, his heirs and successors, Kings of Scotland, shall be bound and obliged to us, our heirs, our successor Kings, and our kingdom, to make war upon the kingdom of Eng- land with all their force, whensoever war is waged between us and the King of England; the truces between the said Kings of England and Scotland, already made and pending, in what manner soever concluded, all and every part of them firmly preserved and faithfully performed." The alliance between Scotland and France was thus pro- voked mainly by the aggressiveness of England,—by the fact that, from soon after the Norman period till the Union of the English and the Scotish crowns, her chief foreign policy was directed toward the subjugation of Scotland and the re- covery of her lost dominions in France,-rendering it the obvious interest of the Scotish and French Kings to unite their strength against her, and constantly and systematically treat her as their common foe. The alliance, in substan- y the same terms as between Philip the Fair and Robert ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 13 Bruce, was renewed in 1371, between Charles V. and Robert II.,—in 1390, between Charles VI. and Robert III.,—in 1407, between Charles VI. and Robert Duke of Albany, Re- gent of Scotland during the captivity of James I.,—in 1428, between Charles VII. and James I.,-in 1448, between Charles VII. and James II.,-in 1491, between Charles VIII. and James IV.,-in 1512, between Louis XII. and James IV.,— n 1515, between Francis I. and James V.,-in 1543, between Francis I. and Mary,-and, at a subsequent date, between Henry II. and Mary. The political bond, too, was several times powerfully strengthened by the domestic; and contracts of marriage were made, in 1235, between Edward Baliol, son and heir of John of Scotland, and Joan, daughter of Charles de Valois, and niece of Philip the Fair of France,-in 1436, between Louis, Dauphin of France, afterwards Louis XI., and Margaret, daughter of James I. of Scotland,-in 1536, between James V. of Scotland, and Magdalen, daughter of Francis I., and in 1558, between Francis, Dauphin of France, afterwards Francis II., and Mary, Queen heiress of Scotland. The services done to France by the Scots, in consequence of the alliance, were great and many. In the 14th century, the Scots conferred mighty advantages on the French, both by sending the flower of their bravest men into France, to suc cour its inhabitants against the English, almost masters of the kingdom, and by attacking England with all their force, on the side of Scotland, as oft as the English passed the sea to attack France. In 1346, after the fatal battle of Cressy, in order to check the victorious English, to prevent their push- ing their conquests in France, and to make a diversion there, David II. King of Scotland, attacked England, and ravaged all the north of it, where, losing a bloody battle, he was de- feated and taken, and, after ten years' captivity, obliged to find a ransom. This did not hinder the kings his successors from continuing to attack England, in order to stop the irrup tions of the English into France. At the time when 14 ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. French monarchy was within a hairbreadth of its overthrow, and when the English, through the weakness of King Charles VI. and the help of the Burgundians, were masters of almost the whole kingdom, and when their Henry VI. was crowned at Paris King of France, in this extremity the Scots sent, time after time, of their first nobility, with the flower of the troops of Scotland, to support the just right of the Dauphin of France, sole lawful heir of the crown, but then proscribed and abandoned by the greater part of his French subjects, and by almost all the other allies of the crown. In 1420, in par- ticular, Robert Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, sent to the Dauphin's assistance John Earl of Buchan, his son, with Archibald Douglas Earl of Wigtoun, John Stewart of Darn- ly, and other nobility, at the head of a considerable body of troops; by whose aid the English were defeated at Beauge, in a bloody battle, where the Earl of Clarence, brother to the King of England, the Earl of Kent, and a great number of the English nobility, were killed, and many others made pri- soners. In 1422, the Earl of Douglas, at the head of a new reinforcement of 5,000 Scots, arrived in France to the aid of the Dauphin, acknowledged King, since the death of his father, by the name of Charles VII., and after most of his troops had been cut off in the battle of Devreuil. In 1424, there went again fresh troops from Scotland to the succour of Charles VII., under the command of Robert Petilloch, or Pattulloh, a great captain in those days. In 1428, the same King, pressed on all sides by the English and other enemies of the French monarchy, sent, to seek new aid of King James I. of Scotland, the Archbishop of Rheims, with John Stewart of Aubigny, and to ask in marriage the princess Margaret, King James's eldest daughter, for his son Louis, the Dauphin of France. All was granted him; the ancient alliances were renewed, and the Lord of Aubigny repassed into France with fresh troops. But the Princess being yet too young, as well the Dauphin, she went to France only in 1436, well at ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 15 ? tended by nobility and reinforcements. Louis XII., in let- ters-patent granting certain privileges to the Scots in France, extols the service which the Scots did in the expulsion of the English, in these terms:- "In the lifetime of our late most dear lord and cousin, King Charles VII., several princes of the said kingdom of Scotland, with a great number of peo- ple of the said nation, came over to help to cast and expel forth of this kingdom, the English, who held and occupied most part of the realm, and so valorously exposed their per- sons against the said English, that these were driven out, and the said realm restored to his obedience, &c." After the reduction of France to the obedience of its law- ful sovereign, the Scots continued to send succours into it, and to attack England, in order to make a diversion, as often as the Kings of France should require it. Some of the best families of Scotland, also, were destined solely to the service of France. Thus, the lords of Aubigny, Stewart, John, Ro- bert, Bernard, (called also Berald,) and others of that family, were in the service of France, under Charles VIII., Louis XII., and in the following reigns,—especially in the wars of Italy, where they distinguished themselves at the battle of Fornova, and in the kingdom of Naples. In 1507, by the relation of Claud Seysil, Archbishop of Turin, a contempo- rary author, James IV., on occasion of the wars of Louis XII. in Italy, sent to him, and offered to come in person to serve him with 10,000 or 20,000 fighting men. And the same James, in 1513, having learned that France was attacked by the Emperor and the King of England conjunctly, in order to make a diversion, attacked on his side England with all his force, and obliged the English king to send back part of his troops into England; whereupon followed the fatal battle of Flodden between the English and the Scots, in which King James lost his life, with the flower of the Scots, solely in the quarrel of France. Lastly, in 1548, the preference which the Scots made of the alliance of France to that 16 ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. England, for the marriage of the young Queen Mary, heiress of Scotland, involved that kingdom in a war of about twenty years with England. In consequence of the alliance between Scotland and France, and in compensation of the services done by the Scots to the French, the Kings of France, to a great extent and in various ways, behaved to the Scots as if they had been their own subjects,-first, by promoting or admitting many distinguished Scotchmen to high dignities, honours, and offi- ces in France, civil, military, and ecclesiastic,-secondly, by committing to a select body of Scotish soldiers the guard of their persons and palaces, and endowing that body with sin- gular prerogatives,-thirdly, by granting to Scotchmen, in general, letters of naturalization, and regarding them as real denizens of France, and fourthly, by granting particular exemptions of duties to all Scotish merchants in France. In 1422, John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, was made Con- stable of France, after the battle of Beauge, by King Charles VII.; and lost his life in his service at the battle of Verneuil. In 1423, Archibald Earl of Douglas was created Duke of Tourain by the same king, and sacrificed his life in the same battle. In 1424, the same king gratified John Stewart of Darnly, Constable of the Scots in France, with the lordship of Aubigny, which continued down to his descendants, Dukes of Lennox, until the very extinction of the family. Charles VII. gave him also the county of Dreux, and made him a Marshal of France. His descendants, Lords of Aubigny, John and Bernard, merited like honours by their services; and his descendants in general were in a manner hereditary captains of the Scots guards. In 1428, Charles VII. gave to James I. King of Scotland, the county of Saintonge and Rochfort in peerage. About the same time, the same king made the Laird of Monypenny his chamber- In 1495, lain, and gave him the lordship of Concressant. e Lord of Aubigny was made Governor of Calabria by ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 17 King Charles VIII. Albany, had a seat in the parliament of Paris, by command of Francis I., before the dukes and peers; and he was ap- pointed Viceroy of Naples, General of the galleys of France, and Governor of the Bourbonese, of Auvergne, and of other provinces. About the same time, Robert Stewart of Au- bigny, was made a Marshal of France. In 1548, King Henry I. gave the duchy of Chatelherault to James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland, and presented him with the collar of his order; and he also sent that collar to the Earls of Huntly, Argyll, and Angus.-With regard to offices, the Scots have exercised some of the most considerable in France. Mr. Servien, a famous advocate under Henry III., in his pleading before the parliament of Paris, relates that Mr. Turnbull, a Scotsman, was a judge in the same parliament, and afterwards first president of the parliament of Rouen. Adam Blackwood also was a judge on the bench of Poitiers; and other Scotchmen were judges in French courts of justice. -The Scots have also possessed in France some of the first dignities of the church. Andrew Foreman was archbishop of Bourges, David Bethune was bishop of Mirepoix, David Panter and James Bethune were successively abbots of L'Absie; and a great number of Scotchmen were priors, canons, curates, and other beneficed persons in France. And it is remarkable that, in the year 1586, the cure of St. Come at Paris, conferred by the university upon John Hamilton, having been disputed him by a French ecclesias- tic, who protested against Hamilton as being a Scotchman, Hamilton's cause was pleaded, in the parliament of Paris, by Mr. Servien, advocate in parliament, who proved that the Scots enjoyed the right of denizens, and in consequence, by decree of the court, the provisional possession of the cure was adjudged to Hamilton.-In the university of Paris, the Scots made so considerable a figure, that one of the four nations, of whom the faculty of arts is composed, which is In 1524, John Stewart, Duke of B 18 ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. now called the German nation, was formerly styled "natio Germanorum et Scotorum ;" and besides a great number of doctors and professors in all the faculties, no fewer than thirty rectors of the university were Scotchmen. The Scotish guard originated in Louis IX.'s selecting from the Scotish army serving in France a certain number of sol- diers to remain around his person day and night; but did not take its permanent form, or become properly recognised, till the year 1236. Louis XII., in his letters-patent of na- turalization to the Scots, after setting forth, in terms the most honourable to the nation, the service which the Scots did to Charles VII. in the expulsion of the English out of France, and in the reduction of the kingdom to his obedience, adds, "Since which reduction, and for the service the Scots rendered to Charles VII. upon that occasion, for the great loyalty and virtue which he found in them, he selected two hundred of them for the guard of his person, of whom he made an hundred men at arms, and an hundred lifeguards; and the said hundred men at arms are the hundred lances of our ancient ordinances, and the lifeguard-men are those of our guard, who still are near and about our person." Claud Seysil, Master of Requests to Louis XII., and afterwards archbishop of Turin, in his history of that prince, speaking of Scotland, says, "The French have so ancient a friendship and alliance with the Scots, that, of four hundred men appro- priated for the king's lifeguard, there are an hundred of the said nation who are the nearest to his person, and in the night keep the keys of the apartment where he sleeps. There are, moreover, an hundred complete lances, and two hundred yeoman of the said nation, beside several that are dispersed through the companies; and for so long a time as they have served in France, never hath there been one of them found that hath committed or done any fault against the kings or their state; and they can make use of them as of their own subjects.” ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 19 The ancient rights and prerogatives of the Scotish life- guards were very honourable; and some of the duties which they performed-particularly the twenty-four first guards, together with the first gendarme of France, commonly called Gardes de Manche or sleeve-guards—were somewhat pecu- liar. On all occasions, when the king was present, two of them assisted at mass, sermon, vespers, and ordinary meals ; and on high holidays, at the ceremony of the royal touch, at the creation or investiture of knights of the king's order, at the reception of extraordinary ambassadors, and at public royal entries into cities, six of them required to be next the king's person, three on each side; and these alone were allowed to carry the king's person in any ceremony or proces- sion, or were eligible even to attend his effigy. They had the keeping of the keys of the king's lodging at night, the keep- ing of the choir of the royal chapel, the keeping of boats in which the king passed any river, and the honour of bearing in their arms the white silk fringe, which was the coronal colour in France. Their captain, also, whether in waiting or out of waiting, received the keys of all cities into which the king made his entry; and he had the privilege, in waiting or out of waiting, to take duty upon him according to his plea- sure at all public ceremonies connected with the royal family such as coronations, marriages, funerals of the kings, and baptisms and marriages of their children. The coronation robe belonged to him; and when he died or resigned, the company, unlike the other three, did not change rank. The royal guards, for a long time after the formal institution of the body, consisted entirely of Scotchmen; and as, in the reign of Henry II., several French, or others than Scots, had been admitted there, as well as among the Scots Gen- darmes, that prince, at the solicitation of the deputies of the states of Scotland, gave a breviate, of which the original is extant, signed by the king's own hand, bearing date June 28, 1558, whereby his Majesty promises that he shall not 20 ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. allow any person to enter there, who is not a gentleman of the said nation of Scotland, and sprung from a good family &c. This regulation did not hinder afterwards others than Scots from being sometimes admitted, as appears from re- monstrances made upon that subject, from time to time, by the queen-mother and her son James VI., and by the privy council of Scotland, in the roll of the year 1599, given in by the captain of the Scots guards to the chamber of accounts; and as the motives which led to the close alliance between Scotland and France ceased to exist at the union of the Scotish and English crowns, the French court probably began at that time to feel desirous of getting rid of a body who could no longer afford effective assistance against Eng- land,—and at all events, it persevered in the slights and neglects which had been remonstrated upon, and gradually filled the places in the guards with Frenchmen, till soon the epithet of Scotish, which was still retained, became an utter misnomer. The early establishment of this body," says the prefatory notice to a collection of curious papers, consisting principally of a vaunting historical statement as to the ancient character of the guard, and of some chief remonstrances against innovations upon its privileges, was presented in 1835 by James Dunlop, Esq. to the Maitland Club,-" The early establishment of the Royal Guard of Scotish Archers in France, the length of time during which they were main- tained, and the numerous privileges conferred upon them, render their history curious and interesting. They un- doubtedly contributed in no small degree to promote those friendly relations which subsisted between Scotland and France, from the age of fabulous story till the independent existence of the former kingdom merged in the British crown. The nobles and gentlemen of Scotland enrolled themselves in that honourable corps, and were the means of attracting to the French service many of their countrymen, hose glory was sealed at Baugé, Verneuil, and other bloody ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 21 fields, and of thereby cementing an alliance unparalleled in history." Letters of naturalization, or documents of similar character, investing Scotchmen with the same eligibilities and powers in all matters of property as native Frenchmen, and in some instances investing them also with exemption from particular taxes, or with some other peculiar privileges, were granted in 1513 by Louis XII.,-in 1548 and 1558, by Henry II.,—in 1599, by Henry IV.,-in 1612, by Louis XIII.,-and in 1646, by Louis XIV.; and similar missives, having special reference to Scotish merchants in France, were granted in 1518, by Francis I.,-in 1554, by Henry II.,-in 1599, by Henry IV., and in 1513, by Louis XII. One of these documents, that of Louis XIV., having the form of an Act of his Council of State, and somewhat distinguished above the rest by comparative raciness of language, may be selected as a sufficient specimen of the whole :-" Whereas it hath been represented to the King in his council, the Queen- regent his mother present, that, in the year seven hundred fourscore and nine, Charlemagne reigning in France, and Achaius in Scotland, the alliance and confederacy having been made between the two kingdoms, offensive and defen- sive, of crown and crown, king and king, people and people, as is set forth by the charter called the Golden Bull, it should have, until this present, continued without any interruption, and been ratified by all the Kings, successors of the said Charlemagne, with advantages and prerogatives so peculiar, that not only are the Scots in capacity of acquiring and possessing estates, moveable and immoveable, and benefices in France, and the French in Scotland, without taking out any letters of naturalization; but also it should have been granted to the said Scots, to pay only the fourth part of the duties upon all goods which they transport to the said country of Scotland; a privilege which they have ever enjoyed, and do enjoy at this day; that even whatever rupture there may 22 ANCIENT ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. have been between the crowns of France and England, since the union of the kingdom of England with that of Scotland, the French have been nevertheless still treated by the Scots as friends and confederates, and particularly in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-six, when the French in Scotland, and the Scots in France, had a reciprocal replevy of their merchandises, while those of the French in England and those of the English in France were confiscated; and that there never hath been made any difference or distinction in this kingdom between his Majesty's natural subjects and the said Scots: wherefore the late King of happy memory, having, by his declaration in the month of January, one thousand six hundred and thirty-nine, commanded that taxes should be laid upon all foreigners of his said kingdom, his Majesty should have, by an act of his council, of the eleventh of May in the said year, exempted and discharged all Scots residing therein, their children, descendants, and heirs, from all taxes laid, or to be laid, upon the said foreigners. In consequence of the said declaration, acts and rolls of taxes expeded thereupon, willing that, if any Scot had been there comprehended, whether in the city of Paris, or in others of this kingdom, they should be freed without difficulty in virtue of the said acts; the said letters of declaration, acts, or ought else, to the contrary notwithstanding. In prejudice whereof, those who have raised the taxes ordained to be laid upon all foreigners residing in this said kingdom, in virtue of the letters of declaration of the month of January last, had not forborn to comprehend, in the rolls which they caused to be expeded in execution thereof, some individuals of the Scotish nation amongst other foreigners, without expressing their country and quality; which being absolutely contrary to the intention of his Majesty, who wills and means to entertain inviolably the said confederacy and alliance with the said Scots, and to maintain them in all the rights, privileges, and prerogatives, unto them granted by the kings his predecessors, THE CULDEES. 23 and which he hath ratified since his accession to the crown: the King being in council, the Queen-regent his mother present, hath discharged, and doth discharge, all the Scotish gentlemen residing in his said kingdom, from the tax laid upon them in quality of foreigners: their Majesties give prohibition to all bailiffs and sergeants to constrain them on account thereof, on pain of a thousand livres of fine, and of all costs, damages, and interests. And for the other Scots, his Majesty hath superseded payment of the said taxes for three months, during which time his Majesty prohibits their being constrained, if there is not some private stipulation made by them to the contrary. Done in the King's council of state, his Majesty being there, and the Queen-regent his mother present, held at Fontainebleau, the nineteenth of September, one thousand six hundred and forty-six. Signed Le Tellier." THE CULDEES. THE small Hebridean island Iona,-the celebrated seat of the parent college of the Culdees, 'the Star of the Western sea,''the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion,' "Isle of Columba's cell, Where Christian pity's soul-cheering spark (Kindled from Heaven between the light and dark Of time) shone like the morning star,"- lies off the south-west extremity of Mull, 9 miles south- west of Staffa, and about 36 miles west of the nearest part of the district of Morven, or of the mainland of Scotland. 24 THE CULDEES. A strait, called the sound of I, about 3 of a mile broad, and 3 miles long, deep enough for the passage of the largest ships, but dangerous from sunken rocks, separates it from Mull. Islets and rocks-the most conspicuous of which is Soa on the south-west-are numerously sprinkled round one-half of its coast. A heavy swell of the sea, but not such as to im- peril navigation, usually rolls toward it from the north. The scenery around it is, in general, desolate in its aspect and cold in its tints, requiring the aids of the burnished or tem- pestuated sea, the fleecy or careering clouds, and above all, the tranquil or the stirring associations of history, to render it interesting or grand. Iona has the attractions neither of pas- toral beauty and simplicity, nor of highland wildness and sub- limity; it utterly wants both the fertile and cultivated loveliness of Lismore, and the dark and savage magnificence of Mull; and, though relieved by some green views of Coll, Tiree, and other islands, it would seem to a person ignorant of its history and antiquities, an altogether tame and frigid expanse of treeless sward and low-browed rock. Its length is about 3 miles, stretching from north-east to south-west; its breadth is about a mile; and its superficial area is conjectured to be about 1,300 Scotish acres. All round, it has a waving out- line, approaching on the whole to the form of an oval, but exhibiting an almost constant alternation of projection of land and indentation of sea. Its recesses, however, though termed bays by a topographist, would, in general, be refused the name by navigators, and afford no harbour, nor, in boisterous weather, even a tolerable landing-place. The bay of Martyrs, on the north-east side, is merely a little creek; yet it both forms the chief modern succedaneum for a har- bour, and was anciently, as tradition reports, the place of debarkation for funeral parties coming hither to inter the illustrious dead. Port-na-Currach, 'the Bay of the Boat,' on the south-west side, is a still more inconsiderable creek, lined with perpendicular rocks of serpentine marble; and THE CULDEES. 25 derives both its name and all its importance from a tradition of its having been the landing-place of the currach, the hide and timber boat, of St. Columba. On the shore of this creek are some irregular heaps of pebbles, thrown up apparently by the sea, but represented by legendary gossip to be-in the case of one heap which is about 50 feet long-a memorial and an exact model of St. Columba's boat, and, in the case of the other heaps, results and monuments of acts of penance performed by the monks. The surface of the island consists of small, pleasant, fertile plains, in most places along the shore, and of rocky hillocks and patches of green pasture, and an intermixture of dry and of boggy moorland in the interior. At the southern extremity, excepting a low sandy tract near a creek called Bloody bay, it is merely a vexed and broken expanse of rocks. The highest ground is near the northern extremity, and rises only about 400 feet above sea-level. On the bay of Martyrs, near the ruins which constitute the grand attraction and the glory of the place, stands the village of Threld, -a collection of miserable huts, and the scene of general squalidness, poverty, and filth. In common with the rest of the island, it was long left to thrive or starve for the future world upon its dim and malodorous traditions of the moral influences which once bathed all its neighbour- hood in beauty; for though it received a visit some four times a-year from the minister of Kilfinichen, it was utterly destitute of every substantial means of either education or religious instruction. Its inhabitants constitute very nearly the whole population of the island, and are in a rude semi- barbarous condition. Besides conducting a poor trade in fish and kelp, they live, to some extent, on the gullibility and vanity of visitors. Aware how much the gems of the island are in request, young and old run in a mass to the beach on the arrival of a vessel, and obstreperously vie with one another in palming upon strangers, for twopence, for fourpence, for 26 THE CULDEES. sixpence, or for whatever they can obtain, anything that is likely to be received by a self-conceited starer at the world's lions as a precious stone. Wordsworth, alluding to the part taken in this traffic by children, and fixing the warm gaze of a Christian upon the means of religious instruction which they now enjoy, says,— "How sad a welcome! To each voyager Some ragged child holds up for sale a store Of wave-worn pebbles, pleading on the shore Where once came monk and nun with gentle stir, Blessings to give, news ask, or suit prefer. Yet is yon neat trim church a grateful speck Of novelty amid the sacred wreck Strewn far and wide. Think, proud philosopher! Fallen though she be, this glory of the West, Still on her sons the beams of mercy shine; C And hopes, perhaps more heavenly bright than thine, A grace, by thee unsought and unpossess'd, A faith more fixed, a rapture more divine, Shall gild their passage to eternal rest.' Iona was probably uninhabited, or at best but occasionally visited by the people of Mull, previous to the time of Co- lumba, and, at all events, comes first into notice as a quiet retreat gifted over to the saint for the uses of his missionary establishment. His having been accosted upon his landing by some Druids in the habits of monks, who, pretending to have also come to preach the gospel, requested him and his followers to seek out some other asylum, and who, on his detection of their imposture, made a speedy and complete departure, is either one of the idle legends with which his biographers barbarously embellished their accounts of his life, or points to some conspiracy formed among the heathen ecclesiastics on their getting bruit of his purpose to attempt THE CULDEES. 27 an inroad on their territory. Columba was a native of Ire- land, descended by his father from the King of that country, and by his mother from the King of Scotland; and, after having travelled in many countries, and acquired great repu- tation for learning and piety, he concocted a scheme of mis- sionary enterprise, with Scotland and Ireland for its field, which, at once in the Christian heroism of its spirit, and the far-sightedness of its views, and the brilliance of its imme- diate success, has had no parallel or even distant imitation in the missionary movements of any subsequent age. He wished to apply to Scotland and to Ireland a moral lever which should lift them up in the altitude of excellence, and bring them acquainted with the moral glories of heaven; and he sought a spot on which he might rest the fulcrum of the simple but mighty instrument he designed to wield. What he wanted was, not an arena crowded with population or a vantage-ground of political influence over the rude tribes whom he wished to be the instrument of converting,-for, in that case, he would have remained in his fatherland, or taken a place in the kingly courts to which his birth gave him access; but it was a secluded nook, where he could lubricate his own energies for the agile yet herculean labours which he had proposed to himself as his task, and where he could train and habituate a numerous body of youths to the hardy moral gymnastics which should fit them for acting with equal nimbleness and strength against the battle-array of the idola- tries and barbarity of united nations. In 563, or, according to Bede, in 565, when he was 42 years of age, he left Ireland, accompanied by a chosen band who were akin to him in character and the companions of his councils, whom a grateful but superstitious posterity ca- nonized, as they did himself, and asserted to be more than mortal, and whom the usages of Columba's successors pro- nounced to be twelve in number, after the example of the twelve apostles of the Redeemer, though the recorded fist of 28 THE CULDEES. their names shows them to have been thirteen, and the beau- tiful simplicity of Columba's character might have demon- strated them to amount to just as many as could be made to appreciate and reciprocate the motives which impelled his movement, accompanied by this band, the saint, since we must call him so, or rather the energetic missionary, ran in among the Hebrides as a territory common, in a sense, to Ireland and Scotland, and offering fair promise of the retreat which he sought. Oronsay, lying only 60 or 65 miles from the mouth of Loch-Foyle, the grand outlet of Ireland on the north, and both nearly of the same size as Iona, and similarly situated with relation to Colonsay as Iona is with relation to Mull, was first tried, and became, as is said, the seat of such commencing operations as afforded some promise of stability. But I the island par excellence-was destined speedily and permanently to receive the bold and apostolic missionary. Either while his tent was fixed at Oronsay, or after having made a passing visit to Iona, he went into the eastern parts of Scotland, or the territories of the Picts, and was the in- strument-with the aid of miracles, say his romancing bio- graphers—of converting Brude or Bridei, the Pictish King, whose reign terminated in 587. From either this monarch, or more probably from Conal, king of the Scots-or, as Dr. Jamieson conjectures, from both, the frontiers of their respec- tive kingdoms not being well-ascertained-he received a grant of either whole or part of the island which was henceforth to be rendered illustrious by the association of his name. Columba now erected on Iona a mission-establishment, whence emanated for centuries such streams of illumination over Scotland, Ireland, the north of England, and even places more distant, as shone brilliantly in contrast to the midnight darkness which had settled down on the rest of Europe, cor- ruscating through the sky and beautifully tinting the whole range of upward vision, like the play of the Northern lights when a long night has set in upon the world. But the estab- THE CULDEES. 29 lishment was very far from being monastic, and cannot, as to its external appliances, be traced in any of the existing ruins which possess so strong attractions for antiquaries and the curious. Columba and his companions were strangers to all the three vows which unite to constitute monkery; and made a brilliant exhibition of the social spirit, the far-stretching activity, the travelling and untiring regard for the diffusion of the gospel, the enlightened respect for every art which could improve and embellish human society, and the freedom from mummery and religious mountebankism, which monks are as little acquainted with as the red Indians who scour the Ame- rican prairies are with polite literature or the refinements of a king's drawing-room. Columba, for some time, took up his residence with King Brude at Inverness, and, while there, met with a petty prince of the Orkneys, and found an opportunity, by his means, of settling Cormac, one of his disciples, in the extreme north, and introducing Christianity to the Ultima Thule of the known world. He also made a voyage in his currach to the north seas, and spent twelve days in adopting such prepara- tory measures as gave his companions and successors an inlet to the northern parts of continental Europe. Constantine, a quondam king of Cornwall, who had renounced his throne that he might co-operate as a missionary with the saint, founded a religious establishment in imitation of Columba's at Govan on the Clyde, and, after diffusing a knowledge of the gospel in the peninsula of Kintyre, passed away from the world through the golden gate of martyrdom. Other mem- bers of the Iona fraternity-their leader guiding the way in every movement-traversed the dominions of the Picts, the Scots, and the Irish, and speedily numbered most of the first, and many of the second and third of these nations among their followers. The Irish annalists state, in round numbers, that Columba had 300 churches under his inspec- tion; and, adopting the language and ideas of a later an 30 THE CULDEES. < corrupted age, they add that he also superintended 100 mon- asteries. Their figures, as well as their words, are probably in fault. Yet, even making large allowances, the number of missionary stations modelled after the parent one of Iona, and mistakenly called monasteries,' and the number of fully organized and self-sustained congregations, which seem to be indicated by the word 'churches,' must have been surprisingly great to be, in any sense, estimated at respectively 100 and 300. Columba's personal influence, too, and the bright and far-seen star of fame which, from very nearly the commence- ment of his enterprise, stood over Iona, are evidence of the striking greatness of his missionary success. Aidan, the most renowned of the Scotish Kings, having to contest the crown with his cousin Duncha, did not, even after the complete dis- comfiture of his opponents, think his title to royalty secure till inaugurated by Columba according to the ceremonial of the Liber Vitreus; and, in all his great enterprises, he was prayed for in a special meeting of the brotherhood of Iona. So numerous were the missionaries, both in Columba's own day and afterwards, who went out from the island,—so wide was the range of their movements, and so eminent was their success, indicated in their being popularly canonized,—that, throughout France, Italy, and other parts of Europe, all the saints of unknown origin were, at a later period, reputed to be Scotish or Irish. The Culdees, servants of God,' as the fraternity of Iona and the communities connected with them were called, seem to have had no connexion whatever with the corrupt and multitudinous sect which, from an early period in the 4th century, claimed the alliance of the state, arrogated to itself the title of the Catholic church,' and was already far ad- vanced, all indeed but completely matured, in the innovations of Romanism. Columba acted, to all appearance, in the same independent manner as the founders of some eight or ten considerable bodies in Africa, Italy, and the East, who, in THE CULDEES. 31 { various degrees, maintained orthodoxy and apostolicity, long after these were utterly lost in what are usually called the Latin and the Greek churches, and who-but for the two circumstances of their records having been destroyed during the inquisitorial persecutions of the dark ages, and of the fountain-heads and all the main streams of ecclesiastical his- tory lying within the territories of parties who regarded dis- senter and heretic as synonymous terms-would figure illus- triously in the religious annals of the Christian dispensation He is represented as the arch-abbot of all Ireland,' and is known to have wielded supreme ecclesiastical influence over Scotland; yet he seems to have acted rather on principles of advice than on those of authority, and in the character, not of a prelate, but simply of the founder and guide of a great Christian mission. He never renounced the humble office of a presbyter; nor ever held higher office than the abbotcy as it was termed, or first and governing function, of the col- lege or ecclesiastical community of Iona. Mission-establish- ments, or‘monasteries' as history improperly designates them, formed by colonization from the parent one, or under its sanction, usually had each twelve presbyters, and a superior or abbot' but both the presbyters who continued in the colleges, and are called monks,' and those who went abroad in charge of congregations and wore the name of 'bishops,' were all on a footing of equality among themselves, and in the case of each community, all acknowledged the authority of their own superior or abbot.' abbot.' Nor does the college of Iona seem to have differed from its offshoots in authority, or in any particular whatever except in its being the prolific hive whence successive swarms of industrious and honeyed mis- sionaries went off to raise accumulations of sweets in the various nooks of the moral wilderness. Even the abbot' does not appear to have been, in all respects, the superior of the other members of a college; for he ranked only as a pres- byter or a monk;' and, in particular, he acted strictly in 32 THE CULDEES. common with the others in cases of ordination. The Cul- dees were sober, charitable, and contemptuous of worldly "distin- grandeur,—“ modest and unassuming," says Bede, guished for the simplicity of their manners, diligent observers of the works of piety and chastity, which they had learned from the prophetic and apostolic writings." They despised the ceremonies of a costly ritual, the pageantry of the choir, and the tricks and gambollings of priestcraft. They guarded, to a degree, against the innovations attempted by the wily emissaries of Rome; and, considering the circumstances of the period, made a comparatively long resistance to the in- fluences of degeneracy which had already precipitated the most of Europe into gilded barbarism and antichristian super- stition. Their doctrines probably were tinged to a consider- able degree with heterodoxy; yet, when compared with those of the great body of contemporary Christians, and when seen in the rich fruits of moral worth which they produced, they may be suspected to have leaned toward error more in words than in reality. Iona was the retreat of science and literature, and of the fine and useful arts, almost as conspicuously as of religion. Columba himself excelled in all secular learning,—was a pro- ficient in the knowledge of medicine and the practice of elo- quence,—and laboriously instructed the barbarians in agrı- culture, gardening, and other arts of civilized life. Not a few of the members of his community, in successive genera- tions, were eminently skilled in rhetoric, poetry, music, as- tronomy, mathematics, and general philosophy and science. About the beginning of the 8th century, learning of every sort, in fact-with the exception of some poor remains of philosophy and the arts in Italy-was hunted out of every part of Continental Europe, and concentrated its energies and its glories on the little arena of Iona. Even Ireland, which was at the time brilliant in distinct literary establish- ments, concurred with the general voice of the civilized world, THE CULDEES. 33 in pronouncing Iona the pre-eminent seat of learning, in ac- knowledging the paramount influence of its college, and in awarding to its abbot the designation of Principatus. The arts and sciences which formed the curriculum were writing, arithmetic, the computation of time, geometry, astronomy, jurisprudence, and music. So much was the last of these valued at the period, that heaven was believed to have be stowed musical powers only on its favourites. At first, it allured the barbarians to the Christian modes of worship, and was attended to simply in a degree proportioned to its subordinate importance; but eventually it acquired a predo- minating influence, far too largely engaged the attention, re- tarded the progress of deeper studies, and contributed not a little to produce a general deterioration, which at length be- came submerged by the influx of popery. Only a rapid and interrupted outline of the history of Iona can be here attempted. A continuous list of abbots is pre- served from Buithan, who succeeded Columba, and died in 600, to Caoin Chomrach, who died in 945. Another and succeeding list has perplexed antiquaries, but distinctly ex- hibits four more abbots, beginning in 1004, and terminating with Duncan, in 1099. Under Buithan, St. Giles, a graduate of Iona, introduced Culdeeism to Switzerland,—was the in- strument of converting several thousands of the inhabitants, rejected the bishopric of Constance, held out as a bribe to lure him from his simple creed, and planted an establishment whose superiors, in after ages, were less proof than he to the blandishments of civil greatness, and came to be ranked as considerable princes of the empire. Under Ferguan, who died in 622, and who was considerable in piety and learning, the scientific and literary interests of Iona had to struggle with difficulties, but went through unscathed. Under Cu- min, who died in 658, and who was distinguished for his scholarship, the seminary, though sending out fewer mission-, aries than formerly to Switzerland, Germany, and other con C 34 THE CULDEES. tinental countries, continued its assiduity in training men in the arts and sciences. About this time, Aidan and some other alumni, in compliance with an invitation of Oswald, king of Northumbria, who had been discipled to Christianity when in exile among the Scots and Picts, introduced a know- ledge of Christianity among the Northumbrian Saxons, and planted the scions of Christian excellence and literary re- nown among that people, from the northern limits of their territory along the Forth, to their southern limits in the centre of England. Aidan is said to have in seven days bap- tized 15,000 converts; and he commended his cause by great moderation, meekness, and piety;—but in common with many others who went from Iona to England, he cared little to retain the simple ecclesiastical discipline of Culdeeism; and he was appointed the first bishop of Lindisfarne or Holy Island. Eata, one of those who accompanied Aidan from Iona, after labouring for a season in Northumbria, became the apostle of the tribes who inhabited the basin of the upper Tweed, and laid the foundation and was the first superior of the Culdee establishment of Melrose,-which was the pre- decessor for centuries of the greatly more celebrated but in- comparably less worthy popish abbey. During nearly the same period as that of Aidan and Eata's activity, all the other principalities or kingdoms of England, excepting Kent and Wessex, and the little state of Sussex, were traversed by missionaries from Iona, and received from them their chief initial instruction, or their revival from total declension, not only in Christianity, but also in the arts and sciences. No institution, either of its own age or of any which in- tervened till after the Reformation, did so much as that of Iona, at this time, to diffuse over a benighted world the lights of literature, science, and the Christian faith. But as the seventh century drew toward a close, its glory became visibly on the wane, and began to assume sickly tints of remote as- similation to Romanism, or more properly, of substituting THE CULDEES. 35 frivolous external observances for the spirit and energy of simple truth. A celebrated but very stupid dispute, at Whitby, in Yorkshire, between Colman, one of its alumni, and Wilifred, a Romanist, on the precious questions as to when Easter or the passover should be celebrated, and with what kind of tonsure the hair of a professed religieuse should be cut, conducted on the one side by an appeal to the tradi- tional authority of John the apostle, and on the other to the interpolated dictum of Peter, the alleged janitor of heaven, and supported on the part of Colman with all the zeal and influence of his Culdee brethren, ended, as it deserved to do, in the total discomfiture of the people of Iona, who totally forgot the moral dignity of their creed both by the silliness. of the questions debated, and by the monstrous folly of ap- pealing to the verdict of the Northumbrian prince Oswi, a diademed ninny, who " determined on no account to disre- gard the institutions of Peter who kept the keys of the king- dom of heaven,"-this dispute gave a virtual death-blow to Culdeeism, and the influence of Iona in England, and even paved the way for the march of the vanguard of popery upon the delightful institutions both of the island itself, and of the far-extending territory over which its moral influence pre- sided. Colman, with a whole regiment of his clerical breth- ren, retreated upon Scotland, and left the sunnier clime of the south in possession of the corrupted and corrupting Ro- manists. Under Adamnan, who died in 703, Iona proclaimed to the world its having commenced a career of apostacy, and invited the multitudinous communities who looked to it as the standard-bearer of their creed, to follow in its steps. The ecclesiastics of the island put some trappings of finery upon their originally simple form of church government; they fra- ternized with the Romanists on the subject of keeping Eas- ter; they preached the celibacy of superior clerks and pro- fessed monks,-prohibited the celebration of marriage on any day except Sabbath,-prayed for the dead,―enjoined immo- 36 THE CULDEES. derate fastings, and distinguished sin into various classes; and they, in general, yielded themselves, with a surprising degree of freedom, to the power of fanatical zeal and super- stitious credulity. Though still far from being as corrupt as the Romanists, and though continuing to maintain the island's literary fame, they very seriously defiled the essential purity of Christian faith and devotion. Iona underwent, in the course of divine providence, fre- quent scourgings for its spiritual declension, and henceforth was conspicuous, not more for the loss of its purity, than for the destruction of its peace. In 714, the ecclesiastics, or the monks as they may now, with some show of reason, be called-were temporarily expelled by Nectan, king of the Picts. In 797, and again in 801, the establishment was burnt by the northern pirates. In 805, the pirates a third time made a descent upon it, and put no fewer than 68 of its monks to the sword. Next year, the inhabitants of the island built a new town; in 814, they went in a body to Tarach to curse the king of Scotland, who had incensed them by his vices; and in 818, their abbot, Diarmid, alarmed by new me- naces from the pirates, bundled up some saintly relics to aid in averting perils, and ploughed the seas for two years in making a retreat to Ireland. In 985, the abbot of the period, and 15 monks, or 'doctors,' were killed, and the whole estab- lishment dispersed. In 1069, the buildings, after having been re-edified, were once more destroyed by fire. The place had long before bidden farewell to its pristine glory, and now loomed dimly in the increasing gloom of its evening twilight; and, at last, in 1203, it was formally mantled in the sable dress of night, and became the seat of a new and regular monastery, tenanted by the cowled and mass-saying priests of Rome. The Culdee monks, with the decline of their religious ex- cellence, grew in earthliness of spirit; and though they origi- ally held little communication with powerful barons except THE CULDEES. 37 * to aid their spiritual well-being, and would not accept from them any donation of land, yet they eventually made no scru- ple to send their fame to the money-market, and to accumu- late whatever possessions were ceded by popular and opulent credulity or admiration. They received numerous and large donations of churches and their pertinents, and of landed property, from the lords of Galloway, and are said to have obtained 13 islands from the Scotish Kings. No tolerable estimate can now be made of the amount of their wealth, nor even a certain catalogue exhibited of their islands. Raasay, Canna, Inchkenneth, Soa, and Eorsa, seem certainly to have belonged to them; Tiree, Colonsay, Staffa, and the Treshi- nish isles, were probably theirs; and the three Shiant isles, the three Garveloch isles, and the isle of St. Cormack, Dr. M'Culloch thinks, are awarded them by the evidence of the ruined cells and other antiquities. In 1180, all the revenues derived from Galloway and other quarters, were taken away, and granted to the abbey of Holyrood. The Romish monks who succeeded the Culdees, inherited from them little or no property, except the island of Iona, and were left to make what accumulations they could from the fame of the place, and the trickeries of their own craft. Iona thus concentrates most of the teeming interest of its renowned name within the period of about 150 years suc- ceeding the landing of Columba; and is seen in its real moral sublimity when the doubtful or positively fabulous story of its having been originally an island of the Druids, and the associations of its monkery and its existing ruins of popish edifices, either are entirely forgotten, or are employed only in the limnings of poetry as foils to the grand features of the scene. Regarded as the source of Christian enlightenment to the whole British isles, and as the fountain-head of civili- zation and literature and science to all Europe, at a period when the vast territory of the Roman empire, and nearly all the scenes which had been lit up by primeval Christianity 38 THE CULDEES. . were turned into wilderness by barbarism and superstition, it excites holier and more thrilling thoughts by far than the most magnificent of the thousand rich landscapes of Scotland than even the warmest in the colourings of its objects, and the most stirring in its antiquarian or historical associations "We were now treading that illustrious island," says Dr Johnson, in a passage familiar to almost every Scotchman, "which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the bene- fits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish, if it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses,-what- ever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from me and from my friends be such frigid philosophy, as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue! That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not "We approached grow warmer among the ruins of Iona." Iona," says a lively tourist, who contributes his sketch to a modern periodical, "We approached it on a lovely afternoon in summer. The steam-boat had left Oban crowded with tourists-some from America, two Germans, and a whole legion of 'the Sassenach.' The quiet beauty of the scene subdued the whole into silence-even the Americans, who had bored us about their magnificent rivers, and steam-boats sailing twenty-five miles an hour. The sea was literally like a sheet of molten gold or silver. Not a breath agitated its surface, as we surveyed it from beneath a temporary awning, thrown up on the quarter-deck. The only live objects that caught the eye were an occasional wild fowl or porpoise. As the vessel moved on among the silent rocky islands, the scene constantly shifting, yet always bearing a stern, solemn, and THE CULDees. 39 primitive aspect, it was impossible not to feel that we could not have approached Iona under more favourable circum- stances. * * * Iona! There is something magical in the name. Whether its etymology be I-thonna, the Island of the Waves, or I-shonna, the Blessed or Holy Isle, we care not. The combination of letters is most musical, and har- monizes completely with the associations called up by the venerable spot. Some places we admire for their rural or pastoral beauty and simplicity-others for their naked gran- deur and simplicity. Iona belongs to neither of these classes; * * * yet undoubtedly in interest it surpasses them all. As the seat of learning and religion when all around was dark and barbarous-as the burial-place of kings, saints, and heroes-solitary and in ruins-inhabited by a few poor and primitive people—and washed by the ever-murmuring At- lantic, Iona possesses most of the elements of romance and moral beauty. Its natural disadvantages would have been counted as attractions by Columba and his pious votaries, when, some twelve centuries ago, they first steered their skiff across the ocean to plant the tree of life and sow the seeds of knowledge on its desert and barbarous shores. The greater the sacrifice, the higher the virtue; and from this solitary spot Columba sent forth disciples to civilize and enlighten other regions, till the fame of Iona and its saints extended over the kingdom, subdued savage ferocity, and made princes bow down before its influence and authority. Here kings and chiefs were proud to send votive altars, crosses, and offerings, and to mingle their dust with its canonized earth- here Christian temples rose in the midst of Pagan gloom- knowledge was disseminated-and Iona shone like the morn- ing star after a long night of darkness! The whole seems like a wild confused dream of romance, as we look on that low, rugged island, with its straggling patches of corn-lands, its miserable huts, and poor inhabitants." Wordsworth has dedicated three memorial sonnets to Iona; and Blackwood's 40 THE CULDEES. Delta has penned the following lines on this far-famed islet, and its surrounding scenery :- "How beautiful, beneath the morning sky, The level sea outstretches like a lake Serene, when not a zephyr is awake To curl the gilded pendant gliding by! Within a bow-shot, Druid Icolmkill Presents its time-woru ruins, hoar and grey, A monument of eld remaining still Lonely, when all its brethren are away. Dumb things may be our teachers; is it strange That aught of death is perishing! Come forth Like rainbows, show diversity of change, And fade away-Aurora of the North! Where altars rose, and choral virgius sung, And victims bled, the sea bird rears her young." Mr. Heneage Jesse thus expresses the emotions he expe- rienced on visiting Iona :- 'Ye who have sail'd among the thousand isles, Where proud Iona rears its giant piles, Perchance have linger'd at that sacred spot, To muse on men and ages half-forgot: Though spoil'd by time, their mouldering walls avow A calm that e'en the sceptic might allow ; Here, where the waves these time-worn caverns beat, The early Christian fix'd his rude retreat; Here first the symbol of his creed unfurl'd, And spread religion o'er a darken'd world. Here, as I kneel beside this moss-grown fane, The moon sublimely holds her noiseless reign; Through roofless piles the stars serenely gleam, And light these arches with their yellow beam; THE CULDEES. 41 While the lone heart, amid the cloister'd gloom, Indulges thoughts that soar beyond the tomb. All-beauteous night! how lovely is each ray, That e'en can add a splendour to decay! For lo! where saints have heaved the pious sigh, The dusky owl sends forth his fearful cry! Here, too, we mark, where yon pale beam is shed, The scatter'd relics of the mighty dead; The great of old-the meteors of an age— The sceptred monarch, and the mitred sage: What are they now?-the victims of decay- The very worm hath left its noisome prey; And yet, blest shades! if such a night as this Can tempt your spirits from yon isles of bliss, Perchance ye now are floating through the air, And breathe the stillness which I seem to share." If any relics of the Culdees exist on the island, they must, to all appearance, be sought only among the oldest of the tomb-stones, defaced, without inscriptions, mere blocks of stone, which cannot now be identified with any age, or twisted into connection with any individuals or events. The ruins of buildings are extensive, but all posterior in date to the invasion of popery. Whatever structures were erected by Columba or his successors, are contended, successfully, we think, by Dr. M'Culloch, to have been comparatively rude, and probably composed of wicker-work or timber; and even had they been elegant and of solid masonry, must have been destroyed by the frequent devastations of the northern pirates. When Ceallach, the leader of the Romish invaders, took pos- session in 1203, he could scarcely have failed to appropriate an ecclesiastical edifice, had one existed, or even to have renovated or re-edified any ruins which could have been made available for housing his monks, yet he built a monastery of his own. Even Ceallach's edifice, soon after its erection, was 42 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. pulled down by a body of Irish, sanctioned by an act of for- mal condemnation on the part of a synod of their clergy, who still sided with the Culdees, and resisted Romanism. THE JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. Not- AFTER the affairs of James VII. had become utterly despe- rate in Scotland, and no longer afforded the faintest encou- ragement to any attempt for his restoration, about one hun- dred and fifty of the officers who had served with Viscount Dundee till the battle of Killiecrankie, and who had after- wards made vain efforts to retrieve the cause for which he had fought and fallen, obtained the concurrence of King Wil- liam's government to expatriate themselves to France, and there in sorrow and chivalry to share the fortunes of their dethroned and exiled master. When they landed in France, they were sent to Lisle, Burburgh, Arras, and other towns in French Flanders, where they were supported and pen- sioned at the expense of the French government, according to the rank they respectively held in Dundee's army. withstanding the reverses of Louis XIV., which impaired his finances, he continued his benefactions to these faithful ad- herents of King James; but as, from the loss of the French fleet at La Hogue and Cherburgh, and other misfortunes, they considered that the French King would not be in a condition, for a considerable time at least, to aid in the re- storation of James, and as they did not wish any longer to be a burden on the French government without performing duty, they unanimously resolved to make a proffer of their services to Louis, and requested permission of James to allow them to form themselves into a company of private soldiers, under the command of such officers as they them selves might choose. JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 43 In making this application to King James, they assured him that their only motive in doing so, was a desire to be as independent as the nature of their situation would admit of, and that they were ready and willing to fulfil all the duties required of common soldiers, until the course of events should enable his Majesty to recall them to his service. The King, while he commended their loyalty, and approved of the motive which actuated them, gave a decided negative to the proposal. It was impossible, he observed, that gentle- men who had been accustomed to command, and who had been brought up in easy circumstances, could brook such service, and undergo the hardships which always attended the duty of a private soldier; that having himself, when an officer in France, commanded a company of officers, he could speak from experience of the insuperable difficulties which were opposed to the step they proposed to take, some of the officers he commanded having soon died from fatigue, while others, wearied and disgusted with the service, sought for and obtained their discharges, so that the company soon dwindled away almost to nothing, and he got no reputation by the command. For these reasons he begged them to abandon the project. The officers, however, intent on their purpose, ultimately succeeded in obtaining James's consent to their being enrolled as a volunteer corps of private sen- tinels. The Earl of Dunfermline was pitched upon for captain, but partly by the entreaties of King James, who wished to have a nobleman of such tried fidelity and discre- tion near his person, and partly by the intrigues of the court of St. Germains, the Earl was induced to decline the com- mand. This was an unfortunate circumstance, as the officer who was selected in place of the Earl did not act fairly towards the company. Before proceeding to the station assigned to them by the French government, the officers repaired by invitation to St. Germains, to spend a few days before taking leave of King 44 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. James. Here an occurrence took place, which, though pro- bably intended by the officers as a jocular demonstration, made a deep impression upon the mind of the King. Understanding that James was to hunt in the royal demesnes in the neighbourhood of St. Germains, one morning, the officers, without any notice of their intention to the court, appeared early in the garden through which James had to pass, drawn up in a line, and dressed and accoutred as French soldiers. Somewhat surprised at the appearance of a body of troops in the garden at such an early hour, and little sus- pecting that the men whom he saw, clothed in the garb of common French soldiers, were his own officers, he had the curiosity to inquire who these men were, and on being in- formed that these were the gentlemen who had abandoned their country for his sake, he was seized with grief at the destitute situation in which he now beheld them, and instead of proceeding to enjoy the pleasures of the chase, retired to his palace to give vent to his sorrow. In a few days thereafter, previous to their departure for the south of France, whither they were ordered to march, about seventy of these officers were reviewed in the garden by King James, who, at the conclusion of the review, addressed them as follows:-" Gentlemen,-My own misfortunes are not so nigh my heart as yours. It grieves me beyond what I can express, to see so many brave and worthy gentlemen, who had once the prospect of being the chief officers in my army, reduced to the station of private sentinels. Nothing but your loyalty, and that of a few of my subjects in Britain, who are forced from their allegiance by the prince of Orange, and who, I know, will be ready on all occasions to serve me and my distressed family, could make me willing to live. The sense of what all of you have done and undergone for your loyalty hath made so deep an impression on my heart, that if ever it please God to restore me, it is impossible I can be forgetful of your services and sufferings. Neither can there JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 45 be any posts in the armies of my dominions but which you nave just pretensions to. As for my son, your prince, he is of your own blood,-a child capable of any impression, and as his education will be from you, it is not supposable that he can forget your merits. At your own desire, you are now going a long march, far distant from me. I have taken care to provide you with money, shoes, stockings, and other neces- saries. Fear God, and love one another. Write your wants particularly to me, and depend upon it always to find me your parent and king." When he had done speaking, he went to the head of the line, and passing along, stopt and conversed with every individual officer, asked his name, which he immediately noted down in his pocket-book. Resuming his former position, he took off his hat, and praying God to bless and prosper them, he made a most gracious bow, and retired. Overcome by his feelings, he returned a second time, made another bow, and burst into tears. The officers, to testify their sense of this mark of royal sympathy, knelt simultaneously down, and bowing their heads, remained for some time motionless and in profound silence, with their eyes fixed upon the ground. On rising, they passed before his majesty with the accustomed honours. About a month after, another division, consisting of fifty officers, was reviewed by James, who noticed them in a similar manner. Perpignan in the south of France, to which these volun- teers were appointed to march, is about nine hundred miles from St. Germains; but great as the distance was, they bore the difficulties of the march with extraordinary fortitude and patience. These difficulties were, however, greatly alleviated by the kind attentions which were paid to them by the magistrates and leading men of the different towns and vil- lages through which they passed, all of whom interested themselves to provide them with the best accommodation, by billetting them on the richest inhabitants. The affability of their deportment, their sufferings, their disinterestedness, and 46 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. the singularity of their situation, made them favourites wher- ever they came, and the history of the Scottish gentlemen volunteers became the general theme of admiration. They were noticed in a particular manner by the young ladies, crowds of whom were to be seen every morning walking on the parade to take a parting glance at the unfortunate stran- gers. When they arrived at Perpignan, they went to the house of Lieutenant-General Shaseron, before which they drew up in line. Hearing of their arrival, the whole ladies in the town assembled "to see so many worthy gentlemen, for their loyalty and honour, reduced to the unhappy state of private sentinels." These ladies were affected to tears on beholding this gallant band; and, commiserating the destitute situation of the unfortunate strangers, they presented the commanding officer, according to common report, with a purse of two hundred pistoles for their behoof, but which, it is asserted, was kept up by the officer to whom it was intrusted. Hav- ing spent all their money on their march, and finding the daily pittance of three pence, and a pound and a half of bread, the pay and allowance of a common soldier, quite inadequate for their support, they were obliged to dispose of their scarlet clothes, laced and embroidered vests, shirts, watches, and rings, which were exposed occasionally for public sale in the streets of Perpignan and Canet, from November 1692, to the first of May, 1693, when they went to camp. From Perpignan the corps marched to Canet, on the coast of the Mediterranean, where they were incorporated with another body which had arrived there some time before them. At Canet the officers laid aside their usual dress, and put on the French uniform. They were then instructed in the French exercise; and by the modesty of their demeanour, and the patience with which they underwent the fatigues of drill, they excited the sympathy of the French officers, who JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 47 treated them with very great respect and attention. About the middle of March, 1693, they were joined by a company under Major Rutherford, and by a corps of veterans, under Captain John Foster, who had served in Dumbarton's regi- ment. The meeting of these different bodies tended greatly to alleviate their common sufferings, as they occasionally kept up a social intercourse, drinking whenever they met to the health of the king, and devising plans for his restoration. Before these different companies were marched into camp, they were ordered to return to Perpignan to be reviewed by Marshal de Noailles. Their appearance, on the morning of their march from Canet, was extremely affecting, as they had now no longer any part of their former dress remaining, and were so completely metamorphosed, that they could not be distinguished from the common soldiers of the country. The marshal was so well pleased with the appearance of the vol- unteers when passing in review, that he ordered them to march before him a second time, and presented them with a mule, which cost him fifty pistoles, to carry their tents. The officers observing some of the inhabitants of Perpignan, who attended the review, wearing the apparel which they had purchased from them, amused themselves with jocular re- marks on the appearance of the burgesses in their old clothes." CC After the review was over, the corps returned to Canet the same evening, where they remained some days; and on the first of May, 1693, they began their march for Spain to join the army which invested the city of Roses. In their march across the Pyrenean mountains, they suffered very much from fatigue, as they were obliged to carry their pro- visions, kettles, tent-poles, pins, and other utensils. They arrived at the French camp at Roses on the 20th of May, and immediately entered upon the service of the siege. As the besieging army was wholly unprovided with pioneers, the officers volunteered to act as such; and in that capacity they 48 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. employed themselves in the fatiguing and hazardous duty of hewing wood, making fascines, and raising batteries against the town. In addition to this labour, they also joined vol- unteer foraging parties, in which service, particularly when there was any probability of engaging parties of the enemy, they mounted double the required complement of men. They also took a share occasionally in the lighter duties of piquets, as a relaxation from the heavier toils of the camp. But arduous as these were, the Scotch officers, from their cheerfulness and alacrity, would have surmounted them all, if the unhealthiness of the climate had not speedily impaired their constitutions. In the valley of Lampardo, where Roses is situated, the water is so scarce and so muddy, and the cli- mate so unhealthy for foreigners, that when Charles II. or Spain heard that Marshal de Noailles had encamped his army there, he said publicly at court that he wanted no army to fight them, as the climate would fight for him. Besides the unhealthiness of the climate, the Scotch officers had to combat another enemy to their constitutions in the shape of sardinas, horse-beans and garlic, which, with muddy water, formed the only food they could obtain. The consequence was, that in a short time many of them were seized with fevers and fluxes. But although every entreaty was used by some Irish officers with whom the climate and diet agreed better, to induce them to return to Perpignan, and enter the hospital, they insisted continuing in the camp, and perform- ing the duty they had voluntarily undertaken. The first occasion on which the officers distinguished themselves, was in a sally which the Spaniards made from the town. These officers, along with some detachments of Irish, having mounted the trenches, the Spaniards made several sallies out of the town into a field of barley; but they were repulsed by an equal number of the officers three several times, who drove them back to the drawbridge which they had crossed in presence of the French army and the JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE, 49 garrison. A French major-general, who observed the strug- gle, asked Colonel Scot, who commanded in the trenches, why one detachment only had attacked the enemy and not the others? Without returning a direct answer, Colonel Scot told him that the attacking party was composed of the Scotch officers, and that the others were Irish. The major- general, intending to pay a compliment to the Scots, observed with a smile that he had often heard that Scotland and Ire- land were two distinct kingdoms, but he never knew the difference before. Such is the account given by the author of the memoirs of Dundee's officers, which, if true, shows that the Frenchman was ignorant of the character of Irish- men, who certainly are not behind any other nation in bravery. On the 27th of May, Marshal de Noailles having deter mined to make a grand attack upon the town, notified his wish that a select body of volunteers should mount the trenches. On this occasion all the Scotch officers, along with two other Scotch and two Irish companies, offered their services. Among the Scotch was a company of grenadiers commanded by Major Rutherford, with which the greater part of the officers was incorporated. It fell to the lot of the grenadiers to advance first towards the station assigned the volunteers at the trenches; but instead of marching in a direction to avoid the fire of the enemy, Major Rutherford, with rash but intrepid daring, led his men directly in front of a bastion where he was exposed to the fire of several pieces of cannon. Colonel Brown, at the head of the rest of the volunteers, finding himself bound in honour to follow the example thus set by Rutherford, was about following him; but the French commander seeing the great danger to which the latter had unnecessarily exposed himself, sent one of his aid-des-camps with orders to him to retrace his steps, and advance to his station another way under cover of the trenches. He, accordingly, took another direction and D 50 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. posted himself at the station pointed out to him, which was behind a trench near the town. Had he remained only six minutes longer, his men would have been all cut to pieces by a tremendous fire which the enemy was ready to open upon them. After Colonel Brown's battalion had joined the posi- tion assigned it, which was on the left flank of the grenadier company, a brisk fire was opened upon the town, by which a breach was made in the walls. The besieged, apprehensive of an immediate assault, beat a chamade, and offered to sur- render the town on reasonable terms; but the marshal's demands were so exorbitant, that the governor of the city refused to accede to them, and resolved to hold out in expec- tation of more favourable terms being offered. The firing was, thereupon, resumed on both sides with great fury, and the city, in a short time, capitulated. Eight of the grenadiers were killed, and Captain Ramsay, a brave officer, was shot through both legs, and died in two days. Major Rutherford also received a wound in his back, which proved fatal in three days. In an interview which the governor had with Marshal de Noailles after the city had surrendered, the former asked the French general who these grenadiers were, adding, at the same time, that it was owing to the smart firing which they kept up, that he had been compelled to surrender, being afraid that such determined fellows, if longer opposed, would enter the breach. "Ces sont mes enfans,"-these are my children, answered the marshal with a smile, "these are the Scotch officers of the king of Britain, who, to show their willingness to share of his miseries, have reduced themselves to the carrying of arms under my command." On the fol- lowing day the marshal took a view of his camp, and when he came to the officers' quarter, he halted, and requested them to form a circle round him. After they had assembled, he took off his hat, and proceeded to address them. He thanked them for their good services in the trenches, and freely acknowledged that, to their conduct and courage, he JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 51 was indebted for the capture of the town; and he assured them that he would acquaint his royal master how well they had acted. This he accordingly did, in despatches which he sent to Versailles by his son; and the king was so well pleased with the account which the marshal had given of the behaviour of the Scotch volunteers, that he immediately went to St. Germains and showed the despatches to King James, and thanked him personally for the services his sub- jects had done in taking Roses. To alleviate the privations of these brave men, Marshal de Noailles had the generosity to make an allowance to each of them of a pistole, two shirts, a night-cap, two cravats, and a pair of shoes; but it is distressing to find that part of these gifts was not appropriated, owing to the rapacity of the offi- cers to whom the distribution of them was intrusted. Some indeed got a pistole without any of the articles of clothing, some a pair of shoes, and others a shirt; but many of them got nothing at all. Even an allowance of fivepence per diem from King James's own purse, which was paid monthly, suf- fered peculation, as it passed through the hands of the pay- master, who always made some deductions for shoes, stock- ings, shirts, broken swords, fusils, or other things, all of which were fictitious, as they were covered by an allowance called half-mounting, of which the volunteers do not seem at the time to have been aware. After the termination of the siege, the strength of the greater part of the company was greatly exhausted by the sickness they had suffered. Even after the fatigues of the siege were over, many of them were again attacked by fevers, agues, and fluxes, to such an extent, that the marshal re- quested them to leave the camp, and select a healthy place of residence till they should recover; but they declined his friendly offer, and told him that they came not to that country to lie within rotten walls, when the king of France (who was so kind to their master), had business in the field." 52 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. Marshal de Noailles marched from Roses for Piscador about the middle of June, 1693, with an army of 26,000 men; but the heat was so great, and the supply of water so scanty, that he was obliged to leave 16,000 of his men be- hind him on the road. Afraid that this division would be attacked in its rear by the Spanish army, the generals ordered all the piquets to be drawn out immediately to watch the motions of the enemy; but as the greater part of the army had not come up to the ground, the corporals could not get the required complement. In this dilemma, the Scotish offi- cers, who were in the camp, mounted for their comrades, and marched to the parade of the piquets in such good order, and with such readiness, as to attract the especial notice of the Le French generals, who observed on the occasion, that gentilhomme est toujours gentilhomme, et se montre toujours The gentleman is tel dans le besoin, et dans le danger.". always a gentleman, and will always show himself such in time of need and danger.' < Leaving Piscador about the middle of July, they repassed some of the Pyrenees and encamped at Ville France at the foot of Mount Canigo, where they remained till about the 20th of August, when they marched to Mount Escu, whence Major-General Wauchope, with some Irish troops, went to Savoy. After making a second campaign on the plains of Cerdanna, the company of officers were marched back to Perpignan, where they arrived on the first of November. Many of them entered the hospital of the town, where six- teen of them died in a short time. After remaining twelve days at Perpignan, they marched to Toureilles to pass the winter Their friends, who had heard of their sickness in Catalonia, had made application to King James, to obtain an order for their removal to a more healthy situation, which had been so well attended to by his Majesty, that on their arrival at Toureilles they received an order to march to Alsace, which from the coldness of its climate, was consi- JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 53 dered to be more congenial to the constitutions of Scotch- men. When Marshal de Noailles received this order he was much surprised, and thinking that the officers had themselves applied for the order in consequence of some offence they had taken, he sent for Colonel Brown the commanding offi- cer, and after showing him the order, requested him to say, on his honour, if the gentlemen had received any affront from him or his officers, and he added, that if he or they had given any offence of which they were not aware, they would give them every satisfaction. He, moreover, declared, that from the respect he entertained for them, and the high opinion he had formed of their bravery and services, he had resolved, had they remained in his army, to have promoted them to the rank they had respectively held in the army of King James. He then expressed his regret at parting with them and bade them adieu. On the 4th of December, 1693, the company of officers and the other two Scotch companies left Toureilles in Rou- sillon for Silistad in Alsace. Alluding to this route, their historian observes, that the "gentlemen were in many re- spects "very fit for that march; for the market of Perpignan eased them of that trouble they used to have in hiring mules for their baggage; so that when they left the country (of Rousillon), the most frugal of them could carry his equipage in a handkerchief, and many had none at all; and the fatigues and hardships of the campaign had reduced their bodies so very low that many of them looked rather like shadows and skeletons than men. Their coats were old and thin, many of their breeches wanted lining, and their stockings and shoes were torn and worn in pieces, so that by the time they came to Lyons, where they kept their Christmas, their miseries and wants were so many and great, that I am ashamed to express them. Yet, no man that conversed with them could ever accuse them of a disloyal thought, or the least uneasiness 54 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. under their misfortunes. When they got over their bottles (which was but seldom), their conversation was of pity and compassion for their king and young gentleman (the prince), and how his majesty might be restored without any prejudice to his subjects." At Rouen in Dauphiny, they were left in a state of great destitution by Colonel Brown, who went to St. Germains, carrying along with him two months' gratification money,—a term which they gave to King James's allowance of fivepence per diem. But notwithstanding the privations to which they were exposed by this other instance of the cupidity of that officer, they proceeded on their journey. Unfortunately, a famine raged in the countries through which they had to pass, which prevented the inhabitants from exercising the rites of hospitality; and as the winter was unusually severe, the ground being covered with snow for a considerable time and to a great depth,-the officers suffered under the com- bined effects of cold and hunger. On arriving at Silistad, they were received with great civility by the governor, a Scotchman, the mayor of the town, and the officers of the garrison, who frequently in- vited them to dine and sup with them; but as hospitality necessarily had its bounds, at a time when provisions of all sorts were extremely scarce, and of course uncommonly dear, the officers soon found themselves compelled to part with articles which they had formerly resolved to preserve. They accordingly opened a kind of market at Silistad, at which were exposed silver buckles, seals, snuff-boxes, periwigs, ruffles, cravats, stockings, and other articles. At Perpignan, when exposing for sale their scarlet coats, embroidered vests, and other less necessary or less valued appendages, they used, in reference to other articles on which they placed greater value, to say, for instance, "This is the seal of our family; I got it from my grandfather, therefore I will never part with it." Another would say, "I got this ring from my ་ JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 55 mother or mistress. I will sooner starve than part with it." All these fine protestations, however, were forgotten or dis- regarded amidst the irresistible calls of hunger, and the cruel assaults of penury; for as the author of their memoirs quaintly observes, "when the gentleman poverty came amongst them, he carried off every thing fair and clean, without any exception or distinction; and all the donor's returns were their healths toasted about in a bumper with a remuant of old Latin, necessitas non habet legem.” Although the officers remained upwards of a year at Silis- tad, they were not able from sickness and disease to make up a battalion; but notwithstanding their impaired constitutions, the governor of Silistad was heard often publicly to declare, that if besieged he would depend more upon the three Scotch companies, and particularly the company of officers, for de- fending the place, than upon the two battalions which com- posed the rest of the garrison. The governor was led to make this observation from an apprehension he entertained that Prince Louis of Baden, who had crossed the Rhine with an army of 80,000 men during the stay of the officers at Silistad, and who remained three weeks in Alsace, would lay siege to that town. But the officers had not an oppor- tunity afforded them of proving the correctness of the gover- nor's opinion of their courage, as Prince Louis, on receiving intelligence that Marshal de Boufflers was advancing with a force of 15,000 horse and dragoons, recrossed the Rhine in confusion, leaving his baggage behind him, and with a loss of 3,000 men, who were drowned in the river in consequence of the bridges across the Rhine having been broken down by the prince in his retreat. At the time Prince Louis commenced his retreat, he had a foraging party of a hundred hussars traversing and plunder- ing the country, who, being apprized on their way back to the camp, that their army had repassed the Rhine, and that they were left alone on the French side, resolved, as they 56 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. could not get across the Rhine out of Alsace, to make the best of their way to Basle; and information of this design being brought to Marshal de Lorge, the governor of Silistad, he despatched couriers to the commanders of the different garrisons which lay in their course to intercept them in their retreat. He at the same time sent out the company of Scotch officers, on whose courage he had the most unbounded reli- ance, to guard a pass through which he supposed the hussars would attempt to penetrate,—a piece of service which the officers accepted of with great cheerfulness, in return for the good opinion which the governor entertained of them. The hussars had in fact selected the pass for their route, but on approaching it they were deterred from their intention on being informed by a Jew, that the pass was guarded by a company of British officers, who lay in wait for them, and that if they attempted to go through it every one of them would be either killed or taken prisoner. They, therefore, retraced their steps, and seeing no possibility of escape, went to Strasburg, where they surrendered themselves. They boasted, however, that, had not the company of Scotch offi- cers prevented them, they would have marched through in spite of all the garrisons in Alsace, and crossed the Rhine at Basle in Switzerland. Although the officers suffered even greater privations than they did in Catalonia, and had to bear the hardships of an Alsace winter, remarkable that year for its severity, which, from the great deficiency in food and clothing, was no easy task, the mortality was not so great as might have been ex- pected, only five having died during their stay at Silistad. A report of their sufferings having been brought to King James by some person who felt an interest in the officers, he sent orders to their colonel to discharge such of them as might desire to withdraw from the service, and granted them per- mission to retire to St. Germains. Only fourteen however availed themselves of this kind offer. These, on arriving at JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 57 St. Germains, were received in the most gracious manner by King James, who offered either to support them handsomely at St. Germains, or to send them home to their own country at his own expense. After thanking his majesty for his gen- erous offer, they requested that he would allow them a few days to consider the matter; and, in the meantime, an oc- currence took place which, though trivial in itself, was looked upon by the devoted cavaliers as a singular event in their history from which important consequences might ensue. The "young gentleman," as the son of King James, a child of six years of age, was called, was in the practice of going to Marli in a carriage for his amusement, and one day when about entering the carriage, on his return to St. Germains, he recognised four of the officers whom he beckoned to ad- vance. They accordingly walked up to the carriage, and, falling on their knees, kissed the hand of the prince, who told them that he was sorry for their misfortunes, and that he hoped to live to see his father in a condition to reward their sufferings; that as for himself he was but a child, and did not understand much about government and the affairs of the world, but he knew this much, that they had acquitted them- selves like men of honour, and good and loyal subjects; and that they had, by their sufferings in the cause of his father laid him under an obligation which he would never forget. Then, handing his purse to them, which contained ten pis- toles and three half-crowns, he requested them to divide the contents among themselves, and to drink to the healths of his father and mother. After taking leave of the prince, they adjourned to a tavern in the town called, singularly enough, the Prince of Orange's Head, "where," says the narrator of the anecdote, "they spoke no treason, nor burned pretend- ers," but poured out copious libations to the health of the King and Queen, and the young Prince, who, on that day, had exhibited a precocity of talent which they were not quite prepared to expect. Before breaking up, a quarrel was likely 7 58 JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. to ensue among the officers for the possession of the purse, each claiming a right to keep it for the sake of the donor; but the discussion was speedily put an end to, by some of the nobility of the court, who, hearing of the dispute, and dreading the consequences, sent a person, in the king's name, to require delivery of the purse, a demand which was at once acceded to. In February, 1694, the three companies marched from Silistad to Old Brisac, whence the company of officers was sent to Fort Cadette on the Rhine, where they lay a year and four months. Their next station was at Strasburg, where, in December, 1697, they especially signalized them- selves. The occasion was this. General Stirk, who com- manded the imperial forces, having appeared with an army of 16,000 men on the right bank of the Rhine, apparently with a design to cross it, the Marquis de Sell drew out all the garrisons in Alsace, including the company of officers, amounting to about 4,000 men, and encamped them on the opposite bank over against Stirk, for the purpose of obstruct- ing his passage, and to prevent him from carrying a bridge over into an island in the middle of the river, from which Stirk would be enabled to annoy the French army with his artillery. From the depth of the water, however, and the want of boats, which prevented the French commander from taking possession of the island, he had the mortification to see the imperial general openly throw a bridge of boats across to the island, into which he placed a force of 500 men, who immediately raised a battery, behind which they entrenched themselves. Seeing the chagrin and disappointment which such an occurrence had occasioned to the Marquis, the Scotch officers, through the medium of Captain John Foster, who then commanded them, volunteered to cross over to the island by wading through the water, and to drive the Germans out of it. The Marquis, who appears at first not to have under- stood the plan of wading through the water, told Foster that, JACOBITE OFFICERS IN FRANCE. 59 as soon as his boats came up, the Scotch volunteers should have the honour of leading the attack; but Foster having explained that they meant to enter the water, the Marquis, in a fit of amazement, shrugged up his shoulders, prayed God to bless them, and desired them to act as they thought fit. Captain Foster, thereupon, returned to his company, and having informed the officers that he had obtained permission. from the Marquis to make the proposed attack, they, along with the other two companies, immediately made preparations for entering upon the difficult and dangerous enterprise they had chosen for themselves. Having tied their arms, shoes, and stockings, around their necks, they, favoured by the darkness of the night, advanced quietly to the bank of the river, and taking each other by the hand for better security, according to a Highland custom, they entered the water with a firm and steady pace. After they had passed the deepest part of the river, where the water was as high as their breasts, they halted, and having untied their cartouch-boxes and fire- locks, they proceeded quietly on their course, and gained the opposite bank unperceived by the enemy. They then ad- vanced with their firelocks levelled, and when sufficiently near the enemy's entrenchments, they poured in a volley among the surprised Germans, who immediately fled in con- fusion towards the bridge which they had erected. The volunteers pursued them closely, and killed several of them, and others were drowned in the river in consequence of the bridge having been broken down by the fugitives. When information was brought to the Marquis de Sell that the Germans were driven out of the island, and that it was in full possession of the Scotish companies, he expressed his gratitude and admiration by making the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast, and declared that these officers had performed the bravest action he had ever witnessed. Next morning he visited the island, and after embracing every officer, he gave them his most hearty thanks for the impor 60 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. tant service they had performed, and promised that he would send an account of their brave conduct to the French king, who, on receiving the despatches, went to St. Germains and thanked King James in person for the eminent service his subjects had performed. The officers remained six weeks on the island, during which General Stirk made several attempts to retake it; but his endeavours were defeated by the vigi- lance of the officers,-and seeing no hopes of being able to cross the Rhine, he abandoned his position, and retired into the interior. In honour of the captors the island was after- wards named L'Isle d'Ecosse. Alsace being thus relieved from the presence of an enemy, the company of officers returned to Strasburg to perform garrison duty. The last piece of active service they performed was in attacking and driving from a wood a body of hussars who had crossed the Rhine above Fort Louis. In this affair several of the hussars were killed, and they were forced to recross the Rhine with the loss of some of their horses and baggage. The negociations at Ryswick, which ended in a general peace, now commenced; and King William having, it is said, made the disbanding of the Scotish officers a sine qua non, the company was broken up at Silistad, after the conclusion of the treaty. Thus ended the history of these extraordinary men, few of whom survived their royal master. THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. THE Hebrides or Western Islands comprise all the numerous islands and islets which extend along nearly all the west coast of Scotland; and they anciently comprised also the peninsula of Cantyre, the islands of the Clyde, the isle of Rachlin, and even for some time the isle of Man. The chief of them shelter the western part of the Scotish mainland THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 61 from the fury of the Atlantic ocean, and, in a certain and no mean degree, do it service as a sort of vast natural umbrella; and they closely resemble it in appearance and general char- acter, and seem to have once been a continuation of its shores, and to have become disconnected by the dissevering action of the elements. They abound in at once the soft and the beautiful, the grand and the sublime, the picturesque and the wild, the dismal and the savage features of scenery. "What can be more delightful than a midnight walk by moonlight along the lone sea-beach of some secluded isle, the glassy sea sending from its surface a long stream of dancing and daz- zling light,no sound to be heard save the small ripple of the idle wavelet, or the scream of a sea bird watching the fry that swarms along the shores! In the short nights of summer, the melancholy song of the throstle has scarcely ceased on the hill-side, when the merry carol of the lark commences, and the plover and snipe sound their shrill pipe. Again, how glorious is the scene which presents itself from the sum- mit of one of the loftier hills, when the great ocean is seen glowing with the last splendour of the setting sun, and the lofty isles of St. Kilda rear their giant heads amid the purple blaze on the extreme verge of the horizon."-But pictures bright and interesting as these with their wild beauty, or bewildering and impressive with the grandeur of desolation, or mixedly playful and sublime in the twistings and aerial ascents of rock, or the mele and uproar of conflict among sea and wind and beetling cliffs, occur so often and so vari- usly throughout the Hebrides, that no general description. can convey an idea of their aggregate features. The pirates of Norway were acquainted with the Hebrides, and made occasional descents on them so early as about the close of the 8th century, and during the whole of the 9th. Some petty Norwegian Kings, who resisted the celebrated Harald Harfager's monopoly of kingcraft in their hyperborean territories, made permanent settlements about the year 880 62 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. : on several of the islands, and thence piratically infested the coasts of Norway. In 888, Harald retaliated on the pirates, and added the Isles to his kingdom. In 889, the petty Kings, or Vikingr, shook off his authority, and bearded him anew in his Norwegian den; and next year they were again pent up in their insular fastnesses, and completely enthralled. But Ketil, their subjugator, and the emissary of Harald, worked himself into their favour, renounced the allegiance of his master, proclaimed himself King of the Isles, and established a dynasty who, though they maintained brief possession, are the only figurants in the annals of about 50 years. In 990, the Hebrides passed by conquest into the possession of Sigurd, Earl of Orkney, and under the government of a jarl or vice-king of his appointment; they soon after were under the power of a king or usurper called Ragnal Mac- gophra in 1004, they were again seized by Sigurd, and pro- bably continued under his sway till his death, ten years later, at the famous battle of Clontarf in Ireland; in 1034, they were, after some alienation, reconquered by Earl Torfin, the son of Sigurd; from 1064 to 1072, they were annexed to the Irish dominions of Diarmid Macmaeluambo; and they next passed into the possession successively of Setric and his son Fingal, Kings of the Isle of Man. Godred Crovan, a Norwegian, having landed on the Isles as a fugitive in 1066, gradually drew around him influence and force, and, in 1077, after a desperate struggle, subdued and ejected Fingal; and he afterwards extended his conquests to the Scandinavian vikingrship of Dublin, and a large part of Leinster, and stoutly tried the tug of war with Malcolm Can- more, King of Scotland. In 1093, Sigurd, the son of Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, in revival of the Norwegian claims which had long lain in abeyance, was placed by a powerful and conquering force on the throne of the Isles; and two years later, Godred Crovan, the dethroned prince, died in retirement on the island of Islay. Sigurd being called away THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 63 on the death of his father, in 1103, to inherit his native do minions, Lagonan, the eldest son of Godred Crovan, was, seemingly with Sigurd's consent, elected King of the Isles; and, after a reign of seven years, he abdicated in favour of his brother Olave, a minor, and went on a pilgrimage to Palestine. Donald Mactade, a nominee of Murchard O'Brian King of Ireland, was sent at the request of the Hebridean nobles, to act as regent during Olave's minority; but he played so obnoxiously the part of a tyrant as to be indignantly turned adrift after a regency of two years. Olave assumed the scep- tre in 1113, and swayed it peacefully and prosperously till 1154, when he was murdered in the isle of Man, by his nephews, the sons of Harald. Godred the Black, Olave's son, succeeded him, and, early in his reign, conducted some successful wars in Ireland; but, puffed up with vanity and disposed to domineer, he speedily alienated the affections and poisoned the allegiance of his subjects. Somerled, the powerful and ambitious Lord of Argyle, who had married Ragahildis, the daughter of Olave, who had some remote claims on the Hebridean throne by his own an- cestors, and who became the founder of the great family of Macdonald, Lords of the Isles, now carried his son Dugall, the infant nephew of Godred, through all the islands, except that of Man, which was the seat of the royal residence, and compelled the principal inhabitants to give hostages on his behalf as their King. Godred, informed late of the rebellious proceedings, sailed away with a fleet of 80 galleys, and gave battle to the rebels; but was so gallantly resisted, and became so doubtful of success, that, by way of compromise, he ceded to the sons of Somerled the Scotish Hebrides south of Ard- namurchan. The kingdom of the Isles was now, in 1156, divided into two dominions, and rapidly approached its ruin. In 1158, Somerled, acting nominally for his sons, invaded and devastated the isle of Man, drove Godred to seek a refuge in Norway, and apparently took possession of all the Isles; に ​2% 64 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. and, in 1164, becoming bold in the spirit of conquest, he menaced all Scotland, landed a powerful force on the Clyde near Renfrew, and there perished either in battle with Mal- com IV., or by assassination in his tent. The northern isles now returned with the isle of Man to Godred; Islay was allotted to Reginald, a son of Somerled; and all the other isles were inherited by Dugall, in whose name they and the whole Hebrides had been seized by Somerled. All the princes, and afterwards three successors to their dominions, were contemporaneously called Kings of the Isles, and appear to have held their possessions in subordination to the Kings of Norway. The Scots having long looked with a jealous and ambitious. eye on the existence, so near their shores, of a foreign domi- nation, Alexander II. died on the coast of Argyleshire, at the head of an expedition intended to overrun the Isles. In 1255, Alexander III. ravaged the possessions of Angus Mac- donald, Lord of Islay, and descendant of Reginald, in revenge of his refusing to renounce fealty to the King of Norway, and gave it to himself. In 1263, Haco of Norway poured down his northern hosts on the intrusive Scots, drove them from the Isles, and chased them into Ayrshire, but, seeing his army shattered by adverse elements, and by the battle of Largs, retired to an early grave in Orkney. Alexander III. now resumed his schemes with so great vigour, that, in 1265, he obtained from the successor of Haco, a cession of all the Isles to Scotland. Islay, and the islands adjacent to it, con- tinued in the possession of the descendants of Reginald; some of the northern isles were held by the descendants of Ruari, both sons of Somerled, and Skye and Lewis were conferred on the Earl of Ross,-all in vassalage to the Scot ish monarch. In the wars of the succession, the houses of Islay and of the North Isles gave strenuous and hearty support to the doubtful fortunes of Robert Bruce. In 1325. Roderick THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 65 Mac Alan of the North Isles, intrigued against Robert, and was stripped of his possessions; and about the same date Angus Oig of Islay, who had specially and devotedly sup- ported Robert, received accessions to his territories, and be- came the most powerful vassal of the crown in the Hebrides. John, the successor of Angus, adopted different politics from his father's, joined the standard of Edward Baliol, and, when that prince was in possession of the throne, received from him the islands of Skye and Lewis. David II., after the discom- fiture of Baliol, allowed John to have possession of Islay, Gigha, Jura, Scarba, Colonsay, Mull, Coll, Tirree, and Lewis; and granted to Reginald, or Ranald, son of Roderick Mac- Alan, Uist, Barra, Eig, and Rum. Ranald dying, in 1346, without heirs, Amie, his sister, married to John, became his heir; and John, consolidating her possessions with his own, assumed the title of Lord of the Isles. Sir Walter Scott, by an easy anachronism, carries back the title of Lord of the Isles to the time of Somerled, and particularly applies it to Angus Oig,—and then, by poetical licence, he changes Angus's name into Ronald, and makes him the hero of his well-known poem in celebration of the exploits of Robert Bruce,-whom he represents as saying to Ronald," 66 "One effort more, and Scotland's free! Lord of the Isles, my trust in thee Is firm as Ailsa-rock.” And by way of picturing the extent of Ronald's" territory and renown, he introduces the nurse of his desponding bride as leading her to the summit of a turret of the Castle of Ar- tornish, on the coast of Argyleshire, on the morning of her espousals, and saying to her * * "These seas behold Round twice an hundred islands roll'd, B ! 66 THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. From Hirt, that hears their northern roar, To the green Islay's fertile shore; Or mainland turn, where many a tower Owns thy bold brother's feudal power, Each on its own dark cape reclined, And listening to its own wild wind, From where Mingarry, sternly placed, O'erawes the woodland and the waste, To where Dunstaffnage hears the raging Of Connal with his rocks engaging, Think'st thou, amid this ample round, A single brow but thine has frown'd, To sadden this auspicious morn, That bids the daughter of high Lorn Impledge her spousal faith to wed The Heir of mighty Somerled; Ronald, from many a hero sprung, The fair, the valiant, and the young, Lord of the Isles, whose lofty name A thousand bards have given to fame, The mate of monarchs, and allied On equal terms with England's pride.” John, the son of "Ronald" or Angus Oig, and the first real wearer of the title of Lord of the Isles, in resistance or revenge of some fiscal arrangements of the Scotish govern- ment, broke loose into rebellion, and, after being with diffi- culty subdued, was, in 1369, reconciled with David II., a year before the King's death. Having previously divorced his first wife Amie, and married Lady Margaret, daughter of Robert, High Steward of Scotland, he, in 1370, when Robert succeeded to the throne, altered the destination of the Lord- ship of the Isles, so as to make it descend to his offspring by his second wife, the grandchildren of the King. Ranald, a younger son of the first wife, and more accommodating and THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 67 : wily than Godfrey his eldest son, who claimed the whole pos- sessions, expressed formal acquiescence in the alienating arrangement from the rightful line of descent, and was re- warded by a grant of the North isles, as well as lands on the continent, to be held of the Lords of the Isles. John died in 1380, after having propitiated monkish and priestly favour by liberal largesses to the church, and obtained from the cowled and insatiable beggars, who happened to monopolize all the pitiful stock of literature which existed at that period, the posthumous and flattering designation of “the good John of Islay." Donald, his eldest son by the second marriage, succeeded him as Lord of the Isles; and, marrying Mary Leslie, who afterwards became Countess of Ross, was precipitated, with all the clans and forces of the Hebrides at his heels, into the well-known contest with the Regent Albany respecting the. earldom of Ross, and into its celebrated upshot, the battle of Harlaw. Acknowledged by all the Hebrides, even by his half-brothers, as indisputably Lord of the Isles, admitted to have earned in liberality and prowess and lordly qualities what he wanted in real justness of claim, and possessing strictly the status of the first Earl of Ross of his family, he died, in 1420, in Islay, and, as his father had been before him, was pompously sepultured in Iona. Alexander, the third Lord of the Isles, was formally de- clared by James I. to be undoubted Earl of Ross, and, in 1425, was one of the jury who handed the Duke of Albany, and his sons, and the aged Earl of Lennox, over to the slaughter. Having become embroiled with his kinsmen, the descendants of the first Lord of the Isles by his first mar- riage, and having shared in conflicting agencies which had thrown the Hebrides into confusion, he was, in 1427, sum- moned, along with many Hebridean and Highland chieftains, to appear before a parliament convened at Inverness. No sooner had he and his subordinates arrived than, by a strata- 68 THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. : gem of the King, they were arrested, and conveyed to sepa- rate prisons. Though suffering himself no other castigation or inconveniency than temporary imprisonment, he was galled oy the execution of not a few of his chieftains, and roused to revenge by the indignity practised on his own person; and, in 1429, he made a levy throughout both the Isles and his earldom of Ross, and, at the head of 10,000 men, devastated the crown-lands in the vicinity of Inverness, and burned the town itself to the ground. The King, informed of his pro- ceedings, so promptly collected troops, and led them on by forced marches, that he confounded the Lord of the Isles by suddenly overtaking him in Lochaber, won over by the mere display of the royal banner, the Clan Chattan and the Clan Cameron, two of his most important tribes, and so hotly and relentlessly attacked and pursued him that he vainly sued for terms of accommodation. The Lord of the Isles, driven to a fugitive condition, and despairing to escape the pursuers whom the King, abandoning personally the chase, had left to hunt along his track, resolved to cast himself on the royal mercy; and, on the eve of a solemn festival, clothed in the garb of pauperism and wretchedness, he rushed into the King's presence, amidst his assembled court in Holyrood, and, surrendering his sword, abjectly sued for pardon. Though his life was spared, he was endungeoned for two years in the castle of Tamtallon; and he learned there such lessons of rebuke from his chastisement, that, when after- wards pardoned by parliament for all his crimes, he conducted himself peaceably, and even rose into favour. During the minority of James II., he held the responsible and honour- able office of Justiciary of Scotland north of the Forth; and, probably more as its occupant, than in the use of his power as Lord of the Isles, he drove the chief of the Clan Cameron, who had deserted him in his conflict with the Crown, into banishment to Ireland, and virtual forfeiture of his lands. In 1445, however, he took part in a treasonable league with the THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 69 Earls of Douglas and Crawford against the infant-possessor of the royal throne, and probably contemplated nothing short of aiding an usurpation; but, before his treasons had time to be sunned into maturity, he died, in 1449, at his castle of Dingwall. John, the fourth Lord of the Isles, and the third Earl of Ross, having sold himself to the rebellious and mischief-making Earls of Douglas, who had justly though too severely reaped the fruits of the royal displeasure, despatched, in 1455, an expedition of 5,000 men to Ayrshire against James II., but reaped little other fruit than the ravaging of Arran and the Cumbraes, the wringing of some exactions from the isle of Bute, and the driving into exile of the bishop of Argyle or Lismore. Finding himself balked by his faithless allies, the Earls of Douglas, John, Lord of the Isles, made his submis- sion to the King, and seems to have been fully received into royal favour. In 1457, he filled the very important and re- sponsible office of one of the wardens of the marches; and, in 1460, previous to the siege of Roxburgh castle, he offered, at the head of 3,000 armed vassals, to march in the van of the royal army so as to sustain the first shock of conflict from expected invasion of the English, and was ordered to remain, as a sort of body-guard, near the King's person. But, on the accession of James III., he gave loose anew to his rebel- lious propensities, and, in 1461, sent deputies to the King of England, who agreed to nothing less than the contemplated conquest of Scotland by the forces of the Lord of the Isles jointly with an English army. While his deputies were yet in negociation, he himself impatiently burst limits, poured an army upon the northern counties of Scotland, took possession of the castle of Inverness, and formally assumed a regal style of address and demeanour. In 1475-though he had been previously forborne for 14 years, and allowed, by compromise or connivance, to run unmolestedly a traitorous and usurping career he was sternly denounced as a traitor and rebel, and 70 THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. summoned to appear before a parliament in Edinburgh to answer for his crimes. Held back by a sense of guilt from confronting his accusers, or showing face to his judges, he incurred sentence of forfeiture; and, menaced with a power- ful armament to carry the sentence into execution, he gladly put on weeds of repentance, and, under the unexpected shel- ter of the Queen and of the Estates of parliament, appeared personally at Edinburgh, and humiliatingly delivered himself to the royal clemency. With great moderation on the part of the King, he was restored to his forfeited possessions; and, making a voluntary surrender to the Crown of the earldom of Ross, and some other continental possessions, he was created a baron and a peer of parliament by the title of Lord of the Isles. The succession, however, being restricted to his bas- tard sons, and they proving rebellious, John, either actually participating in their measures, or unable to exculpate him- self from the show of evidence against him, was finally, in 1493, deprived of his title and estates. A few months after his forfeiture, making a virtue of necessity, he voluntarily surrendered his Lordship; and, after having become, for some time, a pensioner on the King's household, he sought a retreat in Paisley abbey, which he and his ancestors had liberally endowed, and there sighed out the last breath of the renowned Lords of the Isles. 1 James IV. seems now to have resolved on measures for preventing the ascendancy of any one family throughout the Isles; and, proceeding warily and liberally to work, he went in person to the West Highlands to receive the submission of the vassals of the Lordship. Alexander of Lochalsh, who was the presumptive heir before the last Lord's forfeiture, John of Islay, who was the descendant of a side branch from the first Lord, John Maclean, of Lochbuy, and other chief vassals immediately waited on the King, and were favoured with an instatement by royal charter in their possessions; and the first and the second received, at the same time, the THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 71 honour of knighthood. But several other vassals of power and influence delaying to make their submission, the King made a second and a third visit to the western coast, repaired and garrisoned the castle of Tarbert, and seized, stored, and garrisoned the castle of Dunaverty in Cantyre. Sir John of Islay, deeply offended at the seizure of Cantyre, on which he made some claims, came down on the peninsula when the King, with a small rear-body of his followers, was about to sail, and stormed the castle of Dunaverty, and hanged the governor before the King's view. James IV., though unable at the moment to retaliate or punish, soon after had Sir John and four of his sons captured, carried to Edinburgh, and convicted and executed as traitors. A year after, he made a fourth expedition westward, and received the sub- mission of various powerful vassals of the defunct Lordship, who hitherto had declined his authority. In 1496, an act was passed by the Lords of Council, making every chieftain in the Isles responsible for the due execution of legal writs upon any of his clan, on pain of becoming personally subject to the penalty exigible from the offender. In 1497, Sir Alexander of Lochalsh first invaded Ross, and was driven back by the Mackenzies and the Munroes, and next made an ineffectual attempt to rouse the Isles into rebellion round his standard, and drew upon himself, in the island of Oran- say, a surprise and slaughter from Macian of Ardnamurchan, aided by Alexander, the eldest surviving son of Sir John of Islay. In 1499, the King suddenly changing his policy, revoked all the charters he had granted to the vassals in the Isles, and commissioned Archibald, Earl of Argyle, and others, to let, in short leases, the lands of the Lordship within all its limits. as they stood at the date of forfeiture. The vassals, seeing preparations afoot for their ejection, and having now amongst them Donald Dubh, whom they viewed as the rightful Lord, and who had just escaped from an incarceration, one main i 72 THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. object of which was to prevent him from agitating his claims, formed a subtle, slowly-consolidated, and very dangerous confederacy. In 1503, Donald Dubh and his followers pre- cipitated themselves on the mainland, devastated Badenoch, and wore so formidable an insurgent aspect as to rouse the attention of parliament, and agitate the whole kingdom. Though all the royal forces north of the Clyde and the Forth were brought into requisition, and castles in the west were fortified and garrisoned, and missives, both seductive and menacing, were thrown among the rebels, two years were required for the vindicating of the King's authority. In 1504, the army acted in two divisions,—the northern, headed by the Earl of Huntly, and the southern, rendez- voused at Dumbarton, and led by the Earls of Arran and Argyle, Macian of Ardnamurchan, and Macleod of Dunve- gan; but, except its besieging the strong fort of Carneburg, on the west coast of Mull, and probably driving the islanders quite away from the continent, it did little execution. But, next year, the King personally heading the invasion of the Isles on the south, while Huntly headed it on the north, such successes were achieved as completely broke up the insurgent confederacy. Torquill Macleod of Lewis and some other chiefs still holding out in despair, a third expedition was undertaken in 1506, and led to the capture of the castle of Stornoway, and the dispersion of the last fragmentary gathi- erings of rebellion. Donald Dubh, the last male in the direct line of the forfeited Lords of the Isles, was again made prisoner, and shut up in Edinburgh castle. Sheriffs or justiciaries were now appointed respectively to the North Isles and to the South Isles, the courts of the former to be held at Inverness or Dingwall, and those of the latter at Tarbert or Lochkilkerran ; attempts were made to disseminate a knowledge of the laws; and the royal authority became so established that the King, up to his death, in 1513, was popular throughout the islands. 1 THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 73 In November, 1513, amid the confusion which followed the battle of Flodden and the death of James IV., Sir Donald of Lochalsh seized the royal strengths in the islands, made a devastating irruption upon Inverness-shire, and proclaimed himself Lord of the Isles. The Earl of Argyle, and various other chieftains in the western islands, exhorted by an act or letters of the council, adopted measures against the islanders, but only checked and did not subdue their rebellion. Nego- tiation achieved what arms could not accomplish, and, in 1515, brought the rebels into subjection, and effected an apparently cordial reconciliation between Sir Donald of Lochalsh and the Regent Albany. In 1517, however, Sir Donald was again in rebellion; but he so disgusted his followers by deceptions which they found him to have used in summoning them to arms, that they indignantly turned upon him, and were prevented, only by his making an opportune flight, from delivering him up to the Regent. In 1527, the tranquillity of the Isles was again menaced by the inhuman conduct of Lauchlan Cattanach Maclean of Dowart to his wife, Lady Elizabeth, daughter of Archibald, second Earl of Argyle. On a rock, still called "the Lady's Rock," between Lismore and Mull, the lady was exposed at low water by this monster, with the intention of her being swept away by the tide; but, being accidentally descried by a boat's crew, she was rescued, and carried to her brother's castle. One of the Campbells unceremoniously taking re- venge by assassinating the truculent chief, the Macleans and the Campbells both ran to arms for mutual onset, and, were prevented from embroiling the Isles only by the special in- terference of government. In 1528, all grants of the Crown lands in the Isles, made during the regency of the Earl of Angus, and considerable in extent, having been withdrawn, the Clan Donald of Islay and the Macleans, who were interested parties, rose up in insurrection, and drew down a devastation upon large por- : 74 THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. • tions of Mull and Tirree, by the Campbells, in revenge of sanguinary descents upon Roseneath and Craignish; and, in the same year, disastrous broils accrued in the North Isles from a feud between the Macdonalds and the Macleods of Harris. Nearly the whole Hebrides being, in 1529, in a state of insubordination and tumult, James V. made vast military and naval preparations for visiting them in person, and in- flicting on them a royal castigation; and he so overawed the Islesmen by the multitudinousness and the might of the hosts which he seemed about to precipitate on their territories, that many of their considerable chiefs hurriedly poured in letters and messages of submission. The King no longer esteeming his personal presence necessary, the Earls of Argyle and Mur- ray, respectively in the north and in the south, headed de- partments of the expedition, and, more by the mere display than by the application of the force which they commanded, reduced all the islands to obedience and order. Alexander of Islay, the most active mover in the insurrection, having in an abject manner placed himself wholly at the King's mercy at Stirling, was not only, on some easy conditions, freely par- doned, but even enriched with accessions to his estates; and in 1532, this pardoned insurgent was despatched at the head of 7,000 or 8,000 men to Ireland, to make a diversion in favour of the Scots in their war with England. In 1539, Donald Gorme of Sleat, the next lineal male heir of the Lords of the Isles after Donald Dubh, who continued in imprisonment, became the centre of an extensively rami- fied conspiracy for re-edifying the lordship of the Isles and the earldom of Ross on their ancient basis; and, strengthened by a numerous alliance, made a descent from Skye upon Ross-shire, and wasted the district of Kinlochen; but while attacking the castle of Elandonan, he was mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow, and bequeathed to his followers only the disasters of a hurried retreat, and the responsibility of a fruitless insurgent expedition. Though the insurrection was ! THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. 75 now at an end, the King, strongly resenting the object of it, sailed, in 1540, with a powerful armament, from the Forth, round the north of Scotland, to the Isles, and landed succes- sively on Lewis, Skye, Mull, and Islay, took on board his ships all the principal chiefs, disembarked at Dumbarton, and thence sent the chiefs captive to Edinburgh. Some stringent regulations seem now to have been made, though they have not come down to posterity, respecting the future preserva- tion of Hebridean order and subordination; and several of the more intractable and dangerous chiefs were denied their personal freedom; others who were liberated, were obliged to give hostages for their good conduct; and all the islanders. were overawed by the garrisoning with royal troops of some of the strengths of their territory. The early death of the King, however, in 1542, prevented his vigorous measures- the only ones of competent energy which had ever been hitherto adopted toward the turbulent Hebrideans-from bringing their fruit to maturity. Donald Dubh, the immediate heir of the lordship of the Isles, after having been forty years a prisoner from the period of his attempt to seize his inheritance, again broke from his jailers in 1543, and was received with enthusiasm by the people of the Isles. The Regent Arran in miserable policy exulted in his escape, in the prospect it afforded him of carv- ing out embarrassing work for the Earls of Argyle and Huntly, who had large possessions within the territories of the for- feited lordship; and, in order to give indirect but most effi- cient aid, he shortsightedly liberated the chiefs and hostages whom the late King had placed in custody for the conserva- tion of the Hebridean peace. Donald Dubh, supported by all the chiefs of the Isles except James Macdonald of Islay, made a descent on the Earl of Argyle's territories, and per- formed such feats of plunder and slaughter as detained the Earl from prosecuting some intrigues of state. The Regent Arran suddenly changing his views on the leading political 76 THE LORDS OF THE ISLES. question of the day-support or resistance of the views of the King of England-made munificent offers to Donald Dubh and the liberated chiefs to induce their detachment from the English party, but was mortified with total failure, and doubly mortified to reflect, that, by connivance at Don- ald, and the liberation of the chiefs and hostages, he had himself originated the evil which he now vainly negociated to avert. In 1544, during the expedition of the Earl of Len- nox to the Clyde, the islanders readily responded to a call by that commander and the English King, perpetrated hostile excesses in all accessible quarters where support was given to the Earls of Argyle and Huntly, and, in some instances, gave bonds of future service to England. Among the English in their defeat, in 1545, at Ancrum, was Neill Macneill of Gigha, one of the Hebridean chiefs,-present, possibly, as an ambassador from Donald Dubh. In June, 1545, the Regent Arran and his privy council, learning that the islanders were in course of formally transferring their allegiance from Scot- land to England, issued against them a smart proclamation, and, afterwards, seeing this to be regarded as a mere "brutum fulmen," commenced prosecutions for treason against the prin- cipal leaders. On the 5th of August, however, Donald Dubh and his chiefs in capacity of Lord and Barons of the Isles, appeared, with 4,000 men and 180 galleys, at Knockfergus in Ireland, and there, in the presence of commissioners sent to treat with them, formally swore allegiance to England; yet, acting under the advice of the Earl of Lennox, and regarding him as the real regent of Scotland, they did not consider themselves as revolting from the Scotish monarch. Four thousand armed men were, at the same time, left behind them under leaders in the Isles, to watch and check the move- ments of the Earls of Argyle and Huntly; and these, in com- mon with the 4,000 in attendance on Donald, were kept in pay by the English King to take part in a contemplated but abortive expedition against Scotland, and, immediately after THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 77 Donald's return, quarrelled among themselves respecting the distribution of the English gold. Donald dying toward the close of the year, at Drogheda in Ireland, seemingly while in the train of the baffled and re- treating Earl of Lennox, the islanders elected James Mac- donald to succeed him in his titular Lordship of the Isles. Yet the Macleods, both of Lewis and of Harris, the Macneills of Barra, the Mackinnons and the Macquarries, who had sup- ported Donald, stood aloof from James Macdonald, and asked and obtained a reconciliation with the Regent; and, in the following year, the Island-chiefs in general were exonerated from the prosecutions for treason which had been commenced against them, and sat down in restored good understanding with the Scotish government. James Macdonald now dropped the assumed title of Lord of the Isles, and seems to have been the last person who even usurpingly wore it, or on whose behalf a revival of it was attempted. THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. CC GLENCOE, the scene of one of the foulest atrocities which ensanguine the page of British history, is a wild, gloomy, alpine vale, about 10 miles long, in the district of Lorn, in Argyleshire. Entering it from the eastern extremity, the mountains rise in stupendous masses all around, forming an amphitheatre, vast in extent, and preserving a stillness and solemnity almost terrific, which is heightened by the desolate appearance of the vale; and, perchance, the hollow scream of a solitary eagle may excite a temporary feeling of horror. The bare rocks immediately in front shoot up perpendicu- larly, while those more distant appear in an innumerable variety of fantastic forms; and their singularity is increased 78 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. with the deep furrows worn by the winter-torrents from the top of the mountains. Immense masses of rock are also seen near the path through the glen, which, in the course of ages, have been loosened from the side of the mountain, and hurled along with the currents of rain to the depth of the glen. Its general appearance has a strong tendency to excite a feeling, that the place has been proscribed by Heaven as the habita- tion either of man or beast." Amid this vast, tremendous solitude, Where nought is heard except the wild wind's sigh, Or savage raven's deep and hollow cry, With awful thought the spirit is imbued! Around-around for many a weary mile, The Alpine masses stretch, the heavy cloud Cleaves round their brows, concealing with its shroud Bleak, barren rocks, unthawed by Summer's smile. Nought but the desert mountains and lone sky Are here:-birds sing not, and the wandering bee Searches for flowers in vain; nor shrub, nor tree, Nor human habitation greets the eye Of heart-struck pilgrim; while around him lie Silence and desolation, what is he! When the affairs of James VII. were becoming desperate in Scotland, and he himself had escaped from Ireland to France, the principal Jacobite leaders in the Highlands, in- cluding both chiefs and officers, held a meeting at Auchalader in Glenorchy, and there opened a negociation in person with the Earl of Breadalbane as the representative of King Wil- liam's government, and agreed with him to a three months' cessation of hostilities. To induce the chiefs to submit to the Government, money and other inducements were held out to them by Breadalbane, at whose disposal a sum of £15,000 had been p aced by King William. They, however, declined THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 79 to come to any definite arrangement at this time, and re- quested liberty to send Sir George Barclay and Major Men- zies to France, to obtain the sanction of King James, to enter into a treaty with the Government,—a request which was re- luctantly granted. After learning from these officers the miseries to which the clans were reduced, and the utter hope- lessness of attempting another campaign under existing cir- cumstances, James allowed them to make the best terms they could with the Government. Accordingly, and in terms of a proclamation issued by the Government on the 27th of August, 1691, promising an indemnity to all persons who had been in arms, and who should take an oath of allegiance to the Government before the 1st of January following, all the chiefs, with the exception of Mackian or Alexander Macdonald of Glencoe, gave in their adherence, and took the oath within. the prescribed time. A dispute had arisen between Macdon- ald and the Earl, at the meeting in Glenorchy, respecting certain claims which the Earl had against Macdonald's tenants for plundering his lands, and which the Earl insisted should be paid out of Macdonald's portion of the sum of money pro- posed by Government to be distributed among the chiefs. The failure of the negociation arose principally out of this dispute, and was extremely irritating to the Earl,-who threatened Macdonald with his vengeance, and, in pursuance of his threat, entered into a correspondence with Secretary Dalrymple, the master of Stair. Macdonald, though slower than the other chiefs to avail himself of the indemnity offered by the Government, yet re- solved to give in his adherence and take the oath of allegiance before the period of the indemnity expired; and accordingly he proceeded to Fort-William for the purpose, and arrived there on the 31st day of December, 1691, being the last day allowed by the proclamation for taking the oaths. He im- mediately presented himself to Colonel Hill, the governor of Fort-William, and required him to administer the oath 80 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. of allegiance to the Government; but the colonel declined to act, on the ground, that under the proclamation the civil magistrate alone could administer it. Glencoe remon- strated with Hill on account of the exigency of the case, as there was not any magistrate whom he could reach before the expiration of that day, but Hill persisted in his resolu- tion. He, however, advised Glencoe to proceed instantly to Inverary, and gave him a letter to Sir Colin Campbell of Ardkinlass, sheriff of Argyleshire, begging of him to receive Glencoe as lost sheep," and to administer the necessary oaths to him. Hill, at the same time, gave Glencoe a per- sonal protection under his hand, and gave him an assurance that no proceeding should be instituted against him under the proclamation, till he should have an opportunity of laying his case before the King or the Privy-council. CC a Glencoe left Fort-William immediately, and so great was his anxiety to reach Inverary with as little delay as possible, that although his way lay through mountains almost impas- sable, and although the country was covered with a deep snow, he proceeded on his journey without even stopping to see his family, though he passed within half-a-mile of his own house. At Barcaldine he was detained twenty-four hours by Captain Drummond. On arriving at Inverary, Sir Colin Campbell was absent, and he had to wait three days till his return, Sir Colin having been prevented from reaching Inve- rary sooner, on account of the badness of the weather. the time allowed by the proclamation for taking the oaths had expired, Sir Colin declined at first to swear Glencoe, alleging that it would be of no use to take the oaths; but Glencoe having first importuned him with tears to receive from him the oath of allegiance, and having thereafter threat- ened to protest against the sheriff should he refuse to act, Sir Colin yielded, and administered the oaths to Glencoe and his attendants on the 6th of January. Glencoe, thereupon, returned home in perfect reliance that, having done his utmost As THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 81 to comply with the injunction of the Government, he was free from danger. Three days after the oaths were taken, Sir Colin wrote Hill, acquainting him of what he had done, and that Glencoe had undertaken to get all his friends and followers to follow his example; and about the same time he sent the letter which he had received from Hill, and a certificate that Glen- coe had taken the oath of allegiance, together with instruc- tions to lay the same before the Privy-council, and to inform him whether or not the council received the oath. The paper on which the certificate that Glencoe had taken the oaths was written, contained other certificates of oaths which had been administered within the time fixed, but Sir Gilbert Elliot, the clerk of the Privy-council, refused to receive the certificate relating to Glencoe as irregular. Campbell, thereupon, waited upon Lord Aberuchil, a privy-councillor, and requested him to take the opinion of some members of the council, who accordingly spoke to Lord Stair and other privy-councillors,—all of whom gave an opinion that the cer- tificate could not be received without a warrant from the King. Instead, however, of laying the matter before the Privy-council, or informing Glencoe of the rejection of the certificate, that he might petition the King, Campbell per- fidiously defaced the certificate, and gave in the paper on which it was written to the clerks of the council.* That no * Whether, in thus acting, Campbell was influenced by Secre- tary Dalrymple, who has obtained an infamous notoriety by the active part which he took in bringing on the massacre of Glencoe, it is impossible to say; but it is not improbable that this man— who, a few weeks before, had exulted that as the winter was the only season in which the Highlanders could not escape, they could easily be destroyed "in the cold long nights' -was not an indifferent spectator to Campbell's proceedings. In fact, it appears that the secretary contemplated the total extirpation of the clans, for, in a letter to Sir Thomas Livingston, dated the 7th of January, he says: "You know in general that these troops posted at Inverness and Inverlochie, will be ordered to take in the house of Innergarie, F 82 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. time, however, might be lost in enforcing the penalties in the proclamation, now that the time allowed for taking the oath of allegiance had expired, instructions of rather an equivocal nature, signed and countersigned by the King on the 11th of January, were sent down by young Stair to Sir Thomas Livingston on the same day, enclosed in a letter from the secretary of same date. By the instructions, Livingston was ordered "to march the troops against the rebels who had not taken the benefit of the indemnity, and to destroy them by fire and sword;" but lest such a course might render them desperate, he was allowed to "give terms and quarters, but in this manner only, that chieftains and heritors, or leaders, be prisoners of war, their lives only safe, and all other things in mercy, they taking the oath of allegiance; and the com- munity taking the oath of allegiance, and rendering their arms, and submitting to the government, are to have quarters, and indemnity for their lives and fortunes, and to be pro- tected from the soldiers." As a hint to Livingston how to act under the discretionary power with which these instruc- tions vested him, Dalrymple says in his letter containing them : "I have no great kindness to Keppoch nor Glencoe, and it is well that people are in mercy, and then just now my Lord Argyle tells me that Glencoe hath not taken the oath, at which I rejoice. It is a great work of charity to be and to destroy entirely the country of Lochaber, Lochiel's lands, "I assure you Keppoch's, Glengarie's, and Glencoe," and he adds, your power shall be full enough, and I hope the soldiers will not trouble the Government with prisoners." In another letter to Sir Thomas, written two days thereafter, by which time accounts had reached him that Glencoe had taken the oaths, he expresses satis- faction that the rebels" would not be able to oppose his designs, and as their chieftains were "all papists," he thinks it would be well that vengeance fell upon them. The Macdonalds were chiefly marked out by him for destruction, and after saying that he could have wished that they "had not divided on the question of taking the oath of indemnity, he expresses his regret to find that Keppoch and Glencoe were safe. THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 83 1 exact in rooting out that damnable sect, the worst of the Highlands." The purport of this letter could not be mis- understood; but lest Livingston might not feel disposed to imbrue his hands in the blood of Glencoe and his people, additional instructions bearing the date of 16th January, and also signed and countersigned by King William, were de- spatched to Livingston by the master of Stair, ordering him to extirpate the whole clan.* In the letter containing these instructions, Dalrymple informs Livingston that "the King does not at all incline to receive any after the diet but in mercy," but he artfully adds, "but for a just example of ven- geance, I entreat the thieving tribe of Glencoe may be rooted out to purpose." Lest, however, Livingston might hesitate, * These instructions are as follow: WILLIAM R. 1. The copy of the 16th January, 1692. paper given by Macdonald of Aughtera to you has been shown us. We did formerly grant passes to Buchan and Cannon, and we do authorize and allow you to grant passes to them, and ten servants to each of them, to come freely and safely to Leith; from that to be transported to the Netherlands before the 15th of March next, to go from thence where they please, without any stop or trouble. 2. We do allow you to receive the submissions of Glengarry and those with him, upon their taking the oath of allegiance and de- livering up the house of Invergarry; to be safe as to their lives, but as to their estates to depend upon our mercy. 3. In case you find that the house of Invergarry cannot probably be taken in this season of the year, with the artillery and provision you can bring there; in that case we leave it to your discretion to give Glengarry the assurance of entire indemnity for life and for- tune, upon delivering of the house and arms, and taking the oath of allegiance. In this you are to act as you find the circumstances of the affair do require; but it were much better that those who have not taken the benefit of our indemnity, in the terms within the diet prefixt by our proclamation, should be obliged to render upon mercy. The taking the oath of allegiance is indispensable, others having already taken it. 4 If M'Ean of Glencoe and that tribe can be well separated from the rest, it will be a proper vindication of the public justice to extirpate that set of thieves. The double of these instructions is only communicated to Sir Thomas Livingston. W. REX. 84 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. a duplicate of these additional instructions was sent at the same time by Secretary Dalrymple to Colonel Hill, the gov- ernor of Fort-William, with a letter of an import similar to that sent to Livingston.* ary. Preparatory to putting the butchering warrant in execu- tion, a party of Argyle's regiment, to the number of 120 men, under the command of Captain Campbell of Glenlyon, was ordered to proceed to Glencoe, and take up their quar- ters there, about the end of January or beginning of Febru- On approaching the glen, they were met by John Macdonald, the elder son of the chief, at the head of about twenty men, who demanded from Campbell the reason of his coming into a peaceful country with a military force. Glenlyon, and two subalterns who were with him, explained that they came as friends, and that their sole object was to obtain suitable quarters, where they could conveniently col- lect the arrears of cess and hearth-money-a new tax laid on by the Scotish parliament in 1690-in proof of which, Lieu- tenant Lindsay produced the instructions of Colonel Hill to that effect. The officers having given their parole of honour that they came without any hostile intentions, and that no harm would be done to the persons or properties of the chief and his tenants, they received a kindly welcome, and were hospitably entertained by Glencoe and his family till the Indeed, so familiar was fatal morning of the massacre. Glenlyon, that scarcely a day passed that he did not visit the house of Alexander Macdonald, the younger son of the chief, who was married to his niece, and take his "morning drink,” * From the following extract it would appear that not only the Earl of Breadalbane, but also the Earl of Argyle, was privy to this The Earls of Argyle and Breadalbane infamous transaction. have promised that they (the Macdonalds of Glencoe) shall have no retreat in their bounds, the passes to Rannoch would be secured, and the hazard certified to the laird of Weems to reset them; in that case, Argyle's detachment, with a party that may be posted in Island-Stalker, must cut them off." THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 85 agreeably to the most approved practice of Highland hospi- tality. If Secretary Dalrymple imagined that Livingston was disinclined to follow his instructions, he was mistaken; for immediately on receipt of them, he wrote Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, who had been fixed upon by the secretary to be the executioner, expressing his satisfaction that Glencoe had not taken the oath within the period prescribed, and urging him now that a "fair occasion " offered for showing that his garrison served for some use, and as the order to him from the court was positive, not to spare any that had not come timeously in, and desiring that he would begin with Glencoe, and spare nothing of what belongs to them, "but not to trouble the Government with prisoners," or in other words, to massa- cre every man, woman, and child. Hamilton, however, did not take any immediate steps for executing this inhuman order. In the meantime, the master of Stair was not inac- tive in inciting, his blood-hounds to the carnage, and accord- ingly on the 30th of January he wrote two letters, one to Livingston, and the other to Hill, urging them on. Address- ing the former, he says: I am glad Glencoe did not come in within the time prefixed; I hope what is done there may be in earnest, since the rest are not in a condition to draw together help. I think to harry (plunder) their cattle, and burn their houses, is but to render them desperate lawless men to rob their neighbours, but I believe you will be satis- fied, it were a great advantage to the nation that thieving tribe were rooted out and cut off; it must be quietly done, otherwise they will make shift for both their men and their cattle. Argyle's detachment lies in Lelrickweel, to assist the garrison to do all of a sudden." And in his letter to Hill. he says: Pray, when the thing concerning Glencoe is re- solved, let it be secret and sudden, otherwise the men will shift you, and better not meddle with them than not to do it to purpose, to cut off that nest of robbers who have fallen in the mercy of the law, now when there is force and oppor- 66 86 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. .. tunity, whereby the king's justice will be as conspicuous and useful as his clemency to others. I apprehend the storm is so great that for some time you can do little, but so soon as possible I know you will be at work, for these false people will do nothing, but as they see you in a condition to do with them." In pursuance of these fresh instructions from the secretary, Hill, on the 12th of February, sent orders to Hamilton, forth- with to execute the fatal commission, who, accordingly, on the same day, directed Major Robert Duncanson of Argyle's regiment to proceed immediately with a detachment of that regiment to Glencoe, so as to reach the post which had been assigned him by five o'clock the following morning, at which hour Hamilton promised to reach another post with a party of Hill's regiment. Whether Duncanson was averse to take an active personal part in the bloody tragedy about to be enacted, is a question the solution of which would neither aggravate nor extenuate his guilt as a party to one of the foulest murders ever perpetrated in any age or country; but the probability is, that he felt some repugnance to act in person, as immediately on receipt of Hamilton's order, he despatched another order from himself to Captain Campbell of Glenlyon, then living in Glencoe, with instructions to fall upon the Macdonalds precisely at five o'clock the following of morning, and put all to the sword under seventy years Campbell was a man fitted for every kind of villany, a mon- ster in human shape, who, for the sake of lucre, or to gratify his revenge, would have destroyed his nearest and dearest friend, and who, with consummate treachery, Could smile, and murder while he smiled." age. With this sanguinary order in his pocket, he accordingly did not hesitate to spend the eve of the massacre at cards with John and Alexander Macdonald, the sons of the chief, to wish them good night at parting, and to accept an invita- THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 87 The tion from Glencoe himself to dine with him the following day, although he had resolved to imbrue his hands in the blood of his kind-hearted and unsuspecting host, his sons, and utterly to exterminate the whole clan within a few hours! Little suspecting the intended butchery, Glencoe and his sons retired to rest at their usual hour; but early in the morning, while the preparations for the intended massacre were going on, John Macdonald, the elder son of the chief, hearing the sound of voices about his house, grew alarmed, and jumping out of bed threw on his clothes, and went to Inverriggen, where Glenlyon was quartered, to ascertain the cause of the unusual bustle which had interrupted his nocturnal slumbers. To his great surprise he found the soldiers all in motion, as if preparing for some enterprise, a circumstance which in- duced him to enquire at Captain Campbell the object of such extraordinary preparations at such an early hour. anxiety with which young Macdonald pressed his question, indicating a secret distrust on his part, Campbell endeavoured by professions of friendship to lull his suspicions, and pre- tended that his sole design was to march against some of Glen- As Alexander Macdonald, the younger son of garry's men. Glencoe, was married to Glenlyon's niece, that crafty knave referred to his connexion with the family of Glencoe, and put it to the young man, whether, if he intended any thing hostile to the clan, he would not have provided for the safety of his niece and her husband. Macdonald, apparently satis- fied with this explanation, returned home and retired again to rest; but he had not been long in bed when his servant, who, apprehensive of the real intentions of Glenlyon and his party, had prevented Macdonald from sleeping, informed him of the approach of a party of men towards the house. Jump- ing immediately out of bed, he ran to the door, and perceiv- ing a body of about twenty soldiers with muskets and fixed bayonets coming in the direction of his house, he filed to a hill in the neighbourhood, where he was joined by his brother 88 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. Alexander, who had escaped from the scene of carnage, after being wakened from sleep by his servant. The massacre commenced about five o'clock in the morn- ing at three different places at once. Glenlyon, with a bar- barity which fortunately for society has few parallels, under- took to butcher his own hospitable landlord and the other inhabitants of Inverriggen, where he and a party of his men were quartered, and despatched Lieutenant Lindsay with another party of soldiers to Glencoe's house to cut off the unsuspecting chief. Under the pretence of a friendly visit, he and his party obtained admission into the house. Glen- coe was in bed, and while in the act of rising to receive his cruel visiters, he was basely shot at by two of the soldiers, and fell lifeless into the arms of his wife. One ball entered the back of his head, and another penetrated his body. The lady, in the extremity of lier anguish, leapt out of bed and put on her clothes, but the ruffians stripped her naked, pulled the rings off her fingers with their teeth, and treated her so cruelly that she died the following day. The party also killed two men whom they found in the house, and wounded a third, named Duncan Don, who came occasionally to Glencoe with letters from Braemar. While the butchery was going on in Glencoe's house, Glenlyon was busily pur- suing the same murderous course at Inverriggen, where his own host was shot by his order. Here the party seized nine men, whom they first bound hand and foot, after which they shot them one by one. Glenlyon was desirous of saving the life of a young man about twenty years of age, but one Cap- tain Drummond shot him dead. The same officer, impelled by a thirst for blood, ran his dagger through the body of a boy who had grasped Campbell by the legs, and who was supplicating for mercy. Glenlyon's party carried their cru- elty even so far as to kill a woman, and a boy only four or five years old. A third party, under the command of one Sergeant Barker, which was quartered in the village of THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 89 Auchnaion, fired upon a body of nine men whom they ob- served in a house in the village sitting before a fire. Among these was the laird of Auchintrincken, who was killed on the spot, along with four more of the party. This gentleman had at the time a protection in his pocket from Colonel Hill, which he had received three months before. The remainder of the party in the house, two or three of whom were wounded, escaped by the back of the house, with the excep- tion of a brother of Auchintrincken, who having been seized by Barker, requested him, as a favour, not to despatch him in the house, but to kill him without. The sergeant con- sented, because, as he said, he had experienced his kindness; but when brought out he threw his plaid, which he had kept loose, over the faces of the soldiers who were appointed to shoot him, and also escaped. Besides the slaughter at these three places, there were some persons dragged from their beds and murdered in other parts of the glen, among whom was an old man of eighty years of age. Between thirty and forty of the inhabitants of the glen were slaughtered, and the whole male population, under seventy years of age, amounting to two hundred, would have been cut off, if, fortunately for them, a party of four hundred men under Lieutenant-colonel Hamilton, who was principally charged with the execution of the sanguinary warrant, had not been prevented by the severity of the weather from reaching the glen till eleven o'clock, six hours after the slaughter, by which time the whole surviving male inhabitants, warned of their danger and the fate of their chief and the other sufferers, had fled to the hills. Ignorant of this latter circumstance, Hamilton, on arriving at Kinlochleven, appointed several parties to pro- ceed to different parts of the glen, with orders to take no prisoners, but to kill all the men that came in their way. They had not, however, proceeded far when they fell in with Major Duncanson's party, by whom they were informed of the events of the morning, and who told them that as the 90 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. survivors had escaped to the hills, they had nothing to do but to burn the houses and carry off the cattle. They ac- cordingly set fire to the houses, and having collected the cattle and effects in the glen, they carried them to Inver- lochy, where they were divided among the officers of the garrison. That Hamilton would have executed his com- mission to the very letter, is evident from the fact, that an old man, the only remaining male inhabitant of the desolate vale they fell in with, was put to death by his orders. After the destruction of the houses, a scene of the most heart-rending description ensued. Ejected from their dwell- ings by the devouring element, aged matrons, married wo- men, and widowed mothers, with infants at their breasts and followed by children on foot, clinging to them with all the solicitude and anxiety of helplessness, were to be seen all wending their way, almost in a state of nudity, towards the mountains in a piercing snow-storm, in quest of some friendly hovel, beneath whose roof they might seek shelter from the But as pitiless tempest, and deplore their unhappy fate. there were no houses within the distance of several miles, and as these could only be reached by crossing mountains deeply covered with snow, the greater part of these unhappy beings, overcome by fatigue, cold, and hunger, dropt down and perished miserably among the snow. "O tell me, Harper, wherefore flow Thy wayward notes of wail and woe, Far down the desert of Glencoe, Where none may list their melody? Say, harp'st thou to the mists that fly, Or to the dun deer glancing by, Or to the eagle that from high, Screams chorus to thy minstrelsy? The Sea Kings of Orkney.-Page 90. t THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 91 No, not to these, for they have rest,— The mist-wreath has the mountain-crest, The stag his lair, the erne her nest, Abode of lone security. But those for whom I pour the lay, Not wild-wood deep, nor mountain grey, Not this deep dell, that shrouds from day, Could screen from treach'rous cruelty. Their flag was furl'd, and mute their drum, The very household dogs were dumb, Unwont to bay at guests that come In guise of hospitality. His blithest notes the piper plied, Her gayest snood the maiden tied, The dame her distaff flung aside, To tend her kindly housewifery. The hand that mingled in the meal, At midnight drew the felon steel, And gave the host's kind breast to feel Meed for his hospitality! The friendly hearth which warmed that hand, At midnight arm'd it with the brand, That bade destruction's flames expand Their red and fearful blazonry. There woman's shriek was heard in vain, Nor infancy's unpitied plain, More than the warrior's groan, could gain, Respite from ruthless butchery! The winter wind that whistled shrill, The snows that night that cloaked the hill, Though wild and pitiless, had still Far more than Southern clemency." 92 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. While this brutal massacre struck terror into the hearts of the Jacobite chiefs, and thus so far served the immediate ob- ject of the Government, it was highly prejudicial to King William, who was considered its chief author. In every quarter, even at court, the account of the massacre was re- ceived with horror and indignation, and the Jacobite party did not fail to turn the affair to good account against the Government, by exaggerating, both at home and abroad, the barbarous details. The odium of the nation rose to such a pitch, that had the exiled monarch appeared at the head of a few thousand men, he would probably have succeeded in re- gaining his crown. The ministry, and even King William, grew alarmed, and to pacify the people he dismissed the Master of Stair from his councils, and appointed a commis- sion of inquiry to investigate the affair, and pretended that he had signed the order for the massacre among a mass of other papers, without knowing its contents. This is the only defence ever offered for King William, but it is quite unsa- tisfactory. For 1st, It is inconceivable that Secretary Dal- rymple or any other minister, would have ventured to prepare such an extraordinary order without the express authority of his majesty, or would have obtained his signature to it with- out first acquainting him of its purport. 2d, The fact that neither Dalrymple nor any other minister was impeached for such an act, makes it extremely probable that William was privy to its contents. 3d, The unusual mode of signing and countersigning the order would have made William desirous to know the import of such a document, had he not been previously aware of its nature. 4th, His refusal or neglect to order the principal parties concerned in the massacre to be brought to trial, after the estates of parliament had ad- dressed him for that purpose, and the fact of his promoting those guilty individuals in his service, show that he could not do so without implicating himself. Though the nation had long desired an inquiry into this THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 93 barbarous affair, it was not until the 29th day of April, 1695, upwards of three years after the massacre, that a commissiou was granted. A commission had, indeed, been issued in 1693, appointing the Duke of Hamilton and others to exa- mine into the affair; but this was a piece of mere mockery, and was never acted upon; but it now became necessary to satisfy the call of the nation by instituting an investigation. The Marquis of Tweeddale, lord-high-chancellor of Scotland, and the other commissioners now appointed, accordingly en- tered upon the inquiry, and, after examining witnesses and documents, drew up a report which was subscribed at Holy- rood-house, on the 20th of June, and transmitted to his ma- jesty. The commissioners appear to have executed their task with great fairness; but, anxious to palliate the conduct of the King, they gave a forced construction to the terms of the order, and threw the whole blame of the massacre upon Secretary Dalrymple. They do not seem to have discovered any evidence to implicate the Earl of Breadalbane, but merely say, in reference to him, that it "was plainly de- poned" before them, that, some days after the slaughter, a person waited upon Glencoe's sons, and represented to them that he was sent by Campbell of Balcalden, the chamberlain or steward of the Earl, and authorized to say, that, if they would declare, under their hands, that his lordship had no concern in the slaughter, they might be assured the Earl would procure their "remission and restitution." While the commissioners were engaged in this inquiry, they ascertained that, in his negotiations with the Highlanders, the Earl had acted in such a way as to lay himself open to a charge of high treason, in consequence of which discovery, he was committed prisoner to the castle of Edinburgh; but he was soon liberated from confinement, as it turned out that he had professed himself a Jacobite, that he might the more readily execute the commission with which he had been in- trusted, and that King William himself was a party to this 34 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. contrivance. The report of the commissioners was laid be- fore the parliament of Scotland on the 24th of June, which, although it voted the execution of the Glencoe-men to be a murder, resolved nemine contradicente, that the instructions. contained in the warrant of the 16th of January, 1692, did not authorize the massacre. The probability is that the rancorous political partizan- ships of the period, the unacquaintance of many of the leaders of the antagonist parties with one another's true characters, the contortion of ordinary facts and communica- tions by powerful though unconscious prejudices, and the misconceiving of opinion and statement in consequence of the hereditary animosities of the clans, combined to produce such contretemps and intricacies of thought and purpose among all the principal persons connected with the massacre as even they themselves were never fully able to unravel or comprehend. Neither the commissioners nor the parliament, though they acted near enough the event to command every source of information, and remote enough from it both to escape excitement and to baffle mystification, were capable of understanding it; and though the Earl, the Secretary, and the King, and all the actors and advisers had met for the ex- press purpose of mutual explanation, they might possibly have arrived at no distincter a conclusion than that all had more or less misunderstood one another and become jointly implicated in one tremendous mistake. Animosity and re- venge may no doubt be charged in the gross with the main guilt of the atrocious tragedy; but they acted rather remotely than immediately,-rather through a mist than in clear light, -rather amidst the peculiar confusion of the times than on a proper arena of their own; and they seem to have been mightily aided by sheer misapprehensions, and must not be charged exclusively, or perhaps even principally, on any one of the advising or acting parties, and least of all on King William or his responsible government. Whatever amount 1 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. 95 .: of mistake the King and his Secretary may have committed, or however culpably they may have fallen into that mistake from prejudice or partiality or reprehensible ignorance, they obviously were free from malice, they had no share in the animus of the horrific murder,'-the whole drift of their government testifies loudly to their innocence. Would we could say as much for the immediate actors! They certainly were very far from being the only parties to blame,—and they would not have dared to behave as they did unless they had believed themselves to be acting under high sanction; but they manifestly went with a will to the work,-and if they did not even consciously or violently overstretch their commission, they at least had a liking for it, and may be supposed to have cherished little wish to abate any of its rigour. The Western Highlanders themselves, we believe, have all along deplored the fate of the massacred and reprobated the conduct of the massacrers. The belief," says General Stewart," that punishment of the cruelty, oppression, or misconduct of an individual, descended as a curse on his chil- dren to the third and fourth generation, was not confined to the common people. All ranks were influenced by it, be- lieving that if the curse did not fall upon the first or second generation, it would inevitably descend upon the succeeding. The late Colonel Campbell of Glenlyon retained this belief through a course of thirty years' intercourse with the world, as an officer of the 42d regiment, and of Marines. He was grandson of the laird of Glenlyon, who commanded the mili- tary at the massacre of Glencoe, and who lived in the laird of Glencoe's house, where he and his men were hospitably re- ceived as friends, and entertained a fortnight before the exe- cution of his orders. He was playing at cards with the family when the first shot was fired, and the murderous scene com- menced. Colonel Campbell was an additional captain in the 42d regiment in 1748, and was put on half pay. He then 96 THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE. ; entered the Marines, and in 1762 was major, with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel, and commanded 800 of his corps at the Havannah. In 1771, he was ordered to superintend the execution of the sentence of a court-martial on a soldier of marines, condemned to be shot. A reprieve was sent, but the whole ceremony of the execution was to proceed until the criminal was upon his knees, with a cap over his eyes, prepared to receive the volley. It was then he was to be informed of his pardon. No person was to be told previ- ously, and Colonel Campbell was directed not to inform even the firing party, who were warned that the signal to fire would be the waving of a white handkerchief by the com- manding officer. When all was prepared, and the clergyman had left the prisoner on his knees, in momentary expectation of his fate, and the firing party were looking with intense at- tention for the signal, Colonel Campbell put his hand into his pocket for the reprieve, and in pulling out the packet the white handkerchief accompanied it, and catching the eyes of the party, they fired, and the unfortunate prisoner was shot dead. The paper dropped through Colonel Campbell's fin- gers, and clapping his hand to his forehead, he exclaimed, 'The curse of God and of Glencoe is here, I am an unfortunate ruined man.' He desired the soldiers to be sent to the barracks, instantly quitted the parade, and soon afterwards retired from the service. This retirement was not the result of any reflection or reprimand on account of this unfortunate affair, as it was known to be entirely acci- dental. The impression on his mind, however, was never effaced. Nor is the massacre and the judgment which the people believe has fallen on the descendants of the prin- cipal actors in this tragedy, effaced from their recollection. They carefully note, that while the family of the unfor- tunate gentleman who suffered is still entire, and his estate preserved in direct male succession to his posterity, this is not the case with the family, posterity, and estates, of those EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. 97 : who were the principals, promoters, and actors in this black affair." The same author, to illustrate the force of principle, when founded on a sense of honour and its consequent influence, relates another anecdote in reference to this massacre, which also deserves to be here repeated. "When the army of Prince Charles, in the ranks of which were Macdonald of Glencoe, the descendant of the murdered chief, and all his followers, lay at Kirkliston in the year 1745, near the seat of the Earl of Stair, the grandson of Secretary Dalrymple, who took such a prominent part in the massacre, the Prince, anxious to save the house and property of Lord Stair, and to remove from his followers all excitement to revenge, but at the same time not comprehending their true character, proposed that the Glencoe-men should be marched to a dis- tance from Lord Stair's house and parks, lest the remembrance of the share which his grandfather had had in the order for extirpating the whole clan, should now excite a spirit of re- venge. When the proposal was communicated to the Glencoe- men, they declared that, if that was the case, they must return home. If they were considered so dishonourable as to take revenge on an innocent man, they were not fit to remain with honourable men, nor to support an honourable cause; and it was not without much explanation, and great persuasion, that they were prevented from marching away the following morning." : THE EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. FEW events of its kind have ever made a deeper or more lasting impression on the public mind than the execution of the Lady of Warriston, on the 5th of July, 1600, for the murder of her husband. The property of Warriston lies about a mile north of the old city of Edinburgh, and now 98 EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. contains a portion of the northern suburb of the New Town. The laird of it, who was murdered by his lady, and who, in the courtesy of the age, was sometimes called Lord Warris- ton, was John Kincaid, a person of considerable consequence in Edinburgh, and nearly related to the ancient family of Kincaid of Kincaid in Stirlingshire; and his lady was Jean Livingstoune, the daughter of John Livingstoune of Duni- pace, and the relative of many of the most aristocratic families in Scotland. She was only about twenty years of age at the time of the murder; and she is highly celebrated in several popular ballads of the period for her graceful appearance and uncommon beauty. She conceived a deadly hatred against her husband on account of some alleged ill-treatment of her person or of some aspersion upon her honour; and, at the instigation of her nurse, and with her zealous assistance, she employed a man of the name of Weir and one or two other accomplices to destroy him. Weir entered his bed room about midnight, and strangled him. The news immediately reached the proper authorities; and the Lady Warriston, 'the fause nourise,' and two hyred women,' were taken 'red-hand,' and speedily brought to trial and condemned. Weir escaped for a time, but was eventually caught and executed. The Lady Warriston was beheaded at the foot of the Canongate; the nurse and one of the female accomplices were burnt on the Castle Hill; and Weir was broken on ane cart-wheel with ane coulter of ane pleuche in the hand of the hangman.' The Lady Warriston was speedily overwhelmed with most poignant and true repentance, and is said to have declined all efforts for saving her life. A portion of one of the best of the extant ballads upon her says: 66 They've ta'en the lady and fause nourice, In prison strong they ha'e them boun'; The nourice she was hard o' heart, But the bonny lady fell in swoon. ? EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. 99 : In it came her brother dear, And aye a sorry man was he; I wou'd gie a' the lands I heir, O bonny Jean, to borrow thee. O borrow me, brother, borrow me,— O borrow'd shall I never be ; For I gart kill my ain gude lord, And life is nae pleasure to me. In it came her mother dear, I wyte a sorry woman was she; I wou'd gie my white monie and gowd, O bonny Jean, to borrow thee. Borrow me, mother, borrow me,- O borrow'd shall I never be; For I gart kill my ain gude lord, And life's now nae pleasure to me. Then in it came her father dear, I wyte a sorry man was he; Says, ohon! alas! my bonny Jean, If I had you at hame wi' me. Seven daughters I ha'e left at hame, As fair women as fair can be; But I wou'd gi'e them ane by ane, O bonny Jean, to borrow thee. O borrow me, father, borrow me, O borrow'd shall I never be; I that is worthy o' the death, It is but right that I shou'd dee. Un 100 EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. Then out it speaks the king himsell And aye as he steps in the fleer; Says, I grant you your life, lady, Because you are of tender year. A boon, a boon, my liege the king, The boon I ask, ye'll grant to me. Ask on, ask on, my bonny Jean, Whate'er ye ask it's granted be. Cause take me out at night, at night, Lat not the sun upon me shine, And take me to yon heading hill, Strike aff this dowie head o' mine. Ye'll take me out at night, at night, When there are nane to gaze and see, And ha'e me to yon heading hill, And ye'll gar head me speedilie." An extremely interesting account of her behaviour in prison and on the scaffold, written seemingly by one of the contem- porary ministers of Edinburgh, was preserved among Wodrow's Manuscripts in the Advocates' Library, and is reported on in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials. Its title is, A Worthy and Notable Memorial of the great Work of Mercy, which God wrought in the Conversion of Jean Livingston, Lady Warris- toun; who was apprehended for the vile and horrible murder of her own husband, John Kincaid; committed on Tuesday, July 1, 1600; for which she was execute, on Saturday fol- lowing: Containing an Account of her obstinacy, earnest repentance, and her turning to God; of the odd speeches she used, during her imprisonment; of her great and marvellous constancy; and of her behaviour and manner of her death: Observed by one who was both a seer and hearer of what EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. 101 was spoken.' A great portion of this Memorial, says Mr. Pitcairn, is occupied with a very affecting account of the state of her mind, and a faithful and striking delineation of its gradual opening and development, through the patient and affectionate attentions of her spiritual advisers, from a state of perfect callousness and indifference to every thing con- nected with religion and the awful situation in which she was placed, to perfect resignation to her fate, and a cheerful but unfeigned repentance for all her past offences and crimes. So far as relates to her confession, it cannot be better related than by quoting her own energetic words:-"I think I hear presently the pitifull and fearfull cryes which he gave when he was strangled! And that vile sin which I committed, in murdering mine own husband, is yet before me. When that horrible and fearfull sin was done, I desyred the unhappy man who did it, (for my own part, the Lord knoweth I laid never my hands upon him to do him evil; but as soon as that man gripped him and began his evil turn, so soon as my husband cryed so fearfully, I leapt out over my bed, and went to the Hall; where I sat all the time, till that unhappy man came to me and reported that mine husband was dead;) I desired him, I say, to take me away with him; for I feared Tryall; albeit flesh and blood made me think my father's moen at court would have saved me! * As to these weemen who was challenged with me, I will also tell you my mind. concerning them. God forgive the nurse, for she helped me too well in mine evill purpose; ffor when I told her that I was minded to do so, she consented to the doing of it; and upon Tuesday, when the turn was done, when I sent her to seek the man who would do it, she said, 'I shall go and seek him; and if I get him not, I shall seek another! and if I get none, I shall do it myself!' As for the other two weemen, I request that you neither put them to death, nor any torture, * Fr. moyen,' influence, interest. 102 EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. because I testify they are both innocent; and knew nothing of this deed before it was done, and the mean time of doing of it: and that which they knew, they durst not tell, for fear; for I had compelled them to dissemble. As for mine own part, I thank my God, a thousand times, that I am so touched with the sense of that sin now: ffor I will confesse this also to you, that when that horrible murder was committed first, that I might seem to be innocent, I laboured to counterfeit weeping; but do what I could, I could not find a tear: and so now I suffer; for the Lord would not have that high sin concealed, but would have it manifest, as it is his gracious will to be done." Owing to the rank of Lady Warriston, and the powerful influence of her father and friends, the manner of her death. was, on their intercession, mitigated to decapitation by the well-known Maiden.' The usual form of death, for females, in such cases, was of the most ignominious and shocking de- scription, burning after being strangled at a stake,—and in atrocious instances, the criminal was 'brunt quick!' A very unbecoming zeal was displayed by her relations, to have her executed as privately as possible, and at such a time as would be unknown to the populace. They had first intended and applied for the unusual hour of 9 o'clock on Friday evening, as the time for her execution; which, however, was overruled. The Memorial' states, that, "After three o'clock in the morning, upon Saturnday, the magistrates wer brought into prison by her friends,* to take her forth to suffer. Amongst them, some were too earnest to hast her away, that she might be execute, before any should know of it; albeit she was far otherwise minded herself; for she purposed not to have gone furth till between 5 and 6 in the morning. On this, many, whom I will not name, came and said, Will you deprive God's people of that comfort which they might have, in that * Relations. EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. 103 INA poor woman's death? and will you obstruct the honnour of it, by putting her away, before the people rise out of their beds? You do wrong in so doing; for the more public the death be, the more profitable it shall be to many; and the more gloriouse, in the sight of all who shall see it,' &c. The magistrates granted also, that she might stay till sun-rising; but her friends* were so importunate that it was not granted! Although she was but a woman and a bairn, being the age of 21 years, in the whole way, as she went to the place of exe- cution, she behaved herself so chearfully, as if she had been going to her wedding, and not to her death! When she came to the scaffold, and was carryed up upon it, she looked up to the Maiden with two longsome looks, for she had never seen it before, &c. This I may say of her, to which all that saw her will bear record, that her only countenance moved,† although she had not spoken a word! For ther appeared such a majesty in her countenance and visage, and such a heavenly courage in her gesture, that many said, That woman is ravished with a higher spirit than a man or woman's!' The summ of her confession, which almost was in a form of words, upon the four parts of the scaffold, to which she presented herself, was this :-' The occasion of my coming here, is to shew that I am, and have been a great sinner, and hath of- fended the Lord's majesty; especially, of the cruell murdering of mine own husband; which, albeit I did not with mine own hands, for I never laid mine hands upon him all the time that he was murdering; yet I was the deviser of it, and so the committer! But my God hath been alwise mercifull to * Blood-relations. † Her countenance alone would have excited emotion, although, &c. That is, she repeated her declaration or confession at each of the four corners of the scaffold; which was a stage or platform erected in the centre of the street, at the foot of the Canongate, near the Girth-cross. 104 EXECUTION OF LADY WARRISTON. me, and hath given me repentance for my sins; and I hope for mercy and grace at his Majesty's hands, for his dear Son Jesus Christ's sake. And the Lord hath brought me hither to be an example to you, that you may not fall into the like sin as I have done: and I pray God, for his mercy, to keep all his faithfull people from falling into the like inconvenient as I have done! And therefore, I desire you all to pray to God for me, that he would be merciful to me!" Her conduct on the scaffold appears to have been most heroic. After her devotional exercises were completed, "then came to her one of her friends, with a clean cloath, to bind about her face." To the fastening thereof, she took out of her mouth a pin, and gave it out of her own hand. The minister, after receiving her last farewell, “could not abide longer beside her; but immediately left the scaffold and departed. But she, as a constant saint of God, humbled herself on her knees, and offered her neck to the axe, laying her neck, sweetly and graciously, in the place appointed; moving to and fro, till she got a rest for her neck to lay in. When her head was now made fast to the Maiden, the executioner came behind her, and pulled out her feet, that her neck might be stretched out longer, and so made more meet for the stroak of the axe; but she, as it was reported to me by him who saw it, and held her by the hands at this time, drew her leggs twice to her again, labouring to sitt on her knees, till she should give up her spirit to the Lord! During this time, which was long, for the axe was but slowly loosed, and fell not down hastily; after laying in of her head, her tongue was not idle, but she continued crying to the Lord, and uttered with a loud voice, those her wonted words, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! O, Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy on me! Into thy hands, Lord, I commend my soul!' When she came to the middle of this last sentence, and had said, 'Into thy hand, Lord,' at the pronouncing of the word ' LORD,' the SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. 105 axe fell; which was diligently marked by one of her friends, who still held her by the hand, untill this time, and reported this to me." THE SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND UNDER EDWARD BRUCE. 66 THE events of this invasion, down to the capitulation of Carrickfergus Castle, are briefly narrated in the Article of the Second Volume entitled Siege of Carrickfergus." Though Robert Bruce, then in the ninth year of his reign, must have readily seen that to unite the discordant factions. of the Irish, to reconcile them to the dominion of a stranger, and to drive the English out of their country, would be an enterprise of great or perhaps insuperable difficulty; yet he could not be so ungracious as to refuse the offer of a crown to a brother who had rendered him many and invaluable services, and he might hope at least to acquire a partial foot- ing among the Irish, and to divide the forces, multiply the perplexities, and materially diminish the power of the Eng- lish. Edward himself, also, liked the project well, and saw no obstacle in the path which it promised to open to fame and sovereign grandeur; and as he was to be the leader of the proposed expedition, and would bear the brunt of all its dangers, and possessed pretty ample resources for it within his own earldom of Carrick, he really needed little other help than Robert's consent, which was heartily given him, to levy forces and equip an armament. Archdeacon Barbour, the metrical historian of the Life and Acts of Robert Bruce, who is a principal authority in all the matters of the invasion, and who seems to have gathered his intelligence from the strag- glers who survived it, and whom we shall have occasion to quote verv freelv in the course of our narrative, savs,— 106 SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. : "The Earl of Carrick, Sir Edward, That stouter was than a libbard, And had no will to be in peace, Thought that Scotland too little was To his brother and him alsa, Therefore to purpose can he ta That he of Ireland would be king." The spot at which the expedition landed was on the north side of the lower part of Belfast Lough, not far from Car- rickfergus. The invaders dismissed their ships, and com- mitted themselves irretrievably to the enterprise they 'drew the sword, and threw away the scabbard.' Though the article on the Siege of Carrickfergus states, on appa- rently good authority, that "no sooner had Edward Bruce landed with his six thousand followers than the Irish chiefs of Ulster repaired to his standard, and solemnly engaged themselves in his service by giving hostages for the perform- ance of their engagements," yet a stern though somewhat unaccountable and perfectly vain opposition was really made to him before he reached Carrickfergus or was joined by his allies; and this is related as follows-very exaggeratedly, perhaps, and rather vain-gloriously-by Barbour:- "In two battles they took their way Toward Craig-fergus, it to see But the Lords of that countrie, Maundweil, Bisset, and Longane, Their men assembled e'erilkane. The savages were also there; And when that they assembled were, They were well near twenty thousand; When they wist that into their land, Sik a menzie arrived were, With all the folk that they had there SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. 107 They went toward them in great hy And fra Sir Edward wist soothly, That near to him coming were they, His men he gart them well array. The waward had the Earl Thomas, And the rereward Sir Edward's was. Their foes approached to the fighting, And they met them but abasing. There might men see a great mellee; For Earl Thomas and his menzie Dang on their foes so doughtily, That in short time men might see ly An hundred that all bloody were; For hobynes that were sticked there, Reeled and flang, and great room made, And kest them that upon them rade. And Sir Edward his company Assembled syne so hardily, That they their foes there rushed all, Who happen'd in that fight to fall, It was peril of his rising. The Scottishmen in that fighting So apertly and well them bare, That their foes so rushed were, That they wholly the fight have tane. In that battle was tane or slain All haill the flower of Ulister. The Earl Murray great price had there: For his right worthy chevalry Comforted all his company. This was a full fair beginning, For newlings at their arriving, On plain fight they discomfit there Their foes, that four for one ay were; 108 SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. V Syne to Craig-fergus are they gane, And in the town has innes tane." When Robert Bruce, in the second year of the invasion, resolved to conduct a reinforcement in person to the assist- ance of his brother, he took shipping, along with all his men, at Loch-Ryan in Galloway, and landed at Carrickfergus, and was there met and gladly welcomed by Edward. "Syne to the Castle went they yare And made them meikle feast and fare. They there sojourned dayis three And that in mirth and jollitie. Syne took they counsel that they wauld With all their folk their wayis hald Through all Ireland, fra end to other." The army of Robert and Edward, amounting to 20,000 men, decamped from Carrickfergus in the month of Febru- ary, 1317, and marched southward, with all possible speed, through the counties of Down and Louth, to the vicinity of Slane, on the northern border of Meath. An English army was posted to defend the entrance into the province of Lein- ster; and the Scots are said by the Annals of Ireland to have eluded them, but by Barbour to have fought and defeated them. Some slight action, or perhaps a smart skirmish, pro- bably occurred; and was magnified by Barbour into a great and very eventful battle. Several circumstances which he reports to have preceded it are lively and characteristic. The Scotish army passed through a wood, and were marching in two divisions, the first led by Edward, and the second by Robert; and the English lay in ambush, purposing to attack the rear, as soon as the first division had passed. Edward, with his wonted impetuosity, hurried on, and bestowed not a thought on either the possibility of an ambuscade or the pru SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. 109 dence of maintaining a compact order of march; while Robert advanced slowly, circumspectly, and with keen regard to the critical circumstances of the place. Small parties of English archers by and bye began to annoy the rear of the Scotish army; and Robert inferred that stragglers acting in such a way must know themselves to be well supported, and there- fore enjoined his soldiers to move on in order of battle, and on no account to leave their ranks. Sir Colin Campbell, the King's nephew, being shot at by two of the English archers, forgot or disregarded the King's injunction, and rode furiously off to revenge the insult; and Robert followed, and nearly unhorsed him with a violent stroke of his truncheon, and said angrily to him, "Your breaking of bidding might have brought us all into discomfiture." "With that well near thirty or moe Of bowmen came, and bicker'd so, That they hurt of the king his men; The king has gart his archers then Shoot, for to put these men again. With that they entered in a plain, And soon array'd against them stand In four battles forty thousand. The King said then, Lording's, let's see Who worthy in this fight shall be. On them foroutten more abade, So stoutly then on them they rade, And assembled so hardily, That of their foes a great party Was laid at erd at their meeting; There was of spears sik a bristing. As either upon other rade, That it a well great frush has made Horse came there frushing head for head, So that feil on the ground fell dead. 110 SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. Many a wight and worthy man, As either upon other ran, Were dushed dead down to the ground. The red blood out of many a wound Rushed in so great fusion than, That of the blood the streams ran. And they that wroth were and angry, Dang on others so hardily With weapons that were bright and bare, That many a good man died there ; For they that hardy were and wight, And stoutly with their foes can fight, Pressed them foremost for to be. There might men cruel bargain see, And hard battle: I take on hand, In all the weir of Ireland So hard a fighting was not seen. The where of great victors nineteen, Sir Edward has withoutten weir, And that into less than three year, And in sundry battles of thae Vanquished thirty thousand and mae, With trapped horse right to the feet; But in all that time he was yet Ay ane for five when least was he. But the king into this mellee Had always eight of his foe men For one; but he so bare him then, That his good deed and his bountie Comforted so all his menzie, That the most coward hardy was: For where he saw the thickest press, So hardily on them he rade, That there about him room he made SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. · 111 i That he slew all he might o'ertake, And rudely rushed them aback. And Earl Thomas the worthy Was in all times near him by, And fought as he were in a rage; So that for their great vassalage, Their men sik hardiment can take That they no peril would forsake, But them abandon'd so stoutly, And dang on them so hardily, That all their foes afraid were, And they that saw well ly their fare, That they eschew'd some deal the fight Then dang they on with all their might, And prest dinging on them so fast, That they the back gave at the last; And they that saw them take the flight, They dang on them with all their might, And in their fleeing feil can slay, The King his men has chased sa, That they were scalyt e'erilkane." The Scotish army now advanced toward Dublin, and seemed pretty stoutly to threaten the overthrow of the Eng- lish government in Ireland. But the citizens of Dublin, with a zeal for England which might astonish their successors of modern times, burnt their suburbs, which might have facili- tated the approach of the enemy, demolished a church, re- paired and strengthened the city walls with its materials, and resolved to defend the city from the Scots or to perish amidst its ruins; and, suspecting the Earl of Ulster to be favourable to the invaders, though for no reason whatever except that he was allied by family ties to Robert Bruce, they seized him and committed him to prison. The invaders took possession of Castleknock, beyond the Phoenix Park, on the 23d of 112 } SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. February; but despairing of success against Dublin, they turned aside, and encamped at Leixlip, six miles up the Liffey, on the 25th of February; and after remaining there four days, they marched first to Naas in the county of Kil- dare, and then south-westward to Callen in the county of Kilkenny, and then so far to the west as the city of Limerick. “And to give battle none they fand; Syne went they southward in the land, And right to Kinrike held their way, That is the southmost town, persay, That in Ireland may founden be; There lay they dayis two or three And busked syne again to fare." What induced the Bruces to carry their arms so widely and wanderingly to the farther parts of the country, especially at such a season of the year, and with all the forces and par- tisans of England behind them, cannot now be known or very satisfactorily conjectured. They must not be supposed to have had simply the silly object in view of braving the Eng- lish power, or of finding out its paucity of resources beyond the limits of the Pale; but possibly they hoped, by passing to the confines of Munster and Connaught to excite the Irish chiefs of these provinces to repair to their standard, and more probably they were driven by scarcity of provisions and the inhospitality of the season to roam for sustenance to such remote parts as could offer least resistance to foraging and plundering. The invading army, at all events, were both rapacious and unruly in even the portions of their march which lay between Carrickfergus and Dublin; and are ac- cused, not only of ravaging the country, but of plundering churches and monasteries, and even of sacrilegiously search- ing for treasures in the sepulchres of the dead. But on the other hand, as partly accounting for their excesses, though SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. 113 not one jot extenuating the guilt of them, they were often. reduced to the necessity of feeding on horse flesh; and mul- titudes of them actually perished from sheer hunger. About the 31st of March, while the Scotish army were in the far south-west, the English forces assembled, to the num- ber of about 30,000, in the neighbourhood of Kilkenny. They seem, however, to have been more a rabble than an army; for though much more numerous than the Scots, and in a friendly country, and situated direct between the enemy and his resources, they neither advanced to attack him, nor adopted measures to cut off his retreat, but held wordy councils of war during an entire week, and then ter- minated them without forming any final resolution. On the 7th of April, just at the juncture when the officers of the English army had argued themselves into a nonplus, Roger Mortimer, invested with the character of deputy, landed from England, and despatched orders to the officers not to attempt anything against the Scots till he should give directions in person; and when he arrived at the army, he learned that the Scots, by forced marches, had extricated themselves from the embarrassment of their position, and retreated as far as to Kildare, so as now to be between him and Dublin,-and he therefore disbanded on the spot the actionless multitude whom he had gone to command. The Scots halted some days in the vicinity of Trim, in the county of Meath, and then, about the beginning of May, returned into Ulster. Robert soon after sailed back to Scotland, to attend to the pressing exigencies of his own kingdom, and without having achieved more in Ireland than the idle and guilty exploit of overrunning a great part of the country at the expense of the lives of many of his most faithful subjects; and Edward remained behind, professedly to retrieve and establish his fortunes, but really to make a more terrible display than he had ever yet done of his characteristic impetuosity and reck- lessness, and to pay down his life as the forfeit. Robert on H 114 SCOTISH INVASION OF IRELAND. mending matters a little in Scotland, set about the organizing of another reinforcement in aid of Edward; but the latter was far too restless and uncalculating to wait its arrival,- and, though weak in both men and council, rushed away to the south again to try his strength once more with the English. Edward renewed the campaign in defiance of the advice and expostulations of all his principal officers; and though still supported and followed by some of the Irish chiefs, he no longer enjoyed their confidence as either a safe or a skill- ful military leader. He came in sight of a great English army at Faugher, in the vicinity of Dundalk; and when ap- proaching it, he was first entreated by his Irish followers to withdraw and hide, and then told that they would not be so foolhardy as to take part with him in battle; and, when he resolved nevertheless to fight, he could not prevail on them to do more for him than make a show of their numbers at some little distance, as onlookers, while he and his Scots sus- tained the whole shock of the action. His Scotish supporters are computed by Barbour at two thousand, and by the Irish Chronicle, subjoined to Camden's Britannia, at three thou- sand. The English army was commanded by John Lord Bermingham; and and is stated by Barbour to have comprised "twenty thousand trapped horse." The battle, on the part of the English, was a complete victory,—or rather a rush, an Edward Bruce and some of his most onslaught, and a rout. distinguished officers were slain on the field; and the body of Edward was afterwards sought out, and quartered, and distributed for a public spectacle over Ireland. A few strag- glers of the defeated Scots were collected by John Thomson, the leader of the men of Carrick, and led through many diffi- culties into the north of Ireland, whence they escaped to their native land, the sad remnants and weary witnesses of the annihilation of the ambitious project of establishing a new and Scotish sovereignty over the Emerald Isle. PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. 115 THE TYRANNY AND DEATH OF PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. THE ancient earldom of Orkney, during the progress of cen- turies and the increase of population and refinement, lost much of its character of a private sovereignty, and acquired many and increasing properties of a paternal government. When the line of the sea-kings or Scandinavian jarls failed in the person of Magnus V., the earldom passed to Malis, Earl of Strathearn, who was married to the only daughter of Magnus; and afterwards, in 1379, it passed to "the lordly line of high St. Clair" or Sinclair. While William Sinclair the third of his name, held the earldom, the young King of Scotland-James III.-pressed with the difficulty of Chris- tian I., King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, having de- manded payment of a long arrear of " the annual of Norway” -married Margaret, the princess of Denmark; and, in 1468, obtained as her dowry 2,000 florins in money, and the im- pignoration of Orkney for 50,000 florins, and of Shetland for 8,000 more. As the islands were never ransomed from the pledge, they thenceforth became politically and entirely at- tached to Scotland; and in 1470-1, the earldom of Orkney and the lordship of Shetland were, as to their "haill richt," purchased by James III. from the Sinclairs, and annexed by acts of parliament to the Crown, not to be alienated, except in favour of a lawful son of the King. In 1489 and 1501, Henry Lord Sinclair, a descendant of the Earls, obtained from James IV. leases of the earldom, at the low rate of £336 13s. 4d. Scotish; and though he fell in 1513 at Flodden, the property was, at the same rent, continued, by successive leases, to Lady Margaret, his widow. In 1529, the Earl of Caithness and Lord Sinclair, either to usurp the renewed lordship of the whole purchased earldom, or to take forcible possession of Lady Margaret's lease, or to adjust some question arising 116 PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. .. out of intermixture of rights, or to extinguish the udal hold- ings of the ancient inhabitants, and to subject them to feudal grantees of the Scotish crown-for all these reasons have been, by turns, assigned-invaded Orkney with an armed force, and were encountered by the governor of Kirkwall castle, heading the Orkney-men and others at Summerdale or Bigswell in Stenness; and there they sustained a disas- trous and extinguishing defeat, the Earl of Caithness and 500 of his followers being slain, and Lord Sinclair and all the survivors of the force made prisoners. In 1540, the favour- able leases to Lady Margaret Sinclair terminated by a general act of annexation and revocation. Oliver Sinclair of Pit- cairns was the last lessee of his family; and he obtained, for an advanced annual rent of £2,000, two successive leases, the His name is associated latter of which expired in 1548. with one of the most humiliating transactions recorded in the history of our country,-the disloyalty of the Scotish nobles, the dishonour of the Scotish arms at Solway moss, and the consequent captivity of the army, and heart-breaking of the promptest and most enterprising of the Stuart dynasty. The family of Sinclair in Orkney may be regarded as having been extinguished at the premature death of James V., and they have now, on the scene of their ancient greatness, and the seat of their ancient residence and power, no memorial except the rubbish of their castle, Where restless seas Howl round the storm-swept Orcades,— Where erst St. Clair bore princely sway O'er isle and islet, strait and bay;" Still nods their palace to its fall, Thy pride and sorrow, fair Kirkwall.” The earldom of Orkney became part of the jointure of the widow of James V. immediately after his death, and remaine PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. 117 with her till her own death in 1560; and, when she was called to the regency, it was placed by her under the admin- istration of Bonot, a Frenchman, whose appointment was ex- remely unpopular. How it was disposed of during 15 years following her death, is not known. In 1564, Lord Robert Stuart, the natural brother of Queen Mary, received by writ- ten charter, for an annual rent of £2,000 13s. 4d. Scotish, "all and whole the lands of Orkney and Zetland, with all and sundry the isles belonging and pertaining thereto, with all and each of the castles, towers, fortalices, woods, mills, multures, fishings, tenants, service of free tenants, with the whole superiority of free tenants, advocation, donation of churches, and with the office of sheriff of Orkney, and sheriff of the Fouldrie of Zetland." James, Earl of Bothwell, for a brief moment, in 1567, enjoyed an annulment in his favour of this grant to Lord Robert, and was plumed with the high designation of Duke of Orkney; but, if ever he at all obtained infeftment, he had but momentary possession, for, exactly a month after the date of the marriage-deed, which assigned him Orkney with its new title, he fled from Carberry-hill, and for ever lost sight of his phantasmagorial dukedom. the close of the same year, a question was agitated in parlia- ment, "quhider Orknay and Zetland sal be subiect to the commone law of this realme, or gif thai sal bruike thair awne lawis?"—when it was found "that thai aught to be subiect to thair awne lawis." At Lord Robert Stuart, on obtaining possession of the earl- dom, had as commendator or abbot of Holyrood, exchanged his temporalities with the bishop of Orkney for those of the bishopric, the power of which had been made co-ordinate with that of the Crown; and he thus united in himself the rights both of the Earl or the Crown and the bishop ;—and, a little before the queen's marriage, he got a right to her third of the revenues of Holyrood abbey, or a pension of £990 of money, besides a large quantity of every sort of 4 118 PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. grain, and was in consequence prevented from clamouring at the change which was made in favour of Bothwell. The earldom, or crown estate of Orkney, is said by some authori- ties to have been resumed by him on Bothwell's disgrace; but from an extant act of parliament it appears to have, for 14 years, or till 1581, regularly yielded up its revenues for behoof of the Crown. In 1581, it was restored to him by act of parliament, with the same latitude of possession and loftiness of jurisdiction as when originally granted by Mary; in 1587, it was revoked by another act of parliament, and for two years afterwards was let out for £4,000 Scotish a-year, to Sir John Maitland of Thirlstane and Sir Ludovick Bal- lantine, who were respectively Lord-chancellor and Justice- clerk; in 1589, it was re-granted to Lord Robert Stuart for an annual rent of £2,073 6s. 8d. Scotish; and in 1591, it was infefted to his lordship in life-rent, and his son Patrick in fee. After Lord Robert's death, which occurred in 1592, and another resumption made by the Crown, Patrick got charters, in 1600, of both the earldom and the bishopric, so that their joint rights were concentrated in his person; yet he obtained not, as Mary's grant gave to his father, a right either to "the whole" lands and isles of Orkney and Shetland, or to the feudal superiority over the landholders, but, on the other hand, was bound to administer justice according to the pecu- liar laws of the region before it belonged to the Scotish crown. Both his father and he, however, were proud, avari- cious, cruel, and dissipated; and, whether they possessed power legally, or could wield it by extortion and usurpation, they cared not, provided they could so work it as to demolish the rights and liberties of their people, and amass for them- selves the influences, the monopolies, and the possessions of tyranny. Udal lands and tenements were free from taxation to the Crown, or vassalage to a lord superior; they could not be alienated, except by what was called a shynde bill" ob- tained with the consent of all heirs in the Fouldry court; C6 PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. 1.19 and, at the death of a possessor, they were divided, without fine and in equal portions, among all their children. Earls Robert and Patrick aimed with their whole energy to destroy the system, and to introduce feudal tenures; they so sum- moned and adjourned the great Fouldry court, as to possess a master-key to its movements; they perverted both this court and every other by the introduction of their creatures; they silenced and overawed the refractory udallers by means of a licentious soldiery; and they employed their rights over the temporalities of the bishopric as a pretext for levying fines from such landholders as incurred any censure of the church. They, in consequence, wrested much landed pro- perty from the rightful owners, and terrified not a few of the udal proprietors into a surrender of their peculiar privileges, an acknowledgment of feudal vassalage, and an acceptance of tenure by charter. The rents of the earldom being paid chiefly in kind, too, they, in order to increase the amount of proceeds without changing the nominal bulk, twice arbitrarily increased in value the weights used in the country,—raising the mark, which was originally 8 ounces, first to 10 and next to 12, and the lispund, which was originally 12 pounds, first to 15 and next to 18. Earl Patrick even excelled his father in outrageous despotism; he compelled the people to work like slaves in carrying on his buildings and other works; he confiscated the lands of the inhabitants on the most trivial pretences; he summarily distrained the moveable goods of any man who dared to leave the islands without his own of his deputies' special licence; and-in crowning display of at once his savageness and his avarice-he ordained that "if any man tried to supply or give relief to ships, or any vessel dis- tressed by tempest, the same shall be punished in his person, and fined at the Earl's pleasure.” The style in which he lived, too, was both a great aggra- vation of his tyranny and a continual insult on the miseries of his people. He had a princelie and royall revenew," 120 PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. says the author of the Historie and Life of James the Sext printed in 1825 for the Bannatyne Club; " and no man of rent or purse mycht enjoy his propertie in Orknay, without his speciall favour, and the same deir boght; whereby it fol- lowit that fitchit and forgeit faultis was so devysit aganis manie of them, that they wer compellit, be empresonment and small rewaird, to resigne ther heritable tytlis unto him; and geve he had a steve purse and no rent, then was sum cryme devysit aganis him, wherby he was compellit to lose. ather half or haill therof, geve not lyff and all besyd! And his pomp was so great ther, as he went never from his Cas- tell to the Kirk, nor abrod utherwayis, without the convoy of fiftie muscaters and uthir gentilmen of convoy and gaird. And siclyk, before denner and supper, ther wer thrie trum- petters that soundit still till the meat of the furst seruice was set at table; and siclyk, at the second service, and conse- quentlie, efter the grace. He had also his ships directit to the Sea, to intercep Pirats, and collect tribut of uncouth fishers, that came yearlie to these Seyis; wherby he maid sik collectioun of gret gunnis and uther weapons for weare, as no Hous, Palice, or Castell, yea all in Scotland wer not furneist with the lyk." But though cruel, truculent, sensually luxurious, and sav- agely vain, he was not altogether a brute, but possessed a fine appearance and a noble bearing, and was able when he pleased to behave with courtesy and like a considerate prince. He had spent much of the early part of his life at court, and was well skilled in the usages and refinements of the civilized world, and might probably have made a good enough figure as either a courtier or a noble but for the impulses of his un- generousness and ambition. He suffered much at court, too, from the influence of the worthless royal favourite, the Earl of Somerset, who secretly undermined and calumniated him; and, when he retired to Orkney, he was inwardly lashed as keenly perhaps by the consciousness of undeserved disgrace PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. 121 as by the power of wanton wickedness; and, having no counteracting force in good moral habits or upright princi- ples or a well-informed mind, he rushed wildly into a reck- less warfare against all civilized society, and revenged his inward misery upon the poor people who were under his authority, and formed the insane project of making himself an independent sovereign and at the same time one of the most absolute and luxurious of despots. He ran his career of crime and oppression with impetuous speed, and soon drove the inhabitants of both Orkney and Shetland to distraction, and forced them to address the most indignant appeals to the throne for protection, and eventually made himself so surpassingly odious that his name continues to the present day to be men- tioned, throughout the islands, with antipathy and disgust. The wailings of his people against him were addressed both to the King and to the Privy Council; and perhaps they sounded in their ear quite as loudly on the score of com- mon humane feeling as on that of ordinary or enlightened policy. Sharp remonstrances were at first sent to him, but with little effect; and at length legal proceedings were instituted against him by the Lord Advocate, and he was recalled, shut up in prison, and accused of high treason. The Earl was at first imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle; but, in consequence of his attempting to escape thence, and of his showing a readiness to make use of the facilities which ex- isted in the metropolis for political intrigue, he was removed to the Castle of Dumbarton. Every possible contrivance was adopted, on the part of the Lord Advocate and the Privy Council, to enable him to exculpate himself from the terrific accusations which had been made against him of op- pression and tyranny,-but without success; and so anxious was the King for his release that he offered him the keeper- ship and profits of either of the royal palaces of Falkland, Stirling, Linlithgow, or Holyrood, together with ten thou- ན་ 122 PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY, sand pounds of rent, on condition of his renouncing all right to the earldom of Orkney. But the Earl would not listen to any accommodation; and brooded in secret on his visionary ambition; and became in- creasingly rancorous and infuriated under the effects of his imprisonment; and provoked his keepers both to watch him. vigilantly and to allow him no more resources than were barely requisite for his due support as a state prisoner; and employed all his time in concocting rebellion, and in medi- tating projects for his escape, so that he might regain posses- sion of his lands and fortalices, and declare himself indepen- dent of the kingdom of Great Britain. He found means, in particular, to instruct his illegitimate son, Robert Stewart, to proceed to Orkney, under pretence of lifting the rents which were due from his tenants, to send him as much money as could be obtained, to seize the Castle of Kirkwall and other strengths in Orkney, to levy as many vassals and followers as might be found willing to take a bribe or to attach them- selves to his cause, and finally to lift the standard of rebellion and hurl defiance at the King; and he himself hoped, by means of the money, to corrupt his keepers, effect his escape, and obtain ammunition and other supplies from Norway,- and seemed to think that if he could once more get footing in Orkney, he might depend on the remoteness of the situa- tion, the rigorousness of the climate, and the fidelity of his immediate vassals for enabling him to brave the wrath of his sovereign. Robert Stewart, altogether contrary to what we might at first have expected in the circumstances, had very consi- derable success in his enterprise,-in fact, may be said to have for a time completely succeeded; for he got possession of the castles and fortalices and the entire country, and found himself somewhat suddenly raised to а sort of sovereign power over the islands. He probably was aided by military retainers who identified their own in- PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. 123 ? was terests with the restoration of the fallen Earl; but he owed his main advantages to the accidental circumstance of exorbitant oppression and excessive unpopularity on the part of the sheriff, who succeeded the Earl in the principal administration of the supreme local authority. This official seems to have been to the full as great a tyrant as the Earl himself; and made the most cruel exactions, and practised the most grinding conduct, and became the object of deep and furious popular detestation. A band of association" "subscribed by the rebellis in Orknay," setting forth "the frequent entrantis of extraniers, the corruption of the lawes, the partialitie of judges, the greid of officeris, and the oppressioun of magistratis,” as intolerable grievances; and an opinion seems to have spread among the whole population. that a riddance of the sheriff and his underlings on any terms would be a blessing,—that even a change from one tyranny to another could scarcely be otherwise than for the better,-and perhaps that the temper and habits of their rightful lord had become greatly ameliorated in consequence of his severe and prolonged training in the school of adversity. Robert Stewart's rebellion, however, was not of long con- tinuance; and though it appears to have excited the obser- vation and alarm even of the court of England, it came to an end almost as suddenly and signally as it arose. The instrument in crushing it was George, fifth Earl of Caithness, who eagerly volunteered his services against it to the Privy Council, and intruded himself into a royal commission for putting it down,-and who seems to have been actuated by combined motives of ancient pique, courtly hypocrisy, and venal avarice.* He captured the Castle of Kirkwall and all "It is not a little interesting, among all his specious pretexts," remarks Mr. Pitcairn, to detect and expose the secret springs which appear to have actuated that selfish and cold-blooded no- bleman in undertaking so repulsive an expedition as that against the 124 PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. the other strongholds, dispersed the whole of the rebel forces, and made all the ringleaders prisoners. Robert Stewart and rebels in Orkney. Under the mask of patriotism, zeal for his Ma- jesty's honour, and his pretended desire for restoring the peace of the country, it is not difficult to discover the basest motives of heredi- tary and personal revenge and deadly feud against the fallen Earl of Orkney; as well as a secret design to procure the whole or at least a considerable portion of his extensive territories, as a reward for his patriotic services. But a little research enables us to per. ceive that a rooted hatred had long existed between the Earls of Caithness and Orkney, which had frequently broken out into open strife. As an extraordinary instance of the spirit of wanton cru. elty and mischief in which these hostilities were carried on by the former, a quaint but striking passage may be cited, from the gra- phic pen of Sir Robert Gordon; who states, that in the year 1608, some of the Earl of Orkney's servants had been forced to land in the country of Caithness, by a contrarie wind and vehement storme of weather. First, the Earl of Catteynes maid them drunk; then, in a mocking iest, he cause sheave the one syd of their beards and one syd of their heads; last of all he constrayned them to tak their weshell, and to goe to sea in that stormie tempest! The poor men, feareing his farther crueltie, did choyse rather to committ themselves to the mercie of the senseless elements and rageing waves of the sea, then abyd his furie. So they entered the stormie seas of Pentlay-Firth (a fearfuil and dangerous arme of sea between Catteynes and Orknay), whence they escaped the furie thereof, by the providence and assistance of God, who had compassion on them, in this lamentable and desperat case, and directed their course; so that they landed saiflie in Orknay. This affront and indignitie wes highlie taken (not without just reason) by the Earle of Orknay, who complained therof to THE KING and his Counsell. His MAIESTIE did write to the Councell of Scotland to punish the Earle of Catteynes seveirlie, after dew tryall, as have- ing committed a fact against his authoritie. But when both the Earles of Catteynes and Orknay came to Edinburghe, readie to informe one against another. they aggreid all their privatt quar- rells, by the mediation of freinds, least they should reveile too much of either's doings! So this controversie was past over with silence; and some acknawledgement was maia by the Earle of Catteynes to the Earle of Orknay, as a satisfaction for abusing his servants,' &c. The intriguing Earl of Caithness at length brought ruin upʊn him- self and his family, by endeavouring to mak the Lord Forbes wearie of his landis in Catteynes.' This benevolent purpose he tried to effect by constant oppression of his tenants and servants, PATRICK, EARL OF ORKNEY. 125 1 five of his accomplices were afterwards tried and condemned for high treason, and were hanged at the market cross of Edinburgh, and are said by Calderwood to have died peni- tent; and the historian adds, "The said Robert confessed his father, the Earle, who was then wardit in the Castle of Edin- burgh, commandit him to doe that which he did, but granted he gave him a contrare-mand before he entered in executione; the gentleman, not exceeding 22 years of age, was pitied of the people for his tall stature and comely countenance." The only principal rebel who escaped punishment was Patrick Halco, who obtained mercy from the Crown, on account of having been instrumental in bringing about the surrender of the Castle of Kirkwall, and in preventing the effusion ot much blood by cutting short the period of the treason. The miserable Earl himself, on the 1st of February, 1615, twenty-six days after the execution of his son and his accom- plices, was arraigned and tried as the principal instigator of the rebellion, and was ffand, pronuncet, and declairit cul- pable and convict" of it, and was sentenced "to be tane to the mercat-croce of the burgh of Ed", and thair, vpone Fryday nixt, the thrid of this instant, betuix tua and thre houris eftir none, his heid to be strukkin from his body; and all his landis, lordschipis, leving, heritages, takis, steidingis, rowmes, posses- siones, offices, digniteis, rentis, guidis, and geir, to be forfalt and escheit to our souerane lordis vse." Spotswood says he "took his sentence impatiently," and adds, "Some preachers în virtue of his office of Sheriffship, which he had obtained from the Earl of Huntlie, on his marriage with Lady Jean Gordon, his sister. He secretly caused incendiaries burn all the corns standing in the corn yards of Sansett, in November 1615; and to remove suspicion from himself, industriously rumoured abroad. that the fire-raising had been done by Mackay's tenants, with whom the Forbeses were then at feud. George, fifth Earl of Caithness, after having passed a miserable life, died, a victim of disappointed am- bition, and in comparative obscurity, in Caithness, in the month of February, 1643, at the advanced age of 78. } 126 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. were desired to coufer with him, and to dispose his minde towards death; but they finding him irresolute, intreated for a delay of the execution, which was granted to the sixth day of February; at which time he was brought unto the scaffold, guarded by the magistrates of the city, and in the sight of many people beheaded." Calderwood gives a fuller account of his death in these terms: "Feb. 1, 1615, Patrik, Earle of Orkney, was arraigned in the tolbooth of Edinburgh; and be ane inqueist of the nobles and barrones, was convict of trea- sone, for the late rebellion in Orknay. It was thought, that if he had not, 20 dayes before, confessed, that he was the author of the said rebellion, and come in the King's will for the same, that hardly he could have been convicted, be any law. The wiser and elder sort of the nobilitie withdrew themselves from his assise. He had sent to the court to obteine favour; but no appearance of returning ane answere. The ministers, finding him soe ignorant, that he could skarse rehearse the Lord's prayer, intreated the Counsell to delay his executione some few dayes, till he were better informed, and receaved the Lord's supper. Their petitione was assisted with the requeist of some noblemen, and granted. Soe he communi- cate upon the Lord's day, the 5th of February; and was be- headed at the market-crosse of Edinburgh, upon Monday the 6th of Februar; when Sir Robert Ker, Earle of Rochester, was decourted. The King laid the blame of his death on him; but late, as his custome was, when matters was past remedie." THE INVASION OF ENGLAND BY THE JACOBITE ARMY OF 1715. On Saturday, 22d October, 1715, the three great bodies of armed Jacobite insurgents-the Highlanders under Brigadier Mackintosh, the Northumbrians under Mr. Forster, and the JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 127 men of Nithsdale and Galloway under Viscount Kenmure- rendezvoused at the town of Kelso. The Highlanders amounted to only 1,400 foot and 600 horse; and the united army looked for their main strength, neither to their present numbers nor discipline, but to great accessions which they expected to make. They devoted the following day princi- pally to repose and religious duties. Patten, the historian of this insurrection, an Episcopalian minister, and one of their chaplains, in terms of instructions from Lord Kenmure, who had the command of the troops while in Scotland, preached in the morning in the Great church of Kelso, formerly the abbey of David the First, to a mixed congregation of Catho- lics, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians, from Deut. xxi. 17. "The right of the first-born is his." In the afternoon Mr. William Irvine, an old Scotish Episcopalian minister, chap- lain to the Earl of Carnwath, delivered a sermon full of ex- hortations to his hearers to be zealous and steady in the cause of the Chevalier. Next morning the Highlanders were drawn up in the churchyard, and thence marched to the market-cross with colours flying, drums beating, and bagpipes playing. They there formed a circle round the lords and gentlemen. Within this circle another was formed of the gentlemen volunteers. Silence being enjoined, and a trum- pet sounded, Seaton of Barnes, who claimed the vacant title of Earl of Dunfermline, read a proclamation, declaring the Chevalier, as James VIII., lawful King over Scotland, Eng- land, and Ireland. The insurgents remained three days in Kelso, which were chiefly occupied in searching for arms and plundering the houses of some of the loyalists in the neighbourhood. They took possession of some pieces of cannon which had been brought by Sir William Bennet from Hume Castle for the defence of the town, and which had formerly been employed to protect that ancient stronghold against the attacks of the English. They also seized some broadswords which they 128 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. found in the church, and a small quantity of gunpowder Whilst at Kelso, Mackintosh seized the public revenue, as was his uniform custom in every town through which he passed. During their stay at Kelso, the insurgents seem to have come to no determination as to future operations; but the arrival of General Carpenter with three regiments of dragoons, and a regiment of foot, at Wooler, forced them to resolve upon something decisive. Lord Kenmure, thereupon, called a council of war to deliberate upon the course to be pursued. According to the opinions of the principal officers, there were three ways of proceeding. The first, which was strongly urged by the Earl of Wintoun, was to march into the west of Scotland, to reduce Dumfries and Glasgow, and thereafter to form a junction with the western clans, under General Gorda, to open a communication with the Earl of Mar, and threaten the Duke of Argyle's rear. The second was to give battle immediately to General Carpenter, who had scarcely a thousand men under him, the greater part of whom con- sisted of newly raised levies, who had never seen any service. This plan was supported by Mackintosh, who was so intent upon it, that, sticking his pike in the ground, he declared that he would not stir, but would wait for General Carpenter and fight him, as he was sure there would be no difficulty in beating him. The last plan, which was that of the Northum- berland gentlemen, was to march directly through Cumber- land and Westmoreland into Lancashire, where the Jacobite interest was very powerful, and where they expected to be joined by great numbers of the people. Mackintosh was strongly opposed to this view, and pointed out the risk which they would run, if met by an opposing force, which they might calculate upon, while General Carpenter was left in their rear. He contended, that if they succeeded in defeat- ing Carpenter, they would soon be able to fight any other troops,—that if Carpenter should beat them, they had already JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 129 advanced far enough, and that they would be better able, in the event of a reverse, to shift for themselves in Scotland than in England. Amidst the confusion and perplexity occasioned by these differences of opinion, a sort of medium course was in the meantime resolved upon, till the chiefs of the army should reconcile their divisions. The plan agreed upon was, that they should, to avoid an immediate rencounter with General Carpenter, decamp from Kelso, and proceed along the border in a south-westerly direction towards Jedburgh; and, ac- cordingly, on Thursday the 27th day of October, the insur- gents proceeded on their march. The disagreement which had taken place had cooled their military fervour, and a feeling of dread, at the idea of being attacked by Carpenter's force, soon began to display itself. Twice, on the march to Jedburgh, were they thrown into a state of alarm, by mis- taking a party of their own men for the troops of General Carpenter. The mistake being soon discovered, in the first instance, little disorder ensued; but the last created much confusion, and strikingly exhibited the effects of fear, even upon resolute minds, when labouring under a temporary de- pression. The horse preceded the foot, and arrived at Jed- burgh when the latter were yet distant two miles from the town. A party of the foot, which had been sent up Tweed- side, was observed by their main body, when on the high road between Kelso and Jedburgh, crossing a moor on their right, which being again taken for Carpenter's troops, they sent an express to Jedburgh, requiring the support of the horse. Lord Kenmure, Brigadier Mackintosh, and the other principal officers, were standing together when this message was delivered; but being uttered very indistinctly by the messenger, a gentleman present conceiving that Lord Lumley, who commanded the light horse of Northumberland, had at- tacked the Highlanders, instantly mounted his horse and gal- loped through the streets, shouting aloud, " Mount, gentlemen I 130 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. .. V mount! Lumley is upon the foot cutting them to pieces!" This announcement produced the utmost consternation among the horse, some of whom, from an apprehension of being made prisoners, tore the cockades from their hats, while others absconded and concealed themselves in the most secret places in the town. The greater part, however, mounted their horses, and went out to join the foot; but so alarmed were many even of these, at the idea of encountering the Govern- ment forces, that, according to one writer, they wept like children. If this statement be well founded, these men fully redeemed their character by the gallant defence they after- wards made at Preston. Instead of advancing upon Jedburgh, as they supposed Carpenter would have done, the insurgents ascertained that he had taken a different direction in entering Scotland, and that from their relative positions, they were considerably in advance of him in the proposed route into England. The English officers thereupon again urged their views in council, and insisted upon them with such earnestness, that Macin- tosh was induced, though with great reluctance, and not till after very high words had been exchanged, to yield. Prepa- ratory to crossing the Borders, they despatched one Captain Hunter (who, from following the profession of a horse-stealer on the Borders, was well acquainted with the neighbouring country), across the hills, to provide quarters for the army in North Tynedale; but he had not proceeded far, when an order was sent after him countermanding his march, in con- sequence of a mutiny among the Highlanders, who refused to march into England. The English horse, after expostu- lating with them, threatened to surround them and compel them to march; but Mackintosh informed them that he would not allow his men to be so treated, and the Highland- ers themselves despising the threat, gave them to understand that they would resist the attempt. The determination, on the part of the Highlanders, not tc JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 131 march into England, staggered the English gentlemen; but as they saw no hopes of inducing their northern allies to enter into their views, they consented to waive their resolu- tion in the meantime, and by mutual consent the army left Jedburgh on the 29th of October for Hawick. During their stay at the latter place, the Highlanders were provided with a supply of oatmeal, levied upon the inhabitants, according to their respective abilities, under the inspection of the magistrates. While on the march to Hawick, a fresh mutiny broke out among the Highlanders, who, suspecting that the march to England was still resolved upon, separated them- selves from the rest of the army, and going up to the top of a rising ground on Hawick-moor, grounded their arms, de- claring, at the same time, that although they were determined not to march into England, they were ready to fight the enemy on Scotish ground. Should the chiefs of the army decline to lead them against Carpenter's forces, they proposed, agreeably to the Earl of Wintoun's advice, either to march through the west of Scotland and join the clans under Gen- eral Gordon, by crossing the Forth above Stirling, or to co- operate with the Earl of Mar, by falling upon the Duke of Argyle's rear, while Mar himself should assail him in front. But the English officers would listen to none of these propo- sitions, and again threatened to surround them with the horse and force them to march. The Highlanders, exasperated at this menace, cocked their pistols, and told their imprudent colleagues that if they were to be made a sacrifice, they would prefer being destroyed in their own country. By the inter- position of the Earl of Wintoun a reconciliation was effected, and the insurgents resumed their march to Hawick, on the understanding that the Highlanders should not be again re- quired to march into England. The insurgents passed the night at Hawick, during which the courage of the Highlanders was put to the test, by the appearance of a party of horse, which was observed patroling 132 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. in their front by their advanced posts. On the alarm being given, the Highlanders immediately flew to arms, and form- ing themselves in very good order by moonlight, waited with firmness the expected attack; but the affair turned out a false alarm, purposely got up, it is believed, by the English commanders, to try how the Highlanders would conduct themselves, should an enemy appear. At Hawick a quan- tity of cockades, consisting of blue and white ribbons, was made for the Scotch, to distinguish them from the English insurgents, who wore red and white cockades. Next morn- ing, being Sunday, the 30th of October, the rebels marched from Hawick to Langholm, about which time General Car- penter entered Jedburgh. They arrived at Langholm in the evening; and with the view, it is supposed, of attacking Dumfries, they sent forward to Ecclefechan, during the night, a detachment of 400 horse, under the Earl of Carn- wath, for the purpose of blocking up Dumfries till the foot should come up. This detachment arrived at Ecclefechan before day-light, and, after a short halt, proceeded in the direction of Dumfries; but they had not advanced far, when they were met by an express from some of their friends at Dumfries, informing them that great preparations had been made for the defence of the town. The Earl of Carnwath immediately forwarded the express to Langholm, and, in the mean time, halted his men on Blacket-ridge, a moor in the neighbourhood of Ecclefechan, till further orders. The ex- press was met by the main body of the army about two miles west from Langholm, on its march to Dumfries. The intelligence thus conveyed, immediately created another schism in the army. The English, who had been prevailed upon, from the advantages held out to the Jacobite cause by the capture of such an important post as Dumfries, to accede to the proposal for attacking it, now resumed their original intention of marching into England. The Highland- ers, on the other hand, insisted upon marching instantly upon JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 133 Dumfries, which they alleged might be easily taken, as there were no regular forces in it. It was in vain that the advo- cates of this plan urged upon the English the advantages to be derived from the possession of a place so convenient as Dumfries was, for receiving succours from France and Ire- land, and for keeping up a communication with England and their friends in the west of Scotland. It was to no pur- pose they were assured, that there were a great many arms and a good supply of powder in the town, which they might secure, and that the Duke of Argyle, whom they appeared to dread, was in no condition to injure them, as he had scarcely 2,000 men under him, and was in daily expectation of being attacked by the Earl of Mar, whose forces were then thrice as numerous;-these and similar arguments were en- tirely thrown away upon men who had already determined at all hazards to adhere to their resolution of carrying the war into England. To induce the Scotish commanders to concur in their views, they pretended that they had re- ceived letters from their friends in Lancashire inviting them thither, and assuring them that on their arrival a general insurrection would take place, and that they would be imme- diately joined by 20,000 men, and would have money and provisions in abundance. The advantages of a speedy march into England being urged with extreme earnestness by the English officers, all their Scotish associates, with the excep- tion of the Earl of Wintoun, at last consented to try the chances of war on the soil of England. Even Macintosh (who, at the time the parties were discussing the point in dispute, was busily engaged at a distance from the place where the main body had halted restraining a party of the Highlanders from deserting), yielded to the entreaties of the English officers, and exerted all his influence to induce his men to follow his example. By the aid of great promises and money, the greater part of the Highlanders were pre- vailed upon to follow the fortunes of their commander; but 134 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. about 500 of them marched off in a body to the north. Be- fore they reached Clydesdale, however, they were almost all made prisoners by the country people, and lodged in jail. The Earl of Wintoun, who was quite opposed to the mea- sures resolved upon, also went off with his adherents; but being overtaken by a messenger who was despatched after him to remonstrate with him for abandoning his friends, he consented to return, and immediately rejoined the army. When overtaken, he drew up his horse, and, after a momen- tary pause, as if reflecting on the judgment which posterity would form of his conduct, observed with chivalrous feeling, that history should not have to relate of him that he deserted King's James's interest or his country's good; but with a deep presentiment of the danger of the course his associates were about to pursue, he added, "You," addressing the mes- senger, or any man shall have liberty to cut these (laying hold of his own ears as he spoke) out of my head, if we do not all repent it.” The insurgents, after spiking two pieces of cannon which they had brought from Kelso, immediately proceeded on their march for England, and entered Longtown in Cum- berland the same night, where they were joined by the de- tachment which had been sent to Ecclefechan the previous night. On the following day, the 1st of November, they marched to Brampton, a small market town in Cumberland, where they proclaimed the Chevalier, and levied the excise duties on malt and ale. Mr. Forster now opened a commis- sion which he had lately received from the Earl of Mar, appointing him general of the Jacobite forces in England. As the men were greatly fatigued by forced marches, having marched about one hundred miles in five successive days, they took up their quarters at Brampton for the night to refresh themselves. When General Carpenter heard that the insurgents had entered England, he left Jedburgh, and recrossing the hills into Northumberland, threw himself be JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 135 tween them and Newcastle, the seizure of which, hẹ errone- ously supposed, was the object of their movement. Next day the insurgents marched towards Penrith, on ap- proaching which they received intelligence that the posse comitatus of Cumberland, amounting to nearly 14,000 men, headed by the sheriff of the county, and attended by Lord Lonsdale and the bishop of Carlisle, had assembled near Penrith on the line of their march to oppose their advance. Mr. now General Forster sent forward a party to reconnoitre, but he experienced no trouble from this immense rustic force, which broke up and dispersed in the utmost confusion on hearing of the approach of the reconnoitering party. Patten, the historian of the rebellion, who had formerly been curate of Penrith, attempted, at the head of a party of horse, to in tercept his superior, the bishop of Carlisle; but his lordship escaped. The insurgents captured some horses and a large quantity of arms, and also took several prisoners, who being soon released, expressed their gratitude by shouting, "God save King James and prosper his merciful army." To im- press the inhabitants of Penrith with a favourable idea of their strength and discipline, the insurgents halted upon a moor in the neighbourhood, where they formed themselves in order of battle, and thereafter entered the town in regular marching order. The principal inhabitants, from an appre- sion of being plundered, showed great attention to them; in return for which, and the comfortable entertainment which they received, they abstained from doing any act which could give offence. They however raised, according to custom, the excise and other public duties. Next day the insurgents marched to Appleby, where, as at Penrith, they proclaimed the Chevalier and seized the public revenue. After halting two days at this town, they resumed their march on the 5th of November, and arrived at Kendal, where they took up their quarters for the night. Next morning, being Sunday, they decamped from Kendal, :: 136 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. : and after a short march reached Kirby Lonsdale, where, after proclaiming the Chevalier, they went to the church in the afternoon, where, in absence of the parson, who had ab- sconded, Mr. Patten read prayers. This author relates a singular instance of Jacobite zeal on the part of a gentleman of the name of Guin, or Gwyn, who entered the churches which lay in the route of the army, and scratching out the name of King George from the prayer books, substituted that of the Chevalier in its stead, in a manner so closely resem- bling the print that the alteration could scarcely be perceived. The insurgents had now marched through two populous counties, but they had obtained the accession of only two gentlemen to their ranks. They would probably have re- ceived some additions in Cumberland and Westmoreland, had not precautions been taken by the sheriffs of these coun- ties beforehand to secure the principal Catholics and lodge them in the castle of Carlisle. Despairing of obtaining any considerable accession of force, seventeen gentlemen of Te- viotdale had left the army at Appleby, and the Highlanders, who had borne the fatigues of the march with great fortitude, now began to manifest signs of impatience at the disappoint- ment they felt in not being joined by large bodies of men as they were led to expect. Their prospects, however, began to brighten by the arrival of some Lancashire Catholic gen- tlemen and their servants at Kirby Lonsdale, and by the receipt of intelligence the following day, when on their march to Lancaster, that the Jacobites of Lancashire were ready to join them, and that the Chevalier had been pro- claimed at Manchester. The Highlanders expressed their joy at this intelligence by giving three cheers. The insurgents entered Lancaster without opposition, and instantly marched to the market place, and proclaimed the Chevalier by sound of trumpet, the whole body being drawn up round the cross. After remaining two days at Lancaster where the Highlanders regaled themselves with claret and JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 137 : brandy found in the custom-house, they took the road to Preston on Wednesday the 9th of November, with the inten- tion of possessing themselves of Warrington - bridge and securing Manchester, as preliminary to a descent upon Liver- pool. The horse reached Preston at night, two troops of Stanhope's dragoons and part of a militia regiment under Sir Henry Houghton, which were quartered in the town, retir- ing to Wigan on their approach; but owing to the badness of the road from a heavy rain which had fallen during the day, the foot did not arrive till the following day, when the Chevalier was proclaimed at the cross with the usual forma- lities. On the march from Lancaster to Preston, and after their arrival there, the insurgents were joined by different parties of gentlemen, chiefly Catholics, with their tenants and servants, to the number of about 1,500 in all, by which additions Forster's army was increased to nearly 4,000 men. Forster, who had kept a strict watch upon Carpenter, and of whose movements he received regular accounts daily, was, however, utterly ignorant of the proceedings of a more for- midable antagonist, who, he was made to understand by his Lancashire friends, was at too great a distance to prove dan- gerous. This was General Wills, who had the command in Cheshire, and who was now busily employed in concentrat- ing his forces for the purpose of attacking the rebels. Un- fortunately for them, the Government had been induced, by the tumults and violences of the high-church party in the west of England during the preceding year, to quarter bodies of troops to keep the disaffected districts in check, which being disposed at Shrewsbury, Chester, Birmingham, Stafford, Wolverhampton, Manchester, and other adjacent places, could be easily assembled together on a short notice. On informa- tion being communicated to the Government of the invasion of England, General Wills had been directed to collect all the forces he could, and to march upon Warrington bridge and Preston, to prevent the advance of the insurgents upon 138 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. Manchester. General Wills had, accordingly, made great exertions to fulfil, without delay, the instructions he had re- ceived, and hearing that General Carpenter was at Durham, had sent an express to him to march westward; but he was unable to save Preston. When the insurgents entered this town, Wills was at Manchester, waiting for the arrival of two regiments of foot and a regiment of dragoons which were within a few days' march of him; but alarmed lest by delaying his march they might make themselves masters of Warrington bridge and Manchester, by the possession of which they would increase their force and secure many other advantages, he resolved instantly to march upon Preston with such troops as he had. He left Manchester accordingly on Friday the 11th of November, for Wigan, with four regiments of dra- goons, one of horse, and Preston's regiment of foot, formerly known as the Cameronian regiment. He arrived at Wigan in the evening, where he met Stanhope's dragoons and Houghton's militia, who had retired from Preston on the evening of the 9th. In the meantime, the inhabitants of Liverpool, anticipating a visit from the insurgents, were ac- Within tively employed in preparations for its defence. three days they threw up a breast work round that part of the town approachable from the land side, on which they mounted seventy pieces of cannon, and, to prevent the ships in the harbour from falling into the hands of the enemy, they anchored them in the offing. It was the intention of Forster to have left Preston on the morning of Saturday the 12th; but the unexpected arrival of Wills at Wigan, of which he received intelligence on the preceding night, made him alter his design. Forster had been so elated by the addition which his forces had received at Preston, that he affected to believe that Wills would never venture to face him; but old Mackintosh advised him not to be too confident, as they might soon find it necessary to de- fend themselves. Forster treated this advice very lightly; ! JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 139 4 but Mackintosh added, "No matter, I tell you man, he (Wills) will attack, and beat us all, if we do not look about us." Thereupon, observing from a window where they stood, a party of the new recruits passing by, the veteran warrior thus contemptuously addressed the inexperienced chief, “Look ye there, Forster, are yon fellows the men ye intend to fight Wills with? Good faith, Sir, an' ye had ten thousand of them, I'd fight them all with a thousand of his dragoons." In fact, a more uncouth and unsoldier-like body had never before appeared in the field than these Lancashire rustics; some with rusty swords without muskets, others with muskets with- out swords, some with fowling-pieces, others with pitchforks, while others were wholly unprovided with weapons of any sort. Forster now altered his tone; and if the report of a writer, who says he was an eye-witness, be true, the news of Wills's advance quite unnerved him. Undetermined how to act, he sent the letter conveying the intelligence to Lord Kenmure, and retired to rest. His lordship, with a few of his officers, repaired to Forster's lodgings to consult him, and to their surprise found him in bed, though the night was not far advanced. The council, after some deliberation, resolved to send out a party of horse towards Wigan, to watch the motions of the enemy, to secure the pass into the town by Ribble bridge, and to prepare the army for battle. » About day break of the 12th, General Wills commenced his march from Wigan in the following order:-The van con- sisted of Preston's regiment of foot, and was preceded by an advanced guard of fifty musketeers, and fifty dragoons on foot. The dragoon regiments of Honeywood, Dormer, and Munden, followed in succession. The baggage was placed in the rear under the protection of a party of fifty dragoons. As soon as it was known that Wills was advancing upon Preston, a select body of 100 well-armed Highlanders, under the com- mand of Farquharson of Invercauld, was posted at Ribble bridge, and Forster himself at the head of a party of horse 140 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. crossed the bridge, and advanced to reconnoitre. The ap- proach to Ribble bridge, which is about half-a-mile from Preston, is by a deep path between two high banks, and so narrow in some places that scarcely two men can ride abreast. Here it was that Cromwell, in an action with the royalists, was nearly killed by a large fragment of a rock thrown from above, and only escaped by forcing his horse into a quicksand. The possession, therefore, of this pass, was of the utmost importance to the insurgents, as Wills was not in a condition to have forced it, being wholly unprovided with cannon. Nor could he have been more successful in any attempt to pass the river, which was fordable only at a considerable dis- tance above and below the bridge, and might have been ren- dered impassable in different ways. But the Jacobite general was grossly ignorant of everything appertaining to the art of war, and in an evil hour ordered the party at the bridge to abandon it, and retire into the town. General Wills arrived opposite Ribble bridge about one o'clock in the afternoon, and was surprised to find it unde- fended. Suspecting an ambuscade, he advanced through the way leading to the bridge with great caution, and having cleared the bridge, he marched towards the town. He at first, supposed that the insurgents had abandoned the towr with the intention of returning to Scotland; but he soon ascertained that they still maintained their ground, and were resolved to meet him. Halting therefore his men upon a small rising ground near the town, he rode forward with a strong party of horse to take a survey of the position of the insurgents. During the morning they had been busily employed in raising barricades in the principal streets, and making other preparations for a vigorous defence. The Earl of Derwent- water displayed extraordinary activity and zeal on this occa- sion. He distributed money among the troops, exhorted them to stand firm to their posts, and set them an example JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 141 by throwing off his coat, and assisting them in raising in- trenchments. There were four main barriers erected across the leading streets near the centre of the town, at each of which, with one exception, were planted two pieces of can- non, which had been carried by the insurgents from Lancaster; and beyond these barriers, towards the extremities of the town, others were raised of an inferior description. Behind the barricades bodies of men were posted, as well as in the houses outside the barricades, particularly in those which commanded the entrances into the principal streets. The recent instances of Paris and Brussels have demonstrated how successfully even an unfortified town may be defended against the assaults of an army; and certainly after the abandonment of Ribble bridge, a more judicious plan of defence could not have been devised by the ablest tactician for meeting the coming exigency. But unfortunately for the insurgents, the future conduct of their leaders did not correspond with these skilful dispositions. One of the main barriers, of which Brigadier Mackintosh had the command, was a little below the church, the task of supporting whom was devolved upon the gentlemen volun- teers, who were drawn up in the churchyard under the com- mand of Viscount Kenmure and the Earls of Derwentwater, Nithsdale, and Wintoun. A body of Highlanders, under Lord Charles Murray, third son of the Duke of Athole, was posted at another barrier at the end of a lane leading to the fields. Colonel Mackintosh, at the head of the Mackintoshes, was posted at a third barricade called the Windmill barrier, from its adjoining such a structure on the road to Lancaster. At the remaining barrier, which was in the street leading to the Liverpool road, were placed some of the gentlemen vo- lunteers, and a part of the Earl of Strathmore's regiment, under the command of Major Miller and Mr. Douglas. When the Government general had made himself ac- quainted with the plan of defence adopted by the insurgents, 142 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. he returned to his main body, and made preparations for an Immediate attack. As he had not sufficient forces to make a simultaneous assault upon all the barriers, he resolved to confine himself at first to two only, those commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh and Colonel Mackintosh, in the streets leading to Wigan and Lancaster respectively, at both ends of the town. For this purpose he divided his troops into three bodies. The first consisted of Preston's regiment of foot, and 250 dismounted dragoons taken in equal propor- tions from the five dragoon regiments. This division was commanded by Brigadier Honeywood, and was supported by his own regiment of dragoons. The second body consisted of the regiments of Wynn and Dormer, and a squadron of Stanhope's regiment, all of whom were dismounted. The last division, consisting of Pitt's horse and the remainder of Stanhope's regiment, was kept as a reserve for supporting the other divisions as occasion should require, and to prevent the insurgents from escaping over the Ribble. The action was begun by the division of Honeywood, which, after driving a party of the insurgents from a small barricade at the extremity of one of the leading streets, entered the town, and attacked the barrier near the church, defended by Brigadier Mackintosh; but Honeywood's men were unable to make any impression, and after sustaining a galling and destructive fire from the barrier and from the houses on both sides of the street, they were forced to retreat from the street with considerable loss. In this affair Briga- dier Honeywood received a contusion in his arm. Some of the officers of Preston's regiment being informed whilst en- gaged in the street, that the street leading to Wigan was not barricaded, and that the houses on that side were not pos- sessed by the insurgents, Lord Forrester, the lieutenant-colo- nel, resolved, after Honeywood's division had failed to establish itself in the neighbourhood of the church, to attempt an en- trance in that direction. He accordingly drew off his men by a JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 143 .. narrow back passage or lane which led into the street in the direction of Wigan, and ordering them to halt till he should personally survey the position of the insurgents, this intrepid officer deliberately rode into the street with his drawn sword in his hand, and amidst a shower of bullets, coolly examined the barrier, and returned to his troops. He then sallied into the street at the head of his men, and whilst with one party he attacked the barrier, another under his direction crossed the street, and took possession of a very high house belong- ing to Sir Henry Houghton, which overlooked the whole town. In this enterprise many of the assailants fell by the fire of the insurgents who were posted in the adjoining houses. At the same time, Forrester's men possessed them- selves of another house opposite, which was unoccupied by the insurgents. The possession of these houses was of im- mense advantage to the government troops, as it was from the firing kept up from them that the insurgents chiefly suf- fered. A party of fifty Highlanders, under Captain Innes, had been posted in Houghton's house, and another body in the opposite one; but Brigadier Mackintosh had unfortu- nately withdrawn both parties contrary to their own wishes, to less important stations. Forrester's men maintained the struggle with great bravery, but were unsuccessful in every attempt to force the barrier. As the insurgents, from their position in the houses and behind the barricade, were enabled to take deliberate aim, many of their shots took deadly effect, and the gallant Lord Forrester received several wounds; but although Preston's foot kept up a smart fire, they did little execution among the insurgents, who were protected by the barricade and the houses. Captain Peter Farquharson was the only Jacobite officer who fell in this attack. He received a shot in the leg, and being taken to the White Bull inn, where the wounded were carried, he called for a glass of brandy, and thus addressed his comrades :-" Come lads, here is our master's health; though I can do no more, I wish you ; 144 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. good success." Amputation being deemed necessary, this brave man expired, almost immediately, from the unskilful- ness of the operator. Whilst this struggle was going on near the church, a con test equally warm was raging in another quarter of the town between Dormer's division and the party under Lord Charles Murray. In approaching the barrier commanded by this young nobleman, Dormer's men were exposed to a well- directed and murderous fire from the houses, yet, though newly raised troops, they stood firm, and reached the barri- cade, from which, however, they were vigorously repulsed. Lord Charles Murray conducted himself with great bravery in repelling this attack; and anticipating a second attempt upon the barrier, he applied for and obtained a reinforce- ment of fifty gentlemen volunteers from the church-yard. Dormer's troops returned to the assault; but although they displayed great courage and resolution, they were again beaten back with loss. An attack made on the Windmill barricade, which was defended by Colonel Makintosh, met with a similar fate. Thus repulsed in all their attacks, and as in their ap- proaches to the barriers the government troops had been incessantly exposed to a regular and well-directed fire from the houses, General Wills issued orders to set the houses at both ends of the town on fire, for the purpose of dislodging the insurgents from such annoying positions, and cooping them up in the centre of the town. Many houses and barns were in consequence consumed, and almost the entire range of houses as far as Lord Charles Murray's barrier was burnt. As the assailants advanced under cover of the smoke of the conflagration, many of the insurgents, in attempting to escape. from the flames, were cut down on the spot. The rebels in their turn attempted to dislodge the government troops from the houses of which they had obtained possession, by setting them on fire. Fortunately there was no wird at the time, JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 145 otherwise the whole town would have been reduced to ashes. Night came on, yet an irregular platooning was, notwith- standing, kept up till next day by both parties. To distin- guish the houses possessed by the government forces, General Wills ordered them to be illuminated, a circumstance which gave the besieged a decided advantage, as the light from the windows enabled them to direct their fire with better effect. Wills soon perceived the error he had committed, and sent persons round to order the lights to be extinguished, which order being promulgated aloud in the streets, was so strangely misunderstood by those within, that, to the amusement of both parties, they set up additional lights. During the night a considerable number of the insurgents left the town. Before day-break, General Wills visited the different posts, and gave directions for opening a communication between both divisions of the army to support each other, should necessity require. During the morning, which was that of Sunday the 13th day of November, he was occupied in mak- ing arrangements for renewing the attack. Meantime Gen- eral Carpenter arrived about ten o'clock with Churchill's and Molesworth's dragoons, accompanied by the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lumley, and others. This event was as exhilarating to the royalists, as it was disheartening to the besieged, who, notwithstanding the defection of their more timorous asso- ciates during the preceding night, were, before the accession of Carpenter, fully a match for their assailants. Wills, after explaining to Carpenter the state of matters, and the dispo- sitions he had made, offered to resign the command to him, as his superior officer; but being satisfied with Wills's con- duct, Carpenter declined to accept it, remarking, that as he had begun the affair so well, he ought to have the glory of finishing it. On examining matters himself, however, Car- penter found that the town was not sufficiently invested, particularly at the end of Fishergate Street, which led to a meadow by which the insurgents could easily have escaped. K 146 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. · He therefore posted Pitt's horse along the meadow; and lest the whole body of the besieged should attempt to force a retreat that way, he caused a communication to be opened through the enclosures on that side, that the other divisions of the army might the more readily hasten thither to inter- cept them. Thus invested on all sides, and pent up within a narrow compass by the gradual encroachments of the royalists, the Jacobite General grew alarmed, and began to think of a sur- render. The Highlanders were fully aware of their critical situation, but the idea of surrendering had never once entered their minds, and they had been restrained only by the most urgent entreaties, from sallying out upon the royalists, and cutting their way through their ranks, or dying, as they re- marked, like men of honour, with their swords in their hands. Neither Forster nor any other officer durst, therefore, venture to make such a proposal to them; and Patten asserts, that had they known that Colonel Oxburgh had been sent on the mission he undertook, he would have never seen Tyburn, but would have been shot by common consent be- fore he had passed the barrier. This gentleman, who had great influence over Forster (and who, in the opinion of the last named author, was better calculated, from the strictness with which he performed his religious duties, to be a priest than a field-officer), in conjunction with Lord Widdrington and others, prevailed upon him to make an offer of capitula- tion, thinking that they would obtain favourable terms from the government general. This resolution was adopted with- out the knowledge of the rest of the officers; and Oxburgh, who had volunteered to negotiate, went off about two o'clock in the afternoon to Wills's head-quarters. To prevent sus- picion of his real errand, the soldiers were informed that General Wills had sent to offer them honourable terms, it they would lay down their arms. The reception of Oxburgh by General Wills, was very different from what he and his JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 147 . friends had anticipated. Wills, in fact, absolutely refused to hear of any terms; and upon Oxburgh making an offer that the insurgents should lay down their arms, provided he would recommend them to the mercy of the king, he informed him that he would not treat with rebels, who had killed several of his majesty's subjects, and who consequently must expect to undergo the same fate. The Colonel, thereupon, with great earnestness, begged the General, as an officer and a man of honour, to show mercy to people who were willing to submit. The royalist commander, somewhat softened, re- plied, that all he would promise was, that if the insurgents would lay down their arms and surrender themselves prison- ers at discretion, he would prevent the soldiers from cutting tnem to pieces till further orders; and that he would allow them an hour for the consideration of his offer. The result of this interview was immediately reported by Oxburgh to his friends, but nothing has transpired to throw any light upon their deliberations. Before the hour had elapsed, Mr. Dalzell, brother to the Earl of Carnwath, appeared at Wills's head quarters, and requested to know what terms he would grant separately to the Scots; Wills answered that he would not treat with rebels, nor grant any other terms than those already offered. To bring matters to an immediate issue, General Wills sent Colonel Cotton into the town about three o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by a dragoon, and a drummer beating a chamade. Cotton alighted at the sign of the mitre, where the principal insurgent officers were assem- bled, and required an immediate answer to Wills's proposal. He was told, however, that differences existed between the English and Scotish officers upon the subject, but they re- quested that the General would allow them till seven o'clock next morning to settle their differences, and to consult upon the best method of delivering themselves up. This proposal being reported to Wills, he agreed to grant the Jacobite commanders the time required, provided they would bind 148 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. themselves to throw up no new entrenchments in the streets, nor allow any of their men to escape; for the performance of which stipulations he required the delivery of approved hos- tages. Cotton having returned to the town, the Earl of Derwentwater and Brigadier Mackintosh were pitched upon as hostages for the observance of these stipulations, and sent to the royalist head quarters. As soon as the Highlanders perceived that a capitulation was resolved upon, their fury knew no bounds. They de- clared that sooner than surrender, they would die fighting, and that when they could no longer defend their posts, they would attempt to cut their way through their assailants, and make a retreat. During the night they paraded the streets, threatening destruction to every person who should even allude to a surrender. During these disturbances, several persons were killed, and many wounded, and Mr. Forster, who was openly denounced as the originator of the capitula- tion, would certainly have been cut to pieces by the infuriated soldiers had he appeared in the streets. He made a narrow escape even in his own chamber, a gentleman of the name of Murray having fired a pistol at him, the ball from which would have taken effect had not Mr. Patten, the Jacobite chaplain, struck up the pistol with his hand, and thus diverted the course of the bullet, which penetrated the wainscot in the wall of the room. At seven o'clock next morning, Forster notified to General Wills that the insurgents were willing to surrender at discre- tion as he had required. Brigadier Mackintosh being pre- sent when this message was delivered, observed that he would not be answerable for the Scots surrendering without terms, as they were people of desperate fortunes; and that he who had been a soldier himself, knew what it was to be a prisoner at discretion. "Go back to your people again," answered Wills," and I will attack the town, and the consequence will be I will not spare one man of you." After this challenge, JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. 149 Mackintosh could not with a good grace remain, and returned to his friends; but he came back immediately, and informed Wills that Lord Kenmure and the rest of the Scots noble- men, as well as his brother, would surrender on the same conditions as the English. Colonel Cotton was thereupon despatched with a detach- ment of two hundred men to take possession of the town, and the rest of the government forces thereafter entered it in two grand divisions, amid the sound of trumpets and beating of drums, and met in the market place, where the Highland- ers were drawn up under arms ready to surrender. The number of prisoners taken on this occasion was 1,468, of whom about 463 were English, including 75 noblemen and gentlemen-the Scots amounted to 1,005, of whom 143 were noblemen and gentlemen. The noblemen and gentlemen were placed under guards in the inns of the town, and the privates were confined in the church. On the part of the insurgents, there were only 17 killed and 25 wounded in the different attacks; but the loss on the part of the royalists was very considerable, amounting, it is believed, to five times the number of the former. From the small number of pri- soners taken, it would appear that few of the country people who had joined the insurgents when they entered Lanca- shire, had remained in Preston. They probably left the town during the nights of Saturday and Sunday. The first of the prisoners brought to trial were Lord Charles Murray, Captain Dalziel, brother to the Earl of Carnwath, Major Nairne, Captain Philip Lockhart, brother to Lockhart of Carnwath, Captain Shaftoe, and Ensign Nairne. These six were tried before a court-martial at Preston, and all, with the exception of Captain Dalziel, having been proved to have been officers in the service of government, were condemned to be shot. Lord Charles Murray received a pardon through the interest of his friends; and the remain- der suffered on the 2d of December. The English parlia- 150 JACOBITE INVASION OF ENGLAND. On ment met on the 9th of January; and the commons, imme- diately on their return from the house of lords, where they had been hearing the speech from the throne, agreed, on the motion of Mr. Lechmere, to impeach Lords Derwentwater, Nithsdale, Wintoun, Carnwath, and Kenmure of high trea- son. The articles of impeachment were carried up to the lords the same night; and on the next day these peers were brought to the bar of the house of lords to hear the articles of impeachment read. On the 19th, they were brought back from the Tower; and all-with the exception of the Earl of Wintoun, who petitioned for a longer time to give in his answers-pleaded guilty to the charge of high treason. the 9th of February those who had pleaded guilty received sentence of death; during the next fortnight strenuous and persevering but vain efforts were made by many of the most influential parties in the kingdom to obtain a pardon for them; on the 24th of February, Lords Derwentwater and Kenmure were beheaded on Tower-Hill; and on the pre- ceding night, Lord Nithsdale, who was to have been executed along with them, made his escape in the dress of a female. The Earl of Wintoun, on various frivolous pretences, got his trial postponed till the 15th of March; and after a trial which occupied two days, was found guilty, and received sen- tence of death; but his lordship afterwards made his escape from the Tower and fled to France. On the 7th of April a commission for trying the other rebels met in the court of Common Pleas, Westminster, when bills of high treason were found against Mr. Forster, Brigadier Mackintosh, Col- onel Oxburgh, Mr. Menzies of Culdares, and seven of their associates; and on the 10th bills were found against eleven more. Forster escaped from Newgate, and so well had his friends concerted matters, that he reached Calais in less than twenty-four hours. The trials of Brigadier Mackintosh and others were fixed for the 4th of May; but about eleven o'clock on the preceding night, the brigadier and 15 other INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 151 prisoners broke out of Newgate, after knocking down the keepers and disarming the sentinels. Eight were retaken, but Mackintosh and seven others escaped. The trials of the prisoners who remained proceeded. Many of them were found guilty; and five, among whom were Colonel Oxburgh and Mr. Paul, a non-jurant clergyman of the church of Eng- land, were hanged, drawn, and quartered, at Tyburn. Twen- ty-two prisoners were executed in Lancashire. The remain- der of the prisoners taken at Preston, amounting to upwards of 700, submitted to the king's mercy, and having prayed for transportation, were sold as slaves to some West India mer- chants. :. THE INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS IN 1666. [The contemporaneous or original authorities used in the compila- tion of the following narrative are Wodrow's History of the Suf- ferings of the Church of Scotland, Kirkton's History of the Re- formation of the Church of Scotland, Wallace's Narrative of the Rising at Pentland, Turner's Memoirs of his own Life and Times, the Scots Worthies, Crichton's Memoirs of John Blackadder, and M'Crie's Memoirs of William Veitch; and the two modern works occasionally quoted in it are Aikman's Annals of the Persecution in Scotland, in the department of prose, and Brown's Covenanters, in the department of poetry; but the general histories of Scot- land and M Crie's Review of Sir Walter Scott have also been consulted.] THE reimposing of episcopacy upon Scotland at the restora tion of Charles II. was so flagrant a violation of royal faith and so tremendous an outrage against national feeling, as to be fitly followed by severe tyranny and unflinching oppression The right of private judgment was denounced, the freedom of public elections was overturned, the liberty of the press was restricted, the voice of complaint and expostulation and pro- test was stifled, the mouth of piety and of all true pastoral 152 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. admonition was gagged, and even the cry which had begun to arise against the burning of poor, old, friendless creatures ignorantly or maliciously accused of witchcraft, was sternly hushed. The new prelates were armed with despotic autho- rity in all ecclesiastical affairs; the awe-struck and cringing legislators surrendered the main powers of the law to the un- constitutional purposes of the crown and the crosier, and for- mally declared those principles to be treasonable for which their fathers had contended unto blood; and the privy coun- cil, with Middleton in a sort of vice-king capacity at its head, made unscrupulous use of every possible appliance for en- thralling or punishing all the conscientious Presbyterians in the land. In council, Middleton unwarrantably extended the tyrannical acts of his servile parliament, and wantonly laid waste hundreds of peaceable and flourishing congrega- tions. With a cunning worthy the priesthood of Rome, he invited numbers of unsuspecting ministers from distant parts of the country to Edinburgh, as if to consult them on the affairs of the church, then ensnared them by insidious ques- tions, and punished their unsuspecting simplicity with de- privation, imprisonment, and exile. Without any shadow of law, and without the form of a trial, he turned ministers from their congregations-prohibited them from preaching, pray- ing, or expounding the Scriptures, and sent them to the most distant corners of the land, or forced them to seek an asylum in foreign countries-then intruded on the desolated parishes worthless and incapable hirelings-and concluded his career by commanding the people to attend upon their ministrations. under a severe and oppressive penalty." The ejected ministers, in general, were pious, learned, and of respectable abilities, and enjoyed the affections of the people; and the intruded ones, even according to the account of Burnet, himself an Episcopalian and a Bishop, were "ignorant to a reproach, a disgrace to their order and the sacred function, the dregs and refuse of the northern parts of INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 153 Scotland, and in many cases openly vicious," and they were so distrusted or despised or hated by their respective parish- ioners, particularly in the west and south, as to be scarcely or not at all able to escape open derision and contempt. Yet the hearing of any ejected minister who still dared to preach was more fiercely denounced by both legislator and magistrate than debauchery and pilfering; and non-attendance on the performances of the curates was first made a finable offence, and afterwards denounced as sedition. Any nobleman, gen- tleman, or heritor who did not appear regularly in his parish church, became liable to forfeit the fourth part of his yearly income; any yeoman or farmer, to forfeit one fourth or less. of all his moveable property; and any burgess, to lose his freemanship, to forfeit one-fourth of his moveable property, and to undergo an indefinite or discretionary amount of cor- poreal punishment. Military parties were distributed through- out the country to enforce the new laws, and compel the people to become Episcopalians. The process against non- conformists was often short; and consisted simply in the curates accusing them, and in the military officers, or some- times even private sentinels, judging and condemning them, and summarily levying the enormous fines. The soldiers needed no proof, and would take no excuse; and when they could not at once get money, a party of them quartered themselves upon the house till everything eatable was eaten up, and then sold the household furniture and other moveables for whatever they would bring; and many or perhaps almost all of them were persons of the most aban- doned character, licentious to a proverb, and gave more offence by their profanity and vice than even by their rapa- city and violence. Upon the Sabbath, the day peculiarly devoted by the Covenanters to holy rest, and the quiet performance of their sacred duties, a scene of dismay and distress hitherto un- known was commonly exhibited; and the day to which they 154 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. • ... had in other times looked forward as the glory of the week, was now dreaded as the signal of their renewed torments. Multitudes were brutally driven to church, or dragged as felons to prison; and hesitation or remonstrance provoked only additional insult or blows. Lists of the parishioners were no longer kept for assisting the minister in his labours of love, but were handed over to the troopers, with directions for them to visit the families, and to catechise them upon their principles of loyalty and their practice of obedience to their parsons. After sermon, the roll was called by the curate, when all absent without leave were delivered up as deserters to the mercy of the military. At churches where the old Presbyterian ministers were yet allowed to remain- for a few still continued to preach at their peril, or through the interest of some influential person-the outrage and con- fusion were indescribable. As they were generally crowded, the forsaken bishops and their underlings were enraged, and the soldiers were instigated to additional violence. Their custom was to allow a congregation peaceably to assemble, while they sat carousing in some alehouse nigh at hand, till public worship was nearly over; then they sallied forth in- flamed with liquor, and, taking possession of the church. doors or church-yard gates, obliged the people whom they only suffered to pass out one at a time, to answer upon oath whether they belonged to the parish; if they did not, al- though their own parish had no minister of any kind, they were instantly fined at the pleasure of the soldiers; and if they had no money, or not so much as would satisfy them, their Bibles were seized, and they were stripped of their coats if men, or their plaids if women; so that a party re- turning from such an expedition, appeared like a parcel of villanous camp-followers, after an engagement, returning from a battle field, laden with the spoils of the wounded and the slain." Nowhere was the general oppression more severe than in INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 155 Southeastern Galloway and the lower part of Nithsdale. The people of these districts had enjoyed eminent excellence in their quondam ministers, and had shown special restive- ness or downright opposition at the incoming of the curates; and they therefore were very amply watched with the mili- tary vigilance, and castigated with the coercing and plunder- ing discipline, which were judged the fittest means for mak- ing them Episcopalians. Sir James Turner, who formerly had been zealous for the Covenant, and now, like a true renegade, was fully more zealous to put it down, was the person selected by the state to effect their conversion; and, however much he failed to convince their conscience, he at least made such a diligent use of the "powerful" appliances under his control as to earn the express commendation of his employers, “for his care and pains taken in seeing the laws anent church government receive due obedience." He conducted two campaigns principally in Southeastern Gal- loway, and then conducted a third in both that district and Southern Nithsdale; and in all, but particularly in the last, he perpetrated or sanctioned such gross and numerous ex- cesses as were never attempted to be justified by the major part of even his own hottest abettors. He says indeed, and perhaps with truth, "I was so far from exceeding or trans gressing my commission and instructions, that I never came the full length of them,-sometimes not exceeding the sixth- part of the fines, sometimes not the third, and seldom the half;" but he only lets out by this statement how red-hot nefari- ous his instructions must have been; for thus speaks history respecting his third campaign : The exactions in his former expeditions had been chiefly confined to the common people; now they were imposed upon the gentlemen of the country; and the curates, attended by files of soldiers, fined at their discretion all whom they considered inimical, and of such sums as they judged proper. The landlord was compelled to pay if his wife, children, servants or tenantry were not regular 156 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. church-goers. The tenant was mulcted when his landlord withdrew from public worship-if the curate's service de- served the name-nor did it avail him, although both himself and his family were as punctual as the parson. The aged and the sick, the poor, the widow, and the fatherless—all were compelled to liquidate the church-fines; and even the beggar was forced to lay down his pittance to satisfy the unhallowed demand. From mere wantonness, the ruffian soldiery would eject from their dwellings the non-compliants -driving husband from wife, and wife from husband_snatch the meat from their children to give it to their dogs-then quarter in their houses till they had wasted their substance, and finish by committing to the flames what they could not otherwise destroy. Thus many respectable families, reduced to utter indigence, were scattered over the country, not only robbed of their property, but deprived of the means of pro- curing subsistence. Complaints were useless or worse, they were either disregarded, or answered by additional outrage." During the progress of the military coercions, about three years after the promulgation of the royal deed for the overthrow of Presbyterianism, a new and terrible engine of oppression was constructed in the form of the High Commission Court. This was substantially an Inquisition, armed with most exorbitant powers, and impelled by an inhuman spirit. It sought the promotion of professedly religious objects by means of depri- vation, imprisonment, and torture; and it was absolute, irre- sponsible and essentially clerical; for though it comprised thirty-five lay members, it also comprised all the bishops with the honourable exception of the pious Leighton, and was so constituted as to be always under the bishops' control. Any five of its members were a quorum, provided one of them was a bishop; and all the five might be bishops, with- out so much as the formal presence of even a single layman. They met when they pleased, and let fly their fulminations at will. They had authority to suspend or depose, to fine or .. INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 157 ! imprison all ministers who dared to perform any pastoral duty without episcopal licence,-who preached in private houses or in the open air,-who held any sort of religious meetings which could be branded with the opprobrious name of conventicles; to summon before them, and to punish all persons who spoke, wrote, or printed anything derogatory to the hierarchy or the episcopalian church establishment,- who expressed any dissatisfaction with the public acts of the king; to issue warrants to magistrates and military com- manders for the incarceration of delinquents; and, in fine, to do whatever they might think necessary or expedient for serving the king, for preventing and suppressing schism, for enforcing general conformity, for settling the affairs of vacant congregations, and for procuring submission and reverence to the recently constituted powers of the crosier and the mitre. The mere erection of this tribunal placed the whole com- munity at the mercy of the bishops, and was both fitted and intended to fill the Covenanters with dismay; and its proceedings soon flared out upon the public view in awful keeping with its fiery and devouring character. Its records have been mislaid or lost; but they are known to have been a tissue of spoliation, torture, exile, and ruin,--and the illus- trations of them furnished by the pages of contemporaneous history have provoked a cry of horror from all posterity. Such great and wanton oppressions, even when calmly seen by an uninterested party in the far distance, seem a furious incentive to rebellion,-an express and busy manufactory of crime. Yet during five years, from the period of this com- mencement, the people bore them with only secret murmurs and groans, and, with one or two trivial exceptions, were as peaceable and orderly as if they enjoyed the amplest liberty and the most palmy protection. How happy if they had always acted thus! They never suffered one half of what the early Christians did under the Roman persecutions,—es- pecially under the long and terrifically sanguine persecution 158 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. of Dioclesian; and they had just as little occasion to appeal to arms, and would quite as certainly have triumphed in the end by the mere energy of passive resistance. How disastrous for the truest interests of Christianity would have been an insurrection of the Christian churches against Imperial Rome! how ruinous to the just exposition of the gospel would have been a holy war of the Apostles and their followers, for the defence of their persons against imprisonment and exile! how strangely would the record of campaignings and battles, from the days of Christ till the days of Constantine, for the over- throw of heathenism and the establishment of true religion, have figured on the pages of ecclesiastical history! To fight for a creed is worthy only of Mahommedanism, and scarcely half worthy even of Roman Catholicity, and utterly and odious- ly unworthy of genuine Christianity. Whenever any portion of tolerably orthodox professing Christians have rushed to arms in the cause of their religion, only the Peter-like ones have really drawn the sword, and hacked at the heads of their fellow-men, and all the thoroughly Christ-like ones have stood aloof, and practically said to them, "Put up again your sword into its place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword ;"-" If our kingdom were of this world, then would its subjects fight for it, but now is our kingdom not from hence." The general body of the Covenanters, and still less the prime portions of it, are not for a moment to be confounded with the mobs who marshalled and fought in a civil war. David's contest with Saul was all right on David's side, and secured him the sympathy and the hearty good wishes of the major part of the population, yet drew to him, in the season of his greatest need, only "every one that was in dis- tress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented;" and the cause of the Covenanters, in spite of all its goodness and all its popularity, attracted for the purposes of warfare, if not solely or principally, at least in a marked degree, a very similar gathering. The social liberty, the na- INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 159 7 tional wellbeing, and the religious advantages which at length grew out of the Covenanters' struggles, resulted, not from the battles which the embodied mobs fought, but from the piety which the scattered multitudes exemplified,-not from deeds of arms on the part of the noisy few, but from deeds of prayer and endurance on the part of the silent many,—not from the blood-shedding might of the soldiers, but from the bleeding heroism of the confessors and the martyrs,—not from the brute force which heathens on every battle-field and bears and tigers in every wilderness have exemplified as doughtily as the hill-men" did at Drumclog, but from the moral might of that unseen sway which almightily protects all the holy and devout, and subdues every enemy in answer to their cry, and holds in derision all counsels of all rulers against the Lord and his Anointed; and that social liberty and na- tional well-being and religious good would unquestionably have been brighter and better if not one drop of blood ex- cept that of the martyrs had been shed. The insurgent Covenanters only gave the government a pretext to increase and prolong the persecution of their brethren. All the bene- fits which came down to posterity were connected only with the suffering faithfulness and the fervent piety of the martyrs, the confessors, and the enduring non-conformists who "took joyfully the spoiling of their goods;" and all the evil which was mixed with the benefits,-the virus of disease which fevered the constitution of the re-established Presbyterian church, the series of ecclesiastical disasters which has put the whole country into throes of anguish at intervals down to the present day, may be traced, if not directly to the con- duct, at least indirectly to the principles and influence, of the military Covenanters who made their appeal to the sword. Mere moral might has done wonders in our own day in over- throwing the oppressions of borough-mongering and the corn- laws, -and would have been prodigiously enhanced if the questions with which it dealt had possessed some high reli- 160 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. gious element, but would as certainly have been ruined if any small or considerable portion of its abettors had burst into insurrection. The goodness of the Covenanting cause alone made it eventually triumph, in spite of the sin and folly of connecting it with military exploits. While, there- fore, we undertake to narrate the events which centred in the battle of Rullion Green, and terminated in many exiles and martyrdoms, we must be understood as merely doing the office of an historian, and as not by any means admiring either the events themselves or the principles and passions which originated and moulded them, and as having strong suspicion, or rather pretty direct evidence, that only a portion of the actors, though we are willing to believe by far the larger portion, were a fair specimen of the Covenanting community. "I stood by the martyr's lonely grave, Where the flowers of the moorland bloom; Where bright memorials of nature wave Sweet perfume o'er the sleeping brave, In his moss-clad mountain tomb! I knelt by that wild and lonely spot, Where moulders the heart of one That bled and died, but that blenched not At the tyrant's chain, or the soldier's shot, Till life's last sands had run. And the vision of other days came back, When the dark and bloody band, With the might of a living cataract, Essayed to sweep in their fiery tract, The godly from the land. When Zion was far on the mountain height, When the wild was the house of prayer; The Sea Kings of Orkney.-Page 160. INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 161 Where the eye of eternal hope grew bright, O'er the saint arrayed in the martyr's might, For his God and his country there! When the barbarous hordes as they onward rode, By the wild and rocky glen, Have heard, when away from man's abode, A voice that awed like the voice of God,- 'Twas the hymn of fearless men! For the sunless cave was the martyr's home, And the damp cold earth his bed; And the thousand lights of the starry dome, Were the suns of his path, while doomed to roam O'er the wilds where his brothers bled!- When the clang of the conflict rung on the heath, And the watchword of freedom rose Like the tones of heaven, on the saint's last breath, Far, far o'er the battle notes of death, As he soared to his last repose!— The vision passed; but the home is mine, Where the wild bird makes her nest, On the rocky altars and mossy shrine, Where the weeds and flowers of the desert twine Round the martyr's bed of rest. The lover of freedom can never forget The glorious peasant band- His sires-that on Scotia's moorlands met ;- Each name like a seal on the heart is set, The pride of his Father-land!" In the course of the year 1666, some of the oppressed L 162 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. Covenanters held consultation as to the practicability of re- dressing the wrongs of their injured country, and corresponded on the subject with some of the Whigs of England and some of the Republicans of Holland, and even formed a plan for organizing an insurrection and seizing the principal forts of the kingdom. They seem, however, to have been both few and timid; and they neither brought any thing to maturity, nor even revealed themselves at the time to the eagle-eyed scrutiny of the government. But at length, in the winter of that year, a petty and unpremeditated incident, with which these persons had no concern, precipitated a considerable body of mal-contents into insurrection. On the morning of Monday, the 12th of November, Mr. M'Lellan of Barscobe and other three persecuted fugitives ventured to come down from their places of retreat among the mountains to procure some provisions in the Clachan of Dalry on the north-east border of Kirkcudbrightshire. They went into an alehouse in the Clachan, and called for break- fast; and while taking it, they heard that four soldiers of Turner's, who were quartered in the village, had bound an old man in his own house, and were threatening to strip him naked and set him on a gridiron because he could not pay his church fines; and instantly leaving their breakfast, and going to the house, and there finding the man bound, they demanded why he was treated so, and were answered, “How dare you challenge ?" They then went forward to loose the man, and were confronted with the drawn swords of the sol- diers. A scuffle followed; several persons were wounded; one of the soldiers was pistolled with pieces of tobacco pipe, and fell; and all the four soldiers surrendered themselves prisoners. A party of Covenanters, with a minister at their head, who were holding a religious meeting at Balmaclellan, soon heard of the affair; and fearing to be involved in the terrible reprisals which certainly might be anticipated, they seized and disarmed sixteen of Turner's men in their neigh- INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 163 bourhood, and made common cause with the victors of Dalry They now could not possibly avoid some fierce collision with Turner; and, if they thought at all of retreat, must have seen it to be as dangerous as to go on with their aggression; and knowing that most of Turner's force was scattered in small parties throughout the country, they resolved to be before- hand with him, and to surprise him and his garrison at Dum- fries. They sent private advertisement through the country, that all persons who were ready to join them should come in companies to Irongray kirk, on Wednesday night, in order that the whole party might enter Dumfries by daybreak. Ere they could muster, the sun was up; and it was ten o'clock before they got to Dumfries. They amounted to about fifty horse, provided with cloaks girt over their shoulder for fight- ing, and about two hundred foot, miserably armed with pitch- forks, scythes, cudgels, and a few pikes and swords. They approached without giving the least surprise; and did not find even a watch or sentinel at the bridge which leads from Galloway into the town. The foot halted at the bridge end; the horse rode right into the town; and four of the latter, headed by Nielson of Corsack, went on before the rest to Turner's lodgings. Turner had been ill, and was in bed; but hearing a noise of horse, and having had previous notice of the disturbance at Dalry, he ran to the window in his night-gown, and cried, "Quarter, gentlemen; for Christ's sake, quarter; there shall be no resistance." If you come down to us and make no resistance," replied Nielson, the word of a gentleman you shall have quarter." While they were still speaking, Andrew Gray, who had assumed the chief command of the insurrection, came up and, seizing Turner, presented a pistol or carabine to shoot him; but Nielson prevented him, saying, "You shall as soon kill me, for I have given him quarter." This Gray was said to be an Edinburgh merchant; and, though obeyed without enquiry by the insurgents, was not known to any of them, and had on 164 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. thrust himself unbidden into the chief command, and was eventually suspected, not without good reason, to be actuated more by love of plunder than by any concern for either liberty or religion. The insurgents who captured Turner searched his rooms, and seized his papers and trunks, but did not find much money; and himself they brought down stairs in his night- gown and slippers, and set him on a pony bare-backed, with a halter on its head, and led him away to the burgh cross; and there, with a show of loyalty grossly out of keeping with both their character and their enterprize, they drank the king's health. They then carried him through the town, out at the Nether-port, and along the river side to a spot opposite the church of Troqueer, "he being all along in a great panic, expecting they were going to hang him up with great solemnity;" and, after a little consultation, they returned with him in the same posture to his lodgings, and allowed him access to his wardrobe, and told him to make ready to accompany them as their prisoner into the country. They sent parties hither and thither to apprehend his sol- diers, one of whom was killed in the fray; they demanded up from the inhabitants whatever arms could be found, and distributed them among their infantry; and, in the afternoon, they marched out of the town into the west, seemingly with- out any immediate object except to rouse the country and to augment their numbers. They rested that night at Glencairn; but were soon and hurriedly frightened thence by a false report that Lords An- nandale and Drumlanrig were pursuing them with a strong party of friends and vassals. They marched next day to Carsphairn, carrying Turner under a strong guard, and re- ceiving some small accessions to their force; yet greatly annoyed and in much perplexity, both on this day and on following ones, that "they got so little increase to their com- pany, by reason the country could not be ready, being so ---་ INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 165 surprised,"—and, no doubt, by reason also that multitudes of the Covenanters disapproved their conduct, and must have thought it unprincipled, wild, and riotous. At the Clachan of Dalry, where the whole affair had begun, and where they made a halt in the course of this day's march, Turner was invited to dine with Hugh Henderson, the outed minister of Dumfries, who was residing in the vicinity; and he says, Thogh he and I be of different persuasions, yet I will say, that he entertaind me with very reall kindnes, and desird the Captaine to set me at libertie; whose ansuere was, that he could not dispose of me, till he came to the shire of Aire, where he was to ressave further orders from his superiors. At this place, Major Steuart of Monwhill gave me a visite, and thogh he be a Presbiterian, yet in plaine enoughe lan- guage, he called them both fooles and knaves. It was re- ported to me, that Captaine Graye did heere offer to resigne nis command to this Major Steuart, and that he absolutlie refused it." Gray was really anxious to be off, whether from conscious incapacity or dread of consequences or convicted rascality, no man can tell; and at Carsphairn, he took French leave during the night, not without violent suspicion of hav- ing carried away with him a considerable sum of money. The command now devolved on Maclellan of Barscobe, Nielson of Corsack, and a preacher of the name of Alexander Robertson; and next day the insurgents marched, in the manner of a disorderly rabble, to Dalmellington; and there they were joined by the Reverend John Welsh, Mr. Max- well of Moreth, and five or six other gentlemen, who had received special intelligence at Edinburgh of the insurrection, and had proceeded thence with all haste to guide it by their counsel. A special religious interview here occurred between Turner and Welsh ; and an account of it given by the former possesses uncommon interest for the testimony which it bears oy one of the chief of the persecutors to one of the chief of the ministers. After my guards had supped at my charges," 166 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. says he, "Mr. Welch sent one to enquire of me, if I wold ressave a visite from him. My ansuere was, he was a person I was lookeing for these tuo yeares bygone, bot I had found him now in a wrong time; however, he might come when he pleasd. When he came, he enterd in a tedious discourse of the Covenant, which, as he said, had made Scotland glorieous in the eyes of the nations. He held out to me, how great ane enemie I had beene to that Covenant, and how much I had endeavord to support Prelacie, by suppressing and op- pressing the people of God, who loved not that government. He wishd me to meditate much on death, which, as he said, I knew not how soone might overtake me; that, thogh per- haps I might ansuere before men for all I had done, yet it wold be hard for me to ansuere all before the tribunall of Jesus Christ, where it was like I might shortlie compeare. He confidentlie offerd to assure me, that the Lord had re- veald it unto them, that this was the time appointed by God, for the deliverance of his saints and people, from the perse- cutions and tirannies of these who had vilipended and con- temned the Covenant. And then he told me, that thogh a strict guard was still to be keepd over me, yet it was the sal- vation of my soule that they sought, and that they resolvd to endeavor to gain me, and that I needed not to apprehend death; bot added these words, 'I meane,' said he, 'not so soone.' I ansuerd particularlie to everie part of this long discourse. Among other things, I told him, that revelations and miracles were ceasd; that it was not probable that he or his partie could set up their Covenant, with such inconsiderable num- Ders as either they yet had, or were like to get, against the King's standing forces; the which, in all probabilitie, were on their march against them. I wishd they wold more ma- turlie consider what they were doeing, and give over in time, goe home to their houses, and submit to the King's clemen- cie; whose former acts of grace might give them confidence to beleeve, that they had to doe with a mercifull prince, who INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 167 would pardon their errors, and take their grievances to his royall consideration. Bot by these discourses I prevaild as much with him, as he did with me by his. I calld for a cup of ale, purposlie that I might heare him say grace. In it, he prayd for the King, the restoration of the Covenant, and downfall of Prelacie. He prayd likewise for me, and honord me with the title of God's servant who was then in bonds. He prayd for my conversion, and that repentance and remis- sion of sinnes might be granted to me. After this, the con- ference broke up, at which were présent as many as the roome could well hold." From Dalmellington, Mr. Welsh went to the south to rouse his friends and gather a reinforcement, and the main body of the insurgents marched toward a general rendezvous in the vicinity of Ayr or of the Bridge of Doon. The insur- gents received some accessions on their way, both from the neighbourhood and from somewhat distant places; and, though still a mere mob, and very inconsiderable in numbers, they began to feel determined and sanguine. Some small parties of them foraged, and brought in many horses; and one large party went into the town of Ayr, and brought out thence a collection of arms which Turner and the Earl of Glencairn had taken from the country people in the preceding year. "I cannot omit to tell," says Turner, "that on our march to Aire, Major Mackulloch, who was since executed at Eden- burgh, in my hearing, praisd God for that happie day he had now seene; and, said he, Magnified be thow, Lord, for thow hast done thy oune worke thyselfe. One of his partie, and my guards, rejoyned in this language; Bide you yet, sir, the worke is not half done, the play is bot begin- ning.' Colonel Wallace set out from Edinburgh about the same time as Mr. Welsh to join the insurgents; but had high hopes of getting up an insurgent army on his own account by the way, and of arriving at the main body with a mighty rein 168 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. forcement. He proceeded first to Libberton, and expected to get there forty well-mounted horsemen, but got only eight; and he proceeded thence by Linton, Dunsire, Avondale, and Mauchline, suffering similar disappointments,-learning, in one or two instances, that small bands had gone on before him to join the main body,-but finding, in general, that most of his expected supporters cared nothing for the enter- prise, and that some condemned or opposed it; and he mus- tered altogether a very petty force. Their mistaken hopes," says Kirkton, "that when they came to the countrey around Machline, all the gentry and ministry should presently joyn them; but when they come hither, they find Major-General Montgomrie and the Laird of Gadgirth, of whom they ex- pected great matters, were both gone to meet Dalyell (the government General) at Eglinton, and the ministers living quietly in their families. This offended the Collonel's party very much, that friends in the countrey should be so little concerned. The friends in the countrey were as much grieved with the undertaking, believing it to be unadvised, and fear- ing it would be unsuccessfull. But at length the Colonell and his party arrive at Air, and there they found the body of their friends at a rendivouze beyond the bridge of Doone." Between Evondale and Mauchline, Wallace was joined by Captain Arnot, the brother of the Laird of Lochrig, at the head of a company of Clydesdale men; and, learning between that point and Ayr that a number of persons in Cunningham would rise if temporarily sanctioned by a protecting force, he despatched Captain Arnot on that service, at the head of 40 horse, with instructions to make speed to the general ren- dezvous. Two important persons in Wallace's company, who, with several others, had joined him between Avondale and Mauchline, were the Reverend William Veitch and Major Learmont, the latter a skilful, resolute, courageous though uninventive man; and Wallace and Learmont afterwards came to be the most conspicuous military actors, and Veitch 1 1 % INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 169 one of the most influential clerical advisers, in the subse. quent and concluding movements of the insurrection. Hugh M'Kail, who became a singularly distinguished sufferer, was also present at the general rendezvous; and there almost fell from his horse, and required to be carried to bed, on account of debility and fatigue. The total number of insurgents at Doon, even after the accession of Wallace's party, seems not to have been much above seven hundred. While the insurgents were thus doing their best to get up a conquering army, powerful preparations were in progress on the part of the government to arrest and suppress them. News of the insurrection were promptly carried from Dum- fries to the supreme authorities at Edinburgh; and orders were speedily issued to General Dalziel to march immediately to the west with as many men as he could muster, to establish his head-quarters at Glasgow, and to proceed thence to any point at which his presence might be most urgently required; the guards of the metropolis were doubled, the train-bands were ordered to be filled up by the most loyal citizens who should cordially swear the oath of allegiance, and all unknown or suspected persons in the city were ordered to be registered or arrested; the principal landowners in the districts around the source of the insurrection, and in those most likely to become affected by it, were instructed to use every possible local effort to maintain the public peace, and to receive and assist the government's military forces; every manageable obstruction which could be thought of was put in the way of all travelling or mustering on the part of the disaffected; and a proclamation was issued commanding the rebels to lay down their arms, yet attempting merely to overawe and terrify them, and containing no offer of pardon. The insurgents learned at their general rendezvous, on the 21st of November, at the Bridge of Doon that General Dal- ziel and the Duke of Hamilton had arrived at Glasgow, and were likely to be speedily upon them with a large govern- 170 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. ment force; and they resolved instantly to adjourn their general rendezvous to Ochiltree. They accordingly marched thither next day; and there they were joined by Mr. Welsh with a party of about one hundred ill-armed foot and some fifteen or sixteen horse from the south,-by Mr. John Guthrie, the minister of Tarbolton, with a party of his pa- rishioners, and by Robert Chalmers, who reported the de- spatch of John Ross with a small party to serve as scouts in ascertaining the approach of the government troops. At Ochiltree, also, they heard sermon by one of their preach- ers, marshalled their army, appointed their officers, placed guards, and held a council of war to examine their condition and prospects; and at this council they resolved that no farther help might be expected from the south or the south- west, that Captain Arnot would probably bring with him as many friends from Cunningham and Renfrewshire as might be obtained if the whole army prolonged its stay, that they had the prospect of being joined by numerous adherents if they passed into Clydesdale, and that therefore they should immediately march to the east. Next day, they set out for Cumnock; and, learning by the way that the Duke of Hamilton with his whole force was at Kilmarnock, and had taken Ross and his party prisoners, they pressed on through a dismal moor, during a violent storm of wind and rain, to Muirkirk. They did not arrive till within two hours of midnight, and were as completely drenched as if they had been immersed in a pond; and the foot were obliged, wet and weary as they were, to lie all night in the church without any refreshment and with very little fire. Here Mr. Andrew M'Cormack, an Irish minister commonly called "the good man," informed Colonel Wallace, who had now become commander-in-chief, that, as matters seemed to be getting worse, and small expectations existed of any impor- tant succours, some of the leaders were wishful that the enter- prise should not be prosecuted farther, and that the insurgents I INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 171 should be quietly dismissed, and left each to shift for himself in the best way he could. Wallace greatly disliked the pro- posal, but promised to hold a council upon it when they should arrive at Douglas. Next night, that of Saturday the 24th of November, they reached Douglas; but received neither there nor by the way any further reinforcements than about forty men brought in by Captain Arnot. After having quartered the troops and set the guards, the leaders met in council, engaged in prayer, and earnestly discussed the question whether they should disperse or continue in arms; and they concluded that they had been summoned by Providence to their present position, and ought, not only to go on with their undertaking, but to bind themselves to it by again formally and solemnly swear- ing the Covenant. They next debated what they should do with Turner, whether kill him or let him live,—for they had hitherto carried him constantly with them for want of a pri- son to lodge him in, and seem often to have considered and vacillated about the propriety of taking his life; and they decided by a small majority to spare him with the view of seeking his conversion,—the minority apparently being almost or altogether as thirsty for the blood of principal antagonists as the Episcopalian persecutors, and even the majority under- standing little or nothing of the principles of toleration and forbearance, and probably having a regard, in Turner's desired conversion, as much to the eclat and influence of it upon the cause of the Covenanters, as to the true and abstract merits of it in his own salvation. Even the best men in the Cove- nanting army appear to have been wofully tarnished with the coercing spirit of the age. On Sabbath, the 25th, learning that General Dalziel was at Strathaven, the insurgents decamped early in the morning from Douglas; and hearing, though falsely, that the Duke of Hamilton had gone to Lesmahago with only one troop and a few country gentlemen, they marched thither in the hope of 172 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 1 beating up his quarters; and then looking at their own ill- organized condition, they made a formal review of their force, sent out some small parties to plunder horses, marched to Lanark, made a general search in that town for arms, and made as great and diligent improvements as they were able upon both their organization and their commisariat. They were in a pitiful plight as an army, and could have kept up their spirits and cherished hope only under the influence of enthusiasm. Turner witnessed their review, and says re- specting it," The horse men were armed for most part with suord and pistoll, some onlie with suords; the foot, with musket, pike, sith, forke and suord, and some with staves, great and long. There I saw tuo of their troopes skirmish against other tuo, (for in foure troopes their cavallerie was divided,) which I confesse they did handsomlie, to my great admiration. I wonderd at the agilitie of both horse and rider, and to see them keepe troope so well, and how they had comd to that perfection in so short a time." Only four. or five of their officers had ever seen any military service; and the whole army was miserably provided with arms and ammunition; and both the town and country had been so well scoured before, that their searching and plundering par- ties could find but very scanty warlike supplies. But they had small excuse from their necessities, or none whatever, for the heathenish manner in which they spent that Sabbath; and though they resolved in the evening to have sermon on the morrow, and had resolved on the preceding night to renew at the same time their adherence to the Covenant, they may safely enough be pronounced to have committed such crying sin on that sacred day as was quite sufficient of itself to bring down a divine judgment upon their enterprise. Turner sorely twits them with this, as well as with alleged general irreligiousness; and though he no doubt lays on as black a colouring as conscience and a sense of honour would let him, yet he wins credit from the comparative probity of 1 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 173 other parts of his narrative for speaking a considerable por- tion of truth. Now," says he, "let all people of impartiall judgments determine, whether this armie of pretended saints spent this Lord's day, as Christians ought to doe; and these who make Sabbath breakeing a crying sinne, how will they excuse this crue of rebellious hipocrites, who began that dayes worke in the morning with stealeing a silver spoone and a night goune at Douglas, and spent the rest of the day, most of them in exerciseing, in a militarie way, and the rest in plundring houses and horses, and did not bestow one houre or minute of it, in the Lord's service, either in prayers, praises, or preaching? This I shall say, they were not to learne to plunder, and that I have not seene lesse of divine worship any where, then I saw in that armie of theirs; for thogh at their rendevouses and halts they had opportunitie enough everie day for it, yet did I never heare any of their ministers, (and as themselves told me, there was not so few as tuo and threttie of them, whereof only five or sixe conversd with me,) either pray, preach, or sing psalmes; neither could I learne that it was ever practisd publiklie, except once by Mr. Rob- bisone at Corsfairne, ane other time by Mr. Welch at Da- mellinton, and now the third time by Mr. Semple at Lanrick, where the laufull pastor was forcd to resigne his pulpit to him. What they did in severall quarters, I know not; per- haps they had some familie exercise there. I am sure in my quarters, my guards neither prayd nor praisd, for any thing I ever heard; and being for most part in one room together, it is to be supposed I must have beene a witnes to their de- votions. Bot I confesse I was more overwearied with the tediousness and impertinencies of their graces before and after meate, then I was either with the scarsnes or badnes of my meate and drinke.” On Monday morning, the insurgents heard that Dalziel's army was only about two miles distant, though on the other side of the Clyde, which could not at the time be crossed 174 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. without great difficulty; and some therefore proposed to de- lay the intended swearing of the Covenant; but the majority determined that as this act was a religious one, and had been deliberately resolved upon, and might prove the best or only demonstration which they might be able in present circum- stances to make against the enemy, they would not be deterred by anything short of downright impracticability from perform- ing it. The influence of the Solemn League and Covenant, in fact, was the bond which united them, the corps d'esprit which animated them, the enthusiasm which impelled them, the furor which excited and bewildered and intoxicated them; and to have forborne to quaff it anew when they were on the giddy verge of a crisis, would have been to the full as mar- vellous, on the part of even the least principled, as for a band of ancient rievers or clansmen at the onset of a foray to have forborne the gathering cry; and all the best of them were driven to it in addition by the mighty force of a paramount religious conviction. The insurgents, therefore, sent out scouts to watch the enemy, placed guards at the point by which he might approach, and then went impressively about the great work of the day. The horse convened at the head of the town, where Mr. Gabriel Semple and Mr. John Crook- shanks presided; and the foot were ranged in the street, near the Tolbooth stairs, where Mr. John Guthrie stood and preached; but few or none of the inhabitants of Lanark, though generally friendly to the Covenant, attended, so great was the universal terror. The whole proceedings were so- lemn and affecting, particularly the address of Mr. Semple from Prov. xxiv. 11, 12. "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it? And shall not he render unto every man according to his works?" After sermon, at each of the places, the Covenant was read, article by article, and INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 175 the hearers with uplifted hands, and apparently with much emotion, engaged and vowed to perform. "The heart-wept tears of that devoted band, The breathless silence, and the lifted hand, : Spoke more than language, when the words were given, Heard on the earth, and registered in heaven To live, to breathe for liberty alone, And make Religion's holy cause their own ;- Enjoy the birthright which their fathers gave, Or sword meet sword, and perish like the brave!' And fearless men, who helm and corslet wore, Trembled and wept who never quaked before." The insurgent force attained its maximum at Lanark, more persons having joined it there, and fewer deserted, than on any of the preceding three days; and it is said by Kirkton to have amounted then to nearly three thousand men, but by Turner not to have exceeded eleven hundred. Many per- sons in it thought that if they were to fight at all they ought to fight here, as it would be better, in the event of defeat, to find themselves among friends than among the lukewarm or the hostile; but the majority felt that they were in too bad a state of discipline and equipment to risk an action with the King's troops unless they should be forced into it,—and they likewise felt incited to precipitate themselves into the Lo- thians in the hope of receiving succours from Edinburgh. Yet both the minority who wished to court battle on the spot, and the majority who wished to attain more strength for it at a distance, were sadly damped by several discourage- ments. Mr. Alexander Peden here left them; Major Kil- gour and Mr. John Scott, the minister of Hawick, came to join them, but, on seeing their undisciplined and disorderly condition, suddenly withdrew; Lowrie of Blackwood, the chamberlain of the Marquis of Douglas, and a sort of neutral 176 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. between the Prelatists and the Covenanters, appeared among them, and was supposed to have come to join their standard, but proved to be an emissary of the Duke of Hamilton, to request them to lay down their arms, and conducted himself in a manner so offensive to Wallace and some of the other leaders, that they afterwards regretted not making him pri- soner; and, what was worse than all, a great part of the sur- rounding country was arming against them, sheriffs and heritors and gentlemen-farmers were in motion to beset them, -and ere they had well formed a hasty resolution, and were but just beginning to get clear of the town, the army of Dal- ziel came in sight above Stonebyres. The insurgents fancied Edinburgh to be largely favourable to them; and they therefore determined to make a run for it by way of Bathgate. "So fatal it was," says Kirkton, “for those poor people to embrace false intelligence, thereupon to found false hopes, and so to take their false measures, that to Bathgate they will goe that night, which was just to bring themselves into a net, and run upon the sword's point." Dal- ziel, on seeing them move in the direction they did, probably knew that they must early pass through strong intrenching ground; and he sent merely a reconnoitring body of horse after them, and snugly laid up his main army to a night's repose in Lanark. "The rebels," says Turner," had marched now about a mile and a halfe from Lanrick, and enterd in a moras, when one came and told them that the enemies forepartie was seene on the other side of the river; and that Mondrogat, who com- manded a partie of theirs at the foord, had either dround or broken the boate. Lermond was sent thither, to see in what condition their affaires stood, their body marching on. Bot within one houre, or therby, the Generall had passd the river with both his horse and foot; the Earles of Linlithgow and Kellie showing their foot companies good example by wade- ing the river first themselves. Upon this intelligence the rebells facd about, and drew up as formallie as the ground INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 177 could permit. And certainlie if the Generall had comd up that length and attackd them, he had done it with a notable seene disadvantage, the moras being so deepe, and the way so narrow, that hardlie the foot, much lesse the horse, could do any great service. When they heard the Generall had made his quarters at Lanrick, they marchd on." 66 A most miserable march they had. The road led across the moors, and was broken, deep, and plashy; the weather blew a hurricane and rained incessantly; the night set in, pitch dark, two hours before their arrival at Bathgate; and the half-armed yet most heroic multitude imagined that Dalziel was closely pursuing them, and therefore compelled themselves to move in compact marching order. They came neere to Calder with daylight," records Turner; "and againe, I must say, that I have seldome or never seene lustier foot then these they had. They keepd rank and file on that miserable way and weather, even to admiration, and yet outmarched their horse, and got to the van of them, either thorough neglect or misunderstanding of their officers. Bot Maxwell of Morith and Lermond rode up, and reducd them to their former order. Neere to Calder, I saw halfe a dozen of farmers meet with Master Semple, who told him, as I was informed, that a good number of his persuasion had that morning keepd a private rendezvous, of purpose to joyne with him, bot have- ing heard that the Covenanted armie had marchd touards Glasgow, they had disbanded. Mr. Semple imployed these fellows to be guides to their armie.' When Wallace came up to us, he orderd his forces to march to Bathket, which was a litle out of the roade way to Edenburgh; this, I con- fess, made me doubt whether he intended for Edenburgh or Glasgow. He increased my doubt, by asking me, whether 1 did not think that when Generall Dalyell heard that he, the said Wallace, was at Bathket, he wold not imagine that he had turnd head to Glasgow, and therfor wold endeavour to get between him and it. He smild when he askd me this M + : 178 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. question, hugging himselfe (as I found afterwards) with the fancie, that he had, by that turn of his, cast the Generall a whole day's march behind him. I told him, there was no question bot the King's Lieutenant Generall could not readi- lie resolve, whether to follow him straight to Edenburgh, or intercept his passage to Glasgow, for I myself, who was with him, did much doubt which of the tuo places he intended for. This doubt of mine made him laugh with open mouth, for it was no small joy to him to think he had puzled me; and this gave me occasion to meditate a whole houre after, how vaine a thing man is. Haveing well enough perceavd, not- withstanding this frolicke of his, that he still imagind the King's forces were at his heels, and therfor wold not stay long in one place, I desird him to permit me, with my guards, to goe to some house, where I might repose a little. My desire was civillie granted by him, and he seemd to regrate very much, both my condition and indisposition." The insurgents, though drenched with rain and sadly fa- tigued, found little or no accommodation at Bathgate; and so early as midnight, at the raising of a false alarm, they sud- denly left the little shelter they had, and resumed their march toward Edinburgh in one of the darkest and most dismal The rain fell in nights which any of them had ever seen. torrents; the wind blew boisterously; the clouds intercepted every twinkling of light from the stars; and the whole mul- titude scrambled along as if they were stone-blind, and had become the sport and scorn of the tempest. Many stuck in the mud, and fainted by the way; many sought refuge in houses and open shelters on the side of the road; and they who kept together and persevered amounted to less than one half of the army, and were in so disastrous a plight that forty of Dalziel's horsemen would have been more than enough to have routed them all. Except we had been tied to- gether," says Wallace, "it was impossible to keep together, and every little burn was a river.” "And in the morning," INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 179 says Kirkton, "they looked rather like dyeing men than soul- diers going to conquer; it would have pitied a heart to see so many faint, weary, half-drowned, half-starved creatures betwixt their enemies behind and enemies before." Yet about ten o'clock, at New-Bridge, about 9 miles from Edin- burgh, the army mustered to the number of more than a thousand men, and drew up in two squadrons of horse and one of foot, and displayed a surprising degree of collectedness and spirit; and they were harangued by one of their preach- ers, either Guthrie or Ogilvie, in a speech which, even as reported by their great enemy Turner, reflects the highest credit upon the character of their chief clerical advisers. "He desired them," says Turner, " to remember that Cove- nant and oath of God, which they had suorne the day before, and that they were obliged to cary themselves not onlie pie- ouslie to God, bot civillie and discreetlie to man. He assurd them, their friends were readie to ressave and embrace them with open armes, and furnish them with all necessaries for backe and bellie, as also with all things might render them able to encounter their enemies; armes and amunition as- suredlie he meant. Bot,' said he, you must not stop there, for to be civill to those who are good to you, deserves neither thankes nor reward. Bot I intreate you,' said he, 'to use all imaginable discretion to those who are not of your per- suasion; endeavor to gaine them with love, and by your good carrieage, stop the mouths of your adversaries." C They here learned, however-contrary to the intimations of this speech, and to the hopes which they had founded on former intelligence-that all Edinburgh and its neigh- bourhood were in arms against them,-that the gates of the city were barricaded and planted with cannon, that an ad- vanced guard of horse and foot were stationed on Bruntsfield Links, under the command of Lord Kingston, that the advo- cates and the train-bands were accoutred and active, and that all the available military array of the Lothians, the Merse, 180 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 2. and Teviotdale, were ready to come into action, at a moment's bidding. The insurgents were dreadfully perplexed, and felt themselves alike imperilled behind and before, and had not distinct enough intelligence to see any outlet for extrication or retreat; but, on the spur of the moment, they resolved to go forward, and march to Colinton. On their way to Colinton, they were visited by Lowrie of Blackwood with a verbal message from the Duke of Hamil- ton, requesting them to lay down their arms, and promising that, if they did so, an endeavour would be made to procure. them an indemnity; but, notwithstanding the extreme ur- gency of their circumstances, they could not see any prudence or safety in complying with so vague an arrangement; and when Lowrie entreated them to accept it, they dismissed him with an admonition to take care how he acted, and to see well that he did nothing wrong in his attempts to negociate between the two parties. In some parts of their march, they were in full view of Edinburgh Castle, but at such a distance as to be beyond the reach of its guns. When they reached Colinton, they felt dreadfully exhausted from fatigue, hunger, want of sleep, and exposure to the weather, and were exceed- ingly desirous to get some refreshment and repose; and though they were then within three miles of the royal forces at Edin- burgh, and within five miles of the forces under General Dal- ziel, who was advancing from Lanark, yet they found easy means, in the churchyard walls, the stone bridge, and the flooded river, to arrange a defence against any assault,-and were almost sufficiently protected by the continuance of the mere tempestuousness of the weather from any serious imme- diate efforts of their enemies, and they therefore sent out foragers to the neighbouring country, quartered their horse on the adjacent farms, disposed their foot as well as they for a could in the village, set guards, and laid themselves up night's rest. My guards and I," says Turner, "were lodged in the best inne, and about the evening, Wallace and most 68 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 181. of his officers gave me a visite. He told me that he was more troubled for me than for himselfe; for he found it wold be convenient for him to stay in the field most of that night, which he thought wold not be fit for me to doe, and therfor askd me, if I wold not stay in my lodgeing with my guards. Bot I apprehending my guard might have order rather to dispatch me, then suffer me to be taken from them, told him, I wold rather choose to goe to the field with him. While we were speaking thus, the noyce of tuo pistolls gave ane alarm; Wallace presentlie left me, bot left order with my guard to keepe me in my lodgeing till his further direction. After a litle time he returned, and told me it was boysterous and rainie weather, and that he had resolved to let ane evill night kill itselfe; and that I might goe and take some rest if I pleased." When the officers were retiring to rest, Lowrie of Black- wood came to them again, accompanied by Richards, the Laird of Barskimming, repeating the proposal which he had formerly made, and adding an offer from Dalziel to exchange a parole with Wallace for a cessation of hostilities till the morning. Wallace, in reply, told Lowrie that "he did not understand this paroling of his, but he believed neither would break the truce in such a night;" and sought to dismiss him. Richards took this reply as tartly as it was meant, and went off without taking leave; but Lowrie, and also Turner, who was allowed to be present at part of the interview, seem to have been really anxious to drive on an accommodation and prevent the effusion of blood,—and the former remained for a final answer till daybreak. During the night, a messenger attempted a last and forlorn communication with the Cove- nanters of Edinburgh; but returned without any heartening. "And now," says Kirkton, "when they perceived their friends at Edinburgh stirred not, (all that they did, as also all their friends in the countrey, being only to fast and pray for them in secret, few being clear to take armes,) then they came to 182 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. ane end of both hopes and counsells." About two o'clock, some of their outposts were beaten up, and several of their men killed or captured, by a small party from Edinburgh under the command of Lord Ramsay. Early in the morn- ing, the leaders, on calmly considering the broken state of their force, the utter hopelessness of reinforcements, and the desperate circumstances in which they were placed, felt strongly desirous to come to some terms with Dalziel, if they could be obtained consistently with honour, and without de- triment to the principles of the Covenant; and they therefore proposed to send one of their number along with Lowrie, to state their grievances, and to offer an apologetic explanation of their appearing in arms. But they learned from Lowrie that the only person with whom they could intrust their message would be considered as an outlaw; and they, there- fore, sent a written communication with Lowrie, to the effect "that, on account of the intolerable insolences of the prelates and their insupportable oppressions, and being deprived of every useful method of remonstrating or petitioning, they were necessitated to assemble together, in order that, jointly, they might the more securely petition His Majesty and council for redress; they therefore requested of his Excel- lency a pass for a person whom they might send with their petition, and begged an answer might be returned by Lowrie, who had promised to fetch it." The insurgents, however, expected little from the negocia- tion with Dalziel, and began with all possible speed to at- tempt a retreat toward Nithsdale and Galloway by way of Biggar. They accordingly decamped from Colinton, and com- menced their march round the east end of the Pentland Hills. They moved in straggling order, and were broken into knots and groups, who called at farmeries and gentlemen's houses in quest of breakfast or other refreshments; and, when they arrived at Gallow Law, near the House of Muir, they halted and formed into order, in order both to check the straggling INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 183 and to review their strength. The ground rises, in the form of a long low-shouldered hill, from the south to the north, and terminates in an abrupt and lofty eminence; and is com- pletely shut in from all view toward the north-west, the direction in which Dalziel's army at the time was lying. The right, consisting of a small body of horse, was drawn up on the south, under M'Lellan of Barscobe and some other Gal- loway gentlemen; the centre, consisting of the poor ill-ac- coutred foot, under Colonel Wallace; and the right, consisting of the greater part of the horse, on the north, under Major Learmont. This array was not made with the view of giving or receiving battle; for the leaders still cherished some slight hope from the negociation with Dalziel, and seem to have been not at all aware that he was now in their very near vicinity but they speedily found that their arrangement for review had to serve on the nonce as an arrangement for action. The array was scarcely formed when a cry arose, "There comes the enemy!" Dalziel's van, under the command of Major-General Drummond, had come through the defiles of the Pentlands right toward them, undiscovered and unsus- pected, and now appeared on the summit of a ridge at the distance of only two or three furlongs. But a glen inter- vened, so deep and acclivitous as to arrest all direct approach; and after the two forces had gazed at each other for a while, a picked party of about fifty horsemen were despatched by Drummond to defile round the hills and attack the Covenant- ers' lower wing, and a mounted party of about equal strength, under the command of Captain Arnot, was despatched by Wallace to intercept and confront them. Arnot's party drew up on a piece of level ground, and there received their anta- gonists; and after discharging their pistols, they closed at the sword's point, maintained a severe and prolonged contest, cut down a few of their opponents, and put the rest to flight. Two of Arnot's men in this skirmish, were most wofully unfit persons to be there,-John Crookshanks and Andrew M'Cor 184 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. mack, ministers of the gospel, from Ireland, who had all along been prominent in the insurrection; and both at this time fell in battle. Drummond's touted troopers could not well be chased by their victors, in consequence of the rugged nature of the ground; nor could they, and the body to whom they fled, be overtaken and annoyed by a party of foot whom Wallace sent to harass them; but they moved to another and safer eminence farther to the east, and waited there till their own foot came forward; and then Dalziel's whole army de- scended to the low ground on the west, and drew up on Rullion Green in front of the Covenanters, and tried to pro- voke the latter to leave their vantage-ground and come down into a general engagement. For some time, however, the two armies only looked at each other, the royalists averse to incur the risks of ascending to the Covenanters, and the latter unwilling to forego the advantages of their strong position. At length Dalziel sent forward a squadron of horse, flanked by foot, in a direction to charge Learmont's wing; and the Covenanters observing this, consulted whether they would give them a second meeting, when, considering that, although they might succeed in postponing the battle that night, yet they would be forced to fight under much greater disadvan- tages on the following day, as the enemy would certainly get fresh reinforcements,-they, after prayer, resolved to accept the combat, and "never to break till God should break them, though they should serve for no more than to give a testimony by leaving their corpses on the field." A party of Learmont's horse, supported by foot, was then sent forth; and after spend- ing their fire upon the foe, entered into close conflict with them, and compelled them, both horse and foot, to run. A second detachment of horse from Dalziel, was similarly met. and similarly routed; and a third was so far successful as to oblige the conquering Covenanters to retire up the hill to their original station. So long as the combating bodies were at all equal, the royalists were repelled and beaten; but about INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 185 nightfall, Dalziel's whole remaining force, fresh and multi- tudinous, marched on a point where only about eighty weak horse stood to receive them; and they overwhelmed them with numbers, crushed them at a stroke, and trampled them down or drove them away like chaff. The Covenanters could not make one effort to rally; and most of the unfallen fled in a panic to hiding places and the hills. "I shall only notice," says Mr. Blackadder, "that it was greatly wondered, that such a poor inconsiderable party of countrymen, so badly armed as they were, so outwearied with cold, travel, and hunger, should ever have faced such a formidable enemy; they being scarce 900 of them who engaged against 3,000 horse and foot, beside great multitudes attendants of noble- men and gentlemen in the country, all well armed with all manner of furniture for war offensive and defensive; and yet, not only in the morning, but twice in the afternoon, they both faced them and resolutely fought till they were able to do no more, being oppressed with multitudes." About fifty of the Covenanters were slain on the battle- field; and only some half-dozen or so of the royalists were officially reported or admitted to have been slain,—though, from the obstinacy of the fight and the nature of the onsets in all the rencounters previous to the final blow, the real number who fell can scarcely have been less than that of the fallen Covenanters. Mr. Welsh and Mr. Semple were on the field, yet neither mingled in the battle nor remained near the ranks, but ensconced themselves in a place of safety be- hind the brow of an eminence, and there cried out very loudly and very often, "The God of Jacob! the God of Jacob!" Mr. Veitch became entangled in the flight with a whole troop of the enemy, and made a most wonderful escape from among them and from shots specially fired after him, and found re- fuge that night in a herdsman's house on Dunsire Common, within a mile of his own dwelling. A considerable number of the fighters and fugitives surrendered to the royalists on 186 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. ! --- an express promise of quarter from Dalziel. Turner, at an early period of the engagement, made a paction with his guards that, in the event of the royalists gaining the victory, his guards should protect him from the discomfited Cove- nanters, and he would supplicate Government for their par- don; and he accordingly gained his liberty during the flight, and kept his word with the guards. About fifty of the Cove- nanters were taken prisoners on the field; and about as many more were either taken in the flight or afterwards dragged from near places of concealment. The flight, however, was both favoured by the speedy setting in of night, and slack- ened by the sympathy or the secret good wishes of not a few of the royalist troopers who pursued it. Mr. Welsh and Colonel Wallace fled over the hills to the north-westward; and, after turning their horses away, entered a poor country- man's barn, and there enjoyed a sweeter night's repose than they had done for a week or two before. Many others of the fugitives also found refuge and concealment in the out- houses of farmers and in the dwellings of some kind-hearted Episcopalian gentry. But a few were murdered, and a good many informed upon or captured, by the ill-disposed portion of the neighbouring population; and even those who fell on the battle-field were stripped on the spot by miscreants who hovered like vultures around the scene of carnage, and the corpses lay naked and unburied till wrapped in winding sheets and interred next day by some humane women from Edin- burgh, and they were afterwards taken out of the graves by some ruffians for the sake of the linen! But many of the survivors of the insurrection, as well as thousands upon thou- sands who had no other share in it than the profession of the Covenanting faith, might well have envied the pious portion of the dead. The rushing to arms, as we showed at the commencement of our narrative, was provoked by a career of wanton and galling oppression on the part of Government, and the loss of the battle of Rullion-Green armed the perse- INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 187 cutors with a vast increase of both pretence and power against the persecuted, and was followed by a woful outspread and grinding increase of the worst forms of the oppression. "The death-hymn chaunted over Cromwell's tomb Rose like the song of hope amid the gloom, Saluting exiled Charles, doomed to roam, Monarch of kingdoms, yet without a home. Joyous he heard the nation's loyal call Back to his throne, his kingdom, and his all. Then, 'mid the rapturous shout and loud acclaim, When every echo rung to Charles' name,- Oh! would not generous patriot feelings rise, With heaven-like love, to calm a nation's sighs? Would not his full and grateful bosom burn, To thank, by deeds a people would not spurn? Scotland, the nursling of the rugged North, The freeman's home, the land of virtuous worth, Thy fearless children shed their blood for him, Shouting his name when life's bright eye grew dim. The storm of vengeance, with a darker sbade Than Nature's, round thy rocky mountains played! The first dread waking of his wrath was hurled In deeds of blood that might have waked the world. The good Argyle, the pious Guthrie, fell, To satiate ire no offering could quell,— The first of Scotland's wide spread sacrifice, Hurried from earth, swift heralds to the skies, Loaded with tidings of the Church's tears, And the dark gathering gloom of coming years; Blending their prayers with martyred saints who lie 'Neath the eternal altars of the sky! The heartless satellites, without a tear, Traversed the land when not a foe was near! 188 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. It lay all cradled in the arms of peace; Yet on they rode like fierce Eumenides, Converting men by bayonets to God, Driving them heaven-ward by the royal road! Goaded to maduess, they indignant rose, Wild as the breaking billow, on their foes: Yet with a generous soul, a love like heaven, Bestowed the mercy that had ne'er been given; Saw, felt, and paused o'er ruin's lawless sway,— Leant on their arms, and sternly took their way! Disastrous twilight over Pentland hung, While the tumultuous din of carnage rung. Ah, vainly brave! with high heroic mind, Fighting they died, or left a wreck behind. But those slept well who gained a soldier's tomb, Saved from the torture's agonizing doom! For from the fatal field, a thousand woes, Tinged with the hues of death, to Scotland rose. Pentland's dark day was victory for Dalzell— Gospel for Sharp-and Law for Lauderdale! The spirit shrinks from what it would relate Of agonies that wrung the captive's fate; The living deaths of long protracted pain; The iron tortures of that iron reign. Along the damp churchyard they guarded lay; Night brought no slumber, and no hope the day; Hour after hour all shelterless they past, Amid the night dews and the ruffian blast. No deed too dark, no torture too severe; No law to check them in their wild career;- The cordon of a fatal spell was cast Around the throne, oblivious of the past:- INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 189 No tear was heeded, and no wrong redrest, While deeds of death were matter for a jest ;— A thousand wrongs the rising spirit crushed, And all to whispered tones and looks were hushed.” The victors entered the capital in a sort of triumphal pro- cession, with their prisoners in bonds, and with loud acclama- tions and flying banners. "This," says Wallace, "the godly people of the town esteemed the saddest sight that ever Edin- burgh had seen, which drew tears in abundance from the eyes of all that feared God, considering what vast difference there was between the persons and the cause, on the one side and the other; and surely a most astonishing dispensation it was, to see a company of holy men (for such were the greatest part, yea, but few otherwise), and that in a good cause, given up into the hands of a most desperate crew of scoffing, prophane atheists. But God helped them to glorify him in their sufferings, which made their cause more lovely throughout all parts of the land, even in the eyes of enemies and neutrals, than their victory would have done." A few of the principal-including Hugh M'Kail, who had been caught on the preceding night in the course of fleeing from the Covenanters' camp eastward by way of the Braid Hills-were lodged in the Tolbooth; and the rest, as well as a good many more who were afterwards betrayed or brought in by Episcopalian or rascally civilians— were lodged in the part of St. Giles's cathedral called Haddo's Hole. Some died in prison; some, as we shall afterwards see, were brought to the scaffold; some soon made their escape, with the help of friends and disguises; and the re- mainder broke out of prison in a body, after a period of about three months, and were never recaptured. On the 4th of December-six days after the battle-a pro- clamation was issued by the Privy Council prohibiting all persons from harbouring or corresponding with Colonel Wal- lace, or any of those who had been in arms with him, under 190 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. " pain of being treated as accessary to the late rebellion; and at a subsequent date, Wallace and six other leaders who had absconded with him, were formally declared guilty of treason, and condemned to be executed as soon as they could be found and taken; and for many years, Wallace was watched by emissaries and haunted with missives on the Continent, but eluded all, and long served as an elder in the Scotish Church. of Rotterdam, and eventually died privately and in peace. Acts of Council were early promulged to sequestrate the property of all the Covenanters who had been at Pentland, and to apprehend all persons who had aided or abetted them either before or after; and some extensive and inhuman con- fiscations were made in the case of landowners, who had never joined the army of the insurgents, and had taken little or no part in the insurrection beyond showing themselves desirous that it should succeed. The general severities against the whole community of nonconformists, too, were increased in both vigilance and rigour; and all-from the beginning of the insurrection onwards, through all the confiscations and martyrdoms and national oppressions which followed-were rendered intensely bitter by being conducted under the direct sway of Archbishop Sharp, who, in the absence of the King's secular representative, was wielding at the time, not only the real, but the ostensible government of the kingdom. The selected victims for the scaffold were soon brought up to trial; and three things were dreadful aggravations of the fatal proceedings against them,-first, that the prime priest of "the black prelacy" against which they had contended, was their supreme persecutor,—next, that a letter from the King to the Privy Council, commanding a cessation of public exe- cutions, was kept up by one or both archbishops till several, whose lives would have been saved by it, were judicially mur- dered,—and next, that the promise of quarter which had been given by Dalziel on the field, and which had induced many to surrender who otherwise might have escaped, was wrested INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 191 from the General by the Judges and truculently broken. "When the question, whether the prisoners should be sent to trial, was first agitated at the Privy Council board, Sharpe violently urged the prosecution. Sir John Gilmour, esteemed one of the best lawyers of his day, pusillanimously shrunk. from giving any decided opinion, and the rest seemed inclined to be silent, when, unhappily, Lord Lee started the vile jesuitical distinction, not, however, unmatched in later times, that men may be granted quarter on the field as soldiers, yet only be spared to die on a scaffold as citizens, -a distinction which General Dalziel, notwithstanding his little respect for the lives of Covenanters, could not by any means be brought to comprehend." Another, though digressionary instance of Dalziel's inferior inhumanity to that of the chief Privy Coun- cillors-notwithstanding his popular reputation of being more fiendish than any of the persecutors of the period except the infamous Claverhouse-deserves well to be recorded. When John Paton, who had been a Captain of tue Covenanters at Pentland, and had there fought Dalziel in a personal encoun- ter, was on his way to Edinburgh as a prisoner after the battle of Bothwell-Bridge, he was upbraided by one of the soldiers with being a rebel, and replied, "I have done more for the King than perhaps you have done,”-referring to the battle of Worcester, where he had fought for Charles. Dal- ziel, overhearing the conversation, said, "Yes, John, that is true;" and, turning to the soldier, struck him with his cane, and told him he would teach him other manners than to abuse such a prisoner. He then expressed his sorrow for Paton's situation, said he would have set him at liberty if he had met him on the way, and promised that he would yet write to the King for his life. Paton thanked him, but added, "You will not be heard." Will I not?" replied the General; "if he does not grant me the life of one man, I shall never draw a sword for him again." He only obtained a reprieve for him, however; and was not able to procure him a pardon. A 192 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. The first and largest band of the Pentland captives selected for the gibbet consisted of Major M'Culloch, Captain Arnott, Gavin Hamilton, James Hamilton, John Parker, Christopher Strang, John Shiels, John Ross, and two brothers John and Robert Gordon. Strong objections were raised against the relevancy of their indictment, and were argued with high eloquence and power-especially the mighty one based on the quarter given by General Dalziel; but they were over- ruled by the Court; and all the ten panels were pronounced guilty of high treason, and condemned to be hanged on the 7th of December. While they lay under sentence of death, they drew up a joint public declaration, in which they say, among other things, "We are condemned by men, and es- teemed as rebels against the King, whose authority we ac- knowledge; but this is the testimony of our conscience, that we suffer not as evil-doers, but for righteousness, for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ,—particularly for re- newing the Covenant, and, in conformity with its obligations, for defending ourselves by arms against the usurpation and insupportable tyranny of the prelates, and against the most. unchristian and inhuman oppression and persecution that ever was enjoined and practised by rulers upon free, innocent, and peaceable subjects! # Though this be the day of Jacob's trouble, yet are we assured that when the Lord hath accom- plished the trial of his own, and filled up the cup of his ad- versaries, he will awake for judgment, plead his own cause, avenge the quarrel of his covenant, make inquiry for blood, vindicate his people, break the arm of the wicked, and estab- lish the just, for to him belongeth judgment and vengeance; and though our eyes shall not see it, yet we believe that the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing under his wings, -that he will revive his work, repair his breaches, build the old wastes, and raise up the desolations." The ten were executed together; and, on the scaffold, they uttered similar sentiments, and spoke with a high and elevated courage, * INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 193 which excited no common emotion among the spectators. The two brothers, the Gordons, were thrown off locked in each other's arms, and endured their last agonies in the con- vulsion of each other's embrace. The heads of all were sent to various parts of the country; and their right hands, which they had uplifted at the oath of the Covenant, were sent in derision to be affixed to the top of Lanark gaol. Another band, consisting of Nielson of Corsack, Alexander Robertson the preacher, George Crawford of Cumnock, and John Gordon of Irongray, were executed on the 14th of December; and a third, consisting of Hugh M'Kail the preacher, John Wodrow of Glasgow, Ralph Shields of Ayr, John Wilson of Kilmaurs, Mungo Kaipo of Avondale, and Humphry Colquhoun, were executed on the 21st; and all more or less displayed the same noble, affecting, martyrly character as the other ten. Several more also were con. demned to die, but received a pardon. Hugh M'Kail's trial and execution were, in several respects, the most remarkable of any, and made the deepest impression on the popular mind, and afford as glorious an instance of holy courage and unctuous devotion and triumphant dying as almost any which illuminates the whole roll of British martyrology; and they derived high interest from the circumstances of his being but very young in years, and very eminent in excellence, and of his having incurred the resentment of the persecutors, far less by the trivial part he acted in the insurrection, than by a piece of famous rebuke which he launched in a sermon in the High Church of Edinburgh, in 1662, against 66 an Ahab on the throne, a Haman in the state, and a Judas in the church;" and though the record of his last sayings occurs, with few variations, in many popular works on Scotish eccle- siastical history, yet it richly deserves emblazonment in all which remains to be written till the end of time, and may here, for the benefit of such of our readers as have not else- where seen it, be transcribed from that racy and well-known N 194 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. martyrology, the Scots Worthies. "On the 28th of Novem- ber, he was, by order of the Secret Council, brought before the Earl of Dumfries, Lord Sinclair, Sir Robert Murray of Priest-field, and others, in order to examination; when being interrogated concerning his joining the west-land forces, he, conceiving himself not obliged by law to be his own accuser, declined the question. After some reasoning, he was desired to subscribe his name, but refused; which when reported to the Council, gave them great offence, and brought him under some suspicion of being a dissembler. On the 29th he wa again called before them, where, for allaying the Council': prejudice, he gave in a declaration confessing that he had been with the west-land forces. This only awakened their jealousy the more, and suspecting him to have been privy to all the designs of that party, they dealt with him with the greater importunity, to give an account of the whole busi- ness; and upon December 3d, the boots (a most terrible instrument of torture) were laid on the council table before him, and he was certified, that, if he would not confess, he should be tortured on the morrow. Accordingly he was called before them, and being urged to declare as they de- sired, he solemnly assured them, that he knew no more than what he had already confessed; upon which they ordered the executioner to put his leg into the boot, and to proceed to the torture, to the number of ten or eleven strokes, at con- siderable intervals: yet all this could not move him to express any bitterness or impatience. This torture was the cause of his not being indicted with the first ten who were arraigned. On December 18th, he, being indifferently recovered, was with other three brought before the justices, when the gen- eral indictment founded on acts of parliament, made against rising in arms, entering into leagues and covenants, &c., was read against them. M'Kail was particularly charged with joining the rebels at Ayr, Ochiltree, Lanark, and other places. Upon which, being permitted to answer, he spoke in his own INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 195 defence, both as to the charge laid against him, and as to the obligations that were upon this land to God; commending the institution of Presbyterial government. He said, that the last words of the national covenant had always had a great weight upon his spirit. Here, however, he was inter- rupted by the King's Advocate, who bade him forbear his discourse, and answer the question for the crime of rebellion. Unto which he answered, that what moved him to declare as he had done, was the weighty and impressive saying of our Lord Jesus, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.' His confession, and the depositions of those examined anent him being read, with his replies to the same, the assize was enclosed; and shortly after, by the mouth of Sir William Murray, their chancellor, announced their verdict, reporting him guilty. The verdict being registered, doom was pro- nounced, declaring and adjudging him and the rest of them, to be taken to the market cross of Edinburgh, and there to be hanged on a gibbet till dead, and his goods and lands to be escheated and forfeited for his Highness's use. At hearing of this sentence he cheerfully said, The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.' He was then carried back to the tolbooth, through the guards, the people making lamentations for him by the way. After he came to his chamber, he immediately addressed himself to God in prayer, with great enlargement of heart, in behalf of himself and those who were condemned with him. After- wards, to a friend, he said, ' O how good news, to be within four days' journey of enjoying the sight of Jesus Christ;' and protested, he was not so cumbered how to die, as he had sometimes been to preach a sermon.' To some women lament- ing for him, he said, that his condition, though he was but young, and in the budding of his hopes and labours in the ministry, was not to be mourned; for, one drop of my blood,' added he, through the grace of God, may make more C 196 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. C hearts contrite, than many years' sermons might have done. In the afternoon, he supplicated the Council for liberty to his father to come to him; which being granted, his father came next night, to whom he discoursed a little concerning obedience to parents, from the fifth commandment; and then, after prayer, his father said unto him, Hugh, I call thee a goodly olive tree of fair fruit, and now a storm hath destroyed the tree and his fruit.' He answered, that his too good thought of him afflicted him. His father said, ' He was per- suaded God was visiting not his own sins, but his parents' sins, so that he might say, Our fathers have sinned, and we have borne their iniquity.' He further said, I have sinned; thou poor sheep what hast thou done?' Mr. Hugh answered with many groans, that through coming short of the fifth commandment, he had come short of the promise, that his days should be prolonged in the land of the living; and that God's controversy with his father was for overvaluing his children, especially himself. The last night of his life he propounded and answered several questions for the strength- ening of his fellow-prisoners: How should he go from the tolbooth through a multitude of gazing people, and guards of soldiers, to a scaffold and gibbet, and overcome the im- pression of all this?' He answered, by conceiving a deeper impression of a multitude of angels, who are onlookers; ac- cording to that, 'We are a gazingstock to the world, to angels, and men;' for the angels rejoicing at our good con- fession, are present to convoy and carry our souls, as the soul of Lazarus, to Abraham's bosom, not to receive them, for that is Jesus Christ's work alone, who will welcome them to heaven himself, with the songs of angels and blessed spirits; but the angels are ministering spirits, always ready to serve and strengthen dying believers. What is the way for us to conceive of heaven, who are hastening to it, seeing the word saith, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the glory prepared by God } INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 197 for them that love him? To this he answered, that the scripture helps us two ways to conceive of heaven, (1.) By way of similitude, as in Rev. xxi., where heaven is held forth by the representation of a glorious city, there described. (2.) By holding forth the love of the saints to Jesus Christ, and teaching us to love him in sincerity, which is the very joy and exultation of heaven, Rev. v. 12; and no other thing than the soul breathing forth love to Jesus Christ, can rightly apprehend the joys of heaven. The last words he spoke at supper were in commendation of love above knowledge. 'O but notions of knowledge without love are of small worth, evanishing in nothing, and very dangerous.' After supper, his father having given thanks, he read the 16th Psalm, and then said, 'If there were any th ng in the world sadly and unwillingly to be left, it were the reading of the scriptures. I said I shall not see the Lord in the land of the living; but this needs not make us sad, for where we go, the Lamb is the book of Scripture, and the light of that city; and there is life, even the river of the water of life, and living springs to delight its inhabitants.' Supper being ended, he called for a pen, saying, it was to write his testament: wherein he ordered some few bocks he had borrowed to be re-delivered to several persons. He went to bed about eleven o'clock, and slept till five in the morning; then he arose and called for his comrade John Wodrow, saying pleasantly, 'Up, John, for you are too long in bed; you and I look not like men going to be hanged this day, seeing we lie so long.' Then he spake to him in the words of Isaiah xliii. 24; and after some short discourse, John said to him, You and I shall be chambered shortly beside Mr. Robertson in heaven.' answered, John, I fear you bar me out, because you was more free before the Council than I was; but I shall be as free as any of you upon the scaffold.' He said, He had got a clear ray of the majesty of the Lord after his awakening, but it was a little overclouded thereafter.' He prayed with He 198 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. C great fervency, pleading his covenant relation with him, and that they might be enabled that day to witness a good con- fession before many witnesses. Then his father coming to him bade him farewell. His last word to him after prayer, was, that his sufferings would do more hurt to the prelates, and be more edifying to God's people, than if he were to continue in the ministry twenty years. He then desired his father to leave him, and go to his chamber, and pray earnestly to the Lord to be with him on the scaffold; for how to carry there is my care, even that I may be strengthened to endure to the end.' About two o'clock, afternoon, he was brought to the scaffold, with the other five who suffered with him; where, to the conviction of all that formerly knew him, he had a fairer and more stayed countenance than ever they had before observed. Being come to the foot of the ladder, he directed his speech to the multitude northward, saying, That as his years in the world had been but few, his words then should not be many; and then spoke to the people the speech and testimony which he had before written and sub- scribed. Having done speaking, he sung a part of the 31st Psalm, and then prayed with such power and fervency as caused many to weep. Then he gave his hat and cloak from nim; and when he took hold of the ladder to go up, he said with an audible voice, 'I care no more to go up this ladder, and over it, than if I were going home to my father's house." Hearing a noise among the people, he called down to his fellow-sufferers, saying, Friends and fellow-sufferers, be not afraid; every step of this ladder is a degree nearer heaven :' and then, having seated himself thereon, he said, 'I do partly believe that the noble counsellors and rulers of this land would have used some mitigation of this punishment, had they not been instigated by the prelates, so that our blood lies principally at the prelates' door: but this is my comfort now, that I know that my Redeemer liveth, &c. And now I dɔ willingly lay down my life for the truth and cause of God, INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 199 the covenants and work of reformation, which were once counted the glory of this nation; and it is for endeavouring to defend this, and to extirpate the bitter root of Prelacy, that I embrace this rope,' (the executioner then putting the rope about his neck.) Then hearing the people weep, he said, 'Your work is not to weep but to pray, that we may be honourably borne through; and blessed be the Lord that supports me now; as I have been beholden to the prayers and kindness of many since my imprisonment and sentence, so I hope you will not be wanting to me now in the last step of my journey, that I may witness a good confession; and that ye may know what the ground of my encouragement in this work is, I shall read to you in the last chapter of the Bible; and having read it, he said, 'Here you see the glory that is to be revealed to me, a pure river of water of life, where the throne of God and the Lamb is, where his servants serve him and see his face, and his name is in their foreheads, and the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. And here you see my access to my glory and reward, Let him that is athirst come,' &c.; and here you see my welcome, The Spirit and the bride say, Come.' Then he said, I have one word more to say to my friends, (looking down the scaffold,) where are ye? Ye need neither lament nor be ashamed of me in this condition, for I make use of that expression of Christ, I go to your Father and my Father, to your God and my God,' to your King and my King, to the blessed apostles and martyrs, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable com- pany of angels, to the general assembly of the first-born, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant; and I bid you all farewell, for God will be more comfortable to you than I could be, and he will be now more refreshing to me than you can be; farewell, farewell, in the Lord.' Then the nap- kin being put on his face, he prayed a little, and put it up C 200 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. C with his hand, and said, he had a word more to say concern ing what comfort he had in his death. I hope you perceive no alteration or discouragement in my countenance and car- riage; and as it may be your wonder, so I profess it is a wonder to myself; and I will tell you the reason of it; be- sides the justice of my cause, this is my comfort, what was said of Lazarus when he died, That the angels did carry his soul to Abraham's bosom;' so that as there is a great solem- nity here of a confluence of people, a scaffold, a gallows, a people looking out at windows; so there is a greater and more solemn preparation of angels to carry my soul to Christ's bosom. Again this is my comfort, that it is to come to Christ's hand, and he will present it blameless and faultless to the Father, and then shall I be ever with the Lord. And now I leave off to speak any more to creatures, and begin my intercourse with God, which shall never be broken off: farewell father and mother, friends and relations; farewell the world and all delights; farewell meat and drink ; farewell sun, moon, and stars; welcome God and Father; welcome sweet Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant; wel- come blessed Spirit of grace and God of all consolation; wel- come glory; welcome eternal life; and welcome death. Then he desired the executioner not to turn him over until he himself should put over his shoulders; which, after pray- ing a little in private, he did, saying, ' O Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit, for thou hast redeemed my soul, O Lord God of truth.' And thus, in the 26th year of his age, he died, as he lived, in the Lord." While the trials and gibbetings were proceeding in the Capital, judicial measures of similar character were afoot at "A commission was Glasgow, Irvine, Ayr, and Dumfries. issued for the Earls of Linlithgow and Winton, Lord Mont- gomery, and Mungo Murray, to hold a Justiciary Court in Glasgow, and Sir William Purves, Solicitor-general, despatched to prosecute. Four of the Covenanters were accordingly INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 201 brought before them, Monday, December 17th, all men in Lumble life-Robert Buntine in Fenwick, John Hart in Glassford, Robert Scott in Dalserf and Matthew Paton in Newmills-found guilty that same day, and ordered to be hanged on Wednesday. They went to the gibbet with the same Christian fortitude, and evinced, by their deportment, that the same peace of God which had comforted the martyrs in the capital, dwelt also in them. But the impression which the dying declarations of the martyrs had made, especially of those last murdered in Edinburgh, forbade that they should be allowed the privilege of addressing the spectators in a quarter where their solemn testimonies might have deeper effect; and when the sufferers attempted to address the crowd, the drums were ordered to beat and drown their voices-a detestable practice, which proclaimed their dread of the truth they were vainly attempting to stifle. Rothes himself took a tour to the south-west, accompanied by the Earl of Kellie, Lieutenant-General Drummond, Charles Maitland of Hatton, and James Crichton, brother to the Earl of Dumfries, as a Justiciary Commission. At Ayr, twelve were tried and or- dered for execution; eight in that town, two at Irvine, and two at Dumfries. When those at Ayr were to be executed, the executioner fleeing, and none being willing to perform the hated office, in this dilemma, the Provost had recourse to the shocking expedient of offering any of the prisoners par- don, upon condition of his hanging the rest of his brethren; and one Anderson was found, who purchased a few days miserable existence at this expense; yet even he had to be filled half-drunk with brandy to enable him to perform the dreadful ceremony, while the sufferers, more to be envied than him, courageously met that death which he basely in- flicted. The conduct of William Sutherland, the executioner of Irvine, stands out in fine contrast with that of Anderson. This man, who had been born of poor parents in the wildest part of the Highlands, had been seized with an uncommon 202 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. desire to learn the English language, which, with much diffi- culty, he acquired so well, as to be able to read the Scriptures in that tongue. He had acted as common hangman in the town of Irvine for some time; when, having been converted to God through the reading of the Bible, and the instructions of the persecuted, he scrupled about executing any person whom he was not convinced deserved to die. When the Ayr hangman fled, he was sent for, but would not move till carried by force to that town, and peremptorily refused to execute the prisoners, because he had heard they were godly men, who had been oppressed by the bishops; upon which he was committed to prison, and flattered, and threat- ened-first, promised money, then told he would be hanged himself, if he persisted; yet nothing could either terrify or induce him to comply. When they called for the boots, 'You may bring the spurs too,' said William, 'ye shall not prevail.' The provost offered him fifty dollars, and told him he might go to the Highlands and live. Ay, but where can I flee from my conscience?' was the pointed query of the honest mountaineer. He was then placed in the stocks, and four musketeers stood ready with lighted matches, but the daunt- less man bared his bosom, and told them he was willing to die; and, they finding him immoveable, dismissed him.-An- derson was also obliged to execute those condemned to be hung at Irvine. Universally detested, he left the country soon after and settled in Ireland, near Dublin, where his cottage was burned, and he perished in the flames. The others were, pursuant to their sentence, hung at Dumfries, whither the Commissioner went to endeavour to trace the conspiracy; but no other discovery was made than that the rising had been accidental, and that oppression had been the cause. Upwards of thirty-four had now been put to death by the hands of the executioner; yet these executions did more harm to the cause of prelacy than almost any other circumstance could have done; for the universal detestation INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 203 of the people was heightened in proportion to the fortitude and composure of the sufferers, whose dying testimonies pos- sessed a power and energy beyond that of a thousand ser- mons." "With bosoms glowing with an earthless thought, The brave, the zealous Covenanters sought The lone recesses of the rocky shore, The shaded glen, or wide and houseless moor, While Nature's star-lit temple round them glowed,- While heavenly visions o'er the spirit flowed,- Deeming that God, in close communion there, Spoke in the psalm and answered in the prayer. Their lonely steps the minions still would trace; And death-shrieks rung o'er many a desert place!— Untired Oppression issued through the land Laws bloodier still, to nerve the soldier's hand; To quench for aye, in that long deadly strife, The warm and glowing charities of life;- With sweeping vengeance, make the feelings part, That live and linger round the human heart! Brother estranged from brother stood in gloom, And children's lispings sealed the father's doom; Affection's tear might glisten on the cheek, What nature's voice in terror might not speak; The hand of love, the mother stretched to save A much loved one, fell lifeless to the grave· Malice incarnate wrapped herself in smiles, And wrung forth secrets by her artful wiles; Beheld triumphant all her labours flow In one dark crimson tide of human woe! For what? Because they worshipped heaven's great Lord, As sanctioned by their conscience and His Word!- 204 INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 1 'Twas both religion and their rights as men That armed those peasants by the moor and glen;— They heard the voice of Nature's law in all, And grasped their swords obedient to the call. The heroes of the Covenant, arrayed At once with Bible and with battle blade, Heard no sweet Sabbath-bell announce the day :- Met on the wild, but not in peace, to pray, Their temple was the deep and shaded dell, Where Nature's hymns with artless rapture swell, Girded with stream and rock; while hung on high The sun-illumined vault or starry sky. Here met the grey-haired man, the veteran sage, Bending and trembling on the staff of age;- Enduring manhood, leaning on his sword, A still stern listener to the holy word;— The youth with dauntless heart and fiery eye, Ere he had learned to live, here learned to die ;- The mother with her child; the blushing maid, Here raised the song, and here together prayed: Above them on the rock, or mossy mound, Great Cargill stood, with years and sufferings crowned;- He stood, his white locks streaming in the blast, Like some prophetic being of the past; With inspiration's voice denouncing wo Against the arm that laid his country low;- Spread on the flower-clad table of the moss The holy sacred Symbols of the Cross!— All shed a heaven-like sanctity around, And stamped it holier yet than classic ground; And with the promise calmed the troubled breast, Pointing the spirit to the land of Rest:- Kindling with heaven-born light and faith sublime These exiles triumphed o'er the ills of time.-- INSURRECTION OF THE COVENANTERS. 205 The sentinel, like danger's nursling child, Paced his lone mountain watch-tower on the wild; Searching with soldier's eye the wastes afar, Timely to wake the alarum note of war :- When all into a fearless silence died! And swords flashed out with high heroic pride, Hope in the heart, and lightning in the eye, Like men of many wrongs prepared to die. They stood like warriors pleading in their arms, Fearless in danger, calm in death's alarms,— They hurled a brave defiance on the foe, Though left by all but hope amid their wo. They dared do all, but bend a slavish knee, That virtue sanctioned for their liberty.— The flaming pyre that round the martyrs rose, Blazed like the torch, to light them to repose ;— The ocean wave, the scaffold, and the sword, Were but a stormy passage to their Lord! The fiery hour, the storm that swept them down, The soul sent home, and wreathed the martyr's crown! Eternal Hope, with bright prophetic eye, Pierced the dark shades that round the future lie; Beheld the cloud of suffering pass away, And Scotland smile beneath a happier day; Religion, Freedom, wave the olive wand, Walk undisturbed and smiling through the land, The fruitful harvests of their sufferings rise In peace and love beneath congenial skies: A grateful country, and approving heaven, Glowed on the twilight of life's stormy even." 206 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES V1. [We make ourselves debtors for the following sketch to an article. in the Edinburgh Magazine of February, 1826. It is based principally on "The Historie and Life of King James the Sext," a quarto volume of 386 pages, printed in 1825 for the Banna- tyne Club, narrating the affairs of Scotland from 1566 to 1596, with a short continuation to 1617, and composed apparently by three or more successive writers very soon after the events; and all the antique quotations or references in the article, except when otherwise indicated, are to this Historie.' We do not concur in all the opinions of the Article; yet we think it as a whole much nearer the truth than the estimates and representa- tions of the pedant king made by the great majority of Scotish. historical writers.] JAMES was born in the Castle of Edinburgh, on the 19th of June, 1566. His birth did not heal the breach which pre- viously existed betwixt his parents, and which the murder of Rizzio, under the auspices, if not with the assistance of his father, Darnley, on the 9th of March preceding, had widened and confirmed. Various causes have been assigned for the unfortunate disagreement of the royal pair, but the truth seems to have been, that Queen Mary had married a vain young man, who was too weak minded to make a proper use of his elevation; and that amidst the factions of the period, the wife and husband attached themselves to different parties, who were perfidious enough to make each the instrument of their own selfish purposes. Certain it is, that very soon after their marriage Mary evinced little anxiety for her husband's company, and that Darnley took very little pains either to preserve or to regain her affections. He allowed himself to be persuaded that Rizzio was a more favourite object of the Queen's attentions than himself, and the unfortunate musi- cian was the victim of his revenge. We are far from think- ing that Darnley had any good grounds for depriving Rizzio of life, yet, if we may credit the contemporary narrative of Sir James Melvil, the Queen displayed an immoderate portion LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 207 of sorrow for the death of her lutenist. "So many great sighs she would give, that it was pity to hear her."* After this period she seems to have regarded her husband with nc other feelings than those of hatred, and accordingly he was not even present at the ceremony of the baptism of James, which took place at Stirling on the 22d of August following. Within a few months afterwards, during which he followed the Queen "whithersoever she rode, but got no good counte- nance,”† he was murdered by Bothwell at a house in the sub- urbs of Edinburgh, (9th February, 1567,) " and uponn the fyft day therefter, his body was bureit in the tombe of the Kings at Halyruidhous, quyetlie in the night, without any kynd of solemnitie or murnyng-hard amang all the personis at court."‡ The conduct of Mary before the perpetration of this abomi- nable crime, her apparent preparation for the event, and the little concern which it excited in her mind, joined with her sudden marriage to Bothwell, who was even then generally recognised as the murderer, created an impression in the minds of her subjects that she was privy to Bothwell's designs, and raised against her feelings of dislike to which she ulti- mately fell a victim. Internal divisions now disturbed the country more violently than before. The name and safety of the young Prince James were assumed by various noblemen, (Morton, Mar, Athol, and others,) as a cloak to their designs; troops were assem- bled by them, to carry their purposes into effect; and after inducing the Queen to surrender, and to quit Bothwell, they hurried her to the Castle of Lochleven as a prisoner. In July 1567, they crowned James at Stirling, and in the follow- ing month the Earl of Murray (the Queen's bastard brother) was appointed Regent of the kingdom. He adopted various * Melvil's Memoirs. Edition 1735, p. 148. + Melvil's Memoirs, p. 154. Historie, p. 7. Birrel's Diary, p. 7. I., p. 336. Balfours Annals, Vo.. 208 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. strong measures for the safety of the people; but the Queen's escape from Lochleven Castle, in May 1568, led to the battle of Langside, between her partisans and those of Murray, in which she was defeated, and from which she fled into Eng- land, where she remained a prisoner until 1587, when she fell a victim to the policy and envy of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. Murray, in 1570, was shot on the street of Lin- lithgow; and after Leunox and Mar had successively beer appointed Regents, Morton, the most able politician and most selfish man of the whole party of the King, was pro- claimed Regent in 1572. The troubles which agitated Scot- land during this unhappy period, as well as the succeeding five years of Morton's Regency, we purposely omit, our limits being altogether inadequate to the slightest sketch of them. In 1577 James, at the age of eleven, performed his first act of government, by accepting of Morton's resignation of the Regency. His management in this affair proves him to have been an adroit or a very docile boy; for Morton's re- quest to resign was a mere feint, to acquire greater influence over James, and was never intended to be carried into effect. Accordingly, in the following year, he took advantage of his office of a councillor to expel the other nobles, who were hostile to him, from the King's presence, and to resume the government of the kingdom as before. He was violently opposed by the Chancellor, (Athol,) and an appeal to arms seemed to be unavoidable; but the King contrived to allay the rising storm, and to prevent bloodshed between the ad- herents of the hostile factions. In September 1579, James made his first public entry into Edinburgh; and though George IV., on his gracious visit to Scotland, was surrounded by splendour and magnificence, we doubt much if any part of the pageantry of 1822 is to be compared with the follow- ing:—“ And withall, the haill streits war spred with flowres; and the forehowsis of the streits, be the whilks the King nassit, war all hung with magnificent tapestrie, with payntit LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 209 historeis, and with the effigeis of noble men and women." James afterwards held a Parliament in Edinburgh, and cre- ated Lord D'Aubigny, of the House of Lennox, in France, Earl and afterwards Duke of Lennox, and appointed him Great Chamberlain of the kingdom, &c. Lennox was a great favourite with the King, and seems to have deserved the character given of him by Pinkerton, that he was "the most worthy and innocent of this Monarch's favourites."* Next to Lennox, Captain James Stewart, the second son of Lord Ochiltree, was most in favour with the King; he was a man of a very ambitious and enterprising character, or, in the words of the Historie, "he was of a prowd and arrogant mynd, and thoght na man to be his equall." His first exploit was directed against Morton, who was, in consequence, tried, condemned, and executed for the foreknowledge and conceal- ment of Darnley's murder. His fortunes were pushed with great ardour, by various nobles and preachers, in the hope that he would prove a rival to Lennox in the King's affec- tions; and as their efforts were ably seconded by his own address. he was soon created Earl of Arran, and wielded almost exclusively the government of the kingdom. power alarmed even his friends, and they promoted a quarrel between Lennox and him, that they might rid themselves of both; but he deserted his supporters, and joined Lennox, and with him divided the King's favours and the kingdom's rule. However, "certayne unquyet people of the nobilitie war still devysing thair machinations againis the young King, and the new Duc of Lennox, and the Erle of Arran, how thay mycht shift thir thre from uthers severallie;" and they accomplished their wishes by conveying his Majesty, in August 1582, to the Castle of Ruthven, and from thence to Stirling, and by compelling him to issue "a warrand under his hand, charging Lennox to depairt fra Scotland."+ Arran, in the His Iconographia Scotica. + Balfour's Annals, Vol. I., p. 374. 0 210 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. meantime, was committed to the Castle of Duplin. Lennox died soon after his return to France; and James lost no time in sending for his son and daughters, and installing the for- mer in his father's honours and possessions, and marrying the latter to the Earls of Huntly and Mar. Several previous commotions in our country were either stirred up or at least countenanced by England, and the watchful Elizabeth; and it was well understood that the Earl of Gowrie, and the other nobles who at present held the King under personal restraint, were in communication with the English Queen, whose ambassadors, supported by this faction, and by the " preachers of Edinburgh," (who now began to move somewhat too frequently in the political affairs of the time,) carried all measures they thought necessary to promote their own ends, and treated with contempt the ambassadors of France. James, however, in 1583, escaped from his self- created guardians, "and rayde with extreme diligence to the Castell of Sanctandrois, wharin he remanit in great secrecie, till sic nobles as he had writtin for cam to him with thair forces;" and as soon as he found himself safe, he banished Gowrie and his confederates, sent for the Earl of Arran, and published a well-penned proclamation to his subjects. Queen Elizabeth reproached him for his conduct to the banished nobles, and his reception of Arran; but he answered her ambassador in a strain of independence, with which the latter pretended to be satisfied, and most probably was so, as the embassy appears to have been got chiefly up for the purpose of obliging Gowrie and the other conspirators, and retaining and confirming them in the interest of the English Queen. Melvil seems to have thought that the English ambassador nad another object in view, viz. to ascertain and report to his mistress the qualities of her royal successor;* and this opinion is certainly strengthened by the circumstances of the * Memoirs, p. 296 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 211 ambassador being her own secretary, and at that time loaded with years and infirmities, and of his declining all communi- cation with every person in the Scotish Court, except his Majesty. Afterwards "the King convocat all his peaceabill prelates and nobles, and be thair generall voittis decernit the rayd of Ruthven to be manifest treasoun. The ministers, on the uther part, persuadit the people that it was a godly fact.” Gowrie, Mar, and others, soon after broke out into open re- bellion, and fortified Stirling; but, on the approach of the King's army, abandoned the town, and fled. Gowrie was apprehended, tried for treason, and on 4th May, 1584, be- headed at Stirling. The Earl of Arran seized on his estates. His adherents, Angus, Mar, and others, were declared, in a Parliament held on the 22d August following,* to have "com- mittit and incurrit the crymes of treasoun and lesemaiestie;" and their estates were confiscated. Thus ended the Rayd of Ruthven. 12 James was now governed more completely than ever by the counsels of the Earl of Arran, and the measures of this intriguing minion were ably seconded by his wife, a beautiful but a profligate woman, whose passions and ambition knew no restraint. Her husband's fortunes were promoted by every disturbance; he was even guilty of involving men in treason- able practices, that he might seize on their estates—in one word, he grasped at boundless acquisitions, and his power seemed to be firmly established. According to Hume of Godscroft,+" In the civille government there was none now but the Earle of Arran; hee lacked the name of King, but hee ruled as absolutely, and commande more imperiously, than any King, under the shadow of the King's authority, and the pretext that all that hee did was for the King's good and safety. Hee had gotten before the keeping of the Castle of Folio Acts, Vol. III, p. 344. + Melvil's Memoirs, p. 310. Balfour's Annals, Vol. I, p 383. 212 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 2 Stirlin; he behooved also to have the Castle of Edinburgh in his power. Hee was Chancellor of Scotland;-he did what- soever hee pleased; if there were no law for it, it was all one, he caused make a law to serve his ends. It was observed, that his lady said to one who alledged there was no law for doing of what shee desired to have done, It is no matter, (said shee,) wee shall cause make an Act of Parliament for it."* But powerful and unprincipled as Arran was, he soon became the victim of a plot, contrived by men who, by his means, were then living in exile at the court of England— the Presbyterian ministers and the Scotish nobles. Queen Elizabeth had found him less subservient to her interests than she wished, and she therefore forwarded the enterprise by contributions of money and the exertions of her ambassador in Scotland; and every thing was so well conducted, that the confederated nobles arrived before Stirling without opposition, won the town and castle, came straight into the King's pre- sence, "and all of them desyrit the King's pardoun for that hardie enterpryse, whilk was grantit rather for feare nor fa- Arran escaped into France; and the confederated nobles used their triumph in a very moderate manner. James, as usual, surrendered his mind into the keeping of another, and Secretary Maitland seems to have been Arran's successor in the meritorious office. vour." Towards the end of 1586, James received intelligence of the condemnation of his mother, by the English queen, and he immediately despatched two ambassadors to get the sen- tence annulled. "In the moneth of Februar 1587, the am- bassadors returnit from England with ansuer, that the Queyne of Scotland sould be saif till the Queyne of England sould send hir awin ambassador heir in Scotland; but how sone she had sure adverteisment that our ambassadors war returnit hayme, immediatelie the Queyne of Scotland was put to * History of the House of Douglas and Angus, p. 390. LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 213 تھے death." James put himself into "a dule weid of purple for a certayne dayis," convened a parliament, “where all the es- tates cried out in a great rage to set forward to revenge that unkindly and unlawful murder," and actually refused to re- ceive the ambassador sent by Elizabeth, with an absurd story, that Davison, her secretary, was the sole author of the foul deed;—“ but after his Majesty had ripely considered the best and worst of that deed, remembered himself of the many friends he had in England who had no hand in his mother's death, he thought it not just to trouble the peace and quiet of the kingdom for the deed of a few who guided the Queen and court, he being thereof himself apparent heir."* Our historian is not well pleased with this peaceable, though self- ish resolution of James; and, accordingly, when an English ambassador was received in the following year, he writes with some bitterness of feeling: "Thus all memorie of Queyne Marei's murther was bureit. The King ressavit thair ambas- sador, as I have sayd, and be his persuasioun is becum thair yeirlie pensioner. What honestie the commonweill ressavis heirby, I think the posteritie sall better knaw than that this tyme can judge," &c. But James, who was always a lover of peace, bethought himself of other employment than our historian would force upon him, and began seriously to look around him for a wife. Ambassadors were despatched to Denmark, and in August 1589 he was married by proxy to Anne, a Danish princess. Stormy weather obliged her to take refuge in Norway; and James was so gallant, or impa- tient, that he encountered the dangers of a winter voyage, and married her in person. This brave act, the only one which distinguished the career of the peaceable monarch, seems to have cured his passion for adventure; he did not choose to encounter the waves a second time during winter, but tarried and feasted in Denmark with his newly-married * Melvil's Memoirs, p. 345-9. † Ibid. 241. 214 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. spouse, and reached his own dominions only in the summer of 1590. The poor witches of Scotland were the only suffer- ers from the storms which impeded Queen Anne's progress, dyvers being executit to the death," for their officious in- terference with the winds of Heaven. << An unruly nobleman, Francis, Earl of Bothwell, gave rise to the only extraordinary incidents which distinguished the two following years of James' public life, by his repeated at- tempts to secure the King's person. In domestic life, James seems to have displayed an unworthy portion of jealousy; and in consequence, a young nobleman, the Earl of Murray, "quhom the Queyne, more rashlie than wyslie, had com- mendit in the King's heiringe with too many epithetts of a proper and gallant man," was put to death by the Earl of Huntlie, who surrendered himself for trial, but was almost instantly liberated, on "averring that he had done nothing but by the King's Majestie's commissione."* In addition to these troubles, he was beset by his old foes, the ministers of Edinburgh, who urged numerous complaints against various. noblemen, for entertaining Popish tenets, and so far suc- ceeded as to procure the arrest of some, and the execution of others, on the ground of a papistical correspondence with Spain. They grew bolder in their demands, in proportion as James seemed to favour them, and at length interfered so directly in matters of state, that he was obliged to check them, and to appeal to his subjects against their pretensions. An event now occurred, which, for a short time, united or at least restrained all parties-the birth of Prince Henry, who was afterwards highly and deservedly praised by poets and * Balfour's Annals, Vol. I., p. 390. It is but fair to mention, that Balfour's statement of the cause of Murray's murder is not supported by the authority either of the author of the "Historie," or of Robert Birrel; and that Melvil attributes the deed to a family feud, and speaks of the commission, under which Huntly afterwards sheltered himself, as one given to him, "to pursue the Earl of Bothwell and his partakers." LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 215 ¦ statesmen, by royalists and republicans, in one word, by men of the most opposite political principles. But the breathing- time thus afforded seemed to add vigour to the hostile mea- sures afterwards resorted to. Huntly, Errol, and others in the North, defeated the King's lieutenant, and Bothwell ad- vanced to Leith with 500 horsemen. Surrounded with diffi- culties, and unable to extricate himself, James "came to ser- mon, and thair, in the kirk, maid great instance to the people, that they sould assist him with thair gudewillis and strenth to suppres his ennemie Bothwell," and he was successful. He led his troops against Bothwell; and though he could not boast of victory, he reaped all the advantage of a triumph, his enemy being obliged to retire to England. But his labours in the field were followed by new troubles in the council. The ministers were clamorous against the noblemen suspected of Popery, and at their request a Parliament was called, and Huntly, Angus, and others, were pronounced traitors; but, much against the wishes of the clergy, James was contented with this sentence, and devoted himself to pursuits much. more congenial to his nature;-he " had his haill mynd bent for reparatioun of the Castell of Sterling, and to prepare all glorious things necessar for the triumphe of the baptisme of the yong Prince." He was prevailed upon, however, to issue a proclamation to please the clergy, and then, with great pomp, he celebrated the baptism of his son. The ministers of Edinburgh, taking advantage of the proclamation, persuaded Argyle to attack Huntly; but the latter defeated Argyle's forces, and secured considerable plunder. James afterwards proceeded to the North, and, by levying fines on his rebellious subjects, restored peace. He returned to Edinburgh, but only to encounter new difficulties. The Queen, the Chan- cellor, and others, had concerted a plan to withdraw the Prince from the custody of his guardian, the Earl of Mar, but, by reasoning with her privately, and by reproaching the others separately, James destroyed the conspiracy. In the 216 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. course of a few weeks afterwards, the Chancellor (Maitland), died,—a man of talent, but of great intrigue, and suspected, not without reason, of many unprincipled acts and unjustifi- able aggressions. The King "composit a worthie epitaph. upon the death of the said Chancellor,"-the people "sparit not to calumniat him.” In the beginning of 1596, James adopted a new expedient to remedy the disorders which had crept into his household and the revenues of the crown, " and estableist eight chosin men to be of his perpetuall counsall;" but these Octavians, as they were denominated, "thoght that thair was na securitie in their standing, unless they first investit thaymeselfis in uther menis offeces," and accordingly they began their reforms by dividing among themselves "the offices of the crown, to every man one."* They were also suspected of favouring the nobles who were accused of Popery; and in consequence, the good citizens of Edinburgh, "being commoovit in their myndis by a preacher of the town," thought themselves bound to purge the land of such backsliders. “Then, without more, was the Blue Blanket advanced;" but after much turmoil and confusion, and suspension of clergymen, and removal of the courts of law, matters were arranged, and the gude town found itself minus 30,000 merks.t The only other event of importance, which is noticed in the "Historie," and to which alone our limits will now per- mit us to attend, is that known by the name of the Gowrie Conspiracy. The "Historie," Balfour's Annals, and Birrel's Diary, all concur in representing the attempt of Gowrie and his brother as "treacherous and bloodie," and in avowing their report to be in unison with the belief of the people, except the ministers of Edinburgh. We are aware that the autho- rities we have quoted have been questioned by writers of * Melvil's Memoirs, p. 382. † Balfour's Annals, Vol. I., p. 401. : LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 217 rents. talent and research, and that it is now a fashionable dogma in Scotish history to maintain that this conspiracy was alto- gether a coinage of the brain of James, to revenge himself of an obnoxious nobleman. But after perusing the argument on both sides, we confess ourselves inclined to believe, that though Gowrie and his brother did not meditate the death of the King, they certainly did intend to keep his person under restraint, until they had accomplished some measures in the government favourable to themselves and their adhe- If the invitation to Ruthven had been given with the sole view of amusing the King by chemical experiments, why did Gowrie's brother attempt to confine him, and even strug- gle with him to prevent his escape? The heresy of the five Edinburgh clergymen weighs little with us. They had often bearded James-they were frequently thwarted and deceived by him and therefore owed him no courtesy; but, what is of more importance, they and Gowrie were not merely of one mind as to the necessity of a change of men and measures at court, but were both the instruments of English policy in this work. Now, in the rude times of which we write, there was no other mode of accomplishing such a change ever dreamt of, except by getting possession of the person of the King. But while our belief is, that Gowrie and his brother had such an enterprise in view, we are equally ready to avow, that we have seen no satisfactory evidence of their determi- nation to shed blood, or encounter hostility, rather than re- linquish their object. On the contrary, we think that their utter want of preparation for hostile measures proves satis- factorily that they contemplated a peaceable coercion merely. The severe legislative enactments which followed the Gow- rie conspiracy,—the opposition, and disbelief, and consequent suspension of various clergymen,-and the trial and condem- nation of several persons for their share in the deed, occupied a great portion of James' thoughts for many months. But they did not exclude the supreme object of his wishes-his 218 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. : .. succession to the English crown. On the contrary, he was in constant communication with his ambassadors in England during the three years which intervened between Gowrie's conspiracy and the death of Elizabeth, and directed their measures with a degree of skill and knowledge of life, which could scarcely have been expected from his previous manage- ment in Scotish affairs. He tampered with the influential men of all parties in Elizabeth's court; and at last, when the demise of this Princess opened the way to his advancement, he ascended the throne of England with the good wishes of all. Our "Historie" contains very meagre notices of the affairs of the next fourteen years, and we shall not trouble our readers with any account of them. After the ample summary of the events of James' reign in Scotland, which we have laid before our readers, we trust they will be able to form a pretty correct estimate, not only of the character of James, but also of the characters of those who successively ruled Scotland from his birth to his depar- ture for England. The history of this period is, indeed, a history of the domination of faction; one party or noble fell but to give way to another, and, in the hands of all, James seems to have been the mere puppet of royalty, in whose name Faction promulgated her own decrees, and perpetrated many crimes. The youth of James gave great promise; his manhood dis- appointed the most moderate expectations. While he was very young, Buchanan made him an excellent scholar; and, in other matters, he displayed a maturity of judgment far beyond his years. Before he was eighteen, he had written many poetical pieces, and though these, of course, are not free of juvenile conceits and weaknesses, we may safely pro- nounce them, on the whole, equal in merit to those of any other youthful poet at or prior to the times of James. In 1584, while only in his eighteenth year, he published Essayes of a Prentise in the Divine Art of Poesie, and in 1591, his Poeticall ¡ LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. 219 Exercises, which he characterizes as the work of his "verie young and tender years." Both works were lately reprinted under the editorial care of Mr. R. P. Gillie. The first con- tains several sonnets, which were well worthy of being rescued from oblivion; and we embrace this opportunity of preserving another, which, so far as we know, has never met the public eye as a production of James. It is prefixed to Hudson's translation of Du Barta's History of Judith, published in 1584. Of Du Barta's works James had a very favourable opinion, and betwixt the two authors poetic compliments were not wanting, as well as other marks of literary friendship. "Since ye immortall sisters nine has left All other countries lying farre or nere: To follow him who from them all you reft, And now has causde your residence be here; Who, thoughe a straunger, yet he loode so dere This realme and me, so as he spoilde his avvne, And all the brookes, and banks, and fountains clere That be therein of you, as he hath shavvne In this his work: then let your breath be blavvne In recompence of this his willing minde, On me; that sine may with my pen be draune His praise for though himself be not inclynde, Nor preaseth but to touch the lawrer tre : Yet well he merits crovvn'd therewith to be." James's other compositions during the same period are credit- able to his talents and his learning. As a man, we feel ourselves compelled to regard James in a contemptible light. He seems literally to have had no mind of his own, but to have resigned himself and his gov- ernment to one favourite after another, with as much facility as these minions were changed. If we except the family of Lennox, no person in the kingdom seems to have acquired 220 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES VI. his steady friendship. We fear he was incapable of perma- nent regard. His measures displayed the same vacillating mind. What was done yesterday was often undone to-day; and there was no security that another change would not take place to-morrow. He was vain of his dignity and of literary acquirements, and had very high notions of the rights of kings. Constitutionally a coward, he was-like almost all royal cowards-a tyrant. He was selfish in his desires, and, if we except hunting, even in his amusements. He could dissemble, too, and resort to mean practices to accomplish his purposes. In short, James was a sovereign at once weak and ambitious, unstable and tyrannical; and however medi- ocre his poetry may be deemed, his claims on our regard are much stronger as a poet than as a man or a king. It is probable, that to many of our readers the estimate we have formed of his character will appear partial and un- just. To such we have little to say in justification of our- selves. We have enabled every reader to judge for himself; and we have merely exercised our right in offering an opinion. on facts patent to all. These facts we have detailed at as great length as our limits would permit, and for the very pur- pose of placing data for judgment within the reach of all who feel an interest in the matter. They have been gathered exclusively from contemporary writers, from men, too, who seem to have thought more favourably of James than we do: they are therefore free from any bias which might have been communicated by a perusal of the narratives of later historians only. For ourselves we can vouch, that we began and com- pleted the collection and collation in the most impartial spirit, and so far from consulting modern writers, we have never even tried to recollect what opinions they had formed. If, therefore, the results we have drawn are either partial or unjust, our philosophy is at fault, and we must stand con- victed of deducing erroneous conclusions from the premises before us. : KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. 221 THE FORTUNES OF KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. LOCHMABEN CASTLE, the paternal residence of Bruce, stood on the extreme point of a heart-shaped peninsula which juts a considerable way into the south side of the Castle-loch. Across the isthmus at the entrance of the peninsula are ves- tiges of a deep fosse, which admitted at both ends the waters of the lake, and converted the site of the Castle into an island, and over which a well-guarded drawbridge gave ingress or refused it to the interior. Within this outer fosse, at brief intervals, are a second, a third, and a fourth, of similar char- acter. The last stretched from side to side of the peninsula immediately at the entrance of the Castle; it was protected in front by a strong arched wall or ledge, behind which a besieged force could shield themselves while they galled, at a distance, an approaching foe; and it had at the centre a drawbridge which led into the interior building, and which was probably the last post an enemy required to force in order to be master of the fortress. Two archways at the north- eastern and south-western angles of the building, through which the water of the fosse was received or emptied, remain entire. But no idea can now be formed of the original beauty or polish either of this outwork or of the stupendous and magnificent pile which it assisted to defend. Gothic hands began generations ago to treat the Castle of the Bruce as merely a vulgar and convenient quarry; and, for the sake of the stones, they have peeled away every foot of the ashler- work which lined the exterior and the interior of its walls. So far has barbarian rapacity been carried, that now only the heart or packing of some of the walls is left, exhibiting giant masses of small stones and lime, irregularly huddled together, and nodding to their fall. Many portions of the skinned and ghastly but once noble and aerial pile have been precipitated 222 KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. 2 from aloft, and lie strewed in heaps upon the ground; the stone and the lime so firmly cemented, that scarcely any effort of human power can disunite them. The Castle, with its out-works, covered about 16 acres, and was the strongest fortress in the Border, and, till the invention of gunpowder, all but impregnable. But what remains can hardly suggest, even to fancy itself, the greatness of what the Goths have stolen. Only one or two small apartments can be traced, and they stand in the remoter and less frequented part of the Castle, and, therefore, excite but little interest. But a few years ago a farmer's dwelling-house and offices, built of the stones of the ancient edifice, profaned the precincts; the potato-house was dug into the brow of the third fosse; and the bold features of the military works around were smoothed down to suit the convenience of a man who cared exempla- rily for his pigs and oxen, but had not a nook in his recol- lection for a line of patriot Kings, or the stirring occurrences of the most eventful periods of Scotland's history. Many houses in Lochmaben, including the new school-house, are built of materials torn from the Castle; and one inhabitant of the burgh warms his toes beside a pair of fine jambs which The en- once rested on the paternal hearth of the Bruce.* closed spot around the Castle is naturally barren, and fitted only for the raising of wood; and its present growth of trees, if allowed to bend their branches quietly over the ruin to the solemn music of the winds, would harmonize well with the solitude of fallen greatness. The view of the loch and of the A curious example will illustrate the surpassingly Gothic spirit of the modern Lochmaben-men. An inhabitant of the Heck, one of the King's kindly tenants,' in the immediate vicinity of the Castle, found, many years ago, a key of very vast proportions, sup- posed to have been that of the Castle's chief gate. The key was put up to auction among the hobnails for 2s. 6d. ; and not finding a purchaser at a price believed to exceed by a few farthings the value of its metal in pounds' weight, it was coolly handed to a blacksmith to be converted into a pair of spades for cutting turf! KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. 223 ... circumjacent scenery, from all points in the vicinity, is calmly and impressively beautiful, and strongly disposes a reflecting mind to indulge in teeming and pleasingly tumultuous remi- niscences of the past. The date of the Castle is uncertain, but probably was the latter part of the 13th century,—the period of the competition of the Crowns. Tradition, though unsupported by documentary evidence, asserts the Castle to have been not the original Lochmaben residence of the Bruces, but only a successor of enlarged dimensions, and augmented strength.* At a brief distance *It is asserted in the Old Statistical Account, that "this Castle was built by Robert Bruce, the first of that name, King of Scot- land." This, however, is extremely improbable, for the following reasons urged by Dr. Jamieson. Before the assertion of his right to the Crown, he could not have engaged in the erection of so strong a fortress, without exciting the suspicion of Edward I. He had neither opportunity nor means for carrying on such a work during the time of his arduous struggle; and when this was termi- nated by the defeat of his enemies, and the establishment of peace, he had business of far more importance to occupy his attention. We discover no vestige, in any of our public records, of his being thus engaged. Besides, had King Robert been more partial to castle- building than he was, he would most likely have given the prefer- ence to Turnberry. It is to be observed that. in several deeds of Edward III., mention is made both of a castle and of a peel at Lochmaben; as in a letter from him to Adam de Corry, whom he designs his "seneschal of the castle, peel, and lands of Lochmaben and Annandale," in a grant to William de Bohun, and in another to Henry de Percy. [Rotul. Scot. i. 276, b.; 399, a.; 479, b. ] Distinct from both these castles, there appears to have been one more ancient than either of them, erected in one of the seven or eight lochs reckoned up in this neighbourhood According to tra- dition, there was a nunnery in the largest of them. where a castle afterwards stood; and some who are acquainted with the Gaelic, contend, that Lochmaben signifies the Loch of the Maidens, or the Loch of the Fair' Dr. Jamieson says: “I should be disposed to doubt this derivation, were it for no other reason than this, that although maighdean is rendered in modern Gaelic, a maiden, it is obviously a term borrowed from the Gothic, as not a vestige of it appears, either in the old British, or in its kindred dialect, the Armorican. In the latter, the only similar words are the deriva- tives of the verb maga, which conveys rather a different idea from 224 KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. south of the town, on the north-west side of the loch, is a large rising ground called Castle-hill, and pointed out as the site of the original Castle, and even as the alleged birth-place of the first royal Bruce. That a building of some description anciently crowned the eminence, is evident from the remains of an old wall still dug up an inch or two beneath the surface of the summit, and from the vestiges of a strong and deep intrenchment carried completely round the base. Tradition says that the stones of this edifice were transferred from the Castle-hill, across the intervening part of the lake, to the point of the heart-shaped peninsula on the southern shore, as materials for the more modern erection; and it adds, that a causeway was constructed, and still exists, across the bed of the lake, to facilitate the convenience. But here monuments, documents, and physical probabilities, concur in refusing cor- roborative evidence. The original castle, situated at such convenient nearness to the burgh, was, we may conclude, de- voured piece-meal by the proved castle-eaters of the town; and the more modern Castle seems, as to its ashler-work, to have been constructed of stone from Corncockle-moor, a quarry in the parish which still continues to be worked. The Castle-hill commands a fine view of the burgh, of the beauti- ful lakes, and of a considerable expanse of the luxuriant How of Annandale. Near it is a lower hill or mount, called the Gallows-hill, on which, in ancient times, a formidable gallows constantly stood, and was seldom seen during the Border that of maid,' as signifying to act the part of a nurse. As this fortress was apparently within the limits of the kingdom of Strat- Clyde, the name may have been formed from the Welsh llwch,- mebyn and maban, a babe.' Another mode of orthography, however, occurs in one old deed. Robert I. grants a charter to Thomas, son of John of Carruthers, of Musfald, &c., dated at our manor of Lochmalban.' Could we view this as the original form of the word, it might be traced either to the Gaelic loch maol ben, or to the Welsh llwch moel ban, both signifying the Lake of the bald,' or 'smooth eminence.'"-Palaces of Scotland, pp. 10t, 102. KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. 225 wars without the dangling appendage of one or two reivers. The baronial courts of Lochmaben, and even occasional war- den courts, were probably held on the summit of the Castle- hill, whence the judges beheld their sentences promptly and rigidly carried into execution. The first mention that is made of this place is by Humphrey Lluyd, who has said that Constantine, King of Cumbria, was killed at Lochmaben about 870. But this seems to be a mere fabrication. Robert de Brus, the son of that noble knight of Normandy, who came into England with William the Conqueror, and first possessed the manor of Skelton, being in a state of friendship with our David I., while prince, received from him, when he came to the throne, the lordship of Annandale, with a right to enjoy his castle there, with all the customs appertaining to it. This grant was made A.D. 1124. A charter, granted by William the Lion to Robert, third Lord of Annandale, confirming to him the property pos- sessed by his father in that district, is dated at Lochmaben; and this is supposed to have been granted between the years 1165 and 1174. The church of Lochmaben was one of those which Robert Bruce, Lord of Annandale, gave to the monks of Gyseburn, in Yorkshire, about the year 1183. Bruce, the competitor for the throne, and the grandfather of Robert I., died at his Castle of Lochmaben, A. D. 1295, or, according to Leland, 1296. In the year preceding his death, he granted a charter, dated at this fortress, confirming a convention be- tween the monks of Melrose, and those of Holmcultram. "This old castle of Lochmaben," it is said by Chalmers in his Caledonia, “continued the chief residence of this respect- able family, during the 12th and 13th centuries. Robert de Brus, the first Earl of Carrick, of this dynasty, probably re- paired the Castle at Annan." As a stone, taken from the ruins of Annan-castle, bears his name, with the date 1300, the conjecture seems to be formed, with great probability, that the family had continued previously to reside at Loch- P 226 KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. maben. According to the testimony of our venerable min- strel, that hero, who so long withstood all the power, and all the bribes, of the royal Norman usurper,-he whom English writers have called a public robber,'* who could be van- quished only by the vilest treachery,-the immortal Wallace, -took the Castle of Lochmaben. As he had only a few men with him, the deserted state of the place made it com- paratively an easy acquisition. He thus addressed himself to the gallant Sir John Grahame, and his other companions:- "I wald sailye,a giff ye think it may be, Lowmaban houss, quhilk now is left allayne; For weill I waite power in it is lewyta nane.e Carlauerok als yeitf Maxwell has in hand; And we had this, thai mycht be baiths a wand Agayneh Sotheroun,i that now has our cuntre. Say quhat ye will, this is the best, think me."k Schir Jhone the Grayme gaiff fyrst his gud consent; Syne all the layff, rycht with a haill entent." m To Lowmaban rycht haistely thai ryd. The old bard subjoins a characteristic trait of the invariable conduct of Wallace to the defenceless:- Quhen the ladie had thaim seyne, Grace," scho cryit, "for him that deit° on tre." Than Wallace said, "Mademe, your noyis lat be.p To wemen yeit we do bot litill ill; Na yong childir we lik for to spill."q WALLACE, B. V. v. 997. 1033. * Quidam latro publicus, Willielmus Waleys. Knyghton, col. 2513-Ille latro, ibid. 2516. a Assail. b If. f As yet, still. g Both. k In my apprehension. o Died. c Know. h Against. ] Gave. d Left. i Englishmen. m Remainder e None. n Design. p Cease to cry. q Destroy. KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. 227 After the death of John Bohun, Earl of Hereford, this Castle was given to Edward, of the same name. It was A. D. 1335, in the keeping of William Bohun, whom Randolph, Earl of Moray, "found in his own Castle of Lochmaben, and bearing sway over all his own lands of Annandale, when he returned from his captivity in France." In the year 1366, it is spoken of as the property of Humphrey de Bohun, who is authorized to victual and repair it. In July 1298, Edward I. took possession of Lochmaben-castle; and, in 1300, when we find him here a second time, he strengthened this fortress, with that of Dumfries, placing adequate garrisons in them, with ample supplies, and appointing a governor for each. To this fortress Bruce fled, A, D. 1304, on his way from Lon- don, before erecting his royal standard. Having met, near the west marches, a traveller on foot, whose appearance was suspicious, he found, on examination, that he was the bearer of letters from Comyn to the English king, urging the death or the immediate imprisonment of Bruce. He beheaded the messenger, and pressed forward to his Castle of Lochmaben, where he arrived on the seventh day after his departure from London. Hence he proceeded to Dumfries, where the fatal interview between him and Comyn took place. At the accession of the Bruce to the Scotish throne, he conferred his paternal inheritance, with its chief seat, the Castle of Lochmaben, on Randolph, Earl of Murray. When Edward III. obtained from the inglorious Edward Baliol the county of Dumfries as part of the price for helping him to a usurped and dependent throne, he appointed a variety of officers over Lochmaben-castle, and garrisoned the fortress in defence of the wrongful cause of England. In 1342, the Scots made a strenuous attempt to capture the Castle, but were repulsed; and next year, David II.'s particular forces, whom he was imprudently leading into England, were stoutly resisted and severely harassed by its garrison. David, exas- perated by the repeated disasters inflicted on him, in 1346 228 KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. vigorously assaulted the fortress, took it, and executed Selby its governor. By the fatal upshot of the battle of Durham, which speedily followed, the Castle changed both its proprie tor and its tenants. John, Earl of Moray, falling in that battle, the Castle passed by inheritance to his sister, Agnes, the Countess of March, and from her was transmitted, through the reigns of Robert II. and Robert III., to her son, Earl George; and David II. becoming the English king's prisoner, the Castle once more opened its gates to an English garri- son. Even after David II.'s restoration, Edward III. re- tained the district of Annandale, and kept the fortress well- garrisoned to defend it; but though connived at by the pusil- lanimity of the Scotish king, his dominion was pent up, by the bravery of the people, within the Castle's own narrow limits. Sallies and forages of the garrison, provoked frequent retaliations, occasioned incursions into England, and led, in particular, to a hostile race, in 1380, into Westmoreland, and the carrying away of great booty from the fair of Penrith. In 1384, the Earl of Douglas, and Archibald Douglas, lord of Galloway, whose territories had been infested by the gar- rison, marched in strong force against the Castle, besieged and captured it, and, by effecting its reduction, drove the English from Annandale. In 1409, the Castle was resigned by the Earl of March to the Regent Albany, and conferred, along with the lordship of Annandale, upon the Earl of Douglas. In 1450, when the Earl of Orkney was sent to quell some fierce outrages of the dependents of the Douglas, and, though acting by the King's authority, was opposed and defied, James II. marched an army into Annandale, and took and garrisoned Lochmaben-castle. In 1455, the Castle, in common with the lordships of An nandale and Eskdale, became the property of the Crown by the attainder of the Earl of Douglas. Till the union of the Crowns it was preserved as a Border strength, and belonged either personally to the kings or to their sons; and it was KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. 229 In a pro. maintained and managed by a special governor. gress made by James IV., in the year 1504, against the dis- orderly inhabitants of the south, he, on the 17th of Septem- ber, left Lochmaben, on his way to Edinburgh, by Peebles. It appears, from the treasurer's accounts, that, in 1503-4, this prince built a large hall in the Castle of Lochmaben, and made great repairs and improvements on that fortress, from 1503 to 1506. We may perhaps view it as a proof of the interest which James IV. took in the preservation of this royal fortress, that he consigned the custody of it to Robert Lauder of the Bass. For there is extant a grant, dated 16th March, 1511, to the said Robert, of the offices of captain and keeper of Lochmaben-castle, for seven years, with many per- quisites. Among others, the land stolen frae the king' is bestowed upon the captain as his property. During the minority of James V., Robert, Lord Maxwell, being a fa- voured counsellor of the queen-mother, was by her intrusted with the keeping of the castles of Lochmaben and Thrieff, for nineteen years, with the usual privileges. In the year 1565, when Queen Mary pursued, into Dumfries-shire, those who had broken out into rebellion on account of her marriage with Darnley, she, accompanied by him, visited Lochmaben- castle, which was then in the custody of Sir John Maxwell. In 1588, when James VI. was prosecuting his quarrel with Lord Maxwell, he summoned his various castles to surrender. They all obeyed, except Lochmaben, which was defended by one of the same name. It was given up, however, after two days' firing. In consequence of the forfeiture of Lord Maxwell, and the vesting of all his estates and offices in the Crown, A. D. 1609, James, in the year 1612, granted the government of this Castle, with the barony of Lochmaben, to John Murray, 'grome of his Maiesties bedchalmer,' who was created Vis count of Annand, and Lord Murray of Lochmaben, and after- wards Earl of Annandale. From him descended the noble 230 KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. family of Stormont, now merged in that of Mansfield. The title of Constable and Hereditary keeper of the palace of Lochmaben is claimed, both by the Earl of Mansfield and by the representative of the Marquis of Annandale. During the troubles in the reign of Charles I., the Earl of Nithsdale, (formerly Lord Maxwell,) having suffered greatly in conse- quence of his steady adherence to the King, was obliged to sell, not only great part of his estate, but also his offices of Steward of Annandale, and constable of Lochmaben-castle, with the lands and emoluments which were attached to the constabulary. James Murray, the second Earl of Annandale, dying without issue, the honours of Lochmaben were, a. D. 1661, transferred to James Johnston, Earl of Hartfell. The governor had a salary of £300 Scotch-a considerable sum in former days-together with the fishing of the lochs. He had also, for the maintenance of the garrison, from every parish of Annandale, what was called Laird a Mairt, or a lairdner mart cow, which, it was required, should be one of the fattest that could be produced, besides thirty-nine meadow geese, and Fasten's e'en' hens. A century has not elapsed since this tax was exacted. Although the right of fishing in all the lochs is granted, by a charter of James VI., to the borough of Lochmaben, yet the proprietors of the Castle have always enjoyed the exclusive privilege of fishing in the Castle and mill-lochs with boats, nets, &c. About the year 1730, the inhabitants of Annandale, galled with the exactions. made upon them by the Marquis of Annandale, the heredi- tary constable and nominal governor, resisted payment of his wonted claims, stoutly litigated his rights, and obtained from the Court-of-session a decree forbidding the future levying of his usual receipts. At the abolition of hereditary jurisdic- tions, in 1747, the Marquis claimed £1,000 as compensation for his governorship; but was not allowed a farthing. The dilapidation of the Castle was probably commenced not long after the place was abandoned as useless; but it KING ROBERT BRUCE'S CASTLE. 231 must have been mainly incited by the triumph of the people over pretensions based on the ludicrously sinecure office of its noble hereditary governor. Our good old Bellenden, in his translation of Boece, has given a very curious picture of the character of the ancient inhabitants of this district, and of the original reason of the erection of the Castle. 'In Annandail is ane loch namit Lochmaben, fyue mylis of lenth, and foure of breid, full of uncouth fische. Besyde this loch is ane castell, vnder the same name, maid to dant the incur- sion of theuis. For nocht allanerlie in Annandail, bot in all the dalis afore rehersit ar mony strang and wekit theuis, in- uading the cuntré with perpetuall thift, reif, & slauchter, quhen thay sé ony trublus tyme. Thir theuis (becaus thay haue Inglismen thair perpetuall ennymes lyand dry marche apon thair nixt bordour) inuadis Ingland with continewal weris, or ellis with quiet thift: and leiffis ay ane pure and miserabill lyfe. In the tyme of peace, thay are so accustomit with thift, that they can nocht desist, bot inuadis the cuntre -with ithand heirschippis.-This vail of Annand wes sum tyme namit Ordouitia, and the pepill namit Ordouices, quhais cruelteis wes sa gret, that thay abhorrit nocht to eit the flesche of yolding prisoneris. The wyuis vsit to slay thair husbandis, quhen thay wer found cowartis, or discomfist be thair enny- mes, to give occasioun to otheris to be more bald & hardy quhen danger occurrit." Whatever might be their character in that early period, they have in later ages showed, at least, a good deal of humour in their depredations. Of this we have an amusing proof in the ballad of the Lochmaben Harper,' who, having been seized with a strong attachment to the Lord Warden's Wanton Brown,' made his way to Carlisle-castle, although blind, and so enchanted the whole company, and even the minions, by the charms of his music, that he found means, not only to send off the warden's charger, but to persuade him, that while he was exerting himself to the utmost to gratify the company, some one had stole his < 232 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. own 'gude gray mare,' and thus to secure far more than the value of all his pretended loss. “‘Allace! allace!' quo' the cunning auld harper, And ever allace that I cam here! In Scotland I lost a braw cowt foal; In England they've stown my gude gray mare! "Then aye he harped, and aye he carped; Sae sweet were the harpings he let them hear: He was paid for the foal he had never lost, And three times ower for his 'gude gray mare » SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. AFTER the restoration of Charles II., and the overthrow of the Covenanted Church, an Act was promulged and rigor- ously enforced for celebrating the King's birth-day as a holi- day. The people of Linlithgow, on only the second recur- rence of this day, ingloriously distinguished themselves by demonstrations of wild and outrageous debauch in lieu of loyalty, and by revolting and shameless displays of contempt for the ecclesiastical principles which both they and their fathers had solemnly sworn to uphold. A hideous compound of frolic and drunkenness and religious ceremony was got up in the way of pageantry. Bonfires were kindled at the cor- ners of the streets; the beautiful Gothic fountain in the centre of the town spouted from its many mouths French and Span- ish wines; a table covered with comfits, for the refection of the Earl of Linlithgow and the magistrates, was spread out in the open area before the council-house; and an elaborate and profane structure, intended to burlesque and ridicule the Covenanters, was erected at the cross, and stuffed with com- bustibles and fire-works for a grand pyrotechnic explosion SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. 233 The chief parts of this structure were four pillars, a surmount- ing arch, pieces of rude statuary, and scrolls of legends. On one side of the arch stood the statue of a hag, having the Covenant in her hand, with the superscription, "A glorious Reformation;" on the other stood the figure of a Whig, with the Remonstrance in his hand, inscribed, "No association with malignants ;" and above the keystone stood the figure of Satan, in the form of an angel of light, with a label issuing from his mouth, "Stand to the cause." On the pillar beneath the Covenant were painted distaffs, reels, and stools of re- pentance; and on that beneath the Remonstrance were figured horse-collars, wooden dishes, and spoons. Within the arch, on the one side, was represented a Committee of Estates, with the legend, "Act for delivering up the King;" and on the other a Commission of the Kirk, with the inscription "Act of the West Kirk." From the middle of the arch was suspended a tablet containing the following litany,-- "From Covenanters, with uplifted hands, From Remonstrators, with associate bands, From such Committees as governed this nation, From Kirk Commissions and their Protestation, Good Lord deliver us." On the back of the arch was a figure of Rebellion under the guise of Religion, in an attitude of devotion, with her eyes turned up to heaven, holding in her right hand Rutherford's "Lex Rex," and in her left "The Causes of God's Wrath;" around her lay public documents of kirk and state with anti- popish and covenanting protestations and declarations; and above her was the inscription, "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." The Earl of Linlithgow and the magistrates seated themselves at the table; the curate sung a psalm and repeated a short prayer; the company took some of the com- fits from the table, and scattered the rest among the crowd; 234 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. he principal persons formally drank to the King's health; and the structure of pillars and arch and statuary and inscrip- tions took fire at the touch of a blazing torch, and exploded in a maze of pyrotechny, and evolved two angelic figures bearing a tablet with the inscription, "Great Britain's monarch on this day was born, And to his kingdom happily restored— The Queen's arrived-the mitre now is worn- Let us rejoice, this day is from the Lord. Fly hence all traitors, who did mar our peace— Fly hence schismatics, who our church did rent- Fly covenanting, remonstrating race- Let us rejoice that God this day hath sent." The Earl and the magistrates then withdrew to the palace; a large bonfire was lighted in the palace-court; a carousal of toast-drinking was performed within the palace-apartments; and the magistrates, by way of finale to the disgusting and wicked carnival, walked in procession through the town and saluted all the chief inhabitants. This same town of Linlithgow was the scene of a ridiculous pageant in honour of the poet-king of Scotland. In 1617, James VI., when on his visit to Scotland, made a public entry into Linlithgow; and at his approach to the town, he was met by James Wiseman, the burgh pedagogue, enclosed in a plaster figure resembling a lion, and was addressed by him in the following doggerel speech :- "Thrice royal sir, here do I you beseech, Who art a lion, to hear a lion's speech; A miracle! for since the days of Æsop, No lion, till those days, a voice dared raise up, To such a majesty! Then, king of men, The king of beasts speaks to thee from his den, SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. 235 64 Who, though he now enclosed be in plaister, When he was free, was Lithgow's wise schoolmaster." This," sarcastically remarks Chambers in his Gazetteer of Scotland, "may look ineffably ridiculous; but when people were accustomed to hear the familiar pedantic character of James emblematized by court-flattery as a lion, they might well be excused for such an anomalous masquerade as a school- master in the guise of the same animal. In truth there could not have been a more apt emblem of the King himself, who was neither more nor less at any time than a pedagogue en- closed within a plaster-cast of majesty.” James, in the course of the same visit to Scotland, pro- cessed into a number of other chief burghs; and was received in each with a theatrical pomp and a fulsome adulation sub- stantially similar to those of the Linlithgow schoolmaster's address, and framed according to the instruction of missives. which were previously despatched to the burgh magistrates. from James's secret council, and which were written probably by his own dictation, and certainly at his own request and in terms of his own wishes. One of these missives, sent to the magistrates of Perth, says, The Kingis Majestie being de- syrous that in the speciall burrowis of this kingdome quhilk his Majesty intendis, God willing, to visite the tyme of his being heir, such shewiss of ornament, cumliness, and civilitie may be sene as may gif unto his Majestie contentment, and may make the strangeris that ar to accompany his Majestie persave and see that the countrie is not sa barine of formali- tie, ordour, and civilitie, as they ignorantlie apprehend,-His Majestie has thairfoir commandit, that at his first entre in the said burrowis at the port thairof, the chief and principal in- habitants in the town, in thair most comlie, civill, and formal ordour, sall attend his Majestie, and that ane speche sall be maid unto his Majestie be some person (nocht being of the ministeris of the town) in name of the haill town, congratu- 236 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. lateing his Majestie's coming to the town, and making his Majestie hartlie welcome, and that this speche be deliverit in sensible, ticht, and gude language, as alswa that at the prin- cipal portis of the town quhairat his Majestie is to enter, his Majestie's armes be engraven and sett up both within and without, and that they be overgilt in the best fassoun." And a second missive to the same parties on the same occasion instructs them that the engraving to be set up "moist con- tene the armes of baith kingdoms," and that the legends of it "moist be drawn in fair letteres of gold," and enjoins in re- ference to the speech to be delivered, "Zou sall inform him whome you are to trust with that matter, that first in name of the town he mak his Majestie welcome, and then in sen- sible and gude language he sall sett forth his Majestie's awin praise, by innumerable comfortis and blessings, quhilk this countrey has haid baith in kirk and policie under his Majes- tie's most happie government, and lait go far as modestie may permitt, he sall speik to the praise of the town, both anent the antiquitie theairof, the services done by the saim to the crown and estait, the willingness of the present inhabitants be thair best endeavouris to serve his Majestie in all and everie, by and in thair possibilitie, without ony private respect or consideratione, and the constant and firme resolutione of the town to contineu in all dewtifull obedience to his Majes- tie and his royal progenie and successouris in all tyme com- ing." Instructions were received also that the King should be provided with a propin at his entry into the city, that the magistrates when coming out to meet him should be dressed in black gowns, that the town-officers should have clothes of red Fleming, and that "the skinners should provide for the sword dance, the baxters for the Egyptian dance, and the schoolmasters and the bairns gud dance to his Majestie." The magistrates got up all these things and many more; and put up the royal arms in different places, both in painting and in statuary; and caused the dancers and other perform SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. 237 ers to practise and rehearse long and laboriously so as to do their part in the most finished style of mountebankism;—and, when the King arrived, they charmed him with many “shewiss of ornament, cumliness, and civilitie," to his heart's content; and crammed him up to the chin with most fulsome flatteries and adulations, such as scarcely any stomach but his own could have endured; and gave him not only all the gilded speech, with words "ticht and gude," which he wanted, but served up to him in addition four bombastic panegyrics, in the form of Latin poetry, from the mouths of four different citizens. "the The Perth people of a period sixteen years later performed pretty nearly the same fooleries, on occasion of Charles I. visiting Scotland to receive the Scotish crown; and as skinners sword dance" seems to have been the most remark- able of the "shewiss" both then and at the visit of James, a particular account of it which has come down on record may here be quoted. "His Majesty's chair being set upon the wall of the garden of his lodging next to the Tay, where- upon was a flat stage of timber, clad about with birks, upon the which, for his Majesty's welcome and entry, thirteen of our brethren of this our calling of glovers, with green caps, strings, red ribbons, white shoes, with bells about their legs, shering rapers in their hands, and all other abulzement, danced our sword dance with many difficult knots and alla- fallajessa, five being under and five above upon their shoul- ders, three of them dancing through their feet, drink of wine, and breaking glasses about them, which was acted without hurt or skaith to any, which drew into great charges and expenses, amounting to the sum of three hundred and fifty merks." On occasion of Charles's visit, also, two tailors per- formed the ineffable absurdity of personating the city and the river, and performing in that capacity a thing which its contrivers called a poetic comedy. One of the most elaborate pieces of pageantry on record 238 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. came off at Stirling Castle, in the latter part of August, 1594, on occasion of the baptism of Prince Henry, the infant son of James VI.; and a minute account of it, written at the time, and printed at London in 1603, is still extant," whereby," says a Note on the title-page, "a brief view of the greatness and splendour of the kingdom is shown, as well as what figure a great many ancient families then made, as doth appear by the recital of the names of the Lords and Barons present at the solemnity." We shall present to our readers as much of this curious tractate as describes the pastimes which preceded the baptism and the banquet which followed,—and, in order to make it read smoothly, we shall modernize the spelling; but we shall suppress its account of the preliminary gather- ing of the ambassadors and the nobles as too prolix and for- mal for our pages,-and shall omit its description of the bap- tism itself, and of the pomps and processions which accom. panied it, as a revolting and profane intermixture of theatrical display with religious ceremony. CC The King's Majesty committed the charge of the affair to the Lord of Lindores and M. William Fowler, who by their travels, diligence, and invention, brought it to that per- fection, which the shortness of time and other considerations could permit; so they having consulted together, concluded that those exercises that were to be used for decoration of that solemnity, were to be divided both in field pastimes, with martial and heroical exploits, and in household, with rare shows and singular inventions; the field to be used at two several days, the first to be of three Turks, three Chris- tian Knights of Malta, three Amazons, and three Moors. But by reason of the absence, or at least, the uncertain pre- sence of the three last gentlemen, who should have sustained these personages, it was thought good, that the number of that mask, should consist of nine actors, nine pages, and nine lackeys, who coming from sundry parts and at divers times, together with the diversity of their apparel, should bring some SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. 239 novelty to the beholders. The place most expedient for this action, was the valley, near the Castle, which being prepared for that purpose, both with carrier and scaffold, after the coming of the Queen's Majesty, with her honourable and gal- lant ladies, together with the honourable ambassadors, the field being beset by the brave youngsters of Edinburgh, with their hackbuts, during the whole time of that pastime. Then three Christians entered the field with sound of trumpet, who were the King's Majesty, the Earl of Mar, and Thomas Er- skine, gentlemen of his Majesty's chamber, who made up this number. A little after followed three apparelled like Turks, very gorgeously attired; and these were the Duke of Lennox, the Lord Home, and Sir Robert Ker of Cessford, knight. Last of all, came in three Amazons in women's attire, very sumptuously clad; and these were the Lord of Lindores, the Lord of Buccleuch, and the Abbot of Holyroodhouse. So all these persons being present, and at their entry, making their reverence to the Queen's Majesty, ambassadors and ladies, having their pages riding upon their led horses, and on their left arms, bearing their master's device. The King's Majesty was a lion's head with open eyes, which signifies after a mys- tic and hieroglyphic sense, fortitude and vigilance; the words were, Timeat et primus et ultimus orbis. The second was a dog's collar, all beset with iron pikes; the words were these, Offendit et defendit. The third of that Christian army, was a windmill, with its spokes unmoving, winds unblowing on every side, with these words, Ni sperat immota. The second faction did carry these: A hart half in fire, and half in frost : on the one part Cupid's torch, and on the other Jupiter's thunder, with these words, Hinc amor, inde metus. The other page a zodiac, and in the same, the moon far opposite to the sun, with these words, Quo remotior, lucidior; that is to say, the farther the fairer. The third of this party car- ried, painted, four coach wheels, the hindmost following the foremost, and yet never overtaking them, with these words, 240 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. Quo magis insequor. The last three pages, bare in their targets, these impresses following, a crown, an eye, and a portcullis the crown betokening the power of God, the eye his providence, and the portcullis his protection; with these words, which were composed in anagram, of Walterus Sco- tus, the laird of Buccleuch's name, Clausus tutus ero. The second page of this party, carried on his targe, the portraiture of an hand, holding an eel by the tail, alluding to the uncer- tainty of persons, or of times, with these words, Ut frustra, sic patienter. The last was this, a fire in sight of the sun, burning, and not perceived, with this sentence, Oblector lumine victus. And every lackey, carrying in his hand his master's lance, they began their pastime by running at the ring and glove: the laws whereof were these,-first, that all the persons of this pastime compear masked, and in such order as they came into the field, so to run out all their courses; secondly, that none use any other ring, but that which is put up, and use no other lance, but that which they have brought for themselves; thirdly, he that twice touches the ring, or stirs it, wins as much as if he carried away the ring; fourthly, he that lets his lance fall out of his hand, is deprived of all the rest of his courses; fifthly, that every one run with loose reins, and with as much speed as his horse has; sixthly, that none after his race, in uptaking of his horse, lay his lance upon his shoulder, under the pain of loss of that which he has done in his course; seventhly, he that carrieth not his lance under his arm, loses his course; eighthly, that none until his three courses be ended, change his horse, if he be not hurt, or upon some other consideration moved to change him. These laws being seen and approved by the actors, the Queen's Majesty signified unto them, that he who did run best, should have for his reward, a fair and a rich ring of dia- monds; and he also, who on that same side, had best fortune in running, he should be acknowledged with another as fair as the first. The proof hereof being made, the victory fell SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. 241 to the Duke of Lennox, who bringing it to his side and party, had the praise and prize adjudged to himself. Thus the first day's pastime was ended, with great contentment to the be- holders, and commendation of the persons enterprisers. The second day's pastime was extended, by reason that the artisans were employed in other business, who should have followed forth that invention given them; and seeing the grace of that exercise consisted in embossery, and the craftsmen apt for the same, otherwise and necessarily busied, it was left off; which, if it had been brought to effect, this country had not seen nor practised a more rare; for what by the bravery and strange apparel of the persons themselves, and by the divers shapes of the beasts that should have been born and brought there in sight, had been commendable and wonderful, by reason that such beasts, as lion, elephant, hart, unicorn, and the griffon, together with the camel, hydra, cro- codile, and dragon, carrying their riders, had carried also with it by the newness of that invention, great contentment and commendation of that exercise. But But I say, some arising lets impeached this invention; and all things were cast off, that might have farther decored this solemnity, through other urgent occasions. "After the baptism was over, the King and Queen's Ma- jesties, with the ambassadors, addressed themselves to the ban- quet in the great hall, about eight of the clock at night. The King and Queen's Majesties were placed in the midst of the table, and on the King's right hand were set the English ambassadors, the Earl of Sussex, and Mr. Robert Bowes, next them sat the ambassador from the Duke of Brunswick, and the ambassador from the Duke of Magdeburgh. On the King's left hand, next to the Queen's Majesty, sat the am- bassador of Denmark, and ambassadors from the states of Holland and Zealand. Betwixt every one of their seats was left a good space. On the east and west side of the hall were placed two very long tables, where were set certain noblemen 242 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. ladies of honour, and counsellors of Scotland, and with them the noblemen and gentlemen of England, Denmark, Germany and Flanders. And betwixt every nobleman and gentleman stranger was placed a lady of honour, or gentleman. Now, being thus in a very honourable and comely order set, and after a while, having well refreshed themselves with the first service, which was very sumptuous, there came into the sight of them all a Black-Moor, drawing (as it seemed to the be- holders) a triumphal chariot, (and before it the melodious noise of trumpets and hautboys,) which chariot entered the hall. The motion of the whole frame (which was twelve feet long and seven feet broad) was so artificial within itself, that it appeared to be drawn in only by the strength of a Moor, who was very richly attired; his traces were great chains of pure gold. Upon this chariot was finely and arti- ficially devised a sumptuous covered table, decked with all sorts of exquisite delicates and dainties, of pastry, fruits, and confections. About the table were placed six gallant dames, who represented a silent comedy, three of them clothed in Argentine satin, and three in crimson satin; all these six garments were enriched with togue and tinsel of pure gold and silver, every one of them having a crown or garland on their heads, very richly decked with feathers, pearls, and jewels, upon their loose hair, in antique form. In the first front stood Dame Ceres, with a sickle in her right hand, and a handful of corn in the other, and upon the utmost part of her thigh was written this sentence, Fundent uberes omnia campi; which is to say, The plenteous fields shall afford all things. Over against Ceres stood Fecundity, with some bushes of chesbolls, which, under an hieroglyphic sense, re- present broodiness with this device; Felix prole divum; and on the other side of her habit, Crescant in mille; the first importing that this country is blessed by the child of the goddess, and the second alluding to the King and the Queen's Majesties, that their generations may grow into thousands. SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. 243 Next, on the other side, was placed Faith, having in her hands a basin, and in the same two hands joined together, with this sentence, Boni alumna conjugi, the fortress and nurse of a blessed marriage. Over against Faith stood Con- cord, with a golden tasse in her left hand, and the horn of abundance in her right hand, with this sentence, Plene beant te numina sinu, the heavenly powers do bless thee with a full bosom. The next place was occupied by Liberality, who having in her right hand two crowns, and in her left two sceptres, with this device, Me comite plura quam dabis, ac- cipies; that is to say, having me thy follower, thou shalt re- ceive more than thou shalt give. And the last was Perse- verance, having in her right hand a staff, and on her left shoulder an anchor, with this device, Nec dubiæ res muta- bunt, nec secunda, neither doubtful nor more prosperous things shall change your state. This chariot, which should have been drawn in by a lion, (but because his presence. might have brought some fear to the nearest, or that the sight of the lights and torches might have commoved his tameness,) it was thought meet that the Moor should supply that room; and so he in outward show pressed to draw that forward, which by a secret convoy was brought to the prince's table, and the whole dessert was delivered by Ceres, Fecun- dity, Faith, Concord, Liberality, and Perseverance, to the earls, lords, and barons that were stewards. CC Presently after the returning of the chariot entered a most sumptuous, artificial, and well-proportioned ship; the length of her keel was eighteen feet, and her breadth eight feet; from her bottom to her highest flag was forty feet; the sea she stood upon was twenty-four feet long, with breadth convenient; her motion was so artificially devised within herself, that none could perceive what brought her in. The sea under was lively counterfeited, with all colours; on her forestern was placed Neptune, having in his hand his trident, and on his head a crown; his apparel was all of Indian cloth 244 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. of silver and silk, which bore this inscription, Junxi atque reduxi, which in sense imports, that as he joined them, so he reduced their majesties. Then Thetis with her mace, goddess of the sea, with this device, Nunquam abero et tutum semper te littore sistam, which signifies, that by her presence, she always shall be careful to bring them into a safe shore and harbour. Then Triton, with his whelk trumpet, was next to her, with this device, Velis, votis, ventis-By sails, by vows, by winds. Round about the ship were all the marine people, as Syrens (above the middle as women, and under as fishes), and these were Parthenhope, Ligea, and Leucosia, who ac- commodating their gestures to the voice of the musicians, repeated this verse, Unus eris nobis cantandus semper in orbe. And all the same was decorated with the riches of the seas, as pearls, corals, shells, and metals, very rare and excel- lent. The hull of this ship was curiously painted; and her galleries, whereupon stood the most part of the banquet in crystalline glass, gilt with gold and azure. Her masts were red; her tackling and cordage was silk of the same colour, with golden pulleys. Her ordnance was thirty-six pieces of brass, bravely mounted, and her anchors silver-gilt. And all her sails were double of white taffeta. And in her foresail a ship compass, regarding the north star, with this sentence, Quascunque per undas; which is to say, through whatsoever seas or waves the King's Majesty intends his course, and pro- ject of any arising action, Neptune, as god of the sea, shall be favourable to his proceedings. On the main-sail was painted the armouries of Scotland and Denmark, with this device, competent in the person of the Prince of Scotland, En quæ divisa beatos efficiunt collecta tenes; that is to say, Behold (O Prince!), what doth make these kingdoms severally blessed jointly, O Prince of hope, thou holdest and hast to- gether. Her tops were all armed with taffeties of his Majes- ty's colours, gold and jewels, and all her flags and streamers suitable to the same. Her mariners were in number six, SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY, 245 appareled all in changeable Spanish taffeties, and her pilot in cloth of gold. He alone stood at the helm, who only moved and governed the whole frame, both the ship and her burden very artificially. The musicians within the same were fourteen, all appareled in taffeties of his Majesty's co- lours, besides Arion with his harp. Being thus prepared, at the sound of trumpets she approached, and at the next sound of Triton's whelk trumpet, together with the master's whistle, she made sail till she came to the table, discharging the ord- nance in her stern by the way. But because this device car- ried some moral meaning with it, it shall not be impertinent. to this purpose to discover what is meant and propined there- by:-The King's Majesty having undertaken in such a despe- rate time to sail to Norway, and, like a new Jason, to bring his Queen, our gracious lady, to this kingdom, being detained and stopped by the conspiracies of witches and such devilish dragons, thought it very meet to follow forth this his own invention, that as Neptune (speaking poetically, and by such fictions as the like interludes and actions are accustomed to be decorated withal) joined the King to the Queen; so after this conjunction, he brought their Majesties as happily thi- ther; and now at this her blessed delivery, did bring such things as the sea affords, to decorate this festival time withal; which immediately were delivered to the stewards forth of the galleries of this ship, out of crystalline glass, very curiously painted with gold and azure, all sorts of fishes; as herrings, whitings, flukes, oysters, buckeys, lampets, partans, lobsters, crabs, spout-fish, clams; with other infinite things made of sugar, and most lively represented in their own shape. And whilst the ship was unloading, Arion sitting upon the galley nose, which resembled the form of a dolphin fish, played upon his harp; then began her music in green holly haut- boys in five parts. After that followed viols with voices in plain counterpoint, to the nature of these hexameter verses- 246 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT PAGEANTRY. Undique conveniant, quot Reges nomine Christ Gaudent, hucque suas maturent cogere vires. Viribus hos, O Rex, opibusque ante iveris omnes Quisque suam iam posse velit tibi cedere sortem. Regna, viros, aurum, quæ te fecere potentem. Omnia conjugi decorant hæc pignora chari: Anna precor felix multos feliciter annos, Vive, resume novas, atque annuus anni Lustar eat, redeatque; novo tibi partus ab ortu. Cresce Puer, sacri mens numinis imbibar imbres, Semper uterque parens de te nova gaudia captet. Scotia, quæ quondam multis tenebrosa vocata est Lumina magna nitent in te superantia cœlum, Lux Verbi, et Rex, et Princeps diademata Regni. After which ensued a still noise of recorders and flutes; and for the fourth, a general concert of the best instruments. So this interlude drawing near to an end, in the very last courses was discovered this sentence likewise, Submissus adorat oceanus; inferring, that the ocean sea, by offering the shapes of her treasure, humbly adored and honoured the sitters. And when in this time all the banquet was done, after thanks being given, there was sung with most delicate dulce voices, and sweet harmony in seven parts, the hundred and twenty- eighth psalm, with fourteen voices. And that being done, at the sound of Triton's whelk trumpet, and the pilot's whis- tle, she weighed anchor, made sail, and with noise of hautboys and trumpets retired, and then discharged the rest of her orduance, to the great admiration of the beholders. "After all which pastime and sport, with merry and joyful repast, the King and Queen's Majesties, after their offices of honour and respect, place being prepared for the revels, and the persons appointed for the same discharging themselves sufficiently, their Majesties and ambassadors went to an- other hall, most richly and magnificently hung with rich THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. 247 tapestry, where for the collation a most rare, sumptuous, and prince-like dessert was prepared; which being ended, after taking leave and good night, they departed about three of the clock in the morning to the night's rest." THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. In the summer of the year 1388, a Scotish army of between 30,000 and 40,000 men assembled in Teviotdale to make an inroad into England. The occasion of their meeting was neither peculiar nor remarkable, but only formed an ordinary link in the chain of national animosity and Border warfare. They purposed at first to march in one mass, but afterwards saw cause to separate into two divisions,-the greater to pass toward Carlisle under the command of the King's two sons, the Earls of Fife and Strathearn, and the smaller to pass into Northumberland under the command of the Earl of Douglas. They had little resistance to expect in this invasion,-the English at the time being fully occupied with the civil dis- sensions between Richard and his parliament; yet the smaller division, more on account of its own boastfulness and wanton display of daring than for any other reason, got itself briskly involved in hostilities, and fought with a powerful foe the famous battle of Otterburn. The Earl of Douglas's mission was entirely to his mind, and afforded wide scope for the outburst of his roistering and raiding disposition. He is said by some authorities to have had with him one-half of the army, or about 15,000 men,- but by others, only 300 horse, 300 light infantry, and 2,000 heavy infantry,-and by others, 4,000 chosen horsemen; and this last estimate accords best with the general known facts of his expedition, and with the extraordinary celerity and 248 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. vigour of his movements. His chief officers and aids were the Earls of March, Moray, Crawford, and Errol, the Gor dons, the Lindsays, and the Grahams; and he commenced his devastations in part of Roxburghshire which was then in the possession of the English, and careered through North- umberland and across the Tyne in a track of fire and smoke, and was away past Durham, with a great accumulation of rich spoils, before any chief of English troops had notice or opportunity to call out a force to dispute his progress. It fell about the Lammas tide, When the muir-men win their hay, The doughty Earl of Douglas rode Into England, to catch a prey. He chose the Gordons, and the Græmes, With them the Lindesays, light and gay; But the Jardines wald not with him ride, And they rue it to this day. And he has burn'd the dales of Tyne, And part of Bambrough shire; And three good towers on Roxburgh fells, He left them all on fire." The Earl of Northumberland, then an old man, felt roused at the insult which Douglas was practising, and sent his two sons, Henry and Ralph, fiery and valiant warriors, to New- castle to intercept him; and commanded all the men of the country under his sway to repair thither and support them. Douglas came back from Durham under a load of booty, and recrossed the Tyne about three miles above Newcastle; and, either elated by the high success of his raid, or ashamed to have hitherto assailed only hamlets and villages, or wishful to win the fame of overwhelming a powerful foe, or possibly THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. 249 affected more or less in all these three ways, he marched to Newcastle, filled the ditches before it with faggots and hay, and either made an assault upon the town with the view of taking it, or offered such taunts and provocations as might draw out the enemy to the open field. He remained two days before it, and got up a series of skirmishes, but could not achieve any higher exploit than to procure and win a personal combat with Henry Percy, commonly known as Hotspur. "And he march'd up to Newcastle, And rode it round about; 'O wha's the lord of this castle, Or wha's the lady o't?' But up spake proud Lord Percy then. And O but he spake hie! 'I am the lord of this castle, My wife's the lady gay.' 'If thou'rt the lord of this castle, Sae weel it pleases me! For, ere I cross the Border fells, The tane of us shall die.' He took a lang spear in his hand, Shod with the metal free, And for to meet the Douglas there, He rode right furiouslie. But O how pale his lady look'd, Frae aff the Castle wa', When down, before the Scottish spear, She saw proud Percy fa'. 250 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. Had we twa been upon the green, And never an eye to see, I wad hae had you, flesh and fell; But your sword sall gae wi' mee.'” Douglas, in fact, bore Percy out of his saddle in knightly encounter; and, though unable to come at himself, in conse- quence of a rescue by his people, snatched away his lance, with his pennon or guidon attached to it, and, shaking it aloft, swore that he would carry it as his spoil into Scotland, and plant it upon his Castle of Dalkeith. That," answered Percy, "shalt thou never!” Newcastle, at the time, was unusually crowded; for it con- tained not only its ordinary inhabitants, but also the gather- ings of the Percy's forces and some incomers from Yorkshire. On the night following the encounter, Douglas set a strict watch; and on the next day, he decamped, and moved slowly toward the north, and, sending on his heavy loads of booty before him, assailed and demolished the Castle of Pontelan, and took its knightly proprietor, Sir Aymer of Alphel, pri- soner. He then marched onward, and encamped at Otter- burn, about twelve miles from Newcastle; and there, though most of his officers wished to move on to a junction with the army under the Earls of Fife and Strathearn, and to avoid all risk of battle till that junction should be made, he resolved to remain a sufficient number of days to allow Hotspur ample time and opportunity to attempt the recapturing of his lance. He therefore fortified his camp on a side where it was ex- posed, the other sides being naturally defended by marshes; and, in order that his soldiers might not cool down in their ardour, or lose anything for want of raiding and foraying, he led them out in parties to sack the neighbouring castles and mansions. Hotspur would gladly have given Douglas instant chase from Newcastle, but prudently abstained from fear of an am- THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. 251 bush; for he thought it not at all likely that so small a body of Scots would have behaved so boldly, under the walls of so large a town, unless they had known of some powerful suc- cour being at hand. But ascertaining in two days that no other Scotish army was near enough to be feared, and having got together so many as 10,000 men, and aware that another force was advancing at no great distance under the Bishop of Durham, he set off, without waiting for that force, to seek out Douglas, and give him battle. The avant-couriers arrived at Otterburn late in the evening, while some of the Scots army were at supper, and after others, who were fatigued with foraying through the day, had gone to rest. The English van made a prompt and fierce attack, and were valiantly re- ceived by a party of footmen and lackeys and grooms, who, having the advantage of the fortification which had been made, sustained the charge till the rest were armed and ready. The Scots at their encamping had espied a little hill, which they meant to make use of, in the event of an attack; and now, while the English assailed the entry of the camp, the Scotish horsemen, fetching a compass round this hill, charged them in flank at the far side, and slew many of them, and threw the whole of their army into tumult and panic. But the English brought up fresh supplies, restored their ranks, and made ready to renew the fight; and in the meantime, the Scots took advantage of the pause to put themselves into the firmest and strongest array. Night now drew on, and was unwelcome to both; but as it was very short, the time being in July, and was also lighted up with a clear moon, it did not hinder the fight from being instantly and toughly renewed. The armies rushed into collision, far more careful of fame than of life. Hotspur strove hard to repair the disgrace which he had suffered at Newcastle; Douglas strove equally hard to keep the honour which he had won; and the soldiers on both sides fought with zeal and might to support their masters. The armies fought during most of the night, and 252 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. were induced at last to draw off from each other and take & little repose only in consequence of the sky becoming so darkened by clouds that they could no longer discern friend from foe. The conflict was resumed as soon as day-light set in; and very soon the Scots were driven back, and Douglas's standard imperilled, by a furious onset from the English. Douglas was now all wrath and energy; and leading on one party in person, while two of his officers of the name of Hepburn, father and son, led another, he pushed through the field to the point where the assault was most disastrous, and, at the expense of much carnage, restored his wavering and retiring ranks to steadiness and order. The battle continued to rage till noon, without any very decided advantage to either side, but with more injury and discouragement to the Scots than to the English. Douglas now became impatient, and rose like a tiger from his lair; and, aided by only a handful of his nearest supporters-the general accounts say only by three, Robert Hart, Simon Glendining, and Richard Lundie -he rushed into the middle of his enemies, and laid about with such strength and fury as to spread havoc upon his path. "It was a wonder," says Godscroft, to see the great vassalage that he wrought. Major, in describing it, can make no end, nor satisfy himself; his comparisons are high, like a lion of Libya. His description of his body is, that it was fair and well-compacted; his strength huge, which he yet amplifieth with greater hugeness, saying that he fought with a mace of iron which two ordinary men were not able to lift, which notwithstanding he did wield easily, making a great lane round about him wheresoever he went. His courage and confidence appeareth in his so valiant insisting, as though he would have slain the whole English army himself alone; and seeking to find Henry Percy amongst the midst of them, he was entered far within the ranks of the enemies. Holin- shed confesseth, that with a great mace in his hand, he laid THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. 253 such sad strokes about him, that none came within his reacn but he went down to the ground. And Boetius saith plainly, he fought with a mace heavier than any man is able to bear in those days, and that rushing into the midst of his enemies, he made such a slaughter, that it was chiefly attributed to his valour that the Scots won the field. But, while he is thus fighting in the midst of them, before his friends could. come at him, though they pressed forward to have seconded and assisted him with all the force and speed that might be, they found him lying on the ground with three deadly wounds. There was lying dead by him Robert Hart,-and the priest, called Richard Lundie, who was after made archdean of Aberdeen, that had ever stood fast by his side, defending his fainting body with a halbert from injury." To three of his kinsmen who now pressed up to him, he said, "I die like my forefathers, on a field of battle, and not on a bed of sickness. Conceal my death, defend my standard, and avenge my fall. An old prophecy says that a dead man shall win a battle; and I hope it will this day be fulfilled in me." He imme- diately expired; and his kinsmen covered his body with a cloak, and rushed back to the conflict. Some accounts say that Douglas was slain by Hotspur, in personal combat with him, in the midst of the battle,-and others, that he fell by the hand of a faithless page, whom he had struck on the preceding day with a truncheon, and who left a part of his armour behind unfastened, and came up, in the conflict, and pierced him through the unfastened part with a poniard; but it is far more probable that he sank be- neath a series of blows and wounds, received in the course of the murderous "muck" which he ran through the throngs of the enemy. The old ballad, from which we have already made two quotations, tries to combine all the accounts; and puts "the prophecy" to which he alluded in his dying speech into the form of a dream of the preceding night; and repre- sents his kinsman Montgomery as having been sent for to the 254 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. melée of the fight, and found and brought to the scene of Douglas's death, and as having there received instruction to hide his body among a bosky tuft of ferns; and it therefore abounds in poetical licences, yet teams with both dramatic and antiquarian interest. "But I ha'e dream'd a dreary dream, " Beyond the Isle of Sky; I saw a dead man win a fight, And I think that man was I' He belted on his good braid sword, And to the field he ran; But he forget the helmet good, That should have kept his brain. When Percy wi' the Douglas met, I wat he was fu' fain! They swakked their swords, till sair they swat, And the blood ran down like rain. But Percy with his good broad sword, That could so sharply wound, Has wounded Douglas on the brow, Till he fell to the ground Then he call'd on his little foot-page, And said- Run speedilie, And fetch my ain dear sister's son, Sir Hugh Montgomery.' My nephew good,' the Douglas said, What recks the death of ane! Last night I dream'd a dreary dream, And I ken the day's thy ain. THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. 255 My wound is deep,-I fain would sleep,— Take thou the vanguard of the three, And hide me by the braken bush, That grows on yonder lilye lee. O bury me by the braken bush, Beneath the blooming briar; Let never living mortal ken, That ere a kindly Scot lies here.' He lifted up that noble lord, Wi' the saut tear in his e'e; He hid him in the braken bush, That his merrie men might not see." When the Earl expired, the officers and soldiers around him hoisted aloft his banner, and stoutly raised the usual war- cry, "A Douglas! A Douglas!" and drew to their part of the field many of their comrades who were less intensely en- gaged in other parts; and, with the Earl of Moray and Lord Montgomery at their head, the powerful and enthusiastic body thus amassed and arrayed, recommenced the conflict in red hot ardour, and flung themselves like an avalanche down upon the foe, and speedily drove the English into confusion and dispersion and flight. Ralph Percy was made prisoner by Sir John Mackerell, and Hotspur himself by Lord Montgo- mery; nearly two thousand of the English soldiers lay dead on the field, about one thousand more were wounded, up- wards of one thousand in fighting-trim were made prisoners, and all the rest ran off in a rout or in hurried retreat; and though the fresh English force under the Bishop of Durham appeared opportunely enough to check the pursuit of the vic- tors, and to capture some of the foremost who urged the chase too far, he did not venture either to come into battle, or to at- tempt the rescue of the Percys. The grand features of the 256 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. decisive parts of the battle are touched as follows in the old ballad, though with the anachronism of night for day, and with some other poetical licenses ;- "The moon was clear, the day drew near, The spears in flinders flew, But mony a gallant Englishman, Ere day the Scotsmen slew. The Gordons good, in English blood, They steep'd their hose and shoon; The Lindesays flew like fire about, Till all the fray was done. The Percy and Montgomery met, That either of other were fain ; They swapped swords, and they twa swat, And aye the blood ran down between. • Yield thee, O yield thee, Percy!' he said, Or else I vow I'll lay thee low!' • Whom to shall I yield,' said Earl Percy, Now that I see it must be so ?' • Thou shalt not yield to lord nor loun, Nor yet shalt thou yield to me; But yield thee to the braken bush, That grows on yon lilye lee!' 'I will not yield to a braken bush, Nor yet will I yield to a briar; But I would yield to Earl Douglas, Or Sir Hugh the Montgomery, if he were here.' As soon as he knew it was Montgomery, He struck his sword's point in the gronde ; THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. 257 And the Montgomery was a courteous knight, And quickly took him by the honde. This deed was done at Otterbourne, About the breaking of the day; Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush, And the Percy led captive away." "This," says Godscroft, "is the battle at Otterburn, me- morable not only for the magnanimity, courage, perseverance, tolerance of travel, and (in victory) modesty of soldiers and captains, but also for the variable event, where the victor, in high expectation of glory, prevented by death, could not en- joy the fruit of his travel. Froissart, a stranger, and favour- ing more the English, concludeth touching this battle, that in all history, there is none so notable, by the bravery of the captains, and valour of the soldiers, fought so long, so hardly, so variable, the victory inclining diversly divers times, and at last obtained, not by the cowardice of the overcome, but by the valour of the overcomers. Neither is that virtue of valour only remarkable in this place, and marked by him, but their modesty, when they had overcome, rare and wonderful to him, (as it is indeed to others,) but common enough to the Scotish nation, practised by them often in their victories, and almost every where when some great enormity hath not irritated them, contrary to their nature and custom; yet here very singularly; for in the heat of the conflict no men ever fought more fiercely; in the victory obtained none ever behaved themselves more mercifully; taking prisoners, and having taken them, using them as their dearest friends with all hu- manity, courtesy, gentleness, and tenderness, curing their wounds, sending them home, some free without ransom, some on small ransom, almost all on their simple word and promise to return at certain times appointed, or when they should be called upon; so that of 1,000 prisoners scarce 400 were R 258 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. brought into Scotland, the rest all remitted in that same man- ner with Ralph Percy; and by his example, who because of his wounds, desired this courtesy of the Earl of Moray, and obtained it, and was sent to Newcastle, on his naked word to return when he should be called for. "But what courage and confidence was it, that they durst adventure with so great perils to be so courteous as they were? When the Bishop of Durham approaching to invade them the next day with 10,000, as some say, with 7,000, as others, of fresh men; yet they would not kill their prisoners that were within their camp, equal almost to the half of their own number, but on their own promises to remain true prisoners, however the field went, and with a small guard, having only pinioned them together with small cords, suffered them to live in the camp, and went themselves to encounter the Bishop, full of confidence and scorn, that after the defeat of the flowers of Northumberland, with their so worthy leaders as the Percys, that a priest (so they called the bishop) should dare to set upon them, or but to abide them three marked strokes, as their leader said to them in his exhortations; as it came indeed to pass without any strokes; for they affright- ed him only with the sound of their horns, as it seems Major would say, which they winding against him, and the hills redoubling the sound thereof, he was afraid, and durst not invade them, finding them ready and resolved to fight; whom he thought to have found weary because of their former tra- vel, or negligent because of their victory. And, considering, saith Froissart, there was more to be lost than to be won at their hands, the captain distrusting his host, and the host their captain, it was thought best not to give battle, and so he retired without assaulting them. "Their leader, after the Earl of Douglas's death, was the Earl of Moray, saith Buchanan; but I should rather take it to be the Earl of March, for he was the elder brother; and Major saith it was March. However our Scotishmen's cour- THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN. 259 Lesy and courage is exceedingly to be commended, who, not- withstanding that they looked for nothing but to have fought with the Bishop of Durham, yet did they spare their prison- ers, which, and the like actions, when I consider, I would gladly understand of such as delight to reproach our nation with all the calumnies they can invent, and amongst the rest style them barbarous. What is it they call barbarity? And if cruelty and inhumanity be not the special points of it? whereof they shall never read that any nation were more free, or that ever hath been more courteous, humane, gentle, in peace and in war, even at all times and in all places. I wish all men would acknowledge the truth as it is. If they will not, yet shall it be truth, and truth shall never want a wit- ness; it will be acknowledged, and must prevail to their great reproach that seek to hide or impair it." The humanity, generosity, and good faith, however, were not all on the side of the Scots; but seem to have been common stock on both sides, to a degree surprisingly and most pleasingly out of keeping with the mutually murderous spirit of the border warfare; and were displayed on the part of the English, on the very occasion of Otterburn, as largely as could well be expected from their limited opportunities. An instructive instance of the reciprocal exercise of these good properties between Scot and Englishman occurred in the case of Sir Matthew Redman, the governor of Berwick and Sir James Lindsay, one of the Scotish leaders. When Redman was fleeing from the field among the rest of the scattered host, Lindsay, hot in the pursuit, judged him from the beauty of his armour to be a person of great eminence, and singled him out for his prey, and chased him hard for three miles, till Redman's horse became spent with fatigue, and could no longer run with sufficient speed. Redman alighted and stood at bay; Lindsay in an instant alighted also, and approached on foot; and the two fought fiercely and stiffly, till the latter became victorious. Redman vielded 260 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. himself prisoner, but got leave to depart on giving his parole that he would return in twenty days. But Lindsay, after dismissing his captive, was captured in his turn by the ad- vanced guard of the Bishop of Durham's army, and sent in custody to Newcastle; and there Redman found him out, treated him with great kindness, and dismissed him free to his own country. So strangely," remarks Redpath, was the ferocity of these warriors blended with generosity and good faith; and indeed, were it not for the mixture of these opposites, war would soon destroy its own resources." The banner of Douglas was borne at Otterburn by his natural son, Archibald Douglas, ancestor of the family of Cavers, the hereditary sheriffs of Teviotdale; and is still preserved among the archives of that family,-whose present representative, however, has shed immeasurably more glory over his country by his literature and philanthropy and reli- gion than all the Douglases of olden times put together did by their arms. A cross, erroneously called Percy's Cross, now stands on the spot in the battle-field of Otterburn, where the Earl of Douglas is supposed to have fallen. THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. THE aborigines of Scotland seem, beyond any reasonable doubt, to have been clans of the same Gaelic origin as those who, in the most early ages, settled in England. Scotland, at the epoch of Agricola's invasion, may be viewed as a mirror which reflects back the condition of England at the earlier era when Julius Cæsar introduced the Roman arms to Bri- tain, and also that of Gaul at the still remoter period when Roman ambition subdued the common parent of the British. nations. Caledonia, in its largest extent, from the Tweed and the Eden on the south, to Dunnet-head in Caithness on the north, was distributed among twenty-one tribes of Bri- THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 261 tons. Those on the east coast, or Lowlands, owing to the greater fertility of the soil, must have been more numerous and potent than those of the western or Highland districts; and all, accordantly with ancient Celtic usage, were mutually independent, and could be brought into union or co-opera- tion only by the pressure of danger. The Ottadini—whose name seems to have been derived from the Tyne or Tina- occupied the whole coast-district between the southern Tyne and the frith of Forth, comprehending the half of Northum- berland, the whole of Berwickshire and East-Lothian, and the eastern part of Roxburghshire; and had their chief town at Bremenium, on Reed-water, in Northumberland. The Gadeni—whose name alludes to the numerous groves which adorned and fortified their territory-inhabited the interior country immediately west of that of the Ottadini, comprehending the western part of Northumberland, a small part of Cumberland, the western part of Roxburgh, all Sel- kirk and Tweeddale, much of Mid-Lothian, and nearly all West-Lothian; and they had Curia, on Gore-water, for their capital. The Selgovæ-whose country lay upon a dividing water," and who gave name to the Solway-inhabited the whole of Dumfries-shire, and the eastern part of Galloway, as far as the Dee; and had, as their chief towns, Trimontium at Brunswark-hill in Annandale, Uxellum at Wardlaw-hill in Caerlaverock, and Caerbantorigum at Drummore, in the parish of Kirkcudbright. The Novantes-who are supposed to have taken their name from the abundance of streams in heir country-possessed all central and western Galloway, between the Dee and the Irish sea; and had, as their prin- cipal towns, Lucopibia on the site of the present Whithorn, and Rerigonium on the north shore of Loch-Ryan. The Damnii inhabited all the expanse of country from the moun- tain-ridge which divides Galloway and Ayrshire on the south, to the river Earn on the north, comprehending all the shires of Ayr, Renfrew, and Stirling, all Strathclyde, and a small 262 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. part of the shires of Dumbarton and Perth; and had the towns of Vanduaria on the site of Paisley, Colania in the south-eastern extremity of Strathclyde, Coria in Carstairs, Alauna on the river Allan, Lindun near the present Ardoch, and Victoria on Ruchil-water in Comrie. The Horestii in- habited the country between the Forth and the Tay, com- prehending all Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan, the eastern part of Strathearn, and the district west of the upper Tay, as far as the river Brand. The Venricones possessed the territory between the Tay and the Kincardineshire Carron, comprehending the Gowrie, Stormont, Strathmore, and Strathardle sections of Perthshire, all Forfarshire, and the larger part of Kincardineshire; and had their chief town, Or, or Orrea, on the margin of the Tay. The Taixali inhabited the northern part of Kincardineshire, and all Aberdeenshire to the Deveron ; and had Devana, at the present Norman- dykes on the Dee, for their capital. The Vacomagi pos- sessed the country between the Deveron and the Beauly, comprehending Braemar, nearly all Banffshire, the whole of Elginshire and Nairnshire, and the eastern part of Inverness- shire; and had the towns of Ptoroton or Alata Castra at the mouth of the Beauly, Tuessis on the east bank of the Spey, and Tamea and Banatia in the interior. The Albani-whose name seems to allude to the height and ruggedness of their mountains, and who, in consequence of their becoming sub- jugated by the Damnii, were afterwards called Damnii- Albani inhabited the interior districts between the southern mountain-screen of the loch and river Tay, and the moun- tain-chain along the southern limit of Inverness-shire, com- prehending Breadalbane, Athole, Appin, Glenorchy, and a small part of Lochaber. The Attacotti possessed the coun- try between Loch-Fyne and the commencement of the Lennox or Kilpatrick hills, comprehending Cowal and the greater part of Dumbartonshire. The Caledonii Proper inhabited the interior country between the mountain-range THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 263 along the north of Perthshire, and the range of hills which forms the forest of Balnagowan in Ross, comprehending all the middle parts of Ross and Inverness. A vast forest, which extended northward of the Forth and the Clyde, and which covered all the territory of this tribe, gave to them their name, originally Celyddoni and Celyddoniaid, 'the people of the coverts,' and, owing to the greatness of the area which it occupied, occasioned its Romanized designa- tion of Caledonia to be afterwards applied strictly to all the country north of the Forth and the Clyde, and loosely, but at a later date, to the whole kingdom. The Cantæ-so named from the British Caint, which signifies an open country -possessed Easter Ross and Cromarty, or the district lying between the Beauly and the Dornoch friths. The Logi- who probably drew their name from the British Lygi, a word which was naturally applied to the inhabitants of a sea-coast -possessed the eastern part of Sutherland, or the country between the Dornoch frith and the river Helmsdale. The Carnabii, who, like a cognominal tribe in Cornwall, derived their name from their residence on remarkable promontories, occupied the country north of the Helmsdale, or a small part of Sutherland, and all Caithness, except the north-west cor- ner. The Catini, a small but warlike tribe, from whom the Gaelic inhabitants of Caithness and Sutherland at the present day are ambitious of proving their remote descent, inhabited the narrow territory, partly in Caithness and partly in Suth- erland, between the Forse and the Naver. The Mertæ pos- sessed the interior of Sutherland. The Carnonacæ pos- sessed the north and west coast of Sutherland, and the west coast of Cromarty, from the Naver round to Loch-Broom. The Creones-whose name was expressive of their fierceness -possessed the coast between Loch-Broom and Loch-Duich. The Cerones inhabited the whole west coast of Inverness, and the Argyleshire districts of Ardnamurchan, Morven, Sunart, and Ardgower, or the coast between Loch-Duich 264 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. and Loch-Linnhe. The Epidii-who derived their appel- lation from the British Ebyd, a peninsula,' and from whom the Mull of Kintyre anciently had the name of the Epidian promontory-occupied the whole country enclosed by Loch- Linne, the territory of the Albani, Loch-Fyne, the lower frith of Clyde, the Irish sea, and the Atlantic ocean. The Caledonian tribes, at the epoch when history intro- duces them to notice, appear to have been little raised, in their social connexions, above the condition of rude savages, who live on the milk of their flocks, or the produce of the chase. According to the doubtful and darkly-tinted intima- tions of Dio, indeed, they possessed wives and reared their children in common, they lived in the most miserable hovels, they chose to live in a state of almost entire nudity, and they practised, like the heroes of more ancient times, a system of mutual plander and professional robbery. Herodian con- curs in exhibiting them in these sombre and repulsive hues at even so late a period as the 3d century. Yet, according to all testimony, they were brave, alert, and acquainted with various arts; they had remarkable capacity for enduring fatigue, cold, and famine: they were famous alike for speed in conducting an onset, and for firmness in sustaining an attack. Their vast stone monuments, too, which still re- main, their hill-forts of such ingenious and elaborate con- struction as could not even now be taken by storm, and the gallant stand which they systematically opposed to the disci- plined valour of the Roman armies, exhibit them in lights. quite incompatible with an alleged state of unmitigated bar- barism. But though advanced in civilization very little beyond the first stage, they had scarcely any political union. They are said by Dio to have been literal democrats, acting as clans and adopting any public measure only by common consent, and an universally and equally diffused authority; but they may be allowed, on the one hand, to have rejected the coer- cion of any chieftainship, or autocracy, or monarchic power THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 265 and, on the other, to have placed themselves, like the Ameri- can Indians, under the aristocratic sway of their old men. Their armouries were generally furnished with helmets, shields, and chariots, and with spears, daggers, swords, bat- tle-axes, and bows. The chiefs in command, or in bravery, alone used the helmet and the chariot; and the common men fought always on foot, with shields for defence, and with all sorts of the offensive weapons for attack. Their chariots were sometimes aggregated for making a vehicular onslaught, and were drawn by horses which are said to have been small, swift, and spirited. Their vessels for navigating the inland lakes, and even the seas which surround and so singularly indent the country, consisted only of canoes and currachs. The canoe seems to have belonged to a period preceding the epoch of record; it was the stock of a single tree, hollowed out with fire, and put into motion by a paddle; and it has frequently been found in marshes and drained lakes, and occasionally of a construction remarkably skilful and polished. The currach was certainly in use among the Britons of the south, and very probably was in use also among the Britons of Caledonia, in the days of Julius Cæsar; and is described by him as having its body of wicker-work covered with leather, and as accommodated with a keel, and with masts of the lightest wood. The currachs are even called little ships; they were pushed boldly out into the far-spreading sea; and were frequently, or rather currently, employed in invasions. from the wooded north or the Emerald Isle' upon the shores which became seized and fortified by the Romans. Adamnan, in his Life of St. Columba, describes the currach which that apostle of Scotland employed in his voyages, as possessing all the parts of a ship, with sails and oars, and with a capacity for passengers; and he adds, that in this roomy, though seemingly fragile vessel, he sailed into the north sea, and, during fourteen days, remained there in per- fect safety. 266 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. In the year 78, Agricola, at the age of 38, commenced his skilful soldierly career in Britain. His first and second campaigns were employed in subduing and Romanizing Lancashire, and the territory adjacent to it on the south and the east. His third campaign, conducted in the year 80, carried the Roman arms to the Taw, an expanded water,' 'an estuary,' probably the Solway frith. In his fourth cam- paign, or that of 81, he overran all the eastern and central Lowlands, to the Forth and the Clyde. In his fifth, or in 82, he invaded "that part of Britain which is opposite to Ireland," or lower Nithsdale and the whole extent of Gal- loway. In the summer of 83, he crossed the Forth at what is now called Queensferry, and almost immediately expe- rienced alarms from learning both that the tribes in his rear had dared to act offensively, by attacking the strengths he had erected for protecting of his conquests, and that the tribes in his front menaced him with confederation and a vigorous resistance; but he pushed forward among the Horestii, found the clans for the first time in mutual co- operation, was assailed by them at Loch-Orr in Fife, in the very gates of his camp, repelled and broke them after a furious engagement, and, without much further trouble, brought all the Horestii under his yoke. In 84, he passed up Glendevon, through the opening of the Ochil-hills, and defiling toward "Mons Grampus," or the Grampian-hill, which he saw before him, he found the Caledonians, to the number of 30,000, confederated, and under the command of Galgacus, already encamped at its base; and he there fought with them a battle so obstinate, that only night forced it to a termination, so discouraging to the aborigines that they re- tired to the most distant recesses of their impervious coun- try, and so curious in archæology as to have occasioned a thousand disputes, and no small expenditure of learning and research, in attempts to fix its precise theatre. The Low lands south of the lower Tay, and the Earn, being now THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 267 : . .... all in his possession, and a powerful body of the tribes of the conquered district enrolled with him as auxiliaries, a voyage of discovery and of intimidation was ordered by him round the island, and was achieved by the safe return of the Roman fleet to the Forth. Agricola was Agricola was now recalled, through the envy of the Emperor Domitian; and the silence of history during the 35 years which followed, at once inti- mates the absence of any events of interest, and evinces the power of Agricola's victories as a general, and the wisdom of his measures as a statesman. In 120, the Emperor Adrian built the celebrated wall between the Tyne and the Solway; and, though he did not relinquish the conquered territory north of these waters, he practically acknowledged himself to hold it by a partial and comparatively insecure tenure. The Ottadini, the Gadeni, the Selgovæ, and the Novantes, had neither domestic tumult nor devastation from intruders to engage their attention; they had learned the arts of confederation, and were strong in numbers and in union; they began to feel neither over- awed nor restrained by the Roman stations which were con- tinued in their territory; and they broke out into insurrec- tions, and ran southward in ravaging incursions, which the Romans had not leisure to chastise, or even effectually to check. In 139, the year after Antoninus Pius assumed the purple, Lollius Urbicus was deputed as the Proprætor of Britain, to quell a general revolt, and reduce the inhabitants to obedience; and, in 140, he marched northward to the friths, tranquillized the tribes beyond them, and even began successfully to bring under the power of his arms the whole Lowland country northward, as far as the Beauly frith. With the view of overawing the tribes to the south, as well as of repelling the wild clans who ranged among the mountain- fastnesses on the north, he constructed the great work from Carriden on the Forth, to Dunglass on the Clyde, which is known in history under the title Antoninus' Wall. Iters, 268 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. or highways, were carried in many ramifications through the country south of the wall, and in several lines along or athwart the conquered country to the north; and stations were established in multitudinous commanding positions, for garrisoning the Roman forces, and maintaining the natives under a continual pressure. Scotland was now divided into three great sections,—the district south of Antoninus' wall, which was incorporated with the Roman government of South Britain, the Lowland country, between Antoninus' wall and the Beauly frith, which is said to have been now erected into a Roman province, under the name of Vespa- siana, and nearly all the Highland district, north of Loch- Fyne, or the most northerly indentation of the Clyde, which still retained its pristine state of independence, and began to wear distinctly the name of Caledonia. The tranquillity of the subjugated tribes till the death of Antoninus, in 161, about which time probably Lollius Urbicus ceased to be proprætor, sufficiently indicates the vigour of the adminis- tration throughout all the Roman territory. Disturbances which broke out immediately on the accession of Marcus Aurelius to the empire, were speedily quelled by Calphur- nius Agricola, the successor of Lollius Urbicus; yet they were followed by the evacuation, on the part of the Romans, of the whole province of Vespasiana. The tribes beyond Antoninus' wall, thrown back into a state of independence, slowly nursed their energies for invasion,-made, in 183, predatory incursions beyond the wall,-regularly, toward the close of the century, overran the Roman territory,―entered, in 200, into a treaty with the Lieutenant of Severus,—and, in 207, renewed their hostilities, and provoked the emperor to attempt a re-conquest of their country. Early in 209, Severus, after making imposing preparations, marched at the head of a vast force into North Britain, found no obstruction south of Antoninus' wall, and even penetrated into the ter- ritories of the Caledonians without encountering much re- THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 269 : : sistance. The tribes, unable to oppose him, sued peace from his clemency, surrendered some of their arms, and relinquished part of their country. He is said to have felled woods, drained marshes, constructed roads, and built bridges, in order to seize them in their fastnesses,-to have lost 50,000 men in destroying forests, and attempting to subdue the physical difficulties of the country,-to have subjected his army to such incredible toils as were sufficient to have brought a still greater number of them to the grar without feeling the stroke of an enemy. Caracalla, his son and successor, is supposed by some to have faintly, while Severus lived, fol- lowed up his policy, and to have fought with the Caledo- nians on the banks of the Carron; but early in 211, after Severus' decease, he relinquished to them the territories which they had surrendered to his father, secured to them by treaty independent possession of all the country beyond the wall, and took hostages from them for their conservation of the international peace. The Caledonians, henceforth for nearly a century, cease to mingle in Roman story; they appear not to have interested themselves in the affairs of the Romanized Britons; and they were little affected by the ele- vation of Cæsars or the fall of tyrants, by Carausius' usurpa- tion of Romanic Britain, or by its recovery at his assassination as a province of the empire. But the five Romanized tribes south of the northern wall, though too inconsiderable to figure as a part of the Roman world, and for a time too poor and abject to draw the notice of their own quondam brethren, eventually became sufficiently Romanized, and carried onward in social improvement, and surrounded with the results of incipient civilization and industry, to be objects of envy to the poorer and more barbarous clans who retained their independence. In 306, the earliest date at which the Picts are mentioned, or any native names than those of the abori- ginal British tribes are introduced, "the Caledonians and other Picts," after appearing to have made frequent preda- 270 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. tory irruptions, and to have been menacing the south with a general invasion, provoked a chastisement from the Roman legionaries, and were compelled by Constantius, at the head of an army, to burrow anew behind the vast natural rampart of their Highland territory. In 343, the Picts are said, on doubtful authority, to have made another inroad, and to have been repelled by a short campaign of the Emperor Constans. In 364, the Picts, who in that age were divided into two tribes by the names of Dicaledones and Vecturiones,—the Attacotti, who still retained their ancient British name and position on the shores of Dumbarton,-and the Scots, who are first noticed in history in 360, who were a transmarine and erratic people from Ireland, and who appear to have made frequent predatory invasions of the Roman provincials from the sea, and to have formed forced settlements on the coast, all three simultaneously made an incursion more general and destructive than any which had yet defied the Roman arms in Britain. Theodosius was sent, in 367, into Britain, to restore tranquillity, and is said, though erroneously, to have found the Picts and the Scots in the act of plundering Augusta, the predecessor-city of the modern London. In two campaigns of 368 and 369, he drove the invaders, wher- ever he really found them, back to the northern mountains, repaired the wall of Antoninus, and erected the country lying between that wall and the southern one into a Roman pro- vince, under the name of Valentia, additional to four which already existed in South Britain. The Picts and the Scots, forgetting, in the effluxion of a quarter of a century the punishment inflicted on them, and emboldened by the peril with which the empire was menaced by the continental hordes, again, in 398, burst forth like a torrent upon Low- land Britain, but, by the energy of Stilicho, the Roman general, were again stemmed, driven back, and flung behind another renovation of the great northern wall. But early next century they trod down every barrier, and began a THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 271 system of incessant and harassing incursion, which amounted, on each occasion, to little or nothing less than temporary conquest. In 408, the British provincials were so awed and alarmed by them, that they assumed a sort of independence in self-defence, called earnestly to Rome for help, and were told by their masters to rule and defend themselves; in 422, aided by a legion which was sent in compliance with a re- newed and wailing cry for assistance, they are said to have repelled the invaders, to have repaired, for the last time, the fortifications by which the Picts had been overawed, and to have, in consequence, won a respite of some years from the disasters of invasion; and, in 446, pressed anew by the Pictish foe, and abjectly acknowledging themselves for the first time to be Roman citizens, they made a vain appeal to their ruined masters for protection, and were despondingly told that Rome could no longer claim them as her subjects, or render them assistance as her citizens. At the period of the Roman abdication, the sixteen tribes who ranged unsubdued beyond the wall of Antoninus, and then bore the denomination of the Picts, were the only genuine descendants in North Britain of the Caledonian clans. They acquired, from their independence, paramount importance, when the country ceased to be overawed by the Roman power; and during the four succeeding centuries of the North-British annals, they figured as the dominating nation. The five Romanized tribes of Valentia, who had long enjoyed the privilege of Roman citizenship, speedily assumed independence, and organized for themselves a sepa- rate and national government. Early after the Roman abdi- cation, the Angles, or Anglo-Saxons, on the one hand, settled on the Tweed, and began gradually to oblige the Ottadini to relinquish for ever their beautiful domains; and the Scots from Ireland, on the other, colonized Argyle, commenced to spread themselves over all the circumjacent districts, and entered a course of tilting with the Pictish government, 272 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. which, after the bloody struggles of 340 years, ended in its destruction. The history of all these four parties, between the years 446 and 843, belongs to what, with reference to the power which predominated, may distinctively and appro- priately be called the Pictish period. The fate of the eastern ones of the five Romanized tribes of the province of Valentia after the Roman abdication, dif- fered widely from that of those in the west. The Ottadini and the Gadeni, left in possession of the country from the Forth to the Tweed, and between the sea and the midland mountains, seem not to have erected themselves into an independent and dominant community, but to have resumed the habits and the policy of the early British clans, and when they saw their country early invaded by the Anglo- Saxons, more as settlers than as plunderers, they, with some bravery, but with little skill and less concert, made resistance when attacked, till, through disunion, ebriety, and unmilitary conduct, they speedily become subdued and utterly dispersed. The Selgovæ, the Novantes, and the Damnii, with the fugi- tive children of the other two tribes, erected their paternal territories into a compact and regular dominion, appropriately called Cumbria, or Regnum Cambrensi, or Cumbrensi. This Cumbrian kingdom extended from the Irthing, the Eden, and the Solway, on the south, to the upper Forth and Loch- Lomond on the north, and from the Irish sea and the frith of Clyde, eastward to the limits of the Merse and Lothian; and, with the usual inaccuracy of the Middle ages, it was frequently and almost currently made to bear the name of the kingdom of Strathcluyd or Strathclyde. Its metropolis was Alcluyd, or Aldclyde, the rocky height on the Clyde,' to which the Scoto-Irish subsequently gave the name of Dun-Briton, the fortress of the Britons, a name easily recognisable in the modernized word Dumbarton. On the south-east, where the open country of Teviotdale invited - easy ingress from the Merse, the kingdom suffered speedy C THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 273 encroachments from the Saxons; and, along that quarter, though inland from the original frontier, and screened inte- riorly by a vast natural rampart of mountain-range, an arti- ficial safeguard, called the Catrail, the partition of defence,' was constructed. From 508 to 542, Cumbria, or Strathclyde, acknowledged the authority, and exulted in the fame of some extraordinary original, who figures as the redoubtable King Arthur of romance, who imposed the name of Castrum Ar- thuri upon Alcluyd, or Dumbarton, and has bequeathed a tenfold greater number of enduring names to Scotish topo- graphical nomenclature than any other ancient prince, and who, whatever may have been the real facts of his history, seems to have achieved many feats, to have received a treacherous death-wound on the field of battle, and to have altogether bewildered by his character and fate the rude and romancing age in which he figured. In 577, Rydderech, another noted king of Strathclyde, but noted for his munifi- cence, defeated Aidan of Kintyre on the height of Arderyth. In years between 584 and 603, the Cumbrians, aided by the confederacy of the Scoto - Irish, fought four battles against the intrusive and invading Saxons, and were twice victorious, and twice and concludingly the vanquished. On many occasions, they had to fight with the Picts attacking them from the north; on some, with their occasional allies, the Scots, attacking them from the west; and, on a few, with the Cruithne of Ulster, and other Irish tribes, attacking them on the south-west and south. In 750, the Northumbrian Eadbert seems to have traversed Nithsdale and seized Kyle; and, in 756, that prince, jointly with the Pictish Ungus, seized the metropolis, though not the castle, of Alcluyd. Yet the descendants of the Romanized Britons were not conquered. Their reguli, or chiefs, indeed, often ceased from civil broil or foreign conflict, to succeed in unbroken series; but, when the storm of war had passed away, they long ceased not to reappear, and wield anew the seemingly 274 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. extinct power. The Cumbrians, though unable to prevent considerable encroachments on all sides within their ancient frontiers, and though slowly diminishing in the bulk and the power of their independence, remained a distinct people within their paternal domains long after the Pictish govern- ment had for ever fallen. A body of Saxons, a people of Gothic origin, the confed- erates of those Angles who first set foot on South Britain in 449, debarked on the Ottadinian shore of the Forth imme- diately after the Roman abdication. Amid the consternation and the disunitedness of the Ottadini, the new settlers rather overran the country than subdued it; and, though they seem to have directed neither their attacks nor their views northward of the Forth, they are said to have formed settlements along the coast of its frith, almost as far as the east end of Antoninus' wall. In 547, Ida, consanguineous with the new settlers, one of the most vigorous children of the fictitious Woden, and the founder of the Northumbrian monarchy, landed, without opposition, at Flamborough, and, acting on a pre- vious design, pointed his keen-edged sword to the north, carried victory with him over all the paternal domains of the Ottadini, and paused not in a career of conquest, and of compelling subjugation, till he had established a consolidated monarchy from the Humber to the Forth. After the defeat of the Cumbrians in 603, Ethelfrid, the second successor of Ida, took possession of the borders of the Selgovæ, and compelled the western Romanized Britons in general to ac- knowledge the superior energy and union of the Saxons. Edwin, the most potent of the Northumbrian kings, assumed the sceptre in 617; he acquired a fame of which tradition has spoken with awe; he struck respect or awe into the nearts of Cumbrians, Picts, Scots, and English; he appears to have, in some points, pushed his conquests from sea, and to have made large accessions to his kingdom on the south and west; and he strengthened or occupied in some new THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 275 form in the north, that notable "burgh" or fortification which, as par excellence his, survives in the castle of Edin- burgh, the magnificent metropolis of all modern Caledonia. Egfrid, who was the third in subsequent succession, and ascended the throne in 671, was successful in several enter- prises, particularly in an expedition in 684, against the unoffending Irish; but at his overthrow and death in 685, at Dunnichen, by the Picts, he bequeathed destruction to his government inward from the Solway, and downward to the south of the Tweed, and effectually relieved the Scots and the Strathclyde Britons from the terror of the Northum- bria-Saxon name. The quondam subjects of the diminished kingdom remained in Lothian and the Merse, but probably did not distinctly acknowledge any particular sovereign. The Northumbrian rulers had, for several successions after Egfrid, little connexion with the territory of modern Scot- land; but, though they never reacquired all the ascendency which he lost, they began, about the year 725, to be again strong along the Solway and in Southern Galloway, and, before the close of 756, they had formed settlements in Kyle and Cunningham, and disputed with the Strathclyde Britons. the possession of the central Clyde. From the moment of the sceptre beginning to possess its ancient burnished bril- liance, it was wielded, for several reigns, by feeble and care- less hands, and it speedily became lustreless, rusted, and broken. Ethelred, the last of these dowdy monarchs, having been slain during an insurrection in 794, Northumbria, dur- ing the 33 following years, became the wasted and distracted victim of anarchy, and was thenceforth governed by earls, under the sovereign authority of the English kings. The Cruithne of Ulster, who had made frequent incursions on the shores of the lower Clyde, took advantage of the North- umbrian weakness to form at length a lasting settlement on the coast of Galloway. The Anglo-Saxons, during the Pictish period, left, in the Gothic names of some places on 276 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. the Solway, and of many between the Tweed and the Forth, indubitable traces of their conquests, their settlements, and their national origin. The history of the Scots, or Scoto-Irish, from the date of their definitive settlement in the country of the ancient British Eppidii, in 503, to that of their being united to the Picts, and becoming the ascendant section in North Britain, is more perplexed and obscure than almost any passage of equal interest in the records of nations. They were too rude to possess the art of writing, and too restless to endure the repose of study; and when they found a bard able and willing to speak of them to posterity, they were permitted by their narrow views of social order to show him only the names and the personal nobleness of their reguli and chief- tains as the elements of their fame. Even the genealogy and the series of their kings have been flung into nearly inextri- cable confusion by the contests of the Scotish and of the Irish antiquaries for pre-eminence in antiquity. They probably obtained original footing in Argyle from silent sufferance; and by natural increase, and frequent accessions of new im- migrants from the Irish Dalriada, they may have become nursed into strength in the strong recesses of the west, before the Picts were refined enough to suspect any danger from their vicinity. The vast natural power of all their frontiers, the thinness of the hostile population on the sides where they were unprotected by the sea, the facility for slow and insensible, but steady and secure encroachment among the mountain districts on the east and the north, the great dis- tance of the seat of the Pictish power, and the intervention of the stupendous rampart of the Highland frontier between the operations of that power and the aggressions of settle- ment or slow invasion half-away across the continent,-these must have been the grand causes of the Scots eventually acquiring energy and numbers, and a theatre of action, great and ample enough to enable them to cope with the domi THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 277 nant nation of North Britain, and to conduct negociations. and achieve enterprises, which resulted in their own ascen- dency. Kenneth, who succeeded to the throne of the Scots in 836, was the grandson by his mother of the Pictish kings Constantine and Ungus II., who died respectively in 821 and 833. On the death of Uven, the son and the last male heir of Ungus, in 839, Kenneth claimed the Pictish crown as his by right of inheritance. Two successive and successful com- petitors kept it five years from his grasp; but both wore it amid disturbance and in misery; and the last met a violent death at Forteviot, the seat of his power. Kenneth could dexterously take advantage of such confusions as arose from the loss of a battle or the death of a king, to achieve an important revolution; and finding no man bold enough again to contest his claim, he easily stepped into the vacant throne. In his person a new dynasty, and a consolidation. of popular interests among two great people who had hith- erto been at variance, began. The Scots and the Picts were congenial races of a common origin, and of cognate tongues; and they readily coalesced. Their union augmented the power of both, and, by the ascendency of the Scots, gave at length their name to all Pictavia and Dalriada, and to the accessions which afterwards were made by the two great united territories. The Scotish period, or that of Scotish ascendency previous to Saxon intermixture, extended from the union of the Scotish and the Pictish crowns in 843, to the demise of Donald Bane, in 1097. During this period, the ancient territories of the Selgovæ, the Novantes, and the Damnii, became colonized by successive hordes of immigrants from Ireland, who gave their settlements the name of Gallo- way; and who, by a strange fortune, became known under the appellation of the ancient Picts. The kingdom of Cum- bria, or Strathclyde, was crushed, distorted, and dismembered, the northern part passing completely under the Scotish do 278 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. minion, and the southern part asserting a rude, subordinate independence, and existing as an appendage of the Scotish crown by the doubtful ties of an obscure title; and Caledo- nian Northumbria, or the beautiful district of Lothian and the Merse, after a series of bloody struggles for upwards of two centuries and a half, became integrated with Scotland by the lasting connection of rightful cession and mutual advantage. The next great period is the Scoto-Saxon, extending from 1097 to 1306. In the former period, the Gaelic Scots pre- dominated; in this, the Saxon-English, or Anglo-Saxon. A new people now came in upon the old; a new dynasty ascended the throne; a new jurisprudence gradually pre- vailed; new ecclesiastical establishments were settled; and new manners and a new speech overspread the land. Mal- colm Canmore, the last but two of the strictly Scotish kings, married an Anglo-Saxon princess, and became the father of Edgar, who, by means of an Anglo-Norman army, and after a fierce contest, enforced his title to a disputed crown, and commenced the Scoto - Saxon dynasty. Under Malcolm Canmore, the domestics and relations of his queen aided her powerful influence round the royal seat in introducing Saxon notions; some Saxon barons fled, with their dependants, into Scotland, from the violence of the Norman conquest; num- erous fugitives were afforded an asylum by the king, from insurrections which he fomented in the north of England; vast numbers of young men and women were forcibly driven northward by him during his incursions into Northumberland and Durham; and preliminary movements, to a great aggre- gate amount, and with a great cumulative influence, were made toward a moral and social revolution. When Edgar, aided by the results of these movements, brought in a force from without altogether foreign in speech and character to the Scots, and entirely competent in power to overawe them, and perfunctorily to settle their disputes by placing their THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. 279 leader on the throne, he rendered the revolution virtually complete-introducing in a mass a commanding number of foreign followers to mix with the native population, and treat them as inferiors, and throwing open a broad ingress for a general Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Anglo-Belgic colonization. So great and rapid was the influx of the new people, that, in the reign of David I., the second in succes- sion after Edgar, men and women of them are said-some- what hyperbolically, no doubt-to have been found, not only in every village, but in every house, of the Scotish, or Scoto- Saxon, dominions. So powerful though peaceful an inva- sion, was necessarily a moral conquest, a social subjugation; and its speedy aggregate result was to suppress the Celtic tongue and customs, or coop them up within the fastnesses of the Highlands,-to substitute an Anglo-Norman juris- prudence for the Celtic modes of government,—and to erect the pompous and flaunting fabrics and ritual of Roman Catholicity upon the ruins of the simple though eventually vitiated Culdeeism which had so long been the glory at once of Pict, of Dalriadic Scot, of Romanized Briton, and of Gal- loway Cruithne. At the accession of Edgar, or the commencement of the Scoto-Saxon period, Scotland, with the exception of its not claiming the western and the northern islands, possessed nearly its present limits,—the Solway, the Kershope, the Tweed, and the intervening heights forming the boundary-line with Eng- land. Northumberland and Cumberland were added as conquered territories by David I.; but they were demanded back, or rather forcibly resumed, by Henry II., during the minority of Malcolm IV. All Scotland may be viewed as temporarily belonging to England, when Henry II. made. captive William I., the successor of Malcolm IV., and obliged him to surrender the independence of his kingdom; but, in 1189, it was restored to its national status by the gen- erosity of Richard I., and settled within the same limits as 280 THE ANCIENT CALEDONIANS. previous to William's captivity; and throughout the re mainder of the Scoto-Saxon period, it retained an undis- turbed boundary with England, conducive to the general interests of both kingdoms. Lothian on the east, and Gal- loway on the south-west, were, at this epoch, regarded by foreign powers as two considerable integral parts of Scot- land; and though so far consolidated with the rest of the country as to afford but slight appearance of having been settled by dissimilar people and governed by different laws, yet they were so far considered and treated by the kings as separate territories, that they were placed under distinct jurisdictions. In 1266, the policy of Alexander III. acquired by treaty the kingdom of Man, and the isles of the Hebridean seas, and permanently annexed the latter to the Scotish crown. When the great barons were assembled in 1284, dolefully to settle the dubious succession to the throne, they declared that the territories belonging to Scotland, and lying beyond the boundaries which existed at the accession of Edgar, were the Isle of Man, the Hebrides, Tynedale, and Penrith. In 1290, the Isle of Man passed under the pro- tection of Edward I. Even essential Scotland, the main territory of the kingdom, was so deeply imperilled at the close of the Anglo-Saxon period, that she could be preserved from the usurping and permanent grasp of insidious ambition only by a persevering and intensely patriotic struggle; and she was at length re-exhibited and settled down in her inde- pendence, and reinstamped, but in brighter hues, with the colourings of nationality, by the magnanimity and the indo- mitableness of her people supporting all the fortune and all the valour of Robert Bruce, the founder of a new dynasty of her kings, and the introducer of a new epoch in her history. THE RAID OF THE RED SWIRE. 281 THE RAID OF THE RED SWIRE. On the 7th of June, 1575, a murderous riot occurred at a Border gathering on the Carter Mountain, on the extreme limits of the parish of Jedburgh and of the present bounda- ries of Scotland; and this was called the Raid of the Red Swire from the colour of the heath and the form of the hill at the place, the word "swire" denoting in Scotish topo- graphy the swelling descent of a hill or the neck of a moun- tain. Sir John Forster, governor of Berwick, was warden of the English middle march; and Sir John Carmichael, the ancestor of the Earls of Hyndford, was warden of the Scotish march; and these two functionaries, agreeably to a Border usage for the conservation of the public peace, were holding a meeting for hearing complaints and redressing wrongs. The gathering from both sides of the Border seems to have been numerous,-amounting to several thousands; but it was brought together entirely by affairs of business, and was conducted for a time with perfect good feeling, and even with accompanying merriment and games. But in the course of the day, a hot and general misunder- standing suddenly arose in connection with the proof of an accusation of theft brought by a Scotish complainer against a notorious English freebooter of the name of Farnstein. Carmichael demanded, in terms of the laws of the marches, that the thief should be delivered prisoner to the owner of the stolen goods till satisfaction should be made for them; Forster alleged that the thief had fled from justice, and could not be found; Carmichael suspecting this to be a mere pre- text to avoid making compensation for the felony, bade the English functionary play fair;' Forster answered haughtily and spitefully, uttered some injurious expressions. respecting Carmichael's family, and made some open displays 282 THE RAID OF THE RED SWIRE. of resentment; and Forster's retinue, principally men of Reesdale and Tynedale, the most ferocious of the English borderers, glad of any occasion for a quarrel, and fired sym- pathetically with the wrath of their chief, discharged a flight of arrows among the Scots. A warm and general skirmish ensued; several of the Scots fell, wounded or dead; Car- michael was beaten down, and made prisoner; and the gen- eral body of the Scots, more in consequence of their being taken by surprise, than on account of any great valour or skill in the assailants, were driven from the field. But the English counted too soon that they were victors, and threw themselves too soon and too greedily upon the plunder; and when they had ceased to pursue, and were busy gathering spoil, the Scots, reinforced by a number of Jedburgh-men whom they met coming to the tryst, turned back upon the English, assailed them with unexpected and furious vigour, drove them into instant and disorderly flight, chased them neck and heels over the mountain, and made their warden and a number of their petty chiefs prisoners. The facts of the skirmish are pretty accurately told in the following ex- tracts from an old ballad, preserved in the Border Min- strelsy. "At first the meeting was meek eneugh Begun wi' merriment and mowes, And at the brae, aboon the heugh, The clark sate down to call the rowes.* Some gaed to drink, and some stude still, And some to cards and dice them sped; Till on ane Farnstein they fyled a bill,† And he was fugitive and fled. * Rolls. + Found a true bill. THE RAID OF THE RED SWIRE. 283 Carmichael bade them speik out plainlie, And cloke no cause for ill nor good; The other, answering him as vainlie, Began to reckon kin and blood; He raise, and raxed* him where he stood, And bade him match him with his marrows, Then Tindaill heard them reasun rude, And they loot off a flight of arrows. Then was there nought but bow and speir, And every man pulled out a brand; • A Schaftan and a Fenwick' thare: Gude Symington was slain frae hand. The Scotsmen cried on other to stand, Frae time they saw John Robson slain- What should they crie? the king's command Could cause no cowards turn again. Then raise the Slogan with ane shout- 'Fy Tindaill to it! Jedburgh's here!' I trow he was not half sae stout, But anis his stomach was asteir, With gun and genzie,|| bow and speir, Men might see mony a cracked crown! But up among the merchant geir, They were as busy as we were down. The swallow tail frae tackles flew, Five hundredth flain § into a flight, But we had pestelets anew, And shot among them as we might. * Stretched himself up. ‡ Till once his anger was up. † Rose. Engine of war. § Arrows. 284 THE RAID OF THE RED SWIRE. And surely then the game gaed right, Frae time the foremost of them fell; Then ower the know without good night, They ran up with many a shout and yell. Who did invent that day of play, We need not fear to find him soon; For Sir John Forster, I dare well say, Made us this noisome afternoon. Not that I speak preceislie out, That he supposed it would be perril; But pride, and breaking out of feuid, Garr'd Tindaill lads begin the quarrel." Sir John Forster, Cuthbert Collingwood, James Ogle, Henry Fenwick, and Francis Russel, son-in-law of Forster, and son of the Earl of Bedford, and several other border chiefs whom the victors made prisoners, were carried to Dalkeith, and there delivered to the Earl of Morton, then Regent of Scotland. Morton treated them with great con- sideration and kindness; and detained them a few days, till their resentment should subside; and then required them to engage in writing to appear in Scotland at a cer- tain day, and dismissed them with great expressions of regard. Queen Elizabeth, on hearing of the affair, was very much incensed; and sent instructions to her ambassador Killigrew, who had a little before gone to Scotland, to de- mand immediate satisfaction; and ordered him to intimate to Morton that she had commanded the Earl of Huntingdon, then president of the council at York, and lieutenant of the northern counties of England, to repair to the Border for the purpose of instituting an investigation, and that she expected that Morton would meet and confer with him in person The two Earls accordingly met at Foulden, near the Ber- wick boundary, and held a series of conferences through suc- .... THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 285 cessive days; and Morton made such concessions and agreed to such redresses as ensured a complete reconciliation. Car- michael, whom the English authorities regarded as the prin- cipal offender, was delivered up to them as a prisoner, and detained by them a few weeks at York; but they began to see that Forster had been the aggressor at the beginning of the fray, and they soon tired of disgracing Carmichael, and even at length dismissed him with honour. Morton engaged that the spoils taken from the English borderers in the raid should be restored; and he summoned an armed force to go out, with twenty days' provisions, to an expedition against the holders of the spoils, and their abettors; but the offend- ers were so awed by the mere publication of his purpose, that they came forward of their own accord, and made the desired restitution. Thus occurred several remarkable things, -a mere casual riot involved the temporary captivity of great public functionaries, and evoked negotiations and con- ferences between the highest powers of the two kingdoms,- the kindlings of pride and resentment out of the sparks of the riot seriously threatened the conflagration of a national war between Scotland and England,-and this tremendous evil, which would have entailed incalculable bloodshed and misery upon both countries, was averted by the cheap and facile and most honourable means of a little good temper . and hearty honest concession. THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. ROBERT III. of Scotland bore from his baptism the name of John; but that name being regarded by the superstition of the age an unlucky one for kings to wear, he was afterwards called Robert by a decree of the state. He had a brother Robert, who was first Earl of Fife and afterwards Duke of Albany; and he had also two sons,-David, who became 286 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. : Duke of Rothesay, and James, who eventually ascended the throne under the name of James I. He was infirm in body weak in mind, and indolent in disposition; and he had neither resolution to resist excessive ambition and usurpa- tion on the part of his brother, nor wisdom and energy to conduct a right course of training on behalf of his sons. Boece designates him affable, just, merciful, benevolent, and pious; but Buchanan, with greater truth, describes him as rather free from vice than remarkable for virtue. The Duke of Albany did almost what he pleased with this feeble monarch, and easily got himself formally installed in the office of regent. He was a man of unbounded ambition, and cared not a great deal what means he employed to gratify it, and readily availed himself, first of his court influence and next of his vice-regal power, to promote its aspirings. Prince David, the Duke of Rothesay, beheld with indignation Alba- ny's assumption of the royal prerogatives, and the unscrupu- lous selfishness with which he appropriated and worked them. He was haughty, jealous, fiery, and impatient of restraint; and, before he had well passed out of the natural recklessness and impetuosity of high-spirited and self-willed boyhood, he conceived a strong desire, or rather resolutely formed a pur- pose, to effect Albany's overthrow. But being incapable of the artifices, the dissimulation, and the intrigues which were requisite for success against so experienced, crafty, and pow- erful a foe, he used only such measures as served to betray himself and put Albany on his guard; and, being at the same time an unprincipled and dissipated youth, he also mingled the outburst of giddy and vicious passions with his measures, so as to afford both pretext to his enemies and occasion to his friends for imposing upon him severe re- straints. His mother, the amiable Annabella Drummond, whose maternal counsels had the happiest influence upon his mind, died at the very season when her authority and advice might have been most useful. Tutors and counsellors were I THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 287 appointed by his father to restrain his excesses, and regulate his imprudence; but they had little success. Spies were appointed also by his uncle, to watch his behaviour and cir- cumvent his plots; and they failed not to report to their employer all the young man's rash words and actions, to- gether no doubt with aggravations and additions of their own. The Prince's friends and advisers were soon driven by his own weakness and rashness on the one hand, and by the craft and cruelty of Albany on the other, to renounce his cause, and either to stand neutral or to pass into the ranks of his enemies. John Ramorgney, in particular, first counselled David to seize his uncle's person, and to put him to death in confinement; and then, finding David deficient in the courage or the wickedness necessary to so horrible a crime, insinuated to Albany the same diabolical counsel against the prince. Albany scrupled little to follow the counsel, and even found means to secure the aid of the weak-minded King to carry it into execution. While the Prince was on his way to St. Andrews, with few attendants, and unthinking of danger, he was seized by persons acting under the command of Albany, and on the authority of an order which had been wrung from the King to place him for a time in confinement, with a view to the correction of his manners; and he was dragged to the castle of St. Andrews,- and was detained there some days, till Albany and his coun- cil, then at Culross, should determine how to dispose of him, -and was at length conveyed, in a mean garb, upon a pitiful horse, with a strong guard, under the immediate command of Albany himself and the Earl of Douglas, to the tower of Falkland, into close confinement. He was now lodged in a small chamber, under the custody of two ruffians, Wright and Selkirk, who had instructions to starve him to death. His keepers paid exact obedience to their instructions, but were surprised to find that he did not die; and at length they dis- covered that he was supported by the charity of the warder's : 288 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. daughter, and of a country nurse,--the former of whom con veyed little pieces of oaten cakes through chinks in his cham- ber, and the latter gave him suck through a small cane, one end of which he held in his mouth, while she squeezed her milk into the other. The good women, however, did him but short service; for they were soon discovered and put to death. The Prince tore off his flesh, and eat his fingers, and died of starvation; though a report was fabricated and spread abroad that he died of dysentery. 66 Lindesay and Ramorgney," says Balfour, wer the tuo contriuers of this youthfull princes destructione,-Ramorg- ney, becausse he had formerly counselled him to kill his wnckell the Gouernour; and least he should now reweill him, assured the Gouernour secretly, with grate othes and attestations, that hes nephew wes to kill him. Sr William Lindesayes splene towards the Ducke was, that long befor he had affianced the Earle of Marche daughter, ore married the Earle of Douglasses, he repudiat his sister, Euphame Linde- say, quhom he had solemly affianced; a werey beutifull and comley ladey, of quhosse vnfortunate end, Thomas Lermont of Birlingtone, called the Rymer, spake thus; a comet ap- peiring that same day he was apprehendit, and still keipt a litill aboue the horizon till the day of his death, and then quyte euanished: Psalletur gestis Dauid, luxuria, festis. Quia tenet uxores uxore sua meliores, Deficient mores; regales perdet honores." The King was deeply afflicted by the death of David. He lamented the young man's character, bitterly reproached himself for having put him into the power of his enemies, and regarded Albany, with horror and dread, as the foe of his family, the murderer of his son, and yet too potent to be punished or even to be removed from the vice-regal adminis- tration; and he now trembled lest James, his second son, THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 289 who was too young to protect himself against the artifices. and intrigues of hostility, should also fall a victim to the same craft and ambition which had destroyed David,—and he therefore resolved to send him to France, there to receive an education befitting the heir of the Scotish crown, and to remain in safety and quiet at the court of a faithful ally till he should attain maturity of years and understanding. He believed himself to be hastening to the grave; and he chose rather to abandon the kingdom for a period after his decease to the sway of his brother, than to leave the life of its heir also at his mercy. Accordingly, the young prince, with much secrecy, and without Albany's knowledge, was put under the guardianship of Sinclair, Earl of Orkuey, and fitted out with a suitable body of attendants, and sent under the escort of a company of gallant gentlemen to the Bass, there to await a good opportunity for setting sail. But after the Prince's party sailed, and before they had well begun to bear away from the British coast, they were intercepted by an English ship of war, and carried away to anchorage before Flam- borough-Head; and the Prince being there identified was conveyed a prisoner to the English court, and, for state pur- poses, though in gross violation of good faith, was condemned by the English monarch to perpetual or at least indefinite. captivity. The Scotish King soon heard of this disaster, and was overwhelmed by it; and already old, diseased, and heart- broken, he gave himself up to grief, refused to take due sus- tenance, languished a few days, and died. The death of David occurred in 1401; and the captivity of James and the death of the King occurred in 1404. Albany was now entire master of Scotland; and he pur- sued the policy of still styling himself regent, in order that he might not seem to be an usurper, and of maintaining the most friendly relations with France and the utmost hostility to England, in order that he might provoke the English King to maintain the bonds of the Scotish prince unrelaxed. He T 290 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. possessed al. the power of royalty, with merely the want of its name, before his brother's death; and he was too politic to wish for more now. And however unscrupulous he was as to the means of his aggrandizement during the lifetime of David and the liberty of James, yet now, whether repenting of the effects of his guilty ambition, or believing that he had done enough to secure to his own sons the succession to the crown, he did not rigorously follow out those views which he had once been suspected to entertain. He appropriated all the prerogatives of the government, and left James to lan guish in captivity; but he took no other measures to trans- fer the crown to himself and his sons, and he even procured a decree of the state simply appointing him regent till his nephew should be restored from captivity. He was also a personal favourite with the nation. His stately form and pleasing features, venerable in his old age by snow-white hairs, graced him with an exterior aspect, not unbecoming the exaltation of sovereign command. His temper was gen- tle and mild; his manners were courteous and affable; and hat dissimulation, which is often reckoned by politicians an equivalent for talents and virtues, was a prominent feature n his character. Crimes and disorders which he had not power to punish or restrain, he affected to overlook till they could be effectually put down by the energies of government; and in an age when boundless hospitality to their vassals and etainers was esteemed the first pacific virtue by which the character of a prince or great baron could be adorned, he was hospitable and splendidly liberal in his expenses, above every contemporary Scotish baron. And in this way, though he lived till the year 1419, and was then upwards of eighty years old, he retained the sovereign power till the end of his life, and managed all along to occupy all the place and ap- propriate all the enrichments of an usurpation without in- volving himself in any of the odium of its name. There wanted not a party of men, who would always have THE RESTORATION OF JAMES 1. 291 supported King Robert III. in all lawful and honourable designs, who mourned to see him misled, and the monarchy reduced to so low and dependant a state, and who, mindful of their obligations to the royal family of the Stuarts, either publicly asserted or secretly owned young James's right to the crown. But their chiefs judged it not prudent nor politic to attempt a restoration while so many men remained in being, and enjoyed the great and profitable offices of the kingdom, who had contributed to depress the father and exclude the son. Through either tenderness or weakness, they declined to do an act which they confessed just and desirable, lest it might be the means of spilling a drop of blood, or wasting a penny of money; and yet by their forbearance, they were gradually forced into measures which they acknowledged wicked and unreasonable, and which occasioned millions of lives to be sacrificed, and impoverished their country for ages to come. Nothing at any time seemed necessary to the re- storation of James, but to attempt it; and therefore many men bore the delay with the greater impatience. though they regarded the Regent as unjustly possessed of power, they could not intend ill to his person, in consequence of his being so nearly allied to their lawful king. The Regent too was well skilled in the arts of government, and of good experience in war; and though the people were much more grievously oppressed with taxes during his administration, than during that of their lawful kings, putting them alto- gether, yet for the sake of peace, or from sheer indolence, or because they were not aroused and drawn out by any competent leader, they continued quietly to succumb to his usurpation. But His son Murdoch or Mordecai succeeded him both as Duke of Albany and as Regent; but was very unequal to the task. Buchanan says, "Sufficitur in locum ejus Mordacus filius, ingenio segnis, ac non modo ad rem publicam, sed ne ad domesticam quidem regenaam satis idoneus," that he was 292 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. of a dull understanding, and not only unfit to govern the public, but even to look after his own private affairs. But notwithstanding this, and contrary to the inclinations of all the people, and to the expectation of all Europe, he took possession of the regency, without any manner of opposition. or disturbance. Some of the nobles and barons had become such casuists that actions which they formerly excused, they now justified, and what formerly they thought might be done in extreme necessity, they now declared might be put in practice under any circumstances. Some of the most loyal wanted spirit or industry; and others, whose fine un- derstandings were obscured by too much caution, and whose discrimination had become blind by being too quick-sighted, foresaw strange difficulties, and advised to wait a little lon- ger; and thus, in order to avoid imaginary distant dangers, they quietly submitted to real present ones. Others, and these not a few, never gave themselves any concern for pos- terity, nor cared who enjoyed the government, or by what right it was obtained, provided they might indulge their own appetites, and lord it over their own followers,—though they daily saw their privileges invaded, and even their darling liberty become so precarious, that it was in the power of every wrangling neighbour or surly officer to deprive them of it, by trifling and groundless informations; and others fancied that the supreme power, though illegally and unjustly obtained, might be lawfully submitted to and supported,— and that a succession of two or three usurpers, created a right, and debarred the next undoubted lawful heir. Murdoch, therefore, might have maintained his power a considerable time, had he taken wholesome advice, and pur- sued gentle and temperate measures, or had not been wor- ried and tormented by an odd, fantastic, and perverse son. But he dismissed from his council the men whom his father had most trusted, and took in their stead a set of persons who traduced his father's reputation, and whom he had held THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 293 in utter detestation. These men advised the usurper, even before he had taken full possession of his authority, to re- move all persons from their offices who had been preferred or employed by the former regent. They alleged, that he had projected a design of recalling James, and that all his council had combined in it; that they had been selected wholly with that view; and, that they had proceeded so far in it, as to have been hindered from accomplishing it only by the regent's death. Murdoch selfishly listened to these reasons, for sake of their regard to his usurpation; and he instantly set about disgracing his ablest and most enlightened statesmen. His first act was to discharge Julio, a young nobleman of great interest, and whose abilities all the usurp- er's faction dreaded; and his next was to dispossess Marcel- lus, the most popular Scotsman of the age, of all the great offices he enjoyed under the crown, and to do this in the most disrespectful manner. The whole kingdom resented the dismissal of Marcellus. He was descended from one of the most ancient and illus- trious houses in the kingdom; and it was looked on as hereditary in him to possess such qualifications as rendered him the favourite of his prince, the darling of the people, the ornament of his country, and the admiration and delight of strangers. Never was seen in man a courage more sedate, firm, and intrepid. The labours and fatigues he voluntarily and cheerfully underwent in camps, socn won him the affec- tions of the soldiers; the hazards he seemed to court, with- out vanity or affectation, and the wounds he received, pro- cured him the loftiest fame; and his unwearied application to the art of war, obtained him the reputation of a consum- mate military leader. He was accounted the best bred man of his time, and of such nice honour, goodness and integrity, that no design ever had harbour in his breast, but what tended to the glory of his prince, the service of his country and the benefit of mankind; and it was popularly said of 294 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. him, that he never did a rude thing, never uttered a harsh one, and never thought an unjust one. His generosity would not let him refuse a favour, and his charity never wanted a demand. His house was the resort of the great for honest pleasures, and the sure refuge of the unhappy for consola- tion; and he relieved crowds with his money, and preferred multitudes with his power. He ever lamented the hard fate of James; yet both from policy and the love of arms, he freely engaged in the regent's wars with England. He grieved to fight against the only prince who was in a capacity to restore his lawful king; but he thought it necessary to the universal good, and especially to the liberties of Scotland, that a stop should be put to the victorious arms of the Henrys; and he comforted himself by a firm faith, that God, in his own good. time, would bow the hearts of his countrymen as one man, and incline them to say to the King, "Return thou and all thy servants." When Marcellus, notwithstanding all his virtues, all his interests, and all his popularity, was degraded by Murdoch, no man of his party expected better treatment; and the usage he met was so resented, that some persons refused to accept the most profitable offices, others generously threw them up, and all accounted the loss of place an evidence of a man's honour and integrity. The most worthless charac- ters, hitherto altogether unknown, now wormed themselves. into employments and were promoted to dignities; religion was publicly scoffed at, liberty put into trammels, property invaded, and law perverted; and the ancient, fundamental, invaluable decrees of the state were suspended, altered, and repealed, under the pretence of public safety, but really to gratify private avarice and resentment. Immense sums of money were voted by the state, rigorously exacted, and most profusely squandered; and, in consequence, the public laboured under vast debts, the ancient wealthy families be- came impoverished, and the scum of the people suddenly THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 295 rose to riches, and wallowed in luxury and profusion. Pimps and court flatterers were rewarded for the most licentious words and profligate behaviour; and all others for the slight- est transgression, or even for the imputation of one, were fined, whipped, pilloried, imprisoned, and banished. When the state was in this languishing condition, it may be taken for granted that the church was neglected; for had her doctrines, even notwithstanding the dreadfully corrupt state into which they had sunk, been honestly and boldly inculcated, the general community, both rulers and ruled, could not possibly have fallen into such appalling depths of depravity. But the best and ablest of her doctors were in- humanly treated, and illegally persecuted; and the rest were forced to conceal their real sentiments, and those who found favour made it their merit to pervert the gospel. Such doctrinal confusions and various interpre- tations also arose, that Archbishop Spottiswoode, in his history of the period, says, "There was at this time a fear- ful schism in the church,—of all that we do read, the most scandalous, and of longest continuance,-which did so divide the Christian world, and made such part-takings as were pitiful." The usurper's faction were intelligent enough to discover that they were detested by the majority of the nation for their monstrous proceedings; but they thought themselves secure from the anger of the Deity because few of them be- lieved in his existence, and from the resentment of the people, because they had obtruded into the pulpit and on the bench expositors of the gospel and of the law who were obsequious to their dictates, and because they had raised an army, whose officers they supposed were wild and irreligious enough to be firm to their interest. For their further security, they strengthened themselves by foreign alliances, and by sacri- ficing to strangers the trade, the interest, and the honour of their own country; and as the landed interest was destroyed 296 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. to enrich stock-jobbers, so the fair trader was undermined and ruined to gratify foreigners. The royalists became so intimidated, that they suffered as great a number of their friends to be causelessly incarcerated; as would have been alone sufficient to restore James and vanquish all opposers; and they tamely allowed the doc- trine to be publicly asserted, that the affections of the people having become withdrawn from the usurper, they were now to be ruled by force. Some sedate men, among Murdoch's friends, however, laid before him the odiousness of this doc- trine, and pointed out to him the dangers with which he was surrounded; but he had neither judgment to pursue good counsel, nor resolution to extricate himself from bad, and he discountenanced them for their wholesome advice, and suf- fered himself to be led daily into fresh errors. Yet he eventually was roused from his low indulgences, and driven into concurrence with his best advisers, and with the royalists themselves, by a cause which might seem worlds asunder from producing any such effects,-the insolence and perver- sity of his son Walter. Murdoch was continually slighted and worried and thwarted and tortured by Walter, and he had no resource against him; for with much ado, he at length began to comprehend that he was held in no esteem by even his own council. This was sufficient to make the dullest brain perceive, that his shadow of government could be of no longer duration; or that if it were, yet it must be in so precarious a manner as to render private life much more desirable; and what chiefly confirmed him in this opinion was the discovery that, while the affections of the people had passed away from himself, they had become fixed on James. That young prince had already given the most undeniable testimonies of the firmest resolution, and the most intrepid courage; and a peace lately concluded between Scotland and England, having given opportunity to many of the young THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 297 nobility and gentry to travel into England, they brought back such accounts of him, as made the whole kingdom enamoured with his character; nor was it a small inducement to their af- fection, that he entertained his own countrymen in their own dialect, with great propriety and elegance, notwithstanding his foreign education. The English had no motive to treat him with further hostility, than merely to hold him in cap- tivity; and they instructed him in the learning of the times, withheld him not from accomplishing himself in the exercises of war, and did not restrain him from acquiring that expe- rience in the general concerns of human life, and that ac- quaintance with the business of government, and with the spirit of the politics of the age, which was requisite to fit him for the reputable discharge of those high functions of sovereignty to which by his birth he was destined. The brightness of his parts, and his quickness of conception, were matter of surprise and discourse to the English court; and his innate sweetness of temper, and strict love of truth, charmed all mankind; and these endowments had so endeared him to the King of England, that all imaginable care was taken for the improvement of his mind, and for his instruction in all princely exercises. Buchanan says of him, that he was Rex longe optimus, by much the best of kings; and Biondi says that Scotsmen are naturally given to all good discipline, as well speculative as active, ingenious at sciences, stout and valiant in war, but that this prince outdid them all in aptness to all these, for he surpassed his teachers, as well in horse- manship as in theology, philosophy, and other liberal sciences, especially in music and poetry, wherein he proved most ex- pert, so that fortune, though seemingly unfavourable to him, had really crowned him with glory. Walter was quite the reverse of James. A grossness of understanding rendered him incapable of instruction; a con- ceited arrogance made him despise any; and his teachers of exercises soon found it a vain task to endeavour to correct 298 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. the affectation of his motions and the awkwardness of his behaviour. The two qualities most notorious in him, were cruelty and pride; which instigated him to persecute James's friends with the utmost rigour and inhumanity, and to treat his father's with neglect and indignity. He soon became the derision and aversion of all sorts of persons; even of those who followed or accompanied him for the gratification of their avarice by the offices they held under him, or for pro- tection by his power in the indulgence of their profligate habits. Even the chief of his favourites at last grew weary of his egregious follies. Murdoch was a great lover of hawking; a day was ap- pointed for that recreation; and his son would needs accom- pany him, a thing which very rarely happened; and when it did, they were so far from having any conversation to- gether, that they remarkably avoided turning their eyes on each other; and when by chance they did, in the father's looks might be discovered a sort of contemptuous pity, in the son's a haughty thoughtlessness, in both distaste of each other. The uncouth Walter would, however, condescend to speak, when he had a mind to get what he was sure his father had no inclination to grant; and therefore, riding briskly up to him, he rudely demanded Murdoch to give him the falcon which sate on his hand. Murdoch civilly refused to give him that particular hawk, in which he took much delight, and which he had trained himself, yet proffered him the choice of any other; but the son, impatient of any denial, suddenly seized the poor bird, and in a rage wrung off its head. The whole company stood amazed at the insolence and cruelty of the action; and the usurper, though his chief talent lay in dissimulation, could not forbear telling Walter that, since he had in vain used all means possible to bring him to obedience, he was resolved to find out a person whom both should be forced to obey. This wild action, therefore, at last deter- mined him to recall James, and free himself at once from a THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 299 government he knew not how to manage, and from his con- tinual fears of being deposed or assassinated by his graceless son. But as he was incapable of projecting so great a design himself, so he was utterly at a loss with whom to advise. His own council had acted so desperately, and gone such great lengths, in opposing and groundlessly traducing James, that their own consciences made them despair of pardon, or of an oblivion of their crimes, however generous or merciful that prince was represented to be; at least they could not reasonably expect to retain the lucrative offices which they now enjoyed; so that to consult men who were guided wholly by their fears or their interest, might not only pre- vent the design, but prove destructive to himself. But hap- pily he at last resolved to seek an interview with the discarded and exiled statesmen Marcus and Marcellus. Marcus was of illustrious birth, and one of the most con- summate statesmen of his time. His integrity to his lawful king was undoubted; his abilities were highly extolled, even by his enemies; and his courage and conduct had formerly almost accomplished the restoration of the King, and the sub- version of the usurpation. He was affable to all men, and extremely engaging in his conversation; and while he won their affections, he also engaged their respect. His family ever had a vast interest in the Highlands; and he had much improved it by address and virtues. Though his life had been mainly employed in civil affairs, yet he no sooner ap- peared in arms, than he seemed to have been educated in camps. He gave such proper orders, and took such prudent measures, that with few undisciplined armed men, he became terrible to veteran troops, and was esteemed a most expert general. Murdoch pretended to be sick, and published a resolution to make a progress towards the borders, and drink the waters of Scarborough; and under the mask of sending to the Eng- 300 THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. lish King for leave to travel into England, he despatched a letter to Marcellus and Marcus, entreating them to give him a private meeting at that place, together with such of their royalist countrymen as fully enjoyed their confidence. When they met, Murdoch gave them an account of his determina- tions, and, at the same time, had the weakness to tell them his reasons. Inwardly they despised him for the cause, as not proceeding from honour and justice, but extolled it for the effect, and made use of all proper arguments to engage him in so generous a design. Some were of opinion, that the affair should be conducted with great caution and fore- thought; but others, with Marcellus at their head, demon- strated that no human art or power could heal the wounds of Scotland, or preserve the nation from intestine war, from foreign insults, and from being the scorn and detestation of the whole earth, without promptly, unanimously, and joyfully inviting back their lawful sovereign King James. Murdoch, nowever, continued irresolute, and clouded with doubts and fears. He questioned their being able to succeed, and was fearful they should; for he knew not what treatment he should find, since he could not put on resolution enough to give them assistance. He was afraid to return, because he more than doubted his being able to secure himself in his usurpation; he doubted that his own ministers would have intelligence of his proceedings, and he feared their resent- ment, and, above all, he dreaded the impetuous temper and indiscreet conduct of Walter, and could not but admire and reverence King James for the excellent qualities ascribed to him, though it was not in his nature to imitate them. All, therefore, that could be extorted from him, was an engage- ment to remain where he was, and leave Walter and the re- bellious faction to shift for themselves, while Marcellus and Marcus should return to Scotland with their friends and ad- herents, and make one brave push for the recovery of their liberties and the restoration of the King. THE RESTORATION OF JAMES I. 301 They no sooner arrived there, than they published declara- tions in the King's name of rewards to all people who should contribute to place him on the throne of his ancestors, and of a free and general pardon to his greatest enemies, provided they thenceforward forbore giving countenance or assistance to the usurper's party. At the same time, they issued sum- monses to all the nobility and gentry to meet at a prefixed time and place, to consult the proper measures to bring back the King, to prevent the effusion of blood, and to restore the peace and flourishing condition of the kingdom. The reception these declarations found, answered the most eager desires, and exceeded the most sanguine expectations. The concourse of the people at the time and place appointed was so vast, that it did not seem King James had one enemy, or the usurper one friend left in the whole nation; and the proposal of recalling James was received by the assembly with unanimous acclamations of excessive joy. Every man strove who should appear most forward in the work, and every man also was now astonished that the thing was not long before accomplished, which every man so ardently desired. The barons happily concurred with the people; and ambassadors were promptly despatched to negotiate with the English court, and were courteously and cordially received. The affairs of England, at the moment, just as decidedly as those of Scotland, could take no harm and might derive much good from the restoration of James; and as he was now an Englishman by education, and had become attached by habit to English manners, English society, and even Eng- .ish scenery, and had recently married a lady who was the daughter of the most powerful English statesman of the period, and the kinswoman of the English monarch himself, tate policy suggested that his accession at that juncture to he Scotish throne, especially when concurring with the earnest wish and confidence and affection of almost the vhole body of the Scotish people, would probably give the 302 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. English court a high influence over Scotish politics, and break up the alliance between Scotland and France, and greatly promote the peace and the power of England. The negociation, therefore, was easy and short. The ransom for James was fixed at one hundred thousand merks sterling; and one half of this sum was remitted in name of dowry to his young queen, and the other half allowed to lie over till the Scots people's convenience, on condition of their sending hostages who should remain in England till it was paid. The hostages were sent; and James was conducted to the confines of his own kingdom by a splendid convoy of English statesmen and nobles, together with their attendants,—and was there received by a throng of Scotish nobles and barons, and conducted with great pomp and joy to Edinburgh,—and was soon after crowned, amid high solemnities and national jubilation, at Scone. The end of this monarch's reign, however, was dismal and gory; and is narrated in the first volume of these historiettes, in the sketch entitled, "Assassination of James I." His restoration occurred in the end of the year 1423, when he was in the 27th year of his age. THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. THE isthmus of Darien extends in the form of a crescent between North America and South America, and is washed on one side by the Caribbean Sea and on the other by the Pacific Ocean. It lies within the tropics, and has a moun- tainous character, and measures about 300 miles in length and about 60 in breadth. It early became important to the Spaniards, in connexion with their transit traffic from Peru ; it has been the scene of more great actions than almost any other district of equal extent on the American continent; and, toward the close of the 17th century, it was the brief seat of one of the most brilliant and disastrous efforts at THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 303 colonization which have ever occurred in the history of the Scotish people. A Mr. Paterson, a Scotchman, of whose birth and early history nothing is known, but who appears to have been both well educated and very clever, went from Europe to the wes- tern world on a mission of some kind to the Red Indians, and soon began to feel a deep interest in the country and in its great commercial capabilities. He particularly frequented the isthmus of Darien; and there he got introduced to Cap- tain Dampier and Mr. Wafer, the subsequent authors of in- telligent books upon the country,-and cultivated the ac- quaintance of some of the old buccaneers, who, after surviv- ing a long series of exploits, recounted with enthusiasm how easily they had passed and repassed from the one ocean to the other, sometimes in gangs of scores or hundreds, driving lines of mules before them laden with the plunder of friends and of foes. Paterson, after hearing their stories and exa- mining the region for himself, became convinced that a tract of country extended quite across the isthmus which had never been possessed by the Spaniards, and was inhabited by a people continually at war with them; that along the coast, on the Atlantic side, there lay a string of islands, called the Samboloes, and one of them, the Isle of Pines, all uninhabited and full of natural strengths and forests; that the seas which washed the isthmus abounded with turtle and with the mana- tee or sea-cow; that midway between Portobello and Car- thagena, but nearly 50 leagues distant from either, at a place called Acta, in the mouth of the river Darien, was a natural harbour, capable of accommodating the largest fleets, and defended from storms and from enemies by islands and rocks and high grounds which faced and flanked it; that on the Pacific side of the same tract of the isthmus, were other natural harbours, both capacious and strong; that a range of uplands extended from sea to sea of such height as to create a temperate climate in the midst of the sultry latitudes, and 304 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. of such moderate clothing with forests as to enjoy refreshing shade without being rendered chokingly damp; that the soil, to a great extent, was a rich black mould, two or three feet deep, spontaneously producing fine tropical roots and herbs and fruits; that roads might easily be made along the uplands sufficient to allow mules and even carriages to pass daily between the harbour on the Atlantic and the harbours on the Pacific; and that, therefore, this tract of country seemed to possess all the requisites of a commercial nexus between the great oceans of the two hemispheres,-to be, in fact, a ready-formed entrepot and focus for a very large portion of the trade and intercourse of the world. Paterson saw gold in some parts of the isthmus, and might readily have found occasion to indulge in specula- tions respecting vast possible stores of mineral wealth; but he reflected on the far more important objects of abridging practical distances between the great countries of the earth, preserving the lives of seamen, economizing the costs and labours and time of international merchants, and facilitating the ordinary operations of one grand department of the world's wellbeing; and in order to achieve all this, he pro- jected the formation upon the neutral territory in Darien of an intelligent and powerful colony, well founded on a wise and regular system, well supported by rich and manifold ramifications with European interests, and well protected by the special patronage and aid of some one European govern- "The time and expense of navigation to China, Ja- pan, the Spice Islands, and the far greatest part of the East Indies," said he in one of his communications on the subject, "will be lessened more than half, and the consumption of European commodities and manufactures will soon be more than doubled. Trade will increase trade, and money will beget money, and the trading world shall need no more to want work for their hands, but will rather want hands for heir work. Thus this door of the seas, and the key of the ment. THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 305 universe, with anything of a reasonable management, will, of course, enable its proprietors to give laws to both oceans, and to become arbitrators of the commercial world, without being liable to the fatigues, expenses, and dangers, or contracting the guilt and blood, of Alexander and Cæsar. In all our empires that have been anything universal, the conquerors have been obliged to seek out and court their conquests from afar; but the universal force and influence of this attractive magnet, is such as can much more effectually bring empire home to its proprietors' doors." Paterson thought first to offer his project to England, supposing that she had most power to turn it to the general benefit of the world, and that she would gladly adopt it for sake of connecting the interests of her European, American, West-Indian, African, and East-Indian trade; and he went to London for the purpose of making it known; and, having but few friends there who could assist him, he attempted to draw notice and inspire confidence by forming a scheme for the creation of a national bank. But he found, as many a great projector has done both before and since, that the per- sons to whom he communicated his ideas took the honour of them to themselves, and ceased to be civil to him the instant they had got entire possession of his scheme; so that, while secretly conscious of being the originator of the Bank of England, he saw his services in that capacity to become rather a hindrance than a help to his ulterior project; and he therefore mentioned that project to only a few, and met nothing but discouragement. He now went to the Conti- nent, and, with the aid of one Serrurier, a Walloon banker, who spoke all languages, and could accommodate himself to all men, he made offer of his project to the Dutch, the Ham- burghers, and the Elector of Brandenburg. But the Dutch and the Hamburghers, who, next to the English, ought to have felt most interest in the subject of his visit, heard him with indifference; and though the Elector at first received U 306 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. him with honour and kindness, he also was driven into indif- ference by court arts and false reports. Paterson, though a Scotchman perhaps as much by patrio- tic attachment as by birth, probably would never have thought of his own country as a suitable patron of his project, but for the insults and rebuffs which he thus encountered in other lands. He knew Scotland to be too poor to furnish the re- quisite funds, and too uncommercial to work out or perhaps even to appreciate the promised advantages; but now he regarded her very poverty and prostration as an argument for acquainting her with his scheme, and for modifying or en- larging it into suitableness to her condition, so that she might rise by its means into rivalship with those saucy states who had become rich and supercilious by their successes in com- merce. He therefore grafted upon his original project a plan for making Scotland the seat of a trade to Africa and the Indies, and for drawing to its aid the money and influence of such foreign merchants as had become jealous or resentful of the exclusive Indian Companies of England and Holland; and he was favoured at the very start with the vigorous par- tisanship of the well known Fletcher of Saltoun, whose ac- quaintance he had made in London, and who hated England and loved Scotland to excess, and eagerly looked out for anything which might bring benefit and fame to his country. Fletcher took Paterson with him to Scotland, presented him to the Marquis of Tweeddale, the minister of Scotland, and, with that power which a vehement spirit generally exerts over a diffident one, persuaded him, by arguments for the public good and by the honour which would redound to his admin- istration, to adopt the project. Reasons of state also hap- pened at the moment to be eminently and urgently favour- able, particularly the odium which hung over the whole court in connexion with the massacre of Glencoe, and the consequent necessity for some dazzling occurrence which might restore the Scotish nation to good humour and revive THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 307 the popularity of the King; and hence, as well perhaps as for some private reasons, the two secretaries of state, Lord Stair, and Mr. Johnston, and the Lord Advocate, Sir James Stewart, gave their prompt and hearty support. The whole nation were in a sullen and excitable mood,-indignant at the seeming truculency of the court,-discontented at the constant efflux of money and enterprise toward London,— angry at the total absence among themselves of the wealth and aggrandizement which were rapidly accumulating among surrounding nations, and relaxed and irritable under the recoil and subsidence of the animosities and persecutions and public broils which had so long kept them in feverish excite- ment; so that scarcely could they have been in a fitter trim for being suddenly and perfectly captivated with a great na- tional proposal which should burst on them as a novelty, and promise them peace and riches and glory. In June 1695 an act was passed by the Scotish parliament, creating a trading company to Africa and the new world, with power to plant colonies and build forts, under consent of the inhabitants, in places not possessed by other European nations; and a short while after, a charter to the same effect was granted by the Crown. Paterson now threw his project boldly upon the public, and opened a subscription for the special purpose of colonizing Darien; he issued glowing accounts of the territory, and wisely proposed to make it a free region, where no distinction of sect or party should pre- vail; and he was responded to, from all districts and by all classes in Scotland, with a warmth and outburst of enthu- siasm, as great as had ever before distinguished any national movement. Multitudes of the population were smitten as with a mania, and began, in a wild and rapturous day-dream, to grasp at the riches of both of the Indies. The common people, the merchants, the gentry, the nobility, all the royal burghs, and most public bodies hastened to subscribe their name and credit. Young ladies threw their little fortunes 308 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. into the stock; and widows sold their jointures, in order that they might be able to become subscribers. Almost in an instant £400,000 were subscribed in Scotland, though it be- came afterwards known, that there was not then above twice that amount of money in the kingdom. The famous Mr. Law, then a youth, afterwards confessed, that the facility with which he saw the passion of speculation spread, con- vinced him of the possibility of producing the same effect from the same cause, but upon a larger scale, when the Duke of Orleans, in the year of the Mississippi, engaged him, against his will, to turn his bank into a bubble. Even in London and on the Continent, also, where Paterson's project had originally been received with churlishness and mistrust, the spirit which burst out in Scotland found a hearty response ; and the very scheme which merchants there had treated as worthless when opened to them in private, struck them with high hopes when it came to them on the wings of public fame; for, when opportunity was offered them of becoming joint-subscribers with the Scotch, the Londoners, within the brief period of nine days, subscribed £300,000, and the Dutch and the Hamburghers subscribed £200,000. Pater- son was entitled by the original articles of the Company to receive two per cent. on the stock, and three per cent. on the profits; but when he saw the subscriptions become so vast, he nobly gave a discharge of both claims, in a manner far more creditable to him than even all the honours of a great projector. "It was not," said he, "suspicion of the justice or gratitude of the Company, nor a consciousness that my services could ever become useless to them, but the in- gratitude of some individuals experienced in life, which made it a matter of common prudence in me, to ask a retribution for six years of my time, and £10,000 spent in promoting the establishment of the Company. But now that I see it standing upon the authority of parliament, and supported by so many great and good men, I release all claim to that retri. THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 309 bition, happy in the noble concession made to me, but hap- pier in the return which I now make for it." The commercial jealousy of the English and Dutch East India Companies, however, was fired by the magnificent com- mencement of the Darien speculation, and soon managed to create so great an alarm as to interpose mighty obstacles to its success. The West India merchants of England were inoculated with terror; the public foes of Scotland in the English metropolis were summoned to take the field; and the opulent and middle classes of England were cajoled and bantered into a revival of old national animosities. On the 13th of December, 1695, the two houses of the English par- liament, without even a show of enquiry or reflection, con- curred in a violent and absurd address to the King, alleging that, from the vast immunities conferred on the new Com- pany, the stock and shipping of England would be transferred to Scotland, which might become a free port for the commo- dities of the East,-that the English, expelled from the for eign markets by the competition of the Scots and by their exemption from duties, would be undersold by a clandestine importation at home, and that if Scotland were once per- mitted to acquire a settlement in America, the colonial trade of England would be utterly lost; and soon after the Com- mons proceeded to enquire by what means the act in favour of the new Company had been obtained in the Scotish par- liament, to examine what subscriptions had been procured in London, and to impeach the directors in both kingdoms for administering an oath of fidelity in England. Among six hundred legislators not one had sagacity or patriotism enough to propose that the principles and tendencies of the Darien scheme should be investigated, and that, if these should be found good, the benefit of it should, by a participation of rights, and under the sanction of a committee of both parlia- ments, be made the common property of the two nations. The King replied to his English parliament, that he had been 310 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. ill-advised in Scotland, but would hope to find some remedy to prevent the apprehended evils; and he immediately dis- missed his Scotish ministers, and sent orders to his resident at Hamburgh to present a memorial to the senate of that city, disowning the new Company, and warning them against all connection with it. The English subscribers to the scheme were so intimidated by the proceedings of the parliament and the King, that they withdrew their subscriptions; and even the Dutch and the Hamburghers were so pusillanimous as to follow their example. Yet an assembly of Hamburgh mer- chants, to whom the senate of that city sent King William's memorial, displayed a spirit which ought to have animated all the foreign subscribers, and to have given a permanent rebuke to all undue interference on the part of kings and governments with commercial affairs. "We look upon it," said they, “as a very strange thing, that the King of Britain should offer to hinder us, who are a free people, to trade with whom we please; but are amazed to think, that he would hinder us from joining with his own subjects in Scotland, to whom he had lately given such large privileges, by so solemn an act of parliament." The Scots felt rather animated than discouraged by the vigorous opposition made to them,-for they viewed it as a proof of the envy of the English, and of their conviction that great advantages would result to Scotland from the colony; and they proceeded, throughout a period of between two and three years, to make requisite preparations for their great enterprise. The Company built or purchased in Holland five frigates of from thirty-six to sixty guns; and fitted them out with military stores, great quantities of provisions, and large cargoes of merchandise; and engaged for them about twelve hundred colonists,-among whom were younger sons of many of the noble and most ancient families of Scotland, and sixty officers who had been disbanded at the peace, who carried with them retainers and male servants and followers, THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 311 יז drawn from their own estates or from those of their relations, and known to be faithful and brave. They also prospectively vested the government of the colony in an assembly and a counsel of seven, distinct from the Company; and reserved as their corporate or peculiar property a twentieth part of the lands, metals, precious stones, and pearl fisheries; and ordained that an annual payment of seven thousand pounds should be made for the use of the shipping and of the mili- tary stores. As the preparations of the Company approached comple- tion, they found themselves confronted with new and serious discouragements. They had tried to obtain redress for the defalcation of their English and foreign subscribers, and for the opposition of the English and Dutch East India Com- panies, but could not get any. All their resources were crippled by a general deficiency of the harvests in the pre- ceding years, and by such a sore prevalence of famine throughout Scotland as cut off many families for want and drove many more to other countries in search of subsistence, and by the consequent draining and impoverishing of the national wealth in the exportation of large sums of money for grain. But, above all, the Company became increasingly embarrassed by the persevering and extending antagonism of the King and the English court. William was no doubt per- plexed by the conflicting interests of the nations over whom he presided, and must have felt that any appearance of concession which he should make to the trade of Scotland would exasper- ate the English and the Dutch. But he also had great designs of policy, particularly the repression of the Bourbons and the partition of Spain, which required him to study for a time the good humour of the great Continental powers, and were inconsistent with his giving any countenance to the coloniza- tion of Darien; for in order to prevent the succession of the Bourbons to the whole of the Spanish monarchy, he had concerted with Louis a partition treaty in such terms, that 312 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. .. the Darien expedition might easily be construed by suspect ing Spaniards into the first step towards its execution, and by suspecting Frenchmen into a perfidious breach of its conditions. The Jacobites, moreover, had acquired the chief share and direction in the Darien Company; and they would naturally be suspected by William himself as not at all re- luctant to render him odious to his other subjects, and to involve him prematurely in a rupture with Spain. C The Company, however, were not to be thwarted from their purpose by either misfortune or misrepresentation or hostility; and they went steadily forward in their prepara- tions, and fortified themselves with whatever precautions and defences were in their power. Nothing else," remarks one of our ablest historians, "than the national pride or honour, piqued and indignant at the opposition of the English, could have incited the Scots, under such multiplied discourage- ments, to persist in the scheme." And certainly they may have owed much to the resolution and fervour which are apt to be enkindled by just indignation; but they probably owed far more to the proverbial indomitableness of their na- tional spirit, to the sinewy firmness of high moral decision, and to the inventive and sturdy heroism which becomes keen-eyed and energetic in the very proportion in which it is opposed. Their very English enemies in the end must have contemplated them fully more with involuntary rever- ence than with aversion; and—to adopt the words of another of our historians—“ neighbouring nations, with a mixture of surprise and respect, saw the poorest kingdom of Europe sending forth the most gallant and the most numerous colony that had ever gone from the old to the new world." In 1698, when the expedition was completely ready, and when every practicable provision had been made for it with- out possibility of recall, the Scotish parliament unanimously addressed the King on its behalf, and the Lord President, Sir Hugh Dalrymple, brother to Lord Stair, and head of the THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 313 bench, and the Lord Advocate, Sir James Stuart, head of the bar, jointly drew up memorials to him, able in arrangement information, and argument, defending the rights of the Company on the principles of constitutional and of public law. But in reply, he complained that he had not been consulted in the getting up of the expedition; and when the precise nature and objects of it were explained to him, he caused instructions to be sent to America to exclude the Scots from all access to the English plantations. On the 26th of July, 1698, the colonists, to the number of about 300 gentlemen of fortune, and about 900 peasants, principally hardy Highlanders, set sail from Leith, amid the praises and prayers and tears of their friends, and in view of a prodigious concourse who had poured down from Edin- burgh and the surrounding country to see them depart. Many seamen and soldiers, whose services had been refused because more had offered themselves than could be accommodated or employed, were found hid in the ships, and, when ordered ashore, clung to the ropes and timbers, and implored permis- sion to go without engagement or reward. The fleet coasted round the north of Scotland, called at Madeira, and arrived in two months at Darien, with the loss of only 15 of the 1,200 passengers. The colonists, at the time of their arrival, if they had been actuated by similar ambition and rapacity to the original Spanish invaders, might have ranged from the north of Mexico to the south of Chili with no bad prospect of overturning the whole empire of Spain along the shores of the Pacific; but, preferring the immeasurably better policy of modesty and peace and justice, and determined to hold possession of not a foot of ground which they could not hon- estly and amicably call their own, they commenced their proceedings by purchasing lands from the native princes, and then sent messages of amity to such Spanish governors as were within their reach. Their destination was Acta, be- tween Portobello and Carthagena, on the part of the coast 314 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. opposite the Isle of Pines. They called the territory New Caledonia, the intended capital of it New Edinburgh, and the peninsula or long and high promontory which flanked the harbour and formed a fine site for their fortifications New St. Andrew or Fort St. Andrew. They cut a cana] across the low narrow neck of the peninsula, so as to afford a ready communication between the harbour and the ocean; they constructed their defences immediately over this outlet, and planted upon them fifty pieces of cannon; and they then proclaimed the place a free port, and sent home most flat- tering accounts of their position and hopes. A very lofty mountain soared right up into the rarified air from the side of the harbour opposite the fort; and on this they placed a watch-house, where they could command an immense range of vision to prevent surprise; and thither the Highlanders often repaired to enjoy the cool atmosphere, and to talk of the friends whom they had left behind in their native glens. The time of the colonists' arrival, the latter part of autumn, was the most temperate and healthful season in that climate, when the air was cool, serene, and refreshing, and the rich and luxuriant soil was no longer deluged with the rains attracted by a vertical sun. But the months which fol- lowed, comprising nearly two-thirds of the year, were an almost incessant course of sultry dampness, rain, or general unwholesomeness; the supplies of food which the colony had brought with them were designed more for the voyage than for after use, and became soon exhausted; the gentlemen colonists had been unaccustomed to labour, and could render but little aid to any practical operations; the peasant colonists. had spent their lives in cold and mountainous districts, and sank into languor and lassitude beneath the heat of their new abode, and were unequal to the fatigue of clearing the ground, in preparation for the speedy raising of crops; the cargoes of merchandise which had been brought out were ill adapted to the nearest markets, and could not be conveyed from the THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN 315 colony to any probable purchasers for want of sloops; a vessel which had been despatched from Scotland to the colony with provisions was burnt at sea; the Spaniards, in- stead of reciprocating the colonists' wishes for amity, at- tacked and injured their infant settlement, and seized one of their ships which stranded at Carthagena on its way to Bar- badoes, and condemned and imprisoned its crew as pirates; and the English colonial governors in the West Indian Is- lands and on the American Continent proclaimed the settle- ment at Darien to be an infringement of the peace and alli- ance with Spain, and would neither make any recognition of it, nor suffer it to be supplied with provisions, or admitted to any negociation; so that, as the result of an utter torrent of disasters, the Scots colonists soon began to be thrown prostrate or swept away by disease, starvation, and despair. At home, too, a most violent remonstrance was presented to King William against them by the ambassador of Spain; and the French King, in order to ingratiate himself with the court of Madrid, offered a squadron to drive them from Darien. At the end of only eight months from the time of their landing, such of the colonists as still survived, and who then were a small and sickly and famishing remnant, re-embarked for Scotland, and bade a mournful adieu to all their enterprise and their hopes; and when their ships approached the har- bours of the English plantations in the West Indies and in Continental America, they were either refused access or treacherously admitted and detained. Paterson, the projec tor, had been the first to enter the fleet at Leith, and he was the last who went on board at Darien. The directors of the Company at home, ignorant of the misfortunes of the colony, prepared and despatched a second and a third expedition to support and strengthen it; and they also renewed their applications to the King for protec- tion; and maintained, in opposition to statements in the Spanish ambassador's memorial, that a legitimate purchase 316 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. of their territory from the native princes, who had still pre- served their independence and the rights of possession, was a title far superior to an alleged preoccupancy on the part of the Spaniards, who had been unable to conquer it, and had long tacitly relinquished their claims. relentlessly opposed as ever by both the lish; and felt compelled to proceed as before in the mere might of their own energy, with all their wrongs unacknow- ledged and unrelaxed. But they were as King and the Eng- The second expedition was fully more numerous than the first, but was also more hastily prepared, and less suitably equipped for the voyage. One of its ships was lost at sea; many of the men in the other ships died on board; and the rest arrived at their destination at different times and in broken health, and were dismally appalled when they learned the fate of the twelve hundred who had gone before them. They found the huts burnt and the fortifications demolished; they were poorly provided with all sorts of supplies; they saw no encouragement on the spot, and had no near hope of succour from Europe; and they were consequently over- whelmed on the very day of their landing with the whole. pressure of calamity which had accumulated on their prede- cessors slowly and by degrees. Dissensions of an ecclesias- tical nature, too, or more probably a series of struggles be- tween the irreligiousness of most and the religiousness of a few, imparted a sad and peculiar acerbity to their disasters. Four ministers had been sent out with them by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, "to take charge of the souls of the colony, and to erect a presbytery, with a mode- rator, clerk, and record of proceedings, to appoint ruling elders, deacons, overseers of the manners of the people, and assistants in the exercise of church discipline and govern- ment, and to hold regular kirk-sessions ;" and these sacred officials appear to have prosecuted their work with so much zeal, and to have provoked by it so much opposition, that THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 317 • very soon the majority of those who ought to have been their flock became their foes, and precipitated the moral affairs of the colony into confusion and disgrace. "There have abounded, and do still remain among us," said the ministers in a report to the General Assembly, "such abominations, notwithstanding all the means used to restrain and suppress them, as the merest heathens from the light of Nature do ablior,—such as atheistical swearing and cursing, brutish drunkenness, detestable lying and prevaricating, obscene and filthy talking, mocking of godliness, yea, and among too many of the meaner sort, both thieving and pilfering, besides Sabbath-breaking, contempt of all gospel ordinances, &c., which are stumbling to the very Indians, opprobrious to the Christian name, and reproachful to the church and nation to which we belong. Among those that are free of those gross scandalous abominations, the far greater part among us have little of the spiritual heart-exercising sense of religion, and the power of godliness; many are grossly ignorant of the principles of religion; and, among the more knowing, hypo- crisy, formality, impenitency, unbelief, indifferency, security, omission of prayer, neglecting the great salvation, slighting of Christ offered in the gospel, and other spiritual sins, do lamentably prevail." A people so wicked, even if they had possessed an ocean of wealth, were on the very plunge to "drown themselves in perdition and destruction;" and, when they were already beggared and immolated by disaster, they can be regarded only as maniacs perpetrating suicide with slow tortures, and going gorily to ruin. Though Darien had been a very paradise for both wellbeing and privilege, its colo- nists could scarcely expect but to be expelled from it when they gave themselves so terribly up to the working of iniquity. The third expedition consisted principally of Captain Campbell, a descendant of the families of Athole and Bread- albane, and a company of people from his own estate whom 318 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. ne had commanded in Flanders; and they sailed in a ship belonging to himself, and arrived at Darien three months after the arrival of the second expedition. They learned on landing that a Spanish force of 1,600 men, who had been brought from the other side of the isthmus, lay encamped at a short distance from the settlement, that a Spanish squadron of eleven ships was daily expected from Carthagena, and tha. the two forces intended to make a simultaneous attack upon Fort St. Andrew. Captain Campbell, in compliment to his reputation and his birth, was offered the military command of the colony; and in order to disconcert the Spaniards and prevent their two forces from combining, he resolved to at- tack first; and therefore, on the second day after his arrival, before his presence or his tactics could be suspected by the enemy, he marched at the head of 200 men, assailed the Spanish camp by night, slew many of their troops and put the rest to flight, and returned in triumph to the fort on the fifth day. But he found the Spanish ships before the har- bour, their troops landed, and almost all hopes of help or provisions cut off; yet he stood a siege nearly six weeks, till almost all his officers were dead, till his wells were cut off by the approaches of the enemy, and till his ammunition was so far expended, that he was obliged to melt the pewter dishes of the garrison into balls. The colonists then capitu- lated, and not only obtained the common honours of war, and security for the property of the Company, but, as if they had been conquerors, exacted hostages for performance of the con- ditions. Captain Campbell alone desired to be excepted from the capitulation, alleging that he was certain the Spaniards could not forgive him the mischief which he so lately had done them; and he made his escape in his vessel, and arrived safely first at New-York and then in Scotland. But those whom he left behind endured a harder fate. They were so weak in health as to be able to get out of harbour only with the gen- erous assistance of their late enemies, the Spaniards; their THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 319 ships were so ill-manned and so leaky as to be compelled, on the voyage, to run into different ports belonging to England and to Spain; one of the ships, a frigate of 60 guns, was lost on the bar of Charleston, another was seized and detained by one of the English colonial governments, and only one, and that a small one, eventually held on its way to Scotland; and of all the many hundreds of strong and brave men who had so short a while before gone to Darien, not more than about thirty escaped death, imprisonment, and shipwreck, and saw once more their native country. Paterson, poor fellow, was both true and diligent to the end, and for a time looked more like a skeleton than a man, and was temporarily overwhelmed by fever and lunacy, and afterwards made vain efforts to re- trieve the awful desolation which had come over his enter- prise, and then survived many years in Scotland, pitied and respected by multitudes of his countrymen, but unremuner- ated and unacknowledged by his country's authorities. When intelligence arrived in Scotland of the abandonment of Darien by the first expedition, the whole nation was struck with consternation and anger; and though somewhat soothed and pacified under the hope of success on the part of the second and the third expeditions, they continued in a state of violent excitement against the obstructors and enemies of their enterprise. The English court was assailed with clam- orous cries of indignation; the King was denounced, in pamphlets of the most violent and inflammatory character, as a hypocrite, and as the deceiver of those who had shed their best blood in his cause, and as the author of all the recent calamities which had befallen Scotland; all the public authorities who had embarrassed or opposed the Darien Company were furiously called upon to redress the wrongs they had committed, and to make a formal acknowledgment of the Scotish people's right to New Caledonia; the Jacobites, who had practically the mastery in all the Company's affairs, worked hard to turn the public rage to the account of their 320 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. - peculiar politics, ana to make the massacre of Glenco and the disasters of Darien subservient to the restoration of James; the Commission of the General Assembly appointed special prayers to be offered in the churches for averting the calamities of the nation; the populace gave defiance to a proclamation which was issued by the government against seditious and disorderly persons; and a vast multitude of all the respectable classes of the population subscribed a sort of national petition for a meeting of parliament to vindicate the rights of the nation, and to repair or mitigate the injuries of the Darien sufferers. The King saw no way of neutralizing the ferment in Scot- land, but to throw himself upon the English parliament; and he appealed to them in a style of astuteness and high policy, but found them rather cooled in his cause, and seem- ingly half-disposed to relent of their former severity to the Scots. The Lords, indeed, by a small majority, voted an address to him, vindicating his opposition to the Darien Company; but the Commons, roused into pretty general resentment of the predilection which he had been showing an all occasions to the Dutch, refused to concur in the ad- dress; and, when he recommended a legislative union of the two kingdoms as the fittest measure for reconciling all past disagreements and preventing all future ones, both Houses re- jected his proposal. The Scotish parliament, also, soon met, and proved incomparably more intractable than the English. The presbyterian members united with the Jacobites; a ma- jority of the whole legislature appeared in opposition to the King's measures; most violent addresses were presented from the towns and counties; all persons who ventured to dispute or doubt the utility of Darien were reputed public enemies, and the minions of a hostile and corrupt court; a resolution to assert the national right to New Caledonia, and to support the colony as a national affair, was about to be adopted, and was quashed only by an adjournment; and at length the THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 321 general ferment rose so high, and the attitude assumed by the great majority became so bold and menacing, that the commissioner, the Duke of Queensberry, prorogued the ses- sion. But before the members dispersed, they concurred in a remonstrance to the King against illegal adjournments, as a violation both of the freedom of debate and of the declara- tion of rights. When intelligence arrived of the defeat of the second and third expeditions to Darien by the Spaniards, the Scotish populace burst into tumult, proclaimed illuminations for the deliverance of New Caledonia, demolished the windows or insulted the persons of the officers of state, and broke open the prisons to release some persons who had been incarcer- ated for sedition; and throughout all this conduct, they hurled defiance at the authorities, and were far too powerful to be reached by any punishment. "But❞—to quote from Laing, in whose words we shall relate the sequel of this sad story— "when the surrender and final ruin of the settlement were known, the calamitous state of the nation was universally felt. Two hundred thousand pounds were sunk and lost in the different expeditions; an equal sum had been sent abroad during five years of scarcity for the purchase of food; and a general bankruptcy was expected to ensue. Many who had subscribed their whole fortunes were reduced to ruin; and few families had escaped the loss of a relative or friend. In- stead of returning with wealth and distinction, the adventur- ers who survived the mortality of a noxious climate, continued to languish in the Spanish prisons, or were left to starve in the English plantations; and the nation awaked from its dreams of immense wealth, stript of its credit, resources, and trade. Its stock for trade was exhausted; the credit of the nation was ruined; and as every neighbouring kingdom had proved an enemy, hostile to its aggrandisement, all hopes were extinguished of emerging from a poor and contemptible The sense of present degradation was exasperated by state. X 322 THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. the memory of former independence, when its arms were respected, and its alliance solicited by the greatest potentates. Every domestic calamity which the country had sustained, was industriously traced to the removal of the seat of govern- ment, the corrupt resort of the nobility to the English court, and the pernicious influence of English councils since the union of the crowns. The most desperate attempts were projected, to sit in parliament by force, or to hold a conven- tion of estates at Perth. On the Duke of Gloucester's death, in whom, as the last child of the Princess Anne, the settle- ment of the crown determined, the Jacobites proposed to declare the throne vacant, and even the Presbyterians seem to have deliberated whether to separate from England, if no successors were provided on the King's demise. As the scarcity of money, even for the common purposes of circu- lation, was universally felt, an association was formed against the use of foreign manufactures, or the importation of French wines, to deprive the government of the most productive ar- ticles of customs and excise. The Jacobites endeavoured to seduce, or prepared to disband, the army when the parlia- ment met. Every indication threatened a separation of the crowns; but their applications to the court of St. Germains were unexpectedly rejected. Louis, unassured as yet of his grandson's succession to the Spanish monarchy, was unwil- ling to renounce the partition treaty, and persuaded James, that amidst the dissensions of the two kingdoms, the encour- agement given to the Scots might incense the English, from whom alone his restoration could proceed. That bigotted monarch, engrossed with acts of monastic devotion, tamely expected the death of William as a signal to return and re- ascend the throne. "As the supplies for the army expired with the year, a session of parliament became indispensable; but the situa- tion of the country never appeared more alarming or formi- dable to government, and nothing less than the King's pre- THE SCOTISH COLONY OF DARIEN. 323 sence was expected to appease the public discontent. His declining health, however, had increased his natural reserve and aversion to factions. Reposing a just confidence in his commissioner, the Duke of Queensberry's address and influ- ence, he endeavoured by a conciliatory declaration to sooth the people, and availed himself dexterously of the loss of Darien to represent the dangerous impolicy of involving his ancient kingdom, alone and unsupported, in a heavy war which she was unable to sustain, for a precarious settlement which it was impossible to preserve in opposition to Spain. Every security was proposed for the preservation of religion, per- sonal liberty, and the freedom of trade. The prisoners wrecked and condemned at Carthagena as pirates, were re- leased at his request; and as the recovery of Darien, the sole bond of union, was no longer expected, the Presbyte- rians were gradually detached from a party whose violence aimed at the destruction of the state. The members of par- liament were the most untractable, as they were mutually pledged by their late addresses. But the boroughs were recently admitted to farm the customs; bribes and pensions. were freely dispensed; and the officers of state undertook each a separate progress through the country, not to corrupt. the leaders of opposition, but to seduce their adherents. “When the parliament was opened, the affairs of Darien were too important to be treated with silence or contempt. The honour and independence of the nation remained to be vindicated; and a series of popular and high spirited reso- lutions were adopted, against which the ministers durst not express their dissent. The addresses, votes, and the whole procedure of the English parliament, against a Company in- stituted by an act of the Scotish legislature, were declared an officious and undue encroachment on the authority of an independent state; the memorial of the English resident to the senate of Hamburgh was pronounced injurious, false, and contradictory to the laws of nations; the proclamations of 324 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. the governors in the English plantations were stigmatised as pernicious to the Company, barbarous and repugnant to the common rights of humanity; the colony of New Caledonia was finally vindicated, as a just and legal settlement, perfectly warranted by the statute and letters-patent which the Com- pany had obtained. On these unanimous resolutions the minis- try proposed to address the King. The opposition demanded an act, not only to assert the right, but to support the prose- cution of the claim to Darien, without which they asserted that the Company was still insecure, and its adventurers liable to be treated as pirates. But their design was obvious, to involve the King in hostilities with Spain. After a fierce. and tumultuous debate, an address was carried by twenty- four votes, to vindicate the honour of the kingdom, and as- sure the Company of his Majesty's protection. The immu- nities of the Darien Company were prolonged; the exporta- tion of wool, the importation of foreign manufactures, or of French wines, were prohibited till the fish and manufactures of Scotland were admitted into France; the army was reduced to three thousand men; and by the prudent concessions of William, aided by the intrigues of his ministers, a parliament which had endangered the harmony of the two kingdoms was quietly adjourned. The remainder of the reign passed in sullen discontent at the loss of Darien, the remembrance of which was long preserved with resentment and regret." THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. In 1333, when young King David II. of Scotland had sunk into misfortune, and the usurper Edward Baliol had abjectly flung himself and the kingdom at the foot of the English throne, when the two ablest military commanders of the loyal Scots, Sir Andrew Moray and the Knight of Liddesdale, had been carried away, the one by captivity and the other by death : THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. 325 -when almost all the flower of the Scotish forces, the veteran officers in the counsels and campaigns of Robert Bruce, had given place to comparatively young and inexperienced men, -when Archibald Douglas, lord of Galloway, a hot-headed warrior who was either wounded or defeated or made pris- oner in every battle which he fought, had just been appointed Regent under David II.,-and when the whole Scotish peo- ple were distracted by the sudden calamities which had fol- lowed the death of Robert Bruce, and by the tremendous schism which prevailed in connexion with Baliol's usurpation, and by the distress and poverty which had everywhere flowed from the thousand springs of the nation's long-continued agi- tations,— Edward III. of England proclaimed war with the Scots, and collected a great army, both of his own subjects and of foreigners, to invade their territory. A chief object of the English King was to obtain posses- sion of the town and castle of Berwick, which had been ceded to him by Baliol. The Scots valued this place as highly as he did, and conjectured from the first moment they heard of his hostility that he would try to make himself master of it; and they therefore put it into as strong a state of defence as they could, and poured into it a numerous and brave garri- son, and appointed Sir William Keith to govern the town and Patrick Earl of Dunbar to govern the castle. Edward approached with vast pomp and preparation, and affected to regard the Scots as a restless nation of truce-breakers, whom he ought to terrify with indignation and to castigate without mercy. He ordered his army to rendezvous promptly at Newcastle-on-Tyne about the end of spring; he desired that public prayers might be offered for himself and his troops in their meritorious progress of invasion; he requested the Earl of Flanders to prohibit his subjects from affording any aid by sea to the Scots; and, having recently gulled and blinded the King of France with pretences of deference to his advice in matters of Scotish politics, he now threw off all disguise, and 326 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. declared to that monarch that, in retaliation of their alleged violation of the international peace, he was resolved to cas- tigate the Scots and extort redress for grievances in such a manner as to himself should seem good. Edward sat down before Berwick at Tweedmouth in May; and finding, after he had remained about a month, that the place was not likely to be soon reduced, he led part of his army into Scotland, and spent several weeks in ravaging the country as far north as Dundee and Scone and as far west as Dumbarton. On his return, he found Berwick as entire and resolute as when he left it; and, being reinforced with a fresh body of troops from Ireland and Aquitaine, under the com- mand of John Lord D'Arcy, he made a determination not to leave it till he should either capture it or draw the Scots into a pitched battle. The besiegers do not appear to have had any engines or to have practised any vigorous system of attack, but seem principally to have maintained a strict blockade by land and sea, and to have placed their main hopes in wearing out the garrison's patience, or in starving them and the townspeople by want of provisions; and the besieged endeavoured to drive them off, or to fight their way through them for supplies and succours, by many vigorous sallies, and also made a successful assault upon the English fleet, and burned or sunk a large proportion of its ships. But at length the town was set on fire during a general attack, and in a great measure consumed; both soldiers and people within the walls began to turn feeble from scarcity of food; the inhabitants, harassed by the severe evils of the siege, and terrified to anticipate the worse evils of a storm, implored Sir William Keith and the Earl of Dunbar to offer terms of ca- pitulation; and on the 15th of July, a treaty was concluded with Edward, that the town and castle should be delivered to him on the fifth day after if not relieved before that time with 200 men-at-arms from the Scotish army or by a battle, -that in the interval, there should be a cessation of hostili- THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. 327 ties on both sides,-that in the event of a surrender, the lives of the garrison and of the inhabitants should be preserved, and their properties secured,—that to such persons as were disposed to leave the town, liberty should be granted to de- part, and 40 days allowed them to dispose of their effects,- and that permission should be enjoyed by Sir William Keith to go immediately in person, and make known the state of affairs to the Regent Douglas, who was then not far off at the head of an army. A most horrible action is asserted by the Scotish historians, Boece and Buchanan, to have been perpetrated at this time by the English King. They say that Sir Alexander Seton was now governor of Berwick,-(and possibly he both was governor before the appointment of Sir William Keith, and may have been made deputy-governor during the brief period of Sir William's mission to the Regent;) and they add that Edward demanded and received Sir Alexander's eldest son as one of several hostages for the faithful performance of the stipulations of the treaty,—that, soon after the treaty was concluded, he began to repent of it, and to apprehend that the activity of Sir William Keith and Lord Douglas might deprive him of the prey which now seemed almost within his grasp, that he then demanded Sir Alexander immediately to surrender the town, and threatened, in the event of refusal, to hang both his son whom he had received as an hostage, and another son whom he had formerly taken prisoner,—that Seton reminded him how the day agreed on for a surrender had not yet arrived, and vehemently complained of so gross a viola- tion of faith, and that Edward, regardless of his remon- strances, ordered a gibbet to be erected in full view of the town, and both the sons to be led forth to execution. These historians say farther-and this part of their story they are at great pains to adorn-that in the sore struggle which so woful a spectacle excited in the breast of the parent, fondness for his offspring was like to have prevailed over patriotism and hon- 328 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. our, but that his lady opportunely interposed, and by powerfi. and spirited exhortations, and by at last hurrying him away from the view of the horrid scene, saved him from betraying the trust reposed in him by his country; and they declare that the King relented nothing, but went on with his purpose, and hanged the two young men. The whole of this story, however, is in the highest degree improbable, and seems at worst to point to some cruel incident which the malice of Edward's enemies enormously exaggerated in order to cover his name with infamy. Fordun mentions the execution of only the son who had been given as an hostage, and dates the time of it after the expiration of the period for surrender fixed by treaty; Tyrell, on the authority of two manuscripts, speaks also of the execution of only one, and narrates the event in such a way as to assign merely the cruelty of it to Edward and all the perfidy to Sir Alexander Seton; and almost all the English historians treat the entire affair as a sheer fable, invented by rancour and venom to asperse the character of their favourite monarch. The probability seems to be that a son of Seton was really executed in the view of the besieged by order of Edward,-though the precise rea- sons and circumstances of the horrible event cannot now be ascertained; and a tradition of the execution has continued in Berwick down to the present day,-and the scene of it is still pointed out, at a place vulgarly called Hang-a-Dyke- Nook, in full view of the 'ramparts of the town. The Regent Douglas, at an early period after the com- mencement of the siege of Berwick, began to devise measures for relieving it; and he found little difficulty in collecting a very numerous army from the different parts of Scotland, led by their chiefs and nobles, and full of ardour to defend their native country, and repel its formidable invaders; and on the 11th of July, he appeared at the head of this army in the neighbourhood of Berwick, and endeavoured both to convey succours into the town and to provoke the besiegers to leave THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. 329 But the heir advantageous position and engage in battle. English obstructed every passage and stood doggedly on the defensive. The Regent then crossed the Tweed, and marched along the coast toward the castle of Bamburgh, where Phi- ippa, the young queen of England, was at that time residing on account of its reputed impregnability; and he spent some days in blocking up that fortress and in ravaging the adjacent parts of Northumberland, in the hope of provoking Edward to run for the defence of his queen and for the preservation of so fertile a spot of his kingdom, and so abandon the siege of Berwick. The lure, however, did not take, and had no other effect upon the events of the war than to keep the Scotish army at a useless distance from their besieged coun- trymen. When the Regent learned, upon the arrival of Sir William Keith, that a treaty of but a few days' duration had been made with Edward, and that, at the expiration of it, Berwick was likely to be lost for ever to Scotland, he promptly and sternly resolved, in defiance of the opinions of many of the Scotish nobles, to march northward and to attempt to relieve the town by a battle before the time appointed for its surren- der. He therefore moved with all speed toward Berwick, and led his army over the Tweed, and encamped, on the 18th of July, at a place called Duns-park or Bothul. But sadly dif ferent was this array, in the moral vigour of its material and in the heroic prowess of its leaders, from that of most of the armies which had deployed and fought under the Scotish banner during the preceding thirty years; and well might the sight of it give rise to such a dialogue as the dramatist of "Halidon Hill" puts as follows into the mouths of two of his interlocutors :- "'Tis scarce twelve years Since I left Scotland for the wars of Palestine, And then the flower of all the Scotish nobles 330 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. Were known to me; and I, in my degree, Not all unknown to them." "Alas! there have been changes since that time; The royal Bruce, with Randolph, Douglas, Grahame, Then shook in field the banners which now moulder Over their graves i' the chancel." "And thence comes it, That while I look'd on many a well-known crest And blazon'd shield, as hitherward we came, The faces of the Barons who display'd them Were all unknown to me. Brave youths they seem'd Yet, surely fitter to adorn the tilt-yard, Than to be leaders of a war. Their followers, Young like themselves, seem like themselves unpractised→→ Look at their battle rank.' "I cannot gaze on't with undazzled eye, So thick the rays dart back from shield and helmet, And sword and battle-axe, and spear and pennon Sure 'tis a gallant show! The Bruce himself Hath often conquer'd at the head of fewer And worse appointed followers." Cr 'Ay, but 'twas Bruce that led them. 'Tis not the falchion's weight decides a combat; It is the strong and skilful hand that wields it. Ill fate, that we should lack the noble King, And all his champions now!" The ground on which the English army lay encamped, and which they evinced a stubborn determination not to leave till they should gain possession of Berwick, was the hill of Halidon, a very considerable eminence on the west side o. the town, rising by a gradual acclivity from the banks of the Tweed, descending by a much more rapid fall on the other and western side, commanding from its summit and shoulders a thorough prospect of all the approaches to Berwick, an THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. 331 possessing all the characters of an advantageous position either for attacking any army which should attempt to enter the town, or for repelling any superior force which should rush to battle against its own acclivities; and in front of which ex- tended a marshy hollow which could not be traversed in good order by an army attacking them, and which might sadly em- barrass them if they should be forced to make it their battle- field. The Scotish army had no alternative but either to assail the English in this strong position, or to lie tamely by till Berwick should be lost; and they might well have escaped all imputation on their valour, and won not a little credit for their prudence and wisdom, if they had just allowed Berwick to fall, and awaited some more favourable opportunity of measuring their strength with the invader. But their chief commander, the Regent, was headstrong and sanguine, and probably counted too much on the fiery zeal of his young officers and the hot patriotism of the great body of his army; and seems to have thought the spirit of his people and the goodness of his cause an ample counterbalance against all local disadvantages. Possibly, too, he felt much impelled by sheer pride and passion, and may have said or thought some such thing as the poet, in the following lines, ascribes to him and one of his chief officers :- " Ay, but King Edward sent a haughty message, Defying us to battle on this field, This very hill of Halidon; if we leave Unfought withal, it squares not with our honour. We will not back one furlong-not one yard, No, nor one inch; where'er we find the foe, Or where the foe finds us, there will we fight him." The numbers of the Scotish army are very variously re- ported,—figuring in some records as most incredibly large, and in others as comparatively small. The continuator of Heming- ford, an author of that age, and Knyghton, who lived in the 332 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. ucceeding age, ascertain these numbers, however, with more precision than is generally required in historical statistics. The former says, that, besides Earls and other Lords, or great Barons, there were 55 Knights, 1,100 men-at-arms, and 13,500 of the commons, lightly armed, amounting in all to 14,655; and with him the latter appears to concur, when his narrative is cleared from the errors of ignorant or careless transcribers. Yet it is probable that the useless followers of the camp, and the servants who attended the horses of per- sons of distinction, and of the men-at-arms, were more nu- merous than the actual combatants. The numbers of the English, though not so well ascertained, may be supposed to have been at least equal to those of the Scots. In fact, most of the English historians represent the Scotish numbers as having been much greater than the English, and most of the Scotish historians represent the English numbers as having been much greater than the Scotish; so that a regard to im- partiality obliges us to conclude that the two numbers were not very far from being alike. On the 19th, the Regent Douglas disposed his army in battle array, arranged them in four divisions, and prepared for rushing into conflict. At the head of the first division was John Earl of Murray, son of the famous Randolph, supported by Lord Andrew Fraser, and his two brothers Simon and James; at the head of the second was Robert, Lord High Steward of Scotland, supported by the chief men of his kin- dred and by the Earl of Menteith; at the head of the third were the Earls of Ross, Sutherland, and Strathearn; and at the head of the fourth was the Regent himself, supported by the Earls of Lennox and Carrick. The English army stood strongly posted on the slopes of Halidon Hill, and was dis- posed in four bodies of foot, confronting the four divisions of the Scots; and each of its bodies was winged with bands of choice and skilful archers. The relative position of the two armies could not but portend awful disaster to the Scots, and THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. 333 might have readily suggested such a colloquy as the follow- ing between the Regent and one of the wisest of his chief officers:- "Now you gaze On yon old warrior, in his antique armour, As if he were arisen from the dead, To bring us Bruce's counsel for the battle." ""Tis a proud word to speak; but he who fought Long under Robert Bruce, may something guess, Without communication with the dead, At what he would have counsell'd. Bruce had bidden ye Review your battle-order, marshall'd broadly Here on the bare hill-side, and bidden you mark Yon clouds of Southron archers, bearing down To the green meadow lands which stretch beneath- The Bruce had warn'd you, not a shaft to-day, But shall find mark within a Scotish bosom, If thus our field be order'd. The callow boys, Who draw but four-foot bows, shall gall our front, While on our mainward, and upon the rear, The cloth-yard shafts shall fall like death's own darts, And, though blind men discharge them, find a mark. Thus shall we die the death of slaughter'd deer, Which, driven into the toils, are shot at ease By boys and women, while they toss aloft All idly and in vain their branchy horns, As we shall shake our unavailing spears." When the two armies stood ready to engage, they were induced to postpone their collision for a little by the occur- rence of a stern single combat. A brawny and gigantic Scotsman, who had acquired the name of Turnbull on ac- count of his having at one time saved King Robert Bruce from being gored to death by a wild bull which had over- thrown him while he was hunting,-this man, attended by a 334 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. large mastiff, approached the English army, and challenged any person in it to come forth and fight him in single combat. His challenge produced a momentary lull of astonishment, but was soon accepted by Sir Robert Benhale, a young Norfolk knight, who was inferior to Turnbull in stature, but possessed great bodily strength and an eminent degree of soldierly skill and cleverness. Benhale was first met by the mastiff, and fetched such a cleaving blow upon its loins as to separate its hinder legs from its body; and he then encountered Turn- bull, eluded his assaults and thrusts, and, with mingled dex- terity and power, cut off first his left arm and then his head. The Scots affected to be nothing daunted by the deadly discomfiture of their champion, but got all in motion, and made a vigorous effort to ascend the hill in good order, and to fling themselves in a mass upon the foe. The commanders, the chiefs, and the men-at-arms left their horses to the care of their valets, and advanced to the combat on foot; the no- blest soldiers and the most rustic, the bravest and the most cowardly, the nimblest and the most loutish, the fiercest and the most cloddy, were thus on one level and in one move; and the unwonted mixture of infantry and dismounted cavalry, together with the absence of every adventitious means of inspiritment, combined with the sinking and entangling na- ture of the morassy hollow which they traversed, to dislocate their ranks, and somewhat convert their array into a crowd And all the while the English stood compactly firm or moved very slowly and quite regularly forward, and began, at the most advantageous moment, to pour down showers of deadly shafts from their long bows. Who could doubt the issue? "Behold yon English host come slowly on, With equal front, rank marshall'd upon rank, As if one spirit ruled one moving body: The leaders, in their places, each prepared To charge, support, and rally, as the fortune 3 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. 335 . Of changeful battle needs :-then look on ours, Broken, disjointed, as the tumbling surges Which the winds wake at random. Look on both, And dread the issue." The Scots, though fatigued by the difficulties of the ground, and galled with the severity of their reception, fought as it became men who had conquered under the banners of Ro- bert Bruce. But they could neither avert nor mitigate nor retaliate the terrible storm of archery which fell upon them from the English bowmen; they were struck down by hun- dreds long before they could get footing to deal so much as one retributive blow; they struggled and panted up an accli- vity so steep that, according to one historian's account of it, one man upon it above might keep down four below; and, had they all given way to a sudden panic, and turned round and scampered off like a flock of hunted sheep, they would have behaved no worse than many an experienced army has done in a similar plight. But they merely became con fused and dispirited, and would not see that their circum- stances were desperate till compelled to feel them so. Even when assailed down hill by the English spearmen and men-at-arms, and when driven out of their former disorder into a "confusion worse confounded," and when beginning to be strewed and amassed into heaps of wounded and slain, they still refused to give way, and rallied fiercely from discomfiture, and kept up the conflict with maddening and weltering bravery. But at length some of their chief commanders, including the Regent himself, fell victims in the fray; the struggling multitude became more and more like a mere mad mob, and felt compelled to run; the valets and pages who had charge of the horses rode off with them at full speed, attentive only to their own safety; nobles, knights, and peasantry fled in indiscriminate rout, and almost trod one another down in the race; all were more or less pursued and overwhelmed by corps of English men-at-arms who careered 336 THE BATTLE OF HALIDON HILL. upon them mounted, fresh, and full of fury; many who faced about singly or in small bodies were everywhere overpowered by the victors; and not a few continued to run the long dis- tance of five miles from the field of battle, hotly chased by a choice brigade of cavalry and mounted archers. The rout was an almost total dispersion, the slaughter a most appalling carnage, and the escaped few scarcely less wild than hunted deers at bay. All's lost! all's lost! Of the main Scotish host, Some wildly fly, and some rush wildly forward; And some there are who seem to turn their spears Against their countrymen." Few of the Scotish army escaped destruction. Most of the Scotish historians state the number of the slain at ten thousand, Boece makes it amount to fourteen thousand, and the English historians exaggerate it to upwards of thirty-five thousand; but all seem to speak on somewhat conjectural data, and may be supposed more or less to include a good many of the mere servants or followers of the camp, who either fell in the fight, or were never again brought to the rendezvous. The most important of the slain were the Regent, the Earls of Ross, Sutherland, Lennox, Carrick, Athole, and Menteith, three Stuarts, uncles of the Lord High Steward, three Frazers, Sir John Graham, Sir Duncan Campbell, and Sir William Tudway. Some considerable persons, among whom was Sir William Keith, were also taken prisoners, and are said by Boece to have been put to death, by order of Edward, on the morning after the battle; but some of them are known on other and better testimony to have been alive long afterwards, and probably none expe- rienced worse treatment than a little temporary restraint. The loss of the English in the battle must, in the nature of the case, have been very inconsiderable; but it is diminished to a point far below belief by the English historians, who 1 THE HIGHLAND HOST. 337 state it at only one knight, one esquire, and twelve or thir- teen footmen. On the day after the battle, Edward got pos- session of the town and castle of Berwick; and he faithfully observed the articles of capitulation. THE HIGHLAND HOST. In the year 1678, when the oppression of the Covenanters was at the highest, and the ruling powers had vainly fulmi- nated their loudest thunders for overawing them, and had at last become wishful that some general insurrection might oc- cur to afford pretext and opportunity for mowing down all their leaders, an armed multitude of caterans, known in his- tory as the Highland Host, was congregated among the glens and straths of the Grampians, and invested with a commission to traverse some of the richest districts of the Lowlands, and to use their arts of freebooting and ferocity in aid of the re- gular soldiery of persecution. The Highlanders and many of the northern Lowlanders took no part in the struggles or spirit of Presbyterianism, and had such notions and habits as made them eminently fit tools for working out the coarse and far-spread purposes of prelatical and persecuting despotism. The government of the day knew well their character; and, after having come almost to their wit's end in devices and efforts to put down Covenanterism, resolved to enlist the wild Highlanders against it, somewhat on the same principle on which the government of a subsequent period called in the Red Indians against the struggling colonists of America. The council first wrote to some of the chieftains, and obtained a ready offer of their services; and then applied to the King for his formal con- sent to employ them; and, as a matter of course, they gave much satisfaction" to the profligate tyrant, and were duly Y 338 THE HIGHLAND HOST. authorized by him to send the proposed forces to all districts where Covenanterism was most rife, and to commission them to live at free quarter among the frequenters of field preach- ing, to disarm the suspected, to seize and secure all prime or very good horses, to exact from householders a bond for the ecclesiastical conformity of their families,—and, in a word, to act vigorously and unsparingly as the dagger and claymore missionaries of compulsory prelacy. On the 24th of January, 1678, the Highland Host ren- dezvoused and encamped at Stirling. Their colonels were noblemen, who received large pay, and did little work for the money; their active officers were thievish lairds, who thought only of booty, and felt no nicety about the means they might employ for obtaining it; and the general body were rude, savage clansmen or retainers, who knew no law except the will of their chiefs, and who generally yielded to it an unscrupulous obedience, but who, when secret spoil could be grasped and appropriated, were very prompt to as- sert a will of their own. About six thousand were real Highlanders; about two thousand were Lowlanders or militia of somewhat less ferocious and less plundering habits; and about two thousand more were regular troops or King's guards, who had become veterans in outrage, and were worse ruffians than even the most ruffianly Highlanders. The Host were thus about ten thousand strong; and they were armed with muskets and daggers, and had four pieces of artillery, and an ample provision of spades, shovels, mattocks, iron shackles, and thumb-screws; so that they stood well pre- pared, in both character and accoutrement, to do all the de- partments of their devastating and atrocious mission. A poet who wrote and published within twenty years after, describes them as follows: "Those who were their chief commanders, As such who bore the pirnie standarts, THE HIGHLAND HOST. 339 Who led the van, and drove the rear, Were right weel mounted of their gear; With brogues, and trews, and pirnie plaids, With good blue bonnets on their heads, Which, on the one side had a flipe, Adorn'd with a tobacco pipe. With durk, and snap-work, and snuff-mill, A bag which they with onions fill; And as their strict observers say, A tup-horn filled with usquebay ; A slasht out coat beneath their plaids, A targe of timber, nails, and hides; With a long two-handed sword, As good's the country can afford. Had they not need of bulk and bones, Who fought with all these arms at once? Of moral honestie they're clean, Nought like religion they retain; In nothing they're accounted sharp, Except in bagpipe and in harp; For a misobliging word, She'll durk her neighbour o'er the board, And then she'll up like fire from flint, She'll scarcely ward the second dint. If any ask her of her thrift, Forsooth her nainsell lives by thift." The Highlanders marched southward from Stirling, and for some time had their head-quarters at Glasgow, and after- wards spread through Clydesdale, Renfrewshire, and all the divisions of Ayrshire. Their approach was viewed with so much alarm by the Covenanters that a day of fasting and humiliation was held on account of it; and their presence and conduct proved so appalling as for a time to suppress field-preaching and give entire triumph to persecution They 340 THE HIGHLAND HOST. acted like victorious mercenaries in a conquered country seized and appropriated whatever they chose, took horses from the very ploughs to carry their baggage or draw away their plunder, extorted money and valuables by means of threats and cajolery, and beat and wounded without distinc- tion all persons who tried to resist or elude their demands. “The Highland Host," says Mr. Aikman, in his Annals of the Persecution, "ravaged the devoted west without mercy. Free quarters were every where exacted by the militia and King's forces, although they received regular pay. But the Highlanders, not content with free quarters, would march in large bands to gentlemen's and heritors' houses, as well as their tenants, and take up their lodgings, and force the pro- prietors to furnish them with whatever they chose to demand, or they would take whatever struck their fancy; and, when some of their own officers interposed, would present their daggers to their breasts, and dare them to touch their plunder. They infested the high-roads in a most ferocious manner, not only robbing the passengers of their money or baggage, but even stripping them of their clothes, and sending them to travel naked for miles ere they could reach home. From the country-folks and cottars' houses they carried off pots, pans, wearing-apparel, bed-clothes, or whatever was portable; and, notwithstanding the government had taken care to order pro- visions, both officers and men carried off or wantonly killed the cattle, under pretence that they wanted food, unless they were bribed by money; yet that did not always avail, the plunderers often both pocketing the coin and driving the cattle. In some places, they proceeded the horrible length of scorching the people before large fires, in order to extort a confession, if they suspected they had any hidden valuables; and to these rapacious, needy hordes, the lowest necessary utensils of civilised life were precious. In other villages, the meanest soldiers exacted sixpence sterling a-day, and the guards a shilling or merk Scots; their captains and superior officers THE HIGHLAND HOST. 341 half-crowns and crowns at their discretion, or as they thougnt the poor people could procure it, threatening to burn their houses about their ears if they did not produce sufficient to auswer their demands. Besides money, the industrious, sober religious peasantry were constrained to furnish brandy and tobacco; and, what was scarcely less painful, were obliged to witness their filthy, brutal excesses. Then, again, some of the ruffians would levy contributions in order, as they pretended, to secure the payers from plunder; yet, after they had filched them of their money, at their departure rifled them of all they could find the means of transporting. Their insolences to the females our historians have drawn a veil over as too abominable to admit of description. After a very few weeks, however, the government began to see that the Highland Host was rendering them insuffer- ably odious, and doing the very interests of tyranny and op- pression incomparably more injury than service; and so early as about the end of February, they disbanded all the really Highland portions of it, and ordered them to return to their native glens and mountains,—and on the 24th of April, broke up and scattered also its two thousand Lowlanders. "When this goodly army retreated homeward," says Kirkton, "you would have thought by their baggage they had been at the sack of a besieged city; and therefore, when they passed Stirling bridge, every man drew his sword to shew the world they had returned conquerors from their enemies' land; but they might as well have shown the pots, pans, girdles, shoes taken off countrymen's feet, and other bodily and household furniture with which they were loadened." "A great many horses which they had stolen," says Aikman, were burdened with the merchandise swept from the dealers' shops,-webs of linen and woollen cloth, silver-plate, bearing the names and arms of gentlemen, bundles of bed-clothes, carpets, men and women's wearing-apparel, pots, pans, gridirons, and a great variety of promiscuous articles. Their wary leaders had trans 342 THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. mitted home large sums of money previously by safe hands ; but some of the retreating parties were not so fortunate with their bulky packages. The river Clyde being swollen when they came to Glasgow, the students at College, assisted by a number of other youths, took possession of the bridge, and allowing only forty to pass at a time, obliged the marauders to deliver up their plunder, and then conveyed them out at the West Port, without suffering them to enter the town. In this manner about two thousand were eased of their bur- dens, and the custom-house nearly filled with furniture and clothing, which were restored to their proper owners, as far as could be effected." Yet notwithstanding all their savageness of disposition and rapacity of conduct, though they behaved like highwaymen, and gave full scope to their passions, and regarded the whole population as their victims, and spoke a language unknown to them, and feared neither God nor man, they were remark- ably free from truculency and the love of blood, and are not accused of having, in even a single instance, added murder to their crimes. How astonishingly do they contrast in this way to the dragoons of Claverhouse! THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. ETTRICK-WATER, immediately after being joined by the Yarrow, makes a gentle curving sweep to the right, steals insinuatingly along the base of a lofty bank on whose summit, at one point, stands the town of Selkirk, and leaves upon its left bank a beautiful haugh, a level plain, which extends north-eastward from a copse-clad hill called the Hareheadwood, to some high ground on the margin of the stream a little below Selkirk. This plain is Philiphaugh; it is about 1½ mile in length, and of a mile in mean breadth; and being defended on the une side, by the river, with its bulwark-fashioned bank, and over- THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. 343 hung, on the other by a stretch of bold uplands, which inter vene between the Yarrow and the Tweed, it possesses natur- ally, and on a grand scale, many of the securities and con- veniences which were desiderated by the Romans in their camps. On the 12th of September, 1645, the Marquis of Montrose after he had won six splendid victories over the Covenanters was in a state of embarrassment on his march southward to pour his conquering troops upon England, when Philiphaugh invited him to repose, and wooed him to destruction. Ob- serving the advantageousness of the ground, he strengthened it with some trenches, and posted upon it his infantry, amounting to 1,200 or 1,500 men; and, seeing how near and accessibly to it stood the town of Selkirk, with its burghal accommodations, he there quartered his cavalry, and courted a night's freedom from a soldier's care. He did not on this occasion take those extraordinary precautions which he had been accustomed to do. It had always been his practice hitherto, to superintend in person the setting of the night watches, and to give instructions himself to the sentinels, and to the scouts he sent out to watch the motions of the enemy; but having important letters to write to the king, which he was desirous of sending off before the break of day by a trusty messenger, he entrusted these details to his cavalry officers, whom he exhorted to great vigilance, and to take care that the scouts kept a sharp look out for the enemy. Montrose had the utmost confidence in the wisdom and integrity of his officers, whose long experience in military affairs he had many times witnessed; and as there seemed to be no imme- diate danger, he thought that, for one night at least, he could safely leave the direction of affairs to such men. While occupied during the night preparing his despatches for the king, Montrose received several loose reports, from time to time, respecting the alleged movements of the enemy of which he sent due notice to his officers; but he was as 344 THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. often assured, both by the reports of his officers and of the scouts, that not a vestige of an enemy was to be seen. Thus the night passed without any apparent foundation for the supposition that the enemy was at hand; and to make assur- ance doubly sure, some of the fleetest of the cavalry were sent out at break of day to reconnoitre. On their return, they stated that they had examined with care all the roads. and passes for ten miles round, and solemnly averred that there was not the least appearance of an enemy within the range they had just scoured. Yet singular as the fact may appear, General David Leslie was lying at that very time at Melrose, with four thousand horse, within six miles of Mon- trose's camp. It appears that about the time of Montrose's approach to Philiphaugh, Leslie, who had a few days before crossed the Tweed at Berwick, held a council of war on Gladsmuir in East Lothian, at which it was determined that he should proceed towards Stirling to cut off Montrose's retreat to the Highlands, whither it was supposed that he meant instantly to retire, for the purpose of obtaining reinforcements. But the council had scarcely risen, wnen letters were brought to Leslie, communicating to him the low and impaired state of Montrose's forces, and his design of marching into Dumfries- shire to procure an accession of strength. On receiving this intelligence, Leslie abandoned his plan of marching north- ward; and, ordering his army to turn to the left, he imme- diately marched to the south, and, entering the vale of Gala, proceeded to Melrose, where he took up his quarters for the night, intending to attack Montrose's little band next morning, in the hope of annihilating it altogether. Who the person was who made the communication in question to the cove- nanting general, is a point which has never been ascertained. Both Wishart and Guthrie suspect that he was the earl of Traquair; and they rest their conjecture upon the simple circumstance of his having withdrawn during the night, THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. 345 (without acquainting Montrose,) the troop of horse under his son, Lord Linton. But the most extraordinary and unaccountable circumstance which preceded the battle of Philiphaugh, was this, that although Leslie was within six miles of Montrose's camp, neither the scouts nor the cavalry, who are stated to have scoured the country four miles beyond the place where Leslie lay, could discover, as they reported, any traces of him. Did the scouts deceive Montrose, or did they not proceed in the direction of Leslie's camp, or did they confine their peram- bulations within a more limited range? These are questions which it is impossible to answer with any degree of certainty. But what is to be said of the cavalry who having made their observations at daybreak, and confessedly several miles beyond the enemy's camp, returned as luckless as the midnight scouts? The only plausible answer that can be given to this question is, either that they had not visited the neighbourhood of Melrose, or that a thick mist, which prevailed on the morning of the thirteenth of September, had obscured the enemy from their view. However, be this as it may, certain it is that, owing to the thickness of the fog, Leslie was enabled to advance, unobserved, till he came within half a mile of Montrose's head quarters. Or as the old ballad says,-though with an error in the numbers :- "Sir David frae the border came, Wi' heart an' hand came he; Wi' him three thousand bonny Scots, To bear him company. Wi' him three thousand valiant men, A noble sight to see! A cloud o' mist them well conceal'd, As close as e'er might be." On the alarm occasioned by Leslie's sudden and unexpected 346 THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. appearance, Montrose instantly sprang upon the first horse. that he met, and galloped off to his camp. On his arrival, he found that all his men, though the hour was very early, had risen, but that considerable disorder prevailed in the camp in consequence of preparations they were making for an immediate march into Dumfries-shire in terms of instructions they had received the previous evening. The cavalry, how- ever, were quite dismounted, some of the officers were absent, and their horses were scattered through the adjoining fields taking their morning repast. Short as the time was for putting his small band in a defensive position, Montrose acted with his accustomed presence of mind; and before Leslie commenced his attack, Montrose had succeeded in drawing up his men in order of battle, in the position which they had occupied the preceding night. Nothing but self-preservation, on which the cause of the king, his master, was chiefly de- pendant, could have justified Montrose in attempting to resist the powerful force now about to assail him. With about a thousand foot and five hundred horse, the greater part of which was composed of raw and undisciplined levies hastily brought into the field, and lukewarm in the cause, he had to resist the attack of a body of about six thousand veteran troops, chiefly English cavalry, who had distinguished themselves at the battle of Marston-moor, who, though they could make no addition to their laurels by defeating such a handful of men, may be supposed to have been especially desirous of annihilating the remains of an army which had been so long formidable and victorious. The covenanting general began the battle by charging Montrose's right wing, consisting of horse, with the great body of his cavalry; but so firmly was the charge received by the brave cavaliers with Montrose at their head, that the assailants were forced to retire with loss. A second charge met a similar fate. Thus foiled in their attempts on the right, they next attacked Montrose's left wing, consisting of THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. 347 foot, which, after a gallant resistance, retired a little up the face of the hill, where it was posted, to avoid the attacks of the cavalry. While this struggle was going on on the left, a body of two thousand of the covenanting foot which had made a circuitous route, appeared in the rear of the right wing, which they attacked. The right wing not being able to resist this force, and apprehensive that a new attack would be made upon them by the enemy's cavalry, and that they would thus be surrounded and perhaps cut to pieces, fied from the field. The foot who had taken up a position on the side of the hill, being thus abandoned to their fate, sur- rendered themselves as prisoners of war after a slight resist- The ballad already quoted says respecting the method and success of Leslie's onset :- ance. “He halv'd his men in equal parts, His purpose to fulfil; The one part kept the water side, The other gaed round the hill. The nether party fired brisk, Then turn'd and seem'd to rin; And then they a' came frae the trench, And cry'd, The dav's our ain!' The rest then ran into the trench, And loos'd their cannons a', And thus, between his armies twa, He made them fast to fa’. Now, let us a' for Leslie pray, And his brave company! For they hae vanquish'd great Montrose, Our cruel enemy." Montrose was still on the field with about thirty brave 348 THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH. As cavaliers, and witnessed the rout of one part of his army and the surrender of another with the most poignant feelings of regret. He might have instantly retreated with safety, but he could not brook the idea of running away, and, therefore, resolved not to abandon the post of honour, but to fight to the last extremity, and to sell his life as dearly as possible. It was not long before he and his little army were nearly surrounded by the enemy, who kept pressing so hard upon him, and in such numbers, as almost to preclude the possibi- lity of escape. Yet they did not venture to attack Montrose and his brave associates in a body, but in detached parties, every one of which was successively repulsed with loss. they grew tired of attacking him, and seemed to be more in- tent upon plundering his baggage than capturing his person, Montrose saw that the danger was not so great as he supposed, and, therefore, he began to reflect upon the folly of sacrificing his life so long as a ray of hope remained. He had lost a battle no doubt; but in this there was no dishonour when the disparity of his force with that of Leslie's was considered. Besides he had lost few of his men, and the Highlanders, on whom he chiefly relied, were still entire, and were ready to take the field as soon as he appeared again among them. And as to the effect which such a defeat might be supposed to have upon the adherents of the King, who were still nu- merous and powerful, it could be easily removed as soon as they saw him again at the head of a fresh force; and he could only expect to retrieve the present state of affairs by escaping from the present danger and raising new troops; but if he rashly sacrificed his life, the King's affairs might be irretrievably ruined. These reflections being seconded by the Marquis of Douglas and a few trusty friends, who implored him not to throw away a life so valuable to the King and to the country Montrose resolved to consult his safety by an immediate flight. Putting himself, therefore, at the head of his troop, he cut his way through the enemy, without the loss of a single THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH 349 ¿ oners. man. They were pursued by a party of horse, some of whom they killed, and actually carried off one Bruce, a captain of horse, and two standard-bearers, with their ensigns, as pris- Montrose went in the direction of Peebles, which he entered about sunset; and here he was joined by most of his horse and part of his infantry: but some of his officers who had mistaken their way, or fled in a different direction, were seized by the country people, and delivered over to Leslie. Among these were the Earl of Hartfell, the Lords Drummond and Ogilvie, Sir Robert Spottiswood, Sir Alexander Leslie of Auchintoul, Sir William Rollock, Sir Philip Nisbet, the Honourable William Murray, brother to the Earl of Tullie- bardine, Alexander Ogilvie of Inverquharity, Colonel Natha- niel Gordon and Mr. Andrew Guthry son of the bishop of Moray. Montrose did not tarry long in Peebles, but de- parted from it early the following morning; and crossing the Clyde at a ford shown him by Sir John Dalziel, where he was, to his great joy, joined by the Earls of Crawfurd and Airly, and other noblemen who had effected their escape by a dif- ferent route, he proceeded rapidly to the north, and entered Athole, after despatching the Marquis of Douglas and the Earl of Airly into Angus, and Lord Erskine into Mar, to raise forces. Leslie is accused by most historians of having abused his victory and dishonoured his arms by slaughtering in cold blood a large number of his prisoners; and he is said by some to have gone so systematically to work as to order them to be tied up to a stake and shot; and his army are also accused of having savagely murdered a great many Irish fugitives, parti- cularly the wives and children of Montrose's soldiers, both in the vicinity of Philiphaugh immediately after the battle and at the Bridge of Avon, near Linlithgow, when the victorious. army was on its march to Glasgow. But though some perfi- dies and cruelties and murders seem undoubtedly to have been perpetrated, they manifestly were neither so numerous nor so 350 SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. awfully cold-blooded as at least the Stuart-loving portion of the historians represent; nor can they for a moment be com- pared to the tremendous atrocities which the conquering royalists perpetrated at Kilsyth and on other occasions of victory over the Covenanters. A Convention of the estates held at Glasgow soon after the battle of Philiphaugh, voted Leslie fifty thousand merks and a gold chain, and Middleton, the second in command, twenty- five thousand merks, for their services. Montrose lost at Philiphaugh the fruit of all his previous six splendid victories, and was so maimed and crushed as never again to become able to make any effectual head against the Covenanters. Upwards of a mile south-west of the present farm-stead of Philiphaugh, and overhanging the Yarrow immediately above. its confluence with the Ettrick, there are still traces of an in- trenchment thrown up by Montrose. Two miles further up the Yarrow, close to the ruin of Newark castle, is a field called Slain-man's-lee, which tradition points out as the scene of the alleged slaughter of the prisoners of war by the victo- rious army. In Selkirk the house is still standing which was occupied by Montrose on the night of his ill-judged security. THE SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF ANCIENT SCOTLAND. THE ancient inhabitants of Scotland were brave, strong, and active, and combined fierceness with courage, and pride with generosity. They shared the general character of the Gothic races; and long retained vestiges of their barbarous customs, in social observances and national displays. The men of Scotland were heroic on essentially the same principles as the men of the northern parts of Continental Europe; and the latter owed their bravery to the contempt of death,-and their contempt of death to the pleasure they anticipated in SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. 351 the hall of Odin,-for they believed, like the Mahommedans, that they would rise from the field of martial glory to a region of high and rapturous enjoyment. The women of ancient Scotland were nearly as strong as the men, and sometimes did not scruple to share in their severest labours and most hazardous exploits. "Al rank," says Boece, "madynis and wyffis, gif they war nocht with child, geid als weile to battel as the men;" and though that historian is very miserable authority on most subjects, he probably was correct in this. The females of many nations, both in the East and in the West, have been militant; and those of most rude tribes, in perturbed or perilous con- ditions of society, are often more or less driven by sheer necessity to take some part in the toils of military defence or strife. Some instances of ancient, oriental, fighting queens, such as those of Semiramis, Artemisia, and Zenobia, are familiar to every tyro in history; and many instances of martial heroines, instigating battle, leading on to conflict, or turning the scale of victory, figure on the records of almost all great nations. Some ancient armies are fabled to have consisted wholly of women; and the armies of the Sacæ, the Ethiopians, and the Triballi are said, on less doubtful authority, to have comprised four ranks,-one of which con- sisted of women, whose duty was to recal the fugitives. The women of ancient Germany went to battle, to supply food and muniments; the women of the Gothic tribes followed the camp, to inspirit the warriors; and the women of the English and Welsh Britons marched out with expeditions to witness the valour of their husbands. Why then should Boece be doubted when he asserts that the women of Cale- donia, both maidens and matrons, went to battle along with the men? Yet his statement must probably be understood with considerable limitations, and very likely refers only to the most ancient times and to occasional rather than general practice. 352 SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. The warriors of Scotland, not only in the Caledonian period but down to at least the twelfth century, are accused by some writers of the horrible crime of cannibalism. Ailred, who lived at the time of the battle of the Standard, directly affirms that the Gallovidians were cannibals; and Walter L'Espec, in an extant speech which he is said to have deli- vered at the arraying of that battle, expressly declares that they fed on human flesh and drank a mixture of water and human blood. And though this charge of cannibalism may only be an exaggeration or a slander, yet not a few usages and habits of our remote ancestors were no doubt sufficiently savage to lend it some countenance. The Scotish infantry, so late as the time of Bruce, and occasionally at even a much later period, bore a very dispro- portionate bulk to the cavalry, and were so poorly equipped as, by a very short and easy poetical licence, to be declared quite naked; and even the cavalry, on some occasions, were miserably ill mounted, and had very beggarly appointments of both arms and provisions. The ancient Scotish armies, as a whole, had little armour, and a very scanty commissariat; and are said at one time to have had no provisions except a little oatmeal, and at another to have had neither bread, salt, nor wine, but plenty of cattle; and they often or even usu- ally performed no higher culinary operations than to bake oaten bread upon a griddle, or to cook animal food by dis- tending a piece of unskinned carcase upon four stakes, and applying to it water above and fire below. The early inhabitants of Scotland, particularly those in the northern and central parts of the country, constructed many great military works for defending themselves from the attacks of foreign or domestic foes; and not a few of these are still known to antiquaries under the general name of hill-forts,- while some of the largest or most remarkable, such as the Catherthun and Dun-Dornadil, are objects of interest to the whole surrounding modern population, and have bequeathed SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. 353 their particular ancient names to the hills or other localities on which they exist. The Caledonians also, like most other ancient warlike nations, had hiding places for retreat and concealment at seasons of special peril; and these were either artificial structures formed by excavation and by rude subter- raneous masonry, or natural caves in rocks rendered more com- modious by art. Some remarkable subterranean apartments, belonging to the former of these two classes, occur in the parish of Tealing in Forfarshire; several, of a smaller size, and somewhat different construction, occur in the Hebrides; some, of various sizes and forms, occur in Kildrummie Moor in Aberdeenshire, in the district of Applecross in Ross-shire, and in the parish of Kildonan in Sutherlandshire; and a singular one, 60 feet in length, and consisting of masonry, has been discovered on the estate of Raits in Inverness-shire. Several large caves, so altered or marked as distinctly to indi- cate their having been anciently used as hiding-places, occur in the district of Applecross; some of very large extent- one of them capacious enough to contain 500 persons-occur in the parish of Portree, on the coast of Skye; and several large ones occur also on the Island of Arran. The navy of Scotland was always more or less neglected; and seems seldom to have been evoked into any considerable size by the demands of either commerce or naval warfare. Yet fleets of canoes and currachs sometimes occurred in very remote times; and fleets of larger vessels in the middle ages. The savage Caledonians both made migrations on the sea and performed excursions on bays and lakes, in such large num- bers that their little vessels are poetically celebrated by the hundred and even by the thousand. Somerled, thane of Argyle, had one fleet of 53 ships in the year 1158, and another of 160 ships in the year 1164; and when Alexander III. fought against the Manks in 1275, he conveyed his troops in a fleet. Robert the Bruce had vessels of from 18 to 40 oars; and Barbour gives a curious account of this king's navigation Z 354 SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c among the Western Isles. The Scotish monarchs of later periods sometimes subsidized the ships of Flanders, and generally employed Flemings as their chief engineers. The canoes of the ancient Caledonians were formed by hollowing the stems of trees with fire; and were put in motion by means of small paddles in the same way as the canoes of the South Sea Islanders; and many of them have been discovered in modern times embedded in bogs and in the bottoms of drained lakes and marshes. The currachs are contended by some writers to have been at least as ancient as the canoes; and by others to have succeeded them; and if understood in merely their simplest form, they certainly were very ancient, while, if understood in their comparatively large and im- proved sense, they no doubt must be viewed as proportion- ately modern. Cæsar describes the currachs of South Britain as being accommodated with keels and masts of the lightest wood, while their hulls consisted of wicker covered over with leather. Lucan calls them little ships, in which he says the Britons were wont to navigate the ocean. Solinus says that it was common to pass between Britain and Ireland in these 'little ships.' And Adamuan, in his Life of St. Columba, says that St. Cormac sailed into the North sea in one of these currachs, and that he remained in it fourteen days in perfect safety. Now the vessel of Adamman must have been one very different from the currachs of Cæsar, for it had all the parts of a ship with sails and oars, and was capacious enough to contain passengers; and even the vessels of Cæsar must have been considerably longer and better than the currachs of the ancient Caledonians. A writer who flourished about the yea: 410 describes a Caledonian currach as "of such magnitude, tha it sufficed to hold three men sitting close to one another. Barbour speaking of a boat, says, "Bot it so littel was, that it Myght owr the water bot thrie flit." SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. 355 Maitland says that, in his time, the currachs on the river Spey, were five feet long, and three feet wide. And Boece, in his usual rhodomontade style, exclaims, "How may there be ane greter ingyne than to make ane bait of ane bull hyd bound with na thing bot wands! This bait is callit ane currok, with the quhilk they fysche salmond, and sum tyme passis ouir gret riuers thairwith; and quhen thay haue done thair fysching, thay beir it to ony place on their back quhair thay pleis." Some of the old historians say that the ancient inhabitants. of Scotland went naked; Paulus Jovius, who wrote in the sixteenth century, says that the Orcadians went half naked; and even some of the modern narrators of a poetical tem- perament, from Buchanan downward, indulge in similar representations. Now though Scotland is not colder than some parts of America where the savages of quite recent periods lived in a state of almost entire nudity, yet the utmost which can be fairly inferred from the statements of its credu- lous and romancing historians is, that its early population were not at all nice as to the quality of their clothing, and had such hardy habits as at times to be not very much caring about even its quantity. The ancient Scots had but rude notions of the rights of property; and very many of them were systematic or pro- fessed thieves; and even some of their heroes gloried in peculation and robbery and rapine. Almost all savage na- tions, indeed, and even some half-civilized ones, are power- fully addicted to thieving. "There was a singular law with the Egyptians: to be entitled to steal, it was necessary to be entered in a particular list of thieves, and engage to bring all stolen goods to the chief. Their neighbours, the Ethiopians, had different ideas: they had no locked places; and things left in the highways were never stolen. Thieving was in esteem; it was not viewed as a crime, but as a point of ad- dress. The Spartan youth underwent a regular education in 356 SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. it. Nestor asks Telemachus and Mentor, after entertaining them, whether they are pirates. When Cæsar was in Gaul, Latrocinia nullam habent infamiam, quæ extra fines cu- jusque civitatis fiunt.' The Danes, Norwegians, and Ice- landers, delighted in piracy. A common vaunt was, that the hero had never slept under an immoveable roof. The Northern pirates added cruelty to plunder. An ordinary amusement was, tossing children from one, and receiving them upon the lance of another. Of the Borderers, Leslie affirms, 'Non multum interesse putant, sive a Scotis sive ab Anglis furentur.'-And theft by 'landed men,' is by the Le- gislature declared treason. But the genius of our English neighbours seems to have soared in a peculiar style of thiev ing. And the last Henry enjoins his attendants, 'not to steal any locks or keys, tables, forms, cupboards, or other furniture, out of the noblemen's and gentlemen's houses where he goes to visit.' The Scots, particularly the Border tribes and the High- land clans, down to so recent a period as the union of the Crowns, made constant incursions for the sake of plunder, in much the same style as modern savage nations who live near the confines of a civilized country. The heroes of the Clans, in fact, were simply reivers or wholesale robbers; and the raids and forays of the Border, in a vast multitude of instances, were simply the exploits and consequences of freebooting. Scotland could not learn any of the arts of honesty and fair dealing from trade or commerce; it suffered frequent and prolonged release from all governmental restraint by inter- regnums, minorities, and contentions on the part of its kings; it was long and extensively rocked in the very cradle of ra- pine by the system of feudalism, and by the continual play of clannish strifes and retaliations; and it was hundreds of times provoked to long and fierce courses of revenge and spoliation by the animosities, invasions, and oppressions of its proud and domineering neighbours of England. "Scot- SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. 357 valour of our ancestors. land," remarks Dalzell, "had no occasion to bear affection to England. The treachery of Edward, who, under the mask of friendship, tried to wrest away their sceptre,-the wiles of the fourth and seventh Henries, who, in peace, detained their King a captive, and sowed dissension in their national assem- blies, and the deceit of Elizabeth, who, in cold blood, in- humanly murdered their Queen, planted an insuperable bar- rier to amity, and formed a wound, which the revolution of near two centuries has not completely healed. How this nation could exist, when opposed to the arms of England, is wonderful; and we need search for no other proof of the The feudal law had an early intro- duction here. It is recognised in our most ancient authentic documents, and then not in its original state. The King was the fountain of honour and property. By the feudal system, every man was a soldier. Lands were granted and trans- mitted, for personal service only; and the whole centered in the King. This continued long; and the extensive period required to effect a change, shows how very ancient its estab- lishment must have been. Lands were granted for various acknowledgments,-a quota of the fruits they produced; and, when the exchange of goods for money began, a return was made in specie. At first, the royal mint might be very portable; perhaps it always attended the King; and probably, a hammer, an anvil, and the die, constituted the whole. Agri- culture was neglected, from the frequent use the nation had for its soldiers. Continual wars,-wars which sometimes lasted near a century without intermission,-engaged the whole attention of the natives and induced them to live by plunder. Refinements that might be collecting for ages, were annihilated in the distractions of Baliol, Bruce, and Edward and instilled a savage ferocity in the minds of the people. that would have required ages of peace to quiet." Magic, fortune-telling, and similar abominations seem to have crept into Scotland through the medium of the saint 358 SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. worship and demonology of the middle ages. Robert the Bruce had his fortune predicted by a woman; and Barbour gives a dissertation on astrology. The first time capital punishment was inflicted for witchcraft in Scotland was in 1479, and the last in 1722; and between these periods many poor creatures, particularly old haggard women, were persecuted and tortured and burned, with ingenious and relentless cruelty, for this imaginary crime; while not a few great public disasters, at once military, political, and social, were gravely ascribed to its reputed influence. James VI. wrote a book upon it; and maintained that no age, sex, or rank guilty of it should be exempted from punishment; and lamented that witches And were never so rife as at the very time when he wrote. even Sir George Mackenzie,—a man of great learning, at a later period, who defended the antiquity of the Scotish royal line,-declared that witchcraft was the greatest of crimes, and that the lawyers of Scotland could not doubt of the existence of witches, since the law ordained them to be punished. The witches were popularly believed to be in the Devil's service, and to converse with him, and to possess from him a vast and varied power of evil; and they were supposed to appear to their victims in the form of hares, cats, and other crea- tures; and wicked gentry and nobles, ladies of rank and officers of state, who concocted schemes of assassination or treason, secretly and earnestly consulted them as the fittest possible auxiliaries in their nefarious plots. Any reader who is curious to know the expense of burning a witch will find an account of it in Arnot's Criminal Trials, or who wishes to learn the tortures to which reputed witches were subjected, and the extraordinary confessions which they were sometimes induced to make, will find ample accounts of them in Sir Walter Scott's Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, and in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials. Whatever superstitions arose in the course of ages found a ready retreat among the fastnesses of the Highland moun. SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. 359 tains, and have in a great measure been retained till quite recent times, or even till the present day, by a large propor- tion of the Highland population. The peculiar aspect of the Highlands, in which nature appears in its wildest and most romantic features, exhibiting at a glance sharp and rugged mountains, with dreary wastes-wide-stretched lakes, and rapid torrents, over which the thunders and lightnings, and tempests, and rains, of heaven, exhaust their terrific rage, wrought upon the creative powers of the imagination; and from these appearances, the Highlanders were naturally led to ascribe every disaster to the influence of superior powers, in whose character the predominating feature neces- sarily was malignity towards the human race." The most dangerous and the most malignant creature was the kelpie, or water-horse, which was supposed to allure women and children to his subaqueous haunts, and there devour them. Sometimes he would swell the lake or torrent beyond its usual limits, and overwhelm the unguarded traveller in the flood. The shepherd, as he sat upon the brow of a rock in a summer's evening, often fancied he saw this animal dashing along the surface of the lake, or browsing on the pasture- ground upon its verge. The urisks, who were supposed to be of a condition somewhat intermediate between that of mortal men and spirits, "were a sort of lubberly supernatu- rals, who, like the brownies of England, could be gained over by kind attentions to perform the drudgery of the farm ; and it was believed that many families in the Highlands had one of the order attached to it." The urisks were supposed to live dispersed over the Highlands, each having his own wild recess; but they were said to hold stated assemblies in the celebrated cave called Coire-nan-Uriskin, situated near the base of Ben-Venue, in Aberfoyle, on its northern shoulder. It overhangs Loch-Katrine "in solemn grandeur," and is beautifully and faithfully described by Sir Walter Scott. 360 SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. "It was a wild and strange retreat, As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. The dell, upon the mountain's crest, Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; Its trench had staid full many a rock, Hurl'd by primeval earthquake shock From Ben-Venue's grey summit wild, And here, in random ruin piled, They frown'd incumbent o'er the spot, And formed the rugged sylvan grot. The oak and birch, with mingled shade, At noontide there a twilight made, Unless where short and sudden shone From struggling beam on cliff or stone, With such a glimpse as prophet's eye Gains on thy depth, Futurity. No murmur waked the solemn still, Save tinkling of a fountain rill; But when the wind chafed with the lake, A sullen sound would upward break, With dashing hollow voice, that spoke The incessant war of wave and rock. Suspended cliffs, with hideous sway, Seem'd nodding o'er the cavern grey. From such a den the wolf had sprung, In such a wild cat leaves her young; Yet Douglas and his daughter fair Sought for a space their safety there. Grey Superstition's whisper dread, Debarred the spot to vulgar tread; For there, she said, did fays resort, And satyrs hold their sylvan court, By moon-light tread their mystic maze, And blast the rash beholder's gaze." 3 MW The Sea Kings of Orkney.-Page 360. SOLDIERSHIPS AND SUPERSTITIONS, &c. 361 The urisks, though generally inclined to mischief, were Bupposed to relax in this propensity, if kindly treated by the families which they haunted. They were even serviceable in some instances, and in this point of view were often con- sidered an acquisition. Each family regularly set down a bowl of cream for its urisk, and even clothes were sometimes added. The urisk resented any omission or want of atten- tion on the part of the family; and tradition says, that the urisk of Glaschoil-a small farm about a mile to the west of Ben-Venue-having been disappointed one night of his bowl of cream, after performing the task allotted him, took his departure about day-break, uttering a horrible shriek, and never again returned. The Dacine Shith, or Shi', 'men of peace,' or as they are sometimes called, Daoine matha, 'good men,' are considered by Dr. P. Graham, as "the most beautiful and perfect branch of Highland mythology." Although these have been gen- erally supposed the same as the fairies of England, as por- trayed by Shakspeare, in the Midsummer Night's Dream,' and perhaps, too, of the Orientals, they differ essentially in many important points. The Daoine Shi', or men of peace, who are the fairies of the Highlanders, "though not abso- lutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish repining race of beings, who, possessing themselves but a scanty portion of happiness, are supposed to envy mankind their more com- plete and substantial enjoyments. They are supposed to en- joy, in their subterraneous recesses, a sort of shadowy happi- ness, a tinsel grandeur, which, however, they would willingly exchange for the more solid joys of mortals." Green was the colour of the dress which these men of peace always wore, and they were supposed to take offence when any of the mortal race presumed to wear their favourite colour. The Highlanders ascribe the disastrous result of the battle of Killiecrankie to the circumstance of Viscount Dundee hav- ing been dressed in green on that ill-fated day. This colour 362 EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. is even yet considered ominous to those of his name who as sume it. The abodes of the Daoine Shi' are supposed to be below grassy eminences or knolls, where, during the night, they celebrate their festivities by the light of the moon, and dance to notes of the softest music. Tradition reports that they have often allured some of the human race into their subterraneous retreats, consisting of gorgeous apartments, and that they have been regaled with the most sumptuous ban- quets and delicious wines. Their females far exceed the daughters of men in beauty. If any mortal shall be tempted to partake of their repast, or join in their pleasures, he at once forfeits the society of his fellow-men, and is bound down irrevocably to the condition of a Shi'ich, or man of peace. The Shi ichs, or men of peace, are supposed to have a design against new-born children, and women in childbed, whom it is still universally believed, they sometimes carry off into their secret recesses. To prevent this abduction, women in childbed are closely watched, and are not left alone, even for a single moment, till the child is baptized, when the Shi'ichs are supposed to have no more power over them. THE EXPLOITS OF THE GOOD SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. THE noble family of Douglas, "whose coronet so often coun- terpoised the crown," and whose patrimonial seat gave name to the parish of Douglas and to the district of Douglasdale in the upper ward of Lanarkshire, is said to have been founded by Theobald, a Fleming, who acquired the lands around that seat at a very early period in Scotish history. But the first great man of the family-and at the same time one of the most distinguished and famous of all the great ones it pro- duced-was "the Good Sir James," the eighth Lord of Douglas, who lived amid the earliest and fiercest outbursts EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. 363 of the wars of the succession, and bade defiance to Edward of England at the very moment of his riding most rampantly over prostrate Scotland, and fought either at the side of Bruce, or in vigorous support of him, throughout all his efforts to achieve his country's independence. Sir James's own castle of Douglas had been taken and garrisoned by the troops of Edward I.; and he resolved to take it, and at the same time inflict signal chastisement on the intruders. A beautiful English maiden, named the Lady Augusta de Berkeley, had replied to her numerous suitors. that her hand should be given to him who should have the courage and the ability to hold the perilous castle of Douglas for a year and a day; and Sir John de Walton, anxious to win by his valour such a lovely prize, undertook the keeping of the castle by consent of Edward. For several months he discharged his duty with honour and bravery, and the lady now deeming his probation accomplished, and not unwilling perhaps to unite her fortunes to one who had proved himself a true and valiant knight, wrote him an epistle recalling him. By this time, however, he had received a defiance from Dou- glas, who declared that despite all his bravery and vigilance, the castle should be his own by Palm Sunday; and De Wal- ton deemed it a point of honour to keep possession till the threatened day should pass over. On the day named, Dou- glas having assembled his followers, assailed the English as they retired from the church, and having overpowered them took the castle. Sir John de Walton was slain in the con- flict, and the letter of his lady-love being found in his pocket, afflicted the generous and good Sir James "full sorely." The account of this taking of the Castle of Douglas, in the History of the Houses of Douglas and Angus, by Gods- croft, is somewhat different, and states that Sir James had drawn Sir John de Walton, by an ambuscade, out from the castle into the open country, where he fell on his band, killed their leader, and took the castle. The castle, however, was · 364 EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. : more than once taken, retaken, burnt, and rebuilt, during the life of the Good Sir James; and the account of one of the most interesting assaults upon it is given as follows by Godscroft: "The manner of his taking it is said to have beene thus-Sir James taking with him only two of his servants, went to Thomas Dickson of whom he was received with tears, after he had revealed himself to him, for the good old man knew him not at first, being in mean and homely apparel. There he kept him secretly in a quiet chamber, and brought unto him such as had been trusty servants to his father, not all at once, but apart by one and one, for fear of discoverie. Their advice was, that on Palm Sunday, when the English would come forth to the church, and his partners were con- veened, that then he should give the word, and cry the Douglas slogan,' and presently set upon them that should happen to be there, who being despatched the castle might be taken easily. This being concluded, and they come, so soon as the English were entred into the church with palms. in their hands, (according to the custom of that day,) little suspecting or fearing any such thing, Sir James, according to their appointment, cryed too soon, (a Douglas, a Douglas!) which being heard in the church, (this was St. Bride's church of Douglas,) Thomas Dickson, supposing he had beene hard at hand, drew out his sword and ran upon them, having none to second him but another man, so that, oppressed by the number of his enemies, he was beaten downe and slaine. In the meantime, Sir James being come, the English that were in the chancel kept off the Scots, and having the advantage of the strait and narrow entrie, defended themselves man- fully. But Sir James, encouraging his men, not so much by words as by deeds and good example, and having slain the boldest resisters, prevailed at last, and entring the place, slew some twenty-six of their number, and tooke the rest, about ten or twelve persons, intending by them to get the castle upon composition, or to enter with them when the EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. 365 - gates should be opened to let them in; but it needed not, for they of the castle were so secure that there was none left to keep it, save the porter and the cooke, who knowing nothing of what had hapened at the church, which stood a large quarter of a mile from thence, had left the gate wide open, the porter standing without, and the cooke dressing the dinner within. They entred without resistance, and meat being ready, and the cloth laid, they shut the gates and took their refection at good leisure. Now that he had gotten the castle into his hands, considering with himself (as he was a man no lesse advised than valiant) that it was hard for him to keep it, the English being as yet the stronger in that coun- trey, who if they should besiege him, he knewe of no reliefe, he thought it better to carry away such things as be most easily transported, gold, silver, and apparell, with ammuni- tion and armour, whereof he had greatest use and need, and to destroy the rest of the provision, together with the castle itselfe, than to diminish the number of his followers there where it could do no good. And so he caused carry the meale and meat, and other cornes and grain into the cellar, and laid all together in one heape: then he took the prisoners and slew them, to revenge the death of his trustie and valiant servant, Thomas Dickson, mingling the victuals with their bloud, and burying their carkasses in the heap of corne: after that he struck out the heads of the barrels and puncheons, and let the drink runn through all; and then he cast the carkasses of dead horses and other carrion amongst it, throw- ing the salt above all, so to make all together unuseful to the enemie; and this cellar is called yet the Douglas lairder. Last of all he set the house on fire, and burnt all the timber, and what else the fire could overcome, leaving nothing but the scorched walls behind him." During the close and frequent contests of Bruce with the English invaders in Ayrshire, on one occasion, Sir James made a sudden and smart reprisal on the English for a disas 366 EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. . ter they had inflicted on his master,—surprising and maiming and scattering them very soon after the moment when they had become victors; and on another occasion, he laid an am- buscade at Ederford for a party under Sir Philip Mowbray, pounced upon him like a tiger from his lair, routed the men, and gave Sir Philip himself so hot a chase that he flung away his sword, ran headlong without any attendant, and made a hair's breadth escape to Kilmarnock. When Bruce had beaten the English at Loudon-hill, and saw his way open to proceed toward Inverness, Douglas remained behind to attempt to recover such places as were still in the enemy's hand; and he made such quick and sure work throughout the fastnesses of the great range of mountains which extends from the Cheviots into south-western Galloway that "within a short time he freed Douglasdale, Ettrick-Forest, and Jed- burgh Forest of the English garrisons and subjection." About the same time, also, while roving among the mountains, he surprised and made prisoners Alexander Stewart of Bonkill, and Thomas Randolph, the nephew of Bruce, and afterwards Earl of Moray; and took them northward with him as far as the Mearns, where he met Bruce returning from Inverness,— "of whom," says Godscroft, "he was heartily welcomed, both for his own sake, and because he had brought him his nephew Randolph, whom the King did chide exceedingly. This piece of service was of no small importance, in regard to the good service done to the King by Randolph, both while the King lived, and after his death when he was regent; which all may be ascribed to Sir James, who conquered Ran- dolph to the King's side." In March 1312-13, while the English garrison were revel- ling on the eve of Lent, Sir James, with a party of only 60 men, dexterously captured the castle of Roxburgh,—a strength of great importance which had been committed by the King of England to the charge of Gillemin de Fiennes, a knight of Burgundy. Sir James and his men blackened their armour, י EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS 367 "but if and chose the early part of the night for the time of the attack, and laid themselves prostrate on the ground, and crept on their hands and feet among brushwood and trees, till they came close to the castle. The sentinels on the wall espied them, but supposed them to be cattle; and one of them re- marked to another, "The gentleman in the neighbourhood surely means to make good cheer to-night, that he hath no care of his cattle, but leaves them thus in the fields." "He may make good cheer this night," replied the other, the Douglas come at them, he will fare the worse hereafter." Sir James and his men heard this conversation, and were well encouraged by it to proceed. They fastened to the walls ladders of cords, made by an ingenious hero called Simon of the Lead-house; and this person was the first who scaled them, and did so alone, both that he might try their strength, and reconnoitre the state of the watch above. The nearest sentinel on the wall distinctly saw him; but, observing him to be alone, he gave no alarm, and simply stood ready to catch him at the top of the ladder, thinking to knock him down, or to tumble him headlong over the wall. But Simon distinctly saw him too; and, leaping nimbly in upon him ere he was aware, stabbed him with a knife, and threw him over the hither side of the wall; and, another sentinel coming speedily up, Simon despatched him in the same style. Sir James and the rest of the party had now got up; and they marched toward the hall, and there found the garrison in high revelry, most of them drunk, and all of them unarmed; so that they had easy work to do with them what they pleased, and to take immediate possession of the fortress. Gillemin de Fiennes was severely wounded with an arrow, and fled into the great tower and remained there all night; but next morning he yielded himself, and afterwards was set free by his captors. In 1314, Sir James commanded the centre of the Scotch army at the famous battle of Bannockburn. In 1317, while 368 EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. Bruce was in Ireland, an English army, under the Earl of Arundel, invaded Jedburgh Forest; and Douglas drew them into an ambush, forced them to fight at a disadvantage, dis- comfited them, and slew with his own hand one of their chief officers, Thomas de Richemont. In the same year, an Eng- lish force, under Edmond de Cailaud, the governor of Ber- wick, made a predatory and devastating inroad into Teviot- dale; and when they were on their way home laden with plunder, Douglas intercepted them, and slew many of their number, including their leader. Not long after, Douglas got intelligence of a boast by Robert Neville, the successor of Cailaud in the command of Berwick, that he would encoun- ter him whenever he saw his banner displayed; and Douglas advanced to the neighbourhood of Berwick, displayed his banner, and burnt some villages; and, having in consequence provoked Neville to take the field, he killed that boaster, and discomfited his forces. In 1319, Sir James, in conjunc- tion with Randolph, Earl of Moray, entered England by the west marches with 1,500 men, routed the English under the archbishop of York, eluded Edward II., and returned with honour to Scotland. When Robert the Bruce was on his deathbed, in 1329, he sent for his true friend and companion in arms the Good Sir James, and requested him, that so soon as his spirit had de- parted to Him who gave it, he should proceed with his heart and deposit it with humility and reverence at the sepulchre of our Lord at Jerusalem. Douglas resolved to carry the request of the dying King into execution, and for this pur- pose he received a passport from Edward III., dated Septem- ber 1, 1329. He set sail in the following year with the heart of his honoured master, accompanied by a splendid re- tinue. Having anchored off Sluys, he was informed that Alphonso XI., the King of Leon and Castile, was engaged in hostilities in Grenada with the Moorish commander Osmyn and this determined him to pass into Spain, and assist the { Sea Kings of Orkney.-Page 368. 0.1.STABILAND. EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. 369 Christians to combat the Saracens, preparatory to completing nis journey to Jerusalem. Douglas and his friends were warmly received by Alphonso, and having encountered the Saracens at Theba, on the frontiers of Andalusia, on August 25, 1330, they were routed. Douglas eagerly followed in the pursuit, and taking the casket which contained the heart of Bruce, he threw it before him, exclaiming, "Onward, brave heart, that never failed, and Douglas will follow thee or die!" The Saracens rallied, however, and the Good Sir James was slain. His companions found his body upon the field along with the casket, and mournfully conveyed them to Scotland. The heart of the Bruce was deposited at Melrose, although his body was interred in the royal tomb at Dunfermline. The remains of Sir James were buried at Douglas, and a monument erected to him by his brother Archibald. The old poet Barbour, after reciting the circumstances of Sit James' fall in Spain, tells us- "Quhen his men lang had mad murnyn, Thai debowlyt him, and syne "Gert scher him swa, that mycht be tane The flesch all haly fra the bane, And the carioune thar in haly place Erdyt, with richt gret worschip, was. "The banys have thai with them tane; And syne ar to thair schippis gane; Syne towart Scotland held thair way, And thar ar cummyn in full gret hy. And the banys honorabilly In till the kirk off Douglas war Erdyt, with dull and mekill car. Schyr Archebald has sone gert syn Off alabastre, baith fair and fyne, Or save a tumbe sa richly As it behowyt to swa worthy " 2 A 370 EXPLOITS OF SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. Douglas Castle, the patrimonial inheritance of the Good Sir James, the scene of his early exploits, and the resting- place of his mortal remains, is the "Castle Dangerous" of Sir Walter Scott's last novel, and was visited by him amid the sad decay of his wondrous powers, while that novel, so immeasurably feebler than his early ones, was in progress. The remains of the old Castle of Douglas," says he, "are inconsiderable. They consist, indeed, of but one ruined tower, standing at a short distance from the modern mansion, which itself is only a fragment of the design on which the Duke of Douglas meant to reconstruct the edifice, after its last accidental destruction by fire. His Grace had kept in view the ancient prophecy, that, as often as Douglas castle might be destroyed, it should rise again in enlarged dimensions and improved splendour, and projected a pile of building, which, if it had been completed, would have much exceeded any nobleman's residence then existing in Scotland, as, indeed, what has been finished, amounting to about one-eighth of the plan, is sufficiently extensive for the accommodation of a large establishment, and contains some apartments the exten of which are magnificent. The situation is commanding and though the Duke's successors have allowed the mansion to continue as he left it, great expense has been lavished on the environs, which now present a vast sweep of richly un- dulated woodland, stretching to the borders of the Cairntable mountains, the favourite retreat of the great ancestor of the family in the days of his hardships and persecution. There remains at the head of the adjoining bourg, the choir of the ancient church of St. Bride, having beneath it the vault which was used, till lately, as the burial place of this princely race, and only abandoned when their stone and leaden coffins had accumulated, in the course of five or six hundred years, in such a way that it could accommodate no more. Here a silver case, containing the dust of what was once the brave heart of Good Sir James, is still pointed out; and in the THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. 371 dilapidated choir above appears, though in a sorely ruinous state, the once magnificent tomb of the warrior himself."- The old church of Douglas was called St. Bride, from being dedicated to St. Bridget or St. Bride. It is a place of great antiquity, and the spire, and aisle which was used as the burying-place of the family of Douglas, are still preserved. The monuments in it are said to have been wantonly muti- lated by a party of Cromwell's troopers, who made the edifice a stable for their horses, and at a still later period by the mis- chievous propensity of the boys of the place, who for a length of time had free access to the aisle. But even in their muti- lated state some of them are exquisitely beautiful; and Sir Walter Scott says of the tomb of the Good Sir James, that "the monument, in its original state, must have been not inferior in any respect to the best of the same period in Westminster Abbey." THE CHARACTER AND DEATH OF THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. THE period of the minority of James II. was full of the tur- bulence and anarchy which disfigure so many and large por- tions of the history of Scotland. The Islesmen made descents on the western mainland, and put multitudes of men and women, old persons and children, to the sword: the clans around Lochlomond spread devastation through many tracts upon the Lowland frontiers; some great families in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire committed assassinations, and threw all the communities around them into commotion; the border rievers and marauders made bold raids into Eng- land, and provoked fierce retaliations; and the very directors of the national affairs-including Crichton and Livingstone, two of the most powerful-had their own feuds, and became centres and sources of strife. 372 THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. The contemporary Earl of Douglas possessed far more might of patrimony, position, and military retainership than any of the ringleaders of the general mischief, and in fact was almost a match for the throne; but, at the same time, was young and quite peaceable and orderly; yet was accused by enviers and enemies of cherishing unpatriotic and disloyal feelings, though on no better ground than that some of the distant retainers of his house took advantage of his youth. and power to prosecute some rieving and roystering practices of their own; and he therefore seemed a very fit and princely subject to become the scape-goat of the disorders of the nation. He was the sixth Earl of Douglas and the third Duke of Touraine. His father and grandfather had raised the family power to the most formidable height, and had won for it a lofty influence in France as well as at home. The young Earl was only fourteen years of age at his father's death, and lived altogether only two years longer; yet dis- played a nobleness of disposition and a loftiness of spirit which terrified his enviers and enemies. He was gentle, meek, and tractable, yet proud, aspiring, and kingly; and, while scorning to share in the cabals and animosities of the statesmen about the court, he scorned also to acknowledge their authority. He maintained a great establishment,--rode ever well accompanied when he appeared in public,-kept several hundreds, or even nearly two thousand, mounted military retainers,-conciliated many new followers by friend- ship and munificence,-dubbed knights,-preserved all his affairs in singularly good order,—and exhibited throughout all his behaviour at once a spiritedness, a sagacity, and a pru- dence which were quite surprising in so young a man. His enviers-particularly Chancellor Crichton and Sir Alexander Livingstone-dreaded to think how so magnificent a being might foil and crush them if spared to maturity,—and they resolved to destroy him; and as they could not hope to over- come him by force, they cunningly devised a method to cap- THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. 373 ture him by craft, and to kill him with some show of jus tice. A convention of the estates had been convoked at Edin burgh to consider the distracted state of the country; and a letter was written to the Earl of Douglas, at the instigation of Livingstone, in the name of all the lords of parliament, stating that, out of regard to both himself and his progeni- tors, they wished much for his presence,-that they could not conveniently get through their business without him and his friends, that if he had taken offence at anything, they would satisfy him so far as was possible,—that whatever offensive things had been done by him or his friends against the peace of the country, would be forgiven,—that, in con- sideration of his ancestry and power and youth, they enter- tained hope of great services from him to the state,—and that, as his progenitors had often by their arms and victories delivered the realm from anarchy and invasion, so they ex- pected him also, in the present crisis of discord, to pacify and establish the country by his counsels and influence. The young Earl was completely deceived by this missive, -especially by the clause of it which told him that the Con- vention could not get on without him and his friends; he was too ingenuous to suspect the profound deception which was practised upon him; he did not dream that the inability of the Convention to do without him might be interpreted in a sense the very reverse of what the words naturally bore; and he likewise might be largely influenced, both by an am- bition to show off his vast consequence at court, and by the whispered desires of his chief followers to go in quest of state-places and preferments. Nor are all or perhaps many of the lords of parliament to be suspected of participation in the plot against him; for most were very probably the dupes of Livingstone and Crichton,-and may be supposed to have given their assent to the missive, in the conviction that all its statements were in perfect good faith. 374 THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. The unsuspecting Earl, accompanied by his brother David, who must have been younger than himself, by his special counsellor, Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld, and by other friends, set out for Edinburgh, after having sent notice of his intention to do so; and the wily Crichton went out many miles to meet him, and invited him to go aside and pass a day or two in entertainments at his Castle of Crichton, situ- ated about eleven miles south-west of the Metropolis. "That castle rises on the steep Of the green vale of Tyne; And far beneath, where slow they creep, From pool to eddy, dark and deep,— Where alders moist, and willows weep,- You hear her streams repine. The towers in different ages rose; Their various architecture shows The builders' various hands; A mighty mass, that could oppose, When deadliest hatred fired its foes, The vengeful Douglas bands." The Chancellor here entertained the young Earl cheer- fully and magnificently, during two days, with every possible demonstration of respect and friendship; and so lovingly did he speak, so deferentially did he behave, so sumptuously did he honour his guest, and so anxious in everything did he seem to please and delight them, that some of Douglas's retainers began to suspect his sincerity, and whispered to "But their young master admonitions to be on his guard. to remove all suspicion, and the more to circumveen him," says the Historian of the House of Douglas, " Crichton ad- monished him familiarly, 'that he would remember the royal dignity of his Prince, and his own duty towards him,—that he would acknowledge him for his lord and sovereign, whom THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. 375 the condition of his birth, the laws of the country, and the consent of the states had placed at the helm of the common- wealth, that he would labour to transmit his so great pa- trimony, acquired by the virtue of his ancestors, and with spending of their blood, to his posterity, even so as he had received it, that he would be careful to keep the name of Douglas, which was no less illustrious and renowned for their faithfulness, than their deeds of arms, not only from the foul blot of treason, but even from all stain of suspicion or asper- sion thereof, that he himself would abstain, and cause his men to abstain, from wronging the poor people,—that he would put from about him thieves and robbers,-finally, that in time to come, he would set himself to maintain justice,- that if he had offended anything in times past, it might be imputed not to his natural disposition, but to ill counsel, and that infirmity of his youth, penitency would be admitted and accepted as innocency.' Venomous viper, that could hide so deadly poison under so fair shows! Unworthy tongue, unless to be cut out for example to all ages!" "O, in this deep and lonely glen, So lovely in its solitude, Can thoughts of woe the soul o'erflow, Or aught on dreams of peace intrude? O, can the gentle stir of leaves, The sleepy note-as of a dream- That winds below the green-wood bough, The murmur of the lovely stream;- Can they of grief and sorrow tell? They can and deeds of blood recall ; For the tree waves o'er black Creichton tower, And the stream runs by its silent wall.- 376 THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. Its cruel chief has doomed to death The youthful lord of Douglasdale; And there's not a man in all the land That weeps not when he hears the tale." The young Earl, however, resolutely discredited all insin- uations against his host's good faith, and regarded the high hospitalities of Crichton Castle as a pledge of the cordial welcome which he should receive at Edinburgh; and he therefore resumed his journey in the highest spirits and with halcyon hopes. Being a young nobleman of good inclina- tion," says Pitscottie, "wiser perchance than any other of equal age with him, he would neither give ear to his good- willers and favourers, nor yet was content with them that gave the counsel to turn homeward again, but reproved them highly; wherethrough sundry noblemen, with sad, dreary, and quiet countenance, followed him, and durst not speak any further." "And Earl Douglas swore a full great oath That he wadna quat that day's journee, And that Embro' streets wad rin wi' bluid Ere he or ony o' his kin should die.” "This noble youth and his brother and a few other prin- cipal friends," says Godscroft, "on their arrival in Edinburgh went directly to the Castle, being led as it were and drawn by a fatal destiny, and so came in the power of their deadly enemies and feigned friends. At the very instant comes the Governor, as was before appointed betwixt them, to play his part of the tragedy, that both he and the Chancellor might be alike imbarked in the action, and bear the envy of so ugly a fact, that the weight thereof might not be on one alone; yet to play out their treacherous parts, they welcome him most courteously, set him to dinner with the King at the same THE SIXTH EARL OF DOUGLAS. 377 table, feast him royally, entertain him cheerfully, and that for a long time. At last, about the end of dinner, they com- pass him about with armed men, and cause present a bull's head before him on the board. The bull's head was in those days a token of death, say our histories; but how it hath come in use to be taken and signify, neither do they, nor any else tell us; neither is it to be found, that I remember, any- where in history, save in this one place; neither can we conjecture what affinity it can have therewith, unless to ex- probrate grossness, according to the French, and our own reproaching dull and gross wits, by calling him calves-head (tête de veau) but not bull's head. The young nobleman, either understanding the sign as an ordinary thing, or aston- ished with it as an uncouth thing, upon the sight of the bull's head, offering to rise, was laid hold of by their armed men, in the King's presence, at the King's table, which should have been a sanctuary to him. And so without regard of King, or any duty, and without any further process, without order, as- size or jury, without law, no crime objected, he not being convicted at all, a young man of that age, that was not liable to the law in regard of his youth, a nobleman of that place, a worthy young gentleman of such expectation, a guest of that acceptation, one who had reposed upon their credit, who had committed himself to them, a friend in mind, who looked for friendship, to whom all friendship was promised, against duty, law, friendship, faith, honesty, humanity, hospitality, against nature, against human society, against God's law, against man's law, and the law of nature, is cruelly executed and put to death. David Douglas, his younger brother, was also put to death with him, and Malcolm Fleming of Cum- bernauld; they were all three beheaded in the back court of the Castle that lieth to the west." "When Earl Douglas to the Castle came The courts they were fu' grim to see; 378 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. And he liked na the feast as they sat at dine, The tables were served sae silentlie. And full twenty feet fro the table he sprang When the grisly bull's head met his e'e; But the Crichtouns a' cam' troupin in, An' he coudna fight an' wadna flie. O, when the news to Hermitage came, The Douglasses were brim and wood; They swore to set Embro' in a bleeze, An' slochen't wi' auld Crichtoun's blood." The King, at the time of this tragedy, was only ten years of age; and it is said that, when he saw the armed men start up against the Earl and his brother to drag them to execu- tion, he wept sorely, and made great lamentation, and en- treated the Chancellor, for God's sake, to let them alone,- and that the Chancellor rebuked him sharply, and declared that they were ordered to death, not out of any private hatred, but solely for the good of the realm. THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. CULLODEN MOOR is a large ridgy waste, from 3 to 5 miles east of Inverness, and was the battle-field on which the army of Prince Charles Edward was totally defeated, on the 16th of April, 1746, by the royal troops under the Duke of Cum- berland. It is everywhere bleak and dreary, and forms the centre of a chilling and dismal prospect; and it has a general smoothness of surface which must have served well for the movements of the artillery and cavalry, but which was pro- portionably ill adapted for the strong positioning and the defensive maneuvering of the infantry. The exact spot se THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. 379 lected by Charles Edward for drawing up his army was about 1 mile south of Culloden House, near the commencement of the ridge's southerly inclination; his right flank was cov- ered by one of the walls of a square stone enclosure which extended from his position downward to the river Nairn; his left flank was overlooked, rather than covered, at a con- siderable distance, by the woods of Culloden House; and the expanse of moor immediately in his front was marshy and soft. A vast assemblage of the graves of the slain is still indicated by two or three grassy mounds, which rise slightly above the circumjacent heath, at the distance of about 200 or 300 yards from a cluster of cottages and a small patch of cultivated land; and a carriage road from Inverness, made not many years ago, passes through the moor, and touches the principal line of graves at their northern ex- tremity. "Culloden, on thy swarthy brow Spring no wild flowers or verdure fair; Thou feel'st not summer's genial glow, More than the freezing wintry air! For once thou drank'st the hero's blood, And war's unhallowed footsteps bore: The deeds unholy Nature viewed, Then fled and cursed thee evermore! "Shades of the mighty and the brave, Who, faithful to your Stuart, fell; No trophies mark your common grave, Nor dirges to your memory swell! But generous hearts will weep your fate, When far has rolled the tide of time; And bards unborn shall renovate Your fading fame in loftiest rhyme!" 380 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. • The The Jacobite army was drawn up in three lines. The first, or front line, consisted of the Athole brigade, which had on the right, the Camerons, Stewarts of Appin, John Roy Stewart's regiment, Frasers, Mackintoshes, Farquharsons, Maclachlans, and Macleans, united into one regiment,-the Macleods, Chis- holms, Macdonalds of Clanranald, Keppoch, and Glengary. The three Macdonald regiments formed the left. Lord George Murray commanded on the right, Lord John Drummond in the centre, and the Duke of Perth on the left, of the first line. There had been, a day or two before, a violent con- tention among the chiefs about precedency of rank. Macdonalds claimed the right as their due, in support of which claim they stated, that, as a reward for the fidelity of Angus Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, in protecting Robert the Bruce for upwards of nine months in his dominions, that prince, at the battle of Bannockburn, conferred the post of honour, the right, upon the Macdonalds,—that this post had ever since been enjoyed by them, unless when yielded from courtesy upon particular occasions, as was done to the chief of the Macleans at the battle of Harlaw. Lord George Mur- ray, however, maintained that, under the Marquis of Mon- trose, the right had been assigned to the Athole men; and he insisted that that post should be now conferred upon them, in the contest with the Duke of Cumberland's army. In this unseasonable demand, Lord George is said to have been supported by Lochiel and his friends. Charles refused to decide a question with the merits of which he was imper- fectly acquainted; but, as it was necessary to adjust the dif- ference immediately, he prevailed upon the commanders of the Macdonald regiments to waive their pretensions in the present instance. The Macdonalds in general were far from being satisfied with the complaisance of their commanders; and, as they had occupied the post of honour at Prestonpans and Falkirk, they considered their deprivation of it, on the present occasion, as ominous. The Duke of Perth, while he THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. 381 stood at the head of the Glengary regiment, hearing the mur- murs of the Macdonalds, said, that if they behaved with their usual valour, they would make a right of the left, and that he would change his name to Macdonald; but these proud clansmen lent a deaf ear to him. The second line of the Jacobite army consisted of the Gor- dons under Lord Lewis Gordon, formed in column on the right, the French Royal Scots, the Irish piquets or brigade, Lord Kilmarnock's foot guards, Lord John Drummond's regi- ment, and Glenbucket's regiment in column on the left, flanked on the right by Fitz-James's dragoons, and Lord Elcho's horse-guards, and on the left by the Perth squadron, under Lords Strathallan and Pitsligo, and the Prince's body- guards under Lord Balmerino. General Stapleton had the command of this line.-The third line, or reserve, consisted of the Duke of Perth's and Lord Ogilvy's regiments, under the last-mentioned nobleman. The Prince himself, surrounded . by a troop of Fitz-James's horse, took his station on a very small eminence behind the centre of the first line, from which he had a complete view of the whole field of battle. The extremities of the front line and the centre were each pro- tected by four pieces of cannon. The royal army continued steadily to advance till within a mile of the position occupied by the Jacobite army, when the Duke of Cumberland ordered a halt, and, after reconnoitring the position of the Jacobites, formed his army for battle in three lines, and in the following order:-The first line con- sisted of six regiments, viz., the Royals, (the 1st,) Cholmond- ley's, (the 34th,) Price's, (the 14th), the Scots Fusileers, (the 21st,) Monro's, (the 37th,) and Barrel's (the 4th). The Earl of Albemarle had the command of this line. In the inter- mediate spaces between each of these regiments were placed two pieces of cannon, making ten in whole. The second line, which consisted of five regiments, comprised those of Pulte ney, (the 13th,) Bligh, (the 20th,) Sempil, (the 25th,) Ligo. 382 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. : nier, (the 48th,) and Wolfe's, (the 8th,) and was under the command of General Huske. Three pieces of cannon were placed between the exterior regiments of this line and those next them. The third line, or corps de reserve, under Bri- gadier Mordaunt, consisted of four regiments, viz., Batter- eau's, (the 62d,) Howard's, (the 3d,) Fleming's, (the 36th,) and Blakeney's, (the 27th,) flanked by Kingston's dragoons (the 3d). The order in which the regiments of the different lines are enumerated, is that in which they stood from right to left. The flanks of the front line were protected on the left by Kerr's dragoons, (the 11th,) consisting of three squad- rons, commanded by Lord Ancrum, and on the right by Cob- ham's dragoons, (the 10th,) consisting also of three squadrons, under General Bland, with the additional security of a mo- rass, extending towards the sea. But thinking himself quite safe on the right, the Duke afterwards ordered these last to the left, to aid in an intended attack upon the right flank of the Jacobites. The Argyle men, with the exception of 140, who were upon the left of the reserve, were left in charge of • the baggage. The dispositions of both armies are considered to have. been well-arranged; but both were better calculated for de- fence than for attack. The arrangement of the royal army is generally considered to have been superior to that of the Jacobites; as, from the regiments in the second and third lines being placed directly behind the vacant spaces between the regiments in the lines respectively before them, the Duke of Cumberland, in the event of one regiment in the front line being broken, could immediately bring up two to supply its place. But this opinion is questionable, as the Jacobites had a column on the flanks of the second line, which might have been used either for extension or eschellon movement towards any point to the centre, to support either the first or second line. In the dispositions described, and about the distance of a THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. 383 mile from each other, did the two armies stand for some time gazing at one another, each expecting that the other would advance and give battle. Whatever may have been the feel- ings of Prince Charles on this occasion, those of the Duke of Cumberland appear to have been far from enviable. The thoughts of Preston and Falkirk could not fail to excite in him the most direful apprehensions for the result of a com- bat affecting the very existence of his father's crown; and that he placed but a doubtful reliance upon his troops, is evident from a speech which he now made to his army. He began by informing them, that they were about to fight in defence of their king, their religion, their liberties, and pro- perty, and that if they only stood firm he had no doubt he would lead them on to certain victory; but as he would much rather, he said, be at the head of one thousand brave and resolute men than of ten thousand if mixed with cowards, he added, that if there were any amongst them, who, through timidity, were diffident of their courage, or others, who, from conscience or inclination, felt a repugnance to perform their duty, he requested them to retire immediately, and he pro- mised them his free pardon for doing so, as by remaining they might dispirit or disorder the other troops, and bring dishon- our and disgrace on the army under his command. As the Jacobites remained in their position, the Duke of Cumberland again put his army in marching order; and, after it had advanced, with fixed bayonets, within half-a-mile of the front line of the Highlanders, it again formed as be- fore. In this last movement the royal army had to pass a piece of hollow ground, which was so soft and swampy, that the horses which drew the cannon sunk; and some of the soldiers, after slinging their firelocks and unyoking the horses, had to drag the cannon across the bog. As by this last move- ment the army advanced beyond the morass which protected the right flank, the Duke immediately ordered up Kingston's horse from the reserve, and a small squadron of Cobham's 384 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. dragoons, which had been patrolling, to cover it; and to ex tend his line, and prevent his being outflanked on the right, he also at the same time ordered up Pulteney's regiment, (the 13th,) from the second line to the right of the royals; and Fleming's, (the 36th,) Howard's, (the 3d,) and Batter- eau's, (the 62d,) to the right of Bligh's, (the 20th,) in the second line, leaving Blakeney's, (the 27th,) as a reserve. During an interval of about half an hour which elapsed before the action commenced, some manoeuvring took place in attempts by both armies to outflank one another. While these manœuvres were making, a heavy shower of sleet came on, which, though discouraging to the Duke's army, from the recollection of the untoward occurrence at Falkirk, was not considered very dangerous, as they had now the wind in their backs. To encourage his men, the Duke of Cumberland rode along the lines addressing himself hurriedly to every regiment as he passed. He exhorted his men to rely chiefly on their bayonets, and to allow the Jacobites to mingle with them that they might make them "know the men they had to deal with." After the changes mentioned had been executed, his Royal Highness took his station behind the royals, between the first and second line, and almost in front of the left of Howard's regiment, waiting for the expected attack. Meanwhile, a singular occurrence took place, characteristic of the self-devotion which the Highlanders were ready on all occasions to manifest towards the Prince and his cause. Con- ceiving that by assassinating the Duke of Cumberland he would confer an essential service to the Prince, a Highlander resolved, at the certain sacrifice of his own life, to make the attempt. With this intention, he entered the royal lines as a deserter, and being granted quarter, was allowed to go through the ranks. He wandered about with apparent in- difference, eyeing the different officers as he passed along; and it was not long till an opportunity occurred, as he con- ceived, for executing his fell purpose. The Duke having THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. 385 ordered Lord Bury, one of his aides-de-camp, to reconnoitre, his Lordship crossed the path of the Highlander, who, mis- taking him, from his dress, for the Duke, (the regimentals of both being similar,) instantly seized a musket which lay on the ground, and discharged it at his Lordship. Fortunately he missed his aim, and a soldier who was standing by imme- diately shot him dead upon the spot. In expectation of a battle the previous day, Charles had animated his troops by an appeal to their feelings, and on the present occasion he rode from rank to rank encouraging his men, and exhorting them to act as they had done at Preston- pans and at Falkirk. The advance of Lord Bury, who went forward within a hundred yards of the insurgents to recon- noitre, appears to have been considered by the Jacobites as the proper occasion for beginning the battle. Taking off their bonnets, the Jacobites set up a loud shout, which being answered by the royal troops with a huzza, the Jacobites about one o'clock commenced a cannonade on the right, which was followed by the cannon on the left; but the fire from the last, owing to the want of cannoneers, was after the first round discontinued. The first volley from the right seemed to create some confusion on the left of the royal army; but so badly were the cannon served and pointed, that though the cannonade was continued upwards of half an hour, only one man in Bligh's regiment, who had a leg carried off by a cannon-ball, received any injury. After the Jacobites had continued firing for a short time, Colonel Belford, who directed the cannon of the Duke's army, opened a fire from the cannon in the front line, which was at first chiefly aimed at the horse, probably either be- cause they, from their conspicuous situation, were a better mark than the infantry, or because it was supposed that Charles was among them. Such was the accuracy of the aim taken by the royal artillery, that several balls entered the ground among the horses' legs, and bespattered the Prince 2 B 386 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. with the mud which they raised; and one of them struck the horse on which he rode two inches above the knee. The animal became so unmanageable, that Charles was obliged to change him for another. One of his servants, who stood be- hind with a led horse in his hand, was killed on the spot. Observing that the wall on the right flank of the Highland army prevented him from attacking it on that point, the Duke ordered Colonel Belford to continue the cannonade, with the view of provoking the Jacobites and inducing them to advance to the attack. These, on the other hand, en- deavoured to draw the royal army forward by sending down several parties by way of defiance. Some of these approached three several times within a hundred yards of the right of the royal army, firing their pistols and brandishing their swords; but with the exception of the small squadron of horse on the right, which advanced a little, the line remained immoveable. Meanwhile, Lord George Murray, observing that a squad- ron of the English dragoons and a party of foot, consisting of two companies of the Argyleshiremen, and one of Lord Lou- don's Highlanders, had detached themselves from the left of the royal army, and were marching down towards the river Nairn, and conceiving that it was their intention to flank the Jacobites, or to come upon their rear when engaged in front, he directed Gordon of Avochy to advance with his battalion, and prevent the foot from entering the enclosure; but before this battalion could reach them, they broke into the enclo- sure, and throwing down a part of the east wall, and after- wards a piece of the west wall in the rear of the second line, made a free passage for the dragoons, who formed in the rear of the Prince's army. Upon this, Lord George ordered the guards and Fitz-James's horse to form opposite to the dra- goons to keep them in check. Each party stood upon the opposite sides of a ravine, the ascent to which was so steep, that neither could venture across in presence of the other with safety. The foot remained within the enclosure, and = BERTSON'SE Sea Kings of Orkney.-Page 287. C1. STANILAND THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. 387 Avocny's battalion was ordered to watch their motions. This movement took place about the time the Jacobites were moving forward to the attack. It was now high time for the Jacobites to come to a close engagement. Lord George had sent Colonel Kerr to the Prince, to know if he should begin the attack, which the Prince accordingly ordered; but his Lordship, for some rea- son or other, delayed advancing. It is probable he expected that the Duke would come forward, and that by doing so, and retaining the wall and a small farm-house on his right, he would not run the risk of being flanked. Perhaps he waited for the advance of the left wing, which, being not so far for- ward as the right, was directed to begin the attack; and or- ders had been sent to the Duke of Perth to that effect; but the left remained motionless. Anxious for the attack, Charles sent an order by an aid-de-camp to Lord George Murray to advance; but his Lordship never received it, as the bearer was killed by a cannon-ball while on his way to the right. He sent a message about the same time to Lochiel, desiring him to urge upon Lord George the necessity of an immediate attack. Galled beyond endurance by the fire of the royalists, which carried destruction among the clans, the Highlanders became quite clamorous, and called aloud to be led forward without further delay. Unable any longer to restrain their impatience, Lord George had just resolved upon an imme- diate advance; but before he had time to issue the order along the line, the Mackintoshes, with a heroism worthy of that brave clan, rushed forward enveloped in the smoke of the enemy's cannon. The fire of the centre field-pieces, and a discharge of musquetry from the Scotch Fusileers, forced them to incline a little to the right; but all the regiments to their right, led on by Lord George Murray in person, and the united regiment of the Maclauchlans and Macleans on their left, coming down close after them, the whole moved forward together at a pretty quick pace. 308 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. I When within pistol-shot of the royalist line, they received a murderous fire, not only in front from some field-pieces, which for the first time were now loaded with grape-shot, but in flank from a side-battery supported by the Campbells, and Lord Loudon's Highlanders. Whole ranks were liter- ally swept away by the terrible fire of the royalists. Yet, notwithstanding the dreadful carnage in their ranks, the Highlanders continued to advance, and, after giving their fire close to the royalist line, which, from the density of the smoke, was scarcely perceptible even within pistol-shot, the right wing, consisting of the Athole Highlanders and the Camerons, shed in sword in hand, and broke through Bar- rel's and Mo oe's regiments, which stood on the left of the first line. T. se regiments bravely defended themselves with their spontoons and bayonets; but such was the impetuosity of the onset, that they would entirely have been cut to pieces had they not been immediately supported by two regiments from the second line, on the approach of which they retired behind the regiments on their right, after sustaining a loss in killed and wounded of upwards of two hundred men. After breaking through these two regiments, the Highlanders, pass- ing by the two field-pieces which had annoyed them in front, hurried forward to attack the left of the second line. They were met by a tremendous fire of grape-shot from the three field-pieces on the left of the second line, and by a discharge of musquetry from Bligh's and Sempill's regiments, which carried havoc through their ranks, and made them at first recoil; but, maddened by despair, and utterly regardless of their lives, they rushed upon an enemy whom they felt but could not see, amid the cloud of smoke in which the assailants were buried. The same kind of charge was made by the Stewarts of Appin, the Frasers, Mackintoshes, and the other centre. regiments in their front, which they drove back upon the second line, which they also attempted to break; but find- ing themselves unable thev gave up the contest, but not THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. 389 until numbers had been cut down at the mouths of the cannon. While advancing towards the second line, Lord George Murray, in attempting to dismount from his horse, which had become unmanageable, was thrown; but, recovering himself, he ran to the rear and brought up two or three regiments from the second line to support the first; but although they gave their fire, nothing could be done,-all was lost. Unable to break the second line, and being greatly cut up by the fire of Wolfe's regiment, and by Cobham's and Kerr's dragoons, who had formed en potence on their right flank, the right wing also gave up the contest, and turning about, cut their way back, sword in hand, through those who had advanced and formed on the ground they had passed over in charging to their front. In consequence of the unwillingness of the left to advance first as directed, Lord George Murray had sent the order to attack from right to left; but, hurried by the impetuosity of the Mackintoshes, the right and centre did not wait till the order, which required some minutes in the delivery, had been communicated along the line. Thus the right and centre had the start considerably, and quickening their pace as they went along, had closed with the front line of the English army before the left had got half way over the ground that separated the two armies. The difference be- tween the right and centre and the left was rendered still more considerable from the circumstance, as noted by an eye- witness, that the two armies were not exactly parallel to one another, the right of the Prince's army being nearer the Duke's army than the left. Nothing could be more unfor- tunate for the Prince than this isolated attack, as it was only by a general shock of the whole of the English line that he had any chance of a victory. The clan regiments on the left of the line, apprehensive that they would be flanked by Pulteney's regiment and the horse which had been brought up from the corps de reserve, 390 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. did not advance sword in hand. After receiving the fire of the regiments opposite to them, they answered it by a general discharge, and drew their swords for the attack; but observing that the right and centre had given way, they turned their backs and fled without striking a blow. Stung to the quick by the misconduct of the Macdonalds, the brave Keppoch seeing himself abandoned by his clan, advanced with his drawn sword in one hand, and his pistol in the other; but he had not proceeded far, when he was brought down to the ground by a musket-shot. He was followed by Donald Roy Macdonald, formerly a lieutenant in his own regiment, and now a captain in Clanranald's regiment, who, on his falling, entreated him not to throw away his life, assuring him that his wound was not mortal, and that he might easily join his regiment in the retreat; but Keppoch refused to listen to the solicitations of his clansman, and, after recommending him to take care of himself, the wounded chief received another shot, and fell to rise no more. Fortunately for the Jacobites the royal army did not follow up the advantages it had gained by an immediate pursuit. Kingston's horse at first followed the Macdonalds, some of whom were almost surrounded by them; but the horse were kept in check by the French piquets, who brought them off. The dragoons on the left of the royalist line were in like manner kept at bay by Ogilvy's regiment, which faced about upon them several times. After these ineffectual attempts, the royalist cavalry on the right and left met in the centre, and the front line having dressed its ranks, orders were issued for the whole to advance in pursuit of the Jacobites. Charles, who, from the small eminence on which he stood, had ob- served with the deepest concern the defeat and flight of the clan regiments, was about proceeding forward to rally them, contrary to the earnest entreaties of Sir Thomas Sheridan and others, who assured him that he would not succeed. Al their expostulations would, it is said, have been vain, had not THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. 391 General O'Sullivan laid hold of the bridle of Charles's horse, and led him off the field. It was, indeed, full time to retire, as the whole army was now in full retreat, and was followed by the whole of Cumberland's forces. To protect the Prince, and secure his retreat, most of his horse assembled about his person; but there was little danger, as the victors advanced very leisurely, and confined themselves to cutting down some defenceless stragglers who fell in their way. After leaving the field, Charles put himself at the head of the right wing, which retired in such order, that the cavalry sent to pursue upon it could make no impression. At a short distance from the field of battle, Charles sepa- rated his army into two parts. One of these divisions, con- sisting, with the exception of the Frasers, of the whole of the Highlanders, and the Low country regiments, crossed the water of Nairn, and proceeded towards Badenoch; and the other, comprising the Frasers, Lord John Drummond's regi- ment, and the French piquets, took the road to Inverness. The first division passed within pistol-shot of the body of royalist cavalry which, before the action, had formed in the rear of the Jacobite army, without the least interruption. An English officer, who had the temerity to advance a few paces to seize a Highlander, was instantly cut down by him and killed on the spot. The Highlander, instead of running away, deliberately stooped down, and pulling out a watch from the pocket of his victim, rejoined his companions. From the plainness of the ground over which it had to pass, the smaller body of the Prince's army was less fortunate, as it suffered considerably from the attacks of the Duke's light horse before it reached Inverness. Numerous small parties, which had detached themselves from the main body, fell under the sabres of the cavalry; and many of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood, who, from motives of curio- sity, had come out to witness the battle, were slaughtered without mercy by the soldiery, who, from the similarity of 392 THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. their dress, were, perhaps, unable to discriminate them from Charles's troops. This indiscriminate massacre continued all the way from the field of battle to a place called Mill-burn, within a mile of Inverness. From the characteristic bravery of the Highlanders, and their contempt of death, it is not improbable that some of those who perished, as well on the field after the battle, as in the flight, did not yield their lives without a desperate struggle; but history has preserved one very remarkable case of indi- vidual prowess in the person of Golice Macbane. This man, who is represented to have been of the gigantic stature of six feet four inches and a quarter, was beset by a party of dragoons. When assailed, he placed his back against a wall, and though covered with wounds, he defended himself with nis target and claymore against the onset of the dragoons, who crowded upon him. Some officers, who observed the unequal conflict, were so struck with the desperate bravery of Macbane, that they gave orders to save him; but the dra- goons, exasperated by his resistance, and the dreadful havoc. he had made among their companions, thirteen of whom lay dead at his feet, would not desist till they had succeeded in cutting him down. According to the official accounts published by the govern- ment, the royal army had only 50 men killed, and 259 wounded, including 18 officers, of whom four were killed. Lord Robert Ker, second son of the Marquis of Lothian, and a captain of grenadiers, in Barrel's regiment, was the only person of distinction killed: he fell covered with wounds, at the head of his company, when the Highlanders attacked Barrel's regiment. The loss on the side of the Jacobites was never ascertained with any degree of precision. The num- ber of the slain is stated, in some publications of the period, to have amounted to upwards of 2,000 men; but these ac- counts are exaggerated. The loss could not, however, be much short of 1,200 men. The Athole brigade alone lost THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN 393 more than the half of its officers and men; and some of the centre battalions came off with scarcely a third of their men. The Mackintoshes, who were the first to attack, suffered most. With the exception of three only, all the officers of this brave regiment, including Macgillivray of Drumnaglass, its colonel, the lieutenant-colonel, and major, were killed in the attack. All the other centre regiments also, lost several officers. Maclachlan, colonel of the united regiment of Mac- lachlan and Maclean, was killed by a cannon-ball in the be- ginning of the action; and Maclean of Drimmin, who, as lieutenant-colonel, succeeded to the command, met a similar fate from a random shot. He had three sons in the regi- ment, one of whom fell in the attack, and when leading off the shattered remains of his forces, he missed the other two, and in returning to look after them, received the fatal bullet. Charles Fraser, younger of Inverallachie, the lieutenant- colonel of the Fraser regiment, and who, in the absence of the master of Lovat, commanded it on this occasion, was also killed. The Appin regiment had seventeen officers and gen- tlemen slain, and ten wounded; and the Athole brigade, which lost fully half its men, had nineteen officers killed, and four wounded. Among the wounded, the principal was Lochiel, who was shot in both ancles with some grape-shot, at the head of his regiment, after discharging his pistol, and while in the act of drawing his sword. On falling, his two brothers, between whom he was advancing, raised him up, and carried him off the field in their arms. To add to his misfortune, Charles also lost a considerable number of gen- tlemen, his most devoted adherents, who had charged on foot in the first rank. Lord Strathallan was the only person of distinction that fell among the low country regiments. Lord Kilmarnock and Sir John Wedderburn were taken prisoners. The former, in the confusion of the battle, mistook, amidst the smoke, a party of English dragoons for Fitz-James's horse, and was taken. Having lost his hat, he was led bare-headed 394 THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. to the front line of the royalist infantry. His son, Lord Boyd, who held a commission in the royal army, unable to testrain his feelings, left the ranks, and, going up to his unfor- tunate parent, took off his own hat, placed it on his father's head, and returned to his place without uttering a word. This moving scene brought a tear from many an eye. At other times, and under different circumstances, a battle like that of Culloden would have been regarded as an ordi- nary occurrence, of which, when all matters were duly con- sidered, the victors could have little to boast. The Jacobite army did not exceed 5,000 fighting men; and when it is con- sidered that the men had been two days without sleep, were exhausted by the march of the preceding night, and had scarcely tasted food for forty-eight hours, the wonder is that they fought so well as they did, against an army almost double in point of numbers, and which laboured under none of the disadvantages to which, in a more especial manner, the over- throw of the Jacobites is to be ascribed. Nevertheless, as the spirits of the great majority of the nation had been sunk to the lowest state of despondency, by the reverses of the royal arms at Preston and Falkirk, this unlooked for event was hailed as one of the greatest military achievements of ancient or modern times; and the Duke of Cumberland, who nad, in consequence, an addition of £25,000 per annum made to his income by parliament, was regarded as one of the greatest heroes who had ever flourished in the world. In its consequences, as entirely and for ever destructive of the claims and policy of the house of Stuart, the battle was perhaps one of the most important ever fought. THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. AFTER the defeat of the Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge in 1679, the extreme party known as Society People or Came- THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. 395 onians became completely separated, in both political opinion. and religious communion, from the rest of the Presbyterians, both indulged and non-indulged; and on the 22d of June, 1680, a small number of them went in arms to the small burgh of Sanquhar, and affixed to the cross a copy of a decla- ration, which had been framed as the symbol or testimony of the party, and which renounced the authority of the King and his ministers, and asserted all the other Presbyterians to be in a state of sinful defection. Richard Cameron and all other persons concerned in framing and emitting this declara- tion were speedily denounced by a special governmental pro- clamation; and felt obliged to seek safety in concealment, military devices, and the constant carrying of defensive wea- pons. Seven troops of dragoons and a regiment of infantry marched to the south-western districts of Scotland, under Lord Linlithgow, Claverhouse, Strachan, Major Cockburn and others, to search out and apprehend Cameron and his followers, to bring them to the civil authorities, dead or alive, and at the same time to seize and punish all other Presbyte- rian fugitives who had formerly been denounced for contu- macious insubordination to the ecclesiastical dictates of the civil power. The soldiers had already, often and often, earned the full infamy of being cruel dogs of persecution, "greedy dogs that could never have enough;" and they acted, on the present occasion, in perfect harmony with their former char- acter. "Great numbers of them," says Wodrow, quartered upon country families; and where they lodged one night they eat up as much provision as they could, and brought in sheep and cows, and killed them without paying anything; they put their horses into the meadows and the standing corn, and either eat them up, or trod them down; any horses they saw feeding, or found in houses, they seized, and made the owners pay their worth, or took them with them. All the houses in their route were perfectly spoiled; and one troop and company coming upon the heels of another, were 396 THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. anything left by the first was quite consumed by the after- comers. Dreadful were the ravages they made upon the Sabbath days throughout all the country round them. I have seen sums of almost incredible losses sustained in this way, in the parishes of Carsphairn, Dalry, Balmaclellan, Cors- michael, and many other places, whither the soldiers came." Sixty-three of the staunchest adherents of the Sanquhar declaration, with Richard Cameron and Hackston of Rathillet at their head, when the soldiery's search for them became very hot and keen, lay ensconced in the moorland fastnesses of the upper district of Kyle; and there they soon and sorely came into military collision with a considerable body of their pur- suers. The precise scene of the conflict was near the eastern extremity of a large and wild morass called Airsmoss or Airdsmoss. This tract is about five miles in length and two in breadth, and lies principally in the parish of Auchinleck, and is nearly bounded on the east by the road from Cumnock to Muirkirk, and on the west by that from Cumnock to Catrine. A monument, popularly called Cameron's stone, about half a mile west of the road from Cumnock to Muir- kirk, marks the spot where the deadliest of the strife occurred. The present erection is neat and quite modern; but the ori- ginal monument was a large flat stone, laid down about fifty years after the event, and simply inscribed with the names of the Cameronians who fell in the skirmish. utter desolation of the spot gives it a melancholy interest. The world viewed from Cameron's stone seems a howling wilderness; and nothing fair is to be seen but that heaven above on which the hopes of the enthusiasts, withdrawn from all earthly objects, were so firmly fixed. The heath and long deer-grass bear no trace of the blood which must once have stained them; and the event is so remote, that all the more ostentatious ensigns and indications of death and woe, as well as all claims upon a sympathy with mere bodily suffering, are gone and obliterated." "The THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. 397 .. On Wednesday evening, the 21st of July, the sixty-three Covenanters became aware that soldiers were advancing to their neighbourhood; and they sent out two of their number as scouts, and remained all night on the moor. On the fol. lowing morning, they partook of some refreshment, and sent out other two of their number, in the same capacity as the previous two. Soon after, all the four scouts returned together with intelligence; and about four o'clock, a party of well-armed dragoons, amounting to at least 112, under the command of Bruce of Earlshall, appeared in sight, and came rapidly on. The Covenanters had no alternative but to sur- render unconditionally, or to make a desperate fight for liberty and life; and all seem to have been sternly animated with the spirit of resistance. Richard Cameron, who was both their minister and their chief political leader, and in whom they reposed enthusiastic confidence, prayed thrice aloud, "Lord, spare the green and take the ripe;" and then said intrepidly to his brethren, "Come, let us fight it out to the last; for this is the day I have longed for, and the day that I have prayed for, to die fighting against our Lord's enemies; this is the day that we will get the crown. Be encouraged all of you to fight it out valiantly; for all of you that shall fall this day, I see heaven's gate open to receive you." Hackston of Rathillet took the military command; and rode off to seek an advantageous position, but could not tind any; and returned to the margin of the morass, and there quickly arranged his little company in the order of eight horsemen on the right, fifteen horsemen on the left, and forty foot, many of them badly armed, in the centre. A detachment of the foot were sent off to meet about twenty dismounted dragoons, who advanced to turn the flank of the Covenanters; and the main body moved forward to confront the chief force of the enemy, who were coming on at a gallop. The Covenanters' horse rode right up to the very face or the dragoons, and were the first to fire, and broke in among 398 THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. ': their ranks with desperation and fury. Hackston himself was foremost, and rode riotously amongst them, and sustained assaults from several troopers at a time, and pushed forward and recoiled by turns, and laid about him for many minutes like an Achilles; and, his horse at last sinking in the bog, he sprang to his feet, and was instantly assailed by a heroic dis- mounted dragoon, an old acquaintance of his own, of the name of David Ramsay, and combated him long and fiercely with the small sword, without either gaining or yielding any considerable advantage, and was at length struck down by three mounted dragoons behind him, and then surrendered himself on quarter to Ramsay. The other horsemen of the Covenanters fought almost as desperately as their leader, and neither asked nor gave quarter; but were soon cut down or captured. The foot did not adequately support the horse, but delivered their fire at some distance; and when Hackston fell, most of them fled far into wet and sinking parts of the bog, where the dragoons could not easily or at all follow them. No fewer than twenty-eight of Earlshall's dragoons were either killed or mortally wounded in this skirmish; and the survivors readily acknowledged the great bravery of their an- tagonists. Only nine of the Covenanters were slain. Richard Cameron himself was among the first who fell, and was shot dead upon the spot where he stood. A number of others were made prisoners, and taken to Edinburgh, and were afterwards either tortured, banished, or executed. Cameron's head and hands were cut off by one of the dragoons, and were afterwards exhibited in a horrible procession through the streets of Edinburgh, and then barbarously shown to his father, who lay in prison as a Covenanter, and finally fixed upon the Netherbow port of Edinburgh, and left there as a hideous spectacle to the brutal mob. When old Cameron saw them, and was jeeringly asked if he knew them, he affectionately kissed them, and exclaimed, "I know them, I know them; they are my son's, my dear son's; it is the Lord, THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. 399 good is the will of the Lord, who cannot wrong me nor mine, but has made goodness and mercy to follow us all our days." The headless body of Cameron, and the corpses of his eight followers who fell with him, were buried in one grave, on the scene of the battle, and were afterwards commemorated by "Cameron's stone." On the head of the stone was engraved the initials of Cameron's name, the form of an open bible, and the figure of a sword grasped by a hand; round the sides of the stone was the inscription, "Here lies the corpse of that famous and faithful preacher of the gospel, Richard Cameron, who with several others fell here, encountered with the bloody enemies of truth and godliness;" and on the face of the stone were inscribed the names of the other eight sufferers, Michael Cameron, John Fowler, John Hamilton, John Gemmel, James Gray, Robert Dick, Robert Paterson, and Thomas Watson, beneath the following lines: Halt, curious passenger, come here and read, Our souls triumph with Christ, our glorious Head ; In self-defence we numbered here do lye To witness against the nation's perjury." The Cameronian skirmishers at Airsmoss were certainly all, or very nearly all, which these lines claim for the victims; -they believed in Christ, and hoped for heaven through his atonement, and contended for his rights as the glorious Head of the whole Christian community,—they stood on the defen- sive against the impositions and coercions of a most oppres- sive and persecuting government,—and they devotedly and disinterestedly struggled for the liberties and the religious well-being of their country, in a condition of forlorn hope, after they supposed the majority of their quondam brethren to have become faithless. Yet we question whether they did not do fully as much harm by their errors and extravagances as they did good by their excellencies. It was a horrible. 400 THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. : thing for them to fight. What, upon even their own prin ciples, could they do by killing the wretches opposed to them except to cut them suddenly and eternally off from all hope of mercy? They could not expect either victory for them- selves or benefit for their country from the skirmish; and they must have rushed to it either in the sheer desperation of maniacs or in the awful spirit of avengers,-determining to have blood for blood. They had been severely persecuted, it is true; but they had no warrant thence to do any thing but flee; for their Divine Master had said, "If they perse- cute you in one city, flee to another." They could not pos- sibly pretend to either a better cause or a worse plight at Airsmoss than their Blessed Lord at Gethsemane; and when they found that they could flee no further, they ought, like him, to have simply yielded themselves to those who came out armed to take them." How hideously mistaken, too, was it in Cameron to say to them, " For all of you that shall fall this day, I see heaven's gates open to receive you!" Christ's death, and not their own, he well knew was the only true key for the opening of heaven's gates; and as to inspiriting men to battle by the prospect of paradise for the slain, this was the master policy of the Crusaders, the Mahommedans, and even the heathen Scandinavians, and therefore awfully out of keeping with such a cause as that of Cameron. And in other circumstances, or with better men and better mea- sures, the antagonist party might just as well have claimed the honours and the rewards of martyrdom as they. An honest Presbyterian, as such, has no higher right to speak of heaven as his exclusive destination than an honest Epis- copalian. The Cameronians, also, in spite of the vast gen- eral rectitude of their conduct, and in spite of their possessing largely and fragrantly nearly all the elements of true Chris tian martyrliness, had actually gone to the den of the lion and bearded him there, and provoked him to run at them and were therefore, in a main degree, the victims of theit THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. 401 own rashness. Their overt renunciation of allegiance to the government unavoidably involved them in all the dangers and penalties of sedition. Yet, notwithstanding these re- marks, we make large allowances for the times in which they lived, for the prejudices they had imbibed, and for the mad- dening tendency of the persecutions they had endured; and with nearly as much admiration of its spirit as of its poetry, we here transcribe a most beautiful and well-known piece upon the apotheosis of the Cameronian sufferers at Airsmoss written by a young Ayrshire shepherd of the name of James Hislop:- "In a dream of the night I was wafted away, To the muirland of mist where the martyrs lay; Where Cameron's sword, and his Bible are seen, Engraved on the stone where the heather grows green. 'Twas a dream of those ages of darkness and blood, When the minister's home was the mountain and wood; When in Wellwood's dark valley the standard of Zion, All bloody and torn 'mong the heather was lying. 'Twas morning, and summer's young sun from the east, Lay in loving repose on the green mountain's breast; On Wardlaw and Cairntable the clear shining dew [blue. Glisten'd there 'mong the heath-bells and mountain-flowers And far up in heaven, near the white sunny cloud, The song of the lark was melodious and loud; And in Glenmuir's wild solitude, lengthen'd and deep, Were the whistling of plovers and bleating of sheep. And Wellwood's sweet valleys breathed music and gladness, The fresh meadow blooms hung in beauty and redness; Its daughters were happy to hail the returning, And drink the delights of July's sweet morning. 2 c 402 THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. But, oh! there were hearts cherish'd far other feelings, Illumed by the light of prophetic revealings, Who drank from the scenery of beauty but sorrow, For they knew that their blood would bedew it to-morrow 'Twas the few faithful ones who with Cameron were lying Conceal'd 'mong the mist where the heath-fowl was crying, For the horsemen of Earlshall around them were hovering, And their bridle-reins rung through the thin misty covering. Their faces grew pale, and their swords were unsheath'd, But the vengeance that darken'd their brow was unbreathed; With eyes turn'd to heaven in calm resignation, They sung their last song to the God of salvation. The hills with the deep mournful music were ringing, The curlew and plover in concert were singing; But the melody died 'mid derision and laughter, As the host of ungodly rush'd on to the slaughter. Though in mist, and in darkness, and fire, they were shrouded, Yet the souls of the righteous were calm and unclouded; Their dark eyes flash'd lightning, as firm and unbending, They stood like the rock which the thunder is rending. The muskets were flashing, the bright swords were gleaming, The helmets were cleft, and the red blood was streaming, The heavens grew dark, and the thunder was rolling, When in Wellwood's dark muirlands the mighty were falling When the righteous had fallen, and the combat was ended, A chariot of fire through the dark cloud descended; Its drivers were angels, on horses of whiteness, And its burning wheels turn'd on axles of brightness. THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. 403 A seraph unfolded its doors bright and shining, All dazzling like gold of the seventh refining, And the souls that came forth out of great tribulation, Have mounted the chariots and steeds of salvation. On the arch of the rainbow the chariot is gliding, Through the path of the thunder the horsemen are riding; Glide swiftly, bright spirits! the prize is before ye, A crown never fading, a kingdom of glory!" Hackston of Rathillet was conveyed from Airsmoss to Edinburgh, and afterwards tried and executed, in a manner of shocking barbarity; for he had previously been rankly ob. noxious to the government; and he was deemed a peculiarly fit subject for the utmost possible rigours of revenge and terror. 'Next morning after the day of the skirmish," says he, "I was brought to Lanark and brought before Dalziel, Lord Ross, and some others, who asked many questions at me; but I not satisfying them with answers, Dalziel threat- ened to roast me; and carrying me to the tolbooth, caused me to be bound most barbarously, and cast me down, where I lay till Saturday morning, without any, except soldiers, admitted to speak to me, or dress my wounds, or give me any ease whatever. And next morning they brought John Pollock and me, and other two of us, near two miles on foot, I being without shoes; and here that party which had broken us at first, received us. They were commanded by Earlshall. We were horsed, civilly used by them on the way, and brought to Edinburgh, about four in the afternoon, and carried about the north side of the town to the foot of the Canongate, where the town magistrates were, who received us; and set- ting me on a horse, with my face backward, and other three bound on a goad of iron, and Mr. Cameron's head carried on a halbert before me, and another head which I knew not, in a sack, on a lad's back; and so we were carried up the street 404 THE SKIRMISH OF AIRSMOSS. to the Parliament-close, where I was taken down, and the rest loosed. All was done by the hangman." The follow- ing account of his execution is given in the Scots Worthies; "He was carried from the bar on a hurdle, drawn back- wards, to the place of execution at the cross of Edinburgh. None were suffered to be with him but two bailies, the exe- cutioner, and his servants. He was permitted to pray to God Almighty, but not to speak to the people. Being come upon the scaffold, his right hand was struck off, and a little after, his left; which he endured with great firmness and constancy. The hangman being long in cutting off the right hand, he de- sired him to strike on the joint of the left; which being done, he was drawn up to the top of the gallows with a pulley, and suffered to fall down again with his whole weight upon the lower scaffold three times, and then fixed at the top of the gallows. Then the executioner, with a large knife, cut open his breast, and pulled out his heart, before he was dead, for it moved when it fell on the scaffold. He then stuck his knife in it, and showed it on all sides to the people, crying, 'Here is the heart of a traitor.' the heart of a traitor.' At last he threw into a fire prepared for that purpose; and having quartered his body, his head was fixed on the Netherbow, one of his quarters, with his hands, at Saint Andrews, another at Glas- gow, a third at Leith, and a fourth at Burntisland." In the churchyard of Cupar-Fife is a plain upright monumental stone, having the following rude lines inscribed on one of its sides:- "Our persecutors filled with rage, Their brutish fury to assuage, Took heads and hands of martyrs off, That they might be the people's scoff'; They Hackston's body cut asunder, And set it up a world's wonder In several places, to proclaim, These monsters gloried in their shame!" THE BATTLE OF GLENLIVET. 405 THE BATTLE OF GLENLIVET. A battle was fought Huntly on the 3d of GLENLIVET is a district in Banffshire, watered by the river Livet, and celebrated for its whiskey. here between the Earls of Argyle and October, 1594. Argyle, a youth of 19 years of age, having collected a force of about 12,000 men, entered Badenoch, and laid siege to the castle of Ruthven, on the 27th day of September. He was accompanied in this expedition by the Earl of Athol, Sir Lauchlan Maclean with some of his islanders, the chief of the Mackintoshes, the laird of Grant, the Clan Gregor, Macneil of Barra with all their friends and dependents, together with the whole of the Campbells, and a variety of others who were actuated by a thirst for plunder or malice towards the Gordons. The castle of Ruthven was so well defended by the Clan Pherson, who were the Earl of Huntly's vassals, that Argyle was obliged to give up the siege. He then marched through Strathspey, and encamped at Drum- min, upon the river Avon, on the second day of October, from whence he issued orders to Lord Forbes, the Frasers, the Dunbars, the Clan Kenzie, the Irvings, the Ogilvies, the Leslies, and other tribes and clans in the north, to join his standard with all convenient speed. The Earls, against whom this expedition was directed, were by no means dismayed. They knew that although the King was constrained by popular clamour to levy war upon them, he was in secret friendly to them; and they were, moreover, aware that the army of Argyle, who was a youth of no mili- tary experience, was a raw and undisciplined militia, and composed, in a great measure, of Catholics, who could not be expected to feel very warmly for the Protestant interest, to support which the expedition was professedly undertaken. The seeds of disaffection, besides, had been already sown in Argyle's camp by the corruption of the Grants and Campbell of Lochnell. 406 THE BATTLE OF GLENLIVET. On hearing of Argyle's approach, the Earl of Errol imme diately collected a select body of about 100 horsemen, being gentlemen on whose courage and fidelity he could rely, and with these he joined the Earl of Huntly at Strathbogie. The forces of Huntly, after this junction, amounted, it is said, to nearly 1,500 men, almost altogether horsemen ; and with this body he advanced to Carnborrow, where the two Earls and their chief followers made a solemn vow to conquer or to die. Marching from thence, Huntly's army arrived at Auch- indun the same day that Argyle's army reached Drummin. At Auchindun, Huntly received intelligence that Argyle was on the eve of descending from the mountains to the lowlands, which induced him, on the following day, to send captain Thomas Carr and a party of horsemen to reconnoitre the enemy, while he himself advanced with his main army. The reconnoitring party soon fell in, accidentally, with Argyle's scouts, whom they chased, and some of whom they killed. This occurrence, which was looked upon as a prognostic of victory, so encouraged Huntly and his men, that he resolved to attack the army of Argyle before he should be joined by Lord Forbes, and the forces which were waiting for his ap- pearance in the lowlands. Argyle had now passed Glenlivet, and had reached the banks of a small brook named Altchonlachan. On the other hand the Earl of Argyle had no idea that the Earls of Huntly and Errol would attack him with such an inferior force; and he was, therefore, astonished at seeing them approach so near him as they did. Apprehensive that his numerical supe- riority in foot would be counterbalanced by Huntly's cavalry, he held a council of war to deliberate whether he should at once engage the enemy, or retreat to the mountains, which were inaccessible to Huntly's horsemen, till his lowland forces, which were chiefly cavalry, should come up. The council advised Argyle to wait till the King, who had promised to appear with a force, should arrive, or, at all events, till he THE BATTLE OF GLENLIVET. 407 ** should be joined by the Frasers and Mackenzies from the north, and the Irvings, Forbesses, and Leslies from the low- lands with their horse. This opinion, which was considered judicious by the most experienced of Argyle's army-was however disregarded by him; he determined to wait the attack of the enemy; and to encourage his men he pointed out to them the small number of those they had to combat with, and the spoils they might expect after victory. He disposed his army on the declivity of a hill, betwixt Glenlivet and Glenrinnes, in two parallel divisions. The right wing, consisting of the Macleans and Mackintoshes, was commanded by Sir Lauchlan Maclean and Mackintosh —the left, composed of the Grants, Macneils, and Macgre- gors, by Grant of Gartinbeg—and the centre, consisting of the Campbells, &c., was commanded by Campbell of Auchin- breck. This vanguard consisted of 4,000 men, one-half of whom carried muskets. The rear of the army, consisting of about 6,000 men, was commanded by Argyle himself. The Earl of Huntly's vanguard was composed of 300 gen- tlemen, led by the Earl of Errol, Sir Patrick Gordon of Auchindun, the laird of Gight, the laird of Bonnitoun, and Captain afterwards Sir Thomas Carr. The Earl himself followed with the remainder of his forces, having the laird of Cluny upon his right hand and the laird of Abergeldy upon his left. Three pieces of field-ordnance under the direction of Captain Andrew Gray, afterwards Colonel of the English and Scots who served in Bohemia, were placed in front of the vanguard. Before advancing, the Earl of Huntly har- angued his little army to encourage them to fight manfully; he told them that they had no alternative before them but victory or death-that they were now to combat, not for their own lives only, but also for the very existence of their families, which would be utterly extinguished if they fell a prey to their enemies. The position which Argyle occupied on the declivity of the 408 THE BATTLE OF GLENLIVET. hill gave him a decided advantage over his assailants, who, from the nature of their force, were greatly hampered by the mossiness of the ground at the foot of the hill, which was interspersed by pits from which turf had been dug. But, notwithstanding these obstacles, Huntly advanced up the hill with a slow and steady pace. It had been arranged between him and Campbell of Lochnell, who had promised to go over to Huntly as soon as the battle had commenced, that, before charging Argyle with his cavalry, Huntly should fire his artil- lery at the yellow standard. Campbell bore a mortal enmity to Argyle, as he had murdered his brother, Campbell of Calder, in the year 1592; and as he was Argyle's nearest heir, he probably had directed the firing at the yellow standard in the hope of cutting off the Earl. Campbell himself, however, was shot dead at the first fire of the cannon; and upon his fall all his men fled from the field. Macneil of Barra was also slain at the same time. The Highlanders, who had never before seen field pieces, were thrown into disorder by the cannonade, which being perceived by Huntly he charged the enemy, and rushing in among them with his horsemen increased the confusion. The Earl of Errol was directed to attack the right wing of Argyle's army commanded by Maclean; but as it occupied a very steep part of the hill, and as Errol was greatly annoyed by thick vollies of shot from above, he was compelled to make a detour, leaving the enemy on his left. Gordon of Auchindun dis- daining such a prudent course, galloped up the hill with a small party of his own followers, and charged Maclean with great impetuosity; but Auchindun's rashness cost him his life. The fall of Auchindun so exasperated his followers that they set no bounds to their fury; but Maclean received their repeated assaults with firmness, and manoeuvred his troops so well as to succeed in cutting off the Earl of Errol and placing him between his own body and that of Argyle by whose joint forces he was completely surrounded. THE BATTLE OF GLENLIVET. 409 At this important crisis, when no hopes of retreat remained, and when Errol and his men were in danger of being cut to pieces, the Earl of Huntly came up to his assistance and re- lieved him from his embarrassment. The battle was now renewed and continued for two hours, during which both parties fought with great bravery, the one, says Sir Robert Gordon, "for glorie, the other for necessitie." In the heat of the action the Earl of Huntly had a horse shot under him, and was in imminent danger of his life; but another horse was immediately procured for him. After a hard contest the main body of Argyle's army began to give way, and retreated towards the rivulet of Altchonlachan; but Maclean still kept the field and continued to support the falling fortune of the day. At length, finding the contest hopeless, and after losing many of his men, he retired in good order with the small company that still remained about him. Huntly pursued the retiring foe beyond the water of Altchonlachan, when he was prevented from following them farther by the steepness of the hills, so unfavourable to the operations of cavalry. The success of Huntly was mainly owing to the treachery of Lochnell and of John Grant of Gartinbeg, one of Huntly's vassals, who, in terms of a concerted plan, retreated with his men as soon as the action began, by which act the centre and the left wing of Argyle's army were completely broken. On the side of Argyle 500 men were killed besides Macneil of Barra, and Lochnell, and Auchinbreck, the two cousins of Argyle. The Earl of Huntly's loss was comparatively trifling. About fourteen gentlemen were slain, including Sir Patrick Gordon of Auchindun and the Laird of Gight; and the Earl of Errol and a considerable number of persons were wounded. At the conclusion of the battle the conquerors returned thanks to God on the field for the victory they had achieved. This battle is called by some writers the battle of Glenlivet, and by others the battle of Altchonlachan. Among the trophies found on the field was the ensign belonging to the 410 THE SIEGE OF TANTALLAN CASTLE. Earl of Argyle, which was carried with other spoils to Strath bogie, and placed upon the top of the great tower. THE SIEGE OF TANTALLAN CASTLE. - THE noble and celebrated ruin of Tantallan castle is situated about three miles east of North Berwick, and about eight north-west of Dunbar, on a lofty, precipitous, and projecting rock, whose base is washed on three sides by the sea; and on the west side, where alone it is accessible, it was de- fended by two ditches of extraordinary depth, and by very The entrance was over a massively constructed towers. drawbridge, through a strong and deep stone-gateway. The castle itself is, in its outer structure, still comparatively entire, but wholly unroofed and in a state of desolation. Its inte- rior is a maze of broken staircases, fragmented and ruined chambers, and deep and dismal subterranean dungeons. So strong was the castle in position, and so skilful in construc- tion, that, previous to the invention of gunpowder, it poured derision upon every effort or scheme for its capture; and situated directly opposite to the Bass, at a distance of 1 mile across a frequently tumbling sea, its redoubtableness of character gave rise to the pithy popular saying, “Ding doon Tantallan? Mak a brig to the Bass." Sir Walter Scott, in his Marmion, thus beautifully describes its former condition:- "Tantallan vast, Broad, massive, high, and stretching far, And held impregnable in war. On a projecting rock it rose, And round three sides the ocean flows, The fourth did battled walls enclose, And double mound and fosse; The Sea Kings of Orkney.-Page 410. THE SIEGE OF TANTALLAN CASTLE. 411 By narrow drawbridge, outworks strong, Through studded gates, an entrance long, To the main court they cross. It was a wide and stately square, Around were lodgings fit and fair, And towers of various form, Which on the coast projected far, And broke its lines quadrangular; Here was square keep, there turret high, Or pinnacle that sought the sky, Whence oft the warder could descry, The gathering ocean-storm." The date of the castle and the circumstances of its erec- tion are unknown. It comes into notice with the rising and bold fortunes of the family of Douglas, who obtained the barony of North Berwick on the accession of Robert II.; and during centuries it was the principal stronghold of their proud and domineering Earls. In 1479, twenty-four years after the Douglas forfeiture, Archibald, 5th Earl of Angus- the well-known 'Bell-the-cat'-received a grant of it from James III.; and he afterwards so figured in connexion with it, as to have furnished subjects for some of the most graphic delineations of Sir Walter Scott. The next Earl of Angus, after he had married the queen- mother of James V. and lost influence over the person and councils of that young monarch, shut himself up in Tantallan, and defied for a time the whole hostile force of the kingdom. The monarch went in person to reduce it, sat down before it in September 1528, and borrowed from the castle of Dun- bar, to aid him in his operations, two great cannons, called "Thrawn-mouth'd Mow and her Marrow," also "two great bosards and two moyan, two double falcons and four quarter- falcons," for the safe re-delivery of which to their owner, the Duke of Albany, three lords were impignorated at Dun- 412 THE SIEGE OF TANTALLAN CASTLE. bar. Yet, in spite of his great preparations and formidable efforts, James was completely baffled. The castle was well defended, and received no injury; the inmates of it sustained little inconvenience, and got no hurt, from the siege; parties of their friends on horseback made daily and galling attacks on the besieging forces; and many of the besiegers were either wounded or killed with shot from the castle, and some scorched and burned with explosions of their own powder. The King soon gave up all hope of success, and raised the siege, and retired; and while his army were on the march, the Earl of Angus pursued them with a strong body of cavalry, captured two of their cannons, and slew their general of ordnance and several others of their number. The King was so enraged at the failure of the siege, and so chafed and affronted at the Earl's pursuit of him and triumph over him— terribly aggravated as these events were by the recollection of a series of far greater previous offences-that he openly made a great oath never again to receive the Douglasses into his favour. 'He was then young and in his hot blood," remarks the historian of the House and Race of Douglas and Angus, "and saw not their worth, or at least looked upon it through the prospective of an angry passion; but before he died, he saw it more settledly and clearly, and that their service was more steadable than all theirs that were now about him." In an imitation of the ancient ballad by John Finlay, the King's oath is alluded to as follows:- “Wae worth the heart that can be glad, Wae worth the tear that winna fa', For justice is fleemyt frae the land, An' the faith o' auld times is clean awa. Our nobles they hae sworn an aith, An' they gart our young king swear the same, That as lang as the crown was on his head, He wad speak to nane o' the Douglas name. THE SIEGE OF TANTALLAN CASTLE. 413 An' wasna this a wearifu aith; For the crown frae his head had been tint an' gane, Gin the Douglas' hand hadna held it on, Whan anither to help him there was nane." The Earl of Angus soon after went to England-either nvited thither by Henry VIII., or compelled to flee from Scotland by an army sent against him under the Earl of Argyle and Lord Hume; and he sent instructions to his re- tainers, at the King of England's request, to surrender the castle of Tantallan, and had intercession made for him by that monarch to James, but without effect; and was despoiled of his lands, and denuded of his offices, and declared an alien from his country; and remained in exile till James's death. But after that event he returned home; and in 1542 he was restored to his possessions, and began to make Tantallan stronger than before; and here, about 1557, he terminated his career. In 1639, the doughty and resolute Covenanters, provoked at its lord, the Marquis of Douglas, making a stand in it for kingcraft and compelled prelacy, at length "dang doon Tan- tallan,” and even garrisoned it against the King. About the beginning of the 18th century, Sir Hew Dalrymple, president of the Court-of-session, bought the castle, along with the cir- cumjacent barony, from the Duke of Douglas, dismantled it. gave it up to decay, and transmitted it as a ruin to his heirs. 414 THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. [The battle of Fontenoy in Belgium was fought in 1745. We give the following account of it because it was the first in which the famous 42nd regiment of the British line, the earliest formed of the Scotish Highland regiments, and afterwards so eminently distinguished in so many battles, came into action.] TOWARD the end of May, 1743, the 42nd regiment was sent to Flanders, and there joined the British army under the com- mand of Field-marshal the Earl of Stair. During the years 1743 and 1744, they were quartered in different parts of that country; and by their quiet, orderly, and kind deportment, they acquired the entire confidence of the people among whom they mixed. The regiment " was judged the most trust-wor- thy guard of property, insomuch that the people in Flanders chose to have them always for their protection. Seldom And were any of them drunk, and they as rarely swore. the elector-palatine wrote to his envoy in London, desiring him to thank the King of Great Britain for the excellent be- haviour of the regiment while in his territories, and for whose sake he adds, I will always pay a respect and regard to a Scotchman in future." Baffled in his efforts to prevent the elevation of the Grand Duke of Tuscany to the imperial throne, the King of France resolved to humble the house of Austria by making a con- quest of the Netherlands. With this view he assembled an immense army in Flanders under the command of the cele- brated Marshal Saxe, and having with the Dauphin joined the army in April, 1745, he, on the 30th of that month, in- vested Tournay, then garrisoned by 8,000 men, commanded by General Baron Dorth, who defended the place with vig- The Duke of Cumberland, who arrived from England early in May, assumed the command of the allied army as- sembled at Soignies. It consisted of twenty battalions and twenty-six squadrons of British, five battalions and sixteen our. . 415 THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. squadrons of Hanoverians, all under the immediate command of his Royal Highness; twenty-six battalions and forty squad- rons of Dutch commanded by the Prince of Waldeck; and eight squadrons of Austrians under the command of Count Konigseg. Though the allied army was greatly inferior in number to the enemy, yet as the French army was detached, the Duke resolved to march to the relief of Tournay. Marshal Saxe, who soon became aware of the design of the allies, drew up his army in line of battle, on the right bank of the Scheldt, extending from the wood of Barri to Fontenoy, and thence to the village of St. Antoine in sight of the British army. Entrenchments were thrown up at both villages, besides three redoubts in the intermediate space, and two at the corner of the wood whence a deep ravine extended to Fontenoy, and another thence to St. Antoine. Along the whole space from the wood to St. Antoine was posted a double line of infantry in front, and cavalry in the rear, and an additional force of infantry and cavalry was formed behind the redoubts and bat- teries. Opposite to St. Antoine on the other side of the river, a battery was also erected. The Marshal distributed his numerous artillery along the line, and in the village and redoubts. The allied army advanced to Leuse, and on the 9th of May took up a position between the villages of Bougries and Maulbre, in sight of the French army. In the evening the Duke, attended by Field-marshal Konigseg and the Prince of Waldeck, reconnoitred the position of Marshal Saxe. They were covered by the Highlanders, who kept up a sharp fire with the French sharp-shooters who were concealed in the woods. After a general survey, the Earl of Craufurd, who was left in command of the advance of the army, proceeded with the Highlanders and a party of hussars to examine the enemy's outposts more narrowly. In the course of the day, a Highlander in advance observing that one of the sharp- 416 THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. shooters repeatedly fired at his post, placed his bonnet upon the top of a stick near the verge of a hollow road. This stratagem decoyed the Frenchman; and whilst he was intent on his object, the Highlander approaching cautiously to a point which afforded a sure aim, succeeded in bringing him to the ground. Having ascertained that a plain which lay between the positions of two armies was covered with some flying squad- rons of the enemy, and that their outposts commanded some narrow defiles through which the allied forces had necessarily to march to the attack, the Duke of Cumberland resolved to scour the plain, and to dislodge the outposts, preparatory to advancing upon the besieging army. Accordingly at an early hour next morning, six battalions and twelve squadrons were ordered to disperse the forces on the plain and clear the de- files, a service which they soon performed. Some Austrian hussars being hotly pressed on this occasion by the French light troops, a party of Highlanders were sent to support them, and the Frenchmen were quickly repulsed with loss. This was the first time the Highlanders stood the fire of the enemy in a regular body; and so well did they acquit them- selves, that they were particularly noticed for their spirited conduct. Resolving to attack the enemy next morning, the com- mander-in-chief of the allied army made the necessary dis- positions. Opposite the space between Fontenoy and the wood of Barri, he formed the British and Hanoverian infan- try in two lines, and posted their cavalry in the rear. Near the left of the Hanoverians he drew up the Dutch, whose left was towards St. Antoine. The French in their turn completed their batteries, and made the most formidable preparations to receive the allies. At two o'clock in the morning of the 11th of May, the Duke of Cumberland be- his march, and drew up his army in front of the enemy gan in the above order. The engagement began about four by THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. 417 the guards and Highlanders attacking a redoubt, advanced on the right of the wood near Vizou, occupied by 600 men, in the vicinity of which place the Dauphin was posted. Though the enemy were entrenched breast-high, they were forced out by the guards with bayonets, and by the Highlanders with sword, pistol, and dirk, who killed a considerable number of them. After the redoubt had been carried, the British and Hano- verians advanced to the attack; and though the French con- tested every inch of ground with the greatest pertinacity, they were driven back on their entrenchments. Meanwhile the Dutch on the left made an unsuccessful attack on Fontenoy. The enemy, keeping up an incessant and destructive fire from their batteries, the Duke of Cumberland sent a detachment, of which the Highlanders formed a part, to take possession of the wood of Barri, and drive the enemy from that redoubt; but owing to accident or mistake, no attack was made. The Dutch having failed in several attempts to obtain possession of Fontenoy, his Royal Highness ordered Lord Sempill's regi- ment to assist them, but with as little success. Determined, notwithstanding these untoward circumstances, to cross the ravine between the redoubts and the village, the Duke pushed forward; but after advancing beyond the ravine, he found that he had not a sufficiency of ground to form his whole army in line. He, therefore, made the flanks wheel back on their right and left; and then facing towards their proper front, they moved forward along with the centre, the whole form- ing the three sides of a hollow square. Supported by cav- alry, the French infantry made three desperate attacks upon the allied army, while marching in this order; but though they were assisted by a heavy cannonade from the whole of the batteries, they were repulsed in every charge. The allies continuing steadfastly to advance, Marshal Saxe, who had, during three attacks, lost some of his bravest men, began to think of a retreat; but being extremely averse to 2 D 418 THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. abandon his position, he resolved to make a last effort to re- trieve the fortune of the day by attacking his assailants with all his forces. Being far advanced in a dropsy, the marshal had been carried about the whole day in a litter. This he now quitted, and mounting his horse, he rode over the field. giving the necessary orders, whilst two men supported him on each side. He brought forward the household troops of the King of France: he posted his best cavalry on the flanks, and the King's body guards, with the flower of the infantry in the centre. Having also brought up all his field-pieces, he, under cover of their fire and that of the batteries, made a combined charge of cavalry and infantry on the allied army, the greater part of which had, by this time, formed into line by advancing beyond the confined ground. The allies, un- able to withstand the impetuosity of this attack, gave way, and were driven back across the ravine, carrying along with them the Highlanders, who had been ordered up from the attack of the village, and two other regiments ordered from the reserve to support the line. After rallying for a short time beyond the ravine, the whole army retreated by order of the Duke, the Highlanders and Howard's regiment (the 19th) under the command of Lord Craufurd, covering the rear. The retreat, which was commenced about three o'clock in the afternoon, was effected in excellent order. When it was over his lordship pulled off his hat, and returning thanks to the covering party, said "that they had acquired as much honour in covering so great a retreat, as if they had gained a battle." The carnage on both sides was great. The allies lost, in killed and wounded, about 7,000 men, including a number of officers. The loss of the French is supposed to have equalled that of the allies. The Highlanders lost Cap- tain John Campbell of Carrick, whose head was carried off by a cannon-ball early in the action; Ensign Lachlane Camp- bell, son of Craignish, and thirty men; Captain Robert Camp- bell of Finab; Ensigns Ronald Campbell, nephew of Craig- THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. 419 nish, and James Campbell, son of Glenfalloch; two sergeants, and 86 rank and file wounded. Before the engagement, the part which the Highlanders would act formed a subject of intense speculation. Those who knew them had no misgivings; but there were other per- sons, high in rank, who looked upon the support of such men with an unfavourable eye. So strong was this impression "in some high quarters, that, on the rapid charge made by the Highlanders, when pushing forward sword in hand nearly at full speed, and advancing so far, it was suggested that they inclined to change sides and join the enemy, who had already three brigades of Scotch and Irish engaged, which performed very important services on that day." All anxiety, however, was soon put an end to by the decided way in which they sustained the national honour. Captain John Munro of the 43d regiment, in a letter to Lord-President Forbes, thus describes the battle:-" A little after four in the morning, the 30th of April, our cannon be- gan to play, and the French batteries, with triple our weight of metal and numbers too, answered us; about five the infan- try was in march; we (the Highlanders) were in the centre of the right brigade; but by six we were ordered to cross the field, (I mean our regiment, for the rest of our brigades did not march,) to attack a little village on the left of the whole, called Fontenoy. As we passed the field the French batter- ies played upon our front, and right and left,flanks, but to no purpose, for their batteries being upon rising ground, their balls flew over us and hurt the second line. We were to support the Dutch, who, in their usual way, were very dila- tory. We got within musket-shot of their batteries, when we received three full fires of their batteries and small arms, which killed us forty men and one ensign. Here we were obliged to skulk behind houses and hedges for about an hour and a half, waiting for the Dutch, who, when they came up, behaved but so and so. Our regiment being in some disor 420 THE BATTLE OF FONTΕΝΟΥ. der, I wanted to draw them up in rear of the Dutch, which their general would scarcely allow of; but at last I did it, and marched them again to the front. In half an hour after the Dutch gave way, and Sir Robert Munro thought proper we should retire; for we had then the whole batteries from the enemy's ground playing upon us, and 3,000 foot ready to fall upon us. We retired; but before we had marched thirty yards, we had orders to return to the attack, which we did; and in about ten minutes after had orders to march directly with all expedition, to assist the Hanoverians, who had got by this time well advanced upon the batteries upon the left. They behaved most gallantly and bravely; and had the Dutch taken example from them, we had supped at Tournay. The British behaved well; we (the Highlanders) were told by his Royal Highness that we did our duty well. . . By two of the clock we all retreated; and we were ordered to cover the retreat, as the only regiment that could be kept to their duty, and in this affair we lost sixty more; but the Duke made so friendly and favourable a speech to us, that if we had been ordered to attack their lines afresh, I dare say our poor fel- lows would have done it." The Highlanders on this occasion were commanded by Sir Robert Munro of Fowlis, their lieutenant-colonel, in whom, besides great military experience, were united all the best qualities of the soldier. Aware of the importance of allow- ing his men to follow their accustomed tactics, he obtained leave of the Duke of Cumberland to allow them to fight in their own way. He accordingly "ordered the whole regi- ment to clap to the ground on receiving the French fire; and instantly after its discharge they sprang up, and coming close to the enemy, poured in their shot upon them to the cer- tain destruction of multitudes, and drove them precipitately through their lines; then retreating, drew up again, and at- tacked them a second time after the same manner. These attacks they repeated several times the same day, to the sur THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. 421 prise of the whole army. Sir Robert was everywhere with his regiment, notwithstanding his great corpulency, and when in the trenches he was hauled out by the legs and arms by his own men; and it is observed that when he commanded the whole regiment to clap to the ground, he himself alone, with the colours behind him, stood upright, receiving the whole fire of the enemy; and this because, (as he said,) though he could easily lie down, his great bulk would not suffer him to rise so quickly. His preservation that day was the surprise and astonishment not only of the whole army, but of all that heard the particulars of the action." The gallantry thus displayed by Sir Robert and his regi- ment was the theme of universal admiration in Britain, and the French themselves could not withhold their meed of praise. "It must be owned," says a French writer, "that our forces were thrice obliged to give way, and nothing but the good conduct and extreme calmness of Marshal Saxe could have brought them to the charge the last time, which was about two o'clock, when the allies in their turn gave way Our victory may be said to be complete; but it cannot be denied, that, as the allies behaved extremely well, more espe- cially the English, so they made a soldier-like retreat, which was much favoured by an adjacent wood. The British be- haved well, and could be exceeded in ardour by none but our officers, who animated the troops by their example, when the Highland furies rushed in upon us with more violence than ever did a sea driven by a tempest. I cannot say much of the other auxiliaries, some of whom looked as if they had no great concern in the matter which way it went. In short, we gained the victory; but may I never see such another!" Some idea may be formed of the havoc made by the High- landers from the fact of one of them having killed nine French- men with his broadsword, and he was only prevented from increasing the number by his arm being shot off. 422 EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. THE EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, AND THE TOWN AND CASTLE OF DUNBAR. THE magnificent ruin of Dunbar Castle stands on a reef o. trap rocks, which project into the sea, and rise in many places like natural bastions for the protection of this stern remnant of feudal grandeur from the power of the waves,-which nevertheless force their way through rugged caverns and fissures, and break thunderingly upon its dark foundations. The chief building measures about 165 feet from east to west; and, in some places, 207 feet from north to south. The south battery-which Grose supposes to have been the citadel or keep—is situated on a detached perpendicular rock, accessible only on one side, 72 feet high, and is connected to the main part of the castle by a passage of masonry measur- ing 69 feet. The interior of the citadel measures 54 feet by 60, within the walls. Its shape is octagonal. Five of the gun-ports remain, which are called 'the arrow-holes.' They measure 4 feet at the mouth, and only 16 inches at the other end. The buildings are arched, and extend 8 feet from the outer walls, and look into an open court, whence they derive their light. About the middle of the fortress, part of a wall remains, through which there is a gateway surmounted with armorial bearings. This gate seems to have led to the prin- cipal apartments. In the centre are the arms of George, 11th Earl of Dunbar, who succeeded his father in 1369; and who, besides the earldom of Dunbar and March, inherited the lord- ship of Annandale and the isle of Man from his heroic mother. The towers had communication with the sea, and dip low in many places. North-east from the front of the castle is a large natural cavern of black stone, supposed to have formed part of the dungeon, which, Pennant observes, "the assist- ance of a little art had rendered a secure but infernal prison.' But as it has a communication with a rocky inlet from the EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 423 gea on the west, it is more likely that it is the dark postern through which Sir Alexander Ramsay and his brave followers entered with a supply of provisions to the besieged in 1338. It was a place also well suited for securing the boats belong- ing to the garrison. The castle is built with a red stone simi- lar to what is found in the quarries of the neighbourhood. Part of the foundation of a fort, which was begun in 1559, for the purpose of accommodating a French garrison, may be traced, extending 136 feet in front of the castle. This build- ing was, however, interrupted in its progress, and demolished by act of parliament. In the north-west part of the ruins is an apartment about 12 feet square, and nearly inaccessible, which tradition denominates the apartment of Queen Mary. The time of the erection of Dunbar castle cannot be pre- cisely ascertained; but it was evidently built at a very early period of the Christian era. Cospatrick, the father of the noble family of Dunbar, was the son of Maldred, the son of Crinan by Algatha, daughter and heiress of Uthred, prince of Northumberland. After the conquest of England by William the Norman in 1066, Cospatrick and Merleswain, with other nobles of the north of England, fled to Scotland, carrying with them Edgar Atheling, the heir of the Saxon line, and his mother Algatha, with his sisters Margaret and Christina. Malcolm Canmore, who married the Princess Margaret, be- stowed on Cospatrick the manor of Dunbar, and many fair lands in the Merse and Lothian. Cospatrick having signal- ized himself in an expedition against a formidable banditti which infested the south-east borders of Scotland, was created Earl of the Merse, or March; and the lands of Cockburnspath were bestowed on him by the singular tenure of clearing East Lothian and the Merse of robbers. Patrick, 5th Earl of Dunbar, received from William I., in 1184, Ada, one of his natural daughters, in marriage. About the end of the 12th century, he held the offices of justiciary of Lothian and keeper of Berwick. In 1214, to retaliate the 424 EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. inroads made by Alexander into England, Henry III. invaded Scotland with a powerful army, and took the town and castle of Berwick. His next attempt was on the fortress of Dun- bar; but finding it impregnable, he laid waste the country to the walls of Haddington, and returned homewards. Patrick, 6th Earl of Dunbar, succeeded his father at the age of 46. In 1242, at a royal tournament held at Hadding- ton, the young Earl of Athol overthrew Walter, the chief of the family of the Bissets. To revenge this affront, the lodg- ings of the Earl were set on fire the same night, and Athol, with several of his friends, was either slain or burnt to death. The king endeavoured in vain to bring the perpetrators of this atrocious assault to trial; but the combination of the Cumyns and other nobles against the Bissets was so strong that the latter were obliged to abandon their country. On this occasion, the Earl of Dunbar-whom Lord Hales calls the most powerful baron of the southern districts-put him- self at the head of the nobles who demanded retribution. Patrick, 7th Earl of Dunbar, during the turbulent minority of Alexander III., was one of the chiefs of the English fac- tion. Thomas Lermont of Ersildoun, commonly called the Rhymer, visited Dunbar in 1285, and foretold to the Earl the sudden death of Alexander III., who was killed by a fall from his horse on the sands of Kinghorn. We are circum- stantially informed by Bower-who was born at Haddington 100 years after that, on the night preceding the King's death, Thomas, having arrived at the castle of Dunbar, was interro- gated by the Earl, in the jocular manner he was wont to as- sume with the prophet, if to-morrow should produce any re- markable event; to which the bard replied, in the mystical language of prophecy: "Alas for to-morrow, a day of cala- mity and misery! Before the 12th hour, shall be heard a blast so vehement that it shall exceed those of every former period, a blast which shall strike the nations with amaze- ment, shall humble what is proud, and what is fierce shall EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 425 level with the ground! The sorest wind and tempest that ever was heard of in Scotland!" After this prediction, which was left to be fulfilled either by accident or the weather, Thomas retired. Next day, the Earl and his companions having continued in watch till the ninth hour, without dis- covering any unusual appearance in the elements, began to doubt the present powers of the soothsayer, to whom "the sun-set of life had given mystical lore,” and having ordered him into their presence, upbraided him as an impostor, and hastened to enjoy their wonted repast. But his lordship had scarcely placed himself at table, and the shadow of the dial fallen on the hour of noon, when an express, covered with foam, appeared at the castle-gate, demanding an audience. On being interrogated, he exclaimed: "I do indeed bring news, but of a lamentable kind, to be deplored by the whole realm of Scotland! Alas, our renowned King has ended his fair life at Kinghorn!" "This," cried the prophet, gathering himself up in the spirit of conscious veracity, "this is the scaith- ful wind and dreadful tempest which shall blow such a calamity and trouble to the whole state of the whole realm of Scotland!' Patrick, 8th Earl of Dunbar and March-surnamed Black Beard-succeeded to the honours and possessions of his father in 1289. He appeared at the parliament at Brigham in 1289, where he is called Comes de Marchia, being the first of the Earls of Dunbar designated by that title. When, in 1296, Edward, with a powerful army, entered Scotland, the Earl of Dunbar, with the Bruces and their adherents, took part against their country; but Dunbar's heroic Countess got possession of the castle of Dunbar, and delivered it to the leaders of the Scotish army. Edward despatched the Earl of Warrenne with 12,000 men to lay siege to Dunbar, which was defended by the flower of the Scotish nobility. The Scots, sensible of the importance of this fortress, which, if taken, laid their country open to the enemy, hastened with their main army of 40,000 men, under the command of the 426 EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. Earls of Buchan, Lennox, and Mar, to its relief. Warrenne, undaunted by the superio numbers of the Scots, left part of his army to blockade the castle, while he advanced to meet them. The English had to descend into a valley-probably Oswaldean, a glen near Spott-before they could reach the Scots; and as they descended, the Scots observing or ima- gining they saw some confusion in their ranks, set up a loud shout of exultation, and causing their horns to be sounded, rushed down from their well-chosen position. But when Warrenne emerged from the glen, and advanced undismayed against their formidable front, the undisciplined troops, after a very brief resistance, fled before him, and were pursued with great slaughter as far as Selkirk forest. Next day, Ed- ward, with the main body of the English army, reached Dun- bar, and compelled the garrison to surrender. When the heroic Wallace first undertook to deliver his country from her abject bondage, the Earl of Dunbar refused to attend a meeting of the estates at St. Johnston: "Lichtly he leuch, in scorn as it had been, And said he had sic message seldom seen, That Wallace now as governor sall ryng, Here is gret faute of a gude prince or king That king of Kyll I can nocht understand, Of him I held never a fur of land; That Bachiller Trowis, for fortoun schawis her quhell, Tharwith to lest, it sall nocht lang be well: Bot to you lords, and ye will understand, I make you wyss, I aw to mak na band, Als fre, I am in this regioun to ryng Lord of mine awne, as ever was prince or king; In England als gret part of land I haif, Ma rent thairof thair will no man me craif, What will you mair, I warn you I am free, For your summounds ye get na mair of me.” EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 427 The patriot-hero, with 200 men, went in pursuit of the haughty baron. Wallace was joined by Robert Lauder at Musselburgh, and afterwards by Crystal of Seton. They were met at Linton by Squire Lyle, who informed them that the Earl had made his gathering at Cockburnspath, and was on his march to Dunbar. Lauder upon this would have pressed forward; but Wallace is represented by the old 'Makhar,' as calmly replying to the remonstrances of his comrade, "We may at laysar ride, With yone power he thinkis bargane to bide: And of a thing ye sall weill understand A hardier lord is nocht into Scotland; Micht he be made trew stedfast till a king, Be wit and force he can do meikill thing; Bot wilfully he likis to tyne himsell.” Wallace encountered Patrick in a field near Innerwick, where the latter had assembled 900 of his vassals, and with half that number compelled the Earl, after a terrible conflict, to retreat to Cockburnspath, while he fell back on Dunbar; but finding the castle without provisions, and the garrison wede away with their lord, he gave it in charge to Crystal of Seton. In the meantime the Earl of Dunbar had gone to Northumberland to solicit the aid of the bishop of Durham ; out his ostensible reason, says The Minstrel,' was to bring the Bruce free till his land." Vessels were immediately sent from the Northumbrian Tyne to blockade Dunbar, and cut. off supplies, while the Earl, with 20,000 men, hastened to retake his fortress. In the interim the champion of Scotland had repaired to the west in quest of succour, and returning by Yester, was joined by Hay and a chosen body of cavalry. With 5,000 men he marched to the support of Seton, while the Bishop of Durham, who had remained at Norham with 428 EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. Bruce, came to the assistance of Dunbar, and riding through Lammermoor, threw himself into an ambush near Spott- moor. By this unexpected movement, Wallace was com- pletely hemmed in, when Seton fortunately came to his relief. The two armies closed in mortal strife. The Scots pushed on so furiously against the Southerns, that they were just about to fly, but Patrick was "Sa cruell of intent, That all his host tuk of him hardiment; Throuch his awne hand he put mony to pain." The desperate valour of the Wallaces, the Ramsays, and the Grahams, was of little avail against the superior force of the English; so that when the ambuscade of Bishop Beck ap- peared, they were on the point of retiring. Dunbar singled out Wallace amidst the throng, and "Hereat the plait with his sharp groundyn claiff Throuch all the stuff, and woundit him sum deill." The hero returning the blow with sevenfold vengeance, clove down Maitland, who had thrown himself betwixt the two ad- versaries. Wallace's horse was killed beneath him, and he was now on foot dealing destruction to his enemies, when "Erle Patrick than, that had gret craft in war, With spears ordand guid Wallace doun to bear;" but 500 resolute warriors rescued their champion, and the war-worn armies were glad to retire. The same night Wal- lace traversed Lammermoor in quest of the retreating host, while Bishop Beck, Earl Patrick, and Bruce, fled to Norham. On his return, the champion, still mindful of the odium at- tached to his name by the Earl of Dunbar,- EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 429 Passit, with mony awfull men, On Patrickis land, and waistit wonder fast, Tuk out guids, and places doun thai cast; His steads, sevin, that Mete Hamys was call'd, Wallace gert break the burly biggings bauld, Baith in the Merse, and als in Lothiane, Except Dunbar, standand he leavit nane." Edward II. of England, after seeing his army annihilated at Bannockburn, fled with a body of horse towards Berwick; but Sir James Douglas, with 80 chosen horsemen, so pressed on the royal fugitive, that he was glad to shelter himself in the castle of Dunbar. Here he was received by Patrick, 9th Earl, full gently;' after which, by means of a fishing-boat, he coasted along the shore till he reached the towers of Bam- orough. "This was honourable," observes a distinguished writer, "because Patrick must have had in his thoughts at that time the making his peace with his native monarch, and could not be ignorant how easily and advantageously he might have done so, by detaining in custody the person of the King of England." After this, the Earl of Dunbar made peace with his cousin, Robert I., and was present at Ayr on the 26th April, 1315, when the succession to the Crown of Scotland was settled on Bruce. After the defeat at Halidon- hill, however, and before Edward left Berwick, he received the fealty of the Earl of Dunbar with several others of the nobility; and the castle of Dunbar, which had been disman- tled and razed to the ground on the approach of the English, was now rebuilt at the Earl's own expense, for the purpose of maintaining an English garrison. In 1337, the Castle of Dunbar was again in the entire posses- sion of its own master, and at the service of the Crown of Scot- land; and early in that year, the Earls of Salisbury and Arun- del advanced at the head of a large English army to take it The siege which it stood on this occasion was one of uncom 430 EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. mon military interest; and although it has already been de- scribed in pages 88-92 of the first volume of these Tales, the following rhyming account of it from the "Cronykill" of old " Wynton," will probably be acceptable to our readers.- Of the assiege of Dunbare, Where the Countess was wise and ware, Schyre William Montague, that sua Had taen the siege, in hy gret ma A mekil and richt stalwart engine, And up smertly gert dress it; syne They warpit at the wall great stanes Baith hard and heavy for the nanys, But that nane merrying to them made, And alsua when they castyne had, With a towel, a damiselle Arrayed jollily and well, Wippit the wall, that they micht see, To gere them mare annoyed be; There at the siege well lang they lay, But there little vantage got they; For when they bykkyne wald, or assail, They tint the maist of their travaile And as they bykeryd there a' day, Of a great shot I shall you say, For that they had of it ferly, It here to you rehearse will I. William of Spens percit a Blasowne, And thro' three faulds of Awbyrchowne, And the Actowne through the third ply And the arrow in the bodie, While of that dynt there dead he lay; And then the Montagu gan say; EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 431 "This is ane of my Lady's pinnis, Her amouris thus, till my heart rinnis." While that the siege was there on this wise Men sayis there fell sair juperdyis. For Lawrence of Prestoun, that then Haldin ane of the wichtest men, That was in all Scotland that tide, A rout of Inglismen saw ride, That seemed gude men and worthy, And were arrayed right richly; He, with als few folk, as they were, On them assembled he there; But at the assembling, he was there Intil the mouth stricken with a spear, While it up in the harnys ran; Till a dike he withdrew him than, And died; for nae mair live he might. His men his death perceived noucht; And with their faes faucht stoutly, While they them vanquish'd utterly. Thus was this guid man brought till end, That was richt greatly to commend. Of gret wirschipe and gret bownte His saul be aye in saftie. Sir William als of Galstown Of Keith, that was of gude renown, Met Richard Talbot by the way And set him to sa hard assay, That to a kirk he gert him gae, And close there defence to ma; But he assailed there sa fast, That him be-hov'd treat at the last, And twa thousand pound to pay, And left hostage and went his way. 432 EARLS, OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. The Montagu was yet lyand, Sieging Dunbare with stalwart hand; And twa gallies of Genoa had he, For till assiege it by the sea. And as he thus assiegend lay, He was set intil hard assay; For he had purchased him covyn Of ane of them, that were therein, That he should leave open the yete, And certain term till him then set To come; but they therein halily Were warnit of it privily. He came, and the yete open fand, And wald have gane in foot steppand; But John of Cowpland, that was then But a right poor simple man, Shut him off back, and in is gane, The portcullis came down on ane; And spared Montagu, thereout They cryed with a sturdy shout, "A Montagu for ever mair!" Then with the folk that he had there, He turned to his Herbery, And let him japyt fullyly. Syne Alexander, the Ramsay, That trowed and thought, that they That were assieged in Dunbar, At great distress or mischief were; That in an evening frae the Bass, With a few folk, that with him was, Toward Dunbar, intil a boat, He held all privily his gate; And by the gallies all slyly He gat with his company; EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 433 The lady, and all, that were there, Of his coming well comfort were, He issued in the morning in hy, And with the wachis sturdily, Made ane apart and stout melle, And but tynsel entered he. While Montagu was there lyand, The King Edward of England Purchased him help and alyawns, For he wald amowe were in France; And for the Montagu he sends; For he cowth nae thing till end For owtyn him, for that time be Was maist of his counsel privie When he had heard the king's bidding He removed, but mair dwelling, When he, I trow, had lying there A quarter of a year and mair. Of this assiege in their hethyng The English oysid to make karping I vow to God, she makes gret stere The Scottish wench ploddere, Come I aire, come I late, I fand Annot at the yate." Amongst the nobles who fell in the field of Durham in 1346, was Thomas, Earl of Moray, brother to the heroic Countess of Dunbar. As he had no male issue, Agnes be- came sole possessor of his vast estates; and her husband as- sumed the additional title of Earl of Moray. Besides the earldom of Moray, the Earl of Dunbar and his Countess obtained the isle of Man, the lordship of Annandale, the baronies of Morton and Tibb rs in Nithsdale, of Morthing toun and Longformacus, and the manor of Dunse, in Ber 2 E .. 434 EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 1 wickshire; with Mochrum in Galloway, Cumnock in Ayr shire, and Blantyre in Clydesdale. George, 10th Earl of Dunbar and March, succeeded his father in 1369. From the vast possessions he inherited, he became one of the most powerful nobles of Southern Scot- land, and the rival of the Douglasses. His daughter Eliza- beth was betrothed to David, son and heir to Robert III., and on the faith of the Prince, who had given a bond to per- form the espousals, the Earl had advanced a considerable por- tion of his daughter's matrimonial settlement; but Archibald, Earl of Douglas-surnamed the Grim-jealous of the ad- vantages which this marriage promised to bestow on a family whose pre-eminence in the state already rivalled his own, protested against the alliance, and by his intrigues at court, through the influence of the Duke of Albany, had the con- tract between the Duke of Rothesay and Lady Elizabeth Dunbar cancelled, and his own daughter substituted in her place. Stung by this gross insult, Earl George retired into England, where Henry IV. granted him a pension of £400 during the continuance of the war with Scotland, on condi- tion that he provided 12 men-at-arms, aud 20 archers with horses, to serve against Robert. In 1398, in conjunction with Hotspur, and Lord Talbot March entered Scotland and fearfully devastated the lands, which he could no longer call his own, as far as Hailes castle on the Tyne. In the reign of James I., the fortresses and estates of the family of Dunbar and March were seized and appropriated by the Crown; and at various subsequent dates, the chief of them formed stakes, and repeatedly changed masters, in the great games of craft and policy between the royal families of Scotland and England. Three other great subsequent events. also affected the town and castle of Dunbar,—the invasions of Scotland under Lords Hertford and Somerset, the flight of Queen Mary with the Earl of Bothwell, and the victory of Cromwell over the Covenanters; and as the second and EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. 435 third of these events are detailed in other parts of these Tales, we shall finish our present article with a brief notice. of the first. In 1544, the English invaders under the Earl of Hertford, after their return from the siege of Leith, and after burning Haddington, encamped the second night-26th May-near Dunbar. "The same day," says Patten, we burnt a fine town of the Earl Bothwell's, called Haddington, with a great nunnery and a house of friars. The next night after, we encamped beside Dunbar; and there the Scots gave a small alarm to our camp. But our watches were in such readiness that they had no vantage there, but were fain to recoil without doing of any harm. That night they looked for us to have burnt the town of Dunbar, which we deferred till the morn- ing at the dislodging of our camp, which we executed by V. C. of our hakbutters, being backed with V. C. horsemen. And by reason we took them in the morning, who having watched all night for our coming, and perceiving our army to dislodge and depart, thought themselves safe of us, were newly gone to their beds; and in their first sleeps closed in with fire, men, women, and children, were suffocated and burnt. That morning being very misty and foggy, we had perfect knowledge by our espials, that the Scots had assem- bled a great power at a strait called the Pease.” In 1547, the Duke of Somerset invaded Scotland with an army of 14,000 men: and, having crossed the pass of Pease, with "puffying and payne," as Patten says, demo- lished the castles of Dunglass, Innerwick, and Thornton. "This done, about noon, we marched on, passing soon after within the gunshot of Dunbar, a town standing longwise upon the sea-side, whereat is a castle-which the Scots count very strong that sent us divers shots as we passed, but all in vain : their horsemen shewed themselves in their fields beside us, to- wards whom Bartevil with his viii. [c.] men, all hakbutters on horseback-whom he had right well appointed-and John de 436 EARLS OF DUNBAR AND MARCH, &c. Rybaud, with divers others, did make; but no hurt on either side, saving that a man of Bartevile's slew one of them with his piece, the skirmish was soon ended. We went a iiii. mile farther, and having travelled that day a x. mile, we camped nigh Tentallon, and had at night a blind alarm. Here had we first advertisement certain, that the Scots were assembled in camp at the place where we found them. Marching this morning a ii. mile, we came to a fair river called Lyn (Tyne), running all strait eastward toward the sea; over this river is there a stone bridge that they name Linton bridge, of a town thereby on our right hand, and eastward as we went, that stands upon the same river. Our horsemen and carriages passed through the water-for it was not very deep-our footmen over the bridge. The passage was very straight for an army, and therefore the longer in setting over. Beyond this bridge about a mile westward-for so methought as then we turned-upon the same river on the southside, stands a proper house, and of some strength, belike, they call it Hayles castle, and pertaineth to the Earl of Bothwell, but kept as then by the governor's appointment, who held the Earl in prison."-After the defeat at Pinkey in 1548, Dunbar was burnt by the German mercenaries under the Earl of Shrews- bury, on his return to England from the attack on Haddington. AUG 8 1916 Books published by William P. 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Care- fully selected, with Life of the Author, and original and authentic Notes. VIII. DEFOE'S WORKS. Care- fully selected from the most authentic sources; with Life of the Author. IX. SMOLLETT'S WORKS. Carefully selected from the most authentic sources; with Life of the Author. X. CANTERBURY TALES AND FAERIE QUEEN, with other Poems of CHAUCER and SPENSER. Edited for Popular Perusal, with current Illustrative and Explanatory Notes. XI. THE WORKS OF THE BRITISH DRAMATISTS. Carefully selected from the original editions, with copious Notes, Biographies, and a Historical Introduction, etc. etc. Edited by J. S. KELTIE, Editor of 'Defoe's Works,' etc. THE XII. SCOTTISH MIN- STREL: The Songs and Song Writers of Scotland subsequent to Burns. With Biographies, etc. etc. By the Rev. CHAS. ROGERS, LL.D. Books published by William P. Nimmo. II NIM MO'S HANDY BOOKS OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. Foolscap 8vo, uniformly bound in cloth limp. PRICE ONE SHILLING EACH. I. THE EARTH'S CRUST. 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And other distinguished Scottish Artists. The Engraving of the Illustrations is executed by Mr. R. PATERSON ; and the volume is Printed by Mr. R. CLARK, Edinburgh. 'The arts of the printer and engraver show to advantage in this Scotch edition of the Poems and Songs of Burns. The Artists who supply the Illustrations are all of the land of Burns, and the book owes nothing to handicraftsmen on this side the Tweed. Many of the engravings are excellent, particularly the landscape sketches. Alto- gether the book is a handsome one, and to the "Scot abroad" it would be difficult to make a more acceptable present.'-The Times. 'Of all the handsome reprints of the works of "nature's own" bard, this "Edina" edition of the Poems and Songs of Burns is perhaps the handsomest yet produced. Beautifully printed, and profusely illus- trated by some of the most distinguished of the Scotch academicians, it forms a shrine worthy of the genius of the "poet of the land of the mountain and the flood." It is, as might be expected, Scottish in every respect, printer, publisher, and illustrators; and as also we think it should; for with whom could it be so much a labour of love to produce a first-rate edition as with one of Burns's own countrymen? and who should be better able to illustrate the "brown heath and shaggy wood" of Scotia's scenery than her own sons?'-The Examiner. Books published by William P. Nimmo. 13 NIMMO'S FIVE SHILLING ILLUSTRATED GIFT BOOK S. Crown 8vo, beautifully printed on superfine paper, profusely illustrated by eminent Artists, and richly bound in cloth and gold and gilt edges, price 5s. each. I. SWORD AND PEN; or, English Worthies in the Reign of Elizabeth. By WALTER CLINTON. II. NORRIE SETON; or, Driven to Sea. By Mrs. George CUPPLES, Author of 'Unexpected Pleasures,' etc. III. THE CIRCLE OF THE YEAR; or, Studies of Nature and Pictures of the Seasons. By W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS. IV. THE WEALTH OF NATURE: Our Food Supplies from the Vegetable Kingdom. 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Aggregate sale of the following popular works, 157,000 copies. I. Crown 8vo, cloth antique, One Hundredth Thousand, price 3s. 6d., HEAVEN OUR HOME. A Cheap Edition of Heaven our Home,' In crown 8vo, cloth limp, price 1s. 6d., is also published. II. Crown 8vo, cloth antique, Twenty-ninth Thousand, price 3s. 6d., MEET FOR HEAVEN. A Cheap Edition of Meet for Heaven,' In crown 8vo, cloth limp, price 1s. 6d., is also published. III. Crown 8vo, cloth antique, Twenty-first Thousand, price 3s. 6d., LIFE IN HEAVEN. THERE, FAITH IS CHANGED INTO SIGHT, AND HOPE IS PASSED INTO BLISSFUL FRUITION. C A Cheap Edition of Life in Heaven,' In crown 8vo, cloth limp, price 1s. 6d., is also published. IV. Crown 8vo, cloth antique, Seventh Thousand, price 3s. 6d., CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION; OR, TABOR'S TEACHINGS. A Cheap Edition of Christ's Transfiguration,' In crown 8vo, cloth limp, price 1s. 6d., is also published. 16 Books published by William P. Nimmo. NIMMO'S UNIVERSAL GIFT BOOKS. 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V. Benjamin Franklin. Barton Todd. VI. VII. The Perils of Greatness. VIII. Little Crowns, and How to Win Them. Great Riches. IX. X. The Right Way, and the Contrast. XI. The Daisy's First Winter. XII. The Man of the Mountain. NEW VOLUMES. XIII. Better than Rubies. Stories for the Young, Illustrative of Familiar Proverbs. With 62 Illustrations. XIV. Experience Teaches, and other Stories for the Young, Illustrative of Familiar Pro- verbs. With 39 Illustrations. XV. The Happy Recovery, and other Stories for the Young. With 26 Illustrations. XVI. Gratitude and Probity, and other Stories for the Young. With 21 Illustrations. XVII. The Two Brothers, and other Stories for the Young. With 13 Illustrations. XVIII. The Young Orator, and other Stories for the Young. With 9 Illustrations. Simple XIX. Stories, to Amuse and Instruct Young Readers. With Illustrations. XX. The Three Friends, and other Stories for the Young. With Illustrations. XXI. Sybil's Sacrifice, and other Stories for the Young. 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Miniature 4to, choicely printed on the finest toned paper, and beauti- fully bound in a new style, cloth, price 1s. each. The Complete Set in an elegant Box, price 7s. 6d. I. A Treasury of Table Talk. II. Epigrams and Literary Follies. III. A Treasury of Poetic Gems. IV. The Table Talk of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. V. Gleanings from the Comedies of Shakespeare. VI. Beauties of the British Dramatists. 'A charming little Series, well edited and printed. More thoroughly readable. little books it would be hard to find; there is no padding in them, all is epigram, point, poetry, or sound common sense.'-Publishers' Circular. 24 Books published by William P. Nimmo. Demy 8vo, bound, price 3s. 6d., THE MECHANIC'S AND STUDENT'S GUIDE IN THE DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION OF GENERAL MACHINE GEARING, As Eccentrics, Screws, Toothed Wheels, etc., and the Drawing of Rectilineal and Curved Surfaces; with Practical Rules and Details. Ellustrated with numerous Original Engravings. EDITED BY FRANCIS HERBERT JOYNSON, Author of The Metals used in Construction.' " • • 'As a whole, the work may be commended for its general correctness, brevity, neatness, and the way in which it necessitates the drawing forth from the mental stores the technical knowledge stowed away as a "foundation. We may remark that many London schools have for some time adopted the examples to be found in Mr. Joynson's work as exercises for youth, and that the said youth eventually find them of great use. Surely this is commendation indeed, and with this we close a brief notice of a very nicely got-up and creditable volume.'—Eng- lish Mechanic. • "The Mechanic's and Student's Guide" is a credit to its author, and a boon to the engineering trades of the country.'-North British Daily Mail. In foolscap 8vo, elegantly bound in cloth and gold, price 2s. 6d., THE POETICAL WORKS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY EMINENT ARTISTS. THE Crown 4to, cloth extra, gilt edges, price 6s., NATIONAL MELODIST: Two HUNDRED STANDARD SONGS, WITH SYMPHONIES AND ACCOM- PANIMENTS FOR THE PIANOFORTE. Edited by J. C. KIESER. PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM P. NIMMO, EDINBURGH; AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS, AND AT THE RAILWAY BOOKSTALLS. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BOUND JUN 20 1946 UN... OF MICE LIBRARY 3 9015 06393 4882 ... 4